The Future Is What We Make

Chapter 4

Angel and Xander as if they were racing against time in their desperation to get back to the hotel. They were within a few minutes of the hotel when Xander screamed in pain, clutching at his chest. Angel, with a desperate look to the now visible hotel, turned back with reluctance to Xander.

“What’s wrong,” he asked urgently, glancing back at the hotel. So close….they were so close!

“Magic,” Xander gasped out, ripping off his necklace and holding it at arm’s length, Angel covered his eyes against the glow. “Wills gave this to me years ago: it warms up when I’m near magic and by the way this thing was burning the hell outta me, we must be near some powerful mojo,” Xander explained.

“But what,” Angel said, running his fingers through his hair in frustration.

“Hold on a minute, willya, at least let me see what’s the what,” Xander said, holding the necklace up and looking through the ring attached to it.

“It can show you magic?” Angel stepped behind Xander in order to see what was forming in the ring’s circle.

“Yeah, whatever’s out there, it’ll show me. At least that’s the way it’s supposed to work,” Xander said distractedly, his eyes narrowing at the picture that was forming.

Both Angel and Xander caught their breath as the hidden mercenaries outside the hotel shimmered in a ghostly fashion.

“Oh shit!” Xander said explosively.

“Make it double,” Angel said grimly, studying the situation. There was no way they could get to the hotel in time, especially not with the men in front like that. They would be cut down in seconds.

“Okay, don’t panic,” Angel said, “Buffy’s there and the Hyperion has more than enough fighters to easily repel them.” His eyes grew bleak, “Unless Buffy….” He broke off and was only prevented from racing to the hotel by Xander’s grip on his arm. As it was, he dragged Xander several feet before he realized the boy was hanging on his arm.

“Whoa, there Kimo Sabe,” Xander exclaimed, “Slow your roll, man. I know a quick way to find out the 411 in the hotel. Let me call Wills; she can find out and get us in *without* them seeing us,” Xander stated confidently.

“Oh, and how will she do that… magic?” Angel asked sarcastically and then groaned at the look Xander gave him. “Just pretend that I didn’t say that, okay,” he said faintly.

“Riiiight,” Xander nodded and closed his eyes, reached for Willow.

*Hey Wills,* he called silently.

**Yeah, Xander, what’s up?** Willow asked silently, straightening in her chair and causing Wesley to glance at her curiously.

*We’ve got some big nasties out here, give a look-see where the Buffster’s at*

Willow gestured to her water glass, transforming it into a scrying glass and a picture appeared of Buffy, with the Hyperion fighters, going somewhere. She said as much to Xander and heard his mental sigh.

Wesley raised his eyebrows at the small gesture of power, hmmm I wonder if perhaps we can develop her powers a bit further, I must remember to speak with both Angel and Mrs. Osborne about this, he thought to himself.

*Wills, we got trouble. Get our people prepared for an attack, and get me and Angel back to the hotel, pronto!*

**Grab Angel and get ready**

Xander grabbed Angel’s hand and felt a tingle at the contact. A few seconds later he saw the glow as he and Angel were deposited in the hotel lobby.

He frowned at his hand, shaking his hand still feeling the tingle. That’s weird, he thought to himself, usually the glow comes first then the tingling starts, hmmm, Wills’ magic must be a little off since she had the baby. He dismissed the matter as unimportant as the people gathered in the lobby.

Angel opened his mouth to speak and slowly closed it, listening to the rapid-fire orders Xander was snapping out, seeing how each person seem to come to attention.

“These are all humans, so that means the wards ain't gonna work on them,” Xander outlined his plan grimly. “All demons, half-demons upstairs guarding the kids."

“Riley, I want you and your squad Eastside; Forrest, your people---South; Larry, you got West. Everybody else, with me,” he ended, glancing around making sure there were no questions, “You know the routine, find…grab… hold the leader.” There were grim smiles all around, “We need to ask him a few…..questions.” Their laughter was chilly and wicked.

Angel marveled at the way everyone obeyed the boy instantly. There was no question just who was in command….Xanders eys eyes strayed over the motley crew of former Sunnydalers; many of the people that followed Xander's orders were more than double his age! Yet these men and women not only listened and obeyed him, they also respected him.

"What about us," Cordy asked indignantly, "It's OUR hotel after all," and flinched at the cool look Xander gave her.

"Cordy, I have neither the time nor the patience to deal or play games with you. You want in, fine! But you stay the fuck out of my people's way. Do I make myself clear?" The frosty hardness in Xander’s eyes was echoed in turn by the rest of his people as they paused in checking their weapons.

"F..fi...fine," Cordy stammered out, her eyes wide.

"People, take your places," Xander ordered, calmly turning away from the shaken Cordy. Watching as his group settled into their positions, he asked, "Wills, can you do something to make it so they can't use their guns," his voice low and quiet.

Willow gave him a icy smile, "Already on it," she said, their eyes meeting in silent grim communication. He smiled, the great thing about Willow and Oz was that after all these years of fighting together, before he could even ask them to do things, they would already have started working on them.

Wesley's eyes narrowed in thought, perhaps with some judicious training, in time, I could help Willow become a full-fledged witch, taking a bit of strain off of my shoulders. With that he nodded, determined to talk to Angel about the matter. That is, if we live through this day, he thought dryly.

The doors burst open and the mercenaries poured in, confident of their victory .

Jonathan chanted spells immobilizing a soldier and allowing his squad to take the person down....

Harmony attacked with her katana, moving with deadly, effortless grace.....

Troy attacked with a quarterstaff: each blow slamming, brutal and hard against his opponents…..

Willow fought with two short swords with an almost inhuman grace.....

Oz in his dark glory, snarling, savagely ripped at tendons and unprotected throats....

Xander with a sword, eviscerated any that stood before him with icy, ruthless efficiency....

They knew that they had the element of surprise on their side and were determined to make the best of their window of opportunity by taking as many down as possible before the soldiers recovered.

All their years of demon fighting stood them in good stead as they took down soldier after soldier. This was about survival…this was about protecting home, family….this was something they had become very, very proficient at.

Angel, standing at the top of the stairs with the other demons, watched....seeing the fighting pattern emerge in the lobby. Xander's people fought in groups of threes, no more, no less. If one went down momentarily, there were always two more....one to protect, one to attack until the third was back on his or her feet again.

Cordy with her double bladed war axe and Wesley with his sword were also proving a very effective team, swiftly learning---adapting their moves to match up with any trio with a fallen member.

Their method of fighting was proving to be....highly effective against the invading soldiers, who were left scrambling to catch up in the surprise turnabout.

As for the invaders, it took them only a short time to realize their guns were totally useless against the defenders, but it was a costly realization: they had already lost too many people, and the element of surprise. With silent snarls of rage twisting their faces, they drew their knives and machetes and attacked viciously at the defenders.

Steadily losing confidence in their superiority, it no longer seemed that victory was within reach. They had already seen the real fighters leave, and they didn't know who the hell these people were, but the price for failure at Wolfram and Hart meant---they shuddered and fought on desperately, knowing that they were losing and badly at that.

When the frigid wind burst through the shattered door , they roused themselves to a little more effort, knowing that THEY were coming.

Amy and Tara, Wolfram and Hart’s pet witches, glided into the hotel with a distinctly proprietary air.

Amy gestured absently at an attacking man, throwing him against the wall with a sickening crunch.

Cordy and Wesley gasped and paled at the sight of the deadly duo. Goddamn it, she thought angrily, can't we ever get a break?

Angel sped down the stairs to face the two deadly witches.

Jonathan cast a spell at the witches, trying to stop them from coming further into the hotel, and for his efforts, he was thrown against the wall, slumping unconscious to the floor, shards of bone sticking grotesquely from his shattered leg.

Amy left Tara at the entrance, knowing her insane lover would be more apt to drift off into one of her mad conversations with herself than to stray, thereby keeping herself occupied. Her eyes widened in amazement as she saw who was now in L.A., and a cruel smirk lit her face.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't little Willow Rosenburg and the Zeppo, Xander Harris. Been doing much screaming for help lately?" She laughed cruelly at the set look on his face. "Looks like you picked up a couple of things Xander, other than getting knocked around, that is," she said with a malicious smile before turning her attention to Willow.

Behind her, the remaining guards gathered around the insane witch, knowing that Mistress Tara would literally skin them alive if anything happened to her lover.

Tara looked up, way up at the pretty shifting colors, giggling madly as she tried to touch them. She started jumping happily into the air, trying to touch the beautiful rainbow.

"They're so bright and pretty," she murmured, smiling at the terrified men. She giggled and began swaying, dancing with the shifting bands of light.

"So, Willow, still practicing your little witchcraft," Amy smiled heartlessly, "Shall I show you what a real witch can do?" She laughed harshly, her laughter cut off at the delighted squeal from her lover.

"Amy, look at the pretty colors!" Tara smiled at her.

Amy stomped back to her and grabbed her roughly by the arm, shaking her, "Goddamnit, you stupid idiot, can't you see that I'm busy?" She fumed, damn it, Tara was always doing crazyass shit like this, one of the main reasons why she never liked taking her anywhere! She could set the mood, going all dark and diabolical----enjoying the look terror in her victim's eyes…. and then crazy Tara would spoil everything by giggling. I mean, really, how can you be an evil powerful witch if you have someone giggling behind you---it just ruined the whole fucking scene!

She relented, seeing her lover's eyes fill with tears, "It’s okay sweetheart, now show Amy where are the pretty colors," she sighed, casting a freezing look over her shoulder. "I can always kill them later," she commented, relishing the fear she saw in Cordelia's eyes. She had hated the stuck up bitch in high school and now she finally had the power to make her pay! Her eyes narrowed into black, sadistic slits as she looked at Cordy, who raised her chin defiantly, though she was shaking with fear.

"She has the pretty colors," Tara said excitedly, pointing to the motionless Willow.

Amy glanced at Willow and sighed, seeing nothing, "Sweetie, she's not a witch or at the very least, a very small witch. She doesn't even have an aura," Amy said in disgust. There was nothing she hated more than some wannabe trying to pass herself off as a witch.

"No silly," Tara laughed, "You're looking the wrong way!"

"The wrong way....," Amy broke off as Tara nudged her chin up, tilting her head to the ceiling.....showing her the bright strong hues of a seasoned Witch!

Her eyes snapped down and she screamed, "Tara, get us out of here, NOW!" She saw the colors darkening, OH FUCK! she thought as Willow's eyes bled to black.

"But I wanna look at the pretty colors," Tara pouted, sighing. Even in her madness, she recognized the deadly fury that would soon engulf them, and with a last wistful look the pretty swirling colors, they disappeared in a flash of light, incinerating their surrounding guards.

“Oh shit,” Cordy said in the horrified silence, “That was a close one. Whatever you did, Willow,” she said with heartfelt relief as Willow turned to her, “Keep on doing….,” She broke off when she saw Willow’s midnight eyes.

She watched, along with Wesley, in terrified silence as Willow’s eyes bled back to their normal green.

“Dear Lord,” Wesley whispered, seeing for the first time the powerful aura surrounding the young woman. Apparently, Mrs. Osborne would NOT be needing instructions in magic from him, he thought dryly.

Xander cautiously approached the golden-eyed Angel, knowing how it must chafe Deadboy to allow someone else to fight his battles for him while he stood on the sidelines, unable to fight.

“Willow, contact the others, see how they are doing,” he murmured to her.

“Uhm, what should we do with the bodies,” he asked Angel quietly, since else everyone was seeing to the injured.

“Oh, now you’re asking me what to do,” Angel growled, he hated this damn ward on the hotel. He hated that he couldn’t fight, and worst of all, he HATED that it was Xander that fought to protect the hotel ans pes people, not him!

He blinked as he met Xander’s understanding gaze.

“Your hotel, your city...I’d figured you would know the best places to dump the bodies,” Xander said with a shrug and infectious grin, despite the lingering darkness in his eyes.

Angel smiled reluctantly, understanding what Xander was doing: obliquely saying that Angel was still in charge.

“Yes, there’s a place, but it is some distance away,” he said with a glance of part disgust and part hunger at the bodies littering the lobby. He looked guiltily at Xander to see him watching him with a steady gaze before the boy turned and called Willow over.

“Wills, Deadboy here says there’s a place to get rid of all these bodies, can your people manage,” he asked as Angel gave her the location.

“Hmm, I don’t see why not; it doesn’t sound too far,” Willow said with a thoughtful look on her face. “I’ll get my people on it right now. By the way, Forrest’s group has the leader and a couple of others,” she called over her shoulder as she sped away.

“Her people,” Wesley said quietly, watching her. She was far more powerful than anything he had ever seen and then he saw something that was said to be impossible: her aura began contracting around her until it disappeared back into her body! The sheer amount of power the child possessed was staggering.

May God have mercy on anyone that ever threaten her or her family, he thought with a shiver of terror.

“Yeah, Wills’ got all the magic people and Oz has all the fighters,” Xander explained, turning aside to speak quietly to one of the fighters.

“And you, what’s your role in this?” Doyle questioned, gesturing at the busy people cleaning up the spilled blood, watching as bodies disappeared in groups of twos and threes.

Angel glanced down at Doyle in surprise, “I would have thought you could see: Xander’s their leader.”

“No, I’m not,” Xander immediately protested.

“Yes, you are,” Harmony said over her shoulder as she helped a white-faced Jonathan up the stairs.

“Of course you are,” Riley said behind him.

Xander blinked, “I am? Then why do you guys always argue with me all the time,” he said looking sulky.

“Because you give us the freedom to do so, letting us know that our opinions matter to you,” Riley said easily, looking around to make sure that all threats to the hotel had been neutralized with hard, deadly eyes.

Cheryl trotted up, “But we never argue with any of your orders,” she said earnestly, having heard the conversation.

Riley looked at the blushing Xander, “You’ve kept us alive for almost four years,” he said with quiet intensity.

“But a lot of you died because of me,” Xander said in a small voice.

By this time, more people had surrounded the small group.

“But the majority of us lived because of you,” Graham said. He shook his head, “Xander, I don’t think you realize just how incredible odds are for you, for us, to lose only six people in four years! You’ve kept us alive right underneath the noses of the demon lords. That’s why we would follow you into Hell itself, because we know you’ll bring us all home, one way or the other.” Graham finished his impassioned speech to a chorus of ‘You tell ‘em Graham, baby!, ‘Hell yeah!’ and other similar vocalizations of agreement.

Cordy, Doyle, Spike, and Wesley exchanged glances. These weren’t just fighters, they were an army.

Just then, Buffy arrived back at the hotel, pissed off!

After about waiting for 30 minutes with absolutely nothing happening---no
demons, no humans, no NOTHING. It had gradually dawned on her that maybe, if Doyle had been wrong---she had left the hotel unprotected!

Shouting orders, they made their way back to the hotel as fast as they could and seeing the shattered entrance, they burst into the lobby ready to fight. It was something of an anticlimax as puzzled faces, swiftly turning unfriendly, regarded them.

Her eyes narrowed to disagreeable slits of fury and she began stalking to the swiftly paling Doyle. He was the cause of her wasting time on a wild goose chase.

Angel glanced up quickly from his talk with Xander when Buffy burst into the lobby. His eyes and mouth tightened as fury ran through and and icy rage glittered in his eyes. He forcefully controlled his demon, smelling the fury coming off her as she stalked towards Doyle. He knew what her intentions were and swiftly moved to intercept her.

“It wasn’t his fault,” he snarled, grabbing her arm and swinging her to face him.

“Not his fault?! Not his fault?!” she screamed, her voice growing progressively louder, expressing her disbelief. “He gave us a fake vision,” she yelled, glaring venomously at the shaken Doyle, fiercely glad to see the damn bastard flinch and drop his eyes.

“The Dark Powers screwed with his visions,” his voice was as icy as hers was hot, “but we have bigger issues right now,” adding softly, seeing Xander’s people drag three bound men, kicking and yelling furious threats, into the lobby.

He let go of Buffy’s arm and gave her a frosty look. They would definitely be talking later, but now he needed to deal with finding out what they could from the mercenaries.

Stalking to the bound men, he listened to their lurid imprecations with an frigid, impassive face. Only the gradual paling of his eyes was an indication of his true state of mind.

“You will tell me what we want to know,” he stated implacably when the men finally ran out of steam.

“Let me at them,” Buffy said angrily. If she couldn’t get any satisfaction from Doyle, at least she could get a little payback for the time wasted chasing her tail. She started forward and was restrained by a steel corded arm barring her way. She looked down and slowly looked up into Angel’s gold eyes, shivering at the icy hot look ….and she knew that this time she might not be able to talk her way out of her mistake.

He had to understand that it wasn’t her fault that the hotel was attacked…it was Doyle’s for giving her the wrong information in a fake vision.

The mercenaries, seeing Angel wasn’t responding to their heckling decided to find another victim. They weren’t wod and anyway: it wasn’t like Mr. Soulman would actually kill them! A couple of bruises, a broken arm or leg…that they could easily handle. Besides they got paid bonus money for shit like that!

The foulest mercenary cast his eye around the room trying to find a good victim. There was nothing he liked better than to see the helpless fury in their eyes whether he was the one tied up or he was doing the interrogating. Almost everyone was too scared of retaliation by Wolfram anrt trt to do more to then than just hitting them a time or two.

Then he saw them, a tall kid and a couple of little kiddies holding on to his legs…and he knew he had found his perfect victims. A cruel smirk twisted his face.

“Oooh, look at what we got over there, boys,” he said loudly making sure the boy heard him. His smile widening as the boy’s head jerked up.

“Fresh meat,” he chuckled nastily and the other two men’s wicked laughter
egging him on, as they saw the fury flash in the boy’s face.

“Ummm umpf, those some pretty fine looking kids you got there, wouldn’t mind a taste of those tight little asses” He lewdly licked his lips. He wanted a broken bone or two to take back to W & H for some bonus money. He licked his lips slowly, eyeing the trembling little boy.

Xander gently detached the children from his legs, kneeling down and whispering softly in their ears.

“Shut your foul mouth,” Angel snarled, his demon erupting full e ate at the terror in the children’s eyes and he viciously backhanded the man.

However, it only spurred the man to chuckle nastily, licking the blood from his lips before he caught his breath, “Talk, shut up, make up your fucking mind,” he snickered, laughing at the rage on the vampire’s face.

He chuckled nastily when the boy touched the vampire, stilling the rage glittering in his eyes. Ooooh, so that’s the way Mr. Soulman goes, I always wondered about that. His eyes flickered to the fuming Slayer and he decided to stir things up a bit more.

“I bet blondie, here, don’t know you got a thing for the brunette now, does she,” he snickered to the vampire. Flicking his eyes between Angel and Xander, he made sure everyone knew what he was insinuating, laughing with poisonous delight at the uncertain look that flashed across the girl’s face when she glanced at the vampire.

“What girlie, you didn’t know your Angel was fucking the boy?” He shook his head in mock sorrow, tsk-tsking at her ignorance.


Xander had had enough and from what the PTB’s said, things were extremely bad and getting worse. Besides, his eyes were like obsidian....no one threatened his children.

He stepped forward, feeling Willow coming up behind him.

"You see, we do things a little differently in Sunnydale or as we survivors affectionately call it, Sunnyhell," Xander said quietly as he prowled around the blustering mercenary.

"Oh yeah," the man sneered, "Well you ain't nothin' but a little punk assed bitch. You ain't got the balls to do nothing to me," he snorted. "Look at you, you think you're so fuckin' tough with your fuckin' sword and shit. Yeah, I bet if I had my hands free you'd be bending over and spreading your pretty little ass for me and calling me Master. Which one of the fuckin' demons you puttin' out for, huh boy?" He smirked, relishing the pale face of the boy. He laughed at the flash of fear he thought he saw in the boy's eyes.

Xander turned slightly to look at Wills, "The baby's safe in her crib," he affirmed. Receiving her slight nod, he said, "Joce, Mikey, go up to Angel's room, lock the door, and grab a pillow. Get in his closet and put the pillow around your head."

The children chorused, "Yes Daddy" and ran off.

"Oh, so those are your kids, mmm. Sure would like to get my hands on that little boy of yours," the man chortled nastily. "I bet he screams real nice," he leered.

The other two mercs, taking a different tack from their comrade's needling added
their voices, demanding to be let go, yelling that 'Wolfram and Hart would make them pay if they weren't let go immediately'.

Angel said coldly, "You tell us what you came here for and I'll think about letting you go."

The first man began laughing maliciously at him, "Oh yeah, like YOU are going to do somethin', you fuckin' bastard. Oops, you’re the bastard that ain't supposed to get none, ain't cha." He and the others chortled maliciously.

"As Xander said, we do things a little differently in Sunnyhell," Oz said growled softly, shifting back into his human form, taking the shirt Xander gave him. He nodded to Willow, who muttered "Solvo" and the shackles fell off two of the men.

The former Sunnydalers simply watched having seen this before while some of the people stirred angrily, crying out in rage at the mercenaries’ freedom. They surged forward but found that they were restrained by an invisible wall. The freed mercs didn't notice, both smirking in vicious triumph.

"Yeah, I thought so you, little frs..rs...you ain't got the balls to do shit," the man sneered. Smirking callously at Xander, he saw the boy's eyes glitter. For the first time, he felt a shiver of fear ghost up his spine, and he involuntarily took a step back before recovering his nerve and starting his filthy, lewd talk.

Xander abruptly whirled around in a tight circle and the man's foul ranting was suddenly cut off. A smirk was still on the man's face as Xander stepped back.

"Troy," the other freed man called uneasily to his comrade, fear skittering through him at the eerie stillness.

Slowly the man's head toppled off in the frozen silence.

"Jesus fucking Christ!" The freed man jumped back, screaming as the head rolled to a stop at his feet, the frozen smirk still intact.

"Like I said, we do things a little differently in Sunnyhell," Xander said quietly to the still bound man. "You WILL tell Angel what he wants to know or.....Wills," he nodded his head at the freed man starting to make a dash to the exit.

"Immolare," Willow murmured, her eyes seeping to blackness.

Flames engulfed the running man, his piercing screams rang through the hotel and suddenly the smell of burning meat filling the air.

The humans drew back in fear, even behind the invisible wall, their eyes wide.

"You will tell Angel what he wants to know," Oz stated quietly, a low growl of menace in his voice as he stared at the bound man with wolf eyes, circling around him.

"And if I do, you'll let me go, right," the man shakily, his face pale, terrified of these kids....kids nothing, they were fuckin' monsters.

"No. You simply have a choice of dying fast or dying slow," Willow said, arching a brow and gesturing to the now silently twitching figure still burning.

Everyone's eyes turned to look at what was once a man.

Willow took her place on the other side of Xander, her eyes still black.

The man swallowed convulsively, looking into their faces, seeing…

…the inhuman blackness in the redhead's eyes….

…the hungry look in the wolf eyes of the small man….

….and then at the boy, no the man, staring at him----he read death in their faces.

Silently, he cursed Wolfram and Hart and looking at Angel, he talked.

Flinching, he talked faster each time Willow, Oz or Xander looked at him or brushed up against him. Willow's eyes turning back to their natural color which really didn't make the merc feel any safer.

The room was silent except for his talking as they recordeeryterything he said. Many of them had to leave the room, sicken by his revelations of W & H’s foul actions. Until finally, just Cordy, Spike, Buffy, Doyle and Angel remained plus the Sunnydalers.

Finally the man finished, panting for breath. He had spilled everything he knew, guessed, or even supposed about W & H and their present and future plans.

Buffy stirred, shocked and horrified by the man, but trying to reassert power over her one-time friends. "Okay, you can let him go now," she said authoritatively. They simply looked at her imperturbably and she flushed in anger at their silent defiance.

"I said, RELEASE HIM," she roared out enraged, unaware that Angel stood behind her regarding her with distant, thoughtful eyes. She stalked forwards, rage flaring in her eyes, "NOW," she hissed.

She smiled in satisfaction as the shackles fell off the man, "I'm the Slayer, and we don't kill humans around hereshe she said arrogantly, turning away from them, assured of her control----of her superiority as she put them back in their places.

The last mercenary breathed a sigh of relief when the shackles fell from him.

"Speak for yourself, Slutty," Spike sneered. He was amazed at the ruthlessness of the three and his demon *really* liked the little witch. He looked at her speculatively, glancing quickly at Oz as he heard a low growl coming from the boy. Realization crashed through him as he saw the wolf swimming deep in the boy's eyes.

Xander, Oz and Willow watched as Buffy dismissed them. They glanced at Cordy, watching them with a frown of disbelief in her eyes. Then as one they turned and walked away from the freed man, who tentatively stepped forward towards the door---towards freedom.

"Wills….," Oz nodded towards the man, and Willow's turned around, her eyes again turning black. A fireball appearing in her hand….

...and all the man had time was for a brief scream of "NO!" before his body was incinerated leaving a fine dusting of ash on the floor.

Buffy whirled around at the brief scream, just in time to see the man immolated in the fire. Her eyes and mouth were agape before narrowing and tightening in fury.

Angel tried to stop her by grabbing her arm, but she quickly dodged him, her face set in rage. She was going to teach them a lesson starting with Xander! She stormed towards them. hey hey waited patiently for the angry Slayer, "Didn't I tell you that we don't kill humans?" She screamed, infuriated at the detached looks on their faces.

Xander stepped forward, "You may not, but we sure as hell don't have a problem
with killing humans or demons," his eyes drifted to Spike and Angel. "We don't have a problem with killing anything that threatens our safety, our family or our friends." Xander said coolly, for the first time openly challenging her. "Yay hay have forgotten your duty, trying to get back into Deadboy's bed, but we…." CRACK! His head jerked at the hard slap Buffy laid across his face with a freezing look of contempt on her face.

"Don't you EVER speak to me like that you miserable, useless piece of shit. You apparently have forgotten that I am the Chosen One, I am the Slayer." She ignored Cordy and Spike whispers “I am the Slut', 'I am the big bag of Wind.' She would deal with them later. "You are nothing, a Zeppo. Why, if it hadn't been for me, your ass would have been dead a long time…." CRACK! Her head jerked to the side at the hard blow across her face. Xander stood there with an equally icy look on his countenance.

"Uh oh," Doyle said, "He's really pissed her off!"

Buffy aimed a vicious blow at Xander’s torso that he sidestepped. Her eyes narrowed in rage as he continually sidestepped her increasingly brutal blows. She had him backed against the wall when she aimed a blow to his head that he ducked, and her eyes clouded with rage. The others hadn't figured out just how vicious her blows had become until they saw the wall shatter under her fist, realizing in that instant just how easily it could have been Xander's head.

Angel leaped forward with an angry cry but was blown off his feet by Willow’s blast at Buffy.

Buffy had time for a brief, angry shout before hitting the wall with a solid thud. She staggered to her feet, sneering at Willow, "Oh, is that the best you can do?"

Willow smiled eerily, "Oh no, that's not even close to my best. Do you really want to see me....at my best?" Slowly her eyes began turning black and her fiery red hair darkened to a midnight black as a frigid wind began swirling around the lobby, chilling their souls.

Xander and Oz exchanged wary looks, hoping and praying that Willow calmed down. In her current state, there was no telling the damage she could do to them evereveryone else in the hotel.

"Oh shit," Xander muttered as he saw the black veins creeping up her face.

Oz backed up a couple of steps and did a partial shift to his were form.

"Willow, calm down….Now," Xander said quietly, his eyes worried. It would kill him to kill Willow, but he would do it. They had made this pact, this vow, to one another, and so far it had only been him and Oz that had needed to be stopped: once when Oz had fully wolfed out and once whenhad had become possessed by a killer demon. They had both come within a hair’s breadth of death before they had recovered.

The Hyperion was too damn important to lose in Willow's destructive rage. Now that she wasn't pregnant, there wasn't anything to restrain her except for him and Oz. He hoped that they would be enough; he didn't want to lose his Wills.

Xander's gun was his hand as the others looked on in horrified shock. The building began shaking, dust and stone began raining down on them. His eyes narrowed as he focused on the center point of her forehead.

"Xander, Oz, are you both insane?" Cordy screamed, trying to maintain her footing, stumbling into Angel.

He swiftly caught her, holding her steady. "They are really going to kill her," he realized in shock, watching the tense confrontation, hearing Oz's growls increase in volume.

"Willow, think of your daughter, think of the children… Do you realant ant to leave your daughter motherless, Oz a widower? Remember the plans you made for her: watching her grow up, teaching her all the things you wished your mother had taught you," Xander shouted over the howling wind.

"Don't make me do this, Wills, don't make me do this!" He was begging, screaming above the wind.

The wind increased as the building shook harder...

Then wind abruptly stopped and the midnight black faded from Willow's hair, as she came partially back from that edge of unreason, but her eyes were still black.

Buffy shook in relief. She knew, looking into Willow's arctic, deadly eyes, just how close she had come to dying. She whirled around, flushing at Spike's mocking laughter.

"So Slayer, looks like you got some competition from your little ex-Slayerette in having some balls, eh," he sneered, smelling the fear reeking from her.

"Ha! Xander wouldn't have pulled the trigger," she scoffed, "It was all just an act. I can believe that Wills here got the witchy mojo working but Xander…." she snickered.

Xander looked at her with an unreadable expression, turning his attention to Cordy as she spoke.

"Xander, you wouldn't have really killed Willow, would you?" Cordy asked uncertainly.

For an answer, Xander released the hammer of his gun.

"We not the same little Slayerettes we once were," Willow said quietly. "We're learned the price for NOT doing whatever was necessary to protect our family, to protect our friends. We learned from Buffy's mistake." Her eyes began turning green again as she spoke.

She exchange a look with the two men, "When it is all said and done, we can only rely on our family and friends to ensure that we don't cause any harm----to stop us any way they can."

Silently, the Sunnydale trio mounted the stairs, leaving a heavy silence in their wake. "Oh and Buffy," Buffy looked up as Willow turned around, "Don't EVER call me Wills again. You no longer have that right," she said harshly, then turned and continued up the stairs after the men.

"He wouldn't have shot her," Buffy muttered, angry as she felt the unfriendly look from Angel.

Angel looked at the disappearing trio. While he was a little unfamiliar with Oz, he had been around the boy and girl long enough to notice their extreme change.

"Buffy, he was serious---THEY were serious about killing each other. There was no doubt, no hesitation, I could smell the grief coming from him. Xander would have killed her and I suspect that both Willow and Oz would be willing to do the same for him,” Angel said softly.

Buffy looked shaken, remembering the one time that Xander had threatened her,
then she shook her head as her stubborn nature kicked in, she had to be right, "Well, I disagree! I've known them longer than you have. There's no way that Xander would have killed Wills; they've been friends like...forever, there's no way he would have done it," she confidently.

The others looked at Angel, who had a thoughtful look in his eyes. He looked at Buffy as if seeing her for the first time, " Well, I hope you're right, because I think that if you ever threaten any of those three again, one of them will kill you."

Buffy smirked, "They can try! Better demons than those three have taken me on and lost. I don't think THEY would be a big problem for me," she snickered, glaring up the stair after Willow, Xander and Oz.

Cordy, after a thoughtful look, left to talk to the disappearing . Sh. She had been avoiding them lately because of her guilt for leaving them, for believing Buffy's lies about them being dead. It was time to put the past behind them and start over again.

"Buffy, in my office," Angel said through clenched teeth, a muscle jumping in his jaw, abruptly remembering what had started this whole debacle.

Buffy barely spared him a glance, still glaring after the vanishing trio. "In a minute," she said still fuming, ‘how dare those little.…’

Her thought was interrupted by Angel's furious roar......

"Buffy, my office…NOW!” Everyone jumped in shock at that loud roar, their faces paling in fear.

Buffy spun around with the rest, her mouth dropping in shock as, at last, she recognized the fury in his gold eyes.

Her eyes flickered nervously around the lobby, seeing everyone watching her with varying degrees of smirks on their faces. Angry color flooded her cheeks as she stomped into Angel’s office. ‘How dare he try to humiliate her like that. Just who in the hell did he think he was anyway?!’ She glared at him with her arms crossed, a tirade forming on her lips….

He slammed the office door shut with a resounding noise.

“Just shut the fuck up and sit your ass down,” he hissed.

Buffy gasped in shock, “Who the hell do you think you are, talking to me like that?!”

“I think I’m the fucking owner of this hotel, and I THINK I’m your fucking boss,” he retorted frostily, sitting at his desk. He eyed the furious Slayer standing defiantly on the other side of the desk.

“I said sit down,” he growled softly, his eyes glittered with chilly menace. This had gone on far too long and he had had enough, enough of Buffy, enough of her attitude, enough of her willful behavior!

She stiffened haughtily, “I prefer to stand, thank you,” she said snippily, trying to hide her sudden fe
“
“Either you sit your ass downI wiI will put you down,” was the frozen reply.

Buffy swallow convulsively, transfixed by the hooded, gold eyes…..and sat down.

“Good, I’m glad to see that we’re finally understanding each other,” Angel said softly. “Now I want you to tell me what the hell happened.” He leaned back in his chair, his face a frozen mask.

“I believe when I left that your orders were simply to scout the perimeter, not take all the goddamn fighters with you, leaving the hotel unprotected,” he stated quietly, his eyes unreadable.

Buffy said angrily, “It sounds like you’re trying to blame me for all of this! Doyle is the one that had the fake vision, not me. I was doing my friggin’ job, yet now I’m the bad guy, huh?”

Angel gave her a flat stare, “I gave you a fuckin’ order, an order that you willfully disobeyed. A scouting party usually consist of maybe 5 people, not the whole bloody hotel, not unless you haven’t mastered the art of counting,” he yelled furiously, his calm shattered by her trying to deny her culpability.

Buffy jumped up enraged, “I saw a fuckin’ chance, and I took it,” she pounded her clenched fists on his desk, “I’m the friggin’ Slayer and it’s my fuckin’ job! If Doyle’s vision had been true, then we wouldn’t even be having this conversation,” she snarled angrily.

Angel went still, his eyes hooded, “So what you’re saying is that you are in no way to blame for any of this?”

Buffy glared aly aly and remained defiantly silent.

“When will learn to accept responsibility for your actions, Buffy?” He questioned with a weary sigh, leaning back in his chair.

Buffy refused to answer, instead gazing at the opposite wall, her jaw set stubbornly.

“If you cut yourself, whose fault would that be, hmm? If you stubbed your toe, who would you blame? If you fell down the stairs…..,” he paused, “Don’t answer that, I’m sure it would be Spike or Cordy,” and despite the seriousness of the mood, Buffy’s lips twitched.

Angel looked at her, unnerving in his deadly stillness, “Your actions were those of a foolish d; yd; you were rash, irresponsible and heedless of the danger you put yourself and everyone else in.”

“Buffy, I hope you listen to me very, very carefully,” Angel paused, making sure he had her full attention before continuing coldly, “If you ever pull another dumbass stunt or disobey my orders again, you will find out just how much Angelus and I have in common. Do I make myself clear,” his eyes were merciless, holding her eyes ruthlessly.

Buffy nodded silently. She knew this time he was deadly serious, having been carefully behind him the last time he had lost his temper with someone.

He paused, “This will not happen again.” His voice was icy as he spoke.

Buffy cleared her throat nervously, “Wh..wha..what will you do the next time, not that I’ll do something so stupid, of course,” she said hastily, seeing his eyes flash. Her face slowly whitening as she read the answer in his golden eyes.

“Get out,” he said quietly.

Buffy slunk out the door, flushing in shame as she met the avid gazes of the people in the lobby. She darted up the stairs trying to suppress her sobs,
‘maybe if that man gave her the spell to make his soul permanent maybe he’ll
love her or at least forgive her.’

After Buffy had left Angel’s office, Xander came back downstairs and stood nervously in front of the door, silently debating whether he should knock or not. Maybe he should just go away and leave well enough alone….

“Come in Xander,” came a muffled voice.

Xander’s eyes widen in amazement before he sighed and stepped into the office with a slight smile, “Vampiric hearing, huh?”.

“That and smell,” Angel agreed, letting a small smile cross his face, before leaning back in his chair. His eyes narrowed, studying the fidgeting young man.

“Something I can help you with,” he asked after several minutes of watching Xander shift nervously from foot to foot.

Xander started, before ruefully chuckling, “That obvious,” he questioned with a raised brow.

“Yep,” Angel watched him with curious eyes, “Look if it’s about….your wife being a Slayer, then I promise I won’t say a word.” He saw the startled look the boy gave him, if that’s not what he wants then what…..

"You can tell anybody you want to. I don't care, I’ve always loved her and was proud of her, " he said huskily.

Angel looked away from the naked emotions in the boy's eyes feeling....something
that caused him to shift uncomfortably in his chair.

"I just would prefer no one knows about the other stuff," Xander said waving a hand vaguely in the air.

“The other,” Angel was confused, then he remembered, “Oh! Well, if that’s what you want, then I'll keep silent. I do think you should talk to Wesley about this, though. He may know things that I don't,” he said tentatively watching as Xander seemed to hesitate before firmly shaking his head.

“Uhm, I’m gonna have to say ‘No’ to that and keep this between the two of us for now,” Xander said.

Angel raised a brow, “You’re trusting me with this knowledge about you,” he said in disbelief .

“I guess I must be,” Xander said in soft astonishment, “I think I need to sit down,” hed fad faintly, laughter in his eyes.

“You're sitting down already, idiot,” Angel said dryly, a smile in his eyes.

They sat in silence savoring the moment

“Does this feel weird to you,” Xander asked looking around.

“Hell yeah,” Angel said feelingly.

They looked at each other and burst out laughing.

“I never thought I would live to see the day where I would be laughing with you and feeling good about it! You think we could ever be friends,” Xander asked, gasping as their laughter died down.

“Why not, I’m practically your son-in-law,” Angel smirked and they started laughing again.


“Nah, she said she just wants to play with you,” Xander gasped out, doubleover with fresh giggles, laughing even harder at Angel’s shout of laughter.

“Like a big Angel doll, huh,” Angel gasped out, holding his sides, “ ‘Look Daddy, I can move his arms and legs’,” he snickered out, trying to mimic Joce’s voice.

“But don't touch the hair,” Xander shrieked, falling out of his chair and rolling on the floor imagining Angel with pink hair.

“Purple,” he gasped out sending Angel into fresh howls of laughter, imagining himself with purple spiky hair.


Outside Wesley and the rest exchanged looks.

“Hey, at least they’re not killing each other,” Riley shrugged.

BETA'D BY: Adsum