The car rolled slowly into a heavily industrialised area of downtown Chicago. Jen had given him directions, but as they drew nearer to their goal he found he didn't need them. It was like there was some kind of homing beacon calling them in. Over the last 100 or so miles Xander had continued his struggle with his inner demons, for the moment the rational (Giles-like) part of him had the upper hand and he was fairly confidant he could keep it that way. Since their last pit-stop something seemed to have changed. Kyle had grown even quieter than before and conversely Jen had livened up a bit, at least to the extent where she'd spoken to him. There was something about her, a kind of vulnerability that just made Xander want to protect her.

He'd always had this impulse to look out for people who didn't seem able to handle themselves all that well; it was a part of him that he'd almost forgotten about in the past couple of years. It was what had gotten him in trouble in the first place, looking out for Lance had put him in the hyena house at just the wrong time All of the people he had surrounded himself since then with were more than capable of looking out for themselves now, and his self-imposed role of protector of the weak was laughable when you compared him to Buffy. But the Slayer wasn't here, it was just him, and he took it on himself to look out for this little lost girl. Somehow he knew that was the key to beating back the animal instinct in him. This innate 'Xander-ness' was stronger than anyone, himself included, gave him credit for.

There was a gasp from Jen in the backseat and he glanced up to see her staring wide-eyed at the warehouse directly in front of them. Looking to his right he saw Kyle sitting bolt upright as well. This was the place, no doubt about it.

Applying the brakes gently, knowing he'd put the old car through a lot of abuse in the last few days, he let it roll gently to a stop. Killing the engine he remained sitting, looking out at their goal. Something wasn't right, it was as though there was a voice in the back of his mind screaming to get his attention. There were no words there, just impulse and he knew he had to fight it. Without warning Kyle bolted from the car and ran for the entrance to the darkened building yelling out "They're he-ere!" Swearing under his breath Xander followed him, not looking to see if Jen was with him, he knew she would be - the call was too strong.

He skidded to a stop at the door of the warehouse, there was an eerie green light coming from beneath it - never a good sign. Jen slammed into him; apparently she'd been so intent on getting inside that she hadn't seen him stop. He looked down at her and saw a strange thing in her eyes; it was like looking into a mirror of his own thoughts. She was clearly trying to stop herself from going into the warehouse and wasn't quite winning. It was nice to know that he wasn't the only one in two minds about this then!

Motioning for Jen to stand back, he threw open the door fully expecting to see Kyle on the other side. The boy wasn't there however; in fact the warehouse itself didn't seem to be there. Where it should have been was a large green glowing sphere of light, lightening flashes coming from it and grounding themselves on the door surround. With a yelp he jumped back before he was struck. Jen was standing behind him wide-eyed and obviously more than a little freaked by what was going on.

His mind was racing, where the hell did Kyle go? Going through that doorway seemed like the worst idea in the history of bad ideas; surely he hadn't done it? Looking down at Jen again, he could see she was having real trouble holding herself back from going through. It looked as there was no other choice, and despite the lightening strikes, he didn't think either of them would come to any kind of harm doing it. Still, he wasn't too keen to take Jen through there into the unknown.

Decision made, Jen looked up to see him watching her with concern in her eyes. She forced a steely expression on her face and nodded with determination. Without a word they stepped through the sparking doorway and into the sphere of light.




Somehow she wasn't quite so frightened any more. The creepy voice she'd been hearing in the back of her mind seemed to be fading away a little, or maybe it was just getting easier to ignore with Xander around. All her life she'd meekly followed anyone who told her what to do, even when she ran away it was because her best friend Stacy was going to do it as well, only Stacy hadn't come. Part of her knew that Xander wouldn't let anything hurt her if he could do anything about it so she was happy to do whatever he said.

He took her hadn and she nodded that she would go with him. They stepped forward into what had been the warehouse. The weird looking ball of light surrounded them both and she thought she could hear someone calling her name, they sounded scared.