Angel drove his convertible for what promised to be the last time, pulling into the donut shop parking lot. Xander noticed the former vampire was amazed at being out in the sun, reveling in driving slow with the top down. Looking back at Sarah as Jesse happily pointed out different things to the fascinated little ghost, Xander began to wonder if anything could be done to delay their departure, when he remembered Jesse's words. "Sarah and I are here until her brother says good-bye."
As the car emptied out, Xander handed money to Jesse and waved Kowalsky and Angel over. "I was thinking…what if we delayed Angel's good-byes awhile?"
"What are you saying, Xander?" Angel asked.
"Well, if you don't say good-bye, which probably means not seeing Buffy," Xander pointed out, "you and Jesse could show Sarah more of the nice things before you go. Maybe help with the research, get a job…"
Hope dawned in Angel's eyes as he understood both the spoken and unspoken considerations. "What would we tell Buffy?" Angel asked. "She should at least be told about me. And we're bound to run into each other at some point."
"Not necessarily," Kowalsky interrupted. "If we designate a certain part of Sunnydale as the Angel Zone, and keep Buffy out of it…we could give it a try. If it doesn't work out, the three of you will have had some extra time before moving on. They never said you HAD to say good-bye right away."
"Let's ask Jess and Sarah what they think," Xander pondered. "Maybe Sarah wants to see her mother rather than wait." The other two men nodded assent at this.
A few minutes later, Sarah came barreling out of the store, babbling about all of the donuts and sprinkles and wonderous machines as Jesse called for help as he precariously carried out a catering urn of coffee, and many boxes of treats.
Taking Jesse aside, Kowalsky explained Xander's idea as they carefully packed the "donut run" into the front seat.
"Coolness, Sarge," the teen ghost approved, trying a donut, "but whatever Sarah wants…hey, no taste for ghost dudes?"
"That's Major, or Kowalsky," the older ghost asserted. "I'm going to miss food, but being around might still be interesting."
Angel and Sarah came up, the little girl looking worried, "Um, I want to go see my mom, if that's okay, Jesse?"
"Sure short stuff I just found out we can't taste food, so after I've had a chance to talk to Willow, I'll be ready to go," Jesse replied
Only forty-minutes late, but uncharacteristically calling ahead, the Xander Troupe headed to the library behind their new associate.
"X-Xander," Giles addressed as the darkly-clad Scooby moved gracefully through the door, "Ms. Calendar will be along…Ah, here she is." They turned to find the twenty-something gypsy beauty entering behind Xander and looking him up appreciatively.
"Wow!" the Computer Science teacher exclaimed, "that's certainly a new look for you Xander. How much of that hair is real?"
"All of it, actually," responded Xander, smirking as Willow, Buffy, and (strangely enough) Cordelia all made startled but equally favorable sounds from over at the table. Xander noticed Buffy's still-red eyes and gave her a sad smile and nod as he gestured the two adults toward the table.
"X-Xander, how are you doing this morning?" the librarian asked. "Your attire indicates we weren't sharing a mass-delusion, and the local newspaper," he gestures at the table, "is blaming last night's events as carry-over from a war involving LA drug gangs."
"Everything became even more real as I woke up after a night filled with less than happy dreams," Xander began, "but I have to caution all of you, especially Buffy, not to get to hopeful over what I'm going to reveal next, because I have guests who are only here until the good-byes are said…
"This morning I was visited by four spirits that had nothing to do with Christmas past or future," he revealed as they nodded. "One is here to train me in my new role, two others are here because *Liam* and I both failed family members. These two are here until the fourth spirit shows up to say his good-byes, and by showing up that alone might be enough for the Powers to declare a good-bye."
"Hey, Xander," Cordelia asked, surprisingly pleasant as she seemed lost looking at his hair and attire. "Who's this Liam?"
"Liam is the name Angel went by before his turning," Xander replied, staring into Buffy's teary eyes. "And he is the fourth spirit. He will not come in until the others have had a chance. Then the three will move on. Agreed?"
At the nods, and with Willow hugging an almost-happy Buffy, Xander brought them up to speed. As he brought them up to speed except for the identities, he called out to the hall, "Hey guys, come on in!"
Kowalsky brought in the coffee as Sarah skipped over to Xander. The third spirit carried the boxes in front of his face to the table as Doyle brought up the rear sipping from a cup.
Boxes on the table, Willow looked up an nearly fainted as she received a smile and a "Hi, Wills" from a lost friend.
"Jesse! OhmigodisitreallyyouImissedyouandyouwereavampireandnowyou'rehereand—" she babbled until she'd raced around the table and buried her face into his chest, the rest muffled for another ten seconds before even she came up for air. Cordelia did faint and proved enough of a distraction that Buffy helped her recover as the reunion ensued, and introductions made, including Sarah. When Buffy heard this, she walked over to the little girl, who whispered something into her ear.
"I love your brother, too, Sarah," Buffy replied as the two hugged briefly. "I hope we can be friends even if I can't be with…Liam… anymore."
While Willow, Cordelia and Xander talked to Jesse, and said their farewells, on one side of the table, the "grown-ups" conversed on the other.
"H-how i-is it that you are, uhrmm, going to help?" Giles asked.
"Apparently," Kowalsky contributed, "I'll provide special forces training to Xander, and I guess anyone he indicates, and since us spirits are solid, I can do most of whatever it is you do. So far, we don't seem to need sleep or food, so we're open to whatever direction the boss here provides. I don't know if spirits can really train the physical stuff due to minimal feeling, but maybe languages and errands?"
"Alexander's your boss," Ms. Calendar asked, eyebrow raised slightly.
"Sure is, darlin'" Doyle interrupted, sitting next to the gypsy beauty, "and if yer interested in signin' up we could discuss it over drinks?"
Sidling quickly but bemusedly away from Doyle and up against the now-manly Alexander, she notices the rings on the latter's hand.
"Are those what I think they are?" gasped the young woman quietly.
"Yes they are," Alexander whispered back, "And to know that is to admit what you are, so you will not speak of it to *anyone* without my permission. We will discuss this at some point in the near future." The computer teacher nodded, but didn't move away from the contact established with the young man, a fact noticed slightly uncomfortably by the young women in the room.
"Any way" Xander spoke to the group, louder, "the other thing is…no one…including the Watcher's Council, Giles…will learn of my change… but it will be reported that a new hunter passed through last night and dusted Angelus and Spike before meeting up with his team and moving on. We don't need an exorcist or 'recruiters' causing trouble. It's bad enough that I'm going to scramble around dealing with the affairs of my parents and uncle. Houses, bills, and such."
"Hey, Xaander," Doyle offered, "depending on what's involved, couldn't we just send in our spirit to get the forms, then put them back in. Who's to say anything if we 'ave the paperwork in place?"
"Yeah, treat it as an Op," Kowalsky continued. "Depending on money, jobs, friends, and such, Doyle and I *vaguely* could pass at a glance as relations, and if we can hack into the computer records and forge a few signatures…replace the signature cards with ours…"
"Oh! I can handle the records!" Willow explained, excited at being hacker-girl again. "And we can electronically order updates sent out of City Hall to replace existing ones outside Sunnydale!"
"If you're willing to sell *low* I can get Daddy to let me buy 'em up and rent them back to you!" Cordelia exclaimed. "And then you can buy me dinner to thank me!"
"Thank you, I think, Cordelia," Xander replied somewhat confused.
"Hey, the princess has a good idea there, Xaander," Doyle spoke up. "She may be making a profit selling 'em off, but it'll bring you in some cash, and we can say your family skipped town without ya."
"Th-that's an excellent point, Mr. Doyle," Giles said, as 'Ripper' began picking up the thread of the conversation. "And then the utility and other traces will turn off, so only any insurance policies a-and extraneous outlays need concern us. We can disappear 'em right proper, eh?" he added with a smirk before clamping down to his usual demeanor at the looks the scoobies and Ms. Calendar gave him.
"Cool," Xander responded. "Can we get it done this weekend? Including my emancipation?"
"Xander," Willow said quietly as she came up to her friend while Jesse tried talking up Cordelia, "aren't you rushing things with your parents? They've only just…left."
"Wills," Xander responded privately, "the parents that raised me I don't miss for a second. The parents that left me a letter freely telling me they loved me, respected me and cared for me…understand what I need to do. *They* will always be in my heart, not the ones that took up space for my entire life." They hugged, and memories of Angel's observations on Willow's feelings caused him to kiss her forehead, and whisper so only she could hear. "Willow, I have a road to follow as dangerous as Buffy's. I don't know if I can or should risk real relationships…and I can't risk what we already have…So can we just stay Xander and Willow best friends and not worry about anything else?"
The red-headed girl looked up with glistening emerald eyes, and with a small bittersweet smile nodded, hugged him quickly, and moved to sit back down next to Buffy, as Jesse stood and declared himself ready.
"Liam, come in now!" Xander called out as Cordelia and Willow hugged Jesse and separated.
The former vampire came in, and Buffy rushed over to embrace him. The two moved off to the other side of the room, talking and looking teary-eyed as the expanded slayerettes made polite conversation until the inevitable departure.
Half and hour later, as Buffy and Angel embraced, the three faded to the next plane of existence, and Cordelia drove Willow and Buffy home.
The rest of the weekend flew by in a flurry of activity, record changing, clothes and grocery shopping, house cleaning and late Sunday evening, closing on the properties in question, furniture and all.
Leaving the lawyer's office for dinner with Xander, Cordelia was not only a property owner, but had actually gained some minor respect from her father through her "decisive action" in closing the deal… something completely new. Xander's "uncles" set off to deposit cashier checks for forty thousand clear after all other debts and obligations were considered. Miraculously, one Scooby plan had been carried out without major blips.
Dinner at an Italian place went uneventfully, Cordelia going on about the property deal and the clothes shopping they'd done earlier in the day to Xander's actual amusement…it was Cordelia in full speed ahead, not Queen C, mode. Dropping her off, he walked her to the door, where he shook the hand of her waiting father, and bid them good night.
Monday morning was the great test of the Sunnydale 'acceptance of the excuse and not the reality' way of thinking. Xander drove up and parked the thoroughly cleansed and detailed De Soto he'd retrieved from in front of Spike's warehouse on the way to the mall on Saturday. Waving money around resulted in the auto shop giving priority to the classic automobile, and he'd picked it up in time for closing on Sunday.
Xander's car and his dark but acceptable attire both attracted looks as he made his way to the office with a change of address form. Guys appreciated the car, while girls that had begun to notice him last week, now gawked as his muscles were highlighted by his clothes as much as he'd hidden his physique before under Hawaiian comfort. The long hair drew many comments, until nearly to his first period he was confronted by Larry and his cronies.
"Hey, Harris," Larry started in. "What's with the sissy hair and tight clothes, there somethin' you're not sharing?"
"Gee, Larry," Xander asked snidely. "You looking at guys, now? *Happy* much?"
"You calling me gay, Harris?" the jock shouted as he swung at Xander, who ducked out of the way before kicking Larry's feet out from under.
"Gosh, Larry," Xander continued, seriously, "my clothes shrunk, and I don't wear the loose shirts any more. Funny thing, you're the first to notice. As to my hair…it's a cultural thing. I'm…Romani. If you're done trying to make a pass at a GUY, I'll be going to class now."
The next few periods flew by as rumors of Larry's minor humiliation reinforced Xander's excuse for his apparent changes. With over two centuries to draw on, including a number of languages, History, French, English and even Biology went by quickly and without the need to nap. 'Who'd a-thought Dead-Boy was such an avid reader? Guess he couldn't brood *all* the time.'
Lunch time saw Xander meet up with the scoobs and Ms. Calendar in the Library. They engaged in small talk and tried to adjust to a new dynamic that included a ghost, super-Xander and Cordelia, who with her Cordettes burst into the Library.
"See, Harmony?" Cordelia told them in Queen C mode, "With proper shopping even Harris can be made pleasing to the eye. A skill that I have, and you don't. And I'll bet you your shopping allowance for a month, that in a week I can have Summers and Rosenberg at the same level."
"These losers, puh-lease," Harmony sneered, "I'll take that bet."
"Good. Now, shoo. I have to inform them how there lives are about to change," Cordelia went on, and continued pleasantly when the Cordettes had left the room. "Hi, all. What's new?"
"Other than threatening to turn us into Harmony clones?" Buffy scoffed as Willow glared.
"Harmony? Please," Cordelia snorted. "Though I'm expecting you to prove me right, you two sleeping have more brain activity then she does on her best day."
"How can you say that?" Willow asked, confused. "She's your friend."
"She wants to be my social rival, Willow," Cordelia said, looking into the red-head's eyes in all seriousness. "It's the popularity game we and our families have played all through school. Nothing more. If you spent an hour a day on clothes and appearance, you'd easily match any of 'em."
"Whoa…" Buffy responded, taken aback. "What've you done with Cordelia? You're way too scary real to be her."
"On the way home last night, Xander said he'd bet me another night out that I couldn't leave 'the mask' at the door of the Library," Cordelia smirked, leaning against him. "Since he's dropped his, I'm proving him wrong. Just don't expect it out there."
"I guess we'll be dining out soon, Cordy," Xander joked, slightly embarrassed at the surprise contact. "And if this likeable version of you sticks around, I'll have to resign as treasurer of the 'We Hate Cordelia' club." This caused Willow to look concerned, but nod slightly after he'd said this.
"So. This afternoon. You will drive Willow and Buffy to the mall," Cordelia ordered, getting up to leave. "Meet me at the main entrance at four, and bring your money. There are shoes crying out to be purchased. Bye"
"Everybody," Xander intoned, "The Elvis of Shopping has just left the building. Thank ya very much."
"Are we really going, Xander?" Willow asked in amazement, only to have Buffy cut her off.
"Will, it's shopping. Xander's buying. It's a chance to explore real shopping without pain to yourself, even with Cordelia." Buffy continued, "Besides, I haven't been shopping for real since LA, and if it turns Cordelia into a human for a while…it's not only worth it, it could be a sacred part of my slaying duties." And on that note, she dragged off Willow, Xander's hearing barely picking up references to looking good, his name, and taking a chance.
After staring at the Library doors for a minute and listening to the chuckles of Giles and Ms. Calendar, the youth turned to them and asked, "I'm thinking it wouldn't hurt to have you two along for the fun. What's a few thousand between friends?"
Ms Calendar immediately seized the opportunity as Giles nearly paled at the thought. Sauntering past the librarian on her way out, the teacher purposely doe-eyed him, "Come on, Rupert. For me?" Giles nodded, flustered as she left the room.
After a moment of contemplation, the librarian noticed Xander staring at him, waiting with a smirk. "I-is there anything else I can do for you, Alexander?"
"Actually, there is," the young man replied. "I don't want to get anybody's hopes up, but could you research raising the dead? Or that spell of Ethan's? We have the spirit here, and I can make him solid…"
"I-I don't know anything off-hand, Xander," the librarian contemplated, and without a body I've no idea where to even begin."
"Well," Xander responded, "I think Kowalsky's buried somewhere in Colorado if we need his body." Then, even more seriously, "Giles, what do you know of ambrosia?"
"Do you mean from mythology, or that staple of American potlucks?" Giles smarted off.
Rolling his eyes and giving Giles a look, Xander waved him on.
"It was, I recall, the food of the gods, keeping them eternally young and vital," the older man lectured, "though earlier mythos seem to vary on this point, whether it was nectar or food, whether it bestowed godhood or simply immortality to mortals eating it. It was protected as priceless by the Olympians. Why do you ask?"
"Hmmm, nothing probably. Just thought that looking for something like it might give us some ideas. What would something like that do to a spirit-reanimated body or solid spirit?"
"W-well, I imagine that it would either destroy the body completely, or restore it to mortality. There's no telling, is there?"
"So, if such a thing *were* possible, it might act as a boost, but nothing enough to push one over into a divine state. But what if we cast Ethan's spell on Kowalsky dressed in his own clothes? Could you look that up? I'll wear out the fatigues sooner or later, and if we can figure this out it'd be of the better. I'll see you later. Thanks, Giles."
The shopping experience was not as painful as he'd expected, and Xander spent the next few days rearranging his life, moving to a four bedroom home between the High School and the University. Xander, Doyle, Giles and Kowalsky patrolled nightly with Buffy, The Major modifying patterns and making suggestions as though they were an all-human team as it in the long-term would keep Xander, Giles and Doyle alive longer. Buffy seemed a little edgy at the slow downs, but also grateful for the company after the loss of Angel.
School went well enough, homework completed before the last bell, even math, and group research focused on Ethan's spell, spirits and wishes for obvious recent reasons. Xander met a few times during the week with his friends at school, but Buffy seemed to be reliving old times with a transfer student, while Willow was left to Cordelia's tender devices whenever researching stopped. Dinner with Cordelia on Wednesday had brought him up to speed on gossip, and he'd learned that Buffy was going to a new club and all her friends were specifically invited by her old friend on Thursday. Some kind of theme club. Xander agreed, and had offered to pick up Willow and Cordelia in the De Soto so they could go together. Doyle and Kowalsky planned to see a movie, and they agreed to meet up at the Library around eleven before patrolling.
Xander picked up Cordelia and Willow a couple minutes late, and they reached the club around a quarter of seven to find two vampires watching the exit. Xander immediately drove up and over the curb, running into one as he braked. The other vampires, momentarily stunned by the intrusion, proved an easy target as Xander shot him with a super soaker through the open window..
"Hey, fangless," Xander taunted as he approached the wounded vampire, "here's my cover charge." The satisfying poof was echoed a second later as Willow and Cordelia both staked the car-crash vamp.
"Ladies," Xander began. "There are two more soakers in the car. Call Giles on his cell phone, then spray anybody trying to get out that seems toothy."
Charging in, Xander found Buffy hard-pressed as she was fighting off four minions but leaving the rest of the clientele to a group of twenty newly-turneds looking like they'd been taken from the streets or a shelter. Drusilla stood off to the side, Xander a blur as he charged at top speed into the room, knocking two fledglings aside to reach the slayer, spraying holy water over her opponents. Dusting two vampires quickly, Buffy yells over to Xander to handle the fledglings and save the stupid customers.
Xander, pulling out a revolver, charges off into the crowd, head-shooting seven fledglings in rapid succession, and squirting five more into leaving several teenagers alone to chase him instead.
For long minutes, Xander with only the sounds of activity indicating Buffy still in the fight near the doorway, managed to dust two more fledglings and drive off the other three into Buffy's waiting stakes.
Ten minutes after the fight started, silence embraces the club only to be interrupted by Buffy's screams for him from outside the front doors.
"Buffy! Wha—" the youth chokes, seeing Willow and Cordelia unconscious next to the car. "How?" he asked as the four fledglings push out of the club to escape into the night. Thinking quickly, he turns to the slayer, "Help me get them in the car, then go make sure the rest of the vamps are out of the club. Then go after those fledglings before they eat somebody. I'll get them to the hospital."
Nodding, Buffy runs into the establishment as Xander takes smelling salts from a small kit in his coat. Waving the ammonia scent under their noses, he brings them briefly around, then heads for the hospital."
Two hours later, the gang had gathered to see Cordelia and Willow released and medicated for killer headaches. Luckily, Drusilla had only thrown them aside in her escape form the club. Of Buffy's friend Ford.
"I can't believe Ford would do something like that, Buffy," Willow commiserated. "He seemed really nice."
"Nice or not," Buffy sighed, "he got a dozen people hurt badly. It's a miracle no one was killed or turned."
"W-Why don't we call it a night? Ms. Calendar and I will drive Willow and Miss Chase home," Giles suggested. "Drusilla is not exactly balanced from what Xander told us, but with such losses, she's unlikely to be able to do much any time soon. Perhaps tomorrow we can come up with a strategy to get rid of her that won't cost us dearly."
"Okay, Giles, but I hope you haven't jinxed us," Xander sighed as they walked into the night.