Xander walked through City hall. It has been two days since he switched sides, finally leaving the Scooby gang and joining the darkside of the force, so to speak. After his first meeting with his new boss, the Mayor told him to rest for the weekend, because he had a job for him that required to be in good shape.
When Xander reached the door of the Mayor's office he knocked twice and waited. A few seconds later he could hear the muffled "Come in" from the other side, so he opened the door and walked in.
Richard Wilkins the III sat comfortably behind his desk, waiting for his guest.
"Alexander" he greeted the young man "Nice to see you. How was your weekend?"
"Boring as hell, Mr. Wilkins." Xander answered "But somehow I doubt you wanted to see me, so you could ask me about my weekend."
"All business, I see. I like that. And please call me Richard. Have a seat," the Mayor said and pointed at one of the chairs in front of his desk.
Xander moved from the spot where he stood and let himself fall into the seat.
"Alexander, have you ever heard of the Sisterhood of Jhe" the Mayor asked.
Xander quickly went through his memories, searching for anything he might have read in one of Giles' books, but he couldn't remember anything.
"No, I don't think so."
"No, I didn't think so. It's rarely common knowledge. Well, the Sisterhood of Jhe is a group of she-demons who want to bring the demons back to our world. You could call them Apocalypse-Demons. They are ferocious fighters, and even one of the Slayers would have trouble with them."
"And you're telling me this because..." Xander said and waited for the Mayor to continue.
"Because the Sisterhood is here in Sunnydale." Wilkins finished his sentence
"Oh. That doesn't sound good."
"No, it isn't. They plan to open the hellmouth and I can not allow this. It would intervene with my plans for this city."
"So, why don't you just send some of your goons to deal with them?" Xander asked.
"That's a good question. You see Alexander, when you killed Trick and his men you also destroyed a major part of my own vampire forces. It will take time to replace those. So, I don't have enough vampires to face the Sisterhood. That's where I need you," the mayor explained.
"So, you want me to eliminate them.?" Xander questioned.
"Alexander, believe me, I have great faith in your abilities, but they would hunt you down once you started killing them. No, I think we have to rely on your Slayer and her friends to fight the Sisterhood."
"Okay, you want me to watch from the sidelines how Buffy and the rest save the day once again. Great," Xander exclaimed angrily.
"You misunderstand me. Contrary to your so called friends I know what you're capable of. But I have a different job for you. "The Mayor said and tossed a folder across his desk.
"You see, even if the members of the Sisterhood of Jhe aren't the most clever demons they were smart enough to organize a backup plan," the Mayor explained while Xander looked through the pages. "Do you recognize the person in the photos?"
Xander shrugged before he answered. " Yeah. Jack O'Toole. Local psycho and gang member. Still don't see how someone like him could be useful for these demons."
"Well, it seems that Mr. O'Toole here is the integral part of their back up plan. You see, the Sisterhood heard about your friends and they are not sure if they can win against them. Two slayers are a little bit much, even for them. So they contracted the help of Mr. O'Toole to guarantee that they succeed with their plan. They probably think that he can think of something your friends won't count on."
"Any idea what he wants to do?" Xander asked his boss.
"Well my informant was killed before he could tell me anything specific. But he was able to tell me that they granted him free selection of his measures."
"So, my job is to kill O'Toole and prevent the hellmouth from opening?" Xander asked.
"Well, that should sum it up" the Mayor answered
Xander scanned through the file until he noticed something. "Wait a second. Status: "deceased". He was very alive when I last saw him."
"You're right. A little mistake, but not completely wrong. Undead would be the right term. He was killed in a drive by shooting a few weeks ago. He was resurrected by his grandfather, who is a some kind of voodoo priest. Mr. O'Toole is what you would call a zombie."
"So, let me get this straight. You want me to hunt a zombie, so his demonic employers won't succeed in bringing hell on earth?" Xander questioned the politician.
"Yes"
"Great. This just one of these days where you wished you'd stayed in bed."
The Mayor smiled at Xander "You will do fine Alexander." He looked on his watch. "Oh, you should hurry up if you don't want to miss first period."
Xander grimaced. This was still a sore spot between those two. The Mayor insisted that he would continue to go school so his cover wouldn't be blown. That was another reason the Mayor appreciated his new employee. He was not only a deadly assassin but also the mole in the slayer's group.
"Yeah you're right. Okay, I will take care of that business after school."
Xander turned to leave when the Mayor stopped him.
"Oh, wait a second. I have something for you," the Mayor said and reached under his desk from where he produced a brown lunch bag. He gave it to Xander, who stared at it like it was some kind of alien.
"You must be kidding me."
"No of course not. Lunch is one of the most important meals of the day," the Mayor explained to him with a big grin on his face.
Xander eyed the older man sceptically.
"Riiiight. Well, thanks. I should go now," Xander said.
"Goodbye Alexander and good luck"
When Xander closed the door behind him the Mayor thought how lucky he was that he became a politician, instead of becoming a lawyer like his father.
He wondered what happened to him after he joined this lawfirm in LA..
"So Mr Harris finally agreed to join us," Mr. Clark barked at Xander when he entered the classroom thirty minutes too late. "What's your excuse this time ?"
"Well, I had a very important appointment with the Mayor," Xander answered the teacher's question.
"Very funny Mr.Harris. Now sit down and be quiet so the other students can learn something. Some of them have a chance to go college, a place someone like you will likely never get to," the teacher told him with a smirk.
Most of the students in the classroom were now laughing or silently giggling about Mr. Clark's insult.
But what surprised most of the students was that Xander was in fact smiling back to the teacher.
"That was a good one Mr. Clark. I wonder how your wife was able to leave a man with such a good sense of humor," Xander told the teacher. "Oh wait, if I remember correctly it was the affair with your neighbor that drove her away. Too bad you slept with a woman who was the greatest gossip in town."
Mr. Clark and the whole class were now staring open mouthed at Xander, who didn't lose the arrogant smile he had on his lips. The teacher was pale, trying to find the words to answer his pupil.
"Will you please sit down Mr. Harris," the teacher finally said, his voice weak.
Xander walked up to his seat and sat down.
It was a good thing that the Mayor had files about all the teachers at Sunnydale High. Not a waste of time going through Mr. Clark's permanent record, he thought while said teacher tried desperately to continue his lesson.
Xander smiled all through the lesson.
The signs were all there. Xander couldn't believe that he didn't notice it earlier, especially after his encounter with the necromancer and his zombies in Alberta. His skin was pale and if you paid a little bit more attention you could also see that some parts of his flesh were already rotten.
All these thoughts were running through his mind while he observed O'Toole during lunch. Xander was leaning comfortably against a tree in the quad and was eating the sandwich the Mayor gave him this morning.
The bell rang and Xander turned around, only to run directly into someone. His surprise only increased when realised that it was Buffy he nearly knocked down.
"Geez Xander, be a little more careful the next time," Buffy exclaimed shocked.
"Sorry Buff. But I didn't really expect one of you to be standing behind me." Xander paused and continued "So, what's up? Another one of your "What's right, what's wrong" sessions?"
"Xander, please be serious just for once, ok. I'm not here because of that. I know we have our differences, but..."
"Differences ? That asshole Travers wanted to come back for Faith and the only way to stop him was killing him." Xander was nearly shouting now, attracting the attention of the students around him. "I'm sorry my plan wasn't approved by the slayer-sign of quality."
" You didn't have to kill him Xander. There is always another way."
"Yeah, but like you said that isn't the reason you're here. So tell me, what's up?" he asked.
"There is some dangerous stuff going on tonight and I just wanted to make sure you stay home," Buffy explained to him.
"Thanks for the concern Buff. But I can take care of myself." Xander said and walked past the blonde slayer.
Buffy grabbed his arm and turned him around.
"Xander, please promise me you won't go out tonight." Buffy was now almost pleading.
"Like you care slayer."
"I care for you Xander. I just don't want to see you get hurt."
"Too late Buffy. What do you think you all have been doing for the last few months. You all treat me like I am a criminal. I was only protecting one of us." He paused trying to compose himself "You all barely speak to me. I not only had to kill a person I also lost all the people I love and care for. If it wasn't for Giles and your mom I would have no one I could talk to. At least you should know what it is like to kill a human."
Buffy looked at him questioningly.
" Oh, don't tell me you've already forgotten. You remember the time you thought you killed Ted?" Buffy nodded " All the feelings, the self loathing the guilt. I know what you went through. I'm experiencing it myself. The only difference was that you killed him by accident and I did it on purpose."
"But Ted was a robot," Buffy interrupted him.
"Yes, but you didn't know it at the time, did you. You thought you killed a human being. And what did we do? We tried to help. We told you that it was an accident and that you didn't want to kill him. Where is this support now Buffy? No one even tries to understand my point of view or accepts that I only did what had to be done to protect you and Faith."
He took a step back before he continued.
"You know what Buffy, I can only promise you one thing: If I go out tonight the only ones that will get hurt are the ones standing in my way."
With these words Xander turned around and left Buffy standing under the tree.
Xander parked his SUV in the Summer's driveway. He closed the big car's door and walked up to the porch. He opened the door with the key Joyce has given to him the day he moved in. It seemed a lifetime ago.
He entered the house and was immediately greeted by eldest of the Summers women.
"Hi Xander. How was school ?" she asked him.
"School was okay, Joyce," he answered.
"Are you going out tonight?"
"Yeah. I have some business to do. Why?" Xander questioned her.
"Buffy phoned me and told me that I should not leave the house tonight. She said that something "major hellmouthy" is going to happen. She also wanted me to convince you to stay in," Joyce explained to the young man.
Xander had to smile at that.
"Stubborn as hell, I have to give her that."
"Don't you think it would be smart to follow her advice? It sounds serious," Joyce asked worried.
"Sorry Joyce, can't do that. But I promise you that nothing will happen to me."
"I hope so. You want something to eat before you leave?" she asked him.
Xander looked a his watch.
"Sorry, I'm already late for my appointment. I just stopped by to get some stuff"
Xander walked up the stairs and looked back.
"But thanks for the offer."
"No Problem Xander. Hurry up if you don't want to be late."
Xander entered the guestroom, in which he lived for the last few months. It wasn't exactly big, but it was home.
He reached under his bed and got the duffel bag in which he kept the weapons he used regularly. He opened it, to check the guns.
The first was a H&K Mp5k with a scope, a laser sight and an attached silencer. Xander checked the gun and was satisfied with its condition. The second one was also a H&K, but this time a SOCOM. It also had a silencer and a laser sight attached to it.
Xander normally used guns with silencers. Cops reacted allergic if someone is shooting around in a graveyard. Sunnydale PD was no exception. These policemen were the most incompetent ones in the whole country, but even they had to react if some frightened neighbour is reporting a gun shooting.
Satisfied with the status of his weapons Xander grabbed a shoulder holster and put the SOCOM in it. All this might be a little bit much for one zombie, but Xander didn't want to risk getting caught unprepared
He opened his cabinet and took one of his rucksacks. He put the Mp5 in it and proceeded with his preparations.
He learnt his lesson with Trick and his vamps and made sure that he got enough magazines, for both the pistol and the submachine gun. He took three for the Mp5 and five for the SOCOM, all filled with hollow points. He put two of the pistol magazines in the pockets of the holster. The other clips went into the rucksack. He also took his trusted K-Bar Kombat knife to complete his selection.
Time for the clothes.
He quickly changed into what he called his "slaying gear": a pair of black combat boots with back jeans completed with a white t-shirt. Xander finally took the holster and fastened it around his shoulder and used his black leather jacket to cover the deadly weapon.
Hunting a Zombie.
If he didn't know better he could have sworn that he stumbled into one of the Resident Evil games.
Grabbing the rucksack he opened the door and left his room.
Xander drove directly to the address the Mayor's file listed as Jack O'Tooles home. The file said that he lived with his grandfather at the old house, ever since his parents died in a car crash when he was nine.
He stepped out of his car and walked up to the front porch. He knocked twice and waited for someone to open the door.
Finally an old man opened the door and looked questioningly at Xander.
"Can I help you young man," he finally asked.
Xander put on his best fake smile. "Yeah you definitely can Mr. O'Toole. Is Jack home? I have to talk to him."
"Jack's out. Who are you anyway? You're not one of Jack's friends," the old man asked and eyed Xander suspiciously.
"Well, no. But it's very important that I speak to him" Xander told him and quickly looked around, checking if someone was seeing the conversation he had with the voodoo priest. "So you know where I can find him?"
"Look kid, I don't know you and like I said you're not one of Jack's friends. I think it would be the best if you leave now before I call the cops," he threatened the young man in front of him.
Xander lost the smile he had on list lips. "Mr. O'Toole, I'm gonna ask you one more time before I get angry: Where did Jack go?"
"I won't tell you anything. Now leave."
Xander shrugged.
"Your choice" he said and headbutted the old man who promptly fell to the floor.
Not waiting for the old man to yell for help, Xander grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pulled him into the house, closing the door behind him.
Xander drew the SOCOM from it's holster and pointed the .45 cal gun at Jack O'Toole's grandfather.
" Now you're gonna tell me exactly where Jack went, who and what he took with him or we're gonna test if you can raise yourself from the dead," he threatened the fallen voodoo priest.
"You know about that? How?" he asked afraid.
"I am not as blind as the rest of this town." Xander pressed the switch at the laser sight and the red dot appeared on O'Toole's forehead. "Now talk!"
"Ok, Ok. Jack came back a few days ago and told me that someone wanted him for a job. He also said that the job paid that well that neither he nor me would have to be concerned about money any longer."
"Did he tell you anything specific about the job?" Xander asked.
"No, nothing," O'Toole answered.
"Do you know where he went?"
"No, he didn't tell me."
"You sure you are telling me the truth" Xander said and pressed the muzzle of the silencer a bit harder against the old man's skull.
"No I swear to you that's all I know." O'Toole told him desperately.
"Ok, I'm gonna believe you." Xander paused a second to consider what else he wanted to ask the voodoo priest. "Do you know what he took with him?"
"What do you mean?"
Xander rolled his eyes. "A gun, a knife, a surface to air missile, something like that."
"Yeah, he took his knife with him, Katie," O'Toole admitted.
"He named his knife Katie?" Jack's grandfather nodded." How lovely. Anything else?"
The old man thought about the question before he answered. "He wanted me to show him how to perform the resurrection ritual."
"The Mojo to create zombies?" Xander asked.
O'Toole nodded.
"Great, now I have not only to kill him but an army of zombies. This is getting better and better. Fuck," he cursed.
"You want to kill him?" O'Toole asked with concern in his voice.
Xander stood up and put the gun back into it's holster. He sighed.
"Well Mr. O'Toole, your grandson really is up to some bad things and it's my job to stop him and I fear the only way to stop him is to kill him."
Xander turned around and went out of the door. But before he could leave O'Toole called him a last time. "If he is the bad one who are you?"
Xander thought about the question before he answered.
"I don't know," he admitted and walked up to his car to continue his search for zombie Jack.
Xander drove all around Sunnydale, trying to find a clue where Jack might be.
He even checked all the cemeteries, in hope of catching Jack while raising some of his undead comrades, but he couldn't find anything.
When it became dark Xander decided to check the Bronze.
His time was running out.
He entered the famous teen hangout and quickly went through the crowd, scanning the people left and right, searching for Jack O'Toole's face.
Instead he spotted the familiar face of Cordelia Chase, who was standing at one of the tables and resting a bit unsteadily on her legs.
Xander walked up to her and was immediately greeted by her slurred voice.
"Xaandder. What are you doing here?" she asked him
"I could ask you the same" he said while noticing the smell of alcohol that radiated from the brunette. He took the bottle on the table and read the label. "Isn't it a bit early for Vodka Cordy? How did you get your hands on that anyway?"
"Shhh" she whispered and motioned him to lower his voice. "Fake ID-Card" she said and produced said item from her purse.
Xander quickly went through the facts on the small plastic card.
"Ok, your name is Cornelia Blaze, you were born in San Francisco, you're black and you weigh 240 pounds." He handed the card back and smiled evilly at her. "I didn't know you gained that much weight Cordy."
A Look of outrage could be seen on Cordelia's face.
"Oh, you" she tried to slap him but failed miserably and lost her balance, but Xander was able to catch her before she could fall to the floor.
Laying in his arms Cordelia looked up at him and sighed dreamily. "My knight in shining amour."
Xander brought her back to her legs and made sure she was not collapsing again.
"Cordy, what are you doing, drinking like there is no tomorrow." Xander asked the brunette a bit uneasy.
"There might be no tomorrow," she explained. " Willow came to me and said that something bad is going to happen tonight. When I asked for details she told me that the hellmouth is going to open. So I thought that if the world is going to end tonight I could at least could do the things I've never done before. For example: getting drunk."
"Why do you think Buffy and the others won't succeed in preventing this apocalypse." he asked her.
"Please Xander be realistic. We had the Master and the Judge. Sooner or later one of these nutcases is going to win." Cordelia was now running her hands up and down on Xander's chest. "So, you're up for some pre- apocalyptic fun?" she asked seductively.
"If you weren't that drunk I might take you up for that offer. But in your current state: NO"
"Oh, Xander you're no fun" she complained. But her bad mood immediately lifted when she noticed Angel entering through the front door." Maybe Angel there is able to satisfy my needs" she said and walked in the general direction of the souled vampire.
Xander was able to grab her wrist and turn her around.
"You remember the whole "moment of true happiness"-clause. You don't want Angelus running around again, do you," he tried to reason her.
"You men are no fun. You are either mystical disabled or gay," Cordelia pouted.
"Hey, I'm not gay" Xander tried to defend himself.
Their not so usual conversation was interrupted by Angel.
"Xander, Cordelia." He frowned "Didn't Buffy and Willow tell you both to stay at home."
"Well Cordy here decided that it was more fun getting drunk than sitting at home and waiting for the apocalypse and I don't care what Buffy orders me to do." Xander looked at Angel's head. "Nice hair by the way. How much hair gel did you have to use for it? A ton?"
Cordelia started to laugh hysterically at that joke, attracting the attention of most of the people around her.
"Very funny Xander. Have you seen Buffy? It's really important" Angel asked with urgency in his voice.
" You tried the library?" Xander asked.
Angel shook his head. "No, she is not there. Willow and Giles also couldn't help me."
"What was she doing the last time you saw her?"
"We were researching these apocalypse demons and I went to the mansion to get a few of my own books," the vampire recalled the nights previous events.
"Maybe she went to Willy, you know: trying to get some information."
"Yes, you're right. Thanks for the help," Angel said and turned around to leave the Bronze.
Xander shook his head. Beside him Cordelia groaned, clutching her stomach.
"You okay Cordy," Xander asked worriedly.
Cordelia half smiled at him. "Yeah, but I think getting drunk wasn't that good an idea after all."
Xander sighed and grabbed the vodka bottle. "Come on, I'm going to drive you home," he said and lead his drunken friend in the direction of the exit.
"I think that's the best idea I heard so far," Cordelia groaned.
He brought Cordelia home, making sure that it was safe to leave her on her own. Lucky for him her parents were out of town on one of their business trips. He would have had some trouble explaining to them why he was carrying their obviously drunk daughter into her bedroom and that in the middle of the night.
When he got back to his car he decided to continue his search for Jack O'Toole. He listened all the time to the police radio that he had installed in his car, a little gadget he got from his visit in Seattle.
But the last message got his attention. It said that a 211(armed robbery) had happened at "Harry's Hardware". He would have ignored it, if the policeman on the radio wouldn't have mentioned that the suspects were described as "walking corpse". So he headed in the direction of the shop, in hope of finding some information about Jack's intentions.
When he reached his destination he immediately noticed the couple of policemen in front of the shop.
Xander parked his car on the opposite side of the street. He stepped out and approached the little group.
One of the policemen saw him and went in his direction. "Excuse me sir, but this is a crime scene."
Xander ignored the cop in front of him and instead took his wallet out of his jacket and showed him the ID-Card the Mayor has given him for situations like this.
"I'm working for the Mayor, officer," he told the man and walked past him, in the direction of the broken window.
The policeman now had an look of fear on his face and followed Xander.
"I didn't know that sir. How can I help you," he offered to the young man.
"You can tell me who was responsible for this," Xander said and pointed at the broken window.
"Well, we don't know it for sure. The only witness was this old lady there," the officer said and pointed at the old woman who was speaking to the other policeman. " But I don't think that we can use her statement. She said that a boy and three corpses robbed that store" the cop told him and laughed a bit.
Xander ignored the officer's futile attempt at a joke and still studied the window and the interior of the shop.
"What was stolen?" he asked
"Wait a second," the cop said and went through his notepad "a few cans of kerosene, wires, primers, cords and an electronic timer switch."
Xander's head shot up when the cop listed the stolen items, realising with fear what Jack and his undead friends were up to. All the stuff could be used to build a bomb and the Sisterhood wanted him to take care of Buffy and the rest, which were likely at the library. That meant...
"They want to blow up the school."
"Excuse me?" the policeman asked.
"Nothing officer. Thanks for your cooperation. I will make sure the Mayor gets a full report about the good work you're doing," Xander said and turned around walking in the direction of his parked SUV.
Suddenly a voice called out for him. "Xander!"
Xander turned his head in the direction of the voice and immediately spotted Willow.
"Willow," he greeted her "What are you doing here?"
"I was just getting some ingredients for a spell we will need tonight. And you ? Didn't Buffy tell you to stay at home tonight?" she asked him.
Xander rolled his eyes " Look Will, I lost count how many people told me that already. I will also tell it to you: I don't care, okay."
"But you could get hurt," she said.
"Look, I would really like to chat with you, but I have to hurry up. If you have to say anything to me that is important say it now."
Willow had no answer to that.
"Didn't think so," Xander said and opened the door of his car.
"Xander wait," Willow said and grabbed his forearm. " You are right. We have the apocalypse and all that and there might be no tomorrow and." she tried to control her babbling. "I'm.. I'm sorry that we weren't able to work out our problems. I just wanted you to know that we still love you, despite to what you have done," Willow said. A second later she threw her arms around him and hugged him hard. Xander closed his eyes for a second before responding "Thanks Will," he whispered.
After a few moments they ended their hug and Xander stepped into his car. He started the engine and looked at his childhood friend.
"See you tomorrow ?" he asked.
"Sure," she beamed happily.
Xander drove off and Willow waved after the departing vehicle before she continued her way to the high school.
Life or rather unlife was good for Jack O'Toole. He would live forever and soon he would have enough money to leave this hellhole of a town.
The Sisterhood paid him $1 million for blowing up the high school and so killing this blond bitch the demons were so afraid of.
His friends didn't know anything of that. They thought that this all was a big prank to celebrate their new undead existence. He would have to get rid of them after the job was finished. No way he would be sharing the money with them.
His thoughts were cut short when a black SUV turned around the next corner and drove up to them.
Suddenly the black car switched to high beam and the powerful headlights blinded the foursome. The zombies lifted their hands to protect their eyes.
The car suddenly stopped in the middle of the street and the drivers door opened. Someone was stepping out oft the car.
Jack could only see his silhouette of the person, but he could have sworn that it or he was pointing something at them.
A red dot appeared on Parker's head. A second later his skull was ripped apart and vanished in a cloud of brain and skull bone.
Jack lived long enough on the streets of Sunnydale and knew when someone was shooting at him. He immediately turned around and ran in the direction of the high school.
Xander watched with satisfaction when the headless body of one of the zombies fell to the ground. But this feeling quickly vanished when the three remaining zombies began running away from his position.
He shifted his aim at the next one, who was still wearing the suit he was buried in. He switched the Mp5 on semi automatic mode and fired a single round in the back of the retreating undead, who immediately collapsed on the street.
Jack and the last one of his friends were able to get out of his sight by turning around the corner.
Xander cursed under his breath, but remembered the zombie he shot, who was desperately trying to crawl away from his predator.
Xander approached him, the submachine gun still aimed at his enemy. He turned the zombie around, who immediately raised his hands in surrender.
"Please don't shoot me !!!" he pleaded.
"I won't shoot you if you answer me some questions." Xander told the undead. "Where is the bomb?"
"It's in the high school" the zombie answered.
Xander rolled his eyes "I already know that. Where in the high school?"
"It's in the boiler room."
"How long till it explodes," Xander asked.
"About half an hour" the zombie answered.
"Thanks," Xander said and turned around, walking in the direction of his SUV. He stepped in and continued driving down the road. Unfortunately Dickie was still lying in the middle of the street, unable to move. Xander showed no intentions of slowing down or even tried avoiding the zombie.
"Stop, you promised me you won't kill me" Dickie shouted at the advancing vehicle. But one moment before the wheels of the big car were going to crush his skull he remembered what Xander told him exactly. 'I won't shoot you if you answer me some questions.'
"Fuck," the zombie cursed before his world went black.
Jack and Bob came crashing through the main doors of Sunnydale High. They would have been out of breath, if they were still alive. Being undead had it's advantages.
"Jack, who is this guy? Who did you make that angry while we were away?" he asked his friend.
"I don't know who he is, but I'm sure he wants to avoid that we blow up the school," Jack answered.
"And what are we doing now?" Bob asked questioningly.
" I'm going to set the timer on five minutes. That should be enough time for us to leave the building" Jack explained.
"Forget about the bomb Jack. This motherfucker is hunting us. Have you seen what he has done to Parker. And Dickie? I don't want to think what he did to him. We should leave. Fuck this bomb. It isn't worth our lives," Bob told him and walked in the direction of the exit.
But before he could leave Jack grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and forced him to look into his face.
"I will tell you only one time," Jack told him with angrily. "We are not leaving. This Fucker is going to pay for Parker and Dickie. We blow the school up while he is still in here. So, you gonna help me? "
"Okay, I will help you," the former football player answered.
Jack turned around and walked in the direction of the boiler room. "Guard the entrance till I'm back. Then we're gonna leave and enjoy the fireworks."
Bob in the meantime noticed something. "Hey, that guy has a gun. What do you think I should defend myself with, huh," he asked.
Jack quickly looked around and noticed the fire axe on the wall. He smashed the glass and threw it to his friend.
"With this," he told him.
Xander parked his car in one of the many parking lots of Sunnydale High. He quickly stormed out of the SUV and ran up to the doors. Quickly scanning the halls but seeing neither Jack nor his remaining friend Xander continued his way to the direction of the boiler room.
When he turned he next corner he was shocked seeing Bob standing there. The Zombie slashed with the big ax at him, but luckily he wasn't able to hit Xander with it. His Mp5 was not that lucky. The Ax cut through the barrel of the deadly weapon, leaving it useless,
Xander took a few steps back, letting the remains of his submachine gun fall to the floor.
"Do you know how much one of these costs on the black market," Xander said and pointed at the now useless gun.
When Bob followed his gaze, Xander took his chance and drew the SOCOM. He learned his lessons during his patrol and aimed at the kneecaps of the bulky zombie, shattering them both with two well placed shots.
Bob's legs were now unable to support his weight. His body crashed to the floor, losing the ax in the process.
Xander grabbed the big weapon and lifted it over his head.
"And you gonna pay for it," he continued his last sentence and swung the ax at the zombie's head, separating it from it's owners shoulders.
Xander let the ax fall to the floor and continued running to the boiler room.
When he came to the entrance to the library he looked through the windows of the door, seeing Buffy and the others fighting the monster he remembered from the day the Master tried to open the hellmouth.
"They have their job, I have mine," he muttered.
Finally he reached the door which lead to the basement and to the boiler room. He quickly went down and opened the door at the end of the stairs. He immediately spotted O'Toole standing in front of the bomb. He was manipulating the timer and Xander decided it was time to stop him.
"Jack," he greeted the zombie and raised the gun. " You gave me quite some trouble finding you."
O'Toole turned around and was surprised to see Xander Harris in front of him.
"Harris? You killed my friends?" he asked with disbelief in his voice.
"Yeah, little old me. Now stop the timer and I might let you live..or unlive if you prefer," Xander said and pointed the SOCOM at O'Toole's head.
The zombie smiled at him. "You won't shoot me. You don't know how to disarm the bomb by yourself."
"Why do you think that Jack? Would you have thought that I could take out you and your friend?" he asked him and shook his head. "Like most people you are underestimating me," Xander sighed and shot O'Toole twice in the chest.
Not waiting for the zombie to hit the floor, Xander quickly went to the bomb and examined the timer and the wires connected to it and the rest of the bomb. His memories from Halloween again helped him in finding the solution for this problem.
He spotted the wire which lead from the timer to the explosives and cut it with his knife. The timer stopped when one minute was left.
Xander sighed satisfied and brushed the sweat from his forehead. Suddenly he heard a groan from the floor.
He looked over the bomb and noticed that Jack was still alive.
Xander frowned. "You are still alive?" He frowned. "Let me take care of this problem for you," he said and emptied the rest of his magazine into the head of the undead gang leader.
He wanted to take his gaze away from the ugly sight, but noticed something glittering under Jack's jacket. He grabbed the object and noticed that it was a knife. Remembering the story Jack's grandfather told him about Jack's knife brought a grin to Xander's face.
"I will take good care of her," he told the now headless corpse and left the basement and this mess behind him.
Xander sat on the hood of his SUV, the bottle of vodka he earlier secured from Cordelia in his hand. He took a large sip and grimaced from the taste in his mouth. When he returned from his stand off with Jack O'Toole he ran into a couple of the escaping apocalypse demons. He wondered why the Mayor was so afraid of them, they were not that tough. Even their heads were not that hard you couldn't crack them with bullets.
After that he took the remains of his Mp5 and threw them on the back seat of his car.
There was just one thing left to do.
He took his cell phone and dialed a , for him now, familiar number.
"Hello," came the answer from the other side of the phone.
"Hey Boss," Xander greeted the Mayor.
"Alexander. I'm glad to hear from you. Are you okay?" the Mayor asked worried.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Xander reassured the older man. " I just wanted to call you and tell you that O'Toole is dead."
"I knew I could count on you Alexander. Good Work. Is there anything else?" he asked.
"I left a couple of dead zombies on the street which leads to the school, another one in the school itself and Jack is in the basement with his bomb," Xander explained the nights events. " You might want to clean these up."
"Bomb?" the Mayor asked.
"Yeah, he wanted to blow up the school and kill Buffy and the rest in the process."
"Well, that's something no one has ever tried before," the Mayor admitted. "Anything else?"
"No, that should cover everything."
"Good. Now go to sleep Alexander. You still have school tomorrow."
Xander grimaced. "Will do so. Good night boss."
"Good night Alexander."
They were all sitting together at one table. Buffy, Faith, Giles, Willow and Oz. The first four were marked by the battle of the previous night, while Oz had been a werewolf and locked up in the basement.
Xander looked at them and wondered if it was that long ago that he was part of the group.
But his thoughts were interrupted by someone groaning behind him. He smiled and turned around, immediately noticing the awful look on Cordelia's face.
"Hi Cordy," he greeted the former head cheerleader. "How are you doing?"
"Like I said yesterday, getting drunk was not the best idea. I have a hangover bigger than the Grand-Canyon," she complained. "And you? What did you do after you brought me home."
Xander shrugged. "Just driving around a bit. Nothing special."
"Yeah, well thanks for rescuing me from myself. I don't want to know what I would've done if you hadn't shown up."
"No problem," he said and smiled at her.
"Look, I have to head to class. I will see you," she said and walked away.
Xander grabbed his bag and wanted to leave the quad when he was stopped by a certain blonde slayer.
"Hi Xander," she greeted him.
"Buff. How was your night?" he asked her.
"You know the usual. Demons, vampires, the apocalypse...."
"Yeah, I know," he smiled knowingly at her.
"Look, Willow told me that she met you yesterday and what you talked about. I just wanted to ask you if you wanted to sit with us," she said and pointed at the table, where the rest of the Scoobies were looking at them with anticipation in their eyes.
"Not today Buffy," Xander said and walked past the slayer and turned around while walking. "I'm pretty tired and I think I will skip the rest of my classes."
Buffy's shoulders slumped in defeat.
"But hey, what about movie night at home. You, me and the rest of the gang?"
Buffy lips turned up in a smile "Yeah, that would be nice. Nine o'clock?" she asked.
"Nine o'clock it is. We will see you then," Xander said and waved good bye.
He looked over his shoulder and could see Buffy going back to the rest of the gang. He also could see the smiles on their faces, when she told them about their plans for tonight.
Xander walked directly to the parking lot, deciding to enjoy this night with his friends.
Because he didn't knew how many nights like this were in his future.