Louvil: Big battle in the next update.

Disclaimer: I wish I had created Buffy. Alas, Joss Whedon beat me to it.

X X X X X

"Angel," Tara said. "He, he wished you would come here."

"He couldn't've made a phone call?" the black man grumbled. "And I'm not sure I'm just gonna trust you on that one."

"One of you is Gunn and one of you is the Groosalugg," Anya said.

"I am the Groosalugg," Conan said. "For what purpose have you brought us here?"

Mr. Giles explained what was going on. After he was done, the Groosalugg shook Mr. Giles' hand – Ouch. From the look on Mr. Giles' face, the Groosalugg must be really strong – "I would be pleased to join your fight. Fighting in defense of a fallen comrade is one of the most important things a warrior must do."

Gunn seemed a bit more dubious, even after Anya explained where Angel and Cordelia were. "I'll believe you for the moment," he said. "And I'm always up for kicking some demon ass." Then he looked around. "Anyone here have a phone? I'd like to call my girlfriend to make sure she ain't freaking out by my sudden disappearance."

Xander said, "There's one down the hall," and tossed him a couple of quarters. Gunn nodded and walked in the direction Xander pointed.

Dawn went back to look through the window. "They're done," she said.

"That, that means a doctor should be with us shortly," Tara said.

"I do not know your friend," the Groosalugg said. "But my princess has told me about her many glorious battles. I very much hope she lives to fight another day. And," he said, "I am sorry about the comrade you have lost today." I appreciated what he was saying. His attitude wasn't pomposity; this was who he genuinely was.

"Your princess?" Xander asked.

"Yes. The fair Cordelia and I are -- what is the term used in this dimension? Ah. Dating."

"Treat her right," Xander said seriously.

"I will," was the Groosalugg's reply.

Tara moved near Anya. "Anya," she said. "I, I wanted to thank you for everything you've done today."

"They're my friends too," Anya said. "And everyone else is helping. And I wanted to do something too."

Yes, but not everyone else is a vengeance demon with, from all accounts, a cranky boss, Anya.

"But I know you're bending the rules to do it," Tara said. "I'm not a scorned woman and, and Angel certainly isn't."

"That's why I'm being careful to make sure all of your wishes have something to do with vengeance on Warren," Anya said. "And you have to take a vengeance on him now. Or I could get in a lot of trouble with D'Hoffryn."

Oh, I'm going to take a vengeance on him, alright. It might not be the kind of vengeance you prefer to dish out, but it's going to be a vengeance. It will be worthy of the life of the amazing woman whose life he took -- and the life of the one he nearly ended.

"I plan to," Tara said.

"Good."

Gunn walked back down the hall and said to the Groosalugg, "Fred and Lorne now know where we are." Then he looked at the rest of them. "I'm in -- but I don't appreciate being shanghaied. Next time, I'd like a little warning."

"Blame Angel," Anya said. "He's the one who made the wish that brought you here."

"Yeah, but you're the one who did it." Once again talking to the Groosalugg, he said, "You got any extra weapons?"

"Alas, friend Charles, I do not."

"Terrific." He nodded to everyone else. "You all will excuse me a second, I'm going to see if I can find something stronger than my fists to hit these guys with."

"I have to go, too," Anya said. "I want to see how close they are. When they're less than two minutes away, I'll come back." She walked into the women's room, where Tara assumed she teleported out.

A doctor came down the hallway. "Miss Summers? I'm Dr. Leonards. I have news on your sister's condition."

Dawn went over, followed by Giles, Xander and Tara. The Groosalugg hung back. "I'm Dawn Summers."

Dr. Leonards looked at the rest of them and said, "And you?"

Tara said, "We're family."

I almost collapsed in relief when the doctor delivered his report. Buffy had lost quite a bit of blood, and the bullet had nicked an artery, but she was going to live. She'd be a while in recovery, though, even with her

Thank you, Goddess. And Willow, thank you too, sweetie.

I love you.

X X X X X

Warren had to stop the march three times, twice because one of the vampires darted off after victims -- the victims got away both times -- and once because he told everyone to turn left and half of them turned right.

"I think I'm smarter than all the rest of these demons put together," Angel muttered to Cordelia.

"I think Harmony is smarter than the rest of these demons put together," Cordelia said.

"At the rate we're going we'll be lucky if we get to the hospital by sunrise."

"You know what I'm thinking?" Cordelia said. "I think whoever set this up stuck Warren with the morons of the Sunnydale underworld."

"I tend to agree," Angel said. "I just wish this gave us something of a tactical advantage, Unfortunately, while Warren is a murdering sociopath, he's not stupid. He'll figure it out if I try to get these people lost -- even one at a time."

"If we wait until we get close," Cordelia said, "We might be able to kill a couple of them before anyone notices."

Anya popped in right next to them. "Gunn and the Groosalugg are waiting. Gunn was annoyed by a lot of things. The Groosalugg was eager for combat."

"He's always eager for combat," Angel said. "How's Buffy?"

"The surgery was over and she was still alive when I left," Anya said.

"That's a good sign," Angel said.

"There's still no guarantees," Anya said. Then, after a second, "But, yes. Good sign."

Warren -- and they could tell the difference between him and the robot because the robot was wearing different clothing -- came over and said to Anya, "You can teleport?"

"I can't take anyone with me," Anya said almost automatically.

"This is still good," Warren said. "This is very good. You can … scout ahead. See what the Slayer's condition is. And if they know we're coming." He nodded his head. "Yeah. You go do that."

"Where is she?" Anya said.

"Sunnydale General. The Slayer's probably in the ER."

"I'll let you know what I find." Anya teleported away.

Angel and Cordelia kept pace with the horde and waited for their chance.