Feb topic What are you willing to risk it all for?

[liliana_baker]

It's possible to love two people at the same time, but eventually you will have to make a choice. I knew that when I was forced to choose I would pick Tyler without reservation. The time came, and I made it clear that I wanted to be the one to go in after Aidan. I knew they wouldn't let me go alone, but he was mine more than theirs. I didn't care

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[liliana_baker]

"I love you," I said to him quietly. It was sincere. He knew it, I could tell, by the way he looked at me when I said it. Buffy knew it because she figured it out before I was ready for anyone to know. "You were the first I ever loved. That means something to me."

I took a step toward him, gripping the handle of the sword, as memories danced behind my eyes. The first kiss, the first dance, Venice, Paris, that night on the beach. All of those times when he made me feel like I was the only one in the world that mattered to him. The times he made me feel like he would pluck the world straight from the sky and give it to me if I asked him too.

"I need you to know that I really do love you, Aidan. It's not a perfect love in any way. I have hurt you. You have hurt me. We're hurt others. It's not perfect, but it's real. In another lifetime? Maybe it would have worked out for us, but this isn't that lifetime."

I lunged at him, driving the sword into his ribs as I kicked him into the closest wall. "I loved you, and you nearly killed me and you let my friends die at your brother's hands. You have hurt so many people, and I am done enabling you. It's over, Aidan, it's really over now." Twisting the sword, I pulled it back out, glaring at him as I watched for him to make a move.

[wickedbuff]

"Wow. You really are slow." I commented when Aidan made his point about only two slayers against him. Ummm, how about a whole army of them outside his door? Not to mention a couple vampires, a couple of powerful witches, a genetic freak and some other guys who I probably didn't even know exactly what they do. I tried to keep my mouth shut as Lily professed her love for Aidan. I had no doubt at all that she loved him. But I couldn't be convinced that Aidan hadn't just taken advantage of her and used her. It was only fueling my anger.

Lily wasn't backing down though, which was good to see. She ran him straight through with her sword before twisting it hard. I guess they really mean it when they say love hurts. I felt myself tense, ready to strike when Aidan made his move. The minute he pulled away from the wall and advanced at Lily I grabbed him by his arm and swung him backwards, watching him hit the wall so hard that plaster crumbled from it. We were making him angry. Good.

"Sorry, Aidan. You're not looking so big and bad these days." I told him as I narrowly ducked a swing from him just as Lily ran the sword down the length of his chest. This was way too easy which was making me a little nervous. Maybe Faith had made the right call when she'd decided to let Lily come with me to take on Aidan. She obviously had some kind of effect on him.

"Go for the head, Lily." I encouraged her. What exactly would happen if she cut off his head? You'd be surprised how many things a good decap usually killed.

[mister_hart]

My eyes narrowed at Lily when I felt the cool steel of her sword go through my chest just after she declared her love for me. I loved her too, as much as a demon like myself could love a human or anything for that matter. But this was just starting to piss me off.

Before I could get a shot at Lily, Buffy had swung me around into a wall and I gritted my teeth as I glared back at her only to feel the sword slice down my chest again.

Go for the head? Yes, that was actually a very good idea. Pop off the annoying slayer's head and then Lily and I could get down to what really was bothering her.

Lashing out, I backhanded Buffy hard across the face and sent her flying backwards into my desk that she had already strewn. "You have no idea what we are, slayer. Little girls like you need to learn their place."

I moved towards Buffy again, hitting her hard a few times and moved back slightly when she started to gain her ground again and fight back. From behind I could hear Lily coming towards the two of us again so as she swung the sword another time I caught the blade and jutted it hard back into her.

"I still love you, Liliana, which is why after this is over, I'll bring you back and you'll never know the name of baby Osborn." Because right now I knew there was little chance in convincing her to stick around once I'd killed one of her heroes not to mention my nephew.

Still holding the blade of the sword in my hand, I swung it around sending Lily across the room sword and all.

[liliana_baker]

He was hurting Buffy and all I could see was red. No, no he wouldn't get the chance to bring me back because he would not survive this fight. I was going to help kill the man I loved. There wasn't enough therapy in the world for this. He was hurting Buffy and I flew into a rage only to have him grab the sword and use his strength to send me and the sword back.

I hit the wall with a thud and felt a little dazed, but I bounced back. Grabbing the smaller dagger I had on me in one hand, the sword in the other, I ran at him, grateful I had taken the drugs. I was moving faster than he could expect.

He was closing in on Buffy so I kicked him hard in the ribs as I brought the dragger down in his back. Stabbing him in the back seemed rather poetic actually. The look in his eyes as he whirled around would be burned in my memory for the rest of my life, no matter how long or short that time was, for a split second I was really scared of them.

The impact his his backhand was harder than anything I had felt before. I was flying so hard and fast across the room. The dagger was still embedded into his back, but I had the sword and then i slammed into the glass. It shattered around me, and for just a second, I caught both of their gazes just before I fell.

I screamed. His name. All the way down.

I could feel the shards of glass in my skin, the broken bones, but mostly I could feel this was the end. I wasn't going to live through the battle. I didn't kill him, he'd managed to kill me instead. I couldn't stop screaming as the ground got closer and closer, and then suddenly I wasn't moving as fast, but the ground was still there. Still waiting to catch me.

When I slammed into it, the world went black, and the last word out of my mouth before I slipped into oblivion was, "Aidan..."

[wickedbuff]

Aidan wasn't kidding when he said that he was a force to be reckoned with. The last time I was bitch slapped that hard was by...well, a bitch wearing designer heels with a bad perm. Hmmm. Too bad Glory hadn't stuck around, I could have set her up on a date with Aidan. Still, it was better that Aidan set his sights on me. If he wasn't paying attention to Lily she could get the better of him from behind with her sword.

I was preparing for a retort and a total kicking of this guy's ass when suddenly he hit Lily so hard that she headed right for the window. Time almost seemed to move in slow motion as both Aidan and I realized how completely suck his aim was. Racing to the window I reached out a hand trying to grasp hers but I just barely missed her and watched her fall, flailing until she disappeared into the darkness below. This scene had played itself out before. Nostalgia was a bitch. Lily was gone and she was only a kid. A dead kid.

I could feel Aidan from behind me and suddenly the moment of pain had subsided, replaced only by rage. I didn't care what it took I was going to kill him. I didn't have a sword but luckily I didn't need one. My eyes narrowed at him and something that almost might have looked like fear passed across his eyes. He'd looked outside, he knew that there was an army below. He'd just killed the girl he claimed to love and now? He had to deal with me.

I came at him hard and fast, and he had to struggle to avoid blows as I backed him up a little farther. He aimed a kick at me and I quickly grabbed his foot, twisting it around hard until I heard a crack and sending him sailing in circles through the air until he slammed into the ground hard.

"Little girls? Don't you ever do your homework? Why don't you get up and I'll show you just what this little girl can accomplish."

[mister_hart]

I was making my move towards Buffy again when I felt a sharp pain in my back and all I could see was red. Whirling around, I seethed anger as I took in Liliana standing there with the knife in my back and the sword in her other hand. Lashing out harder than I ever had with her, I backhanded her and watched as she sailed across the room. She didn't seem to be expecting the blow so she just kept going and the next thing I knew, she was flying into the window and as it shattered, I heard my name being screamed from her lips as she fell all the way down.

A low growl came from within me as I looked back to Buffy just in time for her to come at me again and lash out with punch after punch after hard punch. She was hitting me with all that she was worth and it showed. I could hear the raging fight going on outside and I knew this was bigger than I ever anticipated when the girls walked into my office hardly minutes before.

My face ached from the blows as I stumbled to get back to my feet again. Reaching around to my back, I pulled the knife out that Lily had put there herself and went at Buffy again. She was on her game more than she had been before Lily fell out of that window and now the slayer was showing the demon exactly what she was made of.

"Killing us is impossible, or is that a lie that my niece fed to all of you? Did she say we could be defeated? She should know better because she's seen exactly what we are and were we've come from. You can't defeat us."

It was my turn to lash out with blows against Buffy and after getting a few good ones in, she had gotten the upper hand another time and was backing me towards the same corner as before. I really didn't like this one.

[wickedbuff]

"You're wrong." I pointed out to him and at that point I knew even he wasn't completely sure about it. They could unleash hell outside but right now? His hell was in this office. My head snapped to the side with the force of his hand and he was advancing back on me for only a few steps before I stepped it up again. All I could think about was Lily's face when she went sailing through the window.

I'd just kicked him hard in the gut when suddenly the whole building shook. I had to grapple onto his desk just so that I wouldn't fall over with it. Aidan seemed as surprised as I was about it as he looked around for a second. That was definitely fear in his eyes now.

"What was that, Aidan? Something about being invincible? Here's a tip." I spun around again and kicked him hard in the face this time and watching as he crashed to the floor. "No one is invincible." Picking up the knife he had dropped on the floor I aimed straight for his heart as I plunged it in deep. Could he even feel pain? He looked like he could right now.

"Your days are up." I said calmly to him this time as I felt the building shake again. It kept shaking and the noise was getting louder, something was happening. The portal was opening, and hopefully it would be one that would suck him right down into hell.

[mister_hart]

We both paused as the entire building shook around us. Almost snarling, I looked around my office and out the shattered window to see the darkened sky looking as if it wanted to suck this entire dimension into hell. Buffy kicked me during the pause and I was on my back and had her aiming the knife down at my chest before I could do anything to stop her.

Pain ripped through my chest and I focused my strength to sling her off of me. She went across the room, but the building shook again as I got back to my feet and pulled the knife from my chest, tossing it to the floor again.

There was a ringing in my ears and I looked around again as the building shook harder. Artifacts and paintings were falling off the walls and suddenly part of the roof started to fall through. My eyes locked with Buffy's as I grabbed hold to the desk behind me and I finally realized what was going on. This wasn't just a fight for them, they were finishing it.

Sooner or later we would rise and bust out stronger and better, but for now I knew they'd won their fight. Bravo.

Still, as the building groaned around us, I couldn't help but grin back at her as I stepped forward. She still lost some of her own tonight. That was going to sting for years to come. Punching her hard only to get knocked back again, I growled up at her. "Better hurry, slayer. Or we might just take you down to hell with us."

[wickedbuff]

After Aidan had thrown me across the room I backed into the corner and put my hands on either wall to steady myself as the building began to shake so hard that my teeth rattled in my mouth. This was it. The spell had worked and now everyone was going to finally be free of this place.

Aidan stepped forward and so did I, almost like an old wild west showdown except without guns and with more fashionable boots. Plus, y'know demons. He punched me and I hit him back just as hard, knocking him back down to the ground. Take me to hell? I don't think so.

Glancing up I noticed a portal had begun to form and with it, the building shook harder than any earthquake I'd ever experienced. Large pieces of plaster began to fall around us. This was it. I looked back down at Aidan, leveling a serious gaze at him. Slayers had been a game to him. Something he could experiment on and play with. I'd broken in here to free his little experiments once and now I was making sure he never got to play with him again. What can I say? I think of them as my responsibility and I'm not so big with the sharing.

"Been there. Done that." I said as I grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him back up to his feet. This was for Lily and anyone else he'd ever hurt. Hurling him upwards easily I watched as the portal grabbed a hold of him and sucked him through.

I didn't really have time to appreciate my victory. Instead I had to get with the running. The building was coming down now and I didn't have much time. I had no idea if Faith and her sisters, Angel and Kennedy or Spike and Harry had managed to get out of the building but I couldn't go and look for them now, I had to get out.

Leaping over a pile of plaster I made my way out into the hallway as the lights flicked and more pieces of the roof began to descend. Quickly I ran as fast as I could towards the stairs. About halfway down to the first floor the building shook violently again and I tried to grab onto the railing as the stairs cracked down the middle and the whole structure collapsed.

I fell hard to the floor and rolled just in time to avoid having the stairs fall right on top of me. That was gonna make it tough for others to get downstairs but they'd find a way. Hopefully everyone I cared about was already out. All I could think about was checking in on Dawn as I raced through the front doors of Wolfram and Hart.