Xander shook his head. "Nope, but he doesn't do bad things anymore, do you, Spike?"

Spike grinned. "Only when you ask me nicely, pet."

Willow nodded. "Angel said you weren't causing any trouble, so you can come in, Spike. But you know I can have you flat on your back in like two seconds if you try anything."

"I doubt Xander would like that, Red. He's a bit possessive," Spike replied.

"I'm sure he is," Willow shot back. A frown crossed her face. "Wait a minute. If Angel knows where you are, and what you're doing, then he knew where Xander was! That bastard!"

Cordelia scowled. "He really can be an ass. Why didn't he tell you? You and Buffy were worried sick."

Xander looked over at Spike. "I think why he didn't is fairly obvious, guys. I'm with Spike."

Willow nodded. "Yeah, that might have been a shock; actually, it still is one, but that doesn't make it right."

Spike shrugged. He thought that Angel had made the right decision. After all, there was no way Willow could have stayed away from Charleston if she knew that Xander was there, and the witch was sure to drag Buffy along with her. That would have been a total disaster.

"So.you have a lot of talking to do, buddy," Willow said to Xander.

"Long or short version?" He asked back.

"Short for now, but I expect details later," Willow replied.

Xander sat back on the couch. "I already told you why I left. For a year, I just drove around the country, doing odd jobs here and there and taking in the view. Eventually, I hit the east coast, Charleston to be exact."

"South Carolina?" Cordelia asked.

"Yup. The night I arrived, you'd never guess who I ran into at Waffle House," Xander continued. "The not-bleached-anymore menace himself."

Spike dipped in an exaggerated bow. "Ruined my dinner, he did."

"Right. So anyway, I decided to stay a while in the city, since it's so nice. We hooked up, I opened a business, and we live together," Xander finished.

Willow closed her mouth. "I think that goes beyond 'short' to 'very short, bullet points only.' You know I've still got loads of questions."

"Like what kind of business do you have?" Cordelia asked.

"What's Charleston like?" Willow added.

"Is Spike good in bed?"

"Cordelia!" Willow admonished.

"Landscaping, beautiful, classy and genteel, and incredible," Xander answered. Spike knocked him on the shoulder. "What?"

"Incredible? That's the best you can come up with?" Spike whined.

"On short notice? Yeah. I'm not the poet in this relationship," Xander replied. Spike snorted.

"Yeah, it's love," Cordelia remarked. "They sound like a married couple."

"But the chip doesn't work?" Willow asked Spike.

He shrugged. "It stopped working in Sunnydale."

"Is that why you left? Buffy thinks you're dead, you know." Willow said.

Xander and Spike looked at each other. Should they tell her?

Willow, though, picked up on their silent conversation. "What? Tell me, guys."

"Sort of. Buffy wasn't too happy about the chip not working, so she tried to kill me. I left town after that, so it's no wonder she thinks I'm dust," Spike said.

"Did you." Willow began.

"Do anything to provoke her? Not that I know of," Spike answered. "I think she snapped, between me hounding her about love and the chip not working and her being back from the dead and whatnot."

"Still, that's just wrong! I'm so sorry, Spike," Willow said sadly.

"So, do you think we can see Dawn?" Xander asked hopefully.

Cordelia frowned again. "Not likely. She's grounded until she dies, according to Buffy. They're not getting along very well right now, and we've been declared a bad influence on her."

"Bad influence?" Xander echoed. "Methinks there's a story or three you need to tell me, Wills."

Willow grimaced. "A lot, you know."

"Like why you're living in L.A. and not Sunnydale?" Xander asked.

"And more. We're here because there's more need for Buffy here than there. Two and a half years ago, a clan of demons tried to open the Hellmouth. Instead, they shut it up tighter than a drum. After that happened, Sunnydale kind of dried up, demon and vampire-wise. Angel was still faced with a lot here, so we joined up," Willow said.

"There's more," Xander guessed.

Willow took a deep breath. "Yeah, a lot more. Remember some of the funny stuff that went on before you left, with the geeks? Well, one thing led to another and Tara ended up getting shot. She died."

Xander didn't know what to say.

"I went kind of bonkers for a while. When I came back down, nothing was quite the same between me and Buffy. When Angel called for her help with these demony lawyers he's always fighting, she jumped at the chance. I followed because there wasn't anything for me in Sunnydale." Willow said.

"And you hooked up with Cordelia?" Xander asked.

"We needed each other," Cordelia replied. "Angel had just dumped me for 'love of his life Summers,' and Willow here was in serious need of good therapy. Me, I'm the kind of demon to give it to you."

Spike grinned. "I knew there was something off about you."

"Demon?" Xander said.

Cordelia nodded. "Yup. The Powers did it so that I wouldn't die from the visions I get."

Xander nodded. "Sounds like a good deal to me. So you two are happy and all?"

"Yeah," Willow said.

"And you work with Angel? After he dumped you?" Xander asked Cordelia.

She shrugged. "Not much choice. The visions are for him, and they keep coming whether I work for him or not. And ever since Willow fixed the 'no sex' clause in his curse, he's been busy keeping Buffy happy. That and convincing Connor he's not a bad guy."

"Connor?" Xander asked Spike, who hadn't been surprised with as much of the news as he had.

"Search me," Spike replied.

"Angel's son," Cordelia said. Heading off questions, she continued. "Long story, Cliff Notes version, Angel fucked Darla, who got pregnant because a prophecy said so. A demon rewrote said prophecy and brought back an old enemy of Angel's to help kill the kid, because the kid was supposed to kill the demon. Wesley tried to help out, but got confused by the altered prophecy and sent Connor to a demon dimension with Angel's enemy. The kid came back with a serious chip on his shoulder and Angel's been spending three years straightening him out."

"Well, that sucks," Xander said.

"Understatement of the year. Now we have to deal with a bratty kid, a horny vampire, a snotty Slayer, and no Wesley," Cordelia summarized. "At least Gunn and Fred are still around."

"Gunn? Fred? No Wesley?" Xander murmured.

"Gunn and Fred work for Angel. We'll explain later. Angel kicked Wesley out and he disappeared," Cordelia replied.

"Went home to England, is shacking up with Ripper," Spike filled in.

"He is? Giles never mentioned that! I thought he and Anya were." Willow squeaked.

Spike nodded. "Why would he? Anya's not long-term material."

"Point," Xander said. "Can we continue this over dinner? I'm starved."

.........

Unlike the evening before, this time it was Xander dragging Spike along. The vampire did not want to go see Angel. Actually, Xander didn't want to see Angel either, but in order to see Buffy, or Dawn, they had to at least acknowledge Broodboy's existence. Thus, they had to go to Angel's rundown hotel and talk to him.

"Spike," Xander warned. "Nothing is going to happen, ok? We're going to meet Angel, Dawn, and Buffy. Willow and Cordelia promised that they'd be there as well. We'll be ok!"

Spike kept dragging his feet. "I know, it's just that."

"Trust me, I know what you mean. Come on, though. I want to get this over with too," Xander replied.

When they got to the hotel, however, the place was deserted.

"Angel?" Xander called out into the darkened lobby.

"Where are you, you bloody poof?" Spike shouted after him.

"Xander?"

Xander turned toward a small voice. "Who's there?"

"Xander! Spike!" Dawn came rushing out of the shadows. Xander caught her as she hurtled toward him. After a moment, Dawn turned and graced Spike with the same rib-cracking hug.

"Glad to see you too, pet," Spike wheezed out.

Xander frowned at the tears on Dawn's face. "What's wrong, Dawn?"

Dawn wiped her face and grinned. "You're here! I didn't think I'd ever see you again, and Buffy said Spike was dust!"

Spike frowned at the teenager. She'd grown a lot and was now nearly his height. "Sorry about that, little bit, but I had to go away for a while."

She punched him affectionately. "Right, and leave me with the Wicked Bitch of the West?" Spike chuckled at her nickname for Buffy. "Aw, she's not that bad," Xander admonished. Dawn scowled at him. "And how would you know? You're not even here!"

Xander winced. "Dawn, honey, I'm."

Dawn continued right over him. "She grounded me for two years! I haven't seen a movie or listened to an album, at least that she knows about, for two years, and it's hard to sneak stuff around the Slayerbitch and her lapdog Broody. Do you know why she grounded me? For dusting a vampire that was attacking me!"

Xander and Spike looked at each other. It was probably a really bad idea for them to get involved in domestic disputes in the Angel/Buffy household. "Dawn, she's just trying to protect you."

"Then why does she leave me here all the time, when she knows this place draws trouble like a magnet?" Dawn replied harshly. "She won't let me train, she won't let me work with Willow on computer stuff because she thinks Willow will fall off the wagon and start practicing magic again, she still doesn't really like Cordelia so that's out, and there's a 'no fraternizing with Angel's employees' clause in my life. That leaves me with Buffy and Angel, and Buffy's made it clear that I'm not her style. Angel, well, he just drools over Buffy and ignores me."

Xander shifted from foot to foot. This wasn't what he was expecting. Not that he minded what Dawn said as long as he got to see her, but he wasn't expecting Buffy to have become so intolerable. This was different from the 'she doesn't get me' stuff from Sunnydale. It sounded like Dawn was becoming some sort of caged-in black spot on Buffy's otherwise wonderful life. That pissed Xander off. "Speaking of slayers, where is Buffy?"

Dawn scowled. "Cordy got a vision and the gang headed off to deal with it, maybe three hours ago. They'll probably be back soon." She thought a minute. "I'm not sure she's going to be happy to see you, Spike. After all, she did name her heavy bag after you. all six of them she's gone through since she moved down here."

"I'm honored," Spike replied gravely.

Xander took a seat on the stairs to wait for Buffy. In the meantime, he and Spike filled Dawn in on their lives in Charleston, enduring the squeals and yells when she figured out they were together. Apparently she was happy for them, if the number of hugs and smiles they got were any indication.

.........

"You're dead."

Spike and Xander turned toward the doorway, where Buffy was standing. She had a blank look on her face as she stared at Spike.

The vampire grinned. "Not quite, Slayer. How's tricks?"

Angel and the others crowded into the hotel lobby. "Spike?" Angel murmured, looking at his childe. He really wished they'd called ahead.

"In the flesh, Angel. We were in the neighborhood and thought we'd stop by," Spike replied.

"You're dead," Buffy repeated.

Xander looked oddly at the Slayer. "Um, nope, Buffy, he's, well, technically he is dead, but not the way you mean."

She turned to look at him. "Why are you here with Spike?"

Xander grinned. "I'm with Spike because I'm with Spike."

Willow, Cordelia and Dawn smirked while Angel grimaced. Maybe he could talk Xander out of that, since he was here.

Buffy grinned. "You're dead, Spike."

"Can it, Buffster. That line's getting old," Dawn remarked.

Buffy ignored her sister, pulling out a stake. Everyone watched in horror as she launched it toward Spike. Her joy was cut short, however, when Xander knocked the stake out of the way. "Buffy, that's not nice," Xander chided her.

Buffy scowled and started forward, only to find herself held back by Angel. "Buffy, let it go."

"Let ME go, Angel. He's a soulless vampire and he's dust. Xander's dust too, come to think of it, for protecting him," Buffy snarled.

"What's your problem, Buffy?" Xander asked. "He hasn't done anything."

"He's my problem and he's gone. Let me go!" She said, struggling against Angel. Spike looked at his Sire in confusion, really not knowing why Buffy wanted him dead so badly.

"Maybe we should leave," Xander said. Spike nodded.

"Come on, we'll go grab a bite while Angel talks reason to Buffy," Cordelia offered. Xander nodded and he and Spike went to join them, nodding at Gunn and Fred in passing.

"Wait up!" Dawn said, running after them.

"You're grounded!" Buffy screeched. Dawn flipped her off and ran out of the hotel with the others.

After a couple of minutes, Angel let Buffy go. "Do you want to tell me what that was all about?"

.........

"Well, that was stressful," Xander said as they closed the hotel room door.

Spike nodded. "That it was, pet. She's really lost it."

"I wonder why? I mean, I get that being a Slayer is hard work and all, but still," Xander replied.

Spike shrugged. "Then again, she's, what, five years older than any other slayer ever was? No one knows what happens to them when they grow up."

"I suppose not," Xander said. "This was way too tiring, you know? I need to go back to work just to get some rest."

"Go to sleep," Spike ordered, watching Xander nod off.

"Join me?" Xander asked. Spike did so, curling up around Xander for the day.

"Traitor."

Spike's eyes flew open when he heard the whispered word. He watched as Buffy glared down at Xander and drove a stake toward his heart. Spike reached over, pushing the stake to one side. He wasn't fast enough, though, and the weapon plunged into Xander's lungs.

Buffy grabbed at Spike. The vampire, enraged, picked her up and tossed her across the room. The Slayer regained her footing and went after him again, a second stake in her hand. He easily dodged her advances and got in a few punches. He had no time for a long fight, though, because Xander lay dying on the bed. After another minute of dancing around, Spike simply grabbed the girl and tossed her through the sliding glass door that led through the balcony. He could hear her outraged scream as she fell fifteen floors down to land in the swimming pool, movie-style.

Spike rushed over to Xander. The boy was coughing up blood, pain clouding his eyes. The vampire knew he was dying, knew that no doctor would be able to save him. The stake had ripped through his lungs, puncturing both of them and tearing the delicate tissues to shreds.

"Spike," Xander wheezed, almost unable to speak.

Spike rocked slowly next to Xander, tears in his eyes. This was not how it ended. Xander was not supposed to leave him, certainly not at the hands of one of his former best friends. "I want to turn you," Spike murmured.

Xander blinked and stared at Spike. "Spike, I."

Spike looked at him. "It's the only way, Xander." He reached over the boy, shifting into gameface and sinking his teeth into Xander's neck. He'd lost enough blood that there wasn't much for Spike to take. After a moment, he pulled away and ripped a tear in his tongue, using one sharp fang. Then he sealed his mouth to Xander's, feeding the boy the only cure he knew.

Sitting back, Spike watched as Xander's body died. It was a messy affair, but Spike had no desire to move him somewhere easier to clean. Once it was over, he would wash Xander and get him to the plane. They would be gone from L. A. before the sun rose.

.........

The first sensation Xander felt when he woke was hunger. Before he could get himself out of bed to find something to eat, however, Spike loomed over him, pressing him back. A mug of something warm was raised to his lips and he drank deeply of the dark, rich liquid. Blood. Funny, he'd always thought he'd dislike the taste of it.

"Xander?" Spike murmured, watching his lover gulp down his first meal. It was human, since Spike wouldn't torture any vampire with animal blood. He wasn't about to drag a live person in the room for Xander to feed off of, however. The human Xander would have been horrified.

"Hmm.not bad. I'd expected it to be worse," Xander said, looking at the bottom of the mug. He was still hungry. Spike replaced the empty mug with a full one and watched as Xander drained that one, too. In all, he drank almost five pints of blood before he was satisfied.

"Why did you turn me?" Xander asked. He had a lot of questions besides that one, such as why he wasn't a raving lunatic hunting down humans right now.

Spike looked down at the floor. "I couldn't lose you, Xander. Not this soon."

Xander looked at the worried vampire. He hadn't suspected that Spike's feelings ran that deep. "Why am I not hunting people right now?"

Spike looked up quickly. "You have your soul."

"How?" Xander asked, confused.

"Willow. I called her from the hotel, told her what happened and that if she wanted to do the spell, she had to meet us at the airport," Spike said. "It's the only spell she's done for almost two years, ever since she made Angel shag-proof."

Xander digested that for a moment. "I didn't wake up on the flight back here?" He'd been surprised to wake up in Charleston.

Spike shook his head. "No. Not that unusual, though."

"Oh." Xander thought for a moment. "What about Buffy?"

Spike's face froze. "She survived."

Xander's shock showed. "What? How? You threw her out the window!"

"The water saved her life, but it shattered her spine. They think she'll be paraplegic," Spike explained. The last he'd heard, the Slayer was still in surgery.

"How did she know where we were?" Xander asked. He certainly hadn't told her.

"Angel," Spike spat. "She weaseled it out of him, and he knows everything about that damned city."

"Is he going to."

Spike shook his head. "We won't be going back to L.A. any time soon, but he's not coming here after us. He can't justify it, not when she staked a human in cold blood."

Xander lay back on the bed, watching the moon throw shadows through the window. This wasn't how he expected to have his visit home play out.

.........

Xander watched the rain batter Spike's yard as yet another storm rolled through the city. He didn't mind them as much now, since he no longer had to endure overcast days when he couldn't see the sun. Actually, having the extra cloud cover made it easier to move around.

Being a vampire wasn't how he had expected to live out his life, but he was coping. The only reason he even thought about it was that he had a soul. He'd wondered why Spike had done it, why he'd called Willow to have the spell cast. Spike had replied that he loved Xander-as a human. People's personalities were often warped by getting turned. Xander was glad the vampire had thought about that and had decided to keep Xander's mind intact instead of creating a new hunting companion. It was also the only reason why he thought about his life, though. Had he been soulless, he wouldn't be pondering whether or not it was a good thing. Spike assured him that it was a part of having a soul-Angel did the same thing, after all.

Xander shivered at being compared to the dark vampire. He hated Angel, now more than ever. The guy's lust/love for Buffy had blinded him many times, but in this instance it cost Xander his life. He had yet to hear from Angel, and wasn't holding his unneeded breath for an apology.

He was surprised to find that he wasn't the least bit sorry for what happened to Buffy. She got what she deserved; actually she deserved a lot worse because most people spent a lot of time in jail for murder. Being in a wheelchair wasn't so bad, although Spike had told him that a wheelchair-bound Slayer was a sitting duck for any nasty that wanted to build a reputation. Xander replied that protecting her would give Angel something to do.

Cordelia and Willow were similarly disgusted with Buffy, but they couldn't leave L.A. because Cordy was still having visions for Angel. After what happened, though, neither woman would step foot in Angel's hotel. They called him when she had a vision and met him at the scene. To make Angel's job even harder, Gunn had moved himself and Fred back to his old neighborhood, taking up with his old gang. They were doing a pretty decent job of keeping that part of town clean, but it was clear that Angel was only welcome there when Cordy's visions sent them that way. The vampire hunter was angry with the vampire for letting Buffy kill Xander.

To his former coworkers, Angel had been blinded by Buffy, foolishly trusting her when she said she just wanted to apologize. He steadfastly refused to admit that he might have been in error, and even came up with several scenarios where what Buffy did was justified. That made them so mad they didn't help him for weeks. Cordelia faxed him descriptions of her visions and left him to work on his own.

Xander was pulled from his reverie by a knock on the door. Jogging through the house, he opened it, finding a rain-soaked teenager on the other side.

"Xander?"

Xander looked down at Dawn, the last person he expected to see on their doorstep. "Dawn?" He stepped back and let her into the house. "What are you doing here?"

Dawn shivered from the rain and wind. "I can't live with her, Xander. She's crazy. She accused me of trying to seduce Angel."

Xander pushed her toward the closest bathroom. Once there, he handed her a bunch of towels. "Do Willow and Cordy know where you are?"

Dawn shook her head. "Not yet. I didn't tell anybody. Angel would've come after me. He's Buffy's legs now."

Xander grimaced. Spike showed up at the bathroom a moment later. "Niblet?"

Dawn grinned. "Hi, Spike. I was in the neighborhood and thought I'd stop by!"

Spike looked at Xander, who shook his head. They'd talk about it later.

After quite a bit of arguing, they got Dawn ensconced in a spare bedroom, having fed her and shoved her into dry clothes.

"What are we going to do with a seventeen-year old girl?" Spike asked. "I love her to death, but we're bloody vampires, Xander."

Xander nodded. "But like she said, she's got nowhere to go."

Spike sighed. "Fine. What are we going to tell Willow?"

"Let me handle that," Xander replied.

.........

"And then Lavinia and I went shopping! It was great. I mean, she's got pretty cool taste for an old lady," Dawn said happily.

Xander and Spike sat across from each other at booth at Waffle House, listening to Dawn in amused bewilderment. The teenager had taken to Charleston like a duck to water, teaming up with Lavinia almost immediately. The elderly lady had adopted her as her granddaughter, and never looked back. Right now the matron's goal was to get Dawn ready for college, which was just around the corner. The young lady was attending the College of Charleston in the fall and needed everything for the event, even though she was going to live at home for the duration.

"So you had fun?" Xander asked over his dinner. Unlike him, Dawn had no problems being around a lot of blood, so he and Spike fed during their requisite daily family meals. Since the diner was owned by Spike, nobody commented on their beverages. Dawn occasionally ordered herself a glass of cranberry juice and played around with them. Spike just laughed at her antics.

"Yup. It was 'Tiger, that doesn't suit,', 'Tiger, why buy that when this one is so much better?'. I'm glad you all have a lot of money," Dawn said.

Xander rolled his eyes. It figured that the only Summers gene that got passed down was that shopping thing. Dawn loved to spend Spike's and his money. "Well, Tiger, eventually you're going to have to earn your own, you know that?"

"Yeah, but why not have fun while I've got someone else's?" Dawn replied.

"That's my girl," Spike murmured. He never got onto her about anything except getting her homework done. He was simply overjoyed she was here, and knew that she was safe from almost anything in the city. Nobody dared to mess with the kid the Master of the city considered his own child.

"Did you hear from Willow?" Dawn asked casually. It was Saturday, the normal day for the weekly phone conference with the witch and her girlfriend.

"Yeah. Not much has changed over there," Xander said, "Although they're pretty hopeful about the medication." Eventually Angel had conceded that something was wrong with the love of his life and had taken her to a psychologist. After a few months of testing and several referrals, she was diagnosed as schizophrenic. Willow had helped out, knowing that it would be difficult to get an accurate diagnosis when Buffy really was a Slayer, and wasn't hallucinating it. In the end, though, it made sense, considering some of the other paranoid thoughts she'd been having. Ever since then, they'd been trying to find a medication that would work despite her odd metabolism.

"Good luck. I still say she's sane. Just a real bitch," Dawn said. Unlike the others, she wasn't so convinced that Buffy had problems. She just loved the attention she was getting. "Anyway, you all are still going to see the movie with me, right?"

Spike groaned. "Harry Potter, four, right?"

Dawn nodded. "The Goblet of Fire. It'll be fun! Besides, it is at the dollar theatre."

Xander grinned. He knew that Spike liked the series, but preferred to hide that behind a fa�ade of disgust. Unfortunately, everyone knew he was just acting.

"The snake boys win in that one, right?" Spike asked. Dawn shook her head. "No? Hells, do they ever?"

"They're the bad guys, Spike. Bad guys never win," Dawn replied. "It's the natural order of things, you know," She continued, using her best Buffy voice. "Of course, they do get a couple of good hits in by the end of it."

Spike tossed a piece of toast at her. "You did clean your room, right? Because if you didn't, I'm going to sic Xander on you."

Dawn giggled and pitched the toast back at Spike. "Yes, I cleaned my room. Speaking of bedrooms, I've got a question, Spike, because Xander won't answer it." Xander's eyes widened and he motioned for her to stop talking. She ignored him completely. "Why is there a big bronze statue of a pig in your bedroom?"

"Well, Niblet, It's like this," Spike started. "Me and Xander were at this party in Brookgreen Gardens.

Xander's howl of outrage could be heard halfway to Sunnydale.

The End. Goodbye.