Connor and Buffy had spent the entire car ride from LA talking and he'd enjoyed it. She was a nice person and she treated him like a human being. A lot of bad things had happened to her in her short lifespan and he could relate to that.

"I'm sorry I'm dragging you from one bad situation to another." Buffy said. "I just figured you might need a break from the judgement in LA. Your dad agreed."

"Why did he?" Connor asked.

"Because he loves you and only wants the best for you. I guess when we get home, you can sleep in my room. I've got an air mattress stashed in my closet. The girls don't go in there, so you'll be safe. Just…. Ignore the stares."

"Why would they be staring at me?"

"Because you're a boy their age and you're easy on the eyes. Pretty sure I gave your dad the same looks at some point when I was their age. You look a lot like him."

"That's a good thing?"

Buffy laughed. "Yeah, Connor. That's a good thing." The passenger door of the truck driving ahead of them opened suddenly and a body fell out. Buffy slammed on the brakes and barely avoided hitting the girl lying on the road. The truck kept driving into the night. Buffy and Connor got out of the car and ran up to the girl. "Can you hear me?" She rolled the girl over to reveal a stab wound in her stomach and blood pooling on the ground. "She's bleeding pretty bad. We need to get her to the hospital."

Connor nodded and knelt down to lift the girl in his arms. Buffy ran to her Jeep and got out an emergency blanket from the back. She laid it down on the backseat and Connor laid the bleeding girl on the backseat.

"I'll stay back here with her." He offered, climbing into the back.

Buffy got into the driver's seat and hit the gas. She glanced at Connor in the rearview mirror. "Welcome to Sunnydale."

Buffy and Connor stood outside a wall of windows watching surgeons operate on the girl they had saved. Willow walked towards them looking extremely nervous. "I got your message. Is she ok?"

"She will be." Buffy said. "Where have you been?"

"Uh…. LA."

"You left before we did."

"Yeah. I…. Kind of…. Sort of…. I did something in LA before I left." Buffy didn't say anything and Willow fidgeted some more before saying in a fast stream of words, "I went to see Faith and ended up magically breaking her out of jail."

"You did what?"

Faith rounded the corner behind Willow. "I told you she wouldn't be happy about it."

"Not happy about my best friend breaking a murderer out of jail?"

"She's a murderer?" Connor asked.

"And a Slayer."

"Like you?"

"She wishes."

"Look," Faith said. "I'm here to help. If something's killing girls all over the world, trying to end the Slayer line…. Thing like that…. Figure I might get a heads up."

"You were in prison." Buffy said. "I figured you were safe there from what's going on out here."

"Yeah, that's prison. Safe as a kitten."

"Did something happen?"

"Someone came at me with a nasty looking knife. Didn't really know why till Big Red showed up."

"We didn't think they would go after you in there. If we'd have known…."

"Forget it. It's cool. I'm here now and ready to help."

Buffy nodded. "Good. Welcome back."

Faith looked at Connor. "Angel's kid?"

"Yeah." Connor said.

"Cool." Faith looked at the girl being worked on by the surgeons. "You sure she's one of us? She don't look like much now. Not a potential Slayer, I mean."

"I don't know." Buffy said. "It fits the First's MO, though. We'll know more when she wakes up."

"If she wakes up. Girl's been gutted like a catfish."

"Yeah." Buffy closed her eyes for a moment, trying to ignore the pain in her ribs.

"You look like you went a few rounds with a Mack truck, B."

"Pretty sure I did."

"You should go home and get some rest." Willow said. "I can stay here."

"No rest for the weary." Buffy stood a little straighter, causing her ribs to protest. "I've got a war to get back to."

"Come on, B." Faith said. "You've got two super beings here now. Take a breather."

Buffy shook her head. "I took a breather by going up to LA."

"You've got a twisted version of a breather, then, if taking on Angelus and some crazy rock demon is your idea of one."

That made the blonde Slayer laugh. "Probably. I am going to head back to the house, though. I can get Faith and Connor set up there."

"And get some rest." Willow insisted. She pointed at her face. "Resolve face."

"I'll make sure she at least tries." Connor said.

"How do you think you're going to do that?" Buffy asked.

Connor shrugged. "I have no idea."

Buffy chuckled. "Come on, kid. Let's go."

Buffy, Faith, and Connor walked into Buffy's house through the front door. Dawn and Giles were at the dining room table. Faith ignored them for the moment as she looked around the house.

"Whoa. Memory Lane." The dark headed Slayer said. "Same old house."

"Yeah, well, every piece of furniture's been destroyed and replaced since you left, so, actually, new house." Buffy joked.

Dawn walked towards them with her arms crossed, giving Faith a glare. "Buffy?"

"We have a couple new house guests."

"Hey, got a spare bed for a wanted fugitive?" Faith asked lightheartedly.

"Hello, Faith." Giles said, nodding.

Dawn was glaring at Faith and the dark Slayer looked at Buffy. "Well, I guess 'wanted' wasn't really accurate."

"Does she have to stay here?" Dawn asked. "Because there's some nice hotels that welcome tried-to-kill-your-sister types."

"Check it out. Brat's all woman-sized." Faith said.

Buffy shrugged. "Little bit. Dawn, this is Connor."

"Angel's son?" Dawn asked.

"Yeah."

Dawn reached out and shook Connor's hand. "Nice to meet you."

"You too." Connor said.

"Come on, Connor." Buffy headed for the stairs. "Let's see if we can dig out that air mattress."

"Faith, we better, um, see if we can find some place to squeeze you in for the night." Giles said.

Spike, who had been listening in the kitchen, poked his head out once Dawn and Giles had walked off. "Not all that tension was about you." He said. "Giles was a part of a plan to kill me…. For Buffy's own good."

Faith looked Spike up and down. "Well, that makes me feel better about me, worse about Giles…. Kinda shaky about you." She shook her head and followed Giles.

Spike walked up the stairs, heading for Buffy's room. She was alone for the moment, sitting on the edge of her bed with her eyes closed. Connor was in the bathroom. The bag for an air mattress was sitting at her feet. "You smell like him."

"Who?" Buffy asked, opening her eyes to look at him.

"Angel."

"That happens when you're in a fight to the death with his soulless half."

"It looks like my grandsire almost won that fight."

She shrugged. "He didn't."

"That's not why you smell like him, though."

Connor came out of the bathroom and his eyes landed on Spike. "Buffy needs rest."

Spike laughed. "Look at Angel Jr.! The apple didn't fall far from that tree. You got your mother's forehead, though, thankfully."

"Spike," Buffy snapped. "Please don't cause trouble."

"Seems like you and I need to talk, but I'll let you rest." He looked her over once more before turning and shutting the door.

"Don't mind him." Buffy said. "He's just…. Spike."

"Angel told me about him." Connor said.

She looked at him in surprise. "And what did Angel have to say about Spike?"

"That he hurt you and I need to keep an eye on him."

"That it?"

"That's it." Connor picked up the air mattress. "I'll figure out how to get this blown up. You get some sleep."

Buffy walked into the main office of the high school and headed for Robin Wood's office. The last time she'd seen him, he had been beaten badly by Spike in his and Giles' attempt to kill Spike. He was just sitting at his desk working and looked up at her.

"You look better." Buffy said.

"You don't." Robin said.

"I'm healing."

"What happened in LA?"

"Got into a couple of fights to the death. Managed to win both. Stopped an apocalypse, I think."

"Good to hear. Did you come here to start beating up on me?"

"No. Well, I thought about it. I made some doodles. But then I went to LA and it just didn't seem all that important. As far as I'm concerned, we're on even ground. I meant what I said. I don't have time for your vendetta, but I need you in this fight. I want you on my side."

"Thanks. That means a lot."

"So, we're good?"

"Absolutely. You're fired."

"What?!"

"Effective immediately."

"You're firing me? I gave you notice that I needed to leave for a few days!"

"It's not about that. Buffy, there's nothing here for you. People are leaving town, half the kids don't even bother showing up anymore…. You've got things to deal with that are much worse than anything here. Look at the big picture."

"Right. The big picture. The one with the big war and the dead little girls."

"Not dead. Not dead. Not if you get them ready."

"I don't want to lead them into war. It can't be the right thing."

"Most wars aren't, you know."

"Some of these girls haven't even been tested in battle."

"Then, I guess, maybe you should test them. Word has it that you brought someone back from LA."

"My ex's 18 year old son. I think my ex will eventually come down and join this fight. Couldn't I just come to work part-time? I could make flyers for encounter groups and post them up all over school."

"And you're fired again. Remember, Buffy, the mission's what matters."

Buffy sighed and walked out of the office. Connor, who had accompanied her that day, walked up to her. "This is a school. Why isn't anyone here?"

"People have been leaving town." Buffy said, heading for the exit. "They sense something bad is here and they have the sense enough to leave before the Hellmouth blows…. For once."

"Where are we going? Don't you have to work?"

"My boss…. He knows who I am. He's the son of a Slayer. Well, he fired me just now."

"Why?"

"Because I have bigger things to deal with. Also, there's not really anybody here."

"So, what do we do today?"

Buffy sighed. "I don't really want to go home just yet. Want a tour of Sunnydale?"

"Sure."

An hour later, they were sitting in Angel's old mansion drinking their coffee drinks from the Espresso Pump. Buffy looked around the place. It was slightly dusty since she hadn't been here in a while to clean it. "I should just move in here and get away from all those girls."

"Why don't you? There's more space here." Connor said.

"This was Angel's place. Not mine."

"I don't think he would mind. Besides, you come here to get away, don't you? That's what you said."

"I also can't just leave the girls without a protector."

"They have Faith there now. And Willow."

"If anymore girls show up, I'm going to have to stick them somewhere." Connor nodded. The house was full of girls and about to burst. They made him feel uncomfortable with all their staring. "Maybe this place wouldn't be so bad."

"Maybe." Connor agreed. They were quiet for a long moment, then Connor said, "Buffy, did you know my mother?"

"I met her once."

"What was she like?"

Buffy was quiet for a long moment and at first, he wasn't sure if she heard him or was ignoring the question. Then she finally said, "Darla was evil. She and Angelus spent a century and a half wreaking havoc on people before she kicked him out for getting a soul. Which was her fault, by the way. The one time I met her, she was trying to kill me because she was angry that Angel fell in love with me."

"But she kicked him out for having a soul. Why was she mad he didn't love her?"

"I guess because neither Angel or Angelus ever really loved her."

"And they both love you."

"Angelus doesn't love me."

"That's not the impression I got."

Buffy scowled at Connor for a moment, but shook her head. "Connor, Angelus and Darla only loved themselves. They both did horrible things to each other and everything they did benefitted themselves. Angelus does not love me. He's never done anything good for my benefit. The only good thing Darla ever did in her very long life was to bring you into the world."

Connor nodded. "Do you think I'm like them?"

"I think you're very much like Angel and nothing like Darla."

"How am I like Angel?"

"Well, besides your appearance, your mannerisms are so alike it's scary. Watching you two, it's hard to believe that you and your dad spent 17 years apart."

"You watch me?"

"You're hard not to notice. Like your dad." Connor blushed slightly. "You both have the urge to protect your friends and family. You both have a fighting spirit and the will to do what you think is right."

"Is that why you love him?"

"It's among the many reasons why I love him."

"I wish you had been my mom."

"So does your dad, apparently."

"Not you?"

"I would've been honored to be your mother, but the universe didn't see it that way."

"I'm here now."

"That you are. But please don't call me 'mom', though. Might be a little weird."

Connor laughed. "So now that his soul is permanent, will you and Angel be together again?"

"I hope so, but only time will tell." She looked at her empty plastic cup. "We should go see if there's been any word from Willow about that girl we saved."

Buffy and Connor stood with Willow in Shannon's hospital room. The girl had finally woken up and Willow had left word at the house for Buffy. Connor and Buffy had turned around and gone immediately to the hospital. Shannon was laying in her hospital bed, one eye swollen shut. There was a cut running across her nose and another between her eyebrows. She had multiple bandages on her body.

"He was a minister, or something." Shannon said. "At least, he dressed like one. I thought he was trying to save me…. At first."

"He picked you up on the side of the road?" Buffy asked.

"Bringers were chasing me. He said they were his boys…. Right before he burned me." She reached up and pulled the bandage off to reveal a round burn mark on her neck. Willow pulled out her digital camera from her purse and snapped a picture of the burn. "He wanted to tell you something. Before he…. Cut me. He told me to give the Slayer a message."

"What is it?"

"He said, 'I have something of yours.'"

Buffy's brows drew down in confusion. "He didn't say what?" Connor asked.

"No. He pushed me out of the truck after that."

Buffy sighed. "Shannon, I promise I'll take care of this." She gently touched the girl's shoulder before heading out of the room with Willow and Connor right behind her.

Connor moved into step with Buffy. "What do you think it is?"

"No idea."

"It could be a trap."

"Maybe. But if he has another potential, then I have to find out." She looked at Willow. "I need you to ask for volunteers from the ones that have been here to longest. Any of them that thinks they're ready for an actual battle."

Willow looked at Buffy's still battered body. "Do you think you're ready for an actual battle?"

"I don't have time to think about that."

"Buffy, you can't protect these girls if you're not at 100. I don't want you or anyone else ending up in here or worse."

"I don't want that either."

Buffy stood in her living room later that evening after addressing the potentials who had volunteered to go. Willow, Xander, Giles, Spike, Connor, and Faith were all seated around her. "We need to start arming the girls." Buffy said. "I wanna be ready to move when we find him."

"We don't even know where we're going." Willow pointed out.

"That's why I figured we'd do a little recon first." Buffy looked at Faith and Connor. "You two up for it?"

"Point me where you want me." Faith said.

"Definitely." Connor said.

"And you're certain this is the best course of action?" Giles asked. "You don't even know what this man has of yours…. If he, in fact, has anything."

"It could be a girl, a potential trying to get to us."

"Could be a stapler."

"Going in anyway."

"With the girls? Most of whom have yet to be in the field, let alone in a life or death situation."

"Then it's time we test them. Look, I'm just taking the ones that have been here the longest. The rest can stay behind."

"Could be that's just what he wants you to do: the old bait-and-switch." Spike said.

"Yeah, he lures us away and then kills the girls we leave behind." Willow agreed.

"I know. That's why I need you to stay here with them. You're my most powerful weapon, Will. I know you can keep them safe if anything happens."

"An unknown man breezes into town, says he has something of yours…." Xander said. "Buffy, this thing's got 'trap' written all over it."

"He won't be expecting a full attack. Not this soon. That's why we have to move."

"We know nothing about this man." Giles argued. "We cannot go into battle unprepared. We have to have more time."

"Giles, we don't have time. And you're not going into battle. You're staying behind with the others. Help the girls who still need a teacher." Buffy looked at Faith and Connor. "You ready?"

"Sure thing." Faith stood up.

"Let'sgo." Connor said.

Buffy, Connor, and Faith walked through the woods. They had found a Bringer and were now following him. Hopefully, it would lead them to their base of operations.

"No eyes, but look at him go." Faith commented. "He got SONAR or something?"

"Or something, I guess. Pretty good when they attack." Buffy said.

"Do they just roam free around town?" Connor asked.

"Well, normally, they show up out of nowhere, and then either stab or get stabbed, and then they run off. Looks like this guy wants to be found."

"Lends weight to the whole 'it's a trap' theory." Faith said.

"I'm through waiting around for people to attack us."

"Hey, I'm with you. Drop me in the hornet's nest, what the hell? You got a rough sitch here, trying to turn a bunch of little girls into an army…."

"They're potential slayers, just like we were."

"Right. Maybe they'll do as good as us."

"They're getting better."

"I'll work with them. Some of them seem real eager. Fashion disasters, yeah, but they're ready to fight."

"Why did you come back?"

"Willow said you needed me. Didn't give it a lot of thought. Do you…. Am I getting you want me to be not here?"

"No, that's not what I meant. I'm glad that you're here. It's good. Thank you."

"No problem. You know me. All about the good deeds." They were silent for a long time as they walked behind the Bringer. "Willow said you helped out Angel."

"Yeah."

"How'd you end up with Angel Jr, here?"

"I asked to come." Connor said.

"Got the hots for Blondie, too?"

"No."

"He did a bad thing and no one up there trusted him." Buffy said. "They treated him like a pariah. I figured he'd be better off with me away from the negativity. He's also got a sour opinion of his dad and I'm looking to change that."

"Gotcha." Faith looked at Connor. "I'm gonna give you my two cents, even if you don't want it. Your dad is a good man. Not sure what you've heard about him that makes you think any less of him, but Angel is…. He's the best man I've ever known."

"I was raised in a hell dimension by someone that hated Angel." Connor said.

"Angelus and Darla killed the guy's family way back when." Buffy explained. "There's a longer, more crazy story that comes after that, but I think we're here." The Bringer had gone into a building that resembled a barn. There was a faded sign over the entrance that said it was once a vineyard.

"What is this place?" Faith asked.

"Look, there's more of them." Connor said, pointing at three more Bringers making their way towards the building.

"I think we just found our hornet's nest."

"Let's get the cavalry." Buffy said.

The three of them about-faced and headed back towards Buffy's house. They were quiet for a long moment before Connor said to Faith, "You know my dad, too?"

Faith nodded. "The man risked life and limb and his relationship to Blondie to save my soul. He put me on the path to redemption."

"Faith and I weren't always so…. Pleasant towards each other." Buffy said.

"Way to sugarcoat it, B."

"We don't have time to really dive into our sordid history."

"There's a lot about Angel that I don't know." Connor said. "I just want to get to know him the way Buffy sees him."

"Why?" Faith asked. "I mean, you've known her for, like, a day."

"Because she was nice to me. She didn't look at me like everyone else did. She just…. Understood me. She trusted me. And Angel…. My dad…. He loves her. I've never seen him look at anyone the way he looks at her."

"That last part I've seen firsthand. The big guy only has eyes for B."

"His soul is permanent now."

"Connor!" Buffy cried.

"Whoa!" Faith stopped walking and looked hard at Buffy. "Is he serious?"

"Willow…. Took out the loophole."

"And you're not locked up in some room somewhere getting groiny with the love of your life?"

"In case you missed it, we're in the middle of an apocalypse here. And Angel has a bad situation he's got to deal with in LA. We don't have time to figure out where we stand in each other's lives now, let alone lock ourselves away somewhere to get groiny."

"B, you let Angel suck you dry and almost kill you just to save him even after he broke up with you. You didn't even hesitate to drop everything, including your Captain America wannabe boyfriend, to run to LA and save Angel from me after I woke up. Apocalypses and bad situations be damned. You two have that big, forever love. I would make time for that talk and the lack of that's definitely following."

"We'll make time for it."

"If you make it through this?"

Buffy shot Faith a glare that shut the dark headed Slayer up. Connor watched the two women walk ahead of him in silence. He was contemplating calling Angel and telling him he needed to come to Sunnydale. When they got back to the house, a group of potentials were standing around the living room with Andrew and Dawn. Xander was addressing the group.

"I've been through more battles with Buffy than you all can ever imagine. She's stopped everything that's ever come up against her. She's laid down her life, literally, to protect the people around her. This girl has died two times, and she's still standing. You're scared? That's smart. You got questions? You should. But you doubt her motives, you think Buffy's all about the kill, then you take the little bus to battle. I've seen her heart, and this time…. Not literally. And I'm telling you, right now, she cares more about your lives than you will ever know. You gotta trust her. She's earned it."

"Damn. I never knew you were that cool." Faith said. Everyone in the room turned to look at Buffy, Connor, and Faith standing in the doorway.

"Well, you always were a little slow." Buffy said.

"I get that now."

"All right, let's saddle up."

Buffy led her small group comprised of Connor, Faith, Spike, Xander, Kennedy, Rona, Molly, Chao-Ahn, Amanda and another potential named Lauren towards the vineyard. They marched up to the front door before Buffy stopped.

"Ok. Set up a perimeter. Guard the door. I don't want anything getting in behind us. My team goes in first, we check the place out. You guys are our safety-net. If this place is a trap, we give the signal, you guys come in, guns a-blazing."

"So, what's the signal?" Xander asked.

"I'm thinking lots and lots of yelling."

"Got it."

"Shall we?" Buffy led Spike, Connor, Molly, Kennedy, Rona, and Chao-Ahn into the building. They ended up headed down into a basement.

"What is this place?" Molly asked.

"Looks like an old vineyard." Buffy said.

"An evil vineyard, huh?" Kennedy asked.

"Like Falcon Crest." Spike said.

"Stay alert, you guys." Buffy warned. "Bringers are here somewhere. Just need to find out where."

"Shouldn't be too hard." Spike said as a gaggle of Bringers dislodged themselves from the shadows behind barrels of wine. They attached the girls, Buffy, Connor, and Spike. Buffy kept her eye on Connor, staying near him. If anything happened to him, she would never forgive herself and neither would Angel. Luckily, the fight was even and the girls were holding their own until the Bringers suddenly stopped fighting and blended back into the shadows.

A man Buffy assumed was Caleb walked out into the light. "Well, now, you girls are just burning with righteousness, aren't you? Problem is, you think you're blazing like suns, when really you're burning like matchsticks in the face of the darkness. You having fun? Now, I hope my boys haven't worn you out too much. I need you fit for when I purify you."

"Save the sermon, padre." Buffy said. "I heard you have something of mine."

"Well, I do now. You liked my little message, did you? You know, I ruined a perfectly good knife on that girl. Got her soiled blood all over the place. I may have to get a new truck. So, you're the Slayer. The Slayer. The strongest, the fastest, the most aflame with that most precious invention of all mankind: the notion of goodness. The Slayer must indeed be powerful." Without warning, Caleb sent Buffy flying across the room with a punch to her face. "So, what else you got?"

"Buffy!" Connor ran over to Buffy as Spike attacked Caleb.

Caleb pushed Spike down with ease and when Spike tried to stand, Caleb head-butted him before throwing him across the room. Spike burst through a large storage tank and wine poured out, washing Spike across the floor. The potentials moved in to join the fight with Kennedy leading them. The Bringers came back out of the shadows to fight the potentials as well. Connor was forced to stay over Buffy and defend her from the Bringers while she was unconscious.

Caleb moved up behind Kennedy as she fought a Bringer and backhanded her into a stack of wine barrels. Rona ran towards her, but Caleb cut her off. She swung the spiked baseball bat at Caleb, but he caught it easily. "Miss, I do believe you have your own problems you should be worrying about." He snapped Rona's arm, sending her reeling back in agony. Caleb chuckled and bent down to pick up a knife from the floor. He tossed it to a nearby Bringer, who swung it around to stab Rona with it. An arrow hit the Bringer's forearm from Xander's bow. "Oh, good! There's more of you." Faith charged at Caleb and Xander joined Connor in defending Buffy. Caleb looked Faith up and down. "Well, you're the other one, aren't you. Your Cain to her Abel. No offense meant to Cain, of course."

Faith threw one knife at him, which he ducked, and she used the other in her attack. Caleb grabbed her arm, twisted it, and crossed it with her other arm. She couldn't move as he squeezed her hands until she was forced to drop the knife. She kneed him in the crotch and Caleb let go of her enough that she could escape. "Never was much for the good book." She backhanded him across the face.

Caleb grabbed Faith's arm on the next punch and twisted it painfully behind her back, causing her to double over and fall to her knees. "Oh, it has its moments. Paul had some good stuff, for instance. But overall I find it a tad complicated. I like to keep things simple." He kicked Faith across the room into a stack of wine barrels, breaking them apart and washing over Faith. "Good folk, bad folk," Lauren swung her sword at Caleb, but he swatted it away and grabbed her face. "Clean folk, dirty folk…." He snapped her neck and dropped her to the ground.

"No!" Molly screamed.

Buffy lifted her head and looked around. "Xander, get them out of here. We have to retreat. Do it." Xander nodded and ran off as Connor helped Buffy to stand. "Your dad and I used to be good at tag teaming bad guys. Let's see if he passed that skill down."

Caleb lifted Molly off the floor by her neck just as Buffy and Connor waded into the Bringers. "What can I say?" Caleb said. "I work in mysterious ways." He stabbed Molly in the gut, dropping her to the ground. "Also some fairly straightforward ones."

Together, Buffy and Connor rushed at Caleb. Connor took his cues from Buffy and they kept him off balance. They managed to avoid his punches and kicks, but Caleb got one in on Connor's chest, sending him flying into the staircase. Enraged, Buffy turned and punched Caleb in the face, sending him flying across the room.

She started to go after him, but Spike pulled her back. "We're all leaving."

Xander helped Kennedy to her feet and began directing the remaining girls towards the stairs as Buffy helped Connor get to his feet. Spike went over to help Rona as Xander called, "Let's go! Come on!"

Caleb grabbed Xander and turned him around. "You're the one who sees everything, aren't you? Well, let's see what we can't do about that." Caleb suddenly plunged his thumb into Xander's left eye, gouging it out. Xander screamed in agony. Connor and Buffy rushed Caleb together, knocking him backward and away from Xander.

"Xander! Come on." Buffy and Connor lifted Xander to his feet and carried him out. Caleb didn't pursue them as they ran.