Chapter 29
Dawn was huddled into a corner on the floor of the tiny room where the vamps had locked her. She felt as though she’d been there forever, and she was desperate for Buffy to come her rescue. Riley’s words were starting to get to her, even though she tried to push them to the back of her mind. What if Buffy had given up? She couldn’t take Glory before. How would she manage now that the god had what she wanted? Glory wouldn’t give her up easily, that was for sure. She didn’t seem weak or distracted at all, which meant she had prepared for this. Dawn doubted if even Willow would be able to do anything to stop her now. Footsteps outside the door pulled Dawn from her thoughts, and she shrank against the wall as much as possible. Whoever it was came to a stop outside her door. She waited, holding her breath. There was a loud clang as the heavy metal door swung inwards. Ben stepped into the room holding some dark colored cloth, dressed in an odd robe himself. The vampire accompanying him closed the door behind him, leaving them alone.
“You’re going to need these,” he said, placing the garments on the only chair in the room.
“I didn’t realize it was necessary to dress up, just to be killed,” Dawn responded, her eyes cold as she watched him.
“I’m sorry Dawn. I wish there was another way—”
“Sure you do. I didn’t think you could do something like this. I guess it’s always the nice ones who turn out to be the worst. You, Riley, you’re all the same.”
“Dawn, I can’t fight her. I tried, but Glory—”
“You know what? I don’t want to listen to anything you have to say. I hate you. You’re a liar. Glory’s a selfish monster, but at least she’s honest about it. You pretend you’re trying to help, that you care when you don’t. You’re just the same underneath. I want to talk to Glory from now on. I don’t want to see you. I don’t want you anywhere near me.”
“Dawn—”
“Get out!” Dawn screamed, jumping to her feet, angry tears stinging her eyes, her fists balled in fury.
Ben started a little, then bowed his head and left. Dawn shook as the door closed with another loud clang echoing around the tiny space. She stared at the solid surface of the metal then slowly turned to the chair and lifted the garment, a long robe, like the one Ben had been wearing. She held it out in front of her then burst into tears.
***
The sun had just set in Sunnydale. In the Magic Box, a pair of green eyes gazed at its fading orange glow as it descended behind the buildings. It was time. Buffy turned back to her friends and family, her army. Willow and Tara were double-checking their magic supplies. Giles and Spike were packing up the last of the weapons. Xander, Anya and Joyce sat at the table, eyes on Buffy, waiting for her word. Buffy wanted Joyce to stay at the Magic Box. Unsurprisingly, the strong woman argued against that idea. She may not be used to battling demons, but she’d seen and learned a lot since discovering Buffy was the Slayer. This was Dawn they were fighting for, and Joyce was going to be there. Buffy relented at last, recognizing the determination in her mother’s voice, and it was agreed that Joyce would accompany them, but would hang back until they could rescue Dawn then get both of them to safety.
“Let’s move,” she said, turning toward the door, each one of them falling in line behind her.
They marched through the streets of Sunnydale purposefully. It took minutes for them to reach the spot, a supposedly abandoned construction site in the rough part of town. Clearly, it wasn’t all that abandoned from what they could see. As one, they raised their gaze skywards to the top of an unstable looking tower-like structure.
“Care to bet Dawn’s at the top of that thing?” Xander asked.
“Mom, find cover.” Buffy waited for her mother’s nod as Joyce went to find somewhere close by to observe the entrance and wait for Dawn’s appearance once they managed to free her. “Xander, go get ready.” He saluted and set off towards his post. “Will, Tara, you’re up. Be careful.” Both witches nodded and made their way to the entrance of the construction site. “Giles, you have it?”
Giles pulled the Dagon Sphere out of his bag and handed it to Buffy. She took it, studying the bright glowing sphere for a second before hefting Olaf’s hammer and drawing in a deep breath.
“Soon as we see the signal we move.”
Buffy, Giles, and Spike waited anxiously, their attention focused on the area beyond the fence. They were tense, anxious for the fight ahead, the fight that would put an end to this, one way or another.
***
Dawn struggled uselessly in the ropes securing her to the tower. Glory had cheerfully entered her room and announced it was “show-time.” Riley and Jinx followed behind Glory, Riley’s vamps escorting Dawn behind them. A trail of nasty, scabby demons, a couple of vampires, and a crowd of crazy people brought up the rear like some twisted parade. They led her up the shaky tower to stand on a platform. Now she was tied to the rickety railing on either side of her. There was a hole in the grate beneath her feet where the portal would open.
“Oh, don’t be so glum! This is a big day for us! Especially, me. You get to open my way home, aren’t you honored? I’ll be back in a while, and we can get this thing started. Don’t move now, not that you could.” Glory patted Dawn on the cheek, then spun and made her way back down the tower.
Dawn surveyed the ground beneath her worriedly. She couldn’t make out much. She was really high up, and looking down was making her dizzy, so she closed her eyes and tried to calm herself. She began uttering a prayer to whatever higher power was listening.Please help me. Please don’t let me die. Please, Buffy, save me. Buffy, save me.
***
Glory surveyed the mental patients crowding the tower, adding finishing touches. Everything was finally going according to plan. Now, if she could just make sure the Slayer stayed away, everything would be perfect.
“Jinx can we try and get these headless chickens organized please? And what is with these people, they seem to be multiplying every time I turn around?” Glory asked in disgust as she eyed two more crazy people walking by her.
“Yes, mistress, of course, mistress. They’ve been escaping as the ritual draws near, the Key is attracting them,” Jinx answered, bowing, and scurrying off to try and establish some form of order around the tower.
“I could have my men take care of them for you if you like,” Riley said.
Glory waved him away. “Nah, I could do without bodies cluttering the place up, and they are helping in a way.”
“Allow us to take the problem off your hands.”
Glory whipped around at the sound of the familiar female voice to find herself face-to-face with the pair of witches. She didn’t even have time to open her mouth as the red-head’s eyes turned black, and her hand magically entered Glory’s head. The hell-god released a shout of pain. Willow’s other hand held Tara’s who was pointing her left hand towards the mindless people crowding the tower. Energy and light crackled around them, and what seemed like electrical currents shot out of Tara’s outstretched hand and into the crowd of people. Riley took a startled step backwards. Bright light shot upwards from the three towards the sky. Up on the tower Dawn noticed the sky brightening and looked down. She could see lots of energy, but couldn’t quite see what the cause was. Somehow, it gave her hope.
***
Outside the fence, Buffy, Giles, and Spike saw the blast of light.
“Okay. It’s time. Move,” the Slayer shouted.
“Let’s go rescue this princess from her tower,” Spike said, as they darted towards the entrance.
***
There was a loud bang and Glory, Tara, and Willow were thrown backwards, slamming into the walls. Jinx raced over to his mistress, closely followed by Riley, who was more than a little stunned at seeing the powerful god tossed aside by a spell.
“Are you all right oh dazzling and impervious one?” Jinx asked, as he helped pull Glory to her feet.
She stumbled and swayed a bit, gripping her head and groaning.
“She…there’s a…hole. Those bitches. They made a hole. I can’t…” Glory groaned again.
Riley surveyed the crowd. Most of the people who had been struck by the magical energy were blinking, looking around dazedly, confused by their surroundings. When they caught sight of the vampires and scabby demons they erupted in shouts and screams, darting for the nearest exits, practically trampling over each other in their hurry to get away. Riley felt his hunting instincts kick in at the sight and smell of fear, and soon he and his vamps were chasing down the fleeing humans, only to be stopped by the Scooby gang. Willow and Tara had recovered enough to grab stakes and crossbows and stood side by side with Giles and Spike, fending off the attacking vamps, so the people could escape.
“You’re all dead!” Glory shouted, stomping toward the small group.
“Really not. But you will be.”
For the second time, Glory was distracted by a woman’s voice, but this one she knew well. This was the Slayer’s. She took a step forwards but quickly shrank back and frowned.
“Oh that?” The Slayer asked innocently. “That would be this, it repels you, right?” Buffy held up the Dagon Sphere for Glory to see.
“You little bitch,” Glory spat.
“Uh huh. Here, catch.” Buffy tossed the Sphere at Glory who caught it without thinking, instantly screaming in agony until she crushed the glowing orb beneath her fingers.
“You are so going to regret that,” Glory said, with narrowed eyes.
“Bring it on bitch,” Buffy answered, raising the hammer with a firm stance.
***
The Scoobies were doing their best to hold off the attacking horde of demons and vamps, but the sheer numbers were pushing them back. Giles swapped a crossbow for a battle axe and began cutting through Glory’s minions, his inner Ripper coming to the fore. Jinx was keeping to the back of the attacking demons, shouting orders.
“Kill them! In the name of Glorificus! The ritual must begin!” He surveyed the crowd until he spotted Riley near the foot of the tower. “Vampire! Start the ritual!”
Riley looked up with a snarl when he heard Jinx ordering him around. He knew without a doubt he was the vampire being referred to. He looked over at Glory and saw the god and Buffy in a ferocious fight. He scowled when he saw the Slayer holding her own against the powerful being, wielding a hammer that was clearly not your average weapon. He made a decision. The little bitch wasn’t going to ruin things this time. He shoved his way through the demons and began racing up the tower. The girl’s blood would flow all right. He’d make sure of it.
“Pathetic human filth. You will fail. The ritual will begin, and Glory will reign once more!” Jinx shouted gleefully as the battle continued.
“Don’t count on it mate.”
Jinx didn’t have time to turn around before his head was in the grip of two strong hands. A sharp twist, and the black-eyed demon’s neck snapped, twisted backwards, staring sightlessly at his killer. Spike let the body drop to the ground. He turned his gaze upwards and spotted Riley halfway up the tower.
“Oh no you don’t,” he snarled and dived over the attacking minions, rolled when he hit the ground and took off up the tower, pushing his vamp speed to the limit.
***
“We need to draw them back!” Giles shouted.
“Leave it to me!” Willow answered.
She chanted a quick and steady stream of words, and a powerful blast of energy pushed their attackers away from the tower and towards the solid walls of the nearby buildings, giving the witches and the Watcher time to recover.
“Now!” Willow shouted, seeing the demons rising from the ground, preparing for another attack.
Giles dipped a hand into the rucksack he’d dropped on the ground nearby and pulled out a detonator. Some tricks were worth doing twice, although this would be quite a bit smaller than the last time they’d tried it. He waited for the green light to blink, watched the creatures begin to rush forwards, and flipped the switch. There were several seconds of silence before the explosion. Caused by the charges Xander had set up in strategic spots around the site, right where Willow had forced Glory’s minions. Willow, Tara, and Giles found cover and ducked. Fire, dust and demon parts shot through the air and rained down over the construction site. When the worst of the smoke cleared, they peeked their heads out and saw bits of debris and body parts scattered on the ground around them.
“Well, that was effective,” Giles commented, wiping the dirt from his glasses.
“Maybe not as effective as we hoped,” Tara said.
They looked up and saw a few surviving vamps and demons emerge from the smoke, dazed and angry.
“Oh, dear,” Giles said, gripping his battle axe, as they prepared to re-enter the fight.
***
Dawn watched with hope and fear as the sounds of battle reached her. She could see swarms of demons chasing fleeing humans, and mixed in among the crowd were the Scoobies, protecting the people trying to escape, fighting their way towards the tower.
They came for me.
When the explosion sounded, she couldn’t help the panicked scream. The tremors shook the tower, and the metal made a loud groaning noise, which frightened her more. Her own body was shaking from the ropes binding her to the structure. Smoke blocked her vision of the ground below, and she could no longer tell what was happening. Footsteps made her look up. Her voice caught in her throat, and she felt panic bubble up when she saw who was approaching her.
“Well, Dawn. Looks like Glory’s a little busy at the moment and won’t be able to make the ritual, so I’ll be taking her place. I’ll make it quick,” Riley grinned, his fangs gleaming in the moonlight.
“Stay away from me,” Dawn said, trying hard not to show her fear.
Riley chuckled, shaking his head.
“Oh Dawnie, you’re a riot. What are you gonna do? Your sister and her friends have their hands full. I won’t kill you. Glory explained the whole ritual thing to me. All I need to do is get the blood flowing. The longer it flows, the better for her. So you see, your sister or any of your friends make it up here, it probably won’t be to save you.”
Dawn’s eyes went wide and her face turned pale. She struggled against her bonds, feeling the ropes burn her skin from the friction.
“No, you’re wrong. They wouldn’t do that.”
“Wouldn’t they? What’s Buffy’s job description again? She’s a champion, Dawn. You really think she’s going to sacrifice the world for a sister who isn’t real. You’re just a ball of energy that should have been destroyed long ago. But you weren’t, now here we are.”
Riley advanced. Dawn started crying, lowering her head. This was it. Riley would start the blood flow, and the world would end unless Buffy stopped it, unless Buffy killed her. He was close to her now. One hand gripped her hair, forced her head up. She opened her teary eyes and stared at the vampire.
“Oi! Captain Cardboard! Get the hell away from her!”
Riley spun, releasing Dawn. She jerked her head sideways, trying to see around Riley.
“Spike!” she shouted in relief.
“It’s okay Nibblet. I’m here. Not gonna let anyone hurt you. ‘Specially not this tosser.” Spike stepped forward, giving Riley a warning growl.
“Ah, Spike. How could I forget about you? Always running around for Buffy. So it’s your job to bring little sis home safely? Too bad you’re gonna fail. Maybe, then Buffy will finally get it through her head how useless you really are.” Riley stood to his full height, towering over Spike, his yellow eyes flashing.
“Actually, I’d protect Dawn regardless. My specific job in this fight is takin’ care of you. I wouldn’t be so sure of myself if I was you soldier boy. I have a century’s worth of experience on you as a vamp, and you’re obviously forgetting one very important detail.” Spike stalked forwards another few steps closing the gap between them.
“Oh yeah? And what’s that?” Riley asked, tensing.
“My chip doesn’t work on you anymore. I got nothin’ holding me back this time.” Spike shifted into his vamp features, gold eyes gleaming and flashed his fangs. “Now, let’s have ourselves a real fight.”
Riley snarled and threw a punch at the blond. Spike grabbed the other vamp’s arm and punched him in the face, making him stumble backwards. Riley grabbed his bleeding nose, roared and attacked again, swinging punch after punch. Spike dodged and blocked, backing up as Riley pushed forward, leading him away from Dawn. Near the tower end of the platform Spike punched Riley in the gut, making him bend forward then grabbed him by his jacket and flung him against the opposite side of the tower. He smashed into the support beams and landed on the grating further down. Spike headed back to Dawn. He struggled with the ropes before finally freeing one of her hands.
“’S all right Nibblet. We’ll get you out of here, don‘t worry.”
“Spike!” Dawn shouted a warning.
He turned to see Riley pounce on him, attempting to sink his fangs in Spike’s neck. Spike held up an arm and deflected Riley’s fangs, snarling as they sank into his forearm instead. Both vamps fell to the floor. Dawn screamed as they tussled in front of her. Riley dislodged his fangs, punched Spike in the face, grabbed him by the duster and dragged him to his feet.
“Say goodbye Spike,” Riley spat, facing him toward the edge of the platform and shoving him forward.
“You’re coming with me you git,” Spike snarled back, gripping Riley by the arms and spinning, their momentum taking both of them over the edge, and they began the long plunge to the concrete below.
“No!” Dawn screamed, as she watched them tumble over the edge, plummeting down to the ground.
They hit the ground hard and remained there un-moving.
***
Glory grunted as the hammer hit her smack in the face again. She was bleeding and really feeling the hits now. Gods shouldn’t bleed, and it was pissing her off.
“You’re looking a little beat. What’s the matter? Can’t handle one little Slayer?” Buffy asked, panting.
She was a little beaten up herself from the few hits Glory had gotten in, but she was more worn out from hitting the hell-god. Glory glared at the petite woman in front of her. This was delaying her, and if she continued to allow the Slayer’s goading to get to her she’d never make it home. They faced off, both breathing hard, when two dark shapes caught their attention, and they turned to see Spike and Riley hit the ground.
“Spike,” Buffy said, wincing when he landed face-down in the dirt.
“Looks like I have to do everything around here myself. Sorry sweetheart, we’ll have to continue this later,” Glory said, then took off for the tower.
Buffy cast one final look in the prone vamp’s direction and set off after Glory.
***
Dawn stood shell-shocked for a minute before she began tugging at the remaining ropes with her free hand. She cried out in frustration as her trembling hands shook when she struggled to undo the knots. Eventually, she succeeded and collapsed against the grate in relief. Wasting no more time, she hauled herself to her feet and rushed towards the ladder. She was in the process of making her way down when the metal structure vibrated a little. She glanced down and discovered the source. Glory and Buffy were fighting their way up the tower. Buffy had just struck at Glory, who ducked, sending the hammer smashing into one of the beams, which caused the tremor.
Buffy suffered a kick to her midsection that had her flying off the platform. She barely managed to grab hold of a bar as she fell and once she had regained her balance, began climbing up the beams, hoping to overtake Glory by taking a more direct approach straight up. However, the god spotted her and swiftly ran to intercept her. Buffy felt a hand grip her ankle and pull her down. She hit the floor and kicked out quickly, making the god lose her balance, so she had to let her go. Buffy was quick to get to her feet and lash out with the hammer, knocking Glory back until she fell a few levels. Buffy looked up and saw movement near the top of the tower.
“Dawn!” She shouted, starting to climb upwards again.
Dawn heard her sister calling her and looked down.
“Buffy! Look out, Glory’s coming!” she cried, seeing the hell-god race upwards furiously.
Buffy halted in her tracks. She had to stop Glory from getting to Dawn at all costs. She turned and waited. Glory came at her without pause. Buffy struck with the hammer again, but Glory ducked and caught it before Buffy had time to recover from her swing. Glory forced the hammer back, causing the handle to hit Buffy in the face, dislodging her grip on the weapon. Glory then tossed it aside. It fell down the centre of the tower catching in some chains a few levels beneath them.
“Lost your hammer sweet-cheeks. Now what?” Glory asked, trying to disguise her heavy breathing.
“I guess I’ll just have to kick your ass the old fashioned way,” Buffy responded.
Glory laughed, and Buffy kicked her in the face hard enough to make her head whip round and force her to clutch her jaw. Without a second’s hesitation Buffy dove at Glory sending them both spiraling down to the ground below. They crashed into the pipes and bricks scattered at the bottom. Dawn saw them fall and gasped. She pulled herself together quickly and sped up her process down the tower, trying hard not to look down any more than necessary. She knew Buffy would be okay. She was stronger than an average human, and the fall wasn’t from high enough to have hurt her seriously. Dawn knew the best thing she could do was get off the damn tower and far away before Glory had a chance to come after her again.
***
Buffy recovered slowly and grimaced as she tried to sit up. She’d hurt her leg and possibly cracked a rib or two. She struggled to her feet and took a look around her. She couldn’t see anything but debris. Then the rubble nearby moved and Glory emerged, her dress torn and tattered. Blood was dripping from various cuts on her face and arms. Her hair was in disarray, and she had a wild look in her eyes. Buffy went into a defensive stance, but she was worried. She no longer had her weapon, and Glory was out for blood. She just hoped her back-up was ready. The furious god trudged forward, angrily kicking off her shoes when she stumbled on a broken heel. She approached the Slayer, fully prepared to take her wrath out on the annoying girl, when there was a loud crash, and she was hit hard with a wrecking ball that smashed straight through the surrounding wall. She was sent barreling backwards straight into the support beams of the tower. She collapsed on the ground, dislodged pipes, ladders, and grating raining down on her.
“I believe that’s a strike,” Xander said from the cab as he watched the rubble settle.
This time there was no sign of the Beast emerging. Buffy gave him a grateful smile, and he grinned before hopping out and rushing to join the Scoobs who were finishing off the last of Glory’s minions. Buffy limped her way over to the tower. She stopped at the spot where she’d seen Glory go down. Glory wasn’t there anymore. Instead it was Ben, a bleeding and broken Ben, gasping for air and in obvious agony.
“Well?” He wheezed sharply and coughed. “Aren’t you going to…finish me off?”
Buffy stared down at him before answering slowly.
“I don’t kill humans.”
She turned, ignoring his surprised look, and taking a deep breath, painfully started her way up the tower again to meet Dawn. She’d just made it back to the makeshift stairway of platforms when the unstable structure began making that horrible groaning noise again, like a living thing in agony. She stumbled and grabbed the railing as it began to shake and tremor. It gave one last shudder before going still again, but it was accompanied by a scream. Buffy glanced upwards and saw Dawn hanging from one of the railings about halfway up the massive structure. She’d lost her balance when the tower swayed and was hanging on for dear life, scrambling to get a better grip.
“Buffy!” Dawn shouted when her hold slipped, and she struggled not to fall.
Buffy forgot the pain in her leg as she raced upwards to save her sister.
***
Riley groaned as he came to. He eased up onto his arms, bones creaking and pain shooting through him. He tasted blood. His blood. It was running down the side of his face from an open wound on his temple. He got to his feet shakily, wincing in agony as his limbs protested the movement. He took in his surroundings. Broken crates lay scattered around him, and he realized with a jolt how close he’d come to getting staked when he landed. The sounds of battle reached his ringing ears, and he caught sight of the Scoobies cutting through Glory’s demons. They were clearly winning. He gripped his pounding head and turned his attention to searching for his rival. He saw him lying on the ground nearby. Clearly he wasn’t the only one lucky enough to escape a staking.
Well that’s about to change.He saw the other vamp stir, regaining consciousness. Riley picked up a broken piece of a crate and hobbled over to the downed vamp who was just pulling himself onto all fours. He raised the stake as he approached, aiming straight for the blond’s heart as he brought it downwards.
***
Spike’s senses were dull. The pain in his head and body overcame everything else as he struggled to get to his feet. He became dimly aware of the sound of feet approaching and felt the danger when they came to a stop next to him. Spike rolled over onto his back, reaching up with both hands to grab the stake, halting its progress, just as it pierced his chest. He groaned in pain then furiously kicked upwards, hitting Riley in the stomach, giving him time to remove the stake with a shout before twisting and snapping the vamp’s wrist. Riley howled in pain, dropping the stake and falling to his knees. Spike quickly landed a punch to Riley’s jaw, sending his head whipping back and rose up from the ground, pinning his opponent beneath him in one swift movement. He reached for the stake, gripped it in one hand, and raised it above his head.
“Go ahead. Finish it,” Riley said, watching the stake.
Spike was in game face, staring down at him. He took a second, then brought the stake down. Riley yelped in pain, turning in shock to see the stake embedded in his other arm, so both of them were useless. He looked up at Spike confused and frightened. Spike let his vampire face slip away and smirked at the former soldier.
“Sorry to disappoint, but I was told to make you feel it. You aren’t getting out of this with a simple staking. You pissed off the wrong people one too many times, and now, you get to pay for it.”
Riley watched as Spike reached into his duster pocket and removed a hip flask. He looked from the flask to Spike questioningly as the vamp unscrewed the cap and grinned.
“Little present I picked up ‘specially for you. Bottom’s up.”
Spike brought the flask down to Riley’s mouth and tipped it up, letting the contents pour down his throat. It didn’t take long for Riley to figure out what was in the flask. His eyes grew wide and he sputtered and coughed, turning his head to try and escape the liquid bubbling out of his mouth and over his chest. Spike followed his mouth with the flask, firmly gripping the vamp’s head with his other hand, holding him in place. Riley struggled desperately but it was no use. Spike had him pinned, and his arms were of no use to him. The burning liquid ran down his throat, over his face and chest, burning away at his flesh. Spike winced as a little of the holy water Riley tried to spit out splashed on his hand, but maintained his grip on the other vamp until the flask was empty. He tossed it aside and sat back, watching contentedly as the vamp’s body shuddered and shook before it turned slowly to dust, and he was gone. Spike sat there for a moment, fighting back the pain running through his aching body, staring at the spot where the other vamp had vanished.
“No more soldier boy,” he said, getting to his feet slowly.
Looking around, he saw Harris taking out the last of the demons with a sword to the head. The witches were slumped on the ground nearby, drained and exhausted. It took him a minute to spot the Watcher near the foot of the tower, looking down at something. He frowned, wondering what held the man’s attention when another loud groan from the tower had him looking up in time to see Buffy reaching out to Dawn who was hanging onto a metal bar about to plummet to the ground.
“Oh God!” Xander exclaimed from next to the vamp, having made his way over to him when he saw Spike standing, having disposed of Riley.
They watched transfixed as the tower shuddered again and Dawn slipped, falling down with a scream. Buffy dived after her, catching her with one arm and grabbing hold of a cable with the other. She groaned in pain feeling her shoulder wrench, but held on. Bits and pieces of the structure started to fall down around them. The tower was coming down.
Beneath them, Giles was staring down at Ben. The man was broken, but not dead. Giles knew Glory would never give up trying to kill them, even though she’d missed her chance. It was too dangerous to let Ben live, and it was the only way to ensure the hell-god never returned. He reached out, preparing to smother the startled man when a huge chunk of metal crashed to the ground behind him. He stood and spun round, seeing debris falling all around him. Looking up he watched frozen in place as the tower began to fall in on itself, his Slayer and her sister hanging dangerously from one of its cables.
***
Dawn held onto her sister tightly. They watched as bits of metal and wood crashed down around them. There was a ripping sound and suddenly they were plummeting down, the cable having snapped loose. It got caught in a beam, and they jolted to a halt so severely Buffy’s grip broke, and they dropped to the ground, which luckily wasn’t much farther down at that point. Buffy saw a huge grate crashing down toward them and hauled Dawn to her feet, running with her as far away from the collapsing structure as she could get, hearing the grate smash into the concrete behind them. Xander rushed over to help them, taking Dawn and leading her away, out of the danger zone. Buffy saw Willow and Tara ahead of them. She paused and whirled around looking for the missing members of her team, and her mouth dropped open, her eyes bulging.
***
Giles saw Buffy and Dawn falling before the crumbling tower blocked his view. As more bits of metal smashed into the ground around him he finally regained control of his body and began to move. He stumbled through the debris, trying to dodge the falling chunks of the shoddily built tower as he went. A creaking noise sounded close above him and he looked upwards to see a huge chunk of a platform plummeting towards him, bouncing off what little remained standing of the tower as it fell apart. He felt something barrel into him and he was flung sideways into the ground. He covered his head with his hands as more debris fell, closing his eyes and holding his breath, praying that he’d come out of this alive.
***
Once things had stopped falling from the sky and the rising dust began to recede, Buffy rushed forward, barely noticing her limp. Behind her the others followed, including her Mom who had rushed in when she saw the tower falling. Buffy scrambled over the debris towards the spot she’d last seen them. She passed the spot where Ben had been lying, now buried beneath a ton of rubble. There was no question as to whether he’d survived. Glory was gone for good. Buffy could have cared less at that point, her only thoughts those of the man and vampire she’d seen disappear in the dust.
“Spike! Giles!” she shouted, scrambling through the twisted metal and broken concrete.
She heard a groan to her right and changed course, making a beeline for the source of the noise. She tossed aside sheets of metal, revealing her Watcher lying beneath them.
“Giles!” she exclaimed, easing him out from the rubble.
Xander helped her pull him out, and both were relieved to find he was okay, if a bit worse for wear. Buffy then turned back to the rubble, pulling it apart, praying there was someone else to be found. She ignored her bleeding hands as the stone and metal scraped her flesh, continuing to dig her way through. She moved another large chunk of concrete and exhaled sharply. She’d found him. He was alive, as much as he could be. Her heart started pounding, her relief at having found him quickly dissipating when she spotted all the blood. So much blood. His blood. She reached out to him and made a strangled cry when she discovered the source.
“Oh God, Spike. Xander! Xander, help me! He’s losing too much blood! We have to help him now!”
Xander rushed to her side and blanched when he saw what she meant. Spike’s arm was severed from his body, a sheet of metal having cut it clean through. Spike was unconscious, undusted, but clearly losing a lot of blood.
“Jesus!” He exclaimed, hurrying to help Buffy with the severely wounded vampire.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
The final showdown. Whew. It's longer than my usual chapters and POV changes quite a bit because of all the action. I hope you enjoy it. Thank you to everyone who's reading, reviewing, and adding this to their favorites. Thanks to Sanityfair for beta reading.
Chapter End Notes:
Don't hate me please. I know I left it on a cliffy, but the story made me do it. I have an epilogue on the way, so I'm not entirely leaving you hanging. I hadn't planned on ending the chapter like this, the plot demanded I do it, I swear. It even surprised me as I wrote it.