The Sunnydale Scoobies, and the team from LA were all gathered in the Magic Box, wishing they had something of good news to report to Xander when he showed up, but they had yet to find anything substantial. All night and day, they'd searched in every book they could think of, online, contacts. Everything they could think of, and had yet to turn up anything except slight mentions of what Xander had done the night before.
"This is getting us no where. Is there somewhere we haven't looked? Someone we haven't talked to that might have the answer?" Buffy asked, tossing her book back on the table.
Angel sighed from his chair. He'd been racking his brain trying to figure something out. Anything to help the situation. The only thing he could come up with was almost as useless as doing nothing. "There is one place, but they're about as unlikely to give us an answer that's usable as a rock is."
"You don't mean..?" Wesley left the question hanging, knowing Angel knew what he meant.
"The Oracle of the Powers. That's exactly who I mean, and you and I both know, they would know the answer. But like I said, either they wouldn't tell us, or what they would tell us wouldn't be useful. It'd be cryptic, and they'd be sarcastic and cynical." Angel said, standing up and pacing around the small room.
"Yes, they would." Wesley conceded. After a moment of thought, he perked up, nearly jumping out of his seat. "What about Lorn? He's a direct connection to the Powers, and he tends to give straight answers when it's important."
"Why didn't we think of that before? We could have saved a lot of time and trouble." Cordelia said from the door way to the small kitchen.
"Who is Lorne?" Giles asked, wanting to know exactly what the LA team were thinking of doing.
"Lorne is a demon. He reads people's auras and such. He tells people their futures and things like that. He hasn't been wrong yet. He might have an answer for us." Angel told the Sunnydale group.
"You want to take Xander to a future reading demon? Why not just take him to Miss. Cleo?" Buffy said sarcastically.
"No, see, Lorne is directly connected to the Powers that Be. He owns a mixed bar, Carita's, in LA. It's a kareoke type place, but that's besides the point. When a person sings, or hums, Lorne can see things about them. Things as they pertain to the Powers. If he reads Xander, he might be able to tell us anything the Powers would want us to know about what's happened. It's not for sure that it's anything, but I think it's worth a shot." Wesley said, looking around the room, and getting agreements from most everyone there.
"At this point, it may be the only option we have." Giles said, taking his glasses off to clean them.
"So, we'll bring that up to Xander when he and Spike get here." Angel said, "Anything else to tell�." Angel stopped, his brow furrowed.
Everyone in the room sat up straighter.
"Something's�.wrong. I'm not sure what, but something is definitely wrong." Willow said, knowing everyone else was feeling it from the looks of it. She wasn't sure what was going on, but there was definitely something not right.
"Xander!" Angel yelled running for the front door.
"What?! Angel, what's going on?" Buffy shouted, running after him, the rest of the group following, grabbing what weapons they could as they past the shelf.
"Xander. I heard him scream down the street. He's in trouble." Angel said, never slowing down.
~*~
Xander couldn't think anymore. Thoughts, that he knew weren't his own, were flooding his mind. Feelings, images, gruesome, horrible images of what the vampires had in mind for him, things they had done in the past, things they wanted to do to people in the future were crowding out his own thoughts and feelings. So much pain. He hurt all over, from the inside. He just wanted it to stop. He wanted everything to stop.
~*~
"What the hell is wrong with the boy?" Leon shouted at his minions. The boy was thrashing and screaming his head off. They hadn't even done anything to him, yet.
"Shut him up before the whole damn town comes out here to see what all the noise is." Vin ordered.
The two minions who had Xander tried to get him quiet. Every time they touched him, it set him off all over again.
Vin walked over to where they were struggling with the mortal. A quick slap, and Xander was silent. "Now, pick him up and lets go." Vin turned around to leave, but stopped when he saw a large group of people running for them. The same group that had taken them out the night before. "Shit. Go the other way." He yelled.
The Master vampires and their minions turned to run in the other direction, only to see Spike running straight for them, game face to the fore, and looking mad as hell.
Leon jerked Xander away from his minions, hands around the boys throat. "Any of you come any closer, and he's dead." He growled out.
"You kill him, and you're the next one blowing in the breeze." Spike snarled at him.
"That might be true, but your "Pet"," Leon spat the word, "would still be dead." Leon shook Xander by the throat. Xander only whimpered, silently crying for the images he saw in his mind, and the feelings he could feel, that weren't his own.
"You put him down, we might let you go. Hurt him, and your lives are forfeit." Angel growled out, not even realizing he was already in game face. Though his Childe did not lay a physical claim on the boy, he'd claimed him in words, and that was enough for his demon. These idiots were messing with his family, and they would pay dearly for it.
Spike looked at his Sire. He knew that though he said he'd let them go if they released Xander, Angel had no intentions of doing just that. Everyone here knew that, but the fools who'd tried to hurt his family.
"What's to say you won't just kill us anyway?" Vin asked, stepping up beside her partner.
"Nothing, you'll just have to take my word on that." Angel said, trying to buy more time. He could see Wesley and Willow moving silently behind the vampires. He knew that behind him, Buffy, Gunn, and Giles were ready with weapons. "I'm tired of talking. Release him or kill him. Either way, you're dead now. You took too long to decide."
"Then he dies with us." Leon growled, bringing Xander's neck to his mouth. Before his teeth could enter Xander's flesh, all three of his minions were dusted.
Vin was on the ground, pinned by a very angry Spike, and an armed Gunn. Willow and Wesley had sneaked up behind Leon and driven him back with crosses. When a cross touched the back of his neck, Leon roared, throwing Xander away from him, trying to run, but he was surrounded by the rest of the gang.
"I've got him Spike. Go check on Xander." Gunn said, knowing Angel had his back.
"Right." Spike punched Vin in the mouth quickly, then moved to check on Xander.
Xander sat, huddled against the wall, rocking back and forth. There was a trail of blood from where Vin had slapped him, and there were small puncture wounds from Leon's fangs. Other than that he didn't appear hurt. But, there was no telling what he'd seen while they had him.
"Pet? Xander? You alright?" Spike asked, crouching down beside him. He didn't touch him though. His murderous thoughts would only be read by Xander, and that might scare him even more.
Xander didn't answer, just continued to rock back and forth, silently crying, an occasional whimper the only sound he made.
Spike didn't know what to do. "Xander, talk to me. You're safe now. They're not going to hurt you, luv."
"Spike?" Xander whispered, his voice rough from being grabbed by the throat and crying.
"I'm here, pet. It's alright. The Poof and everyone's got those idiots. They can't hurt you." Spike said, moving a little close, making shushing noises in his throat.
"They�they�.I saw what they wanted. They kept saying they were gonna make me their pet, their toy. I didn't know what that meant. But I saw it. They were gonna.." Xander began to cry again, images of what the vampires had planned to do to him running through his head.
Spike growled low in his throat. It took all the self control he had to reign in his temper. Xander didn't need that right now. "It's ok though. They didn't. And you're safe. You're always safe with me. You know that. I wouldn't let anyone hurt you." Spike tried to bring up every calming image he could. Every soothing emotion he wasn't supposed to have, every loving memory. Slowly, he reached out and touched Xander's hand. Xander jerked back at the contact. "Shhh, Xan. It's just me. It's ok." Spike thought of how much he loved Xander, and reached out to him again. This time Xander let him. "That's it. Come on, I wanna take ya to the Magic Box. Is that ok?" Spike asked in as quiet a voice as he could. The next thing Spike knew, he had a lap full of sobbing Xander.
"I've got you." Spike hugged him close for a minute, before picking him up. "Sire." Spike called, turning to look at Angel. "I'm taking him to the shop. You got it here?"
Angel knew what he was asking. Would Angel take revenge for what had been done to Xander in his stead? "Everything is fine here, William. See to him. I'll take care of everything."
"Thank you, Sire." Spike said, giving him a small smile, before heading off with Xander.
"Anything for you, William." Angel whispered to the night, knowing Spike would still hear him. A second later he was facing the offensive vampires before him. "Buffy, Gunn, you two stay here with me. The rest of you, why don't you go back to the shop. We'll take care of these two. Xander's going to need you."
Everyone quickly agreed, and soon the three were left with Leon and Vin.
"Do you have any idea who you've messed with tonight? Any idea who I am?" Angel asked, glaring at them as he crouched before them.
"So what if he was the Slayer's pet. Don't make no difference to us." Leon said, but quickly shut up when Buffy pushed a stake just inches into his chest.
"She's the least of your worries tonight. That was my Childe's chosen. You shouldn't mess with what's William's." Angel smirked at them.
Both of the vampire's eyes widened. "William?" Vin asked.
"Have you heard of him? William the Bloody?" Both vampires nodded shakily. "Then you know what's his is mine, as his Sire, Angelus." Both vampires began to shake in fright. "You've just had a very bad night. No one messes with my family." Angel growled.
Buffy and Gunn smirked at each other. These vamps had had a very bad night indeed.
~*~