JUNE, 2003, A MOTEL IN COLORADO

Poolside

Xander opened his good eye and looked up. Buffy was standing next to D'Hoffryn. She had the scythe.

"Say the word, loverboy."

"Sokay, Buff. Let him say his piece. I'll be cool."

With a definite glare at the Chief Vengeance Demon, Buffy left the two alone.

"You two?"

Xander sat up.

"Slayers are hormonal, so I don't know for how long. What's it to you?"

D'Hoffryn chuckled.

"Well, its just that there's this one alternate reality where you two turn out to be twi...ahhh, long story. Besides, the version of me there is something of a wuss."

"D'hoffryn? Point of visit being?"

He raised and shook a finger.

"Yes. I'm here for Anyanka's last treasure."

Xander shrugged.

"Anyanka is about a thousand or so miles away, and five miles straight down. She is both thoroughly smushed and bifurcated. I looked the word up. Also, the Initiative firebombed the pit before flooding it with Holy Water. She's gone, D'Hoffryn. Your boys never got her."

D'Hoffryn turned away.

"She would have given you the location. I want it."

Xander sighed, went to his room, and produced a scrawl with coordinates on it. He gave it to the unwanted visitor.

"Here."

Xander sat back down. D'Hoffryn shook his head.

"No threats?"

"She's gone. My talking big won't change that. But if you want a threat--keep your stable away from the Neo-Slayers. Buffy and Faith know how to use that scythe."

Xander then spoke in a high, squeaky voice that clearly unnerved the demon.

"Just ask Caleb."

After he vanished, D'Hoffryn saw that some of the coordinates were chronal in nature.

"Hiding it in time, Anyanka? Please."

Every vengeance demon had a last treasure trove, a nest egg of some sort, be it power, spells or money. Hallifrek had owned a whole network of Auntie Anne's in malls across the West Coast. He could only guess what Anyanka had set aside. Probably not money. She had only recognized that very late in life.

1952, LAGOS ISLAND

D'Hoffryn continued to follow the traces of Anyanka as he went around. He also rolled his eyes.

"Putting me this near to Bikini Island in the early 1950's, Anyanka? WEAK!"

He laughed as he saw the distant mushroom cloud.

"The Hydrogen Bomb. Oh--don't hurt me, Mister Radiation."

As the life around him died, D'Hoffryn kept to his search, finally finding the spell-nodule that was his goal.

"Now, we can teleport out...wha?"

The radiation could not kill him. But it was making popping out pure hell.

"Well, I'll figure it out. Let's see what you had---heh--Anya."

The ground around D'Hoffryn began to shake. Inside the nodule was a note that contained simple words.

*YOU SHOULD HAVE KILLED ME*

He threw the note away.

"Bo-ring."

The ground stopped shaking, and D'Hoffryn felt hot breath upon him.

"Who's there? You may as well come..."

He looked up, and there he saw a great gray-green thunder lizard, nearly 200 feet tall. Its face had a canine aspect, and it sported a row of dorsal fins as well as a very long tail.

"Uhhh--ok. I know your name from somewhere...I'll betcha that little geek Andrew would know it.."

The creature roared with the noise of a hundred bull elephants. D'Hoffryn found that his teleportation now worked not at all. He saw the monster's mouth open.

"Why--why is your mouth glowing blue? Does that mean something?"

======================================

2003

Xander kissed her picture, and for the foreseeable future, said one last tender goodbye.

"Done."