Half Blessing, Half Curse

by TD Master

Ranma 12 BtVS crossover, Xander is sold to the Chinese mob by his father in between season 1 and 2 of Buffy.

24. part 24

----24----

Buffy opened her eyes, and looked around herself skittishly. The moment she realized Angel wasn't in bed anymore, she sighed with relief and bolted out of bed. She quickly went into the other room, and put her relatively dry clothes back on. She then opened the door, and ran out, as fast as she could.

-----

Buffy made a beeline to school, running through the early morning sun. With her Slayer speed, it didn't take her long to reach the school. She barged into the still empty building, and banged through the library doors, and skidded to a halt.

"Buffy!" Xander exclaimed happily, as the rest made similar sounds.

Buffy quickly scanned the room, realizing suddenly who would be here, but then came to a relieved realization that her mom wasn't here - a moment later the relief switched to concern. "Where have you been? We've been looking all over," Willow asked with relief.

"Uh, hiding . . . while fleeing, the Judge is active. Mom?" Buffy asked concerned, while keeping a tight grip on the emotions boiling inside her.

"I thought it prudent to send her home," Giles spoke with a measured tone, as Jenny grabbed his waist obviously to both lend share relief and get some comfort. "Your mother may be an amazing mother and housewife, I'm afraid when it comes to slaying or researching she's a bit below adequate. Angel?"

"Uh, we got separated, I'm certain he's fine though," Buffy said. Which was technically true, they got separated as she bolted out the door like a classic case of male fuck and get gone. He was most likely still in the shower expecting a sleepy but satisfied Buffy to greet him as he returned - a wave of guilt washed over her. "No need to go look for him, he'll call soon . . . I suppose we go looking for a way to destroy this Judge thing."

"I suppose we do," Giles said, with a pained voice and then turned to ones that trusted him to help come up with a solution. "Heavy research time," Giles said, frowning at how bad things had gotten.

Buffy frowned herself, pain filtering for a moment across her face, and she said, "Giles, I'd like to borrow Willow for a bit, if you don't mind." Buffy didn't wait for an answer, simply grabbed Willow by the arm and started dragging her off.

"Y-yes, well . . ." Giles managed before he turned to the remaining ones. Jenny, Xander, Lotion, Cordelia and Oz. "Research, start getting out the books people, we have a long day ahead of us.

"Or a short one," Cordelia commented with annoyance as she got up and started moving to the back to get books. She blew a hair away from her face, hating how the night of no sleep had ruined her hair, and no doubt complexion - she hoped she had heavy duty make-up with her to cover the bags under her eyes she undoubtedly had.

-----

Buffy pulled Willow along and then up the stairs. Halfway to the mid point Buffy sat down, and Willow slowed as well. "Foo, what is so important, you almost pulled my arm out?" Willow asked concerned, and sat down. Her clothes were crumpled, and her hair was a mess; another victim of the Hellmouth.

Buffy hesitated for a moment, gripping her knees with the intensity of her emotions. Then she turned her head to face Willow, and with a single tear escaping from her left eye, she told Willow, "I had sex with Angel."

"Oh! Ooh . . ." Willow started enthusiastically, before the still pained face of Buffy overrode her original excitement of the big step. "I take it didn't go so well?" she tried with a small voice.

Buffy sighed, sucked something non-existent in, and then several more tears sprung from her eyes. "Oh, god," she sobbed, out, and Willow wrapped her arms around her best friend quickly. Breaking down, Buffy returned the hug and cried on Willow's shoulder for a good twenty seconds. She came back to herself, sniffing, and said, "Thanks."

"So what happened?" Willow asked softly.

Buffy sniffed, gathered up the courage to say it, and said, "Angel's a corpse - a demon-animated corpse."

"Well . . . yeah, we knew that, didn't we?" Willow asked confused.

Buffy sobbed, and gave herself two disparaging laughs. "I knew that, I just didn't /know/ that," Buffy said, feeling hollow inside. It hurt as she expounded, "I never quite grasped that." She sniffed deeply again, "Corpse, body. I just ignored the cool lips; even took thrills in them you know; look at me, I can be all huggy and kissy with my supposed enemy." Buffy stayed silent for a moment, a teary eyed Willow continuing to hold. "But with the sex, definitely not ignorable, especially having had the real thing. With Xander - and I'm sorry to bring it up . . ."

"Don't worry," Willow whimpered, crying along with Buffy, feeling her pain and sadness.

"There was heat, and passion, and sweat, and everything was . . . like this powerful unstoppable . . . volcano erupting, you know?" Buffy whispered, and she choked again, making a hiccup. "He was cold, Will, cold and clammy. And there was no good sweat smell, I didn't fell his heart pounding, I didn't feel his blood beating through his veins with passion for me. There was just . . . nothing there . . . nothing but a corpse, and all I could think was, yuck, eew, yieh."

Willow saw the pain in Buffy's eyes, and whispered, "Oh, Buffy."

Buffy broke down in crying sobs again, hugging Willow tighter. The witch hugged back, and decided to keep the pain of Buffy's slayer strength squeezing a bit too hard to herself. Buffy cried on Willow's shoulder, inside a maelstrom of emotions. Willow made soothing noises, hugging Buffy closer as she went through her ordeal Slowly she resurfaced, taking her breath made her nose sound like a mud-sucking machine. She lifted her face off of Willow's wet shoulder, and said, "I faked my orgasm to get it over with, Will." Willow's eyes went wide. Buffy gave herself a few hysterical laughs, and said, "I always told myself I wouldn't do that. Now the guy I was so sure I was eternally in love with only a few months ago and . . . I willed myself to sleep afterwards. When I awoke I didn't see him, so I dressed and ran as fast as I could here. What do I do, Will? I don't know what to do?"

"Buffy," Willow said with sadness and pulled Buffy tighter into the embrace.

"It isn't fair. I love him, and the only thing I get now when I think of him is yieh," Buffy muttered. "I mean, I get it, I /really/ get it, I don't think there is anyone who gets it as good as I do; he's a corpse, not made for loving." Buffy shuddered, shaking her head. Then she made a warding off gesture with her ride hand, as if pushing something aside to her right, and with a disgusted face she said, "There's absolutely no way I ever want to have anything . . . physical to do with him ever again."

"You'll . . . have to break up with him," Willow said with a sad smile.

"What?" Buffy asked pained, tears still flowing from her eyes, looking at Willow. "Hey, Angel, you can't get my engine going, in fact you can't even get it revving, so I'm dumping you?"

"Well . . . yeah," Willow said, hugging Buffy closer who looked at her surprised, "but with a bit more tact and euphemisms, I'm sure he would understand, I mean he broke up with you for those very reasons before."

Buffy sighed, calming down a bit, but still painfully said, "Yeah, he broke up with me again last night; said he wouldn't be coming back once he hid the arm."

"There, see," Willow said, and gave Buffy a soothing kiss on her forehead, on her scruffy hair. Willow was always curious, and now no less so, so she asked, "What do you think would have happened if you . . . well . . . hadn't had Xander?"

To Willow's shock, Buffy broke down and cried against her now soaked shoulder again. With several deep sniffs Buffy, forced herself to speak, "That's the other thing . . . part of me likes to think it would be the same, but . . . I managed to delude myself and even pat myself on the back with the cold lips, and heew . . ." Buffy tensed, shuddering in disgust, still holding on to Willow who hugged back. The Slayer finished, "What was I /thinking/?"

"Love makes blind, Buffy," Willow said, tightening her arms.

Buffy brought her head up, and blinked at Willow. Willow looked surprised as Buffy's eyes flooded with relief. Buffy then smiled a defeated smiled and said, "Well, thank god it didn't make me touchless and smelless."

"I have to break up with him," Buffy said suddenly, looking into Willow's eyes. "Like today, like as soon as possible. I can't be thinking about how to do this, and how Angel'll react while battling the deadliest, most unkillable, most dangerous demon we've ever faced . . . but first I need a shower." Then she looked at Willow, with pain in her eyes, and said as tears started to form again, "After I spend some more time crying with you, okay?" Willow nodded and enveloped her friend back into the hug. Sniffing, and sobbing, Buffy muttered, "It's just not fair. Why did Angel have to be a vampire?"

"I don't know, Buffy," Willow muttered, her own tears running down her cheek again. "I don't know."

-----

Yep, a triumph for mankind, wrapped in a disgusting act. Of course, at the time I didn't know this, at the time I was still blissfully unaware doing research on the unkillable one. Willow returned and told us Buffy had gone home to reassure her mother and get a shower; then she'd be back. She didn't mention the detour she'd be making.

-----

"So," Spike started wheeling up to Drusilla in their factory hideout, "Blue Boy is back up and about I see?"

"Nasty Slayer dropping all those tvs," Drusilla grumbled.

"Yeah, say Dru, you wouldn't happen to have any clue what peaches and the Slayer are up to, do you?" Spike asked her casually.

A voice sounded from behind several tubes somewhere, coming closer, "I don't know about her, but him, he'll take up acting on Broadway under rave reviews, while at night he continues his crusade against the darkness, for as long as evil is . . . well, rolls the streets I shall be ever vigilant." Angel finally came into view, clearing his path into the main hall. He grinned evilly at Spike, while Drusilla stood behind Spike watching with wide eyes.

"You really don't give up, do you?" Spike asked with a large smirk.

"Nope, you better keep an eye on your back, Spikey," Angel said, while his smirk didn't once waver.

Spike grinned, and said, "Yeah, about keeping an eye on your back." Spike pointed behind Angel. Angel turned around and there was the Judge, who placed a hand against his chest. "Feel it burning, Angel?"

After a moment he turned his head, and told Spike, "Well, it kinda tickles. Perhaps he's broken?"

"What are you waiting for? Burn him already!" Spike ordered the Judge.

"I cannot," the Judge said, taking his hand away.

"Whot?" Spike exclaimed in surprise, Drusilla behind him looked in wonder.

"He is clean, there is no humanity in this one," the Judge intoned with finality, and then turned away.

Angel snickered, and looking at Spike and Dru he said, "I couldn't have said it better myself."

"Angel? Is that really you, old buddy? The non-soul-having mayhem-loving version I mean?" Spike said with enthusiasm.

"Yeah, it's me, Spikey," Angel said with a grin walking over and ducking a bit to be with level eyes.

"Angel!" Drusilla exclaimed with happiness, running over to him, and wrapping him in a hug. "You're back, daddy."

"Oh, yeah, Dru, I'm back," Angel said with a grin, hugging back for a moment. "Listen, whatever you're planning, postpone it for a night."

"Why?" Spike asked calmly.

"Well, you see, Spike, that bitch made me feel human, and you just don't forgive that," Angel said with an evil grin. "I want to have some payback first, cut her and her friends in half by the time the Judge here sucks their humanity out of them."

"Ooh, Angel is going to do the nasty Slayer what he did to me," Drusilla oozed out with a smile.

"Come on, Spike," Angel said with a huge grin, "it isn't like anyone can kill Judgy over there."

"Oh, Spike, let him, I want to see the Slayer's face," Drusilla said with large eyes of glee.

Spike shrugged, and said, "All right, Angelus, you go have fun with the Slayer protected by her super friends. You get dusted, and I'll have a happy day as well."

Angel glared at the smiling Spike, and said sarcastically, "Thanks, Spike, I won't forget this." Then Angel turned and walked away to find the sewer entrance he'd used.

-----

Buffy sighed, standing in front of Angel's apartment. It was late in the afternoon; it had taken her hours to calm down her mother, shower, and get a change of clothing. She took another deep breath to muster her courage, and entered. "Angel? Are you here?" Buffy called, looking around the room, and then to the bedroom. She walked toward it.

Behind her, in the living room section emerged Angel, his upper body naked, and he said casually, "Hey, Buffy."

Buffy whirled around, and said, "Uh, Angel, hi, I . . . uh . . . we need to talk."

Angel took his watch from the dresser and put it on, while saying, "Oh, no, no talking needed. I don't do the talking well, I don't like to talk."

"Oh," Buffy said, frowning, but inside in trepidation how to break his heart.

Angel got a black blouse and went to put it on, saying, "Listen, I gotta run, do some stuff, see the world and all that."

Buffy's eyes widened, rising up with the relief her heart that flooded her heart. "Oh, yeah? Well, yeah, I suppose it was me," Buffy said, thinking she was stupid a 240-year-old guy would notice she was faking it, and was highly uncomfortable.

"Oh, no, you got a lot to learn about men, kiddo," Angelus spoke with a gleeful grin, anticipating the destruction. "You were good, hell, you were a pro, your pimp Xander taught you well."

-WHAT?- was Buffy's thought, shock running through her body. Did he really just? And here she was thinking about how to let him down easy. Rage suddenly suffused her being, and she said, "Oh, yeah, I faked it like a pro alright."

Angel's easy evil smile faltered, shock blasting on his face, and he said, "WHAT? No-no, you didn't fake anything! No woman needs to fake it when I'm on the steering wheel!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, Angel," Buffy said sarcastically, still very pissed, "but while I was grunting and moaning, all I was thinking was, 'Eew, he's /really/ a corpse, all cold and clammy, and I'm damn certain the difference between limp and erect was /much/ bigger with Xander, must be that missing heart beat I'm not sensing - anywhere. Oh, my god, somebody get this icky thing off me so I can go to Xander's home and get the finishing touch from a /real/ man.'"

By now, Angelus was practically ready to explode. His face was contorted with rage, and he said, "You filthy fucking slut! I'll show you real man!" He lunged forward, and Buffy easily grabbed the punch and twisted him aside, crashing him against the wall with his arm twisted behind him.

"Oh, I get it. This whole sweetheart act was still there the second time around, huh?" Buffy told him pissed off, while Angel growled with rage on his face. "I get it now, I was stupid to think the guy who would let me die before admitting he didn't know CPR actually gave a damn about me. I applaud you, you had me going magnificently. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. So because of that, I'll let you go. When we're done with the Judge, leave Sunnydale, and I'll call you when we need a sacrifice in a ritual to stop the next big bad." Buffy then tossed Angel across the room. She took the claddagh ring from her finger and tossed it over in front of him. "You can keep that," she said, and stalked out of the apartment.

From his position on the floor Angelus stared with mounting rage at the front door. "THAT BITCH!" he suddenly raged out, vamping out. "NOW THIS IS SERIOUS!"

Buffy was long out of earshot. The moment she knew Angel couldn't see her anymore, her cool had broken and she had run with everything she had. After a minute she slowed down, and broke down. Sobs burst forth from her, as new tears flowed down her cheeks. She grabbed her stomach and sank into a squat. "Oh, god, oh, god," Buffy told herself, squinting her eyes closed. "I'm sorry, Xander. I can't believe I fell for it." In her mind's eye she tried to picture how Xander felt being forced to share her with that bastard, with what he knew was a bastard; a bastard demon-animated corpse. Xander's momentary look, when she pulled away from his female form filtered in her many. Pain and guilt coursed through her as she cried, unable to comprehend how royally she screwed up. She could kiss a cold corpse, while she couldn't even momentarily handle Lexa. So she wasn't gay, or bi, but she could still have just broken the kiss gently, and get some warm water. She couldn't believe just how badly she screwed this up.

-----

"Can't be killed, took an army, can't be killed took an army . . . AARGH!" Lotion exclaimed with frustration. "I vote we just go down there, and start kicking ass."

"That would not be a prudent action at this point, Lotion," Giles said with a measured voice, reading in a book as he came down a set of stairs. "Even if we'd get close enough to hit the Judge, with or without a weapon, the hit would allow it to burn the humanity in you. Most likely though, he'll have burned you before you're even halfway to him."

"Well, this officially sucks," Cordelia commented angrily. "Great, just staring to become good enough I don't have to run and scream like a girl, and I'm demon chow anyway."

"I think that's taking things a little too pessimistic," Giles said carefully. Cordelia looked at him with narrowed eyes. Giles quickly looked down, not willing to take the chance Cordelia would manage to make him fess up what he really thought.

"We're gonna kick its ass, that's for sure," Xander said flipping a page. "Trust me, we're not going to die now."

They all looked up at him, but he continued reading, and flipped the next page.

-----

I didn't even realize I said that. Before I would have tossed off a lame joke, and although there are times for lame jokes, and I love to make them, there are times when a joke, lame or not, is just... lame. I suppose I got you and your father to thank for that. You must have noticed I wasn't exactly Mr. Confident before I met you guys...

-----

Then...

The Chinese grass plain stretched out before Xander as huffed and puffed to continue onward. In front of him were Genma and Ranma Saotome. Genma was in a brownish gi barefoot, while Ranma was in green pants, a red shirt, and traditional kung fu fighting slippers. Ranma's, a black-haired boy, had a characteristic pigtail that started at the back of his head, where his neck started, and lead down a short distance, to just below the shoulders. Xander in contrast was in the clothes that the Jusenkyo guide had managed to scrounge up: in short far too big dark brown pants and shirt. The slave outfit he had worn when he arrived her he had tossed in aside in disgust quite a bit ago. "I can't go on!" Xander finally complained, and bent over, leaning on his knees.

Genma and Ranma turned around, and casually running in place they looked at Xander. "Ha! You stand! You run!" Genma exclaimed in broken, accented English, although he was getting better.

"Yeah, come on, Xan, no give up now!" Ranma added with a grin. "You got much more give, come on."

"I'm tired," Xander complained.

"Xan, trust me, I was there," Genma took over from his sun with a proud smile. "I proud you go this far, but you go many farther. Have strength, have faith, trust me."

Xander looked at them, almost disbelieving. Nobody had ever told him he could be good at anything, nobody ever told him he had much more to give. Okay, maybe his mother had when he was little and she was still relatively sober, but that was a long, long time ago and she sure didn't do so now. Then he straightened up, looking more determined, and started running again. Ranma and Genma started running along with him again, a little slower than before so they wouldn't outrun Xander again; so the American had two people to drag himself along with.

An hour later they reached camp, and Xander dropped to the ground, sucking in deep breaths, and coughing, spitting out slime his mouth had produced. "See, boy," Genma said with a huge grin. Xander looked weakly up at the man, and the approving smile. "Now you no onward."

-----

Xander blocked Ranma's punch, and had his legs swiped from under him at about the same time, followed by a roundhouse kick to his face. He was flung through the air a meter before landing painfully on the soil. A little further on was a tent, and a man sat at a fire. "Argh, I can't do this," Xander muttered.

"Kami, Xan, not this, not that," Ranma exclaimed with some annoyance and amusement. He offered his hand and Xander took it. As he pulled Xander up, he said, "You stop that. You good, really good."

"What are you talking about? You guys keep kicking my ass," Xander said in annoyance feeling his aching behind.

"Years and years of training," Ranma said with a huge grin. "You much better average after this much training."

Xander looked at Ranma with disbelief. "No lie, you good," Ranma said with a smirk. "Natural, almost natural as me; might be challenge one day."

There was a grunt and a grumble and Xander and Ranma looked to Xander's right. A big panda nodded and had a sign in the air, saying, 'Ranma right. Xander good.' He put the sign in his fur coat and pulled out another one, 'Proud. I have two sons now.' The panda made some acknowledging grunts as it nodded, while Xander couldn't believe it. His own father sold him to the Chinese mob, and here was a man thinking of him as a son, and apparently loving him, and thinking highly of him, believing he was good at something. The same went for his surrogate brother. Nobody had every thought highly of him, even his friends who loved him and didn't consider him a screw up had ever considered him /really/ good at something. The panda put the sign away, and pulled out a new one, 'Sons get food, I'm just panda.'

"Pops!" Ranma yelled and then ran forward. The panda's eyes grew wide as Ranma came in with a flying kick, doubling the panda over as it flew back with the impact. Ranma walked over to the fire where the guide had almost finished boiling a kettle of water. Ranma grabbed it and tossed the kettle away. The kettle and its contents splashed on the panda.

Instead of the panda, there instantly was a man screaming, "YAAAAAHHH!"

"Go get your own food, you lazy bastard," Ranma told him, as the man jumped up and down in the hope he wasn't too burned. Xander laughed out loud at the spectacle, while the guide went over to retrieve the kettle with a sigh.

-----

Left block, right block. "Oof!" Xander exclaimed as a solid kick slammed into his stomach and he was launched backward, to land painfully on his ass. He flipped up back to his feet, and grinned at Genma, who grinned right back. "Yah!" Xander yelled as he charged forward, and attacked with everything he has. Genma blocked a few hits, and then to his surprise got a solid punch across his left cheek. With a quick move he made use of Xander's over extension and swiped his legs out from under him.

"Ah, overextend," Genma spoked down at Xander. Then grabbed him and pulled him up in a bear hug, before locking his head underneath his shoulder. "Ranma! You see this amazing guy? He at your level soon!"

Ranma who was leisurely sitting on a tree branch grinned, and said, "Only because chi of possession, and Hellmouth!"

"Whoa!" Genma exclaimed as he was lifted up, and then dropped down as Xander let himself fell backward. "Oof!" the both of them said, but Xander had the least.

He got up and said with a grin, "American wrestling."

-----

Anyway, where were we? Oh, yeah, Buffy had just told off Angelus, and we were still stuck on the unkillable one. Suffice it to say, Angelus was not a happy camper, no sir, not at all.

-----

"I need a break; for one thing, I need to pee," Xander muttered, bleary eyed from reading through books for too long.

"Me too, actually," Willow muttered, and Lotion looked up at the two for a moment, but then continued with her book. The two old friends got up from their respective positions at the table, and walked out of the library.

Willow watched as Xander craned his neck, and his bones audible snapped into place. "Ah, I spent way too much time looking down," Xander muttered in annoyance.

"Yeah, me too," Willow said, rubbing her neck. "Xan, you really think we can beat this thing?"

"It's just another demon, Will," Xander said as they walked slowly toward the bathrooms. The lights were mostly out, and since the sun had just gone down it was dark.

"Yeah, but this one can't be killed by any weapon made by man, and it took a whole army to take him down last time, most of them didn't survive," Willow muttered a little fearfully. "The army of our time would send us to the loony bin before they're going to fight a blue demon."

Xander frowned, as something tried to filter into his consciousness, but then a voice interrupted. "Willow, Xander." The two teen looked up and saw a silhouette standing there.

"Angel?" Willow asked a little surprised.

Xander frowned as Angel stepped a bit more into the light of an outside lantern filtering through the door's windows. "Yeah, I found a way to kill the Judge, but I need everyone's help. Xander you go find the others, while Willow you come over here for a bit, I need to talk to you?"

"Me?" Willow asked, taking a step forward.

Angelus nodded saying, "You and Jenny are going to be the key; we're going to need magic."

Willow smiled taking another step when Xander's hand was in front of her chest stopping her. "Don't/back," Xander/Jenny said. Willow turned and frowned, seeing Jenny emerge behind them. Xander gave a quick look back.

Xander took a step forward in front of Willow, and said, "So, that soul-having thing, didn't work out for you, huh, Angel?" Jenny looked surprised.

Angelus' face fully entered the light and just as Willow was about to question Xander she heard the vampire snicker evilly. "So, you know, huh?"

Xander gave him a smile, and said, "Before there was something . . . human, something soully about you. Now you're just ink black."

In a side corridor was Buffy, having arrived back at the school herself. She listened with large eyes at the conversation. Back at the apartment! She wasn't fooled after all. Angel somehow lost his soul.

"Well, that's rather annoying," Angelus said, and turned around to leave.

"You think I'm just going to let you walk out of here?" Xander asked with a grin, taking another few steps forward. Finally he got to legitimately do what he'd wanted to do for a long time. There was no way Buffy could fault him for dusting a soulless demon.

Angelus turned back, he shrugged, and with an evil grin he said, "Well, I don't know; you let Buffy get away after you taught her being a slut is good. I know you /really/ taught her well, damn she's good in the sack."

Xander snarled and started to burst forward. Buffy quickly jumped from her side corridor and stopped Xander. "Don't," Buffy pleaded, while Xander looked with an enraged face at the snickering Angelus, "he wants you to attack angrily, so you'll make mistakes."

"I don't think, Buffy, he's got the strength, skill, or speed to capitalize on any mistakes I might make," Xander growled.

"Take a step back, Xander," Willow pleaded from behind him. "Do it level headed." Xander cooled down a bit.

Angelus laughed, and looked directly at Xander. "You think so?" Angelus grinned evilly, and grabbed a fire extinguisher. With a vicious slash he ripped open the pointy end. White gass burst forth from the hole and then he tossed the thing at them, while turning around and running away.

"DUCK!" Buffy yelled, even as Xander grabbed her, and dragged her into a classroom to their left. Willow and Jenny ducked to the floor. A moment later the extinguisher slammed into the ground and exploded mightily, sending shards of the metal case flying everywhere and half covering the corridor.

Buffy and Xander came back out, and took in the devastation. Then they ran back, yelling, "Willow!"

"I'm fine," a coughing voice sounded, and the found her lying on the floor.

"Jenny?" Xander called after making sure Willow was safe and in the hands of Buffy. He quickly found Jenny as the others filtered into the corridor from the library.

"What the bloody hell?" Giles asked and then ran over to Jenny.

"I'm fine," Jenny said, reassuring Giles with a pat on his arm.

"What happened?" Cordelia asked looking around the corridor.

"A vampire paid us a visit," Xander muttered sarcastically, turning around toward the toilets and then walking off, saying, "Let's put it to you this way. Bye, bye, Angel, hello homicidal maniac Angelus."

"Good lord," Giles said as Cordelia turned to look accusatorial at Buffy, who looked away pained.

"Huh, wonder how that happened," Oz remarked casually.

"I gotta pee," Willow complained and sped off to the girls' room.

-----

A short while later everyone was in the library. "This . . ." Giles started, trying to find the right words. "This isn't good."

"Duh," Cordelia said sarcastically, "could you be any more obvious, Giles?"

"Well," Giles said in answer, resetting his glasses with apprehension, "of all the things I could have thought could go wrong, Angel switching teams wasn't one of them; it unbalances things."

"And they weren't unbalanced before?" Willow asked, making everyone look at her. "With the whole unkillable thing," she clarified.

"How did you know it wasn't, Angel, Xander?" Giles asked intrigued.

"Sixth sense thing," Xander said, sat down more comfortable and explained, "some time after I started training with chi, I've found I could sense it a bit. I've gotten better at it over time. I can sense the difference between the chi of a demon and that of a person. Angelus had nothing left of the person."

Buffy frowned and turned to Jenny. "How did you know?"

Jenny looked at her, surprised, and then thought of a lie. She could probably pull of the same reason Xander had given with her magic and magic sense, or . . . she could tell the truth. She rubbed her hands, and then looked up at the groups expecting gazes, and settled on Willow, her new apprentice. The girl that had come to surprise her, and had come to care for so much. She had beaten Deo's messing with her, and hadn't let the magical power consume her. She couldn't lie anymore, she just couldn't. She looked down again and with trembling lip said, "My name is Jana Calderash, of the Calderash clan, the gypsy clan that cursed Angel."

Slowly she looked up, and looked at the faces of the people she'd started considering as friends, and one lover. They looked surprised, and then on several of them grew betrayal. "You knew!" Buffy accused. "You knew! How did he . . .?" Buffy trailed of when she saw Jenny looking at her. It couldn't be; it couldn't be.

"I didn't know," Jenny muttered miserable. "You have to believe me, I was sent here to keep an eye on Angel, to make sure he didn't lose his soul. My uncle arrived yesterday, and I was only then told why. The curse had a way out; happiness. True happiness, even for only a moment, and the soul is taken from him." She looked at Buffy guiltily and said, "When you didn't return, I started suspecting."

"You bi-" Buffy started with a growl, readying to get up.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait!" Xander suddenly called out pissed off and confused. "Exactly what happened last night that didn't happen the months before that could have- . . ." Xander suddenly stopped and remembered what Angel said. He shot a look at Buffy, and Buffy looked at him, guilt filtering her gaze and she kept it trained at hi. Her heart broke, when she saw momentary revolt on his face, and he whispered, "He didn't lie, did he?" Buffy looked down, and Willow sitting next to her slung an arm around her shoulder. "Fuck," Xander said, and then gripped the arm rests of his chair. Giles pulled the glasses from his nose and started furiously cleaning them.

"Huh? What? What's going on?" Lotion said uncomprehending.

Cordelia looked from one to the other, and suddenly comprehension entered her being. "Eew, you did it with a corpse? Ew, ugh, that's just . . ."

"You . . ." That's how far Lotion came, the usually chatty Amazon just looked with disgust at Buffy.

Buffy was suddenly fed up with it. "I /know/! Alright?" Buffy exclaimed both angry and pained. "I -know-! You think /you're/ disgusted? Try being me; I actually did it. It was disgusting, it was eeeewww!" Buffy sat there shuddering as the memory returned again. "I was stupid; I know already! I didn't take the corpse thing as a biggy, 'cause walking, and I should have. I should have! It was cold and clammy, and there was no blood pumping, and ugh." Buffy squinted her eyes at her disgust. "So will you all please quit with the berating of me, I'm doing enough of it myself, let's just figure out how to destroy the Judge and worry about the rest later."

"Ah, yes, yes," Giles said, putting his shiny clean glasses back on his nose. "I believe that would be a good order of things . . ."

Buffy's anger had taken a dip with her guilt and disgust, but it quickly flared back into rage. "Except first, out!" Buffy looked at Jenny and pointed at the door.

Jenny looked around the room, and saw Willow look down. Xander just stared ahead with a tight face. Lotion glared at her. Cordelia was never the strongest with the friendly feelings, and Oz obviously stuck with his girlfriend. Jenny finally settled on Giles, and the man turned away, obviously pained. Jenny's heart broke, and she slowly got up. Halfway to the library exit she turned around, and muttered, "I'm sorry, I really am. I didn't know, and I was just sent here."

Jenny turned back and continued onward. "WAIT!" Buffy called out suddenly, and Jenny turned back. "You said your uncle was here? Can he recurse Angel?"

Jenny shook her head, "The magics were lost a long time ago."

"The vampire doesn't know that," Lotion observed coolly. Everyone turned to her, and then they bounced to their feet.

-----

The door opened and the gypsy turned around. "How did you get in here?" he asked, backing up.

Angelus grinned, and said, "Funny thing that, hired motel rooms don't work. The owner has to invite me in only once." Then he vamped out.

-----

The extended Scooby Gang looked around the room. Entrails and blood were everywhere. Two words were written in blood on the wall, 'Too late.'

"Uncle," Jenny whispered painfully.

Buffy swallowed. She didn't like the guy who hadn't told Jenny, her, and everyone else months in advance about the curse, in fact she kinda hated him, but he didn't deserve death - and she was for a good part responsible for it.

Willow turned away, and said softly, "L-let's just go."

-----

"FUCK! GOD DAMN IT! THAT BITCH!" Angel raved, kicking an empty box, then kicking a pipe as he entered the factory. "'Faked it like a pro.' RRAARGH!"

Spike came rolling into view from a side way, while further on was the main hall, and snickered. "My, what do my ears hear now," Spike spoke with a huge grin. "The great Angelus can't make the bint that's in love with him come. What's the matter, /Angel/? Not big enough for her?"

"Fuck you, Spike!" Angelus hissed out in anger. "She doesn't like a cold, clammy corpse, you wouldn't have gotten anywhere with her either. Besides, it was Soul Boy that couldn't perform, not me."

"Oh, doesn't matter," Spike spoke with a huge grin, "I would have succeeded." Then he laughed out loud, and let the last one die slowly. With his head in his neck, Spike said, "Oh, this has got to be one of the best days of my unlife. Soul Boy is gone. The great Angelus turns out to be a pussy in bed. And tomorrow an unkillable demon is going to burn the thorns in my side to ashes. If it weren't for this wheelchair . . ."

Angelus was fed up and was in Spike's face instantly, with a warning finger, he snarled, "Watch it, Roller Boy! You're carefully close to making me do something drastic."

Spike's grin only deepened, and he called, "Yo, Judge!"

The big blue demon got up from his sitting position in the main hall, and faced Spike and Angelus. "Yes?" he said.

"I know you can't burn this wanker down, but can you still beat him up the old fashioned way and put a stake through his unbeating heart?" Spike asked with a huge grin.

"Of course," the Judge answered him.

Spike looked back at Angelus still in close. The brunette vampire's face twitched once, and then straightened up and stalked off grumbling. Spike turned his wheel chair and snickered watching Angelus walk off.

Drusilla appeared behind Spike, and said, "You weren't very nice to daddy, Spike."

Spike angled his head back, looking up at Drusilla, and asked gently, "Did you want me to be, pet?"

Drusilla gave him a naughty smile, and said, "No." Then she bent down and kissed Spike deeply. After that she wheeled Spike toward the main hall.

-----

So there we were. Outnumbered and outgunned, a new day in school where I didn't get any schoolwork done, thinking about how to solve this problem. I used a fertilizer built explosive to kill a demon not to long before (Halloween possession, don't ask, different story) but there was no way to get close enough without being zapped. The rest of us were either moping, or disgusted, or pissed off, in short we didn't get much done. To top it off, I was distracted, very distracted...

-----

"Can't be killed, took an army," Cordelia muttered as the Scooby Gang slowly walked through the busy highschool hallway. They were in two rows of three. Up front Cordelia, Oz, and Willow, and in the second, Buffy, Lotion, and Xander. "We're doomed, people. I think it's official."

With his hands in his pockets, Xander asked, "Is anyone else distracted by the whole; he didn't get a true happy till he exploded his dead seed in a delectable, teenage vagina?"

The whole group turned to him. Lotion spoke, "No, I'm just distracted by a corpse having . . . eew."

"I get it, didn't I say that?" Buffy said with annoyance.

"No," Xander answered Lotion. "Think about it. Mister Dead Man has a hot blonde telling him she loves him despite him being a corpse, and even kisses him. I know I get true happy moments kissing Buffy, and even when kissing you other three, and not offense, but I think you know Buffy's on top and you're a step below." Xander finished his little speech while the others looked at him. What he just said filtered through his brain, and he quickly added, "Kissing Cordelia is in the past of course, Oz, am not messing with your girlfriend."

Oz coolly nodded, answered, "Got that."

"Well, I don't know, he did have to get past the big I-was-an-evil-torturing-killing-machine guilt," Willow pointed out, feeling the need to protect Buffy a bit, trying to make her choice not seem even worse.

Xander pondered it for only a moment, and said softly, "Wouldn't that make a simple "I love you" or kiss even /more/ of a happy? I know if I was a murdering bastard for over a century and got my soul; the thought of sex with anyone let alone a young girl wouldn't even filter in my mind. A simple loving despite the monster or a kiss would already be the pinnacle of perfection and amazement to me; hell someone trusting me and considering me a friend might even do it. But Angel had to have sex first."

Oz gave a nod, and Willow looked back to glare at Xander, and then looking sympathetically at Buffy. "Yeah, I screwed up," Buffy spoke up a little annoyed, pained at her decision. "I got dazzled by the looks, by the gifts, and by the idea of a strong, vampire, star-crossed forbidden lovers romance, and all that. It's not going to help us stop the Judge." They reached the Library and turned to enter it. Buffy turned to look at Xander after the doors closed behind them, and she asked, "Say, those explosives aren't forged now are they?"

"Except we can't get close enough without getting burned," Xander replied to her. Giles, who was behind the counter attempting to read a book, looked up and pinched the bridge of his nose in attempt to stay awake. Xander continued, "And none of us can carry enough for an army to make sure we're going to take him along with- . . ." Xander trailed off, eyes a little wider.

They all looked at him, and Willow tried, "Xander?"

"Sh!" Xander bit her off, and then said, "I'm having a moment, no an idea, wait . . . I have a plan!" A big feral grin crossed his face, and he said, "Oh, yeah, the Judge is going down, boy is he /ever/."

"Really?" Giles asked him.

"I'm gonna need some help though," Xander said taking in the four girls and guy, "first some wheels with loading capacity."

"Van," Oz commented with a small point to himself.

"Great," Xander said with a grin, and then he looked at the other girls. Cordelia was Oz's girlfriend, Buffy was most certainly not feeling sexy, and neither was Willow who seemed to be feeling with Buffy. "Lotion, you're the second part of the plan. I'm gonna need you to wear something very . . . slutty."

"Slutty?" Lotion asked both surprised and a little darkly as she looked down at her curve-hugging Chinese top that reached to just her ass, and the tight knee-length pants underneath.

"Ah, Cordelia, could you dress our tasty worm on the hook for worm duty," Xander asked with a grin at the brunette, taking her in. She was dressed in skintight pants, and a very low-cut blouse. "Kinds like what your wearing, only just a bit sluttier."

"Hey!" Cordelia said only half-angry as she folded her arms across her chest.

"I feel the need to chivalrously, and perhaps chauvinistically protect my girlfriend's honor, except I can't find the words," Oz said and so he settled on glaring at Xander, which lasted all of half a second before his neutral face returned.

"Tough to argue with the truth," Buffy added in with a smirk.

"This coming from the necrophiliac," Cordelia returned hatefully.

"Oh," Willow said and quickly hugged Buffy comfortingly.

"Exactly what is your plan, Xander?" Giles asked a little confused.

Xander grinned at Giles, and said, "I'll dazzle you with my brilliance later. Oz, you and the girls gotta pick me up at seven, no sooner, and no later."

-----

Xander looked outside his apartment, and saw the rain splash down. "Damn," he muttered, and then shrugged. "Actually, I can work with his." He went over to the sink and splashed water on his face. Lexa smoothly stretch back, pushing out her chest in the process. She grinned down and said, "This is actually going to be better."

She went into the bedroom, and took off Xander's clothes, putting them in the laundry bin. She opened the closet and took out a pair of g-string lacy panties and matching bra. She quickly put the panties on, pulling them up snugly and then put on the bra. Next was a white blouse, which buttoned closed only to the start of her breasts. It was low cut that way, straining over her ample chest, and low enough to just show off a small part of the lacy cups of the bra. A tight thigh-length green skirt followed, and Lexa tucked the blouse it, making it hug her form a bit more. She zipped it up, and got out a few medium heels and put them on. Finished with the dressing, she went over to the mirror. She got out a pink lipstick and applied it to her lips. After pressing her lips to a paper handkerchief she took in her dark eyes. She then pulled her hair back, and put it in a pony tail, tying it off with an elastic. She winked at herself, and gave a kiss. She went back to her closet. She quickly got the military cap she had worn on Halloween and put it on, pulling her tail through the opening in the back. The finishing touch was her leather jacket which she left open half-way so her cleavage stayed on display. She looked in the mirror again, cupping her breasts for a moment, and winking at herself. "Oh, any guard that I come across won't know what hit him," she told herself and gave herself a kiss in the air.

There was the sound of a horn, and Lexa went out the bedroom again. She snatched her keys from the kitchen counter and checked the time. "Nicely on time, Oz," Lexa said and sped to her front door and exited.

A bit later she reached the building's entrance, and went out, running as fast as she could through the rain to Oz's van who was waiting on the street. The side door slid open, revealing lotion and Lexa quickly jumped in. Lotion slid the door shut and as Oz and Cordelia looked back, Lexa took in the amazon. Lotion was wearing a tiny pink top that pushed up her breasts, and the sleeves went all the way to the wrists. It left her belly button bare, and beneath that was a short loose skirt that draped smoothly along her legs, and barely covered her ass. A pare of leather fuck-me boots completed the ensemble. A brown jacket protected the Amazon and her outfit from the elements, and it, just like Lexa's, was only partly closed.

Lexa smile and turned around to look at Cordelia. "Nice, Cor, really nice," Lexa said with a grin.

Cordelia rolled her eyes, and said, "Did you expect anything less?"

"I feel like I'm on display," Lotion half-complained.

Lexa turned back to Lotion and smiling disarmingly she said, "That's the point, and it's a nice feeling huh?" Lotion raised her eyebrows. Lexa turned back to the front, and asked, "Oz, do you know the local army base or do I have to give you directions?"

Oz raised his eyebrows, and said, "No, the Dingoes once had a gig there." He turned the wheel and pressed the accelerator. The van slowly started to move. Oz looked back for a moment, and the corners of his mouth quirked just a bit at Lexa. "It's fascinating that a guy can turn so completely into a girl, and I don't mean the body."

Lexa winked at him as she said, "Well, I /am/ one hundred percent girl."

"Stop flirting with my boyfriend," Cordelia shot Lexa a glare. "And you too, mister, no flirting."

"Yes, ma'am," Oz said and his eyes twinkled as he looked at Cordelia. The cheerleader folded her arms across her chest and sank herself further down in the chair.

-----

The van slowed down at the back end of the military base, which was surrounded by a chicken wire fence. "Okay, here's the plan," Lexa said with a smile. "Lotion, you follow my lead, and act clingy. As in, you want me."

"I can do that," Lotion said with a grin.

"Good, then you two wait here," Lexa added to Oz and Cordelia.

"Wait here?" Cordelia asked dryly.

Lexa shrugged and slid open the door, then helped out Lotion. They were wet with the rain quickly and maneuvered through a hole in the fence.

"So," Oz started, looking from the window to Cordelia, "you guys often steal weapons from the army?"

Cordelia grinned at him and said, "Well, there are only so many reruns of The A-Team you can watch before you have to try it yourself."

Oz smiled a bit. Cordelia looked around and said, "Kinda romantic isn't it? All alone, lovely rain sound, big military base?" Oz grabbed her chin and pulled her head to her left, to face him. A moment later his lips touched hers and their tongues met.

After bit they broke apart and Cordelia looked with large eyes at him. He said, "You're amazing, and you have so much depth. Don't be afraid to keep it hidden." Cordelia swallowed heavily.

Outside Lexa muttered to Lotion, "Security is horrible. I should write a letter." The two slowly proceeded alongside a rather big shack. On the other side of the little clear path, lay all kinds of things stacked up. Lexa went closer to the shack and peered through the window. She grinned when she found they had the right one right away. Steadily they reached toward a door.

"Halt!" a voice called and a soldier in rain uniform appeared. "Who are you? What are you doing here?" He aimed the machine gun in his hands at the girls.

Lexa smirked and took two seductive steps forward. "I'm Petra Verdun, I'm with the 33rd."

"The 33rd are on maneuvers upstate," the guard said with suspicion, moving his gun so he held it with his right, the calf pressing into his upper arm and the gun pointing up.

"I know," Lexa said with twinkling eyes. The rain made the material of Lexa's blouse clingy and almost see-through; causing the guard's eyes to be drawn to her breasts shown off in a magnificent outline. "I'm on leave," Lexa said. "Listen, could you cut me some slack?" She walked up to the guard and pushed her body against his conspiratorially, and incidentally very erotically. "I just caught me this hot chick, and come on . . ." Lexa nudged him, smiling sexily and knowingly, "a stud like you should know how they get turned on by the big guns. I just took her here for a little R&R, if you know what I mean. No harm, no foul?"

"I-I don't know; being gay- . . ." the guard said, his resolve weakening as Lexa rubbed her breasts up and down his chest.

"Oh, I'm not gay; I just like to experience a woman's body now and then as well. I'm sure you can relate," Lexa purred with a grin. "She's a bit skittish. Breaking in is stressful for her. But I'm sure after a while I'll have her loosened up enough for a . . ." Lexa pushed herself more against the guard, and whispered seductively in his ear, ". . . threesome." Lexa pulled back a bit, and putting a finger on her lips she added, "Ssh." She made a gently gesture with her head toward Lotion, while she let her right arm drag down, and made a 'come' gesture to Lotion with it.

Lotion came over, swaying her lips and her cleavage, and said softly, "Petra? Are we in trouble? You said you wouldn't get us into trouble?" Lotion was right behind 'Petra' now, putting her hand on the soldier girl's body to gain strength and comfort. Her eyelids blinked at the guard.

The guard swallowed as she looked from one to the other. Both girls were amazingly hot, one with heavy make-up the other with a light touch. The military pony tail in the cap, contrasting with the amazing feminine get up, along with those amazingly kissable lips turned him on to no end. Then the second, just as amazing breasts and cleavage, drenched in rain, and a short skirt that threatened to reveal the girl's ass with just a bit of a flick. Lexa put her lips along his face and to his ear again, whispering softly so Lotion couldn't hear, "Possible threesome, or I can throw on report for dereliction of duty, you should have been here - and a stud like you really shouldn't hold his gun like a wimp, breaks the image."

The guard coughed, taking a step back. He put the gun in a more manly position, and said softly, "Sorry, for the misunderstanding, carry on, ma'ams."

Lexa backed away, pulling Lotion along, and threw the guard a kiss before he turned and walked off. The two women than returned to the door. "Ooh, that was fun," Lexa said with a smirk at Lotion.

Lotion shook her head, saying, "Too easy."

Lexa smiled at her and pulled two metal things from her jacket, and started working on the lock with them. "Do you really think girls get turn on seeing big guns?" Lotion asked watching Lexa work.

"How do you feel seeing a big, beautiful sword?" Lexa asked her as the door clicked open.

"Hmm," Lotion said with a grin as they walked inside, placing her arm around Lexa's waist.

"There you have your answer," Lexa said softly, smiling as she walked onward to find what he was looking for, Lotion kept her arm around her waist as she continued onward. Lexa looked down, and asked, "You don't have a problem with me being a girl?"

"Why would I? I see future husband shining through girl easily, and I'm an Amazon. I was raised to be comfortable among girls," Lotion answered Lexa lightly confused.

-----

The door jingled and slid open. Cordelia and Oz hastily broke apart, and looked as Lexa and Lotion placed several cases inside. "Got everything you needed?" Oz asked smoothly.

Lexa smiled at him, with knowing eyes and said, "Sure, and a few little extras that might come in handy one day; how was the kissing?"

As Lexa and Lotion joined the crates into van, Cordelia complained, "I'm so glad we broke up, or I'd be the girlfriend of a juvenile delinquent."

"As opposed to being friends with two, a girlfriend of one, being one, and friends with several accomplices?" Lexa returned the remark to Cordelia smoothly.

Cordelia made a frustrated sound, and said, "Oz, just get us out of here."

-----

In the weapons cage of the library Lexa, Giles, Buffy and Willow stood. Buffy looked with curiosity at the military issue green crate in front of her. "Okay, so show the plan already," Buffy said eagerly.

Lexa unlocked the crate and opened it, showing a rocket launcher. "Ooh," Buffy said, with large shiny eyes.

"Whoa," Willow said in surprise.

"My Lord, Xander, how did you get that?" Giles asked shocked, then looked at Lexa with an admiring face.

Lexa grinned, and told him, "I don't think you want to know." Giles nodded and went to clean his glasses.

"Okay," Buffy said with a huge grin. "Show me how to work it."

"Why?" Lexa asked the Slayer.

Buffy whirled to face her best male friend, and said, "What do you mean 'why'? How else am I going to blow up the Judge."

Lexa grinned ferally at Buffy, and said, "/You/ are not going to blow up the Judge."

"Huh?" Buffy asked dumbfounded.

"What?" Lexa told her with twinkles in her eyes, supporting her breasts with her arms wrapped under them. "You think I came up with this plan, did all the work getting the rocket launcher, and then let /you/ have all the fun? Hell no, /I'm/ blowing up the Judge."

"But . . . I'm the Slayer!" Buffy protested with large eyes of a child screaming 'unfair'. "It's my job, my /destiny/ to blow up demons with rocket launchers."

Lexa grinned down at the smaller girl, and said, "I don't care."

Buffy whirled to face Giles, and said, "Giles, tell him. Tell him, I get to blow up the judge with the shiny new weapon."

"Ah, well, I don't think that'll help much. Plus he has a point, he did go through all the trouble," Giles said diplomatically.

"Uh," Buffy said, with sad puppy-dog eyes, making Giles turn away with guilt. Buffy turned onward to Willow, and said, "Willow, bestest friend, please tell Xander to teach me how to blow up the Judge."

"Lexa, you should teach Buffy how to blow up the Judge," Willow said, and Buffy happily turned around with a smug look at Lexa. Willow continued, "in case you get hurt, someone else needs to fire that thing."

Buffy's happy smug look faltered. "You have a point, Will," Lexa said with a grin.

"This is /sooo/ unfair," Buffy complained, and gave a deep sigh, "I get all the burdens of being chosen, and the one, the /one/ time that being the Slayer means I get to do something fun, and I don't get to do it? Why me? Why can't I do the fun things of being chosen as well?"

"Ah, cheer up, Buffy," Lexa said with a smirk. "I promise the next demon that needs blowing up with a rocket launcher, I'll let you do it. Now pay attention." Buffy gave Lexa a dark look, before moodily paying attention.

-----

Wow. Me and girls, Ranma, like Superman and kryptonite. I would never have had the guts to do the above before, not to any girl, certainly not Buffy. Buffy was this grand dame and hero that I could never reach. Talking to them with cool was out of the question. No matter how often I might have tried to chase after one, I always turned into a blubbering idiot trying to get the words out okay, let alone sentences, unless I was making fun of myself and making myself look bad, for some reason those always came out okay. But that changed once I got me a female body, not to mention that last night in Hong Kong, remember?

-----

Lying in a bed in a two bit motel room in down town Hong Kong, Ranma looked over at his snoring father, then back up at the ceiling again. Xander lay in third bed, and Ranma suddenly said, "You know, Xan, tomorrow me and pops are going back to Japan. You're going home not long after. We should do something on this last night together."

"Like what?"

"I don't know . . . how about we check out a nightclub, go dancing, show me how to pick up some girls, never done that before, and I need to do something manly," Ranma said with a grin and then turned his head to Xander. Xander had just audibly gulped and looked like a deer caught in the headlights. "What?" Ranma asked.

"Uh, well, uh, I may have, uh . . . exaggerating the girls thing . . . uh, a bit," Xander sputtered out, and Ranma's eyes brows rose questioningly. "I've chased a lot . . . just never picked up one." Ranma laughed. "You're not mad at me?" Xander asked surprised.

"Why?" Ranma said with a grin and suddenly got up. "Then it's definitely time to go pick up a girl for each of us."

"Wha?" Xander managed sitting up.

"Yeah, let's go," Ranma said resolutely and walked to the exit door.

"We can't do that," Xander said frantically. "We've got nothing to wear. I just got these Chinese country clothes, and you your standard fighting getup. We'd be laughed at."

"We beat them up," Ranma shrugged with cool confidence.

"I mean the girls," Xander said with some annoyance.

Ranma made a throw away gesture, and asked, "So?" Xander looked shocked as Ranma's reaction. Being laughed at by girls was like, was like the end of the world. "It isn't end of the world, in fact no big deal," Ranma told him, opening the door, and Xander looked at him with wide disbelieving eyes. "We simply go to next one; we're good looking, well-trained guys with muscles where the average girl don't think muscles could be. Sooner or later one is going to recognize we're hot; and see past a bit of clothing." Xander looked with disbelief at Ranma; that's not the way one approached a girl . . . or is it? "Come on, Xan, you sit there moping all night, or we go have some fun?"

"Okay," Xander said, awkwardly coming to a stand and walking over to Ranma.

-----

"Are you certain about this?" Xander muttered as he and Ranma stood in front of a bar and dancing. They were only a two places away from the bouncer, and Xander was having second thoughts.

"It's just a bar, that may have some girls, remember?" Ranma whispered to his newfound friend with a confident smile. "They can't hurt you, they can't beat you, the men in there can't either unless you're so unlucky there's a super martial a- . . ."

Xander's hand was slammed over Ranma's mouth, and he said, "Don't say it. With my luck, you say it, there /will/ be someone like that inside and I /will/ piss him off somehow, he'll kick my butt."

The line moved forward, and now there was only one group between them and the bouncers. Ranma said, "You have to lighten up. We're not on your Hellmouth, you know."

"Just being certain," Xander said, and the line moved forward again.

The bouncer with arms the size of oak trees it seemed took the two of them in, took them in again, and then laughed out loud. "You guys can't be serious, you actually think you can get in here, looking like that?" the bouncer exclaimed. "Get out of here."

Ranma glared for a moment, then smirked, grabbed the guy by the side of his collar and casually lifted him off the floor with one hand. "I didn't quite hear you there," Ranma said with a smirk. "Could you repeat that?"

The bouncer looked down at his dangling feet, gulped, and said, "Go right on in, not a problem."

"Thank you," Xander said as Ranma put the man down, then entered the club. "I can't believe you did that," Xander hissed at Ranma as they entered the loud club, with a lot of flashy lights.

Ranma shrugged and said, "Hey, he was impolite, if he were polite I would have moved on."

"You Japanese guys are real sticklers for politeness, huh?" Xander asked the less tall guy.

Ranma shrugged. The first girls rejected them stone cold, and as Xander attempted to take it hard, Ranma just shrugged and pulled him a long. The next to girls was the same thing, and then another pair. The fact that Ranma didn't seem to care one little bit started to rub off on Xander. Then they came across two girls, who couldn't resist the intrigue and mystery of two hot guys, one American and the other Asian, seemingly Japanese, dressed like last century's news in a flashy club. The Hong Kong girls themselves were lookers, beautifully Asian, one wearing a lovely dress, the other a top and skirt. One was called Chun, and the other Jia.

After a little talking one of them finally couldn't resist anymore, and asked Xander and Ranma, "Okay, you got to tell us, why the hell are you two dressed like that."

Xander was ready to falter at the apparent new rejection, but Ranma said with a casual grin, "Oh, couple of friends we recently met bet us we couldn't get a few girls to spend the evening with dressed like this."

"Nice friends," Jia commented with a little sarcasm.

Chun then asked, "So how did you two get in here dressed like that?"

Ranma grinned and moved his right sleeve up. He flexed his muscles and said, "Lifted the impolite bouncer off floor with just this arm, he suddenly became very helpful." Jia smirked as she let her eyes linger on the sexy, muscular arm. Xander looked a little shocked as Ranma's casual indifference to what the girls might thing.

Chun always had liked tall white guys, loved the Hollywood movies, and so she smirked at Xander and asked, "You as muscular as him?"

Xander looked at her shocked for a moment. She was flirting with him, definitely flirting with /him/. SHE WAS FLIRTING WITH HIM! His brain kicked back in gear, and said, "Y-you tell me." Xander lifted his arm, and looked nervously at it and Ranma who had lowered his. Ranma grinned and Xander pulled the sleeve of the drab two-piece clothing back, and flexed his own arm. To his shock muscles visually flexed. He /knew/ he had grown muscles over the past few months of course, but it was still a shock to him showing it to a girl.

"Definitely," Chun almost purred, her eyes glued to the arm. Xander turned his head to look back at her, and couldn't believe a girl was ogling him like he so often ogled girls. There had to be something wrong here. Girls didn't ogle did they? Certainly not him if the remote possibility existed they did.

Suddenly Ranma whispered in Xander's ear as he was still pondering the mystery, "Lower arm, before she jumps you right here; unless you like that."

Blushing a little, Xander quickly lowered the arm and the sleeve. Chun looked disappointed a moment, and then the look in her eyes became more sensual when she noticed Xander's shy blush. All those muscles and sensitive too. "So, Xander, what does an American here, having a Japanese friend," Chun positively purred.

God damn! What to say now? There was no way they'd believe the truth. Xander flickered his gaze at Ranma who gave him a big old, daring smirk. Ranma really didn't care. Ranma was right, what if they /didn't/ believe him, who cares? A slight smile filtered across Xander's face, and he said, "My pop sold me to the Chinese mob as a sex slave, I escaped. I'm stuck here till my newly issued passport and bank cards arrive."

"Really?" Chun asked with a chuckle. Xander could see she didn't believe him, but apparently she didn't care all that much. Going with the story, she asked, "A sex slave, huh? I can see that, I wouldn't mind have you as one." Xander couldn't fight off the blush, making Chun laugh delectably.

"And what's your story, Ranma?" Jia asked the other martial arts master.

"My pop dragged me here for a training exhibition," Ranma said with a smile. "Came across him, fleeing from the mob, asking for help. Not that he's a wimp or anything; they outnumbered him twenty to one and had guns, he was entitled to need some help."

"A great knight, huh? You'd help me too?" Jia asked Ranma, and he smiled at her.

"Of course," he said as she came closer and then they kissed.

Xander was dumbfounded when he found himself in the same position, but quickly went with the flow.

Fifteen minutes later they were out in some alley, making out with the girls. Suddenly they were sprayed with something wet from above. The girls continued kissing for about two seconds. They stopped the kiss, but kept their lips pressed to the newly formed girls, and moved their hands up to the front. A moment later they cupped distinctive breasts where there was a manly chest before. Their eyes flew open, and they took in the brunette girl and the redhead. "AAAH!" they screamed, taking three steps back, and then promptly fainted.

"That went well," girl-Xander commented, and then looked over to the newly red-haired girl-Ranma. Ranma chuckled. "Seriously," girl-Xander said, "better than I thought possible. I actually just made out with a girl. Me! Alexander Lavelle Harris! And dressed like this."

"Yeah, face it, Xan," the high pitched voice of girl-Ranma sounded, as she stretched out. "Girl or guy, we're hot, we're studs."

"You're food," a sinister voice commented.

Xander and Ranma looked at the end of an alley were a whole pack of vamped out vampires stood, some ten in total. Ranma smirked, placed her right fist against her left open palm, and said, "Ah, and a good fight to finish the night." She turned to girl-Xander, and said, "Shall we?"

"You got it," girl-Xander answered and they charged the pack of vampires.

The vampire looked shocked at the two attacking girls, and more so when the first fists hit with such force to break jaws and sent some of the crumbling to the ground, and one even flying right at his comrades. "Slayers? Real?" one vamp said with fright.

"Wasn't there only one?" another vamp commented before getting pummeled by girl-Ranma.

The edges of waste bins were used as decapitation tools, and not long after the dirt in the alley had grown a little taller.

"We better get them home," girl-Xander said pointing at the unconscious girls.

-----

That was an amazing, eye-opening night, Ranma, but nothing like after you left. As a girl, I KNEW I was hot, smoking hot. I embraced that side as you know, and as a girl I could go out with complete and utter confidence. Guys turned their heads to check me out, guys patted my ass, guys pinched my ass - after which I broke the bones in said guys' fingers - and with the gay girls it was no different; although they were a little difficult to find in Hong Kong, is apparently a lot more a taboo in Asia than it already is in America. Seriously, you should embrace it too. But to make a long story short; the more comfortable I could be as a girl, the more confidence I gained. And as girls and guys tried to pick ME up, I figured out what girls like as well, meaning that I got confidence as a guy around girls even if my bud isn't around to lift me up with his devil-may-care attitude.

Where was I? Oh, yeah, we had ourselves a rocket launcher, so we went to find the bad guys and blow them up...

-----

With the rocket launcher hidden in a black case held by Lexa, the heavily armed Scooby Gang entered the factory, and looked around. "Nobody here," Cordelia commented with annoyance. "They already left."

"Well, they can't have gone to the Bronze, nobody there now," Willow added with a frown.

"There's only one place where people throng together now," Oz said, and they looked at him. Then they were off.

Behind a pillar sat Spike, listening in. He had the distinct sinking feeling from their tone that they had found a way to beat the odds again. Then he smirked, and opened his right hand. The group he had sent out had returned, and on his hand now lay a medallion and an armband. Spike smirked.

-----

The mall; avatar of American capitalism, several floors filled with stores, and places to buy snack food on your exhausting trek to it. And when you're done with one, there's most likely another right next to it.

The mall; death trap.

The doors opened admitting vampires with a blue demon Judge up front. Drusilla was to its left, and Angelus was to its right. A man came walking up the stairs to the exit, and the Judge simply pointed at him. He screamed as the Judge's cleansing fire surged into him; finding his humanity and burning him to a crisp, before disappearing completely. The Judge took a deep breath, smiling. He walked forward, coming to a small platform in the middle. The stairs went up, and right down. A wooden railing kept people from falling over. Below were throngs of people, enjoying the mall and all it had to offer. In this case; fiery death. The Judge smiled, and stretched out his arms, a tendril of fire surging down and into a human, then to the next, and the next, and so onward. Quickly all the people frozen as the cleansing fire started doing its job.

"Ah!" the Judge exclaimed, and just like that the cleansing fire disappeared, making the people look around confused, and grabbing their chests in pain. A small crossbow bolt was stuck in the Judge's shoulder, and he looked straight ahead. There on the other side of the mall, some twenty meters away, stood Lexa holding a case, with the others around her. The Judge made an annoyed grumble and pulled the bolt free, his wound immediately healing.

With the Scoobies, Buffy put a new bolt in her crossbow, and said, "I still think it's unfair I just get to fire a crossbow."

Down below the humans just looked dumbfounded. "What do you think you are doing?" the Judge asked to the group of people opposing him, tossing the bolt aside. The vampires smiled smugly. "You know no weapon forged by man can kill me."

Lexa smiled broadly, and called across the mall, "Yeah, well, that was then. These days we got a saying; if it first you don't succeed . . ." Lexa smirked, and with a smooth motion released the case, and pulled the rocket launcher up to her shoulder. Her face was more grim now, but was still smirking, as she finished, ". . . invent a bigger a gun."

The vampires recognized the weapon immediately, and with fearful faces jumped and ran away, while the Judge simply asked, "What does that do?"

A moment later Lexa had already pressed the trigger, and a rocket was launched across the distance. It smashed into the Judge and exploded, sending piece of the Judge flying everywhere, and leaving only a lower leg and a foot standing. The people started screaming and running as fast as they could.

"All right," Buffy called with a grim smile. "Gather the pieces and keep them apart just in case. I'll take Angelus, you Drusilla Xan, and the rest the stragglers." Lexa looked down at Buffy with an annoyed look. "What?" Buffy asked her. Lexa rolled her eyes and put the rocket launcher down, then they went into action.

"Gather up the pieces?" Lotion wondered in disgust.

"Right there with you," Cordelia replied, pulling her swords free.

Buffy went down and off to her left toward Angelus, dusting a vampire on the way. Lexa went off to her right, where she saw Drusilla. Behind her Lotion stuffed a stake through a vampire's heart, as the others took in the pieces of the Judge.

Oz came across an arm, and remembering what happened at the party stayed a meter away. Pointing down at it he called, "Arm! Here's an arm."

Lexa rapidly came across Drusilla. "Hey, Dru!" Lexa called.

Drusilla turned around and vamped out, saying, "Nasty vixen." Then she hissed and grabbed to vampires that had accompanied her, and tossed then to Lexa. Then she did the same with another two vampires, who yelled in fear and horror that their mistress would betray them so. Drusilla just turned back around and ran out the exit with all her speed.

Around Lexa were screaming fleeing people. She roundhouse kicked the first vampire that came her way, and punched aside the second. But the third slammed into her and brought her down. She brought her stake up and the vampire on top of her dusted, giving her just enough time to roll out of the way of the third. The vampire groaned at the impact with the ground, and a quick thrust with Lexa's arm reduced him to dust as well. Lexa flipped up smoothly, and saw the first vampire charging her. Another roundhouse kick sent him back to the wall he came from, yelling in pain and anger. Lexa charged forward to the second vampire, and slammed her kneed it in its stomach with all her might. As the vampire doubled over she staked it. She quickly turned back to the first, who came charging her again. With a quick motion of her arm, while ducking and twisting away, made her avoid the vampire's lunge and sent him passed her. A quick thrust with her stake and the vampire was dust.

Lexa then ran out the exit and looked left and right where people were running off, but no Drusilla to be seen. "Fuck," she cursed and sped back into the mall.

With a single punch, Angelus was staggering back till he slammed into the wall.

The lobby with one exit and two elevators was otherwise empty. He laughed and told Buffy, "Is that all?"

He vamped out and attacked her, missing as the Slayer easily ducked beneath his punch. Buffy danced aside, and grabbed his next punched, opening him up for a sidekick to his ribs, and making Angel groan out. "No, that isn't all," Buffy hissed, and rammed an uppercut into his face, that sent him flying backward toward an exit. He landed on the ground, and watched as Buffy drew her stake.

For a moment a little fear filtered in his eyes, then he saw her hesitate. He snickered evilly as he got up, seeing in Buffy's pained eyes. "Well, well, you can't do it," he said dusting himself off, the duster fluttering a bit. "Little miss Slayer can't dust her lover. Ooh."

Angelus laughed, practically cackling. Suddenly Buffy lashed out with her foot, slamming into his balls and launching him off his feet. With a high pitched scream he flew backward and up till he slammed into the corner walls. Hanging there for a moment he groaned, then he fell down. "Give me time," Buffy told him and turned around, walking away.

Angelus cradled his destroyed balls, and started wiggling toward the exit like a seal. His high pitched squeals of pain made him sound like one as well.

Painfully Buffy returned, watching Willow pick up a piece of the judge and dumping it in a small bag. Cordelia, Oz, and Lotion were doing the same, while Giles closed the bags and held out new ones. Lexa came running around from the other side, and walked up to Buffy. Buffy gave her a look that made her frown and she moved on.

"You know," Oz said coolly. "The arm isn't moving, it isn't trying to grab anyone's neck." He got a piece that was half torn apart, and held it up, nothing happened. "I think he's actually, really dead," he observed.

"Hmm," Giles said.

"Oh, thank god," Cordelia muttered, and then turned to Giles. "Does that mean we don't have to pick it up piece by piece?"

"Where is he?" Lexa asked sharply, and the Scoobies turned to him. "Where is he, Buffy?" Lexa asked, and Buffy looked guiltily at him. "I don't see any dust, did you gather it up?"

Tears sprung in Buffy's eyes, and she looked painfully at him, then to her other friends. "I couldn't do it, I couldn't do it, I'm sorry," Buffy whimpered.

"Damn it, why the hell didn't you let me handle him if you couldn't do it?" Lexa told her sharply, obviously angry, while the others looked at the exchange.

"I though I could, but then . . ." Buffy whispered, looking into Lexa's enraged face.

"You didn't kill him?" Lotion shrieked in anger at Buffy.

"Drusilla?" Giles asked Lexa, attempting to keep the situation from a brawl.

Lexa flashed her eyes to the watcher and answered, "She tossed four vamps to me, literally. She got away while I dusted them." Then she looked at Lotion and made a slight shake with her head.

-----

In the factory Angelus came stumbling in cradling his painful balls.

Drusilla was draped around Spike insanely babbling about the nasty Slayer and her nasty friends destroying their beautiful Judge. Spike took Angelus in, and laughed out loud. "So, how are they hanging Angelus," Spike called out loud across the main hall. Angelus turned his head and growled out loud. "Ooh, I'm so scared," Spike said with a smile. "She hit you good, huh, old boy? What's it gonna take to heal? A whole night? Be glad you're a bloody vamp, sire, or you'd be faking your own orgasms from now on." Spike laughed out again - Angelus in no position to attack him - he just glared. Spike then added, "I'm almost glad the Judge was destroyed; really, Angelus, ever since you got back, I've had nothing but fun."

Angelus gave a growl and then moved off to find a place to sleep and heal. Spike just remained laughing, and Drusilla couldn't help but snicker along with him.

-----

A while later the whole Scooby Gang was in the library. Giles was behind the counter, and Lexa paced back and forth in front of him, from the counter to the few stairs to the second level and back. The rest was sitting in at the tables. The mood was depressing to the say the least.

Buffy got up tentatively, and said, "I couldn't do it, I'm sorry, Angel . . ."

"No!" Lexa said whirling to face Buffy, pointing a finger at her. "He's not Angel anymore, don't you get that yet? Angelus isn't Angel, he doesn't even come close. Angelus is the thing that /killed/ Angel." Giles nodded solemnly.

"Xander," Buffy said weakly.

Lexa cut anything more of her off, saying, "He was your responsibility; if you couldn't handle it, you should have asked one of us to do it. You said yourself you'd take Angelus, but you didn't."

"Yeah," Lotion added pissed off from her position at the table, "and he doesn't even have that soul anymore either; he's nothing but a killing machine, and- . . ."

"Lotion," Giles said sharply, "Buffy- . . ."

Buffy himself interrupted her watcher, asking Lexa with pain, "Why? Because I'm the Slayer? Is that it?"

"No," Lexa said, and took several steps forward and looking Buffy in the eyes. "Because he was your boyfriend, because doing that nasty with you made him lose his soul; that's why. That made him your responsibility, just like my best friend Jesse was mine."

Jesse! The name suddenly snapped in Buffy's head. The whole Terakan stress had made her forget. 'Jesse McNally' written on that makeshift urn, in that makeshift half-ruined place in the cemetery. Best friend, ten years, and Xander had dusted him? Back in the Bronze that first day, she realized, when Xander hadn't listened, and instead of staying in the sides leaving people out he had gone in anyway.

"It's going to be very simple, Buffy," Lexa spoke with a cold fury, Buffy felt wasn't directed at her, or at least not just at her. "You're going to take your responsibility, or I'm going to take it for you."

"I'm coming with you," Willow suddenly piped up. Buffy's eyes widened. Lexa looked passed Buffy at her best friend. Willow interrupted Lexa before she could started, "Oh, don't even try, buster. If you think I'm going to let you fight three . . . two and a half master vampires, and who knows how many minions and booby traps all on your very own, you've got another thing coming."

Lexa didn't bother arguing; Willow sported the face he and Jesse had once dubbed 'resolve face' and it meant Willow's mind was set and nothing short of death was going to change it. "I'm coming too," Lotion said resolutely. Buffy stayed standing perfectly still.

"So am I," Cordelia said with a grumble.

"Wherever Cordelia goes, I go," Oz said without a hint of emotion.

Giles reset his glasses and said, "Well, I would be remiss in my duties as Watcher and fighter of the darkness if I'd let kids fight while I stayed cooped up in a library."

Lexa looked around the room for a moment, smiled, and then said, "Then it's settled, by tomorrow afternoon, Angelus is dust." Lexa looked at Buffy, and added, "One way or another." Lexa then turned around and stalked out of the library.

-----

"He was your responsibility," Xander hissed, and then vamped out. His impossibly strong hands grabbed Buffy by the throat and bit deeply.

"Yours, Buffy," Joyce said hungry behind her, and sank her own fangs in her arm. Pain lanced through Buffy's body, and she felt her life flow from her. Willow and Giles joined Xander and Joyce, and she screamed; hearing Angelus laughing all around her.

Suddenly everything changed and she weakly slammed against a wooden floor. Still bleeding where the vampires had bitten, she slowly raised herself up, having difficulty doing so. She was in the bronze, and saw herself fighting Luke. Her gaze was drawn to her right where she saw Xander plunge a stake in Jesse's body. As vampire Jesse finished turning to dust, the scene rewound, and Xander stake Jesse again. This happened another time, and then Xander looked up at her, "Your responsibility."

"Buffy," a soulful voice spoke, and Buffy whirled around, looking in Angel's eyes. The vampire came over, hands in his pocket, and then took her in a brace. Smile he dipped down to kiss Buffy, and she smiled back. Just before their lips met, he vamped out and bit down in her neck with a growl.

"Whua!" Buffy exclaimed, jerking awake. Then she sat herself up, and looked around her bedroom, settling on the line of light that came through the curtains that weren't fully closed. After looking at it for a moment, the fear the nightmare induced receding, she whispered, "He's the thing that killed Angel." She looked down at her hands and breasts. Her face hardened and she said, "He's the thing that killed Angel."

Buffy got up, and put on a pair of jeans over her panties. She didn't bother with a braw and single put on a black t-shirt, that fell sexily around her breasts in its casualness. She chose a leather jacket, and stacked up on some stakes, stuffing them abruptly in the jacket. Then she stalked out of her room and out her house without bothering with breakfast, leaving her mother looking annoyed at the breakfast she prepared.

-----

Buffy entered her school. She was early and only a few kids were around. She and the others would have classes till about one o'clock, then they'd go. She entered the library not long after, and found all of them had already arrived. They all looked up as she came down the three steps. She looked at them all, and said, "Angelus is mine."

"You're not going to let him walk away again?" Cordelia asked skeptically.

Buffy turned her head to her left, looking at Cordelia. The cheerleader took an involuntary step back at Buffy's dangerous expression. "That thing killed Angel, and he's going to /pay/," Buffy all but snarled.

"Welcome back to the team, Buff," Xander said with a grin. Buffy turned her head to look at him, and she smiled.

"Xander," Willow asked, thinking of something. "Do you think they're still in the factory? Wouldn't they move now they know we know where they are?"

Xander turned to his best friend and asked, "The big bad, arrogant son of a bitch who's basking in the fact that Buffy couldn't get it over her heart to kill him? Hell no."

-----

They stood in front of the factory, and took the place in by daylight. It was a run down place, windows blacked out so the sun couldn't come in. "You guys know the plan?" Buffy said, holding a large stone bowl in her hands.

Lotion nodded, lifting her sword with a feral grin, and said, "Box in. Open windows. Kill."

"You got it," Buffy said. Xander then turned around to the sewer entrance, Lotion following him.

The others walked forward, and Willow lowered her head, muttering spells. She pushed her hands forward, and all the boards boarding up the windows were launched into the factory, sunlight streaming in instantly. Buffy placed the bowl at the entrance of the factory and then they entered.

-----

Inside, pandemonium started right away. Several vamps were immediately cut in the sun's rays and burst into flame, screaming in pain.

"Shit!" Angelus called in rage, looking around. Other vampires entered the main hall as well, as far away from the windows facing the sunlight as they could.

Spike instead, grabbed Dru and started wheeling. "Spike," Drusilla said.

"Not now, luv, we gotta go," Spike told her with authority and they quickly moved off. They wove among some equipment. They came at a door and Spike opened it, then wheeled down a decline with Drusilla in tow. Down below was the sewer and they entered it.

"Hey, Spike."

Spike turned his wheel chair to his right as Drusilla whirled around in the same direction. There were Lotion and Xander. Xander had a stake under his arms folded across his chest, while a smiling Lotion had a curved sword in her right hand. "You didn't think we kept the sewer exit unguarded, did you? So what are you going to do now?"

"Well, first, I'm standing up," Spike said with an evil grin, doing exactly that and vamping out.

"Spike?" Drusilla said with a little surprise herself.

Chuckling, Spike reached inside his leather duster and produced two pieces of jewelry. He said, "Then I'm going to take this lovely medallion 'ere, and give it to Dru. Put it on, pet."

Drusilla took the medallion and looked at it.

"Then I'm going to put on this 'ere armband," Spike said and put on the golden armband with red runes on it and a blue stone in the middle, making Lotion and Xander grimace. They were about to charge in.

"Miss Edith doesn't like it," Drusilla said, stopping the two cold with the ridiculous statement.

Spike rolled his eyes, and looked at Drusilla, telling here, "Tell Miss Edith she can bloody well go to hell with her tastes, or I'm going to beat a few new ones in her."

"Mummy did like it," Drusilla purred and put the medallion and necklace around her neck.

"And now to see if the bloody books were right," Spike said and charged Lotion. He avoided the blade swipe and then landed a punch. To Xander's shock Lotion was launched from her position with a painful scream til she smashed into the stone sewer corner. The stone shattered and pieces of it were flung away.

"Lotion!" Xander called with shock, as the Amazon sank to her knees with a painful groan.

"Oh, bloody hell, yeah, I'm back," Spike snarled as she ran onward to Lotion.

At the same time Xander caught a blur in the corner of his eyes, and the next moment he was slammed painfully up against the sewer side. Drusilla held him there, and grinned evilly. Xander immediately slammed his head into her face. Drusilla backed up, and snarled, vamping out. Then she was a blur again. Xander was shocked, but didn't even have time to widen his eyes before Drusilla's punch sent him off to his left, tumbling through the dry sewer catacombs.

Drusilla stalked toward Xander and said, "Mummy fast now, faster than kitten."

Xander wiped his mouth and saw blood on his hands. He forced himself to stand, and said, "Dru, you really need to pay attention. You're not a mummy, you're a vampire."

Drusilla snarled and was once more reduced to a blur, sending Xander flying with a pained scream. "Nasty kitten, nasty vixen, you're not fun anymore," Drusilla said as she watched Xander tumble twice more before coming to stop. Grunting in pain, Xander held his painful ribs, and made sure he still had the stake firmly in grip. Damn, she was far too fast. He had to get that medallion off of her somehow.

At the corner, Lotion got another devastating blow to her face, making it bruise and bleed. "What's the matter, bitch?" Spike called with happiness as he slammed her face into the stone, making Lotion yell with the impact. "Not strong anymore?" He whirled around, pulling Lotion along and slamming her back first on the corner.

"AAH!" Lotion screamed, and sank to the floor, still clutching her sword knowing if she lost it, it'd be over.

"Oh, yeah, I'm a bloody animal," Spike said with a grin, grabbing Lotion and lifting her easily off the floor by her hair. "Thought you could make fun of old Spike, didn't you? Thought you didn't have to worry about a simple vampire." He slammed his head in her face, and then launched her back he way they had come with a punch to her stomach.

Spike slowly sauntered over and said, "So, got any last words, you Amazon skank?"

Lotion looked up at Spike and forced herself weakly to her legs, and said spitting out blood, "I told future husband I'd hack off your limbs, crush your balls several times and only then dust you. I keep my word."

"You little, arrogant . . ." Spike started pulling his hand back for a powerful punch. "AAH!" he yelled, and looked in shock as Lotion's sword finished slicing through his wrist just above the armband. The Amazon had used every last ounce of strength left in her to muster up the fasted sword stroke she could. The hand turned to dust and the arm band clanged against the sewer wall and then to the floor. Spike immediately lunged for the arm band, he had an another wrist after all. But with a roar Lotion swung the sword again sliced off both Spike's legs.

"SPIKE!" a voice screamed from a short distance away.

Spike screamed hysterically as his legs turned to dust, and his torso dropped to the ground. With another slice Spike's arm that had the remaining hand came off, and dusted. Another slice later the remaining arm did the same. Spike finished a hysterical scream of horror, looking down at his limbless form. Lotion placed herself above his crotch, one leg on either side of him. Spike looked up at the evilly grinning Amazon with fear, his vamp face retreated some time ago. "I keep my word," Lotion spoke with difficulty spitting out some drops of blood that fell on Spike's face.

As Lotion lifted her looming mid-heels, Spike turned his head jerkily from side to side, "No, no, AAAH!"

Lotion's foot rose again, and descended once more. "AAAH!"

At the other end, Drusilla had blurredly slammed Xander with his back against the sewer. Xander gave a painful roar. He was certain the crazy bitch had cracked a few of his ribs. She held up him there, hands at his collar, baring his neck. "Nasty kitten will taste sweet," Drusilla hissed out.

"AAH!" Sounded. And Drusilla's face twisted to concern and looked to her right, where she saw Spike handless. Xander looked down and saw the medallion, having several holes, or windows, made of glass or crystal beneath which there was a gentle blue glow. Spike gave another scream.

"SPIKE!" Drusilla screamed in horror and concern, and started to run blurred to stop the Amazon.

The momentary distraction was all Xander needed. "Chestnuts," his hissed as his left free hand blurred to impossible speeds and grabbed the medallion. With two of his fingers in the holes he crush it. It splintered audibly, sparkling some blue sparkles away. Drusilla stumbled as Xander holding on to the medallion kept her from going onward. A moment later he stabbed his stake through her dead heart with a roar both of pain as well as anger. The insane vampiress looked shocked for a moment, and then crumbled to dust, leaving only a destroyed medallion.

Xander stumbled and sank to his knees then looked over at Lotion, who by now was gleefully stomping Spike's balls over and over, eliciting a new scream of rage over and over. Xander chuckled and the stopped, grabbing his aching ribs. "Lotion," Xander half grumbled and half choked out, "stop before you kill me with laughter."

Lotion looked over to Xander for a moment, seeing him hold his ribs as he forced himself to his feet. Lotion looked down and looked upon the tear-stained face of Spike. "Burn in hell," Lotion said, and then smiling cut off Spike's head.

Xander gave a laugh and Lotion looked over. "Have I told you lately I love you?"

"No, that's much to little," Lotion managed to get out almost happy.

Xander shook his head with a smile. "Let's hope no more vampires come here, huh? Don't think we can handle many in our conditions," Xander asked his friend.

Lotion looked down, grinned and picked up the bracelet and slipped it on. "Oh, I don't know, I think I'd like to dust a few more," Lotion said, making Xander smile.

-----

Upstairs Cordelia easily decapitated a vampire, then moved on to another one. Willow ducked underneath a vampire's clumsy punch and stuck a stake through its heart. Off to the side Oz and Giles tackled a vampire and pulling him off to the ground ran to the side till the sunlight hit it, and they let go, watching the vampire burst into flames. "Perfect to get a barbeque going," Oz commented before turning around and finding the next vampire. They found one hiding, and when it found it was discovered it ran from its hiding place to attack them. Giles jumped aside and the vampire attacked Oz, who back up.

A moment later Giles was on the vampire's back, and yelled, "Now, Oz!"

The guitarist pulled a stake and quickly slammed it into the distracted vampire's heart, making it turn to dust.

"Angelus," Buffy said as she sauntered with confidence and a little sexiness to the middle of the room, to the left of the main table.

Angelus growled and took a few steps to her, until they were some three meters apart, as he said, "I don't give a damn about how much stronger or faster you are, bitch. I'm going to kill you for what you did to me."

Buffy stayed silent, and then moved forward and to the right. Angelus did the same, starting to circle each other in front of the table. "I have a little advantage, of course, Buffy. You can't kill me. What do you think can change in a single night, huh?"

Buffy said nothing, just sizing him up. Angelus vamped out, and snarled, "Don't you have anything to say?"

Buffy stopped her circling and so did Angelus. She stayed silent for another moment, and then answered coldly, "Time's up." Instantly she charged forward, and slammed a powerful punch in Angelus' gut, making him double over with a groan. Buffy followed up with a powerful left to his face.

"Oof!" he exclaimed being launched off to his left, slamming against metal machinery which dented. Roaring with fury Buffy grabbed Angel by his collar and pulled him up and over her. She slammed with all her might into the heavy, solid oak table which broke under the force. Angelus slammed into the ground with the table in his back, and lay gasping in pain on the floor. He kicked out back over his head, slamming into Buffy's face. She stumbled back and saw Angelus turning around and getting up.

"You little bitch," Angelus hissed, ripping the remainder of the table apart and came over wielding it. With a vicious swing he slammed the table across Buffy's face, making her stumbled off to her right with shout of pain. Buffy whirled around, but Angelus was already there slamming the table piece on the other side of her face.

"Argh!" she groaned as she stumbled off to her left and slammed into a piece of machinery, once more groaning with pain.

"You think you can kill me, slut?" Angelus growled out and brought the table down on Buffy's already bleeding face.

"Aah!" Buffy exclaimed sinking to her knees.

Angelus laughed and said, "Better have tried." He swung the table back around.

With yell Buffy forced herself up, and let her fist go directly at the table. It splintered on impact and fell out Angelus' hands in pieces. "Fuck you," Buffy said, and kicked Angelus in his stomach, doubling him over.

"Been there, done that," a bleeding Angelus told her with a grin.

"RAAH!" Buffy screamed, and gave him an devastating uppercut. Angelus was launched almost two meters up into the air before he came down and once again landed painfully in the remains of the table.

Buffy walked over as Angelus worked to get up, groaning in pain. Angelus took a soft look when he realized he couldn't get up in time. "Buffy," he said gently, and Buffy hesitated. He slowly got up, and said, "Please, it's me, Angel. I'm back."

Buffy looked into his eyes, and then saw something. She grimaced, and said, "You're not Angel, you're the thing killed him." Angelus' eyes widened as Buffy suddenly sped up, and yelled, "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire!" Buffy's fists blurred, and slammed into Angelus torso with enormous force. Yelling with rage, tears staining her face, she rammed punch after punch in Angelus' torso. The vampire jerked with everyone, screaming in pain as a hundred punches and more slammed into him within the space of a single second. Then with a final roar, Buffy let fly a devastating right cross then send the soulless vampire flying through the air till he slammed in another piece of old machinery.

Giles, Oz, Cordelia and Willow watched as Buffy walked over to Angel. "This is the last thing I do for, Angel, the last thing I can do for him," Buffy said with a hoarse throat, pulling a stake from her jacket. A dazed Angelus looked up. "Free him from you. With you dust, he can finally rest in peace." Then the stake came down rapidly and penetrated the vampire's heart. He looked at Buffy's tear-stained face for a moment, and then dissolved into dust.

Buffy took a step back and looked at the dust, tears continuing to stream. Then she sobbed, once, then a second time. She forced herself to walk back out the way she came as crying took over. Her three friends and mentor looked at each other, and wondered what they should do. A few moments later Buffy returned with her makeshift urn, and kneeled down. Crying she went about gathering and shoving Angel's remains into the urn.

Willow slowly walked over and started to help. A few moments later Lotion and Xander joined Giles, Cordelia and Oz, the later two embracing each other. Then Xander walked onward, and knelt on Buffy's free side. He place his hand soothingly on her back, and helped gather the dust in the bowl.

-----

That night Buffy, Willow and Xander walked in the cemetery. Buffy had asked them along, without really saying where they were going. Buffy had tears in her eyes, dreading the answer to what she was going to ask, something she felt was selfish, but wanted to ask anyway. The bluish bowl with Angel's ashes she held in her hands, and having used a thick golden pen, she had written 'Angel' on it.

Quickly Willow and Xander recognized the path though. A bit later the arrived at the place. The urn wall was half-ruined, old. Undoubtedly at least a few decades old. Most niches were empty, in only a few remained ruined urns, who seem to have been smashed; most likely vampires having had some fun. In one niche stood a still fully intact urn with Jesse's ashes; their own private grave, nobody would ever have believed the vampire's ashes were Jesse's, or how the two knew it was his. "I'm sorry," Buffy barely more than whispered. "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you guys." Buffy half-broke down, talking though half-crying and tears streaming from her eyes. "I th-thought you didn't want me butting in; th-that I'd . . ." Buffy gasped for breath, and after two arms wrapped around her waste, she forced out, ". . . intrude up-pon something private. Th-that . . . you w-w-wouldn't want me to be part of this, just new and all, f-f-failing to protect him."

"Buffy," Willow said sadly.

Buffy shook her head as she composed herself a bit, enough to continue, "I know better now. You hated him, Xan, and I still want you to be here, help me, hold me. And you Willow, I know you didn't exactly love him either. I'm asking something very selfish . . . can I . . .?" The last Buffy whimpered out barely audible, unable to bring herself to say anymore, simply motioning the urn to the wall and the empty niche next to Jesse's. Fresh tears sprung in her eyes, and she looked hopeful and pain from one friend to another, and then remained upward to Xander's face, knowing he'd be the real one to give permission. Willow and Xander looked over the small blonde at each other. They only needed an instant of silent communication. As their own tears started to form and run down their faces, Xander looked down. He nodded with a tear-stained smile, and gave Buffy a nudge.

With the relief, Buffy started crying again, out loud. Slowly she walked over, and with Slayer strength easily placed the urn into the free niche next to Jesse's. She backed up, and then felt herself enveloped in a double hug, Xander's longer arms enveloping around both girls.

Buffy stifled her crying after a while, and looked up at Xander. "You hate me, for not killing Angelus right away?" she asked with a small voice.

"Oh, no," Xander said, tears flowing more freely. "I'll never hate you, certainly not for that. I know how difficult it is to do that. I faced it. I tried to convince a demon not to do something stupid." Xander sniffed, as Willow gave a single laugh through her sobs. "I could barely do it; I don't even know for sure if I would have, if the fleeing crowd hadn't bumped into Jesse and moved him forward, into my stake." Xander took a deep breath remembering the event, his nose sniffing with the cries. "All I had to do, was keep the stake up." Xander took Buffy in his arms, and he told her, "I'm sorry for being so angry; I think I put some of my own guilt of deciding to face Jesse alone and failure onto you. I just wished so badly you had told someone of your doubts."

The three went to back to just embracing each other again. A few moments later, Buffy looked up again, and asked, "Where does this leave us?"

The question was loaded with so many meanings, Willow grabbed Buffy tighter both for her own sake as Buffy's. She knew Xander better than anyone alive, and she suspected. "I love you, Buffy," Xander whispered painfully. "I love you as a friend, I love you as more. I'm in love with you in so many ways. You're incredible; you're hero, you've become an amazing one, the way you took him out, despite what you felt for the soul." Xander stopped, swallowing as she saw the pain and dread grow by the moment in Buffy's eyes, he could see her anticipate the 'but'. "But when I think of anything romantic with you now, anything sexy; all I get is squick, and ew, seeing you with a corpse."

"No," Buffy sobbed out, remembering her dream. Curiosity, Xander asking her not to do it, Angel's dusting, Xander's dimming and going to Willow. It had all come true; it just hadn't warned her of Drusilla, but of herself.

"I'm sorry, Buff, I really am, I'll be honest; I don't know if I ever get over that, and if I do, how long it will take; months, years," Xander said, his tears growing stronger as he saw Buffy sank to her knees, Willow going with her. "I'm sorry," he sobbed, "I wish I could just turn it off, but I can't."

Not able to take it Xander turned around, and took a step. "Please stay," Buffy half-coughed half-sobbed out. "Friend." Xander turned back around and knelt down with Buffy taking both girls back in a fierce embrace.

-----

So, there you have it, Ranma. I go squick at any thought about doing something with the only girl I've ever loved and am completely in love with. I can see the same pain in her eyes now that I see in my often enough; the pain of dusting the thing that took over a loved one's corpse, and that's no small pain, which helped put there. A best friend that's in love with me, and I'm developing confusing feelings for, making me half-feel like I'm cheating on the girl that has me go 'squick' and the same best friend who's learning magic from the young woman Buffy's decided to banish. Learning to CONTROL magic, to be exact, so she'd never again turn into the all-magic puppet she'd been recently under Deo's manipulations. Willow can't give that up, learning control, guaranteed that's going to come crashing down upon us soon as well.

In summation, Ranma, welcome to my life on the Hellmouth. You were saying?

Xander.

PS: Write me soon., preferably with some uplifting stuff.

Author's notes:

Few, done! Just before my vacation in a day. This was one powerful ending, and hopefully a funny lead in. As always: give me feedback.