Unbreakable:

Willow lay on the floor of her living room. There was music blaring from the sound system Warren had created with their spell. She was twirling a pillow above herself magically in order to occupy her mind. But the blaring music was breaking her concentration.

"Do we really have to listen to this garbage? It hurts my ears." She complained to him.

"Yeah, I like it."

"Well I don't." She said, waving her hand in the air and flipping the music off.

He glared at her, and snapped his fingers to turn it back on. He smiled smugly.

"I said, turn it off." She said more firmly, as she silenced the music again.

He stood up from the couch and walked over to where she was lying. He stood above her with his feet on either side of her body. He looked down on her.

"You're such a bitch."

"You're an asshole. So I guess we're even." She answered plainly.

He bent over her and ran his hands down her arms.

"You know, I'm a little bored right now." He said suggestively.

"So?"

"So...What are you gonna do about it?" He asked, as leaned over and kissed her.

She shoved him away.

"If you're so bored, go play one of your stupid games." She told him.

He grabbed her arms and pinned them above her head. He straddled her legs and smiled at her wickedly.

"You know, that's not really the game I had in mind." He told her as he released one of her wrists and ran his hand up her inner thigh.

She waved her free hand in the air and Warren went flying off of her. He crashed into the wall and landed on the couch roughly. In a flash, she was on him, straddling his lap. She gripped his arms above his head.

"That hurt." He glared at her with irritation.

"So? You like it when I hurt you, don't you?" She asked as she gripped his wrists tightly.

"Hey, ease up okay?" He said, as her fingernails dug into his flesh.

"Admit it? When I tied you up and tortured you, you were getting into it. Weren't you?" She asked digging her nails into him further.

He winced and growled at her.

"Yeah it was real hot the way you shoved a bullet in my chest and ripped my skin off." He said sarcastically.

She smiled at him.

"Well, I meant before that part."

"It wasn't me that was hot, Sweetheart. It was you. You think I got off on killing? You were the one who was getting off." He pointed out.

She released her grip on his wrists, and ran her hands down his arms.

"That's true. I did enjoy hurting you. But you know what I enjoy more?" She whispered into his ear.

He smiled at her and brought his hand up underneath her skirt. He fondled her over her panties and she sighed with contentment.

"I think you like this." He whispered as he slipped his fingers inside of her panties.

She smiled and laid herself down on the couch.

"You know me so well." She sighed happily.

He pushed her skirt up again and ducked his head underneath it. For some reason he wanted to please her. He hated it. He wanted to be in control of this whole thing. He had intimidated her and threatened her, until she was too weak to fight back. His plan had been to bring her over to his side as his subservient companion. Someone he could use for his own gain. He wanted her power, and he wanted her to please him. He wanted someone to cater to his every whim. Someone he could control. It was supposed to be the big payback for killing him.

But it wasn't happening that way at all. Somehow she had turned the tables and she was calling the shots. The scary thing was, he wasn't really minding it as much as he thought he would. She was challenging. She kept things interesting. He never knew if she would kill him again or kiss him wildly. It was exhilarating.

He pulled her panties down and pushed her legs apart. With one hand, he pushed her skirt around her waist, as the other hand went to work pleasing her. He rubbed her slowly and watched her face as it contorted with pleasure. He dipped his head down and snaked his tongue out to lick across her flesh.

"Mmm...Yeah...You're good at that..." She murmured softly.

He sucked on her softly and she cried out. She scooted her body down to further her contact with his mouth. He flicked his tongue against her and small sparks danced across her skin.

"I knew there was a reason why I hadn't killed you again." She cooed, as she writhed underneath his touch.

Her breath caught in her throat and she gasped out her desperate release. Her body rocked and the electricity coursed through her body until she was completely spent. He sat up and looked at her. Her eyes were dancing with red energy, and she lay motionless in a state of euphoria. He took advantage of her moment of distraction, and decided to try and seize some control over this situation. He undid his pants quickly. He thrust himself into her before she could even respond.

She grabbed his shoulders and dug her nails into him through his shirt.

"What are you doing?" She gasped, as he moved inside her.

"We're gonna do something I like now." He told her.

She stared at him, too paralyzed by the pleasure to push him away.

"You don't always get to be in control, Princess." He whispered as he pushed her arms back over her head.

"You think you're in control? I could get you off of me." She told him breathlessly.

"Then why don't you?" He asked, never breaking his steady rhythm.

"Because I don't want to." She admitted as she closed her eyes. She was letting her body rule her mind.

He pushed into her and saw that her eyes were closed tightly. He wanted her to see him. He didn't want her pretending he was someone else. He knew that's what she was doing and it pissed him off.

"Open your eyes." He told her firmly.

She opened them slowly and looked up at him. Her dark eyes danced with passion.

"Say my name." He urged her.

She just stared at him and refused to speak. She didn't want to say his name. She didn't want to acknowledge who he was. Or to face the reality of what she was doing. All that mattered to her was the power, and the intense pleasure it brought to her. She was the junkie and he was her supplier. That's all it was, she told herself. That was all it could ever be.

"Say it!" He commanded her again.

"No." She said breathlessly as she felt her orgasm building again.

He knew she was close and so was he, but he wanted her to acknowledge him. He stopped moving and looked down at her expectantly. She gasped when she felt the sensation of his movements halt.

"What are you doing? Keep going." She said desperately.

"Not until you say it."

She looked up at him and felt her body aching for release. She hated that he had taken control. She wanted to be the one making him beg. Not the other way around. But her body betrayed her mind. She squeezed her eyes shut tightly again, to block his face out of her mind.

"Warren." She said flatly. She was not going to give him the satisfaction of hearing his name uttered in bliss.

"Say it like you mean it." He commanded her.

"Like I mean what?"

"Like you want to be with me."

She just stared up at him wondering what it was he was really after. Her body was still burning and she desperately needed him to finish what he started. He moved slightly, rubbing her in just the right spot. She gasped out his name unconsciously.

He smiled and pushed himself into her again. Her utterance was good enough, and he picked up the pace again. Almost instantly, they both crashed over the edge as the couch rumbled beneath them. He lay on top of her, and they both gasped for air. The intensity of their coupling was still something that held them in awe. He lifted his head and looked at her.

"God, you're so fucking perfect. I'm crazy about you." He told her breathlessly.

She looked up at him with anger in her eyes. She was furious that he had gotten his way with her. In a moment of weakness, she had relinquished her total control over the situation. She pushed him off of her, and he landed on the floor roughly.

"What? What did I say?" He asked confused at her reaction.

"Don't ever do that again." She hissed, as she pulled her skirt over her legs and sat up.

"Don't ever do what?" He asked as he tucked himself back into his pants and stood up.

She looked at him for a moment and shook her head.

"Why do you care if I want to be with you or not?" She wondered.

He was taken off-guard by her question. He shook his head.

"I don't."

"Then why did you make me say your name? What the hell was that all about?"

"I just wanted to hear it, okay? I wanna make sure you know who you're with." He told her sincerely.

"Why? What is it you want from me?" She questioned him.

He stared at her and shook his head.

"You wanna know what I want? I want it all. I want the power. I want people to sit up and take notice of me. Fear me. Respect me. I wanna rule the world. Same as you. And I want the girl of my dreams at my side when I do it." He said honestly.

"I'm the girl of your dreams? Are you that suicidal? I killed you, Warren. Badly and without remorse." She pointed out to him.

"Yeah, but you brought me back too."

"Not on purpose." She protested.

He walked over and stood in front of her.

"Look, we're stuck with each other for eternity here. That's how this works. If you wanna hate me? Fine. But I thought you said you wanted to be my queen." He pointed out to her.

She was silent and looked away from him. She contemplated what he was saying to her. To her, he was a means to an end. She wanted the control and the power. And he was the one giving it to her. But to him, it was some kind of twisted romance. She suddenly realized how deep into this she was. She could get up and run out now. Maybe there would still be a chance to save herself.

He reached out and pulled her off the couch and into his arms. His touch made her quiver. He kissed her lips softly, and if she didn't know first hand how heartless he was, she might have believed he actually cared for her.

"You're supposed to be with me forever." He whispered to her.

She felt his energies coursing through her veins. In the deep crevices of her brain, she wanted to fight this. She wanted to leave him and never look back. But she couldn't. The pull of their bond was too strong. He was seducing her with his promises of power and devotion. It was everything she had ever wanted to hear, regardless of who was telling it.

"Why me?" She asked him curiously.

"Because you're special." He told her.

A small smile crept across her face.

"Special?"

"Very special. And together, we're gonna have it all. The power, the respect...The whole dream. That is, if you still want it?" He asked, hoping against all hope that she would say yes.

He was so close to living his fantasy, he didn't want to consider losing it now.

"I want it." She told him.

He smiled at her.

"It'll be perfect. You'll see." He assured her.

And somehow, she believed him.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Once again, everyone was assembled at the Magic Box. Giles had called them all together, when he had discovered some new information that could prove to be helpful. He was standing in front of them now as everyone waited expectantly.

"So Giles, what's this new information?" Xander asked interestedly.

"Well, I've been studying the details of the prophecy, and it seems I overlooked an important factor. Now that we are aware of Willow and her apparent accomplice, it's all falling into place." He began to explain.

"I'm assuming in a bad way." Xander mumbled softly.

"Yes, well, you're correct. It isn't exactly good news. It seems that the information about the Incorria Agiato wasn't exactly complete or accurate."

"What do you mean? Are you saying the part about the three of us being a family is wrong?" Dawn asked quietly.

"No, that's not what I'm saying. That part is correct. But it seems that this state of being isn't only achieved by those who share a blood bond. It can also be achieved in other ways. Far more sinister ways." He said removing his glasses and rubbing his eyes.

"Explain a little more cause I'm lost." Xander shook his head.

When he had learned about the family connection between Dawn, Buffy and Spike, he had reeled in shock. But then the news of Willow's disappearance and subsequent turn to the dark side had distracted him. Hearing about it all again brought the confusion back.

"Dawn, you mentioned that you sensed a connection between Willow and Warren. Something immeasurable, and decidedly powerful." Giles inquired.

"Yeah, they had something freaky going on. Sparks were shooting around when they touched." Dawn reiterated.

"Which leads me to believe that they have formed this bond. They have achieved Incorria Agiato. They are sharing power with each other."

"How could they have a bond? They hate each other." Buffy pointed out.

"And that mutual hate is fueling their bond. Willow has his blood on her hands. The Trinity's bond is forged from life. As in, you and Spike gave Dawn life. But their bond is forged in death. His death at her hands. It's rather like the flip side of the coin." Giles explained.

"Great. So now what? You said that the Incorria whatever would make someone almost impossible to stop. What do we do now?" Buffy asked.

"Well, there is a loophole. The two of them must be in constant physical contact with each other to keep their level of power going. Separate them for any length of time, and you have a chance." Giles told them.

"Wait, does this mean we'll need to be in constant contact too? How can we fight anything if we're chained at the bloody hip?" Spike asked curiously.

"No, you won't. That's part of the loophole. True Incorria Agiato can only be achieved through mixing of shared blood. What they share, is merely mimicking what the three of you can accomplish. The natural state of your souls is to be together. For them, it's not. They have to keep recharging, so to speak."

"So when do we do this ritual?" Spike asked as he stood up and started pacing.

"We still don't know exactly when the final catalyst will occur. Even with your joined souls, the state of Incorria Agiato won't last forever without some kind of boost or recharge."

"How long will it last?" Dawn asked.

"I'm not entirely certain. A few days at best. It's probably wise to wait until it's absolutely necessary." Giles told them.

"Um, what are we gonna do? You know, when the time comes?" Dawn asked softly.

"We'll fight." Buffy answered her.

"I know, I just mean, it's Willow. A-are we gonna..." Dawn trailed off uncomfortably.

"Kill her?" Buffy finished unhappily.

"Yeah."

"I hope we won't have to."

"We aren't killing Willow. She's gotta be in there somewhere. And if we can just get her away from that evil scumbag, things will be alright." Xander told them all firmly.

"Xander, you need to accept the possibility that she might not be reachable at this point." Giles said with a pained expression.

"I'm not giving up." Xander shook his head.

"I'm not either, but we're talking about the end of the world. If she goes through with this, we may not have a choice." Buffy explained as she touched Xander's arm softly.

Xander was silent and felt the emotion catching in his throat. He had been able to reach her before when no one else could. He wasn't going to give up hope this time either, no matter how grave his chances might be. He still loved Willow more than he'd ever loved anyone else. She was his best friend and he couldn't lose her.

"I'm not letting you guys kill her. I'm sorry, I'm just not. You'll have to kill me too." Xander protested as he choked back his tears.

He looked at Spike, expecting him to say something smart ass about how that wouldn't be a problem. But Spike said nothing, and only gave him a sympathetic look.

"We'll do everything we can to save her. I promise you." Buffy assured him softly.

Xander nodded and wiped his eyes to remove the tears that were threatening to fall. He looked at Anya.

"Buffy said you might be able to do a spell to find them. Maybe if we can find them before it's too late, we can stop this whole mess."

"I-I'm not sure if I can do it or not." Anya told him.

"Will you at least try? Please?" Xander asked her desperately.

"I'll try. But I'm going to need a few things. I have some of them at my place. I'll have to go get them." Anya told them.

"Then go. Get them, and we'll do this thing. Giles? Do we have everything we need for the Incorria Agiato ritual? Just in case we can get them here, and we need it." Buffy asked.

"Yes, I believe so. But I'll need to go over the list again." He said scratching his head.

"Okay, you guys do your thing, and we'll all meet back here in an hour." Buffy said, taking control of the situation.

Everyone agreed and Anya promptly zapped herself out of the room. Giles went into the basement to get the magical items they needed. One way or another, they were going to try and save Willow before it was too late.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Willow and Warren lay on the floor of their new home. They were staring up at the ceiling, where they had fashioned an entire solar system of actual stars for their viewing pleasure. Complete with random meteorites that Willow had zapped in to make things interesting.

"This is just like visiting the planetarium. Only better." She remarked, pleased with her own magical handiwork.

"It's great, Baby." He smiled as he draped his arm across her stomach.

They lay there for a few more minutes and he looked over at her curiously.

"What's your favorite color?" He asked her.

She turned her head and looked at him strangely.

"What?"

"What's your favorite color? It's a simple question."

"Why?"

"Because I wanna know."

She sighed.

"Purple."

"Mine's blue." He offered.

She stared at him, unsure of why he was asking this.

"What's your favorite food?" He asked again.

"What is this? Twenty questions?" She wondered.

"I’m just curious. I mean, we are talking eternity here. Maybe we should know something about each other?" He explained.

She continued staring at him in the darkened room.

"Come on. Just tell me. It'll give us something to talk about." He pleaded with her. "Besides, I can read your mind if I want to. But it's more fun if you just tell me." He pointed out.

She sighed again.

"Fine. I like pizza."

"Me too. What kind?"

"Anything except anchovies. Or green peppers. Or pineapple. Fruit does not belong on a pizza." She told him.

"I agree. When we're in charge of the world, we'll banish that." He smiled.

She laughed slightly and shook her head.

"What's your favorite movie?" He asked.

"Um...I don't know. There's too many to choose from. What's yours?"

"Well, there is a lot to choose from, but Star Wars is always a classic. Gotta go with that." He told her.

"How did I know you would say that?" She said sarcastically.

"Probably because it's a masterpiece." He pointed out.

"Which one of them is your favorite?"

"The originals. Not that new crap. And normally I'd say Empire is the best. But Return Of The Jedi gets a few bonus points for--."

"Princess Leia in the gold bikini." She finished for him with a small grin.

He looked over at her in amazement. Could it be that a girl actually understood that? Then he remembered who he was talking to. He grinned.

"Exactly."

"She was really hot in that outfit." Willow agreed.

"I so wanted her." He said dreamily. The he sat up and looked down at her. "We should get her! We could zap her here and totally have a slave Princess Leia all our own." He said excitedly.

This time she laughed out loud.

"Oh please. Carrie Fisher is like ancient now. Somehow I don't think the bikini would hold the same charm."

"Well then we could get someone younger and hotter to wear it."

"Like who?"

"How bout' the Slayer? Huh? She's hot. Wouldn't that just be humiliating for her? We could have her dance around for us and everything." He told her.

"You're sick. But I actually kinda love that idea." Willow said thoughtfully. "But you know who would be better?"

"Who?"

"Angelina Jolie. Now she is very hot." Willow said fanning herself over the suggestion.

"I like the way you think." He smiled. "This is kinda cool. We both like hot chicks."

"Yeah...I miss Tara." She said, out of the blue.

He looked at her uncomfortably, his eyes tinged with jealousy.

"What? Why?" He asked her.

"I just do."

"I thought you said she didn't understand you? That she was stifling you? Why would you want her back now?" He asked nervously.

"I didn't say I wanted her back. She's kinda dead, remember?" Willow reminded him. "I just miss her. All this talk about girls dancing around for us made me a little hot." She explained.

He rolled on top of her.

"I can do something about that." He told her suggestively, as he attempted to kiss her.

She shoved him away.

"Get off."

"What? I'm not satisfying you? Cause you haven't been complaining. I can do everything that she did." He pointed out, threatened by the mention of her ex.

"True...You can. But you're missing something important that I've grown quite fond of."

"What?"

She reached up and poked her finger at his flat chest. She raised her eyebrows at him. And he realized what she was getting at.

"Boobs. You miss boobs?" He asked.

"Duh. Wouldn't you?"

"Yeah, but--."

"But what? I thought you said it was cool that we both liked 'hot chicks'? Why are you getting all wiggy about this?" She asked him with amusement.

"I'm not. It is cool. It's just, Angelina Jolie is one thing. But do we have to talk about your ex?" He asked her uncomfortably.

"You wanna talk about yours? Oh wait, that's right. You killed her too." She said wickedly.

Now she was really pissing him off.

"Shut up!" He told her angrily.

"Make me." She prodded him.

He grabbed her into a kiss. His tongue battled with hers, filled with venom, hatred and a mix of the twisted love he couldn't help but feel for her. She returned his fervor as they rolled across the floor together, a tangled mess of limbs and crackling energy.

All at once, their senses picked up a disturbance in their protective lair. Willow sat up straight and held him away from her.

"What is that?" She asked quickly.

"Someone's tapping in again."

They looked around to see if they could spot their intruder, the way they had spotted Dawn before. But they saw nothing.

"The kid wouldn't be stupid enough to try again, would she?" Warren asked her.

"No...This is different. Someone's looking for us. It's a locator spell." Willow said, as she felt the intrusive magicks threatening their barrier.

"Well, we've got the barrier." He shrugged.

"They're trying to break through it. I can feel it slipping away."

She grabbed his hand and they shot a wall of energy into their fabricated night sky. It enveloped the ceiling and spread down over the walls of the room. Effectively placing them into a protective bubble that nothing could penetrate.

"Even if they found out where we are, they're all the way in Sunnydale. By the time they got here, we'd be long gone." He assured her.

"Not exactly. One of them is a demon. Anya. She can teleport. She could be here in a flash." Willow told him.

"A demon? What kind? Why is she working with them?" He asked confused.

"She's a vengeance demon and I don't really know why she's still helping them. But I know I don't want her here."

"Me neither, but what could she do? I've heard about vengeance demons. Their only power is in some kind of wish. She's not a match for us."

"Still...I'm getting irritated with their constant intrusions. Maybe it's time we went home." She told him.

"We've got a few more days till we can open the gates again." He pointed out.

"I know. But that doesn't mean we can't visit for awhile. You know, catch up? If they're so eager to find us, why don't we just give them what they want?" She said thoughtfully.

"They're gonna regret it."

"If they live long enough to." She added as a flash of red energy flickered in her eyes.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Did it work?" Xander asked Anya anxiously.

"It was starting to, but then it just stopped. They must have known we were breaking down their barrier." She explained, shaking her head.

"So you didn't get anything? Not even a ballpark estimate of where they are?" He prodded her.

"They're in the English countryside somewhere. Which means, even if we knew their exact location, we couldn't do much. I could go there, but they'd just smack me down and run. If they didn't kill me first." Anya told him.

"It looks as if the trail stops here." Giles said pointing to the large map they had laid out on the table.

The spell had burned a trail from the Wiccan retreat, to a spot about five miles away. Then the spell had been halted.

"Yeah, that's where the spell left off, but it doesn't mean that's where they are." Anya pointed out.

"But it could be close. I should call Elizabeth and maybe she could do something." Giles told them.

"Elizabeth? Who's Elizabeth?" Anya asked with a tinge of jealously in her voice.

"She's the head Wiccan at the retreat. She's the one who told me about Willow's disappearance."

"Oh. Do you really think she could find them?"

"I don't know. She is very powerful. But when Willow first disappeared, they attempted a locator spell of their own and came up with nothing. At least this might be a start."

"But Giles, what would they do even if they did find them?" Buffy asked.

He stopped and looked at her seriously. Then he hung his head down.

"I'm not sure." He admitted.

"We shouldn't bring anyone else into this. It's too dangerous. We're just gonna have to wait." Buffy said unhappily.

Everyone was silent as they contemplated their feeling of helplessness. There wasn't anything they could do until they showed up. And there was no guarantee they would show up at all. Whatever they were planning, could probably be done from the comfort of their little hideaway. Buffy looked up at Giles.

"Do we even know for sure that they'll come here?" She asked curiously.

"Well, part of the prophecy states that the apocalypse begins with the opening of the Hellmouth. So it's a safe bet that this is where they'll be." He told her.

"But the last thing that happened, Willow did it thousands of miles from here, and it seemed to be just as effective." Buffy pointed out.

"What occurred last time was nothing, Buffy. It was a small tear in the fabric of realities. This will be a full blown opening of the dimensional walls. They are powerful now, but evil is fueled by the Hellmouth. Which is precisely why so many demons choose to make Sunnydale their home."

"So again, we sit and wait. I feel like sitting a bloody sitting duck." Spike complained.

"We all do." Xander agreed.

There was no way for anyone to really prepare themselves for what was to come. Especially knowing that Willow was the cause of it.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

That evening, Spike and Buffy were out on a patrol. They hadn't even seen any vampires in the last few days.

"It's seems like even the vamps know to get the hell out of town." She remarked at the lack of action.

"You know they've probably seen the spirits too. They know something big is happening." He pointed out.

"But wouldn't this be something they'd like? End of the world? Demons taking over?"

"One would think, but that's not how most vampires work. They just want to hunt and feed. Most of em' don't care about ruling the bloody world. Besides, they feed on humans. If the world is populated by only dead things and demons, what's left for them? They'd all wither away and die. No, the vamps are scared. I can feel it."

Buffy shook her head sadly.

"I remember Xander said once, 'If the scary things are scared, we're in trouble'. And I'm pretty sure he was right."

"It's not over yet." He reassured her.

They walked slowly through one of the cemeteries. They stopped when they noticed another group of spirits hovering in the trees. They watched with uncomfortable awe.

"They're still trying to break free." He whispered to her.

"This is just freaky. Do you think they know we're here?" She whispered back.

All at once, the spirits turned in their direction. They began floating quickly towards them, and the incessant hum they gave off became deafening.

"Looks like." Spike said quickly, as he took Buffy's hand and they began to run.

They jumped over grave markers and kept their sprinting pace. The humming surrounded them. Buffy turned her head slightly to see if they were still on their heels, and she tripped over a fallen tree branch. Spike tried to pull her up, as the red apparitions descended upon them. An immense gust of wind blew through the trees. A broken tree limb hurtled towards Spike and knocked him across the head. He fell backwards over Buffy and lay motionless on the ground.

"Spike!" Buffy tried to crawl towards him, but she couldn't see clearly.

They were lying in the middle of a firestorm of evil spirits. It was a wall of red smoke, and Buffy tried in vain to wave it away from her. All at once, the wind stopped, and spirits were gone as quickly as they had appeared. She tried to catch her breath, as she crawled over to Spike. He was out cold. He had a large knot in the middle of his forehead. She shook him gently.

"Spike? Are you okay? Wake up." She urged him.

He groaned and lifted his hand to his temple.

"What the bleedin' hell happened?" He muttered.

"I don't know. Apparently we pissed them off by being here."

He forced himself to sit up and looked at Buffy.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. But we should get out of here." She told him as she helped him to stand up.

He leaned onto her for support, as they hobbled out of the cemetery. They made their way back to Buffy's house and went inside. Dawn was sitting in the living room with Xander, watching television. They both turned when they heard the door open. Dawn stood up and rushed over to Spike when she saw his head.

"Oh my god! What happened?" She asked with concern.

"It's nothing. Just a little whack to the head. I've endured worse." He said, with a small smile.

"What happened? You piss Buffy off?" Xander asked wryly.

"Very funny. No, we were attacked, I'll have you know." Spike said defensively.

"Vamps?" Xander asked.

"I wish. At least I know what to do with a vampire." Buffy sighed.

"Evil ghosties." Spike told them.

"They can hurt us now?" Dawn asked worriedly.

"Well, they can if they launch a tree branch at you." Spike told her.

Spike sat down on the couch and put his feet up. He turned to Xander and Dawn.

"So, did you see anything here? Anymore warnings from the great beyond?" He asked.

Xander shook his head.

"Nah, it was quiet. We were just watching Wheel Of Fortune."

"How very productive." Spike said snidely.

"Well, your Greatness. What should we be doing? Getting knocked out by flying trees? Would that be more helpful?" Xander asked defensively.

"Stop it you two. There isn't anything any of us can do. We're all frustrated. We need to keep it together. Fighting with each other isn't going to solve anything." Buffy interjected sternly.

Xander and Spike looked properly chastised. They were both lashing out because they felt helpless. Fighting with each other put them in a comfort zone. It was the only thing that felt familiar anymore.

Later that night, Xander had gone home and Dawn had gone to her room. This time with a solemn promise she wouldn't surprise them with any dangerous psychic journey's. They had returned the crystal to Giles earlier that day. Now Buffy and Spike sat on her back porch again. This time he was on the top step, and she was sitting between his legs leaning her back into him. His arms were draped loosely around her shoulders and his hands lay on her chest.

"You know when you look up at the sky like this, everything seems so peaceful. It's hard to believe that there is so much evil in this world." Buffy pointed out sadly.

"I know."

"Sometimes it seems like a dream. All of this...My life...Our lives. It can't be real." She shook her head.

"It is, though. Just so you know. You're not still clinging to that mental patient idea, are you?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

She laughed softly.

"No, I'm not. But sometimes I have to wonder. It would explain a lot. Although, if this is what my imagination dreams up, I must be really crazy."

He chuckled at that and began stroking her hair softly.

"Well, if you're dreaming this, at least you finally got us together." He remarked.

"Now I know I definitely wouldn't have dreamed that up."

"Why? Is that so hard to stomach?" He asked defensively.

She turned her head to look at him.

"No, that's not what I meant. But you have to admit, a few years ago? You never would have dreamed this either. You would have preferred being staked, than to fall in love with me."

"That's true." He sighed. "But you were the best thing that ever happened to me. You and Dawn."

"Can you believe we're actually a family? It still boggles my mind."

"I think I always knew. Somewhere, deep down, I felt it. When I made you that promise to protect Dawn, I meant every word of it. It wasn't just something to say, so you'd let me into your life. I knew it was my duty. I just didn't understand why." He told her softly.

She turned and faced him.

"I didn't either. I don't know why I trusted you then, but I did. I just knew that you would keep her safe."

"I think it's something that neither one of us will ever understand. Our lives were joined long before we wanted to acknowledge it. It's an unbreakable bond. We were powerless against it."

"Unbreakable." She whispered as she leaned up and kissed him softly.

He put his arms around her and pulled her up into his lap. She touched his face and kissed him softly, savoring the taste of him on her tongue. All at once, they heard a loud rumbling and they pulled away from each other. They looked up to the sky.

"What the hell is that?" Buffy asked, as they watched an enormous fireball streak across the sky.

"A meteor?" He offered.

They stared as the fireball halted in mid-air. It hung over the horizon and suddenly shot downwards and out of their sight.

"Um, I'm pretty sure that meteors don't stop and change direction." Buffy said, feeling the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.

"Yeah, you've got a point. Whatever it was, it landed over there." He pointed.

"That's somewhere in the middle of town." She said, as she removed herself from his lap and stood up. "We need to check it out."

"Bloody perfect. That's all we need. An alien invasion on top of the apocalypse." Spike muttered as he followed her into the house.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The patrons of the Bronze nightclub, stood outside staring with fear at the sight before them. A large ball of fire floated down from the sky and was slowly starting to move down the middle of the street. As they watched in horror, the fire began to separate into two separate halves. The flames began flickering away revealing two black clad individuals.

Willow and Warren walked hand in hand through the remnants of their fiery entrance. The flames peeled away and dissipated. The people who had been on the street were no strangers to bizarre happenings, but this was one thing even they had never seen before.

The two of them stopped walking and looked around at all the frightened faces. They grinned satisfactorily.

"Home sweet home." Warren smiled.

"Feels good to be back." She agreed wickedly.

"What the hell was that?" They heard a hushed whisper in the small crowd of people.

"It's your worst nightmare, my friends." Warren announced proudly.

Willow laughed as she watched them all quaking with fear. Warren grabbed her into a fiery kiss, to further show off his achievement to the town that had ridiculed him for so long. Not only was he going to be sure they feared him, he wanted to make damn sure they knew he got the girl this time too. He had it all. If only his former partners in pathetic crime could see him now.

They pulled away from each other, and she took his hand again.

"Come on. Let's party." She said, as they headed inside the club.

They walked towards the entrance. They lifted their joined hands and blasted the door open with a flash of red fire. They strolled in smugly, amid the screams and gasps of fear. Everyone was in awe of them. They either feared them or wanted to be them. Maybe even a little of both. It didn't really matter. The point was, no one was ignoring them this time.

"I don't like this music." Willow pouted unhappily.

"What do want to hear, Baby? Name it." He asked her sincerely.

"Something loud and wild."

He waved his hands in the air and instantly a heavy metal band appeared on stage. They walked towards the dance floor of gaping people who suddenly weren't dancing anymore. The crowd parted to let them through. She glanced at the onlookers and snapped her fingers.

"Dance!" She commanded them.

Everyone around them started dancing wildly to the music, unable to resist her spell. She grinned at Warren and took his hands. They moved to the music and Willow rubbed herself up against him seductively. The friction of their bodies caused red sparks to flicker around them. After a few songs, she was tired of the loud music and wanted a change of pace.

"I want something slow this time." She whispered into his ear.

"You got it." He waved his hand in the air and the band disappeared.

In its place was a female singer, crooning a slow love song. The people around them stopped dancing and began staring again. They didn't know what to make of the frightening couple in the middle of the dance floor. Warren waved his fingers at them, and everyone in the crowd became suspended in animation.

Willow turned to him and he wrapped his arms around her waist tightly.

"This song is just for us." He whispered, as they began dancing slowly.

They held each other tightly, and they slowly rose above the floor. Red energy swirled around them, creating a fantastic light show.

"See how perfect this is?" He told her softly.

"Hmm...It is."

"You can't ever leave me." He told her seriously.

Something inside of him still feared that she would go and leave him alone. He knew she needed him for the power. But there was always a chance she would change her mind. Or decide that what he was giving her wasn't enough. He also feared that the Slayer and her stupid friends would find some way to take her from him. Right now, he had everything that he had ever wanted, and he couldn't lose it.

"I don't want to leave." She whispered back.

She didn't want to admit that because it gave him back a certain degree of power over her. But it was the truth. She was in so deep, she didn't want to go anywhere without him. Her twisted needs were identical to his own. No one had ever understood her the way he did. They had a bond that no one could ever touch.

"You have to promise me, that whatever they try to do to us, that you won't leave my side." He told her seriously.

"They can't separate us." She assured him.

"We have a bond. More than just the power. Tell me you feel it." He urged her.

"It's unbreakable." She whispered back softly as she laid her head on his shoulder.

The music continued to play as they danced. Oblivious to anything around them. The crowd was still frozen, and they dimmed the lights further. The only thing visible in the darkened club was the two of them, locked in a swirl of red sparks.

Buffy and Spike entered the club slowly. They had gone to investigate the strange fireball they had spotted, and it had led them here to the Bronze. They heard people muttering outside about some kind of freaky occurrence. The word around was that someone had slipped something funny into everyone's drink and they were all hallucinating. Leave it to the Sunnydale citizens to explain everything away with logic. At least Buffy knew better by now.

They stood in the doorway and witnessed first hand, the frozen crowd. They saw Willow and Warren in the middle of the floor, still lost in their deadly dance. All at once, they dropped themselves back down to the ground, and the music silenced. They had sensed the intrusion of the Slayer.

Willow took Warren's hand and they walked towards where Buffy and Spike were standing.

"How sweet of you guys to show up. But as you can see, this is really kind of a private moment." Willow said indicating the state of the crowd.

"Willow, let them go." Buffy urged her firmly.

"Why? It's not like we're hurting them."

"Yet, anyway." Warren added with an evil grin.

"You really spend time with this wanker?" Spike asked as he shot Warren a disgusted glance.

"Well, sometimes there's no accounting for taste. Isn't that right, Buffy?" Willow responded, shooting her own disapproving glance at Spike.

"Warren is evil, Willow. And he's dead. Wake up!" Buffy tried to get through to her.

"Dead, evil things were good enough for you, weren't they?" Willow asked as she started circling around them. She stopped and looked Buffy in the eye. "But then again, I forget that everything's different when it's about you." Willow pointed out.

"That's not true." She protested.

Willow laughed and shook her head.

"That's so funny. Especially because you actually believe it."

"Willow, it's not too late. You can still stop this." Buffy told her, refusing to be distracted by Willow's put downs.

"Why would I want to? I have everything I ever dreamed of." Willow said, as she returned to Warren and ran her hands down his arms. She clasped their hands together tightly.

"This is what you dreamed of? A super-geek to call your own? That's pathetic. But I guess the nerd doesn't fall far from the tree." Buffy said hurtfully.

Willow became enraged at the suggestion she was still in any way a nerd or a geek or any of the other names people called her in school. She threw a bolt of energy at Buffy and she went hurtling out the door of the club. Spike quickly ran to see if she was okay and Willow turned to her devilish companion.

"She still thinks I'm a nerd. Can you believe that? How dare she." Willow said furiously.

"Relax, Princess. She's just jealous, remember? You've always been smarter than her, and she knows it." He reassured her.

Buffy pulled herself together and Spike helped her up.

"This is gonna be the kind of fun that's not." She muttered, as she went back inside the club again.

Willow noticed Buffy's reappearance and she groaned loudly.

"What does it take for you to go away?" Willow asked with exasperation.

"A lot more than that." Buffy said seriously.

"Fine. I can do more." Willow said, throwing another bolt in her direction.

Buffy ducked out of the way, and stood her ground. She looked at Spike.

"Keep them apart." She said quickly, as she lunged herself in Willow's direction.

The two women went crashing to the floor as Spike launched himself at Warren. They went flying the opposite direction. Spike began pummeling Warren's face, which enraged him. He kicked Spike off of him, sending him sailing across the room. The force of the collision broke apart the wall and Spike slumped to the ground.

Warren jumped up and ran over to Buffy and Willow. They were on their feet again, and Willow was effectively blocking most of Buffy's punches. Getting a lucky shot in, Buffy's fist cracked across Willow's cheek and knocked her across the room.

"Don't you touch her!" Warren screamed, as he shot another flash of red energy at her.

Buffy shot backwards and hit the wall right next to Spike. He had been attempting to get to his feet. Warren picked Willow up and they joined hands again.

"She's gonna pay for that." He assured Willow.

"Kill her. For me?" She asked him with a smile.

"Anything for you, Baby."

"I'll get the vampire." She said wickedly.

With a flash they were now directly in front of the fallen heroes once again. Warren magically lifted Buffy up into the air and pinned her against the wall. She struggled, but his hold on her was too confining.

"Keep here there. I want her to watch this." Willow instructed Warren.

With a wave of her hand, Spike shot against the wall. She pinned his clothes with daggers that shot out from her fingertips. She snapped her fingers and produced two pairs of sunglasses. She handed one to Warren and put the other pair on herself. She waved her hands in the air, and the darkened room was flooded with a bright ultraviolet light. Almost brighter than the sun. Buffy and Spike closed their eyes tightly against the harsh rays. Willow looked perplexed for a moment. She turned to Warren.

"Why isn't he poofing? This is sunlight." She told him.

Warren shrugged.

Willow waved away the light and removed her sunglasses. She walked closer to Spike and put her hand on his chest. His racing heart thumped steadily under her fingertips. She started laughing.

"Oh my god...He's human. How the hell did that happen?" Willow asked with curiosity.

"None of your bloody business." Spike spat at her.

"Fine. It's not like I care. It's just...interesting. Pathetic even. You used to be the Big Bad, and now? Look at you. You're worthless. Did you do this for her?" Willow pointed her finger at Buffy.

Spike said nothing as he struggled to free himself from Willow's magical bonds.

"I'm sure you did." Willow continued, despite his silence. "Everything you ever did was for her. You were her loyal little puppy. It was pathetic. But you know, I understand. I've been there myself. I actually used to care what Buffy thought too. Until I realized that nothing is ever good enough for her."

"Willow, just stop this. If you've got a problem with me? Fine. We can deal with it." Buffy interjected.

"Deal with it? How? Are you gonna banish me to the other side of the world again? Make sure I'm rehabilitated enough to grace your presence? Force me to change, so that I'm good enough to be friends with you again?" Willow asked angrily.

"I just wanna help you. What you're doing now...This isn't really you."

"See, that's where you're wrong. This is me. Finally I found someone who doesn't judge me. Someone who understands. And soon, I'll have everything I ever wanted. You'll be a distant memory. Another Slayer, dead again. No one will even remember you. But no one will be able to forget me."

"You've completely lost your mind." Buffy told her sadly.

Willow just smirked at Buffy's despair. Warren looked over at her anxiously.

"As much as I've been enjoying this chit-chat...Can I kill her now, Baby?" Warren asked.

"Uh, I’m thinking, no." Xander said, as he whacked Warren across the back of the head with a chair.

Caught off guard, he went crashing into a table, shattering it beneath him. Buffy fell off the wall and landed in a heap. Distracted, Willow's spell weakened enough for Spike to free himself, tearing his clothes in the process. Warren picked himself up and headed for Xander.

"Didn't you learn your lesson the last time I beat the shit out of you?" Warren asked as he smashed his fist across Xander's face. He went careening into another cluster of tables.

Xander held his cheek and tried to pull himself up. Willow joined Warren and he put his arms around her waist.

"Willow, stop this madness. You belong here with us. With me." Xander croaked out painfully.

"Wait. Let me guess. This is the part where you tell me the story about how I broke a fucking crayon, right? Give it up. I know where I belong now, and it isn't with you. It never was." She spat at him.

"That's not true, Willow. We love you." Xander said, refusing to give up.

"She belongs with me now." Warren said protectively, as he tightened his grip around her waist.

"You're sick and you're twisted. What did you do? Put a spell on her? Is that why she lets you touch her?" Xander hissed angrily.

"I don't need a spell." He protested.

"No, you just feed her power. You don't actually think she wants to be with you, do you?"

"Shut up!" Warren shouted as he zapped Xander across the room. Then he looked at Willow. "Tell them that you want to be with me." He urged her.

She ran her fingertips up his arm and touched his face. Sparks crackled around them.

"You know I do."

He pulled her to him and they looked at her former friends.

"See? You can't tear us apart. We're unbreakable!" He told them manically.

"You're gonna regret this." Buffy said calmly, despite her fears.

"No, I think it's you that's gonna regret it. You didn't take me seriously before, did you? But now, you've got no choice." Warren told her.

"Is that what you want? To be taken seriously? Fine. You got my attention when you shot me and murdered Tara. Do you even remember that Willow?" Buffy asked her hurtfully.

"Shut up about Tara! Don't even speak her name." Willow hissed.

"Why not? I thought you loved her? And this is how you pay respect to her memory? Cavorting with her killer?"

Willow knocked Buffy away from her with a flick of her wrist.

"I guess I've moved on." Willow said coldly, refusing to let Buffy's words get to her.

"I think we've done enough talking for one evening, don't you?" Warren asked Willow hurriedly. He just wanted to get the hell out there. He didn't want her friends weakening the bond they shared.

She nodded her head slowly, and he put his arms around her.

"We'll be back. But next time, there won't be as much talking. What with you all being dead by then." Warren told them all.

He shot a bolt of electricity at the ceiling and a large light fixture came crashing down on top of Buffy and Spike. Xander narrowly escaped as he rolled out of the way.

The room started to rumble and the floor beneath them started to shake. Willow and Warren became enveloped in a ring of fire. It swallowed them whole and the fireball shot into the air. It busted a hole straight through the ceiling of the club. They were gone. The people on the dance floor were released from their hold and the original band had returned to the stage. The crowd started milling around, completely confused as to what had just happened. Or why there was debris everywhere and a hole in the ceiling.

Xander rushed over and picked the lighting fixture off of Buffy and Spike.

"Are you guys okay?" He asked frantically.

Buffy groaned and tried to sit up.

"I'll live. At least for now." She added wryly.

She turned to Spike who was sitting up clutching his ribcage. He coughed a little and looked at Xander.

"How did you know she was here?" He asked breathlessly.

"I didn't. I was just a little stressed. I wanted to have a few drinks. And I have to say, I'm needing them now more than ever." Xander complained sadly.

"You saved us." Buffy admitted softly.

She had no doubt in her mind that Willow and Warren would have been able to do them in. If Xander hadn't of shown up when he did, there was no telling what might have happened.

"I'm not gonna be able to save her this time, am I?" Xander asked quietly.

Everyone remained silent. There was nothing else they could say. They had just gotten a glimpse of their worst nightmare.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Buffy lay curled up in Spike's arms. They were snuggled underneath her bed sheets and he had his arms secured tightly around her waist. His warm breath tickled the back of her neck, as he buried his face into her hair. She had tears in her eyes that she was trying desperately to push back.

"It'll be alright, Love." He whispered to her softly.

"How can it be?" She whispered back.

"Because, it has to be."

She rolled herself over so that they were staring face to face. She touched his cheek gently and closed her eyes.

"I've had to do a lot of things in my time. Things I hated, but did them anyway. I killed Angel because I had to. I jumped off that tower because I had to. But I swore that night, that if I ever had to kill or destroy someone else that I loved, that I was finished. Done. I wouldn't do it anymore." She told him softly.

"Buffy..."

"I mean it, Spike. I don't think I can kill her. I-I know she's not giving me much of a choice here, but I still can't do it. How can I forget that she's the same girl that used to wear silly sweaters with fuzzy animals on them? She has always been there when I needed her. She gave up her dreams of going to Oxford or Harvard, just so she could stay here and help me." Buffy began crying softly at the memories of her friend.

Spike stroked her hair softly and let her cry. He felt like crying himself. Not just because he had always had a soft spot for the redhead, but because it was destroying Buffy. She might not be able to come back from this. Another blow to her psyche when she was only beginning to enjoy life again. He couldn't stand it.

"We'll do everything we can to save her. We'll go after that wanker of hers first. Destroy him, and Willow might stand a chance. Send him back to Hell where he belongs." Spike assured her.

Buffy wiped her eyes a little and nodded her head.

"I know. We will. We'll get rid of him, and maybe that'll be enough to snap Willow back to reality. I hope anyway."

"Me too."

She leaned forward and kissed his forehead softly.

"You know, I was actually afraid they were gonna kill us." She admitted.

"Pretty sure they would have. Bout' the only time in my life I was actually happy to see Harris." He said sarcastically.

"I was pretty glad to see him too."

"I just hope Giles knows what he's talking about when he said the three of us stand a chance. Cause the way it stands now, we might as well just kiss our bloody asses goodbye." He complained sullenly.

"He has to be right." She whispered, as she kissed him gently on the lips.

He pulled her closer and they continued kissing. Drinking each other in, fearful that this may be the last time they would be alone together. There was desperation in their kisses, as they knew time was running out. Even if they won this battle, nothing would ever be the same in their lives. Either way, everything was going to be altered forever. The only thing they had to cling to was each other.

He kissed his way down the side of her neck, savoring the way her skin tasted on his tongue.

"I love you so much." He whispered softly. "I won't let this be the last time we're together."

She felt tears spring to her eyes at his words. She wanted to believe him, and believe that they had the power to make everything right again. She clutched at his arms, holding onto him with desperation. They kissed feverishly.

His hands traveled downward, and roamed over her breasts. She shuddered as his palms made contact with her hardened nipples. He bent his head to take one into his mouth, as his fingertips teased the other. Slowly he brought his other hand down between her legs. She was soft and warm and wet. He rubbed his fingers over her slick skin, as he slipped them inside of her.

She moaned softly.

"Oh god...Spike."

He leaned up and captured her lips in a fiery kiss. His tongue explored her mouth hungrily. Desperate to keep the feeling alive forever, but too impatient to wait, she looked into his eyes.

"I need you now. I need to feel you." She cooed softly.

He reached over to the night table and grabbed what he needed. He readied himself, and moved into position between her legs. He slipped inside of her and they both cried out sharply. He began moving slowly within her, as he rested his forehead on top of hers.

"Tell me that you love me." He whispered urgently. "I want to hear you say it again."

"I love you."

"Until the end of the world?" He asked breathlessly.

"Longer."

His heart was so filled with love for her. Hearing her pledge her devotion to him, he knew without a doubt everything up until now had been worth it. Even if this ended up being the last night they ever shared together, he would die a happy man.

He could feel his passions mounting, and yet he wanted it to last forever. He slowed his pace slightly and gazed deep into her eyes. Memorizing each other's faces forever. Unable to hold back any longer, Spike began to shudder. She held on to him, as they both fumbled into ecstasy.

They held each other tightly, almost afraid if they let go something would be lost. They were trying to preserve their dreams for a little while longer, as the sands of the hourglass slipped through their fingers.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Giles lay in his bed with Anya at his side. They were feeling the same desperation that Buffy and Spike were experiencing. Anya was curled up under his arm, and began kissing across his chest lightly. He smiled and caressed the top of her head. She leaned up and began kissing his lips softly, as her hands ran over his bare chest.

"If we keep this up, I likely won't survive long enough to see the apocalypse." He said, between her kisses.

"What?" She asked nervously.

"Three times already...I'm not a young man." He pointed out with a sheepish grin.

"Am I'm over-sexing you?" She asked, as she lay her head down on his chest again. "Sorry. It's just that it's all gonna be over soon. They'll be nothing left of us, except our bloodstains on the carpet. I just want to enjoy everything while we can." She explained softly.

"Anya, don't speak like that. I'm quite sure we won't be merely bloodstains on a carpet once this is all over." He reassured her.

"Xander said they almost killed all of them last night. Buffy's the Slayer. She's always supposed to win. But let's face it, she didn't do much the last time Willow went black-magic woman. I mean, she was stuck in a hole, while you nearly died. And Xander saved us all with small talk. Now there are two of them. We're doomed, Giles. Doomed!" She complained dramatically.

He stroked her hair gently and tried to calm her.

"I can't lie. It won't be easy for Buffy or anyone else this time. But we've never seen the power of the Trinity. We mustn't give up hope."

"But what if they screw up because they don't want to hurt Willow? What if they tiptoe around this whole mess, and it gets us all killed?"

"Buffy won't let her emotional ties hamper her fighting." Giles said quietly, unsure if he really believed that anymore.

He wouldn't be able to blame her if she couldn't keep her focus during this battle. But as her Watcher, he knew he needed to stress to her the importance of distancing herself emotionally in a time of crisis. A Slayer was never supposed to have family and friends. She knew that, as well as he did. And the reasoning behind that was to prevent a catastrophe such as this from happening.

Buffy had already learned this lesson the hard way with Angel. And she had risen above it, and performed her duty. But Giles knew that she had not escaped unharmed. Losing Willow to the dark side was upsetting enough. But failing to save her would likely send Buffy into a tailspin. And if anything happened to Dawn or Spike in the process, Buffy might not make it.

"Are you sure you don't want me to get someone to wish this whole entire mess away?" Anya looked up at him curiously. "Cause I could do it."

"No. We've already been over that. Wishing it away might have dire consequences."

"Dire consequences? What could be more dire than this?" She asked seriously.

"I'm not sure, but perhaps we wouldn't want to know. These events were prophesized long ago. I have no doubt that they'll continue to occur in some shape or form, whether we attempt to change it or not." He explained.

"I don't want us to die."

"Well, on the bright side, you are a demon. You'll probably survive." He said wryly.

"But I don't want to survive. Not without you." She said sincerely.

"Oh, Anya..."

"I mean it. I love you, Giles. I-I know we haven't really been together very long....And we've never talked about the future. Mostly because I never knew if the world would still be here. But, I want you to know that I want to have a future. With you."

"I want that as well." He whispered.

She lay her head back down on his chest and sighed. All they could do now was sit and wait. They didn't even know for certain how much time was left. But until then, they were determined to hold onto each other tightly.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Willow stood in the living room of the new place she and Warren had created in Sunnydale. They had decided to stick close to home. The new moon would be upon them in just over twenty four hours and they needed to be ready. Willow had been bothered by seeing her friends again. They always had a way of making her self confidence wane. They still saw her as this sweet, lovable geek. It sickened her. No matter what she did, that's how they would see her. But soon, all that would change.

Warren walked up behind her and put his arms around her waist.

"Whatcha' thinking about?" He asked curiously.

"Nothing."

"Looked like something."

"Just my friends." She admitted quietly.

"Ex-friends. Right? I mean, you're not still feeling some kind of loyalty to them, are you?" He asked nervously.

She turned and faced him.

"No, I'm not. It's just that they don't see me. They never did."

"I think they saw you. In a big way. You scared the crap out of them." He reassured her.

She sighed.

"I guess." She walked across the room and sat down on the couch. He followed her.

"Listen, once this is all over, things will change. We'll be in charge of everything. The way it was the other night at the Bronze? That's how it'll be forever. That felt good, didn't it?"

She smiled.

"Yeah. Really good."

"We owned that place. Everyone was our puppet. That's what the world will be like. All of this will be a distant memory."

He stroked her hair affectionately and she closed her eyes.

"Can we live in a castle?" She asked dreamily.

"We can live anywhere you want to, Baby."

"Do you love me?" She asked softly.

"Completely. You and me. Forever." He assured her.

And deep down, in the pit of his twisted heart, he meant every word.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Spike and Buffy walked quickly through the cemetery. The mid-morning sun shone down on them, but the cold breeze that was blowing chilled them to the bone. It could have just been the changing of the seasons, but the cold seemed ominous. Spike reached over and took Buffy's hand tightly.

He hadn't been back to his crypt in several days and he wanted to pick up some new clothes and gather the stash of weapons he had there, in case they needed them. They opened up the door and walked inside. They startled Clem who was busily throwing items into a suitcase.

"Ah!" He screamed. Then he realized who was calling. "Spike? Oh man, I thought you were dead or something. Where've you been?"

"Sorry mate. I've been busy." Spike said regretfully.

"It's alright. I get it. Romance is in the air and all that." Clem smiled at Buffy.

"Yeah." Spike grinned slightly.

"I mean, if I had a lady, I wouldn't wanna be here either." Clem agreed.

"Speaking of being here...You leaving?" Spike asked.

"Uh, yeah. Haven't you heard?"

"Heard what?" Buffy asked.

"There's a new power in town. Word around is that it's bad news. I-I don't wanna stick around and find out."

"Yeah, we're familiar with the new dastardly duo." Buffy remarked sadly.

"I've heard that they're gonna take over the world, starting with Sunnydale. And they expect all the demons to be their slaves or something. I-I don't do manual labor. It makes my skin chafe." Clem complained.

"Where have you heard this?" Spike asked.

"Around. And it's happening tonight. The new moon. I-I'm not sticking around to find out." Clem stammered.

Buffy and Spike looked at each other. Finally they had some idea of what was going to happen and when.

"Tonight." Spike said softly.

"We need to get Giles. We have to do the ritual now. Get your stuff and let’s go." Buffy said hurriedly.

"What? Ritual? What're you guys talking about?" Clem asked confused.

Spike opened up his weapons chest and started pulling things out.

"No time to explain, mate. Go and get out of town, just like you planned. Buffy and I'll take care of this."

"How?"

"We just will. Come back when the world doesn't end, okay? We'll catch up." Spike told him quickly.

After they had gotten everything they needed, they headed back to the Magic Box. They ripped through the doors quickly.

"Giles?" Buffy called out to him.

He and Anya popped up from behind the counter, and it was obvious they had been kissing.

"Over here. We were just doing... something." Giles wiped at his mouth and tried to act natural.

"I know what you were doing." Buffy rolled her eyes. "But it's not important. We just found out that Willow and Warren are doing this tonight. So that means, we need to get ready."

"Tonight, you say? How did you figure this out?" Giles asked.

"Clem. He was on his way out of town. Apparently the news travels fast in the demon circles. He said the new moon was when it was going down. And that's tonight."

Giles scratched his head and nodded.

"Of course. I should have realized. The new moon is when black energies are at their peak."

"We need a firm plan. Whatever they're going to do, we need to be ready. And hopefully stop it before it happens." Spike told him.

"Where is Dawn? We'll need her here to do the ritual."

"She's at school. Should I get her out?" Buffy asked.

"No, we'll need a few hours to get everything in order again. Come back here at three." Giles instructed them as he looked at the clock. "I'll be ready then."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Everyone was gathered at the Magic Box now. It was ten after three and Xander was pacing back and forth.

"You promise you'll try and save Willow." He urged Buffy.

"Yes, I promise. But you saw her the other night, Xander. I have to fight back this time or we're all gonna die."

"I know..."

"Giles, are we ready?" Spike asked him.

"Yes, I have all the spell ingredients for the ritual. I've drawn a triangle on the floor here. Each of you must stand on one of the points." He instructed. "Dawn should be at the top, and Buffy and Spike, you're at the bottom."

They took their positions.

"What's gonna happen?" Dawn asked nervously.

"Well, once I've performed the ritual, your powers will combine. You may not feel much of a difference. I'm not certain. But whatever powers the three of you possess will be magnified threefold." He explained.

"Sounds like it'll be a bloody good time." Spike remarked.

"Yes, well, that is the plan." Giles pushed his glasses up. "Anya, can you hand me the dagger of Tumac?"

Anya handed over the long, copper dagger, placing it firmly in his hand.

"Uh, what's that for?" Dawn squeaked out.

"Well, I'll need to make a few small cuts on each of your palms. Then you must join hands in the center of the triangle. The mixing of the blood is the only way to do the ritual." He told her.

"Right. Always about the blood." Buffy whispered softly, remembering Spike's words from the night they faced Glory.

"Are you all ready?" Giles asked.

"As we'll ever be. Let's do it." Spike told him confidently.

Giles stepped forward and recited a verse from the ancient text he held in his hand. He held up a small bag of herbs and sprinkled them around the Trinity.

"Goddess of war, I beseech thee to join these souls as one. As it was written, so shall it be." Giles said into the heavens.

The room began to rumble and shake, and Anya held onto the counter for support. Giles walked over and placed a small metal pot into the middle of the triangle. He lit the contents and the room filled with an acrid smelling smoke. He took the dagger and went to Dawn. She held out her hand to him.

"Of the light." He chanted, as he made a small cut across her palm.

He moved to Spike and took his hand.

"Of the dark."

And on to Buffy.

"Becomes the balance." He sliced across her palm.

They placed their hands in the center of the mystically charged triangle.

"Join hands." Giles instructed.

They joined hands tightly as blood dripped from their wounds. It melded together and droplets landed in the burning pot. The smoke turned blue and then green as their blood became one.

The smoke swirled around the three of them, enveloping them. Where their hands were joined, blue sparks began to crackle. Green energy poured from Dawn's eyes and traveled to their fingertips. With a jolt, her energies shot through Buffy and Spike. They cried out, but their hands remained locked together. White light poured from Buffy and Spike and encircled Dawn. with a flash, the energy entered Dawn and she gasped.

The smoke turned purple and dissipated. The glow that emanated from the Trinity, dimmed and the room quieted. Giles looked over at them to ensure that they were all okay.

"Was that it?" Dawn asked breathlessly.

"That was it." Giles nodded his head.

They slowly released their hands, and found that the wounds that Giles had created were now gone. Small sparks jumped off of their fingertips and Spike smiled.

"Very neat." He remarked, in awe of his new sense of power.

"What do we do now?" Buffy asked, as she walked shakily over to the table and sat down.

"We wait until sundown, then we go to the Hellmouth. They can't do anything until it gets dark. For now, we'll go over your strategies. And we need to enchant the key that Dawn retrieved from Quinnith. If the gates open, we'll need to use that to close them again." Giles explained.

"We're gonna win. I can feel it." Buffy said with renewed confidence in their strength.

"You bet we will." Spike agreed.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

"What was that?" Willow asked Warren, as she felt a strong sense of magicks in the air.

"You felt it too?" He asked.

"Someone else is planning something." She said worriedly.

"Well, it can't be as big as our plan."

"It's bigger." She said uneasily.

"Baby, nothing is bigger than us." He assured her.

"Something isn't right." She shook her head. "I have a feeling Buffy is behind this."

"Buffy? Please. She may have a little Slayer strength, but she can't touch us. It's impossible."

"You don't know her like I do. She won't let this world go without a fight. Which makes no sense, since she hates it here." Willow muttered.

"We should have taken her out when we had the chance." He said unhappily.

"I know. But it's not too late." Willow said, forming a plan.

"You've got an idea?" He asked intrigued by her expression.

"She can't stop us, if she can't get there in time. We can speed this up." She explained.

"Speed it up?"

"Make the sun go down now. Why wait?"

"You think we can do that?" He asked.

"We can speed up time. So fast, that she'll be too disoriented to even realize what's happening, before it's too late." She explained.

"Hey, I actually did something to her like that once. I put this little thing on her sweater--."

"I remember. But we can do it with magic." She smiled sinisterly.

He pulled her into his arms and smiled at her.

"You're fucking brilliant. Has anyone ever told you that before?" He asked.

"No. But I like hearing it." She admitted with a sly smirk.

"Let's do it." He kissed her quickly and took her hands.

They concentrated their dark energies together and a ball of orange light formed at their fingertips. They raised it into the air, and they both blew on it. It released from their grasp, and traveled through the ceiling of their magical lair. It floated into the afternoon sky, and exploded in a ball of light. And suddenly, everything went black. It was now ten to midnight.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"What the hell?" Xander asked, as he picked himself up off the floor.

They had all been talking about their plans, when suddenly the room began spinning. Then it went dark and Xander remembered nothing.

"Giles? What's going on?" Buffy asked nervously.

Giles picked himself up from behind a book shelf, where he had fallen. He shook his head.

"I have no idea. Did everyone feel that?" He asked confused.

"Look at the clock!" Anya exclaimed as her eyes began to focus in the dark.

They all noticed that it was now almost midnight. A few seconds ago, it had been four PM.

"Bloody hell! Those buggers sped up time!" Spike said angrily. "You didn't tell us they could do that."

"I didn't know. They must have sensed our magicks."

"Well, hurry! Turn it back! Can't you guys use your new powers and just undo it?" Anya asked frantically.

"I-I don't know." Dawn stammered confused.

"There isn't time to figure that out. The three of you must get to the Hellmouth. Now. We mustn't waste time." Giles urged them.

"I'm coming too." Xander said firmly.

"No, Xander, you can't. It's too dangerous. Let us handle this." Buffy told him seriously.

"I don't care if it's dangerous. I'm not just gonna sit here and wait. Not if there's something I can do to help her." He said with resolve.

Buffy didn't have time to argue with him. She nodded her head.

"Fine. Giles? Anya? You stay here." She told them.

"Please be careful." Giles said emotionally.

"We will."

Anya walked over to Xander awkwardly.

"Xander?"

"Yeah?"

"Please don't die. I-I know we aren't together anymore, but I no longer hate your guts." She told him honestly. "And even though I wished the suffering of a thousand deaths upon you in my mind, I didn't really mean it."

Xander smiled at her, and knew in his heart that this was the greatest thing Anya could say to him. In her own way, she was forgiving him for the heartache he had caused her. He nodded his head.

"I won't die. Promise."

She patted him on the arm.

"Good. Now go save us all again. Or at least, try not to get in their way." She told him.

Xander nodded and turned to the Trinity.

"Now or never." He told them.

They all walked briskly out the door and jumped into Xander's car. They sped away in the direction of the newly reconstructed high school. It was still in the process of being completed, and as clueless as this city was, they rebuilt it on the exact same spot as before. They were going back to high school hell. Literally.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Willow and Warren materialized in the parking lot of the high school building. She looked up at the nearly complete structure and smiled.

"Looks like they've been busy."

"The Hellmouth is underneath the high school?" He asked.

"Ironic, isn't it?"

She took his hand and they walked inside the barren building. Exposed beams surrounded them, and the floors weren't done completely. They walked across plaster board and piles of nails, to get to the area that was intended the be the new library.

They walked through the door opening, but there wasn't a door there yet. The library consisted of nothing but a large room, with an open ceiling. They hadn't constructed the roof on this wing of the building, all that stood was an expanse of beams. The sky was completely dark. No moon, no stars. Nothing but an inky blackness hovering above them.

As they approached an opening in the bare wood floor, Willow took a deep breath. This was it. This was how it was all going to end. She was back in school, which seemed fitting. This is where her lust for power had begun, and now she was coming full circle. It was in this library where she got her first taste of what her power could be. She had read the magic books voraciously, drinking everything in.

She had also come across her alter ego in this room. Her vampire self, from another dimension. At the time, Willow had been freaked out to see herself like that. But deep down, she saw what kind of power she could possess. Vampire Willow commanded respect from everyone she came in contact with. And they gave it to her without question. It had intrigued Willow to learn that this was what she could be like as well. But of course she didn't want to be a vampire, so she had worked hard to command respect from her magic. If she was strong enough, and good enough, then maybe people would treat her the same way.

But somehow she always knew that those who claimed to know her best, would never accept her for what she really was. They saw what they wanted to see. A helpless geek, chained to a library and computer. And without her magic, that's all she'd ever be. But that all ended now.

"You all ready, Sweetheart?" Warren asked her.

"I'm ready."

She took his hand and the knelt over the hole in the floor. Beneath the foundation, lie the Hellmouth. It was nothing more than an open crack in the ground below them. But soon it would be open completely, and the spirits that were longing to be free, would find their lives again. And they would have Willow to thank for it.

"Guardian of the underworld, I command you to hear me!" She shouted into the night.

The floor started to shake and Warren smiled.

"Open the gates and allow our brothers safe passage to our world."

The Hellmouth began to rumble and the floor underneath them started to break apart. Rock formations, jutted up through the floor, splintering the wood beams around them.

"I don't know how safe their passage is gonna be." Buffy said, as she stood in the doorway with her hands on her hips.

Willow and Warren stood to their feet and faced her.

"Slayer. We knew you'd come." He said to her.

"And yet, you didn't even roll out the welcome mat? I'm hurt." She said sarcastically.

"It's already starting, Buffy. Just get out of here. You can't stop it this time." Willow told her confidently.

"Really? Cause you guys are so powerful, right?"

"That's right." Warren told her.

"And I'm just one, measly Slayer. What could I possibly do?" She said with mock despair.

"Not a whole lot." Willow smiled.

Just then, Spike and Dawn made their presence known beside Buffy. Xander walked past them and stood to the side.

"Oh no! Help! It's the Slayer's gang!" Warren mocked them.

Willow laughed.

"That's cute. You brought everyone. Even Xander? Guess you still want a front row seat to the end of the world, huh?" Willow asked him.

"Don't go through with this, Willow. It's still not too late to stop." Xander told her.

"Oh, I think it's a little late." Willow assured him.

"This is your last chance." Xander said shaking his head.

"Last chance for what?"

"To save yourself."

"I'll take that chance."

"You haven't even seen the beginning of what my girl here can do." Warren told Xander.

"And you haven't seen what my girls can do, either." Spike stepped forward.

Before Warren could respond, Dawn lifted her hands and blue flames shot across the room, slamming Warren in the chest. He flew backwards.

Willow looked bewildered.

"What the fuck was--." She started but was unable to finish.

Buffy's eyes glowed brightly, and a lighting bolt shot from them. It zapped Willow and she lay in a heap along with her evil companion.

The Trinity moved over to where they were lying, but they quickly recovered and jumped to their feet.

"So, you guys pulled a Giles, huh? Borrowed power? That's nifty. But it's not enough." Willow spat at them.

"It's not borrowed. It's ours." Spike said, as he zapped Warren before he could speak again. Spike looked at his hands. "I like this." He muttered pleased with how easily has accomplished that task.

"Ours?" Willow asked confused, as she backed away from them.

Buffy waved her hands in the air and her eyes glowed again. She threw a wall of blue energy around Willow and it captured her. Willow struggled to free herself.

"You are going to be sorry you did that." Willow said in a low voice. Her earth shattering scream filled the room.

The bubble that contained her broke into pieces. With outstretched hands she shot a wall of energy at the three of them, and they all went flying backwards, colliding roughly with the exposed sheetrock. It shattered around them, as they fell to the floor.

Willow rushed over to Warren and they joined hands again.

"Destroy!" Willow shouted.

Part of the building frame came crashing down right where Xander was standing. He leapt out of the way.

Willow and Warren turned to the bubbling Hellmouth again.

"I command you! Release them! Release!" She shouted.

The floor rumbled again, and more sheetrock fell from the walls. Another large rock formation jutted up at Willow's feet, and began to separate and crack.

The Trinity stood to their feet again, and faced their foes. Warren attempted to throw a fireball at them, but Buffy waved it away with her hand. It shot upwards, and exploded in the blackened sky. Dawn zapped Warren again and he went careening over the opening Hellmouth. His legs dropped inside, and he clutched at the floor to keep himself up.

Willow shrieked as she realized he was falling in. She raised her arms and he shot out, and landed at her side again.

"Get him away from her!" Xander shouted. He pulled a crossbow from his jacket and took aim at Warren.

Spike raised his hand, and pushed Willow away from Warren magically. She fell to the ground, and Xander fired off his arrow. It hit Warren in the shoulder and he screamed. He grabbed the arrow and yanked it out. The wound immediately closed up.

"Now you're just pissing me off. That hurt!" He shouted at Xander, as he tossed a bolt of red energy at him.

Xander smashed into the wall, and the crossbow shattered in his grasp. He slumped to the floor unconscious.

Spike leapt forward and tackled Warren to the ground. Willow rose to her feet and glared at the scene before her.

"Don't touch him." She said to Spike angrily.

She held her fist up and squeezed the air in front of her. Spike stopped his assault on Warren and clutched his throat. Willow was choking him with her mind. Warren scrambled to his feet and smiled at her.

"Damn, that's cool. Just like Darth Vader." He remarked.

"Darth Vader died, remember?" Dawn told him, as she sent a ball of turquoise flames in their direction.

They shot backwards, and their clothes began to smolder. Spike started gasping for air as Willow's grip released from around his throat.

Dawn walked forward, and zapped them both again.

"Don't mess with my family." She said seriously.

Willow and Warren screamed out as Dawn's energy burned through them. They clasped hands and forced Dawn backwards with their own energies. She slammed against the wall. They stood to their feet and aimed their hands at the sky. The only part of the ceiling that was intact, came crumbling down. It crushed Dawn and Spike underneath the rubble. Buffy had been knocked in the other direction, landing on top of Xander. He still hadn't recovered fully from Warren's crushing blow.

Warren turned to Willow.

"We need to finish this now." He urged her.

"They can't stop us."

"No, but they're trying a little too hard for my liking. Finish it."

She kissed him hungrily, and the power between them rejuvenated itself. She pulled away and stood in front of the rock with the crack in it. They both placed their hands onto it, and the earth began to rumble again.

"Separate! Open the gates! Release!" She commanded the gods of Hell.

All at once, the rock split further and fiery spirits started spilling out. Underneath the floor, the Hellmouth continued to quake. Willow kept up her devilish demands, and the sky began to tear apart. A shock of white light streaked across the sky, breaking the barriers down.

"You did it! I can't believe it." Warren said in awe of her power.

"Did you ever have any doubt?" She asked.

"Never." He kissed her roughly.

They had started the end of the world. But it was merely the beginning for them. Soon they would reign over a kingdom of hell-spirits and demons. They would be revered for freeing them all, and in return they would reap the benefits of eternal life.

Their kiss was interrupted when Buffy approached them. She grabbed Warren's hair and tossed him effortlessly away from Willow.

"That's really disgusting." Buffy said, indicating their kiss.

"You lost, Buffy. I told you that you would." Willow said heatedly.

Buffy looked up at the sky and saw the tear in the heavenly walls. It started to widen, as the evil poured forth from the Hellmouth.

"You tried though. So don't feel bad." Willow offered.

"It's not over."

"Oh, it's over." Willow tossed Buffy away from her and she smashed through the floor.

Lightning bolts ripped through the ground. The entire building started shaking violently. Crimson spirits kept pouring through the cracks, and flooded the room. Buffy pulled herself back up onto what remained of the floor.

"Use the key!" Spike shouted at Buffy over the roar of the Hellmouth. He was still trapped underneath a pile of rubble, and he struggled to get free.

Warren pulled himself to his feet and walked over to where the spirits were coming forth. He watched in amazement as their handiwork continued to come to fruition. He was beaten and beginning to drain slightly, but he was winning. That was all he really cared about.

Buffy still held the key in her pocket. It was their last hope at closing the dimensional walls. Buffy clutched the long, silver, dagger in her hand. She started to run towards the main crevice that had opened up in the rock formation. All she had to do was plunge it in. But getting over there before they stopped her would be more difficult.

When Warren saw Buffy coming in his direction, he quickly raised his hands into the air. The key wrenched from her grasp, and flew into his hands. Buffy careened backwards and almost fell back through the floor again.

"Oops! Guess you should have held on a little tighter!" He shouted at her. He examined the key closely, unsure of what it was. He just assumed she was coming to stab him with it.

"What is it?" Willow asked him.

"It's a dagger. The bitch was going to stab me."

"Give it to me!" Willow commanded him.

He tossed it to her via his magic and she gripped it tightly. She stared at the engravings on the blade. She looked at Warren.

"It's not a dagger, it's a key. It closes the Hellmouth." She told him.

"Give it back Willow." Buffy said, as she pulled herself together again.

"I'm not gonna let you ruin this." Willow told Buffy angrily.

"You don't have a choice." Buffy tried to pull the key from Willow's grasp with her own power, but Willow blocked it. She erected a barrier around herself, and gripped the key tightly. It had to be destroyed.

Just then Dawn and Spike had materialized at Buffy's side. They had finally managed to free themselves from the rubble that had fallen around them. Buffy grabbed their hands, and raised them into the air.

Get Warren. If we stop him completely, Willow might stand a chance. Buffy told them telepathically. Spike and Dawn nodded.

Suddenly the air around them charged with blue energy. They aimed their hands in Warren's direction. Instantly, it formed a wall around him. He was trapped inside their bubble and he shrieked out in despair.

"No! Let him go!" Willow screamed. She could feel his pain.

She clutched her chest and doubled over. Her protective barrier dissolved but she never let go of the key.

"Stop it! You guys are killing her!" Xander shouted at them, as he noted Willow's pain.

But the Trinity couldn't hear him. They were too focused on their task. Slowly the power that Warren possessed was extracted from him and contained in the bubble. He shouted and pounded his hands on the barrier around him.

Willow fell to her knees and started sobbing. She could feel everything he was feeling. Their dreams and their power were dissolving away into nothing. The Trinity lifted their arms again and Warren slipped out of their confinement, and fell to the ground. The bubble that contained his power hovered in midair above him. He weakly lifted his head to see what they had done to him.

"No...No..." He muttered over and over again.

He watched as the bubble was sucked back down into the Hellmouth. It disappeared along with his fantasies of ruling the world. He wanted to scream at the top of his lungs but he didn't have the energy to form words. Willow screamed for him.

"No!" She shrieked as their shared power was destroyed.

"Willow, give me the key." Buffy urged her. "It's over. Help me stop this."

Willow just stared at her with blank eyes. Tears were rolling down her face, but she couldn't feel them anymore. The spirits were still draining from the cracks, humming so loudly she could barely hear herself think. She held the key up and dangled it over the open Hellmouth. She contemplated tossing it in and dying like the rest of them would. She had nothing left to live for.

"Don't do it, Will. Please. Just give Buffy the key." Xander pleaded as he hobbled over closer to her.

"Stay away from me! Stay back, or I swear I'll throw it in." She told him desperately.

He stopped in his tracks and held his hands up.

"Not coming any closer. Promise. Just don't throw it in."

Warren watched as everyone was preoccupied with talking Willow down. He pulled himself to his feet and leaned against a fallen beam for support. He could do nothing. He had no power anymore. They had robbed him of his immortality. And he knew if he stuck around, they'd send more than just his powers back to hell. He was next. He may not be an immortal demon anymore, but he wasn't dead. That was good enough. He promptly took off running out the door.

Willow saw him abandon her out of the corner of her eye. The bastard had gone and left her there. No one else had even noticed him leave. The tears fell harder and her vision became blurred. The guilt and shame over what she had done began to consume her.

"Red, you don't wanna do this. Look around you. Stop this now before it's too late." Spike urged her.

Willow looked around and saw the evil spirits gaining human form slowly in front of her eyes. Soon they would be solid and ready to fight for lives if need be. The earth would be in chaos, and instead of being a queen, she would suffer and die like everyone else. She thought it might be a fitting end for her.

Willow clutched the key tightly, and shook her head.

"I'm so sorry. It wasn't supposed to...I'm so sorry." Tears poured from her eyes.

"It's okay. We forgive you." Xander assured her quickly, trying to calm her down.

"No it's not okay. I'll never be able to...I'm just so sorry." She repeated again softly.

She raised the key into the air and everyone stopped breathing. Just when they thought it was all over, Willow plunged the key into the crevice that had started it all. A ferocious wind picked up, capturing all of the escaped hell spirits. They swirled into a tornado and were drawn back down into the Hellmouth. The crevice closed up around the key, effectively closing the gates forever. The sky turned black again, as the walls that separated the heavens were restored. The room was quiet and still. Nobody dared to breath or move.

All at once there was a collective sigh of relief as the realization set in. It was over. The gates were closed for good, and the world was still standing. No one had been seriously hurt or killed. The Trinity had come through, but it was Willow that had finally come to her senses and stopped it all.

Xander started to walk towards her and she held her hands up.

"No. Don't. Stay away." She told him quietly.

"Willow, you're back." He told her sincerely.

"No. I can't ever come back." She said softly.

"What?" Xander asked confused.

She looked around at the rubble and mayhem she had caused. The people that she once loved watched her expectantly. But she didn't know what it was they were expecting from her. She couldn't even look at them.

"What did I do? Oh god...I have nothing." She muttered softly.

"Will, it's alright. We're here for you." Xander assured her.

Willow looked up at him disgusted with how naive his statement was. And how he just expected her to fall into his arms and ask for forgiveness again.

"How can you even look at me?" Willow asked. "It's never going to be alright again."

"Yeah, it will. It wasn't really you doing all that. It was him. And he's gone. You'll get better now." Xander assured her.

She shook her head vigorously.

"You really believe that?" She asked incredulously.

"I do."

"No. You don't understand." She shook her head.

"You're right, we don't understand." Buffy said unhappily.

"None of you could ever understand." Willow whispered.

"Just let us try." Xander told her desperately.

"No. It's over. It's all over. You win." Willow said despairingly.

Willow glanced at everyone one last time. She wiped the tears out of her eyes and lifted her arms above her head. She began chanting softly. She had been stripped of Warren's evil hell powers, but they hadn't touched what she herself possessed. She mustered up what little she had left to transport herself out of there. Green energy surrounded her.

"I'm sorry." She told them all again.

Xander stared in disbelief as Willow disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"Where did she go?" He asked no one in particular.

Buffy walked over and put her hand on his shoulder.

"Maybe we just need to give her some time."

"Time? For what? She needs us. Doesn't she?" Xander protested.

"I don't know. I don't think she can face any of us right now." Buffy told him.

"She'll come around. And then we can put everything back together again. Just like before." Xander reassured himself.

"Uh, you really think that’s going to happen?" Spike asked.

"What? Of course I do. She'll get better now. Warren's gone. He's back in Hell, right? She'll be fine."

"Uh, he's not actually in Hell." Dawn pointed out weakly.

"What? I don't see him? Didn't he get sucked back down when the Hellmouth closed?" Xander asked.

"Actually, I saw him run away." Dawn told them.

"You what? And you just let him go?"

"We were trying to stop Willow from tossing the key away. I thought that was more important." Dawn told him.

"But--." Xander started.

"No, Dawn's right. It doesn't really matter. We took his power. He's just a regular dork again, instead of a Super-dork." Buffy told him.

"That regular dork killed Tara, and almost killed you, Buffy." Xander pointed out.

Buffy looked at her feet. Xander had a huge point. They had won, but not entirely.

"I know. But he's gone, and I'm thinking he won't be showing his face around here again. And as for Willow, she'll come back. When she’s ready." Buffy told them, refusing to accept otherwise.

Just then, Giles and Anya rushed into the room where they all stood. They had seen the skies open up, which prompted them to get in Giles' car and drive. If the world was ending, they couldn’t just stand around and let it happen this time. Even if they couldn’t help, they wanted to be there.

Relief spread over their faces as they saw no one was hurt or dead. Buffy ran over to Giles and hugged him tightly. And Anya went over and looked at Xander. He smiled at her and she grabbed him into an awkward hug. They still had feelings for each other, even though their love story was over. She was relieved to find that he was still around.

Giles looked at Buffy.

"Where is Willow?"

"She's gone. She poofed herself out of here. I-I think she was way freaked by what she had done."

"Yes, as she should be. And Warren? I trust he's dead? Again?"

"Uh, not exactly. We zapped his powers and sent them back to hell...without him it turns out." She said disappointed.

"Ah." He said, slightly troubled by that news.

"But the world didn't end, so I say 'Yay, us!'." Buffy smiled with feigned enthusiasm.

"We were totally cool. You should have seen it. One time, Buffy's eyes did this weird glow thingy and she actually shot a bolt of lightning out of them! And I could shoot fireballs! It was way freaky." Dawn said excitedly as she walked up beside them.

Giles hugged her and smiled.

"We kicked their asses." Spike grinned as he came up behind Buffy and put his arms around her waist.

"I remember your ass got a little kicked as well." Buffy teased him with a raised eyebrow.

"What? You mean when the bloody ceiling caved in on me?" He protested.

"I had to pick the beam off his back." Dawn said proudly.

"Shut your mouth. You did not. I leapt up out of there all on my own. You were the one who couldn't get out." Spike protested.

"You're just lying so you'll look cooler for Buffy." Dawn said with a sigh.

Buffy started laughing and shook her head.

"Guys, we couldn't have done anything without each other." She looked at them sincerely. "I love you. Both of you."

Dawn went over and put her arms around Buffy tightly. Spike grinned as he joined their embrace. There was still a faint blue energy crackling between them when they touched. In the end their bond had truly been unbreakable. Love was stronger than hate, and they proved that today.

Anya and Xander walked up to where they were standing. Anya put her arms around Giles' waist and squeezed him tightly. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder, and looked up at Xander. Xander smiled uncomfortably. He nodded his head, silently offering his approval for Anya and Giles to be together.

It pained him greatly to know he had lost her, but if anyone deserved to have her, it was Giles. He was a good man, and Xander knew he'd take good care of her heart. Better than he himself had ever done.

Anya pulled away from Giles and went over to where the three heroes were still embracing. She smiled widely and threw her arms around all three of them.

"Thank you for saving the world. I'm very glad we all didn't die." She said happily.

"Uh, your welcome." Buffy said awkwardly as Anya smooshed them all together.

"I love you guys!" Anya squealed happily.

Xander and Giles couldn't help but find the amusement in her enthusiasm. Xander went over and joined the group hug. Giles felt ridiculous, but his emotions got the better of him. reluctantly he joined their embrace as well.

Finally they let go and everyone straightened themselves again. Spike looked around uncomfortably.

"Well, that was an embarrassing display." He muttered.

"Yes, quite." Giles agreed as he pushed his glasses up and tried to act natural.

"God, you guys are so British." Buffy rolled her eyes.

"What?" Spike asked defensively.

"Too stuffy to feel the love." She sighed. "That was a beautiful moment."

"Yeah, I half expected us to burst out into song again." Spike joked.

"Shut up." She laughed.

"Uh, can we go now?" Dawn asked curiously.

"Yes. I'm so ready to go home. Maybe take a bath?" She ran her hands through her hair. "And get the hell-grime out of my hair."

"I'm hungry. We should eat." Dawn said.

"What if Willow comes back? Shouldn't someone stay here?" Xander asked quietly.

Buffy shook her head.

"She won't come back here. There's nothing left."

"She'll show up eventually." Dawn touched Xander's arm.

"Yeah. I'm sure she will. And then we'll just have to be there for her. Try and help her again. Whatever it takes." Xander said firmly.

"Whatever it takes." Buffy nodded, not really sure if she believed that anymore or not.

They all walked out of the half constructed building. It was almost completely destroyed, and they had to step over a large amount of wreckage to get out. They were sure that the builders would be pretty pissed when they saw what had become of their work. They'd have to start over in some places. Someday they might learn that building a high school on top of a Hellmouth wasn't a good idea.

Giles and Anya went back to the Magic Box and then intended to spend some quality time alone. Xander was going to go back to his apartment, but Buffy urged him to come to their house for something to eat. Not that she was going to cook or anything, since it was the middle of the night, but she could make a snack. She just didn't want Xander to be alone.

They had eaten a frozen pizza and Buffy was putting the plates into the dishwasher. Dawn had gone to her room and Spike was sitting on the couch nursing his bruised ribs. Xander got up from the kitchen table and slipped out the back door.

He sat down on the steps and looked up at the sky. Somewhere out there he wondered if Willow needed him. But deep down in his heart, her words had chilled him. She couldn't ever come back, she had told him. He absorbed the finality of that statement, as Buffy came out and sat beside him.

She touched his shoulder.

"You okay?" She asked softly.

He shrugged.

"She's not coming back, is she?"

Buffy hung her head down and wrung her hands uncomfortably.

"I don't know."

"She said it months ago. Remember? When she was after Warren the first time and we told her if she went through with it, she might not come back from that."

"I know. And she never really did. She tried to, but I-I think that there are things inside of her that can't fixed with a stern talking to." Buffy told him honestly. "She has to want to change. I-I don't think she's there yet. But maybe she will be soon. Maybe this helped open her eyes to what was really happening to her?"

"Yeah. I just miss her. The way she was.”

“I miss her too. But sometimes things happen. People change. Friends lose their way. All we can do is try and support her if she really wants to get better. But obviously forcing her to change did more harm than good.” Buffy pointed out.

“I really thought that retreat was helping her. She said she was different, but I should have realized she was just trying to make me feel better so I wouldn’t worry about her. But I can’t help thinking that none of this would have happened if Warren hadn’t of corrupted her.”

“I’m not even sure that’s what happened. I mean, yeah, he was obviously not a good influence. But I don’t think all of this was his doing. Willow wanted this. She could have left him at any time. She killed him once, there was nothing stopping her from doing it again. She wanted it.” Buffy told him sadly.

Xander hung his head down. He was heartbroken that everything had turned out so badly. Willow was still alive, but they had still lost her. Months ago she had turned a corner and had never made her way back. Instead she slipped further away from them.

“I’ll still be here. If she comes back, and she wants me, I’ll be here.” He told Buffy.

“So will I.”

“I miss how simple life used to be."

Buffy sighed.

"I don't think life was ever simple. At least not around here."

"True. But still...What happened to us?"

"We grew up. And some of us had a hard time with that concept." Buffy stared down at her hands.

"Yeah, guilty as charged. I really screwed up with Anya when I walked out on our wedding." He conceded.

"Yeah, you did." She agreed. "But I was actually talking about me. I was so awful to everyone last year. I wasn't there when you guys needed me. When Willow needed me. Maybe if I hadn't been so wrapped up in my own misery, I could have stopped this before it all went crazy?"

"You don't know that."

"I know, but I feel like crap. I was so busy sneaking around with Spike and worried someone would find out, that I barely even remember what else happened last year." She admitted quietly.

"Yeah, speaking of Spike...So you two are really together?"

She smiled and nodded her head.

"Yeah. I love him."

"Wow..."

"I know. It actually feels good to say it."

"Well, with the soul and everything...Now that he's human..."

"It's okay?"

"Yeah. I guess." Xander shrugged.

"Well, I'm glad you approve." She said wryly. "But, it kinda happened before that."

"What? I thought you said it was just a thing? Meaningless desperation?"

"That's what it was supposed to be, yeah. But it didn't work out that way. I was lying to myself." She told him.

Xander didn't really know what to say to that, so he remained silent. He had to give her credit for finally following her heart and not letting fear get in the way anymore. He wished he had done the same with Anya.

"Well, does he make you happy?" He asked softly.

"Yeah. He does. Plus there's the whole family thing. Dawn was made from us. That's pretty intense in a major way."

"Guess it was meant to be, huh?"

She smiled and nodded her head.

Just then, Spike made his presence known at the back door. He couldn't help but listen in to their conversation when he had heard his name come up. He cleared his throat and they turned to him.

"Hey. We were just talking." Buffy smiled at him.

"I should probably get going now. I'm gonna have to get to work in about four hours." Xander stood up to leave.

"Work? Damn it! I completely forgot to call work. For like three days." Buffy said quickly, slapping her hand to her forehead. "Crap! There goes another job." She muttered.

Xander patted her on the head.

"We can always use someone at the construction site." He teased.

"Right, so you can fire me again?" She pouted. "This is part of that growing up thing that I suck at."

"You'll get another job. Or I'll get one." Spike offered her.

Xander and Buffy both looked at him with amusement.

"What?" Spike asked.

"You? Working?" Xander asked.

"Well, yeah. I need to take care of my girls, don't I?" Spike shrugged. "I'm not a vamp anymore, so I guess I can't steal my way through life forever."

"Well, you could...But I'd get a little cranky about it." Buffy joked. Then she looked at him thoughtfully. "But if you wanna rob a bank, you know, just to get us started...I might pretend I didn't know about it."

Spike laughed and shook his head.

"I'll remember that." He pulled her up into his arms and smiled at her.

"I'll see you guys later. Tell Dawn I said goodbye." Xander said as he walked off the porch, to give them their privacy.

Buffy looked into Spike's eyes.

"We did it. The world is still here." She whispered to him.

"Yes it is."

"Looks like we have a future after all." She remarked.

"I'm gonna make sure it's a good one too." He kissed her lips softly. "I meant what I said. I'm gonna take care of you and Dawn. Like a proper man would. I don't want you to worry about anything."

"Spike, you don't have to be all chivalrous. I don't need you to take care of me." She raised her eyebrow.

"Buffy, come on. Just--."

"I don't need you to take care of me. But I want you to." She smiled and kissed him gently. She leaned into his ear, "In fact, you can take care of me right now." She whispered suggestively.

He grinned at her.

"That's my specialty." He whispered as he kissed her neck hungrily.

She grabbed his hand and they ran into the house. They were eager to start their new lives together. This time without the distraction of time ticking away from them. They weren't naive enough to believe they had a vast future ahead of them. The life of a warrior was never long. Neither one of them were even supposed to be on this earth now. But sometimes you were given second chances. They would hold onto that for as long as fate would allow them to.

Dawn smiled in her room as she heard Buffy and Spike laughing in the hallway. She heard their bedroom door shut quickly, and she knew what they were up to. But it made her happy. Dawn had a real family. A purpose on this earth. She had spent so much time before feeling sorry for herself. She had felt out of place in this world. But now she finally knew where she came from, and where she belonged. The three of them against the world. The way it was supposed to be.

Buffy and Spike lay in bed together holding each other. He stroked her arm and kissed the back of her neck.

"Are you really going to get a job?" She asked him sleepily.

"Yeah."

"Hmm...What will you do?"

"I have no idea." He admitted.

"You'll think of something."

"I want you to have a good life. And someday when we're married, you--."

"What?" She interrupted him quickly. She turned around to look at him.

"What?"

"Married?" She asked nervously.

"Well, yeah." He said. Then he frowned. "Unless, I need to file that suggestion under the same heading as the non-existent children we're going to have."

"Are you asking me to marry you?" She asked with surprise.

"Do you want me to?"

She looked at him and felt her heart leap out of her chest. It wasn't something she had ever considered. Especially not with him. But things had changed for both of them. Any day could be their last. But she knew without a doubt he was the one she wanted to spend that time with. She grinned at him and laid her head back down on the pillow. She shut her eyes.

"Ask me again later. But make it good. I want the bended knee and the flowers. The whole deal. Maybe you could even hire one of those skywriters? Or take me to a baseball game and have them put it on the scoreboard thingy?" She told him dreamily.

"Do you even like baseball?" He asked with amusement.

"No." She admitted softly.

He laughed softly.

"If I go through all that trouble, you are going to say yes, aren't you?" He asked.

She smiled to herself.

"Maybe."

He sighed and wrapped his arms around her again.

"You're impossible."

"I know. You sure you wanna deal with me forever?" She asked.

"Absolutely."

She rolled over and kissed him again. She wasn't really sure what she wanted for her future. But it was fun to dream about it again. Only hours before they didn't think they had any time left. Now the possibilities seemed endless. She never imagined any normalcy in her life. For a very long time, she had been resigned to the fact that she would live her life alone. Real love seemed an impossibility. But she had found it again.

She had someone who understood her, and saw her at her worst. But loved her anyway. Someone who was her equal, and who wanted nothing more than her happiness. He had wanted to give her what she deserved. Now it was her turn. And he deserved her love. He always had. She was saddened that she had wasted so much time in the past hiding from her feelings. It had made them both miserable.

She vowed from now on, she would love without limits. She couldn't hold back anymore. She didn't want to. They had the future in front of them, and for once it was something to look forward to.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Warren sat on the dusty bench inside the bus terminal. He kept watching the clock, waiting nervously for his ticket out of town. Without magic, he could do nothing but wait and pray no one would come looking for him. It was almost dawn and the place was empty except for a handful of winos sleeping in various corners of the room.

He heard a noise and he turned around abruptly.

"Warren." Willow said coldly.

He jumped off the bench and looked at her with panic filled eyes.

"W-what are you doing here? How'd you find me?" He asked anxiously.

"I can still feel you." She remarked calmly. "Unbreakable, remember?"

"Uh, yeah. Well, your friends did a pretty good job of breaking us."

"You left me." She said flatly.

"Well, yeah. I mean, it was over." He explained.

"Over? You just ran away and left me there? To what? Take the blame?"

"Look, I wasn't gonna go back to Hell. You think I don't know that's what they were gonna do to me?" He said seriously.

"You told me never to leave your side, and I didn't. And what did you do? You ran away." She sadly.

He stared at her, trying to discern if she was there to finish him off again, or if she was actually disappointed by his abrupt departure.

"Baby, I've got nothing. They took it all. The power, the immortality. Everything. I'm just a guy now. A guy you really, really despise. Did you think I was gonna stick around?" He asked curiously.

She stared at him and said nothing. He looked at her confused.

"Did you want me to stick around?" He asked.

She kept her silence and looked down at her feet.

"Look, are you here to kill me? Cause if you are, can we just get it over with? And can you make it a little less gruesome this time?" He asked.

"I should kill you. Maybe this time it will stick." She told him.

He started to break out into a cold sweat, and his hands shook a little. He was back to being terrified of her. And more than anything he really didn't want to die again.

She sighed unhappily and plunked herself down on the dirty bench.

"But I'm not going to." She told him.

He visibly relaxed and looked at her strangely.

"Then why are you here?"

She glanced up at him.

"I have nowhere else to go."

"What? What about your friends? I'm sure they’re just waiting to group hug you and welcome you back into the gang."

"Right. Yeah, I'm sure they just love me right now." She said sarcastically.

"They do. I mean, they were never really after you. They were after me." He pointed out.

"Yeah, trying to save me from you. But that's not how it really was, was it?" She asked.

"What?"

"You gave me what I wanted. That night in the woods, when you let me taste your power? If you hadn't given it to me, I would have taken it anyway. That’s how bad I wanted it. You knew that didn't you?"

"Yeah, I knew. But I don't have it anymore. There's nothing keeping you with me." He pointed out.

"You don't want me here?" She asked with a sad expression. She shook her head. "Great. Now even you don't want me."

He went over and touched her arm.

"Hey, I never said that. It's just, do you want me?" He asked quizzically.

"No. I don't even really like you." She said miserably.

He sighed.

"Wonderful. So again, why are you here?"

"I can't go back to them."

"Look, I'm sure you can."

"Are you trying to get rid of me?" She asked irritated.

"No."

"Do you like me?" She asked him quietly.

He shifted his feet nervously.

"More than I wish I did." He admitted.

She looked at her hands and said nothing. She still felt drawn to him, despite the disappearance of their magical bond. Maybe it was because she knew he would never judge her? How could he when he was just as bad as she was? Her friends could never understand her reasons for doing what she did. They could never really forgive her. And they shouldn't. But he could. There was nothing about this to forgive between them. They had been in it together.

"I meant all those things I said to you before. I really wanted to be with you." He said sincerely.

"You did?"

"Well, not at first. Mostly I just wanted to torment you. Control you. Steal your power and make you suffer for killing me."

"That's sweet." She said wryly.

"Like that's not why you were with me?" He pointed out.

She shrugged and nodded her head in agreement.

"Did you lie when you said you loved me?" She wondered quietly.

He wasn't sure how to answer that question. It hadn't been a complete lie. He loved her as much as he was capable of. It was twisted and wrong, but it felt like love to him.

"I lie about a lot of things. But that wasn't one of them."

"It wasn't just about the power?"

"Was it for you?" He asked her.

"Yes."

"But now the power is gone. And you're still here. Why is that?"

"They didn't take mine." She said softly.

"What?" He asked suddenly interested.

"It's not anywhere near what we had together, but it's something. It's all I have left. And if I go back there...To them...They'll take it. They'll send me back to that stupid retreat or worse. They'll just strip me of all my power. I'd never be able to do magic again."

"You think they'd do that?" He asked quietly.

"Of course. Wouldn't you if you were them? I tried to end the world. Twice now, actually. I teamed up with a murderer, and tried to kill them all. You think they'd ever trust me again?"

"I see your point."

"I can't go back there. They'll never look at me the same. They'll always see me as poor little Willow, who lost her way. A junkie. A loser. I-I can't stand that."

"You're not a loser. I'm a loser." He said dejectedly as he sat down next to her.

"Yeah, you are. But we're two of a kind." She remembered sadly. "But at least you understand. I'm not good enough to ever be a part of their world again."

"You're good enough for me." He told her honestly.

She looked at him and gave a small smile. This was why she was here. She couldn't go back to the way she was before. She knew that months ago. She was trying to get better at the retreat, but she had failed. And the sad truth of it was, she didn't really want to get better. Not if it meant giving up her magic. It was the one thing she had control over in her life. The one thing that made her feel important, special and free. If she went back now, they'd take it from her. And then she'd truly have nothing.

"So where were you going?" She asked him curiously.

He shrugged.

"Far away from here, is all I know. I may have nothing, but I'm not dead. Which is more than I started out with. I'm not eager to meet up with the Slayer again. I'd like to not be dead for longer than a few hours."

"Not dead is good."

"Yeah, I'm just thinking I'll head east. And get off the bus when someplace looks interesting."

"A fresh start?"

"Something like that."

"There's gotta be something better out there, right?" She asked hopefully.

"Yeah. The world is my kingdom." He proclaimed.

She smiled slightly.

"Can I still be queen?"

"You still want to be?"

She nodded her head.

"Alright, but the kingdom is looking a little desolate these days. In fact , it looks a lot like a stinky, foul bus station. I'm pretty sure that's puke over there." He said pointing across the room.

She gave him a half hearted laugh and looked down at her feet. He scooted closer and took her hand. She let him. They were taking the cowards way out. Running away, instead of facing the truth of their actions. But it was easier that way. Maybe if they kept running, they could outrun their pasts? Maybe there could be a future for two misfits who didn't deserve a second chance? Maybe if they went someplace where no one knew them, they could start over again?

She wasn't running with him because she wanted to. She was there because she was escaping. And being with him, was better than being alone. And in some ways, she was punishing herself. She had said goodbye to her old life the minute she joined up with him. Maybe even before that. And everything she had done, she did so willingly. There could never be enough 'sorrys' to cover her mistakes. She had doomed herself to eternity with him. In the end, their bond had proved to be unbreakable. Only now it was a bond in shame and desperation. Not power.

They were silent as they took in their surroundings. Their eyes danced over their kingdom of nothing. They were two people who refused to accept responsibility for themselves. They had played a deadly game with everyone's lives. All in the name of power and self importance. And this is what they ended up with. A dark, smelly, bus station. And each other. Somehow they knew it was much more than they deserved.

THE END