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~Part: 16~
At eleven-thirty, the Scoobies and the two Immortals stood outside the burnt-out husk of the former Sunnydale High School. It was eerily quiet.
"What happened here?" Duncan asked, horrified, as he and Methos took in the remains of the school, wondering what horrible catastrophe could have struck, destroying it so thoroughly.
"We blew it up!" Willow explained, still too high on the caffeine to be worried about the spell she had thirty minutes to set up for and perform.
"You blew up your high school?" Duncan turned to her in disbelief.
"Yep." She nodded proudly. "On Graduation Day."
"You blew up your high school on Graduation Day," Methos spoke slowly, as if that would help him understand.
"Not for fun," Giles interjected. "It was the only way to stop the Mayor from ascending."
"Becoming a big demony-snake-thing and ruling the world, or our little part of it, anyway," Buffy added, at their still-confused looks.
"It was the next logical step," Xander commented. "After Buffy burned down the gym at her old school."
"Xander!" Buffy stomped her foot. "It was full of vampires," she explained to the other two. "I had no choice. Really!"
"Why is it so quiet?" Anya asked. "I thought there were supposed to be all these demons we had to fight. Even if they're inside, shouldn't we be able to hear them?"
"Good question," Giles said. "Spike, Buffy." He turned to the two stealthiest members of the group. "Check and see if B'az and the Host are inside. And see how many followers they've brought with them. No sense setting up here if it turns out we're going to have to move."
Spike and Buffy ran silently up to the school and disappeared in the shadows. Willow stared at the place where they had disappeared from sight, praying to the Goddess that they would both be all right. Worrying about Spike getting hurt during one of their battles, or on patrol, was nothing new to her, but being able to worry publicly was, and it seemed harder now that she didn't have to keep it all inside.
And then Anya, who was holding her trusty baseball bat in one hand, reached out and took Willow's hand. Willow looked over at the other girl, who gave her a reassuring smile, and then squeezed her hand in gratitude as they waited for Buffy and Spike to return.
***
Duncan glanced over at Methos, who was leaning against a tree, one knee bent with his foot propped against the bark, his hands in the front pockets of his jeans, his eyes on what was left of the school. Duncan walked over and stood in front of him. Methos slowly moved his eyes from the school to Duncan's face.
"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea," Duncan said softly. The decision he had made was the right one for him, but he was afraid that he had pushed the older Immortal into a battle that he didn't want. And he was afraid that, just as he'd found more than friendship with the other man, something would happen to snatch the chance at happiness out of their reach.
"It was as good as any of your other ideas," Methos said with a half-smile and a small shrug of his shoulders. He knew that Duncan was concerned for his safety, but he wasn't used to having anyone worry about him. That Duncan did warmed his heart and chilled his guts at the same time. He both wanted it, and feared it.
"Methos!" Duncan hissed under his breath in exasperation.
"MacLeod," Methos replied, his voice low and deep.
"Just...watch your head, Old Man," Duncan said.
Methos smiled. "I love you, too, Duncan," he murmured, and pushed away from the tree, brushing past Duncan, and standing on legs that were none-too-steady after that declaration. "They're coming back." He inclined his head towards the school.
Duncan turned to follow Methos' gaze, and saw Buffy and Spike darting through the shadows. He closed his fingers over the nape of Methos' neck as they stood together. He leaned close to the other man and whispered, "I love you, too," and punctuated it with a light kiss on the other man's neck.
Duncan dropped his hand and the two Immortals walked over to join the others.
***
"They're in there, all right," Buffy said when they reached the group. "We couldn't get into the old library, but the hallway is filled with demons. The Boss must be in there, getting ready to perform the ritual."
"We're going to need a way to clear that hallway, though. Either push 'em back so we can get in, or draw 'em out," Spike added.
"All right." Giles took over and began directing. "Willow, start setting up the circle. Anya, could you help her, please? The rest of us need to come up with a plan to get into the library."
Willow and Anya moved to a clear spot and began to remove the magical supplies from the bag Willow had carried, setting out pillar and tapered candles, sand, and herbs.
"Well, I have an *idea*," Xander said. "But it's not exactly a plan, yet."
"What is it?" Spike asked.
Xander held out his hand, and everyone stared at the object he held.
"Oh, dear lord," Giles said.
"Xander, where did you get a *grenade*?" Buffy asked.
"Same place I got the missile launcher," he replied.
'Missile launcher?' Methos mouthed to Duncan, his eyes wide.
"You've had a grenade since Junior year?" Buffy's voice was getting high.
"Uh, two, actually." Xander pulled a second grenade out of his pocket.
"Bloody hell!" Spike reached out to take one. He rolled it around in his hand thoughtfully, and turned to look at the school. "Can't just toss 'em in the front," he said. "Too unstable. I thought the place was going to collapse last year when we were in there fighting them Vahrall demons."
"We can toss one in around back, get their attention, draw them away from the front entrance," Buffy suggested. "Give us some maneuvering room."
"Good idea," Giles said. "All right, here's what we'll do. Spike, you and Xander go around to the rear entrance, use one of the grenades to create a diversion. Buffy, Anya, Duncan, and Adam," he looked at each of them in turn, "will wait near the front entrance. If the demons surge forward, they'll engage in the courtyard. If the demons move toward the explosion, they'll enter the school and engage while they're distracted. If there isn't too much rubble from the explosion, you two..." He turned back to Spike and Xander. "...can move further into the school and trap the demons between you. If you can't get through, get out and come back around to the front. Once inside, Buffy and Duncan will attempt to get into the old library to eliminate the Host. Is everyone clear?" he asked.
"Gotcha, Giles." Buffy nodded, gripping a stake in her hand for comfort.
"Sure thing, G-man." Xander just smiled when Giles rolled his eyes.
"Yes," Duncan and Methos said at the same time. They were centuries older than this man, but he had a command presence that surprised them both.
"Yeah," Spike said, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it.
Anya and Willow rejoined the group. "Circle's ready," Willow said.
"All right," Giles said. "It is now ten minutes to midnight. Everyone take your places. Xander, Spike, radio us when you're in position." Giles indicated the radios everyone except Willow and Xander, who had given theirs to Methos and Duncan, wore on their hips. "As soon as the grenade is in play, we move. All right, go!"
Xander, Anya, Buffy, Duncan, and Methos moved toward the school. Spike looked at Willow, as if trying to memorize her face. He crushed the unsmoked cigarette under his boot, gently grabbed her by the back of the neck, and pressed his forehead against hers. "Be careful," he said, before he turned and followed the others.
"You too," Willow whispered, as she watched Spike run to catch up with the others. He and Xander veered off and disappeared in the shadows around the school. Buffy, Anya, Duncan, and Methos hid themselves in the shadows of the courtyard at the front entrance. Giles touched her shoulder and Willow jumped.
"Come on, Willow," he spoke softly, knowing they were both worried for their friends. They walked over to the circle and stepped inside it. Willow sprinkled the sand to close the circle, and knelt before the altar. She called on the elements of earth, air, water, and fire in turn, and lit the candles representing each. She then called on the goddess and god, and lit their candles.
When she was finished, Giles picked up a packet of herbs. He chanted the protection spell as he sprinkled the herbs over the burning candles. The air shimmered around them, as the invisible protection barrier was erected.
A gust of wind blew Willow's hair away from her face, and she looked worriedly towards the school. "B'az has begun the ritual," she warned Giles.
Giles pulled the radio off of his belt and thumbed the button. "Spike," he spoke into the radio. "Willow say's B'az has begun the ritual. How close are you?"
"Hold on," Spike's voice came over the radio speaker, and then radio silence returned. "Xander says we're near the cafeteria, whatever that means," Spike's voice crackled as they descended into the bowels of the ruined school.
"All right," Giles said. "Get there as fast as you can. We might have to start without you."
"Bugger!" was Spike's reply.
"Buffy, did you hear that?" Giles spoke into the radio again.
"Yeah, Giles, I heard," Buffy replied.
"When Willow starts her spell, the demons might come looking for the source, if Spike and Xander aren't able to distract them. Be prepared," he warned.
"We're ready, Giles," Buffy assured him.
Giles replaced the radio on his belt and turned to Willow, who was already murmuring the words to the incantation that would bind the Pan'kr priest from using his magic. He moved to Willow's side so that he could keep an eye on both her and the school.
Just as she finished the spell, Willow's body was jerked taut as a bow string, her arms flung straight out to her sides, her head thrown back. A powerful wind picked up around them, blowing her hair in a stream behind her. Her eyes shot open and a brilliant green light shone out of them.
"Ligo ars magicam sacradotis!" she cried, and the light from her eyes shot towards the school. Moments later, the wind and light died, and Willow slumped forward. Giles caught her before she could hit the ground.
"Did it work?" she asked tiredly. Giles looked at the demons spilling out of the school to find that which had interrupted the ritual.
"Yes, I rather think it did," he replied, holding Willow as she recovered.
"I need to finish the spell." Willow opened her eyes, a normal green once more.
"That can wait for a moment," he told her, knowing she wasn't strong enough to finish the spell yet. "Oh, dear lord!"
"What? What is it?" she asked, trying to turn her head.
"I think some of them have figured out who interrupted the ritual," he responded. "And here they come!"
"Don't break the circle," Willow reminded him unnecessarily, just to hear herself say it, as she crawled to her knees. "Hope that barrier holds," she muttered as she saw half a dozen demon warriors descending on them.
***
"How far are we from the bloody library?" Spike asked again.
"As the eagle flies, or as the human has to crawl over the rubble?" Xander asked sarcastically, tired of Spike's complaints. He was worried about his friends, too, but bickering wasn't going to get them there any faster.
"How about as the vampire throws the human over the rubble?" Spike shot back.
"Hardy har har, funny man," Xander replied, as he stepped carefully over a pile of concrete and steel. He stopped and wiped the back of his hand across his forehead. "We should almost be there. The lounge is just ahead."
Xander took a step forward, and Spike reached out and grabbed his arm. "Hold up," he said, then tilted his head and listened.
"What is it?" Xander asked, looking around them to see if he could determine what Spike was hearing.
"Something happened. Demons are on the move. Let's get going." Spike started forward again.
"Willow must have finished the binding spell," Xander said, as he followed Spike.
They reached the end of the hallway and peeked around the corner. The remains of the old library lay just ahead. Spike pulled Xander back and placed his lips near the other man's ear. "We can't throw the grenade here. If this place comes down, Buffy has no way of getting in there and taking out the Host."
He looked around them. "If we could get them into the lounge, we could toss the grenade there."
"How do you plan to do that?" Xander asked.
"I'll get their attention and run like hell." Spike grinned, enjoying himself.
"You are one sick puppy." Xander shook his head. "What am I going to do?"
"You're going to get your ass back around that corner past the lounge so you can throw the grenade after I've so nicely lured them into our trap," Spike replied.
"We've only got one radio," Xander said. "I won't be able to tell you when I'm ready."
"Yell," Spike said. "We won't need to be quiet at that point. Oh, here, take this." He handed Xander the radio. "Don't wanna break it." Spike smirked.
Xander shook his head and took off running back down the hallway the way they had come, dodging fallen beams and jumping piles of rubble. When he had the end of the hallway in sight, he yelled, "Oka-a-ay!" back at the vampire.
With a grin, Spike stepped around the corner where approximately two dozen demons or more stood guard outside the library door. They didn't look to be of a single species, and Spike wondered briefly whether the Pan'kr were able to assimilate many races, or whether they were mercenaries. They were uneasy, as part of their number had been called away to address the magical threat that Willow posed, and Spike hoped that uneasiness would make them easier to manipulate.
"Hey!" Spike said, holding up his pack of cigarettes and tapping one out into his palm. "Anybody got a light?"
As one, the demons turned to look at him. One of the demons, a tall fellow with hideous pea-green flesh and a head of milky-white hair that flowed down his back, yelled something in a language Spike didn't recognize, and pointed towards him. A demon with terra cotta scales covering its hide broke away from the pack and moved in Spike's direction. Spike waited patiently, the cigarette still in his hand.
When the demon was three steps away, Spike stuck the unlit cigarette between his lips and brought up the battle axe he'd been carrying beneath his duster. He stepped forward and, with one mighty swing, decapitated the unsuspecting and unprepared demon.
Its head bounced on the floor, loosening several scales and sending them scattering in the sudden hush, and then rolled to stop at the feet of its brethren. Spike wiped his blade off on the leather vest covering the demon's chest, and then gave his body a push with the head of the axe so that it toppled over. He pulled the cigarette out of his mouth and grinned. "Who's next?" he asked, as he dropped the cigarette into his duster pocket.
The demon that was obviously the leader of this group snarled something guttural and unintelligible to Spike, and eight of the demons started toward him. They were all large and very angry. But he was the Big Bad. He waited until they were about ten steps from him before he allowed a worried look to cross his face, and then slowly backed away from them.
Battle cries sounded in mixed languages, and the demons started running after Spike, looking for retaliation for the death of their comrade. He turned and ran around the corner, racing down the hallway towards the lounge where Xander waited with the grenade. When the lounge was in sight, Spike darted a look behind him to see where the demons were.
They were almost on him, anger and purpose fueling their speed, and he knew the grenade would take a second or two before it went off. "Now, Xander!" he yelled into the empty hallway.
Xander stepped around the corner and saw Spike leading the demons toward him...well toward the lounge, but his body's fight or flight reflex didn't see it quite that way. He hesitated a moment with the grenade in his hand, wanting to give Spike time to reach safety.
"Now!" Spike yelled again. Xander pulled the pin and drew his arm back, then threw the grenade as far as he could. Spike collided with him and pushed him back around the corner. The grenade exploded and the concussive force sent them flying through the air.
***
Willow looked past the demons beating on the barrier with their fists, and hacking at it with axes, when she heard the grenade explode. She stood and watched in stunned silence as explosion after explosion ripped through the building and made the ground shake beneath her feet. A portion of the already compromised structure fell in, leaving a gaping hole in the center.
"Oh, dear lord," Giles said.
"Wha...? Was that supposed to happen?" Willow asked, her eyes wide with shock as she fell to her knees, her legs no longer able to support her weight. 'Spike,' she thought.
~Part: 17~
Buffy replaced the radio on her hip. "Be ready," she warned. "We might be having company real soon." She looked over her shoulder at Willow and Giles, a worried frown creasing her brow.
She and Duncan were concealed in the shadows on one side of the entrance, Adam and Anya on the other. Both Immortals had pulled their swords and stood ready to fight. Anya clenched the baseball bat so tightly that her knuckles were white. Buffy held a broadsword loosely in the fingers of one hand; the fingers of the other closed comfortingly over the stake in her pocket.
A sudden breeze lifted the hair off Buffy's neck, and she looked around. She saw Willow, her body arranged as if she were on a cross, a green glow about her face. Without warning, the green light coalesced into a beam which shot from her eyes and into the school behind them.
"Holy...crap!" Buffy ducked instinctively.
At her exclamation, the others looked up and watched the light shoot over their heads and disappear into the school. "What was that?" Anya asked.
"I think that was our cue," Buffy replied, tightening her grip on the sword.
***
Duncan took a deep, calming breath to center himself. He closed his eyes and extended his other senses. He could hear Willow's and Giles' soft voices from the distance, he could hear Buffy breathing beside him, and he could hear Methos' heart beating in time with his own.
He opened his eyes and turned his head so that he could see Methos in the shadows across from him. The older Immortal was staring at him, and when their eyes met, he smiled and raised his sword in salute. Duncan's nostrils flared as he took in the other man's casual stance that could turn alert and lethal in a moment, the strength and grace of his body hidden under baggy sweater and loose raincoat.
After this battle was over, he was going to take Methos back to the hotel and not let him out of bed for a week. As if he could read Duncan's mind, Methos' eyes widened, and then he smirked. Buffy tensed beside him and drew Duncan's attention away from his lascivious thoughts, and back to the upcoming battle.
>From inside the school they could hear the tramping of booted feet running down the hall, the rustle of material as arms swung against torso, and legs brushed together, and the bellow of voices shouting commands in an unfamiliar demon language. And then a dozen demons burst out of the school and into the courtyard.
Before they realized that anyone was waiting for them, Buffy, Duncan, and Methos were cutting into their ranks, while Anya battered them with the baseball bat. Half a dozen warriors turned to take on their attackers, while the rest continued through the courtyard, seeking the magic user who had disturbed their ritual.
These demons, unlike other demons Buffy was used to fighting, were trained warriors, more than capable of holding their own. Recognizing her as the Slayer, and assuming that made her the most dangerous of their opponents, three of the demons attacked her, while the other three took on each of the others. The demons expertly wielded axes, swords, and maces with spiked heads.
***
Buffy kicked out at one of the demons, a gray female with huge wart-like bumps on her face, neck, and hands, and then whirled and slashed at another, this one a member of the hideous pea-green variety. Its hair covered its head in white spikes. The third demon, its flesh a slightly darker shade of red than the human norm, and with curling ram-type horns at the side of its head, landed a blow to her right shoulder with its mace that tore flesh and numbed her arm.
"Fuck, that hurt!" she swore, as she passed her sword to her left hand, shaking her right arm out, trying to restore feeling in her fingers. She swung her sword in a wide arc, forcing the three demons to stumble back a step, and then immediately engaged the one on her left, keeping it between her and the other two.
***
The demon facing Duncan was armed with a sharp and deadly looking axe, a look of determination on its horned visage. The demon came at him, rapid and vicious, and he had no time to set himself for the attack. He put his sword up defensively and blocked the demon's blows. The demon was large and ungainly, and Duncan's only edge his ability to move gracefully and agilely out from under the demon's attack.
Taking advantage of the demon's lumbering gait, Duncan danced back quickly until he was out of the demon's long reach. When the demon moved forward to re-engage, Duncan nimbly stepped in and took the offensive. The demon, seemingly unused to its quarry fighting back so skillfully, faltered, and Duncan wasted no time in driving his sword home, piercing the demon's chest.
The demon stared at Duncan in disbelief, before falling backward off the blade and crashing to the ground, leaving a sticky coating of yellow gore behind. Duncan turned in time to slash at the gray, warty demon attempting to sneak up on Buffy, drawing its attention away from her.
"Thanks!" Buffy called back over her shoulder without even looking, and Duncan realized that even though she'd looked oblivious to the demon's approach, she had been fully aware of it.
"Welcome!" he called back. "What's wrong with your arm?"
"Damn *demon*," she lunged forward, "hit me with its *mace*," slash. "It's still a little numb."
***
Anya didn't wait for her demon, the terra cotta scales on its hide curling up at the edges as if they were drying and ready to fall off, to attack. As soon as they split up, she went on the offensive, swinging her bat like a, well, like a bat! Her first blow hit the demon's wrist and almost startled it into dropping its weapon. It lifted its arm, the head of the axe it carried larger than Anya's head, and swung.
Anya did a duck and roll maneuver she'd learned from Xander, and then rose to her feet at the demon's side. She swing the bat again, and heard a satisfying 'Snap!' as it connected with the demon's elbow. The demon growled in pain or anger, Anya wasn't sure which, and swung the axe in an awkward sweep.
The axe connected with Anya's bat, surprising both of them. The bat was shattered in two before being torn out of her numb and stinging hands, and Anya watched the two halves fly away from her. She turned back to the demon, her eyes wide with fear. It reached out and closed its fingers around her throat and lifted her off her feet. Anya kicked at the demon with her feet and scrabbled at it with her fingers as her air was cut off.
***
The demon facing Methos, an ebony creature with purple eyes, grinned, showing a mouth full of large, pointed, yellowing teeth. It raised the mace it carried over its head and swung it about, flipping it expertly from hand to hand. Methos tilted his head to the side and watched the demon showing off in an attempt to intimidate the smaller man.
The demon might be a seasoned warrior who found little to fear in the human, but Methos doubted that it had 5000 years of experience to draw on. Methos had learned over the years that it paid to be prepared. And he didn't always play by the rules. He reached into the pocket of his raincoat and pulled out a gun, flicked the safety off, aimed it at the demon's chest, and fired, shooting it where he thought the heart might be.
The demon looked at Methos, and then down at its chest, an incredulous expression gracing its otherwise unremarkable features. Methos calmly replaced the gun in his pocket, watched the demon's arms fall as if weighted, and then swung his sword and decapitated it, just in case. He'd also learned that it never hurt to be careful.
Methos looked around the battle area. Buffy and Duncan were back-to-back, fighting three demons. They looked a bit battered, but they were still on their feet. Anya was in the grip of another, her face slowly turning purple. Methos turned towards the demon holding Anya and drew his sword back.
Anya's hand found purchase in the demon's leather vest. She curled her fingers to tug futilely at the material, and they wrapped around the hilt of a dagger he carried strapped to his waist. Anya pulled the dagger as stars danced before her eyes, turned it in her hand, and jammed it into the demon's side as hard and as deeply as she could.
The demon looked at her in surprise, and then Anya screamed, the sound muffled in her closing throat, as its head flew from its neck. Even in death, the demon did not release its hold on her throat, and Anya clawed at its fingers, her eyes going wide as she felt herself falling through the air. She landed on the ground with a 'Whump!', the demon atop her.
Methos dropped beside her and lay his sword on the ground. He pulled the demon's fingers away from her throat even as he surveyed the battlefield for possible attack. Anya choked and coughed as she tried to suck in air.
"Can't breathe," she gasped.
"Did he crush your windpipe?" Methos asked worriedly. He really had been a doctor, but battlefield medicine was always the worst.
"No, heavy," Anya choked, trying to heave the demon off of her.
"Oh!" Methos got his hands beneath the demon, brushing Anya's breast as he did so. "Sorry," he muttered, as he levered the demon up and rolled it off of her.
"That's...all right," Anya replied as she sucked in much needed oxygen. "He broke my bat," she said as she rolled to her knees. "But I found *this*." She pulled the dagger out of the demon's side with a wet sucking sound, and held it up before Methos.
"Nice," Methos grinned. "How about this?" He handed her the mace the demon he had been fighting dropped when Methos cut off its head. He swung it like a bat, and held it out to her. "You might be more comfortable with it, although it's a little bit heavier on the end, because it's metal, not wood."
Anya took the mace and rose to her feet, swinging it experimentally a few times. "I like it!" she enthused, and then smashed it down angrily into the chest of the demon that had choked her. "Jerk!" she cried, and had to twist the mace a bit to get it back out. "That hurt!"
***
Methos picked up his sword and the two of them moved to flank the demons Buffy and Duncan were fighting. Now that it was four to three, and the demons were already wavering under the unrelenting attack of the Highland warrior and the Slayer, the battle was short-lived. When they were done, Buffy glanced over to see Willow and Giles still safe behind their protective barrier.
"We need to get inside," she began. "But I don't want to leave..." The expected explosion finally sounded behind them, and Buffy paused, waiting for the noise to die down so she could continue speaking. As one rumbling explosion sounded after another, Buffy slowly turned to look at the school behind them.
The ground shook and the building swayed. "Get back!" Duncan yelled. He grabbed Buffy's arm and pulled her away from the building, even as he checked to make sure that Methos got away. A large tremor shifted the earth beneath their feet, and they stumbled and fell, rolling to their backs to watch as a large portion of the school fell in on itself, leaving a large yawning gap behind.
"Oh, my God," Buffy broke the silence, as her eyes darted back and forth across the school. "Oh, my God."
"Xander?" Anya whimpered. "Xander!" She rolled to her knees and scrambled to her feet. Methos grabbed her around the waist before she could take off towards the school. "Xander!" she screamed.
Anya's scream brought Buffy out of her trance, and she rose to her feet. She walked over to Anya and dropped her sword, taking Anya's face in both of her hands and pulling her attention away from the school.
"We're going to find him, Anya," she said, her voice slow and even. "And he's going to be all right. But there are still a lot of demons between us and them. We need Willow. Do you understand me?"
Anya nodded. "All right." Buffy released the other girl's face, and leaned down to retrieve her weapon. "You and Adam go get Willow and Giles, Mac and I will go inside and thin the herd a little bit, okay?"
Anya closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and then nodded again. "Okay. Just...save me some, all right?"
Buffy grinned ferally. "No promises. I'm not in a very giving mood right now. Ready?" she asked Duncan.
"Ready." He nodded. He looked at Methos, who waved him off with a slight curve of his lips.
"I know. You too, Highlander."
Buffy and Duncan ran toward the school entrance, Methos and Anya turned toward the demons still battering at the barrier surrounding Willow and Giles, as if the blast from the school hadn't fazed them a bit. Willow was on her knees, staring at the school. Giles stood behind her, his hand on her shoulder, a look of profound sorrow on his face.
Willow staggered to her feet. She braced her legs, steeled her shoulders, and threw her arms out as she yelled, "Repellite!"
Methos watched in amazement as a gale-force wind burst forth and slammed into the demons, picking them up and tumbling them as if they were rag dolls. He staggered as the tail end of the gust caught him, and grabbed onto Anya as she stumbled beside him.
Willow hastily spoke words of thanks, released the four elements and the God and Goddess, and extinguished the candles before the demons could recover. "Demitte," she called out. The barrier dropped and she stepped over the circle. She picked up the crossbow she'd brought with her and turned with determination toward the first demon that was stirring.
The demon growled at her and clambered to its feet, raising its sword. Willow wasted no time in aiming the crossbow and pulling the trigger. The bolt shot out and buried itself in the demon's chest. With a surprised look on its face, the demon toppled backward.
Willow reloaded, and turned to the next demon that had started to rise. She fired; the bolt lodging in the demon's shoulder. "Crap," she muttered, as she reloaded. She felt movement at her side, and glanced over to find Giles standing protectively beside her, an axe in one hand, several more bolts in the other.
Without speaking, Willow loosed the third bolt, hitting the now-standing and quickly-approaching demon in the eye. She grabbed the bolts out of Giles' hand and was reloading before the demon hit the ground.
"Save me one!" Anya yelled, as she ran towards Willow, Giles, and the four remaining demons. Willow glanced at Anya, and then turned her attention back to the crossbow.
"First come, first served," she murmured, as she fired again, the bolt burying itself in the demon's stomach. Her arms were starting to feel heavy, and her aim was off. Her fear for Spike, and her body's inability to function as she wanted it to, brought tears of frustration to her eyes.
Anya ran up behind the demon Willow had just shot in the gut and swung her mace at it. The head buried itself in the demon's back, and the demon dropped to its knees. Methos pushed her out of the way and beheaded the demon. The head rolled off and the torso toppled forward, driving the bolt through its back. Anya grabbed her mace and tugged, then placed her foot against the demon's side and tugged again. The head came free with a 'Slurp!', and Anya staggered backward. "Damned spikes," she muttered to herself.
Methos looked around them to see Giles engaged with one of the three remaining demons, while Willow reloaded the crossbow. Luckily, the demons still seemed to be a bit dazed and sluggish from the wind spell, or whatever that was Willow had done, and weren't moving as quickly as they normally would have to take advantage of the redhead's flagging pace.
Methos and Anya moved to double-team one of the demons as Willow fixed her sights on the other. She fired, hitting the demon in the thigh. 'Damn!' she thought. He was moving more quickly now, and Willow knew she didn't have time to reload. She looked around her for another weapon, certain that the stake in her pocket wasn't going to be enough.
She dove for the circle and picked up the pillar candles, throwing them with questionable accuracy at the demon. They didn't stop him, or even hurt him, but he had to slow a bit to avoid the annoying missiles. When the candles were gone, Willow pulled her stake.
With sword slashing and mace bashing, Methos and Anya made short work of the demon. When they were finished, and the demon dead, Methos turned to Giles, and Anya went to Willow's aid. The demon was fixated on Willow and didn't hear or sense Anya's approach. Anya swung her mace, smashing it into the demon's shoulder.
The demon turned and swatted her away with its other hand, pulled the mace out of its shoulder with a grunt of pain and tossed it away from him, and then moved inexorably towards Willow. "Anya?" Willow called, as she backed away from the demon. "Anya, are you all right?"
Giles stabbed the demon through the heart, and Methos looked up just as the other demon grabbed Willow around the neck and pulled her towards him. He saw its mouth move, but didn't hear, nor would he have understood, the words pouring forth.
The demon pulled its arm back to strike Willow with the axe it carried, and Methos drew his own arm back and threw his sword. The sword buried itself in the demon's side, missing the heart, and the demon stumbled. Giles ran past Methos and threw himself at the demon, knocking the three of them to the ground before the demon could complete its strike.
Willow grunted as she hit the hard, unyielding ground, and the air whooshed out of her body. She looked up into the demon's eyes, shining with fanatic purpose. She brought her hand up and stabbed it in the neck with the stake. Green blood gushed out of the demon, spraying her face and neck, as she stabbed it again, and again, until Methos grabbed her hand.
"It's dead," he whispered, as he and Giles rolled the bloody demon carcass off her.
Methos helped Willow to her feet. She wobbled, and then steadied. Willow wiped her hand through the blood on her face, looked at her palm, and then wiped it on her jeans. She brushed her hair out of her face, and looked at Anya. Her eyes moved to the school.
"We need to find Spike and Xander," she said.
~Part: 18~
Willow straightened her shoulders. And they would find the two men *alive*. Or she'd bring them back just so she could kill them again herself for being so stupid as to let themselves get killed! She shook herself. She couldn't allow herself to think like that. They were alive.
"Where are Buffy and Mac?" she asked, looking around them at the carnage.
"They went inside, to 'thin the herd'," Methos replied, as he pulled Anya's mace and his sword out of the demon's body. He handed Anya the mace, and wiped the blood from his blade onto the back of the demon's vest. Willow nodded as she looked around for weapons. She gathered up the crossbow she'd dropped and pulled a handful of bolts out of the bag.
"I need something...else." She looked at the bodies arrayed about them.
"These work great," Anya said, holding up her mace. "Well, except they tend to stick if you swing too hard."
Willow narrowed her eyes as she examined the weapon Anya held, and then searched the battlefield for a fallen mace. Giles found one without spikes on the head, and handed it to her. "Thanks," Willow said, as she shoved the handle through her belt.
"All right." She looked at her friends, old and new. "Giles, you and Adam get in there and help Buffy and Mac."
"Where are you going?" Giles asked.
"Anya and I are going around back, to look for Spike and Xander. As soon as we find them, we'll join you." Willow didn't wait for Giles to disapprove her plan. She grabbed Anya's arm. "Let's go."
Willow and Anya took off at a run toward the back of the school, where Xander and Spike had disappeared earlier. Giles thought about calling them back, realized the futility of it, and turned to Methos. "Shall we, Adam?" he asked, and turned, jogging towards the front entrance of the school, his axe held loosely in his hand, before Methos could answer.
Methos shrugged his shoulders, and then sped after him, his raincoat billowing out behind.
***
Willow and Anya reached the entrance they were certain Spike and Xander had used, based on the information they'd received over the radio that the two men had passed the cafeteria on their way to the library. Willow held her loaded crossbow at the ready, and Anya gripped the mace in both hands, as they slipped into the ruined school.
After a couple of minutes of skirting steel beams and climbing over piles of rubble, it was clear that they weren't going to be able to remain at alert status and make any kind of time. Deciding that they were unlikely to run into any demons on this end of the school, they paid more attention to their physical surroundings and hurried down what once had been the hallway outside the cafeteria.
The real destruction began just before they reached the lounge. Pieces of the ceiling had fallen in, and the walls were bowing out. They slowed their pace and began searching for the missing men, their eyes carefully scanning the wreckage they walked over.
"Xander!" "Spike!" The two girls called. The words echoed eerily back at them, but there was no other reply. They moved slowly forward.
"Oh, dear D'Hoffryn!" Anya almost fell as her knees gave out. "Is that blood?"
Willow knelt beside the small pool of blood on the floor. "Yes," she said, as she looked around them. "But they're not here. That means they're alive. Anya!" Willow hardened her voice to get through to the shaken girl. "They're alive! Let's go find them."
Anya nodded, and pushed away from the wall she'd used to hold herself up.
"And stay away from the walls." Willow looked up in trepidation as the wall Anya had been leaning against swayed. "Come on." Willow turned away and led the way down the debris-strewn hallway. They had to stop again when they reached the lounge.
The ceiling was open to the sky, and they could see the courtyard through great gaping holes in the walls. Demon corpses were buried beneath large slabs of fallen concrete, and body parts littered the area.
"Oh, gods, what if..."
"No!" Willow didn't even let her finish the thought. "They were back *there* when this happened." She gestured behind them with the crossbow. "They are *not* under here," she spoke firmly, trying to be certain enough to convince them both.
Gradually the sounds of battle reached their ears. "There's fighting up ahead," Willow said, her voice rising in excitement. "We're almost there, let's go."
The two women clambered over the wreckage as quickly as they could, stopping once to free Willow's leg when she wedged it between two slabs. When they were through the lounge area and starting down the hallway on the other side, the damage lessened and they could pick up more speed, Willow hobbling on her wrenched ankle.
They slowed down as they reached the end of the hallway, afraid to look around the corner and find out that Spike and Xander weren't there ahead of them.
***
Spike lopped off the hand of a demon that was too slow pulling it back. He was covered with shallow cuts, and dust, and blood. He and Xander were lucky that the muted blast from the explosion had thrown them far enough down the hallway to escape serious damage when the ceiling caved in behind them.
Xander's shoulder had been dislocated in the fall, especially with Spike's added weight on top of him, and Spike's back would have been shredded by flying shrapnel if not for the leather duster he wore. When they'd shaken off the effects of the tumble as best they could, Spike had put Xander's shoulder back in place.
Xander swore and threatened to dust Spike where he stood, as he took shallow breaths, waiting for the pain to abate. When he could walk without every step jarring his shoulder, he and Spike made their way back to the lounge. The destruction was more than they had expected from the single grenade.
"What in Hell happened here?" Xander asked, as he tipped his head back and looked at the night sky through the now-open roof.
Spike sniffed. "Gas," he said.
"I did not!" Xander protested.
Spike rolled his eyes. "Not *you*, ya nit. I smell gas. There must have been some trapped in here after the last explosion. Hence the new sunroof." He tilted his head back.
They were surprised that the blast hadn't drawn more of the demons away from the old library to investigate. Carefully and slowly climbing over slabs of concrete and crumbling brick, they made their way through the devastated lounge. When they reached the end of the corridor and poked their heads around the corner, they realized why the demons hadn't sent anyone to look into the explosion.
Some of the demons were just regaining their feet, having been affected by the unexpected range of the blast. Others were fighting Buffy and Duncan, trying to keep them out of the library. With a roar, Spike hefted his battle axe and waded into the fray. With a less manly roar, Xander followed him, his short sword raised above his head, one arm tucked against his chest, wincing in pain as each running footfall jarred his shoulder.
Time passed as if in a dream. They could have been inside the school for five minutes, or five hours. The two now stood together, hacking and slashing at the demons before them, driving them onto the flashing blades of Buffy and Duncan, who had been joined by Giles and Methos, who they could barely see on the other side of the pack of demons through the dusty haze surrounding them. There were fewer than a dozen demons left, but they seemed to fight with more determination as their numbers dwindled.
The demon Spike was fighting roared in pain and outrage as it lost its hand. Spike took the opportunity of the demon's distraction to swing his axe at the demon's chest. The demon charged towards Spike just as he completed his swing, aiding the momentum of the axe being buried in its chest. The demon stared dumbly at the axe blade sticking out of its chest, and then began to tumble backward.
Spike tugged on the axe handle, struggling to remove the axe from the demon's chest and keep the already cooling body from pitching over before he could retrieve his weapon. He saw movement out of the corner of his eye and ducked, just as another demon swung a spiked mace at his head. The mace whooshed over Spike's head and buried itself in the dead demon's chest alongside Spike's blade. Before he could rise, a crossbow bolt came out of nowhere and buried itself in the other demon's neck.
Spike jerked around and saw Willow and Anya standing in the hallway behind them. Willow, her face and neck spattered with specks of green demon blood calmly reloaded the crossbow as Anya ran up to fight beside Xander.
"Where you been, Red?" Spike called back to her, happier than he ever thought possible to see her standing there, as he stood and yanked the axe out of the demon's chest. The demon with the bolt protruding from its neck was currently trying to decide whether it should pull the mace free, or the bolt. Spike kicked the dead demon into it to further distract it, and then neatly decapitated it.
"I was looking for you," Willow replied, as she raised the crossbow. "Lucky for you I found you alive." She fired, lowered the crossbow, and reloaded.
"Lucky for me?" Spike asked, as he took on another demon, fighting with renewed vigor.
"Yep," Willow said, as she raised the bow and fired into the crowd of demons. She was so exhausted that she wasn't sure she could actually hit what she was aiming at, but figured that she had a good chance of hitting something in the teeming mass. She just hoped a stray bolt didn't make it through to the other side and hit one of her friends. "I was already planning on ways to bring you back just so I could kill you again for dying on me," she explained.
"Is there some kind of twisted logic in that?" Spike asked, with a grin.
"Who the Hell ever said love was logical?" Willow responded with a question of her own. She reloaded and fired again, and again, until the bolts she carried with her were gone. She dropped the crossbow on the littered floor behind her, pulled the mace from her belt, and stepped up beside Spike, who had continued fighting in silence.
"Did you say 'love'?" he asked, swinging his axe.
"What?" Willow yelped.
"Love." Spike turned to look at her. "Did you say 'love'?"
Willow swung her mace at a demon who was aiming its axe at Spike's unprotected back.
"When?" she asked.
"Just bloody now!" Spike yelled, swinging his axe at a demon approaching Willow from behind. "You said love isn't logical."
"Did not," Willow blustered.
"Did too!" Spike punched a persistent demon.
"Can you not see we're trying to talk here?" Willow yelled at the demon, and then swung her mace at its head, crushing its skull. "Bloody inconsiderate...demon!" Willow turned back to see Spike smiling at her. "What?" she yelled.
Spike's grin widened. He pulled her out of the path of certain death by sword-skewering and placed a quick kiss on her lips. "Love you too, Red," he said, before jumping back into the thick of the battle.
***
Buffy and Duncan slipped quietly into the school. Sticking as close to the uncertain protection afforded by the unstable walls as safely possible, they crept down the hallway toward the library. Buffy poked her head around the corner to get a head count of the demons arrayed outside the old library. A few were climbing to their feet, but most were still on the floor, shaking off the effects of the blast.
"There's only about fifteen," she told Duncan quickly. "But they're dazed from the explosion. We should be able to hold them until back-up arrives. Let's go!" She swung around the corner and ran down the corridor towards the stunned demons.
"*Only* about fifteen? Well, that's encouraging," he muttered, pushing away from the wall to follow her. As he ran down the hallway, Duncan saw Buffy decapitate a still-dazed demon, kick its body out of her way, and move on to the next.
Within minutes, more of the demons were recovering their senses and joining in the battle. The demons may have been injured, their numbers significantly reduced, but they were formidable in the defense of their Priest. Soon, Buffy and Duncan were fighting off two or three demons at a time, barely able to dance away from their strikes, managing to elude serious harm but taking minor injuries, and beginning to tire. Suddenly they heard a loud roar, and both took a moment from their current engagement to glance up in surprise.
Spike and Xander were running down the hallway on the other side of the nearly-recovered demons. Spike raised his axe menacingly and jumped into the fray. Xander wielded his sword less menacingly, but with no less purpose.
"Cavalry's here," Buffy grinned, and redoubled her efforts.
~Part: 19~
Giles and Methos didn't bother with stealth as they entered the school, knowing that Buffy and Duncan were already engaging the demons, but they did slow down enough to make sure that they weren't running straight into a trap. When they finally reached the corridor to the library, they found the demons caught between Duncan and Buffy at this end of the hall, and Spike and Xander at the other end.
Duncan's attention wavered briefly, relief flooding through him as the buzz of Methos' presence washed over him. A tension he didn't realize he was carrying flowed out of his muscles, and he found a new strength of purpose as he went on the offensive. "About time you got here, Old Man," he spoke the words casually, hoping that Methos would understand the feelings of relief, of love, behind them.
"What's the matter, Highlander?" Methos asked, as he stepped up beside the other man. "There can't be more than a dozen demons here. You must be getting *soft*." He punctuated the word with a sharp jab that skewered a demon who thought to take advantage of Duncan's distraction, as the younger Immortal dealt with another foe.
"I'll show you who's soft," Duncan threatened playfully, as he skillfully slashed his sword, gracefully dodging killing blows, Methos' presence breathing new life into tired muscles, and a body sore from healing the minor damage he had received in the battle.
"Promises, promises, Highlander." Methos beheaded the demon he'd stabbed, and then moved on to the next.
Giles entered the fight beside his Slayer. "Glad you could make it, Giles." Buffy grinned at him, totally in her element. She might fear for her friends' safety, but she was born to this, and the lust for the battle sang in her blood. "How's Willow?"
"She's fine," Giles replied, expertly backing a demon onto Buffy's blade.
"Where is she?" Buffy asked. "I can't believe you were able to keep her out of the fight," she said, punching a demon that had slipped past her sword.
"I wasn't," Giles replied, swinging his sword at a demon. "She and Anya went to look for Spike and Xander, who I see are already," slash, "here. I expect," parry, "that Anya and Willow will," stab, "be here soon."
"Right," Buffy agreed, as she kicked one demon while fighting another. "You know, I really need to get in there." She indicated the spot where the old library used to be.
"Why don't we see if we can..." Giles broke off to duck. "Have our two master swordsmen clear a path for us?" he suggested.
"We can't leave Xander and Spike out here alone to fight the demons...oh, good, it looks like Willow and Anya finally made it to the party," Buffy said when she caught sight of her best friend wielding a crossbow at the other end of the hallway.
"Thank God they're all right," Giles sighed in relief.
"Hey!" Buffy cried, slashing at a demon as she watched Willow fire and reload the crossbow. "Is she actually aiming that at anything?"
Giles looked up and searched through the dust and bodies for Willow. "Well..." He shrugged as he watched her fire into the crowded hallway. "She is pretty tired from the spell and the fighting."
"Oh, great," Buffy muttered. "Hey, Mac!" she called. "New plan. I need to get in there. Let's clear a path, huh?" she grinned, and then stepped into the throng of demons, the swings of her broadsword driving them back.
Duncan shook his head at her brave, or foolish, actions, took a deep breath, and followed her. Methos rolled his eyes at the two of them. Duncan had finally found someone just as idiotically heroic as he was. Realizing there was nothing for it, he stepped up to guard the Highlander's back.
***
"Buffy's making a move for the library," Willow yelled to Spike over the sounds of the battle. "Well, the big hole in the ground that used to be the library," she amended.
"Xander!" Spike yelled to the other man. "We need to draw the demons' attention away from the Slayer!" he instructed, and then dove into the mass before them.
"What?" Xander squealed back. "*More* attention?"
Willow grinned at her best male friend, and followed Spike. When they had separated a handful of demons from the rest of their company, they drove them back towards Xander and Anya, leaving that many fewer that Buffy had to get past. The four of them smashed, and slashed, and hacked desperately at the demons, who were just as desperately trying to get back to the library, as they fought for their lives and the lives of everyone in the world.
Just as they managed to eliminate the demons Spike and Willow had herded and captured between them, Xander looked up to see a demon standing behind an unaware Willow. Its sword was drawn back, preparing to swing.
"Wil-ll-low!" Xander screamed a warning, and everything seemed to play out in slow motion.
Spike looked up from the demon he had just finished off at Xander's shout, and saw another demon towering over Willow. He turned and gave Willow a shove that sent her flying onto the dead demons at their feet. The sword continued down, slashing across Spike's chest and abdomen, leaving a gash the length of his forearm.
"She's mine," Spike growled. "And that bloody hurt!" The demon didn't stand a chance. It had tried to hurt, kill, the woman Spike loved, and the master vampire took over. Spike, who had retained his human mask during the battle, vamped out, and dove for the demon, hacking with the axe, punching and kicking, until it was little more than a bloody pulp.
"No one touches what's mine," he snarled into the demon's face past his fangs, and only then did he finish it off with a swipe of the axe across its throat. Blood spurted out, and Spike fell back against the wall, then slid down to the floor, one hand clutching the axe, the other pressed over the still-bleeding cut.
"Spike!" Willow, who had watched the fight in horrified fascination, rolled to her knees and crawled over to the injured vampire. "Spike, are you all right?" She cupped the side of his face with her hand, her fingertips rubbing his ridges.
"Red," he said, his voice hoarse from pain.
"Spike?"
"I'll be fine, just..." Spike raised his axe and, sore muscles trembling, stopped the blow that would have taken Willow's head. "Watch out, Baby."
Willow stood with a roar of anger and fear, and smashed the mace she carried into the demon's stomach. As the air whooshed out of its lungs, Willow smashed it across the face. And then again. The demon fell to its knees and Willow slammed the mace into its back, knocking it to the floor.
***
With Willow's and Spike's help in reducing the number of demons between them and the library, Buffy and Duncan made it through the demons and into the library area quicker than they'd expected, leaving Giles and Methos to cover their backs. They stopped at the edge of the gaping hole in the floor of the old library and looked down at the Hellmouth.
"Oh...crap!" Buffy said when they saw that the Priest, B'az, and the demon they assumed was the Host, were guarded by a phalanx of half a dozen. "You are really starting to piss me off, boss man."
"Slayer," the Priest hissed. "I should have known you were behind this. But you couldn't have bound my magic. My troops will find and kill the witch, and my magic will be freed, and then I will be able to conclude the ritual. Our God Pan'kr will honor me, and will kill you most horribly."
"Do they always talk this much?" Duncan asked, his arms casually crossed over his chest, his bloodied sword hanging down the side of his torso.
"Oh, yeah," Buffy nodded her head. "Bad guys. Just can't seem to get enough of hearing themselves talk."
"Your irreverence will be severely punished. If you live. Come, Slayer." The Priest beckoned to her. "See if you can make it past my elite guard."
"Thanks." Buffy grinned as irreverently as she could, and jumped down into the hole with the warriors. "Don't mind if I do." Without warning, Buffy darted at one of the demons.
Duncan rolled his eyes, wondering if this was what Methos saw when he watched Duncan take on any one of his numerous causes. He climbed down into the hole with a bit more caution, kicking out at a demon who rushed to meet his descent. He jumped the last four feet, and whirled to meet the demons rushing at him.
***
Methos watched as Buffy and Duncan made it through the horde of demons mostly unscathed and disappeared behind the rubble defining the old library. He turned his back to them and stood beside Giles, facing the few remaining demons who were attempting to get past them. He raised his sword, a feral grin on his face, hazel eyes alight with the rush of the battle, and prepared to beat them back.
Giles and Methos fought with determination borne of love. For Giles it was the love for his Slayer, the daughter he'd never had. For Methos, the love of a certain bronzed-skinned, dark-haired, and dark-eyed Highlander. They'd both do anything to protect the ones they loved.
Giles was almost fatally distracted when he heard Xander scream out Willow's name. Methos noted the other man's sudden lack of attention, and deflected the blow that would have skewered his throat so that it brushed his temple, knocking him to the ground. Methos finished off the demon, and then turned to see Spike take the cut to his chest.
He dove at the other two remaining demons, diverting their attention from the young people who were absorbed in watching Spike fight. In his peripheral vision, he noticed that Spike took the demon, and then watched him fall to the floor. As Willow crawled across the floor to Spike, one of the demons turned away from him, the other redoubling its attack.
Methos didn't have time to cry out a warning to them, the demon he was fighting ducking past his guard and burying its blade in his side. 'Fuck!' Methos thought, as he dropped his sword. He grabbed the demon by the lapels of its vest, and pulled it to him, taking the sword deeper.
"That was my last clean shirt," Methos snarled, and then stabbed the demon in the back with his dagger. The demon loosened its hold on the sword, and Methos pushed it to the floor. He took a deep breath, and pulled the sword from his body, and then fell to his knees. He lifted the sword over his head and decapitated the demon, and then toppled backward, his hand covering the wound in his side.
"Adam!" Giles crawled over to the injured man. "Let me see!"
"I'll be fine." Methos brushed the other man's hands away. "Christ, that hurts, though!" He glanced over at Willow, who was still pounding on the demon. "I think you should let her know that the demon is most certainly dead by now," he said with a wry smile.
Giles looked over at Willow, and then crawled over Methos to get to her. "Willow," he said softly. "Willow, Dear, I think you got him. Good job."
"Still the Watcher's pet," Xander muttered beneath his breath in relief.
"Giles, you're hurt." Willow reached out with her hand.
"Just a scratch," Giles assured her. "We're done out here." He looked around them at the bodies that littered the floor, thankful than none of them were his children, or their new friends. "We need to go help Buffy and MacLeod." He struggled to his feet with Willow's help.
At the mention of his lover's name, Methos groaned. Damned fool Highlander was probably getting himself into trouble even as they spoke. He rolled to his feet, knowing that moving, fighting, would slow the healing of the wound in his side, but that didn't concern him. Making sure that Duncan lived *did*.
He rolled the demon and retrieved his dagger, and then found his sword. He stood with both weapons in his hands as Spike regained his feet and Willow rooted around several of the dead bodies. He turned to what was left of the library, and the others followed.
~Part: 20~
The Priest's 'elite guard' was good, Buffy had to admit to herself. She and Duncan had each managed to take one, but they were hurt and exhausted, and these demons were fresh. She heard Xander scream out Willow's name and alarm coursed through her body, and then rage. Her resolve intensified, and she redoubled her attack.
Duncan saw the Priest glance up, and couldn't resist a look himself. Methos was standing on the edge of the chasm, a sword in one hand, a dagger in the other, his coat still swirling around his legs, as if he'd just strode up, a glint of steel darkening his normally golden eyes. As Duncan watched, the others approached and flanked him. They looked a bit worse for wear, but they were all alive.
Spike hefted his axe and jumped off the ledge, just as Buffy had done, landing softly. Methos shook his head, and Duncan smiled at their similar reactions. Xander led Methos and Giles down the rough rock face and into the rent in the floor. Anya and Willow remained above.
Willow looked at the Priest, and felt a wash of anger. If Spike had been killed, she might have been tempted, even more tempted, to loose her magic on him. As it was, she was just determined to kill him so that he could not open the Hellmouth. Not this night, or any other. She allowed her magic to touch her.
A soft breeze blew her hair away from her face, and light shone around her. It was a simple glamour, but the reaction it garnered was impressive. The Priest looked up at her, and his eyes went wide.
"The witch!" he yelled to his guard, as he raised his arm and pointed at Willow. "Kill her!"
"You can't kill me," Willow spoke softly, but her voice boomed and reverberated around the room. "You should never have come here."
The Priest raised his arms and began to chant, his eyes reflecting a fanatic glow.
"I thought you bound him," Anya commented casually.
"I did," Willow replied.
"Well...can't you shut him up? He's giving me a headache," Anya said. "Plus, oh, no! He's distracting Xander!" She pointed into the pit. "Stop that!" she yelled at the Priest.
"All right." Willow shrugged, lifted the loaded crossbow she held at her side, and fired. The first bolt hit the Priest in the chest, puncturing a lung, and he looked up at Willow, stunned, as blood frothed and dribbled from between his lips. The second shot hit him in the left eye.
"Great shot!" Anya cried, slapping Willow on the back and almost toppling her over the edge of the chasm.
"Thanks." Willow nodded. "But I was aiming for his heart. Went a little high." And then she fell to her knees, exhausted, dropping the crossbow beside her.
Anya knelt and pulled Willow against her, as both women watched the end of the battle below them. Now that their Priest was dead, the fight seemed to go out of the demons. They were the elite. Returning home without the one they were sent to protect would garner a death sentence. They'd much rather a quick death at the hands of the Slayer and her band than the torture that would await them there.
When all the elite guard were dead, everyone's attention turned to the Host. He was young, and Buffy found herself in the difficult position of not wanting to kill an innocent whose body was being used for this evil purpose, but not knowing what to do with him. She took a deep breath as she studied him, and then turned her back on him to address her Watcher.
"Buffy!" Willow screamed the warning.
Buffy turned reflexively to see the 'innocent child' coming at her with a dagger, and automatically swung the sword she had lowered. The Host fell to the floor, his body nearly severed in two. "Oh, God," Buffy choked out on this last death.
Giles pulled her into his arms. "It's over," he said. "You did well, Buffy. You all did well." He looked at the rest of the group. "Thank you," he said, his eyes on Duncan and Methos, who were leaning against each other for support, as were Spike and Xander. Giles smiled with relief. They'd made it. All of his children had made it.
***
"We need to get rid of these bodies," Giles said, as he surveyed the carnage outside the school.
"Got an idea," Spike said. "Let's get them inside with the others."
"What's your idea?" Giles asked.
Spike ignored him, grabbed a demon by the leg, and dragged it into the school. Those who still had the stamina, dragged and carried the rest of the dead demons inside to lie beside their comrades, and then gathered up their weapons and magical supplies. When they were done, Spike lit a cigarette and took a long draw on it.
"Give me that other grenade," he said to Xander, holding his hand out expectantly.
"What are you gonna do?" Xander asked, as he reached into his pocket.
"Gonna finish blowing up the school," Spike replied with a grin.
"Spike. What are you doing?" Willow asked worriedly, as she saw Xander hand a grenade to the blond.
"Don't worry, Red." He pulled her in for a quick kiss. "I'll be back before you know it." He turned and ran back into the school.
"No! Spike!" Willow started to run after him, only to be brought up short by Xander's arm around her waist. "Let me go, Xander!" she cried, staring after Spike as she tried to free herself from Xander's surprisingly strong hold.
Buffy leaned against Giles, and watched her friend struggle as the man, vamp, she loved ran into danger. She knew she should be more worried, but she figured Spike knew what he was doing, and she was just too tired. She couldn't remember ever being this tired. She wanted to go home and fall into bed and sleep for a week. A hot bath would also be nice. Maybe a massage.
She glanced over at Duncan and Methos, to see them standing close. They weren't touching, but their postures as they engaged in a casual, easy conversation told her everything she didn't want to know. Damn! Why were all the hotties taken? It was so unfair. She dragged her attention back to Willow.
Anya reached out to take Xander's hand as he held a sobbing Willow in his other arm. Duncan moved closer to Methos so that their shoulders brushed. The seven of them watched the front door in anxious anticipation.
Inside the school, Spike dropped his lit cigarette onto the pile of demons. He watched as the flame caught. He hefted the grenade in his hand, hoping that this one would also find a pocket of gas left over from the first explosion. He moved back to the end of the corridor, pulled the pin, and tossed the grenade back down the hall towards the old library and the burning demon corpses. And then he turned and ran.
"No," Willow whimpered when they heard the grenade go off. And then the first of a series of explosions began. "Spike!" she screamed, pulling out of Xander's arms and running towards the building.
"No, Willow!" Buffy ran after her friend, and then saw what Willow had seen, as Spike emerged from the dust. And then a particularly strong blast threw them to their knees as the ground shook, and sent Spike flying through the air.
Willow rolled to her feet and kept running. She dropped to her knees beside Spike, sobbing his name. "Spike! Spike, please." She shook him, realizing that if he wasn't dust, he would probably be okay. She hoped.
"Stop shaking me, or I'm gonna heave," Spike growled.
"Spike!" Willow fell onto him, wrapping her arms around him. "You're okay," she whispered.
"Got a Hell of a bloody headache." He lifted one hand to his head, as the other went around Willow's back. And then Xander and Buffy were beside them, lifting the both of them to their feet. For a moment they all stood staring at the demolished school.
"We really should get going," Giles' voice broke the silence. "Before the authorities arrive."
"Right," Spike drawled. "'Cause we all know how quickly the Sunnydale public servants respond to a crisis."
"Still," Giles said. "Two explosions in one night might get their attention."
Xander, Anya, Willow, and Spike loaded into Xander's car, Giles, Buffy, Duncan, and Methos into Giles' convertible, and they drove back to the Magic Box.
***
At the magic shop, they unloaded the cars and dumped everything in the training room. Giles locked the door behind them, turned the light out, and joined the others in the backroom, where Buffy had pulled out their first aid kit. Methos laughed when he saw it. It was bigger than some overnight bags he carried.
Giles glanced at the Immortal leaning against the pommel horse when he pushed through the beaded curtains, and followed his gaze to the first aid kit. "You laugh," he said with a smile. "But we need to restock that on a weekly basis."
"I'm not surprised," Methos replied. "Does this sort of...apocalypse-type-thing happen often?"
"Too often." Giles allowed himself a moment to watch the young people he thought of as his, as they prepared to dress each other's wounds. Spike and Xander were sitting on the couch while Buffy, Willow, and Anya raided the first aid kit.
Anya had checked Xander over for broken bones as soon as they got to the magic shop and unloaded their booty, and now turned to him with several alcohol pads in hand. She leaned over him and began cleaning the dirt and blood off of his face, neck, and hands. When she was done, she carefully probed his shoulder.
Willow gently shoved Spike's legs apart so she could kneel between them. She carefully lifted his torn t-shirt and leaned against the couch to swab at the gash that ran diagonally across his chest and abdomen with an alcohol pad.
"You do know that'll heal, right?" Spike asked softly, his hands resting on his thighs, his eyes hungrily taking in the red head that was bowed before him.
"Better safe than sorry," Willow replied, not looking at his face, keeping her eyes trained on the cut that she was gently cleaning. She was so going to kick his...butt for going back into the school with that grenade!
Buffy turned to her Watcher. "Giles, let me clean that cut for you," she said, as she walked up to him.
"Ah." Giles pressed his fingertips to the closed cut on the side of his head. "Another head wound." He shook his head ruefully.
"Well, look at the bright side," Buffy chirped, as she swiped the pad over the dried blood. "At least you didn't get knocked out this time."
"Yes, thank you," Giles said sarcastically. "And you." He placed his hand on her shoulder. "How are you?"
"I'm fine, Giles," Buffy smiled at him. "Or I will be. Slayer healing, you know."
"I do know," Giles said. "I'm so glad you're all right." He squeezed her shoulder.
While the others were busy, Duncan turned to Methos. "How are you, Old Man?"
"I'm fine, Highlander," Methos replied.
"Let me see your side." Duncan reached for Methos' shirt, and the older Immortal slapped his hands away.
"I said, I'm fine," he repeated.
"Then you won't mind me taking a look." Duncan grabbed one of Methos' hands and held it in his. "Please." Duncan knew Methos wasn't used to being fussed over. But he damned well better *get* used to it.
Methos stared at him, and then closed his eyes and shook his head. "Fine." He pulled his hand out of Duncan's and lifted his shirt.
Duncan wiped the blood away from Methos' skin, exposing the freshly healed wound. There was still a red mark, but that would be gone in minutes. He pushed Methos' coat out of the way and felt around his side to where the blade had exited the back of his body, making sure that that wound had also healed properly.
"Satisfied?" Methos asked when Duncan straightened and pulled away from him. They both stared at the blood on Duncan's fingers.
"Not yet," Duncan's voice went husky, as he wiped his hand clean on his already ruined jeans. "You think you're up to it, Old Man?"
Methos stared back at him, his eyes wide with surprise, his skin flushing with desire. "Not yet," he smirked, looking Duncan over. "But just give me a minute."
Spike watched Willow purse her lips in concentration as strands of red hair fell forward to cover her face. He reached out without thinking and pushed a strand behind her ear; he liked being able to see her face. He felt her shiver at his touch, but she didn't look up at him.
He placed his hand back on his thigh, and let the back of his thumbs caress her upper arms. She shivered again and he saw gooseflesh break out over her skin. He lifted his hands to gently cup her arms, and Willow finally stopped her ministrations to raise her eyes to his.
The emotions he saw there nearly floored him. Fear, a little bit of anger, and love. They had told each other during the battle that they loved each other, but people said things in the heat of battle that they might not otherwise. Her eyes told him that she had spoken her true feelings.
"Red," he whispered.
"You could have died, Spike." Her voice was hoarse with unshed tears.
He tightened his grip on her arms and lifted her at the same time he leaned towards her and lowered his head. Their lips met, and they froze, and then Spike was kissing her, his tongue pressing against her lips. Willow reached for his face and held him as she parted her lips to accept his searching tongue.
Xander turned his head and caught sight of Willow and Spike. "Ack!" he cried out, pointing towards the couple on the couch and covering his eyes with his other hand. "My eyes, my eyes!"
The noise pulled Willow and Spike out of the world where only they existed. Willow blushed as Spike stared into her eyes, but didn't look away from him.
Spike looked over at Xander, who now sported a goofy smile. "Piss off, ya twit," he said without heat, before pulling Willow up onto his lap and pressing his lips to hers for another kiss.