�Do hold still, Anya. I�m trying to help.�
�And where was your help months ago when everyone needed you?� She ground her teeth together and ripped the shard from her thigh muscle, tossing it onto the pile of bloody glass. The wounds would heal soon enough and once they did, she was out of this ridiculous town where people kept turning evil and killing everyone they loved. She let Giles help bandage the wounds, pain already beginning to fade away.
�That�s hardly fair.�
�What�s not fair is that Xander died before I could tell him�� she trailed off. It was easier to busy her hands with picking up what was left of the spell book.
�Xander�s dead?� Giles� voice got suddenly quiet. �When did this happen?�
�This afternoon, he was shot along with Tara.� She dumped handfuls of parchment into the trash bin and pulled it over to begin collecting the bits of the display case now strewn over the floor. �I thought that�s why you were here. You obviously knew about Willow, didn�t you know about the others?�
�An extremely powerful coven in Devon sensed the rise of a very dangerous magical force here in Sunnydale. A dark force, fueled by grief. When they told me about Tara�� He glanced sadly toward Willow. �I had hoped it wasn�t her. But they said nothing of Xander.�
�Not like he was someone who would matter,� Anya said bitterly.
�He would to Willow,� Giles answered softly.
�Well, he�s gone now. And if the coven gave you their powers to stop Willow then I hope you have a plan for locking her up and throwing away the key. You do have a plan, don�t you?�
�There was a plan, yes. The coven is working on a way to extract her powers without killing her. Whether or not she returns to what she was before, they can�t say for sure.� He blinked at her as if just remembering she was there. �What about you? When did you--�
�Why do people keep asking me that question?� She grabbed the broom and began sweeping. �And why is it that all of you seem so determined to destroy my livelihood every time you can�t work out your problems? Stupid, human, mortal problems. There�s no reason you can�t take them outside and destroy someone else�s store.�
�Would you like help?�
She paused in her sweeping for a moment before motioning toward the broken bookshelves. �I�ll need to repair the damaged books. If you want to be useful, take them into the back room where they won�t get any more ruined.�
�Very well.� He shrugged off his jacket and began sorting books, picking out the damaged ones and setting them aside. �Is Buffy all right?�
�What do you think?�
�She seems�distant.�
�You left us. Did you expect a big hug and welcome home?� She set the broom aside to begin picking up the unbroken merchandise. �Apparently she�s been having sex with Spike and I don�t have to tell you how well Xander and the others took that. Did you know that she tried to kill everyone? Some demon made her think she was in an insane asylum and that we were all just figments of her imagination.�
�What?�
�Dawn�s banned from the mall for shoplifting. Guess she didn�t learn her lesson with Sweet. Xander left me at the altar, standing there like an idiot in my wedding gown. I had to tell everyone there wasn�t going to be any wedding and refund the caterers. Do you have any idea how hard it was to find a catering company that would serve live frogs? And then, of course, there�s Willow but you know about that. You really shouldn�t have left, Giles. They�re all morons and without you here to save them from their stupidity, things like this happen.� She stopped to catch her breath and adjust some of the loose bandages. He retreated from her ranting with a stack of books, disappearing into the back room.
Anya. Willow�s voice came unbidden into her head. I need you, Anya. I need you to do something for me.
�I know what you�re trying to do. And I hate to burst your bubble but that mind control mojo doesn�t work on vengeance demons. So why don�t you just��
Stop talking and listen.
�Okay.� Anya tried to push away the haze slowly creeping into her mind.
You need to free me.
�No.� Struggling against the slithery, dark tentacles that were Willow�s presence in her mind, she knew that letting the witch out was a terribly bad idea. She looked toward the back room, praying for Giles to reappear.
You don�t want to call out to him. You want to take away this binding spell.
�I don�t know how.� She was beginning to panic now.
I do. Do you want me to tell you?
She was shaking her head no but her lips formed the word yes. The word appeared in her mind. One little word, so small and inconsequential. Solutum. And then the binding spell fell away into bits of inconsequential energy. Willow�s smile was haunting. She was the cat who ate the canary and moved on to the family dog.
�Willow?� Giles reappeared in the doorway, only letting his shock slow him down for a moment. �Vincire!�
�Solutum,� Willow waved the spell away. �Fool me once�shame on you.�
�Excudo!�
Anya dove out of the way of the bolt of energy headed for Willow, ducking behind what little was left of the forward bookshelves. She kept her head down and tried not to wince at each crash. The balcony collapsed at one point and she knew there would be nothing left of her store once the two of them finished killing each other. And that, most likely, was the best of all possible outcomes. She could hear the pain in Giles� voice and knew that Willow was winning the fight despite the coven�s power. It wasn�t enough. She wasn�t sure anything would be enough now.
�You�re expending way too much of your mystical energy to maintain your powers. At this rate you�re going to burn out. And up.� Giles� voice was strained and weak.
�Blah, blah, blah,� Willow answered mockingly.
�Willow, you need to stop.�
�What I need�is a little pick me up.�
Anya covered her ears to block out the inevitable screaming or moaning that would come next. She didn�t have to be a witch to know that Willow was reaching into Giles and pulling the coven�s power right out of him. He was right, of course, and this would only accelerate Willow�s meteoric fall into hell. No scream came but she kept her ears covered cautiously and waited for silence to settle over the store. Except someone kept yammering and ruining the whole idea of silence. When she cautiously removed her hands she could hear Willow, breathless and panting.
�Oh. Oh my god. All the emotion. All the pain. No, it, it�s too much. It�s just too much.�
�Willow�it doesn�t have to be like that. You can stop it.� That was Giles, still alive but sounding more and more faint with each syllable.
�Yeah, I�I can. I have to stop this. I�ll make it go away.�
Anya shivered and curled tighter against the wall. Whatever Willow had in mind could not be good and judging from Giles� faint protest when she disappeared in a swirl of black energy, he didn�t think so either.
�Anya? Are you there?� Giles� coughed painfully.
�Giles?� She crawled out of her hiding place and scurried over to him. �Was that part of the big plan? Give her even more power?�
�I can�feel her. Where she�s going.�
�Shh. Don�t talk.� She fumbled for the pile of bandages they had gathered for her wounds and began dabbing at the cuts on his face. From the way he was breathing, she figured he had broken ribs and internal bleeding.
�You have to get to Buffy. Tell her�no magic or supernatural force can stop her. Only human�humanity.�
�Where is she, Giles?�
�King Man�s Bluff. Temple to Proserpexa.� His eyes closed slowly, breathing becoming even more labored. �Hurry. She�s going to�destroy the world.�
�Great.� She grabbed his jacket and placed it under his head as gently as possible. �Don�t die while I�m gone! I�m tired of everyone dying.�
It only took a few moments to pinpoint Buffy�s location and teleport there. She started a little when she found herself in a dirty back alley. Buffy looked equally surprised to see her.
�Anya? I was just headed back, is everything okay?�
�Willow�s going to destroy the world.�
�Come again?�
�You have to listen. Giles says that no magic or supernatural force can stop her; only humanity can stop her or something like that. And you need to hurry before she gets to where she�s going and cooks the earth to charcoal.� Anya wondered about telling Buffy that Giles was dying on the floor of the Magic Box.
�Anya? What�s going on? I thought he had her contained.�
�She was, now she�s not. That�s really not important. What is important is that there�s a temple to Proserpexa on King Man�s Bluff and if you don�t stop her, Willow�s going to use it to destroy the world.� She looked away under the intense scrutiny of the Slayer. �That�s really all I know. Giles isn�t�well�he didn�t exactly let her walk out the door without trying to stop her.�
�Is he?� Buffy�s lower lip trembled.
�I don�t think he has much time left. I�m sorry.� She teleported back to the Magic Box without another word. There wasn�t anything she could say. She�d relayed the message and that was all she could do. Sitting down quietly beside Giles, she settled in to wait for the end.
***
The wind tugged and clawed Buffy�s hair out of the elastic band. She raised a hand to shield her eyes from the flying bits of dirt and rock. It was cold comfort that she wasn�t crazy in thinking there wasn�t a temple on King Man�s Bluff. At least, there hadn�t been before Willow had begun to raise it out of the earth. She moved forward slowly, trying not to look directly at the streaming balls of energy exploding around her.
�Demons. Not so much with the fashion sense,� she shouted over the roar and motioned toward the snake-clad effigy of the demon Proserpexa.
Willow halted the flow of energy and turned to Buffy. �You can�t stop me.�
�I�m just here for the show. Should�ve brought popcorn.� Buffy eased herself down onto a rock and smiled at Willow�s incredulous look. �Hey, destroying the world is the first good idea you�ve had since you went Darth Willow on us.�
�I have to,� Willow said uncertainly, still eyeing Buffy with suspicion. �It�s the only way to stop the pain.�
�I�m all for stoppage of pain. In fact, I�m the first in line.� She motioned to the dark circle beginning to form on the ground. �I know I can�t stop you, Will. But where am I supposed to go? If you�re going to destroy the world then there�s no point in running away.�
�Is this some sort of trick? Did Giles send you?�
�As far as I know, Giles is lying dead where you left him.�
Willow seemed to soften for the first time, a whisper of the old Willow resurfacing amidst the black. �You�re here because there�s nothing left. Everyone you love is gone.�
�Seems like we have something in common then. Where else would I be if the world�s gonna end than with the only friend I have left?� She smiled again and this time it was easier. It was finally the truth, the heavy load of lies she�d been carrying on her back beginning to slide away.
�You�re not going to try to stop me?�
�Nope. Apocalypse away.� Waving toward the temple spire, she stood up and moved to stand at Willow�s side. �I�m going to be standing right here, next to my friend. And we�re going to watch the world end together.�
Willow hesitated for a moment before she turned back to the temple and renewed the hurricane of energy bolts. Wind spun dirt and rock into the air again but Buffy didn�t try to shield herself this time. She watched the dark circle spread out from the spire and imagined the whole earth burned to blackened rubble. No more life meant no more suffering and no more pain. All these years fighting to save people from the big, bad world when there was no point to any of it.
The world had to end sometime.
She waited until the smoldering black was lapping at the toes of her boots before she turned to look at Willow one last time. Her focus was on the task at hand, comfortable in the knowledge that Buffy would not try to stop her, that nothing could stop her now. Not even the cold metal of a police issue handgun pressed against her temple broke her concentration. Buffy closed her eyes and pulled the trigger.
The wind died before Willow hit the ground, leaving only the sound of the ocean to fill up the void. There was blood spray on her hand and face and not much left of Willow�s face.
Buffy�s voice was deceptively calm and alien in the stillness. �Doesn�t matter how much power you have, you still break like all the rest.� The words felt heavy in the air. Heavy with regret and desolation. Was it an explanation? Maybe some part of her believed that Willow deserved a justification of the abrupt ending, a reason for the irony of it all.
She still waited for several excruciating minutes with her finger on the trigger just in case Willow did have enough power to counter a bullet through her skull. When enough time had passed to convince Buffy that she was truly dead and gone, she reached down and took hold of Willow�s hand. It wasn�t actually possible to drag someone gently over the ground but she did the best she could. Once on the edge of the cliff, she reluctantly let go of the gun to pick Willow up.
�I�m sorry, Willow,� she whispered before dropping the body over the edge. She forced herself to watch, to make sure that Willow hit the bottom and was swallowed up in the breaking surf. She wiped blood onto her jeans as she sat down, staring out over the ocean and noticing for the first time that the sun had come up.
The world hadn�t ended after all. Somehow it didn�t make her feel any better.
�What�s the score now, Slayer? How many apocalypses have you and your merry band of do-gooders thwarted?� Spike sat down at her side, squinting against the daylight.
�Spike?� She stared at him in disbelief. �Why aren�t you on fire?�
�You outta your mind again, Slayer?� He gave her an odd look. �Been dust for awhile now, luv. Don�t you remember?�
�I�I�I don�t understand. You�ve been here, I�ve seen you. I�ve talked to you.�
�Nah. All in your head, luv.� He tapped his temple for emphasis. �Lets you off the hook though, doesn�t it? It being me. All those ideas weren�t really yours. Couldn�t have been. You�re not that girl. The gun was an interesting interpretation. You sure it was the right one?�
�You�re not real.� She was numb and the air in her lungs had turned to ice.
�Staked me good and proper that night in the bathroom.� The fact that he wasn�t real jarred with the very real vision of him lighting a cigarette. �No hard feelings. You�re the Slayer and all. This is what you do. Save the world, slay the bad guys. Did your duty and now you can get back into heaven with all the fluffy clouds your heart desires.�
�Why am I here?� she asked no one in particular.
The ocean only murmured in response and the figment that was Spike just shrugged. �Why are any of us here? Spend too much time looking for meaning and you�ll just end up with a bloody migraine.�
She turned away from him. �I killed my best friend.�
�That you did. In your defense, she was plannin� on ending the world with a side of crispy. I�m sure all the billions of people will thank you for it.� He craned his neck to look over the edge of the cliff and where Willow�s body had fallen.
�I never wanted this. Any of it. I just wanted to marry Christian Slater and die.�
�Better luck next time.�
�Next time,� Buffy repeated softly.
Only in her wildest dreams could she hope for a next time. A chance, a switch she could flip that would erase it all and give her a way to make it turn out differently. An ending without suffering and death. The path she hadn�t taken where Xander was here with her, where Tara hadn�t died and Dawn was still sleeping peacefully in her bed.
�Don�t kid yourself, Slayer.� The figment of Spike interrupted her thoughts. He didn�t have to finish the thought because she already knew what he was going to say. It had been in her head all along.
Death was the only hope her life had to offer.
