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Demon's breath #4: Connection

Summary:

Category: Buffy/Xander, (Xander/Anya references,) fourth season, pub party night fic, alternate timeline, University series.
Summary: On party night, Buffy has an unusual moment with Xander, while Willow visits a pub for the first time. Demon's breath #4
Disclaimer: All characters from the 'Buffy' show, including Buffy, Xander, Willow, Giles, and Anya, belong to Mutant Enemy and Joss Whedon or some such. I don't mean to step on their rights or copyrights.
Distribution: Distribute anywhere you like, official site is http://lavender.fortunecity.com/apocalypse/640/demons/ Please check here before asking for previous parts.
Feedback: Yes! Yes!! Feedback, any feedback!! Please? ;-)
Spoiler: Through graduation part two.
All characters from the 'Buffy' show, including Buffy, Xander, Willow, Giles, and Anya, belong to Mutant Enemy and Joss Whedon or some such. I don't mean to step on their rights or copyrights. The song "I will be there for you" is sung by Jessica Andrews, and I don't own any of it either. The song "Contradiction" is written by The Kinleys and Sarah Majors.
Submitted through the 0oBuffyXanderFanfictiono0 mailing list. This list can no longer approve new members posts, please join us at 0oBuffyXanderFanfictiono0_2

Work Text:

Demon's breath #4: Connection
by Chris Kenworthy

Prolog

"In the Christian Bible, the Book of Revelations foretells a time when horrible beasts will rise from the waters and the forces of chaos will be loosed upon the unrighteous." Korben Gautier smiled grimly, his eyes looking sternly out at the young people who made up his audience. "The Cherentoc native tribes, in southern Argentina, have passed down stories for three thousand years about the day on which the world will be taken back by the Spider Fiends. A day that is not too far off, so a Cherentoc shaman once told me," and Korben winked at that, "though we have yet to see if the giant spiders show up on schedule."

"Norse legend prophesies the coming of Ragnarok, the final battle, in which the demons and evil giants annihalate the hierarchy of gods that rule Valhalla. Even the Celts believed that the hideous giant race of monsters called the Formori, who once ruled their land, would one day rise again to destroy them and their rulers."

A small beeper went off on Korben's podium, and the handsome man picked up the timer and switched it off by thumbing a button. "And as you'll remember if you showed up to lecture the first two times, *that* is the sound that tells us we're out of time for today. Tune in next time to find out more about demon apocalypses in world religion." As the students stood up and started arranging their belongings to leave, Korben Gautier stepped back to the empty greenboard and watched them go. Watched two very pretty girls, in particular. A redhead in designer blue jeans and a green sweater; a blonde in a short purple skirt and a gray t-shirt.

"I really think this is gonna be a fun class," Willow Rosenberg remarked to Buffy Summers as she arranged her books in her knapsack. "I mean, we already know a lot of this stuff. And any new demon dirt we learn will probably come in handy in the Slayer game sooner or later," she whispered over to her best friend, so that nobody else could hear.

"Yeah, it's cool," Buffy remarked noncommitally. "So, what've you got planned for tonight? Thursday night, big party night on campus. Or so I hear."

"Hmm," Willow said as she walked out of the lecutre hall beside Buffy. "I dunno. This guy in computer lab was handing out invites to a party. And making up fake IDs so freshmen could get in. I thought I might go." She took in Buffy's expression attentively. "But if you wanna do something, I can blow it off..."

"Oh, no, that's fine, Will," Buffy said with as much feeling as she could muster. "I'm glad you're going out and having some fun without me - it'll be good for you." Willow looked searchingly at her friend, and Buffy continued. "It's just - fake IDs. Fake in the sense of being illegal, amongst other things. I just wouldn't have figured you for something so outlaw."

"Oh, come on, Buffy," Willow said, shaking her head. "First of all, seventy-four percent of the kids in our graduating class are going to drink alcohol before they're twenty-one. I'm mature enough, I think to drink responsibly. And, well, you know," her voice dropped lower, "I'm not really a party person, after all, Buffy. I'm not comfortable with a lot of people around like you are. I just, well, I thought that a few drinks to loosen up might be a good idea."

Buffy stopped and looked into her best friend's eyes. "I'm not that comfortable around crowds myself these days," she reminded Willow. "And if you want to experiment with drinking, that's your business. I know you can take care of yourself, Will."

"But you're not going to?"

"Don't think so," Buffy said, shaking her head. "Too many bad memories, what with the snake-monster frat boys and all. But you go - have fun."

"Well, what are you gonna do tonight then, Buffy?" Willow asked uncertainly.

"She's gonna hang out with me - aren't you Buff?"

Buffy and Willow stared. They had left the lecture hall building by this point, and standing right there in front of them was - "Xander??" Buffy rushed forward to greet her friend with an impulsive hug. "What are you *doing* here? On campus, I mean."

"Had another job interview," Xander told her, squeezing Buffy tightly, then stepping back and scanning her from head to toe. From the smile on the teenager's face, he obvously liked what he saw. Xander was working as sales help four mornings a week at a bookstore in town, but had been looking around for a second job. Especially since Angel had heard that Xander and Giles were living in his mansion and had decided to charge them rent.

"Ooh - a job here on campus? Where? Don't they normally keep that kind of thing for students?" Willow yattered happily. "The work-study program, stuff like that?"

"I dunno," Xander admitted. "They didn't ask me for a student number."

"They?" Buffy repeated. "Well, where is the job?"

"Waiter at the White Fedora," Xander announced happily. Buffy could see why - the White Fedora lounge had become her and Willow's favorite hangout on campus (despite the country karaoke.) If Xander was working there, it would be so much easier for them to spend time together.

"So, where are we gonna go tonight?" Buffy asked Xander with a teasing grin.

-----------------------------

A magic window manifested in front of Korben Gautier as he walked into the teacher's lounge. "Return quickly to the high school," the voice of demon Thonis rumbled at him. "We have much to..."

"Sheesh," Korben told him off. "Don't *do* that! Somebody could have seen..."

"I knew that you were alone, Korben," Thonis told him impassively.

"...and what's more, you scared the crap out of me," Korben complained. "I'm not going to be reporting in, thank you very much. I've got my own business to attend to."

"But you must intensify the connection between the dimensional nexus and Hell," the demon told him persuasively. "Otherwise our plans for the eve of the millenium will come to naught."

"You can handle that, Thonis," Korben snapped. "Get my assistants to help you. I've got my own mission here, remember. Keeping an eye on the Slayer and her friend?? We can stay away from them for now, but we're gonna need to stand against them before too long. To do that, I need to understand them." With an irritated sweep of his hand, Korben dismissed the magic window, turned about and strode out of the teacher's lounge. I wonder if I've got some cooler clothes in my office, Korben thought to himself. I've got a party to get ready for.

------------------------------

She reached her hand cautiously out and worked the knocker on the mansion door.

After a few seconds, a dark-haired girl opened the door, wearing simple, dark clothes. It was Faith. "Oh, hey Anya," the pretty Slayer mumbled. "What are *you* doing here?"

"Uh, I was looking for Xander," Anya said, flushing bright red with embarassment. "Hoping I could convince him to talk to me..."

"Yeah, well, sorry," Faith said, somewhat uncomfortable herself. "He's not in."

"He told you to tell me that, didn't he?" Anya grumbled. "I mean, yeah, I made a mistake, but where does he get off..."

"Hey!" Faith interrupted her. "Xander didn't tell me anything. He's actually not in, as in he's not here. Xander Harris has left the building."

"Oh." Anya sighed, her righteous indignation punctured. "Do you know when he'll be back?"

"He didn't say," Faith said, shrugging. "Do you, um, want to come in and wait, in case he'll be back soon?"

Anya hesitated only a moment. "Sure."

------------------------------

"Well, I dunno," Xander told Buffy, getting back to the question she had asked him, now that Willow had taken off to go to her next class. Buffy was done for the day now as far as lectures. "How about we do a bit of a party circuit in the Slaymobile?"

"Hmm..." Buffy gave that a moment's thought. "Why not your car, Xander?"

"Uncle Rory's got it today," Xander told her dolefully.

That threw Buffy for a moment. "The Uncle Rory who got his license suspended for DUI?"

"Yeah," Xander replied. "Got reinstated a few months early, wants his wheels back. On the other hand, my rental agreement goes until December. So, we're working out some way to share it." He shrugged. "We can go into town, see what's happening at the Bronze," Xander continued, trying to recover his excitement. "Go to the White Fedora, too. If I get the waiter gig, it might be my last chance to be a 'customer' there for a while."

"Ooh, sounds like a plan," Buffy said, smiling. "What about before then, though? It's a bit early for anything to be happening at the Bronze yet."

"Hmm," Xander's brow furrowed in thought. "I have no idea. You?"

"Well, I'm kinda hungry," Buffy said. "Wanna come up to the suite? Hopefully there won't be many other people up there."

"Sounds like a plan!" Quickly the two of them headed over to Wilkins Hall, (Buffy shuddered again when she saw the name of her old enemy blazoned across the building she now lived in,) up the elevator, and into Suite 24. "Hello? Hello??" Buffy called out as she unlocked and opened the door. There was no response.

"Hey - how about that," Buffy purred, flashing a pleased smile at Xander. "We've got the place to ourself!" She headed over to the fridge, pulling out two sodas and examining the food products to be had more carefully. "Lesse - there's leftover takeout chicken and fries we could put in the toaster oven. Or, um, we could probably finish off this rizotto. That's about all I can offer you without getting someone else in the suite pissed off at me."

Xander walked slowly up to her, closed the fridge door, and looked intently into her eyes. "What... what is it, Xander?" Suddenly it was as if an irresistable force was drawing them slowly closer. Xander's arms went around Buffy's shoulders and her lips touched his, softly, tenderly. Though there was no open-mouth, after a few seconds the intensity of the kiss was taking Buffy's breath away. It was like nothing she had felt for more than a year.

"Wow," Xander muttered when their lips had finally broken off. "What the hell was that??"

 

Part One

"Okay," Buffy breathed to herself, walking out into the living room as she tried to get her bearings. "That was a kiss. We just kissed. didn't we?"

"Kiss we did," Xander admitted, holding onto the refrigerator as if to steady himself. "We did kiss."

"And not just any kiss," Buffy muttered, then spun around to face into the kitchen, and look into Xander's eyes from across the room. "Or, um, I mean, well," she stuttered. "Is it just me, or was that a really *good* kiss?"

"Oh, mabbayenna," Xander blurted out, then realized what he'd said and grinned nervously at her. "In case you're curious, that was 'Oh, man...'"

"'Oh, man, yeah,'" Buffy repeated, finishing it for him. "I'm fluent in American salivating boy talk, remember?" She grinned over at Xander as she remembered one of the many moments they had shared over the past three years.

"I'm... I'm not exactly salivating," Xander protested, giving her a goofy smile.

"Even so," Buffy replied, sitting down on the couch and patting it to indicate where Xander shoud sit down to join her, a safe distance away. "Well... given all that - what do we do now?"

Xander's face was serious as he took his seat. "Uhhh -- I have no idea. Sorry." Buffy opened her mouth, and suddenly Xander cut her off. "No, wait... I, uh yeah, I'm having a thought. I wouldn't say it's my best thought ever, but..."

"Xander!" Buffy chided him, laughing. "Just *say* it."

"Okay, well, here's my thought," Xander said, nervous now. "We're supposed to be hanging out all evening tonight, right? Well, if we just stick to the plan, you know, keeping an open mind to the possibilities, I'd say it's probably gonna be clear by midnight which way we oughta go. You know - to date or not to date. Whatd'ya think?"

"Uh..." Buffy moaned, and caught herself. "I, um, I think that it's a great idea and- I never noticed before just how sexy your eyes are." She shook her head, noticing that she had slid closer to Xander without even realizing it. "Sorry - I'm no attention span girl tonight, I guess."

"Ah, I think your attention's just wandering," Xander corrected her, sliding over himself. "And I kinda like where it's wandering to!"

"Yeah, I do too," Buffy confessed with a smile, reaching out to squeeze Xander's shoulder. "Well, if we're sticking to the plan, I think the plan had to do with getting something to eat."

Xander's face fell just a little bit, and Buffy suddenly realized that he was hoping for another smoochie. Well, there would be plenty of time for that this evening. "Okay, um, let's try some of that rizotto," he finally said, getting up too.

-------------------------------

Faith and Anya sat looking at each other across the stone coffee table in the mansion's living room, neither of them relaxing a milimeter's worth. "So," Anya started with a casual tone, then faded out, nervously brushing at her blouse and skirt. I have no idea what to say to this girl, Anya realized awkwardly. I don't know a single thing about her, except that she used to be evil and now she's not. Well, come to think of it, that's common ground of a sort, considering the sort of thing I did as the Wishmistress, but it's not exactly a topic of friendly conversation.

"Yeah," Faith muttered aloud, surprising Anya, though of course the brunette couldn't have known what Anya was thinking about. She was just making another noncommital comment to punctuate the awkward silence. "So, major meltdown between you and Xander, huh?"

Anya jumped in surprise again. "I, uh, yeah, um, er - how did you-"

"I've heard about it," Faith said. "I've been sharing a bathroom with the guy, remember. You hear things."

"Oh, right," Anya said, blushing a little. "I thought I'd give it a few days and then test the waters, but he didn't return any of my calls. So, here I am, taking a bit of a more proactive approach."

"Oh." Faith replied, and there was silence for a little while. "Cool," the Slayer added idly.

----------------------------------

"Giles won't admit it, but he's having a tough time with teaching his classes," Buffy relayed to Xander as they nibbled on rice. They were sitting side by side on the couch again. "Not with the curriculum material - I mean, you know Giles. He's history-guy. But..."

"It's the students, right?" Xander shot back with a smile.

Buffy nodded ruefully. "He actually thought that being the librarian of Sunnydale High would give him the experience he needed to relate to students. Which it might have, if he hadn't managed to make the Sunnydale High library into a forbidden realm where students -- non-Slayerette students at least, dared not go."

Xander caught the not-pleased tone in Buffy's voice and considered the situation more thoroughly. "So, how bad is it? So, he doesn't like the freshmen? It's a bad for the freshmen, but not really for Giles, right? Professors are allowed to be crusty and mean a little, from what I hear of University."

"It's worse than that," Buffy admitted with a sigh. "It's not really that he doesn't *like* the students. He's *scared* of the students, and that's a problem."

"Ooh, yeah," Xander frowned sympathetically. "Once the jackals catch the scent of fear, it's not a pretty sight."

"I want to help, but I'm not sure what I can do about it," Buffy continued. "Besides intimidate the worst of the hecklers, of course." She giggled at that thought.

"The Buffy Summers approach," Xander quipped, laughing good-naturedly. "I love it."

Right then, the door to the residence suite opened, and Xander and Buffy pulled away from each other a little bit by reflex. "Oh, hey guys," Willow said as she rushed in, and paused a moment in the hallway where she could get a good look at them.

"I just came by to get changed for the party - don't mind me," the redhead explained. She paused just a moment, a speculative look on her face. "You know, you two look awfully cozy, sittin' there together." And with that she took off, and the door to her and Buffy's room opened and closed as Willow went in search of her party duds.

"You know, we probably do," Buffy admitted, smiling over at Xander. "Well, if Will's physical science class is over, that means it's after six thirty, and that means we can get going in a little bit. The Bronze will be the place to be by seven, if last year was any indication. I think I wanna get changed too, if that's okay, and then we can roll. Cool?"

"Oh, anything you say, Buffy," Xander told her, laughing. Once again, the door to Suite 24 flew open, and a bunch more people flooded into the room - Matt Emery, Buffy's writer nosy writer suitemate who was way too curious about the 'story' of her strange high-school adventures. Also charging in were Matt's roommate Casey, (a sorcerer who maybe had a crush on Willow,) Janet, and Monika.

"Hey, Buffy," Janet called out, seeing them. She was the fiancee of Kevin, one of the residence advisors, and shared the suite's fourth double room with him. "Uh, hi, um, Xander, right?"

------------------------------

"Hey, Willow," Casey's voice rang out across the walking path, and the young sorceror quickly ran and caught up to Willow. "What's the good word - are you doing anything interesting tonight? It's party night, if you haven't heard."

"Uh, yeah, I've heard," Willow said somewhat awkwardly. "I got an invite to this thing over at the Marian building. Kinduv an moderate little..."

"The bar party?" Casey shot back, a wide grin breaking out over his face. "Not as moderate as you think, I'll bet." He waved an invitation in Willow's face. "I think half the campus got these."

"Oh," Willow replied, her face downcast. "Are they all gonna show up?"

"No, of course not." As they walked through the light of one of the walk-path lamps, Willow and Casey got a better look at each other, and Casey's eyes widened in appreciation. "Ooh, that's a really nice outfit, Willow, if you don't mind me saying so. You look spectacular."

"Oooh. Umm," Willow stuttered. Yes, it was pretty - a dark purple halter dress, sleeveless silk. The hem was a little on the short side, and Willow was all too aware of Casey's quiet intensity when it came to her. Willow was still going steady with Oz, despite the fact that she hadn't seen him in the last couple of weeks. And even if she weren't, Willow was a little nervous about letting a strange guy get to know her too well. Casey obviously wanted to know everything.

"Hi guys," a new voice rang out. Willow turned and groaned - it was Matt. "You going to the bar party too, Willow?"

-----------------------------------

"Party central, we are approaching your co-ordinates," Buffy called jokingly into her car phone, which wasn't currently activated, just a prop in her little pilot game. "Please radio landing instructions, and parking assignment. Party central? Party Central?? *Why aren't they answering?!?*" That last was yelled at Xander in a mock-dramatic tone.

"Uh..." Xander started, but was soon laughing too hard to speak.

"There's no time - I'll have to take her in on manual," Buffy said through gritted teeth, making a tight turn, (at excessively high speeds,) into the Bronze's parking lot, down an aisle, and came to a stop in and empty parking space - with a bone-jarring application of the brakes, but no actual collision with other solid objects. Driving with Buffy was an experience guaranteed to raise the heartbeat of anyone, but she didn't actually give you any technical reason to say she was an unsafe driver, Xander realized.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the vehicle has come to a complete stop," Buffy said, now with a flight attendant tone. "Please deactivate your safety restraint harnesses and disembark through the doors you will find directly to one side of your seat." Suiting action to word, Buffy flicked off her seatbelt and climbed out of the Jeep. Xander did the same, feeling somewhat relived that the ground underneath him was solid and not about to move in the unpredictable fashion Buffy's car had.

"You look dynamite tonight, by the way," Xander blurted out. Buffy did indeed - she was wearing tight stretch pants, midnight blue, (or were they navy?) black leather boots, a sheer blue tank top made of some chiffony, see-through stuff, with her camisole showing clear as day underneath it. Or maybe clear as night, considering the bad lighting here in the parking lot. Xander was filling in the details from his memory of how Buffy had looked in the residence lounge once she had changed. Buffy's perfume reminded Xander of wild roses and fresh mangoes, and her beautiful eyes were tending to stare straight into his.

"Thank you," Buffy told him with a smile. "You - well, you don't look so fancy yourself, Xander, but I like you anyways." She took his hand and led him into the Bronze.

Neither of them paid any attention to the teenagers kissing up against the wall of the nightclub. A few seconds after the Slayer and her friend had made it into the club, the dark-haired young girl ran her hands up from the chest of her handsome partner, and started rubbing his temples.

"Ah, yeah," he mumbled around her lips as their kiss ended. "That feels good... ahh!" The girl's massage had turned into a more determined pressure, and all sign of consciousness left the basketball guard's face. The dark-haired beauty held the pose for half a minute, then let the guy go, whereupon he collapsed onto the ashphalt, the surprise on his face converting to mindless horror.

The girl called others over from the shadows, and they picked up the body and began to carry it away from the scene...

 

Part Two

"Baran!" the demon Thonis boomed. "Coleman. Arrive at once!"

The two named members of the Cult of Congressio made their way over to the pentacle which contained the fierce Hell-demon, sustaining him despite the lower levels of ambient magic here on earth than Thonis was used to in the obsidian palaces of Hell. They moved quickly enough, but nervousness was plain on the faces of the junior warlocks.

"Sir Korben is otherwise engaged," Thonis told them simply. "The two of you will have to lead the ritual of attunement."

"What??" Baran Carter spluttered. "Us? But... even if Korben is unavailable, surely you are better suited, my lord Demon..." he yammered nervously.

"Little foolish one," Thonis chided him. "The attunement must be cast from the point of deepest contact with the Hellmouth - the sunken church, once lair of the Vampire Master. As you can plainly see, I cannot go there with you." Despite its unfamiliarity with humans, Thonis must have read the despair on the faces of the two sorcerors, because after a pause it continued. "Do not fear. Even if you must cast the spell, I shall be with you insofar as I am able. My power will be available for you to draw upon in working this magic."

Linus Coleman made his own objection. "But, still. We will have to travel through the most deeply dangerous of the underground tunnels to reach the church at the witching hour, Thonis. There are fierce creatures in the nether reaches of this town, who none can reason with. For that matter, the Slayer - Faith. She will be patrolling the tunnels tonight, your magic tells us."

"Even so, I will protect you," Thonis replied, clearly annoyed now. "Behold - the pride of the newest strain of vampires under my command." The great demonic figure waved toward where the stacks had once been, and three figures stood there that neither Baran nor Coleman had noticed before. "Meet Xerxan, Yewin, and Zarana - the vampires of darkness!!"

------------------------------------

"Invitation and ID please?"

Willow offered them to the brawny doorman, (or was he a bouncer?) trying not to let her nervousness show about the fake ID. It was a good one - the guy in the Quasar lab had snapped her picture with a digital camera and printed the card out with some kind of a laminating printer. According to the fake drivers' license, Willow was Lois Bayard, born July 24th, 1978, legal drinker and driver, (though never on the same evening, of course.)

But, as she had suspected, the doorman gave her ID only a cursory glance before handing it back to her. "Have a good time, Miss," he repeated, and turned his attention to the next person.

Willow took a quick scan of the room, noticed Matt and Casey sitting at a table ahead of her and to the left, and immediately turned right. She didn't want to have to worry about either of those two guys - Matt and his inevitable questions about Buffy's slaying, (though she didn't suppose Matt knew the term for it,) and Casey with his eerie and modest charm. Willow didn't quite trust herself around Casey, and trust was something she felt she needed to have. For Oz's sake as well as her own.

The only problem was that there was no-one else around that Willow recognized. Well, that would probably change soon - the party had only just started. Or she could look for someone else who seemed to be by themselves and start up a conversation, Willow supposed. But in the meantime, she might as well go up to the bar and get a drink. Yep.

Willow turned and headed to walk towards the bar - and then veered off in sudden embarassment. Okay, what's wrong with you, the redhead chastised herself mentally. You came here to drink - you brought money for it and everything. Just go up to the bar and order something. They're expecting it.

Okay. With a centering breath, Willow turned back to the bar and made it all the way up there. "What'll you have?" the cute bartender-guy asked her with a friendly smile.

Oops. What to order? "Um... I'll have - a beer?" Willow squeaked, blushing red with mortification.

The bartender nodded, but didn't move. "What kind?"

Oh no, again. "Umm... anything you've got on draft?" she asked helplessly.

"Hmm... okay." With another smile, the bartender picked up a plastic cup in one hand, and filled it up with golden-colored liquid from some kind of weird hose. "That'll be three dollars."

Willow paid him the money and beat a quick retreat. It was a full minute before she had calmed down enough to sip cautiously at her beer.

"Eww!" It didn't taste very good. She tried again but EWWWW - it only seemed to taste worse. Gross. Checking carefully to make sure that nobody noticed, Willow left the cup of beer purposefully on an empty table, and moseyed back to the bar area, looking at the list of available refreshments with a keener eye.

"Hey!" the bartender called out, recognizing her. "Done already?"

Oh, stars above, just kill me now, Willow prayed insincerely. Better yet, just get me out of here... no, Willow didn't really want that either. "Umm, something like that," she muttered, stepping back up to the bar.

"Wouldja like another?"

"No!" Willow blurted out, and then quickly added, "I think I'd like to try something else. Um..." An entry in the selections posted up behind the bar caught Willow's attention. It sounded innocuous enough that she might like it. "A cooler? Wildberry cooler?"

"Ah. You got it, babe," the bartender said with a smile, going over to a cooler and pulling out a bottle filled with red liquid. "That's four." Willow paid him with a smile, and took a sip from the bottle as soon as the bartender had popped the bottle cap off. It was kinda nice - strange but nice. Like berry-flavored soda pop, with a little extra kick to it.

"Hey there Willow," a voice called out from behind her. Willow turned around surprise, to see Kevin, the residence advisor who lived in their suite. "How're you doing?"

"Okay, I guess," Willow said with a smile. "How're you?"

------------------------------

"Hehe, that... mm, that tickles Buffy," Xander protested, smiling.

Buffy backed her lips away from the ticklish spot on Xander's upper lip, just under his nose, and moved them closer to his right ear. "It's supposed to, silly," she chided him, kissing his earlobe softly.

"Uh, heh heh," Xander laughed nervously, and Buffy backed away, picking up her soda from the table in front of the couch and sipping it serenely. Xander reached out for his own drink, leaving one arm around Buffy's shoulders, and looked awkwardly over at her. "No big problem there, just - well, you know. It's a little weird."

"I know," Buffy agreed, reaching down to put her hand onto Xander's knee and stroking it softly through his jeans. "So..."

"How's the, well, you know? The monster situation?" Xander asked softly.

"Not too strenuous," Buffy said with a smile. "Which is weird, but cool. Those pain vampires are starting to worry me, though. The first one, the one who attacked you, Giles said it was just a vampire warlock who knew some kind of pain spell. But the vampire DJ at the welcome to university dance last week was doing that pain trick too, and Faith ran into two more of them the same night."

"Ooh," Xander sympathized. "That doesn't sound good."

"No, it's a disturbing trend," Buffy agreed. "If they're vampire warlocks, it means we may have a fair size coven in town. And Giles can't find any other explanation in his books." Buffy lowered her voice again. "Oh, and that reminds me. Giles said he ran into a bunch of nasty guys who chopped down a Whitetree. Muy bad."

"A Whitetree?" Xander asked, somewhat uncertainly.

"Yeah. Center of good white magic - something we need all we can get of around here." Buffy shook her head. "It's so creepy. On the surface, everything is so easy and nice, and there's this dark current of evil yuck that's flowing all around us, staying so far away from me that I can't even hardly see it. I don't like it when my enemies are this clever."

"Oooh," Xander frowned. "Well, come on, it can't be as bad as that. Whatever's going on, we'll figure it out and you'll beat the crap out of it. I mean, if the Ascension couldn't stop us, nothing can."

Buffy smiled. "If you say so." She took another sip from her soda cup, which turned out to be the last sip. "I'm gonna go and get myself another drink - do you want one?"

"No, I'm good," Xander admitted. "Hurry back!" He smiled goofishly up at her.

Buffy smiled back, then inpulsively leaned over and kissed him fleetingly on the lips. "I will, sweetie," she purred, and headed over to the bar for another sprite.

On the way, though, Buffy got one of her strange feelings. She noticed a guy and a girl heading back to the emptier rear corridors of the Bronze - not an unusual thing in itself. There were a lot of spots back there were a couple could enjoy some privacy, if they didn't want to make out in the comparative public of the nightclub's regular seating. But the girl - seemed to be not quite okay. She was moving unsteadily, and groaning as the guy led her along. Buffy promptly forgot about her drink and surreptitiously followed the pair.

The girl didn't seem to have any obvious marks on her from vampire bites or the like. She was young, high school young, and the Bronze was normally very good at carding highschoolers, so Buffy didn't think she was likely to be drunk. So what was going on?

The guy led the girl into the storeroom, swung her up against a wall, and started to kiss her. Buffy was just about to creep away, thinking that her Spidey-sense had been on misfire this time, when the boy's hands crept up to the girl's temples. Suddenly her moaning intensified, and when the guy broke the embrace after about twenty seconds, the girl collapsed to the ground. Buffy jumped back in horror as the guy simply walked out of the store-room, and Buffy crept in to examine the body. There was no pulse, no breathing. Buffy tried mouth-to-mouth, but it was no use. The girl was dead!!

 

Part Three

"Well, if you ask me," Faith told Anya insouciantly, "you're going about this Xander thing in the completely wrong way."

"Huh?" Anya said, a confused smile on her face as she turned the stereo down half a notch and took a sip of surge. "How do you figure *that?*"

"Well, look at it," Faith told the ex-demon with a smile. "So you went off and danced with another guy. Xander might have thought that that was a horrible thing to do, but I don't, and unless I'm reading you off by half a mile, you don't either. It was the natural thing to do - checking out what the grass was really like on the other side of the fence, so you could appreciate Xander more. Am I right?"

"Yeah!" Anya called back enthusiastically. "But... still, what does all this have to do with me doing the wrong thing?"

"Well, look at what you're doing here, Anya," Faith continued with a sassy smile. "You're coming over here to beg Xander to forgive you, like a pathetic little dog. Don't deny it - that was the plan. But why should you? You didn't do anything wrong. Really, you didn't. And by taking the penitent position, you're giving Xander all the power. If you don't change your strategy, Xander's the one that's gonna get to choose - choose whether to take you back or cut you loose. And I think it's a pretty good chance that he'd choose to cut you loose."

Anya frowned at that. "Still - what else can I do?"

"Make *him* want to come back to you," Faith pronounced simply. "Be aloof - make him jealous..."

Suddenly the front door of the mansion banged. "What on earth *is* this din?" Giles asked peevishly from the front hall.

"Nine inch nails, I think," Anya called out in response. When Rupert Giles came into sight, a nasty glare on his face, Anya sighed in frustration and turned the volume knob down again.

"To what do I owe the dubious pleasure, Miss DiMuro?" Giles intoned gravely, and Anya jumped. She hadn't told hardly anyone her full name as a mortal, and couldn't think how Giles would have figured it out.

"Chill out, Giles," Faith announced. "She was waiting for Xander, and we kinda started hanging out. No big, right?"

"Oh," Giles said after a moment. "Well, he might not be here for a while yet. Xander, that is. He dropped by to see me at the university, said he was planning a night out with Willow and Buffy, if they didn't have other plans."

"Great," Anya muttered to herself, disappointment obvious on her face.

"So, how was your day, G?" Faith asked.

"Long and difficult," Giles sighed, sinking down into a comfortable chair.

--------------------------------------

"Uh, hey, Buffy," Xander called out. When Buffy didn't seem to be heading over to the couch she and Xander had been sitting at, Xander jumped up and dashed over to intercept her. "Where's your drink?"

"Huh?" Buffy asked, recognizing Xander with a distracted nod.

"The drink that you left to buy, like ten minutes ago," Xander reminded her gently.

"Oh, yeah," Buffy said, smiling sheepishly. "That drink. Would you believe, it completely slipped my mind?" Xander looked at her somewhat blankly. "There's a monster," Buffy clarified in a whisper.

"Oh..." Xander muttered, considering that. "Slimy lung-sucker? Tiny but tough armadillo-beast?"

Buffy shook her head. "He looked human. But he killed a girl, just by putting his hands on her forehead..." She was leading the way back out of the Bronze now. "It looked just creepy enough that I'm wanting the 4-1-1 on his evil baddie typology."

"So, what? Up to the mansion and a consulting visit with Giles?" Xander asked. "You know, now that he's no longer your formal Watcher, he may start charging you for these after-hours drop-ins." He cracked a smile at that, but Buffy wasn't in a merry enough mood to pick up on the joke.

"If we have to go to Giles, we will," the Slayer explained matter-of-factly. "But that forehead death maneuver looked familiar. If I saw it where I hope I saw it, we might not have to waste time going up to the mansion." Buffy unlocked the passenger seat of her Jeep, slid in, and opened the glove compartment up. Within a few seconds she had removed a bright red folder from it and was paging through it.

"Uh... what's that?" Xander asked, standing somewhat awkwardly beside the car.

"Present from Willow. Ninety beasties a Slayer in Sunnydale should know about. How she and Giles figured out that each of these creepies was a candidate to be coming through Sunnydale, I don't know, but... yep, here it is," she said, pointing at a page. "The Hive. Also known as Brain vampires. Disembodied demon intelligence, sustains itself by co-opting the brains and bodies of mortals to house it - needs at least three human hosts to survive. Feeds off mortal minds by touching at one of the vital points of the body - the temples, the center of the chest and the small of the back. Can take over a body once the native mind is destroyed, otherwise the body suffers a heart attack from lack of cardiac stimulation in the spinal cord."

"Yuck!" Xander commented.

"The Hive hosts have no special abilities other than to draw humans into a telepathic link with the Hive mind, but they are chosen for their youth, strength, attractiveness, and intelligence. If enough hosts are killed to deprive the Hive of the three hosts in needs to survive, the demon mind will die. Unless it has prepared to sacrifice a host, it will instinctively fight to defend each one to the best of its ability." Buffy snapped the folder shut with a snap. "Cool. What'll you have, Xander?"

Xander was really confused now. "Huh??"

"For a weapon. Knife, club, baseball bat?" Now Buffy was leaning back into the back seat, probably digging out fighting implements, and Xander fought to keep himself from ogling her firm ass and keep his mind on business.

"Huh? Uh, yeah, I'll take a baseball bat, I guess," Xander said. In seconds, Buffy climbed back out of the car and handed him one, keeping a long, sharp knife for herself. "Let's go slay us some brain vampires."

-------------------------------

"Okay, the thing I'm wondering is," Xander muttered once they were back in the Bronze. "Where *is* this brain vampire of yours?"

"Give it a moment," Buffy hissed at him. "We just got back here, didn't we?"

"Yeah, and everybody in the whole club is looking at the crazy people with the big knife and baseball bat."

"What knife?" Buffy asked innocently, and when Xander turned to look at her, he realized that the weapon was nowhere to be seen. "Can't you figure out a way to carry that big bat around without all the people noticing it?"

"Hehe, very funny," Xander slammed her 'double entendre.' "If you've got any decent suggestions, I'll try them out."

"Then again... we might not need them," Buffy whispered. Xander turned to Buffy again in confusion, and noticed that she was staring off into the middle distance. Following her gaze, Xander saw a relatively handsome guy who was staring straight back at Buffy. He held the gaze for a second, then immediately high-tailed it for another of those dark corridors off the main room of the Bronze.

"Let's go," Xander agreed, pushing ahead of Buffy to chase after the suspect. Once he was in the corridor, he could see the guy duck into the green room up ahead and to the left. There probably wouldn't be anyone in there, since the band was already on. "Come on, he's right up there," Xander said, pointing up ahead. Buffy drew the knife out from behind her and followed close behind.

"Ah, well I'm there, but I'm here too," a new voice rang out. A smooth, soft hand touched Xander's temple, and he braced himself for having his brain drained away or whatever, but that didn't happen quite yet. Another hand spun Xander around, so that he was facing his assailant, an absolutely gorgeous young teenage girl with shining blonde hair.

Past that girl, who had apparently jumped him out of a doorway to his right, Xander could see Buffy, and another beautiful girl was standing right behind Buffy, with a hand on each of Buffy's temples. "The Hive, I presume?" Buffy snarled in frustration.

"Why, how do you know what I am?" the girl behind Buffy asked as a small, slight, but cute boy squeezed past both of them to stand next to the Hive blonde. Buffy clamped her lips shut, belatedly determined not to give any of their information away.

"And just what - were you going to do with this big, nasty looking knife?" the short guy asked, reaching out to take the hilt out of Buffy's grasp. Buffy tensed with her natural fighting instinct, and Xander only had an instant to see her slump down in an imposed relaxation before he lost consciousness of his own body.

He had the distinct sensation of floating in darkness, just a dim red light, near to a shining blue star. Both of them were being surrounded by a gigantic dark gray mass with four distinct subsections.

'I don't know how you know about me, but it doesn't matter. I'm going to eat both of you, and that will be the end of it.' That seemed to be coming from the mass in a strange way - it wasn't sound, or words as Xander normally understood words. It was almost as if they were - pure thought?

'Oh, no, we're caught in the link. We're caught in the link and our minds are about to become demon chow and... and I really shouldn't be thinking all this, should I?'

'Hang on a second,' a different lump of the mass thought. 'I want my host to get a better grip on the girl. She's young and strong, very pretty, and smart enough. She'll make a good fifth host, and I don't want to risk losing her.'

'A fifth host?' Buffy thought, the fear showing through. 'I don't want to be a host! I don't want anything to do with a yucky demon like you!!'

'She's not as beautiful as my host,' the lump near Xander thought. 'or Gamma self's host. Still, you're right, she'll do. Once we've got a fifth host, we can finally meet up with that Hiver in Elmwood and mate.'

'And *mate??*'

 

Part Four

Buffy thought-screamed as the vortex of hatred that was the Hive took a firmer grasp on Xander's and her thought-nuclei. As the two of them were pressed into a smaller and smaller space by the horrible blackness, they started to overlap. Suddenly, Buffy could read Xander's thoughts - no, not read, she could *see* his thoughts. Xander's life was flashing before his eyes, and Buffy could see it all - watching his parents fighting when he must have been, god, so young. Struggling with school, hanging out with a pair of other youngsters - those must be Willow and Jesse, Buffy realized with a start. The first time he saw Buffy herself, finding out about vampires and demons, the early days of the Slayerettes.

Then the sudden plunge into the wild world of crazy romance, courtesy of Cordelia Chase. Sturggles with Willow as the group dynamic changed, with the horror of the "Angelus months." Dealing with the sadness of missing Buffy when she had run away from town. More monster hunting - and the strange 'fluke' of a kiss that began Xander's secret affair with Willow - the one that ended his relationship with Cordelia forever. Helping to hold the team together when the Ascension threatened and Faith turned to evil. Being asked to prom by the lovely demon Anya... loving her, and losing her...

All this, leading to this night. Seeing it all, all of this stuff she already knew or guessed about Xander but had never thought of as a consistent whole - suddenly Buffy knew for certain that she loved him. And she was damned if she'd let either of them die tonight. She'd beaten badder bad guys than this Hive - she wasn't nearly defeated yet. With an exultant pulse, she railed mental energy against the Hive, pushing it back.

'We cannot take over her body in this fashion,' one facet of the Hive reported. 'I will require a second host to contact her at a different vital point.'

'I will do so,' another aspect replied. This was it, Buffy realized. She had only a few seconds to act, and she couldn't overcome the Hive here in the mental world. Psychically, it was stronger than she was.

But not in the physical world. Physically, Buffy knew she could overcome these guys, put their mortal hosts out of comission and kill the Hive. It would look like murder, but she knew it wasn't. The real people who had been in these bodies were long gone, just like vampires, even if their hearts still beat and blood still flowed.

The question was, how did she get back into the physical world? Buffy didn't know, so she did the obvious thing. She tried her best to 'follow' the aspect who had mentally spoken most recently. He was about to do something in the physical world - to touch one of Buffy's 'vital points.' If she could get an understanding of how he went from the psychic world to the physical, Buffy could do the same.

Suddenly she was back in that dark corridor. Shortie was reaching out to her, his hand reaching out towards the center of her chest. He noticed that she was physically aware of him, and suddenly Buffy felt the Hiver behind her pulling her back to the psychic world. She couldn't resist for too many seconds more.

On the other hand, she didn't have to. The knife was still in Buffy's hand, and she swung it back beneath her, trusting her instincts to hit a suitably vital spot. Bone crunched, the hands fell away from Buffy's temples, and a soft body fell to the hallway floor.

Tiny had his hand on her torso by now, squeezing right between Buffy's breasts, but for a second he was far too stunned to do anything. "I don't like a guy who cops a cheap feel," Buffy quipped, and slashed the knife through his throat. With that not only he, but the girl holding Xander, and the fourth Hiver, who had been standing in the doorway watching all of this, collapsed and fell prone on the floor.

Xander came to suddenly, looking over at the four of them lying where they had fallen - two of them brutally slain by Buffy's knife, the other two of them completely unmarked and just as dead. Buffy kicked the blonde girl over and looked into her face. "Do you really think she's prettier than I am?" she asked Xander with a gruesome smile. Suddenly, before their eyes, all four bodies seemed to melt away into energy and vanish.

---------------------------

"Uh, Miss Rosenberg?"

Willow swiveled around. She was on her third cooler by now, talking and joking with friends from the suite, (though still avoiding Matt and Casey,) and a few other acquaintances. It took her a second or two to notice the man who had just spoken to her.

"Who are - Mishter G? Whad are you doing here?" Willow stifled a hiccup.

"Just having a bit of fun on a Thursday night, like anyone else," Korben said with a charming smile. "Don't worry, I'm not going to assign you an essay or anything. But when I noticed you here, I thought I'd come over and say that I think it's going to be a real pleasure having you in my class."

"Me??" Willow said with a slightly silly smile.

"Yes. From the introductory exercise you handed in today, I can tell that you're a quick thinker who did the reading, and has a genuine interest in the subject of the course." He pulled a chair over and sat down. "So, why don't you tell me about yourself, Miss Willow Rosenberg?"

"Huh?"

"Well, unless you've got something better to do," Korben said, smiling again. "I like to get to know my students a bit. I'm sure you've got some old stories about yourself and Buffy - she's the girl who you always sit next to, right? Are you two old old friends??"

Willow giggled. "Well, not that old," she told him. "Just, well, we've known each other getting on for three years now..."

----------------------------------

"I must say, I'm not convinced about that," Giles opined. "I mean, no one would argue that you didn't have a right to go out on a date with another guy if you wanted to, Anya - you and Xander weren't exclusive. But you lied to Xander and decieved him so that you could go out with this Ryan chap on the very same night that you went to the dance with Xander. He's got a right to feel betrayed, and if you don't take responsibility for your mistake, you'll never make things right between the two of you."

"Yeah, right," Faith moaned, making a funny face at her Watcher. "Okay, Anya's, that's the counterpoint. The mature, stuffy, boring guy's perspective. Now..."

"Well, thanks to both of you for your help," Anya said quickly, shaking her empty jolt can, "but if Xander isn't gonna show up, I really should be going. See you, Faith. See ya Giles." She got up and headed towards the door.

"Hey, can I grab a ride?" Faith asked, jumping up. "I gotta do some patrolling in town tonight - see what's up down in the sewers."

"Gross," Anya commented. "Well, sure, come on." They left the room, letting Giles wipe the confused expression off of his face, breathe deeply, and relax.

-------------------------------

"Well, now, if there are no more horrible monsters, maybe we can finally get back to our date," Xander told Buffy with a smile as they walked into the White Fedora. They didn't stay at the Bronze once the Hivers had been dealt with. 'The mood here is ruined now,' Buffy had told Xander.

"Oh, it's a date now, is it?" Buffy teased him with a smile.

"Well yeah, isn't it? I mean, I got some pretty intense thoughts and feelings off of you, in that weird mind-meld thing," Xander whispered as they sat down.

"Really?" Buffy asked, bringing her lips close to his, not letting him see the nagging worry inside her yet. Not looking at the nagging worry herself.

"Yep," Xander breathed, and completed the kiss. It went long and deep, filling Buffy's whole body with tingly pleasure.

"Hmm," Xander muttered, a few seconds after they had come up for air. "Let's sing a song together, Buffy."

"Oh, wait - I dunno," Buffy protested. "You may have a good voice, but I..."

"I heard that you sang here the night of the dance," Xander pointed out, carefully neglecting to mention who she had been singing with, "and that you were great. Come on, I know just the song." He opened the karaoke directory, and flipped it out to a page.

"That isn't even a duet," Buffy pointed out.

"Well, we can make it one," Xander replied with a smile. "Just mark out which lines are for you, which are for me, which are for both..."

"When I lost faith, you believed in me," Buffy sang out a few minutes later, on the karaoke stage once again.

"When I stumbled, you were right there," Xander sang back.

BUFFY: For ever act, of love you've done,
BOTH: I owe you one.

BUFFY: There were hard times. I know I survived,
Just because you stayed by my side.
XANDER: With all I am, with all I have,
BOTH: I promise you *all my life.*

XANDER: Whenever the road is too long,
BUFFY: Whenever the wind is too strong,
XANDER: Wherever this journey may lead to,
BOTH: I will be there for you.
BUFFY: Oh, I will be there for you.

XANDER: Through sorrow,
BUFFY: On the darkest night.
XANDER: When there's heartache deep down inside.
Just like a prayer,
BUFFY: You will be there. And I promise you *all my life,*

Buffy smiled over at Xander as he started them back into the chorus. Yeah, this wasn't such a bad idea aver all...

------------------------------

Faith sighed as she crawled into the electrical tunnel. Well, at least this wasn't as wet as the sewers themselves were. There was a lot of dark underground passages in Sunnydale, and Faith didn't know them nearly as well as she should. Faith had been more comfortable in the dark alleys and graveyards, and let Buffy handle the stinky sewer beat. Now, with Buffy in semi-retirement, or working for herself or whatever, Faith felt like she needed to take over in the catacombs.

A muffled curse caught the Slayer's attention, followed by soft footsteps. As usual, Faith's perfect sense of visual sound made it quite clear what was going on - someone had pricked himself very hard and painfully on something, probably one of the exposed metal splinters on the walls, and was two-stepping it in an expression of pain, trying to keep himself from crying out.

Giles had tested out that trick of hers, the seeing of sounds, and found that it did indeed work as advertised. Some kind of heightened interface between the visual and hearing centers of her brain after she had hit her head, he had guessed. As long as there was enough perceptible sound to indicate an action or movement, Faith's grey cells could analyze that sound and map out what was moving, how it was making sound, and where it was taking place. It was quite a useful ability.

"Someone's up there!" a voice called as Faith made her way back down the tunnel.

"Damn. It's probably the Slayer. Well, you three know what to do, I expect." Faith smiled, and picked up speed, pulling a stake out of her jacket. She 'saw,' from the echoes, that there were two speakers and three other individuals in the group, all of them human-shaped - probably vampires. If only the three of them were gonna fight her first, Faith should have no trouble.

Just before 'they' came into view, as opposed to 'sound-view,' something happened. A mass of darkness filled the tunnel up ahead, so thick that Faith's flashlight couldn't shine into it. Obviously, this wasn't normal darkness - it was magical. What was more, even though she could hear the footsteps of her enemies from within the cloud of darkness, she couldn't 'see' them by their sound. Even with her ears, all she could 'see' was the darkness!!

 

Part Five

"Careful now," a voice called out of the murky darkness before Faith. "She's still a Slayer - still dangerous. Just get us past her."

Faith gaped at the black cloud in shock. Who was *in* there? They knew she was a Slayer... She briefly considered backing up, but didn't worry about that for long. As the magical darkness advanced on her, Faith stood her ground defiantly, a short sword in one hand and a stake in the other.

Soon the darkness was all around her, and Faith couldn't see anything. She could still hear footsteps, even if she couldn't see them, and she charged towards the nearest sound. She collided awkwardly into a human figure - hardly a textbook perfect body-block, but Faith figured she had to cut herself a little slack. He was on the ground, at least, and Faith lashed out with the sword, thrusting it into his neck, or trying to. She missed, her sword clanking against the concrete floor of the tunnel, and jarring itself loose from her hand with the impact. Meanwhile, his hands were reaching up to grab Faith's neck, his nails pressing into her neck as he squeezed at her windpipe.

Wrong way to do a strangle, Faith thought bitterly to herself. You need to put pressure on the carotid arteries first - that's what takes your target out of action in a split second. Also, the sharp talons of her attacker gave her a valuable hint - they felt like vampire claws. Hoping for the best, Faith plunged her stake down into the man's chest, and was rewarded by a burst of ash and dust beneath her as he disintegrated.

Faith scrambled madly around for her sword, but couldn't find it, and footsteps were charging relentlessly towards her. Panicking, the Slayer somersaulted off, landing on her feet maybe twelve feet down the tunnel.

Suddenly, a surprised gasp caught Faith's attention, only a few feet away, and footfalls backed away. Faith dashed forward, her free arm leading, grabbing an arm just above its elbow. "Hey!" a voice called out. "She's got me! Help!! You guys are supposed to be *protecting* us, hello?"

Protecting them? Was this guy a leader, then? A desperately flailing hand knocked Faith's stake away, but the Slayer reached behind her and drew a deadly knife from a scabbard strapped to her back. Moving the one hand up her victim's arm to the shoulder, Faith got his torso placed in her spacial memory, and winded up to slash the knife through his neck.

Just then, a horrible, massive blow crunched into Faith's ribs. Struggling through the pain, the Slayer turned to defend herself from this new threat, when a sharp edge sliced through her right leg.

Well, now, you see, Faith thought to herself, as opposed to the three multiply fractured ribs, the leg is a problem. When one leg drops below 20% of full strength, total mobility and equilibrium just crashes. Faith aborted her charge and did her best just to collapse against the tunnel wall with a minimum of overall trauma.

"Okay, come on, Faithy faithy," a rough voice called. "Time for you to find out what it's like to get staked..."

"What's going on?" the first guy asked. "Is she hurt? How badly."

"Badly enough," rough-guy replied.

"Don't press her," the reply came. "Even a wounded Slayer is deadly when she's cornered. Let's get going already. If she knows what's good for her, she won't mess with us any more tonight."

Oh, how patronizing is that, Faith groaned to herself as the magical darkness receded further up the tunnel. The sad thing was, it was true. Faith would be doing well to get herself to the hospital alone, never mind fighting the forces of literal darkness.

Ripping a sleeve off her black sweater and tying it as a makeshift bandage around her leg, Faith hobbled back to her feet. One thing was true - there was some extra-creepy stuff goin' on in Sunnydale. Watcher-man Giles had better come up with some answers soon.

---------------------------

"Ooh..." Xander muttered, "I love that thing you do with your tongue there..."

"Hehe." Buffy smiled back at him. "Oh, boy, Xander, this whole night has just been so incredible."

"I know," Xander agreed with a sigh, squeezing Buffy tight as they sat in a cozy booth. "So, what's next?"

"I dunno," Buffy muttered idly. "Oh, yeah - I'm gonna need to go down to Elmwood soon. Make certain that the other Hive doesn't cause a problem."

"Oh, yeah, they said there was another batch down there, didn't they?" Xander agreed with a nod. "I'll come down with you - with can make a romantic getaway out of it."

That innocuous phrase shook Buffy to her core. Xander was talking about the two of them being together as a foregone conclusion... not too surprising, considering how couple-y they had been acting ever since singing that duet. But in an instant Buffy's reservation about this whole thing sprung into focus. Xander must have been able to read it off of Buffy's face, or something, because he frowned with concern at her. "What's wrong, baby?"

"Oh, man..." Buffy sighed mournfully. "Well, I don't know if I'm gonna be able to explain this to you well enough, Xander. I-- I love you, Xander, and I really want what's best for you. I'm... I'm just not sure whether that's me."

Confusion blazed in Xander's eyes. "What... what do you mean?"

"I saw into your mind tonight, Xander," Buffy reminded him. "And... well, to be quite honest, there are a lot of girls in your thoughts - and in your heart. Me, Cordelia, Anya, Willow. I'm- I'm not upset," she insisted, holding up a hand to forestall Xander's objection. "But... but I can't shake the feeling that maybe you belong with one of these other girls, and that going out with me would blind you to the truth." She paused an uncomfortable moment. "Plus, hey - who am I kidding? I'm probably still hung up on Angel. It isn't good timing."

"But... but what if we *do* belong together, Buffy?" Xander blurted out. "How can we know for sure, unless we keep exploring whatever we have together. I mean, do you want me to start dating other people now..."

"We let our hearts show the way, Xander," Buffy told him softly. A silence followed that sentence for an awful lot of seconds. "I think I'm gonna sing one more number," Buffy said abruptly, picking up the karaoke directory. "Maybe it'll help you understand what I mean a little better..."

"This is a duet, Miss," the attendant told her one more time. "We can find someone else to sing it with you..."

"No, I want to do it all by myself." Buffy took a deep breath, stepped up onto the stage, and nerved herself as the mellow but sad music began:

Joe was her only son.
Trouble was his way of having fun -
With the wrong crowd.
He was heading to Kingdom come.
What should a mother do?
She'll have to let go to get through.
If she could, she'd send him away for his own good.

Buff took a deep breath quickly before the chorus started. This was why she'd picked this song, not the verses about mothers...

It's such a *contradiction.*
*To love someone enough to walk away.*
The curse of benediction,
Is the pain that just won't go away.
It's such a contradiction...

------------------------------

"It worked perfectly, Lord Thonis," Baran Carter enthused. "It was a little nerve-racking, that fight in the darkness - but they beat the Slayer up good. Your spell has been cast, and the Hellmouth connection is at its strongest possible level."

"Excellent, my..." Thonis began, but was interrupted.

"That's great news, Baran!" Korben said with a smile as he strutted into the library. "Meanwhile, my reconnaisance operation on campus also met with success. I think we're ready to begin moving against the Slayers and their allies - cautiously." Korben laughed to himself, a rich, throaty laugh.

-----------------------------

"Hey, party girl," Buffy laughed as Willow groaned and sat up in bed. "Good morning. How was last night? You feeling any pain?"

"Hmm," Willow grumped, considering as she slipped onto her feet and walked over to her dresser. "Some aching of the head, yes. And my hands seem to be tingly and numb. Is this a hangover?"

"A mild one maybe," Buffy said. Willow shot a suspicious glance over at Buffy, but the Slayer was smiling. "Sounds like you didn't get too carried away on your first night of drinking - congratulations. Did you have fun at the rave?"

"It was cool, yeah," Willow said simply.

"Cool. Sometime, I've got to tell you how *my* night went, though it's okay if you don't want to hear it now." The phone rang, and Buffy dashed over to get it before it could aggravate her poor Willow's head too much. "Yeah? --- Hey, Giles, what's up? --- Oh, my god." She dropped the reciever to whisper over to Willow. "Faith's in the hospital!!"

----------------------------

"But she's gonna be okay, right?" Buffy pressed.

"I'll be fine, B," Faith assured her, and Giles nodded.

"The cracked ribs should set quickly enough, given Faith's slayer constitution. And the wound to her leg missed any vital tendons or blood vessels," Giles explained. "Still, I am quite concerned by the overall implications of this."

"It was big-time," Faith elaborated. "They knew who I was, what I was doing there, and once the surprise factor wore off, they were as efficient as Hell."

"A pattern seems to be falling into place here," Giles whispered. "The various attacks by pain vampires, the attack on the Whitetree, and now this. Something rotten is afoot in Sunnydale."

"And we don't hardly have a clue what it is," Buffy agreed, stunned.

To be continued in the next story, "Don't you forget."