Bella slipped into his room carrying a large bag, Jacob at her heals. Xander didn't mind, he was grateful for the distraction despite the fact he didn't know his cousin or her boyfriend.
"Hey." Bella set the bag on the end of his bed, looking at him a moment. "How are you feeling?" she asked.
"Bored." Xander answered truthfully, the nurses and Dr. Cullen kept sticking needles into his IV that made his head fuzzy and everything stop hurting for a while. Bella smiled and began pulling things from the bag.
"Dad asked me to bring you some stuff, just in case." She offered, holding up a book. "I didn't know what you liked so…" She handed the dusty old tome over along with a few of his comics. "I just grabbed these off the top of the box." she offered. Xander eyed the Paladin Codex with a frown, it was one of Giles' research books.
"My stuff is really up here?" Xander frowned harder, tracing the emblem of a sword on the front of the book.
"Dad said this guy and two girls helped him pack, your friends I think." Bella shrugged. "He went down to get you and they were there or something." she offered. Xander blinked, setting the book and comic on his lap.
"Buffy, Willow and Giles." He guessed as Bella moved around to sit in the chair at the side of his bed.
"I don't know, he should be here in a bit if you want to ask him." Bella pulled a chocolate bar out of the bag offering it to him. Xander couldn't help but grin as he took it.
"Thanks, you didn't have to." He peered at her, then up to the silent Jacob lent against the back wall to include him.
"It's ok, way I figure it, your all alone up here. Must be scary." Bella offered, peering at him.
"Kinda." He nodded reluctantly, he paused as he opened his chocolate bar, looking at his cousin. "Is everyone pale around here?" He asked, it had been bugging him since he'd walked into town yesterday, everyone seemed to be pale.
"Some more than others." Jacob nodded, eyeing him. "We don't get a lot of sun around here." he offered. Xander felt relieved. "Why?" he asked
"I'm from Cali, I thought I'd wandered into some sort of Vampire town." He chuckled, keeping his tone light. Bella snorted at him.
"Vampire town? I think those comic books have gone to your head." She smiled a moment, but Jacob… Xander wasn't quite sure about him as the teen just looked at him.
"Definitely not the comic books." Xander shrugged lightly, shrugging off his curiosity at Jacobs reaction. They lapsed into an uncomfortable silence a moment.
"So, California, do you surf?" Jacob asked after a moment, obviously searching for something to talk about.
"Ah, not so much." Xander shook his head, shifting as his right leg began to get numb. "Sunnydale wasn't much of a surfing town, we bowled and we bronzed." He told them, honestly. 'and then we patrol.' he added mentally.
"Bronzed?" Bella shifted in her seat, tilting her head to look at him.
"Yeah, it's the local teen hang out. It's either hang out at the bronze or hang out in some cemetery." He added dryly, not adding that he did a lot of that either.
"Sunnydale's a small town then, Fork's shouldn't be too much of a shock." Bella offered supportively. "Oh, I've got to ask. What's with all the old books?" she peered at him from under a curtain of hair.
"Old books?" He asked, proud that his voice didn't squeak, since when did he have old books?
"Like that one, what is that about anyway?" Bella pointed to the Paladin Codex in his lap.
"Oh, old books." Xander nodded stalling a moment as he thought quickly, the drugs admittedly weren't helping him in that respect. "History club at school, we looked into old legends and folk stories." He lied fingering the book, if he was right the one in his lap was written in Latin. He couldn't help but wonder why he had it, the last he knew the book was in the library because it was one best books for identifying the common garden variety demons.
"Any good ones?" Jacob asked interested, Xander blinked he couldn't out right tell them that half the things in the book they'd actually come across.
"Err." He hummed, the hyena gave the equivalent of an eye roll. "There's one about African shaman who where supposedly able to take animal spirits in to them to make them stronger. Old legends like that." he offered, Jacob blinked eyeing him a moment, a look of surprise on his face.
"We have one similar." Jacob offered after a moment, Xander blinked in surprise was that the reason Spot didn't know what to make of him, was Jacob a Primal? The hyena snarled a little at the nick name, but a superior smugness radiated off her. He got the feeling she considered Jacob weak, so maybe he wasn't a Primal.
"You'll have to tell me about it some time, if it's anything like the African legend it's got to be interesting." He smiled disarmingly, maybe once he heard it he'd be able to tell if Jacob was a Primal.
"Sure." Jacob nodded, smiling a little hopping up to sit on the back cabinet.
"Bit of a history geek?" Bella asked smiling at them both.
"Definitely not, I'm a slacker by nature." Xander shrugged settling back into the pillows.
"Somehow I can't see you as the slacker type." Bella offered standing up "We'll probably be back later, if you want?" She offered peering at him
"Yeah, sure.." Xander nodded at them as both his visitors got ready to leave.
"Sorry, I said we'd help my dad on the res." Jacob admitted quietly.
"No worries dude, you two didn't have to come." Xander smiled thankfully at them.
"Thanks for coming." He added.
"See you later Xander." Bella waved as the two left his room, leaving him alone again. A little lost at what to do with himself now they where gone, Xander eyed the books in his lap he picked up the codex and set it on his bedside table, knowing if he had trouble sleeping it was the cure. He picked up the first comic, eyeing it, it was one he'd read before but it was better than nothing. He settled it to read a classic tale of Superhero vs. Super villain.
Hours ticked by as Xander whittled his way through the small stack of comic books trying to unsuccessfully draw them out but all too soon he'd finished the last comic on the pile. From the side table the Paladin Codex practically screamed at him. He busied him self with the tasteless lunch on orderly left, trying to procrastinate a little. He couldn't help but want to leave the book alone, it was to much like school, and to have hospital and school combined was his worst nightmare.
Eventually though his boredom won out and he was force to pick the book up, the heavy tome practically laughing at him. Of course that could have been the drugs the nurse had given him after lunch. He blinked as a folded sheet of paper slid from between the pages, falling into his lap. He set the book down, eyeing the paper. As far as he knew the codex was just a book, but still, he'd been weary of them ever since one had caught fire when he spoke a word aloud. Gingerly he picked the sheet up, warmth curling in his chest when he noticed Giles's neat cursive.
Xander
My dear boy I pray this letter finds you well. I have hidden it within the Paladin Codex, one of several books I have sent with your belongings.
The man who has come to take you away is an Officer Charles Swan, and I am confidant this man is not only your uncle but of a good sort. I had Willow check his credential's on her infernal machine and he his who he appears to be. He is taking you to a town called Forks, somewhere in Washington State.
Forks is a quiet town, and nothing I have found would suggest any extracurricular activities, even so, I have sent you some of the general books just in case. They are more for my piece of mind, but I do hope you find use for them, other than their practical purpose or as door props.
In the face of recent events I offer you my sincere apologies that I could not be of more help. It is with regret that I admit I have not been a good mentor with you, allowing my duties as a watcher and training Willow's new found talents to blind me from you. Perhaps you will be able to use this chance to your gain, to step away from the expectations placed on you, to start with a fresh start if you will. I believe you could achieve great things Xander.
Officer Swan has informed me you are to be residing in Forks with him until your eighteenth birthday, and hopefully your graduation from high school. I hope you find this town, and this new found family to your liking but know that we will miss you, I know Buffy and Willow miss you already. Please do not hesitate to contact me, for any reason.
Your friend
Rupert Giles.
Xander set the letter down wiping his prickling eyes, the letter was pure Giles so much so he could practically hear the English man. It made him feel homesick. Willow was probably worrying her self sick, baking enough cookies to send Buffy into a diabetic coma despite her Slayer metabolism. He'd left them to deal with Spike and Drusilla alone, with the Billy Idol wannabe still baying for the slayers blood, but honestly, what could he do to help at the moment other than slow them down. Despite his homesickness, and his general useless feeling, the letter had warmed his heart.
He felt better than he had done since waking up to a strange nurse, and the fact that Giles cared enough to check up on Charlie was icing on the cake, lifting his spirits. He felt like he could actually stick out his stay at the hospital. He set the letter down carefully, wanting to keep the caring words on the paper safe.
Looking at the codex, he suddenly felt like reading it, the words on the paper spurring him on. Giles believed he could do this, he could graduate and be better than he was. With that in mind he opened the thick tome, settling in to read. If nothing else it would improve his Latin skills. He just hoped the watcher had remembered to pack a few of the translation guides. While he'd picked enough Latin over the last year and a half to read simple sentences, he wasn't exactly fluent.
It was a surprise when as he began to read for the sake of reading, he actually became interested in the contents of the book. Maybe it was because he wasn't searching for anything in particular, but as he read the contents began to get more and more interesting. It began with a theory on how the world began, but it wasn't as dry as school text books, it could be because it was almost like reading science-fiction, but he knew that demons and magic was real. In any case, he found himself sucked into the struggles of early humans against the Old Ones, the original demons. Demons that where nothing like what where on earth today.
Xander could identify with them, even just a little, because he knew how hard fighting vampires was. They didn't have the numbers the humans in the book had to fight on the Hellmouth, there wasn't millions of humans and friendly demons waiting in the wings to take out the latest demon of the week. The book was like the Hellmouth, only on a global scale. At the same time, even though he could identify with them, it was humbling. To know that humans had taken on the old ones, and they did it with only swords, arrows, axes and magic, working together with lower demons and half breeds. Which begged the question, Were all demons evil? Suddenly Xander didn't think so.
