ONLY HOPE
Frankie Rangler walked down the dark street towards the video rental shop. It was late at night, but it stayed open 'till midnight. He wondered why the street was so deserted. Usually there was one or two groups of people walking around. Tonight, there was nobody.
He walked round the corner and looked ahead, down the road. Down the other end was something big. Very, very big. It was striding towards him, alarmingly fast. Frankie instinctivly ran as fast as possible away from the creature, and dived into a dumpster head-first. He hoped the creature hadn't turned the corner in time to see him hide, and layed there in silence.
Endless moments past, and Frankie thought he could here something outside the dumpster. He was too petrified to move. After a few more seconds, the dumpster started to crumple inwards. "Oh, shit!" Frankie shouted, realising the creature had found him. The edge of the dumpster pinned his leg down, and he was unable to get out. The creature looked into the dumpster at Frankie, reached in and gripped his head. It squeezed it, and Frankie's skull seemed to pop under the imense pressure.
Willow knocked on the door to Spike's crypt and walked in. He got up off his bed and walked over to her, avoiding the light. Willow closed the door and faced him. "Hi." she said, uneasily.
"Hi." he replied. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"
"Nothing. Just came to see how your new hand was coming along." Willow answered, pointing to his shorter arm. He looked at it briefly.
"It's started coming back." he informed her. "Won't be playing the piano for a while, though." Willow looked around.
"You play the piano?" she asked, interested in his could-be hobby.
"No." Spike told her. "It's just a figure of speech." He walked over to her and kissed her. Willow didn't stop him, and they stopped after a while. "Nobody knows still, right?" Spike asked.
"Nope. This relationship is still secret." Willow answered. "Will it always have to be like this?"
"Not always. But it's best the others don't know yet. They might go, you know, ape shit. Espescialy the Slayer." Spike reminded her.
"Not if I explain it right." Willow told him. "She's my best friend, she won't go mental if I tell her how I feel."
"But she might." Spike replied. "She might try to talk you out of it. And I don't want that. I don't want to lose you." Willow smiled and kissed him.
"You won't." she said, and turned around and left the crypt.
"So," Buffy said, leaning on her side in bed. "We saved the world. When do you think will be a good time to get married?"
"How about, in about two weeks?" Riley answered.
"Yeah. That sound's good." Buffy said. "A strictly no work day."
"No work and all play." Riley added, smiling. So did Buffy.
"Makes a Slayer..." she continued, slowly stopping. "Something that rhymes with play."
"Gay?" Riley asked.
"No." Buffy told him, lowering her eyebrow at him. He laughed.
"Thank God." he said. He leaned over and kissed her. They were interupted by Riley's phone ringing. He reached over Buffy and picked it up. "Hello?" he said. He then passed it to Buffy. "It's Giles."
"Hey." she said into the phone.
"Buffy, I have some bad news." Giles told her. "There was a body found in a dumpster last night."
"Ok, that's bad. But not unusual for Sunnydale." Buffy replied.
"But the man's head was crushed. Not that dissimilar to the way the Sinkata demons killed their victims." Giles added.
"Damn." Buffy said. "I'll be right over." She put the phone back.
"What's happened?" Riley asked.
"Just another unusual death in the Hell that is known as Sunnydale." Buffy answered. "I'll be back soon." She kissed him, then got out of the bed and dressed herself.
Buffy walked into Giles' house. Xander, Anya and Willow were already there. Buffy walked over to them and sat down. "So," she said. "What's the deal?" Giles walked in and put a photo on the table.
"Here's what the scene looks like." he said. The body had been removed, but the dumpster was still there.
"Damn, look at that dumpster!" Xander remarked. "It's like something crushed it like it was made of paper or something."
"Strong demon." Buffy stated. "But I don't think it was one of the Sinkata demons. This was stronger." Giles nodded.
"Probably. The killing was similar, though. It might be like the Sinkata demons." he said.
"Only stronger." Willow added.
"Ok. My plan is we find it and kick it's ass." Xander said. Everyone looked at him. "What? What's wrong with that?" he asked franticaly.
"Nothing." Buffy answered. "As far as plans go, it doesn't have a flaw."
"Except the finding part." Giles added.
"And possibaly the kicking of it's ass bit, too." Willow said.
"But it's the only plan. Check reports for sightings, blah blah blah, check what it is, yadda yadda yadda, you know the drill." Buffy told everyone. "I'll look around. First I'll get Riley." She stood up and left the house.
"We'll ask around, see if anyone's seen it before." Xander said, and he and Anya left as well. Willow looked around.
"I'll quickly go ask Spike if he knows anything about it." she told Giles, and started walking towards the door.
"You seem to be spending a lot of time over there." Giles said.
"Where?" Willow asked, starting to worry about the questioning.
"Spike's." Giles answered. "You seem to spend most of your time there."
"No I don't." she defended herself. "I'm just checking to see how he's doing, that's all. He did help save our lives, you know." Giles raised his hands slightly in defeat, and Willow left. Giles shrugged and walked over to the bookshelf.
Buffy and Riley walked into the bar where demons hung out for most of their time. They walked over to the bar and Willy walked over to them. "Oh, no. Not him." he said, pointing to Riley. "He's barred."
"Why?" Buffy asked.
"Last time he was in here, he tried to kill one of my customers. And I didn't like his atitude." Willy replied. Riley leant on the counter so he could move closer to Willy.
"I was ill then. I'm better now." he explained. "Just don't annoy me."
"Have you heard any talk about something strong, probably big?" Buffy asked him, changing the subject quickly. Willy shook his head.
"No. But the demons are getting very scared about something." Willy answered. "Maybe it's that."
"Not very helpful, but it's a start." Riley said. "Let's see if there's anywhere else we can find things out from." Riley and Buffy headed for the exit.
"Slayer," a demon in the corner growled. She stopped and looked at him. "You don't know what you're up against." it warned her.
"Do you?" she asked. The demon shook it's head.
"All I know is that it's stronger than anything I've ever known." it told her. Buffy looked at the demon for a moment, then both she and Riley left the bar.
Xander was driving his car down the almost pitch black street to Anya's place. He'd promised to pick her up so they could do something together that night. There wasn't much he could do to help with finding the new demon his friends where looking for, so he'd decided to make the most of his time in case he ended up dead.
The part of town he was in was pretty quiet. There wasn't many people around. Only a group of kids playing near the road. Xander drove closer towards them, and suddenly one of them screamed and ran down the road, followed closley by his buddys. Xander wondered what made them do that, until suddenly it landed on the bonnet of his car.
Xander didn't have time to react as a big, hefty looking demon landed on the front of his car, smashing it up. The vehicle stopped suddenly, and Xander jerked foward. He looked up and saw the demon staring at him. "Shit!" he murmered, and it swung at him. He ducked it, unbuckled his saftey belt and rolled out of the door he just opened. He got to his feet and ran from the demon, but it untangled itself from the wreckage and chased after him.
The demon wasn't very fast, but it was still gaining on Xander. He ran past the corner and suddenly heard a car horn. He looked slightly to the side of him and saw a black, open topped convertable driving towards him. It stopped, and Xander dived into the back seats. The driver hit the gas just before the demon reached them, leaving it behind. Xander stopped watching the demon and faced the driver.
"You Ok?" Angel asked. Xander nodded.
"Yeah. Thanks." he replied.
"Dammit!" Spike cursed loudly. He threw the sword at the wall. The metalic sound echoed in the crypt as Willow entered. He spun round to see who it was.
"Hey." Willow said, wondering what was going on. "What's going on?"
"Nothing." Spike answered quickly. "Just practicing. Fighting. I can't do anything with my hand like this. I'm right-handed. I need my right hand. Why couldn't that bloody demon took my left one?"
"Don't worry about it. It'll grow back very soon. Two days at the most. Then you can go back to right hand fights, writing, all the rest." Willow told him, trying to comfort him. "Anyway, have you heard about a kinda big demon? Strong?" Spike looked at her.
"No. Been stuck in this piss-hole since I was handicapped. Don't get a lot of visitors, as you could imagine." Spike replied.
"Oh." Willow said. "Don't worry about it." She turned around to leave.
"Wait," Spike said. Willow stopped, then turned around. "If you or the others need my help with this thing..."
"When your hand grows back, you can help us kill it. But I don't want you getting yourself killed while you're not at your best." Willow explained. Spike nodded, and Willow walked out.
Buffy walked into Giles house, fresh from finding out nothing. "Nothing. Only one freaky demon said..." She noticed Angel standing in the corner. "Angel..." she said, not beleiving he was there. "What...?"
"Don't worry." he said. "I'm strictly here on business." Buffy nodded.
"Good." she said, not knowing what else she could say.
"You said something about a demon saying something." Giles reminded her.
"Oh, yeah." Buffy replied. "He said that I didn't know what I was up against."
"How'd he know that?" Xander asked. Buffy shrugged.
"Hey," she said suddenly. "Aren't you and Anya supposed to be on a date?"
"Yeah, but my car was horribly mutilated by some very big, strong demon who fits the description of what we're looking for." Xander replied.
"You were attacked by it?" Buffy asked.
"Yup." Xander answered. "If it wasn't for Angel, I'd be flattened all over the tarmac right now."
"No problem." Angel said. "Where's that Riley boy?"
"At his place." Buffy answered. "I think it's best you two don't cross paths."
"Yeah. Good idea." Angel replied. "Well, I'd better go before the sun comes up. I'll be staying at my old place." Xander jumped up.
"Could you drop me off at Anya's? I'd better see if she's alright." he asked. Angel looked at him, confused.
"Where does she live?" he asked. Xander put his jacket on.
"Don't worry, I'll direct you." he told him, and he left the house. Angel followed, closing the door behind him. Buffy watched them leave, then turned to Giles.
"He doesn't know about..." She held her hand up, showing Giles the wedding ring.
"No." Giles answered. "We think it's best if you tell him." Buffy nodded.
"I guess." she said. "I just don't know how I'm gonna break it to him."
"It better be soon, or he might find out some other way." Giles told her.
Anya heard a knocking at her door. She'd been waiting for Xander after he called her almost half an hour ago. She walked over to the door and opened it. She suddenly felt the door slam into her, knocking her off her feet. She looked up and saw three brownish coloured demons walking into her home. One of them picked her up. "She's the one." it said.
"Good." replied another. "Take her."
"I don't think so." came a voice behind them. The three demons turned around as Xander punched the first demon in the face. The other two went for him as Angel tried to get in, but an invisible force-field stopped him. "Invite him in!" Xander shouted to Anya as the two demons charged him into a wall.
"Come in!" Anya said to Angel. He burst into the room and grabbed the demon getting up from the floor. He snapped it's neck, killing it instantly. He ran over to the other two and grabbed the left one. He hurled it into another wall, then kicked the third demon in the back of the leg. It knelt down slightly as Xander took his penkb=nife out and stabbed it in the eye. The demon screamed in pain as it fell to the floor. The scream stopped abrubtly as Xander stabbed it again.
Angel jumped in the air and flying-kicked the last demon in the head. It was knocked backwards, and Angel gripped it's neck, pinning it up against the wall. "What are you doing here?" he asked.
"She's the one." The demon struggled to say.
"One what?" Xander asked.
"Only she has the power to stop it." the demon answered.
"Stop what?" Angel asked.
"The end of days is coming. You can't prevent it. Neither can the Slayer. Only she has the power." The demon chocked. Angel let go.
"Why'd you try to knock me out with the door, then?" Anya asked, holding a small towel on the side of her forehead to stop the blood trickling down her face.
"It was an accident." the demon insisted. "That's all. We thought you were here to kill her."
"You were wrong there." Xander told him. Anya leant on his side.
"And you were wrong about us. You killed the other two." the demon reminded them.
"We're sorry." Angel said. "We had no idea."
"If we're going to stop this, we need her." the demon explained.
"The hell with that!" Xander replied. "You help us, ok? We're both on the same side. We could both use help."
"We don't have much time." the demon told him. "Tommorow, at about 11 at night, meet me and my team at Willy's Place. Bring you're friends along. My name is Fletchin." he said, then left Anya's home. Xander hugged Anya tight.
"Are you ok?" he asked. Anya nodded.
"My head hurts a lot, but I'm otherwise fine." she replied.
"I'll meet you tommorow at Willy's." Angel told them, trying not to see Anya's blood. "See you then." he said, leaving. He closed the door.
Buffy had explained the Angel situation to Riley. He still had lots of questions about it, even when they went to bed. "Does he know yet?" Riley asked. Buffy shook her head.
"No. I'm going to tell him tomorrow." she replied.
"Ok." Riley said. "Are you sure you want to tell him?"
"He has a right to know. The sooner I tell him, the better. " Buffy explained. "But, if you're worried, it doesn't change anything. I love you, and Angel knows that." Riley smiled.
"I wasn't worried." Buffy kissed him. The phone rang.
"Why does that keep happening?" she asked, then picked the phone up. "Hello?"
"Buffy?" Giles asked.
"Yeah."
"Something's happened. Something big. Meet me at my place tomorrow. I'll explain to you what's going on."
"Why can't you tell me now?"
"It'll take ages, and I want to watch something on T.V."
"Ok. I'll be there in the morning." Buffy put the receiver back, then rolled over to face Riley again.
"Who was that?" Riley asked.
"Giles." Buffy answered. "Something big's happened. I don't think it's that big, though."
"Why not?" Riley asked, confused.
"He's chosen watching T.V. over explaining some demon mythology stuff to me. That very rarely happens. In fact, I don't think it's ever happened." Buffy replied. She kissed him again. "Goodnight." she said, then turned out the light.
Frankie Rangler walked down the dark street towards the video rental shop. It was late at night, but it stayed open 'till midnight. He wondered why the street was so deserted. Usually there was one or two groups of people walking around. Tonight, there was nobody.
He walked round the corner and looked ahead, down the road. Down the other end was something big. Very, very big. It was striding towards him, alarmingly fast. Frankie instinctivly ran as fast as possible away from the creature, and dived into a dumpster head-first. He hoped the creature hadn't turned the corner in time to see him hide, and layed there in silence.
Endless moments past, and Frankie thought he could here something outside the dumpster. He was too petrified to move. After a few more seconds, the dumpster started to crumple inwards. "Oh, shit!" Frankie shouted, realising the creature had found him. The edge of the dumpster pinned his leg down, and he was unable to get out. The creature looked into the dumpster at Frankie, reached in and gripped his head. It squeezed it, and Frankie's skull seemed to pop under the imense pressure.
Willow knocked on the door to Spike's crypt and walked in. He got up off his bed and walked over to her, avoiding the light. Willow closed the door and faced him. "Hi." she said, uneasily.
"Hi." he replied. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"
"Nothing. Just came to see how your new hand was coming along." Willow answered, pointing to his shorter arm. He looked at it briefly.
"It's started coming back." he informed her. "Won't be playing the piano for a while, though." Willow looked around.
"You play the piano?" she asked, interested in his could-be hobby.
"No." Spike told her. "It's just a figure of speech." He walked over to her and kissed her. Willow didn't stop him, and they stopped after a while. "Nobody knows still, right?" Spike asked.
"Nope. This relationship is still secret." Willow answered. "Will it always have to be like this?"
"Not always. But it's best the others don't know yet. They might go, you know, ape shit. Espescialy the Slayer." Spike reminded her.
"Not if I explain it right." Willow told him. "She's my best friend, she won't go mental if I tell her how I feel."
"But she might." Spike replied. "She might try to talk you out of it. And I don't want that. I don't want to lose you." Willow smiled and kissed him.
"You won't." she said, and turned around and left the crypt.
"So," Buffy said, leaning on her side in bed. "We saved the world. When do you think will be a good time to get married?"
"How about, in about two weeks?" Riley answered.
"Yeah. That sound's good." Buffy said. "A strictly no work day."
"No work and all play." Riley added, smiling. So did Buffy.
"Makes a Slayer..." she continued, slowly stopping. "Something that rhymes with play."
"Gay?" Riley asked.
"No." Buffy told him, lowering her eyebrow at him. He laughed.
"Thank God." he said. He leaned over and kissed her. They were interupted by Riley's phone ringing. He reached over Buffy and picked it up. "Hello?" he said. He then passed it to Buffy. "It's Giles."
"Hey." she said into the phone.
"Buffy, I have some bad news." Giles told her. "There was a body found in a dumpster last night."
"Ok, that's bad. But not unusual for Sunnydale." Buffy replied.
"But the man's head was crushed. Not that dissimilar to the way the Sinkata demons killed their victims." Giles added.
"Damn." Buffy said. "I'll be right over." She put the phone back.
"What's happened?" Riley asked.
"Just another unusual death in the Hell that is known as Sunnydale." Buffy answered. "I'll be back soon." She kissed him, then got out of the bed and dressed herself.
Buffy walked into Giles' house. Xander, Anya and Willow were already there. Buffy walked over to them and sat down. "So," she said. "What's the deal?" Giles walked in and put a photo on the table.
"Here's what the scene looks like." he said. The body had been removed, but the dumpster was still there.
"Damn, look at that dumpster!" Xander remarked. "It's like something crushed it like it was made of paper or something."
"Strong demon." Buffy stated. "But I don't think it was one of the Sinkata demons. This was stronger." Giles nodded.
"Probably. The killing was similar, though. It might be like the Sinkata demons." he said.
"Only stronger." Willow added.
"Ok. My plan is we find it and kick it's ass." Xander said. Everyone looked at him. "What? What's wrong with that?" he asked franticaly.
"Nothing." Buffy answered. "As far as plans go, it doesn't have a flaw."
"Except the finding part." Giles added.
"And possibaly the kicking of it's ass bit, too." Willow said.
"But it's the only plan. Check reports for sightings, blah blah blah, check what it is, yadda yadda yadda, you know the drill." Buffy told everyone. "I'll look around. First I'll get Riley." She stood up and left the house.
"We'll ask around, see if anyone's seen it before." Xander said, and he and Anya left as well. Willow looked around.
"I'll quickly go ask Spike if he knows anything about it." she told Giles, and started walking towards the door.
"You seem to be spending a lot of time over there." Giles said.
"Where?" Willow asked, starting to worry about the questioning.
"Spike's." Giles answered. "You seem to spend most of your time there."
"No I don't." she defended herself. "I'm just checking to see how he's doing, that's all. He did help save our lives, you know." Giles raised his hands slightly in defeat, and Willow left. Giles shrugged and walked over to the bookshelf.
Buffy and Riley walked into the bar where demons hung out for most of their time. They walked over to the bar and Willy walked over to them. "Oh, no. Not him." he said, pointing to Riley. "He's barred."
"Why?" Buffy asked.
"Last time he was in here, he tried to kill one of my customers. And I didn't like his atitude." Willy replied. Riley leant on the counter so he could move closer to Willy.
"I was ill then. I'm better now." he explained. "Just don't annoy me."
"Have you heard any talk about something strong, probably big?" Buffy asked him, changing the subject quickly. Willy shook his head.
"No. But the demons are getting very scared about something." Willy answered. "Maybe it's that."
"Not very helpful, but it's a start." Riley said. "Let's see if there's anywhere else we can find things out from." Riley and Buffy headed for the exit.
"Slayer," a demon in the corner growled. She stopped and looked at him. "You don't know what you're up against." it warned her.
"Do you?" she asked. The demon shook it's head.
"All I know is that it's stronger than anything I've ever known." it told her. Buffy looked at the demon for a moment, then both she and Riley left the bar.
Xander was driving his car down the almost pitch black street to Anya's place. He'd promised to pick her up so they could do something together that night. There wasn't much he could do to help with finding the new demon his friends where looking for, so he'd decided to make the most of his time in case he ended up dead.
The part of town he was in was pretty quiet. There wasn't many people around. Only a group of kids playing near the road. Xander drove closer towards them, and suddenly one of them screamed and ran down the road, followed closley by his buddys. Xander wondered what made them do that, until suddenly it landed on the bonnet of his car.
Xander didn't have time to react as a big, hefty looking demon landed on the front of his car, smashing it up. The vehicle stopped suddenly, and Xander jerked foward. He looked up and saw the demon staring at him. "Shit!" he murmered, and it swung at him. He ducked it, unbuckled his saftey belt and rolled out of the door he just opened. He got to his feet and ran from the demon, but it untangled itself from the wreckage and chased after him.
The demon wasn't very fast, but it was still gaining on Xander. He ran past the corner and suddenly heard a car horn. He looked slightly to the side of him and saw a black, open topped convertable driving towards him. It stopped, and Xander dived into the back seats. The driver hit the gas just before the demon reached them, leaving it behind. Xander stopped watching the demon and faced the driver.
"You Ok?" Angel asked. Xander nodded.
"Yeah. Thanks." he replied.
"Dammit!" Spike cursed loudly. He threw the sword at the wall. The metalic sound echoed in the crypt as Willow entered. He spun round to see who it was.
"Hey." Willow said, wondering what was going on. "What's going on?"
"Nothing." Spike answered quickly. "Just practicing. Fighting. I can't do anything with my hand like this. I'm right-handed. I need my right hand. Why couldn't that bloody demon took my left one?"
"Don't worry about it. It'll grow back very soon. Two days at the most. Then you can go back to right hand fights, writing, all the rest." Willow told him, trying to comfort him. "Anyway, have you heard about a kinda big demon? Strong?" Spike looked at her.
"No. Been stuck in this piss-hole since I was handicapped. Don't get a lot of visitors, as you could imagine." Spike replied.
"Oh." Willow said. "Don't worry about it." She turned around to leave.
"Wait," Spike said. Willow stopped, then turned around. "If you or the others need my help with this thing..."
"When your hand grows back, you can help us kill it. But I don't want you getting yourself killed while you're not at your best." Willow explained. Spike nodded, and Willow walked out.
Buffy walked into Giles house, fresh from finding out nothing. "Nothing. Only one freaky demon said..." She noticed Angel standing in the corner. "Angel..." she said, not beleiving he was there. "What...?"
"Don't worry." he said. "I'm strictly here on business." Buffy nodded.
"Good." she said, not knowing what else she could say.
"You said something about a demon saying something." Giles reminded her.
"Oh, yeah." Buffy replied. "He said that I didn't know what I was up against."
"How'd he know that?" Xander asked. Buffy shrugged.
"Hey," she said suddenly. "Aren't you and Anya supposed to be on a date?"
"Yeah, but my car was horribly mutilated by some very big, strong demon who fits the description of what we're looking for." Xander replied.
"You were attacked by it?" Buffy asked.
"Yup." Xander answered. "If it wasn't for Angel, I'd be flattened all over the tarmac right now."
"No problem." Angel said. "Where's that Riley boy?"
"At his place." Buffy answered. "I think it's best you two don't cross paths."
"Yeah. Good idea." Angel replied. "Well, I'd better go before the sun comes up. I'll be staying at my old place." Xander jumped up.
"Could you drop me off at Anya's? I'd better see if she's alright." he asked. Angel looked at him, confused.
"Where does she live?" he asked. Xander put his jacket on.
"Don't worry, I'll direct you." he told him, and he left the house. Angel followed, closing the door behind him. Buffy watched them leave, then turned to Giles.
"He doesn't know about..." She held her hand up, showing Giles the wedding ring.
"No." Giles answered. "We think it's best if you tell him." Buffy nodded.
"I guess." she said. "I just don't know how I'm gonna break it to him."
"It better be soon, or he might find out some other way." Giles told her.
Anya heard a knocking at her door. She'd been waiting for Xander after he called her almost half an hour ago. She walked over to the door and opened it. She suddenly felt the door slam into her, knocking her off her feet. She looked up and saw three brownish coloured demons walking into her home. One of them picked her up. "She's the one." it said.
"Good." replied another. "Take her."
"I don't think so." came a voice behind them. The three demons turned around as Xander punched the first demon in the face. The other two went for him as Angel tried to get in, but an invisible force-field stopped him. "Invite him in!" Xander shouted to Anya as the two demons charged him into a wall.
"Come in!" Anya said to Angel. He burst into the room and grabbed the demon getting up from the floor. He snapped it's neck, killing it instantly. He ran over to the other two and grabbed the left one. He hurled it into another wall, then kicked the third demon in the back of the leg. It knelt down slightly as Xander took his penkb=nife out and stabbed it in the eye. The demon screamed in pain as it fell to the floor. The scream stopped abrubtly as Xander stabbed it again.
Angel jumped in the air and flying-kicked the last demon in the head. It was knocked backwards, and Angel gripped it's neck, pinning it up against the wall. "What are you doing here?" he asked.
"She's the one." The demon struggled to say.
"One what?" Xander asked.
"Only she has the power to stop it." the demon answered.
"Stop what?" Angel asked.
"The end of days is coming. You can't prevent it. Neither can the Slayer. Only she has the power." The demon chocked. Angel let go.
"Why'd you try to knock me out with the door, then?" Anya asked, holding a small towel on the side of her forehead to stop the blood trickling down her face.
"It was an accident." the demon insisted. "That's all. We thought you were here to kill her."
"You were wrong there." Xander told him. Anya leant on his side.
"And you were wrong about us. You killed the other two." the demon reminded them.
"We're sorry." Angel said. "We had no idea."
"If we're going to stop this, we need her." the demon explained.
"The hell with that!" Xander replied. "You help us, ok? We're both on the same side. We could both use help."
"We don't have much time." the demon told him. "Tommorow, at about 11 at night, meet me and my team at Willy's Place. Bring you're friends along. My name is Fletchin." he said, then left Anya's home. Xander hugged Anya tight.
"Are you ok?" he asked. Anya nodded.
"My head hurts a lot, but I'm otherwise fine." she replied.
"I'll meet you tommorow at Willy's." Angel told them, trying not to see Anya's blood. "See you then." he said, leaving. He closed the door.
Buffy had explained the Angel situation to Riley. He still had lots of questions about it, even when they went to bed. "Does he know yet?" Riley asked. Buffy shook her head.
"No. I'm going to tell him tomorrow." she replied.
"Ok." Riley said. "Are you sure you want to tell him?"
"He has a right to know. The sooner I tell him, the better. " Buffy explained. "But, if you're worried, it doesn't change anything. I love you, and Angel knows that." Riley smiled.
"I wasn't worried." Buffy kissed him. The phone rang.
"Why does that keep happening?" she asked, then picked the phone up. "Hello?"
"Buffy?" Giles asked.
"Yeah."
"Something's happened. Something big. Meet me at my place tomorrow. I'll explain to you what's going on."
"Why can't you tell me now?"
"It'll take ages, and I want to watch something on T.V."
"Ok. I'll be there in the morning." Buffy put the receiver back, then rolled over to face Riley again.
"Who was that?" Riley asked.
"Giles." Buffy answered. "Something big's happened. I don't think it's that big, though."
"Why not?" Riley asked, confused.
"He's chosen watching T.V. over explaining some demon mythology stuff to me. That very rarely happens. In fact, I don't think it's ever happened." Buffy replied. She kissed him again. "Goodnight." she said, then turned out the light.
