17619 White Oak Drive Sunnydale, November 18th 1997
Xander was deep in thought, as he drove home. He'd never really thought about his future after high school. But ever since meeting that nutty vampiress Drusilla, and listening to what she'd had to say... not to mention Angel's warnings earlier tonight...
{ Am I really destined for great things? Maybe I should do better in school, so I don't end up like my parents. After all, I wanna do more with my life than say 'Do you want fries with that?' at the local Doublemeat Palace... } Xander thought broodily, before starting to think about something else. Make that *someone* else.
Cordelia Chase.
{ Hmm, is it weird or what how Cordy and I haven't fought anywhere near as much as we usually do, since the start of the school year? } Xander asked himself. { Well, I suppose since I saved her life from that fire when Daryl Epps was about to make her the Bride of Frankenstein, she might have decided to act like a human being instead of such a... okay, I don't wanna say bitch, but if the shoe fits... }
No, wait – it had been more than that, lately. Take what had happened tonight; six months ago, hell even three months ago, Cordelia wouldn't have raised the alarm after Drusilla had kidnapped him that way. The Chase girl would have convinced herself that it was none of her business, and maybe called 911 if she was feeling generous; which, in this town, would have resulted in the cops conducting a brief search during the daylight hours before writing it (and him) off as a PCP-related 'gang attack.'
"Maybe she's changing – that could be a good thing, right?" Xander asked himself about Cordelia, as he continued to drive the mostly deserted streets of Sunnydale.
Over at the old Crawford Street mansion, Spike told the minions to block out the windows throughout their new lair, sun-proofing it as much as possible before dawn. He'd realized that even though it didn't really matter what happened to the cannon fodder, it was probably best to not let them needlessly get burned up by the sunlight – it was a *pain* getting replacements, especially after the vamps previously loyal to the Annoying One had started spreading the rumors about what had happened to that little git.
"Good idea," Count Orlok said, after William the Bloody had barked out his orders. "And before you say anything, I give you permission to stay in my home."
"YOUR home?" Spike sneered. "And wot permission is that, mate? Fer that matter, what makes you think I'm even gonna let ya stay here?" William demanded.
"I've been living here, if you'll pardon the expression, for a few weeks now," Count Orlok replied. "So how do you know there aren't boobytraps all over the place that will destroy you and your minions, once I'm no longer around to disarm them?" He smirked at Spike's enraged expression. "Of course, you could always leave..."
"I'm bloody well tempted to," Spike muttered, looking around in annoyance.
"But Spoike, I like this place," Drusilla pouted. "I don't wanna go! Oooh, look, the courtyard's so nice..."
"Dru, I'm sure there's plenty of other places we could... oi, don't wander off, luv! We don't need them Slayers and their pals to find us! Alright, fine, we can stay here," Spike grumbled, catching his sire in his arms before Dru smiled and kissed him hungrily.
Count Orlok was glad to see true love of the undead variety blossoming before him. "Well, since you and Drusilla are staying, we'd best sort out a roommate agreement. Luckily, there's plenty of room for everyone, and there's a lot of bedrooms. Beats sleeping in a coffin!" the former Billy Fordham laughed.
Over at White Oak Drive, Xander parked his uncle's car in front of the house. He locked the car and entered the house, trying not to make any noise as he headed upstairs. The sounds of the TV could be heard coming from his parents' room, but he doubted they were still awake. It was long past midnight, after all.
After changing clothes, Xander did some homework and then went to bed. He hoped that the death screams he'd heard at the warehouse and being alone with vampires didn't haunt his dreams.
On the other side of town, the Ted Buchanan robot was at home reading a book. He'd gotten the house dirt cheap from a seller that was more than glad to move away from Sunnydale way back when, and since the guy had left everything he had behind, the robot had let him live to enjoy life elsewhere. Being a robot, he didn't need sleep - or food, for that matter. 'Ted' slept and ate only to keep up the human façade to fool people about what he really was.
"Ah, Joyce. Honey, we'll be together soon," the mechanical serial killer chucked to itself. "I can't wait to bring you home..."
Little did 'Ted' know that there were other robots present in Sunnydale, not just him. The Willow-bot and the Oz-bot had been keeping an eye on the psychotic robot, sending the collected data to Jareth. The demon hadn't yet informed them on what he was going to do about 'Ted', but the Scooby spies suspected their creator would do something soon. The crazed machine was eventually going to draw too much attention to itself.
The next morning, Xander got up and went downstairs for breakfast. Afterwards, he got ready for school and went out the door to catch the bus. Later at Sunnydale High, Xander met up with Buffy and Willow at the school.
"Did you have any bad dreams about Drusilla, a-and all those people that were killed, Xander?" Willow asked with a worried look. "I mean, you, you were kidnapped, so it would have been a very stressful -"
"Nope, no nightmares for me, Wills," he reassured her at once. "Check out my subconscious, it's a vampire-free zone!"
Buffy rolled her eyes before the trio were joined by Oz, and then they went off to homeroom.
Back at the old mansion, Count Orlok was sound sleep with his arms crossed over his chest, laying on the bed. The minions were likewise sleeping in their own bedrooms. Spike was sleeping on the bed in the bedroom he shared with his sire, while Dru was having a vision of her 'kitten.'
The only thing was, this Xander was a vampire dressed in a black leather jacket, white shirt, and black pants and black shoes. He was with another vampire, the Slayer's red-haired friend; the cute li'l Willow tree. She was dressed in a leather black outfit with red sleeves and red top, with leather-heeled boots that were also black.
{ Ohhh… so that's what was supposed to happen, if the nasty Slayer never came 'ere! } Dru quickly decided to keep this vision to herself. The moon and the stars would be ever so cross if she shared their secrets with anyone, they would; even her darling Spoike!
Back at the school, the three Scooby members entered their home room while Oz departed for his own one. Xander, Willow and Buffy took their seats just as the homeroom teacher entered the room. The teacher started writing on the room's white board, before a bored Xander started tuning out completely. Then his attention was captured by Cordelia, who was sitting surrounded by her popular friends, the Cordettes...
{ Huh. Has Cordy gotten a new hair style since last night, or what? } Xander frowned, suddenly annoyed with himself for paying that much attention to the harpy of his existence. Why the heck was he focusing so much on Queen C, anyway? It wasn't like she could hold a candle to Buffy, whom he'd decided was his one true love last year, right?
Right?
Completely ignorant of Xander's musings, Joyce was at her art gallery, setting up for yet another working day and her thoughts drifting to her new boyfriend every so often. She had no idea that a demon in disguise was looking at the artwork within the gallery. The disguised demon's name was Drej, and he'd been sent to Sunnydale to 'acquire' Ted's robot parts for Jareth. The demon was waiting until Ted revealed himself or got into a fight with the Slayer, whichever happened first. But right now, Drej had time to spare to see the sights, and familiarise himself with the target's latest human obsession.
Drej didn't care that the Ted Buchanan robot was at work right now, or that the homicidal robot couldn't wait to pay to pay Joyce a visit at her place for dinner tonight. The demon knew it would succeed in its mission eventually.
Failure was *not* an option.
Back at the school Xander, Willow and Buffy went to their first class after homeroom. Spying Oz talking with his band mates at the lockers up the hallway, Xander sighed to himself, { I haven't had the chance to test my super-strength power – assuming it wasn't some kinda fluke – since last night. Ought to do something about that, right? }
Cordelia was talking with her friends as the three Scooby members walked past them, but she made eye contact with Xander as he did so. Harris honestly wasn't sure what to do with that right now, so he turned his attention back to his best friends.
"Do you think we'll run into Spike and Drusilla anytime soon?" Xander could tell that Willow didn't want that to happen, and he couldn't blame her. If he never saw either of those two again, it would be too soon!
"I doubt it, Willow," Buffy said, remembering the punch Spike got from Xander. "I mean, I'm sure Kendra and I are on Spike's kill list, but he won't come after us until the odds are definitely in his favor."
"Come on, Buff, are you kidding me? The odds are *already* in Spike's favor! Or have you forgotten what the G-man told us last night, about that Gem thing?" Xander hissed at her, worriedly. "That loony Drusilla chick is pretty much *unkillable* right now! The only thing that saved our asses last night is her voluntarily deciding to leave! And if she *is* sun-proof nowadays, what's to prevent that crazy female vampire from showing up here at school during the daylight hours, for a quick rematch with you – with or without Kendra present?!"
Both girls looked stunned, looking at him as if they couldn't believe the words that had come out of his mouth. Shaking his head at their lack of foresight, Xander entered the computer lab and sat down in front of a computer monitor, before the blond and the redhead did the same thing; just before Ms. Calendar walked into the room.
"Good morning, class," said the brunette teacher. "Okay, I want you to start working this week's programming assignment..." The class started writing down notes for the assignment and began typing on their computers. They continued to do so for the rest of first period, before the bell rang and everyone started to pack up and leave.
After class Xander, Willow and Buffy stayed to talk with Jenny. "Rupert told me that you were taken prisoner by Drusilla last night, Xander – are you okay?" the undercover gypsy asked, looking concerned.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Drusilla kept Spike and the other vamps at bay 'til the cavalry arrived," Xander frowned. "Not sure why, but since I'm still alive, at the moment I don't actually care..."
"Also, there's another Slayer in town named Kendra," Willow added. She didn't look too happy about that, but Xander assumed that was on account of the Caribbean girl had almost hurt him last night trying to take out Drusilla.
"Did Giles tell you about that whole Gem thing?" Buffy asked, looking rattled. Xander was almost sorry he's spoken to her so harshly earlier, but he figured better the Buffster stop thinking she was home free during the daylight hours, and be on guard for any undead lunatics that showed up to kill her here at the school!
"Yes, and frankly, it has me scared silly," Jenny replied. "You three better get going, though, you'll be late for your next class…"
A few hours later, within the library Giles and Kendra were doing research on any weaknesses that the Gem of Amara would have. But they hadn't found anything so far. The Council had no news either, and Giles had quickly hung up after making an international phone call to get back to the research. "Blast it, isn't there anything here other than myth or rumor?" he complained.
"We'll find somet'ing. I hope," Kendra briefly looked up from examining her latest tome.
Buffy, Willow, Xander and Jenny entered the library. Both Oz and Cordy were a no-show; Oz was with his band, and Cordelia was at cheerleading practice. It annoyed Xander to realize that he was subconsciously expecting the brunette beauty queen to be present, and it annoyed him even more to figure out that nowadays he was *wanting* Cordy around for this sort of thing...
"What do we know about the Gem of Amara, Giles?" Buffy said immediately.
"I don't – I, I have no idea, Buffy," Giles sighed. "Short of removing it from Drusilla's finger, you can't – she's invulnerable to harm of any kind, while she'd wearing that ring, that's the long and short of it. If anyone has a-any ideas…"
"I have an idea!" Xander spoke up, before they all turned to look at him. { Here goes nothing, } he thought to himself. "Okay, you called this thing the undead version of the Holy Grail, right? Lots of vamps familiar with the legend?"
"Well, yes," Giles nodded, looking confused. "Err, so?"
"So, the more famous and/or valuable something is, the more people will want it. And vamps being what they are, they won't care what they have to do or who they have to kill to get it! Maybe the best way to handle this is start spreading the news the Gem's been found; Angel could get the other vampires in town to go after Drusilla for us! If both her and Spike get dusted, so much the better; two fewer Big Bads to worry about. We just make sure that when the undead get ready to rumble, we're close by and able to get our hands on that darn thing, destroy it before any other vamp gets its claws on it!"
"Sad to say, but dat's the best idea I've heard so far," Kendra shrugged. She wasn't sure whether Xander's idea would work; too much depended on the element of chance. But if the Gem was destroyed, even at the expense of civilian lives, that was all for the best as far as she was concerned.
Buffy shook her head. "I got nothing better. Okay, I'll call Angel and tell him the plan."
"Tell him not to be too obvious," Giles cautioned her. Jenny didn't say a word.
Buffy told her undead boyfriend the plan, and Angel promised to be discreet. After a long day at school where she was worried about getting attacked by an unkillable vampire, Buffy got a call from her mom, telling her that she would be home a bit late. And she'll be bringing pizza home for dinner.
"That sounds great, mom. I'll tell my friends to come over for dinner, so bring enough for them too, okay? Bye, mom!" She hung up her cell phone, and noticed Willow and Xander walking up to her locker. "Hey guys. My mom wants to know if you guys want to come over for pizza tonight?"
Xander's eyes lit up. "Free food? I'm there Buff!"
"Me too. I'll tell Oz," Willow grinned.
"I'll give Cordy a call. What?" Xander asked in confusion, as the two girls stared at him. "I shouldn't?"
Willow and Buffy exchanged a look, before the Slayer gave him a fake smile. "Well, if you want to. I mean, if you don't think she'll laugh directly in your face or whatever..."
"Hey! I may not be Cordy's biggest fan, y'know, but if she hadn't done what she did last night – I'd probably be DEAD right now!" Xander snapped in annoyance. Buffy and Willow winced, looking at each other again guiltily. "Fine, I won't bother calling her. In fact, I might not bother showing up myself -"
"NO! I mean, that's fine, invite Cordy along to dinner tonight, i-if you want," Buffy said hastily, exchanging another glance with Willow. "I mean, the more the merrier, right?"
Xander merely raised an eyebrow before asking to borrow Buffy's cell phone, suddenly reminded of how the Slayer had practically used him as a stripper's pole at the Bronze a few months back. He wasn't sure why, but he got the feeling things were... changing around here...
Later that night, Angel headed over to Willie's bar, hoping that Buffy's plan didn't end up biting him in the ass somehow. He entered the demon bar and saw a lot of vamps and demons drinking and talking animatedly. Recalling the Watcher's advice to be subtle about this, he suddenly decided to do the exact opposite – because he knew results were needed fast, and the British guy was hopelessly stuck in the Council's way of doing things.
"Listen up, everyone! I have news!" Angel called out. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at him. "The Gem of Amara has been found! It's up for grabs to anyone who's willing to do what it takes, to get it away from Spike and Dru!" he tried to get the undead crowd pumped up.
"Really?! It's mine!" one of the vampires proclaimed, punching the vampire next to him directly in the face. A fight broke out in the bar, before the vampires and demons that weren't knocked out cold left the establishment.
Willie wasn't exactly happy about the damage caused by the bar fight. "I hope you can pay for this mess, Angel?" Willie gave him a hard look. Off Angel's return glower, the snitch backed off; but only a little. "What? You denying that you didn't cause this mess, yelling out the big news like that? I got expenses to cover, y'know! And it wouldn't surprise me if Spike shows up later on, and takes his anger out on me for what you did!"
Angel threw Willie a c-note before departing in annoyance. The man was a weasel, but he had a point; plus, his type couldn't be pushed too far into the enemy's camp without becoming useless as an information source. { I better chase after the crowd, see if I can figure out where Spike and Drusilla have holed up since last night... }
Westworld facility, 1999
Jareth suddenly decided to take some time off work for some R and R. Oddly enough, that meant the demon was in the living room of his mansion, sitting on the couch and watching Doctor Who on his large screen TV.
Ethan walked in with a cup of tea. "So... this is what you do during your time off, is it, Jareth?"
Jareth gulped down his rum in a wine glass. "Sometimes I watch TV, Ethan, other times I work out. Honestly, you should do the same!" he chuckled.
Ethan sighed and sat down on the other side of the couch. { What am I doing here? } he asked himself, and not for the first time, before he focused on what was on the telly. { Oh, I remember this episode – go the Daleks, they're my favorite pepper pot! } Ethan chuckled to himself