Epilogue

Decisions and Disasters

Alexis Vanadis stood on the asphalt, listening as her employee explained the plan.

"Seems like a lot of folks are getting a bit itchy about this Bastion," Nicholas said, "So I've got to start doing some digging on him."

Alexis absent-mindedly stroked the top of Pangor's head.

"And you'll be staying at Xavier's?" she asked.

"He seemed kind of insistent on it. I'll probably be doing a lot of traveling, but it does make an ideal base for this kind of thing." He sighed, "Besides, I'm going to help them out with the new security system."

"Sound's reasonable," she replied, "Just watch yourself, alright?"

"I will," Nicholas told her. "What about you?"

"I've checked the messages with Tricia in St. Louis. Seems I've got to go to San Fransico and pay my respects," When Nicholas raised his eyebrow she added, "Prudence."

"Damn," he muttered, "Another one."

"Mm hmm," Alexis responded, "After that, Spencer and I are going to take the van back, so we can stop on the way a few times and check some sources for information on Glory."

"Sounds like a plan," They began walking towards the van, where Spencer stood waiting. "You have any regrets about our arrangement?"

"No," she replied, "It's a bit of a pain having one or all of us called away anytime he asks, but Fury does give us one hell of a stipend for this deal."

"True. It's nice not to have to worry about the bills."

"Is it just me," Spencer asked as they approached, "Or are we always heading off in different directions?"

"It's not you," Nicholas confirmed, slapping his brother on the shoulder. "Watch yourselves."

"You too, bro," Spencer said, opening the door for Alexis.

"Call me with any news," she told Nicholas, leaning up and kissing him on the cheek, "Keep me up to date."

"Of course," he responded, reaching over to scratch Pangor, "See ya, pal. Take care of them," he told the Norwegian Forrest. Pangor simply closed his eyes and purred.

"Ahem," Alexis said, "Better than you did with Glory?"

"You're never going to let that go, are you?"

"Nope," she smiled, climbing into her seat. Spencer shut the door and walked over to the driver's side. Nicholas stood back and watched them depart. As the van pulled out of the gates leading to the hanger, he felt a tingle in the back of his mind.

"Nicholas," he heard Jean's voice in his head, "We're finished prepping for takeoff."

"On my way," he thought back, watching his two closest friends drive out of sight. He briefly glanced around the airport. He had an unpleasant feeling that he'd be back here soon.

*****

A few days later, in a remote section of central Mexico, Quantas Airlines flight number QF564 came to a spectacular grinding halt.

At least, Glory defined it at spectacular. The view from the cockpit as the Boeing 747 dived towards the ground at top speed was just…well, amazing. One of those once in a lifetime pleasures, even if you were immortal.

Very few of the humans aboard survived the accident, of course. And those that did would not be able to say anything sensible for the rest of their lives. Like the co-pilot, who simply stared at her, a bit of drool running down his chin, giggling as she removed her hands from the Captain's temples.

She graced him with a smile as she left the wreckage. She hadn't planned on crashing the plane quite this early, but the remote location did mean that no one would be here for a while. And it was still close enough to Sunnydale that she could make it there within a day if she ran. Now that she had fed.

"And they say airline food is no good," she commented as she started north, feeling better than she had in several days.