Xander and Buffy glanced sideways at each other, grinning widely as they watched Willow and her father walk into Snyder's office. The principal seemed to be in one of his worse moods but that was best. Willow had glanced over her shoulder, shooting a sheepish glance at them, before the door was closed.

"She gets all the fun," Buffy pouted quietly as they crept closer to Snyder's office door. "She gets a front row seat."

"I don't know, being in the same room, a confined space, with Gibbs and Snyder while they rip each other's throats out. I feel sorry for her," Cordelia whispered, joining them. Buffy and Xander conceded the cheerleader had a good point. They couldn't say anything though as Snyder had begun to speak.

NCIS/BtVS

"So… Mr. Gibbs. You said on the phone that you are pulling Miss Rosenberg out of Sunnydale High School."

"That's correct," Gibbs replied coolly. Willow shifted in her seat, gaze flickering from one man to the other.

"What gives you the right? I have it on good authority that Willow's legal guardians are Mr. and Mrs. Rosenberg, not a Mr. Gibbs." Snyder scowled at Gibbs, making a show of flicking through Willow's records.

Gibbs pulled out the paperwork, having had the NCIS legal department go over it and make it official while he was back in town, and handed it to the other man. Snyder read over it, his scowl deepening.

"So, Miss Rosenberg is leaving Sunnydale to move in with you in Washington D.C.?"

"Yeah, you got a problem with that?" Gibbs let just a hint of a threat sink into his voice. Snyder smirked.

"Not at all. How fortunate for Miss Rosenberg to have such an opportunity to go to such an… interesting place. I am sure she'll do well there. She is, after all, one of our top students and I will miss seeing her about the school, even after hours when the school is closed."

Willow cringed and she felt Gibbs tense beside her.

"What?" he asked.

"Willow Rosenberg and her little friends are a thorn in my side. When I heard that you were a federal agent, I was hoping you'd take Summers and Harris as well, so you could arrest them."

"On what grounds?" Gibbs growled.

"Breaking and entering on school property, destruction of private and public property, being a public nuisance, take your pick. While Rosenberg is the one I want gone the least, let me tell you that the sooner that group of students and that fool of a librarian are gone from my corridors, the better. I only hope that I get to be the one who has the pleasure of signing the expulsion papers." Snyder cackled. Gibbs looked slightly horrified and Willow had ducked her head.

"You're targeting these kids because of what they do outside of school hours? Those kids have my respect. What they've done to this town, it's more than any group of teenagers should ever have the responsibility of doing!" Gibbs yelled, losing his temper. "I thought they were kidding when they were talking about you but they were right, you really are a troll and a bastard. I'm glad I'm going to get Willow out of here now and if I get word that something happens to Xander or Buffy or Cordelia or Giles here, if one of them gets so much as suspended, then you'll hear from me."

Snyder was stunned and Willow couldn't help but smirk at him, unknowingly imitating her father. She hoped that she never got on her father's bad side, because it had been kind of scary to watch.

"If you'll just hand over Willow's school record so we can pass them onto her new school, we'll be on our way."

"Of course," Snyder stammered, handing over Willow's folder, still in shock. Gibbs took it and rose to his feet.

"Coming, Willow?" he asked over his shoulder. Willow glanced at Snyder, fighting the urge to stick her tongue out at him, before nodding to her former school principal in farewell and following her father to the door. Gibbs pulled the door open and let Willow out first before sending one of his most fierce glares at Snyder and storming from the office, closing the door with a bang behind him.

Willow and Gibbs were both unsurprised to find not only Xander and Buffy waiting for them out in the corridor, but Cordelia and Giles as well. Giles held a cup of tea, watching as the other teenagers leaned casually against the wall, as if they hadn't been clustered against the door, fighting to hold in their giggles as their troll of a principal got screamed at by the federal agent.

"So, we Bronzing tonight, you know, Willow's last night in Sunnydale and all?" Buffy asked. Willow rolled her eyes. She knew they were planning a surprise party for her at the Bronze. Buffy sucked at surprise party planning, but she went along with it. She could act surprised.

"Sounds all right by me, just try to stay out of trouble," Gibbs said. "I'm going to spend the night at my motel. Are you going to spend the night at someone's house?"

"I'm sleeping at Buffy's tonight, since all my stuff is packed up." Willow nodded. Gibbs smiled and pulled Willow into a hug, glancing at his watch. It was three in the afternoon.

"I'll leave you to it then, I'll see you early tomorrow morning."

"I'll see you then, Dad."

"Stay safe," Gibbs whispered softly.

"I will," Willow replied as he kissed the top of her head before moving away with a wave and leaving the school building.

"So, who's ready to begin a night that they'll never forget?" Xander asked, grinning. Willow gulped nervously as Giles left, promising to see her the following morning before she left.

"You guys didn't go too overboard, did you?' Willow asked but the answering smiles she received from Xander, Buffy and Cordy did nothing to reassure her.

NCIS/BtVS

Willow spent the rest of that afternoon with Cordelia, Buffy and Xander, firstly at the mall where the girls did a quick last-minute shop and Xander mostly kept out of the way, before they went back to Buffy's house to get ready. Cordelia pulled her things from her car and they set up camp in Buffy's room, fussing around with makeup and clothes. Xander had watched as Buffy and Cordelia prepared themselves first before getting Willow ready. He was kicked out while they were getting changed but he took the opportunity to get changed into what he was wearing for the evening.

He'd forgotten how long it took girls to get dressed, so he headed downstairs to talk to Joyce, who had smiled, knowing full well why Xander was down with her. One of the disadvantages of having friends that were all girls was having to put up with the lengthy time it took to get ready before going out.

Eventually, Cordy came down the stairs, ordering Xander to come up and rejoin them. Xander had gone happily along with his girlfriend, right up until he got shoved into a seat so Cordelia could do his hair. Xander looked beseechingly at Buffy, his eyes pleading her for assistance. Buffy smirked and shook her head, leaving the room, presumably to check on Willow, who was absent from the room. Xander sighed, giving up as Cordelia approached him and squirted a sizeable amount of hair gel onto her hand. Xander eyed it dubiously before looking up at Cordelia's face.

"Just don't make me look like Angel… Please?" he asked pleadingly.

Cordelia only smirked in reply

NCIS/BtVS

Willow looked at herself in the mirror, her eyes wide. Obviously Cordelia and Buffy had been conspiring against her, because the outfit she had been forced into was nothing like what she would ever consider wearing of her own free will. The tight-fitting denim jeans weren't too bad, she supposed, but the revealing green top and leather jacket she was wearing was very much not her style. It kind of reminded her of Halloween. Buffy had swept Willow's hair up into a bun, leaving loose tendrils dangling down to frame Willow's face. A little make up, more than the nonexistent make up Willow usually wore, and the look was finished. Willow pulled the top up a little, so it covered more of her chest, while at the same time she tried to tug it down a little to cover her stomach.

"You look great Willow, stop worrying. Tonight is about saying goodbye to Sunnydale. Tomorrow you start your new life. Go out with a bang."

Willow arched her eyebrow. "You're making it sound like this is my hen's night or something."

"Don't say that, we've invited Xander and Oz and Angel and Giles. If it was a hen party, they would so not be there. Speaking of Xander, Cordy's done a great job on him."

Willow turned her head so she could face Buffy. "I heard him begging not to be made to look like Angel."

"He saw Cordy with hair gel and panicked," Buffy explained with a grin and Willow laughed.

"You look great, Wills. Come on, time to go," Buffy said, leaving the bedroom.

Willow surveyed herself once more in the mirror before she sighed, picked up her handbag, and followed Buffy from the room.

Buffy hadn't been wrong. Xander did look very dressed up. Cordelia seemed to have been trying to emulate Tony's hairstyle with the hair gel and she'd done a pretty good job with it. Xander looked a lot like a younger version of his cousin. Joyce smiled and snapped a picture of the foursome on her camera before passing the camera to Cordelia with a smile. Cordy nodded and discreetly tucked the camera into her bag.

Willow, Cordelia, Xander and Buffy trooped out into the night, climbing into Cordelia's car. Cordy drove to the Bronze, which was dark. Willow frowned suspiciously. This looked like it was going to be a repeat of Buffy's most recent birthday. Hopefully it wouldn't end with a part of the Judge showing up as a present.

Cordelia and Xander led the way into the nightclub and Willow groaned as Buffy covered her eyes with her hands and pushed her towards the club.

"Please don't let this be too embarrassing," Willow begged as they crossed the threshold of the building and stepped into the main room of the Bronze.

"SURPRISE!" Many different voices yelled as Buffy pulled her hand away. Willow's jaw dropped.

Oz and the rest of the band were up on stage, waving. There was a banner with 'Goodbye Willow, We'll miss you' painted onto it slung from the stage lights. Cordelia, Xander, Giles and Angel were standing around a table. A few other people, like Amy Madison and some other people from school that Willow got along with, were also around, waving happily at Willow. Willow gazed around the room, her eyes filling up with tears. Xander was at her side in a second, his arms around her and rubbing her back soothingly. Willow leaned her head against his shoulder.

"It's okay, Wills, you're going to be fine. All of these people wanted to say goodbye. They heard that you were leaving and came up to me asking if they could say goodbye. Buffy told them to come to your farewell party," he explained. Willow smiled tearfully up at Xander, before hugging him tightly and stepping away so that the other members of the Scooby Gang could come up and hug her, as well as the other friends of Willow that were there. As embarrassed as she was, Willow was touched that so many people had come to say goodbye to her. She wasn't the most popular person in the whole school and she knew it, so she was surprised by the turnout.

Resigning herself to the fact that the party had been organized for her, Willow allowed herself to relax and enjoy it.

NCIS/BtVS

Later that night, Willow found herself with the other Scoobies on patrol, having been told that she had to come and help patrol one last time. It was a pleasant night and they walked through the cemeteries grouped together. Willow found herself committing the moment to memory, unsure of when the next time she would have the opportunity to patrol the cemeteries of the Hellmouth with the rest of the Scooby Gang would be. Although she was sure that she would one day return to Sunnydale, there was always a possibility that someone might be killed or that someone might leave, either by choice or after being forced, and then it wouldn't be the whole Scooby Gang she would be returning to.

Regardless of how sentimental the patrol was, Willow didn't get caught up in the moment, knowing the dangers of running blind. The memory of her encounter with the demon those few short weeks ago when Gibbs had learned the truth was still fresh in her mind. That was why, when the gang were unknowingly surrounded by game-faced vampires, fifteen in all, Willow felt prepared and jumped into the fray, her stake out.

Willow dodged the strikes of her opponent, ducking down and keeping low, before kicking out at the very tall vampire's legs. The vampire caught her leg just before she would have made contact and tossed her to the ground but Willow jumped straight back up and jumped forward, plunging her stake into the vampire's chest. The vampire let out a piercing scream before it exploded into dust. Willow turned but the rest of the vampires had been dealt with by the rest of the gang. Willow brushed some dust off her clothes.

"Well, that was exciting," Buffy commented to break the silence. "You and Xander are getting much better now," she said to Willow as the group drew close together.

"Thanks, I figured that, well, I need to be able to, you know, fend for myself now, since you're not going to be around, even though I'm not going to be patrolling or anything. My dad will probably have enemies that wouldn't mind seeing me hurt or, you know, dead. I figure vampires are good training for, I don't know, rogue Marines or whoever tries to come and get me." Willow shrugged. Buffy put an arm around Willow's shoulder.

"You're going to be fine, Willow. Nothing's going to happen to you or to Gibbs or to any of the others, all right. We'll be okay as well. Nothing's going to happen to us either," Buffy reassured.

"I know, but still, I'm a bit freaked by the whole thing. Leaving Sunnydale, starting a new life on the other side of the country, new school, new friends, new family, new house, new city, not to mention no Hellmouth and no Slayage. It's going to be very weird."

"I think you'll go okay, Willow. I have confidence in you, we all do."

"Thanks, Buffy." Willow smiled before the two girls embraced in a hug.

A.N. Here is the latest chapter. Willow's goodbye to Sunnydale (and Sunnydale's goodbye to Willow) has commenced…to be concluded in the next chapter. Fear not though, reader, for the story will continue on in D.C.

Many thanks to the many faithful reviewers of this story, I really appreciate your feedback and encouragement.

Thanks also go to my beta reader, who fixes up all my spelling and grammatical goofs.

The next chapter hopefully will be up next weekend.

R.W.