If I Should Die Before I Wake"
by Gaius Petronius
DISCLAIMER:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer and all the characters that appear on
the show are the exclusive property of Joss Whedon, the WB, Fox
and Mutant Enemy, Inc. I only borrow them, mess with their heads,
make them cry and, every once in a while, torture them. I do lay
claim to the character of Johannes Martel since he is the central
character in an original novel I've been working on now for too
many years.
Spoilers: BtVS season two. Originally written in script format
during the spring of 1998, "If I should die before I wake"
is the sequel to my first Buffy novel, "Carpe Diem."
Rating: PG-13 for violence and language.
* * * * * * * *
"But in the grey of the morning,
My mind becomes confused
Between the dead and the sleeping
And the road that I must choose."
The Moody Blues, "Question," 1970
* * * * * * * *
"Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
If I should die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take."
Anonymous child's prayer
* * * * * * * *
Chapter 14 - "Just remember, okay?"
Buffy knew the tunnels under the old North Crypt that led to
the Master's Chamber too well. Every turn, every outcropping,
every change in the slope of the floor was seared into her memory.
After all, this where she had died once before. Now she would
face whatever awaited her if only to free Giles, Xander and Jonathan
Martel.
There was no caution in her approach, only stern determination
as she marched down the dimly lit tunnel leading to the Chamber
where Drusilla, Spike and Angelus were preparing to use Jonathan's
telekinetic powers to re-open the Hellmouth. Rubbish littered
the path and a thin trickle of foul smelling water ran across
the rock floor. A rat scurried off into the pitch black of a side
passageway. Buffy stared straight ahead as she walked, the crossbow
clutched firmly in her hands pointed forward.
At the same time, Willow stumbled in the dark up the crumbling
steps of the old Crypt where Buffy had entered minutes before.
She stopped at the open iron gate door and peered inside. Terrified
of plunging into the depths below alone, she hesitated for a moment
and took a deep breath.
"Follow my voice," she whispered to the shroud of
night hanging over her as she prayed silently that Jonathan's
specter from the library could hear her words. There was no reply,
so Willow slipped into the tomb as quietly as she could.
At the end of the tunnel that opened up into the Master's Chamber,
a hideous red glow from a dozen torches illuminated the moss covered
and insect infested walls. Ahead Buffy heard raucous voices. She
strode by a small passageway that branched off and terminated
at the other side of the Chamber. She didn't even give it a glance,
choosing instead the main entrance.
Under the dancing torch light, Drusilla, Spike and Angelus
gathered around a make shift altar in the center of the Chamber.
On the top of the altar sat a large reddish brown stone bowl.
Stained streaks that glowed in the light from the flames ran down
the container's sides. The large second calfskin bound volume
of Johannes Martel's accumulated spells lay close by.
Against a side wall, Giles and Xander, their hands raised above
their heads and shackled to the stone wall, dangled limply. Both
were beaten and Xander sported bruises about his face, a result
of his mouthing off at Angelus. This time his verbal barbs had
been pointed, containing pithy remarks about Angelus' anatomy
and its inadequacies for propagating the species. Spike finally
had to stop Angelus, reminding him that the sacrificial blood
required for opening the Hellmouth had to come from a "living"
victim. Several vampires stood guard, every now and then prodding
the prisoners with blunt wooden stakes so they wouldn't pass out.
Drusilla paced about the altar and fondled a long curved knife,
its blade ornamented with lurid carvings of humans and half human,
half goat demons rendered in perverse poses. She ran her finger
over the blade repeatedly testing it for sharpness. She didn't
wince when the blade slipped through the pale white skin of her
thumb drawing blood. Spike saw the red drops fall to the altar
and realized he was becoming aroused.
In a far corner of the Chamber, away from all the activity,
Jonathan Martel stood alone between two large candles on pedestals.
His hands tied behind his back, he leaned against a stone outcropping
rising up out of the floor of the Chamber. He didn't move and
his face wore a blank stare giving no appearance he was aware
of where he was or conscious of what was happening. His skin was
almost as white as that of the vampires and his unseeing eyes,
instead of their normal bright blue, shown with a dull grey in
the wavering torch light.
Earlier as Xander and Giles were being shackled to the wall,
the Watcher observed that the young telekinetic appeared to be
nothing more than an empty shell, a living body without mind or
soul. Xander had cried out to Martel for help but Drusilla had
laughed evilly when there was no response.
"What's the hold up? I'm getting thirsty!" Angelus
chuckled.
"Your date will be here in a moment, Angelus," Spike
replied, his voice dripping venom.
As if in response, Buffy suddenly stormed into the Chamber.
"See, right on time!" Spike grinned.
"Buffy! No!" Giles gasped, "Get out!"
Xander yanked furiously at the bonds holding him and screamed
at the Slayer.
"Run, Damn It! Pull a Cordy! Run!"
Buffy said nothing but halted at the head of the altar. Quickly
she raised the cross bow and fired a dart straight at Drusilla.
Her aim was precise, but Drusilla made a slight motion with her
hand, and the dart spun wildly off target, embedding in the wall.
Buffy drew another dart from out of her coat pocket to reload.
She raised the crossbow a second time, but Drusilla made the same
motion with her hand.
This time the crossbow, as if snatched by an invisible force,
was knocked out of Buffy's grasp and flew across the Chamber to
smash against the wall. Buffy immediately dropped into a defensive
stance. Drusilla glided menacingly towards her. As she did, the
vampire spoke in a cold, almost disembodied voice unlike what
the Slayer remembered from their previous encounters.
This wasn't the flighty, insane ramblings of the Drusilla who
had come to Sunnydale on Spike's coattails. Rather there was something
in this creature far older and infinitely more evil. Something
that conveyed the steely logic of the blade she clutched in her
hand. The coppery slits of her eyes made Buffy step back a pace
as Drusilla's face morphed. Then Buffy realized what it was. She
remembered Jonathan describing it. The voice was what Drusilla
had once been, that of the crown princess of the Holy Roman Empire
just after she had been sired, calculating and as cold and merciless
as the ocean's depths.
"So, I finally get to meet the little slut who bedded
my fiance!" Her yellow teeth glowed in the red light.
"Dru! Language!" Spike grinned in mock admonition.
"Spike, she's the one who broke my Angelus' heart. And
then the brazen bitch tries to steal the heir to the throne from
me!"
Spotting the location of the notebook, Buffy moved towards
it but Drusilla waved her hand a third time. The Slayer was struck
by an invisible blow to the face. She stumbled backwards but quickly
regained her balance. Again Buffy aimed for the book of spells.
Once more Drusilla struck her with an unseen blow, this time sending
Buffy sprawling to the floor.
The Slayer leaped back to her feet, her lip bloodied. Drusilla
waved her hand once more and an invisible thrust struck Buffy
in the pit of the stomach, dropping her to her knees. This time,
Drusilla raised both hands in an outward motion, releasing a surge
of energy that lifted Buffy up and threw against the stone wall.
She remained suspended in mid air against the wall, her arms outstretched
and immovable as if pinned to the stone by unseen shackles. The
lackey vampires roared their approval while Angelus drooled in
anticipation.
Willow heard the shouts as she approached the same fork in
the tunnel Buffy passed earlier. Down the tunnel leading to the
main entrance to the Chamber, she heard Drusilla cursing Buffy.
"Which way? Which way?" Willow whispered in a plea
to the empty darkness.
She quickly studied the smaller passageway leading out of the
main tunnel. There was light at the end as well but the tunnel
clearly squeezed down so that she would have to crawl the last
distance before emerging into the Master's Chamber.
"Ooo, Icky!" she groaned as she swallowed the growing
lump in her throat.
She then crouched and entered the smaller passageway. As the
ceiling quickly dropped down she was reduced to crawling on hands
and knees. The floor was wet and slippery with an unnameable liquid
and at times what her hands and knees encountered felt spongy.
Algae that glowed with a lurid phosphorescence covered the walls.
"Eeeww! uughh!"
Willow made a face as she fought to control her convulsing
stomach.
"Oh please, no. Not now!"
At the far end of the Master's Chamber near where Jonathan
stood bound, Willow's head poked out of the small tunnel exit.
Muck was smeared across her hands and face, but her eyes opened
wide when she saw how close she was behind Jonathan. The rock
outcropping where he was bound and his tall frame blocked her
from being seen by Drusilla. Quickly Willow squeezed out of the
tunnel and crept towards the soulless body of the young telekinetic.
"You trust love too much, Slayer," Drusilla preached
as she drew the curved knife blade across Buffy's throat, lightly
pricking the skin in one spot, "That is your weakness. Wizards
answer cries for help and Slayers fall in love. So are they both
brought down."
Buffy thrashed trying to free her arms and legs but the unseen
bonds held both firm. In desperation, she turned to Jonathan who
only stared blankly ahead.
"Jonathan! Help! Please!"
"He can't hear you any more," Drusilla hissed, her
fangs almost touching Buffy's cheek and ear, "He's come back
to me, his Princess. You see, we were engaged back then, I as
heir to the Holy Roman Empire and he as descendant of the Empire's
founder, Charles Martel."
Buffy ignored Drusilla's taunting. Her eyes remained glued
to the soulless figure of Jonathan. She could see something was
moving in the shadows behind him.
"When we are finished here tonight, Slayer, the creature
you once knew, your lover, will be harvested as mine! And he will
join me in our rightful inheritance as my Emperor of all the Dead."
Drusilla lifted her hand as her fingers clutched the handle
of the knife in preparation for the final plunge. At the same
time, Willow, who had crept up behind Jonathan, silently untied
his hands. Jonathan was unresponsive but, across the room, Spike
noted Buffy's stare. He followed it to its source and grinned
when he caught a flash of red hair shifting around in the shadows.
"Jonathan, it's me, Willow!" she whispered urgently,
"Follow my voice! You've got to help us! Drusilla's going
to kill Buffy!"
Jonathan's face remained cast in a blank stare.
"Please, Jonathan!" Willow begged, struggling to
remember how she had reanimated him three weeks ago in the library,
"Lady Willow, it's me, Lady Willow! Remember, I called you
back before! Follow my voice! Please, the need is great! I need
your help. The vampires are going to kill Buffy! She needs you
now!
"Uh, Dru, darling," Spike said nonchalantly, "I
think a little red bird is whispering naughty nothings in your
emperor's ear."
Drusilla glanced away from Buffy towards Jonathan and Willow.
She frowned slightly as if presented with a minor distraction.
"Johannes, my love, kill her. Break her neck."
Drusilla, Spike and Angelus returned their attention to Buffy
who stared in terror at Jonathan and Willow.
"NO! Jonathan, don't!" Buffy screamed.
Jonathan seized Willow by the shoulder with one hand and reached
toward her neck with the other. Willow shrank down in his grip.
"It's your Lady Willow!" she begged, and her mind
reached out, trying to cast her cry across the realms of Chaos
between them. Her last words were a silent plea to a spirit she
knew was somewhere beyond the Void. "Help me, please! My
voice! Follow my voice!"
Suddenly the glassy stare vanished from Jonathan's face just
as his fingers began to tighten around Willow's throat. She saw
the dull grey in his eyes shift to their original bright blue
and the color return to his hand.
"You're back! Oh, you're back!" Willow gasped despite
the tightening grip on her windpipe.
"Lady Willow . . .?"
"Gagging now!"
"Sacre Merde!" he cursed under his breath as he released
Willow, "What the rat's crap have I been doing?!"
"Sssh!" Willow whispered as she pulled his hand away
and pointed across the room, "Buffy, please help Buffy!"
Jonathan turned towards the confrontation about the altar.
Suspended from the floor, Buffy gazed back, the despair on her
face expecting any moment to be Willow's last. Jonathan silently
mouthed three words to Buffy.
In an instant, the Slayer understood. Her heart leaped as it
had in his arms on her front porch three weeks ago. A surge of
adrenalin roared through her veins as she realized that Jonathan
was now fully conscious. Although still pinned and unable to move,
her despair fled away. She turned an icy glare at Drusilla who
was ready to plunge the sacrificial knife directly into her heart.
"And now, Slayer, you will feel the luscious pain as your
life blood pours out before your eyes, a gift to the world of
demons to be released from the Hellmouth."
Drusilla raised her arm ready to let the knife plunge but Jonathan
made a slight wave of his hand and the curved blade broke loose
from Drusilla's grasp. It flew wildly across the room, slicing
firmly into the neck of the vampire guarding Giles. In the same
instant as the severed head rolled loose, the vampire exploded
into dust. Drusilla turned in shock to Jonathan.
"BAD WIZARD!" she howled, "I said break her
neck!"
Spike's eyebrows rose in nervous surprise at Drusilla's response.
Jonathan spun his left hand. Instantly, Drusilla's hair turned
a lurid purple. She stared at Jonathan totally aghast and then
held a strand of her hair out in front of her. Her howls of fury
rang in the Chamber. Willow began to giggle. Jonathan followed
this up with a twist of his right hand. Drusilla's face jerked
back as if it were struck with a hard slap.
"Daddy!" Drusilla whined to Angelus, "Bad Wizard
just hit me!" Spike instantly understood the transformation
in Drusilla's voice. The power behind the "Princess"
was swept away.
"Oh, bloody muck!" he muttered.
"Your hair looks pretty shitty too," Angelus nodded
not comprehending exactly what was happening.
"Dru, you've lost control of him! Let's get outta here!"
Spike shouted.
"NO! He's still mine! I won't let nasty bitch Slayer have
him! Kill the Watcher and her friend," Drusilla shouted at
the remaining vampires.
Buffy and Jonathan's eyes exchanged the same thought. He pointed
his hand at Buffy who lurched free as if her invisible shackles
were suddenly released. Freed from the wall, Buffy somersaulted
in a leap toward the vampires and planted a kick directly on Drusilla
who tumbled back against Angelus and Spike.
"Call me names, will ya!" the Slayer snarled, "I'll
teach ya to ruin my reputation!"
"Angelus! Get the book!" Spike yelled as he spun
his wheelchair, "Move it! Now, Dru!"
Angelus snatched up Jonathan's notebook of spells and retreated
out the far tunnel. The remaining vampires around Xander and Giles
moved to intercept Buffy before she could get at Drusilla. At
the last minute, Cordelia and Oz, each carrying a club, leaped
out of the entrance tunnel and clobbered two of the vampires.
"Some cavalry!" Willow shouted at the reinforcements,
"Where the hell were you two!?"
"'Van man' here couldn't find a parking place!" Cordelia
thumbed at Oz as she hefted the club in her hands. For a moment
she appreciated the weight and balance of the weapon.
"I can't help it if there's a Metallica concert at the
Arena! Man, they suck, too!" Oz snapped back, making a face
at Cordelia at the same time.
Buffy pitched one of the remaining vampires against a protruding
iron spike in the wall. He burst into dust. Spike frantically
rolled his wheelchair out the tunnel after Angelus.
"Give it up, Dru, you've lost this one!" he yelled
back over his shoulder as the line of vampires disintegrated before
the onslaught of the Slayer.
For a moment more Drusilla hesitated. Then, as if one last
shred of the Crown Princess remained, she cast a final glare of
fury at Buffy. Their eyes met in an invisible clash of wills.
Neither moved as if both were locked in each other's mental grip.
Then just as quickly, Drusilla turned away and vanished down the
tunnel after Spike. Buffy held her ground, not taking up the pursuit.
She breathed heavily, as her mind reeled from the power of the
creature she had just confronted.
"Uh, we don't mind being the wallflowers of this party
but do ya think. . . ?" Xander remarked as he jiggled his
chains and swung gently from the stone wall.
"Oh, Geez! Jonathan!" Buffy exclaimed as her trance
was broken, "Turn them loose!"
The young telekinetic slid to his knees and shook his head
trying to restore his strength and vision. The room was beginning
to spin. Still he waved one hand releasing Giles and Xander from
their bonds. Both flopped to the Chamber floor but instantly were
on their feet.
"Are you okay?" Willow said with concern as she struggled
to help Jonathan keep from collapsing.
"I don't know. . ." he said softly, "I think
I can see what's going to happen. And there's nothing we can do."
"What is it?"
Jonathan just shook his head.
" . . . no . . ." Willow whimpered sensing the weight
of the impending premonition.
"It's all right," he replied, "I owe you a great
debt, Lady Willow."
"It's just 'Willow' you know," she corrected him
for what seemed like the hundredth time as she felt a slight wetness
run down her face that wasn't from the mud in the tunnel.
"Just Willow, then," he said softly as he sank down
to the floor, his eyes closing.
"Buffy!" Giles yelled from across the chamber, "Drusilla
and Angelus still have Jonathan's book of spells! We've got to
get it back!"
Xander snatched up his trusty ax. Giles grabbed one of the
sacrificial double bladed axes used for severing the heads of
victims and Oz patted his club in his hands.
"Okay, guys!" Xander announced, "Let's show
the blood suckers what these babies can do! Buffy!"
Buffy looked up at Xander who cast his glance in the direction
of Willow and Jonathan.
"Someone needs you real bad right now," he announced
as he headed for the tunnel where the vampires had fled.
"Be careful!" Buffy called out.
"We'll be right back!" she heard his cheery response
echo from out of the dark.
Oz and Giles quickly followed.
* * * * *
Drusilla, Spike and Angelus, preceded by two other vampires,
plunged headlong in full flight through the branching passageways
from the Master's Chamber. Suddenly they were confronted with
an open ancient doorway. A burning torch hung from the wall on
the other side of the wall.
"Through here!" Spike yelled to Angelus, "Block
the doorway!"
"Who do you think you are you giving orders around here
. . ." Angelus snarled but Spike cut him off.
"Block it, you garlic brain!"
Angelus shoved the creaking door shut and threw an old sliding
bolt to lock the barricade shut. Spike snatched the Martel notebook
out of Angelus' hands and tossed it open onto the floor. He then
wheeled over to the torch, pulled it off the wall and rolled back
to the book. Quickly he shoved the flames into the dry parchment.
The book blazed up in a flash as if it were soaked in pitch.
"What the hell are you doing!?" Angelus shouted.
"I'm destroying the wizard, you fool!"
"No, Spike!" Drusilla cried out as if Spike was cutting
off the head one of her precious dolls without letting her help.
"Yes, Dru! This game is over! Once the spells are burned,
all that will be left of Martel will be an empty shell!"
"But all the wizard's power, all his knowledge . . ."
Angelus stammered.
". . .is not going to do us any bloody good if he's in
the Slayer's control!" Spike snapped back.
Spike shoved the torch against the book harder to ensure every
inch was engulfed. The flames illuminated the passageway with
a livid red glow. Seared by the light, tiny white skinned creatures
of the tunnels burrowed into the crevasses of the rocks.
"This way his mind and soul will vanish forever,"
the vampire declared.
"Spike! You don't tell Dru or me what to do!" Angelus
growled in a challenge. Immediately, Spike rose to meet it.
"I do now! All these games of yours, all they've gotten
us is a Slayer and a wizard working together. Hell! The Anointed
One had a better track record than you two! From now on, I'm back
and I'm calling the shots, got it!"
Angelus wilted. Besides it was a little late now to be arguing
with the Martel book of spells in flames.
"And I say we take out the wizard now!" Spike announced
with finality.
"But I so wanted Johannes to join our happy family,"
the old Drusilla pouted. Although Spike recognized the voice and
was comforted by its wicked familiarity, for a moment he longed
for the fierce creature of moments before that was fed by powers
far greater than he could imagine.
"Some things just weren't meant to be, luv. You can't
always get what you want. . . But you've still got me."
Giles, Oz and Xander reached the other side of the bolted door.
Xander yanked on the handle to no effect.
"No, luck?" Giles asked.
"I think a little persuasion is in order," Xander
answered with relish as he drew his ax back for a furious swing.
"Right!" Giles said as he slipped his glasses into
his vest pocket.
All three rained a hail of blows against the door handle. The
sound of crashing wood and bending metal echoed through the tunnel.
On the other side of the door, the vampires looked up as wood
began to splinter and ax points protruded through gashes in the
door. Spike poked the book with the torch one final time so that
it was fully ablaze. He tossed the torch aside.
"Now let's clear outta here!"
Drusilla took up her position at Spike's chair and wheeled
him toward an exit into the night at the end of the tunnel. Grumbling,
Angelus followed. As they all ran out into the darkness, Drusilla
pouted again.
"I'm so sorry, my love."
"That's all right, Dru, darling," Spike replied,
now comfortable with the old sound of her voice, "Happens
to the best of us."
Angelus glared at Spike who just smirked back.
Giles, Oz and Xander finally forced the door open, the shattered
wood and twisted bolt and lock howling in one final protest. Xander
and Oz ran in pursuit of the vampires, but Giles stopped by the
blazing notebook which was virtually all consumed. Xander and
Oz halted at the exit from the tunnel. Xander gazed out into the
night but saw no one. Both quickly returned to Giles who stood
staring at the now dying flames rising from the ashes of the notebook.
All realized what they were witnessing and its consequences.
" . . . oh, God. . ." Xander muttered quietly.
"This is the end of the line?" Oz asked Giles.
"We better get back to Buffy," the Watcher replied
as all turned and ran back up the tunnel the way they had come.
* * * * *
"Buffy! Cordy! Help me here!" Willow cried out as
Jonathan slid from her arms to the floor.
Buffy raced to their side and dropped down on her knees. For
a second, she stared in disbelief at the body lying just before
her on the cold stone floor. Martel opened his eyes and could
make out the out of focus image of Buffy.
"Hey, Couz . . ." he said softly.
"Jonathan! You're alive!" Buffy cried out as she
swept his limp body up in her arms.
"I heard you, all the time," Jonathan whispered weakly,
". . . even in the darkness when there was nothing else."
"Outside, a little while ago, I tried to talk to you,"
Buffy rambled as she ran her hands through his long brown hair
and pressed his face close against her cheek, "Somehow, I
knew you'd hear. Please forgive me."
"You did what we 'have to do,'" he whispered in her
ear, ". . . You know. That's the way it is with you and me
. . . You don't need me to forgive you . . . just forgive yourself."
Buffy understood and nodded.
"Lighten up on yourself, Couz," he said with a grin
as he weakly grasped her hand in his.
Buffy held his hand tightly. It was now solid and she swore
in her heart she would not let go.
Deep in the tunnel, the final flames enveloping the notebook
were dying out. Sheets of ash dropped to the floor from the little
pyre.
"I thought I'd lost you. You're going to get stronger
now," Buffy nodded encouragingly.
"Buffy . . . you have to let me go."
"You can hang out at Giles' as long as you need,"
she continued, not listening to him, "Rest up. You won't
have to do anything. We're gonna have those great times, remember?"
"I love you, Buffy." The words were almost inaudible.
"I love you, too, Jonathan," she replied, happy but
puzzled by his tone.
The shadows on the stone walls of the tunnel swelled as the
last flames in the notebook's ashes ran out of fuel and flickered
out..
". . . you must let me go . . ." he whispered.
"I don't understand. That's what you were saying in the
cemetery."
"I'm only a shadow," Jonathan said looking Buffy
directly in the eyes, "I died three weeks ago."
"No, you're still alive!" she argued in confusion,
"I can see you. I can touch you."
"You must let me go. I'll always be with you, as long
as you remember."
"No! Jonathan! Don't talk like that!"
"This is your new world," he answered weakly recalling
their night together dancing at the Bronze, "You said 'Don't
look back, 'cause it hurts too much.' So, don't . . . just remember
the good stuff, and I'll always be with you . . . just remember.
. . okay? . . . just remember . . ."
His voice trailed off like a fading call in a bottomless cavern.
The last dying rays of light from the burnt notebook flickered
out leaving ashes in the darkness.
Jonathan's eyes glassed over. Staring blankly ahead, he sank
into Buffy's arms in what appeared to be a deep coma.
"NO, Jonathan! I'm not losing you again!" Buffy's
cry rang off the unforgiving stones around her.
Giles, Xander and Oz burst into the chamber.
"Sorry, Buff, they got away," Xander said, wiping
his brow and wincing as he touched the bruises on his face.
"Giles! I can't wake Jonathan! I don't know what's happened!"
Buffy's eyes pleaded with her Watcher.
Giles swept down and knelt beside Buffy who had laid Jonathan
out on the floor. Giles briefly studied the comatose telekinetic's
eyes and tested his pulse. He then laid the motionless arm back
down on the cold stones.
"Buffy," he said as tactfully as he could, "The
vampires burned Jonathan's notebook. The spells, . . .they're
all gone. I'm afraid this is the end."
"But he's still alive!" the Slayer protested, "He's
breathing! He has a heartbeat!"
"That's only the power in the candles keeping the body
alive. His mind . . . his soul . . . the Jonathan Martel we know
. . . is gone."
"No! Giles!" Buffy screamed in fury at her Watcher,
"There's got to be something else you can do! Something in
one of your books!"
Unable to face Buffy, Giles looked down at the floor as he
answered.
"He knew this was the way it would end."
"Godammit, Giles! You have to do something! We have to
do something!"
Quickly Xander stepped up beside Buffy and placed his hand
gently on her shoulder.
"Easy there, Buff. We will."
Xander paused and took a deep breath marshaling the strength
he knew she would need.
"We're gonna take him home."
Buffy stared up at Xander and realized, just as always, he
was there again for her. She nodded in agreement.
* * * * *
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