***
The group gathered at a blasted at building site near the hulk of rock and twisted steel that had been the never lamented Sunnydale High. Spikes scouting mission had been a depressing success to say the least. Far from being an open door, access to the site was tightly controlled. Guards patrolled the perimeter and the once in evidence were nothing compared to the team that was patrolling in side the facility.
The plan was surprisingly low tech Sonja and Buffy would walk in the front way and the rest of the Scoobies with cover from Spike would going from behind through the sewers. The hope was that Antonio and his troops would be too busy with the slayers to deal with the threat coming in from the backdoor especially since it would only be making off with the sacrifice. A block away from the site the group separated into two teams.
"Remember no funny business, Buffy and I distract the crowd and engage Antonio when the altar is clear, you move in and get the girl."
"Giles I am counting on you and Willow to manage lover boy, you know how he gets."
"Hey I can hear you, you know." Xander exclaimed, a hurt sound in his voice. He tossed a bundle to Buffy.
"If I thought you'd pay any attention I would tattoo it on the inside of you eyelids, be careful. Saving Anya will do us no good if you go and get yourself killed." Buffy hugged him briefly.
"Don't worry me and Tara have it covered. At the first sign of dangerous Xander-heroics we paralyze him." Willow smiled indulgently at her friend.
"Spike"
"I remember, I go for Anya" he tossed his cigarette into a wet pile of leaves
"Xander and I will provide covering fire." Giles checked, for the umpteenth time, the crossbow he was holding.
"Willow and I help Spike, and if needs be, you and Sonja." Tara slid a little closer to Willow who gave her hand a squeeze.
"Stay clear of Tony otherwise, he'll pull out the big guns as soon as he realizes what's going on. You do not want to go head to head with a homicidal power-mad mage." Sonja produced her switchblade, which courtesy of Giles and his penchant for bladed weapons was sporting a wicked new edge.
"Power mad mage…it must be sweeps week." Xander muttered sarcastically as he shouldered the axe that he carried.
"Xander"
***
The cavern was alive with the sound of chanting. Even Anya, in her current state, could tell that there was power gathering in this place. Whatever was going to happen, it would happen soon. Antonio was looming over the alter gazing at the power object in his hands the Ashanti blade glowed a deep rosette that pulsed with the power of victims that ha be fed to the knife. Antonio was just contemplating how to torture someone so completely unimpressed by torture when one of the underlings ran up to him
"Sir, The Slayer has been sighted near the area and the Blue Woman is with her. "
The thug turned and slapped Anya hard. "This one must have lead them to us."
Antonio looked at Anya. Anya whose movements where sluggish due to being tied up most of the night on top of the slab. "…And the fact that there is a huge amount of mystical power hovering over this place. And vampires are running into and out of this building - that never occurred to you."
The vampire looked at Antonio and blinked. The mage than lashed his hand out, the blade in his hand sliced though the underling's throat.
"L Vermin, I tocchi nessuni la ragazza ma me." Antonio hissed he was walking away from the cloud of dust when he heard Anya murmuring.
"He wasn't that much of a vermin and why should you be allowed to touch me, Xander is the bunny slayer -"
"You understand Italian." He interrupted her, surprised.
"Certo, posso capire l'italiano." She dismissed. "It's not like the most difficult language to pick up. I lost count of how many times I heard - Oh la marca di Anyanka quella paga di bastardo ingannand- When I was a demon, you eventually pick up on the whole get the cheating bastard part of the equation."
Antonio looked at the woman in front of him and dreamed dreams that the little gypsy princess had never inspired. Not in the nights when their bodies had lain twisted together by passion, and certainly not during the hours during which he had drawn out her torture. Antonio contemplated the effort required to kill her pet human, and take this vixen himself. Could he break her? Tame her spirit? Of course, he could, but would he want to possess the empty, broken, husk that remain?
Explosions rocked the cavern and interrupted his thoughts. "Who would dare?" He wondered aloud for a moment, Than smiled. "Of course, how cliched, the heroes arrive at the last moment to rescue their kidnapped comrade."
The thugs and miscreants hired by Antonio to act as living shield in case of attack gathered at the front door that had until seconds ago been standing closed and locked.
As the smoke cleared, the thugs fell back to see two women standing in the remains of the door. Buffy turned to Sonja, apparently oblivious to the audience gathering at the door. "I told you one stick would do the trick."
Sonja frowned and held up a pipe bomb with the wick already lit. "Well what am supposed to do with this?"
Buffy shrugged and pointed at the group at the door. "Maybe they want it?"
Sonja threw the stick underhanded, it arced over the group of beings crowed around the door it landed behind them. On of the beings began the obligatory "What the fu--." The bomb exploded taking the crowd with it.
Sonja turned to Buffy "See I told you, the careful application of high explosives is a great negotiation tool."
Buff started forward "High explosives wrapped in nails you mean. "
***
Contrary to popular belief, not all sewers are smelly rat infested affairs. Some sewers smell nice and the nest running near the cavern had not been used to transport sewage for about a year. Which is why no one was paying attention to Xander's complaints about how tired he was of crawling through "smelly rat infested sewers" every time somebody wanted to take over the world.
The group rounded a bend in the huge pipe they were traveling though and caught sight of a large metal door. The door had a look that screamed "cool stuff just beyond."
"Is it just me or does this seem way too ea…" Xander's thought was interrupted by a crossbow being leveled in between his eyes and Giles hissing so quietly it was hard to hear.
"Complete that thought, Xander, and as the Good Lord is my witness your arse is a pincushion."
"I'm sure everything's just fine." Xander swallowed loudly Spike snickered and would have spoken except that Giles fixed him with a death head stare that he would have been impressed by even during the height of the big bad days.
"Actually I think Xander is right" Giles looked at Willow she was gazing down the hall.
There near the door, a figure was standing in the corner muttering to itself. Xander stepped from the safety of the shadows and stepped quietly down the hall. The figure looked familiar
"Xander get down you don't know what's going on." Willow hissed as she readied a petrify spell. She had been joking when she proposed the idea earlier, but it would appear that Xander needed a little impulse control.
Xander stopped half way down the hallway. Relax guys it's the weasel." Spike looked down the hallway his enhanced vision going into corners to see the seedy barkeep slouched in the corner. He had a slack jawed expression on hi face. Moreover, his lips were moving ceaselessly. His attention was unfocused; eyes wandering up and down the passage way often falling on Xander and flicking pas him as though he were unimportant. Xander started forward "Hey weasel how's it hanging dude who sprung you from Spike's." The barkeep straightened at the sound of his name and focused on the figure coming down the hall.
Spike saw a rush of heat come to the man's body, a big rush. Smoke puffed out of his nose. Spike was moving before the thought had formed completely in his undead mind. "Harris get your ass down." The others headed for similar positions. Spike landed like a cat on top of Xander sending the both of them to the concrete floor. The barkeep opened his mouth; gout of plasma belched forth and tore down the hall to land on the wall just beyond where Xander had been standing seconds ago. "He left a freaking Pyrotic guarding the door." Spike yelled from the floor where he and Xander cowered. The possessed barkeep started to walk toward the Scoobies, fiery footprints steaming behind him.
***