Darla grabbed Xander's hair and yanked him towards her, burying her teeth in his throat, she gulped the blood down and jerked back, tearing his throat out as she did so. Blood splashed out from the torn throat. Darla looked satisfied for a moment and then an odd look crossed her vamped out face and to Buffy's horror, Darla collapsed into dust. Xander's body began to fall toward the floor of the library as lightening danced across his torn throat.
"His quickening!" Giles exclaimed. "It could set off the Hellmouth!"
Cordelia grabbed Xander and teleported out, leaving a stunned group behind, trying to understand what had just happened.
"Darla?" Buffy slowly pushed herself up and moved towards the dust pile that had been Darla. "What happened to her, Giles?!" She demanded to know.
"Immortals are both immune and poisonous to vampires, Buffy."
"He killed her!"
"She tried to kill him." Faith reminded her. "What was she doing here anyway? He said he'd dust her if he saw her."
"I forgot, we were supposed to meet after patrol. She must have come looking for me. She thought he was attacking me and tried to protect me. Because she loved me."
"I'm beginning to wonder about that." Faith said. "If he was right and the vampire got something out of being with you that could break the curse, ya gotta wonder, how much did Darla know about what could break the curse? The gypsies cursed her a century ago for kidnapping their kid and giving her to Angelus. And she was smart. I'm wondering why she wouldn't want to find out everything she could about the curse."
"This wasn't her fault!" Buffy insisted. "And the curse breaking wasn't her fault either. Don't you go blaming her."
"Actually." Xander said, coming in the door. "Both you and I should have known better then to fight near the Hellmouth. You, because you won't do your homework and me because I knew immortals avoid Hellmouths because our quickening can set it off. If I didn't have an atypical quickening or a quick thinking girlfriend, this could have been alot worse. Once again, I let my temper get the better of me. I have to work harder on that. And the curse breaking is on both you and Giles. You for not asking him to research the curse in the first place and him for simply not doing it."
"Now you're blaming me?"
"When are you going to accept responsibility for your own actions, Buffy?" Xander demanded. "I admit my part in nearly setting off the Hellmouth, but you chose to attack me, to prove yourself superior. And you knowingly got involved with a vampire under a curse. Both the vampire part and curse parts should have made you think twice."
"It made her special."
"A vampire you got involved with in another reality, he believed you wanted a man shaped monster to love. I think you just want a human shaped monster to love. Because you don't think humans are good enough for the incredible Buffy Summers. Not to work with and not to love. Work for, that's a different matter, all together." Xander said. "Giles, is the depossessing ritual done?"
"Yes, we have been able to destroy the thing possessing Willow. Now we just need to deal with the Magic in her. I'm not sure she's mentally stable enough to handle it. The being may have already done considerable damage and from what you've said, Willow doing Magic tends not to be a good thing. There's a Coven in Devonshire, England, they may be able to strip her power. I will contact them."
Xander pulled the athame out and handed it to Cordelia. "I did it last time, your turn."
She smiled, took the athame and walked up to Willow and to everyone's shock, jabbed it into her chest. It glowed briefly and then Cordelia pulled it out. "Power sucking athame, we picked it up in another reality. One where witches, not immortals are the primary protectors." She handed it back to Xander, who sent it back into its pocket. "Bind her so she can't pull Magic anymore and you don't have to worry about her using it to cause damage to anyone." Cordelia advised.
"Now, all that's left is to come up with a plan to deal with the Mayor." Xander said. "Talk among yourselves, I need to go get cleaned up. There's alot of blood in the throat." He left to find the nearest bathroom to clean up and change clothes.
"He's awful casual about dying." Giles commented.
"He died three times in one week while we were on the quest to find the weapons we needed to fight the demon we had to deal with. Tends to make one a little casual about dying." Cordelia told him. "And we're both immortal anyway."
"You're like him?" Buffy asked.
"Different kind of immortal. Unlike Xander's kind, I don't die and revive. I just don't die." She didn't elaborate on the fact that both she and Xander could die permanently. That wasn't information she trusted Buffy with in her current mood.
When Xander returned to the library after showering in the boy's locker room and changing clothes, he found the group arguing about what to do about the Mayor.
"What's the problem?" He asked.
"We can't decide the best way to handle the Mayor." Giles said. "Buffy has concerns about killing a human being."
"Considering how many humans are dead because of Buffy's choices, it always surprises me when Buffy objects to killing when someone else suggests it. In every reality we've been to for instance, she was perfectly happy to kill a human to save her vampire. Giles, do you know how to make pocket dimensions?" Xander asked.
"Actually, yes I do. It's not difficult once you know how."
"Then how about imprisoning him in a pocket dimension?" Cordelia asked, seeing where Xander was going with his question. "They're only accessible from the outside. Which means he couldn't get out, no matter how much power he has. Someone could let him out, but as long as you maintain security, he'll stay locked up."
