There was an earthquake that only lasted for a few seconds.

Willow and I walked into the dorm room to see Buffy.

"Hey," Willow told her. "We were in the library during the quake. Almost got buried in some 19th century literature. And we don't have to tell you how hard it is to dig through some of that stuff."

I looked at Buffy. "You okay?"

Buffy nodded. "Yeah. Uh, a couple of broken knickknacks, but no biggies."

"Well, Porter dorm is completely blacked out, so naturally they're dealing the the crisis the only way they know how," Willow told us. "'Aftershock party'."

"Ah, this from the dorm that brought us the 'somebody sneezed party' and the 'day that ends in 'Y' party'," I told them.

"They do seem to be pretty generous with the milestones," Willow told her. "You should ask Riley to come. Much carousing by flattering candlelight."

Buffy and I exchanged a look.

"Um, Riley's, um, busy, I'm pretty sure," Buffy told us. "But you know, you go on ahead, and I'll catch up with you there. I'm on my way to Giles'."

"Okay," Willow told us, walking out, leaving, closing the door behind her.

I looked at Buffy. "Why didn't you tell her?"

"Because I'm not sure on what's left to say," Buffy answered.

"Riley's one of the commando guys," I told her. "I'm pretty sure we know what to say." Buffy sighed. "What about Riley?"

"Uh, he knows that I'm a Slayer, but he doesn't know what a Slayer is," Buffy answered. "And we both agreed it might be a good idea for both of us to get some time and space to process everything. But we really need to talk to Giles." I sighed, nodding. Buffy realized I didn't ask why. "You felt it, too, didn't you?"

I nodded.

~~~~   

Buffy and I were talking to Giles in the courtyard outside of his apartment.

"Something horrible's going to happen, Giles," I told him.

"It was an earthquake," Giles told us. "A not uncommon occurrence in southern California. No reason to think it was anything more."

"Oh, we so have a reason," Buffy told him. "A darn good reason. The last time we had an earthquake, I died."

"Yes, I know that," Giles told her. He looked at me. "And therefore, I completely understand Buffy's anxiety, but not yours."

"Oh, boy, I'd hate for my little anxiety attack to concern you ambiguously," I told him sarcastically, sitting down on the edge of the fountain.

"But unless evidence suggests otherwise, I think we can assume that it's shifting land masses and not a portent of some imminent doom," Giles told us. "In the meantime, I've got a few theories about our mysterious commando friends." 

I looked at Buffy.

Buffy looked at Giles. "Oh. Really?"

"Yes," Giles answered. Buffy and I were having a silent argument behind Giles' back about whether or not we should have told Giles about Riley. "Now, based on the locations of our various sightings and Spike's reluctant description of their underground installation--"

Buffy looked at Giles. "What if the quake was a sign? A bad omen, and we just ignore it? There's gonna be a lot of red faces when the world comes to an end."

Giles stood, turning to face us.

Buffy and I stopped, looking at Giles innocently.

"If the quake heralded some such catastrophe, then I am sure there will be other signs to follow, which will afford us plenty of time to avert it," Giles told us. "Now, I believe the commando installation is either very close to or directly underneath your school. Now, if that is the case, I'm convinced that one or more of them may be in your very midst."

"Plague," Buffy told us.

"What?" I asked.

"What if the end of the world is coming in the form of a plague?" Buffy asked. "Then too many people may become infected by the time we--"

"Buffy, will you stop worrying about what may be and concentrate on what is?" Giles asked. "Vigilance is all very well and good, but as I feel we're getting close, there is a much more pressing question."

  ~~~~     

Buffy and I walked into the dorm building where the party was supposed to be, watching coroners wheel a body past us.

"You're lucky there was a body at a college party, otherwise I would've told Giles about Riley," I told her. "Which you should've done."

Buffy sighed. "I know. I'm sorry. I just... I didn't know what to say."

I imitated Buffy's voice. "'Oh, Giles, by the way, while we're on the subject of commandos, we know who one of them is. My new crush, future boyfriend Riley Finn'."

Buffy gave me a look.

Willow was sitting on the steps. "Buffy. Zoey. Over here."

Buffy and I walked toward Willow.

"Wow," I told her. "We weren't sure where the party was, and..." We sat down on the steps next to Willow. "Then we saw the flashing lights and the ambulance, and I was, like, 'Right, of course. Death, carnage. It's a Scooby party.'"

"I'm so glad you're here," Willow told us. 

"What happened?" Buffy asked.

"I found him," Willow answered. "This guys on the bed with me, dead. Not me dead, he dead."

"God, are you okay?" Buffy asked. Willow nodded. Buffy whispered. "Vampire?"

Willow shook her head. "So much blood... and there--there was a symbol, and Percy said I was a nerd."

"Percy called you a nerd?" I asked.

Willow nodded. "I guess we should report to Giles, get with the demon-tracking."

We stood, walking toward the door.

"Does Percy even go here?" I asked.

We walked out.

  ~~~~     

Buffy, Willow, Giles, Xander and I were sitting in Giles' apartment.

"It just made me feel like I was right back in high school," Willow told us. 

"Dumb jock," Xander told her. "If it wasn't for you, he still would be."

"Yeah," Willow agreed. "I mean, I know the Percy thing isn't really important. It's the dead guy on the bed."

"Yeah, that's bad, too," Xander told us.

"Ooh, and something else," Willow told us."He, the dead guy, was--was propped up, like whatever killed him wanted to drain the blood out of him. So, I'm thinking, the whatever took a bunch of the guy's blood with him. And I haven't been a nerd for a very long time."

"Tell them about the symbol," Buffy told her.

"Right," Willow told us, pulling out a note from her pocket. "Um, it was carved into his chest. Like a big, creepy eye."

Giles took the note, looking at the symbol.

It was like a pyramid with the eye inside.

"It's kind of like the CBS logo," Xander told us. "Hey, could this be the handiwork of one Mr. Morley Safer?"

"I'm telling you, I've seen this somewhere before," Buffy told us. "I just can't remember where. I mean, it's like..."

"It's the end of the world," Giles told us.

Buffy, Willow, Xander and I spoke together. "Again?"

"Uh, the earthquake, that symbol..." Giles trailed off. "Yes."

I stood, raising my arms in exasperation. "We told you. We said end of the world. And you're like, 'pooh-pooh, southern California, pooh-pooh.'"

"I'm so very sorry," Giles told us. "My contrition completely dwarfs the impending apocalypse."

"No," Willow told us. "I--it can't be. We--we've done this already."

"It's the end of the world," Giles told us. "Everyone dies." Buffy walked toward the door. "It's rather important, really."

"So, what do we do?" Willow asked.

Buffy picked up a crossbow. "We stop it."

We looked at the symbol on the note.

  ~~~~     

Buffy and I were in the cemetery, looking up at a mausoleum with the same symbol.

"I wonder where I've seen this before," Buffy told me sarcastically.

"Where else?" I asked. "The place we spend most of our waking hours memorizing stuff off the sides of mausoleums. Big, freaky cereal boxes of death."

We heard the stone door creeping open, walking inside to find two large, green colored demons stealing bones out of coffins.

"Door was open," Buffy told them.

The demons roared.

Buffy shot Demon 1 in the chest with her crossbow, but nothing happened. Buffy threw the crossbow at his head, making it fall to the floor.

I kicked Demon 2 in the chest. Demon 2 tried to punch me. I ducked, kicking him in the head.

Demon 1 tried to punch Buffy in the stomach. Buffy spun out of the way, kicking him in the head, trying to punch him. Demon 1 raised an arm to block the move, grabbing Buffy, pushing her aside, making her fall to the floor.

I punched Demon 2 in the stomach, elbowing him in the same place, making him double over in pain, elbowing him in the back, grabbing him, pushing him into the stone wall, kicking him in the leg, making him fall to his knees, grabbing him, turning around, throwing him toward the stairs, making him fall.

Demon 1 tried to slam the bag of bones onto Buffy's head. Buffy rolled out of the way, standing, spinning to face Demon 1, kicking him in the chest hard enough to make him fall back toward Demon 2 by the door.

Both demons looked from us to each other, running outside.

Buffy and I exchanged a look, running outside, following them.

Buffy stepped across a tombstone, bouncing off of it with one leg, kicking Demon 1 in the head with the other, landing lightly on the ground.

I punched Demon 2, making him turn away. Demon 2 backhand punched me hard enough to make me fall over the ledge. He walked closer, raising his bag of bones to slam them down on me. I caught the bag, kicking him in the crotch, punching him in the stomach, somersaulting backward to kick him in the face, making him stumble back, somersaulting to my feet.

Buffy punched Demon 1 repeatedly. The next time she tried, Demon 1 grabbed her arms. Buffy headbutted him to try to make him let go, but it didn't work. Demon 1 lifted Buffy off the ground, slamming her back against the tombstone, making her fall to the ground. Demon 1 walked toward her, raising its bag of bones to try to slam onto her.

I stepped across the tombstone he had slammed Buffy against, spinning to kick Demon 1 in the face twice, making him back away toward Demon 2, landing in a crotch behind Buffy's head.

The demons ran away, leaving.

I helped Buffy stand.

"Where did they go?" Buffy asked.

"They took off toward the woods," I answered. "Let's go."

Buffy and I took off after the demons, coming to a stop in the woods, but we were unable to find them at all.

  ~~~~     

The next day, we were in Giles' apartment with Giles, Willow and Xander, going through research.

"Vahrall demons," Giles told us.

Willow looked over at his book. "Ew."

"I second that revulsion," Xander told us.

"Yes," Giles agreed. "'Slick like gold and gird in moonlight, father of portents and brother toblight'."

Buffy read from over his shoulder. "'Limbs with talons, eyes like knives, bane to the blameless, thief of lives'."

"The things weren't digging up the bones of children for fun,"  I told them. 

"Well, a demon's got some pretty hilarious ideas about fun," Xander told us.

"The bones of children, though," Willow told us. "I saw that." She picked up a book, going through it until she found what she was looking for. "An ancient ritual. It uses the blood of men, the bones of children, and something called The word of Valios." Giles was thinking. "It's all part of a sacrifice, and a sacrifice of three."

"Let me guess," I told them. "Ends the world."

"Well, yeah," Willow answered. "It's not big with the details, though. It doesn't say how the world ends or what the ritual entails exactly."

"A sacrifice of three," Xander told us. "Three people are gonna die?"

"No, they won't," Buffy answered. "Because claw boys are not getting all of their ingredients. We have to find out what the word of Valios means, and keep them from getting it."

"If they don't already have it," I told them. "I mean, who knows where they've been?"

  ~~~~     

We were getting ready to leave.

"I'll check the Magic Box," Buffy told us. "See if they've heard of a book called the word of Valios. Will, Xander, how about the book archives at the museum?"

"We'll stop by my house on the way, get some weapons, and I'll change into something that isn't quite as anchovy-scented," Xander told us.

"Zoey, patrol," Buffy told me. "You see one of them, fight. You see both of them, do not try to take them on alone. Okay? I'll meet up with you as soon as I can. This thing takes wicked very seriously. Be careful. I couldn't stand anybody getting hurt."

  ~~~~     

I walked into Giles' apartment. "Patrol came and went. They're not anywhere out there."

Giles was sitting on the couch with his back to me. "I know. They were here."

I walked closer, seeing that he was beaten and bloody. "What happened?"

"It's my fault," Giles told me. "I should've known."

I walked into the kitchen to get an ice pack. "Giles..."

"The word of Valios... is the name of a talisman, not a book," Giles told me.  "I blame myself entirely. I had it here."

"You had it here?" I repeated, walking closer. Giles nodded. I sat in front of Giles, handing the ice pack to him. "I should've been here."

Giles took the ice pack, putting it to his head, shaking his head. "Thank you. No, you were right to go out. You didn't know I had it. I bought it at a sorcerer's estate sale. I really only glanced at it once. I thought it was a knockoff."

"Well, they have it, and they probably have their sacrifices by now, too," I told him. 

"They're on their way to perform the sacrifice now," Giles told me. 

"On their way where?" I asked. "You found out what the ritual is for?"

"The Hellmouth," Giles answered. "They're gonna open the Hellmouth... the one in the library."

I took this in, standing. "Looks like we're going back to high school."

  ~~~~     

I called to let the others know where to meet up.

Buffy, Xander, Willow, Spike and I stood outside of the high school. It was still burned from the explosion of last year, but still left standing. We walked past the police caution tape, inside.

"Be careful, you guys," Buffy told us. "The place doesn't look too stable."

"Fine by me," Spike told us. "I hope we all go under."

"Why is he even here?" I asked. "It's not like he can fight."

"If we leave him alone, he'll stake himself," Willow answered.

"And that's bad because?" I asked. Willow gave me a look. "Fine. Whatever." We walked along. "Just keep him out of the way. We do not have time for this."

Buffy looked at Willow and Xander. "Okay, when we get to the library, keep a lookout for victims they're keeping alive for the sacrifice. Getting them out is the first priority."

"Will do," Xander told us.

"Okay, you guys ready?" I asked.

Willow and Xander nodded.

"Let's rock 'n' roll," Xander told us.

We walked toward another hallway.

"'Let's rock 'n' roll'?" Spike repeated skeptically. 

We walked around a corner into the other hall.

"Sunnydale high," Xander told us. "If these walls... were still walls, what stories they could tell." He stepped into snake skin. "Ew." We stopped, looking at Xander. "Mayor meat. Extra crispy."

We walked along.

"I think we're near the library," Willow told us.

We walked into what had used to be the library.

There was a big hole where the floor used to be.

We could hear a growling chant going on.

"Whoa," I told them. "Check out the new floor plan."

We saw three Vahral demons standing around a fissure in the floor.

"Three of them," Buffy told us.

"I don't see any sacrifice people," Willow told us.

"They must be around here somewhere," Buffy told us. "The ritual is not finished. And it's not gonna be."

Buffy and I exchanged a look, nodding, jumping into the fissure in the floor to attack the three demons.

Buffy punched Demon 1 in the face, punching Demon 2 in the stomach.

I punched Demon 3 in the stomach, punching him in the face, making him fall into the wall, then fall to the floor.

Buffy punched Demon 1 in the face, punching him in the stomach, spinning to backhand punch him, kicking him back, making him fall to the floor. Demon 2 grabbed Buffy from behind. Buffy turned backhand him in the face, making him back away toward me.

I kicked Demon 2 in the back of the head, making a bottle of blood fall from his pocket, pushing him aside.

Xander ran closer. "The blood!" He grabbed the bottle of blood, backing away. "Get the talisman. They can't do the ritual."

Demon 2 tried to punch me. I ducked, spinning to kick him in the back, making him stumble forward.

Willow snagged the bags of bones from Demon 1, running away. "I've got the bones!" Buffy spun to kick Demon 3 in the back, making him fall to the floor. Demon 1 punched Buffy in the back, making her fall. Willow tossed the bags of bones to Xander. "Here!"

I pulled Demon 2 in a circle by his arm, pushing him against the wall, making him fall to the floor, punching him in the face.

Demon 3 turned to face Spike.

"Right," Spike told him awkwardly. "Perfect."

Demon 2 stood, grabbing my arm, spinning around, pushing me against the wall, making me fall, picking me up, having my head underneath his arm, trying to slam down the other hand to try to break my neck. I wrapped my leg around his leg, grabbing his arm, falling back, making us both fall to the floor, breaking his hold, standing, twisting the arm I was still holding behind his back.

Demon 3 punched Spike repeatedly.

Demon 1 took the bones from Willow, running toward the hole in the floor, jumping inside.

The place started to rumble.

"The demons," Xander told us. "They are the sacrifice!"

Demon 3 punched Spike.

Demon 2 broke the hold I had on him, making me stumble back, standing. Buffy stood in front of Demon 2, spinning to try to kick him. Demon 2 ducked, punching Buffy in the back, making her fall.

Demon 3 punched Spike, grabbing his shoulders. 

Spike yelled in anger, punching him in the face, making him fall to the floor, holding his head in prepared pain, but nothing happened. He took his hand away from his head in confusion. "No pain." Demon 3 started to stand. Spike punched him in the head, making him fall. "I can hurt a demon." Spike grabbed Demon 3 by his shoulders, pulling him up, transforming, headbutting him, punching him, spinning to punch him again, punching him with the other arm, spinning to backhand punch him, kicking him in the chest, making him back away, spinning to kick him again, making him fall to the floor. "That's right! I'm back, and I'm a bloody animal! Yeah!"

Demon 3 stood, grabbing the bottle of blood from the floor.

Spike lifted Demon 3 over his head horizontally.

"No!" Xander told him.

"Spike!" Willow told him. "Not in the hole!"

Spike threw Demon 3 into the hole.

The place started to shake and rumble again, worse than before.

"What?" Spike asked. "I was helping."

I kicked Demon 2 back toward Buffy. Buffy and I flipped Demon 2 to the floor in front of us.

I looked back at Xander and Willow. "Get out of here! The building's gonna come down!"

A beam fell down from the ceiling, hitting Spike in the back of the head, making him fall to the floor.

Willow and Xander ran closer, grabbing Spike, leading him toward the door.

Demon 2 punched me in the face three times while I was distracted, trying to punch me again. I ducked. Buffy grabbed Demon 2, falling onto her back, throwing the demon into a somersault behind her. Demon 2 stood. I kicked him in the chest. Demon 2 punched me in the face, tackling me to the floor. I grabbed a nearby sharp piece of glass, stabbing him in the chest.  Demon 2 raised a fist toward me.

Buffy caught Demon 2's arm, pulling him off of me, punching him in the face repeatedly. Demon 2 picked Buffy up, tossing her aside, making her fall. Buffy stood, spinning to kick Demon 2. Demon 2 punched Buffy in the face, making her fall. I somersaulted into a standing position right behind Demon 2, kicking him in the back, toward Buffy. Buffy stood, punching him in the face. I ran closer, kicking him in the back of the head. Buffy and I grabbed him from either side, throwing him toward a pile of metal, making him fall to the floor.

Demon 2 grabbed the word of Valios from the floor, sliding into the hole in the floor.

"I'm going in," Buffy told me.

The pile of metal we had thrown the demon against had been what was left of the weapons case that had been in the book cage.

I reached inside, grabbing a retractable cable, hooking it to Buffy's belt. "You're coming back out."

Buffy nodded, running toward the hole in the floor, diving inside.

I lowered Buffy enough as far as I could, wrapping the cable around a peg nearby, holding the cable steadily.

I felt Buffy pull on the cable hard enough to let me know that she had gotten the demon.

I pulled the cable up, kept pulling and pulling and pulling until Buffy held onto the edge of the hole.

I ran closer, helping Buffy pull out the demon of the hole, tossing him aside, helping Buffy out of the hole.

The demon fell dead.

The shaking around us ceased.

Buffy and I exchanged a relieved look.

  ~~~~     

Out in what used to be the foyer of the school, Buffy and I walked toward Xander, Willow and Spike.

"Everything good?" Willow asked.

"Everything's fine," I answered.

We walked toward the door.

"Kind of weird being back here, huh?" Xander asked.

"Yeah," Willow answered. "Everything seems so small... and more charred and ruin-y."

We walked out, leaving.

We stopped the Hellmouth from opening, and the apocalypse.

And Buffy and I told Giles, Xander and Willow about Riley.

All was good.

For now.

Maybe.