Xander was alone in the library and trying to meditate. It was really the only place he could do it. The Harris house still had a drunk and uncaring set of parents in it and he needed a quiet place to do it. He'd been meditating for about a half an hour when he sensed something Alexander had sensed. Two minds, one of them malignant. Angel and his demon counterpart, Angelus.

"What are you doing here, Angel?" Xander asked, standing up and resting his hand on his retracted denn'bok.

"I just heard Buffy died, why didn't anyone tell me?"

"Because none of us want to talk to you."

"Buffy would have wanted me at her funeral."

"But Joyce wouldn't, not if she knew you existed, the real you, I mean. Even aside from the fact that you're a vampire, if she knew a man way too old for her daughter was lusting after Buffy, she'd have found a way to destroy you."

"I thought it was Buffy's choice who she got involved with."

"She was underage, there's a reason those laws exist. I don't care how things might have been in your day, this is now and now the law says you're too old for her. Now, if you'd tried to become human and waited until she was eighteen, it might have been okay, but she was sixteen when she first met you and you should have known better. As it is you were never going to be anything more than a cause of pain for her and she deserved better than that."

"I suppose you would have made her happy?"

"No, I wouldn't have and in the end, she wouldn't have made me happy either. But I realized that, you still haven't. Tell me, Angel, did you ever check out your curse?"

"No, why would I?"

"Because even a five year old can tell you that a curse can break. And what happens if your curse breaks?"

The look of horror on Angel's face told Xander that Angel understood what he was saying. "Do you really want to risk it? Find out the facts about your curse, Angel and figure out if you're a danger to the world, it's the smart thing to do. Unless you want Angelus loosed on the world."

Angel glared at him. Xander just looked at him.

"I heard you took out both Spike and Drusilla, how did you do that?"

"None of your business."

"According to my source, you've been touched by a Higher Power, one beyond the Powers."

"And who or what are the Powers?" Xander asked, curious if they were the Shadows or the Vorlons.

"From what my source says, there's a variety of them. I only know about one kind though, my source works for them. He says, they test humanity, whatever that means."

"And what's this source's name?"

"He calls himself Whistler."

'The one who told other Buffy that Angel was meant to help with Acathla.' Xander thought. 'And he works for beings that test humans? I'll have Giles add that to his research list.'

"Where's Buffy buried? I'd like to at least pay my respects."

"Why? You didn't respect her in life."

Angel glared at him again. "Where do you get off saying that to me?!"

"You were willing to let her die because you were too afraid to even try. You hid in the dark to make yourself and everything you said seem more important. You claimed you wanted to help her, but did the bare minimum to actually help. Nothing about your actions says respect. Nothing about your actions says love. So no, I'm not going to tell you where she's buried."

"Fine, then I'll ask Willow, she'll tell me."

"That's Willow's choice and if I find out you did anything to force her to tell you, I'll hunt you down and show you exactly how I took out two Master vampires."

With a final glare, Angel left. Xander didn't relax until he could no longer sense the twin minds. 'Gods, Alexander was right.' Xander thought. 'Angelus is seriously malignant! What the Hell is it doing to the soul being cuddled up to that nastiness? I sure hope Giles figures out something about Acathla soon, because I'm very much afraid I made a mistake not dusting Angel just now. I know I can't take the chance that we might need his help with Acathla, but seriously the soul should never have been forced to share space with a demon in the first place! What the Hell were the people who did it thinking? I think it's time to talk to Ms. Calender.' He left the library and headed for her classroom.

"Xander, something I can help you with?" She asked. She'd attended Buffy's funeral that afternoon to be there for Giles, given she barely knew Buffy outside of her classroom and was currently catching up on some work.

"Janna of the Kalderash People, I would speak with you." Since his Alexander memories suggested diplomacy could be helpful, Xander had taken the time to check if there was a way to show respect in Jenny's culture, the best he'd been able to find was to use formal language until invited to be informal. She stared at him in shock.

"How - ?"

"I have quite a story to tell you, if you will listen."

"Go ahead." She invited and Xander proceeded to tell her about Halloween and his visit to another reality. After considering his story for a time she spoke again. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because my visit to another reality included learning that Angel's curse can be broken and I know that your people placed that curse on him." He answered, to her horror. "If it breaks, Angelus will be freed. We'd all have been better off if your ancestors had just dusted him when they had the chance."