A/N: Damn it! I swore to myself I'd never go this long with out updating. I sincerely apologize to all of my beautiful readers. Rest assured, it won't happen again. Lest we forget I am but a wee little eighth grader, therefore I have just finished midterms. Blehh. But now I'm done with the studying and such, and plus it's the Christmas holidays (WOOT!) so I shall be able to update as fast as possible for the next two weeks, which means I'll probably finish (there are going to be 22 chapters). So yes, I'm excited! Thank you all so much for reading my brainchild, it is very much appreciated. D
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Buffy felt her mouth drop open.
"What the hell did you DO?!"
Spike looked up at her from the floor, looking frightened. What was left of the bathroom was strewn about him. Chunks of porcelain were scattered near the corner the toilet used to occupy, with water erupting from the pipe that jutted from the wreckage. The mirror was completely destroyed, glass shards covering the counter beneath it. There was a gaping hole in the wall above the bathtub, and when Spike clambered to his feet Buffy could see that the bottom of his black combat boots were laced with tell-tale plaster. She walked cautiously through the doorway, side-stepping around the door that was dangling from its uppermost hinge. Spike cast his eyes downward in guilt.
"I couldn't find the way out," he told her. Buffy felt her anger wavering a bit, but she shook it off.
"So you destroy the entire bathroom?! Brilliant," she seethed. Spike looked ashamed. Buffy sighed and grabbed him by the sleeve of his black T-shirt and herded him back downstairs. Willow was sitting up on the sofa watching television, and Oz was leaning against the opposite armrest. Buffy shoved Spike down into the easy chair. She put a hand on either side of him and leaned forward, leaving mere inches between their faces. "You lay a finger on anyone in this house and I will not hesitate to shove you out that door and watch you fry," she warned. "Got that, Bacon Boy?"
Spike nodded slowly. Buffy turned around and addressed Willow and Oz.
"Keep an eye on him, guys," she said before leaving to go upstairs and survey Ground Zero. Willow looked uneasy.
"Uh… Giles?" she called. The man poked his head through the kitchen doorway, holding an overstuffed and half-eaten sandwich. "Spike's all soulful. Wanna see?"
"Oh reewee?" Giles inquired through a mouth full of sandwich, entering the room warily. "Uh… an ih ee dill iddane?"
Willow and Oz looked at each other in confusion.
"What did he say?" Willow asked.
"Not sure… sounded like something about kiwi and Illinois," Oz answered, turning his head slightly in thought.
Giles swallowed. "I said, is he still insane?"
They all looked over at Spike, who seemed to have just discovered a patch of sunlight coming through the window. He grinned and held his arm out into the light, which promptly began to sizzle loudly.
"Hey, lookit!" Spike chuckled, poking his blistering arm. "I bubble!"
Willow and Oz looked back up and Giles and, in unison, nodded solemnly.
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On a greyhound bus somewhere south of Los Angeles sat the dark haired couple, each staring uninterestedly off in different directions. The dark woman looked up at her companion. He was looking his usual broody self, which she had always found strangely attractive. She loved looking at him. Maybe she spent too much time doing it, but what do you expect? It just felt so damn good.
At this point he looked down and caught her staring at him. He gave her one of his rare smiles, which she returned.
"Well, this sure is the way to travel, huh?" she joked sarcastically. "I gotta say, I expected something better from the infamous Angelus."
The man gave her a silencing look.
"Oh, right, sorry…" she apologized quickly. Angel shrugged to indicate it was okay.
"It shouldn't take too much longer," he told her. She nodded. He bent down and kissed her on the lips. "Now go to sleep, Faith. You'll need your energy."
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Xander pulled a book off of Giles' bookshelf.
"Modern Magical Nip-Tuck," Xander read aloud. "Sounds interesting." He opened it up to a random page and his eyebrows shot up his forehead. "Well, these sure are some, uh, interesting pictures," he stammered, turning the book on its side. Two more pages unfolded themselves from the one he was looking at. His eyes went even wider. "Very… interesting."
Anya walked over and snatched up the book. "Let me look." She looked at the picture and nearly dropped the book in shock. "Oh God! Okay, we'll just put this one back then…" she folded up the centerfold with a look of disgust and snapped the book shut before putting it back in its proper place on the shelf. She picked out an enormous book titled "Charms of Weather and Ambiance" and put it in his hands, causing Xander to nearly tip over from the weight of the book. She sat back down in one of the rolling chairs at the desk. Xander hauled his book over to the desk and sat down in the matching rolling chair next to her.
All was silent for a few minutes as the researched until Anya abruptly looked up and said, "Can I kiss you?"
Xander almost fell out of his chair. "What?!"
"You know, it's kind of like in those cheesy romance stories when the people are sitting in silence in then all of the sudden one of them looks up and gives the other one an unexpected kiss," Anya explained. "It's spontaneous and romantic and I thought you would enjoy it. So can I kiss you?"
Xander looked like a deer in headlights. "D-eh-uh-mm-I… Well, you see, Anya, the thing is… now you're all demon-like and vengeful… with the… dismemberment and such. And, well it's kind of a turn-off."
Anya looked hurt. "So you're saying we can't get back together because I'm a vengeance demon again?"
"Yes, mainly, but-"
Before Xander could finish, Anya had got up and left the house. Xander shrugged and muttered something about "crazy women" before resuming his research.
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A/N: Just a fun little chapter. Not very meaty, but the best is soon too come! I hope you all caught on the the Angel/Faith up there, I wasn't sure if I was clear enough on that...