After Xander had left Giles went to his office. To his surprise he found Alex seated behind his desk.

"Oh hello. How long have you been there?" Giles asked.

"I snuck in while Buffy was practicing." Alex answered.

"I see. So you heard my conversation with your younger self."

"Yeah, I did. It was nice. But I don't remember us having that conversation. So I assume my being here prompted it?"

"Well yes in a way." Giles answered. "I mean you must admit that your being here does bring some questions to mind."

"Questions like 'is he going mad' you mean?"

"Well I...' Giles started.

"Don't worry about it Giles. Its not like I haven't asked myself that question a thousand times."

"And what answer have you come up with?" Giles inquired.

"That the thing that is worst than going insane, is knowing that you're going insane and not being able to stop it."

"So you do feel that you have a problem?" Giles probed.

"Well let's see. I've had to drive stakes through the woman I love and both my best friends. That kind of thing can weigh on a guy."

"Both Ah yes. I'm sorry, I'd forgotten about Jesse."

"Yeah, I wish I could." Said Alex. "Every time I think about him I can only see the vampire that he became, not the guy that he was before. It's the same with Buffy and Willow. Every time I start to remember something we did together, some happy memory, I suddenly get sucked into a bad memory. It's even worst at night."

"Nightmares." Giles said.

"Sometimes," Agreed Alex. "But the worst are actually dreams of them alive. I can't have a good memory of them awake, but for some reason they come to me in my sleep. I see them alive and happy, the way things used to be. Then I wake up and remember how things turned out."

"Dear God that must be horrible." Said Giles.

"You don't know the half of it." Said Alex bitterly. "You've, your future self that is, says I'm like a soldier who has forgotten how not to fight. My whole life has become about destroying monsters and demons. Even when the next slayer showed up I couldn't stop. I can't seem to get past it. I can't relate to regular people anymore. Hell I can't even relate to my own son."

"You have a son?"

"Yeah, we actually named him Jesse. In hindsight that was probably a mistake. Of course considering how my life has gone, getting involved with his mother was a mistake too."

"His mother?" Asked Giles.

"Cordelia."

"Oh. I think I would rather not know the rest." Said Giles quickly changing the subject.

"I assume that this conversation is not the reason for your visit?"

"No, I wanted to let you know what Angel and I learned last night." That watcher took a seat across from Alex.

"Yes, go ahead." Said Giles.

"Apparently Spike killed the Anointed One. That caused the vampires to split into two factions. Those that follow Spike and those that want to stake him." Alex said.

"A vampire civil war." Said Giles. "Shouldn't that work in our favor?"

" Well yes and no. We couldn't find any of Spike's followers. According to the vamps we questioned no one has seen them in a few weeks." Alex said.

"He's gone to ground, so to speak. Which would indicate that he is planning something." Giles said.

"And I think that gives us an advantage in that we know he is going to make a move on Sunday. If we somehow let his enemies know that, we might be able to get them to do our job for us." Alex stated.

"Yes, that might work. You know the details of his plan, just let them slip during an interrogation and see what happens. " Giles said excitedly.

"Good plan with just one flaw." Alex said flatly. "Spike drew Buffy and Willow in by capturing me and using me as bait to lure them to the same warehouse that the Anointed One tried to resurrect the Master in. When you all leave town it will immediately change everything."

"Oh, I see. But still it's a place to start." Said Giles hopefully.

"Yes I suppose it is." Agreed Alex.

____________________________________________________

Saturday

Angel looked across the table at Alex. They were in a diner in the downtown area of Sunnydale. Alex was finishing up his dinner. This was the first time that the two of them had done anything other than hunt for vampires.

Angle felt uncomfortable, he still didn't know what to think about Alex.

"Not big on dinner conversation, are you?" Asked Alex.

"I don't go out to eat all that often." Responded Angel.

"No, you don't." Alex agreed. "But you usually have something to say. At least in the future you do."

The statement made Angel curious. "Do we spend a lot of time together in the future.

"Oh yeah. You and Giles are the only two friends I have."

"Friends? Xander and I can barely stand each other." Angel said.

"Sure, but that's due to how we felt about Buffy. After I... After she and Willow died we had something in common. Shared grief."

"Not much to build a relationship off of."

"No. But we were all we had. You, Giles, and me. Of course his grief wasn't the same as ours. He always felt like they were his children."

Not comfortable with the direction of the conversation Angel decided to change the subject.

"So what is that thing you use on the other vampires? It sure hurts more than a cross."

Alex smiled slightly, one of the few signs of positive emotion that Angel had seen from the man. He palmed the object out of his sleeve. Somehow it adhered to his palm.

"It's called the Amulet of Quaz. It's an artifact that was designed to banish demons. It wasn't a huge leap to figure out that it would have an effect on vampires." Alex said.

"I'll say it has an effect." Angel said, remembering his one encounter with it.

Alex's smile faded as he looked outside. He looked back at angel intently.

"We've got company." He said.

"What?"

"Across the street. A vampire on top of the building watching us. He's not very good at the stealth thing.

Angel casually looked out the window and saw the vampire that Alex was talking about.

"You're right, he sucks at hiding. How should we handle it?"

_______________________________________________________________

The vampire was getting bored. The guys he was suppose to be watching were just sitting around the diner talking.

(Why did I draw this lousy assignment?) He thought while looking at the moon. Looking down at the diner again he noticed that one of the guys had gone to the counter and was paying the bill.

(Great. They're leaving. Maybe they'll finally do something interesting.)

He noticed that the other one had gone to the back of the diner, towards the rest rooms. He didn't think anything of that at first, but then the thought his him a couple of minutes later.

"Wait a second, the one in the can is the vampire. What the hell does he need with a restroom?" He said out loud.

"You just now noticed that?" asked a voice behind him. A hand grabbed his shoulder and forcefully spun him around. He found himself face to face with Angel. He tried to get away, but Angel's grip was too strong.

"There are two ways this can go." Angel said. "You can answer my questions now, or we can wait for my partner to get here and he can drag them out of you painfully. And trust me, you don't want him to do that."

"You can't scare me." The vampire said trying to sound defiant, but only managing pathetic.

"Maybe I can't, but he can." Angel said.

"He can what?" Asked Alex as he climbed to the top of the roof.

"Our new friend here was about to spill his guts, weren't you?" Angel said, giving his captive a good shake.

Alex could have sworn that if vampires were capable of sweating that this one would be drenched already.

"I can't. If I do Spike will kill me." Said the vampire. The mention of Spike was all that was necessary to set Alex off.

"Well I'll kill you if you don't! And trust me, I can make it a hell of a lot more painful! He screamed as he closed the distance between himself and the vampire.

Angel figured that stories of Alex's exploits in the last few days must have gotten around, because the vampire folded like the proverbial house of cards.

____________________________________________________________________

Giles was pleased at the progress of his little lie. He had the youngsters and Ms. Calendar all set to leave for LA in the morning, with both the school and their parents convinced it was legitimate. With any luck by the time they got back Spike would be no more and Alex will have returned to whatever future awaits him. In the meantime he had convinced Alex's younger self to help him gather up supplies from the library to take on the trip, even if he knew it was really to keep up the appearance of this being a legitimate investigation.

"So Buffy is really excited about this trip?" He asked Xander.

"Yeah, she can't wait to show Willow and I all her favorite places from when she was growing up." Xander answered as he packed a box with the stakes he had been making.

"Well I suppose we can find time for that. I just hope that she remembers that we are going to be there on a very serious purpose."

"I'm sure that you'll keep us all on the straight and narrow." Xander said with a smile.

"Yes, of course." Agreed the watcher.

(It's sad.) Thought Giles. (I have never seen Alex smile with that kind of open joy. If such a significant change can happen in Xander I would hate to see how I turned out.)

"Earth to Giles." Teased Xander. "Hello?"

"Sorry, lost in thought. Terrible habit."

"Just don't wig out while driving, okay?"

"I promise." Said the watcher.

The sound of the library doors opening caught both of their attention. They both looked to see Angel running into the library

"Giles, there's a problem. Where are Buffy and Willow?" the vampire blurted out.

"What, no 'Hi guys, going somewhere?'" teased Xander.

Angel glared at Xander in a way that made the teenager feel like he would be safer trying To hand feed a great white shark.

"What problem?" Asked the concerned watcher.

"Alex and I caught on of Spike's minions. He knows about you trip so he moved his plans up to tonight. Now where is Buffy?"

"Oh my God." Muttered Giles as his face paled.

Xander looked from Angel to Giles and back again, not liking the fact that something was going on and that he didn't know what it was.

"Buffy got a message from her mom to meet her at the art gallery. Willow went along to keep her company. Now what's up with Spike and who the hell is Alex?"

"We'll explain on the way." Said Angel as he grabbed both Xander's arm and the box of stakes and started for the door.

______________________________________________________

Back to #6 ** To Tomorow Mourning #8 ** Main FanFiction Page ** Main BXL Club area -