Xander stared across the bomb at O'Toole, waiting. He hadn't been lying when he said he didn't mind the silence. Being pushed out and away by his friends, Cordy leaving him, it all add up to a silence he was beginning to enjoy. There was no need to find words to fill up the empty spaces. No need for jokes to break the tension. Just him alone in his mind, something he hadn't had the chance to experience since Jesse died.

He waited, arms crossed and eyes narrowed as the silence filled the room. The zombie teen darted forward and stopped the timer. Nodding, Xander let his gaze drift to the bomb before settling back on Jack. He could see the fear in Jack's eyes, the realization that it had nearly been the true end for the zombie and he grinned.

"Go," he said quietly. "And Jack, don't let me see you here again."

Stepping aside, he let the the other teen bolt out the door, nearly sagging to the floor in relief. While he hadn't been quite bluffing, it was still nice to be alive. He glared at the bomb and started to dismantle it. There was no way he was leaving it as it was in the basement. Some idiot could come along and start it back up and any time that way. As he worked a startled scream sounded and abruptly cut off. He glanced at he closed door and shook his head. With whatever was going on with the Hellmouth, who knew what was crawling around the school. When finished, he pocketed the more important pieces, like the trigger mechanism, and headed back upstairs.

Outside the room the smell of fur and musk reached him and he looked around for Oz. He figured they must have stashed the werewolf down here to be safe. No seeing any sign of his friend, he continued on. It didn't matter much anyway. He and the wolf had settled their differences, the wolf understanding that despite the remnants of the hyena rattling around in his mind, Xander wasn't dominate and wasn't looking to take any of Oz's pack from him. It was more like he was lone, odd wolf that was sometimes included.

Walking up the stairs he stifled a laugh. It was pathetic that he had more understanding from a feral creature than his own friends.

"Xander! What are you doing here!" Buffy yelled. "I thought I told you we didn't need your help tonight."

Xander turned to look at the crew limping tiredly from the library, sighing silently at the glares Willow and Buffy were shooting at him. "I wasn't here to help you, Buffy. I was here stopping a zombie from setting off a bomb in the basement."

"That's not funny, Xander," Willow chided.

Shaking his head, Xander tossed some of the bits from his pocket at Angel, knowing the vampire would see them for what they were. Shocked eyes met his and he nodded once.

"He's telling the truth," the vampire conceded.

"Zombie?" Giles asked, stepping further out of the library.

"Jack O'Toole," Xander said with a shrug. "His grandfather did it. He raised some friends but the Sister got them." He paused and glanced at Willow. "I think Oz ate him though."

The redhead paled then turned a sickly green. "He's so brushing and gargling for the next week," she said faintly.

"You good, Boy Toy?" Faith asked.

"Five by five."

"You know that ain't gonna happen again, right?"

"I figured that," Xander said with a smile. "Rather be friends anyway."

The darker Slayer blinked and nodded. "Sounds good to me."

"What are you talking about?" Willow asked, her eyes bouncing between the two of them.

"Nothing," Xander said, waving her off. "I'm heading home. See you guys tomorrow."

As he walked away, Xander could hear the whispered debate but ignored it. He would stick with the because he wanted too, but he had proven he didn't need them.

Mayor Wilkins looked up as a wave of magic rolled through his office. He shivered as the magic brushed across his skin. After all these years it was a magic he was very familiar with: the magic of the Hellmouth. Glancing at his schedule he noticed the notation about the Hellmouth trying to open. He nodded, that must be the reason for the excess energy. With a smile, he pushed aside the magic and went back to the contract he was working on. Wolfram and Hart were trying to scam him again.

Oz watched Xander walk around the school with a new found confidence. Something had happened the night before and no one had told him anything. Despite the whole kissing Willow situation, Oz considered the younger boy a friend and he hated being kept out of the loop when it came to his friends.

"What happened last night?" he asked Willow and Buffy at lunch.

Willow paled and shook her head but Buffy sighed. "We fought the Sisters of Jhe while Xander was in the basement."

"I thought he was staying home," Oz said. He looked at his girlfriend. "You said he didn't want to help."

She went a bit paler. "Well, actually, we told him to stay home."

"Why?"

"So he wouldn't get hurt," she said earnestly. "He's normal."

"Yeah, and so are Giles and Wesley," the werewolf pointed out. "They just have more training. What happened?"

"O'Toole was a zombie," Buffy told him seriously. "He set a bomb in the boiler room."

"That's right underneath the library," Oz said slowly.

"Xander stopped him."

"How? O'Toole is probably a bit much even for you."

"We don't know exactly what happened, but when Giles and Angel went down there they found some of the remains. Xander took most of it apart," the Slayer admitted. "He told us about it, had some strange conversation with Faith and went home."

"Uh huh," Oz nodded. "Where's O'Toole now?"

Both girls went a bit green. "You may have eaten him," Buffy said hesitantly.

"I ate him?" They nodded. "Explains why I haven't been hungry today."

"Oz!" Willow gasped, looking sick. "That's just nasty."

He shrugged. "So is that all that happened?"

"That we know, yeah," the blond replied.

Oz thought for a moment. It was obvious something had happened when Xander took on O'Toole and the only one to answer it was Xander himself. He'd track down the other boy after school and find out what was going on. His pack might be mostly human, but he was still Alpha and therefor in charge of their well-being.

The van pull up beside him startled Xander out of his thoughts. He looked through the window to see Oz grinning at him just before the door unlocked. Grinning back, he climbed in and buckled up, knowing he would have to wait to see what Oz wanted. The blue haired youth drove them around a bit before parking in one of the small parks that dotted the town.

"The girls told me some of what happened last night," Oz began. He glanced over at Xander. "Your side?"

"They tell you O'Toole was zombified?"

"Yeah."

"His grandfather did it. He used me and my uncles car to go around and raise a few buddies. Then they decided it would be a good idea to blow up the school," Xander said, slumping in the seat. "I didn't realize at first what was going on. Figured it out right after an encounter with Faith."

"And?"

"I stared him down," Xander said softly. "Told him I liked the silence." He shrugged.

"Bluffing?"

Xander shook his head. "No."

"Xan," Oz sighed. "Why?"

"Truthfully, I was tired. Tired of being the normal one. Tired of being pushed aside and left out." He chuckled mirthlessly. "It's funny that they think anyone would be safe on the Hellmouth."

The older boy nodded. "They obviously didn't think that through."

"They tell you about O'Toole's end?" Xander asked with a smirk.

Oz grimaced. "Yeah. Think I'm gonna lay off the meat for a while."

Xander laughed at that. "We good?"

"Pack," Oz reminded him. "Have to do something really bad to be not pack."

"Good to know," Xander replied. "What now?"

Oz shrugged. "No clue. Maybe things will go back to normal."

"On the Hellmouth? No likely."

Things did go back to fairly normal. Patrol happened. School happened. The occasional vampire and demon attack happened. Life was as normal as it got in Sunnydale. That should have been a warning sign, but no one was really paying attention. So when the first body disappeared, no one really noticed. It was the 'Dale after all, things like that happened. The second body went by without comment as well. The third body however, did get noticed.

"Something is going on," Angel told Giles seriously.

The two men were in the far stacks of the library as the the teens researched some obscure demon that Buffy thought she had seen.

"What exactly?" Giles asked.

"Three bodies have disappeared," Angel answered. "Only one was supposed to rise."

"Disappeared how?"

"I don't know," the vampire said. "The first was killed in crossfire between two demons. It disappeared just before burial. The gravediggers went to get the coffin and it was open and empty."

"Which was the vampire?"

"The second. I'm not sure the circumstances," Angel admitted. "It might have risen early."

"And the third?"

"An old woman. She had died of natural causes a day or so before she was found. She was gone from the morgue. She's the one that really got notice."

"Have you asked around? Someone might have taken the two human bodies?"

Angel nodded. "I checked at Willie's and few other places, no one knows. They all claim that there are no grave robbers or the like in town at the moment. All the flesh eaters prefer their meals alive too."

"You're right, this is odd," Giles murmured. "Can you keep an eye out? See if anything else happens?"

"Of course. Are we going to tell Buffy and the others?"

Giles shook his head. "Not yet. I would prefer to have something more concrete than dividing their attention."

Angel nodded. "Let Buffy know I dropped by?"

The ex-Watcher rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes, fine. Go now."

Laughing softly, the vampire slipped out the back way and headed to do a quick patrol. He knew Giles hadn't forgiven or forgotten, but at least the man wasn't pointing crossbows at him any more.