See Chapter One for Disclaimer and details. Thanks to everyone who's reviewed and sent feedback for this story, either good or bad, we really appreciate it; I swear, honest. But this is it for this one, sorry folks but it's time to move on. And now, the conclusion...

Chapter Four: Bang And Burn

Not far from the Oxnard city limits, southern California

November 22nd, 1997

6:03 pm

Xander sat in the middle of the cheerleaders' mini-bus, studiously ignoring all the chattering from the females sitting around him. It was now way past sundown, they were only just starting to leave for home after the weekend football game was over, and he had bigger concerns.

It wasn't the driver's fault, not really. The game against Oxnard High's Blue Devils had taken longer than expected to finish, and with a pack of gossiping teenage girls taking so long to get on board the vehicle, the trip back to Sunnydale had been greatly delayed. Normally Xander wouldn't have cared so much, but after the recent incident with the Order of Taraka, he was decidedly jumpy. For that matter so was Cordelia, even though she would never admit it to him or anyone else.

The ancient order of assassins had recently come to town to kill Buffy in order to fulfill their contract with Spike. Three of their agents had arrived on the Hellmouth; Harris and his secret girlfriend had encountered one of the paid killers at Buffy's house, and had to run for their lives from Norman the Bug Man.

Fortunately, thanks to William the Bloody's habit of failing to pay his debts properly, it looked like the Order had finally decided to simply cut their losses and split town.

Well, that and the fact that both Spike and his sire Drusilla had most likely been killed in a fire the other night, during an unholy ritual at an abandoned church. Fortunately no one on the side of the good guys had been hurt during the fight, even though afterwards Cordelia had complained endlessly to Xander about her expensive shoes getting ruined by glue.

Ah, the sacrifices one often has to make for the cause...

Harris shifted in his seat, not looking forward to all the heavy lifting and carrying he would have to do once they arrived back at the school. ( There go my plans for Bronzin' it tonight, I guess. Betcha by then it'll be way too late for anything except going home to good ol' mom and dad. Yes indeed, home sweet home. Where the schnapps and bourbon do play, and the bleach smell in the basement makes me nauseous all day. ) Xander made a face at his own thoughts, and tried to distract himself with something else.

Ever since he and Randall had talked in that dream version of the Lucifer Bar, the boy had definitely noticed some changes about himself. His habits of thought had subtly altered, his memory was a lot sharper, and he could handle most of his homework a lot better now. He had much more self-confidence too. Plus Babylon 5 and Wonder Woman comics no longer had quite the same attraction they once did. And as for last night's secret date with Cordelia...

( Yowzers, but that girl definitely knows how to kiss. And who the hell would have ever thought that Harmony and Aura, of all people, would run interference for us? ) Xander asked himself. ( Not me, that's for damn sure. )

The bus jolted as it came to a stop. ( Hey, what's going on? ) Harris asked himself, putting aside thoughts about last night.

It was soon obvious what was going on when a couple of vampires in game face tore open the door and swiftly killed the driver by snapping his neck. ( OH, CRAP!! ) Xander mentally shouted as he got up.

The bus was now full of screaming and terrified teenage girls. Working his way forward, Harris roughly shoved as many of them behind him as he could possibly manage. ( Okay, may as well face it. It's official, odds are I'm gonna die! )

"I'm gonna have this one," one of the fang faces said, gazing lustfully at Aura.

"Fine, whatever. That blonde's mine," his partner replied, staring hungrily at Harmony. The two freelancers didn't want just to feed but to turn the cheerleaders as well, in order to gain instant hot-looking girlfriends as well as an evening meal.

"Get lost right now and I won't dust you," Xander warned them over the screaming, dimly aware that Cordelia was right behind him. Despite her fear, the buxom brunette couldn't let her boyfriend stand against the enemy all alone.

Ignoring the girl behind him for the moment, the two villains laughed heartily at the young male human. "You and what army, kid?" snorted the vamp who seemed to be in charge of the operation.

The expression on Xander's face changed and his accent unconsciously thickened. "Guess we're gonna have to 'ave ourselves a big ol' party, then..."

Later on, when asked, Xander couldn't explain how he did it. After Halloween, he had tried to replicate what Randall had done in order to save Cordelia from that Sasquatch, but to no avail. The power had been the British pyromancer's and not his thus, believing it gone, Harris had basically shrugged to himself and thought no more about it.

But now the young man felt the familiar build-up of energy deep within himself. He shouted to Cordelia, "Get back!"

"What-?" Cordy started to panic as her boyfriend's body began to feel very hot, and she ignored the vampires' confusion. "Xander, stop it, what are you...Xander, NO!!"

Ignoring her completely, Harris PUSHED with his hands. "Incendere!"

A searing stream of fire erupted into existence, flowing roughly in the direction he was "pushing". Within microseconds, both bloodsuckers were wishing they'd taken option number one and left while it was still possible. Before they had a chance to make any sort of escape, they both screamed in agony as they burst into flames. Like the soulless demons they were, both vampires were consumed by the red-hot plasma Xander had somehow ignited.

It was Randall's last gift to his former host, the restless spirit begging a favour from Janus to aid Harris the only way he could, in order to give the boy the one worthwhile thing he had to offer and try to make up for a lifetime of petty crime and wasted opportunities. The god of chaos, Janus, whose two heads saw into both the past and the future, had subsequently granted the request for its own reasons and had arranged to allow Randall to finally move on.

As well as dusting the vampires, Xander's heat blast took out most of the dashboard and front windshield of the bus, since he wasn't able to aim his supernatural weapon with anything more precise than "that general direction". All the girls on the bus continued shrieking and yelling their lungs out, terrified they were going to burn to death inside the vehicle if the bus caught on fire. But the flames disappeared right after the undead were no longer an issue.

Apart from Cordelia, the cheerleaders couldn't cope with being slapped in the face by reality this way. As the screaming started to trail off most of them collapsed down into their seats in glassy-eyed shock. But Cordy just ran forward to the front of the bus where she found Xander unconscious, blood haemorrhaging out of his nose.

"XANDER!!" the young woman screamed.

1630 Revello Drive, Sunnydale

The same time

Willow Rosenberg believed she had a Ph.D in all things Xander Harris and knew how he was hurting from everything he'd gone through lately. She wanted to go over to his house and hug him so tight it would somehow magically make all the badness go away. But Willow also knew it simply, unfortunately didn't work that way, at least not once you were over six years old.

"I hate this, Buffy," Willow confessed in anguish to the Slayer, as the two girls talked in Buffy's bedroom. "I mean Xander's in pain, and I'm supposed to just sit here and do nothing? I get that that's what he wants, but it's, it's, it's wrong! I, I wanna help him...but at the same time I know if I try it'll just make things worse by getting him mad at me all over again!" The distraught young woman looked like she was at the end of her tether.

"You can't help someone who doesn't want it, Will. Giles and I talked, and he made that pretty darn clear to me last night," the Chosen One replied. "But hey, Ms. Calendar was sounding optimistic last time I talked to her. Maybe she can get him to snap out of it and go back to normal. Or I can try to pound some sense into the guy, Slayer style?"

"I don't think that'd work, Buff. Especially where Xander's concerned, he really can be pretty stubborn about some things. I mean, look at Angel: it's been over a year and Xander STILL doesn't like him," Willow offered apologetically. "What are you gonna do, threaten to beat him up or feed him to a vampire? Xander's gonna know it's a bluff."

Buffy had no answer for that and so, with a shrug, decided to change the subject. "I saw Angel just this morning, actually. Thank God, he's finally getting better after being stabbed with that cross. Jeez, but he was nearly killed that night as well, I was so worried..."

Willow smiled, willing to put the Xander situation aside for now. "And now you're enjoying playing nursemaid?"

"Every single moment," Buffy giggled. Then she stared at the redhead, "What?"

"What, what?" Willow tried to look innocent.

"Come on, I saw that look!" Buffy laughed. "Spill, already!"

"Well...I, I think I might have kinda met someone," Willow blushed and grinned innocently.

"Who? Who?"

"His name's Oz, and he's a senior. He plays the guitar for 'Dingoes Ate My Baby' too." Willow saw how Buffy was still confused. "Uh, he was the guy who got shot by that assassin police lady, remember?" Buffy remembered and nodded her head. "He was kinda funny when we talked yesterday. Oz really made me laugh with that whole hippo and the monkey pants thing!" the redhead smiled in delight.

The Slayer recalled the boy in question more clearly now. ( Hmm, okay, well, this sounds promising. Hey, he could be just what Willow needs to finally get over Xander! ) Then she checked her alarm clock and frowned at how late it had gotten. "We should get going to the Bronze, don't you think?"

"Yeah," Willow said, getting up. "Oh, you think maybe Xander's gonna be there by the time we show up?"

"Yeah. I mean, he must have gotten back from the game in Oxnard by now."

Channel Islands Surgical Center, Oxnard

Later that night

Xander finally woke up with a monster headache. He found himself lying in a hospital bed in a standard white gown, with some tubing in his nostrils and an I.V. drip in his arm. "Oh...what happened?"

"Mr. Harris? How do you feel?"

The headache subsided and Xander looked up to see a 40-something doctor staring at him intently. He asked in confusion, "Who are you? And where the hell am I?"

"I'm Dr. Roberts, and you're in the Channel Islands Surgical Center here in Oxnard. Don't worry, you're safe now. Everything's going to be fine," the doctor said smoothly.

"What happened to me?" Xander demanded, not bothering to hide his annoyance at being treated like a child. "Last thing I remember, all the girls were screaming when I-" Luckily, the young man managed to shut himself up in time before mentioning anything about vampires and magic.

"Yes, I've already heard some of the witnesses making their statements to the police. And I must say, it feels nice to be able to treat a genuine hero for a change," Dr. Roberts smiled as he examined his patient and then removed the oxygen tubing from Xander's nostrils.

"Huh?" Xander honestly didn't get it. ( Me, a hero? )

"You don't remember? Those two gang members who attacked your bus and killed the driver, and then attempted to start a fire on board the vehicle before you chased them off. Is any of this at all familiar to you?" The M.D. looked concerned now, wondering if his patient was more severely concussed than first thought.

"Oh...yeah, yeah, I remember that now," Harris replied, shaking his head. As a cover story it explained almost everything. ( And anything else that didn't fit into that good old cheerleader world-view must have just been repressed, like the vamps dusting right in front of their eyes. Okay, I can live with that. ) He decided not to think about being able to use Randall's pyromancy ability again for now, it was a can of worms that had to wait for later. "Sorry, the old noggin must have been a bit scrambled there for a moment."

"I see. Well, you should know that there was a bit of blood loss from your fall in the bus, so we've rehydrated you as much as possible and given you some antibiotics in case of infection. But apart from that, I'm sure you'll soon be fine-"

"So then can I get out of here? No offense, but I really don't like hospitals," Xander said in no uncertain terms.

The doctor shook his head. "I want to keep you here overnight for observation. You're not scheduled to be discharged until tomorrow morning."

"Look, I've been hit on the head before. That's how I can tell that this is practically nothing," Xander insisted. "I know the date, I know who's President, I know when my birthday is and how many fingers I'm holding up right now. I'm not gonna be driving or going to school tomorrow. I won't be touching alcohol, and yes, I am fully aware that I'll be leaving against medical advice. If there's any need for me to come back to this place before I go home to Sunnydale, I will, but right now I just want to sign the damn forms and get gone."

Dr. Roberts frowned, his suspicions aroused by Xander's depth of knowledge as well as his adult mannerisms. It indicated to the medical professional someone who had been through the system way too often for his liking. Nonetheless he examined the boy again, carrying out all the standard exams which he thought applied.

"All right, I'll get the paperwork started," the doctor said eventually, after he'd satisfied himself there was no discernable danger and he started to remove the I.V. "Since you're a minor, we'll need an adult's signature on the release form though. Do you want for us to call your mom or dad? Apparently some of your classmates have already done that, their parents are on their way from Sunnydale."

"No, that's fine. I've already signed the school's release form, so I'm sure Mrs. Nelson or whoever can sign me out," Xander said quickly. The last thing he wanted was his drunken parents – and since it was a Saturday night, just as sure as death and taxes those two WOULD be drunk right now – showing up here and making a spectacle of themselves.

"Very well. Now, I believe you have a visitor waiting to see you," Dr. Roberts said as he walked to the door.

"A visitor? Who?" Xander wanted to know.

Cordelia subsequently rushed into the room, almost looking frantic. "Are you all right? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, Cor, I'm fine-"

That was all he had time to say before the busty brunette grabbed him and shut him up with a deep kiss. "Thank God, I was so worried!" Miss Chase exclaimed, after they finally came up for air.

"Hmm. Chocolate-flavoured Cordy kisses, now that's something I think I could get used to," Xander instinctively joked to cover up the awkwardness. The intimacy between them was something still very new to both teenagers, after all.

"Jerk!" Cordelia hit him on the arm. "Do you have any idea what you put me through? When you collapsed and started bleeding on the floor like that, it must have put age lines on my face from all the screaming! And I'm too young to have a coronary because of you!" she snapped.

"Check, cancel all scheduled coronaries for Cordelia Chase," Xander replied with a straight face.

"Uggghhhh..." the girl had to restrain the urge to clobber her boyfriend senseless.

"So what's the deal with the cops? The doc said they're treating it as a 'gang attack' or whatever," Xander used those two words very sarcastically. "That was your doing, right?"

"Of course. I mean please, I have SOME experience at covering these things up! I've been hanging around you and your tweako friends for...way too long," Cordelia briefly wrinkled her nose at the time involved. "We need to talk. The police are probably gonna be here any second, I heard them saying they want to interview you."

The couple made sure they had each other's stories straight, before Miss Chase went to the room's closet to get Xander's clothes. She thought it would make a better impression than if Harris was still in a hospital gown, but then the girl literally cringed at the sight of the blue and white Hawaiian shirt. "That's it, this is the last time you're wearing anything like this in public! Tomorrow, I'm getting you a whole new wardrobe. No boyfriend of mine is gonna look like he gets his clothes from the Salvation Army!"

"Hey!" Xander said automatically, before his brain caught up with his mouth. "Wait up, I'm your boyfriend now? After just one date? That's...kinda unexpected." He smiled. "And kinda nice, too."

Cordelia hesitated for a moment, not sure what to say. The whole 'boyfriend' thing had just popped out of her mouth without thought. Then her naturally forthright manner reasserted itself. "Well, if I'm not your girlfriend, then what am I? Just someone you like to kiss and grope in the school broom closet?!"

"No! You're not..." Xander quickly relented. "Okay, fine, you win. We've now officially taken the off-ramp from casual groping, and gotten onto the interstate of significant othership. And where that'll lead, I have no idea." Xander shook his head, marveling at the weirdness of Cordelia publicly claiming him for herself this way. "Anything else I oughta know before the cops come?"

"Yeah, there's something I've wanted to ask you ever since the Hellmouth weirdness caught up with us tonight. Why the hell didn't you tell me that you could still do that fire thingy like you did back during Halloween?" Cordy demanded huffily. "Because I thought we were gonna die tonight, mister. It woulda been nice to know there was actually nothing to worry about!"

"Uh, Cor? I didn't tell you because, um, well, I-I didn't know I could. The whole dragon breath thing came totally out of left field, right up until that moment I pretty much thought those two vamps were gonna kill us all," Xander confessed as his female companion went way too pale. "Cordy, are you okay?"

"No. When I get home tomorrow, I am so definitely raiding my mom's supply of Midol," the dark-haired girl muttered.

"Tomorrow?"

Miss Chase dragged herself back to reality, "Yeah, it's too late to head back to Sunnydale now, what with the whole hospital and police interviews thing. They're going to send a new bus for the cheerleader squad in the morning, so we're all staying at a hotel tonight. Most of our parents are rich as, after all."

"Yeah, but I can't afford a hotel room," Xander said, wondering if he should change his mind and stay at the hospital after all. "No way in hell my parents are ever gonna pay for one."

"So what are you gonna do, walk all the way back to Sunnydale? At night?" Cordelia told him scornfully. "Don't be an idiot, Xander. You saved over a dozen girls from getting killed. Or worse. So I'M taking care of the accommodations this evening. Understand?"

"If you say so, sweetheart," Xander shrugged to himself as he finished getting dressed. ( Huh. I guess there are some perks associated with that whole 'hero' thing, after all. )

"I do say so," Cordelia replied, secretly pleased with the term of endearment. "Now get your ass in gear, and call someone to find out what the hell's taking those two detectives so long to show up. I want for us to get the hell out of this hospital as soon as possible."

Abandoned Factory, Downtown Sunnydale

A few hours later

The Master vampire named Spike was fuming tonight, like he had nearly every moment ever since Buffy had dropped a church organ onto his back and crippled him.

More than once, Spike had wondered whether or not he and Drusilla should simply get out of town until he had fully recovered, but every time the thought occurred to him it was drowned by the howling rage and desire for revenge on the blonde bint. Besides, he was in no shape to drive and, if not for Drusilla doing his hunting for him, William the Bloody knew he would be a complete starving wreck right now. ( Can't afford to feel weak 'n useless, even if I bloody well look it. Just gotta concentrate on getting out of this damned chair! )

"Oh, my poor Spoike," Drusilla suddenly babbled, attracting William's attention. "You're not 'appy, are you? D'you want for me to get you something?"

"No, luv," Spike grunted, acutely aware of all the minions staring at him. "Just planning on how I'm gonna make that chit pay for what she did, is all."

Drusilla cocked her head, as the once-weak vampiress stared at her boyfriend and childe. The ritual which had almost killed Angel had healed her physically, but the madness still remained. "You mean the Slayer who took Daddy away from us?"

"Yeah," Spike said simply.

"He's not really my Daddy, though. Daddy roars and sings amongst the stars like sunshine. Like a campfire with tasty white marshmallows. The kitten, oh my kitten's gonna be so angry thanks to that big 'orrible beast down there. The fire, it burns, it burns!!" Dru shrieked, as a vision suddenly overwhelmed her mind.

"What's all this, then? Come on, pet, tell me everything," Spike wheeled his way over to his creator.

Oddly, Dru began to whimper. "That nasty thing what looks like maggots, but smells like jasmine...she's going to be ever so cross, she will! Her mummy's not going to be her mummy no more, she's going to be a very naughty girl instead. Oh!" Drusilla said haughtily, like the prim and proper 19th century woman she'd once been. "That strumpet should be spanked for playin' with my kitten. She doesn't deserve to be served tea and biscuits in the manor either."

"What girl? What kitten? And what bleedin' manor are you talkin' about, luv?" Spike looked hopelessly confused.

"Soon, my sweet Willy. The moon and the stars, they whisper their secrets to me like pearls 'n diamonds, my precious 'eart," Dru said joyfully as she jumped into Spike's lap and nearly made the wheelchair topple over. "I want a party, it's been ever so long since I had one. There'll be hats and gifts and party favours for everyone!"

Spike grinned, unable to deny his beloved anything. "Whatever you want, poodle. Hell – I promised Angel you'd have your coming-out party, didn't I? Yeah, and it'll be a party the likes of which that ponce will never forget, I promise you..."

GrandStay Residential Suites Hotel, Oxnard

November 23rd, 1997

12:01 am

Xander sighed in blessed relief as he climbed into the bed and switched off the light. He had just gotten off the phone with Jenny Calendar, absently rubbing the mark of Eyghon on his arm throughout the conversation. Constantly hearing Giles say "Good Lord!" after the gypsy woman relayed bits and pieces of what had happened to him had been annoying enough Harris had given up on playing nice already.

"Look, we'll discuss this in detail on Monday. Just tell Ripper and the girls not to bother me until then," he had said, before hanging up on Sunnydale. Not that Xander really believed those three would honour his wishes, but a man could dream.

After he and Cordelia were done with the police, and the cheerleader coach had signed him out of the hospital in loco parentis, all the school kids had gathered at the hotel to rest and recover from their 'stressful ordeal'. But what Xander hadn't been expecting was for the cheerleaders to corner him and his girlfriend, demanding an explanation for what they'd seen on the bus.

Whether it was the lack of supernatural Hellmouth energy or something else which had caused the girls to fail to repress for long, Harris didn't know. But either way, with Cordelia's help, he'd given them a modified version of Giles' "this world is older than you know" speech. There had been no other choice: Harmony, Aura, Kate, Gwen, Joy, Aphrodesia and a number of others just wouldn't accept that they'd seen two gang bangers in thundering need of a facial, and the explosions of dust merely a trick of the light.

Anyway, Xander and Cordy had given them some info about the Hellmouth and its supernatural 'night life'. Just the basics, such as: don't ever invite anyone into your home, stay indoors or in public places after dark, always carry some holy water or a stake, stuff like that. Xander had very carefully avoided all mention of the Slayer though, flashing a look to Cordelia for her to do likewise. That was the last thing they needed, for the Chosen One to be the focus of school gossip even if these girls didn't know who Buffy actually was.

Much as he'd disliked doing so, Xander also had had to explain about Randall and how he seemed to have inherited the long-dead British pyromancer's magic abilities. He hadn't missed some of the girls staring at him like he was now their personal saviour, although the looks from some of the cheerleaders checking him out as potential boyfriend material had gone completely over his head.

Not Cordelia's, though. She had anticipated something like that might happen, given how her man had saved everyone's life tonight. As if by divine right, Queen C had proclaimed Harris hers: thus one glare was more than enough threat. No girl wanted to be cast out of the popular clique, so the battle was over before it had ever actually started.

Mrs. Nelson knew nothing about such power plays, though. The cheerleader coach and de facto chaperone for tonight's little sleepover was feeling stressed out by other things, such as how she was going to explain everything to Principal Snyder on Monday morning. The poor woman was sure the troll was going to blame her for the entire mess somehow, even if she hadn't even been on the bus during the incident.

The coach decided to ignore all that for now and simply get on with the bed check, making sure everyone was asleep in their own rooms. Mrs. Nelson especially wanted to make sure none of the girls decided to sneak into Xander's room to personally 'thank' him. Not that she really believed Harris was the type to try to take advantage of one of her cheerleaders but, with their emotions out of control due to recent events, one of the silly young things might decide to do something stupid. There was no point in tempting fate if you didn't have to.

"Mrs. Nelson? Mrs. Nelson!"

The middle-aged woman was distracted from watching Xander's room and walked around the corner where the cheerleaders had a row of suites all alongside one another that extended to the next corridor. "Harmony? What are on earth are you doing up at this hour?"

"Please, I can't stay here in this hotel, it's just too totally gross!" the blonde whined as loud as she dared. "I mean, the shampoo they have in my room sucks. If I put that stuff in my hair, I'll have nothing but split ends all over the place tomorrow. And the facial cream? As if! No way am I gonna exfoliate with that cheap-o brand of paint remover!"

Mrs. Nelson sighed in deep emotional pain as she grabbed Harmony and started to haul the girl back to her room. Not far away Aura, who was on lookout duty just as Harmony was the designated distraction, nodded to Cordelia.

Miss Chase instantly marched straight towards her boyfriend's room, used the extra key given to her since she had paid for said room, turned the doorhandle and let herself in. Just before closing the door, she reached around and hung the 'Do Not Disturb' sign on the handle.

Within the darkness of Xander's room Cordelia was wearing her Sunnydale High cheerleader uniform, complete with pom-poms. In the conversation a few minutes ago between herself, Aura and Harmony, it had been the consensus that no guy would mind being woken up by a hot-looking cheerleader climbing into his bed in order to be 'the best night of his life'.

In a higher dimension, Randall started laughing his ass off as one of the so-called Powers standing alongside him started tearing her metaphorical hair out.

The End