Carefully pushing the front door open, Buffy cast a brief look over her shoulder before stepping inside, Angel and Spike not far behind. She stopped in the middle of the living room, her eyes immediately landing on the wooden door she knew led down to the basement. It was wide open.
She glanced at the two vampires, her expression turning grim. “Guess this means we’ve found Rowan. He has to be down there.” As she took a hesitant step towards the door, her eyes suddenly widened in alarm. “You guys smell that?”
Spike cocked his head to the side, sniffing the air. “Smoke.”
“Yeah.” Angel nodded in agreement. “That ought to be a good sign. Right?” Despite his words, he didn’t sound totally convinced.
Buffy bit her lip. “Maybe, if Rowan’s already managed to set the evil beast on fire. But if that’s the case, shouldn’t he be back up here by now? Unless-”
“Unless he’s trapped,” Spike finished. He had been quiet since they left the car, although he had followed Buffy and Angel into the house without hesitation. However, he remained by the front door, clearly reluctant to move further inside.
Feeling sympathy well up inside her at his obvious discomfort, Buffy was about to suggest he’d go back and wait in the car. Then she decided against it, knowing perfectly well that he would refuse. Instead she walked over to him, gently putting her hand on his arm. He gave her a strained smile, and she could feel the tension roll off him in waves.
Suddenly there was a rumbling sound coming from beneath them, and the floor started vibrating. Angel went over to the staircase, stopped in the doorway and put his hand on the door frame. He frowned when he felt a pulsating sensation under his palm, as if the house was suddenly breathing on its own. “Um, guys? Something’s happening.”
“No kidding,” Spike muttered, sarcastically. His vision was still blurry, but he could make out various shapes and colors, and had been able to walk from the car by himself without tripping or walking into something.
Buffy’s eyes darted around the room, suspiciously. “Why do I get the feeling the house is about to collapse?”
“You two stay here. I’ll go down looking for Rowan.” Angel disappeared through the door without waiting for a response.
“Angel, wait! Dammit!” Buffy rolled her eyes before turning back to Spike. “Maybe we should go back outside. Before-“ She gasped as the large windows simultaneously exploded, causing glass to shatter all over the room. Spike reacted instinctively, pulling Buffy down on the floor with him and shielding her body with his.
~ ~ ~
Gasping for air, Rowan tried to locate Morou, but the thick, black smoke was spreading quickly and made it next to impossible to see anything. He thought he heard a low, hissing sound from somewhere across the room, but he couldn’t be sure it came from the demon. It might just as well be the cracking of the fire. The fire that was minutes away from swallowing him, along with the rest of the house.
That was okay, though, as long as it meant the end of the evil, sadistic beast he had spent the last months of his life serving. Morou’s disturbing prediction about him going to Hell kept haunting him, though, but Rowan tried not to dwell on it, telling himself it didn’t matter. Wherever he was going, up or down, his time was almost up.
It was getting harder and harder to breathe, and he began to feel dizzy. Then he heard a shrill, shrieking sound, almost like a scream. The strange part was that it seemed to come from all around the room at once, as if the house itself was hurting and crying out in protest. The blood-curling noise just kept growing louder and louder, making Rowan’s skin crawl.
Suddenly Morou appeared right in front of him, causing Rowan to let out a startled yelp and try, unsuccessfully, to back away. However, it soon became clear to him that the creature was no longer aware of his presence. Smoke and flames were coming out of the demon’s eyes, ears and nose, and the mouth was just a black hole, open in a silent scream.
“You’re toast,” Rowan smugly told the burning demon, watching in fascination how Morou was forced to his knees, unable to escape the large flames surrounding him. That was when the creature started wailing, furiously. It only lasted for a few seconds, though, and before Rowan knew it, all that remained was an immobile heap of bones on the floor. A moment later, there was nothing left but ashes.
Hit by a wave of exhaustion, Rowan slumped back against the wall, lacking the strength he needed to hold himself up. “I fucking did it,” he mumbled then, surprised by his accomplishment. In all honesty, he hadn’t really counted on winning the battle. As his eyelids started feeling heavy, he closed his eyes with a resigned sigh.
Although the walls were shaking and crumbling around him, Rowan suddenly felt more peaceful than he had in years. It was over. Morou wouldn’t be able to hurt anyone else. It was a long shot, but he figured there was at least a fifty percent chance The Powers would have mercy on his soul and allow him to reunite with Julie in the end. The thought made him smile.
Then he realized he was still holding Spike’s zippo lighter in a tight grip, and found himself wishing there was a way for him to return it. By the look of things, when all this was over, the lighter would end up buried under the rubble. It seemed wrong, somehow. Surely it deserved a better fate than that. After all, he wouldn’t have been able to defeat Morou without it.
~ ~ ~
Hurrying down to the basement, Angel was pleased to find that the stone door at the bottom of the stairs was in fact open, unlike the last time. Black smoke was welling out of the room, but it didn’t stop him. After all, it wasn’t like he needed to breathe. He stepped through the door, and froze in his tracks when he found himself in the middle of an inferno.
Waving his hand in front of his face in a fruitless attempt to see anything through the thick smoke, he finally spotted Rowan’s still form over by the far wall. Quickly striding across the room, Angel was filled with relief as he managed to pick up the sound of the other man’s heartbeat. It was faint, but at least it was there.
There was no trace of the demon, and Angel could only hope it meant that it was over. He had no way of knowing for sure, but he didn’t have time to find out. Right now, getting Rowan out of there was his main priority. Hopefully, Morou would go down along with the house.
He crouched down next to the blond, carefully shaking him by the shoulder. “Rowan? Come on, we’ve got to go!” No response. Angel let out a sigh, and hoisted the unconscious man over his shoulder with a feeling of deja vu. Well, at least this would hopefully be the last time he’d have to haul someone up those stairs.
~ ~ ~
“Buffy! You okay, luv?” Spike pulled back, grabbed her shoulders and searched her face intentively as he tried to check for any sign of damage. She should be just fine, seeing how he had done his best to protect her from the flying shards of broken glass, but he didn’t trust his eyes just yet to be sure. He could smell blood, but thankfully, he immediately recognized it as his own.
“Yeah.” Her response came out breathlessly. “Spike, you’re bleeding.” He felt her hand brush against his face a moment before her worried eyes finally came fully into his view, and he sucked in a breath he didn’t really need.
“Right.” He kept staring into her eyes, unable to look away, and it took a moment for her words to register. Shaking his head to clear it, he then brought his hand up to carefully touch the gash on his cheek. Frowning briefly at the blood on his fingers, he let out a soft chuckle. “’M fine.” He paused for a moment. “You’re beautiful.”
Her eyes narrowed in confusion, then her lips parted slightly and she stared at him in astonishment. “You mean you can see me? Really see me?” He just nodded, certain that his voice would fail him, and watched how a huge smile started to spread on her face.
There was a loud crash as a heavy bookshelf fell over merely a few feet away, but Buffy and Spike barely noticed. They only had eyes for each other; the rest of the world forgotten.
“I love you,” Buffy gasped, tears forming in her eyes. Awestruck, she kept her gaze fixed on Spike as the house was falling apart around them.
Spike gave her a crooked grin, finally finding his voice. “Been waiting to see your face when you say that.” He reached out to stroke her cheek, his eyes locked on hers as he leaned in and caught her lips with his, the kiss being tender at first but soon became more passionate.
Buffy slipped her arms around Spike’s neck, hungrily returning the kiss. The floorboards were cracking beneath them and the wallpaper crumpling and peeling off the walls. And she had never felt more
content in her life.
TBC
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Author's Chapter Notes:
There will be two more chapters after this one, then it's over. I hope you'll like what's left of this story. Thanks to mazza, guest, PhotographyNut, cordykitten and IamGhost for reviewing last chapter. Also thanks to Mabel Marsters for betaing!