CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE:

What comes after Plan C?

As Michael regained consciousness and became aware of his surroundings, he realized that he was face down and could feel a great weight across his body. He tried moving and was hit by a wave of pain in his side and found that he could barely move. His helmet display was showing red warning lights.

"Junior… Status update?" he managed to say as he gritted his teeth in pain.

"Michael… Armor integrity has been compromised… Bio sensors show that you have been wounded… Bio foam has been automatically released to seal injuries… Suit functionality is down to 92%... From an analysis of bio sensors I would recommend that you seek immediate medical attention… I recommend returning to primary AI construct to effect repairs on battle armor… It also appears that you have been buried by debris from the house when it was destroyed by the missile." Junior reported.

Michael tried moving again—ignoring the pain—he found it was hard as he couldn't get any leverage to move up or to each side.

"How long have I been out?"

"According to bio sensors you have been unconscious for 42 minutes and 25 seconds." Junior replied.

"Thanks for being exact…" Michael said with a slight smirk.

Michael checked his motion sensors and there appeared to be only one green target close by and it was almost on top of him. His display was clear of any red threats—for now. He figured it was probably Faith trying to dig him out. He had no real choice but to wait as it would probably take some time for her to move the debris enough so that he could finally move and free himself.

It wasn't long before his audio sensors started to pick up the sounds of someone clearing away the rubble and debris. There was nothing he could do but wait. The pain in his side continued to burn and he could feel himself have cold sweats and his breathing getting a little labored.

"Junior… Any idea of how badly I'm injured?"

"According to bio sensors it appears that you have been hit by fragments from the missile's warhead and they penetrated the suit on your right torso below the rib cage… Fragments are currently lodged and appear to have perforated one of your kidneys… You have some internal bleeding… Bio foam seems to be holding internal and external bleeding in check, but as I advised, you should seek immediate medical treatment." Junior replied back in his ever cheery tone.

Michael grimaced as he heard his prognosis, "How long can I go without medical treatment?" he asked not really wanting to hear the answer.

"Once your suit's bio foam is used up and without proper medical treatment… You will be dead in less than 48 hours…" replied the AI.

"That's just great… What's next?" Michael muttered to himself as he laid there trapped and forced to wait.

It seemed like an eternity for Michael, but it was only another 15 minutes when he heard the debris clearing getting louder and he could start to feel some of the weight on top of him lessen. As he felt the weight shift he tried moving—trying again to ignore the pain—and found that he could now move a little. Another 10 minutes later the weight was even less and then he heard a voice.

"Can you hear me? Are you alright?"

Michael immediately recognized Angel's voice. "Yeah… I can hear you… You might want to stand back a bit…" he said.

Even with his wounds and the pain, Michael had been able to move enough that he had some space and could get leverage. He slowly moved—starting to stand up and push his way up through the remaining debris and rubble that was on top of him. He finally broke through and was free. Michael was greeted by the sight of Angel standing off to one side watching him.

oOoOo

Angel had been clearing away the rubble from Michael and he had finally been able to make contact with the Spartan. He had heard Michael's warning and he moved back and watched as the Spartan broke through the remaining pile of rubble that had once been part of his house.

When Angel saw the Spartan, he got a very concerned and worried look on his face. Angel could see the wound on the Spartan's side and there was a lot of blood covering the front of his armor.

"Are you okay?" asked Angel.

"I'll be fine…" replied the Spartan.

"I'm a vampire Michael… I can smell all the blood… You're not fine."

"I'll be fine enough to finish this… Where's Faith?" Michael asked.

Angel got an awkward and pained look, "Faith's gone… It appears that a group of the Mayor's vampires grabbed her… I was busy taking out the last demon with the missile launcher that dropped the house on you before I knew she was gone. I tried to track them, but thought that I should come back and dig you out."

Angel didn't miss seeing Michael clench his hands and tense his body and it was obvious that the Spartan was "not happy" at this news.

It took a moment before Michael spoke, "I need the RPG launchers with all the extra ammo and I need that sniper rifle…"

"Okay… I'll collect them, but what then?" asked Angel.

"We head to Giles's place and gather everybody." Michael said.

"But what's the plan then?" Angel asked again as he watched the Spartan slowly dig into the rubble to pull out his assault rifle and check it.

"The Mayor wants an apocalypse… I'll show him what a real apocalypse looks like…" Michael replied in a hard tone.

oOoOo

Angel collected the weapons as Michael leaned against the remains of the house trying to take it easy with his wounds. Michael saw Angel occasionally glance his way and saw the look of concern on his face about how badly injured he was. It didn't take Angel long to strip the weapons and ammo from the dead demons and gather them in a pile in front of Michael. Angel stood back as Michael checked each weapon, making sure that they were loaded and the safeties were on. Once Michael was satisfied that he had the weapons and ammo he would need, he looked up at Angel.

"Time to go see Giles." Michael said as he handed several of the loaded weapons to Angel to help carry them. Angel nodded as he took them and they headed off to Giles's apartment. Michael let Angel set the pace as he wanted to minimize his pain and aggravating his wound any further at this moment, plus he wanted to make sure that Angel and him stayed together. On the walk Michael occasionally stumbled, with Angel quickly moving in to grab to keep the Spartan from falling to the ground. Angel had the concerned look permanently etched on his face as he regularly checked on Michael's status, but Michael would keep telling him that he was fine.

At the pace they were moving, for Michael it seemed to take forever to get to Giles's place. He used the time to go over how he was going to deal with the Mayor and rescue Faith. He realized that his "Plan C" was now toast. He was tired of dancing to the Mayor's tune and as he felt the waves of pain in his body, he knew that he didn't have a lot time left that he would be combat capable. Michael deduced that since Faith had been abducted by vampires, that the Mayor wanted Faith alive for now to punish her for her defection and possibly use her as a hostage. He figured that once the ascension ceremony started, she was as good as dead unless he was there. It was time for a new plan and that required him to do what I did best as long as he was still able to pick up and use a weapon.

oOoOo

They finally arrived at Giles's place. When Giles answered the door and was at first surprised to see Angel and Michael, but then his surprise quickly turned to shock as he saw the Spartan's condition.

"What happened?" Giles asked with obvious concern and worry at the situation.

"Remember about what I said that the Mayor would try to kill me…" Michael replied, his voice sounding in obvious pain.

"Yes…"

"He just tried… It was just earlier than I expected and he planned it better than I expected." Michael said as he moved slowly into Giles's place and sat down on his sofa.

Michael saw Giles looking with concern at his blood covered armor. He looked at Angel and slightly nodded to the vampire. As he stepped away from the Spartan towards his kitchen, Angel followed him. They started talking in whispers, but Michael could easily hear them with his augmented hearing.

"What happened? Where's Faith? How bad is Michael wounded?" Giles asked Angel.

"It was a group of Zushin demons that hit my place… They were heavily armed with military hardware… Faith was grabbed by the Mayor's vampires… We don't know if she is alive or dead… Michael says he's fine… Giles… I think he's more hurt than he is saying… I think he's hurt really bad." Angel whispered back.

"No need to whisper fellas… I can hear you perfectly fine." Michael replied startling both Angel and Giles.

Michael knew he couldn't keep the truth from the former Watcher and Vampire, "The truth is I took fragments from the missile—" Michael started to say.

Giles's eyes widened at the Spartan's statement, "Missile! You did say missile didn't you?" he said in obvious shock at hearing at what type of fighting had occurred.

Michael nodded and then started to move to take off his helmet. He was moving slowly and it was obvious he was in pain, Angel and Giles moved quickly to assist him. Michael wanted to breathe some fresh air as he could feel his lungs starting to burn and having some problems, Too soon… I need more time, he thought.

As the helmet came off, Giles was shocked by Michael's appearance as he was very pale and sweating. His face appeared to be etched out of stone, but the grimace was telling about how much pain he was in.

"Yes… They had some RPGs and an anti-tank weapon to try and take me out… Like I said they had come prepared… One of my kidneys is damaged and I have internal bleeding… My suit's medical systems are helping, but I don't have much time left… If I'm lucky I have about 45 hours till…" Michael explained trailing off leaving the rest unsaid.

Giles got a sad somber look, "I'm sorry Michael…"

Michael looked at Giles and the former Watcher was taken aback as he saw the Spartan's eyes. Michael may have been critically injured, but there was an intense fire burning in those eyes. Giles had a very brief moment where he almost felt sorry for the Mayor and the wrath he'd unleashed.

I wouldn't want to be in the Mayor's shoes right now, Giles thought soberly.

"It doesn't matter what happens to me now… The mission now is to rescue Faith and kill the Mayor… Get everyone over here now!" Michael said forcefully.

"What about the plan?" Giles asked.

"That plan is gone… It's time for a new plan and we don't have much time…" Michael replied.

oOoOo

Giles opened the door to the group of sleepy and restless teenagers. As Buffy, Willow, Xander, Oz and Cordelia came into Giles's apartment, they were surprised to see Angel and Michael already there.

As they came into the apartment, Buffy noted that Angel was standing and Michael was sitting on the sofa with his back to them. She quickly noted the worried looks on both Giles's and Angel's faces and she immediately got a bad feeling. When she got into the living room area and saw Michael's condition her bad feeling quickly turned to worry and shock as she couldn't believe what she was seeing.

"What happened?!" Buffy said with shock and concern as she saw the blood covering the front of Michael's armor. Everyone else was also shocked as they became aware of the Spartan's condition.

"The Mayor hired some demons and they attacked my place… They took Faith." Angel explained.

"Faith's gone?" Buffy said not believing what she was hearing.

"She's not dead… She's still alive until I see a body…" Buffy heard Michael say in obvious pain. She turned back to check on him and it was obvious to everyone that he was badly injured and was in a lot of pain.

"Shouldn't you be in a hospital or something?" Buffy asked with concern.

Buffy saw Michael smile but it was still evident that he was in pain, "Your hospitals here won't be able to help me… Anyway there's no time and you need me to be there to confront the Mayor." Michael said.

"But you're hurt! You need to see a doctor!" Buffy said trying to make the Spartan see reason.

"Buffy… I'm dying… There's nothing that can be done for me here… It's just a matter of time and Faith needs me now…" Michael replied.

Silence gripped the room at Michael's statement as everyone tried to grasp what he had said.

Buffy tried to focus, but it was hard, "So what are we going to do?" she asked as she tried to not stare at the blood covering Michael.

oOoOo

Michael had everyone gather around him so that he could outline the new plan.

"Okay… The Mayor is still going ahead with his ascension at the graduation ceremony later today… I'm counting on his ego to have him bring Faith to the ceremony and he'll kill her there…" he explained. He could see some looks of doubt on some of the group.

Michael took a deep breath and continued, "…Yes… I know it's a long shot but it's all we got right now. The original plan was for you and the rest of the students to fight off the vampires and get out of our kill zone… That's changing… New plan is to make sure that no one attends the graduation ceremony… You get the other students and make sure everyone… parents… teachers… are not at the ceremony… Do whatever it takes. You keep everyone back out of the blast area in the safe zone."

Michael looked at Buffy and she met his gaze, "Buffy your job is to distract the Mayor… He probably thinks that I'm either dead or out of the picture for now… He'll expect you're his only opposition. You confront the Mayor in the ceremony area… Keep him focused on you and hopefully Faith is there or close by and we can locate her…" he said.

"What happens then? What will you be doing?" Buffy asked.

"Once we locate Faith…alive. I will provide cover and you will free her… You will both then get out of the area to the safe zone…" he said.

"What about you? What about the Mayor?" Buffy asked with concern.

"I will kill the Mayor and every vampire in the area… Your concern is to make sure that you and Faith are in the safe zone…" Michael said meeting Buffy's eyes with a hard glare.

"What about you?" Buffy asked again looking at Michael's condition. She already knew the answer from the look he'd given her.

Michael didn't avert his gaze from Buffy's eyes, "I'll do what needs to be done…"

Everyone in the room was quiet at the Spartan's statement.

oOoOo

Faith was finally becoming aware of her surroundings. She was lying on a floor and as she moved she could feel that her hands were shackled. As she became more conscious, she started remembering what had happened and the memories came back in rush.

Michael… Oh God… Is he alive? she thought as she remembered the image of seeing the missile hit the house and Michael being engulfed in the explosion.

"So how's my firecracker feeling?"

Faith was startled and her head whipped around towards the familiar voice.

She saw Mayor Wilkins sitting on a chair in a corner of the room she was being held in. "My… My… You have been such a naughty girl… Whatever am I going to do with you?" the Mayor said taunting Faith.

"Bastard!' Faith said seething. She tried to rush the Mayor but found that her shackles were chained to the wall behind her and she couldn't move any further forward.

"Tsk Tsk… I expected a warmer and friendlier greeting from you… But then you were never known for your loyalties…" Wilkins said still smiling.

"Oh…and if you're expecting your boyfriend to rescue you… He is quite dead…" the Mayor added with a gloating smile spreading across his face.

Wilkins saw Faith's eyes widen in surprise at his statement, "You didn't think I was that stupid that I wouldn't eventually make the connection between the "robot" and this Michael fellow you met."

"Michael's not dead…" she said not wanting to believe what Wilkins was saying.

Wilkins shrugged, "Even if he is alive…which I doubt. He won't be in any condition or able to do anything while I have you alive…for now."

The Mayor's hard dark eyes locked with Faith's defiant hateful stare, "My dear once my ascension has completed… You will be my first sacrifice… I intend to swallow you whole." the Mayor said in a menacing low tone.

"I'll make sure I give you a stomach ache you never forget." Faith said defiantly but inside she had a cold shiver.

"Ha! There's my firecracker… I wouldn't expect anything else from you… Enjoy these last few hours." the Mayor said laughing and smiling.

"Asshole! Michael's alive and with Buffy and Angel… They'll make you regret you were born!"

"Uh…Uh… Behave yourself now or I'll send in my vampire associates to make you behave. I know they are chomping at the bit to play with you… Get it… Chomping…" the Mayor said laughing at his own joke.

"I do amuse myself sometimes…" the Mayor said as he got up and left the room leaving Faith alone.

Faith watched the Mayor leave and heard the door lock after he left. She looked around the room and checked her shackles and the chain attached to the wall. The chain was bolted to the wall and she pulled at it using her Slayer strength to test it. The chain refused to break or give way from the wall.

Damn it! What the hell am I going to do? Maybe I'll get a chance when I get to the ceremony, she thought.

Her mind then began to wander and she replayed the last images of Michael that she saw. All she could see was Michael dodging the missile followed by the explosion and fireball and then the house collapsing on him.

I know he's alive… I feel it… He'll figure out something. If there is one person in this world that I can count on…it's Michael, Faith thought as she tried to reassure herself and keep herself from being scared.