Brothers in Arms

Disclaimer: own nothing you recognize.

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Buffy Summers was having, arguably, one of the worst nights of her life. First, she and Faith go out and try to get some weapons for the upcoming battle, only to get caught by the police. Then, to make things more humiliating for herself, Xander's friends showed up and one of them posed as a British agent to get them out of trouble. They were doing everything they could to separate him from the group, and it was working well. In order to bring him back into the fold, she was going to have to lay down the law.

"Xander Harris," she said to him in a tone that meant he was in trouble, "I don't know what your game is, but you are going to have this lunatic drop us off and then, you are going to explain yourself!"

For a moment, all eyes, save the driver's, were on her. Then…

"Man," Bond muttered to himself, "I can see why you wanted out, Xand."

"We save her from the cops, and this is the thanks we get," Remy muttered in disbelief, "We get ordered around and talked down to. Figures. I leave to get away from this in New Orleans, come right back to it in SunnyD. Is there no justice?"

"We feel for ya, Remy," Xander said with a grin, "Although, you do have to admit, Jimbo, she does have a good point about you being a lunatic."

"Ain't that the truth," Kate smiled 'innocently' at him.

"Are you making fun of me," Buffy was baffled by their attitude.

"She caught on," Kate said, waving her hands around frantically, "The end is near! The big, bad Slayer knows we're making fun of her."

Buffy opened her mouth, about to shout at the unknown girl, when she heard some snickering.

"Faith," she turned her attention to the Dark Slayer.

"Face it, B," she was grinning from ear to ear, "They got a point."

"Ladies and gentlemen, I give to you," Xander said theatrically, "FAITH, THE VOICE OF REASON!"

"Thank you, thank you," Faith mock bowed, "I'd also like to take this opportunity to thank the academy for their rescuing me and B from the fuzz."

"'The fuzz,'" Gambit questioned, his eyebrows raised.

"I saw it in a movie once," Faith defended herself.

"Enough," Buffy interrupted, bringing the attention back to herself, "Xander, who are these people?"

Xander stared at her for a moment, sizing her up, then turned his gaze back to the front of the car. He made eye contact with James and Gambit for a moment, then again with Kate. All smiled at the look of mirth in his eyes.

"Bond," Jimbo started, "James Bond."

"LeBeau," Gambit picked up, "Remy LeBeau."

"Fuller, Kate Fuller," she finished.

"She was right on the money when she said 'lunatic,'" Faith muttered playfully.

"You must be Faith," Remy said back to her, "Seeing as how that's what Xander called you. You can call me Gambit."

She looked at him oddly, but smiled all the same.

"What was with the bit about being a secret agent," Buffy asked.

"It wasn't a bit, you bint," James was pissed now, "I am a secret agent."

"Wicked," Faith said, "X-man, I didn't know you had friends this cool. Always thought it was just B and Red."

"It was," Buffy muttered under her breath.

"Well, it ain't no more, B," Faith said, having heard her perfectly, "So, what's up with the combat gear?"

"Paintball," Remy explained casually, "I love the sport, and it's standard issue in the British service for field training, so we went to play a game in their urban court. Joined a team, kicked their asses!"

Xander grinned inwardly at Gambit's ability to make up a story on the spot. His skill for that had only grown in the time he had been away. He turned his attention back to Buffy, who looked as though she was begrudgingly accepting the explanation, though she was trying to find a flaw in it. He knew that the next step had to be taken carefully, so as to not reveal Wesley's involvement with things or to cripple their operation. It was imperative to not reveal James's true intentions here, and to insure that their base wasn't revealed. He made eye contact with Bond and saw that the agent was thinking along these same lines. It's not that he didn't trust Buffy, it's just that…she tended to think along the lines of 'me, me, me' nowadays, if it wasn't 'Angel, Angel, Angel.' The odds were that she'd want to take control of the small group the second she knew what was going on and, he really didn't want her to start getting bossy. Kate, Gambit, or James would shoot her the second she started mouthing off at them, Hell, they would right now if it weren't for the car thing. Wait…

"Hey, James," he called up to the front, "When do you get off leave?"

"Not till the end of the month," Bond stated casually, "Why?"

"Care to go flying through the desert?"

James took a quick look at him, checking to see if he was serious, then smiled at the look on Xander's face.

"Attention, Passengers," he spoke into a pretend radio, "This is your Captain speaking, we will be experiencing turbulence, so please fasten your safety belts and hang on tight."

He stepped on the gas and, before long, the SUV was out of Sunnydale and in the desert. James twisted off of the freeway and drove around until he found a hill.

"Hold on," he called back as he pressed down on one of the buttons on the wheel.

As the vehicle rose off the hill, he applied more pressure to the button. On the back of the vehicle, the license plate flipped around, revealing a small jet engine, barely large enough to elevate the vehicle, thus explaining why it could only work for a limited amount of time. As the SUV rose up into the air, the engine kicked in.

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A short while later, as the vehicle was being driven back into Sunnydale, the group held a mixture of expressions. James was smiling at his successful flight, the first one he'd ever taken. Remy was clutching onto the seat, grateful to any being above or below that he had made it through alive. Kate was smiling like a fool, still rushed with adrenaline from the flight. Faith was an echo of Kate. Buffy was clutching the seat in fear, thankful that it was over. Xander was just staring ahead, his mouth wide open. Finally, he took a breath.

"…WOW."

"Holy shit, English," Faith said, giddy, "That was awesome. Can we go again?"

"Out of fuel," James said, smiling at her comment.

"You OK, Buff," Xander asked.

She nodded her head slowly, completely in a world all her own.

"Is she alright," Kate asked, though she wasn't really concerned.

"She's fine," Xander said with a grin, "She just realized what it's like driving with her."

"Next stop, Sunnydale High," James called out, "I'll drop you off. And, please, don't say a word to the Watchers. What I just did could get me suspended."

Faith nodded emphatically, agreeing to keep her silence. Buffy just continued to stare forward, still too shocked to form a complete thought. He smiled slightly and pulled over as they arrived at the high school. Xander and Kate got out first to allow Faith passage, seeing as how Buffy still wasn't in any condition to move. She came around to the other side and pulled her out of the vehicle, then guided her back to the sidewalk.

"I won't say a word," she grinned to all them, then blew a kiss Xander's way, leaving him with a blush as they pulled away.

"I think she's interested," Kate said with a grin.

"Way to go, Xander," Remy said back, finally confirmed in the fact that they weren't going to be airborne anytime soon.

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"Olvikan," James stated as he read the file in his hand, "A giant snake, basically."

"This bites," Xander groaned, "We have to take on a damn snake for graduation! Can my life ever get good?"

"Not necessarily," Kate interjected, "According to the file, he won't be invulnerable until tomorrow night. We can kill him before then."

"…We may well have to," Xander agreed.

"This page talks about someone called Trick," Remy said, handing a file over to Xander, "You know him?"

"It's the guy that tried to kill the Slayers," Xander remembered from Buffy's stories, "Mr. Trick, a Master Vampire. Bond, find an address on him."

James nodded and left the underground apartment to go get his laptop out.

"Remy, I want you to start spying on the Mayor tomorrow afternoon, when his meetings are over. He'll have to wait till then to start any demonic crap."

"Sure, boss," Gambit said, completely serious.

"Kate, you and me are going to work together to plan this attack. I'm playing hooky tomorrow, for a while, so, we'll wait till then. Everyone, get some sleep."

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Buffy felt as though she was in some kind of a dream world. Contrary to belief, it wasn't because of the ride; it was because of what was said. They claimed that she was ordering them around and talking down to them, and they were right. It was, is, part of my Slayer mentality, my calling, she told herself at night, that I be the one to call the shots. As she had told herself that, however, she was reminded of three things, things that scarred her male friend for life: that time she had used him to make Angel jealous, one of the worst things she had ever done, in her book; when she had come back to try and save her friends and he had threatened her if Willow got hurt; and, her most recent triumph, when she had forcibly removed him from the slaying.

She realized, though she still didn't want to believe it, that he had every right to not want to be associated with her. She had used him to make Angel, a man that he had hated from the beginning, and who he was jealous of, jealous himself. That had to hurt. She knew, she had gone through the same thing back in LA. She hated herself for it, and, even though he had forgiven her, she had never apologized. Then, in payment for his wanting to defend Willow, she convinced the redhead to keep him out of the fight. And her keeping him out of the fight had gone completely against what was best. If he had been there, things might have turned out differently, for better or for worse. He may have been able to prove himself during it. She owed him a lot, after all, he had given her her life back. She'd saved his a few times, definitely, but he hadn't hesitated to get into the fight, not one bit. Could she claim the same?

That was why, when Wesley and Giles had asked why they were so late getting back, she had lied. She owed him her confidence, at least. He had new friends now, ones that treated him like an equal from what she had seen, not like she and Willow, at her behest, had. If anything, he deserved time away from them. They deserved to be left by him.