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"Buffy, its alright luv, he's like me." Buffy still stared at the elderly intruder, but William's words meant nothing. As the old man took a step closer, Buffy felt a chill run through her, and she somehow knew.

"Buffy, he's-" Buffy silenced him when she placed her hand on his chest though. His blue eyes locked on hers questioningly, and he saw the fear there.

"Hello my dear" the old man spoke, and Buffy went rigid. William, sensing her terror, tried again to reassure her.

"Buffy, this man is trapped here like me, he's my friend." Buffy shook her head though, taking William's hand in hers.

"Something isn't right William, he isnt like you, there is something about him...its evil, I can feel it." William stood to greet the man, and pulled Buffy to her feet. Rather than standing with him to meet the visitor, she yanked her hand free and backed into the corner.

"Someone isn't feeling too friendly today" the older man smiled. William turned towards her in confusion. "William, my boy, let me handle this."

Still smiling, the priest approached Buffy, who had her back up against the wall. Despite her efforts to keep a distance from the older man, she was cornered. When he reached out and placed a weathered hand on her shoulder, she was powerless to pull away. The moment that his hand came into contact with her shoulder, the chill that she had felt became a searing burn, and images flooded into her mind.

Although her eyes were open, she did not see anything that was before her. Instead, she saw the altar, with the broken body of a young man draped over it. The angry crowd, its bloodthrist quenched, had receeded, leaving him there to die. From the shadows though, she saw the older man step forward, and reach a hand out over William, whose eyes had already glazed over with death. While the old man whispered incantations, and red light appeared around the young man's body. As Buffy watched in horror, the old man made eye contact with her, and she saw him as he was, in his dark priestly robes, with death, greed, and hatred eminating from his hunched form.

When the vision receeded, Buffy's eyes, seeing once again, were still locked on the old man's. As she realized the trap that had been set, she tried to bolt past the old man to get to William, who still stood near the bed, unaware of what was happening. With a flick of his wrist though, Buffy was flung back against the wall, and William was brought to his knees.

When William lifted his head, Buffy felt a wrenching pain at the look on his face. His blue eyes, normally bright, were dull with the realization that he was, once again, betrayed by someone close to him. The old man was unaffected.

"I'm so sorry my boy, I would have told you sooner, but I couldn't have you acting all heroic on me. It was bad enough you sent her away, but now that she's here I suppose I can forgive all that. So believe me when I tell you, this is nothing personal" He trailed off, waving his fingers in William's direction. At once, bright red spots appeared on his shirt, and the young man gasped out a ragged breath.

"I dont see any reason to hold you any more, I think you'll stay on your own" The priest told Buffy, realeasing her from the invisible forces that had held her pinned to the wall. Before she could reach William though, he collapsed sideways, his breath coming in short bursts, and his eyes wide with fear and pain.

"Mother!" He called out, sightlessly "Mother, please help me!" Buffy held his face in her hands, horrified that he had no knowledge that she was there with him. From all appearances, William was back in the past, on that fateful night when all he had known came crashing down around him.

"Hold on baby, please hold on!" Buffy yelled, but William could not hear her, couldnt see her.

"Mother!" He reached out a trembling hand into the air, grasping for something that wasnt there. Buffy kissed his tearstained cheeks, hoping to provide some comfort, but with no success. Furious, she turned on the old man.

"Stop this!" She cried, "you're killing him!"

The old man laughed, a harsh sound. "Nothing that hasn't happened before. This time though, he's going to die, like he would have in the first place. For all he knows and sees right now, he is on the altar, comepletely alone, feeling the chill beginning to seep into his body as the blood pours out. Look at that face!" Reaching out a hand, he grabbed Buffy's chin and forced her to look at William. "Amazing isn't it? Thats the face that someone makes when they have just realized that they are going to die. Throughtout time, bards and poets have spoken of that face as a calmness, as an acceptance of fate. Tell me though, do you see any calm there?"

Buffy's heart broke at the fear she saw in William's eyes. The innocence that had once been there, that she had seen and loved, was disappearing, replaced with the knowledge that he would die a damned man, condemned by the very one that had given him life. Balling her hands into fists, Buffy stood and faced the preist.

"Stop. Don't put him through that, not again. He doesn't deserve that. He hasnt done anything to deserve that. Take me instead! Just spare him, please." She cried out, holding his head to her chest as the life ran out of him.

"Deal" the old man said. With a flick of his wrist, Buffy felt a cold prick in her stomach, and then the cold began to spread. When she looked down, a stain bloomed on her shirt, growing larger as the bloodstains on William's clothes began to fade. Slowly, color came back to the young man's face, and he became conscious of his surroundings.

Feeling weak and dizzy, Buffy stumbled back towards the bed, reaching out blindly for something to help keep her upright at the pain worsened. Lying backwards on the bed, her deep breaths became more shallow, in her desperate effort to slow the process. William, still on the floor, lifted a hand to his stomach. Confused, he stumbled to his feet.


"What...?" he started to ask a question, but stopped midsentence when he saw the young woman now lying sprawled on the bed. He ran to her side, and took her hand. "Buffy? What happened?" He eyes drifted to the old priest, standing off to the side. As Buffy watched, his blue eyes burned red, and his entire body went rigid. Buffy grabbed his arm though, keeping him at her side.

"Please, it's no use. Dont leave, stay here with me." She said, the last word a whisper. "Its ok William, I love.." but her words trailed off, and she went limp.

"Buffy? Love?" William asked, caressing her cheek, then frantically searching for a heartbeat. There was none to be found. A tear slid down his cheek, but his grief turned quickly to cold fury. The priest stood off to the side, whispering frantically, reciting the spells that could bind the power of the sacrifice, that could grant him the power of restoration, or immortality. As he spoke, his feet left the ground and power crackled through the air around him. A strange light lifted from the young woman's prone body, and sizzled through the air, sparking and snapping as if it were alive. The old priest waited with open arms, bracing himself for the violent shock as the strange force entered his body. He waited, but felt nothing.

When he opened his eyes to see what had happened to the strange light, he was facing William, whose outstretched arms and red eyes radiated that power.

"No!" The priest screamed, "its mine!" But William had already absorbed the energy, it was too late. The young man tilted his head back, and light seemed to explode from him, from his hands, his fingers, his eyes. The priest, blinded by bright light, tried to shield his face with his arms, which immediately burst into flame. As he screamed, William turned away.

The young man, grief lacing his voice, spoke at a whisper, but his voice was heard amplified in the priest's ears.

"Now, old man, now you will know what it feels like to die alone" But by the time he finished his bitter statement, his attention had already left the priest behind him, and focused instead on the body that lie on the bed.

With a bowed head and tears in his eyes, William began to pray to whoever would listen.

"This power, take it, I have no use for it. Restore this woman to me, and you can have it all back. Bring her back to me, that's all I ask." With those words spoken, he took the young woman into his arms, and began to cry.

As he lay there, with Buffy's lifeless body in his arms, he slowly became aware of what was happening around him. The power seeped from him like tears, and flowed in rivers across the floor, and out the doorway. Down the hall, the altar that had once been his deathbed cracked in two. The glass of the intricate stained windows shattered, and all around stone and rock came crashing to the ground as the church was destroyed along with its priest. The wooden columns burst into flame, and the pews became dust. With the church falling down around him, he lifted Buffy and walked down the hall, out the front gate, and into the rain. While the building crumbled, something inside of him broke.

"I beg you! " He yelled out, as the very foundations of the church were rocked. "Give her back to me, please! Take me!"

Lightening sizzled through the air above him, and thunder crackled around him. Unafraid, William stood and looked to the sky, raising a fist into the air. "Take all that I have, but bring her back!" He cried, as the very heavens above him exploded with light. The defeaning sound brough him to his knees, and he threw himself over Buffy to shield her from the ash and stone that rained down as the church was destroyed in one violent implosion.

Then, just as suddenly as it began, all was silent. William, weak, bruised, and bloody, lifted his head and sat up, surrounded by the debris and the destruction that had once been a church. As he lifted a hand to wipe the rain from his eyes, he felt fingers tentatively grasp his wrist. Looking down, his blue eyes met green ones. With shaking arms, William lifted Buffy into his arms and embraced her.

"Its over" he soothed, as he kissed away the tears that had trickled onto her cheeks. She smiled into his cheek, and whispered "no its not."

He leaned back, and rested his forehead against hers. "No kitten, you're right, it isnt. "A smile graced his features, as Buffy traced a finger along his sharp cheekbone, down his jawline, and over his lips. He kissed her finger softly.

"William, I didn't get to say it before, but I love you too." She said softly. He smiled in response, and kissed her deeply.

"I know you do, luv, you showed me." When she looked up at him questioningly, he brushed a strand of hair from her face. "When I was back there, when i knew I was dying in that other time, even though I had never met you in that reality, I knew somehow that I loved you, and I felt you with me. Even then you saved me. "

The two lovers embraced again, as the sun began to break through the clouds above, and the darkness that had plagued them was finally gone.





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