"They're here." I said when we were still half a block away. The tension in the air was unmistakable, and that scent…that could only mean one thing: LOTS of vampires.

The Slayer immediately broke into a run, and the rest of us followed suit.

There was no one outside the Bronze. No bouncer, nothing. That wasn't good. They'd already begun the siege, then. And there was no telling how many they'd already killed inside. An anxious eagerness twisted in my gut as we came to a halt at the door.

Buffy tried the handle.

"It's locked." She said.

Of course it would be.

"We're too late!" Giles immediately declared. He's the sort to immediately assume the worst, unfortunately.

"I didn't know I was going to get grounded!" Buffy whined. That had been a bit of a delay, though I hadn't thought it a terribly significant one. I rolled my eyes and trotted backwards a few steps, scanning the building for a window or anything that I could climb up to.

"Couldn't the two of you break it down?" Xander asked, motioning to me.

We both shook our heads.

"No, not thing." Buffy said.

"Too thick." I explained. "We're not Clark Kent."

"You guys try the back entrance," Buffy said, "and I'll…find my own way."

"Right," Giles said, "well, come on."

"Wait!" Buffy said, remembering something. She handed her bag of supplies to Willow.

"Get the exits clear and the people out, that's it." She said, looking pointedly at Xander. Then, much to my astonishment, she looked at me and said: "And you better make sure they're protected. I mean it. Not one scratch better be on them when this is over."

She was entrusting me with their lives. Even after my failure with Jesse.

If the moment hadn't been so full of urgency, I would have been quite moved to make an emotional speech of thanks. Since there was no time for that sort of thing, however, I simply nodded grimly.

"S-See you inside, then." Giles said. He nodded to me, and then we hastened around the building to the rear exit, leaving the Slayer to figure out her own way in.

I don't mind saying leaving Buffy in the dark did not sit well with me. I felt we should have brought her with us, but now was not the time to be arguing tactics with the Slayer.

Naturally the rear door was locked too.

"We've got to get in there before Jesse does something stupider than usual." Xander said. Something about his tone made Giles upset. He whirled on him.

"You listen to me," he snapped, "Jesse is dead. You have to remember that when you see him, you're not looking at your friend, you're looking at the thing that killed him."

Wise words. I could see they hurt Xander but he needed to hear them. I touched his arm so he looked at me.

"Don't try talking to him." I said, "I know it will be tempting. You'll think there's something inside that still is Jesse, but there isn't. If anything, get angry that something has invaded your friend's body and turned him into something Jesse would fear and hate.

"Remember Jesse. Remember what he would want you to do when the time comes."

There was beat of silence before Xander sighed and nodded. Giles nodded approvingly, and then I stepped up to the door and tested it.

This one was made of weaker metal than the one at the door.

"I might be able to do something about this one." I informed them. "But I may need help. Let me try first."

I grasped the handle and planted a foot just outside the doorframe to help me with leverage, and yanked as hard as I could.

I could feel the metal yielding, and it groaned loudly as I slammed the handle down, hoping to break the lock. It didn't quite make it.

"Sir," I said, looking to Giles, "I require a bit of assistance."

He nodded and came up to me.

"I'm going to pull again, and when I lean back, I need you to pull me as hard as you can. You won't hurt me, just get a good grip and pull. I'm too short to lean as far back as I need."

Giles cleared his throat and very awkwardly grabbed me around me waist. I slammed the handle down again and pulled, leaning back. Giles tightened his grip and pulled me back hard. The metal in the door shrieked, then finally yielded so suddenly it sent us both stumbling backwards.

The Watcher lost his footing so I had to grab his wrist before he fell.

"Well done, sir." I commended him, once he had righted himself.

"You as well." He said, then motioned for all of us to go in. "Now we must hurry!"

We rushed in, and I could already hear a huge commotion going on.

Fear was thick in the air, and the scent of blood and power was mingled with it.

I could feel the Essence getting excited and stirring within me. I fought to ignore the scents, but it was hard, very hard.

Without meaning too, I felt my face change and my fangs protrude on their own.

"Buffy's gotten in," I informed them, "the battle's begun. Get everyone out, now."

Xander ran in immediately and grabbed the first younglings he could find. I hurried after him, trying to keep my face hidden so I wouldn't further frighten the children as they fled. I slunk behind Xander and swung myself up onto the staircase to watch and make sure I would have the first blow if we were spotted.

On the stage, Buffy was fighting a large vampire with the mark of the Vessel on his forehead. She seemed to be doing rather well, so I focused on keeping my group of younglings safe.

I had to especially keep an eye on Xander. I knew he would be looking for Jesse.

Sure enough, as soon as the first group was out, he ventured further in, scanning the room for any sign for the one who had been his friend.

He was so intent on his search that he didn't even see the vampire running at him from behind.

I swung myself over the bannister and leapt over Xander's head, meeting the vampire head-on. We tumbled to the floor together, but we both got up in a flash and tore at each other again. I grabbed his upraised arms and he snarled in my face, fangs snapping and flashing inches from my face.

"Hold him!" Buffy's cry startled me, and I looked back, still struggling with the vampire.

She was holding the cymbal from the drum set like…what are those things called…a Frisbee? Yes, she was holding it like one of those and I knew what she meant to do.

I nodded to her, then turned back to the vampire. I growled at him and gave him a kick to get him off balance. He took a step back, and that was all I needed. I followed him up and waited for him to swing. He did, and I ducked under it, came up, and used the momentum to flip over his head and grab him from behind to keep him in place while I ducked down behind him.

The head actually fell on me when Buffy lopped it off, and the body dropped hard.

I straightened and nodded to the Slayer in thanks.

"Heads up." Xander quipped. I rolled my eyes at him and he shrugged sheepishly. Then the smile faded when he looked over my shoulder. I didn't have to look to know what he was seeing. He started forward but I grabbed his arm and forced him back.

"Don't stop me!" he shouted.

"Arm yourself, first!" I shouted back. He blinked at me, then nodded and rushed back to Willow, who was coming in with Giles.

"Give me a stake." He ordered. Willow obediently handed one over and Xander started back the way we had come.

I moved to follow him when suddenly two vampire swarmed towards us. I felt Willow tense beside me so I grabbed a stake and a squirt bottle of holy water. I spun, and at the same time sprayed the water at the vampires.

I caught one in the eyes and the other I got in the chest. The one in the eyes practically hit the ground in agony while the other shrieked in anger and shocked pain. I went for the one with his eyes still in operation.

He disintegrated beneath the stake and then I spun on the one still groveling on the ground.

"Mercy!" he bellowed when he saw me looming over him. "Y-You're like me! Don't do this!"

Kin the Essence hissed.

'No kin of mine.'

Wordlessly, I plunged the stake into his heart. He shrieked when he died. Then there was another shriek, from Willow.

"Giles!" she screamed.

I bounded up and darted over to her in a heartbeat, and saw what she was screaming about. A vampire had Giles pinned down. It was the same one from the crypt.

"GET OFF!" I screamed, slamming into her. My voice…it wasn't mine.

Let the fun begin!

'We do this together or not at all.'

Together is fine

'Just this once.'

We'll see

"You." The female hissed at me in disdain.

"You." I answered.

"You're the Halfling. The incomplete."

"And you're about to be dead."

She leapt at me then, as I thought she would. I moved as though to intercept her, then hit the ground at the last minute. When she landed behind me, I swung my legs out and knocked her down. It gave Willow enough time to grab another jar of holy water out of her bag.

"Hey!" she shouted. The female looked up, and got a face full of the holy water.

She shrieked as smoke billowed from her face, and before I could make a grab for her, she was already running, screaming, from the building, leaving a trail of smoke in her wake.

"Are you all right?" I asked Giles, helping him back to his feet. He nodded, and I looked at Willow. She looked pale, but her jaw was set. Brave little lass.

"Well done, sweetling." I commended. She blushed, pleased.

"Where's Xander?" she asked suddenly. I spun around to where I had last seen him, and saw him pressed against a wall, with Jesse standing in front of him. Xander was still holding the stake, but he looked stunned. He couldn't go through with it, just as I'd feared.

"Here." I handed Giles my bottle of holy water, and sprinted for Jesse and Xander.

"Go ahead," Jesse was saying as I flew in, "put me out of my misery."

Then I saw the stake in Xander's hand. I smiled to myself, and shoved the thing that had been Jesse straight into Xander. I heard him gasp as the stake sunk in. A death gurgle came from his throat as he sagged, and then he was gone.

Xander looked stunned, but there was no time to celebrate our victory. Three more vampires were coming for us, and two more were headed towards Willow and Giles.

I stabbed one as it came for Xander.

"Fight!" I bellowed at him.

The fool can't even fight

'Let him be.'

The second vampire clawed at my face, and I ducked it, but got caught by a fist from the other.

The force of the blow sent me stumbling back. I grabbed Xander and practically threw him towards Willow and Giles.

"Help them!" I screamed at him. I was seeing red, I was so angry at having gotten hit.

The other vampire was following up the blow, but I caught his fist and threw him into the wall and grabbed the back of his head, slamming his head into the wall over and over again before the vampire that had struck me interrupted by grabbed the ends of my hair and pulling me back.

"Fool." He growled at me, holding me at arm's length to backhand me.

He really shouldn't have done that. He brought back a memory when he did that.

"Monster!" a voice shrieked in my head, "Vile, worthless, godless filth!"

The resounding smack of flesh against flesh sent a surge of hate through me.

He swung again, and this time I was ready. I grabbed his arm and twisted. The sound of a large stick breaking signaled I had broken his arm, as did the sight of bone protruding from his flesh.

He screamed and dropped me, clutching at his arm. I grabbed him by the throat as he backed away and slammed him against the wall. I was much shorter than him, but I still managed to slide him up the wall as I tightened my grip, feeling bone and cartilage snap under my hand.

The vampire kicked feebly and clawed at my face. I batted away his hand and dropped him, then gripped him by the back of the head and under the chin, and then twisted and yanked as hard as I could.

His head came off in my hands, and then he turned to dust.

I hadn't felt so powerful in a very long time. The Essence was practically screaming in joy and reveling in what we were doing.

I didn't have long to savor the victory. I had the children to protect.

Xander had done well. He'd killed one, finally, but the other had grabbed Willow as she was fumbling to pull a cross out of her bag.

It was a mistake he'd regret.

I was on him before he even knew I was coming. I threw him down to the ground and stabbed him as he stared up in surprise.

"There's more." Giles said.

Let them come

"Let them come."

As it turned out, it was unnecessary to fight anymore.

As more vampires started circling us, and I snatched up a cross, ignoring the hot pain that flared up through my arm, a resounding crash drew everyone's attention back towards the stage, where Buffy was fighting the Vessel.

She had just thrown a metal stand through the window, letting in the dim yellow light from outside.

The Vessel, oddly enough, covered his face in the light and yelled in pain, then seemed to realize he wasn't hurting after all and stopped, looking at the light in bewilderment. Buffy seized the opportunity, and stabbed him through his back.

"Sunrise is in nine hours, genius." She told him.

Clever girl.

I couldn't help but grin as the Vessel stumbled towards the edge of the stage and fell, turning into dust before he hit the ground.

She stood over his miniscule remains, hands on her hips, and then she slowly looked up at the vampires around us, her eyes hard and challenging.

I could feel the vampires yielding. Their leader was dead, as was several of their number, and the Slayer had turned her gaze on them. I turned back to them and advanced, raising the cross even as it seared my palm.

I snarled, and several flinched, looked at each other, and then fled.

Victory was ours.

Once the vampires were gone, there was a moment of silence, and then Buffy jumped down from the stage, and we approached.

I struggled with Essence for a moment, then retracted my fangs, and felt my face go back to normal.

"I…take it it's over?" Giles hazarded.

We looked around at the empty building, at the piles of dust all over the floor.

"Did we win?" Willow asked.

"More or less." I murmured, looking at Xander. I wondered if he'd ever get over Jesse.

"Well," Buffy said, taking her leather coat from Xander when he handed it to her, "we averted the apocalypse. Give us points for that."

"One thing's for sure," Xander said, "nothing's ever going to be the same."

I knew what he was thinking: the secret was out, vampires existed, and monsters were real. I smirked and patted him on the shoulder as we started to make our way out.

"I wouldn't be too sure about that, son."