Title: One Cloudy Afternoon
Author: Icis of Avalon
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story, or the general plot idea, that belongs to Methos of TtH.
It was rather cloudy when Xander opened his bar that afternoon. The evening promised to bring rain and perhaps a little thunder.
As he began pulling the chairs off the tables, readying them for his earlier customers, he heard the door open. In walked a woman of average height with short, wild, bronze hair and caramel colored skin. She walked with the lithe movements reminiscent of his slayers. She glanced nervously out the door just as the rain began to fall and gave a faint shudder before walking towards the bar.
"Name's Xander. Welcome to Nights, what can I get for ya this afternoon?" he walking around to the other side of the bar, trying not to drool over the woman in front of him.
"Patience Phillips. Just wanting to come in out of the rain for a while, but I'll take a late with extra cream if possible," giving another shudder at the mention of rain.
"Sure thing. One late, coming right up." After a brief pause he starts up the espresso machine and asks, "So what brings you round to this part of town? Haven't seen you around before, but then I guess we've only been open for a few months now."
"Well, just passing through town really. Quit my dead end job after some unfortunate occurrences. Decided to travel for a bit after the whole scandal, might stick around for a while if Cleveland offers some good night life."
With a chuckle Xander replies, "Oh, the night around here is very much alive, but I wouldn't recommend going out in it. Though you are always welcome here, it can get very interesting after dark."
Accepting the offered coffee Patience hands him some cash. She takes a sip of the steaming drink and lets out a contented sigh. "Thanks for the advice, but I'm sure I can take care of myself," she replies with a bit of a smile.
"So who's up on the wall there? Quite an eclectic group you have there."
"Oh those are friends of mine. They run a private school here in Cleveland." Xander replied with a bit of nostalgia. "The Ivanhoe is from one of my unique customers, he left it after telling me a great story."
"Really? If you like stories I have one you might enjoy. It's a story about the unremarkable life of an unremarkable woman and how she comes into her own."
With a nod from the barman she begins her story, " It all started the day that she died…"
After nearly two hours and three coffees, her story wound down to a close. "Well I see that the rain has finally let up, so I guess I should be going. It was great talking to you Xander, perhaps I'll stop in again someday."
She stood up and walked out the door without a backward glance, leaving Xander with a contemplating look on his face. Before he had a chance to really think over the story his attention was diverted by the other customers who had trickled in during the young woman's story. With a bit of a shrug, he began serving drinks, telling himself that he would think it over later.
The next day as he walked into his bar, he noticed almost immediately that something was different. Glancing around he didn't see anything that was missing, and neither the electronic security system, nor Willow's wards had been tripped, but he KNEW someone had been in his bar after closing time.
Slowly making his way to the back room, he passed the wall holding the pictures of his friends, when he paused. There, in a tightly coiled ring, placed right under the Ivanhoe, was a black, leather bullwhip. Hanging in the center of the whip was a small ball of herbs, which after all of his time with Willow, he could identify as catnip.
With a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth he pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number. "Hey Willow. I think I'm gonna need you to do a bit more work on those wards you have set up around Nights. They seem to have had a little hiccup last night."
A/N: This is it, my first ever attempt to write something.
Xander belongs to Joss Whedon, Patience belongs to WB, and Nights belongs to Methos of TtH.
Everyone, please feel free to review, and contact me about adding your own chapter to plot bunny heaven.