A/N: In the original story, you may remember that Giles knew who The Three were. What you might not remember is that it took him six hours of research to find that out. Hence the lack of knowledge here.

Well, this is it. My longest completed story to date. Please take a minute to let me know what you think. If it was good, go ahead and hit that 'favorite' link at the bottom of the page.

Chapter 21.

"We are so getting tasers as backup weapons," Buffy said in the silence of the very crowded car ride.

"Where to?" the driver of the car asked. Zan-something.

Buffy looked up at Amy and nodded, "Mom's house." She cringed. She didn't really want to invite strangers into her mother's house but they'd be moving soon anyway. Also, her mother was going to freak when she saw how beat up everyone was.

Amy was the one who had to give directions. Willow and Giles were both unconscious and Xander and Buffy were sitting at the feet of the unconscious ones.

"By the way, I'm David, and this is Owen," the driver, David introduced.

"Xander. And this is Willow," Xander introduced.

"I'm Amy. Those two are Buffy and Giles," Amy said.

"I had heard that gargoyles didn't believe in naming themselves," David said.

A look passed between Amy and Buffy, the only two gargoyles that could see each other, that he knew what gargoyles were before he saved them was... worrying? Comforting? Good luck? The vampires didn't exactly look human, but they looked more human than the gargoyles. It would have been entirely possible for them to side with the vamps before figuring out their mistake. That had happened on patrol before; humans running into the arms of vampires for protection from the gargoyles. It never ended well for the humans.

"Yeah, well, we're different from most gargoyles," Buffy said. "As you'll figure out when you meet my mother."

Amy's directions and the occasional sound of the blinker blinking were all the sounds made for the rest of the drive. Once they arrived, Owen got out first followed by Amy. Owen went around to help Buffy out of the front seat and Amy helped Xander out of the back, being careful not to jostle his broken wing. As soon as Xander was out, he turned around to carry Willow.

"Xander, let me," Amy softly laid a hand on the shoulder with the unbroken wing.

"I can do this," Xander insisted.

"I know, but you don't have to. I don't have any broken limbs. Let me," Amy said.

Xander turned to face her. "And I don't look like I just went 15 rounds with Mike Tyson." But Amy just stared at him. Finally, he relented. He turned and walked past Buffy, who was again carrying Giles, and opened the door for them. As he did so, he hit the doorbell a couple of times. It was well after their usual visiting hours and Joyce deserved to know they were there and had brought guests.

When Amy got inside with Willow, Giles had already been laid face-down on the couch. She laid Willow face-down on the love seat, letting her long legs hang off the end.

There were footsteps followed by a gasp as Joyce came down the stairs. "Buffy! What happened?!" Joyce rushed over to her daughter and enveloped her in a firm, but gentle, hug.

David Xanatos felt like he was intruding on a very private moment. Not that he was going to let that stop him, nor was he going to let it bother him for very long. But it was very odd seeing a young gargoyle; he realized she was a gargoyle sub-adult, or very young adult; hug her human mother.

He cleared his throat.

"Oh! Mom, these are the guys that saved us tonight. David and Owen. Guys, this is my mom, Joyce. Mom, they were about to explain why they were following us tonight," Buffy said overly sweetly as she fixed Xanatos with a steely gaze.

Xanatos smiled. So, they had been made. Owen had thought so. Still, nothing bought bygones like a heroic rescue. He flashed his most charming smile at the woman. "David Xanatos," he shook her hand. Wait for it... There was the pause, the recognition, the eyes widening. He never got tired of that.

"David Xanatos, the billionaire?" Joyce wondered.

He let out a small chuckle at that. He stopped when the pressure on his hand increased.

"So, Mr. Xanatos, why exactly were you following my daughter?"

Xanatos carefully extracted his hand. "If I may? Owen."

Owen produced a briefcase and pulled out a file folder. He opened the folder to show that it contained pictures. Pictures of gargoyles.

"They've named themselves the Manhattan Clan. And like you, they've also chosen to take names. Goliath, Hudson, Brooklyn, Lexington, and Broadway. And this is Bronx, a gargoyle-beast who's also part of their clan," Xanatos pointed to each in their turn.

"Does that make you a gargoyle groupie?" Xander quipped. He might have been in pain, but his mind was still sharp.

"Or just a stalker?" Buffy finished.

"I admit, I do have something of a fascination with gargoyles. Though, I prefer not to be called a stalker. The Manhattan clan was cursed after all. And it was only through my own efforts that they live again."

"Cursed?" the three awake and aware gargoyles perked up.

"Yes. A thousand years ago, a mage cursed them into a permanent stone sleep. I broke the curse by bringing them to America. Your clan was cursed as well?" Xanatos surmised from their sudden interest.

"Ours was... different," Xander said, slightly disappointed.

The Three knelt before the Master in penance. All looked the worse for wear. One had a broken jaw, another a gut wound that was slowly healing, all were badly bruised and slightly singed.

"You were sent to bring me back the Slayer and you failed," the Master began. "However, seeing as Tod fulfilled her own prophesy by bringing me the Slayer while you kept our winged friends busy, and handed them a thrashing they won't soon forget, I'm willing to overlook your failure of your specific goals in light of the fact that the Slayer's blood will soon set me free." He picked up the limp form of the Slayer and bent over her neck. He received an ineffectual blow from Kendra, who had managed to wake up a bit. He backhanded her back into oblivion. But he saw something as she fell. He turned to Tod. "You drank from her!"

"It was a long trip, and she started waking up. I only had enough to keep her weak!" Tod defended.

The Master turned back to the Three, "New plan. You and Tod fight it out. The winner lives." He then set about draining the – already partially drained – Vampire Slayer dry. He even had Darla hold the girl's legs up to help the blood flow to her neck. When she was completely empty, he licked his lips and shouted to the ceiling. "Oh, God! The power!" he exclaimed as an earthquake racked the west coast.

He tried the magical field holding him prisoner. His hand broke through and the prison that had held him for decades came down in a shower of light and magic. He glanced back to see that the Three had taken care of Tod. Nodding at them; he, The Three, Darla, and Marcus all started the trip up to the surface, gathering followers along the way.

"Why do I have a bad feeling about that?" Buffy said once the earthquake stopped. They'd lost a few knickknacks from the fireplace mantle, but nothing too bad.

"This is California. I'm told earthquakes are somewhat common out here," Xanatos said. Though his lack of easy demeanor was telling for someone who took everything in stride.

"Actually, sir, I believe Miss Summers is right. That was no ordinary earthquake. Definitely mystical in origin."

Before Owen could go on, a groan escaped from Giles' lips.

"Giles!" Buffy knelt by his side.

"Buffy. Where are we?" Giles didn't open his eyes. It wasn't clear if he could, with both of them quite swollen at the time.

"My house. Try not to speak. Here," she turned his head and held a glass of water to her lips.

Giles took a sip. "Did we win? Amy? Willow?"

Buffy wondered if she imagined just a touch of extra tenderness at Willow's name. "Everyone's alive," she assured him. "Willow's still unconscious. Xander has a broken wing. Amy and I are fine." Okay, so the last part was a bit of a fib but 'fine' was a sliding scale and what he couldn't see wouldn't hurt him. "We couldn't find Kendra after the fight."

"They have the Slayer. This could be very bad," Giles said. "Those were no ordinary vampires we faced tonight. The Master must have wanted the Slayer very badly. If he wanted her that badly, that may mean that she could be the key to freeing him and opening the Hellmouth."

"Would opening the Hellmouth cause an earthquake?" Buffy asked. But in her heart, she already knew the answer.

"Likely, yes," Giles finally cracked his eyes open at that. At the faces of those around him and the fact that the question was broached at all, Giles realized what had happened while he was unconscious. "Oh dear. You must go to Sam with this information."

"Doesn't he, you know, hate us?" Xander had to ask.

"We must inform him, if nothing else. For one, he has the books necessary for research. Also, he's been researching the Master for a while now. And finally, I hope that a danger to Kendra might cause him to forget what we are. 'Enemy of my enemy' and all that," Giles said. "And perhaps you could find those hyenas or Angel. They have just as much to lose if the Hellmouth opens as we do. Whatever you do though, stick together. Don't separate for any reason."

"If they're opening the Hellmouth, where is it going to open?" Amy asked.

"Tell me we brought it."

"It's in the trunk, sir."

When she first woke each night, Buffy had the energy to jump from the grass to the top of her house easily. If she had wanted to, at such times, she probably could have made it to the top of the chimney from a standing start on the ground, but hadn't seen a reason to do so yet. Tonight, she climbed the stairs inside the house and climbed out her old window to get to the roof because she didn't trust her legs to get her from the grass to the roof. The excuse she used though, was to pick up more weapons. She had a trunk in her room still that held a large number of anti-vampire weapons which she and Amy split, including the javelins they had retired after getting the crossbows.

Once they were airborne, Buffy scanned the air currents for any updrafts.

"Buffy, look!" Amy caught her attention. Angel was not her favorite person in the world, but any ally right now would be a true friend in her book. Speaking of books, he was sitting on a tombstone reading one in the dark. She and Buffy landed nearby.

"Hi," he said nervously. Then he really looked at them and stood up. "What happened?" he asked, clearly distressed at how they looked.

"Vampires," Buffy said bluntly. "Three of them, wearing armor."

Angel winced in sympathy. "That would be The Three. Is everyone okay?"

"What an original name. Everyone survived, but the others are pretty banged up," Buffy let the news that she and Amy were the healthy ones in the group sink in. "They had Kendra though, and we couldn't find her when we ran."

Angel licked his lips and swallowed nervously. "Then that earthquake..."

"Giles thinks it was the Master breaking free," Amy said.

Angel scowled but nodded. "He'll open the Hellmouth. We need to run." He turned towards his apartment. He'd need a few things, like the blood in his fridge.

"What? No! We need to fight!" Buffy countered. "And we could use your help."

"Bandage my wing," Xander ordered.

"Excuse me?" Joyce asked, jolted from where she was watching the dark town from her big, bay window.

"Bandage may wing, please. I can't do it on my own," Xander pleaded.

Joyce gave a small smile. "I appreciate you trying to help my daughter. But your wing is broken. You're not going to be much good in a fight."

"Except that I'm going anyway, whether you bandage me up or not," he insisted.

"It's okay, Joyce. Please do as he says," Giles said from the couch.

"But-"

"Bandage both wings while you're at it." At a look from Xander, Giles explained, "It will disguise which wing is actually broken, making your wounded one half as likely to be targeted. And more importantly, it will make sure you don't forget and try to fly with only one wing. That would likely be catastrophic."

"This won't be my first night with a broken limb," Xander said.

Joyce sighed, remember Buffy's story about him facing down a bear single handedly. She wasn't going to be able to stop him, she knew. "Come out to the garage. I think I have something out there I can use as a splint. And some duct tape."

"A ring?" Joyce picked a small ring of metal out of Xander's elbow spike. Both were covered in blood.

Xander took a look. "Chainmail. I knew they were wearing armor. But at least now we know one way to get through it."

"Considering how torn up your elbow looks, I think we might want to try another way first. Meet me by Mr. Giles. I'll only be a minute," she said as she went back inside the house proper.

"Um... that's-" Xander started when Joyce returned.

"A thirty eight special, hammerless revolver. I've had it for a while, but I don't carry it much. The guy making our own chainmail warned me that it wasn't bulletproof at all. Hopefully theirs isn't either." She handed it over and frowned. "I didn't think about how big your hands are."

Xander took the gun and nearly chuckled at how small the revolver looked in his palm. Getting his finger into the trigger guard without shooting himself would be a challenge. "Hopefully I'll find a human to give it to, then," he said before tucking it away.

Joyce walked him to the front door and winced in sympathy as he flexed his wings. "How will you get there? You can't fly," she said as he headed out the front door.

"Then I'll walk."

"Let me drive you," Joyce went for her keys in a bowl by the door.

Xander stopped her, "Take care of Willow for me."

"It's a long walk. What happens if you get too tired before you find them?"

"If I can't walk, I'll crawl."

"And if you can't crawl?" Joyce asked.

"Then I'll find a vampire willing to carry me to the Master's feet," Xander stated with deadly seriousness as he turned and headed in the direction he'd seen Buffy and Amy fly off in.

Giles had gotten himself up from the couch and, with Joyce's help, had reset his dislocated shoulder and gotten both of his wings bandaged like Xander. She admonished him against going out to fight as well. He then admitted that he also had a broken leg and several cracked ribs. "I assure you, I am in no shape to fight at the moment. And I'm worried about Willow. I have no idea what meeting the sunrise while knocked unconscious will do to a gargoyle. Or if she suffered a truly horrible concussion and has severe brain damage. I also have no idea if stone sleep can heal something like that. Suffice to say, I would like her to receive a full measure of sunlight tomorrow. That will probably help her the most."

"Anything else we can do?"

"We watch her. And we get my books. Perhaps there is something we missed," Giles hoped.

Buffy and Amy turned at what sounded like a dozen bottle rockets all firing at once. It turned out to be a gargoyle made of metal, and firing small jet engines to help itself land. Buffy and Amy fell into fighting stances on either side of it, not sure what to make of the latest development.

"Don't attack," a male voice said. "I'm here to help." With that, he took off the gargoyle shaped helmet and revealed that it was David Xanatos wearing red gargoyle armor.

Buffy walked up and pointed a very sharp claw in his face. "I'm not in the best of moods, Dave. So tell me you're here in that armor to fight, or go away, right now."

"I'm here to fight, and to help." He couldn't nod with Buffy's talon in the way.

"Fine, but after this is all done, you and I are going to have a serious talk about your gargoyle fetish. And tell me that's not modeled on a specific gargoyle. Wait, is that one of the male gargoyles you showed us before? Your fetish is for a male gargoyle? Eww!" She turned away, shaking her hands around her head, trying to get certain thoughts out of there.

Amy ignored Buffy's problem with homosexual-inter-species relationships. "You're a billionaire, you're really going to risk your life to fight with us?"

"I'm a businessman. If the world ends, so does my money," David answered. He held up the Goliath mask. "And my... fetish isn't sexual in nature. Fetish simply means a strong desire for something. Goliath is the single greatest warrior the earth has ever known. I built this armor to match him exactly, to see how we would stack up given equal footing."

"You want to prove yourself against him," Amy stated, understanding. "It's going to take more than just one more gargoyle to stop this, though. Do you have any more tasers?"

"Owen has our weapons, he'll be here shortly. I don't know offhand what we have."

"Well, with the two of you, you've almost doubled our fighting force," Buffy said. "Just- Egh."

Amy smiled and turned to Xanatos, "We're still working with her on showing gratitude."

"Show gratitude if we survive," Xanatos said sternly. "And what do you mean, almost doubled? Unless you're counting that vampire trying to slink away?"

"Angel!?"

Angel stopped his slinking and turned around. He took a deep breath and hung his head in shame, "I'm not like you. I'm afraid."

"Why are you here?" Buffy had to ask.

"To help."

"Right up until it gets dangerous," Buffy noted. "Fine. You wanna help without facing a horde of vampires? Find Zabooboo-"

"Zabuto," Xanatos corrected.

"...and Jenny Calendar's clan, and let them know what's happening. Think you can do that?"

Angel looked down at at the grass for a minute before he looked up, nodded, and took off without another word.

"Do you think we can trust him to find your allies?" Owen asked as he arrived.

"Depends. The Hyenas will at least let him talk. Zabooboo will probably dust him on sight. I'm hoping he visits Jenny first," Buffy said.

"Then why send him there at all?"

"If he dusts, one less vamp to worry about. If he doesn't, Sam might possibly have a way to stop the Apocalypse. Or he might shoot us in the back. Can't be sure. If we're really lucky, they'll kill each other so I don't have to deal with either of them. But the Hyena clan should be useful, right?" Buffy asked Amy. Giles, Willow, and Amy had been on their way back from training them when they'd run into Kendra and the Three.

Amy squirmed. "Remember how bad we were when we first started?"

Buffy winced and gave a small hiss.

"...they're worse."

"So we should probably just go without them?" Buffy wondered.

"What is this 'Hyena clan' you're talking about?" Xanatos broke in to ask.

Buffy and Amy gave them a quick rundown of the empowered high-schoolers.

"Five more people would be a great help if we can wait for them. At the very least, we can arm them even if they're no good at hand to hand. Owen?"

Owen nodded and bowed slightly, "I'm on it, sir," he responded, leaving. He came back a short time later with some very rudimentary stakes and spears.

"Spears are no good," Buffy declared. "We tried them."

Xanatos smiled at Buffy like she was a favorite daughter who had spoken out of turn, but said something so cute and innocent that he couldn't hide the smile from his face. "No, not from the air, they wouldn't be the best choice. But those of us who are going to remain on the ground will be quite thankful for the increased reach they give."

Buffy and Amy scouted the town and found an army of vampires leaving the school as if the bell had just rung to let them out of class for the night.

Neither of them knew where their radios were, though they thought they had probably left them back in that alley in their haste to escape. They hadn't even thought to look for them before leaving Buffy's house, since they had no intention of splitting up. But then they had run into David Xanatos again. Luckily, he had provided both of the gargoyles with new radios and also given one to Jenny Calendar once they found her and her Hyena clan. The girls radioed in the vampires' location.

"We're on our way," Jenny said.

There was no response from Xanatos but when the girls repeated themselves and asked for his reply, Owen had answered that Mr. Xanatos's helmet was off but he would make sure he got the message.

Their message delivered, the girls decided it was time to soften the vampires up before the cavalry arrived. Unfortunately, their crossbows were also likely still in that alley, but with four javelins apiece, they figured they could take out a few vamps and also keep them distracted when the ground troops arrived.

The attack did not go well. The first javelins hit their marks but what they hadn't counted on was the vampires returning fire. Some of their own javelins, along with many large rocks, were returned to them with great force. It was the first time anyone had thrown anything back at them. Both gargoyles swerved, hit each other, and fell from the air. Between the fall and their earlier beating, neither put up much of a fight on the ground.

Next, Owen and the Hyena clan arrived. They would have been right on time had Buffy and Amy had time to throw all their javelins, as it was they were just a little late. They were wielding spears against the monsters. The spears gave them a decided reach advantage, which Owen and Jenny were able to turn into several kills apiece. However, the rest of the clan wasn't up to the challenge. They were too inexperienced and hadn't trained with spears or trained at working together. In the end, Owen lay on the ground, his glasses and several ribs broken, with Jenny crying nearby, clutching a knee twisted the wrong way. The children were scattered about, not as physically broken as the adults, but mentally broken at seeing their two best fighters taken apart by sheer numbers.

Xanatos arrived a minute later, carrying Zabuto, whom he set down near the vampires. Zabuto was a man on fire. He had trained most of his life to fight vampires and made the biggest dent in their numbers of anybody that night before he too was overwhelmed by numbers and preternatural strength. Meanwhile, Xanatos flew up from where he dropped Zabuto off but was also hit by large rocks, just as the flesh and blood gargoyles had been. One hit a wing and spun him around. The next hit the small jet engine on his back, causing a loud explosion that sent the armored man sailing deep into the night and out of the fight. Zabuto used the distraction of the loud noise and bright light to kill two more vampires before he was finally put down for good.

The Master stepped forward. "That's it? I had expected more, somehow. Oh well." He looked down at his feet and noticed Jenny. "A gypsy? It's been so long since I tasted the blood of one of your tribe," he said as he picked her up and put her on her feet. A muffled cry of pain was heard as Jenny was forced to put weight on her injured leg. "Ah, the sweet tears of pain," he said to his gathered army as he opened his mouth and bent his head to her neck.

Then the slow clapping started. CLAP... CLAP... CLAP. The vampire, Angel, emerged. "I have to admit, I didn't think they had a chance, but I thought they'd make a better show of it. You know, at least put up a fight. The way they've decimated your guys up until now."

"Angelus," the Master said, pulling back from the unbroken skin of his next meal. "It's been so long. Has the prodigal son finally returned?"

"You didn't think I'd swear my undying allegiance to you while you were still trapped down there, did you?"

"Yes. Yes, I did."

"No," Angel countered. "I had to be sure. I had to know if the prophesies were true. Speaking of, where's that Annoying One?"

"She served her purpose," the Master smiled evilly. "And your name for her is apt. She annoyed me so I killed her."

By that point, Angel was into the group of vampires and standing in front of the Master himself. He pointed to Jenny, still held in the Master's grip. "You gonna eat that?"

The Master cocked what had once been an eyebrow at him.

"Well, you weren't the one the gypsies cursed," Angel shrugged as if it weren't a big deal. "It's not a big deal. If you want to eat her, you go ahead and eat her. There's plenty of others to eat. Who knows, I might run across another gypsy in another hundred years or so. I might even choose to eat that one. I mean, god knows, eating that last one worked out so well for me." He laid the sarcasm on a little thick with that last sentence.

The Master considered those words and decided that discretion was probably the better part of valor. He handed the gypsy woman over to Angel. "She's all yours."

"Thanks!" Angel said brightly. He took her and turned so his back was to the Master and Darla, the two vampires he most feared seeing what was about to happen. There were vampires behind Jenny too, but hopefully none could see what was in his coat. He grabbed her hands and roughly stuck them behind him and into his coat as if he were getting them out of his way so he could feed; hopefully she would feel one of the stakes he always kept there for protection, along with the gun that Xander had given him when they had found each other.

She found them both. The gunshot, when it came, was a lot louder than Angel had been expecting. He was also annoyed that she hadn't drawn the gun out and had simply shot straight through his trench-coat. He really liked that coat. He turned around to see the Master falling to the ground with a bullet hole under his eye. The Master fell to his knees and then face down on the pavement. The back of the Master's head was red and gray with blood and brains intermingled in the huge hole in his head. He wasn't going to be recovering from that any time soon. Angel bent down and staked him before any of the assembled vampires could recover their wits and realize what had just happened.

"No!" Darla screamed. She lunged for Angel's face, intent on scratching his eyes out, but a second gunshot stopped her. Darla clutched her neck, blood welling between her fingers as she felt the wound.

Jenny took another hopping step back and pulled the trigger again. But this time the bullet went off into the dark as she backed into a vampire and he pulled her arms out.

"Nah, uh, uh. That's-" was all he got out before he turned to dust.

In his place was the biggest, meanest gargoyle any of the vampires had ever seen. His glowing, white eyes were so inhuman that they scared even the inhuman monsters. His deep, panting breaths made it clear he was already angry and itching for a fight. But it was the look of pure fury on his face that made everyone pause. At his roar, everyone started moving.

From the bushes nearby, a net sprung out and tangled up at least a dozen vampires, taking them out of the fight. And then a red, metal gargoyle jumped into the melee Xander had started.

The first time the non-vampires had attacked, they had come in piecemeal and the vampires were able to see them all coming and prepare themselves. This time, their attackers were already amongst them.

Jenny took aim at Darla again, the vampire that had busted her knee, but the already wounded vampiress fled before she could get a shot off. Her next targets were the Three. They were too far away and moving too fast to try for head-shots. Instead, she tried to poke holes in the armor she knew they wore so that someone would be able to stake them later. And then she was out of bullets. With her knee the way it was, she wasn't going anywhere. She switched her stake to her right hand and waited for a vamp to come close.

Tor was not the brightest student. But what he lacked in smarts, he made up for in stupidity. The special kind of stupid that did stuff like... biting vampires. A vampire went down clutching his head and Tor spit the vamp's ear at his next opponent, that sort of crazy made even vampires pause. Which was when Rhonda staked them in the back. Kyle staked the one on the ground and the group moved on.

Angel was unarmed, having given one stake to the gypsy woman and having lost the other dusting The Master. However, that was not a bad thing, he decided as he was quickly mobbed under. Being near the center of the group and being the 'traitor' made him an obvious target. Luckily, none of the other vampires were carrying stakes either, so they just held him down as they pummeled him.

Sam Zabuto was rethinking his last choice—not about coming here—but the last shot he'd taken. At the time, he knew he was about to die anyway and taking another demon or two with him had seemed like a good idea. But now he was so injured that he was barely fending off one vampire. He was surprised when that vampire turned to dust, and he was even more surprised when he recognized the gargoyle, Buffy, as his savior. He tried, but his brain wouldn't let him; by the time he could utter the words, the two gargoyles had already moved on to the next vampire. He whispered, "Thank you," anyway.

Owen was also injured, but he was technically a supernatural being and so... he cheated. He didn't heal his injuries, but he did dull the pain for now and that let him get back into the action. He was very used to training with a staff, and a spear was so much like that weapon. He was too injured go chasing after vampires, but fortunately for Ms. Calendar, he was enough close to her to able to watch her back, as she was in no shape to move much either. She could hop just enough to surprise the few vamps that came after her, but Owen... he was death incarnate to any that came near.

Speaking of death incarnate, Xander was tearing through vampires like a gargoyle possessed. And then he came upon the Three again. He couldn't fly, but he could sure as hell jump, and the Three were not expecting an attack from above. Xander landed on one of them, squashing him into the ground. He was reminded of his very first kill again as he reached into the vampire's throat and pulled the head right off the body. Xander turned to face the others as he tossed the head away dismissively and growled in fury. 'The Two' just didn't sound as intimidating as 'The Three' and they seemed a lot less sure of themselves than the last time they had fought. He gave them a feral grin.

But it turned out that they were still much better fighters than he was. And without the element of surprise, he was toast. Even with the holes in their armor, he still couldn't get a shot in. His other wing was now broken as well and the first wing was hanging by a thread.

"How about picking on someone your own size?"

Xander had never felt so happy to hear a slightly-echoey, metalic voice. Fresh muscles and/or servos were exactly what that fight needed. Plus, armored vamps definitely deserved to fight someone else in armor. Xander kept half an eye on that fight in case he was needed as he took stock. Behind him, Jenny Calendar was standing with a stake in hand, but not going anywhere. To the left, Sam Zabuto was hunched over and didn't seem up to more fighting. Clockwise from him the Hyena clan was surrounding a body. Xander did a quick count and surmised it was Tor. His chest was rising and falling, but they weren't going anywhere either. Glasses Guy, Owen, was limping over to where a bunch of vamps were pinned under a net. The vamps in question started struggling more earnestly again and were finally able to make a hole and a run for it. They ran into Buffy and Amy returning from chasing some other vamps. A third of them didn't make it past the two girls.

"Let them go," Owen ordered when it looked like the girls were about to give chase again. Then they looked over at the only fight still going, Xanatos versus the Two. "Your friend needs help," Owen pointed out, keeping them from interfering in that fight.

"Gentle. Be gentle," Xander hissed as the girls set to rebinding his wings. They all really hoped that stone sleep could fix the damage or else Xander might never fly again.

Everyone watched David Xanatos fight in his armor. The fight between him and two of the Three went on for several minutes, with neither side able to get the upper hand. Owen finally decided that they'd had enough. He reared back and threw his spear with all his might. He hit one of the vampires but missed the heart. No matter, both the vampire and Xanatos grabbed the spear. But David only needed part of it. The pointy part. He broke off a stake-sized bit and used that to end the fight in less than a minute. Everyone else let out a deep sigh of relief. Zabuto and Jenny both collapsed in pain. The rest of the hyena clan knelt near their fallen comrade.

"Owen?" Xanatos said.

"I'm on it, sir," Owen said, with a cell phone already to his ear. "Yes, we need an ambulance—or better yet, three. We're at..."

As his assistant called for medical attention for the humans, Xanatos came over to the gargoyles. "Can you walk?"

Buffy and Amy, despite their own wounds, were able to help Xander to his feet.

"Enough," Xander answered.

"I'll make sure everyone here gets to the hospital, then I'll swing by your house before sunrise."

Xander looked to the east. Sunrise was several hours away still. Two horrific fights in one night. Both had seemed to take forever and yet no time at all. The three gargoyles started limping back home.

And in the middle of the street, a gel-haired vampire cried over his ruined coat. It was a really nice coat. It billowed really well.

Willow did not wake up that night. The next day, Joyce, with the assistance of Owen, set up many full length mirrors around where the gargoyles were sleeping in her living room, making sure that every drop of sunlight that could be absorbed by them, was. Those mirrors were packed carefully away before the gargoyles awoke lest the shards of flying skin-stone break them all and give them a century or two of bad luck.

Everyone was so happy that Willow was alive, awake, and able to remember her name that everyone forgot their other injuries.

Until Joyce asked, "Xander, how are your wings?"

Xander instinctively flexed them before he could even think about the question and was relieved by the outcome. "Good."

"So, what happened last night? Why can't I remember? Was Xander hurt?" Willow asked, rapid fire. Her last clear memories turned out to be from several nights before.

"We... got in a fight," Giles started.

"With some super tough vamps," Buffy continued.

"Oh, yes. That reminds me," Joyce interrupted. "Owen, could you?"

Owen walked to the front door where five boxes were stacked. He brought one over to the coffee table, set it down, and opened it. He pulled back the cloth covering the actual product and held it up.

"These arrived for you today, around noon," Joyce waved to the chainmail armor Owen was holding up.

Even Mr. Giles couldn't help himself, and allowed himself a loud groan with Buffy, Amy, and Xander. They could have really used that a day earlier. If only he had sprung for rush shipping, but the price for that was nearly criminal.

"Is everyone else okay?" Amy asked. Willow was getting a brief description of the night from Buffy but that stopped when they heard the question and the lack of a quick answer.

"Unfortunately, Mr. Zabuto died shortly after arriving at the hospital," Owen said. His careful monotone was probably perfect for delivering bad news like that. "Ms. Calendar has been flown to Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles, for surgery to repair her knee. Mr. Xanatos is seeing to it personally that she will be able to use both legs again. The rest of her group is also with her. Among them, Tor Hauer, is the other serious casualty."

There was a collective gasp from the children.

"Children, 'casualty' also means 'injured in battle', not just 'killed'," Giles set the record straight.

Owen continued, "Mr. Hauer shows every sign of a significantly increased healing rate. Mr. Xanatos is also taking care of covering that up. There was some worry that his intelligence was reduced by a blow to the head, but his friends agreed that there was no measurable difference."

Xander snorted and got a playful smack on his shoulder from Amy for his trouble.

"Which brings us to tonight." Owen looked at Giles, "I took the liberty of calling the watchers council on your behalf and informed them of the fates of Kendra and Mr. Zabuto." The head of the council had been very irate and had demanded to speak with Rupert 'at once.' Owen had told him, truthfully, that he was sleeping off injuries sustained in the battle against The Master. "A Mr. Travers is expecting your phone call as soon as you are awake."

"Of course he is," Giles grumbled quietly. More loudly he went on, "Unfortunately, he will likely demand our immediate departure from Sunnydale."

"The 'Sold' sign went up in the yard this morning," Joyce said. "I'm packed and ready to go."

Everyone turned to look at the darkened front yard where, sure enough, a sign listing a realtor now stood where none had the night before. Right below the realtor's smiling face hung another sign saying, "Sold."

Buffy turned back, "Wait. Really?"

Joyce smiled. "Buffy, we knew this was going to happen soon. What little I didn't have packed before, Owen helped me pack today." It wasn't like they didn't have time to kill. And Joyce wasn't going to sleep until she was sure her daughter was okay.

"What about the Hellmouth?" Buffy turned to Giles.

Giles reached up to pull off his glasses to clean them, an action he hadn't done for quite a while. "Well, let us see; The Master is dead, almost all of his kiss—no jokes, please," he looked at Xander who gave a mock 'shocked' look, "is dust, and the rest are likely to leave this place. They might not even need to send the new Slayer here at all. But whether they do or not, it's not our business any longer. We ceded control of this town to the watchers council and so leave we must."

Excerpt from (possible) sequel:

"Do you understand the irony in that you were the ones who escalated this and started using guns first?" Darla asked as she blow the smoke from her twin Berettas. "Guns don't even work on vampires very well."

Jenny's eyes were drawn to the prone and moaning form of Angel nearby.

Darla's eyes followed hers. "I said 'not well'. He's not dead... yet." She ejected the empty magazine from one gun, replaced it with a fresh one, and touched the lever on the slide to load the first cartridge. Then she repeated the procedure on the other gun as she walked forward. She stopped at a point where she couldn't possibly miss, but the human was too far away to reach her and attack either. "Here, let me show you," she said as she leveled both guns at her...

Author's Notes: "If I can't walk, I'll crawl." - Finally got something from Firefly in here.

Yay, it's done! I'd like to thank everyone who recommended my story and most of the people who reviewed it. Who knew cartoons could be so controversial? Anyway, if you enjoyed this story, don't forget to leave a review.