Going Solo

"Telekinesis?" Xander asked Willow intently. "The first witchy power is telekinesis?"

"Yeah, why?" she replied before realizing where he was going with this. "No, Xander, just no!"

"What are you two arguing over?" Buffy asked as she saw Xander smiling evilly while Willow looked annoyed.

"Willow just introduced me to a brand new hobby," Xander explained.

"Magic is not a toy," Willow said. "Miss Calendar made me promise to take it seriously and approach each spell cautiously."

"And I'm not planning on casting a single spell," Xander assured her.

Willow groaned. "There is something deeply disturbing about how obsessed you are with Star Wars."

"What am I missing?" Buffy asked.

"Studying magic gives you telekinesis," Xander replied. "Think about it, you drop a stake while fighting a vamp and *BOOM* you can call it back to your hand."

"That would be handy," Buffy agreed.

"You can't learn magic just to do that," Willow complained. "That's like learning auto mechanics to listen to the radio!"

"I like music," Xander said cheerfully.

"Music is good," Buffy agreed.

"Magic is about so much more than just moving stuff around without touching it though," Willow explained.

"Yeah, and that stuff is dangerous and requires a high diet of moral fiber," Xander said, "That's why I am only interested in the introductory course where you learn party tricks that in no way endangers your soul."

"I can't believe you are seriously going to limit yourself that way," Willow said, shaking her head.

"But I am," Xander assured her.

"I mean I can't believe you are crazy enough to limit yourself that way, not that I can't believe you would," she explained.

"Ow," Buffy said, following that train of thought.

"Do you think I should get into magic and spellcasting?" Xander asked Willow.

"Not really," she admitted, "You'd be a really poor fit for it."

Xander nodded. "Exactly, Magic is a poor fit, but the telekinesis I can do."

"Fine," Willow said with a put upon sigh, "but I really doubt you'll get anywhere with it as it takes a lot of patience and meditation."

"Excitement, adventure… a Jedi seeks not these things," Xander said grandly, making Buffy laugh and Willow drop her head to the table with a thunk.

One Month Later

Giles stepped out of his office and saw Xander and Buffy had set up a chess set on one end of the table and were playing a game.

To his surprise, neither one touched the board and the pieces appeared to be moving on their own.

"Before I go spritzing everyone with holy water and calling for priests, might I find out what is going on?" Giles asked dryly.

"Ha, you owe me five bucks," Xander told Buffy. "I told you he'd stay calm and threaten us with something horrific."

"Fine," Buffy conceded with a sigh. "I thought he'd at least raise his voice."

Xander accepted the five with a grin. "Remember how Willow started learning magic a couple of months ago?"

"Yes… are you two studying magic as well?!" Giles shook his head. "You really should have said something. Learning magic, much less learning magic on the Hellmouth, requires a number of precautions."

"We aren't learning magic," Xander said firmly.

"Pardon?" Giles asked.

"All we were interested in was the first exercise," Buffy explained, "none of the complicated corrupting stuff."

"That… that's… I don't know what that is," Giles said, cleaning his glasses. "It's rather like getting a license as a doctor to trim your toenails."

"You and Willow shop at the same store for your trains of thought," Buffy said, shaking her head.

"We aren't going into practice," Xander said, "so it's more like learning CPR to change the channel on the TV without the remote."

"I see," Giles said thoughtfully. "I did notice the pair of you seemed more calm and centered lately, I simply misconstrued the reason."

"Also makes it easier to pass notes in class," Buffy said.

"In class? What if someone sees you?"

"I tell them I used fishing line," Buffy replied. "What? Do you think they are going to argue that it wasn't a trick and I have actual magical powers?"

"I hadn't thought of that," Giles admitted. "I can see how that would work. Still, do be careful, please."

"We are," Buffy promised, "besides, we have to be calm and spend like five minutes thinking about our belly button before we can actually move anything."

Giles considered correcting her about what finding your center and navel gazing actually meant but decided not to bother, after all, it seemed to work for them and that ultimately was all that mattered.

"Of course if nothing exciting is going on it's kinda easy to stay in the right mindset," Xander said, turning back to the board and making all the pieces move back into place.

"Excellent progress, though I suppose concentrating on just the one exercise does have that benefit," Giles said thoughtfully.

"Like knowing who has touched something last," Buffy said.

"You've developed psychometry?" Giles asked, surprised.

"Psycho- what?" Buffy asked.

"You are able to read the history of an item by touching it," Giles explained.

"Oh that, yeah," Buffy replied.

"It's a rare and useful talent," Giles explained.

"It also lets me know if anyone has messed with my stuff," Buffy said. "I have avoided two pranks and one perv."

"A very practical gift," Xander said.

"No cheating," Buffy said with a glare as one of his defeated chess pieces was sneaking along the side of the board.

"If you don't catch it…" Xander began with a grin.

"Then it's not cheating," Buffy agreed, "but I caught it, so back!"

"I'm surprised you both have the patience for that sort of thing, neither of you has struck me as the meditative type," Giles admitted.

"If we fail to meditate we get a nice nap, win-win," Buffy said.

"That I could see," Giles admitted.

"Have you guys picked your Halloween costumes yet?" Willow asked as she entered the library.

"No, there's a new place that's opened up on Main," Buffy replied. "I want to see what they've got before I make a decision."

"I'm thinking Jedi," Xander replied with a grin.

"Yes, but which one?" Willow asked.

"They all kinda look alike," Xander admitted, "or at least the costumes do unless you go for non-human, which requires a lot more work."

"So… non-specific Jedi?" Buffy guessed.

"Jedi Master Xander it is," he agreed.

"Checkmate!" Buffy said with a grin.

"What?" Xander turned back to the board and saw that Buffy had moved the pieces while he was distracted. "Curse your sneaky Slayer ways!" he said melodramatically.

Willow rolled her eyes. "I can't believe you two are still doing that. I mean, you sleep more than you practice."

"And what a shame that is," Xander said with a grin.

"Our grades have actually improved," Buffy pointed out. "So I'd say nap time is a good idea."

"We should bring milk and cookies next time," Xander said.

"Ohh!" Buffy said. "Chocolate chip?"

"Of course!"

Willow dropped her head to the table making the two laugh.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

"Something damn manly," Xander said, grabbing the front of Larry's shirt.

Seeing Xander about to get flattened by the much larger football player, Buffy quickly pushed in between them to protect her friend, but almost stumbled as she felt Xander's outrage as she touched him. It took all of half a second for her to realize the faux pas she was making and came up with an excuse.

"You can't hurt him," Buffy said urgently to Xander, making sure she was loud enough to be overheard. "Remember what you did to the guy who tried to grab Willow last weekend?"

"That was his own fault," Xander said with a wince, remembering the wet snap of bone as it had torn through flesh when the vamp had gotten bodychecked by Xander with its leg half way in a storm drain.

"You crippled him," Buffy said with a glare making Xander shrink back.

Larry began to get nervous as he saw the two weren't acting, Harris had actually crippled someone. Of course the fact that they had apparently tried to assault Rosenberg just made it that much more believable.

"Promise me you aren't going to hurt one of the students," Buffy said, "I know you rarely lose your temper, but I don't need one of my best friends getting kicked out of school for maiming someone."

"Buffy, it was an accident," Xander said, almost whining.

"And his friend's arm?" Buffy asked.

"Was completely deserved," Xander said, glaring back. "You do not touch a girl that way against her will."

"I understand and I agree," Buffy quickly said, "but once again you crippled him."

"I'm not apologizing for that one, I did it on purpose and I'd do it again in a heartbeat," Xander said.

"Agreed," Buffy said. "Now, does Larry deserve any of that?"

"What? No!" Xander said, horrified.

"And can you guarantee you won't accidentally cripple him?" Buffy asked.

"Almost certainly," Xander said firmly.

"That's not a yes," Buffy said. "Now, since he doesn't deserve it, how about you both say sorry and shake hands?"

Xander sighed and his shoulders slumped. He offered a hand to Larry. "Sorry, but I really wasn't planning on anything like that, I was only a little mad at you."

Larry swallowed and shook his hand. "Yeah, and that was probably my fault."

"It happens," Xander said, waving it off. "We cool?"

"Yeah, we're cool," Larry said, turning and leaving.

"Sorry about that, but let's face it, neither of us should be fighting civvies," Buffy said, happy to have avoided making things worse for her friend.

"I know," Xander admitted. "You know I wouldn't cripple him. Right, Buff?"

"I know you wouldn't intentionally," Buffy said. "Just… no fighting in school, ok?"

"Alright," Xander agreed with a heavy sigh and a bit confused as to how it had come to this.

Buffy kept her amusement to herself, already knowing how the gossip mill was going to spin this. She decided it might be a good idea to have Giles train Xander a little.

"Ready to go get our costumes?" Willow asked as she approached, wondering what all the whispering in the hall was about.

"I believe we are," Buffy said, eyes dancing with mischief.

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"They have Darth Vader," Buffy pointed out.

"They have Han Solo," Xander replied.

"Harrison Ford is cool," Buffy admitted. "I could do a decent Han Solo."

"We could all dress as Harrison Ford characters," Xander said. "Dibs on Indiana Jones!"

Willow laughed. "They really only have costumes of the two unless you want us to double up on them."

"The Han Solo Trio!" Xander said with a grin.

"That sounds so wrong… let's do it," Buffy said.

"The Lone Rangers," Willow said before bursting out laughing.

"The Lone Rangers?" Buffy asked, wondering why that sounded so familiar.

"Those three guys who took over a radio station in LA last year," Xander said. "Their music is actually pretty good, but they are completely nuts."

"Too bad they don't have costumes for them," Buffy said as she recalled listening to them and laughing.

"The Three Solos it is then," Xander said. "To the counter!"

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"Han Solo?" Joyce asked, surprised.

"What? Did someone else steal my idea?" Xander asked, pretending to be shocked as Joyce let him in.

Buffy came down the stairs having heard Xander. "You too? One of us is going to have to change."

Willow followed her down the stairs also in an identical outfit. "I could go as a ghost," she offered.

"It looks good on you," Xander assured Willow making her beam.

"You all three decided to dress as Han Solo?" Joyce asked with a grin.

"It's a nice, simple, and recognizable outfit that Snyder can't complain about and the kids will love," Buffy said.

"The Three Solos," Xander said grandly. "All for one, and one for all!"

"Hear, hear!" Willow and Buffy chorused, holding up their blasters.

Joyce laughed.

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Han Solo drew his blaster and spun around trying to see everything at once. It was pure chaos wherever he was and he didn't remember getting drunk enough to black out, so what was going on?

A couple of blaster shots at the ground scared off some of the more hostile wildlife as he tried to find something familiar.

He quickly gave up on that and instead followed that little buzz of intuition that he knew was a latent Force ability to somewhere he would find comfortable…

Half an hour later…

"The Farm Boy is a good kid," Solo said before taking a drink.

"The Princess deserves someone like him," the red headed Solo agreed.

"Now, don't start counting us out yet," the blonde Solo disagreed. "I say we give him a shot, maybe even help him out, but if it doesn't work…"

"Then we make our move," the dark haired Solo agreed.

Spike grinned as he spotted the Slayer. Dru had said she'd be weak tonight. Of course she also said she'd be all alone, but the other two were simple humans, so it was all good. He tossed his duster to the side. "Slayer!" he called out with a leer.

*ZAP*

Three simultaneous blaster bolts skewered the master Vamp, reducing him to ash.

The three continued their conversation unconcerned while Willy swept up the mess.

"Ok, that's our love life settled, what else we got?" the blonde Solo asked.

"A bit much to drink," the dark haired Solo said, tossing some credits on the table and discovering he had an unfamiliar wallet on himself. "I think this is me," he said. "Not sure where the address is."

"Can't be that hard to find," the blonde Solo said with a shrug.

"It is when I can't read the language," the dark haired Solo said with a smirk.

The red haired Solo pointed at a nervous looking alien. "You! Yeah, you. Tell us how to get to this address."

The Brachen slowly approached. "That's half way across town."

"Give em a ride and I'll cover half your tab," the bartender said urgently.

"Yeah?" the demon asked, perking up before turning back to the three trigger happy humans. "Take me less than ten minutes to drive you there."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Three teens woke up at the same time with the same hangover in the same bed under the same blanket.

"No yelling," the three whispered in chorus.

There were three identical stunned silences.

"I… hope we aren't going to do that a lot," Willow said slowly.

"Agreed, too wigsome," Buffy whispered.

"Anyone got to go anywhere?" Xander asked.

"Mom's in LA for a couple more days," Buffy said.

"Convention in Fresno," Willow said, telling them where her parents were now.

"I think mine are in Vegas," Xander offered.

"Sleep more?" Willow asked hopefully.

"Yes, sleep more," Xander agreed.

"Agreed, night," Buffy said.

"Night," the two chorused back.

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Giles let out a sigh of relief as the three teens entered the library looking none the worse for wear though a touch ragged around the edges. "Thank heavens you are all alright, I checked all your houses but no one was in residence."

"We were at Xander's," Buffy said, "passed out."

"Passed out?" Giles asked.

"Everyone turned into their costumes and Han Solo decided to go drinking and sort out his emotional problems," Xander explained.

"And we were all dressed as Han," Willow explained.

"So you were affected by the spell," Giles said. "Makes me wish I had hit Ethan harder."

"Ethan?" Buffy asked as all three looked to Giles.

"Yes, Ethan Rayne, a chaos mage," Giles explained. "He cast a spell to turn everyone into their costumes."

"That would explain things," Willow said. "Of course we'd all figured out the 'become our costumes' bit when we woke up, but then there was the hangover so we went back to sleep."

"Thank god for Slayer healing," Buffy said.

"And Harris' constitution," Xander added.

As everyone looked to Willow she simply shrugged. "No idea, I just feel better now."

"I know how to fix and maintain futuristic high-tech stuff with no knowledge of how to build it," Xander said thoughtfully. "It's kinda like being a TV repairman in the fifth century."

"Yeah, but there was a lot of math involved, so there's that," Buffy said.

"Yes, math is no longer a problem," Xander agreed cheerfully.

"Lots of knowledge, not a lot of it useful," Buffy said with a shrug.

"I think we should be grateful we came through it mostly unchanged," Xander said.

"Amen," Buffy agreed.

That Weekend

"I broke it off with Angel," Buffy announced as she entered the library.

Willow and Xander had been squeezed together in a single seat, working on something, but they'd both sat up when Buffy entered.

"Why?" Willow asked, unsure if she should be comforting Buffy or plotting revenge on the souled vamp.

"When I touch things I get… emotions and impressions," Buffy explained. "It used to be just when I meditated and concentrated, but it's all the time now."

"And touching Angel made it impossible to pretend Angelus wasn't there," Xander said.

"Bingo," Buffy said. "Plus… that man needs some serious therapy."

"Pardon?" Giles asked, not wanting to interrupt, but needing to know if he was a threat.

"When I'm wearing a low cut shirt and tight jeans, no man should be moping about how the world is passing them by and clothing styles are changing," Buffy said.

"Poor Buffy," Xander said, holding out his arms for a hug.

"Yes, poor Buffy," Buffy agreed as Xander and Willow hugged her. After a minute she let loose and took her own seat. "At least you two get it."

"So, your talents have gotten stronger?" Giles asked.

"Easier to use as well," Buffy said, levitating a donut to her.

"I hadn't checked," Xander admitted as a donut floated to him. "Yeah, way easy."

"We are still going to keep up our daily meditations," Buffy said firmly.

"I'll bring the cookies," Willow promised.

Giles rolled his eyes but smiled. "What would you attribute to the boost in your skills?"

The three shrugged in unison.

"Yes, well that was helpful," Giles said dryly.

"Probably Halloween," Willow said. "It's the only thing of note that has happened lately."

"Was Han Solo… Adept?" Giles asked, searching for the right term, as it had been quite some time since he'd seen any of the films.

"I'm pretty sure he had a touch of the Force," Xander said, "mostly latent."

"He had pretty good intuition and danger sense," Buffy offered.

"That may account for it," Giles decided.

"So, what are you two working on that's got you all excited?" Buffy asked, the two girls lightly cuffing the back of Xander's head before he could say anything.

Xander looked smug at that response rather than annoyed.

"Pricing ships," Willow said.

"Ships?" Buffy perked up and scooted closer to the two.

"We figured we'd start out small," Willow explained, "something large enough to carry a bit of cargo or ferry a couple of passengers."

"We could make runs during the weekends up to LA or down to Mexico," Xander said. "There are some interesting opportunities to transport patients from hospitals in Mexico up to LA."

"Mostly American tourists who don't trust foreign doctors, but the money is good," Willow said.

"Tell me more," Buffy said as the three squeezed together so tightly they were practically on the same seat.

Typing By: Abyssal Angel

TN: "I can't believe you are seriously going to limit yourself that way," Willow said, shaking her head.

*record scratch* … Must… resist… urge… to throttle… neck… ARGH! I know it's in character I know it's in character I know it's in character I know it's in character… *repeats mantra several times before calming down* Willow, honey, if you were a scientist talking about science and you said that, do you know that would make you? AN IMMORAL SCIENTIST! Just because part of something is of the good doesn't mean ALL OF IT IS! Xander LITERALLY JUST SAID that you could risk your freaking SOUL with the more 'advanced' stuff! Now call me crazy, but that sounds BAD. Like EVIL bad! So like, why don't you do a bit more research and stick to the stuff that's neutral and good that won't threaten to destroy your soul, morals, or sanity? Hmmmm!? *deep breaths* Zen…. Ooooooommmmmmmmm…. OK. Back to writing.