Author's notes: Took me some time, but here is the next part. Enjoy ;-)
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Xander stumbled down the path and went to the place where the rest of the Scoobies were standing. After the fight the group had gathered at the end of the stairs, watching the ambulances and firemen with interest.
"Hey Guys," he greeted them and immediately turned the attention of the group on him.
"God Xander, what happened to you?" Buffy asked when she inspected his blood covered form.
"Got into a little fight with a demon snake," Xander told her. He walked up to the nearby wall that stood next to the stairs "What do you think?" he said and rammed his dislocated shoulder against the wall. A loud plop could be heard as the bones were brought back into place.
"Ah," he sighed. "Much better."
"So, did everything work as planned?" Giles asked him.
"Well, only half of the plan worked right," Xander said and walked up to the Scoobies. "Which means that half of the snake was able to escape the inferno in the library. But I have taken care of it."
He took a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket but noticed that they were completely drenched in blood.
"Great," Xander muttered and threw the pack away. "Anyone got a smoke?"
Everyone shook their heads, except for Faith, who produced a pack from her pocket and threw it to Xander.
"Thanks Faith," Xander said as he lighted one of the cigarettes. " You are my saviour."
"Faith," Giles said and looked shocked at the dark haired slayer.
"What G?" Faith asked. "I said my wild and wicked days were over, not dead. And by the way, I think you did worse things in your youth."
Giles wanted to comment on that statement, but knew better and kept silent.
"And you?" Xander asked "How did thinks go here?"
"We don't know for sure," Buffy said, "but it looks like we only lost seven students."
"That's not that bad," Xander stated. Behind him another part of Sunnydale High collapsed.
A policemen walked up to the group and looked strangely at the blood covered Xander.
"Ah, hi I'm officer Davis," The policemen introduced himself. "Were you present during the events?" he asked and motioned at the school.
The Scoobies looked at each other and nodded.
"Good. Maybe you can make any kind of sense of this," the officer said. "Most of the students we've questioned were talking about vampires and giant snakes. What have you seen?"
"Well," Buffy started, "our principal came and said that we have a gas leak in the building. He ordered us to leave the school grounds, but panic broke out and the students left in a frenzy. And then the school exploded."
"Thank you. That's the first statement so far that is believable," he said and walked away.
The Scoobie gang looked at the burning building for few more seconds.
"Let's get out of here," Xander finally said and the group slowly walked down the street.
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Joyce Summers burst through the front door of her house and ran into the living room.
"Thank God you are all okay," she said as she pulled her daughter into a tight hug. However she noticed the absence of one of the Scoobies. "Where is Xander?" she asked.
"Upstairs. Taking a shower," Buffy said and motioned for the green footprints that were all over the floor. "Believe me, he needed it."
"Well, I don't want to be the party crasher," Faith announced and stood up, " but Angel and I, we have a long drive before us. And I already said that we wanted to leave immediately after the ceremony."
Everyone in the room stood up. Faith shook Wesley's and Oz's hands, because they were the ones she had the least contact with. Cordelia received a quick hug from her.
"I just wanted to tell you that I'm proud of you," Giles told her before he hugged her. "Be careful in LA."
"Will do G..iles," she said and smiled at the Watcher.
"If you have any problems with your subjects, you can call me day and night," Willow told her during their hug.
"Thanks Willow," Faith said. "But don't be angry if I take you up on that offer."
"Giles already said it, but I'm also proud of you," Joyce told her. "I wish you the best."
"Thanks Joyce," Faith said and untangled herself from the older woman.
"Well, B, the big goodbye," Faith said when she stood in front of Buffy.
Buffy rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on Faith. LA is only an hour drive away. So it's more like a small goodbye," she said, but then threw her arms around the other slayer. "Sunnydale will never be the same again without you. I'm going to miss you."
"Yeah, well greet the vampires for me when you see them," Faith told her with a smile.
"Tell the X-man goodbye from me," Faith said before she and Angel left through the door.
After their departure Joyce wanted to know exactly what had happened. When Buffy and Willow were half way through the story Xander came down the stairs, wearing a black t shirt and black army pants, while te towelled his hair.
"Man, I removed demon blood from places I didn't even knew I had," he muttered as he walked into the living room. His mood immediately brightened when he spotted Joyce sitting at the table.
"Hey Joyce," he greeted the older woman before he pulled her into a hug.
"I'm glad nothing happened to any of you," she told him.
"Good to know," Xander said with smile but noticed the absence of Faith and Angel. "Where are deadboy and Faith," he asked the group.
"Don't you remember?" Willow asked him. "They wanted to leave right after the ceremony."
"Damn," Xander cursed. "I totally forgot that. I wanted to give her a little departing gift."
Still shaking his head he grabbed his leather jacket from the hook and opened the door.
"What are you doing?" Buffy asked him confused.
"Searching for her," he said "Maybe I forgot that she wanted to leave right after Graduation, but I remember what she said she wanted to do before she finally left."
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Xander reached the Graveyard about half an hour later and immediately spotted Angel leaning against his car. He parked behind him and stepped out of the SUV.
"Want to say good bye?" Angel asked as Xander walked up to him.
"Yeah," Xander said plainly and leaned against the car besides Angel.
The two stood for several minutes without saying anything. They stood there and watched Faith sitting in front of a grave.
"I bet you're happy that I'm leaving," Angel finally said.
"I can't say that I'm sad," Xander admitted. "I never liked you."
"The feeling is mutual," the vampire replied.
"Don't want it any other way."
"I want to know something," Angel finally asked. "Why didn't you vote for killing me?"
Xander looked closely at the vampire before he responded. "I had my reasons."
Angel looked strangely at the young man.
"We needed you okay?" Xander admitted. "I would have killed you personally if the situation would have been different."
Angel nodded at that. "Faith told me about your little election. That's one of the two reasons why I'm leaving. No one trusts me here. It's best if I leave."
"And the other reason?" Xander asked.
"Buffy," the vampire simply said.
Xander rolled his eyes at that. "Great surprise," he muttered.
"You don't understand," Angel told him. "A year ago she told me that she would kill me if I ever turned into Angelus again. But I never believed her. I thought, if it would come to that decision that she wouldn't be able to go through with it. But yesterday," the vampire mused. "She was ready to kill me. I could see it in her eyes. If Faith hadn't shot me with the tranquilizer rifle she would have done it."
Xander looked strangely at the vampire. "I thought you had her nearly knocked out."
"Yeah," Angel said and smiled knowingly. "But if the roles had been reversed, I would be dust."
Both stood there without saying anything.
"Funny that we are at the grave of the one person that is responsible for her change of heart," Xander said and motioned in the direction of Kendra's grave. The same grave Faith was sitting at.
Angel shook his head. "I often ask myself, if things might have worked out between me and Buffy if I hadn't killed Kendra."
Xander looked at the vampire. "Sooner or later Buffy would have realised that a relationship between you two would not work. She would grow old and you, you would always stay the same. And that's just one of the reasons. And Buffy needs a normal, healthy relationship to compensate for her life as a slayer."
"With you?" Angel questioned him.
"What do mean by that?" Xander asked confused.
"Let's not play the denial game Xander," Angel told him. "You loved her enough to force a more than 240 year old vampire to lead you to the lair of an even older master vampire. And let's not talk about our little encounter in the hospital."
Xander raised his hand in surrender. "Okay, I get what you're trying to say. But the situation is different today. I don't know if I have still those feelings for Buffy."
"Just think about it," Angel told.
"Will do ," Xander said and took something from his pocket. "By the way, I have a present for you."
Angel took the object from Xander's hand and realised that it was the protection amulet the Mayor had given him.
"What am I supposed to do with it?" Angel finally asked confused.
"You really are dumb," Xander said and rolled his eyes. "It's a protection amulet. If it can protect you from the soul curse it can also protect you from spells that can remove your soul," he explained.
"Thanks," Angel said.
"Not doing it for you deadboy," Xander said and moved a few steps forward. "It's for Faith. Don't want her dead because someone found her weakness by turning you into Angelus."
Xander walked down the path and in the direction of Faith.
"But remember," Xander told Angel over his shoulder. "No sex. The amulet will protect you from spells, not from your own stupid decisions."
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Faith had been staring at the grave for about half an hour now. So she didn't notice Xander walking up to her.
He tapped her twice on the shoulder to get her attention. Faith turned around and smiled at the teen.
"Hey Xandman," she greeted him.
"Hey Faith," Xander said and looked at the grave. "Getting some inspiration from your predecessor?."
"Something like that," the dark haired slayer replied. "So, why are you here?"
"Saying good bye," he told her with a wide smile. " And I have a present for you."
"Really?" Faith asked and beamed at him.
"Hey, you got accepted by UCLA. You deserve a present," Xander told her honestly.
"I haven't thought about that," Faith admitted. "I was just glad that I was accepted. Well, okay B, Red, Joyce and Giles gave me a little something. So what is it?" she asked with anticipation.
"Follow me," he simply said. The two walked back to the two parked cars and stopped in front of the SUV.
"So, where is it," Faith asked annoyed after a few seconds.
"You are standing in front of it," Xander said.
"Huh," Faith asked confused
"The SUV Faith," he told her. "My present is the SUV."
Faith looked at him like he had lost his mind.
"I can't accept that Xander," she told him after a few seconds. "I bet you need it on your own."
"No, you don't understand," Xander said and shook his head. "That's not my SUV. That's another one. I bought it for you a few days ago. "
"You serious?" she finally asked.
"Yep," Xander simply said.
"Where are the keys?" Faith asked with an evil grin.
"Here," Xander said and handed her the requested item.
Faith was about to open the drivers door, when Xander stopped her.
"Hey, I'm not finished," he said and walked to the back of the car and opened the trunk.
Faith could see that the trunk was filled with boxes, with the logo of the US Army on it.
"What's that?" Faith asked.
"Just a bit of my equipment," Xander said and opened one of the boxes. "Might help you in LA"
"Oh," Faith said and looked at guns that lay in the box. "New toys for me."
"Yeah," Xander said with a smile before he closed both the box and the trunk. "Just promise me one thing. Go to a shooting range with the weapons before you use them. Don't want you to accidentally shoot someones head off."
"Promise X-Man," Faith said and sighed. "Well, I guess this is it."
"Yeah, time to say good bye," Xander said and hugged the dark slayer.
"I'm not that far away Xander," Faith told him. "You guys can visit me at any time."
Both ended their hug and Faith walked up to the drivers door. She stepped into the big car and started the engine.
"Be good," he told her.
"No chance," Faith told him with a wicked grin and closed the door. After fastening the safety belt, she stepped with full force on the gas pedal.
Angel had followed their conversation and was ready when Faith drove down the street, breaking several speed laws in the process.
Xander looked after the two departing vehicles until they vanished into the darkness.
After that he looked around and frowned. "How the hell am I supposed to get home now."
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On the top floor of one of LA's many skyscrapers a man watched as the sun slowly went down at the horizon. The rays would have been deadly to him, but the fact that the windows of his big office were tinted protected him from a very painful death.
On the other side of the room, the door opened and one of his many assistants entered. He took a few steps in the direction of the window and stopped. He knew that his boss didn't want to be disturbed when he watched the sundown.
When the sun finally disappeared, Dean Carver turned around and looked at his assistant.
"Paul," he greeted the younger vampire with a smile. He walked up to his desk and sat down.
"Mr. Carver, sir," he returned the greeting and walked up to the desk. "I have important information from one of our contacts in Sunnydale," his assistant announced.
"What is it?" Carver asked.
"Sir, the Mayor of Sunnydale, he is dead."
Carver furrowed his eyebrow. "Dead? How?"
"It's not clear at the moment but it seems that the slayer was responsible for his demise," Paul told him everything he knew.
Dean Carver sighed. "That's sad to know. We did real good business with Sunnydale until a month ago," he said. "What else have you got?"
"Sanchez' men are already moving into the city. They want to take over the hellmouth. But they have trouble. The resident vampires are fighting under each other for the leadership. So they have trouble to get them under control."
"Well, let's not worry about that," Carver exclaimed. "It's almost summer and that was never a phase for our kind to fight." His assistant nodded in agreement, before Carver continued with his explanations. "But the whole situation could be very dangerous for us. Adding the hellmouth to his territory would give Sanchez a great advantage against us. I think we have to react before it is too late."
"And the hellmouth would also be a great addition to our own organisation," Paul interjected.
"Of course. But there is one thing bothering me," Carver mused with a thoughtful expression.
The assistant looked confused at his boss. "Sir, what is bothering you?"
"The slayer," Carver stated as it was the most obvious thing. "She killed the Master, Kakistos and now the Mayor. This girl seems like a lot of trouble for everyone who moves to the hellmouth."
"I have to admit, her track record is remarkable, but I don't think that we can't deal with her."
"That's true," Carver admitted. "But I don't want to rush into a situation we are not able to overlook."
"So, what do you suggest?" the assistant asked.
"We need an advisor," Carver explained. "Someone who dealt with this slayer in the past. Someone who can tell us her weaknesses."
"Who do you have in mind?" Paul asked interested.
"I've already selected someone," Carver said and threw a folder at him. Paul was barely able to catch it.
Paul went through the file, but something was bothering him. "Ah, sir? How could you select someone if I just brought you the news?"
This time Carver smiled at his assistant. "I'm not the head of one of the biggest criminal organisations on the west coast, if I don't know what's is going on in the state," he stated. "Call our contact at Wolfram and Heart. Tell them that I want this special person brought to us."
Paul just wanted to turn around, when he spotted something at the bottom of the page.
"Ah, sir," he started. "The person in this file, well . he is."
"Yes, I know," Carver told him. "Don't worry about that. Just make the call. The lawyers will know what to do."
Paul was still confused, but he knew from experience that it was better not to question his bosses decisions.
"Allright sir. I'm on my way," he said and left the room.
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Xander stumbled down the path and went to the place where the rest of the Scoobies were standing. After the fight the group had gathered at the end of the stairs, watching the ambulances and firemen with interest.
"Hey Guys," he greeted them and immediately turned the attention of the group on him.
"God Xander, what happened to you?" Buffy asked when she inspected his blood covered form.
"Got into a little fight with a demon snake," Xander told her. He walked up to the nearby wall that stood next to the stairs "What do you think?" he said and rammed his dislocated shoulder against the wall. A loud plop could be heard as the bones were brought back into place.
"Ah," he sighed. "Much better."
"So, did everything work as planned?" Giles asked him.
"Well, only half of the plan worked right," Xander said and walked up to the Scoobies. "Which means that half of the snake was able to escape the inferno in the library. But I have taken care of it."
He took a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket but noticed that they were completely drenched in blood.
"Great," Xander muttered and threw the pack away. "Anyone got a smoke?"
Everyone shook their heads, except for Faith, who produced a pack from her pocket and threw it to Xander.
"Thanks Faith," Xander said as he lighted one of the cigarettes. " You are my saviour."
"Faith," Giles said and looked shocked at the dark haired slayer.
"What G?" Faith asked. "I said my wild and wicked days were over, not dead. And by the way, I think you did worse things in your youth."
Giles wanted to comment on that statement, but knew better and kept silent.
"And you?" Xander asked "How did thinks go here?"
"We don't know for sure," Buffy said, "but it looks like we only lost seven students."
"That's not that bad," Xander stated. Behind him another part of Sunnydale High collapsed.
A policemen walked up to the group and looked strangely at the blood covered Xander.
"Ah, hi I'm officer Davis," The policemen introduced himself. "Were you present during the events?" he asked and motioned at the school.
The Scoobies looked at each other and nodded.
"Good. Maybe you can make any kind of sense of this," the officer said. "Most of the students we've questioned were talking about vampires and giant snakes. What have you seen?"
"Well," Buffy started, "our principal came and said that we have a gas leak in the building. He ordered us to leave the school grounds, but panic broke out and the students left in a frenzy. And then the school exploded."
"Thank you. That's the first statement so far that is believable," he said and walked away.
The Scoobie gang looked at the burning building for few more seconds.
"Let's get out of here," Xander finally said and the group slowly walked down the street.
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Joyce Summers burst through the front door of her house and ran into the living room.
"Thank God you are all okay," she said as she pulled her daughter into a tight hug. However she noticed the absence of one of the Scoobies. "Where is Xander?" she asked.
"Upstairs. Taking a shower," Buffy said and motioned for the green footprints that were all over the floor. "Believe me, he needed it."
"Well, I don't want to be the party crasher," Faith announced and stood up, " but Angel and I, we have a long drive before us. And I already said that we wanted to leave immediately after the ceremony."
Everyone in the room stood up. Faith shook Wesley's and Oz's hands, because they were the ones she had the least contact with. Cordelia received a quick hug from her.
"I just wanted to tell you that I'm proud of you," Giles told her before he hugged her. "Be careful in LA."
"Will do G..iles," she said and smiled at the Watcher.
"If you have any problems with your subjects, you can call me day and night," Willow told her during their hug.
"Thanks Willow," Faith said. "But don't be angry if I take you up on that offer."
"Giles already said it, but I'm also proud of you," Joyce told her. "I wish you the best."
"Thanks Joyce," Faith said and untangled herself from the older woman.
"Well, B, the big goodbye," Faith said when she stood in front of Buffy.
Buffy rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on Faith. LA is only an hour drive away. So it's more like a small goodbye," she said, but then threw her arms around the other slayer. "Sunnydale will never be the same again without you. I'm going to miss you."
"Yeah, well greet the vampires for me when you see them," Faith told her with a smile.
"Tell the X-man goodbye from me," Faith said before she and Angel left through the door.
After their departure Joyce wanted to know exactly what had happened. When Buffy and Willow were half way through the story Xander came down the stairs, wearing a black t shirt and black army pants, while te towelled his hair.
"Man, I removed demon blood from places I didn't even knew I had," he muttered as he walked into the living room. His mood immediately brightened when he spotted Joyce sitting at the table.
"Hey Joyce," he greeted the older woman before he pulled her into a hug.
"I'm glad nothing happened to any of you," she told him.
"Good to know," Xander said with smile but noticed the absence of Faith and Angel. "Where are deadboy and Faith," he asked the group.
"Don't you remember?" Willow asked him. "They wanted to leave right after the ceremony."
"Damn," Xander cursed. "I totally forgot that. I wanted to give her a little departing gift."
Still shaking his head he grabbed his leather jacket from the hook and opened the door.
"What are you doing?" Buffy asked him confused.
"Searching for her," he said "Maybe I forgot that she wanted to leave right after Graduation, but I remember what she said she wanted to do before she finally left."
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Xander reached the Graveyard about half an hour later and immediately spotted Angel leaning against his car. He parked behind him and stepped out of the SUV.
"Want to say good bye?" Angel asked as Xander walked up to him.
"Yeah," Xander said plainly and leaned against the car besides Angel.
The two stood for several minutes without saying anything. They stood there and watched Faith sitting in front of a grave.
"I bet you're happy that I'm leaving," Angel finally said.
"I can't say that I'm sad," Xander admitted. "I never liked you."
"The feeling is mutual," the vampire replied.
"Don't want it any other way."
"I want to know something," Angel finally asked. "Why didn't you vote for killing me?"
Xander looked closely at the vampire before he responded. "I had my reasons."
Angel looked strangely at the young man.
"We needed you okay?" Xander admitted. "I would have killed you personally if the situation would have been different."
Angel nodded at that. "Faith told me about your little election. That's one of the two reasons why I'm leaving. No one trusts me here. It's best if I leave."
"And the other reason?" Xander asked.
"Buffy," the vampire simply said.
Xander rolled his eyes at that. "Great surprise," he muttered.
"You don't understand," Angel told him. "A year ago she told me that she would kill me if I ever turned into Angelus again. But I never believed her. I thought, if it would come to that decision that she wouldn't be able to go through with it. But yesterday," the vampire mused. "She was ready to kill me. I could see it in her eyes. If Faith hadn't shot me with the tranquilizer rifle she would have done it."
Xander looked strangely at the vampire. "I thought you had her nearly knocked out."
"Yeah," Angel said and smiled knowingly. "But if the roles had been reversed, I would be dust."
Both stood there without saying anything.
"Funny that we are at the grave of the one person that is responsible for her change of heart," Xander said and motioned in the direction of Kendra's grave. The same grave Faith was sitting at.
Angel shook his head. "I often ask myself, if things might have worked out between me and Buffy if I hadn't killed Kendra."
Xander looked at the vampire. "Sooner or later Buffy would have realised that a relationship between you two would not work. She would grow old and you, you would always stay the same. And that's just one of the reasons. And Buffy needs a normal, healthy relationship to compensate for her life as a slayer."
"With you?" Angel questioned him.
"What do mean by that?" Xander asked confused.
"Let's not play the denial game Xander," Angel told him. "You loved her enough to force a more than 240 year old vampire to lead you to the lair of an even older master vampire. And let's not talk about our little encounter in the hospital."
Xander raised his hand in surrender. "Okay, I get what you're trying to say. But the situation is different today. I don't know if I have still those feelings for Buffy."
"Just think about it," Angel told.
"Will do ," Xander said and took something from his pocket. "By the way, I have a present for you."
Angel took the object from Xander's hand and realised that it was the protection amulet the Mayor had given him.
"What am I supposed to do with it?" Angel finally asked confused.
"You really are dumb," Xander said and rolled his eyes. "It's a protection amulet. If it can protect you from the soul curse it can also protect you from spells that can remove your soul," he explained.
"Thanks," Angel said.
"Not doing it for you deadboy," Xander said and moved a few steps forward. "It's for Faith. Don't want her dead because someone found her weakness by turning you into Angelus."
Xander walked down the path and in the direction of Faith.
"But remember," Xander told Angel over his shoulder. "No sex. The amulet will protect you from spells, not from your own stupid decisions."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------
Faith had been staring at the grave for about half an hour now. So she didn't notice Xander walking up to her.
He tapped her twice on the shoulder to get her attention. Faith turned around and smiled at the teen.
"Hey Xandman," she greeted him.
"Hey Faith," Xander said and looked at the grave. "Getting some inspiration from your predecessor?."
"Something like that," the dark haired slayer replied. "So, why are you here?"
"Saying good bye," he told her with a wide smile. " And I have a present for you."
"Really?" Faith asked and beamed at him.
"Hey, you got accepted by UCLA. You deserve a present," Xander told her honestly.
"I haven't thought about that," Faith admitted. "I was just glad that I was accepted. Well, okay B, Red, Joyce and Giles gave me a little something. So what is it?" she asked with anticipation.
"Follow me," he simply said. The two walked back to the two parked cars and stopped in front of the SUV.
"So, where is it," Faith asked annoyed after a few seconds.
"You are standing in front of it," Xander said.
"Huh," Faith asked confused
"The SUV Faith," he told her. "My present is the SUV."
Faith looked at him like he had lost his mind.
"I can't accept that Xander," she told him after a few seconds. "I bet you need it on your own."
"No, you don't understand," Xander said and shook his head. "That's not my SUV. That's another one. I bought it for you a few days ago. "
"You serious?" she finally asked.
"Yep," Xander simply said.
"Where are the keys?" Faith asked with an evil grin.
"Here," Xander said and handed her the requested item.
Faith was about to open the drivers door, when Xander stopped her.
"Hey, I'm not finished," he said and walked to the back of the car and opened the trunk.
Faith could see that the trunk was filled with boxes, with the logo of the US Army on it.
"What's that?" Faith asked.
"Just a bit of my equipment," Xander said and opened one of the boxes. "Might help you in LA"
"Oh," Faith said and looked at guns that lay in the box. "New toys for me."
"Yeah," Xander said with a smile before he closed both the box and the trunk. "Just promise me one thing. Go to a shooting range with the weapons before you use them. Don't want you to accidentally shoot someones head off."
"Promise X-Man," Faith said and sighed. "Well, I guess this is it."
"Yeah, time to say good bye," Xander said and hugged the dark slayer.
"I'm not that far away Xander," Faith told him. "You guys can visit me at any time."
Both ended their hug and Faith walked up to the drivers door. She stepped into the big car and started the engine.
"Be good," he told her.
"No chance," Faith told him with a wicked grin and closed the door. After fastening the safety belt, she stepped with full force on the gas pedal.
Angel had followed their conversation and was ready when Faith drove down the street, breaking several speed laws in the process.
Xander looked after the two departing vehicles until they vanished into the darkness.
After that he looked around and frowned. "How the hell am I supposed to get home now."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------
On the top floor of one of LA's many skyscrapers a man watched as the sun slowly went down at the horizon. The rays would have been deadly to him, but the fact that the windows of his big office were tinted protected him from a very painful death.
On the other side of the room, the door opened and one of his many assistants entered. He took a few steps in the direction of the window and stopped. He knew that his boss didn't want to be disturbed when he watched the sundown.
When the sun finally disappeared, Dean Carver turned around and looked at his assistant.
"Paul," he greeted the younger vampire with a smile. He walked up to his desk and sat down.
"Mr. Carver, sir," he returned the greeting and walked up to the desk. "I have important information from one of our contacts in Sunnydale," his assistant announced.
"What is it?" Carver asked.
"Sir, the Mayor of Sunnydale, he is dead."
Carver furrowed his eyebrow. "Dead? How?"
"It's not clear at the moment but it seems that the slayer was responsible for his demise," Paul told him everything he knew.
Dean Carver sighed. "That's sad to know. We did real good business with Sunnydale until a month ago," he said. "What else have you got?"
"Sanchez' men are already moving into the city. They want to take over the hellmouth. But they have trouble. The resident vampires are fighting under each other for the leadership. So they have trouble to get them under control."
"Well, let's not worry about that," Carver exclaimed. "It's almost summer and that was never a phase for our kind to fight." His assistant nodded in agreement, before Carver continued with his explanations. "But the whole situation could be very dangerous for us. Adding the hellmouth to his territory would give Sanchez a great advantage against us. I think we have to react before it is too late."
"And the hellmouth would also be a great addition to our own organisation," Paul interjected.
"Of course. But there is one thing bothering me," Carver mused with a thoughtful expression.
The assistant looked confused at his boss. "Sir, what is bothering you?"
"The slayer," Carver stated as it was the most obvious thing. "She killed the Master, Kakistos and now the Mayor. This girl seems like a lot of trouble for everyone who moves to the hellmouth."
"I have to admit, her track record is remarkable, but I don't think that we can't deal with her."
"That's true," Carver admitted. "But I don't want to rush into a situation we are not able to overlook."
"So, what do you suggest?" the assistant asked.
"We need an advisor," Carver explained. "Someone who dealt with this slayer in the past. Someone who can tell us her weaknesses."
"Who do you have in mind?" Paul asked interested.
"I've already selected someone," Carver said and threw a folder at him. Paul was barely able to catch it.
Paul went through the file, but something was bothering him. "Ah, sir? How could you select someone if I just brought you the news?"
This time Carver smiled at his assistant. "I'm not the head of one of the biggest criminal organisations on the west coast, if I don't know what's is going on in the state," he stated. "Call our contact at Wolfram and Heart. Tell them that I want this special person brought to us."
Paul just wanted to turn around, when he spotted something at the bottom of the page.
"Ah, sir," he started. "The person in this file, well . he is."
"Yes, I know," Carver told him. "Don't worry about that. Just make the call. The lawyers will know what to do."
Paul was still confused, but he knew from experience that it was better not to question his bosses decisions.
"Allright sir. I'm on my way," he said and left the room.