Slayer and Shadow: Final

Where are they now...

Old Man Snyder, along with the witches that died in the battle, were all given heroes burials. Well, that was a lie. The Witches were given rites by the Coven, while Schneider was laid to rest in the graveyard he had watched over in penance. There were a surprising number of mourners, including many people he had saved from vampires over the years.

Sunnydale itself was ironically saved by the demonic war. The town had been nearly gutted by the vampires, and the demons did more damage, but the attention the city got from news agencies lead to federal disaster funds pouring in. As well as a quiet but meaningful beefing up of police and national guard units there. If another demon attack hit the city, it would at least be better defended.

Sadly the flaming detonation of Sunnydale High was the death knell of that institution. Even a city like Sunnydale could realize that having the school trashed multiple times might be a sign change was needed. The school itself was bulldozed and a public park erected in it's place, while a new school was built elsewhere.

The First Evil whom had been trapped under the school was even more tapped when, after the demolition, the Coven and others arranged to have concrete poured over his seal. And a new set of wards inscribed in the concrete 'cap' they added. After everything else that happened, they weren't letting that out ever again.

Wolfram and Hart, occult expediters and law firm, knew exactly how powerful the Tiamat entity was, yet had no idea how the Sunnydale survivors managed to exile it. Deciding better to be safe than sorry, they decided to declare the town off limits.

Tiamat happily returned to her hell dimension, where she willingly re-formed her former enemy Glorificus. Glory was less than thrilled at having been eaten, but was happy being home. Both decided to only destroy Buffy and friends if they ended up in their dimension. Otherwise, no grudges.

The monster army, once Tiamat was gone, largely scattered to the winds. The ones that remained as often as not turned on each other, but the survivors were mopped up by the Slayers. The mercenary band lead by Blake and Yang were one of the few smart enough to flee, and would go on to make trouble in other cities.

Maggie Walsh successfully defended the townspeople from the demons, and was hailed a hero. The battle revitalized the formerly broken professor, and she went on to found a new civil defense organization against demons and other creatures country wide.

Jenny Calendar and her future husband Rupert Giles remained in Sunnydale, and became somewhat public figures. Jenny ultimately ended up Mayor, with Giles being her main adviser along with the coven. They ended up being re-elected several times.

Faith and Tara pretty much took over running the Bronze from the coven, and eventually bought the coven out. The two co-owners kept the place pretty much as is, and maintained Dingoes ate my Baby as the usual house band. On the side, it also pretty much stayed monster fighting HQ other than the new Summers residence.

After squating in a semi-abandoned home for several months, the city of Sunnydale officially bequeathed the home to the Summers family. She, Willow and Dawn settled in, while Buffy and Willow occassionally went out on assignments for the Watchers.

Speaking of them...

Several people had out and out collapsed in the living room, sprawled in chairs and couches. In the aftermath of Tiamat's banishing, all of them had been out on the streets trying to keep the horde of monsters away from civilians and trying to drive them out of town with mixed success.

"I have never been happier to see the National Guard roll in," Jenny noted tiredly, sitting by Giles on one of the love seats.

"And considering her hippie roots, that's saying something," Tara joked tiredly.

"I'm not THAT old," Jenny said. She looked like she wanted to throw a cushion at her, but decided she was too tired.

"They going to be okay?" Buffy had to ask.

"I know the commander from a case he helped me out on," Faith sighed from where she sat with Tara.

"In other words, you saved him from something," Willow smiled wryly.

"Pretty much," Faith agreed. "But he knows about monsters and has briefed his troops. They should be fine," she shrugged.

"Oh god couples," Dawn noted as she stumbled in tiredly. "Is anyone making dinner?" she asked in some exasperation. Yes, the city had been saved and so on, but she was HUNGRY.

"Yeah, yeah," Buffy got up, leading the way into the kitchen where everyone grabbed drinks and started helping cook.

Willow leaned against the wall as her friends and, dare she say it, family laughed and talked as they prepared a meal. Being here, surrounded by them, made her happy in a way she wasn't used to.

"Hey, stop lazing around," Buffy teased, "you can set the table, please."

"Slave driver," Willow laughed and set to it.

'Yeah,' Willow smiled to herself, 'I could get used to this.'

End.

Notes: Yeah, I wanted to wrap things up SOMEHOW, so short 'where they will end up' bits plus a family scene. Willow is lucky her curse is NOT like Angel's or her happiness would cost her soul and there'd be some very dead folks. Or she'd get staked by Buffy and Faith.

Thank you to all the readers who followed this and reviewed!