A/N Before we go any further I want to emphasize that is not a Buffy or Giles bashing fic. If anything it's a bashing of the show because they built Angelus up to be this terrifying monster and he seriously fizzled on that score. He could have done considerable damage, both physical and psychological, to Buffy and the Scoobies and he talked a big game, but he did almost nothing. That being said, right now Xander is hurting and angry and he needs a target for what he's feeling and hurting, angry people say things they wouldn't ordinarily say. It's never actually stated on the show when Xander and Willow met, most people assume it was in kindergarten, but Anya once commented that they'd known each other since they were in diapers, so I usually put their first meeting at around age two. Regardless, it's well over a decade and that's quite a significant amount of time, especially when you haven't yet seen two complete decades of life.

Fair warning, Xander is not going to restrain himself, he's too angry to think before he speaks. We've all been there, haven't we?

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"What do you mean, Angel did it?" Buffy asked warily. "And how are people dead because of me? What did I do?"

"Angelus signed his work, Buffy. It's what he does, he wants credit. He left notes, one in my parent's blood and one pinned to the crap he wrapped Willow in. You should see her, Buffy. See what he did her, what you let him do to her. You let Angelus go and he killed. You stopped Giles from destroying him and he killed. It's on you."

"Giles would have gotten himself killed!"

"He would died avenging the woman he loved, he would have considered it a good way to die. Trust me, he isn't thankful that you 'saved' him. Did you apologize to Theresa's parents for letting her die? Have you apologized to the families and friends of any of his victims? The people you let die because you just had to get groiny with a walking corpse." He stared coldly at her.

"He had his soul, Xander."

"That didn't change the truth of him, that didn't miraculously give him a pulse or body heat. It didn't get rid of the demon, you saw that when Giles' demon summoning buddies were in town. You knew he was still a corpse, you knew there was a demon caged by the soul and you still trusted him, still let him - this is your fault, Buffy. Yours and Giles, because he let you have that thing in our lives, learning about us. Plotting what it would do once it was free."

"Ms. Calendar didn't tell us -!"

"Oh, for gods sake, Buffy, you and Giles knew about the curse before she ever came to town! You knew he was a vampire and you believed him without any evidence that he had a soul! You're so God damn gullible! Stop blaming other people for your screwups, your choices! Take responsibility. If you can't do anything about the monster wearing Angel's face, than get the Hell outta of my way, because I sure as Hell can. That son of a bitch is going to pay for what he did to Willow and if you try to stop me, I'm just going run right over you."

"You'll get yourself killed, Xander."

"That are two people in this world I'd die for, kill for. Willow and Cordelia. Last night I was willing to die for you too, I sat outside this door," he pointed angrily at the door. "and Cordelia sat with me for most of the night. We stood guard in case he showed to finish what he started in the graveyard. You remember, when I stopped him from killing you. He showed up, about a half hour before Cordelia did and I'm so grateful she wasn't here. I threatened to make enough noise to get the cops involved and he walked away. If I had let him have you, Willow might not be a patient here right now. It's not a fair trade." He glared angrily at the girl he'd once had a crush on and now loathed with every fiber of his being. The shocked, pale look on her face gave him a vicious feeling of satisfaction. He wanted her to hurt, to hurt as badly as he did right now, as badly as the family and friends of Angelus' victims. In that moment he understood the Kalderash People's need for vengeance, even if he didn't agree with their method. "If you'll excuse me, I have to call Willow's parents and tell them their daughter's in the hospital. Of course I can't tell them that a vampire and a vampire layer are responsible for that, but I can tell them she's alive. And then I have to call Oz and tell him his girlfriend's going to need his help and support."

"And then?" Buffy asked, blank faced herself.

Xander smiled, a grim, cold smile, his eyes as flat and cold as a shark's. "Then? Then I send the son of bitch to Hell, where he belongs. Stay outta my way, bitch, unless you want to join him." A silent Cordelia followed him out of Buffy's room, she glanced back once and sighed. They were both hurting, but Buffy hadn't even seen Ms. Calendar's dead body, just her closed casket. Cordelia had smelled the blood at Xander's house, seen his pain. Cordelia had cried over Willow, while she felt sympathy for Buffy, she couldn't help thinking that this had been inevitable.

After all, whether he was Angel or Angelus, he was still a vampire and they tortured and killed humans. As the Vampire Slayer, Buffy knew that better than anyone and she'd still gotten involved with him.