Author's Notes: First of all, I REALLY want to thank all of you who have taken the time to give me feedback on this. Thank you, and please keep leaving it. Feedback IS helping me write this. Coin of the realm here folks.
For those who are wondering why I haven't had the Dru-Spike conversation that we all know has to happen... I'm cheating. I'm waiting until after the 19 Nov, Angel. It's supposed to go into the reason why Spike and Angel hate each other so much: Drusilla.
Mini rant time here: Is it just me or does anyone else find it suspicious that not One of the new 'Slayers' have been seen or even commented on, on Angel? Hmmm... here we are in a law firm that is still specializing in 'helping' bad-guys and not even a request of a any kind? Joss-man, we love ya, but what are you thinking?
*___________*__________*
Willow sat cross legged in the middle of the bed brushing out her hair. It was sort of a ritual with her and the steady soothing motions helped to calm her. Of course, it was in times like this that she missed her long hair from her younger years. She really needed a lot of calming.
First thing on her bother list was... well it was the First actually. Another big-bad in a long list of big-bads and they had no clue as to what it even really was and why exactly it was doing what it was doing. Sure, they had some guesses and some ideas, but Willow hated going in blind. She always had. She really hated it when the bad guys when incomprehensible to humans, with no rhyme or reason to their actions. Then she promptly grimaced remembering Glory. She'd had a clear-cut goal and look what that had cost the Scoobies.
She neatly shelved the First and Glory into their little mental cubbyholes.
*Tomorrow night... Whoops, tonight.* She corrected, looking at the clock and realizing it was now four AM. *Tonight's patrol to the Winery will possibly shed some clues as to what is really going on. Hey! It's possible that tonight could end the problem...* She trailed off as realized that it may be possible, but with their luck lately, it wasn't likely.
*Enough!* she thought and pulled her thoughts away from that subject.
*Buffy... what is it about Buffy and Vampires?* She knew she was purposefully staying away from thinking of Xander and Drusilla right now, but she allowed herself the luxury for the time being.
*Buffy and Spike... Spike and Buffy* She was still having some problems dealing them as a... couple."
Willow yelped a little as the brush caught a small tangle.
"What is it about Buffy and Vampires?" This time she actually asked the question out loud.
"First there was Angel, being all broody and Batman like and then he went all 'Grrrr' and then he comes back and..." She trailed off realizing that it had to have been Angel that wanted to leave, not Buffy wanting him to leave.
"Then there's Spike... He was all 'Grrr' and then he got chipped and became just 'Gr'. Then he goes and gets a soul and now he's 'Grrr' again, but with no chip, and a soul, and no happy clause like Angel."
Willow stopped brushing for a moment and reviewed that thought. Even for her, that one was a little weird.
It was all so crazy. Things had gone so downhill since... "Well pretty much since the Initiative came to Sunnydale." She spared a small irritated thought towards Captain Cardbo... Uhmmm Riley, and the late unlamented Maggie Walsh. The Scoobies had splintered and gone off into tangents and the group just wasn't a group anymore.
"Buffy, Giles Xander, me... we lost each other..." Willow's face scrunched up for a moment in sadness. *Seems all we have now is a memory of being a group... a family."
"Xander..." She sat back for a moment and just remembered him. Her Xander. She had difficulty remembering a time when he wasn't there. She knew everything there was to know about her Xander. She'd known all about his 'wonderful' home life. She might have been naïve, but she wasn't ignorant. She'd helped as much as she could. But now, her Xander wasn't 'hers' anymore.
To say that she'd been surprised by what he did would be an understatement. It was still sinking in as to what he'd done and why.
She recalled earlier that night as she'd stuck her head out into the hallway in order to see what all was going on:
"What's with all the fussing?" Willow leaned halfway out of the doorway to the dining room and looked around. "Oh. Hi Xander. Hi Drusilla..." Her voice trailed off as she stared at Dru less than four feet away from her. "Oh... Oh my."
Finding herself almost nose-to-nose with Drusilla was definitely a startling experience. Never in a million years had she imagined that Xander would be standing there willingly with Drusilla. Not just with her but 'With' her. Maybe standing there with Drew Carey, seeing how close their sense of humor was, but Drusilla, the Childe of Angelus? Never.
Xander had sighed and just looked at her. "Wills, we need to talk." He'd looked over at Giles and jerked his head slightly. "Alone."
Giles had gotten the hint and had somehow managed to talk both Buffy (who was in a foul mood if Willow had ever seen her in one) and Dawn into giving them some much needed time. Granted, it was not necessarily graciously done on Buffy's part, but they'd done it.
"Xander definitely didn't pull any punches..." She mussed. Once she'd asked him what had happened, he'd started at... well the beginning. Luckily, the two of them knew each other so well that they talked in almost a shorthand sometimes. Otherwise, they'd probably still be down there going over the mess.
Buffy's arrival and the subsequent turning of their world upside down. Jesse. Angel. The Halloween and Soldier-guy: who was still 'Occupying Quarters' as Xander put it. The Hyena... who was still definitely around and kicking inside his head. That one was a little hard to swallow at first but Dru had just nodded quietly in support and Xander had explained about his ability to take some serious damage and still be alive afterwards.
She'd actually been present for the Olaf the Troll incident and it had never even occurred to her that a weapon that flung a Slayer around should have killed Xander outright.
The Fluke... Willow was still pissed at herself over that... it was so out of character for them both. Anya. Spike. Glory. He'd finished with telling her, in detail, about hearing their conversation to get rid of him. He'd thanked her for trying to argue with Buffy and then told her how his 'visit' to LA had gone.
Angel turning him down hadn't been a big surprise, but Xander 'borrowing' the disk had been. He'd sheepishly handed it back to her, embarrassed.
She'd gasped out loud when he'd told her about meeting up with Dru and her refusal to turn him as well. At the confused look on her face and her staring at the obvious bite mark on his neck, Dru had actually spoken up and informed her that she'd Claimed him.
Willow damned near flipped her chair over backwards after hearing that news.
It was one of the rarest things a Vampire could do, and was actually done slightly less often than Geese lay golden eggs with diamond yolks. *Well... maybe not that rare..."
"S..S..So you and Dru are..." She'd trailed off blushing and stared at the table.
"No." Xander had said quietly "Not yet anyways..."
"No." Said Drusilla just as quietly. "Not until kitten has figured out his true feelings for her."
Dru didn't say exactly who 'her' was and Willow had assumed that she meant Anya... at least she had until later that night.
Willow couldn't figure out exactly why Dru was still affected by the Love Spell though.
Xander didn't have any answer for it, but then he didn't have an answer as to why he still had Soldier-guy and the Hyena in him, but Willow didn't have any ghost thoughts and Buffy no longer knew how to act like a lady.
Willow had spared a glance at the very quiet Drusilla who had looked over at her and... She'd winked at her!
Willow managed to blush yet again at that thought.
Dru had obviously known something, and just as obviously wasn't telling.
"Of course, considering Xander's luck with girls, maybe she'd just decided she wanted to be in love with him and not to let Spell release her. Nahhh... not even Xander has that kind of luck..."
"Well, I can't say I'm perfectly okay with it all but...." Willow's voice had trailed off as she and Xander exchanged rueful looks and Drusilla sat quietly next to him,
"Ahem." Giles's had interrupted them and had the three of them almost simultaneously rolled their eyes. Willow was still a little wigged at seeing Drusilla use almost the exact same gesture as her and Xander. Was there some kind of personality transfer or sharing along with all the other benefits of their... Union, for lack of a better word.
"Yes Giles..." Willow and Xander replied together.
"If you three are quite caught up, Buffy is very interested in hearing about certain... things." Giles' voice trailed off and he looked at Drusilla a trifle accusatory. Willow wondered just what else was going on.
"Yes. Quite." Xander's attempt at a British accent on those two words had both of the women giggling, and Willow actually felt at ease for the first time sitting there with her nearby.
Of course that feeling was replaced with a bit of embarrassment and even a small bit of excitement when Dru had commented on her own 'Grrr' phase. That smile had not been a platonic one. Yet again, Willow had to wonder if Xander's feelings had bled over into Drusilla some. "Or maybe Dru is Bi..." Willow ruthlessly took that idea, threw it into a small dark corner of her mind and stomped on it. Repeatedly.
"Not good... No. Bad thoughts Willow! Bad Willow, Bad!" It was like fluking to the Nth degree. "Have Kennedy now, have Kennedy now." She started saying it like it was a mantra as she reached over and gently touched the shoulder of the sleeping potential.
"Then of course Dru goes and drops the bomb about Xander actually being in love with Faith." Willow shook her head in amazement. "Goddess, I definitely didn't see that one coming. Neither did Anya..." Willow was very glad that Anya hadn't still been a Vengeance Daemon at that at that point, as she'd had a clear view of the look on her face. *Pissed, is nowhere near the term."
Willow was VERY concerned over what the former Daemon was going to do over the revelations that had occurred today. She'd bee very out of character for her in that she'd only made a couple of small cracks and spent the rest of the time mumbling to herself. It just wasn't like her, and she was dreading what would happen when Hurricane Anya blew in.
"And then... just to top off a wonderful fun-filled conversation we had to have a finale." Willow wondered if the Daemon Sweet wasn't down/up/wherever he was from, laughing his ass off right now.
*_________*___________*___________*
She'd noticed Faith step up to the doorway just about the time that Buffy had brought up Kendra's name, but Xander obviously hadn't and she was about to interrupt the conversation long enough to tell him when Drusilla had looked up had surreptitiously raised an index finger to her lips in a 'shush' motion. She obviously did not want Xander to know that Faith was present.
Then of course had been Drusilla's blow up and to her utter amazement Dru had cried. *For a Daemon to actually cry tears of blood...* The implications were staggering.
*I didn't know that Wood was behind Faith though, not until he was already attacking.*
Willow could only shake her head. *I still don't know what to make of him. There's something so off about him. But then maybe Xander hit the nail on the head so to speak.* She sighed and shook her head again what had happened just a short time ago.
*______*___________*____________*
Xander seemed to move a bit faster than normal as Dru was shifted out of the way towards Xander's left side and then Mr. Robin Wood, high school Principal, and son of a Slayer, found himself looking down the barrel of a Colt 45 pistol.
A pistol that was barely 12 inches from his head.
"You take one more step towards her and you won't have to worry about Spike killing you... Cause I will."
*______*___________*____________*
*Xander was definitely moving a lot faster than I've ever seen him.* Willow thought to herself. *His speed... I bet it's close to that of Buffy's now... or a Vampire's.* Her thoughts trailed off for a moment and she stared of into space. *He was also a bit colder too.* At that thought, she'd played back some of the things that Xander had done earlier in their lives. *Okay, maybe not. Dru is under his protection. He acted the same as he would have if Robin had been attacking... me.*
*______*___________*____________*
Robin stumbled to a halt just short of the man holding the gun to his head. *It doesn't matter, it's just Xander.* He thought contemptuously.
"Out of the way Harris. This one doesn't have a soul and protected by Buffy. She's dust."
"I don't think so Woody." Xander replied in a cold calm voice. "She doesn't need a Slayer's protection... she's got mine. And in case you didn't notice it, I'm not the guy who brought the stake to the gun fight."
Spike had leaned back and put his feet up on the table enjoying the show. "I'd listen to 'im Woody, you bloody little prat. The Whelp ain't playing."
"Shut up Spike!" Came out of at least five different throats but the gun barrel never wavered from pointing at Robin's left eye.
"She's a Vampire!" He managed to say around his clenched teeth.
"Well no shit! What gave you the first idea? Was it the hauntingly beautiful pallor or maybe her delightful 18th century style dresses?" Xander was almost laughing in his face, and everyone else seemed frozen watching what was going on.
"Let me tell you something here Principal-guy. Drusilla is here with me. She's leaving with me and I shit-you-not. You so much as look at her wrong and I'll shoot your sorry ass."
The gasp from all assembled simply confirmed to everyone what Xander already knew to be true: He wasn't joking. Drusilla just stood there looking at her would-be attacker as if he was some kind of bug she was contemplating stepping on.
"Xander... What are you doing?
"Me and Woody here are just clearing the air Buff. I don't trust him any farther than I could throw him."
"And you trust her!?" Wood almost yelled, Pointing at Drusilla.
"Hell, I trust Deadboy Junior over there more than I trust you."
"WHAT!?"
Even Drusilla spared him a glance on that one.
"Spike's a lot of things, mostly having to do with a lot of cussing, but the pain in the ass bastard is consistent. He spent over 100 years taking care of Drusilla. He spent the last few years trying real hard to fit in here and has helped us. He took care of Dawn when Buffy was... gone. Now he's vowed to take care of Buffy and Dawn. I don't like him. At all. But I do trust him. Now."
Even as he spoke, Xander's hand never wavered from where it was pointing.
"You? I don't know you and I don't like you. You come out of nowhere with a story that's weird even for Sunnydale. You just happen to be the new Principal for the school that lays over the Hellmouth and you know quite a bit about it for a newcomer. You're supposedly the son of a Slayer and when you get here you chase after Buffy and now you're making a play for Faith. Gee, Oedipus Complex much?"
"You son-of-a-bitch!" Robin actually moved a little closer towards Xander but stopped again when Xander pulled the hammer back on the pistol with his thumb.
"Go ahead... just a little bit closer... "
"You wouldn't..."
"I'll be your huckleberry." Xander replied in a slightly lilting voice. Robin obviously recognized the quote as his dark skin turned a grayish shade.
"Robin." Giles' voice finally made itself known. "I suggest that you... withdraw for the time being."
"Come on Woody." Faith finally spoke up also. "Time for you to scoot. I know boytoy here... he's not joking."
He let himself be dragged backwards and up the stairs but it was obvious that this was only a ceasefire and not the end of hostilities. Before she turned to leave Faith gave Xander a look that simply said that they needed to talk. Soon.
* ______*___________*____________*
Willow leaned backwards on her bed and just relaxed for a moment. She'd wound her ways upstairs right after that confrontation as she'd found herself maxed out by all that had occurred. *Maybe, just maybe I can get some sleep* Kennedy was still out cold next to her, drooling slightly onto her pillow.
That's when she heard some voices coming from outside.
"I just know I'm going to regret looking." She mumbled tiredly as she got up and went to the window.
There was Xander and Drusilla standing there talking with... Spike. *Oh Damn.* She raised the window just a little so she could hear better.
"Id like a moment of her time if you don't mind Whelp." Spike almost sounded like the old him for a moment. "Just to talk. After all you do trust me don't you?" He added in his sarky voice.
"It's alright kitten." Dru commented from next to him. "Spikey and I need to have this talk.. You know that."
"Yea, I know Dru..." Xander trailed off with a goofy smile aimed at the beautiful vampire.
As the two wandered over towards the darkness by the side of the house, Xander turned towards the other direction.
"And I assume that you would like to have a few words in private with me also?" he asked in a clear voice.
Willow flinched as she saw who came out of the shadows.
"Alexander LaVelle Harris: You. Bet. Your. ASS!"
"Hello Anya." He replied quietly.
"Oh Shit!" Willow exclaimed and then ran for the stairs.
End of Chapter 6.
Yet again: Stay tuned for another chapter within a week or so. Same Grrr time. Same Grrr Channel.
ps: Lucifer Frost, would you please email me? I have a couple of questions to ask you and I couldn't get to you through your homepage.