Headhunters

zTiamaTz

=H=H=

A DISH BEST SERVED COLD

=H=H=

++Xander POV++

I woke up with groan, wondering where the hell I was at first. I could feel Cordy's arm wrapped around me, and then it suddenly hit me what we had been through yesterday.

I gently pulled her arm free from me, not wanting to startle her. As I sat up, everything hurt. I hadn't felt this bad, since after Buffy's beating when I was possessed. As I fumbled around in the dark for the candle, I realized, I actually felt a whole lot worse.

After getting the candle lit, I looked over to Cordy, who was still sleeping. Her face was one big bruise, I'd have to keep her away from any mirrors for a few days at least.

That mother-fucker had beaten her, knocked out one of her teeth, and almost raped her. Yesterday I didn't think she was in any shape to go after him, but if she still felt she could do it today, I'd back her all the way.

I debated whether or not I should go up into the house to take a leak, I didn't want to leave her alone though. After going back and forth on it, I finally deciding I should just wake her up.

Gently shaking her, I avoided the sudden elbow she threw at me. I gave her a kiss on her battered cheek, and hoped my dumb present would make up for it.

"Hey gorgeous, if you wanted a kiss, all you had to do was ask." I told her with a grin.

Cordelia looked down, embarrassed. "I'm really sorry I-"

"Don't worry about it." I held out the rubber ducky I'd found yesterday. "Here, I got this for you."

I wasn't even sure why I kept it. The only things that really mattered to us now were guns, food, water and shelter, usually in that order.

Cordy seemed surprised by it. "Where the heck did you find one of these?" She asked as she gave it a few squeaks.

"When I was pulling all that crap away from the hotel doors, I found it in the mess." I was kinda worried she'd think it was stupid. "I figured, you ah, might like it."

"It's sweet Xander," She gave me a little smile. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." I didn't want to bring this up, but it had to be asked. "Listen, do you still wanna..."

"Yes." She said instantly.

"Fine," I told her with a sigh, I really hoped she was ready for this. "Let's go get cleaned up, I feel like shit."

=H=H=

~~Cordelia POV~~

After two hours of painfully digging out shrapnel, and bandaging cuts and scrapes, we both felt a lot better. If I hadn't been so exhausted last night, I doubt I could have slept much.

I looked around for the right place to leave the ducky, it had been really sweet of him to grab it. I felt kind of silly though, looking for the perfect spot, like a little girl with a teddy bear.

I didn't care though, Xander had thought of me, even while he was being chased down by a bunch of Locust. That's what mattered the most.

"Ya ready Cor?" He called down through the trap door.

Before we went after him, we were going to scavenge for some food in the nearby houses. I really hoped we'd find something decent.

=H=H=

I felt a lot better as I came down the stairs of the house we'd found. With fresh clothes on, and everything bandaged, it made a big difference.

I saw that Xander was sitting at the kitchen table about to get breakfast ready. "I saw blood in the toilet bowl upstairs, what did I miss?"

He looked down and focused on the cans he was opening. "Nothing."

I could tell he was hiding something from me, and it really made me mad. "Xander, I'm going to say this just once. If you start this bullshit with me again, I will hurt you."

He gave a loud sigh as he looked up at me. "I was pissing blood, it's not exactly something I wanna bring up in conversation."

"Jesus Christ Xander, you were just going to hide it from me, and hoped it would go away?"

"I didn't think-"

"That's right, you didn't." I remembered a bruise I saw on his back earlier today, I wanted to take another look at it. "Take off your sweatshirt."

After a little grumbling, he did so, and I got a closer look at his lower right side of his back. There was a circular outline, roughly the size of a soda can in the middle of the huge bruise. "What the hell hit you?"

"Let me think."

"You don't remember?" I asked incredulously.

"I got the crap beat outta me Cor, it could have... Wait, I nailed a doorknob when that Grenade threw me across the room."

"He threw you?"

"Yeah, he grabbed me by the ankle and threw me, he was pretty pissed that I cut his arm off. I finally got him though, when I jammed my thumbs in his eyes."

As I handed him his sweatshirt back, I decided I really needed to get the rest of the story out of him. Xander had actually gotten into a physical fight with one of these things, and that was scary.

He was bigger and stronger then me, and had gotten his ass handed to him. I didn't even want to think about what would have happened if I had been in that situation.

"Why don't you start making breakfast, and tell me what happened?"

"Am I gonna be okay though?" He asked, a little worried.

"I'm pretty sure you will, where your back hit the doorknob, is right where your kidneys are located." I sat down at the table, hoping I was right. "Honestly, there isn't a whole lot we could do if you were seriously hurt anyway..."

"How do you know about this stuff Cor? I never pictured you as the type of girl that would want to be a nurse or something."

"My Aunt Christina, she's sort of the black sheep of the family. She's really nice though, unlike Mother, the ice queen. She got a little too tipsy at a cocktail party at her mansion one night, and ended up mixing herself a drink with insecticide. She ruined her kidneys, and ended up on dialysis."

"Whoa, that's messed up." Xander told me as he finished cutting the top off of a can.

"Yeah, since I'm the only person in the family who liked her, I was the only person to visit her in the hospital. I read everything I could about kidneys, thinking I could come up some cure on my own. What did I know though? I was fourteen."

"Did your aunt get better?"

"I don't know," I told him, looking down at my melting cup of ice. "I offered to give her one of my kidneys, but when the doctors asked permission to type me, Mother accused Aunt Christina of trying to steal it. I wasn't allowed to see her after that."

"That's the Cordy I wish I could have met back in Sunnydale."

Thinking about it, I really wished he had too. Here and now though, I didn't have to worry about keeping up appearances. If it weren't for the fucking Locust and that freak Mongo, Xander and I could almost be happy in this hellhole.

With breakfast ready, I focused on eating, something I hadn't done in a whole day. I didn't think dog food could ever taste that good.

As we finished, Xander asked me the million dollar question.

"So, have you got a plan?" He asked me from across the dusty table.

=H=H=

++Xander POV++

We quickly headed through the area we'd had to fight our way out of yesterday, not wanting to stick around for too long. We'd already dodged a big patrol, and didn't want any extra trouble.

I had reloaded the Gnasher with the slug shells, I was really curious to see what they'd do. The Lancer was on my back, and I'd found a decent amount of ammo for it.

Cordy was still carrying her assault rifle, I hadn't found any ammo for it, and she only had three spare clips. The bayonet Lancer was tied to her pack, but it was missing some pieces. I hoped I could fix it later with parts from a spare chainsaw Lancer, and the book I'd found.

"I can't believe how quiet everything is now." Cordelia commented.

We were only two blocks away from the hotel I'd been trapped in yesterday. Cordelia said Mongo had mentioned a warehouse, which sounded real promising to me.

I figured we wouldn't be able to find Mongo walking around, but if we could find that warehouse, we could catch him there.

"Let's hope it stays that way, I just wanna find this warehouse and find a good place to set up an ambush." I told her as we walked in the general direction of where we hoped the place was.

=H=H=

{{Mongo POV}}

"Dumb-ass kids." Talking over their comms about how they're gonna ambush me? I snorted, mine was set to receive only and I heard every word they said, just like I always did. Big mistake.

As I made my way down the alley, I knew they were coming down the street ahead of me. Growing up in this town made all the difference. If I could get close enough, I could take that homo out and have her all to myself again.

This snow made everything harder, noise, tracks... "Shit." I had to hide behind a stack of pallets, and watch as they passed by the alley without a glance. Fucking amateurs.

I finally got to the mouth of the alley, and watched them continue to get further away from me. They were moving fast, and getting too close to the warehouse. I had to do something now.

Moving into the middle of a bunch of cars in the street for cover, I aimed for the bitch's boyfriend. They were already thirty feet away. Screw it, he dies now.

=H=H=

~~Cordelia POV~~

A shot went off and a bullet passed between the two of us. I watched as it skipped off the roof of a car up ahead.

"Fuck!" A very familiar and angry voice screamed from somewhere behind us.

"Get behind that car!" Xander screamed and we took off, splitting to either side of the nearest one. Another shot flew right past Xander.

As we both sat behind the car, Mongo started up again. "I'm gonna kill that faggot boyfriend of yours, you slut! Then it's back to play time!"

Xander and I looked at each other. "I don't think he likes me too much."

"Watch this." I told him with a smirk. "With the way you shoot, you couldn't hit us if we were standing still, mister anger problem!"

Four shots went off in short order, hitting the car in different places. "You fucking bitch! You're gonna beg for it!"

With him having to reload, we both got up and tried to get a shot at him. We couldn't see him, so we were waiting for him to poke his head up. I was hoping to hit one of his arms or something.

I saw his head start to come up and I fire several rounds and missed, causing him to duck back down. "Come on you fucking coward!"

He started firing back blindly and we had to take cover behind the car again.

"A Mexican standoff, wonderful."

I looked over at him. "What the hell does that mean?"

"We're in the middle of one right now Cor."

"Hostiles!" A Locust voice cried from somewhere in Mongo's direction.

"Great," I said, disgusted. "All that idiot's shooting must have alerted that patrol."

Rounds started pinging off of the car we were behind. I wasn't sure if the Locust knew we were there, or if they were just aiming for Lieutenant burn-face.

"I'll show ya hostile! Fuckin' grubs!" Mongo's scream could barely be heard as he returned fire.

"Better and better." Xander muttered.

=H=H=

++Xander POV++

I leaned the shotgun against the car and pulled the Lancer free. I'd have to hold off on trying the new shells.

"I thought you wanted to try those slug things?" Cordelia asked curiously.

"That thing is shit at a distance." I told her as I peeked over the trunk of the car before quickly coming back down. "How do you wanna play this?"

"Kill them, wound him." She said simply.

"It sounds easier then it really is Cor."

After shoving the snow away, she used the hood of the car to steady the gun and look through the scope.

"Mongo is still in the same spot, and there's at least five, maybe more, coming straight for him." Cordy advised.

"We need to move further up, otherwise we're gonna be wasting ammo." I made a run for a set of steps about ten feet away.

:Is that the best idea Xander?: She asked over the comm.

:Yesterday this place was swarming with Locust!: I argued. :If we don't take care of this fast, it's gonna happen again!:

I could see a Grenade waving some of the others forward, he definitely had to go. I fired, hitting him in the thighs and belly. He ended up in the snow, making loud groaning noises.

I guessed Cordy took that as a cue, because she took off down the street. She ended up even closer then I was. The steps she had chosen were chest-high, and looked a helluva lot safer then mine.

A Drone actually came to try and drag the Grenade away, which surprised me. I shot him in the back as he bent over, but had to duck when the others realized where I was.

:How many have you gotten so far?: Cordy asked.

:Two, I think the others are sticking to cover!:

:Three more are heading for Mongo now, they want him as bad as we do!:

I wanted to call bullshit, but decided against it. :Maybe we should let them have him!: I looked over and saw she was reloading, I was hoping it was her first one.

:Only if we have to!: She squeezed off a series of shots down the street.

Cordelia had to pull back when they peppered the stairs with fire. This was getting bad.

:Besides,: Cordy continued. :We'd end up having to kill these bastards sooner or later anyway!:

:Fine Cor, just watch your freaking ammo!:

I saw something arc from where Mongo was hiding onto the sidewalk on the left side. It exploded, sending pieces of Locust flying.

:What was that?:

:Our pal just tossed a grenade, least it wasn't at us!:

I watched as more smoke appeared and then fire. The grenade had caught something on fire, I just wasn't sure what it was.

:I can't see crap through all that smoke!: Cordy complained.

A big shape started to appear through the haze. I couldn't tell what it was at first, but then I saw something swinging over it's head as it got closer.

:We got a Crusher coming up on my side!: I decided to avoid it for the moment, this far away, I'd just be wasting ammo.

:I can barely see him over the cars!:

I could still see Mongo, since the smoke was on the opposite side of him from me. He'd unloaded all six rounds into the huge Locust in a matter of seconds. It made me wonder why he wasn't carrying anything heavier.

:I just took out another Drone, but there's a Helmet heading over to your side!:

:That Crusher is about to whack Mister Burns!: I started shooting at him, trying to miss the huge shield, and failing miserably in the process.

:The hell it is!: Cordy exclaimed, she started to put round after round in the things general direction, most were missing.

:Slow down on the-:

"Crush!"

The Crusher had just brought his weapon down on a car between him, and Mongo's hiding spot. The chain had wrapped itself across the roof of the car, and the head had slammed into the passenger side door, lifting it up off the ground. The impact had been so hard it had sent Mongo flying into another car.

:Holy shit!: It looked like he'd missed Mongo by inches. Before I could tell if he was even still alive the Helmet started firing at me. As I ducked, a ricochet grazed my upper right arm.

Why were Helmet's always out to get me?

=H=H=

~~Cordelia POV~~

The Helmet seemed to really dislike Xander, as he concentrated most of his fire on him. I fired two shots at him, missing both, and my clip went dry.

:Shit I'm out!: I couldn't believe I'd gone through four clips that fast on single shot. I had wasted too many rounds on the goddamn Crusher.

:That bastard's making a run for it.:

I watched helplessly as Mongo made a run for an alley on my side of the street. With no one shooting at him, he was gone in seconds.

No, he was not getting away. :I'm going after him!:

:With what, a pistol?:

He was right, which really annoyed me for some reason. Then, I remembered Xander had left his shotgun behind the car we'd taken cover behind originally. :Cover me, I'm heading back.:

:This is a bad idea!: Xander warned, as he opened up on the Helmet's position.

I skidded in the snow, and grabbed the bumper to swing myself behind the car. I tossed my gun in the snow, it was dead weight now. :I'm taking your shotgun, be sure to grab my rifle before you leave, okay?:

Quickly snatching up the big gun, I headed down the street away from the fight. I couldn't get to that alley with the Locust back there, but I'd find a way around.

:Where the hell are you going Cor?:

:All that's left is a Helmet and a Crusher, that's nothing you can't handle!:

=H=H=

++Xander POV++

I shook my head as Cordy took off, I hoped she knew what she was doing. The only way I wanted to handle those two, was putting their heads on pikes.

I tried to get another shot on the Helmet, but the smoke was starting to get thick, it looked like he was trying to get to the Crusher. That dumbass thing, was still convinced Mongo was hiding behind the cars.

The Helmet grunted loudly as it ducked to avoid the Crusher's mace. It looked like it gave orders, and then shoved the big Locust in my general direction. Immediately after, he ran down the street in the opposite direction Cordy had.

:The Helmet's running, probably to get more Locust.: I warned her as the Crusher came at me. I could easily outrun him now, but I really didn't want to find him at my back later on.

"For Queen!" He rumbled as he stalked toward me.

I shot him several times in the head, but he quickly deployed the shield. It covered most of his head and torso, but left his feet and ankles vulnerable.

I fired into it's feet and it lowered the shield, so I aimed for it's head. I had to keep backing up since he wouldn't give up. After going back and forth several times, he caught a round in the eye, and finally fell over.

I could hear Cordelia breathing heavily over the comm, the asshole must be running hard. :You doing okay Cor?:

I pried the shield loose from it's beefy hand and dragged it to a couple of garbage cans.

:He's crossing over Cole Boulevard, near that playground!:

:I'm going to try cutting him off in the other direction.: I told her. We didn't know very many streets, but that one had four lanes, with trees planted down the middle. It was hard to miss.

I could feel blood running down my arm as I leaned the shield against the wall of a house and shoved the cans in front. I just hoped the Locust didn't notice it.

I decided the graze would have to wait, and headed toward the alley Mongo had used to escape. I could see several of the row houses were now on fire, and wondered how far it would go.

After getting to the far end of the alley, I took a right. I was pretty sure I was only about three blocks away from there.

=H=H=
I reached the playground in a matter of minutes, but I couldn't tell where to go from there.

:Where are you now Cor?: The closer I got, the more I seemed to worry about her.

:He's hiding like a rat on a street called Summit.: She sounded pissed. :It's two blocks over.:

:Be there soon.: I took off down a cross street, it wouldn't take long to get there.

=H=H=

{{Mongo POV}}

I stood in the doorway of the abandoned row house, the door cracked just enough that I could see the street clearly. That stupid bitch was still announcing exactly where she was going, which was right where I wanted her.

I had wanted to keep her alive, but now, I just wanted the fucking whore dead. There weren't gonna be any misses this time. Once she passed by I was gonna step out and use the doorway to keep the Boltok steady.

She was about to get what was coming to her.

=H=H=

~~Cordelia POV~~

I made my way along the street I had seen him run down. I'd lost sight of him when I tripped over an old tire, buried in the snow. Now, the street was empty.

I clutched the shotgun tightly as I looked for any indication he was nearby. The Locust must have used it frequently, there were tracks everywhere.

:Where are you now Cor?: Xander suddenly asked, causing me to jump slightly.

:He's hiding like a rat on a street called Summit. It's two blocks over.: I told him as I continued to scan both sides, looking into alleys and behind cars. He was not getting away again.

:Be there soon.:

The more Mongo ran, the angrier I got. He had plenty of balls when he was sneaking up on a vulnerable, unarmed person. When I got my hands on him, he wouldn't have any at all.

I stopped when I heard a boot crunch in the snow. I tried to place where it was coming from. Suddenly, a shot went off and I screamed as something hit me between the shoulder blades. It snapped my head back and threw me off of my feet.

I hit the ground hard, my face slamming into the snow, and my head was whirling from the impact of the shot. Behind me, I heard the sound of boots approaching me through the snow.

"I guess I could hit ya standing still, huh bitch?" Mongo taunted.

As I crawled through the snow, trying to get away, I knew if I wasn't dying already, I would be shortly.

=H=H=

++Xander POV++

I heard a loud shot and Cordelia scream, almost simultaneously. Shit.

:Cor baby, I'm coming!: The sound of her in pain pushing me to move even faster.

As I turned the corner, I saw her in the street, twenty feet away. The bastard was casually walking up to her, a revolver in hand. "You mother-fucker!"

He fired a hasty shot at me which went wide to the right and he took off toward a row house. As he turned, I noticed something black on the side of his face, a comm. He was heading for an open door behind him and to his left.

I pulled the rifle up to my shoulder and started firing from left to right. I saw him miss a step, and there was some kind of flash before he disappeared into the doorway. I was really hoping I'd hurt him bad, but I put those thoughts aside as I ran to Cordelia, turning off my comm along the way.

My foot hit a slick spot and I hit the ground, landing just short of her. I was worried since it didn't look like she had done more then crawl since I had first caught sight of her.

"Cordy!" Immediately, I turned her comm off as well, and then tried to keep her still.

"Xander?" She whispered, and struggled against me.

"Don't move, I need to find out where you were hit. Where does it hurt?" I found a hole in her backpack, and tried to follow it to where it had hit her.

"My upper back, how bad is it?"

"You're fine Cordy, you're gonna be fine." God, I hoped I wasn't lying to her.

I had finally found where the bullet had gone. I breathed a sigh of relief when I realized it was lodged in the receiver of Mongo's Lancer. If hadn't been ready to shit myself, I might have found it ironic.

"Cordy, you're okay. It got stuck in the Lancer, it never touched you."

I took my hands off of her, now that I didn't have to worry about her getting hurt any worse. She slowly got to her knees.

My right hand pulled my revolver loose in case Mongo decided to show his ugly face. I put my left arm around her and pulled her into a hug.

"I feel kind of stupid now." Cordelia said as she clutched my shoulders tightly.

"Don't worry, I'd be just as freaked as you are Cor." I assured her, as I kept my eye on the house he'd disappeared into.

"Where is that asshole?" She asked angrily.

That made me feel a little better, Queen C was making her comeback. "He went into a house, I know I got him with at least one shot though." I got to my feet, relieved. That had been way too close.

I held out my hands and helped Cordy to her feet. As she started to brush the snow off herself, I could see she was still a little unsteady. "Take it easy, you almost got killed."

She looked up at me with a little smile, her face red from being in the snow for so long. "I'm fine now Xander, I just got the wind knocked out of me."

"Okay." As much as I'd like to argue, it wasn't my call and that bastard needed to die.

"Which house is it anyway?"

I nodded my head toward it, as I returned the revolver to it's holster.

"You think he's still in there?"

"I guess we'll have to find out Cor." I told her, as I eyed the house, I wasn't looking forward to searching it, for his dirty ass. "Here," I told her, holding out the Lancer. "Switch with me.

=H=H=

"I'm going to go in first Cor. Cover my back, and keep your rifle pointed straight ahead at all times, especially when you're going into a room."

"Xander, I know this already."

"Oh yeah, and make sure you check corners and closets, and let me know it's empty when you're done."

"Is that all?" She asked sarcastically as we reached the door. "Where did you come up with this over-complicated plan anyway?"

"I told you before, action movies." It was sad that I had to rely on those for this, but it wasn't like I had any other ideas. "Just follow my lead."

I gave the front door a shove with the barrel of the shotgun and swept the room with it. "Clear, go right." I whispered.

She came into the house and pointed right, into a door. "Empty."

"Okay, let's go in there and around to the back." I followed as she went into the room, checking behind a sofa that was set at an angle. Every large piece of furniture or dark corner had me worried.

Even though it was daytime, the light didn't come in very well through the grimy windows. Times like this were when I missed electricity the most.

Just as I went to aim for the next door, Cordy stepped in front of me. "Cor, you have to be careful here. If this prick jumps out, I need to know I've got a clear shot."

"Sorry," She whispered back as she glanced at the stairs. "Do you think he could be up there?"

"Doubt it, I don't think he's even in the house anymore."

"Then why are we even doing this?" She asked as she carefully opened the door and scanned the next room with her rifle. "Empty."

"Cause I don't want to take the chance of one of us getting shot again." I told her as I followed her into what turned out to be the kitchen.

I saw a door to the right and realized it was the back one. Another was behind me to my left, I pulled it open and pointed the shotgun inside. "Just a pantry."

Pulling back, I could see Cordelia waiting for me. I could tell she wanted to get moving. I knew how she felt, this cat and mouse crap was getting old.

=H=H=

~~Cordelia POV~~

"Are we ready to leave?" I asked impatiently. Xander's heart was in the right place, but Mongo was going to get away, again, if we didn't move.

"Yeah." He almost slammed the door to the pantry shut, but thought better of it. "Let's just go."

I stepped aside as I opened the back door and then went for the screen one. I started to push it open, when I heard a rattle. "Shit!"

"What-"

Turning, I grabbed Xander, just then I heard two beeps. As I started to shove him down, an explosion slammed me into him, knocking us both to the floor.

I groaned, as I lay there with my head on his chest, and I could feel his shotgun jammed into my stomach. I didn't think I had any new shrapnel in me, but the impact on my already battered body hurt like hell.

"You okay Cor?"

I looked over my shoulder and saw a large hole where the grenade had been. I collapsed back on top of him, just glad we were both still alive after that.

"Cordy?"

"I'm fine Xander," After a few more seconds, I pushed off of him and started to get to my feet. "Just a little shook up from my latest near-death experience."

"I hear that." He grunted as he got to his feet. He got his first look at the damage the grenade had done. "I only like those things when we're using them."

"Do you think there are any others out there?" I asked as I got all the stuff I was carrying back together.

"Could be, but he's definitely not in the house anymore."

Xander went out the back door first, his shotgun, what did he call it? A Gasher? Leading the way.

"Fucking fantastic." He muttered as he stood on the steps leading to the back yard.

I looked over his shoulder and saw why, another damn alley. "How do you want to do this?"

The gate to the alley was wide open as we made our way down the steps to the to the yard.

Xander waved me to the ground. "It's you're show Cor, you tell me." He took an old potted plant, and threw it through the open gate, nothing.

I looked down both sides of the alley, long and empty. There were tracks going in both directions, he must have used the alley previously. "I guess we're going to have to split up again."

"Are you sure?" By the look on his face, he really wasn't crazy with the idea.

"We have to end this Xander."

"Fine, just set your comm to 'receive', I had to turn them off when you got shot."

I looked at him angrily. "Why the heck did you do that? What if-"

"Stop," He told me, holding up his hand. "The reason he's been able to sneak around like he has, is because he's been listening to us the whole fucking time with his own."

I thought about it. How Mongo had been able to leave the messages, avoid our traps, everything. When we left the house, we never turned them off, even if Xander and I were with each other.

"Think about it Cor, this way, he thinks you're dead."

I walked over and gave him a kiss on his cheek. "Then he'll never see me coming," I told him with a smile. "Let's go."

We each went a different way down the alley, Mongrel couldn't have gotten too far with a bullet in him, I just hope he didn't die before I could catch up.

=H=H=

{{Mongo POV}}

I'd heard the grenade go off ten minutes before, but there was no guarantee he'd bought it. I thought about doubling-back to check, but decided I didn't wanna take the chance.

I'd been limping through this fucking alley for five minutes after I'd left the house. I'd made it about two blocks away since then. I wanted to take a break, but figured I should keep moving, before the little bastard started looking for revenge.

Hearing that Xander guy screaming like a bitch over his girl getting shot made me want to laugh. Once I got my leg fixed up, then I'd do the laughing.

The two rounds in my right thigh were slowing me down. I knew they hadn't hit anything major, or I'd have bled out by now. But just because it didn't hurt, didn't make things any easier.

Two blocks from the warehouse, and I already had a plan, it was even better then the last. Once I got myself fixed up, the boyfriend was gonna wish I'd killed him like his bitch.

Then, all I had to do was wait for the COG, and give them the info on what happened here. When Colonel Tyson heard about this, we could finally wipe out all those fucking Stranded camps, starting with Shitsville.

Just before I reached the mouth of the alley my leg buckled, and I fell to the ground with a grunt. I started to climb to my feet when a pair of boots stepped in front of me. As I looked up, I could see a single red eye staring back down at me. A fucking Cyclops.

"Die hominid." It growled as it pointed it's Lancer down and laughed at me.

It's nasty laugh was cut off by the bullets that ripped through his chest. Suddenly, there was two hundred and sixty pounds of dead Locust on top of me, and nowhere to go.

My face was pinned to the ground. From underneath the Cyclops' leg, I could see a second pair of boots appear. I knew those boots real well.

The crazy bitch knelt down in front of me, Lancer in hand. "Going somewhere Mongo?" She asked sweetly.

I'd be better off with the fucking grubs.

=H=H=

++Xander POV++

The sky was already starting to get darker as I made my way down the street. Looking for that psycho, and trying to do it quietly to keep anymore Locust away. I'd had more then enough of them today.

What light was left was being overtaken by thick black smoke, that fire was becoming massive.

Suddenly I heard a burst of shots, I flipped the switch to turn the comm on and hoped for the best.

:Cor, is everything okay?:

:I got him.: Cordy's excited voice came a few seconds later.

I was kinda wary, until I saw that fucker dead, I wouldn't be happy. :Where are you?:

:I'm two blocks over from that house, on... Falls.: A giggle came over the line. :He's not going anywhere.:

:On my way.: I told her, as I changed immediately directions.

Five minutes later I found them. They were hard to miss with Cordy standing there, taunting Mongo, and him with a Locust on his back. His face was towards me, half buried in the snow.

I dropped the shotgun to the side and got down on my stomach so he could see me clearly. "I told you I'd be seeing you again cock-sucker."

He tried to spit on me, but it landed way-short in the snow. I was willing to bet that happened a lot in his life.

I got back to my feet, picking the gun back up along the way. I turned to Cordy, who looked proud of herself for catching him. I didn't blame her one bit.

"You want me to do it?" I wasn't sure if she'd be able to, but I didn't have that problem.

"I've got other plans." She told me cryptically.

=H=H=

I saw blood in the snow of the alley, It must have finally built up enough to leak from his armor.

"If you wanna work him over, that's cool Cor. But he's bleeding, the Locust are going to follow the trail wherever we go."

Cordy pointed the Lancer at him, letting him know he wasn't getting away.

I grabbed the Locust, it looked like a Helmet, by the legs. Slowly, I managed to drag the body off of our prisoner.

"Get up and take the armor off." She told him with a look of disgust on her face.

He rolled over onto his back and leered at her. "You don't need the gun baby. All you gotta do is ask real nice."

This was a waste of our time, we had to move. I walked over to Mongo, and slammed the butt of the Gnasher into his temple. He was out like Giles in a fight.

"We've got to get this armor off and bandage him up. Then we have to find a place to do whatever it is you got in mind." I told her, as I stepped back from him.

"But-" Cordelia started to argue.

"We're gonna draw a crowd like yesterday Cor, we gotta get inside somewhere."

"You're right," She said, clearly unhappy. "How do you want to do this?"

"Start looking for a house we can set up in, I'll take care of Lieutenant douche bag."

Cordelia quickly moved down the street, gun at the ready. She started at the other end of the street from the bloody alley, which was smart. She still had the easy job though.

"This is going to be fun." I muttered to myself, as I looked down at the man that had made our lives hell for the past three weeks. Mongo's armor was a lot different then the other Gear's stuff I'd seen.

There were none of the blue lights that seemed to be so common on the others. While he had the double discs on his chest like the smaller Gears, the armor had this huge hump, that was almost as tall as his head.

Realizing I was wasting time, I started messing with the disks on his chest. It took me several minutes before I managed to separate the two sides.

I gagged, the smell was terrible. I doubted he had taken his armor off at all since the chopper had crash-landed here. I also saw why he had only carried a revolver.

Mongo had a disgusting shoulder wound that looked really infected. It looked like he had just shoved some kind of cloth in it.

I looked in dread at the lower half, wondering how much worse that was going to be. Better me then Cordy, I decided as I got the heavy work gloves out, this was gonna be messy.

=H=H=

~~Cordelia POV~~

"Wow, there's a lot in here." I told Xander, as we made our way through the house I had found.

"Glad I could help." He said with a smirk, as we quickly walked through the kitchen and down the stairs to the basement.

Mongo was tied to the table. He was in his filthy underwear and spread-eagle, much like I had been. It wasn't a pretty sight, but I could deal.

With a smile, I dumped the bucket over Mongo's unconscious head. I watched as he woke up with a yell, followed by a series of choking coughs.

"What the fuck was that?"

"Burn, does it?" I asked innocently.

"What the hell is this shit?" Mongo demanded.

With a pair of work gloves on, I used a dirty rag to wipe his eyes clear. It wouldn't be any fun if he couldn't see anything.

"I'll tell you, but only if you say pretty please."

"Fuck you!"

"I don't think he's in a playful mood Cor." Xander offered.

I turned to see Xander casually leaning against a dusty, old china closet. I reminded myself to check and see if there was anything good in there later.

"Fine," I told him, giving a dramatic sigh. I turned back to a very unhappy Gear. "If you must know, it's pee."

"You pissed on me?"

"Of course not." I bent down and picked up the bucket. "It came from this." I showed the castle-shaped, plastic object to him with a flair.

"You're fuckin' sick lady."

That wasn't something I was expecting. "You've got a-"

"Actually," Xander cut in.

The Lieutenant turned toward him. Snarling at the disgusted look he was receiving from Xander.

"It was my piss." He stared the man down with clear contempt. "I just had this sudden urge to go, and it seems our toilet was out of order."

"And look," I turned it upside down over his head, letting the last few drops hit him. "You can make a sandcastle with it too!"

"When the COG hears about this-"

"Hears about it?" Xander sneered. "They're gonna see it. Your head is going out on our front lawn mother-fucker." He let out a laugh. "It's gonna have a great view of all the Gears you killed, buried in their graves, while you rot in the streets."

I dropped the bucket, and headed back toward the stairs, I giggled at the thunk it made as it bounced off his head, and the yell that followed.

"And the best part," I added as I walked up the stairs. "The rest of you is gonna be Locust food!"

=H=H=

++Xander POV++

As Cordelia left to do God knew what, I looked at the sad-sack on the table. I wasn't sure what Cordy had in mind, but this guy certainly deserved it.

"You know, I'm not sure exactly why you did this shit..."

"So you suddenly care now?" The big man asked nastily.

I ignored him. "If you would have let Miranda contact us, we could have worked together." I told him as I stepped up to the table. "Two of your Gears would still be alive, and we'd be in much better shape."

Mongo chuckled. "Ya got a real hard-on for her, huh kid?"

I answered him with a punch to the face.

He turned back to face me like nothing had happened. "Ground's pretty cold, betcha could still have some fun."

Hauling back, I punched him again. This time, I felt something break, I was guessing his cheekbone. Yay me.

A trickle of blood came down the corner of his mouth, he licked it away. "Hit a nerve kid?"

"It's funny, I really thought I'd be the one doing this." I told him, as I used a tablecloth on the floor to wipe off my hand.

"Don't have the stomach for it?" He asked with a bloody-toothed smile.

"Just the opposite, I didn't think she did. I never wanted it to come to this."

"You could always let me go."

I punched him a third time for his stupid comment. "The fact that you've pushed her this far makes me angrier then I've ever been in my life. The worst thing I can do is let her have you, and that's exactly what I'm doing."

=H=H=

~~Cordelia POV~~

After listening to what Xander had said, it just made me realize how much he cared about me. I knew I was falling for him, but I put that aside. It was time for business.

I waited a few minutes, before I returned with a weapon I knew Mongo was very familiar with. I was about to speak when he interrupted.

"That's my-"

"Let the lady speak," Xander intervened. "Or I might suddenly feel the need to go, again."

I gave him a nod of thanks, as he stepped back from the table. Then, I went back to letting Mongo get a good look at what I was holding.

"I want to introduce you to something."

His face said it all, he thought he knew where this was going.

"This," I aimed the rifle at his face, poking him in the nose with the knife thing. "Is a Lancer."

"You fucking whore."

"I'm going to kill a really big prick with it today."

"Go head, Do it!" He screamed defiantly.

I ran the blade down his chest, leaving a thin line of blood, I wanted to make him hurt first.

"It tickles." He mocked.

=H=H=

Now, I was pissed. I was trying to hurt this guy, and here he was, laughing at me. I was ready to just jam the knife into his skull, but Xander interrupted.

"Hold up Cor."

"Can't take it kid?" Mongo laughed. "Maybe if ya say pretty please, she'll letcha have yer balls back."

"Shut up Mongrel." Turning to Xander, I saw him staring at Mongo. He looked about as happy with the situation as I did. "What is it?"

"There was a flash when you cut him, do it again."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

He sighed. "I saw a flash when I shot him in the street, when you were cutting him just now, I saw it again. Try it."

Mongo was strangely silent through all this, which made me wonder.

I poked the blade into his side, he didn't even react.

"There it is again." Xander said as he moved toward us. He turned Mongo's head to the side, and pointed to something. "Look."

I leaned over and saw, behind his right ear, was a quarter-sized, metal disc with a blue lens in it. "What the heck is it?"

"I'm not sure." Xander told me as he poked at the thing. "I know none of the other Gears had one though."

"Don't fucking touch that!" Mongo screamed and tried to jerk his head away from our prodding fingers.

"Hold still asshole." Xander ordered and punched him in the face.

It lit up right after the punch, as I poked at it again and realized it was actually embedded in his skull, ew. "What is this thing?"

Mongo tried to pull away again, even after Xander's warning.

Xander held his head down so we could get a better look at it. "Maybe it's some kinda pain blocker, these guys are a lot more high-tech then us."

"Then it has to go." I yanked Xander's hand away and turned Mongo's face toward me. "You hear that you bastard?"

Xander grabbed my arm. "Let me give it a shot Cordy."

After I backed away, Xander tried to pry the thing out with his fingers. After several tries, which caused Mongo to groan, and try to pull away, he shook his head. "It's not coming out."

"Heh-heh... I guess you're just gonna hafta let me go."

I glared down at him. "Oh, you're not going to get off that easy buddy."

"You don't have the guts to do this shit. Couple cuts and punches, but that's it." He then started laughing at me again.

"Really?" I looked down at his smug face, he truly believed I wouldn't kill him. "What do you think of this?" I brought the butt of the gun down on his nose, mashing it into his face, and slamming his head back against the table.

He shook his head a few times, before giving me a look of pure hatred. "You cunt! You broke my fucking nose!"

I hit him again, this time in the mouth. As I pulled back, I could see he was now missing several front teeth. Payback and then some.

He didn't say another word, instead he glared at me, and ran his tongue through the bloody holes in his missing smile.

"I really hate that word, and it's the second time you've used it in front of me." I growled at him.

"I got this covered Cor."

I looked up, and saw Xander walking back toward us, with a pair of pliers in hand. He must have found them somewhere in the basement while I was teaching Mongrel some manners.

"Looky what I found." He taunted Mongo as he snapped them open and shut above his face.

"I'm a COG officer, you can't do this to me!" He insisted, as Xander shoved his head to the side, and clamped down on the disc.

"Watch us." I told him simply as I crossed my arms across my chest to see what would happen.

"You're nothin' but a buncha Strand-!"

As Xander yanked the thing free, Mongo let out a hideous screamb and started seizing wildly. His right arm and legs fought desperately against the ropes, and his head banged repeatedly against the table.

Finally, his body stiffened up and he let out a loud gasp of air, before falling back limply.

"Hol-lee shit."

I turned to Xander. "Is he dead?"

"Let's find out." He held Mongo's head down with his right hand and his left hovered over the mouth. He looked up to me with a grin. "Naw Cor, he's still breathing."

"Good." That could have been an out for me. It could have ended right there, but honestly, I was glad it didn't.

=H=H=

++Xander POV++

I had to snicker as Cordelia went upstairs with the bucket. I'd told her that I was all out, then I realized she was really committed to tormenting this fuck.

Getting back to what I'd been doing, I studied the thing I'd pulled out of Mongo. There was four inches of metal, as thick as a pencil attached to the disc. I couldn't believe all that had been in his head.

Looking over at him, I could easily see what a wreck he was. His face was quickly forming bruises all over, his nose was badly broken at an angle, his mouth was a dentist's wet dream, and his chest was a bloody mess.

I had always thought of myself as a good person, not the smartest or strongest or anything, just that I'd help someone if they needed it. Thinking about this asshole on the table, or the guy I chainsawed yesterday, I just didn't care.

Sure, I could feel bad, considering what Cordy had told me about him, he was scared of Mongo. But he was still going to try to kill me, so fuck 'em.

I looked up as Cordy came down the stairs, she hadn't taken as long as I'd expected.

"Ugh, I am never doing that again." She complained, as she returned to the basement with the bucket.

"I didn't have any problems." I told her with a grin.

"Keep it up, and you're going to end up with this thing on your head."

I laughed, as she dumped the bucket-o-piss over the prick's head, annoying her never got old.

=H=H=

~~Cordelia POV~~

"What the fuck?" Mongo screamed as he was rudely awakened with pee, for a second time.

"Shut up you pussy."

Xander burst out laughing, he'd been doing that a lot lately. "Would you like to be useful?" I asked him sarcastically.

"Like what?" He said loudly, since Mongo was emitting a constant groan of pain.

"Where was I?" I asked Xander.

"Ummmmm... You were going to kill a-"

"Got it." Turning back to psycho, I gave him a big smile as I fondled the blade. "I decided that I'm going to start small."

It finally dawned on him what I was talking about, he knew what was coming.

"You're in for a long night man." Xander informed him.

I stared down at him, with the big gun raised over my head, the huge blade pointed down toward him.

"No, wait!" Mongo plead, tears falling from his right eye.

I had the knife-thing aimed right where I wanted it. The terror he had put in myself, and Corporal Murphy was now shown in his face.

"That thing was fuckin' with my head man! Murphy didn't put it in the right spot! I'm not a bad guy!"

"I don't care." I replied coldly.

=H=H=

END