Men To Miss
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Xander used the last two weeks of February to ‘heal,’ but in actuality, most of that alone time was spent working on his café racer motorbike. Not that he didn’t enjoy Cordelia, Willow, and Buffy taking care of his every need during his bed rest. They repeatedly asked if he needed anything and brought him all his meals. Cordelia would give him a blowjob when they were alone. Willow would explain her thoughts on rune schemes, and Buffy clowned around, often falling into comedic rabbit holes with him. Xander enjoyed their physical and emotional care of him, like a dehydrated man relished the life-sustaining taste of water. The girls even wanted to help fill the empty space of his bare home since he got rid of nearly everything.
When Xander finally heard the message from Jenny claiming she was close to reconstructing the Ritual of Restoration curse, he walked to his closet, unlocked the black chest, and suited up, fitting his camo scarf to his nose before leaving. As Nox, he surveilled the woman from afar as she went home, left to buy groceries, went to the magic shop, and finally returned to school. Nox was outside of the school, leaning against the wall just underneath the windowsill of Jenny’s classroom. With his enhanced hearing, he heard her tapping away at her keyboard, and waited for what he knew would happen.
Thus, he wasn’t surprised when he heard Jenny gasp before asking, “Angel… How did you get in here?”
“I was invited,” Angelus’ voice coolly answered as Nox casually pushed off the wall and walked to the open window of the neighboring classroom. He effortlessly leaped inside the empty classroom as he heard Angelus through the walls snidely say, “The sign in front of the school: ‘Formatia Trans Sicere Educatorum.’ Enter all ye who seek knowledge.” Angelus laughed and clapped his hands as he added, “What can I say? I’m a knowledge-seeker.”
Throughout Angelus’ mocking speech, Xander walked through the classroom, into the hallway, and straight to the computer room. Amping up his power through his ring, Nox kicked the door open—stunning Jenny and alarming Angelus—before he asserted, “Hello, class. I’m your substitute teacher, Mr. Here-To-Kick-Your-Ass. All vampires please line up.”
Despite threatening the use of fisticuffs, Nox unsheathed Hellguard from his lower back, making the Viking dagger visible to the blood-sucking demon. Itching to pay Angelus back for breaking his neck, Nox threw Hellguard at the vampire, who dodged it with a head slip. However, Angelus couldn’t be sure Nox would call it back, and split his focus on the weapon and Nox. The dagger embedded into the wall just as Xander fluidly went low with a leg attack, throwing the vampire off just as the teen warrior punched Angelus’ jaw with all of his supernatural force.
All three of them heard the cracking of bones and knew his jaw bone was fractured as he hit the floor, violently shuffling all the desks aside. The vampire clutched at his face as he rushed to his feet just in time to be kicked in the chest with all the strength Nox’s magically enhanced body could produce. Though he heard several more thudded cracks just before Angelus blasted through the window, it was clear the blow wasn’t critical, or Xander would’ve looped back. Broken glass and dust blew outward as Angelus hit the soft grass outside.
Walking to the damaged window, Nox saw the vampire rolling on the ground, clutching at his chest and groaning in obvious pain. Nox wouldn’t be surprised if a bone punctured something. He summoned Hellguard back with his free hand as he called out, “Class dismissed, bitch.”
Nox grabbed the Orb of Thesulah, handed it to a shaken Jenny, and took her hand before walking toward the exit. As the humans walked out of the classroom, Angelus was, somehow, still capable of laughing maniacally behind them. It was a gargled, high-pitched, heaving laughter and Nox didn’t know how he had the energy, but was glad that’s all he did. Xander really didn’t want to risk looping back because the vampire’s ego wouldn’t allow him to take a loss.
Nox clipped his invisible Dreadnought on his scrambler before the pair rode away from the school, straight to Giles’ apartment. Jenny was quiet throughout the trip, right up to Giles’ door, and Xander just held her hand. The disguised teen made certain his camo scarf covered up to his nose, his beanie was down to his eyebrows, and his hood was up—covering his face in shadow—before knocking. When Giles opened the door, Nox barged in with the shaken Jenny in tow.
“Mr. Nox? Jen- Ms. Calendar,” Giles stuttered, surprised by the unexpected visit but still upset by Jenny’s betrayal nearly two months ago.
Nox led Jenny straight to the couch in the living room while an alert Giles followed. The Englishman was curious to know what had happened, and Nox quickly answered in his augmented voice, “I need to hide her here.”
Observing a frazzled Jenny for a moment, Giles turned to Nox and asked, “A-and why would that be?”
“Angelus nearly killed her tonight,” Nox simply replied, making Giles stand straighter, touched by deep concern. “They either know she’s helping me or they’re just targeting her because of her connection to the Slayer.”
Suspicious of her, Giles asked Jenny, “How long have you been helping him?” He didn’t allow her to respond before turning to Nox and asking, “Helping you to do what, if I may ask?”
“Restore Angel’s soul.”
That cut through Giles’ disappointment with the beautiful teacher and he gasped, “My word. Can you do that?”
Nodding to the shaken woman, Nox answered, “She can. That’s why I asked for her help.” Giles seemed somewhat ashamed, as if reconsidering his treatment of her. He looked at Jenny with more humility than he had before as Nox stated, “Listen, I need to get back out there.”
“Of course,” Giles rushed to say. Gazing at Jenny with more acceptance, the Watcher confirmed, “I’ll guard her with my life.”
Jenny’s face softened as she returned a grateful grin.
“Good,” Nox replied in his gruff voice, though happy for their positive step. “I would’ve taken her to the Slayer’s house, but I couldn’t be sure if she invited Angel into her home or not.”
Almost not even paying attention to what Nox said, Giles casually answered, “Well, yes, I do believe-” But then it struck the Englishman: that Angelus—as much as Angel—would have an invitation to enter Buffy’s home whenever he wanted. “Dear God,” Giles gasped with growing worry.
Nox’s glowing eyes stared at Giles in disbelief before cynically asking, “Did none of you think he might be able to enter her home as Angelus?” Rather than feel embarrassed, the uneasy Watcher seemed more afraid of the potential outcome, and hurriedly moved toward his phone. As the older man entered his kitchen, Xander pushed on to say, “You need to find a spell to reverse an invitation. In the meantime, the Slayer and anyone else who invited the vampire into their home needs to stay in another house. Someone smart enough not to invite a vampire into their home.”
As Giles grabbed the kitchen phone’s receiver, he asserted, “I- uh, suppose Buffy can stay here.”
“And the Slayer’s mother?” Nox interrupted.
“That… would be more challenging to explain,” Giles admitted, pausing a moment to consider what he’ll say.
Curious, Jenny asked Nox, “What about your place?”
Within the darkness of his hood, all she could see was Nox shaking his head like two fireflies moving left and right in perfect synchronicity. “There’s a reason I don’t invite strangers into my home, Janna. The minute others learn where I hang my axe, I’m compromised.”
“We wouldn’t be strangers if you opened up to us more,” Jenny voiced, though a touch embarrassed.
Nox looked at her with no change in his glowing eye’s expression, allowing her to realize on her own how that wouldn’t be happening. After the silent moment, he said, “I gotta go.” He asked Jenny, “Are you good?” The raven-haired woman nodded gratefully before Nox warned, “Don’t go out alone—no matter what. They’re after you for a reason.”
She nodded, and he left without another word. Knowing what would happen, Xander raced to his mansion to park his scrambler, then took a taxi back home. Rushing into his living room, he found that he’d already missed four calls from Giles. Xander changed out of his Nox gear before calling back.
“What’s up, G-Man?” Xander started. “I just got back from the comic book store- Yeah, I know, I know. Nothing happened, though. I saw you called. What’s up?”
The Watcher explained with urgency the freedom Angelus has to enter not only Buffy’s home, but Willow’s as well. He asked if Buffy and her mother could spend the night at his house. Giles, Jenny, and Willow had found a ritual spell that would revoke Angelus’ invitation. However, they needed a few hours to gather all the materials before performing the spell on the two houses.
Xander replied, “Yeah, yeah. Bring ‘em over. Which cover story are we using for Mrs. S?”
Giles answered, “Uh- ah, gas leak.”
“Got it,” Xander casually replied.
Buffy and Joyce arrived twenty minutes later and Xander hailed the beautiful blondes with a booming, “Welcome to Casa de Harris!” He hugged the mother and daughter before commiserating, “Super sorry to hear about the gas leak, Misses S.”
“I appreciate that, Xander,” Joyce gratefully returned. “And thank you for letting us stay in your home. I hope we’re not imposing. I know this is so last minute.”
“Pish posh! Of course not,” Xander replied, with a wave of his hand. “I’m happy to help. I know it’s only for the night, but make yourselves at home,” he added, before taking their bags. After showing them the living room and the kitchen, he led them upstairs to the guest rooms as Xander humorously disclosed, “There are no bedtimes in casa de Harris. Only fun times, which includes—but isn’t limited to—candy before meals and root beer floats after. Don’t worry, I have PB&J for you, Buffy. Kitchen’s always open, so breakfast, lunch, and dinner are whenever you want. I tried getting you a nice bottle of wine, Mrs. S, but I couldn’t find a clerk who’d sell to a minor on short notice.”
“Oh, my- Xander!” the surprised, yet amused, mother called. She shook her head mirthfully as she stated, “Don’t even joke like that.”
“Yes, Mrs. S.,” Xander sang with a wide grin before opening the door to her room.
Joyce walked into the simple yet clean room and set her bag down on the perfectly made bed. The walls were painted a rich, deep blue with a beige line that matched the ceiling and carpet, bisecting it. Aside from the full-sized bed, there was a dark brown nightstand with a matching chest at the foot of the bed and a chest-of-drawers against the wall. There was a full-length standing mirror in the corner and a framed poster of the Millennium Falcon from Star Wars hung up. When Cordelia, Willow, and Buffy were helping him decorate his house, they fought his rich geek culture, but the teenage boy had managed to have at least one pop-culture memorabilia in every room.
Turning about—impressed with the pleasant scent and tidiness of the room—Joyce walked up to Xander, took his hand, and earnestly expressed, “Xander, I want you to know that if you need anything—and I mean anything—do not hesitate to call me.” The caring mother huffed, as if annoyed by a thought before affirming, “They may be your parents, but leaving you like this… It’s wrong, Xander. And you have our support any time you need it.”
Truly touched by her kindness—so touched, he forgot about being stuck in a time prison for over a hundred years—Xander smiled from the heart before expressing, “Thanks Mrs. S. I appreciate that.” She nodded and let go of his hand before he added, “It’s not so bad—living alone, I mean. It’s definitely been an adjustment, but not too bad.”
“May I ask,” Joyce began with concern in her green eyes. “How are you doing with everything? Bills, food-”
“Mom! Isn’t that kinda personal?” a concerned Buffy quickly asked.
“Sweety, I’m not trying to embarrass your friend,” Joyce began. “But as an adult, I can’t ignore this.” Turning to Xander, she pleaded, “I hope you can understand, Xander, I have to make certain you’re okay.”
“Yeah, no, I get it,” Xander assured his friend. “It’s fine by me.”
Xander gave them the grand tour while explaining how the house was already paid off, and with the money he earned from his part-time job, he could pay all the bills without problems. When Joyce asked what his part-time job was, he felt compelled to share with her and Buffy that he’d been working at Wild Dinks making chef knives. Buffy couldn’t believe he was working at a metal shop, but when Xander showed Joyce the bike he was nearly done rebuilding, it made more sense to his friend. To say Joyce was thoroughly impressed by his level of maturity was an understatement.
After leaving the Summers girls to get settled in, Xander was in the garage, working on the leather seat of his motorbike. Before long, Buffy walked in and watched him screw the leather seat on; one of the last stages of completing his cafe racer build. The gas tank was on the workbench and there was still some electrical wiring that needed to be connected, but it was evident to the Slayer that he was nearly done.
As he focused on securing the black leather seat, Xander asked, “How’re you holding up?”
“I’m not,” she glumly replied. “But I’ll manage.”
Xander understood why she seemed down. Staying with her mother while Giles, Jenny, and Willow risked their lives to safeguard her home made the Slayer feel powerless, which then made her anxious. Waiting went against her nature as a teenage girl, let alone a supernatural fighter.
“You’re where you need to be, with your mom,” Xander assured her. “They’ll be fine. And if anything happens, they’ll call.”
“I know,” she glumly admitted.
His hands stopped working before he kindly offered, “You know I’m here if you ever need a shoulder, right?”
“I do,” she gratefully said. Looking over his motorcycle, she embellished, “I’m more wowed by this chrome beauty. I still can’t believe you actually built a motorcycle. It was just a rusty pile of junk a few weeks ago. I had no idea you could do this.”
“Yeah, you and me both,” he said, smiling with a sense of accomplishment.
Despite the exhaustion of living in a time loop, there were moments when completing a project, whether a weapon, motorcycle, or accessory, gave him a great sense of accomplishment. He was proud to see the end results of his hard work. If only he could translate that into escaping the time braid.
Clearing his throat, he informed Buffy, “It should be good to go by tomorrow.”
“Color me a pink shade of impressed,” she boasted with a bright smile. Gazing at the gorgeous cafe racer, the Slayer confidently asserted, “All the girls are going to line up for a ride on this.”
Xander snorted before reminding her, “I’m still a geek, Buffy. The sworn enemy of all that is cool and dateable. Only now, I’m a geek with a steady mode of transportation. Plus, smooches must be easier in a car than on a bike.”
With a cute uptick of her chin, the pretty blonde replied, “As a girl, I can confidently say we’d happily make that sacrifice.”
Setting down the ratchet, Xander leaned on his bike and inspected Buffy carefully before asking, “Since when have you been into motorcycles?”
The blonde shied away from his observant gaze before hesitantly confessing, “I… I w-wouldn’t say I’m into them, more or less. Just…”
“Nox?” Xander bluntly spoke.
“What?” the taken girl replied.
“That’s why I got one,” Xander explained, easing her rising anxiety. “His is just so cool.”
Feeling more relaxed, Buffy nodded happily before asserting, “Yeah, his is pretty cool. But wanting one and knowing how to rebuild one are two entirely different things.”
“You got me there,” he returned, grabbing the ratchet to continue screwing the seat in place. “But working around the house made me realize I’m actually pretty decent with my hands; like, I can build stuff.”
“I can totally see that about you,” Buffy genuinely stated before joking, “Now all you need is a battleaxe and you’re set to slay.”
Snorting, the teen boy returned, “Well, the super strength, speed, agility, magic, fighting ability, and glowie eyes would help.” Buffy smiled and Xander took that opportunity to say, “Hey, Buff, I’ve been thinking…”
“Uh oh,” she teased.
“I know,” he gasped. “Prospecting for new thoughts is always dangerous work.”
She shook her head mirthfully before asking, “What’s up?”
As tenderly as he could, Xander asked, “Do you ever think about telling your mom the truth? About being the Slayer?” She stood straighter and her eyebrows raised, but before she could say anything, he added, “I mean, I can understand why you want to keep her away from dark stuff of that world, but, it’s hard to deny she’d be better able to handle spur-of-the-moment things if she knew what she was dealing with.”
“No,” Buffy started, automatically shaking her head. “No, no, no. I can’t even think about that without hyperventilating; we’re talking major wiggins here.”
“Yeah, I get that,” he agreed, watching the girl have a mini panic attack. “It’s obviously up to you. I’m just scared Angelus might visit when you’re not around and trick her into inviting him in.”
“Great,” she called out, throwing her hands up in growing distress. “Thank you very much for the nightmares I can expect to have for the next month.”
Leaning down to look the worried girl in the eyes, Xander asserted with considerate certainty, “Nothing’s going to happen, Buffy. Your Ragtag Scooby Gang won’t let it.” Her small smile was enough for him to continue. “I just thought I’d bring it up because… I think you and your mom can take on anything together. Summers girls don’t have that quit in them.”
Grateful for his encouraging words, Buffy expressed, “Thanks, Xander. You really are a great friend.” With a smile, she added, “FYI, you should expect mom to invite you to a lot of dinners. Declining is not optional.”
“She’s really worried, huh?”
“How’d you think that was going to go? You mentioned eating candy before dinner and root beer floats after,” she playfully argued. “You totally triggered her mom instincts. She may not be able to sleep tonight.”
“I guess she’s not a Super Mom for nothing,” he teased.
With a smile, the blonde asked, “Who told you to start adulting before the rest of us?”
“It definitely wasn’t in any plans I drew up,” Xander positively assured her with a big shrug. “I had my money on-”
“Willow,” they both finished, smiling.
Xander continued, asking, “Do girls even like responsible guys? Aren’t you lovely ladies all about the bad boys like Angel, Nox, that guy from Dirty Dancing-”
“Mmn, Johnny Castle is a dream,” Buffy quickly interjected, clutching at her chest with both hands. At Xander’s raised eyebrows, she quickly added, “If you’re into a frequent amount of crying and fighting, I mean.”
Confused, Xander slowly but genuinely asked, “Aren’t you?”
Buffy’s eyes became serious in thought for a moment, then shook her head in recoil. She planted her palm on his shoulder and assured her friend, “Xander, you have your own place, your own ride, you work, and you’re only seventeen. There’s not a doubt in my mind you’re a mega catch.”
“Maybe for thirty-year-olds who’ve already gone through their Johnny Castle phase,” he replied. “How about you?”
“Me?” she repeated, taken by his insinuation. “…Me? What-”
Easing the teasing, he elaborated, “I mean, have you thought about getting back on the love horse?”
“Oh,” she said, before focusing on his odd choice of words. “Please don’t call it a love horse.”
“The Mighty Horse of Love,” he retried, enunciating every letter of the word ‘love.’
“That’s not any better,” she said with a snorting laugh.
“Some stallions are worth the rough ride,” he continued, teasing with a grin.
“God, you’re only making it worse,” the humored girl replied. Xander remained silent and Buffy had a sobering thought before sharing, “I don’t think I’m ready yet. And that’s putting it mildly.”
Xander figured as much. Her heart-crushing moments were no longer surprising to him. Losing Angel—her greatest love—made Buffy act irrationally, like leaving Sunnydale for the summer, ‘coping’ with a neutered Spike, or, now, ‘coping’ with Nox. In that same breath, Cordelia had talked with that jock, Doug Jeffries, when she was pissed at him. And even Jenny slept with Xander when Giles ostracized her.
He joked by saying, “Soooo, you don’t think you’re ready to hop back on that mighty love steed?” As Buffy snorted and rolled her eyes, Xander somberly thought, ‘Are we all just too messed up to figure out love? And if so, does that mean it’s too late to have something good and wholesome?’
The room fell silent when Buffy took his hand, bringing him out of his thoughts as she stared deeply into his chocolate eyes. Her beautiful face was sincere and remorseful as she expressed with genuine tenderness, “I wasn’t ready to kill Angelus before. I can’t put it into words why, but I just couldn’t. But then he took you… I thought you were dead, Xander… dead because of me… because he wanted to taunt me.”
“I’m alive ten times over because of you,” he reminded her.
“No, please,” she argued, squeezing his hand for emphasis. “When you have to do what I do, all it takes is the one time where I don’t make it. I wasn’t ready to let Angel go, and I almost lost you because of it. You have my word: I’ll never let anything like that happen to you again.”
In an endless void of mundane monotony, Xander was surprisingly touched by her declaration. Her greenish-blue eyes were so serious, and her will to protect him at all costs was almost palpable. It was so rare for Xander to see that level of determination from her, making him wonder if this friendship direction wasn’t the way to go. However, he couldn’t deny that the Nox route to Buffy also worked; faster too.
An errant thought asked, ‘Which wolf am I feeding?’
Xander set aside the confusion over the two psyches to assure Buffy, “You don’t have to make that kind of promise—not to me, anyway.” He took her other hand, and with just as much openness, returned, “I know where we live, and what our extra-curricular activities are. We protect this town and everyone in it—without brownie points, might I add—but that comes with risks… serious risks. You’re my hero, Buffy, and I’ll protect you as much as you protect anyone.”
Swelling with gratitude, Buffy hugged him around his torso, saying, “Anybody ever tell you you’re really good at cheering people up?”
They hugged in his garage for several moments before going back to chatting about mundane things while he worked on his bike. Willow came over when she, Jenny, and Giles finished performing the reverse invitation spell on the two houses. The three friends watched a movie together and ended up falling asleep on the couch.
Xander continued his double life with one foot in the day-life with the Scooby Gang, and the other rogue foot firmly in the night-life as Nox. Going to school on his customized motorcycle boosted Xander’s popularity by a wide margin, as did letting Cordelia and Buffy clothe him to match his black, red, and pale gold cafe racer. Xander eventually showed his friends the forge he worked in, and overall, he got to spend more time with them during the day.
At night—when he wasn’t balls deep inside of Cordelia—Xander was patrolling the streets of Sunnydale as Nox, slaying vampires, and the occasional demon. He avoided Buffy in part because he didn’t want to keep being that sexual crutch for her when she was clearly trying to put Angelus & the ensouling curse behind her. But he was also avoiding her because the Scoobies’ plans weren’t aligned with Nox’s.
Nox met with Giles and Jenny days later at the Englishman’s apartment. The three were in his living room with the lights turned off, at Nox’s request. Not that Xander didn’t have confidence in his disguise, but it didn’t hurt to play it safe whenever possible. Jenny was seated on the couch, Giles standing behind her, and they both watched Nox pacing in front of them. They followed the luminance of his eyes as he explained wanting to test the ensouling ritual on Drusilla before doing so on Angel.
“Drusilla is the only thing holding those two together,” Nox elaborated. “Without her, Spike and Angelus will just fight each other. That’s better for us.”
Giles countered with, “Or they’ll put aside their enmity and combine their efforts to retrieve her.”
“Without Drusilla, they’re fractured,” Nox insisted. “Spike, especially, will do anything for her, which leaves Angelus exposed. After we know for sure the ritual works, we can do Angel next, then Spike.”
Jenny shared a concerned look with Giles before asking the pacing man in black, “Why ensoul Spike?”
“Why not?” Nox argued. “Look, if you do Angel first, it’ll be exactly how it was before: the Spike and Drusilla show. Take Drusilla out first, and I promise you Spike and Angelus will fight each other as much as they try to fight us. Ensouling Drusilla, then Angel, and finally Spike, is the best strategy here.”
“That may very well be,” Giles stated, cleaning his glasses. “But I’ll have to discuss this with the others.”
“Fine. Let me know,” Nox said with a nod.
“Will you be around?” Jenny asked.
Nox moved to leave as he ignored her to say, “You have one orb right now. I’ll get my hands on another two soon.”
The following day, the Scooby Gang had a meeting after school to discuss who to ensoul first—Angel or Drusilla. At the center table in the library, Giles—with Jenny by his side—explained to the teens Nox’s point of view, and after a quick discussion, they all voted on a plan of action. That night, Nox made certain that Buffy found him, and though he knew what she was going to tell him, he still acted annoyed when Buffy said they were going to ensoul Angel first. He kept an arm’s length away from the Slayer, pacing in annoyance, but Buffy seemed understanding, and waited patiently for him to speak.
After several moments, Nox couldn’t help but ask, “Did you even hear the argument against Angel first?”
“I did,” she kindly answered. “But we all agreed Angel should be rescued first.”
Nox stepped close to her, eying her sternly—making his eyes brighter for emphasis—before he accused, “If this has more to do with you getting your boyfriend-”
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“It doesn’t,” she quickly assured him, shaking her head. “It doesn’t. I promise. But he’s still a friend. And we save our friends.”
Nox had nothing to say to that, and thus turned to leave. Though Buffy appeared to want something more from him—to keep talking—she held her tongue and watched him go. In the following days, Buffy became very ill and needed to be hospitalized. Xander knew why and what to expect, so he spent most of his free time constructing rune schemes while his friends played their parts against the evils of the child-eating Der Kindestod. The time looper absentmindedly spoke the words he needed to say and helped the group as needed, all the while focused on the powerful runes in his head.
Xander was seated outside of Buffy’s room, sketching how he expected to weave the runes into his Nox gear. His hands stopped writing when he felt a depression in the air, like a subtle chill crawling over his skin, like the safety and security in the room was suddenly sucked out. He was like prey who couldn’t see their predator stalking them. Then he saw Angelus walking toward him from the other end of the hall. With a sigh, Xander put his notebook away before standing in front of Buffy’s hospital room like a bouncer. Angelus was surprised to see him, raising his eyebrows before smiling cynically.
The confused vampire stopped right in front of the teenager and cheerfully teased with psychotic undertones, “Xander, Xander, Xander, you’re a funny little boy.” He inspected him from head to toe before stating, “You should be dead.”
Unbothered by how close Angelus was, Xander casually pointed out, “Well, you are dead and still walking around; being annoying. So what’s death, really?”
“I’d be happy to show you,” Angelus offered, tilting his head menacingly with his cruel smile.
Unfazed by the intimidation, Xander returned, “The feeling’s mutual.”
Angelus smiled before stating, “Another time.”
The tall vampire attempted to bypass Xander and enter Buffy’s room, clearly believing nothing a mere mortal did could be enough to stop him. Angelus wore his malice and villainy like a badge of honor, bullying those around him. However, Xander was long past being cowed, and stepped in front of the cruel demon.
“Visiting hours are over,” Xander tauntingly said.
Angelus turned to the teen slowly before asserting, “Well, I’m pretty much family.”
Xander didn’t move, remarking, “Anyone she calls family are able to visit during the day.”
Angelus smiled broadly, showing plenty of his pearly teeth before stepping back to impress upon the teen paladin, “If I decide to walk in there, do you think for a microsecond that you could do anything to stop me?”
Xander was now facing the downside of giving Nox all the credit for his fighting prowess. He was confident he could stop Angelus from entering the room, but the vampire didn’t know that, nor would he believe him if he claimed as much. Xander had to rely on using his surroundings to bluff the tall vampire.
“Maybe not,” Xander forced himself to say. “Maybe that security guard couldn’t either, or those cops. Or all the orderlies... I’m kind of curious to find out. You game?”
“Buffy’s White Knight,” Angelus taunted. “Guys like you are so hopeless, it’s tragic. It wouldn’t surprise me if you stuck to her for the rest of your life because she’ll always be better than anything your pathetic, insignificant life could amount to. I’ve seen so many of you throughout my years, and it always makes me laugh when a girl as delicious as Buffy gives it up to a piece of shit like me instead of a doormat like you.”
Due to how accurate the vampire’s evaluation was of the way he used to be, Xander mirrored Angelus’ smile. The raven-haired time looper certainly didn’t feel like a doormat anymore. Other than feeling as if Buffy was, somehow, the key to getting out, Xander didn’t believe he was still in love with her. He was using her to get out, and that wasn’t love. Nor was the top-shelf sex he had with her about being in love. Everything was about getting out. So, it was funny how much had changed since his pathetic years.
‘It’s not love,’ he mentally emphasized with finality before telling Angelus, “I’m sure you don’t hear this enough, but I’m glad you’re here, Dead Boy, because Angel was the biggest threat. He was good for her, but now he’s gone, and you’re nothing but a failure in every way that matters. So, thanks.”
“The next time I kill you, I’m going to make sure she watches,” Angelus threatened. “Tell her I dropped by,” he finished, then left.
Buffy and Xander handled the Kindestod together, as they had in previous loops, and though he enjoyed carrying her sickly body, princess style, back to her room, nothing new changed, so it all bored him. Days later, Xander, dressed as Nox, rode his black scrambler to the cemetery he knew Buffy would be patrolling. She was walking the trail leading away from the plots with Slaymore strapped to her hip, likely finished patrolling that cemetery.
Buffy turned to the sound of his motorcycle approaching, and when he was beside her, he said, “Heard you were sick. Doesn’t usually happen to Slayers. Must’ve been a pretty mean bug.”
Tilting her head daintily and clasping her hands behind her back as she leaned forward, she cooed, “Aww, you worried about me?”
“Of course,” he bluntly stated, making her eyebrows spring up in surprise. “You’re the only slayer around. You know how much more work I’d have without you here?”
Buffy rolled her eyes as she sarcastically replied, “Just what every girl wants to hear.” Nox shrugged and she continued, “I’m much better now. Thanks for asking.”
Indifferent to her teasing, Nox moved on to business, asking, “When will Janna perform the soul-restoration ritual?”
Buffy was such an open book to Xander. Even if she answered, “Tomorrow night,” he could tell she would rather not talk about business.
The blonde girl didn’t like the coolness in which he was treating her, and Nox could tell as much when he asked, “And you all still believe the first should be Angel?”
Buffy stood straighter before answering, “We do.”
“Have you decided on the other two?” he asked.
“Not yet,” she said. Nox sighed with a hint of aggravation before moving to drive away. Buffy then placed her hand on his shoulder. He turned to her as she asked, “Why do you want to change Spike and Drusilla so much?”
The lie he prepared flowed naturally out of his mouth. He said, “I need to know if Angel is just a fluke, or if other vampires can be changed too.”
“Why?” she asked.
“If it turns out the entirety of their kind were always capable of turning good, we might’ve been murdering a bunch of corpses- a bunch of potentially good undead without ever trying to help them.”
Buffy’s eyes widened at the thought, remarking, “There’s a sobering thought.” Her face winced as she realized, “I must’ve killed hundreds by now.”
“And I’ve dusted a hundred times that,” Nox asserted, earning a skeptical look from her.
“Not that it’s a competition or anything,” the competitive girl mumbled. Clearing her throat, she asked, “What if it turns out Angel is a fluke?”
“Then it’s business as usual,” Nox casually answered.
“Stab, stab, stab. Dust, dust, dust,” Buffy lightly jested.
“I see you know the drill.”
Having gained all the information he wanted, Nox was about to leave when Buffy softly voiced, “I… haven’t seen you around much.”
Maintaining his aloof behavior, he coolly replied, “This town has no shortage of weird deaths to investigate.” Nox leaned closer, gazing vibrantly into her greenish-blue eyes as he pointed out, “Besides, I didn’t think you’d want me around.”
Buffy took a moment to think—likely of her situation with Nox upon the precipice of getting Angel back—before asking, “Why?”
“I thought you’d be happy to keep those two worlds separate,” he keenly answered. “The pure fairytale love with him, and the shameful, amoral fuck-fest you have with me.”
Buffy’s eyes widened before she blushed and looked away. The embarrassed girl cleared her throat, asserting, “It’s not that I don’t like you-”
“You don’t have to spare my feelings, Slayer,” Nox interrupted, admiring how cute the flustered blonde was. “I told you, I know what this is. I went into this situation with you already knowing what it meant.”
“…Which is?”
“Jesus, you really don’t listen,” he bantered.
“I do!” she insisted. “All the time; to everything… But, like, about what, exactly?”
Nox shook his head before answering, “I went into this physical thing with you knowing you’d eventually open your eyes and find something better than me.”
“Again, with this fabled nice guy, you speak of?”
“They’re tricky beasts to find, I’ll give you that,” Nox attested with a hint of humor. “They have unintentionally excellent camouflage. Kindness, consideration, a good shoulder to cry on, sometimes funny, and they give you all the attention you could ever want. They’re the easiest men to miss.”
With a growing expression of disbelief, a skeptical Buffy asked, “How’s that camouflage? All girls want that in a boyfriend.”
“No, they want that in the guy they’re attracted to. Not the same thing,” he expounded. “I guarantee you your best male friend has all, or most, of those traits, and you’ve never considered him as a potential boyfriend.”
“Xander wouldn’t…”
When Buffy cut herself off, Nox hummed before acknowledging, “Ah, the funny one.”
Growing uneasy, Buffy pushed on to ask, “So, you never see yourself springing for a date at the Fondue Hut with a nice girl? Or maybe settling down?”
“Never,” Nox easily answered.
Taking a step forward, Buffy softly asked, “Doesn’t it get lonely? Being by yourself all the time?”
“You worried about me all of a sudden?” Nox teased.
Slowly, she admitted, “…It’s not all of a sudden. You’ve helped us out a ton—even though you’re super crabby about it—but you’re always alone.”
‘If only you knew,’ he thought, once again being reminded of the time prison he was drowning in. He teased, “You gonna do something about that, are ya?” At Buffy’s raised eyebrows, Nox felt that was a mistake to say and quickly moved on to say, “When you’ve lived as long as I have, being alone is something of a mercy; less complications.”
“How old are you?” the intrigued girl asked.
“What color panties are you wearing?” She blinked, looking at him with wide eyes. “What?” he asked. “You’re asking me a lot of questions. I have important questions too.”
“I haven’t even asked you that many,” she cutely quarreled. Nox waited, looking at her for an answer to his question. She shook her head, smiling slightly as she stated, “I’m not telling!”
With his deeper voice, he suavely asked, “You’d rather show me?”
“...no,” she eventually answered, the blush creeping down her neck.
He could imagine she was recalling their nights together as he remarked, “Well, that wasn’t very convincing.”
Turning away to keep walking, she urged, “Don’t you have a sidewalk to illuminate?”
“Nice,” Nox admitted, making her smile. “Hop on,” he said, and Buffy didn’t even hesitate.
Nox then gave her a ride to the next cemetery she was to patrol. When she got off, the blonde beauty looked at him invitingly, as if silently offering to patrol together. It wasn’t hard to imagine how their night would end: balls deep under the sheets. He could already feel his manhood swell with eagerness to go in that direction. However, despite the electricity between them, Nox drove away. As much as he wanted to unload inside her again, his mind was growing more and more confused.
Xander doubted himself, his plan, and his theory. And that scared him, because if Buffy wasn’t the key to getting out of the time braid, he felt he would just evaporate into nothingness. If this failed to get him out of the loop, he didn’t see a point in trying anymore. He’d burn everything, unleash evil in all its forms, and destroy the future everyone else on the planet so unfairly had. He’d take it all just to fill the growing void of emotional paralysis inside him.
The next night, the magical members of the Scooby Gang performed the soul restoration ritual in the library, and though it drained Jenny to the point of exhaustion, she was ultimately successful. Xander, Jenny, Willow, Oz, and Cordelia stayed in Giles’ apartment while Buffy was near the warehouse, looking for Angel. An hour later, Giles’ phone rang. The Watcher answered it, and after a moment of silence, he informed the room that the ritual was a success and Angel was indeed back.
“Where are they?” Willow asked.
Hanging up the phone, Giles answered, “Angel’s apartment; for his recovery.”
The Watcher could feel how nervous that made most of them and reassured them Buffy wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize their safety. The next night, the Scooby Gang gathered in the library. Buffy entered with Angel beside her, holding his forearm, which was worrisome for all in the room, though clearly nothing had happened.
Giles asked Buffy, “And Nox?”
Xander watched her shake her head, alerting the group the mystery man wouldn’t be taking part in the meeting. For all the pomp and stance, Angel simply wanted to apologize to everyone, especially Jenny and Xander for nearly killing them. Angel laid it on thick, stating how he hoped they’d forgive him one day, but understood if they never trusted him again. That was when Cordelia wanted to know if there was going to be a repeat of Angelus. Buffy and Angel looked at each other sadly before answering, “No.”
Unbothered by their tragic love story, Xander asked, “Should we do the same to Drusilla and Spike? I mean, in terms of cutting the head of the snake, this was a hell of a lot easier than fighting them.”
“Jenny- Miss Calendar is still recovering,” Giles reminded them. “I wouldn’t say it was easy on her part.”
“I don’t think you should,” Angel voiced.
“Why?” a curious Willow asked.
Angel explained to the group, “Even with souls, I don’t think they’re capable of the outcome we’d all want—Dru especially. She’s not exactly playing with a full deck.”
“And Spike?” Xander asked.
“It’s possible, but to what end? They need to be stopped, not saved. I know all the weak spots in their security. We can sneak in there and kill them before they even know we’re there.”
With a skeptical expression, Cordelia asked, “Just the two of you? Are you even a hundred percent?”
“I’m afraid I have to agree,” Giles affirmed. “I’d feel more comfortable with that course of action if Nox joined you.”
“I’ll ask him,” Buffy assured the group.
“I’ll go with you,” Angel stated. “I have to apologize to him, too.”
Before Angel and Buffy leave, Xander asked, “What if Nox doesn’t want to storm their hideout? What if he just wants to ensoul them?”
Buffy paused for a moment, dropping her gaze to truly consider what the mystery man in black might say, then answered her friends, “If he doesn’t want to… then we don’t do it.”
Angel looked at Buffy with consideration, but kept anything he thought to say to himself.
Xander knew the pair would not find him that night. Nox made scarce appearances for the next week, which Xander used to focus on forging, stitching a complex rune scheme on his Nox gear, hanging out with his friends, making the swim team, and, whenever possible, being with Cordelia. Joyce had also invited Xander to several dinners, and in return, Xander fixed a few of the issues around their house; replacing malfunctioning electrical outlets, fixing the hinges of doors, unsticking windows, changing the filters in the A/C and garbage disposal, and changing the worn & wobbly knob of the shower. Throughout his time at the Summers’ home, Xander noticed Buffy was reserved.
After the latest dinner, he offered to give her a lift to patrol, which she gratefully accepted. As it was still early for slaying, they rode around for twenty minutes longer—enjoying the peace and quiet the evening air brought them—before reaching Restfield Cemetery. There was a difference between Buffy riding with Nox and Buffy riding with him. She held on by his shoulders, rather than wrap her arms around his torso as she did with Nox. Though not what Xander wanted, it was still a peaceful ride.
After hopping off, Buffy said, “Thanks for the lift.”
“Anytime,” he voiced. When she was about to leave, Xander asked, “Hey, Buffy. Is everything okay? I noticed you’ve been a little more, meh, lately.”
Buffy took a moment to consider her words before slowly admitting, “I’m dealing.” Looking around the empty cemetery parking lot, she confided in him, “It’s a lot having Angel back, but also not having him back… not the way I want, anyway. It almost feels worse this way.”
Xander nodded, saying, “I’m sorry you have to go through that. It’s majorly unfair.”
“Thanks,” she responded with a smile. “For everything. Mom’s officially in love with you, by the way.”
“Aha! My master plan is coming together perfectly.”
With a smile, she said, “See you tomorrow.”
Before she stepped away, Xander called, “Hey, Buff. Do you want to try driving the bike?”
Pleasantly surprised, she asked, “Really?”
“Yeah,” he cheerfully replied with a big grin.
For the next thirty minutes, Xander showed her the basics of driving a motorcycle, running alongside her like a father would a child first learning to ride a bicycle. However, Buffy had supernaturally better physical control and picked up the balance and maneuverability fairly quickly, increasing the speed with confidence. Despite her Slayer reflexes, she nearly toppled over, swerving harder than intended when a squirrel ran in front of her. Avoiding the creature made the muffler scratch and dent against a yellow parking pole. Xander ran up to her as she apologized profusely.
“Oh my God, Xander, I’m so sorry,” she cried. Looking over the damage, she vehemently asserted, “I didn’t mean- I didn’t see the pole- A squirrel ran out- I’m so, so, sorry!”
“Buffy, Buffy,” he called, getting her attention. Shaking his head, he asserted, “Hey, it’s okay. Don’t worry about it.”
“But I-”
“Buffy,” he interrupted, gripping her shoulder. “If something breaks, I fix it. It’s what I do. Okay?”
Though she slowly nodded, the blonde girl was obviously still upset. The raven-haired teen left her as Xander, but returned later as Nox. Buffy was already fighting a group of vampires, and oddly enough, the skirmish didn’t feel random to his eyes. From his vantage point, the vampires were too coordinated to be run-of-the-mill fresh vampires, as if they were working as a team. Three engaged Buffy simultaneously while three more circled them. She had Slaymore in hand, so Xander wasn’t overly worried. However, he couldn’t shake how strange their attack was.
Swift as the wind, Nox sprinted into the fray, pumping his legs as he tossed Dreadnought with both hands with a blender-like death spin. As the long blade of his battleaxe impaled one of the vampires prowling Buffy, Nox unsheathed Hellguard and stabbed a second blood-sucker through the back. The commotion attracted the demons’ attention, allowing Buffy to decapitate the one nearest to her.
Losing the element of surprise made the fight harder for Nox, but not impossible. Sharp claws swiped at him every second from three sides, clipping him twice. He had to magically push his body to dodge left and right, or block in half-seconds as he sliced into their skin at the same time. He timed their attack pattern just right to dodge into a spin kick, hitting a vampire in the chin before calling his battleaxe back. The spin finished with Nox chopping off the leg of the third vampire, causing the demon to scream in agony. The last one ran away. As Nox dusted the immobile vampires, he turned to the Slayer and smirked in appreciation.
Buffy was being pushed back by three vampires attacking in unison. However, Nox could tell from her footing that she was in control. The three demons were all lined up in front of her, attacking together—punching and kicking to trip her up—likely assuming that they had the upper hand. It was no surprise to Nox when—in one fluid motion—Buffy impaled one through the heart with Slaymore, stabbed the second with the stake she always carried, and decapitated the last one cleanly with her blade, bursting the three into plumes of dust around her.
Nox was leaning against a tree when the Slayer walked up to him, a small smile on her lips. She said, “Hey you,” before they heard a twig snap in the woods behind them. The pair tracked the sound and eventually spotted another group of vampires attacking a tall man with dark hair. Buffy and Nox quickly intervened, seeing that the man being attacked was Angel. Buffy, Nox, and Angel fought the group of killers until half were dusted and the rest retreated. Huffing with exhaustion, Nox found their running away odd since vampires, generally, only ever retreated when they feared the true death. This felt more strategic.
“Well… that wasn’t normal,” a panting Buffy remarked.
“Something’s going on,” Nox stated, leaning on his battleaxe, begging his ring to replenish his lost energy.
“I’ll check my sources,” Angel told them.
Worried, Buffy stood straighter as she stated, “You shouldn’t go alone.”
Eying her with greater worry, Angel uneasily expressed, “You shouldn’t be alone either.”
Annoyed by their sappy concern, Nox flatly told them, “Then both of you go.”
Turning to him, a concerned Buffy asked, “What about you?”
“With this many vamps around, someone’s gotta keep patrolling,” Nox bitterly answered.
“You should come with us,” she said, looking at Angel for support. “We can patrol after we learn more about what’s going on.”
Eying her incredulously with brighter eyes, like a bright flicker from a flame, Nox asked, “And risk one of them biting someone? No thanks. I’ll take care of them myself.”
“You saw how many came after us,” Buffy argued, stepping forward defiantly. “If you fight that many alone, you could die-”
“Then I die, Slayer,” he bluntly proclaimed. “I don’t care about my life! I just don’t want a single one of these blood-suckers snuffing out any more innocent lives!”
Nox started walking away when Angel called out, “Wait! There’s something I’ve wanted to tell you for a while now.”
“Save it, vampire,” Nox spat back. “You weren’t my first choice to bring back. You can thank your friends for that.”
Stepping forward, Angel asserted with shame in his voice, “But you saved Jenny Calendar from me… and provided the orb. You had Buffy’s back when I attacked her. You saved Xander when I nearly killed him. That’s more than enough to thank you for.”
Nox lowered the whitish-blue luminance of his eyes, and after a long moment, answered, “If you really want to thank me, do everything in your power to make sure Angelus never comes back.”
Nox turned and walked in the direction of his bike. With his enhanced hearing, he could faintly hear Buffy asking Angel, “Do you think you can find out what’s going on by yourself? He could probably use the backup, even if he doesn’t want to admit it.”
Angel paused for a moment before answering, “Of course. I’ll let you know what I find out.”
Buffy soon caught up with Nox and the pair hunted groups of vampires for the next several hours. They killed a dozen, and at a crucial point, Buffy had to leap atop a tombstone just before Nox called a large amount of lightning to him, electrifying anything in a twenty-foot radius of him. Five vampires stood shaking in place, sizzling with smoke coming out of them until all five burst into dust.
Even if Xander loved calling lightning just like Thor, it always hurt him to do so. His ring and axe were working double-time to heal the gasping boy as fast as possible. Once they were the last ones standing, the forested area of the cemetery was a smoldering battlefield. Buffy and Nox were exhausted, but when his twitching body was about to topple over, Buffy held him up with one arm around his middle, and draped his arm around her neck. He allowed her to help him walk to his bike, enjoying the comfort and strength of her warm body.
At his scrambler, the Slayer asked, “Want me to drive?”
He tilted his head to eye her as he snapped Dreadnought into place, then asked, “Since when did you learn to drive a motorcycle?”
“Since my friend Xander showed me… today.”
“He did, did he?”
Naturally, Xander was scared to let Buffy drive him all the way to her home. Going in circles in the parking lot wasn’t the same as busy streets, but despite the probability of serious injury, he consented, to her zeal. Buffy got on first, then Nox sat behind her, wrapping his muscular arms around her thin waist and holding her close. She shifted her butt against his crotch, and Xander felt himself swell to half-mast. After such an intense battle, he imagined her hot blood was flooding her with vigorous energy. Without combat to exhaust that bubbling energy, an alternative activity was needed to replace it.
On the road, Buffy was overly cautious when it came to turning, but that could’ve been because she felt his hardness against her cheeks. Nox would’ve done more with his hands, but he didn’t want to distract her too much. It was enough that when she came to an abrupt stop, or accelerated, more of his hardness was pressed against her apple-bottom, but they eventually made it to Buffy’s home. He gave her hips a none-too-gentle squeeze before getting off, and when they faced each other, the blush on her pretty face was unmistakable.
Buffy didn’t bid him goodnight. She stood before the taller man, looking around, and didn’t know what to do with her hands. To break the silence, Nox asked, “Is he a nice guy?”
Her brows drew in, confused, as she asked, “Who?”
“Xander.”
“Oh, uh, yeah, he is.” The thoughtful way he nodded his head made Buffy suspicious of his question and she added, “He’s also one of my best friends and way not a subject of romantic interest.” Shaking her head, she asserted, “I can’t stand the idea of ruining what we have just to start something I wouldn’t even be all that serious about.”
Annoyed, Nox rolled his glowing eyes before clapping back, “Jesus Christ, it’s got to be raw, uncut, animal magnetism straight from the get-go with you, doesn’t it? Is taking a date or two to see if you can build something so unthinkable? Let me tell you, when you’ve lived as long as I have, taking things slow isn’t some terrible omen of a doomed relationship. It’s the smart thing to do.”
Buffy raised her eyebrows at his response before choosing to focus on his age. She asked, “How long is long?”
Losing interest, he simply answered, “Long.”
The blonde shook her head before saying, “Giles thinks you’re a descendant of an ancient group of powerful wizards called Shadowmen.”
Nox shrugged as he replied, “Maybe. Unlike you, I don’t have a Watcher to give me the deets on what I am.”
Taking a step toward him, the attentive girl asked, “Does that mean you don’t know about your past?”
Nox shook his hood-covered head, certain she would misunderstand his situation. After all, no one could know he meant the time braid and the underlying reason he had to be the one to suffer this way.
“But you know about the Shadowmen?” Buffy guessed.
To keep the mystery going, Nox shrugged again before flippantly stating, “There was a time when I needed answers and infiltrated the Watcher’s council to get access to their archive. Hella douchebags, by the way. The tests these guys do—especially to slayers on their eighteenth birthday—it’d make you sick to your stomach. But, yeah, I know enough about a lot of things, but nothing about what I am exactly.”
Buffy focused on the torn sleeve of his jacket. Taking his arm to observe his injury, the heartfelt girl asked, “Why don’t you talk to us? To Giles? I’m sure he can help you.”
“Thanks, but I expect only the Almighty can help me,” Nox jested. “All I need to do is figure out a way to schedule a meet & greet.”
“I’m telling you, our team can help. We’re good at this,” Buffy insisted. She gripped his wrist as she said, “But I won’t push. Instead… c-come on.”
As she started pulling him toward her house, Nox asked, “You want me to go up there?”
“That’s where all the healing happens,” she replied, though mildly hopeful.
As she led him around the side of her home, Nox remarked, “That’s not the only thing that happens up there.”
Buffy twisted back as she walked forward to assert with no conviction, “My mom’s here, so—no. Healing is the only thing happening up there.”
“Sexual healing,” Nox challenged, but she said nothing as they reached the climbing point below her bedroom window.
Though his body still felt singed—as if all his joints were caked with grime—Nox had the strength to climb to the second floor and into Buffy’s room. Xander noted how it smelled sweetly of her and instantly relaxed. She grabbed her first-aid kit from under the bathroom sink and returned to help him take off his holster and jacket, then lifted his skin-tight shirt to disinfect his cuts, though they were nearly all healed. Nox lowered his beanie half-mask to his nose and his camo scarf to his neck so he could lean in and press his nose to the nape of her neck and inhale her alluring scent. Buffy didn’t stop him, and only leaned in for more contact as the sexual tension between them overrode their reasoning.
Nox abruptly picked her up, and she wrapped her toned legs around his waist as he laid her on the bed. Hot blood was rushing through the young teens, pushing all of their limbs to urgently move just enough clothes out of the way so his erect phallus could enter her soaking womanhood.
“MMMNNN,” she moaned, as he spread her pink line into a wide O, tickling her lower stomach.
“Fuck… You’re so tight,” Nox groaned.
After basking in the sensation of hot, wet tightness stuffed to the brim, the teenagers fucked each other with as little sound as possible. Buffy bit her lip as Nox pounded into her repeatedly, the clapping of their wet pelvises and restrained grunts filling the room. Her hands gripped the bed’s sheets, nearly tearing them as her lover pumped madly into her sopping cunt. The blonde girl wouldn’t let her moans escape her lips. Her small breasts jiggled with every thrust as the teens worked up a sheen of sweat.
Nox’s left hand roved over the half-naked girl’s sensual body, caressing her flushed and sensitive skin and massaging the muscle underneath. His right rubbed her taut stomach as it made its way to her clitoris. Buffy moaned loudly in her throat, rotating her head from side to side as his right hand stroked and caressed her love button, teasing it into a frenzy with his fingers. Her hands caressed his neck and shoulders as his powerful body bucked the beautiful girl on her bed, his crotch slapping hers as his cock stuffed her slick sex repeatedly.
When he felt they were close, Nox leaned down and kissed the beautiful Slayer, his tongue diving into her wanton mouth, dominating her defiant tongue. Her toes curled, she moaned louder, and her back was arched as her body shivered with building ecstasy. As he covered her mouth with his, submitting the sensual girl to him, she moaned loudly as her entire body ignited from a massive orgasm. Her slick womanhood clamped down on his monster shaft, quivering deliciously as he grunted and came inside her. His head shot back as the bliss shorted his brain and he filled her sex with his virile seed. After such a mind-numbing orgasm, Buffy lay limply on her bed, heaving as beads of sweat raced down her skin.
Rather than risk another round, Nox put his clothes back on. Before leaving, he told her, “I won’t do this again unless I know you’re trying, Slayer.” Wrapping her sheet around her mostly naked body, she stood as he added, “Give your boy a shot, or go on a few dates with other guys. I don’t care which, just try.”
“I’m not cheating on any of them with you.”
“A date or two isn’t a relationship, just like sex isn’t a relationship,” Nox pointed out. “All I ask is that you try. If you’re not feeling them, thank ‘em for their time, then come find me. That’s all.” After a moment of silent thought, she nodded, and he left her room, which now smelled of sex.
Nox didn’t expect to find Angel on the street below, waiting by his bike. The vampire’s fists were clenched and his shoulders were hunched. Eying the angered man, Nox had his ring raise his glucose and acidic levels to change his body odor to a more sweet and citrus smell, masking Xander’s natural musk. However, he didn’t think he could do anything about the scent of sex lingering on him.
Walking straight toward him, Nox felt like a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar, but he didn’t care. He had to endure their relationship—and far worse than that—for years upon years, so it was more than fair for the brooding vampire to endure this.
As he casually hopped on his bike, Xander asked the irate vampire, “Got something to say?”
Looking between Buffy’s home and Nox, he asked, “Since when has this been going on?”
Nox sighed in growing frustration before saying, “I was hoping you’d share anything you learned.”
Angel sucked his teeth in annoyance, and Xander wondered if they would be fighting in a minute. Instead, the handsome vampire answered, “Drusilla put out a bounty on Buffy; a significant one. Every vampire on the west coast worth their fangs knows about it and they’re coming to collect.”
Confused, Nox replied, “Huh, didn’t think vampires cared that much about money.”
“We don’t,” Angel hotly asserted. “Most of the older ones have plenty of it. Drusilla offered any vampire or demon her hand in ever-lasting marriage if they could bring me to her alive and kill Buffy.”
Truly surprised, the time looper whirled his head back before remarking, “That’s new.”
With hunched shoulders, the angry vampire asked with a hint of warning, “Did you take advantage of her?”
Turning to him in confusion, Nox asked, “Why would I take advantage of Drusilla- Oh, you mean the Slayer. No. Unlike you, I can clearly see that being with her would only end in disaster.”
“Then-”
“If you must know,” he interrupted with dwindling patience. “Consider it self-medication. She felt like she was dying of a broken heart and was desperate to feel anything else. Only, instead of drugs or alcohol—like anybody else would at her age—she used me.”
Angel clenched his fist tight enough for Nox to hear his knuckles crack, as he retorted, “Doesn’t seem like you hate it.”
Clearly, Angel was restraining himself from attacking him, likely due to feeling indebted to Nox. Regardless, Nox replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
“Yeah! That happens when the girl is hot and you’re a heterosexual.” Sucking his teeth, Angel turned away, looking at Buffy’s house mournfully as Nox argued, “What was I supposed to do? Force her to stop? Beautiful girl like that can get it from any guy she wants. At least with me, I can talk some sense into her along the way.” Recalling the state he’d left Buffy in, Nox told the silent vampire, “I recommend waiting until tomorrow to warn her about the bounty.”
Then he drove away.