It was colder than it should have been, especially for a late August
night. Xander Harris huddled deep into his jacket, cursing the cold air
that invaded his space. He stood outside the magic box, awaiting the
arrival of his friends. He looked around, and saw as Willow walked up
to him. Her face was unusually red, probably from the biting cold.
“Hey...” Xander welcomed, “How ‘bout this chill?” Willow answered first
with a tight embrace.

“Hi, Xander. Where´s Giles?”

“I was kinda hoping you´d bring him.” Xander said.

“That´s odd...he´s never late.” Willow replied.

“I´m here.” The calm british voice echoed out of the nearby alley.
He stepped out, wrapped in his heavy jacket, “Thank you for waiting.”

“No problemo, Giles...I´m always ready for a nice late night
cramming session.” Xander said, walking towards the door as the older
man unlocked it and swung it open. Zeppo, Witch and Watcher entered the
magic shop together with a grim mission each of them were dreading:

Figuring out where the Scooby Gang lies without it´s Slayer.

Xander chose a chair opposite Giles, who laid his jacket on the
chair and went about lighting the room. Willow sat not too far away
from him, but her thoughts betrayed her feelings of isolation. Not that
he blamed her, they were all a little worse for wear with Buffy gone.
The funeral was not more than a month ago, and they were still in
mourning. “So...uh...where do we get started?” Xander asked anxiously,
figiting in his chair.

“Are you...in a hurry, Xander?” Giles asked.

“Um...Anya tends to worry a lot earlier lately.” Xander said,
smiling playfully, “She seems to think she´s my Mom or something alluva
sudden. Y´know, without the drinking. And yelling.” He nodded
apologetically at Willow. Giles looked at her, and the three shared a
small moment of silence for thier friend, and Giles then took his seat
at the table.

“W-well...I´m sure you know why I asked you here...we need to
figure out w-what we intend to do w-without Buffy.” He said, taking off
his glasses and rubbing the bridge of his nose.

“You mean if we intend to quit?” Willow asked. Giles looked at
her and frowned.

“W-well...I do suppose that i-is an option, yes.” Giles said “The
three of us, along with Buffy, have been doing this for five years now,
and w-with her gone it is up to us to decide t-the groups direction,
h-how best to carry on without her.”

“I´m not sure...” Willow said, not looking at either man “I mean,
we can´t be Buffy. She was our body, remember? The ritual...I was the
soul, Xander the heart and you the mind, Giles. Without Buffy...we´re
just those things without an avenue to focus it.” She finally looked at
Giles, who was listening intently.

“G-go on, Willow.” She nodded and continued.

“And the Glory battle...and Buffy´s death...it all took a lot out
of us. The whole group...I´m sorry...” Willow seemed near tears, but
she choked them back “And, honestly...I´m worried about Tara. I know
she´d never say anything, but...well, Glory brain sucked her, it nearly
destroyed her whole life. I´m not sure if she, or even I, would want
her to be involved any more. She didn´t ask for this...and I´m not sure
I want her being dragged through anymore.” Giles nodded.

“H-how has she b-been doing?” Giles asked. She nodded.

“She seems ok...getting back to normal life. She´s been staying
with me at my Mom´s house...they´re, uh, adjusting to her and I.”
Willow said with a sweet little smile “Things are going well for us.”

“Um...” Xander began, getting up from his chair, “I guess now is
as good a time as any to tell you guys...” he turned and faced Willow
particularly, “Before we went to fight Glory, I mean, right before...I
proposed to Anya. She said yes. We´re planning on getting,
y´know...hitched and all in the spring.”

“Oh, Xander...w-well, that´s wonderful news. Congradulations.”
Giles said with a gentle smile.

“Uh..thanks.” Xander said, not looking at him. Willow was
looking into his eyes, the pair feeling the same bond they´d had all
thier lives. Finally, she smiled.

“That is wonderful. Congradulations, Xander.” She said, getting
up and hugging him. Giles frowned.

“I guess yet another reason to disband.” Giles said. Both of the
children he had watched turn into adults faced him.

“D-disband...” Willow said, looking into the man´s face.

“W-well...w-with you and Xander making such leaps into your
respective relationships, I w-would think it would be fairly ludicris
for you to continue to involve yourselves in...w-well, the war we have
fought. Maybe it´s time you both had normal lives.” Giles said.
Xander and Willow looked at him. Xander began to pace as Willow sank
into a chair. Once again silence filled the room. Then, finally,

“No.” Xander said from his point near the counter.

“No?”

“No...I can´t quit. This...well, it all makes my life worth
living. Backing Buffy up is as close to being a hero as I could be.
She´d want me to keep doing it. I´ll...just try to keep Anya out of it
as much as I can.”

“Well...before we table the idea, Xander...can we truly commit to
it? ALL of us? Buffy had powers. No one has powers anymore. No
leader. No body.” Willow said.

“You hurt a God, Will.” Xander said. Willow´s eyes widened and
she shook her head.

“Nonononono...I´m just me...I can´t take her place.” Willow said
“I don´t have that strength.” Xander looked at his shoes and Giles
remained silent and stared out the window.

“Well...and I can´t believe I´m about to say this...but what if we
called Angel in? He could take handle the work load...the man´s a
bonafide hero, right?” Xander asked.

“From what I understand, Angel has a very full plate in Los
Angeles, Xander...” Giles said.

“And besides, with Buffy being dead...I doubt this is a place he´d
want to be. He was pretty broken up when I went to tell him.” Willow
replied.

“Riley?” Xander asked desperetly. Giles shook his head.

“While Riley´s military training and his experience would be
helpful, I don´t imagine he has what it takes to be the figure head, nor
the desire to do so.” Giles replied.

“And we still can´t find him. I tried to locate him, but he´s
impossible to find. Y´know, being top secret and all.” Willow said.
Xander ran his hand through his hair.

“Well...we can´t just let this go....just forget we ever saw it..”
he looked over at Giles “Can we?” Giles shook his head.

“No...the memories will always remain.” Giles said, closing his
eyes.

“Well...you´re kind of the boss right now, Giles...what are you
going to do?” Xander asked. Giles shook his head.

“I´m not quite sure, Xander...” Giles said “I´ve been toying with
the idea of returning to England for quite some time...” he glanced
towards Willow, “But I´m not certain it would be wise to leave Sunnydale
unattended.”

“Is a new slayer being summoned?” Willow asked.

“The council hasn´t reported a new slayer being activated. It´s
being assumed a new slayer won´t be called until Faith
has...w-well...anyway, even if there was a new one, it´s doubtful she
would be deployed to Sunnydale...or to me as her Watcher.” Giles
answered.

“What do they want to do about the hellmouth?” Willow asked.

“I-I´m not certain,” Giles replied. Silence again.

“Ok...let´s table that one for now, too...” Xander said, walking
over and leaning on the table “What do we do about Spike?” Willow and
Giles looked at one another, and back up at Xander.

“W-well, we can´t just force Spike to do whatever we tell him to
do, he seems intent on staying in Sunnydale.” Giles said.

“Yeah. With Dawn.” Xander said darkly “We can´t just let him hang
around with her, can we?”

“He seems to really want to protect Dawn...he was really broken up
over Buffy´s death.” Willow said.

“Yeah, it blew his chance to shag her...” Xander said, pacing
away.

“I seem to remember you making a case for him after Glory tortured
him.” Giles said.

“Yeah...well....I don´t want to see the guy die now that he´s
harmless, and that he backed us up with the whole Glory
thing...but...isn´t he, I dunno...a bad influence on her or something?”
Xander asked.

“Well, even if we were going to attempt to keep him and Dawn
seperated, I-I don´t think Dawn will allow it. She and Spike s-seem to
share a unique kinship with one another.” Giles replied thoughtfully.

“A besides, even though this threat is past, Dawn still is The
Key, and if any other nasty wants to use Dawn for something, Spike´s the
best man we have to keep her safe. No matter where Dawn goes, I´m sure
he´ll follow her.” Willow said “I don´t think we can do anything about
Spike, short of just staking him...and I don´t hear a lot of support for
that plan.” Giles and Xander both looked at the floor, and nodded.
Silence returned again.

“I think we´re back to the begining again.” Xander remarked.
Giles nodded and Willow frowned.

“What are we going to do without her?” Willow asked in a quiet
voice, “What is Sunnydale going to do without her?” Suddenly the door
burst open and Spike ran in, a large gash on his forehead.

“There you are.” Spike said, cracking his neck as he entered the
room quickly, “We´ve got trouble.”

“W-what is it?” Giles asked, getting to his feet.

“Thessalane Demon,” Spike replied “Real nasty one. He´s tearin´
up a bar uptown demanding the slayer come and face him.” Giles, Willow
and Xander looked around at each other. “Well come on! We haven´t got
all bloody night now, do we? Saddle up the forces of good and all that
and let´s go save the day!” Spike said, looking around at them
increduously. “Say..what are you all doin´ here right now anyway?”
Spike added in a quiet voice.

“It was an emergency meeting of The Scooby Gang, Spike...” Willow
looked over at Xander, who nodded “Xander, call Anya and get her to meet
us uptown, we´re going to need to know what she knows about Thessalane
Demons, I´ll get Tara so she and I can back you up magically. Spike,
you and Xander are going to have to work together as point men...Giles,
get the books and weapons and be ready to back them up.” All three men
nodded and went about thier assignments.

..............

One dead Thessalane Demon later....

“Well...that was fun.” Spike said, pulling himself out of the
wreckage of the fallen bar.

“Yeah, maybe for you Mister ‘I can´t be hurt by anything but a
stake through my chest´.” Xander said, feeling his lower back, “I think
I ruptured...everything.” Anya wrapped her arms around him.

“I´m glad you´re ok.” She said. He put his arm around her and
kissed her.

“Yeah. Me,too.” Xander said, and they shared a sweet smile.
Tara and Willow came running up, Giles coming after a bit slower with
Dawn with him.

“A-are all of you alright?” Giles asked.

“Bloody fabulous...don´t worry, lil´ slayerling...” Spike said,
noticing the concerned look on Dawn´s face, “The big bad is just right.”
Dawn smiled and Spike patted her lightly on the head. Xander slapped
Spike on the back.

“Those were pretty good moves, Spike.” Xander said, half smiling.

“Yeh...somethin´ I picked up from The Slayer.” Spike said with
pride.

“So...did you guys solve what you were...uh...trying to solve?”
Tara asked Willow and Giles.

“Well...we were considering disbanding the Scooby Gang,” Willow
began “With your recent injury, Tara...and Anya and Xander getting
married...” All of them looked in Xander and Anya´s direction, and then
broke out into smiles and hearty congradulations, and then turned thier
heads back to Willow “well, with the exception of Spike, who has decided
he´s not a Scooby Gang member...”

“Bollocks.” Spike interrupted “With Buffy gone, you all are the
only ones who have even a remote chance of savin´ the day all the time.
The Slayer spent all her time fightin´ the good fight...and I guess you
could say she left a little o´ that in me. You all...we all...owe it to
her to carry on, right? I mean, you guys can´t all quit ‘cuz I sure as
all hell can´t do it all on my own, right?” He finished, lighting a
ciggarette “Besides, I ain´t got nothin´ better t´do...might as well
save the world. ‘Cause it´s what she would´ve done.”

“Sweetie...there´s no way I´d quit fighting evil.” Tara said.

“But...you don´t deserve the risks...” Willow said.

“No one deserves the risks, sweetie. Not even you.” Tara smiled
“As long as you do this, I´ll be there with you. And I know you. You
can´t give this up. It means too much to you.” Willow smiled at her.

“You´re one in a million.” Willow said.

“I´m your girl.” Tara said, squeezing her hand.

“Whadda ya say, An...want to keep up the fighting?” Xander asked.

“Well...no, quite frankly.” Anya said, looking up at him “But I
don´t know if I´d find you so attractive if you weren´t so brave.”

“And there´s no way I´m being kept out of this.” Dawn said “Buffy
left us a great deal to do.” Spike smiled at Willow.

“So...do we have a scooby gang, or what, Red?” Willow looked
around, Giles hand on her shoulder, Tara´s hand in hers and smiled.

“Yeah, I guess we do...but it´s going to be hard. It´s going to
suck. We´re gonna take a lot of pain and suffering...and some of us
could die. If it killed Buffy, it can easily do it to us. But...I
guess we have to do it. We´ve got to do it for Buffy. Meeting
ajourned.”

end

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