Title: And the rest is.
Author: Charlie Timeline: Post BtVS S7 & AtS S5. Sequel to "Best Laid Plans" and "A Fair Exchange.
Summary: The face we see isn't always the one that is visible?
Feedback is always appreciated.
Author Notes: Round and round, the ship goes. Where it lands, the Author doesn't know. Will it be (A)my, (B)uffy, (C)ordelia, (D)awn, (F)aith, (F)red, (H)armony, (K)ennedy or (W)illow that wins the Xandman? Vote now.

"Ms. Chase?"

Cordelia looked up and saw two of her former pupils standing in the doorway. "Hey Vi, Rona. What can I do for you?"

The two young slayers looked at her for a moment before answering, "We were wondering where is... Xander?"

"Xander?"

"Yeah we wanted to talk to him and to Cole. We haven't seen him really since the assembly and the arm-breaking."

"Oh. Why didn't you go see him earlier?"

"We were...kinda..."

"Scared."

"Scared?"

"Well with the arm breaking thing and how different he was from Sunnydale."

"Different?"

"Well in Sunnydale, we really didn't notice him. I mean he was the guy that helped fix the windows. And he and Faith went into the vineyard and saved Kennedy and us and then he got his eye poked out-"

"What Vi means is that... we didn't notice him a whole lot until he was gone. And then Buffy and Willow went nuts. And Mr. Giles wanted to kill Andrew because he saw Xander last."

"But Dawn stepped in and saved him."

"Yeah, she's the one that told us and the others about Xander."

"So where is he?"

Cordelia paused to consider her words before answering, "He's in the hospital. He had a little accident. And he's recovering now."

The girls seemed relieved and dejected at the same time. Vi seemed to sag a bit, leaning against the doorway for support. Rona noticed and lightly clasped the other girl on the arm. The would-be-actress-turned-former-drama-teacher tried to reassure the girls.

"He'll be okay. You'll see."

The Library

"What are you doing Willow?"

The red headed witch looked up to see one of her former childhood friends watching her intently. When Willow didn't answer right away, Amy moved closer to her. Her gaze fell upon the table in front of them, which was crowded with books, scrolls and papers. She picked up an open book noting it was written in a language other then English. Amy put down the book and stared hard at her former classmate.

"What are you doing?"

Willow swallowed before answering, "I'm trying to help Xander."

"How is researching spells going to help Xander?" A horrified look appeared on Amy's face, "Are you planning on casting a healing spell on him? You know those things are dangerous!"

"No, I'm not going to cast a healing spell on him," Amy looked a little relieved at that. "I'm going to try alter the enjoining spell that links him and Cole."

"You're going to WHAT!"

Willow looked up at her, "You heard me. I'm going to try to help Xander."

"By messing with the spell that helps keep him alive?"

"I'm not 'messing' I'm trying to help him."

"Willow this is dangerous. You could do serious brain damage or even kill him."

"Amy," the red head began quietly "Do you remember when we about ten and we at my house planning a sleepover the next night?"

"Yea, I remember. It was you, me, Xander and Jessie."

"Right, well Xander ended up staying past his curfew and got in trouble with his dad..." Willow's voice trailed off slightly, "When I saw him the next day his back was really sore and red. But he told me he was coming because I asked him to. When I was in his head... he asked me to help him. I have to try."

"By 'trying' you mean putting his life in danger."

"Amy!" Willow calmed herself before responding, "right now he's in a deep coma. The doctors don't know when or if he'll ever wake up."

"People wake up from coma's all the time. You were in one, Cordelia was in one..."

"That doesn't mean Xander will."

Willow's statement seemed to hang in the air.

"Will you help me with this spell? I know you know a lot more about magic then you let on."

Amy looked down at the various texts and closed her eyes for a few minutes then opened them and returned her gaze to Willow's face.

"No."

The red head seemed to nod even as her shoulders sagged slightly. She took a breath before speaking, "Thank you for being honest. And for caring about Xander."

Then she resumed studying the book in front of her. Amy watched her for a minute before turning and heading towards the exit. She paused briefly at the doorway, conflict still etched on her face but went out the door.

Angel's apartment

"Wait so you're saying what that girl was running from wasn't vampires?"

"No Faith, I'm saying that something attacked her in home and whatever it is, it wasn't a vampire."

"How do you know that?"

"The door was locked. But whoever got it open was stronger then a human. The knob was bent and the doorframe showed signs of being forced."

"And a vampire can't get in without an invite." Wood finished. "Just to play Devil's advocate, maybe one of the girls gave a vamp an invite."

"Why? According to police reports, the girl in the hospital was hysterical over seeing her lover killed in a brutal fashion."

"Maybe she didn't the person was inviting was a vamp?"

"Possible but there was no bite marks on the body and despite the woman's state of undress it doesn't appear like whatever killed had any sort of designs on her."

There was a pause before Faith spoke, "Looks like we need to have a chat with the girl."

The library

Willow finished lighting the candles centered on she was sitting. She took a deep breath in the darkened room to calm herself. Then she started reading from the book in front of her. Although the former Sunnydale high witch had been unable to find a spell exactly suited to her needs, she had found one that was very, very close. Translating the form of Latin used had taken much longer but thankfully she still had plenty of practice. Still, Latin wasn't her strong suit and on this night that would be enough.

Sacred Heart Hospital

The room in which Alexander Harris slept had been empty of visitors since Dawn and Andrew and left hours earlier. The nurse on duty had just completed his check and wouldn't be back around for three hours. Thus there was no one present to see the shimmering cloud form in his room, small at first but growing larger.

Crestview library

Willow continued her chanting, speaking syllable in a rhythmic pattern. The spell had to be spoken just the right way to achieve the desired result. Thus she was being extra careful with her pronunciation.

Xander's hospital room

The glowing mist seemed to reach up from the floor and envelop Xander in it's thick haze. The machines recording his heartbeat and other vital signs registered no change. Indeed, nothing was happening until Willow made a small mistake. She spoke a word just a half a beat out of rhythm and unaware that she had done so, continued on, finishing what she thought was a successful casting.

In the Sunnydale that existed within Xander's mind, Cole stood in a dirt field. The hair on his arms and on the back of his neck was standing up on end as he looked around.

"What the hell is going on?"

Without warning the ground in front of erupted as a slab of granite shot up into the air. Similar slabs followed it to his left and right. The hunter uneasily tried to back away but a fourth slab appeared behind him. Cole took one look around him and tried to flee but couldn't. He looked down and saw his feet were encased in solid rock as the four slabs closed around him.

"Well this doesn't look."

Then the four slabs closed around him and there was a flash of light.

Back in the hospital room, the glowing mist seemed to shake and then fall apart. There was silence, the machine tracking Xander's heartbeat began registering increasing activity. Quietly Xander's eyes flickered open and tiredly began looking around the room. Slowly he searched about the room, trying to figure out where he was and why he was there. At first there was confusion on his face, then anger slowly began replacing it.

Gently but firmly he grasped the needles and wires attached to his body and removed them. Then he stood up ever so slowly, made his way to the dresser and began searching for his clothes.