Next to Rory's Wrecking Yard was a small lot, not much more than a modest warehouse with a prefab office converted from a mobile home and an even smaller parking lot. Xander's uncle Rory owned it, but had sublet it for the rather large tax break that Sunnydale's unique tax system offered as an 'incentive to encourage economic growth for the disenfranchised'.
Rory hadn't been paid in six months, but the tax break more than made up for it, so he just pretended the 'disenfranchised citizen' was still renting it from him.
Xander had heard all the details when Rory and Tony had been drinking and complaining about all the breaks illegal aliens were getting. He'd shared the information with Willow and Jessie and the three had peeked through the windows, but all they'd seen was dust and wooden crates earlier that day.
"It still has power and everything to make it look like it's being used," Xander said. "Plus, I got the keys."
"how'd you get the keys?" Willow asked.
"My uncle insisted on having a copy in case the cops ever asked to search it," Xander replied.
"Won't he notice them missing?" Willow asked.
"I replaced them with a couple of keys I found," Xander said as he put the last box on the back of the truck with the wood they'd scrounged up from a house that was being torn down.
"Big enough for us to set up shop," Jessie said, adjusting his troll mask.
"What if we get caught?" Willow worried.
"We aren't trespassing," Xander said. "My uncle owns the property and we're just using the unused property. If he asks, I'll just tell him we're making it look like it's still being used in case the tax man comes by."
"Oh, okay," Willow said, relieved.
Jessie started the truck, grinning beneath his mask. "Let's ride!"
Willow and Xander quickly tightened the seat belt they were sharing.
Keeping to the back alleys and actually being able to see made it a lot easier for Jessie to drive, meaning he only hit every fifth trash can this time.
"Brake!" Willow yelled as Jessie sped into the tiny parking lot.
Jessie slammed on the brakes, bringing them to a screeching halt, just short of the warehouse doors. "Perfect," he said with a grin.
"Works for me," Xander agreed, opening the door and climbing down, giving Willow a hand getting out.
"Are we going through the office or the big doors?" Willow asked.
"The big doors," Xander replied, "it'll be quicker and some of this stuff is heavy."
"Yeah, but those open from the inside," Jessie said as he remembered looking them over earlier.
"Oh yeah," Xander said. "Okay then, through the front office to open the back, then through the back."
"You don't think he's dead in there or something, do ya?" Jessie asked, making Willow pale and clutch Xander's hand tightly.
Xander gave Willow a hug and glared at Jessie, who winced. "Dead people smell, so he probably just skipped town without paying," Xander said, recalling that plot from a number of detective shows.
"Yeah, we would have smelled it if he was dead," Jessie agreed quickly.
Despite their agreement that there was definitely no dead guy, Xander and Jessie had to work up their nerve to approach the trailer, Xander taking the lead because he didn't want to look like a coward in front of Willow. All three of them jumped when Xander turned the key and the bolt snapped back into the lock.
"We need to oil that," Jessie joked. "Willow make a note, oil locks."
"Okay," Willow agreed, opening her backpack and taking out a notepad, glad for the distraction.
"Here we go," Xander said, taking a deep breath before yanking open the door revealing... nothing but an empty office with a hallway to the left and a closed door ahead of them behind a counter.
"I'll meet you around by the big doors," Jessie said, relieved and a bit disappointed that there was no body.
"You want to go with him?" Xander asked.
"No," Willow said, resolutely taking his hand again. "I'll go with you."
Jessie rolled his eyes but grinned as the two made a huge production of things. He wasn't sure who he'd end up dating himself, but he really hoped they were as fun as Xander and Willow.
He walked around to the truck and looked at the warehouse doors. They were big enough that he could have driven in if they'd been open. He briefly considered turning the truck around and backing up to them, but he was honest enough to admit that was probably a bad idea. He really needed to practice driving more, but they rarely got a chance to do more than a short trip every couple of weeks or so.
The creak of rusty hinges brought a smile to his face as he hurried to help Xander and Willow open the doors. They had a lot of stuff to unload. Between Xander's tools and the wood they'd collected, it was going to take them a while.
"So, no dead guy?" Jessie asked as he saw the flush on their faces that indicated some kissing had gone on while he was waiting for them.
"Nah, just a really lifelike statue," Xander replied.
Later that night
Marl perked up when he saw that the spice shop, next to the junkyard on the edge of town, was open. The demon who ran it was one of those seasonal types who hibernated for long periods of time seemingly at random, so it was only his own desperation that drove him to check.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Xander was happily working on an old fashioned coffin for Jessie, who thought it would look really cool for Halloween. They'd found the design in an old leather bound tome that was written in a language they couldn't identify, though there were a few notes written in the margin that were in German and relatively easy to translate, which Jessie insisted they use to make the coffin even creepier.
The small warehouse they'd taken over had plenty of room for the boys to work as only half of it was taken up by crates and shelves containing the multitude of ingredients that made up the business. Willow meanwhile was at the front desk, going through a stack of books, putting bookmarks in any woodworking projects she ran across and generally enjoying herself.
The bell over the door rang as a tall broad shouldered man in a full length trench coat and fedora came in and hung them on the statue they'd leaned against the wall, revealing blue spiky skin. "Evening, do you have powdered Knarl root?"
Willow's eyes darted to the door and she realized they'd left the front door unlocked and she'd turned on the open sign when she'd flipped on the lights. She turned towards the inventory ledger and found the entry without too much trouble. "I have some in stock, how much do you need?" She'd been cashier for the Band's bake sale, so she figured she could handle this.
"Just a couple of drams," the demon replied, relieved. "It's my wife's time of the... seasonal allergies," he said.
Willow just rolled her eyes. "I know when I get... seasonal allergies, I like hot cocoa and for Xander to read to me."
"I'm not the best when it comes to guessing human ages, but aren't you a little young for that?" Marl asked.
"My mom blames the West's heavy fat and protein diet for early menses," Willow replied, amused at the face Marl made. Apparently male monsters weren't that different than their human counterparts when it came to some things. She lead him to the right aisle and pointed to a plastic tub before tearing a small plastic bag off a roll for him. "Price is cheaper in gold, books, or replacement stock," Willow told him.
"I'll pay cash this time," Marl said as he carefully measured out three drams of a gray root, getting it right on the first try, to his satisfaction. "How does replacement stock and books work?"
"We're low on a few things, so if you bring in anything we're low on, you can trade it in for seventy five percent of the marked price in store credit. The idea is that you can probably get at least a couple of things cheaper than we can, so you actually make a small profit in materials while getting what you need," Willow said cheerfully. "As for the books... I like books, especially old leather bound tomes!"
The demon chuckled and followed Willow to the front desk where he paid for his root and was given a couple packets of cocoa along with a receipt. "Thank you," he said gratefully as he left, wondering if reading to his wife would help as well.
"Decided to keep shop?" Jessie asked, poking his head in.
"Apparently," Willow said with a shrug. "I used the spiel from that shop keeper you threw at us in that last dungeon we played."
"I stole it from a video game," Jessie admitted.
"As long as you're having fun," Xander told her.
"And making money for pizza," Jessie added.
"Have you two finished with your creepy coffin?" Willow asked.
"Needs some color," Jessie said.
"Still gotta shellac it and let it dry," Xander told her, "but the woodworking portion is done."
"What about the religious symbols and spiky metal bits?" Willow asked.
"That comes after the paint," Jessie said. "Pretty sure we can make them in Rory's shop."
"What's your next project?" Willow asked.
"I'm still not good enough at carving to do your headboard yet," Xander said, "so I'm making another Narnia wardrobe and practicing my carving on that."
"You look far too happy," Jessie said. "Last time you were grumpy for days when it didn't work, what's different this time?"
"There was a book on making 'moving furniture' in the books we found here," Xander said with a grin. "There was even a picture of people entering a Wardrobe."
"Considering all the weird people and stuff we've seen, I guess they might have a book like you were looking for," Jessie admitted.
"Still not positive Narnia is real," Willow said, "though the more we see, the more I think the story might be based on a true story, but it's probably really different, just like all those movies Hollywood makes based on 'true stories."
"If they got only a quarter of it right, I'll be happy," Xander said. "But if that infinite world thing you told me about is right, then there should be a version just like the book out there as well."
Willow and Jessie froze as the enormity of that thought hit them.
"We could go to Narnia," Willow said in wonder, having supported Xander's efforts, but not really believed it was possible until now.
"We could go to the nude beach from Beverly Hills 9021-HO!" Jessie exclaimed excitedly.
Willow turned and stared at Jessie before noting the guilty look on Xander's face. "Beverly Hills 9021-HO?" she asked.
"The last time I spent the night over at his house, Skina- I mean Cinemax was left unlocked when his parents went to LA and we watched a couple of movies," Xander admitted.
"Oh," Willow said, frowning as she wondered how she was supposed to feel about this. "Well, no going to places like that without me," she said firmly.
"Okay," Xander quickly agreed.
"You really want to go to a nude beach in a porno?" Jessie asked.
Willow turned red as she realized what she'd implied.
"I think it's more she didn't want me going to those places without her," Xander said.
"No getting naked without me," Willow agreed, relieved that Xander understood her.
"So he can only get naked if you're with him?" Jessie asked, thinking his best friends had gone a lot farther than he thought.
"Yes, I mean no!" Willow ducked behind the counter so they couldn't see her.
"Willow means I can't be naked with anyone female but her and the 'naked with her' is waiting till we're older," Xander said.
"Yes!" Willow called out from behind the counter and stuck a hand up to wave for Xander to lean over the counter.
Xander leaned over the counter and Jessie heard her kiss him. Xander stood up with a big smile. "That was for understanding her."
"That's right," Willow agreed, still hiding.
"Sure it wasn't for thoughts of you naked?" Jessie teased.
Xander grabbed Jessie and dragged him out of the office. A few seconds later, Willow peaked over the counter and saw they were gone. Giving a relieved sigh, the red faced girl stood up. "A little of that too," she admitted quietly.
Typing by: Abyssal Angel
