SHS Library 2:15-ish
"So, Xander?" Dawn asked, noticing the time, "I was thinking…can I get you to do the spell that lets me keep everything?" Xander looked at her, not really showing any emotion. Then he frowned in thought, obviously weighing his decision. Dawn enjoyed watching him think, and wondered how often he'd let anyone else see him so serious.
"Well, Dawn, it would mean some possibly unpleasant moments," Xander spoke carefully, "For instance, if…a man…forced himself on a woman, they'd be your memories as well. If they killed, maimed, were severely injured…you'd feel it all. It might not be as bad as being two of the Horsemen, and a good overview of a third, but you're Dawn-patrol."
"But if memories are created out of thin air, I might experience it any way," Dawn replied, and sighed, "And if we're actually surprised one night, I'd at least like to have the skills so I'll know I did all I could."
Minutes pass.
'Rule one, I have final veto over any costume," Xander began, already capitulating, "Rule two, no demons or anything that will make you not-Dawn. Rule number three, we have to speak at least one of the same languages. I don't want our costume-spirits to do something bad to the other. Rule four, if we have both want costumes that are in a relationship or enemies with the other, we'll take turns." He paused to think on whether he'd missed anything. "Oh, and rule number five, no one-night stands. I'm not explaining to your mother how I let it happen…and I could always not take you along and you'll be stuck at that party…"
"But Xander," Dawn sighed, "What if we're trapped in here for a couple of years?"
"Then you'd still be only fifteen, and your mom would still kill me?"
"I'm almost fourteen now," the girl tried to weasel out of the proscription, "So if I'm really eighteen at some point?"
"Then we explain things to your mother," Xander emphasized, "And let her decide."
"So, any other rules?" Dawn asked, stalemated but not defeated.
"Yep. But we'll come up with them as we go along."
The Reset went off as expected, and Xander handled the Joyce-call with the smoothness that comes from practice. He grabbed some Egyptology and Ancient language dictionaries, and headed out the door with Giles' car, fines money and keys.
Swinging by the school to pick up Dawn after swiping his parents' money, Xander hummed away as they drove up to Ethan's. Already knowing where the O'Neill and Carter accessories were located, it took no time to speak of to assemble the costumes of Daniel Jackson and Janet Frasier.
"So what now, Xan?" Dawn asked in her costume, second lunch?"
"While an excellent idea," Xander admitted, "I want to swing by a pawn shop and see if they have any usable medical equipment. Who knows? We might even save a few lives."
"Ooooo-kay," Daniel sighed aloud as he took in his surroundings, "This is clearly not my office in the SGC." It seemed very suburban in nature, though screams from the general vicinity began to erupt as darkness was setting.
"Xander!" a red-headed girl called out in his direction. Daniel turned around expecting to see someone of Greek ethnicity. "Xander!"
"A-are you addressing me," the archaeologist responded uncertainly, "because my name's Daniel." He then noticed some type of creature was about to pounce on a young girl dressed a lot like Doctor Frasier. "Look out!" then he used his sidearm to shoot near the thing.
"Don't kill it!" the red head exclaimed, "There's a little kid in there." The dark-haired teen wandered close to them.
"Thanks, kids," Janet Frasier greeted them, "Whatever that thing was wanted me for dinner. My name's Janet Frasier, by the way." The young man stared at her in amazement.
"Ur, uh, Janet from…Colorado Springs?" the scholar questioned carefully, at which the dark-haired girl nodded half-suspiciously. "Uh, Janet, it's me, Daniel Jackson. You, we, seem to be in the bodies of children." He turned hesitantly toward the red-head, offering his hand, "I'm Daniel…" as his hand passed through hers.
"I dressed as a ghost, Xander, Dawn," she gestured, "And now my body's over there. You two seem to be in possession of the bodies of two friends of mine." Janet interrupted.
"It's only been a few minutes, maybe we can resuscitate you," Janet assured her, and handed Daniel the defibrillator she for some reason was carrying around. She headed in the direction Willow had indicated.
They worked on Willow's body for three minutes, shocking the heart, compressing the chest, and breathing, until finally she miraculously came around.
"Giles in the high school library," Willow gasped, as she faded toward unconsciousness, "He'll know how to get you back."
"We need to get her to a hospital, quick, Daniel," Janet told her colleague, "I don't know how long she'll last out here without proper attention." They lifted her up, and Janet helped Daniel place her into a fireman's carry. Then they heard the scream and a woman in late 18th century attire attempting to elude a bunch of small monsters. Janet took Daniel's gun, and proceeded to shoot around the feet of the monsters, causing them to find easier prey as the 'Lady' managed to collide with a telephone booth and knock her self unconscious. Daniel and Janet stared for a moment before heading over, laughing, to help the poor trick-or-treater.
Forty-five minutes, two real vampires auto-fired into dust and two stops to render first aid and recruit helpers later, they and four other carried five hurt individuals into the emergency room. When the ER failed to pay Janet any attention, Daniel closed hi eyes tight and spastically fired his weapon into the ceiling to quiet everybody and accept Doctor Frasier's information before heading into the night. As they moved away, one of the people hurriedly pressed into service, came forward, dressed in a cat costume.
"So when did you two become all 4077?" the tall brunette asked with a confused and tired smile.
"4-0?" the confused rock-hunter asked, his eyes widening and then squinting as he tried to catch the reference.
"MASH, Daniel, television show," Janet helped, shaking her head, then turned to the girl, "So, miss, are you okay? Do you need further treatment?" Cordelia was rather caught off guard by the concern in the eyes of her two acquaintances, realizing something.
"You two aren't Dawn and Xander are you?" she postulated, taking a half-step back.
"I-I'm Doctor Daniel Jackson, a-and this is Doctor Janet Frasier," the young man replied, "the young red-headed girl we carried in thinks we're somehow 'possessing' these two, but we have no idea how."
"Giles would probably know," Cordelia replied, grimacing slightly, "But we'll have to walk."
"S-she mentioned a Giles, at a high school library?" Daniel quietly pressed, "If you could give us directions, we'll go there ourselves."
"No, I'll show you, I owe you two for tonight," Cordelia responded, "And Cordelia Chase doesn't let herself owe anybody. Let's go."
Cordelia Chase was one tired young woman when they reached the doors of the Library to find them barred. Between the archaeologist continuously asking questions while firing weapons to scare off possessed children and real monsters, and the doctor insisting on treating the wounded and sending them off in groups where possible, the cheerleader was feeling less than cheery.
"Giles!" she yelled, pounding on the door, "Open the door!" After a minute or so, the door was opened and the trio walked in and the librarian relocked the door behind them. He noted the dirtied and slightly bloodied clothes and flustered slightly.
"A-are you three alright?" Giles asked, as Angel crossed the room, "Shall I fetch the first aid kit?"
"Where's Buffy?" Angel asked, as they indicated they were unhurt, "Is she alright?"
"Her and Willow will be fine," Cordelia assured the two men, then slightly smirking, "Doctors Jackson and Frasier brought Willow back to life, and have been playing combat medic for a couple hours now."
"Doctors? I-I don't understand," Giles replied, "A-and you didn't mention Buffy's condition, Miss Chase."
"Oh, she's Lady Hysterical with minor stuff, but we left her at the hospital where she won't get herself killed," Cordelia responded, shaking her head in remembrance. "Completely useless, and whiny."
"And d-don't forget loud," a frowning Daniel Jackson added, "And kicking." He turned to the librarian, offering his hand, "Mr. Giles, I presume? I'm Daniel Jackson, and this is Doctor Janet Frasier." Curious, Giles greeted them both.
"We seem to be 'possessing' these bodies," Daniel explained, looking embarrassed, "And both 'Willow' and Cordelia thought you might know of a way to get us back to where we belong?"
"Hmmm, perhaps if we understood why Miss Chase and Willow remained themselves, we could determine a starting point?" Giles considered, then turning to Angel. "H-have you heard of anything like this before?"
"I can't say that I have," the vampire frowned, "What did Willow dress as?"
"I believe it was a ghost," Daniel replied, "Her body had a sheet with 'Boo!' on it after she told us where it was." Janet nodded in confirmation. "The lettering looked store-made, though."
"Alright, then, and Cordelia, since you seem unchanged," Giles said, pursuing the Willow aspect of the search first, "Do you know at which store Willow or Buffy might have acquired their costumes?"
"It wasn't Party Time, it's out of their price range," Cordelia assured them, "So they probably went to S-Mart or that new place, Edgar's, Eric's, some icky British guy runs it." Giles gave her a look. "Hey, I didn't say you icky British guys. Oh! Ethan's!"
"Ethan's," Giles asked darkly, "Are you sure?"
"Oh, yes, I remember Buffy going on about some Lady dress and the deal she got," Cordelia nodded. "So do you know him?"
"If it's the same person," Giles responded, voice going cold as he prepared to head out, "He's going to regret ever coming to Sunnydale."
"I'm coming with you," Angel asserted, "Just in case you need back up getting there. And I owe him for Buffy, and Willow."
"We might as well all go," Cordelia sighed, "And I'll help these two with anyone injured we come across."
The group reached Ethan's, stopping to interrupt two attacks and lend quick basic first aid to four people before supplies finally ran out. Angel and Giles moved into the store first, the others following behind a moment later. Ethan was about to make a witty (to him) remark, when Angel lifted him by his throat and slammed him into a wall.
"How do we stop the spell, Ethan?" Ripper Giles asked coldly. Ethan choked. "Angel, ease up a little so he can tell us how to stop the spell. Anything else…bite him." Angel released the chaos mage, who was about to make a nasty remark when Angel let his vampiric visage show.
"The bust of Janus," Ethan responded, gesturing to the other room, "Destroy it and the spell ends." Giles was about to head into the room, when Daniel stopped him.
"Before we leave, I'd like to thank both you and Cordelia for your help, Mr. Giles," the archaeologist told him, offering his hand again. Giles shook it and Janet's as well. "Good bye, it would have been a pleasure to discuss various mythos with you."
"A-and thank you both for your help as well," Giles replied. He headed into the back room as he couldn't quite make out a remark made by Ethan at Cordelia's expense. Finding the statue and picking it up he overheard the next couple of remarks as he began to drop the ceramic…
"Hey, Angel?" Cordelia called out.
"Yeah, Cordelia?"
"Clear!" then 'Ka-Chunk' and Ethan screaming for a moment until the magic swept away and the defibrillator ceased to work again.
"Nice work, Cordelia!" Dawn Summers shouted with approval, "High Five!"
Giles reentered the room to find Ethan Rayne on the floor, grabbing his ass, "Figures you couldn't keep your mouth shut. Leave town Ethan or I'll acquire for her a working set tomorrow and let he have at." He looked over to Xander, who had a box in hand. He raised an eyebrow as Angel looked on curiously.
"Ethan volunteered to buy us all dinner and contribute to any hospital expenses for Willow and Buffy," Xander replied with a straight-face, then looked down to a recovering Ethan, who looked up resignedly, and nodded. "Thank you, Ethan." Xander met Angel's eyes, then pointedly looked at Ethan. Angel knocked the chaos mage unconscious.
"So, Angel?" Xander asked, wrapping his arm around the vampire's shoulder in such an exaggerated manner as to annoy, "Can you eat broth, or soup, or those really scary-sounding blood puddings and get anything out of them?"
"Well, I can eat," Angel admitted in confusion as the group exited the building, "But it can't really get above a hundred and forty Fahrenheit or what's in the blood portion loses almost all I need from it to survive."
"So…a rare hamburger or a juicy steak tartar?" Xander mused as they crammed into Giles' car.
"Doable, but I'd have to eat two or three times as much and…" he murmured the rest so no one could hear.
"What was that?" Xander followed up, "I didn't catch the last part."
"I'm not all rose perfume the next day since the body can only really absorb liquids," the vampire admitted. Dawn looked back to Xander, confused.
"Gassy vampire," Xander snickered, then became a little more serious as the others chuckled, "But one who could hang around us socially every other day since eating would be a reassuring sacrifice no real master vampire would make." He met Angel's look, and both nodded.
SHS Library, 10 AM
"So, Xan!" Buffy called out as she entered the library with Dawn and Willow following, "Willow tells me you were playing doctor with my sister." She smirked as she walked up to him and gave him a peck on the cheek.
"What was that for, Buff?" he asked, blushing. She smiled and leaned over to whisper in his ear, hand on his shoulder.
"I just wanted to thank you the right way," she said and paused, "For maybe saving my life again." She moved away and poured herself a cup of tea, hint of cream only.
"You're welcome…Lady Tea-Drinker," Xander replied fondly, picking up his own cooling cup, "guess something stuck?"
"Oui," she grinned, "It might be fading, but I still seem to have a little French, a knowledge of Bach and Handel symphonies, and an appreciation of fine china and crystal." She looked under the ornate teapot, then with an embarrassed look, set it down as they looked at her. "Just checking…the a maker's mark."
"S-so you both are feeing better?" Giles asked the hospital-released girls, "No physical side effects?" They both indicated they were fine. Then with a Ripperish grin, Giles continued, "I got off the telephone with Angel a few minutes ago, Xander, and he said he'd meet all of you Sunday night 'for a repeat at the café, and a major patrol to walk it off.'" Dawn and Xander chuckled, while Giles smirked.
"What?" Buffy and Willow asked at the same time, not being around for dinner at the Sunnydale Café the previous night.
"Oh, Buff," Xander laughed, "We just learned the reason how the 'Scourge of Europe' must have really gotten its name."
"How?" Buffy smiled uncertainly, hoping for an answer.
"Well, Angel ate the two Cheeseburger Grandes extra rare and The Roast Beef Raro at the Sunnydale Café last night," Xander said, trying to control himself. The sight of the vampire eating was odd, especially as they'd had to coach him somewhat.
"He ate…he ate that much!" Willow asked in shock, and at Buffy's look, "Throw in fries and a shake, and that's what Xander had the last time we went there." Buffy's eyes went big, that had been Slayer-Hungry eating levels and Xander had even suggested pie afterward.
"And he's a guy who hasn't had meat in two hundred years…" Xander hinted, receiving a blank look from the balanced-diet eaters, "Or think of it as a guy with a bad diet who eats a gallon of truck-driver chili, side of beans and drowns it in cheese…" They still looked blank. "Odor de bad gas station men's room. Vampirus Gassius Maximus?"
"Oh!" Willow exclaimed, and explained to Buffy in whispers, both of them grimacing and blushing.
"Why would he agree to that?" Buffy asked.
"Because I told him he'd be welcome and not just tolerated…every other day, if he's willing to be like the rest of us," Xander said with a small smile, "And trust me, how he feels in the evenings he's not around…proves he's serious. Even if it's not all roses…"
"Thanks, Xander," Buffy replied, and leaned over to give him another peck on the cheek, "You're great…I think."
"I am, just remember, for the love of heaven, don't go to his place on the other nights…"