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Author's Chapter Notes:
CHAPTER 34: Far Gone And Out

CHAPTER RATING: T

CHAPTER PAIRING: Angel & Willow?, Giles/Drusilla

TIMELINE/SPOILERS: AU after AtS "Not Fade Away"

DISCLAIMERS: All BtVS characters are the property of Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy Productions. I'm just fixing their mistakes!

CHAPTER CREDITS: n/a

CHAPTER NOTES: This chapter gets going with the action again, so you might want to re-read the last one first since it's been a few weeks from my last update. Next chapter is the explosive finale!
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Even after all these years, Willow was still learning things about Angel. Her latest discovery was that he didn't listen to the radio when he was driving. They were in Cincinnati now, and that whole 24-hour trip was done almost wordlessly. A long part of it involved Willow being in a sleepy food coma, but the other part was just...awkward.

She remembered that Angel wasn't much of a conversationalist, but this was weird. Willow didn't like the quiet. Once she was awake, she had tried her best to reign in all the things she wanted to know, all the things she really wanted to say. Being alone in a car with him was probably not the best place to hash out all that.

But this silence was too much. It broke down her reserve and allowed the words to spill out on their own.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Her soft voice belied the anger behind the question.

Angel had dreaded this one, but he already formulated his answer. It took him a moment, though, to determine the tone he'd take.

The delay in his answer made Willow think she hadn't been clear. She was always thinking and speaking in fragments. "A-about Spike."

An apologetic sigh came from the vampire. "I wanted to," he lied. "But... Giles thought it best not to say anything." He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye to gauge her reaction. To his relief, he saw her tense body slump a bit in defeat.

"Giles..." The name was uttered from a new level of pain. Of course Giles would want this news to be silenced. She grit her teeth.

"And when he told me she was in Italy, dating again... I just couldn't ruin that for her, you know?" He could tell Willow was looking right at him now. Time to kick it up a notch. "Not after..." His breath hitched. "I told her all those years ago that I wanted her to have a life I couldn't give her. So I had to keep that promise." He paused for effect. "No matter how much..." He turned his head gently to show how conflicted he was.

The darkness in her scowled and spat "do you believe this shit?" while the goodness was impressed. Had Angel finally understood redemption and nobility after all those years away from them in Los Angeles? Willow tried to read his aura, but she still felt tapped out. So, she went with goodness. That's what Tara kept trying to remind her, right? Always pick goodness. Trust in goodness and you'll never go astray.

"Even if she..." Willow almost couldn't bring herself to say it. "...has a boyfriend now... She still has to know. He sacrificed himself for us... for her..." She felt her heart breaking at all the different ways this could go now. She had made Spike so hopeful that they could find Buffy. That Buffy would be waiting for him. "Please help me look for her. I don't care what stupid Giles thinks. She has to know. Please..."

Angel saw her then, all fragile and teary-eyed.

It took everything he had to keep Angelus in check.

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She didn't know how Clem and Dawn found her, but she was thankful for their tenacity. They arrived on the scene in no more than five minutes, even though she had no idea where she was or what shape she was in. Dawn's insistence on cell phones with GPS had definitely paid off.

Buffy had been huddling in an alley after the attack, not so much hiding as hurt. The pain was so intense that she could barely stand, and with how faint she felt, she could guess that she'd lost quite a bit of blood.

All she had wanted was a good fight. And some clues as to where Spike was. She got both. But, at what cost?

She had cleared a vamp nest in an old warehouse, not realizing that some Vahrall demons had hired the half-breeds. Buffy dodged the demons that rushed at her through the settling dust, but in the commotion she hadn't noticed the smaller one from behind. His talons sliced into the soft flesh of her side, hooking in and twisting before she shoved Mr. Pointy into his eye and his dying body fell away from her. She managed to trip one of the demons onto an upended chair, and he skewered himself on the dull leg. Another took the strange artifact the vampires had been protecting and scurried off. The final Vahrall rushed her once more, and she danced with him as only a Slayer could. Buffy didn't know how much longer she could last like this, but she knew she didn't want to die here. So she pressed the attack harder and when she had the demon mortally wounded, she risked a question. She hoped that his state of disgrace would help her case. It did. In return for a warrior's death, he told her that he knew of Spike. The vampire was in Cleveland. He was the Master of the Hellmouth.

When Clem got her into the RV, Dawn bandaged her up as best as possible. Buffy wanted to tell her sister how proud she was of her, such deft hands, such calm under pressure. But to open her mouth meant she risked Dawn finding out that the injuries were grave. She couldn't do that to the girl. No, they had to press on. And fast. She didn't know if her Slayer healing could fix this. And if she wasn't going to make it, then she at least wanted to make sure that it was in Spike's arms she'd die.

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Giles thought he had died about eight deaths. There was no way that scene had unfolded before him. How could he ask for the coven's help now?

Gertrude had ushered herself and Alva out as soon as the shock wore off, clearly embarrassed. Alva shot him the most disgusted look he'd ever been given, saying under her breath that it was clear now why he hadn't answered his phone. Dru, on the other hand, pouted when she saw their quick retreat—her face that of a child whose favorite toy had been taken away.

But the timing of the witches' departure was fortunate. For, not even a few minutes later, the vampire clutched her side, gasping.

Giles wanted to ask "what now?" but something in her actions this time told him that this wasn't mere dramatics.

"Drusilla?" He reached for her before she fell to the floor.

"Hurry. Hurry," she whispered, her eyes glassine and pleading.

The Watcher had no idea what she meant or what was happening. He picked her up as carefully as he could and carried her to his bed. Was she sick? Having another vision? He tried to peel back her hands to see if she had an injury on her side, but she wouldn't let him.

"Must be protected. Please. Protect..." Over and over, Dru mumbled this.

So Giles cradled her small form, rocking her. He'd protect her, although against what he had no idea. As he tried to comfort the vampire, he concentrated his thoughts on Polina, the coven sister who had been worried about him. Polina was one of the most powerful in the coven as well as the most connected. The fact that she lived on a Hellmouth was not forgotten by him. Perhaps she knew what was going on. Perhaps she could find Willow.

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