"So", Willow stated as soon as she had reassured herself that Pat was fine and the demon had come to her feet again, focusing on the chained up and injured Nathan now, "that makes you the last of the bunch."

"How are you still alive?" Nathan wanted to know in reply, perhaps not the smartest thing he could have asked, but a question he clearly hadn't been able to hold back; for a moment, the witch's face darkened, then she smiled at him, grasping her lover's hand again as she replied.

"I'm not still alive", she let him know, noticing how he swallowed heavily, "but alive again. Thanks to my Goddess and the devotion of my lover."

"So it all worked out, eh", he gave back, sounding just a tad nervous, "and you can just let me go, can't you. It was nothing personal, I swear, I just… didn't want her to have all that power, and that was the only way."

"Yes, it all worked out", Pat was the one to answer that, making him look at her, "because I gave up my immortality so she could be brought back. And don't give us any crap about how killing Willow was the only way, there is always more than one way."

"Come on", Nathan replied, shifting in his chains slightly, "you guys are the good guys. You don't murder people in cold blood."

"Buffy and I don't", the witch corrected him while next to her, Pat started to smile, the kind of smile which only could be described as malicious, "but my girlfriend here has been doing just that for a living for the past two hundred years. Sweetie?"

"My pleasure", the demon gave back, raising the axe as she moved closer to the construct; crying out, Nathan pulled violently at his chains, sounding frantic when he spoke up again, nearly swallowing his own tongue in an attempt to make them stop her.

"Please, no!" he cried, the taller woman advancing slowly, but steadily, "please! I stopped her from taking all that power, I helped to save you all from her rise to power and enslavement of humanity! Isn't that worth something?!"

"It would have been if you had done it for that reason", Pat let him know, hefting the axe as she studied his neck, as if she still had to ponder where to hit for the best and fastest effect, "but you didn't. You just played your games, like the rest of your family."

His eyes went wide in response as he realized that they had seen through him and his motivations; and then, the axe was brought up and swung in a deadly arc, and moments later, his head hit the floor and his eyes saw no more, lifelessly gazing up at the ceiling while the three women turned away and walked off, none of them even looking back once.

"Now we can add 'power hungry family of immortals' to our list of creatures we defeated", Buffy smirked as they left the mansion together, "let's just hope he told the truth about how many of them there were and there aren't any others out there."

"We'll deal with them if there are", Pat shrugged, any discomfort she might have been feeling about being back in the room where she'd been tortured obviously gone, "as we always do. We're awesome like that."

"And so modest", Willow giggled, making the taller woman smirk before she shrugged yet again; the couple smiled at each other, then stopped to exchange a brief, but tender kiss, Buffy politely looking the other way as they did so, only focusing on them again once they had pulled apart again.

"So", she cautiously started, "Will, I take it you know by now what your girl here did to bring you back."

"Yes", the witch confirmed, smiling up at the demon for a moment before she spoke on, "and at first I freaked, I thought it's too big, too much to give. I still do, but I know I wouldn't be alive without her, so I can't complain."

"Also, it solves the problem of her aging and me staying my youthful self forever", Pat added, "no one noticed so far, but it would have become an issue sooner or later."

"And you don't mind?" Buffy wanted to know, slightly sceptical – she was glad and grateful that the demon had given her eternal life to bring Willow back from the dead, but still she knew that it had been an enormous gift to give, now worried that Pat might have second thoughts once the fact that from now on, she would age and die like a regular person would sink in.

"I don't", Pat confirmed, yet again without hesitation, "it was worth it just to have her back."

"Quite romantic", Buffy smiled, deciding to just accept the demon's words for now, figuring they'd notice, should the taller woman really change her mind, "come on, if someone had told you all of this would happen before you met Willow, you'd have called them insane."

"Indeed", the black haired woman replied with a slight chuckle, "but, well, what can I say… Willow's my life, and I'd do that and more for her. Again and again."

"So sweet", Willow smiled in reply, then pulled the demon down for yet another kiss; and when they pulled apart again, she whispered "I love you" to her, just loud enough for her to hear, the taller woman's response equally soft as she reassured her of her love for her, as well.

They smiled at each other for another moment, then continued walking; for a while, there was silence, then the redhead spoke up again, a glint of her mischief in her green eyes now as she looked at Buffy, her words prompting the blonde to give her a look of mortified embarrassment in response. "Oh, and Buffy? Hecate asked me to tell you that she's not Jesus. She doesn't do the whole walking on water thing, but she hears he's a nice fellow."

"Oh God", Buffy just brought in reply, making Pat nudge her slightly as she smirked, amusement in her voice when she added her two cents. "How inappropriate. Again."

This time, the Slayer couldn't even say anything, but just blushed a fierce shade of red; and after a few moments, they all started giggling and chuckling, the tension of the last few days falling off of them as yet another threat had been taken care of and the town was safe yet again, the group victorious once more despite the high price they all had been forced to pay.

End.