•••

Angel stood nervously in Buffy’s living room, not knowing exactly what to do. He, Wil, Xander and Oz had followed Buffy, Willow, Dawn and Giles back to her house. Angel would have recommended that they just leave, but Xander was obviously concerned about Willow’s condition, even though being near her was hurting him.

“How is she now?” Angel asked Wil when the blonde passed him by. The younger vampire was pacing around the main room, occasionally glancing into the kitchen where Buffy had Willow sitting at the table.

“Not good,” Wil replied, looking grim. “Even beyond Tara’s death, I think she’s burned out from magic. She certainly shows the signs.”

Angel glanced over at him, shocked. “What? How? Willow was never…”

Wil shook his head. “I guess I never mentioned it, and neither did Xander. She was starting to use a lot more, even when I left. I didn’t think much of it, though, because it was to protect Sunnydale.”

Angel didn’t know what to say, although it certainly went far in explaining why Willow was in such poor condition. “But how did she get that way?”

“I have no idea,” Wil responded, although he looked grim.

“She almost destroyed the world,” Giles said as he stepped into the room. “Losing Tara drove her mad. She drew on the darkest magic and nearly succeeded in killing everyone and everything.”

The vampires stared in shock at the Watcher. “But…how did you stop her?” Wil asked in a whisper.

Giles shrugged. “A combination of things, although I believe Dawn was the key in the end, no pun intended. Even at her most annoying, she had a strong enough heart to bring Willow back to us.”

Wil nodded. “Yes, she has a lot of potential. Will she be a Slayer?”

“It is rather difficult to tell. Normally the siblings of Slayers do not become Slayers themselves, but Dawn is unique. She was made from Buffy, instead of from Joyce. We do know that much, from how Buffy managed to stop Glory, and a bit of research I managed to complete in England. Because of that, she may show Slayer tendencies. However, no Slayer should be called right now; there are already two of them,” Giles explained.

Xander and Oz walked into the house a few minutes later. They had been camped out under a tree in Buffy’s front yard, putting some distance between Xander and Willow. He was worried about her, but he also needed some recovery time. Oz’s constantly placid disposition helped tremendously. As soon as Xander got inside, he frowned. “She’s not getting any better,” He muttered.

Wil grimaced and leaned back on Angel. He was getting a very bad feeling about the situation in Sunnydale. What was going to happen to Willow? The vampire was also concerned about Buffy and Dawn. No matter how he looked at it, he didn’t see the inevitable confrontation with Buffy ending well.

Angel thought nothing of Wil’s behavior until he saw the expression on Giles’ face. Uh oh…well, maybe he could understand why the Watcher looked like he wanted to kill Angel. Under other circumstances, the only reason Angel and Spike would be this close to each other was if Angelus was back. “Maybe we should explain things to Giles, hmm?” Angel whispered to Wil.

“You might have a point there,” Wil replied softly. He stepped away and turned to face the Watcher. “Did you ever figure out how Buffy got back here?”

Giles shook his head, his face lined with confusion. That certainly wasn’t what he was expecting to hear. He wanted to know why Angel and Spike were so buddy-buddy, as well as why Xander and Oz were with them—and rather close themselves.

Wil leaned against the doorway. “I made a deal with The Powers That Be. They gave me a soul and got me on the ‘road to redemption’ warrior path, and in return Buffy was brought back.”

Giles just stared at him. What Spike had just told him didn’t fit what he knew of the vampire. “Why?”

Wil shrugged. “I loved her.”

Giles snorted. “And that was enough? That you loved her? Angel, did you believe him?”

Angel looked at the Watcher. Giles recoiled at the intensity of that gaze. “Yes, but then again I know what it feels like to have your soul returned to you after spending a century being a monster. Besides, I had a friend check him out.”

“Ah,” Giles murmured. “Spike, forgive me if I find all this a bit hard to believe.”

“Wil,” Wil murmured. “And why don’t you ask Xander about it?”

Giles turned to the boy. “Well, Xander? I suppose you fell for this too?” He asked harshly.

Xander shrugged. “Considering that I’m his seer and connection to The Powers, yeah, I’d say I fell for it lock, stock and barrel.”

“You’re what?!?” Giles shrieked. “How?”

Xander grinned. “Long story. Shortened version, though, is that Cordy decided to share the wealth, and The Powers assigned me to Wil. Now we do the dynamic…well, actually it’s more of an octet. But it’s kind of fun, you know? I mean, most of us aren’t even human anymore.”

“Not even human…Angel, who do you work with?” Giles demanded, upset that one of his former charges was mired in such a mess, even if it was one he didn’t care as much for as Buffy.

Angel stared at the ceiling. “Well there are two humans, two werewolves, two vampires, a faun and a Raphe.”

Giles frowned. “You and ‘Wil’ are the vampires. Oz is one of the werewolves and Xander and Cordelia are the humans. Who are these others?”

All of Angel’s crew shook their heads in amusement. “You got the vampires right, and Oz is still a werewolf, but you’re way off base on the others, G-man,” Xander said.

Giles took a moment to register what Xander had said. Then he turned on Angel. “How could you let him…what is he, anyway?”

Xander scowled. He hated being treated like that. “I’m a Raphe, and I chose it, ok? The Powers That Be changed me so I could handle the visions better. I had no idea you disliked me that much, Giles. If you’d said something, I would have stayed away more back then.”

Giles recoiled. A Raphe? By choice? What did he…The group watched as realization dawned on Giles’ face. He was a well-read Watcher and would know about Raphe demons. “It’s not like that, Xander.”

“Uh huh,” Xander murmured. “So then I guess it won’t bother you to learn that I and Oz are together?”

Giles sputtered for a moment but kept his mouth shut. What could he say? The boy would be able to sense the automatic disapproval he felt, not because they were both male but because of their collective history.

“Oh, yeah, Cordy’s the other werewolf. Fred and Gunn are still human, but they won’t be forever, since Gunn made Cordy promise to change him and I’m pretty sure that Fred wants Wesley to think up a way to make her a faun too,” Xander continued, sort of liking the shock and discomfort he was getting from Giles, even if it made his skin crawl.

“Wesley?” Giles whispered. Surely that wasn’t the same Wesley…

“You know it is, G-man,” Xander replied. “After all, you keep up with where all the other exiled Watchers are, don’t ya?”

Giles stared down at the floor. Yes, he’d known that Wesley was working with Angel, but he hadn’t known that he’d become a faun. “How could that even happen?” He asked. To the best of his knowledge, fauns were born, not made.

Angel grimaced. Discussing Wesley’s side trip to the Qorgoth might well lead to other…topics that he’d rather not think about right now. “Long story. He’s fine, though.”

Giles peered at Angel. He knew the vampire was leaving everything out regarding Wesley’s change, but perhaps that was for the best. He might not want to know the details of that particular event. “So…”

The room fell silent, since no one knew what to talk about. Giles had the basic information he wanted, even though there was much more he’d like to find out at some point. They all realized that the pressing issue was the three young women in the kitchen. Willow needed help rather desperately, but that wasn’t all. What was to be done about Buffy? She was used to having more support than she had right now. After all, Giles was still in England for all intents and purposes, and Dawn was just a child—Buffy had barely begun to slay at her age.

“So, how’s the uncomfortable conversation going?” Buffy asked from the doorway. Everyone in the living room spun around, surprised at her presence.

“Fine,” Giles said absently. “How is Willow?”

Buffy frowned. “Not too good, but I think that most of it is emotional now, the grieving thing, you know.” She looked from person to person. “She’s asleep right now, at the table, since she didn’t want to be moved. Maybe now would be a good time for you all to tell me what the hell’s going on?”

That suggestion was met by silence as the five men stared at the ceiling, floor, and walls—anything and anywhere but the Slayer. Giles wasn’t comfortable with the arrangements in Los Angeles, but he understood them far better than Buffy would. “Well?” She demanded when no one spoke. “Will someone tell me why Spike is calling himself Wil and hanging all over Angel and Xander is attached to Oz’s hip and smells like a demon?”

Of course, they could also let Slayer sense and a lot of experience in close observation give away most of what they might have tried to hide. Xander fidgeting, not knowing how to break anything to Buffy, but Wil took the lead and spoke up first.

“Buffy, there are a few things you need to know,” He said quietly.

“Like why you and Angel are so buddy-buddy and why you look like a librarian? A classy librarian, but a librarian nevertheless?” Buffy retorted.

Wil just looked at her seriously until she quieted. “The reason that you’re alive is because I agreed to accept the return of my soul and work for The Powers That Be. That is also why I call myself Wil now, as well as why I’m with Angel.”

To her credit, Buffy didn’t faint, not at all. She did, however, sit down on the floor rather rapidly. When Giles moved toward her, she waved him off. “Gimme a minute, ok?” Everyone stood around, pointedly not looking at her, for several moments.

Buffy looked at Spike, no ‘Wil’, trying to find any proof or disproof of the soul thing. Yeah, he looked different, but what did that mean, besides Cordelia getting a hold of him? Well, there was the way he talked—he sounded a lot like Giles or Wesley now, all adult and educated, instead of like a Johnny Rotten impersonator. He also stood differently. Gone was the aggressive, world-hating stance and the indifferent, disdainful expression. Angel seemed to believe him and Xander was willing to be civil around him. If he was telling the truth, then she owed him a lot, she guessed. But why had he done it in the first place? Yeah, he’d been into the whole ‘love the Slayer’ thing before, but she uniformly treated him like shit, even after she… “You left because of me,” She whispered. Wil nodded slowly but said nothing. He was impressed that she’d figured it out so quickly.

It took Buffy a few more minutes before she spoke again. This time she needed to clarify something that was just bugging her. “When you said you were with Angel…you’re just with him, not *with* him, right?” Buffy asked Wil, desperation in her voice. The look on both Angel’s and Wil’s faces gave her the answer she was so not wanting. “Damn it! That’s just wrong!” No one replied, leaving the room in tense silence.

Buffy looked at the vampires again. She didn’t like that at all. They weren’t supposed to be doing that…ugh. Not thinking about it. Oh, the two guys thing wasn’t the issue…well, maybe it was, since she’d slept with one of them and been chased by the other. Ugh…not thinking about it. Need a safe topic. Yup, something safe… Buffy looked up at Wil, then over at Angel. “You’re training him?” She asked the older vampire.

“I am. He’s doing rather well,” Angel said with a smirk. “Particularly since he got his own seer. It’s giving him direction.”

Buffy frowned. “Yeah, you’ve got Cordelia now, don’t you? So who’s Wil’s seer?”

Xander grinned and stepped forward. “One seer at your service, madam.”

“No fucking way,” Buffy whispered. “You’re a seer?”

“Hey! I’ll have you know I’m a damned good one,” Xander said with false indignation.

“What’s with Oz?” Buffy asked Xander. “You smell weird too.”

Xander looked over at Oz. “Funny you can smell it. I mean, the vamps can, but that’s different. I’m a Raphe demon now.” When he saw the expression on her face, he continued quickly. “It’s not a bad thing! It’s mostly to help with the visions. They’re pretty brutal for humans. Plus, it gives me a bit of an edge in my ‘running away now’ routine.”

Buffy just stared. Xander was a demon? He hated pretty much everything nonhuman, although Anya had softened him up a little bit in that regard. “Oz?’

Oz looked over at Xander. This was his decision; the werewolf could live forever without telling the Slayer about their relationship.

“It works for us, ok?” Xander said firmly, not wanting to get into the details. Buffy sort of frowned but said nothing about it.

“Is there anything else I should know? Like any other people I know that aren’t human anymore?” Buffy inquired.

“Well, Cordelia’s a werewolf and Wesley’s a faun,” Xander offered up. “They don’t seem to mind too much.”

Buffy stared at the ceiling for a moment. “Does anybody besides me find it odd that your group, which is supposed to be protecting a world of humans from evil, is pretty much all demons?”

After a moment of consideration, they all nodded. “Yeah, we laugh about it now and then. It’s some sort of big cosmic joke, you know? Like the wounded healer thing. Creatures of the night saving all the scared little humans,” Xander said for them all.

“I think it’s really cool,” Dawn said from the stairs.

“Dawn?” Buffy called out. “You shouldn’t listen in on other people’s conversations. We’ve talked about that, you know.”

Dawn stepped into the room, rolling her eyes. “Then other people shouldn’t talk so loud. But I do, you know, think it’s cool. Kind of like the X-Men, or Batman. Do you all have costumes?”

Wil reached over and bopped her on the head. “No, although I wouldn’t mind seeing Angel in spandex sometime.” The comment elicited a chorus of moans and complaints, particularly from Buffy.

“So, what are we going to do about this?” Wil asked once everyone had calmed down.

“What ‘this?’” Buffy asked from the floor.

Wil looked at her. “You, alone, in Sunnydale.”