The next morning everyone woke up late. Angel and Xander were the only
exceptions. They continued to sleep, uninterrupted by the events that were
taking place in Giles' living room. Angel never stirred, as he usually
awoke when the sun set. Xander remained drained from his casting the night
before. By the afternoon, most of his strength will have returned, but
until then, he remained in a stasis like state.
By the time Willow had awakened, Giles, Buffy and Oz were up and had situated themselves around the couch where she was laying. Giles nursed a cup of tea, while Buffy finished up a bowl of cereal. Oz had a cup of coffee, but it had grown cold as he spent most of his time staring at his girlfriend.
"It'll be okay, Oz." Buffy's voice startled both Oz and Giles out of their contemplations. "Whatever Xander and Giles did last night fixed her, right Giles?"
Giles could hear the hope in Buffy's voice, but had to dash her hopes. "No, Buffy. What we did last night was bind her magic away from Willow. She can no longer use it. That does not mean that she doesn't want to." He sighed. "It's like an addiction and a serious one that is nearly impossible to break. We may never see the girl we knew again. But there was no other option." He dropped his head and glared into his now cold tea. "There was no other option," he repeated, muttering more to himself than either Oz or Buffy.
It was at that moment that Willow stirred. Instantly three sets of eyes were trained on her face. When she fully woke, it was to her closest friend, her boyfriend and the nearest thing she had to a caring father watching her like she was one of the evil undead. "What? What's wrong?"
Buffy spoke up, "Willow? Don't you remember? You went all psycho postal last night and almost blew up the world."
Willow, during this speech, paled, then reddened and then paled again. "I.I." she couldn't seem to form a full sentence. Abruptly she stopped and a look of horror appeared on her face. "What did I do? Oh Goddess, Xander!"
Oz and Buffy went to the girl and both gave her hugs. Giles remained seated, his expression thoughtful. He had noticed, though neither of the other two did, that Willow gained an evil half smirk while she was hugging her friend. He knew that he'd have to keep an eye on her. She was incredibly intelligent and powerful, but he knew the Ripper could outmaneuver this little girl at any time. Perhaps he'd give Ethan a ring and see if he had any advice for reforming magic addicts while he was at it. Ethan had been struggling for years and might know some good people who could help as well.
He set aside his mug, placing it on the coffee table in front of him. "Willow, we will be talking about what you have done and I will be expecting you to bring everything you have that is related to magic here by tonight. That includes my spell books and yours as well. Do you understand?"
She glared at him but quickly changed her expression. But not soon enough. Buffy and Oz had both seen the glare and were now more wary of the girl. "Yes, Giles."
"Good, perhaps Buffy will go with you to help?"
"Yes, Giles, I'll go with." Buffy knew that she was the best person to help as she knew most of Willow's hiding places.
"I'll go with." Oz spoke for the first time that morning. "I can probably smell if she misses something." He tapped his nose. "Wolfie smelling and all that."
Giles smiled at the boy and thanked him. He looked down at his watch, "Why don't you all go now? It's almost lunchtime and by the time you go, eat and get Willow's magic supplies it'll almost be dark. We can't forget what Xander and Angel are here for and by sunset they'll both be awake. We need to get out and find that demon."
Buffy and Oz agreed and dragged an unwilling Willow out the door. She had hoped to get some time alone in Giles' house, but she was willing to wait until tonight. She just knew that she could find the spell to unbind her.
The three proceeded out the door and over to Willow's house. There Willow half heartedly gathered up some of her magic things. What she missed Buffy grabbed and what she missed Oz found. By the pissed off expression on Willow's face, Oz and Buffy knew they had gotten most, if not all, of it.
As the afternoon wore on, Oz had come to a decision. This was no longer the girl he had fallen in love with. He had decided to go ahead and take the GED and get his diploma. He would be free to travel with his band. He had hesitated about going with because of Willow, but she was longer who he wanted. "Buffy, will you go to the kitchen and get us something to drink?"
"What? Why can't, oh. Yeah, sure, I'll be back in a minute." Buffy, at first, was confused why Oz asked her to get something from the kitchen, but then saw the looks Oz was sending Willow's way. No one could accuse her of being slow on the uptake!
She walked out of the room and down the stairs. She fiddled around with the dishes in the sink and then decided that she was hungry. She fixed herself a sandwich and ate it over the sink, staring out the window. Nothing would be the same again for her. In three months she had lost her boyfriend and her best friends. And not only had she lost Xander and Angel, but when they came back, they were attached to each other. She wondered if anything would have been different if she had been the one to send Angel to Hell.
While Buffy was busy staying out of the way, Oz asked Willow to sit down. She sat on her bed and grabbed a pillow to hug. Oz rarely wanted to talk and when he did it was serious. Even in her current state, she did care about Oz.
"Willow, I'm going on tour."
"What? But, but you have to stay here and finish high school, 'cause you need your degree, and without your degree you can't go to college and."
Oz interrupted her babbling. "I'm taking the GED and going on tour with the Dingoes. You scared me, Wills. And you're not the person I fell in love with. You're different and I don't think you'll ever be the same again. I don't think I can handle having to protect myself from you. So I'm going to go away from here. I'm not sure where, but it won't be here."
Willow had started crying sometime during his speech. "Don't cry," he wiped the tears from her face, "I'll be back sometime and maybe then things will be different, but I really think I would be more of hindrance to your recovery right now than I would be a help. Let me go, Willow."
She nodded but kept crying. "When are you leaving?"
"Soon. I have an appointment next Saturday for the test and the Dingoes have a gig the weekend after that. It'll take us awhile to get there, so we'll leave as soon as possible. I want to help Xander and by then it'll be time for me to go."
"Okay." Willow finally felt her actions hit home. She had driven away her best friend. She had lost her boyfriend and knew that Giles would never trust her again. And Xander, she had almost killed her oldest and dearest friend because she was too addicted to see the truth. She sobbed harder and Oz reached out and pulled her into a hug. He just let her cry, knowing that she had to face some hard truths before she could begin to heal.
Eventually Buffy came back upstairs, even remembering to bring drinks with her. They finished up packing, Willow pulling out a few books that even Oz had missed and started back to the Watcher's house. It was almost dusk by the time they arrived, their arrival coinciding with the pizza delivery.
Earlier that afternoon, an hour or so after their departure from Giles', Xander had woken up, refreshed. The casting the night before had been hard, but he was used to using powerful magic. The difference between him and Willow, though, was the fact he used it out of necessity. There was no desire in him for the use of magic and any temptation that there might have been was not anything he cared to have. He liked relying on his strength and intelligence rather than relying on something so unpredictable and so dangerous as magic.
He awoke surrounded by Angel. The vampire had wrapped himself around the man so completely that one couldn't tell whose leg belonged to whom without serious contemplation. Xander smiled. This was how he liked to wake up, in his lover's arms. To him it was proof that he was loved and cared for. Some days, it seemed like Angel would never let go and Xander hoped he never would. Today though, as much as he loved being held by Angel, and as much as he didn't want to move, he had to. He really needed to go to the bathroom.
So, at first with care, then more forcibly as he couldn't remove the leech like arms of his Angel, he tried to pry the vampire off of him. His only success was a few mumblings out of the vamp's mouth and the tightening of arms around him. He sighed. Time to pull out the big guns. He shouted in Angel's ear, "Oh my God! Is that Spike?" This would be sure to wake the vampire; it had never failed in the hundreds of years that had been together. Angel had serious issues about his vampire kin, especially Spike.
The tried and true method did not fail the now laughing man. Angel released Xander and had jumped from bed, landing in a defensive position. He looked around confused and eventually turned to glare at the laughing man in bed. "Xander, did you have to do that?"
"Yes, yes I did. You should've seen your face!"
Angel didn't bother to respond; he just climbed into bed and tackled his chortling lover. Placing Xander's arms above his head, he leaned down over him. "You think you're funny, don't you?"
"Yup, Deadboy, what're ya going to do about it?" His smirk only goaded the vampire more.
"This." And Angel bent down and proceeded to thoroughly kiss the man until he was breathless. When he finally released Xander, he whispered, "Give up?"
"Never, but I really have to go," was whispered back.
Angel laughed and released Xander. "Okay, but hurry back, I have better things we could do than sleep."
Xander just whimpered and rolled out of bed. "That's not making it any easier for me!" Angel's laughter followed him down the hall to the bathroom. Xander took the time to clean up and when he saw the time, knew he couldn't take Angel up on his offer.
When he got back to the room, he talked with his lover. While Xander was thoroughly kissed again, he let Angel go back to sleep. He went out into the living room and ran into Giles. Literally.
"Sorry G-man! Didn't see you there."
"Xander, how many times have I told you not to call me that?"
Xander just smiled and said, "Probably a lot, but I lost count over the years since I saw you last."
Giles seemed to freeze for a second. "You know, I missed you while you were gone. I never realized how vital you were to this group, Xander. You were the heart. When this is over with, I hope you stay so we can get to know you again."
Xander hesitated before he spoke again. "I don't know, Giles. I don't think we'll go too far, but neither Angel nor I fit in around here anymore. I can't go back to high school. I'm no longer the goofy child that had to put on a mask everyday. I can't go back to him and I would never want to. I want to remain friends with everybody, but it'd be too hard to do it here." He paused again. "Maybe after I get used to being back. Angel and I are going to stick together no matter what. We've talked about where we might end up and L.A. sounds good. A lot of people need help there. We could do a lot of good. And that way we won't be too far away, so don't forget about us the next apocalypse you have, okay?"
"Xander, as long as it's what you want, I'll be happy. Just don't forget we're your friends, okay?"
"Sure." Xander's stomach broke the emotional moment up. Both men started to laugh. "But can I get something to eat first before we start having hugs?" Xander half whined, half laughed.
"Feel free to ravage my kitchen. I'm not sure what's there, but I know I have eggs and toast at least."
Xander went into the kitchen and almost moaned with delight. It had been a long time since he had access to modern utilities and food that was not cooked over a campfire. The Chinese and the pizza from the night before had been heaven, but he really had missed eggs. After quickly making a late lunch, Xander finished dressing.
"Hey, G-man." Giles groaned at the name but looked up from one of his books, "I'm going out. I dropped some stuff off to be cleaned and I want to see if anyone has noticed anything unusual, well more unusual that usual. I should be back before supper. Why don't you order us pizza, it'll be easier than cooking for us all."
Giles agreed and before he realized it, Xander had gone. He shook his head, Xander may be several hundred years old, but he still acted like he was 16 sometimes.
Xander went to the dry cleaners and picked up his clothes. He was relieved to find that they had successfully been worked on. It would be nice to be able to go into battle with familiar clothing that he was used to. It didn't hurt that he looked great in the leather as well.
As the place was quite close to Giles', Xander went back and changed, dropping off Angel's clothing as well. Feeling more like himself, Xander hunted down Willie. It was too early for him to be at the bar, but the human rat was quite easy to find. Xander got little information from the sniveling man, but learned of a few sources that might have heard of the new evil.
Xander was directed to some of the oldest demon infected areas of town there were. Other than a few looks, he managed to get to his soon-to-be informant's place of residence. Banging on the door, he waited to be let in. It opened a crack, "Willie said I could get info here." Xander spit out the request.
"No humans allowed. Leave before you get eaten." The door started to slam.
Xander pushed his hand in between the door and the frame. "You don't understand. I'm not asking." He pushed his way in, and grabbed the little demon that stood in front of him with one hand. Lifting him up so that they were eye level, the demon's feet dangling several inches from the ground, Xander spoke again, "I've spent hundreds of years in Hell. I've killed bigger, badder and scarier shit than you. All I have to do is," Xander pulled a knife out from under his coat, "use this here," he poked the demon in its stomach area, "and you'd be dead. So now will I get the information I need?"
The demon's eyes had taken over its face. It had also changed color from a vibrant blue to a rather pasty looking green. It shook and squeaked, nothing emitting from its mouth. Xander seemed to realize that it couldn't answer and put the thing down on the floor. It then started gasping and when if finally got its air back started to rapidly talk.
Xander learned several pieces of information that could help him in his search. It seemed that in one of the cemeteries a new demon had started to make its nest, going out each night to kill food and drag it back. No one on the Hellmouth knew what type it was, but Xander recognized the description. He was not pleased.
After leaving the demon where it had collapsed, Xander stormed out of the house. He ran into a few creatures that had decided that he would be easy prey. After dispatching two quite easily and quickly, no others disturbed the angry man.
His foray into demon territory did not take him very long at all, and he managed to get to Giles' before Buffy, Oz and Willow reappeared. Giles' had just been about to call for pizza when he walked in the door. Putting the receiver down before he connected, Giles' demanded information, "Did you find anything out?"
Xander didn't answer, instead paced around the room in circles, muttering to himself. "Why'd it have to be that?! I hate those bloody, soul sucking pieces of shit! We could have stayed in Hell and not had to deal with those stupid, mind numbing sacks of pus! Damn it!"
"Xander!" Giles' voice rang out loud and harsh. "Tell me what's going on, now!"
Xander turned to him, for the first time realizing he wasn't alone in the room. "Shit, Giles', it's a damn Morneaksie demon."
Giles' first reaction was to go to his bookcase and start pulling down books. "What can you tell me about it?"
"You won't find anything in there. They belong in the dimension where Angel and I were. We've fought them several times, but they're nasty. Really nasty. They're messy and dangerous and bloody hard to kill. We've both nearly lost our lives trying to kill the damn things. The only thing that they're scared of is obsidian. We need to get blades made out of it. And fast. It seems to be nesting in one of the cemeteries and it comes out at night to grab food."
Giles rubbed his face with his hand. "Do you think you'll be able to handle it? I can get the blades for you, but it might take awhile." He got up from where he was sitting and reached for the phone again without waiting for an answer, this time placing a call to a friend of his that could deliver the blade later that evening.
"Yeah, I can handle it. Well, Angel and I can handle it. Its skin is toxic so I don't think we should let anyone else, maybe Buffy, but she can't touch it at all. There is no known antidote to its venom."
"Okay, then the rest of us will be your backup. Carry weapons and the like; help herd it to a spot we can fight it from."
"Yeah, sounds good." Xander looked up and out the window. It was starting to get dark. "I'm going to wake Angel up, I asked Willie to deliver some blood here and it should be arriving any minute. If it comes, put it in the fridge, please."
"Fine. I should call and get the pizza delivered as well. Any preference?"
"Nope, just as long as it has meat on it, I'll be fine." Xander walked back into his bedroom, planning on waking Angel.
Giles placed the call and leaned back into his chair, throwing his head back with his eyes closed. It seemed as though none of them could get a break. But Xander sounded like he had plenty of experience with this type of demon and hopefully he and Angel and Buffy could take it out with a minimum of fuss. And hopefully no one would get hurt.
Angel and Xander had just managed to get into the kitchen for Angel to warm his blood when the doorbell rang. Giles got up to answer it, knowing that the pizza was there. When he opened the door, Buffy had just grabbed the pizza and staked the delivery boy. She grinned up at him and said, "Free pizza tonight! You might want to call the pizza place and tell them they lost their delivery boy, though." Buffy pushed her way through the door, past a stunned Giles and greeted Xander and Angel cheerfully.
Giles just stood there; hand on the doorknob as Willow and Oz pushed their way through the door as well. They were weighed down with boxes that they placed out of the way.
Finally Giles' shook off the dust that had landed on him and shut the door. "Xander was able to get information about the demon we are looking for."
"Point the way, and your Slayer will slay!" Buffy bounced a couple times waiting for direction.
"Yes, well, I think it'd be better if Xander and Angel handle it. Xander may need your help though, Buffy."
Buffy began to pout, "But I'm the Slayer!"
"Buffy, Xander and Angel have fought these things before. They know what they're doing."
"Fine, be that way." With that, Buffy opened a pizza box and grabbed a slice and started chewing.
Xander walked over and grabbed the box and after removing a few slices for himself, passed the box around. After everyone had gotten some food, he started informing the group what they were facing.
Angel added some information here and there, but generally remained quiet. He was not a happy camper and hated this particular demon. Last time, Xander had almost been killed and it was be pure luck that he had escaped the claws. He had had to replace his shirt and pants because the claws had ripped huge holes in it. For some reason, Xander had managed not to catch his skin on the sharp edges. It was too close for Angel though. And he knew there was no way he could get him to not fight this time as well. He sighed.
After the pizza and information session there really wasn't much else to do until Giles' friend arrived with the obsidian blades. Buffy and Angel paced around the room, frequently bumping into each other. Angel snarling at the girl; Buffy rolling her eyes at Angel's 'grr' face.
Xander fidgeted on the couch, following Angel's pacing with his eyes. He and Oz kept up a quiet conversation as well, with Giles' sometimes joining in. Willow kept silent. The urge to do something was hard to control and Willow wasn't even certain what she'd do if she had the chance.
An hour, then two passed with more and more looks being thrown at the door as time went on. Eventually the doorbell rang and it startled them all. At it was Giles' friend and he had brought enough blades for them all to be armed.
The group quickly went into action, gathering up weapons. Within a few minutes they were ready to go and Xander lead the way out the door to the cemetery, Angel at his side and Buffy right behind them.
By the time Willow had awakened, Giles, Buffy and Oz were up and had situated themselves around the couch where she was laying. Giles nursed a cup of tea, while Buffy finished up a bowl of cereal. Oz had a cup of coffee, but it had grown cold as he spent most of his time staring at his girlfriend.
"It'll be okay, Oz." Buffy's voice startled both Oz and Giles out of their contemplations. "Whatever Xander and Giles did last night fixed her, right Giles?"
Giles could hear the hope in Buffy's voice, but had to dash her hopes. "No, Buffy. What we did last night was bind her magic away from Willow. She can no longer use it. That does not mean that she doesn't want to." He sighed. "It's like an addiction and a serious one that is nearly impossible to break. We may never see the girl we knew again. But there was no other option." He dropped his head and glared into his now cold tea. "There was no other option," he repeated, muttering more to himself than either Oz or Buffy.
It was at that moment that Willow stirred. Instantly three sets of eyes were trained on her face. When she fully woke, it was to her closest friend, her boyfriend and the nearest thing she had to a caring father watching her like she was one of the evil undead. "What? What's wrong?"
Buffy spoke up, "Willow? Don't you remember? You went all psycho postal last night and almost blew up the world."
Willow, during this speech, paled, then reddened and then paled again. "I.I." she couldn't seem to form a full sentence. Abruptly she stopped and a look of horror appeared on her face. "What did I do? Oh Goddess, Xander!"
Oz and Buffy went to the girl and both gave her hugs. Giles remained seated, his expression thoughtful. He had noticed, though neither of the other two did, that Willow gained an evil half smirk while she was hugging her friend. He knew that he'd have to keep an eye on her. She was incredibly intelligent and powerful, but he knew the Ripper could outmaneuver this little girl at any time. Perhaps he'd give Ethan a ring and see if he had any advice for reforming magic addicts while he was at it. Ethan had been struggling for years and might know some good people who could help as well.
He set aside his mug, placing it on the coffee table in front of him. "Willow, we will be talking about what you have done and I will be expecting you to bring everything you have that is related to magic here by tonight. That includes my spell books and yours as well. Do you understand?"
She glared at him but quickly changed her expression. But not soon enough. Buffy and Oz had both seen the glare and were now more wary of the girl. "Yes, Giles."
"Good, perhaps Buffy will go with you to help?"
"Yes, Giles, I'll go with." Buffy knew that she was the best person to help as she knew most of Willow's hiding places.
"I'll go with." Oz spoke for the first time that morning. "I can probably smell if she misses something." He tapped his nose. "Wolfie smelling and all that."
Giles smiled at the boy and thanked him. He looked down at his watch, "Why don't you all go now? It's almost lunchtime and by the time you go, eat and get Willow's magic supplies it'll almost be dark. We can't forget what Xander and Angel are here for and by sunset they'll both be awake. We need to get out and find that demon."
Buffy and Oz agreed and dragged an unwilling Willow out the door. She had hoped to get some time alone in Giles' house, but she was willing to wait until tonight. She just knew that she could find the spell to unbind her.
The three proceeded out the door and over to Willow's house. There Willow half heartedly gathered up some of her magic things. What she missed Buffy grabbed and what she missed Oz found. By the pissed off expression on Willow's face, Oz and Buffy knew they had gotten most, if not all, of it.
As the afternoon wore on, Oz had come to a decision. This was no longer the girl he had fallen in love with. He had decided to go ahead and take the GED and get his diploma. He would be free to travel with his band. He had hesitated about going with because of Willow, but she was longer who he wanted. "Buffy, will you go to the kitchen and get us something to drink?"
"What? Why can't, oh. Yeah, sure, I'll be back in a minute." Buffy, at first, was confused why Oz asked her to get something from the kitchen, but then saw the looks Oz was sending Willow's way. No one could accuse her of being slow on the uptake!
She walked out of the room and down the stairs. She fiddled around with the dishes in the sink and then decided that she was hungry. She fixed herself a sandwich and ate it over the sink, staring out the window. Nothing would be the same again for her. In three months she had lost her boyfriend and her best friends. And not only had she lost Xander and Angel, but when they came back, they were attached to each other. She wondered if anything would have been different if she had been the one to send Angel to Hell.
While Buffy was busy staying out of the way, Oz asked Willow to sit down. She sat on her bed and grabbed a pillow to hug. Oz rarely wanted to talk and when he did it was serious. Even in her current state, she did care about Oz.
"Willow, I'm going on tour."
"What? But, but you have to stay here and finish high school, 'cause you need your degree, and without your degree you can't go to college and."
Oz interrupted her babbling. "I'm taking the GED and going on tour with the Dingoes. You scared me, Wills. And you're not the person I fell in love with. You're different and I don't think you'll ever be the same again. I don't think I can handle having to protect myself from you. So I'm going to go away from here. I'm not sure where, but it won't be here."
Willow had started crying sometime during his speech. "Don't cry," he wiped the tears from her face, "I'll be back sometime and maybe then things will be different, but I really think I would be more of hindrance to your recovery right now than I would be a help. Let me go, Willow."
She nodded but kept crying. "When are you leaving?"
"Soon. I have an appointment next Saturday for the test and the Dingoes have a gig the weekend after that. It'll take us awhile to get there, so we'll leave as soon as possible. I want to help Xander and by then it'll be time for me to go."
"Okay." Willow finally felt her actions hit home. She had driven away her best friend. She had lost her boyfriend and knew that Giles would never trust her again. And Xander, she had almost killed her oldest and dearest friend because she was too addicted to see the truth. She sobbed harder and Oz reached out and pulled her into a hug. He just let her cry, knowing that she had to face some hard truths before she could begin to heal.
Eventually Buffy came back upstairs, even remembering to bring drinks with her. They finished up packing, Willow pulling out a few books that even Oz had missed and started back to the Watcher's house. It was almost dusk by the time they arrived, their arrival coinciding with the pizza delivery.
Earlier that afternoon, an hour or so after their departure from Giles', Xander had woken up, refreshed. The casting the night before had been hard, but he was used to using powerful magic. The difference between him and Willow, though, was the fact he used it out of necessity. There was no desire in him for the use of magic and any temptation that there might have been was not anything he cared to have. He liked relying on his strength and intelligence rather than relying on something so unpredictable and so dangerous as magic.
He awoke surrounded by Angel. The vampire had wrapped himself around the man so completely that one couldn't tell whose leg belonged to whom without serious contemplation. Xander smiled. This was how he liked to wake up, in his lover's arms. To him it was proof that he was loved and cared for. Some days, it seemed like Angel would never let go and Xander hoped he never would. Today though, as much as he loved being held by Angel, and as much as he didn't want to move, he had to. He really needed to go to the bathroom.
So, at first with care, then more forcibly as he couldn't remove the leech like arms of his Angel, he tried to pry the vampire off of him. His only success was a few mumblings out of the vamp's mouth and the tightening of arms around him. He sighed. Time to pull out the big guns. He shouted in Angel's ear, "Oh my God! Is that Spike?" This would be sure to wake the vampire; it had never failed in the hundreds of years that had been together. Angel had serious issues about his vampire kin, especially Spike.
The tried and true method did not fail the now laughing man. Angel released Xander and had jumped from bed, landing in a defensive position. He looked around confused and eventually turned to glare at the laughing man in bed. "Xander, did you have to do that?"
"Yes, yes I did. You should've seen your face!"
Angel didn't bother to respond; he just climbed into bed and tackled his chortling lover. Placing Xander's arms above his head, he leaned down over him. "You think you're funny, don't you?"
"Yup, Deadboy, what're ya going to do about it?" His smirk only goaded the vampire more.
"This." And Angel bent down and proceeded to thoroughly kiss the man until he was breathless. When he finally released Xander, he whispered, "Give up?"
"Never, but I really have to go," was whispered back.
Angel laughed and released Xander. "Okay, but hurry back, I have better things we could do than sleep."
Xander just whimpered and rolled out of bed. "That's not making it any easier for me!" Angel's laughter followed him down the hall to the bathroom. Xander took the time to clean up and when he saw the time, knew he couldn't take Angel up on his offer.
When he got back to the room, he talked with his lover. While Xander was thoroughly kissed again, he let Angel go back to sleep. He went out into the living room and ran into Giles. Literally.
"Sorry G-man! Didn't see you there."
"Xander, how many times have I told you not to call me that?"
Xander just smiled and said, "Probably a lot, but I lost count over the years since I saw you last."
Giles seemed to freeze for a second. "You know, I missed you while you were gone. I never realized how vital you were to this group, Xander. You were the heart. When this is over with, I hope you stay so we can get to know you again."
Xander hesitated before he spoke again. "I don't know, Giles. I don't think we'll go too far, but neither Angel nor I fit in around here anymore. I can't go back to high school. I'm no longer the goofy child that had to put on a mask everyday. I can't go back to him and I would never want to. I want to remain friends with everybody, but it'd be too hard to do it here." He paused again. "Maybe after I get used to being back. Angel and I are going to stick together no matter what. We've talked about where we might end up and L.A. sounds good. A lot of people need help there. We could do a lot of good. And that way we won't be too far away, so don't forget about us the next apocalypse you have, okay?"
"Xander, as long as it's what you want, I'll be happy. Just don't forget we're your friends, okay?"
"Sure." Xander's stomach broke the emotional moment up. Both men started to laugh. "But can I get something to eat first before we start having hugs?" Xander half whined, half laughed.
"Feel free to ravage my kitchen. I'm not sure what's there, but I know I have eggs and toast at least."
Xander went into the kitchen and almost moaned with delight. It had been a long time since he had access to modern utilities and food that was not cooked over a campfire. The Chinese and the pizza from the night before had been heaven, but he really had missed eggs. After quickly making a late lunch, Xander finished dressing.
"Hey, G-man." Giles groaned at the name but looked up from one of his books, "I'm going out. I dropped some stuff off to be cleaned and I want to see if anyone has noticed anything unusual, well more unusual that usual. I should be back before supper. Why don't you order us pizza, it'll be easier than cooking for us all."
Giles agreed and before he realized it, Xander had gone. He shook his head, Xander may be several hundred years old, but he still acted like he was 16 sometimes.
Xander went to the dry cleaners and picked up his clothes. He was relieved to find that they had successfully been worked on. It would be nice to be able to go into battle with familiar clothing that he was used to. It didn't hurt that he looked great in the leather as well.
As the place was quite close to Giles', Xander went back and changed, dropping off Angel's clothing as well. Feeling more like himself, Xander hunted down Willie. It was too early for him to be at the bar, but the human rat was quite easy to find. Xander got little information from the sniveling man, but learned of a few sources that might have heard of the new evil.
Xander was directed to some of the oldest demon infected areas of town there were. Other than a few looks, he managed to get to his soon-to-be informant's place of residence. Banging on the door, he waited to be let in. It opened a crack, "Willie said I could get info here." Xander spit out the request.
"No humans allowed. Leave before you get eaten." The door started to slam.
Xander pushed his hand in between the door and the frame. "You don't understand. I'm not asking." He pushed his way in, and grabbed the little demon that stood in front of him with one hand. Lifting him up so that they were eye level, the demon's feet dangling several inches from the ground, Xander spoke again, "I've spent hundreds of years in Hell. I've killed bigger, badder and scarier shit than you. All I have to do is," Xander pulled a knife out from under his coat, "use this here," he poked the demon in its stomach area, "and you'd be dead. So now will I get the information I need?"
The demon's eyes had taken over its face. It had also changed color from a vibrant blue to a rather pasty looking green. It shook and squeaked, nothing emitting from its mouth. Xander seemed to realize that it couldn't answer and put the thing down on the floor. It then started gasping and when if finally got its air back started to rapidly talk.
Xander learned several pieces of information that could help him in his search. It seemed that in one of the cemeteries a new demon had started to make its nest, going out each night to kill food and drag it back. No one on the Hellmouth knew what type it was, but Xander recognized the description. He was not pleased.
After leaving the demon where it had collapsed, Xander stormed out of the house. He ran into a few creatures that had decided that he would be easy prey. After dispatching two quite easily and quickly, no others disturbed the angry man.
His foray into demon territory did not take him very long at all, and he managed to get to Giles' before Buffy, Oz and Willow reappeared. Giles' had just been about to call for pizza when he walked in the door. Putting the receiver down before he connected, Giles' demanded information, "Did you find anything out?"
Xander didn't answer, instead paced around the room in circles, muttering to himself. "Why'd it have to be that?! I hate those bloody, soul sucking pieces of shit! We could have stayed in Hell and not had to deal with those stupid, mind numbing sacks of pus! Damn it!"
"Xander!" Giles' voice rang out loud and harsh. "Tell me what's going on, now!"
Xander turned to him, for the first time realizing he wasn't alone in the room. "Shit, Giles', it's a damn Morneaksie demon."
Giles' first reaction was to go to his bookcase and start pulling down books. "What can you tell me about it?"
"You won't find anything in there. They belong in the dimension where Angel and I were. We've fought them several times, but they're nasty. Really nasty. They're messy and dangerous and bloody hard to kill. We've both nearly lost our lives trying to kill the damn things. The only thing that they're scared of is obsidian. We need to get blades made out of it. And fast. It seems to be nesting in one of the cemeteries and it comes out at night to grab food."
Giles rubbed his face with his hand. "Do you think you'll be able to handle it? I can get the blades for you, but it might take awhile." He got up from where he was sitting and reached for the phone again without waiting for an answer, this time placing a call to a friend of his that could deliver the blade later that evening.
"Yeah, I can handle it. Well, Angel and I can handle it. Its skin is toxic so I don't think we should let anyone else, maybe Buffy, but she can't touch it at all. There is no known antidote to its venom."
"Okay, then the rest of us will be your backup. Carry weapons and the like; help herd it to a spot we can fight it from."
"Yeah, sounds good." Xander looked up and out the window. It was starting to get dark. "I'm going to wake Angel up, I asked Willie to deliver some blood here and it should be arriving any minute. If it comes, put it in the fridge, please."
"Fine. I should call and get the pizza delivered as well. Any preference?"
"Nope, just as long as it has meat on it, I'll be fine." Xander walked back into his bedroom, planning on waking Angel.
Giles placed the call and leaned back into his chair, throwing his head back with his eyes closed. It seemed as though none of them could get a break. But Xander sounded like he had plenty of experience with this type of demon and hopefully he and Angel and Buffy could take it out with a minimum of fuss. And hopefully no one would get hurt.
Angel and Xander had just managed to get into the kitchen for Angel to warm his blood when the doorbell rang. Giles got up to answer it, knowing that the pizza was there. When he opened the door, Buffy had just grabbed the pizza and staked the delivery boy. She grinned up at him and said, "Free pizza tonight! You might want to call the pizza place and tell them they lost their delivery boy, though." Buffy pushed her way through the door, past a stunned Giles and greeted Xander and Angel cheerfully.
Giles just stood there; hand on the doorknob as Willow and Oz pushed their way through the door as well. They were weighed down with boxes that they placed out of the way.
Finally Giles' shook off the dust that had landed on him and shut the door. "Xander was able to get information about the demon we are looking for."
"Point the way, and your Slayer will slay!" Buffy bounced a couple times waiting for direction.
"Yes, well, I think it'd be better if Xander and Angel handle it. Xander may need your help though, Buffy."
Buffy began to pout, "But I'm the Slayer!"
"Buffy, Xander and Angel have fought these things before. They know what they're doing."
"Fine, be that way." With that, Buffy opened a pizza box and grabbed a slice and started chewing.
Xander walked over and grabbed the box and after removing a few slices for himself, passed the box around. After everyone had gotten some food, he started informing the group what they were facing.
Angel added some information here and there, but generally remained quiet. He was not a happy camper and hated this particular demon. Last time, Xander had almost been killed and it was be pure luck that he had escaped the claws. He had had to replace his shirt and pants because the claws had ripped huge holes in it. For some reason, Xander had managed not to catch his skin on the sharp edges. It was too close for Angel though. And he knew there was no way he could get him to not fight this time as well. He sighed.
After the pizza and information session there really wasn't much else to do until Giles' friend arrived with the obsidian blades. Buffy and Angel paced around the room, frequently bumping into each other. Angel snarling at the girl; Buffy rolling her eyes at Angel's 'grr' face.
Xander fidgeted on the couch, following Angel's pacing with his eyes. He and Oz kept up a quiet conversation as well, with Giles' sometimes joining in. Willow kept silent. The urge to do something was hard to control and Willow wasn't even certain what she'd do if she had the chance.
An hour, then two passed with more and more looks being thrown at the door as time went on. Eventually the doorbell rang and it startled them all. At it was Giles' friend and he had brought enough blades for them all to be armed.
The group quickly went into action, gathering up weapons. Within a few minutes they were ready to go and Xander lead the way out the door to the cemetery, Angel at his side and Buffy right behind them.