The Message Board Fanfic Project

[Wind Fish]

Okay, here we go. In this thread we're going to write a TNP fanfic. The post below will contain the opening to the story and anyone is free to continue it however they want. That means you can write a sentence, a paragraph, a page, whatever. It's up to you.

I think I'm going to set up one guideline though. To me, it would be best to try and keep the material close to PG-13. I don't really want to limit anyone, myself included, but venturing into MA-17 territory might keep someone from being able to contribute.

I'll also note one other thing. To anyone following along, you should probably assume that this story will spoil all of Season 1. My opening doesn't really give any information on when the story takes place, but anything that has happened in the series to this point could be given away.

All right. Every post after this will (hopefully) contain the next part of the story. If you wish to make a comment about anything regarding this project, please click this link and head over to the Comments Thread. Thanks, and I hope we have some fun.

[Wind Fish]

The sewer lid slid away from the hole it was covering. In its place popped out a male vampire’s head, scanning the nearby area. Upon finding that the coast was clear, he climbed out and walked toward the sidewalk.

"Cops sure are slow and stupid," the vampire chuckled to himself. Catching a glimpse of the night sky, his mood soured a bit. "Damn. I'm running out of time."

As the vampire passed an alley, he felt something grab him and was suddenly tossed into it.

Quickly maneuvering back into an upright position, the vampire looked at the figure standing at the edge of the alley. "What'd you go and do that for?"

The figure shrugged. "It's kind of what I do."

"Well, you're gonna wish..." the vampire silenced as he came to a realization. "Oh! Oh! You're that Destructor guy, right?"

Connor stepped forward and flashed the vampire an annoyed look. "It's the Destroyer. Yeah, I'm him."

The vampire smiled wide. "This is great!"

Connor furrowed his brow. "That's not the reaction I usually get."

"I was hoping to run into you. My boss said I would if I caused enough trouble."

"Your boss?"

"Yeah. Yeah." The vampire took a step toward Connor. "He wanted me to give you this."

As the vampire put a hand in his pants pocket, Connor made a move for his concealed axe.

The vampire quickly raised his hands in the air in surrender. "Woah! Woah! I got no beef with you! I just want to give you something!"

Connor contemplated that and let out a sharp sigh. "Fine. But you better not try anything."

"I won't. I promise." The vampire dug into his pocket and came out holding out a small piece of paper. He held it out to Connor.

Connor grabbed it and glanced at it quickly. "A business card?"

"Yeah. My boss, he wants you to meet him at that address," the vampire pointed to the address on the card, "at midnight tomorrow."

"Who's your boss?" Connor asked, not seeing a name on the card.

"I ain't supposed to tell you that. And don't ask me what he wants, he didn't tell me. Just that he wants you to meet him at that address..."

"Tomorrow at midnight,” Connor finished for him. “Anything else you want to tell me?"

After thinking for a moment, the vampire answered, "Nope. That's about it."

Connor looked at the card again. He couldn't recognize the address' location off hand.

"Well, all right then." The vampire took a few backward steps. "Nice talkin' to ya." The vamp turned and started to walk away.

"Yeah," Connor said, concentrating more on the card than the vampire. After a few seconds, he looked up. "Hey, wait!"

The vampire turned back expectantly.

"I have something for you too." In one quick move, Connor grabbed a stake out of his back pocket and threw it into the vampire's chest.

"Son of a..." the vampire muttered just as he turned to dust.

Connor looked at the card one last time before stuffing it in his pocket. He shook his head, wondering if the meeting could actually be something other than a trap.

Seeing that the sky was starting to lighten, Connor started his trek home.

[Buffy8Fan]

"You what!?" Andrew yelled, scowling.

"Calm down Andrew," Salome replied, "It's not like he's hurt and he dusted the vampire." She looked back at Connor and glared while asking, "Right Ace?"

Connor rolled his eyes. "Yes, I killed the vampire."

"That's not the point," Andrew continued still scowling.

"Then what is the point Mr. Wells?" Oni asked in confusion to Andrew's mood. Unlike everyone else who was standing and fussing over Connor, she sat at the table reading. It was the only thing that could get her mind off of Wesley leaving.

"The point is Connor is alowing himself to be duped into a trap! That's the problem!"

Jamie who had been silent until now turned to Andrew and said, "That's not what Connor's doing." A little unsure, he turned back to his friend, "Right."

Connor wouldn't meet anyone's eyes, but instead kept his eyes on the floor.

[Wind Fish]

Salome entered the bedroom, where she saw Connor laying out a T-shirt and jeans. "Getting ready for your big business meeting tonight, Ace?"

Connor looked back at her, confused. "My what?"

"You know. The appointment you set up through a vampire last night."

"Oh." Connor's shoulders slumped. "I... I haven't decided to go yet."

Salome rolled her eyes. "Yes you have."

Connor sighed and sat on his bed. "You know that if there are demons out there that need to be killed, I have to go do it. Even if they've set up a clever plan to kill me."

Salome grinned a little at Connor's emphasis of the word 'clever'. Sitting down next to him, she replied, "Andrew is still freaking out. He thinks that it could be a bomb."

"We can't rule that out, can we?" Connor shook his head. "I really need to work on my interrogation skills. That vamp could've known more than he was letting on."

Salome frowned. "So all you know is that you're supposed to meet this vampire's boss at midnight?"

Connor nodded, then added, "I don't even know who, or what, this boss of his is."

"Did he say anything about you having to go alone?"

"No, actually. Does that mean anything?"

Salome stood up. "I don't know, but I'm not waiting to find out."

Connor looked up at her quizzically. "You want to go there now?"

"You know I'm always ready for a fight, but I don't think we're at that point yet. We do have to get as much information as we can though."

"So," Connor looked at the door, "ready to tell the others that I duped us into a trap?"

Salome smiled. "They already figured it out. You have a terrible poker face."

[Buffy8Fan]

Connor walked down the streets of San Palo alone. He was starting to feel guilty about what he'd done. It was one thing when it was Cyvus Vail making threats, but it was a whole other thing when he told his friends to wait for sunup so they had the better advantage and then head out on his own. Especially when he didn't even know if they'd buy it considering the note said midnight.

"Stupid, he muttered to himself. "Just stupid."

"Damn right you are Ace!"

Connor whirled around at the sound of his girlfriend's voice and came face-to-face with not only her but the entire gang. It was odd to see Oni not reading a book lately. He almost had to do a double take. It was also was hot to see Salome in her black and purple leather cat suit with her beautiful purple hair pulled back into a ponytail and her skin purple with the dark veins against her flesh and her black eyes which were so dark it was hard at times to tell exactly which way she was looking in. Man was he in love her!

"What are you guys doing here?" Connor asked hoping to quell the anger, even for a moment.

"You have some nerve asking that!" Jamie yelled. Andrew who had been the one angry before put a hand on his shoulder trying to calm him down. It didn't work. "We were gonna wait for daylight. To give us the advantage over whatever this...thing is. And then you just bail?"

"My friend don't seem to know me as well as I thought. Sad considering all the time we've spent together," Connor replied trying to keep the poker face that Salome said he wasn't good at.

"Salome is right. You aren't good at your poking face."

Everyone stopped, and for a moment forgot about the conversation around them, before realizing what she meant.

Choosing to ignore the last comment Andrew finally replied, "We may have pulled a Neo in "Matrix Revolutions," but Salome was the one who was able to pull off the final act and see what you were up to.

Connor sighed. Just when he thought he had heard and understood all of Andrew's geek references, he comes out with another one.

"The only problem is you aren't at the final act. You're still at the beginning. And no matter what chapter of this story your on, we do things together. You should know that by now."

Everyone looked at each other and nodded before heading down the street as a group.

[Wind Fish]

Located inside a dark second floor apartment, a man dressed head to toe in black carefully watched the street below from behind the living room window. Spotting something of interest, he spoke into a small headset. "This is Alpha Three. I have a visual of the subjects."

"Subjects," came the reply of an older, male voice through the speaker. "Plural."

"That is correct, sir. All five of them."

"I knew it. The board doubted me, but I knew something stupidly simple would get the job done."

"Are the orders still the same?" Alpha Three asked, trying to get his superior back on track.

"Yes. We need to keep the Destroyer and his friends distracted. Once they arrive at their destination, send in the vampire horde."

"Yes, sir. I will inform the others."

"Remember, ensure that the living survive. We don't want to hurt the Destroyer unless he forces us to."

[Buffy8Fan]

"Yes sir. Yes. I understand. Are you sure? All right. No. We can handle it. Yes." The leader of the vampire hoard hung up up his cell phone before turning to his gang of about fifty vampires.

Before he could get a word out his second-in-command went off on him, "I can't believe we're doing this, going up against The Destroyer and his group of freaks is suicide and I can't believe you have a cell phone, I mean come on, vampires aren't soppose to know how to use those and I can't believe we're living and meeting The Desroyer here-" number two replied indicating the surroundings of the mansion's living room. "Angel and Spike may have a soul but at least he still followed the ways of the elder vampires."

"My sire Mr. Trick and The Board know that the modern vampire are the ones that survive knowadays," The lead vampire replied with an icy tone.

Another vampire stepped up, raised his hand and said "But isn't Angelus still alive and isn't Mr. Trick dead?"

This enraged the head vampire. Within seconds all fifty vampires were in a fight. Some on The Leader's side and others on his Second-in-Command's side. Dust flew everywhere as the vampires numbers started depleating.

* * * * * * * *

"This can't be the right spot," Connor said.

"It is. The numberic values on the house match that of the paper," Oni replied.

"Why didn't we recognize it?" Jamie asked.

"We were all too worried about a trap," Salome replied.

After a few moments of staring up at the mansion in shock Andrew said, "Well I guess we'd better go in and see what that vampire wanted." At his friend's shocked faces he shrugged his soulders and said, "Were here already."

"Mr. Wells is right," Oni replied and marched towards the front door.

Upon entering and looking around at the carnage of vampire remains Connor said in a shocked voice to the remaning vampires who could barely stand, "We were expecting you guys to set a trap for us."

[Wind Fish]

The lead vampire, who appeared to have a separated right shoulder, glanced around at the piles of dust around him. "Goddamn shortsighted traditionalists. No vision what-so-ever."

Connor stepped forward. "All right, I'm angry and confused. That means you're going to tell me everything I want to know. Otherwise," he showed off his axe, "I start hacking."

"Well, you're in luck," the lead vampire's game face transformed back to normal as he flashed a smug grin. "You'll find that I'm willing to trade information for the ability to fight another day."

"No, man!" another vampire protested. "You said The Board would--"

"Quiet!" the leader hissed at the underling who spoke out of turn.

"The Board?" Andrew queried.

"Maybe someone wants to start telling me who that is and why we've been lured here." Connor addressed that to all the remaining vampires.

The leader raised his left hand in an attempt to prevent the others from speaking. But before he had the chance to do so himself, the front doors flew open to reveal five people dressed in black holding what looked to be assault rifles.

Connor and Salome both had the same idea. Lightning quick, Salome grabbed Oni while Connor dropped his axe and grabbed Andrew with one arm and Jamie with the other. The superpowered among the group dove through a doorway into another room, with the others in tow.

The people in black were only interested in the vampires, however. They fired into each of them until only dust was left. Then, as quickly as they had entered, the gunners exited.

Knowing that they were safe, Connor and Salome both swiftly entered the main room and the others followed.

Connor, after picking up his axe, stared incredulity at the still open doors. "What just happened?"

Jamie had been drawn to the bullets imbedded in the back wall. "The bullets. They're wooden."

"So were they on our side?" Salome asked.

Andrew shook his head. "This seems to be a classic case of silencing the snitch before he can talk."

"Wouldn't it have made more sense to try and take us out?" Jamie wondered.

Connor became even more frustrated at all the unanswered questions. "I've had enough of this." He made a move toward the front door.

"Wait!" Andrew called, but Connor didn't listen and ran off. "Okay, fine. Salome, you should go after him. He might need your help."

Salome looked unsure. "What about you guys?"

"We won't be able to keep up. Besides, someone needs to investigate this place. If we all leave, those people might come back and clean out any evidence... assuming I'm right."

Salome nodded. "Makes sense. All right. We'll be back." With that, she made her exit.

As he watched her go, Andrew swallowed whispered to himself, "I hope I'm right." Then more confidently, he addressed the others. "We need to search this place top to bottom. There has to be something here that can give us a lead."

"Would this be of use, Mr. Wells?" Oni asked, holding a cell phone she had found on the ground.

[Buffy8Fan]

"Ace!? Where are you going!?" Salome called out. "Ace!? Ace!? Connor!?"

When she called him by his real name he finally slowed down. He wasn't angry at her. He wasn't really angry at all, but he was in a foul mood. He couldn't really explain the difference. All he knew was that he needed information. Lorne's club was going to have a nasty visitor tonight, whether he had a nasty headache afterwords or not.

"Where are you going?" she asked when she caught up with him.

"Caritas."

Salome wanted to yell and scream and tell him he was crazy, but she honestly couldn't think of any other solution to their problems right now. She knew that either Lorne was going to provide information; which was why she was coming along considering Connor didn't sing; or the demons were in serious trouble.

* * * * * * * *

"Is that...?" Jamie asked trailing off as he stared at the object in Oni's hand.

"A cell phone." Andrew answered.

Jamie took it from Oni and began pressing buttons.

After a few moments his jaw opened wide in shock. "What is it Mr. Black?" Oni asked moving over to get a better look. Andrew did the same thing.

Their jaws all dropped too. The list of phone numbers on this cell consisted of Palo Alto's Mayor, the Governor, and the President of the United States.

"Holy Shit," Oni whispered.

[Wind Fish]

"We're involved in a government conspiracy..." Andrew murmured. Suddenly, his face lit up. "This is so cool!"

"This has to be some sort of joke," Jamie insisted. "Or a mislead. There's no way these vampires had a direct line to the President." He then looked at Andrew oddly. "And what do you mean 'cool'?"

"I think he used a slang definition of the word to imply that he is happy about the government conspiracy," Oni replied helpfully.

"Do you realize how important we've become if the President himself has an interest in us?" Andrew chirped.

"We only know that he has an interest in Connor," Oni corrected.

"The President doesn't have..." Jamie closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "There is no government conspiracy... involving any of us anyway."

"If you're so sure, call one of the numbers and find out."

"Oh, and say what? 'Hello, Mr. President. I got your number from vampires that tried to set up my friend Connor. Thankfully, they were killed by men in black who had rifles that shot wooden bullets. We think they were trying to keep a secret safe. Do you know what the secret is?'"

"I think two of those 'men' had breasts," Andrew said, blushing slightly. "And I thought you were sure that wasn't the President's phone number."

Jamie glared at Andrew. "We have to tell Connor and Salome," he finally stated in an attempt to avoid further argument, especially considering that he wasn't sure he believed himself. Even though the whole situation seemed absurd, he had to admit that he had seen stranger things. There was also the fact that the number labeled 'President of the United States' did have a D.C. area code.

Oni frowned. "We don't know where they are."

Jamie sighed. "And neither of them has a cell phone on them."

"I know who to call." Andrew took the phone from Jamie, but accidently pressed the '3' key, which was the speed dial for the number labeled 'Mayor Thomas Norquist'. The phone dialed the number.

"Andrew!" Jamie yelled.

The sound of a busy signal came through the phone's speaker. As Jamie and Oni stared at him, Andrew carefully ended the call. "Maybe we should go find a pay phone. This one could be bugged, after all."


* * * * * * * *


"Do you have an update for me?" a man spoke into his phone from behind a desk. The desk had a name plate on it that said 'Governor Jerry Konkel'.

"Yes, Governor. The--"

"Please, Tom, lose the formalities. We're not in Sacramento discussing the budget for your little college town."

"Fine, Jerry," the Mayor of Palo Alto agreed with a little bitterness in his voice. "I do have some bad news."

"How bad?"

"The vampires proved to be useless. They had a fight among themselves that severely thinned their numbers before the Destroyer even arrived. Once he did, they were going to trade information for their lives."

"But you said that you didn't tell them our true motivation."

"I didn't, Gov... Jerry. But they knew enough. Beta Squad was forced to eliminate them."

"That doesn't sound so bad. We'll just abandon your plan and give the Destroyer something else to do instead."

The Mayor shook his head to himself. "The problem is that the vampires had a cell phone that had all of our direct lines on it, not just mine. Beta Squad didn't recover it because they felt it wasn't worth the risk of being captured. The Watcher and the two normals are in possession of the phone now."

The Governor considered the situation. "This isn't something to worry about. They'll assume the vampires are connected to us, but they won't know why. Let them run around trying to figure it out. They don't have the time. Where are the Destroyer and the..." he paused as he looked at his notes, "...the Nyazian girl?"

"Alpha Squad said that they were headed in the direction of their seer friend."

"Their next course of action, once they have knowledge of us, if they don't already, will be to locate you. And they will, so make sure you have your story set before they do."

The Mayor swallowed nervously at the prospect of being face to face with an angry Connor. "Whether he accepts my story or not, he and the rest of them know too much. Shouldn't we get permission from the President to eliminate them?"

The Governor laughed. "Considering that they handle a lot of your problems, I don't think that would be in your best interests. Besides, the President's orders are clear: We only wish to prevent the Destroyer from stopping us. Even if he fully discovers what we're doing to the Hellmouth and why, he and his friends are to live. He'll be needed to take care of the fallout, and he'll need to be emotionally stable in order to do it."


* * * * * * * *


"Everybody out!" Connor yelled as he stormed Caritas, which was empty.

Salome rolled her eyes as she followed behind. "Real smooth, Ace."

"Sorry," Connor was shaking with nervous energy. "I think if I don't hurt something soon, I'm going to lose it."

Salome looked back toward the door. "You don't think it was a mistake leaving the others at the mansion, do you?"

"Don't worry, Sugarplum," Lorne said as he came out from the back room. "They're fine. I just got off the phone with Andrew."

"He called you?" Connor asked as he took a seat at the bar. Salome sat next to him.

"Sure did." Lorne started to mix himself a Seabreeze. "Since your friends had no way of contacting you, they wanted to give me the lowdown in case you showed up. And thanks to your display of bravado, I was able to tell them you're already here. They're coming here via taxi."

"Lowdown? They found something?"

Lorne finished his mixing and disposed one of the bottles. "Why is it that no one ever wants to make small talk with me before hitting me up for information?"

"I'm sorry, Lorne." Salome apologized as she put a hand on Connor's back. "He's in one of his moods tonight," Salome smirked as Connor frowned at her.

"I suppose he's got reason," Lorne took a sip of his drink. "Okay, I'll get to business. But first I have to ask you a question, Connor. Did you pay your taxes this year?"

Connor shook his head. "I don't have any income." He furrowed his brow. "Wait, what?"

"Those vampires you met with tonight? Seems as though they have ties to some very important people. Do Tom Norquist, Jerry Konkel, and Fredrick Prescott mean anything to you?" Lorne asked, naming off the Mayor, Governor, and President respectively.

Connor and Salome both blinked blankly at Lorne. Then Connor took the Seabreeze from him.

"Hey!" Lorne yelled.

After finishing the rest of the drink all at once, Connor slammed the glass down and failed to hold in a burp. "There. Now I feel better."

"Incase you didn't notice, mister, that was the last of the Cranberry juice!" Lorne huffed.

"I can honestly say I didn't expect that," Salome said dully, staring at the ice filled glass.

Connor shrugged. "It's not like I haven't had a drink before."

"You don't usually snatch someone else's out of their hand either." Then she looked at Lorne. "But I was mostly referring to what you said before that."

Connor turned back to him. "Yeah, are you sure about this?"

"The gang is bringing back a cell phone that supposedly lists their phone numbers. That's all the information they have."

"Do you have any clue as to what could be going on?" Connor asked somewhat desperately. "Maybe you've heard something, or read someone?"

"Sorry, kiddo. You know this place is dead most of the time now days. And I can't say that I normally get involved in government matters."

There was a moment of uncomfortable silence among the group.

"I need you to read me," Connor practically begged. "Maybe you'll get a hint of what I'm supposed to do, what they want from me, anything."

"You're volunteering to sing," Salome said in disbelief. "And I thought this night couldn't get any more odd."

"The only other option we have right now is to make a visit to the Mayor, but there's no guarantee on when we'll find him or if he'll talk," Connor explained. "Like I told you on the way here, I tried to track the gunners, but I couldn't even get a whiff of them. We need information now, and this is our best chance."

Lorne nodded. "And I'm kind of curious to see if I can find something myself. From what I can tell, things don't add up. All right, pick a tune."

Connor took a moment to pick a song and then to let it rip.

[Buffy8Fan]

Just before Connor finished singing, Jamie, Andrew and Oni arrived and were watching Connor along with Salome and Lorne.

Lorne had a huge grin on his face. It was obvious he was trying had not to laugh. Unlike his father, Connor had a decent singing voice, but Lorne was smiling for another reason. Salome noticed and didn't understand his amusement.

When Connor finished Jamie said, "Of all the songs you pick THAT one. You pick MANDY!" He shouted the last word in outrage.

It finally clicks in Andrew's head just as Lorne starts laughing hysterically and he holds his hand up to his mouth and snickers.

"Like father like son," Lorn said when he finally calmed down, "Anel-cakes loves that song.

Connor rolls his eyes. "So...Lorne. Can you tell me anything?"

"Nothing you didn't already know. Or at least probably didn't know. This Board, whoever they are, are made up of; Palo Alto's Mayor Tom Norquist, California Governor Jerry Konkel, and President of the United States Fredrick Prescott. What they do or what they want I can't tell you."

"So what do we do now?" Oni asked.

"The cell phone seems a good place to start," Salome stated.

Andrew pressed 3 and heard the phone dialing. "Andrew!" the room shouted at him. "What're you doing?" Connor finished.

"If The Board is as high up as the government, then they're watching us even without the phone. Haven't you guys been watching Prison Break. So I'm making an appointment with the mayor. He'll be the easiest one to talk to.

This time someone at the other end answered. It was a man's voice. Andrew had only heard it a few times, but instantly recognized it. It was Tom Norquist. The mayor.

[Wind Fish]

"I had been expecting to receive a call," the Mayor said.

"I'm sure you have, since you're following our every move," Andrew replied in a sly matter.

"I did, however, expect the call to come from the Destroyer and not his Watcher."

"Just the same, I think you should tell me what you want with Connor," Andrew said in his most intimidating tone.

The Mayor chuckled. "Right to the point. I like that. And I agree that I should shed some light on the last two nights, but don't you think it'd be best if I talked to him? There's no point in going through a third party."

"You're actually willing to talk?" Andrew serious tone softened slightly.

"I guess you'll have to give your pupil the phone to find out."

Andrew frowned as he handed held the phone out to Connor, having wanted to work over the Mayor a little more. "He wants to talk to you."

Connor stared at the phone for a moment before taking it. "What the hell is going on?" he growled.

"That is a complicated question. One that I feel would be much better answered in person."

"You can answer it right now."

"No actually, I can't," The Mayor corrected. "There's something you need to see at Bayfront Park. It would be in your best interests to meet me there in half an hour."

"How do I know that this isn't another set up?"

"Aside from me giving you my word? You don't. But I also know that you're dying for answers. Feel free to bring your companions along with you. You've proven that as a group you can handle any challenge. I don't think you have any reason to be afraid of me. Bayfront Park. Thirty minutes." The Mayor's demand was followed by a click that signaled the end of the call.

Connor hung up the phone and stared at it contemplatively.

"What's up?" Jamie asked.

There was no response.

"Ace?" Salome put a hand on Connor's shoulder.

Connor finally looked up. "Bayfront Park. That's only a couple blocks away from the mansion, right?"

Salome nodded. "Just a little farther north. We killed the Verin demon there a couple weeks ago."

"He asked you to meet him there?" Jamie wondered.

"Yeah. But he seemed to want all of us to go.”

"You think it's another trap." Andrew stated.

Connor shook his head. "Not exactly. This is the second time I've-- we’ve been wanted at the north edge of town tonight."

"You believe that we are being kept away from something," Oni said, following Connor's train of thought.

"I can't say that I know that, but it seems like it."

"So what do we do?" Jamie asked.

"Andrew and I are going to go to the park. We'll try to get whatever information we can."

"What about the rest of us?" Salome inquired.

"While he was talking to Andrew, I could hear that the Mayor didn't deny that we were being watched. So you, Jamie, and Oni need to get out of here undetected and head south."

"How are they going to do that?" Lorne decided to get in on the conversation.

"This is when we're thankful that your bar has sewer access," Connor smiled.

"What makes you think they won't find us down there?" Jamie asked.

Connor shrugged. "When's the last time any of us used the sewer? That's my dad's thing. If it even buys you guys a couple minutes, it's better than nothing."

"Wait." It was Salome's turn to ask another question. "How do we contact you if we find anything?"

"Aha!" Lorne shouted triumphantly. "Now I can be of some use." He kneeled behind the bar and pulled out a box, which he placed on the bar top. "I knew keeping this Lost and Found box would come in handy eventually."

As he dug through the box's contents, Lorne pulled out an old beeper, a pocket calculator, and a Rappin' Mike Ninja Turtles action figure.

"There we go." Lorne had a cell phone in each hand. "Last time I checked, they both still worked." He placed the phones on the bar top.

Jamie grabbed the vampire's cell phone from Connor and took it to the bar. When he turned on the other two phones, they each displayed their number. "I'm going to program all of the important numbers into both phones so we don't have to use the one we got at the mansion."

After a moment, Connor looked toward Lorne. "You didn't see anything else when you read me?"

Lorne shook his head. "Nothing at all. The reading was unusually tame."

"All right." Jamie had finished programming the phones. He handed one phone to Connor as he pocketed the other one. "We're number four on the speed dial. Call if you find out anything, and we'll do the same."

After saying their farewells, the group split up once again: Andrew and Connor above ground heading north toward Bayfront Park; Jamie, Oni, and Salome into the sewers heading south.

[Buffy8Fan]

"So?" Governor Konkel asked.

"He'll take the bait," Mayor Norquist replied.

"How do you know?"

"The Destroyer always takes the bait."

"And..." the governor trailed off nervously, hoping the answer would be what The Board had planned.

"And this time it'll end with his friends deaths and The Destroyer will be right where we need him."

"Not dead," the governor reminded the mayor.

"The mayor nodded and whispered, "Just mentally unstable."

"A protege for the side of evil."

* * * * * * * *

Lorne was in his club finishing a beer. He didn't like it but Connor had finished his drink and he didn't feel like mixing another, so he just opened a bottle. He was pondering on a lot of things; life in Los Angeles, life here in Palo Alto, but most of all Connor and his friend's new situation if they were in trouble they were going to need help.

Sighing, he climbed over the bar and started walking toward the door, all the while wondering what he was doing.

The bar doors flew open to reveal five people dressed in black carrying assault rifles. The shot at Lorne, even after he fell to the ground. After they left Lorne lay there, just before he had died, his last thoughts were of Fred.

* * * * * * * *

"Why did we have to use the sewers? Why couldn't it be our fearless leader?" Jamie asked.

"I think this is a wonderful, new experience." Oni replied, "I have always wanted to study the timespan of rats in comparison to humans. Or at least I did before I became an ethnodemonologist.

Salome who had not unwrinkled her nose since entering the sewers frowned at her friend and said, "Babe, you are strange." She made sure to hold the 'a' on the word strange.

"What are we doing down here again?" Jamie asked.

"Leaving town," Salome replied.

"Wait! Connor's letting you leave without him and vice versa."

"He's trusting me to get everyone out safely."

"So why didn't Krevlorneswoth come with us?" Oni asked.

"It was his choice not to apparently. He would never put himself in danger. And he loves that bar," Salome replied.

"Enough to risk his life?" Jamie asked.

"I think he'd be in even bigger danger coming with us," Salome stated. "Besides, he's got all those symbols to keep him hidden."

With those words, Jamie and Oni relaxed on the issue of Lorne, not knowing what had become of him.

* * * * * * * *

"Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader were two totally different people," Connor whispered loudly. Tonight was one of the rare instances he didn't want to draw attention to himself; he just wanted to get this whole messy business over with so he could go home and do things beside sleep with Salome.

"You obviously haven't seen 'Revenge of the Sith' yet, Andrew argued back.

"Well, no, but..."

"Until you do, don't argue with the master."

"We're here," Connor replied rolling his eyes. They walked through Bayfront Park, to the back. Connor stopped in shock at what he saw, Andrew ramming into his back before he too, looked and stared in open-mouthed-shock.

President Fredrick Prescott was surrounded by fifty to one hundred of his secret service agents. From humans to vampires to demons.

Andrew made a squeaking noise. Connor turned to him, without taking his eyes off of the setup, and gave him a look that asked 'What is it?' he replied with, "These are highly-skilled fighters. All of them. The demon standing next to the president is The Judge."

[Wind Fish]

"Who's that?" Connor asked quietly.

"A very powerful demon who is supposed to be in thousands of tiny pieces," Andrew replied, bewildered.

The President stepped forward. "It's nice to finally meet you, Destroyer. Although I had hoped that the rest of your party would be with you."

Connor wanted to think of a witty reply, or a way to escape, but for the moment all he could do was gape at the sheer numbers he seemed to be up against.

"It's a shame really," the President continued. "Them being here would have saved us all some trouble."

"What do you want?" Connor finally asked.

"You, but not as you are now." The President raised his hand to silence his audience. "Please, hold the questions. I'd rather explain later. At the moment, there are other matters that need to be taken care of.”

A group of ten demons, not all of the same species, emerged from the pack and surrounded Connor and Andrew. The two stood back to back and tried to defend themselves. A few of the demons were wounded and Connor managed to behead one, but soon the attacker's numbers grew and they were both overwhelmed.

Connor, being held in place by an eight-armed behemoth, watched helplessly as a human agent strolled to an unconscious Andrew. The agent pulled out a pistol and pointed it at Andrew’s head.

Perhaps because of a sudden rush of adrenalin, Connor managed to break away from his captor’s grip. He made a move to prevent the agent from firing, but he was too late.

Unfortunately for the President, the shot hit nothing but the green grass because Andrew and Connor had both vanished into thin air.

[Buffy8Fan]

"What's going on Mr. President?" Mayor Norquist asked as Governor Konkel paced the office. He didn't like the answer because the snapped the phone shut with an angry growl and chucked it at the wall.

"What did the president say?" Konkel asked.

"He tried killing the Watcher but both him and the Destroyer disappeared into thin air. The Alpha team reported in and the Nyazian and the two humans did the same thing."

"Anything else?" the governor asked.

"Alpha three also reported in," the mayor replied, mumbling.

"And?" The governor asked, nearly growling, as he knew the answer wouldn't be a good one.

"The seer disappeared when he went to clean up the Alpha team's work. The president wants to know what's going on ASAP."

* * * * * * * *

Connor looked around the room. He was in the Slayer's School in Oxford. How did he get here. He was just in the cemetery with Andrew. Right?

He looked around the familiar yet unfamiliar room. His eyes settled on his lover Salome; he smiled, Andrew, Jamie, Oni, and Lorne who was in terrible condition and he wasn't the only one to notice it. In unison or at least to him it seemed to be in unison, the entire Justice League ran over to see if Lorne was all right.

"Connor?" Angel asked in shock, wondering why he was there. "Why are you here? What's wrong?"

"He's dead," Oni stated, indicating Lorne.