Xander leaned back into the arms surrounding him.

"Yes." He answered quietly, suddenly knowing that whatever happened now, his place wasn't in Sunnydale anymore either.

"Are you sure?" Angel asked quietly, his voice not much more than a rumble in Xander's ear.

"Yeah, I am." Xander relaxed into the vampire and closed his eyes.

Angel watched Xander as the mortal slipped into sleep, and wondered, not for the first time, what exactly was happening, and if he would ever truly know.

After several minutes spent in silence, contemplating the odd changes this mortal seemed to bring into his life, Angel stood up, lifting Xander into his arms, and carrying him into his bedroom. Maybe he could get the rest he apparently needed.

In all honesty, Angel didn't really know Xander barely at all. He'd always felt a sort of connection to him, but one he couldn't even begin to explain. He had always felt that there was something about Xander that was. hidden. He was like a puzzle. No matter how many sides you saw, how many angles you looked at, you would never see the complete picture, because there were always pieces missing. There would always *be* pieces missing.

Now, after what seemed like several lifetimes, he was beginning to see. To see that the missing pieces weren't nearly as important as the ones that he *could* see.

There was still a lot about Xander he didn't understand.

Xander wasn't the idiot he appeared to be at first glance. He wasn't ignorant or inept. For reasons Angel couldn't fathom, those were all things that Xander worked hard at showing the world.

Angel was discovering that there was a lot more to the mortal boy.

There was still much he didn't know, didn't have a clue about, but what he did know what that some way, some how, he and this mortal *boy* were linked together. There was nothing he could do about it, even if he wanted to, and he didn't.

A sound outside drew Angel's attention away from Xander. He closed the bedroom door quietly, leaving it opened a crack and moved towards the sound. He could hear slight shuffling feet on the other side of the heavy door, and slow breathing, almost as if whoever it was, was trying to *prepare* themselves before knocking on the door.

Angel stood on his side of the door and waited, knowing that his visitor must have had an excellent reason for coming. After another two and a half minutes of deep breathing and hesitant shuffling, there was a knock on the door.

Angel waited. There was another knock. Angel waited again, now stealing himself, for what he was sure to be a confrontation. He opened the door.

"Rupert." Angel spoke calmly, staring at his visitor.

Giles looked at the vampire and cleared his throat once before speaking.

"Angel. May I come in?"

Angel stepped aside and opened the door wider. Giles entered the large, nearly bare room and moved towards the fireplace, waiting for Angel to join him.

Angel followed him into the room and watched as the watcher made a concerted effort not to look at him, to look everywhere *but* at Angel.

"I heard you were. back." Giles began, his voice quiet, tense as he faced the cold fireplace.

"Yeah." Angel answered. There really wasn't anything else for him to say about that. He looked across at the man before him. A man he had inflicted great pain and anguish on. A man he would like to apologize to, make amends with, but as much as he would have liked for that to happen. It just wasn't possible. He knew it. Giles knew it. There was no sense in pretending that it was.

"Did Xander tell you? Angel questioned after a lengthy silence. "Willow?"

"Uh. no." Giles cleared his throat uncomfortably and turned to face the vampire for the first time. "It was. Jenny, actually."

Angel looked up sharply, unsure if he'd heard correctly, but not wanting to repeat the name. Not now, with this man. Judging from the stiff set of Giles shoulders and the serious look on his face, Angel didn't doubt that he had heard correctly, or that Giles had indeed spoken, somehow, to his dead love. In his years walking the Earth he had seen many things that defied understanding or explanations. No doubt this was one of them.

Giles continued to stare at Angel. "She, uh, came to me. Told me what happened to you. in Hell. She told me about your curse." He looked away quickly. "Willow confirmed that you were back. She mentioned Xander." The watcher turned back around, his eyes narrowed as he stared hard at Angel. "Is he here? He didn't show up at school today. Willow said he left in the middle of the night. She thought he might have come here."

Angel tilted his head towards the hall. "He's asleep."

Giles looked toward where the vampire had motioned and then back again. When Angel nodded once, he moved towards the hallway. The first door on the left side of the hallway was closed but he noticed another door a few feet farther down was opened a crack. He moved towards it and pushed it opened gently, peering inside.

Xander lay across the bed, his body sprawled across the wide mattress. The sheets were bunched up by his feet, and he was only wearing a pair of sweat pants that looked a bit too big for him. He guessed they were Angel's. The boy's face was turned away from the doorway, facing a heavily draped window, but even from his vantagepoint, Giles could see a thin layer of sweat covering the boy's body. His hair looked damp, either from sweat, or from a shower he might have taken earlier.

Convinced that Xander was okay, Giles shut the door and returned to the living room, where Angel was now seated on the couch.

"How is he?" Giles asked quietly, returning his gaze to the fireplace. He was still having trouble looking at the vampire, after everything that had happened.

"How does he look?" Angel countered, wary of what Giles may or may not think about Xander's presence in the mansion.

"Tired." Giles answered honestly. "Like he needs someone to take care of him." He turned and forced himself to face the vampire. "Like he's safe."

Angel looked up, his dark eyes meeting Giles, an entire conversation taking place in a single beat of Giles' heart. "He is."

Giles nodded once, sharply and looked away, toward the front door. "You'll be leaving soon."

It was a statement, not a question. Angel recognized this but answered anyway. "Yes."

"You'll be taking him with you."

This also was a statement.

"That's up to him." Angel replied, knowing that it was probably true.

"You'll be taking him with you." Giles reiterated.

Angel stood up and faced the Watcher. Their eyes locked and Angel could see the certainly in Giles' eyes. "Yes."

Giles moved towards the door, opened it and stopped, turning back to the vampire. "He's like the son I never had. Take care of him."

Before Angel could even utter a word, reassurance, or a promise of any kind, the watcher was gone.

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