InsaneJournal

Xander found some Advil in the bathroom easily enough and downed three of them since he didn’t feel like searching for anything else. Ambling around the room, he peered into the icebox and debated for a long moment whether to help himself to a Coke or not but finally just decided to pour a glass of water from the sink.

Sipping it, he started slowly browsing the bookshelves and yelped in surprise as two big feline eyes blinked at him suddenly.

“Hi,” he said lamely after recovering and mentally taking note that that was not a girly shriek he just uttered. That was a very manly shriek of terror.

The eyes blinked back at him then a big gray cat unfolded from its spot on the shelf and jumped down to the floor. It sniffed his boots curiously before turning and padding across the room to disappear through a half-open door. Xander blinked after the cat then looked at Mouse sitting on the floor by the couch.

“What was that?”

The big dog just wagged his tail in response and gave him that expression of “What?” most seem to have. Xander shook his head then tugged an interesting looking book off the shelves, settling down onto the couch. As he sat the glass down on the nearby end table, Mouse padded close and laid his head on the edge of a cushion, prompting the man to give him a gentle pat.

Then the apartment drifted into silence except for the turning of pages for an hour or so until the phone rang. Xander automatically picked it up then swore under his breath as he remembered Harry telling him not to answer the phone.

Too late to hang up now though.

“Er,” he said after a moment, “hi?”

“Who is this?” demanded a woman’s voice from the other end of the line.

“I’m a, uh, friend of Harry’s. Who’re you?”

“A friend of Harry’s. Is he there?”

Xander thought about it, decided he didn’t want to say ‘No, he’s gone off with a bunch of Wardens to do wizarding stuff or whatever’ and tentatively replied, “Er, no.”

The woman sighed and it sounded a lot like the sighs he’d heard from Giles over all the years he’d known the older man. “Okay,” she said. “Where is he? Out on a case? He was told me he was going to be there all day with Molly.”

‘Molly?’ mouthed Xander, looking curiously at Mouse, who just smiled back at him. Frowning, he scratched his head, and said, “Well, I dunno anything about that. I just really met Harry today, heheh.”

There was a pause on the other end of the line and then the woman stonily stated, “You stay right there.”

“Wha?”

When the line went dead, he held the phone away from him then looked at Mouse.

“Shit,” he grumbled. “What woman have I pissed off now?”

Rising, he put the book back into its place on the shelf then carried his now empty glass into the kitchen. Politely he washed it and set it aside then wandered back towards the couch with Mouse on his heels to wait. As his head tipped back, he dozed off briefly, not waking up until he heard the scrape of the big metal door across the floor.

Reflexively he came to his feet and jerked out the first thing that came into his hand as it whipped underneath his jacket. Then he blinked and stared at the short, blonde woman glaring at him over her own gun as she entered the apartment.

“Um…”

“Chicago P.D.,” she growled. “Put the gun down.”

Xander swallowed and moved his finger away from the trigger, slowly lowering his arm so the Desert Eagle dropped down onto the couch. Then he took a slow step away from it, holding both hands up, and said, “Very sorry for that.”

She frowned at him for a moment then closed the door, moving slowly towards her. Her eyes flicked towards the big gun then towards him, growling, “Do you have a permit for that?”

“It, the Glock, and the Smith and Wesson.”

Her eyes narrowed at that.

“Where are they?”

Obediently, Xander pulled the two from either holster under his arms and leaned over to set them down on the couch as well. He bit his tongue on mentioning the dagger in the sheath underneath one holster and the combat knife currently tucked into his boot. Slowly he smiled and she glared at him in response, which just made him smile brighter.

“Uh,” he started, “should I point out the dog?”

“What about him?” she asked, looking down at Mouse.

“Well, Harry mentioned the fact that him not having ate me was a good thing. Doesn’t that count?”

“I’ll wait and talk to Harry myself. Now where’s your wallet?”

“Back pocket,” replied Xander wearily, keeping his arms up as she moved around him. He was rather used to this sort of treatment since he was carrying about a big honking Desert Eagle. Most people who tried detaining him ended up coming back looking sheepish afterwards since his permits had come through the Council and they made sure their people kept their gear. And were bespelled by the Coven at his request so they automatically were reissued without him ever having to do a thing.

She reached around and pulled it out, looking first at his license then at the three gun permits. After a moment she frowned at him, saying, “So Harry just left you here. Why?”

“Er…he had to go out.”

“A case? Or something magic?”

Xander blinked twice then stared at her.

“You,” he said slowly, “you know?”

“Yes,” she said slowly. “Now where is Harry?”

The door opened then and Harry came in, saying, “Right here, Murph. See, safe and sound, okay?”

“Who is he?” she demanded. “And where were you? You told me you’d be here all day with Molly?”

“Stuff came up,” he replied, shrugging casually. “He came up actually.”

She spun back towards Xander, who blinked innocently as if to say ‘Who, me?’, then turned back towards the wizard. Blowing air through bared teeth, she holstered her gun and held up his wallet. “He has permits for three guns, you know.”

“He does?” said Harry, surprised. “You do?” he queried, looking at Xander over her head.

Xander shrugged in response and replied, “Yeah but they’re all real. I swear. Even the one for the Desert Eagle.”

Dark eyes flicked towards the guns on the couch then down at the blonde cop. “Um, Murph, if he’s got the permits, there’s no problem.”

“He has a Desert Eagle!”

“And I have a shotgun in my trunk that you’ve been ignoring for years. Plus…he’s family, Murph.”

“What?!”

“We’re cousins apparently,” said Harry with a smile. “Though I’ve yet to look through the papers he brought with him to make sure its true but I’m thinking so. Mouse didn’t eat him, so he’s okay. So, Xander, meet Karrin Murphy.”

“Hi,” said Xander cheerfully. “Nice to, uh, meet’cha.”

She stared at him then looked up at Harry before glancing between them both again. Then she sighed and grumbled, “Well you two are definitely related. Only someone related to you, Harry, could annoy me this much after only just meeting him.”

“That’s a compliment,” intoned Harry towards Xander with a grin.

“No, its not,” said Murphy. Then she turned and handed Xander back his wallet, which he took gratefully and put back into his pocket. As she turned back towards Harry and asked, “Now where were you?” he stepped over to the couch and slid the three guns back under his coat.

The wizard sighed and replied, “Council business, Murph. There’s something big going on and a meeting was called here in town with all of the Warden ordered to be there.”

“How’s he fit into this?”

“Morgan apparently found him facing off with a Red Court vampire.”

She looked at Xander with surprise at that and he blinked back, asking, “What? I almost got sacrificed once to open a portal to Hell. Vampires are cake.”

Murphy shook her head and turned to Harry with, “He’s insane. Now what’s going on in my city?”

“We’re not sure. But the Wardens are staying around – whatever it is, it’s big.” Harry glanced towards Xander and added, “And somehow I have the feeling it has something to do with your Watcher’s Council or whatever.”

“They’re not mine,” insisted the one eyed man, holding his hands up. “And nobody but my friends knew I was coming here. I specifically told them not to tell anyone else, too. So whatever this is, I didn’t drag it here with me, trust me.”

Harry nodded, saying, “I believe you. Problem is, the Council isn’t. And what the hell is this Watcher’s Council?”

Xander grinned at the both of them and asked, “You ever heard of the Slayer?”

As they shook their heads in response, he sighed and remembered the old spill he’d heard from Giles so many years ago.

“Well, into every generation there’s a girl born to fight vampires – the lesser kind, not the Courts. She’s strong, she’s fast, and she’s the boogeyman to all the nasties of the night. Though now there are hundreds of them thanks to what might’ve been a bad turn in judgment.”

“How would more of these super girls be bad?” asked Harry.

“Y’know how everything has an equal and opposite reaction?” asked Xander.

“Yeah.”

“What happens when the side of good suddenly gets this great big boost and leaves a gaping hole for evil to fill?”

Murphy paled as Harry muttered, “Hell’s bells.”

Xander nodded, saying, “Exactly. The proverbial shit starts hitting the fan, then the real shit starts hitting the fan. More and more girls pop up every day and I kept watching them turn into people I didn’t like. That’s why I left.”

The blonde shook her head then looked up at Harry, asking, “You knew nothing about this?”

“It’s not something that gets talked about a lot apparently,” he replied sheepishly, running a hand through his hair. Then he frowned and asked, “What are you doing here, Murph?”

She sighed at that.

“I called to bring you in on a murder; girl about sixteen that was found beaten to death with her eyes sewed shut and some runes carved over them.”

“Runes?” questioned Xander. He then paled and asked, “Shit, did you leave the body?”

“I haven’t even seen the body yet. Why?”

“Those…that sounds really similar to something that happened a few years ago.”

“What?” asked Harry.

The one-eyed man smiled grimly and replied, “The end of the world.”

They both stared at him for a long moment as if he wasn’t serious then it sank in that he was. Murphy looked up at Harry then said, “Let’s go, both of you. We’ll take my car. And leave those guns here!”

“Why?” asked Xander, curiously. “I have…”

“Handguns are illegal here in Chicago,” pointed out Harry. As Xander’s mouth opened in an ‘o’ of surprise. “So, leave them here.”

“I can keep them? I mean…”

“What handguns?” growled Murphy, glaring at him.

“The…”

“What. Handguns?”

Xander gulped and said, “Uh, yeah, what handguns?”

“Good,” she said sharply before going out the door. Harry grinned and patted the one-eyed man on the shoulder as they followed after he left the guns in the apartment. Then he turned and said, “I’ll do my best not to get it blown up your car this time, Murph.”

“Not the time, Harry!”

“If you can’t laugh at the possible end of the world, what can you laugh at?” asked the wizard. Then he looked at Xander as they climbed into the car, he stretching out his legs in the front seat, and said sarcastically, “This day just keeps getting better and better.”

Xander smiled grimly back at him and leaned back into the seat with his eyes closed after he buckled his seat belt.

“Trust me,” he said slowly, “if this is what I think it might be, the day’s going to get a lot worse.”