(I'd like to thank CaliaDragon for helping me with this story. I've corrected more mistakes in this and the past two chapters, than in the others. I definitely needed a beta)

"Does this mean anything?" asked Vash, handing over the words he had found, to Giles.

Giles adjusted his glasses, and took the paper from Vash. "Hmm," he said, and walked over to the book he'd been researching in.

"So, tell me Vash. Giles didn't exactly explain where you're from, and what you did there. Are you going to share?" asked Xander while chewing his food.

"Can't you wait till your mouth isn't full?" Anya asked while continuing her research.

"From what I've been able to tell, I'm either from a parallel universe, or I'm from your future. In either case, a whole human colony crashed on a distant planet. Most all of them had been in a cryogenically frozen state except for a skeleton crew." As he talked, Vash started getting a little sad. His brother had been the one to try to kill all the humans after all.

"After the crash, my brother and I were the first to land. I separated from him and roamed for a while. Then I met him again, he had killed some relatives of a good friend of mine. We fought; he shot off my left arm."

"Ow," Xander said simply.

Vash nodded and continued, "He had created guns for us, and then he forced my right arm to merge with my gun. It formed very destructive beam cannon. Even after using it on my own, I still don't understand the actual process. Anyhow, when this happened I couldn't keep it from firing, so I aimed it at Knives. The result was destruction of most of the town, and amnesia involving everything that happened between the time I roamed with my brother after the crash, till I was standing in front of the destroyed town."

"Wish something like that would happen to Sunnydale. Might make your slaying easier for Buffy," Xander said, and then flinched when Anya somehow elbowed him in the groin. "What did I do?"

Vash smiled slightly at the interplay between the two lovers, and then continued. "I went around trying to find out what I was missing, and where my brother was, and wound up stopping violence in various places in the process. You know, trying to protect love and peace. That about sums it up... I need something to drink." Vash got up, and walked to the refrigerator in front, to get another bottle of water.

"Next time you want to find something out about someone... wait till they bring it up. It'd be less painful for them that way," Willow said, and then went back to researching.

As Vash walked to the refrigerator, he couldn't help but overhear Willow's statement. It made him feel slightly better to know that someone cared how he felt, though Xander did too, in his own way. As for Buffy and Willow...they both had the same pain in their eyes that he had.

"I wonder who she lost that was close to her?" he asked himself, as he got the water out of the refrigerator and started to walk back. As he did, he remembered that there weren't that many bullets left on him. If he was going to save people, he needed to figure out where to get more. Maybe Giles knew.

(Crash) The front door flew open. Buffy, Spike, a familiar figure and a somewhat cross shape parcel, covered with Spike's duster came in the door.

Spike used a heavy branch to move the injured man from the cross while averting his eyes. The man fell to the ground, letting out a grunt of pain. Spike picked him up and walked toward the cemetery where he'd promised to meet Buffy. The injuries weren't as bad as they looked, so he could afford to wait a few minutes. The Slayer could take care of herself, but Spike still worried about her safety. As he walked, the man woke up.

"What the...put me down you idiot!"

"Someone injured you and draped you over a cross, I thought maybe you needed some medical attention."

"That's my cross, and yes someone injured me. In an explosion! Now put me down, and take me back to that cross! It's a part of me. I've never gone anywhere without it." Wolfwood was seriously ticked at this point, and was getting ready to slug this annoying person, when he was set gently on his feet.

"It's late, I doubt anyone out here at this time would go after a cross. It repels them."

"Repels huh. What's that supposed to mean?" Wolfwood then took stock of his surroundings. Trees. The buildings weren't made of adobe like most towns. "Ok, I give up, where are we?"

They entered the cemetery, Buffy arrived soon after and began talking, "We need to get back to the Magic Box and find out what everyone's discovered so far. Something knocked me 20 feet, and I didn't even sense him or her. Who's this?"

"The name is Wolfwood, I'm a preacher bringing God's word to those who are hurting, and His mercy when it's needed. And you are?"

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Great, another person with a lengthy, boring description of his mission in life. Where'd you find him Spike? Sleeping it off in a gutter?" she said, smiling humorously, while looking over Wolfwood's injuries. He'd definitely been through the wringer.

"Edge of town, I was investigating a tremor, and stumbled across him. He was draped over a cross, I got him off it."

"Like I said, I need that cross. Can we go get it?"

Buffy sighed. "Might as well. Even though I am in a hurry. We need to find something to drape over it though."

"Oh?"

"Spike hurts when he looks at it, though through no fault of his own. He's got his soul back, but the demon side can't stare at a cross."

"Demon side?" Wolfwood's voice trailed off as he watched Spike show his face. "Ok. Now that's weird."

"He's a vampire, there are a lot of them around. But there are worse things too," she said as they neared the cross, with Spike hiding his eyes behind his arm.

Wolfwood shook his head. It was a weird day. "And a vampire is?"