Dawn came far too early for Xander. He and Wintermoon were a sticky, sated mess, and neither one had gotten much sleep. But being parents had forced them to grow accustomed to less sleep. The two men stumbled out of their ekele and practically fell into the bathing pool. Once they were both a little more conscious they didn't dwadle, everyone else would be waking up soon. Xander personally preferred to be dressed when facing his children first thing in the morning.

Hertasi had left clean clothes for them by the pool and they dressed hurriedly. Xander was trying to force his waist-length hair into some semblance of order when Kal'enel and Vkandis arrived.

The Star-Eyed made him sit down and she brushed his hair out for him, her nimble fingers made short work of braiding his feathers and beads back into his hair. She pressed a kiss to the top of his head and laughed when he said, "Mommm" in an embarrassed voice.

**********

The entire Vale turned out for the opening of the gate. Firesong pulled Ghost aside for some last minute instructions while the Gods made their preparations. All too soon, it was time to leave. The plan was to open the gate as close to the Hellmouth as possible without alerting the demon to their presence. But all plans are subject to change.

The gate opened on an all to familiar sight, familiar to Xander at least. Buffy, Giles, Spike and the remaining Scoobies were in an all-out battle with a couple dozen demons and vampires. Angel and the LA crew were helping, or trying to. Xander didn't recognize everyone, but that wasn't important for now. He looked at Kal'enel and she pointed to a beautiful blonde woman standing near the Hellmouth. Xander looked her over, so this was the bad guy...He nodded once, pretty or not, she was toast.

The Champion NightHawk looked at his family, "Ready?" The boys grinned and shifted into Beast, their pet name for the huge winged wolf. Ghost's hands glowed with pure mage fire and Wintermoon had his bow in hand, arrow nocked and ready to fly. Xander gave one last look at their valley..."Come on. It's time."

They ran through the gate and the real battle began.

**********

The Scoobies were trying desperately to turn the tide of the battle, but it was obvious that they were losing, and badly. For every demon they took out, five more took their place. Buffy was killing everything in her path, trying to get to Dawn before Glory could destroy her human body and take over control of the Key. The Slayer saw Angel go down under a pile of demons, but she couldn't take the time to try to save him. Dawn was more important.

Giles uttered the words to another spell under his breath while cocking a crossbow at the same time. If they could just get to Dawn they could retreat and fight this battle another day. The Watcher caught a faint glow from the corner of his eye and turned to see what new monstrosity Glory had called up this time. He fumbled and dropped the crossbow when the strange figures darted through the gate.

A man with black wings, fangs and a golden spear was the first through. He was quickly followed by another man with long white hair and a short bow. A young girl, blazing like the morning sun came through with a gigantic winged wolf. Giles stiffened his spine. There was no way they could hope to beat these reinforcements, but they'd die trying.

He began praying when he realized that they weren't helping Glory. The wolf was a literal blur and it killed demons right and left. The girl was throwing balls of light at the vampires and their dust filled the air. The white-haired man's arrows were doing just as much damage. But it was the winged man that really caught his attention.

He pulled Dawn away from Glory and put the girl behind him. Now he faced the Goddess with his golden spear in hand. Giles wished he could understand what they were saying. The new arrivals appeared to be friends, but looks could be deceiving.

**********

Xander smirked at the blonde menance. She growl at him in a dead language, but the Spirit of Valdemar's gift was still working, he understood everything she said. And it wasn't nice.

"I don't think so, bitch. Why don't you run along and bother someone else before I get pissed off." Xander said.

Glory's face turned red and she stomped her foot. "I'm a God! You can't talk to me like that!"

Xander laughed, "You're no God. You're nothing but a wannabe. It's pretty pathetic actually."

Glory swung him and he blocked it with the Spear. The so-called God turned pale, "Where did you get that? It doesn't belong on this world."

Xander smiled, "My Dad gave it to me. You like it? I can arrange for you to become much better acquainted with the Spear of V'kandis anytime you like. Just say the word."

Glory shrieked and in rage and vanished, taking the few remaining demons with her.

Xander shrugged and turned to the girl he'd rescued. "Hey. You alright?"

Dawn nodded, too stunned to speak. Xander shrugged and looked for his family, none of them even had a scratch. He followed the girl back to the Scoobies, stopping to help Angel up from the floor on the way.

Angel looked up into star filled eyes and accepted the hand extended to him. As he was pulled from the floor a voice he hadn't heard in over a year came from the winged being's mouth. "Hey, Deadboy. Laying down on the job?"

Angel staggered, "Harris?"

Xander grinned, allowing his fangs to be seen. "Did ya miss me? Come on, you can admit it. I know you missed me."

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