A.N After reading reviews I am deviating away from a few episodes for a while but will attempt to stay in character.
"Speech"
'Thought'
*Text*
Chapter 37 – To War
Sunnydale Library – Friday 6pm
A/N: After reading the latest reviews, I will be deviating away from the events of a few episodes for a while, but I will attempt to stay in character nonetheless.
"Speech"
'Thought'
*Text*
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Chapter 37 – To War
Sunnydale High Library – Friday, 6:00 pm
Cordelia walked into Slayer Central with Willow, filing her nails and absently humming. Things had been pretty calm since Angel had left, and the female sparkle-pire was in a fairly good mood. Looking around, she saw the Watcher was absent; but then Giles came out of the stacks, after he'd finished categorizing the books in the Aztec section.
"Hey," Willow greeted him.
"Hello, uh, Willow, Cordelia. How are you?" Giles asked. He looked around at the others. "Or should I say, how are you all?"
"We're good," the newly healed Jonathan replied.
"We have food, we're good!" Warren said around a mouthful of food, earning him a disgusted look from Cordelia.
"Hey Giles," Andrew waved, as Oz nodded to the Englishman.
The gang then greeted Willow and Cordy. Xander hugged her, and then he grinned as he kissed the hell out of his girlfriend. For her part, Willow kissed Oz more chastely; they hadn't gone as far as Xander and Cordy had yet, after all.
The telephone rang in his private office, and Giles excused himself to answer the phone. When he came out again, he was looking a lot more pale and worried. "I…I…I'm afraid I have bad news," Giles said, polishing his glasses; which everyone knew was always a bad sign.
"What is it?" Warren asked, still munching on a sandwich the size of new-born baby.
"The Judge?" Xander asked, hoping he was wrong.
"I'm afraid so," the Watcher replied wearily. "That was, um, what the phone call just now was about."
"Wait a minute, I don't get it – the bloodsucker took the arm and left!" Jonathan said, confused.
"It didn't work, did it? It wasn't enough," Cordelia said angrily, quickly getting it.
"Yes, well, according to my source, the-the Judge was restored, using some sort of half-human half-demon arm. While we were congratulating ourselves on a job well done, early Thursday morning. Not long after midnight, in fact," Giles sighed.
"We haven't seen anything during our patrols," Oz said, thinking rapidly. "You trust this source of yours?"
"Althenea is never wrong," Giles nodded.
"So where's Buffy?" Jonathan asked, looking around for the Slayer.
"She's still indisposed, I'm afraid," Giles replied with another sigh.
"She hasn't been to school since Wednesday," Willow added, looking sad.
"Indisposed, my ass!" Cordelia snarled, heading for the door. And everyone could tell what that meant.
"Wait, Cordy!" Willow cried out.
'Cordy...' was all Xander managed to transmit, as the vampiress blurred from sight.
'No, Xander, this needs sorting out, like right now. This threatens all of us, and Mopey the Vampire Slayer will be involved – when she likes it or not!' came the angry reply.
Xander understood his girlfriend's unspoken order not to follow her on this one. And within minutes, Cordelia was at the Summers residence. Knocking on the door gently, she waited only a few seconds before a twisting and gyrating Dawn opened the door.
"Oh, hi Elizabeth!" the twelve-year-old child greeted her sister's friend, removing her earphones and ceasing to move to the beat of the groove.
"Hi, Dawn, is your big sister home?" Cordelia replied with a smile.
"Yeah, yeah, she's all mopey though. Said her boyfriend had to leave town," Dawn replied, rolling her eyes and letting Cordelia in.
Chuckling, Cordelia asked her, "How did your mom take that?"
"Not too well, though I tried to be sympathetic and all. Neither Dawn nor I even knew she had one," came the voice of Mrs Summers, before Joyce appeared out of a nearby room.
"So, did you know him?" Dawn asked, as eager for the dirt as all little sisters were.
"Yeah, he was kinda helpful," Cordelia replied. 'At least, when it suited him,' she thought to herself cynically.
"I suppose that's a good thing, but I still wish she'd introduced me to that young man as something other than her tutor, way back when. Anyway, I take it you're here to see Buffy?" Joyce asked, placing her ironing pile on the ironing board.
"Yes, please, I heard from Willow today that she was down in the dumps," Cordelia said genially.
"Buffy!" Joyce called up the stairs.
"I'm not hungry, mom!" Buffy's tired voice came from her upstairs bedroom.
"Elizabeth is here to see you!" her mother replied.
"Well, tell her I don't want to see her!" Buffy snapped, sounding angry now.
Growling under her breath, Cordelia asked Joyce for permission to go upstairs. Joyce said yes, and not to let Buffy's attitude get to her. Assuring Joyce it never had, Cordelia made her way up to Buffy's room.
"I said I didn't want to see you," Buffy said, sitting up in bed holding Mr. Gordo and glaring at Cordy.
"So what? You think this world revolves around what you want? Newsflash, but it doesn't," Cordelia glared, squashing the urge to knock some sense into the Slayer.
"This is my room, and this is my home," Buffy snapped. "And this is my choice – so leave!"
"Ooooh me, me, me. Angel left me, it's the end of the world, oh boo-hoo. Suck it up and deal, will you? Because we need you – NOW," Cordelia semi-snarled.
"Why, is the world ending again?" Buffy bitched.
"Maybe. Apparently, the Judge is active; somebody managed to put Humpty-Dumpty back together again!"
This stunned Buffy into silence, although that didn't last long. "What? Did someone grab the arm Angel left with, somehow? I mean, is he-?"
"No, not as far as I know. Apparently, Team Evil managed to come up with an acceptable substitute for that arm we got rid of! What is it about being a bad guy that jacks up the IQ points, I wonder?" Cordelia asked rhetorically. "Now get up and get dressed, will you?"
"What are you going to do throw me over your shoulder" scoffed Buffy, she was still in a bad mood from losing the man she loved.
Stepping closer to the Slayer Cordelia's face darkened. Buffy gulped as Cordelia showed her the visage of woman who takes no prisoners.
"Yes so MOVE or I WILL, you have ten minutes." snarled the vampires turning and leaving the room.
"Get your ass in gear or so help me, I'll do a lot worse than that, you self-centred loser! You got ten minutes!" Cordy snarled, turning and leaving the bedroom.
Entering the kitchen, Cordelia saw Mrs. Summers baking. "Hi, I'm back!"
"Everything okay up there, Elizabeth?" the middle-aged mom asked absently.
"Yes, Mrs. Summers."
"Please call me Joyce, dear, and oh – where are my manners? Would you like anything to eat or drink?" Joyce smiled, seeing the blonde girl in the doorway.
"No thank you, Joyce, I've already eaten," Cordy replied politely. It was odd, but thanks to her Rosalie memories she found herself greatly reminded of Esme Cullen. The two women didn't look the same, sure, but in spirit they were greatly alike...
Smiling at the Summers mom, Cordelia heard Dawn thunder down the stairs, grimacing at the loudness of the thumps above her head. 'Stupid enhanced hearing, some days I just hate it!'
"Dawn, please, you're going to put a hole in the stairs doing that!" Joyce said, exasperated.
"Mom, Buffy's hogging the bathroom!" the little girl whined, entering the kitchen.
'Good, guess I'm not gonna have to put the beat down on her after all,' Cordelia thought in amusement.
"I'm afraid that's what happens when you reach seventeen, Dawn. Girls my age, we have to look our best for when we go out in public!" Cordelia said smiling at Dawn.
"So, Elizabeth, has your boyfriend Lavelle got a younger brother? Or even a twin?" Dawn asked with a cheeky grin.
"Dawn!" Joyce cried in embarrassment.
'A twin, ha! Two Xander's, I couldn't cope,' Cordelia thought, laughing inwardly.
She then responded, seeing the girl as no threat, "No, sweetie, I'm afraid not. Why?"
"No reason," Dawn blushed, no longer finding the game funny.
"Oh, Dawn," Joyce said, with a shake off her head. 'Kids these days...'
Hearing Buffy come down the stairs, Cordelia turned to face the doorway. Buffy stepped into the kitchen, looking subdued, and said she was ready for them to go.
"Where are you two going?" Dawn asked, back in gather-all-possible-dirt mode.
"The library. Just studying for a while, and maybe do some girl talk as well," Cordelia replied, before Buffy could snap at her little sister.
"Oh, good, you can catch up on the last two days of school you've missed. And Buffy, you will be going to school on Monday!" Joyce said, glad how at least one of Buffy's friends had a work ethic.
'If the world's still here, anyway,' Cordelia thought to herself before saying, "Ready to go?"
"Yeah," Buffy said morosely.
Gritting her teeth over the lack of enthusiasm, Cordelia escorted Buffy out the door after saying goodbye to Joyce and Dawn.
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Los Angeles – 6:45 pm
Xander whistled as he strolled up to Himura Specialist Exotic Weaponry, arm in arm with Cordelia. Opening the door of the shop, the two sparkle-pires entered the shop; which caused a bell to tinkle softly.
"Hey, Daniel!" he called out.
"Hello, Xander, how are you?" Daniel greeted his new friend. "And Cordelia," Daniel added, kissing her hand. "Your beauty grows with every passing day, my dear girl."
"Hello, Daniel," Cordelia said, beaming. "You flatterer!"
The Brazilian has met Xander and Cordy while the teenagers were in LA the previous week. A Polgara demon had attempted to eat the 29-year-old man, when the sparkle-pires had come across them. Cordelia had immediately liked the South American; he reminded her of Benjamin, the elemental Twilight vampire from Egypt.
"Still got the ponytail, I see," Xander grinned.
"Yep, not losing the 'tail, now – what can I do for you, my friend?" Daniel laughed, brushing a hand over his unshaven face.
"I need weapons, heavy-duty ones," Xander asked seriously, as Cordelia looked around.
"Something going down?" Daniel asked curiously, as he showed Xander and Cordelia his heavy weaponry in the back room after flipping the Open sign over and locking the door.
Xander was glad he could talk to this guy about the supernatural world beneath the human one. Daniel had been born a werewolf and had grown up in a colony of what the Brazilians called the loup garou, so he was someone that could be confided in about who and what he and Cordelia really were. Harris said, "Yeah, and the legend says this thing can't be killed by any weapon forged by man."
"Good job you're not a man, then," the werewolf grinned.
"Yeah, but I wanna chop it up into itty bitty pieces," Xander grinned back.
Smirking, Daniel replied, "Somehow, I knew you'd say that..."
Opening the biggest cupboard he had in the back room, the werewolf gave Xander a very heavy, large axe which he swung like a child's toy. The axe handle was inlaid with runes and inscriptions that were not in any human tongue, something Cordy instantly picked up on. She had been born to notice these things, almost.
"Ooh, yeah," Xander said glowingly, as he stopped swinging the axe. "Me like. Me like lots!"
"It was made by Shimarian battle warriors, demons who thrive on war," Daniel explained. "Not a drop of human blood in them, I can guarantee. They're fanatical about racial purity."
"Good for them," Xander said uncaringly.
Chuckling, Daniel asked, "Wanna keep looking?"
Xander nodded, setting the axe down reverently. "What else ya got?"
"What about this?" Himura asked, handing over a double-edged axe. The weapon had a leather grip pole as thick as a tree branch, meaning Xander's Emmett-like hands could handle it with ease. "It was also made by Shimarian demons."
"I love them both, but you know, Cordy will kill me if I don't buy her something as well," Xander joked.
"Hey, dweeb, I'm standing right here!" Cordelia said, glaring and tapping her foot with her arms folded.
Daniel laughed heartily at this. "Ah, women, can't live with them but can't live without them, um – just joking, Cordelia?" he added somewhat hastily, after Cordy glared at him.
Opening another cupboard, Himura brought out a thin rifle. "I know the ladies like keeping their nails perfect, so I take it close quarters combat is out?" asked the weapons expert.
"Well, I do so hate breaking my nails," Cordelia said slowly, looking at the gun.
"It was made by an Almogoorian demon for his clan's fight against the Germans in World War II. Hitler's fascination with the occult led him to the truth about the demon world, in case you didn't know – and the Nazi threat was such that the demon freedom fighter in question built three of these for his people," Himura explained. "Nothing human involved in its forging."
Cordelia picked up the gun, surprised by how light it was. She noticed a beautiful motif of a lion poised to bite off an eagle's head.
Seeing her looking at the motif Daniel explained, "The eagle represents the Nazis. The lion represents the Almogoorian clan's community, a pride if you will, and their never-ending fight against the enemy."
"What happened to them, way back when?" Xander asked curiously.
"Oh, the Swiss demon community got any Almogoorian clans they could out of Nazi-occupied countries during the war, which lasted from 1940 to 1943."
"I thought that war ended in 1945?" Cordelia asked in confusion.
"Ours did. Theirs didn't," Daniel replied simply.
"I've never shot a gun before," Cordelia said nervously, thinking about war. "Is there somewhere I can practice, before I head back to the Hellmouth?"
"Yeah, there's a gun range owned by a friend of mine, run strictly by and for non-human clientele. They don't allow fighting in the club, though, so you'll be okay," Daniel explained.
Xander asked Daniel about a short sword in the same cupboard Daniel had pulled the gun from.
"Ah! Now that, my friend, is a sword made in Pyrovilian fire, by a demon rumoured to be from another planet; or at least another dimension," Daniel said.
"What do you think, Cordy, that too?" Xander asked.
"Looks good," Cordelia said, taking it from him and twirling it a little.
"We'd best get back to Sunnydale as soon as we can, just in case the world's about to end. So, how much?" Xander asked the werewolf.
"For you? Nothing, I owe you one. You two saved my life!" Daniel said expansively.
"Don't give me that! This stuff must be worth a fortune, we've got to give you something!" Cordelia said firmly.
Sighing, Daniel looked at Xander. "She's not going to take no for an answer, is she?"
"Nope. Best to just go along with whatever the woman wants, in my experience," Xander replied, grinning.
The weapons expert agreed to let Cordelia pay him in any way she thought was appropriate, and a week later, Daniel was shocked to find himself the owner of a large building complete with underground cellar and cage.
Rosalie's knowledge of the stock market did come very much in handy, oddly enough.
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Sunnydale Mall – 8:15 pm
Oz cursed the vigorous late Friday night shopping at the mall, trying to identify any vampires present; or even the Judge. Giles had said that the apocalypse demon would need a large crowd of bodies to feed on, the Bronze was a bust and so, there had really been only one choice of venue left in a small town like Sunnydale.
"The Judge hasn't appeared anywhere. Not that I'm worried or anything, but if he doesn't show up soon..." Andrew said, scanning the entrances.
"Perhaps the vampires are waiting to see if the crowd size will increase," Giles said. "In any case, I'm sure he'll be here soon." And soon enough, Oz's cell phone went off with a text from Jonathan.
*Incoming big Smurf* the Pack member sent. Then he added, *Lot of vampires*
Seconds later, screams started to echo throughout the building as the denizens of Sunnyhell ran from the latest creature of the night to burst the bubble of Sunnydale Syndrome.
"Now," Oz said calmly.
The Pack ran to their pre-designated targets. Quickly and stealthily taking out the CCTV cameras, the four boys transformed into their werewolf aspects. They were met by a shaky-looking Willow, who had insisted to Oz that she was part of this too. Giles stood behind her, close enough to try to protect her if need be.
"You guys ready to go?" Buffy asked, now looking every inch the Slayer.
Oz growled slightly, as the rest of pack woofed in agreement.
"I'll take that as a yes," Buffy replied, heading towards the screams.
'I hope whatever plan Xander has, it works,' Rupert thought, as they went into battle against the enemy.
They had no need to try to locate the Judge. The people had been herded together near the food court, a wheelchair-ridden Spike at the Judge's side. A woman screamed as a gleeful Drusilla stepped forward and thrust her towards the apocalypse demon.
"Arhhhhhhhhgh!" the poor woman screamed in terror, as the Judge sent a burst of energy from his right hand at her.
The woman disappeared in a flash of fire, and Drusilla grabbed another civilian.
"Yo, ya big hunk o' nasty, Papa Smurf says you've been a bad boy," a male voice said, as Xander- and Cordelia-shaped blurs came to a stop before Spike, Dru and the Judge.
"Yeah, and now it's time to take your medicine," Cordelia drawled, eying Drusilla; who snarled at her angrily.
'What do you see, babe?' Xander asked his mate.
'Spike is dark with a small swirl of light, Drusilla looks like swirling black and white, but the Judge – he's like pure black, honey.'
Putting aside the white light Cordy had seen in the two vampires for now, Xander concentrated on the pure evil that was the Judge.
"Stupid lioness, no fair, naughty-naughty!" Drusilla hissed, not liking the girl who could see, sort of like she did, one bit.
"NOW!" Xander roared.
At his signal, the Pack and Buffy burst into action. Taking out the vampires surrounding the people was easy as the Scoobies had the element of surprise. Cordelia blurred and vanished, heading to her part of the plan.
"NOOO, YOU BLOODY MUTTS!" Spike roared, just before Drusilla scooped him up out the chair and ran for it as fast as she could. Dru was no fool, and besides – she knew that she needed to get Spike to safety, first and foremost...
A vampire minion leapt onto Oz's back, however his Beta ripped the vampire away and tore its head off with his jaws. Jonathan and Warren tore apart another five of the undead between them.
"I needed to go on a shopping spree, anyway," Buffy quipped, as she took out her third vampire.
"This way, please hurry," Giles urged, as he and Willow directed people through the gap in vampire lines.
Another vampire tried to bite a civilian, but was intercepted by a snarling Jonathan and promptly had its head ripped off. Suddenly, Drusilla flew across the food court, taking Oz crashing through the glass windows of a camping store.
'Oz!' Andrew called out, seeing his Alpha being attacked by the deranged vampiress.
'I'm fine, keep going!' Oz replied, batting the mad vampiress away as she screeched at him, lashing out with her nails and drawing a deep gouge in his side.
"Bad doggy, bad doggy!" Drusilla snarled, launching a shelf at his head before running out of the store.
'What's her deal?' Oz asked himself, quickly running after her.
Before the Pack could rush to Oz's aid, a vampire appeared, grinned manically. It, or rather he, viciously punched Warren in the head, causing the werewolf to stagger. Recognizing the vampire from the docks, Jonathan and Andrew lunged as one. Lucius gave them a wicked grin and kicked Jonathan in the ribs, breaking bones again which caused a pained yelp from the wolf. Andrew ducked his first punch, but was hit hard by the second one on his cheek.
'Watch your throat, dude!' Jonathan wheezed painfully.
'Yeah, that guy punches hard, I think I'm concussed,' came Warren's muzzy thought.
"Lucius!" Drusilla roared, causing the vampire in question to grin salute mockingly.
"Another time, puppies," the smirking bloodsucker said, as he turned his back on the enemy and followed his mistress, leaving the three werewolves behind as more minions took his place. Andrew angrily tore into the vampires alone, his Beta instinct to protect injured pack members coming to the fore.
'That's it. I'll get that fucking bastard for this!' Warren snarled, his head throbbing.
'I'm gonna tear his head off,' Jonathan added gasping with every breath.
'Not if I do it first,' Andrew told them, once the minions were dust. The Beta checked out his brethren, who sighed painfully and shakily leaned into him as he helped them up.
Buffy saw Lucius and Drusilla and tore after them, wondering why they were in such a hurry. The cause of this distress was in fact Xander and Cordelia's battle with the Judge...
'You guys alright?' Oz asked, skidding to a stop.
'I'm fine, Oz, but we gotta deal with that vamp that hurt Warren and Jonathan – again,' Andrew replied angrily.
'He did THIS?' Oz growled, rubbing his head against Jonathan's and woofing at Warren, who was leaning on Andy: eyes barely open and unfocused.
'Yeah,' Warren replied drowsily, as Jonathan gasped in pain.
'Concussion, I think,' Andrew explained, as Warren groaned painfully.
'Warren, I promise you, he's DUST!' Werewolf Oz snarled, before telling Andrew to get the Pack members out of here as he took off after his prey.
Xander missed all of this, his attention solely on the Judge.
"What is this? You stink of humanity, both of you, but you are not human," the Judge had boomed a short while earlier, seeing the two strange beings before him. "I have never before encountered your like. What are you?"
"Us? Oh, we're the extermination service," Xander had grinned, before bringing out what the Judge recognized to be an axe.
Looking unamused, the Judge had declared, "You think that will stop me? No weapon forged can kill me!"
"Let's test that theory, shall we?" Xander had actually laughed at the enemy, just in order to piss him off. An angry enemy often makes mistakes, as Emmett Cullen had learned, and if there was one talent Alexander Harris had had before Halloween – it was being able to infuriate anyone, human or demon.
Xander had swiped at the Judge with his axe, taking off the hand that was reaching for him.
"Agggh!" the blue-skinned demon had roared, realizing that it had underestimated the enemy; and the weapon he wielded was nothing forged by man. He had been hacked to pieces centuries ago, and knew what human weapons felt like. Fuming, the Judge had then let loose a blast of energy from its other hand, determined to crush this puny insect until it was no more.
'I ain't letting you see if your mojo works on me,' Xander had thought, as he ducked and ran; the Judge thundering after him.
Once away from the civilians, Xander unleashed his secret weapon. "Now, Cordy!"
Stationed at a high vantage point Cordelia thought, 'Here goes nothing!' having spent less than half an hour at the range. Taking her time before lining up her sights, Cordelia breathed out to aid her shot. Seeing the Judge's head in the centre of her gunsights, Cordelia squeezed the trigger.
"Stupid worm, how dare you-!" the Judge roared, reaching for Xander with its one remaining hand.
But then dark blue blood spattered all over the walls as the bullet penetrated the Judge's head, turning brain matter into mush. Unable to believe what had happened, or even understand what had happened, Big Blue fell over like a tree felled in the woods.
Xander simply couldn't help himself. "Timmmbeeeeerrrr!" he yelled.
Cordelia rolled her eyes, as she blurred to his side. "Well?"
Xander grinned and handed her his second axe, chuckling gleefully. "I said I wanted to chop it up, didn't I?" he grinned.
"Yeah, yeah, now let's get this over with!" Cordelia ordered him with a smile, she was secretly glad Xander was enjoying himself. Together, they chopped the Judge into itty bitty pieces; and when they were done, Xander took out his phone.
Escorting the last of the civilians towards the main doors of the mall, Giles got a text from Xander: *Clear*
*OK will join you soon* the Watcher replied, thankful for Willow's lessons on how to use the new-fangled device.
Willow and Giles soon joined Xander and Cordy with a number of bio-hazard bags in their arms. Willow gawped as she saw the area littered and strewn with pieces of Judge.
"I don't think a rocket launcher would have done better, Xander," Willow said, stunned.
"Hey," Andrew said as he showed up, newly phased, supporting Warren and Jonathan.
"You okay, buddy?" Xander asked, taking the scene in front of him.
"You guys!" Willow gasped, dropping her bag and rushing to them.
"We'll be okay, Will," Andrew said, jaw throbbing in pain. Warren was slumped over his shoulder unconscious, and a wincing Jonathan leaned heavily against him, holding his ribs gingerly.
"Is everything alright, Andrew?" Giles asked, looking concerned as Andrew lay Warren down gently, helped by a worried Willow.
"Yeah, well. Warren has a concussion, my cheekbone's broken and Jonathan has at least three busted ribs, maybe more," the Beta replied wearily. "All right may not be the best words to use..."
Giles helped Jonathan to sit up against a wall, wincing at the boy's strength as Levinson gripped his hand. 'Ah, bloody hell!'
"Sorry," Jonathan gasped, seeing Giles wince.
"Not to worry, boy, you're in a lot of pain – even for a werewolf," the Watcher replied gently.
"You hurt real bad, Jono?" Willow asked, as the wolf nodded while wincing.
"Everyone okay?" Oz asked worriedly as he appeared round the corner, bleeding from several places. Buffy followed him, having sustained her own injuries in the recent battle.
"Oz!" Willow gasped, checking Jonathan one last time and rushing over to her boyfriend.
"What happened? Oz, Buffy?" Xander asked, having finished shoving the Judge's various parts into bags along with Cordelia.
"They ambushed us, that's what. Led us into a trap as we were chasing after them," Buffy complained. "Damn it, the vamps are getting smarter...too smart for my liking!"
"I didn't call you 'cause I knew you guys had to stop the apocalypse, plus I didn't want more injured," Oz explained, squeezing Andrew's shoulder.
Nodding, Andrew whimpered slightly his throat tightening. "The guys are injured."
"So are you, dude," Oz said, checking out Andrew's cheek carefully before ruffling his hair.
"The vamp?" the Beta asked, once the Alpha had let him go. And there was no need to specify which one, either.
"Got away," Oz sighed, as Willow tightly hugged the young werewolf.
Nodding, Xander and Cordelia blurred and vanished, taking the bags to their home to be gotten rid of later. It was good think Harris knew of a junkyard where cars were routinely crushed and compacted, which would hopefully destroy the Judge once and for all – wonderful thing sometimes, modern technology...
Sighing, Giles headed up to the security office to tell the mall cops it was safe to come out now. The Watcher figured he'd be able to sell the 'gang on PCP' story with a little embellishment, namely that one of the gang members had been a Smurf fanatic. The odds were they'd buy it in this town, if nowhere else...
The rest of the Scooby Gang painfully and slowly made their way home. Buffy arrived at 1630 Revello Drive, just as Willow, and the Pack crashed at The Lair; and the Slayer managed to sneak indoors via the outside tree, and her upstairs bedroom window. Xander and Cordelia patrolled as they were the only ones not injured.
Even though she was still missing Angel terribly, the Slayer knew there was no point in giving her mother reason to believe she had done anything except study this evening; or that 'Elizabeth Giles' was an unhealthy influence in her life...
TBC...