Graduation Day

"You ready for this?" Angel and Buffy stood in the book cage sharpening weapons. They hadn't seen each other in a week since their emotional goodbye.

"Yes. No matter what happens out there I'm ready." Buffy looked directly into Angel's eyes; she wanted to say so much more, but knew it was hopeless. Besides, she had to stay focused on the battle ahead.

"I got your back." Angel knew she was in total Slayer mode and hoped his presence didn't distract her. He had followed her around on patrol but stayed in the shadows. He knew that she knew he was there but she never called out for him and he never approached her. It was better this way, or so he kept telling himself.

"You've done a good job keeping your existence from the Mayor. Giles should be proud. I know I am." Angel looked directly at her. "Remember, you're the Slayer, you have to make it out of there, don't worry about anything else." Angel kissed her on the forehead and walked out of the cage.

Buffy stood rooted to the spot, she knew what he meant. He was the anything else she wasn't supposed to worry about. What if he didn't make it? What if this is the way it ends? Buffy looked up toward the ceiling. 'God please watch over him. You owe him one.'

The gang stood around the library, all getting ready for the battle to come. They were discreetly watching Angel and Buffy, they all knew about their break up and everyone wished there were something they could do.

"Buffy, it's time. Everyone put on your caps and gowns and let's get through this." Giles had mixed emotions as he watched them don their caps and gowns. Pride, that they were graduating, his children. Fear, that this was the last time they would all be together.

"You know, this is just classic Sunnydale." Everyone turned to look at Xander who was adjusting his cap. "So, yay, you get to finally get out of high school, butttt... you have to first dodge the big demon who's trying to eat you."

Everyone laughed. They were ready to go.

"Willow, get behind the podium!" Oz noticed the vamp coming right for her. Just as she ducked, he let the bolt in his crossbow fly. It struck the vamp in the heart. He knelt down behind the podium and wrapped his arm around her.

"Did you see the others?" Willow was frantically trying to locate her friends, but there were people everywhere; the entire graduating class was battling for their lives, their futures.

"No. I lost track of them. I'm sure they'll be alright." Willow just clutched Oz closer and prayed.

"Get off of him! Get off of him!" Cordelia Chase slammed the microphone down on a vampire's head in time with her yelling. "Get (bang) off (bang) of (bang) him (bang)!" The last blow finally knocked the vampire out.

"Thanks, Cor. I think you rendered her deaf and unconscious." Xander made to stand up but found himself flat on his back when Cordelia tackled him.

"Oh God, Xander, when I looked up and saw her over you, I thought you were dead. Don't you ever just up and die and not tell me!" Cordelia sobbed into Xander's chest and wrapped her arms around his neck. He might be a geek, but he was her geek.

"I'm alright, Cordy." Xander ran his hands up and down her back. "Believe me, I'll never do another thing without clearing it with you first." For once, Xander Harris wasn't joking.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the studmuffin." Faith stood over Angel who was pinned to the ground by three vamps. "You're kinda in a compromising position and I'm just the kind of girl to take advantage of that." She leaped on his body, straddling his hips.

"Get off, Faith." Angel felt the revulsion churning in his gut.

"Get off? Gee, thanks I think I will." Faith began grinding her crotch against him. Angel tried to break away from his captors but there were too many of them.

"Stop that." Faith backhanded him. "Take it like a man. Oh, that's right, you're not a man, are you?"

"Correction, Faith. He's a real man, that's why he'll never be interested in a piece of white trash like you!" Buffy stood behind Faith, hands on her hips, her legs splayed apart.

"Buffy! It can't be, you're dead!" Faith sprang up and whirled around.

"Yeah, well, that whole dead thing wasn't working for me." Buffy whipped out her dagger and started to advance.

"I knew those stupid morons I sent to off you would screw up! Guess if you want something done right..." Faith took out her own knife and leapt toward Buffy.

Faith's words sparked a murderous rage in Angel. He grabbed two of his captors by the shirtfront and slammed their foreheads together. He heard a satisfying crack and leaped up to confront his third assailant.

Buffy was also incensed by the knowledge that her fellow slayer had sent a hit squad after her. She landed a vicious roundhouse kick to Faith's head, stopping her headlong charge. Faith quickly recovered and took several swipes at Buffy with her knife; Buffy was too fast for her and dodged them all.

The battle between slayers was on.

Faith was starting to sweat, she had fought Buffy in the past but never had Buffy been this fast or this brutal. She had no idea how she could possibly be alive but whatever had happened in the last months had given her added strength and a ruthlessness that she hadn't possessed before. Faith noticed Buffy's eyes darting behind her and knew she was checking on Angel, who was holding off his fair share of vampires.

Faith wondered how it was to love like that. To love someone so completely your life ceases to be complete without the other in it. She knew she would never find out. But she did know what it was like to have a friend, a real friend, someone that would hold out a helping hand, if you'd take the chip off your shoulder long enough to ask for it. But she screwed that all up, just like she screwed up everything she had ever touched.

Buffy felt Faith weakening, more and more, she was pulling defensive maneuvers just barely keeping out of Buffy's knife's range. She looked up to check on Angel and her world froze, he was pulling himself up and never noticed the vamp taking aim at him with a crossbow. Buffy started to scream out his name but knew she'd be too late. She watched in horror as the vampire let the bolt fly.

Faith whirled around to see what had caused the agony in Buffy's eyes. She saw the vampire take aim at Angel and a sense of peace washed over her. She dropped her knife and with the speed only a Slayer possessed, launched herself at Angel. She wrapped her arms around his neck a split second before she felt the bolt impale itself through her back to pierce her heart. Her eyes widened and met Angel's stunned ones.

"It could've been good. Maybe next time around?" Angel was the only man that had made a dent in Faith's heart.

"Yeah, maybe." Angel heard her heart slowing and knew she only had seconds left, so he felt no remorse for lying to her. He gently lowered her to the ground.

Buffy reached Faith's side and glanced into Angel's eyes; she knew Faith didn't have long to live. Even though Faith had turned against her, this one incredibly selfless act redeemed her. Buffy brushed the loose strands of hair away from Faith's face.

"You hold on, we're going to get you to the hospital."

"No time for that now, B. I'm as good as gone." Faith saw Buffy about to protest and stopped her. "Don't lie to me at this late date. We both know the score, but there's something I got to say. I never had a friend before, never really wanted one. Except you. I guess I screwed up royally, just want you to know...I'm sorry, if I had to do it again, I'd do it different."

Faith looked at Buffy, who had tears coursing down her cheeks and then to Angel.

"Now don't you two run off and do the horizontal hokey pokey." Both Buffy and Angel smiled weakly. Faith felt herself dying and grabbed hold of Buffy's hand. "A life for a life, B. A life for a life..." Her words trailed off and her head hung limply to the side.

Angel gently picked up Faith's body.

"What do you want me to do?" Angel looked at the war still raging around them. Faith's death had seemed to take an eternity, but in reality, only minutes had gone by.

"I need to finish this off. Take her somewhere Angel, somewhere safe. She was a slayer, she deserves a decent burial."

"Be careful. I love you."

Buffy's head snapped up, she hadn't heard him say those words in a very long time. They gave her the extra edge she needed to see this battle through. She grabbed Faith's knife, squared her shoulders and looked up at Angel.

"The mayor is so not going to like my commencement speech." Buffy headed toward the library.

"That's my girl." Angel watched her move toward the school, dispatching any demon foolish enough to get in her way.

"Well, Mr. Giles, I guess while our girls are outside playing, we can exchange parenting secrets." The creature that was once the mayor made a dive for Giles, but the watcher sidestepped it at the last moment and brought the staff down on the demon's head.

"As fascinating as that sounds, I'll have to take a rain check." Giles was getting desperate, the plan was to corner the demon in the library, which he did, and Buffy would surprise it by coming in through the stacks. He had done his part to lure the demon, but still no Buffy. Fear was beginning to churn in his gut.

"My little Faith, now she's a real trooper! I spank her every night before she goes to bed and wouldn't you know it, she still all bright eyed and bushy tailed in the morning!"

"Oh, you mean she WAS a real trooper. But how do I break this news gently...oh, I know...she's dead!" Buffy was grieving for Faith inside, but she knew not to show any weakness. She had also figured out that in a strange way, Faith actually did mean something to the Mayor. If anything was going to break the mayor, Faith's death was it.

"You BITCH! You killed my Faith!" The mayor started to advance toward Buffy, who was up in the stacks; he had completely forgotten Giles.

Buffy was sickened by what the Mayor had turned into, he was at least 15 ft. tall and covered in blue scales. Where a human face had been, there was nothing but two yellow bulbous eyes and a black pit of a mouth with rows of razor sharp teeth. He had no nose or any other human feature. His body was worm-like with tentacles serving as his arms and legs. Lots and lots of tentacles.

Buffy executed a perfect double front somersault and landed directly on the demon's neck. Or where the neck would've been if it had one. The demon began whipping its tentacles around trying to latch onto her. It almost looked as if she was riding a bucking bronco.

Giles took advantage of Buffy's distraction. He quickly ran to the book cage and retrieved his silver pointed spear; he took careful aim and launched the spear directly at the creature's heart.

Buffy knew Giles's spear had found its target when she heard the inhuman shrieking from the demon. She was tiring fast and knew she only had one opportunity to ram her knife into the demon's head. Their research had come up with one vital fact, to kill a true demon you must pierce it's heart and it's brain. She took careful aim and prayed she was right about where the brain would be located on this type of demon. She closed her eyes and drove the knife downward into its head.

"This one's for you, Faith. We're 5x5." She knew Faith was watching her defeat the mayor, she could almost hear her, "Way to unwind and kick some demon butt, B!"

With both its life forces extinguished, the demon quickly crumbled to the ground. Giles and Buffy watched in amazement as the body shriveled up into a dry husk.

"Wow. I would say more but...Wow." Buffy was exhausted both mentally and physically, she couldn't even think of anything witty to say.

"Were you telling the truth about Faith?" Giles feared he already knew the answer.

"Yeah. She jumped in front of a bolt meant for Angel. She saved him, she saved him for me." Buffy knew that in a way, Faith has also saved him for her. "She admitted that she had sent the vamps out that night to kill me, but in the end she said something about 'A life for a life'. I think she was giving me Angel's life for taking the life of my other body. But how would she have known?"

"She was a Slayer, the slayer senses including the metaphysical are highly developed. She just knew." Giles felt sadness at Faith's passing, but he knew she was finally at peace.

"She doesn't have any family...can we at least give her a decent burial?" Buffy wanted to lay her friend to rest in a manner befitting a Slayer.

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Giles reached out and pulled Buffy into a very brief hug.

"Oh my God! The others, we have to go check!" Buffy whirled around and ran out of the library.

All around her, her fellow graduates stumbled about; they looked shell-shocked. Some were just squatting down on the floor staring at nothing, others were crying hysterically. Buffy could hear the sirens wailing in the distance and knew the battle was finished. They had won. But looking around at the bloody, terrified teens, she wondered at the price they had paid in human lives for this victory. As she walked quickly down the halls to the main entranceway, she noticed the surprised looks she was receiving. She had forgotten that these kids thought she was dead.

"So, it was you." Harmony stepped in front of Buffy. "I should have known, Xander and Willow couldn't have organized this on their own. Come to think of it, it was always you." Buffy was totally flabbergasted when Harmony threw her arms around her. "Thank you. I don't know how you do it, or why, but thank you." Harmony walked off in a daze.

"Crazier things have NOT happened." Buffy shook off her amazement and continued searching for her friends. She found Willow and Oz first.

Oz had a cut over one eye and Willow was cautiously wiping it. They weren't talking, just looking into each other's eyes. They communicated more with one look than most people did in entire conversations.

"Willow!" Buffy ran over to her best friend.

"Buffy!" Willow sprang up and rushed to meet Buffy. They crashed and Buffy's added slayer strength sent them crashing to the ground.

"You made it! You're OK." Buffy was holding Willow in a bone-crushing hug.

"I was just fine, until you, you know, tackled me."

"I wouldn't know what to do without you, Will." Both girls sat up on the grass.

"Well, in that case, you'll never have to find out. You OK?" Willow noticed the sadness in Buffy's eyes. "Is everyone OK?"

"I haven't seen Angel, Xander or Cordelia yet but Faith is dead." Buffy couldn't keep the grief out of her voice.

"Oh! Oh...umm...this is bad?" Willow noticed Buffy's sadness and was confused.

"I'll explain as we search. Come on." As Buffy stood, she noticed Oz standing by them and threw open her arms. "OZ!"

Oz held up a hand, halting Buffy's bear hug. "Glad to see you too, but my ribs are the only things not hurting right now, so how about I pencil you in for rib crushing, say, next Tuesday?"

"You've got a date. I mean...not a real date...just a hugging...Where was I going with this?" Both Willow and Oz grinned and followed Buffy.

Xander and Cordelia sat down in the rubble that was once the fountain in front of the school. Firemen, policemen and ambulance medics scurried around them, helping the injured and putting out the last of the fires.

"So should I keep it down or put it up?"

"I think this occasion definitely calls for an up-do. I mean how many kids actually get to witness this type of mass destruction? Not many I tell you, we are one of the lucky few. Definitely up."

"Well, here's a pencil. If I make the bun, can you put it through?" Cordelia handed the pencil to Xander and twirled her hair over her head.

Buffy, Willow and Oz all stopped dead in their tracks and watched the bizarre spectacle of Xander Harris sitting among the ruins of Sunnydale High School arranging Cordelia Chases's hair.

"Just when you thought things couldn't possibly get any stranger than your mayor turning into a demon-worm," Buffy said in perfectly even tones.

"Or your best friend coming back from the dead." Willow's eyes were glued to the pair in front of her.

"Leave it to Xander and Cordelia to make everything seem...trivial." Oz quirked one eyebrow and shook his head in awe.

"Xander! Cordelia! You're OK!" Buffy rushed forward. She reached Cordelia and her new do first.

Cordelia put her hands on her hips and rolled her eyes at Buffy. Buffy stopped.

"Well...Duh!" She broke out in a big grin and pulled Buffy to her.

Buffy broke away from Cordelia who went to compare battle notes with Willow and Oz; she looked over at Xander who was drawing patterns in the dirt with his foot.

"Xander?" He looked up. "Glad you're OK. But I knew you would be, they don't come much braver than you."

Xander's eyes filled with tears.

"I had a good teacher." Buffy and Xander stepped toward each other at the same time; he wrapped his arms around her waist and picked her up. He pulled back slightly to look at her.

"We OK?"

"We're super duper." Buffy kissed him on the cheek. "Now if you would stop being macho and let me down, I've got to go look for someone."

Xander let her down. He knew who that someone was, he had seen Angel earlier, after the battle, but lost track of him.

"I think I saw Angel, when it was all over heading toward the library. He looked a little frantic."

"We must have just missed each other."

"BUFFY!" Buffy heard Angel's voice calling out to her, it sounded panicked and fear went through her. Was he in danger? Was he hurt?

She saw him frantically looking around and knew he hadn't seen her yet.

"Angel, over here."

"Buffy!" Angel spotted her and started to run toward her.

"What took you so long, slow poke, we were already exchanging campfire stories...Oomph!" Buffy lost her breath when Angel reached her side and wrapped his arms around her tight. Too tight.

"You're Ok...you're ok...I thought I lost you again. I can't lose you again." Angel started to plant tiny kisses on every part of her head, face and neck that he could reach without releasing her.

Buffy was totally bewildered. She was OK, what had him so wigged?

"Not that I'm not enjoying this but, what gives?"

Angel took control of himself and began to feel a little embarrassed. He rarely showed any affection in public and the one time he does, it figured Buffy's friends surrounded him. He glanced around and noticed the wide-eyed, curious expressions on the faces around him.

"I went to the library and saw what was left of the Mayor. On the way out, I noticed another body, a girl's. She had blonde hair but the face was...burned off. She was holding your knife. I thought it was you, but I had to keep searching first, to make sure." Angel broke off; the stress of the last few hours completely overwhelmed him.

"Honey, remember I took Faith's knife, not mine when I went after the Mayor. That poor girl probably picked it up." Buffy cradled his face in her hands. "I'm not letting you get away so easy, Buster!"

"Don't let me get away. Don't ever let me get away." They embraced, and for a few moments amid all the chaos, they were at peace.