Giles was carefully unpacking the new exhibition for the museum and he was deep in thought of the events that had followed the defeat of the first. It had turned out that their problems had for once mirrored those of the LA groups. In the end it took both groups to defeat the First and its minions but not without losses on both teams. Cordelia had ascended to a higher plain but not before leaving both Giles and Wesley with a troubling announcement.
"The Hellmouth is closed and along with it the Slayer's line until it is needed once more." She had looked at the two remaining watchers and told them." The one that was here will be needed to guard the key from the Sisterhood of Jhe."
Giles nods." So Buffy will guard Dawn..."
Cordy smiled and shook her head. "No, the one that defeated them before shall defeat them once more. Buffy is no longer the Slayer, her powers are forfeit for there can be only one." She began to glow with an incandescent light.
# He that was shall be again and protect the key for evermore until his end.# She saw the confused look on Giles's face then told him.# Seven were sent to open the mouth, three you killed in caves below, yet of the other four you saw no more #
"So you thought they just clocked off and went home when the hellmouth opened?" Cordy asked him." They were vanquished by the Guardian when he dealt with their minion's bomb." She sighed." And to think I called him the Zeppo!"
She rose and exploded into a thousand points of light before she vanished. Wesley said."What could the Marx brothers possibly have to do with defending this 'Key' whatever it is?"
Giles was brought back to earth by the rustling of paper." Mr. Giles?" Giles looked up from the priceless urn he held and looked at the man." Yes?"
"I was wondering if you had managed to glance over the advertisement before we sent it out to the papers."
Giles nods." Yes it should do fine Mr. Theil."
Theil sighs. "It took a lot to get the British Museum to ship this exhibition from New York to Sunnydale Mr. Giles and I would just like to thank you for your efforts on behalf of the Museum. I doubt they would have done so without your recommendation."
Giles nods and gets back to the delicate job of unpacking the exhibit as Theil looks on. "Was there anything else?" Giles asked.
The young man glanced around nervously." No it's just. I was wondering if uh... Miss Williams was going to drop by today?"
Giles shook his head. "No she and the others are spending the day with a friend; I believe they're going to the seaside for the day." He saw the disappointment in the young mans eyes and watched him walk away before getting back to his problem." Now how the heck do we find out who this bloody Zeppo character is?"
Xander watched Dawn and Willow as they tried to keep the ball off of Kennedy, he laughed when Kennedy dived left only to find Dawn had jagged right. The CD changed and began to play the Violent Femmes Blister in the sun. He sank back and closed his eye as he lost himself in memories of his past. He winced as his 'eye' began itching again, an event the doctors had told him he would suffer from until his mind caught up with the fact it was no longer there to itch.
At times he could almost swear he could see white ghostly images of light but the worst pain of all was the time he forgot to put the dark eye patch in place before leaving the shower. Dawn had come out of her room as happy as he had ever seen her only to have the sight of his wound still her joy. He touched the patch as he remembered the horrific look that came across her face. But that paled to the look of pity that had replaced it.
Xander sighed as he whispered." If the one eyed man is king in the land of the blind then I must be a super freaking Zeppo in this land!" He kicked the sand at his feet and glanced at the fire he was supposed to be watching before he looked back at the others. He saw Dawn waiting for the ball to land in her arms and then saw the baseball drop from its apex and head for her head.
Willow was getting ready to jump for joy at Dawn's catch when she saw the baseball out of the corner of her eye. Before she could warn Dawn she saw it suddenly deform into an egg shape then drop as if it had hit a brick wall.
Unaware of how close she had been to being hit by the ball Dawn began doing her version of the Snoopy dance as she spiked the ball into the sand. Willow looked around for whoever could have created such a complex spell without drawing attention to themselves when Dawn's yell broke her from her search.
"XANDER!"
Willow turned to see Dawn racing for her childhood friend, as he lay slumped on the blanket. Willow ran towards him and arrived in time to see Dawn cradling his head on her lap, a rivulet of blood running from his nose as he tried to sit up. Before he could cover the bleeding nose with the napkin Dawn offered him Willow could have sworn she saw a faint glow illuminate his eye behind the black patch.
She looked over at Kennedy in case she had been imagining it but as soon as she saw the bewildered look on her lovers face she knew she was right. She saw Kennedy about to say something so she interrupted her." I think we should head back, I think all this fun has been too much too soon for Xander."
Dawn helped him sit up and she used another napkin to wipe the blood from his shirt." Not that you could tell on this shirt but I think the blood has ruined it."
Xander grinned." Hey! I resent that remark! I'll have you know that in years to come this will be looked at as the height of fashion."
Dawn stood and helped him up then asked." In what alternate universe would that be in Xand?" She saw him looking behind her and she turned to see what he had been looking at but saw nothing there.
Xander suddenly shivered as if a cold wind had blown across him." We should leave now." He poured the content of the water bucket over the fire then kicked sand over the embers as the others packed up their gear. Xander looked back at the dune and then licked his lips before narrowing his eye. He turned and began moving the trio of women away." Leave it."
Dawn had her shoulder bag on her shoulder and was about to pick up the CD player. "What?"
Xander pushed her towards his new car." Just leave it and head to the car!"
Kennedy looked back." Why? Is there..." Xander grabbed her hand and dragged her away." Willow?" He saw her moving towards the car, fishing his keys from her bag. "I can feel it too Xand." She keyed the car and the doors unlocked." What I want to know is how you do?"
Kennedy threw her stuff inside and ushered Dawn in." Feel what?"
Both Willow and Xander said." Evil!"
Willow started the car but it was soon bouncing up and down on its tires. Xander stopped and straightened then turned around to see three beings clad in darkness. He said in a voice so filled with foreboding the others became frightened." It seems time is up girls, and here's me thinking that the hellmouth being closed was a good thing."
Xander shuddered and held a hand out and steadied himself on the car as he felt a wave of nausea overwhelm him. He looked into the window and locked eyes with Willow and saw the look of realization dawn there." No!"
Xander nods." Yes, go save them, I'll try to hold them off for as long as I can."
Dawn shook her head." No! We can..."
Xander shook his head but never lost eye contact with Willow." Go, get them home safe."
Willow finally broke contact and nods as she puts the car in drive and sped away from the car park. Kennedy had to hold Dawn down but both of them demanded to know why they had left their friend behind. "So we could be safe, Dawn, so we could be safe."
Her eyes went wide as the she saw the wraiths reveal their true form." No, not them again." Dawn was looking out through the back window." What are they?"
Willow put her foot flat to the floor as the car lurched forward. "We have to get to Giles and let him know they're back."
Dawn couldn't take her eyes of the rapidly diminishing form of Xander." Why, for the love of god what are they?"
Willow calmly told her as they entered the stream of traffic." Something I prayed we would never see again...The Sisterhood of Jhe!"
Dawn almost leapt over the seat to try and get Willow to turn back but Kennedy held her firm." And you left him there alone? You bitch!"
Meanwhile back at the beach the song had changed to El Matador as the three Jhe moved towards the poor human that stood between them and their reopening the hellmouth. The lead demon growled at him and he simply lifted his head from looking at his feet and grinned." Well, well, all this time in sunny California and no one told you ladies about the wonders of cosmetic surgery? You girls not only got hit by the ugly stick I think some one dropped the whole freaking forest on ya."
The three maneuvered themselves around him suddenly uncertain as to what to do with this strange mortal. Xander glanced around for a weapon of some kind, refusing to go down without a fight. He saw three boys come around the corner from the beach and freeze at the sight of the three demons; the eldest dropped the bat in his hands before they ran away screaming. Xander tried to judge the distance between him and the bat.
He sighed when one of the demons moved between him and the bat." You know just once I..."He shuddered and the air seemed to get hotter in the small battlefield that used to be a car park.
He straightened and seemed to grow taller; all the fatigue of the years of fighting melted away and he smiled at the trio and looked from one to the other then grinned." You know I never really appreciated how good it was in school." He held up his hand and the bat flew into it, he took a couple of swings." The smell of freshly cut grass..."One of them made a dash for him and he hit her head so hard he had to struggle to wrench the bat from the ruins of it." The sound of a demon's skull being crushed."
He looked at the other two and gently slipped the patch from his eye as he twirled the bloodied bat in his hand and grinned." Nobody ever told you what happened to the other 'sisters' did they?"
Faith was devouring her ice-cream as she made her way to the beach where the others were waiting for their ice-creams. She was just getting used to leading a normal life but missed the strength that
being a 'Slayer' had brought to her life." Guess well both find out what it's like to be human again." She sighed.
She dodged out of the way as Xander's car sped by her at a reckless pace." What the hell!" Her mind took in the fact that Willow was driving with Kennedy and Dawn struggling in the back seat.
"Xander?" She turned back to look at the car park that was a fare way away from her and groaned." Why did I even think things would be normal again?"
She dropped the cones and ran as fast as her, now regular muscles, would allow. She arrived at the car park winded and out of breath and dropped her hands to rest on her thighs." Man I don't remember it being this tough!" She shook her head." That's it for me, no more smokes for this girl!"
She scanned the area and saw green iridescent blood drying in the noon day sun over by where they had parked, she slowly made her way towards it, her eyes and ears straining for the least bit of warning, when she saw Xander slumped over by the public toilets. She ran over to him and quickly felt for a pulse breathing a sigh of relief when she found one." God damn it Xandman don't do that to a girl!"
He jolted upright as if shocked by something." Run, we got to..."He looked around, his mind confused by his position on the ground." What happened?"
She helped him up." You're asking me? One minute I'm buying some Ben and Jerry goodness and the next Red's driving by me like she's at Indy!"
Xander nods." The Sister's are back." He quickly glanced around." Where did they go? One minute they were right in front of me and I'm about to fill my pants and the next you're bending over me..." He glanced at her top." You know you really should wear something under that. It's... distracting."
Faith smiles." It's supposed to be Xand." She helped him walk out of the car park then had to support him as he almost collapsed." I feel...funky!" He shook his head." Like I ran the marathon
and haven't eaten in a week." His stomach rumbled and he blushed." Sorry..."He asked. "I take it Dawn and the others got away?"
She nods." And as we know the Fugly sisters can't out run a speeding car." Xander nods then glances sideways at her, remembering what else had happened that night." Yeah." He ran a hand through his
hair and grimaced. "I got to get me some munchies before I collapse." He grinned at her." You know me and my hunger."
Faith smiles." There's a King opposite that ice-creamery place, we'll get you tanked up there while I check in with Jeeves."
Faith is at the call box outside the fast food place waiting for Giles to answer his phone, she glances back at Xander and sees him plowing into the burger's like he hasn't eaten in a year." Man that boy can eat!" She can see a little girl walk up to Xander and point to his eye patch and start to laugh.
Faith feels a sense of anger and protectiveness pass over her. If I was half the girl I was I'd go in there and kick Shirley Temple's ass!" Not for the first time since they defeated the First had she cursed the fact she, along with Buffy, had lost their Slayer powers.
She saw Xander finish off the burger then shuffle away from his table like a man on death row. Faith let the phone ring out and cursed Giles for not living in the 21st century and having a cell phone like any normal person. Faith slammed the phone down and turned to see Xander leaning against the wall waiting for her to finish.
He walked up just as she began to dial Buffy's house, she covered the mouthpiece and said." Give me five, I just wan to check up on the three stooges."
Xander nods and says in an off the cuff manor." Dawn's okay."
Faith just nods and is soon trying to calm Willow down." He's okay Red, Jeez give my ears a break will ya!" She let the Wicca vent for a while then asked how Dawn was." Make sure she's still in her room and secure okay, we'll be there as fast as we can."
She kept one eye on Xander as she hung up and dialed a cab; as soon as she had she walked over to him." Hey, filled that hole all ready?"
Xander nods as he motioned to the fast food outlet." That stuff fills you up real quick." He saw the little girl and blushed as he quickly turned away.
Faith nods. "Yeah I saw." She grins. "It's a pity double meat palace is shut, she would have made a neat DMP special."
Xander nods." I've been thinking of getting a parrot and renting myself out to Salty Pete's Fine Fish Feasterama." He saw the worried look on Faith's face then shrugged. "I figured I might as well join in the fun of mocking the cripple..."
Faith shook him hard." You are not a cripple Xander!"
He moved away from her and shook his head." Yeah you're right, I'm lower than that. I'm a one eyed Zeppo with no future and a shitty past!" He ripped the patch off and glared at Faith." What woman could love this?"
Faith's eyes widened and she back peddled pointing at it. Xander quickly covered it and blushed." No need to point Faith, I know it's ugly."
Faith shook her head." No you don't get it Xand..." She raced into the road and hailed a passing cab then forced the driver to take their fare. She shoved Xander inside and gave the driver The Museum's address. She turned to him and placed her hands on each side of the patch. "I just want to have a closer look."
Xander sighed." Knock yourself out, maybe I can get a shot at the Elephant Man's old spot?"
Faith moved her fingers out of sight of Xander's good eye. He jerked back as he saw her fingers coming close to his 'eye'.
Faith looked at his face." How did you know it was coming?"
Xander realized now that he had seen it coming, seen it with an eye that the best surgeons in Sunnydale had assured him was deader than Elvis. He moved his hand close to it and he could see a vague image. He took Faith's face in his hands and moved her closer to him. His good eye went wide as he could see her as clear as day.
He then looked at the driver and saw nothing." What the frell is going on?" He asked her as he drew her face closer to him.
Faith could feel his breath on her face, on her lips and she drew in a deep breath of her own as she felt the urges she used to feel from not getting a kill when she was a Slayer. She gulped and tried to push down the urge to rip their clothes off and jump his bones. She turned to the cabbie and said." There's an extra twenty in it for you if you break warp speed!"
She used all the strength she had to force herself back into her seat, she stared at Xander as he tried to see everything with his empty eye." This is crazy!" He turned to her and could see her perfectly, then turned to look out the window to see only a blur." Man I wish Giles was here!" Faith whispered." And I wish we were going home!"
The cab pulled up at the museum and she jumped out only to run into Theil. The man's eyes went to her barely hidden breast and he smirked." Cab too cold Miss Williams?" Faith glared at him." Something like that, come on Xander!"
Xander got out and began to replace his patch as he looked at Theil but stopped when he could see him clearly as well. The closer he looked the more he could see a dark shadow surrounding him. The man's looks made Xander quickly cover his eye and move to follow Faith. The strange thing was he could still see a golden image of her as she moved. He grinned." Maybe I'm getting X-ray vision?"
They both came to a stop at Giles's office and Faith turned to see Xander covering his good eye while he peered at Faiths rear. Xander could see her turn and immediately uncovered his good eye.
"What are you doing?" Faith asked.
Xander blushed." Uhh running some tests."
Faith sighed and placed her hands on her hips, cocking an eyebrow at him until Giles opened the door." Uhh Faith, Xander? To what do I owe this visit?"
Faith moves past him and jerks a thumb at Xander." Ask Superman over there!"
Giles sees Xander turn beet red then he takes his glasses off." This is going to be a three tablet effort isn't it?"
Faith sits down then asks Xander." Okay SuperXand tell Jeeves what color my panties are." She grinned at his discomfort then sat back to await his answer.
Giles turns to him." What is she talking about Xander?"
Xander shook his head." That doesn't matter, what does is that the Sisterhood of Jhe are back and this time its personal!" He saw Faith and Giles look at him and he shrugged." Sorry I just always wanted to say that...But they are back and for some reason they want Dawn."
Giles stood up from leaning on the desk and exclaimed." We must get to her.."
Faith stopped him from hyperventilating." Cool your jets Jeeves, she's back at Fort Summer and is safe for now." She glances at Xander then tells Giles." Xander can see things." Giles seems
disinterested until she continues "With his dead eye."
Giles turns and looks back at Xander." In what way?"
Xander removes his patch and Giles can see a faint glow underneath the broken flesh." I can see Faith as clear as day but you're just a blur... Better than some but still a blur." He can see Faith begin to get a smug look until he says." No color, you don't wear any."
The remark goes over Giles's head but Faith suddenly moves behind his desk and crosses her arms over her chest." Hey! No free peeks!" She grins." Until later."
Willow brought the car to a halt close to where they had last seen Xander and put the car in neutral.
"Are you sure you want to do this Will?" Willow turned her head to answer Kennedy. "I have to know Ken." Her bottom lip quivered. "I should never have left him here alone."
Kennedy nodded and got out of the car to join her lover, she held the sword at her side, her skirt hiding the deadly blade. Kennedy watched her back as Willow knelt at the pool of green fluorescent blood. She looked up at Kennedy. "He hurt them." Her eyes misted over. "I just hope they didn't hurt him, I hope he had the sense to run."
Kennedy saw something in the long grass and carefully crept towards it. "Umm Will I think you should see this." Willow's heart began to beat faster as her mind played her worst nightmare over and over again. "Xander?"
Willow was at her side as Kennedy shook her head and held back the thick underbrush for her to see. "Unless he got green and ugly real fast I'd have to say no."
It only took one look for Willow to breathe a sigh of relief. "It's the Sisters." She leant in closer and took a hanky from her pocket to cover her nose from the stench of death. One of the trio had its head caved into it's torso whilst the second had the grip of a baseball bat sticking out it's chest.
She tipped the body over with her foot and raised an eyebrow. "Something drove the bat through the skull of the first with enough force to push the head almost into its body. It then drove the bat through the chest of the second."
"If that freaks you out then this'll give ya nightmares." Kennedy told her as she motioned to something over by the other bush. Willow stood up and peered over Kennedy's shoulder. "Our friend turned this one into a slinky toy! Lucky their blood is green or half the Sunnydale PD would be covering this place like ants by now."
Willow smiled. "And no red, which is of the good."
Kennedy nods, pleased that no blood trails meant no harm had come to the Carpenter. Willow's cell rang and caused them both to jump; Willow took the cell from her pocket and answered it. "Hello?"
"He's with you? And he's okay? Good, tell him I'm going to kill him when we get back!" She flipped the phone shut and growled as she made her way back to the car. "Faith picked Xander up and apart from 'A wicked case of the munchies' he's okay."
Kennedy looked from her significant other and back to the bodies. "So if Xander's okay then what the heck opened a can of whoop ass on the three Sisters?"
Willow shrugged started the car up and put it in drive. "Maybe Xander knows cuz it took two Slayers, a Watcher and a witch wannabe to deal with three of them the last time and even then we almost didn't make it."
Faith walked into the lounge and told Giles. "I told Red that Xander's a little shaken but okay."
She looked at the sleeping man as he rested on his couch. "So what do you think really happened?" Giles looked up from yet another dusty leather bound manuscript and adjusted his glasses. "I fear we may never know the truth."
He glanced at Xander. "He's never the one to brag of his accomplishments..." He rubbed his eyes and threw his glasses onto the table. "We were warned the Sisterhood would return to try and open the Hellmouth, along with the warning came an obscure reference to 'The Zeppo' now who or what this thing is I have no idea."
Faith grins at Xander as he sleeps. "You know I have never seen anyone scarf down food and then sleep like a log all in the span of an hour before." She sat by Giles and watched Xander some more. "You know back in the day when I used to be somebody I used to get the hunger for food after a good fight." She grins. "And if I didn't burn it off in a fight I used to grab some flesh and bang..." She blushed then glanced at her hands. "Well that was before the Powers decided they didn't need Slayers."
She looked over at Xander then frowned. "So what do you suppose was his excuse?"
Giles looked up from his tea and shrugged. "You needed energy after burning off so much... Dear LORD!" He grabbed the phone and dialed the Summers house. "Dawn! Just the person I wanted...Yes, yes he's fine, sleeping but fine."
Faith could see him getting impatient with Dawn. "Never mind that, you can see him tonight, what I need to know is can you remember anything about the last time the Sisterhood was in town?"
Dawn nods. "Boy can I! Buffy was angry that I borrowed her green sweater and got sauce spilled on it."
Giles shook the phone. "Besides that!" He calmed down. "Can you remember anything Cordelia said about it?"
Dawn shrugged. "She and Xand didn't have much to do with it, they were kept out of the loop like me and Mom were. She was still majorly peeved about 'the kiss', kept sticking the knife in about anything she could come up with." She grinned. "I remember this one time she kept ringing up to see if the Harpo was in." She stopped and thought. "No that doesn't sound right, Groucho?" She shook her hand. "The name doesn't matter but what she said about him made me think that if ever I got any powers she would be the first one I practiced on."
Giles could remember word for word Cordelia's last words. "Zeppo...Who, or what is a Zeppo?" "That was it! Zeppo! She called him that for a day or two then just dropped it like she was pissed off at it or something."
Giles hung up and looked at Xander as he turned over on the couch. "He needed the food to replenish the energy he had used killing the Sisters, he's sleeping now for the same reason." He looked at Faith. "He's the Zeppo Miss Chase told us about! He's becoming a Guardian." Faith looked confused. "He's a what now?"
Giles shuffled through the books until he came across a scroll that he had 'borrowed' from the Museum. "He's becoming a Guardian; they were old before this world was formed and older even than the Gods that fought over it."
Faith shook her head. "Jeeves I think you popped a cork!" She pointed to Xander. "It's Xander, he's a human, if he weren't either B or I would have sensed something screwy with him before now."
"Before now he was human, he may even still be, but he has this innate ability to be easily possessed. Hyena, Soldier even Dracula." He clicked his fingers as he realized something else.
"ADAM! The Joining Spell! It had never been successfully achieved before and yet he knew it could be done, in fact it went beyond the limits of what I had been told."
Faith sighed. "Jeeves you have to remember I wasn't exactly here at the time, I was tucked up in my cell trying to keep Bertha from making me Mrs. Unrepentant Serial Killer."
"Yes of course, sorry, well as I said we were dealing with a Human/Demon hybrid called ADAM and the only way we could deal with it was a joining spell, the best parts of each of us joined with Buffy and..."
"Turbo charged her! That's where she got the idea to get Caleb from!" "Yes, well be that as it may it certainly worked a lot better against Adam and now I think off it probably would have worked against the first if we had included Xander in the casting." He took a sip of tea. "Any way it worked and I spent months trying to discover why it had worked." Faith saw a glimmer of pale gold light flash behind the patch Xander wore over his eyeless socket."
So does this mean he's all 'Super guy' now?"
Giles shrugged. "I don't know, the scrolls tell of the one and only witness to a battle between a Guardian and a Demon horde, but the witness had become a babbling fool by the end of the struggle. It mentions the Guardian being a spiritual entity until called upon to protect by some mystical being, it then chooses it's host and alters its hosts body to suit it's own purposes." "So why haven't we heard more about these 'super beings'?" Faith was trying to work out why her friend was chosen and what the possible outcome would be.
Giles shrugged. "As near as I can understand it the power of the Spirit literally burns the human host out, by the time it has dealt with the threat the host's body cannot sustain the energy the being has flowing through it's now mortal body and it vaporizes and returns to where ever it came from."
Faith can feel her heart thumping against her chest. "Leaving the host tired but alive right? Right?"
Giles shook his head. "It blends with the host's very soul, it creates a weapon from the shell and when it is finished it departs along with the life essence of the host."
Faith shakes her head. "So this 'thing'." She spat the word out like it was poison. "Will use Xander to do the Power's bidding then take Xander with it when it's done? Leaving just a lifeless husk behind for us to mourn and bury!"
Giles nods. "To put it bluntly, yes exactly and I fear there is nothing we can do but wait for the end."
"Well screw that idea!" She tells him as she moves over to Xander and shakes him. He mumbles and opens one eye. "I ain't leaving this time Faith, this is my place..." He snorted and began to fall asleep. "You get your clothes and you leave." He went back to sleep.
Faith sighed. "Flashback! Talk about a bad choice." She stroked his hair and whispered. "If I had half a brain back then..."
She jerked back when Xander suddenly sat upright and began speaking in a strange tongue. # The Sisterhood are not the only ones trying to open the mouth! Beware the serpent in your midst Shaman, and do not interfere in the plans of the Gods.# Xander blinked then sighed. "I suppose breakfast is out of the question?"
Faith started to move forward. "What did you say?"
Xander looked strangely at her. "Why? Has everyone suddenly turned French? I said I suppose breakfast..."
Faith waived her hands. "Not that the other gibberish you spouted."
Xander looked from Faith to Giles. "Is the Green meanie paying his usual visit early or what? "Giles was about to answer when Faith replied."
What you still need your pocket calendar? "She jerked her thumb at him." Mr. Wonderful here has a calendar with the girls..."
Giles held up a hand. "Too much information, most of which I do not require to know." Faith growled and left the room and Giles lent in. "However it maybe wise if I had a copy?"
"A wise man knows when to lay low and if he can't he should at least know when to just shut up and do what they want." Xander smiled and took out the small calendar from his wallet and handed it over to Giles." Don't lose it, that baby kept me from being skinned alive when Casa Summers was Fort Petticoat."
Giles grins. "Yes it all makes sense now, how you knew when and who to give your support to."
He tried to get some sense of the man that had become Xander. "You're a lot smarter than a lot of people give you credit for."
"Why, just because of the stupid calendar? Hell Giles that's just common sense. It didn't help me find a cure for Aids or even find someone to love. It's just another stupid gimmick in my stupid life." His fingers travel to the patch. "I've begun to accept the fact that my life sucks, but at least I'm still alive and so is the world thanks to people a lot smarter than I am."
Giles just sat back and sipped on his tea as Xander continued. "I feel satisfied with my life, I've loved a girl that I had felt was my soul mate, even if it did turn out she belonged in the arms of another. I was foolish enough to let my second chance slip through my fingers because of a stupid fluke! And the final one I forced to leave me through my own stupidity and fear."
Giles stared at the cold cup of tea. "You don't own the 'if only' curse Xander. I loved and let it slip through my hands because of my own stupidity. First Jenny and then Joyce."
"And both because your Slayer couldn't stand the icky factor!" Xander sighed. "Then again what else could we expect? She's blond; she's from California and her name's Buffy. Should any of her decisions really have surprised us?" He touched his eye patch again. "What's happening to me Giles? Am I..." He looked into Giles's eyes. "Am I becoming a demon? Will you guys have to kill me or risk my killing you?"
Giles hesitated and then told him all they had found out but what surprised him was when Xander shook his head at the idea he was being changed so he could protect the Hellmouth. Xander stood."
Not the Hellmouth Giles, a person. "He smiled as if he were excepting his destiny. "Or to be precise, a key."
Faith had been stood at the kitchen counter taking it all in. She took a sip of the coffee she had made then asked. "So what was that gibberish he spoke before you went all Doctor Phil?"
"It was a language that has not been spoken on this planet for well over at least five millenia." He looked at Xander and told them. "The Greeks knew of them through their encounters with the Egyptians who in tern knew of them from a far older race. They called them the first ones." He looked over at Faith. "We know of them as Atlantians."
Dawn shook the skirt to straighten it then looked into the full length mirror in Buffy's room. "The skirt fits but I'm going to have to get a new top to match."
Amanda nods. "Yeah Buffy is on the 'petite' side, hell my dad's got a bigger set than her." The duo giggled and then Dawn sat on her sister's bed. "I'll never understand her." She looked at Amanda. "She had a normal boyfriend, well as normal as Riley could be any way, and yet she chose to love two Vampires and ended up marrying Angel.Sorry, Liam."
Amanda sighed. "But don't you see how romantic it was? She loved a man that she was created to destroy and in the end the Gods granted him life to be with the one he loved and who loved him."
Dawn shrugged. "All's I know is she wasted some real talent, let him hang and rot on the vine without even taking a nibble."
Amanda collapsed into the pillow and screamed. "Not him again!"
Dawn blushed. "Did I ever tell you about the dream I had the night they defeated ADAM? Willow and Tara all but threw themselves at him, hell even Mom ..."She shuddered. "Let's not get into that though, I followed him all through the dreaming, and came to know the true him." She looked at Amanda. "I just pray that one day I have some one as wonderful as him love me, believe me he won't need to pine away for me!"
Amanda nods. "Yeah but just not him though, he's like your brother or something."
Dawn frowns. "No not Xander, just some one like him." Dawn looked at the clock then went back to the closet. "You know it's been over an hour since Giles rang to say Faith had found Xander and he's fine. You would' a thought he would be back by now?"
Amanda sighed. "Well I've got to book, Dad said I could stay here to do homework but as soon as I finish I have to go home."
"Still doesn't trust us huh?"
"Nope, not since that whole 'I'm a chosen one' deal just before we defeated the First. You'd think he'd cut you guys some slack considering you saved the world and all." Amanda picked up her school bag and Dawn walked her to the front door. "Look on the bright side, only four more months and we graduate."
Amanda looked happy but then frowned. "Yeah but then we get the joy of College Hell!"
"Ahh! But we also get the brass ring, dorm room block parties with boys!"
The front door opens and Willow runs in. "Is Giles here yet?" Dawn shakes her head. "Nope, I think he might be trying to find out what happened to the Fugly sisters, why?"
Kennedy sighs. "Because we found them."
Dawn gulped and looked past them. "Not here I hope?"
Willow shook her head. "If these three find their way here I'd be very surprised .Someone decided to teach them baseball...The hard way." "And whatever did it is it had enough strength to make the Terminator look like a Ken doll!" Kennedy added.
Dawn gulped again. "Maybe we should lock the doors and call Giles?" She could feel her nerves tingling like never before. "This place is starting to annoy me Every time we get a little peace and quiet some a-hole has to come along and ruin it."