Shooting Stars

Part 6

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Xander ran into the library, gasping for air, shaking everyone awake. By the time they were all semi-coherent, he'd caught his breath from the run from the park to the school.
"Guys, we have a problem," Xander said. Giles looked around, seemingly confused.
"Where's Angel?" Cordelia asked, looking at the empty stairs. The ropes were there, but the vampire was missing.
"Taking Buffy to the hospital, and no, he's not the one responsible for the whole thing. Apparently, some vamp attacked her, broke her wrist, and he saved her," Xander explained.
"Well, I guess it's kinda good that he escaped, right?" Oz asked. Willow nodded, looking somewhat nervously at the ropes. She knew something, but Xander decided it wasn't the time to interrogate her.
"This is bad. I mean, if Buffy's wrist is broken…" Cordelia didn't finish her sentence, looking to Giles with wide eyes.
"Exactly," Xander said, turning to the Watcher. "Now what?"
"Well, I'm not sure. Um, hopefully we can still fight Chaos, despite tonight's events," Giles said. "We'll have to wait until Buffy and Angel to return before we try to do anything. Does anyone know how he escaped and no one noticed?"
"Well, besides the fact we were all listening to mister-know-it-all's plan and, um… Sleeping? No, I'm not at all sure how that happened," Xander said, dripping with sarcasm. Giles shot a glare at him.
"Now isn't the time to start fights, Xander. We have a lot to deal with, and I don't think our little group here could survive another yelling and screaming incident between you and one or more of us. Let's just stay cool," Oz said. Everyone turned to face him, silent for several minutes. That was a speech for Oz, considering he didn't talk much.
"So… Do we wait?" Willow asked after a long silence. Giles nodded.
"And, hope we don't die anytime soon, may it be from Chaos or shock at Oz's long sentences. That was almost a full paragraph, man. Nice going," Xander said. Oz just nodded. Xander sighed; figuring Oz had used up his speech power for the day. Xander took a seat, as did the rest of the group, hoping that Buffy would be back soon.
* * *
"Ouch!" Buffy cried out as the doctor twisted her wrist slightly. He was trying to put it back into place. Angel was leaning against the wall, watching over her.
"Sorry," he replied. "So, how did this happen?"
"W-well, I um…" She glanced to Angel giving him a 'help me out here' look.
"She fell," he said, shrugging slightly as if to tell her he couldn't come up with anything else. She was on her own. She chewed on her lip for a second.
"D-down the stairs. At my house, 'cause, you know, we have those. Stairs," Buffy said, mentally smacking herself. We have stairs, she thought, how original.
"Must have been some dirty stairs," the doctor said.
"Um, yeah… The um… The basement stairs, because I was going to go down to the basement to get something, and I slipped," she said, hoping the doctor bought her lame excuse. He obviously didn't.
"Look, I don't think I'm hearing the truth, so I'm just gonna ask. Were you two fighting?" he asked.
"No," both of them replied at the same time.
"Okay, I just thought I'd ask," the doctor replied.
"Thanks for your concern, but you should mind your own business," Buffy said, wincing as she heard her arm pop back into place. It was sort of numb, so she couldn't really feel it, but just the sound of it hurt.
"Okay, sorry. I'll go get the casting material," he said, leaving the room.
"I told you we didn't have time for this," Buffy said. "Besides, how am I supposed to fight Chaos with a broken wrist?"
"Well, you'll stand more of a chance if it's casted and in place," Angel replied.
"Look, it's like four-thirty in the morning. The sun's supposed to rise in an hour. We should've just gone back to the library instead of wasting time here. Who knows how long this'll take."
"Why are you so eager to kill this thing?"
"Well, just for your information, I took off a couple months ago. Then, Giles drug me back here to fight off Chaos, so I mean to do it. And, plus, save the world?"
"Things are different now." Buffy was silent for a long time.
"I know. Sorry, I'm just… Forget it," she said, looking to the door as the doctor re-entered the room with a cart.
"Now, let me see your arm," the doctor said, sitting back down beside the hospital bed she was sitting on. She sighed, putting her arm back so he could reach it. "What color do you want?"
"Does it look like I wanna pick a color?" she snapped. The doctor blinked in surprise. She sighed again, using her free hand to cover a yawn. She looked up at the clock. It was 4:37 in the morning. "Oh! It's cold!" She jerked her arm back when the casting material touched her skin.
"I can't do my job if you won't let me," the doctor said. She reluctantly put her arm back in his reach so he could cast it. He went back to work, wrapping her hand in the plaster material from her fingertips to her elbow.
When he left again, Buffy leaned back, letting her head rest against the wall. She looked to the clock again, seeing it was almost five in the morning. In a little while, Chaos would be showing up.
"So, the sun isn't gonna rise at all, right?" she asked, suddenly wondering what Giles' words had meant. He was really cryptic when this sort of stuff happened, and it got really annoying sometimes. There was no answer from Angel. "Angel?" she asked, leaning forward. He had moved to the window and was staring into the darkness. "What's going on?"
"We've got company," he replied. She stood, going over and looking out the window to see thirteen or fourteen vampires outside. They were surrounding the emergency wing of the hospital, looking like they had a well-organized plan.
"What do we do?" she asked, watching as several more vampires came out of the shadows. They were there because she was.
"I think we run. Very, very quickly," Angel replied, turning to her and taking a hold of her uninjured arm and pulling her off into some of the safer wings of the hospital and away from the army of vampires…
* * *
Giles glanced at the clock on the library wall, wondering where Buffy and Angel were. It was a little after five in the morning. Xander had come back an hour and a half ago, saying that they'd be back soon. Currently, Willow and Oz were talking in hushed tones back by the computer. Cordelia was resting her head on the table, and Xander was drumming his fingers on the arm of the chair.
Giles and Xander both jumped when the phone rang. Giles got up, going to it and picking it up.
"Buffy?" Was the first thing he said into the receiver.
"Hi, Giles. We're at the Bronze, you know, around the back. Can you come and get us?" Buffy asked. There was yelling in the background. "Now!" Then, the Slayer hung up. Giles stared at the phone for a moment, finally hanging it up.
"Um, Oz, come with me, we need to borrow your van because-" Giles was interrupted by Cordelia.
"His car actually drives?" she asked. Giles looked a little ashamed then nodded.
"Got it," Oz said, standing from his seat at the table beside Willow. They left, heading for the Bronze to find Buffy and Angel.
* * *
Angel elbowed one of the vampires in the stomach, using him as a kind of bowling ball to knock him and two others to the ground. They had obviously followed him and Buffy here from the hospital, and had caught up.
Another one grabbed his arms, giving him the opportunity to use his hold as leverage to lift himself off the ground and kick another charging one in the chest. He fell to the ground, as Angel's feet came to rest on the concrete again.
"Angel, help!" Buffy called from somewhere just out of his line of sight. He growled slightly, using the back of his head to hit the vampire holding him in the chin. He was free quickly, grabbing a broken stool leg out of the Dumpster. He ran to Buffy, who was being held by two vampires, another closing on her. He grabbed one of the ones holding her, pulling him aside and killing him. He handed the stake to Buffy, who used it to kill the other two that had ambushed her. Angel turned back just in time to jump out of the way of a charging vampire who quickly met the pointy end of Buffy's stake. There were still a few left, but some of them had noticed how well Buffy and Angel fought together, and were running away.
He turned, facing the vampire he'd elbowed in the stomach near the beginning of the fight. He stepped aside as the vampire lunged, grabbing the back of his neck and flipping him to the ground. He tried to trip Angel, but he was able to jump swiftly over his feet. The vampire got up, as Buffy tossed the makeshift stake to Angel, who killed it.
"Any more?" Buffy asked, brushing her loose hair back out of her face. Angel looked around in the darkness, seeing nothing. The Slayer went over to the Dumpster and grabbed a weapon for herself.
"I don't see any," he replied. There was a sound of screeching tires as Oz's van pulled up behind them. The door slid open.
"Get in!" Giles called through the open side door. Buffy went to the van, climbing in, followed closely by Angel. Giles took a quick glance around the area, finally shutting the door so Oz could race them back to the library. "Are you alright?"
"Fine. Except for all the last minute shoppers at Bloodbanks 'R' Us, I think we're all right," Buffy said.
"Good. We need to get back to the library. I have Willow setting up a protection circle, which should help us a bit in fighting Chaos in the mental stage. He'll be here in about… Eleven minutes," Giles said, with a quick glance at his watch.
"Any bright ideas on how we kill him?" Angel asked.
"In which form?" Giles questioned.
"Well, we have the mind and spirit figured out, what about his physical form?"
"I'm not quite sure. There don't seem to be any-" Buffy cut him off.
"Kick his ass until he dies. That should work, right?" she asked. Giles was silent for a moment, and then he nodded.
"Something like that," he said, turning around so he could speak to Oz. Angel noticed Buffy looking painfully at her wrist, messing with the inner lining of her cast absent-mindedly.
"You okay?" he asked. She looked up at him, nodding.
"You?" she asked.
""I'll be okay," he replied, a small smile on his face. "How's your arm?"
"Well, I've been better as far as sore joints go, but it'll feel better in a while," she said. Angel nodded, deciding he should at least try to relax before they came up against Chaos in a few minutes…
* * *
Oz sighed shakily, hoping that the group would be all right. They were sitting in Willow's small circle on the floor of the library, all with hands joined. Candles burned on either side of the werewolf, filling his nose with the smell of pine. Willow hadn't been able to find anything else on such short notice. Giles had told them about what Chaos would do, and it was going to happen in just a few seconds. It still wasn't light outside.
"Now remember, you will feel very strong hatred towards, usually, one person. Um, you will probably be told by Chaos' influence to kill them, and things will be better. Remember that we need to work together and get him out of our minds to defeat him. When the first person succeeds, he will come out and try to kill them to retreat to the mind's sanctuary," Giles explained one last time. Everyone nodded, closing his or her eyes for better concentration.
Suddenly, Oz was filled with a deep, flaring anger. It was all aimed at Xander. Xander was too close to Willow. They'd been best friends, and Xander knew he could fool the girl. He would try to take Willow from the werewolf. He'd have to kill him…
No! Oz screamed at himself in his head. Willow and Xander were friends. Xander wasn't attracted to Willow like that, and she was fine with it. She and Oz were a couple, and even if Xander wanted to, he couldn't change it. But, he could still feel the rage…
It was at this point that Oz noticed it wouldn't be so simple to defeat Chaos. He was holding the demon at bay, thanks to Giles' words of warning, but it would be a long, hard fight…
* * *
Cordelia struggled to hold herself still, knowing whoever's hands she was gripping were suffering serious blood loss from her hold. Her anger was all aimed directly at Buffy. Buffy, who had taken her wonderful social life and thrown it in a blender. Buffy, who had impressed Xander to a degree that he couldn't stop talking about her. That was all he ever talked about. Buffy this, Buffy that. Maybe if she just killed the stupid girl, things would get better.
She shook her head, keeping her cool. She couldn't kill Buffy. She was the Slayer, and was basically the protector of the whole world. And, if Cordelia so much as thought about trying it, she'd be killed in an instant. Or maybe even less. Giles had told them to control the anger, and not to let it get the best of them. She forced herself to remember all the times Xander hadn't ever mentioned Buffy. He'd been busy talking to her, just to her. It was only his out-of-control hormones that were telling him to chase after every female in the general population.
She was able to take a deep breath, working to calm herself as the fight with the demon in her mind continued…
* * *
Xander was biting his tongue, using all of his willpower to hold still. He was doing everything he could to control his anger, which was centered on the 'carebear with fangs', as Buffy said Cordelia had once put it.
Yes, Cordelia, he thought. Girlfriend Cordelia. No need to try and kill Angel for Buffy because I have Cordelia. Killing the vampire did kind of sound like fun, but they'd all die if he did. He removed his teeth from his tongue when he tasted blood in his mouth. That was all he needed to know that this would not be an easy fight…
* * *
Giles almost lost control of himself when the anger hit. As he suspected, he was angry with Angel. The demon with a soul that had killed Jenny Calendar, the woman he had loved. The evil being that needed to be destroyed.
I will not give in to you that simply, Chaos, he thought, trying to calm himself down. The Angel with them now was not evil. He was a person, just like the rest of them. It was Angelus, the demon inside Angel that needed to be destroyed.
He fought to push back the demon that was mentally pushing him towards the end of sanity…
* * *
Willow lurched forward, feeling sick from all the anger inside her head. Hers was pointed at Buffy, though, who had taken off, deserting them, and nearly refused to help them battle Chaos.
Chaos! She mentally smacked herself, now angry with herself because she'd almost let Chaos take control of her. The guilt she felt for getting so angry with her best friend was nowhere near the anger she'd felt, which was good.
Willow knew she'd have to put up a much stronger fight if she was going to keep holding Chaos off. Hopefully, someone would beat him before he got one of them to do something worse than get angry…
* * *
Angel clenched his teeth, willing himself not to let Chaos take over. He had a lot of experience resisting his impulse, as a vampire, to kill humans. But, with the added help of Chaos, it was almost impossible. He was angry with Xander. He had no right to be jealous of him, and it would act as a sympathy factor on Buffy.
He slowly forced himself to calm down. Giles was right and they had to use every ounce of willpower they had in them to fight Chaos. Xander was just being a typical teenage boy, and there was nothing he could do to change Buffy's feelings. They were friends, nothing more.
Unfortunately, Chaos wasn't giving up so easily. It would be a long and hard fight to get him out in the open…
* * *
Buffy tasted her own blood in her mouth before she noticed she was biting her lip. The rage she felt was so overpowering; it was the only thing she could feel for several seconds. It was so great a force that it had caught her off guard.
And she was mad at Giles, her Watcher. If he hadn't come to Sunnydale and re-informed her of her destiny, she would have been free. She wouldn't have to kill vampires anymore.
Free to do what? She asked herself, remembering what had happened when she'd first come to Sunnydale. She joined ranks with Cordelia, which had probably dropped her IQ about ten points. But, Giles had reminded her that she was the Slayer, and that led her to become friends with Willow and Xander, leading eventually, back to Cordelia and then to Oz. And to Angel. She couldn't be mad at Giles for something that was way beyond their control.
"Get the hell outta my head," she whispered, all the anger and rage suddenly evaporating. She opened her eyes, seeing her friends doing the same around her.
"Did we-" Willow started, but she was interrupted by a loud, deep growl from the other side of the room, back behind the study table. Buffy looked over to where the noise came from, her eyes widening when she saw what could only be Chaos. He was huge, at least seven feet tall. His skin was black, with a stripe of red across each shoulder. He had six fingers per hand, each with a three-inch long, twisted claw stretching from it. His feet were also large, three talon-clad toes on each one. He had short, leathery black wings and a tail with red spikes in a circle on the tip. His face alone was terrifying. It was kind of like a lions, but shaped a little differently. He had long, sharp, blood red fangs that curled together on his chin. There were red scaly, fin-like things on each side of the top of his head. His eyes were pitch black.
"Chaos, I presume?" Xander asked, in an odd and shaky mock British accent. Chaos growled deeply in reply.
"Giles? Now what?" Buffy asked, hoping her Watcher would have some form of an answer…
* * *
Giles' eyes widened when he watched Chaos prepare to speak. He would have answered Buffy's question, but he was in a state of shock, and couldn't form anything resembling a complete thought. Or an incomplete one, for that matter. Chaos snarled, raising a clawed hand to point at the group.
"Which of you hath destroyed the inner sanctum?" he asked in a deep, gravelly voice. "I wish to thank them by destroying them…"
"I did," Buffy said, standing up. Angel grabbed her arm, in effort to protect her. She shook of his grip, her eyes never leaving her opponent. Chaos smiled evilly, showing all his sharp, blood red teeth.
"You shall pay for what you've done," he said, jumping onto the table. It groaned under his weight. With another smile, he lunged at the group, causing them to scatter in all directions, and the circle that Willow had created was quickly destroyed. Buffy spun back to Chaos, using her new cast to hit him in the side of the head. She jumped back as he swiped at her with a clawed hand, spin kicking him in the face. He grabbed her arm as she tried to dodge again, bringing his hand up to attack now that she was helpless.
"No!" Angel screamed, charging Chaos and taking the three of them to the floor. Buffy rolled away, jumping to her feet just in time to catch a dagger Xander tossed to her, as Angel wrestled with the huge demon on the floor.
"Oz, help me with this!" Willow called to her boyfriend. He ran to her side, as she handed him a book, making sure she could see the words. Angel had pinned Chaos to the floor, and proceeded to punch him several times. Willow began chanting in Latin; giving Giles the assumption she was casting some sort of spell. She'd become one heck of a spell caster over the past few months.
Angel was suddenly shoved off Chaos, blood slowly beginning to soak through the sleeve of his shirt. Chaos got quickly to his feet, Buffy kicking him in the chest right after he did so. He stumbled, and she lunged at him with the dagger. Chaos reacted quickly, putting up an arm to take the blow. The dagger sunk deep into his forearm, which he then used to knock Buffy to the ground with a backhand.
"Go. Now!" Oz yelled, as a black beam of energy raced past the musician, slamming into Chaos. The demon fell backwards, hitting the computer that was used to keep track of the books. It fell to the floor, the monitor breaking and bursting into flames. Giles looked over to Willow, who nearly fell to the floor, Oz helping to steady her.
An arrow whizzed through the room, sinking deeply into Chaos' shoulder. He roared, turning to the shooter, Xander.
"YOU SHALL ALL PAY FOR WHAT YOU'VE DONE!" Chaos screamed.
Giles was afraid to think about what might happen next…
* * *
Cordelia hadn't done much to help out in the battle yet, but something seemed familiar to her as Chaos looked to Xander. Flames began to build around the huge demon, whose eyes were glowing a deep red. Xander was too stunned to move as the flames began to race toward him. It was at that point that her dream was clear to her.
"Xander, look out!" she yelled, jumping in front of him and pushing him to the side. Just like in the dream, she could feel the fire race up her body, and the pain was intense. She fell to the ground; nearly certain Chaos would leave Xander alone now. There was no way to be sure, however, when dealing with a large demon.
"Cordy!" She could hear Xander yell as he knelt beside her, trying to shake her awake, thinking that she was unconscious. She shook her head to tell him not to touch her and his hands fell to his sides. "Are you okay?"
"Help the others," she whispered. He shook his head. She looked up at him with her do-it-or-I'll-kill-you-myself look, but it didn't change Xander's mind.
"Don't worry, I'm gonna help you, okay?" he said. She was almost to the point of not being able to hear his words as he yelled to Giles for help. She could only hope that she'd live through this…
* * *
Buffy watched Cordelia fall, knowing that they'd have to help her soon or she'd be dead. She looked back to Chaos, picking up the crossbow that Xander had kicked towards her. She shot Chaos in the leg, getting his attention.
"ALL MORTALS MUST DIE!" he screamed, the flames rising again as he knocked the crossbow from her grasp, grabbing her by the throat and lifting her off the ground. He threw her back, and the back of her neck slammed into the edge of the study table, her shoulder hitting the leg. There was a loud popping noise, and she couldn't tell if it was from her neck or her shoulder as she fell to the floor, struggling to stay conscious as Chaos moved toward her again.
Suddenly, he stopped, then fell to the ground, the dagger Xander had tossed to her sticking up out of his back. Angel had picked it up off the floor. He went over to Buffy.
"Are you okay?" he asked. She nodded, glad when he helped her sit up.
"My shoulder…" Was all she could say. Her left arm refused to move, and she could now tell that it was her shoulder that had made the loud noise when she crashed into the table. Angel took a hold of her arm, looking at her shoulder.
"It's dislocated," he said. The others were all trying to find Chaos' spirit form, as Giles called 911 for an ambulance for Cordelia.
"Now what?" Buffy asked. She didn't know what to do about her arm, but apparently Angel did.
"Hold still. And this is going to hurt a lot," he told her, tightening his hold on her arm. She closed her eyes, clenching her jaw as she looked away. Angel jerked her arm, and there was another loud noise as is it popped back into place.
"Ow," Buffy mumbled through her clenched teeth. Angel helped her get to her feet as she loosened her shoulder up.
"Is he dead?" Oz asked, staring in shock at Chaos' body. There was a thick black substance dripping from the demon's back. Giles nodded.
"His physical form, anyway," Willow said.
"What about our plan for his spirit form?" Angel asked.
"What do you mean?" Willow replied.
"I don't think a demon his size is gonna want to reason with the guy that killed him," Angel replied.
"Oh," Willow said. "Good point."
"What do we do?" Buffy asked.
"I'll try talking to him," Willow said, taking a deep breath as black smoke began to rise from Chaos' body…
* * *
Willow closed her eyes as she slowly exhaled, taking another deep breath to try a small guidance spell she'd learned over the summer.
"Diana, Hecate, I call upon you. I call upon you to show us that which we need not eyes to see. I call upon you to tell us that which we need not ears to hear. I call upon you to show us the path we need not sense to find. I call upon you," she recited, waiting for a moment before opening her eyes. There was a ghostly form of Chaos in front of her.
"You have made me apparent, human. Why?" he asked. Well, Willow thought, at least the spell worked…
"Willow? What is it?" Oz asked her. She looked to him, then back to Chaos. Apparently, she was the only one that could see him.
"WHY?" Chaos yelled. She flinched, nervously licking her lips. She took a deep breath, knowing it would seem odd to the others that she was speaking, but she didn't want Chaos to kill her.
"I needed to talk to you. That's why I made you visible, Chaos. T-to me, at least," she said, hoping that would help explain it to the others. It probably would.
"Why does a mortal wish to speak with me?" he questioned, his eyes narrowed in disbelief.
"W-well, I, um… I needed to ask you a question," Willow said, pressing her lips together.
"You have questions of me? Why?" Chaos asked.
"Well, let's start with, uh… Why were you attacking us?"
"Because… You… Destroyed… My… SANCTUARY!"
"I-I know. We did. But, I know why we did. We did it because we needed to tell you that we know of a better, safer place."
"Really? You, a mortal, know of a better place for me?"
"Yeah, I do. See?" Willow pointed to the ceiling. "It's up there, and we mortals call it heaven. I-it's where all the nice people go."
"A human thinks… I'm… Nice?" Chaos seemed genuinely shocked. "Yet I've killed so many… Done so much wrong… I'm a demon… A creature of evil…"
"No, you're not. You're confused. There's a really big difference between confused and evil, believe me. You may think that you're evil because of all the stuff you did, but I know you're not. Not really."
"How do you know this? You've seen my power mortal, do not deny it."
"I'm not denying anything. I just know what it's like to know someone who did bad stuff, but that doesn't make them evil. Just because you did something wrong and made some bad choices doesn't make you a bad person. Plus, if you were really evil, you would've killed me by now." Chaos' eyes began to lighten, as did his skin.
"You're right… I, too, am mortal… Since then… Thank you…" Willow smiled, as the demon exterior melted away to reveal a boy, about Willow's age, with sandy blonde hair and deep brown eyes, dressed like someone from about the 12 hundreds. He returned Willow's smile, fading after a few seconds. The body of the demon was gone as well.
"What was that all about? And where'd he go?" Buffy asked, looking curiously at the place where the demon's body had been.
"He's gone. I convinced him to leave," Willow replied.
"Oh. How?" Buffy asked.
"Well, I figured I hadn't hurt him too much, so he wouldn't be mad at me, and well… Let's just say he was one of those people that isn't a bad guy, he just did a few things that made people think he was. And he needed someone to tell him that. Someone who understood that type of person," Willow said, looking to Angel who smiled.
"Now what?" Oz asked, as he came up to stand by Willow. He'd stepped back when he'd realized what was going on with her and Chaos, so as not to interfere. Willow shrugged, wondering the same thing…
* * *
Xander looked up as Giles hung up the phone. Cordelia was going in and out of consciousness, but she hadn't died yet, which was always a plus.
"The ambulance is on the way," Giles said. Xander nodded, looking back to Cordelia.
"Hang on, Cordy," he said, brushing her hair away from her face.
"Xander…?" she whispered. He nodded. "Thanks…" Her eyes closed, and her breathing slowed to a stop.
"Cordy? Cordy!" Xander said, shaking her. "Giles!" Giles knelt down on the other side of Cordelia, checking her pulse. "What do we do?"
"I'm not sure," Giles said.
"I can try CPR. I mean, it worked on Buffy, right?" Xander asked. Giles shrugged, as Xander gave it a try. After a few minutes, Cordelia moved and started breathing again. There were sirens outside. "Hey, Cordelia, the ambulance is here, okay? Just stay with me," Xander said. Cordelia nodded a little, as paramedics came into the library with a stretcher.
"Back here," Giles said. They went to Cordelia, carefully getting her up and onto the stretcher.
"What happened?" one of them asked.
"The, uh… Computer. It blew up. Literally. She rolled all the way over here to get the flames out," Xander said, seeing the burned and broken computer on the floor. Everyone watched as they headed out the door, Xander following them. Giles saw them to the door, and then they were gone.
* * *
Buffy stared after the paramedics for a moment, finally turning back to the others. She hoped Cordelia would be okay. Chaos' attack had nearly killed her, and had scared Xander. A lot.
"You okay?" Angel asked her, placing his hand gently on her arm. They were all little shaken up after the fight. She nodded, looking to Willow and Giles. Oz was picking up bits of glass from around the broken computer.
"Now what?" she asked.
"I'm not sure," Willow said. She and Giles finished their conversation, and Willow went over to Buffy. "I told Giles about the spell thing, and he thinks I should look into it more."
"Yes. Just because it seems simple doesn't mean that it is," Giles said. Willow nodded. "Probably quite the opposite, in fact."
"Yeah. Which means there's probably some kind of catch to it," the redhead said. Buffy nodded.
"Um, we should probably clean this up," Buffy said, looking down at the mess Willow's stuff had made. The paramedics had been in such a hurry to get Cordelia out of there that they hadn't seen all the spell components scattered across the floor.
"Yeah, we should. But, we did well, right? We killed Chaos, and we saved the world, so I guess it's a good," Willow said, as the two girls sat down on the floor with a bag to shove all Willow's stuff into. The redhead had told herself that she would sort through it all later.
"Yeah," Buffy said. "At least we killed Chaos."
* * *

Part 7

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