A/N Thanks for all the great reviews. You guys are really going to hate me for this one. Also I had to go back on my word and add another character. Don't worry their only in it for a second.

Chapter 6

Final Gift

"Oh shit." Carlos muttered. "What do we do now?" he said causing everyone to look at each other. Suddenly they all scrambled for the doors, just as Nemesis opened fire on the van.

As the dust cleared Nemesis watched with some fascination as the van exploded in a ball of fire.


"Is everybody okay?" Xander asked lowly, as they hid beside an opposing building, in an alley.

"Yeah." Carlos replied. "But where's Marie?"

"Damnit!" Xander shouted out as he looked back at the wrecked and burning van. "Marie!" he yelled out as a tear fell from his eye. 'First Kendra, now her sister.' Xander thought to himself. 'How many others will lose their lives in this senseless war?'

"I'm sorry." Jill said as she layed a hand on his shoulder. She knew how it was, losing a partner and a friend.

Alerted by Xander's yell, Nemesis hefted up his gatling gun once more and started to open fire at the area where it heard the noise.


Pieces of brick, bullets, and dust flew by Xander and the others head, as they ducked for cover.

'Xander.' the Hyena whispered in his mind.

'Not now!' Xander growled back as he ducked another barrage of bullets.

'I can help save the others and your queen.' the hyena taunted in a mocking voice.

'How?' Xander asked confused. Since when could a voice help you do anything?

'By giving me control over your body.'

If Xander had of been facing the others, they would have seen his eyes change into a milky white glow for a brief second.

"Jill, I want you and the others to run and try to make it to the barrier." Xander said as he turned to look at them, as Nemesis stopped shooting.

"What?" Jill asked as she looked at Xander hard. There was something about his look, just now that didn't seem right. "What are you talking about? What are you going to do?"

"Make Xander's death matter." Xander muttered as he looked at Jill, then at Rose. "My queen." he said lowly as he stroked her cheek with his thumb. "Now get going!" he yelled as he ran out of the alley.

The others followed behind him, until they got out into the street and ran a seperate way. Leaving only Xander and Nemesis standing in the middle of the street, like a classic cowboy duel.

"Alright big guy." the Hyena said as he watched Nemesis drop his now empty, Gatling gun. "Let's rock." and with that, he let out an animalistic growl and charged Nemesis with the speed of a bull.

Jumping slightly up into the air, the Hyena brought down both of his fists on the side of Nemesis' shoulders, making the giant brute flinch. As he came down to his feet, he was a blur of kicks and punches that rocked the mutant back. Finishing his assault with mind numbing speeds, he could only watch as Nemesis only stumbled back from his best shots.

Enraged that such a simple creature, would dare touch him, Nemesis raised up his hand and backhand slapped Xander hard, knocking him up into the air, about twenty feet away. Using the last of it's power, the hyena did a flip in mid-air, trying to land on it's feet. It almost landed but, Xander's knees buckled causing him to fall flat on his ass.

'That's all I had, kid.' The Hyena whispered in Xander's mind as Nemesis slowly walked towards him. Suddenly a horrible sound filled the night air and Nemesis exploded in a ball of fire.

Looking up to a high building, Xander saw someone, in silhouette only, lowering what looked like an anti-tank missle launcher.


"Goodbye, Matt." Alice said as she lowered her weapon and dissappeared in the darkness of the night.

Somewhere else in the city

An Umbrella camp

"What happened to the feed?" a man wearing a white lab coat demanded to know. They saw all of what Nemesis, saw and the video feed just went blank.

"It seems that Nemesis was destroyed sir." a woman working the controls informed him.

"WHAT!" he yelled out in disbelief. Nemesis was perfect. "How is that possible?"

"That's unknown, sir." the woman replied.

"And, I bet you're just enjoying this aren't you?" the man in the lab coat asked as he turned to a man behind him, that was in a wheelchair.

"Your project was an abomination." the wheelchair bound man told him. "You turned my work into...

"Oh do shut up, doctor." the lab coat wearing man said as he pulled out a gun and held it to Dr. Ashford's head. "Your services will no longer be needed." he said as he pulled the trigger and ended the good doctors life.

"But maybe all is not lost." Dr. Issac said as he turned back around to his assistant. "Send a team to retrive that young man that was fighting Nemesis, before he was destroyed."

"Yes sir." the assistant replied as she picked up a phone.


"I'm going back." Carlos said as he set his jaw and turned around.

"No you're not." Jill replied as she grabbed his arm. "Like it or not we're the only one's left. Now we have to get to the barrier and get us and these kids out of here."

"Not without me you're not." a voice called out behind them.

"Xander?" Rose asked as she turned around and spotted him slowly jogging towards them Blood trickled down from his hairline, he had a couple of cuts on his face, and was walking with a limb, but other than that he looked fine. "Xander!" she yelled happily as she ran into his arms. As he picked her up, he let out a low wince.

"How did you..."

"Let's just say that Mr. Staple face went to pieces." Xander said as he put Rose down and saw the barrier in the distance. "Now come on let's move!"

As they turned a corner they stopped abruptly when they encountered weapons, ammo belts, bits of shredded uniforms, and human body parts, strewn all through the street. This was the remnants of what was obviously a feeding-frenzy and a few cops last stand.

"Gaah...oh God!" Rose said as she started to vomit from smelling and seeing the bodies of the dead.

"It's going to be alright, babe." Xander said as he put his hand over her eyes, after she finished vomiting. "Let's just keep..."

And then they all heard the familiar moans of the dead. The sound of the noises brought a chill to everyone's spine.

As Xander looked around, a sea of undead faced them. Their decomposed bodies shambled out of every walkway, every alley, and evey dark corner. And seeing as though they were being surrounded, he knew that it was hopeless.

Seeing a zombie shuffle by Rose, he punched it in the face and took on several other of the undead as the others backed him up. But they were quickly being outnumbered.

Then suddenly a miracle. The dead sea parted as Marie carved her way through it. She ducked, she kicked, she punched, she blocked, she weaved, and she rolled. And everywhere she went, things died.

Marie's sudden arrival had thrown the undead into confusion, but it wouldn't last for long.

"Hey, guy's." Marie said as she ran up to them. "You miss me?"

"Marie, but..."

"I was running across the other side of the street and when the van exploded, a piece of metal hit me on the head and knocked me unconcious, down an alley."

"Good to have you back." Jill said as she took out her nine. "Now less talky and more walky."

As they took off out of the circle of the dead, Carlos periodically turned around and started blasting with his Ak-47 at any of the demons that dared pursue them.

"I'm out!" Carlos yelled out as Jill turned around and started blasting with her nine millimeter. As the undead started to slack off, the group ran a little faster and as they turned another corner, they came face to face with the barrier.

"We made it." Jill said with a sigh of relief, as they all ran up to the barrier door. "Now all we have to do is get this panel open and we're in business. Damnit it's stuck." she said as she started to pull on it.

"Let me take a crack at it." Marie said as she walked over to it and cracked her knuckles.

"Knock yourself out." Jill said as she let out a little huff. "But if I can't open it you..." and she went silent as Marie ripped off the door panel and flung it further down the street.

"My kind of woman." Carlos said as he smiled at Marie and as Jill glared daggers at him. With only a few pushes of some buttons and a flip of a switch the group was rewarded with the sound of gears moving and in only a few seconds the door opened.

"Hot damn." Jill said as she and the others crossed the treshold and onto the other side. All except Xander.

"Hey, Xander come on." Rose said excitedly. Happy to be free.

"I can't." Xander said as he lost his smile.

"Stop goofing around man and come on." Carlos told him.

"I...I can't." Xander said as the first set of tears started to come to his eyes. "I've been infected."

"What?" Marie said furiously. "Since when?"

"When those zombies surrounded us a few minutes ago." Xander replied. It was when that zombie tried to bite Rose. When he had punched it, another one had turned and bit him on the hand.

"But the cure..."

"Was in the van when it exploded." Xander cut Angie off. "This is the only way. I have to stay behind."

"No!" Rose yelled as she ran into his arms. "You promised me that we would live happily ever after."

"I'm sorry, babe." Xander said as he put her down and crouched down to her level. "I can't be there for you now, but I don't want you to ever forget that I love you." he said as he kissed her on the forehead and then on her cheek. They were both so caught up in emotion and crying, that they didn't see two tiny white lights come out of Xander's mouth and go into Rose's.

"You're my little soldier." Xander said as he let her go. "Now promise me you'll be good for Marie and the others."

"I...I..." was all the little girl was able to get out as she broke down crying again. Seeing her friend breaking apart, Angie walked up to her and pulled her away.

"So is this it for the elusive white knight?" Marie tried to joke as she walked up to Xander, with tears in her eyes.

"It looks like." Xander replied with a sad smile as the two hugged.

"God, why does it have to be like this?" Marie muffled into his shoulder as tears freely fell down her cheeks. They had made it so far.

"I don't know." Xander replied. But for some reason he knew that it would end like this for him. "Please look after Roselyn for me." he whispered into Marie's ear.

"I promise." Marie whispered back as she kissed him on the cheek and walked off.

"I...I don't know what to say." Jill said as she walked up to him.

"You don't have to say anything." Xander said as he pulled her into a quick hug. "Just do me a favor."

"Anything." Jill said as he whispered something into her ear. With a nod of agreement, she wiped at her eye and walked off. She wasn't crying, no she just had something in her eye.

"It was an honor serving with you, sir." Carlos said as he gave Xander a salute.

"At ease soldier." Xander joked as they shared a secret army handshake. He was surprised that he knew that though, because when he had kissed Rose, the soldier's and the Hyena's voices had stopped.

With their goodbyes said they walked on the other side of the barrier. Never taking their eyes off of Xander, they watched as he pressed a button to close the door. All of them had alot of things in their minds as they thought of him, but one was clear.

They were looking at what was known as a silent hero.

"Come on guys." Jill said as she turned her back from the group as tears filled in her eyes. "We have a long walk to the next town."

As they followed Jill's lead, through the early morning sun, they all stopped cold when they heard a loud gunshot, birds flapping angrily in the distance, and a body dropping to the ground. And finally for the first time in a long time, Jill Valentine shed a tear.

twenty minutes later

"At the rate we're going, we'll be in the next town in another hour." Jill said as she continued to lead the group down the long strecth of highway.

"Jill can I ask you a few questions?" Marie asked as she held Roselyn in her arms. The poor thing had cried herself to sleep. "You're a cop right?"

"Not anymore, but go on with your question."

"I wanted to know if you had any contacts with judges? I'm thinking about adopting Rose and changing my last name."

"That's actually not a bad idea." Carlos told her. "Let's not kid ourselves, Umbrella is probably gonna come after us since we have evidence against them. So we should all change our names."

"So what are you thinking of changing your last name too?" Jill asked as she turned around.

"Harris." Marie said as she looked down to Rose's sleeping form and smiled. Rose smiled back in her sleep, but she didn't hear what Marie had said, but rather two voices in her head that sounded like Xander's telling her that she was going to be safe.

Raccoon City

sametime

A black hawk chopper flew high over the city. Hearing confirmation from his superior the pilot flipped a switch and a nuclear bomb was deployed and as it hit the ground it caused a shock-wave spreaded outward.

The town seemed empty, except for nine lonely figures, lumbering down Main Street. The hot wave hit and two were instantly vaporized, and fire engulfed two more. The brains of two others were destroyed by flying debris which caught the remaining three, as well. Arms were torn off. Iron shafts from shattered plumbing, shards of window glass, slats from picket fences, that punched through necks, chests, bellies but the dead things, their skulls undamaged, through billows of dust still drooled hungrily.

Raccoon City was no more.

A week and a half later

During the the first episode of season four

The Freshman

Buffy sat alone in the Bronze as a slow sad song played in the background. She was depressed that Angel had left her, she wasn't fitting into school properly, and oh yeah, that stupid bitch of a vampire Sunday had cleaned her clock.

"Buffy Summers?" a voice asked, snapping her out of her reverie. Looking up she saw a pretty brunette woman and a handsome man wearing black suits and dark sunglasses.

"Who want's to know?" Bufy asked immediately suspicious. If the Council thought they could mess with her now...

"I'm Jill Valentine and this is my partner Carlos Olivera." Jill told her. "We're with the F.B.I." she lied.

"The F.B.I. ?" Buffy asked. "What do you guys want with me?"

"Just come outside ma'am." Carlos said as he took off his sunglasses. "We have alot to talk about."

As Buffy walked outside, to the cool crisp air, a little hispanic girl ran and latched onto her legs.

"Aunt Buffy!" Roselyn yelled happily. She was even prettier than on the picture.

"Aunt Buffy?" Buffy asked with wide eyes. "Listen guys if this is what you called me out here for then you have the wrong girl. I'm not anybodies aunt."

"That's actually not what we called you out here for Buffy." Jill told her as she removed her glasses. And for the first time, Buffy saw her face and noticed that the older woman had been crying.

"Then what is...Kendra?" Buffy said as she nearly fainted from seeing her sister Slayer and a little blonde girl step out of the shadows. "I...I.. don't understand."

"I'll explain everything later." Marie told her. "Right now we need to talk about, Xander."

"Xander?" Buffy said with a shake of her head. "What has he gotten himself into this time?"

"He's dead." Jill told her.

"What! No he's not dead...he's on a road trip and safe from Sunnydale. He can't be dead."

As Jill and the others filled Buffy in on Xander's heroics, up to his death, Buffy broke down in tears and fell to her knees. Carlos even told her some secrets about her friend that Buffy knew nothing about. Like when Xander saved her from Angelus and when he killed those zombies to stop them from blowing up the hellmouth. Marie even told her of her past and who she was.

"It's gonna be alright, Aunt Buffy." Roselyn said as she took off the necklace that Xander gave her and handed it to Buffy.

"No you keep it sweetie." Buffy said as her tears started to subside and put the necklace around her surrogate neice's neck. "I think Xander would've liked for you to keep it." she said as she picked the little girl up in her arms. "I have a friend named Willow. She needs to know about what happened?"

"Xander already filled me in about her." Jill told her. "We're going to her dorm now."

"What about Umbrella?" Buffy asked as she got in the back of the groups van, with Rose, Marie, and Angie.

"We have a video tape and a few files of what they've done, but we haven't went public with it yet." Carlos told her. "But don't worry, we're gonna get those bastards and make them pay."

"Do you need any help?" Buffy asked as revenge filled her heart. Because of them her Xander shaped friend was gone. She wouldn't even get a chance to tell him thank you. Or to yell at him for the things that he did behind her back to protect her. It was her job to protect him, not the other way around.

But deep in Buffy's heart, she always knew that Xander was always her knight.

A/N One chapter left.

TBC...

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