The Slayerettes and the British vampire watched silently as Buffy and Raksha dragged Angelus over to a chair. Raksha beckoned to Giles. The Watcher moved forward cautiously, carrying a large bag. Raksha removed a set of chains from the bag and went to work chaining the unconscious Angelus in the chair. The chains were light but they would hold him, since he was bound to wake. The spell would take some time and Raksha hadn't hit him that hard.

Raksha secured the chains with a lock. "All right everyone," she commented. "It's time to start. I'm going to draw a protective circle around Angelus and myself to protect you all from any negative output from the spell. If I tell you at anytime during the spell to leave, then please do so. I'd hate to have more blood on my hands."

Raksha took the bag and began removing items. The others stood back and watched her. Salt, holy water, a knife, the orb, incense, some crystals... All the things that would be needed for the spell. She arranged the crystals and charms on the floor and lit the incense.

Picking up the salt and water, Raksha started to walk in a circle around Angelus and the items on the floor, chanting softly. On her second time around she drew the circle with salt and on the third time around she drew it with water.

As she finished, Spike grabbed her arm. "You don't have to do this."

Raksha looked over at the Slayer. She fought evil unselfishly. She had given a fellow demon with a soul a chance. She had redeemed Angel. And what she had she got? Pain. Misery.

Raksha looked at the friends that stood beside the Slayer. They fought evil unselfishly. The learned to trust a fellow demon with a soul. They had redeemed Angel. And what did they get? Worry. Fear.

Raksha saw they way the group looked at her. They believed in her. She had given them hope.

"Not do the spell?" Raksha asked. "You don't understand. That's not an option."

Raksha went over to her materials. She picked up her copy of the spell and read it over one last time. "Here goes nothing." Raksha sighed. She carefully picked up the ornate dagger and sliced her wrist open. She quickly drew a circle in her blood around the items on the floor. Carefully she drew runes at the top and at both sides of the circle, creating the vertices of a nonexistent triangle.

**

Spike watched closely as she did this. Despite the fact that she had killed his love, he didn't want her to die. He had thousands of objections he wanted to voice but he knew it was no use. She was beyond listening to him.

Raksha had always had reasons for doing what she did. This was one time -- and if they lived through this, he was sure it wasn't the last -- when he didn't understand her. Why would she risk her life for a Slayer who's probably not going to live that long into new millennium? Why would she risk it for a demon that had caused herself nothing but trouble? Spike had no idea and doubted he ever would...

Spike could do nothing but merely watch as Raksha picked up her manuscript and began to speak. The words that were coming out of her mouth were completely unfamiliar. Most languages Spike had heard had something in common with each other, but what Raksha was speaking was completely foreign. Spike was repeatedly being reminded how much older she was than him...

**

Angelus slowly came out of the fogginess that had consumed him. He tried to move his arm but found that he couldn't. His eyes shot open. Raksha sat on the ground in front of him with some objects. She was talking, but he paid no attention to her. His eyes were locked on the Orb of Thessula.

"Fuck, he whispered. Angelus frantically tried to free himself from his bonds. There was no way in hell he was going to go back to being soul boy. He had plans for this world... Ones that included destroying it... Or at least having it sucked into Hell. There was no way he could stand being all soulful again.

Angelus' struggles were no use. The chains held firmly in place. He was going to get his soul back whether he wanted to or not.

**

Raksha could feel the mystical energy flowing through her. It was a great high -- the reason so many people got addicted to magic. The spell was taking a lot of concentration to maintain. There were reasons only the strongest of the strong ever attempted such a feat.

Raksha had never had her doubts that it would work. She knew it would. Her gods wouldn't interfere and stop the *sin.* They would punish her afterwards. At least that was something she could look forward to. She had lived a long time and was tired of the constant fighting. The constant battles. Her time had passed. She would miss some things on earth, Spike for one, but wasn't eternal peace worth giving up some things that you love?

Raksha came to the last lines of the spell. The orb was glowing brightly with the energy from Angel's essence. Suddenly, the pressure in the circle became almost unbearable. Blood flowed from her lip, that was accidentally bitten in her trance. Her ears began to pop painfully. Her insides felt like they were being torn apart. But all of this went unheeded. Raksha was an experienced magician. All factors, except the spell, were ignored as long as the casting.

The pain that racked Raksha's body mounted to almost unbearable levels. Raksha yelled the last few word of the spell. A flash of light shone in Angelus' eyes. The pressure in the circle vanished. Raksha leisurely pushed herself off the ground and stumbled over to in front of Angel.

"What's going on?" Angel asked confused.

Raksha ignored his question and broke the wards. Spike rushed over to Raksha as soon as he felt the magical barrier disappeared. Buffy did the same to Angel. Spike stopped just before Raksha; Buffy went to work releasing Angel's bonds.

Buffy pulled Angel to his feet. She threw herself into his arms. "I love you," she whispered in his ear over and over like a mantra.

Angel hugged her back. In his muddled mind, the one thing that stood out was his love for the Slayer. "I love you, too," he told her.

The others approached the two couples. While, Buffy and Angel looked like lovers being reunited, Spike and Raksha looked like Johnny Rebel and Billy Yank standing off against each other. Neither of the lovers had embraced each other. They stood at a distance from each other; neither seemed eager to close the gap.

Buffy turned around. "Thank yo-..." Buffy was cut off by a quick motion of Raksha's hand.

Raksha was looking up at the sky. Her head tilted as if she was listening to a speaker. She nodded several times, agreeing with the unheard voice. "As you wish," she whispered, finally.

Raksha pulled Spike in for a quick kiss. During their embrace, Raksha's body collapsed. The life went out of it; it stopped breathing. Spike lowered her body to the ground. He sat horrified over her body. Slowly Spike swept out a hand and closed Raksha pupils, that had failed to shut as she took her last breath.

Suddenly a violet light surrounded the mortals and mystical creatures. Energy filled the bodies of those present. As quickly as the light came it disappeared, but this time it took nine creatures with it.