Author's Note to follow at end.

Epilogue

Earlier…

Buffy knew, the moment Seo made the wrong choice and released Elizabeth, what would happen. Could see it in the glint of Elizabeth's eyes. The slight coldness in her stance.

Elizabeth would escape this reality.

Then snap Seo's neck, and run away laughing.

"No!" screamed Buffy, using her Slayer-strength to tearing apart the bars of her prison. She grabbed up Xander's dropped gun. Knew killing humans was wrong, but this was her child. Her little girl! And Buffy wasn't going to let her die. "I won't let you get away with this! Never!"

And shot at Elizabeth.

But Elizabeth was smart. Had noticed, out of the corner of her eye. Dragged Seo into the way of the shot, then acted all horrified and upset, as if she couldn't believe it.

And Buffy became desperate.

Tried to lunge for the monster who was going to kill her child, wanting to throttle her for shoving Seo into harm's way just to save her own neck, wanting to tear this other-her apart with her bare hands for daring to…!

Xander plummeted into her.

Dragging her down to the floor.

Shouting at Seo to get out of there. Shouting at Seo to run.

And Elizabeth didn't protest at leaving Xander behind — not for a minute. Just swept up Seo and led her off. Buffy shouting at them, the whole time, insisting that Seo was wrong, she was Buffy, and don't do this, don't go with that maniac!

But they couldn't hear her, anymore.

Buffy managed to roll around, repositioning herself so that Xander was the one at a disadvantage. "Gotta get out of here before that bomb," she said. Jumping to her feet. "The portal's still here, Xander. Still open! We can make it! Follow them through!"

Xander lunged at her, again, and Buffy only just had time to grab him before he attacked.

"I won't let you!" he shouted. "You killed Willow! You…!"

"She killed Willow!" Buffy shouted back. "Xander, you're one of my best friends. If that'd been me, I'd have brought you with me! Saved you, too! She took my daughter and left you to die!"

Xander hesitated.

Buffy immediately feeling more her old self, now that Elizabeth was gone.

"We're getting out of here," said Buffy, dragging him with her. "Before that bomb makes us go all vaporizy. Both of us!"

They stepped into the portal.

As the far end of it began to close. The mouth beginning to snap shut, all daylight on the other side cut off, in a second.

"Seo, wait!" Buffy shouted, hoping someone would hear. "It's me! Seo! You got the wrong one!"

But she never heard.

Because the portal snapped shut, plunging them into blackness.

"Portal's closed," said Buffy, looking around herself. At the black tunnel. "But… not the link. Or this whole thing would have collapsed and we'd have been squeezed out of existence and killed, immediately."

"You're really not her, are you?" said Xander.

"I told you I'm not!" said Buffy, darting to the side, dragging him after her. "And if you think I'm letting that maniac use my kid as an emergency exit before killing her, you've got another thing coming. There's a link open, and I'm finding where it ends. Getting back to Earth. No matter what, I'm saving my…!"

Then the burst of an explosion rippled through the air.

And Buffy knew she had only one option left.

"Plan B!" Buffy shouted.

She kicked open one side of the portal, exposing a gateway to somewhere else. Some other dimension, other world, other reality. She jumped through it, with Xander. Slamming it shut behind herself and Xander, just as the explosion spread through the area where they'd been standing.

For a few moments, they just stood together.

Catching their breath.

"You okay?" said Buffy.

Xander wheezed. "Just… doing my best impression… of a nerd who needs an inhaler," he said. "You go ahead."

Buffy beamed. "That's the Xander I know!" She dropped his hand, letting him rest. As she stepped forwards. "So. We're not in the right universe. Or reality. Or dimension. Or anything. Let's see where we are, and how we can get back to—"

Xander screamed.

Buffy spun around, just in time to see Xander impaled by a demon's blade.

The blood pouring out of him, then vaporizing into the air. The last words falling from his lips… her name. Like a prayer for salvation.

Then, he died.

The demon withdrew his sword. Then turned to face Buffy, full-on.

And Buffy realized… she knew exactly who the demon was.

"This," said the demon Acathla, "is my domain." He grinned at her, through jagged teeth. "Welcome to Hell, Buffy Summers. I've heard so much about you."

The End.

Author's Note: And here ends Season 3!

Elizabeth's out wreaking havoc on Earth, Dawn and Ace are chasing her, Seo has run away into outer space, and Buffy's stuck in Acathla's hell dimension. I love the way my brain works!

Yep, I know, the season ends on a bit of a cliffhanger. But the good news is... I'm almost done writing the next season! So... hurray?

(Please don't kill me! I'm working two jobs, and I'm only a few stories off!)

Anyways. I've got the first story of the next season done and dusted. So I'll post that. You'll all love that story; I think it's one of the best stories I've written here.

It's called "One Word".

Summary: Clara wasn't the first to take the Doctor's One Word test — just the first to pass it. Here's the story of someone who failed.

So look forward to that. And... you'll get a preview of the next season!

(In case you felt like the Doctor was lacking in this season, next season has a lot more Doctor stories! "One Word" (11th), "Irkoli" (7th), "We Must Survive" (11th), An unnamed story with the 10th Doctor and Faith, "Redemption" (10th), "Tartarus Gate" (11th), and "Reunion" (11th).)