4. Thinking Inside the Box

Romeo and Juliet
Are together in eternity (we can be like they are)
Come on Baby, don't fear the Reaper - (Don't Fear) The Reaper/Blue Oyster Cult

Xander arrived first, technically, since Anya ran the store and was already there when the meeting was called. Thus she really couldn't arrive. Point being, her man was on the scene first, even before Buffy, who'd called the meeting. That gave her some small sense of pride, although whether he was really her man anymore was up for debate. She gave Xander a smile, but continued to work, organizing merchandise on the shelves behind the cash. There was, after all, money to be made. First there was the shelves. Then there was the worry. Then he'd say it, or say something, and As for the shelves: Newt Eye before Frog Tongue. Eye in the forefront, it was a classic, and sold well. Synthetic Newt Eye under the counter - it tended to cheapen up the place. Chicken's feet next to the cash - would she ever be rid of those?

She noticed Xander staring at her, somewhat impatient, and with an audible sigh turned from her duties to her lover. "It's a lot of work, being an entrepreneur you know" she admonished.

"I know, An. I get it, I run a crew... I just, you know, want to see you before everyone else gets here". He smiled.

"You want sex? We could go in the back" she replied, growing wet. She loved this aspect of humanity - she could get herself worked up at the drop of the hat. But she was shattered by his reply.

"I don't think that's a good idea... uhh... with the others coming... I meant just some quality time together. Talking and stuff".

"You want to talk?" Anya asked, somewhat confused. Xander was a man, after all, of that she had ample evidence.

"Yeah. Talk. And keep in mind, this may be a first for the male species". Great. Xander chooses to embark on a first for his gender at the exact time I'm not ready. And she wasn't, really. Not at that moment, at least. She did not want to hear what he was going to say. She wasn't prepared for it. Of course, how can you prepare for something like that? For the "where do we go from here" speech after a failed wedding and the embarrassment of being left at the alter?

Much to Anya's relief, however, any hope of actual conversation between the pair was dashed, upon the arrival of Dawn, followed by Buffy, followed in turn by a blanket-covered Spike.

~~~

The meeting went as well as could be expected, if not better. The gang, minus Willow, who was still out of commission (being tended to by a distinctly motherly Giles back in England), listened. Xander actually managed to sit still, aside from the occasional nodding of his head, for a full ten minutes. Buffy was fairly certain this was a record. Spike injected details when he saw fit, but for the most part he remained uncharacteristically stoic as well. Anya served up a few helpful hints about demons who tended to dismember their victims, Dawn suggested the missing bits might be trophies of some sort, and Xander and Spike, sitting at opposite ends of the table, managed not to kill one another. All in all a success, and a significant improvement over the initial days after Spike's return to Sunnydale. Not that Xander lacked a valid reason. Buffy was far from forgiving Spike herself, and Xander had been hurt doubly so, after the wedding had imploded. Still a wise woman had once told her that Spike had done a lot of good. Tara had been right about that. There were still issues between them, major issues, but she had to accept a simple fact: the gang needed him. Needed his strength and his cunning. And in another way, one completely beyond anything she could put into words, she needed him as well. Needed him in her life as well as her work. Could things be any more frustrating?

Well, yes. Not having enough info to go on in the case of the mutilated corpses. For all the Scooby suggestions, the number of potential suspects they'd identified clocked in at a colossal zero. Big Fat Nothing. For the one million and eleventh time, she wished for Giles. For him to be with her, with the gang, in Sunnydale, instead of back in England mothering Willow and trying to draw out the poison. Not that curing Willow wasn't important, but he was her

Father

Watcher. And she wanted him there, to help. To lend reassurance that she was doing things right. To wipe his glasses, flip through his books, mumble about this or that demon, and then have the inevitable "Ah-Ha!" moment that he always did.

In essence, she wanted her daddy. That's what Giles really was to her, although Buffy herself was still too torn to admit it. But for all her spunk and rebellion, Buffy Summers was very much a daddy's girl at heart.

It then occurred to her that someone was speaking to her. She'd zoned out. Then the speaking stopped, and she suspected that the person might want an answer - although there was no way in hell she could provide one, taking into consideration her not having caught a word of what had been said. Based upon the expectant look on his face, however, she fingered Xander as the one who'd been doing the talking.

"Huh?"

Oh my, how witty, Buffy. Way to cover for your complete lack of attention she admonished herself.

Xander didn't seem to notice. Some days it was good to be blonde.

"What next? Where do we go from here? And while we're at it, where's here? We really don't have much to go on" he said. It was a good question, and a fair statement. They had ever so little.

"We don't know the who, the why, or the how" Buffy replied, "but we know the what. Lets hit the books, look for mass dismemberments. Maybe Dawn can Google for it."

Not that they were likely to find much outside of Giles' texts. Thankfully, he'd left all but his most prized volumes with them when he returned to England. So much of what was found within them was lost to the outside world.

Spike, having been silent for most of the meeting aside from Buffy's initial telling of what they'd discovered, decided it was time at last to speak up. The boy wouldn't like him chiming in, not that he cared, but he wasn't entirely happy about once again unveiling the darker side of his history in front of Buffy. Unfortunately, he had no choice. None of the others, not even Anya, who'd cast her spells at a distance, would see things the way he did.

"We know the How, luv" he began. "They were pulled apart. Bugger that did this was strong."

Buffy shot an annoyed glance in Spike's direction. Why hadn't he brought this up earlier? At the scene, for one thing. Did he think her that weak and dainty?

"How can you be so sure?" Dawn inquired.

"No cut or slash marks. No bite marks. We'd know if it'd been knives, swords, teeth - that vein leaves marks. Everything in the pile we saw was ragged. Twisted. Bones were wrenched out of sockets, but many were intact those that weren't were obviously broken by hand."

To Buffy, the answer made sense. It probably made sense to all of them. Maybe that's why Xander chose to attack. He'd never get past what Spike was.

"And just how do you happen to know this?" Xander questioned the vampire, his voice swimming with accusation.

"I'm a vampire, boy. I see what you don't, smell what you don't, and I've done things you would never even think of." Damn bricklayer was always getting on his nerves.

Buffy, meanwhile, couldn't be bothered separating the latest schoolyard tussle between the two. The news Spike had given was great. Just bloody great.

You're sounding like him again, Buffy.

Willing her brain to shut the hell up, she reevaluated the situation at hand. Add freakishly strong on top of criminally inane, with a side order of serial killer trophy taking to boot. Though what kind of trophies human body parts made was something Buffy could do without knowing. She'd missed Vietnam.

Anya spoke up next.

"All those parts, all those bits and pieces.. why? What for?"

As usual, Anya spoke with a calm detachment from the horrors of their current "case". Buffy, earlier on in their friendship, had believed that would never change. She'd only worry about herself, or Xander. The ex-demon had progressed, though. At least to showing concern about her immediate circle of friends. Still, total strangers, even slaughtered ones, were not about to bring about sympathy from Anya.

"That would be the "why" we don't know" Buffy reminded her.

"Well, you said they were already dead, right? Most of them?"

Receiving the affirmative nods she'd fully expected, Anya continued.

"Well then, I can tell you what they're not for: eating" she said matter-of-factly, to the blank stares of the rest of the group. Buffy could see it in them - there she goes again, our Anya, always stating the obvious in that awkward way only a former demon can. Only, Buffy had a hunch that Anya was about to have one of her breakthrough moments. It was something in her eyes, maybe.

"I've known a lot of demons in my time. Made a few of them. Dated a few of them."

Xander couldn't hide the hurt look, but he managed to avoid attempting to stake Spike, so Buffy took it as a positive. That she managed to restrain herself from tackling him and pounding him senseless was also a bonus. There were still open wounds where the four of them were concerned.

"The ones that feast on human flesh" she went on, "are surprisingly picky eaters. No way do they mix live flesh with dead meat. It's one or the other. And they don't normally take leftovers with them, unless they prefer fresh food and the leftovers are still breathing. Like, this one Togram demon I dated, he had this thing for virgins - not having sex with them, don't get me wrong, just eating them - anyway, he tore this one girl's arm off, but when he was done munching on that, she still hadn't croaked, so he-."

She stopped then, taking note of the identical looks of revulsion on the faces of the assembled Scoobies. Dawn looked like she might actually retch at any moment. Cutting her story short, she concluded by saying "Point is, whoever snatched the part has a reason. Trophies, maybe, but it seems rather pointless to take trophies from pre-killed victims. Just two live ones puts a damper on that theory. Plus, food is out. So it, whatever it is, it has a reason. And that signifies something at least bordering on intelligence - not your run of the mill, "Grr, Argh" sort of demon."

Buffy had to give it to her. When Anya was right, she was right. And dramatic. How much it really helped was yet to be seen, but it at least gave them more of a place to start - although thanks to the ex-demon's story, Dawn probably wouldn't get much sleep that night.

"Right. So nothing low level" Buffy told the group. "Probably not a vampire, either - not too many would be strong enough, and when they take trophies, they're usually of the shiny, might-be-worth-money kind. Lets get to the research, but eliminate the candidates that clearly don't qualify - eaters of the dead, trophy takers, you get the idea. Whatever else is left we work from there."

"What if nothing's left?" Dawn asked.

"Then we wait to see what else turns up" Buffy replied. And shot Spike another angry glance when he spoke up again.

"Probably more bodies" he offered. Real helpful, Spike she admonished him. In thought, anyways. She chose to keep quiet, fearing that, in the end, he'd be right.