Full Circle

Fifty-eight minutes later...


With a weary sigh, Xander gave silent thanks that he was just about finished wrapping Spike, much like a Egyptian mummy, in the torn and tattered tarp he had found in the garage at home. A few minutes later and he was closing over the last of the smaller tears with black gaffer tape, ensuring that Spike wouldn't suddenly burst into flames the minute Xander managed to carry the vampire up the crypt stairs and outside. Xander knew for a fact that Giles would be more than just pissed off that he would have to do the demon translating should the taped up light blue tarp become home to a pile of vampire ashes.

At the memory of the expression on the ex-librarians face as Giles had tried to work out just which purr went before what meow, Xander couldn't help but chuckle a little as he gathered up the filth coated rags and remnants of Spike's shredded clothing, shoving them into his bag. Thinking better of it, he rolled them up into a disjointed ball and with one hurl, threw the soiled cloth into the furthest dark corner. The empty water bottle closely following.

"Score!" shouted Xander, a wide smile gracing his face until he suddenly grimaced in distaste as he remembered what was lying on the floor in front of him. Looking down at the motionless form, Xander was somewhat relieved that Spike had eventually passed out when he had started to wrap the thin plastic around the shivering vampire. As the echo of his words died down, Xander made sure that his knees were bent and his back was straight, as he had been taught at work, so that he didn't damage his back as he braced himself to try and lift Spike into his arms. Lucky for him that he had a good boss who liked to make sure that his workers did their job correctly, even if it was just to save on the insurance claims. Xander knew that all the extra strength he seemed to be gathering at his demanding job was now going to come in handy.

Teeth gritted, Xander slid one hand under what he hoped were the vampire's knees and his other hand under Spike's shoulder blades. With one swift movement, he lifted and rose to his full height, stumbling at the sudden weight in his arms. It wasn't that Spike was heavy, it was the fact that the smaller man was a lot lighter than Xander had thought.

"Jesus, I bet Wills is heavier than you and on that note, I so hope she never hears that from me! Actually, I hope she never hears it all," wryly admitted Xander as he jiggled the awkward bundle into an easier position.

His head shaken at the thought of what could happen to him if his best friend ever found out just what Xander had implied about her weight, even if it had been said accidentally, Xander regarded the bulky object hugged close to his chest. Obviously, it wasn't going to be so difficult after all.

"The only thing I have to worry about is getting busted for grave robbing. I mean, technically, you are a corpse, Bleach Boy."

Getting no answer and not really expecting one, Xander slowly climbed the crypt's crumbling steps and made his way across the dusty little graveyard, after making sure that no-one else was in the yard besides them. He continued to walk to the car that he had parked as close as possible to the cemetery's main gates. Only pausing the once so that he could re-adjust the bundle in his arms, Xander stepped through the iron gates without managing to bang the blond's legs or head on the iron fence surrounding the over crowded cemetery.

The walk to the car made with the minimum of effort, Xander balanced the limp figure awkwardly against the car with one hand while he opened the driver's side back door. Both lifting and sliding at the same time, he slid the quiet form into the back seat with just a little fuss.

"Yep, thankful indeed, I'm glad that all that heavy lifting is finally paying off."

Careful to push Spike's legs out of the way of the car door, Xander shut the door and made his way to the driver's side. Sliding the key into the ignition, Xander zoned out, staring unseeing into the street ahead of him as he wondered just how pissed off Anya was going to be now that it was late afternoon. Beyond pissed and out for blood was probably the best way to describe how Anya was more than likely feeling at the current moment. Not for the first time, he tried to decide if sex with Anya was worth all the tactless comments that were constantly directed his way, something that continually caused his temper to flare up. One of these days, Xander could just see his temper going beyond the realms of nasty.

With a sigh, Xander turned the ignition over, looking over his shoulder into the back seat as he checked for any motion from Spike. Not seeing any, he flicked the indicator on and pulled away from the kerb, setting off slowly down the street. "I hope the olds are still out with Uncle Rory. Hmmph, they're probably down at the closest bar, celebrating his latest triumph over justice."

Shaking his head, Xander knew he wouldn't be surprised if his Uncle had once again gotten out of one of his numerous D.U.I's, as he turned into his street. Sure enough, his parent's car wasn't parked in its usual spot on the front lawn. His heart beating faster than normal, Xander knew he had to get Spike into the basement before any of the neighbours noticed. Taking advantage of his parents' absence, he parked as close as he could to the basement door.

Seat belt thrown off, Xander stepped out of the car, looking in all directions to see if anyone had come out of r hor houses so they could stare at what the weird Harris kid was doing this time. With no one else around, he raced to the basement door, unlocking it and turning on the lights before bounding down the steps. Lights turned on in both the kitchen and bathroom, Xander made the decision to unwrap Spike under the brighter light of the bathroom, as the high wattage would make it easier to see how many of Spike's bones were broken. Besides, the white tiles would be easier to clean any dirt and blood from, as Xander knew he had barely made a dent in the congealed mess covering the vampire.

Avoiding the mouldy step as he ran back upstairs, Xander skidded to a halt in front of his Uncle's car and opened the back door. Careful not to jiggle Spike around too much, he slowly tugged the bulky tarp from the car's back seat, pausing a few times to better his grip on the slick plastic. With one heft, Xander got Spike into his arms once more. As he struggled not to drop Spike onto the ground, Xander backed up against the car door, pushing it half shut before taking a breath and slamming it all the way closed with his backside.

Still concerned that one of the neighbours had seen him, Xander covered the short distance to the basement door wondering how he was going to explain a dead blond guy in his room to both his Dad and Uncle Rory.

"Wow," he half sneered to himself, "wouldn't that go down a treat. Hey, Dad... Mom... Uncle Rory, I've decided that I'm gay and, not only that, but I'm into necrophilia and on that note, allow me to present my boyfriend, Spike."

Making his way down the basement steps as carefully as possible, Xander mentally slapped himself as he reached the bottom of the steps as he remembered that he had left his bag in Spike's crypt. "Damn, now I suppose I'll have to go and get it? Can't wait to face that lovely aroma again... mmmmm, bring it on!"

Muttering curses to himself, Xander set Spike down on the cool, chipped tiles of the bathroom floor before walking back into the kitchen to grab a pair of scissors to unwrap the vampire. The sooner the unpleasant job was done, the sooner Xander could concentrate on the even more unpleasant job of apologising to Anya for the loss of that afternoon's orgasms, and explain to her that she couldn't come over later that night. With a grimace, Xander thought he could almost see the air around him begin to shake at the thought of an Anya hissy fit.

Shaking his head, he clutched tightly at the scissors in his hand as pulled open the fridge and looked at the numerous blood filled plastic bags. Xander wondered if he should heat up some blood for Spike just in case the vampire was hungry. His grimace deepened into a frown when he looked down at his once clean cargo pants, wincing as he breathed in the aroma of the blood vomit that covered both the front of his shirt and most of his now, not so beige, cargo pants.

Maybe Spike wouldn't vomit over him this time? Maybe it had been the cold blood that had caused Spike to be sick, Xander thought to himself, unable to help himself from feeling more annoyed than sorry for Spike. Then again, knowing Spike, he had probably just sicked up over Xander because he could. Groaning at what had to be his favourite memory of the day so far, Xander recalled how stupid he had been to give Spike the cold blood earlier that afternoon. He should have known better, but he had seen how hungry Spike had looked, taken notice ow Spw Spike had kept glancing over at the blood packet lying on top of the coffin's stone slab. The hint taken, Xander had ripped it open, tipping the bag so that the blood trickled into Spike's mouth. Spike had choked down a few mouthfuls and had been in the middle of swallowing another when he had suddenly closed his eyes and pursed his lips together tightly.

Xander had been about to ask Spike if he'd had enough when Spike had snapped his eyes open, staring at Xander with fearful blue eyes before proceeding to vomit forth a bright red wave of blood. All the while Xander clutched an almost full blood bag to Spike's lips.

"On second thoughts..." pushing the memory to one side, Xander hastily closed the fridge door and walked into the bathroom, determined to get the issue of unwrapping Spike over and done with so that he could get on with the task of placating Anya. Xander knelt on the cool tiles, leaning over the plastic clad form as he started to attack the tape that held the tarp together. With less than gentle tugs, he pulled the blue covering away from Spike's still body.

"Oh Jesus!" breathed Xander as he suddenly stood up and stepped back. Choking back his own urge to vomit, Xander stared at the gory scene before him. "I don't give a flying fuck about you not wanting Giles, I'm calling right now!"