Summary: Yet another Halloween fic. With demons.

Disclaimer: I own... hmm. I own nothing. The bank owns any money I make, at the moment. The concepts building 1001Keys do not belong to me, most probably.

Feedback: Why not? It helps me write more and better...

Pre-fic Comments:

I *wanted* to write a songfic. But I haven't been listening to any music that you lot would like... :-/ Hey! I know! I CHALLENGE one of you to write a songfic to 'Gave Up', by NIN, or 'Chasm' by Norther. Go on, you know you want to.

* * *

"Okay, you guys stay here while I go ring Giles," Buffy decided.

"I'll come with," Xander immediately offered, spotting a way out of after-school classes.

"Yeah," Cordelia added. "To make sure you don't get lost in a broom closet."

"I think that Buffy can handle herself," Willow commented, frowning.

"Yeah, right," Cordelia sniffed.

"Buffy, you can go check," Miss Calendar sighed. "The rest of you, stay here."

* * *

Xander looked at the clock. It had been fifteen minutes since Buffy had left. "She's taking too long."

"What?," Miss Calendar asked, interrupted mid-explanation. "She's a girl, Xander. Girls tend to talk on the phone longer than boys."

"But she's talking to the G-man himself," Xander pointed out. "He hates phones. He won't use them longer than he has to."

"I suppose you can check on her," the teacher sighed. "But I'm coming with you and we're coming back right after!"

Miss Calendar locked the door to the computer suite, jogging to catch up with the teenagers.

"I'm telling you, something feels /wrong/," Xander insisted.

"Sure it does," Willow soothed.

"Summers is probably touching up her makeup," Cordelia complained. "I hate these Saturday make-up sessions -- my makeup probably looks horrible. There should be a law against school in the weekends."

"Amen," Xander said to that.

Willow pushed the swing doors to the library open, and stood amazed as the small group witnessed Ethan Rayne, some British guy, and Buffy gettin' it awn.

"Ethan!," the British man yelled.

"You pissin' ever'body off, ain't cha?," Xander wisecracked.

"Don't let him get away!," Buffy yelled as Ethan made a break for the door, climbing over the checkout desk.

Xander grabbed the aging magician by his shirt with both hands, holding him against the desk. "How'd you get out of your niiice little cell?"

"Good behaviour?," Ethan tried.

"Shyeah, right," Xander smirked. "Buff? You okay there?"

"Fine," she yelled back. "The other guy is in the bookcage."

"Hey, if we get another one of these guys, do we go in the draw?," Xander asked.

Ethan tried to knee Xander in the groin, and the teenaged reluctant incubus deftly turned his lower half, so that the knee hit his leg. Xander twisted the Englishman until he was on the floor, face pressed against the linoleum, in what looked like an extremely painful hold that Xander's still-resident demon-skills had thought of.

"Is it me, or is that guy extremely dead?," Cordelia asked, pointing at the British man restrained in the bookcage.

"I'm not gonna get close enough to feel his pulse, but... he looks dead," Willow said thoughtfully.

"Except for the walking and attacking Buffy part," Xander pointed out.

"He's dead," Ethan mumbled against the floor. "I'm sorry, Phillip, really I am."

Xander banged the Englishman's head against the floor. "I'm sorry? Did you say something?"

The doors swung open as Giles dashed through them, panting slightly.

"Is everyone alright?," Giles asked, worried.

"Super!," Cordelia said proudly, standing near Buffy. "I kicked a guy!"

"We're okay," Miss Calendar said quietly.

"Deadguy and El Stinko here interrupted our tutorial," Xander explained. He looked down at Ethan, who he was sitting on. "Been meaning to thank you guys for that."

"Don't... mention it," Ethan gasped.

"Let him up, Xander," Giles said, exasperated.

"But he looks so comfortable!," Xander protested, Buffy and Willow making noises of agreement.

"Xander...," Miss Calendar drawled.

"Thank you, Ripper," Ethan said, looking at Willow and Xander who were standing guard at the doors.

The Watcher moved over to the bookcage to have a look at the new prisoner, gasping as he recognised the figure. "It can't be!"

"Yes, it can," Ethan said dispassionately. The mask slid into a smile as Giles turned to look at him. "Hello, Ripper."

"I thought that the Council had taken custody of you," Giles frowned.

"They made a mistake," Ethan shrugged. "It happens."

"Uh, why did he call him Ripper?," Cordelia asked Xander, walking over to him.

Giles grabbed Ethan by his hair, pulling his head back painfully. "You should've stayed with them."

"Ohhh...," Cordelia said in a moment of realisation.

"Giles?," Buffy said questioningly.

"You put these people in danger," Giles accused. "The people I care about. You've done it in the past, and you're doing it again."

"If you care so much about them, why aren't you leaving town?," Ethan demanded. He pushed Giles' arm away, swaggering into the middle of the room. "You've been having the dreams, I know. I have. We both know what's coming."

"What dreams?! What is going on here?!," Buffy demanded, her fuse growing short.

"Tell her, Ripper," Ethan smirked.

"Giles...," Buffy frowned.

"Kinda agreeing here, G-man," Xander spoke up.

* * *

"You live in d4ng3|20us t1m35," O'Neil said, brow furrowed with worry. "This town is infested with the undead."

Joyce smiled at the crazy man. She shouldn't have invited him over, shouldn't have encouraged him. "Really? I've never had any trouble..."

"You need a 5ymb0l of p0w3rZ," O'Neil said wisely, handing a cross to her. "This will w0|2k for most 14m3|2Z. Nail it by your door, and make sure that all your visitors touch it before you invite them in."

"That sounds... strange," Joyce said faintly.

O'Neil shot to his feet, eyes flashing, as he began to pace. "You MU57! 3Vi1 W41|"... okay," Joyce said, returning to her policy of humouring the crazy man so he didn't get mad at /her/. "Would you like another cup of coffee?"

"No," O'Neil said, winding down. "3y3 mu57 return to my duties. Just nail that cross to the door, like I said."

"Alright," Joyce said, happy that he was leaving. "Have a nice day!"

She leant against the front door as the psycho walked back to his property, holding the wooden cross to her chest. The mother then lifted it to have a look.

"Well, it should keep the Jehovah's Witnesses away, and he might check... where /did/ I put that hammer?"

* * *

Post-fic Comments:

If Xander seems somewhat hard on Ethan, bear in mind that Ethan is the guy responsible for Xander's new dependencies and status, and that Xander hasn't quite worked out his anger on that issue.