A/N: sorry for the delayed update. RL sucks.

Thanks to AthenaHahn for her lovely betaing job.

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With a chilling smile, Buffy brought down the demon that had attacked her. Sparing Hammond an icy glance she uttered a baleful promise. “You will know the true meaning of pain, both of you.” That said, she struck off the head of the Polgara demon in front of her.

Spike was having the time of his unlife, whooping each time a demon fell dead at his feet. “Should we advance on these guys, Slayer?”

“Nope, my boys will push them towards us.” Buffy said with a gleeful laugh. “Didn’t you hear that cry earlier?”

“Yeah, but I figured it was the demons. So you are sayin we have help then?” Spike queried, while thrusting his sword into the stomach of the Fyarl in front of him.

“Yup, at least one of the boys, maybe more,” Buffy grunted as she removed the left antler from a Chaos Demon.

Hammond and Angel shared a glance. “Boys? Did you know she had outside help Angel?” Hammond inquired.

“All I know about the bitch is she stuck that fucking sword through my groin last night.” Angel growled in remembered pain.

Hammond looked over at Buffy as she spun and removed the head of the demon she had been fighting. “There is something familiar about her…” His voice trailed off as he glimpsed four white-clad figures towards the back of the mob of demons. “Oh shit…”

“What? Is something wrong?” Angel glanced around, and then looked quizzically at Hammond.

“Only if you consider an impending apocalypse to be something to worry about.” Hammond muttered, as he started wondering how he could get out of this with his head intact.

It had only been a few minutes, and the number of attacking demons had been slightly diminished. However, the mages had been attacking the wards on the house, and managed to break the first one. The violent reaction to this caused all the windows in the house to explode outward.



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Willow’s head snapped up, a look of concern flashing through her eyes. “There goes the first ward.”

Xander flinched away from the window he had been standing at as the glass exploded outward. “And the windows. Man is Mrs. Summers gonna be pissed.”

The last of the wards snapped into place, lighting the dark basement with an eerie blue glow.

“Well, we’ve done all we can for now, lets try and recoup a little just in case.” Giles said as he slowly and stiffly rose to his feet. “I am too old to be sitting on hard concrete anymore…” he muttered quietly as he stretched his stiff muscles.

Tara and Willow shared a look and then giggled. “Giles, you aren’t old.”

Anya passed an appraising look over Giles and commented, “I’m sure you are not as old as you presently feel. However, I would suggest it to be in your best interest to become more limber, as I’m sure Mrs. Summers will be expecting major orgasms after all this trouble is over.”

While Tara and Willow fell over laughing, Giles whipped his glasses off his face and began stuttering incoherently.

“Gee Ahn; I think you broke the G-man.” Xander quipped before laughing as well.

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Buffy’s eyes narrowed as she heard the shattering of glass. “Someone is so gonna pay for that!” she growled before raising her voice in a loud call. “Eximo damno veneficus vir primoris!”

Almost as if someone had been waiting for that command, one of the figures in white flung a dagger at one the mages. In the blink of an eye, the mage was down, the dagger protruding from his left eye socket. The other two fell in swift succession to the edge of a gleaming katana.

Spike started to laugh at the look of shock on Angel’s face. “Looks like you’ve got a trio of dead mages on your hands, Peaches.”

After that, it was a simple job of dispatching the remainder of the demons. Hammond quietly attempted to make good his escape, intending to leave both Angel and the now–conscious Hank to the dubious mercy of the figures in white.

“Operor non permoveo.” Although Hammond couldn’t understand what the white-clad person said, the sharp point of the sword at his back made the meaning clear. The figure forced Hammond to his knees, and then motioned for Angel and Hank to assume the same position. One look at the swiftly dying demons and they both fell to their knees.

As the last of the demons fell to the sharp edge of her deadly sword, Buffy breathed a sigh of relief. Turning to Spike, she flashed him a wicked grin, sheathed her sword across her back, and launched herself into his arms. “WE WON!” she cried as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

Spike dropped the katana he was holding and wrapped his arm around her waist, “That we did love, that we did.” Staring into her eyes, he leaned his head down and placed a delicate kiss on her lips, one that soon turned heated.

A quiet cough from behind them attempted, and failed, to get their attention. The cough turned into snickers, which caused Spike to raise his head and growl.

Buffy giggled and rested her head on Spike’s chest. “I think we're busted.” She stepped away from Spike and stood slightly in front of him, facing the four figures in white.

The tallest of the four stepped forward, sword raised in a challenging position. Then, to Spike’s surprise, sank to its knees, head bowed, sword lying across the upraised palms. In a firm voice, that held the barest trace of an accent, the figure spoke, “Meus mucro ego locus procul vestra imperium. Meus cruor vobis ego mos effundo. Meus vita prodigo pro vestra causa. Umquam obedienter ut vestra mos, Imperium mihi, quod ego pareo.”

With a tinkling laugh, Buffy reached out a hand and whapped the kneeling figure on the head. “Get off your knees Methos, you look like a moron.”




A/N: translations

Eximo damno veneficus vir primoris
(Take out the damned mages first)

Meus mucro ego locus procul vestra imperium.
Meus cruor vobis ego mos effundo.
Meus vita prodigo pro vestra causa.
Umquam obedienter ut vestra mos,
Imperium mihi , quod ego pareo.
(My sword I place at thy command.
My blood for thee I will shed.
My life expend for thy cause.
Ever obedient to thy will,
Command me, and I obey.)

Operor non permoveo
(Do not move)

Thanks for your patience and your wonderful reviews.