Destiny Lost
#1: In the Space of a Heartbeat
Authors: Sonya and Erin
E-mail: sonyajeb@swbell.net OR carynsilver@yahoo.com
Rating: PG-13
Category: B/X, AU, action/adventure, romance
Summary: An accident seconds before being chosen causes the Slayer Essence to skip Buffy, leaving her a normal girl. Then, a year and a half later, her mom's new job and her parents' divorce brings Buffy and her mother to Sunnydale, where Buffy comes in contact with the world of the night and a young man dedicated to its destruction.
Disclaimer: We do not own Buffy or any of the original characters or ideas from the show. They all belong to Joss, Mutant Enemy, etc. All we own is our own creative genius (unless that's too strong a word :) and any characters we make up.
Distribution: Sure, just let us know where it is!
Feedback: Love it! We want to know your likes AND dislikes. Flames are the only thing we do not accept.
Spoilers: Basic BtVS mythology and vampire/slayer lore
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Chapter 13
The Graveyard
That night, Xander patrolled with a goofy smile on his face. He'd spent too much time at Buffy's, but it had been worth it. The smile got wider as he remembered the smoochies. Buffy smoochies...
(Stop it!) Xander ordered himself. (You're patrolling right now. Got to prove to Giles and Sonya that she WON'T distract me... Buffy smoochies... Dang it!!! Let's try and think of something else... Vampires... big, evil, scary... Buffy smoochies. Wait, Buffy smoochies aren't scary, how did that segue happen?)
Then he heard a crunching sound behind him. Xander whipped out his trusty stake and whirled around -- all business. "All right. Who's there? Come out where I can see ya."
"Hey, point that thing somewhere else!" Angel stepped out from the shadows.
"It's not a thing!" Xander adopted a pained expression. "He has a name."
"You named your stake?" Angel raised an eyebrow. "Just out of curiosity -- though I'm sure I'll be sorry I asked -- what do you call it... er... him?"
"His name is Bob."
Angel couldn't help it. The laughter forced its way out of his throat. Xander always managed to make him laugh. "You named your stake BOB?"
"He looks like a Bob," Xander replied, pouting slightly. Then he dropped the routine and walked up to Angel, slapping the vampire on the shoulder. "So, you're back."
"Barely. There was a near-mishap during the flight, but the plane's bathroom is a pretty sunless place."
Xander nodded, getting back to business mode. They began walking side by side, patrolling the danger zone of the graveyard together like they had countless times before. "So, what did you find out?"
Angel sighed. "Not as much as we'd hoped for. There was no healing spell strong enough. They had spells for everything from wart removal to broken arms, but nothing for paralysis."
"Damn it!" Xander kicked a rock and sent it flying into the darkness. In the distance they could hear it strike a tombstone. "Now what are we going to do? There's not enough time for another expedition."
"Well, I found something that might help us, but I don't want to say any more than that yet," Angel said. "I gave the stuff to Giles, and he's looking over it. I don't want to get your hopes up until we know for sure."
Xander nodded, reigning in his impatience and frustration.
"So," Angel said, giving the boy a sidelong glance, "how have things been while I was away?"
"Not too bad," Xander replied, trying to be nonchalant. "No untoward demon sightings or anything. A few Spike and Willow encounters, but nothing I couldn't handle."
"Is that what happened to your nose?"
Xander touched the bandage with a rueful grin. "Yeah. Battle scars." He paused, wondering how much of his Buffy experience he should confide in Angel. Sure the guy was a vamp, but over the last year he'd become a friend. For a second, Xander remembered the time that Angel rescued him from his father during one of the old man's rages -- then Xander pushed that from his mind. But Angel might have some insights into his Giles/Sonya vs. Buffy problem. The guy HAD been around for awhile. But Xander didn't want Angel reporting on him -- he wasn't sure what the guy would do. Then he thought of the perfect way to get advice without risking any reprecussions.
"So," he asked in a carefully casual tone, "on a completely unrelated topic... I have this friend -- a hypothetical friend."
"All your friends are hypothetical," Angel muttered in a sarcastic-yet-brotherly tone of voice, but Xander was too wrapped up in his story to hear.
"Let's call this guy John. Anyway, John has this job. It's a very stressful job -- it occupies a lot of his time. And John's bosses, well, the phrase control-freak-workaholics springs directly to mind. Then John met this girl -- a hypothetical girl. Let's call her ... um ... Jane."
Angel rolled his eyes, but didn't comment.
Xander continued, "So Jane is this really great girl. She's gorgeous, but that goes without saying. But she's more than that. She's my ... she's JOHN'S perfect match. And, even more unbelievable, to JOHN, she likes him, too. These lovebunnies just can't get enough of each other!"
At that, Angel just had to laugh out loud.
"Shut up and let me finish, Dead Boy," Xander reprimanded him.
"Up yours, Weasle Breath," Angel replied without missing a beat.
Xander gave a big sigh and asked sarcastically, "Can I finish my story now?"
"Please," Angel said politely. "I'm all ears." He smiled again -- enjoying every moment of this fraternal bickering with Xander. He hadn't had any male siblings to banter with during his youth, so the past year of experiences like this with Xander had been refreshing.
"So..." Xander paused, just to make sure Angel was paying the proper amount of attention, "... the problem is that John's bosses think that Jane is distracting him from his job. They laid down the law big time -- the job or the girl. John can't leave the job, they need him a lot, but he can't give up the girl either -- she's so great... And the smoochies are ... um ... great or so John said in his hypothetical way. Anyway, now they're forced to sneak around behind everyone's back, like some Romeo and Juliet thing. Which is actually kind of interesting -- I had to read that play once. They did all kinds of wacky things like potions and climbing on balconies, not to mention the secret marriage and the sex. The more I think about it, the more it was pretty Hellmouthy if you ask me. All they needed was a demon. Wait a minute! Maybe that priest guy WAS a demon! He sure was way too interested in magic potions and stuff... I bet Shakespeare lived on a Hellmouth. How else do you explain MacBeth? What a psycho play that was..."
Angel cleared his throat rather loudly. "Was there a point to this 'hypothetical' story?"
Xander paused, and then said, "I guess John and Jane are just wondering what to do. Sneaking around is fun and all, but it's got it's problems. I mean, they don't like lying to everybody, but they can't stop seeing each other, but the job is REALLY important." He gave Angel a sidelong glance. "So, what do you think? Any words of wisdom for our two starcrossed lovers?"
There was a silence between the two men as Angel digested all this information. "I think that you and Jane should quit stressing so much. I understand why Giles did what he did, but you have the right to your own life. And all this may be over sooner than you think." He paused and then smiled. "And you're right, MacBeth really is a psycho play."
"Wait a minute! John isn't me!" Xander exclaimed, but he couldn't really keep the outrage real. They both knew the truth. "So... you're not going to tell Giles and Sonya, are you?"
Angel shook his head. "No. I know you'll do it yourself eventually. You've never been a good liar."
"I am, too, a good liar!"
"Are not. Do I need to say anything more than 'hypothetical'?"
They walked on for a few more minutes, and then Angel's enhanced ears picked up a sound in the distance. It sounded like a scream. And then something crackled from the other direction.
"What's up?" Xander asked. He'd had plenty of practice reading Angel's signals.
"There's something that way," Angel pointed ahead of them, "and back that way. We've got to split up. You backtrack, and I'll go ahead."
"Right-o. Meet ya back here in a few." Then he looked up and Angel was already gone. "I hate it when he does that," Xander muttered.
A minute later, and Xander heard the crackling sound, too. He pulled out Bob again, and searched the darkness behind him. "Come out, come out wherever you are..." he said in a sing-song tone.
"Maybe I want you to come find me..."
Xander's face grew cold and shuttered. He knew that voice.
Willow waltzed out into the moonlight, her skin luminous under the silvery orb. She was wearing a flowing, crimson dress with a plunging V-neckline. "Miss me?" Her smile showed many teeth, but no fangs -- yet.
"Not particularly," Xander said snarkily. "What do you want? More of last night?"
She cocked her head to the side, and her long, red tresses rippled with the motion. "I came to give you one last chance, Xand. For old times' sake. Don't you remember the fun we used to have?"
"I remember." His voice was cold.
"We could have that again. If you come and be with me, I'll kick Spike out of here, and you and I will rule this town. You won't have to put up with your pitiful excuses for parents, that broody vampire with a soul, or even that bossy old Giles and the crip. I need you with me, Xand. I miss you. You're my best friend."
For a second she looked like the Willow of old. Part of Xander wanted to reach out, hug her and tell her that everything was going to be all right -- her Xand would be there for her just like he always had been. But the other part of Xander remembered everything else -- Willow in vamp face, Willow kissing Spike, Willow ripping the throat out of some innocent teenager... They could never go back to what they had before.
"No," he said simply. "Never. You're not my Willow. My Willow died a long time ago, and I can never get her back. You're just an insane, horny vampire that happens to be wearing her face."
Willow snarled and let her true visage show. Fangs gleamed in the moonlight, and ugly, vampiric wrinkles marred her youthful beauty. "I was giving you a chance, but you blew it, pal! After tomorrow night, things are going to be different in Sunnydale."
"What are you talking about now?" Xander demanded.
"Spike and I are throwing a little party," Willow replied with a cruel, fangy smile. "At the Bronze. It's gonna be fun. You should show -- and maybe bring a date." She paced back and forth, running her fingers lightly over the tops of the tombstones. Then she cocked her head to one side and looked back at Xander. "It will be an intimate gathering -- only a few of our nearest and dearest. Everyone else will just be the hors d'oeuvres." Then she vanished into the darkness, her tinkling laugh lingering behind on the wind.
Angel chose that moment to run back up. "My search was a wild goose chase. Did you find anything?"
"More than I wanted to." Xander filled Angel in on what Willow had said about the party at the Bronze. "Looks like we're booked for tomorrow night."
"You realize it's a trap, don't you?" Angel commented.
Xander nodded. "Of course, but we can't let innocent Bronze patrons die because we didn't want to fall into a trap."
Angel looked serious. "We'll meet there about eight?"
"Better make it seven. Wouldn't want to miss the opening festivities." Xander looked at his watch. "One of us had better go fill Giles in."
"You go, I'll finish patrolling," Angel offered. "I had a chance to rest up in England -- you deserve a little break. Maybe after the library, you'll have time to go see your hypothetical Jane, too."
"Everything's a joke with you, Dead Boy," Xander said, sarcasm dripping from his tongue. "You're never serious for a minute."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Xander went back to the school to pick up his jeep, and found the library locked and empty. He stopped by a pay phone and called the librarian at home, filling him in on the plans for the next night.
"Great," Giles muttered over the phone. "Just what we need. Meet us in the library tomorrow before school and we'll figure out a game plan."
"All right," Xander answered in a clipped tone. He was still perturbed with Giles, and didn't want to chat too long. "See you at 7:30." Then he hung up, and climbed back into the jeep, planning to head for home to take advantage of some extra sleep time. The second hand jeep coughed and sputtered when he started it up. Xander shook his head. "Gotta thank Uncle Rory and his used car lot."
Soon he was driving down the road, thinking about the events of the day. Then he looked up and realized he was outside of Buffy's house. He pulled up to the curb, cut the motor and looked down at the jeep -- which he had laughingly dubbed the Slayer-mobile -- and frowned. "Must've been on autopilot. But as long as I'm here..."
He crept around to the backyard, conscious of the late hour, and looked up at Buffy's window. The light was still on. He smiled. If she was up studying, she'd probably be ready for some distraction. He picked up a small pebble and threw it toward the window with perfect aim. He repeated the routine a couple of times, until her silhouette appeared behind the curtain.
"Xander?" Buffy called, sliding the window open and peering out.
"What light through yonder window breaks? It is the East and Buffy...ette is the sun," he paused, suddenly at a loss for words. "Um... that's all I remember from when we had to memorize the scene in freshman year." His heart thrilled when he heard her laughter.
"Meet me at the front door," she called.
"Are you sure you don't want me to ascend to your balcony, fair maiden?" he asked.
"Xander," she replied, "I don't have a balcony."
He hurried to the front porch, and stepped inside when she opened the door.
"I'd come out," Buffy whispered, "but that didn't work so well last night."
Xander winced, remembering the fight. "I can be quiet."
They tiptoed into the living room, and Buffy turned on one small light. "What are you doing here?"
"I don't actually know," Xander admitted. "I got off of patrol a little early and suddenly found myself here."
Buffy thought that was adorable, but she didn't want to say too much to inflate his ego, so she just gave him a kiss.
"If that's my reward, I'll throw rocks at your window every night."
"So," she asked, "how was patrolling?"
He pulled her into a comfortable embrace while they talked. His arm wrapped around her shoulders, and her head rested on his chest. The perfume of her hair tickled his nostrils. "Angel just got back from England. It was good to see him again."
"Tell me about Angel again?"
"Well, he's a vampire, but he's a good vampire."
"Is that possible?"
"Yes, but it's too long of a story for now. Suffice to say that he was cursed by some gypsies, and now he's got his soul back, so he's on our side."
"Oh. So he's back from England..."
Xander resumed his story. "Yeah, he was trying to find out a way to cure Sonya. He found something, but he wouldn't tell me what it was yet. And then Willow showed up."
Buffy glowered. "What did *she* want?"
"She and Spike are having a little party at the Bronze tomorrow night. It's obviously a trap, but if we don't go then they'll have free reign to feed on lots of innocent victims."
Buffy sat up and looked him in the eye. "I'm going, too."
"No way!" Xander exclaimed. "I can't worry about you and do my job at the same time."
"Shh!" Buffy cautioned him, glancing worriedly at the stairs. "Mom's asleep."
"Sorry," Xander said, shame-faced.
"And, yes, I'm going. I'm not made of glass, you know. I did pretty well against that Linus creep. Well, he did get me in the end, but that was just because I didn't know what the heck I was dealing with. I'll have a cross and a stake, and maybe I'll even stop by and get some holy water." She leaned in and enunciated her words clearly, but softly. "I *am* going to be there. There's no way I'm letting you face all that danger while I sit at home alone worrying about you."
Xander realized she was serious. "I guess that makes sense. Inactivity makes me crazy, too. But what about Giles and Sonya? If you're there alone, they'll realize you came for me, and our whole situation will come out into the open. That would be bad." He grinned smugly. "See, you can't go. Too bad. Sorry."
Buffy squinched her eyes tightly shut and thought for a minute. His heart sank a little when she slowly smiled and opened them again. "I think I've got a way around that..."
#1: In the Space of a Heartbeat
Authors: Sonya and Erin
E-mail: sonyajeb@swbell.net OR carynsilver@yahoo.com
Rating: PG-13
Category: B/X, AU, action/adventure, romance
Summary: An accident seconds before being chosen causes the Slayer Essence to skip Buffy, leaving her a normal girl. Then, a year and a half later, her mom's new job and her parents' divorce brings Buffy and her mother to Sunnydale, where Buffy comes in contact with the world of the night and a young man dedicated to its destruction.
Disclaimer: We do not own Buffy or any of the original characters or ideas from the show. They all belong to Joss, Mutant Enemy, etc. All we own is our own creative genius (unless that's too strong a word :) and any characters we make up.
Distribution: Sure, just let us know where it is!
Feedback: Love it! We want to know your likes AND dislikes. Flames are the only thing we do not accept.
Spoilers: Basic BtVS mythology and vampire/slayer lore
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Chapter 13
The Graveyard
That night, Xander patrolled with a goofy smile on his face. He'd spent too much time at Buffy's, but it had been worth it. The smile got wider as he remembered the smoochies. Buffy smoochies...
(Stop it!) Xander ordered himself. (You're patrolling right now. Got to prove to Giles and Sonya that she WON'T distract me... Buffy smoochies... Dang it!!! Let's try and think of something else... Vampires... big, evil, scary... Buffy smoochies. Wait, Buffy smoochies aren't scary, how did that segue happen?)
Then he heard a crunching sound behind him. Xander whipped out his trusty stake and whirled around -- all business. "All right. Who's there? Come out where I can see ya."
"Hey, point that thing somewhere else!" Angel stepped out from the shadows.
"It's not a thing!" Xander adopted a pained expression. "He has a name."
"You named your stake?" Angel raised an eyebrow. "Just out of curiosity -- though I'm sure I'll be sorry I asked -- what do you call it... er... him?"
"His name is Bob."
Angel couldn't help it. The laughter forced its way out of his throat. Xander always managed to make him laugh. "You named your stake BOB?"
"He looks like a Bob," Xander replied, pouting slightly. Then he dropped the routine and walked up to Angel, slapping the vampire on the shoulder. "So, you're back."
"Barely. There was a near-mishap during the flight, but the plane's bathroom is a pretty sunless place."
Xander nodded, getting back to business mode. They began walking side by side, patrolling the danger zone of the graveyard together like they had countless times before. "So, what did you find out?"
Angel sighed. "Not as much as we'd hoped for. There was no healing spell strong enough. They had spells for everything from wart removal to broken arms, but nothing for paralysis."
"Damn it!" Xander kicked a rock and sent it flying into the darkness. In the distance they could hear it strike a tombstone. "Now what are we going to do? There's not enough time for another expedition."
"Well, I found something that might help us, but I don't want to say any more than that yet," Angel said. "I gave the stuff to Giles, and he's looking over it. I don't want to get your hopes up until we know for sure."
Xander nodded, reigning in his impatience and frustration.
"So," Angel said, giving the boy a sidelong glance, "how have things been while I was away?"
"Not too bad," Xander replied, trying to be nonchalant. "No untoward demon sightings or anything. A few Spike and Willow encounters, but nothing I couldn't handle."
"Is that what happened to your nose?"
Xander touched the bandage with a rueful grin. "Yeah. Battle scars." He paused, wondering how much of his Buffy experience he should confide in Angel. Sure the guy was a vamp, but over the last year he'd become a friend. For a second, Xander remembered the time that Angel rescued him from his father during one of the old man's rages -- then Xander pushed that from his mind. But Angel might have some insights into his Giles/Sonya vs. Buffy problem. The guy HAD been around for awhile. But Xander didn't want Angel reporting on him -- he wasn't sure what the guy would do. Then he thought of the perfect way to get advice without risking any reprecussions.
"So," he asked in a carefully casual tone, "on a completely unrelated topic... I have this friend -- a hypothetical friend."
"All your friends are hypothetical," Angel muttered in a sarcastic-yet-brotherly tone of voice, but Xander was too wrapped up in his story to hear.
"Let's call this guy John. Anyway, John has this job. It's a very stressful job -- it occupies a lot of his time. And John's bosses, well, the phrase control-freak-workaholics springs directly to mind. Then John met this girl -- a hypothetical girl. Let's call her ... um ... Jane."
Angel rolled his eyes, but didn't comment.
Xander continued, "So Jane is this really great girl. She's gorgeous, but that goes without saying. But she's more than that. She's my ... she's JOHN'S perfect match. And, even more unbelievable, to JOHN, she likes him, too. These lovebunnies just can't get enough of each other!"
At that, Angel just had to laugh out loud.
"Shut up and let me finish, Dead Boy," Xander reprimanded him.
"Up yours, Weasle Breath," Angel replied without missing a beat.
Xander gave a big sigh and asked sarcastically, "Can I finish my story now?"
"Please," Angel said politely. "I'm all ears." He smiled again -- enjoying every moment of this fraternal bickering with Xander. He hadn't had any male siblings to banter with during his youth, so the past year of experiences like this with Xander had been refreshing.
"So..." Xander paused, just to make sure Angel was paying the proper amount of attention, "... the problem is that John's bosses think that Jane is distracting him from his job. They laid down the law big time -- the job or the girl. John can't leave the job, they need him a lot, but he can't give up the girl either -- she's so great... And the smoochies are ... um ... great or so John said in his hypothetical way. Anyway, now they're forced to sneak around behind everyone's back, like some Romeo and Juliet thing. Which is actually kind of interesting -- I had to read that play once. They did all kinds of wacky things like potions and climbing on balconies, not to mention the secret marriage and the sex. The more I think about it, the more it was pretty Hellmouthy if you ask me. All they needed was a demon. Wait a minute! Maybe that priest guy WAS a demon! He sure was way too interested in magic potions and stuff... I bet Shakespeare lived on a Hellmouth. How else do you explain MacBeth? What a psycho play that was..."
Angel cleared his throat rather loudly. "Was there a point to this 'hypothetical' story?"
Xander paused, and then said, "I guess John and Jane are just wondering what to do. Sneaking around is fun and all, but it's got it's problems. I mean, they don't like lying to everybody, but they can't stop seeing each other, but the job is REALLY important." He gave Angel a sidelong glance. "So, what do you think? Any words of wisdom for our two starcrossed lovers?"
There was a silence between the two men as Angel digested all this information. "I think that you and Jane should quit stressing so much. I understand why Giles did what he did, but you have the right to your own life. And all this may be over sooner than you think." He paused and then smiled. "And you're right, MacBeth really is a psycho play."
"Wait a minute! John isn't me!" Xander exclaimed, but he couldn't really keep the outrage real. They both knew the truth. "So... you're not going to tell Giles and Sonya, are you?"
Angel shook his head. "No. I know you'll do it yourself eventually. You've never been a good liar."
"I am, too, a good liar!"
"Are not. Do I need to say anything more than 'hypothetical'?"
They walked on for a few more minutes, and then Angel's enhanced ears picked up a sound in the distance. It sounded like a scream. And then something crackled from the other direction.
"What's up?" Xander asked. He'd had plenty of practice reading Angel's signals.
"There's something that way," Angel pointed ahead of them, "and back that way. We've got to split up. You backtrack, and I'll go ahead."
"Right-o. Meet ya back here in a few." Then he looked up and Angel was already gone. "I hate it when he does that," Xander muttered.
A minute later, and Xander heard the crackling sound, too. He pulled out Bob again, and searched the darkness behind him. "Come out, come out wherever you are..." he said in a sing-song tone.
"Maybe I want you to come find me..."
Xander's face grew cold and shuttered. He knew that voice.
Willow waltzed out into the moonlight, her skin luminous under the silvery orb. She was wearing a flowing, crimson dress with a plunging V-neckline. "Miss me?" Her smile showed many teeth, but no fangs -- yet.
"Not particularly," Xander said snarkily. "What do you want? More of last night?"
She cocked her head to the side, and her long, red tresses rippled with the motion. "I came to give you one last chance, Xand. For old times' sake. Don't you remember the fun we used to have?"
"I remember." His voice was cold.
"We could have that again. If you come and be with me, I'll kick Spike out of here, and you and I will rule this town. You won't have to put up with your pitiful excuses for parents, that broody vampire with a soul, or even that bossy old Giles and the crip. I need you with me, Xand. I miss you. You're my best friend."
For a second she looked like the Willow of old. Part of Xander wanted to reach out, hug her and tell her that everything was going to be all right -- her Xand would be there for her just like he always had been. But the other part of Xander remembered everything else -- Willow in vamp face, Willow kissing Spike, Willow ripping the throat out of some innocent teenager... They could never go back to what they had before.
"No," he said simply. "Never. You're not my Willow. My Willow died a long time ago, and I can never get her back. You're just an insane, horny vampire that happens to be wearing her face."
Willow snarled and let her true visage show. Fangs gleamed in the moonlight, and ugly, vampiric wrinkles marred her youthful beauty. "I was giving you a chance, but you blew it, pal! After tomorrow night, things are going to be different in Sunnydale."
"What are you talking about now?" Xander demanded.
"Spike and I are throwing a little party," Willow replied with a cruel, fangy smile. "At the Bronze. It's gonna be fun. You should show -- and maybe bring a date." She paced back and forth, running her fingers lightly over the tops of the tombstones. Then she cocked her head to one side and looked back at Xander. "It will be an intimate gathering -- only a few of our nearest and dearest. Everyone else will just be the hors d'oeuvres." Then she vanished into the darkness, her tinkling laugh lingering behind on the wind.
Angel chose that moment to run back up. "My search was a wild goose chase. Did you find anything?"
"More than I wanted to." Xander filled Angel in on what Willow had said about the party at the Bronze. "Looks like we're booked for tomorrow night."
"You realize it's a trap, don't you?" Angel commented.
Xander nodded. "Of course, but we can't let innocent Bronze patrons die because we didn't want to fall into a trap."
Angel looked serious. "We'll meet there about eight?"
"Better make it seven. Wouldn't want to miss the opening festivities." Xander looked at his watch. "One of us had better go fill Giles in."
"You go, I'll finish patrolling," Angel offered. "I had a chance to rest up in England -- you deserve a little break. Maybe after the library, you'll have time to go see your hypothetical Jane, too."
"Everything's a joke with you, Dead Boy," Xander said, sarcasm dripping from his tongue. "You're never serious for a minute."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Xander went back to the school to pick up his jeep, and found the library locked and empty. He stopped by a pay phone and called the librarian at home, filling him in on the plans for the next night.
"Great," Giles muttered over the phone. "Just what we need. Meet us in the library tomorrow before school and we'll figure out a game plan."
"All right," Xander answered in a clipped tone. He was still perturbed with Giles, and didn't want to chat too long. "See you at 7:30." Then he hung up, and climbed back into the jeep, planning to head for home to take advantage of some extra sleep time. The second hand jeep coughed and sputtered when he started it up. Xander shook his head. "Gotta thank Uncle Rory and his used car lot."
Soon he was driving down the road, thinking about the events of the day. Then he looked up and realized he was outside of Buffy's house. He pulled up to the curb, cut the motor and looked down at the jeep -- which he had laughingly dubbed the Slayer-mobile -- and frowned. "Must've been on autopilot. But as long as I'm here..."
He crept around to the backyard, conscious of the late hour, and looked up at Buffy's window. The light was still on. He smiled. If she was up studying, she'd probably be ready for some distraction. He picked up a small pebble and threw it toward the window with perfect aim. He repeated the routine a couple of times, until her silhouette appeared behind the curtain.
"Xander?" Buffy called, sliding the window open and peering out.
"What light through yonder window breaks? It is the East and Buffy...ette is the sun," he paused, suddenly at a loss for words. "Um... that's all I remember from when we had to memorize the scene in freshman year." His heart thrilled when he heard her laughter.
"Meet me at the front door," she called.
"Are you sure you don't want me to ascend to your balcony, fair maiden?" he asked.
"Xander," she replied, "I don't have a balcony."
He hurried to the front porch, and stepped inside when she opened the door.
"I'd come out," Buffy whispered, "but that didn't work so well last night."
Xander winced, remembering the fight. "I can be quiet."
They tiptoed into the living room, and Buffy turned on one small light. "What are you doing here?"
"I don't actually know," Xander admitted. "I got off of patrol a little early and suddenly found myself here."
Buffy thought that was adorable, but she didn't want to say too much to inflate his ego, so she just gave him a kiss.
"If that's my reward, I'll throw rocks at your window every night."
"So," she asked, "how was patrolling?"
He pulled her into a comfortable embrace while they talked. His arm wrapped around her shoulders, and her head rested on his chest. The perfume of her hair tickled his nostrils. "Angel just got back from England. It was good to see him again."
"Tell me about Angel again?"
"Well, he's a vampire, but he's a good vampire."
"Is that possible?"
"Yes, but it's too long of a story for now. Suffice to say that he was cursed by some gypsies, and now he's got his soul back, so he's on our side."
"Oh. So he's back from England..."
Xander resumed his story. "Yeah, he was trying to find out a way to cure Sonya. He found something, but he wouldn't tell me what it was yet. And then Willow showed up."
Buffy glowered. "What did *she* want?"
"She and Spike are having a little party at the Bronze tomorrow night. It's obviously a trap, but if we don't go then they'll have free reign to feed on lots of innocent victims."
Buffy sat up and looked him in the eye. "I'm going, too."
"No way!" Xander exclaimed. "I can't worry about you and do my job at the same time."
"Shh!" Buffy cautioned him, glancing worriedly at the stairs. "Mom's asleep."
"Sorry," Xander said, shame-faced.
"And, yes, I'm going. I'm not made of glass, you know. I did pretty well against that Linus creep. Well, he did get me in the end, but that was just because I didn't know what the heck I was dealing with. I'll have a cross and a stake, and maybe I'll even stop by and get some holy water." She leaned in and enunciated her words clearly, but softly. "I *am* going to be there. There's no way I'm letting you face all that danger while I sit at home alone worrying about you."
Xander realized she was serious. "I guess that makes sense. Inactivity makes me crazy, too. But what about Giles and Sonya? If you're there alone, they'll realize you came for me, and our whole situation will come out into the open. That would be bad." He grinned smugly. "See, you can't go. Too bad. Sorry."
Buffy squinched her eyes tightly shut and thought for a minute. His heart sank a little when she slowly smiled and opened them again. "I think I've got a way around that..."