Doyle and I relocated to the privacy of Angel's office. Cordelia had protested that, claiming that if Doyle had a Vision it concerned her and Angel too, but Angel managed to convince her to wait with him in the outer office until we were ready to talk to them.

As soon as the door was closed, I asked him, "What did you see?"

Doyle looked mildly surprised. "You don't seem ta be too surprised about me havin' the Visions."

I shrugged. "It's no big surprise after what I've seen in Sunnydale. And I met a seer back in 342 AD."

He smirked. "Right. How's tha' workin' out for ya, anyway? Havin' new and old memories of your dear hometown and the like?"

I shrugged. "Okay, I guess. How much of it did you know was going to take place?"

"Well, the Powers gave me a Vision about what would happen if ya stopped the spell and what would happen if ya didn't. I had ta convince ya to stop the spell, 'cause it looked like ya wouldn't make up yer mind."

"I think you're right about that," I said, remembering how uncertain I'd…Alex…had been back in '96. "Do you know why we didn't merge for five whole months?"

"Yer younger self was supposed ta help at the Ascension, not you. And he was supposed ta meet with Peter for trainin' over the summer. Otherwise, Peter would have noticed tha' somethin' was off."

"Peter's not supposed to know about this, is he?" I asked.

"No. The Powers That Be didn't tell me why. All I know for certain is tha' it's important tha' he stays out of the loop on this one." He changed the subject. "The Powers didn't want ya to merge until now cause now we need both Xanders workin' together. Yer gonna need it ta defeat the guy I saw in my Vision last night."

"What did you see?" I asked, worried.

"Somethin' big's gonna happen," Doyle said, fear in his eyes. "It's gonna happen soon, too. Somethin's really mad at you, Xand. It really wasn't a good idea to piss this guy off."

"Who? When?" I asked, my mind running down the list of enemies or possible enemies that were still alive…or could come back from the dead.

"I don’t know. I didn't get a face, or a name. But yer not the only one's he's after. He's also lookin' fer a few of yer friends. I think their names are Amanda and Peirson."

Just great. It was after Amanda and Methos, too? They have no idea, I thought. Methos was probably unreachable right now as he tried to locate Marc in Egypt. Marc tended to move around in the desert country, so there was no telling where Methos was while he tried to track Marc down. I had no idea where Amanda was. The last time I saw her was in the seventies. I hoped that they were okay.

"How dangerous is this guy, Doyle? Did the Vision tell you?"

"He's powerful. He's usin' some dark magic, I think. You're gonna need all the help you can get, so it's a good thing ya told yer Sunnydale friends about the mergin'."

I looked at him, surprised. "How did you know about that?"

"The Vision I had last night told me," he answered, looking uncomfortable. "Let's get goin', shall we? We'll fill Angel and Cordy in on our way ta Sunnydale."

*****

"So, you were sent back in time two thousand years ago, then you stopped the spell from happening the second time around, faded away, and half a year later you and your younger self have merged, making you better than ever. You've got friends that are thousands of years old, you've got a ton of money, you've been to practically ever fashion center in the world, and your fashion sense hasn't even improved?"

Doyle and Angel stared at her, and I gave her an amused smile before returning my eyes to the road. I hadn't forgotten how abrupt the ex-May Queen could be. "I guess that about sums it up." We were driving down the freeway to Sunnydale in my car. Angel's own convertible was in the shop. Doyle had crashed its hood against a gate recently, which really hadn't been a good idea for the front bumper and headlights. Both were smashed to bits from the impact. They were being repaired at the moment.

"I'm not sure I like the idea of you being older than me," Angel said after a moment. He was huddled beneath a blanket, away from the sun's rays.

I smirked at him through the rearview mirror. Although I couldn't see the reflection of his form in the back seat, I knew he was there. "You'll just have to get used to it, kid-"

I felt the Buzz and looked around. Fields surrounded us and a forest was up ahead; there weren't any hitchhikers in sight. I glanced around at the surrounding cars, wondering which one held an Immortal.

I concentrated on the direction the Buzz was coming from and glanced over my left shoulder at my blind spot. Another car was about to speed past my own in the left-hand lane. Our eyes connected and the Buzz faded somewhat.

"Xander? What's wrong?" Angel asked, sounding like he was ready for anything. He must have been peaking through his blankets and noticed me looking out the window.

"There's an Immortal in the car next to us," I answered.

"He's not going to challenge you in the middle of the freeway, is he?" Cordelia asked, sounding worried.

I looked back at the other driver. His expression wasn't a likeable one. It certainly wasn't friendly in any way.

"I don't think he'll challenge me, but he may do something even worse," I said. I began to speed up, hoping to get as far away from this guy as possible.

The other Immortal sped up too, and his vehicle began to edge closer and closer to the left side of mine. I cursed in a few choice languages. "Everyone, hold onto something," I said in English.

The other car collided with ours. My car spun off of the highway and onto the grassy plane on the right side of the freeway.

Cordelia screamed in surprise. In the back seat, Angel's heavy mass slid across the seat and collided with Doyle, making the half demon curse.

The other Immortal followed us off the road and drove straight into the driver's side of the car again. It pushed us back against a wire fence bordering most of the field. The Immortal backed his car up a few feet, preparing to strike again. I didn't even think when I pressed down on the gas petal and got back on the freeway only a few seconds before the other car would have smashed into mine again. Once on the freeway, I quickly got into the left-hand lane, passed a minivan, and then quickly got between it and an eighteen-wheeler.

The fields ended and the forest began, crowding the freeway on either side. The Immortal's car got back onto the road a few cars behind us. Cars sandwiched the Angel Investigations crew and me in front, back, and to my left, blocking us from the other Immortal's vehicle.

"Xander?" Cordelia asked. "Are we safe now?"

"I don’t think so," I said. "As soon as the cars in the left lane pass us, I’m going to follow them and pass this eighteen-wheeler, okay? Then I want all of you to get out of the car."

"Woah, hold on a minute here," Doyle said. "Where do ya expect us to go?" he asked. "The woods are too thick on either side of the freeway. There's no way we can hide in there, and Angel's got a little sun problem."

We passed a road sign advertising a rest stop that was about to come up. "I'll drop you guys off at the rest stop," I said. "Then I want you guys to get as far away from the road and get Angel as far away from the sun as possible, okay? I'll try to lose our tail, then come back for you."

"And if he flips the car over and kills you?" Angel asked from under his blanket.

"Then I'll revive and we can either hitch a lift with someone or wait for a cab. We're not too far out of LA, so we can probably call and rent one," I said.

The entrance to the rest stop appeared. "Everyone get ready, okay? I'm going to slow down and I expect all of you to get out then."

I pulled into the rest stop and slowed down. Cordelia, Gunn, and a blanket-covered Angel quickly got out. "Be careful, Xander," Cordelia said before she closed the door.

I sped up and quickly got back onto the highway. Thankfully, the other Immortal hadn't followed me into the rest stop parking lot and was still in pursuit.

The forest area flanking either side of the freeway ended. The freeway now ran between two low hills.

I quickly put three cars between us. He tried to get closer by cutting in and out of lanes and I did the same, attempting to keep the same amount of cars between us at all times.

I tried to get between two cars that didn't have that much space between them. It turned out to be a big mistake as the pick-up truck that was now behind me swerved out of the way, trying to avoid crashing into me. I had to swerve out his way as a result, and soon we were both heading onto the grassy hill on the right side of the freeway.

The other Immortal quickly left the freeway in pursuit. I sped up the side of the hill in an attempt to get away. When I reached the top, I kept going. The Immortal followed in his own car.

I attempted a sharp turn to the left and spun down the north side of the hill. At the bottom was a stone wall blocking off a section of private property.

"Shit," I said before executing another left turn. I just barely managed to miss the wall.

The Immortal's car did not. It rammed into the wall. An explosion started on the other side of the wall. I figured that a gas tank was located there, and the other Immortal's car just ran into it. It wasn't long before his car also went up in flames.

My tires squealed a final time as I slammed to a stop some distance away from the burning mass of metal. Parking the car, I got out and got as close to the burning car as I dared and looked for the other Immortal.

The collision had knocked the door on the driver's side off its hinges. The scorched body of my opponent lay halfway out of the car.

I carefully got him out and into my own car. He was already healing and I could tell that he would be waking up within the hour. Hopefully that would give us enough time to get to Sunnydale and to some holy ground. I wanted answers from this guy. He'd really managed to piss me off, and I had a feeling that he was connected to Doyle's Vision.

*****

As soon as we arrived in Sunnydale, I had Angel drop me off at the first chapel we saw and told the LA gang to head to Giles' house. They reluctantly agreed. Angel handed me one of the swords he'd packed for the trip before they took off.

I carried the other Immortal's almost-healed body to the courtyard between the west wall of the chapel building and the fence surrounding the small chapel's cemetery. Then I sat back on a bench, cradled the borrowed sword and my own one-and-a-half handed broadsword, and waited for the Immortal to wake up.

I didn't have to wait long. His Immortal Buzz returned and his body spasmed only five minutes after arriving on the plot of holy ground. He coughed a few times before looking around. "We're on holy ground," I said, my voice coming out deathly calm. Looked like I'd finally figured out how to keep my voice level in tough situations. My expression was as blank as my tone of voice.

I stood up at the same time he did. I didn't point either blade at him. It was holy ground, and we wouldn't need them unless we stepped off of it. "I'm Alexander LaVelle Harris," I told him.

"Alexander LaVelle?" he repeated. His face reflected his surprise. He shook his head in confusion. "I was told that you were Xander Harris. Guess you're both, huh?"

"That's right," I said. "Who are you? Who sent you?" I said, pointing my broadsword at his neck. "If you don't want to answer my questions, we can take this off holy ground right now. Trust me," I said, a grin spreading on my face, "you don't want that."

He was unmoved. "I've faced worse men than you, LaVelle," he said. "But frankly, I have nothing to lose if I answer your questions. My name is Samuel. My employer has different motives than I do for wanting you dead."

"Why does he want me to die?"

"Didn't ask."

Gee, that was helpful. "Why do you want me to die?"

"Ask your friend Methos," he said, venom in his tone. "The bastard doesn't deserve friends after what he did three thousand years ago."

"What the hell are you talking about?" I asked, venom in my own voice now.

"Ask him yourself. You'll hate him as much as I do after that." He crossed his arms, a smirk on his face.

That was it. This guy had already pissed me off earlier. He wasn't about to threaten my friends and get away with it. I tossed him Angel's sword. "There's a store parking lot behind the chapel grounds," I told him. "We'll fight behind the store, out of sight of onlookers. Start walking."

*****

When the Quickening subsided, I slowly stood up and tucked my broadsword and Angel's own sword inside the folds of my jacket. Then began the detested yet necessary process of dragging Samuel's body behind a garbage dump, where only vampires would be able to find it. If they were really hungry, they would probably drink whatever blood was still in his body. The image didn't sicken me as much as it normally would have. My mind was too busy processing the memories I'd received through Samuel's Quickening.

I shook my head, trying to clear it of the disturbing images. I couldn't stop my body from trembling, a combined reaction of both the Quickening and what the stolen memories were telling me. I knew that what I saw in Samuel's memories was the reason why Samuel hated the old man. I wondered if I should ask Methos about it. Samuel could have easily been mistaken. His village's destruction took place three thousand years ago; one of the attackers could have somehow resembled Methos and he simply made a mistake when he connected Methos' face to the slaughter.

If I see Methos again, I'll ask him, I finally decided. I got caught on the word 'if' and remembered that I needed to find him and help him out before we could have any sort of discussion.

I stopped by the basement to change out of my blood-covered, tattered shirt, leftover evidence of the fight, and then walked to Giles'.

When I arrived, I became the center of attention of seven different people.

"Xander, are you all right? You look awful," Cordelia said.

"Oh, thank the goddess you're all right!" Willow exclaimed. Giles said something similar.

"Where is he?" Buffy asked, looking like she was ready to slam her fists into the other Immortal the first chance she got.

"Did you guys fight? I can smell blood," Angel put in.

"Yeah, we fought," I said, handing back his sword. I'd cleaned the blade and myself of blood as best as I could, but Angel had a better sense of smell than I possessed. "Someone hired him," I added. I looked at Doyle. "Have you filled everyone in?"

Doyle nodded. "I told 'em about the Vision."

"I think he was working for the guy in Doyle's Vision, but I'm not entirely sure. I got his memories in the Quickening, but most of them aren't really clear." The only clear ones were of a figure dressed entirely in white astride an armored horse, and I was really hoping that I wouldn't have to mention those.

No one looked very comfortable when it finally sunk in that I'd killed someone else. "Giles, can I borrow your phone?" I asked the Watcher.

"Certainly." He handed me the portable.

"I need to call Peirson and Amanda, let them know what to watch out for," I explained to Angel and my friends.

I headed off to the kitchen. Behind me, I heard Buffy ask Doyle, "So how exactly did you and Xander meet?"

I filtered out the rest of the conversation and grabbed a beer from Giles' fridge. I took a few sips while I called a series of overseas numbers. I silently promised to pay Giles back when he got his monthly phone bill.

Methos wasn’t at any of his homes, which had to mean that he'd already left for Egypt. I tried the phone number Amanda had given me over a year ago. Someone named Lucy Becker answered the phone. Thankfully, Amanda was at home, and soon the younger Immortal thief was on the line.

"Alex LaVelle!" she said, her distinctive voice coming loud and clear over the line. "You haven't called me since you needed my help dragging Methos' sorry ass out of jail back in the seventies. To what do I owe this pleasure, darling?"

I smiled in relief. Same old Amanda. It didn't sound like she was in trouble, so I reached her in time. "We're in trouble again, Amanda," I said, getting straight to the point. There was no time for pleasantries; Samuel hadn't wasted any time trying to kill me, and our mysterious adversary could send another assassin to Amanda's doorstep at any minute.

"Same old Alex," she teased. "Straight to the point. Glad to see you haven't lost your touch. So, who is this 'we'?"

"You, Methos, and me," I answered. "We managed to piss someone off. I don't know who but he's already sent an Immortal assassin after me and I know that he'll also start using magic sooner or later."

There was a pause on the other end before Amanda sighed. "Damn. I was hoping that I could see Duncan for a few days. I suppose you want me to be wherever you are as soon as possible?"

"Yeah. I’m going to get in touch with Joe and see if he can locate Methos for me. The old man is in Egypt at the moment."

"Unless an assassin's already gone after him and Methos has decided to go into hiding again. Where are you, Alex?"

"Sunnydale, California."

"You're on the Hellmouth? What the hell are you doing there, LaVelle?"

I winced when Amanda raised her voice. "It's a long story. Will you come?"

She sighed again, this time in frustration over my choice of meeting places. "I'll be there soon," she finally said before hanging up.

I called Joe Dawson. He said he'd get back in touch with me in an hour or so after he'd contacted Marc's Watcher. If Methos had found Marc yet, Joe would tell me. I also suspected that Joe would tell Methos' own Watcher team about the old man's whereabouts. Knowing Methos, he would have lost them before he boarded a plane at the Paris airport.

*****

During the seven hours until Amanda's arrival, Willow and Oz passed the time by trying to find any background information on Samuel. I could still remember his current alias and residence from the Quickening. With that information, they'd hacked into any government, federal, or other files they could find through Willow's laptop. They'd already found a few things by mid-afternoon. Samuel, a. k. a. Simon Morgan, had been a suspect in four similar murders that weren't the beheading kind, but he was never convicted or sentenced despite the fact that he was always nearby when one of the murders occurred. I suspected that he had friends in high places. His last employer probably knew about Samuel's past.

Joe called me in the middle of the second hour, around lunchtime, and said that Methos had shown up at Marc's place. Joe sent a message via e-mail to Methos' e-mail account asking Methos to call Joe or me ASAP.

Angel hung around the apartment as he waited for the sun to go down. He made a few calls to old contacts around Sunnydale and a few newer ones in LA, trying to find out more information about Samuel or about whoever hired him. He didn't find out much; Simon Morgan had never been anywhere near LA before that day.

After three hours had passed, Angel and I pushed some of the furniture back and did some hand-to-hand sparing. Giles watched from the sidelines for awhile before he and I sparred. Giles and Angel were both impressed with my fighting skills and I ended up teaching both of them a few moves, much to my delight.

Buffy, Willow, and Oz returned from classes after six hours had passed. Cordy spent the day showing Doyle around Sunnydale before appearing back at Giles' place with enough food for everyone. Angel had brought some plasma with him, so we didn't need to worry about him biting someone.

As we sat down to eat, I worriedly looked at my watch before glancing back up at the clock. Amanda should be here any moment. I just hoped she hadn't been ambushed by another assassin and lost the battle.

"I hope she gets here soon," I said at one point before I bit into a hamburger. Food tended to be as soothing as beer was, so I ate and drank eagerly, hoping to calm down a little. It didn’t help much. I really hated it when any of my friends were in danger.

"What exactly is your connection with this woman, Xander?" Giles asked me.

It looked like his question had gotten everyone's attention. I smiled a little self-consciously. "Well…Amanda's a special case. I met her eight hundred years ago."

"Oh, you mean your two-thousand-year-old self did before the Merging thing?" translated Cordelia.

I nodded. "Yeah. Anyway, I'd been living in France for some time as Henry LaVelle. I had a job as head of security at the royal castle." I shrugged and grinned. "No one really thought that 'someone so young' could ever be a good security chief. That was before they saw me with a sword, of course."

"Anyway, one night while on the job I felt the Buzz. As it turned out, dear Amanda was trying to steal the Royal Treasury that night, and would have gotten away with it if I hadn't felt her Buzz."

"You mean she was a thief?" Buffy asked, her surprise evident.

"Was and still is," I stated, grinning. I watched as shock appeared on everyone's faces.

"And she's a friend of yours?" Oz finally asked.

"Friend is the wrong word," I said. I doubted that there was a good word to describe Amanda. I felt the Buzz and stood up, smiling in relief. "You'll see what I mean in a minute."

There was a knock on the door. It startled everyone in the room that wasn't equipped with an Immortal Buzz. The knocking grew louder and faster before I managed to open the door, then I had to duck before Amanda's raised fists made contact with my head.

Amanda didn't even pause to apologize, or something like that, before she pushed me aside, ran inside, and locked the door.

I took in her appearance. Her hair was matted with dust, and there were a few rips in her expensive black silk shirt, pants, and overcoat. "Amanda, what the hell happened?" I asked her, hoping that it hadn't been another assassin. She looked at me in puzzlement and I realized that I'd asked the question in Latin, a language the younger Immortal didn't know.

Before I could translate, Giles asked in English, "Ma'am, are you all right?"

She nodded as she caught her breath. "I've been better. I had a little run in with some vampires outside the Sunnydale airport. They're dust now."

"That's good ta hear," Doyle said.

"Yeah, we could always use help with the slayage," said Buffy.

"My pleasure. Unfortunately, the Tippith Demons that appeared after the dust clouds settled are still active, and I'm not sure if I lost them or not."

"Great," Buffy muttered before she hurried across the room to Giles' weapons chest. Angel also handed out weapons from his stash. "Everyone, grab a weapon and get ready."

Amanda and I took out our swords. After the weapons had been handed out, Giles looked at Amanda with wide eyes. "Tippith Demons? Are you sure?"

"Well, let's see, they had the red eyes with paralyzing powers, and there was no other indication that they were demons except for the fact that they can move really fast and have bones made of steel."

"Uh, yes, that does meet the description of a Tippith Demon," Giles said, looking a little flustered.

"That does not sound good," Cordelia remarked.

"I'll second that," Doyle said.

"And they're coming here," Buffy stated, as if it was to be expected. "We should get out while we still can."

The back window of Giles' living room smashed inward, sending shards of glass everywhere. Everyone whirled around to see a human-looking figure wearing sunglasses. He removed them and revealed red ovals. There wasn't a spec of white in those eyes.

"I think it's too late for that," Willow said, worry in her tone.

"Don't look at his eyes," Giles warned.

"Got it," Buffy said. She held up an axe and kept her eyes leveled on his chest. Everyone else held up their own weapons or hid behind the more fightworthy members of our little group.

"Alexander LaVelle Harris and Amanda Darieux," the Tippith Demon said. I refused to meet his eyes, but I could feel his stare as his gaze traveled over me before landing on Amanda. "My master has ordered me to bring you to him. You shall pay for your crimes."

Our crimes? What was this guy referring to? I've broken a few laws here and there when I broke friends out of jail or helped other friends steal artwork, and I've also killed people in the past. Amanda and Methos have, too. It's a part of who we are. Somehow, however, I felt positive that the Tippith Demon was referring to something we wouldn't consider a crime.

"You know, I really don't think so," Amanda said. "Maybe some other time."

The Tippith smiled. He let out a long, low whistle.

We heard several pairs of footsteps. Glancing around in alarm, we watched as four other Tippith Demons stepped through the door and the smashed window, and others were appearing behind them.

"Willow!" Oz exclaimed behind me. I turned and saw him facing the two who had entered the door. Willow, Angel, and Giles were on either side of him, only Willow was as still as a statue. I realized that she'd mistakenly looked into the eyes of one of the demons.

"Everyone, don't look at their eyes! Everyone surround Willow until the paralysis wears off," I ordered. Everyone moved into a protective circle around my very still best friend. I turned my attention back to the smashed window and ducked as one of the Tippiths tried to sock me. I ducked a few more of his fists. On either side of me, Amanda and Cordelia were fighting two more of the demons, and I could hear the others fighting as well.

My own fighting partner was getting faster and faster. I tried to keep him away or at least kill him with swipes from my blade, but he managed to duck everyone, moving faster with each one until at one point he actually grabbed the sword and held it in a death grip.

I watched in dismay as he crunched the metal within his fist, breaking my most prized blade into pieces. Damnit, but that was my oldest sword! Peter gave me that sword! I liked that weapon.

He grabbed a hold of my shoulder with his other hand and squeezed. Pain shot through me as I felt, and heard, bones crack and then break. I ignored the pain as best as I could and tried to knee him in the crotch. I succeeded. His hold loosened on my shoulder as he bent over. I tried to knock him to the ground by hitting the small of his back, but he used his super speed again and grabbed my hands before I could deliver the blow.

I watched in disgust as he licked off his own blood from his palm. He looked like he had as much pleasure doing it as a vampire. After the hand was licked clean, he used it to grab a hold of my chin. He did it so fast that I was staring into his red eyes before I could even close my own brown ones.

His hold loosened on me and I tried to back away. However, as I'd feared, I couldn’t move now. Just like the Willow statue only a few feet away. Damnit, damnit, damnit. This was not going very well.

The Tippith Demon tossed me over his shoulder and started walking toward the smashed window. My friends hadn't even noticed what was happening to me; they were too busy trying to stay alive and mobile. Another Tippith had Amanda draped over his shoulder. I couldn't feel her Buzz anymore. That meant she was dead, not paralyzed, which wasn't necessarily a good thing. She could take as much time to heal and revive as the paralysis took to wear off of me.

I hoped that Methos was doing better than we were.