Panting back against the wall, Harmony let out a gasp of indignation. “Rude much?” she demanded.

“Be silent.”

Four of Alger’s minions had crept upon them, and now the vampires lifted Spike easily off the ground.

“Oh great,” Harmony grumbled, taking an angry step forward. One of the vampires raised the stun gun her way, and she halted. “You couldn’t have waited until after? I mean, really…” She rolled her eyes but kept her distance.

“You will not speak of what has happened here,” one of them ordered her.

“Ugh.” She scrunched up her nose. “Like I’d want to? I didn’t even get to the good part!”

Alger’s minions were obviously perplexed by her manner, but they paid her no mind. Two began to carry Spike away, while the remaining two guarded the end of the corridor.

Which, in retrospect, had been a wise move. Or maybe just a really stupid one.

Because, at that moment, Drusilla came barreling down the hall with her full fury, eyes blazing and fangs bared.

“She’s coming!” The two with Spike made a run for it. The other two held up their stun guns, prepared to face off with this attacker.

“Hey!” Harmony objected belatedly, catching one by the shoulder and wrenching him. “You can’t attack her! There are, like, rules, and you have to challenge and stuff.”

Bafflement filled the minion’s face for a second, and then he couldn’t take it anymore and zapped Harmony right in the chest.

She let out an indignant little gasp and fell to the floor, unconscious.

It didn’t do her attacker any good, however. Drusilla, with only one opponent facing her, had turned to her strongest defense and enthralled him. The first minion dropped his weapon upon her unspoken command and didn’t even flinch when she came upon him in a storm of fury, ripping his head clean from his shoulders.

The remaining minion turned back to the master vampiress just in time to see his companion vanish in a swirl of dust. Too late, he raised his weapon, and he found himself pinned painfully to the wall, the stun gun falling uselessly to the floor.

“Where have they taken him?” Drusilla snapped angrily, looking more beast than human.

“T-To the halls of Memnos’ line.”

“How long ago?”

“You just missed them.” He gulped. “A few seconds.”

“How many?”

“T-Two. Look, please don’t—” His plea was never finished as his heart was ripped clean from his chest in an explosion of dust and ash.

Drusilla vanished down the corridor, faster than even the immortal eye could see. And, again, she was not a moment too soon. They were at the chamber doors. One with her William slung over his shoulder, and the other unlocking the door. Only a few more seconds and her boy would’ve been inside and she unable to enter after him.

She launched herself upon the vampire trying to open the door. He shrieked and struck back at her, but she clung to his back, dug her teeth into his throat.

He fell backward, slamming her against the far wall of the hallway, but his strength was no match for hers, and he didn’t damage her in the slightest. Her claws dug into his throat now, ripping at flesh, draining away his blood, and severing his life. She savored her bloody victory, made this fool suffer for what he’d tried to take from her.

In fact, she’d almost gotten so absorbed in this kill that she’d forgotten the other, the one who still held Spike captive. She looked up just in time to see that the final minion had opened the door.

One final rip, and she dispatched the vampire beneath her. Charged with her full preternatural strength for the door.

She collided violently with the last of the kidnappers, and she saw out of the corner of her eye that her Spike had fallen inside the door and its barrier. Invited already, by Thanos or one of his minions. A scream of despair rose up in her, and she took it out on the vampire below her. Soon, he wasn’t even recognizable as humanoid, just a bloody pulp.

She ended his life with a final angry hiss and turned back to her childe, leaning on the invisible barrier that separated them, her mind flailing frantically for hope.

It was this wild fear that had stopped her from seeing it at first, of course. Too much agitation and not enough common sense. But she realized then that not all of her boy was blocked from her. His arm had fallen forward, over his head, when he’d been thrown to the ground, and two fingers stretched past the threshold and into the corridor.

Drusilla could’ve wept with relief at that. Maybe it was just enough of a grip that she could pull him free. Thankfully, there seemed to be no one in the chambers to pull William through her grasp. But she must hurry before she was interrupted.

She caught his fingers gently and pulled. It was excruciating, having to be so gentle, when what she really wanted was to yank with her full strength, catch him up in her arms, and be gone from this dreaded place. But she could easily yank his fingers clean off, and then he would be gone from her.

So, she kept her patience and pulled gently on his hand. Soon, his entire wrist was through the doorway. She grabbed his hand tightly, then, and dragged him out into the hall, wincing inwardly when she heard a joint pop in his arm – hopefully just a joint and not bone – and his head collided rather violently with the doorframe.

But then he was out, free, in her arms, and she clutched him to her, her forehead pressed to his, her demonic features rippling back out of his existence. Her boy, safe, hers once again.

“They’ll not take you from me,” she whispered into his hair over and over again as she carried him like a child in her arms. “They’ll never take you from me…”

It seemed a lifetime before they reached Heinrich’s rooms, and Drusilla had him safely within her bed once more. Thanos could no more touch her here than she could have touched him in his rooms. So long as there were no traitors in her own line, her boy would be safe here.

And, with the immediate disaster averted, Drusilla’s mind turned to larger problems. The blind panic was fading now that she had her mate once more.

“My sweet must wait here,” she informed him softly, stroking his hair even though he was still unconscious and unable to hear her. “Mommy will get our sweet girl, and then we’ll be together, and we’ll make them pay for even daring to try to take you from me.”

Vengeance burning in her eyes, she left him in the care of Penn’s childer and entered the halls once more. Oh, Thanos would pay for this. In blood and agony…

“You have something to say, or are you just going to stand there all night?” Buffy couldn’t put her finger on it, but something felt…off tonight. It made her edgy, caused her to snap at Xander more than usual.

“I’m just trying to think of where to start,” he conceded that he was taking far too long to begin.

“The beginning?” she suggested sarcastically.

“You know the beginning.”

“Oh. Right.”

He smiled slightly, the hint of fang glinting in the moonlight. They hadn’t drifted far from the Sanctuary, just out to the first pillars that guarded the entrance. Both outside and in, the cusp of the threshold.

“When they first brought me here,” he began slowly, “all I wanted was power for my revenge.”

“Against Willow.”

He shook his head. “Against the three of you, too. I wasn’t too particular about assigning blame.”

“Oh god,” Buffy shook her head, “you’re working for Thanos, aren’t you?”

He gave her an exasperated look. “Will you let me tell this or not?”

She winced and made a motion like zipping her lips. “Right. Sorry.”

There was something about talking to her that brought him back to those days. Their words, expressions, patterns of speech… They all tended toward the late 20th century when they were around each other. Perfectly natural that they should speak together now as they had all those years ago.

“The Order doesn’t just hand out power,” he went on. “I served as a minion for decades. Running errands and seeing to some rather snot-nosed masters’ needs. Definitely the shit-job of the demon world.”

Her lips quirked slightly at his imagery.

“But it was good in its way, y’know? It kept me from dwelling too much on the past. There would be days – weeks sometimes, even – where I just wouldn’t have time to think about Willow or…” His voice trailed off at the memory of his lost sire.

“It still hurts you,” Buffy breathed. “Even now.”

“You can’t imagine,” Xander sighed. “Or maybe you can. With the one you lost. Maybe it’s the same both ways…”

She nodded slightly in agreement with his point.

“I’m not sure if it’ll ever get better, really,” he went on. “Eternal possibilities, all lost because I was too young and foolish to see what I had.”

Buffy looked at him in surprise at that.

He grinned, amused that he’d shocked her. “You didn’t think you were the only one growing up all these years, did you?” he teased lightly.

“I-I just…” Buffy found herself at a loss for words.

He laughed. “You’ve realized it too, of course. Sooner than I did, I’ll bet. I can see how…close you and Dru are now. But when you’re young and your demon’s screaming at you to take everything you want for yourself…” He shrugged. “We all do stupid things, I would imagine.”

“Oh yeah,” she agreed.

“I guess, in the end, the distance gave me perspective,” he decided. “Not that Willow can’t be a complete witch – because she can – but planning my revenge just made me remember what I’d lost all the more…” He looked off into the distance, and a small night breeze rose up around them.

Buffy let him pause in his own thoughts for a minute before speaking. “So, what does this mean to me?” she asked curiously.

“Well, for one, that it’s not your fault – or Spike’s or Dru’s – what happened to Cordy. I was the one who let Wood’s gang in.” A quick gasp like the next sentence caused him pain. “It was my fault. I killed her.”

“You didn’t mean to hurt her,” Buffy assured him softly. “Like you said, we all do stupid things. When you’re young… All that power, all of a sudden. It makes you feel like you’re immortal. And not just the eternally-young-and-beautiful bit,” she added with a wry smile.

“Was that a compliment?” he teased, his mood seemingly lighter now that he’d gotten that off his chest.

“You and Harmony should stop by some time when Spike’s in less of a pissy mood,” she offered coyly.

He snorted at that. “Is Spike ever not in a pissy mood?”

“You’d be surprised. He’s just…er, high-strung right now because he hasn’t killed anything in a while. He can be a real sweetheart when he’s had his daily doses of blood, violence, and sex.”

Xander paused as if on an old, fond memory. “Yeah,” he finally agreed, “Spike wasn’t half bad. Not like…” A little frown. “Some others I could name.”

Buffy let it drop. It wasn’t her place to pry into painful memories they hadn’t shared, after all. “And Harmony?” she inquired, lightening the mood once more.

“You know, I almost had a heart-attack when I first saw her here?” Xander laughed. “She left town after she was turned. Willow never even knew about it. And then the odds of running into her all the way out here?” He shook his head. “I’d thought I’d lost my mind and was seeing things.”

“Except, y’know, if you were seeing things, why would you see Harmony.” Buffy grinned, and then realized belatedly that maybe she shouldn’t poke jokes at his girlfriend. Or whatever Harmony was.

Xander assured her with a wave of one hand that it was okay. “All those snide remarks I made about the Cordettes, and look at me now…” A grin. “Anyway, Harmony and I are…coworkers.”

“Coworkers?” Buffy repeated incredulously.

He shrugged. “Coworkers with benefits?”

She laughed at that. “You two seemed cozy on the transport.”

“Cozy,” he conceded. “And you seemed cozy in that little love-nest where I found you.”

Buffy purred softly at the memory of that night. ‘Cozy’, indeed. “So, you’re doing all right with the Order, then?” she asked curiously.

“Like I said, it gives you perspective. All these really powerful vampires holed away. Night in and night out worrying about factions and power plays and…” He rolled his eyes, indicating with his hands that it just went on and on. “They’re so caught up in their old customs that they don’t even bother to live. Er…unlive.” He frowned. “You know, no one’s ever made that clear to me before. Is it ‘live’ or ‘unlive’?”

Buffy shrugged. “No clue. I think ‘unlive’ is supposed to be a joke or something. One that should have died long ago. But it unlives.”

He chuckled. “Right.”

“So, basically, you do whatever the old fogies say. And then you laugh at them behind their backs.”

“Pretty much,” he agreed. “I get Brownie Points for living their lives for them.” He gave Buffy a challenging look when he caught her about to the make the same old joke. She acquiesced with a little shrug. “And I get to run all over the globe and actually see things for the first time.”

“Sunnydale really is a little hellhole in comparison,” she agreed, her nose scrunched up in distaste.

“Tell me about it.” He shuddered. “I almost feel sorry for Willow. Trapped over that damn Hellmouth forever.”

“Forever is relative,” Buffy shrugged.

He laughed at that. “I guess it is.”

“Never thought I’d hear pity for Willow coming from you,” she ventured hesitantly.

He sighed. “She had her reasons for doing everything she did, I suppose. I guess she was just one of those vampires that does a one-eighty turn around once they get, well…turned.”

“You should hear Spike’s stories about his human days.” She giggled at the memory. “He’s so much better off now, it’s not even funny.”

“Willow, too, in her way.”

“Yeah…” Buffy looked at him askance. “I can’t tell with you. Sometimes I think ‘same old Xander’, and other times… The demon changed something you that I can’t even define.”

“I’m a mystery,” he teased. “Women like mysteries, or so I’m told.”

“Oh?” She raised one eyebrow.

“Feel free to explore me anytime.” He gave her the worst rakish grin in the history of the universe.

“‘Explore me’,” she repeated, laughing. “I take it back. You’re so Xander, it’s frightening.”

He smiled. “Glad to hear you say it…”

“Little puppies shouldn’t play with the wolves.” Drusilla’s eyes flashed gold as she cornered her quarry. “They might get eaten aaall up.”

Alger gulped and tried to slip down the hall.

Drusilla’s clawed hand crashed through the wall, inches in front of his face. He let out a little squeal and came to a very nervous halt.

Her other hand came up to rest on the wall on the other side of his head, trapping him in place. “And some of your puppies,” she hissed, “have been very, very bad…”

Now, nothing this big could go down in the Sanctuary without being noticed, and by now Dru had picked up quite a procession of followers as she made her displeasure known. Just as well; they served as excellent witnesses.

“I-I-I…” Alger began to stutter.

Drusilla placed one long, red nail over his lips. “Shh…”

If anything, he looked more frightened now, confident that those deadly fingers could end his existence in a second. And he’d be dust if he was lucky. Torture was… Well, he’d never been able to stomach the thought of torture, to tell the truth. At least, not aimed against him.

“In fact,” Drusilla considered pleasantly, playing at being entirely oblivious to his fear, “some naughty puppies thought to help themselves to one of my puppies. And without mommy’s permission. That was so very bad of them, wasn’t it?” Deadly dark eyes fixed on him.

“O-Of course,” he agreed helplessly. “C-Completely against Order rules and—”

“Whoever sent those puppies must be punished then?” she cut him off.

A big gulp. “Yes,” he admitted, wincing in advance.

“So, of course, we must find whoever sent the puppies,” Dru concluded. “Who was that again?” she pretended to think, gazing far off into the distance. Then, her eyes focused again of his, and she grinned wickedly. “I know…” she sing-songed.

“She’s right.” One of the hangers-on who’d been following Dru since the battle outside the door of the Line of Memnos chimed in. “I recognized them. It was Bill and Floyd. They work for you.”

Dru frowned. “What kind of name for a vampire is ‘Floyd’?” Then, she shook her head and turned back to Alger. “The birdie says it’s you. Now, how must I punish you properly…?” She considered several options, and her eyes locked on his, drawing him just far enough into her mind that he could see everything she was thinking of doing to him.

“P-Please…” he begged.

“You want mercy?” Dru gave him an innocent little smile.

“Yes,” he agreed, “please.”

“Must give me some reason to give it,” she tisked, “because so many want to see blood.” She turned back to the assembled crowd who did, indeed, look like they were hoping for a massacre.

“Y-You w-w-want…” Suddenly, Alger was twice as frightened.

“Tell us who ordered you to take my boy,” she pressed. “They all know, anyway,” she confided in him with a low whisper. “So obvious from where they took him…”

Alger gulped, nodded, and managed to say a name:

“Cassandra.”

And Drusilla lashed out at him in a fury. His head was off in one swipe, his body falling to dust. Belatedly, she regretted her fit of temper. For now, she couldn’t get the truth out of him. Not that she’d have managed to do so in time, anyway. She was almost confident of that…

Around her, the crowd screamed for Cassandra’s blood. Whispers of her long association with Thanos’ childer quickly blossomed into theories that she was one of his line. Dru knew such rumors to be false; Cassandra held sway with Memnos’ clan, no more. But Caleigh’s warnings had taught her only too well that Cassandra had obviously been involved in this plot from the beginning. She let the mob’s rage rise to feverish proportions.

“Shall we get her?” she asked, eyes wide and childlike.

A deafening roar and a stampede of demons agreed with her.

“Did you hear that?” Xander’s ears perked up in sudden alarm.

Buffy frowned and turned back to the door. “It sounds like a war broke out in there.”

Xander scowled. “There shouldn’t be any…”

They exchanged a nervous glance, and that unsettling feeling Buffy had felt earlier increased tenfold. Something was watching, waiting…

“Hey!” Xander yelled out in sudden alarm.

Buffy spun just in time to see the world suddenly go black. And then her body collapsed to the ground unconscious. Out before the battle had even begun…

With an enraged leap, Xander tackled Thanos back to the ground, fangs only inches away from the older vampire’s throat. It really was an exceptionally stupid move, and only the sheer surprise factor of it allowed him to succeed for so long.

Thanos’ childer quickly responded, however, dragging Xander back off their leader. Thanos rose once again, and a second blow to the forehead knocked Xander out as well. He turned to see that the rest of his minions had already loaded Buffy into the transport.

“What do we do with this one?” Cyril, his favorite childe, asked nervously, pointing to Xander.

“We don’t touch the Order’s own,” Thanos insisted. “Leave him.”

“He’ll talk…”

“He’ll keep quiet. We’ll give her reason enough to keep his mouth shut.” Thanos gestured for the transport to take off and watched it vanish into the desert wadis with its valuable prisoner. “Inside,” he ordered his remaining allies. “We mustn’t be seen at the scene of the crime, as it were…”

Inside, the enraged search for Cassandra continued, and everyone remained perfectly oblivious to the fact that Thanos and his childer had appeared so late in the game.

And, twenty minutes later when Xander finally woke up, he realized that Buffy and her captors were long gone. And he swore long and hard.