Legal Disclaimer: I own nothing. All rights to the Terminator or Buffy characters belong to the respective companies. No money is being made from this. It's all for fun.

Spoilers: See any of the first 3 chapters For Spoiler warnings.

Dream sequence: Italics

Thoughts: (Italics)

Scene opens: Angel was delayed and the whole crew has been getting more and more impatient with Buffy. Wanting her to tell them whatever news she's hiding so closely.

Review Responses: Ch5

Well I'm getting some response. Thanks for the encouragement. Don't worry eventually there will be plenty of action. Maybe even a few hunky vampires all covered in chocolate. ;

Chapter Six

Count Down to Judgment Day:

T Minus Seven (pt6):

(Despair):

Angel had carried Buffy to her room so that she could be more comfortable. Joyce and Dawn chased everyone out so that Buffy could sleep in peace. While they sat with her and passed out from sheer exhaustion in the wee hours of the morning.

A number of conversations were going on scattered all over the house.

Willow and Xander were sitting on the porch. Not the smartest thing to do in good ole SunnyDale but somehow they didn't give a damn.

"I can't believe it's going to happen. I don't want to believe that it will. I want it all to be a bad dream and just go away." Not even Xander could joke his way out of this situation.

"Goddess I don't want to believe it either. I'd almost wish I'd never heard a word about the powers that be. Or even magic if this would all go away." Willow was almost beside herself. This was more than any little apocalypse. It was Judgment Day. "Xander please hold me."

Cordelia, Wesley Gunn and Fred had settled into the living room.

"Why didn't the powers give us some warning?" Queen C was starting to show her face, and Wesley needed to calm her down quickly.

"Cordelia they probably didn't want to kill you by giving you this kind of vision. Look at how it's affected Buffy."

"Wes is right. They gave us some warning. Now I need to get in touch with my parents and get them to safety." Fred was looking contemplatively at the phone.

"Yes but wait until after Buffy wakes up and we get some more details from her. We will have to make some plans." Wesley was trying his hardest to reassure those around him.

"Plans? First chance I get I'm going to get blondie stinking drunk. That's my kind of plan." Gunn obviously didn't think that any sort of plan would help in this situation.

"Mr. Gunn I think I'll join you in that particular task." Wesley raised his second glass of Bourbon to Charles.

Cordelia and Fred exchanged looks of commiseration. Thinking about yet another set of hangovers to deal with.

Anya, Angel, Giles and Whistler had convened in the kitchen. Angel was grilling Whistler. (AN:1) "What can you tell us?" How much time do we have?"

"Not much more than I've already told you. Buffy got it all when the powers force fed her all of the information in her Slayer Dream. Unfortunately what they gave her was to much. They didn't really consider how she would react to all of it. I did what I could by blurring the distant information, unfortunately it tends to stay vague even when remembered when needed. I had to do it because Buffy had witnessed all of Skynets history. Even some of which didn't actually occur since it's birth has been delayed for years. It's beyond belief that she held on as long as she did before starting to fall apart." Whistler was shaking his head wearily. "I think you may have as mush as a week left before Judgment Day."

"A week! Couldn't the powers have given us more warning?" Anya was pacing back and forth furiously. She hadn't been this upset since Xander left her at the alter.

"No Anyanka they couldn't have. You know something about what it's like. They're bending the rules practically to the breaking point already. It's only by a loop hole your getting any warning, because of how this situation was brought about."

"We need to get in touch with all the people we care about."

"Would anyplace be safe?" Angel was looking at Whistler.

"Nowhere will be completely safe. But if you want to live through Judgment Day then you can write off most of the northern hemisphere. There will be isolated survivors here and there. But they'll be few and far between, and they will be the first people targeted by Skynet's killing machines. The further south you go the better your chances of surviving."

"To Mexico?" Giles asked the question that was on all their minds.

"For starters. You'll have to go to South America eventually, But first you'll need to get to Mexico city. Mexico city is big enough that it's sure to be targeted by something on Judgment Day."

"Why would we stop in Mexico city if we need to get further south? Assuredly Skynet won't miss targeting such a populous city?" Giles was looking questioningly to Whistler.

"Because that's where John Conner and his mother live. Skynet is definitely going to send another Terminator after them."

Once again Anya spoke her mind. "I thought you said Skynet wasn't born yet?"

"It hasn't and it has. Skynet can send it's assassins through time."

Giles took his glasses off and started cleaning them. "Time Travel? I've never heard of any form of magic that can do that."

Whistler was looking darkly amused. "In many ways Skynet is more powerful than any demon ever born. It can do things beyond science or even magic."

"Wouldn't a metal skeleton stand out? I mean even the residents of good ole SunnyDale would notice that." Anya was simply unable to let a conversation pass by without getting involved.

"Skynet can cover his Terminators with a living flesh. Making them indistinguishable from normal humans." Whistler looked smug in his knowledge.

Anya simply had to take him down a notch or three. No measly balance demon could be allowed to get one over a justice demon. "Why doesn't Skynet just send bombs through his time machine and wipe out Conner without even wasting the power of using a metal skeleton?"

Whistler looked even smugger at Anyanka's ignorance. "Anything sent through the time travel method Skynet uses has to be covered in a layer of living flesh. Or the energies involved in the time travel will reduce it to a slag."

"That doesn't make sense. If this Skynet can put a living skin over a metallic skeleton. Why doesn't he put it on the bomb casing. No muss no fuss. He can blow up an entire city with no problem. None of this sending a killing machine through time."

Whistler was dumbfounded. She had a point as remarkable as that seemed.

Giles was nonplussed as well. "Anya please don't give it any ideas. Things are bad enough already." Giles was wiping his glasses yet again.

Whistler had to get the discussion back on track. He only had a little time remaining and he needed to help prepare them as much as he could, before the Powers had to stop turning a blind eye to his bending of the rules. Besides he couldn't let even an ex-vengeance demon think it had gotten one over on him. "Whatever you decide to do You need to cover your tracks. Don't leave any clues laying around as to where John Conner is or even where your going. Don't do anything that would stand out from the rest of the normal humanity. That means you need to really down play any references to the occult or the supernatural. I'm sure it's already listening and recording all the digital communications methods in use in these modern times. You really don't want it to start thinking about ways to use the magical side of things. Skynet might not believe in the supernatural at first. But unlike the humans it won't disbelieve it either. It will simply take it in as raw fact and work from there."

"It surely couldn't use magic could it?" Giles was sounding rather skeptical.

"It's sentient. Who knows just what it could do. I wouldn't want to stake humanity's future on what it can or can't do. Skynet is unlikely to bother with using demons. Since all but it's earliest generations of Terminators are more deadly than almost any demon you could name."

With that statement, conversation justifiably came to a halt.

"I have to leave soon. I'll have to pay for bending the rules. I'll stay until morning and we'll find out if my misdeeds, will pay off."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Authors Notes:

AN:1 Not Literally! It's Angel not Angelus after all. But he MIGHT like to do it to Whistler.

Hope everyone is enjoying the story. Please Read and Review.