"I don't understandit," Willow exclaimed for the umpteenth time. She had
tried the locator spell now for the seventh time. "Its like something is
shielding his presence, so that I can't find him," Willow explained as she
removed the spend ingredients.
"Maybe the First?" Buffy asked the witch.
"Maybe," Willow muttered and prepared the spell for the eigth try. While she worked on the locator spell, Spike came through the front door.
"Have you found him?" Buffy asked immediately
But the now souled vampire just shook his head and dropped his crossbow on the table. "Nope. Been at his apartment. But Droopy was long gone. And he raided his weapons box."
"Great," Buffy exclaimed angry. "Now he is also armed. This is really one of my bad days."
"I did it," Willow suddenly cheered from behind them. She walked up to Buffy and showed her the map of Sunnydale. A small scorch mark on it showed Xander's supposed position.
"Okay," Buffy said, glad that things were finally moving. "So, where is he?"
"He is," Willow said and inspected the map more closely. When she looked back at Buffy she was clearly confused. "Across the street?" she muttered with disbelief.
"What?" Buffy asked shocked. But before she or anyone else in the room could react, an object was thrown through the window of the living room.
It landed on the table, bounced off it and rolled along the floor. Everyone jumped out of the way, but finally it came to a halt when Faith stopped it with her foot.
"What is it?" Dawn finally asked, when it was obvious that there was no danger.
The dark haired slayer kneeled and took the object in her hands. It was wrapped in a blue plastic back. Faith carefully reached inside the bag and took what was inside out.
When she pulled her hand out of it I was clearly visible that the object the bag was wrapped around, was a head.
"Eww," one of the potentials exclaimed when Faith removed the rest of the bag from the head. "Is this a head?"
"Yep," Faith stated the obvious and turned the head to see who it was. She grinned wickedly when she realised that she could see through the hole that was its left eye. "And from the looks of it, it is or rather was Caleb."
"Caleb?" The name was muttered by most the potentials. The one that took part in the attack stared disbelievingly at the head of the fallen preacher, who had killed several of the SITs. Even Buffy looked shocked.
"But who killed him?" Dawn exclaimed, asking the question that ran through everyone's minds.
"I don't know," Buffy admitted and stormed in the direction of the door. "But I'm going to find out."
Buffy opened the door and walked out of the house. She instantly spotted the car that was parked on the other side of the street. But more importantly she noticed the figure that leaned against the vehicle.
"Xander," she muttered and approached the car.
Xander meanwhile remained where he was and waited for the arrival of the blonde slayer. When Buffy was about five meters away Xander straightened and lifted his hand to stop the slayer.
"That's close enough," he said. "I don't want to you to come any closer. The distance is just right"
"For what?" Buffy asked confused.
"That enough distance for me to take you down if you try something stupid," Xander explained calmly.
Buffy looked wide eyed at her friend, but quickly regained her composure.
"Please, like you could stop me," she mocked the former Zeppo. "I could reach you in a heartbeat."
"Yeah, you could," Xander said and drew the pistol from his waistband. "But I got 14 little friends left that claim that they are a lot faster than you," he said and cocked the gun. "And you don't want to challenge them. Last time you did you nearly ended up dead and I'm a way better shooter than Warren," Xander said and somehow he enjoyed the hurt look on Buffy's face, when she remembered that particular incident. "If you want a honest opinion, ask Caleb. He will tell you how well this worked out."
"So, it was really you who killed him," Buffy stated.
"What can I say," Xander said with a smile. "I felt a bit restless when I woke up. All those memories from Halloween just wanted to jump into a fight," he told her. "But what's really bothering me are a few questions. For example, why you think that I'm working fro the First? Or why are you sending Captain Peroxide after me on search and destroy mission?"
"Spike was never supposed to kill you," Buffy tried to explain.
"Yeah, well. Tell that to my bed," he said and wiped a imaginary tear from his cheek. "The sucker sent one of his crossbow bolts into it. Probably hoped to get me when I was asleep. But we're getting a bit off topic here. Why did you think that I was working for the First?"
"Isn't it obvious," Buffy said and motioned for the eye patch. "Have you seen your eye? The wound has healed completely. Something like that doesn't happen overnight."
"I have seen it Buffy," Xander said in a cold voice. "Things like a missing eye even get my attention. All I can say is that It don't know why it healed or why I have no trouble walking around without bumping into the nearest lamp post. Or why the sergeant is running loose in my head."
"Then why did you ran away," Buffy asked. "We could have figured out what happened to you. Instead of being afraid that you are out there doing God knows what."
"Because I overheard Willow and you talking about the whole thing," Xander explained. "And I knew this tone. It was the same one when you told us that you were going to kill Anya. So I made a decision," he explained with a sigh. "Yeah, I ran away in order to escape my upcoming death."
"Xander I wouldn't have killed you," Buffy said, more softly this time.
"Yeah, me being a human and all," Xander mocked her. "But see Buffy, I talked to Wood. Mainly about threatening to look while he is killed by your pet vampire. And after that I wasn't too sure about your morals in that particular area."
Both remained silent for a few more moments. "And now?" Buffy asked finally.
"What now?" Xander repeated her question. "I think I proved a lot in the last few minutes. Mainly that preacher guys head is currently in your living room. That should at least give me a fair trial at Judge Buffy's court of justice."
"Still, you might be under the control of the First," Buffy stated. "This could also be another plan to play with our heads."
"I admit that there is a slim chance for that to be the case," Xander agreed. "But all I want is a fair chance to prove that this is not the case."
Buffy nodded at that and turned in the direction of the house. While their conversation, the Scoobies and several of the SITs had gathered on the porch, observing everything that happened on the other side of the street. "Willow," she called out.
The read head instantly ran up to the two. "Hi Xander," she greeted her childhood friend.
"Hi Will," Xander greeted her with a smile. "So, you got any spells that prove that I'm not one of the bad guys."
"Yeah," the witch replied. "I will just take a long look at your aura. I could see it if the First did anything with you."
"You sure that'll work?" Buffy asked.
But Willow just nodded at that. "I tried it once with Andrew. There were certainly some dark stains in his aura."
"Okay Will," Xander said and stepped up to the witch. "Do your worst."
But before Willow could start, Buffy stepped between the two. "And what if she proves that the First did something to you? Are you going to cooperate, even if that means that we have to lock you away."
Xander looked Buffy directly in the eyes before he answered. "If that's the case, you can lock me away," he said honestly. "I would never do anything endanger anyone of you guys. And if that means to stay the rest of our battle in your basement, than I'm more than willing to do that."
He stopped a second, the image of the recent murders of Spike before his eyes. "I was always better than Spike and that's not going to change now," he finally added. "No chance I'm going out there, killing people if I'm under the under the control of the First."
Satisfied ,but also a bit insulted by his answer, Buffy stepped out of the way while Willow stepped forward and placed the palm of her hand on Xander's chest. She closed her eyes and concentrated on her hands.
"Will?" Buffy asked worried, when the witch hadn't moved for a full minute.
"Sorry," the witch answered and took some deep breaths to gather herself. "I double checked the whole thing, because of that it took me so long."
She looked first at Buffy and Xander before she continued. "Xander has nothing to do with the First. He is clean."
"And the sudden healing of his eye," Buffy asked, still doubtful.
"I don't know," Willow admitted and turned to Xander. "All I can tell that magic was involved. But no matter who did it, he has no connection with the First," she explained. "He left some traces, like the First. But these were caused by white magic. In fact by a form of white magic, that is so pure that it almost blinded me. I have never seen anything like that."
"So one of the good guys healed me? And we don't know who was it?" Xander asked. Willow nodded at that.
"So, no evil in Xander?" Buffy asked for a final time, but Willow only shook her head.
"You satisfied Buffy?" Xander asked and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Yeah," Buffy said unable to meet Xander's eyes. "I'm sorry Xander. But you should know that we have to expect everything when we deal with the First."
"Yeah," Xander said and scratched his head. "To some part I can agree with you there. But I still feel a bit disappointed that you didn't trust me more than that."
Both remained in silence for a few moments.
"You know," Xander said and opened the door of his car. "I should get some sleep. I was a pretty exhausting night."
"Why don't you stay here;" Willow asked, while Xander stepped into his car.
"A house full of teenage girls?" Xander asked with a raised eyebrow. "They are making so much noise that I wouldn't get any sleep at all. No, my apartment is the choice of the day."
Xander started the engine and closed the door. "I'm going to visit tomorow," Xander said. "Tell Dawn that I'm okay."
And with these words Xander drove down the road, while all occupants of the Summer's house watched after him.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------
Back at his apartment, Xander quickly ate something and then he took a long relaxing shower. After that he again examined his healed wound. Deciding that he couldn't do anything about it, he fastened the eyepatch around his head.
But when he again looked into the mirror, he spotted Buffy standing in the doorway of the bathroom.
"What the fuck are you doing here?" he asked surprised and turned around.
"What?" she asked with a smirk. "Not glad to see me Xand."
"If you were Buffy, maybe," Xander exclaimed as the First walked up to him. "But you're not."
"But this body is so comfortable," it said and ran her hand along Buffy's body. "It's so hard nowadays to fool you guys," the First pouted.
"You got me curious," Xander said and followed it into the living room. "My first visit by the First Evil. What got me the honour?"
"Isn't it obvious," the First replied and morphed into the Mayor. "I'm offering you a job. Good pay, career choices and also a dental plan."
"You are offering me a job?" Xander repeated and laughed. "You really are insane."
"Why?" It replied and changed into Drusilla's form. "My kitten has got some fangs now. And all due to my work."
"You healed my eye?" Xander asked doubtful. "And restored the soldier memories?"
"Yes," the First replied and morphed into a form Xander only knew from his nightmares. The man in front of him wore an army uniform with the insignias of a Ranger. "Caleb was not suitable enough. But with my help we are going to accomplish our mission."
Xander stared at the First for a few seconds before answering. "Well, sorry to disappoint you, but I have information from a very reliable source that you had nothing to do with my quick recovery," Xander said and pointed at his eyepatch. "You didn't heal me at the hospital. You are just trying to make the best out of the situation. You lost the commander of your troops and now you're trying to replace it ," Xander told it with a smirk. "But I'm playing for the other team."
"Too bad," the First said and morphed back into Buffy. "You could have ruled by my side when all this is over. But now you are going to die like all the rest of your group."
"Well, I'm taking my chances with the good guys," Xander said and walked up to the First. "But I just realised something. All you can do is talk. Yeah, you can send your Bringers or your super vamps. But you yourself are pretty useless and annoying."
"What are you going to do about it," The First asked sarcastically "Kill me?"
"No," smirks "But believe me, I also can be pretty annoying."
"What.," the First started. But Xander had already pushed his finger into the incorporeal body of the First. Before it could mutter another word, he began drawing patterns onto its body, which had to be done pretty fast since the First only slightly dissolved when Xander touched its body.
The First could only stare open mouthed as Xander managed draw a Smiley on its body.
"Enough," the First shouted and stepped out of his reach. Its eyes suddenly glowed red. "You will pay for this respectlessness," it growled with the twisted voice of Buffy.
Before Xander could do anything, the First vanished into thin air. Satisfied that he managed to piss off the Big Bad, Xander moved in the direction of his bedroom.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------
It was around noon and the training sessions at the Summer's residence were already in full swing. While Faith and Kennedy took turns in training the SITs, Buffy walked down the stairs of the basement.
"Hi Spike," Buffy greeted the souled vampire. "Just getting some more weapons for the SITs to train with."
Spike nodded at that and watched as the blonde slayer collected the weapons. But he quickly noticed that something was wrong with her.
"Is there something bothering you?" Spike finally asked.
"Nah," Buffy replied. "It's just.." she started. "Since Xander killed Caleb the SITs start to . talk."
"Talk?" Spiked asked confused.
"Yeah," Buffy said and sat down on his cot. "They probably think that I can't hear them. But with my slayer senses and the thin walls it's hard to ignore."
"So, what are they talking about?"
"Me," Buffy replied with a dry laugh "Mostly me. They talk about how Xander was able to take out Caleb. Him, the normal one. Whereas me the slayer, the supposed leader, only got smacked around and lost a couple of them in the fight," she explained and paused for a moment. "They talk about how I should pass leadership of the group and let Xander handle things."
"Buffy," Spiked said and placed his hand on her shoulder. "You said it yourself. This is a war. And we can't let Xander take the leadership this late in our campaign. It would screw up everything we worked for."
"It was already bad when Faith came," Buffy stated. "But what am I supposed to do now? I can hardly force them to follow my orders. All I had on them was the common fear of a sudden death and that I was the only who could give them a least a bit of chance to survive all this."
Both sat in silence, while they thought about their common problem. "You have to take the respect back you lost. You have to show them that you are superior," Spike explained, while Buffy only looked confused at him.
"And how am I supposed to do that," Buffy finally asked.
Spike thought about it for a moment. "Invite Xander for a sparring match," he proposed. "I will arrange it that all the SITs are present. Toss him around a bit, show them that you can beat him at every day of the week."
"You think that this will work?" Buffy asked doubtful.
"Hey," Spiked exclaimed. "I was the leader of vampire group. There were more than one wiseass newbie that threatened my position. That's how I took care of them: Public mutilation."
"I really don't know," Buffy admitted. "I don't want to hurt him."
"Buffy," Spike said. "That's one of the things that has to be done. Think what might happen if you don't do it. We might loose this war."
Finally Buffy walked upstairs with the weapons in her hands. But Spike's idea occupied her thoughts most of the time and finally she came to a decision.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------
Meanwhile Xander drove through the streets to an appointment he arranged this morning. It took him some time to reach the address, since the streets were crowded with people that wanted to leave the town as soon as possible.
He parked the car in front of the apartment building entered it. He quickly found the right apartment and knocked twice on the door. After a few seconds a middle aged woman opened the door and looked questioningly at Xander. "Yes?" she finally asked.
"I'm Xander Harris," he said and followed the woman into the apartment and spotted the packed suitcases at the door. "I called earlier."
"Yes, Willow's friend," the woman said and sat down at the kitchen table. "How is she by the way? I haven't heard anything from here since this incident where she turned into a man."
"She is doing okay," Xander said and took himself a chair. "Do you have the spell I asked for?"
"Yes," the witch replied and went into one of the other rooms. "How do you know my number by the way?"
"Let's just say that Willow shouldn't leave her address book lying around," Xander replied calmly as the witch returned into the room.
She eyed him strangely for a few seconds, but finally she reached into her pocket.
"Well here it is," she said and placed the pendant on the table. "Once you put it on, everyone around will ignore you. Unless you do something to directly threaten the persons life he will pay no attention to you."
"Sounds like I'm back in highschool," Xander muttered and took a couple bills out of his wallet. "I think that should be enough."
"Thanks," the witch said and took the money. "Now I have enough money to leave this cursed town."
"So, you're really leaving Sunnydale," Xander said and motioned at the suitcases.
"Like the rest," she said as she accompanied him to the door. "Even the normal people sense that something bad is going on. You don't want to know what it is like for a witch to feel the evil. I'm leaving before it is too late."
"Well, good luck," Xander said and left the apartment. He quickly made his way back to his car and drove in the direction of his next destination.
"Maybe the First?" Buffy asked the witch.
"Maybe," Willow muttered and prepared the spell for the eigth try. While she worked on the locator spell, Spike came through the front door.
"Have you found him?" Buffy asked immediately
But the now souled vampire just shook his head and dropped his crossbow on the table. "Nope. Been at his apartment. But Droopy was long gone. And he raided his weapons box."
"Great," Buffy exclaimed angry. "Now he is also armed. This is really one of my bad days."
"I did it," Willow suddenly cheered from behind them. She walked up to Buffy and showed her the map of Sunnydale. A small scorch mark on it showed Xander's supposed position.
"Okay," Buffy said, glad that things were finally moving. "So, where is he?"
"He is," Willow said and inspected the map more closely. When she looked back at Buffy she was clearly confused. "Across the street?" she muttered with disbelief.
"What?" Buffy asked shocked. But before she or anyone else in the room could react, an object was thrown through the window of the living room.
It landed on the table, bounced off it and rolled along the floor. Everyone jumped out of the way, but finally it came to a halt when Faith stopped it with her foot.
"What is it?" Dawn finally asked, when it was obvious that there was no danger.
The dark haired slayer kneeled and took the object in her hands. It was wrapped in a blue plastic back. Faith carefully reached inside the bag and took what was inside out.
When she pulled her hand out of it I was clearly visible that the object the bag was wrapped around, was a head.
"Eww," one of the potentials exclaimed when Faith removed the rest of the bag from the head. "Is this a head?"
"Yep," Faith stated the obvious and turned the head to see who it was. She grinned wickedly when she realised that she could see through the hole that was its left eye. "And from the looks of it, it is or rather was Caleb."
"Caleb?" The name was muttered by most the potentials. The one that took part in the attack stared disbelievingly at the head of the fallen preacher, who had killed several of the SITs. Even Buffy looked shocked.
"But who killed him?" Dawn exclaimed, asking the question that ran through everyone's minds.
"I don't know," Buffy admitted and stormed in the direction of the door. "But I'm going to find out."
Buffy opened the door and walked out of the house. She instantly spotted the car that was parked on the other side of the street. But more importantly she noticed the figure that leaned against the vehicle.
"Xander," she muttered and approached the car.
Xander meanwhile remained where he was and waited for the arrival of the blonde slayer. When Buffy was about five meters away Xander straightened and lifted his hand to stop the slayer.
"That's close enough," he said. "I don't want to you to come any closer. The distance is just right"
"For what?" Buffy asked confused.
"That enough distance for me to take you down if you try something stupid," Xander explained calmly.
Buffy looked wide eyed at her friend, but quickly regained her composure.
"Please, like you could stop me," she mocked the former Zeppo. "I could reach you in a heartbeat."
"Yeah, you could," Xander said and drew the pistol from his waistband. "But I got 14 little friends left that claim that they are a lot faster than you," he said and cocked the gun. "And you don't want to challenge them. Last time you did you nearly ended up dead and I'm a way better shooter than Warren," Xander said and somehow he enjoyed the hurt look on Buffy's face, when she remembered that particular incident. "If you want a honest opinion, ask Caleb. He will tell you how well this worked out."
"So, it was really you who killed him," Buffy stated.
"What can I say," Xander said with a smile. "I felt a bit restless when I woke up. All those memories from Halloween just wanted to jump into a fight," he told her. "But what's really bothering me are a few questions. For example, why you think that I'm working fro the First? Or why are you sending Captain Peroxide after me on search and destroy mission?"
"Spike was never supposed to kill you," Buffy tried to explain.
"Yeah, well. Tell that to my bed," he said and wiped a imaginary tear from his cheek. "The sucker sent one of his crossbow bolts into it. Probably hoped to get me when I was asleep. But we're getting a bit off topic here. Why did you think that I was working for the First?"
"Isn't it obvious," Buffy said and motioned for the eye patch. "Have you seen your eye? The wound has healed completely. Something like that doesn't happen overnight."
"I have seen it Buffy," Xander said in a cold voice. "Things like a missing eye even get my attention. All I can say is that It don't know why it healed or why I have no trouble walking around without bumping into the nearest lamp post. Or why the sergeant is running loose in my head."
"Then why did you ran away," Buffy asked. "We could have figured out what happened to you. Instead of being afraid that you are out there doing God knows what."
"Because I overheard Willow and you talking about the whole thing," Xander explained. "And I knew this tone. It was the same one when you told us that you were going to kill Anya. So I made a decision," he explained with a sigh. "Yeah, I ran away in order to escape my upcoming death."
"Xander I wouldn't have killed you," Buffy said, more softly this time.
"Yeah, me being a human and all," Xander mocked her. "But see Buffy, I talked to Wood. Mainly about threatening to look while he is killed by your pet vampire. And after that I wasn't too sure about your morals in that particular area."
Both remained silent for a few more moments. "And now?" Buffy asked finally.
"What now?" Xander repeated her question. "I think I proved a lot in the last few minutes. Mainly that preacher guys head is currently in your living room. That should at least give me a fair trial at Judge Buffy's court of justice."
"Still, you might be under the control of the First," Buffy stated. "This could also be another plan to play with our heads."
"I admit that there is a slim chance for that to be the case," Xander agreed. "But all I want is a fair chance to prove that this is not the case."
Buffy nodded at that and turned in the direction of the house. While their conversation, the Scoobies and several of the SITs had gathered on the porch, observing everything that happened on the other side of the street. "Willow," she called out.
The read head instantly ran up to the two. "Hi Xander," she greeted her childhood friend.
"Hi Will," Xander greeted her with a smile. "So, you got any spells that prove that I'm not one of the bad guys."
"Yeah," the witch replied. "I will just take a long look at your aura. I could see it if the First did anything with you."
"You sure that'll work?" Buffy asked.
But Willow just nodded at that. "I tried it once with Andrew. There were certainly some dark stains in his aura."
"Okay Will," Xander said and stepped up to the witch. "Do your worst."
But before Willow could start, Buffy stepped between the two. "And what if she proves that the First did something to you? Are you going to cooperate, even if that means that we have to lock you away."
Xander looked Buffy directly in the eyes before he answered. "If that's the case, you can lock me away," he said honestly. "I would never do anything endanger anyone of you guys. And if that means to stay the rest of our battle in your basement, than I'm more than willing to do that."
He stopped a second, the image of the recent murders of Spike before his eyes. "I was always better than Spike and that's not going to change now," he finally added. "No chance I'm going out there, killing people if I'm under the under the control of the First."
Satisfied ,but also a bit insulted by his answer, Buffy stepped out of the way while Willow stepped forward and placed the palm of her hand on Xander's chest. She closed her eyes and concentrated on her hands.
"Will?" Buffy asked worried, when the witch hadn't moved for a full minute.
"Sorry," the witch answered and took some deep breaths to gather herself. "I double checked the whole thing, because of that it took me so long."
She looked first at Buffy and Xander before she continued. "Xander has nothing to do with the First. He is clean."
"And the sudden healing of his eye," Buffy asked, still doubtful.
"I don't know," Willow admitted and turned to Xander. "All I can tell that magic was involved. But no matter who did it, he has no connection with the First," she explained. "He left some traces, like the First. But these were caused by white magic. In fact by a form of white magic, that is so pure that it almost blinded me. I have never seen anything like that."
"So one of the good guys healed me? And we don't know who was it?" Xander asked. Willow nodded at that.
"So, no evil in Xander?" Buffy asked for a final time, but Willow only shook her head.
"You satisfied Buffy?" Xander asked and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Yeah," Buffy said unable to meet Xander's eyes. "I'm sorry Xander. But you should know that we have to expect everything when we deal with the First."
"Yeah," Xander said and scratched his head. "To some part I can agree with you there. But I still feel a bit disappointed that you didn't trust me more than that."
Both remained in silence for a few moments.
"You know," Xander said and opened the door of his car. "I should get some sleep. I was a pretty exhausting night."
"Why don't you stay here;" Willow asked, while Xander stepped into his car.
"A house full of teenage girls?" Xander asked with a raised eyebrow. "They are making so much noise that I wouldn't get any sleep at all. No, my apartment is the choice of the day."
Xander started the engine and closed the door. "I'm going to visit tomorow," Xander said. "Tell Dawn that I'm okay."
And with these words Xander drove down the road, while all occupants of the Summer's house watched after him.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------
Back at his apartment, Xander quickly ate something and then he took a long relaxing shower. After that he again examined his healed wound. Deciding that he couldn't do anything about it, he fastened the eyepatch around his head.
But when he again looked into the mirror, he spotted Buffy standing in the doorway of the bathroom.
"What the fuck are you doing here?" he asked surprised and turned around.
"What?" she asked with a smirk. "Not glad to see me Xand."
"If you were Buffy, maybe," Xander exclaimed as the First walked up to him. "But you're not."
"But this body is so comfortable," it said and ran her hand along Buffy's body. "It's so hard nowadays to fool you guys," the First pouted.
"You got me curious," Xander said and followed it into the living room. "My first visit by the First Evil. What got me the honour?"
"Isn't it obvious," the First replied and morphed into the Mayor. "I'm offering you a job. Good pay, career choices and also a dental plan."
"You are offering me a job?" Xander repeated and laughed. "You really are insane."
"Why?" It replied and changed into Drusilla's form. "My kitten has got some fangs now. And all due to my work."
"You healed my eye?" Xander asked doubtful. "And restored the soldier memories?"
"Yes," the First replied and morphed into a form Xander only knew from his nightmares. The man in front of him wore an army uniform with the insignias of a Ranger. "Caleb was not suitable enough. But with my help we are going to accomplish our mission."
Xander stared at the First for a few seconds before answering. "Well, sorry to disappoint you, but I have information from a very reliable source that you had nothing to do with my quick recovery," Xander said and pointed at his eyepatch. "You didn't heal me at the hospital. You are just trying to make the best out of the situation. You lost the commander of your troops and now you're trying to replace it ," Xander told it with a smirk. "But I'm playing for the other team."
"Too bad," the First said and morphed back into Buffy. "You could have ruled by my side when all this is over. But now you are going to die like all the rest of your group."
"Well, I'm taking my chances with the good guys," Xander said and walked up to the First. "But I just realised something. All you can do is talk. Yeah, you can send your Bringers or your super vamps. But you yourself are pretty useless and annoying."
"What are you going to do about it," The First asked sarcastically "Kill me?"
"No," smirks "But believe me, I also can be pretty annoying."
"What.," the First started. But Xander had already pushed his finger into the incorporeal body of the First. Before it could mutter another word, he began drawing patterns onto its body, which had to be done pretty fast since the First only slightly dissolved when Xander touched its body.
The First could only stare open mouthed as Xander managed draw a Smiley on its body.
"Enough," the First shouted and stepped out of his reach. Its eyes suddenly glowed red. "You will pay for this respectlessness," it growled with the twisted voice of Buffy.
Before Xander could do anything, the First vanished into thin air. Satisfied that he managed to piss off the Big Bad, Xander moved in the direction of his bedroom.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------
It was around noon and the training sessions at the Summer's residence were already in full swing. While Faith and Kennedy took turns in training the SITs, Buffy walked down the stairs of the basement.
"Hi Spike," Buffy greeted the souled vampire. "Just getting some more weapons for the SITs to train with."
Spike nodded at that and watched as the blonde slayer collected the weapons. But he quickly noticed that something was wrong with her.
"Is there something bothering you?" Spike finally asked.
"Nah," Buffy replied. "It's just.." she started. "Since Xander killed Caleb the SITs start to . talk."
"Talk?" Spiked asked confused.
"Yeah," Buffy said and sat down on his cot. "They probably think that I can't hear them. But with my slayer senses and the thin walls it's hard to ignore."
"So, what are they talking about?"
"Me," Buffy replied with a dry laugh "Mostly me. They talk about how Xander was able to take out Caleb. Him, the normal one. Whereas me the slayer, the supposed leader, only got smacked around and lost a couple of them in the fight," she explained and paused for a moment. "They talk about how I should pass leadership of the group and let Xander handle things."
"Buffy," Spiked said and placed his hand on her shoulder. "You said it yourself. This is a war. And we can't let Xander take the leadership this late in our campaign. It would screw up everything we worked for."
"It was already bad when Faith came," Buffy stated. "But what am I supposed to do now? I can hardly force them to follow my orders. All I had on them was the common fear of a sudden death and that I was the only who could give them a least a bit of chance to survive all this."
Both sat in silence, while they thought about their common problem. "You have to take the respect back you lost. You have to show them that you are superior," Spike explained, while Buffy only looked confused at him.
"And how am I supposed to do that," Buffy finally asked.
Spike thought about it for a moment. "Invite Xander for a sparring match," he proposed. "I will arrange it that all the SITs are present. Toss him around a bit, show them that you can beat him at every day of the week."
"You think that this will work?" Buffy asked doubtful.
"Hey," Spiked exclaimed. "I was the leader of vampire group. There were more than one wiseass newbie that threatened my position. That's how I took care of them: Public mutilation."
"I really don't know," Buffy admitted. "I don't want to hurt him."
"Buffy," Spike said. "That's one of the things that has to be done. Think what might happen if you don't do it. We might loose this war."
Finally Buffy walked upstairs with the weapons in her hands. But Spike's idea occupied her thoughts most of the time and finally she came to a decision.
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Meanwhile Xander drove through the streets to an appointment he arranged this morning. It took him some time to reach the address, since the streets were crowded with people that wanted to leave the town as soon as possible.
He parked the car in front of the apartment building entered it. He quickly found the right apartment and knocked twice on the door. After a few seconds a middle aged woman opened the door and looked questioningly at Xander. "Yes?" she finally asked.
"I'm Xander Harris," he said and followed the woman into the apartment and spotted the packed suitcases at the door. "I called earlier."
"Yes, Willow's friend," the woman said and sat down at the kitchen table. "How is she by the way? I haven't heard anything from here since this incident where she turned into a man."
"She is doing okay," Xander said and took himself a chair. "Do you have the spell I asked for?"
"Yes," the witch replied and went into one of the other rooms. "How do you know my number by the way?"
"Let's just say that Willow shouldn't leave her address book lying around," Xander replied calmly as the witch returned into the room.
She eyed him strangely for a few seconds, but finally she reached into her pocket.
"Well here it is," she said and placed the pendant on the table. "Once you put it on, everyone around will ignore you. Unless you do something to directly threaten the persons life he will pay no attention to you."
"Sounds like I'm back in highschool," Xander muttered and took a couple bills out of his wallet. "I think that should be enough."
"Thanks," the witch said and took the money. "Now I have enough money to leave this cursed town."
"So, you're really leaving Sunnydale," Xander said and motioned at the suitcases.
"Like the rest," she said as she accompanied him to the door. "Even the normal people sense that something bad is going on. You don't want to know what it is like for a witch to feel the evil. I'm leaving before it is too late."
"Well, good luck," Xander said and left the apartment. He quickly made his way back to his car and drove in the direction of his next destination.
