"I'm so freakin' bored!" Dean yelled at the ceiling. Sam looked up from the book Xander had lent him.

"Dude, calm down."

They had driven most of the day to reach the safe house, following Xander who drove alternatively like a little old lady and a crazed whackadoo, depending on how caffeinated he was, which changed every few hours as the sugary beverages he was consuming metabolized. Which, of course, meant that he had to stop at every...single...rest stop along the way. The first time they had stopped and gotten out, it was so Xander could hand off Willow's book to a contact. Of course, Dean had bitched long and loud about the interruption. After that Xander had led them on a merry chase from one grease soaked cluster of fast food restaurants to another. Needless to say, by the time they finally arrived at the safe house, Dean was one grumpy cat.

Xander had given them a brief tour of the house, and introduced them to Ingrid, who was eating a sandwich in the kitchen and texting on her phone. When she saw the brothers she did a double take and then surreptitiously took a picture of them. Dean had preened and Sam had rolled his eyes.

Xander had given them a rundown of the house rules – clean up after yourselves, don't disturb the other residents – given them the wifi password and shown them to their rooms. Then he had left to check on the other residents, leaving the brothers to their own devices. Dean had surfed Sam's computer, until he got bored, then watched tv, until he got bored, and not even attempted to read the books Xander had pointed Sam towards.

Now it seemed that his never abundant patience had reached its limit.

"Man, there's nothing to do here."

"Well, then, help me research," Sam suggested.

Dean made a scoffing sound. "You heard Xander. He doesn't think the thing that came after us is even in those books."

"It's still good to familiarize yourself with the lore. We need to learn the rules for this world."

"Andrew gave us the rundown."

"He gave us the bullet points because he thought we would be going about our normal lives, not hunting things." Dean rolled his eyes.

"Whatever." He paced back and forth, paused, and then spun around decisively. "Alright, that's it. I'm going out."

"You sure that's a good idea?" Sam asked hesitantly, watching him throw on his jacket. Dean grabbed a stake and some holy water that Xander had given them earlier.

"Relax, man. I know what we're up against and I," he waggled the stake pointedly, "am prepared. I just need to get out of here for a bit, clear my head." Sam nodded slowly, recognizing the trapped animal look. He knew Dean could take care of himself as long as he knew what he was up against. And he could sympathize with his brothers need to unwind. Plus, it'd be way easier to concentrate without his nervous energy vibrating all over the room.

"Ok. Just, don't stay out too late." Dean flapped a hand at him nonchalantly.

"Yeah yeah. You worry too much little brother." Sam just frowned worriedly at him, giant eyebrows furrowing with concern.

In his room, Xander was finishing up a phone call with Andrew.

"I'm fine," Andrew was saying over the phone. "I'm gonna be staying at Watcher HQ in LA for the moment, till I figure out my next move. They don't think it's safe for me to return to New York just now. At least, not until we figure out what we're up against. The magic workers tell me that thing was weird. In a strange way."

"Weird in a strange way? What does that even mean?" Xander asked absentmindedly, flipping through a comic book as they talked.

"I don't know. They said it's old, and oddly...wrong. They can't really describe it any more clearly than that."

"Well that's...not helpful at all."

"Have those impostor brothers caused you any more trouble?" he asked seriously. Xander shrugged, then realized Andrew couldn't see it.

"Not really. They're mostly just cranky. I threw some books at the tall one and he seemed pretty docile. The short one was still a Mr. Sassy-Pants though."

"Don't be seduced by his hypnotic eyes, Xander! I know that you and your burgeoning sexuality are at a critical juncture but that only makes you more vulnerable too-"

"Got it! Thanks! I'll strap on my chastity belt." Xander said loudly, regretting once again telling Andrew about his decision to explore his gay-side.

"I'm just saying, be on your guard."

"Mmmhmm. Well, you take care now." With that, Xander hung up the phone, abruptly ending the uncomfortable phone call.

Xander rolled over and stretched. Andrew's call had awoken him from his nap. It was early-ish in the evening still. There were things he could be doing today. He had a small internet business for custom-designed woodworking pieces that he could be working on. There were a few long term research projects that Willow had thrown his way. Mostly busywork that didn't require him to leave the house. He stared up at the ceiling and did not want to do any of those things.

He blew a despondent raspberry and rolled out of the bed. He scratched his belly and wandered out into the kitchen. He opened the door and stared at the contents, unseeing. It occurred to him that he should probably get more groceries. And he should probably see if the handsome twins had any dietary restrictions.

He wandered upstairs and knocked on their door.

"Come in!"

Xander opened the door and peaked his head in.

"Hey there," he said, smiling. Sam smiled back from behind his laptop.

"Hey."

"You guys settling in ok?" he asked.

"Uhhhh...yeah," Sam said at length. "It's just...different. Is all." Xander came fully into the room.

"Our world you mean?"

Sam hesitated.

"Yeah, that, but also...just..." he sighed. "Dean and I, we're used to doing things on our own. Secretly. We're not used to having this many people in on the supernatural. It's just...strange, is all." Xander shrugged.

"I get that. And it didn't used to be this way. There used to be a way more depressing bad guy to good guy ratio. Then, due to unforeseen and uncontrollable circumstances in which I myself was in no way involved, there was a sudden spike in superheros and cataclysmic events that wound up spreading the awareness. So, we're all still adjusting."

Sam assimilated that information.

"At least we're not alone, then," he said with a crooked grin. Xander smiled back at him.

"In this house? Never. Constant stream of people coming and going. Plus, I think Ingrid may have taken it into her head to stalk you and your brother." Sam laughed.

"Just keep her away from the love spells and we're good." They shared a moment of companionable silence, reflecting on past love spells gone wrong. It was comfortable. And then it went on slightly too long and got awkward.

"So...did you need anything?" Sam asked politely.

"Oh! Yeah, sorry. Part of my job around here is making sure we got a fully stocked kitchen, so if you guys could let me know your preferences I'll make a note for the next time I make a food run. Also, if you need us to spot you some cash while you're in this world, still getting on your feet and all, I can set you up with our standard survivor stipend."

"Huh. You've really streamlined the process haven't you?" Xander shrugged nonchalantly. "I don't know if that's comforting, because you're so on top of everything, or depressing, because you get that many victims on a consistent basis." Xander smiled mysteriously and stared into the air in front of him.

"Sometimes I wonder..."

After a few moments Xander came back to himself.

"You can just get me a list whenever it's convenient. You and Dean..." he looked around for the first time and paused, "...where is Dean?"

"Oh, he was getting a little stir crazy so he headed out." Xander blinked.

"After what happened? Are you guys sure that's safe?" he asked uncertainly. Sam sighed.

"No, but he's got his cell phone, and a weapon. He can take care of himself," he said, flipping through his laptop distractedly. "Plus he knows not to wander too far off the reservation. He'll probably just grab a drink at the closest dive bar he can find." Xander stared at Sam's bowed head as his heart suddenly jolted.

"Dive bar?" he repeated quietly. Sam nodded.

"Yeah. Anyplace with cheap alcohol, bacon cheeseburgers, and a pool table. It's how he unwinds." Sam snorted. "Well, that and killing things."

Xander blinked again as his mind slowly calculated the odds of Dean finding a bar that wasn't his bar, in the immediate area, and that he wouldn't somehow, in some as of yet unforeseen way, completely mess things up in such a fashion that it precipitated not only the end of Xander's secret source of sanity, but incite yet another apocalypse. Xander ran the numbers. He did not like those odds.

"Right, yes, good. That's good. To get all...un...wound. Winding is bad. Being wound. And such." Sam was staring at him now. Xander cleared his throat. "Listen, you, work on that list," he dug in his pocket and pulled out a couple of crumpled twenties. He smacked them down on the table in front of Sam. "You, do whatever you want for food, on me, we'll get you squared away later. Get me a list, and whatnot. I have to go do something."

"You okay?" Sam asked, his big brown cow eyes filled with perplexed concern.

"HA HA!" Xander barked out. And then, slightly more convincingly, "I mean no, yes, everything's fine. I'll be back soon." Having made his feeble excuse, Xander scurried suspiciously out the door. Sam stared after him for a minute but then shrugged it off and returned to his internetting.

Xander hurried down the stairs, absentmindedly grabbing his keys and wallet as he headed towards the door. His mind was humming with white noise, so much so that he forgot to grab his phone before leaving. The sunset was just setting as Xander fled down the front steps, casting a friendly orange glow over the street as he walked.

Xander wasn't even sure what to think, if he could think. He knew it was possible that Dean wasn't even AT the bar. It was possible that...certain people weren't even working at the bar tonight. And even if certain people were at the bar, it didn't mean that they would talk to each other. And even if they did...that didn't mean that something would go horribly wrong and destroy the happiness Spike had managed to find and everything that happiness meant to Xander.

As Xander pondered these thoughts his steps slowed to a reasonable pace. He looked around at the peaceful neighborhood in the dusky evening light. There were people jogging, couples walking dogs, teenagers walking and texting. He began to feel a bit sheepish for panicking. He paused on a street corner and looked up at the sky. It was getting dark. Aside from the blessed knife still strapped to his leg, he was pretty much weaponless. Granted, this was the nice part of town away from the graveyards, but being lightly armed and out after sunset was not a risk he was comfortable taking. He turned around, looking back the way he came. He thought about just going home. It would be the sane response to what was probably an imagined threat.

A second later, Xander turned back around and started walking towards the bar.