Chapter Two: Blood Metal

August 29, 1998

The wide street was empty that early in the morning, and if anybody had bothered looking out the front windows of their nice suburban homes, they would have only seen a fairly average looking person walking his dog down the street. That was the point of it after all.

Xander had donned an easy disguise, perfect in its blandness. It was still August, so the sun was already up with no clouds to block it. It gave him the perfect excuse to put on a baseball cap with a wide brim and a pair of sunglasses. He wasn't all that recognizable from a distance, and as long as he didn't draw attention to himself, nobody would take a second glance at him. Not enough for anybody to be able to describe him in detail.

It was good that the dog was well-behaved. Not prone to running wild and pulling at his leash, the little dog was content to keep a steady pace as it looked around at lawns and home gardens that fronted the tract houses that they walked by. It was less conspicuous that way too.

Despite the approaching autumn, most of the trees were still green with leaves, the lawns well-watered and manicured and full of life. The sidewalks were clear, any fallen leaves quickly raked and bagged for removal by the garbage men. It was a symbol of suburbia, the sameness of it all had been boring in his youth. Now, he couldn't have wished but for a place like this to grow up and grow old in, none the wiser to the threats that were all around them, whether natural, supernatural, or of their own creation. At the very least, Earl would likely live the rest of his days without knowing the horrors of Skynet and Judgment Day. Again.

Coming to a stop in front of a low-growing tree, Xander looked across the street at the front of one particular home that looked just like the others, save for a slightly different shade of paint and a sign for a security company amidst a few bushes that needed to be trimmed. He bent down and wrapped the dog's leash around a branch that was growing nearer to the ground than most, and took a few steps back, pulling a camera from the pocket of his jacket.

Crouching down, Xander snapped a couple of pictures of the dog as it looked at him quizzically, wondering what the mechanical device was. Xander continued to take pictures, angling it further upwards to catch the house. He made sure to zoom in as much as he could, capturing an image of the security sign as well as what he could see through the windows.

The garage door to the house opened with a rumble, causing Xander to slide a few steps over and around the tree, making sure that he was as hidden as possible from the inhabitants of the house across the street. He made sure to glance behind him as well to ensure that there was nobody checking on the side he was closest to as well. Bringing up the camera again, Xander scanned the now open garage with the viewfinder, taking what pictures he could. From the looks of it, Frakes had a late model Ford Taurus, which Xander took a picture of so that he could get the license plate.

More than that, the man had a son, at least 16, who was now pulling out of the driveway in a Mustang that looked to be pretty new. Xander took a couple of pictures of that too, getting a few good shots of the son as well as the Mustang's license plate. He couldn't place the boy offhand, though it wasn't like he knew everybody at a school he hadn't been to in years. Besides, he wasn't exactly sure about where the district zoning ended, and Joseph Frakes' son could go to Fondren.

Satisfied that he had gotten as much information as he could, Xander reached up and untied the dog's leash, walking further down the street once more as if he was just taking his dog for a walk. Even the small terrier seemed none the wiser, happily padding down the sidewalk, tongue lolling out of the side of its mouth as it walked around the sidewalk excitedly. Xander look down at the dog, smiling briefly. It was certainly much different than the majority of dogs they had around in the tunnels and bunkers they lived in.

Sighing, Xander scanned the neighborhood as well. From the cars to the people that were just now leaving for work and school, it was as if the small community was just coming to life. In many of those homes were likely computers, an increasing number would have Internet connections and they would simply get faster and more powerful as the years went on. None of them would realize just where all of the technology would lead.

It wasn't that technology was inherently evil, but Xander had quickly learned just how easily it could be misused, especially by itself. Despite the green grass and vibrant trees and bushes, this street would undoubtedly be hit in the coming war. In less than fifteen years, the missiles would fly and much of the surrounding cities around Los Angeles would be hit with nukes. That was followed up by chemical and biological weapons strikes once Skynet had determined where large numbers of demons were coming from.

In a way, they'd have it lucky. Most of them would die in the initial strikes, either seeing a bright flash and dying in wonderment as to what it was, or choking to death as their guts and lungs turned to liquid. The living had it worse, a long and lingering death as the machines beat them down into submission, never knowing anything but implacable extermination from the machines. It wasn't even that the enemy hated them; it was simply that they were too much of a threat to keep around.

In a way, he couldn't really blame Skynet. They had started the war after all.

Shaking off the melancholy feeling, Xander started to walk faster, the little dog beating its short legs more quickly in order to keep up. It barked once as it jogged along, Xander glancing down at it again. He'd have to come up with a name for the terrier one of these days. That would be the normal suburban thing to do.

xxx

December 29, 2022

The road was mostly clear at this point. He had passed through a couple of the larger neighboring cities an hour or so ago, and though they hadn't been nuked in the initial attack, they had been hit with more conventional weapons as the machines built up its forces and started to expand throughout the world. The benefit of living in a non-strategic area he supposed.

Burbank, Thousand Oaks, Oxnard. There was nothing left except the remains of what humanity had laid down. The humans had perished, their remains still dotting the skeletal remnants of buildings and houses. Those that had managed to survive the oncoming storm had all run, most to be caught by Skynet hunting parties or by raiders that turned on their fellow men. Even after the humans had revolted and started to strike back against the machines, there were still those that did not join up. Preferring to prey upon whatever they could they stole from whatever hidden communities existed, caring about only their own survival.

Xander stopped the jeep, the car skidding to a stop in front of a rusted out sign. The letters were mostly gone, but a few could still be seen. He didn't need it though; he knew exactly what it used to say. "Welcome to Sunnydale."

Barnes ignored the comment, as Xander drove forward again. He took off his hat and scratched his bald head before replacing it. It was only a few minutes longer, the short time a symptom of how small a town it used to be. Made even smaller by the devastation that had been wrought there by the machines.

Nothing was alive as far as he could tell. The bits of tree and bush that still existed were all brown and withered. Not just from the lack of water, but also from the chemical weapons that had been used in the area. Looking down, Barnes made sure that their NBC sensor still declared that it was clean. They had suits and gasmasks, but those were too bulky to fight effectively in. Especially against things that could easily move faster than them.

The jeep stopped again, this time in front of a large blackened ruin. From the look of the pit, it had been the center of more than one Skynet strafing or bombing run. The buildings that had once stood on the area had all but disappeared, only bits of the gymnasium and main building's foundations and outer walls still standing. In some areas, there was even some of the second story still attached to the load bearing portions of the walls. Although, most of the school had been burned out, as if to burn out an infection.

"This it?" Barnes turned his head to gaze at their destination. He didn't know exactly what to expect, but Connor had ordered him to accompany Xander on some classified operation. One that required them to venture relatively far from their base of operations, crossing hours of Skynet-controlled territory. And they had had to do it during the day.

Xander edged the car to the left, pulling it closer to the edge of the giant hole. He made sure that the vehicle wouldn't be easily seen from above, in case any roving HK's decided to take a potshot at the jeep and destroy their way back. "Were you expecting something grander? Where else would you think the mouth of Hell would be?"

"Not a school," Barnes replied, unbuckling his seatbelt. He slung the shotgun that he had been holding over his shoulder and walked to the rear of the jeep. He pulled a couple of duffle bags out and placed them on the ground, nudging them to the left with his foot as Xander came around. Rooting around inside the bed of the jeep, he took out another weapon as well.

"Yeah, well, it turned out to be oddly appropriate." Crouching down, Xander unzipped one of the duffle bags and pulled out a belt. He strapped it around his waist, adjusting it so that the stakes that had been attached were easy to access. He doubted there would be any vampires, given that there were no humans to prey on, but he couldn't be too careful. A couple of other esoteric instruments were there as well. After all, he wasn't exactly sure what he would find down there. "You want a stake?"

Barnes held up a large drum-fed shotgun and shook his head. "I'll trust in this, thanks."

"Yeah well, remember to aim for the knees or the head if it's a vampire," Xander instructed, though he doubted it was necessary. He transferred some of the tools and a bundle of rope into one of the bags, looping a pair of night vision goggles on his head as well. Barnes had already put on his and they were resting on his forehead.

Xander pulled out a cut-down assault rifle, attaching it to a sling that lay across his chest. He slung the duffle bag over his shoulder and walked towards the front of the jeep. Detaching the hook from the winch that was attached to the frame and unlocking the spindle, Xander dragged it to the edge of the pit and look down into it. He couldn't see to the bottom, despite the sun almost being overhead.

Barnes stepped forward as well, reaching into one of the side pockets on his pants and pulling out a couple of glowsticks. He cracked the plastic tubes against his leg and shook the sticks, the chemical reaction within throwing off green light. Tossing them down into the pit, Barnes watched as they fell their way to the bottom. It was deep.

They had tried to the same in Los Angeles, but the demons around there didn't have the highest opinion of humans. Raiders and machines had given them more than a justified reason to mistrust humans, and their previous attempts had gotten Barrera killed. Or maybe it was that those not living in Los Angeles might not have it as bad and therefore have more to lose. Either way, they were trying again.

Xander dropped the cable, watching it descend rapidly into the hole. He thought he saw movement in the green-cast shadows, but he couldn't really tell. Making sure that he had the remote for the winch, Xander clipped onto the cable and started down into the pit, Barnes descending after him.

It wasn't too long before they hit bottom, Xander detaching first and sweeping the area with his weapon. There were some remnants of life at the bottom, scraps of clothes and the discarded remains of canned food littering the area.

Bending down, Xander nudged one of the empty cans, noticing the layer of rust. It had been there for quite some time. There still could be some left, or they could just have moved on. Looking around, he tried to figure out which way to go. There were a couple of different choices, as the bottom of the pit seemed to be a node of some sort where multiple tunnels ended or began. Demons could use it as a way up as well as a way to escape the machines if they were being tracked.

He hadn't known about the cave network when he had lived in Sunnydale, though it surely would have been helpful now. As it was, they had to do things the hard way.

xxx

August 29, 1998

"Agincourt Systems is a subsidiary of the Kaliba Group," Burke said, watching as Xander started to arrange the equipment that he had purchased that afternoon. It hadn't been easy for the human to pick everything up, though the cash that they had allowed them to get what they needed with a minimum of questions. "I'm not seeing any links to Calax, Cyberdyne, or CRS. They probably just do home security and the like; I'm looking up where their local office is."

"See if you can find anything on their security processes too. If we break into his house, we need to know how long before we can expect a response." Xander picked up a set of night vision goggles, activating them and checking the battery life. They already had some of it on hand, but Boykins had given them mostly generic equipment. Breaking and entering required a number of other skills and devices. He'd had to go into Los Angeles to get some of it, and he had known where to go. It was another of the benefits of the future.

Judgment Day had made all men equal, and there were not an insignificant few that were into less than legal things in their prior lives. They either knew people in the past or where various lines of business that would be of help now would be located. Of course, he couldn't let on that he knew some of them in the future. But, it let him get into the right doors at least.

"It's on the list," Burke said, as he wrote down the address to the closest office for Agincourt. He switched the computer off after he had done so, turning to his own equipment. He had already packed everything he would need into a backpack, though there wasn't much. It was simply supposed to be a recon mission to scout out some of the security measures that Calax had as well as where they might be able to find some holes.

Xander put his goggles back into their case, placing it into a black duffle bag and zipping it up. He placed the rest of the equipment into different pockets, double-checking to make sure that he had everything he needed. It was mostly electronics and tools that would allow them to break into locks, though he didn't imagine that he'd need much of it tonight. Then again, it was better to be safe than sorry.

xxx

The terminator sat in front of the computer, tapping on the keyboard quickly as it searched through computer files in various networks across the city. It had detailed information on how to penetrate secured systems, and the computer network of the school districts it was searching through were hardly that well-protected.

It was not extremely fruitful however, as the machine only had a name and a general description and age. There was no photo to match against those taken by the school, and the search had netted more than one possibility. A closer examination would be necessary for the terminator to carry out its primary objective.

The terminator stood up and walked to the bed. Upon it lay a suit that it had purchased earlier that day. The vampire that it had gotten its current clothing had not had that much money, but a few other murders had netted the cyborg enough funds to purchase a computer and the suit, as well as other equipment. Extra hacking had allowed the machine to create a bank account against which to draw funds as well.

It removed the clothes that it was currently wearing quickly, replacing it with the well-fitting suit. It met with current preconceptions of the appearance of federal agents, and so would allow it to impersonate an FBI agent given the appropriate forged identification.

Placing a handgun at the small of its back and making sure that it was secure; the terminator turned around and headed out the door. It would be ready to start its search once it obtained suitable transportation.

xxx

"So, Faith is it?" Giles asked, looking over his glasses at the young woman that was currently sitting on top of one of the tables in the library. He frowned at that, wondering why she could not simply sit in one of the many chairs in the large room. "Is there a reason in particular why you have been called here?"

The brunette Slayer shook her head. "Nope. With my watcher on retreat, I figured that I'd use the chance to see the other Slayer in action."

"Well, it's a good thing that you're here," Willow said, looking up from the newspaper that she had been reading. She picked up the front page and gave it to Giles.

"Yes," Giles said, skimming through the newspaper. His frown deepened as he tried to read between the lines. That the story was below the fold was disappointing, but par for the course for the town. "Two people have disappeared from the Sunset Ridge District. And there have been a few murders that happened in the last couple of days. From the descriptions, it may indicate someone of incredible strength."

"A vampire?" Buffy asked, extending a hand for the newspaper.

Giles shook his head. He lowered the newspaper and gave it to Buffy. "There's no indication that death was brought upon by exsanguination. It seems-"

"Exsang…what?" asked Cordelia, who was wondering why she was still hanging out with the group. Xander had disappeared months ago, and it was unlikely that they would find him any time soon. While she had kept showing up because it was a tie to her boyfriend, it was getting less and less strong every passing day as he stayed gone.

"Blood loss. The victims did not die of blood loss." Giles explained quickly, before turning back to Buffy. "It seems likely that it was a demon of some sort."

"I guess that means I patrol Sunset Ridge," Buffy said, looking up at her Watcher and setting the newspaper on the table.

Giles looked at her, and then glanced over at the other Slayer. "Perhaps you should take Faith with you as well."

"Great patrolling. Together," Buffy said, trying to muster some amount of enthusiasm, but not really achieving it.

She glanced at her watch, and then stood up. "Well, I'm good for patrolling. Late-ish, though. I promised Mom I'd be home for dinner."

Willow looked up at her friend with wide eyes, then nodded her heads towards Faith. She had to do it a couple of times before Buffy got the hint.

Buffy sighed inside and looked at the other Slayer, forcing a smile onto her face. "Um, to which you're also invited, of course, dinner with us."

Faith smirked at her, easily picking up on the apprehension. "Dying to meet the fam. I'm in."

xxx

December 29, 2022

"Where now?" Barnes said, bringing his weapon around as he unclipped himself from the cable. It was a little dangerous, as it meant that they had to leave the cable as it was. A third man could not be afforded to their team, the number of soldiers in defense of their home back in Los Angeles was stretched thin enough as it was. There had been an assault on one of their bunkers in West Hollywood, and most of the soldiers stationed there had been killed.

"This one." Xander pointed the way forward with his rifle, pulling his night vision goggles over his head and activating them in thermal mode as he made his way through the darkness. From the scrape of boot soles on packed dirt and rock, he knew that Barnes was behind him, turning every so often to ensure that nothing was following them.

They walked in silence for what felt like half an hour, the only sound in the tunnels was their laborious journey through the underground rock that was now home to the inhabitants of Sunnydale. There had been humans that had taken sanctuary down there, trying to find shelter and safety from the robotic killing machines on the surface. The bones that were strewn about revealed that there had been no safety to be found down below. Hopefully things would go a little differently this time.

They reached a small grotto, a small stream of water at the far end leading into a little pool near the center of the cavern. Xander scanned around, noticing that the ceiling of the cave was rather high, many stalactites pointing their way down. There were also numerous openings amongst the rock walls all around them, at different levels. In the center, beside the pool of water was a small depression. A pit had been made, and the bones of many had been gathered haphazardly in the center.

Xander stared at it, noticing that the bones were reflecting too much of the minimal cave light that was emitted by the glowing cave worms that hung from the ceilings. It took him a moment to realize what he was looking at one he switched to night vision.

He stepped closer, reaching down with a hand and picking up a heavy skull. It had been smashed, one of the eyes torn from its socket, the other cracked, its red lens dull and unlit. It was the head of a terminator, and from the looks of it one of the old series 90's.

"What is it?" Barnes said, glancing at Xander as he turned around. Hearing distant skittering, he looked at the various openings, trying to figure out which one it came from. He had no idea where it truly originated however.

"Terminators. Parts at least. A lot of them. I don't know if that's a good thing, or a bad thing." Xander put the skull back into the pile, standing up and bringing his gun around as the sound got louder. He moved closer to Barnes, standing back to back to minimize the chance that they would get ambushed. "Hold your fire unless they attack first."

Barnes simply nodded, though he knew that Xander couldn't see.

"Who are you?" a voice boomed out, bouncing off of the granite walls of the cavern and making it impossible to determine where it was coming from.

Xander looked around, trying to pin it down, but he knew that it was impossible. That was getting annoying. "I'm from the Resistance. I'm here looking for you."

"And why would that be?" the voice said, coming closer, though still impossible to peg where it was originating from.

"I come with a message," Xander said, still circling around, pointing his rifle at the darkness. "It needs to be in person. Meet me."

There was only silence, the tension building as the seconds ticked by. It was winter, but he was sweating, partly because of the situation, and partly because it was so hot in the caves. He didn't want to think that it was related to Hell, which should have been physically impossible since it was more of a mystical than a geographic connection. It was probably a geothermal vent or hot spot, but that didn't make him feel any better.

After a minute had passed, Xander heard a series of clanking sounds, as if something hard was rolling his way. Following it, Xander looked down to see a dented metal skull rolling towards him, coming to a stop in front of him, a few wires trailing behind it from the neck.

A light appeared in one of the tunnel entrances, and then another and another. They caused the night vision goggles to flare, Barnes cursing as he removed his.

Xander squinted in the bright light as he pulled his goggles down. He still held onto his rifle though, careful in case it was the prelude to an attack. He saw a large black shape leap from an opening about halfway up the far wall and clamp onto a particularly long stalactite above them. It jumped with blazing speed to a cliff to his left, and then down to the ground next to the pit of terminator parts.

It was a large black demon with thick scales. Large claws tipped powerful-looking hands that appeared strong enough to pull the head off of a terminator, or a human for that matter. From the way that it carried itself, this was probably the leader. The others were still within the tunnels, their presence easily heard now, but not seen.

The demon raised its head, small horns on its forehead, and showing pointed teeth. He looked at the one that had spoken, noticing fear, but also strength. "What do you want?"

"I come with a message," Xander said, lowering his gun. The demon was unarmed, though it wasn't like it needed weapons. Dressed in rags that used to be human clothes, it would seem that the demon had been around there for quite a while. "From John Connor."

"I have heard that name," the demon said, glancing to the man's companion. That one was still holding his weapon on him, wary of his close proximity. To the man's credit, he did not fire. "It means little to me though. Here. What do you want?"

"We're dying. We're all dying. Human and demon. Your kind. My kind. Skynet will not stop hunting either of us," Xander stated, trying to see if he could read the demon's facial expressions. It was nigh impossible, and he did not recognize the species even if he could tell what was going on behind its red eyes.

"What concern is it of mine what happens to you and yours?" The demon kicked the terminator head that he had thrown down, the skull landing on the pile with its brethren. "I can take care of them well enough here."

"We have the most organized resistance against them there is. But, if we go down… they're not going to stop at us, and Skynet will concentrate on you and yours. Wipe you out. All of you." Xander glanced up, hearing chattering as the demons in the audience made their own opinions known in an incredibly audible fashion. A variety of languages were spoken, and he didn't know which way they would go. He wasn't even sure how much say the leader had with the rest of the group.

The demon simply stared at the human, noticing that while he was afraid, it was not necessarily a fear of the unknown. "You're not like the others. You know us."

Xander nodded. "I was born here. I was born on the Hellmouth. I know what you are. I've known since before Judgment Day, the day that Skynet judged both us and found us wanting. We're the same. Or we are now."

"I believe you speak the truth, human," the demon said after a moment. It crossed its arms over its chest, considering if it should simply kill both of the men and be done with it. Still, what he had said so far had merit. Of course it would not be as simple as the equity that the man spoke of. It may merit further consideration however. "What is the message that John Connor send you to give?"

"John Connor sent me with a question," Xander said, stepping forward and looking up at the demon without fear. He locked his eyes with the demon's red ones. "Will you join us?"

xxx

August 29, 1998

Xander dropped to the bottom of the tunnel, waving his flashlight towards each end to make sure that there was nobody there. Night had fallen an hour or so ago, and there would not be too many people still at work. They could have gone even later, but the full security system would have been turned on. The building would be a little less secure, and so there would be a little less risk of being detected, even if they were currently below the building as opposed to in it.

"Clear," Xander said, moving forward. They had accessed the tunnel map beforehand and he knew where they were going. Of course, that didn't necessarily tell them about the private changes that had been done down there by the corporation. He was pretty sure that not all of them were known by the city planners either.

Burke looked around, noticing the cables that were running along the ceiling of the tunnel. Pipes and other cables ran along one wall as well, a string of lights traveling the length of the corridor on the other wall. "Looks like they're running a lot of power into the building. I'm pretty sure they have a backup supply too."

"Yeah," Xander said, taking a right as they reached an intersection. He walked about twenty meters before finding the junction box that he was looking for. Looking at it carefully, he made sure that it wasn't rigged to either electrocute him or to send a signal out if it was tampered with.

"Alright, let's do this." Xander removed a set of lock picks from his pocket and set to work on the small lock in the handle of the junction box door. It didn't take long before he was able to crack it, swinging the door open with gloved hands.

He stepped back, so that Burke could get a closer look. Xander held up a flashlight to brighten the mess of wires that lay within. He wasn't exactly sure what did what, but it had something to do with the security system. At least, that was what Burke had figured out.

"Check this out," Burke said, tapping a knuckle on the inside of the door. There was a sticker near the bottom, indicating the manufacturer of the system.

"Hunh," Xander said, reading the name off of the sticker. "I guess Agincourt does more than just home security. You figure it out?"

"Give me a second," Burke said, using his claws to move wires around. Moving closer, he looked deeper inside the junction box, trying to figure out what terminals went where. He wasn't exactly filled with confidence, but he was pretty sure that they could disable the electrified fence. Of course, that would cause an alarm that would alert security to their presence. "Yeah, we're screwed. I'm not going to be able to disable the system completely from here. I can take out a few of the outer alarms and the fence, but the inside control system isn't here. I'll have to verify at the next box, but I'm pretty sure that even if we can get in, somebody's going to know. This is pretty sophisticated stuff. They aren't fooling around."

Xander sighed, then looked down the hallway. It would have been nice to have had been sent back with an actual computer expert, but they were all needed in the cyber-war against Skynet. He was just lucky that Burke had some expertise in the area. "Great. Close it up, we'll check the next one."

The two moved further down, having to make a couple of more turns in order to find the next junction box that they had identified. The concrete-lined walls made them all uniformly dull, making it hard to determine which way was which.

Xander aimed his light at the ceiling, wondering exactly what was above their heads. He remembered that there were other tunnels under Sunnydale. Ones that were much less pleasant than the human-constructed one that they were currently in.

xxx

Dinner had passed uneventfully for the most part. Faith had had some fun trying to get a rise out of Buffy, but she had to admit that the other slayer's mother had been rather nice, all things considered. A bit too Leave it to Beaver for her tastes, but at least she cooked well.

It had been some time since she'd had a home-cooked meal. She could remember how long ago it had been, but she didn't like to think about that. Better to live in the now than to dwell on what happened in the past.

"Who's this?" Faith asked, picking up a small framed picture. They had finished up and were now in Buffy's room, preparing to go out on patrol. It was a little odd that Buffy's mother knew about Buffy being the Slayer. From what she had heard from her Watcher, it was supposed to be something secret, not talked about over family dinner.

"Who?" Buffy asked, as she rooted around in her closet for her spare stash of weapons.

Faith just continued to look at the picture. She recognized Buffy and her redheaded friend Willow, but there was a dark-haired boy that she had not yet met. "The guy in this picture."

Buffy frowned, as she dragged out a large black bag. She turned and walked over to her desk, looking over Faith's shoulder at the picture that she was holding. As she saw which one it was, she felt that old ache come back. "That's…that's Xander."

"Oh?" Faith said, glancing back at Buffy. She noticed the tight expression on her fellow Slayer's face, wondering exactly who he was. "What happened?"

"He disappeared," Buffy said, after a moment. She took the photo from Faith's hand and put it back on her desk. She had forgotten that it was even there, not having had the heart to look at it. "It was months ago. In May."

"Oh," Faith said, genuinely sympathetic this time. "Did a vampire get him?"

"No," Buffy said, turning to face the other Slayer. "Yes. Not exactly. It's complicated. C'mon, we need to patrol."

She turned away, her eyes watering a little.

xxx

"Well, that sucked." Xander leaned back in his seat. He glanced into the back of the van, where Burke was currently sitting, slightly hunched over so as to not hit his head on the ceiling. It was the only vehicle they could use that would hide Burke's presence, and it gave them space to hide all of their equipment and weapons.

"What do you want to do?" Burke asked, scratching his face with a claw. It had been a disappointment, although he wasn't exactly sure what he should have been expecting. Calax may not have been the largest company in the world, but if it was related to Skynet, then it would undoubtedly have very sophisticated security to keep people like them out. "We could kidnap Frakes. Force him to tell us what he's working on."

Xander said nothing, looking out the windshield. He had driven away from the building so as not to be spotted, stopping in the warehouse district underneath a burnt out street light. It was a tempting suggestion. All the things that had happened, and all that things that would happen. So much of the world gone, including just about everyone he knew. He hadn't been there for the deaths of most of them, but he had been there for some of the most important. He remembered what Sunnydale looked like after the fall. But, not all of it. "What was this? After…what did this part of town look like?"

Burke ducked down and looked out the windshield too.

xxx

January 4, 2022

The small reptilian demon ran as quickly as it could. It could nearly feel the glowing red eyes of the terminators that were after him. He had been running for weeks, doing his best to escape from the machines. He had been as careful as he could. From his original hiding place in Nevada, he had done his best to stay below the attention of the machines. He had travelled at night as much as possible, burrowing into the desert when Skynet scouting parties flew overhead. He had almost been caught a few times by the harvesters, even seeing a particularly brutal attack on a few humans that had been hiding out in an old abandoned gas station.

He didn't know if he had messed up, or if it was simply the unrelenting nature of the machines, but they had managed to find him. The Hellmouth had always drawn the supernatural, and it should have been the perfect place to hide. Unfortunately, Skynet had figured that out long ago. Its patrols had detected him up before he had gotten two blocks into town, and now he was on the run again.

An explosion sounded, and the blast threw the small demon against a pile of twisted girders. It scrambled to its feet, looking up at the source of the attack and seeing the large flying machine hover in mid-air a couple of hundred feet above him. The hatch at the bottom opened, disgorging two T-600's who landed on the rough concrete and asphalt with a loud thud as the flying hunter-killer flew off to continue its patrol. Two humanoid units would be more than enough for the one small and unarmed demon.

The two terminators scanned the area, their red eyes visible through the ripped and torn rubbery masks that they still wore. They were two members of an obsolete design, one of the first attempts to develop infiltration units that could seek out humans in their hiding places. However, they were too large and the skin was too artificial-looking to trick the humans, and so the eight foot tall behemoths were reprogrammed to serve as heavy assault troops where the HK tanks and aerials could not reach and as guards in the work camps that Skynet used to methodically exterminate biological life.

The demon tried to burrow into the concrete, but it was too hard. Looking around in all directions for a way out, the demon jumped from behind the girders and made a run for the only structure that was somewhat still standing. It was a warehouse, and though most of it had been demolished, some of the walls were still standing and supporting part of the roof.

The demon raised its arms to protect itself as the two T-600's locked their targeting scanners onto his rapidly moving form. They fired their Gatling guns in unison, attempting to terminate the demon before it could reach cover. The small demon managed to reach the warehouse somehow, and dove behind the wall, right as a stray round caught him in the lower leg.

The demon screamed in pain as it grabbed at its lower leg, a large hole bleeding thick blood profusely. He applied as much pressure as he could to the wound, groaning as he scrambled up against the wall. He knew that he couldn't run, and peeking around the corner, he could see the lumbering machines get closer. Pulling back again, its mind raced as it tried to think of what to do. But, there was really nothing that the demon could do against the walking death.

He closed his eyes in acceptance of the inevitable, but opened them again as he heard an explosion sound. It was probably another demon getting killed, and despite himself he had to see. What was happening was not something that he could have imagined.

A large black demon tossed a large satchel towards one of the T-600's, the other already having been blown apart by an explosion. The demon leapt behind a few cars near the far side of the road, gunfire stitching its way towards him.

A few seconds later, the satchel charge exploded, ripping through the terminator and shredding its chassis and skull. A few pieces had managed to penetrate, breaking the processor chip and deactivating the unit.

The small reptile demon struggled to his feet, one leg still bleeding. It hobbled out as the larger demon moved forward, stopping to pick up a large rock and smashing it hard on the head of the other T-600. It had been twitching its limbs, and evidently the demon that had saved him had not wanted to take any changes.

"Thank you," the reptile demon said, as the other one walked towards him. It stood over him, sizing him up. Hearing the whine of engines, the pair of them looked up and back, sunlight glinting off of the body of a rapidly approaching aerial HK.

"Come with me if you want to live," the larger demon said, turning back to face the one that he had just saved. He reached out a hand, and the other demon grasped it. He put the smaller demon's arm over his shoulder, and helped him to move towards cover.

xxx

August 30, 1998

"We go after Frakes, and it isn't what we thought, then he's seen us, and who we are can get out there. It's too big a risk," Xander said, looking out the window again. He remembered the drive out of Sunnydale. It had been as dismal as going. That hadn't even been the worst of it really, only the emotional impact greater because it had been his hometown. He'd been deployed in a number of places in the United States and elsewhere, even seeing action in Mexico and for a brief time in China. Nowhere had looked good.

"So what do we do?" Burke asked.

Xander glanced over his shoulder. "Find another way."

Burke shifted his gaze towards a pair of young women that should not be out there that late at night. One was blonde while the other was a brunette. "Is that the…"

Xander turned back around and looked at what Burke was looking at. He had to squint a little, but the face was easily recognizable, even after all of these years. His eyes widened as it became clear. "Get down."

The pair of them ducked down, Burke scrunching himself up as much as possible behind the forward seats so as to not be seen. Xander lay on his side, hiding himself behind the dashboard. Even though Sunnydale had always been a small town, it had just gotten a whole lot smaller.

xxx

Acquiring a car had taken longer than anticipated and the terminator had only had the chance to examine one school before class had let out yesterday. Unfortunately, the subject in question had not been at Fondren High School. That meant that it had had to wait an extra day before being able to check the next school on its list, Sunnydale High School.

It was fairly similar to the other school, with the same types of students all mixed together making it impossible to identify any one in particular. The terminator was forced to go through more subtle channels and attempt to gain an audience with the potential target before positive identification could be made.

"The principal will see you now," the school secretary said to the large man that had taken a seat against the wall of the school administration office. She watched as the man who had identified himself as a federal agent stand up and walk into the principal's office without so much as a thank you. Frowning, she turned back to her work.

xxx

"What can I do for you, Agent…?" Principal Snyder asked, as he stood and shook hands with the man. Inside he was relishing the federal agent's presence. The secretary had told him that the FBI agent was there about a student, and he loved the chance to have one of the students get exactly what they deserved. Normally, such a request required a court order, and interviews or interrogations had to be done with a parent's presence. But, in his excitement, the principal decided to forego the niceties of legal paperwork and procedure.

"Carmichael," the terminator said, looking at the short man through its red-tinted vision. It took a seat as the principal did. "I am looking for a student named Timothy Frakes."

"Frakes?" Principal Snyder repeated. He leaned over to his computer and typed in the name, pulling up the boy's record and schedule. Unfortunately, there was nothing to indicate that the boy was a delinquent of some kind; he had even the president of his last school's computer club. Although the principal knew that a clean record just meant that the student had never been caught. "He's in study hall now. I'll have my secretary call him in. You can use the office down the hall, it's empty."

The terminator looked at the man, not understanding and not caring why the principal was being so helpful without what it knew to be the required paperwork. It stood and spoke, "thank you for your cooperation."

xxx

"Sit down," the terminator said as the teenager walked into the office. It nodded towards an empty chair that sat before the vice principal's desk.

Tim sat down, wondering exactly why he had been called to see the principal. The wondering had only intensified as he had been told to see a federal agent in the vice principal's office. He looked up at the stoic looking FBI man. "What is this about? Do I need to call my parents?"

The terminator just looked down at the boy, running its sensors and recording both a facial scan and voice pattern. Both would prove useful if it turned out to be the right target. "What is your father's name?"

"What?" the sixteen year old asked, turning his head slightly as he wondered what it had to do about anything. "Did something happen to him?"

"What is his name?" the terminator asked again, elevating its volume by five percent. Humans tended to be responsive to both repetition and increased loudness of voice it knew. "What is your father's name?"

"Joe. Joseph," Tim said, fidgeting in his chair as he got increasingly anxious. "What is this about? What happened to my dad?"

"Where does he work?" The terminator ignored the question that the boy had asked, concentrating on establishing the identity. Skynet had had scant information on the person in question, the computer networks that would have aided in identification having long since been destroyed by the time it had sent back this particular unit.

"Calax. He's only been there for a few months. We just moved here," Tim said, starting to get annoyed as well as worried. He ran a hand through his wavy brown hair, and blew out in frustration. "What happened?"

"Nothing." The terminator turned to leave, turning its head as it moved towards the exit. "Thank you for your cooperation."

xxx

Buffy walked down the hall lost in her own thoughts at what had transpired the night before. She had found Faith to be annoying and unwelcome before, but now she had something of a legitimate justification for the feelings. Faith had just gone off on that one vampire, in ways that weren't just explained away by love of the fight.

"Excuse me," she said, drawn out of her thoughts as a tall man in a suit brushed her aside as it exited the school office. Buffy turned and watched him, shaking her head her head as the man said nothing and continued towards the exit as if nothing had happened.

She turned and headed back to her original destination, forgetting about the odd and very rude man. She needed to talk to Giles as soon as possible. Both about Faith and about the name that she had learned about during the night's patrol.

xxx

Xander waited for the bank attendant to bring him his safety deposit box. It had taken a couple of hours, but he had wanted to make a report before going further, just in case something were to happen to him.

The bank in particular had been chosen because the vault that housed the safety deposit boxes was known to be intact by the time it was discovered by the Resistance in the future. John Connor had picked it as a place to keep all intelligence that they had found, a sort of time capsule so that he could learn the things that they had learned in the past.

Xander idly wondered if there were any other reports in the vault, besides Boykins' of course. The key to defeating Skynet may even be in one of the safety deposit boxes already, waiting to be read for another quarter century.

"You can use the room at the end of the hall to your left." The bank attendant placed the large metal deposit box on the counter. She wondered what was inside, as she did every time she had to get one for one of the bank's clients, but she had never been tempted to try to figure out what was in any of them. The bank prided itself on its discretion.

"Thanks." Xander picked up the box and carried it to the room that had been mentioned, placing it on the desk that extended out of the far wall. He closed the door and locked it, pulling off the messenger bag that he had had slung over his shoulder and placing it beside the safety deposit box.

Pulling out the chair and sitting down in front of the table, Xander took out the key to the box and unlocked it, flipping it open. Inside was a large three-ring binder with a few pages already inside. Xander took it out and pushed the box to his left. Opening up the bag that he had brought, Xander pulled out a blue folder, flipping it open as well.

He transferred some papers from the folder to the binder, notes about what he and Burke had learned so far in their time in the past. He had included a couple of pictures as well, so that the Resistance in the future would know what the Frakes looked like in the past. He had nothing definite yet, but if he was to fail, his compatriots would be given a head start on how to defeat Skynet in the past. Connor might even decide to send another team back in time to work off of them, working his way closer to an optimal future for humanity.

One could only hope. Even if it was a fool's hope.

xxx

"Every hour it gets closer to J-Day and we're going on nothing," Xander said, bending down and pouring some dry dog food into the bright red plastic bowl that lay on the tiled floor of the kitchen. He had no sooner finished pouring than the dog came running in, skidding slightly on the tile as it came to a stop in front of its bowl. The little dog started to dig into its food, crunching on the dried food noisily. "I guess you have more important things to worry about don't you, boy."

Xander placed the bag back into the lower shelf and scratched the terrier's head a few times before walking into the main room. Burke was seated on a couch in the center, working on the laptop. "Find anything?"

"Not about ways to crack Calax security. However, I did manage to find a purchase order from Calax to a Los Angeles based raw material vendor," Burke said, looking up at Xander as he walked into the room. "They placed an order three weeks ago for five pounds of refined columbite-tantalite. Delivery's supposed to take place tomorrow."

Xander narrowed his eyes as he recognized the metallic ore. "Coltan. Do you know what it's going to be used for?"

Burke shrugged. He was no expert on electronics manufacturing after all. He was better at taking them apart. "It's used for a lot of stuff. But for this small of a quantity, I'm guessing high performance capacitors. The purchase order number is linked to a joint Calax-Cyberdyne research program. Codenamed Falcon. I don't know what that is though. The actual details are buried under so many layers of security, that I'd need a real hacker to actually get any real data on it."

Xander frowned, whatever it was it didn't sound promising. Ironically that was how most of the projects got started. Because some scientist thought that it would be a promising avenue of research to pursue. But, nothing that Cyberdyne did ended up that way.

"Luckily, Tetsuo Corporation, the vendor, has a local warehouse here where they ship stuff out of. They must do a lot of business with Calax and other businesses near here." Burke managed a small grin. "And they have much much less security than CRD does."

xxx

Night had fallen hours ago, the loading and receiving personnel having gone home some time before. All that was left was a minimal security patrol, even less than what was assigned to other warehouses in safer areas because of the unique situation in Sunnydale. It was a benefit since it meant that the time between patrol sweeps was a lot longer than it might have otherwise been. The security was probably even laxer since the guard would not be particularly inclined to wander around at night, especially amongst the dark alleyways between warehouses.

There was no sound except for nearly silent clipping as Xander made two cuts through the chain-link fence surrounding the warehouse. It did not take very long, and they had timed it specifically so that they would have the maximum time to get in and out without being noticed.

After he had finished, Xander pulled on the loose end of the metal fence, Burke taking a hold and pulling it back. Xander placed the wire cutters back into the bag that he had brought, and slipped the bag through the hole. He followed behind it, making sure that his clothes did not snag. Moving to the side and staying in a crouch, Xander slung the bag over his shoulder as he looked around. After making sure that it was clear, Xander stood, reaching the fingers of both hands through the fence and gripping the freed section that Burke was holding. "Okay, I got it."

Burke nodded and let go, making sure that the fence wouldn't snap back into place. He crouched down as he took off the backpack he was wearing and pushed it through the hole. He crawled on his belly through the small hole as well, standing up as he cleared the fence. "We have twelve minutes."

Xander nodded and let the fence go, making sure that he had a hand in the hole to catch it so that it did not make a sound as it came to a stop. "Let's go."

The pair of them moved in the shadows, avoiding the lights that had been placed to illuminate the empty yard of the warehouse. They managed to make their way to the employee entrance of the facility, a regular-sized fire door with an electronic lock at one side.

Xander looked at it, and reached inside his bag for a small screwdriver. Placing it underneath the faceplate, Xander pried it off, exposing the circuit board and wires that made up the guts of the control mechanism for the lock. He unscrewed the circuit board carefully, and let it hang freely. Placing the screwdriver back inside his bag, he pulled out a small minicomputer with two small leads attached to alligator clips.

Burke kept an eye out in case the guard decided to change his routine, but also checked out what Xander was doing. The human was working quickly, and rummaged through the mess of wires and components to clip the leads onto the right wires. He didn't worry about security cameras, having scoped the place out previously and noting the lack of exterior cameras. However, Xander was wearing a mask just in case there was a passive system in place on the inside recording what happened in the interior. He didn't bother, anybody catching his him on video would assume that his natural appearance was a disguise.

"C'mon," Xander said, as he activated the computer, a series of pulses sent through the leads to force the lock into diagnostic mode. It took a few seconds and the door was unlocked as the electronic test sent it to its default mode and ran it through an infinite loop. Xander opened it carefully, sticking his foot in between the jamb and the door so that it wouldn't close and lock. "We're in."

Xander removed the computer and placed it back into his bag as he hung the faceplate back onto the guts of the locking mechanism. It wouldn't work anymore, but it would not be noticeable from a distance. He moved inside, Burke following him through as he took one last look around the yard for the guard.

The security lights inside illuminated the warehouse, enough so that they didn't need to use flashlights or night vision goggles. The small windows set in a row near the top of the walls of the facility let in additional light from the stars and moon, helping to intensify the light in some areas.

Xander walked through the rows, looking for the right section according to the purchase order that Burke had called up. There were rows of tall shelves, each holding bins or parts as well as special orders for the company's customers. One area near the loading docks housed long tables surrounded by cartons full of flat boxes. In the day, there would be a number of people busy sorting and loading parts for delivery.

"Over here," Burke said, finding the right one and beckoning to Xander. He walked down the row, looking at laminated cards that designated which shelf was which. In the middle was the one for the local Calax facility, and mixed amongst various orders in preparation was the special order they were looking for.

Xander picked up the box with a gloved hand, the shipping label still on it and identifying that it came from Brazil. The box feeling heavier than the size of it conveyed. It made sense given the dense nature of refined coltan. Taking a knife from his belt, he cut through the packaging tape and opened the lid up, making sure that the right contents were inside. Ingots of grey metal revealed themselves to him. "It's the right one."

Turning, Xander placed the box into his bag and looked around the neighboring shelves for other small packages. "C'mon, let's grab a few more and get out of here."

Burke nodded and unslung his backpack, opening it up. There was nothing inside, but he was rectifying it now. He took boxes at random with Xander adding some as they made their way towards the exit. They made sure that they didn't only take from the shelves closest to the Calax one. All the more to cover their target and make it seem like nothing more than a random robbery. From what Xander had told him, the local police department was not particularly good at solving crimes. All the better for them.

They made their way out the door quickly and headed back to the hole they had cut into the fence. Xander checked his watch as they moved, stopping against a red colored delivery van with the company name printed on the side. They had three minutes left, and he hurried on, unslinging his bag as he neared the cut section of the fence.

Burke pushed the top of it open, letting Xander go through it first. He watched as Xander stood and pulled the section up and moved through the gap himself. They headed back to the van they had parked around the corner, the lack of alarms or shouting informing them that they had made their exit cleanly.

Things were finally looking up for them.

xxx

"That it then?" Xander pulled his balaclava up to his forehead, turning it into a watch cap as he loaded his gear into the rear of the van.

"Yeah," Burke climbed into the back of the van, taking off his heavy backpack. He looked through to the front, watching through the windshield to make sure that there was nobody out there to see them depart. Maybe he was being overly cautious, but nobody had died because of it.

Xander closed the rear doors, stepping around to the driver's seat. He stopped about halfway there as he saw two figures that he recognized crash into a warehouse down the street. They were quickly followed by a number of others, their fangs and yellow eyes revealing that they were vampires. "The hell?"

Burke had seen them too, exiting out of rear of the van. He stopped up short as Xander turned the corner to the back of the van as well. "What are you planning on doing?"

"Something stupid," Xander said grimly, pulling out a long duffle bag. He unzipped it and pulled out a couple of stakes, sticking one between his belt and his pants. He pulled out a shotgun as well. It had been cut down, making it more effective in close quarters. Although it did cut down on range, it wouldn't be so much of a problem here. He pulled down his mask as well, making sure that it didn't hinder his peripheral vision.

"Our orders-" Burke tried to get out.

Xander spun his head up to look the demon in the eye. "I can't just let them die. I can't just…I know our orders, but we can't just sit by and do nothing."

"Right, let's go," Burke said, reaching into the bag and picking up a large hunting knife. He took it out of its sheath and examined its sharp edge. They weren't exactly well-prepared to take on a legion of vampires, but it would have to do.

xxx

"You go for Buffy, I'll take the other," Xander whispered, going forward through rows of crates as Burke split off towards the blonde Slayer. He figured that the brunette was also a Slayer, the one called after Kendra, but he couldn't be sure. It had been months, and he knew that there had to be changes, even if it wasn't obvious. A part of him was still tempted to go back to the school, now that it was standing again, though he knew that it would be a mistake.

Burke nodded and turned, taking off towards Xander's friend as he noted that she was being attacked by multiple vampires. From the looks of it, she wasn't that bad, though hardly well-trained and more reliant on her innate strength and durability than skill.

Xander moved forward carefully, inching his way forward as stealthily as possible. He looked on as an odd looking vampire with cloven hooves for hands battered the brunette girl. Gritting his teeth beneath his mask, Xander tried to angle for a clear shot. He watched as she took a particularly hard impact to the chest which sent her flying to the ground, skidding towards him.

Taking the opportunity, Xander stepped forward and fired his shotgun. He knew well enough that it wouldn't kill the demon, but he could still do quite a bit of damage with the weapon. The large slug took the ancient vampire in the kneecap, utterly destroying the joint and bringing the giant vampire to its knees, or rather knee and bloody mess of bone and cartilage.

Faith looked behind her in shock at Kakistos slumping forward screaming, watching as a masked man pumped a shotgun and opened fire again. She turned her eyes forward in time to see Kakistos get struck in the right arm, the impact of the shotgun blast actually blowing the ancient vampire's arm clean off at mid-bicep.

Xander fired again and again, taking more and more chunks out of the vampire. The initial damage to the leg meant that it could not utilize its speed to avoid his fire. The vampire roared in pain as it was continuously struck. While the damage could not kill it, its increased healing factor would not regenerate the tissue quickly enough to do it any good.

Stepping forward closer to the vampire that was now laying on its back, Xander pointed the weapon at its neck and pulled the trigger. The slug ripped through the vampire's neck, utterly destroying its cervical spine, and turning the demonically animated corpse into dust.

"No!" a female vampire shouted as it leapt at him, scrambling onto the human's back. It scratched at the man that had killed her sire, ripping the mask from his head.

Xander flipped the vampire over his shoulder, slamming her as hard as he could onto the concrete floor. He tried to bring the shotgun into play, but the blonde vampire had regained her feet too quickly and batted it out of his hands. He elbowed her in the face in response, backing up to pull his stake out as it went reeling back.

"I'm going to kill you!" the vampire shouted, angling to leap forward again. Her leap was cut forth as a piece of wood jutted out of its chest. She was able to look down at it in surprise before turning into dust.

Xander just looked on as the dust settled, revealing that the brunette he had saved was the one to dispatch the vampire. She looked to be about eighteen or so, with slightly longer than shoulder length wavy hair and good looks in the rebellious dropout sort of way.

"Who are you?" Faith asked, recognizing the figure. Sort of. He looked like an older version of the boy in the photograph that Buffy had, but they had all been the same age in the photo, so it couldn't have been him.

Xander said nothing, walking over and picking up his mask and shotgun, disguising his appearance once again as he pulled the balaclava over his head. He turned towards the other sounds of battle, though he could tell who was winning.

xxx

Buffy had turned towards the sound of the gun firing, the momentary distraction giving one of the vampires the chance to clock her with a crowbar. The hard blow had sent her flying into a metal support beam which made it hard for her to get back up. She looked up, eyes wide as the black vampire in an odd suit approached her. She wished once again that she had brought Angel along to confront the other Slayer. She had thought that Faith would be more responsive if she was on her own though, which didn't help them much at the current moment.

The thought flew out of her head as she became even more shocked as a giant of a demon approached and grabbed the main vampire by the head. It certainly looked malevolent with wicked horns and fangs and claws. A quick swing of an arm, and its knife cut clean through the vampire's neck, turning the vampire into dust. "What are you?"

It was all she could make out. The demon was a conundrum. It was wearing oddly human clothes and had just killed a vampire which had just been about to kill her. Of course, it could have dusted the vampire to save her for itself. That was not a comforting thought.

The demon said nothing, instead turning and facing the other vampires that now were trying to attack him instead of the Slayer. He snarled contemptuously as they came at him. Ducking and weaving his way through, he used his claws and the knife to batter and beat the vampires, his experience fighting enemies much stronger and tougher than any demon making this seem like child's play. It was not long before they had all been defeated and turned to dust beneath his boots.

Burke looked on as the Slayer got to her feet, arms and fists raised as if she expected him to attack her. He bared his teeth in amusement. "I'm not impressed. Be glad that I'm here to save you. Not to kill you, Slayer."

Buffy watched on as the demon walked back the way that it had come, seemingly in contempt, not knowing exactly what to do.

xxx

"You a Slayer?" Xander asked, noticing that Burke was already heading towards the exit. He turned his attention back to the girl. It made sense, after all she had taken quite a few hits from the vampire and was still walking around. Good enough to take out a vampire not a minute later even.

The girl nodded, regaining the tough exterior that she had lost when she had first seen Kakistos back at the motel. She guessed she couldn't stay there anymore. "I'm Faith. Who are you?"

Xander just looked at her, keeping his expression passive. "You should be more careful."

He started off, headed towards the exit as well, but turned as he heard Faith follow after him. He raised the shotgun at her, more of a warning than in actual intent. He wanted to get out of there before Buffy came looking. She would probably be able to recognize his voice.

"Whoa there cowboy," Faith said, raising her hands in mock surrender. She smiled a little, in gratitude with a little bit of sultry mixed in. No man she had ever met had been able to resist it. "I just want to know who you are."

He was pretty cute, in a slightly older sort of way, but strong, and with oddly tired eyes. And he definitely knew what was happening in Sunnydale, and how to handle himself. She imagined it was like Angel with Buffy, although she didn't peg the man as being a vampire.

"Are you Xander's brother or something?" Faith asked, wondering why the man was being so skittish. Especially since he had just swooped in and saved the day, proverbially speaking. Usually it was expected that the hero got a little something.

Xander smiled briefly, not altogether surprised at being identified, even if incorrectly. She was hanging out with Buffy after all. "Not quite. Try to be more careful next time."

He backed up and out the door, making sure that Faith didn't follow him.

xxx

"Hunh," Faith said, still looking at the doorway through which the man had left while wielding his. From what Buffy had just said, he had been accompanied by a large demon which had defeated the vampires in a most impressive display. That had never happened before in her, admittedly short, experience as a Slayer.

"Let's go home," Buffy said, looking around at the debris of the fight that had just happened. A few spent shotgun shells dotted the area where Faith had fought Kakistos, but there was no evidence of anything specifically supernatural.

They headed towards the exit themselves, Faith glancing over at the other Slayer before speaking, "so does your friend Xander have an older brother?"

That caused Buffy to stop short. She turned and stared at the other Slayer. She didn't know if it was more of Faith's antics, but it was still a sore subject and she was in no mood for it. There was some brittle anger in her voice as she spoke, "what are you talking about?"

"That guy," Faith said, pointing back to the front of the warehouse with a thumb. "He looked just like the guy in the picture you had. Only older."

"That's impossible," Buffy said, shaking her head. She turned a little pale though. "Xander's an only child."

It couldn't be. If he had come back, she couldn't think why he wouldn't have come to them. And why he would look different enough to be thought of as his own older brother. Faith had to be mistaken. She had to be.

xxx

"Well, that was a delightful mess," Burke said, wiping his blade off with a rag. He looked towards the man in the driver's seat.

Burke knew that Xander had made the right call, if the intention was to save lives. But, that was their mission only in the larger scheme of things. It wasn't like Xander hadn't ordered men to their certain deaths. It came with the territory. As it did with the Slayer's. Things had worked out. This time. "Did you save the girl?"

Xander looked in the rearview mirror at the demon as he started the car. It was going to be there, not exactly between them, but the open wound would still be there for quite a while. He knew that he had been lucky that it had worked out. "Yeah. This time."