-1December

Tuesday, 8:30 PM

The group (Xander, Buffy, Willow, Spike and Dawn) were in the graveyard fighting a gang of fifteen vampires.

The vampires had begin to retreat, but not before five mugged Xander. Six stayed behind, sacrificing themselves so the others could make a clean escape. It didn't take long for the vampires to be turned to dust, and the group realized that Xander was gone without a trace….

"Did any of you see which way they went?" Buffy asked frantically.

"Sorry, but I was pretty much trying to see anything that wasn't double. I didn't catch which one of the blurs was the real gang," Willow explained as calmly as she could, rubbing at the mark that was appearing on her cheek.

Buffy gave a hard sigh. "They'd be to the park by now... and that's if they didn't have a car."

"And if they had a car?" Dawn asked, as though there might be some optimistic side of the situation.

"Out of town," Spike explained sadly.

"I was busy with staking dumb, dumber, and dumbest. Did you see which way they went?" Buffy asked Spike hopefully. "Did they have a car?"

Spike gave a sigh, giving into the pressure for information. "I saw that herd of them run out of the South Gate, but with the last three trying to rip apart our ladies, here," he gestured to Dawn and Willow, "there's no way I could have caught up to them. I have met their gang, though," he continued a bit more helpfully. "They'd have a car waiting less than a block from here and would be out of town with the rest of their friends within an hour."

"They took Xander," Dawn said, in shock as she finally realized the gravity of the situation.

Willow nodded. "But why did they take him?"

"And who exactly are they?" Buffy added.

"What's the group's background?" Willow continued.

"'Called The Blitz and been a gang for a' least sixty years," Spike began easily. "They run in packs and kill a lot before moving onto the next town. Anyone they think is strong enough, they take with them to be recruited. Not all of them are brainless grunts. The leaders are scientists. They're big into experimenting on people. Some crazy vamps from Germany, way back near the end of World War II, decided to change a bunch of Nazi scientists into vampires. Those buggers were experimenting on humans to make some sort of superior human. They've kept their work going since then, trying to engineer a superior vampire: a thirst for blood, no soul, and no weakness to sunlight, crosses, or any of that jazz. They've been embezzling money since the first computers were used by banks, so they have a fortune for research. They've become obsessed with making the perfect vampire; they are mixing vampire traits into humans but trying to keep them human enough to survive the sun. Xander'll probably be undead by tomorrow night... or maybe worse."

"You mean just dead?" Willow asked in a small voice.

"No," Spike said slowly. "Worse."

Willow's jaw dropped. "T-They'd make Xander into some sort of mix between vampire and human?" she asked nervously.

"That's more likely than making him a regular vampire, actually... You see, they have a habit of running out of their human lab subjects. They think they 'die too easily' and with the stuff they're put through, the chemicals I mean, they don't last long. That's what I meant by worse. He would be better off dead than that."

The group nodded. They couldn't imagine many things worse than that.

"How is that even possible?" Willow asked. "I've heard of gene therapy for people, but that's not anything like what you're talking about."

Spike shrugged. "Something to do with the way the vampire-thing works: the vampire changes the body to adapt it to the demon's needs. They found something in that equation that works like super-glue to cut and paste whatever they want, changing only what they want to see changed."

"So how do we find them?" Buffy asked the group. She looked to Spike. "Where were their haunts, where do these mad scientists usually set-up?"

Spike shrugged sadly. "Sometimes they rent-out labs in big-name hospitals with forged government papers. They know the right keys to punch on the computer and they can get absolutely anything... They always get a nice lot of rubber-rooms in most of the deals. They use 'em for the lab rats that manage to survive a transformation. Some of them have their souls, others are even more soulless than regular vampires. Every time they get new people, they cut town within a few hours with the last of what they need to re-locate." Spike looked around the sky. "Notice how it's only a few hours after sunset? Gives them plenty of time to move out and get on the road before the sun comes up. They probably packed everything up during the day; may have even sent a truck or two out with covered windows before the sun went down."

"A big group on the move from a town this small shouldn't be that hard to find," Buffy commented.

"Yes, it will be. They're not stupid," he explained. "They've probably been spread out all over this town for the past month, and we didn't even notice them until tonight. They might have even set up in a bigger town and ventured into the 'burbs for a bit of fresh blood... There were sixty or seventy lackeys, back in the day. By now they've probably branched out; have a few of the original scientists per gang with no less than forty or fifty followers, spreading themselves across the world to insure their work would continue even if a few of them were ever killed."

"I thought you said you just met them. How do you know so much?" Dawn asked calmly.

Spike had a very guilty expression as he continued. "The '80s in the US were kinda boring for Drusilla and me, so we got in pretty deep with one bunch of them for a year or two. Branching off was their plan then; they had all ready split up the old gang once, positioning a branch in Europe. They laid everything out, all their plans, for the long-haul lackeys and said they might throw new demons into their cocktail if they haven't gotten it right by a certain date... Eventually Dru got bored."

"But they let you leave?" Dawn asked. "I know regular gangs don't like it very much when a person decides to leave, so what did they do?"

Spike nodded again, still very somber. "They tried to kill us, of course, but all it took to get away was busting a table's worth of beakers and burners. Weeks of work went up in smoke as the splashed chemicals helped spread the fire. Dru and I just strolled right out. They were all too busy just trying to keep the flames contained. I found out later that a few of the padded rooms got torched and I was very glad for that."

Willow took a deep breath before asking the question. "What's the worst thing you saw in there? I think we should know so we can figure out what to expect in case something has been done to Xander."

Spike thought for a moment, his manner becoming even more grave as he remembered. "One guy," he began, shaking his head, "I don't really know what they did to him. His mind was totally gone. The way he'd sometimes beg to be changed back to a human kinda' reminded me of Angel's rantings when those Gypsies first restored his soul, but the other half of the time this guy was clawing at the doors and walls beggin' for them to bring him another person instead of the blood packets. He had -- what's that called? -- multiple personalities. That wasn't really the bad part."

The group seemed a little nervous about what could qualify as worse than a genetically-induced psychosis.

Spike continued. "They must have added a little too much vampire or something' in the wrong spots 'cuse he had these twisted claws, shaggy hair, weird little horns sprouting out here and there near the hair-line, with olive-greenish skin with pure red eyes. His face... now that was the weirdest thing, he always looked completely like a human but with those horns and the sick--kinda skin... He didn't even have fangs... On top of that, he was so sensitive to the light that when they'd turn on the switch in the room he'd duck away from it and it would even singe his skin a little. Mind you, this light was from an everyday light bulb with nothin' special about it..." Spike looked as though it were a very painful memory. "I don't know how even one of us could have made somethin' as troubled as that. We could drive people to a breaking point if we wanted to but... Poor guy... That's why I was glad about the rooms being torched; he died in the fire."

The others seemed to relive the story right along with Spike.

Spike came out of the stupor, pushing his memory away to concentrate on the present. "By now I wouldn't be surprised if one of the branches had already done one of those mixes between vampires and other demons... Then again, why do it for so long and then stop now? One thing is definite: no human that The Blitz has taken with them ever shows up again the way they were before. This means Xander will be dead, regular vampire, or science fair project..."

"What do you mean by 'Shows up again the way they were'? Have people ever escaped being killed by them?" Willow asked.

"A few have, actually," Spike nodded, seeming to be in better spirits. "They're so confident in their security that they are sometimes too cocky. There's plenty of personnel inside their hideout, but at the entrances and the cells, there are only a few."

The others seemed a bit relieved by the news.

"The ones who died from the experiments were sometimes given something to make them look human again, and then rigged to look like drug overdoses. Sometimes they're human enough all ready that they don't bother giving the extra shot. This little set-up was a good reason for all the chemicals in the dead person's system. Besides, with people not knowing what a dissected, vampire-demon-thing looks like under the microscope, they'd see something that can't be identified and just attribute that to years of drug use, a new drug on the market, or some bad batch of a high traffic drug in the area. That would explain their disappearance from whatever city they left: they got mixed up in a bad crowd, addicted to drugs, and left town to satisfy their habit."

"What's the most likely to happen to Xander?" Buffy asked sadly, finally speaking after having remained silent for so long. "A meal, a vampire, or to be changed? And any chance that this Blitz is still as lax with security?"

"All bad news..." he admitted right away. "They usually do the kidnap-and-run just after the scientists have whipped up a new-and-improved batch of something'. While their new labs are being set-up by the drones, they get a little bored, so they start injections as soon as the first strap-in chair or table is taken off the truck. Sometimes, if the truck is big enough, they don't even wait to get there; they just have the chair bolted to the floor of an empty truck and do what they need to in the back while someone is driving... They always thought it 'lent greater entertainment for them when they finally got to the lab.' Basically, there's no need for an in-flight movie."

"How much time do you think we have before they start messing with him?" Dawn asked quickly.

He shrugged. "Depends on the mix and how far they're moving. If it's too new of a blend they'll wait until they could just lock their creation in a room. If it's been tested a few times, and don't think the person will turn totally into a beast, they might start it on the truck... Most of the time, when I traveled with them, they waited until they got to the lab, but, then again, not many of the patients had a very good survival rate back then. They'd say things were just too 'unpredictable' for them to risk anything in a truck, especially if they're traveling in the daylight."

Buffy turned to Willow. "Can you get on to the computer and track all of the hospitals that have new facilities being installed, remodeled, or rented out over the next two days?"

Willow nodded. "After that I could trace the funds and figure out where they're getting their money, and maybe expose them to cops or the companies or..."

Spike shook his head, interrupting. "That would be too dangerous for the police and since these vamps are state-of-the-art they have an advantage; any new or faster computer that comes out, they can afford to buy it."

"That's right," Dawn agreed. "They might notice your hacking and hack you back, or notice you and leave the place we've tracked them to."

Buffy thought a moment and then agreed with Spike and Dawn. "Locating them is the main priority."

The group headed for the house.

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Wednesday 3:30 PM Buffy's

Willow had spent the entire night, and into the day, searching the records of hospitals throughout California, attempting to find information on any newly finished wings that have been built, or even the remodeling of older ones. There were several. She knew that the group had probably gotten farther away and were likely to be out of the state.

Buffy came into the kitchen. "Any luck?"

She looked up from the computer. "None that match exactly the types of places Spike mentioned, but a few might be close enough to what they use."

"Good... I mean it's something..." Buffy said optimistically. "How far?"

"Santa Barbara's the closest one."

"One hundred miles?" she asked, not convinced it would be that easy.

She nodded. "But I doubt they would have stopped at just two hours away since they'll have figured out before too long that you're the Slayer... I was about to start a West Coast search for..."

"Yes," Buffy interrupted quickly, "whatever might find him... I have to go to a staff meeting at 4:30, and then I'll have enough paperwork to take up the entire evening, but if you find any more likely places, we'll hit the road, or even the air if it's that far..."

Willow looked as though she were about to start crying. "When you ran away, we looked for months, trying to find you... and we never did, and you were just in Los Angeles. You had to come home yourself, and Xander doesn't have that option."

"We'll find him; I know it," she assured quickly. "I know it."

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9:35 PM

Xander woke suddenly, feeling a sharp prick in his arm. He was laying on a medical bed, similar to the ones used to restrain mentally unstable patients: straps at the wrist, waist, and ankles. He still wore the cloths and shoes he had been in the day before but the right sleeve to his flannel shirt was slightly torn and rolled up to bare his arm.

An older-looking, pale man wearing a doctor's coat pulled the needle from Xander's arm.

As soon as Xander remembered what had happened, he tried to sit up, still groggy from whatever drug had been in his system. His hands, legs, and waist were strapped to the bed more securely then he had expected; he couldn't move at all, let alone get free.

After Xander had been knocked out, he was thrown into the back of a car, transferred to a truck, and then given a dose of strong sedatives. They'd just arrived at the lab and workers were bringing in boxes from the trucks and unloading equipment. Someone had yet to explain to Xander exactly what was happening.

Xander continued to struggle, holding hopes that he may still get free.

"Stop that or you'll be given another sedative," warned a younger man who also had on a Doctor's lab coats. "It's not likely to set well with this shot he's just given you."

There suddenly came a pain in Xander's stomach and he obeyed the man. "What's happening?"

The older man answered with a laugh, unloading a set of beakers from a steel box half way across the large room. "You have three more shots coming before I will be telling you anything at all. It will be a little while before the forth shot, and then we'll start the experiments. I'd suggest you save your questions until the very end. Most of our subjects have a habit of overreacting and getting unduly upset. At this stage of our project, variables like that may alter the results." He began to write on some papers.

Xander felt as though he was going to be sick. His head was now pounding and the light above the table seemed to be getting brighter. The room began spinning a little, his eyes struggling to stay focused.

The younger doctor picked up a small light and came over to Xander. He held open Xander's eyes to test them with the light. He looked back to the older doctor. "Joseph," he called.

The older man looked up from his work.

"The color's changing already," he explained with a smile. Xander's eyes had become slightly tan and were slowly shifting to a golden shade of very light brown. "And the pulps are less responsive in the light."

"What are you talking about?" Xander demanded, trying to see the doctor's face clearly through the blinding light.

The younger man above him smiled again. "Oh, just the color of your eyes. The light bothers them? It's because they are beginning to change and soon..."

"Bernard!" Joseph interrupted in a scolding tone. "Remember the last person we explained things to before we were done? Especially when we begin to..." He looked to Xander with shifty eyes. He knew that he must also be careful of what to say. "... Change our little recipe so drastically," he finished slyly. "We simply cannot risk it."

Bernard nodded with a shrug as though he didn't care if Xander ever found out what was going on. He casually went back to the work he had been doing with a microscope and a blood sample.

By then, Xander's ears had begun to ring. The buzz of the light above him, combined with the bustle of boxes and other machines throughout the building, were nearly deafening. He could feel, and hear, his heart working more furiously to pump his blood.

Bernard stood again, picked up an empty needle, and jabbed it into Xander's arm, drawing some blood.

"Didn't you say experiments wouldn't start until after three more shots?" Xander asked quietly, hurting his own ears with the sound of his voice.

Bernard gave another chuckle as he removed the needle. "This is something that must be done, not really an experiment." He looked Xander right in the eyes. "You will know when the experiments have started." Silently, he went back to his work station.

Xander looked around the lab at all of the pale men moving boxes around, and setting things up as though they'd been arranging things in that same way for years.

Suddenly, a steel cage came rolling in with two workers on either side.

Inside the cage sat a man in his mid-twenties; all four limbs were chained to the floor. His fingernails were very long and sharp, his skin was a sickly shade of green, his eyes were blood-red, and his shaggy dark hair was just past his shoulders. His shirt and pants, once part of an expensive business suit, were torn a little and badly stained by blood and dirt.

"If I have to go into one more padded room I swear I'll tare out all your throats," the prisoner threatened. As he spoke, it allowed a show of his long fangs.

Joseph got up and followed the cage as they turned down a hall. "Don't worry, Lee, we won't be taking you with us to the next location. Alexander will be taking your place... You saw him in the other room on the bed, just now, and..." Joseph followed the cage through the door which closed behind him before Xander could hear the end of the sentence.

"Don't mind them," Bernard suggested, noticing that Xander had been watching what was being brought in. "He was just another patient. You're likely to meet the other three later tonight. They are, for the most part, a little more civil than Lee."

"Am I the only human here? Are there any others?" Xander asked quietly, knowing that everyone was too pale to just be ill or overworked. His voice was beginning to fade, and his throat hurt.

First, Bernard laughed at the question because he knew Xander wasn't exactly human anymore. After a moment he became a little more serious and shook his head. "As snacks in another room; none in here. This is exclusively for Vampires." He looked into his microscope. "And those who are like you: Lee, Stephen, Olivia and Tess."

One of the workers took a folded red, white, and black sheet out of a box. He proceeded to climb onto the empty counter and nail the sheet onto the wall above a row of refrigeration units. It was an antique Nazi banner .

"You're Nazis?" Xander asked nervously, trying to make his voice work through the pain. His throat was on fire; it felt like he'd just swallowed a cup of jalapeno peppers. Now his worst nightmares were truly coming true: Nazis followers combined with being changed into some sort of science experiment. Then, on top of everything else, he didn't even know how much longer he'd have a voice to scream with.

Bernard looked up. "I suppose Joseph and I have lost our accents. We have been in America for nearly half a century. The two of us were in The Party at one time. Along with twenty-three other associates, we were in charge of researching genetic mutations and allowed to experiment as we wished on human subjects. Our objective was to alter human genetic structures in order to perfect the human race and eliminate disease. We were all changed into vampires on the same evening and together agreed that we should use our talents to improve our new race. Most of our associates are still living in Europe, though a few have spread to other continents. The Vampires who are in the building just work for us. We pay them very well so they are willing to do most anything for us." He went back to his work.

Xander looked to Bernard. "Are you going to change me into something like Lee? Is he some sort of demon?" His voice couldn't stretch beyond a raspy whisper.

Bernard looked to Xander seriously. "Joseph does not want me to say exactly what is going to happen. You will be told by him, when he chooses to do so, and only as completely as he chooses. You must also keep in mind that even after we have administered each shot, any changes might not be complete or predictable. We are scientists trying to find the answers because we do not have all of the answers yet."

Xander was becoming thirsty and he hadn't eaten in more then a day. "Can I get a meal? Or at least some water?"

He looked to Xander again. "Assuming we have predicted correctly, the food will make you sick. This should to be true from now on, so don't think us inhumane for not supplying you with room service. I can hear that you are beginning to loose your voice. This should only be temporary, but, if you speak, it will only become more painful." Bernard turned back to his work.

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Thursday 1:05 AM - The Lab

For hours Xander lay quietly watching the men as they brought in boxes. His throat still burned a little and to say more then a few words at a whisper was torture. Just laying there quietly allowed the pain to fade a bit. The workers had brought in three more caged people. The only way to rate their drastically different behavior was by assuming which ones had souls and which did not.

All of them looked a little more, or a little less, like a human.

One girl had fangs, claws, and slightly pale skin but by the way she was cowering away from everyone, she also had a soul. Her shoulder length white-blonde hair was matted and her blue jeans and black shirt were dusty from sitting on so many floors.

Another man had a more human color to his skin than Lee had had, and there were no apparent claws or fangs. The shirt and pants he wore seemed like a very worn sheriff's uniform whose insignias had been ripped of worn off. His eyes were yellow, but nothing else suggested that he was a monster. The way he was tearing at his chains and growling like an animal either meant he had no soul, or that he was refusing to accept being a prisoner.

The last, a woman, looked to be in the exact same condition as Lee, but, as the second man, had a more human tone to her skin. The bottom of her long back dress was shredded from being caught under her feet so often. Her dark curly hair fell into her face as she began to incoherently muttering to herself and rock back and forth; she either had a soul or some sort of mental disorder.

In the other room he could hear most of what Joseph and Bernard were saying as long as he concentrated on only their voices.

"Why do we change our recipe, as you called it, now after so many years dealing only with Vampiric alterations? With that boy, we won't know if..."

"It's my decision," Joseph interrupted, "and our previous endeavors haven't yet been successful. We might make this one better than any Vampire could be. I have been calculating what is required to achieve this goal for many months. I have already acquired the ingredients and all other supplies, so this is what we will be working on for now."

Xander heard a door slam.

Joseph had come back in and began supervising the movement of the remaining crates.

Xander still felt sick to his stomach, but now he was much hungrier than he had been. His ears had stopped ringing and his heart was pounding more slowly. The light directly above him had been turned off within twenty minutes of his compliance with their instructions. The room itself still seemed bright, but now at least he wasn't being baked by a spot light.

Joseph left the workers and went over to an isolated beaker on the table. He picked up the beaker, held it up to the light, and swirled it. Apparently satisfied with the mixture, he picked up an empty needle and filled it with the murky, brown liquid before coming back over to Xander.

"What will this one do?" he managed to voice, wanting to know what effects would happen with the second shot.

Joseph didn't answer. He set down the needle on a table near Xander and picked up the small flash light again, testing Xander's eyes as Bernard had after the first injection.

Xander's pupils didn't react at all to the light, remaining almost fully dilated.

Bernard joined Joseph. "It looks like he is ready for the shot. This is a more reasonable span of time than was allotted our last patient." He looked to Joseph. "If this process will be at all the same as it used to be."

Joseph nodded and picked up the needle, slowly giving the second injection to Xander. "It is, but hopefully this serum will bring about better results."

Before the needle was removed, Xander could feel the effects: his skin was tingling and his heart began beating so quickly that it was painful.

Joseph pulled out the needle.

Xander made his hands into fists and casually attempted to break the restraints. His heart slowed again, this time more quickly than it had after the first shot.

"Stop that," Bernard nagged from next to a stack of empty boxes.

Xander gave up the struggle.

Joseph went back over to the same work station and opened the refrigerator, taking out another small bottle. This was filled with a red liquid. He quickly filled another, empty needle with the liquid and came back to Xander.

"Another? So soon?" Xander asked in a small voice, the pain in his throat subsiding with the effects of the second substance.

Joseph jabbed the needle into Xander's arm and, this time, gave the injection quickly.

Bernard and Joseph both took a few steps back as though expecting something disastrous to happen.

It took a moment for Xander to tell what was happening. Instead of his heart speeding up, he felt it steadily slowing. The time between beats became longer and longer, each silence spreading an icy pain through all of the muscles in his body. As the time between beats lengthened, so did the intensity of the cold and pain.

Xander had begun to squirm, panicking. The pain was becoming too unbearable to just lay there and endure. It felt like he couldn't get in enough air to keep his heart pumping. After a few more moments of the slowing, his sight began to cloud until he lost consciousness.

After he stopped moving, each scientist took a sample of Xander's blood in their own needles for testing. Bernard and Joseph went back to the stations they had been working at before administering the third shots. They each began examining the samples as though nothing out-of-the-ordinary had just happened.

"He should be awake by sunset. Then I shall give him the final shot," Joseph explained.

"If he does not wake by sunset, shall we dispose of the body in the usual manner?" Bernard asked in a bored voice, not looking up from his papers.

Joseph gave a slight nod. "Sounds reasonable. We can always find a replacement."

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6:30 PM - Sunset - Buffy's house

Willow had spent the rest of the previous day and all through the night searching for a lead. She hadn't slept for days. She'd looked through renting agencies, medical corporations, and real estate companies all along the West Coast. At sunrise she had been advised by a school-going Dawn to rest during the day and start back up in the afternoon or evening. Taking the advise, Willow had slept until 3:30 when Dawn arrived home. This allowed the cycle of research to begin again.

Dawn and Willow sat at the kitchen table together: Dawn completing school work, and Willow continuing with the search for the building. There was no way for the others to really help Willow since she was using the only computer. The others continued as normally as they could, pushing aside their worry.

Buffy came through the front door and went directly into the kitchen to see the others. "Sorry I couldn't get here faster; I had a bunch of students with after-school appointments... Any luck finding him?"

Willow looked up from the screen, her eyes still slightly blurry from lack of sleep. "Nothing solid." She wearily looked back to the screen.

Spike came up from the basement, closing the door behind him, and then joined the others in the kitchen.

"She's mainly been searching for the building," Dawn explained for Willow, looking up from her homework. "Tonight she'll take a break from the addresses to look for missing persons, overdoses, and suicides."

Buffy nodded slowly. "With so many henchmen, there's likely to be a rise in the body count of an area. That might narrow it down to search for the building."

Willow sat like a statue looking that the screen. "I'd actually be looking for Xander's murder."

"I'm no genius with a computer, but I could give it a go," Spike offered. "You need more sleep."

"No," Willow said quickly, eyes defiantly shifting to the screen again. "I can do this."

Buffy tilted her head in concern, looking at Willow more carefully. She could see the glazed stare, bags under the eyes, and pale complexion. "I know you didn't eat much of what I cooked last night, but have you had a decent meal today?"

Willow looked up and shook her head a little. "I haven't been hungry... I'm just too worried about Xander." Her eyes drifted from the screen a little and she began to slouch, finally breaking down into tears.

Buffy came to her quickly and gave her a hug. "I said this before, but we will find him... We can track him down..."

"Definitely," Spike backed. "They're just chemists, in no way magical and not even all that whitty. They're as vulnerable as any human when they insist on renting and movin' 'round so much like they were regular people."

"I've even tried a locator spell, but couldn't narrow it down to anything closer than this country. By now anything could have happened to him," she sobbed. "He might not even be human anymore, or he might be dead, or he might..." Willow couldn't speak anymore.

"You need to eat some dinner," Buffy continued, doing her best to mask her worry. "Spike offered to keep going with the computer..."

Willow gave a little sniffle and backed away from Buffy, wiping her eyes. "It's not a problem... I can handle it..." She re-positioned her hands and resumed the search.

Buffy and Dawn both gave her hopeful smiles.

"I'll make some coffee," Dawn volunteered, getting up to do the task.

"No," Spike said to Dawn. "I'll do that; you finish your lessons."

Dawn gave a groan and sat back down. She was tired of algebra, but still had a history report to look forward to after the math.

"And I'll start dinner," Buffy continued, following towards the stove.

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10:30 PM -- Tacoma, Washington in an alley

Three police cars, a fire truck, a coroner's van, a news van, and an ambulance had all managed to cram into the narrow alley to examine the crime scene.

The dead man didn't fit the profile of a drug user; he seemed well kempt with clean hair and he'd had a shave at least once in the last two days. There were no previous track-lines from drug use, but several more recent injections were evident. The whites of his eyes were red, possibly caused by trauma to the head, and no identification, cash, or credit cards were found in his wallet. The man was dead from an apparent overdose of Special-K; a syringe and glass bottle of the drug had been found next to the body.

There were no witnesses but the homicide detective questioned the person who found the body. A medical examiner snapped pictures of the corpse for evidence.

Xander heard a click in the distance, as though part of a dream, and then another click within a few seconds... Then he could hear people's voices.

The photographer was finished with the role of film and began rewinding it in the camera. He went to the lead detective. "I'm all done here. I'll head back to the station and get this developed."

Xander finally began to wake, happy to feel his heart beating at a normal pace... He opened his eyes and sat up as best he could. His head was pounding and his vision was blurred. Rubbing his eyes, all the voices around him fell silent. He looked around, able to see the crowd more clearly.

Everyone stared in shock at the man who had been dead only moments ago.

"Where…?" Xander began a little too loudly. His voice was working perfectly again. "Where am I?"

"You..." the detective began, as though about to faint. "You were dead... You've been dead for hours... This isn't possible."

He looked down at the cement he had been laying on, frightened to see an outline of his own body drawn in chalk around where he lie. Quickly, in a panic, he jumped up and put his back to the brick wall of the alley. "What happened?"

One of the paramedics stared at him as the others were doing, but then blinked a few times as though waking. "You need to go to a hospital."

Xander looked at his pale hands; it hadn't been a dream. He didn't feel any sort of need to hurt anyone, so he decided that he must still have a conscience and could trust himself not to hurt any of the people nearby. He looked back at the paramedic and shook his head. "I can't... Not to a hospital... What city am I in?"

The detective snapped out of an apparent trance he'd fallen into after the last words he'd spoken. "You can't leave yet, anyway. You have to answer some questions."

Xander rubbed his eyes again, shaking his head. He'd been in some sort of medical laboratory, so he couldn't risk meeting the group again at the hospital. He was also worried about what the Detective might ask and ultimately decide.

The Detective approached him slowly.

"Stay away from me," Xander said, flattening his hands and back against the wall. Even if he trusted himself, he still knew what had been done to him.

The Detective stopped.

The crowd gasped and began quietly chattering.

Xander could feel the bricks becoming warmer and a little soft. He pulled away from the wall, turning to see what his hands had been sinking into.

There was smoke rising from two hand-print sized, melted holes in the bricks at the exact place where Xander had rested his palms.

"Buddy, I think you'd better go with the Detective," a middle-aged, uniformed Officer told him. Taking a few steps towards him, he placed a hand on the gun at his belt.

Xander whirled around again to look at the people. "Stay away from me."

The Officer unsnapped the clasp that secured his gun in its holster and then slowly slid the weapon free. Keeping it low and un-aimed, he continued towards Xander. "Keep your hands where we..."

Xander ran as fast as he could for the end of the alley.

The Officer aimed and fired once.

The Detective charged the Officer. "Hold your fire! The man hasn't done anything wrong!"

It was too late; Xander was hit once in the right arm, near the shoulder. Unphased, he clasped a hand over the wound and kept going, barreling through the crowd with ease.

The Detective turned and followed at a run to catch up with Xander. "I don't want any back-up! NONE! I'm just gonna talk to him!" he yelled over his shoulder to all of the Officers at the crime scene. As he passed the ambulance, he grabbed a small, pre-packaged kit containing a few bandages and antiseptic wipes. He slipped it into his suit pocket as he ran, trying to catch up with the man.

Everyone left behind was still in shock, not really sure what to do now that their homicide victim had miraculously come back to life.

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10:55 PM

Xander was still running as fast as he could, which was at least twice as fast as he ever had before. The pain in his arm was also more powerful than he was accustom.

The Detective was keeping up almost effortlessly; he was young and in very good shape. "Buddy... Wait up... I just want to talk to you! Besides, you need a Doctor!"

"Had plenty of those lately," Xander called back, becoming a little dizzy. There was a surprisingly large amount of blood coming from his arm. "I don't think they like me anymore."

"Why do you say that?" the Detective asked, becoming a little short of breath.

Both of their paces had slowed significantly, and Xander, not knowing really where to run, continued down the level sidewalk. He saw a park several blocks in the distance and hoped he could make it that far and lose the trailing policeman by ducking through the dense shrubs.

"I'm not a mental patient if that's what you're thinking," Xander replied, panting a little.

"I never said you were." Now, he was very out of breath and hoped that the man would slow down a little more or just give up and talk. "We can talk just as easily, even more actually, if you just stop running."

Xander kept going, leaving a trail of blood droplets behind.

"Come on, Guy... Stop before you loose any more blood," he panted. "If you won't to go a hospital... at least let me wrap up your arm. You're not under arrest..."

"Why do you want to talk to me," Xander called, also becoming a little short of breath. The pain in his arm was making his heart practically pound out of his chest. If he was part vampire and demon now, he wasn't sure how long it would be before he got too tired to run or when the bleeding would stop.

By now both had a pace just slower than a brisk jog, and they were still three blocks from the park.

The detective was panting every few words. "Right now, I just want to fix up your arm... I don't want you... to wind up dead again... because of some old, trigger-happy beat cop... who can't score high enough on a simple test... to get the promotion to Detective!"

Xander stopped running, doubling over to catch his breath.

The Detective caught up with him and stopped too, panting more heavily than Xander. "I'm Detective Andy Thomas."

"Well, Andy," Xander began, able to breath much more easily. He flinched as he took his blood drenched hand off the gory wound. "What do you do for a gunshot?"

Andy panted a few times before speaking. "There's a bathroom in the park; it has running water to clean the wound... I grabbed some stuff to cover it, which should stop the bleeding. The bullet could have shattered the bone, so you do need to get it looked at eventually."

Xander shook his head, then turned to walk towards the park, placing his left hand back over the torn skin. He suddenly felt as though he hadn't been running at all that night and knew that after Andy bandaged him up, it wouldn't be hard to backtrack to the cheap hotel he'd seen while running.

Andy caught up at his side, more fatigued. "You must be in pretty good shape."

Xander gave a small laugh. "That trail of blood tells a different story... How much farther?"

They had crossed the street and were at the edge of the park.

"Not..." Andy began, but was interrupted by Xander tripping.

Xander's legs gave out and he fell to the ground, instinctively putting both hand out to brace for the fall. When he hit the grass, he let out a call of pain; his arm was too injured to support the weigh of the fall without terrible throbbing. Xander rolled to his back, wincing again and holding tightly to the arm.

Andy stopped and helped to pull Xander up by his good arm. "You all right?"

"Peachy," Xander said with a false, pain-filled chuckle. He regained his footing and they began again.

"Just over there," Andy said, pointing to a small building only about twenty feet away. "You haven't mentioned your name."

"Xander Harris," he answered, almost stumbling again.

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11:15 PM

They entered the restroom. There was a row of urinals and stalls, and in front of them was a line of sinks with mirrors above them. They went directly to the sinks.

Xander went up to the mirror and looked in, glad to find his reflected face staring back.

Andy started the water and grabbed some paper towels.

Xander kept staring at his face, noticing hardly any change. His face was as pale as his hands, and his eyes were a unique shade of golden-brown with a little bit of blood red near the edge of his pupils.

"Take off that flannel shirt if you can, then give me your arm," Andy requested. "After I put on the bandages you can rinse out some of the blood and put it back on to hide the injury."

Xander turned his attention back to his arm and did as he was instructed. Twisting around and grimacing the whole time, he managed to slide off the flannel shirt he had been wearing, revealing the gaping, bloody shreds of skin that were left of his upper arm. He hoped that being a vampire thing meant the wound would heal on its own before he was found by the other vampires. He extended his arm for Andy.

Andy took hold of it carefully and began cleaning the blood away with the wet paper towel.

Xander turned back to the mirror, trying to ignore the pain shooting through his arm every time the wet paper touched it. He opened his mouth a little, examining his teeth. He was happy to see that they were exactly the same as they usually were.

"Did you get something new in there?"

"What?" Xander asked, confused by the question. "What do you mean?"

"Caps or something. You're acting like your teeth should be different." Andy wrung out the bloody towel and saturated it with fresh running water. "Your cloths don't seem right for the rest of the look... Contacts like those and such pale skin usually means you'd be wearing chains, spikes, piercing everywhere, and a lot of black clothing."

Xander didn't answer; he wasn't sure how to respond. A sharp pain stabbed him in the stomach. He wrapped his uninjured arm around his middle, hoping the pressure would relax the tarring sensation.

"Are you going to be sick?"

Xander shook his head. Of all the pain he'd felt from the injections, the only one that hadn't really gone away was the ache in his stomach. He hoped that one vampire trait he hadn't inherited was the need for blood. He all ready knew that the sun was very likely to hurt him; even the weak, artificial light in the lab had seared his eyes. "I just haven't eaten in a while."

"How long?"

"What day is it?"

"Thursday." He threw the towel away and took the package of bandages and wipes out of his pocket. He started cleaning the wound with the antiseptic-soaked sheets.

"Then two days or so." The pain stabbed him again.

"You homeless?" he asked casually.

Xander shook his head. "I have a nice apartment, a good-paying job in construction, and amazing friends... That is, until Tuesday night when I was kidnapped from Southern California, and you could say that they weren't really into people-friendly conditions."

Andy was very surprised. "Do you know why they took you?"

Xander shook his head again. "If I wind up on the news or something, they'll be after me again... But my friends will probably catch the news just as fast..."

Most of the blood was cleaned away so Andy began to remove the role of bandage from the baggie. He discovered gauze had been rolled into the center of the bandages, so he began to sort out the squares. "Do you know who they were or where they took you?"

Xander shook his head again. "A hospital; some sort of a lab. I was strapped to a bed the entire time, so I didn't see enough to identify the building."

Andy placed the gauze over the hole and placed the bandage over it, wrapping the injury as he'd been taught in so many of the required first-aid classes. "The bullet passed all the way through, and it's not as serious I thought it was..." Continuing to wrap, he started the questions again. "Is that how you ended up in the alley? The kidnappers?"

"I don't really know how I got there," Xander answered. He was trying to be honest with the detective, but knew he couldn't tell much of the truth. "They gave me some sort of an injection, then I passed out and woke up in the alley."

Andy had finished wrapping up the bloody hole and released Xander's arm. "You should change the bandage again in the morning to prevent infection, and eat something sweet to rebuild your blood." He stuffed the remaining supplies back into the baggie and handed it to Xander.

Xander nodded and slipped it into his pants pocket. He didn't know if he could get an infection or if he could still eat food of any sort. "Thank you." He did know that his wallet was gone which meant no place to stay or any money to buy food, even if he still needed it.

"Your wallet is in a small bag of evidence, but there was no cash, cards, or ID... If you want it back anyway, you'll have to tell me where you're staying... There's a bank about two blocks from here that opens at seven."

Xander looked at the mirror, putting his left hand lightly over the reflection of his face, covering it almost entirely.

Andy cleared his throat a little, unsure of how to ask a slightly stupid question. "How... What did you do to that wall? I-I know you didn't dump a weapon when you were running, and you didn't have anything up your sleeves (literally)... But somehow you burnt through those bricks..."

Xander wasn't paying attention. "I wish I knew why they took me of all people in my town to use as their magnificent little lab-rat..." Xander could feel his anger finally rising. Until then, he'd just been frightened, but now he was furious.

"Xander?" Andy asked, really stumped over what the answer could be. He suddenly realized what was wrong: Xander was finally understanding what sort of violation a kidnapping is and feeling the anger that came with it. "Calm down; someone will catch the guys; might even be me if you tell me enough about them. This was attempted murder so it might still fall into my jurisdiction."

Xander took a breath, trying to lose the feeling. His hand against the mirror felt very warm and before he realized what had happened, his hand was sinking through the glass.

"What the...?" Andy asked, jumping away several steps, stopping only when he'd reached the adjacent wall.

Xander pulled his hand away, the liquefied glass and metal dribbled into the sink, revealing the blackened wall behind.

"Answer me!" Andy demanded, shaking a little in shock. "How are you doing that?"

He wasn't sure himself, but answered calmly and truthfully. "One day I got the same type of information overload. All I was trying to do then was check a book out from my school library so I wouldn't flunk math... See where it got me?" Xander was a little frightened suddenly when he realized that he could hear Andy's panicked heart pounding from so many feet away. "If you want to take that risk, then I'll answer whatever questions you ask me."

Andy didn't move, surprised by the answer. After a moment, he nodded.

"A couple blocks back I saw an open coffee shop," Xander began to suggest, "unless you know a better place…?"

Andy shook his head. "The Java House will be fine."

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11:45 PM Java House

Xander and Andy sat down at a table. Andy ordered coffee and Xander said he'd try some water first.

"Can I use your phone?" Xander asked.

"Only after we're done and I like the explanation," Andy decided.

"All right. Where do you want me to start?" Xander paused a moment.

The waitress brought the drinks and left quickly.

Xander continued, "How 'bout the basics?"

He nodded. "I'd say this was completely crazy, but mirrors and brick walls don't melt everyday, and homicide cases never end because the victim gets up and runs away."

Xander apprehensively took a sip of water, worried that it would do something to him as one of the scientists warned... He felt fine...much better, in fact. "Vampires, demons, and most other creepy things really exist."

Andy gave a smile. "I had a feeling it was going to be something like that." He took a sip of the coffee. "And what was it that landed you in your current dilemma?"

"Like I said: I was in the high school library. A new girl comes in and starts ranting all sorts of weird stuff to the new librarian..." Xander continued to explain everything about his life and friends as clearly as he could.

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Friday 12:05 AM, Buffy's House

"Oh my God!" Willow cried out in horror, staring at her computer screen, Anya equally shocked at her side.

"Come in here!" Anya called to the others, visibly shaken.

Buffy, Spike, and Dawn had all been in the living room discussing what they might do when the scientists had been located, but came back to the kitchen quickly.

"What is it?" Buffy asked urgently as they all gathered around Willow's computer, looking to the screen.

A video file was open in one side of the screen. A news article surrounded the footage.

Willow pressed the play icon, very upset about what she had just seen and was about to see again.

A female reporter stood just behind a yellow band of police tape in an alley at night. Lights were scattered around, shining on the pavement within the crime scene. The footage began at the end of the regular newscast.

"... And police have no suspects so far. This is..."

Gasps from left and right interrupted the reporter before she could say her name.

She turned around, staring in shock.

The cameraman ran closer to the yellow ribbon and zoomed into the activity, his camera focusing quickly.

The man laying within the chalk outline was sitting up and rubbing his eyes.

Buffy and Dawn both gave gasps of their own because it was Xander.

Xander jumped up... The audio wasn't good enough to pick up what Xander was saying, but his back and hands were against the wall. He jumped away from the wall, looking back to where he had been leaning.

The camera picked up the glow of two melting holes in the bricks.

A policeman shouted something at him, but Xander ran. He was shot once in the arm but kept going. A man in a suit with a long coat clearly shouted that he was just going to question Xander and then the man chased after him… The video ended.

Buffy put her hand to her mouth, speechless.

"I guess that answers if he's been changed," Dawn began sadly.

"And not just into a Vampire; vamps can't melt things like that unless they know a bit of magic," Spike finished.

"He'll probably call as soon as he can..." Willow said hopefully.

"If he's still the Xander we knew," Anya corrected. "Not all demons are so considerate."

Dawn nodded. "That footage was from over an hour ago. Besides, Spike said some of them go nuts or turn out evil."

Spike gave a nod, but Buffy shook her head.

"We're going to that city, and we'll find him," Buffy said. "Even if he's not what he was, he'll be our friend until we know anything for sure..."

Willow began to access an airline's website. "I'll order us tickets."

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12:25 AM Java House

"...And that's when I woke up in the alley," Xander finished, finally having another sip of water.

Andy's jaw was a little open and he hadn't had much more of his coffee.

"Can I use your phone now?"

Andy snapped out of his daze, not saying anything as he reached into his coat and gave Xander the cellular phone.

"Thanks," Xander said, taking it and quickly dialing.

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12:30 AM Buffy's House

Willow had finished the reservation and Anya and Dawn waited at the table as Spike and Buffy went to prepare any weapons that could be smuggled through the check-baggage at an airport...

"Ring... Ring..." the phone began.

Willow jumped up and answered the phone, confident that it would be Xander. "Hello?" Willow called into the receiver.

"Willow? It's me; I'm all right," Xander assured quickly.

"Oh, God!" Willow shouted, waking completely despite how exhausted she'd been from searching and crying. She lowered the mouthpiece and announced loudly to the house, "Xander's on the phone!"

Buffy and Spike came in from the living room and Anya and Dawn listened eagerly from the table.

Willow turned her attention back to Xander. "I'm putting you on the speaker." She pressed a button and hung up the phone. "We saw some video of you on a news website; are you all right? Spike knows about that gang, so we sort of know what's happened to you."

"I'm safe for now, I think, and in a coffee place with a police detective." Xander looked up at Andy. "I guess that if it made it on the net, something is on the local news and the Vampires will start looking for me."

Andy was staring at his coffee, still overwhelmed by the information.

Xander looked back at the table and kept his voice as low as possible so as to not alarm the few other people in the place. "They changed me into some sort of Demon!"

"I told you, we know about that. Spike worked for them about twenty years ago and told us what they do to people," Willow explained as calmly as she could. "And we..."

"Did you know they managed to kill me! The stopping my heart kind of kill!" he interrupted frantically. "That's why I was in the alley in the first place; I was a homicide case! The detective mentioned it looked like an overdose and robbery..."

Buffy chimed in. "If they think they've really killed a patient, then they cover up the murder by making it look like a different type of death, especially due to a drug overdose."

They all seemed a little frightened about what could have changed in him to make him dead.

This time Dawn continued. "How did they change you? Spike warned us that if they make mistakes..." She wasn't sure how to put it. "What they do can make people crazy and nothing like the way they were before the..."

"Not much is different, as far as I can tell, except for the burning through walls with hands," Xander interrupted, realizing exactly what type of information they wanted. He hoped to phrase it so the people who had been seated nearer to them after the monster conversation wouldn't understand what he was really talking about. "Pale skin, weird colored eyes, lights are brighter, and sounds are a louder... I woke up just a little while ago so I don't know how much else. According to both of the science-vamps, it would take four shots to get the results they wanted, but they only gave me three before dumping me. On top of that, the younger-looking one let it slip that I might not be done changing after any of the shots I've been given." He gave a small laugh and continued more quietly. "So far people aren't staring too much so I bet I look a lot better than the four other creations I spotted there."

"Do you have a pulse?" Anya asked bluntly.

Xander thought on the answer for a moment. He had died for some amount of time, but woke up with a beating heart. "Yes and it's not like there's been a slaughter yet so I'm pretty sure that means there's a soul somewhere in here, too."

"Do you know what they put in you?" Willow continued. "We realize from the burning things that there's another demon besides vampire. Could there be any others, too, or is it something else that causes it?"

"Not a clue. The two scientists were talking to each other and I think they were getting at the not just vampire in the mix sort of a thing."

"And are you on a liquid diet, or does food still set-well with you?" Spike finally asked.

There was a moment of silence. Xander wasn't sure, especially after what he was told about food making him sick. The water seemed to be setting well enough with him, but he had yet to try eating anything. "I don't know," he admitted quietly.

"Then you know you shouldn't be offended if we're cautious," Willow reminded.

"I know," Xander said with a sigh.

"I've booked a flight and we'll all be out there before sunrise..." Willow continued. "Oh... Can you..."

"Won't know until the sun comes up," he interrupted, knowing she's ask about his tolerance for sunlight. "And even then, I won't be too eager to test it with a stroll through the local park."

"Where will you be after the coffee shop?" Willow asked.

"I don't know, but check Dawn's cell phone messages when you get off the plane; by then I'll have a room of some sort..."

"We saw a man in a suit chase after you. Is that the Detective you're with now? Did you tell him anything?" Buffy asked.

"I told the Detective everything. He bandaged my arm up... You saw that I got shot?"

"Yeah, 'saw it on the video..." Spike replied.

"And what do you mean by everything?" Anya continued.

"He said he wanted to know. After a mirror and a brick wall were melted in front of the poor guy, there wasn't any other way to explain it. Besides, I don't have any money, ID, or anything else with me so I figured that the more he knew about the situation the more he might be willing to help me survive it…"

The group was a little startled about the big secret being shared with someone the entire group didn't know really well.

"I guess I'll see you when you guys get here," Xander finally said.

"All right..." Buffy said.

Willow almost didn't want to say good bye. She'd spent so much time searching for him just so she could hear his voice again, but now it was time to say good bye. "Good luck," she managed to say.

"Thanks. Bye." Xander pressed a button and handed the phone back to Andy.

Willow slowly pressed the button.

"I told you we'd find him... Technically he phoned to tell us where he was after we'd pin-pointed the city, so the result is the same," Buffy said cheerfully.

"So when is the flight, again?" Dawn asked.

Buffy looked to Dawn. "You still have school tomorrow."

"I've technically known Xander for a larger percentage of my life than you have," Dawn argued logically. "So I have as much of a right to go as either of you... Besides, tomorrow's the Friday before the huge winter vacation. So many kids are cutting classes anyway that you know teachers won't do much."

"You should join the debate team," Willow said, still close to tears over the situation but managing to give a weak smile. "I already ordered tickets for all of us," she looked to Spike with a smile, "even you because we'll be off the plane and with Xander before sunrise."

"Me, too?" Anya asked hopefully, used to felling left out.

"You, too," Willow answered her.

Buffy nodded and looked to Dawn. "Then you can go, too. I'll call us in sick at some point tomorrow morning, since it's too late to call anyone tonight."

Willow sat back down in front of the computer and connected to the internet again. "We have a few minutes before we have to leave for the flight, but I want to find what sort of demon burns things the way Xander did in that video."

"Sounds good; the rest of us will start with a few books, and hopefully that nifty website Cordelia gave you way-back-when will get something," Buffy commented.

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12:40 AM Java House

Andy slid the phone back into his pocket.

"Thank you. My friends will be here before sunrise," Xander explained, unconsciously itching at his bandage.

"Careful or it might start bleeding again," Andy warned quietly, drinking some of his lukewarm coffee.

His arm felt as though it hadn't even been injured at all. "Just in case I'm wrong, I don't want to gross anyone out so I'll be right back." Xander got up and headed for the restroom.

Andy was about to stop him, but decided instead to let Xander do whatever it is he wanted to.

Xander went over to the sink and carefully unwrapped the bandage...

The skin underneath was an irritated shade of reddish-pink, but no sign of the bullet wound remained; not even a scar.

Xander threw the bandage into the trash and went back to the table.

Andy's jaw dropped when he saw the undamaged skin exposed again.

Xander sat down quietly.

"But... but..." Andy began to stammer, staring at the bleaching skin that looked more like ground beef just an hour earlier.

"I know," Xander said quickly at a whisper. "I wasn't expecting it either..."

"Maybe we should have talked in a bar instead," Andy commented, taking a long drink of the coffee as though it were something stronger.

Xander suddenly wrapped an arm around his stomach with a wince, closing his eyes as a severe pain ripped through his entire torso.

"You all right?" Andy asked. "You're not going all monster on me, are you?"

Xander opened his eyes and shook his head as the pain lessened, but refused to go away. "We've covered that I have no cash, but if you could spot me for a night in a room somewhere, I'll pay you back when my friends get here."

Andy gave a nod, flagged down the waitress and asked for the bill. He turned back to Xander. "That'll be fine. Pay be back whenever you're able. Do you want to stay in town, or go into a suburb?"

Xander gave another small gasp of pain. "Out of town is my only request. Other than that, I'm not picky."

"Do you need anything before we go?" Andy asked. "Some food maybe? You haven't actually eaten in days and maybe you're not monster enough for a turkey sandwich to do any harm?"

Xander nodded a little. "When my friends get here, they can get me what I think I need..." He could clearly hear Andy's heart beating at a slightly accelerated rate. Xander knew that he'd be fooling himself if he thought he was part vampire and didn't need blood. "…But having a sandwich handy wouldn't hurt in case I'm wrong."

The waitress returned with the receipt.

Andy turned to her. "Can I get a turkey sandwich to-go, please? And if it's not too much trouble, could you hurry?"

She nodded and disappeared again into the kitchen to place the order.

Xander winced again, closing his eyes as he had before. He could suddenly feel the canine teeth in his mouth becoming longer and sharper, and for the first time he truly felt the urge to attack someone. He opened his eyes again, prepared for Andy's reaction. "You're taking this better then I thought you would."

Andy let out a little gasp. Xander's golden brown eyes were now bright red, and, in addition, two newly sprouted fangs were showing more clearly than before. He hid his panic as quickly as he could, trying to act as though what he was seeing was nothing out of the ordinary. "I-I might say the same about you. All these years fighting against demons to suddenly find yourself turned into one," he stammered. Andy laid down some money with a nice tip. "Can you make yourself look normal again or should we go?"

The waitress returned with a paper bag, set it on the table, and hurried back to the kitchen.

Breathing calmly, Xander felt his teeth shrinking. Running his tongue across his teeth to make sure there were normal, he in stead felt razor-sharp points on his still slightly elongated eye-teeth. He looked at Andy.

Xander's eyes were bloodshot, but nearly back to their brownish color. Andy was glad that was nearly normal again, but as soon as Xander spoke, the slight fangs were again revealed.

"We should go," Xander confessed.

Andy grabbed the sack and they left the café.

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1:30 AM Plains Motel - Room 305

The worst of the pain in Xander's stomach had passed by the time they'd made it to Andy's car, but Xander knew it would probably come back very soon. After the change in the diner, Xander's teeth remained slightly longer than usual with sharpened points at the end.

Andy followed Xander up to his room.

Xander put the special key card into the slot above the door handle and the lock was thrown. He pulled out the card and stepped inside, turning to Andy who remained in the hall. "Thanks and I will pay you back. You should watch out for more kidnappings or whatever it is that you investigate; ... homicides I guess. They'll want someone to replace me so that's what they're likely to do."

Andy pulled a business card from his pocket and handed it to Xander along with the café's bag. "Call me on that private line when you get this all straightened out, or even if your friends ends up needing police assistance. You can forget about paying me back. If you and your friends can really stop any people in my city from being killed, I'd technically be owing you."

Xander looked at the card, "Thanks," and put it in his pocket. The pain hit him again, just as it had in the cafe.

"Are you going to be all right while you're waiting for your friends? Should I stay for a while?" Andy asked.

Xander shook his head, panting as the stabbing sensation faded again. "I don't think you'd be very safe around me," he admitted slowly. He had the urge again, just as he'd had before in the café; an inviting impulse that was pressuring him to attack Andy... It was odd because he felt an urge to be violent, but not specifically to bite. He managed to shake it off.

Andy gave a little, nervous laugh. "Then I think that changes things a bit... What's to keep you from hurting some other person staying at this hotel?"

Again the instinct resurfaced, this time even more strongly. He could feel his teeth lengthening. "You've done enough for me. I shouldn't ask for anything else..." More fiercely than before, the pain hit him again; this time as forcefully as a gun shot in abdomen. He fell to his knees, dropping the sack.

Andy helped him back to his feet, edged into the room, shut the door, and led Xander to the bed.

Xander sat slightly hunched over, but still upright.

"Name it. Whatever else it is that you need..." Andy said, remaining standing, a few feet in front of Xander.

"I guess you could pass me the sandwich… May as well rule that out before I have you make any special errand for me."

Andy went to the door and picked up the bag, handing it back to Xander.

Xander reach in, unwrapped the sloppily-made sandwich, and took a bite. He chewed slowly and carefully, trying not to bite his lip or tongue with his very sharp teeth. The food tasted much better than he'd ever remembered a simple sandwich tasting… He swallowed, waiting a minute before attempting another bite.

"Better?" Andy asked.

Another few moments passed before he answered. His stomach was still rumbling, but he did start to feel a little better. He finally nodded, then took another bite with a little less apprehension. Xander was glad that the scientist had been wrong about food being what would make him sick.

"Good," he said with a happy sigh, relieved that some regular food had been all Xander was needing. "So will you be fine alone? And not a danger to any of you neighbors?"

As he looked at his sandwich before taking another bite, he felt his teeth shrink back to small points. Taking another bite, he looked at Andy and gave a nod.

Andy tossed his cell phone on the bed for Xander. "You call your friends, like I heard you say you would when you got to a hotel; I get free long distance on evenings and weekends so you can use my phone rather than the hotel's. After you've reached them, I'll head back to work and you can try to get some rest… Would you like any more food? I can bring some by when I've finished a bit of back-paperwork."

"Sure," Xander said gratefully. "Thanks again for everything you've done."

"If you're asleep, should I just leave the food on the counter and let you rest?" Andy suggested. "You really look like you need some sleep."

Xander nodded. He found the extra key-card he'd put into his pocket after checking into the room, and handed it to Andy.

Within a few minutes Xander had left a message on Dawn's phone, Andy had left, and Xander had fallen asleep on the bed.

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4:15 AM, Plains Motel - Room 305

Andy, holding a paper bag, knocked on the door, waited a moment, and used the keycard, walking inside on his own.

Xander was laying asleep on top of the bed.

Andy sat the bag down on the counter near the small-screen television and grabbed a piece of paper from the stationary pad on the desk near the window. He found the hotel-supplied pen, scribbled a note, and set to down next to the bag. He closed the curtains of the window as quietly as he could. His cell phone lay on the nightstand, so he went to pick it up and drop off the key-card before he left.

Xander seemed to be in a deep sleep, undisturbed by the activity in the room.

Andy reached down to drop the card and pick up the phone...

Before Andy could even blink, Xander was on his feet pinning him against the closet door by the throat, Andy's feet several inches off the floor.

Xander's eyes were slightly glazed over with the red drowning out both the golden-brown and the white. The strained-sneer on his face let the long fangs show, but otherwise Xander's face lacked emotion.

Andy could feel pointed claws digging into his neck. He dropped his phone, struggling and choking, but he was unable to loosen the demonic, iron grip.

A moment of realization swept through Xander's face. As he dropped Andy, his eyes faded back to brown, his teeth shrank to the small points, and the tips of his fingernails miraculously dulled and shortened in length. He took a step back, turning his head to rub his eyes.

Andy crashed to the carpeted floor, coughing and rubbing his throat. Xander's fingernails had left an imprint in his skin, but hadn't broken the surface.

Xander turned back to Andy, extending a hand to help him to his feet. "I-I'm sorry. I'm not really sure what happened."

Andy accepted the hand and was easily pulled upright. He slipped his phone back inside his pocket and cleared his throat, apparently unharmed. "I went to my favorite early-bird restaurant and picked up breakfast; it's on the counter."

Xander went to the bag on the counter and opened it, finding a few Styrofoam containers what smelled like pancakes, sausage, and eggs. Packets of syrup had been tossed in the bag on top of everything else, along with a set of utensils and napkins.

"It took a little longer than I thought it would to finish the papers." Andy watched, not sure what to talk about after the attack. "Did you hear from your friends?"

Xander shook his head, putting the bag into the refrigerator. "How far is the airport from here?"

"An hour in traffic, but if they're really going to make it here before 5:30 AM, just before rush hour starts, they might be as fast as twenty-five minutes." Andy started for the door. He cleared his throat again and rubbed his neck. "My shift is over at around 6 AM, so give me a quick call telling me they made it."

"Thank you for everything," Xander said as he followed to shut the door behind Andy.

"No problem. It's been one of the most interesting shifts I've had in a while."

A pain suddenly shot through Xander's hands. He looked at them quickly, unable to stop them from shaking a little.

"You're sure you'll be all right alone?"

Xander looked at his fingernails, noticing that they were thicker than they had been, a little longer, and possessing a slightly grayish tint. He looked back to Andy. "Yes, fine..."

Andy left and Xander threw the deadbolt on the door. He went back to the bed to sleep until his friends phoned or until the sun brightened the curtain and woke him.

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7:20 AM, Plains Motel - Room 305

There suddenly came a knocking on the door.

"Xander?" Spike called from outside.

Willow knocked again.

Xander woke slowly, sorry that he had to wake up at all. He sat up, a little disoriented. The room was extremely bright, though the windows were securely covered by the thick curtains. He glanced at the digital clock. Realizing that the sun had been in the sky for only a short time, he dreaded how much the light might hurt him later in the day.

"Are you sure you heard the right number?" Anya asked Buffy.

"Yes; '305 at the Plains Motel just outside of the city,'" Buffy quoted. "That's exactly what he said."

"Then do you think he's still in there? We said we'd be here well before sunrise but how were we supposed to know there'd be a fog delay," Anya continued.

Xander stood and, feeling a little dizzy from the shortness of his sleep, staggered as he made it to the door. He undid the bolt and opened the door. He was greeted by four loud gasps and Spike's uneasy expression. "I can't tell you how glad I am to see you."

"Y-You're so pale," Willow said, going a little pale herself. "But are you all right?"

Xander rubbed his eyes and gave a weak smile, all he could manage in his groggy, melancholy state.

The girls again made a sound, seeing his pointed teeth and the state of his fingernails. Spike still didn't seem very surprised.

Xander's smile faded with their reaction to his attempt at a simple, comforting smile. "As good as I suppose I can be... considering." He stepped a little to the side, making way for them all to enter.

The group trailed into the small room.

Xander closed the door. He left the bolt undone so his friends wouldn't feel too confined before knowing for sure that he didn't intend to kill them all. He turned back to them, not sure what to say.

"D-Do you know where the other vampires are?" Anya asked after a moment of silence.

Xander shook his head. "I was in a lab, which they called a hospital, and then, after a few shots, I was in an alley."

"How are you handling sunlight?" Buffy asked outwardly. "If you can tolerate it, we'd have a better chance of..."

"I don't know yet," Xander interrupted, rubbing his eyes again. "But the light in here really hurts my eyes."

"Even just this much?" Dawn asked, finding the room to be very dim.

Spike answered for Xander, giving a nod. "This isn't exactly a cave; even I think this is a little bright."

"They messed me up pretty good," Xander concluded.

"You mentioned that one of the scientists said that other things may change," Spike reminded. "Notice anything? You never mentioned the skin and the eyes on the phone...and we saw the teeth for ourselves"

"My fingernails look a little weird… kinda stained or tinted or something, and a lot thicker," Xander answered. "That and the teeth are about it."

"Any other abilities?" Buffy continued.

"Or disabilities," Anya added nervously, "like maybe needing blood?"

Xander shook his head. "I don't need blood, and I'm all right now."

All of the girls were trying to find words for the question that should follow. If he didn't need blood, what is it that he needs?

He knew what that question would be so he answered it before they spoke. "I was in pretty bad shape after I got off the phone with you guys and I was in the café-- it only got worse. Andy, that Detective, helped me get here and when I ate a sandwich it turned out I was fine. Later on he brought me a breakfast in a paper bag and left. I've got that part under control, but still don't know what other demons have been added to me. I heal pretty fast but that's probably still in the vampire category."

"Oh!" Willow piped in happily. "I found what demon burned things with just their hands." Willow reached into her coat pocket, unfolded a piece of paper and positioned herself closely at the side of Xander to explain her findings.

Xander looked at the sheet as Willow began pointing thing out.

"They're called Kralos." She pointed to the second photograph. "They look completely human except for their ability to burn things; it's a defense mechanism... Open your eyes wide and look at me," she instructed, looking to him.

He did as he was told.

"Kralos demons have a dark red rim around their pupils," Willow explained as she looked closely at his eyes. "And there it is in your eyes."

Xander looked back to the sheet with a nod. "Any other fun facts about them? Like if they have a hobby of incinerating people?"

Willow nodded a little. "They're usually pretty peaceful. They only use that fire trick to get away from things or defend themselves. That makes me think that if a vampire was trying to make a super-killer, they must have added other demons to their mix in order to compensate for the peaceful ones."

"So it's more likely than not that I'm Human, Kralos, Vampire, and something else?" Xander asked, looking to his friends who seemed to say yes with their expressions. "That's just great," he said sarcastically. "And they still had another shot they wanted to stick me with… I just hope that this fingernail thing is as far as the unpredicted changes is going to go after the first three shots."

Dawn nodded. "Both what was in shot four, and all the side effects, is what could alter all the theories we've put together so far about how you've been changed; Kralos, Vampires with their souls, and Humans are all fairly peaceful, but if the other creature is something really violent, that might negate the other influences. It all ready seems to have happened with sunlight. Humans and Kralos aren't allergic, or at all really sensitive to light, although you seem to be because of the Vampire."

Everyone looked at Dawn, surprised by the seemingly technical observations and how youthfully she'd explained the complex notions.

Dawn looked around nervously then gave a shrug, "That's what happens when the only book to read on the entire plane when you can't sleep is called Biotechnology for Dummies."

"So have you noticed any unusual behavior or urges? Even any problems sleeping?" Buffy continued.

Xander nodded. "When I was hungry after the café, when Andy brought me into the room, it was more like I was some sort of monster that was wanting to get loose… I felt like attacking him, but it wasn't a biting urge, just violence."

Again, the girls began to look more nervous.

"And another thing that was weird, but I wasn't very awake to remember it all or even in the position to see anything about me changed..." Xander began. "I could feel my teeth were longer and sharper and my fingernails seemed more like sharp claws..." he rambled, trying to remember.

"What happened exactly?" Spike asked, hoping to help Xander focus on narration rather than random descriptions.

"And was anything else different? Eye-color… other senses?" Willow continued.

"It was after I left the message; I was asleep... then the next thing I know, I have Andy grabbed around the throat, pinned against those closets, and I'm holding him a little ways off the floor... He seemed really light."

Again, Spike wasn't surprised, but the girls were in shock. Willow took a few steps away from him.

He continued, gesturing to the night-stand. "Andy had the spare room key when he left to go back to work. He must have been leaving the card and picking up his cell phone from the night stand.. and it was some sort of reflex."

Xander finally noticed how worried they were becoming. "Haven't any of you woken up with someone standing over you, then just sort of reacted somehow until your mind kicks into awake mode, then you do something using your brain?" Xander asked quickly.

None of them answered.

Xander figured he should give the fast translation of what he meant. "I put him down when I realized what was going on."

"That attack is the type of thing you mention right away and very clearly," Buffy explained.

Xander gave up the happy, innocent approach, his expression becoming very serious. "I'm telling you now and I think we can move on to something else."

The phone in Xander's room began to ring suddenly.

"Who has this number?" Dawn asked.

"It's under Andy's name so it couldn't be a reporter or the vampires." Xander went to the phone and picked it up. "Hello?"

"It's Andy. I did a little follow up to your kidnapping. The only two hospitals within fifty miles that are big enough for what you described, and are currently renting space for extra income, are both just three miles from my station and only have about five renters between the two of them," he explained easily. "Have your friends made it there yet? I figured since it was already sun-up they should be there."

"Yes, they just got here. I was going to call you after I was done talking to them... When I was explaining things, they had one question that I couldn't really answer."

"Ok," Andy agreed easily. "Shoot."

"When I..." he wasn't sure how to put the question, "When you tried to get your phone this morning and I attacked you, did I look different? I could feel my teeth and nails, but was there anything else?"

Andy gave a sigh, still in shock over the idea that it had happened at all. He thought another moment and answered. "Just your eyes... They were red, but not just a little near the pupils like I noticed before, or covering the brown like in the cafe, but the whites, too."

"Ok, thanks," Xander said as gratefully as he could. "Anything else you called to say?"

"I don't back vigilantes, but given the circumstances, I'll call in a few favors and have a friend of mine look into the paper trails of the latest renters in the buildings. That's only if you want me to."

"You should speak with a friend of mine on that. Hold on a sec," Xander said easily. He pulled the phone away from his ear gestured for Willow. "Andy wants to know if he should try to track them down."

Willow took the phone, introduced herself, then explained the various reasons why a trace would be bad. Amongst them she explained that if they knew anyone was trying to locate them, which was likely if someone were to dig too deep into finances, the kidnappers might run with the other victims, as well as the information needed to change Xander back.

Andy offered to track down primary information for them, and then let them do what they wanted with it.

Willow agreed, gave him her e-mail address, and thanked him for what he was doing.

They said goodbye and hung up.

"How else did you change? You mentioned it to Andy that we needed to know," Willow remembered.

"My eyes were red; he said it was the whites and the color," Xander answered shyly. He hated talking about those drastic changes as though it were a simple science experiment they were watching . For him to suddenly be a monster, the type of thing he'd always spent most of his free-time helping to kill, was the worst thing that could have ever happened to him. He was thankful that at least he didn't require blood to survive. If he did, he wasn't sure how he could bare to live with himself.

Willow nodded. "Then I'll get on the net and search the Demon databases for those characteristics until Andy gives me an e-mail."

"But first we should give this boy some more time to sleep," Spike suggested. "I'll get us the room next door."

"I'll bring the credit card," Buffy added.

Everyone but Xander left the room.

Xander locked the door behind them and happily went back into his bed.

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11:40 AM, Planes Motel - Room 303

They'd rented the larger room next to Xander's and brought up their belongings from the rented car. Andy had narrowed the five possible renters down to two; one at each of the large hospitals. They'd formulated a plan of how to find, and possibly surprise, the vampires before sunset that day. But if Xander couldn't endure the amount of light he'd be exposed to, they prepared an alternate plan that included Spike and would take place just after sunset.

Willow, in the meantime, had narrowed Xander's newly discovered traits down to five human-looking demons on the database. Without more information, searching any books or other references would be useless.

Xander was still asleep in his own room.

Willow got up from her computer, picked up a few papers she'd printed off from her portable printer, grabbed the small suit case of Xander's things that they'd brought with them, and headed for Xander's door. She knocked loudly, heard Xander get up, and the door opened. "I have a couple more questions for you, and I need to fill you in on a plan. Can I come in?"

Xander nodded and stepped aside to let her in, taking the suit case for her out of curtsy. He shut the door behind her. "What's in here?"

"Some things we brought from your apartment before the flight. We were kinda rushing so they're a little rumpled. We figured you could use a change of cloths..." She glanced back at his current wardrobe and noticed the slight stain to his white under shirt. "Or in your case a few replacement pieces."

"Thank you." Xander easily set the suitcase on his bed.

"How are you feeling?" Willow began, sitting on the small couch near the closed curtains. There were no lights on in the room to read her papers by, so she turned on the lamp next to her. She motioned for him to sit at her side.

Xander sat down beside her, squinting a little in the light.

"Anything different?" Willow asked nervously.

He shook his head. "Not unless you can see it. I've been asleep and don't feel any different so far."

"Well, Andy gave us the locations and narrowed it down to just two renters: one at each place. We figure we need to go hands-on from here to avoid the possibility of tipping them off with the computer searches."

Xander nodded. "So, what's the plan?"

"We need to know a couple more things first."

"Like what?" he asked quickly.

"Well," she began "first there's the issue of sunlight. We know your eyes are sensitive, but we want to know if that means you just need a pair of sunglasses or if you're actually going to burn."

Xander nodded again and stood, moving towards the cords that open the curtains. "So they elected you so see if I'll light up like a match?" He opened the curtains a little ways, letting the cloud-filtered sunlight pour inside. Xander turned away from the brightness, feeling his tired, already sensitive, eyes beginning to sting.

"No, it's nothing like the way you put it," Willow argued quickly. "You'd need to find out eventually, anyway... It's just that if we want to use our advantage over the other vampires, we'd have to attack during the day and that means knowing if you can go outside or not." Willow got to her feet. "You're talking like the rest of us don't like you anymore or something. That's sort of the way you've been acting since we got here."

Xander extended his arm into the light, bracing for pain of some sort... but luckily none came. The sun felt very warm to his pale, slightly cold skin but it didn't actually burn.

"You see," Willow protested with a smile. "You would have been sulking in the shadows all day if you hadn't at least tried."

Xander looked at his hand in the light and could see it quickly turning pink. His fingernails began to darken again to a slightly bluish gray before his skin then darkened to a slight red. Finally, it began to feel like he was being burnt. He pulled it back into the shadows. Even more quickly than it had burned, the color faded back to it's pale shade and the pain was gone, but his fingernails remained stained the sickly shade of gray. He looked at his other hand... Those nails had grayed as well even though they had not been in the sunlight.

Willow was sorry she'd said anything.

"You're right: I could have been sulking for five minutes at a time. Before I told Andy what was going on, he said I didn't look like the type to have strange contacts. Now I really look the role: pale skin, fangs, weird contacts, and blackish nails. All I need now is a long black coat and I'd be a hit at any Halloween party." He closed the curtains again with a sigh, trying to calm down a little. Willow was right, he hadn't been treating any of them like he usually did. "What are the other questions?" Xander took a seat on the wooden chair at the desk across from Willow.

Willow sat down again on the couch, matching Xander's irritable tone. "Can you control what you burn with your hands?"

"Yes. I haven't tried to control the amount of heat, but I can make things burn when I want; that is to say, I've only done it twice and one time was when I pretty much wanted to destroy something."

"Do you think the vampires know you can do that?"

Xander shrugged. "They were talking in another room and one of them mentioned something about really changing the recipe, and the other one confessed that they didn't know what to expect. I think I'm the first one to have another demon mixed with a vampire. Why does it matter if they know?"

"Well, I asked because Buffy wants you to go with her and Spike to patrol a park near one of the hospitals where they might be hiding. We know there are a lot of followers and if they know you can do that, they'd know to keep clear of your hands. If you did end up fighting one of them, or any vampire right now, you might be able to just give 'em a pat on the back and then snap, crackle, pop to a pile of cinders."

Xander nodded with a slightly surprised expression. "You're right; I'd be pretty safe. If I can liquefy a mirror and have my hands sink into a brick wall, it shouldn't be too hard to set a vampire on fire... I guess I'd be up for that." He gave a small yawn. "What are those papers?"

"Oh," she exclaimed rather loudly, having completely forgotten. Willow handed the small stack to him.

He flipped through them slowly.

"That's all the information I've found on Kralos demons. It's a pretty complete document; there's some biological information and..."

"Great," Xander interrupted, dropping the pile of papers onto the desk before turning right back to Willow. He returned to the slightly irritable manner that he'd greeted her with before.

Willow was a little surprised. "I-I'm just trying to help you in the only way I really can for now: finding the information everyone else wants to know and what I figured you'd want to know."

"I just don't want to talk about this anymore unless it's going to be about some way of getting me back to normal. If anything changes any more, then I'll be sure to let you all know."

"What can I do for you?" Willow asked as though exhausted by her efforts. "Just tell me; I want to help you in some way... I don't know any magic that might work in this case, but I could look..."

"For now, you and the others can get some sleep," Xander explained, finally softening his manner. "I can tell that you haven't slept for a while, and even if you napped on then plane you couldn't have slept for long."

Willow gave in to the yawn she'd been fighting for the last hour. "I think you may be right." She stood, preparing to leave. "What about you?"

Xander sighed, also standing. "I've been groggy since last night, and I haven't exactly gotten an un-interrupted block of sleep." He gave a small laugh, "That's actually not much different from my usual schedule back in Sunnydale."

Willow nodded with a small smile, again matching his mood (this time being unenthusiastically optimistic). "I'll suggest it to the others... Regardless of what we end up doing in your room, I'll wake you around 5 PM so we can make a solid plan and have time to get organized before you three patrol at sunset." She headed for the door and opened it.

Xander followed.

Willow was nearly in the hall before he stopped her with a light hand on the shoulder. She turned.

"Thank you for talking with me; I know I'm kinda' being a pain... I told Dawn one time how hard it was to be the one in this group without any special ability or power, but I have to say this was not what I ever expected to be stuck with in the strength category," Xander finally admitted.

Willow was again surprised by his comments. "You should have realized from what I went through, with my magic nearly destroying the world, that power isn't what it's cracked up to be."

Xander shook his head. "At least you had it, that's what I thought: at least you could do something that made an instant difference in the big picture. All I ever did was get really good at talking and nailing things back together to save a buck."

"When I could make the most difference, I ended up doing the most damage. You stopped me from destroying the world just by your ability to talk," Willow reminded. "And I doubt you could have ended the world at any moment with that gift. But now, with your new abilities, you might end up inadvertently breaking more things than you can fix." Suddenly, she gave a little smile and finished, "I basically mean that the 'you break it, you bought it' rule applies. Be careful of what you try to do."

Xander looked at her sadly. "I'll see you later."

She reluctantly nodded.

He shut the door and went back to bed.

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