The re-education of Xander Harris

FANDOM: Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel the Series
TITLE: The re-education of Xander Harris
AUTHOR: Willie J
EMAIL: wmj166@yahoo.com
ARCHIVE SITE(S): http://parrot.nearheralways.com/index.php; http://www.brain-insane.com/beyondcanon; http:w.adw.adult-fanfiction.org
PAIRINGS:
RATING: R-NC-17
WORDCOUNT:
DISCLAIMER: I don't own any part of Buffy et all, nor Angel the Series.
FEEDBACK: Oh please send me feedback, privately or through tist ist
DISTRIBUTION: List Archives
SPOILERS:
SUMMARY:
A/N: Those of Buffyverse are naturally Joss' creations, however, any and all other characters mentioned are my own.
BETA'D BY: James & Elaine (thank you)

Chapter 3

Waking up was hard…almost as difficult as falling asleep. He had laid, stiff with apprehension that Deadboy would try to molest him in his sleep. But at last, his body had given up and firmly insisted upon sleep.

Coming awake, he insisted that it was relief that he felt that Brood ‘n’ Stuff was gone. Though he was a bit alarmed at the sight of the pillow barrier between him and the other side of the bed now lying at the foot of the bed. Shrugging the inconsistency away, he stumbled into the bathroom and performed his morning ablutions.

Traveling through the corridors, Xander knew word of his kissage with Deadboy had apparently been making the rounds. One would even go so farto sto say that it was spreading like a bushfire, that is if there were any bushes to burn down here. What the hell…did people have nothing better to do than sit around gossiping about other people, he thought aggrievedly? Don’t they have children to feed, houses to clean, jobs to go to?! Jiminy Cricket!

He grit his teeth at the looks of suppressed amusement on everyone’s faces and hurried faster to the sanctuary of the Kitchen. Damn that evil, vicious bastard! This was all Deadboy’s fault. He must have used some kinda vampire power on me that got me to respond. And…and that’s why I went along…because…cuz…I couldn’t resist! Yeah, that’s it! I couldn’t resist. He must have done something to my willpower, that’s the only reason why I responded. Cause, I’m not gay!

He was so furious all he wanted to do was punch something or somy. y. A beautiful image of Angel clutching a bloody nose swam through his mind. While not as good as the real thing would be, it would do for now.

Then he paused at the sight of a demon easily picking a crying boy off the hard sandy ground. Huge hands with four-inch talons gripped the kid with incredible gentleness as it licked the tears from the scrunched-up face. Forcing watery giggles from the boy as the warm tongue bathed his face. Tears past, the demon rumbled something softly and whatever was said made a wobbly, yet trusting smile light the boy's face. And setting him back on the ground, the demon gave the child a little push towards the boy's worried mother before turning and loping off. It was a little human child. It was an all too familiar sight that was repeated in some variation during his sojourn in Undervale. Demons helping humans; humans helping demons. Everyone working together for a common good.

It was just plain WRONG!

Every time he saw a similar scene repeated, it shook the core of his belief that demons were evil and humans were better off with them dead. But it was getting increasingly difficult to justify his beliefs when he saw a couple of demons, on all fours, giving piggyback rides to a bunch of gleeful little kids. Or a bunch of kids rushing through the halls in a screaming, laughing fit, gamely pursuing a fleet footed demon that wore a look of feigned fear on its face.

This wasn't fair! Demons were supposed to be all demony evil and vicious...and...
and…just plain bad news! It was supposed to be when you saw a demon coming, it was all 'Omigawd! Horrors! Grab the women and children and run for your lives!' not 'Hey, Samdon, you got a cup of sugar I could borrow; by the way, guess who I saw kissing that hairy old Tron demon by the...' It was written somewhere in a book or...or...or something. Xander sighed, unfortunately these demons apparently hadn't read that particular book.

Only a stubborn person could continue believing that demons were evil. For once, Xander didn't take comfort in the fact that he was known for his stubborn nature. eacheaching the Kitchens, he groaned at the sight of his usual group of hecklers. By the smirks on their faces, clearly they had heard the ‘good’ news. Just what he needed, he grumbled sourly to himself. Then squaring his shoulders, he resolutely marched past them. Chanting silently “This is like junior high. So just ignore them. Xander Harris is far superior than these insignificant mortals.”

Ignoring the smirking , he, he grabbed a large bin. Manhandling it into place, he began unpacking the various foodstuffs. Looking neither to the left or right, Xander managed to continue this way throughout most of the day. Though at some of the obvious whispers, his face did color, but otherwise, he kept a hold of his shaky temper.

Jesse, the old cook, nodded her head approvingly at how the boy was handling the gossip and loud whispers. She saw the glitter of humiliation in his tear bright eyes, as well as the rage in the clenched jaw. But the kid held his tongue. Though in her opinion, it would have been better to just haul off and punch a couple of the whippersnappers and be done with it. Which would have gotten his ass kicked, but at least he would have gotten a couple of licks in.

Then her eyes focused on the Three Little Pigs, as she liked to call the three Jend demons. Those particular demons have an unfortunate tendency to resemble hogs. Much like their porcine counterparts, the young of the Jend species had very little intelligence. And these boys were a few peas short of a casserole, she thought in disgust.

Her mouth tightened at the sight of Skoal. She knew he was only gonna make trouble; was Xander strong enough to withstand retaliating? That's all they wanted. For Xander to strike back at them in some way that would give them a clear reason to justify an attack.

So far, the boy hadn't given them a reasont let least, not yet. But with that ugly rumor about Xander and Angel doing the horizontal mombo, she didn't quite figure that Xander would hold his tongue. She didn’t believe Angel wasn't foolish enough to get involved with another human. He needed to be with his own kind…a demon or even a half-demon. Though young, at least Skoal understood what being a demon meant. She frowned to herself and mused silently, wonder what kinda demon father did he have? Oh well, she shrugged already forgetting the question.

After that little nasty thing with the Slayer, he shoulda learned something. Now that had been a disaster from the word 'Go'. What the hell was her boy THINKING? Then she chuckled lewdly. She had a feeling it wasn’tctlyctly with his head, or at least not the head that was atop his shoulders. Her shoulders shook with stifled amusement. Finally she regained control of herself. She watched the kids for a little while longer, just to be on the safe side. Well, wasn't like she could stand here all day and keep an eye on the little buggers. There were starving people to feed. Turning away, she shuffled back into the Kitchen proper to resume her reign of terror over her menial assistants.

Hidden in the shadows, Skoal watched her go, icy satisfaction in his eyes. While his eyes were cold, he burned with a white-hot rage. Lurking deep within his frozen eyes, glowed a hellish fury of a man whose plans hadn ovn overset. At this moment, all he wanted to do was pound the little twerp's face into an unrecognizable pulp.

This morning, several of his 'friends' couldn't wait to tell him the news. Looking at him with sly expressions, pretending that they gave a damn about him. They were all hoping to see some kind of reaction from him. But he was not so stupid as to let them see he was fucking livid.

Affecting bored disinterest, he merely drawled that no matter who Angel bedded, his vampire always came back to him. Calmly, he chatted with them long enough for them to believe he wasn't phased by Angel's straying. Sauntering off, and finally in his own quarters, far away from their prying eyes, his wrath showed.

With a growl of animalistic rage, he trashed his room. Growls and snarls of seething fury sounded in the room along with the ripping of clothes, the crashing of furniture. Gone was the coolly, elegant young man; now his face was twisted in a look of bestial rage.

It was all a lie. No one other than he, needed to know that Angel only considered him a friend. All they needed to see was he didn't give a damn, and know that after Xander was gone, he would resume his rightful place in Angel's bed.

It was a careful piece of fiction that afforded him that extra bit of protection in the mixed group of humans and demons. Between losing a lover at such an early age, and then snagging Anwho who was a respected member of the underground community, he almost had everything he wanted. While Angel was not a Council Member, he was still a very highly regarded demon.

By meticulously dropping little hints and carefully allowing himself to be seen furtively outside Angel's quarters at odd hours, people just naturally jumped to conclusion that he and Angel were still seeing each other. No one knew that Angel had ended things between them months ago. And if he had anything to say about it, no one would ever know.

There was nothing overt that could be traced back to him. When questioned about his relationship with Angel, he adverted his eyes and vehemently denied being involved with the vampire.

Skoal smirked.

It wasn’t his fault that nobody believed him. Every freaking person would go away with a sly look in their e con congratulating themselves on being in the ‘know’ about the secret romance. Swearing that they would let everyone know that he and Angel were NOT a couple. Wink, wink; nod, nod.

And the rumors grew. Angel and Skoal were having a torrid affair but wanted to keep it secret.

‘Sides, it wasn’t like anyone wanted to believe the truth anyhow. He had found that people believed what they wanted to believe. The truth didn’t matter, it was boring. It was the lies that they found more entertaining.

All his painstaking plans were geared invigling his way back into Angel’s bed rather than just in the sordid imagination of community. But that stupid kid had to come along and ruin shit!

One minute, a raging creature, the next, an in control Skoal stood among the wreckage. His entire demeanor changed with an eerie abruptness, becoming smootd cad calmly self-possessed. It was as if the last fifteen minutes never took place. But his eyes and the destruction of the room told their own story. There was a frozen, soulless look in his eyes. A look only one other being had ever seen and had paid the price for crossing him.

Had Xander seen Skoal’s glittering eyes, he would have instantly remembered where he had seen those eyes. Casually walking to the unbroken mirror, Skoal practiced a few, disarmingly sweet expressions. Just for effect, he tried out a hurt, yet brave, trembling smile for good measure. Every now and then it would work on Angel; not enough for his liking, Skoal thought ruefully. He wanted Consort status from the beautiful vampire. That way nobody could ever force him to leave this place. This was his home and he was terrified of being exiled from this place. He had a place among the half-bloods that he carved for himself just by being himself.

While it was true that up above, among humans he could pass unnoticed, but eventually his true nature would come out. It was the only place where he felt in control; could be himself, despite the lies he told. Lies that he was half-way on the verge of believing himself.

This was his home; and he would allow nothing to get in his way. He would become Angel's Consort.

And he would allow no one to stop him.

Ignoring the trashed room, the psychotic blonde left his quarters and strolled to the Kitchens. A tiny smile curved his lips at the sight of the three Jend brothers harassing the useless boy. The icy blonde swept calculating eyes over the rumpled, ill-dressed form of his would-be competition; he nearly laughed at the thought of being afraid of losing to that piece of flotsam.

Xander was a clumsy, ignorant and opinionated little piece of shit. Angel needed someone more like...me, he thought with vast assurance. Cool, calm and agreeable. I know how to please him and take care of his needs. Angel needs piece and tranquility in his life, not senseless arguments and contention. Most importantly, Angel didn't need a babbling idiot that was in love with his own voice.

So until Angel also came to that simple realization, it would be best to remove Xander from under the vampire. Not that he believed Angel would be tempted; but why take chances.

Besides, without the fool around, Angel could concentrate on more rtanrtant matters. Namely him.

Skoal got busy. Long experience taught him how to avoid working, while giving the appearance of actually being hard at work. Circulating among the young males he carefully dropped a word here, and a word there. All with an arched, yet knowing look in his eyes. Taken separately it meant nothing, but put together and allowed to simmer and stir....

Later that afternoon, Xander found himself the recipient of the majority of the eyes in the small break room. Setting his utensils down carefully, he eyed the hostile youths with definite misgiving. a sca scale of 1 to 10 on his freak-meter, he would say that this would be a 6, but subject to change at a moment's notice.

He sighed as a couple of the boys 'casually' sauntered over to block his exit. Great...just fuckin' great! Those knuckleheads were prime examples of how dinosaurs survived for millions of years with walnut sized brains.

"Guess what little interesting rumor I heard?" Sam inquired in a remarkably loud voice. An expression of sly cunning sat oddly on his porcine face.

"What? What?! Tell us!" As expected, his younger brother chimed in with false enthusiasm. He, like his brothers, had an unfortunate tendency to snuffle when they became overly excited.

Like now.

Despite the angry humiliation that churned his stomach, Xander felt his lips twitch at the piggish sound Chusk made.

Sam's little black eyes narrowed furiously at the smirk on the dumb kid's face. But see if he'll be laughing once I spill the beans about him and Angel. The lying hypocrite! Running here with his nose in the air, like we stink or something. And all this time, he's been fucking Angel, he thought indignantly.

His chest puffed out proudly at the rapt attention he was receiving. However, he was dismayed to see Youst and his crew ignoring him. That group of boys surrounding the quill-headed young demon was where he wanted to be. The gang he wanted to run with. Today he felt he had a chance to join, to be one of them. Xander's humiliation was his entree into that select group.

"Well, apparently our boy here," he gestured contemptuously at Xander's frozen face, "Despite his words, just loves to get himself dicked-down by a demon. I heard that he was on his back screaming for more of Angel's cock last night! His mouth says 'no' but his ass says 'come and get it'!" Sam jeered at the human's white face. He was flushed with victory at the mocking laughter that followed. Sam’s smile grew.

Xander's lips tightened, but he didn't say anything. 'Sides, what could he say? People always wanted to believe the worst of others anyway. Made them feel all better 'bout themselves, he snorted silently. Unaware of the irony of his angry thought.

Getting up, he strode determinedly for the door, his cheeks at first a fiery red, then a bloodless color.

Youst regarded the human with a cool, sidelong glance. Like the others, he didn't care for the uppity human. Especially not with the boy acting like demons were the shit he wiped off his ass. But his mother had taught him to fight fair, and he held himself aloof from the game of 'Give Xander a hard time'. 'Sides, the kid had some surprising moves, he thought in grudging admiration. The human generally was able to hold his own against two attackers.

The quill-headed demon's expression didn't change one bit when he saw Skoal strolling around the room. But his mind was racing, pondering the look of unconcern on the other boy's face. He put two and two together; and he couldn't help but cynically wonder just what stake the blonde half-demon had in all this. There was something he never quite trusted about Skoal. At first he used to feel guilty about not liking the other.

Fortunately he grew out of it. Now he cheerfully, and enthusiatically hated Skoal’s guts.

His older brother was part of the patrol that had initally found Skoal. The boy apparently had been wandering lost, and practically out of his mind in the caves. Sometimes, Youst had the uncharitable feeling they should have left the him to die. But they took pity on the dangerouls dehydrated, emaciated figure and brought him back to Undervale.

Maybe it was because of he knew his older brother, Mely was in love with the leader of the patrol. But Sandon, a large, powerfully built horned demon, took one lot Skt Skoal and fell hard. Maybe that was why he didn’t like Skoal. He paused in thought. Nah, the little bastard was a twisted little shithead, that’s why he didn’t like him.

But he felt sad for Sandon though. The leader of the patrol was a close and good friend of the family. And that large, fierce demon really loved Skoal. Sandon had visited the recovering Skoal almost every day. Bring him presents and trying his damnedest to make the boy laugh.

It was a shame that Sandon only lived for a few short months after those two moved in together. It still boggled his mind how fucking intense the fire was that nearly consumed Sandon and Skoal’s living quarters. It was still a mystery how the fuck it started. Not that anybody cared then how it started, putting it out consumed all their interest.

Even Angel, who had only just arrived in Underdale, tried. But it was no use. And it wasn’t until the saw the bones, that they realized someone had been trapped inside. A quick, horrifying headcount was immediate. The only one missing was…Sandon.

Skoal was nearly hysterical with grief. They even had to sedate him. Afterwards, he walked around like some tragic, inconsolable ghost. It was enough to tug on the heartstrings. Youst mouth twisted sourly.

Only Angel seemed to be able to bring a smile to the wan looking young man.

Only Angel.

THAT’S when he first started disliking Skoal. Only three weeks after his lover’s death, it was nauseating sick to see him cozening up to Angel. Sure he wanted some comfort, but still…it was disgusting to see him giving Angel that ‘poor little me, don’t you just want to hug me?’ shadow of a smile. Batting those green eyes, looking all helpless and lost.

Of course Angel ate it up! By that time, everybody knew the vampire was, like, uber-protective.

Bitch, was the only nasty word Youst could think of to describe Skoal. It was a horrible and uncharitable, but he didn’t care. Though he did feel guilty about disrespecting the word ‘bitch’ by calling Skoal that.

Xander paused several feet from the door. He eyed the red-haired human and demon boys blocking the way out. "Excuse me, but you're in front of the door. The door that I want to make an exit," he said with frigid politeness. They just grinned nastily at him. As far as the humans were concerned, Xander was giving them a bad name with his attitude.

"Are you leaving so soon?"

Xander eyed the elder brother with a cold look. "I'm busy now. Can I ignore you some other time?" he said with cool unconcern.

“C'mon, why don't you stay and tell me, tell all of us about us low down-stinking demons. About how the only good demon is a dead demon?!" Chamd, brother to Sam and Chusk, growled. His blue eyes were steadily darkening to a dark red color.

There was an angry muttering from the various demons and humans in the room as Xander whirled around in shock. "I NEVER said that! I so would not have said that! If it wasn't for you saying that, it wouldna been even said!" 'Course, he didn't bother saying that he thought it. He had the feeling that it would just spark more madness that would result in hettietting kung fu-ed.

For a moment Chamd looked startled; his eyes sought Skoal's blank gaze before dismissing the confusing thought. "Yeah, but I bet you thought it, didn't you?" he shot back as he rallied himself.

"Oh, what are you? The Thought Police?!" Xander sniped back.

Chamd eyes narrowed furiously. "You're trying to make a fool outta me?"

Xander gave him a haughty glare. "I don't think you need my help; you're doing just fine on your own!"

Chamd growled at the sudden laughter that greeted Xander's witticism. He stepped forward, his hands clenching into fists.

“Leave him alone,” came a smooth baritone voice from the side. The crowd parted, allowing Youst and his cohorts to step through. The quills on Youst’s head quivered and rustled.

“I don’t need your help…!” Xander spat in angry annoyance. His hands were clenched in tight fists.

Youst gave him a polite stare. “I’m sorry, are you thinking I am helping you?”

Xander faltered, his brow furrowing as he tried to think of a reply.

“What’s it to you…?” Chamd growled. His little piggy eyes were narrowed to almost imperceptible slits of fury.

The other gave him a sunny smile. “Nothing…it’s just that I got a feeling that if you hurt Angel’s boy, you’re gonna get a new asshole ripped.” He thought for a few minutes. “On second thought, go ahead! Beat the boy to a pulp!” Youst grd chd cheerfully at the uncertain look that suddenly appeared on the three Jends’ faces.

Xander sputtered an angry denial about being Angel’s ‘boy’. They ignored him. Sam blinked as he studied the kid. “Well, Angel never did anything when Skoal got his ass kicked,” he protested. He didn’t see the fury that briefly flashed in the blonde’s eyes. But Youst did and smirked nastily.

“Yeah, but Skoal is not Xander,” he gravely pointed out, struggling to hold his laughter in check at the stricken look on the idiots’ faces. Angel probably be cheering them on if someone beat up the kid rather than getting all fangy. ‘Sides, he didn’t believe for one minute that Angel was screwing the boy.

People were so gullible; always ready to believe the craziest nonsense…

Suddenly the floor shifted gently underfoot. Dust fell softly around the abruptly frozen room. Uneasily they looked around, glancing about with frightened eyes.

This time whhe the tremor hit, it staggered those standing; it was accompanied by a loud muffled sound.

"What the fu...?"

"The mines...?" guessed one of the girls in the sudden quiet in the room. Horrified realization had them jumping to their feet. They raced headlong towards the new living quarters that were being created.

Animosity was forgotten; only fear held their hearts. Just about all of them had someone working in the mines: brothers, fathers, mothers, sisters and cousins.

Fear clutched at Xander's chest before he angrily dismissed it. Why should he be scareBut But he ran along with the others, joining another crowd of racing figures as they made their frantic way to the mines.

Several minutes later, they came in sight of the work area. Hearts going cold at the awful sight of so many staggering people. Blood was everywhere.

"omigawd..." Xander half-whispered. His eyes were wide as he gazed in sick disbelief at a demon that lurched past him, clutching the mangled remnants of an arm. Loo at at the rocky wall that obscured what used to be an entrance he breathed softly at the magnitude of the cave in.

"WE NEED MORE HELP OVER HERE!" Came a harsh cry. An enormous burly demon glared, then gestured to the group of young people that had appeared. "You kids over there, stop gaping and start helping clear some of these damn rocks! There's people still on the other fuckin' side!"

They scrambled to obey.

When Xander tried to move, he found his arm caught in a vise-like grip. Startled he looked down, then up into Angel's bloody and battered face. A shallow gash at the vampire's temple oozed a dirty trail down the pale dusty face.

"Not you," Angel said in a raspy voice to the young man. He swayed slightly, blinking rapidly to clear the dust from his eyes. Only his vampire reflexes had saved him from being crushed under the fal roc rocks; he only managed to save one of his workmates. He was tired, hurt and short-tempered. "Go back to our quarters and wait for me there. Or better yet, get back to the Kitchen. Foods gonna be needed by the time this is over," he ordered in a grim, husky tone. Putting the boy from his mind, he turned to go back to removing the rocks from the cave in.

Xander looked at Angel's back in astonishment. Sure, he didn't have a demon's strength and all, but he could pick up a couple of theks. ks. The small ones, of course. He gave a quick look around at the yelling, frantically moving people. They needed every hand they could get to clear the rubble.

"Angel, I can help..." he protested as he stumbled after the vampire. "I mean, I'm no Buffy, with all the supernatural strength and stuff. As well as the usual assortment of girly parts but..." However, he drew back in alarm when Angel whirled around in full demonface.

Pain, and a sense of unreality lead Angel to snap at the boy with the real reason why he wanted Xander far away from the cave in. "Your kind of help the injured and defenseless don't need," he growled. He gave the frozen boy a burning look; warning Xander to stay the hell away before he resumed his trek back to the largest concentration of stones.

The young man stood gaping in disbelief for a few minutes. Struggling to make sense of what Deadboy had said. That he...that Angel actually believed he would kill an injured demon? What kinda person did the vampire think he was?!

//"Somebody that would cheerfully stomp on a demon while it's down?"// suggested a dark inner voice.

The hell I would, he thought in shock.

//"And this from a person that lied to his best friend to get her to kill her lover,"// scoffed the cold mocking voice. //"The hell you wouldn't!"//

NO! Xander protested, his stomach churned uneasily. Unseeingly, he pas past the yelling people who had joined in the rescue. He ran, racing away from the screaming and pitiful moaning that sounded like the pits of hell.

Reaching their quarters, he sat still and trembling; hunching over protectively though from what, he didn't know. If I hadn't lied to Buffy, she would have hesitated. Just like she always hesitated to kill Angelus, he insisted. We could have all died while she dithered about killing him.

//"And the fact you got of yof your rival for her affections didn't hurt none,"// his subconscious added slyly.

"That's not why I did it!" Xander shouted aloud. He sprang agitatedly from the bed and paced back and forth. "That's not the way it happened," he whispered to himself. He wrapped his arms about his middle he came to a stop in the center of the room.

"It's not..."

But there was no reply to his words.

Abruptly, he whirled around. Hurriedly, the young man gathered a few items that he had managed to accumulate in the weeks he had languished underground.

He wasvingving, he thought confusedly. Being underground put oogly-booglies in a person's mind. Made they think right was wrong; black was white and white was black. This was the perfect opportunity to do his own rescue...of himself. With everybody rushing to help, he had a chance to escape in the confusion. Besides, his help was NOT needed, he thought bitterly. He was bewildered at the rush of hurt feelings that welled inside him at how very apparent he was not wanted.

Easing out of the room, Xander casually strolled as if nothing was wrong. He knew where the least dangerous place to escape was to cross the center square and navigate into the tunnels. He couldn't be that far down, and he had been studying the various codes written on the wall so he was reasonably sure he could find his way...

...and he paused. The large square was filling rapidly with shouting, gesturing people. As well as pallets of moaning and crying figures.

"Okay, just stay calm and focused. Don't look around; pretend as if you have every right to be here," he whispered nervously, clutching his cloth bag of possessions. He picked his way carefully through the wounded figures. Trying very hard not to look to closely at the bloody and mangled body parts.

"wa...water....water..." came a raspy moan from his right. Admonishing himself not to look, Xander looked anyway. "please..." The weak whisper drifted to his ears from the injured demon.

"Help me..." a voice cried from his left. And as if that was a signal, a chorus of moaning pleas for help, for their loved ones, for water, for all sorts of things came from all around him.

He ignored them as he fixed his eye on the beckoning exit; and he sighed...


Five painful hours later, Angel stumbled back to his quarters. "Xander...?" he called huskily. Only silence greeted his return; he already knew the sullen boy wasn't in the Kitchens. Cursing under his breath, he belatedly noticed several of Xander's possessions were missing from the room. With a weary sigh, he turned back around to search for Xander. He just hoped the boy hadn't gotten too far. This time he would be the only one searching for the stubborn, irascible teen. All the sentries and guards were just as bone weary as he. More than likely they would urge the kid on rather than get up.

Entering the large makeshift emergency ward, Angel halted a speeding demon loadedn win with what seemed like bandages and bottles of medicines.

"Have you seen a tall, brown-eyed human boy? s bys by the name of Xander?" He asked with little hope of a positive answer.

"Xander?" The green, horned creature chirped with a birdlike twist of its' head.

"Yeah..." Angel felt a stirring of hope that maybe, just maybe it had seen the direction the boy had gone. He was unsure why he was even wasting time trying to find Xander. The best thing all around to do would be to let the boy go. Xander wasn't going to change. Especially not after last night. The boy had even more reason to hate him, hate demons, now that his hidden desires had been brought to the surface.

"I think Dr. Adams had him over there," it said, pointing with one of its' second pair of arms over Angel's right shoulder. "Xan and Thom were sewing and patching up the noncritical."

Angel raised his brows in confusion, then understood. "No, I think maybe we're talking about two different humans. My human is about so tall," he held a hand a few inches lower than his height, "Dark brown hair and big brown eyes. He talks a lot too."

The demon’s neck scales raised and lowered as it thought. "Well, go ask that other Xander. Maybe he knows your Xander." With that, it darted away before Angel could protest that Xander didn't belong to him.

Sighing, Angel headed in the direction the demon had pointed. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw the hulking forms of the three Nestor demons stepping carefully over the bodies lying on the pallets. He shook his head sadly. Their precious only daughter was missing from their quarters. There was going to be hell to pay when they found her. Whoever allowed the child to escape was going to die, or get a serious ass kick...he frowned as Xander's scent came wafting tantalizingly across his senses. But overlaying it was a multitude of other odors. Blood, urine, pain, fear...death.

He hurried faster, his tiredness vanishing. Rounding a corner, he halted at the sight of Xander sitting calmly on the ground in the shadows of the hallway.

"Xander..." Angel breathed in relief. He walked over to the boy and crouched beside the boy. Slowly a puzzled sensation tugged at him. There was something wrong with the way Xander was smelling.

Xander turned his head tiredly at the sound of his name. "Angel...." Full lips turned upwards in a quirky smile. Heavy-lidded eyes blinked wearily up at the sight of a confused looking vampire. "Kinda figured you would find me sooner or later. Glad it's sooner, and not the later cuz later would've been too late." The boy said in a husky voice. His eyes closed; and he inhaled slowly. Exhaling softly, he released the breath he had been holding. Opening his eyes, he caught the worried look in Angel's gaze. He smiled at the frown of confusion on Deadboy's face. His smile faded, a look of self-contempt pulling at his face.

Gazing soberly up a the vampire, Xander said, "I've been a fool, ya know? That's what you been trying to show me. Giles was right about me, I was acting like some kinda bigoted Nazi-wanna be jerk." He looked away from the blank look that descended on Angel's face. He stared at the wall in front of him, his hands tightening slightly on the burden on his stomach.

"All my life, people kinda looked down on me. 'There goes that Harris boy; his daddy is an alky'. Hell, even my own family looked down on me! I was the low man on the totem pole of life. I was nobody special; I wasn't like Willow and Jesse. Willow was smart; so was Jesse. They were gonna go places, places that I could only dream about. Me...I was the dumb one in the bunch. The useless idiot that was good for nothing but a quick joke, and stupid remarks. Then the great and glorious and most beautiful Buffy came along and opened my eyes to the demony world. And I lost Jesse to it." He breathed slowly, blinking at the tearing pain in hhesthest.

Angel looked down rapidly at the unmistakable scent of pain. A look came over his face at the dark bundle in Xander's lap; there was a weird odor coming from it. It smelled like the boy...but not.

Xander continued. "I had a really valid reason to hate demons because of that; I also had something to look down on. Demons...they were evil. And when I first met you, I kinda liked you, in a friendly competitive way. You were older, stronger and you fought demons too. I figured that I could learn something from you, ya know? Then I found out you were a demon too. And I felt you lied to me, to us...just to get on our good side. Or more to the point, just so Buffy wouldn't stake your brooding ass."

"Xander, what did you do to yourself?" Angel asked gently. He tried to touch the bundle in the boy's lap, but found his hand restrained. He hissed in surprise and sprang to his feet. Seeing the Nestor demons, he stood protectively in front of Xander.

The boy didn't notice the tense face off, caught up in his tale. "Demons were supposed to be bad and evil. All the demons that I knew, which admittedly wasn't a lot, tried to kill me. Tried to kill us. Why couldn't they just sit down and have a nice cup of coffee or something? Chill out...but nooo, they were always with the killing, ya know? Anyway, I had a feeling you were hiding something else from the rest of us, something even more freak-deaky than being a vampire and all soul-ly. So, I couldn't trust you. That and the fact that you were hogging all the girls’ attention, esallyally Buffy's, sorta put a cap on my non-liking you."

The male Nestor crouched warily to Xander's level. Moving slowly to show he was no threat, he stretched out a hand and touched the bundle in Xander's lap.

"Human...what have you done?" Blazeroot rumbled out in shocked disbelief.

Xander blinked, a feeling of joy and recognition surging through him at the sight of the broad, catlike face. One word came to his mind: Father. He focused on the narrowed eyes of the large furry demon. "She was hurt and dying," he said simply. "I couldn't take it anymore. There were too many hurt; so much blood and death. She's just a baby and deserves a chance."

By now, the corridor was filling with people. Everyone drawn to the strange, uniqueness that was in the air.

Angel growled, his demon slipping out. "What’s wrong? Who's this 'she' he's talking about?" Squatting back down, he stroked the dirty sweaty hair from Xander's face, blinking at the cloudy gaze that peered up at him.

"This she..." the boy whispered and stroked a weak hand over the bundle in his lap. It quivered, then settled more firmly against him. Xander whined softly at the resurgence of pain, his eyes becoming blind to ythiything as he struggled to simply breathe. When it was over, he silently soothed the terrified child, gently brushing aside her wordless apology. "Her name, I think, is Misty."

Angel looked down in horror at the creature. "Well, get her off of him," he demanded to the Blazeroot. "She's your daughter, now get her off of him or I will!" There was a certain iron inflexibility in his voice that warned the Nestors that he meant what he said.

"No...you remove her, she'll die," Xander said quietly. "And stop yelling, you're scaring her." He added with an annoyed look at the astonished vampire.

Tanglefoot stepped forward and crouched beside her first mate. She peered at the frail looking human and frowned. "Human, while your efforts are appreciated more than you know, you should not have done such a thing," she said with distant emotion. Not one whiff of her enormous fear leaked out; even her tail was still, coiled around her massive leg.

Shimmer-of-Mist-on-Water was their only daughter child. And heir to ancient lineage. This was the main reason why they had retreated below ground during her pregnancy, to protect their family clan from the enemies that sought to replace the line of Thronrom with another. One more short month and all would have been safe. Her family safe; the line of Thronrom would have a female invested as Virgin Mother.

Her eyes rested painfully on the place where Shimmer-of-Mist-on-Water’s legs should have been. Involuntarily, her tail uncoiled and slapped the ground lightening fast before recoiling around her leg.

The two males, much smaller than the female, entwined their tails in a mute bid for support. They would not weaken their wife’s status in front of non-family by seeking her comfort. It would shame her to be thought so emotional.

Angel looked at Xander's shadowed eyes, he knew something was wrong. What it was, he didn’t know. "Get her off!" he shouted and surged to his feet.

"No..." came the calm response from his feet. "And I told you to stop yelling," he growled softly. Sighing he tugged at Angel's pants leg, urging the vampire back down. "Angel, listen to me...it's okay. I'm not afraid," he whispered softly to the angry demon. "Do you hear me? I'm not afraid..." He smiled painfully. "All my life, I've been afraid that I would die without doing something important in my life. Saving Misty, is important. I had a good run; met some interesting people. People that cared enough about me to give me a hard kick in my ass to straighten me out." He nudged Angel's shoulder with his own.

"I..." Angel broke off; he didn't know what to say.

"She's only a baby," then Xander smiled; his expression turning inward. "Yes, you are, ssh.\sh."

The Nestors blinked. "You...you can hear her?" Echo-in-the-darkness growled softly.

Xander blinked. "Of course," he paused as if listening. "She says that she’s sorry and she's scared. She didn't mean to runaway or attach herself to me." His expression turned within. "It's okay, babygirl, nobody's blaming you."

Blazeroot jumped to his feet and hurried away. Returning swiftly, he towed a demon healer and Dr. Adams, one of the few human doctors below, along with him.

"See, this is what I was talking about," he rumbled out, pointing to Xander on the gr. .

Dr. Adams pulled roughly away, and irritably settled his stretched cls ovs over his bony shoulders. Glaring at the demon that manhandled him, he was happy to see Blazeroot look away. Turning his attention down to the boy, he raised his brows in astonishment. He recognized the young man as the one he found wandering through the maze of injured, giving aid where he could.

"Xander? Didn't I tell you not to try to take on a demon that's injured; but to come get me?" he said sternly to the sheepish boy. He glared imperiously ae vae vampire crouched at the youth's side; he was growling and snapping at anybody that got to close to Xander.

"Now what seems to be the trouble?" he said briskly. Calmly he ignored the warning growl from the vampire as he settled on the other side of the boy, he had years of practice at ignoring possessive mates and anxious family members.

"Nestors, when injured, can attach themselves to the body of a lower form of life, usually an animal, and re-grow damaged or amputated limbs." Echo-in-Darkness explained diffidently. He gestured at Xander. "I've never heard of anyone attaching themselves to a sentient being like a human."

The healer and Adams looked interested, then more practical matters asserted themselves. "Why don't we get him some place more comfortable then you can explain matters."

When Blazeroot stepped forward to get Xander, Angel growled savagely. Xander looked up at the fearsome face in surprise and fear. He was startled at the gentleness in the way Angel picked him up.

Striding through the gawkers, Angel headed for their quarters. He could feel the questioning look the boy was giving him, but he wasn't in any mood to answer questions. Not that he had any answers to give anyway, he thouruefruefully.

Laying the boy carefully on the bed, he stepped back and sat on the bed to face the healer and doctor.

Everyone looked at the Nestors. Of all the various demons that made Underdale home, Nestors were the most enigmatic. They seemed to make a virtue out of secrecy.

The males regarded the human that was trying to save their child. They looked at their wife. It was her decision to reveal more about Nestor biological functions than they.

Tanglefoot studied the rock-hewn quarters as she deliberated on what and how much to reveal about their people. But this was her only daughter, she argued with her duties as a Matriarch. This was the only female to be born in the pride since she went from Virgin to Mother, then to Matriarch three hundred years ago. She was already on her third pair of husbands! Even without Shimmer-of-Mist-on-Water being her heir, and the last child of her life, she brought joy and laughter back into the Pride. Mischievous pla playfully daring, Shimmer-of-Mist-on-Water was a trial, but she was one that they gladly endured.

Tanglefoot slid a glance at her husbands, at young Echo-in-Darkness. Her daughter was the first, and more than likely the last child of his life. He was too young to conceal the nervous anxiety that gripped her. His neck ring had darkened to a near purple.

She could not do this to him. There was a way, that would satisfy the proprieties and not put her at odds with her fellow Matriarchs.

Blazeroot relaxed imperceptibly. Deliberately he turned and in an unprecedented show of affection, he began grooming and nuzzling his much younger husband. He acted as if they were in the privacy of their pride.

Startled, Echo-in-Darkness froze, not knowing what to do or how to act. And once again, he cursed his too youthful state. His fathers and older brothers all cautioned him about bonding into the pride of Thronrom. They even warned him about falling in love with Blazeroot. The older Nestor even had sons his age and older. But how could he not love the much older male? All he saw was the surety and self-possession that came with age; the subtle look of wry amusement in the luminous red eyes. There was so much intelligence that shimmered in the broad face.

The older male was indeed handsome in his maturity, but it was the careful and attentive way Blazeroot courted him., that won his heart. For the first time in his life, he felt like someone was truly listening to him. Blazeroot encouraged him in his ideas, he didn’t make fun of his fanciful ideas, or pretended that he was interested. He never taldowndown to him or tried to ply him with outlandish gifts to win his favor. The presents he received showed thoughtful intent.

So he chose; and despite the much younger males that vied for his attention, he chose Blazeroot. Although it caused an uproar in the house, he stood shakily firm in his intent to wed Blazeroot.

Nervous and unsure, he entered the pride of Thronrom. A scared, gawky youth hiding timidly behind his husband’s bulkier frame. Tanglefoot had to coax him from Blazeroot’s side. And glancing into her quiet grave eyes, he lost his heart for a second time. By all, he was treated with gentle affection; but most importantly, Tanglefoot and Blazeroot gave him love, respect. And freedom. He was allowed to find his own way and path. They even supported him if what he wanted was contrary to what they believed was best for him. If he succeeded, they prd hid him; if he failed, they helped him up and encouraged him to try again until he did succeed.

Under their loving tutelage he grew; and when he, in his eager innocence was unduly emotional and affectionate in public, they subtly corrected him to the proper behavior of Nestors. But in private, among family, he could be as wild and exuberant as he wanted. In fact, they both encouraged him, and loved him all the more.

Now, Blazeroot was playing with him; touching him in PUBLIC! And as soon as he regained control of his inappropriate bodily responses he would definitely scold his husband. To his embarrassed horror, a faint chirp slipped from his lips. Straightening hurriedly, he tried to assume a more dignified mien. One suitable for a Second Husband to a Matriarch. Squng, ng, he slapped Blazeroot’s encroaching hands, his neckring becoming a pale lavender in arousal.

*"S'okay….”* Tanglefoot said soothingly to him; and he stilled looking at her in numb amazement that she approved of Blazeroot behaving so scandalously in public. Like they were among family. Distracted, he failed to capture the sly hand that slid through the fur between his legs. With a heartfelt moan, his arousal singing in his veins, he turned and slid into his husband’s arms, seeking comfort.

Angel and the others looked on in wary fascination at the entwined pair. Xander’s eyes grew larger when the two males tumbled to the floor. Still rubbing against each other. He flushed, feeling a certain someone's interest peeking.

“HEY! There’s kids present, ya know!” Heled led furiously to the duo. They took no notice of him. And while he wasn’t exactly positive what they were doing, he had his suspicions, he thought darkly. He heard a faint mental giggle.

Tanglefoot regarded her First Husband with loving eyes. He was a good male; one she respected above all. He was always careful to hide the tenderness of his heart; always careful to project a solemn dignity as First Husband to the Matriarch of Thronrom. Now abandoning all that to comfort Echo in Darkness. One of the reasons why she had persuaded her then First Husband to take the old-beyond-his years Blazeroot as a mate. Now he was First Husband, and one of the few, male or female that she had ever allowed within her heart.

Turning back to the goggling watchers, she regarded the young human that offered shelter to her daughter. She hid a pained wince at all the unvoiced taboos she intended to break this moment. But to save her daughter, she would defy the Great Match hch herself.

"You already know that Nestors have the ability to regenerate damaged and/or missing limbs in times of extreme circumstances," she began abruptly. Choosing her words with utmost care, she continued. "Typically, we would attach ourselves to a small or large animal with little intelligence. Something along the lines of a dog. A Gold Retrieve?" she asked uncertainly. The doctor brusquely motioned her to go on. "When we link to such an animal, we extrude runners such as these." She slid aside a small chest plate. Inside was a white mass. Reaching out, she touched the outer edges and suddenly the mass shifted; hundreds of hairlike filaments emerged from the opening and writhed blindly before retreating and resuming their dormant state. “Children, like Shimmer-of-Mist-on-Water, however, have small hooks on the ends of their elbows that allow them to fasten themselves on an animal to prevent it from escaping.”

"And these runners enable a damaged Nestor to allow his or her body to rest while limbs are healed or regenerated. Our bodies go into a dormant state; the host's body is used to maintain activity in the brain. So, while damaged body parts are being regrown, a Nestors' body does nothing but conserve energy."

Angel was frowning; his hand unconsciously seeking Xander's to reassure the boy. "But how do you regrow the limb if your body..." His eyes widened then narrowed to icy slits. "I want Shimmer or Misty or whatever the hell her name is, off Xander...NOW!" His voice was deadly quiet. There was a hint of growl, just enough to know that a hellish fury was approaching rapidly. He was no doctor or healer but he knew that energy to rebuild limbs had to come from somewhere.

Dr. Adams, with a quick look at the puzzled Xander, glared at the large female. "Look, while I ain't without some sympathy for your problem, there ain't no way I'm gonna go 'long with this cockamamie idea!" he snapped.

Tanglefoot tried again to explain. "You can'tove ove her..."

"Watch me!" Angel growled, surging to his feet. To his surprise, he felt a warm hand clasp his. Startled, he looked down into a pair of amused, yet resigned brown eyes. The youthful gleam of mischief, that so characterized the boy, sparkled dully in the shimmering pools. Muted, but still there.

"Deadboy, Angel…stop it..." Xander looked down, away from the disbelief in the vampire's gaze. "You...you.membmember Iago? Well, I got to wondering, and I wondered if...if...he had a chance, if he had an...an opportunity to change...you know, stop being such a badass. Would he take it? If somebody held up a....a....mirror to his face, showing him exactly what he looked like, would he like who he saw? 'Cuz of him lying to his 'friend', his friend kill her boy...I mean, his own wife. 'Cuz of him, all because he was jealous and spiteful. If he had been a real friend he would have been happy for her." Xander whispered, lost in his own dismal thoughts.

Angel stilled, his eyes brighte to to a soft gold; carefully he sat. Somehow he knew they weren't talking about Othello. With a crooked finger, he gently lifted the boy's chin. Tilting the shamefilled face, he gazed into the miserable brown eyes. "And if Othello had trusted his wife a hell of a lot more and Iago's lies a lot less, his wife would have lived. Jealousy and spite lurks in the hearts of every demon and every human. It's we cwe choose to act on these feelings that causes the problem. A life ruled by jealousy and spite is no life at all. They are wasted emotions that twist a person's character out of all proportion."

Xander swallowed, caught in the mesmerizing eyes. "But what if you killed somebody cuz you were jealous of them? Because he was everything you knew deep down you could never be? What do you do? How can you make every thing right after that?" His eyes were painfully bright as he fought back tears.

"Killing yourself is not the answer," Angel replied softly. He picked up Xander's hands, lying limp and fragile on the bed.

The boy gave him a wobbly, tremulous smile. "That would be suicide, and I ain't that Buffyish." His smile faded at the stern look Angel gave him. He looked at the protruding lump on his stomach. "But an eye for an eye..." he looked up, gazing intently at Angel, "...a life for a life."

"I didn't have a life," Angel protested. "That's why you called me Deadboy! Remember?"

Xander tried to tug his hands back, but very little strength was left in his limbs. "My choice," he said quietly, a note of firm conviction in his voice. A solemn, resolved face of a man knowingly marching to his death. "I kinda always figured, ya know, that I wouldn't survive to my 21st birthday, anyhow. Either the vamps would get me or Buffy wouldn't be able to save the world again."

He looked away from the now angry vampire; though why Angel would be all ripple-y considering the bad blood between them. Not that his blood was bad, in fact he was pretty sure he tasted quite delicious. And can you get more avoid-y, he rebuked himself tiredly.

"My decision; my choice," he repeated softly. "Ya know, I used to think being an adult would be the coolest thing. It would be a snap. You got to do all those wonderful things that adults like to do, that everybody gives non-adultlike people the evil eye. I alwayoughought that there was this big conspiracy...that the adults wanted to hog all the cool stuff for themselves, and not share with the new adults. But that's not what adulthood is about. It's about standing up for yourself; for those weaker than you. It's about knowing when to shut the hell up and listen without judging; listening instead of thinking you have all the answers when you really don't know Jack. Being an adult is about being strong enough to admit when you're wrong and brave enough to accept the punishment as the consequence of your actions." He paused, falling into a grave reverie.

"Being an adult sucks." Xander claimed with the wisdom of Solomon. He scowled fiercely at Angel when the vampire began to laugh.
spitspite his real amusement, Angel vowed, that come hell or high water, he intended to see the boy survive.

Tanglefoot relaxed at the sound of the vampire's laughter. There was hope. "No Nestor has every had a truly intelligent being as a host," she offered.

"Ha!...take that Principal Snyder," Xr mur muttered under his breath.

"This means what?" Jolanda, the healer, said rapidly. Her tail rippling in agitation.

"Animals are smaller and less able to reason. They also generally don't have such strong wills to survive unlike humans. Their organs are smaller oftentimes. This makes it easier to access and remove what we need. There's also the fact that my daughter is not an adult. By rights the boy should be unconscious and unable to move or speak. Yet I saw him move, and he's obviously conscious and talking with Shimmer-of-Mist-on-Water. She is but a child, with little control over her instincts. However, if we can keep him healthy and well fed, she will not be able to siphon all that he needs to maintain his life."

Xander immediately felt his spirits lift at the news. Good news indeed! He wouldn't hafta die and...best of all, they had to feed him!

"I know little about humans. Only that they come in many different shades of pink. They are also strangely...difficult to deal with. That is why I speak so frankly before you," she b sli slightly to the two healers, then deeper to Angel. Acknowledging his claim to the human's body. It was he that she sought to convince of the safety of this unorthodox idea.

"That is why I speak to you as I would," she hesitated then took the plunge, "Embraced of the Family Draken-dal."

Angel nearly fell off the bed in shock; he saw Jolanda's knees buckle before she caught herself. The two demons glanced at each other, then at the hulking Nestors.

Seeing the looks on their faces, and correctly interpreting them as stunned amazement, Tanglefoot rushed into speech again, with uncharacteristic nervousness. "While unusual," she paused, "Frankly, it's unheard of for Nestors to Embrace nonNestors into the family. But I'm a Matriarch, it's time for us to stop wallowing in the past. We need to try and...and learn new ways...and other things," she added vaguely.

"And to save your daughter, you're willing to accept two humans, and two nonNestor demons into your midst?" Angel guessed shrewdly.

"To save her, I would challenge the Revered Mother herself," Tanglefoot replied evenly. She would not lower herself to begging, but her next words were close. "Shimmer-of-Mist-on-Water is my only surviving daughter."

Angel's attention was caught. "You have another daughter?" He casually maintained a soothing stroking motion on the bemused boy's hand.

"Yes," came a quiet rumble. Blazeroot rose smoothly to his feet, having reduced Echo-in-Darkness to a sated calmness. "Family Draken-dal had two female children before. Tragically they are dead."

"How did they die?" Xander said softly, feeling strangely tearful all of a sudden. Then he remembered his little passenger and mentally he picked her up and rocked the child soothingly.

"They were mred,red," Blazeroot announced blandly. But his eyes glowed with an eerie coldness.

"What?!" came from the other's mouth.

Blazeroot looked about the room. "Did you not think it odd for a Matriarch of Tanglefoot's standing to be below ground? While going underground, truly under the fertile earth to give birth is one of our most sacred and revered traditions, it is one that has been out of favor among the more progressive and modern Mothers of the various clans. My Lady Tanglefoot gave birth to two daughters before Shimmer-of-Mist-on-Water, each more than 90 years apart. The first, Mossy-Field of Gold 'accidentally' fell and broke her neck while playing with friends. She was mourned, but life goes on and time passed. I was brought into the clan as Second Husband to the new First Husband. In time, we had Silent Hill covered in white. The Family celebrated the new arrival of an Heir since Tanglefoot was moving passed her prime to bear children."

He paused to restrain the rage that still gripped him to this day. Blazeroot felt a broad palm cup his shoulder and leaned gratefully into Tanglefoot's comforting support. "I found her dead in her niche on what was to be her fifth natal day. It looked natural. That she had succumbed to a childish ailment that so often gripped our children. Unfortunately for her killers, our daughter had been examined by our healer. No diseases of any kind was present," Tanglefoot took over the narrative. Her voice was perfectly even, but the room felt darker. Death flowed just below the surface of her calm exterior.

Seething rage had gripped the Draken-dal's Family. For months the males had raged, their pain and raw emotions visibly public, while the females silently grieved. It had been months fraught with internal fighting. At first it was whispers, then audible that Matriarch Tanglefoot was incapable of controlling her Family. Perhaps, it was butted about with seemingly carelessness, it was tior aor a calm Matriarch?

Fortunately, wiser heads prevailed. Staunch defenders pointed out that a daughted bed been murdered. Not just any daughter, but the heir had been murdered! And Blazeroot, young though he was, assumed control of the males. But there was a grim coldness that followed in the wake of the young male. His daughter was dead by unnatural means. It had taken him five years of painstaking work to uncover the truth.

And he found Grassbriar's tracks circling around the kill of Family Draken-dal.

Grassbriar. The serene, calm Mother to Family Harkon-dal. They were Second to the Thronrom Pride's in line of succession...and who's name had been coincidentally brought up as the proposed new Matriarch of Thronrom Pride. However, he had no direct evidence that she had a claw in his daughter's death. Still, his quiet words to Tanglefoot was heeded.

Dr. Adams raised brushy salt-n-pepper brows then lowered them in an angry scowl; with a careful expression of disinterest, he said, "One of my patients said he saw a Nestor doing something just minutes before the cave-in."

The female Nestor glanced at Blazeroot who shook his head. "None of our Family was involved in the mining of new quarters."

Angel's brows rose. "Interesting..." he murmured making the correct conclusion.

Letting out a piercing whistle, Tanglefoot summoned her guards. The door opened, and scuttling on the ceiling came five insect-live creatures.

Dual emotions raced through Xander at the sight of the guards: fear and joy. Thankfully he was too weak to clap his hands and giggle like some kinda little girl. But he couldn't stop the small chirp that slipped past his lips.

Immediately, one paused and cocked its’ head at him. Dropping from the ceiling, it walked carefully towards him. Angel tensed at the creature; but other than a quick head-to-toe look, it ignored him. Tilting its' head left, then right, it chirped back at the human. Reaching a pincher into a pouch around its’ abdomen, it withdrew a small object and shoved it between Xander's surprised lips.

His eyes unfocused at the familiar taste; he chewed vigorously trying to avoid Angel's determined clutch at his mouth.

"Cho'late..." he managed to slur ouHe kHe kept a wary eye on the vampire and swallowed.

Angel paused; his eyes fixed on the boy's blissful face and he smiled. Trust Xander to find someone to feed him chocolate.

Turned back to the other, he voiced his concern. "So, all we need to do is stuff Xander with food and everything'll be okay?" he asked doubtfully. He shook his head. "Pardon me if I think that's just too simple for tellmellmouth."