Chapter 14

(Flashback, Sunnydale)

Xander watched as Oz talked with Buffy and Willow off to the side of the library, he could already guess what they were talking about. He shook his head and refocused on what Giles and Zabuto were talking about along with Jenny and Kendra. Now that they had the heavy weapons they wanted to try and find the vak'eral and kill it as quickly as possible. He just hoped the weapons they had stolen would do the job, from what they had found out about the demon in question it was not going to be easy to kill, even with the heavy weapons.

Buffy frowned as she listened to Oz's report of what had happened during the raid on the army base, she was disturbed to say the least to hear that Xander had been killed and come back to life again. That confirmed that everything Zabuto and Giles had said, about him and Calendar being Immortal was true.

Willow didn't know how to feel on the subject at all. Xander had been a part of her life since her youngest years, but since Buffy had turned up she had felt her friendship with him eroding, right up to the point that she had turned her back on him when everything blew up with Angel becoming Angelus. He should have supported Buffy in her time of need, but instead he had allowed his jealousy of Angel to get in the way of being a good friend.

A small part of her was upset Xander was now basically cursed to live forever unless he died permanently, granted Giles and Zabuto had refused to say how that could happen, but there would be a way that was for sure.

Buffy glanced back at where Xander stood listening to the watchers talk. She had to force herself not to attack him, but she swore when this was over she would get rid of Xander and the Gypsy bitch. Oz waited for either of the two girls to speak; as he waited Cordelia entered the library and moved to join Xander and the others instead of joining them.

"So what do we do about this Buffy?" Willow finally broke the silence, noting the angry glare Buffy was shooting at Xander and Calendar.

"Nothing we can do right now thanks to Zabuto," Buffy hissed in response. "He's made it clear what will happen if we don't do as he says, but when this is over I will have my revenge," she spat.

"What about Angel?" Willow asked hesitantly, knowing this had to be killing her friend.

Buffy looked away and did her best to keep from breaking down, because she knew that within a few hours it was most likely that her lover would be gone forever. There was no way out of what was going to happen, she would have to kill him or failing that Kendra would do the deed. She fumed silently, wishing that this had not happened, but it had and she had no option left to her but to kill Angel. Willow hugged her and did her best to comfort her, but it did little good. Oz just watched and was unsure what to say and doubting it would help anyway.

"Miss Summers," Zabuto interrupted them, "if you would be so kind as to join us, we believe we have a plan to hunt down not only the vak'eral, but also Angelus and the rest of the Scourge," he informed her.

Buffy glared at him but the watcher was unimpressed and just stared back at her until she shuffled over to them, Willow and Oz followed her, wondering what kind of plan they had come up with.

Zabuto then laid down the plan to them all with some input from Giles every now and again. It wasn't a complex plan that was for sure, but Buffy was sure it would work. Angelus would come for her. She didn't even mind playing the bait, maybe getting this over quickly would spare her even greater pain than if it was drawn out.

"Are you certain this is a good idea?" Jenny inquired of Zabuto as they broke up to prepare for the night ahead. "Putting Buffy as bait will clearly draw Angelus out, but the question is will she be able to actually fight should he attack," she added with a frown. She was not a friend of the blond Slayer anymore, but that didn't mean she wanted her dead.

"I believe it is the only way we will draw Angelus out," Zabuto answered. "I think if we do not use his weakness for Miss Summers against him then we will not get a chance to end him," he explained. "He will hide behind his followers and the vak'eral demon instead. Remember he is smart and dangerous and this fits his profile," he reminded her.

"I have to agree," Xander said from beside her. "Since Angelus came back the only time he messes up is when confronted by Buffy or in close proximity to her," he pointed out, while he ran a hand through his hair. "It's like he has a blank spot where she is concerned," he added.

"Ok I get that Alex, I really do," Jenny relented, frowning a little as she did so. "But that doesn't make me feel any better about this. If Buffy will not fight Angelus then all we are doing is serving her up on a platter and no matter how I feel about her I don't want to see her dead," she stated clearly, hoping they would see her point.

"Neither do I Jenny," Xander replied, letting out a sigh as he fought between his good memories of Buffy and the more recent bitter ones. "She has to fight Angelus now, she has no other option," he finally stated as he pushed the memories away and focused on the facts as he knew them. "She can't run from it, she can't hide from it and she can't change it," he added.

"I know it is a risk, but it is a necessary one," Zabuto finally broke into the conversation. "Miss Summers must face Angelus if she is to survive beyond this point," he explained to them, somewhat frustrated he had been forced into making the blond slayer do this, but he saw no other way to ensure she did her duty. "Her very survival is now at stake, the council will not accept anything less than her doing her duty and slaying Angelus," he informed them grimly. "She has brought herself to this point and if she wants to live then she must act. I believe you understand this stance?" he inquired.

"Yeah I guess I do," Xander agreed. "I just hope she has it in her to do the job or she will find herself in bigger trouble," he added with a frustrated shake of his head.

Part of him knew he and Jenny had brought events to this point by calling Kendra and Zabuto, but he knew there was no other choice. Buffy had refused to act as did the others, thus to save lives they had acted instead. It had been the right call, he was sure of that, but he didn't want to be responsible for Buffy's death should it reach that point due to her own refusal to do her job.

"If she doesn't have it in her to do the job then she is useless as a Slayer," Jenny finally said what they were all thinking but refusing to admit. "She would be just as bad a threat as a normal vampire. People have and will continue to die due to her refusal to act," she continued to vent. "How many people are you willing to risk to give her chances to shape up?" she asked both of them.

Neither answered as they turned away to prepare their own equipment for the night ahead. Jenny watched knowing her point was valid, but also knowing it was a grim point at best, especially if Buffy was not up to the job and died as a result.

+I+

(Rockville, Indiana)

Jenny shook her head annoyed for letting her concentration slip at such an important point, for some reason that memory had surfaced clearer than any other. She wondered if Buffy's death had brought it out and so she glanced over at where Xander stood talking to Jill as they reloaded the weapons as they prepared for the break out to come and wondered if he was suffering the same thing.

"Are you okay Miss Calendar?" Tara's gentle voice brought her focus back on what was important. She noted that while Tara looked concerned, Willow was glaring at her. 'No surprise there,' she thought.

"Sorry, my mind drifted a little," she finally responded. "It happens sometimes to all Immortals, even when we don't want it to," she explained with a sad smile.

"Who cares?" Willow growled. "Do you have the spell down or not?" she demanded to know. She was angry and resentful especially at the woman in front of her, Buffy was dead and she wanted to blame Calendar for it as she was an easy target.

"Yes Willow I got the spell down," Jenny growled out in response. "The question is can you focus enough to hold your part of it?" she inquired worried what witnessing Buffy's death would do to the redhead's frame of mind.

Willow just glared at her before nodding her head and turning away. Tara looked unsure at how well this would go considering the raw hatred she could feel between her two fellow witches. She let out a sigh before she started casting and a few seconds later Jenny began her own casting and finally Willow began hers a few seconds after that. Chris and Barry who were still unloading into the oncoming horde were shocked as slowly bit by bit, some kind of barrier appeared between them and the zombies which were still closing in on them.

"What in god's name?" Barry gasped almost dropping his prised magnum before rubbing his eyes furiously, he was sure he was seeing things.

"That my friends, is magic," Xander said with a smirk as he noted their shocked looks. "I told you it was real, we'll give it a few minutes and then we run. Got it?" he stated to the whole group who nodded although most looked uncertain if this was a good idea.

"This is incredible," Jill mumbled as she watched as more and more barriers appeared and separated them from the zombies, giving them a decent shot at breaking out. 'Question is, how long those three can keep the barriers up?' she wondered internally.

"No offense, but are you sure they can keep the magic going long enough for us to get away from the horde?" Rebecca inquired asking the question Jill had really wanted answering.

"I can't say for sure Rebecca, as I don't know how powerful they really are. Tara says she is strong and I know Jenny is good with the magic stuff and I am sure Willow has come along in that regard as well," Xander said, doing his best to reassure her while at the same time giving her an honest answer. "I suggest no one drags their feet," he stated as he finished reloading the weapons and then began handing them out to the survivors.

"This is going to be tough as that damn Tyrant is closing in on us," Leon warned them as he reloaded his own weapon. "I suggest we all be prepared for it to catch up to us," he suggested with a worried glance at Claire who caught the look and tried to give him a reassuring look.

She knew he was far more worried about her safety than he was with his own or as bad as it sounded anyone else's, they had formed a bond that was stronger than anything she had ever felt from their time in Racoon. She was certain she and Leon were in love with one another, but sadly they had never admitted that fact or tried to build anything due to the ever present war against Umbrella that dominated their lives, as it did their friends. Hell she was sure had none of this happened then Chris and Jill may have become a couple, but that time had passed now and was nothing more than a forgotten possibility.

The two were and would always be partners, always watching each others backs, but any chance of romance between them had died back in the Spencer Mansion. She wouldn't have minded having Jill as a sister in law, shaking her head she turned her thoughts away from the past and moved to the present. Everyone watched as the three witches continued to chant for another three minutes before they gave the signal to start running. Xander remained to cover their rear along side Chris and Leon.

"MOVE," Barry roared and almost as one the survivors began to run, followed by others. Connor and Methos quickly moved to the front of the pack while the others moved up to the sides and rear.

The whole group ran as fast as they could, hoping the barriers would hold. For Jenny, Tara and Willow it was hard to run and keep the concentration to hold up the barriers but they managed. Xander glanced back to see how they were doing, the back barriers he noted were beginning to crack and he guessed they had only minutes before they failed completely. He bit back a curse knowing this was going to be close. They kept a heavy pace, but they all knew they could not keep it up for long.

They made it three blocks before the barriers failed altogether as Jenny and Tara finally lost their concentration and the strength to keep going, Willow had already lost both a block before. They knew the horde would close in on them fast, as some had already found a way through some of the cracks as the barriers failed. They finally came to a stop as the survivors began to slow down from extenuation. Chris leaned against the wall of a nearby house, wondering how long they had before the undead caught up with them.

"We can't stay here long," Claire voiced his own thoughts as she took in deep breathes.

"We can't go on without some rest," one of the survivors complained from where he had collapsed onto the floor. "I am wiped out," he added.

The majority of the survivors agreed with the man from where they either leaned against something or knelt, all of them were doing their best to recover. Victoria was leaning against Barry just as tired as the others, but she knew Claire and her friends were right. They didn't have much time before the monsters came back.

+I+

A few blocks back where they had been Buffy Summer's body lay where it had fallen alongside many others. However a few minutes after the break out her eyes snapped open before they turned white. The holes from the tentacles healed as her body began to mutate. Her hair fell out as her head enlarged. Mucus and blood erupted out of her mouth as her teeth sharpened and her body began to grow larger in muscle mass and size until she began to resemble the creature that had ended her life. The transformation was completed within a few minutes, and the thing that used to be Buffy Summers got back up and let out a mighty roar. Whilst it resembled a Tyrant it was far bigger and looked more deadly than ever. A stray scent caught its attention and it quickly turned and headed after its former allies.

+I+

Before any of the other survivors could say anything else one of the buildings exploded outwards and one of the survivors died as a chunk of the house hit him dead on. His head was caved in by the force of the hit and the other survivors scattered and just barely avoided being hit. Chris and the others backed off, already guessing what had caused the explosion. They weren't wrong as the smoke cleared to reveal the large daunting presence of the Tyrant which quickly roared at them.

"Oh shit," Xander paled as he stared at the Tyrant, having flashbacks to the beating and death he had already suffered at its hands hours before.

"Get the rocket launchers ready," Connor ordered as he opened fire with his shotgun.

One by one the others opened fire as well, all bar Chris and Barry who quickly took out the rocket launchers and prepared them. The Tyrant quickly began to advance on them again. One of the survivors got caught by the huge monster as he tried to run away. He was picked up before a tentacle ripped through his face sending blood everywhere.

"Oh god that is sick," Victoria gasped as she backed away, horrified and unable to keep herself in place.

Connor and Methos pushed forward along side the others, unloading everything they could into the Tyrant, but it did little to slow the thing down. It picked up another of the survivors who had paused to reload his weapon. The man cried for help, but it was useless as the Tyrant snapped his neck before flinging the man into Leon who was flung backwards by the force. Claire only barely stopped herself from going to check on him. Barry let out a growl as he brought the rocket launcher up and took aim. Chris quickly mirrored his stance; they now waited for the best shot.

Xander quickly noted where the Tyrant was going to strike next and he charged and pushed Jill out of the way, as it sent a dozen or so tentacles at where she had been standing.

"You ok?" he inquired as they got back to their feet.

"Yeah, thanks for the save," Jill responded feeling her heart beat a mile a minute at how close she had once again come to been killed by one of these things. 'It was almost becoming a habit,' she thought darkly before she recovered her weapon and opened fire again.

"Fire god damn it," one of the survivors shouted as he witnessed another of his fellow survivors being torn in two in a shower of blood and guts.

The Tyrant let out another roar as it was soaked in the blood of its victim. Leon regained his feet and quickly opened fire again and did his best to ignore the ringing in his ear. Tara finally recovered from not only the shock of seeing the Tyrant up close, but also the tiredness she felt from keeping the magical barriers up for so long. She summoned what magic she had left and unleashed it on the Tyrant with a flame spell. Jenny unleashed a weak ice spell in an attempt to freeze the monster but failed. Her own magical reserves still low from the previous casting. Willow found she had nothing left and quickly backed up and hid behind Oz who unloaded his shotgun at the Tyrants legs.

Giles reloaded his rifle as fast as he could but he was certain the Tyrant would reach them before he was ready. Connor and Methos just barely avoided being torn to pieces as the Tyrant tried to slam its fist down where they had been standing.

"Fire the damn launchers," Methos growled as he climbed back to his feet.

"We can't until we have the prime shot, otherwise we'll just waste the damn ammo," Chris shouted back in response, understanding their reactions but knowing they could not put the Tyrant down without scoring the best possible shot.

"He's right," Rebecca said while moving up to the sides of Methos and Connor who both glanced at her. "We don't have the ammo to waste and if we don't hit the prime shot then this thing will just keep coming after us," she stated with a frown. "And then we'll all be dead," she added darkly.

"Is there no other way of bringing one of these things down?" Connor inquired, his tone indicating annoyance and frustration.

"I'm afraid not," Rebecca answered with a shake of her head. "And we don't have time to look for one as those damn zombies are going to be on our asses again quite soon," she reminded him.

"How about using magic against it?" Zabuto inquired as he fired his last shot into the Tyrant's head but frowned as he noted the Tyrant only paused before advancing once more.

"We're too tired from the barrier spell to try anything big enough to bring this thing down I'm afraid, Mr. Zabuto," Jenny countered with a shake of her head.

Xander was about to reload when another explosion came from behind him and sent him flying into Tara. The two crashed into the ground scraping their arms and legs. Both grunted in pain as they rolled to a stop, everyone turned to look at the new threat and instantly all looked horrified. The new Tyrant roared at them as its left hand instantly transformed into multiple tentacles, it then began to advance on Jenny, Kendra and Zabuto.

"Where the fuck did that thing come from?" Oz gasped as he backed off some more puling Willow with him.

"I have no idea," Jill mumbled in response. "We only believed there was one Tyrant in this city," she added as an afterthought.

"Something must have caused the virus to mutate even more," Rebecca shouted to the others. "As that is unlike any Tyrant I've seen before," she pointed out.

As they continued to pull back zombies began to appear around them and they knew they were about to be in even worse trouble. Victoria managed to rally the survivors and get them to focus on the undead. Giles, Oz and Willow moved to aide them, each knowing they had no chance against the Tyrants.

Chris and Barry decided to aim at a Tyrant each and prayed they hit both dead on. Rebecca, Jill, Leon and Claire quickly moved to cover them. When Xander noted how close the new Tyrant had gotten to Jenny, who continued to open fire on the new threat he forced himself back to his feet and ran to help or pull her back. Zabuto and Kendra turned and ran as their weapons ran dry. Jenny found herself rooted to the spot and continued to fire her shotgun whilst a P90 dangled from a strap over her shoulder.

The fight was in full flight now as more zombies reached them. Xander suddenly heard the roar of the Tyrant near him as he closed in on it and Jenny. 'Noooo,' he thought as he quickly pushed himself to go faster, even as his legs protested from the pain. He had to save Jenny who continued to shot at the thing before finally backing away, but she had waited to long. To his horror he saw the new Tyrant move closer to Jenny and his horror grew ever more as he saw Jenny who wasn't far from some of the survivors get caught by one of its tentacles.

The survivors cut down five more of the rapidly approaching zombies before two of their number were brought down. They screamed in terror as their stomachs were ripped open and their insides were ripped and torn from their bodies. Blood pooled around them as the zombies feasted on them. Victoria pulled the magnum from Barry's belt as he tried to find a good point to hit on the new Tyrant. Turning around she blew the heads of two attacking zombies who were eating the fallen survivors.

Jenny continued to back away as she continued to fire at the Tyrant, after she spent the whole clip of the P90 she had picked up, she threw it away and drew her sword. Sadly the P90 hadn't done much and as she was brought up to eye level with the Tyrant she plunged her sword into the things face. It roared in pain, but refused to drop her. She pulled her sword free and tried to hit it again. This time she managed to free herself as she stabbed one of the things eyes.

Xander quickly disposed of two zombies before him and started to run into the direction where his love was fighting against that monster. He saw how Jenny ducked a swing of the Tyrant and hit him with her sword, opening a small wound on its stomach. It roared loudly and tried to hit the woman again. Seeing this Xander ran a bit faster, but was suddenly stopped by a zombie that grabbed at him.

He quickly decapitated it with his sword, but the distraction was long enough for the other fight to take a new direction. As he started to run again he saw Jenny attack the Tyrant again. Her blade went smoothly into the belly of the monster, but before she could pull the blade out again the Tyrant grabbed her arm and with a loud 'snap' broke it.

Meanwhile Giles blew a hole in another zombie as it tried to pull down Zabuto just as Kendra took down another with her rifle.

Jenny's scream of pain spurred Xander to run even faster, but he was still more than 20 meters away as he saw how the Tyrant grabbed his love again. While he ran he could only watch in horror as the Tyrant roared loudly and then with one huge act of brutal strength ripped Jenny's head off. While her blood was still spraying in every direction hitting and soaking Xander who had gotten close enough to be hit, her quickening shot out of her body and hit the Tyrant full front just as Xander reached their position. Finding no Immortal in the monster the quickening left it smoking and hit the nearest Immortal, this happened to be Xander, who was in an enraged high kick to embed his blade into the monster that just had killed his lover.

As the quickening hit him he had time enough to yell a shocked. "NOOOO!" before the pain overcame him and he fell to the ground watching in even more emotional pain as the memories and energy from Jenny filled his body and soul. Tara forced herself back to her feet and rushed to Xander's side alongside Jill and began to pull him away as Chris finally fired on the first Tyrant as he finally saw the prime shot. The missile hit the Tyrant right in the mouth. The explosion ripped the Tyrants head apart in a spray of blood and the huge body rocked side to side for a few moments before it collapsed to the ground.

The second Tyrant began to move again even as it continued to smoke from whatever Jenny's quickening had done to it and so Barry quickly fired his own launcher hitting it square in the back. It exploded on target and sent it back to the ground. Xander broke free of Tara and Jill and rushed forward and slammed his sword down into monsters brain. He then reached down and picked up Jenny's sword. He noted trails of Jenny's quickening running up and down the blade before he rammed it into the monsters back where its heart should be. Xander stared down at the downed monster ignoring the blood than ran down his face, he felt an almost overwhelming urge to just give up, but he knew it would not be what Jenny wanted him to do.

"We've got to get out of here now before anymore of those zombies catch up to us," Jill shouted as she moved back to Xander's side, just as he removed both swords. She did her best to ignore the dead almost vacant look in his eyes, it was almost as if he did not have any life left in him after he saw Jenny die.

She noted his look turn to rage as he turned to glance at her and suppressed a shiver. She tried to get him to run, but he kept refusing until Methos knocked him out with a hard punch and heaved him over his shoulder before he took of running again. The others quickly followed as Chris, Barry and Connor laid down some covering fire before they too ran. The zombies once again began to pursue them and the second Tyrant once again began to move as the virus reanimated it.