Betaed by Maria and Flight Of Fancy.


“And one more time, just for clarity. What the Hell is going on here?” Cordelia turned from one friend, to the other. “Xander? Willow?”

Oz gave Willow a wounded look, before silently turning to leave.

“Oz!” Willow begged. “I’m sorry. Please don’t leave.” She ran after him, trying to get him to listen to her, and almost colliding with Buffy as she left the library.

“Hey guys. What’s up? Willow almost mowed me over on her way out,” Buffy commented as she stepped into the room behind Kendra.

It was Cordelia, who finally answered, “We just caught Willow and Xander making out.” She threw a look of disgust at Xander, but it didn’t quite hide the hurt in her eyes. “How could you?”

Xander opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He tried again though, attempting to find the words to defend his behaviour, gesturing with his hands when the words couldn’t be found.

Cordelia shook her head sadly. “You know what? It doesn’t matter. This just confirms what I’ve suspected for a while now. I am so over you, Alexander LaVelle Harris.” She turned to the stairs leading down from the stacks. “Angel. There you are. I had a great time with you last night. Why don’t we try for a repeat tonight?” The flashy brunette cheerleader wanted to tempt the broody vampire, in part to stroke her ego after the humiliating breakup, and also to prove that she could do much better than Xander.

Angel had arrived in the middle of the altercation between Cordelia and Xander, and wasn’t quite certain what was happening. After a moment of thought, he decided that he might be able to use the situation to his advantage. Maybe Buffy just needs a wake-up call. When she sees me with someone else, she’ll realize how close she’s come to losing me, and she’ll smarten up and recognize that she’s my other half. Angel half-smiled to himself. “I’d like that, Cordelia.” He went to Cordelia and took her hand, lifting it and placing a kiss on her knuckles. He glanced at Buffy under his lashes, looking for any signs of jealousy. He was disappointed when he found none. Fine then, I’ll just have to take things a step further.

Ignoring the vampire, Buffy stepped in front of Cordelia. “Just don’t sleep with him. Sex with Angel leads to nothing but badness.”

“What? You bitch! You figure because you don’t want him, nobody else should have him either?” Cordelia turned to Buffy, hands on her hips.

“Not likely, Cordelia. You’re welcome to him. Just don’t sleep with him for now. Wait until I’ve gathered some supplies I can only get in LA. Then we can secure his soul, and you can sleep with him all you want. If you guys have sex before then, you’re going to release Angelus.” Buffy wanted to make sure that Cordelia got the point.

“I don’t believe you. Angel has a soul. He’s good, and you’re just a jealous bitch.” Cordelia stormed out of the library, dragging Angel with her.

“Well, that went well...not.” Buffy shook her head in disbelief.

Buffy and Kendra moved to the table.

Xander could see trouble coming, and was ready to leave before it found him.

Recognizing the signs of his imminent departure, Buffy stopped the teen from leaving. “Sit down, Xander. We have some things to discuss. Relax and order a drink. We’ll wait a bit and see if the others return. At the very least, Giles should be present.”

It wasn’t long before Oz and Willow returned to the table, sitting as far as possible from each other. Willow’s eyes were red and swollen, and Oz was deliberately ignoring the pleading looks she sent his way.

When Giles returned, he looked around the table. “Where are the others?”

“You missed the latest developments,” Buffy informed Giles, as she looked from Xander to Willow.

“What is going on?” Giles looked at Willow’s tear-filled eyes and Xander’s defeated posture. “Will someone please speak up, or do you expect me to guess?”

Buffy tried to look up at Giles, who had approached the table from behind her. “Why don’t you sit down, Giles? Trying to look at you is giving me a crick in my neck.”

Giles looked taken aback for a moment, but then obeyed Buffy’s request. “Now, would you please tell me what has happened, before I lose my temper?”

“Are you going to tell him?” Buffy looked at Xander. He didn’t react, so she tossed a wadded up napkin at his head and then repeated the question. The teen shook his head, refusing to make eye contact or to speak. The Light then turned to Willow, who shook her head before Buffy could even ask. “Look guys, he needs to know, and if you’re not going to tell him, then I’ll have to.” Both teens stayed slumped in their chairs, eyes on the table. They didn’t dare make eye contact with anyone in the group, especially the person they were just caught kissing a short time before.

“Fine. I guess it’s up to me again, which is so unfair. This doesn’t even have anything to do with me,” Buffy sighed. “Willow and Xander kissed.” She looked accusingly at her two shame-faced friends. “The group walked in on them. Oz and Cordy saw everything. There was some yelling, and then Queen C stormed out of here with Angel in tow.”

Giles had taken off his glasses, and was pinching the bridge of his nose. “What on Earth were you two thinking?” he asked, as he looked from Xander to Willow.

To the relief of the couple currently under scrutiny, Buffy chose to step in. “The why doesn’t really matter right now. I’m not so sure I want to hear it, anyway. What matters is that Cordelia is trying to date Angel again.”

“Oh, quite right,” the Watcher replied with a nod. “Of course, you don’t want him to be with another woman if he’s your other half.” He polished his glasses before he placed them back on his nose.

“I didn’t say he was my other half. My problem is, if she sleeps with him, she’ll set Angelus loose. I tried to warn her, but I know she thought I was just being jealous. You need to get her to listen to you.” Buffy was tapping her fingers on the table in frustration. “Just get her to keep her legs together until I get back from LA. After that, she can sleep with him as often as she wants.”

At first horrified that he was having a conversation about the teens he knew and their potential sex life, Giles forgot his embarrassment as he listened to Buffy. “I don’t understand, Buffy. Will you please explain what you mean about Cordelia releasing Angelus?”

“Oops. Sorry, Giles. I’m used to people knowing what I’m talking about, so I just jumped over a few things. Angel’s soul is a curse. If he experiences a moment of true happiness, it’s all over. Understand now?” Buffy waited for Giles to answer.

Giles was frowning. “I’m afraid not.”

Buffy sighed deeply. “A curse can be broken, correct?”

Giles nodded.

“Angel’s soul is a curse. If he sleeps with someone, there’s a chance he could experience a moment of pure happiness. If that happens, the curse will be broken, and Angelus will be loose in Sunnydale.” Buffy was getting tired. She had a sneaking suspicion that Merrick would have been able to speak Watcher with Giles, and get the information across much faster. Too bad the other Watcher would have drawn unwanted attention on the school grounds.

“I understand the curse, and how it works. What I don’t understand is how any of that information will change once you make a trip to LA? You’re being quite confusing,” Giles confessed.

Buffy closed her eyes. She needed to find a way to tell them what she was going to do, without giving away the fact that she was capable of doing magic. Sure, they’d seen her perform the spell to banish the Changelings, but that could be explained away as part of the prophecy. Finally, she decided to just dodge the issue. “I have some business in LA before preparations to secure Angel’s soul can be made. Once everything is done, the curse will be removed and his soul will be anchored.”

After Giles’ nod of understanding, Buffy looked at the others seated at the table. They were all staring at her, with varying degrees of astonishment on their faces. Xander, in particular, had a look in his eyes that she recognized. It was a mixture of hope and lust, and it turned her stomach. He hid it immediately when he noticed her shiver of revulsion. Unfortunately, she recognized his second look too.

“So, the Evil Dead isn’t your other half?” Xander asked, maliciously. “I guess that means his Get Out of Jail Free card has now expired. Can I do the staking?”

“Just give it a rest, Xander. Angel is not going to be staked. He works for the Powers that Be, and there’ll be no risk once his soul is anchored. Since when do we run around killing the good guys?” Buffy gave the bloodthirsty teen a hard stare.

Damn it. Why can’t I just keep my big mouth shut? Now she’s pissed at me, and if Tall, Dark, and Gloomy accidently ends up in someone’s dust-buster, they’re all going to be pointing a finger at me. “Sorry, Buff. You’re right,” Xander apologized, attempting to save face. The apology wasn’t worth much though, because everyone there knew he didn’t mean it.

Buffy stared at Xander for a few moments, before turning to Giles. “I’m counting on you to keep Angel and Cordelia out of the same bed.” The Watcher blushed profusely, his English sense of propriety horrified by a public conversation about sex. “That’s not the reason for today’s meeting though. I need the truth, Giles. Did Xander display any odd behaviour when he was with you last night or this morning?”

“Yes, of course. Moving on.” There was still a pink tinge to Giles’ cheeks, and his glasses were off so he could avoid eye contact with any of the Scoobies present. “Since you ask, yes, Xander wasn’t his usual self last night. At one point, he began crying, and seemed quite inconsolable. I have no idea, however, what brought the episode on.”

“Xander, why did you start crying?” Buffy looked intently at the teen.

“I...I don’t really know,” he answered with a low mumble. The group was barely able to hear him, and he kept his face down and his eyes hidden.

Buffy knew Xander was lying, but before she could reveal his duplicity to the group, Giles spoke up, “When we spoke this morning, Xander told me that he couldn’t remember much of what has happened over the past month. He said he’s been having blackouts. I suspect the time he cannot recollect is when the Changelings were in control of his actions.”

“Really, Giles? Is that really what you think has happened?” Buffy tried to force the Watcher to maintain eye contact with her, but he avoided the confrontation by cleaning his glasses.

“Historically, it has been well documented that people who are possessed rarely remember any of their actions, once their unwanted companion has been evicted and they have been freed from its influence,” Giles lied, very convincingly.

Buffy closed her eyes, and clenched her teeth, keeping her hands locked between her thighs so that she didn’t wrap them around Giles’ scrawny British neck. “Are you sure about that?” Watcher and Whelp remained steadfastly silent. “Xander? Giles? Speak up, guys. We’re all waiting to hear your answer.”

“Yes. Qu...Quite certain,” Giles stuttered.

“Yeah. I wish I could remember, Buff, but it’s just a big blur,” Xander tried to convince her.

Pushed beyond his limits, Giles left the table to put the kettle on for tea. He needed a few minutes alone, so he could continue to convince himself he was doing right by lying to Buffy and the Scoobies. He just didn’t want to believe the alternative though, which was that Xander was not the funny, sweet, harmless guy he appeared to be.

Meanwhile, back at the table, Willow was starting to feel offended on Xander and Giles’ behalf. “Why do you keep asking them the same question, Buffy? They’ve both said that Xander doesn’t remember, and if they say so, then it’s true. Xander wouldn’t lie to us, and Giles knows all about this kind of stuff.” Willow looked from Buffy’s grim face, to Xander’s bowed head, and then over to Giles, preparing his tea behind the library counter.

“I’m not trying to pick on anyone, Willow. You need to remember, though, that I’ve lived through all this before, and that I’m the Eternal Light. That prophecy book that you guys have been working on so hard? I had it for a long time. Long enough to translate it, and to know all there is to know about the Changelings.” Buffy shot a look of contempt at Xander, and then at Giles, who was returning to the table. “When, or if, you two come to your senses and decide to start telling the truth, you can get in touch with my through my mom.” She touched Kendra’s arm, and they stood up, ready to leave. “I’d also advise you to stay away from Kendra. I doubt she’ll want anything to do with either of you anyway. Your lies have given Xander an easy way out, so that he doesn’t have to accept any responsibility for the way he treated my friend here. Think about that, while you try to remember exactly where you heard that people lose their memory when they’re possessed.”

No one spoke for several minutes. Willow was stunned by what she had just heard, and what Buffy was implying. She turned to her life-long friend, disbelief on her face. “I believed you. How could you lie like that? To me? To Kendra?”

“I’m afraid that...well, you see...the falsity, I’m afraid that was my suggestion.” Giles was energetically polishing his lenses again, but nothing was going to get him out of this one. “I thought it best, to spare you the pain, and to keep your friendship intact.”

“Oh, so you think that our friendship is based on lies? Lies aren’t good for friendships, Giles,” she said, with tears in her eyes. Turning to her old friend, she wiped at her face. “I don’t even know you anymore, Xander. How could you do this?” Willow was even more horrified when she realized that she had jeopardized her relationship with Oz for a guy that was perfectly willing to lie to her face, and pass the buck when it came to accepting responsibility for his actions. “I can’t do this right now. Oz and I need some time alone.” She got up, pulling Oz with her. “No wonder Buffy wasn’t thrilled to see us all again. You’re going to push her away for good, if you keep this up. We’ve got a second chance, and you guys are both going to ruin it quickly.”

As the pair of men remaining watched the door shut behind the redhead, they realized the truth of her words. They had already messed up once, and they knew Buffy wouldn’t give them many more chances.

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Buffy and Kendra made it out of the school without running into Snyder. They walked home, arm in arm, quietly talking about what had happened in the library. Kendra couldn’t understand how Willow could believe Xander over Buffy, when she was the one with knowledge of the future.

Buffy explained to Kendra that Willow had known Xander since kindergarten, and that made it harder for her to believe that her friend would lie to her. After that, the girls started on other relationships, and the conversation naturally moved to Merrick and Joyce. Both girls agreed that Merrick would be a great guy for Joyce to have around, and decided to do what they could to support that relationship.

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Willow and Oz stopped at the Espresso Pump for take-out, and then drove over to a quiet park, where they sat and talked for hours. They discussed why Willow had kissed Xander, and the attraction that she felt for her childhood friend. They also discussed their relationship, and the way they felt about each other. In the end, they agreed that they would give their relationship another go, but that they would take things slow for a while.

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Kendra and Buffy continued to chat after they arrived back at the house. In fact, they were still chatting when Kendra finally went to bed that night, ensuring that they had thoroughly covered all things Xander, Willow, and Oz. After Kendra went to bed, Buffy gave Clem a call, looking for an update on the construction team’s progress. She also wanted to pass along a few more instructions. It seemed like she came up with one or two new modifications every day. This time, Buffy also asked Clem if she could borrow a few tools. Clem was probably scratching his head, wondering what use she would have for them, but he agreed to loan her his pickaxe and a spade.

Once Buffy secured the tools, she asked her mother if she could borrow the car for a few days. At first, Joyce tried to get Buffy to use a taxi. To get Joyce’s cooperation, Buffy had to tell her mom that she was going on a secret mission, and that if she couldn’t borrow the car, she’d just rent one. Her mother eventually agreed, but only after checking to see that Buffy actually had a current driver’s license. Finally, with a hug from Joyce, and the spare set of car keys, Buffy was off on a treasure hunt.

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Spike woke to see Drusilla leaning over him. “And so it has begun. You are starting to swim in the sunshine. Bad doggie. Grrrr.” Dru bared her teeth and used her hands like claws, growling as if she were about to attack him. “The stars told me, but some part of me refused to believe it until now. I am taking your plate away from the table. No tea and cake for my prince ever again.”

Spike remained still, looking at his Sire with astonishment. He didn’t understand what she was saying, and he was a little worried that she was going to attack him. He wouldn’t hurt his wicked plum, even to defend himself.

Instead of scratching him, Drusilla slowly trailed a nail down his cheek. Spike was really beginning to feel ill at ease. He sat up, sheet crumpling around his hips. Dru refused to remove her finger, instead trailing her nail down his chest, over his abs, and along the treasure trail that disappeared under the sheet. Suddenly, she straightened up, gave his erection a pat, and then turned to glide out of the room.

Pausing for a moment at the doorway, Drusilla turned her head, looking at Spike over her shoulder. “You were always destined for the Light, my Childe. The pixies told me to turn you, so that you could fulfill your destiny and finally meet the sunshine.”