Title: Morbid Curiosity
Author: DC – devils_symphony@hotmail.com
Disclaimer: If I had created 'Buffy', I wouldn't be here. Don't own, don't sue. 'Cept the plot. No one can claim that but me.
Author's Notes: Hey. Thanks for taking an interest. Here's chapter three, the chapter that had me tempted to throw my computer out the window. Enjoy.
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Abstract Discoveries
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Graveyards had never been known to freak Xander out. He used to live a block away from one, and he remembered it as a peaceful place. It had been the same place that Buffy's funeral was staged at. Xander could barely remember what the minister had said about Buffy, or anything he had said for that matter. He remembered that the weather was warm, that her coffin had been shiny and that Buffy's mother, Joyce, had hugged him. He remembered crying.
But now it was nighttime instead of the morning, and this graveyard was bigger, and had a stretch of forest at the side of it, near the entrance. Under the dim streetlights, half moon and light emitting from buildings nearby and passing cars, the grass looked grey instead of healthy green. Everything looked grey. Dressed in ultra-casual gear, Xander greeted the three figures waiting by the graveyard's entrance. All wore the same sort of ultra-casual attire.
"Hey Xander," Faith said in greeting, and Gunn and William waved. "First patrol. Excited?"
"Terrified, but then again, that can easily be confused by giddiness," Xander said, shrugging and giving her a quick teeth-showing smile. He wasn't confused about what he felt – he was dead-set nervous, with a side of nausea and a smattering of fear.
"Here," Faith said, and tossed him something. Xander caught it easily, and looked at it. The stake was maybe eight inches long, thick and light brown in colour. The end was pointed and very sharp, but the looks of it. "Straight through the chest, into the heart," the Slayer said, miming and then resting a hand over her own heart. "Dust goes vamp, job well done. Pretty straight forward."
"For a Slayer," pointed out William, who was holding what looked like a crossbow to Xander. 'Cool.' "Us mere humans find it a little less straight forward."
"Don't worry, I'll protect you," chuckled Faith, to Xander, who had gone a little wide-eyed. She then seemed to go into commando mode, and Xander could picture Gunn and William falling into line. "Okay. Vamps have gotten cocky. Cocky enough to raid the frickin' highschool for a quick feed. I want to show 'em who the hell's the alpha in this town."
"That would be you, right?" asked Gunn, mocking her a little.
"Yeah, that would be me," Faith said emphatically, ignoring the boy's sarcasm. "And they need to understand that if they don't lay low, they're as good as dust. So, we search the graveyard for fledglings. Then we hit the streets."
"What?" asked William, baffled.
"I know, I usually just patrol the 'yards, but hey, the vamp's ain't looking for victims here, are they? Nah, they'll be in the alleyways, lurking and stuff. Which is why we're also going to the Bronze as well. And Will, don't give me that 'but Mr. Rayne said blah-blah-blah' crap." William shut his mouth and gave her a disdainful glare. "Ethan's a great Watcher and all, but sometimes you gotta break a few rules to do the job well. So," Faith flicked her hair over her shoulder, "we split for now. Me and Xander, team number one, Will and Gunn, team number two. We meet back here in, what, an hour?" No one said anything, so Faith took that as an okay. "Alright. Let's go."
She walked in through the gates purposefully and veered right, and Xander glanced at the other two, who had started in the opposite direction. Shrugging, Xander caught up with the dark haired Slayer, fiddling with the pointed tip of the stake. They walked along the edge of the graveyard, nearing the forest before they started angling towards the centre of the cemetery. "So…we wander around, wait for a vampire to go 'grr' at us and kill it, or are we looking for them?" asked Xander after a few seconds of seemingly aimless walking.
Faith shrugged. "They come looking for us, we're food." Xander shivered at that and she smiled with a little sympathy. "It ain't that bad. Some of 'em just pop out outta their grave and we dust 'em. Hence the scenic surroundings."
Xander made a noise that could be 'Oh', but it was too squeaky to be classified as a real word. He coughed a little, ignoring Faith's laughter. "How long have you been doing the whole Slayer thing?"
"Two years ago."
"So this is all second nature to you."
"It always was."
"Meaning…?"
"A girl's Chosen 'cause she already has that instinct in her. Fighting and shit, it's all there, just waiting for whatever mystic energy is out there to come along and give her a power boost." Suddenly, Faith did a one handed cartwheel, and landed, arms spread wide, grinning. "Ta-da."
"Show off. I bet I could do that."
"Show me."
"I would, but suddenly, I have these unexplainable and spontaneous back problems…"
"Thought so." Faith stopped, and, from the recesses of her black sweatshirt, she brought out a stake. Xander noticed it to be a few inches longer than his. "Man, they're eager," she said quietly, no longer smiling. She looked around, her brown-tinted gaze predatory…no, wary. She wasn't hunting – she was being hunted. Xander gripped his own stake, looking around. He couldn't see anything. Before he could voice this, Faith interrupted his thoughts. "The mausoleum," she whispered, starting towards it. Xander hung behind, heart racing. Suddenly, Faith kicked open the doors. Inside it was dark, but nothing growly, fang-y or ridge-y jumped out. "Man, I could have sworn-" Faith's sentence was cut off when a vampire leaped down from on top of the mausoleum where he had been lying. Faith gave a startled yell as she went crashing down to the dry, grey-tinted grass, the vampire's arms outstretched.
She kicked him off and he hit the side of a gravestone nearby. Hesitating but getting over it, Xander ran forward, holding up his with obvious uncertainty. The vampire looked up and snarled, fangs long and glistening. The vampire started to get up, but Xander was already there. Squashing his fear, Xander kicked the monster in the jaw, and when the vampire paused, dazed, he brought down his stake, pointed tip separating cloth, skin, muscle, penetrating heart.
With an animalistic screech that Xander remembered from last night, the vampire dissolved into an explosion of ash. Xander stood, putting an arm up and shutting his eyes as he was coated in the dust. "Huh," he said, wiping off said dust from his sweater. "Practical of them to die like that." He turned to see Faith giving him a wide, slightly crazed grin. "What?"
"Dude, that rocked!" she said, walking over. "You got mad skills. That was awesome."
"Eh, thanks," said Xander with a quirky grin. "You okay?"
"Five by five," said Faith, looking around.
"What by huh?"
But before Faith could clarify, she sidestepped Xander, jumping over the gravestone the vampire had been knocked into. She used the foot-high memorial as leverage to jump higher. Xander turned to see her plant a graceful kick right in the middle of a darkly clothed vampire's chest. She spun, giving the vampire a powerful backhanded punch, and the demon stumbled to the side, lurching under her assault. Xander started forward to help, when someone suddenly grabbed him by the shoulders, throwing him to the side.
For a moment, there was a few seconds of peace, silence, weightlessness, before Xander landed with a thud on his stomach. "Oof!" he grunted. Dazed, he shook his head, before starting to get up. But someone, the same who had thrown him, grabbed the back of his jacket and hurled him up. Xander yelped when he found himself face to face with a vampire, yellow eyes gleaming.
"Thought you were pretty cocky dustin' the other guy?" he growled sinisterly and with a lisp, courtesy of the fangs too big for his mouth. "You ain't seen nothin' yet brother." Xander was shoved back, to see the vampire bear down on him. Giving a terrified yell, Xander rolled and shot to his feet, quick as lightning. The vampire was standing as well, and laughing. "Quick, ain't'cha?" Xander glanced over at Faith, who was dealing with two other vampires, having staked the second one she had kicked before. "Well, humor me. C'mon boy, let's fight."
The vampire closed the space between them quickly, growling as he did so. Xander took a step back and tried to punch the guy in the neck – he had heard somewhere that it was one of the best places to do so – when his wrist was grabbed. The vampire laughed, applying pressure. Xander winced, trying not to say 'ow' out loud. He felt like his bone was at breaking point, so he stepped forward and brought his knee up. Hard. The vampire's yellow eyes crossed and he made a sound like 'gni' before double over. Heart pumping, adrenaline come in like a shock to his system, Xander brought the stake down, and the vampire was dusted. He turned to see Faith now fighting only one vamp, the other obviously having become the substance fit for an ashtray. A few more seconds and the second demon was dust too.
"Damn!" Faith exclaimed, trotting over to Xander. "That was twisted. Five of 'em in one go. All guys, too. Damn," she said again, running a hand through her black-mahogany hair. She grinned widely. "Now I'm pumped. That was fun."
"Fun in a really life-threatening kind of way, yeah," breathed Xander, panting from the short but intense fight. "I think I may sit down before I throw up. Sit down and then throw up. Whatever." He did so, on a wide gravestone, aware that this was said to be unlucky. But damnit, he wasn't feeling so good.
"Aw, c'mon, you think it was fun too," said Faith, stake hidden in her jacket once more. She gave him an arch look, crossing her arms and jutting a hip out slightly. Xander didn't notice the feminine sexiness as he glanced up at the rather starless night sky. He then gave her a broad grin.
"Okay, it was kinda cool when they got dusty," he said. "But not when they're all fangs 'n' ridges. Not so hot when they're about to break your wrist. Not cool."
"Gah, you'll get worse injuries," said Faith, waving it off.
"Faith, so not helping."
"Heh. Come on, the night's still young."
---
They encountered six more vampires, four in one go, a vampiress later on who was surprisingly hard to kill, and a cocky fledgling that had popped out of the grave that Xander had been standing on. That one had been easy to dust. All of this took up the rest of the hour, so they headed back to where were meeting the other two boys. After a minute, Gunn and William showed up, Gunn grinning widely, a slight bruise around his eye that could only get worse and William glaring at the world in general, sporting a split lip. "Run in with some baddies?" asked Xander.
"Isn't that the bloody truth?" asked William bitterly.
"Man, Faith, it was so cool!" Gunn exclaimed. "There was this one guy, who Will kept missing with that crossbow-"
"He was fast. Shut up."
"-and he was, like, some kinda ninja. But yeah, he's dead now. But it was cool." Gunn then got into some more fighting details with Faith, who started telling him about her and Xander's run in with the tag team from hell. Xander walked over to William, who was staring off into space.
"Did you have as much fun as Conan, over there?"
"Oh yes, I like being punched in the mouth," William said sardonically. "Almost as much as being kicked in the stomach, or thrown through the air."
"Ooh, I did that!" said Xander jovially, despite William's little cloud of irritability looming over them. "Just before my wrist was almost snapped. Oh, and then there was the head-kicking thing, which I thought was physically impossible for a vampiress in a dress." William's annoyed demeanor diminished and he gave the upbeat boy an amused look behind his glasses. "Then again, not so impossible. I was on the ground at the time and wishing I were dead. All in all, I great night."
William chuckled softly, glancing at the crossbow he held in his hands. Xander took the pause in conversation to notice that Brit-boy suited black. Or was that a dark blue turtleneck? The close fitting garment didn't suit the California warmth. "Aren't you hot in that?"
"Why thank you."
Xander blinked and faltered. "Gah, no, I meant-"
William laughed softly. "I know," he said. "And yes, it is, but vampire's don't like biting through fabric."
"That makes sense. I thought you didn't own anything black."
"Oh no, this is dark blue."
Before Xander could answer this, a deep, smooth voice interrupted him. "Well done, all of you, I'm impressed." All four turned to see a man walking over. They quickly regrouped, Faith, as usual, it seemed, taking the lead, her stance defensive. The man before them wore all black, with pale skin that signified his being a vampire. Dark brown hair, dark brown eyes, broad shoulders and a small amused smirk. "I mean, not everyone comes out alive when I send my roughest vampires. I suppose you killed them all?"
"Who are you?" asked Faith, not answering.
"Why? Never heard of a Slayer asking the name of a vampire she was set out to kill."
"Why don't you stop being melodramatic and answer my fucking question?"
"Ooh," the vampire said, putting up his hands defensively. He wore a thick silver ring on his middle finger, on his right hand. "Language. Now I'm scared."
"I'm gonna ask you once again, and only once," Faith said. On cue, William took a step forward, aiming the crossbow. "Who the hell are you?"
"Angelus," he answered, crossing his arms. Not a good stance to do when a Slayer's looking at you with murder in her eyes. This guy was cocky. "Get used to the name. You'll be hearing it a lot, Faith Philips." He tilted his head, giving her a critical gaze. "You're kind of small for a Slayer."
"You wanna give me a test drive?" asked Faith, stepping forward.
"Not yet," Angelus answered. His dark eyes flickered to Xander, and the tenth grader received a highly amused smirk, which made him shift uncomfortably. "Soon, Faith, soon." He winked, and started towards the stretch of forest, the clack-clad demon seemed to fade away in the shadows of the trees.
"That guy gave me the heebie-jeebies," said Xander, shuddering theatrically.
"We should go after him," Gunn said, still staring off at the forest.
"Gone now." Faith's voice was slightly empty. She shrugged and turned towards the group. William had long since lowered his crossbow and was glancing worriedly towards the forest, as if expecting Mr. Tall-Dark-and-Handsome to spring forth with a flaming torch. "Okay," she said, rubbing her hands together, "cryptic shit aside, we got more patrolling to do."
"Maybe we should call it night, it was kind of rough out there," said Xander, gesturing towards the depths of the cemetery. He then shrugged. "Unless that's normal for you guys."
"Nah, it's kinda not," Gunn said, then he turned to Faith. "As much as the fun I'm having, maybe Xan's right. We could turn in now."
"I for one want to get home before my parents come back from wherever the hell they went," William said. Xander gave him a confused look, and the Brit shrugged. "They left a note saying they'd be late. I didn't take too much notice."
"Okay, fine, you guys go, I'm gonna scout the streets," Faith said. She held out her hand to William. "I'll drop it off at Ethan's." The crossbow was handed over.
"You'll be fine on your own?" asked Gunn.
"Yo, Slayer here, not actually meant to have friends helping me out," assured Faith. "Later, guys." The three boys muttered their farewells as Faith strode down the street, as if she was the hottest bitch ever to hold a crossbow casually. Xander guessed she probably was. He never really noticed.
---
It was verging on ten minutes past eight when Xander got home. He pocketed the stake Faith had accidentally given him, and opened the locked door with his spare key. It was a pretty average sized home, nothing particularly glamorous. So much for an improved life with Tony Harris's (Xander's father) new job. It didn't matter to Xander, like the points on 'Whose Line Is It Anyway?' He stepped inside to be greeted with the sounds of the TV and bustling in the kitchen. He walked past the entrance to the lounge room.
"Xander!" Xander paused at his father's yell, stopping at the entrance.
"Yeah Dad?" he asked, looking at Tony. The man was sitting on the couch in sweatpants, a T-shirt and a flannel shirt. His eyes glanced away from the television screen.
"Where were you?"
"Out."
And that seemed to be it for Tony's paternal concern. He nodded, ran a hand through his grey hair and turned back to television. Xander paused for a few moments to see if his father would ask anymore, but when there was only TV sounds, Xander shrugged, rather glad that that was it for questions, and went down the hallway, passing his mother, Jessica, in the kitchen, who was washing a few dishes, and into his room. He shut the door tiredly with a dull 'click', and looked around. Boxes, some open and some closed, littered the room, and just made Xander feel even more tired. Taking the stake out of his pocket and placing it discreetly in his sock drawer, he sat down on his unmade bed, kicking off his shoes.
Xander had unpacked his clothes, and a few other essential items, but the rest of his belongings resided in the brown cardboard boxes around him, five containers in total. Moving the closest one over to him, he looked inside, taking out a stack of comic books he had collected over the years. He stuck them under his bed, where they had always inhabited, no matter where he lived.
After a little bit more digging, Xander pulled out a photo frame, the only one he had. A boring black frame and the glass was a little dirty. He wiped away dust and stared at the picture. It was a picture of him and two friends, taken years back by a teacher in fourth grade. Little Xander Harris was giving a goofy smile to the camera, unruly black hair tangled from playing. Xander snickered, noticing that one of his teeth had been missing in this shot. Photo-Xander was holding the hand of Photo-Buffy Summers, her blonde hair in pigtails. On the other side of Photo-Xander, arm wrapped around Photo-Xander's shoulders, was Photo-Jesse, one of his friends in L.A that he was planning to call.
Xander smiled at the shot. Jesse had dug it up from the depths of what he had so affectionately called the Junk Drawer, and given it to Xander, knowing his life long friend would appreciate it. And he did. He placed the little picture of memories on his set of drawers.
Xander sighed, grinned suddenly and talked directly to the photo. "Jesse, dude, I'm a vampire hunter. How cool is that?"
---
The first person Xander was greeted by the next day was Tara, who bounded over eagerly. "How was it? How was patrol?" she asked giddily. "Did you dust any vamps?" Her voice lowered a little as a gaggle of students passed them by. Xander shrugged, as she and he walked over towards the lockers. He was holding a piece of paper with the combination for an assigned locker, which he had gotten from Student Inquiries for locker rental, ten bucks a year. He found said locker and looked at the paper, fiddling with the dial.
"Oh, you know," he said, grinning triumphantly as the locker swung open, "the life of a super hero," he continued casually, piling in a few books and a plastic bag containing his physical education gear. Tara giggled a little. "Kill a few, dust a few…" He grinned. "I brought down four." Tara's jaw dropped. "There were a lot of vamps, so really, it was only a small fraction," he said modestly, flicking the locker closed again and twirling the combination lock.
"You haven't been slaying before, have you?" asked Tara, feigning suspicion. "Because when I started out, I think I staked a vampire three times missing each time before Gunn rescued me. I also ran around in circles." Xander snickered at the visual. "And Will's first time involved a lot of misfires with the crossbow and a lengthy chase. So, you're not some kind of undercover demon hunter, are you?"
"Nah, I was a virgin to the slayage," Xander assured. "But not anymore, and I plan to do it again."
"You slut, you," teased Tara, grinning and blushing lightly, matching her pink necklace. Tara had a really earthy look about her, Xander had decided, all the way from her rose quartz necklace to her favored floral print peasant shirts to her long, dark green skirt. "Anyway," she said, pushing a lock of strawberry blonde hair behind her ear, the rest of it gathered in a low pony tail, "I stopped by the library today and it's now a library instead of a crime scene, and Ethan told us that we're having a Scooby meeting after school, though not in those words. You there?"
"I'm there," Xander agreed with a nod.
"A-and…um…" The witch-in-training bowed her head bashfully.
"Yeah?" asked Xander patiently.
"I was, um, I was wondering…well, y'see, there's this spring d-dance, its just a-a-an excuse to have a dance, but, um, anyway," stammered Tara. She blushed scarlet, out shading her necklace now. "Did you want to go? It's kinda silly, but it should be sort of fun…"
"I'll be there. Are the other three coming?"
"Oh, yeah, they'll be there," Tara said, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. "But I kinda meant…did you want to go with me?" There was a pause, and Tara covered up. "O-or we could all go as a group, but we can just go together, if you want, and it can be just a once off date type thing, it's n-not like we-we'd be a couple o-or anything-"
Xander snapped out of his stupor, and smiled. "I'll go with you."
"Really?" she asked, smiling happily.
"Sure. It'll be great. We can drink punch, dance, laugh at those making out in the corners, throw stupid piece of decoration at them and run away…"
Tara giggled at the thought. "Yeah, why not? As friends."
Xander nodded in definite agreement. "As friends."
"Well, anyway," said Tara, her blush fading away back to normal, "it's in a week and a half-ish." The bell rang suddenly, signaling that all students should head to class. "Oh, options," she said. "I take Drama. What do you do?"
"Art, a nice no-brainer where I can finger paint and all it abstract," he said, earning a chuckle from Tara. They said their partings and went off on opposite directions, Xander feeling slightly stunned that Tara had asked him out on a sort-of date. As friends. Xander had never gone on a date before: a fact only two people in the world new, one had taken the info to her grave, and the other was in a different city. 'Still, first time for everything,' thought Xander positively, 'like slaying. Only stabbing Tara in the heart with a wooden stake wouldn't be favorable.'
Xander stopped outside a classroom, happy that he hadn't gotten lost. A few other students gathered there, and one of them was William. The two smiled when they saw each other, walking over. "You're taking Art," said William with a little bit of surprise.
"I'll give it back though."
Williams snickered. "Why Art?"
Xander shrugged. "Thought it would be easy to pass. I was thinking of taking a piece of wood, attacking it with a chisel and calling it a masterpiece." Another snicker. "Why are you taking Art?"
"Well, Mum wanted me to do something that 'tugged at the creative needs of my soul', whatever that means. Very weird."
"I'll bet. What's your other option?"
William sighed. "Food Technology, as the teachers put it. Cooking, in other, normal words."
"Fun?"
"If you like burning things, yes."
At that point, the teacher opened the door, and students filed inside. The long desks made a squared 'U' shape, and William and Xander took a spot on a corner. Looking around, Xander sighed when he noticed Cordelia and the Cordettes dominating on side of the 'U'. "Ah nuts. They're here."
"I know. They mostly ignore me setting aside the occasional insult," William said, taking out a black pencil case and pulling out a pencil. Xander did the same. The teacher, a tall, rather pretty but gaunt black woman stood in front of the room, dressed in a white turtleneck and black pants. She also wore a silk scarf coloured many colours. "That's Mrs. Partridge, she's really nice if you actually have any sort of skill," William explained quietly, as the classroom began to hush. "But she'll turn into the worst thing the Hellmouth has to offer if you mock Art in anyway."
"As goes the basic Art teacher, you have to feel sorry for them," answered Xander.
Mrs. Partridge silenced the room and explained that they would be leaving behind drawing techniques, and they'd be working with paint. ("Thank god," William had muttered, indicating that Xander had missed the worst.) She handed out some A3 sized pieces of paper, blank colour charts that they were to fill in with paint. The students were also intructed to go and get the necessary tools, and to get a move on. William went to get them paintbrushes and a jar of water, while Xander queued up, ice cream container lid in hand (a make shift palette of sorts that the students had grabbed), waiting to approach the 'Paint Table' to get said paint ('what was this, primary school?'). In front of him was Cordelia, and he rolled his eyes.
A blonde, one of the Cordettes Xander had seen on his first day, bounded over to Cordelia. "Um, Cordelia," she started, "what else do we need other than the brushes?"
"A jar of water," came Cordelia's reply.
The blonde wrinkled her nose. "Why? I'm not thirsty. Are you thirsty?" Xander tried not to laugh.
"Harmony, it's for rinsing off the brushes once we've used them," Cordelia said patiently. From Xander's angle, he couldn't see the look on her face.
"Oh, right!' Harmony answered, before spinning on her heel and walking over to the taps.
"Intelligent conversation is limited in your world, huh?" Xander said. Cordelia looked around, surprised, not aware that he had been behind her. Her surprised look was quickly replaced by one of disgust and disdain.
"Yeah, that's because you're in it. Stand back a few feet and maybe I'll recover the brain cells I lost by talking to you, loser," she said, turning her back on him.
"You have none too lose, Cordelia."
Cordelia turned again. "Oh, sorry, did I make it seem that I wanted a conversation to you? Did I make the word 'loser' sound nice? Did I come off friendly and approachable?"
"No, no and with a side of no."
"Good. Now take the hint, Harris." Xander was faced with the back of Cordelia Chase once again. He smiled a little in amusement. Winding Cordelia up was actually kind of fun. But he decided to stop nagging her. For now. After a minute, he got the paint he needed, and walked back over to where William was waiting.
"I got the impression that Cordelia doesn't like you, from where I was standing," said William, amused.
"The 'I hate you' vibe was that strong, huh? At least I don't have to resort to asking her to that spring dance I heard about," Xander said, grabbing a paintbrush and glancing over the empty colour chart. He then paused. Spring dance. Oh yeah. "Tara asked me to go with her."
William looked at him with obvious surprise, grabbing the other paintbrush and dabbing it into the splotch of blue paint that had been precariously dripping off the side of the 'palette'. "She did? Tara? She asked you? That was awfully forward of her. For Tara, at least."
"And mighty surprising for me. I didn't even know there was a spring dance," said Xander, drowning the bristles of his brush in fire hydrant red. Now their brushes matched William's shirt, which was a rather awful concoction of bright red and poisonous blue vertical stripes. William shrugged, gazing avidly at his work as he neatly filled in a box with the blue. "You realize you look like a jockey at the horse races, right?"
"Fully aware," said William a little curtly.
Xander frowned at his tone, absently blotting the red onto his page in the general direction it was meant to go. "Uh, did I say something wrong? That was only a j-"
"It's just…Gunn and Faith obviously fancy each other," William said, looking up at Xander. "Gunn will ask Faith, or he'll become a wimp and she'll ask him out, so it'll be to pairings and a fifth wheel. Not that I'm saying that there's anything wrong about you and Tara walking out together, but I may as well not go." There was a silence as William dabbed a little bit more paint onto his brush. Xander smiled, slowly, and William looked up at him. "What?" he asked suspiciously.
"You're sulking."
"Am not!"
"Yes you are."
"No, I don't do sulking."
"Okay, but you're being a martyr."
"Oh bloody hell, I was just saying-"
"If you just want to go with everyone as a group, just say so, no one will mind."
"Xander, trust me, I'd rather go alone then do something like that," William said, going back to his work. Xander hesitated before reaching over with paint-loaded brush and dabbing William's cheek with it. "Oh!" The paint victim jerked back, looking at Xander in shock. "What was that for?"
"Sulking."
"I wasn't-" William gave up that sentence and settled for glaring at Xander darkly, who laughed. The Brit tried to wipe away the red dot of paint, causing it to smear like a bad impression of a scar. He sighed. "I just made it worse, didn't I?"
"You bet'cha." William sighed, nodded resignedly, and went back to his work. Xander snickered and did the same, only to feel the slick, cool feeling of a loaded paint brush slide across his jaw line. "Hey!" he said, looking up at mischievous blue eyes. "You are so not the proper little English boy you pretend to be."
"I know, it's all a big cover up, I'm really Satan's son," William answered quickly, before going to blot Xander with blue paint again. Xander quickly put up a hand and grabbed it. He winced a little as he felt the ever so icky wetness of the brush, the paint seeping into his hand's crevices. He quickly darted his brush forward, creating a rather thick streak parallel to William's glasses and perpendicular to the bridge of his nose. "Oi! Unfair," William complained, grabbing Xander's paintbrush, red paint oozing out of the crevice between his middle finger and his ring finger, like fake blood in a cheap horror flick.
"Boys!" They stopped and looked up meekly at Mrs. Partridge, who was giving them a cool 'we are not amused' look. "Because you're new," cool look in Xander's direction, "and you're one of my better students," cool look in William's direction, "you get off easy. Next time, separate sides of the room and potential detention. Now go, clean up."
Both students mumbled apologies, dropped what they were doing and hurried outside. They glanced at each other and burst out laughing. "Think we'll get a good mark for abstract painting?" asked Xander after their giggles had subsided. They headed towards the men's room.
"Possibly."
"Think we'll just get our asses kicked if we do that again?"
"More likely than the former." William pushed open the door, the universal sign for the guys' toilets displayed clearly. A boy with brown hair, blue eyes and tanned skin was on his way out, and gave William and Xander strange looks as he went. William smiled brightly and continued on his way into the men's room. Xander grinned a little, following.
"Bloody hell, did you have to put so much on?" William was asking as Xander ran a tap. The Brit wrinkled his nose a bit, indicating the wide, red strip that ran across it.
"You started it."
"How in hell did I start it, Xander Harris?"
"You have a paintable quality."
William snorted diversely, before taking off his glasses and placing them carefully on the side of the sink he was using. Xander grinned innocently at him, before cupping his hands under the warmish water, and splashing his won face. The blue streak started washing away easily. When they had finished, Xander turned to dry his hands on the warm fan, before turning to see William replacing his glasses and revealing quite a large bruise on his jaw. Xander blinked. He hadn't seen that before.
"Er…did you fall down something in the time it took my to wash my face?"
"What? Oh, right." William suddenly put his hand his pocket and took out what looked like to Xander to be a square piece of black plastic. "Stuff must have washed off," he muttered, before addressing Xander. "No, the bruise is from that night at the Bronze. I didn't want my parents to see it and get the wrong ideas, so I use this." He indicated the square. "It's one of Mum's many, so I didn't feel too bad in pinching it."
"Cool. What is it?"
"Erm…foundation," William said quietly. "I kind of have to, ever since they started asking questions. And I thought, well, I've already lost enough macho points, why not sacrifice a few more? Besides, I don't use the stuff for a 'glowing complexion', just for bruises." William snapped the square open, to reveal a pinkish square inside, along with a small, rectangular sponge thing.
Then it clicked inside Xander's head. "Oh, it's make-up." He chuckled a little.
"Well done," William said dryly, running the sponge under the tap, his tone suddenly cynical. "This was Tara's idea, not mine, just for reference. And by the way, seeing I survived merciless teasing by Gunn, who doesn't care if he comes home with a black eye, I think I can withstand any snide comments you have on the subject." The statement wasn't really accusing, just bitter matter-of-fact. William didn't look at Xander has his hastily and expertly applied the cover up foundation, minus the careful, delicate way a girl would do if she was bestowing it. He treated the stuff as if it was essential, 'and it is,' Xander realized.
"I wasn't planning on teasing you, Will."
Finishing the hasty exercise, William snapped the thing shut and pocketed it, tilting his head a little bit at Xander. "Oh. Well, thanks then," he said. His bruise seemed to have magically disappeared. He gave Xander a small smile as they headed out of the bathroom. It was then Xander started comprehend that not only were vampires a danger, but so was the level of secrecy the Scoobies had maintain in order to keep battling them. Hiding stuff from Xander's parents wasn't so bad, but for people like William, Tara, and for all he knew, Faith, it had to make simple living kind of hellish. So Xander wasn't about to comment on Tara's absence at patrol the other night, or William's stolen cosmetics, as ridiculous as it seemed. Nor was he going to question it.
---
The day went on with the normal ease and faults as most schooldays did. Xander had had an annoying run in with the Cordettes during break, before Gunn had come along. The twittering girls, now confronted with someone who would actually be defined as 'cool' in their books, left it at that. The only other low point was Faith's jabbing him in the ribs with her elbow whenever the spring dance was mentioned, and also, the dreaded Physical Education. Xander was never particularly good at basketball, except, perhaps, in speed. Gunn was a star, and William had surprisingly good aim, both outshining Xander at least 90% of the time. 'Grr.'
During lunch, the cafeteria had served up something new and particularly disgusting – it was a type of stew that was brown, thick and lumpy, with pieces of vegetable bobbing around in it, the broccoli and pieces of tomato the only form of recognizable food in the goo that Xander claimed was evolving into a different species'. So the Scoobies gave cafeteria a miss and started wandering around outside, generally enjoying the fresh air, all wishing that they were seniors and able to exit the campus.
Finally, the end of the day arrived, and they all gathered in the library. Ethan smiled in greeting (not the most pleasant smile in the world) as they all assembled around a table. Faith put her booted feet up on the table and leant back in her chair so that it was teetering precariously on two legs. "Now, see, if I did that? I'd fall. Does super Slayer powers also come with being able to look cool on chairs?" asked Xander, settling down on a seat next to Faith.
"You know it, Mr. Harris," she said, stretching her arms up above her head.
"Though I don't think Ethan actually trains her in that," said Tara, sitting down on a seat opposite Faith, flashing a cute smile in Xander's direction.
"You'd be surprised," Ethan said dryly, walking over and carrying two thick looking books. "Tara, William, I thought you to might be interested in borrowing these." He put one down in front of Tara (a cream coloured leather book with black writing on the front) and passed one to William, who was walking back from his venture to the Return Slot, having shoved four books in. He grabbed the black book, and frowned, sitting down next to Tara and in front of Xander.
"The cover is wooden," he said, mystified. "How old could wood-"
"Preservation spell," Ethan answered with a slight smirk. "I doubt I have to tell you to be careful with it, William."
"'Fortune, Herb and Candle Charms,'" said Tara, smiling happily. "Thanks Ethan."
"I can't read it," William said with a frown, a finger tracing over the engraved title. Faith took down her feet to lean forward to have a closer look at it. Gunn, sitting at the head of the circled table between Xander and William leaned over.
"That isn't the title," Ethan said cryptically.
Tara glanced over, bemused. "Runic symbols for a preservation spell," she said, off-handed, returning to flipping through her own borrowed book. William gave her a mild glare before turning the covers to have a look at the title.
"'Dark Arts and Magicks,'" he read allowed. Tara looked up, concern etched out on her pretty features now, replacing interest in her own book. "Ethan, this…I would think that whatever this book contains holds spells and information that's against white magick principles." He flicked through it carefully, as if something was going to launch out of the pages and attack.
"It is," Ethan answered, sitting down at the rounded table between Faith and Tara. "But William, I thought you wanted to actually study magicks."
"I-I do, but this-"
"This is merely some insight into the darker side of witchery and magicks. Surely, if you want to study something, you have to look at it from both sides." He cast a dark, triumphant smile as William nodded weakly and put the thick volume into his bag. Xander shifted nervously, meeting eyes with the worried student before him. 'I don't like Ethan,' he decided.
"Moving on," Ethan said, clasping his slightly gnarled hands together. "Faith?"
"Last night was busy," Faith said, resting her elbows on the table and holding her arms as she slouched forward. "Me and Xander ran into, what, ten vamps? Eleven? How about you guys?" she asked, looking at Gunn and then at William.
"I counted six," William answered.
"Seven," Gunn corrected. He looked at Ethan. "Is they're something big in the vamp world that we don't know about? 'Cause they were pretty damn plentiful last night, if you ask me."
"And coming into the school for a snack isn't normal vampire behavior," Tara pointed out, hands rested on the cream coloured book in front of her, fingers entwined. "Either they're really stupid or really sure of themselves."
"And if the latter, why are they so sure of themselves?" William added.
Xander's head turned from one to the other has they added they're two cents worth. He felt out of his depth, in over his head, far from his comfort zone, and whatever other sayings went along with being uncomfortable and useless. "All very good observations," Ethan praised lightly. "And you're all right." He stood up and started pacing around the table. "It seems that there has been the arrival of a master vampire, I don't know which one. All the vampires are either laying low or joining him. They plan to take over Sunnydale."
"Angelus?" asked Xander suddenly.
"Pardon?" countered Ethan, pausing behind Tara.
"Yeah, that Angelus guy," Faith said.
"What is every so caught up in?" pressed Ethan. Everyone looked at Xander, waiting for an answer. Xander felt a very slight blush spread across his cheeks at the sudden attention.
"Uh…" He looked up at Ethan. "This vampire guy, after patrol he came up to us and said that we had done well in killing all those other vamps. He also said that they worked for him, and he told Faith to get used to his name, Angelus, because she'd be hearing it again."
"How very interesting," Ethan said, resuming his pacing. "This seems to be undoubtedly the master vampire I heard so much of. Did he fight you, any of you?"
"Nah, he just walked away," Faith answered.
"Should of shot the pillock," muttered William, berating himself.
But something was bothering Xander. "How did you know about the master vampire in Sunnydale?" he asked, looking at Ethan pointedly, if not somewhat accusingly.
"I have contacts on the other side, magicians and the what," Ethan said offhandedly, oblivious to the accusation Xander had placed. Both Tara and Gunn, picking up on Xander's tone, looked at him strangely. The Watcher sat down, folding his arms. "Either way, at least we know what the master vampire, Angelus, looks like. Faith, I want you to patrol again tonight and search for him. If you can, I want you to bring back an article of his – a piece of hair will do. Don't kill him if you can, I want to know where his nest is residing. Than I want Tara and William to help me in a locator spell."
"We need property of Angelus for that?" asked William, confused. "I thought-"
"We only do a run of the mill locator spell if we're looking for a type of demon," Tara said. "There are loads of vamps in Sunnydale, so pinpointing which one is Angelus would be like trying to find a needle in…well, Sunnydale. We use something that belongs to the person if we want to find that one person." William crossed his arms with a tiny dose of petulance as Faith laughed lightly.
"Ooh, Will, outclassed, outdone, and outshone but the Good Witch of the North," the Slayer taunted, laughing again at William's glare.
"Not my fault if Glinda grew up with a witch for a mother."
"But I thought you were only starting witchcraft?" asked Gunn, surprised at what seemed to be new information for him.
"Yeah, I only found out that Mom's a Wicca a few weeks ago. She said that it was fate that I had taken an interest, so she started teaching me a few things," Tara said, smiling at this.
"Anyway, I think we can safely say that the meeting's over," Ethan said. "Faith, up for training?"
"Sure thing," Faith said, standing up. "Oh, hey, anyone wanna join me for my nightly romp? Gunn, you got my back, right?"
"Actually, not tonight," Gunn said, and everyone looked at him with surprise.
"What? But you're always patrolling," William said, frowning. "You're like gravity – always there."
"Yeah, well, there's this demon bar my brother wants to bring down," Gunn said, shrugging. "The whole gang's going, and I figure, I might as well be there for 'em as much as I'm there for you guys. So sorry, not tonight. Some other time I'll may it up."
"That's cool," said Faith nodding. "Anyone else?"
"My parents are going to be out all night to night, I'll come," said William.
"Why not? Better than Math homework," said Xander, smiling cheerfully.
"Well, I…" Tara bit her bottom lip. "I kinda wanna have a peek at this book," she drummed her fingernails against the thick cover, "but if you really want me there, I can-"
"Nah, it's cool Tar," said Faith, with the same nickname Gunn had said on the first night of Xander's Sunnydale socializing. "So, power of three. Two guys, one girl, I like those odds."
---
"I thought you said that you had liked the odds of two guys and a girl," William argued.
"And a pizza place," muttered Xander, earning a cuff over the head by William for the lame joke.
"Yeah, but c'mon, this is a small graveyard. Just a quick sweep before we head over to Manners Graveyard to look for Angelus," Faith argued back. "And it'll go faster if we split up. I'll go through the centre and you two can go opposite ways around the perimeter."
The three members of the Scooby Gang who had volunteered for patrolling duties now stood at the entrance to the small graveyard dubbed Carmichael's Cemetery. The sun had just set, and the sky had taken on a deep purple tint before turning into the inevitable ebony. Faint stars dotted the sky, and the moon had hidden behind a cloud. Xander crossed his arms, the stake he had received the last night held in one hand. "Right, split up, all the better for vampire's to kill us without having someone to distract the," William said sardonically, in favor for all three scouting out the graves together. Xander silently agreed, but he thought it better just to keep silent.
"Fine, whatever, I'll go by myself and you can have Xander to protect you," Faith snapped. She stepped over to Xander, who started to take a stride back when she thrust the hilt of the short sword she was carrying towards him. Hesitantly, he took it, and as soon as he did, Faith snatched away his stake and started into the graveyard, turning left.
"Just try and patrol without Slayer strength!" William yelled after her, glaring as she gave him the one-fingered salute over her shoulder. "Maybe you'll see what its like," he muttered under his breath, loading up his crossbow that Xander was beginning to think was a favourite for the boy.
"So, you're mom just found out about Drusilla, eh?" Xander said, trying to pinpoint William's moodiness. At William's confused look, Xander continued. "You were saying that the funeral was gonna be this Sunday and that you're mom almost didn't want to go to that convention thingy to night and was making a fuss, which is why you were late getting here, so I figured it."
"Observant. Yeah, Drusilla's parents phoned her today, and then she yelled at me for a bit about the fact that I didn't tell her," William explained with a sigh as they started walking. "Father finally dragged off to wherever the hell they cleared off to."
"Sensing a few bitter vibes, there."
"Sorry for vibing at you, then." As they walked, Xander wondered whether or not that that comment was meant to be lighthearted or malicious. He then just decided that William was a subtle, complex individual that would take a while to really get to know. But Xander had a while.
"Anyway, Faith winds me up rather easily," William said, filling in the silence that had descended upon the two. "I try not to let her, but it just happens. She can be a right bitch when she wants to be." Xander almost dropped the sword he was holding. He had pictured William as one for swearing, ever. "What? She can," William said defensively when he mistook Xander's pause as disagreement.
"Well, I don't really know her, so…" Xander trailed off because A) he didn't know how to finish that sentence and B) there was the sudden sound of a low, menacing growl. "…I'm not one to judge," he finished. The two paused their walking, and Xander held up the sword like a baseball bat while William's arms tensed, ready to lift and aim the crossbow.
"Hello boys." They both swung around, Xander gripping the sword all the more tightly, and William holding up the crossbow. Angelus smiled widely then laughed at their reactions, his hands clasped behind his back. "I guess you didn't expect me to be here, seeing I met you at Manners, and all, but y'see, it doesn't matter." Suddenly, William fired, and Angelus quickly sidestepped the arrow, though not before it glanced off, ripping through soft, white cotton shirt the vampire now sported, cutting a decent sized slash across the vampire's upper arm, just below his shoulder. A deep crimson line trickled down his arm, staining the fabric. "He's fast," Angelus said, holding his other hand to his arm. "Not fast enough."
"Next time I won't miss," threatened William, as he hastily tried to reload the crossbow.
"Maybe. But you won't get another chance." Out from behind numerous tall monuments and gravestones, five vampires crept out, each showing off their oversized fangs by widely grinning. Xander glanced around at them all. "Now, don't play too rough," Angelus said, starting to walk away. "I've got a date with the Slayer. Later."
Before they could react, the vampires circled them, and moving in. Promptly, William dusted one with a well-aimed shot, and the other four jumped, startled. "Zey underestimate zee force zat is Will power," said Xander in a bad French accent. The accent was for cheap laughs, and to cover up his own terror. William snorted, reloaded the crossbow, just as one leapt for him. William quickly sidestepped and Xander brought the sword crashing down, lodging it into the vampire's shoulder blade. The demon howled in pain. Xander brought the sword up just as he was pulled back by the throat, a snarl sounding so very loud right next to his ear. He used the momentum and pushed back, both Xander and vampire falling to the ground. The grip on his throat loosened and Xander rolled away, bringing the sword down to cut off his head. He turned to see William shoot another vampire, and as that one crumpled into dust, the last remaining one brought the boy crashing down. William landed hard on his back, crossbow lying dejected a few feet away. William's arms were instantly held down as the vampire pinned him.
Before the vampire could try and rip William's throat out, Xander lunged forward. He pushed a knee into the small of the vampire's back for leverage, before quickly decapitating the vampire by forcing the sword under the vampire's chin and pulling upwards, grabbing the hilt in one and the tip of the sword on the other, accidentally cutting his own fingers by doing so.
As the vampire became nothing more than just dust, Xander fell, knee that had been holding the vampire in place landing ungracefully in William's stomach. They both groaned, Xander rolling off his fellow Scooby when William's muffled voice told him that he was crushing him. The sat up, looking worn out, but they gave each other dazed half smiles. "Saved you," Xander said between pants.
"And then you killed me," William pointed out, wrapping an arm around his stomach for indication. They laughed a little, hearts hammering. With a sigh, William lay down on his back.
"We have to go help Faith," Xander said. "We should go."
"No, I like it here," William protested dryly.
"Nah, we have to get moving," Xander argued, even as he lay down beside William as well.
"Yes, we should stand right now and walk right over to where Faith may be in trouble."
"Exactly. Getting up."
"Yes."
When neither of them moved for a few moments, they burst into uproarious laughter, nerves frazzled, left over adrenaline making them giddy from having felt like they'd almost had to ascend the big Stairway to Heaven. "Near death experiences equal idiocy and uncontrollable manly giggles," Xander said between laughs.
"Emphasis on the 'manly'," added William, an arm over his eyes. He then propped himself up on his elbows, looking down at himself as his chuckles subsided. "Oh dear, covered with dust, yet again."
"Vamp's just can't get enough of ya," Xander said with a smile, brushing a finger across William's fairly exposed neck, just over where the scarring would be, indicating it to match his point. William glanced at him and seemed to shift uncomfortably at the contact, and Xander felt himself wanting to do it again.
"No one can," William chuckled sardonically, sitting up properly, and Xander did the same. There was a pause and the two glanced at each other. William quickly stood up, as if to hide the deep blush, that Xander had noticed, that had started rising from his neck. "We should find Faith," he said, quickly walking away. Xander reluctantly got to his feet, slightly dazed from his sudden urges.
'What's wrong with me?' he wondered rhetorically, before following.
---
Apparently, Faith hadn't had a run in with Angelus, despite the vampire's words. Xander wondered if he had been watching Xander and William fight the five vampires instead of chasing the leather-clad Slayer. Xander trailed behind the two as they talked, all three walking towards the large Manners Graveyard that they had been at the night before. William was telling Faith about their encounter with the mysterious and alleged master vampire, and then about the fight with the five vampires. No details about what happened afterwards, of course. Faith just didn't need to know that the two fifteen-year-old boys had been rolling around on the grassy floor, giggling like schoolgirls for a good five minutes, or anything else related.
"So we sweep Manners for a bit, see if we can't find Mr. Dark-and-Looming, then head homewards," Faith said. Xander and William both nodded as they approached the forest edged cemetery. It was as grey as Xander remembered it to be. He had exchanged the short sword for the stake, finding it easier to kill with rather than having to muster the strength to decapitate. 'Big yuck,' he thought, thinking about how the vampire's head and sort of spun off just before it has exploded into dust.
"Think he'll be here?" asked William.
"Yeah, I think so," Faith said, taking the lead and walking in confidently, William and Xander flanking her. 'So this is what it's like to be a sidekick,' Xander thought, mentally sighing. 'Oh well, better than being an innocent bystander. They always die.' He then brightened. 'Ooh, and sometimes the sidekick becomes the main character, like that Batman twist in the comics. Cool.'
The night seemed to stretch on. The trio encountered one rising fledgling vampire which Faith dusted with casual grace with one swoop of her sword as the vamp stuck his head out of the ground. "I swear, that'll never stop being freaky," Xander had said with a shudder to emphasize. Otherwise, the graveyard seemed slightly desolate of vampire life, including Angelus.
"Man, we're getting nowhere, and I'm bored as hell," Faith complained, leaning against a tall monument, tilting her head from side to side as one would to get a twinge out of their neck. She stuck the sword in the ground that a few inches was buried and it stayed up right as she ran both hands through her hair. "So, Will, got anyone lined up for the spring dance?" Xander glowered as he received a playful wink in his direction. 'At least its painless, unlike those nudges,' he thought optimistically.
"Eh? Oh, what, no, I, um, no," William stammered out, blushing instantaneously, as if someone was sexually harassing him. Xander grinned. It was so easy to make the Brit blush.
"Hey, chill out, just asking," Faith said casually. "Xan and Tara's paired off and Gunn asked this girl out-"
"Eh?" both William and Xander said, tilting their heads simultaneously.
"Oh, ya didn't know?" asked Faith with a smile that indicated she was fully aware that they didn't know. "Xander what know 'er, but Will, remember that chick that kept winning all those science awards for projects and stuff?"
"Willow or Fred?"
"Does it matter? Those to may as well be twins they spend so much time together."
William sighed. "Mousy brunette or pixie redhead?"
"Mousy redhead?" At William's Death Glare, Faith laughed. "Okay, okay, he asked out Willow. Anyway," pressed Faith, "the point that I was making was that now that Gunn's paired up with Willow, and Xan's paired with Tara, so, Will, you an' me, singlefied."
"Hm?" asked William, looking from Xander to Faith, as they exchanged amused looks at the expense of the boy's oblivious antics.
"I think she's asking you out for the spring dance," Xander stage whispered.
"She…um, I mean, you are?" asked William, looking at Faith with obvious surprise.
"Yup. So how 'bout it? You, me, tacky paper decorations, fruit punch?" asked Faith, smiling impishly. "Dancing cheek to cheek." Xander snorted and was kicked by William, who was blushing. Again.
"Um, yes, okay," said William, glaring at Xander before turning to Faith.
"It's a date," she said, sealing the deal.
"Gni."
"That's just so sweet." William and Xander turned to see Angelus walk around the corner of a nearby crypt, leaning against it casually, smiling. Faith stood properly, grabbed her sword and stood between the boys, who tensed. "So sweet I might actually make you live in time for this…" he waved his hand "…spring dance. Not because I want you to have a good time. But unlike some more crude vampires, I like to wait until the time is right to snap the necks of my victims."
"Hm, thanks for the opportunity," Faith said sarcastically. "Now, if you'll just be nice and polite like that and just come over here so I can cut your head off, that'll make the night better."
Angelus smiled flattering at Faith, before focusing on Xander. "I'm surprised you lived after that attack," he said, "though those were some nice moves, I have to say. You two make a swell tag team." So he was watching them. Xander glared. "I'm sure your friend, Buffy, would be very proud." The blood in Xander's veins froze, and then heated again.
"Don't talk about her," he ground out, feeling the hardness of the stake in his hand. Just one fatal plunge and this bastard would be dust.
"Yes, very proud," said Angelus, as if he hadn't heard what Xander said. "But let's not make assumptions. Shall we ask her?" 'That's it,' Xander thought, 'he's dead…er.' He started towards Angelus, stake poised, teeth gritted. As he closed the distance between the two, someone stepped out from behind the crypt Angelus was leaning on. It was then that everything started going in slow motion for Xander. The darkly clothed figure walked around Angelus and then in front of him. Xander froze as a delicate but strong hand wound itself around Xander's wrist. He stared into amused green eyes, and no sounds could come out of his mouth when he tried to speak.
Buffy Summers smiled sweetly. "Don't kill my Sire, please."
~~~
Da-da-da-DAAAAAAA! Bet you never saw that one coming! Well, ya probably did, actually – I'm not the subtlest girl around. Anyway, we can see a few pairings start to emerge here. If you didn't, bah, I'm not gonna tell ya. Anyhoozit. Chapter 4 will be up ASAP.