#
Xander was not involved in any kind of life-or-death battle at the moment (nor did he know that most of his friends were, for that matter), but that did not mean that his evening was stress-free. After the events surrounding vampire Amy trying to kill him (and still agonizing over being largely to blame for her death) Cordelia and he had managed to bridge some of the distance between them. Since things were nowhere near back to normal, though, they decided on what Cordelia had termed a 'potentially fence-mending non-date' for tonight.
In some ways, he mused, a life-or-death battle would have been preferable.
The largest part of the evening so far had been spent in one of Sunnydale's few Italian restaurants, paid for by what little remained of Xander's monthly allowance (said allowance being what money remained once his parents finished their liquor purchases) and no more than a dozen or so words had been exchanged. He wouldn't go so far as to call the silence 'icy', but it was definitely not comfortable, either. All in all he was rather uncertain as to how this evening was going so far.
His own emotions were kind of confused, too. On one hand he did want to get back together with Cordelia. He liked her a lot. During the months they had been together he had come to realize how much of her bitchy exterior was just an act. The person underneath was one he could genuinely be fond of.
On the other hand, though, he could not help but wonder what kind of future they could have together. Even setting aside the distinct possibility that one of them or both might not survive to graduate Sunnydale High School, he had little doubt that Cordelia would go to college. Her daddy would pay all the fees and her grades, while not spectacular, were good enough. He, though, would definitely not see college, neither money- nor grade-wise, and probably spend the rest of his life working in low-income jobs.
Then there was the whole jealousy issue. Xander could not deny it, even after all this time he still had feelings for Buffy. He was over the crush he'd once had on her (or mostly, anyway), but he still loved her dearly as a friend. His resentment regarding the whole Angel-issue was still there, of course, but it wouldn't stop him from going to her aid whenever she needed it. Would Cordelia ever be able to live with that? She had accused him of holding her second place in his heart while Buffy was number one. Was she really wrong?
Xander didn't know it, but Cordelia's thoughts closely paralleled his own. Xander had been the first boy in her life who had taken the time to get to know her, the real her. He hadn't been put off by her bitchiness and brought out the courage in her to send the sheep of Sunnydale High packing. In some ways she was really fond of him, but was it love? Was it anything that would hold long-term?
Cordelia knew that she was spoiled when it came to guys. Most of the boyfriends she'd had in the past had worshipped the ground she walked on. Granted, they had only seen the Queen of High School, not the person, but it had been flattering still. Xander was different. He was fond of her, yes, but wouldn't hesitate to leave her standing in the rain if Buffy or Willow were in danger and needed help. Not that she could honestly blame him for being a good friend, but still ...
There was something else as well, another person that had recently come to occupy a place in her heart, but Cordelia was quite hesitant to even approach those thoughts too closely, much less allow them to influence her relationship (what there was of it) with Xander.
The evening might have gone on this way for a long time, but something else came up. Something both of them were very rather thankful for, truth be told, as a distraction was very much welcome right now. That distraction was a complaint coming from the kitchen.
"I don't believe that lazy boy," the restaurant owner thundered. "He was supposed to be back here an hour ago. Where is he?"
Xander was only listening because it gave him something else to do but muse on his own confusing feelings, but the answer given to the owner by his head waiter sparked his interest quite thoroughly.
"He was supposed to deliver five pizzas to one Mr. Khan. He should have been back by now."
Xander and Cordelia looked at each other, both instantly recognizing the name. It had come up quite often during the last few Scooby meetings. The newest master vampire in town, apparently in the process of uniting all the different factions that had come into existence after Angelus' departure to curse-ville. What were the odds of there being more than one guy named Khan living in a town the size of Sunnydale?
On a personal level Xander and Cordelia had more problems than could fit into a very thick book, but when it came to Scooby matters they had managed to develop a kind of instant understanding that needed no more words. Cordelia rose from the table, sauntering over to the waiter to inquire about the state of their food and flirt a little for good measure. Which left Xander ample opportunity to look through the address book lying on the counter.
The one that contained a delivery address for one Khan, Sebastian.
#
The battle, though intense, didn't last all that long. The thirty or so vampires had been coached to expect two Slayers and a rogue vampire. What they faced was those three, plus a werewolf, plus another vampire that took great relish in kicking ass. As if that wasn't enough there were those two females standing safely inside the kitchen door, one of whom had procured a crossbow from somewhere (Buffy's weapon chest to be exact) and was taking pot-shots at them. Their numbers were dwindling fast.
It didn't help that the three vampires from Khan's personal guard, the guys with the big swords, made no move to get involved. They watched from a distance, shouting words of encouragement now and then, but otherwise did nothing to aid them.
Eventually even the dimmest among the vampires came to realize that they had been set up. If Khan really wanted these people dead he would have sent all his elite warriors along and they would have gotten involved in a big way instead of just watching. Khan had talked about a grand destiny for vampires, but apparently that destiny was not to include them, for he had sent them right into a meat grinder.
"I should be mad at you guys," Spike growled at Buffy and Angel between blows. "Make me fight my brethren? Lucky for you I really needed to kick some ass tonight and these sorry losers will do."
"Just come here and I'll give you an ass-kicking you'll never forget," Buffy growled back at him, but there were still too many vampires between them for her to get at Spike. Angel was fighting like a man possessed, mostly trying to get at Spike, but the platinum-haired vampire somehow managed to stay out of reach. The air around them was filled with dust and the growls and screams of vampires.
"So tell me," Faith asked Buffy when they found themselves back-to-back. "Does this kind of thing happen to you often? Drunken ex-archenemies turning up and getting you involved in major brawls with every two-bit loser in Sunnydale?"
"Nah, normally my ex-archenemies are dust. Spike is the only one pathetic enough to come back drunk and mooning."
"Hey, I heard that," the vampire in question protested.
"You were supposed to."
Faith laughed even as she staked another vampire.
"You have to admit, Billy, you are pretty pathetic."
"Will you stop it with the Billy-thing? The name's Spike, girl! I killed two Slayers in my time!"
"Yeah, and lost your coat shooting pool with another. They should put that into the Watcher diaries, too."
"Just tell Giles," Buffy offered. "He'll make sure it gets in there."
Spike was torn between getting out while the getting was good and making things even with that dark-haired Slayer brat, not to mention the blonde one and the brooding poof. He was starting to sober up, though, and had to admit that the odds were not looking good. There were nearly no vampires left of the thirty who had attacked and the do-gooders, while bruised and exhausted, still outnumbered him four to one, not to mention that he was bruised and exhausted, too.
Could he really leave his coat behind, though? It was his favourite trophy.
"Shit happens! Get over it!" Faith's earlier words echoed in his mind. Yes, things hadn't been going his way for quite some time now. Getting himself dusted here and now wouldn't change that. No, what he needed to do was make some changes. Get himself back together. And he couldn't do that here, not without dying in the process.
Well, he mused, being a vampire meant he always had time.
"Take good care of my coat, bitch," he yelled at Faith. "I'll be back for it before you know it."
And with that he took advantage of the thinning ranks of the attackers and headed for the hills. He would be back. Oh yes, he would be back. But other things would have to come first. Find Dru. Spit on her. Get over her. Get back in shape. Kill a few people. Then he would come back and reclaim his coat. He was already looking forward to it.
"So long, mates!"
"Somebody stop him!" Angel tried to get past the throng of attackers, but there were still enough of them to keep all of the Scoobies occupied until it was too late. When the dust finally settled Spike was nowhere to be seen and neither were the three sword-carrying vampires they had seen earlier.
"Okay, that was a good work-out," Faith said, stretching until her bruised ribs protested. A colourful shiner was forming on her face. Looking at the others, all of them had their own wounds to nurse. Even Oz, who was transforming back into human form as she watched. His upper body was covered in bruises, but the look on his face almost seemed like a smile.
"You were great," Willow cheered happily as she came out for a big hug. Oz said nothing, but he positively beamed. By his standards, anyway.
Angel walked up beside Faith, taking in the coat she was wearing. It had held up quite well during the fight. She could get used to this look.
"You need to be careful," Angel told her. "Spike might have come across as a drunken loser today, but if he gets his act back together he'll be very dangerous. And he will be back for that coat. He took it from the second Slayer he killed."
That put a small damper on Faith's good mood, but she quickly chased the sombre thoughts away. "Well, if he took it from a Slayer, it's only right that another Slayer swiped it back from him. Besides, when he comes back, he'll have more than a single Slayer to deal with, right?"
Buffy nodded and the two Slayers high-fived.
"Guys! Guys!" All heads turned to take in the two new arrivals. Xander and Cordelia were getting out of Cordy's car, running and looked quite excited.
"You won't believe what we found," Xander panted, coming to a stop beside them. "We ..."
Only now did he notice the bruised state of his friends, plus the amounts of dust covering the lawn in front of the Summers home.
"We missed something, didn't we?" Cordy asked. "Typical! Nothing happens for weeks and the one evening we're not here you guys go and have fun without us."
Faith grinned at her. "Don't worry, C! You only missed a drunken Billy-Idol-wannabe, a squad of losers, and some serious ass-kicking by Yours Truly."
"Hey," Buffy mock-protested. "What about the rest of us?"
"Yes," Willow chirped in. "Oz was great! He got all wolfy and tore some vampires apart with his bare hands. Or claws. Or something that looked like a cross between hands and claws, really. Maybe we need a special name for that. Something like 'clands'. No, that sounds too much like glands, which would be icky and ... and you're supposed to stop me when I start babbling like that."
Oz smiled at her. "You're cute when you babble."
Buffy noticed that Angel wasn't in on the good mood.
"What is it? Spike got away, but I'm sure he'll be back. We'll get him next time. And I'll have Willow revoke the invitation to the house, so mom will be safe."
"It's not that. Well, not just that. It was those vampires."
"Those losers? We took care of them."
He nodded. "We did. And it was too easy. Those three uniformed vampires just watched. This wasn't a serious attack, Buffy, it was just a test. Khan wanted to see what he is up against. And I'm also worried that he seems to know that this is your old home. Or Faith's current one, anyway. He knows too much about us and we too little about him."
"Well, we might have something for you there," Xander interjected with a triumphant look on his face.
"You do?" Buffy asked, looking doubtful. Her anger toward Xander had started to fade as of late, but was far from gone.
"Yeah! Khan might be a big player, but he doesn't cover his tracks well."
"Will you get to the point?"
Xander produced a piece of paper from his pocket.
"Guess who ordered five pizzas, to be delivered to an address in Sunnydale's beautiful warehouse district?"
#
Khan, watching the TV screen in front of him, was not amused.
"Elron?" he asked the vampire sitting next to him in a chillingly neutral tone.
"My lord?" Elron replied, trying unsuccessfully to shrink back into the cushions and out of sight.
"You used my name for the pizza delivery?"
TO BE CONCLUDED