Chapter 41.

Sleepers

A/N: Chapter forty one in the series. I know this story has been long, and longer than even I expected. I am sorry if someone has been discouraged by this fact. Even I have been tired when stories are so long, even if they are really good. So, I don't know if there is anyone out there still reading this, but I should issue yet another warning. This is not a happy story, and it probably won't have a happy ending, so keep reading at your own risk. Once again: A very long story, with no happy ending in sight. You've been warned.

Disclaimer: All belongs to Joss Whedon and the parties involved in airing the shows. Original characters are mine.

Feedback: Sure, that'd be great.

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Somewhere in London, England

December 2017

"Quite interesting." Mary Poole said, sitting comfortably on the backseat of a Nissan Maxima while Sgt. Joe Hallenbeck struggled to hotwire the car.

"What's interesting?" He asked, trying to remember if the yellow wire went with the green one.

"A bobby who knows how to hotwire a car." She replied.

"Uh, I was born in New York, y'know." Joe said. "When you grow in certain places, you get to learn a lot of things."

"Like I said, quite interesting."

Joe sighed and finally managed to start the car. He smiled as he sat properly on the driver's seat and looked at Mary through the rearview mirror.

"Thankfully, this was a very old car." He said. "Any car built after 2007 was practically impossible to start like this."

"Glad we finally got some good luck." She replied.

"Hey, we survived rubber death from above and fiery demise from beneath, I'd say we've been having a lot of good luck." He said as he shifted gears to Drive and took off.

"Where are we going?" She asked.

"Don't know." He honestly said. "I guess I should take you to a hospital, but everything is two seconds from blowing up, so I guess the best bet is to head out of this city."

"What were you doing inside?" Mary asked. "Been calling the cops but no one answered. Figured everyone was on the street, dead, or halfway into France."

"Not all of us are incompetent assholes." He chuckled. "Some of my partners are...were really good cops."

"What happened to them?"

Joe remained silent for several seconds, hesitant about what to answer.

"They were doing their jobs." He finally replied. "They went down as heroes."

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Buffy rubbed her eyes, hoping she had seen a mirage or the flames playing tricks with her mind. For blissful seconds she heard nothing but distant explosions and the crack of flames, until Dawn shrieked and broke her illusions, bringing back the harsh reality.

"Are those dragons?" Dawn asked, her breath increasing as well as her heartbeat.

"You can't be serious." Xander said. "I thought I was hearing wrong."

"You're not." Willow said, instantly clutching Xander's arm. "They're there. I can feel them."

"What?" Giles asked.

"It's weird, but I can feel their power." Willow said. "The army...it wasn't a joke or a pessimistic point of view. There is an army."

"What are we going to do?" Dawn asked, turning around. "Anyone has any idea how to kill so many dragons?"

"Angel killed one." Buffy absentmindedly said. "That night, he killed it."

"Yeah, well, there was only one." Dawn said, lifting one finger and waving it in front of Buffy's eyes. "One. There are a whole bunch of them now. What's going to happen now?"

"God, this is really happening." Giles said, rubbing his forehead. "I thought we could have more time. Maybe they would attack one at a time."

"No such luck." Xander said, feeling his father's heart speeding and smelling the fear in the air. "We have to calm down. We're no use to anyone if we panic."

"Uh, bad news, Xander." Annie said. "Some watchers ran away in pain and the slayers are in shock."

"What?"

"Can't blame them, though." Annie said as she looked up. "Bloody hell, those things do exist."

"Of course they exist." Dawn said. "Told you so, didn't I?"

"Thought they were a myth." Annie replied. "Vampires and werewolves? Sure, no big deal, but dragons? What's next, a soddin' unicorn?"

"Language, kid." Dawn said. "And no, last I heard, there were no unicorns."

"Thank God, next thing you know, Harry bleedin' Potter is going to show up anytime." Annie said.

"You still read that shit?"

"Hey, it was good when I was five." Annie smirked. "Good memories and good movies."

"Right:"

"The army is going to attack." Giles interrupted their easy banter. "The dragons will make short work of the carriers and soon the RAF will send other planes."

"What could shoot down a dragon?" Dawn asked. "Those are tough motherfuckers."

"Language." Annie repeated the line and Dawn smirked back.

"The RAF will probably use more Typhoons." Giles said.

"Helicopters." Xander said. "They'll also try to use helicopters."

"That will end well." Dawn sarcastically said.

"As long as they don't nuke the city." Xander replied. "We have to find cover."

Buffy was still looking up, not acknowledging the words spoken around her, her eyes fixed on the deadly creatures tearing apart a large Airbus A330 MRTT and shrugging off the subsequent explosion.

"Fire doesn't hurt them." She whispered. Annie heard and was next to her mother in an instant, looking up as well.

"What is it, mum?"

"Dragons are almost unbeatable." Buffy replied. "We had a lot of trouble slaughtering one of them. This...this is ridiculous."

"The fire won't let them see us." Annie thought out loud. "We should head up and think about what we're going to do."

"Annie is right." Giles placed his hand on Buffy's shoulder. "We have to think about the other turok hans beneath the Council. There are plans to be made."

Buffy nodded and slowly walked towards the stairs, still hearing diverse explosions and the growls of the dragons.

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Wesley was struggling to see through the flames, but he was more aware of the battle in the air through the thing's senses.

"We've fought such creatures before." Illyria said, not even looking up. "We killed one of them a few cycles ago."

"One." Connor focused on such number. "You all killed only one. There are more than eight of those things circling the city and taking down the planes sent to extinguish the flames."

"They knew." Wesley said. "They knew what we would do."

"What do you mean?" Connor asked, tired of asking the same questions and always being one step behind.

"Think about it." Wesley said. "A few turok hans attacked and set the city on fire. Since the city was already going out in flames, the army, or the initiative, didn't think twice about using napalm to strike down the vampires. Yet another pack of them waited underground while the flames ravaged the already condemned city."

"Is this all part of a plan?" Connor asked.

"When the napalm finished it's job, they sent the dragons to ensure the city remained on flames." Wesley continued.

"That would kill the vampires as well." Connor said, guessing where everything was going.

"Yes, but they would serve a purpose." Wesley said. "Think about it. It's like warfare, a first batallion of expendable vampires was sent to begin the attack. We struck back and wiped them out, but the dragons are here to ensure the flames keep going, in order to keep the slayers inside the Council, where..."

Wesley's eyes met those of his two companions, and soon what he was thinking was evident to the others.

"Since they can't go out, the vampires beneath will attack." Connor said.

"Exactly."

"They couldn't be so stupid to be caught inside, wouldn't they?" Connor asked, feeling anxious.

"Not stupid." Wesley said. "Remember when Dawn said the turok hans were surrounding the building?"

Connor and Illyria nodded.

"They must have thought the vampires couldn't get in, due to a spell or something else." Wesley rubbed his eyes with the palm of his hands. "The vampires tricked us. They could get in, but they wanted them to think they couldn't."

"So we would stay inside the Council, thinking it was safe." Connor said, everything clear in his head. "We have to get there right now."

"And what? Be caught with them?" Wesley said as the three of them took off running towards the Council.

"I don't know!" Connor replied. "But we have to let them know the vampires can get inside!"

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Most of the slayers and remaining watchers had stayed behind on level 4, while the others went directly to the sixth level, hoping to find at least a small indicator of electricity.

"Willow, what's our status?" Giles asked the moment he sat down on his chair.

"Uh, let me get my station working." She said, also sitting down on her chair. Tense moments of silence went by as Willow's screen miraculously sprang to life and ran a quick test on the entire building. Standing next to a window, Xander stood vigilant for any sign that should escape his teammates.

Buffy, Faith, Dawn and Annie seized the chance to drink something and eat a small snack to replenish their energies. A small moment of peace was finally granted to the army of The Powers That Be and they let all the tension leave their body.

"Looks like the Council will stand." Willow finally said. "We have enough power to close all the steel doors and engage the defense system."

"What about those left outside?" Faith suddenly asked. "You went through a lot to get my slayers inside, but what about Wesley and Connor?"

"They can take care of themselves." Giles said. "It may sound cold, but if anyone would understand, that's Wesley."

"We should at least call them and let them know." Willow said.

"Activate the defense." Giles said. "I'll let them know."

Willow nodded and ran the defense program on her computer. She typed her password and typed the code she thought best suited their problem.

"Defcon 4 initiated." She said. "The Council will be fire proof and attack proof in seventy three seconds."

"Good." Giles said, looking at his watch. He sighed and lifted the phone.

"We have no lines." He said. "Anything you can do, Will?"

"As soon as the defense mechanism is up, I'll check that up." She replied.

"Right. Uh, has anyone seen my phone?" Giles asked.

"You gave it to me." Dawn said, taking it out of her pants' pocket. "Want me to call him?"

"No, thanks." Giles said. "I'll do it myself, thank you."

"Fifty five seconds" Willow said.

Xander turned around the moment he heard the wheels turn and the steel moving in the lower levels. He hated the defense mechanism, because it was deafening to him, and the oil and electricity moving in the air dampened his scent.

"Come on, Wesley, pick up." Giles muttered under his breath. Xander was feeling uneasy for some reason, and he guessed it was because he had heard nothing but explosions on the past minutes.

"Forty seconds."

The wheels kept turning and the steel banged loudly when it hit against steel, and the electricity hummed in the air as the door were locked magnetically.

"Twenty four seconds."

Giles' head bobbed up as someone finally picked up his call.

"Wesley, glad to hear..."

"Get out of the Council!" Wesley's scream was heard by everyone, and Xander's head turned violently when something clicked on his head.

"Willow! Turn the cameras on!" He shouted.

"What?" Giles asked as well, since Wesley kept shouting them to get out of the building. "Wesley, calm down, what are you...?"

"The vampires can get in!" Wesley shouted the moment Willow's screen displayed the cameras on the whole building. A sudden gasp escaped Willow's throat as she tried to override the security controls.

"They're inside the building!" She screamed. "They could get in any moment!"

Giles looked up and saw how Willow turned on the large screen and several images appeared, most of the cameras displaying an army of turok hans climbing over the large hole on the deepest sub level and some of them already climbing up the stairs. The cell dropped from his hand as he stood up, not believing what he was seeing.

"The noise of the security system hid their entry." Xander panted. "The smell of oil hid their own scent."

"They tricked us?" Buffy asked as she stared at the screen. "They are not this intelligent, what...?"

"We've been falling in their traps." Giles whispered, seeing how the vampires were about to reach level 4, where the unsuspecting slayers and watchers were resting.

Xander managed to find his station and quickly plugged his headphones and microphone into Willow's station.

"All stations! The Council's integrity has been compromised! I repeat, the Council's security has been breached, fall back into formation, fall back...!"

Xander thanked God he couldn't see, when he heard the gasps and Buffy's footsteps as she left the room the moment they saw a battalion of turok hans enter level 4 and attack the unprotected slayers.