"That's really interesting," Faith said while she looked through the night vision binoculars on the back seat of Xander's SUV.
"What's interesting?" Willow asked from her position beside her and tried to see what Faith spotted. "Give it to me Faith. I want to see what's going on."
"You had it five minutes ago. Now it's my turn," the raven haired slayer said.
"But something interesting is happening. And nothing happened while I had the binoculars," she started and tried to grab them from Faith's hand.
But the slayer was faster and brought the glasses out of her reach. "It's not my problem that nothing happened while you had them. Now let me watch, I'm missing the best part.
"Faith...," Willow started but was interrupted by the sound of someone slamming his head repeatedly against the steering wheel.
"Xander?" the red haired hacker asked.
But the addressed person just rested his forehead on the steering wheel.
"Ladies, please. Could you stop the bitching for a moment," he pleaded with the two women.
"Not my fault X-man," Faith told him. "She started it," she said and pointed at Willow.
"That's not right Xander. She started it. You know that I'm right," Willow told him.
"Would you please stop now," he nearly shouted. "This is the fucking recon phase of this operation, okay. We don't want to attract attention. So please stop clawing each others eyes out."
"But she started it," Willow started and soon Faith also joined in. While the two continued arguing Xander left the car and started climbing up the fire ladder of the house they were paking beside.
"Should have never given them the blasted thing," he cursed under his breath. "Maybe Buffy is a bit less bitchy today."
The mentioned slayer was currently lying on the roof of said house and observed the entrance of the vampire safe house on the other side of the street with a similar pair of binoculars.
"Hi Buff. How are you doing?" Xander greeted her.
"Good," she responded without looking up from her work. "These binoculars you gave me are really cool. I can see everything."
"Yeah, army quality," he told her and sat down beside her position. "Any more vamps?"
"Nope, seems like the house is full."
Xander nodded, "Giles and the rest hit the other safe house about twenty minutes ago. But we have no additional vampires here. That either means that they have skipped town or..."
"They have a few other hideouts here in town. After all, all the other houses were either abandoned or we already cleaned them," she summed it up.
"Seems like the Mayor reacted faster than we thought," Xander said and sighed. He looked at his watch. "We wait ten more minutes, then we storm it."
"Alright. Why are you up here?" she asked and looked at him. "Willow and Faith again clawing each others eyes out?"
Xander chuckled. "Yeah, you leave those two a few minutes in the same room and you have a small apocalypse."
Buffy now also smiled. "Remember when they tried on their dresses for the prom? And both had the same one? And when they went back and exchanged them? And then again they had the same ones,?"
Both laughed at that memory. The prom was not that bad. After all it was the first school dance without the supernatural making an appearence. But the pairings were a whole different thing. Of course Oz and Willow went together, but since none of the remaining Scoobies were in a relationship they had to arrange themselves. Both Buffy's and Xander's relationships with Angel and Cordelia ended almost a year ago and they all hadn't met someone since then. And Faith never really dated during the whole time she was in Sunnydale. Finally Faith and Angel went together, after all the two were heading to LA once the whole Ascension was over. Faith was about to start college at UCLA and Angel thought it would be a good idea to leave Sunnydale and start an new life. That left Buffy, Xander and Cordelia. Cordy finally took pity on Wesley. The watcher still was in Sunnydale. After the debacle with the retrieval team and the fact that both slayers became rogue was enough reason for them to fire him. But he stayed in town, to help the with the Ascension. So Xander an Buffy hooked up. It was a nice evening and Buffy also was awarded by the pupils, so that was a plus.
"Yeah those were happy times," Xander admitted and smiled at her. "But now we have work to do. I better prepare my stuff," he said and stood up.
Buffy resumed observing their target. "Okay. Just call me when you are ready. I will join you then."
When Xander opened the trunk of his car. Faith and Willow were still struggling for the binoculars. He finally had enough and took the binoculars from their combined hands.
"Hey," both exclaimed at the same time.
"If you two can't stop this I will do it," he said and grabbed his M4 from one of the duffel bags in his trunk. He quickly checked the gun and loaded a full magazine.
"What are you packing this time in your guns X-Man," Faith asked interested. "Those blessed bullets again?"
"Nope. Tracer rounds," he answered.
Faith frowned at that. "Tracer rounds? How are they gonna affect the vamps?"
"You ever set a vamp on fire Faith?" Xander asked theoretically
"Yeah. And?"
"Then you should know that it doesn't take very much to burn a vamp. And these babies burn hot enough to set a vamps on fire," Xander explained, while he took a Spas-12 from the same duffel back.
"And the shotgun?" Willow asked.
"Well, that will be a surprise." Xander said and smiled. He finished loading the shotgun and pumped it for effect. He stripped out of his black leather jacket and put a SWAT vest on.. He put a few magazines for the M4 and shells for the shotgun in the vest's pockets. Finally he fastened a pistol holster around his upper leg and put one of his USPs in it. He slung the shotgun over his shoulder and took the M4 in his hands. He brought the charging handle back and loaded the first cartridge, finishing his preparations this way.
"Buffy, we are ready," he called the other slayer. "You can come down."
A few seconds later the blonde stood by the rest of her friends.
"So what's the plan?" Faith asked enthusiastically.
"We go in and kill them," Xander and Buffy both exclaimed at the same time.
"Okay, you both have a one track mind," Faith told them while she grabbed her stakes. "But it works for me."
Xander shrugged his shoulders and looked at Willow. "You ready Will?"
"Ehm, I'm not so sure," the witch answered.
Xander groaned. "Will, you said you were able to pull that trick. If you are not sure I will call the library and ask for the rest to come."
"No, I will do it. I can do it." She answered, this time a bit more confidently.
"Okay. Come on guys, let's go."
The foursome crossed the street and positioned themselves in front of the big door of the warehouse.
"How much time do you need?" he asked Willow.
"About a minute. It needs a bit of time to concentrate for all these," she said and opened her bag with about two dozen stakes in.
"We will give you your time," Xander said and grabbed the handle of the door. "On three. One, two, three," he counted and opened the door.
He, Faith and Buffy immediately stormed in, with Willow following right behind them.
The interior of the safehouse was nearly as comfortably decorated as the one Buffy and the rest found the remains of the retrieval team in. From the twenty two vampires that should inhabit the house there were now about ten in the room. The rest could either be in the restrooms or on the second floor. Six of the vampires were currently watching Tv while the rest were busy in the small kitchen area. When the Scoobies entered the room the vampires immediately turned their heads to the intruders.
Xander immediately opened fire, the red streaks of the tracer rounds flying through the room and hitting one of the vampires through the couch. The vampire and the couch immediately caught fire. The remaining vamps jumped over the couch and ran in the direction of their enemies.
Xander fired the last of his ammunition at the advancing vamps. Two caught fire and fell to the ground, where they turned to dust
Xander quickly reloaded his assault rifle. Four vamps were currently occupying Buffy and Faith while three were running in his direction.
He finished reloading his rifle, but the first vampire was too near for him to shoot. So he slammed the butt of the rifle into the vamp's face. The vampire fell to the ground where he clutched his broken nose.
That gave Xander enough room to shoot the other two vampires advancing on him.They too caught fire and burst into dust. Xander quickly aimed his rifle at the vamp lying on the ground and put three rounds into him.
Buffy and Faith in the meantime had staked two of their four vamps and were now struggling with the remaining ones.
But unseen by the three another vampire was currently running in the direction of Willow. The red haired witch was currently sitting cross legged on the floor and concentrating on the bag in front of her.
Xander aimed at the vampire, but his gun jammed.
"Damn," he cursed and took the Spas from his shoulder. He aimed at the vampire and shot.
The first shot hit the vampire in the upper legs and the buckshot blew him backwards.
Xander fired again, this time hitting the vamp in the right shoulder. The last shot finally hit the vamp in his chest and a second later he burst into ashes.
Buffy and Faith now had staked the remaining vampires and looked with open mouthes at what just happened.
"Xander what," Buffy started but was interrupted.
"Not now Buffy," Xander stopped her. "Willow how long ?"
Just a few more seconds," she responded, her brows furrowed in a show of concentration.
"You better hurry up," Xander said as the rest of the vampires entered the room.
"What is going on here," the vampire leader shouted at the sight of his killed comrades, but immediately spotting the source of the disturbance. "Oh, the Mayor's ex-assassin. The boss will like it if I bring him your head on a silver platter. Get them," he ordered his vampires.
Xander, Buffy and Faith formed a circle around Willow, all eyeing the advancing vamps.
"Will, your spell would be perfect now," Xander said to her over his shoulders.
"Just a few more seconds," she repeated.
"We have no more seconds," Xander said and began shooting at the advancing vampires.
Two immediately burst into dust and a third one fell to the ground, his leg ripped from the rest of his body.
Xander was busy reloading while Buffy and Faith prepared themselves for combat.
The vamps were only a few meters away when Willow finally shouted "Ready"
"Get down," Xander ordered and he and the two slayers hit the ground.
The vampires looked confused at the unnatural behaviour of their prey. A few seconds later they wished that they had followed their example.
One after one the stakes from Willow's bag began floating in mid air. On her command each one of them flew through the room, staking the vampires in the process.
After a few seconds all the vampires were dustpiles on the floor.
Willow opened her eyes and looked proud at her work.
"It worked," she said cheerfully.
Xander and the rest stood up and brushed the dust from their clothes.
"Yeah it worked. But you let us sweat a bit here will," Xander said and picked his M4 up.
"Xander?" Buffy asked.
"Yeah Buff?"
"How did you.. dust those vamps with the shotgun?
"What do you mean?"
"Well, when you normally shoot a vamp you crack their head with bullets. But now you shot him in the chest and poof. How that?"
"Oh that. You, see I replaced the normal buckshot in the shells with wooden ones. If one of them hits the heart the vamp is dead," Xander explained.
"Oh, okay," Buffy said, now understanding.
"Cool idea X-man," Faith exclaimed. "You have to give me a few of those before I leave for the City of Angels
"I will see," Xander said and walked into another room of the warehouse.
The other three followed him confused.
"Xander what are you searching for;" Buffy asked
"This," Xander said as they walked into the last room.
"Oh," the three girls exclaimed at the sight of the various boxes filled with cocaine.
"The files said that this was also one of the Mayor's drug houses and I think it's our duty to do something against this," he told them and pulled a few C4 packages out of his vest. He placed one of them in each of the boxes.
He spotted a briefcase beside the table and opened it. He whistled at the sight.
"What?" Faith asked. Xander turned the briefcase so the three could see it's contents. It was filled with money.
The three's eyes nearly bulged out at the sight.
"How much is this," Buffy stammered.
Xander shrugged as he closed the briefcase. "About a million I would say," he said on his way out of the warehouse, the briefcase in his hands.
"A million?" the three shouted.
"Yep," he said and looked strangely at them. "Have you never seen a million bucks?" All shook their heads "Maybe Cordy was right:You are losers."
"Hey," the three exclaimed at the same time.
Xander smiled as they crossed the street. Back at the SUV he stripped out of his vest and brought it and the weapons back into the duffel back. After that the foursome went into the car and Xander started the engine.
"I have the feeling that the Mayor will be quite angry about this," he said and pushed the button of the remote control he had taken from his pockets and a second later the C4 exploded, destroying the entire stash of drugs and a large section of the warehouse.
"Let's get to the library," Xander said as he drove down the street.
In the meantime Richard Wilkins went through his financial records. The loss of all the money about a month ago cost him a lot of his reputation. Many criminal organisations declined to work with him. But all that wouldn't matter in a few days. His Ascension was near and after that money would be the least of his worries.
His thoughts were interrupted by one of his vampires bursting through the door.
"Boss, something bad happened," the vampire told him.
"Didn't your mother tell you to knock before you enter a room?" the Mayor asked and looked accusingly at the vampire. After a few seconds the vampire couldn't stand the glare of the Mayor and looked at the floor. The Mayor sighed. "Okay, tell me what happened."
"The slayer and her friends hit our safehouse at Collins Street. Twenty minutes later another group hit our drug warehouse at George Street," the vampire reported.
Mayor Wilkins sighed. "Alexander and his friends are really making us some trouble."
"Boss, we are running out of businesses and men. You have to do something," the vampire said.
"I know that," the Mayor exclaimed. "And I already have a plan that will occupy the slayer and her little group for a while."
"Hey guys," Xander greeted the remaining members of the Scoobie gang when he, Buffy, Faith, and Willow entered the library.
"And hello to you Xander," Giles said, without looking up from his old book. "I suspect your attack went as planned."
"Like clockwork," he said and sat down on the chair beside Cordelia. The brunette immediately stood up and sat down a few chairs further away from him.
"What?" Xander asked and looked confused at her.
"God Xander, you smell like you have taken a bath in cordite," she said and pinched her nose.
Xander lifted his right arm and smelled under it. "Cordy, you have never seen me when I really smelled of cordite."
Giles was getting irritated. "Could we please concentrate on more important things. How did your attack go?"
"Very well G, twenty two dustpiles and no casualties," Faith told him.
"Did your spell work?" he asked Willow.
"Yeah it did," Willow exclaimed cheerfully. "It was really cool when all those vampires exploded almost the same time into dust."
"I'm proud of you," Oz said beside her and squeezed her hand.
"Anything else?" Giles asked
"Yeah, we blew up the drugs in the warehouse and we found this," Xander said and lifted the briefcase on the table. He opened it and turned it so everyone could see it.
"Whoah," most of the Scoobies exclaimed at the same time.
"How.. how much is this," Wesley finally asked.
"About a million," Xander said.
"What do you want to do with the money," Cordelia asked, her gaze still fixed on the briefcase.
Xander noticed this. "Don't look so greedily at my money."
"Your money? As far as I know I helped you get it," Faith said.
"Hey, hey, stop everyone, okay? I need the money tonight," he said and closed the briefcase. "I told you that my friend is coming to town. I mean, he trusts me enough but he still prefers cash instead of a transaction. That reminds me, Oz I need you and your van," he told the werewolf.
"My van?" Oz asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah, there is not enough room in my SUV to store all the stuff. So I need a helping hand," Xander explained.
Oz considered this a moment, then he shrugged his shoulders. "Okay, I'm in."
"Good," Xander said and looked at his watch. "Which reminds me, it's almost time. We have to go," he said and took the briefcase. He and Oz walked into the direction of the library's doors. Just before they left they were interrupted by Buffy.
"Xander, what kind of equipment requires one million dollars?" the blonde slayer asked.
"The dangerous kind Buffy," Xander told her with a smile.
Oz and Xander waited for about an hour at the docks of Sunnydale, leaning against the black SUV. The zebra striped van was parked a few meters behind the car.
But even the cool façade Oz kept up most of the time couldn't conceal that he was getting impatient.
"Xander, is this friend of yours showing up any time soon?" the werewolf finally asked.
"Just have a bit more patience Oz. He will come," Xander said and took a pack of cigarettes out of his jacket and lighted one.
Oz looked puzzled at him. "Since when do you smoke?"
"Started about two months ago" he told him and took a drag. "If you are working for the darkside and your partners are vampires and demons you tend to get nervous. This calms me down."
"Your death," Oz stated.
Xander smiled at that. "Hardly. Even if my hyena abilities are weak, they are enough to remove any kind of dirt from my lungs. Therefore, no problem."
"Handy."
"Yeah it is. But don't tell Joyce, she would kick me out of her house if she found out about me smoking," Xander said with a slight chuckle.
"Your secret dies with me," Oz said and was now also smiling.
"Good to know," Xander said and spotted a pair of headlights in the distance. A few seconds later the night revealed a truck. "That's him."
"You sure?" Oz asked.
"Yeah, it's his car," he said and threw his cigarette on the ground.
The truck stopped beside the two vehicles and a man about thirty years old with short brown hair stepped out. From the clothes to the way he handled himself screamed army.
Xander walked up to the older man and shook his hand.
"Kyle. How are you man?" he greeted the ex-soldier.
"I'm good Harris," the other replied with a smile. "And how have you been?"
"Same old, same old," Xander answered.
"That bad, huh?"
"Yeah basically," Xander said with a smile of his own. "Kyle, this is my friend Oz. Oz, this is Kyle Simmons aka Shadow."
"Shadow?" Oz asked puzzled.
"Yeah. They don't see me till I'm there and when they finally do, they are either dead or I'm long gone," Kyle explained his nickname. "Do you trust him kid?"
"Stop calling me kid and yes, I trust him with my life," Xander said a bit annoyed.
"Good enough for me," Kyle said and shrugged. He lead the two to the back of the truck. "I got all the stuff you ordered. Some of it was really hard to get, but I manged it," he explained while he opened the trunk.
"Okay let's start with the unloading. The explosives come in the SUV and the guns and electronic hardware in the van."
"You really make me curious Harris," Kyle said. "For what do you need that much C4. Do you want blow up the whole town? And especially, where do you get the money to pay for it?"
"You remember these freaks I rescued you from?" Xander asked him while they carried the boxes to the two waiting cars.
"Hey, you didn't rescue me, okay. You assisted me," the ex-soldier stated.
Xander rolled his eyes at that. "Whatever. We got something like that here in town, only meaner and bigger."
"No shit," Kyle said with wide eyes. "Okay that means I'm out of town. If you need all the C4 to blow up only one, I don't want to be here when something goes wrong."
"Good idea. For the money, well I got it from someone who don't need it any longer."
"Well, as long as you can pay the stuff I don't care where the money comes from," Kyle said.
They carried the remaining boxes in silence until after ten minutes all the equipment was loaded into the van and the SUV.
"By the way, I got a little present for you," Kyle said and opened the last box.
Xander whistled at the sight and took one of the brand new G36 assault rifles in his hands.
"Where did you get these babies from?" he asked.
"A friend of mine in Europe modified them for the German Special Forces," Kyle explained. "After the job was done he had some left, so he sold them to me."
"Nice," Xander said and put the rifle back in it's place. Then he took one of the four pistols and examined the also brand new H&K P8. "I have to try them out one day."
"Thought you liked them," Kyle said and the two put the box into the van.
"I think we are finished," Xander said and gave him the briefcase.
"That's too much Harris," Kyle exclaimed a bit shocked after he checked the content.
"Just take it and put the rest on my account. I might order something else in the near future if I don't die a very brutal death in the next few days," Xander explained.
Kyle shrugged. "You are the boss," he said and held out his hand. "Good luck Harris. Looks like you need it."
Xander shook the older man's hand. "Thanks Kyle."
The ex-soldier walked to his truck and Xander moved over to Oz.
"You take my SUV Oz. We will need the explosives at the school," Xander said and waved after the departing form of the truck.
Oz nodded "And what are you going to do?"
"I will drive your van with all the guns to a safe location. After I'm done there I will meet you at the school and can change cars again," Xander explained.
"Okay. Just be careful with my baby. I don't want any more scratches."
"I will keep that in mind," Xander said.
After that both went to the others car and drove in their respective directions.
"Ah, I'm glad you could make it," the Mayor greeted his guest.
"I couldn't refuse such an invitation," the man said and eyed the vampires beside him. "How did you know that I was in town?"
"I have my sources. But why don't you sit down," the Mayor said and motioned at the chair in front of his desk. After a few seconds the man accepted the invitation and sat down in the comfortable chair.
"The deceased Mr. Trick said you'd already done a good job for our organisation," the Mayor explained and handed his guest a folder. "Do you know this special person?"
The man went through the information. "Yes, I met him once."
After a little pause the Mayor continued. "Then you can guess what I want from you."
"I have I slight assumption," the man told him. "I have to warn you Mr. Wilkins. The magic you ask for can be very dangerous."
"That's not what I wanted to hear. Can you do it?" the Mayor asked.
"It will take some preparations. And this kind of magic isn't real cheap," he explained.
The Mayor shrugged. "Money isn't an issue."
"Okay I will do it," Ethan Rayne finally said.
Buffy entered the library, a box with weapons in it in her arms and went straight to the table in the middle of the room.
"Hey B," Faith greeted her from her position on the table where she sharpened a big broadsword. "Those the last ones from Angel?" she asked and pointed at the box.
"Yeah," Buffy said and sat down on a chair. "I didn't know it is that difficult to get the weapons to arm an army of students," she said and took herself a sword and started sharpening it. "So, Giles still trying to rescue his precious books."
Faith nodded. "Yeah, W, Red and Oz are helping him. God knows where Xander is. He said he had some errands to do," she explained and shrugged. "So, did Angel finish packing his things?"
"Yep, he was carrying his suitcases to his car while I was there. So, if we survive Graduation, you two can straight head to LA," Buffy told her.
"That's good. I can't wait to set the City of Angels on flames." Buffy eyed her. "Only joking," Faith said.
Buffy now smiled at her. "You deserve it Faith. I'm glad UCLA accepted you."
"Yeah. Who would have thought that Faith Williams, high school drop out, would ever see a college from the inside," Faith told her with a small smile. "Thanks B. Without you, Red and Giles, I would have never managed that."
"No problem, that's what friends are for," Buffy told her with a shrug.." Oh, don't forget the Watchers Council. It was them who pulled the strings so you could reenrol here in school."
Faith considered that for a second. "Yeah, but they are assholes."
"I can't say that I'm not a bit jealous. You can leave to LA and I'm stuck here in Sunnydale," Buffy said sadly "And you also take Angel with you."
"Oh come on B. I can use the backup. And I thought you were over him."
"I am," Buffy said. "But he has been a constant in my life for the last few years. And even after we broke up he still was somehow my guardian Angel."
"Yeah, he told me once the reason why he was sent to Sunnydale in the first place," Faith told her. "But, it's not that bad. I take Angel with me and you still have one of your protectors left."
Buffy looked confused at her. "Huh, what do you mean?"
"The X-Man B. From what Red told me he saved your ass quite a few times. And that was before he went all super soldier on us," Faith explained.
Buffy considered Faith's word for a minute before she answered. "Yeah, you are right," she told the other slayer with a smile. "Just do me a favour: Do not sleep with Angel, okay. You know what that will cause. And from what I have heard LA is dangerous enough, even without Angelus running around."
"I think that will be no problem. Angel would never look at me that way. He has that whole 'big brother' complex going on with me," Faith explained.
"Things like that can change Faith," Buffy told her.
Faith shrugged. "Even then, my wild and wicked days are over. And I'm not dumb. I wouldn't jump Angel's bones if he could lose his soul in the process. So I think the chances are pretty slim that Angelus might return."
Angel just finished stuffing the last of his suitcases into the trunk of his car. After that he went back to his living room, which was now stripped of all his belongings.
He stopped in the middle of the room.
"You can come out now. I smelled you two minutes ago," he said to no one in particular.
Ethan stepped out of the shadows and sighed. "I knew it would be useless to try to hide from a vampire."
Angel eyed the man. "I know you. You are Ethan Rayne, Giles' old 'friend'."
"You have a good memory Angel. I would like to chat about Ripper, but I'm here for business," he told Angel.
Angel shrugged. "I have no problem with that," he said and charged the mage.
But before he could reach him, Ethan pulled a gun out of his jacket and shot Angel in the chest. The souled vampire only felt a small pain, but he immediately collapsed face first to the floor.
Angel tried to stand up, but he could not move his limps.
"It's very interesting how stupid vampires can be. You should really start living in the 20th century," Ethan told him while he turned him around. He took the tranquilizer dart out of Angel's chest. "You can be very lucky. If you were human, you would have already been dead."
"What do you want," Angel croaked out.
"What I want is irrelevant. It's important what my employer wants," Ethan told him while he opened his bag and took a strange looking orb out of it. "And he wants a new vampire working for him."
"No," Angel said with fear.
"Oh yes. I will think you will have a different point of view once I'm finished with my work," Ethan said and looked at him. "This might hurt a bit," he said and begun chanting.
The first few minutes nothing happened. But then a cloud of smoke came out of the orb and engulfed the souled vampire completely. Angel tried to move, but again his body didn't respond to his will.
When Ethan's spell reached his end Angel's eyes flashed yellow and then his whole world went black.
When the smoke lifted Angel stared with his game face at the mage.
"God, it's so good to be back," he exclaimed happily and tried to stand up, but still he couldn't move.
"Yes, I thought that you might say something like that" Ethan said and placed the orb back into his back. He took a syringe out of it and placed it at Angelus' forearm.
"This will take only a few seconds before the antidote is going to kick in," he explained while he emptied the content in Angelus' bloodstream.
As promised Angelus got the feeling back into his body and stood up.
"Like I said it's good to be back" he said and looked at the mage. "So, it was the Mayor's idea to turn me back into Angelus?"
"Your guess is right," Ethan told him and handed him a sheet of paper. "This a map of City Hall's sewer entrance. The Mayor wants to speak with you as soon as possible."
Ethan looked around. "Well I guess my work here is done. I'd better leave before the slayer finds out that I was responsible for your change of heart," he said and turned in the direction of the exit.
But before he could take a single step Angelus grabbed him by the shoulder and turned him around.
"Not so fast Ethan. I have to ask you for another favour," Angelus told him.
"And that is?" the mage asked, a bit annoyed.
"You see, I have been out of the loop for quite some time. Getting a soul can do that to a man," the vampire explained. "I just want to see if I'm still as good as I was."
Before Ethan could react, Angelus had already grabbed his head and twisted it until his neck broke. He let the lifeless corpse of the mage fall to the floor.
Angelus sighed contently. "They are right. It's as good as sex," he said into the empty room and walked to the sewer entrance of the mansion. "Let's see what the big boss wants."
"Hi guys," Xander greeted his friends when he entered the library. Buffy and Faith both muffled a short response.
"So Giles, how are things working," he asked the librarian, who was busy stuffing books into a box.
"Well, we almost have all the books out of the library and we have enough weapons for the students," Giles told him. "But Xander don't you think there are a bit much explosives. With all that stuff you can blow the whole school up," Giles said and motioned for his office where the boxes with the label 'explosive' were placed on each other.
"That's the plan," Xander said and shrugged which earned him a glare from the watcher. "Oh, come on Giles. We only have one chance, okay. We have to be sure that we blow him up with this one," he said and sat down besides Faith.
"So, everyone's here?" he asked the dark haired slayer, while he examined the sword lying on the table in front of him.
"Nope, Cordy still is at April's fools, but she should be here in an hour," Faith answered his question.
"Great. We have the Apocalypse ahead and all she can think of is to shop," Xander groaned.
"Come on Xander, you know she is not there to shop," Buffy said. But Xander could only look confused at her. "You don't know?" she finally asked.
"Know what Buff?" Xander asked.
"Well, her parents had a little encounter with the IRS and now she has to work there," the blonde slayer explained a bit uneasy.
Xander blinked twice. "Excuse me? I could have sworn that you said that Cordy is working,"
Buffy nodded, confirming his question this way.
"Okay, that's another sign that we are all going to die," Xander said and went to the exit. "The next thing you see that pigs will fly."
"Ah, Angelus. I'm glad you could make it," the Mayor greeted his guest.
"The Pleasure is mine Mr. Wilkins," the vampire said and sat down on the chair in front of the politician. He placed both his feet on the desk.
"Hey, the feet on the floor," the Mayor ordered him. With an annoyed look on his face Angelus obeyed and placed his feet on the floor. "Now, did the change proceed as planned?"
"Yeah, this pesky soul is gone," Angelus exclaimed.
"That's good to know," the Mayor told him with as smile "I guess you can think that I didn't do you this favour without a reason."
"I already figured that out myself. So, what am I supposed to do," the vampire asked with anticipation.
"You see Angelus, you know that my Ascension is near," the Mayor started. "But your little slayer is taking out my business and especially my men faster than I can replace them. And I need my vampires for Graduation day."
"So, you want me to kill her?" Angelus asked with an evil smile.
"Well, that would be a nice side effect," the Mayor told him. "But basically I want you to spread chaos in her group. They will certainly argue what to do with you. And that will take them time. Time they won't have to prepare for the Ascension."
Angelus shrugged. "Well, I'm better with the killing part, but I think I'm also able to play a match of hide and seek with the slayer."
"Wonderful," the Mayor exclaimed happily. "But I'm curious. Most men would expect a reward for that kind of work."
"Yeah, but I'm not like most men. To see the slayer suffer and the fact that you will kill all her friends once you are a demon is enough reward for me," the vampire explained.
"Well, that's good to hear," the Mayor said and placed a small box on the desk. "Here, I think you will find this one useful."
Angelus stood up and took the box in his hand. He opened the lid and looked in the inside.
"Is it what I think it is?" he asked the politician.
"Yes," the Mayor confirmed his suspicion.
"Good," Angelus said with a smile on his face. He placed the box in his pocket and looked outside. "It's already getting dark. I think I will start," he said and left the office.
When Angelus entered the library, Buffy and Faith were still preparing the weapons. Giles was busy running from one end of the room to the other and carrying boxes filled with books. His vampiric senses told him that Willow, Oz and Wesley were in the stacks, doing the same as Giles.
"Hey," he greeted them. "So, are we ready to face the Mayor?"
"Yeah, we are almost finished," Buffy responded. "Still evacuating all the expensive books. Once we have them out we can start to place the explosives."
Angelus nodded. Giles came out of his office and seemed to notice Angel for the first time.
"Oh, Angel" he greeted the vampire. "Could you please help me," Giles said and walked to the weapons cage. Angelus shrugged and followed the librarian.
"I selected my best weapons for you, Buffy and Faith," he explained and opened the cabinet. Angelus stood in the doorway and looked at the watcher's actions. Giles handed him a sword which the vampire took in his hands. Angelus looked over his shoulder, but neither Buffy nor Faith could see the two, because they were sitting with their backs to the cage.
"Now, where is that damn battle axe?" Giles asked himself.
Behind him the vampire lifted the sword over his head and aimed at Giles' head.
"I can't believe that you didn't tell me," Xander exclaimed while he and Cordelia were walking through the corridors of Sunnydale High.
"Well, it isn't really a secret," Cordelia explained. "Everyone in the group knows."
"Cordy, I have been undercover for the last few months, okay? You don't get that kind of information if you are working for the other side," Xander told her and sighed. "So your parents really have nothing left?"
She nodded. "The IRS took everything with them. I'm glad they allowed us to stay in the house for the rest of the school year, so I could finish high school."
"So, if we survive Graduation, what are you gonna do?" Xander asked.
"Don't know," Cordelia admitted. "Without money I can't even get into UC Sunnydale. I thought that I might work the summer here and then maybe head to LA to become an actress."
"Don't you think that's a bit unstable," Xander asked while they rounded the corner.
"I know," she told him. "But that's the best I can up with."
"Look Cordy," Xander started when they entered the library, but stopped when he saw Angel with a sword over his head, ready to cut Giles' head off.
"Giles, get down," Xander shouted while he drew his USP from under his jacket. The watcher immediately dropped to the ground, Angelus' sword missing his head only by an inch.
Startled by the sudden activity in the room, both Buffy and Faith jumped up from their seats.
But before anyone of them could react, Xander already fired a single round into the vampire's shoulder.
Angelus was thrown back by the impact of the 45 cal. hollow point and let the sword fall to the floor. Not risking his luck in a situation like this, he turned around and ran to the direction of the stacks.
Xander continued firing, most of the bullets missing their target. But one hit Angelus in the back, but it didn't stop the vampire.
Angelus jumped and crashed through the nearest window, leaving the library and his enemies behind him.
Willow, Oz and Wesley came out from their position in the stacks. Giles stood up from the floor and joined where Buffy and Faith were standing. Each one of them looked confused at Xander, waiting for an explanation for what had happened just a few seconds ago.
Xander looked at each of them before he answered. "Guys, I think we have problem."
Angelus ran as fast as possible in the direction of the nearest alley he could find. When he finally reached his destination he leaned against the wall and took his jacket off. He reached inside one of his pockets and took a small pocket knife out of it.
He dug the blade inside of the wound in his shoulder and finally was able to remove the bullet.
After that he searched with his hands for the wound on his back and was able to find it. But the second bullet didn't hurt as much as the one he had in his shoulder. Add to that he couldn't reach the wound without help, let alone remove a bullet, he decided to leave things as they were.
He took his jacket from the ground and looked at the bullet hole in it.
"My luck he didn't have those blessed bullets this time," he murmured before he disappeared in the general direction of the industrial district.
Xander entered the library with two duffel bags in his hands. The remaining scoobies were all sitting at the table in the middle of the room, waiting for his report with anticipation.
"You found something out?" Faith asked once he was completely in the room.
"Yep," Xander said and turned his attention towards Giles. "Found your old pal Ethan Rayne at the mansion. Someone really had fun snapping his neck. Seems like he is responsible for Angelus the sequel."
"I can't believe this," Giles muttered. "Ethan always liked to spread chaos, but he wouldn't do something as suicidal as going after Angelus all by himself."
"I don't think he did this on his own," Xander told him and dropped the bags on the floor. He took a chair and sat down at the head of the table. "I assume that the Mayor hired him for this job," he explained and noticed the confused stares the rest of the gang were giving him.
"But Xander, where is the connection between Ethan and the Mayor?" Giles finally asked.
"You guys remember the band candy incident you told me about?" Xander asked. That earned him a collective nod. "Ethan was paid by the Mayor to curse the chocolate."
"How did you know that?" Willow asked.
Xander shrugged. "Went through the Mayor's files while I was working for him. Ethan was on City Hall's payroll for this action," he told her. "Looks like Ethan's services were needed again. But that's not important. The more important thing is, what we are gonna do."
Surprisingly it was Wesley that took the word in the room. "Well, I believe we have two choices. Either we go out and kill Angelus or we again curse him with a soul. If no one has any objection we should vote."
"Okay, who is for staking Angelus?" he asked. Willow, Giles, Cordy, Wesley, Oz and Buffy lifted their hands. "Who is for cursing him with a soul?" This time only Faith raised her hand.
She noticed the stares she received from he rest of the group. "What? I kinda like the guy," she said and shrugged with her shoulders.
Now everyone was looking at Xander, who was the only one who didn't raise his hand.
"What?" Xander finally asked annoyed. "What are you expecting? Should I sing 'Another one bites the dust' on top of my lungs? Believe me, a year ago you would have had no greater supporter for this decision than me, but things are a bit different now," Xander explained.
"What do you mean?" Wesley asked.
"Okay, I'm the last person that would admit it, but we need Angel for Graduation day. And there is still the danger that he might take out one of us in the process if we go after him. And plan two, well the soul curse will not work this time."
"Hey," Willow exclaimed. "I'm pretty sure that I could do it again."
"I'm not questioning your magic abilities Willow," Xander explained. "It's just not possible," he said and took a pencil from one of the books and placed it in front of him on the table. "Would you please levitate the pencil a bit?"
Willow looked confused at the others, but finally gave in and concentrated on the pencil and lifted it a few inches in the air.
Xander grabbed the flying pencil and motioned to Willow to stop.
"Now," he said and placed it on his open palm. "Do it again."
Again Willow concentrated, but this time the pencil just didn't move. After the third try Willow stopped.
"How is that possible?" Willow asked confused.
With out letting the pencil out of his hand Xander reached under his shirt and revealed a shining amulet.
"My protection amulet. One of the many presents the Mayor gave me during my work," Xander explained and unclasped it and gave it to Giles. "It protects me from most spells."
"But Xander, what's that got to do with Angelus?" Buffy asked.
"Well, I saw a similar one around Angelus' neck. The Mayor probably gave it to him to protect him from the soul curse," Xander told her.
Unseen from the rest Willow again concentrated on the pencil in Xander's hand, but again the pencil would not move. After a few seconds Xander noticed this.
"Don't try it Will. I always carry double protection," he said and lifted his right hand and showed her the ring he wore around his ring finger.
"Another protection item?" Wesley asked.
"Yeah," Xander said. "Picked it up during my road trip. Also a pretty handy thing."
Giles meanwhile had passed the amulet to Wesley who also started to examine it.
"Can I see the ring?" Giles asked.
"Sorry, G-man, I never take it off. It's my last line of defence against magic. But here," he said and placed his hand on the table, so Giles could examine the ring.
"Now I understand," Willow exclaimed happily.
"Understand what?" Oz asked her.
"When Xander was on his road trip I tried a location spell," she explained. "But it didn't work. I thought I did something wrong, but now it seems that I couldn't find him because the ring protected him."
"Guess you might be right with that," Xander said. "Are you finished Giles? I need my hand."
"Ah, Xander," Giles stammered "You know that this is the ring of a master assassin of the brotherhood of Taraka?"
Xander shrugged "Yeah, why? I ran in one in Atlanta."
"But I read that these rings cannot removed without the will of the wearer."
"Yeah, unless you cut the finger off," Xander explained.
"Eww," Cordelia and Willow exclaimed at the same time.
"Guys," Buffy interrupted the conversation. "That all is pretty interesting, but I think we went a bit off topic here. So, what are we gonna do with Angelus?"
"Well, you are the leader. I think it's still your choice Buffy," Xander told the blonde slayer.
"And most of us decided to destroy Angelus once and for all," Buffy stated. "So I think we will go with this plan."
"The problem is: That's exactly what the Mayor wants us to do. Like I said, if we go with plan A, we will at least lose Angel, maybe another one of us while we hunt him. And it will take us a lot of time to find him," Xander summed the situation up. "Time we don't have, cause we have to prepare for tomorrow. And we already established that Plan B won't work."
"Doesn't seem like we have a big choice," Faith exclaimed.
"No. But luckily I invented plan C," Xander said and stood up. He opened one of the two duffel bags and threw two rifles to both Faith and Buffy. The two slayers caught their respective weapons in mid air and looked strangely at them.
"What are these?" Buffy asked.
Xander shrugged. "Tranquilizer rifles."
Both slayers stared with disbelief at him.
"You can't be serious," Buffy finally said.
"Oh, I'm pretty serious," Xander stated.
"Okay, let me get this straight," Faith said and interrupted their upcoming argument. "Us two are supposed to go out there, find Angelus, sedate him, remove the amulet so Red here can curse him with his soul."
"See, she doesn't have a problem with it," Xander said. "Come on Buffy, that's the best plan I can come up with. I something goes wrong you can still stake him"
"Okay, let's just assume we follow your idea, how are we supposed to find him?" Buffy asked.
"Well, I have the same kind of amulet Angelus wears. I'm not the greatest expert on magic, but I think Willow should be able to locate him if she uses my amulet as a kind of reference."
"You think you can do that," Buffy asked the red haired hacker.
"I think that might work. I will have to cast a location spell on Xander's medallion and then search for a similar energy signature," Willow explained.
"These might be useful," Xander said and produced a couple of walkie talkies from one of the bags. "This way you can tell Willow when she can start the soul curse."
"Great, this plan is that insane that it might work," Buffy murmured.
"Okay," Faith interrupted, "We hunt Angelus down and you protect the library."
"Sorry Faith, but I have something more important to do," Xander told her.
"Something more important?" Faith asked confused. "What could be that important?"
Xander only smiled at her. "I will do the one thing the Mayor won't count on. While you two hunt Angelus I will attack City Hall."
Everyone in the library now had a look of surprise and shock on their faces.
"Xander, are you insane," Buffy nearly shouted. "There must be more vampires than at Willy's on a Friday night. You can't take them all out."
"Oh, I think I have a pretty good chance," Xander told her with a smug grin. "They don't think that I will be coming. That's my advantage."
"A pretty slim advantage," Buffy countered, but noticed the determination in Xander's eyes. "I'm not going to change your mind?"
"Nope," Xander told her still grinning.
"But who is going to guard the library while we are away?" Faith asked him.
"Those two," Xander said and pointed at Giles and Wesley. The two Watchers looked shocked at the teen, then at each other and then back at Xander. "Us?" they both asked at the same time.
"Yep, you two," Xander stated and took two Spas-12 shotguns from the other duffel bag and handed the weapons to the two Watchers. Then he took a few boxes with shotgun shells out of the bag and placed them on the table. "These are loaded with wooden buckshot," he explained and pointed at one of the boxes. "If Angelus tries something stupid like coming back here, shoot him in the heart and he will be dust. I hope you two know how to handle such a weapon."
"Well, it looks a bit different than the guns I used in my youth," Giles explained, "but I think there will be no problems."
"Wesley?" Xander asked the younger Watcher.
But Wesley already had opened one of the boxes and loaded his shotgun. He pumped the gun "No problem," he told him.
"Okay, I think it's pretty clear what everyone has to do," Xander said and looked at everyone. "Let's start."
"So they left?" came the voice of Richard Wilkins III from the other side of the phone.
"Yeah boss. The two slayers and your 'friend' just left the school," the vampire told him over the cell phone. He stood on one of the buildings that was just across the street of Sunnydale High. "Looks like Angelus really did a number on them."
"Just as we expected," the Mayor exclaimed. "You know what you have to do?"
The vampire turned around and looked at his men. "Yeah boss, I know what I have to do."
"Good. Wait five more minutes, then you can start," the Mayor told him and hung up.
Xander parked his SUV about a block away from City Hall. He didn't want to attract too much attention and if things went as planned he didn't want his car damaged.
He quickly left the car and opened the trunk. His equipment was almost the same he used on the drug house. This time however the one of Kyle's G36ks replaced the M4 and he now had one of the P8's with him.
He quickly put the SWAT vest on and placed the P8 in his hip holster. Then he took the G36 and attached a grenade launcher to the barrel. He loaded one 40mm grenade and placed two more into the slings of the vest. He also took magazines for the assault rifle, the pistol and shells for the Spas-12, which he slung over his shoulder. Also in went a few stakes and a combat knife for close combat.
After that he took a Cmag, a 100 rounds drum magazine for the G36, and loaded the German assault rifle with it.
To finish his preparations he took the rucksack with the explosives he had taken from the library and slung it over his other shoulder.
He closed the trunk and walked into the direction of City Hall.
When the distance between him and the official building was only about one hundred meters he stopped. At this distance Xander could clearly see the two vampires that stood guard at both sides of the entrance.
Deciding to try his new toy out he aimed and pressed the trigger of the grenade launcher.
Before one of the vampires could react, the grenade had already had hit the door. It exploded into a great ball of fire that illuminated the whole street. The result was devastating. The door was ripped apart and the two vampires were nowhere to be seen.
Content with this first field test, Xander opened the grenade launcher and released the still smoking shell. He took another one from his vest and reloaded his weapon.
Whistling a happy tune he crossed the remaining distance to City Hall, just in time to see the first wave of vampires entering the entrance hall.
Buffy and Faith stood in front of one of the many warehouses in Sunnydale's industrial district.
"So, that's Angelus' last location," Faith stated. "What are we gonna do now B?"
Buffy took her walkie talkie.
"We recheck his position," she told her. "Will, you there?"
"I'm here Buffy," came the voice of the red haired witch through the speaker.
"Is he still there?" she asked.
"Yep. Angelus is still at the same point as before," Willow told her.
"Okay, I'll call you again when you can start with the soul curse."
"All right," came the reply before Buffy deactivated the walkie talkie.
"Come on Faith," she told her fellow slayer.
"I don't like that B," Faith admitted as they neared the entrance. "Why is he staying at the same location?"
"Don't know," Buffy told her, while the two entered the warehouse, carefully checking all directions with their rifles. "But I have the feeling that we're gonna to find it out."
The two slayers moved into the middle of the room and checked every corner, but couldn't find a single trace of their enemy.
"Fuck," Faith cursed. "Where is he?"
"Well, well well," suddenly came the booming voice of Angelus from above them. Both slayers lifted their heads and checked the catwalks above them. But in the darkness they couldn't see anything. "Two slayers to take out one single vampire, I'm honored. You know, after I'm finished with you I will be only vampire in history that killed three slayers."
Buffy motioned Faith with her hand to move to the other side of the room.
"Come out Angelus," Buffy called. "You have no chance."
"Oh, I think I have a pretty good chance," came the voice with a taunting tone.
Buffy looked at Faith, but she shook her head. Even from her new location the raven haired slayer couldn't spot anything.
"What are we gonna do now B?" Faith asked her as quiet as possible.
"We have no time for this crap. If we are lucky Willow will finish the spell when we are finished with him," Buffy told her and activated the walkie talkie. "Will, you better start with the spell," she spoke into the speaker, but got no response.
"Will?" she asked again, more worried this time, but received only static.
"They are coming," Giles shouted from his post outside of the library.
"What?" Willow exclaimed from her position at the table, where she, Oz and Cordelia were preparing the soul curse.
"Twelve vampires," Giles told them while he ran to the weapons cage. "They are coming down the hallway," he explained while he slung the shotgun around his shoulder and took three crossbows from the cabinet.
"Twelve vampires?" asked Wesley, who was coming down the stairs from the stacks, where he had been guarding the rear entrance and the windows.
"Yes, twelve," Giles told the younger watcher, while he handed the crossbows to the three teens.
"You sure we can handle them," Cordelia asked with fear.
Giles took a few seconds to look at the young woman. "I don't know," he admitted. "But if I'm going down, I will go down fighting," he told her and took the Spas from his shoulder.
"You are not the only one," Oz told him while he loaded a crossbow bolt. Around him the other members of the scoobie gang nodded their heads in agreement.
All of them took cover behind the table and the chairs. A few seconds later they could hear the vampires as they neared the door.
"Here they come," Giles muttered.
"Boss, he is coming," the vampire told the Mayor and immediately closed the door after he spotted Xander in the hallway.
The Mayor looked at his two remaining vampires. "Now, let's all stay calm, okay? There's no chance that he will succeed with his plan."
"Boss, he's killed about thirty vampires in the last ten minutes. How do you think you are gonna stop him," the vampire stammered, the fear evident in his voice.
"Oh, I'm not gonna stop him," the Mayor told him with a smile. "Alexander can do me no harm. You two however.... Let's just say that he is quite fond of killing your kind," he said and shrugged.
Right in this moment Xander kicked the door open. Not waiting for the vampires to react he shot the nearest one in both his knees. The vampire immediately fell to the floor. Xander shifted his aim at the other undead and emptied the rest of the P8's magazine into his head. The now headless corpse followed the way of gravity, but before he reached the ground he turned into dust.
"Hi boss," Xander greeted the Mayor with a smile, while he walked to the other vampire, who was clutching his knees, the blessed bullets burning them from the inside. He quickly staked the vampire, ending his pain this way.
"Alexander," the Mayor exclaimed cheeringly. "Don't get me wrong, I'm quite happy to see you, but I still have a lot of work to do. Please close the door on you way out."
"Sorry, not going to happen," Xander told him and ejected the now empty magazine and replaced it with a full one from his vest.
"Alexander, reinforcements are already on their way," the politician told him and stood up from his chair. "If you leave now you might get away in time."
"You don't get it," Xander told him and shot him twice in the chest, " my name is Xander."
The two gunshot wounds immediately healed, but the force of the two bullets threw the Mayor back into his chair.
"Alexander, I thought we already established that I'm invincible," the Mayor told him, but Xander ignored him and walked behind his chair.
He took a roll of duct tape out of his rucksack and tied the Mayor to his chair. The older man didn't even try to resist.
"And what's going to happen now," the Mayor asked him.
"You know boss," Xander started, while he searched for something in his rucksack," I didn't forget the 'invincibility'-issue," he told him and took a few packages of C4 out of it. "I'm just curious how invincible you are."
Without waiting for a further comment Xander took the C4 packages and taped three of them to the Mayors chest. He took a step back, to admire his work. He frowned and noticed that something was missing. He took another two and taped them to both sides of the Mayor's head.
"Just to be sure," he told the politician with a smile and patted his head.
Xander took hold of the back of the chair and rolled the Mayor out of his office and down the hallway he passed earlier and into the direction of the staircase.
"Alexander, this is quite annoying. You know it won't work," the Mayor told him, but this time he sounded a bit more nervous. When they reached the top of the staircase Xander stopped and turned the chair around, so the Mayor was facing him.
"You know, Superman was also invincible. But even he had a weakness," Xander explained. "Let's see if C4 is your kryptonite."
"Alexander," the Mayor started, but he couldn't finish his sentence because Xander pulled a layer of duct tape over his mouth.
"You know, I'm quite tired of your speeches," Xander told him and looked at the staircase. "Now, how am I going to get you down the stairs," he thought loud and rubbed his chin. "Oh, I have an idea," he said and pushed the Mayor down the stairs. He looked after the bouncing form of his former employer and winced in sympathy.
"Ouch," he exclaimed. "that gotta hurt."
When Buffy was talking into the walkie talkie and distracted from the non response from the library, Angelus took his chance and jumped down from his position on the catwalk.
He landed directly behind Buffy. Before the blonde slayer could react Angelus already had grabbed the tranquilizer rifle and knocked her down with its butt .
While Buffy landed on the floor, Faith turned around and aimed with her rifle at the soulless vampire. But again Angelus was faster and shot the other slayer.
The dart hit her directly in the chest and the black haired slayer collapsed on the floor.
Buffy in the meantime jumped to her feet and kicked the vampire in the chest. Angelus staggered a few steps backwards, but was able to maintain his equilibrium.
"You think you can take me lover?" the vampire asked her with an evil smile. "You weren't able to handle me in the past, you only were able to put that annoying soul back in to me because geek boy helped you out. But this time you are all alone."
"I will kill you," Buffy told him with determination and pulled her favourite stake out of her belt.
"We will see," Angelus replied and took both ends of the rifle and handled it like a battle staff.
Buffy jumped and kicked at the vampire's head, but Angelus was able to block this strike. After she landed on the ground she aimed a roundhouse kick at Angelus' mid section, but again the vampire was able to block the kick.
"My turn," Angelus told her and slammed the butt of the rifle into her face. Before Buffy could react Angelus took a large swipe and connected with her side. Seeing that she was dazed, the vampire lifted the rifle above his head and was prepared to knock her out.
But this time Buffy reacted fast enough and was able to get a hold on the rifle before it could complete it's way. Both combatants struggled for the weapon. "Very good," Angelus told her through gritted teeth, the exertion evident on his face.
A fast kick from his side into Buffy's stomach ended the struggle and Buffy fell to the floor.
Angelus didn't wait a single second and kicked Buffy hard against the side of her head. Nearly unconscious Buffy could only watch as Angelus walked around her. "You know, someone told me I was still stuck in the medieval age. But I'm a quick learner," Angelus told her while he reloaded the rifle and aimed it at her chest. "A slayer is really easier to take out if you sedate her."
Angelus' finger tightened around the trigger, when suddenly he felt a small pain in his back. He reached around and surprisingly had a small dart in his hand.
"What the fuck," he cursed before he collapsed to the floor, missing Buffy only by a meter.
Faith stood up from her position on the floor and walked up to the fallen slayer. She quickly checked her injuries. She slapped her twice against the cheek, to bring her out of her dazed state.
"Hey B, you there?" she asked.
"Yeah," Buffy croaked out. "Is he finished?"
Faith looked at the vampire and shrugged. "Seems so," she told her fellow slayer. "Just our luck that Xander wanted us to wear those bullet proof vests," Faith said and showed Buffy the hole in her shirt where the dart was still sticking in the vest. She took it out and threw it away.
Buffy stood up, still a bit shaky on her legs, but Faith stabilized her.
"What we are gonna do now," Faith asked.
Buffy walked up to the vampire and turned him around. She quickly unclasped the medallion around his neck and took some shackles out of her small rucksack.
"Will you tie him up?" she asked Faith and handed her the chains. The dark haired slayer accepted them, while Buffy walked to the walkie talkie and picked it up from the ground.
While Faith was cuffing Angelus' feet and hands together, Buffy brought the radio to her ear.
"Will?" she spoke into the speaker.
When the vampires opened the library doors and walked into the room they were welcomed by three crossbow bolts, two hitting vamps into their hearts, dusting them immediately.
While the three teens were busy reloading their weapons, Wesley and Giles opened fire, killing three more vampires with their first salvo. The vampires were now clearly confused. They expected only little resistance. But instead they were blown to pieces.
But those thoughts were cut short when not only the Watchers continued firing but also the three teens joined into the battle. Their combined fire killed another three vampires and another one was lying on the ground, his left leg ripped away.
When the shotguns ran dry the remaining three vampires decided that withdrawal was the best defence. So they ran as fast as possible out of the room and down the hallway.
The five Scoobies stood up and looked for several seconds at the dust covered entrance of the library that seconds ago was quite similar to a warzone.
"We did it," Willow finally shouted proudly.
"Yeah, we did it," Giles said and looked with amazement at the shotgun in his hands. But then his eyes fixed on the last remaining vampire. He slowly walked up to the undead creature and loaded another shotgun shell.
Before the vamp could utter a word of protest Giles shot him in the chest and a second later the body vanished in a pile of dust.
He lifted his head and looked at the other scoobies. The ones vaguely familiar with his wild years now knew why he was called Ripper.
"You did a great job," he told them with a proud voice and a smile. "But I think we still have a job to do. Willow?"
"Oh, yeah. You are right," Willow exclaimed and went back to the table where she was preparing the spell.
"Better check on Buffy, to see how far she is," she said and turned the walkie talkie on.
"...ill?" came over the line.
"I'm here Buffy," Willow told her.
"Thank God. I thought something happened to you guys when I didn't get a connection."
"Well, you were right. A few vampires decided to pay us a little visit," Willow told her.
"Oh no. Are you okay?" Buffy asked worried.
"Yeah, we are all okay. No problem. How are you doing?"
"Well, we got Angelus and we had no casualties. He should be out for at least two hours. We will bring him to the library," Buffy told her.
"That's good news. We are still preparing the spell, but it should be finished when you arrive."
"Okay Will, see you then," Buffy told her and ended the connection.
Willow placed the radio on the table and continued to prepare the spell with the help of Oz and Cordelia.
"You will like hell," Xander told the Mayor while he rolled the still tied up man through the corridors of City Hall. The walls were covered with bullet holes and ground with dust and shells. "I heard it's warm almost the entire year there."
They passed a certain point and Xander stopped. He pointed at the C4 package, that was planted to the wall. "You see, that's the reason it took me so long to get to you. Had to prepare the entire ground floor. Tell you, if I blow something up, I do it right."
They Mayor tried to say something, but with the duct tape around his mouth only a slight muffle could be heard.
"Oh, you want to say something," Xander said and removed the tape.
"Alexander, not that I'm not grateful for the little sight seeing tour, but we have been going through the corridors for almost five minutes. If you want to do something please do it now."
"Believe me, everything I'm doing here has a reason. You see, you might survive the C4 on your body and you might even survive the whole building crashing down on you. And if that's going to be the case I'm making damn sure that I don't waste my explosives. I'm going make sure that I take out as many of your vampires as possible." Xander told him with an evil smile. "That's why we are waiting for your reinforcements."
Suddenly both could hear the sound of footsteps from the end of the corridor.
"Well, I guess it's showtime. Now be a good boy and don't warn your men," Xander said and pulled the tape again over the Mayor's mouth.
A second later about two dozen vampires rounded the corner and walked up to Xander and the Mayor. However, they stopped when they saw their tied up and gagged boss.
"What the hell," the leader muttered.
But Xander only grinned at the large groups of vampires. "Hi guys," he said and pushed the Mayor with all his strength. The chair rolled down the corridor and into the vampires.
Not waiting to see the results of his action, Xander turned around and ran in the direction of the other side. During his sprint he took the P8 and fired at the window at the end of the corridor. The glass shattered and a second later Xander jumped through the window.
The vampires in the meantime had stopped the rolling chair and a few of them already started chasing Xander.
"Boss?" the leader asked worried as he examined the Mayor for any injuries. The Mayor however was trying to tell him something, but because of the duct tape the vampire couldn't understand anything.
"What?" the leader asked and removed the stripe from the Mayor's mouth.
"It's a trap," the Mayor shouted at him.
Now for the first time the vampire noticed the packages of C4 that were strapped to the Mayor's body.
"Oh shit," he cursed, before he, the Mayor and the rest of his vampires vanished into a giant fireball.
Buffy and Faith had carried the unconscious body of Angelus through almost the entire town when they finally arrived at the entrance of the library.
The could clearly hear Willow chanting.
"Asa sa fie! Asa sa fie! Acum!," it echoed down the hallway.
When they entered the library, Willow just finished the last incarnation of the spell.
"Acum!" she finally said and the orb in front of her glowed for a second before it went dark.
Being the center of the attention, no one noticed Buffy's and Faith's entrance.
"Hey guys," Buffy greeted her friends. Now everyone turned around and looked at the two slayers.
"Oh, Buffy," Giles started. "We didn't hear you."
"It's okay," Buffy said while she and Faith carried the vampire to the weapons cage. They dropped him on the floor and Giles locked the door after him.
"How do we know that it worked," Buffy asked her Watcher.
"Oh, I found a spell for that. We can check this way if his soul returned or not," Willow told her, but winced when she saw the slayer's face for the first time. "God Buffy, what happened to you?"
Buffy touched her face and noticed for the first time the various bruises that covered her face.
"Man, Angelus really got some good hits on me," Buffy said, and winced when she touched a rather large cut on her forehead.
Giles in the meantime went to his office to retrieve his first aid kit.
"That's it, no one is going to take any pictures of me at the graduation ceremony," Buffy exclaimed while she sat down. "At least not with this face."
"Oh, it doesn't look so bad," Willow tried to reassure her. " You still look.."
"...like hell," Cordelia interrupted the witch. Everyone now looked at the ex-cheerleader. "What? Never heard of the little thing that is called truth?"
"And again thanks for your bluntness," Giles said and sat down in front of Buffy. Carefully he started cleaning her wounds.
"Have you heard anything from Xander," Buffy asked.
But the rest of the scoobies shook their heads.
"No," Willow told her, the worry evident in her voice.
Suddenly the phone rang. "Cordelia, could you please answer the phone?" Giles asked while he bandaged the cuts on Buffy's head.
The brunette walked into the office and returned a few seconds later.
"Buffy, it was your Mom," Cordelia told her, now also worried. "She said we should turn on the tv."
The whole scooby gang now gathered in front of the small tv on the library's counter. Giles turned the tv on and in a second they were greeted by the picture of a female reporter who stood in front of a burning building.
"This is Heidi Moure for Sunnydale news," the reporter started. "I'm standing in front of what was about an hour ago the City Hall of Sunnydale. The building was completely destroyed. Citizens reported a large explosion, but when the fire brigade arrived it was already too late," the woman reported and the camera moved to the fire fighters, that were still trying to get the fire under control. "This is of course only a small summary of the events that took place here. We will report later once there is more information. But one thing is sure at the moment: If there were still people working in the building, they didn't survive the explosion."
The last statement caused look of disbelief on the faces of all the scoobies. Hope almost completely vanished and they looked sadly at the tv.
"Man, I really did a number on them," came a familiar voice from behind them.
When they heard his voice the scoobies turned around, seeing Xander standing at the head of the table ,a cigarette between his lips, while he examined the remains of Willows spell.
"Looks like the soul curse worked," he said casually, before he looked at them.
"Xander?" Buffy asked like she has seen a ghost.
"The one and only," he declared and wanted to take a drag from his cigarette, when he was suddenly charged by the blonde slayer and the red haired witch, who hugged him hard.
"Guys, air," Xander croaked out after a moment. Buffy and Willow untangled themselves from him. "What's going on here? As far as I know I didn't cast any love spells recently."
Buffy punched him on the arm. "We thought you were dead," Buffy said and motioned at the tv.
Xander winced and grabbed his arm. "What?" he asked confused. "You thought that I was dead because of that little incident?"
Buffy looked with wide eyes at him. "Little incident?" she nearly shouted. "You blew up City Hall.?"
Xander rolled his eyes at that. "And you are the one to speak miss-'I needed a rocket launcher for my birthday, so I could kill an ancient demon that wanted to bring forth the Apocalypse'."
Buffy glared at him. " That was something different," she said, emphasizing her words by poking him in the chest.
"Ah, guys," Oz called out. "Tv."
The scoobies immediately turned around and looked at the screen.
"Standing with me is now is Mayor Richard Wilkins," the reporter declared. "Mr. Wilkins, do you have any idea who might be responsible for this?"
"Well Heidi, as far as we know there has been no threats to the city. At the moment we think that the explosion is the cause of a gas leak," the Mayor explained.
"Thank you Mr. Wilkins. This was Heidi Moure for Sunnydale news," but before the reporter could continue Giles had already shut the tv off.
"It seems that your attack didn't turn out as planned," Giles exclaimed. "The Mayor is still alive."
Xander shrugged. "I didn't count on that. But I was able to take more than fifty vampires out with my little attack, so I think the results were quite positive."
"Fifty vampires," Buffy exclaimed shocked.
"You would never believe what you can achieve with a little bit of C4," Xander told her with smile and walked into Giles' office. A second later he came out of it, one of the boxes in his hands. "Which reminds me, we still have a lot of work to do," Xander said, but winced when got a clear view on Buffy's face for the first time. "Ouch, Buffy. What happened to your face?"
After the Mayor gave his interview, he opened the door of the waiting limousine and stepped into it.
"Now I'm really angry," the Mayor exclaimed and looked at the two sizes too small suit he was forced to wear. "Does he know how much an Armani suit costs now a days," he asked the vampire that was sitting in his underwear in front of him. "Well, things aren't really working as planned," he exclaimed angrily. "How is our status?" he asked the other vampire.
The vamp sighed before he answered. "Our attack at the library was a failure. Only three of our vampires returned. That ,and the casualties we had here at City Hall, means that we lost more than 75% of our vampire forces."
"Yes, that's quite a drawback," the Mayor said and took the statistics from the vampires. "But this game isn't over, yet. Is the box secured?"
The vamp nodded at that. "Yes Boss, Everything is prepared."
"Good," the Mayor said and looked at the last page, on which his appointments for the day were printed. "We still have a ritual to perform and a Graduation ceremony to attend," he said and wrote something under the two points. "And last but not least take revenge on Alexander, for all the trouble he caused me."
Angel finally woke up, groaned and tried to stand up. When he opened his eyes he looked at the barrel of two shotguns and an equally threatening pistol.
"Whoa, whoa. It's me." he exclaimed and lifted his hand in surrender.
"You remember?" Buffy asked warily, but didn't remove the crossbow she had pointed at his chest.
"Yeah, you had me knocked out long enough for me to regain the memories when Angelus was in charge," Angel explained.
"Not that I don't believe you," Xander started. "....but I don't believe you. Will?" he called for the witch.
Willow moved in front of Angel. "This will only take a few seconds," she explained. She started to chant and a glow appeared on Angels' chest. A few seconds later the glow disappeared.
"It's okay. He is Angel again," she stated.
"Now, if you have nothing better to do you can help us prepare the library for the final showdown," Xander said and he and the two Watchers removed their guns from Angel's face.
The vampire followed Xander to the boxes filled with C4. He took a few packages and held them out for the souled vampire.
"You can help Faith over there," he said and motioned to the dark haired slayer.
"Okay," Angel said. "Look Xander..."
"Angel," Xander interrupted him. "I really am not fond of saying it, but this time it wasn't your fault, okay?"
"But I killed," Angel again tried.
"Yeah, but we have no time for your self pity now. You can brood when all this is over. But now we need you," Xander told him.
Angel thought about that for a second and finally he accepted the C4.
"So you really think this will work?" Angel asked.
Xander shrugged. "Well, from what Giles could find out from the books of Ascension, the Mayor will only be invincible until he changes, and then he is vulnerable."
"Not that," Angel clarified. "I meant if you know how to blow up the whole school?"
Xander shrugged "If I was able to blow up City Hall I think I will manage to blow the school up," he told the vampire and moved to another section of the library.
"What?" Angel asked.
The scoobies prepared the library the whole night. But when the sun dawned Buffy and Xander had another thing to do.
"Do you think that this is really necessary," Joyce asked while Xander lifted the last of her suitcases into the trunk of her car.
"Believe me Joyce, you don't want to be here if something goes wrong," Xander explained and closed the trunk.
"He is right mom," Buffy joined in. "And we will be able to concentrate on fighting if we know that you are out of danger."
"Well, just be careful you two," Joyce said and pulled each of them into a hug. Then she stepped into her Jeep and drove down the road. Buffy and Xander waved after the departing vehicle until it disappeared behind the next corner.
After that both walked up to Xander's SUV.
"Xander, there is one thing that bugs me," Buffy exclaimed as they stepped into the car.
"And that is?" Xander asked in return and started the engine.
"Okay, we now have an army of students and we are ready to blow up the whole school, which by the way was a fantasy of mine since Snyder is in charge," Buffy summed the situation up. "But how the hell are we going to bring the Mayor into the school."
"A bait," Xander simply said as he drove into the direction of the school.
"A bait?" Buffy asked confused.
"Yep."
Buffy waited for something else to come, but Xander kept silent.
"And what's gonna be the bait?" Buffy finally asked annoyed.
"The question isn't what's gonna be the bait, but who," Xander stated.
"Okay, and who is gonna be the bait."
"Me," Xander said.
"You?" Buffy asked after a few seconds with disbelief.
"Yep."
"Could you clarify that a bit?" Buffy asked.
"Well, like you said: Someone has to lure the Mayor into the school and that's gonna be me," Xander explained.
"Xander, no way are you doing that," Buffy told him. "I'm going to do it. I'm faster than you."
"No Buffy, I'm gonna do it," Xander said firmly. "I bet after last night the Mayor will be quite pissed at me and wants revenge. And by the way you are not faster than me."
"Oh please," Buffy said mockingly. "I admit that your abilities have grown in the past year, but I'm still the slayer. I'm sure that I'm faster than you."
"How about this," Xander proposed. "Once we have prepared everything we can have a little race. You against me. The one who wins will be the bait in our little trap. You in?," Xander asked.
"Okay, I'm in," Buffy said. Xander reached out with his hand and Buffy shook it, sealing their deal this way.
"You have no chance," Buffy stated.
"We will see," Xander said with a smile while he pulled into the parking lot at Sunnydale High.
"Okay, everything ready?" Xander asked, when he and Buffy entered the library. All the scoobies were gathered around the table.
"We just gave out the last weapons to the students," Giles explained. "So, you were able to convince your mother to leave town."
"Yeah, she is heading out of town as we speak," Buffy told him, while she and Xander sat down at their respective chairs at the table.
"Okay, let's go over the plan," Xander said and motioned to the map of Sunnydale High they had placed on the table.
"So, we are going to have an eclipse. That means that the Mayor's vampires will be out there in full force. But after the casualties they had to endure in the last couple of days this is the least of our problems. Our main objective is to take out the Mayor. He will hold his speech here and the students will be sitting here," Xander said and marked the two places. "Giles already explained that the Mayor will need a lot of food so he can complete his Ascension. In other words: students."
He could see the 'eww'-looks on Buffy's, Willow's and Cordelia's faces.
"That means that the vampires will probably attack from this direction," Xander said and drew an arrow from the street to the location of the students. "That will trap all the students between the Mayor and the vamps. Okay, one group will attack the Mayor and try to hold him off long enough that the rest of the students can break through the vampires lines," Xander said and drew another arrow from the location of the students to the vampires. "Giles, Wesley, Angel and another group of students you will attack the vampires in the back. Once all the students are evacuated phase two can step into motion."
He exchanged a look with Buffy.
"We still haven't decided who is gonna do it, but basically one of us," he said and motioned at Buffy and himself, "will try to lure the Mayor into the library, leave through the window in the back and blow the school up, killing the mayor this way."
Xander looked at the faces of all the Scoobies. "Any questions?" he asked, but no one of them said anything. "Well, I suggest that you all try to get some rest. The last 24 hours were quite exhausting. And you will need your strength for the fight," he said and stood up, the rest of them following his example. A few seconds later most of the scoobies had left the library,
"So Buffy, you ready for our little race," he asked the blonde slayer.
"Anytime, anyplace Xandman," Buffy challenged him.
"Okay," Xander said. "We are meeting in about an hour at the street in front of the school. Don't be late," he said and left the library.
The Mayor looked at his remaining vampires. The warehouse that was currently his base of operations was not exactly comfortable, but it had to be enough for the moment.
"So everything is clear?" he asked after he and his vampires went through the plan. The vampires nodded.
"Okay, then take your positions," the Mayor said. "And please wear something formal. After all we are attending a Graduation ceremony."
After an hour Buffy waited on the sidewalk for Xander to arrive. Suddenly she heard the sound of a motorbike and a few seconds later a black Kawasaki Ninja parked beside her.
"Hi Buffy," Xander said and took the helmet off.
Buffy stared confused at the bike.
"Since when do you have a bike?" she asked.
Xander shrugged. "For a while. Don't get angry, I paid for it. Can we start now?"
"Yeah, we can start. You want to give the signal?"
"Okay," Xander said without stepping down from his bike. Instead he put the helmet back on.
"Oh, you gotta be kidding me," Buffy finally exclaimed, when she realised that he had no intention of getting off the bike
Xander opened the visor of his helmet and looked at the slayer. "What?" he asked.
"Xander that's unfair," Buffy exclaimed. "Of course you are faster with the bike. I thought we both would run on foot."
"What? Did you think I wanted to outrun a giant snake on foot," Xander said and looked strangely at her. "I may be crazy, but I'm not insane."
Buffy stomped angrily at the ground. "Fine. Have it your way. Get eaten by the big, nasty snake. I don't care any longer," Buffy said and walked into the direction of the school's entrance.
Xander slowly followed her with his bike, a big smile plastered on his face.
It was late afternoon when the Mayor's limousine arrived at Sunnydale High. The politician stepped out of the car and was immediately greeted by principal Snyder.
"Mr Wilkins, it's an honour for us to have you as our guest speaker," Snyder welcomed the Mayor.
"The pleasure is mine Mr Snyder. Is everything prepared?" the Mayor asked as the two men walked up to the quad.
"Yes, everything here is ready. You will hold your speech there," Snyder said and motioned towards the podium.
"Very good. And I want you to make sure that all students attend the ceremony. But I have another favour to ask for," the Mayor told him and handed him a sheet of paper. "You know the names on this list?"
"Of course," the principal said. "They are the greatest trouble makers at the school, especially the Summers girl and the Harris boy."
"It's very important that you guarantee that they attend the Graduation ceremony," the Mayor told him.
Snyder nodded "But how am I supposed to do that?"
The Mayor turned around and walked back to his limousine and the principal had trouble keeping up with him.
"I don't know," The Mayor admitted. "And I don't care. If you are not able to force a couple of teenagers to attend a ceremony, well that could mean you are not qualified for this job."
"No Mr. Wilkins, I assure you that I won't fail," Snyder told him as the Mayor stepped back into his limousine.
"I hope so. You know what happened to you predecessor. After all, it's quite hard to find a new principal who is willing to take over a school on top of a hellmouth," the Mayor told him before he closed the door and the limousine drove down the road.
Snyder looked with fear after the limousine, but finally turned around to complete the preparations.
"I can't believe that they are forcing us to wear red," Cordelia exclaimed, as she and the rest of the Scoobies walked up to the podium. "And it's quite uncomfortable with this crossbow under it."
"Look at the positive side C," Faith told her. "If you get killed there will be no visible stains on your robe."
Cordelia rolled her eyes. "Well that's good to know."
"Guys stop it, okay?" Buffy told them. "No one is going to die, if we can prevent it."
They continued their walk when they were suddenly stopped by principal Snyder.
"You wait a second," he told them. "Okay, Summers here, Chase here, Rosenberg here, Ozborne here, Williams here," the principal said and made a mark on each name of his list. "Where is Harris?" he finally asked.
"Oh, he is sick," Willow exclaimed nervously "Very sick."
Snyder looked at all of them and finally made another mark on Xander's name.
"Well, if he is not here, that means he will not get a diploma.," Snyder said and walked away.
"What an asshole," Faith muttered. "What a shame we are not allowed to kill humans."
"Come on guys," Buffy said and they continued their way. The Scoobies sat down on their respective chairs and watched as the Mayor walked up to the podium and started his speech.
From his position in the hallway Xander also watched the Mayor's speech. He was bored to hell, standing here in the dark and listening to the Mayor talking about the hundred years history of Sunnydale.
"Man, he is really evil," he muttered. For a second he was tempted to walk up to the podium and tape his mouth again.
But finally he was able to control his urge. He took the Desert Eagle from his holster and checked the magazine for the third time. He hoped that the .50 cal bullets were enough to get the Mayor's attention.
When suddenly day became night he knew that the moment he worked the last few months had finally come.
Suddenly the Mayor was shaken by a wave of pain. He nearly collapsed on the ground, but after a second he had himself back under control and began speaking again.
"And so as we look back on the events that brought us to this day," came his voice over the speakers, before his body was hit by the next series of convulsions and agonising pain came over him. This time was worse, the Mayor was barely able to stand. He grabbed hold of podium and was able to stabilize himself.
Instead of rushing to his help, Snyder stood up and walked back a few steps. Around him the other teachers were doing the same.
The Mayor lifted his head and surveyed the crowd of students in front of him. He swallowed and opened his mouth again.
"We must all," he started before his body was hit by the third wave of pain. But he didn't hold back this time and screamed at the top of his lungs. The parents and teachers now looked with fear and worry at the podium.
"It has begun. My destiny," The Mayor shouted with delight. "It's a little sooner than I expected I had this whole section on civic pride," he said and looked through the cards he still had in his hand. "But I guess we'll just skip to the big finish!"
The Mayor started to grimace as his body began to stretch and grow at an incredible rate. His suit split around him, his skin turned green and his face turned into a demonic grimace. Xander looked as the change continued. The Mayor still grew and finally the giant snake that now stood in his place was taller than the buildings surrounding him.
The snake opened and closed his mouth, surrounded by long mandibles, and liked he was testing its new ablities. Finally the demon looked satisfied and searched the ground under him for targets.
"It didn't look that big in the book," Xander muttered, looking down at the Desert Eagle and wishing that he brought something bigger with him. But finally he shrugged, stepped on his bike and drove along the hall until he was under the doorway.
He noticed the parents and faculty members running for their lives, whereas the students stood their ground and dropped their robes, to reveal the weapons he and the other Scoobies had dispensed among the students.
"Showtime," he said as he watched the beginning of the battle.
The first victim of the incarnation of the demon Olvikan was the principal of Sunnydale. The snake's mouth descended on Snyder and swallowed the little man in one gulp.
Those seconds gave the Scoobies and the students the time they needed to arrange their defence. The first rows held their spears in the air to hold the Mayor off where as the students behind them fired their crossbows and arrows at the snake.
The bolts and arrows that hit their mark were not able to penetrate the thick skin, but they were enough to shy the Mayor away momentarily.
"Okay, let's get out of here," Buffy shouted over the battle sound and the students moved slowly back.
"B, the vamps are here," Faith shouted from the back of the crowd, and motioned to the street where about two dozen vampires were advancing on the students.
"Take them down," Buffy shouted back, before she concentrated back on the fight.
"Take your crossbows," Faith ordered her group of students. The pupils took their distance weapons and aimed them at the vampires.
"Fire," Faith shouted and the stray of bolts and arrows went into the first wave of vampires. Most shots missed their target, but the students were able to kill three vampires, wounding more in the process.
The vampires looked confused. They didn't expect much resistance from the students.
"Reload," Faith called and the students did as ordered. "Fire."
From their position Angel, Giles, Wesley and the students that were assigned to their group watched as the vampires were closing the trap around the Graduation ceremony.
"Now?" Angel asked.
"Now!" Giles confirmed the order and lead the small groups of warriors down the road and into the rapidly reducing group of vampires.
"Cease fire," Faith shouted as she saw Giles and his group advance at the vampires. After all they didn't want to hit their own people in a crossfire. "Everyone: hand to hand," she shouted and took her sword from her belt. Around her the students were doing the same and took out their stakes, battle axes and swords.
"Attack," she ordered and the students charged into the vampires, breaking through their lines with their superior number of fighters. Before she followed their example she looked over her shoulder and saw the Mayor swallowing two students from the first row.
"Shit," she cursed.
Buffy looked with horror as the two students were killed by the Mayor. They wouldn't be able to hold off the Mayor any longer. He was getting more comfortable with his new body and more aggressive with every second.
She looked around and spotted Xander at the doorway of one of the entrances to the school. He nodded in her direction and Buffy nodded back.
"Okay, let's get out of here," Buffy shouted and the students dropped their spears and turned around and ran for their life. The Mayor took his chance, reached out and swallowed another one of the students.
His attempts to follow the students however were interrupted when a spray bullets hit him in the side.
Angel brought his sword down and decapitated the vampire in front of him. Not waiting for the body to turn into dust he plunged the blade into the abdomen of another vampire.
Wesley and two students were working together, the students holding the vampire in place while Wesley staked the undead.
Giles made sure that he didn't hit someone, before he shot a vampire in the chest with his crossbow.
He took a second to look around, noticing the increasing number of students running down the stairs.
"Hey Richard," Xander shouted at the giant snake. "I think we have some unresolved issues between us. What do you say? You ready for a little mano a snake?" Xander challenged the former Mayor of Sunnydale.
Not waiting for an answer, Xander turned the bike around and drove down the hallway, hoping for the Mayor to follow him.
The snake looked after the departing vehicle, then after the fleeing students. Making a decision he followed Xander, crashing through everything that was in his way.
Faith staked the vampire in front of her. She had dropped her sword a while ago. With this little room it was rather a threat for herself and the students around her.
"How is it going," came the voice from besides her.
"Hey B," Faith said and punched another vampire in the face. "You finished your job?"
"Yeah," Buffy told her and staked a vampire herself. "Now it's Xander's turn."
"Hope it works," Faith exclaimed.
Xander drove down the hallways of Sunnydale High, only slowing down when he had to round a corner. In the rear mirror he could see the Mayor, about ten meters behind him.
Finally he reached the library and crashed through the doors. He twisted the throttle all the way, accelerating the bike as much as possible. He drove over the ramp they had installed earlier and through the area they had cleared of stacks. He lifted the front wheel and jumped through the windows.
Behind him, the Mayor crashed through a wall, but stopped in his tracks when he noticed the explosives planted all over the library.
Suddenly realizing the plan of his enemies he leaped forward, following the way Xander had taken earlier.
Outside the building, Xander stepped on the brakes once he had solid ground under him. Not waiting a single second he took the remote control out of his pocket and pressed the button.
The C4 packages they had planted in the whole library immediately exploded, destroying everything in the area.
But it didn't stop there. A lot of the force of the explosion destroyed also major parts of the carrying structure of Sunnydale High. Parts of the building collapsed immediately, the other parts would follow in the next hours.
Xander looked satisfied at his work. The exhaustion of the last day and weeks caught up with him and at the moment he wanted nothing more than a shower and a warm bed.
He wanted to turn around, when he heard a rumble from the remains of the library. He eyes widened when he saw the head of the Mayor come through the wall of fire.
He was just able to jump from his bike, when the Mayor tried to swallow him. He was however able to smash the bike in the process.
Xander ran a few feet away and noticed for the first time the state the giant snake was in. It's body was ripped into two pieces, only the front part was attacking him. The skin was covered with wounds and burnmarks. And it was leaving a long trail of green blood behind him.
"Oh no," Xander whispered.
"You have thwarted all my plans Alexander," the snake answered in the twisted voice of Richard Wilkins. "But I will have the satisfaction that I'm not the only one who dies today," it said and leaped after Xander.
Xander rolled out of the snake's way. Both combatants circled each other, waiting for a mistake from the other. Xander quickly took his jacket off and revealed the vest he had prepared for a situation like this. The vest was covered with C4. The idea was, that if everything went wrong someone had to sacrifice himself in order to take the Mayor out. The plan was simple: Get the Mayor's attention, get eaten and blow him up from the inside.
This situation here was however different. In this state, the Mayor was no longer a threat to the world, but still a threat for Xander. So the Kamikaze plan was not suitable.
Both the demon and the human still circled each other. Xander now took the vest off and activated the thirty second timer of the explosives.
Xander stopped moving.
"You want to eat me?" he challenged the snake. "Come on, let's get over with it," Xander shouted and waited for the attack.
The Mayor took his chance and again leaped after Xander. Before he could reach him Xander threw the vest into the Mayor's throat and rolled out of the way.
The Mayor swallowed the vest and gulped. He looked confused at Xander, who simply smiled at the demon.
"Game over asshole," he told the Mayor.
The snake roared in anger and charged Xander, knocking him a few meters away. On his way Xander's shoulder hit a tree that was in his path, dislocating his shoulder on impact.
He landed on the ground and groaned in pain. But when he saw the Mayor coming his way he couldn't do anything different than smile.
Before the snake could reach him, the vest in his stomach exploded, ripping it's body in pieces. The explosion covered the nearby area in blood and gore. Xander also was covered from head to toe in green blood.
Xander waited for a few seconds before he stood up and looked at the remains of the demon Olvikan.
"Man, that's gross," he said as he tried to wipe the demon blood from his clothes.
Finally realising, that he couldn't do anything about it at the moment he turned around and walked in the direction of the street.
As he walked to the large group of students that was gathered there, the first ambulance and fire brigade trucks arrived.
Xander stumbled down the path and went to the place where the rest of the Scoobies were standing. After the fight the group had gathered at the end of the stairs, watching the ambulances and firemen with interest.
"Hey Guys," he greeted them and immediately turned the attention of the group on him.
"God Xander, what happened to you?" Buffy asked when she inspected his blood covered form.
"Got into a little fight with a demon snake," Xander told her. He walked up to the nearby wall that stood next to the stairs "What do you think?" he said and rammed his dislocated shoulder against the wall. A loud plop could be heard as the bones were brought back into place.
"Ah," he sighed. "Much better."
"So, did everything work as planned?" Giles asked him.
"Well, only half of the plan worked right," Xander said and walked up to the Scoobies. "Which means that half of the snake was able to escape the inferno in the library. But I have taken care of it."
He took a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket but noticed that they were completely drenched in blood.
"Great," Xander muttered and threw the pack away. "Anyone got a smoke?"
Everyone shook their heads, except for Faith, who produced a pack from her pocket and threw it to Xander.
"Thanks Faith," Xander said as he lighted one of the cigarettes. " You are my saviour."
"Faith," Giles said and looked shocked at the dark haired slayer.
"What G?" Faith asked. "I said my wild and wicked days were over, not dead. And by the way, I think you did worse things in your youth."
Giles wanted to comment on that statement, but knew better and kept silent.
"And you?" Xander asked "How did thinks go here?"
"We don't know for sure," Buffy said, "but it looks like we only lost seven students."
"That's not that bad," Xander stated. Behind him another part of Sunnydale High collapsed.
A policemen walked up to the group and looked strangely at the blood covered Xander.
"Ah, hi I'm officer Davis," The policemen introduced himself. "Were you present during the events?" he asked and motioned at the school.
The Scoobies looked at each other and nodded.
"Good. Maybe you can make any kind of sense of this," the officer said. "Most of the students we've questioned were talking about vampires and giant snakes. What have you seen?"
"Well," Buffy started, "our principal came and said that we have a gas leak in the building. He ordered us to leave the school grounds, but panic broke out and the students left in a frenzy. And then the school exploded."
"Thank you. That's the first statement so far that is believable," he said and walked away.
The Scoobie gang looked at the burning building for few more seconds.
"Let's get out of here," Xander finally said and the group slowly walked down the street.
Joyce Summers burst through the front door of her house and ran into the living room.
"Thank God you are all okay," she said as she pulled her daughter into a tight hug. However she noticed the absence of one of the Scoobies. "Where is Xander?" she asked.
"Upstairs. Taking a shower," Buffy said and motioned for the green footprints that were all over the floor. "Believe me, he needed it."
"Well, I don't want to be the party crasher," Faith announced and stood up, " but Angel and I, we have a long drive before us. And I already said that we wanted to leave immediately after the ceremony."
Everyone in the room stood up. Faith shook Wesley's and Oz's hands, because they were the ones she had the least contact with. Cordelia received a quick hug from her.
"I just wanted to tell you that I'm proud of you," Giles told her before he hugged her. "Be careful in LA."
"Will do G....iles," she said and smiled at the Watcher.
"If you have any problems with your subjects, you can call me day and night," Willow told her during their hug.
"Thanks Willow," Faith said. "But don't be angry if I take you up on that offer."
"Giles already said it, but I'm also proud of you," Joyce told her. "I wish you the best."
"Thanks Joyce," Faith said and untangled herself from the older woman.
"Well, B, the big goodbye," Faith said when she stood in front of Buffy.
Buffy rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on Faith. LA is only an hour drive away. So it's more like a small goodbye," she said, but then threw her arms around the other slayer. "Sunnydale will never be the same again without you. I'm going to miss you."
"Yeah, well greet the vampires for me when you see them," Faith told her with a smile.
"Tell the X-man goodbye from me," Faith said before she and Angel left through the door.
After their departure Joyce wanted to know exactly what had happened. When Buffy and Willow were half way through the story Xander came down the stairs, wearing a black t shirt and black army pants, while te towelled his hair.
"Man, I removed demon blood from places I didn't even knew I had," he muttered as he walked into the living room. His mood immediately brightened when he spotted Joyce sitting at the table.
"Hey Joyce," he greeted the older woman before he pulled her into a hug.
"I'm glad nothing happened to any of you," she told him.
"Good to know," Xander said with smile but noticed the absence of Faith and Angel. "Where are deadboy and Faith," he asked the group.
"Don't you remember?" Willow asked him. "They wanted to leave right after the ceremony."
"Damn," Xander cursed. "I totally forgot that. I wanted to give her a little departing gift."
Still shaking his head he grabbed his leather jacket from the hook and opened the door.
"What are you doing?" Buffy asked him confused.
"Searching for her," he said "Maybe I forgot that she wanted to leave right after Graduation, but I remember what she said she wanted to do before she finally left."
Xander reached the Graveyard about half an hour later and immediately spotted Angel leaning against his car. He parked behind him and stepped out of the SUV.
"Want to say good bye?" Angel asked as Xander walked up to him.
"Yeah," Xander said plainly and leaned against the car besides Angel.
The two stood for several minutes without saying anything. They stood there and watched Faith sitting in front of a grave.
"I bet you're happy that I'm leaving," Angel finally said.
"I can't say that I'm sad," Xander admitted. "I never liked you."
"The feeling is mutual," the vampire replied.
"Don't want it any other way."
"I want to know something," Angel finally asked. "Why didn't you vote for killing me?"
Xander looked closely at the vampire before he responded. "I had my reasons."
Angel looked strangely at the young man.
"We needed you okay?" Xander admitted. "I would have killed you personally if the situation would have been different."
Angel nodded at that. "Faith told me about your little election. That's one of the two reasons why I'm leaving. No one trusts me here. It's best if I leave."
"And the other reason?" Xander asked.
"Buffy," the vampire simply said.
Xander rolled his eyes at that. "Great surprise," he muttered.
"You don't understand," Angel told him. "A year ago she told me that she would kill me if I ever turned into Angelus again. But I never believed her. I thought, if it would come to that decision that she wouldn't be able to go through with it. But yesterday," the vampire mused. "She was ready to kill me. I could see it in her eyes. If Faith hadn't shot me with the tranquilizer rifle she would have done it."
Xander looked strangely at the vampire. "I thought you had her nearly knocked out."
"Yeah," Angel said and smiled knowingly. "But if the roles had been reversed, I would be dust."
Both stood there without saying anything.
"Funny that we are at the grave of the one person that is responsible for her change of heart," Xander said and motioned in the direction of Kendra's grave. The same grave Faith was sitting at.
Angel shook his head. "I often ask myself, if things might have worked out between me and Buffy if I hadn't killed Kendra."
Xander looked at the vampire. "Sooner or later Buffy would have realised that a relationship between you two would not work. She would grow old and you, you would always stay the same. And that's just one of the reasons. And Buffy needs a normal, healthy relationship to compensate for her life as a slayer."
"With you?" Angel questioned him.
"What do mean by that?" Xander asked confused.
"Let's not play the denial game Xander," Angel told him. "You loved her enough to force a more than 240 year old vampire to lead you to the lair of an even older master vampire. And let's not talk about our little encounter in the hospital."
Xander raised his hand in surrender. "Okay, I get what you're trying to say. But the situation is different today. I don't know if I have still those feelings for Buffy."
"Just think about it," Angel told.
"Will do ," Xander said and took something from his pocket. "By the way, I have a present for you."
Angel took the object from Xander's hand and realised that it was the protection amulet the Mayor had given him.
"What am I supposed to do with it?" Angel finally asked confused.
"You really are dumb," Xander said and rolled his eyes. "It's a protection amulet. If it can protect you from the soul curse it can also protect you from spells that can remove your soul," he explained.
"Thanks," Angel said.
"Not doing it for you deadboy," Xander said and moved a few steps forward. "It's for Faith. Don't want her dead because someone found her weakness by turning you into Angelus."
Xander walked down the path and in the direction of Faith.
"But remember," Xander told Angel over his shoulder. "No sex. The amulet will protect you from spells, not from your own stupid decisions."
Faith had been staring at the grave for about half an hour now. So she didn't notice Xander walking up to her.
He tapped her twice on the shoulder to get her attention. Faith turned around and smiled at the teen.
"Hey Xandman," she greeted him.
"Hey Faith," Xander said and looked at the grave. "Getting some inspiration from your predecessor?."
"Something like that," the dark haired slayer replied. "So, why are you here?"
"Saying good bye," he told her with a wide smile. " And I have a present for you."
"Really?" Faith asked and beamed at him.
"Hey, you got accepted by UCLA. You deserve a present," Xander told her honestly.
"I haven't thought about that," Faith admitted. "I was just glad that I was accepted. Well, okay B, Red, Joyce and Giles gave me a little something. So what is it?" she asked with anticipation.
"Follow me," he simply said. The two walked back to the two parked cars and stopped in front of the SUV.
"So, where is it," Faith asked annoyed after a few seconds.
"You are standing in front of it," Xander said.
"Huh," Faith asked confused
"The SUV Faith," he told her. "My present is the SUV."
Faith looked at him like he had lost his mind.
"I can't accept that Xander," she told him after a few seconds. "I bet you need it on your own."
"No, you don't understand," Xander said and shook his head. "That's not my SUV. That's another one. I bought it for you a few days ago. "
"You serious?" she finally asked.
"Yep," Xander simply said.
"Where are the keys?" Faith asked with an evil grin.
"Here," Xander said and handed her the requested item.
Faith was about to open the drivers door, when Xander stopped her.
"Hey, I'm not finished," he said and walked to the back of the car and opened the trunk.
Faith could see that the trunk was filled with boxes, with the logo of the US Army on it.
"What's that?" Faith asked.
"Just a bit of my equipment," Xander said and opened one of the boxes. "Might help you in LA"
"Oh," Faith said and looked at guns that lay in the box. "New toys for me."
"Yeah," Xander said with a smile before he closed both the box and the trunk. "Just promise me one thing. Go to a shooting range with the weapons before you use them. Don't want you to accidentally shoot someones head off."
"Promise X-Man," Faith said and sighed. "Well, I guess this is it."
"Yeah, time to say good bye," Xander said and hugged the dark slayer.
"I'm not that far away Xander," Faith told him. "You guys can visit me at any time."
Both ended their hug and Faith walked up to the drivers door. She stepped into the big car and started the engine.
"Be good," he told her.
"No chance," Faith told him with a wicked grin and closed the door. After fastening the safety belt, she stepped with full force on the gas pedal.
Angel had followed their conversation and was ready when Faith drove down the street, breaking several speed laws in the process.
Xander looked after the two departing vehicles until they vanished into the darkness.
After that he looked around and frowned. "How the hell am I supposed to get home now."
On the top floor of one of LA's many skyscrapers a man watched as the sun slowly went down at the horizon. The rays would have been deadly to him, but the fact that the windows of his big office were tinted protected him from a very painful death.
On the other side of the room, the door opened and one of his many assistants entered. He took a few steps in the direction of the window and stopped. He knew that his boss didn't want to be disturbed when he watched the sundown.
When the sun finally disappeared, Dean Carver turned around and looked at his assistant.
"Paul," he greeted the younger vampire with a smile. He walked up to his desk and sat down.
"Mr. Carver, sir," he returned the greeting and walked up to the desk. "I have important information from one of our contacts in Sunnydale," his assistant announced.
"What is it?" Carver asked.
"Sir, the Mayor of Sunnydale, he is dead."
Carver furrowed his eyebrow. "Dead? How?"
"It's not clear at the moment but it seems that the slayer was responsible for his demise," Paul told him everything he knew.
Dean Carver sighed. "That's sad to know. We did real good business with Sunnydale until a month ago," he said. "What else have you got?"
"Sanchez' men are already moving into the city. They want to take over the hellmouth. But they have trouble. The resident vampires are fighting under each other for the leadership. So they have trouble to get them under control."
"Well, let's not worry about that," Carver exclaimed. "It's almost summer and that was never a phase for our kind to fight." His assistant nodded in agreement, before Carver continued with his explanations. "But the whole situation could be very dangerous for us. Adding the hellmouth to his territory would give Sanchez a great advantage against us. I think we have to react before it is too late."
"And the hellmouth would also be a great addition to our own organisation," Paul interjected.
"Of course. But there is one thing bothering me," Carver mused with a thoughtful expression.
The assistant looked confused at his boss. "Sir, what is bothering you?"
"The slayer," Carver stated as it was the most obvious thing. "She killed the Master, Kakistos and now the Mayor. This girl seems like a lot of trouble for everyone who moves to the hellmouth."
"I have to admit, her track record is remarkable, but I don't think that we can't deal with her."
"That's true," Carver admitted. "But I don't want to rush into a situation we are not able to overlook."
"So, what do you suggest?" the assistant asked.
"We need an advisor," Carver explained. "Someone who dealt with this slayer in the past. Someone who can tell us her weaknesses."
"Who do you have in mind?" Paul asked interested.
"I've already selected someone," Carver said and threw a folder at him. Paul was barely able to catch it.
Paul went through the file, but something was bothering him. "Ah, sir? How could you select someone if I just brought you the news?"
This time Carver smiled at his assistant. "I'm not the head of one of the biggest criminal organisations on the west coast, if I don't know what's is going on in the state," he stated. "Call our contact at Wolfram and Heart. Tell them that I want this special person brought to us."
Paul just wanted to turn around, when he spotted something at the bottom of the page.
"Ah, sir," he started. "The person in this file, well ... he is..."
"Yes, I know," Carver told him. "Don't worry about that. Just make the call. The lawyers will know what to do."
Paul was still confused, but he knew from experience that it was better not to question his bosses decisions.
"Allright sir. I'm on my way," he said and left the room.
When Xander finally reached the Summer's house, most of the lights were already out and the one shining was dimmed. He silently opened the front door and closed it behind him. No one had noticed his entrance and he sneaked into the living room.
The sight that greeted him was really adorable. Willow and Oz were lying on the floor, Willow using her boyfriend's shoulder as a pillow. Cordelia was lying comfortably in one of the seats and was loudly snoring.
Buffy was lying on the couch, a blanket lying in front of it. It must have fallen down the couch during her sleep. Giles was nowhere to be seen, as were Wesley and Joyce. But that was not surprising.
Wesley still had to travel to England to report to the Watcher's Council, before they released him from their services. Giles was probably at his apartment and Joyce upstairs in her own room.
Deciding that he also needed some sleep, Xander walked up to Buffy and took the blanket from the ground. He carefully covered her body with it, taking care in not waking her up.
After he finished with it he took his jacket off and folded it. He laid down on the ground in front of the couch and used his jacket as a pillow.
Slowly he drifted off to sleep.
It was night at Restfield cemetery. But like most nights in Sunnydale, it was far from peaceful.
Willow landed hard on the ground. A few seconds later Oz followed her, hitting a stone with the back of his head that knocked him unconscious. The two vampires that were responsible for this stood over them and grinned.
"Nice. I like it when my meal is fresh," the vamp told his buddy.
"Always the same dumb lines," came the voice behind them. But before one of them could react Buffy had already tackled the left the vampire on the left and brought him to the ground. They rolled down the small hill where the fight took place.
The other vamp however was not so stupid to wait for the outcome of the fight and followed the two struggling forms, ignoring the two slayerettes in front of him.
Buffy and the vampire finally reached the bottom of the hill. Not waiting for the vamp to gain the upper hand, Buffy brought her stake down and dusted the undead.
But before she could stand up the second vampire had already landed a solid punch to her face. Buffy staggered a few feet backward and felt a sudden dizziness come over her. The facial injuries she received from her fight with Angelus had healed pretty quickly, thanks to her slayer healing. But getting punched and kicked in the head surely left its marks. Giles said that the headaches would go away in a week or two, but that didn't help her at the moment.
The vamp noticed this and kicked her in the stomach. Buffy doubled over and the vampire immediately followed with an uppercut that sent her flying ten feet through the air and right against a tombstone. The impact didn't do anything to improve Buffy's current condition. The only thing she was able to do at the moment was to fight the unconsciousness that was trying to take her over.
The vampire slowly advanced on the fallen slayer, when suddenly Willow jumped on his back, trying to buy her friend the time she needed to come around.
The vamp turned himself around, trying desperately to get the witch off him. Finally he succeeded and threw Willow four feet away.
"After I'm finished with her, you'll be next," he threatened the red head and walked up to Buffy.
The little pause had done nothing to improve her condition. The vamp grabbed her by the collar and bared her neck.
When he was only inches away from Buffy's throat, a burst of bullets hit him square in he chest, ripping him away from his victim.
He had been shot before, but this time was different. The bullets immediately started to burn once they penetrated his skin. The vampire desperately y tried to stop the pain, but his efforts were futile.
The last thing he saw was Xander standing over him, in his left hand the still smoking MP5, in his right a stake.
"Say goodnight fangface, " Xander told him and plunged the stake into the vampire's heart.
Not waiting for the vamp to turn into dust, Xander had already turned around and walked to Buffy.
Giles and Cordelia in the meantime were checking on Willow.
Xander kneeled beside her and slapped her face, almost in the same manner Faith did only a few days ago.
"Hey Buffy, time to wake up," Xander told her.
"Only five more minutes Mom," Buffy mumbled sleepily.
The situation was far from funny, but Xander couldn't help but smile at this scene.
"Summers," he called trying to sound exactly like the deceased principal Snyder. "If you won't wake up you are getting detention for the rest of the week."
Buffy's eyes immediately flew open, looking around afraid. When her memories finally caught up with her, she glared angrily at Xander.
"That wasn't funny Xander," she told him.
"That's your opinion," he told her with a smile. "I found it extremely funny."
Buffy rolled her eyes. "Whatever," she mumbled and held her hand out. Xander took it and pulled her up.
"God Buffy, you are really off your game," Xander told her worried. "That vamp nearly got you."
"Yeah, seems like my injuries still need a lot of healing." she mumbeled. "Well, tonight was the last 'real patrol'. Vamp activity gonna drop from now on, being summer and all."
"Yeah, gonna be slow from now on," Xander said, as they walked up to the rest of the group. Oz was already back on his feet.
"You okay Buffy," Giles asked worried.
"Yeah, vamp just took me by surprise, that's all," she replied.
"Well, I think we should head home," Giles proposed.
On the way Xander watched his friends closely. It was not just Buffy. They all looked exhausted from the events of the past months. The experience he gained from Halloween told him, that this is a dangerous thing if you are fighting a war. When he and Buffy reached the Summer's house he decided to do something about it.
"So we're all here," Buffy asked after the last of the scoobies had arrived at the Summers residence. "What's so important?"
Xander looked at the curious eyes that were all directed at him and sighed.
"I'm sending you all on vacation," he finally exclaimed.
The slayerettes looked at him with disbelief. "What?" They finally asked at the same time.
But Xander motioned them to quiet down. "Well, that's not the reaction I expected. But you heard right: I'm sending you on vacation on my account."
Buffy looked at everyone and then back at Xander. "Well, the idea sounds tempting Xander. But we can't really accept that. Not on your money."
Xander rolled his eyes at that. "Buffy, I stole the money, okay? The least thing I could do with it is giving my friends a good time for the summer. And admit it, you all need some time away from the hellmouth, to recharge your batteries. Last night was only the tip of the iceberg."
They considered that for a few seconds. "But who is going to guard the hellmouth," Willow finally asked.
"Me," Xander simply said.
"You? Aren't you coming with us?" Buffy asked disappointed.
Xander sighed before he answered. "Nope, sorry Buff. Not this time. Have the holiday already planned. No time for a vacation."
"No way we're going on holiday without you Xander," Buffy stated and crossed her arms over her chest.
"Hey Buffy, it's my choice," he said. "The whole me working for the dark side has roughed you all up. I was not that much affected, since I knew what I was getting into. But you all are exhausted and pumped out. Sooner or later one of you is going to make a mistake and if that happens someone might die."
"Just take the vacation Buff," Xander said and looked her directly in the eyes. "Please, for me?"
Buffy rolled her eyes, but couldn't hide the smile that crept onto her face. "Okay, we're going."
"Fine, " Xander exclaimed cheeringly. "I hope you girls, including Joyce, and Oz have a good time. The G-man is also not coming with you, said something about not liking the Bahamas."
Most jaws in the room dropped. "The Bahamas?"
"Yep. All inclusive," Xander said and looked at his watch. "Now hurry up and pack your things. Your plane leaves this afternoon."
That statement caused a lot of movement in the living room. Cordelia, Willow and Oz left the house, going to their respective homes to prepare themselves for the vacation.
Buffy also walked out of the living room, but stopped in the doorway.
"One day you have to tell me exactly how much money you stole from the Mayor," Buffy told him over her shoulder.
"You would be surprised," Xander told her with a smile, before Buffy walked up the stairs.
When finally all the Scoobies were ready for their vacation, Xander and Joyce drove the group to the airport. They both parked their vehicle's in the airports parking lot and hurried inside to catch their plane, since they had only ten minutes left.
They were calling the last passengers for their flight when they finally reached the terminal. Xander quickly hugged each of the girls and shook Oz's hand.
"Remember guys: Have fun," he told them with a smile.
"I still think it's not fair that you aren't coming with us Xander," Buffy pouted.
"Next time Buffy," Xander told her. "Promise."
Buffy sighed. "Well, good luck guarding the hellmouth. You will need it," Buffy told him and kissed him on the cheek.
Xander blushed but was able to keep a straight face. "I will be okay. Enjoy your holiday, you deserve it."
The last call for their flight came over the speaker and the Scoobies left for their plane. Giles and Xander waved after them until they were out of sight.
Then they slowly walked through the big hall, searching for the nearest exit. Xander rubbed the cheek Buffy had kissed, wondering if some of the things Angel had said might be true.
"Are you going to tell me what's so important that you stay here in Sunnydale?" Giles asked him after five minutes.
"You'll see," Xander told him with a grin. Suddenly he stopped in his tracks. "Wait a second I forgot something," he said and turned around. He ran to the letter box they just passed. Xander took a large envelope from his jacket and put it into the letter box.
"What was that?" Giles asked him when he returned.
"Just ruining a reputation," Xander told him with an evil smile.
They continued their walk until they reached the exit. They went trough the door and moved into the direction of the parking lots.
"Giles," Xander started, "I have two questions for you."
"So ask them," Giles told him.
"Are you any good with sword fighting?" he asked the watcher.
"Yes, why?" Giles asked back.
"Well, I got a little present from the Mayor and I thought you might teach me how to use it," Xander explained.
"Sure, why not." Giles responded. Meanwhile they had reached Xanders SUV. Xander opened the doors. "And the other question?"
"Do you think I might have any chance with Buffy?" Xander asked him with a straight face and stepped into he car.
Giles was still standing at the passengers door, looking at the spot Xander stood before with confusion.
"What?" he finally asked.
When the plane finally started, Cordelia took a folder out of her bag.
"What's this?" Buffy asked from the seat beside her.
"I don't know," she admitted. "Xander gave it to me in the car. He said I should open it once we are in the air."
Cordelia opened the folder and took the various sheets of paper out of it. She quickly scanned through the front page and gasped.
"Oh my God," Cordelia muttered with disbelief.
"What?" Buffy asked again and took the sheet out of Cordelia's shaking hands. "Dear Miss Chase," she read out loud. "We are happy to inform you that you have been accepted to attend the University of Los Angeles. Your complete education has been paid in advance. On the following pages you will find all the necessary information."
Oz, Willow and Joyce looked over their seats and listened to Buffy reading the letter loud.
"Cordy, he paid the complete college fees," Buffy stated with shock.
"That's great," Willow joined in.
"UCLA accepted me, but I didn't have enough money," Cordelia said to no one in particular. She then looked at the others. "He paid for my complete education."
"Yes, he did," Joyce said and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. Cordelia looked at the smiling faces of her friends and finally smiled, realising that her future didn't look that unsure anymore.
A few seconds later a hysterical shout of joy could be heard though the plane.
The two policemen that guarded the remains of Sunnydale High were engaged in a conversation over the most discussed topic in town,
"So, there wasn't really a gas leak?" the first policeman asked.
"No. The FBI said that someone spiked the entire library with explosives. And now comes the interesting part. It seems that those were the same kind of explosives that were used to blow up City hall," his colleague told him.
"No way," the policeman exclaimed. "Do they have any idea who is responsible for this?"
"Well, I talked to one of the agents and he said that they got an anonymous letter. He said that it contained enough compromising material to put the Mayor into jail for the next three hundred years," the officer told him. "Looks like Mr. Wilkins not only controlled the crime here in Sunnydale, he also had contacts to criminal organisations in Los Angeles and southern California."
"I knew that there was something odd going on at City Hall, but I never thought of something like that."
"And the FBI thinks that some kind of rival organisation is responsible for the attacks. They want to publish their final report in a week or so," the policeman said.
"Can't wait to read it," the sergeant said with smile. Suddenly he heard something behind him. "Hello?" he asked.
"Good evening Gentlemen," the middle aged woman that appeared from the shadows greeted them. She was accompanied by another older man and a young man that looked like he was in his early twenties. "We are here to take some samples from the building."
"I thought you FBI guys were finished with the high school?" the police officer asked after the threesome showed them their badges.
"Yes, but there are some details that have to be rechecked," the woman explained. "Can we pass?"
"Of course," the policeman said and stepped aside.
The three walked into the high school and went directly to the library. They immediately started to examine the room.
"Our agent at the FBI was right," the older man said as he examined a piece of flesh that once was part of the giant snake the Mayor turned into. "Something supernatural happened here."
"Yes," the older woman agreed with him "Definitely subterrestrial activity. What has the CIA got on this City?" she asked the younger man.
"For a city this size it has an extraordinarily large disappearance rate," the man read from one of his folders. "Most are listed under runaways, so no one got suspicious."
"Do you think we found it?" the older man asked.
"I don't know," the woman admitted. "But I think it is our best chance so far. We have do a lot of research on the place and send some agents to clarify our data."
She looked at her companions with a predatory smile. "But I think we found the Hellmouth," Professor Maggie Walsh finally declared.