TITLE: Late
AUTHOR: clarrie
DISCLAIMER: Obviously don't own Giles, Wesley, Buffy, Anya and the Scooby gang. Alice Boston and others are mine, most of the info about watchers and the watchers council was made up by me and is based on my interpretation of it as an institution.
All witchy stuff made up by me and bares little resemblance to say, Wicca or any of the other old faiths.
Lines taken from 'The Angel and the jerk' by Billy Joe Armstrong and Penelope Housten.
RATING: about a 12 or PG13, younger readers may be grossed out by the suggestion that old people may, possibly, once, have had sex.
SPOILERS: mild up to mid season 3, but as if faith and the mayor had not existed and Anya and Xander had got together earlier. Does include Wesley character though.
At the time of story Oz had ginger hair.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Americans, kindly note that I used the word (ick pah) 'soccer' instead of football. So don't say I never do anything for you.


'Hey watch where you're going!'
Anya marched furiously through the corridors of Sunnydale High pushing aside those who barred her way like, like easily brushed aside things. She scowled as a scenery carrying pair of theatre goons blocked the corridor momentarily with their giant cardboard representation of castle Dracula.
'I am a calm, rational woman.' Anya murmured fiercely to herself as she approached the library doors. 'I will not resort to violence.'


'So Alice, you big tweed party animal you.' Xander pulled aside a chair for the gregarious Watcher. 'You want to share?'
'Ah, the spell…'
'WHAT ON EARTH DID YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING YOU BIG BUNCH OF IDIOTS!'
Anya threw open the library doors and flew at Giles, pounding on his chest with her tiny, hard little fists she screamed at him. 'THERE ARE ONLY ONE GROUP OF PEOPLE IN THIS TOWN STUPID ENOUGH TO CALL ON HIM!' She turned to Wesley, 'WHICH ONE OF YOU WAS IT?' and continued her assault on Giles. 'TELL ME!'
Giles held her by the wrists and tried to evade her onslaught. 'Call on who Anya? What is the - Oof!'
Anya kicked him heavily in the shins. 'HE'S NOT LIKE ME YOU KNOW! HE WON'T GIVE UP.'
'And you are?' Alice gripped Anya firmly from behind and pulled her away from Giles. 'Assuming of course that you're not just a random psychopath.'
'Anyaka.' Giles stooped to rub his bruised leg. 'Alice this is Anyaka, or Anya as she is now known.'
'Is she always this aggressive?' Alice relaxed her grip on Anya and allowed her to stand alone.
'Aggressive, yes.' Giles winced at the pain in his shin. 'This degree of physical violence is however unusual.'
'Anya? Anya baby, are you alright?' Xander blushed as the group stared at him. 'What? Oh yeah, blame Xander for trying to keep on man hating demon chick's good side.'
'No I am not alright.' Anya rested her hands on her hips. 'As if it's not bad enough being stuck like, like this I'm going to have to put up with him and his STUPID NAME, HIS STUPID LACKEYS AND HIS STUPID… STUPIDITY!!' She dealt Giles another blow upon the chest. 'If it wasn't you then it must have been that other loser. Where is he? I want him to explain himself.'
'Wesley appears, rather wisely in my view, to have withdrawn.' Giles scowled. 'Now Anya, if you wouldn't mind, could you please tell us who 'He' actually is.'


'Bob the Avenger?' Xander stared in disbelief at the demonography.
'Boahmb.' Alice grinned, 'Pronounced Bakmahab.' She ran her finger along the page. 'You see the letters have run together.' Alice moved back towards Anya. 'And Anya was right, it seems that he doesn't give up.'
Giles snorted angrily. 'Would you care to explain exactly why Bakmahab is in Sunnydale Alice?'
'The weather?' Alice grinned hopefully, before seating herself at the main table. 'Oh well, cards on the table. Giles, do you remember David Handll?'
'Small, blond, always wore a tie?'
'Incredibly jealous, Came in unannounced a lot at parties.'
'An aspect of him I was less than familiar with,' Giles leant back in his chair. 'But I have a feeling that it will prove relevant to our current situation.'


'So what you're saying is… What?' Buffy frowned.
Alice pushed back her hair. 'Bakmahab, is a demon of vengeance. He is the 'patron' of, well, man spurned, I suppose.'
'Hence the David Handll story. Which, by the way, was way too rich in detail for some of us.'
'Yes, Cordelia, um, quite.' Giles swept his hair back wearily. 'So exactly what sort of vengeance can we expect? From what Anya tells us,' He sighed heavily, 'on such a regular basis, the method of revenge depends largely on the temperament of the 'wronged' party.'
'It wasn't…'
Giles glared at Alice. 'Yes, Alice. It wasn't your fault. "No one said anything about being exclusive."'
'There was sarcasm there, I heard it.'
Giles continued as if she had not spoken. 'And therefore could take almost any form.'
Anya snorted indignantly and crossed her arms across her chest. 'Yeah, right.'
'You have something to add Anya?'
Anya stood and took up her aggressive stance once more. 'You wonder why he keeps all those lesser demons around?' She spat. 'He needs their power, to see.'
'To see what Anya?'
Anya sneered, 'He needs to know you, to see your greatest fear. Before he can make it happen.' She screwed up her face in disgust. 'That's all he can do, loser.'
'So-so could it be something to do with the Slayer? The Watcher's council? Simplicity?'
Alice frowned. 'Oh dear.'
'What? You have to give us any information you can Alice.'
'I, um, I actually told Dave my greatest fear once, well, I-I, my greatest fear at the time, it- it was at the time, I mean now it's not but…'
'Well?'
'Promise me that you won't be annoyed?'


The usual crowd filled the Bronze. The mirrors had been left off the walls after the visit from the Repperccussus and the bare walls painted cleanly. Buffy sipped at her latte. Willow fidgeted.
'Do you think we should really have…'
'Did you want to stay with them?' Buffy stared out at the dance-floor. ' I think the watchword here is personal space.'


'I DON'T BELIEVE YOU!' Gile's flu caused his voice to crack.
Alice inspected her fingernails. 'I said you'd be upset.'
'WHAT DID YOU EXPECT?'


'So, Oz, noticeable by his absence.' Buffy stirred her drink. 'Should I ask?'
'I chained him in the basement before I came out.'
Buffy raised an eyebrow.
'Oh, oh no…' Willow's hand flew to his mouth. She pointed vaguely upwards. 'Full moon.' She giggled and punched Buffy good naturedly on the arm. 'Which you knew.'
Buffy grinned.
'So where's Angel?'
'Brooding somewhere. He was out when I called round. I left a message.'
'Hmm.'
Buffy inspected the spoon she held under the gloomy Bronze lighting, turning it over and around, watching the tiny points of light reflect off of it. 'Willow?'
'Hmm?'
'Much as I hate to admit it.'
'Hmm?'
'Without the guys here.'
'Hmm?'
'It's really kinda.' Buffy completed her inspection of the spoon. 'Dull.'


'OOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWW!!!' Oz stirred as his superior hearing picked up the supernatural howls from the woods above Sunnydale.
He yelped a cursory reply and shivered as the deep echoing bellows drowned out his shrill answers. He drew back against the wall of his cell and chewed upon the rawhide left for him by Willow.
After a moments thought he dragged across the old blanket she had also left and immersed himself in her comforting scent.


The Erstkinder stood before their master, lithe and sinewy, like creatures of moulded shadow they grouped before him.
'Master?' Their voices were sibilant and cultured, but pleading. 'We must collect tribute.'
'OOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWGGGGRRRRRR!!' Bakmahab bellowed at the moonlight and shook his shaggy back. He sniffed the air and grunted. 'Tribute?'
The Erstkinder winced as a demonic fart accompanied Bakmahab's question.
'From the town, master.' They spoke as one. 'We will be but one night.'
Bakmahab grunted and turned from them. He turned his face suddenly to the sky and yelled again. 'OOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWW!!!' He burped and scratched himself in a place which caused the Erstkinder to go quite pale. 'We are with the earth here.' He scratched around his feet and rubbed his back against a nearby tree. He closed his eyes and began to make a contented growling.
'Master?'
Bakmahab snapped open his eyes. 'Life!' He gestured around him before stooping and grabbing a handful of earth. 'Base magic, the earth, why leave?'
The leader of the Erstkinder was pushed forward. 'We need people Master.'
Bakmahab snorted grumpily. 'Towns, people, people, towns.' He turned back towards his tree. 'One night.'
The Erstkinder turned to leave, and winced as from behind them came the sound of a vengeance demon evacuating his bladder against a tree.


Giles sat in silence at his desk.
'You're sulking.' Alice snapped.
'I am not.'
'Oh for God's sake…'


The Erstkinder stood at the entrance to the Bronze. They smiled and where they had stood were a group of sleek, sharply dressed young men.
They fussed momentarily around their cuffs and hair and entered silently.


'Cordelia?'
'Yeah, at least she's not … Hi Cordelia!' Buffy gave a 'rabbit in the headlights' smile. 'And you have Anya with you. Fun city.'
'Cordelia has been telling me about Xander.' Anya turned to Willow. 'Did you really chase him with an axe?'
'Darn tooting.'
'Hmm.' Anya showed little surprise. 'Not particularly imaginative, but it has a certain practicality I suppose.'
'Yeah,' Willow frowned. 'That- um, that's what I thought.'
Anya and Cordelia seated themselves at the table.
'So,' Willow craned her neck hopefully, 'Xander's with you?'
'No.' Anya frowned. 'When I called he said he was going to watch sports.'
'Sports?'
'Sports.' Spat Anya bitterly.
They sat in contemplative silence for some minutes.
'Wow.' Exclaimed Cordelia. 'You guys are really dull.'


'Is, um, you're sure this isn't a little, um, mean?' Xander paused at the doorway and looked across at Angel.
'Xander, I know mean, this barely rates.' Angel held the door open.
'Kay, dead-boy.' Xander rubbed his hands together and entered the bar. 'Let's do this crazy justice thing.'


'Where are you going?' Alice stared at Giles.
'I'm making tea.' Giles sneered. 'It's something I do a lot. Dull as it may be, I enjoy it.'
'Oh.' Alice inspected her fingernails silently. 'OK.'


'And how on earth did four such fine ladies as yourselves come to be here unaccompanied?'
Willow giggled and blushed, Anya and Cordelia let their mouths hang open, and even Buffy allowed herself a shy smile. 'We're,' she remembered something Wesley had said earlier in the day, 'flying solo.'
'Well then we must insist that you dance.'
Willow's blush deepened whilst Anya and Cordelia continued with their fish impressions. Buffy shrugged. 'Beats doing stuff.'
The Erstkinder smiled and held out a hand. 'Indeed.'


'So,' Angel inspected his beer and turned to Xander. 'How much would a paternity suite cost these days do you think?'
Xander watched as a shadow edged into the saloon bar. Silently he switched stools until he was at the end of the bar and next to the door. 'Oh, I don't know.' He replied in a loud voice. 'I mean it depends how much money you had.' He stole a look around the wall. 'Cos, you've got schools, they're gonna just eat up the money, doctors fees, orthodontists, and then at the end of it all…'
'They leave home?'
'For college, which is when the debts really start rolling in.'
A light whimper came from the opposite side of the wall. Xander smiled and nodded to Angel.
'Yeah.' Said Angel. 'But I mean, look on the bright side I suppose. It's the nineties, it's not a shotgun wedding situation anymore.'
'Ha!' Xander laughed hollowly, 'That just means the family don't feel so bad about killing you.'
'Yeah, but she doesn't have any family, There's only…' Angel left a pause and listened for the yelp from the other side of the wall. Xander grinned. 'Well she only has her uncle, but he's like head watcher dude or something isn't he? He's not going to be pleased.'
Angel peered around the wall. He turned back to Xander and nodded. They stood and walked through the door.
'Hello Wesley.' They addressed the cringing figure seated at the low table. 'Have you been in here all day?'
Wesley nodded ' Thin 'm drunk.' He stumbled as Xander helped him to his feet.
'Lets get you back to, well wherever the hell it is you live, and sleep some of that off, eh Wes?'
Wesley nodded vigorously and stumbled away in the direction in which he had been pointed.
'You don't think we should tell him?' Xander turned to Angel. 'I mean, about Bakmahab?'
'He'd know about it already if he hadn't run away.'
'But, don't you think all this is a bit, pointless?' Xander backed away from his vampire companion. 'Um, no pun intended there.'
'You got something better to do?'


Buffy stared up at her companion, he'd been running his fingers through her hair for minutes now, and she was waiting to dissuade him from busying his hands elsewhere.
The Erstkinder smiled. 'You really have the most truly…'


'Beautiful hair.' The Erstkinder smiled down at Willow.
'Y-you think so?' She grinned guiltily.


'My hair?' Cordelia beamed. 'You know most people just don't appreciate good hair, they think that it just like, grows or something, they don't see the work that goes into it, I mean this is just like, casual hair, but it still takes, Rinse, repeat, rinse, conditioner, blow dry,' She began to count off on her fingers, 'Post blow dry condition mask, anti-static, hot brush and mousse.'
She paused. 'And that's if I don't use a fixing spray, which I have to sometimes, I mean you know, yay environment, but when they were saving the ozone layer did the think of the wind speed factor?' She frowned. 'Hey! Where'd he go?'


'Hair?' Anya frowned. 'I have all my own teeth too.' She bared her teeth at the Erstkinder. 'See?' She paused. 'Oh, you want to hear something interesting about hair, once, this woman had turned prematurely grey with worry about her husband's faithlessness so she wished that….'
The Erstkinder paled slightly.


'You're not being fair Rupert.' Alice stared at the book in front of her without reading it. 'Not fair at all.'
'I'm not being fair?' Giles glared at her in angry disbelief. 'I don't have to be fair. I-I-I just, I can't believe you.'
Alice sat in silence.
'What? Did-did you set out to humiliate me in front of the, the very few people it seems, who still respect me? I've put up with some…' Giles sat at his desk. 'God knows I didn't deserve this.'
'I shouldn't have mentioned it.'
'No,' Giles snapped. 'No, I think that it's very important that you did mention it, I think that it's important that you told everyone that of all - of all the darkness that you were aware existed, your greatest fear was being lumbered with me for the rest of your life.'
Alice stared at her feet.
'I'm just glad you finally saw fit to mention it to me.'
'I didn't know you,' Alice stared at his back. 'None of us did.'
Giles snorted angrily.
'You know what you were like, All books and no… Well you seemed very dull. We none of us knew you.' Alice bit her lip.
'Did any of you try?' Giles stared into the distance.
'We-we, didn't like to pry.'
'No,' Giles blinked. 'Not one of you pried.'
Alice stood and picked up her bag. 'I'm going.' She slid the strap over her shoulder. 'If Willow, or Wesley come back suggest they read Barrat's demonography, pages 224 to 253, and ask Buffy to make a sweep of the woods. If they ask where I am,' She paused, 'Well, just tell them I went home.'
Giles watched her leave in silence