Xander felt cool hands slide across his body as Spike licked the pulse point behind his ear. The dim light spilling in the open bedroom door, didn't reach the bed but did illuminate his eager lover. Slow soft kisses and tender touches insistently lured Xander further into consciousness. A sleepy smile spread over his face as he reached up to help Spike remove his shirt. He pouted at the loss of contact when Spike pulled back to shuck his jeans. Spike leaned over him and kissed the look away with a laugh. Continuing down Xander's body Spike feathered kisses and soft nips down Xander's chest and across his abdomen. When Spike paused darting his tongue in and around his navel, Xander reached for the lube. Blindly Xander grasped at Spike's hand as he continued his trek and slapped the tube into it while simultaneously lifting his knees and tilting his hips. Xander moaned as Spike's chuckle at his wanton readiness vibrated against his balls and revved the pulse thundering though his cock. As Spike prepared him, Xander pulled down on his lover's shoulders whimpering into a demanding kiss. This was what he needed to feel, Spike's presence, his cool weight above him, his driving body inside him, to give control over to his lover until nothing existed but a world of crisp sheets and firm flesh. As he looked up into the intense gaze of Spike's blue eyes, Xander thought this, this it the best place in the world to be.

"Now. Now. Please now." Xander hissed and Spike slid home.

Spike's voice wrapped around Xander's thoughts; the disjointed phrases bounced around inside Xander's brain without having seemed to pass through his ear. Each slowly building thrust was punctuated by purred words of desire. "Yes now, yes sweet pet, beautiful boy, so beautiful, so sweet, Xander luv, mine, my love, my boy." Xander came and spots clouded his sight, his ears rang like a FCC test warning. But Spikes words and thrust continued, so that as sight and sound slow returned Xander heard, "beautiful, my love, my Xander, sweet boy, love you." Just when Xander though one more thrust would cause him to explode into a quivering heap of glimmering blue light much like the ones that had all but replaced his vision, Spike came and collapsed across his body.

Xander wrapped his arms and legs around Spike, barley noticing the tears on his own face. He stroked Spike back into consciousness. Spike lifted himself putting his weight on his hands. Before his lover could voice his concern over the tears, Xander smiled. When Xander spoke his voice was soft but steady, with no sign of his tears. "You're a part of me." Xander said, freeing one hand to trace the angles of Spike's face. "You're in my heart."

Spike seemed stunned. He quickly recovered, although the rough emotion in his voice belied the teasing in his words. "Good. Because you're going to be quite cross with me Pet."

"What did you do?" Xander tried to sound long-suffering, but was unable to remain stern when facing the devilish light in Spike's eyes.

"Me, Pet?" No matter how wide he made his eyes or bitable his lower lip was Spike just could not do innocent.

"Did you dust Angel?" Xander ask, his laugh cutting though his attempt at mock annoyance. The alarm clock next to the bed then clicked and sounded a piercing buzzer.

"That's why you'll be cross luv," Spike said as Xander reach over to silence the alarm. "Bit of bad timing on my part." Spike smirked as he rolled off his lover and made a great show fluffing his pillow and snuggling down to sleep. "Have a good day at work dear," he laughed at Xander's groan.

"Not fair!" Xander leaned in and brushed his lips across Spike's forehead and whispered. "You never have bad timing. Even if we had had all night, I still wouldn't want to leave." He got out of bed with obvious reluctance and turned just as he was entering the bathroom and said, "It would be wrong wouldn't it, to ditch the Angelinos and spend the whole weekend in bed?"

"Your asking me what the right thing to do is? That's rich Pet." The words were pure Spike but the accent was that of the quiet well-spoken man who read to him in bed, and quoted thing that sound like all the answers Xander had missed on the SAT's.

"No. I know what's right. I just... I guess I'm selfish." Xander leaned against the frame of the door lost in thought, knowing he should move, that he had a schedule to keep, but needing just a few more moments to himself.

"No. Not you." Spike rose and wrapped his arms around Xander's naked torso. He stroked his hair, and back and said softly, "It's been a rough summer Xan. You try and take too much on these broad shoulders. You just lean on me, eh?" They kissed and Xander wanted now more than ever to crawl back into bed and curl up beside his lover, and hide from the world. He wanted to shut out everything but the well-toned body of the man who was rapidly becoming his everything. But duty called so he reluctantly disengaged the tender embrace with a thanks and a kiss and headed for the shower.

~~~~~

At the site, the morning moved quickly. The thing Xander liked best about his job was how busy he was and how fast that made the day seem to pass. He decided to skip lunch and leave early so he ate at his desk. He tapped an egg against his desk to break the shell and was absentmindedly rolling it against the hard surface to skin it while reading his e-mail, when his mind wandered back to that morning. He knew he had a goofy grin on this face but it was so weird. He got so sappy with Spike sometimes. He had never said most of the things he said to Spike to Anya, but then maybe that was why she left. No, he knew she had loved him, but love could only do so much. Words were good. At least Spike didn't laugh at him, well no more than usual, when he said them. And what Spike said to him, goofy grin got wider, no one had ever told him he was beautiful, ever, and Spike told him all the time.

He looked up as Abby came in the office. If Xander ran the site, Abby ran the office. She was the most disorganized person he had ever met and yet she knew everything. He occasionally had asked her for invoices just to marvel at how she could reach into the piles of chaos on her desk and hand him the exact piece of paper. "Good night?" Abby winked at his goofy grin.

Xander blushed and replied, "Good morning."

Spike had stopped by the site one morning before sunrise. Allegedly to deliver the lunch Xander had left on the kitchen counter after having his mind blown, among other things, before leaving for work. In reality Xander got the impression Spike was checking out the place, and warning off any potential competitors. As if anyone could compete with him. In Xander's opinion, Spike pretty much destroyed the curve on any charismatic rating chart. Abby was the only one who had immediately assumed they were a couple. But after a couple of lunch hours listening to the slash potential of his favorite television shows, which he would now never see in the same light, he thought she might have seen them as a couple even before they had gotten together.

"There's a very demanding young lady to see you, she doesn't have an appointment, but she said she was sure you would make time for her. Her name is Ms. Chase. Do you know her?" Abby was very protective of Xander's time. She had met Dawn and the witches when they stopped by for lunch but considered them to be family, and when Xander considered the frequency they were featured in the photos around his office he could understand why.

"She's an old friend; I can make time for her." Xander laughed and mouthed the words 'old girlfriend' as Abby rolled her eyes and went to get Cordelia.

After offering her coffee, and advising against it due to the fact it, well sucked, Xander closed the door of the office in the back of the trailer. Cordy was seated in the only other chair and glanced appraisingly around the room.

"Did we find out anything definite?" Xander interrupted her evaluation.

"Well," She sighed and tossed her shorter streaked hair in a gesture the brought a pang of nostalgia to Xander. "We know that someone, as in human, Angel is pretty sure that it was human or humans, has been prowling around the Hellmouth. Willow did a walk through after sunrise," She held up a hand, sparking another wave of nostalgia. "Angel and Gunn went with her. She said and I quote that there was no magical signature and no magic worker had triggered any of the detection spells she has set up on that place, their presents alone should have done that. Did you know she had some mystical alarm system on that place? And I didn't quote she took much longer and did much more bouncing when she said it. Giles said the town's been dead and not in the undead way; vamp activity down, demons almost nonexistant. He said he put it down to Glory's join or die attitude but Wes thinks there may be a new sheriff in town."

"So we don't know anything." Xander sighed and ran the fingers of both hands back though his thick hair. Twice he had resolved to get it cut and Spike had talked him out of it. If Spike kept interfering it would be past his shoulders by fall. If they were all still alive by fall; if they keep the Hellmouth closed; if they could get rid of Angel and company, sorry Cordy; if some new and improved horror didn't crash into the fragile house of cards in which they were sheltering their partially rebuilt lives.

"...his contacts are gone and no one is talking. Xander pay attention." A frown marred Cordelia's perfect features. "Am I keeping you from something?" She asked archly.

"Yes. This place doesn't run it self, I have over eighty men I have to keep working and paid, as much as I miss hearing Queen C's color highlight of the game I really need you to boil it down. Tell me what you need. What do we need right now to get us to where we have some plan of attack or defense."

Cordelia blinked, just for a moment and then the resilience that had first made him fall in love with her clicked in and she switched gears without slowing down. "We need information from the demon population, we need to both find informed sources and get them to cooperate. We need to know if anything new has come to town human or not. We need to know about the green men I saw in my vision and if they were opening the Hellmouth or trying to keep it closed."

"Little green men?" Xander looked up from the pad where he had been writing her list. 'Is she serious.'

"Big green men, with moldy faces." At his questioning look she waved her hand and said. "Hey, if it were up to me the PTB's could just fax me the info."

"I'll make some calls, tell Giles I should be at the shop in a couple hours. How about you? Are you okay?" He stood as she rose to leave.

She gave him her Hollywood smile then laughed, "I'll be fine, as soon as Angel has something to do. His pacing around the shop is driving me crazy." She dropped her lashes and then looked up at him. "I know it's been hard on all of you, but it's so new to him, being here without her. He really loved her you know?" Xander pulled her into a hug and she continued. "Now, he's even worried about Spike."

"Worried about Spike? Why?" Xander left an arm around her shoulder as he led her out of the trailer. 'Spike's fine. Isn't Spike fine? What happened? He didn't mention anything, but we were kind of busy. I have got to start having the conversation before the sex. The sex always makes me forget to have the conversation.'

Xander's internal babble was stopped when Cordy continued. "Well maybe not worried. I told you his connections in this town are practically no existent, he stopped by Spike's crypt, wanting to get him to show him who to shake down and no Spike."

"Tell him to ask Giles," Xander said dismissively, "he has our number, Spike should be awake by now, and there is tunnel access less than a half a block from our building. Cordelia stunned look was replaced quickly by annoyance at the whistles and catcalls that greeted her emergence onto the work site.

Once back at his desk, Xander tried to put the project planning skill he used to manage the site, into mapping out some plan to deal with the situation at hand. He listed what they had, what they knew and what they could obtain on short notice. Then as he began to make phone calls he wondered what the penalty would be if they couldn't complete this job on time.

*****
Part 14:

It was a quarter 'til two when Xander entered the magic shop. Cordy was just ending a call on her cellular.

"Anything new?" He asked. As he pushed his sunglasses up onto the top of his head, an act that held his thick dark hair off his face, he held a long cardboard tube under one arm and held a clipboard filled with paper. He consulted the clipboard and frowned.

"Angel and Spike are off shaking down the demon lairs, and Willow and her friend went to check on a Wiccan group they know. Oh, Willow said to tell you it's not the one from campus. Does that make sense?" Cordy asked.

"Actually it does." Xander laughed. He nodded to Jonathan, who was working behind the register. Glancing up to loft, where Giles and Wesley were sorting through the don't-touch-them books Xander caught Giles eye and shot him an inquiring look. Giles just shook his head.

"Okay then, Cor I'm glad your here," he said removing a thick sheaf of paper from the clipboard. " I need you to stay here and coordinate operations."

Cordelia looked puzzled as she glanced over the lists. "Xander who are all these people."

Xander laughed again and shook his head. "Most of them went to high school with you. Don't worry, its not important that you know them, what is important is they will recognize you. See you were right all those years, popularity is power."

"Okay, but what exactly am I going to be doing?" 'Engaging prom queen attitude, hand on hip, perfect eye brow lifted and scathing comment prime and ready, God Cordy I've missed you.'

"Sit here." Xander pulled out a chair from the side of the research table that faced the shop's entrance. "When someone comes to you, get their name. If they aren't on the list ask who they report to and list anything they bring under the name, make sure you keep track of the quantities. Then," he set down the clipboard and opened the case. Unrolling large detailed maps of Sunnydale he continued, "go to the list of questions, on the yellow paper, they apply to the last four weeks; only document positive response. If it is positive refer them to Giles to get as much detail as possible." He stopped and looked up at the loft. "I have a list here on what we need to know on positive response, but I thought you could kind of play it by ear, the more information we get the more you may want to narrow the scope. Is that okay with you?"

Xander added the last as an afterthought. He didn't want to usurp Giles authority, but it had been nearly twenty-four hours and all they knew was Cordy had a vision that the world would soon end. They had known that yesterday. Xander had spent the last hours calling in favors he didn't feel he had earned; he had never contacted these people when he was out of a job. Now he had called people who had put their lives in his hands once before and survived, at least most of them had. It wasn't a position he wanted to be in again, but he was torn. How could he deprive them of the chance to fight for their own live simple because he was too much of a coward to risk them?

"Of course Xander. What exactly are we asking?" Giles seems all right with this, Xander thought.

"It starts out pretty general, just a list of the 'normal' Hellmouthy activities that make Sunnydale the tours trap of the undead. I figured we oughta take advantage of this one Starbuck town. You know what people say about small towns, everybody knows everybody else's business. Well graduation punched past the river of denial our neighbors swim in for most of our class." Xander rubbed his eyes and looked down at the table. "Guess we might as well take advantage of that." He sighed.

Switching gears rapidly he smiled. "I figure if we only refer the ones to you who have seen or heard about something...., well unusual isn't a word that applies to the supernatural in Sunnydale but you get the picture. That then you could then get some idea as to anything or anyone new in town. Cordy, once you've screen them assign them to quadrants on the maps. They're numbered by priority, make sure you send them out in groups of two or more and tell them to call in only if they find something. They're to come back here before sunset unless we notify them of a different location, that's why it is imperative we verify their phone info, that's on this sheet, before sending them out. Make sure they have the store's number, it rolls to three lines. Jonathan, you can stay and run communication?" Xander barely glanced up and considered the question only a formality.

"Ah...sure." Jonathan's wide-eyed nod was hesitant at first and then he beamed as if the thought of being on the inside of whatever was going on appealed to him.

"Great." Xander shuffled though the remaining pages of the clipboard, he hoped he had covered everything but figured Cordy would be sure to let him know if he hadn't.

"And me?" Gunn asked. 'Someone has had way too much exposure to the Queen C attitude.'

"You're with me." Xander pulled the keys to the truck he had rented out of his cargo pants.

"What are 'we' doing?" Gunn replied.

"Shopping." Xander smirked. 'Bad Xander, bad Spike, bad influence now I'm sporting a smug Spikelike smirk and cryptic comments.' Xander looked up to see Giles and Wesley leaning on the railing of the loft. Giles looked a little smug himself, Wesley just looked confused. Then Xander glanced around the store, keys in hand he wondered why he felt he was missing something. "Giles, where's Dawn?"

"Dawn?" Giles seemed to be having trouble with Xander's rapid topic changes, but that was nothing new. "I believe she is still at her friend's home. Megan wasn't it?"

"She hasn't called? No. Wait. I'm acting freaky and stalkerlike, aren't I?" Xander's confidence faltered for the first time since he entered the shop.

"I would say your acting very much like a parent." Giles said, sounding too amused.

"Great, even better." After his sarcasm, Xander picked his clipboard back up and sighed. "Listen I need to know she's okay. Will you call and have Willow pick her up?"

"Certainly. Anything else?"

Giles sounded sincere so Xander said. "Yeah have the witches scour the dorms and round up as many hotplates as they can get their hands on, I need them here in under two hours."

"Hotplates?" Giles now sounded as puzzled as Wesley looked.

"They're small portable heating units that" Xander was cut of by Giles' pained expressing.

"I am well aware of what a hotplate is Xander." Giles said.

"Oh, I thought it might be a British thing, you people have different names for everything and all." Xander shrugged, and still didn't understand what Giles had wanted to know.

"Let's get going with this 'shopping' already." Gunn did not sound patient.

Just before they went out the door, Xander turned and called up to Giles. "We'll be back in a couple hours. Can your order pizza?"

"How many?" Giles had begun to rely on Xander's estimation of the gang's appetites ever since he had seen Buffy consumed a large 'avocado and sliced cherry tomato' by herself.

Xander frowned at the floor, then looked up at Giles and said "Sixty?"

~~~~~

Gunn had been quiet as they drove. He didn't look happy, but Xander didn't know the guy, maybe he never looked happy. 'It must be a bitch getting dragged to the Hellmouth all because of one of Cordy's visions.'

"So?" Xander said after the silence became too much for him. "How did you get into the whole 'let's go save the world' business."

Judging by the way Gunn clenched his jaw and stared impassively ahead, Xander thought he might have asked the wrong question. He wondered if Gunn would answer at all. It had been clear that he had not wanted to be commandeered for this detail, but Xander need an extra pair of hands. Xander would have preferred Spike but, well, daylight.

"Sometimes a job just needs to be done." Gunn finally answered. 'Wow, there's a story there. Funny how I never thought that this shit touched people outside of Sunnydale. I guess there really is no place to hide from it.' "So, what are we shopping for?" Gunn said in a not too subtle change of subject.

"Groceries." Xander said. He felt a grin spread across his face. He hoped it was a goofy grin and not a wild-eyed maniacal grin.

"Groceries?" Gunn asked. Maybe it was a goofy grin, Gunn was now smiling and didn't appear as if he were thinking about jumping out of the moving vehicle.

"Yeah. You might say we're gonna 'bake a cake.'" Xander said, and started to hum the tune he just couldn't seem to get out of his head.

~~~~~

Their first stop was up a sandy road next to an actual barn. Waiting for them was a handsome Asian man about Xander's age and height, wearing dark glasses and khaki pants with a tight black tee shirt. He was leaning against a flatbed truck that had a small tarp covered load in the back.

"T.J." Xander and T.J. grasped forearms.

"Xand-man." Without another word the young man jumped up onto the truck bed and began removing the tarp. Underneath were three army green metal lockers.

Xander looked up at the young man standing above him and said. "Have I mentioned that I want to have your children?"

"Dude. I just wish I could get leave. I can't believe I'm missing this." It took all three of the men to move the lockers from one truck to the other. "Promise I get an invite to the next war?"

"Thanks man, this is amazing. I don't know how you do it." Xander smiled and when they clasped hands he added. "I don't want to know how you do it either."

Their next stop took them down a long dusty access road bordered by many rows of orderly plants. Xander backed the truck flush up against a loading dock. Gunn followed him into the offices of the nursery. A tall black woman unwound herself from her perch on a high stool behind a well-lit drafting table.

"Xander Harris, is that you? How have you been?" She came forward and hugged him.

"Kayla, you look great. I didn't know you worked here." Xander was surprised by the hug. She hadn't said three words to anyone outside of an Art class in high school. She had however survived graduation, an event that bound their class tighter than most.

"It's a summer internship. I wanted to stay back east where I'm going to school, but my parent insisted I come home." While she had spoke she had crossed to the drafting table. Xander looked down at the precise design, which resembled the blueprints he used but without the straight lines.

After Xander introduced Gunn and Kayla to each other he asked. "Kel around?"

"You're the one he's putting together that order for? I thought it was that crazy girlfriend of his." Kayla said with a smile. "I'll page him." She picked up the receiver of a phone and hit three buttons and when she spoke into the mouthpiece her voice resonated from outside speakers. "Kel come to the office please." She hung up the phone and then said, "This is...." She looked down and them up her large brown eyes filling with tears. "This is something like Graduation, isn't it?"

"I'm sorry Kay;" Xander started but stopped to let her continue.

"I was right next to Harmony that day. You know, Kendall, Kendrick, we were never close, different friends and all. But, my God Xander we had sat next to each other since kindergarten." Her eyes seemed focused inward when she said, "I'd never even been in a car accident. I'd seen violence on TV or in movies but...it never...I was never touched by it." Her eyes were dark and haunted. "Talk about losing your innocents; I picked a school as far away from here as I could get." Xander pulled her into another hug, this time as he patted her shoulder he felt her sob. "I guess I'm not much of a 'Child of the Hellmouth." She said in a small voice.

"You're the best kind." He said. "You survived. You haven't forgotten. You remember how dangerous it is to pretend that this crap doesn't exist, but you moved on, you've rebuilt your life."

Kelly came into the office from a door off the back. Xander introduced him to Gunn and as they were shaking hands he said to Xander, "Please tell me Laura did not give you this shopping list." Xander just shrugged and smiled. "Alright, I don't wanta know. I get off at six, any idea where this is going down?"

"Unless you get a call telling you different, come to the magic shop." Xander checked his clipboard and asked, "You want us to call the nursery for you?"

Kelly gave him his cellular number and the three of them went out to the loading dock and added several canisters to the U-Haul. Just before Gunn and Xander got into the truck Kelly said, "Whatever you do just keep Laura out of the kitchen until I get there."

"Shouldn't be a problem." Xander didn't think any of them would have time to cook, which was why he had told Giles to order something.

As they were pulling off the access road out onto the highway, Xander's phone rang.

"Xander, its Tara." She sounded shaken.

He was surprised it wasn't Willow. "Problem with the Wiccans?" He asked.

"No, no. I called...Xander, I ran into Riley on campus"

"Oh shit. How... I... Tara are you okay?" He gave up trying to voice his hundreds of questions and frustrations he had regarding Buffy's former lover. He had only given voice to his barely suppressed anger to Spike. He had known that eventually Riley would return, and figured that it would have to be him or Giles who broke the news of Buffy's death to him. There was no way Xander was letting Willow go through that again, not after how deeply she had been effected by telling Angel; Dawn telling him, and recounting those last painful days was out of the question.

"I blew it Xan. I... He asked me not to tell Buffy he was back, he said he wanted to tell her himself. I... I guess just the look on my face.... Then when he had pulled himself together, he said he wanted to stop by and talk to Joyce..." Tara sounded like she was starting to cry, her breath was coming soft and uneven. Xander made soothing noises but before he could say anything she continued. "That's not why I called. I mean I do feel wretched telling him like that and all... but I thought you needed to know. If Riley's in town.... maybe his 'friends'..." The emphasis she placed on the word reminded Xander that the call just might not be secure. "are here also. Giles said finish your 'shopping' and hurry home."

"Will do. And T, you did fine. None of us wanted that job, but... Hey is Wills okay, how did she?"

Tara interrupted. "Thankfully we had split up at the time, to cover more ground. She should be here when you get back."

"Okay." Xander said. "We'll see you soon."

*****
Part 15:

They made a few more stops: Lowe's; Wal-Mart; Radio Shack; and an Army Navy Surplus store. At each they went to the back and were met by a member of the last class to graduate from the old high school. Gunn and Xander were then assisted in loading merchandise, for which they had never paid, into the U-Haul truck.

When they arrived back at the shop, they parked in the alley behind it. The same alley Angel and Spike had had their throw down in the night before. 'Was that only last night?' Xander backed the truck as close to the door of the training room as possible. He thought it should be easy to tie a tarp between the roof of the building and the top of the truck to fashion a makeshift awning.

In the training room Angel and Spike were assembling a temporary table out of two carpenter's horses and an old door. Xander walked up quietly behind Spike just as they were finishing and slipped his arms around the blonde's waist. Hugging him tightly, Xander rested his head on Spike's shoulder and turning until his lips were almost touching Spike's ear. He whispered. "If I bat my eyelashes and string up a tarp, you think I could get some big strong vampire to carry in the groceries?"

"Try it. Maybe Peaches will volunteer." Spike rumbled back in an as equally quiet purr. Then he seemed to think about what Xander had said and replied louder. "Groceries?"

"Well," Xander smirked and nipped at the still temptingly positioned ear. "Most of what we got are the ingredients to bake a cake, zombie style, along with a few party favors."

Spike turned slowly toward the sharp teeth worrying his earlobe. He wore a look that made Xander sure his next words were going to be either, 'shag now', or 'pet what is going on in that screwy little mind of your'; but they were neither since Angel interrupted. "Xander I think you may want to talk to Cordelia."

"What? She doesn't like being worshipped by the masses?" He asked.

Xander reluctantly let go of his lover. At that moment he wanted nothing more than to take Spike and go home. He had a clear picture in his mind of Spike, fresh from the shower wearing only an oversized pair of Xander's old sweat pants. Xander had spent most of last Saturday watching the blonde amble around barefoot with his hair drying in soft wisps before it was gelled, and absentmindedly performing routine chores while never taking his nose out of some old book he had been reading. Last week the sheer domesticity of the scene had been laughable, this week it seemed like a glimpse of heaven.

"What's this for?" Xander rapped soundly on the 'table.'

"That crazy redheaded bint said something about there not being enough ventilation in the kitchen and needing more space for the hotplates."

"That crazy bint is your blood connection." Xander replied, more for the sheer pleasure of arguing with him than because he felt that Laura might care what she was called by Spike.

"Xander!" Cordelia stood in the doorway to the front of the store, one perfectly manicured hand on her hip. "Practically everyone in town has stopped by here. I need help."

"Fine. Tap the next two people to show up and make them your assistances." He spoke without thinking and then softened his voice and added, "I'm counting on you C."

"I'm on it." She sighed and rolled her eyes, but added a smile before heading back to the front of the shop.

Jonathan poked his head into the back and said, "I, um, we've pretty much stopped doing business for the day I..."

"Great. Can you help Gunn string up a tarp out back? I need everything from the door to the back of the truck shaded." Gunn didn't look happy but he went with Jonathan to get the material out of storage.

"You alright pet?" Spike asked, reversing their positions from before he folded his arms around Xander and gave a brief squeeze. Spike's naked concern chipped away at the walls, which Xander had been desperately reinforcing all day.

"I don't... I... Spike." Xander pulled Spike's arms even tighter and leaned his head back rubbing his cheek against Spike's. Unconcerned by Angel's presence Xander needed this, needed Spike. "I don't know if I can do this again. If... I.. It's so different from putting myself in danger, that... well that sucks too... but that I can do, have done...this... I'm asking them to risk their lives. Again." He took a deep breath, Xander knew if he let the tears start they wouldn't stop. As much as he wanted to wrap himself around Spike and hid from the whole Hellmouthy world he knew he couldn't. "Larry had a full scholarship, top ten school, four more years and his life would have been set. He could have got out, gone far away, done anything. I... I.." Xander's voice broke and he swallowed hard forcing the lump back down. When he continued his voice was hard and cold. "I put him there. Right in the front line. It was a stall, so we could get the mayor into position. He didn't have a chance. His life bought time; he died because I needed time. God Spike he didn't have a chance in hell, and I put him there."

He might have gone on, to the point where he would have broken, dropped into a sobbing mass at his lover's feet. Spike voice was unusually firm, and lacked he everyday accent, when he interrupted. "No one has a chance in Hell, love. Trust a demon's word on that, or if you don't ask Peaches. That's why you fight, to prevent Hell from being here, to keep this place a little better than Hell. It must be working; otherwise all the Hellspawn wouldn't be trying to crash your party."

Xander smiled and straightened and again disengaged himself from his lover's arms. "You're right. We can do this." He turned and softly kissed Spike, lingering only a moment over his bottom lip. "Thank you." Xander whispered.

Laura came into the room carrying one too many hotplates. Just as one slipped, Angel rushed forward in a blur and caught it. Laura jumped back, wide eyes never leaving the predator in front of her. Xander could almost see the wheels turning as she contemplated how effective it would be to bludgeon a vampire with a hotplate. Angel froze, and since he didn't seem to be attacking Laura backed up until she hit the wall. Giving Angel a wide berth she circled to the table and started setting up the hotplate, seeming unconcern by Spike's close proximity.

Seeing Angel's look of confusion and annoyance, Xander tried to play diplomat. "Laura, you remember Angel, he was at graduation."

"Lots of dead people were at graduation; more after than before." She bit her lip and shot Xander an I-am-so-not-shaking-his-hand-even-if-he-is-your-friend look.

"You don't seem to be disturbed by William the Bloody." Angel said with just a trace of the Angelus smirk.

"Spike? The dragonslayer? No I'm just glad he's on our side." She left, again circling widely around Angel.

"Dragonslayer?" Angel looked from Xander to Spike and back again.

"Angel let it go. Spike will tell you she's insane. But hey, it works for us, so it's of the good." Since Angel didn't look any less confused, Xander continued. "Is Will, here?"

"She went to check on the nibblet." Spike said. "What are you planning pet?"

Xander wasn't sure the shop was secure, it was a great meeting place because it was well known. That fact also made him uncomfortable with an open discussion, fortunately he had considered this. Previous overtly paranoid contingency plans were now simply resources for survival. He hoped that Willow had also acted on the few wild speculations they had made into worse case scenarios.

"Angel as soon as Willow gets here, round up Giles, Wesley and Tara. See if Willow can do a cone of silence on Giles' office." Xander checked his watch. "Tell her I need this now, but I'll settle for having it in fifteen minutes."

*****
Part 16:

It was a tight fit when they all crowed into the office. Since Angel had insisted on adding Gunn and Cordy, Jonathan was out front with Jeff, a swim team survivor, and Marcia, a former Cordette, handling operations. Fortunately Giles had angled an ornamental mirror on the wall across from the window in the office's door so that the front of the shop was visible. Xander divided his attention between what was happening in the office and the steady stream of people out front. He would just have to trust that Laura would not blow up the training room now that she had been left alone with the groceries and the hotplates.

"I called Megan's her mom said they went to the mall. She isn't answering her phone but Megan's mom said they were going to a movie..." Willow looked appealing at Xander. In under fifteen minuet she had erected a barrier which not only blocked any form of technological but also any magical eavesdropping and yet she seemed to think she had failed Xander by not producing Dawn.

"I'm sure she's okay. If we don't hear from here within the hour can you and Tara find her...you know?" Xander made a wavy motion with his hand.

Willow smiled and started to bounce but it was Tara who said, "We can track her anywhere. We made it part of a slumber party game, even if another magic user tried to block it we could follow the blank space."

"Good." Xander didn't mean to cut Willow off but she had looked like she was going to elaborate. While he was impressed, proud, and a little frightened by how powerful the two witches were together, now was not the time to find out how they did what they did. "The important thing is that she is safe and out of this."

"What is this?" Angel asked. "Do we know any more than we did last night?"

"What we know is that Cordy's vision said that the Hellmouth was going to have an attempt made to open it, that if that attempt was successful... Well we all know the drill. Since then we have been setting up a system to find out who or what is going to do that; and getting ready to take it out before it can completes its objective." Xander sat on the edge of Giles' desk with his back to the wall. He ran his fingers though his hair. "We have a vague description of who will be there when the attempt is made from Cordy's vision."

So, help me." Cordelia interrupted. "If one more person," and she shot Xander a meaningful look. "Says one more thing to me about little green men."

"Big." Xander cut in calmly. "Big buff commando types, with 'moldy' camouflaged faces."

Silence greeted that remark. Tara grasps Willow hand, her eyes never leaving her. Willow looked at Xander. He could see that brilliant brain of hers realizing the implications. Her lips moved but no words came out, her eyes filled with tears and she looked to Giles. "But... Riley said... There is no more initiative. Is there?" Her voice begged Giles to tell her Xander was wrong. Xander would have given his right arm to tell her that there was no chance that the well organized, highly trained, weapon wielding commandos weren't going to be the ones they were throwing the remaining members of their graduating class at in a desperate bid to save the world. But he couldn't. Couldn't lie to her. Couldn't lie to himself no matter how much wanted to.

About a week after her birthday, Willow and Tara had come over for another movie night. Spike had been getting drunk on JD and the girls had been sipping peach schnapps. Xander had missed the exchange, he and Tara had been in the kitchen making snacks, but Spike told him latter. Spike had been cursing the 'fucking soldier boys', as usual. He said he had offhandedly made a remake to Red about how he knew since they had been protecting humans that she probably thought they were the good guys. She has shocked him when in a soft breathless voice she had said no, that she thought they were scarier than anything she had ever met, including Glory. Xander wasn't surprised. He had learned about the Holocaust at the knee of the same grandmother that Willow had. In everything else Willow was the most liberal person Xander knew, but the moment something seemed to take the power from people and put it into the hand of a bureaucracy especially a government backed bureaucracy she became very conservative.

Giles seemed at a loss looking it Willow's eyes. Then he straightened and once again became their foundation. "While we can be sure that the installation at the university is now defunct, we have had every indication that the agency behind it is still very much active. We know when Buffy faced the Quellor demon that while Riley did show up late, he did not arrive alone. That suggests that he had a means, other that the one Buffy used to summon the doctor when he was ill, to contact them. We also know that when he left Sunnydale, he went as a part of a team with enough influence to rate what Buffy described as a 'black ops' type helicopter.

Willow smiled weakly at Xander and asked. "Is it too late to put the Omega Plan it to play?"

He nodded and smiled back "we'll have to save that one for when we have more notice about an Armageddon."

"What is the Omega Plan?" Wesley asked.

"We're almost positive we can break Faith out of prison, and with a combination of illusion and a magically enhanced computer virus we should be able to wipe out any record of her existence." Seeing the shocked looks on Cordelia, Wesley and Angel's faces, Xander said to Angel. "What? You're the one who thinks she all changed and stuff."

Jeff knocked at the door and opened it without waiting for a response. "Xand, I got TJ on line one, he has to speak with you now."

"Thanks." Xander nodded a dismissal and Jeff closed the door. Xander took the call from the desk's phone. "TJ?"

"Dude, I wanta know who your sources are. You're amazing." He sounded like he was calling from outside and Xander could hear engines in the background.

"What'd you have?" Xander grabbed a pen and Spike handed him his clipboard.

"Twenty minuets ago two fucking huge choppers set down with biological cargo. Whatever it is it came from a base out in Nevada and they have more guards on it than the president. Their locking everything down, every cellular and digital signal in a three-mile radius should be toast. All the landline on the base are inoperational. Whoever these Special Forces are they should be moving out within the next two hours."

"Thanks, anything else." Xander set aside the clipboard.

"Yeah, I just wish I was there." TJ sighed.

Xander hung up, sighed and rubbed his face with both hands. 'What the hell is everyone looking at me for?' He looked at Spike and then Angel. "You heard?"

"Fill in those of us with a pulse." Gunn said.

"The initiative is back it town. They brought someone or something with them and are mobilizing a major effort. For those of you just joining us these guys are the KKK of the demon world, they drew a line between species that they couldn't enforce and one of their little biological experiments nearly started a race war, as in humans verses everybody else."

Xander was tired; bone deep tired like he hadn't been since that first empty week after Buffy had died. He had told Dawn that when you loved people you kept a piece of them with you even after they died and, because they loved you back, they took a piece of you with them to heaven. He had wondered if the binding they had used to take down Adam hadn't exchange a large part, if the reason he felt so tired was because part of him had died with Buffy. Was part of Giles and Willow also missing? If they lived thought the night maybe they could discuss it.

"Cordy, I need you to move operation to the Beta site. Use who and what you have to but get everyone and everything there in one hour. All communication from now on is landline only. Will, can you extend the spell blocking any taps on the phone to cover the incoming lines at the new base?" He looked at Cordy; she seemed to be waiting for more.

"That's it?" She asked in a disbelieving tone. He knew it was going to be like evacuating a sinking ship but he thought she could pull it off if anyone could.

"Yeah, you might want to get started." She pulled Gunn with her as she left the office. "Load up the weapons; pack every thing in the U-Haul. Get the rocket launcher out of the storeroom and bring that damn thing the fairies gave you."

"Sprites." Willow corrected.

"Xander, as we realize with the dragon, the rocket launcher won't be useful without ammunition." Giles said.

"Gunn and I picked that up while grocery shopping." Xander frowned down at the list, now resting on the desk. "Now if I can just think of a safe way to transport the bombs Laura's making."

"Bombs?" 'Oh look, Wesley and Angel can do the stereo thing too.

*****
Part 17:

The group dispersed. Giles and Wesley went to pack up the texts they had sorted out to take. Tara and Willow were going to rely on the others to bring spell components, and were tracking down Dawn to make sure she would be somewhere safe for the rest of the night. The sun wouldn't set for a couple of hours at this time of the summer, but Xander thought Angel and Spike would be safe in the back of the U-Haul for the move to the new site.

Before the vampires could be drafted for grunt work, Xander gestured for them to follow him. He led them to the 'changing room' it was really a remodeled closet, but Buffy had used it to change from street clothes to workout gear so the name had stuck.

"Angel, I had to guess at you size, but I want both of you to put these on." He held up slick long sleeved black body suits. They would cover them from ankle to wrist and had hoods.

"Pet, you shouldn't have." Spike looked at the skintight suit with some distaste. 'Meanwhile I'm supposed to do the dance of joy when he picks out my wardrobe.'

"It's not a fashion statement chip-dip; this is a thermal suit. The soldier boys use this to sneak around heat detectors. It's going to give you a body temperature so they can't spot you with the thermal scopes. Well they will spot you but you'll look human." Spike looked impressed.

Angel looked like Xander had suggested he switch hair gels. "Xander, I don't think."

Xander cut him off. "It's not your call. This is where you're vulnerable. Any liability to you is a liability to us." Xander really looked at Angel, met his eyes firmly and unflinching, in a way he never had before. "Trust me. You do not want to be at these peoples mercy."

"Xander, you can't go at this like these people are monsters, they're human." Angel was looking martyred, as usual. Xander didn't have the time or the strength to coddle him.

"So help me God, if you start angsting about souls right now, I will slap you." Angel looked too shocked to comment and Spike, of course, was grinning like he had said it instead of Xander. "Listen, I realize you have a blind spot about redemption and all... Angel some of the most heinous acts in history have been committed by humans to humans, having a soul is no guarantee that you or anyone else is going to do the right thing." Xander turned to Spike, he didn't want his lover's need to 'kick sire in the arse' to interrupt this conversation, "Go change; I don't want an argument. Then find Willow and what she has on Dawn. Bring Willow back here with you." Spike hesitated, glaring at Angel. "Now, Spike." Xander soften his last words with a squeeze to Spike's hand.

Xander leaned back against the wall; they were out of the traffic pattern but the place boiled with activity. At that moment he felt the weight of every bad decision he ever made, every day of his twenty years, every person he had ever let down, resting on his shoulders. "Angel," his voice was almost a whisper, but vampire hearing and all "I need to know. If I tell you to kill someone, if it comes to that, can I depend on you?"

Angel clenched his jaw. His eyes looked away at the young men and women bustling about. Xander watched the play of emotions on his face, the fear, the resignation. He wondered when he had started looking out for Angel. 'Wouldn't Buffy get a laugh out of this?' Angel looked down at the younger man. "I'm worried if I start" he said in a pain filled voice "I won't stop."

"If this gets to the point that you have to start killing humans, stopping won't be an issue." Xander swallowed and figured since in all likelihood he would be dead by morning, he had nothing to loose. "I'm trusting you with my pack. Can I depend on you?"

Angle just nodded, and since he didn't react to the hyena-speak, Xander continued. "If I go down, keep Willow and Tara together they're both more powerful together than apart. Willow doesn't go for the kill on her first shot. That's a liability. She thinks too much in a combat situation. Don't shackle her with instructions that are too specify. She's creative under pressure, just don't let her waste time with explanations, tell her the end result you want and how fast you need it. She will come through or die trying, another reason to keep Tara close. Tara will watch out for Willow. Tara's practical. She sees the big picture. Any perceived threat to Tara will get Willow past her reluctance for violence. Don't under estimate Giles, he's not just knowledge guy. He will do whatever is necessary. But if one or more of us go down tonight, do not leave him alone when this is over." Xander stopped and focused back on the tall vampire in front of him. "We almost lost him after Buffy.... Dawn will know how to handle Giles, but she.... She's had a lot on her plate. She's strong, like Joyce, she'll be there for him."

"What about Spike?" Angel voice sounded heavy and tired.

Xander wasn't sure if Angel really wanted him to evaluate his Childe's assets and liabilities, but decide to go with the truth. "If I go down, that won't be an issue. You know that." Angel's eyes widened and Xander said. "If none of us make it, take Dawn to LA. Willow has the contingency plans in her dorm room. Have Wes use the Omega plan to bust Faith out. Tell her...tell her I said she owes us, that she owes Joyce and Buffy. Tell her that from that day forward she is to treat Dawn as an extension of herself. To protect her like she would herself. And you, do not let either of them out of you sight consider yourself her parole office. Relocate. I don't give a damn about the 'lawyers from hell' find another city to protect, change your name, change Faith's name and what ever you do keep Dawn safe."

"Xander, don't you think that's a little extreme?" Angel looked like he was starting to doubt Xander's sanity.

Xander wasn't going to risk it even with Willow's spell. None of them spoke about the key any more, not since the watcher's visit. The hadn't agreed on it or talked about it. He knew it still crossed his mind so he didn't think it was a magic compulsion or anything, they just referred to it obliquely. "Angel, the last promise any of us made to Buffy was... This is what she needed. Her last request before the final battle. Can I depend on you?"

"You can." Angel said quietly and then again louder. "You can." They clasp hands, levelly taking each other's measure. It occurred to Xander that in five year they had never spoken this much at one time. He left Angel to finish changing.

~~~~

Xander leaned over Cordelia's shoulder and review her notes while she detailed what supplies had been delivered while he and Gunn had been gone. Jeff, Marcia and Jonathan were contacting the field units and redirecting them to the new site. Gunn was rounding up labor from among the people who had returned to the shop to assemble the next load for the U-Haul.

"Xander I moved the triage back to this side of the building," she pointed to the schematic of the parking garage a block from the old high school. Fortunately, unlike most in California, this garage was entirely under ground, having a park and large fountain on the ground level. Since his call earlier in the day the bottom two floors had had signs up saying they were closed to repaint the lines on the floors. Even now 'the children of the Hellmouth' were being discretely let into the closed sections. Those in cars parked on the bottom floor. Those on foot went straight to the next level, where the food, charts and weapons, which had already been forward, were transforming their new base of operations. "It's farther away from the school and has easier access for the ambulances afterward." She continued.

"Good call. How are we doing for time?" He asked.

She was Cordy, and yet she wasn't. The proud girl who had been embarrassed by what people would think if, perish the thought, she had a job was gone. She was intelligent and confident. Xander was relieved to have her to depend on in this crisis. She hadn't changed so much, as she had been refined. Whatever she had lived through since graduation had burned away all the assumed shallowness she had hidden behind. He was saddened to think of what pain had most likely caused that, and felt guilty for not keeping in touch with her. What he had said to Spike about Anya applied to Cordy as well, first and foremost they had been friends. If tomorrow did come, he promised himself to do better. A two-hour trip by freeway wasn't that far, and Dawn would love shopping/bonding with the prom queen.

"Twenty minuets tops and the whole operation except the explosives and flammables with be centralized. Any ideas on transporting that stuff without taking out the vehicle and driver?" As she looked up over her shoulder to ask him that question, Xander heard a low vicious growl behind him. He straightened and turned to see Spike in game face with Willow beside him.

Willow ignored the snarling vampire and said, "Dawn and Megan are going to sleep over at Stephanie's. She promised that they would not leave the house between sunrise and sunset. Megan is still in the dark, but Dawn filled Stephanie in weeks ago on why night is bad in Sunnydale."

"And she believed her?" Xander was impressed, he hadn't believed until he came face to face with Darla.

"Spike went all 'grrr' on her as proof and Dawn has an oddly morbid list of mortality rates that either support vampires or the large pack of wild dog theory." Willow bounced, it was a too much caffeine bounce, and not a 'this is good news' bounce. 'Willow bounces, yet another language like Spike snorts and Cordelia eye rolls that I can't put on my resume.' "Spike said you needed to see me?"

"Yeah lets go to Giles office." As the three of them filed into the back he asked casually. "Did you ever get a chance to do that animal testing we talked about?"

Willow stilled. She blinked and said nothing as Spike closed the door behind them. "Tara and I.... We did some volunteer work at the shelter we got Miss Kitty from... the preliminary results are good. It should work. I... Xander are you sure."

"Did you lose any subjects?" He watched her carefully.

"No, there isn't even a great deal of pain, but.... Now?" Willow looked nervous. Xander knew he couldn't give her time to psych herself out of doing this.

"Now."

"You're sure?" Her eyes drifted over to where Spike was lounging on the desk, looking bored and unconcerned with the conversation.

"What do you need?" Xander asked.

"Stillness, quiet, Tara. I'll be right back." Willow slipped out of the office, into the slowly dispersing hubbub outside.

"Spike?" Xander took his hand and pulled Spike into a standing position. Spike gave him a sad smile and pulled back until the young man was in his arms.

For a moment, they just held on drinking in each other's scents. Spike didn't look that different in his new outfit. He wore his jeans and Docs over the thermal suit. It was unzipped and showed his pale collarbone and the lean muscles that corded his throat and chest. The hood hanging back was the only jarring difference from his everyday attire. Xander kiss and then nibbled on his bottom lip. Immediately both their bodies vibrated with Spikes subsonic purring.

"The thing to remember about giving orders," Xander said conversationally. "Is that if someone," He poked his lover in the chest with his index finger, "Is inclined not to follow them, just order them to do what they were going to do any way."

"What are my orders, love?" Spike asked.

"Stay with me. What ever happens, you stay with me." Xander said as softly as he could, looking though the fall of overlong hair that blocked his vision.

"Thought the gates of Hell." Spike said. He seemed to think about what Xander had said and added. "You don't have to protect me, I know there human but."

He was interrupted by Willow and Tara coming into the office.

"We're ready." Willow said. "Are you ready?" She looked from Xander to Spike.

"What's this about Red?" Spike started to turn to the witches, but Xander held him fast.

"Do you trust me?" Xander asked.

Spike looked confused, hundreds of questions flashed behind those intelligent blue eyes. He asked none. He squared his shoulders and looked straight into Xander's eyes. "I trust you."

"Close you eyes, and stand perfectly still. Don't move until I say so." Xander firmly took Spike's hips in his hands and tipped his head until their foreheads nearly touched.

Willow and Tara were chanting softly in an island rhythm. Tara held Willow left hand as Willow reached up with her right and began to brush her fingertips slowly against the back of Spikes neck, then moving over the base of his skull. Xander closed his eyes and strained to sense his lover. Spike remained as immobile as a statue. It seemed to last forever. The soft words repeated by the girls over and over, the sensation of movement in stillness.

Xander heard Willow sigh and the chanting stopped. He pulled back but kept his hands on Spike's hips. Willow held up a small white rectangle, smaller than a pencil eraser. It was inconceivable that this it. The product of all that government funding, the greatest creation of Maggie Walsh. Somehow Xander had pictured it much larger and metallic, this almost looked ceramic.

"Open your eyes." Xander said. Spike looked at him and them followed Xander's gaze to the tiny object Willow held in the palm of her hand.

*****