Xander ran. He heard the screams from the other side of the graveyard and rushed onto the scene. 'Damn,' he thought, 'why does everyone go to a freaking graveyard to make out? It's the Hellmouth. People should have realized this by now.'
He pulled out his silenced USP and an incendiary grenade from underneath his jacket. Giles was right. Angelus was siring an army.
He faced off against four vamps. He saw them drop the girls they had been draining. He was already too late to save the victims that they had drained, but he was sure as hell going to make the vamps pay. A male vampire with spiked black hair walked forward. And dropped the girl he had been draining "What do you think you're gonna do boy?"
Xander smiled and pulled out a stake.
The vamp turned and grinned to the other vamps. "What do you think youre gonna do with that?" He turned back and smiled at Xander. "Maybe we should just go out and see the slayer. Word spreads about a slayer that knows how to work a stake."
Xander grinned as he pulled out his USP. "You are so dead asshole."
The leader charged Xander in full game face. He shouted to the others. "Take them back!" The three other male vamps tried to take back the victims that they had turned. He threw the incendiary grenade at the fleeing vamps, making sure there wouldn't be any new members to the undead army. He turned and fired three shots at the lead vamps chest, but with little effect. He drew stake in his other hand and his breath chilled as he charged.
The vampire landed a roundhouse kick to his face, sending him sprawling into a tombstone. "And I thought Angelus was taking his time making his new mindless slaves. Who knew suckface lowered his standards."
The vampire grinned. "He fucked your little slayer. I call that lowering his standards."
Xander took out his gun and shot the vamps kneecaps out. The vamp screamed in pain as it fell to the ground.
Xander wiped the blood off of his nose. "Shut up." He walked over and plunged the stake into its heart.
Xander spit out some blood and knelt next to the lead vamp, which had just started to heal. He took out a small cross on a chain and dangled it over its head. "Okay buddy, start talking. What is Angelus planning?"
The vamp growled and tried to grab at Xander's throat. Xander shot him in the crotch.
Xander let the vamp howl in pain for a minute before continuing. "Lets try this again."
The vamp reached for his throat again. Xander shot him in the crotch again. "I meant the whole talking thing. Not the whole shootey-mr- happy thing. I don't really enjoy it."
The vamp muttered something about Xander's mother and a mothra demon. Xander fired four consecutive rounds into the vampire's groin. "Okay, maybe the whole shooting vampires in their private parts thing is fun, but I still need answers. What is Angelus up to?"
The vamp smirked and spit up some blood. "He'll kill all of you, your families, everyone."
Xander pointed the gun at the vamps head and said, "Everyone dies." He pulled the trigger.
*Click*
Xander looked at the gun. "Huh, I went through all twelve rounds. Must be your lucky day."
The vamp smirked. Xander took out his stake and pushed it through the vamps chest. "You fu.."
Xander walked into the library the next day to see the whole gang assembled. "What?" he sat down at the table, opposite of Oz, "Did you loose my invitation this time G-man? I thought you British types kept tabs on those things."
Giles sighed and closed the book he was reading. "Yes well, I'm sorry that I did not take out a full page ad in the comics section of today's newspaper for you Xander. But we have more important things to discuss."
Buffy looked into a book blankly. "He came to my house and threatened my mom."
The group turned to her. Giles was the first to speak. "What?"
Buffy shook her head. "You said it first. He'd come after my family. He tried to come into the house, but Willow's spell worked. We're gonna start going to everyone's houses and doing it there after school."
Giles nodded. "Did he somehow hurt your mother?"
She sighed. "Not physically no, he just told her some things."
Giles grabbed a nearby book. "What did he say? We'll start researching at once."
Willow pulled his arm aside and whispered. "Not those kind of things."
Giles' mouth made a slight 'O' before sticking anymore of his foot in there.
Oz, in the mean time, wasn't paying attention to the conversation. He had heard everything from Willow. He instead looked out of the corner of his eye at Xander. Something was off about him, he just smelled different.
Xander kept his gaze on the conversation between Giles, Willow, and Buffy, who were discussing the various ways to protect a house versus public places, like the library. He threw in quip remarks and comments every now and get annoyed looks from the trio, but he couldn't help but feel Oz staring into the back of his head. He stood up. "I need a soda, anyone want anything?"
Giles and Buffy shook their heads. Buffy said, "Nah. Hyper slayer on caffeine makes watcher go crazy."
Willow, on the other hand nodded vehemently at Oz and requested a Diet coke. Xander looked over at the redhead to make a comment, but saw her tear up and look away quickly. Xander sighed and followed the musician out.
Xander looked at Oz as they left the library. "Diet?"
Oz shrugged his shoulders. "Girls are weird."
Xander chuckled. "So said the werewolf musician."
Oz raised an eyebrow. "And you're completely normal?"
Xander deadpanned as he put two quarters into the coke machine. "Well...yeah. You're the werewolf. Buffy's the slayer. Giles is the watcher-man. Willow is the wicked wicca. I'm..."
Oz leaned forward and sniffed him.
Xander took several steps back. "...the strait guy. Emphasis on the strait there."
Oz took another step forward. "I saw you that night."
Xander took another step back. "Oz, you know Larry, right? I bet you two would just hit it off..."
Oz growled. "Stop it. I know that you're human, but something's off. You just don't smell right."
Xander tried to defend himself. "Come on Oz, what are you talking about?"
"I'm beginning to remember things. Things from when I was a werewolf."
Xander tried to confuse him. "You are a werewolf."
Oz remained steadfast. "You shot me."
"Oz, you've been shot by everyone, several times. Willow shot you with the tranq gun last Thursday."
Oz smiled and nodded as his memory became clearer in his mind. "You shot me and your eyes glowed. I remember it."
Xander shook his head as put a couple of quarters into the soda machine and decided to get some Barq's. "Okay, Oz maybe we shouldn't shoot you full of happy-sleepy drugs next time. They're making you loopy...and a little fruity."
Oz raised an eyebrow. "Fruity and loopy?"
Xander chuckled. "Fruity Loops. They're like Fruit Loops except less macho." He grabbed his soda and walked the werewolf back into the library.
Xander and Oz walked back into the library. Xander was able to effectively avoid talking about his late night patrols. He wasn't trying to 'fight off the night' or try to kill every last vampire. He just knew that he had to thin their numbers a little, maybe get a heads up every now and then. He knew he had to keep it from the rest of the group. They had their own demons to battle with, physical or emotional. He couldn't fight those battles for them. Or maybe he just couldn't win those battles.
After he got to know Oz, he felt a sense of closure about Willow. Although he still felt love for her, he could see Oz being good for her. That was all that mattered. He wasn't able to talk to Willow for the past few days. Every time they were in a room alone or it seemed like he was about to talk to her, she would simply leave. It was good to talk to Oz. At least he knew she was okay. In the musician, Xander felt he might have a good friend. Not another Jesse, but maybe just an Oz. He patted the werewolf on the back and sat down next to some old books, getting ready to research.
Oz grinned and sat down next to Willow who promptly opened her hand. "Coke, now."
Xander chuckled as the musician stood back up with a quick "Yes ma'am."
Cordelia walked from behind the stacks. Ever since the 'weird spell thing' that had happened a week ago, she kept finding herself watching him. She didn't know exactly how to approach him. 'Hi Xander, I just wanted to say I'm sorry about stomping all over your feelings, by the way, do you want to go to the Janitors closet?' Yeah right. I'd have better luck asking Giles to the janitors closet.
Cordelia let out a small "eww" before quietly walking out of the library.
Xander let out a small sigh as he saw Cordelia walk out of the library. Things had been...different between them. They weren't together, if they even were in the first place. And they weren't bitter mortal enemies like they once were. Xander smiled to himself. 'Ah the good old days, when the air was clean and the vamps were dusty.'
He chuckled a little to himself, which earned him a slight glare from Giles. "Xander, do you somehow find the ritual of Antiosis to be funny?"
Xander tried to play it cool. "Yes?"
That earned him another slap upside the head.
*Thwack!*
"OW, Dammit Giles, when did everyone decide that it was okay to slap me upside the head for no apparent reason."
Buffy deadpanned as she read from a demonology encyclopedia. "It was either when you decided to go out with Cordelia or when you pulled that little spell of yours last week, we haven't decided."
Xander felt the room drop a couple of degrees as everyone glared daggers at him. He winced in defeat. "Oh, okay well let me know when you do."
Willow turned the page she was reading, not bothering to look up. "Oh, we intend on."
Cordelia can't believe what a social leper she had suddenly became. After word got out that she had actually 'gone out' with Xander Harris, the popular clique shunned her for 'dabbling in the riffraff.' When she actually defended her choices, she removed any chance of getting back in their good graces. And everyone else shunned her because, well, she was Cordelia Chase. She started back down the hall, and noticed someone from earlier. She sighed. "Go ahead. Dazzle me with your oh-so-brilliant insults. Just join the club."
The young girl seemed a little confused. "Hardly. Uh, actually, I've been looking for you. Ever since we met this morning, I was, like, thank God there's one other person in this town who actually reads W."
Cordelia shook her head. "But Harmony..."
The girl grinned and started walking to the common area. "Oh, she follows me around. If that girl had an original thought, her head would explode."
Cordelia grinned and held out her hand. "I'm sorry, but I forgot your name, what was it?"
The girl smiled and took her hand to shake. "It's Anya, and don't worry, I'm new here. We only met this morning."
Cordelia walked along side her talking about the latest trends when she noticed Anya's pendant. "Is that Gucci?"
Anya smiled briefly. "Um... no. It's an actual old thing, sort of a, um... good luck charm my dad gave me."
Cordelia. "Too bad I didn't have one of those pre-Xander."
Anya had an evil smirk on her face. "Apart from being without class, the guy's obviously blind. Deserves whatever he gets. I mean to actually make you feel bad for putting thought into it and breaking it off before it got too serious. You were just looking out for him if you think about it."
"I'm not even thinking about him. I am past it. I am living my life."
"Still, I mean... Don't you kinda just wish..."
Cordelia shook her head. "I don't wish. I act. Starting now, Xander Harris is gonna get a bellyful of just how over him I am."
Xander watched as Cordy and the new girl walked into the cafeteria. He still had a few smoldering embers in his heart for her. It was that that really disgusted him. She threw him out, ripped his heart to shreds, and what does he want. He sighed. He still wanted her. "Dammit all to hell."
"What?"
Xander was brought out of his rambling by a slightly hungry slayer with half of a bologna on rye sandwich stuck in her mouth. "Nothing Buff."
She smiled and continued to devour the contents of her lunch. Xander shook his head and took a bite of his Hershey bar. "I don't understand how you're able to eat that much."
She finished her sandwich and grinned up at him before taking a sip of Coke. "This coming from the human trash compactor. God, last time you came over to my house you ate so much, my mom had to go for groceries mid-dinner."
Xander reached into his brown paper bag and pulled out an apple. "Nah Buff, you don't understand how good it really is to have a home cooked meal. God, at my house, Greek Valley is speed dial number one. Mr. China's delivery is number two, three through seven is Dominos, Little Caesars, Pizza Hut and the rest of the pizza places."
Buffy grinned and took another sip. "What are eight and nine? If you say Olive Garden or something like that, I swear I'm gonna hit you."
Xander smiled. "Nah, You're number nine...Willow is number eight."
Buffy looked apologetically at him. "You miss her don't you?"
Xander held the apple in his hands, looking at its red shine. He smiled a little. "Yeah I do, but Oz is good for Willow. I'm happy that she's happy. I just wish she'd stop being mad at me."
Buffy's eyes widened. "Oh my God. You like Willow don't you?"
Xander gave her a sideways look. "Listen Buffy, I'll admit that when she first started going out with him, I was a little bit..."
"Jealous? Overbearing?"
"...cautious. But Oz and I had a little, you know, guy-to-guy talk. The point is that I love Willow. I really do, but it's the same way I love you."
Buffy started to tear up a little. "You love me Xan?"
Xander smirked gleefully and took her Coke. "You had your chance."
Buffy pouted and kicked his shin under the table. "Ow." He took the hint and handed back her Coke. "I love the both of you as much as a man can, just not that way. But honestly I don't know what I feel half the time." He sighed. 'Not anymore.'
"And what about Cordelia?"
Xander sighed as the bell rang, signifying that lunch was over. He picked up his bag and walked towards class with Buffy. "I don't know, whatever we might've had, she doesn't want any of it."
He saw Cordy and the new girl talk excitedly and laugh on their way back to class. Buffy turned and saw what he was looking at. She patted him on the shoulder for a second before slapping him upside the head.
*Thwack!*
"Jesus! If you do that one more time..."
Buffy grinned as she ran infront of him. "Never get between a slayer and her caffeine."
Xander smiled and gave chase.
Willow watched as a giggling Buffy tore down the hall shortly followed by a grinning Xander. Xander saw her and slowed down a little to see if he could talk to her. If there was a group of people, she would just find someone else to talk to. She never let herself be alone in the same room with him for more than a second. When she didn't run away, he slowly walked towards her. "Hi."
Willow nodded and gave a brief smile. "Hi."
Down the hall Buffy stopped, wondering what happened to Xander. She turned to see the two of them really start to talk to each other for the first time in days and decided to leave them be.
Xander took a step forward. "You haven't called me back."
She nodded. "I know. Oz keeps on telling me I should talk to you. So does Buffy."
He grinned. "Yeah, they're persistent aren't they?"
She smiled. "I know that you didn't mean anything, that you were just trying to teach Cordelia a lesson, but it hurt me. It really did."
Xander put a hand on her shoulder. "Listen I..."
"NO, YOU LISTEN!" she knocked off her hand and began to yell at him. " I'VE BEEN IN LOVE WITH YOU SINCE WE WERE THREE! THREE!!!"
"Will, I..."
"I WANTED YOU TO LOVE ME. WHEN YOU CHOSE THAT BITCH, I FINALLY BEGAN TO GET OVER YOU. THEN YOU PULL SOME SHIT LIKE THAT AND I ALMOST GAVE MYSELF TO YOU."
"But you didn't. God Wills, I love you, I love you. You know what my FUCKING family life is like. You know that you and Jesse were my only family for years."
Willow started to break down in tears. "God, Xander..."
"I wouldn't have messed that up for anything. And I know I would've. I'm not good enough for you. Hell, I know I'm not even good for you."
He looked at her with tear filled eyes. The tiny redhead hugged him for all she was worth. He almost squeezed the life out of her. "Oz IS. I didn't like him at first because you are my sister. I don't care if we're not related; you are my sister in every way that counts to me. I love you and I need you. I need you to be my Willow JUST as much as you need me to be your Xander."
Willow cried out in his chest. The tears soaked into his red shirt. "I love you Xander."
Xander smiled and kissed the top of her head. "I love you too Wills."
Cordelia and Anya watched the display from up the stairs. Anya turned to the cheerleader. "Who is that?"
Cordelia felt a tear run down her cheek. She wiped it away immediately. "That's Willow."
Anya put her hands on her hips. "You mean the little bookworm that's had a crush on him since they were like two?"
Cordelia nodded her head and smiled a little in spite of herself. "Yep, that's her."
They looked on as the two happy friends walked themselves to class. Anya smirked. "Don't you just wish that all of his friends just turned to flesh eating worms and started to devour his genitals?"
Cordelia looked at her a little funny and walked back to class. "No, I don't know. It's just that, even when he messes up, EVERYONE forgives him. But look at me, I mean no one is crying in my arms or trying to make me feel better. I mean the whole 'love spell' or whatever it was. Hello? I mean everyone just forgives him for messing with everyone's feelings. I try to make the right decision and everyone just leaves me."
Anya nodded. She put her hands behind her neck and undid the clasp of her antique locket and put it around Cordelia's neck. "It looks like you might need this more than I do."
Cordelia just tensed and sighed. "I just wish that he knew what it was like to lose everyone."
Cordelia took a step back and gasped when she saw a wrinkled and raw- looking demon staring back at her. Anyanka, the patron saint of all women scorned, smiled evilly. "Done."
Xander dropped a red-eyed Willow off at her Trig class. She turned to him and asked, "Aren't you going to be tardy?"
The brown haired boy just smirked and shook his head. "Me, I'm never tardy, just fashionably late."
The redhead gave him a small, but sincere smile. "I missed you."
Xander smiled. "I missed you too."
With that, the girl walked into class, leaving a very solemn, but content Xander Harris alone in the hall.
He started to walk to the library, where he thought that he could safely annoy Giles for the remainder of the afternoon. Earlier that week, he had successfully hid Giles' book stamps and check out registry for about four hours. When the watcher found them, he accused Xander of trying to get him fired if a student or Snyder came in. He just responded that no one else outside of the slaying ever came in the library unless it was trying to kill someone. That did little to settle Giles' anger as he cleaned his glasses furiously for the rest of the day.
Xander chuckled as he turned a corner. A few steps later he started to feel a slight cool breeze on the back of his neck, as if someone was blowing on it. He turned to see no one else in the hall. The cold sensation started to become stronger. He felt the cold wash over him. But it was different. It felt all encompassing, like it was holding on for dear life. He started to feel like he was trapped in ice. The cold was fighting a different, more sinister coolness. He felt it creep up his arms and legs. It scorched his skin and entered his body through his pores. He tried to scream but only saw his warm breath escape from his lips. He fell to his knees and succumbed to unconsciousness.
*BEEP*
*BEEP*
*BEEP*
"UGGGHH."
*BEEP*
*BEEP*
*BEEP*
Xander's eyes sprang open and he jerked himself forward on the bed. "AHHH!"
*BEEP*
Xander looked around the room. He was in a hospital.
*BEEP*
He looked down at his arm to see an IV needle stuck in it. He looked up at the bag, labeled: 'A. Harris. B+. 31298'
"Crap." He had lost almost a month. He looked around the room. If he had just woken up, there should be someone waiting for him. If not Giles, or Buffy or Willow, then a nurse or something should be there by now. He sighed and pulled the needle out of his arm.
"HELLO!!!"
Xander Harris walked along the hospital corridor, looking for anyone. It was dark out. He didn't want to let his guard down, although he was in a hospital. He found a cross and a bottle of holy water in the hospital's chapel to protect himself. He was also able to break off some of the wood from the pews to make a stake. He stood in the middle of the corridor with the stake in his left and the cross in the right.
"HELLO? IS ANYONE OUT THERE?"
He saw a map on the side of the wall. He thought that he should've had the entire layout memorized by now. He took a quick look and decided to see if anyone was in the lobby. A light was on in the main lobby, he thought he heard voices and sprinted to the receptionist desk.
The lobby was empty. The television in the corner of the room flickered on and off. The room was in general disarray. He walked slowly and deliberately around the room. He spoke in his regular voice, although slightly wary. "Hello? Anyone out there?"
He sighed and picked up a phone. There was no beeping or anything like a dial tone. He dropped the phone and sighed again before walking out the door. Once outside, he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up again and turned to his left. On the side of the hospital wall, a message was painted in red.
"The End is Extremely Fucking Nigh."
Xander's face dropped as he jumped into a dead run towards the library.
He slowed to a jog as he went past a church. The cross on top of the steeple had been knocked down and the side of the building had been blown out. The entire street looked like a battlefield. He slowly continued on his way. There were no cold shivers running down his spine, or any ominous feelings as he walked by. He could only feel the dry wind pass by him. He wondered what had happened. Had everyone left? It looked like World War Three had taken place, but there was no blood. No bodies, no evil demons coming out to kill him. There was nothing except hallowed out buildings and an oddly warm breeze.
Normally, Xander might have felt a little silly walking into Sunnydale High while only wearing a hospital gown. But there were more important things to worry about.
He pushed the doors open and looked in only to turn away and throw up. There were bodies everywhere. Students, teachers, parents, they were all just piled up on top of each other. He thought he saw a familiar head of purple hair. "Oh God, Giles."
He rushed over to the body and turned it over. Xander turned away for a second before looking back on the man he had thought of as his adopted father. His throat had been slashed. There were evident signed of torture and mutilation all over his body. One of his ears was cut off, while the other looked like it had been burnt with a hot set of pliers. His arms and hands were torn and bloody, and one of his eyes had been gouged out.
He fought back the tears as he crossed the watcher's arms over his chest and went off to bury him.
It took about half an hour to properly bury Giles. It took another hour to move all of the bodies out of the library. He would have buried them as well, but he needed to see what the Scoobies were doing before he decided to do anything else.
Xander found Giles' own watcher diaries in a locked drawer in his office. After 'opening' the drawer, he started to leaf through the pages. Hopefully he could find something.
He read an excerpt from the last day he remembered.
"Diary of Rupert Giles, Watcher of Slayer Buffy Summers. February 24, 1998.
...Xander was found in the hallway shortly after the lunch period. He showed no signs of physical violence or any kind of vampire attack. The slayer, Buffy, has taken the news of his comatose state poorly. She blames herself for not being able to protect him..."
He shuffled the pages a few days forward.
"Diary of Rupert Giles, Watcher of Slayer Buffy Summers. March 2, 1998.
...After Jenny Calendar was killed and left in my bed, I took it upon myself to attack the master vampire Angelus. I also believe him to be responsible for the current state of Alexander Harris, mentioned previously as a friend to the slayer. When I attacked Angelus in the factory where he had set up his lair, the slayer and the rest of our forces came to rescue me. While they were able to destroy and eliminate most of the vampire army that were present, the slayer was unable to fight Angelus himself. I believe that Buffy, if given the choice may or may not be able to kill Angelus. I must admit that it is my fault for letting her have such a relationship with a vampire..."
The last entry read:
"Diary of Rupert Giles, Watcher of Slayer Buffy Summers. March 12, 1998.
...It is my regret to inform the counsel that the slayer is dead and more frighteningly, possibly turned. She was killed while her stay in the hospital. Angelus came by while Willow Rosenburg and Daniel Osborne, the slayers best friend and her boyfriend, was standing guard for her. The vampire snapped the young woman's neck, decapitated the young man, and then drained the slayer. He then returned with her to his mansion where I believe his turning her. She would have the strength and power of a slayer multiplied by that of a vampire. I fear for when they find the key to unlocking Altacha for as it stands, there is nothing to stop them, but I must try."
Xander closed the book and sighed. Obviously they got to Giles before he could start his counter attack. He looked out the window towards a bit of disturbed ground with a simple wooden cross. He sighed and flipped back through the rest of the entries to see if there was anything useful.
Outside a young woman ran for all she was worth. The sun would be setting in an hour or two, and there were only a few places she could hide. She ran towards the school parking lot, seeing a few of the cars still there. In the past few weeks, she had learned how to hotwire cars and take care of...other things when need be. She saw a light on in the high school library and tensed before giving up and running towards the doors.
Xander felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He spun around to see a ragged-looking ex-cheerleader charge into the library. "Cordelia!"
Cordelia had seen better times. Her hair had been cropped short. She wore dirty blue jeans with a dirty tan top and brown leather jacket. In her left hand she had one of Xander's Glocks that he had 'obtained' earlier that month. In the other hand was a small wooden cross. She blinked and shook her head in disbelief. "Xander?"
"What the hell is going on? One second I'm walk...OMPH." He was cut off by an enthusiastic fierce kiss and tackled to the floor.
"Oh my God Xander, I thought you were dead. I saw you talking with Willow, the next Anya found you passed out in the middle of the hall. Then Mrs. Calendar died, Willow died, Oz died, Giles died. Everyone's dead."
Xander felt himself being crushed by Cordelia's surprisingly strong grip. Cordelia held on for dear life. He had already been taken away from her, as everyone else had been.
"Cordy," Xander pried her off long enough to look her in the eyes. Tears ran down her face and her bottom lip trembled. "Tell me what happened."
Xander sat in silence. Everyone was dead. Cordy had said it herself. He didn't want to believe her, or Giles' journal, but the proof was there, all around him. She was able to hotwire a dodge and was driving them to the outskirts of town. He saw just massive destruction. Some buildings were left standing, but they seemed empty. Cordelia had said that after Buffy was killed, Giles took it upon himself to gather as many people as he could to the high school and try to reason with them. To make them realize what was happening in the town. Unfortunately, Angelus heard of it and sent a horde of demons after them. Only Cordelia and three others were able to escape. Angelus left the bodies there as a warning. The times that they had tried to go and bury the dead, Angelus and his minions were able to kill two of the survivors, Jonathan and Larry.
Cordelia finished her story just as they pulled up to a small two- story house in the middle of a clearing. Cordelia got out of the car, followed shortly by Xander. He stopped and looked around the landscape. The lawn around the house was completely barren except for some markings and lumps in the ground. He turned to Cordelia. "Is that what I think it is?"
The brunette smiled. "Yeah, after Alca...after we moved here, we thought it would be a good idea to...protect ourselves."
Xander shook his head, allowing himself a small smile as they walked up to the front door. "I would consider the amount of land mines you have surrounding this place very good protection. And who exactly is 'ourselves?'"
A voice interrupted him. "Oh come on Xander, just because I wasn't part of the infamous 'Scooby Gang,' doesn't mean that I couldn't take care of myself."
Xander turned to see a slightly familiar blond head walk towards him. "Hey Amy. How are you doing?"
Amy Madison gave a small grin before responding. "Real shitty. You?"
Xander looked back at Cordelia before walking into the house. "Yeah pretty much the same...except I had a nice long nap."
Xander sat at a small round dinner table. The soft glow of candlelight illuminated the room. Cordelia said that the electric cable didn't run this way, nor did anything else for that matter. It was one of the reasons they were able to keep themselves safe. Also, they had dry, warm clothes, which he was happy to change into. He looked at his eggs. They weren't bad, a little runny and salty, but otherwise...edible. He took another bite and looked up at his current saviors. Amy was looking at him with a small smile, like he was a pleasant surprise, another person to talk to. Cordelia gave him little, wistful stares when she thought that he wasn't looking. Something was different about her. He pushed his plate a little forward. "So..."
Amy took another bite of her eggs and put her fork on the table. "So..."
Cordelia smiled and put her hand over his. "Its good to have you back."
Xander smiled and took another bite. "Its good to be back."
Amy shook her head and looked a little crestfallen. "Its not that good."
Cordelia put a hand on her shoulder. "We're alive aren't we? We're not dead, or turned. I consider that very good."
Xander spoke up. "How did you survive?"
The two looked at him with guilty faces. "I don't mean it like that, but how were you able to escape, or how did you do the whole 'no mans land' outside?"
Cordelia smiled a little wistfully and took out something from her neck. It was a little broken and glued back together, but otherwise in good shape. Xander smiled and took it in his hand. "The locket."
Amy grinned and sat back in her seat. "After the ...spell, I kept the locket, I don't know why, and gave it back to Cordelia. I more or less told her that she was a bit of a selfish bitch and that even though you were a stupid, retarded..."
"Moron, dufus, dumb ass,"
"...Thank you Cordelia, idiot of a man, you still had a good heart." Amy turned to see Xander chuckle a little and Cordelia had a small smile. "Anyway, she took it back and glued it together."
Xander looked back at Cordelia, who had a slight scarlet blush starting to come over her. "It was right after you passed out. I was angry at the time, and when you were lying in that hospital bed, I just..." her eyes started to tear up a bit, but was able to hold them back.
Xander felt a small hand on his other shoulder and looked to Amy. "She wore it everyday. When...things started to happen, she was able to beat off some vampires, run fast and have some military knowledge. I began to remember some of the remnants of our little 'spell incident.' People were being possessed with the hyena spirit. I used the locket as the focusing point for the spell, so I guessed it held some of the spirit as well, and Cordelia told me all about the fun you had at Halloween."
Xander began to understand. "You energized it."
Amy nodded. "More or less."
Xander raised an eyebrow. "Is that why the 'spell' went all crazy on us?"
The blond witch shook her head. "No, nothing like that should've happened. Even the spell from that Chaos Mage from Halloween shouldn't have had that effect. As far as I understand, the magics involving pure chaos don't work like that."
Cordelia wiped away some tears from her eyes. "Giles said that Ethan never would've used something with that type of chaos because he wasn't strong enough and it was, and I'm quoting him here, 'too bloody insanely chaotic.'"
A small silence filled the room. Cordelia felt herself start to break apart again. "I miss him."
Xander gave her a reassuring smile. "Hey now Cor, things are going to get better." He stood up and tried to make her laugh. "I mean come on, the Xand-man's here. This is cause for a celebration."
Cordy groaned. "If the 'Xand-man' keeps referring to himself in the third person, I'll celebrate my foot up his ass."
Amy laughed and got up. "You're right. This is cause for a celebration. I say we break out the champagne."
Xander raised an eyebrow. "Champagne?"
Cordelia rolled her eyes. "It's not champagne as much as Giles's old rum and some of my parents' scotch."
Several hours later, Xander laid down on the couch and pulled some of the covers over himself. He looked around the little cottage that the girls had found. It was meager and little, but sturdy and, from what he had seen, very well fortified. They had done well for themselves. He felt a cold chill across the back of his neck and heard a noise from behind him. He quickly spun around pointing one of the Glocks that Cordelia had handed him.
Behind the darkness a feminine figure in a loose T-shirt and baggy jeans walked out to greet him. "Its okay Xander, its just me."
Xander sighed and lowered the pistol. "God Cordy, you almost gave me an aneurysm. Don't do that to me."
She smiled a little and motioned to the couch. "Can I sit?"
Xander gave her a grin, scooted over and pat the cushion next to him. "Sure."
She sat next to him and lit another candle on the table infront of them. The curtains were all closed with 'hurricane shutters.' So they didn't have to worry about someone seeing the light from outside. When he asked why there were hurricane shutters in California, they smacked him upside the head.
He smiled as she sat down next to him. The candlelight creating shadows dancing along her face. "So...what's up? Is something wrong?"
Cordelia shook her head and cracked a little smile. "No, I just...I missed you Xander. I wanted to say that I'm sorry about everything."
Xander grinned and shook his head. "Don't worry Cor, I knew you weren't in a good place. Its okay."
Cordelia grabbed the back of his head and pulled him down into a ferocious kiss. She worked her hands slowly around to the front of his shirt and started to undo some of his buttons. Xander tore himself away for a second. "Cordy, I don't think..."
"I know you don't. Now is not the time to start." She felt herself tear up and backed away for a second. "Xander, I just...after everything happened and I thought you were dead, I knew how much you mean to me. There's no one else now. It's just us. Please. We need this."
She looked into his eyes and softly kissed him. "I need this."
Xander leaned up and kissed her lips softly, which she responded in kind. He pulled back and stared into her dark eyes for a second. "I don't know Cordy. Is this just because of everything that's happened or what? I mean I do, and did really care for you, but I'm not sure."
She smiled sweetly and leaned over to leave a sweet chaste kiss on his lips. "Xander, its not pity. I feel sorry for what happened, but that's not why I'm doing this." She straddled herself over him and put her hands on his chest. "When you were with me, I felt like more of a person. It really made me feel like I wasn't the rich bitch or anything. I was just being me. I haven't been me for so long." She bent down and gave him a soft, passionate kiss before pulling back and looking into his eyes. "I want to be me with you."
She moaned as he started to kiss down her neck. She stopped him for a second and pulled his head into another heated kiss. She reached behind her neck and undid the clasp on her necklaces and put them on the table. She grinned at him. "Don't want those getting in the way."
He pulled her back onto the couch. She laughed and pulled him back up off the couch. "I have my own room you know."
Xander grinned playfully. "I didn't know."
She smiled seductively back at him as she led him up the stairs. "Well now you do."
Amy yawned and walked down the stairs. She pulled back the shutters to reveal the first rays of sunlight. She walked over to the couch to find it empty. "What the hell?"
She walked over to the table to see a very familiar locket. She raised an eyebrow and looked up the stairs to where Cordelia's bedroom door remained closed. She went to pick up the necklace and saw something else alongside it. It was another necklace, an old one. She shrugged and picked it up. It looked...familiar. She picked the lockets up and headed for the living room to research some more.
Xander woke up to find a pillow over his head. A bright pink pillow. He grinned remembering the night before and slowly peeked his head out from underneath. The first rays of sunshine were beginning to pour through the shutters into the room. Lines of light refracted off of the wooden walls and furniture of the room.
Cordelia frowned in her sleep as her source of heat was taken from her. Xander heard a slightly muffled complaint next to him as his arm was taken prisoner. He grinned again before lightly kissing the top of her forehead. Cordelia's response to his romantic gesture was a slight smile and her soft murmur of "Dweeb-boy."
Xander raised an eyebrow as he slowly removed his arm from her grip. As he slowly sat up and got out of the bed, he heard a slightly teasing voice from behind him. "And where do you think you're going?"
Cordelia smiled as she stretched and yawned, trying to wake up. The covers on the bed had been flung off sometime during the night, save for a light blue comforter, which Cordelia held with one arm over her body.
Xander smiled and put on a pair of boxers that were sitting alone in the middle of the room. "Nowhere, I thought that I'd might make milady some breakfast."
Cordelia smiled. "And what were you planning on making me?"
He grinned as he crawled onto the bed next to her. He laid a soft kiss on her forehead and stroked her face. "Anything you want."
She smiled for a second before pushing him off the bed. "Scrambled eggs, light toast with strawberries."
She finished her order by burying herself in the comforter and wrapping herself up like a burrito.
Xander grinned and looked around the room for some more clothes.
Xander walked down the stairs in an old gray t-shirt and some baggy jeans. His huge grin had been calmed down to one resembling that of only mild insanity, but he didn't care. He rounded to corner to see Amy sitting at the kitchen table with several large books opened. "Good morning."
Amy raised an eyebrow as she took a sip of tea. "Afternoon."
Xander looked at her as he sat down across from her. "Really?"
Amy looked up briefly and grinned before she turned a page in one of her books. "Yep, it's probably about three or so the sun should be setting in about an hour."
Xander cocked his head to the side, thinking aloud. "The sun sets at four?"
Amy sighed. "Just another one of those fun changes the world went through. Day and night switched so it's about 8 hours of light a day."
Xander thought aloud. "Huh, I guess I missed breakfast."
Amy raised an eyebrow. "I guess that Cordelia 'slept late' too."
Xander coughed nervously and changed the subject. He pointed to the two pendants on the table. "Hey, isn't that one Cordy's?"
"They're both hers I guess. I'm trying to figure out what the other one is. It looks familiar. Anyway, this is probably the first time in a while that I had a chance to look at it. She never really takes them off. I thought I could look more into why the locket does...whatever it does...and I noticed the other one and I just wanted to research it a bit."
Xander's face grew into a grin. "Oh, researching now are we? And I thought you just might want to try it on to see if you get the Hyena speed or strength."
Amy's face deepened into a playful frown before turning into a wicked smile. "I was actually thinking to myself that you must have done something special to get her to take these off." Amy eyed the now blushing Alexander Harris. "You know?"
The color of Xander's face resembled that of a large tomato for several seconds as he tried to stammer his way out of the verbal trap Amy had set for him. "Ah...you know...just because we are...yeah."
Amy smiled before scribbling a note down. "Yeah, thought so."
She looked back up to see Xander still red as a balloon trying to figure out how to make a coherent sentence. She placed her pen down on the table and looked at him. "Xander, its okay. I think its great that you and Cordy are together. You are together, right?"
Xander managed to nod.
Amy smiled. "Good, I'm glad for you. She was so upset by everything. I don't think she even knew how she really felt. And after everything happened, I guess she felt like her one chance had passed her by. But you know what life finds a way. In all of the chaos and insanity that was going on, you were under everyone's radar. And hell, this world isn't much, but there's still life."
Xander's face returned to his normal color as he looked at Amy. "What are you talking about?"
Amy took one loose strand of her hair and placed it behind her ear. "Look around. Its light out right now. Isn't the world supposed to be in a dark scary place with total darkness and no hope? Cordy and I survived. Just barely, but we survived. You survived too. And there has got to be more people out there. People that no one took into account. People that are still fighting and people that the fighting just passed by. There are others."
Xander leaned closer. "What makes you say that?"
Amy's face grew serious. "There has to be."
The sound of someone walking down the stairs interrupted their conversation. "Well, oh mighty and great cook, I thought you were trying to make me scrambled eggs."
Xander tried to hide his smile as best he could. "Sorry Cor, but Amy said that it's a little late for breakfast."
Cordelia pulled another jacket over her white t-shirt and stuck her hands in her black pants and walked up to Xander, with an emotionless face she held out her left hand. "Eggs."
Xander shook his head. "Where the hell am I supposed to get eggs? I didn't see any Kwik-E-Marts on the drive here."
Cordelia raised an impatient eyebrow. "Eggs."
Xander smiled sweetly. "But Cordy honey..."
"Eggs."
"What eggs?"
"Eggs."
"How am I supposed to get any eggs?"
Amy spoke up. "We found a couple of chickens a couple of days ago, they're in a pen behind the house, and you can grab a few for me also. I like them scrambled too. Oh and there's a well back there too, we're gonna need some more water to drink."
Xander turned back to Cordelia who smiled sweetly and gave him a chaste kiss on the cheek.
Xander groaned and walked out the door.
Cordelia turned and sat down opposite Amy and took a book from one of the stacks. "So Aims, what are we researching today?"
It had taken him about four minutes to find the damned chickens and another twenty to get anything done. When he finished he looked over his work. The sun was setting and he wanted to get back inside. The basket housed only four eggs, but that should be enough for the girls. Only one chicken had escaped, and after a good fifteen minutes of chasing the damned thing he was able to put it back into the pen. He sighed and picked up the basket before going back inside.
As he neared the door, he heard shouting and screaming he dropped the eggs and ran in a mad dash. He burst through the kitchen doorway to see the table against the wall and Cordelia and Amy at each other's throats.
Cordelia screamed as tears streamed down her face. "I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!"
Amy shouted while hitting her, "What the hell are you talking about? This is all YOUR GODDAMNED FAULT!"
Xander pried the two apart. "What the hell is going on here?"
Cordelia grabbed the necklaces and started out the door. "Just leave me alone."
Xander put his hand on her shoulder. "Cordy, wait..."
Cordelia shoved his arm off and screamed at his before running towards the car. "JUST FUCKING LEAVE ME ALONE!"
Amy grabbed Xander's arm gently. "Xander, let her go."
Cordelia ran to the car and got in. She sat there for a second, just crying. She put her arms over the steering wheel and buried her face in them.
Amy sighed as she began to explain. "You might want to sit down."
Xander nodded, not knowing what else to say. "Okay"
Amy pulled up one of the overturned chairs across from him as Xander put the table upright. "After we did the spell. I was a little more than pissed at you."
Xander nodded as he sat down. "Yeah, I can understand that."
Amy felt the corners of her mouth tug into a small frown. "I'm being serious Xander. After the spell, I looked at some of my books. I was hurt. Everything that I felt during that time...it felt real. I wanted you to know what it was like."
"Did you try the spell on me?"
Amy gave Xander a look. Xander realized that he should be quiet. "Sorry."
"Anyway, I came across a spell. It was supposed to invoke the Patron Saint of Scorned Women, Anyanka. When she came forward and told me some of the things that she could do to you, I lost my nerve."
Xander shifted in his seat. "What do you mean?"
Amy shook her head and sighed. "She had all sorts of ideas, evisceration, decapitation, castration, you get the idea, lots of 'ations.'"
She looked down at her hands. "I told her that I didn't want that, but she was insistent. She told me that you had to be taught a lesson. I told her that she couldn't make me. Her only power was granting the wish of the person who granted it."
She stiffened in her seat and stared him in the eye. "She said that its only right for you to feel pain after you caused pain in so many. It wasn't vengeance. It was justice."
Xander shook his head. "But if you didn't go through with the wish, what does all this have to do with it?"
"I didn't make a wish, Cordelia did."
Cordelia put the keys in the ignition and looked up. The headlights illuminated the outline of the forest surrounding the lawn. In the forest she saw hundreds of dark yellow eyes staring back at her.
Xander's face darkened. "What do you mean 'Cordelia did?'"
Amy's face began to tear up. "She was hurt. Everyone left her and you were just getting taken back by everyone."
Xander felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.
Cordelia watched as a figure walked out of the darkness and into the car's headlights. Even through the demonic face, the ex-cheerleader recognized the demon. The blond vampire grinned and casually walked out of the forest surrounding the house.
The temperature in the room dropped significantly. Amy shook her head and cried. "She wished that you would know what it was like to lose everyone."
Xander felt himself tense as he heard a faint honking sound from outside. "Do you hear that?"
Amy shook her head before realization struck her. "The car."
"Shit." Cordelia shifted the car into reverse and slammed the gas pedal to the floor. The transmission screeched in protest but quickly started backwards. She pounded the horn. *Honk* "Dammit, hear me!!" *Honk* *Honk* *Honk*
The blond vampire grinned and ran to her sire.
Angelus smirked as his forces poured out of the forest. After opening Alcatha, his numbers had swarmed, hundreds of Demons and vampires pledged their allegiance to him. He grinned as his favorite 'daughter' approached him. She wrapped her arms around him and purred into his chest. Angelus smiled down at her and nodded. "Go ahead, I'll be right after you, just leave me a snack."
A low growl escaped his lips as she tore off in the direction of the house. He was so proud of his newest childe. A voice come from out behind him. "Daddy, You shouldn't be out here, the mean puppy is going to wet the carpet. And you don't have a newspaper."
Angelus smiled as he turned to his other prized childe. "Dru, what are you doing here, I thought you were still playing with Spike's ashes."
Drusilla pouted and scolded him. "Oh Daddy, I'm still mad with you taking my Spikey-poo. But everything has gone forwards and backwards, and forwards again. I shall have to wear pretty shoes to keep track of the months."
Angelus's smirk faded. "What has gone forwards and backwards?"
The insane vampire twirled around and started singing. "Forwards and backwards, forwards and backwards. The mad lady can pull forwards and backwards."
Angelus grabbed her roughly by the arm. "Dru, I don't have time for this."
Drusilla giggled and whispered into his ear. "The mean puppy took my kitten away. But the mad lady was angry with them both. She was sooo angry." She pulled back and grinned towards the house. "She wants to take them all away from us."
Xander felt a cool breeze ebbing in from the north. He looked out a crack of the windows
Xander grabbed the Glocks that they had left on the counter. "Do we have anything else?"
Amy shook her head as she grabbed a couple of stakes. "A couple of swords and a-a shotgun in the cupboard."
Xander rushed forward to living room and grabbed a broadsword and the shotgun. He slung the shotgun over his shoulder and sheathed the sword into the side of his belt. He quickly grabbed a Glock before calling out over his shoulder. "Can you undo it?"
"What?"
Xander spun around and grabbed Amy by the shoulders. "Can you undo the freaking spell?!"
Amy sputtered. "N-no, I can't the only one that can is Anyanka. But I can-can convince her to take it back."
"How?"
The look of terror on Amy's face withered away. Her eyes darkened. "I'll find a way."
The minions continued to stream out of the forest like a flood. Clusters were taken out by the mines only to be reinforced by twice the amount. They were but cannon fodder, only to be used to clear the defenses and distract the enemy while the higher lever demons and vampires followed in their wake.
Cordelia was about twenty yard away from the front door when a mine hit the back left wheel and detonated. She braced herself as the car flipped over and skidded to a dead stop.
Xander rushed out the front door and into the maelstrom. He saw the approaching swarm as a dark blanket slowly covering the grayed grass. His eyes burned a deep yellow as he ran towards the wreckage of the car.
Amy laid out several bags and bowls of various herbs and powders on the floor. She takes a handful of them and pours them slowly into a large golden goblet. The potion started to smolder as she began the ritual to summon Anyanka.
"Oh... Anyanka... I-I beseech thee..."
She closed her eyes and began to speak louder.
"In the name of all women scorned..."
The house began to shake with tremors as the ritual increased with power.
"Come before me."
She looked down at the floor with blackened eyes and screamed. "COME BEFORE ME!"
Xander shot several smaller minions in the head as they rushed towards him. It wouldn't kill even the weakest vampires, but it would buy him time. He quickly approached the car and pulled on the door.
"Goddammit."
He pulled out the shotgun and shot the latch. Inside of the car was a broken and bleeding Cordelia. "Cor? CORDY? CAN YOU HEAR ME?"
Cordelia chuckled, coughing up a little blood. "I can hear you geek- boy."
He dropped the shotgun and pistol and quickly put one arm under her legs and the other around her shoulders. "Come on Cor, do you think I can m..."
A pair of strong hands grabbed him from behind and threw him back onto the grass. Xander flew into the air and landed on his back with a resounding thud. He reached for his weapons. A voice interrupted the motions. "Are you looking for these Xand?"
A vampire in the form of Buffy Summers smiled and held up a shotgun and a Glock. "I thought Cordy told you not to play with your toys in her car."
Xander slowly crab walked backward. "Buffy."
Amy's face contorted in pain. The ritual continued to increase in power. She strained for breath as she fell to her knees. Her eyes began to get lighter and clearer. She spoke in a low weak voice. "Come before me."
The blond vampire threw the guns to the side and reached into the car with one arm while still facing Xander. She pulled out the limp form of Cordelia and held it up by the neck. "After a while, I put two and two together and figured out that you were the one that was cutting off the vamps numbers. Ooh, you have no idea how much that pissed me off."
She grinned and morphed into game face. "Angel and I thought that since you got out of the hospital we should try and find all of you for a little visit."
Hundreds of minions and demons began to circle them, she grinned as they slowly started to inch closer and closer to where they stood. "I invited a couple of people."
Xander got up and raised his sword. "Shut up."
Buffy smirked and started to squeeze on Cordelia's neck. "I could do anything to her right now. I can make her scream." She twisted her hand a little eliciting a whimper from the ex-cheerleader.
Xander snapped and began to run forward. Buffy snapped Cordelia's neck and let her body slump to the ground. "I can make her die."
The minions rushed and assaulted Xander. The sword was broken from his grip and he was thrown against the ground and beaten mercilessly.
Buffy the Slayer Vampire grinned. "I love reunions."
Amy fell onto her side. Her breath began to shorten.
"Come before me."
She strained herself as she crawled back towards the potions.
"Come...before...me."
She felt the last few embers of her magic and her life wither away into the pool of power that she had invoked.
"Come...be...fore...."
She looked back up into the demonic visage of Anyanka who smiled at her and kicked her side with her foot, making her roll over.
The demon bent down and whispered into her ear. "I had no idea her wish would be so exciting! Brave New World. I hope she liked it."
Amy's eyes stilled as her last breath was taken. Anyanka stood up and dusted herself off before walking out. "Thanks for the tip."
Halls of justice painted green
Money talking
Power wolves beset your door
Hear them stalking
Soon you'll please their appetite
They devour
Hammer of justice crushes you
Overpower
The ultimate in vanity
Exploiting their supremacy
I can't believe the things you say
I can't believe, I can't believe the price you pay
Nothing can save you
Justice is lost
Justice is raped
Justice is gone
Pulling your strings
Justice is done
Seeking no truth
Winning is all
Find it so grim, so true, so real
Apathy their stepping stone
So unfeeling
Hidden deep animosity
So deceiving
Through your eyes their light burns
Hoping to find
Inquisition sinking you
With prying minds
The ultimate in vanity
Exploiting their supremacy
I can't believe the things you say
I can't believe, I can't believe the price you pay
Nothing can save you
Justice is lost
Justice is raped
Justice is gone
Pulling your strings
Justice is done
Seeking no truth
Winning is all
Find it so grim, so true, so real
Lady Justice has been raped
Truth assassin
Rolls of red tape seal your lips
Now you're done in
Their money tips her scales again
Make your deal
Just what is truth, I cannot tell
Cannot feel
The ultimate in vanity
Exploiting their supremacy
I can't believe the things you say
I can't believe, I can't believe the price we pay
Nothing can save us
Justice is lost
Justice is raped
Justice is gone
Pulling your strings
Justice is done
Seeking no truth
Winning is all
Find it so grim, so true, so real
Seeking no truth
Winning is all
Find it so grim, so true, so real
Words and Music by James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich and Kirk Hammett
Copyright © 1988 Creeping Death Music (ASCAP)
International Copyright Secured All Rights Reserved