AN: This chapter contains some minor spoilers for 'Checkpoint', though I think most of you would have seen it anyway

This chapter contains some minor spoilers for 'Spiral', though I think most of you would have seen it anyway. I've lifted some lines from the ep, mostly to explain about Dawn and Glory. Those of you who have seen it will know which lines I'm talking about, and I don't claim credit for them. They might be a little off (or a lot), since I taped over the ep before I wrote this and had to do it from memory.

Chapter 8: Alone

It was an hour past closing time, and Anya was getting worried. Xander had said he'd drive her home, and he should have finished work long since. He always called if he was going to be late.

Giles came down from where he'd been restacking some of the more dangerous magic volumes, and seemed surprised to find Anya still there.

"What are you still doing here? You know I don't pay you overtime when there's nothing for you to do."

Anya gave him a withering look before the worried expression settled on her face again. "You should," she murmured, distracted. "If I'm here I should get paid."

It was the lack of solid argument that really alerted Giles. Anya usually had all sorts of reasons she should get paid more, even for times when she wasn't even in the shop. Looking at his watch, he realised how late it was.

"Where's Xander?" Anya asked it like Giles knew the answer but hadn't been sharing.

"Sorry?"

"Where's Xander? He was meant to be here more than an hour ago. He's not here. He has to be somewhere, so where is he?"

Giles shrugged. "I don't know. He could just be late."

"He always calls if he's late. He hasn't called, so it's something else. Oh god, what if Glory took him? What if he's dead, or being tortured like Spike was?" Anya was starting to panic.

"I think perhaps we should give him a few hours grace."

"Why? What, have you forgotten that we're being attacked by Glory? And that we live in Sunnydale?"

"Uh, right. Good point. Why don't I drive you out to the construction site where Xander's working, and we'll check if he's there?"

Anya nodded, somewhat mollified by the suggestion. She grabbed her coat and headed to the door. "Good. Let's go then."

Giles sighed and grabbed his keys. He turned off the lights and started for the door, noticing Anya waiting impatiently, not seeming to care if he locked up properly or not. She would care if she realised that if the store got broken into she might not have a job for a while.

He locked the shop and they both got into his car, Giles trying to ignore Anya's glares that he wasn't moving fast enough.

"I'm sure Xander is fine, Anya. Stop worrying. What could possibly have happened to him?"

"Do you really want me to answer that?"

--------------

Xander roused slowly, some small instinct telling him not to move or make any noise. Not opening his eyes, he listened, trying to hear something that could help him work out where he was, and what sort of situation he was in.

The headache wasn't helping, but at least he remembered where it had come from. He'd been attacked in an alley. There had been something behind him, so he'd turned to try and defend himself, but then something else had hit him on the back of the head. He could feel the bump.

He'd seen something when he turned. What was it again? He'd been surprised, he remembered that much. If he was surprised, then it couldn't have been Glory. He would have expected her. And it was day, so that ruled out vampires. Well, except Spike. If it was Spike he would have been surprised.

If this was Spike's fault, Xander swore to himself that when he was through, Spike would be begging to go back to Glory. Trying not to laugh at himself, Xander dismissed the idea. It hadn't been Spike. He knew that.

Giving up on trying to remember his attackers, he turned his mind to the now. He was hands were tied behind his back, and also around something else. A pole maybe. Whatever, it didn't matter. It all had the same effect. He was sitting on the ground, in a building of some sort. The floor had the feel of concrete, and moving his hands around carefully he found the pole was solidly held in position. He wasn't going anywhere.

He was leant up against the pole, his tied hands holding him there. His head sagged down on his chest, he hadn't moved it or opened his eyes since he woke. This might actually be one of the situations where military memories came in handy. He wanted to appear unconscious for as long as possible.

He heard something move, almost too quiet for him to notice. It had sounded something like a footstep, but there was only one. Maybe just a guard shifting his feet?

Guard?

At least if it was a footstep it was a human footstep. Or at least something human shaped. Which could again point to vampire. From the temperature he could tell it was night, either that or he was in a cold-storage room or a fridge or something.

Someone groaned nearby. The voice sounded female, but even if it was she didn't get a chance to say anything. The footsteps went past him to his right, and he heard the sound of a fist connecting with something, most likely her head.

So he wasn't alone then. At least one other person was also being held here, and they obviously weren't meant to wake up yet. Xander was suddenly very glad he hadn't moved. One lump on his head was bad enough, he didn't need another.

Wishing he knew how many guards were in the room Xander continued to feign unconsciousness, instead of tripping up the guard that walked right past him on the way back to his post. If he was going to get out of here, he couldn't do it tied to a pole.

He wondered who the girl was. If it was anyone he knew, it was likely to be Willow or Tara. Or Anya. Xander had to force himself not to move to check who it was at that thought. He couldn't give himself away yet. Trying to be rational Xander reasoned that even if it was Anya, looking at her and very likely getting himself knocked out wasn't going to help her.

On the other hand, if it was Tara or Willow, there would be a reason for keeping them unconscious. Tying them up wouldn't stop their magic. He hoped that next time they would remember not to make a noise. Maybe then they could get out.

If it was them at all.

Xander was torn between hoping it was one of his friends, and hoping it wasn't. If it was nobody he knew, fine. It didn't matter. If it was one of the witches, he had a chance of getting out of here, but they might get hurt. He finally settled on hoping he didn't know the person, and wishing that the rest of the scooby gang would come and rescue him.

All he wanted was to get out alive.

He'd run out of options. He might have a lot of memories from being a soldier, but he wasn't one. He didn't have power like Willow and Tara, and he didn't have Anya's thousand years of experience and knowledge. He definitely wasn't as strong as Buffy. Even Spike would be doing better than he was at the moment. Even Giles had some protection by being a member of the Watcher's Council (though generally not a well liked one).

At least the others should know that he was missing by now. Anya would have started to worry as soon as he didn't pick her up from the magic shop. She would have told Giles, and then they would have gone to the construction site to see if he was there. Then found his car. Hopefully they then would have called Buffy and the rest of the gang to see of he was with them, and then they would have gathered at Buffy's place or the magic shop to make a plan to find him.

Hopefully.

Unless it was Anya tied up next to him.

If it was, they probably wouldn't be missed until morning when Anya didn't show up for work. Then Giles would worry. Xander prayed it wasn't Anya next to him.

He didn't have time to pray long, or even really work out who he was praying to. He heard a large door open, and a couple of sets of footsteps enter before the door closed. Maybe now he might learn something.

There was a low murmuring from the direction of the group, they weren't talking very loudly. He could only make out snatches of the conversation.

"… them both?"

"… easiest…. each side."

"… struggle… seen?"

"What… know… hurt?"

The words suddenly stopped. There was a pause and then the voices continued, and more footsteps. The words became louder, coming closer.

The footsteps stopped in front of Xander.

"This one's awake."

Xander lifted his head quickly and opened his eyes. He caught a flash of light reflecting off something that looked like metal, before a fist connected with his jaw and blackness claimed him.

------------

Buffy and Dawn were having dinner when someone knocked on the door. Buffy almost swore before she remembered Dawn was in the room.

"Always when I've just sat down," she muttered to herself.

Dawn just laughed, but before Buffy could get up Spike called from the living room saying that he'd answer it. Buffy just shrugged and went back to eating. She looked over at her sister, who was still chuckling.

"Do you think we can keep him?" asked Dawn, with an innocent look on her face.

Buffy smiled. "Maybe. I've always wanted a doorman."

"Doorvampire."

Buffy rolled her eyes. "That was lame, Dawn. You can do better than that."

"Most of the time. But it's still true. Hey, maybe he could cook and clean and everything?"

Buffy laughed. "That'd be nice. He made good pancakes this morning. We could have our own vampire version of a butler."

"That might not work so well for you. Are you allowed to have affairs with the help?"

"Dawn!"

"What?"

At that moment, Spike led Giles and Anya into the kitchen, forestalling Buffy's reply. Both Giles and Anya looked worried, although worried wasn't really applicable to Anya any more. She was way past worried.

Considering Anya's usual lack of emotion in her facial expressions, she was so far past worried that she'd fallen off the edge of terrified. Giles clarified it in two words.

"Xander's missing."

Buffy almost choked. "He's what?"

"He's gone," said Anya. "He's gone and we can't find him. He didn't come to pick me up from work, and we went to the construction site and his car is still there. And he's not. We went to the apartment, but he's not there either. What if Glory has him? What if she tries to hurt him like she hurt Spike?"

The same thought had just passed through Buffy's mind. Xander wouldn't survive Glory. If the wounds on Spike were any indication, being a vampire was the only thing that allowed him to survive. If Glory had Xander, he wouldn't talk, but he also wouldn't have much hope of being alive at the end of the night. She couldn't say that though.

"I'm sure he's fine," Anya wouldn't believe that, so, "for the moment." Maybe that would help. "Have you called Willow and Tara?"

Giles shook his head. "I thought it best to come here first. I'll call them now."

"I'll do it. I've got the cordless here." Buffy pressed the speed dial for Willow's place, and waited about ten rings before she hung up. "They're not there. They could be at the library or something." Buffy hoped they were. Or getting dinner, anything but them missing too. Half the gang going missing was not a good thing.

Giles looked at her, worry etched even more clearly on his face. He knew what she was thinking. "I hope they are. At any rate, we have to find Xander. If Willow and Tara are missing too, it's likely that they're with him. If not, they're fine and they'll show up at some point."

Buffy nodded. "I hope you're right. But how do we find Xander? We don't have any idea who, or what, could have taken him. I don't really think it would have been Glory. She's smart enough to know that if she couldn't get a vampire to tell her who the key is, she probably wouldn't have a chance with any of you either." She glanced around the room, hoping she'd never have to find out.

"So if it's not Glory, who took him?" asked Anya. "Glory's the only big threat right now. What else is there?" Feeling more sure that Glory wasn't torturing Xander, Anya's emotions backed away from terrified and more towards worry.

"I don't know," Buffy was frustrated. "There's only vamps, but if Xander's been missing for a couple of hours, he definitely disappeared in full daylight. It's only just gotten dark enough for vampires not to fry. Nothing else had attacked us recently except…" a memory flashed quickly through Buffy's mind.

"Oh no."

-------------

Xander woke to find himself shivering and wet, to see a man holding a bucket standing in front of him. He was tied to a chair this time, only slightly more comfortable than the pole. He quickly glanced around to see if the girl was with him, but the room was empty except for himself and the man who was placing the bucket in a corner.

Xander groaned and tried to shake the cobwebs out of his head. It was still throbbing where he'd been hit, his jaw and the back of his head. He thought maybe that he'd hit his head on the pole he was tied to when he had been punched, as the lump from the first assault felt larger than before.

Studying the man in the room with him, Xander found nothing to identify his captors. He was dressed in plain grey clothing, but it was too well cut to indicate him a servant of any sort. He wore a wide belt, and he really needed a haircut. His hair fell well over his eyes, so much that Xander had trouble working out where the man was looking.

Something about the man's boots tugged at Xander's memory, but for everything else he was drawing a blank. Deciding that he wasn't going to find anything out this way, he chose another approach.

"So… who are you?"

The man just looked at him.

"What, can't speak? Or are you like some sentry guy who's not allowed to talk to me?"

The man didn't respond. In fact, he acted like Xander didn't exist at all.

"Come on. You just tossed a bucket of water at me. You obviously wanted me awake for something, or someone did. I'll find out everything in a minute, so why don't you just tell me? Or are you that low down in the ranks that you don't even know?"

The man glared at him. Xander smiled, knowing he was getting through.

"Think about it. Who's going to know? I'll pretend you never said a word. And hey, if my friends ever turn up and try to rescue me, I'll tell them not to kick your ass."

The man gave him a look that should have killed him where he sat, and whacked him lightly across the head.

"Do not threaten me. Your friends will never find you."

Xander grinned. At least he got the guy to talk. "Fine. Sorry, won't do it again. You don't have any painkillers on you by any chance do you?" The man shook his head, looking like he would rather cause Xander more pain than alleviate it. "Didn't think so. So, do you want to tell me your name now?"

"No."

"Okay then. Can you tell me why I've been kidnapped?"

"No."

"Do you know any words more than one syllable?"

Xander had to stop asking questions when the door opened and a heavy-set man walked in. He was dressed in some sort of armour, and carried a sword at his belt. A medallion hung around his neck, and the way it reflected the light made Xander think that it was this man that he caught a glimpse of before he was knocked unconscious a second time.

If he ever got out of here, that man was going to be in some serious pain.

Looking at his face, Xander noticed the real oddity about the man. There was some weird tattoo on his forehead, and when he looked back at the other guard, he could see something similar, only smaller and less elaborate, on his forehead as well.

The armoured man walked up in front of Xander and looked at him like he was something disgusting that soiled the chair he was tied to. The original guard left the room, and Xander decided to try for answers again.

"Who are you?"

The man hit him, harder than the guard had, and right in the sore spot of his jaw.

"I ask the questions. But you should know this anyway. I am the General of the Knights of Byzantium, and you will lead us to the Key."

------------

Buffy had left Dawn with Spike, and now she and Giles (and Anya, who had refused to be left behind) were speeding through the dark streets of Sunnydale on their way to Willy's. Even if they hadn't needed to use it in a while, his bar was still the best place for info on any of the more recent developments on the demon or just-plain-weird front in Sunnydale.

Giles pulled up in front and left the car running as Buffy quickly got out and raced into the bar. If anyone had noticed a large group of guys in armour, Willy would have heard about it. And since they were human, he shouldn't have a problem talking about it.

Buffy was back out in under a minute, giving Giles directions as she climbed in the car. Apparently there was a large group of humans holed up in some old warehouses on the outskirts of town. The vampires that had been living there were missing, and no one doubted that meant dead. Nobody in the car cared, but if a large group of vamps were taken out, the people who did the taking definitely knew what they were doing.

Giles noticed Buffy rubbing her knuckles, and wondered if maybe she had still had to 'encourage' Willy a bit. Either that or she hadn't had the chance to encourage him enough. He decided he didn't really want to know.

-----------

Xander didn't move. He was tied to a chair, but that wasn't the point. He gave the man no visible reaction. This seemed to irritate him for some reason. Xander got another clout across the head, but it was worth it.

"What form has the Key taken?"

Xander tried to appear confused. When all else fails, lie. "Key? What are you talking about? I'm not giving you my keys, you'll probably take my car and break into my apartment and steal all my stuff. I'm not going to let you do that, my girlfriend would never let me hear the end of it. Hell, she'd probably leave me."

This really pissed off the General. "I'm not talking about your keys, you imbecile. You now what I'm talking about. The Key the Slayer is protecting. Where is it?"

When you've already lied, be a smartass. "If this 'Slayer' is protecting this 'Key', it's probably with her, don't you think? Why would I know about it?"

Xander got a punch in the gut, this time. He doubled up in his chair, trying to get his breath back. "What the hell was that for?" he asked indignantly.

"You're lying to me," the man growled.

"You stalked me, knocked me unconscious, kidnapped me, tied me to a pole, knocked me unconscious again, tied me to a chair, threw a bucket of water on me, and gave me a couple of extra punches in the bargain. Tell me again why I should be helpful?"

"Because if you aren't, we'll kill you."

"You know what, I don't think you will. You can't ask me questions if I'm dead. You can't find out anything. No matter how much of a moron you appear to be, you can't be that stupid."

The General laughed, but Xander could hear a forced edge to it. "You think you're our only prisoner? We have others. We can get what we need from them."

Xander smiled. "Oh, you mean the girl? Well, why don't you go ask her, and leave me alone? Or, have you already asked her, and found out squat?"

"What girl?"

"Come on, do you think I didn't hear that guard knock her out a second time? She was right in the same room with me."

This time when the man laughed, Xander could tell it was with genuine amusement. "You thought that was a girl? That was one of the Beast's creatures."

"Beast?"

"The Beast you call Glory."

Xander shrugged. Well, he tried to, but it didn't really work well with his arms tied to the chair. "Oh. So what? It wouldn't know jack. If it did, don't you think Glory would have the key by now? My good sir, I do believe you've wasted your time." He said the last part in an imitation of Spike's accent.

Xander could see the guy begin to get really angry.

'I'm really pissing him off,' thought Xander. 'Good. Damn, this would be so much fun if I wasn't so bloody scared out of my mind!'

Xander's comments had earned him another punch, once again right on the sore spot of his jaw. He couldn't stop himself from giving a small cry of pain. Still, no backing down now.

"You know," he said conversationally, trying to ignore the pain, "Breaking my jaw isn't going to help you get answers."

"What will?" the General growled, still majorly pissed off.

"I'm not sure. Giving me an all expenses paid tour around Europe might be nice." Before the man could hit him again, he added, "Or you could just ask the Slayer, though she probably wouldn't tell you either."

The man grunted. "Well, you're here, and she's not. I guess you'll have to do since I can't ask her."

Xander smiled. "Well, actually… you could ask her. 'Cause there's this thing where she's kind of standing right behind you."

The General froze.

A voice came from behind him. "And there's this other thing where I've got a big sword aimed at your neck. So I wouldn't try anything if I were you." A small hand reached around and took his sword. "Now there's quite a few weapons pointed at you right now, all of which can easily do you a good deal of harm. So why don't you turn around nice and slow?"

The General had no choice. He turned around to see a short blond girl holding a sword, and a man and a girl, both with crossbows. The blond girl with the sword, who he assumed was the Slayer, smiled at him. Somehow, the expression made her seem even more unfriendly.

"Anya," said Buffy, "untie Xander, will you?"

Anya glared at the General before lowering her crossbow and rushing over to the chair. "Are you okay, Xander?" she asked. He nodded, preferring not to speak through his sore jaw now that he didn't have to.

Buffy hadn't taken her eyes off the General. "Now," she said, her tone threatening. "You and I are going to have a little chat about the way you treat my friends, and then, you're going to give us information." She noticed his eyes dart to the door. "Do you really think there's anyone out there to help you? We cover our tracks. We won't be interrupted. Oh, and I imagine screaming won't help either. You're the one that chose this room for interrogation, aren't you? You know how isolated you are."

The look on Buffy's face was all that was needed to convince the General. He would have fought, but a Slayer would beat him easily, and there was also the matter of the other man with the crossbow. He really had no choice but to answer their questions.

"Fine, I will talk. But if you align yourself with the Beast, I don't think it will do you any good."

Buffy hit him. Not hard, but hard enough to prove she meant business. "First of all, we are not with Glory. We fight Glory. We stop her from getting the Key. We do not fight for her. And if you suggest we do again I will tie you to that chair, and not be nearly so civil. Is that clear?"

He nodded. "Fine. But if you protect the Key, then you aid the Beast, no matter how you see it." Buffy glanced at the chair, and he took the point. "I will not mention it again."

"Good," said Buffy. "Before we start, did you attack any of my other friends?" The General shook his head. Buffy nodded, satisfied he was telling the truth. "Now, tell me about Glory."

"What do you know?"

"Some. Evil Hellgod. Real strong, thrives on pain and agony. Banished from a demon dimension, wants the Key."

The General nodded. "The beast ruled in a demon dimension with two other Hellgods, a place of unspeakable torment. All three were powerful beyond measure. But the Beast's power grew beyond what even they could comprehend. So did her lust for pain and suffering. The other gods feared her, feared that she would try to take control. So they acted first. Together, they were able to banish her to another reality. This one. They bound her in a newborn human male, her only weakness."

"So what you're saying is kill the man, and the god dies."

"Yes. Unfortunately, the identity of the human male has never been discovered."

"Uh-huh. Damn, you guys are useless. So what about the Key? What does she want that for?"

"The Beast will use the Key to open a portal and pass back through into her world."

Buffy laughed. "That's Glory's big plan? To go home?"

The General shook his head. "You don't understand. Activating the Key won't just open the portal to the Beast's dimension, it will open all the portals. The walls between realities will crumble, dimensions will bleed into each other. The world as we know it will end. That is what the Key was created for."

Xander finally spoke up. "I don't understand. If the Key can do that, why were the monks protecting it?"

The General looked at Buffy's sword, which she still held as if she intended to use if he gave her the slightest reason. "Because they were fools. They thought they could harness the Key's power for the forces of light. They failed. And they paid with their lives."

Buffy was unimpressed. So far, all this guy had been was annoying. He hadn't told them anything particularly useful, she knew she had to protect Dawn. Knowing she could cause the end of the world didn't change that in any way, more or less. It just put more pressure on her, something she really didn't need. Knowing Glory had a weakness gave her some hope though.

Buffy realised she was gripping the sword so tight her knuckles were white, and the muscles in her arm were knotting up. This guy was just such a pompous asshole. Here she was, perfectly able to kill him before he would know what had happened, and he was acting like she was some stupid schoolgirl who was just along for the ride. He didn't know everything. He didn't know what the Key was now.

Who the Key was.

The monks had done a good job. She would protect Dawn with her life. But her life wouldn't be needed. Not for this. Not for a few guys with a medieval hyjinx. This guy didn't just not know everything, he didn't know anything. It was a joke.

"So… is there anything useful you can tell us, or are you just going to continue being self-righteous? 'Cause that got old real quick."

The General looked surprised. Maybe he was realising that she wasn't just some ignorant schoolgirl. She had the power here. She was in control. Buffy hoped he was realising it. She had to get it through his head that they were never going to get the Key.

They would never touch Dawn.

She looked at him, and the General could see the distain clear on her face. It shocked him to realise that she wasn't even the tiniest bit afraid of him or the Knights. Who was this girl that she thought they were not a threat? Other Slayers in the past had feared them.

He had an army. The Slayer was just one girl. She was alone.

Buffy sighed. From the arrogant expression on the man's face, she knew she wasn't going to get anything more out of him. Despite it all, he still thought she wasn't really dangerous. He thought she wouldn't put up much of a fight if he tired to take the Key by force.

He was so far wrong it really wasn't funny.

Buffy decided that she'd had enough of this. A prisoner, giving her arrogance of all things. Well, if he thought he was still in control, he was in for a rude awakening. She would show him that she was stronger than him, and that she wasn't the only one.

"Xander?"

He looked up from Anya, who was holding him so tight she somewhat resembled a barnacle. "Yeah?"

Buffy gestured with her sword towards the General. "I think we're done here. Anything you want to add?"

Xander grinned. "Anything?"

Buffy nodded, and smiled as an expression of worry flashed across the General's face. Xander pried himself away from Anya, and walked over to stand in front of the General. "You know," he said conversationally, "my head is really, really, sore. And it think it's going to hurt to talk for a little while as well. Now, you - directly or indirectly - are responsible for this discomfort. What do you think I should do about this?"

The General's eyes widened. From the boy's tone, he was seriously going to hurt him. He looked around quickly, thanking God that the Slayer hadn't seen it necessary to tie him up. Whatever the boy planned to do to him, he could still fight back. He forced himself to relax, so he wouldn't give himself away.

Buffy handed Xander the sword she was holding, and stepped back to stand beside Giles. Xander held the sword casually in one hand, using his other to run a finger up the blade edge.

The General got ready to fight. At least the Slayer didn't have a weapon any more. Not that she needed one, but the boy was probably more likely to cut himself than inflict any serious damage on him.

Xander smiled when he saw the General shift his stance slightly. This guy was such an idiot. Still he was fun to play with. He held the sword low and walked forward. Stopping right in front of the General, he leant in until he was almost nose to nose with him.

"What do you think I should do about you?" He kept his voice low, menacing.

Damn this was fun.

Just before the General could move to attack, Xander dropped the sword and punched him. Hard. The General dropped to the ground, and Xander rubbed his knuckles. That had hurt. He didn't see how Buffy could do it. Still, it was worth it. The guy had been so scared he had almost wet himself.

That was the thing about some people. Their own imagination could come up with worse scenarios than you ever could, and they seemed to think that what you were going to do to them was worse than what they were thinking of. All Xander was ever going to do was hit him, but the General hadn't thought that, and as such had totally scared himself out of his wits.

It was really kind of funny.

Xander kicked him once for good measure, then turned back to Buffy.

"Well, that was fun. But can we get out of here? I don't fancy facing another round of the inquisition."

Buffy nodded. "Right. Let's go." She picked up the sword that Xander had dropped, and opened the door.

Anya latched back onto Xander, and handed him the crossbow. He took it gratefully, knowing that she had been holding it mostly for show. Looking back at Buffy, who was waiting in the door, a question came to mind.

"Uh, Buffy? How did you get in here? What did you mean 'we cover our tracks'? You didn't…"

Buffy cut him off. "Of course not. I just let him think that. He's so stupid he believed it. Come on, I'm the Slayer. I can't go around killing humans. Even if these guys are among the scraps of the breed."

"I didn't mean that. And I didn't think you had. I just wanted to know if you snuck in and were bluffing about anyone hearing him scream, or if you actually went around and knocked out all the guards."

"We snuck in. There's a window like right across the hall from this room, and what with all the extra guards and all… well, it wasn't to hard to figure out. We just took out the guys outside the room. For guys who are meant to be an army, they're pretty bad at it."

Xander nodded. "They're pretty thick, too. I mean, they captured one of Glory's butt-suckers as well, or so he said. What did they think they were going to learn? Those things are dumb as."

Buffy laughed quietly. "They're pretty pathetic, true." Xander wasn't certain who she was referring to. "We'll talk about this later. For now, let's just get the hell out of here. I can handle a few of them, but despite how inept they seem to be, they're still an army. I don't really want to find out how I handle the odds." She walked over to the window and climbed out, checking there was no sign of their discovery.

As the others climbed out after her, Buffy scanned her surroundings. A couple of knights were still out cold, their weapons scattered across the ground. She hadn't really been gentle when she'd been worried about Xander. She bent down and picked up another sword, noticing how good the workmanship was.

Xander was still holding the crossbow, so she gave one of the swords to Anya and picked up another for herself. When she noticed the odd look Giles gave her, she just shrugged.

"It's cheaper than buying them."

Giles still looked concerned about stealing weapons.

"Come on, Giles. It's not like they don't have more. And besides, the way I see it, we're doing them a favour. These guys were so pathetic they would have accidentally stabbed themselves before long. Really, we're saving their lives."

"Buffy…"

"They kidnapped Xander."

"Right. Fair enough then."

End Chapter 8

Personally, I don't like this chapter much. Any suggestions for improvement are welcome, anyone telling me I suck will be hunted down and killed. Unless you tell me nicely, in which case I'll only maim you.