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Author's Chapter Notes:
Well, this is the last chapter except for the Epilogue. I will post the Epilogue tomorrow.

I have put a warning for this chapter in the end notes.

So here it is...enjoy!
With her breath stinging her lungs, Buffy ran up toward the backdoor of her home. The teenager steeled herself as she stood outside the house gathering her courage to enter. She heaved several deep breaths before settling her hand on the backdoor.



She had no idea exactly what awaited her inside these walls. All she knew was that this was truly where it ended. She knew that someone would be leaving these walls in a body bag.



Buffy just wasn’t sure who.



Slipping in the backdoor, she walked through the kitchen and into the hallway, staying as alert as she could in the deafening silence of the house. Suddenly she felt an arm wrap around her middle, her hands pulled behind her back in a painfully tight grip. She let out an unintentional whimper, biting her lip to try and stifle it.



“Hello Buff. Miss me?”



Although he was behind her, she recognized Angelus’ voice and his bulky grip immediately and her face contorted into a mask of revulsion. She didn’t bother to struggle as he forced her forward into the living room because she was well aware that he wasn’t taking chances now he had her in his grasp again.



However she gasped in horror when she saw Spike in there, tied to a chair. His hands were secured so tightly behind the back of the wooden seat that it looked as if his shoulders were being wrenched from their sockets.



The blond man’s face was covered in contusions; dried blood was crusted just above his eyes where it had leaked from a nasty looking gash on his head.



Suddenly, although she was still mad at him, she really wanted to retract all the hateful things she had spit at him hours earlier.



Gazing at him, he looked back at her and she could the misery in his eyes…misery that came from a more profound source than just being tied to a chair by a lunatic. She could feel that same misery flood her chest at that very moment and wanted nothing more than to rush to him and kiss away both of their anguish and anger.



However, now was not the time to think about forgiveness or what had happened before.



The simple fact was that no matter how angry she was with Spike, they had to be united as a team to defeat Angelus.



A pained moan escaped his lips when he tugged at his bindings and Buffy felt a shard of hurt drive itself through her heart.



“Spike!” She cried, trying to rush to him even though she was still restrained by Angelus.



“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Buff.” Angelus sneered, pushing her forward into the room and tossing her onto the couch. He whipped a large, nasty looking knife from his belt and waved it at her. “If you do bad things then bad things will happen to you.”



Although her stomach clenched with fear she disguised it well and forced out a fake laugh.



“Is that supposed to scare me, Angelus?” She mocked, acting more courageous than she felt. “Because honestly? That big ole knife there makes it look like you’re waving around something long and substantial because other areas in your life are sadly lacking.”



Angelus looked confused and shot a glare in Spike’s direction when the blond man let a chuckle leak from his bruised lips.



Buffy sighed.



“Ugh, seriously, how are you not in prison? You’re not exactly gonna be vying for criminal mastermind of the year, are you?” She sneered. “I was talking about using the knife to compensate for your…miniature sized junk.”



This time Spike barked a full blown laugh and Angelus marched over to him and backhanded the restrained man across his already injured face with seething anger. However, it didn’t knock the smirk off of Spike’s face even as he spit out a glob of blood.



“She’s got you there, mate!” Spike said.



“Shut up both of you!” Angelus yelled lividly. “Before I cut out your tongues.”



Buffy and Spike both quieted at his threat, but Spike wanted a distraction that took Angelus’ scrutiny away from him.



Since Angelus had tied him to the chair, he had been surreptitiously sawing away his ropes against a small sharp nail protruding from the back of the seat. He had managed to fray it about halfway through but he knew that if the dark haired man discovered what he was doing before he was able to free himself then it wouldn’t end well for either him or Buffy.



Luckily, or maybe unluckily, Angelus’ attention was primarily focused on the teenage girl.



“So, Buff, how do you think Willy is going to feel when I fuck that little pussy of yours right in front of him?” He gave a rasping laugh as he tugged her from her seat on the couch and slashed open her shirt with the knife, yanking it off her and leaving her exposed to his gaze in just her bra.



Spike grunted in anger as he saw what Angel had done but the bulky man didn’t even glance in his direction.



“Once you get a taste of a real man you won’t want to go back to that pathetic little nothing, Buff.” Angel said in a stage whisper. “Drusilla, that was Willy’s old squeeze if you don’t know, she used to love what I did to her. She told me that when I was inside her she couldn’t even remember who Willy-boy was.” He chuckled at her discomfort and at Spike’s low unintentional growl.



“Spike told me all about Drusilla, Angelus. And he told me that she was majorly nutballs, although he said it in a more British-y kind of way. So honestly, I don’t think her glowing review of your assets is something to brag about. Because, really, I think anyone would have to be crazy to have an interest in you.” Buffy hissed through gritted teeth, trying to ignore the disgust the felt at Angelus’ touch on the exposed skin of her stomach.



“Oh, little girl, you have no idea what you’re talking about. But then, you are naïve aren’t you?” Angel said mysteriously.



“What’s that supposed to mean?” She asked defiantly.



He giggled in a manner that made him appear a little insane.



“You really don’t get it, do you, Blondie?” Angel smirked. “Drusilla was the love of Spike’s life. She was the only one who he ever wanted and when he lost her by his own hand that was worse than any punishment I could dish out. Your mother was nothing to him. If she had been then he would have told the cops about me no matter what the consequences might have been. Or maybe he would even have tried harder to save her.”



“He loved my Mom!” She insisted



“The same way that he loves you?” Angel roughly cupped one of her breasts eliciting a shriek from her and a shout of anger from Spike.



“What there is between me and Spike is none of your damn business, asshole!” Buffy said, jerking her body away from his fingers.



“Yeah, stay out of it, Peaches!” Spike yelled. “Buffy means more to me than a tiny brain like yours could ever hope to bloody well comprehend.”



“Ooh! Then it will hurt you even more when you see me fucking her, won’t it, Willy?” Angel sneered nastily, tossing Buffy against the living room wall and pinning her with his large frame.



“Get off me!” She screamed. “Get off of me you asshole.”



Spike struggled wildly in his bonds, sawing the ropes even more rapidly against the nail, feeling thread after thread snap.



There was no way he would let Angel win this one.



However, Spike hadn’t taken into account the resourcefulness of his girl and he watched with trepidation and awe as she started wriggling her leg to free it from where Angelus had both her legs hemmed in with his own. She was able to get a little momentum and jerked her foot backward before bringing it rapidly forward to deliver a heavy kick to Angel’s crotch. The brunet howled like a wolf in pain and doubled over, letting go of the girl, and she pulled away from him, breathing hard.



Buffy launched herself at Angelus the moment she got free from his grip, latching onto his exposed neck with her teeth and biting down.



“You fucking little whore!” He shouted, drawing his hand upwards and hurling a heavy backhand across her face. She stumbled and fell heavily against the ground, her head ricocheting off the wall, and she slipped into darkness.



In his chair Spike watched Angelus violently slap his girl and with one final animalistic show of strength broke the frayed cords of the rope that was securing his hands. With two short strides, he grabbed at Angelus before he could hurt Buffy any further and let his fist sail into the other man’s jaw.



However, the beating that Angelus had given Spike earlier had taken its toll on the smaller man, and he was far from full strength, so the punch merely stunned Angelus rather than doing any serious harm.



Before Spike could stop him Angelus pulled his long thick knife from his belt and jumped on top of Spike, knocking them both to the ground.



The two men rolled on the floor, each tussling for the upper hand. Angelus slashed wildly at his opponent with the ugly looking blade before Spike was able to smash the darker man’s wrist against the ground and knock it from his hand.



The Englishman picked the other man up by the scruff of his shirt and banged his head against the ground, letting out a satisfied cry as Angel screwed his eyes momentarily shut.



However, Angel wasn’t going to be defeated that easily. Managing to angle his elbow at Spike’s ribcage he slammed it into the soft tissue between his ribs, knocking the air out of Spike.



Angel howled a smug whoop of victory as he shoved Spike onto his back and grabbed the knife where it was lying on the floor, gleaming in the dull light of dusk, plunging it toward Spike’s chest.



Just before the blade connected with his flesh, Spike caught a hold of it, feeling it slice through the outer layer of skin on his hands. Gritting his teeth he tried tenaciously to push it away from him.



On the other side of the room, Buffy blinked her eyes open, pain radiating through her head and neck. Her cheek was throbbing and her shoulder was sore from where she had hit the ground.



For a moment the girl was disorientated, but the sounds of a struggle brought her crashing back to reality and she heaved herself upright to be confronted with a gut wrenching tableau.



She saw Angel on top of a fraught Spike, trying to force a sharp blade in to him. Spike might have been a black belt, but he was already injured and exhausted and Angel had the upper hand by his pure physical mass alone.



Oh God!



Spike was going to die!



Unable to contain her emotions she let out a small cry but neither man noticed.



Buffy knew that she had to do something.



In that moment she obtained a perfect clarity.



No matter what had passed between her and Spike and no matter what he had done or how angry she was at him, the love she felt for him transcended all of that. It was stronger than the things that conspired to tear them apart.



She knew now what she had to do.



Reaching into the back pocket of her jeans she felt the small knife that Anya had given her and pulled it out. Dizzily struggling to her feet she bounded toward Angelus.



With a war cry she brought it down viciously and plunged it into the leathery skin of his neck, feeling it penetrate the flesh as if it was butter.



Angelus’ head twisted backward and she could see the shock evident on his face. He howled out a gurgling wail as the blood gushed from the hole in his neck, and tried to scramble in her direction, blindly grabbing at the girl.



Buffy leveled fire-filled eyes at him.



“That’s for my mother, asshole.”



With a final gasp, he collapsed on top of Spike and quaked a little before becoming still.



Buffy felt her heart swell with a mélange of emotions as she realized that Angelus was dead and that it was finally over, before it occurred to her that Spike was lying motionless underneath the larger man.



With a panicked yell, she rolled Angelus off of the man she loved, but she felt her mouth fill with bile at what she saw.



The knife that Spike and Angelus had been wrestling with was protruding from Spike’s belly, blood leaking from the wound. Spike was pallid and still and immediately she dropped to her knees, cradling him in her arms and wildly endeavoring to rouse him.



“Spike! Spike!” She screamed, feeling relief flush through her when he opened his eyes, and turned his head to face her.



“Buffy?” He said confused. “I thought you were gone and never coming back.”



She shook her head, blinking back tears.



“I’ll always come back, Spike. I’m…god…I’m so sorry. Please, just don’t leave me, okay?”



“Not long for this world, I don’t think, love.” He told her resignedly, shivering as if he was cold.



“No! Don’t say that!” Buffy shrieked. Her mind was a blurry whirl and she tried to focus her thoughts. “I’m gonna get some help, baby. Everything’s going to be fine.”



She fumbled for the telephone and dialed 911, garbling her need for help to the operator. The assurances of the lady on the other end of the line for her to stay calm did nothing to help her, and she dropped the phone, crawling back to Spike who was gasping for breath.



“They’re on their way.” She told him.



“So…cold…pet.”



“Help is coming.”



The bitter tang of his blood filled her nostrils with its metallic scent and she almost gagged, but swallowed hard and gripped his hands in hers.



“Buffy. I need…to tell…you.” He choked out and she leaned closer to hear his quiet words. “I’ve done…a lot of…bad things. I’m not a…good man. You…make me better. I…love…you.”



Tears flooded her eyes and leaked down her cheeks at his heartfelt desperation.



Laying her head on his chest, feeling the faltering beat of his heart underneath her, she sent a silent prayer to whatever power there was who could help.



“I love you too.” She told him, seeing the small smile on his face before he slipped into unconsciousness.



She couldn’t lose him.



When she heard the shallow pants of his breath slow almost to a halt and felt his heart stutter limply beneath his breast she howled out a bloodcurdling wail that would have chilled the veins of the most stoic man.



Outside she heard the piercing wail of sirens as they cut through her hysteria, but it seemed like it was just too late.



Her own heart shattered into a million pieces.



Chapter End Notes:
Warning: Character Death.

So...the story still isn't quite at an end. There is still the Epilogue to go and the story does continue in that.

I really hope that everyone enjoyed this emotionally charged chapter. Please review it and let me know. :)



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