Happy Valentines

Xander set aside the powerful runes floating around his head—the ones he ultimately concluded came from Willow’s spell during Halloween—to spend most of his free time rebuilding a second bike. Though figuring out how to imbue his clothes with magical properties—like teleportation or defense—was very important, he could no longer tolerate taking the bus to school surrounded by dullards. His sanity was too fragile to risk unnecessarily. He couldn’t drive to school in Nox’s scrambler—to avoid being found out by his friends—and so, wasted half an hour every morning walking.

The young mechanic found a Honda CB750 Nighthawk that was in a collision, for five hundred dollars. Luckily, most of the damage was cosmetic. He brought the bike to his main house’s garage, broke it down to its individual systems, ordered the parts he was sure to need, then deep cleaned every part he was going to reassemble. The transmission especially needed extra attention. Xander began customizing the bike into a cafe racer by cutting off sections of the frame and the seat, which took another week on its own. After the new parts came in—the shocks, rims, off-roading tires, and headlight, among other smaller parts—it took him two additional weeks to put everything together.

During that fortnight, Xander used his time in classes to figure out how to write out the unknown runes in his head. They were unlike anything Giles had cataloged in the library. As a test, Xander showed both Giles and Willow a runic array and asked if they could figure out what it said. Even after a week of researching, neither of the smartest people he knew could source the characters. He felt like he was discovering a new language. Using Sherlock’s steps of deduction, Xander broke down the difficulty of using the runes; from understanding the problem creating the magical effect, he wanted to design a solution, and then draw a flowchart.

For Valentine’s day, Xander talked to Faith over the phone so they could make fun of the holiday together. He later gave Cordelia her Valentine’s gift: a gold ring that dripped three gold rings every nine days. Xander was surprised by how detached he felt being with her after what he did. He’d had sex with Buffy nearly three weeks ago, but he was still having sex with Cordelia. That should automatically make him a creep.

There were details that played in his favor: technically, Xander was single—as Cordelia didn’t want anyone knowing they were in a physical relationship—and Nox was the one that had sex with Buffy, not him. It was a pitiful excuse, as far as excuses went. But in the end, he didn’t feel like the scumbag he probably should be. In fact, he didn’t feel much of anything anymore.

The only things that made Xander feel alive were being Nox, or anything he hadn’t ever experienced before. Working at the forge or on the Nighthawk made him forget about the time prison he was drowning in. And being an asshole in the form of Nox was liberating. However, giving Cordelia a magical ring that dripped more gold rings again wasn’t nearly as exciting as the first time, if at all.

Still, Xander plastered his face with as much excitement as he could muster and gave Cordelia the magical ring, adding, “I made it myself. Happy Valentine’s Day.”

Raising a brow and tilting her head, Cordelia looked at the plain gold ring in her palm without enthusiasm, and asked him, “Okay… Why though?”

Not surprised by the spoiled girl’s lackluster reaction, Xander argued, “What do you mean, why? You can’t rely on your dad’s money forever. Think of this as a backup.”

“A basic ring that ‘drips’ more basic rings?” Eying him with incredulity, she asserted, “I know they say it’s the thought that counts, but that’s just something poor people came up with because they can’t afford… oooh.” Plastering a fake smile on her stunning face, she expressed, “Thank you… Xander… for the gift.”

The teen boy rolled his eyes in disbelief, then sighed before explaining, “Cordy, the price of gold per gram is around five hundred bucks. Just one of the rings it drips has four grams; times that by three rings—that’s twelve grams. Times that by five hundred bucks and you’re looking at six thousand dollars every nine days.” Cordelia’s eyes bulged in disbelief. She looked at the simple gold ring, and then at him, to which he answered her unvoiced question. “Yes, it’s real.”

“Oh my God! Xander! I love you!” She kissed him deeply before pulling back and clearing up in her typical Cordelia way, “I mean, like, at the moment, I can’t imagine loving anything more than you, but tomorrow’s a different day, you know-”

“Kinda ruining the moment, Cor.”

“Right,” she said with a wide and genuine grin.

As Xander stood still, Cordelia leaned in sensually. Her soft breasts pressed deliciously against his strong chest, and the pair enjoyed the electric arousal easily building between them just before she kissed him. Their lips met and their affections progressed gently; a slow kiss as their heads tilted and mouths opened to allow more tongue touching. The tang of orange juice was still on her tongue as Xander explored her mouth with acute familiarity. He knew how she loved being kissed and he wowed her with practiced ease.

Making out with Cordelia should’ve made Xander feel guilty—and in a minor way, it did. However, that emotion felt more like a memory. After a century in the time braid, Xander knew he should feel guilty about kissing Cordelia after having sex with Buffy, but in his heart, it barely registered a blip. For most of his days, Xander simply moved on automatic, like a professor giving a lecture for the thousandth time while simultaneously thinking about what groceries to buy for dinner. The only times Xander had any significant sensations of emotion was when he was doing something new, which, at the moment, was being Nox and fucking Buffy.

However, at the moment, he was at Cordelia’s mansion, celebrating Valentine’s evening. The lovers were naked on her queen-sized bed, the sheets bundled around them. Xander was seated on the edge, with the stunning brunette straddling his lap and riding his cock. As the beauty rolled her pelvis, Xander’s sculpted glans pierced her tight pussy repeatedly, dragging out streams of her sticky essence before stuffing her with cock once again.

“Mmmm!” Cordelia moaned, eyes closed and back arched as her powerful legs and ass did all the work. Xander’s mouth dined on her large mammaries as he met her thrusts, pumping into her fuck tunnel as best he could from his seated position. The glistening Cordelia—strands of her chocolate hair stuck to her face—moaned as her bouncing intensified. Her juicy tits danced up and down as she leaned back and supported herself with her palms on his knees.

“Nnnnhhhhhh! Oh my God!” she moaned out to the ceiling. The electricity was building to a breaking point as she whined, “I’m cumming! I’m cumming! I’mmmmmmm!”

Their hoarse panting mingled in the dark room as she impaled herself with reckless abandon. Xander was on the verge of nutting as she bucked and gyrated harder until her pleasure coil finally exploded and her tight cunt clamped down on his cock. Like her arms and legs wrapping around him, her quivering pussy squeezed as he orgasmed with her. They held each other as quakes of ecstasy ripped through them. Cordelia moaned in his ear when she felt his hot load fill her love tunnel—like coming out from the cold into a warm cabin—her whole body tingled as they held each other and enjoyed the waves of bliss making them mindless.

Before Xander left the satisfied brunette, he explained being unable to meet up as often due to a new project. When she asked what the project was, he answered, “You know Nox? I kinda thought I’d make a bike like his.”

“You? Really?”

“You should know by now how good I am with my hands,” he casually replied before giving her a kiss goodbye.

The next night, Xander was walking out of the auto parts store with the countershaft and spline collar he needed for the Nighthawk’s transmission rebuild. He was inspecting the cleanly cut part as he walked to the bus stop when he felt a hard bump on the head, and then complete darkness. He didn’t even have time to think, let alone react.

Xander didn’t know how long he was out for, but when he started coming around, the first thing he registered was the splitting migraine. His head was hot and throbbing with stabbing pain. He could barely think as he heard oddly augmented voices around him. Sometimes they sounded close, but other times, far away.

When they finally came into focus, he heard, “Xander… and your love for him… but I’ll give him back… one piece at a time. Love… Angel.”

When Xander opened his eyes, his vision was blurred, but he could see a tall man dressed in black looking at a sheet of paper, rereading its contents.

“Passion,” Angelus voiced. “It lies in all of us: sleeping, waiting. And though unwanted—unbidden—it will stir, open its jaws, and howl. It speaks to us; guides us. Passion rules us all. And we obey. I obey. How could I not… take your friend? I was compelled to, like a blazing inferno consumes. I took Xander, and your love for him, but I’ll give him back… one piece at a time. Love, Angel.

“So beautifully cruel,” a female voice said.

Xander tilted his head to see who spoke, and the shifting weight made his migraine throb even worse. He thought about how much he needed to heal. However, the familiar tingling and numbing of the pain didn’t happen. Unable to heal was so shocking he panicked for a moment before he realized his ring wasn’t on his finger. Xander looked around the low-lit room and recognized the familiar base. With growing awareness, he realized he was chained to a vertical surface, arms and legs spread-eagled, and he could see Spike watching Angelus and Drusilla as they overlooked tools of torture on a table. Xander recalled Giles’ warning:

‘I want you all to remain vigilant,’ Giles stated. ‘In the past, the worst part about Valentine’s was Angelus’ propensity to be quite ruthless.’

Not only was he ashamed for being caught unaware, but he realized Angelus’ gift to Buffy was Xander’s dead body, likely cut up and horrifically mangled. Setting that aside, he wondered where his ring went, because it wasn’t as if he was completely out of options. Xander could always call Dreadnought and Hellguard, but if he did so, it would have to be at the appropriate time, as he didn’t want to kill Angel or Spike. Additionally, a small part of him also didn’t mind doing something different.

Xander found himself chained spread-eagled to a vertical torture cross, bleeding from the head, in throbbing pain, and without his ring or weapons. His friends didn’t know where he was, and there was a strong possibility he could loop back. Though fearful of the time braid erasing so much of his time and effort, he was also excited about the newness of the danger level. The minimally dire situation was different—unexpected—and he didn’t want to let that suspense go right away.

Spotting Xander awake and looking at them with half-lidded eyes, Spike voiced, “Look who finally decided to join us.”

Angelus turned around and happily clapped his hands, rubbing them against each other before greeting the teen with a grin. “Xander! Just in time. I’d hate for you to miss what we’ve got planned.”

Playing to his human feebleness, Xander pulled on his restraints, making the metal links clink with each tug as he voiced, “Wha-whaa?”

Observing the teen struggle, Angelus casually walked up to Xander, nodding in feigned sympathy before saying, “I imagine you have questions.”

“W-What is this?” Xander anxiously asked, playing up the kidnapped victim. However, he could already feel his interest waning.

“Allow me to explain,” Angelus said with levity in his voice. Clearly, he was happy to have someone so close to Buffy. “As you know, it’s Valentine’s day, so I put my men to task. I wanted them to bring me one of Buffy’s friends, and one of our guys got lucky. You were literally walking right by him and he happened to see a pipe on the floor. I mean, what are the chances? Anyway, the short of it is: you, my friend, are going to be a fantastic present for our beloved Buffy.”

From his wheelchair, Spike sat up in interest, and repeated, “Our, you say?”

“Oh, yes,” Angelus confirmed with a chuckle. Turning to Drusilla and Spike, the mirthful vampire cupped and roughly patted Xander’s blood-stained cheek as he proclaimed, “In case you didn’t know: ever since she came to Sunnydale, the young and hopeful virgin before you has had the longest crush on the vivacious Buffy Summers.”

“Unrequited love,” Spike remarked with a devilish grin. “Maddening thing, that.”

“Poor, poor boy,” Drusilla sang. “The lights in his eyes are crossed and I can hear them scream. Such love for his Slayer is a great... hell.”

Spike chuckled and Angelus grinned mockingly as he added, “He does love her, doesn’t he? It must just eat you up inside, Xander. To know that I got there first.”

The three vampires clearly enjoyed taunting him, and as much as Xander wanted to play the brave-yet-obviously scared victim, he couldn’t manage it at such a pivotal moment. In truth, they made him want to laugh—not that anything they did was particularly funny—but Xander knew that in the presence of such famously terrifying vampires, fearing for his life was expected of him. He was supposed to be scared and praying for a savior. Instead, he barely felt alive enough to feel such fear, and considering how he used to be at the start of this journey, that was funny to him.

Returning their smiles, Xander casually replied to Angelus’ taunting, “Not so much, actually.” Indifferent to his predicament, the teen joked, “Buffy might’ve mentioned a comparison to baby carrots. You know: like, that oddly shaped one you sorta leave in the bag.” Spike coughed loudly to hide his unexpected chuckle as the bold teen asked Angelus with genuine concern, “Do you feel your sadism is overcompensating for some performance issues in other departments?”

Just in case it wasn’t clear to everyone in the room, Xander nodded toward Angelus’ crotch and Spike beat his chest and coughed loudly to avoid laughing. Angelus’ shoulders hunched aggressively as the rage inside of him grew. Xander could hear knuckles cracking and felt a little more excitement. Pissing Angelus off was dangerous, but that was also why it was fun.

A homicidal Angelus leaned closer, glaring intensely through a restrained expression as he voiced, “For that, I’m going to cut out your tongue first and leave it on her nightstand. The idea of Buffy—and your infuriating friends—receiving bloody pieces of you, every day, for weeks—until only your rotting head is left—fills me with unparalleled joy.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Xander replied with a bored expression. More importantly, to satisfy a curiosity, he looked at each of them as he asked, “Now that the three of you are here, I’ve always wanted to know who Drusilla loves more.” Angel and Spike hesitated to look at each other, equal parts wondering about the shackled teenager’s lack of fear as well as the answer to his question.

Drusilla stepped closer to Xander with a dream-like swaying of her hips as she sang, “You naughty, naughty boy.”

“Oh, you have no idea,” he smiled at the beautiful vampire, pondering in that moment what series of circumstances might lead to him fucking her. Putting that train of thought aside, he asked, “But seriously, Dru- Can I call you Dru? You are one sexy vampire. I can’t deny I’ve had a few fantasies, but, you have both of these good-looking bad boys here. One loves you, the other is Angelus, but it’s not clear whose face you’re sitting on at the end of the day.”

Spike seemed to take offense and aggressively replied, “You couldn’t possibly understand our love.”

“Sure I can,” Xander assured him. “Sociopaths with obsessive disorders are studied fairly well nowad- AOUUFFF!”

Angelus punched Xander hard in the stomach, knocking all the air out of him as he yelled, “Enough!” Xander bent from the stomach as far as his chains would allow, but then the sudden movement shot stabbing pain from his head injury down his spine and to his toes. His vision blurred and danced as Angelus proclaimed, “I’m going to enjoy torturing you. You’ll be begging me to kill you before long, but I won’t. You hear me? I’ll make sure you stay alive for weeks to feel every ounce of agony! And knowing that my torture of you will also torture Buffy is the sweetest cherry on top. If we’re lucky, she might even commit suicide.”

The pain shooting from his stomach and head was intense, but Navy SEAL training knew techniques to help cope with agony. Xander coughed and gasped, trying to gather his breathing again, to wheeze. “Be—fore… you do that… Gimme… ahem! A… fighting chance.” The vampires looked at each other curiously as the teenager argued, “C-come on. It’s not… like I’m going anywhere.” Breathing a little easier, Xander pleaded, “I want… to fight the asshole who jumped me. You know how expensive… those parts were?”

Angelus and Drusilla seemed suspicious, but for the first time ever, Xander appreciated Spike’s aloofness.

“Shit… why not?” Spike asserted with a shrug, before reasoning, “I could bloody well use the entertainment.” Though still wary, Angelus nodded as Spike turned in his wheelchair and yelled out, “Someone get Tanner!”

With a quirked brow, Xander asked Spike, “What kind of a name is Tanner for an evil vampire?”

“Don’t even get me started,” the blond returned, shaking his head. “Back in my day, a vampire took pride in an alias that spread fear and bloodshed everywhere they went. You weren’t really somebody until some terrified pissant was running all night to warn the next town over.”

“Yeah,” Xander agreed, nodding. “I mean, how are you supposed to build an evil reputation on a name like Tanner?”

“You’re preaching to the choir, mate,” Spike replied in total agreement. “Alas, beggars can’t be choosers. And the suburbs are filled with Tanners, Coles, and Garretts.”

Xander was unshackled from the torture furniture and escorted out of the room. They walked out to the main floor of the abandoned factory, Bric & Broc, and even passed the hole in the cement floor Buffy and Angel had made weeks ago to escape Spike and the Judge. He was surprised they hadn’t fixed it yet. As a carpenter, Xander knew it wouldn’t be easy, but all the vampires did was put four orange cones around the hole with caution tape cordoning off the fall into the sewer below.

Walking between Drusilla, Angelus, and Spike, Xander noted the large gathering of vampires ahead. They were rowdy and in a circle in the center of the room, like an underground fight club. Xander was shoved into the circle of blood-sucking demons while the henchmen growled and bared their fangs close to his face. However, the teenager didn’t care about their scare tactics. He focused solely on the tall and gangly Tanner, waiting for him in the center of the circle and shadow boxing—badly.

His opponent was an unassuming thin man with straw-colored longish hair and baby-faced. Xander could easily see why he’d missed the frail-looking man. His long face was the definition of uneventful. The shirtless man was at least 6’4” with wiry muscles and wore tight jeans and black boots. However, what was most important about his appearance was his hands. As Tanner was shadow boxing for the crowd, Xander focused specifically on a flicker of silver on his left hand, and to his great relief, the vampire was wearing his Norse ring.

Xander wasn’t sure if Odin’s ring worked with the soulless, but he didn’t want to find out. The situation needed careful consideration, but the teenage fighter had a strategy that could work. Trying to play up a false sense of security, the surrounded Xander spread his arms out and boasted to the room, “Oh, you best believe I’m going to dust you, Tanner!”

The henchmen all laughed joyfully while Angelus, Spike, and Drusilla smiled confidently. It was obvious they didn’t take the weak human seriously, which is exactly what Xander wanted. As he stretched and spun his arms to loosen his shoulders, he bragged, “Buffy’s been teaching me some moves, so don’t think this’ll be easy for you!”

The vampires only laughed harder, cheering for the smirking Tanner, as they took bets on how fast the raven-haired teen would lose. Xander, on the other hand, was assessing distance, Tanner’s dominant hand, how he shifted his weight, and how badly his throbbing head hurt. Despite some dizziness, his body still seemed highly capable.

Angelus raised his hand, silencing the henchmen, before stipulating to Tanner, “You can kick his ass.” The onlookers laughed before the boss finished saying, “But don’t kill him. Or, I kill you.”

Xander resisted the urge to use proper footwork to avoid alerting them about how skilled he actually was. Acting irate, the haughty teen demanded of the tall vampire, “Did you at least pick up the parts I dropped?”

Tanner laughed as he responded, “Pphhffft! I threw ‘em in the garbage!”

“You son of a bitch!” Xander yelled before recklessly charging the larger vampire like a novice.

Tanner allowed Xander to tackle his stomach because he didn’t budge an inch. The crowd laughed as Tanner grabbed Xander’s middle and tossed him off. Hitting the floor aggravated his head wound, sending fresh waves of sharp pain down his body. Using that stinging pain to keep him moving, Xander got up and put his fists up like an amateur.

Xander fought the vampire, pretending to be of the strength and speed of a seventeen-year-old boy. He would throw out a series of punches, putting no weight into them, and Tanner would dodge them before countering effortlessly. Xander took shots to the stomach, face, and sides after his own combination attacks failed. His nose was soon broken and bleeding. His lip was cut and his left eye was swelling up. His stomach felt gutted and feverishly hot, but Xander fought through the pain. He stayed up and continued fighting pathetically, waiting for that perfect moment.

The crowd pushed Xander whenever he got too close. It was with a hard shove to his back, sending the teen forward, that he finally got his chance. Seeing the human shoved toward him, the confident Tanner went for a very lazy punch—a wide swing with the hand that had his ring. Xander’s right hand grabbed the oncoming fist by the wrist. His left hand grabbed the elbow. And as he spun, pulling the vampire’s weight into his back, Xander flipped his opponent off his back with its own momentum. Xander controlled the surprised vampire’s body in the air so that instead of landing on his back—like a typical judo throw—Tanner came down head first into the stone floor, likely breaking his neck, though not killing him.

As the surprised gang of vampires watched Tanner’s body jolt and slacken, Xander quickly pulled the ring off the convulsing man and slipped it on. Odin’s ring resized to fit his finger, and he immediately made it invisible before thinking of a great need to heal his injuries. Immediately, Xander felt the numbing agent as his body quickly began recovering.

Looking at the twitching Tanner in disbelief, an amused Spike remarked, “Bloody hell.”

To give himself as much time to mend his battered body as possible, Xander wiped his bloody nose with his shirt as he asked the gathered vampires, “Now that everyone’s here… Dru can finally tell us… who she loves more… Spike, or Angelus.”

Everyone turned to Drusilla—even the two vampires dragging Tanner away—and looked at her with curiosity in their eyes. Drusilla only smiled at Xander before sensually shaking her head, effectively telling everyone she would not play this game.

Changing tactics, Xander turned to an annoyed Angelus, and provoked the legendary vampire by saying, “If Darla were here, I bet it’d be obvious who you’d pick, but since she’s not-”

Bringing up Angelus’ past love and the vampire that sired him had the desired effect. The tall and handsome vampire rushed faster than Xander’s weakened and injured body could react, and gripped his neck with an iron hand. Though Xander was hoping to be hit once again, then tossed in a cell, Angelus broke his neck before being dropped to the floor like a sack of potatoes.

The irate vampire yelled at the men, “Get outta here! All of you!”

The goons all rushed out of the center of the warehouse and away from their furious boss, but Xander could feel the vibrations of the thundering feet. From fingertips to toes, his body shook sporadically like the flickering of a dying light bulb, until he could feel nothing. Xander’s eyes widened in fear when he tried to move, only to find he couldn’t. He couldn’t move his prickly fingers, toes, arms, legs, or anything below his neck. What if he didn’t loop back and stayed paralyzed forever?

Xander’s mind immediately panicked, yelling, ‘I can’t move! I can’t feel anything! Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!’

Looking at the teen’s body on the floor like a stain on the carpet, Spike told Angel, “Would’ve been better if he were alive to send her body parts, mate.”

At the sound of Spike’s voice, Xander’s mental fortitude kicked in, and recalled his training. With great effort, he accepted the terrifying situation and repeated his name and driver’s license number endlessly in an effort to remain disciplined.

“I don’t like the bad man,” Drusilla told her boys.

“It’s okay, poppet,” Spike sweetly told her. “Bad man’s dead now… or will be soon enough, anyway. I can still hear a heartbeat.”

Furious, Angelus walked over to Xander and gripped his hair. The time looper was more curious about what he was going to do than fearful of his life, but the possibility of staying paralyzed made him irrationally wonder if he was out of the loop. Angelus took the letter he’d written out of his pocket and used it to wipe the blood off of the teenager’s face, a terrifying addition.

He let Xander’s face hit the cement floor, adding more pain and injury before declaring, “I’m going to go deliver a letter. I can’t wait to see her expression break, horrified to learn that I killed someone she loves.”

Clapping daintily, Drusilla sweetly cheered, “Ooooouuuuh, it’ll be marvelous!”

Extending his hand, Angelus said, “Come with me.”

“No, she stays here,” Spike argued, taking Drusilla’s hand. “We can’t risk-”

“Risk? What risk?” Angelus called, pulling her away from Spike in his wheelchair. “She’ll be with me,” he cockily told the blond. “Right where she wants to be.”

Unable to move, Xander could only hear them argue as they left. He then prayed that all the vampires in the hideout would leave him alone long enough for him to heal such a devastating injury. Paralyzed from a broken neck was the worst anxiety he had ever endured, but he was surprised it wasn’t the sudden death many movies portrayed. Additionally his lungs and heart continued working despite not feeling anything below his neck. Sadly, magically mending his broken neck wasn’t a quick fix. Xander laid on that dirty floor for long tortuous minutes, and while he was healing, he couldn’t know if vampires would come by and bite him for a snack, or throw knives at his body for their sick amusement.

Long stressful minutes slowly turned into an hour, an hour and a half, two hours, and then four hours. He must’ve recited all the runes in his head a million times. He even paired unexpected runes together to focus on a task as his body healed as fast as magically possible. After eight hours on the cold floor, physical sensations finally spread down his neck and to the rest of his body, and he let out a huge sigh of relief. However, Xander could barely move. His muscles spasmed, and he had terrible coordination, but he didn’t dare stay a second longer.

Xander struggled to stand on uncoordinated feet as his ring continued healing him. His first step was tentative, but he followed his left with a shaky right, and moved toward the wall. Xander needed cover as he moved through the very familiar hideout. With a palm on the wall to hold him up, he wasn’t in any condition to fight a child, much less many vampires. Assuming all the exits were covered, Xander pondered his escape when his mind recalled the hole that was sectioned off with caution tape and slowly made his way to the next room. Though there were two guards seated at a table by the wall, they were sleeping. The half-crippled Xander struggled to crawl to the hole silently, and dreaded the ten-foot drop to his freedom.

Gripping the concrete edge, he tensed his arms and back as much as he could before going through the opening, one leg at a time. Just dangling off the ledge was painful, but he psyched himself up before letting the cement edge slip from his fingers and dropping to the steel floor below. The second his tingly feet made contact with the cold wet sewer, a shooting pain traveled up his entire body, and he thought about how much he needed for his vocal cords not to work. Through the magic of his ring, Xander screamed silently for nearly a minute, letting the tears stream down his cheeks before he eventually pulled himself together and forced his tortured legs to keep moving.

Activating his night vision, he walked for several minutes through the cold and dank tunnel until he needed to rest. He kept moving for another hour before resting again. The power of his new Odin’s ring was incredible, but it could only enhance Xander’s natural healing ability, and the more exhausted he became, the harder it was to heal himself. His vision was constantly swimming, and with every single step, his body felt like he was walking on nails.

Xander pushed his battered body to its outer limits—like a Navy SEAL would—and then some more, and when his exhausted form finally made it to a manhole cover, it took another hour to remove the two-hundred-and-fifty pound cast iron lid. When he was out of the sewer, it was already morning, but at least he had a vague idea of what part of town he was in. To his luck, his house wasn’t more than four miles away. However, to his misfortune, it was four miles away, and his broken and battered body had to walk for the next two hours.

Entering his incredibly clean but simple home, Xander dragged his feet to the phone and called the library first. On the first ring, Willow’s voice yelled, “Please tell me you found him!”

“...Heeeyy Will,” his cracked and weakened voice whispered.

“Xander! Oh my God! Xander! Where are you! Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

“I’m… at… my place,” he weakly voiced as his legs finally gave out. He fell to the floor and went straight to sleep as the ring continued to heal him.

Two days later, Xander finally awoke, opening his eyes to the sight of Willow and Cordelia seated on either side of him. He was in his room, as he saw his few action figures and the bookshelf of comics. Turning his head left and right alerted the girls, and his copper-haired best friend leaped to his chest, holding him dearly and crying while Cordelia called everyone from downstairs.

Over Willow’s crying head, he noted the darkness outside of the window, then Cordelia wiping her red-rimmed eyes. Her button nose was red as well, and he found her need to maintain a brave face cute. Before long, Buffy, Giles, and Oz were also in his room. While a weeping Willow held him, Giles spoke from above her.

“Xander, before anything else, we’ve been unable to locate your parents,” the Englishman said with anxious urgency. “Were they with you when… when you were abducted?”

His voice was hoarse and as weak as the rest of him when he slowly explained, “Mom and dad… left… three months ago.”

Tears streaming down her pale cheeks, Willow looked at him to ask, “Wait, what? What do you mean, left?”

As he tried clearing his dry throat, Buffy handed him a glass of water, which he graciously took. He then slowly answered, “They came into some money… left me some of it… then put Sunnydale in their rearview. They’re somewhere… in Europe, I think. Not sure where, though. We don’t talk much.”

As surprised as the rest of them, Buffy asked, “Why didn’t you tell us?”

“Being abandoned by your parents… isn’t exactly… a great conversation starter,” he told them with half a grin. “Besides, I’d rather we all kept it light… have a few laughs. It’s crazy enough… with demons, monsters, and bears… oh my.”

“No, Xander! You should’ve told me,” Willow cried. “You know I wouldn’t have let you go through that alone!”

Xander took her hand and squeezed it as he replied, “The important thing is… I got away.”

“How did you get away?” Cordelia asked.

“Challenged one of them to a fight,” Xander answered her with a lethargic grin. “Not smart… but, while they were all laughing at a weak human getting pummeled… I rushed to this hole in the ground. I was in the sewers for a while… and when I got out, our Mr. Glowie-Eyes was fighting a few vamps. He got me out of there. Dropped me off here. That’s when I called.” Xander remarked, “That’s twice he’s saved me. I’m racking up the life-debt.”

Giles had the group let him rest and Xander slept for days recuperating. But, in actuality, he pretended to be hurt longer so he could go out as Nox. After Willow and Cordelia left his house, Xander changed into his covert gear—camo scarf up to his nose and black beanie around his crown—and went patrolling. In the third cemetery he visited, he spotted Buffy fighting a vampire in front of a small mausoleum. As many trees blocked the moonlight from lighting the fight, he walked closer, passing weathered headstones, to admire the creativity in her combat. He was seven feet away when she kicked the demon toward the mausoleum. The vampire bounced off the stone wall before she easily staked it in the heart.

“Nice,” Nox stated in his deeper voice.

Buffy turned to him, expressionless, and after a beat, walked straight to him. Though Xander was nervous when she raised her hands, all the Slayer did was roll down his beanie half-mask to his nose before lowering his camo scarf to his neck, to kiss him. The sexy blonde was pressed against him, touching his cheek and neck as she tilted her head and deepened the kiss. Opening her mouth was an invitation he accepted, and dived his tongue into her orifice, caressing her languid organ. His hands held and massaged her lower back as the pair vigorously kissed until they needed air.

Pulling away, the disguised man asked, “What was that for?”

Buffy looked into his glowing orbs with gratitude as she responded, “For rescuing him.”

Nox snorted in amusement before replying, “You should probably kiss him. He got pulled into the lion’s den and fought his way out. For a normie, that’s not bad.”

The blonde beauty swayed her head left and right before expressing, “Well, right now, I’m thanking you.”

“…Then get on your knees.”

They were still pressed against one another, his firm hands lightly caressed her lower back and ass, and the sexual tension between them was thick. However, Buffy was taken aback by the command, looking apprehensive as she asked, “Why?”

“Because you want to thank me,” he casually challenged. He could see it in her eyes; the nervous girl was thinking, but despite herself, also growing aroused. She swallowed audibly but didn’t reply, so he asked, “What’s the matter?”

Buffy looked away, but she couldn’t hide her blushing cheeks as she replied, “...I’ve- …I’ve never done that.”

He could tell she was getting aroused by the second, so his right hand gripped her neck and lightly squeezed as he asked, “Do you want to thank me regardless of how it makes you feel, or only when it also makes you feel good?”

She turned to him, gazing into his glowing eyes. As her heart rate increased, so too did her breathing. However, though nervous, she looked away as she asked, “W-where?”

“Right here,” Nox answered, to her surprise.

She looked around the silent and dark cemetery before double-checking, “Wait, here? Now?”

Nox stepped back, grabbed her hand, and led her to the backside of the mausoleum as he said, “No better time like the present.”

Leaning against the cement wall, he contemporized that, as Xander, he didn’t want to go this far and felt disgusted with himself for pressing her like this. But, Nox could do what Xander couldn’t or wouldn’t. And if he thought about it, Older Buffy did say to come at her in a different way. Though it didn’t feel right, it would be the sacrifice necessary to get out. Xander willfully forgot himself and let Nox take over as he unbuttoned his trousers and unzipped his fly. Though anxious, Buffy lowered herself to her knees and pressed her palms on his thighs before his manhood spilled out from his lowered underwear.

Looking at his flaccid cock, Buffy curled her elegant brow curiously before noting, “Uh, it’s not…”

“Hard?” he finished. She looked up at him as he answered, “Yeah. You have to put it in your mouth, and suck on it until it gets hard. Stroke the base while you suck, then when I’m ready to blow, take it all in your mouth and swallow everything that comes out. A guy can’t ask for a better blow job than that.”

Realizing this was a line Buffy had never crossed before, he could tell the blonde was hesitant. Nox caressed her gorgeous face a moment before the primal fighting spirit within made her lean away from his caress. “Or you can go find that nice guy, like I told you to. As much as I’d love to train those pretty little lips of yours to suck cock properly, I’d prefer a Slayer with inner peace and a healthy romantic relationship.”

Either Buffy didn’t like the words ‘romantic relationship,’ or she was trying to prove something to herself, because she took a deep breath and reached for his cock. Taking it in both hands, she raised the crown to her lips. Nox could feel the warmth and the anticipation was making him half hard. Buffy opened her mouth and wrapped her lips around the glans of his dick, the warmth sending tingling goodness up his manhood.

“Don’t let your teeth touch it,” Nox ordered as he leaned his head back, massaging her head as the pleasure increased.

Buffy started sucking as her tongue tentatively touched the underside of his shapely head. Nox encouraged her with his hands and the blonde beauty took more of him in her mouth, sucking and licking as he had explained. His cock grew in her mouth, filling the small space by the second, until it was a labor to take half of his eight inches. The Slayer was a being of tremendous physical capability, and with his urging, she started bobbing her head, taking half his length as she sucked and licked his veiny shaft.

“Gods, that’s good,” Nox groaned, feeling his legs weaken.

Sadly, she had a gag reflex, so he couldn’t go too deep, but her suction was beyond this world—beyond the tolerance of a normal man—and her tongue ceaselessly glistened his throbbing member. Her full pink lips were wrapped airtight around him as she bobbed deeper and deeper. His dick was gliding in and out of her mouth as one hand squeezed the base and the other played with his balls. Nox relished in her enthusiasm, like she was truly thanking him, and he moaned his appreciation.

The urgency of her cock sucking was getting to him, and he gripped her bouncing blonde head. Closing his glowing eyes, Nox groaned as he filled her small mouth with his thick meat, touching her uvula. Buffy braced herself, pressing her palms to his thighs before his heavy balls squeezed out its storage of spunk. At the feel of his thick ejaculate hitting the back of her mouth, Buffy opened her eyes in surprise before squeezing them shut. But she didn’t pull away. As Nox blasted stream after stream down her lovely throat, the blonde did her level best to swallow it.

On her knees, drinking his love jelly, it was like she was another girl, and for the first time, Xander realized why older Buffy told him to stop putting her on a pedestal. She may be the Slayer, his hero, and the most beautiful girl he’s ever seen, but as she gulped his frothy ejaculate, she still had sides to her that were not, more or less, unlike any other girl. Once Nox let out every ounce of his potent seed into her stomach, he let her go and she backed away, coughing as she regained her breath.

“Hot damn,” he gasped as he zipped up. “Not bad for your first time. I’m thoroughly invested in saving all of your friends now.” Buffy glowered at him before getting up to leave. He wrapped his arms around her torso from behind and, from beside her head, asked, “Mad, Slayer?” He thrusted his pelvis against her firm apple bottom as he asked, “Or are you angry at yourself for getting turned on from sucking cock?”

He could feel her nipples harden against his forearm, and wasn’t surprised when she backed her ass into his growing erection, when they heard a twig snap. They stepped away from each other to listen for anything. They had enough experience and ability to feel in the air that something wasn’t right. The pair began trekking through the cemetery, all the while feeling an eeriness with every step. Five minutes into a forested area, they picked up a pair of vampires moving oddly ahead.

After stalking the vampires for several minutes, Nox and Buffy stopped when they heard, “Buffy, Buffy, Buffy.”

They turned to Angelus, walking out from behind a tree. Then they spotted over a dozen vampires coming out from behind other trees, likely waiting for them. Nox counted at least fifteen, all with bats, clubs, or crowbars. Neither Buffy nor Nox brought out their magical weapons, though they moved closer to each other.

Angelus plastered a vile smile on his face as he asked, “How’s Xander, by the way? Have you found his body?” Buffy glared at the gleeful vampire, but remained silent and tortured as he continued, “I can’t deny how much I admired him, the way he stuck his neck out for the ones he loved. Shame I had to break it.”

Despite feeling a great sense of shame, the confused slayer asked, “You… you broke his neck?”

Angelus seemed taken by her question and asked, “You haven’t read his autopsy yet?”

“Vampire,” Nox called out, hoping to get off the topic, and asked, “Tell me how you turned back to Angelus?”

Buffy looked between Nox and Angel in fear.

Angelus was playful as he tilted his head to ask, “Oh, she didn’t want to tell you, did she?” He sucked in air through his teeth before acknowledging, “I suppose it would be a little embarrassing. You see, when Buffy here so innocently spread her lovely legs for me—despite being a horrible lay—she quite literally squeezed the soul right out of me.”

Angelus’s men chuckled and laughed while Buffy looked mortified with grief, embarrassment, and anger. Nox stepped forward, removing Dreadnought from his back and Hellguard from his holster, eager for a fight. He told the embarrassed girl, “I’m going to kill them all, Slayer.” The distracted blonde turned to him as he continued, saying, “That’s what I decided a long time ago. It’s fifteen to two, so there’s no way I can protect you. They’re going to come at you, and only you can make the decision to fight.” Nox stabbed Dreadnought into the earth beside him, and turned his back to stare into Buffy’s eyes as he added, “So, get your head in the game, Slayer, and let’s kill them together.”

As Xander hoped, Angelus gave the order to charge. Buffy’s eyes widened as they were blitzed from all sides. However, Nox winked before bracing himself for a leap. Understanding his intention, Buffy bent her knees and waited another second for the vampires to come a little closer. At the same time, they both leaped into the air and Xander let loose at least a million volts of electricity to travel eight feet all around them. Instantly, eight vampires froze in place, shaking and frying for the two seconds Nox and Buffy were in the air.

As soon as they touched down, Nox charged ahead, tossing his battleaxe into the remaining group of vampires with a high-velocity spin. Angelus attacked Buffy with a smaller group of vampires as Dreadnought tore through two more vamps before returning to Nox’s grip. With Slaymore in hand, Buffy fought Angelus and three more minions. Not unlike Nox, Buffy was taking damage on the weak side. She was constantly struck in her back while fighting the two in front of her. However, the primal essence of a Slayer awakened, and soon she was battling the vampires with a torrential passion, slashing and spinning her magical sword in tandem with spinning kicks.

The teenagers continued to fight for nearly five continuous minutes, slashing and killing until an irate Angelus reluctantly retreated. Heaving from the constant focus and exertion, Nox took Buffy’s hand, and despite their injuries, he only had one thing in mind. He dragged her to his bike, covered her eyes, and drove fast through roads and lawns to get to his mansion.

Once on his brown leather couch, clothing scattered on the floor, and the nude teenagers fucked all night in every position he wanted. The Slayer was hot and aroused from the boiling heat of battle and threw her head back when Nox’s cock slid into her dripping pussy. Buffy spread her legs wide, wrapping them around his hips so he could shove his shaft deep into her hot honeypot.

“MMMMNNNN!” Buffy moaned, gripping at the man atop of her as ecstasy stirred within her like a storm. “OOHH, FFFUUUKKK! SOO GOOOD!”

Nox groaned as he pumped his thickness in and out of her cunt, expanding the tingling heat throughout their bodies. Buffy held him tightly for minutes, as he rammed his throbbing manhood into her slopping pussy. They kissed passionately before he moved to her neck and breasts. His thrusts quickened, rocking the couch as he felt closer and closer to a high edge. Buffy’s legs trembled as she felt her orgasm approach and her hand dug into his hair, squeezing.

“N-NOX!” she yelled. “I’m gonna cummmm! I’mmm gonna- I’m almost! I’m!”

Xander plunged faster in and out just as he activated the vibration of his manhood, groaning loudly at the intense feeling rippling through him. Buffy arched her back and her cunt shivered as her pleasure coil snapped from tremendous stimulation. Buffy hugged Nox desperately to her as her cunt clamped down on his thick man-meat, her small breasts crushing against his muscular chest. Their glistening bodies shuddered as they orgasmed in unison. Coupled together, Nox unloaded streams of his seed into her womb as her pussy shivered, clenching him tightly as she had a heart-stopping explosion of ecstasy rip through her. From cunt to brain, everything went white, and Buffy passed out as Xander emptied his balls into the gorgeous girl.

They fucked again after some rest, and then a few more times before their lust was eventually sated. Xander was surprised by how vigorous Buffy became when her motor really got going. In front of her home—minutes away from dawn’s light—Buffy leaned in and gave him one last, languid kiss before pulling away. He could see in her greenish-blue eyes that she could be convinced to go another round, but she held strong and forcibly pulled away from him, as if he were a drug.

‘She might even be more insatiable than Faith,’ he thought as she took several steps back.

Clasping her hands behind her back, the cute blonde asked, “Angel mentioned breaking Xander’s neck. Did you fix it?”

“I told you, he’s not bad,” Nox mildly boasted. “You put the grand majority of people in a situation like that, most would’ve given up and died, but he kept going and found me.” Feeling an opening for something new, he suggested, “You should give him a chance. Maybe he’ll surprise you.”

Buffy was taken aback by the suggestion, as if she’d been insulted. She stepped closer and genuinely wanted to know, “Why do you keep doing that?” Nox remained silent, unsure of how to respond, but she clarified, “Why do you keep pushing me away?” Nervously, she inquired, “Am I… am I not good?”

“I already told you I get it,” he reminded her. “I know what was taken from you. It wouldn’t surprise me if every day felt like you were suffocating in a gas chamber. You’re looking for anything to take away the poison that’s all around you. Anything.”

“So…” Buffy started, but didn’t know how to finish asking. “I’m not… I’m…”

Assuming she was focused on validation, Nox assured her, “You feel great, Slayer. Better than great. But that doesn’t take away from the fact that you’re running from the pain, just like I did.”

Buffy sighed before vehemently explaining, “I can’t imagine a single guy I go out with ever understanding.”

“Nothing and no one is going to magically make you feel better; not even my magic dick,” he replied. “That’s not the kind of world we live in. If you date your friend, you’ll probably feel even worse, if I’m being honest. But there’s going to come a time when you will feel better—more at peace—and that guy that stood by you? He’ll be even more amazing than anything you and I ever do.” Xander kissed her—which she enthusiastically returned—before pulling away and revealing, “I’m going away for a while.”

Taken aback, she asked, “Where?”

“To track down a few leads,” he answered. “Now that I know how Angelus came to be, I might know where to start looking.”

Growing more concerned and curious, she asked, “Looking for what?”

“Help.”

“Help?” the anxious blonde repeated with a quirked brow. “What do you mean, help? How? I was told there was nothing we could do.”

“There’s always something you can do, Slayer,” he replied matter-of-factly. “You just have to look hard enough.”

Understanding why he was pushing to know so much, she slowly asked, “…Is that why you kept asking me? I thought-”

“I only wanted to torture you?” he interjected, then admitted, “There was a little of that, too. I won’t deny it. But the main reason was understanding the curse better to see if there’s any chance of bringing Angel back.”

Feeling somewhat embarrassed, Buffy remarked, “You could’ve just said that.”

“You could’ve just asked why I wanted to know,” he casually returned.

“…I guess I never did ask,” she reluctantly admitted with deflated shoulders. “But you’re not lying about helping Angel?”

“I’m not,” he assured her. Turning on his motorcycle, he added, “But don’t get too excited, Slayer. Even if Angel does come back, you two can never be together… not unless you want to unleash Angelus on the world again.”