"Xander, thanks for coming in." Daryl stood to greet the young man who'd introduced him and his partner to the world of Magic and demons and was working as their CI on the weird cases.
"No problem, work's done for the day and my only plans were to cuddle on the couch with Cordelia while she does her homework and I do my online classes. Let's make this snappy, while I have centuries of cuddling ahead of me, that doesn't negate the fact that it's also the time when Cordy and I can relax and not have to keep our barriers up. Doing that all day can be exhausting."
"I have a friend who works in an office, I asked him once why he looks tired at the end of the day when he spends all day sitting at a desk. He told me using your brain takes energy too. I imagine having to keep a barrier up for hours would mean even more energy being used."
"It's one of the reasons why the people in the books either isolate themselves or all but worship the ground their life mates walk on, that peace they can give each other. So, what you got for me?"
"This hot spell is bringing out a crazy and I'm not sure, but I thinks it crosses into the weird. Four murders over the last four nights, all died the same way."
"How'd they die?" Xander asked, wondering if he'd recognize a particular demon's signature kill or need to research it. So much for homework and cuddling time if that was the case.
"Severe cerebral trauma. Although the medical examiner can't figure out exactly how. He also can't figure out how each of the men were drained of all their testosterone. That's not something you find everyday. I need help on this one, Xan. The kind of help I think only you or the sisters can provide."
"All men?" Xander asked. "No women?"
"All men and they're all registered with a dating service too."
"Dating service? That's...modern. What happened to meeting at a bar or Piper's club or in class? It's a time honored way of meeting people. You talk, you dance, you get drunk, for those who choose alcohol as their beverage of choice."
"And matchmaking used to be the way it was done according to the owner of the place and a dating service is a call back to it, apparently. They claim a success rate of over 70 percent."
"Wow, my success rate was about 5 percent with asking a girl out. And then I lucked out way beyond my dreams and the former harpy of my existence became the love of my life." Xander grinned. "I heard an expression once that it's so nice to meet that one person you want to spend the rest of your life annoying, who knew it was the girl who'd been annoying me since we were five? Took me long enough to figure it out."
"That's an interesting glimpse into your relationship. Anyway, any idea on what might be killing these men?"
"No unfortunately, which means research. I'll talk to the sisters and they can look through their sources and I can look through the Chronicles. Unless it's totally brand new, which is possible because there's a near infinite number of realities and possibly dimensions out there where things new to our realty could come from. But we've got some pretty big clues to work with, cerebral trauma, that's damage to the brain by a means the medical examiner can't figure out and drained of testosterone. And only appears to go after men and may be using a dating service to stalk them. I'll let you know what we find."
"Thanks, well I'm calling it a day myself. Cuddie time with my wife is calling my name." He half pretended to gloat as Xander halfheartedly glared at him, before the two men headed for their respective homes. Once there, Xander and Cordelia both headed over to the Manor to discuss the case with the girls and were surprised that Phoebe had a potential lead.
"That's my dreams!" She exclaimed. "A penthouse suite, guys being killed by a woman, feeling like it's me doing it, for the last four nights."
"But you're not," Cordelia stated. "But I think you're right and you're somehow connecting with who is. And Xander's also right, there's some pretty big clues to work with here."
"A signature kill that's very obvious." Xander summed up. "Which means if they're not new to our reality, must be something either your ancestors or the Watchers have run across before."
"Then let's start searching." Prue headed for the stairs. "Searching the Book will go faster, if we don't find anything, we'll come help you guys search the Chronicles."
"Thanks, good hunting." Xander answered and he and Cordelia returned to their place.
"You work on homework for a while." Xander told her. "I'll get started on looking."
"Okay, I'll relieve you in a couple of hours unless the girls find something."
Which they did, which is why there's currently an upset Prue hiding in her bathroom.
######
A/N Rita Rudner, a comedienne, is who said 'I love being married, it's so great to meet that one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life. 😁
