No More Mr. Nice Guy

"All you are is the Zeppo," Cordelia sneered.

Xander spun around drawing a stake from his pocket as he leapt at her.

Acutely aware all she had on her was a nail file, Cordelia quickly stabbed him in the chest, cursing as it hit a rib and snapped in her hand.

Undeterred Xander slammed her into the wall. As everything went black she wondered exactly what button she had pressed to send him over the edge.

*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*

"If I hadn't arrived when I did, who knows what would have happened?!" Buffy demanded.

"Bastard tried to kill me!" Cordelia growled out as she woke up and looked around her blurrily.

"Tried to kill you?" Wesley questioned as he helped Cordelia sit up.

"Lunged at me with a stake," she said looking around for a weapon as she saw his unconscious form lying several feet away.

"They could have been plant food, well if you ignore how deep Xander managed to drive that stake," Faith said with a grin.

Cordelia began feeling around but found no wound.

"What are you doing?

"Where was I stabbed?" she demanded.

"You weren't stabbed," Wesley said, "However Mr. Harris was while fighting one of the Sisters of Jhe."

"What?" Cordelia asked confused.

"X went hand to hand to keep one of the blue girls off you and was stabbed with something," Faith explained.

"If I hadn't gotten there-" Buffy began.

"Then X would probably still be up," Faith said amused. "You did your jump-kick knockin' 'em both out when he already had the upper hand having driven a stake into its neck. So unless your kick was what drove it in, they'd have been fine."

"Xander rescued me?" Cordelia asked.

"Yes," Wesley said handing her a cup of tea.

"He tried anyway," Buffy allowed.

"What the fuck?" Xander asked as he woke up with an aching head and a bandaged chest.

"Watch your mouth Mr.," Buffy ordered.

"Or what, you'll kick me in the head again?" Xander asked sarcastically.

"I was attacking the demon," Buffy said.

"The demon who was bleeding out and falling," Xander said. "Giles I need some needle nose pliers."

"Why do you need pliers?" Buffy asked.

Xander ignored her and started pulling loose the tape holding the bandage in place.

"I asked-" Buffy began.

"I heard, I just don't feel like talking to you until your footprint is no longer on the side of my head," he replied dryly, accepting the pliers from Giles.

Buffy winced. "It wasn't dead yet."

"It was dead enough," Xander said hissing as he drove the tip of the pliers into his wound and pulled free a fragment of nail file. "Your nail file," he told Cordelia dropping it on the table and putting the bandage back in place.

"I thought you were attacking me," Cordelia defended herself.

"This sort of thing wouldn't happen if you stay home," Buffy told him.

"My head hurts, my ribs hurt, my pride hurts," Xander said. "I'm done here. I got the psycho zombie to disarm the bomb in the basement thanks to threats and smearing his gang of zombies here and there. I'm done. Enjoy your lives, but until you master saying thank you, you can all fuck off. I should have just stayed home and let you all die," Xander muttered as he got up and stumbled out the door.

"There's a bomb where?" Wesley asked numbly.

*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*

Xander managed to get home without too much trouble by figuring out the middle of the three sets of images were real. Seeing the stairs leading up to his room he groaned and decided he just wasn't up to it. Deciding instead to stumble down into the basement and collapse onto the sofa down there. It was warm next to the water heater anyway he decided as he closed his eyes and let the blackness claim him.

While he slept the scrapes on his neck and back slowly healed, absorbing the demonic ichor they'd been splashed with.

TN: Typing by: Bankrupt Samurai!

AN: One of my older pieces where we have angry Xander.