The air in front of Xander scorched as he raced through the upper atmosphere back towards Sunnydale, the emerald glow around him lighting up the surrounding night as he broke the sound barrier on his way down.

"General Hammond," He almost shouted into his communications link as soon as the requested person picked up the 'phone' he had given them. "We're gonna need some help here."

For once General Hammond didn't bother asking questions, he simply cut straight to the chase. "What sort of help son? What happened?"

"Some nut job named Ethan Rayne; he's on board the Goa'uld mothership now, Major..." Xander paused as he tried to remember the name. "Davis is looking after him," Xander paused for another second as he dove around a plane, mentally berating himself as the plane rocked violently in his wake for a few seconds before righting itself as continuing on. "We're gonna need medical help, I don't know what else, but doctors definitely, maybe some help with... Jesus..." He couldn't believe it as he pulled himself to a stop a few miles above Sunnydale.

The fires of Sunnydale were still burning strong, several structures were completely ruined, and even though the sickly golden constructs had long since vanished, the chaos left in their wake was visible even from this altitude.

"Speak to me son, what's going on?" General Hammond asked over the link, trying to get Xander's attention back.

"Sunnydale, it's... I don't know what to say... there's fires, destruction..." Xander broke off as he couldn't even find the words to describe the destruction of the small town he had lived in all his life.

"I'll get emergency support there ASAP, just do what you can do son, we'll help with the rest." General Hammond advised him. "Just try and save who you can, medical teams should be there within the hour."

"So, just do the hero thing right?" Xander send a mirthless laugh down the line as he swung himself around to look over the other side of Sunnydale, the first thing that caught his attention was the fact that the hospital was burning badly, half of its west tower had already crumbled and looked unstable to say the least. "Gotcha, hospital first, then deal with the rest." He paused before shooting off towards the hospital, his green glow bathing Sunnydale as he came down in an arc closer to roof level. "Just get here when you can, I think we're gonna need a hell of a lot of 'plausible deniability' on this one."

"You've been seen?" General Hammond asked, putting two and two together quickly and correctly guessing that staying hidden while people were in danger wasn't something the teen was willing to do.

"You could say that," Xander grinned as he hovered in front of the hospital and created several giant green girders to hold the side of the building in place. There were dozens of people inside though, and god knows how many of them were now staring out of the window at him, a few of them, young children, were waving at him excitedly. "Yeah, cover up, I don't know how, but this is not of the good." He muttered before closing the comm. link.

Moving himself closer to the burning hospital he motioned for people to stand back, smiling when they did. "Hold on," He whispered to himself as he created a few bolts in the walls and quickly ripped out a large section of the wall before lowering it to the floor slowly.

"We need to get you people out of here," Xander announced as he floated himself inside the hospital and lowered himself to the floor in front of the gathered crowd. "The building isn't stable; I don't know how long I'll be able to hold it for."

"The... the stairs are burning," One of the nurses stepped forwards and took the lead for the crowd. "We can't get off this floor..."

"No problemo," Xander grinned, waving his hand as he concentrated on creating a giant glowing slide that twirled around a dozen times or more down the side of the hospital in a helix until it reached the floor. "Take the quick route down; once you're all down I'll start on the other floors."

"The children," The nurse broke off in a coughing fit before she waved away the smoke that was slowly filling the room. "The children's ward, its two floors up, we can't get to them."

"Great," Xander muttered before turning back to the nurse. "Organise the slide, get these people down safely, I'll get the children then take care of the rest."

"Thank you," The nurse smiled at him as quite a few of the other patients started moving forward and trying to express their gratitude.

"Whoa," Xander backed up away from the crowd, suddenly really thankful that he still had his mask and costume on protecting his identity. "Get everyone down first, there's still a lot to be done here."

With that said, he quickly took to the air again and flew out the large hole he had made; pausing in the air for a moment to look back he could see the nurse sending people down the slide slowly. Some of the younger patients had already pulled pillows and sheets from their beds to aid them in going down the slide where as others were just queuing up and waiting for the nurse to wave them down.

"Right, one floor done, a dozen or more to go." He muttered as he raised himself up and repeated the procedure on the next floor, removing a large area of the wall before floating himself through it.


"You know, this isn't as bad as it looked," Buffy smiled as she took another bite of her snake steak. They didn't have any knives or forks, but had managed to make some crude spikes for them to roast their steaks on over the open fire.

"I have to agree sir," Carter nodded in agreement with Buffy's comment. "It's sweet, very unusual for a red meat."

"Sweet meat," O'Neill quipped with a grin, he'd taken the first mouthful about an hour before anyone else, just to make sure there weren't any poisons in the body of the snake. they had discarded the head after he had decapitated it just to make sure, but the way that Faith had speared it could have pulled some of its poison from the glands and mixed them in with its blood stream. Buffy and Faith hadn't seemed that concerned about being poisoned, they'd just shrugged it off and muttered something about natural poisons not affecting a slayer; Carter on the other hand wasn't taking any chances.

"You were right," Faith muttered as she shuffled closer to the fire. "Its frickin' cold here at night." The suns had long since gone down and the night sky was now lit up with hundreds of stars flickering out in space. The shelter they had build was pretty sturdy, with the help of slayer strength they had managed to pull over some of the larger logs from the forest, logs that O'Neill had categorized as 'trees', to use in their shelter, packing the gaps with mud and leaves from the riverbed and forest, they were pretty sure the shelter would suffice for a week or so on the planet.

"Yup," O'Neill nodded as he finished off his steak and looked around at the torches they had set up around the camp to ward off any animals that would venture in while they were sleeping. The torches also served to light up the area so they could see around themselves, and they created a little ambient warmth that kept the area liveable. "We should stay away from the river at night though, no telling what comes out in there at night," He grinned before looking over at the two slayers. "So no skinny dipping while we're sleeping alright kids?"

"Spoilsport," Faith grinned back at him while Buffy blushed slightly. "So," She paused, looking around the campfire at everyone in turn. "Who's going to talk about the elephant first?"

"Elephant?" Buffy asked, puzzled at the turn in conversation. "Where? What?"

"She means, how are we going to get home." O'Neill translated for her, bringing the thought that was on everybody's minds out into the open. "We haven't got a 'gate, no ship and those rings can't do it."

"So basically, we're screwed." Faith summed up.

"Not entirely," Sam broke in. "General Hammond must have tried dialling the gate by now, we've been out of radio contact for over a day now. Standard practice would be to lock out our GDO codes and register us MIA, though with both of you with us," Sam paused, nodding to Buffy and Faith. "I believe he will send the Excalibur to investigate."

"Wait... the what now?" Buffy asked, breaking Sam's line of thought.

"The mothership Xander liberated from Apophis," O'Neill elaborated. "It was christened the Excalibur and stationed outside earth orbit for training."

"Gotcha, alien spaceship thingie where we fought the bad guys." Buffy nodded, putting it as simply as she could.

"Exactly," Sam nodded as she continued her train of thought. "The SCG has our location, and a mothership with hyperdrive. So either we can expect a rescue from the Excalibur, or General Hammond will inform Ion, sorry, Xander of our position, and he will come and investigate."

"So, either imminent rescue by the Xanman, or... how long for the ship?" Faith asked, putting it like that, they had pretty good odds on getting back to earth pretty soon.

"Five days, maybe four if the ship has left already," Sam had been going through the calculations in her head while they were building the shelter. they already knew the rough coordinates of the planet they were on, the P4X designation put it in the fourth band out from the galactic core, so factoring what they knew about Apophis' territory she could get a pretty accurate reading on where they were, and more importantly how long it would take a Goa'uld mothership to arrive at top speed. "If they have already left, and are pushing the engines, it could be a little under four day's sir, but I wouldn't like to bet on any less than that."

"So, four days on an alien planet?" Faith asked, leaning back on the ground and staring up at the unfamiliar stars in the sky. "Holiday time I think." She grinned as she interlocked her fingers behind her head and relaxed. "We've got food, shelter, water, plenty of places to burn energy off..."

"Don't forget the imminent retaliation of Apophis for destroying his ship; he could be here any day now." Sam reminded her.

"And bad guys to pummel on, it just gets better and better." Faith grinned over at her.


"I'm sorry sir, the books are simply gone." The vampire lackey muttered as he cowered in the shadows of the temporary office he had been ordered to report to after returning from the practically destroyed City Hall. "The... the main library, it's just gone sir, its rubble, nothing survived."

"Well, that is most unfortunate," The mayor leaned back in his chair and stared at the vampire while steepling his fingers. "This is not good gentlemen, they were the last copies of the Books of Ascension, and they cost a pretty penny too, let me tell you." He paused in his speech as he rose from his chair and moved around the desk to the main part of the office, barely smiling as the vampire flinched away from him as he walked across the room. "This simply will not do, I put a lot of time and money into this ascension, I will not have it ruined by a costumed do-gooder."

"We still haven't found any records of him either sir," Mr Trick said calmly from his place on the Mayor's left, comfortably leaning against the wall and watching the town burn outside. "I spoke to a few people, survivors, or they were anyway," He smiled viciously before continuing. "They all say the same thing, guy creating giant yellow dragons came down, started destroying things, another guy came in, this one glowing green, they fought before the green guy took them both straight up. Nothing's been seen since."

"Another sorcerer posing as a hero?" The mayor asked thoughtfully.

"My thought at first as well, but no, there's no residue of any magic in the area, well, nothing out of the normal for Sunnydale anyway." Mr Trick continued as the mayor waved him on. "Whatever these two guys were, it wasn't magic, though I believe the green one was the one known as the Green Death, the same one that killed Angelus and Kakistos."

"It does sound like it," The Mayor agreed. "I had heard that Angelus had taken care of that little problem for us though."

"Rumours, nothing more," Mr Trick explained. "He went underground for a bit, doing, whatever superheroes do I guess." He shrugged before continuing. "It doesn't matter, what does matter is he's back, and aside from taking down two master vampires, one older than anything else on this planet, he's also added this yellow thing to his list of victories as well."

"On the contrary, it does matter, it matters a great deal." The Mayor smiled as he moved towards his temporary desk and wiped it quickly before sitting down on it. "I want to know everything about this 'Green Death', who he is, where he came from, what he does to relax, who his friends are, what his weaknesses are. I want to know everything, especially how I can get him out of Sunnydale."

"I'll see what I can dig up," Mr Trick nodded towards the Mayor before he walked out of the room silently.

"Also, bring me The Book of Origin from my library," The Mayor smiled as Mr Trick nodded slowly at him. "It never hurts to have a backup plan, my father always taught me to be prepared, he told me that right before I sold his soul to a third circle demon." The Mayor smiled as Mr Trick closed the door behind him, leaving him alone with the vampire that had failed to retrieve the Books of Ascension. "Now, I think we need to have a little talk about failure," The mayor pushed himself off the desk and stalked across the room towards the now whimpering vampire. "And what happens to people who fail me..."


Giles grimaced again as he limped along the streets of Sunnydale, Ethan had thrown him a good distance from where the fight had started off, but the thought of getting back and doing what he could to help Jenny, Willow and Oz, if there were any survivors from Ethan's attack, spurred him on.

He reached round to grab his sides with his hand, wincing as his fingers came away slick with blood. Not too much, not enough to warrant making his way to the hospital, he'd already used his torn and bloodied shirt to bandage his wounds that needed immediate attention; the rest would have to wait.

Looking up he let out a sigh of relief as he saw Xander streak overhead, his green glow bathing the area for a minute as he shot over the town and out of eyesight. He was obviously doing what he could to help people after this attack; Giles couldn't fault him for that, putting his own secret aside to help others who needed it.

"Just do what you can," Giles whispered out towards where Xander had gone, knowing that he wouldn't hear the thoughts but it made him feel better to give the advice anyway. Bracing himself once again, he started back on his way back towards where he had last seen Jenny and Willow, his brain refusing to admit that they were dead, he could live in hope, just for a while, if he refused to think it, then he could almost convince himself that everything was going to be alright, even in this town with the fires burning all around him, he could almost convince himself of that, almost.


"Major Davis," General Hammond spoke firmly towards the monitor in the SGC control room that had been set up as a visual link between them and The Excalibur. "I want a full report on what happened up there, it's for SGC eyes only, understand?"

"Perfectly sir," Major Davis nodded sharply. "We have the man Ion delivered to us in custody; he's currently in the ships brig under constant supervision. three guards at all times on rotating four hour shifts, not to mention the Goa'uld cameras in the brig and the force shield keeping him in there, he's not going anywhere sir."

"Good, this man is under arrest for the destruction of Sunnydale California and a currently unknown number of fatalities during his attack." General Hammond glowered over the video link as Major Davis nodded in response; going slightly white at the information he had just been given.

"Sir, is there anything we can do to help?" Major Davis asked, he was used to being asked to help during these situations, fixing things, covering up leaks of alien technology, things like that. Now he was liaison between the SGC and the naval team currently manning the Excalibur, he was beginning to feel like he had been put out to pasture.

"We've got this one son," General Hammond smiled. "Emergency aid is already on its way to the affected areas, we also have reports of attacks fitting a similar description all the way from Boston all the way through to California, aid packages and a suitable cover-up story are being processed and put in place as we speak."

"Good to hear sir," Major Davis nodded again, more comfortable now that he knew everything was being taken care of back on Earth.

"With that in mind, I am extending your field commission on board the Excalibur," He smiled softly as Major Davis brought himself to attention. "Your new commission comes with rank of Lieutenant Colonel, and you are to now act as commander of the Excalibur during its training mission."

"Sir," Lieutenant Colonel Davis snapped off a salute back across the video link in pride as General Hammond returned the gesture.

"You and your team have done excellent work on the Excalibur son, and I have the utmost faith that you will complete your first mission." General Hammond smiled as Lt Col Davis looked at him wearily. "Set your computers to receive a file, codename Green Lantern."

Lt Col Davis looked away from the screen for a minute, motioning to the naval officer sat away from him to set up the necessary link. "Link established sir," He nodded as he returned his attention to the screen.

"Good, I'm transmitting the files now," General Hammond nodded across to Sgt Siler to immediately entered the command into the SGC's encrypted computers to transmit the files on a high bandwidth link directly to the Excalibur's computer system. "You should have them now, these files are of the utmost importance, read them, memorise them."

"Sir," Lt Col Davis nodded as he motioned for the files to be brought up on the main screen of the Excalibur's bridge. "Two personnel files, codenames Buffy and Faith sir, Green Lanterns of Earth?" He paused, looking at the screen again to get confirmation that this wasn't the joke he was thinking it was. He could see the images clearly, obviously taken with high resolution security camera footage, of two women, approximately seventeen to twenty years of age. one blonde, one brunette, both were wearing stylised outfits that looked like high quality leather in black and green, and both had the same insignia on the front of their outfits.

"Correct, Buffy and Faith, otherwise known as Green Lanterns, are protectors of this planet," General Hammond paused as he waited for Lt Col Davis to assimilate this information; they had come up with a pretty good cover story for Faith and Buffy, made a lot easier with Xander's help in convincing the IOA that he was an alien ambassador. With this information already in the Oversight Committee's hands, all they had to do was add amendments that Faith and Buffy had been transferred to Ion's command as his lieutenants.

"Sir, permission to speak freely." Lt Col Davis asked as he turned back from the view screen towards the communications link.

"Granted," General Hammond said, wanting to know exactly what was on Davis' mind.

"Sir, is this some sort of joke?" Lt Col Davis asked, unsure how else he could word the question to his superior officer. "Green Lantern is a comic sir, a very popular one if I remember correctly."

"You read it son?" General Hammond asked, trying for complete seriousness but unable to keep the smirk completely off his lips.

"Used to sir, now my son is an avid reader." Lt Col Davis responded. "Is this true, I mean, how is it possible?"

"I can't give you the full briefing over an unsecured line son, but it is true, Earth now has two Green Lanterns protecting it." General Hammond smiled as he saw Lt Col Davis' eyes go wide at this information. "They are capable of doing everything that the comic characters you know are capable of, which brings us back to the nature of your mission."

"Sir," Lt Col Davis couldn't suppress the smile that spread across his face at the knowledge that there were two Green Lanterns out there protecting earth, that made the fight they had just witnessed between Ion and the yellow energy seem that much more real and put it in a decent perspective for him.

"Green Lantern's Faith and Buffy are currently with two members of SG1, Colonel O'Neill and Lieutenant Carter. You already have the coordinates of the planet they are on; it is deep in enemy territory, though the cover of the Goa'uld mothership should afford you some protection." General Hammond moved on with the mission briefing he had been authorised to give, now that Sunnydale was being taken care of, and the Command in Chief had been brought up to speed on the nature of the Green Lantern's and Ambassador Ion, he had given them the go ahead for the rescue mission. "You are to take the Excalibur to P4X-992 and appraise the situation from there, if possible retrieve Colonel O'Neill, Lieutenant Carter and Green Lantern's Faith and Buffy."

"Understood sir," Major Davis nodded sharply after saluting.

"If this goes well, you could find yourself as a permanent commander of The Excalibur son," General Hammond smiled over the link, knowing full well that he had already pushed forward the idea to the Oversight Committee, it would make them feel better knowing there was an Air Force commander on board the ship, and the rest of the Governing Bodies that were in the know would be happy knowing the Air Force was now sharing the responsibility of protecting Earth with the Naval forces now manning the ship. "God speed, General Hammond out."

He let himself smile once more as the view screen cut out; turning to Sergeant Siler he smiled even more as Siler reported the Excalibur was moving away from earth before he announced that the mothership had jumped into hyperspace.

"God speed and safe journey," General Hammond muttered as he watched the screen showing the small blue dot that signified the mothership disappear from earth radar. "Bring them home safe."


Xander fought back the grimace that threatened to cross his face as he focused on the job at hand, it was nearly over now but the constant strain of forcing his will to shape reality over such a large area was definitely beginning to take its toll. The children were now safely out of the building, he glanced down and could see four, maybe five glowing green parachutes still open in the air, carrying their precious cargo down to the floor.

"Nearly there," Xander muttered as he swung himself around the building again checking for any more survivors in the hospital. The nurses had strangely been the last to leave, while the high paid doctors seemed to have vanished before he even got there. He paused, looking down again, the parachutes were now on the floor so he relaxed for a second as he dissolved the constructs and felt his concentration snap back to a semblance of normal.

It had taken him nearly two hours to evacuate everyone from the hospital, two hours with his constant will forcing the hospital to stay upright by creating large constructs of girders around the damaged hospital to keep it stable. Two hours of him creating slides, parachutes and other manner of constructs to get everyone to safety.

If anyone asked, he could blame the fires in the hospital for the sweat that was pouring down his forehead and soaking his hair, though the truth was that this was the longest he had gone with the constant use of his powers, while he was able to now make his constructs at vibrant and detailed as he could imagine, it was something else to focus on a dozen or more constructs at once, forcing them into existence and then keeping them there while he did his job.

Soaring back into the hospital he quickly flew down the corridors of the level he was on, checking for any other survivors of the attack and making sure this level was completely evacuated. This was the last one of the floors that were damaged, all the patients and staff on the floors beneath this one had been able to get out using the stairs and through the main doors and fire exits, it was only because of the structural damage that the top fourteen floors had been stranded in the burning building that was crumbling more as he worked.

"Everyone out?" He called as he flew back to the hole in the wall he had created, he was pretty confident that he had got everyone out but in situations like this there was no harm in double checking everything. When no one called back he did one final sweep, using his powers to check for any energy signature that looked out of place, any energy signature that would show signs of life. Discounting electricity, fires, the plumbing system, computer systems he paused for a moment as his eyes covered the entire floor, only then did he allow himself a brief smile as he confirmed that there was no one left on the floor.

"Ok, let's get out of here." He muttered to himself, pushing himself backwards out of the hole in the wall so he could keep an eye on the building and make sure it would stay upright until he got down to the floor and could help people there.

The nurses had been surprisingly efficient at getting people away from the building, using the stock of ambulances that were stationed outside for hospital use and any cars they could use from the parking lot, they'd even managed to set up a make shift triage in the park a block or so away from the hospital where he could see them using the cars and ambulances to light up the area as they worked on any injuries.

Xander frowned to himself as he lowered himself through the air in front of the hospital building, his green glow lighting up the surrounding area and advertising his presence to everyone. "The place is clear, I checked it all." He said calmly to the nurse who had rushed over to see him. "It's in pretty bad shape though and I can't hold it up forever you know."

"We're... we've evacuated the area," The nurse stated, looking at first like she wanted to say something else but changed her mind at the last second. "Everyone's over in the park, next block over."

"I saw," Xander nodded with a smile. "Any serious injuries?"

"Smoke inhalation, a few lacerations and contusions, nothing major." The nurse reported instantly, forgetting that she wasn't supposed to divulge patient information and was just thankful that whoever this masked 'superhero' was, he was in the area to help.

"So cuts, bruises and nothing some clean air won't clear up?" Xander grinned as he simplified it, smiling even more when the nurse shared his smile for a brief moment before nodding. "Right, I've got plenty of other places to check out, are you going to be alright here?"

"Yes," The nurse nodded after a moment. "Some of the patients who were in for small things, and a few visitors, they're helping out where they can."

"Good, help should be here soon, just try and keep everyone together," Xander frowned as he looked over at the horizon, still dark, not even a sign of dawn on the horizon yet, it was definitely going to be a long night for him. "It'd be better if you moved to a house or somewhere like that, you know, keep off the streets and someplace warm and safe."

"We'll see... I think we're ok where we are though, we've got enough blankets and cots for everyone that needs them, the ambulances and cars will help with the rest." The nurse replied, not showing any indication that she actually knew what was really out there and a threat to both her and her patients.

Xander repressed a sigh, knowing that this would just be one more group of people he'd have to watch out for tonight, keeping an eye on them would be tough while he did what he could in the town, but not impossible, not if he played this correctly. "Ok, I'll help you settle in, help out for a bit, but I've still got a lot of other places to check on." He smiled softly as the nurse nodded at him. "The hospital was one of the worst hit, aside from the town hall, which isn't really standing at all anymore from what I could see. That's where all the police and fire trucks are."

"Well, I'm glad you were here to help out." The nurse said with a soft smile as she started walking away from the hospital towards the well lit park area that was visible about a half mile or so down the road.

"Same here," Xander replied as he started walking alongside the nurse to the park area, horrified at the thought that the emergency services would go to the aid of bearcats and politicians before they would come to the aid of a hospital. "Same here."


Giles just knelt on the floor, his eyes refusing to process the horror that he could see a few feet in front of him, the yellow spike that had pinned Jenny to the floor had long since disappeared into the ether, leaving a gaping wound through her stomach which was bleeding out. Willow was knelt next to her, covered in blood, her soft pastel clothes were now a sickly black colour in the night, but he knew they would be a deep, dark red in the light.

"Giles..." Willow spoke up as soon as she noticed him, her head moving up at a slow pace as if her brain wasn't really processing what was going on her. "What... how..."

"Xander," Giles said by way of explanation as he started to move closer to her. "He stopped Ethan somehow."

"Then... then where is he? He could fix this, help her, help Oz." Willow continued in a small voice, a voice that betrayed the horrors she had seen tonight more than anything else she had seen in the past two years working with Buffy.

"I don't know," Giles said softly as he knelt back down beside her. "There's so much..." He nodded with his head to the surrounding areas and the fires he could see still burning in the distance. "He's out there somewhere, trying to fix this."

"But... but Oz, and Ms Calendar..." Willow trailed off, she couldn't even bring herself to say what had happened to Oz, they had all thought they were invincible, like nothing could touch them, and nothing could tear them apart. They were the Scoobies, with Buffy and Xander around, nothing could hurt them anymore.

"There's nothing we can do for them," Giles said softly, tears welling in his eyes as he looked down at the body of his lover. He couldn't even take her to a hospital, he just didn't know enough about her, was her physiology even human anymore, how would human drugs affect her system, could they even get them into her system. So many questions that no one had the answers to.

"Xander... he could fix this... bring them back, I know he could." Willow started calmly at first but her voice rose slowly as she spoke and he could see her resolve face setting in.

"No." Giles cut her off, his voice close to breaking as he vetoed the idea that could bring Jenny back. "He mustn't, no one can, it wouldn't be them any more Willow, surely you must know that?" He looked over at her, tears now running down his face as equally as they did down hers. "I knew someone, a lifetime ago; he tried to bring someone back, but the price, the price in unimaginably high, even for him."

"So he did it, he paid the price, I'll pay it, for Oz... Giles.... I love him." Willow's voice broke at the declaration of her feelings and the floodgates opened, sending torrents of tears down her body as she shook with either shock or sorrow.

"Shhh... I know, I know..." Giles tapered off, pulling her into a tight hug. He knew how she felt, knew how she would do anything to bring her lover back, once, long ago, he would have done the same. He would be the one begging Constantine to come over, he would be the one that would petition Osiris to let Jenny's soul back, but not now, not now that he had seen the consequence of the spell, now he would do everything in his power to stop anyone making the mistake that John had made all those years ago.


Xander paused before stepping into the medical compound that had taken over the park area; all motion seemed to stop as they noticed him approach with the nurse that had shown him the way. The walk had been filled in quiet contemplation, not an awkward silence by any stretch of the word, just a quiet with unanswered questions for the nurse and thoughts about what else he would see this night for Xander.

Everyone just stood still as they turned to see him; he figured this would be their reaction, unsure, not knowing what he was or who he was. He didn't know what they would do next, try and run him out of town, run away from him, terrified of him; half a dozen scenarios were running through his head as he walked forwards again, his hesitation barely noticed by the nurse at his side.

"Look, maybe I shouldn't..." He trailed off as he watched people slowly smile at him, a young mother was the first to approach him, her baby in her arms couldn't have been more than a year old at the most. She just walked towards him confidently, no hesitation in her strides as she came up and stopped a foot or so in front of him.

"I... We..." She stuttered out at first before blushing like a schoolgirl around her crush. "Thank you." She said simply in the end before leaning forward and planting a soft kiss on his cheek. "Thank you." She whispered again softly as she pulled back.

The crowd seemed to pick up on this and decided this was the time to say what they felt, it started slowly, a few people clapping, the sound echoing through the park, but soon others joined in and even the nurse at his side was now clapping along in gratitude for what he had done tonight.

Xander couldn't believe it; people were actually applauding him for what he had done. Out of all the reactions he had imagined, this was nowhere near what he had thought would actually happen. He expected people to forget it, to ignore him, to just repress it as they did all the other weird things that happened in Sunnydale, but here they were, cheering him and calling him a 'superhero'. He was sure the blush that filled his cheeks didn't fit well at all with his black and green outfit, but as much as he forced it down he could still feel the burning on his cheeks that told him his face was still glowing.

Xander opened his mouth several times before closing it again, doing a pretty good impression of a fish while he tried to think of something cool to say, something that people would remember, something a hero would say. In the end he just grinned, flashing one of his trademarked lopsided smiles before he lifted himself in the air, his green glow lighting up the area as he hovered above them.

"I've got a few other places to check on," He said, smiling as everyone stopped clapping to listen to what he had to say. "But I'll be back to help out later on." He grinned as people started clapping again, his blush coming back in full force now while his confidence soared to new heights. "This should help with keeping the place warm and lit up." He smiled, spreading his arms out from his body he concentrated for a few seconds, knowing exactly what he wanted to do and forcing his imagination and will to shape it.

A few people stepped back from the glowing poles that appeared around the park instinctively before staring up at him again, now there was a couple of dozen poles scattered evenly around the park perimeter. Each one giving out a bright light, brighter than any street light could, each one bathing the area in a warm green glow that felt not only of light but of life itself. He didn't need to check them, he knew what light they were emitting, it was barely noticeable by humans but he could see the wavelengths of the light shining around each pole, each one giving out the same type of light that the sun did, the waves matched sunlight perfectly.

"They should keep you safe," He smiled before lifting himself up a bit higher above the park, happy now that no vampires could come in while he was away, he'd still be keeping an eye on them, each pole was designed to signal him the moment something non human passed the perimeter, it wasn't perfect, but it was the best he could do without staying her and keeping an eye on the makeshift triage all night.

He smiled down once more, happy to see that people were going about their duties again, nurses rushing around and people forming queues. Other people now helping out where they can and laying blankets down around the bright green poles for people to rest on. It was a victory, a small one, but Xander treasured it more than anything else he had done so far. This time it was different, people had seen him, people had reacted to him, this time it was out in the open.

Before he moved away he noticed one man standing at the perimeter of the park, standing away from the others. He was watching him but also watching around him, watching the dark shadows of the trees and the perimeter of the park with equal interest.

"Someone that knows what's really going on?" Xander muttered to himself with a smile as he moved himself across the park to the man in question. He was wearing a suit, or what was left of one. A pale blue shirt was unbuttoned revealing a white vest underneath and braces hung from his pants, obviously shrugged off for easy movement or to allow his shirt to move more comfortably while he helped people out. "You ok?" Xander asked as he approached the man, he waited a few moments before setting himself down on the grass in front of him.

"Hmm, yes, oh yeah, sorry," The man stuttered out before taking his glasses off and smiling over. "I'm just... uh... watching, you know, keeping an eye on things."

Xander couldn't help but smile at the man, he was obviously in the know but how he had survived was a complete mystery to him. "Right," Xander grinned. "And the stake in your pocket is... for what? Building a really small fence?" He grinned even more as the man flushed for a moment before pulling his loose shirt down to cover up his pockets even further. "The cross is a nice touch though, simple." Xander nodded to the plain silver cross that was dangling from the man's neck and reflecting Xander's green glow. "Might want to get some holy water as well, just in case."

"Well, it's funny you should say..." The man trailed off softly as he brought out a small flask from his back pocket.

"Covered all the bases then," Xander smiled. "Keep an eye on them, I'll be back when I can, but I can't be here all the time."

"I'll do my best," The man said, standing proudly in front of Xander. "I won't let you down Mister... uh..."

"Call me Ion," Xander said as the man looked a bit flustered at not knowing his name. "And I know you'll be alright, I'll send some friends over to help out when I can."

"Wesley," The man smiled, holding out his hand eagerly which Xander shook quickly. "Wesley Wyndam-Pryce." The man smiled even more as he introduced himself before he placed his glasses back where they belonged.

"Gotcha, see you around Wesley." Xander nodded before lifting himself up. "Oh, and the glow stick things, they're giving out the same light as the sun, should keep any vamps away." He said softly as he hovered a few feet in the air. "Should give you a bit of a helping hand."

"Th... thank you." Wesley stuttered out in shock as he stared up at Xander.

"Anytime," Xander grinned before lifting himself further up and then flying out of the park. "Anytime."


"Sir," Mr Trick knocked once on the door of the makeshift mayor's office before walking in, the door was already ajar so he knew The Mayor was in there, no one else would dare enter the office if he wasn't there, barely anyone had the guts to go in there when he was there, so it was really a moot point. "We've just received word, the green guy, whatever you want to call him. He's at the hospital, doing the hero thing I guess, anyway, I watched him for a bit, you know, binoculars from ground level, and whooee, I'm telling you, this guy is something else."

"Tell me more," The mayor smiled as he rested back in the comfy leather seat that had been brought in for him.

"Well, from what I saw, he can fly, create things out of nothing, they all seemed to be glowing green though, kinda noticeable if you ask me." Trick continued as the Mayor just stared at him, the full focus of his attention now on the vampire. "He's young though, couldn't rightly see how young as he was wearing that stupid mask. You know, I get the whole secret identity thing but it sure does put a crimp in trying to figure out who this guy is."

"I believe that is the idea," The Mayor said patiently, waiting for Mr Trick to continue.

"Yeah, whatever," Mr Trick shrugged before he continued on. "As I was saying, he was creating slides, parachutes, hell; he pulled a massive chunk out of the hospital wall just by looking at it."

"Telekinesis?" The Mayor asked, trying to get a rough rundown of the powers he would be facing if he couldn't convince this 'superhero' to either join him or leave the town alone.

"Don't think so," Mr Trick replied. "The wall sort of glowed green, like everything else he did, might have had something pulling it out, I couldn't really see."

"Where is he now?" The Mayor asked, his voice slow and deliberate.

"Fourth park west, just a block or so from the hospital, I couldn't get in there, some light thing, it burned like sunlight when I got close. I could just see him talking to some bloke, couldn't see his face though." Mr Trick reported as he sat down in one of the office chairs.

"Spread the word, no one is to interfere in the park or any hospital business for the foreseeable future. Anything this hero does, I want to know about it, but no one is to attack him or anyone with him." The mayor leaned back in his chair and considered his options. "He's obviously powerful, wielding some sort of magic that we can't trace or control, I don't want to give him any reason to turn his attention towards my plans, they've already been... interfered with enough."

"Right, I'll get it out." Mr Trick said calmly as he stood up. "I did hear a name though."

The mayor just turned to him as he lent forwards, his arms resting on the desk as he waiting for the vampire to continue.

"He said to call him Ion, whatever that means. That's what he told the bloke to call him anyway." Mr Trick shrugged his shoulders before leaving the office and closing the door silently behind him.

"Ion," The mayor said quietly as he rested back in his chair. "Well, gosh, aren't we going to have fun with that." He let out a small laugh before pulling his desk drawer open and retrieving a book from the case inside. It was covered in a soft blue velour cloth which he slowly unwrapped, taking great care to fold the cloth carefully before putting in aside on the desk and opening the book to the page he had last been at. "The path of origin," He spoke out loud as he read the first chapter. "Hallowed are the Ori indeed." He chuckled to himself once more before turning the page and starting the preparations.


Xander's flight path shuddered slightly as he soared through the air above Sunnydale, his thoughts immediately broken as he saw something that would be forever burned into his mind. Dropping out of the air he allowed himself a few moments to right himself before he ran over to where he could see Willow and Giles still hugging each other, to the side of them was a body, he could barely make it out from here but it became clearer as he ran towards them.

"Giles, Willow..." He yelled out as he ran over as fast as he could, the sight stopped him though as he skidded to a halt a few feet away from where they were knelt, now both looking at him. "What... what happened?"

"Ethan, you... you stopped him?" Giles asked, his voice saying that he knew he had done but he needed to hear the news for himself.

"Yeah... what..." Xander stuttered out, the sight of Willow breaking him more than anything else could have. Her clothes were caked in blood, not the amount of blood you'd get from a cut or something manageable, whatever had bled out that much was in serious trouble. "Willow..."

"Oz..." Willow's voice broke as she lowered her head. "He..."

"Oz is a werewolf," Xander said firmly. "He'll recover, I'm sure he'll be alright." He paused when Willow shook her head; he could now see the tears streaming down her face, lit up by his green glow that was bathing the entire street in its light. "But..."

"He can't... not from this..." Willow replied, swallowing half way through, her voice so close to breaking again as she forced back another torrent of tears. "You can though, you can fix this."

"Willow..." Giles said firmly as he stood up but Willow just pulled away from him.

"No, no, Xander can fix this, I know he can. Bring Oz back, fix this," By the time Willow had finished speaking she was nearly screaming at him. "You can fix this, fix all of this." She shouted as him as she walked towards him, the tears now freely running down her cheeks.

"Willow..." Xander started.

"No, don't you 'Willow' me, you fix this, you hear me, fix it!" She screamed at him, bringing her hands up and slapping him in the chest, her blood soaked hands leaving imprints on the green and black leather underneath as the impact thudded against the leather costume. "Bring Oz back, you hear me, fix this, fix it all!" She screamed as she continued to slap at his chest wildly. "Fix it, you hear me, fix it all!"

"Willow..." Giles moved in behind her, slowly reaching out and holding her arms before turning her around and embracing her again. "He can't..."

"He can..." She broke down in tears again as Giles held her. "I know he can..."

"I..." Xander paused; the look Giles was giving him was enough to rival even Willow's resolve face. He had to look away, staring at the floor for a moment he paused; something caught his eye, some sort of movement over by Ms Calendar's body. "What the..." He looked over, focusing his vision, he could now clearly see the energy flowing around her, that same golden energy that he had never been able to quantify before, it was slow, weak even, but it was still there, mixing and flowing around her body. "Giles, she's not dead..." Xander said firmly as he ran over to Ms Calendar's body, skidding to his knees beside her and lifting her head up. "I can see it; she's not dead, not yet anyway."

"Xander..." Giles broke in, he knew what he had felt, no pulse, no breathing, no one could have survived what Ethan had put her through, not even a Kryptonian.

"I'm telling you, she just needs... I don't know, a boost." Xander cut Giles off from whatever he was about to say. "She's alive Giles, I can see it, and I know what she needs." He bent down for a second, sliding his hands under her body before lifting her up and standing up. "I'll be back, we'll be back." Xander smiled down at the limp body in his arms before slowly lifting himself off the ground. "Oh, and keep an eye on this for me," Xander frowned as he create a construct to hold Ms Calendar for a moment as he reached into one of the pockets in his uniform and retrieve the golden ring that he had taken off of Ethan. "Just... I don't know, I just don't want it on me." He shivered as he looked at the ring that had caused so much death and destruction. "Just look after it alright?" He said before tossing the golden ring down to where he saw Giles snatch it out of the air effortlessly. "Keep an eye on things, there's some people over in West Park that need help, nurses."

He smiled back again before blasting upwards in a flash of emerald energy, arcing around the planet until he saw his target destination.

"Just hold on Ms C, just hold on." He muttered, holding her tightly as he blasted towards the sun, speed becoming a mere thought as he forced himself beyond any speed he had pushed before. "Hold on." He grimaced as he passed Mercury, the star in front of him now encompassing his entire field of vision. "Just hold on." The emerald glow around him intensified as he forced his shields stronger and stronger, he knew he didn't have to waste the effort on shielding Ms C so the green glow just wrapped itself solely around him.

Xander closed his eyes as he approached the sun, the brightness was more than anything he could handle, a construct helmet covered his eyes and projected a dimmer view inside so he could still see what was going on, the heat now was unfathomable as he pulled himself to a stop just outside the star's outer prominence. "God, I hope this works." He muttered softly before letting go of Ms Calendar's body, the gravity from the star taking hold as soon as he let go and pulling the now freefalling body into the star. "Be quick."He smiled softly as he watched her body disappear from view into the bright golden plasma of the star.