Chapter 10- Feeling Safe

A/N: This chapter was written by Ozlover.

The slowly sinking moon was the only source of light for a man plodding through a dark, dank part of Carolina Beach. The man was hauling a very large, black garbage bag. He crept in the shadown of buildings, not wanting to be seen. That could cost him everything. He snuck down to an area on the beach where he knew a barge left every morning at three AM. to dump garbage in a dump on the other side of the beach.

This was the way it happened every time: He would sneak through the city undetected, head down to where the garbage was loaded on the barge, dump the body and go back to his 'hide-out' before the sun rose.

He hoisted up the garbage bag and dumped it into he dumpster. They seemed to be getting heavier and heavier, Joe thought...He stood still after the body was in place. The sun shouldn't be rising. Why was the sky getting lighter? And with red and blue? That wasn't right...When he finally realized what was going on, it was too late.

"Freeze! Arms in the air! You're under arrest!"

"Damn." Joe whispered under his breath.

Back at the House

The morning sun was shining brightly into Willow and Buffy's bedroom window.(They figured it was alright to draw back the curtains after everything happened at midnight) Buffy groaned and pulled the covers over her head when the sun shone into her eyes.

Willow heard her and turned in bed to glance at the clock on the nightstand. It was almost eleven! Willow debated whether to stay in bed and sleep more or go downstairs and see who else was awake. She decided to get up. She'd never been in bed this late and she knew she would get bored just laying in bed. She crept out of the room quietly, just incase Buffy was still asleep. She knew how her best friend could get if she was deprived of sleep.

When she got down the stairs she looked to see if Oz was awake. He wasn't. He was sleeping soundly, half hanging off the couch and tangled up in the blanket. She smiled and continued on into the kitchen to fix herself some breakfast. Apparently Jenny had bought more cereal last night, so she poured herself a bowl.

"Lucky Charms?"

Willow looked up and saw Oz standing in the doorway.

"Yeah, something about the little leprechaun always does it for me. Want some?" Willow asked, smiling.

"No thanks. I'm not really hungry." Oz anwered. "It probably has something to do with last night. I couldn't really sleep."

"Well, from where I was standing five minutes ago, it sure looked like you were sleeping." Willow said with a sly smile.

Oz just smiled and laughed softly.

"Good morning!" Buffy chirped as she entered the kitchen. Oz and Willow exchanged confused glances.

"Uh, why so enthusiastic, Buff?" Willow asked.

Buffy just motioned around herself, smiling. There was nothing there

"Uh, I don't get it." Willow said.

"Beans and Snoopy are locked in Angel and Connor's room." Buffy replied. "Finally...peace."

Willow and Buffy giggled. The three teens went into the living room to watch TV. They found that Dawn and Cordelia had beaten them to the TV.

"They caught him, they caught him!" Dawn said from her place on the couch.

"Who? The rapist?" Buffy asked.

"Yeah, Joe." Cordelia replied.

"They found him?" Connor asked as he came down the stairs, immediately followed by Xander and Angel. Beans and Snoopy bounded down the stairs, as well. They hopped up on Buffy's lap; she was too relieved by the news to care- along with everyone else.

"Yeah." Willow answered, eyes glued to the television. A picture of Joe came up on the screen.

"Eww, you met him?" Buffy asked Cordelia and Dawn. They both nodded in disgust. Apparently Joe had won himself a life sentence for raping, killing and dumping bodies of girls in the garbage for three years.

"He's been doing this for three years?" Cordelia asked incredulously. "That lady at the coffee shop told us he was harmless!"

"Maybe she didn't know?" Dawn suggested, but she knew the chances of that were slim. As if on cue, another picture filled up the screen.

"This woman, the sister of Joseph(Joe) Sanchez , was also taken into custody today. She, Maria Sanchez, confessed earlier today that she knew about what her brother was doing, but made no action against it because she 'couldn't bear to send her own brother to prison.' Now she'll be paying for it for five years in the local prison."

"That's the lady from the coffee shop!" Cordelia pointed at the screen.

"Well, that explains that." Dawn replied.

"Hey, I just realized something." Willow said. Seven faces turned toward her, waiting for her to speak again. "This is the last day Xander and I are grounded."

"Oh, yeah! I guess we were having too much fun being grounded to to count down the days." Xander said, only half joking. They did actually have a blast over the last few days. But it would be kinda nice to get out of the house and do something together.

"Let's do something tomorrow, then." Angel said. Of course, everyone agreed.

"We could...go down to the beach." Dawn suggested.

"Nah, Will and I are getting off groundation. It's a cause for celebration." Xander replied.

The girls started giggling. Hearing Xander rhyme was funny to them.

"What?" Xander asked.

"Nothing." Buffy said, still smiling.

"How about...the docks?" Willow asked.

"Yeah!" Xander said, resisiting the urge to pump his fist in the air. "We haven't been there yet."

"We can go fishing." Dawn said.

"Ooh, ooh!" Xander piped up again. "Maybe my dad will tak us out on his boat!"

"You have a boat? Since when?" Willow asked Xander.

"Since last year." Xander answered. "But Dad doesn't let me drive it. He's afraid I'm gonna sink it or something."

"I wouldn't put it past you." Willow joked.

"If you're referring to that time when I was five and I just learned how to tie my shoes, and I untied half the ropes on the dock and set people's ships floating in the ocean...well...you're mean." Xander said defensively.

"What? That never even crossed my mind..." Willow was grinning, as well as everyone else.

"We should probably leave the house early, right?" Oz asked.

"Yeah, that way it's less crowded. I know the best spot for catching fish, but we'd have to leave the house around six-thirty." Xander said. There were a few groans of protest, but no one strongly disagreed.

"Can I invite Spike?" Buffy asked suddenly. Angel felt a pang of jealousy. Even though she was going out with Spike, a little part inside of him still believed that she liked him. But that little part was slowly shrinking away.

"Sure, you can bring whoever you want." Xander answered. Buffy smiled a little bit.

"So, what should we do on our last day of being grounded?" Willow asked.

"Hmm..." Xander thought for a moment. " I have an idea..." Xander whipped out a disposable camera from behind his back and started running around snapping more pictures. He literally chased the girls upstairs.

"Come back my pretties!" He cackled in a high-pitched witch voice.

"Not fair! We weren't even ready!" Dawn squealed. She was laughing hard.

"Ah, but that's the beauty of it." Xander said as he continued his camera crazy rampage.

Giles, who was just waking up, shook her head as the teens shot past her in the hallway.

"Teenagers." He muttered as he made his way downstairs to make some tea and maybe have a scone if his tight schedule allowed it. Jenny had agreed to watch the kids a second day in a row only because she wanted to stay in and nap. After last night, she really needed it. And that was where she was: In her room sleeping.

It was a beautiful day; there were no clouds in the sky. A perfect day for swimming, everyone concluded.

"We really need new bathingsuits." Buffy observed as the four girls were in her and Willow's room changing.

"Yeah, all this swimming and going to the beach is wearing them out." Dawn replied.

"Plus everytime we go to put them on, they're wet from the last time we used them." Willow pointed out.

"We should go bathingsuit shopping one day." Cordelia suggested.

The girls agreed and they headed out to the pool. The guys were already in, splashing around and making a mess...well, that was mostly Xander. he managed to get Fuzzball into the water with them.

"C'mon, Fuzzy! Swim this way." Xander called. It was adorable watching Fuzzball do the doggy-paddle over to Xander. Willow took Xander's camera and took a picture of the guys and Fuzzball. Beans and Snoopy came in soon after. Turtle waddled up to the pool and slid in, surprising everyone. At first, Xander and Angel rushed over to him, afraid he would sink. But he could swim quite well actually.

Everyone swam until lunch-time. They ate outside in the sun, drip-drying. Xander brought out left-over Chinese and after the teens were done there was still a large amount left. Jenny had really over-ordered.

Willow stared at the beautiful, clear ocean longingly. "I was I wasn't grounded. I want to be out there so badly." She said, with her head in her hand. Oz reached over and grabbed her other hand.

"One more day." He said reassuringly. Willow nodded softly and smiled slightly.

Eventually everyone went back inside, changed into dry clothes and went downstairs to play video games. They chose one of the new games, "Ledgends of Wrestling II", to play.

It was Xander against Willow. They had both created their own characters - Willow made a girl, Xander made a guy. They were now fighting in the ring.

"Hey! Where'd you get that chair from? No, don't hit me with it!" Xander protested. Willow just laughed and continued to beat the crap out of her cousin.

"I got beat by a hooker! Is that legal?" Xander asked. By now, everyone in the room was laughing. "No, seriously, how did you beat me?" He asked.

"I have this game at home." Willow answered with a smile.

"Ok, that is definitely illegal." Xander concluded.

Willow went on to beat everyone in the room.

"Ok, what now?" Cordelia asked.

"TV." Xander said as he got up from his bean-bad chair infront of the PS2. Everyone followed him and hung out around the television. Family guy was on.

"Ah, I love this show." Xander said. Everyone agreed and they watched two episodes in a row before it switched over to King of the Hill.

When dinner time rolled around, Jenny was finally awake, so she made dinner. She made three different types of pasta and garlic bread. Everyone was happy to have something other than Chinese. Beans and Snoopy were happy as well; they too were tired of eating scraps of Chinese from people's plates.

A half- hour after dinner(Jenny made them wait) everyone went back in the pool and swam until it got dark. All of them gazed up at the dark night sky in wonder of the brilliantly shining stars amidst the blackness.

"I wonder how many stars there are in the sky." Buffy said softly. She and Angel were laying on a lawn chair together(not touching of course). Willow and Oz were cuddled up together on another chair, Dawn and Cordelia were wrapped up in a towel together, which left Xander and Connor to lay on the edge of the pool deck and dangle their legs in the water.

"Who knows? They're constantly burning out and new ones are forming." Angel answered.

"But I wish I could know...for sure." Buffy said, trying not to get off-subject.

"You can never know for sure." Angel replied, knowing what she was saying. "What you think...it could be wrong."

Buffy didn't answer. She just looked up at the stars and made a wish on the brightest star she could find that she was making the right decision. But deep inside she knew she was...It was Spike.

The teens went to bed early, so they could wake up early and enjoy their freedom.

000000000000000

A/N: B/A shippers...Please calm down...Don't hurt us! Yeep...just...calm...down...lol