A/N Fun fact: California does have confidential marriage and licenses and has since 1878 and privacy is the reason it was established and it does require a court order for any office that stores marriage licenses to reveal that information. Who knew? 😄

And in 1997, you'd be hard-pressed to find somewhere online where the information could be accessed in any state.

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After class Buffy hurried home, hoping to get there before her mother, who was picking up Dawn and found some cookies that her mother and Dawn hadn't eaten yet and took them to Willow to be analyzed; while Xander and Cordelia headed to the Archives were they found a road block to them getting information.

It's known as government bureaucracy. And apparently California was the only state with confidential marriage licenses and you needed a court order to find out if someone was married or had even applied for a license in the state. And it was one of the few states where a notary public could witness and officiate a marriage.

Like the old woman who ran the Archives was and she was determined to protect the privacy of the people whose information was recorded in the Archives.

"So all we have to do is declare we're living together and you'll sign off on the paperwork and issue a license?" Xander asked. "You don't need to verify any information, like with a birth certificate or anything?"

"Just be 18 and have an ID, that's all." The clerk confirmed. "But anyone wanting to know if you've gotten married needs a court order to find that information out."

"Huh, the things they don't teach you in Civics class." Xander muttered, deciding they'd need another way of getting the information they needed.

"Are you 18, young man? Are either of you?"

"I'll be 17 in a couple of weeks." Xander muttered absently, wondering if he could pull off an invisibility spell and sneak in to find the information they needed.

"Than you'll need parental permission anyway."

"I'm legally emancipated." Xander answered.

"That's a gray area." The clerk told him. "You might be able to get married at your age, when you're legally emancipated, I'd have to check, it's never come up before."

Xander suddenly had a deer in the headlights look as he realized the clerk thought he was asking these questions so he and Cordelia could get married. Cordelia looked like she might bust a gut laughing at the expression on his face.

"Before 1921 you could have gotten married without parental approval at your ages, but today, she at least needs parental approval." The clerk nodded at Cordelia. "Unless she's 18 or also legally emancipated and that I'd have to check on, like I said."

"Thank you for the information." Cordelia answered and grasping Xander by his bicep, pulled him along with her. "If we're still together when we're 18 maybe we'll come back."

"Eep!" Xander managed as he followed her, the whole idea of marriage freaking him out, but especially at their age.

"Oh, relax, Doofus." She said once they were outside. "Since we're not even going to have sex until we've been dating for months at least, we'd have to be dating at least a year before I'd ever consider marriage an option. And do you really think Daddy would let us get away with eloping? Mind back on business, Xander."

"You snapped me out of the scare with the word sex." He told her. "But that word rivets my attention anyway, especially where you're concerned." He grinned at her and she lightly doped slapped him with a grin of her own.

"So, we need another way to get any information." Cordelia got back to their reason for being here in the first place.

"Dr. Strange knew a couple of spells of invisibility." Xander told her. "I think I remember one, I can try it. If I can get it right, I can just go in and do the check myself."

"As long as you can go visible again." Cordelia looked worried. "I don't want you ending up like Marcie." She shivered, remembering the classmate who'd gone crazy after going invisible and tried to cut Cordelia's face up.

"Neither do I." Xander concentrated on the Magic and the spell. "Especially since I'm going to get yelled at by Ms. Calendar for taking the risk in the first place without talking to her first. She is teaching me after all."

After a few tries Cordelia reported that she couldn't see him anymore. "Be careful, Xander." She told him.

"I will." He gently kissed her cheek and she touched it.

"Be careful not to make noise or bump into anything, she could hear it and blow your cover."

"I will." He promised again and made his way inside the Archives and into the back room where the rows of cabinets were. He found the B's and then Buchanan and then Ted, short for Theodore or Edward and what he found made him wonder how no one had noticed before that there was a big problem with Ted Buchanan. He carefully made his way back outside and concentrated on becoming visible again. The look of relief on Cordelia's face and the kiss she gave him told him he'd succeeded. He broke off after a moment. "Come on, we've got to get back to the others. Ted is definitely not what he looks like and we've got a big problem." He held tight to her hand and prayed Mrs. Summers was alright, because others probably weren't.