Interlude 8A – Other side of the coin II

*** Xander POV ***

- Set in part 25 before Buffy confronts Jack-

Walking into school with Cordelia, we meet up with Willow and Oz. "Hey there Wills. Oz."

"Xander! I got a kitten! Well... they were abandoned on my porch, and I had four, but my mom said I could only keep one. But I have a kitten, so, yay! I think I'm going to name her Kitty Fantastico."

"Someone left kittens on your porch?"

"Yeah, in a box. It was kind of oooky really. A knock on the door and then nobody there but the box of kittens." Seeing Oz making a confused face at something behind me, I turn around to see a tired and grumpy looking Buffy holding two cups of coffee.

"Hey Buffs... Is everything okay?"

"Buffy! Good news! I got a kitten... uh..." Buffy's eye starts twitching. This can't be of the good.

- Set in part 27's research party -

Well... I know nothing about magic defenses, or surveillance bugs... uh... pizza's gone... Why did Jack hand me a book on carpentry?

Huh. What're these pieces of paper taped to the wall? Oh... just a to do list. Uh... Wait...what the what?

A/N -
Handwriting (Underlined means crossed off on list) - Jack's - Amy's- *Harmony's* -Faith's Before (Red Crayon) / Faith's After (Normal Pen)
I'm trying to make the list more legible. It worked much better when I had it color coded and access to different fonts.
FFN's complete lack of formatting options kind of murdered it. Anyone that has suggestions for fixing it please let me know.
I can't even seem to get an actual bullet list to import
-End A/N

- Learn how write in ancient Sumerian. *Why?* Because Funny.
- Learn Proper Swordwork. Maybe also learn how to not almost stab me by accident?
- Firearms Training. Me too!
- Find Xander's Uncle Rory for truck paperwork
- Maps
- - Town.
- - Sewer.
- - Cavern.
- - Leyline? Doesn't actually work that way
 - - Hellmouth's Influence? Maybe?
 - - Kanto You haven;'t beaten that game yet?
- Get Amy The Girls night vision goggles. - magical equivalent? Cat's Eye goggles?
- Who is Mrs. Cole? How did she know Mother?
- Fireproof House
- Technomancy Books – Giles? Willow?
- Deal with Sandra's father.
- Brownies.
- Halloween Costumes
- - Jack Joker
- - Amy Poison Ivy Fine.
 - - Faith Harley Who is this Harley chick?
 - - Xander Batman
- - Cordelia Lois Lane
- - Buffy SuperGirl
- - Willow BatGirl
- - Oz *Robin* ? *Andrew says Tim Drake was a werewolf* Thank you Harmony
- - Harmony ? Riddler Okay, that works.
- Magic Tutors Yes!
- Demolitions– Xander?
- Baseball Bat Custom order a stronger one. How did Faith still break it? It had a really hard skull?
- Get better at Mario Kart Don't bother. Faith still wins when drunk Damn Straight I do!
- Have Rory part out Gorch's Truck.
- Wild Empathy Testing. Is this why I keep finding my cat unconscious?
- Inform Faith that list entries should not be done in red crayon.
- Why do I keep finding my cat unconscious!? Soup Crackers WTF does that even mean?
- Martial Arts instructor(s)

"...Jack..."

"Yeah Bats?"

Yeah. I can live with being called bats. But... "Why am I on here next to demolitions?"

"Didn't you find a rocket launcher once?" How does he know about that? "Anyway yes, I've been meaning to ask you. What would you recommend if I wanted to convey a sense of 'fuck this one building in particular very very much?"

"Do I want to know why?"

"...Because nuking a city to kill one demon seems... excessive maybe? Err... I think it sounds excessive... Don't you?"

Amy's rule about asking Jack questions finally pops into my mind a moment too late...

-Later-

I'm flipping through the surprisingly interesting book on carpentry that Jack gave me while Oz drives us all around for Jack to check for bugs.

Jack turns around in the front seat as we approach our first stop, Buffy's house. "Just so we're clear: you all want me to come into your homes and poke around? That doesn't seem weird to you guys?"

Next to me Cordelia sounds annoyed "Yes! We're sure, don't make it sound so much creepier than it needs to."

"Okay. Okay. Just making sure... Oh hey, we're here."

We all climb out of the van and head up to the house.

Answering our knocking, Joyce opens the door. "Oh, I'm sorry you guys. Buffy's not here. Didn't she tell you she has training with Giles tonight?"

But I thought... "Actually-" Willow elbows me and Jack's hand clamps down on my should before I can finish my question. What just happened?

"Actually Joyce, we're here to see you. Someone installed surveillance bugs at my place while we were at school. We're just doing a quick check to make sure no one else got bugged. I figured we should start here, what with your daughter's work and all. Mind if we come in and poke around quickly?"

Joyce steps to the side like Buff taught her and we all file in.

While Jack walks off into the house with Mrs. Summers, I ask Willow why she elbowed me.

"I can't... Buffy made me promise not to tell anyone." What would Buffy trust Jack with but not me?