"Yeah," Gunn replied. He didn't really feel up to small-talk if he was getting ready to go into battle, but the other guy seemed nice enough and he didn't want to snub him. "An aunt and uncle. My cousin went to UC Sunnydale, actually."
"Did he transfer?" asked Riley. "Not that I'd blame him, Hellmouth considered and all."
"No, he died."
Riley continued walking in awkward silence, trying to choose his words. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean for this to get so personal."
"You didn't know," said Gunn simply. He wanted to say that it was OK, but it really wasn't. Nothing that had to do with untimely death was OK. "That's why I'm here, actually. It happened a little while back, but I just heard about it. I wanted to see my aunt and uncle and tell them I was sorry I wasn't at Forrest's funeral."
"Forrest?" Riley stopped walking to stare at the other. "Forrest Gates?"
"That would be him. Did you know him from school or something?"
"Yeah," answered Riley, a bit sadly. "He was my best friend."
"Do you think we'll find anything?" asked Willow, trying to match Buffy's pace as they turned onto the street where the former Sunnydale High School was located. "I mean, Oz and the others have already been there."
"I sure hope not, Will, but I can't take any chances." Buffy unzipped her duffle bag as they walked and pulled out a double-sided ax with a long, smooth handle. "And if we find anything, I'll be ready."
In unconscious response, Willow raised the small bag of herbs she was carrying a little higher. It was only a small protective talisman--all Buffy had given her time to prepare--but at least it was something. The weight of it in her hands lessened her fear the tiniest bit.
The ruins of the building loomed over them like a silent, still skeleton of some ancient monster. It wasn't far from the truth, and Buffy's grip tightened around her weapon as they crossed the lawn toward it. Things were entirely too quiet for her comfort.
They went carefully through the broken wood and plaster, making their way to the source of all their Sunnydale problems--the Hellmouth. Still, there was nothing.
"I guess we should be glad that whoever picked these refugees from death didn't have a really bad sense of humor," Buffy said as she scanned the empty "room".
Willow didn't answer. She was kneeling a few feet away from the other, holding something in her hand.
"Will?" Buffy walked around the girl.
Her face was wet with tears. Willow was holding a small magical jewel. It had belonged to Tara.
Buffy sank down next to her, wrapping protective arms around her shoulders.
"Oh god, Will. I'm so sorry."
"Look out!"
Gaby swung her arm around just in time to teach the vamp that had been trying to sneak up on her a lesson: trying to outsmart a slayer will get you a broken nose. Her moves were a bit rusty--she had been dead for many decades--but she was holding her own very well, to put it mildly.
Managing to properly stake the vampire that he had been fighting, Xander was able to look to his left where the other three bloodsuckers had, thankfully for him, focused their attention on the more formidable opponent. The thing he didn't understand was that he had dusted his two, yet the girl was still dealing with the others. She wasn't losing, but she wasn't killing either.
Maybe she's forgotten what she's supposed to do, he thought with a wry smile. Sighing and rolling his eyes a little, he drew his stake up a little closer to his chest and charged into the fray.
One of the three fell on his back, the result of a slayer-powered kick to the chest. Xander quickly leaped on him and shoved the pointed end of his solid oak stake through the vampire's dead heart. 3-0 for the home team.
"You have a stake for a reason," he called to his fighting partner with more sarcasm than he had meant to.
An obviously stunned female vamp staggered mere inches from Gabriella's hands, yet, instead of making short work of her, the slayer insisted on continuing to pummel the skinny blond one in front of her.
"Um, hello? Stake? Heart? Poof?" Xander called, standing back and watching the combat with confusion. That's when he looked down at his feet and saw the stake that lay there. He quickly scooped it up and tossed it. "Gaby! Catch."
The girl barely shifted her focus from the female, who had recovered from her stupor, and caught the weapon easily. Xander used the moment that the skinny one was watching the stake come back into play to step up and push a stake through his back. It didn't quite go in all the way, but a frustrated punch remedied that problem.
His other problem wasn't quite so simple. He looked up just in time to see Gabriella throw her weapon to the ground, deliberately. She launched a roundhouse at the remaining vampire, knocking her into Xander. After a few seconds struggle, he was able to roll over and dust the already-fatigued demon.
Brushing the vampire remains off his shirt, Xander turned and glared
angrily at the slayer. "Is there something you'd like to tell me?"