TITLE: BFFY'S TURN 21/?
AUTHOR: RICK
E-MAIL: amulet@my-dejanews.com
SUMMARY: Things could not be worse. Buffy thinks Xander kidnapped and hurt her mother. Xander thinks Buffy has joined with Angel and those who want he and Oz dead. Xander and Oz have decided to stop waiting for things to happen. They are going to do a little "happening" themselves.
Capter: 21-Closer To who's End?
They still have to figure out who is going to do what. Xander and Oz are use to working together. Buffy has her slayer abilities and Willow is, of course, a witch. They need some answers. The clone leads them to a very ominous set of buildings. The whole complex is called "Ateletron Dynamics" which could mean anything. There is a front door and a small reception area. Buffy, Willow and the clone go in the front. Oz and Xander do the clandestine thing they are so good at doing.
The plan is for Buffy, Willow and the clone to be the diversion. A guard meets them.
"May I help you?"
Buffy tells him. "Yes, my mother and my friend are here." She points to the clone.
"The friend looks just like him. We'll just go find them."
They try to walk around the guard but he stops them.
"Ah, you just can't walk right in here!"
"Oh we can't? Well, get somebody who we can talk to, we are here to take them back with us."
The guard motions to a receptionist who unlocks and walks through a door leading to the interior of the place. The group waits impatiently. In the meantime Xander and Oz have gotten in through a vent shaft. They search the halls for anything suspicious.
The receptionist goes into an office. She reports the news of the visitors. The two men in the office look at the security camera to see Buffy, Willow and the Clone.
"Shit, just what we need!"
He proceeds to make a phone call. A number of armed guards shuffle from a cafeteria room to a hallway.
Xander and Oz see their movement. The wolf looks at Xander.
"Shall we?"
"By all means, yes."
Xander and Oz follow the movement of the 6 soldiers. The two move with confidence and with purpose. Even though they are in very hostile territory and completely outnumbered there are very few forces in this world that can stop them. They are that good and they know it. And right now they are fueled with the additional anger and self-righteousness of the fact that these bastards have Giles and Joyce. And they hope these troops are leading them to their location. In the mean time a PR man comes out to see Buffy. The slayer doesn't mind this formality. Their job is to buy time for Xander and Ox by drawing attention to their own presence.
"Can I help you, ma'am."
"Well, you could but somehow I don't think you will."
"My job is to help people."
"Okay you have my mother and my friend. We came for them. We'll go with you to get them!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Xander and Oz watch the soldiers go to a room. One of them punches in a code. Oz is observing with the scope of his rifle.
"Got it!"
Four soldiers go in while two others stay outside. As soon as the door of the room closes Oz pulls off two squeezes on his silenced gun. Down go the two guards. They walk to the door.
:Oz, you first, I'll clean up whatever you miss."
"On three. One...two...three!"
Oz walks in and starts firing. Xander looks for Joyce and Giles. There is another room connected to the first one. One man tries to escape into when he sees Oz mowing down the soldiers. Xander dives for him as a bullet grazes his left shoulder. He catches the man before he can escape to the other room. When Oz finishes off the last of the guards he joins Xander. The Wolf notices the blood running down Xander's arm.
"Sorry, man, I'm slippin', I thought I had them all."
"Nah, it was me, I got a little impatient."
They turn their attention back to the man.
"You have one chance to stay alive asshole. You're holding two of our friends. Where are they?"
The man points to the room behind him. Xander breaks for it while Oz holds the man down with his foot.
There are two small cells attached to the room. Xander blows the locks off. He first goes in to see Joyce. When she sees him she cringes.
"Xander, didn't you do enough?"
"Joyce, that was not me...honest. We just broke in to free you and Giles. Buffy is in the front. Come on we have to go."
After Joyce gets up they go to see Giles.
"Xander...you do know about the clone right?"
"Yea, we figured it out, Giles. Let's get out here for now. Buffy is up front."
The four of them hurry through the halls following the exit signs. They come to the office with the two men it. Oz does the honors.
"Make one move to stop us and you're history. Just nod your head if you understand."
They both do as instructed.
"Tell your bosses that we're coming for them next!"
Everybody makes it out to the van. The clone comes also. He looks at Xander.
"I don't know what to do with you, get in I guess."
Everyone stares at him. "What else are we going to do with him? He did bring us here."
Oz drives, Willow rides shot gun. The rest in the back. Buffy greets her mom and Giles. Then she sees Xander's wound.
"Xander, you're hurt. What happened?"
She goes to him. Oz has a first aide kit. Buffy treats his wound. She repeats her question.
"What happened, Xander?"
"I got a little impatient back there. I went in before Oz cleaned house."
"It's pretty bad, Xander, we should stop at a hospital."
Giles is freaked out with his clone. He just stares at him. Oz has some bad news.
"We got company, gang!"
They hear the roar of a bazooka and the next thing they know the blast hits one of the wheels of the van. The passengers in the back are thrown forward. Giles smashes head first into the stomach of his clone as it shatters the front windshield. The others in the back are thrown up against the seats. Oz and Willow are saved by their seat belts but the car is swerving across the highway. Oz tries to pull off the highway to try to find some shelter so they can check for injuries. He stops by a small shack. They are being pursued by a number of commandos.
"Xander, I'll hold them off."
"I'll check our status."
Giles is knocked out. His clone is strained through the front windshield. Joyce is shook up but okay. Buffy carries her into the shack.
Oz has at least stopped their advance toward them. Xander goes to Buffy.
"Are you okay, Buffy?"
"Yes I am but you're not, Xander. You're bleeding again."
"It's okay...listen can you try to change the tire while Oz and I hold these guys off?"
"Yea, I can."
With much difficulty the slayer changes the tire, dodging bullets all the way. Xander talks to Oz.
"What do you think, Oz, regular commandos?"
"Yep, they're nothing special."
"How about you getting everybody away? I'll slow them up and follow you."
"Let's do it quick its getting dark."
"Okay, just give me five to figure a plan."
Xander walks into the shack. Buffy follows.
"What's the plan, Xander?"
"Oz will drive the van. I'm going to slow them up a little then follow."
"You mean we wait for you?"
"No, I'll catch up at the hiding place."
"No good, Xander. If you stay so do I!"
"Come on, Buffy, don't be stupid."
"No, Xander, I was stupid before. I let you get away but I'm not doing it again."
He stares at her for a minute.
"Sigh...okay, Buffy, you have to do exactly what I say, okay?"
"Well, since you're the expert on this stuff, okay."
They have to clear the clone from the windshield. It is completely shot. The synthetic skin is melted all over its face and the rest of it is very contorted. Buffy looks at Giles who has recovered enough to walk to the van.
"It did save your life, Giles."
"Yes, I suppose it did."
The van takes off leaving Xander and Buffy in the shack. Xander finds a little crawl space in the middle of it.
"What are we going to do boss?"
"We're going to wait for them to come then we'll have a little surprise for them."
The commandoes approach the shack. Xander waits until they are about to enter then he takes the pin off a concussion grenade and rolls it to the door. He and Buffy go into the crawl space.
As the commandos come in they are greeted with an explosion.
Xander talks to Buffy. "We blast our way out the back then head for those hills and don't look back!"
They open the hatch and start firing. The commandos are in a state of turmoil. Buffy and Xander get a huge head start before they regroup and begin their pursuit again. Buffy has her mouth open.
"Jesus Christ, Xander, what the hell was that?"
"What do you mean, Buffy, that was us getting away? But, I didn't think it was going to be that easy."
"Easy, you call that easy?"
They make it to the hills and stop to rest. Buffy can only stare at Xander. It hits her that soldiers, somebody's private army or something, are pursuing them.
"Xander, how many men are after us?"
"Not enough that's for sure."
"And what does that mean?"
"They're only regular commandos. They don't stand a chance."
"Wait a minute, you mean there are say...15 soldiers after us, fully armed and trained but you say they don't stand a chance?"
"I don't want to kill them, Buffy. When they get into that heavy brush I'm going to pay their commander a visit."
"Xander, I don't even know what you're talking about."
"Just stay here, Buffy, okay? I'll be right back."
At this point Buffy is completely out of her league and she knows it. She doesn't object at all.
"Xander, we need to have a long, long talk after this is over."
"Yea, Buffy, I know."
Xander works his way in the dark out into the thick underbrush. The soldiers have spread out. He comes to the captain. He reaches his hand up to hi mouth pulling him down into the brush. He talks into his ear.
"Look, Captain, I could kill you but I'm not going to. You know you're outclassed here. Don't commit suicide. Call your men off while they're still alive. Just tell them you lost us. You know I mean business."
Xander crawls away from them back toward Buffy. In a few minutes he can hear the captain calling them back to the clearing. Buffy can hear him too. She doesn't know what to say.
"Xander, I'm not even sure I want to know how you did that."
"I told you, Buffy, this is a whole different ball game."
"Xander, who the hell are you?"
Xander closes his eyes. Finally Buffy is getting the message. He stares at her.
"Don't look at me like that, Xander. My head is spinning. You're right I lived in a fairyland. I wouldn't last a month with you."
Xander sighs. This is why he was trying to reject Buffy's advances to him. She has no idea who he is now. Sadness comes over him. Buffy notices.
"What is that look, Xander?"
"I told you that you didn't know me, that you didn't love me! All that bullshit you tried to hand me!"
Xander Is disgusted. He starts to walk away. Buffy catches up to him.
"Wait a minute, Xander. This has nothing to do with that!"
"Sure it doesn't." He walks further away from her. She catches up again.
"Stop this, Xander! I love you because of what have been to me all these years. That hasn't changed. I'm talking about the fact that I still thought you were my helper and my bodyguard. But now your gig is as heavy as mine. That will take time to get use to Xander."
"Buffy, let's just get back to the others."
"No, Xander, we're going to have this out right here, right now!"
"Okay, well then let's just call this the way it is. I'm a killer, okay, and I'm not going to get you into this!"
"You're not a killer, Xander. Those soldiers were after us. They kidnapped my mom and Gilles. They were trying to kill us. And, Oz told me that they were after me too, not just you two. Xander, I know that as soon as you discovered that you just went into protect the slayer mode."
Buffy goes to him fondling his face. "Buffy, could we talk about this later?"
"Okay, scary man. What are we gonna do next, attack a whole army somewhere?"
Xander has to laugh. "Xander, that is the first smile I've seen on your face for a week."
"Yea, and you put it there."
They engage in a very intense, meaningful kiss. Their lives are so heavy and so tragic. Xander puts a lot into this kiss. Buffy can feel chills going up and down her spine. This man has her secret. He has her heart in his. They are both close to tears as they break. They walk for a long while before they actually remember where they are going or what else is happening. It was that good.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
AUTHOR: RICK
E-MAIL: amulet@my-dejanews.com
SUMMARY: Things could not be worse. Buffy thinks Xander kidnapped and hurt her mother. Xander thinks Buffy has joined with Angel and those who want he and Oz dead. Xander and Oz have decided to stop waiting for things to happen. They are going to do a little "happening" themselves.
Capter: 21-Closer To who's End?
They still have to figure out who is going to do what. Xander and Oz are use to working together. Buffy has her slayer abilities and Willow is, of course, a witch. They need some answers. The clone leads them to a very ominous set of buildings. The whole complex is called "Ateletron Dynamics" which could mean anything. There is a front door and a small reception area. Buffy, Willow and the clone go in the front. Oz and Xander do the clandestine thing they are so good at doing.
The plan is for Buffy, Willow and the clone to be the diversion. A guard meets them.
"May I help you?"
Buffy tells him. "Yes, my mother and my friend are here." She points to the clone.
"The friend looks just like him. We'll just go find them."
They try to walk around the guard but he stops them.
"Ah, you just can't walk right in here!"
"Oh we can't? Well, get somebody who we can talk to, we are here to take them back with us."
The guard motions to a receptionist who unlocks and walks through a door leading to the interior of the place. The group waits impatiently. In the meantime Xander and Oz have gotten in through a vent shaft. They search the halls for anything suspicious.
The receptionist goes into an office. She reports the news of the visitors. The two men in the office look at the security camera to see Buffy, Willow and the Clone.
"Shit, just what we need!"
He proceeds to make a phone call. A number of armed guards shuffle from a cafeteria room to a hallway.
Xander and Oz see their movement. The wolf looks at Xander.
"Shall we?"
"By all means, yes."
Xander and Oz follow the movement of the 6 soldiers. The two move with confidence and with purpose. Even though they are in very hostile territory and completely outnumbered there are very few forces in this world that can stop them. They are that good and they know it. And right now they are fueled with the additional anger and self-righteousness of the fact that these bastards have Giles and Joyce. And they hope these troops are leading them to their location. In the mean time a PR man comes out to see Buffy. The slayer doesn't mind this formality. Their job is to buy time for Xander and Ox by drawing attention to their own presence.
"Can I help you, ma'am."
"Well, you could but somehow I don't think you will."
"My job is to help people."
"Okay you have my mother and my friend. We came for them. We'll go with you to get them!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Xander and Oz watch the soldiers go to a room. One of them punches in a code. Oz is observing with the scope of his rifle.
"Got it!"
Four soldiers go in while two others stay outside. As soon as the door of the room closes Oz pulls off two squeezes on his silenced gun. Down go the two guards. They walk to the door.
:Oz, you first, I'll clean up whatever you miss."
"On three. One...two...three!"
Oz walks in and starts firing. Xander looks for Joyce and Giles. There is another room connected to the first one. One man tries to escape into when he sees Oz mowing down the soldiers. Xander dives for him as a bullet grazes his left shoulder. He catches the man before he can escape to the other room. When Oz finishes off the last of the guards he joins Xander. The Wolf notices the blood running down Xander's arm.
"Sorry, man, I'm slippin', I thought I had them all."
"Nah, it was me, I got a little impatient."
They turn their attention back to the man.
"You have one chance to stay alive asshole. You're holding two of our friends. Where are they?"
The man points to the room behind him. Xander breaks for it while Oz holds the man down with his foot.
There are two small cells attached to the room. Xander blows the locks off. He first goes in to see Joyce. When she sees him she cringes.
"Xander, didn't you do enough?"
"Joyce, that was not me...honest. We just broke in to free you and Giles. Buffy is in the front. Come on we have to go."
After Joyce gets up they go to see Giles.
"Xander...you do know about the clone right?"
"Yea, we figured it out, Giles. Let's get out here for now. Buffy is up front."
The four of them hurry through the halls following the exit signs. They come to the office with the two men it. Oz does the honors.
"Make one move to stop us and you're history. Just nod your head if you understand."
They both do as instructed.
"Tell your bosses that we're coming for them next!"
Everybody makes it out to the van. The clone comes also. He looks at Xander.
"I don't know what to do with you, get in I guess."
Everyone stares at him. "What else are we going to do with him? He did bring us here."
Oz drives, Willow rides shot gun. The rest in the back. Buffy greets her mom and Giles. Then she sees Xander's wound.
"Xander, you're hurt. What happened?"
She goes to him. Oz has a first aide kit. Buffy treats his wound. She repeats her question.
"What happened, Xander?"
"I got a little impatient back there. I went in before Oz cleaned house."
"It's pretty bad, Xander, we should stop at a hospital."
Giles is freaked out with his clone. He just stares at him. Oz has some bad news.
"We got company, gang!"
They hear the roar of a bazooka and the next thing they know the blast hits one of the wheels of the van. The passengers in the back are thrown forward. Giles smashes head first into the stomach of his clone as it shatters the front windshield. The others in the back are thrown up against the seats. Oz and Willow are saved by their seat belts but the car is swerving across the highway. Oz tries to pull off the highway to try to find some shelter so they can check for injuries. He stops by a small shack. They are being pursued by a number of commandos.
"Xander, I'll hold them off."
"I'll check our status."
Giles is knocked out. His clone is strained through the front windshield. Joyce is shook up but okay. Buffy carries her into the shack.
Oz has at least stopped their advance toward them. Xander goes to Buffy.
"Are you okay, Buffy?"
"Yes I am but you're not, Xander. You're bleeding again."
"It's okay...listen can you try to change the tire while Oz and I hold these guys off?"
"Yea, I can."
With much difficulty the slayer changes the tire, dodging bullets all the way. Xander talks to Oz.
"What do you think, Oz, regular commandos?"
"Yep, they're nothing special."
"How about you getting everybody away? I'll slow them up and follow you."
"Let's do it quick its getting dark."
"Okay, just give me five to figure a plan."
Xander walks into the shack. Buffy follows.
"What's the plan, Xander?"
"Oz will drive the van. I'm going to slow them up a little then follow."
"You mean we wait for you?"
"No, I'll catch up at the hiding place."
"No good, Xander. If you stay so do I!"
"Come on, Buffy, don't be stupid."
"No, Xander, I was stupid before. I let you get away but I'm not doing it again."
He stares at her for a minute.
"Sigh...okay, Buffy, you have to do exactly what I say, okay?"
"Well, since you're the expert on this stuff, okay."
They have to clear the clone from the windshield. It is completely shot. The synthetic skin is melted all over its face and the rest of it is very contorted. Buffy looks at Giles who has recovered enough to walk to the van.
"It did save your life, Giles."
"Yes, I suppose it did."
The van takes off leaving Xander and Buffy in the shack. Xander finds a little crawl space in the middle of it.
"What are we going to do boss?"
"We're going to wait for them to come then we'll have a little surprise for them."
The commandoes approach the shack. Xander waits until they are about to enter then he takes the pin off a concussion grenade and rolls it to the door. He and Buffy go into the crawl space.
As the commandos come in they are greeted with an explosion.
Xander talks to Buffy. "We blast our way out the back then head for those hills and don't look back!"
They open the hatch and start firing. The commandos are in a state of turmoil. Buffy and Xander get a huge head start before they regroup and begin their pursuit again. Buffy has her mouth open.
"Jesus Christ, Xander, what the hell was that?"
"What do you mean, Buffy, that was us getting away? But, I didn't think it was going to be that easy."
"Easy, you call that easy?"
They make it to the hills and stop to rest. Buffy can only stare at Xander. It hits her that soldiers, somebody's private army or something, are pursuing them.
"Xander, how many men are after us?"
"Not enough that's for sure."
"And what does that mean?"
"They're only regular commandos. They don't stand a chance."
"Wait a minute, you mean there are say...15 soldiers after us, fully armed and trained but you say they don't stand a chance?"
"I don't want to kill them, Buffy. When they get into that heavy brush I'm going to pay their commander a visit."
"Xander, I don't even know what you're talking about."
"Just stay here, Buffy, okay? I'll be right back."
At this point Buffy is completely out of her league and she knows it. She doesn't object at all.
"Xander, we need to have a long, long talk after this is over."
"Yea, Buffy, I know."
Xander works his way in the dark out into the thick underbrush. The soldiers have spread out. He comes to the captain. He reaches his hand up to hi mouth pulling him down into the brush. He talks into his ear.
"Look, Captain, I could kill you but I'm not going to. You know you're outclassed here. Don't commit suicide. Call your men off while they're still alive. Just tell them you lost us. You know I mean business."
Xander crawls away from them back toward Buffy. In a few minutes he can hear the captain calling them back to the clearing. Buffy can hear him too. She doesn't know what to say.
"Xander, I'm not even sure I want to know how you did that."
"I told you, Buffy, this is a whole different ball game."
"Xander, who the hell are you?"
Xander closes his eyes. Finally Buffy is getting the message. He stares at her.
"Don't look at me like that, Xander. My head is spinning. You're right I lived in a fairyland. I wouldn't last a month with you."
Xander sighs. This is why he was trying to reject Buffy's advances to him. She has no idea who he is now. Sadness comes over him. Buffy notices.
"What is that look, Xander?"
"I told you that you didn't know me, that you didn't love me! All that bullshit you tried to hand me!"
Xander Is disgusted. He starts to walk away. Buffy catches up to him.
"Wait a minute, Xander. This has nothing to do with that!"
"Sure it doesn't." He walks further away from her. She catches up again.
"Stop this, Xander! I love you because of what have been to me all these years. That hasn't changed. I'm talking about the fact that I still thought you were my helper and my bodyguard. But now your gig is as heavy as mine. That will take time to get use to Xander."
"Buffy, let's just get back to the others."
"No, Xander, we're going to have this out right here, right now!"
"Okay, well then let's just call this the way it is. I'm a killer, okay, and I'm not going to get you into this!"
"You're not a killer, Xander. Those soldiers were after us. They kidnapped my mom and Gilles. They were trying to kill us. And, Oz told me that they were after me too, not just you two. Xander, I know that as soon as you discovered that you just went into protect the slayer mode."
Buffy goes to him fondling his face. "Buffy, could we talk about this later?"
"Okay, scary man. What are we gonna do next, attack a whole army somewhere?"
Xander has to laugh. "Xander, that is the first smile I've seen on your face for a week."
"Yea, and you put it there."
They engage in a very intense, meaningful kiss. Their lives are so heavy and so tragic. Xander puts a lot into this kiss. Buffy can feel chills going up and down her spine. This man has her secret. He has her heart in his. They are both close to tears as they break. They walk for a long while before they actually remember where they are going or what else is happening. It was that good.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
