Summary: In the aftermath of the battle with the First, one man dedicates his life to fighting the forces of darkness throughout the world. This is the story of those crusades.
Miles Militis Candidus is latin for White Knight.
Chapter 1 - The Yellow Ambulance
After stopping the bus at the rim of the crater, the survivors had briefly stopped and taken stock. They were alive and that was about it. Everyone's worldly possessions had disappeared into the crater, people were exhausted, wounded and just damned shell-shocked. It was Giles that reminded them that Robin would need surgery and that they needed to get moving.
After stopping earlier for less than a minute to buy a LA street directory, Xander climbed in the front to give directions to Giles. They were almost at their initial destination.
"Here it is" said Xander "Gracie Allen Drive. Ok take this right and the left at the crossroad up ahead".
"How is he holding up?" asked Giles.
"He's unconscious, but still alive. Don't worry, we're virtually there" replied Xander.
"Here, on the left, pull into this driveway" said Xander as he signalled with his right hand at the sign ahead.
Cedars-Sinai Emergency Dept
Giles worked the lever to open the front door, and Faith leapt out like a cat, a badly wounded Robin Wood cradled in her arms. Faith rushed through the automatic doors and was met by an ER nurse who directed Faith to a nearby gurney. As Faith was laying Robin down on the bed the doors opened again and the nurse's eyes widened at the group, mostly teenage girls who looked like they had been in a war.
Buffy read the look on the nurse's face and said "Don't worry about us, we look bad but we'll live."
The nurse began wheeling the gurney away just as a Doctor and an Intern came through the double doors leading to the Intensive Care Unit.
The Doctor quickly examined the wound, noting the bandaging had been almost soaked through with blood. He turned to the intern and said "another LAKC, get him typed and give him 2 units and a unit of plasma. I'll be in shortly to stitch him up".
The Doctor made his way over to Faith to get some quick medical history before he began surgery.
"Hi, I'm Doctor Walsh. I'm going to be operating very soon on your friend, so I need to know a couple of things, ok?"
Faith nodded quickly, hoping that this man could save Robin's life.
"Has your friend taken any drugs?"
"No! No way Doc" said Faith, louder than she realised.
The indignant way in which she replied made Dr Walsh think that she was probably telling the truth, but they would do a blood test just to be sure.
"Alright, thats fine, Now, how long ago did this happen?"
"It's been at least 90 minutes. We drove as fast as we could to get here."
"90 minutes?" asked Dr Walsh, trying not make it not sound like an accusation.
"Yeah" replied Faith with a sigh. "We had a fair way to come"
The Doctor nodded and started heading toward the ICU to begin prepping for surgery. Just as he was about to push through the swinging doors, he turned and asked one last question. "So where have you come from anyway?"
"Sunnydale" said several voices.
The look on the Doctor's face when he heard that piece of news didn't escape the gang, who assumed that the Doctor had heard the reports of the collapse of their hometown. In fact, Dr Walsh had been in and out of surgery for the last five hours and hadn't been near a TV since the start of his shift at 6am that morning.
Faith slumped into one of the waiting room chairs, having nothing else to do after a brief burst of activity. Xander had a quick word with Buffy, Giles and Willow before heading over to speak to the nurse at the reception desk.
"Hi, I'm Xander. I came in with the walking wounded over there. There are a couple of girls who might need minor medical attention, and...."
"Yes, I'll call for a Doctor" interrupted the Nurse. "Do you mind filling in these forms for your friend who was taken to the ER?. Also, if you don't mind me asking, why did you come all this way from Sunnydale?"
Xander looked at the nurse with shock. "You mean you haven't heard?"
"Heard what?" asked the nurse.
In reply Xander gestured to the TV that was fitted to the far wall, currently showing cartoons. "Change it to CNN and turn up the volume."
The Nurse fumbled with the remote, and eventually managed to bring up CNN and then turned it up so she could hear what was being said...
Repeating earlier breaking news, the town of Sunnydale, California has imploded leaving only a giant crater where the town used to be. The governor has mobilised the National Guard, and it is understood the President has been notified. This is a natural disaster of unparalleled proportions. It's not yet known how many people were killed, or if there are any survivors."
"Minutes ago these pictures were taken from the CNN helicopter..."
The nurse was standing with her mouth wide open, in complete shock. Eventually she said the first thing that came to her. "Holy moly!"
Xander nodded in understanding and started herding the unscathed back onto the bus. When Buffy tried to leave with the others he gave her a fearsome glare and just pointed to the chairs in the waiting room. Buffy took the hint and waited with Rona and a couple of the others to get patched up.
Xander had everyone back on the bus and Giles was just about to pull out when Xander asked him to hold for a moment.
The sound of the doors opening was not enough to draw the nurse's attention away from the TV. She noticed someone approaching in her peripheral vision but kept her eyes glued to the box. Even when Xander spoke she didn't, couldn't turn away from the pictures being broadcast.
"Ah, just one question. LAKC?"
"Los Angeles Knife Club. ER vernacular for a stabbing victim" the nurse explained.
"Gotcha" Xander nodded, his curiosity satisfied.
End Chapter 1
