Xander looked around, trying to figure out where he was and how he got there. Wherever here was, it was huge. He could see no walls or ceiling, just twilight, smoky atmosphere that felt heavy, oppressive, evil. He noticed he was standing on what looked like a metal walkway and another extended out in front of him towards some sort of structure and it was massive. It was hard to gauge size here, but it was huge and came nowhere near to filling the even more massive space. He looked to his left and he could make out other people in the distance, some were walking across the metal walkways towards that massive thing out there. Others just seem to be standing still. A glance to his right showed the same.

"Hey, man, what are you doing?" A familiar sounding voice said. Xander slowing faced forward again, dreading what he would see.

"Jesse? What are you doing here?"

"You mean in Hell? You sent me here, remember? Back in the Bronze, I was enjoying a dance with my girl, Cordelia, and you killed me and sent me here, just so you could have her for yourself."

"No, I pulled a vampire wearing your face off of her and threatened to stake it, someone ran into it and the stake hit the heart and he dusted."

"You sure about that?" A screen appeared in front of them and Xander saw Jesse dancing with Cordelia, he saw himself pull Jesse away from her and watched them argue over Cordelia. Than Xander stabbed Jesse, not staked a vampire.

"That isn't what happened! That wasn't you! You were dead! Darla killed you and made you a vampire! And Cordelia and you were never together. She no more gave you a chance than Buffy gave me."

"In time she would have, I just had to be persistent, that's all. Eventually I would have convinced her and we would have been happy."

"What, as two vampires? Until a hunter destroyed you both?"

"Again with the vampire thing. It was very freeing, you know. No moral dilemmas weighing me down, only myself to think about. No responsibilities. Tempting, isn't it?"

"There's also the lack of a soul and wanting to kill and torture people, not so tempting."

"It was for the Mayor."

"Does this have anything to do with the Mayor? Are you or this place, his failsafe?"

"You can't stop being a soldier, can you, Xander? Always looking for information about the enemy, their weaknesses. Working to make sure you have no weaknesses, planning your missions for optimal success. Sooner or later, you're going to fail, it's inevitable. And when you do, I'll be there. I'll be there to say I told you so. That Tony Harris and Principal Snyder were right, you're worthless and you'll never amount to anything."

Before Xander could answer a long tentacle reached out from the city and skewered Jesse. Xander reached for his brother-friend but he was just out of reach. All he could do was watch, horrified, as Jesse was pulled screaming towards that massive structure in the distance.

"We belong to it, to them." Another voice said and Xander turned and saw Tony Harris. "We're theirs to do with as they wish."

"Dad? What are you doing here?"

"Embracing them. I belong to them." Tony Harris stepped onto the metal walkway in front of them and began walking towards the structure in the distance.

"Dad?! Dad, come back here! It's not safe! Can't you feel it? It's evil, Dad! Dad! Dad! No!"

With a hoarse cry, Xander woke up, drenched in sweat and shaking.

"Well, what do you know, a brand new nightmare to add to my growing collection." He shakily quipped, rubbing his face. His hands brushed his hair and it felt wet, the t-shirt and shorts he was sleeping in weren't in much better shape. He got up and headed for the bathroom. He needed a shower and fresh clothes. When he was done with that, he changed his bedding as well. He sat on the floor and tried to meditate. He'd been doing that for a few minutes when he heard a noise and got up to check on it.

Tony and Jessica Harris were walking down the hallway in their nightclothes.

"Dad? Mom? What are you doing?"

"We have to open the door." Tony told him. "We have to let them in."

"Let who in, Dad? It's nighttime, there's nothing out there that we need to let in."

"They're out there." Jessica told him. "They're coming, we have to let them in, it's the only way we can go there."

"Go where?" Xander asked.

"To the city, of course." She answered. "To them."

"Them who, Mom? Who are they? Why do you want to go to them?"

"Because we belong to them." She answered, scaring Xander even more. "We always have, we always will."

"They're calling us, can't you hear them? Those of us who hear the call, we belong to them. The rest, who do not hear the call, will not survive it." Tony told him, as he reached the front door.

"Dad, look at me!" Xander demanded. "There's nothing out there! Whatever you're hearing, you have to ignore it, it's not real!"

"They're very real." Jessica told him. "And they want us, we need them."

"Sorry in advance, Mom." Xander punched Jessica's chin just right to knock her out and caught her as she fell. He laid her on the floor and turned to Tony, who hadn't even glanced at them. He swung Tony around and punched him too.

He grabbed his phone and called Cordelia. She picked up on the first ring.

"Xander, something really weird is going on! I had a horrible nightmare and than Mother tried to leave the house, in the middle of the night, in her pajamas! She kept saying, 'we belong to them, we need to let them in.'

"We need to go to the city."

"Yes! Mother said the same thing in my dream! Xander, what's going on?! Dad is holding Mother and trying to calm her down, she just keeps repeating it, over and over."

"So are my parents. Head for base, Cordy. I'm calling in everyone. We need to figure out what's going on and fast."