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Buffy groaned and slowly opened her eyes, not recognising her surroundings at all.
"You're awake," Spike said, "Good to see."
"Where the hell am I?" Buffy growled.
"Uganda. Great place. Very soul-searching."
"Wait…Uganda? Africa? Is this where you got your soul?"
"Sure is, darling. Thought he could help you with your…problem."
"Ha! I don't need help, Spike, but you surely do."
He shrugged, pulling on the chain and dragging Buffy into the cave. She growled and snarled, pulling against her restraints, but to no avail, as she was taken deeper into the dark, dank cave, but she had no problems seeing, as Spike finally stopped pulling.
"Alright, we're here. We just gotta wait for-"
"Spike. What brings you back here?" came the low rumbling voice of the cave demon.
"Never mind," Spike said, "He's here. Hi again!" he said to the darkness, "I've-"
"You came here searching for your soul. You have it. Why are you back? And hurry it up. I have other matters that need attention and I cannot wait on you."
"Alright, I'll make it quick," Spike said, "See, my friend here, she needs help and-"
"She does not want it," the demon said, "You're wasting your time."
"At last, someone's finally listening to me!" Buffy sighed.
"Just hear me out, mate," Spike said, "I need help with her. Do to her what you did to me. I know you can do it and-"
"Silence!"
Thick tendrils suddenly burst from the rock wall, wrapping around Spike and pulling him against the wall, holding him in place, as Buffy smirked at his predicament.
"I made you prove your worth. She is not interested and so, I will not test her."
"So, can you let me go?" Buffy asked, "Oh and leave him there like that?"
"You come in and disrupt my business, waste my time and you think you can just leave like it's nothing?" the cave demon demanded, "No. If you want to leave, then you'll have to convince me to let you go!"
A gate of rocks sealed up the exit, as a Horager demon stepped out of the darkness. It spied Buffy and snarled, stepping towards her, as she struggled to get out of the chains, but the Horager grabbed her and hurled her across the cavern until she struck a stalagmite, the chains breaking from the force and she fell to her hands and knees.
"Alright then," Buffy growled, vamping out, "I'll play your little game."
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Connor and Dawn were sharing smiles with each other as they got out of the taxi, but stopped in horror when they saw the fire-fighters battling the blaze that had consumed the Watchers' Council, while paramedics were tending to anyone who had been injured in the inferno, as police officers corralled the public, keeping them at bay.
"There's Xander," Dawn cried, "But I don't see Willow or Giles anywhere."
Xander was standing nearby, watching the blaze with a distant look in his eye, as the young pair joined him, but he didn't look at them, still transfixed by the raging fire.
"Xander, what happened?" Dawn asked.
"They found it," Xander replied, "They found the Eye. And they came here."
"Who's they?" Connor asked.
"Angus…Kumiko…Angelus."
"Wait, Angelus? You mean my father's turned evil again? Xander, are you sure?"
"I'm sure. He held me down while Angus killed Giles."
"Back up," Dawn cried, "Giles is dead? They killed Giles?"
Xander looked at her and slowly nodded. Dawn fell to her knees, her shoulders shaking as the tears fell from her eyes. Xander shared her sadness and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, as Connor knelt beside her and pulled her into his arms, as she cried into his chest while he rubbed her back, whispering soothing words.
"Oh my God, what happened?"
Xander turned around as Willow staggered towards him, cuts lining her face and arms, as she brushed pieces of concrete dust and rubble from her hair. Xander moved to her, pulling her into a bone-crushing hug, which she returned after a moment.
"Xander, where's Giles?" Willow asked.
"I'm sorry, Will, but I couldn't stop them," Xander replied, "He's dead."
"What? No, that can't be true! Xander, it can't be true!"
The look on his face told her he wasn't lying and she broke down into tears, mirroring Dawn's posture, as Xander knelt down with her, holding as she cried into his shoulder, just like she had cried when she heard Jenny Calender had been killed.
Eddie Hope arrived on the scene, gazing at the inferno that engulfed the Watchers' Council and he wondered if he had wasted his time coming here for help, noticing the four people their knees, two of whom were crying in the others' arms and he wondered if they were friends of Angel, before recognising the young man.
"Hi there," Eddie said as he approached the group.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Connor demanded, standing before Dawn.
"I bore witness to your father's transformation and before he changed, he told me to come here for assistance, so here I am."
"You just want to kill Angel. We can restore him back to normal."
"Perhaps you can. But that said, I can still help. You have my word that I will help you restore your father and destroy the vampire responsible."
Connor looked at his extended hand, debating whether he should accept or not, before reluctantly shaking his hand.
"Great. Now that's done, let's get out of here," Eddie said.
"Xander, is there somewhere else we can go?" Connor asked.
"There is a base in Scotland we can go to," Xander replied, "I'll make the call."
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Like most normal English days, it was raining when the funeral took place. Only a handful of people had turned up, as it would have been too much for the Scoobies to have most of the Slayers there, so they had opted to keep the guest list short. Andrew had flown in from Rome as soon as he received the news. Willow had been unable to contact Spike and she began to fear for his safety, while Eddie had even turned up at the funeral, despite the fact that he didn't know or had ever met Giles. Connor had held Dawn as she cried while the coffin was being lowered into the ground, while Xander held both Willow and Faith, the latter holding a stoic look on her face, but Xander knew that she was hurting on the inside. He had just wished that Buffy could have been here, whether she was evil or not, he just wanted her to say goodbye.
As the undertakers began filling in the grave, Xander led the others out of the cemeteries and into a limousine provided by Andrew to take them back to Scotland. The trip was silent, with everyone barely uttering a word, even for the entire duration, all lost in their thoughts, mourning the man who had brought them all together.
"So, what's the plan?" Connor asked, holding a sniffling Dawn as they reached the Scotland Headquarters, "There has to be something we can do."
"I could try and re-ensoul Angel, but he'll have to be close by," Willow replied, "And he seems to be under the same cloaking spell as Angus and Buffy."
"I didn't expect this to happen," Faith said, "Angelus returns, Giles' death, I just-"
"None of us saw it coming," Xander tried to comfort her.
"I should have been there, Xander. If I had been, maybe Giles would still be alive."
"You don't know that. You might have been killed as well."
"And where's Spike?" Dawn asked, "Why has no-one called him?"
"Because we can't, sweetie," Willow answered, "Believe me, I've tried."
The limousine pulled up outside the castle and everyone got out, as Andrew tipped the driver and they all trooped inside the headquarters, with Xander heading to his designated room. With a sigh, he removed his suit jacket and loosened his tie, settling heavily down on his bed and reaching for the scotch. Without Angel, Buffy and Giles, he was now commander of the Slayer. It was now up to him to take on the leadership role, make the decisions and call the shots that were needed. It was all up to him. He just hoped that he could do what was required of him now.
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The Horager roared as it caught Buffy's arm on the swing and hurled her across the cavern. She snarled, blood trickling from a cut on her forehead as she darted in, avoiding the large fist that came swinging at her and she lashed out with a kick to the Horager's kneecap. The demon roared as its knee was broken, belting Buffy aside with a backhand, but she was quickly back onto her feet, running at the Horager and sliding between its legs, before leaping onto its back, grabbing hold of its neck. The Horager snarled, trying to throw her off, but she held fast, before tearing the demon's throat out. The demon staggered and collapsed, as Buffy shifted back to normal.
"There, it's done. Now let me out."
The cave demon laughed, "You really think it's that easy? Guess again."
Hissing could be heard coming from the darkness and Buffy turned around, as two serpent humanoids came slithering out to face her.
"Great, this could be a while."
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