Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy. Joss Whedon does.
Desolation
Xander Harris stared moodily up at the ceiling of his bedroom. Below him, in the kitchen, he could hear his parents shouting at each other. He glanced at his alarm clock, and let out a frustrated sigh. It had been only two minutes since he had last checked the time. This was going to be a long night.
The phone suddenly rang, startling him. He picked it up quickly, hoping that his folks hadn't heard. The last thing he needed was to have his inebriated father screaming at one of his friends. He didn't know anyone other than them who would call at this hour. Everyone else who knew his family either disliked them or was smart enough to know that you didn't call them after dark. That's when his parents were drinking.
"Hello?" he asked cautiously. He winced as a loud thump sounded from below, followed by a dramatic increase in the volume of the argument.
"Xander. It's Buffy," his friend replied. Xander immediately noticed the desolation in her tone. He wasn't sure, but it sounded like she had been crying. Recently.
"Buffs? What's the matter?" What could be upsetting Buffy this much? Was it a new demon? They already had a lot on their plate with Angelus running around. The last thing that they needed was another big bad in town.
Buffy took a deep, shuddering breath, and let it out slowly. "It's Ms. Calendar. Angelus…" Her voice broke when she said the vampire's name, but she pulled herself together and continued. "He killed her. Giles just called."
Xander was frozen with shock for a moment, but managed to whisper, "Oh, man. How do you know it was…?" He stopped abruptly. Of course it was Angel. Who else would it be? His brief flash of sorrow was drowned by the feeling of deep hatred that suddenly swept through him.
"Right," he said firmly, his horror burned away by his anger. "What do you need me to do?"
"Get Cordelia and her car. Drive to the police station and see if Giles is there. Then come back to my house." Her orders were curt and simple, but an undertone of grief and exhaustion ran through them. Buffy was hurt and rocked to the core, but she was taking control so that others wouldn't have to. Xander knew that he could do the same.
"I will," he said resolutely. "Just hold on, Buffy. I'll be there." He hung up, then steeled himself and dialed Cordelia's number. This was going to be a long night.