Chapter 9: Missing Toys

[Lyri]

::Leaving the meeting and the attendants of said meeting behind her, Gwen left the room, determind to return to her dorm room, What am I? In college? and sleep until well past noon the next day.

::But she couldn't sleep. Images of Drusilla kept flashing through her head. Images of Dru with the Scythe, and what she could be caplable of with said Scythe. That, combined with the cold shower she just HAD to have, led to a not very sleepy Gwen.

::So she left her room, wandering through the hallways in the middle of the night, like some stupid spirit intent on scaring the crap out of the residents. A hot spirit, but a spirit none the less.

::She'd passed Isabel and Raven, who, after whatever mission they had been on, had returned to their joined-at-the-hip status and were apparently headed for the lounge to watch a movie, if their popcorn and blankets were any indication. She was waving them goodnight, or good morning, depending on the person you were, so she wasn't looking where she was going...which was the exact moment Xander decided was a really good time to leave the bathroom, steaming cup of coffee in hand.

::Her reflexes weren't exactly on par with Buffy's or Angel's, but she was pretty quick off the mark and managed to jump back a few inches and avoided a hot coffee shower.::

Thinking that mighta stung

::Then Xander started into the babble again.

::Gwen looked at him, with a little half amused smile on her lips, as he went on about English Patients and nicknames for Spike.

::It wasn't until he stopped talking and hung his free hand by his side, instead of waving it in the air, that Gwen realized that he was embarrassed by his actions and was probably waiting for her to turn and run in the opposite direction.

::Her smiled widened at his invitation.::

Xander: "I think a midnight snack sounds great right about now. But maybe no more coffee for you. How about some hot chocolate?"

::Gwen led the way to the kitchen, where they found several young Slayers who were also apparently having trouble sleeping. They cleared out pretty quickly after the two of them entered, and Gwen spared a fleeting thought about just what the younger girls knew about her.

::Gwen made some hot chocolate for them, finding some of those little marshmallows in a bag in the coupboard above the dishwasher. A lable on the bag read 'Andrew's Mallows', but she figured he wouldn't mind them taking just a few.

::Taking the drinks and the marshmallows to the table, she handed one mug to Xander, then sat down across from him, pondering his last question.::

Xander: "You wanna know about me, huh? Not much to tell really. Freak of Nature, is the title usually applied to me. Didn't know just exaclty how normal I am, until I met Angel and his crew. Those guys are some freaky people."

::Gwen studied the marshmallows in her mug.::

Xander: "Willow probably filled up in on why she chose me to head up the recovery team. I'm a theif, professional day job-type theif. I realized pretty soon after high school that my power can manipulate any electrical current. Laser sensors, security cameras, alarms. Anything you can think of, I can get past it. It made for an easy living. I was good at it. Wasn't until I ran into Angel and his lackies on a job, and accidentally killed one of them, that I realized that this wasn't really a 'no one gets hurt' kinda life. People did get hurt by what I did. It's jsust that, most times, I wasn't around to see it."

::Gwen flashed back on that night, when she accidentally killed Gun by blasting him full force with her power. Seeing him fall lifeless to the floor, his eyes empty, had reawakened memories Gwen had thought long dead. And now they wouldn't go back into that little box in her mind where she put things she didn't want to think about.::

Is that why I'm here? Helping with this...whatever it is? Am I looking to make up for what I did? To both Gunn and that little boy?

::Her hot chocolate didn't have the answers.::

 

[Mesektet Ra]

Spike left the room, hobbling a bit behind the others. He spared a feeling glance at Buffy - a look that said all he needed to say without uttering a word.

He had half a mind to crawl into his bed and let himself rest. But he knew that was a fools errand - there was no way he was going to sleep anytime soon. And besides, way he figured, it was around two in the afternoon in vamp time, and that would just not work.

He sighed. He reached up a hand and rubbed the back of his neck, his skin still burnt an angry pink and stretched. He grunted a bit, looking down both sides of the hallway. He'd yet to have the grand tour, so where he was going was anyone's guess.

He sighed a little and went left, passing a maze of stone archways and rooms that shot off into their own little pods in the building. He looked around, a bit amazed at the scenery. Rup knows how to pick 'em, he thought idly.

He came around a bend, the hallway opening up into some sort of lounge area. And lo and behold - Raven and Isabel, the former perched languidly on the couch and the latter curled up at her feet. Both looked comfortable, dressed in their PJ's and draped in blankets. The TV flickered.

Raven glanced up, her jaw automatically dropping open at the sight of him. "Holy shit!" She exclaimed. She pushed herself to sit upright. "Man, I heard you got your ass handed to you...but wow. Crazy did a number on you, huh?"

Spike blinked at her, his scarred eyebrow raised slightly. Well...she didn't exactly mince words, did she? "Could be said," he replied, a bit stiffly. If he wasn't willing to talk about it to the Scoob Brigade, he wasn't going to talk about it with Raven bleeding Spencer, out of all the current pains in his ass. He sighed. "I need a drink. Where'd they install the sodding kitchen in this maze?"

Raven chuckled a bit. Isabel smiled. "Down the hall. It curves a bit, but you can't miss it." Isabel concluded the statement with shoving a handful of popcorn into her mouth. "We're washing deh Ebil Dead, if you wanna." She said, mouth full of popcorn.

Spike smiled a little and shook his head. "Not quite in the mood right now, love. Raincheck." He nodded once - both girls nodded and he turned to head off.

"OH!" Raven exclaimed. Spike poked his head back around the corner. "That Electro-Chick and Xand are there." Raven waggled her eyebrows. "Thought it'd be nice to tell you, considering you and Gwen -"

"If you finish that statement, I'll disembowel you with my bare hands," he bit off, pointing at her and narrowing his eyes.

Raven laughed. "Whatever you say, Medium Rare. Just giving you a heads up."

Spike scoffed and turned off, stomping down the hallway. Bloody idiot girl, he thought savagely.

Isabel was right - the hallway opened up into the kitchen, where a few girls huddled in the corners, talking softly. Spike moved towards the refrigerator, throwing the door open. The scent of blood smacked him full-on in the face.

He turned over a container - labeled, appropriately, 'O-pos'. He smiled a little to himself. 'Least something's going right on this hellish day.

He pulled his flask from his jacket - Jack, as always. He drained half the contents of the flask into the container.

He glanced around, spotting Gwen and Xander talking off to the side. She looked pensive. Spike, for a moment, was struck with a conundrum - to go, or not to go? He chugged a bit from the container, the blood sweet and the alcohol burning. Sod all, he thought.

He moved over to the two of them, dropping himself in the chair next to Xander. "This wouldn't be a private party, now would it?" He asked casually, taking another sip of his blood.

 

[AngelRPG08]

::Angel stood in the dark shadows watching Buffy as she stepped out into the cool night air. He couldn't help but feel like he had to keep an eye on her. As much as her unkept hair, colorful pajamas, tigger slippers made him smile he couldn't help but notice the troubled look in her eyes. Something was troubling her and that bothered him. He wished he knew what she was thinking. He wished to that he could wrap his arms around her and make it all go away or at least give her some reassurance that it would.::

God, he thought, what happened to her. I should have been there for her. Why hadn't Conner or the rest of the group called sooner. I'd have come sooner.

::He shook his head. It didn't matter. All that mattered was that he was there now. As long as he was in Scotland he would be there for her. He waited before approaching Buffy making sure none of the scoobies had decided to follow her out or come check on her. He wanted to be alone with her. When he was sure the others had left and were not going to follow Buffy he stepped out of the shadows.::

Buffy: "Buffy?"

::He waited for her to reply. He wasn't going to push or invade her space. If she wanted to be alone he'd let her. He just wanted to let her know he was there for her.::

 

[palabravampiress]

[Kitchen]

:: Xander shut his trap and listened while Gwen talked "“ and, also, he enjoyed the chocolatey goodness of Gwen-brewed hot chocolate. ::

Xander couldn't remember the last time someone had done something as simple and as nice as to make a drink for him. She even did a little mother hen routine, telling him politely yet firmly to lay off the caffeine. It was"¦ nice. It made him miss Anya like crazy, of course, she being the last person who'd thought to do anything so creature-comfortey on his behalf (most of which involved comfort of the carnal kind), but it was still nice.

:: Xander smiled a bit and brought the warm mug up to his lips. ::

Mmm. Hot chocolate smell "“ possibly made better by the fact that Sparky swiped Nerd Boy's mallows.

The hot chocolate taste was good, too.

::Taking the drinks and the marshmallows to the table, she handed one mug to Xander, then sat down across from him, pondering his last question.::

Xander: "You wanna know about me, huh? Not much to tell really. Freak of Nature, is the title usually applied to me. Didn't know just exaclty how normal I am, until I met Angel and his crew. Those guys are some freaky people."

:: Xander laughed out loud. It was faint and nowhere-near-hearty, but it was cheerful and it was there, both of which were definitely of the good. ::

Gwen: "You have no idea. Really. Count Brood is the embodiment of strange. I've never seen anyone -- dead, undead, or soap-operaified -- rock the split personality quite like he does."

:: Xander frowned. ::

Crap. I babbled. Was that a babble? Maybe it was a quip. I'll go with quip. Quippage is definitely allowed.

Gwen didn't seem to notice, though. Instead, she stared into her mug like she was reading tea leaves"¦ or nerd mallows. You know: whichever.

Xander: "Willow probably filled up in on why she chose me to head up the recovery team. I'm a theif, professional day job-type theif. I realized pretty soon after high school that my power can manipulate any electrical current. Laser sensors, security cameras, alarms. Anything you can think of, I can get past it. It made for an easy living. I was good at it. Wasn't until I ran into Angel and his lackies on a job, and accidentally killed one of them, that I realized that this wasn't really a 'no one gets hurt' kinda life. People did get hurt by what I did. It's jsust that, most times, I wasn't around to see it."

:: Xander bit his lower lip and regarded Gwen thoughtfully. ::

:: Then, hesitating just a bit on account of not wanting to accidentally up Gwen's wattage with sudden movements of the startling kind, he reached across the table and grasped her hand. ::

Gwen: "Umm"¦ no sweat. You're in good company. Really. I accidentally caused people to spontaneously combust while bursting into song. Put a whole new spin on the word "˜flaming.'"

It was a joke, but it was well intentioned.

:: Half comfortingly and half just pleased not to be crispified, Xander smiled at Gwen. ::

Gwen: "Mistakes, they've been made all around. And sure, they're no picnic. I once joined an evil swim team and wore a speedo. You're talking mistake city! But if Thing 1 and Thing 2 can come back all shiny and ensouled and do good after all those centuries of badness, then your days of artful dodging can't be that bad, right? Besides"¦ whatever that urn does must be good, so you are firmly in the Scooby camp these days."

:: Xander took his hand back and sipped thoughtfully at his cocoa. ::

He missed this, being funny, quippy, make-the-girls-feel-better guy. Not too long ago, back when the Initiative had went implodey and explodey all around, he'd been the heart of the group. Now, he felt more like a pinky finger. Or maybe a little toe. It was kinda nice racking up the quality heart-to-heart time with Girl Lightning. Made him feel like maybe he hadn't left that heart part of him completely buried in the rubble that was Sunnydale. Maybe still mostly, but not completely.

And hey, points for effort.

And then, because Xander's luck just ran that way, the glowy warn moment was ruined by Captain Hairdo, the ruiner of all things good or even just passable in Xander's life.

He moved over to the two of them, dropping himself in the chair next to Xander. "This wouldn't be a private party, now would it?" He asked casually, taking another sip of his blood.

:: Just acting on reflex, Xander scowled. ::

Gwen: "Hey, look! It's the English Patient."

:: Then, more quietly, he schooled his features into a passable non-scowl that was still not exactly up to smiley goodness and added: ::

Spike: "I mean"¦ want some hot chocolate? We stole Andrew's marshmallows. A little lacking in platelets for your taste, but still good and sticky-fingers fresh."

See, nice? This is me playing nice.

:: Xander yawned and rested his chin on his hand. His eyelid drooped. ::

:: He then shook his head and forced his head upright with a snap. ::

Sleepy time is sooo not an option.

Gwen and Spike: "Umm"¦ so"¦ this urn thingie,what's it look like? Egyptian urn, or is it more like Native American? You wanna stay away from the Native American ones"¦ trust me."

 

[Kean]

Buffy expected a bite to the air when she stepped out of the castle. To her extreme pleasure she found the Scottish night to be a soothing balm to her wrecked nerves. The longer the meeting had gone on the more agitated she had felt. The gentle blow helped to push that agitation aside...for a little while at least.

These nightly strolls had become a habit of sorts for Buffy. Sleep no longer came easy, not that it ever really had, but she found it especially hard to settle these past few nights. Since the troops came home and she was faced with the physical proof of how screwed they really were.

Spike's gaze as she walked out the door lingered in her mind's eye. With that one glance he revealed more to her than he had with any of his words during the debriefing. He was worried about her. He had missed her and he would be there for every punch and kick of this fight. She hoped her own gaze had reflected the same sentiment. Well if her gaze didn't then her disheveled appearence would. She looked as wretched as the whole damn situation felt.

A weary sigh escaped her lips as she came down the front steps. She had this thing where she stopped at the second to last step every night and just stood, and watched. The vast Scottish Highland was spread out in before her and she couldn't help but be awed. She was a California girl born and bred, never in her wildest dreams could she conjour up an image like this.

The castle walls hung low from her vantage point. The firey torches along the stone encasement lighting up the darkness, casting shadows along the hills that ran infront of it. Buffy liked to watch the shadows move, dancing under the moonlit sky. She imagined they told a story of battles old. Echoes from the past that vibrated on the stone and grass. There was something about the place that allowed you to feel the history it held. If the walls could talk they would recount tales of warriors wicked and true, of the blood spilt on these fields, turning green to red. As morbid as that seemed Buffy found solace in it, a kinship almost with the land that surrounded her. It was a place of champions and Buffy was nothing if not a champion.

Also, it reminded her of Angel in the most irrational way. Years ago when he had lived in the mansion and they both were deluding themselves thinking they could be 'friends', she would ask him to tell her about where he had grown up. She knew he had been born in Ireland but really that didn't mean anything to her. During the summer after she had killed him she spent hours turning over every second of their time together. Grasping at any part of him she could hold onto. It was during those torturous months that she realised how little she knew about him. On his return she made the decision to rectify that. So instead of spending ours wrapped in eachother's arms she would sit with him and listen as he told her about his life, the places he had been, people he met and the things he had seen. Of course leaving out all the murdery, disembowely parts.

They tended to ruin the mood

His life in Ireland had been one of her favourite topics. He got this far away look in his eyes, almost like he was back there. It made him look so young, so human it was almost painful to watch. He told her of how his grandfather taught him to ride a horse when he was five and smiled when he remembered the horse's name, Fionn. How he and his boyhood friends would sneak into the Land Lord's Estate and throw rocks through their fine sash windows. Buffy had teased him about being a little tyrant she still remembered how he became indignant and started muttering about Cromwells men being brutes and Muc Savages deserving a hell of a lot more than a stone through their window. She still never understood that. Mostly she remembered how he recalled the smell and sounds of his home. He said it smelt of turf and fire. The hearth of the house was constantly a glow with the earthy embers. The turf causing the smell of moss to hang in the air and how come dusk the sound of the tide in Galway bay played like a soundtrack to every memory he could resurrect.It was the lingering smell of moss and the burning fires that always made her think of him. It made him feel that much closer somehow.

Her mind still full of thoughts of Angel, Buffy continued her nightly stroll around the castle grounds in some vain attempt at eventually finding rest.

 

[Lyri]

::Gwen smiled as Spike joined their table. It had been a while since she had spent any time with the blonde vmapire, and, quite frankly, she missed him.

::She slid her hot chocolate, barely touched, across the table to Spike and watched as he wrapped his hands around the mug, ignoring his blood, even as she laughed at Xander, actually using his English Patient joke.::

Spike: "I think anyone can join. We're very friendly people here at Super-People headquarters."

::Gwen turned back to Xander. He looked tired, worn out from whatever he'd faced in Nepal.::

And that would be because he actaully had some action to deal with, unlike us who had to force ourselves not to die from bordom.

Gwen and Spike: "Umm"¦ so"¦ this urn thingie, what's it look like? Egyptian urn, or is it more like Native American? You wanna stay away from the Native American ones"¦ trust me."

::Gwen chewed on her lower lip as she considered Xander's question.::

Xander: "It was kinda small, actually. I thought, maybe Willow as gonna use it was some weird morbid thing to keep Ansara's ashes in, but I don't think it's big enough. It's gray, and has these strange carvings around the outside, etched in gold. I didn't really study it much when we picked it up, too wiped out from my power drain, and when we got back to base, Willow whisked it away pretty quick. I'm guessing it's got some sort of magical power or something, but other than that, I got no clue."

::Gwen slumped back in her chair and heaved a sigh. Once again, she was of no help.::

But at least this time, I'm useles in an area I know nothing about, which isn't exactly my fault.

::She gave herself a wry smile. Her self-beat-down's where even starting to get on her nerves, never mind anyone elses.::

I really wish I hadn't given Spike my hot chocolate now.

 

[Spirit_Of_Fred]

:: Amy fell back on her bed as she tried to sort out everything she had just taken in at the big Scooby Meet. A complicated task, as she was still trying to take in their new location. Scotland. But more importantly, a castle in Scotland. From what she'd gathered, most of the gang seemed amazed at the grandeur of the new, scenic digs. She was just weirded out. She felt like she should be in some old legend, or fantasy storybook. The whole environment made anything she did there seem surreal. Kind of odd coming from someone who spouted off a spell on a regular basis, she knew. Heck, she grew up in a house where her witchy-mom put curses on people! Still, the magic that she did, and that her mom had done, seemed less fairytale to her. It was hard to explain in her mind, but it probably wasn't in reality. Everyone else fought demons everyday, and they were still caught up in the magical awe. Hers must not be a completely unique feeling. ::

:: She took a deep breath, trying to focus her thoughts. Trying to put together what she could from what she recalled. Point one, there was a crazy slayer, working with Dru, another crazy vampire who just happened to be Spike's ex, and she now had the slayer scythe. Point two, Faith almost died, and everyone else on Team Nepal took heavy bruisings. Point three...well, there was no point three. Anything else she had either forgotten or been unable to fully understand. ::

:: She did remember how supposedly "boring" Gwen had called their little mission. And yes, it was boring. In fact, she'd spent most of her time reflecting on how thoroughly bored she was. Still, she was probably the only one who felt the least bit of emotion about said mission (unless boredom counts as an emotion). To Gwen, it was just "Amy's lack of direction", or something like that, which had gotten them into the incorrect room. But to her...it was so much more. ::

:: It was the first time, at least in the long time since she'd passed the stage of a novice witch, that she'd messed up a spell. At all. On the one hand, she just cursed herself for being so distracted. Yup, it was that simple. She was plain old pissed off at herself that she'd landed them in the wrong room. An annoying mistake to move on from. One that she certainly should be moving on from, being that they had finished the mission, successfully, and were now miles upon miles away in a castle in Scotland. And yet, she hadn't moved on. She couldn't. ::

:: What was wrong with her? Was she just so bored that she hadn't given such a basic spell her all? Or was she really slipping in a critical way? She could feel herself obsessing. But what better time to obsess than when you screwed up royally (well, royally in her eyes, anyway), and were utterly alone? ::

 

[palabravampiress]

Xander was confused. He was in the library"¦ the old library with tweedy Giles and Oz and the whole gang all fixating on some demon or another at the table.

But I thought I was in the kitchen with Girl Lightning and Billy-Idol-Wants-His-Look-Back.

Not that he was complaining. Cordy was looking totally hot in one of those skin-tight vampirella dresses girls used to wear back in the 90s. It was bright blue and shimmery. He had presence of mind enough to realize that he was in the past, so of course he put that mental power to good use "“ if wondering if he was at the stage of the game in which he could take Queen C back behind the bookshelves for some tonsil hockey could be counted as good use.

But that looked to be a big honkin' "No." Cordy turned around and scowled and Willow, looking mousier than ever, moused off and his behind Oz. Just to make things super-duper clear in the Xander, this-is-your-life-of-idiocy department, Cordy grabbed her recently impaled side and winced.

"Can we please remain focused, people? I am fairly well certain that our impending apocalypse trumps whatever petty personal differences we may be experiencing at the moment," Giles said, his voice stern.

He looked up from his books and issued a general glower with teacher-like efficacy, causing everyone "“ even sprightly, mouthy Buffy 1.0 "“ to snap to.

:: Xander stopped and shook his head in amazement. ::

Efficacy? Man, I really must be in high school; I'm remembering vocab words! he thought. The role reversal, with General Buffy reduced to one of the rank and file and the G-Man large and In-Charge, was a little squicky, too.

"Umm, Xand"¦ we kinda need that book now. You know, the one you said you went to get"¦ umm, fifteen minutes ago?" Willow piped up whilst just barely peeking out from behind Oz's shoulder.

Willow: "Sure. No problem."

Xander was relieved to find that even in Bizarro Back-in-Time land, Willow was still Mission Girl"¦ she was just Mission Girl who was afraid to talk to or interact with him at all as long as Oz was around.

:: Dutifully, he hoped up the stairs and into the stacks, avoiding all physical contact with any of his youthful counterparts. It just seemed safer that way. As he recalled, this was the era in which the touchy-feeliness was the biggest big bad of them all. ::

Ah, the simple days"¦

And that's when things got weird "“ well, weirder, anyway.

Twelfth grade Anya stepped out of one of the aisles, looking strangely skinny and angular, but definitely healthy and alive "“ and holding a rather large, musty-looking book with gold whatchamacallits (V-ACE or V-Oz? I can never get that right.) glinting off the leather bindings.

"It's right here, you big dope!"

:: Xander started. He was pretty sure his heart stopped for a split second and that his mouth hung open. ::

Dope? Hey, that's my line!

"Did you know that the male brain operates at only five-sixths the speed of the female brain? It does. Even in demons. D'Hoffryn has only five-sixths the mental processing power of his demons, and yet he's still the boss. Go figure," she rolled her eyes and stomped her foot in frustration.

She looked cute. He'd forgotten how she used to wear her hair in that cute, short bob of hers.

Anya: "Anya! You're ali --"

"That's why I had to wait so long for you get here: slow processing power. And now you won't even take the stupid book."

Xander: "I don't care about the book."

He reached out his hands and took a step toward Anya.

He may not have cared about the book, but apparently, the book was all she cared about. Scrunching up her nose in that patented look of Anya-esque confusion, she looked down at it and snorted.

"The Book of Coming Forth By Day: with new translations by R.R. Rinefeld," she read aloud. "Coming Forth by Day? Must not be for vampires, then. Or werewolves. Oh "“ and this R.R. guy has got to be using a pseudonym. No one names kids with that much alliteration."

:: Xander chuckled softly and took another step forward. It was her. It really was her. ::

Anya: "Anya, I -- "

From down below, someone called Xander's name. He didn't recognize the voice. Maybe it was Faith? Had Faith been in the library? Xander couldn't remember.

Concerned, Anya held out the book with one hand and used the other to do that cute, picking-at-her-lip thing that she did whenever she was both really, really worried and also really, really anxious about doing the wrong thing.

"So you'll take it? The book, I mean?" she asked.

"Xander!" someone called again, and this time it was British, and so easy to identify as General Giles.

Anya locked and held Xander's eyes "“ that's right, eyes. Plural. He had two of them.

:: Just to be sure, he blinked one eye, then the other. No blindness. No empty sockets. No pirate fashion statements. He was whole again "“ young and whole. ::

"You'll take it?" she asked again.

:: Xander reached out for the book, his hand brushing Anya's in the process. ::

As he did so, his heart gave another little lurch. She was"¦ warm. Her skin was warm and soft and oh-so-touchable. No cuts. No evil, nasty slashes. No scary eyes. Her hair color left a little to be desired (Xander had never really liked the darker shades on Anya), but that was all part and parcel with the genuine articleness of it all. She was Anya. She was"¦

Anya: "Real."

Anya cocked her head and frowned.

"Of course I'm real. What else would I be? Have you been eating too many twinkies again? You know those rot your brains."

Suddenly in all-knowing ex-demon mode, Anya nodded and insisted:

"They really do. Twinkies are carrier vessels for the larva of the Kry'po'tnudnk demon. They feed on the chemicals that induce and control human emotions and are the real cause of Depression. That's why modern medicine can't find a cause; they don't know what they're looking for. In fact"¦"

:: Xander tried to stay. He really did. He grabbed the book and held on for dear life "“ held onto Anya's hand for her life, but her voice just droned on and on about Twinkies and Kry-something demons as the stacks dissolved around them and the world returned to"¦ ::

**********​

The kitchen?

:: From the kitchen table onto which his head had apparently lolled, Xander looked up at Gwen and Spike "“ Faith and Giles my eye socket! "“ and blinked one eye.

Nothing happened.

:: He blinked the other eye and the world went dark. ::

:: Then, sitting up, he used his sleeve to wipe as discreetly as possible at the embarrassing puddle of drool that remained where his mouth had been. ::

Gwen and Spike: "Uh"¦ so"¦ this is what I get for cutting out the coffee. Think I'll just, umm, mosey on over to bed now."

*Mosey?* I am well and truly wigged. I really do need sleep.

Gwen: "'Night, Gwen,"

:: This, he said with a nod. After a long pause, he nodded at Spike, too, and added: ::

Spike: "Burn Boy."

:: And with that, Xander shuffled off to his room at Zombie speed. ::

He'd already had his Anya dream for the night, it seemed. So he may as well catch some of those much-needed Zs of his.

:: Twinkies? Really? he wondered, shaking his head as he entered his bedroom. ::

He was pretty sure he was asleep before he even managed to fall down on top of the bed.

 

[Lyri]

"That was...weird."

::Gwen had, of course, noticed that Xander had fallen asleep at the table, his forehead resting on one hand, so that they both got one of those little red pressure mark-thingies. His hot chocolate grew cold, but she let him sleep. She'd realized earlier how tired he looked, and she figured he could use a nap, even if it was at the kitchen table.

::But his abrupt wake-up and even more abrupt exit left Gwen wondering what was going on in that head of his. He didn't look as though he'd been dreaming, he looked as though he'd been sleeping the sleep of the truly exhausted.

::She turned and looked at Spike.::

Spike: "Has he always been that weird, or is this a new addition?"

 

[Mesektet Ra]

Gwen: “Hey, look! It’s the English Patient.”

Spike scowled. Bloody hell. I knew this was a bad idea. He rolled his eyes.

Spike: “I mean… want some hot chocolate? We stole Andrew’s marshmallows. A little lacking in platelets for your taste, but still good and sticky-fingers fresh.”

Spike chugged down some more of his blood. The sight of the marshmallows made his heart constrict - Joyce always made hot chocolate for him. He glanced up at Gwen, who pushed her chocolate over to him. He smiled at her, his first smile in a while [even while it pained him to move just about every sodding muscle in his body], and took a hearty sip of the still steaming liquid.

Gwen and Spike: “Umm… so… this urn thingie, what’s it look like? Egyptian urn, or is it more like Native American? You wanna stay away from the Native American ones… trust me.”

Spike simply shrugged at Xander. "Haven't the slightest," he said easily, his eyes falling on Gwen. Gwen, of course, had been the one who went on the mission to retrieve the urn. Spike hadn't known what their mission entailed until their little group pow-wow a while ago, and according to her, it was boring.

Spike listened intently while she described it. Sounded like...well, just about every other sodding urn he'd ever come into contact with. He shrugged again as she finished. "Don't have a clue, love," he said, taking a sip of his cocoa. "Sounds pretty generic to me. But if Red needs it for some mojo or another, I'm sure it's magical in some way." He smiled a little at her.

He enjoyed this...the complete lack of doing anything. Normally he'd be bored to tears, and he'd pretty much maxed himself out on the brooding-like-Peaches part of the ordeal. Making smalltalk, even if One-Eyed Alex was part of the party, made him feel a bit better.

Speaking of Xander...a soft thunk reverberated from Spike's left. He turned his head, eyebrow cocked, to find Xander passed out on the table, his head resting on his hand.

He looked over a Gwen. "Well, that's..." Spike shook his head. Xander was tired. Spike got that. For all intents and purposes, he should be too - but too much Drusilla on the brain, and the Indra mess...

A glower had started to work it's way over Spike's face just as Xander woke. Spike glanced at him, his eyes narrowing at Xander's goodnight. "Ponce," he bit off as Xander walked away.

Spike: "Has he always been that weird, or is this a new addition?"

Spike smiled a little at that. "I do believe the wanker's always been off his rocker," he said matter-of-factly. Spike settled down a bit, making himself comfortable in the chair now that Xander was gone and he didn't have to field anymore asinine nicknames.

"Haven't talked to you in a while," he remarked, wrapping his cold hands around his mug. "Other than a mission that seemed to be blindingly boring, how're things?"

 

[Black Eye Guy]

Willow stood in the wide open field behind the castle, the sun was up and it was a warm early afternoon. She stood with her arms folded, the slight breeze tossed her long green dress around. about 100 slayers were standing in their groups and cliques as the last of the girls made their way down from the castle.

After the meeting the night before Willow headed straight for her room and crashed straight away. She had woken up pretty late the next day and headed down to breakfast, but the others weren't up yet. She was supped to be taking a class with the slayers so she had left a voicemail for Xander to head down when he woke up.

"Okay!" Willow bellowed over the chattering slayers, who all immediately went silent and fell into more regulatory positioning. Willow paced across the girls facing her

"So, the bad guys have our weapon. We dont know where they are. We dont know what they want to do with it. And we dont know what our next move is.

We're playing in the dark, so we need to be tighter then ever, we need to know we can rely on you and you have to know you can work to your potential as a team.

So it's time to step it up. Break up into teams of 10, This morning I gave you all a Red arm band or a Blue arm band, your to stick to your colors and you work as a team to take on your enemy, a team of the opposite color.

Every 3 minuets two members of of the team will move to another team, this is to be done with no breaks or stopping. So that means no discussing who's going, your to decide quickly and you also cant stop fighting. This will help you with making snap decision in the field.

Okay Go!"

The girls were slow to start, but eventually got into it. Fighting each opposing team hard, but knowing they could take it.

"Change"

This was amusing to watch as the confusion set in. Some tried to stop and yelled directions to their teams but found themselves punched in the face by the opposing team. Others had 4 members run off then get disorientated as to who should go back.

Willow smiled.

 

[palabravampiress]

[Xander's room]

Xander awoke feeling not really refreshed, exactly – because, hey, he had a caffeine headache from Hell, one that he could say with a fair amount of accuracy actually trumped getting bonked on the head by various strengths and sizes of demon appendages. Regardless, as he manfully resisted the urge to pop about a gallon of pain pills and went about rejoining the land of the unstinky by performing hygienic feats like brushing his teeth and showering, he at least felt at least as mentally competent as he’d been pre-Nepal-disaster, and that was really saying something.

:: The ritual of readiness completed, Xander checked his voicemail to see if any of the scoobs had required the assistance of someone who was the master of getting knocked in the noggin. Turns out, Willow needed him in training. ::



[Outside the Castle]

:: With a groan, Xander tossed on a fresh set of clothes, squinted in protest at the sparkly, sparkly lights that entered via his working eye socket and seared his Mountain Dew-saturated brain, and made his way to where Miss Mission stood… doing his job. ::

:: Xander’s eye took in Willow’s uber-confident, flowy dress of witchdom. Then, he peered down at his cargo pants and polka-dotted button-up. Finally, he winced. ::

“Change!” she roared.

:: Xander winced again. ::

Willow: “Hey.”

:: He rubbed his temples. ::

Willow: “Listen to you with the booming vocals. And to think I remember the days when you barely spoke above a mouse-like peep. Granted, that was before our friends started turning into rodents on a disturbingly regular basis, but I digress.”

:: He strode up to her and offered a weak smile. ::

Willow: “So, you rang?”

 

[Black Eye Guy]

Willow watched as the slayers began to get in sync with each other, they began to work as a team.

Willow: “Hey.”

:: He rubbed his temples. ::

Willow: “Listen to you with the booming vocals. And to think I remember the days when you barely spoke above a mouse-like peep. Granted, that was before our friends started turning into rodents on a disturbingly regular basis, but I digress.”

Willow: “So, you rang?”

"Hey", She smiled at him, he was looking tired and not really ready for a proper training session. She felt kinda bad about having him come down to her now.

"I still am that quiet, mousey girl"

Out of the corner of her eyes she saw one of the girls take a propper blow to her face, she spun around, and slammed her hands together. All the girls stopped fighting and turned to face her.

"It's time to up the anti. You know you have to take it easy on each other so it's time for a foe you can pummel."

She spun to nearest tree and threw her arm out towards it, yellow lightning like energy crackled around her hand before if flew from it, across the plain and hit the tree. A thunderous crack echoed around the area and the tree suddenly pulled itself up from the earth and seemed to stretch as it's branches reached up towards the skies.

She threw out her other arm towards a lake that was off in the distance, again the energy smashed into the lake, and with a crash this giant snake like demon that was formed from water, sprung from the lake and slithered across the grass, making it's way towards the horrified girls.

Willow turned back to Xander.

"Sorry were we're we? Oh yeah, I haven't changed that much just got a bit more commandy."

She smiled at him. Then looked around at the monsters making their way towards the girls.

"We totally need one of those X-Men training rooms...

Anyway, I was hopening for some help from research boy. You up for it, some old fashioned us in a Library, Donuts and lots-o-book reading?

You know the Urn I sent Gwen to get, it's similar to the one we used to bring Buffy back, I'm hoping to restore Fred back to... well Fred. I haven't told anyone yet just encase I can't do it, so keep it secret.

 

[Spirit_Of_Fred]

:: Amy sat upright on the bed with a sudden jerk. She turned to face her window and immediately yanked her arm up to shade her eyes. Instead of the serene darkness she had expected, blinding sunlight shone through her window. Slowly, she realizing that her whirlwind of thoughts had put her to sleep. ::

:: Still a little drowsy, she stood up and changed into a new outfit for her new day. Upon completing this mundane, everyday process, she began to wake up a little more, and could not help but let her thoughts stew once again. She turned that same phrase over and over again in her mind: What was wrong with her? ::

:: The calming long night's sleep had made her mind easier to reassure. She was half-convinced that it was only a fluke...but that other half just was not buying it. Clearly, if I'm messing up, it told her, something must be wrong! She tried to think logical thoughts. Willow, though it ate at her to admit it, was also a powerful witch. But not as powerful! She just had to add that last part. The point was, from the stories she had heard, even the mighty Willow messed up a spell now and again. She was sure (or at least so she told herself) that she could perform any other spell, any other time, no problem. Including now. ::

:: She walked over to her drawer, which she had managed to fill with a few of her belongings already, by hand no less, as she had been too shaken at that point to try a spell. But she was going to figure this out. She was going to get her confidence back if it killed her. She had things to accomplish in her life, none of which could be possible without her coveted magical abilities at their best. ::

:: She lifted a red shirt out of the drawer and laid it flat on the bedspread. Dropping to her knees so that her nose was just level with the shirt, she took a deep breath and began to focus on levitating the shirt. Basic stuff. If she could not do that, then there truly must be something wrong with her! ::

:: She kept her eyes shut tight as she concentrated, afraid to look when the results appeared. She managed to relax herself to a significant degree, knowing full well that she could never do the spell if she was so tense. Still, her remaining nerves kept her eyes closed. After about a minute had passed, she knew she had to look. She held her breath. Slowly, she opened her right eye just the tiniest crack. She widened the crack, hesitantly, so it opened all the way. Then the other eye. She breathed a sigh of relief as she saw the shirt floating gently above the bed. She let it fall back down. ::

:: A rush of almost childlike glee overcame her. Knowing that, at least, she could still do a simple spell was a good sign. With confidence returned and renewed, she spoke. ::

Shirt: "Incindere!"

:: Instantly, the shirt was set ablaze with just that word and a wave of her hand. She watched as the newly formed flames danced and licked at the crimson fabric. The smell of burning cloth quickly became her favourite smell in the world. She never liked that shirt anyway. ::

:: She smiled. This was all good. Very good. If nothing else, at least she knew she could always count on magic. Still, she was compelled to try out a couple of other spells, just to be sure. She turned back to her drawer to retrieve some more things. ::

 

[AngelRPG08]

::Angel sat broodingly in the dark watching Buffy as she walked a way. He worried about he deeply. He had half a notion to run after her and make her talk to him. But he didn't. Instead he just watched until she went out of sight. He looked out among the horizon. He could smell the dawn coming. He decided it would be in his best interest to head back in doors before the sun came up. He headed towards the double glass doors that lead back into the library. He wonder where Giles was as he entered the library. Giles was probably in his office with a desk full of research books. He walked across the library to the oak door that lead to the hallway. As he made his way he could visualize the meeting that had just taken place. The way Buffy looked during the meeting. Buffy looking at Spike in an understanding way. And...Buffy and Spike! Angel couldn't help but be jealous of Spike. Of course Spike didn't have some damn curse keeping him from Buffy. Things between him and Buffy had just never been the same since finding out her and him set off the gypsy curse. Damn cursed gypsies! And moving on hadn't been as easy to do. Cordy was dead. Nina was nice but he just didn't have the same feelings for her as he had had for Buffy or Cordy. He knew the only thing he could have with Buffy was just friends. But that was hard at best. After all he reminded himself that's why he left Sunnydale in the first place and moved to LA. Now being here around her stirred up all those lost and forgotten feelings. Not to mention all this time he worried that being in Scotland would bring back all the awful memories of all the dastardly murderous deeds of his days as Angelus. It was enough to get him worked up. He knew he would never be able to sleep now. He hadn't realized how long he had been walking in the hallway until he heard voices that sound like the were coming from the courtyard. It sounded like Willow shouting commands. Stopping as he realized he had probably walked right past his room. It was daylight. He couldn't go back outside until dusk. Sure there was plenty of places inside the castle he could go without worrying about being a pile of dust. There was his room which was where he was headed now, The kitchen where he was sure to find some suitable pigs blood or the like, then there was the training room. He finally came across the door to his room. He stepped inside. He thought he should get some rest but too many things were bothering him at the moment. Usually when things frustrated him he found it easier to deal with them by doing some tai chi. He open the dresser drawer and took out some more suitable clothing to workout in. He changed clothes in the dim light of the room and laid the others on the back of the chair in the corner. He left his room and walked down the hallway to the stairway and headed down stairs to the training room. Once in the training he looked around. It was a nice big room and it was quiet Angel thought. He started his exercise by doing some simple tai chi exercises and letting go of everything that was frustrating him.::

 

[palabravampiress]

[Outside the Castle]

With emasculating efficiency, Willow mojoed up some training exercises straight from the Hellmouth itself and then turned back to the conversation as if nothing had happened. Because, yeah. For an all-powerful wiccan goddess lady, conjuring up evil trees is nothing.

:: Xander backed up and, with an air of injured pride that was only half in jest, he held his hands out in a placating gesture. ::

Willow: "Whoa. Hey. Go easy on the anthropomorphic foliage there, Will. No way am I gonna be able to replicate that experience when it's back to the training room and the Puffy Xander suit."

He didn't state the obvious, which was that they would inevitably be back to the training room. Not only did Ansara and co. have a nasty habit of blowing up each new Scooby central just as soon as they unpacked, but Scotland also had this pesky little thing called winter. Currently, the weather wasn't all that different from their usual sunny SoCal fare. It was a little less balmy, a little more windy, and a lot more rainy, but otherwise bearable. Actually, the lack of sun-shinyness was good for his pasty white complexion. He no longer stuck out like a vampire in a tanning salon every time he stepped outdoors. In fact, he was pretty sure he could even venture out onto what passed as a beach in Scotland without seeming to radiate an inhuman white glow. Come September or October, though, Xander was pretty sure that would change "“ the comfort, not the glowing. The glowing was there to stay. Anya had called him her "night light."

Of course, Will will probably just magic up some ice monsters and turn the vaulting horse into a living ram rod or something, Xander thought ruefully.

Meanwhile, safe for the time being from the ravages of snow and wind chill factors, Willow distracted the mini-slayers with leaves, water, and other outdoorsy perils sure to wreak havoc the heads of the more carefully coiffed among them. With that, she leaned in conspiratorially and trusted Xander with the inside info on Girl Lightning's urn thingie. Apparently, its purpose was to re-Fred Fred.

:: Xander held up a finger. ::

Willow: "Okay, first off: research boy? How come Giles always gets to be "Book Man," but I'm Research Boy? In the memory of all of my prodigiously clocked field time, I protest my sidekick status."

:: Then, more seriously, he leaned forward and added: ::

Willow: "And correct me if I'm wrong, here, but won't a certain anti-social ex-God King have a little something to say about being booted out of her shell of choice?"

:: Balmy weather notwithstanding, Xander shivered. ::

Something about an even less-amused-than-usual Illyria gave him the chills. No lie. Genuine ooglie booglies were experienced. Maybe it was his history of tangling with demon-type ladies who wanted to kill him in various creative and painful ways or maybe it was the fact that Illyria had actually been helping the good guys pretty much since she took over Fred's body, but Xander wasn't sure he was entirely on board with this idea. It seemed likely to result in his death on one hand or the loss of a powerful asset on the other "“ maybe even both.

Then there's the resurrecting someone's soul thing to consider. Never goes quite as well as you might think, Xander thought, his memory flashing back on the stricken look on Buffy's face and the blood dripping from her scraped knuckles the day she'd crawled out of her grave. Also, the Buffster's woeful and off-key rendition of the word "Heaaaaaaven" came to mind. That particular memory still grated like nails on an increasingly obsolete chalkboard. No way did he want Fred staging a repeat performance.

Besides, Anya was a much better singer. If anyone was going to be coming back from the dead in order to reprise the angsty back-from-the-dead song and dance number, it would be her. She was more inclined toward the retro pastiche genre, anyway. From what he'd heard of Fred, he pegged her as more of an upbeat pop or musical finale kinda girl.

Willow: "I mean, not that it wouldn't be great to have another braniac on board, but last time I checked "“ and I mean really checked "“ bringing people back was a big no-no."

:: So saying, Xander leaned back and folded his arms. He also raised his brow over his patch for effect. It looked more dramatic that way. ::

It wasn't that he didn't wanna go into full-on research mode, just like back in the good old days. It was just that"¦ he wasn't sure he wanted to tamper with resurrection.

ander: "Also, I'm not sure where the closest Dunkin' Doughnuts is. Seriously"¦ do they even eat doughnuts in Scotland?"

 

[Black Eye Guy]

Xander: "Also, I'm not sure where the closest Dunkin' Doughnuts is. Seriously"¦ do they even eat doughnuts in Scotland?"

"I don't think so, but if you help me out oh wonderful book man I can make sure we get some, or that we go to some I can get us anywhere you want"

She smiled a huge grin across her face, hoping her cuteness would win him over.

"But yes your right there are somethings that are a bit iffy about this, which is why I was thinking we don't go about telling the 'easily-angered-blue-terminator like thing'. And also why I'm asking YOU to help me out, so we don't go about telling people about the spell, People will have to much of a stigma about it."

She glanced around at the girls who had recovered at the shock of their surrounding's attacking them and were trying to fight them, she smiled as tried to jump onto the back of the water monter but fell straight through it instead.

"This isn't a resurrection spell really, that thing just kinda absorbed Freds soul, her memory's are still in there so some part of her is still there. It's just about getting her back on the outside, it's a little harder since her soul was apparently destroyed but if there's a chance..."

She turned again to face the demons, watching as they battled the slayers, who were defending themselves perfectly. Of course there was no actual danger, the demons were fully under Willows control. And even though she knew that she could help shake the feeling they were being watched or the something was concentrating on her creations.

"Trust me Xander there's a good chance this will work, I felt her in there back when we first met in the ally, that spell we did with Gwen. There was something there"

She though back to that moment, it seems so long ago that they had gotten word of Angels troubles in the ally and desperate need for their help. Showing up, and using Gwens power amplified through Illyria, so much had gone on since, that seemed like a walk in the park compared to what they were up against.

 

[Lyri]

::Blinking up into the dull Scottish sunlight, Gwen sighed.::

"And to think I used to complain about how hot it was in LA. I promise, no more complain. Just send me back!"

::She laughed at herself as she took her coffee out onto the balcony of her room. Situated only on the first floor of the castle, her room over looked a huge expanse of open field, a place she was sure would have been used for ceremonies and special parties, ones all the fancy English people with posh voices would attend in their Rolls Royces and Bentleys.

::Right now, it was covered with super-strong teenage girls, and one mega-strong red-headed witch.

::Gwen didn't exactly know what Willow was doing with the Slayers that morning, it was the first time she had seen the witch even interact with all of them at once, let alone lead a training session. It seemed odd and impractical.

::But once the trees and the lake joined the fight, Gwen understood what was going on. Willow was using her magic to gie the girls something real to fight against, to keep their training up to standard. To stop them getting sloppy.

::Gwen laughed loudly when Isabel tried to straddle the back of the water demon and fell straight through it, landing in a puddled mess on the grass. She knew that, eventually, the Slayers would work themselves into a team and come up with a way to defeat the monsters of Willow's creation, but until they did, it was damn fun to watch.::

"Gotta hand it to the witch, she sure knows how to put on a show."

 

[palabravampiress]

Willow smiled her how-can-you-resist-me-smile-of-cuteness-and-other-blackmaily things, and Xander was won over. Not that the promise of, say, Dunkin' Doughnuts from anywhere in the world didn't go a long way toward persuading him.

Willow: "You are gonna pay up on that one, Missy. Mark my words. Doughnuts will be had "“ in copious, fat-building, borderline evil amounts."

Fun quippage all aside, Willow told Xander to trust her. And he did trust her. Implicitly. Except, you know, when she was all veiny and trying to destroy the world. Then? Not so much with the trust thing. But still with the love. And besides, he'd rather see her puppy dog eyes than her black, cracked-out-on-mojo eyes any day of the week. Puppy-dog eyes were definitely of the good.

:: Xander smiled back, growing thoughtful as she explained her reasoning. He even did the rub-the-chin thing so as to look extra wise. If he'd had glasses, he would have cleaned them. ::

Beyond Willow, out in the training field, the girls were fighting "“ and failing.

Willow: "Good points, all. I'm your man "“ er, and by that, I mean in the totally platonic, non-formalwear-induced, I-am-completely-on-board-with-your-plan kinda way."

:: He shuffled his feet nervously. ::

The last thing (or maybe the *first* thing) he needed was for the ghost of girlfriends past to come shower him with rabid rabbits or something.

Willow: "You know. Just to be clear."

:: Then, his gaze wandering off toward the tree of terror, Xander pulled out his trusty axe and held it high. If he didn't know any better, he'd say his eye was even glinting. ::

Willow: "But first"¦"

:: He looked at Willow and grinned. ::

Willow: "These girls could really use a carpenter right about now."

:: So saying, he charged. Cuz hey; you never know when some spare lumber will come in handy. ::

 

[Black Eye Guy]

Willow turned as Xander ran past her. She hadn't been keeping track of the demons she had created to battle the slayers, and now looking at them something seemed kinda off.

The demon were being very vicious in their attacks, Willow hadn't commanded them to do that. And their eyes were now glowing red, she stood trying to work out what the problem was, watching the water demon as it wrapped itself around a slayer that began to drown in him!

She clapped her hands together and Yelled; "End"...

Nothing happened, the demons weren't under her control anymore, something else was in charge of the demons.

She waved her hand towards the drowning slayer and she was pushed back, shooting free of the demon, which immediately turned it's attention to one of the other girls.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw something come hurdling towards her, she turned to see the earth demon bounding forwards, she threw out her hand in a stop like gesture and a barrier appeared between her and the demon, but the demon didn't slow down instead it dived into the earth as if it were water.

She stood still for a moment and the silence echoed around, before there was a tremendous roar from beneath her and the demon sprung from the earth right under her feet, sending her flying back.

She landed with a thud on the hard ground, regaining composure she stopped dead as the demon again made it way towards her.