Disclaimers: All the characters in this story belong to Joss Whedon.

Chapter 19: The Harvest

The alley. Buffy looked around, trying to decide what to do. She lifted her skirt a bit and started to walk. She turned around to look behind her and took a few steps backward. When she turned back around Larry, who had turned into a pirate, startled her. He smiled widely at her, showing his rotten teeth.

"Pretty, pretty!"

Buffy tried to run away, and Larry gave chase.

Ethan's Costume Shop. Giles looked around as he and Willow came in.

"Hello! Anyone home?"

Willow saw the curtain to the back room partially open.

"Giles...," she warned.

They slowly went in and saw the statue of Janus there. Its eyes glowed green.

"Janus. Roman mythical god," Giles said as he studied the statue closer.

"What does this mean?"

"Primarily the division of self. Male and female, light and dark," he explained.

Ethan appeared out of the shadows.

"Chunky and creamy. Oh, no, sorry, that's peanut butter," Ethan chuckled.

Giles stared at Ethan as though he'd seen a ghost.

"Willow, get out of here, now," he ordered her.

"But..." "Now!" he barked, causing her to jump

She obeyed him and left.

"Hello, Ethan,"

"Hello, Ripper,"

Buffy backed away from Larry. She turned to run, but tripped and fell. Her gown billowed out around her. Larry grabbed her as she tried to get up and shoved her against a crate. He pushed her hair away from her frightened face and moved in to kiss her. Xander came running and tackled Larry down to the pavement. He got up and pulled Larry up and into a metal warehouse door. He punched him in the face and gut. Larry pushed him off and into the opposite alley wall and punched him back in the gut. Xander grabbed Larry's arm and pulled it behind his back, forcing him to bend over, and kneed him in the stomach. Cordelia arrived behind Buffy with Spike.

"Buffy! Are you okay?" Spike asked the slayer, running his eyes over her in concern.

Buffy saw Spike and nodded slowly. Larry attacked Xander with his pirate's sword. Xander sidestepped him, grabbed him by the wrist and twisted his arm around, making him drop the sword. He lifted Larry back up and punched him, sending him sprawling into a pile of trash. Spike headed over to Xander fighting Larry. Xander punched Larry, sending him into the pile of trash and a stack of boxes again. Several boxes fell off of the top and onto Larry. He was knocked out cold. Xander turned to look at a shocked and bewildered Spike.

"It's strange, but beating up that pirate gave me a weird sense of closure,"

Willow came running down the alley from the other end.

"Guys!" she shouted

"Red!" Spike shouted back at her.

"Guys, you gotta get inside," She looked back and they see Jonus and his monster gang coming.

"We need a triage!" Xander suggested

Spike pointed the other way.

"This way! Find an open warehouse,"

Xander turned and picked up his rifle.

"Ladies, we're on the move!" He quickly headed down the alley.

Cordelia and Willow followed him. Spike lifted Buffy and carried her away.

Jonus and the monsters walked after them at a quick, deliberate pace. Ethan and Giles were circling and staring each other down. "What? No hug? Aren't you pleased to see your old mate, Rupert?"

"I'm just surprised I didn't guess it was you. This Halloween stunt stinks of Ethan Rayne," the watcher pointed out.

"Yes, it does, doesn't it? Don't wish to blow my own trumpet, but it's genius. The very embodiment of 'be careful what you wish for'," Ethan bragged.

Giles scoffed at him.

"It's sick, brutal, and it harms the innocent,"

"Oh, and we all know that you are the champion of innocents and all things pure and good, Rupert. It's quite a little act you've got going here, old man,"

"It's no act. It's who I am,"

"Who you are? The Watcher, sniveling, tweed-clad guardian of the Slayer and her kin? I think not. I know who you are, Rupert, and I know what you're capable of. (considers) But they don't, do they? They have no idea where you come from," Ethan snicker once more

"Break the spell, Ethan. Then leave this place and never come back," he warned his old friend

"Why should I? What's in the bargain for me?"

"You get to live,"

"Oh, Rupert, you're scaring me," he mocked him.

Giles punched him in the gut with a left, making him double over, and followed up with a right to the face.

Spike had gotten ahead of the others and found an open warehouse.

"Over here!" he rushed in, Buffy in his arms.

Xander pushed the door aside, and they all hurried in.

"Check if there are any other ways in!"

He slid the door closed again as Spike set Buffy back down on her feet next to Cordelia.

"Just stay here,"

The monsters arrived and started pounding on the door from outside. Xander picked up a large grate and set it in front of the door on top of some barrels he already moved into place. Buffy was holding on tightly to Cordelia.

"Oh, faboo, more clinging," she huffed

Xander picked up another grate and set it behind the first one as the monsters got the door open. They pounded against it as he tried to hold it in place.

"GOOOOO!" Xander screamed

They all started running again, and Xander followed when he can no longer hold the grating against the monsters. The grates fell to the floor as two monsters came in and push the barrels aside.Jonus followed them in and looked around. He lead the monsters off after them.

Ethan was on the floor, severely beaten up.

"And you said the Ripper was long gone," he managed to chuckle out

"Tell me how to stop the spell,"

"Say 'pretty please'" he mocked the watcher again

Giles kicked him hard in the kidney, and he yelled out in pain.

Jonus had caught up with them, and the monsters held Xander and Spike. He slowly closed in on Buffy as she backed away, trembling.

"Look at you. Shaking. Terrified. Alone. Lost little lamb,"

Buffy had backed up against a crate and can't go any further. He slapped her across the face with the back of his hand.

"I love it," Jonus admitted

Spike struggled with the two monsters that held him.

"Buffy!" he shouted out to her.

Jonus put his left hand around her throat and bent her backward onto the crate. He stroked her forehead with his right hand. Xander struggled with his two captors. He grabbed Buffy's hair and closed in for the bite.

Giles kicked him again. "Now, tell me how to stop the spell," he asked him one last time.

"Janus. Break its statue," Ethan choked out.

Giles grabbed the statue and lifted it over his head to smash it.

Xander got free of the monsters and punched one in the face, the other in the gut, and then shoved the second monster into the first. Jonus closed in on Buffy. Xander turned his attention to Jonus.

"Now that guy you can shoot," Willow informed Xander

Xander grabbed his M-16.

Giles threw the statue hard to the floor, smashing it into tiny pieces. Xander shouldered his toy rifle.

"What the..."

The monsters had all turned back into children and student escorts. The kids were frightened, and began to cry and complain.

"I'm scared! I want my mommy!"

Jonus looked back at them and straightened up. He pulled on Buffy's hair to pull her up and found he just had a wig in his hands. He looked at Buffy. She got up off of the crate and smiled at him.

"Hi, honey. I'm home,"

She punched him in the gut, twice in the face, and kicked him in the chest, making him stagger back into a set of mobile stairs. He grabbed a length of pipe that's leaning there and swung it at her. She caught the end of it and pulled him around and into the crate he had her against. She used the pipe like a quarterstaff and swung it into his jaw and jabbed him in the stomach. He doubled over in pain.

"You know what? It's good to be me,"

She brought the pipe up into his chin from underneath. He flew back onto the crate, then slid off onto the floor.

Giles looked behind him and saw that Ethan had gone.

Buffy was through fighting. Jonus got up and growled at her, then made a hasty retreat. Buffy dropped the pipe and turned to the others. Xander came over to her.

"Hey, Buff. Welcome back,"

"Yeah! You, too,"

Cordelia stared at the group.

"You guys remember what happened?" she piped

"It was way creepy. It's like I was there, but I couldn't get out," he relayed how it felt.

"Yeah, I know the feeling. This outfit's totally skintight,"

Now everyone was staring at her. She looked up at Spike as he came over to Buffy.

Spike saw Buffy, now back to her normal blonde self. He smiled at her.

"Tada. Just little old 20th-century me," she twirled around in her dress.

"Sure you're okay?" he narrowed his eyes on her.

"I'll live, all that is to do now is stop the harvest and save Mike,"

He put his arm around her shoulders, in a friendly way and led her away. Cordelia and Xander were left with the children. The cat woman folded her arms and sighed.

"Well, (indicates the kids) I guess you better get them back to their parents,"

Xander looked around.

"Yeah, everybody seems to... Where's Willow?"

At the house where Willow collapsed. She woke and got up, pulling the ghost sheet off. She was a bit out of breath. She realized how she's dressed and started to put the sheet back on, but thought better of it and threw it into a trash can as she walked off the porch. Oz was sat in his van and when she walked past all he could do was stare. Mouth hung open.

"Wow,"

Everyone, except Cordelia, who had gone to the bronze had gone to the library. They had to find Mike and fast. Buffy turned to Giles.

"So, Giles! Got anything that can make this day any worse?" she questioned

He went over to the whiteboard and put down his pen.

"How about the end of the world?" he suggested.

"Knew I could count on you,"

"This is what we know. Some sixty years ago, a very old, very powerful vampire came to this shore, not just to feed," the watcher began to explain to the group.

"He came 'cause this town's a mystical who's it," the slayer sighed

"Yes. The Spanish who first settled here called it 'Boca del Infierno'. Roughly translated, 'Hellmouth'. It's a sort of, um, portal between this reality and the next. This vampire hopes to open it,"

"Bring the demons back," Spike added.

"End of the world," Xander added.

Willow: But he blew it! Or, I mean, there was an earthquake that
swallowed half the town, and him, too.

"You see, opening dimensional portals is a tricky business. Odds are he got himself stuck, rather like a, uh, cork in a bottle," Giles tried to create a word picture for the scoobies.

"And this Harvest thing is to get him bloody well out,"

"It comes once in a century, on this night. The Master can draw power from one of his minions while it feeds. Enough power to break free and open the portal. The minion is called the Vessel, and he bears this symbol,"

He drew a three-pointed star on the whiteboard.

"So, I dust anyone sporting that symbol, and no Harvest,"

"Simply put, yes,"

"Any idea where this little get-together is being held?" she queried the group.

"They're goin' to the Bronze," Spike simply said

Willow looked at him, questioningly.
"Are you sure?"

"Come on. All those tasty young morsels all over the place? Anyway, that's where Mike's gonna be, trust me,"

Giles grabbed his coat and started out of the library. The others began to follow.

Outside the Bronze. The vampires began to head in. A doorman looked up at them.

"Need ID. Hey! Nobody gets inside until I get some sorta...,"

Lucus growled in the doorman's face.

"Get inside," he ordered

Inside the bronze. The vampires came in, pushing the doorman in with them. The last one shut the door and stood guard.

Lyrics: How are you feelin'/ Do you feel okay/ 'Cause I don't!

One of the vampires made his way to the upper level. Another one found
the main power switch and shut it off. The people started complaining and
wondering what happened. Lucus got up on the stage.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! There is no cause for alarm. Actually, there is cause for alarm. It just won't do any good," he grinned.

There were screams from the crowd as they saw Lucus' face. He laughed.

"I thought there wasn't any band tonight,"

Cordelia looked at Mike next to her. He had got his game face on, and she
inhaled in fright.

"This is a glorious night! It is also the last one any of you shall ever see. Bring me the first," Lucus barked his order

A vampire brought the doorman to him.

"What do you guys want, man, huh? You want money? Man, what's wrong with your faces?"

Luke grabbed him by the throat. He wrapped his other arm around the doorman's head.

"Watch me, people. Fear is like an elixir. It's almost like blood,"

He bit the doorman and fed on him. The doorman screamed. The Master in his lair. He raised his head as he felt the first of the souls that will be taken for him. Lucus dropped the doorman's body.

"Next!"

Outside. The team arrived running. Buffy tried the door.

"It's locked!"

"We're too late!" the watcher panicked

Spike looked at the locked door, then he looked at the slayer.

"Can you break it down?" he asked her

"No, not that thing. Um... You guys try the back entrance, and I'll find my own way,"

"Right. Come on,"

Buffy tossed her weapons bag to Willow

"You get the exit cleared and the people out. That's all! Don't go Wild Bunch on me," she frowned as she went off

"Uh, see you inside, then,"

Giles, Spike, Xander and Willow ran around to the back. Willow tried the door. It was locked, too.

"No joy!"

"We've gotta get in there before they kill Mike," the bleached blonde said.

Mike was like a brother to him and the last thing he wanted was to find him dead.

Back to the Master, he was testing his confines. Back to Lucus, feeding on a girl.

"Almost free!" the master shouted, happily.

Back to Lucus, who was still feeding on the girl.

He had finished with the girl and dropped her body. Jonus and Mike. He wanted to take Cordelia to Lucus

"This one's mine!" Mike barked

"They're all for the Master,"

Jonus pulled on Cordelia. Mike let go of her.

"I don't get one?" Mike whined

Buffy was breaking an upper window and was crawling in.

"I feel the Master's strength growing!"

Buffy saw Lucus on the stage.

"I feel him rising. Every soul brings him closer! I need another!"

"The Vessel," she whispered to herself.

The vampire on the upper level saw Buffy and growled. She looked over at
him.

"Tonight is his ascension. Tonight will be history at its end! Yours is a glorious sacrifice! Degradation most holy. (no one in the crowd stirs) What? No volunteers?!" Lucus shouted at the crowd.

Jonus brought him Cordelia.

"Here's a pretty one," he cackled

Cordelia screamed when she saw him up close. He caressed her face. He was about to bite her when Buffy kicked the vampire down from above them.
Lucus watched him land with a thud. Buffy approached the railing.

"Oh, I'm sorry, were you in the middle of something?" she tilted her head to one side.

"You!"

"You didn't think I'd miss this. Did you?"

"I hoped you'd come,"

"Be right down!"

She stepped away from the railing and executed a round off to get down. She landed on a pool table. A vampire attacked from her right. Buffy did a front walkover off of the table, grabbing a pool cue on the way. When she landed she thrusted it into her attacker and let go. He began to fall and burst into ashes. Buffy crossed her arms over her chest and looked the vessel up and down.

"Okay, Vessel boy. You want blood?"

She showed off her neck a little bit.

"I want yours! (releases Cordelia) Only yours!"

She shrugged.

"Works for me,"

She ran and cartwheeled up onto the stage, and immediately launched into a full spinning hook kick. Lucus staggered into a pile of chairs. Buffy assumed a fighting position. Lucus got up and growled. He came at her and swung, but she ducked the punch and came up behind him. He tried a backhand punch, but she blocked him, held onto his arm and gave him three roundhouse kicks to his stomach before he shook loose. She took her stake and lunged at him. He blocked the lunge, knocking the stake from her grip. He lifted her up and threw her into a pile of boxes.

At the back of the Bronze. Giles, Spike, Willow and Xander had broken in.

"Hurry!" the watcher shouted

Xander ran in to see what was going on. He saw Buffy was down. She got up, so Xander turned his attention to the crowd.

"C'mon! Let's go! C'mon! C'mon! C'mon! C'mon!" he whispered

Giles guided the people to the back door.

"(whispers) Hurry up! Come on! Through this door! Come on! This way!"

The main room. Buffy spun around and landed a backhand punch on Lucus' face, knocking him into another pile of stuff. He was dazed. She turned to see a vampire grab Xander. She grabbed a cymbal from a drum set and threw it at the vampire like a Frisbee. Xander saw it coming and ducked. The cymbal decapitated the vampire.

"Head's up!" he laughed

Buffy couldn't resist a chuckle. Lucus grabbed her from behind. Cordelia was on the floor with Mike above her. She struggled and he grabbed her arms.

"Hold still! You're not making this easy!"

Spike came up behind him, stake in his pocket.

"Mike, man!"

Mike turned to look up at Spike showing his game face. Spike was taken aback a bit. His friend had been turned and now he knew what he had to do.

"Buddy!" Mike greeted him

Buffy was being held tightly from behind by Lucus.

"I always wanted to kill a Slayer!" he growled into her ear.

At the back where Giles and Willow were still guiding people out.

"One at a time! Quickly! Quickly!"

He crossed to the other side of the room in front of some stairs. Jonus was standing on the steps above him.

"We're going to have to open the front as well!" Willow informed the watcher

Jonus lept onto him from behind, knocking him to the floor.

"Mike! I know there's still a part of you in there...please (takes the stake out of his pocket) Don't make me do it,"

Mike jumped up to face him.

"Okay... Let's deal with this. Mike was an excruciating loser who couldn't get a date with anyone in the sighted community! Look at me. I'm a new man!" he showed himself off.

Buffy and Lucus.

"Master! Taste of this... and be free!"

He roared and moved in to bite Buffy. She sensed his proximity and snapped her head back to land a headbutt on his face, knocking him off of her and back to the wall. She turned to him, winded.

"How'd it taste?"

Back to Giles and Jonus struggling on the floor. Willow approached them
while taking out a jar of holy water.

"Get off of him!" she shouted

Jonus was distracted and looked up. Willow threw the holy water at him. It burnt her face and steamed. He got up and ran from the club, screaming. Mike grabbed Spike by the jacket and lifted him around against a wall. Spike had the stake pointed at Mike's chest.

"Ooo! Alright. Put me out of my misery. You don't have the guts, never have and never will and you know it, don't cha...William" he insulted his friend

A fleeing patron bumped into Mike, impaling him on the stake. Spike let go of the stake, and Mike began to fall. He turned to ashes before he even hit the floor. Two vampires grabbed Spike. Buffy grabbed a microphone stand and held it like a javelin.

"You forget, metal can't hurt me," he reminded the slayer.

"There's something you forgot about, too. Sunrise!"

She threw the stand at the window behind Lucus. He ducked, and it broke the window behind him. A bright light poured in through it. Buffy spied the stake she dropped on the stage and picked it up. He got up and shielded his face with his hands, expecting to be urned. He stopped when he realized it's only a bright lamp. Buffy lunged at him from behind and jammed the stake home.

"It's in about nine hours, moron!"

He began to stagger off of the stage. The master was testing the strength of his confines. Lucus continued to stagger, fell from the stage and burst into ash. The master felt Lucus' death and fell to his knees.

"Noooooooo! Noooooooo!" he screamed.

Sunnydale High the next morning. Everything appeared normal. Buffy walked along and overheard Cordelia talking to a friend.

"Well, I heard it was rival gangs. You know, fighting for turf? But all I can tell you is they were an ugly way of looking. And Buffy, like, knew them! Which is just too weird. I mean, I don't even remember that much, but I'm telling you, it was a freak show!"

"Oh, I wish I'd been there!" the girl replied

"You should have been there. It was so creepy...,"

She and her friend walkws off. Buffy met Xander.

"What exactly were you expecting?"

"I don't know, something. I mean, the dead rose. We should at least have an assembly" he was referring to Mike's death

They ran into Giles and Willow, and the four of them continued to walk. No Spike. The slayer was worried about him. Mike's death fell pretty hard on him. After the harvest was over he said nothing, to no one and just walked home.

"People have a tendency to rationalize what they can and forget what they can't," Giles explained.

"Believe me, I've seen it happen,"

"Well, I for one will never forget it, none of it," Willow stated

"Good! Next time you'll be prepared,"

The trio looked at the middle aged man, wide-eyed.

"Next time?" Buffy said

"Next time is why?" Xander squeaked out.

"We've prevented the Master from freeing himself and opening the Mouth of Hell. That's not to say he's going to stop trying. I'd say the fun is just beginning," he explained with a slight grin.

"More vampires?" the red-head piped out

They stopped walking.

"Not just vampires. The next threat we face may be something quite different,"

"I can hardly wait!" Buffy stated. Voice dripping with sarcasm.

"We're at the center of a mystical convergence here. We may, in fact, stand between the Earth and its total destruction,"

The three students continued to class. Giles stayed behind and watched them go. He heard them discussing, jokingly getting kicked out of school. He rolled his eyes. Giles turned to go back to his library.

"The Earth is doomed!"

The trio were just on their way inside when Buffy spotted Spike sitting at the fountain. She said her goodbyes and made her way over to him. Willow and Xander looked at her oddly. Spike was tossing coins into the water and then fishing them back out. She sat down next to him and bowed her head to look at her knees.

"I'm sorry about Mike...if there was something I could've done I would of done it..."

He turned to her, sad looking. The poor boy never saw any happiness these days.

"You couldn't of so don't blame yourself pet...(sighs) it's so weird him not being here..."

"I know," her voice was but a whisper

They sat in silence for a few minutes until the bell rang. Both of the teens stood up and faced each other. She pursed her lips.

"If you need anything at all you know where I am," she placed a hand on his arm and smiled.

He looked down at where her hand was, looked up at her and smiled. She smiled back and started to walk away. Spike shouted her.

"Buffy..."

She turned to face him.

"Yea?"

"I liked your costume,"

Buffy giggled a little bit, smiled and walked away. He stood there and watched her go. When she had gone he ran to class. He wondered what was happening to him, when and why he had begun to see Buffy in a different light.

What do you think guys? Thanks for the reviews so far and keep it up! I won't be able to update for a couple of days :(