I sat alone in the dorm room after the sun had rose, not having slept at all after the fight last night, sitting on the floor, looking at a picture of Willow, Xander, Buffy and me. I sighed, putting the picture down, standing, walking toward the phone, picking it up. I tried to call Willow. I tried to call Xander. I tried to call Buffy. No one was answering.

Completely silent and alone.

I got tired of waiting, walking over to my bed, grabbing one of the battle axes that I had gotten from the demons Walsh tried to have kill me and Buffy.

    ~~~~    

I walked into the cave, battle ax held ready, bag of weapons over my shoulder, reaching a lair in the middle of the cave, with computers and electrical generators. "Adam, where are you?"

    ~~~~    

I walked back toward the exit quickly, hoping to get out before he came back, turning to see Spike, raising the ax.

Spike held his hands up harmlessly. "Easy, deputy. Watch where you point that thing."

I lowered the ax. "What are you doing here?" 

Spike lowered his hands. "Looking for a little weekend getaway place. Shove off."

Spike walked closer.

"Adam's been using these caves," I told him.

Spike stopped. "What?"

"I found his lair," I told him. 

Spike groaned. "Oh, cripes, that's all I need, running into that goon."

"Yeah, well, Adam's cleared out of here, so whatever he's planning is about to go down," I told him.

"Look at little Nancy Drew," Spike told me. "What about those disks I nabbed? They ought to tell you something."

"Willow has the disks," I told him. 

"Well, I'd get on that," Spike told me. I looked away in annoyance. "Can't ignore valuable information just 'cause you birds fell out, now, can you?"

I looked at Spike cautiously. "Right."

"Well, you do what you want," Spike told me. "No worry of mine, now, is it?"

Spike walked away, leaving.

I turned in the opposite direction, walking out, leaving.

    ~~~~    

I finally got ahold of the others.

Buffy, Xander, Willow, Giles and I met up on campus.

Everything was tense after last night.

I looked at Xander. "Where's Anya?"

"Oddly, Anya decided not to join us, despite all the fun we had at our last meeting," Xander told us.

"And I don't think Tara felt welcome," Willow told us.

"Why?" Buffy asked. "Because of the things that we said?"

Willow nodded.

"Will, who told you we were talking behind your back, specifically?" I asked.

"Well, um... Spike, specifically," Willow answered.

I looked at Xander. "And who told you that we thought you'd be better off joining the army?"

Xander hesitated. "That's not... exactly what he said."

"Well, uh... S--S--Spike can be very convincing when--when--when, uh..." Giles trailed off. "I'm very stupid."

"He played us," I told them. "He wanted us to fight to split us up. That's where it came from. The stuff we said the other night."

"Of course," Giles told us. "Well, piffle, let's move on."

"I'm moving," Xander told us.

"Me, too," Willow told us.

"Good," Buffy told us. "Great." We all looked at each other in silence for a moment. "So, why do you think Spike made with the head games?"

"He's all dressed up with no one to bite," Xander told us. "He's gotta get his yayas somehow."

"I think it was more than that,"  I told them. "I think it was Adam."

Xander was exaggerating shock. "Spike's working for Adam? After all we've done..." He dropped the act. "Nah, I can't even act surprised."

Giles smiled.

"I just went to Adam's lair, and he was gone, but Spike just happened to be there," I told them. "And he made this big noise about getting information off those encrypted disks."

"Oh, I decrypted them," Willow told us. We looked at her in surprise. "Well, they decrypted themselves, but I almost had it."

"What did they say?" Giles asked.

"A bunch of stuff we already know about 314," Willow answered. "But it also said there's some final phase where Adam manufactures a bunch of creepy cyber-demonoids like him. There's a special lab in the Initiative, but it didn't say where."

"Adam fed Spike those disks," Buffy told us. "It has to be. He wanted us to know about his evil-guy assembly line. This lab, it's in the Initiative?"

"Hidden somewhere," Willow answered.

"We'll give the demon his due," Buffy told us. "He thought this one out."

"What do you mean?" Willow asked.

Buffy looked at Xander and me. "You know how overcrowded the containment cells have been at the Initiative?" Xander and I nodded. "Those demons were just too easy to catch. It's like they wanted in that lace."

Giles put on his glasses. "The Trojan horse."

"Adam's gonna make sure the demons attack the Initiative from the inside," Buffy told us.

"Demons versus soldiers," I told them. "Massacre, massacre."

"And Adam has a neat pile of body parts to start assembling his army," Willow told us. "Diabolical, yet..." She made a face. "Gross."

"Does anybody else miss the mayor?" Xander asked. "I just wanna be a big snake?"

"We've got to shut him don," Buffy told us. "His final phase is about to start."

"We need to warn the Initiative," Giles told us.

"They're not gonna listen to us," I told them.

"Riley?" Willow asked.

"He's a deserter," Buffy told us. "He got some bad news anyway, and kinda took off."

"Okay, I'm confused again," Xander told us. "Adam has this evil plan. Why is he so anxious for you to know about it?"

"He wants us there," I answered. "Probably figures we'll even the kill ratio."

"He's not worried you might kill, oh, say, him?" Xander asked.

"No," I answered. "He's really not."

    ~~~~    

We were in Giles' apartment.

"Certainly no lack of supplies," Giles told us. "I only wish I knew which ones would kill Adam."

"According to Riley, his power source is uranium core embedded somewhere inside his chest," Buffy told us. "Probably near the spine."

"Great," Xander told us sarcastically. "So, we just ask him to lie down quietly while we do some exploratory surgery."

"What about magic?" Willow asked. 'Some kind of, I don't know... uranium extracting spell?" We looked at her. "I know. I'm reaching."

Giles stood. "Perhaps a paralyzing spell." He walked over to the bookshelf, pulling off a book. "Only I can't perform the incantation for this."

"Right," Willow agreed. "Don't you have to speak it in Sumerian or something?"

"I do speak Sumerian," Giles told us. "It's not that. Only a... an experience witch can incant it, and you'd have to be within striking distance of this object."

Xander looked at Buffy and me. "See what you two get for taking French instead of Sumerian?"

"What were we thinking?" I asked sarcastically.

"So, no problem," Xander told us. "All we need is combo Buffy and Zoey's Slayer strength, Giles' muli-lingual know how, and Willow's witchy power." Giles looked at him. "Yeah, don't tell me. I'm just full of helpful suggestions."

"As a matter of fact, you are," Giles told him.

We looked at him in confusion.

    ~~~~    

We walked into the  Lowell House.

"Nervous?" Willow asked.

"No way," Xander told us. "I'm full of that good old kamikaze spirit."

"Xander, just because this is never gonna work, there's no need to be negative," Giles told him.

"The adjoining spell, is it powerful enough to defeat Adam?" Willow asked.

"It's very powerful," Giles answered. "It's also extraordinarily dangerous."

"Game faces, guys," I told them. "We're going in."

I kicked in the mirror leading to the elevator.

    ~~~~    

We climbed down the elevator shaft with harnesses.

"How you doing?" I asked.

"Super," Willow told us nervously. "What was I thinking, using stairs all this time?"

"Okay, Will--" I started.

"No, really, Zoey," Willow told me. "It's not as scary as I thought."

"No, it's not what I was gonna say," I told her. "I just... I'm sorry. I hate that things have been so strained between all of us."

"It's not your fault," Willow told us. "Spike stirred up trouble."

"Yeah, but I think trouble was stir-up-able," Buffy told us. "I think we've all sort of drifted apart this year, don't you?"

"Maybe a little," Willow answered. "But, you know, first year of college, it's hard to keep the old high school gang together."

"But I want it together,"  I told them. "Will, I miss you. And Giles, and Xander."

"And it is my fault," Buffy told us. "I've been wrapped up in my own stuff. I've been a bad friend."

"You're both Slayers, Buffy," Willow told her. "Your stuff is pretty crucial."

"I mean Riley," Buffy told us. "And... Riley, mostly."

"Well, I haven't been Miss Available, either," Willow told us. "I--I kept secrets. I hid things from everyone."

"That's not your fault,"  I told her. "Will, you were going through something huge."

"I wanted to tell you," Willow told us. "But I was so scared."

"You can tell us anything," I told her. "We love you. You're our best friend."

We embraced while still in the air.

"Me, too," Buffy told us. "I love you guys, too."

We started to fall due to the weight.

"Oh, falling now," Willow told us.

We landed on the ground, but continued to hug.

"Let's promise to never not talk again," Buffy told us.

"I promise," Willow told us.

"I promise," I told them. Xander slid down next to us. We embraced him. "Xander."

"Oh, wonderful Xander," Willow told him.

"You know we love you, right?" Buffy asked.

"We totally do," I told him.

"Oh, God," Xander told us. "We're gonna die, aren't we?"

"No, we just missed you," I answered.

Xander looked up. "Giles, hurry up!" Giles was on his way down, looking down at us. "You definitely wanna get down here for this!"

    ~~~~    

Giles inched the door open with a crowbar.

"Okay, we stick together, then everything should be fine," Buffy told us. "Everybody ready?" Giles got the door open. "Let's..." The door opened to reveal five commando guys with blasters aimed at us. "Do this."

    ~~~~    

The commandos brought us to the colonel's office.

Colonel was going through our things.

"Colonel--" I started.

"Shut up," the colonel told us. "You've got some nerve, people." He unzipped the bag. "You think you can just keep waltzing into a government installation brandishing weapons like--" He held up a device. "Like..."

"It's a gourd," Willow answered.

"Magic gourd," Giles clarified.

"What kind of freaks are you people?" the colonel asked, putting the gourd down.

"Adam is here, Colonel," I told him. "In the Initiative."

"Nice try," the colonel told us.

"Those overcrowded containment cells of yours?" Buffy asked. "Courtesy of Adam. He's pulling a Trojan horse on you. He's just waiting--"

"Everything in this installation is under 24-hour surveillance," the colonel told us.

"Including the secret lab?" Willow asked.

"Including everything," the colonel told us. He hesitated. "What secret lab?"

"The one Adam's been using," Willow answered. "The one built for the final stage of the 314 project." The colonel looked at us blankly. "And you have no idea what I'm talking about."

"I know everything that goes on around here," the colonel told us. "A tick on a mouse couldn't get in without my knowing it. And if Adam wants to try, we're ready for him."

"Jolly good," Giles told him. "How--how exactly do you plan to get close enough to Adam to remove his power source?"

"Hit him simultaneously with multiple taser blasters," the colonel answered. "Incapacitate him with as much voltage as we can muster."

"Great plan," Xander told them sarcastically. "That's right up there with 'duck and cover'."

"I've seen Adam hit with taser blasts," I told them. "He feeds on it. And now you're gonna provide him with an all-you-can-eat buffet?"

"You telling me my business?" the colonel asked.

"This... is not your business," Buffy told him. "It's ours. You, the Initiative, the boys at the pentagon, you're all in way over your heads. Messing with primeval forces you have absolutely no comprehension of."

"And you do?" the colonel asked.

"Me and Zoey are Slayers," Buffy told him. "Giles is our Watcher. Willow is a witch. Xander is far more capable fighter than you lot are. You're playing on our turf."

"Up there, maybe," the colonel told us. "But down here, I'm the one who's in control."

The lights went off.

"Sir, the power grid's down," a commando told him. "Backup's not responding. We're locked in."

    ~~~~    

We heard the alarm in the hallways.

"Containment area's been breached," the commando told us. "Hostiles are loose."

"How many?" the colonel asked.

'All of them, sir," the commando answered.

"It's Adam," I told them. The colonel looked at us. "Look, we are the only ones who can stop him now. Just let us handle this. Get your people out of here."

The colonel ignored me, looking at the commandos. "All right, you men follow me. We gotta take the armory now."

"Colonel," I told him.

"These people are under arrest," the colonel told them. "Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir," commando 2 answered.

Most of the commandos and the colonel walked out, leaving.

Commando 1 stood.

I kicked him in the chest, making him fall to the floor.

Commando 2 tried to grab Buffy. 

Buffy grabbed his head, slamming it against the desk, letting him fall, looking at us. "We've gotta find Adam."

"On it," Willow told us, walking toward the computer, sitting down.

"The enjoining spell is extremely touchy," Giles told us. "It's volatile. We can't risk it being interrupted. We need a place that's close to you and quiet."

We watched the footage where the ongoing war between the demons, the scientists and the commandos raged on.

"Uh, quiet?" Xander asked.

We knew that would be almost impossible.

    ~~~~    

Willow typed away.

"How we doing, Will?" I asked.

"Done," Willow answered. "Hold on. According to this, there's air ducts and electrical conduits all running into there."

"So?" I asked.

"So, there's no there there," Willow answered. "Look."

The lights on the screen blinked.

"It's Adam," Buffy told us. 

"Are you sure?" Giles asked.

"Right behind 314," Buffy told us. She looked at Willow. "Can you unlock it?"

"I don't have to," Willow told us. "All the locks in the Initiative have been disengaged, except for the exits."

"Demon open house," Xander told us.

"Great," I told them sarcastically. "So, we know we're going to 314. Now all we have to do is get there."

    ~~~~    

We ran out into the main room where the war was still raging.

A vampire ran toward us. I punched him in the face, making him fall. 

Buffy kicked a demon out of our way.

A demon ran toward us. I spun to kick him with a roundhouse kick, making him fall into the pit below. A vampire ran closer. I kicked him in the stomach, back toward a Humvee, making him fall.

A demon ran closer.

Xander shot him with a blaster, making him fall.

We ran on, past the chaotic, apocalyptic battle, with explosions and dying of demons, monsters, vampires, scientists and commandos alike.

A commando shot toward us.

I tackled Willow out of the way to save her. "Willow, down!" Xander, Giles and Buffy ducked. "Come on."

We stood, running into 314, into the backroom.

"Okay, it should be over here," Buffy told us. Buffy and I walked toward the corner of the room, pulling aside a shelf, feeling along the wall, pulling open the double doors, turning back to the others. "Once we're in, barricade the door behind us." Buffy looked at Giles. "Is this place okay to be magic central?"

"It should do," Giles answered.

"As long as we don't get blowed up or nothing," Willow told us.

"What are the odds of that?" Xander asked sarcastically.

"How long before the ritual kicks in?" I asked.

"Five minutes, give or take," Giles answered.

"We'll move fast, then," I told them.

Buffy and I turned to walk inside.

"Guys, I still don't like you going in alone," Xander told us.

I smiled a small smile, shaking my head. "We won't be."

Buffy and I walked inside.

Willow closed the double doors behind us.

We walked into the hidden lab, seeing Riley strapped to a chair.

"Riley," Buffy told him, jumping down the opening instantly, running to his side. I climbed down the ladder. "Are you hurt?" Riley didn't answer. "Say something."

I looked behind Buffy, walking toward her nervously. "Buffy." Buffy turned to follow my gaze. Dr. Angleman and Maggie Walsh stood there, their dead bodies animated like zombies. "What is this?"

Buffy looked at Riley. "Why won't you talk?"

Adam walked in. "He can't." The circular door closed behind him. "He's not programmed to. He's part of the final phase now, as you were supposed to be."

"Sorry, we don't jump through hoops on command," I told him. "We've never really been the ones to toe the line."

"Oh," Adam told us, backhand punching Buffy, making her fall to the floor. "Kill them."

Forrest grabbed me in a chokehold from behind, reanimated as a demonoid like Adam, only with yellow demon skin instead of green. "I thought you'd never ask."

Buffy stood, facing me and Forrest.

Adam restrained Buffy from behind.

Walsh walked closer with a saw.

    ~~~~    

Walsh got close enough to cut me. I kicked her back into Angleman, making them fall, struggling out of Forrest's hold, pushing him against Buffy and Adam, making them fall to the floor and making Adam let go of Buffy. Buffy stood instantly, backing away into the table behind her, making a vase fall over next to Riley, the glass shattering.

I sighed. "You're not as strong as Adam, Forrest. Too bad. Maybe it'll be easier to kill you."

    ~~~~    

Forrest stood. I punched Forrest, trying again. Forrest caught my wrist, turning my back to him, grabbing the back of my neck, pushing me forward against a table, making me fall to the floor.

Buffy kicked Adam in the stomach, punching him in the face twice. Adam punched Buffy in the stomach. Buffy spun to try to backhand punch him. Adam caught her arm, pushing her forward against an exam table, making her fall to the floor.

"Buffy," Riley told her.

Adam kicked Buffy in the side, making her roll through the air and fall to the floor again.

I spun into a standing position to face Forrest, kicking him in the stomach, punching him in the face repeatedly. Forrest backhand punched me in the face, pushing me face first against a lab table, flipping me down onto it, trying to punch me in the face. I caught his wrist, kicking him in the head. Forrest pulled me off the table, letting me fall to the floor. He lifted me up above his head. I grabbed a wire from the ceiling, pulling it free, making sparks fly, using it to shock Forrest and making him drop me to the floor, rolling away. I stood, grabbing Forrest from behind. Forrest elbowed me in the face, grabbing my arms, flipping me over his shoulder to the floor. I tried to stand. Forrest kicked me in the stomach to keep me down.

    ~~~~    

Buffy stood to face Adam. "Fun, isn't it?"

"I do appreciate violence," Adam told us.

"Good," Buffy told him, running toward Adam.

Adam punched Buffy, making her fall. Buffy rolled into a standing position, kicking Adam in the chest, punching him repeatedly in the face, trying for another. Adam raised an arm to block the move, grabbing her arm, pushing her into one table, to the other, making her fall and roll across the floor. Adam walked closer, letting his skewer pop out of his arm, trying to stab Buffy. 

Buffy stood, breaking the skewer over her knee, punching Adam in the face, tilting her head smugly. "Broke your arm."

"Got another," Adam told us. His hand sprouted into a mini-gun. "I've been upgrading."

Adam fired across the room toward Buffy and me.

Buffy ducked behind a lab table, using it as a shield.

I rolled across the floor to avoid being hit, behind a wall for cover.

Adam stopped firing.

Forrest smiled.

    ~~~~    

We felt it begin.

Buffy and I stood from our hiding place, stepping out into view, toward each other. We embraced. A moment later, we morphed into a creature just as big and strong as Adam and Forrest, surprising them. Our eyes started to glow yellow.

"What the hell?" Forrest asked.

The spell that had us merged also had us merged with Xander, Willow and Giles. Our voices were merged when we spoke. "Hell has nothing to do with it."

We spoke in Sumerian.

"Interesting," Adam told us, trying to fire at us with his gun. The bullets didn't affect us in the least. We continued to to speak in Sumerian. "Very... interesting."

Adam fired a larger bullet toward us.

We held a hand toward it, using magic to turn it into doves that flew away. We made a circular motion with our hand to make the gun on Adam's arm transform back into a hand.

Forrest stepped closer, trying to punch us. We caught his arm, gripping his throat, lifting him off the floor, tearing his arm off. We punched into his chest, pulling out his power source, letting them both fall to the floor.

Adam stepped closer, trying to punch us. We circled back to make him miss. Adam tried to punch us. We ducked, punching him twice, pushing him back, kicking him in the chest, making him fall into a lab table, making him fall. Adam stood, trying to punch us. We caught his wrist, gripping his throat. 

"How... can you--" Adam started.

"You could never hope to grasp the source of our power," we told him, lifting him off the floor, flipping him onto a lap table, making him fall to the floor. Adam started to stand. We grabbed him by his shoulders, turning around, pushing him away, kicking him in the chest, repeatedly, as if walking on air, until he backed away into the wall. We punched into his chest, gripping his power source, ripping it out. "But yours is right here."

We still held Adam's power source in one hand, picking up Forrest's power source with the other, using magic to levitate them in front of us. Mentally chanting in Sumerian, we used magic to destroy the power sources with a burst of light.

The spell ended.

Willow, Giles and Xander's consciousness went back to their own bodies.

Buffy and I transformed back into ourselves, falling out of the one body to the floor, looking at each other, breathing heavily, in disbelief, feeling the rush of everything.

    ~~~~    

We had gotten back to Riley.

Buffy had taken out the behavior modification chip that Riley had had in his chest.

We walked out of the secret lab into the back room of Lab 314 with Giles, Willow, Xander and Spike.

"Buffy," Giles told her. "Zoey."

Willow embraced Buffy and me. "Wasn't it amazing?"

We pulled away.

"You were great," Xander told us.

"We were great," I told them.

"We still got men out there," Riley told us.

"Then let's go save them, by gum," Spike told us.

Buffy looked at Giles, Willow and Xander. "You guys get to the exits, get them open." She looked at Riley. "You, organize the soldiers, pull them back." She looked at me. "You and I'll take point."

We walked toward the door.

"Are you guys up to this?" Willow asked.

"We are," I answered.

A demon ran inside.

I punched him in the face, making him fall to the floor.

    ~~~~    

Buffy and I were out in the main room, fighting what remained of the demons.

I kicked a demon in the chest, punching him in the head, pushing him into a Humvee, making him fall.

A vampire ran toward Buffy. Buffy punched him in the face, making him fall. She kicked from one demon to another, making them fall, landing in a crouch on the floor.

I punched a vampire in the face, looking across the Initiative to see Graham standing and fighting other demons and monsters, breathing heavily. 

Riley and Graham led the commandos out of the Initiative, leaving.

We fought our way, winning, and yet losing this fight, because we had killed the demonoids, and a lot of monsters, demons and vampires, but we had also lost a lot of lives that day, too.

* So, for those of you who didn't get what happened with Buffy and Zoey... :) It was kind of like The Twins from Teen Wolf, when they used to form the one body to fight against their enemies when they were Alphas. It kind of fit in with the whole melding of souls and talents and knowledge that the original story line was going for. I hope you guys liked it :) *