Within minutes, Angel and Xander had reached Giles' door. Xander hesitated
briefly before squaring his shoulders and pressing the doorbell. Within
seconds an anxious Willow flung open the door and greeted them. "Xander!
Angel! You're here! Not that you wouldn't but I was afraid you'd get side
tracked on the way. Not that you couldn't take care of yourselves, but I
was worried that something would happen and it's been so long since I've
seen you but it's probably been longer since you've seen me, right?"
Willow paused to take a breath and Xander interrupted.
"Willow, Willow! Calm down. Can we at least get inside the door before your babble fest continues?" Xander pushed past the girl and walked into the Watcher's living room. Before he got too far in, he realized that Angel was still outside. Giles had revoked the invite spell on the house while Angelus still roamed free in Sunnydale. "Come in, Angel." Angel walked in the door and caught up with Xander. He was greeted with silence and stares from the people within. Giles, Buffy, Oz and Cordelia were all watching the man as he strode into the room. Angel made sure to keep close to his lover as the looks he was getting, especially from Giles and Buffy were enough to make the vampire nervous.
Xander realized that he would have to make the first move. None of the Scooby Gang were quite sure how to react to the New Xander. He turned to Willow, who still held the door open. "Willow, you might want to close that," with a nod towards the door.
"Oh!" Willow had frozen, not realizing that she hadn't closed the door yet. She did so hurriedly and when closed, ran over to Oz and sat down next to him.
Giles reached up and took off his glasses. Pulling a handkerchief from his sports coat pocket, he cleaned the lenses and replaced them on his face. "Yes, well."
Cordelia interrupted Giles. "Where have you two been? And hello? Angelus? Xander, you hate him. Evil murderous bastard there. Why isn't he dead?" She turned to Buffy, "You saw him last night; I repeat, why isn't he dead?"
Xander chose this moment to speak up. "Cordy, settle down. Angel has his soul. He had it before we got sucked into hell. It was too late to stop the portal from opening and I tried to close it, but it opened." He sighed. "It pulled Angel in and me as well. There was no way that either of us could have escaped the vortex."
Giles cleared his throat, "Yes, Cordelia, please do calm down. Now is not the time for hysterics."
Cordelia huffed, but settled back into her seat. "I still don't trust him. And what's wrong with Xander? He's never acted that way before!"
"Cordelia, do leave it alone. It is only natural for Xander to be a bit different. Time runs differently where he and Xander were and they were gone longer than the few months that went by here."
Cordelia spoke up again, "How long? A year? Two?"
Angel was the one to answer, "Hundreds, Cordelia, hundreds. We were there for hundreds of years among demons and creatures that all lived to hunt us down and torture us. They didn't want to kill us. They wanted to make sure we suffered."
Angel's speech, unexpected from the usually quiet vampire, shocked the Scoobies. None of them had wanted to comprehend what the long stay in hell had meant to the two. Giles was the only one who had thought about this subject in any depth and he hadn't wanted to dwell on the changes the young boy had gone through.
Buffy hadn't thought about it at all and her entire stance went from confident slayer to distraught friend. She hadn't wanted to think about what her hesitancy to kill Angel had meant to Xander. It was her fault that Xander had had to go, literally, to Hell.
Oz had known that Xander had been different. His wolf had acknowledged that this man was no longer the Zeppo he had been before. He was now an alpha and Oz recognized the fact that Xander had changed and wouldn't change back.
Willow still thought that she could get her Xander back. All she had to do was find the right spell.Her eyes began to change color, darkening but no one other than Xander noticed.
Cordelia broke the silence, "Morbid much?"
Xander began to laugh, "I've missed you, Cordy!" His outburst startled the others and they began to laugh as well, though more out of the fact that they needed to release some emotion. "And as much as I'd love to stand here and trade insults back and forth, Angel and I had an interesting chat with the Oracles tonight. We found out why they brought us back."
"What did you find out, Xander?" Giles knew that this information would not be pleasant. The Oracles would not release Angel and Xander if the Slayer alone would have been able to handle this next threat.
Xander took a deep breath and proceeded to share what the Oracles had told them. It didn't take very long and he finished with "And so they said that we'd know what the demon was, that we already have the information we need. They also said that no one is this realm could slay it and that's why we were brought back. Angel and I must have learned something in Hell that applies to this case. But I don't know what. We were there for a long time." His voice trailed off.
"We made a point of finding out everything we could about the different types of demons. The more information we had, the less likely it was that we would be caught unawares. But that's several hundred years of information." Angel finished speaking and turned to Giles. "Has there been any reports of something unusual lately?"
Buffy snorted. "Unusual? This is the Hellmouth. No one notices anything. I tried Willie's earlier tonight but the only thing I got out of him was that Angelus was back in town."
Angel frowned. "We were there earlier."
Xander interrupted, "Yeah, Willie didn't seem to happy to see us, but then again, when is he?"
Nobody chose to answer that particular question. Giles just shook his head and made for his bookcases. "Well, let's go through some of the prophecy books and see if they mention anything familiar. Later you and Angel can go on patrol with Buffy and see if you notice anything. Perhaps you and Angel can start a list of demons you have knowledge of and the rest of us can start looking through the books."
Xander grinned, "Thanks, G-man, now I really feel like I'm home again. I actually kind of missed these research parties. Can I call for pizza?"
"Xander, how many times have I told you not to call me that? And yes, you can order pizza."
"Thanks, G-man. Does anyone have a preference?" Xander reached for the phone and a phonebook. He found the number for a pizza place that delivered and placed an order. The group settled down to reading and only took a break when the pizza arrived.
Xander and Angel shared the couch, sitting close while they filled out a list. They exchanged quiet comments and sometimes laughter when they remembered a certain fight or experience. Periodically, they would look up and notice someone looking at them. Buffy, Cordelia and Willow most often seemed stunned at the easy affection the two shared.
Buffy and Cordelia were both shocked at the two men. Cordelia was upset because while Xander and she had not spent a lot of time together, and most of that hiding in closets, she had expected that if Xander came back, he would come back to her. Now, he not only seemed to have forgotten her, he was dating Angelus! Not only was he a vampire that Xander had hated, but he was a guy! When had Xander Harris ever been attracted to men? After awhile, though, Cordelia could see that the two worked well together. Whatever they had gone through, had bound the two men together closely.
Buffy, on the other hand, was extremely upset. How could Angel forget about her completely? He was hers! And Xander.he had a crush on her and he was attracted only to beautiful women, like Kendra or the Inca princess, not men. She spent most of the night watching them interact. She slowly came to a realization. Angel would never be hers. Not only would the fact that Angel had tried to kill her forever keep her from fully trusting him, but he was a vampire. The girl in her would always love Angel, but the slayer in her would forever be opposed to the vamp. It would take time, but she would get used to the fact that Angel would never be hers and that he was now attached with Xander Harris, doughnut boy.
That was something she'd have to get used to as well. Xander was no longer the doughnut boy. He was extremely fit and had an air of confidence around him that she had not seen on a normal human before. He looked like he could take care of himself and had taken care of himself in tough situations. Sometimes he would look up from the list he and Angel were creating and stare off into space and his eyes would contain pain that could only have been placed there by extreme hardships and cruelty. She mourned for the boy he used to be, but looked forward to getting to know the man he had become.
Willow watched the two fighters, sitting on the couch, with hostility. How dare they come to her town and pretend to be her best friend and Angel? These creatures were so obviously in the wrong dimension that Willow knew she'd have to something to remove them from the scene. She remembered a spell that was contained in one the magic books Giles had forbidden her to read, but she had snuck into anyway. While Giles was distracted eating his late supper and looking for an index, Willow went over to the off-limits bookcase and grabbed the book she was thinking of.
It took her several minutes but she did eventually find the spell she was looking for. While it wouldn't bring her Xander back to her, it would permanently take these two and place them in a realm that was worse than Hell. They would never be able to leave and would be appropriately punished for bringing all their hopes up. The pain they'd experience would be enough payment for her losing her best friend.
The thought that this might really be Xander and Angel never crossed her mind. He had changed too much for her to be comfortable with and that was a crime to her. She bookmarked the page of the book and placed it next to her. She picked up another book, intent on learning everything she could and paged through smiling a very non-Willowy smile.
Xander had been keeping an eye out on all the Scoobies. Giles and Oz seemed to be entrenched in their books, writing down comments on legal pads and paging through different books while eating pizza slices.
Cordelia and Buffy seemed to be thinking more than researching and both seemed to keep a close eye on him as well. He knew that they'd just have to come to terms with the "new" Xander Harris but hopefully it wouldn't take too long. He had missed both girls during his exile and really just wanted them to get to know him again. He smiled inwardly when he saw Cordelia finally lose the "I smell something foul" look on her face and when she actually smiled a real smile at him, he smiled back.
When Buffy sighed and gave a sad smile to both him and Angel, he knew that while things weren't perfect between them, they would, at least, have the chance to get better.
Who really worried him was Willow. Unlike Giles, he did notice where she had gone over to grab books from. He had a quiet conversation with Giles and realized that Giles really didn't know how far Willow had gone into magic. Giles said that he had forbidden her from the more serious magics when he caught her trying serious black magic spells earlier in the summer, right after Xander and Angel had disappeared. However, Giles assumed that Willow had listened to him and had stopped.
Xander had happened to look up just as Willow marked a page in one of the books. He saw her unusual smile and knew that this creature was not the girl he had known. He walked over to where she was researching and said, "This seat taken?"
For a moment Willow looked up, her expression full of hatred for the man she saw in front of her, but it quickly faded into an old Willow mask. She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Sit! I'm not saving it for anybody.and now you're sitting in it so I don't have to save it for anybody." Willow stopped talking abruptly, seemingly realizing that her babbling was making little sense.
Xander purposely laughed and told her, "I'm glad you haven't changed, Willow. You were one of the things I missed the most while I was gone. I've seen so much and done so much that I'm really not the same person anymore." He looked up and away from the girl. "I know I'm different, but I am your Xander. I'm still the same guy that stole your Barbie."
Willow gasped. She had been listening to the imposter with a lightly veiled cynicism, but he really sounded like her Xander! But he couldn't be. Her Xander would not be sleeping with a vampire.
Xander continued talking, pretending he didn't hear her gasp and that he didn't see the emotions that flickered across her face. "When Angel and I got to Hell, we had to rely on each other. It took awhile, but we grew to be friends. We were the only ones that really cared and we missed the same people. It brought us together. And well, here we are! But Willow, I'm happy with him and now that we're back home, things are good. Well, we do have to slay, but that's not anything new!" He had concentrated on Willow during his talk and he had hoped that Willow would change her mind; maybe hold off on what she was planning, but he saw her put on her resolve face and saw her eyes move to the book she had marked and back to his face.
He tried one last time, "Willow. I am Xander but I am not the Zeppo I was that you thought you knew. I've fought, Willow, fought long and hard. I've had to learn and do things you can never imagine to survive. In the process I fell in love with a vampire. I fell in love with Angel. You WILL accept this and you WILL not do anything drastic. Do you understand?"
Willow looked at him shocked, "I have no idea what you're talking about! I wasn't going to do anything!" She protested a bit too much for his taste. Xander picked up the book, focusing on her face. Willow started squirming around in her seat. She wouldn't look him in the eyes and could barely focus on anything other than the book he held in his hands.
Xander took hold of the bookmark and opened to the indicated page. He glanced down and caught the title. "Shit!" The expletive rang out loudly in the quiet room. Everyone turned to look at him, shocked at the seemingly random swearing.
"Willow! Do you know what this would have done?" He stood up, towering over the smaller girl. "You will not banish us! We belong here. This would have destroyed both this world and the one you tried to send us too! Do you need to control everyone in your world that much that you would destroy us all? You can't always have things your way, Willow!"
Xander grabbed her arm and pulled her up so that they were face to face. "I loved you, Willow. But this is unforgivable. You obviously cannot be trusted with the magic you have." He paused and turned to Giles, who was gaping at him. "Do you have the supplies for a binding spell? I'll need two candles, one black one white, black cord; black silk, rose oil, incense and rue."
Giles found his voice, "What is the meaning of this? You will not bind her!"
"Yes, I will." Xander's voice was implacable. "She was planning on using this," Xander held up the book, "to banish Angel and myself." Giles had walked over to where Xander and Willow stood and Xander handed the book over, open to the correct page.
Giles started to read, his face going pale as he took in the contents and realized what could have happened. His Ripper façade slipped out, "Foolish girl! You could have destroyed us all!" He slammed the book shut and went to grab Willow. She flinched and managed to somehow avoid Giles, but still remained in Xander's bruising grip. Giles took a deep breath and turned away. He walked towards his private bookcase and placed the book back in the correct place, noting the other gaps and decided he would be having a long talk with Willow about where those books had gone. There were more missing than the few books that were on the table. He started cursing under his breath, that fool girl could have turned this plane into something worse than Hell!
Giles then remembered Xander's request and decided to honor it. He had everything needed.
Buffy stayed where she was, stunned. She had no idea what was going on. That was not okay with her. She was the Slayer! "What's going on? What did Willow do? What's the problem with Giles?" she whined. Xander had changed so much and now he was making Willow and Giles act weird.
Xander looked over at the girl, "Buffy, don't worry about it. Giles and I have this under control."
"But what's going on!?"
Oz choose this moment to speak up, "I'd like to know that too, and why you have my girlfriend in a death grip." His low voice carried across the room to Xander.
Xander knew he would have no peace until he told the young slayer what was happening and the werewolf deserved to know what kind of witch Willow was. "Willow decided that Angel and I were not the right ones. She decided to use a very powerful, very old, dangerous and VERY forbidden spell to banish us to a realm so evil, so dangerous it doesn't have a name anymore. No one speaks of it. However, since both Angel and I are from here, she would have ended up destroying this plane, the plane she was sending us too and who knows what other damage would have been caused."
Oz and Buffy both winced and stood down from their confrontation stances. Cordy just stayed where she was sitting, book in lap. Angel hissed then growled low, his eyes flickering yellow. He knew what spell his lover was speaking about and the damage it could have created. He also knew something else about the spell. "It would have also sent the castor with the ones being banished. The price for that spell is incredibly high."
Willow burst out into tears. "But I didn't mean to! I just wanted my Xander back!"
"But you almost did, Willow. The magic completely surrounds you. This is not the first spell of this magnitude you've cast, is it?"
"No," she whispered.
"That's why I'm binding you. You have no control anymore. The magic will eat you alive and will take the world with you. You're a danger to yourself and to us. You cannot cast anymore. It's an addiction and one you cannot surrender to."
Willow remained hunched over and continued to sob. Xander had no compassion for the girl at this point. He saw the looks she continued to send his way that she believed were hidden. She had no remorse for what she would have done. Perhaps, in time, when the magic had faded somewhat, they might be able to get their Willow back, but like himself, she would never be the same.
For the next few minutes, no one spoke. Giles finally reemerged from his back room, carrying several objects that he started laying out. Xander corrected him a few times in the placement, "Xander, I know how to lay out a binding spell." He was definitely frustrated with the boy.
"Giles, I know what I'm doing. I'm not doing the traditional binding spell. This one is much stronger and has the ability to drain some of the taint off of the subject."
Giles looked up from the candles he was setting down and just blinked at the man. "What?"
Xander smiled, "Yes, Giles. It has that ability and I think we need it. Don't you?"
"Yes, yes, quite." He finished off the preparations and stepped back.
Xander grabbed Willow by the arm again and dragged her over to the circle. He placed her in the middle and had Giles stand behind her and Angel to the right. He placed Buffy to the left and he stood in front of his former friend. "Cordelia, Oz. Please stand in the kitchen. I don't want your energies involved in this." He waited until they moved out of the way, Oz pausing in front of Willow, searching her eyes and face for some sign that Xander was wrong. He didn't find it and moved into the kitchen with the cheerleader.
Xander started chanting and everyone, including the two in the kitchen could feel his power rising. Willow started to pant, then scream as the chanting went on. Giles and
Angel could see where lines of black started streaming off the girl. Other lines of different colors wrapped themselves around her, sinking into her skin. Finally the chanting stopped and Willow collapsed, as did Xander.
Angel ran to his mate, who whispered, "It's done." With that, Xander closed his eyes and fainted.
Giles looked at the girl he had come to care greatly about. He gestured to Buffy to pick her up and move her to the couch. "Angel, why don't you and Xander spend the night. The guest room is on the other side of the bathroom. The window can be blocked so that the sun can't enter."
Angel thanked him and picked up Xander in his arms, carrying the heavy man to the bedroom and slipping into bed with him. He wasn't worried about him as he knew that Xander was just tired and worn out from the heavy casting. It had happened before and would most likely happen again. Xander would wake in the morning with a headache, but otherwise be fine.
Back in the living room, Willow was being watched by a concerned Slayer, Watcher, werewolf and cheerleader. Though the cheerleader was more worried about whether or not she had to do anything than the girl passed out on the couch. "Can I go now?"
"Please do, Cordelia. We'll call you tomorrow if we need your help."
"Fine." She left, grabbing her coat and purse. Buffy watched out the window, making sure she reached her car safely. When Cordelia drove off, she turned back to the remaining people. "What now?"
"Now we wait. I do believe she'll sleep until morning, as will Xander, but you are welcome to stay if you'd like. I will bring you some bedding and pillows."
Giles went to his hall closet and pulled out some blankets and pillows, handing them off to the boy that had followed him. "Good night, Oz, Buffy." He walked into his bedroom, stripped and fell into bed, exhausted. He did so hope that tomorrow would not be as hectic.
Oz placed a pillow under Willow's head and covered her with a light blanket. He and Buffy made a small nest on the floor and lay down. Within minutes, the apartment was quiet except for the occasional snore that came from the Slayer.
"Willow, Willow! Calm down. Can we at least get inside the door before your babble fest continues?" Xander pushed past the girl and walked into the Watcher's living room. Before he got too far in, he realized that Angel was still outside. Giles had revoked the invite spell on the house while Angelus still roamed free in Sunnydale. "Come in, Angel." Angel walked in the door and caught up with Xander. He was greeted with silence and stares from the people within. Giles, Buffy, Oz and Cordelia were all watching the man as he strode into the room. Angel made sure to keep close to his lover as the looks he was getting, especially from Giles and Buffy were enough to make the vampire nervous.
Xander realized that he would have to make the first move. None of the Scooby Gang were quite sure how to react to the New Xander. He turned to Willow, who still held the door open. "Willow, you might want to close that," with a nod towards the door.
"Oh!" Willow had frozen, not realizing that she hadn't closed the door yet. She did so hurriedly and when closed, ran over to Oz and sat down next to him.
Giles reached up and took off his glasses. Pulling a handkerchief from his sports coat pocket, he cleaned the lenses and replaced them on his face. "Yes, well."
Cordelia interrupted Giles. "Where have you two been? And hello? Angelus? Xander, you hate him. Evil murderous bastard there. Why isn't he dead?" She turned to Buffy, "You saw him last night; I repeat, why isn't he dead?"
Xander chose this moment to speak up. "Cordy, settle down. Angel has his soul. He had it before we got sucked into hell. It was too late to stop the portal from opening and I tried to close it, but it opened." He sighed. "It pulled Angel in and me as well. There was no way that either of us could have escaped the vortex."
Giles cleared his throat, "Yes, Cordelia, please do calm down. Now is not the time for hysterics."
Cordelia huffed, but settled back into her seat. "I still don't trust him. And what's wrong with Xander? He's never acted that way before!"
"Cordelia, do leave it alone. It is only natural for Xander to be a bit different. Time runs differently where he and Xander were and they were gone longer than the few months that went by here."
Cordelia spoke up again, "How long? A year? Two?"
Angel was the one to answer, "Hundreds, Cordelia, hundreds. We were there for hundreds of years among demons and creatures that all lived to hunt us down and torture us. They didn't want to kill us. They wanted to make sure we suffered."
Angel's speech, unexpected from the usually quiet vampire, shocked the Scoobies. None of them had wanted to comprehend what the long stay in hell had meant to the two. Giles was the only one who had thought about this subject in any depth and he hadn't wanted to dwell on the changes the young boy had gone through.
Buffy hadn't thought about it at all and her entire stance went from confident slayer to distraught friend. She hadn't wanted to think about what her hesitancy to kill Angel had meant to Xander. It was her fault that Xander had had to go, literally, to Hell.
Oz had known that Xander had been different. His wolf had acknowledged that this man was no longer the Zeppo he had been before. He was now an alpha and Oz recognized the fact that Xander had changed and wouldn't change back.
Willow still thought that she could get her Xander back. All she had to do was find the right spell.Her eyes began to change color, darkening but no one other than Xander noticed.
Cordelia broke the silence, "Morbid much?"
Xander began to laugh, "I've missed you, Cordy!" His outburst startled the others and they began to laugh as well, though more out of the fact that they needed to release some emotion. "And as much as I'd love to stand here and trade insults back and forth, Angel and I had an interesting chat with the Oracles tonight. We found out why they brought us back."
"What did you find out, Xander?" Giles knew that this information would not be pleasant. The Oracles would not release Angel and Xander if the Slayer alone would have been able to handle this next threat.
Xander took a deep breath and proceeded to share what the Oracles had told them. It didn't take very long and he finished with "And so they said that we'd know what the demon was, that we already have the information we need. They also said that no one is this realm could slay it and that's why we were brought back. Angel and I must have learned something in Hell that applies to this case. But I don't know what. We were there for a long time." His voice trailed off.
"We made a point of finding out everything we could about the different types of demons. The more information we had, the less likely it was that we would be caught unawares. But that's several hundred years of information." Angel finished speaking and turned to Giles. "Has there been any reports of something unusual lately?"
Buffy snorted. "Unusual? This is the Hellmouth. No one notices anything. I tried Willie's earlier tonight but the only thing I got out of him was that Angelus was back in town."
Angel frowned. "We were there earlier."
Xander interrupted, "Yeah, Willie didn't seem to happy to see us, but then again, when is he?"
Nobody chose to answer that particular question. Giles just shook his head and made for his bookcases. "Well, let's go through some of the prophecy books and see if they mention anything familiar. Later you and Angel can go on patrol with Buffy and see if you notice anything. Perhaps you and Angel can start a list of demons you have knowledge of and the rest of us can start looking through the books."
Xander grinned, "Thanks, G-man, now I really feel like I'm home again. I actually kind of missed these research parties. Can I call for pizza?"
"Xander, how many times have I told you not to call me that? And yes, you can order pizza."
"Thanks, G-man. Does anyone have a preference?" Xander reached for the phone and a phonebook. He found the number for a pizza place that delivered and placed an order. The group settled down to reading and only took a break when the pizza arrived.
Xander and Angel shared the couch, sitting close while they filled out a list. They exchanged quiet comments and sometimes laughter when they remembered a certain fight or experience. Periodically, they would look up and notice someone looking at them. Buffy, Cordelia and Willow most often seemed stunned at the easy affection the two shared.
Buffy and Cordelia were both shocked at the two men. Cordelia was upset because while Xander and she had not spent a lot of time together, and most of that hiding in closets, she had expected that if Xander came back, he would come back to her. Now, he not only seemed to have forgotten her, he was dating Angelus! Not only was he a vampire that Xander had hated, but he was a guy! When had Xander Harris ever been attracted to men? After awhile, though, Cordelia could see that the two worked well together. Whatever they had gone through, had bound the two men together closely.
Buffy, on the other hand, was extremely upset. How could Angel forget about her completely? He was hers! And Xander.he had a crush on her and he was attracted only to beautiful women, like Kendra or the Inca princess, not men. She spent most of the night watching them interact. She slowly came to a realization. Angel would never be hers. Not only would the fact that Angel had tried to kill her forever keep her from fully trusting him, but he was a vampire. The girl in her would always love Angel, but the slayer in her would forever be opposed to the vamp. It would take time, but she would get used to the fact that Angel would never be hers and that he was now attached with Xander Harris, doughnut boy.
That was something she'd have to get used to as well. Xander was no longer the doughnut boy. He was extremely fit and had an air of confidence around him that she had not seen on a normal human before. He looked like he could take care of himself and had taken care of himself in tough situations. Sometimes he would look up from the list he and Angel were creating and stare off into space and his eyes would contain pain that could only have been placed there by extreme hardships and cruelty. She mourned for the boy he used to be, but looked forward to getting to know the man he had become.
Willow watched the two fighters, sitting on the couch, with hostility. How dare they come to her town and pretend to be her best friend and Angel? These creatures were so obviously in the wrong dimension that Willow knew she'd have to something to remove them from the scene. She remembered a spell that was contained in one the magic books Giles had forbidden her to read, but she had snuck into anyway. While Giles was distracted eating his late supper and looking for an index, Willow went over to the off-limits bookcase and grabbed the book she was thinking of.
It took her several minutes but she did eventually find the spell she was looking for. While it wouldn't bring her Xander back to her, it would permanently take these two and place them in a realm that was worse than Hell. They would never be able to leave and would be appropriately punished for bringing all their hopes up. The pain they'd experience would be enough payment for her losing her best friend.
The thought that this might really be Xander and Angel never crossed her mind. He had changed too much for her to be comfortable with and that was a crime to her. She bookmarked the page of the book and placed it next to her. She picked up another book, intent on learning everything she could and paged through smiling a very non-Willowy smile.
Xander had been keeping an eye out on all the Scoobies. Giles and Oz seemed to be entrenched in their books, writing down comments on legal pads and paging through different books while eating pizza slices.
Cordelia and Buffy seemed to be thinking more than researching and both seemed to keep a close eye on him as well. He knew that they'd just have to come to terms with the "new" Xander Harris but hopefully it wouldn't take too long. He had missed both girls during his exile and really just wanted them to get to know him again. He smiled inwardly when he saw Cordelia finally lose the "I smell something foul" look on her face and when she actually smiled a real smile at him, he smiled back.
When Buffy sighed and gave a sad smile to both him and Angel, he knew that while things weren't perfect between them, they would, at least, have the chance to get better.
Who really worried him was Willow. Unlike Giles, he did notice where she had gone over to grab books from. He had a quiet conversation with Giles and realized that Giles really didn't know how far Willow had gone into magic. Giles said that he had forbidden her from the more serious magics when he caught her trying serious black magic spells earlier in the summer, right after Xander and Angel had disappeared. However, Giles assumed that Willow had listened to him and had stopped.
Xander had happened to look up just as Willow marked a page in one of the books. He saw her unusual smile and knew that this creature was not the girl he had known. He walked over to where she was researching and said, "This seat taken?"
For a moment Willow looked up, her expression full of hatred for the man she saw in front of her, but it quickly faded into an old Willow mask. She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Sit! I'm not saving it for anybody.and now you're sitting in it so I don't have to save it for anybody." Willow stopped talking abruptly, seemingly realizing that her babbling was making little sense.
Xander purposely laughed and told her, "I'm glad you haven't changed, Willow. You were one of the things I missed the most while I was gone. I've seen so much and done so much that I'm really not the same person anymore." He looked up and away from the girl. "I know I'm different, but I am your Xander. I'm still the same guy that stole your Barbie."
Willow gasped. She had been listening to the imposter with a lightly veiled cynicism, but he really sounded like her Xander! But he couldn't be. Her Xander would not be sleeping with a vampire.
Xander continued talking, pretending he didn't hear her gasp and that he didn't see the emotions that flickered across her face. "When Angel and I got to Hell, we had to rely on each other. It took awhile, but we grew to be friends. We were the only ones that really cared and we missed the same people. It brought us together. And well, here we are! But Willow, I'm happy with him and now that we're back home, things are good. Well, we do have to slay, but that's not anything new!" He had concentrated on Willow during his talk and he had hoped that Willow would change her mind; maybe hold off on what she was planning, but he saw her put on her resolve face and saw her eyes move to the book she had marked and back to his face.
He tried one last time, "Willow. I am Xander but I am not the Zeppo I was that you thought you knew. I've fought, Willow, fought long and hard. I've had to learn and do things you can never imagine to survive. In the process I fell in love with a vampire. I fell in love with Angel. You WILL accept this and you WILL not do anything drastic. Do you understand?"
Willow looked at him shocked, "I have no idea what you're talking about! I wasn't going to do anything!" She protested a bit too much for his taste. Xander picked up the book, focusing on her face. Willow started squirming around in her seat. She wouldn't look him in the eyes and could barely focus on anything other than the book he held in his hands.
Xander took hold of the bookmark and opened to the indicated page. He glanced down and caught the title. "Shit!" The expletive rang out loudly in the quiet room. Everyone turned to look at him, shocked at the seemingly random swearing.
"Willow! Do you know what this would have done?" He stood up, towering over the smaller girl. "You will not banish us! We belong here. This would have destroyed both this world and the one you tried to send us too! Do you need to control everyone in your world that much that you would destroy us all? You can't always have things your way, Willow!"
Xander grabbed her arm and pulled her up so that they were face to face. "I loved you, Willow. But this is unforgivable. You obviously cannot be trusted with the magic you have." He paused and turned to Giles, who was gaping at him. "Do you have the supplies for a binding spell? I'll need two candles, one black one white, black cord; black silk, rose oil, incense and rue."
Giles found his voice, "What is the meaning of this? You will not bind her!"
"Yes, I will." Xander's voice was implacable. "She was planning on using this," Xander held up the book, "to banish Angel and myself." Giles had walked over to where Xander and Willow stood and Xander handed the book over, open to the correct page.
Giles started to read, his face going pale as he took in the contents and realized what could have happened. His Ripper façade slipped out, "Foolish girl! You could have destroyed us all!" He slammed the book shut and went to grab Willow. She flinched and managed to somehow avoid Giles, but still remained in Xander's bruising grip. Giles took a deep breath and turned away. He walked towards his private bookcase and placed the book back in the correct place, noting the other gaps and decided he would be having a long talk with Willow about where those books had gone. There were more missing than the few books that were on the table. He started cursing under his breath, that fool girl could have turned this plane into something worse than Hell!
Giles then remembered Xander's request and decided to honor it. He had everything needed.
Buffy stayed where she was, stunned. She had no idea what was going on. That was not okay with her. She was the Slayer! "What's going on? What did Willow do? What's the problem with Giles?" she whined. Xander had changed so much and now he was making Willow and Giles act weird.
Xander looked over at the girl, "Buffy, don't worry about it. Giles and I have this under control."
"But what's going on!?"
Oz choose this moment to speak up, "I'd like to know that too, and why you have my girlfriend in a death grip." His low voice carried across the room to Xander.
Xander knew he would have no peace until he told the young slayer what was happening and the werewolf deserved to know what kind of witch Willow was. "Willow decided that Angel and I were not the right ones. She decided to use a very powerful, very old, dangerous and VERY forbidden spell to banish us to a realm so evil, so dangerous it doesn't have a name anymore. No one speaks of it. However, since both Angel and I are from here, she would have ended up destroying this plane, the plane she was sending us too and who knows what other damage would have been caused."
Oz and Buffy both winced and stood down from their confrontation stances. Cordy just stayed where she was sitting, book in lap. Angel hissed then growled low, his eyes flickering yellow. He knew what spell his lover was speaking about and the damage it could have created. He also knew something else about the spell. "It would have also sent the castor with the ones being banished. The price for that spell is incredibly high."
Willow burst out into tears. "But I didn't mean to! I just wanted my Xander back!"
"But you almost did, Willow. The magic completely surrounds you. This is not the first spell of this magnitude you've cast, is it?"
"No," she whispered.
"That's why I'm binding you. You have no control anymore. The magic will eat you alive and will take the world with you. You're a danger to yourself and to us. You cannot cast anymore. It's an addiction and one you cannot surrender to."
Willow remained hunched over and continued to sob. Xander had no compassion for the girl at this point. He saw the looks she continued to send his way that she believed were hidden. She had no remorse for what she would have done. Perhaps, in time, when the magic had faded somewhat, they might be able to get their Willow back, but like himself, she would never be the same.
For the next few minutes, no one spoke. Giles finally reemerged from his back room, carrying several objects that he started laying out. Xander corrected him a few times in the placement, "Xander, I know how to lay out a binding spell." He was definitely frustrated with the boy.
"Giles, I know what I'm doing. I'm not doing the traditional binding spell. This one is much stronger and has the ability to drain some of the taint off of the subject."
Giles looked up from the candles he was setting down and just blinked at the man. "What?"
Xander smiled, "Yes, Giles. It has that ability and I think we need it. Don't you?"
"Yes, yes, quite." He finished off the preparations and stepped back.
Xander grabbed Willow by the arm again and dragged her over to the circle. He placed her in the middle and had Giles stand behind her and Angel to the right. He placed Buffy to the left and he stood in front of his former friend. "Cordelia, Oz. Please stand in the kitchen. I don't want your energies involved in this." He waited until they moved out of the way, Oz pausing in front of Willow, searching her eyes and face for some sign that Xander was wrong. He didn't find it and moved into the kitchen with the cheerleader.
Xander started chanting and everyone, including the two in the kitchen could feel his power rising. Willow started to pant, then scream as the chanting went on. Giles and
Angel could see where lines of black started streaming off the girl. Other lines of different colors wrapped themselves around her, sinking into her skin. Finally the chanting stopped and Willow collapsed, as did Xander.
Angel ran to his mate, who whispered, "It's done." With that, Xander closed his eyes and fainted.
Giles looked at the girl he had come to care greatly about. He gestured to Buffy to pick her up and move her to the couch. "Angel, why don't you and Xander spend the night. The guest room is on the other side of the bathroom. The window can be blocked so that the sun can't enter."
Angel thanked him and picked up Xander in his arms, carrying the heavy man to the bedroom and slipping into bed with him. He wasn't worried about him as he knew that Xander was just tired and worn out from the heavy casting. It had happened before and would most likely happen again. Xander would wake in the morning with a headache, but otherwise be fine.
Back in the living room, Willow was being watched by a concerned Slayer, Watcher, werewolf and cheerleader. Though the cheerleader was more worried about whether or not she had to do anything than the girl passed out on the couch. "Can I go now?"
"Please do, Cordelia. We'll call you tomorrow if we need your help."
"Fine." She left, grabbing her coat and purse. Buffy watched out the window, making sure she reached her car safely. When Cordelia drove off, she turned back to the remaining people. "What now?"
"Now we wait. I do believe she'll sleep until morning, as will Xander, but you are welcome to stay if you'd like. I will bring you some bedding and pillows."
Giles went to his hall closet and pulled out some blankets and pillows, handing them off to the boy that had followed him. "Good night, Oz, Buffy." He walked into his bedroom, stripped and fell into bed, exhausted. He did so hope that tomorrow would not be as hectic.
Oz placed a pillow under Willow's head and covered her with a light blanket. He and Buffy made a small nest on the floor and lay down. Within minutes, the apartment was quiet except for the occasional snore that came from the Slayer.