See Part I for disclaimer and details. So here we are, finally, at the end. Tout fini. Or is it? Either way, I just wanna thank everyone who's read this story and sent me any sort of feedback and reviews. As they say in Mandarin, xie xie! Not only have so many done so much for so few (well, really, only me), the reviews inspire the author to write, and to write well is truly God's gift. Farewell and see you on the flipside!

Part X: Aftermath

Sunnydale High, Sunnydale. Two days later

Janna of the Kalderash gypsy clan felt somewhat nervous. Because she had arrived here under the name of "Jenny Calendar" for a job interview as a teacher in Computer Science. Since the previous one at Sunnydale High had recently ended up just another Hellmouth statistic.

Now, the funny thing about gypsies is that they never forgive and most definitely never forget. When Angelus had freed himself of the soul curse back in 1978, the member of the tribe assigned to discreetly watch the vampire had instantly reported the news back to the elders. Who had become furious that their vengeance had been thwarted that way, which was hardly surprising.

Unfortunately, though, there was nothing they could do. As by that point the knowledge of how to perform the ensouling magicks had been lost, and the gypsies had been unable to curse the vampiric enemy that way again however much they'd wanted to.

But little Janna had been a smart girl and her Uncle Enyos had known it. He had sponsored her training from when she was a child, sending her all over the world. The man eventually even allowed his niece to consort with the gaje if that would increase her knowledge base.

Because she was to be his weapon, his big gun. Enyos believed that if anyone could figure out how to do the soul curse again, and get around the happiness clause somehow, it was his Janna.

Thanks to one of their sources within the Council, the clan had now learned that Angelus had been spotted on the California Hellmouth. Hopefully he would stay a while, and with any luck he would not escape the revenge of the Kalderash a second time.

Sunnydale High Quad, Sunnydale. The same time

It was just another Monday morning as far as nearly all the student body was concerned. Get up, go to school, listen to the teachers and pretend to be interested. And Jesse McNally, for one, couldn't believe it.

"What exactly were you expecting?" the blonde Slayer asked her new sidekick, as they walked along.

"I don't know – something! I mean, the walking dead were in full view of everybody at the Bronze a few nights ago. We should at least have had Principal Flutie giving us some sort of official explanation over the loudspeaker!" Jesse semi-ranted.

As Giles and Willow joined the pair, the Watcher said with a small shrug, "As you learned with your, um, other classmates last Friday, people do have this tendency to rationalize what they can and to forget what they can't. It's just human nature to do so, I suppose."

The Rosenberg girl, who had heard Harmony blabbing this morning about rival gangs and that Buffy was probably part of that entire scene, shook her head. "Well, I'll never forget it, none of it..." Then she looked around. "Uh, Buffy, where's Xander?"

The Slayer frowned. "I don't know, he ditched me as soon as Dad drove us to school this morning."

"Well, the guy's gotta be around someplace," Jesse shrugged. "Maybe he's gone off somewhere to practice his vamp detection skills?"

"I rather doubt that there are any members of the undead on campus right now. Still, it's good practice for next time-" Giles started to say.

"NEXT TIME?" Jesse, Willow and Buffy asked at once.

"Of course," Giles blinked. "And it's not just vampires we need worry about, you know. The next threat we face m-may be something quite different."

Buffy rolled her eyes. "I can hardly wait!"

Rupert tried to stress the importance of the situation to these young, impressionable minds. "We're at the center of a mystical convergence here, remember. We may, in fact, be all that stands between the Earth and its total destruction."

The teenage Slayer couldn't help it, she just had to say, "Well, I gotta look on the bright side on things. Like, maybe I can be the one who gets kicked out of school this time, instead of Xander!"

"Burning down a gym is so passé, though. 'Been there, done that' sorta territory," Jesse said.

"Not to mention kinda dangerous," Willow pointed out. "Maybe you could be rude to the vice-principal?"

The conversation proceeded along its predestined course, with Giles eventually muttering, "The Earth is doomed!" and heading for his library after the three teenagers had left him.

Sunnydale High Library, Sunnydale. The same time

Unbeknownst to the Watcher, though, Xander was already there in the private sanctum, wanting some alone time to think.

( I've been watching over you and your other half here – ever since before you two were born. )

( See, my problem is...the guy who was originally supposed to fill you in and stand guard over you, sweetcheeks? He couldn't make it to the party, at least not the way he was supposed to. That's why Big Brother over there got drafted for this gig. )

( The man in the hat, so-so naughty he was...before you were born, even. Cuckoo in the nest, you are! I can see it, kitten, you're not who you would 'ave been. )

( So, your sister's the Slayer? That cute little blonde thing? Funny. I don't see the resemblance. )

The words swirled around in his head, having led Xander down a path he REALLY hadn't wanted to travel. But 'the one who sees' couldn't escape his own thoughts. And so, during the weekend he had carefully examined all the family photographs he could get his hands on. To his ever-increasing horror, in the end Xander had found the evidence stacked against him. In more ways than one.

"Hi, kid. I heard you've been wanting to find me?"

The young man instantly leapt to his feet, and found himself facing the balance demon he'd been itching to talk to for a few days now. Not to mention try to throttle if he got the opportunity.

"What have you done to me?" Xander hissed out, slowly advancing forward.

"I'm good, thanks for asking. Geez! Don't they teach you kids any manners anymore?" Whistler wanted to know, even as he backed up at once.

"Who am I, Whis?" Xander demanded.

"You wanna clarify that a little?" Whistler asked, again annoyed at the nickname.

"Fine. I'm not an idiot, you know. What you said, what Drusilla said, hell – even what that prick Angelus said! I went through the family album very carefully, and it's obvious I look nothing like my parents or my sister. Not to mention all the rest of the relatives! So I repeat, who am I? And what have you done to me?"

Whistler sighed. "Let me put it this way, kid. You remember the night of the Hemery High dance, you had to sacrifice those people who wouldn't leave that gym? Same principle applies, but on a bigger scale. I had to do what I had to do. If I hadn't? The Slayer and quite a few other people woulda died on Friday night. And old bat nose woulda turned this town into a human blood factory!"

"Who? And what does that really mean?" Xander demanded, calming down somewhat as he recalled staking Darla at the Bronze, and almost shivering at the thought of what would have happened if he hadn't been there to help Buffy.

"Oldest vamp around named the Master, Watcher guy mentioned him not long ago. And like I said to you last week, you got drafted for all this. Same as your little sweetheart of a sister! So, my advice, just make the best of your situation. 'Cause we all are what we are, kid. And we all do what we gotta do. It's just that me, I'm no hero. That's you guys' department!"

"You don't even have anything worthwhile to say, do you? Just cryptic bullshit to try to confuse the hell out of me. Well, listen up demon. Because I'm NOT going to let this go. And eventually I WILL find out what you did, somehow!"

"Too bad then for that luscious broad you got caught in a liplock with a few days ago!" Whistler instantly knew that he'd gone for a very low blow with that one.

But needs must as the devil drives. Plus he knew Xander had an upcoming role to play, and didn't want the boy distracted with...trivialities. ( Heck, kid, I just wish I could tell you how I actually did you a favor. Even if Jessica Harris did end up a vamp that you almost encountered at the Harvest that night! )

"You mean Cordelia? And what's that supposed to mean, Whis?" Xander asked in response to Whistler's statement.

"Way I see it, that particular princess isn't gonna die the way she was supposed to one day. On account of the Powers That Be have cleaned house a lot over the last two decades. But funny thing how her old man has been diddling the IRS for the last ten years, don't ya think? And when he eventually gets busted for that? I figure our girl will swallow a ton of pills one night rather than face reality. A reality where the only thing she'll have to her name is a Blockbuster membership card! On account of the one thing rich folks can't handle is becoming poor folks, you know? Unless of course..."

"Unless of course, what?" Xander snarled, somewhat unsettled by this news.

"YOU take the time and effort to become her friend, rather than pursue that...other endeavour. And by the way, if you two were to end up as more than just friends? So much the better!"

Xander scowled over the way-too-obvious attempt at manipulation. "Why me? I mean, Jesse already loves Cordelia with all his heart, so why not pick HIM for all that?"

The balance demon said simply, "Because that guy's a nice enough kid, but they were never destined to be together that way. Like it or not you're now her best bet, pal. After all, you DID show up and try to save that cutie like a genuine white knight the other evening, didn't you? No. It's you and her, you're the only real chance she's got to survive."

"So why are you so invested in Cordelia staying alive, anyway?" Xander ignored the echo of Angelus's mocking phrase as best he could.

Whistler blew out a deep breath, thinking about what he'd been told Drusilla was now destined to accomplish. "Sorry, can't tell you. Like you yourself said recently: you honestly don't want to know the truth, okay? Someone like you...simply couldn't handle it."

It was obvious Xander didn't like hearing his own words parroted back at him. Then Giles FINALLY came into the library and Whistler vanished from view, the second the boy's eyes turned away. And the worst part was there was nothing the youth could do about that, what with the balance demon's annoying tendency to show up only when the Powers That Be were in favor of that occurrence.

Sunnydale High Corridor, Sunnydale. A short while later

Xander had left the library, and after walking around for a few minutes found Cordelia in one of the hallways. But unfortunately she was surrounded by her Cordettes, and since the young man wanted privacy for their upcoming conversation...

Eventually, Cordy twigged onto the fact that the new boy was both staring at her and wanting a private meeting. And thus she carefully slid away to hide in the closest private place she could find.

One of the school's utility closets.

Xander waited a few minutes to make sure no one was watching, and then carefully followed her in. As he closed the door, Cordelia yanked on the light string to dissipate the total darkness. "You ever hear of the word 'subtlety', Summers? Geez! I think pretty much everyone and their boyfriend noticed you staring at me like that, just now. And as if that's what my reputation needs at the moment!"

( What have I gotten myself into? I was right that first moment we spoke at the Bronze last week, I should be getting paid for this! ) Xander shook his head. But all he said was, "You okay after everything that happened at the Bronze on Friday night?"

Cordelia looked nervous. "What do you mean? I thought that was just...I didn't..."

But from the look on Xander's face it was obvious he wasn't buying it. Finally Cordelia conceded, "Yeah, I'm fine, didn't get bitten or anything. And y'know, all that was EXACTLY what I wanted to think about over the weekend! Along with whether my future husband will be a crazy demented chainsaw murderer, of course!"

Again, Xander said nothing, he just kept staring at his companion. Finally Ms. Chase grew tired of the silence and demanded, "WELL?"

"Well, what?"

"You came here to give me an explanation about what really happened that night, didn't you?" Cordelia demanded. "So let's hear it! Let's start with how the hell vampires are real, and why they're living in Sunnydale!"

Xander had a question of his own, though. "There'll be plenty of time for that later. What I want to know right now is, how important is money to you?"

Cordelia was a bit thrown by that query. "What do you mean?"

"Say that for some reason you had to live poor, your family lost all its money. Could you handle that?"

Cordelia instantly went as white as a sheet. "Oh my God! You, you had one of those psychic visions or whatever about THAT happening?"

"No," Xander admitted with a quick smile that instantly vanished. "This isn't like the prophetic warning I had of you getting killed by Angelus. The thing is, I got paid a visit today by..." For a moment Xander hesitated, "uh...my godfather, I guess you could call him. And he told me that your dad's been cheating on his taxes for the past ten years, and eventually he's gonna get caught. I mean, the IRS is gonna throw the book at him. So, if it's true and your family ends up losing everything...I was just wondering how well you would cope with that?"

The Chase girl backed away from him in horror. ( Oh my God, no. That, that can't be true, it just CAN'T be! But if it is...oh, no... )

The cold hard truth was that Cordelia was unashamed to admit how much she liked money. She liked the status and power it brought her; and more importantly, the things it also let her buy. Clothes and shoes, especially. As far as this teenage girl was concerned Cordelia Chase hadn't been born to live in poverty, and the concept of losing the money, the house, the cars, the villa in Tuscany, even her trust fund...no. All that was NOT an option!

( I'll need to talk to the family accountant. And maybe sneak a look at Daddy's last few tax returns? Shouldn't be too hard, anyway. That big dummy with the bow tie fetish obviously has a thing for me, from what I saw last time he was over at the house! And if it's all true...uh, well... )

Various scenarios ran through Cordelia's 16-year-old mind. Retrieving money currently in various offshore accounts, cashing in some of the credit available on her charge cards, maybe even selling some of her jewelry. But damn it, whatever she scrounged together from using those sorts of tricks wouldn't last long, given her lifestyle, and since she was still underage...

"Cordelia?" Xander asked, getting tired of the silence between them.

"Yeah?" Cordy replied absently. Still thinking about options on how to save the Chase family fortune if worst came to worst, not surprisingly.

"You wouldn't do anything stupid if you ended up dirt poor like that, would you? Like overdose on pills rather than get a job, or whatever?"

"WHAT? NO!" Cordelia said angrily, coming back down to Earth. "Who do you take me for, some pathetic cry-baby loser? I'm Cordelia Chase, pal. And I don't plan on ever killing myself!"

"Well, that's good," Xander said with a slight smile. ( Huh, guess Whistler was wrong about that one. Okay, fine. That's one less thing I have to worry about, thank God! )

"Right. Well, was there anything else?" the brunette girl asked, now in a hurry to get out of here.

"Uh, yeah. We need to clear up what happened between us in the library last Friday, don't you think? When we, uh, ended up kissing – I mean, see, I sorta promised Jesse that we would do that."

"Why? I mean, who cares about what that loser wants or thinks?" Cordelia demanded bluntly, honestly not in the mood for this after the big scare Xander had thrown her way.

The teenage boy shot her an unimpressed look. "Apart from the obvious, what the hell does any guy see in you anyway?"

Now Cordy was beginning to get mad. "And what's THAT supposed to mean?"

"Well, think about it. What the heck kinda comment was it that you just made? I mean, not that I know him all that well yet, but Jesse appears to be a stand-up kinda guy. And he's head over heels in love with you-"

"SO not my problem! And for the record, he's not really in love with me, at best Jesse's just...infatuated with the dream. There's a difference, you should know. That dweeb can't handle the fact that I don't even like him, that's just something that HE'S gotta deal with!"

( My God – Tact Girl, this chick isn't... ) "I see. So when he asks about what happened between us on Friday, what am I supposed to tell him?" Xander asked way too calmly.

Cordelia appeared to think about it. "Well, you could try going with the obvious of course."

"Which is?"

"That you're a pervert!"

Xander stared at the female teenager in disbelief. "I'm a what?"

"You heard me! After the way you practically tried to jump my bones like that-" Cordelia started to say.

"No-no-no, hold on, just a second here!" Xander took a step closer to her, "I seem to recall that I was the jumpee, Miss Selective Memory!"

"As if!" Cordelia spat out. "Unlike you, I have a reputation to maintain Mr. Arsonist! I mean, you probably planned the whole thing!"

Xander took another step forward in the cramped utility closet. "Are you seriously spaced? Firstly, I'm not an arsonist! And secondly, who came into that library looking for whom?"

"Fine! Whatever," the Chase girl growled. "You know, the point I'm just trying to make here is – don't try it again!"

"I didn't try it in the first place! And don't worry, YOU won't be getting the chance for a repeat performance of that anytime soon!" Xander said directly into her face.

"Then it's erased!" Cordelia said in satisfaction.

"Never happened!" Xander agreed.

"Good!" Cordy said vehemently.

"Good!" Xander agreed.

"GOOD!" the female teen wanted to have the last word on the matter.

They both reached for the doorknob, and their hands met. The boy and girl hesitated for barely a moment...

...before they instinctively wrapped their arms around each other, and started sucking face even more passionately than the first time.

Xander cradled Cordelia's head in his hand, kissing her as they slowly sank to the floor. He reached up for the light string with his other hand and gave it a good hard yank, plunging the room into complete darkness just before they hit the ground.

And as far as Whistler was concerned, as he watched them together from somewhere up above in a higher dimension...

This was just the beginning.

The End