Things with Giles remained strained after the incident. He never treated Xander or Willow any differently than he had before, he couldn't. But they never grew any closer either. There was a tension between them that just wouldn't go away, and it did little to reassure Willow and Xander. They went to greater lengths to keep their secrets hidden. They stopped patrolling with Buffy (Which Buffy didn't think to hard about, exclaiming that she rather'd they didn't come with her and run the risk of getting hurt), and began patrolling by themselves.
That began another change, Willow slowly began to feel the need, the pull to fight. It frightened her somewhat. She had to really stop herself sometimes. Especially when Cordelia made one of her snide remarks, the temptation to freeze her solid than melt her down into a shallow puddle on the school linoleum floor was rather huge, but she was able to hold back. Mainly because of the patrolling and training she did with Xander. It turned out beating the crap out of a punching bag/vampire ( albeit while Xander was holding it and giving pointers ) was great for stress relief.
Anyway though, the school year continued. Xander continued to work on the house, ever so slowly getting rid of the rotting corpse smell and mould. Willow kept an eye on their savings and investments, making sure things weren't invested where they shouldn't be and taking cash out of the savings account for quick investments for good returns. She got quite good at playing the stock market.
All through it all they got that little bit stronger as they faced every weird thing the Hellmouth threw they're way. Gaining enough skill that the average newbie vamp became no problem, they could even take on two newbie vamps at once and still come out relatively on top. What really developed most was their team work. Together they worked together in such unison, a perfect match of anger and brute force mixed with mystical knowledge and power. Together they could probably take on Buffy... and still lose, but they'd give her a run for her money.
The two just seemed to know each other so well they could predict each others moves, know how each other would react before they knew themselves.
It kinda creeped Buffy out.
"Sometimes I think you're about to finish each others sentences"
Willow and Xander just grinned mischievously at each other.
"Who..."
"...Us?"
"Never..."
"...Happen"
"Okay thats just creepy" said Buffy, absently blowing her hair out of her face as she looked over the musty book she was reading to give them a stare, only to find both of them giving her the exact same look back at her.
*******
Beads of sweat were running down Giles forehead as he struggled against his mental restraints for perhaps the millionth time. Hoping to break his mental restraining order and point out the obvious (to him anyway) truth to Buffy. He couldn't even manage to frown at Willow and Xander yet but it wasn't going to stop him from trying.
*******
Xander looked up slightly from the inane chatter he was having with Willow and Buffy as he felt a little mental tug. He glanced slightly at Giles, catching his eye with the movement. He didn't smirk at the man, he didn't relish this power over him, he wished he'd never had to do it, but he gave a small regretful shake of his head and sured up the blocks in Giles mind.
*******
Giles anger radiated off him in waves as he felt the restraints beefed up. He raged inside himself at his... his enslavement. And for the damn boy to act so damn noble about it, so fare. He wished to shout and yell and beat the boy to a bloody pulp but he couldn't' do it.
And it was his disability to do anything that wriled him the most.
His inability that made him rage.
*******
"So Buff, anything big on patrol last night? No super monsters?" Xander asked reverting his attention back to the conversation.
"Super monsters?"
"You know... Like if someone made a vamp out of Batman" He added a goofy smile to the end.
"Corny" Willow giggled.
"Very, but no. No super monsters. Barely any normal monsters for that matter. Whats up with that Giles? I thought you said this was the mouth of hell?" Buffy asked in the irritated-over-nothing teenager way.
"Well I'm not quite sure actually. With the ah Master around I would think that activity would increase. Ah perhaps we've hit a lull..."
"Lull? LULL? Did anybody else hear lull because lull means night off and night off means Bronze" Buffy interrupted.
Willow raised her hand. "I heard lull"
"Me too"
"Great! We Bronze tonight"
"... Or he could just be bideing his time, planning something. It's in these times, Buffy that you should be extra careful, patrol extra hard, keep an eye out for anything!"
"I will be Giles, I'll be watching over a significant proportion of Sunnydales youth. But to do so successfully I'll need to blend in. You know dress up, dance, have a good time?"
"Dont confuse the man Buff, he doesn't know what fun is. Well fun not involving Miss Calendar anyway" Xander shot in.
"And with that 'eww' we leave. Come on Will, we can make each other up at my house" Buffy started making her way for the door, Willow and Xander in her wake.
" 'Kay. Meet you there at eight Xan?" Willow asked as she followed Buffy down to their lockers.
"No prob ladies, catcha"
Back in the library.
"Bloody teenagers"
*******
And so that night the three bronzed. Angel showed up, looking for Buffy, and they did the whole tortured moody love stare thing while talking in soft whispers. Xander and Willow laughed quietly to each other as they watched them before getting up to dance together.
And the night went on. They hung out, danced, shared a plate of chips, let Buffy go on slaying breaks as she dragged vamps from the dance floor and out back were she showed them her wood.
Normalcy ensued.
*******
A couple of weeks later. Saturday afternoon.
"Ooooh"
"You shouldn't have drunk so much last night Will" Xander informed her, way to smugly, as they jogged through Sunnydales parks.
"Stop rubbing it in" Hissed Willow, eye's closed into slits trying to block out what little light dusk was forcing into her brain.
Xander had got Willow to come to another party with him last night. Which wasn't really hard now as it was a while back. Willow had started enjoying going to parties.
As she was seen at more and more parties (especially with Xander) more and more people talked to her, and she had started to enjoy talking and hanging out and dancing. Alcohol freed up a lot of inhibitions with her and she got to talking to nearly anybody. She was a regular on the party scene now.
"Hey just think of it as pay back for all the times you've said it to me"
"Still you didn't have to drag me running"
"You ain't getting out of our work out just because you got a hang over. Be thankful I let you sleep in"
"Ohhhh. It ain't fair! I only had..." Willow paused for a second as she tried to remember how many drinks she had last night. "... Four cock sucking cowboys!"
"Actually Will, thats probably only what you remember. I think you had a couple of Quick fucks after that, and I had to keep you away from a bottle of Galiano the rest of the night."
"Ohhhh. I'm never touching another drop of alcohol for the rest of my life!"
"Dont say that. You just gotta learn to drink in moderation... and keep away from Keatyn. She's the one who got ya drunk."
"Noted."
They jogged on for a few minutes in comfortable silence. Winding their way through Sunnydales streets and cemeteries and parks. Just enjoying each others company in the waning light.
The dropping of a baseball bat on cement drew Xanders slightly acute hearing and he absently started listening harder.
"You dropped that catch Billy" A gruff voice of and adult.
"Yeah... Sorry" A young kid, didn't sound too worried.
"You lost the match"
Silence.
"You lost the match for the entire TEAM!" The adult voice was angry now and Xander could detect a very slight slur to them.
Xander changed direction of their jogging and headed towards the sound. Willow followed suit, though she couldn't hear anything yet.
He heard the bat scrape against the cement and started to speed up. Willow gave him a glance but didn't say anything.
"It's * your * fault we lost"
* Thud *
"Aaagh" Even Willow heard that. Xander pulled away. He sped as fast as he could towards the sounds. Two more thuds urging him on. He sprinted into Sunnydales little league baseball fields and into a small concrete dugout.
He came across a man, middle aged and over weight. He was standing over a boy about 12, he had a baseball shirt on, a large 19 on the back. The boy was cowering into a corner, one arm protecting his head as the other was held weakly out in front of him to fend off the blows. Xander could already see blood on his face and dirty marks on his shirt where the bat had hit.
The man raised the bat once more, bat coming over his shoulder. Xander grabbed the end of the bat from behind and yanked it out of the mans hands. He spun around in anger and raised his fist at Xander.
"Who the fuck are you?! Get out of here!" His shouts stank of cigarette smoke and cheap booze. He made a lunge for the bat but Xander brought it out of his reach.
'Your useless boy' The old memory flashed through Xanders mind.
'It's your fault'
'Worthless little shit'
' * Thud * *Thud* * Thud * ' The situation sparked so many memories... so many bad memories. But Xander was different now. He knew he wasn't worthless. He knew this kid wasn't worthless. He knew he hadn't been able to fight back, he knew this kid couldn't either. He hadn't is now he could.
The man swung at Xander now. Xander took a step back and the man wobbled on his feet as his fist past through air. Absently he heard Willow arrive on the scene.
Xander took hold of the bats grip in one hand and swung it into the mans side. The man crumpled in a loud woosh as the air was expelled from him. He gasped for breath on his hands and knees as Xander just stared down at him with hate filled eye's.
" Do you like beating people weaker than you?" Xanders voice was low but gravelly in anger.
" Does one miss catch mean this much?... That you should beat a little kid with a baseball bat?" The man looked up at him, his face red with anger, alcohol and embarrassment.
"This isn't *gasp* any of your business"
"NONE of my BUSINESS?!" Xander practically screamed it as he smashed the metal baseball bat through the concrete wall of the dugout. Bits of concrete cinder block flew in all directions. He left the mangled bat in the depression.
"If someone beats on a little kid, it's everyone's business you Fuck" He grasped the guy by the front of his shirt in one hand and lifted him off the ground until his feet dangled and with a yell, twisted and hurled him into the concrete wall of the dug out.
The loud crack on impact and the way he shattered the wooded bench as he fell on it attested to the pain this probably caused.
Xander just stared at the groaning heap on the ground before turning back to the kid. Willow was kneeling by his side already checking him out.
"Is he alright?"
"I think he's got a fractured cheek and he has at the very least bruised ribs" Willow had to talk over the boys crying. Xander didn't blame him.
"Give us a look at him." Willow moved obligingly to the side, casting an unreadable look at the crumpled heap that was the boys attacker.
" Kid? Kid your gonna have to trust me. Do you trust me?" The boy, pretty out of it, just nodded.
Xander sat his hand on the boys shoulder and cast his mind through the contact into the boys body. He felt a little resistance and probably would have been stopped if the kid wasn't concussed. His mind separated from the boys, Billys mind, and focused on his body, his mind looking at the damage done. Willow was right the boys cheek was fractured as well as one rib, and there was all the bruising. Rage almost distracted him from what he was doing but he refocused on the job. He willed the body to fix the damage, to heal the injuries, and quickly. Under the influence of Xanders mind, Billy's body went into overdrive as all of his body's resources were focused on the injuries. Xander could see the fractures knit together a million times faster than they should have, bruising and swelling dissipate in record time. He knew Billy had a concussion but he wasn't going near the boys brain. Who knew what he could muck up if he tried anything there.
With a quick check of the injuries after they had healed he pulled himself out of the boy. He suddenly realized he was on his back, his limbs stiff from lying on the cold concrete floor, it was dark now and a worried Willow standing over him. He felt like crap as well.
"Wont be doing that again for a couple of weeks"
"Xander! Are you alright? You passed out after you went into the boy and I couldn't wake you up and I was so worried and it was getting dark and..." Willow gave up trying to babble herself out of concern and just attached herself to Xander, tears in her eye's.
"Dont worry Will, I'm okay! I'm sorry for worrying you, I didn't know it was going to happen myself." He rubbed her back soothingly. "On the plus side... How you doing kid?" Willow looked over at the boy to find him sitting up with little difficulty, no sign of any bruising or any other injury for that matter.
The kid rubbed his head for a second, than his eye's tiredly.
"My head hurts, and I'm tired and hungry... What did you do?" The kid replied with slightly wide eye's.
"Just cured what ails ya. Do you live far from here?" The boy shook his head than grimaced.
"Do you think you can walk him home?" he asked Willow quietly she gave a quick nod.
"But what about you? Are you alright?" her concern was evident in her voice.
"I'm fine............ I have something to do..." He stood up and walked over to the man who was now quivering in the corner and snarled at him. "... and I dont want you to see it." The man groaned.
"Xander?" Willows voice wavered slightly as she asked the unspoken question.
"Just take the kid home. Make sure he gets a meal in him" Xanders voice had gone emotionless. Willow had never seen him like this. Never seen him this angry. She knew how this would affect him, knew about his childhood. She thought about trying her resolve face but new it wouldn't work. She just nodded sadly if not slightly scared. She turned and helped the boy up and made off at a brisk pace.
Xander waited until they were out of sight.
"I'm not going to kill you..." the man let out a short quivering sigh "...But you wont survive the night" the man curled up on himself again.
" You've done the worst thing anyone could possibly ever do. What would have happened if we hadn't come by ? Would you have killed that boy because he dropped a catch? Put him in a coma? Or disable him for the rest of his life?" He smashed the man in the head with a backhanded fist.
"Did it make you feel big? Putting him down like that? Anymore of a man?" He hit him again. Xander grabbed hold of his foot and dragged the man out of his crouch in the corner. He clawed and kicked and yelled trying to get free but Xanders grip was like steel.
"No dont hurt me please dont hurt me. I'm sorry please" The man began to sob pathetically. Xander smacked him across the face again before gripping his hands behind his back and reaching into his pockets. He found the mans keys and wallet. He gave the guy a hard kick in the back and sent him sprawling back into the corner.
Xander opened the wallet and found a picture of the man with his family. He had two girls. Xander recognized one from school. He threw the wallet back at the man.
"Mr.Edwards. Your family is the only thing stopping me from breaking you legs and leaving you here for the night" Xander stated coldly.
"Please dont" The man was sobbing again. It was pathetic.
"Shut up!" Xander looked at the mans key before clicking the lock button on the car remote. He saw the blinkers flash on the only car in the lot. Xander reached into his own pocket and withdrew a flick knife. The mans sobbing increased. He approached the man. He cringed back but couldn't do anything to stop Xander giving him a few shallow slashes to his arms and chest.
"God you're pathetic! Now listen. I'm giving you a chance... However slim that is..." Xander carefully wiped the keys down on the edge of his shirt. "... You find your keys before anything finds you and most likely eats you, your free to go. But just remember there are worse things out here than the stuff that eats you." Just to prove his point Xander slid his blades out of his arms. The runes glowed a bright blood red, and cast just enough light to outline the blades in the dark. The man wet himself.
"Oh for fucks sake!" Xander turned and hurled the mans keys into the middle of the dark field. The man skittered hastily after them.
"Oh and dont forget, I know where you live!" Xander shouted as an after-thought.
*******
Counter to what Xander had told the man, he didn't leave him to die. He hung discreetly around the edges of the field waiting for the inevitable vampire or demon that was attracted to the scent of the mans blood or the pathetic wails he let out every so often. He dispatched them quietly, working off his anger. Though he did let one lone vampire reach the man. He was just about to shred the guy to pieces when Xander acted. Slamming into the vamps mind and implanting some false info.
*******
"Well well. Haven't had a kill this easy in weeks" The vamp smiled as the guy crouched on the ground spun around wildly to stare in horror at him.
"I swear, you humans get dumber by the minute" The vamp gave a light chuckle as he bent down and gripped the man by the shoulders. Effortlessly lifting the man to his feet as he tried to scream at the sight of his game face.
"Thanks buddy. You were... convenient" The vamp lunged in, intent on ripping his throat open but stopped millimeters away. He pulled back his pale face a lot whiter.
"Shit...... something worse..." He dumped the guy on his ass and high tailed it as fast as his undead legs could carry him.
The man wet himself for the second time that night as he cast around in the dark searching for the unseen horror, whimpering sadly, before his search efforts redoubled.
*******
Xander laid back on the freshly mown grass of the house. Lazily watching the clouds cross the sky as he soaked up the sun. He dozed on and off all morning. Just another lazy Sunday afternoon.
He felt Willow wander onto the back porch before he heard her. She was getting pretty good at moving quietly. She stood there, slightly nervous with indecision. A question on her lips that she was sure she didn't want to hear the answer to.
Xander felt slightly hurt that she didn't know him as well as he thought she did.
" He's alive... though he should be dead twenty times over."
A small sigh of relief was his only reply
" He wont beat on another kid ever again though."
"Do you want to talk about it?" Willow asked softy as she approached where he was laying.
Xander paused for a second trying to figure whether he did want to talk about it.
"I'd rather not... I dont feel any guilt for what I did. And if I dont talk about it, I wont think about it and if I dont think about it, it'll be forgotten in a week."
Willow nodded silently as she laid herself down next to him, pillowing her head on his bare shoulder as he put an arm around her shoulders. They laid like that for a comfortable couple of minutes.
"This is nice" Willow stated in a sleepily happy voice.
"Isn't it?" he began to idly play with a strand of her hair as she traced the tattoos on his chest .
" Billy asked what we were last night..." She gave a smallish giggle " I told him we were angels"
Xander gave a single chuckle before he glanced down at her head.
"What have you done to your hair?" he gently pulled together a few strands of black hair.
"I went over Buffys this morning, she streaked my hair black. You like?" she glanced up at him.
"Pfft Nooo" he said playfully.
"Hey!" She gave him a playful swat.
"Nah seriously, it looks good on you" he gave her a sincere smile and she blushed prettily at him, before she settled back into the crook of his arm.
"This is nice"
*******
That began another change, Willow slowly began to feel the need, the pull to fight. It frightened her somewhat. She had to really stop herself sometimes. Especially when Cordelia made one of her snide remarks, the temptation to freeze her solid than melt her down into a shallow puddle on the school linoleum floor was rather huge, but she was able to hold back. Mainly because of the patrolling and training she did with Xander. It turned out beating the crap out of a punching bag/vampire ( albeit while Xander was holding it and giving pointers ) was great for stress relief.
Anyway though, the school year continued. Xander continued to work on the house, ever so slowly getting rid of the rotting corpse smell and mould. Willow kept an eye on their savings and investments, making sure things weren't invested where they shouldn't be and taking cash out of the savings account for quick investments for good returns. She got quite good at playing the stock market.
All through it all they got that little bit stronger as they faced every weird thing the Hellmouth threw they're way. Gaining enough skill that the average newbie vamp became no problem, they could even take on two newbie vamps at once and still come out relatively on top. What really developed most was their team work. Together they worked together in such unison, a perfect match of anger and brute force mixed with mystical knowledge and power. Together they could probably take on Buffy... and still lose, but they'd give her a run for her money.
The two just seemed to know each other so well they could predict each others moves, know how each other would react before they knew themselves.
It kinda creeped Buffy out.
"Sometimes I think you're about to finish each others sentences"
Willow and Xander just grinned mischievously at each other.
"Who..."
"...Us?"
"Never..."
"...Happen"
"Okay thats just creepy" said Buffy, absently blowing her hair out of her face as she looked over the musty book she was reading to give them a stare, only to find both of them giving her the exact same look back at her.
*******
Beads of sweat were running down Giles forehead as he struggled against his mental restraints for perhaps the millionth time. Hoping to break his mental restraining order and point out the obvious (to him anyway) truth to Buffy. He couldn't even manage to frown at Willow and Xander yet but it wasn't going to stop him from trying.
*******
Xander looked up slightly from the inane chatter he was having with Willow and Buffy as he felt a little mental tug. He glanced slightly at Giles, catching his eye with the movement. He didn't smirk at the man, he didn't relish this power over him, he wished he'd never had to do it, but he gave a small regretful shake of his head and sured up the blocks in Giles mind.
*******
Giles anger radiated off him in waves as he felt the restraints beefed up. He raged inside himself at his... his enslavement. And for the damn boy to act so damn noble about it, so fare. He wished to shout and yell and beat the boy to a bloody pulp but he couldn't' do it.
And it was his disability to do anything that wriled him the most.
His inability that made him rage.
*******
"So Buff, anything big on patrol last night? No super monsters?" Xander asked reverting his attention back to the conversation.
"Super monsters?"
"You know... Like if someone made a vamp out of Batman" He added a goofy smile to the end.
"Corny" Willow giggled.
"Very, but no. No super monsters. Barely any normal monsters for that matter. Whats up with that Giles? I thought you said this was the mouth of hell?" Buffy asked in the irritated-over-nothing teenager way.
"Well I'm not quite sure actually. With the ah Master around I would think that activity would increase. Ah perhaps we've hit a lull..."
"Lull? LULL? Did anybody else hear lull because lull means night off and night off means Bronze" Buffy interrupted.
Willow raised her hand. "I heard lull"
"Me too"
"Great! We Bronze tonight"
"... Or he could just be bideing his time, planning something. It's in these times, Buffy that you should be extra careful, patrol extra hard, keep an eye out for anything!"
"I will be Giles, I'll be watching over a significant proportion of Sunnydales youth. But to do so successfully I'll need to blend in. You know dress up, dance, have a good time?"
"Dont confuse the man Buff, he doesn't know what fun is. Well fun not involving Miss Calendar anyway" Xander shot in.
"And with that 'eww' we leave. Come on Will, we can make each other up at my house" Buffy started making her way for the door, Willow and Xander in her wake.
" 'Kay. Meet you there at eight Xan?" Willow asked as she followed Buffy down to their lockers.
"No prob ladies, catcha"
Back in the library.
"Bloody teenagers"
*******
And so that night the three bronzed. Angel showed up, looking for Buffy, and they did the whole tortured moody love stare thing while talking in soft whispers. Xander and Willow laughed quietly to each other as they watched them before getting up to dance together.
And the night went on. They hung out, danced, shared a plate of chips, let Buffy go on slaying breaks as she dragged vamps from the dance floor and out back were she showed them her wood.
Normalcy ensued.
*******
A couple of weeks later. Saturday afternoon.
"Ooooh"
"You shouldn't have drunk so much last night Will" Xander informed her, way to smugly, as they jogged through Sunnydales parks.
"Stop rubbing it in" Hissed Willow, eye's closed into slits trying to block out what little light dusk was forcing into her brain.
Xander had got Willow to come to another party with him last night. Which wasn't really hard now as it was a while back. Willow had started enjoying going to parties.
As she was seen at more and more parties (especially with Xander) more and more people talked to her, and she had started to enjoy talking and hanging out and dancing. Alcohol freed up a lot of inhibitions with her and she got to talking to nearly anybody. She was a regular on the party scene now.
"Hey just think of it as pay back for all the times you've said it to me"
"Still you didn't have to drag me running"
"You ain't getting out of our work out just because you got a hang over. Be thankful I let you sleep in"
"Ohhhh. It ain't fair! I only had..." Willow paused for a second as she tried to remember how many drinks she had last night. "... Four cock sucking cowboys!"
"Actually Will, thats probably only what you remember. I think you had a couple of Quick fucks after that, and I had to keep you away from a bottle of Galiano the rest of the night."
"Ohhhh. I'm never touching another drop of alcohol for the rest of my life!"
"Dont say that. You just gotta learn to drink in moderation... and keep away from Keatyn. She's the one who got ya drunk."
"Noted."
They jogged on for a few minutes in comfortable silence. Winding their way through Sunnydales streets and cemeteries and parks. Just enjoying each others company in the waning light.
The dropping of a baseball bat on cement drew Xanders slightly acute hearing and he absently started listening harder.
"You dropped that catch Billy" A gruff voice of and adult.
"Yeah... Sorry" A young kid, didn't sound too worried.
"You lost the match"
Silence.
"You lost the match for the entire TEAM!" The adult voice was angry now and Xander could detect a very slight slur to them.
Xander changed direction of their jogging and headed towards the sound. Willow followed suit, though she couldn't hear anything yet.
He heard the bat scrape against the cement and started to speed up. Willow gave him a glance but didn't say anything.
"It's * your * fault we lost"
* Thud *
"Aaagh" Even Willow heard that. Xander pulled away. He sped as fast as he could towards the sounds. Two more thuds urging him on. He sprinted into Sunnydales little league baseball fields and into a small concrete dugout.
He came across a man, middle aged and over weight. He was standing over a boy about 12, he had a baseball shirt on, a large 19 on the back. The boy was cowering into a corner, one arm protecting his head as the other was held weakly out in front of him to fend off the blows. Xander could already see blood on his face and dirty marks on his shirt where the bat had hit.
The man raised the bat once more, bat coming over his shoulder. Xander grabbed the end of the bat from behind and yanked it out of the mans hands. He spun around in anger and raised his fist at Xander.
"Who the fuck are you?! Get out of here!" His shouts stank of cigarette smoke and cheap booze. He made a lunge for the bat but Xander brought it out of his reach.
'Your useless boy' The old memory flashed through Xanders mind.
'It's your fault'
'Worthless little shit'
' * Thud * *Thud* * Thud * ' The situation sparked so many memories... so many bad memories. But Xander was different now. He knew he wasn't worthless. He knew this kid wasn't worthless. He knew he hadn't been able to fight back, he knew this kid couldn't either. He hadn't is now he could.
The man swung at Xander now. Xander took a step back and the man wobbled on his feet as his fist past through air. Absently he heard Willow arrive on the scene.
Xander took hold of the bats grip in one hand and swung it into the mans side. The man crumpled in a loud woosh as the air was expelled from him. He gasped for breath on his hands and knees as Xander just stared down at him with hate filled eye's.
" Do you like beating people weaker than you?" Xanders voice was low but gravelly in anger.
" Does one miss catch mean this much?... That you should beat a little kid with a baseball bat?" The man looked up at him, his face red with anger, alcohol and embarrassment.
"This isn't *gasp* any of your business"
"NONE of my BUSINESS?!" Xander practically screamed it as he smashed the metal baseball bat through the concrete wall of the dugout. Bits of concrete cinder block flew in all directions. He left the mangled bat in the depression.
"If someone beats on a little kid, it's everyone's business you Fuck" He grasped the guy by the front of his shirt in one hand and lifted him off the ground until his feet dangled and with a yell, twisted and hurled him into the concrete wall of the dug out.
The loud crack on impact and the way he shattered the wooded bench as he fell on it attested to the pain this probably caused.
Xander just stared at the groaning heap on the ground before turning back to the kid. Willow was kneeling by his side already checking him out.
"Is he alright?"
"I think he's got a fractured cheek and he has at the very least bruised ribs" Willow had to talk over the boys crying. Xander didn't blame him.
"Give us a look at him." Willow moved obligingly to the side, casting an unreadable look at the crumpled heap that was the boys attacker.
" Kid? Kid your gonna have to trust me. Do you trust me?" The boy, pretty out of it, just nodded.
Xander sat his hand on the boys shoulder and cast his mind through the contact into the boys body. He felt a little resistance and probably would have been stopped if the kid wasn't concussed. His mind separated from the boys, Billys mind, and focused on his body, his mind looking at the damage done. Willow was right the boys cheek was fractured as well as one rib, and there was all the bruising. Rage almost distracted him from what he was doing but he refocused on the job. He willed the body to fix the damage, to heal the injuries, and quickly. Under the influence of Xanders mind, Billy's body went into overdrive as all of his body's resources were focused on the injuries. Xander could see the fractures knit together a million times faster than they should have, bruising and swelling dissipate in record time. He knew Billy had a concussion but he wasn't going near the boys brain. Who knew what he could muck up if he tried anything there.
With a quick check of the injuries after they had healed he pulled himself out of the boy. He suddenly realized he was on his back, his limbs stiff from lying on the cold concrete floor, it was dark now and a worried Willow standing over him. He felt like crap as well.
"Wont be doing that again for a couple of weeks"
"Xander! Are you alright? You passed out after you went into the boy and I couldn't wake you up and I was so worried and it was getting dark and..." Willow gave up trying to babble herself out of concern and just attached herself to Xander, tears in her eye's.
"Dont worry Will, I'm okay! I'm sorry for worrying you, I didn't know it was going to happen myself." He rubbed her back soothingly. "On the plus side... How you doing kid?" Willow looked over at the boy to find him sitting up with little difficulty, no sign of any bruising or any other injury for that matter.
The kid rubbed his head for a second, than his eye's tiredly.
"My head hurts, and I'm tired and hungry... What did you do?" The kid replied with slightly wide eye's.
"Just cured what ails ya. Do you live far from here?" The boy shook his head than grimaced.
"Do you think you can walk him home?" he asked Willow quietly she gave a quick nod.
"But what about you? Are you alright?" her concern was evident in her voice.
"I'm fine............ I have something to do..." He stood up and walked over to the man who was now quivering in the corner and snarled at him. "... and I dont want you to see it." The man groaned.
"Xander?" Willows voice wavered slightly as she asked the unspoken question.
"Just take the kid home. Make sure he gets a meal in him" Xanders voice had gone emotionless. Willow had never seen him like this. Never seen him this angry. She knew how this would affect him, knew about his childhood. She thought about trying her resolve face but new it wouldn't work. She just nodded sadly if not slightly scared. She turned and helped the boy up and made off at a brisk pace.
Xander waited until they were out of sight.
"I'm not going to kill you..." the man let out a short quivering sigh "...But you wont survive the night" the man curled up on himself again.
" You've done the worst thing anyone could possibly ever do. What would have happened if we hadn't come by ? Would you have killed that boy because he dropped a catch? Put him in a coma? Or disable him for the rest of his life?" He smashed the man in the head with a backhanded fist.
"Did it make you feel big? Putting him down like that? Anymore of a man?" He hit him again. Xander grabbed hold of his foot and dragged the man out of his crouch in the corner. He clawed and kicked and yelled trying to get free but Xanders grip was like steel.
"No dont hurt me please dont hurt me. I'm sorry please" The man began to sob pathetically. Xander smacked him across the face again before gripping his hands behind his back and reaching into his pockets. He found the mans keys and wallet. He gave the guy a hard kick in the back and sent him sprawling back into the corner.
Xander opened the wallet and found a picture of the man with his family. He had two girls. Xander recognized one from school. He threw the wallet back at the man.
"Mr.Edwards. Your family is the only thing stopping me from breaking you legs and leaving you here for the night" Xander stated coldly.
"Please dont" The man was sobbing again. It was pathetic.
"Shut up!" Xander looked at the mans key before clicking the lock button on the car remote. He saw the blinkers flash on the only car in the lot. Xander reached into his own pocket and withdrew a flick knife. The mans sobbing increased. He approached the man. He cringed back but couldn't do anything to stop Xander giving him a few shallow slashes to his arms and chest.
"God you're pathetic! Now listen. I'm giving you a chance... However slim that is..." Xander carefully wiped the keys down on the edge of his shirt. "... You find your keys before anything finds you and most likely eats you, your free to go. But just remember there are worse things out here than the stuff that eats you." Just to prove his point Xander slid his blades out of his arms. The runes glowed a bright blood red, and cast just enough light to outline the blades in the dark. The man wet himself.
"Oh for fucks sake!" Xander turned and hurled the mans keys into the middle of the dark field. The man skittered hastily after them.
"Oh and dont forget, I know where you live!" Xander shouted as an after-thought.
*******
Counter to what Xander had told the man, he didn't leave him to die. He hung discreetly around the edges of the field waiting for the inevitable vampire or demon that was attracted to the scent of the mans blood or the pathetic wails he let out every so often. He dispatched them quietly, working off his anger. Though he did let one lone vampire reach the man. He was just about to shred the guy to pieces when Xander acted. Slamming into the vamps mind and implanting some false info.
*******
"Well well. Haven't had a kill this easy in weeks" The vamp smiled as the guy crouched on the ground spun around wildly to stare in horror at him.
"I swear, you humans get dumber by the minute" The vamp gave a light chuckle as he bent down and gripped the man by the shoulders. Effortlessly lifting the man to his feet as he tried to scream at the sight of his game face.
"Thanks buddy. You were... convenient" The vamp lunged in, intent on ripping his throat open but stopped millimeters away. He pulled back his pale face a lot whiter.
"Shit...... something worse..." He dumped the guy on his ass and high tailed it as fast as his undead legs could carry him.
The man wet himself for the second time that night as he cast around in the dark searching for the unseen horror, whimpering sadly, before his search efforts redoubled.
*******
Xander laid back on the freshly mown grass of the house. Lazily watching the clouds cross the sky as he soaked up the sun. He dozed on and off all morning. Just another lazy Sunday afternoon.
He felt Willow wander onto the back porch before he heard her. She was getting pretty good at moving quietly. She stood there, slightly nervous with indecision. A question on her lips that she was sure she didn't want to hear the answer to.
Xander felt slightly hurt that she didn't know him as well as he thought she did.
" He's alive... though he should be dead twenty times over."
A small sigh of relief was his only reply
" He wont beat on another kid ever again though."
"Do you want to talk about it?" Willow asked softy as she approached where he was laying.
Xander paused for a second trying to figure whether he did want to talk about it.
"I'd rather not... I dont feel any guilt for what I did. And if I dont talk about it, I wont think about it and if I dont think about it, it'll be forgotten in a week."
Willow nodded silently as she laid herself down next to him, pillowing her head on his bare shoulder as he put an arm around her shoulders. They laid like that for a comfortable couple of minutes.
"This is nice" Willow stated in a sleepily happy voice.
"Isn't it?" he began to idly play with a strand of her hair as she traced the tattoos on his chest .
" Billy asked what we were last night..." She gave a smallish giggle " I told him we were angels"
Xander gave a single chuckle before he glanced down at her head.
"What have you done to your hair?" he gently pulled together a few strands of black hair.
"I went over Buffys this morning, she streaked my hair black. You like?" she glanced up at him.
"Pfft Nooo" he said playfully.
"Hey!" She gave him a playful swat.
"Nah seriously, it looks good on you" he gave her a sincere smile and she blushed prettily at him, before she settled back into the crook of his arm.
"This is nice"
*******