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Chapter 26
The Finale Part Two


Angel cradled his son with a tenderness nobody had yet witness from him, except Buffy. He studied her face and that of Spike, as he considered them the biggest threat. He saw nothing but affection and sympathy. Buffy walked forward and looked down on the now calmed infant. Angel held the baby away from her gaze at first and felt the possessive growl hang in his throat.
Buffy put her hands up as if in submission and then peered at the baby, her eyes lit up .

"He's beautiful Angel, what Darla did was the ultimate gesture of love.I'm so sorry"
Angel eased, looking at his former love with awe, Buffy wasn't normally this understanding, especially with regards to vampires , ones that had tried to kill her before. Angel shook his head, how could he forget the fact that Spike had tried to kill her, more than any other vampire , and now she was married to him.

"Thanks, means alot that you said that. "
"Let's get him upstairs where it's warm , he's bound to need feeding soon, Mum went out and picked a few bits up earlier"
"How can I repay you for all this?"
"Angel, it was nothing, honestly, come on, let's get you two settled" Buffy led the way and Spike followed Angel, the rest made their way up after him.

Once the baby was dressed in a little outfit and had guzzled two bottles of warm milk, Angel stared at him, still not registering the fact that he was now a Father.

"Wha' ya gonna call the sprog then?" Spike so eloquently asked, "Can't exactly call it the spawn of Angelus now can we"
A nudge in the ribs from Buffy and a frown from Joyce
"He has a point , even if it was a crude way of putting it"

Angel looked up , "Yeah I guess, Um, I don't know"
He stared at his son a while and smiled, "Connor "

"That's sweet"Buffy said as she stroked the babies soft hair
Spike poked his fingers into his mouth in a fake gag, feeling a touch of something he couldn't quite grasp at seeing her sat next to Angel, stroking the babies head.
Envy, god he was such a ponce sometimes, he wished it was him and Buffy that had been blessed . He sighed, knowing that it was the one thing that would be missing from their life together.

The house buzzed with everyone, either making a fuss of the newborn or researching him.
Wesley and Giles sat in the dining room, heaped books lay strewn everywhere, all open at different pages . Cordy was sat in the garden with Xander and Willow, Spike stood in the kitchen with Joyce, both enjoying a cup of hot chocolate. Spike stood in the spot that allowed him top still see his wife, who was still sat talking to the Poof.

Wesley came through into the lounge and stood rubbing at his tired eyes. He watched the vampire and felt bad about the fact that he was going to lose his son, and soon. The prophecy surrounding the child would come into play within the next day or so.

"Angel, we have to talk" he sighed
"Can't it wait?" Angel asked as he picked his son up and made goofy faces at him and mumbled to him in baby talk
"No not really, we know that Holtz will turn up and take your son, if not tonight then by tomorrow night. A demon called Sahjhon will open a rift in this dimension and it will lead into Quor'toth. We have ascertained that it is Groo that will follow your son and Holtz into the rift and will bring him back. What is not certain is how long it will take for them to return here"
"So, I could lose him for years before Connor comes home?"
"Possibly, Angel, I know this is hard but there is a chance that you may have to move back here, to Sunnydale"

"Crap" was heard from the kitchen followed by a "Omph" as Joyce elbowed Spike in the ribs

"That's fine " Buffy replied " The Mansion is still set up, all we need is a crib for Connor" then she realised that the child probably wouldn't get to sleep in it.
Angel smiled sadly , forgiving her for her comment, he knew it wasn't meant to hurt his feelings or remind him of what would never be.

Gunn pulled up outside the house and Groo jumped out, smiling at the suburban house. Gunn called for him to follow him in and Groo quick stepped to catch up with him. Cordy rushed to the door and flew into the Warriors arms, sobbing and kissing his face furiously.

After waiting for them to come in from outside, Buffy and Spike stood at the door and 'ahemed' them. Cordy broke the kiss and looked at them over her shoulder
"Nobody interrupts you two when you go all suck face, so excuse me for wanting some alone time!" she returned to 'suck face' with Groo.
In his usual manner, Groo slowly eased Cordelia down and smiled his huge grin at her "It is great to be with my Princess, but the matter that has bought me here is a dire one , yes?"
Cordy rolled her eyes and stuck out her hip, indicating the tension within her.
They walked hand in hand and closed the door , just as a figure materialised in the lounge, making everyone either scream, leap to defence or just back off and let the heroes be heroes. Xander fell on his ass and crawled backwards , not taking his eyes off the blue grey figure that wore ragged clothing.

"Sahjhon I presume " Wesley announced
"Yeah that's me, who were you expecting Santa?" he looked at them for a while, realising his humour was lost on the serious beings, he shrugged " Okay, just cos I'm the air quote bad guy, doesn't mean I can't have a sense of humour"
"Stealing day old babies is your kind of fun I take it" Buffy retorted
"Not my plan, I'm just doing my job" he looked closely at the sleeping baby "Cute lil tike, didn't know you had it in you"

Spike charged at the huge form , Sahjhon noticed and he swirled into a cloudy tornado before reforming himself again, Spike landed in a heap beside Giles.
"Why that low down dirty fuckin' trickster" he spluttered
"Please, I don't really manifest on this plane of existence vampire, trying to fight me here would prove futile"

Wesley filed that piece of info away for a later date, or for research once the demon had gone.

"Now, let's get to business shall we " the intruder said with a roll of his head, sometimes his battle scarred neck didn't sit right after he had to phase in and out of worlds.

"Spill it all, first I wanna know where Holtz is?" Angel said through gritted vamp teeth. He's on his way, he just had to form his army, see he knew that the Scourge wouldn't be easy to capture" he looked around "So, where's the other one? I know I know, Darla died to save the child, but where's the nutty one?"
"She's dust" Spike said quietly , but with no remorse
"So just the males left, there's a shock"

Angel and Spike frowned at the scarred demon

"So, Angelus staked his sire and William the Bloody staked his... seems you boys do have a lot in common, who knows exactly how much" he looked at Buffy
Spike's eyes flashed gold and a low growl warned Sahjhon to keep away from her, not that he could hurt him, but it was better than standing idle, like a certain Poof.

Buffy was tired of listening to the tall and ugly one. Holtz was expected at any moment and she got the feeling Sahjhon was just the distraction, hadn't he said that he wasn't really here, he was astral projecting or something?
"Your the mole? " she walked forward " your the distraction needed for Holtz to make his attack. God, I might be slow but I sure as hell catch on a lot faster than the rest"
Realisation dawned on the rest.

"Xander, take Mum and Dawn , just go somewhere safe" she thrust her Mums bag and car keys at them and turned them towards the back door "Don't tell me where in case the ghosty can hear , we'll find you once we're okay, okay?"
Xander nodded and the three of them ran to the car and took off at speed.

"Clever, you got rid of the key, I knew you were pretty but I didn't peg you down as smart"
Spike sniggered "She's also gonna kick Holtz's ass"
"Not gonna happen, if you stop this then you will be damning humanity to a live with hell on earth. Do you really want that on your conscience?"
They group remained quiet "Don't all answer at once, it's a no brainer really"

Sahjhon felt Holtz within a close proximity and started laughing. Buffy scowled and then ran to her weapons chest, she took out her favoured sword and threw Angel his sword, the one that he had used against her in the fight against Acathla, Spike grabbed an axe and a short sword, the rest grabbed whatever they felt comfortable with.
Angel took the back door with Gunn and Wesley, and Buffy, Spike , Willow and Giles took the front of the house. Nobody took notice of the big grey demon still standing in the middle of the lounge.


An arrow shot through the front room window and flew through Sahjhon and into the back of the couch. The glass shattered to the floor, drawing attention back from the arrows trajectory.

Holtz stood in front of the house on the road and watched as his small team attacked the front of the house. At the back, Angel and his comrades defended it from attack , it seemed Holtz had no trouble working with vampires, which was his first big mistake as they couldn't gain access to the house and had to fight from the outside

Willow chanted and yelled above the din that penetrated the house and surrounding lawn. She was held her arm out at length and her palm turned upwards. She focused on her palm and narrowed her eyes as a ball of light swirled and grew within her grasp.Her shouting drew Spikes attention and he watched as the ball of mystical energy and light hovered out through the back door and caused the vampires to dust. The human attackers were forming a pile of unconscious bodies in the hall and porch, some that made it into the lounge were soon cast back outside. Holtz lost his temper and screamed his retribution at Angelus and marched up to the house, carrying an up and over rifle. He cocked back and he squeezed the trigger, letting the bullets reign the front of the house. Time slowed as Spike and Angel watched the bullets hit the area around them.

Spike felt the pain of one hitting him through the shoulder, Buffy stood and watched, oblivious to everything else. Her brow furrowed and she opened her mouth to speak but found that she couldn't. She felt her strength drain from her and her legs found it hard to support her. As her body buckled under her, she felt cool arms grip her and rush her up to her room. Angel growled and rushed out to the front lawn, his vampiric speed taking Holtz by surprise. Angel grabbed the man and morphed , standing face to face with him.

Sahjhon knew that this was the time to make his move. He solidified and walked to where the child lay in his crib and picked up the infant. Groo attacked with all his might, defending the newborn with all that he had. Sahjhon held him back easily and almost laughed at Groo's attempts.
Sahjhon materialised back in the rear garden and pushed his hand through a space in the ozone . A dimensional tear opened in an arc from his hand and he tossed the baby through, Groo managed to jump into the tear as it started to close up.


Holtz knew that the beast before him would kill him. Angel snarled at Holtz before whispering to him

"Angelus took your family and daughter from you, I understand why you would want to seek revenge on Angelus for that, but I am not him. I feel the guilt for him, I carry the burden of keeping Angelus locked away for as long as I live, yet I am not him. I am someone else , I have a soul , I have atoned for everything that he has done, and it will never be enough, so I figure, what's one more?"
"You have a soul? What dirty trick is this Angelus, I see you before me and I sense no soul in you now"

Angel shrugged "Maybe that is because right now I don't give a toss " Angel bought Holtz flush to his body "All I can promise you is that you will not wake as a demon like your daughter did"

Angels fangs slowly sunk into the nape of his neck. Angel drank greedily, draining the man and then letting him fall to the grass, his life gone.
Angel fell to his knee's and cried for his son, and he hoped that Groo could keep his son safe until he returned.


Buffy laid on her bed, her heart slowed and her breathing laboured, Willow had called for an ambulance and hoped they would make it in time. Spike sobbed beside her, lovingly stroking her sweat from her brow and kissing her , begging for her to hold on , to not leave him .

Xander burst into the room and slid to his knee's. She couldn't die, not again. Wild thoughts ran through his mind, he told Spike to turn her, to save her from death.Spike sat up, shocked at the plea coming from the young man that hated vampires , yet loved her enough to ask that of him.

"I can't, it wouldn't be her, wouldn't be right, she wouldn't want that"
"I'll ask,no I'll beg Angel, if you won't then I'll get him to. We can't lose her this time"

Anger rose in Spike "You think I want to bloody lose her? You think I want her to die?" he screamed, his tears pouring off his chin as he yelled at Xander. "Your fucking crazy,you have no fucking idea what it's like to die and to rise again in the form of a bloody vampire, you think I want that for her?"

Buffy's breathing hitched and stopped Spike, he turned to the bed and lifted her head to his neck "Leave me alone, go , both of you.

His hand wrapped around her back. He pulled his hand out and stared at the blood, her blood. Her bed was soaked and her face was paled, her lips were blue.
Buffy opened her eyes and smiled.

"I'll wait for you. Always be your girl. Love you so much , stupid vampire"
His tears caught in his throat , "Don't go baby, please, I need you, can't go on without you pet"
"Dawn... needs ... you "

Six Months Later

"Spike?!" her voice yelled through the house "Get your lazy vamp ass outta bed, Angels on the phone"
"Fuck sake, can' I get a bloody minutes peace, what's the great lummox want now?"
"I dunno, not like I want to talk to him is it?"

Spike threw the covers back and stumbled down the stairs and into the kitchen, scratching through his hair and rousing his curls to fall around his face. He grabbed the phone from Dawn and frowned at her, which she returned with a tongue poking out and a smile on her lips.

"Whatever it is better be bloody important, I was up all night killing a nest of vamps, so make it quick you git"
"It's Connor, he's back"
"Good for you now is that all?"
"Nope, he came back with a couple of hitch hikers"
"So, send them on their merry way , unless they're hell beasts, in which case I find a bloody flame thrower works"
"It's Buffy and she's not alone"

The phone hung from it's wire and the front door was wide open, Dawn and Joyce stood at the foot of the stairs staring as a car sped from the drive way.