Chapter 15.

"I say we should call Willow and Giles." Buffy stated again.

"Buffy. Willow could barely stand to be in the same room as me. I don't think calling her as backup is a good plan. And I don't think you can invite Giles and me without insulting her." Xander countered.

"Now, see. This is good. Talking is good at this stage in the relationship." A still tied up Willie interjected.

"Shut up!" both of the others said at the same time.

"Fine. Call them. But make sure that Giles brings a sword, because he's shite with a crossbow." Xander said.

"I thought he took down that assassin with a crossbow?" Buffy countered as she turned and dragged Willie to a payphone.

"Yeah, but he missed the heart. At a distance he should have been dead on at. He'll be better off with a sword. Give Willow the crossbow."

Buffy towed Willie over to a nearby payphone and dialed the direct number for the library. "Giles. It's us." Buffy spoke into the phone.

"..."

"Willie's taking us to the church. We're heading west. There's only a couple churches left that it could be."

"The Episcopal one is closed, it's the most likely." Xander added.

"You get that?"

"..."

"Okay. Try to hurry. And-" she paused. "bring your sword." Buffy gave Xander a dirty look at that, but she'd acquiesced all the same.

"Way to wear the pants in the family." Willie nodded to him.

"Buff, could you hit him for me?" Xander asked over-sweetly.

Buffy did, though the ropes across his chest actually provided pretty good padding for the bartender and he didn't get the full force of the blow Buffy had already pulled so he'd still be useful to them. It still felt like getting hit by a sledgehammer.

"Come on, let's go." Buffy started pulling her hostage again.

"You know, I'm sure this kind of treatment violates several key statutes of the Kyoto Treaty."

"Really?" Xander scoffed. "And exactly how does our treatment of you affect global warming?"

"Umm... Uhh... Well... You just can't treat people like this."

"Shut it." Buffy ordered. "Or you'll be walking barefoot because I'll stuff both of your socks in your mouth."

That shut 'em up.

Xander wasn't sure if 'both' referred to both he and Willie or both of Willie's socks. So he shut up too. That whole 'willpower to follow through on her threats' was definitely there right now and he wasn't about to antagonize her further at the moment.

"Are you sure you're up for this?" Giles asked Xander gently when he and Willow had arrived.

"I've fought-"

"You remember fighting." Willow corrected curtly. The first words she'd spoken to him in far too long.

"I remember fighting hurt much worse than this." Xander finished.

"But you were Immortal then. You aren't now." she reminded.

"I'll be stiff and slightly slower to react to threats from my right side. But since that's my sword hand, it still looks more threatening. Most of my kills will come from the stake. I'll be fine." he insisted, more to Buffy and Giles than Willow.

"If they had enough vamps to take Angel, I can't afford to let him sit out if he's okay to fight." Buffy insisted.

"And what about me?" Willie asked from the tree he'd been tied to.

"You are going to stay right here and not warn anyone that we're coming." Buffy said with mock cheerfulness. "Because if you warn them, then applesauce will be the toughest food you'll ever be able to drink ever again. Capiche?"

Willie swallowed and ran his tongue unconsciously over his teeth. "Yeah, I got you, Slayer."

As they neared the lobby just outside the sanctuary it was clear that this wasn't going to be easy. There were over a dozen vampires blocking their path. And a few feet in front of them, a small, wicker end table with a half-gallon of organic apple juice and an unopened package of Double-Stuf Oreos. Only in California, Giles mused, would it matter that the apple juice that you were going to imbibe with your Oreos, be organic.

At the head of the vampires stood the vampire formerly known as Ford. "Hello Buffy." he motioned to the snacks. "I've prepared a last meal for you that should be to your liking."

"Shove it, Ford. Do I even call you Ford anymore? You're not the Ford I knew."

"True. But the Ford you knew really died the day he found out he was dying. A new creature was born that day, that cheerfully walked into my immortal embrace." Ford said.

"Too bad you're not going to live past tonight." Buffy replied.

Ford sighed. "I was afraid you'd say that. I suppose there's no way to avoid it then. You want a fight to the death? Mano a mano? Let's step outside then." he motioned to some doors and started through them.

Buffy was about to follow after when Xander interrupted. "I'll handle him. You take care of these guys and get to Angel."

Angel! How had she forgotten about Angel? Her anger at Ford's betrayal had seriously clouded her mind. "Thanks." she said as she looked back at the gathered forces of darkness. She was suddenly a very pissed off Slayer and these vamps were standing in her way.

With a guttural roar she charged with stakes in each hand and Giles right behind her.

On his way outside, Xander took a drink of water from a water bottle in his coat before drawing his sword.

"A sword? Seriously? That's the best you can do?" Ford mocked.

Xander remained silent and ready. If he hadn't been injured, he probably would have attacked. But against someone like Ford, who had clearly had a fairly well thought-out plan for getting turned, it was best to just wait for him to make the first move rather than walk into a trap. So he waited. The nice thing about having 5,000 years of memories was that it showed him the value of patience the way nothing else could. And the 18 year old vampire, who was technically immortal, had been raised in an era of immediate gratification and had very little patience. Whereas the human who technically had 5,000 years of memories but might or might not be Immortal had plenty of patience. Thirty seconds felt like an eternity to both of them, but Ford broke first.

Ford attacked, differently than most vampires who liked to swing their claws. Instead he charged in like a football player, with his arms above his head, shielding his neck from Xander's sword. Xander swung.

At full strength, he almost certainly would have at least taken off Ford's arm and made a cut in the neck. But hampered by his injury, the blow made it through the ulna bone but got caught in the radius, the innermost of the two bones in the forearm. They both cried out in pain as they crashed together. Xander's sword went tumbling and he reached for two stakes to replace it while Ford was still on top of him. He didn't get to them in time though as Ford jumped back up off Xander very quickly and tore off his shirt which was smoking in the back.

"What the hell?" he yelled trying to cradle his injured arm and pat his smoking back which had been burned by the holy water Xander had been holding in his mouth until Ford tackled him. Ford looked at the man in front of him who was now holding two stakes and had already seriously injured him. He took off, leaving his and Spike's minions to Buffy's tender mercies.

Xander might have gone after him if he'd been uninjured and he didn't have friends fighting for their lives inside the church. Instead, he cursed himself for being foolishly noble and not pulling the Taser he'd gotten from the assassin cop right away. He tucked his stakes away, picked up his sword, took another drink of holy water, and finally pulled his Taser. Then he went back into the church.

Giles waited half a second after his Slayer charged in to charge after her.

The delay was intentional. His swordsmanship had improved greatly since he'd started sparring with Xander. After all, he wasn't living in a vacuum and the practice had both gotten him back in fighting form, as it were, and actually improved his skills as well. Not as much as Xander, to be sure, but the boy had more raw potential than an over the hill watcher.

Where were we? Oh, yes. Charging into battle against over a dozen vicious monsters armed only with a sword and a couple bits of sharpened wood even though he was not a mystically enhanced Vampire Slayer. His first slash with the sword decapitated two vampires at once who had been trying to encircle his Slayer. A crossbow bolt wooshed through the air nearby and dusted a vampire to his right. Ahead of him, he heard another vampire sent to oblivion by Buffy. But now the vampires had noticed him and Willow. And Buffy could no longer hold the attention of all the vampires still undead.

Giles' world narrowed down to the three vampires coming after him and he could spare only a passing thought for the two going after Willow.

He wished he could help her, but quite frankly, it was all he could do to stay alive against three vampires. A sharp sword was no fun to get poked by as the monsters found out for themselves, but what they really feared was the stake in his off hand. The one on the left tried an overhand slash, but he grabbed only blade for his troubles and Giles turned the block into an attack on the middle vampire's head, which had been much too close for comfort. The thing staggered back with a slash to his cheek, its preternatural speed allowing it to escape what should have been a sword thrust to his brain. Giles didn't know what damage that would do, but he doubted the vampire would like it very much indeed. The vamp on the right had also been attacking at the same time, but a feint with his stake had changed his mind, though Giles pulled the weapon back before it could be knocked from his hand.

And so it went for much too long by Giles' reckoning. He wasn't sure how long he could keep this up, training with Xander had improved his own endurance, but it surely wouldn't last much longer. He could already feel himself beginning to tire. So, when the front doors opened to reveal Xander striding back in, he took the opportunity to stake one of his distracted oponents. But it was then that his heart froze when he saw that Willow had been captured by a vampire.

When Xander stepped back into the church vestibule, the first thing he noticed was a vampire about to bite into Willow's neck. Upon seeing him and not Ford return however, the vampire got other ideas.

"Drop your weapons!" it ordered.

Xander didn't hesitate, he dropped his Taser and sword quickly though he continued walking calmly forward. He held his hands out to his sides, so he couldn't get to any of his other weapons quickly. But he didn't stop walking. 5 steps, 4 steps, 3 steps, 2 steps...

"That's close enough. Another step and I break her neck."

Xander stopped with his leg still in midair. He would have liked to be just a bit closer for this, but it would have to do.

The vamp looked down. "Put your foot- Ahh!" the monster cried out in pain as Xander spit holy water in its face. Well, in its face and Willow's as well, but that didn't have any effect on her other than making her wet and possibly cranky for spitting water in her face.

Xander dove forward while pushing Willow out of the vamp's grasp, pulled a stake, and dusted the thing all in one smooth motion. He didn't spare a glance for Willow or for Buffy as he turned and ran at Giles, he drew a second stake and double dusted the two vamps Giles was still fending off. He spared only a nod at the older man before turning again and racing for his sword. He didn't bother putting the stakes away, just tossed them aside for later. As he picked up his sword, he pulled a new bottle of holy water and charged at the group that Buffy was still dealing with. The circle around her was more spread out now, so when he splashed the water in a wide arc over them, most of them caught only a few drops. A few drops of holy water can be quite distracting for a vampire though, especially when they're not expecting it.

Xander only got one beheading before the rest of the vamps realized that the others they thought neutralized were not so neutralized after all. Buffy used the distractions of holy water and Xander's attack to good effect though and dusted two more herself.

The seven vampires left started to feel outnumbered at 7-3 odds. They didn't count the girl still laying on the ground as a threat.

Two vamps broke off from the group, one apiece to deal with each of the swordsmen. Xander flicked the mostly empty water bottle in their direction and smirked when a few drops hit each vamp and started smoking.

"Stop that!" one of the vamps ordered.

Xander looked over the shoulder of one of the vampires and tossed the bottle aside. "Don't have to. Buffy's done with your friends already."

It should have been plenty of distraction. Enough for him to behead the vamp before he knew what hit him. But either the vamp was smarter than most or he was just slowing down after a long fight and already being injured, he didn't know. But the vamp turned back around in time to duck the sword swipe. Between the injury he'd started with, Ford tackling him, and the exertions he had no business doing while already injured; Xander was unable to stop himself as he overbalanced from the swing. He found himself held tightly from behind by the vampire. Panic filled him as a cool breath tickled his neck. Despite 5,000 years of memories, he still felt he hadn't lived long enough. He glanced at Giles who was being driven back by his own opponent and didn't even realize what had happened to Xander. The last thought that went through his mind was, 'I wonder if I'll become Immortal after this? I kinda wish I'd had time to run that test so I'd know.'