The Warriors

See Chapter 1 for Disclaimers

SPOILERS: Season 7 of Btvs; Season 4 of Ats
BETA'D BY: Echo’s Revenge (thank you from the bottom of my heart!) and James (you da man!)
SUMMARY:

By mid-morning, Buffy slipped quietly back into the mansion. Hearing the murmur of voices coming from the living, she walked slowly in that direction, blinking at the number of people crowded in the room. There were way more than Potential's now for the coming battle.

As Dawn spoke, hees mes met Buffy's shadowed gaze and her words faltered before she continued strongly. She glanced at Xander who simply nodded.

"My sword is the only weapon powerful enough to kill the First and it's also pretty handy for dusting Turok-hans and Bringers. But you won't be fighting the First, you'll be fighting the Turok-hans and the Bringers. And that's where you'll be needing this," Dawn held up a gleaming scythe.

"This scythe can and will kill a Turok-han and just about anything else you have in mind. But I have another use for it, too. Potentials, Giles...all of you aren't nearly strong enough face any Bringers nor Turok-han that get past us. You will need strength, agility and speed to handle them. So each Warrior has agreed to place a small portion of their power into the scythe, mixing with the essence of the scythe to change your destiny."

"You all know the story: In every generation, one slayer is born...blah, blah, blah. But here's the part where YOU decide, where you make a choice: What if you could have all that power...now? Just because a bunch of old men, who died thousands of years ago made up that rule? Sure, they were powerful men, but Willow is now more powerful than all of them combined. So, I say we change the rules. I say Slayer power sh be be shared power. You Slay, you survive."

Dawn passed the scythe to the closest Warriors, then one by one, they passed the scythe to each other, feeling a tiny bit of their strength drain into the weapon. Eyes flashed then it was done and it was passed on to the next Warrior.

And Buffy's eyes were stricken, it was bad enough bot both she and Faith lived...now Dawn was proposing to make all the Potentials...Slayers? Hell, why not make every female a Slayer, she snorted, eyeing Dawn.

The room was silent as everyone watched the transference of power and it took a little over 20 minutes to complete.

Anya, watching the scene, spoke up, "So why not the rest of us women? I think all women deserve to be Slayers." And her eyes were grim as she recalled her thousand years of being a Vengeance Demon, some of the men truly deserve everything if not more that she inflicted on them.

Willow raised her brows and spoke quietly, "Would you truly like to see every woman in the world a Slayer? Including women behind bars and mental institutions? While I'm not saying that all women don't deserve to be Slayer, you of all people know that women are just as brutal and vicious as men. It's a choice that we all make: Good or Bad...
Love or Hate. Take away what sex they are, stand them together and you won't see a bit of difference between a man and a woman."

"Then what about me and Anya, cause I sure as hell will not be sitting around here knitting," Cordy huffed out, crossing her arms.

Xander smiled, "You don't understand, everyone in this room that is not a Slayer or Warrior will be bumped up temporarily to Slayer level. The only ones it will be permanent with will be the Potentials. Congratulations, G-man, Robin and Andrew you will be the first male Slayers!"

And he started laughing almost hysterically at the look on Giles face...priceless.

"B..bu..but, Slayers are always female," Giles stammered, looking around wildly at the laughing crowd of young people.

"It's a new day, G-man. We are about to throw all the rules out the window. To survive we are gonna hafta call on everything we got," Xander replied, turning deadly serious.

"We will be heading for Sunnydale High school," Xander added, turning to everyone. "Willow will cast the spell that will transfer the power. So make your goodbyes, write your speeches and let's go kick some demon ass."

And a rousing cheer from the Warriors greeted his words, even as Dawn and Xander exchanged worried looks.

Dawn called Zeus and had him take Lorne and the still sullen Connor to safety. For what they were about to do, Sunnydale wasn't the place to be.


In grim silence they boarded the bus and rode it to Sunnydale High.

This was the first time anyone had been near the place since the mass exodus of the Sunnydale residents. Their eyes wandered across the campus, falling on a car that had been driven onto campus and had smashed into a palm tree. Papers and boxes were strewn all over the grounds.

Exiting slowly some distance away, with careful looks around, they entered the high school.

"Welcome to Sunnydale High," Robin said mockingly as he led everyone into the school as if instructing a class on a field trip.

"There's no running in the halls, no yelling, no gum chewing. Apart from that, there's only one rule," he stopped walking and looked at everyone, "They move, kill 'em."

"OK, potentials, Warriors, in the basement, just follow Faith," Xander said quietly, as Keys flashed in with Warriors and disappeared, leaving the Warriors behind.

The Warriors stepped after the departing Potentials, battle ready and their faces cold, and deadly.

Xander called out seriously to the departing people, "If you have to go to the bathroom, it's to your left. If you don't have to go to the bathroom, picture what you're about to face. Better to go now."

One of the Warriors turned around and flipped him the bird before disappearing.

Robin looked at Willow, "My office is straight through there," he said, indicating the direction.

"It's right over the seal," Buffy added in a subdued voice. She was still grappling with what the First told her, what it wanted her to do.

Kennedy looked at Willow. "I'll start getting you set up," she said as she tried to takes the bag from Willow's .
.

"Thanks, but no thanks. You're a Potential so I suggest you get your ass down in the basement," Willow said coolly.

Kennedy's jaw tightened.

"I'll help you Willow," Cordy smirked at Kennedy who turned angrily away and stomped to the basement.

"OK, civilians. The vampires get upstairs, we have three areas they could get through to another building and then down into the sewers," Robin began.

He turned and pointed, "Down the hall in the atrium, the north hall here, and the primary target, through the lounge straight to the science building. Now odds are, most of them will head there."

Angel took over, "In teams of two then. I suggest you and Giles take the lounge."

Robin nodded, "I concur."

Xander gave him a strange look.

"Gunn, Fred I need you in the atrium," Xander added.

"On it," both Gunn and Fred nodded their heads.

"I concur," Andrew said seriously.

Xander sighed and rubbed his brow.

Anya raised her brows, looking a little sour, "So that leaves me the dungeon master in the north hall?

Andrew drew himself up with dignity, "And we will defend it with our very lives." He lifted his chin and tried to look heroic.

"Yes, we will defend it with his very life," Anya said half-seriously.

Xander smirked, "And don't be afraid to use him as a human shield." He patted Andrew's shoulder to let him know he wasn't serious.

"Good, yes and thanks," Anya nodded.

There was a little silence before Andrew spoke.

"I just want to say how proud I am to die for this very special cause with you guys," he took a paper out of his pocket and started to read, "There's some, um...there's some people I'd like to thank, both good and evil. Um, a shout out to my brother Tucker, who gave me the inspiration to summon demons and also..."

Anya dragged him away, "Nobody cares, you little monkey."

Robin gave them all a brief, tight smile before leaving to inspect his area.

Dawn looked at Buffy before turning away, "Well, I'm off to the basement, I'll see you and Xander down there."

"Dawn, wait a minute...," Buffy ran after her, pleadingly. Though what she would say, she had no idea.

Dawn whirled around, "No. Anything you say is gonna sound like shit, so you just hatehatever you have to do and don't worry about me." Her eyes met Buffy's and her sister blinked before a blonde head nodded slowly, her eyes fixed on Dawn's before the other turned away.

Dawn took a shuddering breath for strength before going over to Wesley and Spike, letting them enfold her in their arms, feeling strength seep into her before she pushed away. She eyed the amulets around their necks sadly and kissed them briefly before walking away.

Wesley inhaled shakily. "Well, my husband shall we be off?" he asked turning to Spike.

"Wait," Spike said, pulling out a cigarette and lighting up, "Okay now I'm ready." Together they walked outside. Spike gazed into Wesley brilliant, luminous eyes and he knew his were glowing as well. He pulled the other into a long thorough kiss that left both men gasping before they separated. One went to the far north of the school campus, the other to the far south.

Buffy walked back to the group still standing in the hallway. It was only Willow, Xander, Angel, Cordy and Giles now....the original Scoobies. She joined them and they stared at each other in a heavy silence a moment before Buffy broke the ice.

"So, what do you guys want to do tomorrow," she asked quietly, trying to shore up her courage.

Willow raised a brow, "Nothing strenuous," she wondered where Buffy was going with this heavy-handed attempt at conversation.

"Well, mini-golf is always the first thing that comes to mind," Xander chimed in with a crooked smile. Looked like Buffy was trying to take his job from him as being the group's jester before a major battle.

Giles looked at them seriously, "I think we can do better than that."

"I was thinking about shopping. As per usual," Cordy replied sounding chirper.

Willow looked at her, finally understanding, "Oh! There's that Arden B in the new mall!"

Angel raised a brow, looking thoughtful, "I could use a few items. Maybe something in...."

Xander and Cordy said, "...black, of course!" and laughed uproariously at their joke.

"Well, now aren't we gonna discuss this? Save the world, go to the mall," Giles asked looking at them in disbelief.

"I'm having a wicked shoe craving," Buffy retorted with a smile.

Xander looked at Buffy, "Aren't you on the patch?"

"Those never work," Cordy nodded wisely.

Angel nodded as well, he had seen Cordy in one of her shoe craving moods. Only a fool got between her and a shoe sale.

Giles muttered, "Here I am again, invisible to the eye..." as he and Angel followed after the bantering children.

Angel stopped as did Willow and Xander, who turned to him briefly, their eyes glowing with radiant light. Angel touched his amulet and left for his position, far east on the campus of the school.

"See, I need a new look," Xander claimed, turning away and bouncing with energy.

Buffy looked at him, "Oh, you could go with a full black secret agent look. Course it'll be kinda difficult with the wings and all," she said doubtfully.

"Or the puffy shirt, pirate slash," Cordy added with a little smirk.

Giles looked at them, "The earth is definitely doomed," he said and walked away.

Buffy, Cordy, Xander and Willow walked down the hall together in silence as they passed the Principal's office, Willow and Cordy stepped in, and briefly regarded Xander and Buffy. They had already said what they needed to say and she touched her amulet.

Xander and Buffy continued walking, heading for the basement. As they reached the stairs, Xander grabbed Buffy's hand and squeezed, halting her and turning her to face his penetrating eyes.

Bufeltfelt her eyes well with tears at the look in his eyes and tried to speak past the huge lump in her throat. She didn't know if she could go through with it.

"Xan..," she stopped and tried again, "Xander, you know..," and she just couldn't get the words past the anger and disappointment that she felt. The betrayal of her best friends with Angel.

Xander pulled her into his arms, hugging her tightly before letting her go. Looking down into her face, he sadly stroked her flushed cheek.

"You were always such a selfish bitch," he said fondly and turned away leaving her stunned.

Buffy joined the others the basement room where the Seal of Danzalthar was located and they formed a circle around the edge of the seal. Buffy stood besFaitFaith.

Faith looked at Buffy, "You first, B," she said and handed Buffy a knife.

Dawn frowned at them, "What the hell are you doing," she nearly shrieked and snatched the knife away.

"Uhm, opening the Seal," Faith raised her eyes, glancing at Buffy.

"Idiots! You don't have to cut yourself for the Seal to ," ," Dawn said in exasperation.

Xander along with the Warriors sternly repressed their smiles.

"Buffy, why do you think I'm a Key? Keys open things...like doors and SEALS," Dawn shook her head sadly and snapped her fingers.

The Potentials and Slayers watched the Seal open and parts sink into the ground forming a staircase into the Hellmouth. Dawn went in first, followed by Xander, then Buffy and the rest of the war party.


Buffy, Spike, Faith and the other girls climbed down through the seal into the Hellmouth.

Buffy whispered to herself, "I'm not worried." Psyching herself up as she looked around slack-jawed.

Faith heard her and said, dementedly happy, "Cheer up, Buffy. Willow's big spell doesn't work, it won't matter how 'not worried' you are."

Buffy, Faith, Xander and the others walked forward to the edge of a cliff where they could look out and see thousands upon thousands of Turok-Han below them on the floor of the Hellmouth.

Xander muttered, "I'm not worried."

Thor gave him a blank look of astonishment. He was far older than Alexander, fought numerous wars and HE was about to shit in his pants.

The Turok-Han were growling as they seethed below them.

Buffy backed up fearfully.

"I'm not worried," Dawn whispered to herself.

Rona looked at her in disbelief, "Really? 'Cause I'm flashing back to Xander's whole bathroom speech."

"Xander," Amanda said, almost terrified out of her mind at the evil below her.

Xander replied confidently, "I'm not worried...as long as Willow can work her spell before they..."

And the Turok-Han looked up at Xander and crew.

"... see us.

Buffy chanted under her breath, "C'mon Willow..."

And the snarling Turok-Han army rushed toward the cliff where the defenders were positioned.

Xander and the Warriors drew their swords and crouched. Their bodies seemed to ripple as wings, claws, talons and tails emerged. Almost no three Warriors were alike as they waited, their eyes glowing with pulsating luminousity.

"BATTLE!" Xander roared and with bellowing cries of fury, the Warriors met the charging Turok-han with a resounding clash of arms

Buffy had time to marvel at how Xander fought, his flickering wings cutting into the onrushing Turok-han equally as capable as his sword before some of the Turok-han broke past the first line of defense and charged towards them.


Meanwhile in the school above, the scythe was glowing white in Willow's hands as she sat on the floor of the Principal's office with a half-circle of white candles lit in front of her. Cordy knelt across from Willow and watched her intently, a battle axe at her side. She had heard tales of Willow's dark evil side and despite what Xander and Angel said, she was not taking any chances.

"They should be in place," Willow said quietly.

She sat back with her hands on her knees, "OK, magic time. You ready to, heh heh, kill me?"

Cordy nodded seriously, "You turn evil and I'll take your head."

"Ah..good. Fun. Great. Brace yourself," Willow blinked at the deadly words, wondering if maybe it would have been smarter to have Fred here instead.

Cordy blinked and whispered, "Come on, Wills, you can do it."

Willow started performing the spell while holding onto the scythe laid out in front of her, not knowing what to expect. And suddenly, she could feel it! She could feel the power...so much pure power that she and the scythe began to glow with a bright white light.

Breathlessly she exclaimed, "Oh...my...Goddess..."

And Cordy's eyes flashed as she sat up and smiled, feeling far more confident.

Cordy looked and gasped in amazement when she saw Willow.

"Whoa....Willow?" Her mouth dropped opened in stunned wonder looking at the transfigured witch.

Familiar red hair was now completely white and she was still glowing with the white light from the spell. Divine ecstasy was etched on her face as she looked heaven-ward and her head moved slightly at only something she could see. And she panted as the power surged through her. Until finally when the scythe stopped glowing, so did she.

Willow's hair turned back to normal, but she still felt a little weak in the knees from the incredible experience of that spell.

"You...are a goddess," Cordy whispered. "I am sooo freaking jealous."

Willow laughed and smiled weakly, "And you're a slayer now. Get this to Buffy." And she handed over the scythe to Cordy, who took it and ran out of the office. The red-head witch just sat there, panting, before she collapsed to her side, still smiling. "Ha!"Ha! That was nifty," she snickered before dragging herself to her feet and slowly stumbling outside, feeling her strength return as she took her position far west on the campus.


Vi, Rona, Amanda closed their eyes and breathed in with a start. All the Potentials eyes flared briefly.

The Turok-Han rushed snarling towards Buffy and team as they stood on the cliff's edge, waiting for battle.

Vi looked confidently at the snarling demons, "These guys are dust."

And the Turok-han were on them.

But the new Slayers had super strength now as well and all their training kicked in even as Buffy fought the Turok-han with kicks and punches as usual.

Vi jumped and kicked a Turok-Han down; Rona punched a Turok-Han in the face, knocking it to the ground; Faith slammed one against the rocky wall; even as Amanda staked a Turok-Han through the heart, while Dawn beheaded another Turok-han.

Buffy fought off the Turok-Han, calling on all her skill and countless battles against evil. But the uber-vamp were seriously starting to out number the gang of Slayers. They needed an edge.

Faith and the others were still fighting them as well when Cordy ran down into the Hellmouth carrying the scythe.

Cordy yelled, "Buffy, catch!" and hurled the scythe to Buffy, who caught the scythe and became a whirling dervish of destruction. Now able to kill the Turok-Han faster than ever, dusting them with explosive force.

A Turok-Han tried to attack Cordy, but she beat it off with remarkable ease. "Damn, I could get used to this," Cordy smirked before jumping into the fray.


Xander knew the battle was not going well for them. While the new Slayers went after the Turok-han with pure Slayer intensity it wasn't enough. It seemed like for every one Turok-han they killed, ten more took its place. He saw his Brothers and Sisters going down, and a brief flicker of light as a Keys flashed in and carried off the fallen Warriors. And as the number of Turok-han increased, he saw to his horror, some of the Turok-Han are able to get past them, go up through the Hellmouth and into the school.

Andrew and Anya were defending an exit together, each with a sword. Despite their increased strength they were still both terrified.

"Ohhhh, I think I hear them coming," Andrew squeaked and tried to hide behind Anya.

Anya's sword was shaking in her sweaty grip, "Oh, God. I'm terrified. I didn't think...I mean, I...I just figured you'd be terrified, and I would be sarcastic about it."

"Picture happy things... a lake, candy canes, bunnies," Andrew said trying to help her regain her courage and then maybe she could share some with him.

Anya eyes narrowed, "Bunnies! Floppy, hoppy...," she chanted holding up her sword, ready to attack....

"...Bunnies," she growled, her eyes determined.

Giles and Robin were defending their position. Both men exchanged grim looks as the Turok-Han flooded the hallways. They know they are far outnumbered but still they managed to hold their own as Giles sliced one of the Turok-Han across the neck while Robin punched and kicked them.


Anya fought valiantly as the Turok-Han entered her corridor while Andrew backed away from a Turok-Han rushing him, snarling.

Andrew yelped, "I have swimmer's ear!" as the Turok-Han pushed him against the wall while Anya dusted two Turok-Han in a row.


Xander knew this was a losing battle. But he wasn't going down without a fight and he planned on taking as many Turok-han down as he could. And he fought on with renewed determination.

Buffy yelled to the new Slayers, "Keep the line together! Drive them to the edge! We can't let them do..."

And looked down to see that a smirking Caleb had stabbed her with a sword from behind, piercing her abdomen. She stumbled forward and collapsed to the ground, face-first.

Dawn and the other girls were still fighting off the Turok-Han when a quick glance netted her a view of Buffy lying on the floor.

Dawn screamed, "Buffy!" and ran to her sister's side, taking Caleb's head off in one blow.

Buffy leaned up on her elbows saying weakly, "They hafta hold the line," as she held out the scythe to Dawn.

Dawn looked down, bottomless pain in her eyes, before going back into the battle and passing the scythe to Faith as Buffy lay on the floor, grunting in pain.


Fred and Gunn guarded their exit as the Turok-Han tried to storm past them. Fred held a sword, engaging the demons full-on as did Gunn. With Gunn holding them back, Fred pulled on a rope and a sandbag dropped and opened a skylight window in the ceiling. And flooded the room with sunlight, while causing the Turok-Han to burn and dust in front of them.

Fred looked nervously at the piles of dust, "And we call that the greenhouse effect. Very dangerous."

A Turok-Han attacked Fred and knocked her down before Gunn dusted it. Then they whirled around and began fighting more Turok-han.


The Bringers, entering the fight as well, had begun attacking Anya and Andrew's position. Anya tried to fight them off, but there are too many for her to concentrate on. And while she was stabbing one with her sword, another was able to slice diagonally though her torso from behind, killing her.


And the Bringers found Giles and Robin as well. While they each fought a Bringers, one creature managed to slip past Robin's guard and stabbed him the stomach. Giles killed the Bringer that stabbed Robin, then caught the wounded man in his arms.

Xander continued fighting the Turok-Han, as did Faith and the others.

A fallen Turok-Han attacked Faith and she yello ono one of the new Slayers.

"Rona!" and threw the scythe to Rona.

Rona smiled and used the scythe to mow down a couple of Turok-Han encroaching on her personal space before twisting and going after more.

Buffy was still lying oe gre ground weak and wounded as First appeared to her, wearing her form.

"Oh no...," it looked down and Buffy's wound was reflected on its body. "Ow! Mommy, this mortal wound is all...itchy. So you thought about my offer anymore? Tick-tock, tick-tock...times awasting."

Buffy looked up at it with fire in her eyes, and with gritted teeth she began to stand, "I want you...to get out of my face."

Xander and Dawn exchanged glances, the decision was made.

Rona saw Buffy standing and threw the scythe to Buffy.

Buffy caught it and swung it with a mighty force, knocking three Turok-Han off the cliff at once.

Faith found renewed strength and kicked her assailants off of her as well, then she took out a few more Turok-Han, as did another Emily.

Vi took out one after another after another even as Kennedy disarmed one and dusted another.

And Buffy knocked another one off the cliff and killed one with the scythe.

Xander looked down, "Oh shit," he said seeing another wave of Turok-han surging below them. He glanced over at the weary group of fighters and shook his head. They'd never survive.

Xander whirled around and yelled, "Buffy get them out of here!"

Buffy looked up, "Xander!" just as a two Turok-han grabbed Xander by the wings while a third stabbed him from behind.

He sank to his knees as a wet ripping sound came to his ears and blood flowed coolly down his back. His scream of agony could even be heard outside....and outside, a burst of brilliant light shoom aom amulet to amulet, connecting the four together.

And they waited with expressionless faces as the ground began to tremble.


The First smirked at Buffy, "Well, what's it gonna be," it said gesturing to the still battling Dawn. It frowned, looking around as the ground shuddered.

The earth began to shift underfoot.

There was a pause in the fighting as Slayer and demons alike glanced around uneasily.

Then the earth began to dance.

Everyone was almost tossed off their feet and rocks began falling, causing more damage to the Turok-han.

And distantly Buffy could hear Faith screaming for everyone to get out. She could feel them brushing past her as the Slayers rushed to the stairs that lead up to the seal. She felt like she was drowning and moving in slow motion, everything was so muffled and distant as she ran to Xander's side.

Even the look in Xander's eyes as he steadied himself on the wall and stood up by the stairs som somehow far away, the look in Dawn's eyes battling alone as she whirled towards them...the look in Dawn's eyes...her eyes.

Buffy's eyes widened in horror as she looked up into Xander's eyes as the ground cracked open around them.


The girls rushed out of the basement and up into the hallway, steadying themselves against the walls as the earth grumbled and heaved beneath their feet. They started to race past Andrew and stopped at the sight of a Bringer poised over him.

Then Bringer fell back slowly, revealing Andrew's sword burrowed deep in it's chest.

Andrew still shocked that he was still alive, looked around for Anya to share the news, "What... why?" as one of the girls helped him to his feet and they continued their desperate race out of the school. He didn't see Anya's body lying limp and lifeless on the floor beneath some rubble as they pulled him towards the exit and out of the school.

They slid to a halt at the searing beam of light crossing their path before carefully they edged under the light and darted to the waiting school bus.


Giles half-carried the wounded Robin as the ground started to shake even more and they saw the school bus sitting out front. A couple of the girls ran towards them, helping to ease a wounded Robin under the widening beam of light.

"The bus. Get them on the bus," Robin said through gritted teeth.

Giles gave Robin into Vi's safekeeping and yelled to the girls still exiting the building, "Everybody, this way!"


Buffy, Xander and Dawn were the only ones left in the Hellmouth. Dawn was held securely between two Turok-hans and the First looked around at the bodies littering the floor with narrowed, worried eyes.

Xander looked down at Buffy, "Go on, then. Do it," he said softly, his eyes glowing with a soft luminosity.

"No. No, I've already done enough. You could still...," Buffy said stubbornly, shaking her head.

"No, we've beaten them back. It's for us to do the cleanup," Xander said as he glanced at an unmoving Dawn.

The walls were crumbling around them.

Faith yelled down to the blonde slayer, "Buffy, come on!" before she took off the the entrance.

"You gotta do it, Buff. I think it's fair to say school's out for summer," he gave her a crooked grin, despite the pain in his back.

"Xander! I can't," Buffy begged hoarsely, looking up at him desperately with tears in her eyes.

Xander replied softly, "I...I...I...don't you understand by now, it's not always about you. We all have to make sacrifices and you have got to do this."

Buffy nodded sadly and turned away, Xander stopped her.

Buffy laced her fingers through Xander's and they're laced fingers burst into flame together.

The First saw, at last finally it realized what's wrong and screamed, "FIND THEIR MATES!"

Buffy turned away from Xander and looked across the distance into Dawn's eyes, "I love you."

"NO! I changed my mind don't kill her," the First yelled, trying to stop its' people, trying to stop Buffy.

Dawn smiled tearfully as a Turok-han rammed a sword into her side just as Buffy hurled the scythe at her, burying it into her chest. Dawn staggered backwards, almost to the edge of the cliff, clutching at her chest...and the light that spilled from between her fingers..

...before going over the edge.

And Buffy ran up the stairs, fleeing the destruction below...with Dawn's agonizing scream still ringing in her ears.


Xander blinked and drew his hand over his heart, lacerating the flesh...digging deeper despite the pain. And his wounds began to glow, dusting any Turok-han that his light fell on.

Dawn rose from the pit, her hands clutched to her chest as her wings beat powerfully as she rocketed to the ceiling. Tucking her head in, she crashed into the ceiling, knocking a hole in the ceiling, going up through the floor of the Principal's office and through to the open sky. Trailing light.

She spread her wings wide, briefly dancing in the air before she opened her arms and SCREAMED!

The light turned a warm orange color.

She was poised in the sun as four beams of light shot from the ground into her. And she in turn reflected the pure light back down into the Hellmouth like endless rays of sunshine.

Screams rang deep in the Hellmouth as the light began to pour slowly over every surface, growing in intensity. Turok-hans ran about desperately, trying to escape the intense light, but to no avail as the ground continued to shudder and shake, often tossing them right in the path of the searching fingers of light. And they were being dusted right and left as the First looked on in futile rage.

"This wasn't over yet and I'll be back," it growled to Xander, carefully looking away from the pure light coming from him.

Xander's eyes changed, "Actually you won't," and he began laughing as the cavern shuddered about them, rocks and debris falling to the ground.

Then one slammed into the First's shoulder, breaking skin...and blood ran sleekly down the length of it's arm.

And looking down with stunned eyes, the First eyes touched the blood with shaky fingers, her eyes widened as she realized she was now locked into this form.

This very mortal form.

"Nooooooo," she screamed hoarsely before being buried under a deluge of falling rocks.

Faith raced desperately out just before the school building exploded, wiggled under the beam of light and ran the distance to the bus. Seeing Spike walking slowly towards the school, a glowing bolt of pure light coming from either side of him, and the amulet pulsating on his chest. She definitely didn't want to be here when he arrived with Willow, Angel and Wesley, the she jumped into the bus all the while hoping and praying that Buffy would make it out in time.

They waited two minutes, before Giles said softly, despairingly, "Drive."

And the bus drove off with all the svorsvors. Except Buffy, Dawn and Xander.

Faith stared out of the back window of the bus with blurry eyes as Robin drove desperately out of Sunnydale.


Buffy ran through the hallway, narrowly avoiding the debris on the ground and falling about her as the ground continued to shake. She hit the door hard and rebounded to the floor...blocked, she hit the door in futile rage before turning and racing up the stairs. Then bursting onto the roof she dashed across its surface and leapt to the nearest building just before the ground crumbled around Willow, Spike, Wesley and Angel taking the school with them.

Xander stood in the crumbling Hellmouth with light shining down on him from above, connecting him to the others, grinning from ear to ear and laughing as the Hellmouth began crumbling in around him.


On the bus, those less injured tended to the more badly injured survivors.

Vi tended to Rona as Cordy looked after the Asian girl.

Vi grabbed Rona, "Look at me! This is nothing! Stay awake! This is nothing!" she shouted harshly as Rona's eyes were fluttering closed.

Andrew was still in shock, at last realizing what, who he had seen crumbled under the rocks, "Why didn't I die? It was supposed to be me!"

Faith looked out the back window of the bus, searching for her sister Slayer and her eyes widening as she saw Buffy in the distance on top of the shopping mall.

Buffy dashed along the rooftops of the shopping mall and saw the bus some distance away racing down the street. Behind her, she could hear buildings collapsing in on themselves as she ran desperately for the bus.

She knew she would never make it but, still she ran, leaping from building to building, as the glow began intensify. All the while hearing Willow, Xander and Dawn whispering to her to hurry, hurry...faster, faster.

Tears were almost blinding her...

...remembering the look of overwhelming relief in Xander's eyes when he revived her after drowning on her 16th birthday...

...the proud smile on Willow's face as she practiced her witchcraft...

It wasn't supposed to be like this...she was the one that was supposed to die, not them!

...the stern almost unforgiving look on Xander's face that day in the library arguing over whether to restore Angel's soul....

...the deadly stillness of Willow's face in the hospital after trying the spell...

...fiery red-hair glowing in the sun as Willow turned and smiled at her, so much pride and love in those green eyes...

And still she ran, stumbling on the rooftops, the distance increasing between her and the bus.

...chocolatey brown eyes full of love and affection smiling down at her...

...sad resignation looking out at her from dark eyes...

...wariness lurking deep within forest green eyes...

...closed, tight faces now on all three, friends and sister...

The buildings were crumbling faster and she knew that she would never make it to the bus in time, but for their sake she tried anyway and leapt...

...maybe Xander was right, that she was a selfish bitch, but she would give anything to have him in front of her right now so she could argue that point with him, with all of them....

And felt herself boosted hard to the safety of the bus, twisting and watching as Sunnydale crumpled into itself. They can't be gone, they can't because she's still alive and she was the one that was, that is supposed to die...so they can't be dead.

They watched in awe as the whole town collapsed in on itself, sucked back into the Earth.

Faith continued to look out the window, calling to Robin, "Ease off. We're clear."

Robin, though wounded, turned the ignition off with a sigh and leaned back in his chair.

Carefully, a few exited the bus and watched as the Sunnydale Hellmouth was sealed.

Forever.

Buffy jumped down off the top of the school bus and looked around.

Giles regard the street behind them, "I don't understand. Who did this?"

"They did," Buffy choked out.

Then everyone who was able to got off the bus. Buffy walked away from the bus a few feet toward Sunnydale, which was now a vast cavern.

The "Welcome to Sunnydale" sign was still standing, perched precariously on the edge of the canyon. It teetered a little before falling backwards into the pit that used to be its city.

Buffy smiled at the unconscious joke. She blinked back harsh, stinging tears as she continued to look over the scene of destruction.

Andrew looked up with watery eyes at Giles, "Anya was incredible. She died saving my life."

Giles inhaled deeply and put his hand on Andrew's shoulder, "That's our Anya...always doing the silly things."

Andrew smiled a little and turned away while Giles walked towards Buffy.

Buffy stared at the canyon that once was Sunnydale as Cordy stood beside her. Then Gunn joined them, as did Fred, Giles, and Faith.

"Looks like y'all Hellmouth is officially closed for business," Fred remarked quietly and swallowed hard against threatened tears.

Giles raised a brow, "Not to spoil the moment but there is another one in Cleveland."

Cordy looked at Buffy, extending a peace offering, "We saved the world." She had lost at least three people that meant so much to her and despite everything Buffy had to be hurting even more.

Buffy never took her eyes away from the scene of so much devastation, "We changed the world. But at what cost? I can still feel them, you know...Xander, Willow and Dawnie, right here," she said quietly, pointing at her heart.

"I know that this a cliché but as long as you remember them, they will never die," Giles replied softly and pulled his Slayer gently to his side.

Then they all gasped as balls of lights appeared in the sky and shot down into the rubble of Sunnydale. From where they stood, they could see the lights slowly ghost over the rumble, before dipping and disappearing into the devastated cavern.

The ground shook briefly and settled as the balls of lights emerged and began streaking towards them....until finally they had to hide their eyes from the painful, glowing lights.

Slowly the seven glaring lights began to die down, revealing seven softly glowing figures kneeling beside Xander, Anya, Angel, Willow, Dawn, Wesley and Spike's bloody and broken bodies. Fivood ood up and took to the sky, massive wings beating the air as they departed. Two remained, tiny smiles crossing their faces as they stroked Dawn and Xander's hair back away from their forehead.

Kissing each softly on the brow before they turned cold, stern eyes on Buffy then they too, leapt into the air and swiftly flew out of sight.

Buffy walked forward shakily and collapsed to her knees between Xander and Willow, hot bitter tears falling from her eyes. She moaned softly to herself, holding her hand to her mouth as she rocked back and forth...he was right, she was a selfish bitch. But they didn't have to leave her all alone! And she went to pound on Xander's chest in futile rage.

And was very much surprised when he caught her arm.

"Trust me, on this, I really think I have enough bruises," he rasped out even as Dawn groaned softly on his other side.

"I swear, if any of you ever try to convince me to do another bloody crazy idea like that I'm gonna rip your heads off and spit in your neck," Spike growled irritably and yelped as he tried to sit up.

"Oh God! Xander! Willow! DAWN!" Buffy screamed pulling Xander to her in a tight hug, grabbing Willow and crushing the breath out of her, then darting over to Dawn and seriously attempting to squeeze the breath out of her.

Giles also made the rounds, further attempting to crush Willow, Xander and Dawn in enthusiastic hugs. Tears streaming down his face.

Andrew wouldn't let go of Anya, who was still puzzled as to why she was alive.

Angel moaned as he creakily got to his feet, ignoring the screams of joy from the new Slayers as he helped Wesley and Spike to their feet with mutters of protests from the two.

Giles slowly began to smile, "You do realize the mall was actually in Sunnydale, so there's no hope of going there tomorrow."

"We destroyed the mall? I fought on the wrong side," Dawn shrieked holding her hand to her mouth in horror.

Xander looked at Giles tearfully, "All those shops gone. The Gap, Starbucks, Toys "R" Us. Who will remember all those landmarks unless we tell the world about them?"

Giles merely shook his head wearily, why did he even bother, "We have a lot of work ahead of us."

Faith murmured to Willow, "Can I push him in?"

"Nah, got too much at stake with him," Willow smiled as she snuggled against Xander's side.

"I just want to sleep, yo, for like a week," Faith sigh, stretching uncomfortably.

"I guess we all could, if we wanted to," Dawn gave both Spike and Wesley long looks.

Willow smiled, "Yeah. The First is scrunched, so... what do you think we should do,
Buffy?"

"Yeah, you're not the one and only chosen anymore. Just gotta live like a person. How's that feel?" Faith looked over at her formerly only sister Slayer.

Vi looked at her, "Yeah, Buffy. What are we gonna do now?"

They all turned as one as a limo pulled up along side the school bus and an old familiar face stepped out: Lilah Morgan.

Gunn looked at Xander and Dawn with grave disappoint int in his eyes.

They immediately raised their hands, "Dude, we had nothing to do with her," Xander exclaimed.

"Cool," Gunn said, unlimbering his axe and stepping towards her. "This time I'm gonna hide her head, I don't think she can do anything with out her head, ya think?" He looked doubtfully at Wesley.

"Wait! Wait a minute, Big and Useless don't you want to hear what I have to say," Lilah asked hurriedly, hastily stepping away from Gunn.

Gunn looked at Fred, then at Cordy, "Nope."

Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on the perspective, Angel caught the axe before it connected.

"Angel, you know this white bitch ain't nothing but trouble," Gunn warned him. "No offense Cordy."

Angel smiled, "I know, but I'm curious to see what's so important out here that they have to raise the dead."

Now more sure of herself, Lilah gave him a cocky smile, "Actually I'm here to offer you a deal. Wolfram and Hart have surrendered, caved-in, showing their belly blah blah blah. So I'm here to negotiate the terms of the settlement. They figure that you can't kill an already dead messenger," she smirked and at the cold expressions turned on her, she lost her smile and muttered under her breath, "Well, I thought it was funny."

"And the deal is," Angel said coldly, his eyes narrowed in his filthy, bruised face.

"They're offering you the West Coast branch of Wolfram and Hart," Lilah answered simply, spreading her hands.

"What's the catch," Wesley said suspiciously, his eyes wary. Past experience with both Wolfram and Hart, as well as Lilah, would make even a saint a suspicious bastard.

Lilah smiled, "No catch...it's all yours, lock, stock and barrel. Actually I wouldn't open some of the barrels if I were you, nasty things are in there. Just think of it Angel, all the resources of W&H at your command. The money, the computers, the people and did I mention the money...it's all yours."

"And what's in it for you," Angel asked quietly, giving Gunn a short nod.

"Me? Nothing, you see, the employment contract I signed doesn't just stop at my life...it extends beyond, so to speak. Once I have your answer, it's back I go," she smiled coolly.

---SNICK--

And her head toppled off and her body collapsed, revealing Gunn with a bloody axe.

"The answer is N.O." Angel said calmly.

"Well, I guess the early rush should be over," Xander remarked gazing wide-eyed down at the severed head.

Angel turned to look at his wife and husband, "I know I shoulda talked it over with you, but Xander, Willow...I just couldn't take a chance. Especially, not now," he said quietly, touching their faces tenderly.

"I forgot that I wasn't just speaking for me or the three of us and Connor. We're a family and families make crucial decisions together," Angel promised.

Willow and Xander exchanged secretive glances, "Well, actually you speak for a lot more than the four of us," Willow said hesitantly.

"Well, true I do speak sometimes for Gunn, Fred, Wesley and Cordy," Angel starto sao say.

Xander took Angel's hand and placed it on his belly, "You speak for us."

"You speak for us, too." Willow took Angel's other hand and placed it on her belly.

Xander gave a tentative smile to the shell-shockeok ook on Angel's face, "Are you happy, father of three?"

And for an answer, Angel fainted.

Xander sighed. "Our hero," he said with a fond smile, before easing down and propping Angel up against his shoulder as Willow tried to bring him around.

Spike burst out laughing uproariously, "That bloody pillock! Look at 'em...faintin' like a poofy Nancy Boy!" He was so busy pointing and laughing at Angel, that he didn't realize Dawn was tapping him on his shoulder.

"Spike....Spike....SPIKE!" Dawn shouted, finally getting his attention."Wo"Wot luv," Spike was still snickering, his eyes wet with tears. He was never gonna let the soddin' wanker live this down.

Dawn rolled her eyes then whispered in his ear.

Spike gave her a disbelieving expression, looked at her stomachen hen back to her...

...before his eyes rolled up in his head and he collapsed to the ground.

"Let me guess, you told him you were pregnant, too," Xander remarked thoughtfully.

Dawn looked sadly down at her unconscious husband, "Twins."


*****************************THE END**********************************