Title: In the Shadows of Twilight

Author: DOKChairman

Time/Spoilers: I have no idea when this takes place.  However, everything after season six is fair game.

Summary: There is no summary.

Disclaimer: Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy own the rights to Buffy the Vampire Slayer and all of its characters.  I own nothing except the story.

Author's Note: This story takes place in the not so distant future.  As anyone who has read my other Buffy story knows, I love complicated plots, and this story is no different.  Things will start off as polar opposites, but eventually everything will converge.

Author's Note #2: I meant to post this message with my newest chapter for Saints, but I am having major, extremely huge, mind boggling writer's block, and I have no idea how much longer it is going to take me to post, so I'm posting this message here.  Since we are now on a first name basis Lori, I suppose I should tell you my name as well.  My name is Colin, nice to meet you.

Author's Note #3: Lori, you brought up a very valid point earlier.  My other story isn't exactly slapstick, and in fact, it's going to get a lot darker and angstier in the next few chapters.  That is if I can get past my writer's block.  I don't know what I was thinking when I wrote that this story was meant to be more serious.  Let's just say that's its different and leave it at that.

Author's Note #4: The revelation of who X and F are should not come as any surprise.  If it is then you must not have been reading this story very closely.  I have only not revealed their names up to this point because I was trying to create a sense of distance from SunnyD and the cannon that surrounds any story that takes place there.  Of course this being a story about the Hellmouth, that distance won't last very long.

Chapter 4

            The man called X stood as still as a statue despite the ten rushing vampires heading in his direction.  With pride, he noticed that his three companions were acting just as controlled as he was.  They had been in worse situations than this before, and they had gotten out relatively unscathed.  The dark haired man knew that the three were waiting for him to save the day.  That was why he was the boss after all.

            With a loud, piercing whistle emanating from the man's lips, the vampires all stopped.  The man was shocked; he hadn't expected that to work.  It was time to make good use out of his unexpected luck.  Yelling out a cry of indignation, he said to the Russian vampire leader, "Hey!  What about my turn?"

            The vampire looked confused. "Turn?  What turn are you talking about?"  As he talked he held up his hand, signifying to the vampires to stop their attack.

            The man began talking, "Yeah, you know, my turn.  You got a turn, and I think that's its only fair that I get one as well."  The man smirked underneath his mask at the confused look on the vampire's face.  He decided to elaborate further, "You got to talk all melodramatic and make a big speech about how vampires are superior and all that shit, and I think that it's only fair that I get to add my own input.  Then we can get to the killing and maiming part of the afternoon."

            Realization dawned on the vampire's face and he gave the four humans a tight-lipped smile.  "Ahhhh, I see.  I'm feeling charitable today, so if you want you can talk.  Say whatever you want."

            The man nodded his head in thanks at the vampire as he slowly moved his left hand to behind his back.  He began feeling around for something, while at the same time he continued talking.  "Well, I just wanted to introduce everyone really, that's all.  You know, so that you can know whose about to kill you."  He heard the vampire laugh at that.  Continuing, he began pointing his gun in the direction of his teammates.  "Let me introduce the five of us to you.  That is T and right next to him is M.  The person to my right is F and you can call me X."

            The man's left hand finally wrapped around what he was looking for.  Unhooking the object off of his vest, he brought his arm forward until his hand was flush with his leg.  None of the vampires seem to notice his movements.  Dumb fucks, the man thought to himself.  They deserve to die for being such morons

            The man's hidden smirk grew even wider when he saw the seemingly omnipresent look of confusion cross the vampire leader's face once again.  The vampire said, "Wait a minute, you said five, but there are only four of you."

            The man let out an embarrassed chuckle as he said, "D'oh!  I can't believe I forgot about Willy!"  Turning his head briefly to look at F he said to her, "Why is it that I always forget to mention Willy?  He's like my best friend."

            He could see the silent laughter coming from his friend as she answered back.  "Damn X, I don't know, but I don't think Willy appreciates it that much.  You should apologize."

            The man shook his head dramatically as he pulled the pin out of the object in his left hand.  Turning back to face the vampire hoarde, he finally brought the object in his hand out into full view of everyone.  Looking closely at the cylindrical shaped object, he said.  "I'm sorry Willy for ignoring you.  But don't worry; I have a new friend for you to meet.  Willy, meet your new friend Boris!"

            The man then tossed the object in a sailing arc, making sure that it went over the heads of the closest vampires and landing in the middle of the group.  Whether it was by chance or design, it happened to land in the surprised arms of the vampire leader.

            Not waiting to stick around and see the kind of havoc that his friend Willy was about to create, the man yelled out to his teammates.  "Move now!  Go!  Go!"  And they did.  Moving as fast as they could running backwards, the team began moving out of the vault.  Tim and Mikey began firing their weapons into the closest vampires, hoping to stall any attack.

            The man knew that they had to get out of the vault before Willy went off, but he knew they weren't going to make it.  He just hoped they were far enough out of the blast radius that they wouldn't be singed too badly.  He didn't have to wait long to find out.

            The white phosphorous grenade, or as the man liked to call it, Willy, exploded.  The phosphorous immediately ignited all the available oxygen in the vault, turning the room into a furnace.  The vampire leader, and the four vampires closest to him, were immediately vaporized in the blast.  And because of the small, enclosed nature of the vault, the expanding fire soon hit the vampires that were farthest away.  Unlike the lucky vampires who had perished right away, the remaining vampires had to suffer for the ten or so seconds that it took for the phosphorous to burn their bodies up.

            The four humans fared slightly better than their vampire adversaries, but not by much.  As soon as the grenade had gone off, all four humans had hit the ground and rolled their bodies up into tight balls, making sure to breathe in as much oxygen as they did.  Fortunately, they were all wearing heavy, thick clothes, and Kevlar body armor, and while the armor might not have been designed to protect against fire, it did add an extra layer of protection.  The raging fire exploded over their bodies, out of the vault, and into the rest of the bank.  The fire ignited several of the desks, and set the teller counter blazing.

            Soon the phosphorous had burned up all the oxygen in the vault, and the fire died down.  The fires outside the vault were another matter, but for right now, the four humans were free from the fire. 

            The man didn't have to open his eyes to know that everything in the vault was destroyed.  The grenade had taken out the vampires, but it had also destroyed what they were looking for.  The man knew that McAllister was not going to be happy that they didn't get the book.  But not getting the book was the least of his worries.

            The man knew they had to leave.  Either the fire would kill them, or the imminent law enforcement response a burning bank was likely to generate would get them.  Neither option was acceptable.

            Quickly getting to his feet, ignoring the shooting pain that was coming from his back, he moved to his teammates.  He reached his partner first.  Shaking her harshly, he pulled her too his feet and pushed her out of the vault.  He then moved to Tim and Mikey, who were lying right next to each other.  Tim was starting to get to his feet, but his brother was not moving.  That was when the man noticed the reddened patches of skin that were exposed through his clothes.  He could tell that Mikey was burned pretty bad, and was most likely unconscious.

            The man reached down and lifted Mikey's 6'3" 220-pound frame up onto his shoulder and began pushing Tim out of the vault.  They kept moving until the man had reached the entrance to the bank.  He gently placed Mikey's body on the ground and then he turned back to face the rest of the bank.  Smoke was everywhere, as was the fire.

            That was when he remembered the customers.  The human customers.  Swearing under his breath, he then yelled out to F and Tim, "We gotta get those people out of here!  Now!  Take them outside."

            The three of them then rushed over to the still unconscious humans and began transporting them to outside the bank and onto the street.  Within about five minutes they had managed to get the 12 human inhabitants out of the bank.  Now they just had to worry about themselves.

            Tim, who was standing outside with his brother heard sirens in the distance.  Yanking the door opening, he yelled inside to his boss and the woman who were making a last survey of the bank, making sure that they hadn't missed anybody.  "Boss!  We got company!"

            The man and the woman joined Tim outside, breathing in huge chunks of air and coughing.  The woman began saying between gasps of air, "You…know…it would be…much easier to…breathe without this damn mask on."

            The man responded between his own gasping, "I know…F…but we can't…take them off.  You know…the rules."

            Tim was checking on his brother as his other two team members regained their composure.  Mikey was still not conscious and Tim could see that his wounds were starting to bleed.  Tim got up out of his crouch and faced X.  He said worriedly, "Boss, we gotta get M some help.  He's pretty bad off."

            The man nodded his head, "Right.  We need to get some wheels."  Which the man knew shouldn't be too hard to do; they were in L.A. after all.  Everybody and his brother had a car in the City of Angels.

            That was when Fate smiled down upon them, and they saw a black, Ford Explorer coming down the road.  Perfect, the man thought, just the right size for what we need.  Picking up his gun that he had placed on the ground while he was rescuing the people inside the bank, he rushed out into the middle of the street.  Standing in the middle of the road, he brought his gun into firing position and yelled at the driver of the rapidly slowing SUV.  "Get out of the car!  Get out of the fucking car now!"

            The woman who was driving the car did the smart thing and did exactly what X wanted.  After all, how many people refuse a guy dressed completely in black and pointing an assault rifle at them, the man thought with some dark humor.  The woman shaking quickly opened her door and got out of the car.  She said, "Don't kill me please!"

            The man just shook his head and walked up to her and shoved her over to the bank where the rest of the unconscious people were.  He then yelled out, "In the car, let's go!"  The man climbed into the driver's seat as Tim picked up his brother and ran towards the black car.  The woman opened the back door for Tim and then climbed into the passenger seat.  Once the man saw that everyone was in the car, he sped off.

            Reaching into his vest as he sped down the streets of L.A., he pulled out a cell phone.  Taking both hands off the wheel, he yanked his ski mask off his head with one hand and handed the cell phone over to the woman with the other.  He said to her, "Call Javy."

            The woman did as she was told, and handed the phone back over to the man as the phone was dialing.  The man brought the phone up to his ear with his right hand, as he gripped the steering wheel with his left.  He never took his eyes off the road the whole time.

            The man soon heard another man's voice come on the line.  "Yes?"

            The man barked into the phone, "It's me.  Michael is hurt, bad.  We need you to meet us at the safe house in about 45 minutes.  Make sure you bring everything you need this time."

            Javy responded, "You know you're all over the news?"

            The man said angrily, "Fuck!  Already?  We just left the place five minutes ago."

            Javy responded with disdain, "Your American journalists are like vultures.  Wherever there is death and destruction they are not far behind.  They caught your getaway on tape."

            The man swore again, "Damnit!  We're going to have to switch cars, that'll add time.  Meet us at the safe house in an hour then."

            Javy paused before responding, "I don't know.  You guys are hot right now, my price has increased."

            "I don't care about the fucking price Javy, just get your ass over to the safe house."  The man yelled into the phone.

            The man heard Javy acknowledge his request, "All right, but just remember what you said when I give you my bill."  Javy then hung up the phone.

            The man tossed his cell phone over to the dark haired woman sitting next to him and mumbled under his breath.  "Damn, greedy, little bastard."

            Tim spoke up from behind, "So Javy is going to be there, right?"

            X responded in a reassuring tone, "Yeah Tim.  Javy will have Michael up and as good as new in no time.  If the guy wasn't such a great doctor, I'd kicked his ass a long time ago."

            A dark blue, Lincoln Navigator pulled up to an abandoned warehouse on 6th and Industrial, and three people climbed out, with one carrying something in his arms.  The three people rushed inside the warehouse, and didn't stop moving until they had reached the back of the large building.

            When they got there, four people were waiting for them.  One was a short man, about 5'8", with black hair and a slim build.  The three instantly recognized him as the fifth member of their team, James.  The man standing next to James was slightly taller, about 5'10", with graying black hair and a slightly stockier build than James.  He was holding a large duffel bag and was standing next to a table with a blanket it on it.  Four lights had been placed strategically to insure that the table was flooded in light.  On the table were trays of medical tools.  Tim saw him and immediately rushed over to the table and placed his brother on it.

            Javy wasted no time and began working on Mikey.  He put a pair of gloves on and started cutting away Mikey's clothes.

            X and F, meanwhile concentrated on the other two people in the room.  One was a woman they had never met before.  She was tall, certainly taller than F, with light brown hair that came down to her shoulders.  She was very beautiful, in a severe, patrician kind of way, and was wearing a very expensive suit.  In one hand she was holding a briefcase and in the other she had a small white card.

            Standing next to her was a black man, about X's size, dressed in a suit, but one not as expensive as the woman standing next to him was wearing.  X turned an angry glare on the man.  "McAllister, who the hell is this?"  He pointed to the strange woman as he talked.

            McAllister shrugged his shoulders, "She was waiting here when James showed up.  Said she had a business deal she wanted to discuss with you.  I tried to get her to tell me about it, but she refused.  Said she would only talk to you."

            X turned to face the woman and he saw F move right next to his side in the corner of his eye.  Before he could say anything, the woman spoke up.  "I presume that you are Xander Harris and the one they call Faith?"

            Xander didn't bother denying it or demanding how the woman knew who they were.  He figured that anybody who knew enough to find their safe house would also know their names.  "Yes, and you are?"

            The woman extended her hand that held the card, and gave it to Xander.  Xander saw that it was a very expensive looking business card.  The woman then said, "My name is Lilah Morgan, and I have a business proposition for you that I think you will find very profitable."