The Kawasaki Ninja slowed to a stop in front of the Sunnydale High School building. A man with brown/blonde hair slowly stepped off the bike and dialed a number on his cell phone.
"Hey Pete." The man said into the phone in a shallow voice.
"You there?" The man ,Pete, on the other side of the line asked with a caring voice. The man who stood beside his bike smiled slightly and nodded to himself.
"I'm here Pete. Although. I really don't want to be. He hasn't seen me in ten years." Pete sighed and seemed in thought as the man beside the bike began to pace.
"I'm sure it will work out. Besides if Murdock is out there you need to protect him." The man sighed and looked toward the sky.
"That doesn't make it any easier. I gotta go Pete. I need to see him." The man began walking toward the school slowly the cell phone still held against his ear as he listened to his friend.
"Trust me Mac. Everything will work out. With you it always does." Macgyver reached the doors of Sunnydale High.
"Bye Pete." Mac said as he opened the door and closed his phone.
"Now or never." He said to himself as he took his first steps into the highschool.
Xander, Buffy, Willow, and Oz walked into the library. Willow and Buffy were laughing at something Xander was saying and even Oz had a small smile on his face.
"So I look right in the vamps eyes and say...Shit." Xander seemed to hesitate between his words. Buffy looked at her friend with a small smile only to see that he was looking at someone in the middle of the room. The look on Xander's face was a mixture of hatred and shock.
"Hey Xander." Macgyver said as he stood from the table. Xander immediatly stood straighter and looked the man in the eyes.
"Hi Angus." Mac winced as he heard his first name, he hated that name. But what he was worried about was the look in Xander's eyes. He didn't want this.
"How have you been?" Mac asked trying to start a conversation. Then maybe start something more.
"Ah You know. Oh wait. You don't. Well I've been doing the usual." The malice in Xander's voice wasn't veiled in the least. Everyone in the library heard the anger in his words.
"Xander. Look I know I haven't been the best father. I.." Xander held up his hand to signal Mac to shut his mouth.
"No. You haven't been a father. And I don't need one. Get out of Sunnydale." Xander turned to leave. He heard the approaching footsteps behind him and felt Mac's hand on his left shoulder. Xander turned quickly pushing the hand off his shoulder with his left forearm then hitting Mac in the jaw with his right fist. Mac fell to the floor like a ton of bricks, his jaw already becomeing discolored.
"Stay away from me." Xander growled out through clenched teeth then turned and walked past a very shocked and confused looking Cordelia.
"Okay. What just happened?" The brunette asked the room. All of whom just blinked. Mac stood up massaging his jaw.
"Kid hits like Mike Tyson."
Xander sat in his 'workshop' as he liked to call it. Truthfully it was a shed in his backyard. He looked around the room with thoughts flying through his brain. He created weapons. No one knew it yet. He had made so many things that could save Buffy's life that he thought of himself as an armorer. But, he hadn't mentioned any of these tools to anyone. This was his thing. His hobby. The only thing that was truly his. Xander took off his hawaiian overshirt and began to work. He turned on his Millermatic wire welder as he walked through the shed and began to gather materials. The frame in the center of the room looked like a large dune buggy with a few accessories. He kneeled down next to the frame.
Buffy and Macgyver walked into Xander's backyard. His foster 'father' had drunkenly said he was there and had told Mac to take the little bastard home. It took all of Buffy and Mac's willpower not to kill the man. The two people stood outside the shed and looked at the door with trepidation.
"Think he'll just open it if we knock?" Buffy asked carefully. Macgyver shook his head slowly before pulling a set of lock-picks from his back pocket and kneeling in front of the door.
"This might take thirty seconds." Buffy looked at Mac in shock as the man began to pick the lock by racking the picks across the tumblers. He stood after about 15 seconds and smiled.
"That should do it." He said more to himself than to Buffy. Then he turned the door knob and he and Buffy walked in together.
"All you had to do was knock." Xander said without looking up from his wielding. Buffy smiled at Mac slightly and Mac rolled his eyes.
"I need to talk to you Xander." Xander stopped welding and pulled up the helmet. Looking outside he noticed it was getting dark.
"I'll talk to you tomorrow. Now I have things to do." Xander stood and moved to a bench picking up a pistol crossbow and a bag of small aluminum crossbow bolts. The ends seemed to be flat but Buffy couldn't tell from her position.
"Well then i'll go with you." Mac said as he began to follow Xander out the door. Xander simply shrugged as an answer and kept walking. Finally he spoke over his shoulder.
"Fine. Maybe you should know what i've been doing the past couple years." Xander walked away followed by Mac. Buffy however took a second to look around the workshop.
"Xander has alot of explaining to do." Buffy said to herself as she shut the door and followed the retreating figures of Xander Harris and Angus Macgyver.
"What's with the arrows Xand?" Buffy asked as she, Xander, and Mac walked through a cemetery. One of Sunnydales many. Xander shrugged at the question before pulling one out of the sling like carrying case and handing it to Buffy.
"Nothin much Buff. But if they work I can dust vamps alot quicker." Mac looked up in shock.
"Vamps? You mean Vampires? Kid are you crazy?" Xander only shrugged as answer.
"Depends on who you ask." Buffy said before tensing up. Xander aimed the Pistol Crossbow into the darkness and lowered it when Angel came into the moonlight.
"Hiya Deadboy. Mind making a little noise next time?" Angel looked at Xander with a frown before moving toward Buffy. Mac caught the hurt look on Xander's face as Buffy kissed Angel hello.
"Xander and I will go this way. I need to talk to him anyway." Mac said and began walking away from the group. Buffy looked at Xander skepticly before seeing Xander shrug and move to follow his long lost father.
"Be careful Xand!" Buffy yelled as Xander and Mac vanished from sight.
Xander and Mac saw the three Vampires walking below them as they stood on a hill. Xander raised the pistol crossbow and took aim on the middle vamp.
"I'll take out the middle one then we might have to go hand to hand." Mac wasn't going to let Xander shoot but before he could stop him Xander pulled the trigger and the bolt flew from the crossbow at high speed. Time seemed to slow for Mac as he watched the crossbow bolt hit the middle vampire in the back of the head a split second before it exploded and the vamp turned to dust.
"What the hell?!!" Mac yelled in suprise and fear. Xander had tossed the bow aside seeing that the vamps were to close to shoot now. The shrapnel from the exploding arrow alone would scar a normal human. A stake fell from each of Xander's sleeves into his open palms as he jumped toward the approaching vampires. He dusted the one on his left quickly but the vamp on his right blindsided him with a right hook that knocked Xander back a few feet. Xander quickly turned his backward momentum into a spinning side kick that caught the vamp in the chin before the stake sticking out of his sleeve shot toward the vampire stabbing it in the heart. The vamp looked at him in shock before crumbling to dust.
"What just happened?" Mac asked as he blinked in shock. Xander moved to his bag and pulled another stake slipping it into the contraption on his wrist.
"Vampires. Thats all i'm going to say. Talk to Giles if you have questions." Xander turned as two figures ran toward them. He stood ready to fight until he noticed it was Buffy and Angel.
"What happened?" Buffy asked looking at Xander. Xander shrugged as he picked up his stuff.
"A vamp. Gave us a run for our money huh Mac? Don't worry Buff. We got him." Buffy looked at him then at some dust on the ground.
"What was the explosion?" Angel asked as he noticed at least one more pile of dust. Xander shrugged with a stupid grin on his face that Angel didn't buy.
"I don't know. I thought it came from over there." Xander said pointing down the slope farther east of there position. Buffy and Angel both looked at Mac skeptically. Macgyver simply shrugged. He didn't know why but Xander obviously didn't want anyone to know what he had just done. Buffy and Angel nodded and Angel moved to walk toward the crypts.
"Go on home Xander. I don't want you to get hurt." Mac almost laughed at the expression on the slayers face. She really didn't know. Mac decided to test something.
"Okay. I get that there Vampires. I do. But exactly how strong are these things?" Before Buffy could answer Xander spoke up and began walking.
"I guess there strong enough to make it seem like a normal human isn't good enough. Night Buff." Xander walked away leaving a confused and worried looking Buffy. Mac frowns at her before turning and following Xander.
"I'll keep an eye on him." Mac says as he follows Xander into the darkness of the night. Buffy watched until Xander's form disappears. Then, she follows Angel to the crypts.
"Why didn't you say anything?" Mac asked his estranged son as the two walk toward another cemetery. Xander turns to face his father and looks in thought.
"It doesn't matter. They can think I'm helpless all they want. Sure, it pisses me off but I KNOW there wrong. I've saved as many lives as Buffy and Deadboy." Mac smiles at his son and nods. Then the two begin walking again. A comfortable silence falls between them as they enter the cemetery.
"I guess we're not going home." Mac says with laughter in his voice. Xander smiles a sad smile.
"Not sure if I have a home." Mac frowns, not at his son, but more so to himself. For what seemed like the thousandth time that day. He hated himself.
"Xander I'm...." Xander held up his hand to cut Mac off in mid- sentence.
"Later. Right now we hunt."
Buffy didn't know what the explosion was but her mind kept moving back to the pistol crossbow bolts Xander was carrying. They hadn't heard anymore explosions so far that night so she was pretty sure that Xander went home. Angel watched Buffy from the corner of his eye.
"What's wrong Buffy?" The ensouled vampire asked with compassion as the two walked through the darkened crypts of Hillman Cemetery. Buffy looked in deep thought before answering.
"I'm worried about Xander." Angel looked in thought for a second. Finally he began to talk.
"You don't have to worry about Xander. He's one of the strongest people I've met." Buffy looked at Angel with raised eyebrows.
"You just complemented Xander." Buffy said in a disbelieving voice. Angel only shrugged and stayed silent. The duo walked through the cemetery. Buffy had somethings to think about.
Xander walked Mac into the motel parking lot before turning and walking toward home.
"I can get you a room if you want." Mac said only to have Xander shake his head.
"No. I'll be fine. Bye." Mac wanted to say something else but Xander seemed to vanish into the night. Mac shook his head as he turned around and walked toward his motel.
"I really screwed up."
Xander stepped into his 'workshop' and took his weapons and gear off. The inside of his jacket was lined with pouches to store crosses, holy water, and stakes. Unable to see to anyone who didn't open the jacket. Xander thought about turning on his welder and working on his 'slayer mobile' project but decided to just sit on the cot in the corner and think. He had alot to think about. His dad was back. At least for a little while. And a part of Xander was overjoyed at the fact. But, the bigger part of Xander wanted to knock Macgyvers head off his shoulders. Xander lit a cigerette while he looked into the darkness.
"Why me?" He asked the empty room and began to pace.
"Huh? Come on. ANSWER ME!!" Xander yelled out as he kicked the wall of the shed over and over.
"I've asked that question alot." A voice behind him said causing him to spin around and fall into a loose fighting stance. Buffy stared at him for a second before Xander sighed and relaxed as he put his cigarette out.
"Since when do you smoke?" Buffy asked as Xander moved toward his cot and sat down.
"Couple weeks. What are you doin here Buff?" Buffy seemed taken back by the words and thought for a second before answering.
"I'm your friend. Can't I just stop by?" Xander seemed to not hear her. Finally he answered.
"Sure you can. You just never have before." He answered to which see kind of lowered her head.
"I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I mean with your dad...."
"Mac. He's not my dad. He never earned the title." Buffy only nodded with Xander's words.
"At least your father didn't lose the title." Buffy said while thinking of Hank Summers. Xander looked at her and patted the cot beside him. She moved over and sat down leaning slightly on Xander.
"Some pair we make huh? But your mom is enough of a parent for all of us. At least I hope she is since I consider her a surrogate mother." Xander said with a smile on his face that made Buffy laugh.
"I guess I am lucky." Buffy said with a smile on her face as she looked directly at Xander.
"Yeah. And you might want to get home so your mom doesn't freak. Being that she doesn't know about the slayer package and all." Buffy nodded and then shook her head.
"Nah. Willow knows the drill if mom calls. Think we could just sit and talk?" Xander smiled and put his arm around her in a friendly gesture.
"Sure slayer of my heart. What's on your little mind?" Buffy slitted her eyes and looked at Xander.
"Was that an insult?" Xander wisely kept his mouth shut.
"Ah. How sweet..." A voice said from the now open doorway. Xander and Buffy jumped to there feet but stopped short as they saw the metallic gleam of a pistol in the figures hand.
"Time to take a ride."
Mac opened his door on the third knock to see Rupert Giles standing there.
"We need to talk." Said Giles as he walked into the room uninvited.
"By all means come in." Mac said as he motioned toward a set of chairs by a small table in the corner of his room. Giles didn't answer the man until he turned to look at him.
"I should hit you." Mac seemed taken back by the british watchers words but didn't have a chance to argue.
"I should take you outside and beat the living hell out of you. What you did to that young man is nearly unforgivible." Giles said in his watcher tone that showed no weakness.
"I know." Were the only words from Macgyvers' mouth as he stared at the watcher. Giles seemed to be in deep thought about something. Finally he answered.
"There are two ways you can handle this and not piss me off. One. You stay and become Xander's father like you were supposed to seventeen years ago. Or you leave right now and never come back." Mac was about to answer when the motel phone rang. With a sigh he looked at Giles and picked up the phone.
"Macgyver." He said into the reciever of the phone with a careless tone.
"Ah Macgyver. So good to hear your voice my old friend." Mac froze. Giles noticed the slightly worried look on his face.
"Murdock. How ya been?" Murdock didn't answer the question.
"I have some guest you might be intrested in." Mac's hand clenched the phone in his hand. His knuckles turning white as he spoke.
"If you hurt them....." Murdocks laugh cut off his threat.
"Meet me at Sunnydale Construction at noon tomorrow." A click was heard on the line.
"Damnit!" Mac screamed as he slammed the phone on its cradle.
"He has Xander." He said more to himself than to the englishman by the door.
"Who?" Giles asked in a very seething tone. This was going to get messy.
Xander and Buffy looked around the dusty barn the duo had been placed in.
"Great. Now what?" Buffy asked as she thought of kicking down the large door at the front of the barn. Xander sighed and knew what she was thinking.
"He has a gun Buff. You wouldn't make it twenty feet." Buffy sighed and sat down on the fender of a old and dusty ford pickup.
"So what do we do?" The slayer asked open to any suggestions the young man trapped with her could provide. Xander sighed and began to talk more to himself than to Buffy.
"I could hotwire the truck but it has two flat tires. I COULD use the air compressor in the corner IF we had electicity." Buffy looked at her friend.
"You can hotwire a car?"
"Can't you?" Xander asked while still in thought. Buffy didn't bother to answer the question. Xander looked in thought for a second.
"Lets see if the truck will start." Xander said as he walked around the barn.
"Look for a piece of wire, about three feet long." Buffy nodded without a word and immediatly sat at finding the wire. Cander walked to the truck and popped the hood.
"Found it." Buffy yelled as she ran and handed the wire to Xander. It was a section of heavy gauge speaker wire. Xander stripped both ends and began to talk to himself again.
"Now is it the positive side of the battery to the positive side of the coil?" He asked himself before answering his own question.
"Ah. Process of elimination." His careless tone made Buffy's eyes widen in disbelief.
"Thin piece of metal." Xander told her from under the hood and Buffy ran to find something. Anything.
"Um. Xander?" Buffy's voice drifted to him causing him to pull from under the hood his job complete for the moment.
"Yeah." He asked as he moved toward her only to see the answer. Red digital numbers counting down from ten minutes.
"Shit." They both muttered before Xander jumped in command.
"Pull the hose off the air compressor and bring it to me." He said as he picked up a bolt from the ground and ran to the front of the truck bumping the vehicle over. After two tries the truck caught and started.
"About time we got a break." Xander said to himself as Buffy brought him the hose. Xander began to talk to himself again.
"Okay this should work. First disconnect the front hoses of the A/C compressor. Then, put the air hose on this one." Xander ran to the back tire of the truck and pushed the nozzle onto the tire air valve. Both he and Buffy heard the hiss of air.
"This day isn't so bad after all." Buffy said as she watched the tire take air. Xander hit the tire with his hand to check the pressure.
"If it has a leak it's a slow one. Hope we get as lucky with the other one." Buffy crossed her fingers as Xander moved on to the other back tire and began to air it up as well. It aired up but did have a slow leak. Xander noticed earlier that there was no spare tire with the truck so he simply rolled up the hose and put it in the cab of the truck. Better safe than sorry.
"I'll drive." Buffy said and began to walk toward the driver side of the door only to be cut off by Xander.
"I don't want all this work to be for nothing Buffy. Get in." Buffy glared at him but did as he said. As he sat on the bench seat and shut the door he smiled.
"We're outta here." He put the truck in drive and flew threw the wooden front door of the barn. Free. Less than two minutes later the bomb in the barn exploded.
"Murdock?" Mac asked as he and Giles walked into the storing yard of Sunnydale Construction. Both men were cautious and neither were armed with more than a pocket knife. They needed to be careful.
"Murdock?" Mac asked again in a shorter and more annoyed voice. The lights suddenly came on glaring down on the two men as they stood in the vast opening surrounded by machinery. A voice spoke to them from somewhere above.
"Ah MacGyver, and you brought a friend. Welcome friend."
"Cut the chat Murdock. Where are they?" Mac asked his voice holding back his rage and fear.
"Who do you mean Macgyver... Could you mean the young man you call son? Or the blonde girl that's called Slayer?"
"If you hurt them..." Mac let the statement wonder on. Giles only nodded in agreement his Ripper side thinking of the horrible things that would happen to the assassin.
"Well Macgyver and friend, I'm afraid your little friends have met with an.... Unfortunate and untimely end."
"You see the place i was keeping them had a sudden.. well, it's no longer standing. And everything in it is no longer breathing. I'm sorry for you loss."
"I'll kill you you bullock!!" Giles screamed and started forward only to stop short as a steel cage fell over himself and Macgyver. Normally MacGyver would say something witty. Normally he would smile at the challenge and get to work. This wasn't the normal situation.
"I'm going to kill you Murdock." Mac said in an icy voice that sent a chill down the assassins back.
"Aw well well well, if it isn't MacGyver Jr." Murdock said with a large smile on his scarred face. Xander looked at him grimly as he and Buffy stood in MacGuyvers' hotel room.
"Where is he?" Xander asked with venom and malicious intent in his voice. Murdock was slightly impressed with the way the young man was handling himself.
"Don't you mean they??" Murdock asked with a smirk before continuing," MacGyver and Mr. Giles are fine at the moment, and will continue to be healthy if you do ask I say. Understand?"
"I'm going to kill you." Xander said as he looked the assassin in the eyes.
"I'm sure you will try. Now are you going to do as I say?"
"I don't have a choice." Xander said with no emotion in his voice.
"True. You don't."
"Why do you want Xander?" Buffy asked with anger and fear in her voice. Murdock laughed slightly before his smile again took full shape.
"I may be the worlds greatest assassin but for what I have planned I need a MacGyver. He'll have to do."
"Tell me. She stays out of this." Xander said as he took a step away from Buffy who looked at him in shock.
"Sorry boy, the slayer is as much a part of this as you." Murdock said with a matter of fact tone that only infuriated Xander more.
"Here's what your going to do for me kid...."
"I have to involve Wills in this..." Xander said with defeat in his voice. Buffy put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed lightly for reassurance.
"If we kept her out of it and she found out..... It wouldn't be pretty Xand."
"That's true." Xander said with only a little humor in his voice.
"What do you need me to do to help?" Buffy asked quietly. Xander was in charge here, it was his area.
"I need you to tell Wills to try and hack into the building plans for Pheonix Dental. It's the four story office building on the outskirts of Sunnydale."
"No problem." Buffy said as she started to stand and move from the bed the two were sitting on.
"Tell her to find out all she can about the security system. I'll do the rest." Xander stated as he to stood and the two left the hotel room. Neither noticing how they were holding hands.
"You can't be serious?!!" Willow half asked half demanded as she looked at both Xander and Buffy. Oz sat off to the side of the trio looking at his girlfriend with curiousity.
"We don't have a choice Wills." Xander stated with a low voice that none of the rooms occupants were used to.
"Do you even have a plan?" Willow asked resigned as she moved toward her computer.
"I know what I need to make a plan. Does that count?"
"It'll have to do." Willow said as she started typing. Xander, Buffy, and Oz just sat back and waited for the information. After a moment Xander stood to leave.
"Where are you going?" Buffy asked as Xander put his jacket back on.
"We're going to need transportation. I think two or three different cars in key places. I need this to go as smoothly as possible."
"Hold up man. I'll go with." Oz said as he stood and walked over to Willow kissing her goodbye. Oz turned and fell into step beside Xander as the two young men walked toward the double doors of the library.
"We need to stop by my workshop first. Then, we take a non romantic nightly stroll."
"How do you know how to make a slim jim?" Oz asked as Xander popped the lock on a 1997 Ford Tauras and sat behind the wheel.
"When I was about thirteen I needed to take my foster fathers car. Well, I wanted to anyway, and I was way to scared to steal his keys from his coat. So I went to the salvage yard and found a door off a car the exact same make and model as his."
"With you so far." Oz said as he sat in the passenger side of the car. Xander opened the duffel bag he had sat beside him and put the slim jim inside. Then he pulled a small cordless drill and a slide hammer from the bag.
"So I cut the door open and took the measurements of the locking mechanism. All it took was a few modifications to make it work for almost all vehicles." Xander finished as he began to drill the ignition of the car for a moment. He then put the drill down and used the slide hammer to rip the ignition out of the car. He grabbed a flat headed screw driver from his bag and used it to start the car.
"And voila." Xander said as he put the car in gear and drove slowly toward there target. Pheonix Dental. AKA Pheonix Foundations computer research department.
"Why did you want to take his car?" Oz asked breaking Xander out of thoughts of what was ahead.
"I wanted to find Mac."
The car fell into silence.
The iron bars stayed around the duo as the vampires and demons watched with half interest.
"I didn't want to leave him." Mac stated as he looked for a way out. Any way.
"Excuse me?" Giles asked not understanding the statement.
"Xander. I didn't want to leave him."
"Then why did you?" Rupert Giles asked with not only curiosity but what sounded like anger.
"His mother, Jessica. When I found out about Xander I came here, actually lived her for a little over two months." Mac stopped looking for an escape route and looked directly at Rupert Giles.
"I wanted to be with my son Mr. Giles. After a few weeks of being with him whenever possible Jessica's husband began to act like he cared about Xander. He told Jessica that having two father figures might confuse Xander. So... I fought for Xander, in court, but I was a single male with no real job. I didn't have a chance."
"Does Xander know this?" Giles asked with a different tone of voice than before. A softer voice.
"I thought he did. But, I'm not so sure anymore."
"I'm sure he still cares." Was all Giles could say as he to surveyed there surroundings. Praying that he was right.
Xander stood behind Willow as the young red head punched the keys of her laptop with efficiency.
"Phoenix Dental," Willow started," Is exactly what you thought it was Xander, a cover company. The real company is Phoenix Foundation. A semi-government agency that's been rumored to be tied to all sorts of underground activity."
"Great, just what we need." Xander said with a sigh in his voice.
"Can you get me the security plans?" He asked the red head with little hope in his voice.
"Yeah, it'll take me a while though."
"Just do it as fast as possible Willow, no pressure." Xander said as he stood and moved to leave the library.
"Where are you going?" Willow asked never looking up from the laptop screen.
"To get another helper." Before Willow could voice more questions Xander left the safety of the library and walked into the halls of Sunnydale High. The sun was just rising as he stepped out the front exit and walked down the street toward his last remaining ally.
"Xander??" Angel asked as he opened his apartment door and stepped back allowing the young man into his domain.
"Heya Dea.. Angel." Xander said with serious hesitation on the ensouled vampires name. Angel quickly knew something was wrong.
"Is Buffy okay?" Angel asked quickly.
"Yes physically. But, Giles, um, he's been taken." Xander said as he sat down on the couch of Angels' sparsely furnished apartment.
"Vamp or Demon?"
"Human." Xander answered causing Angel to do a double take.
"And said human wants me to do a job. If I do the job we get Giles and Mac back."
"You don't even have to ask." Angel said as he put on his long duster.
"Thanks Angel. But don't think that I'm not going to call you deadboy anymore." Xander added the last sentence with humor. Angel glared at Xander humorously.
"Wouldn't dream of it." The two walked from the apartment. Xander filling Angel in on the plan.
"So you think Willow is powerful enough to do that?" Angel asked with consideration in his voice.
"Only the two of us. Buffy, Wills, and Oz will each be placed in a separate cars for our get-away." Xander stated as the two walked down the darkened streets of Sunnydale.
"Buffy's not going to like that." Angel stated with a worried frown.
"Doesn't matter. IF we get caught I don't want any of my friends to be caught. No offense Angel but I doubt they'd be able to stop you if you wanted to leave. This way Only I am in danger of getting arrested."
"You've thought about this a lot haven't you?" Angel asked with curiosity.
"Not really, I think on my feet mostly. Me being the one in the most danger seemed to fit." Xander stated with a smile that made Angel chuckle slightly.
"Figures." Angel was about to speak again but suddenly tensed. Xander put his hand into his jacket but didn't pull his weapon out.
"How many?"
"Three or four I think. Maybe more."
"Okay," Xander stated as he saw four vampires walk out of the darkness to stand in front of the duo. As the vamps stood in there path Xander slid his hand from the inside of his jacket. A pistol in his hands. Angel looked at the weapon from the corner of his eye and noticed the wooded arrow sticking out of the barrel. Before Angel could voice a question Xander pulled the trigger and a vamp screamed before turning to dust. Angel didn't hesitate as he jumped forward into a fight with two of the remaining three. Xander dropped the pistol as the third vamp ran toward him. Xander ducked as the vamp through a powerful right, he kicked out with his right foot hitting the vampire in the back of the knee. As the vamp fell Xander pressured the button in the sleeve of his jacket and a stake fell into his cupped palm. A strike later the vampire was dust. Xander turned to see Angel fighting the last vamp, the dust still settling from Angels first opponent. Xander smiled and moved to pick his pistol up. As he bent down he heard the familiar sound of a vamp dusting and Angel ran over to him.
"What the hell was that?" Angel asked looking at the pistol Xander carried carefully.
"A gun." Xander stated with a smile on his face. The young man ejected the clip in the Berretta and pulled a cartridge from his jacket pocket. Angel noticed that there was no shell, only the primer.
"Okay. That's new."
"You'd be surprised." Xander said as he reached into his jacket and pulled a small arrow bolt from one of his interior pockets. He slid the bolt into the barrel of the gun and slid the gun into a custom made shoulder holster.
"The primer ignites a very light load of gun powder which pushes the bolt from the barrel at a fairly high speed. Around 800 feet per second I think. Maybe a little faster." Xander stated as the two began to walk down the deserted streets again.
"I've changed my mind about you Xander. You are dangerous." The vampire with a soul stated with a serious expression. Xander smiled at the vampire with an humorous, but dangerous, grin.
"Don't you forget it Deadboy."
As Xander and Angel entered the Library Willow ran over and handed Xander over a dozen pages of computer paper.
"The layout?" Xander asked as he looked at the top page.
"Yep. The complete layout, floor by floor, the numbers on the page are the security. 1 is camera, 2 is motion, 3 well the legend is on the last page." Willow said all with a smile on her face.
"This is great! Good job Wills." Xander said as he hugged his red headed friend.
"Maybe we should do this for a living." Xander said with a note of actual thinking. Willow hit him on the arm.
"I'm Kidding. Sorta." Xander said. Before he could elaborate he moved toward the center table and laid all the pages out.
"Deadboy, you're going to have to know these to. Wanna be my study buddy?" Xander was smiling, Angel was cursing under his breath. Buffy walked from another spot in the library and looked at Xander before voicing her question.
"Shouldn't I know these too?"
"Um.. No Buff, Angel and I are the only ones going in. You, Oz, and Willow will each wait at one of the three getaway cars."
"No." Buffy stated with certainty.
"Look Buff, I know you wanna be in there with me. But, you can't be. I need willow to cast a spell that will cover me in Angel's vampire aura. That way I can not be seen by cameras. Willows not strong enough to do that to the three of us." Xander said using reason against the slayer.
"Fine, you stay at a car then."
"What?," Xander asked in a high voice," Buff I have to be inside. First of all I know more about the place than you do, and I know more about Security than you do."
"Xander I don't want anything to happen to you." Buffy said with pure emotion. Angel slightly grimaced at her voice but it went unnoticed.
"I'll be fine. Besides I got your undead boyfriend as a bodyguard." Xander said pointing at the now sitting Angel who is beginning to go over the layout of Phoenix Delta. Buffy looked at Angel and the two locked eyes. The slayers slightly worried and Angels seemed slightly saddened. Then the Vampire with a soul nodded and smiled at Buffy. The slayer smiled and began to walk away.
"Oh, get Oz and Willow over here. I need to describe what we're going to do with the cars." Buffy nodded and went to the computer table across the library to get Willow and Oz.
"What was the staring about?" Xander asked Angel in a very low voice. Angel looked at Xander for a second.
"Mutual understanding." Was all the vampire would say on the subject. Xander looked at him confused but shrugged it off as Willow, Oz, and Buffy walked back over and sat on the opposite side of the table.