They stood that way for what seemed an eternity. Still and unmoving. Waiting. Finally, Angel relaxed against Xander and then let him go entirely. "They left," he said, stepping around the young man and walking out into the darkened room. "Come on. Let's go." The vampire slipped away from Xander and a moment later he was out the door.

"They left? Who?" Xander turned around in the mess that was the room but nothing seemed to be any different. Everything looked exactly as he recalled. Except the lamp. Instead of being on the right side of the table, it was on the left. A shard of cold terror sprung up inside of Xander Harris and he rushed to catch up with his vampire friend. "Who was here? What happened?" What was going on? Angel shows up and says that Xander needs to come back with him to LA. Says that there's something horrible and big and that only Xander can help save them. It still made no sense...but here they were. That very night, Xander had gotten a call from his boss, telling him not to come in. There had been a robbery. All the same, Angel had brought them to this very spot, so they could see if anything interesting showed up.

Angel was suddenly behind him and Xander yelped as the vampire touched his shoulder.

"Don't...do that," the teen complained, looking around to see if anyone else might be around. "Can we go now?"

"Yeah. There's nothing we can do here. Whatever they were looking for, I have a feeling it's gone now." Angel walked back to his car and got in. It was surprising that whoever had show up had not seen it, but then it was late and the car was partially hidden by some bushes. Apparently Angel had known something about what he was doing when he left it there. "It's almost 1:30. We need to hurry."

Xander looked up at the darkened sky. The moon that he had seen earlier, was hidden behind hazy clouds and that was most likely just as well. "Angel?" The boy asked then, as he got in as well not even bothering with the door as he climbed over the side. "Do you ever have problems with the moon?"

"Huh?" The vampire was putting his seat belt on and was just distracted enough not to have actually heard Xander. "Did you say something?"

"Yeah. Um..probably stupid, but color me goofy when I ask. Isn't the moon just light reflected from the sun? I mean...wouldn't that be bad for you..."

Angel was looking at Xander strangely then, and the boy stopped. It was dark enough that he couldn't really see features that well, but the glint in the vampire's eyes still gave him pause. "Direct sunlight hurts us. Not indirect. The moons light is indirect." And to show that the conversation was officially closed by those words, Angel put the car into gear and once more they were moving.

Once more the landscape passed them by and Xander found himself drifting. He had nothing that he could think of to say to the vampire beside him and the young man was just very tired. He wanted to get to LA and get this over with, even if he still didn't understand what his role could be in the horrible things that had occurred. Maybe it didn't really even matter. Xander had faced evil before, and with his friends or without...the good side had always won in the end. Xander just hoped there were no bombs involved...or high school Zombies. He did not want to do that again and that was an understatement.

"Xander? Are you okay?"

Xander turned his head and frowned. Of course he was okay. Despite the wackiness of the situation, so far he was okay. "Yeah. I'm good." Though he was surprised that the vampire was taking the time to even ask his opinion at all. "You?"

The vampire was looking at him as they drove and Xander found that his arm was covered with good bumps. There was hunger in that gaze and heat...and something he didn't know how to read. "I'm good. I'm very good."

Xander shivered and the car was suddenly no longer moving. The boy looked around and blinked in confusion. He didn't remember parking at all, but that was just what had happened. "Angel? What was going on?"

"It's okay, lover."

Lover? Xander felt fear again and his heart was beating so fast he thought that it would burst. Since when had he and Angel become lovers. Since when had Angel become gay? "Can you please not call me that? I'm not your...lover."

But Angel was scooting over to his side of the seat and his hand was slipping under the young mans shirt. The touch sent more shivers over Xanders body, but somehow he was unable to move. "Don't worry, lover. It's okay. I know what I'm doing."

That was what he was afraid of. Xander again tried to make himself move, but nothing seemed to happen. It was as though all of his limbs had turned to lead and there was nothing that he could do about it. The vampire was unbuttoning Xanders shirt and a cool breeze played over the humans flesh. This was so...not good. "Angel. Please. I don't think you know what you're doing. Stop." He couldn't move at all and it was scaring him. Then, Angel's mouth slid over one sensitive nub of flesh and Xander moaned softly. "Oh, God. No. Stop."

Angel sucked on Xander's nipple and his hand went to the boys tenting pants. No words at all, but the sound of opening jeans. A too cool hand slipped into a place that it should have never gone and Xander whimpered.

"Oh, God." This couldn't be happening...but it was. Xander's head fell back against the back of the seat and he moaned again as the hand moved deeper into his pants. A tug here and a pull there, and something hard was freed from their confinements.

Angel pulled away from the nipple then, and he was grinning. "just...try to relax. It will all be over soon." Before Xander could try to protest, the vampire head dove down between the young mans legs. With one easy swallow, Angel took in Xanders man hood and sucked on it expertly.

"Oh, God." Xander found he could move his arm and he did so now. Fingers grabbed hold of Angels hair and pushed downward. "Oh...God!" It was...wonderful and Angel was complying. He was taking him deeper and deeper...and Xander was going to loose it. He was going to cum into Angel's mouth and it was the best feeling he'd had..."

"Xander?"

Xander moaned, thrusting upwards into velvety goodness. The fact that Angel was talking didn't matter." Harder," He panted and growled at the same time. "Don't speak."

"Xander?!" The voice sounded irritated and Xander flinched and opened his eyes with a start. The pleasure and frustration mixed and Xander looked around in confusion.

"What? Wha..." They were moving and Angel was sitting behind the wheel with a worried look on his face. "What happened?" Xander wiped at his mouth and found a thin trail of drool had made his way down along his chin. "What?"

Angel, seeing that Xander was okay, shook his head and turned bak to his driving. "Nothing. You must have just had a dream. You...were talking in your sleep." The vampire made a turn on the road and then slowed to a stop in front of a stop sign. "We're almost there. It will only be about 20 minutes to go. I...just wanted to make sure that you were okay."

Xander sat up and he tried to remember what he had been dreaming. "Yeah...yeah. I'm fine, " he managed and then shivered. He felt something cold on his leg and looked down as a hand went reflexively to check it out. A tiny damp spot and Xander blushed furiously. Did Angel smell that? Oh, God he hoped not. But if the vampire noticed he gave no outward sign. "I think...I'll stay awake from now on."

*****
Part 5:

The Remaining trip to Angel Investigations was non eventful and soon the vampire was pulling into an easy place to park. Angel turned as he made his parallel maneuver and licked his lips unconsciously as he thought outloud. "I'll go in first to check the place out. We don't want any nasty surprises jumping out at us." The vampire finished what he was doing and turned back to face forward once again "I'll signal you when the coast is clear, and you can come in then." And then looking more directly at the teenager Angel added, "Got that? Just stay here."

Xander made a face and shook his head. "Hey, Deadboy. I'm not stupid...and I've faced danger before. I'm not just some...*kid* you can boss around like..." He scowled, trying think of something suitable to say, but the vampire only waved him off and slipped quickly from the car. "Hey. I'm talking here!!" What had happened to him being the one to save them all..or the only one who could? Ok. Angel being rude to him didn't change that...probably, but it was sure as hell annoying. Still, the young man fell back in his seat and didn't move again as he saw Angel disappear into the darkness that was the Hotel's Front door.

"Xander?"

"Huh?" Xander sat up instantly and glanced around. His heart was going a mile a minute and he suddenly wished that's he just gone inside with Angel. "Hello?" Oops. Bad idea. Hunching down in the car, Xander hid himself as much as anyone could in a convertible with the top down. Not very much, but it made him feel better in a useless kind of a way.

A cool breeze blew by then and the young man shivered as goose-bumps sprang up on his flesh. "Angel?" He called the name, but hardly any sound came from the young mans lips. What was taking the vampire so frigging long?

"Xander? What's wrong, Xander? Don't you know me?"

"Oh, God?" Who was that? The dark haired boy jerked back into the seat, trying to find where the sound had come from. "What do you want?" Xander managed before whimpering convulsively. What if something horrible was going to happen? What if the same things that happened to the others, happened to him? What if.... "Angel!!"

Xander was out of the car in an instant and he was running. He hit the door to the lobby, just as Angel was coming out. Colliding full bodied with the vampire, Xander yelped as the momentum carried them back inside. "Inside. Get inside!"

Angel growled as he was knocked back and the things he was carrying scattered to the floor around them. "What the Hell are you..." He just managed to keep from falling and pushed the panicked human away from himself. "What the Hell is wrong with you, Xander? Jeez...you look like..." The vampire stopped and glanced toward the door. "You saw them...didn't you? You saw what happened to them."

"No. I..No!!" Xander shook his head and moaned in despair. "I didn't see anything. I didn't." But he had, and it suddenly flooded his mind in a numbing rush or horror. Before he knew what was happening, Xander was retching and the food he'd had just the night before was spreading out onto the floor in front of him. "What...Oh, God." He was coughing and heaving and choking. How could he have forgotten what he'd seen? "I...that voice. I heard it..but." But he *had* turned for just a tiny moment before he'd run and somehow that fact had been lost. "Oh, God!" He was going to be sick again.

"Take it easty. It's ok. It's ok. You're safe. You're inside." The vampire was pulling Xander away from the puddle that had been made on the floor and he was trying to get his attention. "Look at me, Xander. You have to keep it together. Do you understand?"

"It was...Horrible." A dry heave, but nothing came out. Xander shuddered and leaned heavily against the other. "How? No.. Don't. You told me." And Angel was right. He had to get it together. "I'm...Okay." Angel's words came to him and Xander shook his in confusion. "What do you mean, safe? How can we be safe?" And if they were safe, then why had Angel needed to come in and look around? Where was the logic in that?"

"Just trust me. It's ok. That thing...it can't happen inside. Not now anyway." He motioned to a clock that was over on the wall and added. "It's after 3. I'm...surprised you even saw anything at all. Usually...it's never happened after one. It must be getting stronger." The seriousness in the vampires words made Xander shiver again and the boy almost giggled.

"Stronger? Stronger?" He knew that his voice was too loud but Xander could not help it. "What do you mean, stronger?"

Angel growled and he shook Xander hard. "Don't." The word was harsh, but something in it stopped Xander dead. "Look. I need to know, Xander. What you saw...it's different for each person. How they see it. How it lets itself be known. Tell me. What did you see?"

Xander found that he was giggling and he couldn't stop. Spit pooled at the corner of his mouth, but the laughter bubbled up even more. "I...What." He took a deep breath, trying to calm down and stop from laughing. It wasn't funny. What he'd seen had chilled him to the bone and what he's seen...he had recognized it. It was from the darkest corners of his mind and from every nightmare that he'd ever had since he'd found that the monsters *really* did exist. "What did I see? That's easy." Another giggle and Xander found himself on his knees, staring dumbly at his trembling fingers. "Angel...I saw dead people."

*****
TBC...