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Chapter 4: Surprise, Surprise

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, I only borrow the characters and situations of the Whedonverse for my selfish pleasure (and hopefully yours).

Summary: The merging and continuation of BtVS and AtS. Starts just after 'The Girl in Question,' 5.20, and continues from there. This chapter takes place soon after the fade to black post-'Not Fade Away,' 5.22.

Recap: The Scoobies had a nice reunion in London, where they found out about Angel's plans regarding The Circle of the Black Thorn. Then they found out about the Senior Partners' plans. Buffy decided to take the new Slayers on a field trip, but not before she had Willow contact some old friends.

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Twenty-Six hours later

Los Angeles

Buffy, Dawn, Willow, Giles and Andrew all stood on the rooftop of an office building, clothes soaked through, not far from the still-smoldering rubble of the hotel that used to be Angel's command central, while they watched with slack jaws the chaos erupting before them.

"Holy sh—,"

"Dawnie…language," Buffy chastised, scowling at her sister as Dawn gawked at the scene unfolding before them. Her mouth hung open even more (if that was humanly possible) and her eyes were wide as they focused on the enormous fire-breathing dragon winging its way over the heads of the milling demons that had overtaken the streets below.

Right now, Buffy was thinking the same words that had almost slipped from her sister's lips.

"Wow," Andrew breathed in fascination, "it's like a scene out of The Lord of the Rings, with the orcs and the dragon—"

"Yes, Andrew. We've all seen the movie," remarked Giles dryly. Buffy, reigning in her paralyzing fear, was trying to refocus on the disaster at hand instead of listening to Andrew's hero-worship of Peter Jackson. Now wasn't really the time for pop-culture references.

Willow, having gotten over her own awe, began pulling charms, herbs and incantations out of her backpack and laying them out in preparation for the upcoming battle.

The rest of the Scoobies had gone to instruct the incoming groups made up of almost one hundred and thirty Slayers with their plan of attack. Not that it was much of a plan, per se, but it consisted of three very key elements: Charge, Fight, and Don't Die. The last one was especially important. She just hoped that the girls were ready for this.

"Dawn, I want you to stay up here with Willow. You'll be safe up here. We're far enough away so that you won't be in too much danger, but can still see the show. Got it?" she prompted at her sister's scowl.

"Buffy, I'm seventeen and have some training, you know. I can help out down there," she argued with her arms crossed.

"I know, but I don't want you taking chances, and this is too much for you. Plus, you have to keep Willow safe in case any demons try to get up here and take her out. Please, just promise me you'll be safe."

Dawn hesitated before agreeing. "Promise…I'll play watchdog to Will, just as long as you let me fight next time."

"Well, that depends on what we're fighting, but…we'll see," Buffy said grudgingly, and Dawn was satisfied with that.

They were interrupted by a sound from behind them and they all turned to see Faith, Robin and Xander climb their way up the fire escape to the roof. The three came over to where the rest of the group stood and surveyed what lay before them in silence.

"Everybody in place?" Buffy asked of Faith and at her nod she continued. "How much time do we have?"

"Fifteen minutes till midnight," answered Xander as he armed himself with a dagger and sword. Everybody else followed suit by grabbing their weapons of choice from the extensive collection they'd brought.

"Ok. Will, you have everything you need?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," she said with a perky smile.

Buffy turned back to scan the crowd, looking for members of the Fang Gang but she couldn't pick anyone out of the mass, especially through the pouring rain. Were they there? Were Angel and Spike still alive? God, she hoped so. Hoped with everything she had left in her. She wanted nothing more that to charge into the fray and cut as many demons down until she found them.

Buffy turned to face her group of friends. "Right guys. It's almost time. Everybody know what they're supposed to do?" At the chorus of affirmatives, she continued. "I know this demon hoard looks pretty, well, massive, but they're no UberVamps and we have more Slayers this time, so we can do this. Faith and I will go down first, try to look for Angel and Spike and whoever else might be helping them. The fighting seems to be erupting just over there, so we'll make for that spot. Andrew and Robin, I want you over there, on top of that building. It'll be close enough to see us in case we need your help. And you two are also on dragon detail. Xander and Giles, you two and Kennedy will be sending in the Slayers at exactly midnight. Take out the demons starting at the perimeters and make your way to where we'll be. Watch your backs. This crowd looks nasty and I don't want either of you hurt. So guys, be careful down there, k?"

"Of course, Buffy. Take care of yourself as well," said Giles with an inclination of his head.

"Yah Buff, we'll be fine, don't worry so much. It's only the end of the world!" he said jokingly before giving her a departing hug. The two men moved off down the fire escape to reach their Slayers.

Buffy sighed. Yah, only the end of the world. They'd better all get through this.

"Buffy, look!" Dawn was pointing at some movement in the crowd. The remaining Scoobies all turned to see what she was indicating too. She squinted through the drenching rain. At first all she saw was scuffling, nothing distinguishable. And then a very blond, very bright head flashed within the shadowed alleyway not far away and her heart nearly stopped.

It was him! He was still alive. Oh, Thank God.

"Faith, when we get in there, I want you to find Angel. Get his back, k? You ready to go?"

"Yah, B, I'm five by five. Let's do this thing…"

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Another demon came at him, sword swinging wildly, before Spike kicked him in the chest with a heavily booted foot, knocking him to the pavement. He followed up with a slash to the demon's chest before moving to the next oncoming baddie. The buggers just kept on comin'.

Stupid, bloody Peaches and his grand schemes to prove himself. They usually always ended in bloodshed and carnage. Not that Spike had a problem with bloodshed and carnage…he'd always enjoyed a good tussle. Hell, he'd been the Scourge of Europe by causing chaos and devastation to anyone in his path, but being on the receiving end of the beatings had never been his idea of fun. Well, almost never.

There was no doubt the remaining four of them were going to be wiped out this very night.

Stupid, bloody Peaches!

There must be hundreds, maybe even thousands of various demons surrounding them. Their little group had been split up hours ago when the fighting first started in the alley just behind the Hyperion. The massive hotel was no longer standing now, having been burnt to the ground by that stupid dragon still flappin' its wings up there.

He didn't know for sure if everyone else was still alive. The last he'd seen, Old Blue was protecting Gunn stunningly, as he stubbornly tried to defend himself with the gaping wound in his gut. Poor bugger. If he knew Illyria though, she'd do her fair share of damage, he thought as he cleaved an arm from an oncoming attacker.

He hadn't seen Tall, Dark, and Forehead for a while either, but Spike knew that if Angel would have been dusted by one of these ponces he would have felt it. Bloodlines and all that rot. Broody Boy still hadn't managed to kill that blasted dragon though. For all his big talk, that beastie was still managin' to light everything on fire. Even the drenching rain wasn't putting an end to it.

Hello! Flammable guy here. Not exactly his idea of fun, he griped internally as he felled two more baddies.

Another couple of demons came at him swinging their weapons in his direction and Spike somehow managed to dodge them both before sweeping the legs out from under one and cutting the other one off at the knees. Or at least he thought they were its knees. Hard to tell with some demon-types. Oh well, he thought as he quickly cut its head off, adding to the bodies piling up around him.

The uglier one on the ground got up surprisingly quickly and sent several punches his way. He somehow got a few hits in before the baddie managed to knock Spike off his feet when a swipe of his sword caught Spike's upper arm, followed by a strong blow to his head and a kick to the stomach.

He lay on the ground, completely disoriented, already bruised, bloodied, and sore while clutching the newest wound on his bicep before he realized the vulnerability of his position.

"Bloody Hell!" he said as he raised his eyes and saw the demon standing over him with a sword raised by two beefy fists, ready to bring it down and end his unlife. His own sword was out of reach and he'd never make it before the beastie decided to run him through or chop his head off.

Well, he'd always known he'd go down fighting…again.

He closed his eyes tight as he heard the demon snicker, taking satisfaction that Spike was going to die. The demon obviously relished the fact that he had the upper hand in the situation. Bloody git, just do it already! If this was his time to go, then so be it.

He heard the quiet whisper of steel through flesh, then looked up wondering why he wasn't dust yet. Mr. Ugly still stood before him, sword raised, but then Spike noticed the expression on the demon's face slowly change from malicious intent to utter shock…just before his head rolled to the ground and bounced a couple times. The body slumped a split second later, his sword clanging noisily to the pavement.

And there she stood, the one person he'd never thought he'd see again.