The rest to the day proved much less stressful once Angelus was no longer a topic. Yes, Xander knew Buffy was concerned, but he wasn't going to let any type of escalation begin. He showed them the 'public' areas of the house, the grounds, and what proved most interesting of all, his uncle's sixteen-foot square map of the Sunnydale area, aerial photos under thick solid plastic, which meant the scale was a detail-revealing one inch equaling 275 feet. On it, Kirby had highlighted all of the Harris, Winter, Lavelle and other associated properties, as well as color-coated lightly the zoning.
"Good Lord, Xander, that would go a long way toward planning patrols…" Giles remarked as he could really visualized the area that encompassed 100 square mile, though only a third of it was occupied.
"I plan on having another one set up; I have some basement space for privacy. I'm hoping to hire another bunch of aerial photos at a slightly better resolution, or see if there are any satellite photos available for sale. Since I'll be doing the real estate thing, it'll really help me to visual it better. And with all the stuff in the properties, I might either set up a Used Furniture and Appliance store, or a pawn shop or something. And then the whole need for a handyman or renter guy for all this…I might set it up as a service, with myself as the first customer. Jana, could you look into it please? If I let it go it won't get done anytime soon."
"Sure, Xander, anything else?"
"That's it. Oh, Giles…um, what was it…map…patrols…I was going to ask … oh. Hey, could you look up all the reports and articles of the places in Sunnydale that suffered damage last night, and how bad? I was going to ask Willow and Jana to look up information on the computers, then figure out the information all at once. That way, we don't miss anything."
"I see, anything in particular?"
"Other than my thinking of buying up cheap tax repossessions and such? Just wondering if any of us notice any other type of pattern. Like…vamps almost always live in a certain spot, or I don't know. Something like that."
"Hmm, that's a good idea Xander," Giles considered, "Um Willow, Jenny? Could you?"
The computer literates smiled and nodded in agreement, the others continued to look at the map, pointing out their houses and such.
Once the high school students left to do fun things, Giles sat sipping a cup of tea with Xander and Jenny, and quietly stared into space in order to think matters through. Sighing lightly, he turned to the other, sitting the cup down and giving them a serious but not unfriendly look.
"So, so you intend to tell me how you managed to do what you did last night?"
"No," Xander politely replied, "But it won't happen very often. That I will tell you."
"I see," the older man considered, a little surprised at the lack of information. Xander continued in a quiet manner.
"G-Man, Jana is bound by blood-debt not to speak of it without my permission, so don't blame her. This is MY thing. Every incident was a small blow against evil, and together we've turned a lot of the evil players on each other. That's just a bonus. I will tell you this, the Mayor FOUNDED Sunnydale and the city leaders that came to end were his human minions."
"There were allusions to possible removal of valuables?"
"Not too much, as it was from vamps; they might have seen scuff marks on floors, but that's all. We dealt in what shouldn't be left out there, and profit."
"You profited from your actions?"
"Ripper and the Council, both of whom I've read about from your own books, don't get to moralize me on transferring assets from demons, Giles. I don't plan to let anyone else know, though. None of their affair."
"How can we know you won't use this…power … for ill?"
"I would have already done it? I'm Xander Winter and money never really meant anything to me; I've done what I think is necessary to … look after those I care about and make sure they can lead good lives. That means you two and the girls."
"I see. I appreciate your candor. Now that Buffy has left, what is the true situation regarding Angel?"
"I have him locked up and unable to escape. If no spell is forthcoming, he's dust; otherwise, when he's released, he's dressed for humiliation."
Giles caught Jenny's slightly unhappy look, "That is the extent of it, I hope?"
Sighing, the boy looked at Jenny Calendar, "In spite of what I led Jana to believe, I didn't 'fix' the problem. That would have required seeing the bastard naked. But I do plan to chase the vamp out of town if the soul gets restored."
"You realize, Buffy won't like that much."
"Giles, I don't care. She goes on about wanting a normal life. I cleansed the big bads on the horizon so she can. I obliterated the unkillable Judge. She can go find a nice living human to date. Normal slaying patrols without the world ending next week."
"So if the curse is found and cast, Angel leaves…that's fair."
"Now," the young man nodded and stood up, "You are welcome to join us in the sub-basements, Giles. Jana and I procured a couple of truckloads of items; if the two of you can look them over for magic, or usefulness, I'll let you borrow them whenever you need.
A week went by, and tensions mounted between Buffy and Xander, but he didn't really stay around much, not willing to fight over something he wouldn't give on. Jana's family sent everything they could find, including some old Romany texts, but nothing even hinted at until late on the evening of the sixth.
"Xander, I think I have something here, but it is written in an older dialect of different branch of the family. But the few words I recognize…this could be the actual curse used."
"Well, do you think you can translate it to be sure by tomorrow?"
"I have classes tomorrow, Xander, and you know it. I'm not going to ask you to give in to Buffy, but I am asking you to let me have until midnight Saturday night so I don't have to miss work."
"Can't you do some kind of translation program?"
"That's what I need time for, the translation won't take long, but I don't want to use a spell I can't translate…I don't want to accidentally call in a worse demon if I'm wrong."
"Okay, Jana, you have your time."
At lunch Friday, Buffy managed to pin down Xander and Cordelia for a few minutes; it was clear what she hoped for.
"Jana asked that I wait until midnight tomorrow night, so she can check if her only lead is in fact a soul curse. She doesn't know for sure, Buff."
"What happens if it is, and it's before then?"
"Then if nothing bad happens to the caster, Dead Boy will be cursed and then booted out of Sunnydale."
"Why does he have to leave?"
"You know why, so just be happy that if the vampire is back, it isn't dust. If it stays, I will dust it. Either way, Buffy, without the vampire around, you can finally try to have a normal enough life." With that, he smiled wanly, offered his arm to Cordelia, and they left before they could start another round of disagreement.
Cordelia as they walked down the stairs leaned over a little to quietly ask a question.
"What if it is the curse but it's discovered after you dust Angel?"
"We say nothing until a particularly hard to find vampire shows up in Sunnydale. Then we curse it, give the soul last rites, and dust it."
"That seems harsh…"
"Better than more people being killed by vampires."
"Yeah, I suppose. Oh, Daddy finally found out about us starting to date. He was so starting to throw a fit until I told him you were now Alexander Winter and the house across the street appraised higher than ours."
"How'd he take it?"
"He said if I can teach you the basics of real table manners, You're expected to accept a dinner invitations prior to Valentine's Day."
"Money hungry, but considering Tony Harris' reputation, fair I guess. But once we meet, I expect him to complain about me, and not about my parents. Can you tell him that?"
"Yeah, it might be funny. Only you would think of that as a comeback."
"You find it sexy…"
"No, but I find it cute. That's a start."
"You keep being honest AND nice, Cor, and I might just start to worship you as the goddess you want to be."
Ohhhhhh, now that was sexy…Doofus."
"Goddess of the Harpies."
"Harris."
"Chase."
And at that point, around the corner from major public view, lips locked and the scene grayed out…
