Connor was next to Faith muttering, “Come on, I know I can do this!” Buffy picked up her sword and fended off those Turok’s who decided that a pissed off slayer and her vampire lover were still tasty treats. 

“Damn it!” He shouted, frustrated. “The power’s right there, I can feel it. Why isn’t anything happening?” 

“Connor?” Angelus asked, placing his hand on the boy’s small, thin shoulder. 

“I know I can heal her, I know the powers are in me, but I can’t access it. It’s as if something’s blocking it. Or me.” 

“It’s not up to you,” Angelus said, watching Buffy. “You have to get rid of these Turok-Hans. That’s what that power is for, Connor. You have it within you to destroy all the vampires below.” 

Connor turned to look at the man who was and was not his father in surprise. “What,” he asked in a tired voice, “Are you talking about?” 

“Just relax, Connor, let it come naturally,” Angelus offered with the only advice he had to offer. He felt Buffy’s smaller hand sneak into his, and gripped the comfort she offered gratefully. They still had the First to fight, everyone knew that, but It didn’t seem inclined to care about them at the moment.

Buffy glanced over her shoulder, looking to where the First, still in her form, lounged negligently in the stone throne. A small smug smile played around Its lips, making her features look hard and cold. Buffy frowned, and turned back to Connor. Something wasn’t right there but she didn’t know what. 

“Why is It smiling like that?” Buffy demanded as she again knelt next to Faith, leaving Connor to destroy the Turok’s. 

Angelus looked over to the First and frowned. “Maybe Its waiting for something,” he suggested. “All this could have been a distraction for whatever the Harvest was.”  

“Then we really are too late?” Buffy whispered, placing her hands over Faith’s gut wound. “I won’t accept that.” 

“Connor,” Angelus instructed, hating that this was what he’d been reduced to. Helping the White Hats. Of all the indignities. “Kill the Turok-Hans, son, so we can get on with this.” 

Angelus looked from his son to his lover, silent for a long minute as Connor stared back at him in disbelief. He knew, as well as he knew Buffy, that she wasn’t one to leave a fight; she was already healing Faith, as quickly as she could, so she could fight the First. 

Connor was concentrating his energies, and a strange glow was forming around him. Having a bad feeling about this, Angelus dove forward, catching Buffy by surprise just as she finished closing Faith’s wound. They tumbled against the wall, and he drug them behind an outcropping. 

An instant later, Connor’s eerie white glow lighted up the entire cavern, taking out Turok’s and demons alike, forcing the rest to flee into the pre-dawn night. At least there was a second front there, though how good they’d do against those who worked for the First was anyone’s guess. 

“Are you okay?” Buffy demanded, hands roaming over him as the light faded. “Damn it, Angelus,” she whispered, “What the hell happened?” 

“Connor took out the Turok’s, or most of them. Didn’t want to get caught in the crossfire.” 

With a sigh of relief, Buffy kissed him, hard and fast, “Let’s go kick some First ass,” she said and stood, pulling him towards the rocky steps at the far end of the ledge. 

“Connor, will you be okay?” Angelus asked his son, though wasn’t sure why he bothered, as he followed Buffy. 

“Yeah,” Connor nodded weakly, “Go…dad.”

Angelus looked at the boy strangely for a moment before following Buffy down the rocky steps. Dad. Huh. It had a strange sound coming from his son, but not an entirely…bad one. 

Buffy waited at the top of the stairs for Angelus, and together they raced down them, heading for the still confident looking Buffy-First. 

“I’m so kicking Its ass,” Buffy mumbled to her lover, “Of all the dead people in this world, It has to choose me?” 

“At least It has taste, lover,” Angelus murmured, sharing Buffy’s feelings on killing It. The master vampire didn’t like being reminded of her death, or how that bitch Willow tore her out of heaven. Given the choice, Angelus would always choose to have his love here, with him. But to tear her out of peace and tranquility? Even the demon howled in anger and pain. 

Slowing the nearer they got to It, the couple automatically took their preferred fighting stance next to each other. It was a complimentary position, one Buffy hadn’t had a chance to use in entirely too long – of course, she usually used this stance with Angel, but Angelus had all Angel’s memories. Plus, the soul was still within the demon, lending support and knowledge in protecting their mate. 

“You’re too late.” It taunted in a sing song voice that had Buffy scowling again. 

“Please tell me I never sounded like that,” she asked Angelus, who merely chuckled. 

“It’s already begun,” the First said, ignoring them. “Nothing can stop it now. My beautiful Blood Harvest is coming to fruition, and it’s going to be a wonderful sight.” 

“Like you’re the first being I’ve heard that from,” Buffy mocked. “That’s what they all say, oh, too late now.” She inched forward, Angelus right next to her. “And guess what? I always win.” 

It laughed, rising fluidly to stand before the image It still retained. “Little girl, you have no idea who you’re dealing with.” 

“I know enough to know that I can win,” the slayer said confidently, the power of the slayers flowing through her, surging to the fore at the affront to their power and heritage. This was it then, this was what they were meant to do. And they were all ready for it.

As slayers throughout time merged further into her, with her, as her, Buffy felt it all, felt the power, the strength, the energy; more importantly, she felt the knowledge, their knowledge all the way back to the First Slayer, and her destiny. Buffy knew what she had to do, and she was determined to do so. So she smiled and advanced another step. 

“I know how to win because I am the essence of everything that’s ever beaten you before. There’s something even you don’t know, baby,” another step, then another, and Buffy was now within striking distance. Angelus still guarded her side, further away now so as not to interfere with her battle but always with her. Guarding her, protecting her. Loving her. 

“All the slayers flow through me, all their power and knowledge, and even more than that. Plus, I have something a little more.” Buffy watched as It picked up the sword leaning against the side of the stone chair. Where did that sword come from? And since when was the First corporeal? Did it have something to do with the Blood Harvest? 

Oh, that probably wasn’t a good thing, but it made sense to Buffy now. The Harvest was meant to make the First as tangible as the evil that already permeated humankind. But tangible meant she could kill it. Buffy smiled, knew Angelus was right behind her, and knew he understood the implications of everything as well. 

“Angelus,” It purred in Buffy’s voice, “I’m so disappointed in you. All I offered, all I gave to you, and this is my payment? I even gave you the slayer, just as you wanted.” Buffy-First shook Its head in mock sadness, though the anger was nearly tangible in the air “This is how you repay me. Well,” It shrugged, a satisfied smile on Its face, as It licked Its lips. “When I take what you want the most, you’ll beg me for mercy.” 

Angelus froze, eyes red and glowing on It. He knew what the First needed to complete Its harvest. Buffy. It needed his beloved. It needed his only reason for continuing on this earth, the only reason in nearly three-hundred years of living that he’d found worth fighting for. 

“Buffy,” he whispered, eyes sliding to his love. 

“See there’s something you don’t know, slayer,” It said as It swung the sword in a lazy arc towards Buffy’s head that seem to take forever, but arrived much more quickly than the slayer would have expected. 

Parrying it, they began. Thrust, parry, thrust, duck, arc. It was a slow moving fight that defied the speed of eye. “My Blood Harvest is almost finished. The blood of a thousand innocents has already been spilled in the chamber you, yourself christened several long years ago. Couldn’t have done it without ya, babe,” It mocked, “I really must thank you for that.” 

Another swing of the quickly approaching sword that Buffy parried, and It finished with an excited smile, “All it needs is one final ingredient. Lucky for me, that element can be one of two things. And they’re both on the verge of giving it to me because hey, two is better than one, right?” 

“Get to Connor,” she commanded Angelus, hoping he’d listen. “If he falls, it doesn’t matter what happens to me.”

“That’s where you’re wrong, lover,” Angelus snarled, eyes back on the First. He couldn’t interfere in the fight, that would risk Buffy’s life. But he so wanted to kill It before harm came to his beloved. 

“Angelus,” she all but pleaded. “Please.” 

Buffy spared a glance at Angelus, but the vampire was already racing back up the stairs towards Connor and Faith. What the hell was It talking about? What could Connor have to give to the First to complete the harvest? 

“Gotta tell you,” It mused, sweeping the sword through the air once more. “I’m impressed. You’ve not only managed to take out my glorious army, with that pain in my ass Destroyer…honestly, I’d expected more from you, dear Buffy,” It said and shifted into the image of Darla just long enough to throw Buffy off her game. “The boy’s mine, mine and Angel’s, he has nothing of you in him, child,” Darla continued, before changing back to Buffy’s form. “I’ll never figure out why you decided not to kill him; he’s the son of your greatest enemy, your only rival for Angelus’ affections.” 

It shook Its head, laughing. “And now you’ve forced me to actually fight. Impressive, slayer, very impressive.” 

Then it all happened at once. 

Angelus pounced on the demon sneaking up on Connor who was helping a woozy Faith stand, using his energies, now a soft purple glow that surrounded the two of them, to complete Buffy’s quick healing job. The long limb, six-armed creature howled in pain but didn’t back down, determined to complete its only mission. 

The First stabbed Its sword through Buffy’s stomach, grinning triumphantly as It did so just as Buffy swung her own sword, blessed as it was by some long forgotten somebody, decapitating her likeness, and weakening the First to the point of non-corporalness, if the sudden shimmering of the body was any indication. 

Buffy screamed in pain and simultaneous healing, the First screamed in anger and fury. Faith screamed because she felt Buffy’s pain as it added to her own, and her own healing thanks to Buffy. A flash of lightening crashed through the cavern from nowhere and everywhere, and Angelus bellowed Buffy’s name. 

“You bitch!” It hissed, bouncing from form to form with no breaks, unable to grasp onto one image long enough to fully form a likeness. “Do you really think that by injuring me you win? You know nothing!” 

Her body still screamed, but Buffy looked at the rapidly changing image of the First with triumph in her eyes. Her eyes shifted from hazel to a golden white, the heritage she now carried; demon and slayers. Her aura glowed with that as well, and when she spoke, it was not with one voice but with hundreds, thousands. All the slayers, from the First Slayer to Buffy joined in as she (they) advanced towards the being known as the First Evil. 

They understood.

“Wrong, we do,” her voice (their voice) echoed around the cavern. “We win, you lose; you can’t complete your little Harvest because the final component will never be yours. Faith is ours; she is our child, our daughter, sister, mother, friend, ancestor and descendant. Connor is ours as well; he is hope, future, beginnings. And you will never have the power to complete your Harvest now, because you will never have all that you need.” 

She slowly advanced on It as It howled in impotent rage; even Its Harbingers were dead. It could raise another army, that wasn’t the point or the problem. No the immediate problem was that in order to raise that army, It’d need time; and It sensed a distinct lack of that. 

“You should have waited, should not have been so impatient to complete the Harvest before its time; there is a reason for all things, being, and you have squandered that reason.” 

Two beings suddenly gleamed next to Buffy, and it was then that It realized what happened. “WE are disappointed in you, child, yet expected nothing else. The Blood Harvest was not foretold for centuries yet, and because of your impulsiveness you have destroyed the balance WE have maintained for millennia. However,” THEY continued, “WE have compensated for your impudence.” 

Connor, Faith, and Angelus were suddenly beside Buffy, and the slayer looked to her mate with the same sightless eyes that saw all. She moved beside him, still humming with the power within her. He gathered her in his arms, wincing at the contact from so powerful a being. He wanted her, wanted her power, the forces that flowed with her, wanted to take her right then and there, showing everyone, even these mysterious beings, who Buffy belonged to. 

But he waited, exercising a patience he hadn’t bothered with in ages. There were things that needed to be finished first. Buffy stepped back from him, turning back to the once more incorporeal First, and Faith. 

Faith looked around at the nearly empty cavern, wondering what she’d missed, what with the nearly dying and all. Then she felt the power from Buffy, and was drawn to it, to her. This was the same power that crawled through her, Faith, only to an exponential degree. Faith took Buffy’s hand in hers, adding her own slayer strength/power/life to that which was Buffy. The blonde slayer glowed that much brighter, the radiance surrounding Faith, now, as well. 

Connor started to glow, too, and Angelus, panicked for his lover, tried to break Buffy’s trance, bring her back to him. Buffy took his hand in her other one, holding the larger one so Angelus couldn’t move, and turned him to face her. She ran that hand across his cheek, not letting go of Faith’s hand, and smiled at him before kissing him. The power that now surrounded the three of them was enough to make Angelus gasp in shock. 

Then he was crushing her closer, craving more. 

She smiled, leaning against him for a moment, before stepping away, though her hand still clasped his. 

The beings continued, “WE have the child, as was predestined; He will ascend with US and restore the balance. The bond between the Souled Vampire and The Slayer has been restored; their combined power enough to close the portal you sought to open.” 

Faith watched, her own eyes glowing with a whiteness similar to Buffy’s that would have freaked her out had she known, as Buffy drew back from Angelus. Souled vampire? Freaky; as far as Faith knew, Angel was gone, and the demon reigned in his place. So what the hell were these strange new beings talking about? 

Both Angelus and Buffy glowed with that same freaky all the colors but no true one that the shimmery beings did. What the fuck…? She was so lost. But the energy that was in her, now, told her more than she needed to know. 

She wasn’t ready for this, Faith thought; she wasn’t ready to be the one, the slayer. Was it too late to run? 

Pulling away, Angelus looked to where his son stood. “Connor?” Understanding slammed through Angelus as he realized what and who his son was, and was supposed to be. The fact that this child was his child was something the vampire doubted he’d truly ever comprehend. Angel, Angelus. Soul, Demon. His son. 

“It’s okay, dad,” Connor grinned, not at all surprised to call the vampire before him that. “This is what I was supposed to do. I realized it when I met Doyle, he told me everything, showed me what I was supposed to be.” He walked to where his father stood, still near Buffy though the slayer was no longer clinging to him. “Thanks, dad,” he said and Angelus thought he hadn’t heard him right. 

“For what?” Angelus demanded, not comfortable with any of this. “Not torturing you until you died?” 

“Things worked out just as they were supposed to.” Connor said, ignoring Angelus’ rhetoric remark. He hugged Angelus then, a brief contact that surprised the both of them, and turned to Buffy. “It’s been a pleasure, Slayer,” Connor said to the still glowing woman. “I know you’ll have a long and happy life.” 

Buffy smiled; her sightless eyes saw his true form, the almost unbridled energy that was also the beings next to her. She said nothing, unsure what to say and equally doubtful of Connor’s words. But she hugged him, feeling his power call to hers. This was Angel’s son, Angelus’ son, and as much as she hated the fact his mother was Darla – was anyone other than her – Buffy couldn’t hate the child. 

“They want to kill him,” Connor whispered. “They want to take Angelus down and make sure the soul is back.” 

“They can’t do that,” Buffy said, knowing that only the two of them could hear their conversation. How she knew, Buffy wasn’t sure, but she knew. “The soul is still within, Angel’s still there, or what we’re about to do wouldn’t work. Besides,” she smiled, genuine and loving, “Eternity is a long time. Everyone needs a hobby.” 

Connor nodded, as if he expected this, and stood back. With a final nod, he disappeared with the strange beings, leaving a fuming First Evil, a confused slayer, and a couple who needed years of therapy or some serious one on one marathon talks, to get past all their combined issues. 

“This is not done, slayer,” It said in the form of someone no one recognized. “Time is on my side, and when I’m strong enough again, you’ll be sorry you ever went against me.” 

“I’m sorry we ever met, does that count?” Buffy quipped. 

It growled, a fair imitation of a vampire’s growl, and vanished. Buffy watched it go, with a smile. She turned to Faith. “You ready to blow this joint?” Buffy asked just as the cavern began to shake. 

“Yeah, just tell me how.” Faith really wanted to get out of here, but knew they had to finish this first. Damn priorities. 

“You can’t,” Buffy said, her eyes still glowing a sightless white. “Leave now, while you can still get out. Angelus and I have to do this. We have to close it.” 

Faith nodded, shooting a cocky smile at her sister slayer, and left the cavern. She didn’t know what the couple was planning, but knew she wanted to be as far away from it as she could. Closing the Hellmouth didn’t sound as easy as some thought it was. 

“Ready, love?” Buffy asked, holding out her hand to Angelus.
~~~~~~~~~~
Faith raced through a secondary exit running for her life. This path also circled upwards, winding in circles that, at the breakneck speed she was running, was treacherous even to a slayer. 

Faith suddenly skidded to a halt, that same feeling creeping through her, the one from the earlier cave that all but crippled her and Buffy. Collapsing to her knees, Faith wrapped her arms around her stomach as if afraid her insides would explode. What the hell had happened in this damn cave that made her react this way? What caused both her and Buffy to break down when they were in here? 

Faith felt herself being picked up off the ground, arms hard and yet gentle around her. She looked up and saw Gunn’s face in the dim light. She didn’t know where the light was coming from, and didn’t care. He moved her from the floor of the cave, into the sewers, waiting as she calmed. 

“What the fuck was that?” She wanted her voice to be strident but it came out a wispy thread laced with pain. 

“Don’t know,” Gunn said, “Don’t care. We have to get out of here, can you walk?” 

“Yeah,” Faith nodded, and stumbled to her feet. 

Ignoring her pain, Faith tried to reach out with her slayer senses, tried to get a bead on what was happening with her sister slayer and the may or may not be souled vampire. She was safe and waiting. For what, Faith didn’t know, but as long as she was safe, that was enough for her. Faith wasn’t sure what she could do to help, anyway, except live long enough to get the hell out of the Hellmouth. 

A minute more passed, and Gunn helped Faith stand; they continued though the sewers that were still connected to the high school. Talk about your déjà vu. Were they always this convoluted? Was the basement always this big? 

Minutes later Faith emerged from the sewers, raced through the shaking rebuilt school, and out into the lightening night. She cleared the school with moments to spare before the structure collapsed in on itself, seemingly sucked into the Hellmouth that lay beneath it. Again the slayer was struck by the stupidity – or irony – of building a high school over the gateway to hell. The former mayor either knew what he was doing, or dear Richard had a fine sense of humorous irony.
~~~~~~~~~~
Buffy stood next to her love, the essence of demon and soul, Angel and Angelus, and took his hand in hers. Once more, she combined her power with his, creating enough energy that he wondered it didn’t burn the soul right out of him. Visible sparks, golden and white, jumped between them, a blinding glow surrounded the couple, and drew them closer. The power that flowed through each of them had nowhere to go, nothing more to do than merge, unite, combine to make more. 

And more it did make, until only Angelus could hear Buffy’s voice as it echoed around him and through him and was him, as much as his answer was her and hers. 

“Both of us are needed to stop the Harvest and to close the Hellmouth once and for all.” Her voice was once again her own, but this singularity did nothing to detract from her presence. “It’s almost dawn, my love, so we have to hurry or it’ll be too late to stop the harvest.” 

Angelus barely had time to nod his agreement before their power, once more merged and shooting golden-white sparks around the grounds…exploded outward. 

Those golden-white sparks increased exponentially, and suddenly shot towards the ground the high school stood atop, enveloping it in a flash of light that could be seen for miles around. Screams and cries of a thousand, thousand pained and angry demons reared towards the sky in a flash of color and sound. 

The higher everything went up, the quicker it got sucked back into the ground, the hole that had appeared when the light encased it closing rapidly as more and more things were sucked into it. Smaller and smaller the hole collapsed in on itself much like the school did; until whatever debris that remained from the school was sucked in as well. 

Going with instinct, Angelus tilted Buffy’s head to the side, licking the scarred tissue there, feeling her own mouth on the side of his neck. Something pushed him to do this final act, and he couldn’t resist. Didn’t want to resist and, apparently, neither did Buffy. Together they each pierced the other’s skin, Angelus’ face changing as he did so, Buffy’s canines elongating as the only sign she was changed from his turning. 

Sips only were required in this exchange, more ceremonial than anything else, but in order for their power to reach its full potential, it was required. Power flowed so seamlessly through them, between them, that there was nothing to separate them, just a single being shared. 

Just as suddenly as it began, it stopped. Eerie silence ricocheted around them as if even sound had been trapped beneath the still glowing hole? – Hellmouth? – ground? – something no one could see? It was hard to tell; the glow encompassed all and showed no sign of fading. Then the glow also surrounding Angelus and Buffy dissipated, and everything was a black so dark it hurt one’s eyes. 

Hands still joined, Angelus turned to Buffy and kissed her, sparking one final flame that shot into the night sky, one light for the both of them. 

The Souled Vampire and The Slayer were joined again. 

They broke apart, Angelus still holding Buffy in his arms as they realized what they’d done. Closed the Hellmouth, stopped the First’s Blood Harvest with moments to spare, destroyed the high school again. And bound themselves together as one entity: soul, demon, slayer. 

That was when the shaking started, and Buffy collapsed into Angelus’ arms. The ground that held the ruined high school was falling in on itself, collapsing again and again, and they were in danger of being buried. Their power had closed the Hellmouth, had ruined another school, but the ground, desecrated as it was, needed to cleanse itself. 

Holding her close, Angelus raced out of the cavern, instinct taking over as he followed a path he’d never seen before. He had to get Buffy out of there, had to save her. This was what she wanted; they’d defeated the First, closed the Hellmouth, and saved her pathetic friends. If she died now, it’d be for naught, and Angelus wasn’t about to let that happen. 

“Come on, baby,” he whispered, “Don’t die on me now!” 

He made it to the top, not entirely sure how he’d done so, Buffy still clutched tightly in his arms. She was alive, unconscious but alive, and he wanted to weep at that. Naturally, he didn’t, but Angelus was relieved enough to want to do so. 

He felt something tug at him, and turned in its direction. Faith, Gunn, Wesley, and Wood stood there, the three males looking as if they’d had their own fight, Faith looking like she wanted to sleep for a month. Smoke and debris filled the space between them, but Angelus knew the four could see. Could see him holding his precious bundle.

He sent a smirk across the distance, his laugh echoing around them before turning and disappearing in a swirl of leather. Buffy never stirred. 

“Shouldn’t we go after him?” Gunn wondered, but made no move to follow the vampire. 

“Perhaps,” Wes said, but also stayed where he was standing. He had no desire to face his former boss again; his wounds – physical and emotional – had yet to heal from the last visit. 

“No,” Faith said, shaking her head. “It wouldn’t do any good.” 

“So we’re just going to let him walk away?” Robin asked, incredulous. He didn’t understand this group, wondered if he ever would. “How do you know he won’t vamp her? Then we’d have two damn near indestructible monsters on the loose.” 

“We couldn’t stop him anyway,” Faith whispered, eyes straining to catch one last glimpse at the retreating forms. She looked at the three men, looking angry and righteous in their mission. Laughing, her cocky attitude not completely gone, she added in all seriousness, “Even with you three helping me, we would loose.” 

She shook her head, the pain and experience of the past – and what had just happened – settling on her shoulders. “He didn’t have to do what he did. Angelus did it for her. It’s always about Buffy. He won’t vamp her, don’t worry about that. He has what he wanted. B with him. Always.” 

“How do you know?” Gunn demanded, his hatred for Angelus not abated in the least. 

“Because,” Faith said and turned to make her way to the car Angelus left them. Not his classic, no, but another. Faith wondered if it was his idea or Buffy’s. She was betting it was B’s.

“We’re still alive.”
 ~~~~~~~~~
“Where are we meeting up?” Robin asked as they drove out of Sunnydale.

No one answered, looking sheepishly at the others. “Ah, we never made it that far in the planning?” Faith offered, sliding across the seat to where Gunn drove. “How about Vegas?” 

Gunn nodded his enthusiasm, and Robin agreed. The closer they drove to the appropriately named Sin City, the more Faith felt the presence of the others. She wasn’t sure how that was possible, but didn’t question it. 

Buffy and Angelus dominated her thoughts, and she hoped that wherever they ended up, Buffy was happy. She deserved it. Even if her happiness was with a semi-souled bloodsucking vampire 

Faith told her companions about what happened in the cave, only realizing after the story that she’d have to repeat it again to Giles. But she shrugged it off; even though she’d been there Faith doubted most of what she saw. Maybe that was a good thing? 

And she had no idea what Angelus and Buffy had done to close the Hellmouth, for that was what she assumed they had done down there. 

They eventually found the rest of the gang by chance driving, and a lucky phone call from Wesley who miraculously still had his cell phone with him, to Anya, who never went anywhere without hers. With so many people to accommodate, they were taking up four of the larger rooms at the Treasure Island hotel. No one asked how anything was paid for. Giles just smiled and said it was ‘on the house.’ 

Faith collapsed on a bed, scowled at the remaining potentials to get the fuck out of her private domain, and tried to sleep. She had things she wanted to do now, get to know Gunn better, she still had to tell Giles what had happened, and she knew Dawn wanted to know what happened to her sister. But she needed sleep.

God, she needed sleep! 

Dawn snuck in an hour later. “She’s alive, Dawnie,” Faith assured the girl she’d apparently never knew. 

“Then where is she?” Hope, trust, fear, hurt, sorrow. 

“I don’t know. But she’s with Angelus, and he won’t ever let anything happen to her.” 

Faith pulled the girl down next to her, and held her as she cried out her fear and sorrow. The youngest Summers’ had seen too much in her short life, and she deserved this release. 

“I miss her,” Dawn said before falling asleep. 

“Yeah, Dawnie, me, too.”
~~~~~~~~~~
“What happened” Buffy asked groggily, snuggling back into Angelus’ strong protective embrace. 

“We won,” he smirked, a bragging note in his voice. 

“And the others?” 

“Alive,” he shrugged, “And unimportant.” 

“Where are we?” She could feel herself falling back asleep, too tired to argue with him now. She’d get in touch with Dawn later, assure her sister that all was well, and that she was alive and doing fine. And that while she loved Dawn, Buffy had no intention of ever seeing her – or anyone else – again. 

“Anywhere you want, my love,” Angelus whispered against her neck, kissing the scar there. “The world is ours.”

Part 8

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