Discovery

Chapter 38

Xander shifted uncomfortably in the hard hospital chair, looking at the motionless form of his best friend, forcing himself to mentally block the pain shooting up his arm. Willow needed him now and it was his job, as her best friend, to stay beside her and ignore his own discomfort.

Beside him sat Cordelia and Oz. Oz was his usual silent self, although Xander could see the anger dancing in the werewolf's eyes as he looked at Willow's unconscious form. Cordelia too was silent, although silence was not a natural thing for the cheerleader. Xander knew that Cordelia was shocked about what had happened. Drusilla's attack on the library had been unsuspected, although in hindsight Xander knew they should have known. Druisilla was known for being psychic and naturally would have taken offense at an attempt to resoul Angelus. Still the death of Kendra and Willow's coma had shocked them all, especially in the wake of Giles' kidnapping and Jenny's death.

It had been a hard four months for all of the Scoobies, with Angel losing his soul and becoming a blood-sucking psychopath. Xander had said numerous times that they should have seen the day when Angel turned on them coming and killed him when they had the chance but the hurt looks sent at him each time from Buffy had made Xander stop commenting on it. Of course he still thought about it, imagining the day when Buffy finally staked Angelus with glee, but he no longer mentioned that.

Undoubtedly the last few months had been hardest on Buffy, since she was the one who had loved Angel the most and who had unintentionally released the vampire of his soul when they'd slept together on her birthday. Giles too had been forced to face his demons since Jenny's death at Angelus' hand. It had been only Xander, however, who had wondered what the implications of Angel being evil would have on Willow. As far as he was concerned, Willow had to be distantly related to Angel. There was no way Special Agent Booth and Angel could look so alike without there being some sort of blood connection. Xander had seen the pain in Willow's eyes as she thought about how the vampire that looked near identical to her father had killed her mentor and was terrorizing her friends.

A double blow for Willow had been receiving the news, a few weeks ago, that one of her father's colleagues, who Willow had struck up a friendship with, had been stabbed. Apparently Willow's new friend, Zach, had been struggling with things and had been approached by a person who had appeared to be able to help. It was only a few months later that Zach had realized that the person who had been helping him was actually the cannibalistic serial killer that Special Agent Booth and the team had been after almost all year. Zach had gone to Special Agent Booth and they had set up an operation. Zach went into the killer's lair first, followed by the FBI squad. All had been going well until the killer realized that Zach had betrayed him. The killer, whose name Xander had forgotten, had grabbed Zach and plunged a knife into him. Zach had survived but it had been a near thing and Willow had been quite upset by the news.

Xander frowned as he thought of Special Agent Booth. The hospital had contacted Ira and Sheila Rosenberg about Willow's coma and they had told the hospital staff that when they finished the conference they were currently attending, they would return to Sunnydale. It would be a couple of days until then, however, and Xander wondered if Special Agent Booth had been called.

"Did any of you guys call Willow's dad?" he asked softly.

"No." Oz shook his head.

"Oh, I hadn't thought of that. How creepy, having Mr. FBI agent who looks freakishly like Angel walking around her after everything that's happened," Cordelia added.

"We should. though," Oz put in. "I mean, he'd want to know... and it's not like we know how long Willow is going to be unconscious for."

Cordelia nodded in agreement and Xander groaned. He wished Giles was there to tell him what he should do... or Buffy. As it was, though, it was down to him, Oz and Cordelia.