Three Weeks Later
Xander smiled sadly when Phoebe hugged him, "I'm not going very far."
"You're still leaving."
"Hey," Xander tried looking a little more cheerful, "Sunny D is only a few hours away. And whether they like to admit it or not the gang needs me around. I've been away too long as is."
"I know."
"You have my cell number, call me."
"Count on it."
Xander broke away from her and hopped over the car door, sliding into the driver's seat with practiced ease. He waved at the youngest Halliwell as he backed out of the drive. A few moments later he was pointed out of San Francisco, heading for Sunny Dale.
*****
November 2nd, Sunnydale, California
Midnight
Xander rolled into town well after dark, smiling at the familiar sights and sounds that passed by. Damn. It's actually good to be home. He was actually surprised at that, and had to consider that maybe there was more to this town then he thought.
He slipped the car into his parents driveway and looked at the dark house, not overly surprised that the lights were all off. He turned the key to the car, shutting down the quiet engine and the lights. He moved quietly as he tried to go into the house.
Locked... damn. Hey... what the hell? The lock is changed?
He stepped back, looking at the house and back to the driveway. "Well, thats my parent's car... so they didn't sell the place on me."
He snickered under his breath and stepped back. Looking up, he jumped up and snagged the eve of the porch, hoisting himself onto the roof. He crawled up the incline silently, jimmied open the window to his room, and slipped inside.
Hey! What the hell happened to all my stuff? He looked around the room slowly, it had been converted into a storage room. His father's unused weight training gear and his mothers massive collection of dust gatherers were stacked through the room.
A few minutes of prowling later he found his stuff, piled haphazardly in a corner of the basement.
Xander sat on a trunk for nearly twenty minutes, considering what he was looking at before he came to a descision.
"Fuck it." He cursed, uncharacteristically. "I need some air."
*****
Fifteen minutes later found him prowling through one of Sunnydale's graveyards, dressed in full armor and armed to the teeth.
The first three vamps he saw never had a chance to scream. He hit them from thirty meters away with the Plasma Caster, ripping holes in their chests large enough to pass Elan through... sideways.
Bastards! He raged inside, loping through the graveyard in stealth. I may have well died as far as they're concerned.
Elan listened silently, uncertain what to say.
It took another thirty minutes before he calmed down enough to consider things. Hell. It's not like I wanted to stay there anyway. I've got that credit card Jarod left me... I can get a place.
He calmed down quickly, slowing his pace through the graveyard as he did so. He was still calming down when his bio-mask picked up sounds of a struggle from the other side of a wooded section. Xander changed course, increasing his speed again, and headed toward the noise.
*****
He slowed down quickly as he reached a clearing within the trees that had several heat signatures evident. Who the hell would be out here this late? Too many hot spots to be the scoobs.
He quickly reached the edge of the treeline and adjusted the masks spectrum frequency to normal vision, then hopped it up to light intensification. What the hell? Who'r the commando boys?
A dozen young men in military gear were brawling with a group of vampires, neither side really gaining much advantage. Xander quickly counted five vamps, and wondered why the hell the commandos hadn't dusted them already. A few seconds longer answered his question.
Those dumb twits aren't carrying any stakes! What in the hell are they doing out here if they're this ill equipped for the job?
Xander growled under his mask, realizing that he couldn't tag any of the vamps without fear of frying one of the commandos. He unsheathed Elan and lept from his perch, shedding the shift field as he dropped into the fray.
*****
Agent Riley Finn struggled with the HST he was engaging, trying to overpower the creature for capture. Around him he knew that his men were doing the same, but they were having a difficult time despite outnumbering the HST's by more then two to one.
Vampires. Riley thought to himself as he threw a solid punch to the creatures jaw. Who'd ever believe this shit?
"Heads up!"
Riley ducked as Graham nailed the vamp with a nightstick, then followed through with a knee to the vampire's guts and finally dropping his elbows into the back of it's neck.
"One down."
Graham grimaced as he was tackled by another one, but managed to call out as he went down. "Yeah, and five to go!"
Riley moved to grab the one that had Graham, but something beat him to it.
*****
Xander caught the first vamp with a swing of his staff that lifted the demon off the commando he'd tackled. He followed through quickly, smashing the vamp with a solid shot to the bridge of its nose, dropping the creature to its knees in pain. Crooking elan in his left arm he swung around, braining a vamp that tried to sneak up on him, and pulled a stake from his belt.
"Bye bye, dusty." Xander said as he drove the stake into the first vamp, slipped it out, then drove it down through the back of the doubled over vampire that he had brained. Under his mask he was sweating from the exertion, but he shrugged off the complaints from his muscles and pushed on.
Two down. Three to go.
*****
What the hell? Riley stared as the creature ripped through the brawl, dusting two vamps with ease. It never did more then glance at the Commandos, who were fighting for their lives, merely shrugged through the battle toward its next target. Within a few short minutes the only vampire left 'alive' was the one that he and Graham had double teamed.
"Blasters!" Riley commanded as he shook himself clear of the fog he was in.
He was proud when his men dove for the weapons they had lost when the vamps ambushed them, grabbing the weapons and rolling back to their feet in fluid motions. In seconds the newcomer had a dozen blasters pointed at him.
*****
Uhhh... Xander stared in shock at the sudden change. "Ungrateful SOBs." He muttered under his breath as he tensed to move.
"I don't know what you are pal, but you ruined our hunt... so we'll take you into the good professor for dissection instead."
Xander stared at the blond soldier, an incredulous expression on his face. Dissection?
"Fire!"
A dozen bolts of artificial lightning swept over Xander, buckling him to his knees. He braced himself on Elan, barely managing to stay conscious despite the armor taking the worst of the energy. Dropping the stake in his right hand he drew his remaining Zat from his belt and straightened his arm out at the commandos.
The alien weapon spat its own lightning in rapid fire, striking down the soldiers even as their own weapons were charging for a second volley. Seconds later only the unarmed blonde soldier was still standing.
Xander slowly propped himself back to his feet, using Elan as a crutch because his own legs were too rubbery to work well on their own. He slowly moved toward the blond soldier, watching him tense as he did.
"You soldier boys don't learn gratitude in basic training do ya?"
*****
"You soldier boys don't learn gratitude in basic training do ya?"
Riley paled at the distorted voice. "Gratitude?" He got out, his voice surprisingly steady.
"I just saved your asses from those vamps. And I'd like to know why the hell you shot me!"
Riley swallowed, looking over the creatures armor and weapons. "We didn't need saving."
The thing snorted. "Right. What's the casualty rate on these missions anyway? Thirty percent? Forty?"
Forty five. Riley winced at how close the creatures guess was, but didn't back down. "that's classified."
"Right." It turned to leave.
"Hold it right there!" Riley brought up his sidearm, aiming directly at the creatures head.
*****
Xander watched through his masks 360 degree view as the commando aimed his gun. He brought Elan up and swept around, driving the solid metal staff into the commando's wrist. As the pistol went flying he whipped the weapon around again, cracking the commando across the side of the head and dropping him to the ground, unconscious.
Xander stood in the middle of the unconscious soldiers for a long moment, considering what to do. Well shit. I can't leave them here...
His reverie was cut off by a yell from behind him, he turned just in time to see a foot collide with his mask and drive him off his feet.
*****
Buffy was moving on patrol when she heard the commotion. It sounded like the blasters that Riley's people used so she smiled and veered in that direction, hoping to see her new boyfriend in action. Boyfriend. She tasted the word, after Parker she had almost gone looking to Xander for comfort, but he had been gone. Riley had seen her moping around the campus and worked on cheering her up.
She smiled at the memory, he wasn't as good as Xander at bringing her out of a funk but he was good enough. It had been a shock when they had literally ran into each other on patrol less then a week of dating.
Commandos in Sunnydale. She shook her head, amused at the notion. What was next? Aliens?
She reached the clearing the noises had come from in time to see Riley pull a pistol of a big armored demon. She stared in shock as the demon easily disarmed and knocked Riley unconscious, then broke into a charge at the creature as it stood there.
"Hey you!"
She jumped up and nailed him in the head with a flying kick.
*****
"Buff..." Xander started to say, but he had to roll clear as she dropped a hard stomp into the ground where he had been.
"I'll teach you to mess with my boyfriend!"
Boyfriend?!? Xander moved as fast as he could, dodging one blow after another. Finally she connected again, a reverse kick to his mid section lifting him clear off the ground and tossing him into a tree.
Ow. He saw spots flashing in front of his eyes, flickering across the image of Buffy charging him again. He pushed himself off the tree and met her charge, lashing out with a strong punch that she easily ducked under. Her fists into his armored stomach was the next thing he felt. The Yautja armor absorbed a lot of the impact, but he still winced and new that he would be sporting a major bruise by morning.
He tried to grab her again, only to have Buffy reverse his grip and use it to throw him through another tree. A blinding pain shot through his arm as he landed, causing him to cry out.
"Cry all you want, this is just gonna get worse." Buffy snarled, "But I promise, it'll all be over soon.
Uh oh... Buffy has that 'kill first, don't worry about questions' look. He managed to think through the pain. He rolled clear of her next attack and managed to activate the controls of his shift suit with his one good arm. As the cloaking field shrouded him he got to his feet and ran.
*****
Buffy was moving for another strike when the thing just vanished into thin air. "What the!?"
She spent several moments, nervously looking around and jumping at every slight noise until she decided that it was gone. Quickly she remembered Riley and moved back to the fallen Commando.
*****
Xander was moving fast, his teeth clenched in pain as each motion jarred his arm. He had to get it looked at but the hospital was too far, he doubted that he'd be able to drive anyway.
Giles! The decision made he veered in the direction of Giles apartment, and increased his speed despite the blinding pain.
It only took him a few minutes to reach the dark apartment, and even less then that to gain access. G-Man needs a better lock.
He moved through the room quietly until he accidently knocked over an end table.
"Hello?" Giles' voice echoed through the apartment. "Who's there?"
The lights came on and Giles stepped into the living room, brandishing an umbrella. Xander chuckled through the pain.
"God, G-Man, you have a small armory of weapons for the slayer and that's the best you could find to deal with a burglar?"
"Who are you?" Giles stared through the room, his eyes finally fixing on a blurry spot in the center of the room. "Good Lord... what are you?"
Xander belatedly realized that the shift field was still active. He tentatively deactivated it, favoring his limp arm as he did.
Rupert Giles stumbled back as the form materialized in the center of his room, bring the umbrella back up in defense.
Xander laughed again, "It's ok, G-man." He slowly depressurized his mask with one hand, and lifted it off his face.
"Dear lord," Giles said as he recognized the boy, "Xander... what... How?"
"That'll have to wait... I think I may have a dislocated shoulder."
Giles rushed forward, examining the boy as best he could through the armor. "My god, what did this to you?"
Xander grimaced. "Buffy."
*****
With Giles help Xander managed to get the armor off without unduly jostling his arm. That is to say, he only screamed out in pain three times before they were done.
Giles cut away his black t-shirt and looked at the discoloration and swelling that had begun to set in. "Dear me... Xander, I have to pop it back in... this is going to..."
Xander cut him off, "Hurt. Yeah, I figured that."
He grabbed the torn sections of his t-shirt and twisted them up with his one good hand, "Ok, do it." he said as he popped the material into his mouth and clenched down.
Giles nodded and grabbed his arm and shoulder, testing them slightly to see what way to push, and suddenly wrenching them back into place with an audible 'pop'.
"GNNNNNNK!" Xander's scream came from low in his chest, forcing its way out through his nose and the material crammed into his mouth.
After it was done Giles collapsed beside Xander in almost as bad a shape as his young friend. Sweat was pouring down both their faces as their breathing slowly returned to normal.
"I have to tape it up now." Giles said.
Xander spit the cloth out, but only nodded his assent.
Giles slowly placed the boy's arm across his chest and started wrapping it tightly with gauze and tape, until it was held motionless across his torso. "You really should go to the hospital, Xander, to insure that it heals properly."
Xander nodded, still silently.
Giles sighed and, taking his glasses off to wipe them clean, asked, "What happened?"
Xander winced, "I got home late this evening. Found that my parents had claimed my room as a storage bin... got kinda pissed so I suited up and went hunting. Figured I could work off some aggressions, you know?"
Giles winced, but nodded. He did know. He also knew that it wasn't a healthy way to deal with problems.
"Anyway, I was out in the graveyard a few blocks from here when I heard the sound of a scuffle. Came across these dimwit commandos hunting vamps without stakes, crosses, or anything resembling appropriate equipment."
This time Giles didn't wince, he had already seen what Riley considered to be 'proper' gear for a vampire hunter. Riley seemed to be a respectable fellow so it was, in Giles opinion, the institutionalized idiocy of the military that was responsible.
"So, being the idiot that I am," Xander said sourly, "I jumped in to help them out. Took down the five vamps they were having trouble with, only to have them turn their tasers on ME! That blond ingrate that Buffy claimed as her boyfriend actually said they were going to take me back and *dissect* me for christ sakes!"
"Uh... yes, I had heard about that habit of theirs... I suppose they want to know about the different types of demons and how to kill them."
Xander snorted. "Get real. If that was all it was they wouldn't have been trying to capture vampires. Anyone who can rent a video can figure out their weaknesses pretty damned fast, G-man."
"Umm well, yes there is that. And don't call me that."
Xander was still shaking his head, "No, they're up to something else."
Giles thought about it a moment before speaking, "Well, there is also Spike."
"Spike?" Xander asked in surprise. "What about him?"
Giles actually smiled briefly, "They put a chip in his brain that won't permit him to harm humans."
"What?" Xander didn't like the sound of that. "That's not good."
"Excuse me?" Giles looked perplexed, "Not harming humans is very good."
"Sure, G-Man." Xander said, "but what about when they refine the chip a bit more so the vamps just can't harm 'Americans'? Or 'White people'? Or any other group that they happen to like, or dislike at the moment."
"They wouldn't do that, this is the government..." Giles trailed off, "Oh dear."
A noise outside attracted their attention.
"That will be Buffy returning," Giles said, "And she'll almost certainly have Riley with her."
"Damn." Xander forced himself off the couch, "Help me get my gear out of sight."
Giles looked at him questioningly for a second.
"Giles." he said impatiently, "I trust you. I trust Willow, and I even trust Buffy. But this gear and some other things I've been up to are not entirely my secrets to tell. And I DON'T trust the bastard who pulled a gun on me while my back was turned."
Giles nodded and helped him scoop up the armor that was strewn about the floor. "We can put it, and you in my guest room if you like?"
"I like." Xander nodded and headed in that direction.
*****
Xander fit the bio-mask over his face and turned up the audio pickups until he could hear the conversation in the living room. Then he gently laid down and closed his eyes, trying to ignore the dull throb from his shoulder.
*****
"Giles!" Buffy screamed as she helped Riley through the door.
The blond commando had seen better days. He had a white bandage around his head, stained blood red in the center, and his wrist was wrapped and held in place with a stiff brace.
"Good lord." Giles said as he came into the room, "What happened to you?"
"Some big nasty demony thing hit him with a metal stick."
"Ah.. Yes..." Giles muttered, "A demony thing... why didn't I think of that?"
"We need to hit the books, Giles." Buffy said, "This thing could turn invisible or something, and wore armor, and had weapons... Demons don't usually like weapons, Giles... he shouldn't be that hard to find..."
"Ah... research. yes, quite. Well, get cracking then." Giles waved them to a stack of book, "I'll put on some tea and do some other things."
Buffy stared at Giles as he left, slightly confused. Giles running from research? Nah...
*****
A metal STICK!?!? Elan was outraged.
"Be quiet, Elan. Let me listen."
A STICK!? What kind of Slayer doesn't at least *recognize* a battle staff when she sees one?
"Buffy has always been... unique." Xander muttered under his breath, "That doesn't mean she's incompetent. Now let me listen."
Elan fell silent after a few seconds more of muttering.
*****
"Found him!" Buffy yelled out victoriously.
Giles goggled and dropped his cup of tea. "What!?"
"Yeah, right here... He's a Yaucha... Weird name... you suppose he yells 'yeouch' a lot or something?"
"I doubt it, Buffy." Riley said with a small grin.
"Yes... quite... here, let me see that." Giles slid the book over to himself and looked through it.
"Hmmm... yes. Hmmmm... oh dear."
"What? It's bad right? I know it's bad..."
"Huh?" Giles looked up in slight confusion, "No... not for us at anyrate."
"Huh?"
Giles sighed and began to explain patiently, "The Yautja are, for lack of a better term, 'Big Game Hunters'. Since he left the soldiers alive they weren't his prey. He obviously is after 'bigger fish' as they say."
Riley slumped back, "You mean we got our butts handed to us because we got in the way of some hunter's safari??"
"Ummm yes. Quite."
"Lovely. Walsh is gonna love this."
"Well... why did he attack them in the first place?"
Giles raised an eyebrow and looked at Riley, who remained silent but looked guilty.
"Riley?" Buffy stared at him in determination, "What did you do?"
Finally he broke down. "I ordered my men to bring him down so we could bring him back for study."
"What!? Why?"
"He IS an HST, Buff." Riley defended himself, "I have my orders."
"You're quite lucky to be alive." Giles said as he looked up again from the book, "A Yautja generally kills any and all armed persons between him and his prey."
"You mean THAT was a peaceful one??" Riley asked in shock.
"Put simply? Yes."
"How do we kill it?"
Giles looked back at the book and paled, despite knowing that they weren't talking about a Yautja at all the text frightened him. "We.. Uh... don't."
"What?" Both Riley and Buffy asked.
"The text's mention one time that a Yautja is thought to have been killed..."
As Giles trailed off Buffy spoke, "Thought?"
"They couldn't tell for certain... No bodies were recovered... from *anywhere* within a quarter mile diameter crater that the explosion left."
"Explosion?" Riley looked stricken.
"Apparently these creatures object strenuously to being killed."
"No kidding." Buffy said, stunned.
*****
Xander listened with amusement to the argument as it deteriorated into stupid questions and bad theories. I missed that.
He eventually removed the mask and lay back, willing himself to drift off. When sleep finally claimed him his face relaxed from the grimace of pain it had been carrying and he smiled.
*****
Giles finally got rid of Buffy and Riley and headed back to check on Xander, several questions upmost in his mind. When he looked in he saw the boy was sleep more or less peacefully and quietly closed the door.
His questions could wait until the morning.
*****
And Xander dreamed.
*****
And Xander dreamed.
His dreams had been growing progressively more violent since he had arrived in San Francisco, his mind allowing itself to finally process the nightmares that it had suppressed in favor of surviving the rigors he had endured.
*****
He was back in the village, standing side by side with some of the bravest people he'd have the honor to know. They could see the glistening black horde approaching, but to falter in their defense now meant worse then death. It meant the deaths of friends, families, women and children. The fate of an entire village rested on them, and it had become a matter of more then mere honor that held them fast against the nightmare horde. It had become life.
But bravery does not ensure success. One by one his companions fell to the monsters that plagued them. One by one they would vanish into the night, their trailing screams the only evidence that they had existed. Their screams... and the splattered blood.
Xander tried to wash it off, but he couldn't. He could smell it permeating the air, he could feel it through his armor as it soaked through to his skin. His mind told him that that was impossible, but he still felt it. The world was a nightmarish warping of reality. He saw through his visor, saw the heat of the soldiers cooling as they died. Saw the splatter of heat that marked the blood as they died. The sounds of their screams was recorded indelibly in his mind and on the suit's computer, as if he'd ever need a backup.
And through it all Xander fought.
*****
Elan watched, disturbed as the dreams grew bloodier and more violent. More violent even then the reality that had spawned them. The alien creatures alternately became vampires that shredded and drank from everyone around. The villagers became familiar faces. Phoebe, Buffy, Willow, Prue, Piper. The warriors who died at his side became Jarod, Oz, Giles, and a face she could not place immediately until Xander's mind produced a name for it. Jessie.
Elan chuckled involuntarily for a moment when the identities surfaced in his dreams. All the men are fighting to defend the helpless women. The boy is *such* a chauvinist at heart.
Her thoughts had no bite to them, however. After all, in her own nightmares she did the exact opposite herself.
The nightmares went on for an hour before Elan decided to step in. That is enough cleansing for the night. You'll need your strength on the morrow Alexander.
*****
The battlefield was dead of a sudden, the hissing and screaming nothing more then echoes on the wind. And in his mind.
Xander let his arm drop, his staff hanging loose in his hand, as he looked over the barren village.
"They're all dead."
"No."
The voice came from behind him but Xander didn't move, he didn't care if it was hostile or not.
"They survived. Some of them, anyway." Elan walked up behind Xander, dressed in her 'unique' armor, and laid a hand gently on his shoulder. "We... You saved them. Remember?"
"Yes." Xander said sadly, looking up into the blood red sky. "I remember. Where are we?"
"The Dreaming." Elanthielle answered simply.
"Oh." was all he could think to say.
"Be at peace, Alexander. This battle has been fought and, though it was hard pressed, you won."
"Won?" He laughed bitterly. "How many did we lose? Two hundred people? Easily. That was not a victory when we only started with three hundred and our only intention was to save as many as we could."
"Had you not chose to stay they would all be dead. It would not truly matter if only one of them survived. By staying you would have saved that one life, and that is victory enough."
Xander collapsed, his knees buckling under him as the emotional impact suddenly hit him. "So many dead, Elan. So many..."
Elan crouched behind him, wrapping her arms around him. "I know. I know. But everyone dies, Alexander. A few years earlier or later makes little difference in the end. What does matter is how they lived, and those people lived well. The warriors who fought by your side lived and died for their people, one can not ask more then that."
Xander pressed back against her, rocking slightly as the tremors passed. "I know. But... I lived."
Behind him Elanthielle smiled sadly, "Yes. You lived."
And that was the crux of Xander's problem. He lived.
For a long time after that Elanthielle just held the young man as he slept in her arms. Sleep within sleep. Dreamless.
*****
Dallas, Texas
"Get him!" Miss Parker vaulted the small fence, straining to keep her quarry in sight.
The sweepers, the two that were still conscious, rushed to follow her as she chased Jarod into the parking lot of a local high rise. Jarod had twenty meters on them, fifteen on Miss Parker, and was pulling away when he reached the revolving door that marked the main entrance.
*****
Jarod dove clear as soon as the door let him through, triggering a signal on the remote in his pocket. He rolled to his feet and stopped, turning back to watch.
Miss Parker hit the door first, the two sweepers a few seconds behind, pushing through until it was just about to open into the lobby of the FBI building. Then the door stopped.
Jarod smiled and walked up to Parker as she growled and slammed her hand into the unresponsive door. "Now, now. That's not nice."
"Jarod!" She growled, "Get me out of here!"
"No." he grinned. "I arranged this little... detainment, so you could deliver a message to your father for me."
"Oh yeah?" She snarled, pulling out her pistol. "How about you deliver it in person? Get me out of here or I'll shoot you."
"Ah ah." Jarod chided, "I wouldn't do that... Bullet proof glass..." He said while tapping the door with the back of his finger, "You might cause a ricochet and hurt yourself. Tell your father that the chase stops here. I don't need the Centre anymore. I've found what I was looking for, and if they send anyone else after me I'll break the Centre, the Triumvirate, and anyone else I find in their files. I've already transferred a hundred million from Centre funds as a warning."
"Jarod? What?" Miss Parker was stunned. Jarod was normally non-confrontational, he avoided trouble with the Centre in so much as he could.
Jarod smiled, "I told you. I found what I was looking for, so the Centre holds no more use for me. Good Bye, Miss Parker."
Parker stared in shock as Jarod turned and vanished into the gathering crowd.
*****
Airport, Short Time Later
"Welcome Sir, how may I help you?"
"Well hello there, Little Lady." Said the man in the large cowboy hat, "I'd like a ticket to Sunnydale California, if you please."
"First Class or Coach, sir?"
"First Class all the way, little darlin."
"And the name?"
"West. Jarod West."
*****
"He said what?"
"Daddy, I've already said it twice." Miss parker sighed over the connection, "He said that he'll break the Centre if you send anyone else after him. He said that he had already transferred Centre funds as a warning."
"How much?" The question was terse.
"A hundred million."
"Damnation. So that's what happened to Lyle and Raines' budget allocation."
Miss Parker rapidly covered the phone with the palm of her hand while she snickered. Finally she put it back to her ear and asked, "What do you want me to do?"
"Return to the Centre, honey. I'll handle it."
"Bye, Daddy."
"Bye, Darling."
*****
The Centre - Blue Cove, Delaware
Mr. Parker gently laid the phone down on his desk and looked over at the bald man beside him. "Tell the triumvirate that Jarod has become an unacceptable risk."
The man wheezed, "I'll have my best cleaners assigned the case immediately."
"You do that." Mr. Parker looked at the man sharply, "And see to it that Sidney learns *nothing* of this."
Mr. Raines nodded and left the office, dragging his oxygen tank behind him as he did. Mr. Parker watched as the ornate glass doors swung shut behind him and laid his hands out on the desk in front of him.
*****
Sunnydale
Xander woke up slowly, feeling refreshed and rested. He wasn't used to that. He dressed slowly, pulling on his black jeans with his good arm, fumbling for a long time before he managed to button them up. He glanced around, but he didn't have any shirts here. He glanced out the window and shrugged, it was a nice day and the car wasn't far away.
He tucked Elan into his jeans pocket, not bothering to try strapping the canvas sheath on with one arm.
Elan?
Her voice came back quickly, but softer then usual. Yes?
Thank you.
You are welcome, Alexander.
He left room, walking quietly, and headed for Giles' front door.
"Ahem."
He turned, chagrined, to see Giles staring at him from his favorite chair. "I believe that we need to talk."
Xander grinned, a goofy smile that lit up his entire face, "Sure will, Giles. But I have to go pick up my car from the graveyard parking before someone thinks it belonged to a resident, know what I mean?"
"Uh... yes, quite." Giles stood, "I'll come with you. You can't very well drive with that arm any how."
Suppressing a chuckle, Xander agreed. "Worried I might run off?"
"It had crossed my mind, actually."
The two men laughed, heading out of the apartment for the short walk to the closest graveyard.
*****