Giles read another few lines of what Dawn had written on the recent events Xander had gone through before turning to stare at him in disbelief... again. "How are you still alive?"

Xander burst out laughing while Giles blushed, embarrassed at his outburst.

"Sorry about that," he apologized.

"It's no big," Xander said. "I've been asked that repeatedly this last week."

"This is more than Buffy deals with in a month," Giles said.

"Not really," Xander disagreed. "Buffy fights vampires about six nights out of seven with a few weird things thrown in for flavor. I fought vampires... three times and just had a lot more random things."

"We've gotten rather blase about nightly stakings," Giles realized. "She's just so proficient it no longer registers as a real threat."

"Unless there's a master or we are massively outnumbered, they're not really a threat," Xander agreed. "We've got it down to a science."

"Indeed," Giles said, "something I am very glad of but hated the necessity of."

"This is an awesome shield," Dawn said as she examined it.

"Hef is awesome like that," he said with a smile.

"Should you be calling him that?" Joyce asked.

"It's the name he was using when I met him," Xander replied. "I wouldn't give a nickname to a god or purposefully mangle their name but I will use whatever aliases they offer."

"I'd suggest using his full name in formal situations," Giles said absently as he reread the list of Xander's summer activities.

"I will," Xander agreed. "Please don't share what I've been up to with Wills or Buffy, I'd like to avoid any drama until after summer's over."

"Yes, why not let the drama build up to a massive explosion," Giles replied dryly.

"I promise not to let on that you knew anything when that happens," Xander offered.

Giles just looked at him over the top of his glasses. "You do know it's all just going to backfire on both of us, right?"

Xander nodded. "Yeah, that's a given, but in the meantime we get some peace and quiet."

Giles looked down at the list and then back to Xander. "This is peace and quiet?"

The young man shrugged. "No one is yelling at me, so... yes?"

Giles winced. "Well, it is your life and they are going to have to learn that they can't live it for you at some point."

"Thanks Giles."

"Are they really that bad... Scratch that," Joyce said with a sigh, "I've heard them complaining about things that you clearly had no control over. Still, they only do it because they care."

"And that's why I still love them," Xander replied. "You don't do that, do you?" he asked Dawn.

"Nope," Dawn said firmly. "I check to make sure you aren't missing any body parts, tell you any new scars will look cool, and attach myself to you like a koala on a tree until I feel better."

"That's a much healthier way to deal with things," Xander said.

A bell chimed in the kitchen.

"Looks like dinner is ready," Joyce said.

Dawn grinned as Giles and Xander's eyes lit up and they seemed to completely forget what they were talking about, getting up to follow Joyce into the kitchen. 'I may have to get Mom to start teaching me how to cook.'

After Dinner

"That was an excellent meal," Giles said.

"Best I've eaten by far," Xander said.

"Thank you," Joyce said with a smile.

"We'll take care of the dishes," Xander volunteered.

"Yes," Giles agreed. "You relax while we clean up the mess."

Dawn followed Joyce into the livingroom. "Teach me your secrets!" she ordered.

Joyce laughed.

"No, seriously," Dawn said, "I wanna be able to cook well enough that people jump to serve me too!"

"Dear," Joyce said smugly, "I started teaching you years ago."

"Huh?" Dawn asked.

"I started with cookies and pies, since it was easy enough to get you interested," Joyce told her daughter, "We've moved on to cakes and various side dishes this year."

"Oh," she said with a bright smile, recalling all the times her mom had had her help with dinner even though she was pretty sure she was getting in the way more than helping. "Step by step?"

"Step by step," Joyce repeated. "I have a lot of recipes, but going step by step you can make them with a little practice."

"When do I graduate to main dishes?"

"We can start on those whenever you like," Joyce replied with a happy smile. "Be prepared to eat overcooked and burnt dishes while learning how to compensate for it as well. You'd be amazed at how easy it is to make your mistakes edible."

Dawn's eyes widened. "Buffy's crunchy meatloaf!"

"Originally a mistake," Joyce agreed, "but somehow the girl made it work."

"It was like she was trying to make mashed potatoes and invented french fries," Dawn said.

"I was surprised at how well it turned out and that she could cook it the same way every time," Joyce said.

"How late am I allowed to stay out since we're going to the drive-in?" Dawn asked.

"As the town is cleared of vampires and Xander and Wonder Woman cleared the property of demons... nine AM," Joyce said.

"Really?!"

"Xander's with you, so I know you'll be safe."

Dawn beamed.

"Just remember to have protection on you."

Dawn stared at her mom, her mouth falling open in shock.

"Stake and crucifix," Joyce explained, trying not to laugh.

Dawn collapsed on the couch. "I'm slain. Killed by embarrassment."

"You'll recover," she assured her.

It only took a couple of minutes for Xander and Giles to finish cleaning up before they returned.

"Thank you, Joyce," Giles said, "it's been a bit longer than I want to think about since I've had a home cooked meal of that quality."

"Then you should probably stop by more often," Joyce told him. "Coffee?"

"I wouldn't mind a cup," Giles said, sounding a bit bashful.

"Mom," Dawn said. "We'll be back by noon tomorrow."

"Alright dear, have fun," Joyce said.

"We probably aren't going to crash till sunrise," Xander said as Joyce and Giles disappeared into the kitchen, "but we can crash on my couch this time."

Xander picked his shield up. "Any idea what movie you want to see?"

"What do you have?"

"I'm not sure," Xander admitted. "The collection is huge and I haven't done more than glance at it."

"Think they have the original Star Wars?" Dawn asked. "I've always heard it was made for the drive-in and just isn't the same on TV."

"I hope so, because that would be awesome," Xander said, eyes lighting up. "To the car!"

The pair hurried out to the car.

"We'll stop at the Quickmart for fountain drinks and popcorn," Xander said.

"How do you run the projector?" Dawn asked as they pulled away from the curb.

"No idea, but it's probably not hard," Xander said. "I had to run the smaller projector for class films in history a lot to make sure I didn't fall asleep, and I expect it's the same, but bigger."

"Probably," Dawn agreed.

The trip to the Quickmart was quick and they went a bit overboard getting drinks and snacks. As they came out Xander spotted a couple of people and grinned.

"Jonathan, Andrew," Xander greeted the pair.

"General Xander," Andrew said in an almost worshipful tone.

"Hey Xander," Jonathan greeted him.

"Do you guys have any idea how to run a drive-in movie projector?"

"I worked at the movie theater in town last summer," Jonathan said. "Do they use the same equipment?"

"No idea," Xander admitted.

"I could take a look," Jonathan said.

"How did you get a drive-in projector and what movies do you have?" Andrew asked curiously.

"I bought a drive-in," Xander replied. "You know where my uncle's wrecking yard is? Well apparently it's the property a block to the east. They are screened in by those rows of trees."

"Really?" Jonathan asked excitedly.

"Yeah, it has a huge movie collection so I'm hoping it has the original Star Wars so we can see it the way it was intended," Xander said.

"Do we get to watch it?" Andrew asked hopefully.

"If we can get the projector running and they have it," Xander replied.

"Marry me!" Andrew exclaimed.

"Hey, I already called dibs," Dawn told him, making Jonathan and Xander laugh.

"I can get the entire geek squad there in half an hour," Jonathan promised. "Someone will know how to run it."

"I'm on the geek squad," Andrew said, trying to make his voice deeper.

"You are the geek squad," Xander and Jonathan chorused.

"Princess Bride?" Dawn guessed.

"Bingo," Xander said.

"Oh! Do you think they'll have a copy?" Andrew asked excitedly.

"Maybe," Xander said. "Wanna find out?"

"Yes, yes we do," Andrew said, almost vibrating in place.

"I can't believe we didn't know that was there," Jonathan said. "See you in a few."

"See you in a few," Xander said. "Dibs?" he asked Dawn as they got in the car.

"Called it years ago," she said with a smile. "Three and some change and I'll be legal."

"Three and... when is your birthday?" he asked as they drove off. "I'm going to need a lot of things written down, dates, anniversaries, etc."

"March 14th," Dawn replied. "I'd have been a freshman this year, but I got held back a year because I spent some time in juvie for shoplifting."

"That's gotta suck," Xander said.

"It really does," Dawn agreed. "Mom said I was acting out because of tension at home, but truthfully I was just being a dumbass who wanted attention."

"Harsh," Xander said with a wince.

"But true," Dawn said with a sigh. "Okay, maybe I wanted attention because I felt ignored because my parents were fighting a lot... so Mom's right."

"She often is," Xander agreed.

"Anyway, I did a couple of months in juvie for stealing lip gloss," Dawn explained. "Less than five dollars of product made me retake an entire year of school. Which is really stupid because they've often offered me the chance to skip a year."

"Well I'm glad you were held back, because Sunnydale High had a body count that was insane and hopefully when they rebuild the bits we blew up that will no longer be the case," he told her.

"Maybe," Dawn said with a frown. "Not sure how many we lost in middle school, but I'm sure a number of the transfers and runaways didn't."

Xander sighed. "Yeah, Sunnydale was murder central, but thankfully the vamps have been cleared out so it should be a bit safer now."

They pulled onto the property and Dawn looked around. "Wow, the landscaper did a really good job."

"Ted does good work," Xander agreed.

"Are we positive he's not a serial killer?"

"Pretty sure," Xander said as he pulled up next to the red brick building. "I'm going with a combination of gut instinct and the fact that his story is so strange an AI wouldn't have invented it. If I'm wrong then he'll leg it to avoid getting offlined again."

"We live such strange lives," Dawn said as they got out of the car.

"It's a strange world," Xander replied, holding open the door for her.

"Wow, it's so clean," Dawn said as she entered. "I thought it was dusty."

"I hired Ted to clean it," he said, looking around with a smile.

"Well, he didn't run off."

"Yep, he's probably on the level, of course I'll still have Wills check his backstory to be sure, but that was always the plan."

"Where's the projector?" Dawn asked.

"Second floor, just off the arcade."

"There's an arcade?" Dawn asked before rushing up the stairs, not waiting for an answer.

Xander followed her at a slower pace hearing a squeal as she saw it. "What do you think?"

"Most awesome rec room ever!" she exclaimed.

"And this way for the movies," he said, leading her to the projector room with its wall of film containers.

"You have all the movies," Dawn said in awe.

"Yeah," Xander agreed. "Now let's see if they have Star Wars."

It took them nearly ten minutes as they kept stopping and pointing out movies to each other before finding they did in fact have a copy of Star Wars.

"And then Princess Bride," Dawn said, setting a copy of one of their favorite movies on the table next to Star Wars.

They heard a girlish squeal come from the arcade.

"I think Andrew's here," Dawn noted.

"Sounds like it," Xander agreed before they peeked out into the arcade where half a dozen distracted teens were examining the machines. "Huh, looks like all the geeks are here."

Tying By: Abyssal Angel

Beta By: Abyssal Angel, Mist of Shadows, and Kyrin Fireheart