Title: Blood of Xander (Story Two)

Author: tohonomike

Email: All characters belong to their rightful owners...the Joss/ME characters, and any other characters are clearly not mine. NO money is involved.

Summary: Somebody had a story idea earlier today.

Not Beta-ed.

"Okay," Oz nodded as he went through an older book, "Killer of the Dead. That's our boy, and here's a vamp that walked away from it."

"Does it talk about the cure?" Willow asked as Buffy and Xander looked up from their research. Oz handed her the book.

"Oh, the only known cure seems to be in this book we found from Miss Calendar's," Willow continued as she skimmed, "It talks about the Killer of the Dead, a Romany poison designed against the undead and used over the centuries, and their speculation about it. Apparently they tried it on several nasty vampires, and apparently experimented on it in case Angelus became a problem again. The cure results in some type of binding between the two, or some such result. Then they destroyed the vampires in question. Ah! The only three instances of cure involved blood from one of the following: one who had survived multiple possessions, such as a shaman, a channeler or a necromancer; or one born of the clan, and preferably family that had created the poison, meaning Kalderash in this case; or of the same clan or family as created the magics cast that create a bond to the creature, Angel in this case. The Clan is again Kalderash, and the family is …"

Buffy worried as Willow's face paled and lost expression for a moment, "What is it Willow?"

Xander rolled his eyes, "Yeah, Willow, the suspense is killing Angel?"

The redhead looked directly into the eyes of her oldest friend, and wondered aloud, "Xander, the family name is Lavelle."

"Poor Angel," Xander replied, closing his research book and starting to tidy up as Buffy, Oz and Willow watched him in silence for a moment. As he started to get up as though to leave, Willow finally said something.

"Xander, you can save Angel…"

"Does it mention how much blood, Willow?"

"Um, not exactly, it just says drain…"

"As unto death…when we use 'drain' in sentences, it involves biting and being near dead or dead," Xander responded, then looked at Buffy, "If all it specifically said was that a pint was needed, we could whip out a syringe. Drain? I'd give my life for any of you living people. Keep researching, I have to talk to Giles."

"But you can save him," Buffy pressed, "We need him for tomorrow."

"In the day time? Come up with something better, Buff. Even I might take a few vamps down with me tomorrow. Angel would be a crispy critter."

"Eclipse!" Willow called out, "In the Ascension pages I Xeroxed they mentioned an eclipse."

"See Xander, if save Angel we have another fighter tomorrow!"

"Okay, in that case, what do we need to do? Get a transfusion kit from the hospital?"

"There's no time! We need to get to Angel before it's too late," Buffy asserted, almost dragging the young man from the room.

Xander woke up in a hospital, not remembering anything beyond the blind panic of Angel not being able to control his hunger.

"What happened?" he croaked as attendants came in, "Where—?"

"You're in LA General, Mr. Harris, you were relocated after the Sunnydale disaster."

"Huh?"

"Oh, that's right, you were admitted the night before for blood loss. Apparently at a high school up their some kind of big cave-in occurred at a graduation ceremony, sinkhole about half-mile wide just opened up. You're lucky you weren't near that."

Xander checked his visitor log for the last two months since being admitted for blood loss resulting in a coma. Anya Jenkins had come everyday for two hours. He waited, and she showed up, explaining how it had all gone down. The Scoobies didn't have a plan, and weren't able to stop the Mayor. He ascended, but drawing so much on the Hellmouth, he caused it to cave in with him in it.

Xander was frustrated, his head hurt, and the anger and remorse pulsing thoroughout his body had him scream, "I wish I could have done simple to have stopped the bastard before he could become invincible!"

And Anyanka, infused with the power of the briefing fully opened Hellmouth, had reclaimed her power center, "Done!"

Xander Harris stood dumbfounded with the crossbow in his hands, watching Trick turn to dust and the bolt that passed through piercing the heart of Mayor Richard Wilkins, killing him as he began the ritual to assure his Ascension in a hundred days.

"Oh Dear," the evil mage sighed, then died.

Simple blood loss meant no Xander to plan the fight on Graduation Day. The Mayor won. But being as this is the XanderZone, I gave it a happy ending.