Author's notes: Gee, I'm seeing a trend here, are you seeing a trend here? Anyone want to guess whose turn it is to die? To someone who asked, no, I didn't know Simmerman and Zucherman are spelled Zimmerman and Zuckerman. I thought I made them up.

September 12, Wednesday

Xander woke to something wailing in his ear. He instinctively slapped at it as his brain explained to him that it was the alarm clock. Lifting his head, he saw a blur of yellow sail past his window. Oh man, he missed the bus again. Muttering a few choice curses, he lurched to his feet and stumbled over to the closet.

As he was heading down the stairs, a sudden thought came to him, and he nearly cried out in shock. Oh god, Giles was…

No, Willow was…

No, Buffy was…

Um, who was dead, again?

Something was definitely not right. He sat down on the step and struggled to sort his thoughts and memories out. According to what his mind insisted were his memories, Buffy, Willow, and/or Giles were/was dead. Killed by a green bug-eyed monster. But also according to those memories, he had flunked the same test twice, gotten fired from the same job three times, and had a run in with a certain quarterback three times too many.

So what was real, and what was fantasy? Was it all just a complex dream, or did it really happen?

Well, if it was real, then he truly needed to find an answer. And if it was a dream, then it wouldn't matter if he treated it as real. So either way, he should behave as if it is real, and as if the day really was repeating itself.

Wait, was today Wednesday again? Rushing down the stairs, he ignored his father's startled outburst and grabbed the newspaper. Yep, Wednesday the 12th. "Dad, is this today's paper?"

"Well, of course it is. Are you dumb enough to not even know what day it is?"

Xander shook his head. "Lately I'm not sure." Picking up his bag, he headed out the door.

He decided to take his bike to school, since he needed to be there on time for one particular reason: he had memorized every answer on Willow's test the following day… and was guaranteed to get an A-. Which might be moan-worthy for almighty Willow, but was a sweet deal for him. So he took off on his two-wheel transportation, pedaling quickly through the streets.

Which lasted for all of three minutes, until a decision to take a right instead of left sent him plowing into Spike.

After gently picking himself up from the pavement, he limped over to Spike to check on the vampire's condition. "Geez Spike, I'm so sorry. Are you okay? Still breathi- er, not breathing?"

Spike sat up from his sprawled position and winced, gingerly touching his arm. "Agh, what the bloody… Xander? You hit me!"

"Oh man Spike, I am so so sorry. You weren't supposed to be there. I couldn't go the other way. There was a car the other way. Did I hurt your arm?"

Being helped to his feet by one penitent teenager, Spike waved off his concern. "Nah, you didn't do it, Whelp. You didn't hurt me at all, actually. Just surprised the 'ell outa me. Where you off to in such a hurry?" Aha, he had been right about the intense eyes. And apparently they changed color depending on Spike's emotions. Right now they were vibrant blue.

"To school. I've got a test to get an A- on." Glancing at Spike's arm, Xander realized that it was bleeding from several nasty gashes. "Fuck, Spike, who did that? Or what, rather?"

Spike opened his mouth as if to answer, then hesitated and looked up. "Erm, Xander, I'll talk to you later. Right now I gotta press on." And with that, he ran off.

Huh, Spike was acting weird again. Oh well.

Xander reached the school with plenty of time, due mainly to the fact that his bike was not as damaged by hitting one British vampire than it had been by hitting one American Taurus.

Second period went by slower than slowly, since Xander had finished his test in the first ten minutes and now had to wait for it to be graded. The teacher only brought the tests back when everyone was finished, and as it landed on his desk he was thrilled to see an A-… what tha, that was an F! A zero, in fact. What had happened?

A startled whimper from next to him made him look over, to see Willow staring in shock at her paper. The blaring red mark on her test mimicked the one on his own, and the knowledge of what had happened slowly dawned on him. Fuck, the teacher thought Willow had helped him cheat.

And no wonder, considering he had practically copied her test word for word from memory. Gods and monsters, could he be so stupid?

Outside the door after class, Willow whirled on him and glared accusing 'you hurt me, Xander' eyes at him. "Xander, tell me the truth. Did you cheat off of me?"

Xander backed up, waving a hand in an attempt to console her. "No no, it's not like that. I… well, technically, yes, I sorta cheated. But not during the test!"

"Then when? I got a zero, Xander! A ZERO!"

"Look, I'm sorry, I didn't mean for this to happen. I'll make it up to you. I'll confess to Mrs. Stetsill, and tell her you had nothing to do with this. I'll tell her I cheated off of you without your knowing it."

The thought of regaining her A subdued Willow a little, but she was still looking at him with disappointment. "Xander, you've never cheated before. You always just took whatever grade you got, no matter how bad. Why'd you do it?"

"Well, you know, I thought, what with the opportunity and all… but I didn't mean to make it look like I cheated!"

"What opportunity? Xander, you had better start making sense real soon."

"Okay, okay, I'll tell you everything. Just, come over here." Taking her arm gently, he pulled her to a side bench away from most of the traffic. Once he was sure nobody was listening in, he began. "Okay, here's how it is: I'm repeating this day over and over. Yesterday was today, the day before yesterday was today, and if I don't do something about it, tomorrow's probably gonna be today too."

Willow frowned. "I said start making sense!"

"I'm trying! I'm reliving the same day. I don't know how or why, but I am. And that's how I… cheated… on the test. I borrowed your test yesterday and memorized the correct answers."

"But I didn't have my test yester…you said yesterday was today? As in, the same things happened?"

"Yes!"

"So, for you, yesterday was Wednesday, and you took the test and then borrowed my paper, and today you took the test again, only now you knew the answers?"

"Yes!" Alright, we're making progress!

"Then things will happen today that you'll already know about? Things that haven't happened yet?"
"Yes!"

"Prove it."

"Glad to." Taking her arm again, he led her in the direction of the library. "When we get to the library, Giles is going to start going on about a demon. A green, bug-eyed demon. He'll say it's killing the local wildlife and all. Then I'll say, 'So it's a green bug-eyed monster?' and he'll say 'Xander, be serious, this thing is killing people.' And then later, despite my best attempts to prevent it, a blue hardback book is probably going to get wet. Then this afternoon I'm gonna get fired for something I didn't do, and tonight somebody's going to die."

That made Willow screech to a halt. "Wait, what? Die? Who?"

"I don't know. I'll tell you about that later."

Giles was there to meet them when they arrived, an expression of "There's a demon running loose and we have to kill it" on his face. He immediately launched into his mandatory British-guy explanation.

"Oh good, you're here. I need to talk to you about a new demon that's shown up in town. Apparently it's been eating the local wildlife, and a few people have caught sight of it. It appears to be a dark green in color, with its eyes on stalks protruding from its head."

That was his cue. "So basically it's a green bug-eyed monster?"

"Xander, be serious. This thing is killing people."

By this time, Willow's jaw was on the floor, and she made no effort to pick it up. "How… how did you…"

Giles gave her a confused look. "How did I what?"

"Not you… how did…"

"She means me," Xander piped up. "I can see the future. Sorta. Everything that's gonna happen today. Because I've lived through it about… oh, say, three times."

Frankly, he was getting to enjoy their shocked expressions. Being looked at like he was insane sure beat being looked at like he was moronicity incarnate. Um, was moronicity a word? Moronality… Moronacy… Moronicness… Moronication…

Willow held up a slim hand firmly. "That's not important. Explain the death thing."

That got Giles' attention. "Death? What? Who died?"

"It depends. You, Buffy, or Willow. I don't know who it's going to be today. But I suggest the three of you skip the demon hunting tonight and do an altogether sleepover thing at Wil's house. For safety in numbers, you know. And myself too, I guess, 'cause I might be next on the list."

Giles did the rub-the-bridge-of-his-nose thing, which translated as 'Even at the best of times I find understanding Xander to be difficult.' "Xander, I'm afraid you've confused me. Explain it again?"

Xander shook his head. "It won't do any good. Can you just trust me on this? For once?" That put a slight pain in his chest, but he deliberately ignored it.

Giles looked as if he was about to argue, but Willow made the decision for him and held up her hand again. Giving him a good shot of 'Aren't I cute?' eyes, she smiled "We should probably do as he says. After all, won't we feel really bad if he turns out to be right, and somebody dies? The rest of us will have to buy flowers for the funeral."

That did it. Sighing deeply, which translated as 'The things I do for you people', Giles nodded his head.

Success! Now all he had to do was leave before he could ruin the book. Just as he turned and marched towards the door, it opened, and a nonchalant Buffy barreled right into him.

Drink everywhere. Especially on the book. Frustrated out of his mind, Xander nearly yelled at Buffy for forcing fate, but the miserable look on her face stopped him. She was going to take the blame! She couldn't do that; it was his fault. It was always his fault. Spinning around, he blurted out, "Oh man Giles, I'm so sorry. I should have been looking where I was going."

While Buffy did the "stunned-speechless" thing, Giles berated him for his stupidity. He pretended to listen penitently, nodding at the appropriate moments, and reciting the litany in his head as Giles said it. He knew there was no way he could get Giles to forgive him and still keep his dignity intact, so he didn't bother. He let Giles shoo him out with little fuss, but was surprised when Buffy made as if to come with him.

Giles was surprised too. "Buffy, could you stay? I need to fill you in on current…happenings."

Glancing around nervously, Buffy nodded. "Yeah, um Giles, I'll be back in a minute. I just need to … to use the bathroom. Yeah." That appeared to appease her Watcher, so she turned and, grabbing Xander's arm, hauled him out the door.

Unsure of these turn of events, Xander resisted a little. "Hey, easy, what'd I do?"

Once the door was closed, Buffy let go. "I just wanted to say thanks."

Huh? "Thanks for what?"

The Slayer rolled her eyes. "For covering for me. With the drink. That was really nice of you, Xan."

Oh, that. "Nah, it was my fault in the first place."

Buffy chewed her lip. "Well, it was sorta both our faults, but you took all the blame. Thanks. I'll remember that." Done with her speech, she turned and headed briskly for the bathroom.

Xander chuckled bitterly to no one. "Not if I don't fix this, you won't."

A crash from down a nearby hall caught his attention, and Xander went to investigate. Just as he turned the corner, a mountain came out of nowhere and bumped into him. A mountain by the name of Varsity Quarterback Pete Conners, who currently had Mark the Grill Guy pinned up against a locker, and didn't look to pleased with Xander's interruption.

Where's the Slayer when you need her? In the girls' bathroom. The age old question has been answered.

As luck would have it, the locker Xander got stuffed into turned out to be Mark's, who was only too happy to help him out of it. "Man, I gotta thank you. If you hadn't shown up just then, I'd be a Mark-colored smear on the floor."

Xander brushed himself off rather thoroughly. Did no one ever dust the inside of lockers? "Never fear, Xander the Distraction Man is here. Do I have any spiderwebs in my hair?"

"Nah, just lint. Hey, I got a lab exam next period. You wanna skip outa here and get some lunch? My treat."

Xander grinned ruefully. "Sorry, my best friend's a brain. She'd kill me. Or at least look at me with disappointed sad eyes. Those things are lethal, you know." I should know, he thought. I got skewered by them just ten minutes ago.

"Yeah, so I've heard. Well, see ya round, dude."

That afternoon Xander used his last paycheck to buy ice cream and a bunch of other snacks. There were going to be a heck of a lot of people at the sleepover, after all.

Giles affected to be annoyed at having to spend the night with a crowd of teenagers, but he still pulled in some clever lines during the MST-ing fest. Xander just repeated his better lines and managed to say some of Willow and Buffy's lines at the exact same time as them, which always earned him shocked looks and giggles. By the third movie they were bored enough to ignore the film and have a conversation.

"Willow, do you really have a crush on Matthew Simmerman? I mean, he's such a geek. Erm, not that geeks are bad or anything," Buffy hastily added.

"Yeah, I do. He's got the cutest eyes. Hey, Xander, do you have a crush on anyone?"

"Oh no," Xander hastily replied, holding up his hands in defense. "You're not catching me with that again."

That earned him confused looks. "Um, I mean, I'm very happy being single right now, thank you, and have no desire to think about guys whatsoever." Pause. "Damnit."

Buffy quirked an eyebrow. "Guys? Xander, there something you want to tell us?"

As he tried to figure some way out of this, Willow suddenly piped up. "Hey, yeah, guys! Xander, Giles, what guys do you think are cute?"

Giles turned very red and began coughing. Xander grinned. Aha, so they were dragging the G-man into this as well. At least he wasn't alone under the scrutiny. "Yeah, Giles, what guy do you think is cute?"

Buffy tutted. "You have to say one too, Xander. Don't try to wiggle out of it. Come on, Wil and I'll say what girls we think are cute."

"But I don't like girls!"

Xander nodded. "Fine, Spike. Giles' turn."

Buffy frowned. "Spike? As in evil, undead Spike?"

"Yes, evil undead Spike, now stop pestering me and start pestering G-man."

Their resident librarian looked for all purposes very much like a mouse cornered by three cats. "I… hardly see the point to this game. I refuse to play; it's much too ridiculous."

Xander snickered. "Oh come on, Giles, you have to say one, or we're going to bother you about it for weeks. You know we will."

Willow and Buffy looked fully ready to back him up on that. Giles swallowed nervously. "You must understand that this is completely a hypothetical liking. I only admire the person's attractiveness; I hold no… other feelings towards them whatsoever."

Xander snorted. "Well duh. As if I'm crushing on the chipped wonder." Who had rather firm ab muscles, come to think of it. Xander had noticed them that morning, when he had run into Spike. The vampire's shirt had ridden up when he hit the pavement, and he hadn't bothered to adjust it, so Xander had gotten a good look at his pale but lean stomach. Waitaminute, he was having Spike thoughts! Bad Spike thoughts, no! Out of the brain, out!

"Well, all right," The older man relented. "But I just know you're all going to tease me about this." He hesitated for a moment, trying to delay the inevitable, then sighed. "Ethan."

"The bad Ethan? With the costume shop with the evil costumes, that Ethan?" Shocked looks all around.

"Well, of course as I said this is a hypothetical liking," Giles hastily explained.

"What's hypothetical about a liking?" Willow wondered aloud, as Buffy suddenly needed some air and Xander cracked up.

"Hey," Buffy said, her head stuck out the window. "You know what's really ironic? He's outside right now."

Giles, who had been standing up, toppled over. Xander choked on a chuckle and it turned into a hiccup. Willow just looked confused. "Who's outside?" she asked in a small voice.

Buffy pulled her head back in and closed the window. "Spike, duh. Who'd you think I was talking about?"

Xander leapt to his feet. "Spike's outside? Like, right now?"

Nodding absently, Buffy checked the time on her watch. "Yeah, just outside on the sidewalk. Has an axe. He's bleeding all over the concrete." She paused, features oddly neutral as she thought about what she had just said.

Xander didn't notice this, for he had bolted down the stairs at the word 'bleeding'. Oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck, he thought, why didn't I remember about Spike? He's at risk too, he must've had a run in with the demon, and now he's bleeding, we need to get some fresh blood into him before he dehydrates, but Willow doesn't have any blood, where are we going to get some blood…I hope the Rosenbergs have a first aid kit…

All this ran through his head at about the same speed as he ran through the house. He reached the front door around 'kit', and threw it open, the words 'come in' on his lips.

And Spike wasn't there anymore.

Xander stumbled out onto the front lawn, his brain trying to explain in careful sentences just what he was seeing. Spike wasn't there anymore, but a large amount of blood stained the sidewalk, and lying in it was an axe. A very rusted axe.

And dust.

No Spike, just dust.

"Well fuck."