Part Three

Something just wasn't right.

Xander couldn't put a finger on what, exactly. If his mind hadn't been on getting home, he may have thought about it more on the way over. But it was only when Xander tried to get his door open, and found his key didn't fit, did he think about it. And when he thought back, he realised the world had seemed a little out of kilter, since he had left the woods.

There were too many people around for one thing. Sunnydale, apart from the main streets was usually quite empty at night. Years of people disappearing had made people stay away from dark places like parks and streets. But Xander saw so many people he wondered if the mall had moved to his side of town in the last 60 minutes. There were people pushing babies in prams, young couples walking hand in hand, other people walking the family pet. It was very un-Sunnydale to him.

The next thing he noticed were the cars that drove past. They seemed just a little sleeker, a little lower. Sure he saw ones he recognised, but he there seemed to be too many cars driving past that he hadn't seen before.

Then, now he thought of it, when he arrived at his apartment building he noticed the outside had been given a new coat of paint. He was surprised he had missed the notification on that bit of maintenance.

Then came the problems with the lock.

He was just about to leave and phone the apartments' super, when he heard the sound of someone inside. He forcibly banged his fist against the door, leaving no doubts in the occupants' mind that someone outside wanted to see them.

He was just about to bang again, when the door opened and a gentlemen of around 40 hesitantly peered out from behind.

"Can I help you?" he asked, obviously concerned at what the stranger may do to him.

"Yeah, I'll say you can. What are you doing in my apartment," Xander replied pushing his way past. He stopped as soon as he entered the room. There was none of his furniture in sight. Everything was different. He turned back to face the man who answered the door. "What've you done with all my stuff?" This time there was less anger and more confusion in his voice.

The gentlemen, left the door open, half because he didn't want the stranger to think he was welcome and more importantly he wanted a quicker escape if needed.

"I'm sorry, were you here before I moved in?" he asked wondering if this was the previous tenant that skipped town owing back rent.

"How long have you been here?" Xander asked.

"For a month,' the man replied.

"A month?' Xander asked incredulously, not quite believing he could have been gone for so long.

"Did you used to live here?"

"Yeah," Xander replied, slowly coming to the realisation that he had to see his friends, to let them know he is okay. "I'm sorry for banging the door down," he started to say apologetically.

Something in the way Xander spoke changed the man's demeanor.

"Do you want me to call someone?"

"No. Thanks anyway. I'll go and see her. She's probably worried." Xander gave last look round at his apartment, former apartment. He really liked this place, but if he had been gone for over a month, there was one ex vengeance demon, current girlfriend, that he really needed to see.

He only hoped she hadn't moved on it the time he was gone, or at the very least, wasn't too angry with him.

***************

"I'm sorry Mr. Harris, but I don't know anyone by that name." The lady who answered the door at Anya's residence was getting more and more impatient, each time she had to repeat herself.

"But she has to be here, or you must know about her. Anya Emerson, about so high," Xander desperately continued, holding his hand out at Anya's approximate height.

"Look, I can only tell you what I know. I don't know of that person. You may want to check with Betty down the hall. She has been here longer than I have." The lady started to close the door, until Xander, put his foot in the way.

"Excuse Me!" she yelled indignantly.

"I'm sorry, just one thing. How long have you been here for?" Xander asked.

"Over a year," the lady replied before forcing her door shut, leaving a very confused and upset Xander, slumping to the ground in the hallway.

Xander didn't actually move for almost 30 minutes. He was trying to take in the reality of his situation. Xander could remember the few hours ago, when he kissed Anya goodbye, before heading off to help Buffy. Yet it now seemed as though over a year had passed. As freaky as that thought was it did make sense of some of the things he had seen tonight. The cars would have had new models and his apartment would have been repainted. He understood now why his landlord would have re-let his place.

A sudden thought struck him, one that he didn't like. If he had been gone for that long, what did his friends believe had happened to him? Was he meant to be dead? Is that why Anya didn't live here anymore? He hoped that it wasn't true. The rest of the Scooby Gang seemed to finally be excepting her, and he hoped that they would all help each other.

The thought that his friends believed him deceased was enough to get him to finally move. He didn't know whether to head over to Giles or Buffy's, but he knew he had to see one of them. It was his only way of finding out what exactly had gone wrong.

As he rounded the corner he was met my two policemen. He sidestepped to avoid them, thinking that they must have been going to see someone else, but was surprised when one of them forced him against the wall.

"What are you doing?" Xander asked, so not wanting this right now.

"We had a compliant from the lady in apartment 17, said a man had tried to force his way inside her apartment and wouldn't leave." The cop who was holding Xander against the wall replied. "What were you doing there?"

"I thought a friend lived there. I haven't been around for a while and was surprised that she no longer lived there."

"So you thought you would just annoy an innocent lady?" the other cop chimed in with.

"What...No!" Xander yelled not believing that he was getting grief for this. "I was just going to see another friend, seeing if they knew where my friend from here had gone to."

"What's your name?"

"Harris, Xander" Xander replied getting rather annoyed at the hold up this was causing.

While one of the cops got on his two-way and called in the name Xander had given them, the other one let Xander off the wall, and turned him around.

Xander noticed the cop that was talking via the two-way had started to look at him harder. He really didn't like the look of this.

"Okay, understood." The cop said, clicking off his radio. "We need you to accompany us down to the station, to answer some questions."

"Am I under arrest?" Xander asked wondering why it was this serious.

"No, and you don't have to be, if you accompany us willingly."

Xander shrugged. He thought about protesting, but believed he would be out of this quicker, if he just followed instructions.

***********

Xander's reasoning would have gone a lot better, if he had known that he was classified as missing, presumed deceased. With that little bit of information Xander would have realised that the police would have had a lot of questions.

But as no one had let him in on that, he sat in the room they had placed him into silently, wondering about the safety of his girlfriend, as well as his other friends. One year was a long time, especially on the Hellmouth.

"Don't I get a phone call?" Xander asked.

"You're not under arrest," the cop replied.

"Well if that's the case, can I let someone know that I am here?"

The cop thought about it for a second, before nodding. "Give me the number and I will call it."

Xander quickly wrote down Buffy's number, on the piece of paper that the officer gave him. He reasoned that since she owned her house, she would be less likely to move.

The cop took the piece of paper from him and walked out, locking the door on the way.

"I'm surprised you said yes," his partner said as he walked outside the room.

"I wasn't going to, but I am interested in who he wants to come and get him. Since he is meant to be dead and all."

**************

An hour later Xander had still not been questioned and no one had come to see him. He was beginning to wonder if he been forgotten. Unfortunately they had not forgotten to keep his door locked so he had nothing else to do, but sit there and wait.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of keys in the door, opening the lock. Xander stood up on reflex, as if readying himself for something to come.

"Harris, you have a visitor," the officer that opened the door said. Before stepping aside to let the other person through.

Xander's hopes were raised, thinking that the cop must have gotten through to Buffy. However the women that walked through the door was not Buffy.

She was, however, a vision of beauty. Xander immediately wondered whom he had to thank for getting him this lawyer.

His silly thoughts stopped abruptly when he noticed the way that she was staring at him.

He focused on all of her features. Her eyes, nose, mouth, and the way she stood, looking at him. She was much like the rest of the night had been. Familiar but different.

It was her movement of her face as she went to speak that solved the mystery for him.

"Xander! It is you, isn't it," she said rushing over to him and grabbing him hard.

Xander couldn't say anything. The ramifications of what he was seeing was clear enough to him.

"Xander?" she asked concerned as she moved back a little, letting the embrace fall apart slightly.

"Umm...yeah..." Xander replied, finding his voice. He stared at her longer, her smile, becoming infectious as he found the word she was obviously waiting for him to say.

"Dawn?"

She nodded in response, before hugging him tight again.

Xander did not know what to say. He started laughing, a hollow laugh and the situation he found himself in. His worries about a year away were mute now.

Dawn looked older than he did.

End Part Three