Spike let out a sigh as he cuddled next to Angel. The two of them had both made love to each other, exchanged blood and had decided to take a rest before having another go.

"You're like the Energizer bunny...keep on going and going and going." He teased Angel, giving him a kiss before laying his head on the pillow and staring at the older vampire.

"It's your fault, Spike. Hell, I was already wound up before I went to kill those demons...then I come home and find you two naked in bed, smelling of sex. You go on and on about Xander fucking you and....well, you knew what you were doing." The two of them exchanged a smile. "You've always been able to play me...not that I'm complaining.

"I remember that night in Belgium. After we'd fed and fought our way through most of the town, you took me back to that little house and we fucked each other all night long."

"Got so caught up in each other we forgot about getting home before sunrise." Angel added, remembering the night well.

"Had to stay the whole day and ended up shagging till sunset. Couldn't even walk home...had to steal a carriage. Every bump hurt." Both of them laughed at the memory....their asses being so sore that they had to practically stand up the whole ride home. "Good times, eh?"

"Some of them were. But nothing can touch what we have now." Angel leaned over and kissed Spike. "Spike, if I ask you a question, will you give me an honest answer?"

"The sex is definitely better now...not that it wasn't good back then, but...."

"Not what I was going to ask."

"Then what?" Spike was curious now. Angel had an expression on his face that he had never seen before. One of pure and utter contentment and happiness, yet there was a touch of worry in his brown eyes.

"When I was with Xander...in the shower...he told me he loved me."

"Yeah, he told me he loved me too. Come on, mate. Xander's told us that before."

"I know....it's just....this time seemed different. I mean, it was like for the first time, I truly believed that I deserved to be loved like he loves me. I felt his love and trust and it was overwhelming. I finally felt complete...whole."

"He made me feel the same way." Spike admitted.

"The question is...do you trust me?" The two vampires stared at each other for a long moment before Spike answered.

"Completely. Never thought I'd say that...but I do. I've always loved you Angel but I could never let my guard down around you...until this time. What about you? Do you trust me?"

"Without a doubt." Angel kissed Spike, his touch gentle. "You know I would never intentionally hurt you, right?"

"Not even if I asked you to?" Spike grinned at his partner.

"That's not what I meant and you know it."

"Just taking a piss at you, luv. We've got a new life...new family, new partner. A century of love between the two of us. Let's just enjoy it and try not to cock up." Now it was Angel's turn to tease his lover.

"My cock's already up."

"That's not what I meant...." Spike's words were cut off as Angel rolled on top of the younger vampire, sliding into his already cum filled channel. Their mouths met and Angel enjoyed Spike's taste for several minutes before starting to move inside him. "You're an insatiable bloke you know that?"

"That's why you love me."

"It's one of the reasons." Spike groaned as Angel nibbled on his neck, his hips moving slowly back and forth as he pleasured his lover. "God, you feel so good inside of me."

"How good?" Angel asked, pushing against Spike's prostate.

"Fuck! I love the way you move inside of me. You know exactly what to do....how to get me to....oh, bloody hell, Angel!" Spike writhed beneath his lover, his body tingling with desire. Just as he thought he was going to reach his orgasm, Angel stopped, taking the time to worship Spike's body. Lips were on his neck, his chest, each nipple and again on his mouth. He wrapped his legs around Angel's torso and was surprised when Angel sat up, making his cock plunge deeper into Spike's channel.

"Ride me, Spike. Love to watch your body move...so beautiful. I want to watch you pleasure yourself on my cock." Angel's words caused Spike to shudder with need and he started moving up and down, throwing his head back in ecstasy. "Yes...just like that." As Spike moved, Angel kissed every inch of Spike's body that he could reach, filling his head with the scent and taste of his lover. "Over a century and I still can't get enough of you." Spike's movements stopped at those words and he looked at Angel, love in his blue eyes.

"We could have forever and it would never be enough."

Angel gave Spike another kiss, this one filled with as much love and devotion as he could. Spike started to move, his hips rising and falling faster until they both shuddered their completion, crying out each other's names and vowing their love for one another. When their orgasms had passed, Spike put his head on Angel's shoulder, feeling the older vampire's arms around him, his hands running up and down his back. After a few moments Angel laid Spike gently on the bed, rolling to the side and gathering him close. Spike reached over and pulled a sleeping Xander closer to him.

"Is there another apocolypse?" Xander grumbled before nestling close to Spike, clearly not awake. Spike kissed his head before looking at Angel.

"Well, the earth moved but it wasn't cause of an apocolypse." The three of them snuggled together, the two vampires falling asleep with very happy expressions on their faces. ***********************************

Xander pulled up in front of the warehouse, waving at Joey as he, Dawn and Wesley got out of Angel's car. He stretched and yawned, the late night from before mixed with waking up early making him tired. He had woken to Dawn knocking loudly on the door insisting that Xander haul his butt out of the bed so they could get to Gunn's. Luckily for all of them, Angel and Spike had slept through the noise. Xander had no doubt that the two of them had stayed up until the wee hours of the morning and he didn't want to be faced with two grumpy vampires, so he had quickly gotten dressed and made his way into the living room.

Everyone was gathered around the television set watching Cordy's video of their first Christmas together. Xander had begged Dawn to let him have a cup of coffee and some cereal before they left and she had finally agreed. When they were ready to go, Xander had told the others to tell Spike and Angel where he was when they got up before snagging Angel's keys. He hoped Angel wouldn't mind...after all both he and Spike had been there last night when he and Gunn had made the arrangements. How else was he supposed to get there?

"Tired, Xander?" Dawn asked, noticing how sluggish the boy was.

"A little."

"Gee, I wonder why. I thought I was going to have to start a fire or something to get you out of the bedroom."

"Blame it on yourself."

"Me? Why me?" Dawn protested.

"I had to do something to keep Spike busy so you could flirt with Joey didn't I?"

"Am I supposed to feel sorry for you?" Dawn laughed. "Cause it's not going to happen. I'm sure it wasn't a hardship for you to have sex with Spike." Xander grinned, knowing the girl was right. Hell, they would have ended up in the bedroom eventually...Dawn's flirting had only hurried it along. Xander put his arm around the girl and the two of them followed Wesley to the warehouse. "How ya doing, Joey?"

"Great....now." Joey's eyes lit up at the sight of Dawn in her new outfit. Black leather pants and a white peasant top. Xander rolled his eyes at the teenagers before glancing over at Wesley who was picking lint from his black sweater and straightening his gray pants. Xander looked down at his own outfit, glad that he had worn the new black jeans and blood red pullover complete with leather jacket. At least he was going to keep up in the fashion sense.

"Where's Gunn?"

"He's inside holding a meeting about a new player that's been giving us problems. Seems he caused some trouble last night."

"What happened?" Before Xander could get the boy to elaborate on the subject, Gunn and Alana came out. "Having problems?" Gunn nodded.

"Some badass going by the name of Deevak put two of my crew in the hospital last night. Now he's setting up camp in my neighborhood." Gunn looked at his watch. "We have to hurry, cause I gotta meet a snitch downtown at 3:00. He's got a line on this asshole." Gunn pointed at Angel's car. "Is that your ride?" Xander nodded. "We'll follow you. That way I can leave straight from the apartment building while you guys bring Alana back."

"Gunn, you can't go by yourself. It could be a trap." Alana's voice was worried.

"I'm not going by myself. I'm taking Joey."

"Maybe we could help." Dawn offered, getting a disbelieving look from Gunn.

"You three? If I find Deevak I'm gonna need more than Luke Skywalker, C3PO and stick figure Barbie backing me up. No offense."

"Very little taken." Wesley said, his eyes never leaving Alana.

"Hey! I'll have you know Luke Skywalker was a great warrior....and you broke the force that is known as 'Star Wars'. You should have called Dawn Princess Leia instead of stick figure Barbie." Xander pointed out. "Come on. Ride with us and you can tell me what the hell is going on." Everyone got into the car, Xander in the driver's seat with Gunn riding shotgun while the other four piled into the back. They drove to the apartment building, Gunn filling Xander in on what had been happening.

Two hours later they came out of the apartment, all of them pleased. The landlord had turned out to be a nice enough guy and he and Gunn had actually gotten along. Gunn had promised the man that his crew would work on the building doing maintenance work and cleaning out the demons in the neighborhood in exchange for ten apartments, all of them two or three bedrooms. They had spent the extra time touring the apartments, deciding who would live where and what they needed to finish furnishing them. All the apartments had come with not only stoves and refrigerators but also couches and dining room tables.

"This is going to be so nice....having a home of our own again." Alana put her arm around her brother's waist as they made their way back to the car.

"Yeah, it will. But we have to hurry or else I'm gonna be late to the meet."

"We can go straight there....Angel always keeps spare weapons in the trunk." Xander offered. Gunn eyed the boy for a moment.

"Do you want to take Dawn into a place like that...cause I sure as hell don't want Alana going."

"You're right. Okay, how about we drop the girls off at the warehouse and then we four can go meet this snitch."

"Alright, but don't go fucking this thing up." Xander sped back to the warehouse in record time, depositing a frustrated Dawn and Alana at the door. Xander promised Dawn that she could go with them after she took some lessons from Spike and Angel before he handed her his cell phone.

"If we're not back in a couple of hours call Spike and Angel." Dawn nodded before following Alana into the warehouse. Xander pulled away heading for the parking garage where the snitch was supposed to be waiting. They got out looking around, not seeing anyone there.

"Too late...he split." Gunn grumbled.

"Maybe he heard what a pleasant person you were to be around." Wesley told him. Xander noticed someone moving behind a parked van and tapped Gunn on the shoulder, pointing towards it.

"Over there." They watched as a small black man emerged from the shadows.

"One of you Gunn?"

"I am. You Jameel?" The boy nodded. "Start talking. What do you know?"

"I changed my mind." Jameel glanced nervously around the almost empty parking garage.

"I don't think so. You're gonna tell me where I can find Deevak." Gunn told him.

"Hey, man. The only reason why I showed is because I know you got a rep and I ain't looking to make no new enemies. On this Deevak situation I can't help you. He'll know it was me. The demon's got eyes and ears all over the place....not to mention teeth. There's a good chance that he had some vamps tail me over here." Gunn glanced around.

"I don't see none."

"Good. Look, I'm just here to pay my respects and be off the streets before the sun goes down like my mama taught me." Gunn approached the nervous, young man.

"You want to make it home at all, you're gonna start telling me what you know."

"Look, man. I'm sorry but Deevak scares me a lot worse than you do." Gunn looked at Jameel for a moment before backhanding him, knocking him to the pavement. He kicked the boy in the stomach. "You scared of me now?" Xander stepped in between the two of them, holding Gunn back.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"What I have to. I've got people dying."

"Man, I didn't do anything." Jameel cried out. Gunn pushed Xander out of the way, reaching down and snatching the boy up by the collar.

"You think I care? Survival of the fittest bro and right now you're not looking too fit." Gunn drew back to hit Jameel again but Xander grabbed his arm. "Let go. This is my problem."

"Maybe. But you're not going to get anything out of him by knocking him unconscious." The two men stared at each other before they heard doors opening and closing.

"Xander!" Wesley called out, motioning towards the vampires who were headed their way. The young boy struggled to get away from Gunn.

"Oh, man! See I told you I was being watched." The vampires attacked and the fight was on, lasting for a good five minutes. When it was over, all five of them had been dusted and the four humans were sitting on the pavement next to the car, trying to catch their breath. Xander held his hand to his nose which was bleeding again.

"Damn fuckers. I wish they'd leave my nose alone. Just because they don't have to use theirs to breathe doesn't mean I don't. Even if I am sick of breathing dust."

"I can't move my arm all the way." Joey complained.

"That one vamp did a number on my ribs." Gunn added.

"I'm afraid I threw my back out again." Wesley was rubbing his back, his eyes flinching with pain. He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket, finding it broken. "Oh, lovely. You don't suppose Angel and Spike will make me pay for this do you?" Xander shook his head.

"I think the insurance may cover it. Although, I got grease stains all over my new outfit. Shit, it was my favorite one and....fuck!" Xander held out his leather coat. "Look at this! I'm gonna have to get this dry cleaned."

"And I'm still no closer to finding Deevak." Gunn grumbled.

"That's probably for the best." Wesley told him.

"How do you figure?"

"We're hardly ready to face a demon of Deevak's caliber in our current condition." Gunn was angry now.

"You ready to pack it in? The only reason I let you guys come along is cause you're supposed to be the demon experts. Maybe the rest of you need a little down time but I'm gonna track Jameel down and make him talk." Gunn stood up as did Xander.

"I'll go with you. But when we do find him you might want to be a little more Guy Pierce in 'L.A. Confidential' and a little less Michael Madsen in 'Reservoir Dogs'." Xander suggested.

"I haven't bothered to see a movie since Denzel was robbed of the Oscar for 'Malcolm X'." Wesley stood up and walked over to the two men.

"That was quite a performance."

"I know." Xander turned to Gunn. "Talk about being wound up too tight." Before Gunn could respond, Wesley cut in.

"No....I mean Denzel."

"Oh, well he was always great." Xander agreed. "Who doesn't love Denzel?"

"Can we cut the movie talk and get back to my place so I can get some real muscle?" Gunn asked, helping Joey to his feet.

"Hey, we've got muscle. We've got muscle running out our ears....well, okay not our ears but we can handle ourselves just fine thank you."

"Yeah, so I noticed." Gunn snorted, getting into the car.

"Didn't see you doing much better." Xander retorted, starting the car up and pulling out of the garage. "Look, I know you've got friends in the hospital because of this demon and I'm sorry about that but we're only trying to help. Taking your frustration out on us isn't going to help anything." Gunn stared straight ahead, knowing Xander was right.

"I shoulda been backing up my boys last night instead of partying with you guys. Maybe if I had, they wouldn't have gotten hurt."

"Hindsight is 20/20." Wesley told him. "And you don't know that your being there would have made a difference. You may have ended up in the hospital yourself."

"Better me than them." Xander glanced at the man sitting beside him.

"I thought you were going to stop blaming yourself for everything that happens to your crew. Stop being angry at yourself and turn that anger into finding this Deevak guy and kicking his ass."

"That's exactly what I plan on doing." *******************************************

"So it's decided then. Joey can stay here with Dawn and we'll take Leon and Mickey. The rest of you keep your eyes open...we don't know where this guy is and I don't want nobody else getting hurt." Gunn told his men before turning back to Xander. "What about Angel and Spike?" Xander shook his head.

"I don't want to get them involved unless we have to. Besides, they're probably still sleeping."

"Sleeping? It's 4:30 in the afternoon. I've been up since dawn."

"Sorta missing the whole creature of the night angle, isn't he?" Dawn asked Xander who nodded.

"Why can't you just call one of your crew and have them knock on their coffins?"

"They don't use coffins, Gunn. Do you think I would sleep in a coffin....and besides, there's not a big enough coffin for three people. And maybe you've never heard the expression...'let sleeping vampires lie'? Those two are really grumpy when they get woken up before they rise on their own. The five of us should be able to handle this demon...I don't care how bad he thinks he is."

"Whatever. We need to go." Gunn, Leon and Mickey started gathering their weapons as Dawn turned to Xander.

"Are you sure about this? Maybe you should let Angel and Spike know what you're doing."

"They were up really late...or early in the morning. Besides, we'll be okay. If we're not back before dark, call them to come and get you." Xander gave Dawn a quick kiss on the cheek before following Gunn and the others out the door. Wesley said his good-byes to Alana and joined him.

"So where's your car?" Gunn asked, looking around the empty lot. Xander and Wesley exchanged a worried glance, both of them scanning the area. Angel's car was nowhere in sight.

"Oh, fuck! I can't believe this! I lost Angel's car." Gunn patted the boy on the shoulder.

"Calm down. We'll take the truck. I'll go back in and get the keys." Gunn went back into the warehouse, Xander beside him.

"But you don't understand. That car is like Angel's baby or something. It's a prized possession."

"Don't worry. I think I know a few places we could look...we'll find it." Alana and Dawn rushed over when they saw the two men coming back so fast.

"What's wrong?" Alana asked.

"Someone stole Angel's car." Gunn went over to the pegboard on the wall, grabbing the keys to the truck while Dawn looked at Xander.

"Angel is not going to be happy about this."

"Tell me about it."

"We're going over to Henry's. I bet anything he took it." Gunn told Alana who nodded in agreement. The two men headed up the stairs, Xander and Gunn getting into the truck while Wesley, Leon and Mickey got into the back.

"Do you have any idea what Angel's going to do to me when he finds out I let his car get stolen?" Xander groaned.

"Kick you out of the coffin for a week?"

"Very funny. I mean think about it, Gunn. What's the chances that a vampire has full insurance with a low deductible?"

"Don't worry, Xander. I'll find the car. There's only a couple of guys around here who jack vintage cars and Henry's our best bet. If it's not there we'll run down the list till we find Angel's ride."'

"And then what? You're just going to ask them to give it back?"

"I'll say please."

"Oh, yeah, how could I forget? You'll use your famous charm like you did with Jameel."

"Don't need charm down here. Look, I'll find Angel's car and you and English can head back home." Xander shook his head.

"I'm not going anywhere until we find that Deevak guy. You need help, Gunn."

"And how exactly do you plan on helping me? You gonna park my truck somewhere and get it stolen too?"

"Yeah, throw that back in my face." *************************************

"Damn it Angel, wake up! I swear if you and Spike don't get your asses out here in two seconds I'm going to come in there and roll you out of the bed!" Cordelia yelled, knocking loudly on the vampire's bedroom door. Angel raised his head, glancing around the room and noticing that Xander was gone. He nudged Spike who had thrown a pillow over his head, trying to drown out the girl's voice and the persistent knocking.

"Piss off! I'm trying to sleep." Spike grumbled, trying to hold the pillow down as Angel pulled it away, throwing it across the room.

"Spike get up...now." Angel jumped out of bed, hurrying to his closet and pulling on his clothes. He yelled at Cordelia, telling her they would be out in a few seconds before turning back to Spike. "Spike come on. By the sound of Cordy's voice it must be something important." Nothing. "And Xander's gone." Now Angel had Spike's full attention.

"You think Xander's in trouble?" Spike asked, grabbing his clothes. They stared at each for a moment before finishing dressing. "Of course he's in trouble. If there's trouble within miles of here, Xander seems to stumble into it. Gonna handcuff the boy to the bed from now on." Spike threw the door open, stalking into the living room, Angel close behind. His anger and frustration turned to worry when he saw the expressions on his friends faces. "What is it?"

"Dawn called a few minutes ago. You knew Xander was going to show Gunn and Alana those apartments, right?" Spike and Angel waited for Cordy to continue. "Okay...well, Wesley and Dawn went with him and while they were there they found out Gunn was having problems with some demon. Xander and Wesley offered to help and they left Dawn at the warehouse with Alana and the others. Xander told her to call you guys if he wasn't back within a couple of hours....so she did. She seemed pretty worried about them."

"Did you try calling Wesley?" Angel asked, searching for the keys to his car.

"Yeah, I got an out of order message...and you're not gonna find the keys to your car...Xander took it."

"He did what!?"

"Xander took your car....which could be the reason they haven't gotten back yet. Dawn may be worried about nothing." Cordy told him, causing Angel to frown.

"What are you talking about, Cordy? If Xander hasn't gotten back it's not because of my car...there's nothing wrong with it."

"Except for the 'it's been stolen' factor."

"Somebody stole my car!?"

"Yeah, seems Xander parked it in front of the warehouse and when they went back out, it was gone. Gunn said he knew about some guys that might have took it so they went looking for it." Doyle explained. "They haven't come back so Dawn didn't know if it was because they hadn't found your car or they were fighting the demon."

"Someone stole my car!?" Cordy and Doyle nodded. "And Xander, Wes and Gunn went to find it and look for some demon?" Another nod. "How am I supposed to find them if I don't have my car?" Cordy and Doyle both shrugged, backing up a little. "I can't believe this!" Angel was grabbing up weapons while Spike headed towards the kitchen.

"Quit crying around about your bleedin' car, Angel. We need to find Xander, Wes and Gunn and make sure they're alright." Spike patted his duster pocket before remembering he had left his keys on the kitchen counter. "Don't see what all the boo-hooing is about. It's just a car. We'll take mine." Spike started walking towards the kitchen.

"No....you won't." Doyle said, backing up some more as the blonde vampire spun around and headed back towards them.

"And why is that mate?"

"Willow and Tara took it to so they could pick Dawn up....she wanted to come home."

"Why the bloody blazes did they take MY car?! Angel and I could have picked the niblet up and brought her home after we found Xander! Now what are we supposed to do?" Angel smirked at the younger vampire.

"What's the matter, Spike? It's only a car." Spike gave him the two fingered salute.

"It's not just a car...it's my DeSoto. It's not supposed to be driven around by a bunch of females."

"God, that was such a sexist remark!" Cordelia interrupted. "And I'll have you know that women are better drivers than men."

"At least you KNOW where your car is." Angel grumbled. "I don't have any clue where mine is...nor do we have any idea where to start looking for Xander and the others. Not to mention the fact that we have nothing to look for them in.

"Yeah, you do...on both counts. They were headed to an auto place over on 7th Street...Henry's Auto. Seems Henry likes vintage cars." Doyle held up the keys to Wesley's motorcycle. Spike snatched them out of his hand, making his way towards the door.

"I'll drive."

"Why you?"

"Because I've driven a motorcycle before...never seen your arse on one before except when you rode with Wesley." Spike raised his eyebrow, blowing his lover a kiss.

"Don't even think it, Spike. It's your turn to wear the pink helmet."

"Won't use one then." Spike decided as they headed for the motorcycle. *************************************

"I still say it's wrong," Xander was arguing with Gunn as they headed up the steps towards a big house full of partying people and loud music. Wesley, Leon and Mickey were following closely behind.

"Look...all I care about is the people in my neighborhood. I don't like Henry jacking cars from poor people but if he wants to take Beemer's from rich folks in Brentwood then I don't have a problem with it."

"You are such a fucking snob!"

"I am not."

"Are too. You are always putting people in nice, neat little compartments in your brain. Rich equals bad, poor equals good."

"That sums it up."

"No, it doesn't. David's a good guy and he's rich."

"One dude...big deal."

"My dad's poor and he's anything but good. The whole point is...stealing is wrong no matter who you're stealing from."

"And all I know is, I'm not going to lose any sleep over a rich man's problems."

"Oh...so if you were walking down the street and you saw some rich guy getting mauled by a demon or attacked by a vampire you wouldn't lift a finger to help him?"

"Ain't no rich people stupid enough to come down to this neighborhood." Gunn shrugged his shoulders.

"Didn't answer my question. Are you 'saving the world' guy or 'Mr. Gunn's Neighborhood' guy."

"Mr. Gunn's...hell, I take care of my own." Gunn amended, not believing he had almost used that quote.

"Well, you better change your perspective on that cause your neighborhood is in the world my friend. It goes...so do you." Gunn was about to respond when they ran into three boys coming down the walk.

"What are you doing here?" One of the boys asked Gunn.

"I was about to ask you the same thing." "I'll catch up with you guys later," the boy told the other two as they took off, leaving him to face Gunn's wrath.

"You're supposed to be cruising the garment district."

"Maybe he thought it was 'too rich' a part of town to patrol." Xander said, causing Gunn to give him a dirty look before turning back to the boy.

"Things were dead down there man."

"Oh, so you decided you earned yourself a little party?" Gunn asked.

"Come on. It was just a little fun."

"No, it's you not obeying orders," Gunn pointed at the kid. "We got two men down...you wanna make it a third? Get the hell on back home. I've got a few things to take care of in here and then you and I are going to have a little chat." Gunn was up in the boy's face now. When the boy didn't move, Gunn pushed him down the sidewalk. "Go."

"Geez. Short enough leash or do you just go all warm and tingly on the whole power trip thing?" Xander asked, following Gunn towards the door.

"Some people need discipline to survive. Now when we get inside, the two of you shut up and stick close to me." Gunn pointed at Xander and Wesley.

"Hold on there a minute. I'm not one of your toy soldiers you can boss around." Xander protested.

"Good, cause I don't even want you here."

"Too bad. We are here and I don't take orders. Well, except from Angel and Spike..."

"When you want to." Wesley added.

"But at least they ask nicely. And besides, we don't need you to tell us how to behave at a party. Trust me...I've been to plenty of parties."

"As have I, not to mention all night keggers." Wesley added.

"We know how to blend." Xander added as Gunn opened the door and stepped inside. Xander stopped and looked around, noticing that everyone in the room was black. "Okay, not exactly blending. Maybe I'll just shut up and let you do the talking." Gunn led the way, punching the other guys in the room on the shoulder, special handshakes, etc. Xander followed behind, smiling and waving at the men who looked at him like he was crazy.

"Would you stop that?" Gunn asked, grabbing Xander's hand and stopping his waves as they reached the second floor.

"What?" Xander asked, not knowing what he had done wrong now.

"Trying to act like you're one of the brothers cause you're not." Xander was offended now.

"I wasn't trying to do anything except be friendly...isn't that what you're supposed to do at a party?" Gunn never answered, his eyes on a large black man who was standing near a window.

"There he is." Xander turned to look at the man.

"Who? Car thief guy?"

"One and the same." Gunn started to approach the man. "Desmond!"

"G-man. Can I get you a brew?" Desmond pointed at the container of alcohol near him.

"You can get me the '67 Plymouth you stole from my place tonight."

"What makes you think I'm the guy." Desmond asked innocently.

"Don't play with me and I won't play with you." Xander couldn't help but laugh at that statement causing both men to glare at him.

"Sorry. It's just what you said...you sounded like a four year old or something....you took my car so I'm not gonna play with you. Well, I'm not gonna play with you either." Xander finished in a childish voice. When they continued to stare at him, he cleared his throat and looked around. "Nice place. Come here often?"

"Who wants to know?" Desmond asked.

"Give it up, Desmond. Where's the car?" Gunn was getting irritated now.

"Hey, man I had no idea----" Desmond was interrupted by the sound of shattering glass. Gunn, Xander and their group turned to see a bunch of vampires attacking the people at the party. Everyone was running around, screaming and the place dissolved into a panicked riot as everyone tried to get away from the vampires. Gunn and Xander ran over, jumping into the fray, Wesley, Leon and Mickey close behind. Xander hit one of the vampires, knocking him down. He saw three of them grab Gunn and push him into a wall. Two of them were holding him while one kept on punching him in the stomach. Xander ran over, spinning and kicking one to the ground while he hit another. The fight continued on for several minutes and when it was over Leon was lying on the floor, blood coming from his neck as Wesley tried to staunch the bleeding.

"He needs a doctor...now." Wesley told Gunn, who picked the boy up and raced down the stairs, Wesley by his side, towel in place as the others followed. **********************************

"They aren't here," Spike said, looking around the car lot he and Angel were walking through.

"Maybe they're in the garage." Angel suggested. They heard a door open and turned around to see a young man coming towards them.

"Whatcha looking for?"

"Our friends. I think you know one of them. His name is Gunn." Angel said.

"Yeah, I know Gunn." The boy eyed them suspiciously. "Never knew Gunn to make friends with vampires before. Thought he just dusted them."

"We're special." Spike told him. "So, have you seen him? Should have been here with a young, dark haired boy. Maybe a British guy."

"Didn't see no British guy...but Gunn and the kid were here. They were looking for a '67...."

"Plymouth Convertible."

"How'd you know?"

"Because it's mine." Angel told him. "Did you take it?"

"Hell, no. I told Gunn I didn't. I told him to go see Desmond...he can't pass up convertibles."

"Where can we find this Desmond?" Angel asked.

"A guy named Tito's having a party. Whole neighborhood is invited...Desmond was going. That's where Gunn and your friend went."

"So where does Tito live?" Spike asked. The boy told them the address before smirking at them.

"Address won't do you two no good. I'm pretty sure that vampires weren't invited." Spike lit his cigarette before answering the boy.

"You said it was an open invitation party....that means we can get in." The boy looked at him with disgust. If you've got a problem with us mate I can help you solve it."

"Oh, I helped you out and now you want to be starting something." Spike took a puff off his cigarette before smiling at the boy.

"Not starting anything. But I can finish it." Angel grabbed his arm, pulling him away.

"Come on, Spike. We need to find Xander." Spike threw his cigarette towards the boy before following Angel to the motorcycle.

"Let's just hope they're alright." **************************************

Xander and Mickey opened the door to the hospital as Gunn carried Leon inside, Wesley still holding the towel against the boy's neck. They looked around, trying to find a doctor.

"He needs a doctor! Where's a doctor!" Gunn yelled, frantic to help his friend. A nurse came around the counter yelling for the doctor and telling them to follow her. They took Leon into a room, placing him on a stretcher as the doctor came running inside.

"What happened?"

"A piece of broken glass went into his neck. He pulled it out before I could stop him. It looked like it could have knicked his artery. I applied pressure to the wound to stop the bleeding but his pulse has been weakening. He passed out on the way over here." Wesley told her.

"Is he gonna be alright?" Gunn asked.

"Step outside, please." The doctor motioned towards the door.

"Is he gonna be alright?" Gunn's voice was louder now, demanding information about his friend.

"Your friend probably saved his life but we've still got some work to do so let us do it, please."

"Come on Gunn. He's in good hands." Wesley put his arm on Gunn's shoulder, trying to lead him out of the room but Gunn didn't move. "Gunn." Xander grabbed Gunn's arm as he and Wesley pulled the man out of the cubicle and into the waiting room. Xander, Wesley and Mickey sat down as Gunn began to pace the floor. It was quite a few minutes before the doctor finally came out, informing them that Leon was going to make a full recovery. Gunn nodded before going to the wall, leaning his head against it as he started to cry. Xander motioned for Wesley and Mickey to follow him out of the room. When they were in the hallway Xander told them to go down and wait by the truck for them while he tried to calm Gunn down. He re-entered the room just in time to see Gunn punch the wall before he began to pace. When he heard Xander come in, he turned to look at him, his eyes filled with tears.

"He almost died."

"But he didn't." Xander reassured him. Gunn continued to pace.

"No thanks to me."

"It's not your fault."

"I let my guard down and he's the one..." Gunn's voice broke when he pointed towards the room and Xander knew he was thinking about Bobby. He was just about to remind Gunn about their pact when Gunn ran forward and punched the wall again. "The vamps were coming after me not him."

"Take it easy."

"I can't take it easy. I can never take it easy. Not for a second, alright? The minute I forget that someone like Bobby pays the price." Gunn's eyes met Xander's as he realized his mistake. "Leon." He corrected before continuing. "I can't stop. I can't ever stop."

"And there's your problem." Xander told him. Gunn stopped pacing to stare at him.

"What are you talking about?"

"You're right...you can't ever stop. But what you can't stop is blaming yourself every time one of your friends gets hurt. It's not your fault...remember? I thought we had this talk before. If you keep doing this to yourself it's gonna drive you insane. No one...and I mean, no one can protect the people they love all the time. Not you, not me....hell, even Angel, Spike and Buffy...who by the way are superheroes...can manage that. They try...believe me they try...but it's not doable. People get hurt, people die...it's a fact of life. I've seen that expression you have on your face right now hundreds of times....on Buffy's face. We lost a lot of friends while we were in school and yet we had the lowest mortality rate in the history at Sunnydale High...or so they said at the prom when they gave Buffy that award for 'Class Protector'." Xander's voice was filled with pride for his friend. "But that was before the graduation fight with the mayor slash gigantic snake and vampires. We lost at least twenty or thirty more kids so I don't know if the record still holds."

"For the first time in my life I'm glad I didn't graduate." Gunn told him.

"Yeah, well our school wasn't of the norm. Our motto wasn't 'strive to achieve' it was 'strive to live'. Other schools had basketball or football rivalries, we had cross town body count rivalries. I was just grateful to get out of there alive cause to tell you the truth, I never thought I would."

"I can see why if it was that bad."

"It was that bad. Buffy and the rest of the gang did everything we could to make sure our classmates made it out alive but some of them still died. We learned to grieve for them and then go on with our lives by focusing on the ones who are still alive. And that's what you need to do instead of beating yourself up all the time about what might have been."

"That's not what I'm doing."

"Gunn, I've known you for what? A week or two? In that time I've heard you blame yourself for your parents deaths, Bobby's death, the two guys who got hurt by this Deevak creep and now Leon. My question to you is...how do you manage to walk around with the weight of all that guilt on your head?" Gunn had to laugh at Xander's question.

"Don't know. Guess I just have a big head...and that didn't come out right."

"Yeah, well....Don't you move a muscle." Xander pointed behind himself where Desmond was trying to sneak onto an elevator and Gunn wondered how the hell the boy had known Desmond was there. Xander got up and walked over to Desmond, putting his finger in the man's face. "Where is my boyfriend's car?" Desmond raised his arms in a 'I give up gesture'.

"Chill out, man. I'll take you to it."

"Let's go then." Gunn said, leading the two men to his truck where Wesley and Mickey were standing. They got in and made their way to Desmond's garage, Gunn thinking about what Xander had said while Xander was hoping that Angel's car was in one piece. ***********************************

Spike pulled up in front of the address Henry had given them and turned to Angel, a worried expression on his face. There were ambulances and police everywhere as young kids filtered out of the house.

"What if Xander....."

"He's alright. We'll find him." Angel said, trying to calm not only Spike but himself down as well. They started up the walk and ran into a girl who appeared to be very frightened, although Angel and Spike knew she was a vampire. Spike decided to play along with her act until they got her away from everyone else.

"Do you know Gunn? Someone told us we might be able to find him here."

"No, I don't know....maybe he was one of the ones that got hurt." She kept on walking, Spike and Angel flanking her.

"You look like you're hurt." Angel told her.

"No, I'm fine."

"What happened here?" Angel asked, while Spike scanned the crowd finding no sign of Xander or their friends.

"I'm not sure. It just all happened so fast. We were partying and I don't know who they were looking for...they were strong. It was like they were on something. I just...I just need to lie down." They were beside an ambulance now and the girl tried to walk away, Spike stepping in front of her.

"If you've got some kind of head injury you'd better have it checked out."

"No, I'm okay. Really. I was lucky compared to some of the others." She turned and ran into Angel who took her by the arms.

"You're sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, thanks." The girl smiled at him. Angel nodded his head before butting it into her's, making her show her vampire face.

"Now start talking."

"What if I don't want to."

"Then we'll dust you. I want to know where Gunn went."

"He took his friend to the hospital. He had a piece of glass in his neck. Are you happy now? Can I go?" The girl vamp tried to get away but Angel held her tighter.

"No, I'm not happy and you're not going anywhere. What friend got hurt?"

"I don't know his name."

"What did he look like?" Spike asked.

"Tall, well-built, good-looking, dark hair, dark eyes..." Spike and Angel were getting nervous now...."black." Spike let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding.

"So why did you and yours crash this party?" Now the vamp was clearly nervous. "Start talking before I take you somewhere nice and quiet and torture you for hours on end."

"Alright, alright....I'll tell you....but you didn't get this information from me." She glanced around again before telling them about Desmond, Angel's car, the warehouse, where it was and the fact that Deevak was going to be there. When she was done Spike quickly dusted her before he and Angel got on the motorcycle and headed for the warehouse, hoping they would get there in time. *********************************

Xander and Gunn got out of the cab of the truck as Wesley, Mickey and jumped out of the back. Desmond took off in the other direction while the others hurried over to the big warehouse doors. Gunn and Xander lifted it up as Xander silenty prayed that Angel's car was there and in one piece.

"Xander, look...over there." Wesley poked Xander on the shoulder and pointed towards the side of the garage. There sat Angel's car, perfectly fine and yes, all in one piece.

"There is a God!" Xander yelled, running towards the car, the other men following. He opened up the driver's door, ready to begin his search for the keys.

"Great. You and Wesley get in and take off....I'll follow you back to the warehouse. When we get there, Mickey can keep watch on the car until you get Dawn." Gunn started to walk off.

"Hey! Wait a minute. Why does Mickey have to watch the car? It's not like it's gonna get stolen twice in one night." Xander's tone was casual as his eyes scanned the seats. Gunn raised his eyebrows at the boy.

"Around our neighborhood...yeah, that could happen. Xander, what are you doing now?"

"Huh? Oh, I was looking for the keys." Gunn watched in disbelief as Xander's head disappeared under the steering wheel.

"You don't have the keys?" Xander's head popped back up, a sheepish grin on his face.

"Well...I kinda left them in the car when we went inside to get the weapons and stuff." Gunn rolled his eyes heavenward, wondering how he had been stuck with this eager to help, nice but very wacky kid. Xander saw what he was doing and hurried to explain. "Well, you said we had to hurry...that this Deevak guy was a badass...every second counted."

"You know I gotta tell you....you are one weird kid."

"I may be weird but I'm not a kid," Xander protested. "The keys are here somewhere." Xander sat back down in the car, both he and Wesley ducking down again to search for them. Unfortunately, they weren't paying attention to which way each of them were leaning and ended up banging their heads against each other.

"Bloody buggering hell," Wesley groaned, sounding like Spike as he rubbed his head.

"Fuck that hurt." Xander added. Gunn shook his head while Mickey laughed at the two men. He turned to glare at the young man who quickly shut up.

"Why did we have to end up with Abbott and Costello here instead of somebody useful like Angel or Spike?"

"We might not be supervamps but we can help...as soon as I can see past the pretty little birdies flying around in front of my eyes."

"You guys are killing me!" Gunn yelled in frustration as he made his way to the car to help search for the lost keys.

"Can you hotwire it?" Xander asked, thinking that was what Gunn was coming to do.

"Just cause I know some car thieves don't mean I am one."

"Did I say that? I was just asking...Spike knows how to."

"Yes, but Spike isn't here." Wesley pointed out.

"Ergo, I asked Gunn if he could do it." Xander looked at Gunn. "I didn't mean anything by it. Damn, instead of being 'high moral ground boy' why don't you help us find them?"

"I ain't a boy in case you haven't noticed. You're the kid." Gunn complained, he and Mikey joining Wesley and Xander in their search. Xander's reply died on his lips when they heard a deep voice coming from in front of them.

"Looking for these?" They looked up as one to see a very large, tall demon standing in the garage surrounded by a bunch of vampires. He was holding up the keys and jingling them.

"Yeah, that's them." Xander told him, getting out of the car. "Thanks for the assist. Now you can just toss them over here." He held up his hands but the demon never moved. "Toss them." Xander motioned with his hands as if he were a football player calling for a pass. Still the demon didn't move. "Okay how about, tosso the el keyso?" Now the other three men were beside him, Gunn taking the front.

"Go."

"Not a chance. Besides, how am I supposed to leave? Dumbass demon holding my keys, remember?"

"You got legs, don't you?" Xander nodded. "Well, use 'em."

"Well, no." Xander crossed his arms stubbornly, Wesley doing the same.

"How touching. Friends helping friends. Willing to die for each other." Deevak snorted.

"We are friends...or at least I think we are. We've only known each other for a week...maybe less. Anyway, even though we are friends...are we friends?" Xander asked Gunn who nodded. "Good...on that part anyway. On the dying part, not so much. We were kinda hoping it would be the other way around...you and your little vamp friends doing the death scene and all."

"You must be Deevak. They told me you was ugly, but damn." Gunn joined in, figuring if he couldn't shut Xander up and get him and Wesley out of the way he'd join in.

"And you're the big, bad Gunn." The demon advanced towards Gunn who pushed Wesley and Xander back behind him. Xander smacked his arm away, intent on letting the man know he was going to do his share of fighting. "Heard you were looking for me." Deevak reached out, grabbing Gunn around the neck and lifting the man off the ground. "You found me." Xander attacked Deevak while Wesley and Mickey started fighting the vampires. Xander lifted a pipe he found on the ground, intending to hit Deevak but the demon held his arm, shaking the weapon loose.

"Why do they always have to be so damn strong?" Xander muttered, struggling to get free.

"How does it feel to meet up with someone nastier than you?" Deevak asked Gunn who was trying to breathe. "Oooh, not good by the sound of it." Xander saw that Gunn was in real trouble and his anger grew.

"Stop it! You're killing him, you asshole!" Deevak began to shrink and turned into the snitch...Jameel. Xander's eyes widened in surprise as Jameel began to mock Gunn.

"Survival of the fittest bro. And right now, you're not looking too fit." Xander smiled, glad the demon was at least shorter than him, even though Jameel was still strong.

"Thanks for coming down to my size...or beneath it," Xander said, kneeing Jameel in the nuts. The boy roared in pain, letting Gunn fall to the ground and freeing Xander as he grabbed his balls. "Oh, and by the way," Xander picked up the pipe, "that threat sounded better coming from Gunn." He swung the pipe, hitting Jameel in the head and knocking him to the ground. He glanced over to make sure Gunn was alright and when he turned around he saw that Jameel had turned back into Deevak. "Okay, I liked you better the other way." Xander swung again, but this time Deevak stopped his swing before knocking Xander across the garage. Gunn attacked Deevak just as a motorcycle came racing under the open door. It slid across the floor as Angel and Spike got up.

"Xander!" Spike yelled, seeing the boy lying on the ground. Xander raised his head, giving his lover a small smile.

"Glad you could make it in time for the party." Xander stood up, brushing himself off. "My clothes are so rui---" Xander was blindsided by one of the vampires while Angel and Spike jumped into the fray. Spike snapped the vampire's neck before helping Xander up.

"What have I told you about taking your eyes off your opponents, luv?" Spike gave his boy a quick kiss. "You okay?" When the boy nodded, Spike leaped on two vampires at one time, taking them both down and freeing Xander to charge Deevak who was fighting Gunn. He jumped on Deevak's back just as the demon pulled a knife from the side of his pants. "No fair using weapons when Gunn doesn't have any." Xander told him.

In the meantime, Angel had thrown one vampire across the garage and onto his car. Mickey was pinned against another car, being choked by one of the vampires. The boy kneed the vampire and when he bent down, Wesley...who had fallen to the ground...pulled out his stake and dusted him. He grabbed Mickey's arm, pulling the kid down right before a vampire, who was on top of the car, brought a crowbar down, crashing it into the window of the car instead of the boy's head. Wesley threw his stake at him, dusting that vampire as well. Mickey gave him a quick grin as they helped each other up.

"Thanks...you saved my life."

"That's quite alright." Wesley glanced around, noticing that Spike and Angel had taken out the other vampires and were getting ready to attack Deevak. The demon was trying to stab Gunn while trying to rid himself of Xander who was attached to his neck. Confident that the two vampires would save Xander and Gunn, Wesley leaned back against the car to watch.

"Don't you think we should help?" Mickey asked. Wesley shook his head.

"I'm sure we'd only get in the way. Spike and Angel will rip Deevak to shreds after what he did to Xander, not to mention trying to kill Gunn. We'd be better off observing and learning." Mickey leaned next to him and Wesley turned to speak to the boy. "Maybe you could slip my saving you into a conversation with Alana...just to let her know that I can...handle myself in a fight." Wesley was hoping to erase any memories of his clumsiness from the night before. Mickey's grin grew.

"I think I can do that. If you can slip my name into a convo with that girl back at the warehouse...what was her name? Fawn?"

"Dawn." Wesley corrected. "I will but I think she's already got her eye on...someone else."

"Shit...Joey always gets to the good ones first." Wesley patted his back, watching the goings on. Deevak had managed to knock Gunn onto the ground and was ready to land the killing blow when Xander placed his hands over the demon's eyes.

"Can you say 'Mother may I?'?" Deevak grabbed the boy's arm, tossing him towards a car. Spike sped up, placing himself between the car and Xander, knowing that if the boy hit the car it could do some serious damage to him. Xander plowed into him, knocking the two of them to the ground. Angel growled, pissed that the demon had tried to hurt his lovers. He saw that Deevak was once again ready to kill Gunn so he ran towards a car, yelling at Wesley as he went.

"Wesley, the axe!" Wesley reached over, picking the axe up off the floor and throwing it in the air towards Angel. Angel jumped onto the car, doing a forward flip before catching the axe and implanting it into Deevak's head. Deevak let out a yell before falling with a thud next to Gunn who appeared awestruck by the vampire's moves. Wesley smiled when he heard Mikey let out a low whistle of approval.

"Damn, that was cool but there's no way I could learn that flippy thing." Angel was helping Gunn to his feet while Xander was checking Spike out. He found a large bump on the back of the vampire's head and leaned down to give it a kiss.

"I'm so sorry, Spike. Does it hurt much?" Xander pushed on the bump and Spike growled. "Guess that's a yes, huh? Sorry...again."

"You should be. You stole Angel's car...."

"Borrowed it."

"Left Dawn alone at that warehouse while you..."

"She was with Joey, Alana and the others. I wouldn't have left Dawn there if I thought she wasn't safe."

"While you went off chasing after that big demon guy."

"Deevak."

"The what?"

"Not The. D as in duh. Deevak. Did you hit your head so hard it messed your brain up too?" Xander asked.

"Which brings me round to what the bloody hell did you think you were doing?"

"Helping Gunn."

"By playing 'Mother May I?' with a demon twice your size? If you had hit that car it could have...."

"But I didn't. You saved me." Xander gave Spike a hug and a kiss.

"You could have broken your neck." Spike was trying to stay angry with Xander but the boy's gentle kisses on his neck as he held Spike close was breaking the vampire's resolve. "Or your back." Xander's hands caressed Spike's back as he continued to nibble and kiss on his neck. Spike caught on to Xander's game. "Or your ass." Xander's hands slid down, cupping Spike's ass through his jeans. "And that mouth is always getting you into trouble." Xander leaned close, his lips barely touching Spike's.

"Or out of it?" Spike shook his head while Xander nodded his. Xander held Spike's head, nibbling the vampire's bottom lip before giving him a slow, gentle kiss. All thoughts of chastising the boy flew out of Spike's mind when Xander's tongue met his. Spike wrapped his arms around Xander while the boy's right hand came up to card through Spike's hair. Spike moaned causing Xander to break the kiss and smile at him. "So I'm forgiven, huh?"

"That wasn't a moan of pleasure, luv. You hit my bump." Spike rubbed his head gently, trying to stop the ache. He saw the crestfallen expression on Xander's face and immediately grinned at him. "Not saying that wasn't pleasant." Angel came over to join his lovers.

"Where is everyone else?" Xander glanced around the warehouse, seeing only the dead demon.

"We pushed the car outside while you two were....talking."

"Oh...so are you mad at me, too? Because of your car."

"No." Xander gave Angel a hopeful look but it turned to a frown when Angel spoke.

"Not mad about the car...not really. I'm more angry with the fact that you and Wesley didn't call us earlier. Why did we have to hear about all of this from Dawn?"

"Would it help if I said it was cause you were asleep?" Angel shook his head. "Cause you two had a long night...or morning?" Another shake of the head. "I was trying to be considerate?" Before Angel could shake his head, Xander put his arms around the vampire and planted a warm, soft kiss on his lips. Angel moved into the kiss, placing his arms around Xander and pulling him closer before realizing what the boy was trying to do. *Xander's not going to play me like this.* Angel broke the kiss.

"Xander, it's not going to work." Xander nuzzled his neck, placing gentle kisses and nibbling. "That's not going to do it either. I'm not like Spike. You can't take my mind off of this by using...oh, shit." Angel groaned as Xander's hands slid down underneath his coat and squeezed his ass. Xander began to rub up against Angel causing the vampire to forget what he was saying. He kissed Xander again, this time tongues meeting and playing for several minutes...well, until Xander had to breathe anyway.

"I love you, Angel."

"Mmm hmm." Angel's lips were back on his, savoring the taste and feel of his boy's mouth.

"Yeah, right. 'Xander, it's not going to work. I'm not like Spike. You can't take my mind off this by using...ooooh'. Spike mimicked Angel's voice, swatting the older vampire on the back of the head. Angel broke the kiss to growl at Spike and Xander was saved from having to answer any questions when Wesley came rushing over, holding a small rod with Angel's keys danging from it.

"Angel! Angel, look! I found your keys." Angel released his hold on Xander, turning to face the man. There was something slimy and green dripping from the keys. "Unfortunately, this substance doesn't appear to be coming off." Angel made a face.

"What is that?"

"Demon blood, demon pus...or possibly both. Cheers." Wesley tried to hand the keys to Angel but the vampire put his hands up and backed away.

"Spike! Hot wire the damn thing for me." Xander slowly backed up, preparing to make a mad dash for the door.

"I'll just be...talkingtoGunn." He finished, racing outside to find the other man. Angel and Spike exchanged grins before Spike leered at Angel.

"Hot wiring a car takes a lot of skill and effort. Give me some kind of incentive..." Angel placed his hand on Spike's crotch, palming the younger vampire's already hardening erection. "Guess that'll work." They walked outside to the car, Spike starting the car in less than one minute.

"I see how hard that was." Angel mumbled.

"Not as hard as I am. Where's Xander? I want to get home." Both vampires saw the boy talking to Gunn. After finding the helmet that had rolled onto the ground when they had crashed and making sure the motorcyle was in working order they told Wesley to head back to the apartment, promising to meet him there later. Wesley got on the cycle, taking a quick glance around.

"Where's the other helmet?"

"We didn't wear one. I left this one of the handlebars." Spike told him, lighting up a cigarette. Wesley frowned at the two of them.

"Just because you're vampires doesn't give you any right to break the law." Angel and Spike shrugged, waving at their friend as he took off before joining Gunn and Xander. They could hear the two boy's conversation as they neared.

"Well, you saved my life. Guess I should say thanks." Gunn was heading for his truck, Xander following him.

"Yes, you should. And no, I didn't. Angel and Spike did most of the saving here tonight."

"Okay, but you helped me out when I was fighting."

"And I'm going to keep on helping you fight until you're safe."

"I am. Danger's gone...Deevak's dead."

"He's dead but you're still not out of the woods. Gunn, don't you see what you're doing?"

"Going home?" Xander shook his head.

"You're on a self destruct mission. You don't just face danger...you create it."

"I ain't buying none of this crap."

"You know it's true, Gunn. Ever since Bobby got killed..."

"Hey! You don't know nothing about my life...why I do the things I do."

"Got a good idea. I see the same thing in your eyes right now that I've seen in my own when I looked in the mirror. Grief, despair, self-loathing. It's all there." Gunn looked down at the ground for a moment before raising his head, tears in his eyes. "I felt the same way when Jesse died. Missing him, not understanding why he had to die when he was so fucking young...I hated the fact that I was still alive and he was gone. Hated him for letting it happen...hated myself for letting it happen." Now it was Xander's turn to stare at the ground, trying to get his emotions under control. "I ended up jumping into every fight I could find. Wanted to patrol with Buffy every night even though I knew I was no match for the vampires. Drove everybody crazy. Giles would give me long lectures about distracting Buffy and putting myself in danger, Buffy would push me out of the way or give me her 'I'm the slayer, I'll handle it' talk and Willow would worry. But it didn't matter...I didn't care. No one could get through to me until....."

"Until what?" Gunn asked. Angel and Spike stood behind Xander, listening intently.

"We were out on patrol and Willow almost got killed defending me. We were attacked by a couple of vamps that Buffy could easily have killed but I jumped in anyway. I got knocked on the ground by one of them, per usual. Willow tried to help me and that damn vampire threw her across the graveyard before Buffy could stake it. Will was really shaken up so I ended up carrying her home while Buffy lectured me again, telling me that I could have gotten Willow killed. It pissed me off and we argued all the way to Willow's house. I stayed with Will that night...purely platonic...just needed to hold her and make sure she was alive. I stayed up all night watching her sleep, thanking God or whoever's up there for not taking my Will away from me, knowing that if she had died I couldn't go on living. Not after having just lost Jesse. The next morning I asked Willow why she jumped that vamp and she said, 'I'm not going to let you kill yourself. I can't lose you, too'. From that moment on I decided to be more careful. Yeah, I still fought, still managed to get myself into trouble but when I fought it was to protect the people I love or myself and that's it. I stopped being such a selfish bastard, only thinking of myself and started caring about my friend's feelings as well. And I didn't look for an easy way out anymore."

"I'm not..."

"Yeah, you are and you're hurting Alana just like I did Willow. How do you think she would feel if you got killed? Who would take care of her if you were gone? You've lost a brother but you still have a sister. A sister who needs you to keep on living. A sister who doesn't deserve what you're putting her through. I don't think Bobby would want you to forget that, do you?" Gunn shook his head. "So, until you start acting non-crazy, I guess I'll just have to look out for you. Better plan on having us in your life until you find some peace."

"It could be a while."

"Well, that's okay. You can never have too many friends. Besides, helping people is what we specialize in."

"Lucky me." Gunn punched Xander playfully on the arm before getting into his truck.

"Hey!" Gunn turned around in the seat to look at Xander. "How about that thank you?" Gunn gave Xander a small smile and the boy returned it, the words of gratitude being unsaid but felt just the same. Angel put his arms around Xander as they watched Gunn pull away.

"Think he'll be okay?"

"I do." Angel turned Xander around giving him a kiss.

"Yeah, with friends like us in his corner how can he lose?" Spike asked, the three of them walking to the car arm in arm.


Chapter Forty-Seven

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