Chapitre 20 :

°Disclaimer still in the prologue.

° Just to avoid confusion:

"speech"

'Mind speech'

Most of the dialogue between Buffy and the Master were directly taken from the last episode of the firs season.

After rescuing Oz nothing had really changed, except for Oz's added presence at the manor. Xander and Ripper still had to hide themselves from Buffy and Willow, Cordelia still had to pretend to dislike Xander while they met at the library after school and Angel still had to bear Buffy's flirting.

On a lighter note, the day Willow had returned to school after she had gone to meet with her family, she had been exceedingly irritated and irritating. She mustn't have liked the disappearance of Oz if her frustrated behaviour was anything to go by. Xander knew that she had no idea of how Oz had been able to escape and it had been worth it to brave her temper to watch the look of pure frustration and anger in her eyes. It was clear that she couldn't do a thing to search and find Oz back; that had been the highlight of his day and he had taken a great pleasure in retelling it to everyone at the manor.

Even though nothing had changed at school or with the girls, a tension and power had been rising in Sunnydale. Now that Oz was safe, they had had more time to research about what was going on in Sunnydale. It took them some time but with Angel's help and Ripper's books they were able to connect all those strange and unexplained events that had occurred during the week. There was the number of the vampire's victims which had tripled leading to in a large increase in the vampire's numbers, an earthquake powerful enough to cause the town damages… They all pointed to the future rise of the Master who was surfacing from his underground imprisonment. Every vampires in the near distance was beginning to come to Sunnydale, they were weak and thought to search protections and power in serving or allying themselves with the Master.

Their patrol during the night, were taking a lot longer now, every cemetery in Sunnydale would have a new batch of fledglings' vampires and it was without counting with the other demons and vampires coming to town. This new evil force would not be the first nor would it be the last rising in town, but it should be the one stopping Buffy once and for all.

Ripper had found a prophecy about the slayer in the codex, foretelling her death at the hands of the Master and as he had told them, there was nothing in it that did not come to pass. They had all agreed that it was the balance's ways of taking care of an uncontrolled and dangerous slayer, of rectifying the danger she would cause to others would she continued to live. The Master would take care of Buffy as it was foretold while Angel would take care of the Master with a strength the Master would have never thought about.

So while they waited for the Master's rise to pass Xander went to Angel with an idea and some questions. They were all back in the library, Kyle and Oz were curled on one couch, Ripper and Xander sitting on the other one and Angel in the armchair. They had gathered themselves around a cup of tea waiting for Xander to begin, when he asked, "What will happen to you when you killed him, Angel?"

Angel seemed surprised by that question and confused said, "Well like I said before, I will gain back the control and power of my vampire line, my magic while the curse will dissolve itself."

"Yes but you didn't say how you will be able to bear it alone. By killing the Master everything will come back to you once and even though you are a vampire, the force of it may well be able to kill you." Xander replied.

Everyone fell silent at that, no one had even thought about it. Though before Angel could answer his question, Xander said, "I have an idea; anyway it is high time we talk about you joining the pack." At Angel's nod Xander told everyone of his plan.

He had thought about what Angel had told them about the curse and knew that for once it could be used in Angel's favour. As the curse was made for Angel to attack his loved ones and clan, it should boost his strength when fighting against the Master. It should be enough against that 'bald bat', as he still wouldn't have recovered all of his power. The problem here was the overwhelming powers Angel would gain back at the death of the vampire.

Xander knew he could help him with them, if they were to merge Angel's clan with his pack; it had never been done before but he knew it was meant to be, he felt it every time he was in contact with Angel. He told them he had made research about it and that it was perfectly feasible, Xander would have to bite Angel taking some blood as Angel bite him in return. The exchange of blood would give Angel the power to change and the abilities and instincts of his beast while it would cause Xander to cease aging. It would link them extremely close as well but that would help them in leading the pack, becoming its Alphas. They would have equal power on the pack though Xander would have more ease, knowledge, experience, power and insight on the Weres while Angel would have more on the vampires; but vampires and Weres would submit and listen to the two of them with the same trust and loyalty. Each Alpha had their own rituals and means to help and guide their own species, but that difference could be increasing their strengths if they were to use it well.

Kyle who had been listening till then asked Xander why vampires and Weres had never allied themselves before as it seemed that their weaknesses and forces would be balancing each others well. Xander didn't have a real answer to that, except that the hate between the two creatures had blinded them to their own compatible natures. The only knowledge he had about it was that the vampires had been created by the Magic after the Weres massacre to help protect them, but one day without warning a Were-pack had been attacked and killed by the vampire clan which was supposed to protect it. Since then the trust had been lost and hate had taken its place, to the point that centuries later the two species were attacking each others on sight without knowing why; it was ingrained in them.

"So how can you trust me after what happened?", asked Angel, feeling disgusted by what he had just learned.

"Well for one, I can say that during all those weeks since we have met I have learned to see and trust who you really are. I consider you my friend and it won't change because of something that had happened centuries before we were even born. And I know that when you became one again with your line you will know more about it than me, as your line already existed at the time of the attack. I have a feeling that the attack was caused by the manipulations of someone who was feeling threatened by the power that vampires and Weres would owned if they were to ally themselves. The vampires must have been tricked and I'm sad to say that it had worked too well; to this day none of them had be seen working with each others.", answered Xander.

Angel nodded and Xander continued, "The other reason is that besides now being a Were, I have and always have been a Luenor, a creature of balance. I am not someone who would judge a person on what is being told about him, but his acts, thoughts and auras. Auras have never lied and yours showed me someone extremely loyal and just, who would never hurt a friend if he could prevent it. So yes I want to gather our packs together and I won't change my mind about it."

Angel was proud to be called Xander's friend, the boy was extremely observant, loyal and protective of those he loves; he was someone you would trust without a doubt to guard your back. Joining their pack would be the perfect mean to save everyone included his children and childers; and to be honest he liked Xander's pack as his own. He helped its formation, helped heal their injuries, gave them his advice, and generally liked them. Ripper was like a knowledgeable and wise brother, Kyle would be the strong little brother who would protect his family at all cost, Oz would be the little one, the one you needed to protect and Xander would be the one protecting them all. He was the one who was as strong physically as he was mentally and who had the maturity to lead his pack; Angel would be honoured to lead their pack at his sides.

The only problem with this plan was that they had to make sure that Xander stayed with Angel while he fought the Master, if he was to bite him at the exact same time of the Master's death, if not Angel would die. They needed the link between their mind that would be created as they recognised and claimed each other as Alphas of their pack. Had it been anyone else Angel would have had doubts about opening his mind, but with Xander there was no question asked, he already trusted him implicitly. So with a plan in mind they only had to wait for the Master to free himself and Buffy's need to kill, to enter in action, then they would have their chance to end it.

Two weeks after they had finalised their plan was when it happened. Xander, Willow, Buffy and Cordelia had gone to their school dance when they found Cordelia's companion killed. They had felt it when the Master had finally risen and knew it was an invitation to the Slayer. Buffy had been furious but it wasn't because of the victim as she didn't care at all for the boy; he had chose Cordelia over Buffy after all. No she was furious by the taunt, the Master was mocking her; it was a way for him to say that she wasn't strong enough, that he was better than her.

Ripper had tried to tell her that going to him feeling that angry wasn't a good idea at all, but she thanked him by knocking him out and going to the library in search of a stake and crossbow, while Willow followed her.

Angry and worried, Xander took Cordelia and Ripper back to the manor, knowing that they would be safe under Kyle's watchful eyes. He watched as they lay him on the bed and nursed him back to consciousness, making sure he would be alright and then he told them it was time. They were not surprised as they had been waiting for it for some weeks, but they were worried about what would happen. Only Angel and Xander would go to the Master, the other four would stay at the manor under Kyle's protection. Anyway it would be too dangerous for them to go and help as Willow couldn't stand them and had a grudge with Oz and Cordelia; she would attack them on sight.

That was why not even five minutes later, Angel and Xander could be seen rushing at an abnormally high speed to the Master's hiding place hoping to get there in time to met Buffy. They didn't stopped once, only focusing on what was to come; when reaching the place they saw two well known silhouettes hiding in the shadows. They silently went to them smirking when they were not noticed and took great pleasure in scaring them half to death as they asked them what they were doing. It was funny to watch the slayer who if you were to listen to her words was the best fighter in the world, startled and jumping from fright. It was too good to pass and they had to share the vision with the others at the manor, it was sure to make them laugh.

Once the girls had finally finished their ranting which by the way wasn't discreet at all, Buffy and Willow never thought that maybe they were walking directly into a trap. The Master might have been arrogant but he certainly wasn't stupid, and he was sure to already know of their presences.

So he was waiting for them, but why? Xander had just the time to think about it before all hell broke loose. They were in the middle of the building reaching for the basement when vampires attacked them from all sides; Angel, Xander and Willow were separated from Buffy as the vampires wanted to stop them from reaching the Master.

So that was the trap, the Master wanted to only focus on Buffy and have less trouble in killing her, it was simple but effective. Though what was most effective was to trap them with Willow, because even if the Master didn't know about it; he had guaranteed himself more time as Xander had to hide his real strength from her. It wasn't easy but they finally managed to get rid of the vampires, but reaching the basement they could only watch as a new wave of vampires attacked them. It was becoming ridiculous for Xander and Angel; they couldn't even count the number of times they had to save Willow's skin, she was extremely weak physically and as she refused to stay hidden she revealed herself as a complete burden.

They would have like to let her die but till they knew for sure that her death wouldn't cause the death of her victims who where still in a coma by the way, they would have to make sure that she was kept alive.

Willow's real weakness was her physical strength but usually she was taking care of that problem by using her magic, though this time she had been as trapped as Xander and she couldn't use her magic without revealing herself to them. It was really ironic but it would have been way too dangerous to reveal their real strength to Willow.

At the same moment in the basement Buffy had finally met the Master and was fighting him. She used her crossbow against him but all he did was stop the arrow, never once had he been threatened by her, and Buffy was beginning to loose her cool. She could feel a gape between their strength and it was certainly not in her favour; she could feel it growing with every minutes that pass.

Seeing the realisation in her eyes the Master said; "You are not going to kill me with that thing."

"Don't be so sure", Buffy replied.

"You still don't understand your part in all this, do you", the master asked her "You are not the hunter; you are the lamb".

Feeling mocked and disregarded Buffy through herself in her anger and made the mistake to come too close to the Master and letting herself open to be grabbed.

"You tried, it was noble of you. You heard the prophecy that I was about to break free and came to stop me, but prophecies are tricky creatures. They don't tell you everything." The Master said. Then he placed his mouth next to her ear and whispered, "You are the one that set me free." Then looking at her he gloated; "If you hadn't come to me, I would never have been able to leave freely! Think about it."

"What prophecy?" Buffy whispered.

"Oh you didn't know? So why did you come here? Don't tell me it was all about your pride!"; he said laughing.

Moving down to her neck, he bit her and then let her fell face first in a pool of water. Turning away from Buffy he finally pushed through the barriers and went to leave the basement. Arriving to the exit he came face to face with Angelus or Angel the member of his clan he had tried to kill off. He wasn't that surprised to see him alive and well, the boy had always had the tendency to fail him. Thinking it would be a good way in testing his new strength he rushed to Angel and attacked him.

At the same time Xander heard Willow shout "NO!" then saw her rushed to the basement ordering him to follow. He looked at her disappearing back and shaking his head he stayed where he was, promising himself that he wouldn't fail Angel. He could hear Willow once more shouting at him to help her, as Buffy needed CPR but he kept his focus on Angel, he didn't have the right to make an error; it was much more important. He would have gone after Willow to prevent her doing CPR but he didn't have the time. He was angry at Willow she was trying to hurt the balance once more, but as he couldn't do a thing about it he focus back on Angel.

The fight between Angel and the Master didn't last long; Angel avoided his blow never once being touch while the Master was already showing bruises and blood. Angel was fighting with every feeling of rage, hurt, and betrayal he had and lashed out. He grabbed the Master and not even deigning to tell him anything, he ripped his heart out with one hand while the other beheaded him.

Angel's coldness disappeared from his face to be replaced by pain when a crimson mist began to surrounding him. He was beginning to feel overwhelmed when a dark silhouette he hadn't seen coming rushed at him.

A.N:

° Thanks to everyone who replied!

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