Vo, being the person she was, hid the untold delight she was feeling. The look on the bleached blonde bimbo's face was better than Christmas. The scrawny little girl looked like she'd been smacked in the face with a dead fish.

The other two weren't much better. But the redhead standing in the back - Vo would keep a close eye on her. There was something about that girl that gave her the creeps.

But that could wait. First to deal out some more punishment. "Now, I believe I asked you who you are. I would like an answer, please. Before my good manners and breeding force me to do something rather rash. Such as have you arrested for trespassing and harassment."

The older gentleman stepped forward and cleared his throat before speaking. "We beg you pardon. I am Rupert Giles," pointing at the girls he said, "this is Miss Buffy Summers and Miss Willow Rosenberg."

Vo let loose the half smile that she'd worked for weeks to perfect when she was sixteen. "Charmed, I'm sure." She practically oozed sincerity, but that little smile made it perfectly plain how she really felt. "Now, as I said, Xander is unavailable at the moment."

Mr. Giles practically bowed, "Yes, well... Would it be permissible for us to wait for his return? It is quite urgent that we see him."

Vo had to give the man kudos for that little piece of ass-kissing, "Xander is currently away on vacation for the holidays. I'm afraid we don't expect his return until after the new year. But, as I stated before, I'd be happy to pass on any messages."

Mr. Giles nodded, while the two girls looked heartbroken. "Yes, if you would be so kind. Please tell him that we asked after him and would like him to call us at his earliest convenience."

The redhead, Willow, grabbed Giles' arm, "Giles! We need to talk to him now!"

Giles sighed, sounding quite put upon and removed Willow's hand from his arm. "Willow, Ms. DiBlasi has already informed us that Xander isn't here. We must be patient."

"But, but... Giles!"

The gentleman carefully led Willow back to their car, speaking to her in a low voice the entire way. The blonde wasn't quite so skittish. She stepped right into Vo's personal space and looked straight into Vo's eyes. "Is he alright?"

Vo nodded, "He's getting there. Little by little."

Buffy nodded, "Does this Tony guy..."

Vo smirked, "My brother."

"Yeah. Him. Is he good to Xander? Does he treat him right? Keep him safe and stuff?"

Vo quirked one brow in surprise, the blonde had balls, she had to give her that. "Tony takes very good care of Xander. And will continue to do so. Anyone, and I mean anyone, who hurts Xander will regret it to their dying day."

Buffy closed her eyes and nodded. "Good. That's good." The relief in that voice almost made Vo feel sorry for the girl, but what she said next really clinched it. "We...we didn't treat Xander very well. And when he told us about his parents were up to... well, we didn't believe him. And we should have. I know that. Now."

There was strength and determination in the hazel eyes that looked up at Vo. "I haven't been the best friend, but am I a friend. And I'm trying to be a better friend. If Xander needs anything, anything at all, tell him to call me and I'll be there. No matter what it is."

While the threat wasn't explicit, it was more than implied. Vo flashed a truly nasty smile, "Ditto."

In life and in the business world, sometimes snap decisions had to be made. Vo knew this, and, quite frankly, reveled in the chaos that often ensued from such an action. One of those decisions was called for now. "Would you, and your friends of course, care to come inside? We can talk more and maybe have some coffee."

Buffy smiled gratefully, "Thank you. I think I'd like that."

*****

Tony soaked in the sun cascading through the windows that made up the west wall of the conservatory. Every bone and muscle in his body ached and the heat brought some small amount of relief.

Cracking open one eye, Tony looked out at the lake and shook his head in disbelief. While it was positively balmy in the conservatory, the outside temperature barely reached sixty degrees. That didn't appear to be bothering Xander, however.

The boy was bound and determined to enjoy his new gifts to their fullest. So, at an ungodly hour in the morning, Xander had bounded out of bed and straight into his new wetsuit. One quick kiss and an even quicker cuddle and away he went. He'd been on the lake ever since.

Tony winced as the sound of Xander's exuberance made its way from the water and straight through the double paned glass. Tony refused to look. The first several times he'd heard Xander scream this morning, he'd leapt for the window with his heart in his throat. Actually the seeing the reasons for the screams didn't make him feel any better.

Xander had obviously seen too many movies and was doing his best to emulate some obscure action sequence that required immersing himself and his jet ski, then literally exploding out of the water and into the air. After the fiftith, or perhaps, hundreth, time, he was gaining quite a bit of air before he crashed back to the surface of the lake. It was an accident waiting to happen.

Tony, of course, could have made Xander stop. But that would have ruined Xander's fun. Something he'd obviously been lacking in his life to date. So Tony bit his lip and held his tongue.

Then it all became a moot point when Tony heard the thundering footsteps pounding up the stairs. The pitter patter of those not-so-little feet could quite possibly bring the sturdy wooden stairs crashing to the ground.

Tony considered pretending to be asleep, but the sensation of a very cold, very wet, not to mention heavy, body pouncing on him ruined that plan before it could ever be instituted.

And hence the reason for Tony's aching body. Since their first night in the house Xander had changed. And changed drastically. He was open, affectionate and just as likely to initiate sex as Tony himself. No place was safe and no place had gone uninitiated. And Tony was, quite frankly, worn out.

It was plain to Tony that Xander had been starved for affection his entire life. And like any starving man, when faced with a feast, he became a glutton.

"Tony, you awake?"

Tony just laughed and opened his eyes, "It's not like I could sleep through you landing on me. Did you happen to notice that you're cold and wet?"

Xander grinned and shook his head, throwing sparkling droplets of water everywhere. "No? Really?"

Tony shook his head and sat up, forcing Xander to move to the end of the chaise lounge, "Smartass. So, how's the jet ski?"

Xander's whole face lit up, "It's great! Man, it's fast too. Why don't you come out with me?"

"Oh no. No thank you. I quite comfortable right where I am."

Xander shrugged, "Okay. Want me to leave you alone?"

Xander didn't look upset, just curious, but Tony wasn't willing to dent Xander's newfound confidence. "Not really, I'm just tired and a little worn out."

Xander frowned slightly, "Are you okay?"

"Yes. I'm just getting old."

Xander cracked up laughing and would have fallen off the lounge if Tony hadn't made a quick grab for him. "Yeah, right. I'm so stiff and sore I almost couldn't get out of bed this morning. How about we just take a nap? I've got a couple of hours."

Tony stood up and pulled Xander to his feet, "Couple of hours? Do you have plans?"

Xander followed willingly enough, "There's a show on TV I want to see. That Alton Brown guy is having a special on turkey. And since Thanksgiving is next week, I thought I should watch it. Where are we going, anyway?"

"To take a shower. A hot shower. Then we'll take a nap. And when we get up, we'll watch Mr. Brown together. There's no reason you should get to have all the fun."

*****

Vo had snuck a call to Kaiya while she was in the kitchen making the coffee. Now the two friends and co-conspirators were collecting vital information under the guise of polite, if guarded, conversation.

And by the time Xander's friends had headed for home, Vo had come to several conclusions. Buffy wasn't so much a person as she was self-absorbed. But the same could be said for almost everyone her age. There was something else going on there, Vo just wasn't quite sure what it was. Yet.

Rupert Giles was ineffectual at best. The poor man was obviously out of his element when dealing with people. Which probably explained why he was a librarian. Books didn't have messy human emotions to deal with.

And little Miss Rosenberg - there was something seriously wrong with that girl. The split second the door closed behind them, Vo was asking questions.

"Kaiya? What's up with that girl?"

Kaiya just smirked and lit a cigarette. "You mean the witch?"

Vo groaned and slumped on the couch. "Shit. Shit. Shit."

Kaiya grinned, "Vo, Vo, Vo. I'm ashamed of you. You should have picked up on that right away."

Vo grabbed one of the sofa cushions and flung it at Kaiya's head, "I knew there was something going on with her. I was just hoping I was wrong about why the hair was standing up on the back of my neck."

Kaiya caught the pillow and stuck it behind her head, "You're worried about Xander and Tony. You can't really be expected to keep up on everything. That's why you have me for backup. You know I love Tony, and Xander is a doll, but I'm not as emotionally involved as you are."

Vo nodded, she did have a habit of letting her emotions cloud her intuition sometimes. "Should we be worried about them?"

Kaiya took a long drag off her cigarette and blew smoke rings up at the ceiling. "Giles won't be a problem. Buffy either. I think they both genuinely care about Xander, they just aren't really sure how to deal with him. There's something else going on there too. Not sure what yet. Our little witch, however, could be a real problem."

"Sophomore year type problem?" Vo asked.

"Maybe. I don't know how much power she has. But unlike our favorite T.A., long may she burn in Hell, I don't think personal gain is a factor."

"Guilt?"

"Yep," Kaiya answered. "And you know how big a pain in the ass that can be."

Vo shook her head, "What did we do to deserve this? A T.A. our sophomore year turns out to be a witch that was literally sucking the intelligence out of students to make herself smarter and we have to deal with her."

"Which we did." Kaiya reminded her. "With style nonetheless. And we both aced our finals to boot."

Vo grinned, "True. We did." Vo snickered as she remembered knocking out the obnoxious bitch with a psychology text. At least that book had been good for something.

Vo's smile quickly faded however, "But I get the feeling that Rosenberg could end up being a lot more trouble. And it's not like we can tell Tony about it."

Kaiya rolled her eyes, "No duh. Tony would freak out and then ask us if we were doing drugs."

Vo snickered, "Big brother can be kinda narrow minded."

Kaiya put out her cigarette in the cut crystal ashtray she was sure cost more than her tuition every year. "What about Xander though? According to Rosenberg, she and Xander have been friends since kindergarten. He's got to know that she's a witch."

Vo nodded, "I think it's time you and I made plans for Thanksgiving. We'll check with the boys, pick up any groceries they need and head up to the lake."

"Sounds like a plan to me. Do we take the furballs?"

"Oh yes. We can't leave them here alone for that long. They'd miss us."

"And a lonely cat is a naughty cat. Besides, after the last time we left them at the kennel, I don't think they'd be happy to see us."

Vo cracked up, "I wonder if that guy is still taking prozac?"

"I'm telling you, Vo. Blair is a demon. A cute, fuzzy, lovable demon, but a demon nonetheless."

Vo sniffed indignantly, "Blair is not a demon. He's just misunderstood."

"Vo, honey, I'm pretty sure when Blair decided to sharpen his claws on that guy's balls, his victim didn't misunderstand him at all."

Vo and Kaiya both cracked up. They never liked that asshole anyway.

*****

Willow locked her door and gathered her spell books. There had to be something she could do to make DiBlasi let Xander go free. And she'd find it. One way or the other.

TBC

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