The First, the source of all evil was on the brink of defeat, and tried desperately to think of what to do to keep disaster at bay.
But it was too late; the Slayer and the Slayerettes and the Slayers-in-training finally took down the ultimate Big Bad, of all possible Big Bads.
And as it was vanquished, the First focused on the two people it considered most responsible for its downfall; the witch Willow Rosenberg, and amazingly enough, the "normal guy" Alexander Lavelle Harris.
With its last remnant of strength, the First Evil let out a howl of pain, rage and death - that these two must die.
This supernatural cry echoed throughout the space-time continuum, and a few psychics at various times and various places in history picked up on it. The message was wild, distorted - almost incomprehensible...
During 1200 BC, a woman named Cassandra foresaw the death and destruction of Troy when the First Evil's tantrum invaded her thoughts.
In 64 AD, a seer wrote that part of the Bible known as the Book of Revelations, when bombarded with images of hate and destruction.
Only in 1998 however, did the vampiress named Drusilla perceive the information for what it truly was...
It was while she stood near the stone demon called Acathla that Dru received her orders - from that which had created all the legions of darkness, since before the beginning of human history.
The vampire Slayer of that time, one Buffy Summers started to challenge the Master vampire named Angelus - who was the one planning to destroy the world that year. "Hello, lover."
Angelus looked bored. "I don't have time for you."
Buffy was incensed, as she glared at this soulless version of her former boyfriend. "You don't have a lot of time left."
The dark-haired vampire looked amused, more than anything else. "Coming on kind of strong, don't you think? You're playing some deep odds here. Do you really think you can take us all on?"
The Slayer said simply, "No. I don't."
At this point, the bleached-blonde vampire named Spike (who was pretending to be a cripple) would have gotten up from his wheelchair, and started venting his fury on his grandsire. But before he could do so Drusilla screamed, as the First Evil's message hit her full-force.
An eyeblink later, she had grabbed Spike's handiron and hit her sire on the back of the head, knocking him out cold.
Spike got up and said to his maker in his Cockney accent, "What's goin' on, luv? Not that I'm complaining, o' course..."
Drusilla started on her typical nonsense babble, ignoring the fact that Spike had just miraculously gotten up. "Death comes on bright and fast wings, it does. Daddy won't be Daddy no more, the Angel-beast will be back..."
Buffy's eyes went wide at this. < The soul curse? Willow must have decided to retry it! Okay, I just gotta delay things until I get the real Angel back to help me... >
Dru in the meantime had kept talking, "But then he'll go away. Far away, to the other side of the world, all unhappy. And the First is the First is the First, angry and shouting and wanting the two others to die..."
Spike just shrugged, and turning around said, "A deal's a deal, Slayer, so - see ya..." He then grabbed Drusilla and ran. Soon his '59 Dodge Desoto roared away from the mansion on Crawford Street, with the two undead creatures safely hidden inside from the lethal effects of the sun.
Buffy in the meantime fought the leftover vamp minions loyal to Angelus, and quickly staked them. Once they were dust, the girl turned her attention to the unconscious demon on the floor.
Trying not to get her hopes up unnecessarily, the Slayer placed Angelus in chains; then she waited for him to wake up - which he eventually did.
"What the-" the so-called Big Bad muttered, as he came to. Then he saw Buffy, and the chains he was bound by. Angelus quickly smirked at the Slayer, "Honestly, lover, if I'd have known you were into this sort of stuff...I mean the clothes are all wrong, but hey! I'm sure I can work on whatever fantasies you might have..."
Buffy didn't fall for his taunts as she squatted down on her knees, staying well out of reach. The blonde girl said simply, "Guess what, asshole? Seems that you're finally getting your soul back..."
Angelus lost the grin and became furious, and tried to lunge at her. "No way in Hell!!"
An evil smile came onto the Slayer's lips. "I actually heard that nutsack Drusilla say so, just before she and Spike abandoned you. Good help is so hard to find, huh?"
Angelus' fury reached incredible heights, twisting his vampiric features. "NEVER! I'll stake myself before I become that sniveling asswipe again! I'll-"
Then it happened; the Irish-born vamp's eyes glowed orange, as his human soul was restored to him.
Angel collapsed and groaned in agony, and then slowly raised himself back up. His eyes were heavy with tears of pain, as his face turned human and he looked into the blonde girl's soul. He said softly, "Buffy? What's going on? Where are we? I-I don't remember..."
Buffy could sense her beloved was back. "Angel?"
He nodded in confusion, and the Slayer burst into happy tears. Then they hugged, as she unlocked his manacles. Angel subsequently looked horrified, as the memories of the past few months came back. "Oh God, no...no...no..."
All Buffy was able to do was just hold him, and offer whatever feeble words of comfort she could.
Two days later, the girls called Buffy Summers, Willow Rosenberg and Cordelia Chase came out of the local teen hangout known as the Bronze, late at night. And a few minutes later, a dejected Xander Harris also came out and followed them.
The Slayer had been cleared of the bogus murder charges against her, after her friends had made their statements to the police about what had happened in the school library that day. And she had been staying at the house of her Watcher, Rupert Giles, after her mother had told her not to come back home if she left that night to stop the apocalypse.
After the soul restoration thing Angel had almost staked himself, but Buffy had somehow talked him out of it. In addition, Xander's lie - that Willow had said to kick Angel's ass, instead of she was going to do the ensouling spell - was found out, the day after the battle at the mansion.
Which never would have happened, if Buffy had sent Angel to Hell and split town like she'd been destined to do.
After the shouting died down...Xander's girlfriend Cordelia immediately dumped him, and the other two girls were similarly convinced he'd done it out of jealousy, and wanted nothing more to do with him.
And now, just to make his week complete, an anonymous bloodsucker suddenly attacked the boy. "HELP! BUFFY! VAMPIRE!" Xander yelled, as he fought for his life.
Fortunately the three women came running, and the Slayer quickly staked the evil demon. The male teenager started to say, "Thanks..." as Buffy checked him for bite marks.
"He'll be alright," was all that the blonde girl said, as the Chosen One looked at Cordy and Willow. Then she straightened up, and started walking away. The redhead and brunette looked a little uncertain, but quickly followed after her.
And then the vampire called Lenny, a minion of Spike that would have taken part in a brawl at the local magic shop months later, came out of the bushes. "How are you doing tonight, bloodbag..." he said towards Xander.
The pleasantries over, he attacked the 17-year-old high school kid - quickly tearing a nice chunk of Xander's throat out.
Then a miracle took place; Lenny somehow exploded into dust.
Disbelieving, Xander looked up to see Angel staring down at him - and then he passed out cold.
Xander Harris woke up in Angel's mansion, terrified and disoriented. "Where-?"
The ensouled grandchilde of a bloodsucking monster called the Master appeared and said calmly, "Xander, relax. You're safe."
The human couldn't help it - he flinched away from this vampire that, above all others, he had despised with all his might. The other male noticed and said wearily, "Look, if I was still evil, would I have bothered stitching you up like that?" he pointed.
The boy felt his neck and collar, and the bandages there. "Mind if I ask why you did it? 'Cause, let's be honest here - soul or not, we pretty much hate each other..." he said slowly.
Angel nodded. "True. But as you've learned recently, the truth always comes out - sooner or later. And I didn't want to be dusted by your friends, if I'd just let you die...I get the feeling Giles would just love an opportunity to hunt me down, not that you could blame him after what I did..."
Xander asked abruptly, "How'd I get here?"
The former Angelus shrugged. "Carried you. You were unconscious, remember? I couldn't just leave you on the street..."
Xander then thought of what had happened with Buffy, Willow and Cordelia. "You mean like they did?"
The vampire was uncomfortable. "I, uh..."
The teen looked at the undead former Irishman. "I owe you my life? Okay, it's official - I've died and gone to Hell."
Angel gestured again, "No, you're alive - and you've got the scars to prove it..."
Xander refrained from touching the fang marks again, falling back onto using humor as a defense mechanism. "Wonder how I'm going to explain this one away? I know - I met a woman who didn't know the meaning of the words, 'love bite'?"
The demon with a soul was quickly getting exasperated with the boy; but that was something, now that Angel thought about it, which was an almost welcome return to normality. "Xander..."
"Buffy left me there to die."
The vampire didn't have a chance to say anything to that, as Xander continued, "I mean at that range, she had to have sensed that damned bastard in the bushes..."
Angel said quickly, "Not necessarily. If a Slayer's not focused, it's easy enough to-"
"Sure, right." Xander cut him off. "Well, anyway, thanks for saving my life, Deadboy," he grunted, as he started to get up to leave.
The souled vampire couldn't prevent it, he scowled viciously. "Don't call me that..."
By this point, the young man didn't care enough to take notice. But when Angel came closer, Xander flinched away again. The 245-year-old vamp sighed and said, "Sit. Rest. Sunrise will be here in a few hours, you can leave then. There's no point tempting fate twice in one night..."
Xander shrugged, his eyes apparently devoid of expression. That kinda worried Angel - but after everything that had happened lately, he couldn't bring himself to care that much. Turning away, the vampire decided to take his own advice and went off to bed.
After sunrise, Xander left the mansion; he went home, and took a good look into the mirror. And with everything that had come to pass during the last three days, the boy decided then and there that he definitely needed to make some changes in his life.
The young Mr. Harris talked to his parents, and then telephoned his Uncle Rory; eventually, arrangements were made for him to spend the summer with his favorite animal-stuffing relative. The former member of the Sunnydale High swim team then briefly visited Giles to say goodbye, grabbed his suitcases and left on the first bus out that afternoon.
When the rest of the Scooby gang got together at the library that night, Willow was worried over the fact she hadn't been able to contact her childhood best friend all day. "Giles, have you seen Xander?"
"Um, yes," the high school librarian replied vaguely, busy looking at an ancient book. "Today, just before he left town for the summer..."
"What? Why didn't he say anything to me?" Willow asked in surprise. Buffy and Cordelia acted like they didn't care, but were secretly listening to every word.
"You didn't know?" Giles said in utter confusion.
"Would I be asking if I did?"
"Good point," Oz the werewolf said, in his typical short amount of words.
The Watcher for the Slayer simply shrugged, and even though Rupert made a mental note to look into the matter, the various issues related to Slayage and patrolling and other crises kept him far too busy.
Angel might have been able to tell him what was the what, but obviously these two were not going to get together for anything less than stopping another apocalypse now; not after the way Angelus had tortured him...
After summer break was over and his high school senior year was about to start, Xander Harris came home.
The young man had been very busy, working and learning all he could at summer school. Willow would have been stunned to learn he'd voluntarily hit the books, but since Xander had refused to answer any of her correspondence or phone calls, there was no chance of that happening.
As he settled back into his house located at 17619 White Oak Drive, the male teen had no way to know that Buffy had been re-admitted into the high school, after Giles and the Council had started throwing their weight around with Principal Snyder and the school board.
Or that Buffy's mother Joyce had eventually accepted the whole "Chosen One" deal after Buffy and Giles had had a very long talk with her about it, and the blonde teenager was living at home again.
And even if he had known, it was very likely that Xander wouldn't have cared, one way or the other.
The first day of school, the former high school class clown went up to Giles and told him he was officially resigning from the Slayerettes, as of that moment. "What? Why?" asked the librarian in confusion.
The boy shrugged, remembering Angel's words about the truth the night the vampire had saved him. "Because I don't see any point in risking my life for Buffy anymore," he said with blunt honesty. Then with nothing more to say, Xander just left.
Rupert Giles swiftly gathered the gang together, and told them the situation. "I must say, this - this has me completely flummoxed," the British man said in consternation. He looked at his Slayer, "Why - why would Xander do and say something like this?"
Buffy was completely in the dark. "I don't know..."
Cordelia looked like she suddenly understood. "Oh! I betcha he's still pissed about that night, three months ago..."
The Watcher didn't have a clue what that meant, and needed the full backstory. Then he looked at the Chosen One, "You, you just left him there on the sidewalk after a vampire attacked him?" he said in disbelief.
The Slayer fidgeted slightly. "We went back! But he was gone by the time I-"
Giles exploded, "Good Lord - you were expecting that he'd just stick around? I bloody well wouldn't have, in his shoes! Now I understand why he left town so suddenly that day...Buffy, for heaven's sake, please get this mess straightened out - talk to Mr. Harris..."
Later that lunchtime, the three girls cornered the man in question. "Xander, we need to talk..." Willow started to say.
"No we don't," Xander replied rudely, as he attempted to leave.
Buffy grabbed him by the arm, "Hey, wait up-"
Xander yanked his arm away; eyes glittering, he stared at the blonde girl, and Buffy was shocked at the hatred in his expression. "Listen up, Slayer - I'm not one of your groupies anymore. If you ever touch me again without my permission, I swear you'll regret it..." he threatened her much like he'd once threatened Angelus in the hospital.
Miss Summers was stunned, and Cordelia Chase couldn't believe her ex was acting like this. She quickly said in her own tactless way, "Xander, what is your problem? God, will you just stop acting like a complete jerk?!"
The young man just gave her a momentary glance, filled with contempt. "Cordelia. Why are you even here, amongst us peons? Shouldn't you be with Harmony and the rest of your sheep, discussing what shoes are in fashion now or whatever?"
Ignoring Cordy's offended look, Xander then turned to Willow. "Let's get something straight right now, Wills. Buffy and me quit being friends, the moment she did what she did with the vamp that night - and you chose following Buffy over helping me, because you were pissed over what had happened with Deadboy? Well, in my book, that equals friendship's over. End of discussion..." he started to walk away again.
Willow was now getting upset, she didn't want to leave things like this. "Xander, about that night - look, I-I can understand you getting upset..."
The male teenager stopped dead in his tracks. "Upset? Upset? Why should I be upset?" He turned around and tore part of his shirt away, to reveal the scars on his neck and shoulder - and the three Scooby women gasped as one. "Okay, maybe 'cause of this..."
Cordelia said in amazement, "How the hell did that happen?"
Xander simply looked at her, not believing his ex-girlfriend had just said that. "What in God's name do you think, airhead? Another vampire attacked me, less than ten seconds after you all left! But oh, that's not the worst part. You wanna know what haunts me at nights? It's the fact that I owe my life to Angel, of all people!"
"Huh-?" Buffy started to ask.
Xander looked pissed, "Who'd ya think saved my ass, after you left me there to die?"
The Slayer grew angry at that. "I did not-"
Her former friend cut her off, "Look, I don't wanna hear it, because I don't care anymore! Just stay away from me, all three of you. If there's an 'end-of-the-world' thing coming, have Oz, Giles, or..." he briefly closed his eyes, "...God help me, even Angel get in touch. But for anything else, I'm not interested!" Then he simply left, before any of the girls could think of anything else to say.
The next few months passed quickly. True to his word, Xander Harris stayed away from the Slayage, despite the efforts of Giles and Willow's boyfriend Oz to talk him around.
The new Slayer Faith arrived in town, and quickly integrated herself into the gang - after they helped her kill the ancient vampire called Kakistos, who was out gunning for her. As a favor to Giles, Faith also had a talk with Xander - but even she failed to convince him to start helping out again, despite the young man's almost-instant sexual attraction and lust.
Mr. Harris had decided enough was enough; that he would try to have as normal a life as possible, and let the Slayers worry about the things that went bump in the night.
To that end, Xander rejoined the swim team and his grades improved drastically - thanks to the summer tutoring and his uninterrupted focus on his studies. Soon, the high school senior had ditched the status of 'loser geek'; and even the group of girls known as the Cordettes started to seriously check him out as date-worthy material.
Well, not in the presence of Cordelia herself of course, who had developed an intense public loathing for Xander - because of what he'd said and done to the one and only Queen C.
Granted, the brunette girl sometimes wondered if she'd been a bit too hasty in her decision to dump her boyfriend at the end of their junior year, as she watched Xander's popularity increase somewhat. But her pride wouldn't allow Cordy any attempt at reconciliation.
Which was probably just as well, really, as the manipulations of the First Evil were soon about to make her lose any chance to ever get Xander Harris back again.
The head cheerleader looked over the results of her Scholastic Aptitude Tests, and sighed in boredom. All around Cordelia, the Cordettes giggled and compared notes, as they then started the constant gossiping about who had done what when.
But it was a fact that such things didn't much interest the leader of the pack now, after her eyes had been opened to the true nature of the Hellmouth. Harmony and the sheep just didn't...fulfil her anymore.
So quietly ditching her entourage, Cordy joined the Scooby gang as they started talking about their SAT scores.
Willow exclaimed, "740? Verbal?! I'm - I'm...pathetic! Illiterate! I'm Cletus, the slack-jawed yokel!"
Oz tried to persuade her otherwise. "I'm thinking not."
The redhead just looked at him, "Well, you're my boyfriend. You're supposed to say that!" Then Willow spotted Cordelia, and handed her the report card. "What do you think, Cordelia?"
The 17-year-old girl looked at it and shrugged. "You did amazing, Willow. As usual."
Willow looked hopeful then. "Really?"
"I think it, I say it..." Cordy said simply.
Buffy handed over her card too. "What do ya think of mine?"
But before Miss Chase could even take a look, Willow said excitedly, "Oh, Buffy got 1430! She totally kicked ass!" Then upon seeing the looks she received, the girl calmed down. "Okay, so academic achievement gets me a little excited..."
Whatever Cordelia had meant to say in reply to that was lost, as she was suddenly distracted by the sudden appearance of her former childhood nemesis - Xander.
Walking along with his new buddies from the swim team and Larry the ex-football player, the guy was also laughing and carrying on about the SATs - but for some reason, what really got Cordy's blood pressure soaring was seeing that skanky ho Faith hanging off her ex's arm like that.
Standing beside her, Willow was just as unhappy with the situation.
At first the redhead had been hopeful that Faith, not having been involved with what had happened that night months ago, would be able to talk Xander into rejoining the group. And she had no doubts that initially, the brunette Slayer had tried to do just that.
But then Miss Rosenberg had started to get suspicious.
Having seen how hungry and horny Faith got post-Slayage, how she had started referring to Xander as "stud" and "boy toy" around the gang, how she was spending every available moment around the guy...
Well, it was pretty obvious to the amateur Wicca that Faith and Xander were sleeping together - that her old crush may as well have had a neon sign over his head saying, 'I AM CONSTANTLY GETTING LAID!!'.
And it was equally obvious that the brunette girl wanted to keep him entirely to herself, so the Scooby reconciliation topic was as dead as a dodo.
Even though Willow was perfectly happy with Oz, she had cried alone in the girls' rest room for nearly an hour, when she realized that she had lost Xander forever.
At the same moment the gang was talking about SAT scores, the vampires known as Spike and Drusilla finally arrived back home in Sunnydale.
It was a fact that Dru had changed a lot, ever since receiving that outburst from the First. The madness was still present of course, but it was...subdued. Instead, there was now purpose. Focus.
Spike had certainly noticed the change, that was unavoidable; but, too, he had been enjoying the break from her constant raving (about the moon or the stars or whatnot) far too much to complain or question it.
While they'd been hiding in South America, his sire had inevitably learned about Spike's future with the blonde Slayer; but this time around she'd decided to just ignore Buffy's laughing presence around her beloved, and concentrate on fulfilling the First's desires when the time was right.
But as she and her childe entered the domain of the Hellmouth once more, something incredible happened; Spike's aura was suddenly cleansed of the Chosen One's influence.
Dru gasped, "It's gone!"
Spike glanced at her from behind the wheel. "What's gone - my ripe, precious plum?"
The female vampire smiled. "The Slayer. I don't see her no more..."
Her blonde-haired consort smiled, misunderstanding what she meant. "We get to kill Betty while we're 'ere then, pet? Well now, share all the little details with Daddy..."
The great-grandchilde of the Master shook her head. "No, no, no! First we take care of business..."
And so, after returning to the burnt-out factory that had been their lair in the good old pre-Angelus days, they started staking out their targets. Looking for the best moment to strike.
To strike against Willow Rosenberg and Xander Harris.
Spike didn't know why Dru was so insistent on getting rid of these two, instead of Buffy and Angel - and what the hell, if he had known, he probably wouldn't have gone along with this plan to help the First Evil destroy the world.
But Drusilla knew that - just as she knew Spike would have betrayed Angelus to the Slayer that day, had she herself not intervened - and so he was kept safely in the dark about her real designs.
An unwitting pawn, as the world moved closer and closer towards Armageddon.
A short while later, Willow woke up with a huge headache. Then she started with horror, as the redhead realized that Spike and Dru had kidnapped her.
She looked around, and saw an unconscious Xander lying on the ground. Then the apprentice witch spied the two vamps, and screamed.
Spike just grinned. "Sorry luv, but I guess this is a 'scream-all-you-want' kind of scenario 'ere..."
Willow said fearfully, "What do you want? Why have you-"
Drusilla purred in her English accent, "Shhh...that's a good kitten. Now, there's just somethin' you need to do for me..."
The redhead stared at her, "What?"
The female vamp said, "Look at me..." as her eyes went wide. "Be in me..."
Soon Willow was hypnotized, just as a vampire Slayer named Kendra had been six months ago, and ready to do whatever Drusilla wished.
Spike looked impatient, "Dru, pet, I hate to rush ya - but Angelus and his little blonde bint might be here, any second?"
"Nonsense, everything's perfect. They'll not be 'ere in time to stop us..."
Her childe shrugged. "Still don't see why we're goin' to all this fuss instead of just 'aving ourselves a couple of quick snacks, luv!"
Dru shushed him, "The naughty witch, yes. But not this precious boy," she suddenly growled, vamping out as her eyes went wild. "He filled my 'ead with lies, my precious Spike. Lies, lies, lies. Lied to the Slayer too, he did. He deserves Daddy's old fate for all his lies..."
The nutty vampiress then turned to Willow, and began instructing her on what to do.
Now, at this point in time the red-haired girl's magical powers were still vastly underdeveloped. And even though Drusilla knew how to unlock her potential, Willow couldn't open a portal to Acathla's hell dimension - which, for the safety of the planet, was just as well.
However, there were other possibilities.
And the insane Dru, with her psychic knowledge, knew just where to send Xander to make him suffer most - and at the same time, execute poetic justice.
After their mystical ritual was done, the interdimensional portal appeared; it looked like a rectangular pool of black tar or slime, within the floor of the factory. Spike then grabbed Xander and threw him through the gateway, whereupon it vanished.
Drusilla started clapping her hands in delighted glee, whereas Spike just headed for Willow, determined to finish this off fast and get his loved one out of town.
The next moment was a critical one, as observed by the Powers That Be.
In the higher realms, the 'overseers of good' could foresee how Spike would soon gorge himself on the witch's lifeblood. Draining her dry and leaving behind only a lifeless corpse, before he and Dru disappeared.
They could also see how there would be no chip for Spike, courtesy of the Initiative, the following year.
No aid for the Scooby gang from the neutered vampire, when he never became an outcast within the demon community.
No Spike being used by Buffy for sex, after she was torn out of Heaven.
No Drusilla to re-vamp her grandsire Darla, and drive Angel over the edge.
No aid from Willow in the fight against the First Evil, that under these circumstances would eventually succeed in destroying the world.
And so, in the best traditions of corporate middle management, the Powers decided to do something about it.
Just as Spike was within arm's reach of Willow, Drusilla started shrieking. The 118-year-old male vampire looked around, "What's wrong, ducks?"
Dru just pointed at a black mist, which quickly coalesced into the form of the mystical guide known only as Skip. "Hi there. Name's Skip," the demon said nonchalantly.
Spike replied belligerently, "Yeah? So what do ya want, ya big ponce?"
Skip just shook his head sadly. "You really don't have a clue, do you? No idea what all this-" he gestured around vaguely, "is supposed to accomplish..."
"KILL HIM!!!" Drusilla shouted. "KILL HIM, SPIKE! HE'LL RUIN EVERYTHING!!"
William the Bloody immediately charged the demon, but he was no match for someone that could even take on his grandsire on a good day. Skip just batted him away, so the 138-year-old vampiress rushed the good guy as well; but all that accomplished was getting herself smashed up against a wall, and becoming unconscious.
Skip shook his head, and turned to Willow. He placed his palm on her forehead, and there was an incredible flash of light as the redhead became unhypnotized. Shaking his head again sadly, the demon guide then vanished back into black smoke that quickly disappeared.
Willow shook her head for a moment, trying to get her bearings. Suddenly it all came back to her, what Spike had done and Drusilla had made her do. "NOOOOO!!!"
Even though she had no idea how she did it, Willow's eyes went completely black as her facial expression became one of rage, ire, and hatred.
Spike started to get up, but Willow yelled viciously, "Solvere!" as she pointed at him, delving into dark magicks much sooner than she'd been destined to.
The vampire was shoved away at 50 miles per hour, and ended up going through a thick brick wall - said act almost completely scrambling his brains.
The witch started screaming, "I'LL GET YOU FOR THIS, SPIKE! YOU AND THAT UNDEAD BITCH DRUSILLA! EVEN IF IT'S THE LAST THING I EVER DO, YOU'LL PAY FOR WHAT YOU BOTH DID!!!"
Interestingly enough, Willow later made good on her threats; she staked Dru with a pencil and cursed William the Bloody by giving him his soul back, just like she'd done with Angelus - but that was a story for another time.
Here and now, as the 17-year-old girl set her sights on his beloved, Spike said nothing - he just grabbed a rock and threw it at Willow with vamp strength, fighting not to let his vision blur.
It connected with her head, and the redhead became injured - down, but not out. Looking up, Willow shouted again at the soulless demon, "Incindere!"
"Bloody hell," Spike muttered, barely able to dodge the deadly bolt of fire the Wicca sent his way. Smart and a survivor, after he studied the odds and Willow's face the British vamp just grabbed his unconscious sire and started to get the hell outta Dodge.
If his opponent had been uninjured, they wouldn't have stood a chance; but luckily for the undead duo, Willow collapsed unconscious almost as soon as the two vamps left the building.
Los Angeles, California. A few hours later
At a residence called the "Family Home", a black tar-looking portal to a demon slave dimension suddenly disgorged a number of filthy humans. In single file, they rushed away as their leader came out last, holding a homemade knife to the throat of a demon.
The demon's minions followed out of the black rectangular pool, as the man shoved the weapon closer to his hostage's neck. "Tell 'em to stay where they are!!" he yelled.
His captive just snarled, "Humans don't fight back! That's how it works-!"
But unfortunately, the creature never got to finish the diatribe as the human slashed its throat - and demon blood sprayed everywhere.
"That's for 4 1/2 years of hell, Ken!" the killer spat out, as the corpse fell to the floor. He then looked at the other demons and smiled wolfishly, "Who's next?"
One demon actually looked happy with the situation, as with the so-called Ken's death he was now in charge back home. Deciding that it just wasn't worth it, he gestured and all the demons dove back through the murky black pool. Which then disappeared with a flash of light - leaving only a blank tiled surface.
The human just turned around, and followed in the path of the others. He found them waiting for him, and got mad about that. "Damn it, the orders were for you not to wait for me!"
The others looked down, but seemed unrepentant.
"Never mind. Time to evac the hot zone!" the man snapped, using U.S. army slang. "Deploy however you want - you guys are still technically civilians. Now go-go-go!"
The brutally mistreated ex-slaves just hugged each other, unused to saying anything other than "I'm no one". And as they split up and headed into L.A., their rescuer and former fellow slave also took off, with the air of a soldier moving through unfamiliar territory.
A man who many people in Sunnydale would have now incorrectly identified as Xander Harris, after all that had happened to him.
The werewolf known as Daniel Osborne (or Oz) finally tracked down Willow by her scent, as Faith, Buffy and Giles tagged along. They found her unconscious, but luckily the gang was able to quickly revive her.
"What happened here, Red?" Faith asked in confusion.
Willow came to, and quickly remembered all that had happened. "How long have I been out?" she asked urgently.
"Don't know," "No idea," came the various responses.
Giles said uncertainly, "Probably not that long. We only noticed you were missing, a few hours ago..."
Willow exclaimed, "Oh my God!" As quickly as she could, the teenager explained what had happened, as she started to set up for another ritual. "I, I'm gonna do a reversal spell, and get Xander back..."
"Well, hurry up!" Faith shrieked as the others stared at her. The brunette Slayer didn't care - she just wanted her lover back, safe and sound.
"I'm hurrying, I'm hurrying..."
Buffy looked at her Watcher, "Why the hell would the undead version of Mickey and Minnie Mouse do something like this? They have to know that we'll eventually dust their asses for it!"
Giles was confused, "I don't know, Buffy - haven't a clue..."
Willow then finished the ritual, but nothing happened. No portal, no Xander, no nothing.
"NO!" she yelled and tried it again. Again, there was no response.
A third time, it was once again unsuccessful.
A fourth time, it still didn't work.
Willow then broke down, sobbing. "What's happened?" Oz asked carefully.
She explained through the tears, "I, I tried to bring Xander back from whatever hell dimension Drusilla made me create a portal to. But, but it didn't work! I can't bring him back..."
Buffy was still stunned, and horrified over what had happened to her former friend. The memories of Acathla still fresh in memory, she asked, "So what does that mean?"
Willow was still sobbing, "I guess...there's, there's gotta be nothing to bring back? Xander...he's, he's dead..."
Faith couldn't deal with that, and simply ran out of the factory into the night.
"Xander's dead..." the words echoed throughout the ruined industrial district.
In one sense only, that wasn't true.
The man who had the scarred face of Xander Harris had at that moment been in the City of Angels, which was why Willow had failed to summon him with her magic mojo.
But the thing was, even though he may have had the body...this guy certainly didn't have Xander Harris's mind.
When the boy had arrived the way he did into that demon dimension, it had caused quite a ruckus; but then everything quickly became business as usual again, as the demon overseer "Ken" - who should have been slain by Buffy, months before - instantly enslaved him.
The bottom line was, in order to survive, mentally Xander had to completely change gears. The "normal guy" of the Hellmouth wasn't equipped to withstand years of demon imprisonment and keep his sanity intact, much less have any hope of escape...
But the soldier persona of a Vietnam army veteran at the back of his mind was.
Xander had buried himself in those Halloween memories and instincts, trying to remember everything he could about the POW military training. And after about a year - or an hour - the soldier persona took over completely, and eventually engineered a plan to get both himself and his group of civilian captives loose.
The problem was, now that he was free, a lot of difficulties were about to hit Soldier Guy.
As when he reported to the closest U.S. army base, giving what he thought was his name, rank and serial number, no one believed his story - least of all the Officer of the Day.
"Look, fella, I'm telling you - there's nobody in the service by the name of A.L. Harris, matching your physical description. My people have checked every computer record - twice! And that serial number you quoted? It belongs to some guy who died in South Vietnam, during the 1970's..."
The military officer looked pissed. "I don't know what kind of gag you're trying to pull here - but if you're not off my base in about 30 seconds, I'll have you thrown into the guard house or something! Now get lost!"
He who had been Xander Harris hadn't wasted time arguing with his interlocutor that day; he'd quickly disappeared, vanishing into the urban jungles of L.A. like the survivor he was.
At first the man had figured it was all just a misunderstanding, but several back-channel missions later...he became convinced something was seriously wrong. Either with him, or the world.
< Post-traumatic stress syndrome? > he'd wondered. But that wouldn't wash, not completely - the former slave knew who he was, and he knew about the demons, even though everyone had looked at him like he was nuts when that topic had come up.
Soldier Guy hadn't understood it - and after months of being back, he'd seen countless signs of demons in the city. It was as if all the humans around him - with the exception of a rare, pitiful few - were being deliberately blind to the situation.
The Vietnam vet basically just shrugged to himself - it wasn't his mission to protect these people. He wasn't sure just what his mission was now, true, but he could tell that wasn't it.
Fortunately, events were set in motion for him to get an answer to that question.
That night, a young-looking Irishman arrived at an old building and briefly checked the directory. It read:
Casas Manufacturing 101
John Folger, DDS 104
Herbert Stein 105
Curiously enough, the next year the legend would also include Angel Investigations 103. And as the guy entered the basement level of 103, the footsteps woke up Soldier Guy at once.
"Approach and identify yourself!" he shouted, aiming the .45 that had been rescued from an unlamented dead drug dealer named Tyke.
"Relax, man. Name's Doyle," an Irish accent said as the man stepped into view. Then he looked at the gun pointed at his face. "Uh, I was gonna make this wisecrack about the Batcave? But now I'm thinkin' not," Allen Francis Doyle grinned weakly.
The soldier gestured for the guy to come forward, as he stared at his companion; then the human suddenly realized, < Demon! > The army vet quickly cocked the weapon and took aim again at his target.
"Hey, I said relax! I'm not here to hurt anybody!" Doyle pleaded.
"You're a demon," the man with Xander's face said stonily.
The messenger for the Powers grimaced. "Fifty percent of me, yeah. But I was raised human, I'll have ya know..."
Fortunately, Soldier Guy instantly knew that was the truth; after nearly five years in his own personal hell, he was easily able to detect lies. < Half-breed. Possible danger. Proceed with caution. > "State your business, demon."
The half-Brachen demon shrugged. "I had a vision about you."
His companion looked puzzled, as Doyle said impatiently, "Look, pal, you got a destiny. A, uh, mission, alright? The Powers That Be want you to go somewhere to prevent an apocalypse. Town called Sunnydale, about two hours drive north of here; the high school there? It's sitting on top of a Hellmouth, the entryway to you-know-where..."
The soldier lowered his weapon slightly. "Prove that you're legitimate, pal."
Doyle shrugged. "Saw what happened to you in the vision, buddy boy - nearly 55 months in that hell dimension? I'm pretty sure 'twasn't fun. And those demon assholes constantly sayin' that you're no one...that wasn't fun either, I'm thinkin'..."
The military man was now convinced, and holstered the gun. "Mission parameters?"
The half-human looked annoyed. "What do I look like, Army Intelligence? All I know is you gotta be at the school tomorrow night. There'll be some other people battlin' the Hellmouth demon - you just gotta help out with any other threat, be the support troops or whatever..."
Doyle gave him a short wave, as he turned around to head for the closest bar. "Good luck!" he called out, desperate for a drink after coming so close to getting shot.
Soldier Guy quickly dismissed the unexpected visitor from his thoughts, and decided to head to a place that he had unknowingly once called home.
The young man arrived in town the next day and did a careful recon of the high school, staying well out of sight. It looked to him like a completely normal place, but then he of all people knew how appearances could be deceiving.
As the day wore on, the students dispersed off home. Night fell, and the soldier could feel the tingling in his vertebrae as the demons came out.
< Enemy territory. Multiple infestations. Low profile required, to carry out mission. >
Finally, the man's patience was rewarded - he saw a suspicious-looking gang of youths break into the school. He followed them into the basement, where the army guy caught them setting up a crude but effective bomb.
"You people will cease and desist from this activity, as of right now," the military man said emotionlessly to the group.
The leader of the gang, a senior named Jack O'Toole looked up and stared at the intruder. "Harris? Thought you were dead..."
Soldier Guy was surprised, but only for a second. He pointed his M-16 - liberated from the armory of Colonel Newsome's army base, along with various other items - at the enemy. "Get away from the bomb."
O'Toole just smiled. "Or what, asshole? What are you gonna-"
The other man didn't let him finish, he just opened fire with his automatic weapon.
But since the hail of bullets didn't kill the zombie squad (for that was what they were), the warrior decided to change tactics.
His withdrawn machete glinted in the pale light of the school boiler room, as it flashed down and the soldier made with the slice and dice - leaving O'Toole for last. Then he deactivated the bomb, and simply started to leave.
But as the guy was walking away, he caught a glimpse of two women that had changed his life forever. A blonde and a brunette, who had just vanquished the Hellmouth demon.
Buffy and Faith.
The Chosen Two.
Faith the vampire Slayer had changed a lot, the moment she had lost Xander months ago. She had become brutal and especially violent in her encounters with the undead population of the town built upon the Hellmouth, ever since the night Willow had gotten kidnapped and hypnotized.
And when the new Watcher for the Slayers named Wesley Wyndam-Pryce showed up to replace Giles, who had been fired after that business with Buffy's Cruciamentum, Faith told him point-blank to kiss her ass - she was through taking orders from anyone.
That was something that worried the other Slayer, Buffy, a lot.
Granted things hadn't gone smoothly since that damnable nightmare with Willow and Xander had happened, but tonight of all nights the situation seemed to be going from bad to worse.
As the Slayers fought and staked their vampire opponents, Faith yelled, "We got more coming!"
Buffy looked worried, "We're never gonna make it to the others in time!"
"They keep coming at us one on one, we got a shot..."
On cue, another vamp opponent dropped in but was quickly dusted. As Buffy and Faith made it around a corner, the deputy mayor Allan Finch was waiting in the shadows and grasped Buffy's shoulder.
The blonde girl reacted on instinct, and threw the guy against a dumpster. Faith then leapt forward, with a stake in her hand.
Buffy, realizing that he was a human being, yelled, "Faith, no!"
The brunette didn't pay attention, and was about to kill a man - when all of a sudden, a gunshot blasted the wooden stick out of her hand.
The 18-year-old blonde girl finished her sentence, "He's human!"
Faith started shaking her hand in pain, looking at her sister Slayer and then at Allan. "Right, sorry..." Then she looked around. "But who the hell shot at me?"
Buffy, about to chew the other girl's ass out for not being careful enough, suddenly belatedly realized there was a new danger around them. Looking around, she muttered, "Good question..."
Seeing no one, she then looked at Allan. "So what's your deal?"
"I have information-" the deputy mayor started to say.
The older Slayer cut him off, "We got no time for this now - Faith, keep an eye on him. We gotta move!" So saying, they all raced off.
And as they left, Soldier Guy came out of the shadows.
Originally, the 22-year-old human had been planning to leave town straightaway - but then he realized that he had a whole lifetime before him, and no particular place to go. And for some reason, these two women intrigued him - as if he knew them from somewhere.
So he had been keeping tabs on them, and when he saw one about to kill a civilian - the soldier had figured that he better help her out.
Later in the library after the bad guy had been defeated that night, Giles, Buffy, Faith, and Wesley were present to interrogate the deputy mayor.
"Look, I'll get right to the point," Allan said rapidly. "I want money and protection for me and my family, in return for inside information about the Mayor. Because he's the man in charge of everything - everything related to demons, that goes on in this town..."
Even when threatened, the man would say nothing more except that he would be back the next day with the info, and his family to get out of town.
Too bad for him a vampire named Mr. Trick saw him coming out of the school, and after ruthlessly interrogating Allan decided to have a quick meal and drained him dry.
Soldier Guy found the body in an alley the next day, and even though all his instincts argued against it...he decided to go talk to Buffy and Faith about what he'd learned.
The man felt uncomfortable, as when school hours were over he walked to where he had seen the two girls that night. He wasn't sure what would happen when they met up, but the last thing he'd expected was precisely what he got.
"XANDER!!!"
There was pandemonium, as the Scooby gang saw a dead man standing at the doors to the library.
Faith was the first to react, throwing herself at the person she thought was her boyfriend and kissing him fiercely. But then she quickly stopped and backed off in shock...when the girl realized that he wasn't kissing her back.
The brunette Slayer was able to see the fang marks on his neck, but wasn't able to see any sign of recognition in the man's eyes.
Willow wasn't far behind the Chosen One, but she stopped too when she saw the look on Faith's face. The look that said despite appearances, they were dealing with a stranger.
"Who are you?" asked the brunette Slayer slowly.
"I'm no wuh-" the ex-slave stopped, silently cursing himself for the reflex. The soldier then said simply, "Harris, Alexander. Private First Class, serial number 55988342. Who are you people?"
Giles eventually got everyone calmed down, and tried to convince the man with Xander's face that they were friends, that they thought he'd died and he was suffering from some sort of memory loss.
The army guy looked pretty sceptical. "I know who I am, mister, thank you very much."
Wesley put in his own two cents. "My name is Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, sir," he said in his pompous British accent. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance."
< Useless wimp. Threat potential negligible. Avoid and disregard. > "Whatever," the soldier almost instantly dismissed him.
Faith looked at her ex-lover. "You don't remember me at all?" she asked desperately.
Soldier Guy shrugged. "All I know about you is what I've seen for myself, the last two weeks I've been in this demon-infested hellhole. By the way, the reason I came here? That guy you almost stabbed last night, found him this morning. Looks like a vampire got him, you'll need to investigate..."
No one could ever accuse Faith of being dumb. "That was you who shot at me last night, wasn't it?"
Again the military man shrugged. "Killing civilians isn't part of the mission."
The brunette Slayer saw Willow's expression, and decided to go for broke with the PFC. "Guess I owe you then. Look, about the memory loss thing? We're not shining you on -we just wanna help, stud. We all thought we'd lost you, that you died in that damn hell dimension - y'know? I'm sorry we gave up on you then, but I'm not gonna give up now. Please, let us help..."
The soldier looked around at everyone and asked, "What exactly were you planning?"
Willow said enthusiastically, "Oh, a memory retrieval spell! I'm sure it'll work..."
After hearing the whole story Soldier Guy finally agreed to it, and the redhead and Giles began to prepare; finally, they were ready. Willow began to chant:
"Hecate, a boon I pray you grant to me The inner eye, the eternal sea Let all his memories of all his days Be restored by thee
So mote it be So mote it be So mote it be"
It was at that moment that Buffy and Angel came into the library after patrol, and both were stunned at who they saw. "Xander!!" they chorused.
Then a swirl of bright lights surrounded Soldier Guy, who started to glow.
Two seconds later, both memories and information poured into his conscious mind. He was Xander Harris again, in all senses of the word.
He looked around as the lights vanished, "What the-?" Then his brain felt like it was being assaulted from all sides - some memories in total conflict with others, and Xander started screaming and yelling in pain.
Taking charge for once in his life, Wesley quickly shot him with the tranquilizer gun, and the former slave mercifully slumped unconscious.
The next day Buffy, Faith, Willow, Giles, Wesley and even Cordelia were present as Xander woke up.
The young man looked around in confusion, thinking it was 2003. "Cordy? Wes? When did you guys come back to town?"
Then he saw the brunette Slayer, and his eyes widened. "FAITH!!?"
Everyone was completely confused. "Xander, do you know who we are?" Willow asked timidly.
"Of course I-" Xander started to say. Then he looked around, "Hey, is this the old library? How the hell-?"
"Xander, what's the last thing you recall?" Giles asked carefully.
The former soldier tried to remember. "We were fighting the First Evil..." he said, not noticing the shock that came onto the faces of many of those in the room. "Wait a minute, what's the date?"
Buffy told him.
The one-time Zeppo's eyes went wide again. "NO WAY!" And then the conflicting memories started to seriously hurt him again.
The others crowded around, only wanting to help - not knowing their presence only made it worse. Xander screamed at them to go, to get out of his sight; still, everyone hesitated.
"Get out, get out, get out!" the young man shouted, in an amazing imitation of Buffy's future sister Dawn Summers.
Everyone except Wesley went out the door, as he was the only one Xander hadn't told to get lost. "Mr. Harris, may I ask why you didn't ask me to leave as well?" the Watcher questioned him in honest perplexity.
Xander tried to focus, tried not to think about anything except what was happening here and now. It was a simple trick, one he'd taught himself during the years he'd spent in that hell dimension. "'Cause, you're the only one that's not gonna drive me crazy here..."
Wesley looked confused, as Xander tried to explain. "All the others, I have...all these conflicting memories. From May last year till now, it's all just - it's a real mess up here in my head, Wes. But not the stuff about you; I've always thought you were a no-good limey ass..."
The British man was insulted, but didn't get a chance to reply as Xander continued, "Plus there's the fact I haven't seen you since Graduation, so...it's kinda bearable. No future memories in the mix."
"Graduation? Future memories...?" Wesley then finally got a clue. "Oh my. All the days of your life...?" he muttered in amazement, as the Watcher realized the situation.
Xander chuckled darkly. "Yeah. As far as I'm concerned, it should be 2003 here. Too bad Wills didn't take into account I spent over four years in Hell...she gave me back not only my past memories, but the, uh, 'future' ones too. Huh, always did have bad luck with spells and magic..."
The Council operative looked at the young man. "How much do you remember?"
"Everything, including half a dozen upcoming apocalypses. Plus even the stuff that's changed from the original history; I remember Faith trying to kill me for the fun of it, Willow trying to kill me to destroy the world, Ahn-"
Just as he said that, Xander abruptly remembered everything about the love of his life - Anya. The woman that he'd once left at the altar, that had been a vengeance demon - and now in this timeline (since he had never betrayed Cordelia by fooling around with Willow) had not and would never become human, and fall in love with him.
"This is Hell," Xander muttered desperately, more to himself than to his companion. "Just getting through the next moment, and the one after that..." he unconsciously echoed what Buffy Summers had been destined to say, after her second resurrection from death.
"I see..." Wesley got up, and quickly left the room.
Xander looked around and said in resignation to the empty air, "You may as well come out, Deadboy."
Angel slowly came out of the stacks. "How long have you known I was here?"
With a supreme effort of will, Xander concentrated and managed to say, "Ever since you came in through the sewer entrance. You heard everything?"
"Uh, yeah," the vampire said, nodding his head. "Especially that thing about the First..." he shuddered, remembering that Christmas Day and how close he'd come to killing himself.
At that moment the man supposedly in charge of the school, Principal H.R. Snyder, came charging into the library - hunting for people loitering on the grounds, during non-academic hours. He stared at Xander in amazement, "Harris? Is that you?"
Xander stared at the little troll, and realized he knew who the man was... < Turncoat. Enemy sympathizer. Terminate with extreme prejudice, > the ghost of Soldier Guy whispered in his mind.
Despite the pain, Xander automatically reached for his sidearm, but Angel's hand grabbed his and stopped him. Snyder got pissed, "You're on my campus with a gun, you little twerp?! If you were still a student here, I'd have you expelled faster than..."
Angel stepped forward and said coldly, "Get out."
Snyder was unimpressed. "And who the hell are you? I don't take orders from-"
Angel put on his game face. He growled and rasped, "Leave now or die! It's totally up to you."
Snyder raced out like his ass was on fire, bypassing the Scooby gang having a hushed conversation in the corridor without a second glance.
Wesley finished his explanations to everyone, about why Xander had acted the way he did. "So there you have it," the Englishman said slowly. "In my opinion, we now have a potentially explosive situation on our hands. It would be best if the young man were removed to England, for further study..."
"You try it and I'll shove a stake up where the sun doesn't shine, asshole," Faith snarled at him.
Willow joined with a vehement, "Yeah!"
Wesley looked at them carefully. "Did you two not a hear a word I said? That isn't your friend Xander Harris, in there. He's an older version of the man, who's been through nine levels of hell and now has memories of our future - a future where, apparently, both of you have tried to kill him at some point."
"I don't believe it," Cordelia said suddenly. "Why would they do that?"
"He didn't say," Wesley replied, typically deciding it would be best to keep some things secret. "And given how much physical pain the young man suffers whenever he tries to reconcile the conflicting memories of you in his head, I don't think it's a good idea for anyone to inquire too closely."
Buffy then started to laugh in a harsh, brutal way. "The road to Hell," she said eventually.
"What?" Giles finally spoke up.
"Don't you get it?" the blonde Slayer demanded. "We just wanted to make things better, but now we've made it a million times worse. Just like the old saying goes, 'the road to Hell is paved with good intentions'..."
A few months later, the time for high school graduation had come. Not only that, but the Mayor - one of the worst Big Bads to ever plague the gang - was about to ascend to pure demon form. As unfortunately it had been too late for Xander to warn everyone what was going to happen with that, by the time Willow's spell had taken effect.
The young warrior had avoided all his former comrades as much as possible since then, as their presence still gave him incredible headaches. And, too, Mr. Harris knew they wouldn't have approved of his pre-emptive strikes on future enemies.
Or cold-blooded acts of murder, depending on your point of view.
Angel was the only one to assist him, both because Xander was able to use the backup and on account of he was the only other member of the gang that had killed people. The vampire had asked the human, "Are you sure you can go through with this? Killing people changes you..."
Xander had slowly replied, "I think you're getting me confused, with that punk teenager you remember. When I was in that hell dimension? There was this one guy I was never really sure about, when we were discussing the escape attempt. Eventually I knew he was going to betray us to the demons, just to save his own life..."
The ghost of Soldier Guy had shone through Xander's features when he said coldly, "That's why I snapped his neck, just before we made our move for freedom."
The former Angelus had merely shrugged, while the inner demon had started howling with unholy glee and speculated what kind of Master vampire this version of Xander Harris would have made.
Soon enough the various news agencies had reported the unexplained killings of Professor Maggie Walsh of UC Sunnydale, the student named Warren Mears of Sunnydale High, and a medical intern named Ben at the Sunnydale Memorial Hospital. Xander had known he couldn't do anything about the First Evil, but figured that leaving a time-delayed letter with Giles detailing all the various events would have to do.
The time then arrived, and the former senior stood alone during the high school graduation ceremony. < Today's the day, > he thought. < One way or another, today's my last day in Sunnydale. I'm not risking one of Wesley's retrieval teams coming here for me any longer... >
The Mayor went through his speech, and then started to ascend. People started to scream, run and die. Xander watched, as the armed students tried to fight under Oz's direction. Some of them died, as well as their parents - but still, the Mayor wasn't satisfied.
Then Buffy started to challenge the big snake, to come get her. But suddenly a vamp distracted the Slayer; nearby, Faith was busy with another bloodsucker as well.
"Hey, Demon Guy!" Xander yelled to the creature that had once been Richard Wilkins III, waving and jumping around. "You wanna eat me? Then come get some!"
The manifestation of the demon Olvikan screamed unintelligibly, and started to chase the former soldier. Xander then followed the plan Angel had told him about, and headed for the innards of the school.
In the meanwhile, Buffy had noticed what he'd done after dusting the vamp; and running madly, she quickly joined Giles. "What are you doing here?!" demanded the ex-Watcher. "I don't-"
Buffy gasped, "The Mayor started to chase Xander! We gotta..."
"BLOW THE SCHOOL!!" they heard Angel shout. Turning around, they saw the vampire gesturing frantically. "NOW! It's almost too late!"
To his credit, Giles didn't hesitate. He rammed down the plunger and the high school exploded, in a furious blast wave of violence and destruction. Everyone cringed and turned away, shielding their eyes.
Buffy looked back as soon as she could, an indescribable expression on her face. "Xander..." she whispered.
Buffy, Willow, Oz and Cordelia had gathered on the edge of the grass, watching as the emergency crews and firemen finished handling the blaze. Faith had unfortunately been killed in the fighting, but at least she had taken Mr. Trick with her before dying of her injuries.
The gang was waiting for some news, but as soon as Giles joined them, they knew it wasn't good.
"They-they haven't found any trace of his body," Giles reported in a subdued voice. "Maybe Xander got out..."
"Or else the Mayor had him as a really sicko snack," Cordelia said, in her own tactless way.
"Will you just stop talking!?" Willow snapped, grieving for her lost friend. Even though he had distanced himself, she couldn't helping thinking this had been all her fault, somehow.
Buffy knew her best friend well enough to know what she was thinking, however. "It's not your fault, Will," the Slayer said shakily. "It's mine. I shouldn't have let him...if that damn vamp hadn't distracted me..."
"Wouldn't have made any difference," Oz cut her off.
"Y-yes, I imagine so," Giles put in. "Despite all the changes he'd gone through, Xander always was one to, to act first and think later..."
There was a brief silence in the darkness, as the firemen and others bustled about. "I-I better check on Wesley, see how badly injured he is," Giles then said. "And I just want to say - well done, a-all of you. You've saved Sunnydale."
With that, the ex-Watcher left. As the others turned away, Buffy followed his footsteps with her eyes, and noticed Angel standing amidst the smoke and vehicles. The vampire and the Slayer shared a long look, before the undead creature with a human soul turned around and left without saying goodbye, just as he'd promised her he would.
"Let's get out of here," Buffy said to her friends, as they turned around and wearily made their way back to the Slayer's home.
Angel made his way underground, to where Xander was waiting. "It's all over," the vampire said to the human. "Odds are they think you're dead, just like you wanted them to." He sighed. "Well, I'm heading south down to Los Angeles. You?"
"San Francisco," Xander replied, the pain in his head less now that it was mostly all over. "Probably. Or I might head further north, into Canada. Haven't decided yet."
The ensouled creature said slowly, "You could hitch a ride with me, if you like. L.A. is probably the best place for you to set up a new identity, and then you can head off to San Francisco or wherever once you're ready. I mean, what have you got to lose?"
Xander stared at him. "No way I'm gonna say it, ya know."
Angel was confused, as the two men started walking and made their way up to the surface. "Say what?"
"The line from the movie," the former Soldier Guy replied tersely.
"What movie?" Angel replied, as he hauled Xander up through the manhole.
"Casablanca," his companion muttered, "You know..."
The 246-year-old vampire looked amused. "You mean the one that goes, 'this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship'? Or, 'we'll always have Paris'?"
Xander scowled at him, as they started walking along the road. "Don't push it, Deadboy..."
The sound of the vampire chuckling could be heard, as the two beings started to make their way out of Sunnydale. And thus began new destinies, for the both of them.