Disclaimer: I don't own any of these wonderful characters. I'm just borrowing them for my own entertainment.
Spoilers: This is set after "Phases" in Season 2. Oz is a werewolf, Xander and Cordelia haven't come out of the closet (literally), Willow's nowhere near the closet (figuratively and literally) and Angel is Angelus.
Author's Note: This chapter is short, more will be coming shortly. Please take time to review. Constructive Criticism is deeply appreciated. Also, I originally had this story set after "Bad Eggs" but have sense changed it to start after "Phases". Partly because I want Oz in it and because I like Angelus. Face it, evil is sexy.
* * * * *
"Busy night?" Giles asked raising an eyebrow at them as they entered the library. He was sitting at the table in the library pouring over some old text.
Buffy sighed as she and Willow sat across from him. "Weird night," she said. "I think we have a new demon in town."
"Oh really?" Giles asked a little too eagerly. Things had been slow in Sunnydale and she knew that being idle was unhealthy for her Watcher, but did his eyes have to light up like that?
"Tall, red and ugly," she said nodding.
"I'm afraid that doesn't narrow it down much," Giles said frowning and adjusting his glasses.
"It kills vampires," Willow said her voice flat. Buffy glanced over at her pale friend, she knew her mind was elsewhere with a certain boy named Xander.
Giles' hand dropped to his side, "What?"
"Yep, slices and dices them," Buffy said, looking up at him and being surprised to find an astonished look on his face.
"That narrows it down considerably," Giles said disappearing into his office. He emerged with a large book that she knew he kept locked up in his desk. "Demons who attack vampires are very rare indeed. In fact, I think there is only one demon that feeds off the undead." He flipped through pages and pushed the book under their noses. "Is this the demon you saw?"
Willow and Buffy nodded.
"Remarkable," Giles whispered under his breath. "There haven't been any sightings since the 13th Century."
"Fascinating," Buffy said. "How do I kill it?"
"Well, that is very difficult to determine," Giles said put off by her lack of enthusiasm at his knowledge.
"How difficult is very?" Buffy asked hoping that she could get it over with and take care of it tonight.
"There's no way documented on how to kill him." Giles said.
"What?" Willow asked, her eyes wide. "You mean you can't kill it?"
"We don't know that for sure. There's just no account of anyone killing it in the past," .Giles said looking at Willow's stricken face.
"It's not as bad as it sounds, though," He said quickly, his eyes skimming down the tiny print in front of him. "The Walken demon has...special circumstances. It doesn't attack humans, only vampires. In fact there may be a way that we can use this demon to your advantage..."
"It attacked Xander!" Willow said interrupting him.
"What?" Giles asked, his head jerking up.
Buffy nodded, "It did. Jumped right over me and went directly for him. I managed to distract it but not before it ripped up Xander's shirt. Shame too, it was one of the few shirts he has that I actually liked."
"T-that's impossible," Giles said.
"No, really," Buffy said sincerely. "I don't hate all his shirts, just most of them."
Giles shot her an annoyed look. "Are you sure this is the demon you saw? You're positive?"
"That's it," Willow said, "What's wrong?"
"Where is he?" Giles asked grabbing his coat.
"He got away in the sewer," Buffy said standing. "Are we going to go find him?"
"No," Giles said shaking his head. "Where is Xander?"
Willow stood up also, concern evident in her voice, "He went home, he wasn't feeling well."
"Giles, what's going on?" Buffy asked worry settling on her stomach.
Giles didn't stop to look back as he made a jog for the door, "I'll explain in the car. Xander is in grave danger."
* * * * *
Xander opened the door to his house and shut it behind him. In the hallway he could hear the TV blaring from his left. He peeked into the living room to find his father snoring on the couch, a bottle in his limp hand. His mother was watching TV in the semidarkness, her eyes glued on the screen. Holding his breath he tried to tread lightly behind them to his room. He didn't want his mother seeing his shirt ripped to pieces as it would undoubtedly lead to questions. Questions he couldn't really answer.
He ducked into his room just as his mother got up to go to the kitchen. He locked the door and gingerly pulled off his shirt. He frowned at his reflection in the mirror. Stupid demon, he thought as he looked at the burning claw marks. It was probably female. He always attracted the female demons. Why the hell was that?
He hissed in pain as he applied peroxide to the cuts. When he was finished his forehead was dotted with sweat. He looked in the mirror one last time before carefully pulling on a clean shirt.
"At least I can honestly say I'm ripped now," he said smiling grimly to himself. His smile faded as he stared into the mirror. He turned around quickly to the window but saw nothing but the empty night beyond. He let out a shaky breath. For a moment there he had thought he had seen two red eyes staring back at him through the window.
He was just being stupid, though. Tonight had been a close call. Who knew what would have happened if Buffy hadn't saved his life again?
Well...obviously, she wouldn't have saved his life again, but the point was that he was always kind of jumpy after a close call. He still had nightmares about his encounters with the deadly kind. He shivered as he picked up the phone on his desk and called Willow's house.
For as long as he could remember he had always called Willow when he was feeling jumpy. Even before Buffy and her Slayer madness came to town. Somewhere between Willow's talk about trigonometry or gossip about what was going down in the Science Club he would find peace and rest. More than once he had awakened to the sound of her soft snores over the phone. He never understood why she didn't hang up when he fell asleep, but a part of him was grateful she didn't. He let the phone ring ten times before hanging up.
She was probably at The Bronze watching Oz. He swallowed the taste of bitterness that came over him. Oz. What did she see in him? All right, so he was in a band, and smart and funny and cool and he had taken a bullet for her...
But he was a freaking werewolf!
Danger Will Rosenberg, Danger!
Xander fell back on his bed and stared at the ceiling. Then he picked up the phone and dialed. "Hello? Cordelia. It's me...." He paused a moment at her inquiry and sighed. "Xander."