Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot. Everything else belongs to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and the WB.

Finished: February 16, 2001

~~ Helping Hands ~~

I turn back to the demons as Angel contacts Riley and his team with the walkie-talkie. The demons snarl and growl and bare their fangs, dripping with saliva. Ew much? The demon with the mace swings at me and I duck and roll as the other demon swings its ax down, hitting the ground with a loud thud.

"Buffy!" Angel calls as I stand up quickly. He tosses me an ax of my own and I catch it, swinging it immediately to block the demon's mace from hitting me.

Out of nowhere, the demon is hit with an arrow in its arm. It hisses loudly after realizing that it's from my crossbow. I take a couple steps back and Spike stands next to me with a wide grin. At least he's enjoying the fight. "Didn't think I would miss out on all this fun, now did you?" he asks.

The demon slumps to the ground and the other growls angrily. It barrels toward Spike with its ax in hand, preparing to fight. "Got anymore arrows, Slayer?" Spike asks quickly, taking a few hurried steps backward.

"In my bag, but you won't have time to load it." I reply.

I run over to the paralyzed demon and quickly unlatch the armor from over its heart. I then use my ax to cut my left hand. The blood seeps out instantly as its sharp edge buries itself in my hand. I wince in pain as I drag it slowly across my palm. I then cut a similar sized gash on the demon's chest. Holding my hand a few inches above the cut and making a tight fist, my blood pours over the demon's wound and I watch as my red blood mixes with it's blue blood, forming a dark purple color. The demon's body shudders involuntarily and a growl forms in its throat. "Slayer," it growls. "You will never defeat all of our kind." Don't these things ever die quietly?

"Maybe not, but you and your brother are a good start," I reply. The demon grunts one last time before its eyes roll back into its head and its breathing ceases. I stand up and check on Spike to see how he's doing with the other demon. He's now upgraded from the crossbow to a long sword. I run over to where Angel is fighting a vampire. Stupid fledglings will try and get a meal anywhere they can. He quickly dusts the vampire as I run up to him, holding pressure on my hand.

"Are you okay?" he asks.

"Yeah, I've got to help Spike though," I say glancing over at the blonde vampire, taunting and cursing the demon for all it's worth. He's really getting into the fight. He blocks each of the demon's strikes with the sword. "Where'd he get that sword?" I ask Angel.

"Oh, that's mine," he replies. "I picked it up in LA. It's got a nice silver tip on it, perfect for killing demons with allergies."

I get some bandages from my bag and quickly wrap my hand. It's not perfect, but it'll hold until I can kill this demon. I run over to where Spike and the demon are fighting. It swings its ax at Spike and he blocks and holds it there for a second while I quickly kick it in the back, sending it falling forward. "Thanks, Spike. But you should leave. The commandos are on their way and you don't want to get caught in the crossfire." I say. I quickly grab the sword and he silently pouts as he stalks off...as usual.

The demon growls as it stands up, retrieving its ax from the ground beside it. I wield the sword preparing to parry any attempted strikes from it. And it does just that. I block the first swing and try and hit it with one of my own, but it dodges and returns the swing. It connects with my side and sends me to the ground, sending Angel's sword even further away. I flip onto my back and the demon hovers over me, raising its ax above its head. It grins evilly at me, growling and snarling all the while. Suddenly its grin is wiped off of its face as Angel's sword is thrust into its leg. It spins around to see Angel standing there, with a cocky grin on its face.

"Tell the guys 'downstairs' that Angelus says hi," he smirks as the demon falls to the ground paralyzed from the sword's silver tip. I have to roll out of the way so the demon's heavy body doesn't squash me. "And Riley said you couldn't handle them both." Angel walks over and helps me stand up. The gauze on my hand is completely soaked with blood. I try to pry the demon's armor off but I'm too weak and Angel isn't able to either. We keep the sword nearby in case the effects of the silver wear off but Riley and his team find us.

"Riley, we can't get the armor plate off to mix my blood with the demon's," I say. "Do you have any weapons that will?"

"I've got something better," he replies. Graham steps up beside him and holds out a black suitcase filled with sharp instruments. Riley takes out a syringe filled with red liquid. He kneels next to the demon and injects the solution into its arm. The demon dies much in the same manner as the first one except without the ominous threat. "There. That takes care of that." Riley says.

"You mean that was Slayer's blood?" I ask. "Where did you get it?"

"We contacted Faith in LA," he says, looking somewhat uncomfortable. "She donated some blood for our mission."

"Oh...you could've asked me." I say quietly, feeling slightly hurt...and slightly jealous. "I would have given you mine."
"Right. You were always so willing to give it out before." he says glancing at Angel.

"I could say the same about you," I say bitterly. "Well, now that you've got your demons, I guess you'll be leaving Sunnydale?"

"Yeah, there's nothing else here that interests me." he replies looking straight at me.

"Good. I trust you won't mind cleaning up this mess?" I say pointing to the demons. I turn to Angel and intertwine my hand in his. "Let's go home, Angel."

"Sure. You know, Buffy, after fights like that, I get pretty thirsty. I might have to snack on the way home." he says smirking at Riley as we walk by. Angel picks up my weapons bag and I pick up the sword and crossbow. He tosses the walkie-talkie to Riley and we walk off through the cemetery as I make a mental note to thank Spike tomorrow with a complementary bag of blood.