Sunnydale--Tuesday 8:00 am

Xander grinned as he packed. He'd been skeptical about writing to the 
magazine, but Adaire had convinced him to try. He was shocked when 
they'd not only accepted the article but requested more, plus he'd 
gotten paid--very well. He'd always done well in English in 
highschool, but who'd have thought he could turn it into a career.
He turned to Adaire to ask if she'd seen his ticket, his body reacted 
before his brains catching the keys before they could fall. "Take the 
beamer," she said peeking up at him from beneath the sheets. 

Xander went to toss them back, "No, you need transp--" She ducked 
beneath the covers. "To where, Xan? Sunnydale's not that big. I can 
walk," she said voice slightly muffled by the blankets. "Take the 
beamer. The sooner you get there, the sooner you get back." Xander 
shakes his head he still can't believe the implicit trust she shows 
him. "Later, baby," he calls as he closes the door. Adaire hurried to 
the window, she grinned when the car was out of sight. <Five days on 
my own. Whatever, will I do?>

*********************************

<If the cunt's mouth drops any lower, she'll be licking the floor.> 
Spike snorted as he watched the slayer try to comprehend what he'd 
told them. <Come on you stupid bints, just follow where I lead.> 
Giles shook his head, "Why exactly do you think he's under a spell, 
Spike?" Spike suppressed his rising irritation, for the thousandth 
time since coming to see the slayer. "'aven't you noticed *anything* 
weird about the moron, lately?," he said trying not to wince at what 
he used to call his pet. Giles nodded slowly, he agreed with Spike 
though he'd rather not. 

"'m tellin' you wha' I saw. Some witch has got the kid. She was at 
that club you gits 'ang out at. She worked some kinda mojo on the 
crowd, then disappeared wit' the whelp," Spike said, trying to sound 
suitably unconcerned. Giles glanced at him suspiciously, "And why are 
you telling us? I seem to recall you saying you hated us all. So, I 
figure you'd be overjoyed if something happened to him or any of us 
for that matter." <Damn watcher, too observant for 'is o'n good.> 

Spike smirked, "Yer, right. But I figure after...the incident... yer 
the only way I'm getting this chip out. So, I'm trying to," he 
winced. "Make nice. 'ope you'll remember this, if somethin' 'appens 
to come up." Buffy nodded as if she'd known that all along. Spike 
gritted his teeth, resisting the urge to tear of her head. Willow 
turned to Spike, "What kind of spell was it?" 

"'Ow the 'ell should I know. Yer the bloody witch. You figure it 
out," said Spike. He watched as they began discussing what he'd told 
them. He grinned, when he heard the growing concern for Xander's 
*safety*. "Will, you know how he is about his *girlfriends*. You'll 
have to make sure he stays out of the way, while we take care of her. 
Willow nodded glancing at Tara, "We can come up with a paralyzing 
spell. But what do we do with her?" Buffy shrugged, aside from 
inflicting violence, she couldn't think of anything else. Spike 
sighed, how his sire, souled or not, had ever dated the airhead he'd 
never figure out. "KILL 'er, you twits."

"We don't kill humans, Spike." Spike sneered at the watcher, "Then 
what are you going to do, Rupert? It's not like she's suddenly going 
to come all over, and see the error of 'er ways." Buffy nodded 
agreeing with the vampire, "Plus, she's done something to Xander. He 
won't be *our* Xander until she's gone." So, we should..." Giles cut 
her off, "No. We are not killing her." Will raises her hand, "What if 
she tries to kill us?" "Then we'll trap her. Use a variation of a 
jinni spell." 

Buffy giggled, "A witch in a bottle." Spike grimaced. <'ell has 
nothing on being in the slayers presence.> Tara gasped, "Maybe she's 
the reason all these new demons are appearing. Plus it'd explain why 
our spells have..." Willow interrupts not wanting her to finish about 
the spells. "Yeah, I've been feeling something funny in the air, like 
the time Ethan was here." Giles blanches, quickly switching 
topics, "We need to see what we're up against first." 

Spike grinned, he couldn't believe how easy it was, "She'll be 
singin' Friday night till 'bout 2:00." "Wait.." Spike pauses, 
wondering if he's been caught. "You said she disappeared with Xander, 
right?," said Riley, looking at the vampire. Spike nodded, 
relieved. "Well, has anyone seen him since?" Everyone glances at 
everyone else. All the heads shook negatively, including Spikes'. 
<Damn solider git 'as a point. Xan knew there was a meetin' tonight, 
but 'es not 'ere. Not good.> Everyone turned to look at Spike. "'oy 
there was nothin' I could do. Anyway I didn't want 'er doin' any mojo 
on me," he said shrugging casually, while inside he tried not to 
worry. 

Los Angeles--Tuesday 5:00 pm

Xander paused glancing at the address in his hand, then back at the 
door. Sighing he shifted from one foot to the other. Gathering his 
courage, he opened the door. Walking swiftly he passed through the 
waiting room, he entered the next door without pausing. "Welcome to 
Angel Investigations. We help...Aggghh! Xander what are you doing 
here?," yelled Cordelia, hurrying around her desk. She eagerly 
wrapped her arms around her ex, smiling in genuine pleasure. 

"Hey, Cordy. I was in the area. Figured I'd stop by, maybe fix some 
old friendships." Cordelia grinned at the sheepish look on his face, 
then gasped at his outfit. "O.K. who is she? and when do I get to 
meet her? Cause there is no way you know Gucci from garage sale." 
Xander's smile broadened. This was his Cordy. "She's in Sunnydale 
now, but I promise I'll bring her next time. Anyway, thought I'd see 
what you were doing for dinner. Cause I..." Angel interrupts before 
he can finish. "Cordelia, how are we going to help people, if we 
don't talk to them? The phone's been.." His voice trails off, when he 
sees who Cordelia's talking to. "Hey, Deadboy." 

"Xander...What are you doing here? Is Buffy..." Xander cuts him off 
quickly, "This has nothing to do with Buffy. I'm on business. Thought 
I'd drop in visit old friends, enemies ya know." Tensing Angel turned 
to Cordelia. "Just turn on the machine, I'll be downstairs." After 
he'd disappeared, Cordelia smacked Xander on the arm. "Ow...What was 
that--" 

"Why are always so mean to him. Now he's gonna go and brood for 
hours. Can't you let it go?" "Look, that's what I came here to do. 
But somehow he always pisses me off, and you see how he automatically 
brought up Buffy." "Well she is his *one* true love," snorted 
Cordelia. Xander watched as the sadness filled her face. He sighed 
softly, "Come on. I'll take you somewhere expensive to eat, and you 
can tell me all about L.A."

Wesley watched as the vampire paced across the living room. He'd been 
doing it for the last thirty minutes. "Maybe if you talked..." Angel 
shook his head. "He won't listen, he *hates* vampires, me especially. 
And it's *my* fault." "Well, that's not necessarily a bad thing, 
Angel. All vampires aren't like you. And you could hardly help 
becoming Angelus again." Angel stopped, staring at Wesley. "That was 
only the last straw. It started long before then. Before I even met 
Buffy." Wesley's eyes widened in shock. "What..." Angel sighed, 
collapsing onto the couch. "I got to Sunnydale, three months before 
Buffy did. I was doing what--according to Cordelia-I do best lurking, 
when I spotted this kid sleeping on his front lawn. I figured if I 
didn't do something he was gonna be the next vamp's meal."

Xander shrugged, then glanced at Cordelia across the table, "Anyway, 
after that I always crashed at his apartment, if I didn't want to 
stay at home, which was often. We were together a lot during that 
summer. After Buffy came, I was shocked to find out he was a vampire, 
but what really hurt was the way he blew me off for Buffy."

Angel grimaced. "I was so wrapped up in Buffy, I shoved Xander to the 
back of my mind. It wasn't until he'd almost died that I saw what I'd 
been doing."

Xander picked at his fries, "We started talking again, finally 
getting past everything, when *it* happened. I never told any of you 
about my run-in's with Angelus."

Angel shuddered, "After I changed, well what I did to Buffy was only 
a child's game compared to what I did to Xander. I used everything I 
knew about his parents, his life, his pain to torment him. 
Truthfully, I was just gonna kill Buffy and the others, maybe give Oz 
to Dru as a present." The vampire paused, his eyes eerily longing. 
"But...Xander...he was going to be my masterpiece. I was going to 
slowly drive him insane...break him, then make him my childe for 
eternity."

Xander's face had paled, "He said things...did things.... He 
destroyed whatever feelings, whatever friendship I thought we had. I 
couldn't even look at him."

Angel sighed, again. "Now he won't even look at me. I miss him, he 
*made* me human. I forgot what I was, when we were together. We 
joked, acted like...no we *were* regular people. He showed me, how to 
simply be me again."

Xander sighed, again. "I miss him, he made me feel *normal*. I forgot 
about my parents, the crap at school. He showed me a way out of the 
hell my life was, and then he changed. It all ended. I'd glimpsed a 
future, then had it stolen in almost the same breathe." Cordelia 
blinked back tears. She'd known about Xander's home life, a little. 
She'd also known there had been something between the two but this... 
She nodded to herself, resolving to help fix this for the man and the 
vampire she loved. 

Wesley watched as Angel brooded. He couldn't believe how things had 
just fallen apart. Looking at the vampire he loved, he resolved to 
help reunite the two.

Sunnydale--Friday 12:00 

A worried silence ruled at the watcher's home. Spike paced nervously. 
His Xanpet had disappeared. <If she's done anythin'...> The vampire 
wondered how long it'd take a fledging to starve to death. Giles 
watched as the vampire doggedly wore a hole in his floor. There was 
something not quite right about this, he just couldn't put his finger 
on it. He looked up as the gang entered, "Still no sign?" 

"Gone," said Buffy leaning against the couch, "his mom said he just 
left." "This changes things, we have to handle this carefully," Giles 
said staring hard at Buffy. "Ok. Ok. Nothing but recon tonight." He 
watched them leave, nervous worry flooded his system. Something 
wasn't right. Sighing he turned to the stairs, "Ethan, promise me you 
had nothing to do with *this*."