note: I have split this final chapter into two parts 9a and 9b.

The pain was searing. It felt like her skin was being torn from her body, it got to the point here she could bear it no longer and then..........there was nothing.  

Buffy looked up for a moment she was confused, then her memories came flooding back and a slow evil smile spread across her face.

"Thank Fuck for that, that damn soul was driving me nuts all torment this and torment that what a drag! I feel like a new vampire, now where's the snack bar I'm famished."

Buffy's eyes moved to the motionless form of Oz lying on the floor and moved towards him.

"Well that's a bit of a dismal specimen, I like a little more live in my food.  Haven't you got me anything else?"

Giles smiled and then let out an amused roar; he strided to buffy took her in his arms and kissed her passionately on the lips.

"Ah my feisty lover is back."  He stroked her face, then turned and gestured to willow to bring forth Spike. "Here, my love, I have the slayer's friend for you."

Spike looked at Buffy, he could see that she was no longer the vampire he knew, she was something else, something evil. Now he was scared.

"Oh yes, Spike, the annoying like slayer groupie, I can't tell you how many times I've prayed for my soul to be taken just so I could have the pleasure of killing you slowly and hey, what do you know, my prayers have been answered." 

Buffy moved towards him with menace, reaching out she grabbed him roughly by the hair and yanked him to her.  Spike didn't fight. He gasped as her sharp fangs sliced through his neck piercing the jugular and then a myriad of sensations swept over him as she began to drink his blood.  They seemed to be connected, he saw her life flashing before his eyes, he saw the pain and torture she’d inflicted on innocents before she’d been cursed, but it was more than just seeing her misery he felt her pain, the torment she’d had to bear knowing of the things she’d done and never being about to change them, he wondered briefly if she was seeing his life too.  In the distance he could hear a voice it seemed to be calling her.

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Angel had managed to use his slayer senses to track the vampires back to their lair, despite all the obstacles they had tried to put in his way.  He knew that one amongst them must have been a very powerful Wiccan before they’d been turned.  He was grateful that he seemed to have the knowledge to get through without too much trouble.  As he had drawn closer he had heard voices, familiar voices ... Spike and Buffy.  He peered round the opening in the rubble where the voices seemed to be coming from and came face to face with his worst nightmare.  Buffy had her full game face on and was feeding off Spike, Oz laid motionless on the floor and his own mother was playing happy families with the master vampire himself.  He lost all restraint and without thinking of the danger he was in he screamed Buffy’s name.

The whole room seemed to react at once, he moved forward pulling his stake out of his belt.  Anya and Willow lunged at him simultaneously he ducked out Anya’s grasp, spinning he staked her through the heart.  Before her dust even touched the floor he had turned again and thrust the stake into Willow.  An expression of utter disbelief crossed her face as she disintegrated.  He barely had time to react as his mother jumped on his back, screaming in his ear, he could feel her teeth on his neck as he bent forward and flicked her over his shoulder, he hesitated which cost him precious moments but he just couldn’t stake her.  He knew that this thing before him wasn’t his mother it was just a demon in the shape of the mother he had loved.  Joyce Summers had died and was never coming back.  Angel knew this but he had still hesitated.  It gave the demon the time it needed to regain its feet.

"What’s the matter honey, can’t you kill me?" the demon taunted him.

"No, I can’t kill you cause you’re already dead, but I can end this miserable excuse you think of as life." Angel replied and then lunged at her.  She moved too quickly and he lost him balance and stumbled, using this to her advantage she turned quickly and kicked him completely off balance so he sprawled onto the dusty floor, then she stood over him laughing.  Angel turned onto his back and then tried to get up but the vampire held him down with her foot on his chest.  

Giles reacted quickly pulling Joyce from her position over her slayer son.  Giles was mad. He wanted the slayer to die before but now he wanted the slayer to suffer before he died.  This miserable human had killed his favourites, his most vicious.  Now he’d have to do his own dirty work and that really pissed Giles off.  He bent down and grabbed the slayer by his jacket and yanked him to his feet in one swift motion.  Angel found himself dangling a foot from the floor.  He was frightened but this just helped, his mind was working over time trying to plan how to get out of this without losing anyone else he loved. 

Buffy hadn’t stopped feeding from Spike until he had breathed his last breathe then she calmly let the body fall to the floor and stepped over it. She walked round behind Angel her hand stroked his back.  

"Hello Lover." She purred.

"Get away from me Buffy." Angel gasped through gritted teeth.

"Awwww is my honey upset cause I put poor Spikey out of his misery?" 

"This isn’t you…" Angel stopped. He had a sudden feeling of déjà vu. *We’ve been here before, but last time it was me not her, wasn’t it? *  He really wasn’t sure whether this reality was real or whether the other one was anymore.  All he knew right now was his head hurt and he was tired.

Giles dropped him into Buffy’s arms, her grasp was tight around his chest, for something so small she had real power.  

"So slayer, it has come to this.  Your worthless life is over but do I just kill you or should I see what would happen if I was to change you?" Giles smiled.

Angel tried to think. What would happen if a slayer was changed? Would he become a super vampire or just be the same as the rest of them?  Angel really didn’t want to find out.  He knew what he had to do.  It was going to be hard but the alternative was worse.

He took a slow look around and a deep breathe.  With one fluid movement he grabbed Buffy’s wrist from around his waist and flung her towards Giles.  Then he rolled on the floor, picked up his dropped stake, regained his feet and thrust the stake forward into his mother’s heart.  Buffy had managed to keep her feet and was hurtling towards him in full kill mode.  He turned in time to catch her at arms length and roll backwards onto the floor.  As she landed on top of him, the stake pierced her heart and a sudden look of realization swept across her face.  Then she was gone.  For a moment Angel hesitated but then he told himself the time to grieve was later.  He stood up and faced Giles.  He could see the rage bubbling inside the old vampire.  Giles moved slowly towards him. Angel stood his ground.  Then with a swiftness Angel had never seen, Giles was gone.  Suddenly panic set in and Angel moved backwards, he stumbled over something, and he lost his balance.  Sprawled on his back in the semi lit ruin of an old school room, Angel looked to see what had tripped him.  Oz groaned and raised his head.  He looked at Angel and smiled.

"Hey man, where the hell are we? What happened?"

"Shit Oz you scared the crap out of me, Just stay low Giles is still in here somewhere." 

Oz crawled to where Angel now sat.  He looked around the gloom.

"I don’t see anything, are you sure?"

"Yeah, I’m sure.  He’s the only one I didn’t kill."

Too late Angel realized that Oz wasn’t breathing.

"That’s not quite true Angel."  Oz muttered as he sank his newly formed vampire teeth into the slayers neck.  Angel felt nothing as he fell into the darkness.


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Angel opened his eyes, he felt terrible like he'd had too much to drink the night before, he lifted his head from the soft pillow and looked around the room, the clock showed him that it was the wrong end of the day to be awake sunrise was an hour away but apart from that nothing had moved everything was the same as it had been when he'd crawled into bed the morning before.  He shook his head in an attempt to clear the fuzzy feeling that was clouding his brain, it didn't work so he got out of bed and reached for his clothes.

He wandered down the stairs to the lobby of the old hotel; it was quiet, too quiet there wasn't a sound, no arguing, no name calling, for a moment he hoped that maybe Cordelia and Wesley were working too hard to talk but with a quiet chuckle he dismissed that idea, it'll never happen they thrived on the bickering!

He reached the reception desk it was empty.  Cordy's laptop lay open but it was switched off there was no coffee cups in fact there wasn't even a pot of coffee on the go.  *This is very strange  * he mused.  He walked behind the desk and started to look for some sort of clue as to everyone's whereabouts, or a jar of instant coffee which ever came first.

He heard the main door swing open and then closed he looked up expecting to see Wesley or Cordy but found himself looking into the face of the one thing he constantly dreamed about -Buffy -. 

"H.. Hello..." he managed

"Hi sweetie," Buffy smiled…………………..