BtVS Ficlet: To Save The World
Title: To Save The World
Fandom: BtVS
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Buffy, Angelus, Angel, Jenny, Giles, Willow.
Rating: PG
Word Count: 493
Spoilers: Becoming Parts One and Two.
Summary: Being responsible for Angel becoming a demon again is bad enough, but worse is to come.
Written For: Prompt #002 - Heartbreak at fandomweekly.
Disclaimer: I don’t own BTVS, or the characters.
One night with Angel, one sweet and beautiful night of passion and desire… Buffy had felt herself change from girl to woman in the arms of the man, the vampire, she loved with all her heart. But that night of happiness had changed Angel too, and not for the better. It had ripped away his human soul, turning him back into what he’d been before it was restored; a heartless monster, bent on making her suffer because she’d made him feel.
She’d thought she’d known heartbreak before, every time a boy she liked had snubbed her, or worse, not even noticed her, but the pain she’d felt back then was nothing compared to the crushing agony of knowing the man she loved no longer existed and the demon that had replaced him would stop at nothing to hurt her.
For months after that night Buffy had existed in a kind of limbo, going through the motions, trying to protect her friends and loved ones while carrying out her Slayer duties. Her school grades had suffered, but that was the least of her problems.
Angel killed again and again; there seemed no way to stop him. Every one of those deaths was on Buffy’s shoulders, a weight dragging her down, and then Angel took Ms Calendar’s life… Seeing Giles’ grief hurt Buffy worse than anything Angel had done to her. There was only one thing left for her to do; Angel must die. After all he’d done, killing him would be easy, but he was still too busy toying with her to meet her face to face. His reluctance made her jittery.
With the discovery of the sarcophagus containing the remains of the demon Acathla, and its subsequent theft by vampires, killing Angel took on a new urgency. Buffy had to keep him from resurrecting the demon; she wasn’t about to let the whole world be sucked into Hell. Willow’s attempt to re-curse Angel was only ever meant to be a backup plan, just in case Buffy’s frontal assault failed, but…
The spell worked; Angel was himself again, with no memory of the preceding months. He was confused, bewildered, but he hugged her close and it felt so good, so perfect. For a few moments Buffy’s heart lifted as she dared to hope. They’d won, hadn’t they? Another supernatural crisis averted in the nick of time.
Then her world came crashing down again; Acathla’s mouth was open, the vortex beginning to form, and there was only one way to close it again. It didn’t seem possible that she could hurt more than she already did, yet as she raised her sword and drove it through Angel’s chest, seeing his shock and pain, her heart shattered in her chest.
No one should ever have to kill the one they loved to save the world.
Half blinded by tears, Buffy packed her bag and left Sunnydale, wishing she could leave her broken heart behind as easily.
The End
Fandom: BtVS
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Buffy, Angelus, Angel, Jenny, Giles, Willow.
Rating: PG
Word Count: 493
Spoilers: Becoming Parts One and Two.
Summary: Being responsible for Angel becoming a demon again is bad enough, but worse is to come.
Written For: Prompt #002 - Heartbreak at fandomweekly.
Disclaimer: I don’t own BTVS, or the characters.
One night with Angel, one sweet and beautiful night of passion and desire… Buffy had felt herself change from girl to woman in the arms of the man, the vampire, she loved with all her heart. But that night of happiness had changed Angel too, and not for the better. It had ripped away his human soul, turning him back into what he’d been before it was restored; a heartless monster, bent on making her suffer because she’d made him feel.
She’d thought she’d known heartbreak before, every time a boy she liked had snubbed her, or worse, not even noticed her, but the pain she’d felt back then was nothing compared to the crushing agony of knowing the man she loved no longer existed and the demon that had replaced him would stop at nothing to hurt her.
For months after that night Buffy had existed in a kind of limbo, going through the motions, trying to protect her friends and loved ones while carrying out her Slayer duties. Her school grades had suffered, but that was the least of her problems.
Angel killed again and again; there seemed no way to stop him. Every one of those deaths was on Buffy’s shoulders, a weight dragging her down, and then Angel took Ms Calendar’s life… Seeing Giles’ grief hurt Buffy worse than anything Angel had done to her. There was only one thing left for her to do; Angel must die. After all he’d done, killing him would be easy, but he was still too busy toying with her to meet her face to face. His reluctance made her jittery.
With the discovery of the sarcophagus containing the remains of the demon Acathla, and its subsequent theft by vampires, killing Angel took on a new urgency. Buffy had to keep him from resurrecting the demon; she wasn’t about to let the whole world be sucked into Hell. Willow’s attempt to re-curse Angel was only ever meant to be a backup plan, just in case Buffy’s frontal assault failed, but…
The spell worked; Angel was himself again, with no memory of the preceding months. He was confused, bewildered, but he hugged her close and it felt so good, so perfect. For a few moments Buffy’s heart lifted as she dared to hope. They’d won, hadn’t they? Another supernatural crisis averted in the nick of time.
Then her world came crashing down again; Acathla’s mouth was open, the vortex beginning to form, and there was only one way to close it again. It didn’t seem possible that she could hurt more than she already did, yet as she raised her sword and drove it through Angel’s chest, seeing his shock and pain, her heart shattered in her chest.
No one should ever have to kill the one they loved to save the world.
Half blinded by tears, Buffy packed her bag and left Sunnydale, wishing she could leave her broken heart behind as easily.
The End