The Xander Years, Vol.2 Read online

  00:02.

  The clock went dark.

  When the building didn’t blow up, Xander said, “Good boy.” His calm was suddenly gone, as he realized what he had risked. He walked around to stand beside Jack. His voice trembled a little when he spoke, but still, he spoke with authority. “I don’t think I wanna be seeing you on campus anymore, Jack.”

  Jack didn’t answer.

  Xander kept his legs from turning to jelly and left him there, with the useless collection of parts that had once been a bomb. He went through the door he had come in, back up the stairs toward the school.

  When Xander was gone, Jack said, “I’m not going anywhere, Harris.” He crossed to the other door, ignoring the Keep Door Closed at All Times sign. He turned the knob, pulled it open. “And the first time you turn your back —”

  Oz leapt through the door with a ferocious roar.

  Jack screamed.

  EPILOGUE

  They spoke quietly, sitting at a picnic table on campus. They were out of the sun, in the shade of a spreading tree, and the day was cool.

  But beautiful.

  Giles’s left hand was bandaged, and the left side of his face torn, gashed by unearthly claws. His right eye was blackened, the bruise reaching all the way back to his temple. Buffy’s right arm was wrapped in a bright blue sling. A butterfly bandage over Willow’s right eye held her eyebrow together.

  Their wounds were nothing.

  “Even after the Hellmouth was closed,” Willow observed, “you could hear it screaming.”

  “But Angel’s gonna be okay?” Oz asked.

  “He was only out for a few minutes,” Buffy replied. “Longest of my life.”

  “I’ll never forget that thing’s face. Its real face, I mean,” Willow said quietly.

  “Yes,” Giles agreed.

  Buffy looked at the man she would always consider to be her Watcher. No matter what the Watchers’ Council thinks. “I don’t know how you managed . . . it was the bravest thing I’ve ever seen.”

  “The stupidest.” Giles smiled, embarrassed. “But the world continues to turn.”

  “No one will ever know how close it came to stopping,” Willow said, looking around her. “Never know what we did.”

  Which is, Buffy thought, the way it’s supposed to be.

  Xander saw his best friends sitting together, approached the table. He still hadn’t told anyone about last night. The bomb, the boiler room, the zombie gang. They’d had problems of their own, he knew. “Guys,” he said.

  They all looked up at him.

  “Xander,” Willow said. “Boy, you’re lucky you weren’t at school last night. It was crazed.”

  Maybe he wouldn’t tell. Driving around afterward, he’d come to some conclusions. One of which was that he could hold his own, no matter what anyone believed. And the other, more significant one, was that it really didn’t matter what anyone else thought. What was important was knowing his own capabilities, his own depths.

  So he swallowed it. He wouldn’t say anything. “Well, uh, give me the quiet life,” he said. “I’m gonna grab a snack. Anyone want?”

  Giles, Buffy, and Willow shook their heads. Oz just stared down at the picnic table.

  “Oz?” Xander asked.

  Oz looked at him. “No,” he said finally. “I’m oddly full today.”

  “’kay,” Xander said. He walked away from the table, a half-smile playing across his lips.

  He felt good. He felt confident. The smile grew.

  And here came Cordelia.

  “Oh, look, it’s mister excitement,” she said. “On another life or death doughnut mission? Or are we cruising for bimbos again? Giving them lessons in lack of cool.”

  Xander kept the smile. And, he realized, the confidence. He just looked at her.

  Smiling.

  “What?” she asked.

  He said nothing. He knew the smile said it all.

  “What?” she repeated. Her voice had more of an edge to it this time.

  He walked away. Taking in a deep breath. An all-is-right-with-the-world breath.

  Smiling.

  “What?” Cordelia demanded again, behind him.

  She was hating this.

  He was loving it.

  Smiling.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Jeff Mariotte is a co-owner of the specialty bookstore Mysterious Galaxy, senior editor for the comic book publisher WildStorm Productions/DC Comics, and writer of many comic books, including the series Desperadoes, and the occasional novel. He’s currently working on Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Watcher’s Guide, Vol. 2 with Nancy Holder and Maryelizabeth Hart. His next novel will be Gen13: Time and Chance, cowritten with Scott Ciencin. He lives in San Diego with his rapidly growing family and some animals. He’s way too busy.