All's Fair

Xander looked at all the preparations he'd been helping Amy with and sighed. "Amy, what would you do in my situation? Because I think I've calmed down enough to think all this is overkill and that I should apologize for blackmailing you."

Amy looked surprised for a minute and then smiled. "I would probably do things to make her jealous, but I've heard the best revenge is living well and completely forgetting about them, like they just don't matter."

"I'm not so good at the forgetting part," he admitted with a chuckle, "otherwise I wouldn't be here. Maybe I get attached too easily."

"Maybe I can help with that," Amy said, feeling a lot more kindly towards Xander now that he wasn't blackmailing her.

"Can I get a 'huh' for 200 Alex?" Xander asked.

Amy giggled. "I mean magic can heal as well as harm. How about I cast a spell from Aphrodite to ease the pain of love in your life?"

"I would love that," Xander said with a sigh.

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

Aries appeared in Aphrodite's work room, which she had changed from the traditional scrying pool in a sunlit meadow, into a home theater where she was sitting on the couch with her feet on the coffee table and had been throwing popcorn at the screen.

"What's up?" he asked, dropping heavily on the sofa beside her.

"One of the more interesting humans I follow just went from 'stupid idea that would piss me off' to 'ask Aphrodite for healing and wisdom' so fast I think I got emotional whiplash," she explained.

Aries looked at the screen. "I think I know the kid. Remember when Janus tapped me to help out with his Halloween party?" He was one of the warrior spirit vessels and it looks like a fair amount of it stuck."

"Well, he's asking for a balm for a broken heart and my guidance in his love life, so what do you suggest?" she asked pulling him down to the couch.

"A quick review of his life would probably help," Aries suggested.

*** One Review Later... ***

"Love has not been kind to him," Aphrodite admitted.

"He's fought a lot of battles, but is seriously lacking in skills" Aries said, shaking his head.

Aphrodite poked Aries in the side. "My problem first."

"Yours is simple, give him a clean slate," Aries said.

"What?" Aphrodite asked confused.

"Wipe every emotional connection the boy has with the people in his life," Aries said. "Let him think clearly for once in his life. Until he can love himself all they'll do is screw him up further."

"You have a plan," Aphrodite said knowingly.

"Yeah," Aries agreed. "I'm going to help him grow into a man."

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

"And it's done," Amy said as the candles all went out. "How do you feel?"

"I feel a lot better," Xander said with a smile. "I owe you one."

"You helped save my life, I think we're even," Amy replied.

"OK, but if you even need a favor, you only have to ask," he told her.

"I'll remember that," Amy said. "Now shoo while I clean up."

"See ya later," Xander said, grabbing his bag and heading out. Now that he could think clearly he had things to do.

Classes went well, the work wasn't that hard just require a bit of focus though Xander found the people annoying. Really teasing someone about getting dumped? He made a mental note of the ones who pissed him off the most just in case he ran into them later outside of school. Sometimes to get a little peace and quiet you had to kick a little ass.

Xander went to the library as soon as the final bell rang. "Hey Giles," he said as he entered the library. "What do you have on the Scourge of Europe?"

"Quite a lot unfortunately. Why?" Giles asked.

"Because we've been focusing on Angelus being back, when we should be thinking big picture, which is the Scourge of Europe has reformed. Darla's dead and gone but the rest are all together again."

"Good Lord," Giles said and took off his glasses and began cleaning them.

"I may have hated Darla more than the rest of them, but that doesn't mean I'm stupid enough to think everything they did was at her urging," Xander said. "Even if the group dynamics have changed that doesn't mean they won't want to relive some of their greatest hits to shake some of the dust off."

"You make a horrifying amount of sense" Giles said, before disappearing into his office and bringing out a couple of large tomes.

Xander got a notebook and started listing things the three vamps had done while in Sunnydale and what they knew of them.

The two were deep into the books when Buffy and Willow arrived.

"What are you doing?" Buffy asked.

"Figuring out the Scourge's next move," Xander replied. "Or at least trying to. All that seemed to matter to them was cruelty, sacrilege, and body count."

"They can't be the Scourge; Darla's dead," Buffy said.

"They aren't Voltron," Xander said. "A band can reform with one member missing and I doubt Darla was their John Lennon."

"I actually understood that one," Giles said surprised.

"I used a British band so you would. I would have said Queen but..." Xander trailed off with a sigh.

"It's a different band without Freddie Mercury," Giles agreed.

"But still a band and partially predictable," Xander said.

"They're even worse without Darla," Giles said, "They never tried to end the world when Darla was around."

"We need the slayer," Xander said. "Anyway we can get the council to send Kendra back here?"

"I'm the slayer," Buffy said confused.

"No, you're a teenage girl with issues, who really doesn't need to have to kill the demon wearing the face of someone you care about," Xander said.

"I'll make some inquiries," Giles told Xander, breaking the tense silence.

"See if they can send more than just her," Xander said, "We need someone who can do dis-invites, ward areas, and research if nothing else."

"I'll get in the request, but we'll likely get some wet behind the ears graduate with no experience," Giles said with a sigh.

"Then he can make tea and catalog books while we research," Xander said. "Experience will accrue quickly around here."

Giles snickered. "Quite right."

"Xander!" Willow exclaimed.

"Yeah?" he replied, looking up from his notebook.

"I know breaking up with Cordelia was bad, but you don't have to take it out on Buffy," Willow said concerned with the depressed looking blonde standing next to her.

Xander looked at Willow like he'd never seen her before. "I'm failing to see any connection between me and Cordelia breaking up and anything I've just said, or how it could be considered picking on Buffy."

"Saying she's not the slayer and can't handle Angelus for one," Willow pointed out angrily.

"Buffy is usually the Slayer around here, but at the moment, she's conflicted and in battle that's a good way to end up dead. Kendra doesn't have that problem; so she'd be safer. And, I never said Buffy couldn't handle it, I said she shouldn't have to, no one should."

Willow recoiled, shocked at what Xander had said, not the arguing but the effectiveness of the argument.

"I wonder if Miss Calendar knows how to dis-invite people," Xander said, "or maybe Amy."

"It's Miss Calendar's fault we're in this mess," Buffy snarled showing some life and fire once more.

"No, all she did was not tell us a secret that really didn't concern us," Xander said. "And I know for a fact not one of us has told our parents about the whole vampire thing. So we really don't have a leg to stand on. We were stupid, we knew he was cursed, and we never looked into how and why the curse could be broken. Normally a curse breaking is a good thing, like Oz's lycanthropy, but in this case rather than removing a monster it freed one."

"But she knew about the curse!" Buffy exclaimed.

"So did we," Xander said. "The question is how much did she know? Don't try and tell me she broke the curse, because we know how and why it was broken and she wasn't involved. She had nothing to do with breaking the curse, as she has never once even remotely suggested Angel and Buffy should even be around one another, much less have any sort of physical relationship."

"It's my fault, I killed him," Buffy said tearfully.

"He's been dead for centuries," Xander said bluntly. "All you did was help return his soul to where it was ripped from. He was 'living' a tortured half human existence here so don't try and sell me on it being the same as any of us. Darla killed him in an alley centuries ago, the Gypsies ripped him from heaven and made him suffer for a very long time, but that's over now, he's with his family again and we are left with the demon that killed them. These are the facts!"

"Hasn't Buffy suffered enough?!" Willow demanded, comforting a crying Buffy.

"And pretending Angel was a living breathing man that Miss Calendar tricked Buffy into fucking to death is somehow better?" Xander asked, causing Willow to stare at him in horror.

"What's wrong with you?" Willow said not liking this side of him.

"What's wrong with me?" Xander asked. "I'll tell you what's wrong with me. What's wrong with me is the fact that we have a demon running around loose trying to end humanity and coming damn close just recently, and rather than deal with reality, you two want to pretend it was all some fairy tale romance and Miss Calendar is the wicked witch. Since you two can't deal with reality and it's costing lives I'm looking for a way to end it without involving either of you."

"You just said Buffy wasn't at fault and now you're claiming it's her fault," Willow pointed out with a glare.

"No, I said you guys' refusal to deal with reality was costing lives, which is a separate issue. Buffy had a clear shot to deal with Angel at the mall and couldn't do it. Now tell me, how many people does a monster like Angelus kill a day?"

Silence fell as Willow glared at Xander and Buffy cried. But Xander wouldn't back down.

Oz Stepped in and almost stepped back out before asking, "What did I miss?"

"Xander's being a meanie!" Willow said.

"Willow is drawing out all the harsh details of our latest disaster and how she and Buffy contributed to it and are making it worse rather than just letting me stay quiet about it and get things done," Xander said.

"You're making it sound a lot worse than it is!" Willow yelled.

"No, I am making it sound as exactly bad as it is with no exaggeration, if anything I am downplaying details to make it sound a little better than it actually is," Xander replied firmly.

"Bullshit!" Willow's glare actually held enough heat that Xander's collar caught fire, as what little power she had got out of control.

Xander ripped off his shirt and beat it out against the table before it could set off the smoke alarms. "You just don't want to admit the part you played in setting up this tragedy," Xander realized. "Well tough shit! You played a small part by encouraging their relationship so deal with it!"

Giles came out of the office. "I could barely hear over the yelling, but I got the council to send someone with some basic skills along with her potential. They'll be here in two days." He took in Xander's shirtless state and slightly smoldering shirt. "Did you take up smoking?"

"Only when lit on fire," Xander replied calmly as the two took a few deep breaths and reigned in their tempers.

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

"What did you do?" Aphrodite asked curiously.

"Essence fragment," Aries replied.

"This isn't going to be like that other incident is it?" she asked.

Aries chuckled darkly. "I barely gave him anything; it should affect his mental and emotional state, not his physical one."

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

Xander scrubbed at his skin in the shower, but it was like the ashes from the last fledge had been ground in, making his skin look pale.

Typing by: Stephenopolos