by Rob Sorenson

Disney World had several buildings with designs that were known as extremely unique by the tactful people of the world. Most, however, are justifiably horrified with some of the monstrosities that resulted from the mad vision of Disney's architects. Little known to the millions of visitors was a building located behind a grove of trees across from Cirque D' Soleil, roughly three miles from the Magic Kingdom.

The beating administrative heart of Walt Disney World (aptly titled Team Disney) was actually one of the more normal buildings in appearance on property. On a regular day hundreds of employees made their way in and out with various purposes. A little store, open to "cast members" only, contained the occasional collectible pin or limited edition film poster at discounted prices; an on-site credit union catered to the financial needs of the workers. Human Resources by itself took up three entire floors of the seven story structure, with the rest being taken up by executives and Disney's famous Imagineering Department. One of the company's rare exceptions to their legendary grooming requirements were in this location, where the most creative minds in entertainment spent time brainstorming over the next best attraction. That fact that they did this with copious amounts of facial hair and clad more often than not in jeans and t-shirts was conveniently overlooked by the Lords Of Mickey. It was these engineers that kept people coming back year after year, and they knew it. One thing that could always be counted upon at the Walt Disney Corporation over the last twenty years was their priorities: principal always won out over principles when push came to shove.

The most distinguishing feature of the building, however, was not the people who populated it, or even the building itself; it was the enormous walkway that led up to it.

The concrete path is roughly twenty five yards wide and one hundred yards long,
with railings measuring roughly 3 1/2 feet bordering each side. Two huge man made ponds stretched out from the parking lot to the building itself, giving the walkway the appearance of a stone bridge the length of an American football field between the two bodies of water. In fact it was a simple concrete path, but the ponds, both of which featured an enormous fountain at their center, created a unique effect.

The water itself was crystal clear, precisely three feet deep all the way across. The bottoms were made up of good sized pebbles which were all a deep magenta hue, providing the illusion of coral. In the night, the fountains were brightly lit, making even the dark colored rocks stand out at all hours.

Wesley, Dawn, and Katzenbach were making their way up the path in search of Disney Security's home base, where observation was done day and night with the aid of hundreds of cameras discreetly placed all over the parks. When the Council began to occupy the older portions of the tunnels they'd patched into the feed, giving them full access of all action within the gates of the Magic Kingdom once their own monitors were up and running.

Katzenbach himself had been involved in a supervisory capacity when this had been done, which explained his knowledge on the subject. He felt relieved that he could finally do something tangible to contribute.

"Red rocks are cool."

Wesley slid his eyes sideways toward Dawn as they walked.

"Thank you for your observation."

"Well, they are. No need to get snippy."

Wes gave her a slight smile.

"You're right, of course. I apologize if I seem short with you. The events that have transpired up to now have been a bit..."

He hesitated.

"Freaksome?"

"I was going to say overwhelming, but I suppose a properly fabricated word can suffice as well."

They shared a grin as Wesley tried to make conversation.

"Speaking of Red Rocks, I have a wonderful CD of John Tesh playing a live concert there."

Dawn stopped in her tracks.

"Tell me you didn't just say that."

"What? There's something wrong with Red Rocks?"

Dawn spoke patiently.

"Wes, you've changed a lot over the last couple of years. You have all these neat little gadgets. You've captured the manly art of looking intense even when you don't feel that way. Your clothing has improved. The facial hair is a great look for you, and there's an all around intellectual bad boy thing you've got working. Kudos and all, ok?"

"Well.....thank you. I don't recall actually planning anything--"

Dawn raised her hand to stop him.

"Having said all that, if you plan to have anything remotely resembling a love life anytime soon, you must refrain from any and all references to John freaking Tesh. Do you understand?"

Wesley frowned at her as they resumed walking.

"But I like John Tesh."

Her eyes widened.

"My God, Wes, are you listening? John Tesh is walking social death. Any woman who hears that name automatically assumes that your cool factor ranges somewhere near Alan Thicke territory. Believe me, you do NOT want that."

"Who is Alan Thicke?"

"Ok, that's very good. You don't want to know. That's a point in your favor."

"My favor? When did I say I was having difficulties in my social life?"

"You didn't have to. You mentioned....him."

Wesley's brow furrowed.

"You mean John Te-"

"Zip it!"

"I'm not even allowed to say Joh-"

"Hush!"

Wesley shook his head, clearly vexed and Dawn continued the impromptu lecture.

"Trust me, this is for your own good. You cannot let anyone know you like anything about this guy. Even all the people who DO like him won't say so. There's a good reason for that. Now, if you absolutely must enjoy the pseudo-musical stylings of the New Age Artist Who Shall Not Be Named, I suppose I can't stop it. Just keep it to yourself. I beg of you."

"Have you been exchanging emails with Cordelia again?"

"I don't need the coolness expert to figure this one out. This is a no brainer. It's not like I'm being unreasonable here. Mr. Katzenbach?"

"Please, Dawn. Call me Hans."

"Ok...Hans, what kind of music do you listen to?"

He thought a moment.

"I'm rather partial to the Beatles, myself."

Dawn's eyes lit up and she pointed at Wesley.

"A-ha! Now, there's a band we can work with. Half the Beatles are dead now, and they haven't recorded together since 1955 or something. They're retro chic now. Plus, their music doesn't totally suck."

"I really think you're overestimating this. Is one's musical choices truly relevant?"

"Of course they're relevant. The kind of music you listen to says a ton about you. C'mon, there must be other people and bands you listen to."

She waited expectantly. Wesley sighed, wondering why this blasted walkway was so long as he grudgingly gave the issue some thought.

"I enjoy Radiohead's music."

"That's perfect! See, they have tons of critical respect and a cult following. Your cool factor just went from Thicke to Clooney in like, 5.3 seconds."

"I'm ever so relieved."

She squinted at him as they approached the door.

"Sarcasm isn't going to make you any cooler, Wes."

Katzenbach interrupted softly.

"I believe the monitors are on the fourth floor."

Dawn nodded as she tried the door without success. Wesley noted this and tried another set of doors with the same result. Katzenbach frowned.

"I don't recall this building being locked before at this time of the evening."

Wesley turned to the old man.

"The hurricane warning was issued just over an hour ago now. Is it possible they've evacuated?"

"If so, they certainly moved quickly."

"Disney World is known for its efficiency."

"Indeed, Wesley. Well, I suppose in our case it is a good thing. We can move about without problems from Security."

Frowning, Dawn took a step back from the door and took a deep breath. Wesley spotted her and held up his hand.

"Wait a moment, Dawn."

"We need to get in there."

"I realize that. There may be a way to do that without destroying property."

He reached for his wallet and produced a pick. Dawn raised an eyebrow.

"You're going to pin up your hair?"

Ignoring her, he went to one knee and began to work the lock. Fascinated, Dawn leaned in over his shoulder to watch.

"Now THIS, Wes, is seriously cool."

He glanced over his shoulder and started slightly at the close proximity of her face.

"It would have a much better chance of succeeding if my self appointed social director got out of my moonlight."

"Oh. Sorry."

He resumed his work. One minute later a the lock granted entrance with a satisfying click and he held the door open for his companions, smiling slightly at Dawn.

"Clooney, indeed."

Katzenbach frowned. "I saw her in Hamburg over thirty years ago. I never realized she had experienced such a resurgence."

Dawn wrinkled her nose. "She?"

************************************************************

"What the Hell did you do to him?"

Willow sighed heavily.

"He's not hurt, Faith. Just exhausted."

Xander stirred slightly, having heard his beloved's voice.

"Faith..."

She knelt down next to the bed and took his hand.

"Hey. You ok?"

"I will be if you stop squeezing my hand. Its already had quite the workout tonight."

Faith hadn't even realized she'd been gripping it so hard, and immediately relaxed. Xander smiled weakly and opened his eyes.

"Where's Buff?"

"Over here," Buffy called from the door. She was still clinging to Spike, who had just walked in. She kissed him gently and made her way back to Xander's vantage point on the bed. He was just beginning to force himself to rise.

"Ok, I'm good. Sorry I checked out for a minute."

Buffy quickly moved to the other side and put her hand on his chest.

"Whoa there, tough guy. Just stay there. There's no need to go anywhere right this second. Angel is preparing the tear gas canisters and Dawn and Wes went to check out the Security cameras. With any luck they'll track down some wireless equipment. Remember when you talked about those?"

"Yeah."

"That was a great idea, but I'm going to need you alert to make that work. Somebody has to watch those cameras and let us know when and where Martineau makes his move. Guess who gets that job?"

"I am the TV watching expert."

Buffy smiled. "Exactly. This is a job for Soldier Guy."

She turned serious.

"You're going to be literally watching our backs out there. You up to it?"

Again he tried to rise to show Buffy he was indeed ok. This time Faith pushed him back down.

"Baby, you don't listen very well. B said stay there. You want me to rewind and play it back for you?"

He pointed at Buffy and Willow.

"They're fine."

The blonde Slayer and the redheaded witch exchanged looks. Buffy raised an eyebrow at him.

"Actually Xand, we woke up flat on our backs, just like you did. Our power made it a little easier for us to recover enough to carry you over here, but we are most certainly not fine. In fact, since I'm not expecting everyone back here for a couple of hours, I'm declaring it nap time for the three of us."

She looked to Faith.

"Can you help him up to your room? I'd rather crash on my own bed."

"I got it. Come on, Xander. Let's go to bed, ok?"

"Not now, Faith. I have a headache."

"Funny."

He rolled to one side and put his feet against the floor, swaying slightly. Faith grabbed his shoulders. Xander frowned.

"Don't carry me! I hated that. Just give me a second."

Willow looked at Faith.

"You've carried him places?"

"Girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do, Red."

Spike chuckled and took Buffy's hand. She slumped heavily against his chest. He frowned; she rarely seemed this tired. Whatever they'd done...

"You all right, luv?"

"I will be. I just need to take a little rest."

She looked up.

"Will, same goes for you. Get some sleep while you still can."

The Wicca shrugged.

"I'm pretty much out of this fight, remember? It's going to take everything I have to stop the hurricane."

"You might be out of the fight, but we can still use the non magicy parts of you."

"Oh. If you say so. You've been thinking a lot about this, haven't you?"

"You sound surprised. I'm not a real blonde, you know."

"What the Bloody Hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Kidding, baby."

Xander was now on his feet, his arm around Faith's shoulder. He turned to Buffy.

"We'll see you in two hours?"

"Right. We'll come to your room this time."

"We'll put out some hors d'oeuvres."

"Wouldn't miss it."

Buffy and Xander exchanged a long look. Finally he nodded and gingerly left the room, Faith at his side. Willow followed slowly behind, gently declining Spike's offer to help. After spending nearly thirty seconds looking at the door with a contemplative look on his face, the vampire spoke.

"Must've been quite the spell, then."

Buffy didn't respond. Frowning, Spike turned around and found her
already asleep on the bed. She was lying on her side, knees bent and lips
slightly parted. He tilted his head in wonder whenever he saw her this way.
When his Slayer slept, she still looked like the slightly innocent child
he'd met all those years ago. He smiled a bit to himself. Buffy would probably not
appreciate him thinking of her this way.

Quietly he looked around and found an extra sheet in the closet
across from the bathroom. He then crept to the side of the bed and gently
lay next to her, covering her up. Unable to resist touching her, he took
Buffy's little hand and she squeezed it gently with a sigh that caused tears
to form in his eyes.

The ways in which this woman could undo him...

He carefully positioned himself next to her and watched over her
while she slept.

******************************************************

"Wesley."

************************************************

"You know what? There's nobody looking. I'm picking you up."

"Faith," Xander whined.

"You're so tired you're all over me. Usually I don't have a problem with that, but it's different when you're dead weight. You can't even stagger right. C'mon, give a
girl a break."

She moved around him, bent her knees and grabbed the back his
thighs.

"Here we go."

"I hate this."

She grinned as she hefted him up over her shoulder.

"There. Now you can relax. Doesn't that feel better, baby?"

Xander didn't respond. Faith smacked him hard on his rear.

"Gaah! Huh?"

"Xander, even I've never tired you out this much, and that's sayin'
somethin'. You gonna tell me what happened in there?"

His words slurred slightly.

"Not much to tell. Lots of wind. Flying....circles and
stuff...and..."

He was fast asleep. She dug the key card out of her jeans pocket
and entered their room. She walked over to the bed and gently sat him down.
Holding him up, she managed to remove his sweat-soaked shirt with virtually no help from him. Once finished, she gently laid him down and cuddled up next to his body.

A few minutes later she found herself nodding off when he began to
dream. She watched with growing concern as his head lolled from side to
side as he spoke.

"Didn't know. Should've...should've..."

She spoke softly. "Xander?"

"Sorry.....Oh God..."

Tears began rolling out of the corners of his eyes. Faith couldn't
take it any more.

"Xander!"

He awoke with a start, blinking hard. He focused on Faith and his
troubled expression cleared somewhat.

"Is it time?"

"No. You were having a nightmare. I'm gonna ask you one more time because you're starting to scare me. What happened to you?"

He took a deep breath.

"Nothing happened to me. Not specifically. I couldn't even begin
to explain it."

She looked away.

"I get it. Didn't mean to get into your business."

He took her face in his hands.

"It's not like that. I trust you completely. You know that. It's
just...there are some things I'm not smart enough to totally understand."

He snorted.

"Hell, Willow isn't smart enough to understand. I'm sorry I got all freaky."

She put her hand on his chest.

"You weren't freaky. You were upset, and I wanted to help you."

"You are helping me. You help me by being here. Ok?"

She said nothing. He put his arm around her shoulder and she leaned
against him, now making slow circles in the curls of his chest hair with her
fingertips. Xander spoke once more.

"Faith, do you trust me?"

"It's not fair to ask me that, Xand. You're hurting and you won't tell me why."

"That's what I need you to trust me about."

He stared into her chocolate eyes with his own, trying to express everything that
words failed to reach. She stared back for a long moment and nodded.

"Ok. Go back to sleep."

He nodded and closed his eyes immediately. Faith realized how much
effort he'd been putting into keeping himself alert to talk to her. She
smiled and caressed his chest to sooth him, placing gentle kisses on his forehead.

He put his arms around her and slept in dreamless peace.

**********************************************************

"Dawn?"

She turned in her swivel chair to face him.

"Yes, Wes? Hey, check that out. I made a rhyme. Hee hee."

He looked up from his work on the radio to stare at her. She
cleared her throat awkwardly.

"Ummm...right. You wanted me for something?"

"Yes, I want you."

His eyes widened in alarm.

"I mean, no! I don't want you...except to ask you something."

"O....kay."

Neither spoke for a moment. She looked at him with a grin.

"And your question was..."

"Question? Right, my question was....clearly not important because
I've forgotten."

She sat back in the chair with a slow smile.

"I'll wait."

He stared back at her, forcing himself to concentrate until his eyes
lit up.

"Of course! Now I remember. I was going to ask you about the
spell."

"The spell?"

"I assume it's a glamour spell of some sort? To provide the illusion that we're there when actually we're not?"

Dawn's eyes lit up as Wesley's had.

"Oh, that spell! Yes, that's exactly what it is. Willow taught it
to me a long time ago. It basically creates holographic images. Those are
much easier to do than glamours that actually change one physical form to
another. Willow did one of those with Clem, Andrew and me when we flew to
New York. I am SO not that powerful, but a simple holographic image is no
biggie. When the bad guys come flying out of a tunnel, it'll look like all
of us are there, when in fact..."

"There's no way we could do that with the amount of fighters we have at our disposal," Wesley finished. "As an added benefit, it will provide them with false targets."

"Exactly. A few seconds of confusion should give one Slayer or
vampire enough of an edge to have a legitimate chance against eight guys.
Of course Private Benjamin might not send all the squads out at one time. If he spaced things out, though, he'd lose his numbers advantage. I don't see him doing that."

"I believe he's a Colonel."

"He tried to kill me. I demoted him."

Dawn was smiling, but it didn't reach her eyes. Wesley nodded.

"Angel was right, you know. About you."

She blushed and look at her feet.

"Thank you. I just try to help."

"You most certainly do that."

Yet again they held each other's gaze before Wesley spoke again,
turning back to his work.

"Right, good news. We have five operational earpieces. Everything
is ready as far as that goes."

"Only five?"

"Yes."

"Ok...but that leaves us a little short, doesn't it?"

"Perhaps."

"Perhaps? Unless my math is messed up there's more than five of us
available to fight."

"I'm sure we'll work out something. Obviously someone will have to
remain here as a lookout."

"That'll be Xander."

He looked at her for a moment.

"You're certain."

"I am. It's what he does best. Xander sees stuff."

Wesley was about to question her further about that statement when
Katzenbach spoke up.

"Excuse me for a moment."

The old man slowly rose from his seat and left, walking across the
hall to the restroom. Wesley and Dawn watched him go. She spoke sadly.

"He's not doing very well, is he?"

"If you mean his health, most certainly not. If you mean helping
us, however, he's doing extraordinarily well considering his circumstances.
Without him we don't find this room."

"Pretty sure I meant his health."

********************************************************

Katzenbach was sitting on the closed lid in the stall, slumped
backward. Waves of pain rolled over him.

Bitte. Mein Gott...Bitte, he thought. Please, just a little longer.

It required everything he had left simply to avoid collapsing in
front of Wesley and Dawn. More than once he'd asked himself why he didn't
just find a soft place and lie down.

All he had to do was close his eyes and it would all be over soon
enough.

No, he told himself. Not yet. Must see this through. Must finish it.

He took a deep, agonized breath and collected himself. As he slowly walked back into the control room, he addressed his companions.

"It appears that it may take longer than I anticipated before all the monitors are in operation. I suggest you two make your way back to the hotel."

Dawn spoke gently.

"Will you need help? We can stay."

He managed a smile.

"Thank you Dawn...but no. I will manage. You will both be needed
for the final planning with Buffy."

Wes and Dawn looked at him, than at each other. Dawn nodded firmly.

"Ok."

Katzenbach took the keys to his car out of his pocket and held them
in the general direction of Wesley, but Dawn snatched them out of his hand.

"I want to get there before Christmas, Wesley."

Wes glanced at Hans once more. The German shrugged.

"The premiums are paid up."

Wesley smiled.

"We won't be long."

Dawn strode out the door, hitting the speed dial on her cell as she
went.

The moment they went out of sight Katzenbach slumped over, clutching his abdomen. Taking two deep breaths, he moved back to the control panel and resumed his work.

********************************************************

"Buffy?"

She awoke instantly, on high alert. Spike spoke softly.

"It's all right, luv. Just wanted to let you know it's midnight. Been two hours."

At that moment Buffy's cell phone went off. Spike grabbed it, checking the ID before answering.

"Bit?"

(Hey, Spike. I'm driving a Mercedes.)

"Really. And just how could you be doing that?"

(It's Hans's car. He's staying here to get the monitors working. We're on our way over with the wireless stuff. How did things go on your end?)

"Good as can be expected. Angel should have the gas ready to go by now."

(Ok. Your room?)

"Faith and Xander's."

(Cool. We're about ten minutes out).

"Right, then."

Spike hung up as Buffy quickly changed out of her dirty clothes and slipped on a tee shirt and faded jeans. White Nikes completed the ensemble. Probably not going to make the runways of Milan. On the other hand, Naomi Campbell doesn't get shot at very often. Armani doesn't have a spring line for Slayers. Yet another reason my job occasionally sucks.

She looked over at Spike as he dialed the phone.

"Who are you calling?"

"Thought I'd ring Willow."

She shook her head.

"I'll go get her myself. Call Faith and Xander's room and let them know we're on the way, ok? Oh, and call Angel too. I'll meet you up there."

"You going to tell me what happened, luv?"

She looked at him for a long moment.

"The spell was really hard on all of us. We had to go through some pretty intense things together."

"Anything I can do?"

Buffy sighed heavily and crossed the room to embrace him, voice slightly muffled as she spoke with her face against his chest.

"I'll deal. Most of it was Xander and Willow picking up a lot of my baggage.
I'm more worried about them."

He chuckled as he ran his fingers through her hair. She moved back
and looked up at him with a frown.

"Something funny?"

"Yeah, actually. It's a funny world, init? Coupla years ago you three spent so much time wrapped up in yourselves you forgot to take care of each other. Now it's the other way 'round. Got to be a happy medium somewhere."

"I'm happy with you."

She kissed him gently at first. He gripped her hair tightly and she moaned, deepening the contact between them. After thirty seconds he pulled back and gazed at her tenderly.

"I love you Buffy."

"I love you more."

He raised a scarred eyebrow.

"You think so? Prove it."

She reluctantly moved back and glared at him with a smirk.

"No fair. You know we have to get going."

"Couldn't lose then, could I?"

She gave him one last peck on the lips and backed toward the door, holding his gaze.

"See you in five?"

"Right, then."

She turned and left for Willow's room.

**********************************************************

Faith hung up the phone and leaned down.

"Xand?"

"Ugh."

"Gotta wake up, babe. Company's comin'."

"Mmmm."

"How many more grunt noises do you have?"

"Grrr. Arrrgh."

"Ok, those are just lame."

Xander smiled and slowly raised up and stretched his arms, yawning as he did so. Faith winced.

"Christ, Xander. You stink. Jump in the shower for a minute. It'll get your blood going."

"You want to come with?"

"The idea here is to wake you up, Einstein. If I get in there you'll wind up sleeping for days."

He rubbed his eyes and took a deep breath. Sensing his change in mood Faith put a gentle hand on his shoulder from behind. He reached up with his left hand and placed it on top of hers. She used her other hand to propel him off the bed.

"Go. B says we need you alert."

Xander went into the bathroom with a change of clothes. Moments later Faith heard the water running and she proceeded to make a clothing change of her own, talking to herself as she did so.

"Ok, girlfriend. This one's probably gonna get ugly. Gotta go retro."

Faith reached into the closet across from the bathroom and sifted through the hangers until she found what she was looking for.

A minute later she was ready when the door knocked. She opened it to find Spike and Angel standing in the doorway. She nodded to them and turned away as they walked in behind her.

"You got everything ready, Angel?"

"Tear gas is good to go."

He looked her up and down.

"Haven't seen this look in a while."

Faith was clad in her black leather pants with a white tank top. An open black leather jacket completed the ensemble. She turned back to face them and spread her hands wide, head tilting back and forth in the classic Faith style.

"Didn't think it'd hurt to channel Psycho Bitch for one night only."

Spike smirked at her.

"Can't be all big and bad without the right clothes, then?"

Her face darkened.

"Like to see how big and bad you are without the duster."

He advanced on her and they stood nose to nose.

"Would you, now? Might just be able to arrange that. Careful what you ask for, Slayer."

"You see me backin' up, Blondie?"

They held each other's eyes for a long moment. Finally Spike nodded approvingly.

"Right, then. You're ready."

She grinned and ruffled his hair.

"You too, pretty boy."

Angel cleared his throat meaningfully.

"Ok, if you two are about done..."

He nodded toward the bathroom door, where the shower had just turned off. Faith and Spike nodded and walked to opposite sides of the room.

There were some things that her boyfriend would just never understand.

******************************************************

Buffy was preparing to knock on Willow's door when her sister came trotting down the hallway.

"That was fast."

"I was driving a Mercedes. Plus I had to pee."

"Good for you. The Mercedes part, I mean."

"Oh, they're both good. A healthy bladder is important."

Buffy rolled her eyes as Dawn inserted the key card and walked quickly into the bathroom. The Slayer was surprised to see Willow fully dressed, drinking a cup of coffee.

"I figured you'd be asleep."

"I tried. Got about twenty minutes."

"You going to be ok? We need you."

"I'll be fine."

Willow finished her cup and rose, not meeting Buffy's eyes. The Slayer stepped in front of her.

"I love you, Willow."

The redhead's lip quivered.

"I don't know why."

Buffy pulled her into an embrace. "Yes, you do."

They held each other until Dawn came out to join them. Her face grew concerned.

"What's wrong?"

They broke apart and Buffy smiled.

"You know us girls. We get all mushy before the big battle."

She gave her sister a meaningful look which Dawn understood immediately without the benefit of telepathic magic. Leave it alone. Dawn rolled her eyes.

"You guys are weird."

They walked out together.

*****************************************************

Xander, now considerably less odorous, sat on the bed with Faith. He spoke quietly as he took her hand.

"You're going to be careful, right?"

"Can't. You know that."

"Let me put it another way."

He looked down at the bed.

"You're going to fight like Hell to come back to me, right?"

Faith leaned in and kissed him on the cheek.

"Bet on that one, babe."

A moment later Buffy, Willow and Dawn entered, shortly followed by Wesley, who had stopped by the gift shop for some important items. After everyone was settled, the blonde Slayer stood before them.

"Ok. Gang's all here. Let's break it down. Angel, is the gas
ready?"

He nodded. "Yes. One small change in the plan, though. We don't have enough gas to flood all the tunnels. I'm going to have to run down there and release the gas in specific spots."

Buffy frowned. "You can do that?"

"I don't have to breathe. Gas won't bother me."

"Me neither," Spike said. "You may need a hand with that."

"I just might."

Xander spoke up.

"Won't they see you coming? Seems like getting shot is a good possibility."

Angel shrugged.

"Another good reason for vampires to do it. What is it you said, Spike?"

"Bloody stings, but we get over it."

Xander looked from one to the other.

"Unless, of course, they blow your heads off."

Angel looked to Spike with a slight grin.

"We'll duck."

Buffy sighed and nodded.

"Ok, if that's what has to be done...it's not as if we have a choice. All right, what's next? Dawn, your spell ready to go?"

"Check. My salamander eyes are in full effect. Pretty soon you guys are going to look like you're everywhere."

Wesley spoke up.

"I've been thinking about that. It's all well and good to confuse the enemy, but I imagine we should know who is real and who isn't."

Dawn frowned. "I hadn't even thought of that."

"I made a stop at the gift shop downstairs. A rather expensive place to spend one's time, actually. Anyway, I purchased some items that will distinguish us from our holograms."

He held them up. Buffy raised an eyebrow.

"You bought us Mickey Mouse pins?"

"They may not be fashionable, but they're easy to spot."

Faith looked at Spike.

"There goes the wardrobe edge."

He sighed and nodded in agreement. As Wesley passed them out, Buffy continued.

"Next on the list is communications. What do we have?"

Dawn took that one.

"Hans is working on the monitors. He says they'll be ready to go by the time we need them. As far as the wireless stuff goes, we were only able to track down five earpieces."

Buffy thought a moment.

"Ok. Faith, Spike, Angel and I will each take one of the four tunnel exits. There will have to be a monitor for each exit, so we'll need four sets of eyes to watch our backs and tell us when and where the bad guys are coming. Xander, you're in charge of that. You...and only you will have access to us. Willow, you'll be with him. Hopefully Hans is well enough to watch a monitor for you as well. That makes three."

Buffy hesitated. "Dawn, can I speak to you outside for a sec?"

Her sister knitted her eyebrows in confusion. "Ok."

Buffy led her into the hallway and turned around, clearly tensing for an argument.

"Dawn, you're going to be with Willow and Xander."

As the Slayer expected, Dawn's eyes widened in fury.

"WHAT?! Are you shitting me? No way."

"Dawn-"

"I can't believe you're trying to shut me out again. You know damned well I can help, Buffy."

Buffy held up her hands.

"Calm down and listen to me, ok?"

Dawn shook her head and turned away. Buffy shocked her by grabbing her by the arm and whipping her around.

"Hey! I don't have time for you to throw a fit!"

Buffy softened her tone.

"Please, just hear me out."

Dawn just stared at her, waiting for the explanation. Buffy continued in the quiet tone of voice.

"Martineau is an asshole, but he isn't stupid. There's a good chance he'll figure out how we're anticipating his moves. That makes the monitoring station a target."

She hesitated before continuing.

"There's also a chance that we won't make it. Faith and I can't stop bullets, and as much as Spike and Angel like to talk, a bullet will slow them down long enough to be staked easily. If that happens--"

"Buffy, stop."

"IF...that happens, Xander and Willow must survive...at least long enough to try to stop this hurricane. Plus, someone has to continue the fight if we don't make it. Martineau can't be allowed to control things."

Buffy put her hands on Dawn's shoulders.

"After Spike, Faith and Angel...you're easily my best fighter. I'm
depending on you to protect them. Ok?"

Dawn tried hard not to show how moved she was by Buffy's words.

"Ok."

Buffy gave her a slight smile. Dawn looked at the floor.

"I'm sorry. I figured you were trying to keep me safe like a little kid."

The Slayer sighed and shook her head.

"Unless every instinct I have is wrong, none of us are going to be safe."

**************************************************

"What in the Bloody Hell is this?"

Martineau was in his bathrobe, staring at the television. He'd been interrupted from a pleasant dream of his days in South Africa, when the young girls were a dime a dozen. Brought to him from the coal mines, fresh with the intoxicating blend of soot, perspiration...and fear.

Most of all fear.

How he'd loved those days. Now here he stood, staring at a Goddamned local newscast that threatened to ruin all his waking dreams of ruling the primeval world. He snapped at the watch officer.

"How far out did they say the storm is?"

"Currently sixty miles north-northeast of Cocoa Beach, sir. The eye
is expected to make landfall by 2 am."

"Bollocks! 2am?! That's two hours from now!"

"It's moving slightly in excess of thirty miles per hour, sir."

Martineau took several deep breaths, desperately trying to control his rage.

"I've never heard of any storm of this size moving this quickly. I assume Disney closed the parks?"

"Yes, sir. People were also advised to stay in their rooms, but there's a mass exodus taking place. Traffic is virtually at a standstill on the interstates."

"All right." He began to pace the floor. "This isn't a total loss. The parks will have to reopen eventually. The same plan can be in force. The Slayers and their people are probably jammed in tight on the road just like everyone else."

He stopped.

"Unless..." He shook his head. "No. Impossible. No wicca has this kind of power. More to the point, they'd never go through with something like this."

"Sir?"

"Shut up! I'm trying to think."

"I can smell that."

He looked up a let out a harsh breath as the vampire grinned at him from the doorway.

"Inge, I didn't summon you."

"I'm not a dog, Tony."

She took a look at the weather report and glanced back to him.

"My, my. Looks like you have a fight on your hands."

"You don't know what you're talking about."

She looked at him and spoke as if her were a toddler.

"Tony. Let me break this down for you."

She ticked her fingers as she spoke:

"One: You gave the Slayer a situation that would result in either the death
of thousands...or her team.

Two: You gave them time to work on the problem after presenting it to them.

Three: There is a scenario now in place that leaves you with no
available hostages for at least the next twenty four hours."

Her eyes widened as she smiled widely.

"Must I draw pictures for you as well?"

His eyes darkened. "They're coming."

"Of course they're coming. I've heard they actually carved that message into Pierre Leveque's back. Did you not believe them?"

He quickly turned to the watch officer.

"Wake everyone. I want all squads battle-ready in thirty minutes."

"Yes sir."

Martineau sat heavily in a chair, speaking directly into the monitors with unblinking eyes..

"You want to fight, Slayer? Come on, then. We're right down here."

********************************************************

"They wanted a fight. They came after us."

Buffy walked from one side of the room to the other, meeting different eyes as she spoke.

"They've threatened to kill thousands of innocent people."

Her gaze fixed on Xander as she stopped.

"They've tortured us."

She moved her eyes to Dawn.

"They've shot at us."

She resumed walking slowly.

"Yet we're still here. Every last one of us is still standing. Nobody has even dreamed of taking a single step back."

She smiled and shrugged.

"It's the same old story, really. Evil just keeps coming in different forms and tries to push us around. They push...and they push.

Have you ever noticed that in the end, it never seems to work? No matter what they try, we always manage to win. It isn't easy...it's never easy. It always hurts...but we still manage.

There's an old saying I read once: 'The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.' After all this time I think I've decided that Evil is just kinda nuts."

The extended Scooby Gang returned her smile as she shook her head.

"Because we're not going away. We're not going to back off, and we're not going to lose. I think it took something like this to help me figure out why."

She now stopped directly in the middle of the room.

"Here's the thing. It's not as simple as the good guys and the bad guys. If it were, vampires wouldn't have souls. Slayers would never hurt innocent people...or each other. Friends wouldn't lie. Sisters wouldn't ignore one another. In many ways, we have similarities to the Council. We both realize that the world is gray, and sometimes you have to do some pretty awful things for the greater good...like right now, for instance.

The last time we were all together, Dawn asked if we were qualified to make those kinds of decisions. Who were we to create a natural disaster? I have to honestly tell you...I didn't have a good answer to that. A few people said some nice things, but nobody really answered Dawn's question.

Somehow, when Willow brought it up, I just knew clearing the park by any means necessary was the right choice. I just felt it. I think you guys did too. Why?"

She shook her head.

"Ok, this is corny, I know...but stay with me here. I think the difference between us and them is love. Hans said something about our concerns about one single innocent life, and how amazing that was to him. I hope the poor guy didn't see it, but I looked at him like he was crazy. Of course we care! Who wouldn't care?!

Then it hit me."

She cleared her throat and took a deep breath.

"Quentin Travers probably didn't truly love anyone in his entire life. Martineau probably hasn't either. The people that have run the Watcher's Council over the last thirty years wouldn't know love if it jumped up and bit them.

They don't know what it feels like to lose members of your family in a battle.

They could not possibly understand what it takes to send someone you love to Hell.

They don't know what it would take to stand in front of someone who could kill you and face them down because you love them too much to have any other choice.

They would never have the heart to send themselves to prison to pay for things they did wrong.

They would never be willing to give their own lives to save a world that they weren't even naturally born into.

They wouldn't put themselves through emotional Hell because they wanted to give a woman what they think she deserves."

She shook her head, lower lip quivering with emotion.

"Nope. None of that's going to happen when you deal with guys like Travers and Martineau...because they don't understand love. That's why we win. We win because we love. I told William this earlier, and I happened to mention it to Willow later, but I want to do it one more time for everyone."

Buffy stood up straight, eyes shining with tears.

"I love everyone in this room. I can NOT imagine what my life would have been like without all of you."

Spike couldn't stop himself from rising and taking her in his arms. Faith clung to Xander, and Willow embraced Dawn. Angel nodded to Wesley with misted eyes full of meaning, and Wesley barely maintained enough composure to nod back coolly. Buffy finished as she held the man who held her heart.

"This is why we're qualified to do this. This right here."

After a minute, everyone separated and dried their eyes. Buffy took one last deep breath and nodded.

"Let's go."