Safely Someplace Else

Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Early season 7: Xander has a chance encounter with an old friend.
Disclaimer: All characters contained herein belong to Joss Whedon and co.



Making his way around to the back of the Summers house with an armful of groceries, Xander juggled his burden until a hand was partially freed, fumbled for the door handle and let himself in.

Buffy and Willow were both in the kitchen: Buffy attempting to cook while the sombre looking Willow had her head bowed low over a book.

Buffy glanced up as Xander came in. "Hey."

"Hey," Xander replied as he pushed the door closed behind him with a foot, and dumped the groceries onto the central island with a grateful sigh.

"Did you get the cream?"

"What?" Startled by the question, Xander was confused for a moment before remembering. "Oh. Damn. Forgot, sorry. I got distracted."

"Xander!" Buffy gave him a reproachful glare. "The one thing I needed most."

"Sorry," Xander repeated. He paused for a moment, considering whether or not to tell his friends the reason for his distraction, before deciding to go for it and tell the truth. "I, er I ran into an old friend outside the store."

"Oh?" Buffy glanced at him enquiringly before concentrating on her stirring once more. "Who?"

Xander paused again, glancing sideways to where Willow sat, seemingly oblivious to the conversation, engrossed in her book. "Um. It was Oz."

Both women instantly stopped what they were doing to stare at him.

"Oz? What was he doing there?" Buffy asked at the same moment that Willow spoke: "Is he coming here?"

"Um," Xander hesitated, before answering Buffy's question first. "He was there picking up essential journey supplies." He then turned to Willow to gently tell her, "And, no, he isn't coming here."

"Oh." Willow looked a little disappointed, and turned away to mark the page in her book and set it aside.

"But why was he here?" Buffy wanted to know. "I didn't know he was back in town."

"Oh, he wasn't. Not really. He was stopping over for a couple of days to take custody of cousin Jordy," Xander explained.

"Jordy?" Buffy frowned, remembering the name. "Isn't that the one who"

"Turned Oz into a werewolf in the first place. Yes," Willow confirmed, turning back to them.

"What happened?" Buffy asked Xander, turning the heat down on the stove so that she could give him her full attention.

"Well, apparently Oz's Uncle Ken fell victim to the Sunnydale wackiness," Xander explained, resting his forearms on the island. "And then Aunt Maureen pretty much gave up the ghost and is now institutionalised, probably permanently. He didn't really go into detail. But it seems that when the next full moon hit, the rest of the family suddenly realised they had no clue what to do with the junior werewolf"

"So they called Oz," Buffy finished for him.

"So they called Oz," Xander confirmed, nodding.

"Instant parenthood." Buffy looked a little wistful, and then rolled her eyes. "I remember how that goes."

There was a short pause before Xander cleared his throat slightly and continued. "He, um he said he'd been dithering over whether he should stop by and see us or not. Wasn't sure if it would be the right thing to do. But then the family stuff took longer than he expected, and once they'd dumped the kid on him he thought it would be best to just head straight home. Get the kid sorted out, instead of bringing him here into potential chaos and confusion. Only he used less words than that. But he said to say 'hi'. And he gave me this."

Digging through his pockets, Xander pulled out a scrap of paper and held it out to Willow. Taking it from him, a faint smile lit up her face, a smile that – for the first time since her return from England – actually touched her eyes. Curiosity piqued, Buffy leaned over her friend's shoulder to see what was written on the paper: an address, and a telephone number.

"Contact." Buffy smiled.

"Yep," Xander grinned at her, before becoming serious once more. "He knew, you know. About this big bad that's coming, whatever it is. Said he could feel it the moment he hit town. So he said if we need him, if we think he can help in any way, to call. He'll come. But the thing is" He paused, remembering the little boy he'd seen sitting in the passenger seat of his cousin's van. "The thing is, I think he's going to have his hands full. With the kid and all. So it might be best to leave him out of it."

Buffy nodded, slowly. "I think you're right." She sighed. "It would be nice to think, you know, that at least one of the old gang had a proper, normal – well, relatively normal life, anyway. Safely someplace else."

Xander nodded, and then grinned. "As normal as a werewolf raising a junior werewolf can get, anyway."

They both looked at Willow, still gazing longingly down at that piece of paper. Her fingers curled protectively around the paper that held those contact details for her first love, and then she looked up at them: a wistful look in her eyes, but nodding. "Yes. Let him live his life. Safely someplace else."

© Llywela, July 2004