Title: Between Shadows (Episode VII: Unforgiven…) part 3/4
Author: Scb047 (scb047@hotmail.com)
Summary: Xander's spin-off series, set a few years in the future in New York. Prompted by a photo, Dawn starts to reveal some of Xander's past to the group, while guilt over Gabe's injury leads Xander and Marcus into a deadly situation that might cost them both their souls.
Distribution: Distribute away, no permission required.
Feedback: Please do.
Disclaimer: If you want to sue me, first you gotta catch me. Long live the joys of copyright infringements!!! Avenge Napster!!! We remember…
Special thanks to Calen Hawk for the Beta Reading.
Never Free…"Yeah! And if you want some more of this, you can always try again in your next life! Loosers!" yelled back Marcus into the blood-splattered room. A half-dozen or so bodies lined it, lifeless and dismembered, he and Xander triumphant of yet another terrifying attack. Marcus was still pumped full of adrenaline, proud that he'd actually managed to take one down, while his friend had taken care of the five others. He turned around toward him with a big proud grin on his face, but lost it when he took a look at his ruined clothes. "Seriously though dude, can you try to have less blood flying around. These duds don't come cheap."
"Right now, I'm more worried about keeping you alive," answered Xander, discarding away the broken handle of his axe. "Beside you might be starting a new trend there. Blood summer wares. Very chic."
He immediately started off into a brand new hallway, peeking quickly down both sides. One seemed somehow shorter, while the other echoed a certain dreadful endlessness. Xander sighed, evaluating it was devoid of danger for now, and motioned for his friend to follow.
"Yo dude, can I ask you something?"
"What Marcus?" replied Xander in an annoyed tone.
"I'm shitting in my pants here. The thought of dying's bad enough, but I really don't want to spend eternity being tortured, man. Any chances I'm not alone in this?" Xander grew sad had the comment, swallowing hard as he thought an eternity of torment might just be what he deserved.
"No, Marcus," he answered looking at the ground, before lifting his chin up with a regained vigor. "No, you shouldn't worry about it. I'm going to get you out of here safe and sound. I mean all we got to worry about is a couple of psychos. We deal with major baddies almost every week and we're alive, this is nothing, this is like the minors. These guys got nothing on us."
"Does anything scare you?" asked Marcus as if making a joke. "Like I don't know spiders or some shit like that. I mean, make a regular dude feel better here."
Xander laughed a little, trying to think back to the last time he had actually experienced terror. Buffy's face as Asmodeus' sword pierced through her belly.
"No, man. I'm bad to the bone. But I'd watch it if I was you, back in Sunnydale that would have sounded like a jinx…." Xander's voice trailed off as a door opened up ahead of them. The door swung outwards from the right, and a chainsaw popped out through the opening, the sound of its motor roaring over a maniacal laugh.
"You want to take that one?" asked Marcus, sounding though and unimpressed. "Or you want me to handle it?"
Xander was about to answer when the chain-wielding madman came into view, all decked out like a clown at a children's party. It's red nose dripped with blood as Xander turned a strange color of white.
"… and the jinxing begins."
"What?"
"You better take that one, Marcus," said Xander slowing backing up as the mad clown swung his weapon menacingly in the distance. Marcus looked abruptly panicked.
"What do you mean you better take that one? What's wrong with you? I can't fight someone like that by myself!"
"I'm scared of clowns."
"You're fucking kidding me! Go out and kill that thing, now!"
"Marcus," interrupted Xander as he watched the clown start to bolt towards them. "Run!"
"What is it Dawn?" asked Katrina as she caught up with her by the living room window. Dawn stood there, staring out at some kids playing around by the curb. She wondered why, if she never in fact had a childhood, she missed it so much. Why the thought of those false memories hurt her so much. It was almost funny to her, the fact that she didn't even know where she began.
"What's going on?" asked Sanaz as she stepped in through the front door, Garrett in tow. She glanced back and forth between a teary eyed Dawn, and a sympathetic, if a little confused, Katrina. Suddenly Sanaz was struck with fear. "Kat, what's going on? Is everybody alright? Xander? Gabe?"
"No, everyone's fine. I'm not… I'm not sure what's going on. We just showed her a picture of Annie and she freaked."
"You know what?" said Garret carefully, knowing he was treading on careful waters. "I'm gonna go check on Gabe."
Sanaz dropped her purse on the couch before pulling Dawn into a hug. "What's wrong sweetie?"
"Nothing… it's just bad memories, that's all."
"No, no you don't honey," Sanaz waved a finger gently in her face. "We got enough of one emotional wreck under this roof, you're gonna tell us what's up, and we're going to find a way to make it all better. Even if I have to run down to the store and buy industrial quantities of ice cream."
Dawn laughed nervously, wiping her tears with both hands. She took a deep breath, and it finally helped her regain what little composure she had lost. "Buffy."
"What?"
"My sister, her name was Buffy. I know ridiculous isn't it? Who names their kid, Buffy? Then again Dawn isn't much better."
"Well I rather like it actually," said Gabe as Garrett rolled him in. "I hope you don't mind us crashing the discussion. I just wanted to know if I needed to apologize for something. Because if I said anything, or did—"
"No Gabe, I'm fine. It's not you, it's the photo. And you two crashing is fine. I don't want to have to repeat this, and I guess in a way, I want you all to know."
"What? What about the picture?"
It took Dawn a moment before she mustered the strength to answer. "You're friend, Annie. She kind of looked like my sister Buffy." There was a beat following the revelation. Somehow the room grew awkward and suffocating, Gabe, among others, suddenly suspicious. "Not a lot, but just kind of. Like how she smiled in one of the picture you showed me."
"Didn't you mention something way back about Xander dating your sister?" asked Gabe confused and a little angry, though he did his best to keep it in check. "That's how he got custody of you, right?"
"Yeah… they were sort of engaged, right before she died."
"Why wouldn't Xander have told me that?"
"Maybe he didn't notice?" offered Katrina, trying to protect her friend, even though she already knew the answer to that question.
"Yeah, I mean Dawn said she looked a little like her. I mean some people say I look a little like Cordelia Chase sometimes," chimed in Sanaz before the quizzical looks she received from everyone forced her to retract, "alright, maybe not. But still, a lot of people look like other people. I mean we're all monkeys when you think about it. Ugly, ugly monkeys."
"I want to know how your mind works," replied Garret completely perplexed by her nervous babbling.
"Dawn?" persisted Gabe, sensing a cover-up. Dawn almost broke instantly, her eyes fleeing his questioning glare. However, years of living under the constant threat of being murdered or kidnapped, left one with a certain amount of pressure management.
"Maybe… I don't know. He could have missed it."
"Dawn," continued Gabe, unconvinced. "What's the story here? What is it, you're not telling me… and I'm hoping us." He threw a glance at all the occupants of the room. Both girls ran from it as Garrett casually opened himself up a bag of chips.
"I… I don't even know where to begin."
"Why don't you start telling us about your sister," mentioned Garrett. "How did her and Xander meet? I mean c'mon. You two have been living here a while and we know hardly anything about you both. It's ridiculous. We already know about the demons and about Xander assassinating a political figure. What can you possibly have hidden that's bigger than that."
Dawn considered it a moment, and realized Garrett was right. If Xander didn't want to share his past, that was his problem. These were her friends and she trusted them. She was entitled to unload a little.
"See, Buffy, me and our mom. We all moved to Sunnydale when I was like ten or eleven. Buffy had gotten kick out of her last school back in LA for burning down the gymnasium; it was filled with vampires at the time, but somehow the authorities didn't buy that excuse."
"Vampires?"
"Yeah, my sister was a slayer, like Faith, but I didn't know that at the time."
"Another Slayer? I thought there was only—oh…"
"No, actually Faith and Buffy were… listen that's a long confusing story and it's all thanks to Xander anyways, so maybe we can skip it for now."
"Sure."
"Anyways, so we moved, and that was fine because my Mom and Dad had just split up. That's when she met Xander, first day of school. Apparently they bumped into each other, and Xander accidentally discovered her secret. Next thing they knew, Xander, Willow, and my sister, were this total crime-fighting trio, except with demons. They called themselves Scoobies. Pretty tacky, huh? Xander's idea at the time. He was pretty much of a geek back then, not at all Mr Badass. He was always getting his ass kicked, always risking his life in completely ridiculous ways, just because he had this obsession with protecting my sister."
"He was in love with her?"
"Yeah, from the first time he ever saw her. Totally obsessed for like two or three years. After that, it died down. He'd been dating—this other girl, and then Faith came into the picture."
"Let me guess," asked Katrina, rolling her eyes. "Love at first sight."
"No, actually. I don't think they thought about each other much, but she did take his virginity and tried to rape and murder him, so there you go. After that it was friction city between the two, not that they talked much before. After that, Faith decided to go evil, very much like right now. My sister and her had this really competitive relationship. Anyway, years passed by and Xander left Sunnydale after… after Anya died."
"Anya?"
"Yeah, his fiancé, his first one. It wasn't three months apart from when Willow died, and I think he just couldn't handle all that grief at once. She died in his arms. After that it was Alcohol County from then on. He snapped, he wasn't the same Xander anymore, like he had to kill some part of him to go on … and then he disappeared, for a little more than a year, almost two, I don't know. When he came back everything changed…"
The sound of a key being fumbled into a lock resonated from the outside of the Summers' house. Dawn slept quietly upstairs and despite the ruckus, it seemed whoever was trying to get in was careful not to wake her. They spoke in hush tones, one reprimanding the other for dropping the keys a few times. Finally, Xander pushed the door open with his knee, carrying a wounded but resilient Buffy over to her couch. She rolled her eyes, at his behavior, complaining as they went.
"You really don't need to carry me, Xand. I can walk. I'm fine."
"Yeah, well you've already tried plenty to tell me that on our way here, what makes you think I'm going to change my mind now that I'm five feet from your—and there we are. You still keep the first aid kit under the sink right?"
It took only a moment, and Xander was back carrying the expensive professional medkit, the basic equipment of a seasoned slayer. He knelt down by Buffy's foot and proceeded to pull back the blood soaked jeans from her leg. A large and deep gash flowed where the demon's sword had sliced her. The wound would have required surgery to heal properly if she had not been a slayer, but Xander knew right away all it needed was a little cleaning and stitching.
"I can do it."
"Oh I know," answered Xander with a grin, "but it wouldn't be as sexy if I let you do it."
Buffy rolled her tongue at the comment, faking annoyance not to flatter Xander's already large ego. "You do remember I can kick your ass anytime I want, right?"
"Yeah, but you wouldn't risk waking Dawn upstairs. She's got a Math test tomorrow. And c'mon, you know how much I love this. Taking care of you. Stealing a few touches of your very sexy tibia."
"Sexy tibia? Could you get more lame?"
"Probably, but we don't want to go there." Xander eyes' shined with confidence as he trailed his finger along Buffy's skin. To Buffy's surprise, he met her glare head on and with the same self-assured smile she had come to see often on his face for the last two weeks. Two weeks. It had only been two weeks since he was back in her life and already he was fitting right in like the missing piece of a puzzle. He had changed, but from what she could see it was only for the better. Dawn had already forgiven him, looking up to him for all the answers her sister couldn't provide.
She watched him as he expertly stitched up her leg. He had lost much of that innocence she used to love about him, that normality she had envied him for. She could see things hadn't gotten better for Xander over the last year. He had brand new demons he didn't talk about, and they were unfortunately of the kind she couldn't slay for him. She still felt guilty over how they had left things.
"You handled yourself pretty well tonight, just so you know."
"Oh you mean taking out those three demons while you couldn't handle your two?"
"Well…. they had swords, and I was distracted… by how shiny those swords were. Shiny, shiny. I'm almost like a crow, you never noticed that about me?"
"Right, that had nothing to do with the fact that I'm a better swordsman than you."
"Yeah, but never that good. You really went highlander on my ass."
"There's other ways I'd like to get on ass."
"Xander, nobody likes cheap c'mon lines. Keep rubbing me that way and I'm likely to kick you out. Whether or not I wake up Faith and Dawn in the process."
"Sorry, you lost me at rubbing." Unwillingly, Buffy returned his devilish grin for a second. "Anyways, it's barely 3am. You should know by now Faith's still out in a bar, finding herself another replacement Boy Toy for the evening."
Buffy bit her lips as he went back to work. It was an opening, but she didn't know if she should take it. She didn't even know why she wanted to ask the question. She hesitated a moment, and gave in to her impulse.
"And does that bother, you?" Xander looked up at her question. He seemed surprised by it, but he quickly shook that off into something that resembled more amusement.
"We used to sleep together, Buffster. That's what you wanted to know, right? You can stop worrying; it was totally casual on both sides. My heart still belongs only to you."
"Are you so sure about that?" asked Buffy, quickly feeling awkward off Xander's enticing gaze, "I meant about Faith. She seems tense around me, jealous actually… in a femme fatale kind of way."
"Firecracker? Nah, she's just doesn't like to share her toys, and it's not like you two have the greatest history of friendly competition. Don't worry; it's Faith we're talking about here. Remember, "She doesn't take the guys she 'connects' with seriously". We might be buds but that's it trust me."
"Alright," she replied pensively, desperately scrambling for a change of subject. "You think you could ever hook me up with the guy who thought you how to fight. I mean I figure I should learn to handle a sword like you, since it's my duty and all."
"Hojiro? I wouldn't even know how to reach him. I looked him up when I got back in town, and he's not even listed anymore. He was always pretty secretive anyways. Maybe I can teach you?"
"That'd be awesome. I mean it's such an unusual fighting style, even I can't make head or tails of it."
"And you'd get another excuse to spend some quality, not to mention, sweaty time with me."
Buffy laughed, closing her eyes for a second as she shook her head, giving up any hopes to dissuade him from this behavior. In a way, the kind she'd never fess up to, it was very flattering. She had been feeling so lonely since Riley had left, just to know somebody found her attractive was almost intoxicating. When she opened them up again, Xander had moved up to sit on the edge of the couch
"We make a good team, huh?" asked Xander brushing away a strand of hair from her face, his hand lingering on there, caressing her skin gently. Suddenly, Buffy felt short of breath, as if some tension had risen between them.
"The best," she managed, trying to control her pulse.
"You know I really have missed you while I was gone."
"So you said."
"And you really missed me?"
"So I said."
"Took me for granted, didn't you?"
Buffy looked away feeling guilty. When she answered her voice was sad, only her pulsating jugular betraying her internal palpitation. "Kinda did."
"You ever pictured it that way?"
"Picture what?"
"The first time I kissed you?"
"What makes you so sure I've been picturing that? Wait, what makes you think we're going to kiss?"
"Well, because in five seconds I'm gonna kiss you regardless. And to answer your first question, it's because I'm fairly certain you're gonna kiss me back."
Buffy opened her mouth to protest, but Xander took that opportunity to press his lips against hers. Passion took over them in less than a sec and Buffy was wrapping her arms around his neck, tightening the embrace. Neither of them knew how much time passed as their hands traveled over each other's body. Xander's heart was racing; Buffy moaned into his ear as he hungrily kissed her neck. Suddenly, it ended. Buffy broke the embrace, gently pushing herself off him, having long twisted herself on top.
"Don't tell me," said Xander exasperated at Buffy's gentle shy smile, " You think this is a mistake."
"No," replied Buffy, breathing hard. "I want to take things upstairs."
Leaning back against the nearest wall, Xander busied himself catching his breath, as Marcus finally came through the door. He had slowed down to a jog by then, and walked a few more moments in circles before allowing himself to collapse. Fifteen or so minutes of dashing through a maze of identical corridors and booby trapped rooms had left Marcus' breathing in an even worse shape than Xander's.
"You… you think… we lost him?"
"Yeah… I think we're good."
"So… what we do now, dog?"
"I don't know, find the exit, hope some other loony will take care of him for us. All right, gather up, we got to keep moving."
"One thing…" said Marcus as he struggled to pull himself to his feet. "… why clowns, dude?"
"They're creepy, man. They cry on the inside."
They walked silently for a while, given each other a chance to recover their stamina. Far, far in the distance, a dying scream could be heard. It had become such a common occurrence in the long few hours they'd been trapped here that they discarded it as any other background noise.
"Dog?"
"Yeah, Marcus?"
"Why did you bring me out here? I mean you didn't need me to come along?"
"Listen, I'm sorry I got you involved. I thought this would be a ride in the park."
"Nah, c'mon, that's bullshit. You always do everything by yourself. It's always got to be you against the world."
"Listen… I don't know what to tell you, Marcus. I'm sorry…I just…"
"Why man? Why me? Why couldn't you have asked Garret or went by yourself?" Xander suddenly came to a stop, his arm stretching out to block his friend's path. Xander sighed, realizing only the truth would get Marcus to shut up.
"Because you remind me of me when I was younger, alright?" He left a beat to follow the bombshell. "I've been kind of an ass lately, because I wanted to protect you guys. After what happened with Gabe and Carl, it's like suddenly I'm living somebody else's life."
"What do you mean?"
"Growing up, I wasn't the superhero, Marcus, I wasn't even a hero. I was the sidekick, and a lousy one at that. All my friends had superpowers and I was the normal guy. I did all I could to help, but most of the time that just meant getting my ass kicked, and according to my friends at the time, risk getting killed for no good reason. See, I was foolish and overzealous, completely in love with a girl I couldn't have. All I had was this stupid and reckless determination to do what was right, to protect a girl that never even thanked me for it. I was so in love with the idea of living a comic book life, that I'd run around and almost get myself killed on a weekly basis. Just like you."
"See, you had me at, you remind me of me, and then you way lost me when the insults started to come out."
"Marcus, I'm not trying to insult you, it's not like you're a carbon copy of me, but in ways we're a lot alike."
"Yeah, really? How exactly?"
"Like how you're secretly jonesing for Katrina, and the mere mention of her name is enough to get you here. In a major puppet-like way."
"What? I… don't know… how did you know?"
"I'm not blind, and like I said, I used to be of the secretly pining kind; we can smell our own."
"Okay so we real alike. Bra-fucking-vo, Gramps. I bow to your powers of seeing how pathetic I am."
"Marcus! You're not pathetic, and that's why I brought you here!"
"You're making the kind of sense that doesn't!"
"Okay, how's this then? My friends thought I was useless. I wasn't. They thought I couldn't handle myself, that I'd get killed. I'm alive, they're not. I'm living proof that you don't need superpowers to do what's right. Look at me now. All bad and dangerous. But back then, when I was you, I remember how it felt to have my friends cast me aside, when all I wanted to do was help. I remember that now, and I'm sorry I ever forgot. Because I'm treating you how they treated me Marcus. You're my friend, you're not useless, more importantly, it's your life and if you want to risk it, then fine, I'm not going to stop you from helping. And maybe one day, if you're unlucky enough to live through years of this shit, maybe the fact that I made sure you understood how valuable all you guys can be to me, maybe that could keep you from becoming what I am. I just wanted to make sure you felt appreciated; give you something I've never had. I should have known I'd just end up getting you killed or worse."
"Maybe if you really meant that, dog, you wouldn't be blaming yourself, like some kind of brooding looser. So what? You got me in this mess, so yeah, I'm pissed at you. Don't get me wrong; love the speech, warms up my heart to think you think of me like that. But if you think I'm just gonna mellow out, melt in your arms and be yours forever, Titanic style, then you didn't see the god damn iceberg hit the deck at the end of the movie. I'm your friend, and whether or not I got a genuine basis for it, I reserve myself the right to get pissed at you, especially in high-pressure situations, just like this one. You got that? Oh and for the record, I came, my fault!"
Marcus poked his finger hard, at Xander's chest, taken by some mysterious fury. He was flattered by his friend's attitude, and perhaps it was this elevation of his ego by a man he respected and feared, or perhaps it was simply the pressure getting to him, that had given him such boldness. Trembling, but determined, Marcus had completely disregarded the situation, or their relationship, and spoke his mind; he didn't want his friend to blame himself in case something happened, and he certainly didn't want to rescind his anger toward the situation either. He was allowed to feel this way, and he wouldn't have his friend rob him of that by rousing his pity. To Marcus, Xander smiling, glowing as if inspired by the speech, seemed to be proof enough of success. The image of a young boy poking a bear in the eye would come to Marcus until much later.
"I got it."
"Thank you, now let's bust our asses out of—" His sentence ended instead with Marcus, cocking his head to the left to check out a girl that had just busted into their hallway. Quite a few paces away from Xander, the girl had just slammed the door behind her. Breathless, she pressed her head against the door, half-recovering, half-listening for sign of her pursuer. Marcus studied her figure with an unwilling interest. The girl, her back to them, still offered quite a view. Her figure was petite, yet voluptuous, her torn clothes accenting every curve, revealing smooth creamy skin. Her long blond hair bathed in the blood flowing from a large gash on her shoulder. Marcus was so busy, he never noticed Xander's eerie look of uneasiness.
The feeling pulsing in Xander's chest exploded when what he feared, when what he thought couldn't possibly be true, what denied every logical explanation, revealed itself. When the girl, sensing someone's presence, slowly turned around, Marcus witnessed a simultaneous gasp.
"Buffy?" Xander was practically hyperventilating, the name coming out with each of its syllables broken.
"Xander?" She for herself seemed relieved, as if she saw in Marcus' friend the first foreseeable happy ending to a nightmare. She didn't skip a beat, not sharing Xander's near swooning stupefaction, and started bolting toward them. "Oh my god! Thank god you're here!"
Pale as a sheet, his eyes almost vitreous, Xander still didn't move.
"Buffy?" he managed again, after staring at his friend as if the latter could confirm he wasn't dreaming. When he turned his head back toward her, she was already half-way through the corridor. Xander finally smiled, giving in to the fantasy, still breathing hard, but involuntarily laughing as he started walking forward. "Buffy!" And then, that's when he saw it somehow, the subtle depression in the ground ahead, a few tiles slightly more elevated than the others. Suddenly, his expression of pure joy turned to terror. "Buffy! No!"
He dashed forward, as Buffy looking at him quizzically, threw a quick glance over her shoulder, thinking somebody might be trying to ambush her from the back. When she snapped her head around, having not slowed her pace, she heard the click. The walls, quick as lighting, collapsed on her, spikes reaching out from hidden holes. She closed her eyes and shrieked, not noticing the thud ahead.
After a few surprising moments, the realization of life occurred to her. Opening her eyes one at the time, she peered at the walls. They were frozen in place, their spikes still a good few inches from her on either side. Straight ahead, Xander hung five foot above the ground, caught in a split between the two walls. He groaned from the strain of his legs wedging the very heavy walls apart, a bead of sweat was already sliding down his reddening face.
"Whoa!" said Marcus from the back, having witnessed Xander's heroic quick thinking in its entire splendor.
"Xander!" Buffy yelped as she hugged him tightly.
"Buffy! Caught… between walls… right now…. happy to see you…. very happy… but WALLS!!!!!"
"Oh right! Huh… what do we do?" she asked as Marcus ran up to join them.
"You're… asking… ME!"
"Dog, doesn't that hurt?" asked Marcus, distraught by a large wound a nearby spike had slashed underneath Xander's calf.
"Trying… not… to think… about it… thanks for reminding… me… Marcus—whoa!" The last yelp came with a sudden jolt of Xander's body, his legs bending a little at the knee as they slowly gave under the tremendous weight. His arms went out toward both sides in a protective fashion. "Buffy! Pry that thing open… NOW!"
"I don't know how to. I don't have my strength!"
"What?"
"I don't have my strength. I don't know what's going—"
"Okay… story time… later! Rip a door down… use it to…"
"Got it!" Buffy replied anticipating the rest of his statement. "You come with me."
Marcus followed, not certain who the girl was, but she deducing she meant something to Xander. They hurried to the nearest door and started pulling down at it with their collective weight. It failed and they switched to other unsuccessful ways to take it down. As they took a quick pause to try to brainstorm new ideas, the sound of chainsaw cutting through a door ahead had Xander panicking.
"That sounds like the clown that was pursuing me before," commented Buffy as his maniacal laugh came storming from down the hallway.
"You saw that dude too?" asked Marcus, surprised, but talking lightly as one does when realizing he has a common acquaintance with a newly met individual.
"Hey guys… HURRY! Get that door now! Now! Now!"
"We're trying!"
"So is he! HURRY!"
"Well if you're gonna be like this…"
"He's out!" yelled back Xander at Buffy, this time, she seemed to take him more seriously. Her and Marcus exchanged a panicked glance and started kicking and trashing themselves at the door. Meanwhile Xander watched in dread, as the maniacal clown, darted down the space separating them, chainsaw raised high. "He's coming! I'm gonna die! I'm gonna get killed by a stupid clown!"
His legs trembled, fatigued beyond measure; he thought he had almost no strength left. The clown was only a few paces away, and by then it had become very clear that they'd never take the robust door in time. He was about to die, it seemed utterly hopeless, and yet Xander was ecstatic. Buffy was alive. He was overjoyed, suddenly all his problems, all his pain had vanished. His hero was back, and he wasn't going to miss her welcome home party. Turning his attention back toward the clown, Xander swore he would live through this, and then let his quick thinking do the rest.
"Xander!" yelled Buffy as she saw the clown only a few feet from Xander, dashing between the spikes, his chainsaw already coming down. From her and Marcus' perspective, it looked like it was all over. Xander was about to be mowed down and there was nothing neither of them could do, but then suddenly, Xander gave a short but powerful push with both legs. The walls swung back a little, giving the trap the illusion of hanging open for a moment as Xander fell, flipping backward and barely out of the chainsaw's deadly arc. In a split second, the walls closed on themselves in a crunching splatter of blood, Xander barely pulling away in time.
The clown yelled painfully, but only once, the air quickly gasping out of his pierced lungs. Xander found that strangely satisfying, despite his own painful and ungraceful landing.
"Who's crying on the inside now, bitch!"