Insert the usual disclaimers here. Other than that I can only tell you what you already know; here's the next chapter. There's at least two, maybe three after this one, I'm not quite sure yet. Thanks to everyone who'se reading, reviewing and tagging this for an alert; mucho apreciado. Enjoy.

POE1911

STRANGE DAY

Rio was a bust, at least in terms of finding Willow. Xander had found plenty of other people, people that all in all he would have been better off not finding. He had found the dregs of the mystical community, the kind of folks that would disgust Willy the Snitch. He had found pretty boys and girls that for a few dollars would do things that he probably wasn't mentally capable of handling. He also found that the Demon population here was a lot more laid back than the ones he had known in Sunnydale or Cleveland. But just because they were laid back didn't mean they were gonna give up any information on someone as powerful as Willow; they wanted to live after all. So after exhausting all of his contacts and working out the information the few demons he had 'interrogated' had given him, Xander realized that he had a big fat nothing. It annoyed him more than he let on that he was forced to go to the Rio branch of Wolfram and Hart for the necessary information. At first he'd been getting nowhere but then he had flashed the ID that Angel had insisted on and suddenly everyone was falling all over themselves to help him out. As he watched the little circus unfold in front of him he was forced to admit to himself that Deadboy might just have his uses after all, not that he'd ever say that to the Incredible Sulk's face or anything but even Xander had to concede that Angel had proven handy on occasion.

In less than twenty minutes the answer came back, Paris; Willow was in Paris. 'Why the hell is she in Paris' he wondered 'why give up the sun and fun of Rio for grumpy smelly people that willingly ate snails'? Unfortunately neither he nor any of W & H's informants could answer that; what they could and did tell him was that she and Tara were running a New-Age shop and enjoying the City of Lights. No one could find any connections between the business or the two women and The Watchers Council, The Devon Coven or any other group; it seemed like Willow and Tara were taking themselves out of the game. Well, whatever the situation he needed to see them so he had gone out an bought a ticket to Paris and charged it on Deadboy's personal account, that made him feel a bit better, and was now enjoying his last night in Rio sitting in the hotel bar wondering what he'd say to Willow while sipping a Pina Collada; unfortunately Cordy's body didn't react well to beer.

So sitting at a bar in a city where he didn't know anyone and getting ready to fly to a city where he hopefully knew a couple of people, it came as somewhat of a surprise to actually recognize a voice in the crowd.

"Gif me 'nother" the voice slurred.

Xander turned and saw the last person he expected, Riley Finn. The soldier was already three sheets to the wind and from the stubble and general appearance he'd been in this state for quite some time. Figuring 'what the heck', Xander got up and headed over. "Riley" he said "what are you doing here"?

The ex-commando turned blearily towards him and said "who'r you, I didn't order a hooker" and turned back to his drink.

Xander nearly punched the jerk's head off for the hooker comment, but let it slide due to the alcohol and said "come on Riley, where's Sam and the guys"?

Riley looked back up at Xander, pain etched on his face "Sam's gone, some portal took her somewhersh an we can't figgur out where or anything else. Dipshit Colonel said 'we've go more important stuff to worry about so I kicked him and left. Graham called yesteday and said they were back at the Pokogon and that I'd been discarded."

"They discharged you?"

"Thas what he said."

"So why are you here?"

"Looking for WillowTree, maybe she can tell me where Sam is" he abruptly looked under the table "can't seem to find her though."

"Yeah" Xander said "I'm looking for her too, she's in Paris."

"Paris" Riley yelled jumping to his feet "then what the hell am I doing here?" As soon as his little rant was done the ex-commando started tilting to one side like he was about to fall over.

"You're waiting for the plane to take us there, it leaves in the morning and you can come with me" Xander said trying to get the situation under control.

"No thanks" Riley replied "I'd rather go with you." And with that he passed out.

"Well this is just a slice" Xander muttered on his way to the elevator; a babbling Riley in his arms.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

After the obligatory 'barf my guts out' scene, Riley had been slightly more coherent, at least he was coherent enough for Xander to get him to bed in something other than the grimy clothes he'd been wearing. Unfortunately there was only one bed in the room and the couch felt like it was made of cinder blocks, that meant that Xander was gonna have to share a bed with Riley. He gave a heavy sigh thinking about the pains he had to deal with.

Xander's eyes shot open, he was laying on his side and something was wrong; the first thing he saw was the clock that said 2:18 and that was not good, the first thing he felt was a hand stroking his backside and that wasn't good and finally the first thing he heard was a sleepy voice whispering in his ear about how beautiful he was, a voice that called him Sam, now that was too wrong for words. So he did what any guy would do in that situation and snapped his elbow back and caught the whisperer right in the face. It was only after he heard the body roll out of the bed and hit the floor that he remembered where he was and who had been in bed with him. OK, so the guy was drunk and lonely, that didn't give him groping rights. Sighing, Xander got out of bed and walked over to where Riley was laying. Riley was out cold, and Xander was half tempted to just leave him there. But he decided to be charitable and laid the guy out on the cinder block couch with a pillow and a blanket and then got back to the serious business of sleeping.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

It had been a while since basic training, but Riley was a soldier to the core. So when he heard a voice telling him to "snap to grunt" he sprang to his feet, immediately awake. He had instinctively responded to the tone, which was that of an experienced Drill Sergeant, and not the voice which was entirely feminine. Riley forced his eyes open so he could figure out who he was with and what was going on because despite his vertical position he was still waking up.

When he opened his eyes he demonstrated why the army had come after him in the first place; despite the fact that he had never seen this person in the flesh, he recognized her from a picture he had seen once. He also demonstrated that he was still a guy and that she still had it by having a very usual reaction to finding yourself face to face with a very beautiful and scantily clad woman. "Cordelia, right; Xander's old girlfriend?"

"How do you know me, we never met?"

"True, but I saw a picture of you once, it was memorable."

"Obviously" she said looking down at his reaction "which one was it?"

"The red bikini."

"That was always my favorite, but I hate to tell you, you're only half right; this is Cordelia Chase's body, but I'm not her."

Riley felt himself tense up, readying for an attack "who are you then?"

"Let me give you a hint 'we were standing in Buffy's dorm room, in the process of moving her back home and you told me that you loved her, but she didn't love you the same way."

Riley thought back, recalling the conversation; he could not believe what he was hearing "Xander, is that you?" And realizing the answer that was coming, double over laughing his head off "something like this could only happen to you, I remember you saying you felt like the universes butt-monkey sometimes, but I never really took you seriously till right now."

"Tell me about it" Xander replied "and I know you want to hear all about it, but you need to get a move on cause we've got a plane to catch."

"Plane, plane to where?"

"Paris of course."

"Why would I want to go to Paris?"

"Cause you're looking for Willow, and that's where she is."

"How did you know I was looking for Willow?"

"You told me last night, mission, portal, discharged; the whole thing."

"I can't afford a ticket to Paris" Riley said, embarrassment tinting his voice.

"That's OK, I charged it to Angel."

"Angel, Buffy's old boyfriend Angel; Mr. 'Dark Coat King of Pain' Angel?"

"Yep"

"Then count me in."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

It was a fairly long flight so Xander was able to fill Riley in on the whole coming back thing and what he'd been doing. For his part Riley was astounded that Xander was taking the whole gender switch as well as he seemed to be. Xander had asked him what he'd been doing since they'd seen each other last and especially about the mission where Sam had been lost. Riley found himself opening up a lot more than he usually did, he didn't know if it was because Xander was somewhat distanced from the whole thing, because Xander was just easy to talk to, or if he was being hypnotized by Cordelia's rather spectacular chest. For whichever reason he spilled everything.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

All of the talking made the flight seem to go by quickly for Riley; he would have sworn that they had at least an hour to go when they started their descent to Charles DeGaul airport. Once they touched down Riley just watched Xander and marveled. He was in full 'Cordelia' mode and it got some spectacular results. Riley decided that the French were a strange people, if you try to be nice to them they treat you like crap, but if you treat them poorly they fall all over themselves to please you. He figured a good dominatrix could make a fortune there in a very short time. After watching Xander berate the cabby into loading their bags for them, they were on their way to a moderately nice hotel; again paid for with Angel's charge card (Xander got a truly wicked grin on his face when he was settling the bill).

They took an hour or so to get settled in and each took a quick shower, then the two of them set out to find Willow. According to the information from W&H the shop was called "L'Branche Doree" at 18 Rue Jouy, on the north side of the Seine across from the Ile St' Louis.

Riley was getting nervous, hopefully he would soon know exactly what had happened to Sam, or at least he would be a lot closer to knowing than he was now. He wasn't getting his hopes up, he was well past hope but the knowledge of what had happened was something he needed for closure. Riley was all for running to the address but Xander seemed to want to take it slow; then it occurred to Riley that Xander was still working out how to tell his best friend that he was back from the dead. Riley shook his head, it was still mind boggling to think of the brunette in front of him as Xander, but the stories they had swapped during the flight had eliminated any doubts he might have had.

Riley saw Xander stop, look at the paper in his hand then look at the sign above the door, they matched. "Well, this won't get any better with time" Xander muttered, then Riley saw him square his shoulders and walk into the shop. Riley was right behind him. It reminded Riley of what he remembered of the Magic Box only with more candles and fewer Newts' Eyes. He heard a voice call out "un moment" from somewhere in back; Riley knew it was Willow because Xander had tensed up like a coiled spring at the sound of the voice.

The two of them waited impatiently until an ethereal red-head bustled out into the major part of the store. She opened her mouth to speak, but stopped cold when she saw who was there. "Riley" she finally managed, her voice an octave or two too high. Anything else Willow might have said was cut off when she was swept up into a huge hug by Xander who twirled her around and said "God I've missed you Wills".

"Cordy" Willow said once she got a good look at who was holding her "is that really you"?

"Kind of Willow" Riley said "but I'll let Xander explain that one."

"Xander" Willow said getting angry "what are you talking about Riley, that isn't funny."

"No it isn't funny" the tall brunette said, shooting the soldier a class 1 glare but then looked back at Willow and said "but it is true, I'm not Cordelia, I'm Xander". Without once letting go of Willow, Xander explained what had happened to him since he was shot. He also went into why Riley was there. When he had finished his story Willow had looked at him a moment and said "not that I don't believe you, but I've got to ask one question, just to make sure."

"Ask away."

"Who did I go as that first Halloween when I was in college, and why?"

"You went as Joan of Arc, one because she was supposed to be a witch and two because of her close personal relationship with God. And Oz just had one of those nametags that say "My Name Is" and he had written in "God"."

"Willow looked at him for a second with a stunned guppy expression on her face, Cordelia had just reeled off the answer without any hesitation whatsoever, and that wasn't the kind of Hellmouthy stuff that was passed on to Angel's group so there was no way she should have known it. Then it finally sank in that it really was Xander that was holding her and she said "that's right, WOW I guess that means you really are Xander" her voice started fading and she said "bye bye now" and passed out.

Seeing the state Willow was in, Riley joked "you do seem to have that effect on people, so what happens now?"

"Now you lock the door and put the closed sign out and I see if I can bring her around."

Xander carried Willow towards the back of the shop, or at least until he saw a plush overstuffed armchair. Setting his best friend gently down he started rubbing her hands and saying "come on Wills, wakey wakey."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Willow was having a very strange day. She'd been feeling down because Tara had left exactly one month ago; the blond witch had said that she needed some space to think had walked out of the shop and not dropped a line since. Willow had been tempted more times than she'd admit to cast a locator spell, but she hadn't. She was much more circumspect with her magic now. Since she was feeling low she'd tried calling Buffy, but the blond slayer was out with the Immortal, Dawn was in class and Giles was in a meeting. Slipping deeper into a funk she was about to close the store down when the bell had signaled customers. She had come out where she could have sworn she'd seen Riley Finn and Cordelia Chase. Riley had gone on about Sam being missing and Cordy had talked about how she wasn't Cordy, she was Xander. The committee in Willow's mind came to the consensus that her cheese had well and truly slid off her cracker. Willow half expected to come too either sitting in bed, crying hysterically or in a padded room somewhere. 'I might as well figure out which one it is' she thought and opened her eyes. What she saw was Cordelia who gave her a megawatt smile saying "welcome back Willow."

Willow remembered how her mother had once told her that the way to dismiss a delusion is to confront it, so she looked at Cordy for a second and said "I remember you being taller."

"It's the heels" Cordy sighed "I still haven't figured out how to walk in heels without breaking my ankles."

"That's weird, cause you showed me how to walk in heels."

"No, Cordy showed you how to walk in heels; I showed you the right way to eat a Twinkie."

"Xander showed me how to eat a Twinkie."

"Exactly"

"So you're Xander"

"I thought we'd already established that?"

"Sorry, I'm just very confused."

"I can imagine."

"Imagine what?"

"How confused you are."

"How could you imagine that?"

"Well you're having trouble picturing Xander in Cordelia's body, well try imagining going to sleep and waking up in Riley's body."

Willow's brows knitted in concentration "freaky" she finally said.

"And that's what it's like for me every day" Xander sighed.

Maybe it was the tone or the expression, but there was just something about the face that finally convinced Willow that it really was Xander talking to her and not a delusion, demon or Cordy with a really good acting coach. She finally truly believed that it was Xander and the joy she felt lit her up from inside and she beamed a great smile and threw herself into the other girls arms and murmured "good to have you back Xander."

He smiled and whispered in her ear "it's good to be back Wills."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Riley liked these two, he really did and he had known he'd have to tolerate a lot of delays before they'd get to his situation; but his remarkable (considering the situation) patience was at an end so he interrupted the two old friends "as fond as I am of happy reunions, I'd kind of like to find my wife now please. The two looked at him and blushed, if he hadn't been so anxious he would have found it almost unbearably cute.

"OK then Mr. Bossy the Cow, I assume you have something of hers, preferably hair."

Riley nodded so Willow continued "then I need to get the map out, Xander you get the sage and dragonfly wings and you come with me."

Riley followed Willow deeper into the store as Xander started perusing the jars of ingredients that lined the shop. He watched as Willow got out a map of the world, five candles and a wooden mortar and pestle. Riley drifted off in his thoughts, thinking about seeing his wife again, maybe slowing down and having kids, or a dog, or whatever. Willow's voice cut into his reverie "you know that this might not work don't you. I mean she could be in another dimension or another world or dead."

"I know, but I'm trying to be optimistic, if you come up dry then I'll try other dimensions and whatever but I don't want to deal with that till I have to.

"OK" Willow replied, then she raised her voice "hurry it up Xander, Riley can't take much more".

"Do you want a bundle of sage, or is the ground stuff good enough" Xander yelled back barely heard over Riley's outraged "HEY".

"Ground is fine" Willow called back "quickly now, I think Riley's having a conniption fit".

Riley just shot a glare at the grinning red-head this time. Just a second later Xander wandered back with the necessary ingredients where Willow immediately took them from his hands and dumped them into the mortar along with a few strands of Sam's hair that Riley had provided and ground everything together. Then Willow sat down in the magic circle that had been inscribed into the floor, lit the candles, muttered a few phrases and dumped the contents of the mortar onto the map. The three of them watched the mixture drift around the map randomly, then it moved with a purpose and settled around Rome, there it stopped.

"So she's alive and she's in Rome" Riley asked, slowly releasing a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding.

"Apparently" Willow replied.

"Great, now that that's over can we get something to eat" Xander asked.

A bit shocked by the question, Willow shot back "are you sure there isn't any of Cordy in you there Xander, that was worthy of 'tact girl' on her best day"?

"Sorry Wills" Xander said with a hurt look "but I'm hungry, and you know how often Xander is hungry don't you?"

"Just once, but it lasts all day" Willow replied with a tired smile "sorry Xander".

"No problem, so are we gonna be eating soon?"

"Yeah, just let me get my bag and we're out of here"

"Great, then let's get some dinner."

The three of them went to a little bistro that Willow liked and they caught up with each other's lives. It was a pleasant enough evening but Xander could tell that Willow was hurting a lot about something and he figured it had to do with Tara not being around. He knew she'd never spill in front of Riley so he resolved to ask her about it as soon as they were alone. After dinner, dancing was suggested and rejected so Willow suggested that they go back to her place for a night cap and more conversation. Both Xander and Riley agreed, although Xander had been hoping that Iowa boy would head back to the hotel so he could talk to Wills; but no luck. Soon they were in Willow's little four room flat above the shop, a flat that was obviously lacking the touches that would be given by the Y chromosome (like anything to do with sports). Coffee was served and the conversation continued but Riley was soon nodding much to Xander's joy. Willow suggested that he use the bed in the guest room instead of either waiting up for Xander or walking back to the hotel alone. Once the ex-commando was settled down, Xander pounced "where's Tara, Will"?

"She's just taking a break" Willow answered, a large false smile plastered on her face.

"Bullshit" Xander shot back "don't forget who you're talking to Willow."

With her bluff called, Willow promptly folded "she left a month ago".

Seeing his friends distress, Xander took Willow into his arms "did she say why"?

"She said she needed space to think" Willow said, the tears starting to seriously fall now.

"Has she called or written?"

"No" Willow wailed "and I'm worried."

"About if she's OK or if she's coming back?"

"Both" Willow choked out "I was just trying to make her happy and she kept saying I was smothering her."

Now that sounded familiar to Xander, he remembered a similar fight he'd had with Anya and thought that this might be the same thing. "Can I ask you a couple of questions Will?" He felt the girl nod. "Do you have something that you're involved in that Tara isn't?"

Willow pulled back a little bit and thought "I guess computers, Tara doesn't like em the big fraidy cat."

"Now, does Tara have anything that you're not involved in?"

Willow really thought about this for a while and finally came up with "I guess not."

"Now has she been trying things in the last month or two before she left that you were surprised that she might enjoy, skydiving, shooting, anything really non-Tara?"

"Yeah, she has" Willow said.

"And I'll be she would come back from these things and tell you about it and you be all 'wow that's so cool, let me know when the next one is and I'll come along' and then she'd say she probably wouldn't do it again because she didn't really like it. And she'd always be a little sulky afterwards."

"Yes" Willow said, drawing the word out "how do you know all this Xander"?

"A couple of ways. First do you remember what I really liked to do when we first met?"

"Reading"

"And you liked it too."

"Yeah, I did."

"Then you started reading the same stuff as me, and I kept changing and you kept reading the same stuff as me; do you remember how that ended?"

"You started reading comics, and I didn't like em."

"Did you know I read comics specifically because you didn't like em?"

"No, why would you do that Xander?"

"Well the answer involves the second reason I know what's going on with you and Tara. Anya and I went through the same kind of thing; we had so intertwined our lives that we didn't have anything for just ourselves. It was terrible to not have something that was just your own. Anyway, we talked it out and I joined a bowling league and Anya joined the 'Female Entrepreneurs of Sunnydale' and we were both happy, cause we both had something that was uniquely ours. My guess is that Tara was looking for something like that but you were so enthusiastic about doing stuff with her that she just quit looking, and then it was only a matter of time till she left. The most important thing to remember is that Tara loves you, she'll be back but she's got to find something that's just her and you've got to ease up enough to let her find it."

Willow was just looking at her friend, her jaw at about half mast; finally she snapped out of it and asked "how did you get to be so smart"?

"I had an excellent teacher" Xander replied.

The two friends talked a little more, but both were yawning pretty heavily; the emotional fireworks had taken its toll. They went to get Riley but he was snoring away and even Xander yelling his name wouldn't wake him.

"You can sleep with me" Willow suggested."

"What the heck, it won't be our first sleepover" Xander joked; and the two of them got ready and climbed into bed together. "Good-night Wills"

"Good-night Xander. And the lights went out.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The sky was a pastel pink, and the light was diffuse, not harsh. Willow really didn't notice this, or the cloud she was currently laying on; all of her attention was focused on the blond next to her. She was laying there with a Greek style toga, not quite asleep, but not quite awake either. Willow drank in her girlfriends loveliness until she was overwhelmed, then she started running her hands over the beautiful blond, whispering "you're so pretty Tara" over and over; and everything was perfect. That is until one of those fat little babies with the bow and arrow dropped down and started poking her in the side and calling her name. She was starting to get good and angry when it gave her one last poke and. . . . . . .

"Willow, wake up."

The red-headed witch looked up, her hair tousled; her eyesight blurry but it finally set on the brunette next to her. "Why'd you wake me up?"

"Cause you kept grabbing my boobs and saying 'you're so pretty Tara'."

Willow blushed "sorry about that, I guess I'm a little lonely."

"I understand, but I'd really like one night of decent sleep and I've been fighting your hands off ever since you dropped off, now why don't you go sleep with Riley, he'd probably like you grabbing him, if he wakes up"?

"Me, and Riley"?

"Why not, nothings gonna happen?"

"I know, but he's a guy."

"And you don't like guys, at least not that way. I seriously doubt you'll be thinking of Tara when he's snoring."

Willow sighed "you're right" and got up from the bed and took a pillow. "But for the record, you got a nice rack there Xander". Laughing, she managed to duck out the door before Xander's pillow got there.