Title: Of Magic and Machinations (20/20)

Author: Jeffrey Patrick

Type: B/X

Description: Angel is dead... again. Ethan Rayne is actually Lindsay! Buffy and Xander are in a world of hurt, and the kids are still in danger. If none of that makes sense, read parts 1-19. :)

Disclaimer: I own nothing but a tank of propane and some matches. Buffy and all related characters are owned by Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. It's their ball. I'm just the ugly step-sister.

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Xander's ribs were on fire. They were definitely broken. Still, the sight before him forced him to his feet in spite of the pain. Vampires spilled into the place from every entrance. Like living darkness they came as one, their yellow eyes appearing as stars amid the blackness of space. The air grew cold, as Xander realized Death was present and accounted for.

"Why?" Buffy asked, not taking her eyes from the their movement.

"I need them," Lindsay said. "They have waited here for years. Their numbers have grown as they awaited this long prophesied day."

"Um, Buffy?" Xander asked, wincing in pain. "What's the plan? I mean, you ARE plan gal. The woman with a plan, and a well planned plan to boot."

Buffy turned to him and smiled grimly. "The plan is for neither of us to die... again."

"Good plan."

"I thought so."




Willow and Oz looked down through the skylight and saw their friends being surrounded.

"What now?" Willow asked.

"I have a plan," Oz said. "Let me see the cell phone."

Willow handed him the phone, curious as to who he would call.

Oz dialed, whispering, "Be there. Just be there." A few seconds went by. "Riley! Thank God. Is your team ready? Good. Still tracking me? Right. Oh, like now would be good. There are hundreds of vamps. Right. Hurry." He hung up the phone and handed it back to Willow.

"Riley is here?" she asked.

"I thought it best to involve his team," Oz explained. "I called them when I arranged for the air travel. They were meant as backup, and it looks like we need it."

"They'll never make it in time to save Buffy and Xander," she said.

"I know," Oz said, taking her hand. "Which is where we come in."




Buffy had been around long enough to know that the best defense was a strong offense. She charged the vamps closest to her, knowing Xander would guard her back. There were far too many of them. She figured that she and Xander would last approximately 3 minutes, providing the earth opened up and swallowed at least half the vamps. She seriously doubted that would happen.

Xander had handed her a crate, which she has splintered into stakes. She stuffed several into her pocket, leaving a larger piece for Xander. "Ooh, this one's gonna go down in the history books," he said as he staked a vamp that was rushing Buffy from behind.

"Why?" Buffy asked. "Because we're never gonna survive?"

"No," he said, sidestepping a lunging vamp and staking it through the back. "Because you and I are gonna plant all these mothers."

She smiled, even knowing it wasn't true. He was always making her smile. "Start keeping score, Mr. Harris."

"Why's that, Mrs. Harris?"

"Because if you don't dust at least half as many as I do, I'm not gonna wear that little maid number you picked out for me."

"Incentive. I like."




"It's hopeless Slayer," Lindsay yelled above the growl of the vamps. "You don't have a prayer. No miracles from the sky!"

As if on cue, the skylight shattered into a rain of glass. Lindsay turned his eyes skyward to a spectacular light show as Willow and Oz hovered into view. Glass fell like rain. Lindsay looked up and cursed under his breath. The sight he saw was expected, but not exactly following his timeline. He took a few steps back as another wave of vamps pressed their advantage on the Slayer.

Buffy and Xander looked up to see Willow hovering down through the skylight with Oz in tow. Mystical energy crackled around her, causing the vampires to clear out of her way. Oz's feet touched the ground, but Willow continued to hover. "Leave them alone." she said, her eyes solid black. "Or face the consequences."





Giles broke the lock on a steamer trunk that bore Ethan's initials. He had been struck from behind by Lindsay, who was masquerading as Ethan Rayne. It was all terribly confusing, even without a concussion. He heard footsteps as he rifled through the contents of the trunk.

"What can I do to help?" Lilah asked.

"I think you've done quite enough."

"I thought I was preventing a catastrophe," she said angrily. "I didn't know it was Lindsay."

"You knew what she would have to do. You knew Buffy would have to kill the children."

"What choice did I have? And... what are you looking for?"

"A prophecy," Giles said. "All of this rings strangely familiar."

"You people and your prophecies."

"Please, I need quiet. Go help Buffy."

"No thanks. I'm enjoying the living."

Giles pulled a book from the trunk and opened it carefully. "This is the one."





Oz wasted no time. He pulled a stake from his pocket and jumped into the fray, tackling a vampire that was getting the best of Xander. Xander gave him a grin, before batting away a vamp with a piece of board.

"Xander," Buffy shouted, "there are hundreds of them. Less hurting, more dusting."

"She could be right," Xander said, helping Oz clear a path back to Willow.

"I can see it," Oz said.

Willow was forcing a path through the vamps until Oz and Xander ran to her side. Buffy backed toward them. They were surrounded. There was no escape.




The children were afraid. The darkness in the air was palpable. Alex had heard the familiar voices first. He cradled Dawn in his arms. He was the oldest. He knew his mom and Aunt Buffy would be counting on him to look after the others. It was a big job for a little boy, but he was determined to do his best. So when he saw the bad man who had caged them, he stood like steel, determined not to let any of the others be hurt.

"You," Lindsay said, pointing to Alex. "You are the first piece to the puzzle."

"Wh-what puzzle?" Alex asked.

Lindsay grinned. "You'll find out soon enough." He grabbed the boy roughly and pulled him from the large cage. The other children cried.

"I'll be back soon," Alex called to them, knowing it wasn't true. "I promise."




"Damn," Giles said, reading the text. "I know this passage. It's referenced in one of the Watcher diaries."

"And?" Lilah asked.

A shadow crawled over Giles' worn face. "Dear Lord, no."

"What is it?"

"We've been all wrong. Horribly, horribly wrong."




"The new girl?" Buffy asked.

"Was our distraction," Willow said.

"My money's on her to show," Oz said. "She's tough."

"Four against a thousand... five against a thousand... I don't see that it'll matter," Xander said.

"Reinforcements are on the way," Oz said.

"G.I. Joe?" Xander asked, getting the drift.

"The Transformers were booked months in advance," Oz said, staking a vamp that got a bit too close. The circle had closed about them. There was nowhere left to go.

"Will?" Buffy asked, searching for hope.

"I'm open to suggestions," Willow said. "And I have a feeling things are about to get real interesting."




Lindsay yelled over the growling of the remaining vamps. "Slayer! I have a gift for you"



"We've got to stop her," Giles said. "She won't know."

"Won't know what?"

Giles ignored the question and ran back toward the battle. Lilah took the opportunity to run for her life.



Xander put his hand on Buffy's shoulder as the vamps opened a path. Suddenly, a demon appeared and began running toward her.

"I just have to buy us some time," Buffy said. "If he keeps playing these games, the reinforcements will show up, and we'll have a chance."




"Don't do it, Buffy," Giles chanted to himself as he fought his way through vamps trying to make his way to Buffy.



Oz sniffed the air as Buffy ran at the demon with a knife she had pulled from her jacket. He opened his mouth to tell her to stop, but when he opened it blood gushed out and he choked. Xander turned to see what happened. What he saw would haunt him for the rest of his life.



"Buffy!" Giles shouted. "Don't do it! It's what they want!"



Buffy pulled the knife from the beast's heart and drove it in again. Warm blood splashed against her face, and the illusion faded. She back-peddled, feeling the bile rise in her throat. The vampires all grinned. Lindsay laughed. Buffy reached back for Xander as dark energy began to pour out of Alex's body.

"Xander, I didn't know that... Oh God! What have I...?"

She tripped over something and went down hard. She glanced to see Oz lying next to her. There was no life in his eyes. She jumped to her feet and spun around. She couldn't believe what she saw.



Giles broke through the crowd to find Alex lying dead upon the ground. Dark energy spilled out of him like some foul river. Just a few feet away, he saw Oz's lifeless body. He tried to see beyond that, but the only view he had was Xander flying toward him at an incredible rate of speed. The impact broke three of Giles' ribs.

"Giles' we have to stop this," Xander said, his weight still on top of the Watcher.

"Get off of me," Giles said. "We must help Buffy."

"I would if I could," Xander said. "She did something to me. I'm numb all over."

Giles rolled Xander onto his back. "Stay here, and I'll..." He stopped mid-sentence when he saw her.




The eyes of Willow Rosenberg were black as she levitated the Slayer over the multitude of vamps. One by one, she applied pressure to Buffy's bones, starting with the fingers. She broke them one at a time.

"Why, Willow?" Buffy asked, gritting her teeth through the pain.

"Don't you understand?" Lindsay asked, taking his place beside Willow. "Your little Miss Rosenberg died years ago when I shot her to death. This is the lovely partner that I mentioned earlier. "

"No," Buffy said, tears flowing. "It isn't true."

"Do you really think YOUR Willow would've killed her own husband?"

"Believe it, babe," the demon said in Willow's voice. "You wouldn't believe how torturous it was to pretend to be that sniveling twit."




Xander felt the effects of the spell begin to wear off. Giles just stood there in shock.

"Giles," Xander said, struggling to get to his feet. "Giles!"

Giles turned to look at him.

"Help me up!"

"The children," Giles said. "We have to find the children. Now that Lindsay has started the ritual, the others must die."

"What? Why?"

"Not enough time to explain," Giles ran off, leaving Xander trying in vain to get back on his feet.




"Why?" Buffy asked, as her left femur snapped in two.

"The few will be one," Lindsay said.

"The many will be one," Willow added.

"And it will begin when the Slayer spills the blood of the chosen."



Giles followed the trail of energy gushing out of the slain child. At the end of its flowing, he found the cage where the children had been kept. Before his eyes, they were welding into one. He looked around for a weapon. They... it would have to be destroyed.



Xander was surrounded by vampires, yet they wanted nothing to do with him. They were drawn to the flow of the dark magic. He managed to get to his feet once, but his legs buckled and he went down hard. The pain was incredible. Then a hand reached down and helped him up. He looked at her and smiled. Maybe they still had a chance.



"There are more of us," Buffy said. "Anya is still..."

"The ghost arrived before you did," Lindsay said. "My partner here ripped her ghostly form to shreds. Whatever is left of her is lost to the ether."

"I even did it in front of the witch's husband," Willow said. "I just made him forget it. Just like I made him think he had actually called in the military. What a simple-minded fool."




Giles could not believe what he saw. The woman, if it could be called a woman, looked remarkably like Buffy and Xander's daughter, Dawn. But she was older... darker... and she was nothing but a shell. He knew he only had moments to act, so he grabbed the very fire extinguisher that had knocked him out earlier, and raised it to strike at the entity before him. But then he heard the screams, and knew he was too late.




Xander's ribs were on fire, and he was beginning to fear he might puncture a lung. Still, the cavalry had asked for a distraction. He laughed to himself as he limped toward Willow, Lindsay and Buffy. "I'm nothing if not distracting," he thought.

"Hey, hellbitch!" he shouted. "You killed my friend. You made a mockery of her life. You killed the man that she loved. You're going down."

"Oh, really?" Willow said, laughing.

"Yes, really. You're gonna die, and the last thing you'll see is me laughing in your face."

Buffy tumbled to the ground as the witch released her. "She is broken," Willow told Lindsay. "Watch her while I deal with this cretin." She hovered in the air, electricity crackling around her.

"Is that supposed to scare me?" Xander asked. "Because I have to say, after having fought a god and lived to tell about it, you don't worry me that much."

Suddenly, the sea of vampires let out a high shriek. The witch let out a disturbing laugh. "It has begun. All hope is vanquished." Suddenly, a rebar punctured her chest from behind, and she dropped to the floor with a thud. Blood poured out of her wound.

"I don't know," Sarah Potts said, pulling the rebar out of her back. "From this side, I'm not feeling so vanquished."

Xander dropped to his knees, and looked her in the eyes as the light faded from them. "Ha and ha," he said. Then she breathed her last breath, and he began to weep. No longer was it his enemy before him, but the broken, lifeless body of his dearest friend. Something hardened in him as he made eye contact with Lindsay. Lindsay, though, was not shaken. He simply grinned. It wasn't over. It was just beginning.




Giles watched in horror as all the vampires within the huge complex began exploding into dust, their essence flowing into the being that had once been the children. He wept because he knew. He knew that they were all damned.



The new Slayer was good. Xander could tell by watching her beat the living hell out of Lindsay. Unfortunately, he hadn't had time to catch her up on the real threat. He looked down at Buffy as he cradled her in his arms.

"The world is falling apart here, hon," he whispered. "You gotta wake up and tell me how to fix this."

He glanced at the crowd of vamps. They were still shrieking, bursting into dust and flowing toward the other side of the warehouse. Whatever was happening, he knew he would find it there. He gently lifted Buffy into his arms and stood, his back protesting all the way. He cast a glance at the Slayer who remarkably was still standing. Then, he took step after painful step toward his destiny.




Giles was in shock. He didn't hear Xander calling his name until the younger man touched his shoulder. He looked at Xander with blank eyes.

"Where are they?" Xander asked. "Where are the kids? What happened to all the vamps?"

"They became one," Giles whispered as though the air itself was alive. "One."

"That's... that's not possible."

Giles didn't even respond. They both knew it was true.

"Giles," Xander said, the thought suddenly upon him, "you gotta get back to Sarah. If she kills Lindsay..."

Giles jumped to his feet. He was in horrible shape. Compared to Xander's injuries, however, he had no room to complain. He ran across the warehouse as fast as his legs would carry him. He got there just in time to see the Slayer snap Lindsay's neck. He could've sworn that he saw a smile on the villain's face.





One Week Later...



Giles, Buffy, Xander and Sarah all sat huddled in the ruins of what was once Buffy's home. Buffy and Sarah were recuperating quickly thanks to faster Slayer healing abilities. Xander and Giles were not so lucky. Still, their minds were far from their own pain as the listened to the world news.

"God," Xander said. "I never thought..."

"None of us did," Giles said. "The devastation is..."

"Gonna stop," Buffy said.

"Damn straight," Sarah said.

"Buffy, I truly wish to put an end to all this... destruction. We all do. We've lost our homes. Millions have lost their lives. But there is nothing we can do."

"There has to be something," Xander said. "It can't end like this."

"It won't," Buffy said. "But I can't take that... thing... alone."

"You'd need an army," Giles said in disgust.

"Then we'll get one," Sarah said.

"She's right," Xander said. "It's the only thing we CAN do."

Giles removed his glasses and sighed. "But Buffy, the odds of..."

"Don't talk to me about odds, Giles," she said, a look of grim determination set in her features. "We're going to do the only thing that we can do." She took Xander's hand and met his eyes with her own. He nodded. "We're going to war."