Bring Me To Life – A Buffy the Vampire Slayer / Angel Crossover Event

Part 48

Aftermath


Heaven bend to take my hand and lead me through the fire

Be the long awaited answer to a long and painful fight

Truth be told, I've tried my best

But somewhere along the way, I got caught up in all there was to offer

And the cost was so much more than I could bear

Though I've tried

I've fallen

I have sunk so low

I messed up

Better, I should know

So don't come 'round here and

Tell me, "I told you so

— "Fallen," Sarah McLachlan


Sunnydale General Hospital – 8:29 a.m.

Emergency Room

Days Left Before the End of Days: 14


Beep—

Beep—

Beep—

The slow, steady trilling sound of the heart monitor connected to Xander kept echoing in Buffy's ears.

Buffy sat curled up in a seat inside Xander's room, listening to the sound of the monitor. Watching her longtime friend sleep in a hospital bed, clinging to life. His eye was heavily wrapped. Tubes and things were attached to him. It felt so foreign for Buffy to see Xander like that. He was always moving, always full of life, always quick to smile, to joke, to make everyone laugh with his ridiculous Snoopy dance.

And now...

Willow was asleep, having kept silent vigil across from him all night as she sat in another chair, Anya sleeping to her right. Only other nurses and doctors occasionally shuffled in to check Xander's vitals, do...whatever they were doing...with the IV bags connected to him. The first few hours were frightening, but they had managed to get him into an induced sleep, stop the bleeding. The rest was up to him now.

It had been hours since the vineyard. Since the attack.

Since Caleb…

She could still see the dark rivulets of blood pouring out of Xander's destroyed eye, hear Cordelia's pained, horrified screams, Caleb flashing that sick, psychotic smile as he twisted his thumb in Xander's skull, the bastard laughing as he did it…

Buffy shook the image from her mind. She couldn't shake that image. It kept her awake even as the others with her in the hospital slept. They had sent Dawn home earlier, Oz keeping her company. Cordelia was out in the hallway somewhere, that much Buffy remembered.

There was a lot Buffy would remember from last night. None of it good.

She felt her stomach lurch, groan. It had been hours since she had eaten something. She barely had any real appetite, but she knew she had to. She had to keep going.

She stood, silently, slowly, so as not to disturb the others in the room with her. Slowly she made her way to Xander. Lying still, silent, sleeping on the bed. A tear rolled down Buffy's face at the sight.

She remembered meeting Xander the very first time…

Can I have you? Dyeh – can I help you?

Oh, thanks.

I don't know you, do I?

I'm Buffy. I'm new.

Xander. Is me. Hi.

She remembered their bonding…

I remember how I felt when I heard the prophecy that I was gonna die. I wasn't exactly obsessed with doing the right thing.

Yeah, but you did. You gave up your life.

I had you to bring me back.

She remembered his faith in her…

Buffy, I've gone through some fairly dark times in my life. Faced some scary things, among them the kitchen at the fabulous Ladies Night club. Let me tell ya' something: When it's dark, and I'm all alone, and I'm scared, or freaked out or whatever, I always think, 'What would Buffy do?' You're my hero.

She remembered all of it...

She's laid down her life—literally—to protect the people around her. This girl died, two times, and she's still standing. You're scared, that's smart. You got questions, you should ask. But you doubt her motives, you think Buffy is about the kill, then you take the little bus to battle. I've seen her heart . . . this time not literally . . . and I'll tell you right now: she cares more about your lives than you will ever know. You have to trust her.

She's earned it.

I let him down, the thought echoing through her brain tortured her, rang out like a funeral gong. Tears filled her eyes once more. I let him down. I did this to him. I did. I'm so sorry, Xander. For all of it. I'm so, so sorry…

Stifling a sob that threatened to leave her, Buffy leaned over, pressed a soft, tender kiss on Xander's sweat-matted forehead. Stroked his ruffled hair affectionately. Showing her love for the most devoted member of her family. The Loyal. The Heart.

Then she walked out of the room, slowly trying to find her way to the cafeteria. She rubbed her arms together, partly in self-comfort, and partly to warm herself amid the chilly air conditioning of the cool hospital. It still wasn't as cold as how she felt inside.

She didn't get too far before she found another sight she wasn't expecting.

Cordelia.


Cordelia sat on the floor, arms around her knees, curled into a ball.

Her nigh-omniscient chocolate eyes were stained with tears. Red and raw from crying.

It's all my fault...all my fault...all my fault...all my fault...

That damned mantra rang in her mind once more. Haunting her.

She remembered, too…

She remembered meeting Xander. As children…

Hi, I'm Xander. This is my friend Willow, what's your name?

Hi, I'm Cordelia. I'm new here.

You don't have to sit alone. Wanna play with us?

Really? Okay, thank you!

All their silly, heated arguments…

I've got the solution, right here. To kill a demon, cut its head off.

Great work, Cor.

You could have done it - not really.

Yeah, we'll just find Ms. Calendar and then we'll decapitate her. She can be the first headless computer teacher, think anyone'll notice?

You know what you need, Xander - besides a year's supply of acne cream? A BRAIN.

That's it! Twelve years of you, and I'm SNAPPING! I don't care you're a girl, I'm throwing down. Come on!

Oh, please, I've seen you fight, and don't think I can't take you!

Give it your best shot!

Every single ridiculous argument that she secretly looked forward to…

C'mon, Cordelia. You wanna be a member of the Scooby Gang you gotta be willing to be inconvenienced every now and then.

Oh, right, 'cause I lie awake at night hoping you tweakos will be my best friends. And that my first husband will be a balding, demented homeless man.

Buffy could be in trouble.

And what if she is exactly? What are you gonna do about it? In case you haven't noticed, you're the lameness and she's the super chick, or whatever.

Well, at least I'm the lameness who cares, which is more than I can say about you.

Their first real kiss...

I can't believe that I'm stuck spending what will probably be my last few moments on Earth here WITH YOU!

I hope these are my last few moments! Three more seconds with you, and I'm gonna...

I'm gonna what? Coward!

Moron!

I hate you!

I HATE YOU!

Their eyes locked. Their hearts raced.

Their lips met.

Desperately.

Longingly.

Passionately.

The world was on fire…

His adorable sweetness…

I've been thinking a lot about us lately... the why and the wherefore. You know, once, twice, a kissy here, a kissy there. And you can chalk it all up to hormones. A-and maybe that's all we have here. Tawdry teen lust. But maybe not. Maybe something in you sees something special inside me. And vice versa. I mean, I think I do. See something. So...

He pulled out the jewelry box. Her breath hitched in her throat in surprise as she took it and looked up at him.

Xander... Thank you. She pulled out the stunning pendant, shaped like a heart. And she felt her own heart do a little flip in her chest. It's beautiful.

His fierce devotion to protecting her...

When I saw him there, standing over you, with that look in his eye that he was going to do something bad…something in me just…well, I just…

You just what?

I just knew…that I couldn't let him hurt you. I didn't even think about it, I just…I just knew I'd die before I let that happen.

God knows I almost did.

Even until last night...

Heard of you. The Seer, right? The Gad of the group. Perceiver of the hidden truth.

Cordelia gasped, trying to loosen Caleb's grip, but he only held tighter. The stink of his breath, the madness in his gaze assaulted her senses. Then he drew out the knife, pointing it right at her eyes. Her life flashed before her eyes.

His voice was cold, cruel. Betcha didn't see this comin', did ya?

NO!

Freedom as Xander barreled into him, releasing the grip Caleb had on Cordelia.

Cordy! Are you okay? She could only nod.

Let's go! We gotta move, now!

Cordelia began to move towards the exit. She turned half-way...just in time to see the murderous preacher holding Xander in his grasp. Gasping, the Seer's eyes widened, and her heart froze. No. Please, no. NO. NO!

You're the one who sees everything, ain'tcha? Well, let's see what we can't do about that...Happy birthday.

She could see Caleb's thumb drill into Xander's skull, but she couldn't stop him.

She could hear Xander's pained screams, but she couldn't help him.

She couldn't save him...why couldn't she save him? ? ?

NOOO! XAAN-DEEEER!

"Cordy?"

The beautiful Seer jerked up with a startled look on her teary-eyed face. Seeing Buffy stand over her, a look of concern on the Slayer's pretty face.

"Oh!...Uh, Buffy...hey…" Cordelia said, wiping her eyes hastily as she tried to stand up.

But Buffy held her hand up, signaling her to stop. "No...no, please...just...you don't have to."

Sighing, Cordelia slid back down to her spot on the floor. "Um...how...how is he?" She asked the question shakily. As if she was too scared to ask.

Buffy swallowed, thickly. "He's okay...the doctors have him pumped full of drugs right now. Painkillers, anti-inflammatory, the works. He's gonna be asleep for a little while. Hopefully he'll be okay when he wakes up."

She looked at the disheveled look on Cordelia's face. Her clothes were still stained with blood.

Xander's blood, Buffy grimly realized.

"How are you doing?" Buffy asked, sincerely. "This has been a hard night for you, too."

Cordelia snorted, looking away. Her eyes were still red and misty. "Oh, just peachy. Charged into a death trap to stop the bad guys from going through with an apocalypse I started...froze up twice in the heat of battle...Angel's halfway around the world risking his life...oh, and hey, the cherry on top...I got my ex-boyfriend blinded by a psychotic choir boy." She looked defeated, dejected. "Some hero I turned out to be, huh?"

Buffy gave her a pitying look. "Cordy...what happened to Xander wasn't your fault."

But Cordelia shook her head, her eyes welling with tears and guilt. The horrible moment of Xander being maimed replayed over and over in her mind. "Yes it was. I-I-I should've been faster. If I hadn't gotten knocked down, he wouldn't have come looking for me. If I had moved quicker, Caleb wouldn't have gotten us, i-i-if I had just dragged Xander along after he helped me…"

Buffy knelt down alongside her. Placed a comforting hand on the shoulder of the heartbroken Seer.

"Cordy...there was nothing you could have done," Buffy assured her. "If there was anyone whose fault it is, aside from Caleb…"

Buffy swallowed hard. Her eyes began to mist.

"...It's mine," she said softly. "It was a trap. And I fell for it. I...I made stupid mistakes because I let this guy goad me into a fight on his turf. It was a trap from the start. Xander tried to warn me. They all did. And I...I ignored it."

Her lips trembled and she looked away. "I did this. This is my fault. All of it."

She felt the tears begin to well again in her eyes.

And then she felt Cordelia's hand on her shoulder. Looking up, Buffy was expecting the former May Queen, the former Mean Queen of Sunnydale High, to give her a look of hatred, of anger. Of disgust. So alike those judging gazes she threw at her all through high school.

But instead, all she saw in the Seer's watery eyes was sympathy. Understanding.

"I guess...I guess we both screwed up, huh?" Cordelia weakly joked, giving Buffy a watery smile.

Buffy felt her lips tremble as she returned the gaze to her old rival.

No.

Her friend.

"I guess we did," Buffy rasped out, weakly smiling back.

Slowly, the two women embraced. They held each other tightly.

Two former rivals, now friends. Crying silently for the goofy, big-hearted, brave young man they both cared for so much.

Buffy lost track of how long they held each other in quiet, comfortable silence. Slowly, she pulled away, wiping her eyes. "God, I keep replaying it in my head. I can't unsee it."

"Neither can I," Cordelia replied quietly, her watery gaze haunted. She could still see that awful moment, still hear Xander's tortured screams in her head. "You'd think the Powers That Be would've been able to warn me about this...what's the point of having these stupid visions if I can't protect the people I care about?"

Wiping her eyes, hastily, Buffy sighed in misery. "But I could have done something. Anything. I'm the Slayer, I'm supposed to have all this power. And I couldn't save him. God, I just laid there like a log after Caleb Mike Tyson'ed me across the room. I couldn't even help Molly when Caleb was trying to gut her like a fish. I just...laid there, useless, while Lindsey was at least trying to…"

Suddenly, Buffy froze.

Lindsey…

Her mind raced. She began to remember something from last night...

Caleb…

Hello, little brother.

Buffy's eyes widened in realization.

Cordelia eyed the Slayer in concern. "What? Buffy? What is it? What's wrong?"

The blonde warrior's eyes met the Seer's eyes in worry.

"Cordelia...tell me everything you know about this Lindsey guy. Right now."

Cordelia stared at her in confusion. "Lindsey? Why? What does he have to do with this?"

Buffy's lips pressed into a thin line. "If I'm right...everything," she grimly replied.


The Deeper Well—Deep in the Bowels of the Earth

Hours Earlier


His body throbbed with the blows the renegade, fallen Champions had delivered and he felt disoriented. As he panted breathlessly, exhausted, Angel tensed, hoping he could dodge the arc of that sword, but Malik was so close, right above him.

"You've lived a long life, Angelus," the mirthless warrior said. "But every story...no matter how long...has its ending."

Then Malik raised the sword, ready to send the deadly blade down across a fallen Angel's neck...

But in those moments before that, Malik didn't see Angel's hand deftly slip into his coat's pocket. Grasp at the small, but lethal weapon he found in there. A weapon that had helped win him a battle earlier. A weapon he was hoping could save his life now.

"A pity, Angelus," Malik chuckled, shaking his head. "Part of me was rather looking forward to dueling you to the death. Warrior against warrior. Champion against Champion. Two gladiators clashing with sword and will, blood and guts to the bitter en—DAACK!"

His sentence ended up choking in his throat on account of something strong, sharp wrapping around it. Something cutting into his skin, constricting his windpipe.

As Angel held onto the end of his small spool of razor wire, he smirked.

"Sorry, Mal. But like I said…"His face shifted its features. Into his game face. Fangs, ridges, and glowing amber eyes. The face of a vampire.

"...I'm on a schedule."

Then with one strong tug, Angel channeled all of his strength that the demon flooded him with and pulled hard…

SCHUCK!

...and took Malik's head clean off his shoulders. Blood spurted up from his severed neck like red champagne, to the shock of the other Champions as they viewed the headless corpse of their fallen leader hit the ground with a thud, his sword clattering to the ground.

"Malik!" Simone cried out.

Finding no pity in his heart for Malik or his other foes, Angel rolled, grabbing Malik's sword.

With a second wind, the undead Champion sprung to his feet, his demonic face baring its fangs, growling. New life and vigor flooding him as the demon filled him with power.

"Okay, guys...let's try this again, shall we?"

Enraged, Simone charged Angel, but he was more than ready for her. Grabbing her arm midway as she reared back to use her whip, Angel twisted it hard, stopping only when he heard the satisfying pop from her elbow. Screaming in agony, Simone was disoriented as pain shot through her arm.

Not wasting time, Angel held the sword in his left hand, hauled back with his right, and punched the femme fatale with all the strength Angel could muster. The vampire felt bone crack in Simone's otherwise perfect cheek and the sultry warrior went down.

Angel saw a glint of silver and knew Tai had drawn at least one of his daggers—blades that could be fatal with the right force to his neck.

Reacting quickly, Angel set one foot, then started launching kick after kick at Tai. The silent warrior began to block, growling in fury as he tried to send one of his stone-like hands into Angel's head again. But Angel was too agile, swiftly ducking and dodging the blows.

Waiting until the warrior missed with another lumbering blow, Angel saw his opening and leaped into the air, twisted into a spinning kick that landed solidly at the center of Tai's chest, and knocked him backward.

Tai stumbled backwards and tripped over Biers, knocking the dwarf over and stunning him as all of Tai's weight fell upon him.

Suddenly, Angel's hearing picked up the sound of a metal flail whistling through the air as it swung toward him.

Spinning on his heel, Angel turned and held up the sword.

The flail wrapped around it and Bors tugged the blade from his grasp.

It flew out of his hands, spun away from the flail, and landed clattering against the wall.

"Not a bad trick, Stumpy," Angel said.

Bors grinned wickedly at him.

"Your little tricks and weapons won't be able to help you now, Pretty Boy," Bors sneered, starting toward Angel, hands up, still wearing that salacious smile.

Stiff and hurting, Angel lifted one corner of his mouth in half a smirk. "I don't need any help."

Bors held the flail in both hands now, preparing to attack. Angel was unarmed. "You think I can't hurt you because I'm small?"

"No. I think I can hurt you because you're small."

The dwarf growled. He swung the flail…

...but hit nothing but air.

Suddenly, the dwarf found himself rising up off the ground, legs dangling. Angel was already behind him, arms locked tightly around his neck.

Angel growled into the gurgling dwarf's ear. "Well, that and I can do this."

Angel twisted hard...

SNAP!

Bors's neck snapped like kindling. Satisfied, Angel let the dwarf's corpse drop to the ground.

Two down.

Simone came sprinting towards him and then she leapt up and spun into the air using that same, lethal, dance-like martial arts move she had used on Angel before.

But ever quick to adapt, Angel was ready for her. Simone lashed out with a kick, but Angel moved to the side, threw a powerful kick and stepped into it, like he was swinging for the fences. His foot struck Simone in the back. She went down, but rolled and sprang up almost instantly.

Simone had already made it back to her feet, a sneer on her pretty lips. Maybe the Champion though he'd hit her hard enough to take her out of the fight. But he has a rude awakening coming, Simone angrily thought…

...but in a blur of speed, Angel was already behind her.

He slipped behind the deadly redhead, slid his powerful arm across her throat, and held on tight, gripping hard as he choked her. Simone reached around, trying to claw at him, but Angel kept dodging his head.

Simone gasped as she sucked in air. The female Champion tried to kick backward. With the strength she had, she could easily break his leg with one kick.

Angel raised her body like a weightlifter, pulling her off her feet so that she thrashed against him, trying to get some kind of leverage.

"There's a joke in there somewhere about you liking it rough," Angel whispered in her ear. "But I ran out of funny about two Gypsy curses ago."

Briefly, Angel wondered where that came from. But he didn't have to wonder that much. He had no problem using his demon to win fights. But he didn't like using it for extended periods of time. Doing so, he could feel Angelus stirring within him. Getting juiced off the violence. Whispering to be more violent, more brutal. Closing his eyes, he shut out the demon's voice in his head and focused only on the battle.

The redhead tagged him with a swift swipe of her hand, her fingers leaving a gash across his face.

Angel winced, but recovered quickly. Never relented his grip. Squeezed harder, feeling Simone's struggles grow weaker, her heartbeat start to slow.

Finally, the redhead went limp in Angel's arms. Three down.

Shoving her body aside to the ground—the woman was alive, but just barely, he could tell from her faint heartbeat—Angel's eyes darted around to find his next target…

...which he found in the form of Tai's massive form barreling into him with a hard shoulder tackle.

The massive Asian warrior moved far more quickly than Angel would have expected. He shot a kick at his groin and the big man snatched Angel's ankle, dragged him backwards, and hammered Angel with a punch to the face.

Angel went down hard, rolled away from him, and sprang up again, grabbing his own discarded broadsword. But Tai had taken off running.

Angel frowned, wondering what he'd done to scare him off. Then he saw Biers grumbling on the ground to help him up. The silent warrior grabbed the dwarf and yanked him away.

He said nothing, but Biers seemed to understand immediately. "All right, my friend," Biers said, holding up both hands. "Take him."

But Angel was there. And he had the exact same idea.

Using every bit of his supernatural speed, Angel sprinted toward Tai and leaped into a flying drop kick. Throwing all of his body weight and force into it, Angel's right boot struck Tai in the back.

SNACKT!

Something snapped in Tai's spine and he collapsed to the ground as though an earthquake had shaken the mountain down, landing atop Biers and smothering the dwarf's body under his weight.

Four down.

Unarmed, pinned beneath the man-mountain, Biers tried to free himself…only to look up at a looming shadow cast over him.

A shadow that belonged to Angel. The immortal warrior stood above him, broadsword in hand, ice cold look in his eyes.

Biers started to raise his hands to defend himself.

But Angel only stared at him coldly. Raised his sword.

SHUCK!

Steel went right through skull and brain matter. The renegade Champion's arm flopped to the pavement beside Tai.

Five for five, Angel thought, dropping to one knee in exhaustion. His body felt like lead. He was covered in bruises. He was cut badly across his ribs. But he knew he would heal.

He always healed. It wasn't the parts on the outside that couldn't heal for Angel. He learned long ago that what couldn't heal...what may never heal...were the parts of him on the inside.

His heart. His soul. His conscience.

And Angel was fine with that. For all he had done...

I deserve this, he told himself. Forever...

Suddenly, light emerged from the other side of the pit. Light that revealed another gate opening.

Coughing as he picked up his sword, Angel stared at the shiny light emerging from the gate.

"I'm guessing that's either the gateway to the second trials, or the gateway to heaven," Angel mused aloud. Then he chuckled grimly. "Yeah...like they'd ever let me into heaven."

The closest thing he had to heaven was in the arms of a small blonde beauty back in Sunnydale who protected the Hellmouth. And he made sure that he closed those gates for good. To protect her from the hell that awaited her if she did let him in, Angel realized in misery.

Shrugging off that miserable thought, Angel shrugged off the wounds and headed off to his next quest: The Trial of Courage.

Where Angel's courage, and perhaps his sanity, would be pushed to its limits.


TO BE CONTINUED...


NEXT:

On the heels of a devastating defeat, Buffy must find a way to press forward. But has she lost the support of her allies?

Lindsey's connection to Caleb is finally revealed. What consequences will there be?

Angel's quest for the Dagger continues. Can he survive the Trial of Courage?

And Faith must try to survive Caleb and The First's minions. How long will she hold on? Or will she break?


More to come soon! Please read, comment and follow!

Best,

Jean-The Guardian