"What did you do that for?" shouted Anna "She was my friend when I was alive just before we became bitter enemies. I should have got to kill her." Anna walked away bitterly disappointed.
Xander hadn't felt like being in the basement. The girls had gone outside to get some fresh air and to think about things. Xander was now doing the same thing.
He didn't know where he was walking to he just let his legs move him to wherever. Xander did know that he really hoped that he would run into either Shannon or Anya. Time was going slowly and he needed to know what the future would hold for him.
Xander knew that it was Shannon that he really wanted to see. He felt guilty about the way he had broken things off with her. He should have explained it all better but he was still working things out in his head. Maybe he did love her but it was the same kind of love he had for Willow. They had been happy as friends but then they had been together while they were both in relationships. Afterwards they had returned to being friends and it had gone back to the way it was before. The way it had always been. Xander didn't want to lose Shannon he wanted them to remain friends.
Knowing his current run of luck he knew what would happen. They would make up and hug. Then Anya would come around the corner and see them mid hug. She would think that they had gotten back together. Xander would see the hurtful look in her eyes as was about to run away. He would have to run after her and another bad thing would happen. Yep that's exactly what would happen.
His train of thought was broken when he saw a bunch of people all huddled together looking at something. He ran over to see what was happening.
"Hey what's going..." he looked at the person on the ground. His face went as pale as hers from the site. "No, no, NO!"
He knelt down beside her and hugged her. He couldn't look at her; he just looked at the ground still hugging her lifeless body. He knew he was going to cry and he didn't care. People were talking to him, he didn't listen, and he didn't care.
The thoughts that came to him were of what ifs and if only. He remembered the first time he saw her after she had saved his life. She had kissed him and he remembered all the kisses. The times they had spent together and the times she had saved her life. They hadn't known each other long but they had become close. Last night when they had slept together then he thought of their last conversation. He never said goodbye, if only he had chased after her.
The tears finally emerged themselves. He cried on her shoulder and his head rested there. When Xander raised his head from her shoulder he saw them. His eyes focused on the vampires puncture marks on her neck. His grief was replaced with anger.
He had lost his best friend Jesse to vampires, he thought he had lost Willow to vampires, but this time he had lost Shannon to vampires.
The ambulance sirens distracted him for a second. The paramedics got out of it and went over to check Shannon. They would find no pulse.
"Is this your girlfriend?" they asked him. She was in a way for one night.
"I did love her. That's why I have to go now. I have to find my friends and tell them about Shannon." They would help him find the vampire and he would kill it.
Willow was at Giles just waiting around. There was no sign of the bad guys and Xander was safe with Shannon. Willow was looking after Giles. Buffy had gone on patrol but she said that she would check on Xander at some point to see if everything was okay.
She was trying to read a book. It was interesting but she just found that she wasn't taking anything in. She was on the third attempt of the same page but ten lines in she would lose concentration and her mind would drift off. At last she gave up and put the book down. Giles looked up from his book to glance at her being bored.
"I'm sorry that this couldn't be anymore interesting for you. It's quite demeaning for me. I feel like I'm being baby sat." said Giles they were trying to do research to see if Giles theory that Xander would have to fight alone was right.
"Well it's just that after the hit on the head and the fact that Gerathon looking like Xander is out there, we don't want you to be alone and I don't want to be alone. Problem solved." Giles continued reading his book while Willow just stared at hers.
The phone rang. It was sad but Willow was happy to hear the noise of that typical ring. Finally she had something to do. Giles was beginning to get out of his seat. She wouldn't let him beat her to it. She jumped up and pushed him back into his seat.
"Don't worry I'll get it."
"You know that I'm perfectly capable of answering the phone it my own house." Giles didn't really see the point of complaining Willow had already taken it off the receiver.
"Hello." She wondered if she should quickly tag on Giles place Willow speaking but decided it was just too goddamned late. "Oh hi Xander how it's...what she's...how? I'm so sorry. Xander you can't go out there alone. We will help. Buffy will be there soon if you could just hang around a bit longer. You're gonna have to wait. Xander don't. It could have been anyone. Xander. XANDER!" It was useless he had hung up and she hadn't had enough time to talk some sense into him.
Giles was standing near her. He had been listening in to one half of the conversation. He wondered what Xander had said. He had learnt that something bad had happened he could tell that by Willows tone of voice.
"Giles, I'm sorry, Shannon's, dead." She hadn't really known her but Giles had known her ever since she was a baby. Willow hated being the one that had to tell him. Giles went back to sitting down again.
"How did it happen?" he asked but Willow could tell that this had hit him hard. It had hit him harder then when Gerathon had continuously hit him over the head with the book.
"It was a vampire. She had died fighting a vampire. I know that you want to mourn over her death but I'm worried about Xander. By the sounds of it he's just about to take on all the vampires there are in the world because he knows that one of them has killed Shannon. I told him to wait for Buffy, but he wanted to start straight away."
"We'll go out now and find him." Giles picked up an axe. He too felt like killing something.
Xander was searching through his basement. He knew it was around there somewhere he just wished that it was a little bit tidier then he may have seen it straight away. It couldn't be a remote control and have gone down the back of the couch. He decided to resolve it to going over what had happened. It's under the bed. That's where it had been left.
He pulled it out from the bed. Xander lifted up the sword and it shone in the unnatural light of the light bulb. He hadn't had much experience with a sword but he didn't it would be that hard to control. After all it was just a chase of swinging it and seeing what it chops off or stabs.
There was a knock on the door. Willow had said that Buffy would probably stop by to check up on him. She wouldn't have time to stop and chat they had to get going. He opened the door.
"Hi." Xander lifted up the sword and took a swing at her. As soon as blade passed over the threshold Anna grabbed the sword and hung on to it. "That's no way to greet a lady."
"Good thing I wasn't trying to be polite." Anna snatched the sword from him and pointed it at his chest. "You know that you can't come in so I could just take a couple of steps backwards."
"I can't come in but I can still throw things inside." Anna raised the sword above her head then threw it. The sword flew through the air and land in Xanders chest. The impact caused him to fall backwards but he just got up again. Staring down at the sword within him confused as hell why he wasn't dead.
"What the hell?" Xander pulled the sword out of his chest and noticed there was no blood or hole. It was as if it hadn't happened. "Can you explain this?"
"You seem confused. When you were staked by Shannon you didn't turn to dust then." Anna just didn't have a clue what was going on. She had sired Xander but here he was in front of her with a pulse.
"Shannon staked me? Oh god. It was Gerathon who killed her." It suddenly hit him that the face that she saw last was his in vampire form killing her. This just increased the guilt.
"Can I come in? I think I just proved that I couldn't hurt you. You're invincible." Asked Anna.
"No for some reason I can't be killed but Gerathon was changed into a vampire. I guess there's a loop hole because when you're a vampire you're not totally dead." He sat thinking.
"Do you happen to know why you're invincible because you can't just wake up and be invulnerable to death." Technically she had woken immortal but only kind of immortal. The problem with being a vampire was there were still ways to kill you.
"The spell. It's up to us to discover which one will live and which one will die." Anna wasn't quite sure if he was thinking out loud or talking to her. She didn't really care though as things were being explained. "I have to find him."
"Just because you are extremely pissed off with him doesn't mean that this is going to give you the sudden power to destroy him. I easily snatched the sword off you; do you really think that you are going to beat him? Sure you're a very cute good guy that doesn't make you invincible. Well actually you are invincible at the moment but that's only against everything else in the world."
Xander was now rummaging through a chest and Anna could tell that he wasn't listening to her. It seemed like whenever she did try and help no one would listen. She was getting bored. She wondered what Spike was up to.
"Ah here is it." He pulled out a crossbow and an arrow. "Now I can kill him with out going near him.
"Yep one arrow. You're gonna need more then that in case you miss and you would have to make sure he was off guard so he couldn't catch it, move out of the way, snatch it out of your hands. Look you've gone totally this time it's personal. I'm obviously not going to be able to talk any sense into you, so I'm going."
"Wait Anna." She turned around. "Where is he?"
"Geez it's not as if I'm his mother. I'm just his sire and that doesn't mean I have a tracking devise on him. If you ask me though..."
"I did ask you." Said Xander expecting an answer.
"You'll know where to find him, it will happen. This spell has got to end sometime or just go and look in Bronze. He's probably still hungry even after draining Shannon. There you go and now here I go." Anna realised that Xander had gone a little crazy. She didn't really mind but he wasn't really in the mood. Maybe Spike was? She had travelled all the way back to Sunnydale she might as well do something while she was there.
Buffy was annoyed she had gone to Xanders and no one was there. She had then rung Giles as she expected them both him and Willow to be there. As it was though no one had answered the phone.
Shannon wasn't there either. Buffy wondered if they had both gone off somewhere together, but she thought they were more thinking of staying in. They had seemed to be in such a rush to be alone together. For some reason Buffy believed that she had to find them. She was the true slayer and she could sense that something was wrong.
Xander was alone, he was surrounded by people but he was still alone. In the Bronze where he stood without Buffy, Willow, Giles or even Oz and Shannon who couldn't be there. All he had with him was a bag of tricks. He walked around staring at the club, which he knew so well.
A band was singing a sexy song on the stage about the passions they had felt for each other. Couple were on the dance floor holding each other closely not wanting to let go for that moment in time. They all felt safe together. It was ironic that the favourite teenage hangout in Sunnydale was also a place of doom, where many had left with a stranger not realising how strange they actually were.
The Bronze seemed the right place for a final showdown as much had happened there. He saw the pillar that he had been against holding stake to his best friends chest. He then saw the final image of his best friend Jesse turning to dust. A couple of vampires had then grabbed him and brought him to the front just to let go when they had seen that the slayer had killed Luke. On stage had stood his new destiny. This was where his life had changed; this was where he had changed from a normal teenage boy to the slayers friend and someone who would help her fight the evils that were increasing in Sunnydale.
Xander couldn't see the demon that was hiding in his body. There was going to be another big fight tonight. This one would determine whether he could go on living his life or if a demon vampire would instead.
He looked at the couples again. The song had finished and some of them left the dance floor. He walked on to the dance floor and towards two people who were set to leave the area. The guy bumped into him,
"Hey! Watch..." The two identical faces glared at each other, then at the same time smiled. The Bronze seemed to empty, the music stopped and the people were quiet. The spell had made it so that they were alone. No one to help them and no one to hear the screams.
"We shouldn't fight." Said the Xander that was really the demon Gerathon "While we're both alive we're immortal."
"I don't think that I want to spend eternity knowing that I'm keeping the vampire that killed Shannon alive." Xander pulled out the cross bow from his bag and pointed it at Gerathons heart "It's hard to miss at this range."
Xander pulled the trigger but Gerathon had just had time to nudge above the heart. The pain of the arrow went through his body but that wasn't going to stop the vampire demon. He pulled the arrow out of his wound and threw it at the floor. He didn't wince so to mock Xander of his failure.
"That's never good." Xanders plan of using the crossbow as the quick and easy way out had gone down the drain. He also saw it as a sign that he was meant to have a big old battle as he withdrew Shannon's sword from the bag.
In retaliation Gerathon jumped on to the Bronzes stage to grab the mike stand to use as a staff against Xanders sword. He took the mike out of the stand and threw it at Xander. Xander easily dodged it as he jumped onto the stage to join Gerathon. The fight to the death had really begun.
It surprised Gerathon how long Xander had been able to stay alive. He seen it before, he was just a guy with a load of luck and someone with pretty powerful friends. His attacks with the sword were easily blocked but a few of them were more then just random swipes. He noticed how Xander had become slightly unbalanced and Gerathon used it to his advantage. He faced the bottom of the mike stand towards Xanders stomach to push him to the ground. He watched Xander curl under with the pain that had struck his stomach. Xanders grip on the sword loosened and he listened to the sound when they both hit the floor.
Buffy walked into Spikes crypt yet again to see if he knew anything about Xanders whereabouts or anyone else. She quickly averted her eyes when she saw that he was with a girl.
"Bloody hell slayer! Don't you ever knock?" Spike quickly grabbed his leather pants and put them on as went commando. His red shirt had been thrown to the otherside of the room. He began to walk over there to pick it up.
"Can I turn around yet?" she asked not wanting to see it again.
"Yeah." It wasn't that Spike was bad looking as she watched him button up his shirt covering up his muscular chest. The pale flesh disappearing. Her gaze was interrupted by Spike in a moody tone "So what do you bloody want now?"
"All my friends have disappeared on me, again." Buffy was also in a mood so she hoped that Spike wouldn't play games. She was glad at least that he didn't give cryptic messages.
"You know I'm not some sort of blood hound who can smell where all your friends have got to. Even though I can smell blood." Spike was watching something going on behind her. Buffy wasn't stupid it was the vampire he had been with attempting to leave. Buffy picked up a chair and threw it at the door; shutting it and also threatening her that she wasn't to go quite anywhere yet.
The female vampire walked over to be by Spikes side. It was like a very small line up. Buffy immediately picked out the perpetrator as Anna. That girl was still around and obviously continuing to do things that would annoy Buffy.
"God, aren't you gone yet? You're as bad as Spike." Buffy also had the suspicion that Anna had a clue in the world to where the scooby gang were. "So where the hell are they?"
"For a slayer your tracking skills are kinda pathetic. Forget the kinda it's just plain old pathetic." Buffy wasn't in the mood for wannabe bad guys insults. She considered just getting the stake out and throwing it at her. "You're getting lazy wanting Spike to do all the work for you."
"I don't care about you or Spike but who I do care about are my friends and they're off doing god knows what and could be getting themselves killed."
"Yeah that's right with Shannon being extremely dead and all." Anna watched Buffys face change from the almighty chosen one to so very guilty looking one who had let down yet another person.
"What?"
"She's dead and Xander has gone off to avenge her death. He'll probably end up getting himself killed if he's not careful. Now it's time for you to do the heroics and save the day. Except wait you can't do that this time as Xander has be the one who settles the score." Anna was right and Buffy didn't have a clue what to do.
The sword that had been by his side a few seconds ago had disappeared. He knew where to look for it. Gerathon held it above his head ready to bring it down and split Xander in half much like in the way his original demon body had been destroyed.
Xander quickly rolled to the side and then unfortunately off the stage. He landed with a thud but he quickly got up. The drum that had been aimed at his head narrowly missed its target. Gerathon jumped off the stage so that they could continue their battle. Xander tipped over chairs and tables to keep a distance between them until he could he find a decent weapon. Gerathon had walked calmly over to the bar and had a look at what it had to offer. He chose a nice expensive beer then smashed it on the counter. Now why didn't I think of that? Thought Xander. He then began to run, as he didn't feel like being stabbed to death.
Gerathon caught up quickly with Xander and whacked him throwing him against the wall near the stage. He sunk down to the floor starting another fight against unconsciousness. Gerathon wrapped his fist around Xanders neck and pulled him up to his feet. Xander tried to pull Gerathons hands away from his neck but he was too strong. He held the broken bottle in the other hand ready for the kill.
"I told you that the good guys don't always win." He gave a typical bad guy laugh that was cut short when Xander grabbed the hand that held the bottle and twisted it trying to make him drop it. He then attacked every mans weak spot with a kick to the balls. The glass shattered when it hit the floor.
Xander was no longer unarmed. The sword was guided through the air towards the neck of the demon that had caused him so much trouble lately. The sword seemed to move in slow motion as the memories of recent times quickly flickered in his mind. His grip was so tight on the sword his hands began to hurt. It travelled through the neck swiftly separating the head from the body. He could see the eyes were stricken with fear before they turned to dust then fell to the floor. Xander said no quip to reveal the emotions he felt from winning. He just walked away from it all.
His eyes opened to see his new surrounding. He wasn't satisfied as he found himself back at the beginning. Oh God it's Groundhog Day. The warehouse, the damn warehouse. He stood up but he only managed to walk a short distance before he kicked the book that Gerathon had stolen from Giles. Xander picked it up this time and read it contents.
The book was open at the page that contained the spell that Gerathon had used. After he was through reading the page he smiled. It had explained everything to him and understanding it all satisfied him. He had lived it to see who would have the right to the body. Xander had defeated Gerathon in battle on his own with no ones help. It still did seem a little over the top like the person who created the spell didn't know how or when to stop so they just continued with it. It talked about a messenger who would make sure that everyone was in the right place. Of course the powers that be had chosen Anna who just couldn't keep her mouth shut and just annoyed everyone to be where they should be.
Another thought occurred to Xander. He would be able to see her smile, walk, talk and laugh again. Shannon wasn't dead unless it was really cruel and everyone that had died in the spell died in real life. He was going to have to find out by finding her. This time it wouldn't go wrong. The memory of her lifeless body in his arms would remain in his mind but she would never know it. Shannon didn't strike him as the type that liked to be told about their horrible death. It would be very morbid and very depressing. It then struck him that he would also have to make another decision about should he stay with Shannon or Anya. Technically he hadn't slept with Shannon yet so he could leave it as it was and hope the strong feelings for her would eventually disappear.
Xander closed the book and left the building wondering if he was going to have to repeat the whole scene with Buffy except this time he would have a slightly longer story to tell with many more answers. Giles would like his book back and an apology for the head. He knew he was okay as last time the others had found him. He felt like this was a bit of a denouement with everything turning out all fine with smiles of a kind. He stopped during his typical walk off into the sunset.
"I wonder what Spike is up to?" Xander thought, strangely curious, and went off into the other direction with a tune in his heart and a skip in his step.
`~*~THE END~*~'
This ending is dedicated to my friend sarky_woman who has put up with me writing this story bit by bit.
So after all that the story has finally come to an end. You have no idea how long I have been writing this. I can finally get on with writing one of my other stories. Can I ask now what did you think of it? Do you think that I got the Buffy characters right? What was your opinion of the characters I created? Reviews are very welcome and would be great help! Thankyou!
Xander hadn't felt like being in the basement. The girls had gone outside to get some fresh air and to think about things. Xander was now doing the same thing.
He didn't know where he was walking to he just let his legs move him to wherever. Xander did know that he really hoped that he would run into either Shannon or Anya. Time was going slowly and he needed to know what the future would hold for him.
Xander knew that it was Shannon that he really wanted to see. He felt guilty about the way he had broken things off with her. He should have explained it all better but he was still working things out in his head. Maybe he did love her but it was the same kind of love he had for Willow. They had been happy as friends but then they had been together while they were both in relationships. Afterwards they had returned to being friends and it had gone back to the way it was before. The way it had always been. Xander didn't want to lose Shannon he wanted them to remain friends.
Knowing his current run of luck he knew what would happen. They would make up and hug. Then Anya would come around the corner and see them mid hug. She would think that they had gotten back together. Xander would see the hurtful look in her eyes as was about to run away. He would have to run after her and another bad thing would happen. Yep that's exactly what would happen.
His train of thought was broken when he saw a bunch of people all huddled together looking at something. He ran over to see what was happening.
"Hey what's going..." he looked at the person on the ground. His face went as pale as hers from the site. "No, no, NO!"
He knelt down beside her and hugged her. He couldn't look at her; he just looked at the ground still hugging her lifeless body. He knew he was going to cry and he didn't care. People were talking to him, he didn't listen, and he didn't care.
The thoughts that came to him were of what ifs and if only. He remembered the first time he saw her after she had saved his life. She had kissed him and he remembered all the kisses. The times they had spent together and the times she had saved her life. They hadn't known each other long but they had become close. Last night when they had slept together then he thought of their last conversation. He never said goodbye, if only he had chased after her.
The tears finally emerged themselves. He cried on her shoulder and his head rested there. When Xander raised his head from her shoulder he saw them. His eyes focused on the vampires puncture marks on her neck. His grief was replaced with anger.
He had lost his best friend Jesse to vampires, he thought he had lost Willow to vampires, but this time he had lost Shannon to vampires.
The ambulance sirens distracted him for a second. The paramedics got out of it and went over to check Shannon. They would find no pulse.
"Is this your girlfriend?" they asked him. She was in a way for one night.
"I did love her. That's why I have to go now. I have to find my friends and tell them about Shannon." They would help him find the vampire and he would kill it.
Willow was at Giles just waiting around. There was no sign of the bad guys and Xander was safe with Shannon. Willow was looking after Giles. Buffy had gone on patrol but she said that she would check on Xander at some point to see if everything was okay.
She was trying to read a book. It was interesting but she just found that she wasn't taking anything in. She was on the third attempt of the same page but ten lines in she would lose concentration and her mind would drift off. At last she gave up and put the book down. Giles looked up from his book to glance at her being bored.
"I'm sorry that this couldn't be anymore interesting for you. It's quite demeaning for me. I feel like I'm being baby sat." said Giles they were trying to do research to see if Giles theory that Xander would have to fight alone was right.
"Well it's just that after the hit on the head and the fact that Gerathon looking like Xander is out there, we don't want you to be alone and I don't want to be alone. Problem solved." Giles continued reading his book while Willow just stared at hers.
The phone rang. It was sad but Willow was happy to hear the noise of that typical ring. Finally she had something to do. Giles was beginning to get out of his seat. She wouldn't let him beat her to it. She jumped up and pushed him back into his seat.
"Don't worry I'll get it."
"You know that I'm perfectly capable of answering the phone it my own house." Giles didn't really see the point of complaining Willow had already taken it off the receiver.
"Hello." She wondered if she should quickly tag on Giles place Willow speaking but decided it was just too goddamned late. "Oh hi Xander how it's...what she's...how? I'm so sorry. Xander you can't go out there alone. We will help. Buffy will be there soon if you could just hang around a bit longer. You're gonna have to wait. Xander don't. It could have been anyone. Xander. XANDER!" It was useless he had hung up and she hadn't had enough time to talk some sense into him.
Giles was standing near her. He had been listening in to one half of the conversation. He wondered what Xander had said. He had learnt that something bad had happened he could tell that by Willows tone of voice.
"Giles, I'm sorry, Shannon's, dead." She hadn't really known her but Giles had known her ever since she was a baby. Willow hated being the one that had to tell him. Giles went back to sitting down again.
"How did it happen?" he asked but Willow could tell that this had hit him hard. It had hit him harder then when Gerathon had continuously hit him over the head with the book.
"It was a vampire. She had died fighting a vampire. I know that you want to mourn over her death but I'm worried about Xander. By the sounds of it he's just about to take on all the vampires there are in the world because he knows that one of them has killed Shannon. I told him to wait for Buffy, but he wanted to start straight away."
"We'll go out now and find him." Giles picked up an axe. He too felt like killing something.
Xander was searching through his basement. He knew it was around there somewhere he just wished that it was a little bit tidier then he may have seen it straight away. It couldn't be a remote control and have gone down the back of the couch. He decided to resolve it to going over what had happened. It's under the bed. That's where it had been left.
He pulled it out from the bed. Xander lifted up the sword and it shone in the unnatural light of the light bulb. He hadn't had much experience with a sword but he didn't it would be that hard to control. After all it was just a chase of swinging it and seeing what it chops off or stabs.
There was a knock on the door. Willow had said that Buffy would probably stop by to check up on him. She wouldn't have time to stop and chat they had to get going. He opened the door.
"Hi." Xander lifted up the sword and took a swing at her. As soon as blade passed over the threshold Anna grabbed the sword and hung on to it. "That's no way to greet a lady."
"Good thing I wasn't trying to be polite." Anna snatched the sword from him and pointed it at his chest. "You know that you can't come in so I could just take a couple of steps backwards."
"I can't come in but I can still throw things inside." Anna raised the sword above her head then threw it. The sword flew through the air and land in Xanders chest. The impact caused him to fall backwards but he just got up again. Staring down at the sword within him confused as hell why he wasn't dead.
"What the hell?" Xander pulled the sword out of his chest and noticed there was no blood or hole. It was as if it hadn't happened. "Can you explain this?"
"You seem confused. When you were staked by Shannon you didn't turn to dust then." Anna just didn't have a clue what was going on. She had sired Xander but here he was in front of her with a pulse.
"Shannon staked me? Oh god. It was Gerathon who killed her." It suddenly hit him that the face that she saw last was his in vampire form killing her. This just increased the guilt.
"Can I come in? I think I just proved that I couldn't hurt you. You're invincible." Asked Anna.
"No for some reason I can't be killed but Gerathon was changed into a vampire. I guess there's a loop hole because when you're a vampire you're not totally dead." He sat thinking.
"Do you happen to know why you're invincible because you can't just wake up and be invulnerable to death." Technically she had woken immortal but only kind of immortal. The problem with being a vampire was there were still ways to kill you.
"The spell. It's up to us to discover which one will live and which one will die." Anna wasn't quite sure if he was thinking out loud or talking to her. She didn't really care though as things were being explained. "I have to find him."
"Just because you are extremely pissed off with him doesn't mean that this is going to give you the sudden power to destroy him. I easily snatched the sword off you; do you really think that you are going to beat him? Sure you're a very cute good guy that doesn't make you invincible. Well actually you are invincible at the moment but that's only against everything else in the world."
Xander was now rummaging through a chest and Anna could tell that he wasn't listening to her. It seemed like whenever she did try and help no one would listen. She was getting bored. She wondered what Spike was up to.
"Ah here is it." He pulled out a crossbow and an arrow. "Now I can kill him with out going near him.
"Yep one arrow. You're gonna need more then that in case you miss and you would have to make sure he was off guard so he couldn't catch it, move out of the way, snatch it out of your hands. Look you've gone totally this time it's personal. I'm obviously not going to be able to talk any sense into you, so I'm going."
"Wait Anna." She turned around. "Where is he?"
"Geez it's not as if I'm his mother. I'm just his sire and that doesn't mean I have a tracking devise on him. If you ask me though..."
"I did ask you." Said Xander expecting an answer.
"You'll know where to find him, it will happen. This spell has got to end sometime or just go and look in Bronze. He's probably still hungry even after draining Shannon. There you go and now here I go." Anna realised that Xander had gone a little crazy. She didn't really mind but he wasn't really in the mood. Maybe Spike was? She had travelled all the way back to Sunnydale she might as well do something while she was there.
Buffy was annoyed she had gone to Xanders and no one was there. She had then rung Giles as she expected them both him and Willow to be there. As it was though no one had answered the phone.
Shannon wasn't there either. Buffy wondered if they had both gone off somewhere together, but she thought they were more thinking of staying in. They had seemed to be in such a rush to be alone together. For some reason Buffy believed that she had to find them. She was the true slayer and she could sense that something was wrong.
Xander was alone, he was surrounded by people but he was still alone. In the Bronze where he stood without Buffy, Willow, Giles or even Oz and Shannon who couldn't be there. All he had with him was a bag of tricks. He walked around staring at the club, which he knew so well.
A band was singing a sexy song on the stage about the passions they had felt for each other. Couple were on the dance floor holding each other closely not wanting to let go for that moment in time. They all felt safe together. It was ironic that the favourite teenage hangout in Sunnydale was also a place of doom, where many had left with a stranger not realising how strange they actually were.
The Bronze seemed the right place for a final showdown as much had happened there. He saw the pillar that he had been against holding stake to his best friends chest. He then saw the final image of his best friend Jesse turning to dust. A couple of vampires had then grabbed him and brought him to the front just to let go when they had seen that the slayer had killed Luke. On stage had stood his new destiny. This was where his life had changed; this was where he had changed from a normal teenage boy to the slayers friend and someone who would help her fight the evils that were increasing in Sunnydale.
Xander couldn't see the demon that was hiding in his body. There was going to be another big fight tonight. This one would determine whether he could go on living his life or if a demon vampire would instead.
He looked at the couples again. The song had finished and some of them left the dance floor. He walked on to the dance floor and towards two people who were set to leave the area. The guy bumped into him,
"Hey! Watch..." The two identical faces glared at each other, then at the same time smiled. The Bronze seemed to empty, the music stopped and the people were quiet. The spell had made it so that they were alone. No one to help them and no one to hear the screams.
"We shouldn't fight." Said the Xander that was really the demon Gerathon "While we're both alive we're immortal."
"I don't think that I want to spend eternity knowing that I'm keeping the vampire that killed Shannon alive." Xander pulled out the cross bow from his bag and pointed it at Gerathons heart "It's hard to miss at this range."
Xander pulled the trigger but Gerathon had just had time to nudge above the heart. The pain of the arrow went through his body but that wasn't going to stop the vampire demon. He pulled the arrow out of his wound and threw it at the floor. He didn't wince so to mock Xander of his failure.
"That's never good." Xanders plan of using the crossbow as the quick and easy way out had gone down the drain. He also saw it as a sign that he was meant to have a big old battle as he withdrew Shannon's sword from the bag.
In retaliation Gerathon jumped on to the Bronzes stage to grab the mike stand to use as a staff against Xanders sword. He took the mike out of the stand and threw it at Xander. Xander easily dodged it as he jumped onto the stage to join Gerathon. The fight to the death had really begun.
It surprised Gerathon how long Xander had been able to stay alive. He seen it before, he was just a guy with a load of luck and someone with pretty powerful friends. His attacks with the sword were easily blocked but a few of them were more then just random swipes. He noticed how Xander had become slightly unbalanced and Gerathon used it to his advantage. He faced the bottom of the mike stand towards Xanders stomach to push him to the ground. He watched Xander curl under with the pain that had struck his stomach. Xanders grip on the sword loosened and he listened to the sound when they both hit the floor.
Buffy walked into Spikes crypt yet again to see if he knew anything about Xanders whereabouts or anyone else. She quickly averted her eyes when she saw that he was with a girl.
"Bloody hell slayer! Don't you ever knock?" Spike quickly grabbed his leather pants and put them on as went commando. His red shirt had been thrown to the otherside of the room. He began to walk over there to pick it up.
"Can I turn around yet?" she asked not wanting to see it again.
"Yeah." It wasn't that Spike was bad looking as she watched him button up his shirt covering up his muscular chest. The pale flesh disappearing. Her gaze was interrupted by Spike in a moody tone "So what do you bloody want now?"
"All my friends have disappeared on me, again." Buffy was also in a mood so she hoped that Spike wouldn't play games. She was glad at least that he didn't give cryptic messages.
"You know I'm not some sort of blood hound who can smell where all your friends have got to. Even though I can smell blood." Spike was watching something going on behind her. Buffy wasn't stupid it was the vampire he had been with attempting to leave. Buffy picked up a chair and threw it at the door; shutting it and also threatening her that she wasn't to go quite anywhere yet.
The female vampire walked over to be by Spikes side. It was like a very small line up. Buffy immediately picked out the perpetrator as Anna. That girl was still around and obviously continuing to do things that would annoy Buffy.
"God, aren't you gone yet? You're as bad as Spike." Buffy also had the suspicion that Anna had a clue in the world to where the scooby gang were. "So where the hell are they?"
"For a slayer your tracking skills are kinda pathetic. Forget the kinda it's just plain old pathetic." Buffy wasn't in the mood for wannabe bad guys insults. She considered just getting the stake out and throwing it at her. "You're getting lazy wanting Spike to do all the work for you."
"I don't care about you or Spike but who I do care about are my friends and they're off doing god knows what and could be getting themselves killed."
"Yeah that's right with Shannon being extremely dead and all." Anna watched Buffys face change from the almighty chosen one to so very guilty looking one who had let down yet another person.
"What?"
"She's dead and Xander has gone off to avenge her death. He'll probably end up getting himself killed if he's not careful. Now it's time for you to do the heroics and save the day. Except wait you can't do that this time as Xander has be the one who settles the score." Anna was right and Buffy didn't have a clue what to do.
The sword that had been by his side a few seconds ago had disappeared. He knew where to look for it. Gerathon held it above his head ready to bring it down and split Xander in half much like in the way his original demon body had been destroyed.
Xander quickly rolled to the side and then unfortunately off the stage. He landed with a thud but he quickly got up. The drum that had been aimed at his head narrowly missed its target. Gerathon jumped off the stage so that they could continue their battle. Xander tipped over chairs and tables to keep a distance between them until he could he find a decent weapon. Gerathon had walked calmly over to the bar and had a look at what it had to offer. He chose a nice expensive beer then smashed it on the counter. Now why didn't I think of that? Thought Xander. He then began to run, as he didn't feel like being stabbed to death.
Gerathon caught up quickly with Xander and whacked him throwing him against the wall near the stage. He sunk down to the floor starting another fight against unconsciousness. Gerathon wrapped his fist around Xanders neck and pulled him up to his feet. Xander tried to pull Gerathons hands away from his neck but he was too strong. He held the broken bottle in the other hand ready for the kill.
"I told you that the good guys don't always win." He gave a typical bad guy laugh that was cut short when Xander grabbed the hand that held the bottle and twisted it trying to make him drop it. He then attacked every mans weak spot with a kick to the balls. The glass shattered when it hit the floor.
Xander was no longer unarmed. The sword was guided through the air towards the neck of the demon that had caused him so much trouble lately. The sword seemed to move in slow motion as the memories of recent times quickly flickered in his mind. His grip was so tight on the sword his hands began to hurt. It travelled through the neck swiftly separating the head from the body. He could see the eyes were stricken with fear before they turned to dust then fell to the floor. Xander said no quip to reveal the emotions he felt from winning. He just walked away from it all.
His eyes opened to see his new surrounding. He wasn't satisfied as he found himself back at the beginning. Oh God it's Groundhog Day. The warehouse, the damn warehouse. He stood up but he only managed to walk a short distance before he kicked the book that Gerathon had stolen from Giles. Xander picked it up this time and read it contents.
The book was open at the page that contained the spell that Gerathon had used. After he was through reading the page he smiled. It had explained everything to him and understanding it all satisfied him. He had lived it to see who would have the right to the body. Xander had defeated Gerathon in battle on his own with no ones help. It still did seem a little over the top like the person who created the spell didn't know how or when to stop so they just continued with it. It talked about a messenger who would make sure that everyone was in the right place. Of course the powers that be had chosen Anna who just couldn't keep her mouth shut and just annoyed everyone to be where they should be.
Another thought occurred to Xander. He would be able to see her smile, walk, talk and laugh again. Shannon wasn't dead unless it was really cruel and everyone that had died in the spell died in real life. He was going to have to find out by finding her. This time it wouldn't go wrong. The memory of her lifeless body in his arms would remain in his mind but she would never know it. Shannon didn't strike him as the type that liked to be told about their horrible death. It would be very morbid and very depressing. It then struck him that he would also have to make another decision about should he stay with Shannon or Anya. Technically he hadn't slept with Shannon yet so he could leave it as it was and hope the strong feelings for her would eventually disappear.
Xander closed the book and left the building wondering if he was going to have to repeat the whole scene with Buffy except this time he would have a slightly longer story to tell with many more answers. Giles would like his book back and an apology for the head. He knew he was okay as last time the others had found him. He felt like this was a bit of a denouement with everything turning out all fine with smiles of a kind. He stopped during his typical walk off into the sunset.
"I wonder what Spike is up to?" Xander thought, strangely curious, and went off into the other direction with a tune in his heart and a skip in his step.
`~*~THE END~*~'
This ending is dedicated to my friend sarky_woman who has put up with me writing this story bit by bit.
So after all that the story has finally come to an end. You have no idea how long I have been writing this. I can finally get on with writing one of my other stories. Can I ask now what did you think of it? Do you think that I got the Buffy characters right? What was your opinion of the characters I created? Reviews are very welcome and would be great help! Thankyou!