[ there is some... consensual blood drinking (?) in this chapter. not in a kinky way (which i personally am not opposed to but ignore that) just like in a 'here have my blood for thansgiving' way. might happen one or two more times we'll see ]

♡︎

I'M GONNA SHAVE YOUR EYEBROWS OFF.

[ 4.08 ]

"Look at him," Anya breathed out, her eyes glued to Xander. "Have you ever seen anything so masculine?"

"You mean Guerrero or his wife?" Buffy asked, thinking that she was referring to the woman speaking.

"She's talking about Xander," Kitty informed them.

The University was breaking ground on the site for a new cultural center, and Xander was hired by the construction company to help build it. He was standing to the side with a few other men, wearing a tank top and hard hat with a shovel in hand. They just had to get through the ceremony part.

"Oh. Very manly. Not at all village people," Buffy noted.

"Says the one in a cowboy hat," Kitty said, looking at the black hat on Buffy's head. That and her brown suede skirt made her look very Western.

"Says the one in a bucket hat," Buffy shot back.

Kitty tugged the ends of her white bucket hat down, keeping it secure on her head. "Bucket hats are cute. You look like you're missing a horse."

Buffy shook her head while smiling before looking back at Xander. "Well, it's much sexier than the outfit from his last job."

"Oh, I miss the free hot dogs on sticks," Willow complained. "Least we still get pastries from Kitty."

"I'm imagining having sex with him right now," Anya suddenly announced. She had no problem discussing how intimate she and Xander were. Frequently.

They tuned back into the speech that was being given. "And that's why it's appropriate that the ground-breaking for the UC Sunnydale Cultural Partnership Center is taking place so soon before Thanksgiving. Because that's what the melting pot is about — contributions from all cultures, making our culture stronger."

As the woman finished her speech, most everyone clapped. Buffy and Kitty did as well before Willow stopped them.

"What a load of horse hooey," she grumbled.

"We have a counterpoint?" Buffy asked.

"Yeah. Thanksgiving isn't about the blending of two cultures. It's about one culture wiping out another. And then they make animated specials about the part with the maize and the big, big belt buckles. They don't show you the next scene, where all the bison die and Squanto takes a musket ball in the stomach," she ranted.

"Was that in one of the history textbooks I never actually opened?" Kitty questioned, tilting her head. Giles never celebrated Thanksgiving, meaning Kitty never had, and he never explained the history behind it. As far as she knew, it was just about eating turkey.

"Ok. Now, for some of that, you were channeling your mother," Buffy told Willow, giving her a look.

"Well, yeah, sort of," she admitted sheepishly. "That's why she doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving or Columbus Day. You know, the destruction of the indigenous peoples. I know it sounds a little overwrought, but really, she's... she's right."

"Yeah. I guess I never really thought about it that way," she replied. "With Mom at Aunt Darlene's this year, I'm not getting a Thanksgiving. Maybe it's just as well."

"Well, I think that's a shame. I love a ritual sacrifice," Anya commented, not taking her eyes off Xander.

"I can't be sure, but I don't think it's one of those kind of holidays," Kitty whispered to her.

"To commemorate a past event, you kill and eat an animal. It's a ritual sacrifice — with pie," Anya explained.

"Oh, I thought you meant people sacrifice," Kitty said in understanding.

As the professor then finished her speech, she walked from the podium and over to the dirt with a shovel in hand.

"What's she doing?" Anya asked frantically. "Xander said he was going to dig. I want to see Xander dig."

"That part's just ceremonial," Buffy explained.

"Well, it bites. She's not rippling at all," she complained.

"Don't worry. He'll be digging and... rippling in a sec," Kitty told her.

Which was true. After the professor dug up one scoop of dirt, she stepped to the side and let the actual construction crew begin, Xander included.

"Oh. Look, there he goes," Anya said, sighing dreamily. "Look at him."

"Very... diggy," Willow noted awkwardly.

"Soon he'll be sweating. I'm imagining having sex with him again," Anya said with a smile.

"Imaginary Xander is quite the machine," Buffy said in amusement.

"And has a lot of stamina, evidently," Kitty added.

The four girls continued to watch Xander and the other workers dig. But suddenly the ground beneath. Xander gave in, and he plummeted down. Everyone gasped and screamed, fearing he was hurt. Kitty even crossed the orange safety barrier and ran to check on him, and the others followed.

"Xander?" Kitty called, looking down into some kind of underground room.

Xander, who must have fallen ten feet, managed to stand. "Ow. I'm ok! I'm, uh, I'm ok!" he called.

Kitty listened to a few of the nearby workers before looking back down the hole. "They say they're gonna have to call the fire department to get you out. Stay put."

"I literally have nowhere else to go, Kit."

♡︎

After Xander was saved from the pit he fell into, construction was completely shut down on the cultural center. Instead of going straight home, Kitty opted to hang out in Buffy and Willow's room for a little while.

"While they were pulling Xander out, I heard a couple of the anthro professors talking about it. Man, were they excited? It's the old Sunnydale mission, which everyone thought was lost," Willow informed them.

"What's a mission?" Kitty asked, frowning up at the ceiling from her spot on Buffy's bed. It didn't make sense with the context.

"It's a thing they did to try and convert Native Americans to Catholicism," she responded, rolling her eyes at the entire notion. "But they'll have to find a new site for the cultural center because they'll take a lot of time exploring the mission."

It seemed Buffy was only half paying attention as she stared out the window. "Huh?"

"Is there something out there?" Willow asked.

"Oh. No. I'm sorry," Buffy said, turning away and joining Kitty on the bed. "A lost mission. I mean, a hairbrush I can understand. And by the way, I will find that and get that back to you. But how do you lose a mission?"

"Huge earthquake in 1812," Willow explained. "Everyone just assumed the mission was leveled. Instead, they built right over it. It's like what happened in the thirties with that church the Master was in. Doesn't it make you wonder what else is there, like, right under our feet?"

Kitty let her head hang over the side of the bed to look at the floor. All she knew was that there were three more dorm rooms under them at the moment.

"Mostly, I've just found sewers full of demons," Buffy mumbled, only half-joking.

"Oh, right," Willow said. They heard a large group of loud and excited students pass through the hall, so Willow got up to close the door. "Man, it's crazy out there."

"Mm-hmm. Post-midterm frenzy. And the holiday. Everyone's going home," Buffy said.

"It looks like a lot of lucky moms are gonna be getting brimming baskets of dirty laundry," Willow joked, laying back on her bed.

"It's so not fair. I mean, they all get a family holiday just because they can go home to their families," Buffy said, pouting.

Willow let out a hum of agreement. "It's a turvy-topsy world."

"You know what?" Buffy asked, sitting up as an idea came to her. "I should have my own Thanksgiving. I can cook the meal, just like my mom does, have all you guys over. It'll be great."

"Buffy, earlier you agreed with me about Thanksgiving. It's a sham. It's all about death," Willow said, upset about it.

"It is a sham, but it's a sham with yams," she said. "It's a yam sham."

"You're not gonna jokey-rhyme your way out of this one."

Buffy gave Willow an uneasy smile. "I know... but I want it. It's like Professor Walsh was saying about sense memory. I smell a roasting turkey, and I'm eight years old. I liked having that to look forward to. Everything's different now."

Willow sighed, giving in. "Well, I suppose there could be slight yams."

"I don't like yams," Kitty informed them. "And I was never eight years old."

"Yes, but you do like turkey and rolls and mashed potatoes and pie and—"

Kitty put up a hand to stop Buffy. "You had me at mashed potatoes. 'Tis my comfort food."

"We could all definitely use a little comfort food," Buffy said, glad to have Kitty on board. "I bet Giles doesn't have any plans if Kitty doesn't. And Xander always tries to avoid all of his family gatherings."

"Ooh. We could not invite Anya," Willow said, grinning.

"I don't know. She and Xander seem pretty tight lately," Buffy said.

"I like Anya," Kitty stated. Sure, she was blunt and didn't understand humans, but she cared about Xander, and Anya made him happy.  

"You like pretty much everyone," Willow reminded her. "Vengeance demons not excluded."

"Look, pilgrims aside, isn't that the whole point of Thanksgiving?" Buffy asked, wanting to convince Willow to let Anya come. "Everybody has a place to go?"

"This shall be an all-strays welcome Thanksgiving," Kitty said, grinning. "We're inviting Anya."

Buffy nodded in agreement. "All strays welcome."

♡︎

The day before Thanksgiving, Buffy brought over an insane amount of groceries to Giles' apartment, where they were going to eat. As Giles and Kitty helped unload everything, Buffy told them about fighting some Native American spirit warrior who also murdered someone — but every few minutes, she'd get sidetracked and start talking about Thanksgiving preparation.

"Pretty darn scary. It's more like a riot than a Ralph's. I thought I was going to have to use Slayer moves on this one woman who was completely hoarding the pumpkin pie filling," Buffy ranted about her trip to the grocery store.

"And at some point, you are going to tell me about the murder?" Giles asked impatiently.

"Oh, right. The knife was some sort of Indian artifact. Chumash, I think. That's all we got," she said, sorting vegetables.

"Oh, Chumash Indians," he said in recognition. "They were indigenous to this whole area."

"That's interesting," Kitty said, though she didn't particularly mean it.

"Then, of course, the murder weapon might have just been a convenient choice," Giles guessed.

"Uh-uh. There was a big ol' pair of scissors lying right there. That knife was picked for a reason," Buffy told him. Then she looked around. "Do you even own a turkey pan?"

"You didn't ask before planning all this?" Kitty asked.

Giles let out an exasperated sigh. "Tell me again why we're not doing this at your house."

"Giles, if you would like to get by in American society, then you are going to have to follow our traditions," Buffy said, standing her ground. "You're the patriarch. You have to host the festivities, or it's all meaningless."

"And this is in no way an elaborate scheme to stick me with the cleanup?" he asked knowingly.

Buffy turned away to hide her sheepish expression. "How about that ceremonial knife, huh?" she asked to change the subject. "Pretty juicy piece of clueage, don't you think?"

"Yes, all right, I'll look into the Chumash connection and see if there's any ritual significance to the ear removal," Giles said.

"Thank you," Buffy said before pausing in the middle of the kitchen, lost in thought.

"You all right?" Giles asked.

"Yeah. Uh, I still need to pick up a few things, so I'll check in. And keep your hands off the food," Buffy instructed.

"Oh, I'll try and restrain myself from eating uncooked potatoes and cranberries," Giles said sarcastically.

Just after Buffy left, Kitty grabbed her coat and followed. "I wanna go to the store too. I'll see you when I get back."

Giles leaned against the wall as he watched the two girls leave. Then he spoke to the person who had been hiding in a back room. "So, what do you think?"

Angel walked out into the open, eyes glued to the door Buffy had gone through. "She sounds good. Kind of intense about this Thanksgiving thing."

"I think perhaps she's a little lonely, but I meant about the murder," Giles specified. "Do you—"

The front door opened again and Kitty came through while tugging her coat back off. "Buffy said I couldn't go with and that I put things in the cart that we don't need. But who's to say that dino nuggets don't belong at Thanksgiving — Angel?"

Kitty came to a full stop and her jacket fell to the ground as she looked at him in surprise. Angel obviously hadn't been planning for Kitty to spot him either. But the damage was done, so he smiled softly. "Hey, Kitty."

"Angel!" Kitty squealed, rushing up to hug him. "What are you doing here?"

"Doyle sent me with a vision," he explained, keeping it short after the hug ended. Angel wouldn't say it out loud with Giles in the room, but he would've been okay with hugging Kitty for another minute or two.

"Oh, is it about the spirit dude?" she asked.

He nodded in confirmation. "Whatever killed the woman in the museum, that's probably the danger."

"Yeah, well, this danger, your friend has some ominous vision about Buffy. It's all terribly vague. I mean, there are other things happening on this campus," Giles said, thinking of the mission being unearthed and the military men.

"Well, maybe I'm wrong, but I gotta try something. I can't just keep watching," Angel said.

"Well, now just how long have you been watching?" Kitty asked, putting her hands on her hips as she stared up at Angel.

He glanced at the ground, knowing she'd be annoyed. "Few days."

"Few days, and you didn't tell me?" she asked, pouting. "Am I not your best friend anymore?"

"No! Of course, you're my best friend," Angel insisted, not wanting her upset with him. "I just - I needed to assess the situation. You know, so I watched Buffy."

"I'm glad that you're watching out for her, but I feel I should remind you that she's not helpless and it's not your job to keep her safe," Giles cut in.

"It's not yours anymore, either," Angel noted, bringing up the fact that Giles was no longer a Watcher. Buffy also didn't work for the Watcher's Council anymore. "Are you going to walk away?"

"All right. But I feel we should tell her. I don't like keeping this secret," Giles said.

"Wait, we're not telling Buffy?" Kitty asked, looking between the men with wide, accusing eyes. "How could you?"

"If she knew I was here, it would distract her," Angel said, shaking his head. "It could get her hurt. I don't want to get in the way."

"Coward," Kitty muttered under her breath, earning an eye roll from him.

Giles then got them back on topic. "Um, I'm assuming that there's some connection to the old mission. Something is angry about being disturbed."

"Or maybe it was trapped there, and now it's released. Something that has a fondness for ancient weapons," Angel suggested. "You know Father Gabriel?"

"No."

"He knows the history of this place pretty well. His family dates back to mission times. He might be able to fill in some blanks," he claimed.

"Ok. Well, I'll see about contacting him. Where are you going?" Giles asked, looking at Angel expectantly.

"To watch her," he said, moving toward the door.

"It's not fair," Giles told him. "You know that's what she'd say. You can see her, but she can't see you?"

"Believe me, I'm not getting the good half of this deal. To be on the outside looking in at what I can't..." Angel took a deep, sad breath. "Well, I'd forgotten how bad it feels."

"Are you gonna brood the whole time we watch Buffy?" Kitty asked, crossing her arms.

"We?" Angel questioned, raising an eyebrow.

Kitty scoffed. "Oh, you're not getting rid of me, buddy. I'm coming with to stalk Buffy. I can be super sneaky when I want to. It'll be like we're playing super spies"

Angel bit back a smile and looked at Giles. "There's like a ninety percent chance she's gonna see us, isn't there?"

"If Kitty's with you? Most definitely."

♡︎

They were spotted, actually, but not by Buffy. When she and Willow stumbled upon Riley — a boy that Buffy was interested in — Willow decided to step over to an outdoor coffee shop to give them privacy. She stumbled right into Kitty and Angel, who were hiding around the corner. So, Angel reacted quickly and grabbed Willow, covering her hand with his mouth to muffle her screams.

They could still hear her garbled words as she looked at Angel, terrified. "Oh! Angel — evil! You're all evil again."

"I'm not evil. I'm here to help Buffy," he told her, removing his hand and releasing her.

"Oh, Kitty's with you. That makes sense," Willow said, calming down. "What's going on?"

"My friend had a vision. Buffy's in danger," he explained quickly.

"So tell her. Help her," Willow said, not knowing why he pulled her into a corner.

"He thinks if he sees her, it'll be worse," Kitty said, rolling her eyes. She thought Buffy deserved to know he was in town.

"See, I don't get that, all this 'leaving for her own good' garbage," Willow said, shaking her head. "Because that's what it is. You can't just give up because there's obstacles. What kind—"

"Willow," Angel interrupted, cutting off her rant.

Kitty squeezed her hand comfortingly as Willow sighed sadly, obviously thinking about Oz leaving instead of trying to work things out. "Sorry. My stuff."

Angel sighed. "You know how I feel about her. If there was any way..."

"Yeah. I know," she said.

"It's just... everything's different now."

"Hey, is Cordelia really working for you?" Willow asked, perking up a little. "Cause that's gotta be a special experience. Of all the people you could've hired—"

"Willow, I'm here to protect Buffy," he told her. "I don't have a whole lot of time for personal stuff."

"Right. Well, how can I help?" she asked.

"Uh, Kitty kind of zones out when the important details come up. So, if you can just tell me—" Angel got distracted when he looked back at Buffy, finally noticing the good-looking man she was with. "Who's that guy?"

"Oh, that's Riley. He's a TA in one of our classes," Willow said. Then she awkwardly cleared her throat. "They, um, I think they have things for each other."

Angel's shoulders sagged as he watched Riley make Buffy smile. "Oh," he mumbled. Then he looked at the Cupid. "She right? They have... things for each other?"

"Yeah," Kitty sadly admitted, her eyes on the soon-to-be couple. "But if it makes you feel better, I don't like him that much."

Angel narrowed his eyes. "Is he evil? Some kind of monster?"

"No. Why do you ask?" Willow questioned.

"Kitty likes everyone so long as they're pleasant-ish," he told them.

"Not evil," Kitty said, shrugging her shoulders. "Just don't like his vibes."

"His vibes? What does that mean?" Angel asked.

She shrugged again. "Don't know. I just don't vibe with him."

"I still don't understand."

"Well, maybe if you hadn't abandoned your best friend and moved to LA, you'd still be fluent in Kitty-speak."

"You're never gonna let this move go, are you?"

"Never, Angel Cakes," she said seriously. "Hope you can help with this spirit warrior business before dinner tomorrow. My first Thanksgiving is gonna be so fun."

♡︎

Thanksgiving was not fun — at least what Kitty had witnessed so far of it. She was huddled up on the floor in the kitchen, trying to block out the screaming match that Willow and Giles were getting into. They were on opposing sides of what to do about the murderous spirit warrior. Willow wanted to leave him be and let him get his revenge for what was done to the Native Americans all those years ago, and Giles just wanted to stop all the murder. And Buffy was no help, too stressed out about having a perfect Thanksgiving.

"I have to baste," Buffy declared, leaving Giles and Willow to fight while she rushed back into the kitchen. She took one look at Kitty on the floor and grabbed a spoon. After getting a heap of mashed potatoes out of the crockpot keeping them warm, she lowered it to the girl on the floor, hoping it'd make her feel better about the yelling.

"Thanks," Kitty mumbled before shoving the spoon in her mouth. "Shit, Buff, these are delicious. Maybe a touch more salt though."

Buffy nodded and began adding salt to the mashed potatoes, trusting Kitty as she was the potato expert. A few moments later, there was a knock on the door, signaling that Xander and Anya had arrived. Kitty and Buffy both went to greet them.

When the door opened, they saw Anya holding up a pale, sweaty, and clearly sick Xander. "Happy Thanksgiving," he greeted with a weak smile.

"Xander. You look like death," Giles noted.

"Are you okay?" Willow asked.

Buffy frowned, noticing a lack of something. "You didn't bring rolls?"

"No rolls?" Kitty asked, eyes wide. "That's the second-best food."

While ignoring the complaints about bread, Anya led Xander to the couch. She began to tend to him, wiping the sweat off his face while he explained. "The doctor couldn't figure out what was up with me. He said I had a lot of symptoms that didn't connect."

"I think they do connect," Buffy said, eying him warily.

"What, to this Chumash spirit vengeance guy?" he asked.

"Didn't you say the Chumash got all diseased when they were all holed up in the mission?" Buffy asked Willow.

"Yeah," she said, grabbing a book from the coffee table. "This has a better account of everything. It lists the various—"

"Various?" Xander questioned, fearing it'd get worse. "As in—"

"Well, the important thing is not to panic," Willow told him.

"You just recited the mystical panic-causing incantation, so little hope there. Let's talk about the various," he insisted.

"Well, they did suffer from malaria, some smallpox—"

"I was gonna say smallpox," Anya interjected.

Willow continued quietly, hoping the next one wouldn't reach Xander's ears. "You know, syphilis, but basically—"

"Syphilis?" Xander asked in shock.

"Well, what's syphilis?" Kitty asked, unfamiliar with a lot of the diseases. She didn't need to know considering she couldn't get them.

"It's no biggie," Willow lied to her. She just needed Xander to remain calm. "Well, but this is probably mystical, and it'll all go away as soon as—"

"As soon as what?" Xander once again interrupted.

"We still don't know what we're gonna do. Well, maybe I can find something. Let's give him some land," Willow suggested.

"I'm sure that'll clear everything right up," Giles muttered.

"Sarcasm accomplishes nothing, Giles."

"Can we come rocketing back to the part about me and my new syphilis?" Xander asked over their bickering.

Anya stroked his forehead. "It'll make you blind and insane, but it won't kill you. The smallpox will."

"Maybe there's a Wiccan spell that can cure it," Willow suggested while looking through a book. "Something regular medicine doesn't know. Ooh, there was a potion. Sage, salt... onion?"

"That's the stuffing," Buffy informed her. Kitty didn't bother asking how the recipe card got stuck in a spellbook.

"Uh, you're gonna get vesicles and pustules," Anya told Xander, who was moaning and groaning. "They have pictures."

"I hate this guy," he grumbled.

"He's just doing what was done to him," Willow said in defense of the spirit.

"But Xander didn't give him syphilis," Kitty pointed out. "That's not fair."

"No, but he freed his spirit, and after a century of unrest, he saw Xander as one of his oppressors," Giles explained.

"What, so he rises up and infects the first guy he sees?" Xander asked. "Kitty's right. That's no fair."

"Like you've never woken up cranky?" Willow asked pointedly.

"But why the others? Why them particularly?" Giles questioned, thinking of the other murders.

"So we take this guy out. Buffy, it is for to be slaying sometime soon, yeah?" Xander asked, looking at Buffy expectantly.

She had been so focused on stirring a bowl of pie filling, but looked up at him and grimaced. "That's sort of the question before the court."

Xander couldn't believe his ears. "Question?"

"There are two sides to it," Willow said.

"Slaying him? The representative from syphilis votes yea," he shot back.

"It's not that simple."

"He's a vengeance demon," Xander said. "You don't talk to vengeance demons. You kill them."

Anya drew back with a frown. "I didn't know you felt that way."

"What?" he asked, not thinking clearly enough to understand why that might hurt her feelings.

"Anyway, he's a spirit, not a demon," Willow claimed.

"Yes, and we've never faced this sort of spirit before," Giles said. "We really don't know what will kill it."

"Again with the killing," she muttered in annoyance.

Kitty groaned loudly, getting all their attention. "I'm going to the kitchen to get more mashed potatoes, but Willow, you're wrong! Yeah, it sucks what happened, but the Hus dude is supposed to be dead. And he's killing innocent people — people that will include Xander if we don't do something. Argue all night, but at the end of the day, we're gonna kill him and save Xander. He's not even supposed to exist."

Kitty then stormed into the kitchen, and Giles watched her go with a smile. "That's my girl. Just what she said," Giles told Willow, happy that someone took his side.

Buffy soon followed Kitty into the kitchen, needing more condensed milk for her filling. But she eyed Kitty as she rigorously stirred it in. "Did you double-dip that spoon?" she asked, eying the utensil in Kitty's mouth.

Kitty hesitated a second too long before lying. "No."

Before Buffy could yell, Giles came in. "Buffy, Xander's in real danger. Are you sure the solution is pie?"

"Over bickering and confusion, I'll take pie," she declared. "We will find a solution. And we will have a nice dinner, okay? Both. End of story. I'm having Thanksgiving, and it'll be perfect. We have to make good memories for Kitty."

"She's not a three-year-old," Giles said. It wasn't as if her development depended on happy holidays. "Hus won't stop. Vengeance is never sated, Buffy. Hatred is a cycle. All he will do is kill."

A moment passed, and then there was another knock on the door, confusing all three of them. Kitty looked at the door — Angel wouldn't risk coming by and having Buffy see him.

"But we don't know any more people," Kitty said as Buffy went to answer it. "Everyone we know is in this room."

Buffy rolled her eyes before opening the door. She stepped outside, and Spike ran into her field of vision, a threadbare blanket thrown over him to block the sun.

"Help me," he pleaded, smoke rising from the patches of skin that were caught in sunlight. Buffy hit him instead of helping him, knocking him back. "Ohh! What part of help me do you not understand?"

"The part where I help you," she stated. Kitty leaned out of the little window cut out in the kitchen wall to see what was up.

"Come on, I'm parboiling out here," Spike said.

Giles came up behind Buffy and dropped a stake in her waiting hand. "Want me to help make it quicker?"

"Invite me in," Spike told Giles.

"No. It's fairly unlikely," Giles replied, almost smiling.

"Oh, damn it! Look, I'm safe. I can't bite anyone. Kitten, tell' em what I did," he said, spotting Kitty through the door.

"You said you were gonna eat me right up. Then kill Buffy," Kitty said, knowing that wouldn't help. Buffy wasn't impressed.

"Yes, bad, but let's skip that part and get to the part where I couldn't bite you," he said, wincing as his skin seared.

"Yeah, that's true. He had trouble performing," Kitty told them. "It was kinda funny."

"Yeah, well, it looks like they've done me for good," Spike grumbled.

"What are you saying?" Buffy asked.

"I'm saying that Spike had a little trip to the vet and now he doesn't chase the other puppies anymore. I can't bite anything. I can't even hit people," he complained.

Buffy smiled sarcastically. "So you haven't murdered anybody lately? Let's be best pals."

"I've got information," Spike said quickly. "About the soldier boys you were fighting. Got the inside scoop. Come on, what have you got to be afraid of?"

"And if you're lying?" Buffy asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Buffy, you have to let him in," Kitty said, pouting. "You promised an all-strays welcome Thanksgiving."

"But he—"

"All strays means all strays," she interrupted. "And did you not say the point of Thanksgiving is that everyone has a place to go when Willow didn't want to invite Anya?"

"She didn't?" Anya asked, now glaring at Willow.

"Thanks, Kitty," Willow whispered, avoiding eye contact.

"Kitty," Giles said, sighing. "He can't be—"

"Oh, wait. I live here," Kitty realized. Then with a mischievous grin, she looked at Spike. "Come on in, Blondie Baby."

Spike stepped inside, fleeing from the sunlight with a relieved sigh. He collapsed on the ground, but Buffy picked him up roughly and dragged him to a chair. After shooting Kitty a slightly annoyed look, Giles retrieved some rope from his weapon chest.

Spike didn't struggle as Buffy tied him to a chair. Though he did gripe when she made it impossibly tight. "Bloody hell, woman. You're cuttin' off my circulation."

Buffy gave him a look. "You don't have any circulation."

"Well, it pinches," he stated.

"Get used to it," she told him. "I have more important things to worry about."

"I came to you in friendship—" Buffy's glare cut him off. "Well, all right, seething hatred, but I've got useful information, and I feel I'm being mistreated."

"So tell me everything you know," Buffy said expectantly.

"I'm too hungry to remember everything," he then said, turning away from her.

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Then sit."

"Uh, how much butter goes in with these?" Anya asked, who was stirring a pot on the stove.

"About half a stick and a quarter cup of brandy," Buffy instructed. Then she looked at Giles. "You do have brandy, don't you?"

"On top of the bookshelf hidden behind the statue of a horse," Kitty said absentmindedly. Then she realized Giles was looking at her accusingly for knowing so quickly where he kept certain types of alcohol. "I mean, that's probably where it's at. I wouldn't know. I can't even see the top of that shelf without a stool. What even is alcohol—"

"Oh, drop it, Kitty," Giles said, shaking his head. She smiled sheepishly and sat on the carpet, leaning back against the couch that Xander was dying on.

"I wouldn't say no to a brandy," Spike spoke up.

Buffy ignored him and took in the worried expression on Giles' face. "What's wrong?"

"The victims," he said. "Apart from Xander, Hus has targeted authority figures. Father Gabriel, the curator of the cultural center. Who else fits this pattern?"

"Just a small brandy?" Spike asked.

"The Dean," Buffy suggested, ignoring Spike again. "Dean Guerrero. He's the king of us and he was at the ceremony."

"Likely candidate. We should warn him," Giles said.

"Will, anything in those books about how to stop a Native American spirit guy? Some nice, non-judgmental way to, you know, kill him?" Buffy asked.

"I'm not gonna help you kill him. I'm not on board," she said stubbornly.

"He's already dead!" Kitty exclaimed.

"What choice do we have?" Buffy asked Willow.

"Buffy, this isn't a western. We're not at Fort Giles with the cavalry coming to save us. It's one lonely guy. Oppressed warrior guy who's just trying to—"

"—kill a lot of people?" Buffy interrupted.

"Xander included?" Kitty added.

"I didn't say he was right," she mumbled.

"Will, you know how bad I feel about this. It's eating me up," she said. Then Buffy looked at Anya, who finally retrieved the bottle of brandy. "Quarter cup of brandy and let it simmer." Then she focused back on Willow. "But even though it's hard, we have to end this. Yes, he's been wronged, and I personally would be ready to apologize—"

"Oh, someone put a stake in me," Spike groaned.

"You got a lot of volunteers in here," Xander said tiredly.

"I just can't take all this mamby-pamby boohooing about the bloody Indians," he complained.

"Uh, the preferred term—"

"You won," Spike stated, cutting Buffy off. "All right? You came in and you killed them and you took their land. That's what conquering nations do. It's what Caesar did, and he's not going around saying, 'I came, I conquered, I felt really bad about it.' The history of the world isn't people making friends. You had better weapons, and you massacred them. End of story."

"Well, I think the Spaniards actually did a lot of—" Buffy stopped and looked at Willow, who she'd nearly offended. "Not that I don't like Spaniards."

"Listen to you. How you gonna fight anyone with that attitude?" Spike asked.

"We don't wanna fight anyone," Willow said.

"Yeah, we do," Kitty insisted. "Because fighting means healthy Xander."

"I just wanna have Thanksgiving," Buffy whined.

Spike couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah. Good luck."

"If we could talk to him—"

"You exterminated his race," Spike told Willow. "What could you possibly say that would make him feel better? It's kill or be killed here. Take your bloody pick."

"Maybe it's the syphilis talking," Xander mumbled, "but some of that made sense."

"I made these points earlier, but fine, no one listens to me," Giles muttered bitterly.

"Fine, ok? But someone still has to go warn the Dean," Buffy said.

"Nose goes," Kitty said, touching the tip of her nose. She didn't want to leave the apartment.

"I'll go," Willow said, getting up. "I need the air."

"Not alone," Buffy said.

"I'll go," Anya offered.

"Me, too," Xander said, beginning to sit up.

"Xand, I don't think you're up to it," Kitty said softly.

"Oh, leave that one," Spike said, eying Xander. "He looks like he's ready to drop any minute, and I think I can eat someone if he's already dead."

That certainly encouraged Xander to get off the couch. "I'm up to it."

"I'll keep on looking for a solution," Giles offered.

"Yeah. Guys, the Dean's house is up past the gym. And hurry," Buffy ordered as the others began to leave "Dinner's in an hour!"

Kitty crawled onto the couch now that Xander wasn't on it. "Buff, can I get more mashed potatoes?"

"No! Not til dinner starts," Buffy said in a firm tone. "I should've never even let you try them."

"But then they wouldn't be properly seasoned, and your Thanksgiving would've been ruined," Kitty said matter-of-factly. "Well, more ruined."

"It's not ruined," Buffy insisted.

"Xander is dying, Willow is excusing murder and Xander's inevitable death, Spike's tied up in the living room, and there are no rolls — that last one is arguably the worst," Kitty listed off, counting on her fingers. And Angel was lurking in the shadows, but she kept that to herself.

Buffy sighed tiredly, feeling a stress headache coming on. "Oh, god. It is horrible."

"Don't worry. I'm sure it can't get worse," Kitty said, smiling.

That earned a hard glare from Buffy. "Kitty, just what exactly happened the last time you jinxed us by saying a situation couldn't get worse?"

Kitty hummed under her breath and stared innocently at her nail polish. "Blondie Bear came to town and crashed parent-teacher night."

"Hey!" Spike exclaimed. "Being starved and tied up is bad enough. Don't go throwing around Harm's embarrassing nicknames."

"Not a chance, Spikey," she said, smirking. "I invited you in. My house, my rules."

"I've made a mistake coming here," he grumbled. "God, now I wish I had syphilis."

"Oh, I'm sure Xand would give it to you in a heartbeat."

♡︎

"Hey, when do I get fed?" Spike asked for the eighth time in the last forty minutes.

And Buffy responded as she always did with, "Later."

"Maybe we should feed him," Kitty suggested, setting cups around the table. "It's been a week since he ate, maybe more depending on how long they kept him in that place."

"Yeah! Listen to Kitty. I'm wasting away," Spike groaned.

"Shut up," Buffy told him. Then she glanced at the door. "I hope the others are okay."

"You know what happens to vampires who don't get to feed?" Spike asked.

"I always wondered that," Giles admitted.

"Giles, plates," Buffy instructed. He got them and began setting them around the table.

"Living skeletons, mate. Like famine pictures from those dusty countries, only not half as funny," Spike explained.

"You can have gravy. That has blood in it, right?" Buffy asked.

"It does?" Kitty asked, her face scrunched up in disgust. "Euch!"

"Do you know what else has blood in it?" Spike asked pointedly.

"Blood?" Kitty guessed with a smile on her face. It earned a somewhat playful eye roll as she moved over to Spike.

Buffy sighed. "Do I have to gag you? Both of you? Because I am not gonna listen to you whine all the way through my dinner while Kitty is encouraging you. It's gonna be a nice, quiet, civilized—"

An arrow suddenly soared through the room, landing in a decorative scarecrow in the centerpiece decoration. They all turned — well, not Spike — to see the spirit Hus looking through the open window with a bow and arrow.

"You! Listen, maybe I wasn't clear before about how terrible we all feel. 'Cause, we're trying to help!" Buffy shouted at the spirit.

"What's going on?" Spike asked cluelessly.

"It isn't working," Giles said as Hus loaded another arrow.

"Uh, you can have casinos now!" Kitty shouted.

"Get down!" Giles ordered.

Kitty squealed and crouched down behind Spike's chair. She'd feel bad about using him as a human shield later. They were bombarded with arrows being shot in the apartment, meaning Hus must have brought friends.

"What about me? You gonna leave me here like this?" Spike asked, looking down at Kitty. Then an arrow hit him in the chest, a few inches away from his heart. "Hey! Watch the heart!"

The phone then chose the worst time to ring. Giles crawled over to it. "H-hello? Yes... Yes, w-w-we're well aware of that... We-we're under siege now, actually... Thank you."

"Who was that?" Buffy asked.

"A - someone," Giles said, not wanting to admit that Angel was calling. "Uh, we need a plan."

"Yes, let's talk about it some more," she said sarcastically. "Where's your weapon chest?"

"Over there."

Kitty peered around Spike to watch Buffy crawl to the weapon's chest, but then she was shot in the arm.

"Buffy!" Kitty shouted in alarm. She wanted to help but knew there wasn't much she could do in this situation except not get shot.

Spike wasn't so lucky. There were three arrows scattered through his abdomen. "Remember that conquering nation thing? Forget it. Apologize!" he told Buffy.

"Shut up, Spike!" Buffy ordered, not needing his comments at a time like this.

"Fine, I'll do it myself." Then Spike shouted at the spirits. "Hey, sorry. Sorry about that, Chief."

"How many?" Buffy asked Giles.

He tried to get a good estimate without putting himself in the line of fire. "Uh, the leader upstairs. Two by the living room windows. Uh, one through the window by the door."

"It's too many. We need help," Buffy said.

Thankfully, Xander, Willow, and Anya were on the way with Angel. But in the meantime, they had to hold their own. Buffy made another move for the weapon chest and pulled out all of Giles' crossbows. She slid the smallest across the floor to Kitty.

"Do you know how to use that?" Spike asked, watching as she struggled to notch an arrow.

"Uh..." After getting the arrow ready, she pointed the crossbow at the spirit in the window. Then she pulled the trigger, launching the arrow straight at him. "Yes, I guess so!"

"You missed!" Spike said in annoyance. All he had to protect him was Kitty, which wasn't great, as he had six arrows in his body so far.

It seemed shooting at them made the spirits angrier. They rushed into the apartment, ready for a fight. Kitty pulled herself and Spike's chair back as Buffy brought her fight with Hus closer to them.

Then another spirit came over, so Kitty grabbed a wooden baseball bat that Giles kept in the corner. It was signed by someone important, but she didn't care as she bashed it over the spirit's head repeatedly. He didn't get knocked out, but it kept him from killing her.

Buffy managed to knock Hus back and stab him in the heart with a carving knife, only for him to remain unharmed. "Giles, these guys — they don't die!"

"Bit busy over here," Giles muttered, trapped in a headlock.

Kitty hit the spirit until the baseball bat splintered, leaving her without a functioning weapon. He raised a knife to kill her, but something flew through the kitchen window and straight into his chest, knocking him back. Kitty looked out the window to see Angel standing there, who saved her. She grinned and waved before turning back to make sure Buffy was okay.

She and Hus both lost their holds on their knives. When they went to retrieve them, they got them swapped up, so Buffy sliced Hus with his own knife. This time, it left a cut and drew blood.

"Your knife can kill you," Buffy realized.

But then Hus started to shift and morph into something else. A huge bear.

"A bear!" Spike exclaimed, his eyes wide. "You made a bear!"

"I didn't mean to," Buffy said sheepishly.

"He's kinda cute," Kitty said, never having seen a bear in real life. She really needed to go to the zoo one day.

"No, he's not!" Spike shouted. "Undo it! Undo it!"

The bear attacked Buffy, who tried to fight it off. Spike kept wiggling in his chair, desperate to get farther away. That just ended with him tipping over and landing on the floor. The bear swiped at Buffy and knocked her over the couch.

"Hey, gentle Ben, over here!" Xander yelled, having arrived with the others. He grabbed some uncooked potatoes and began lobbing them at the bear to distract it. "That's for giving me syphilis!"

Buffy used the distraction to stab the bear in the back with the knife. They watched as it slowly transformed back into Hus before disappearing altogether. The other spirits vanished as well. Kitty sighed in relief and leaned against a wall, glad it was over. Everyone else seemed to be alright as well.

"What happened?" Spike asked, still on the ground. "Did we win?"

"Yeah, we won," Kitty said, going over to him. She crouched down in front of him to try and help him upright.

"Hold on. Hold on," Spike said, his narrowed eyes fixed on her feet. "Are those my boots?"

"W - what? Pft. No," Kitty said, taking a step back instead of sitting him up. "Why would I be wearing your boots? We're not even the same size."

"They aren't your size. You've been clomping about in my fucking shoes all bloody day!" he said in annoyance.

"You're insane. These aren't yours, Spike. I've had them for months," she lied. "And of course, they're my size. Not like I have two pairs of socks bunched up in the toe and bandaids on my heels to keep from blisters."

"I can see where I carved a 'W' into the leather on the side! Did Harmony give away my boots?"

Kitty dragged a toe across the ground innocently, and Spike's eyes followed the movement. "I mean, she didn't give them to me. If anything, I saved them from a fiery death."

"You stole my fucking boots!"

"We - well, maybe," she finally admitted. "But Xander said that I'm not edgy. Combat boots make you edgy."

Spike scoffed as he looked up at her. "You're wearing it with a pink dress and replaced the black laces with pink ones."

"Well, it's the best color," Kitty declared.

"Give me back my boots."

"Finders keepers."

"You didn't find them. You stole them. Give 'em back!"

"No!"

"Oh my god, someone separate them," Buffy groaned rubbing her forehead. While Kitty and Spike were arguing about shoes, everyone else cleaned up the room so they could have dinner.

Anya pulled Kitty away from Spike while Giles and Xander picked Spike's chair up. They weren't exactly gentle as they yanked all the arrows out of him. Then they pushed him up to the table against his will, making it seem like he was joining them for Thanksgiving dinner.

"I can't believe you ate ninety percent of the mashed potatoes," Xander said, looking at Kitty's cleared plate.

"I can," Willow said, smiling. Then she frowned and rubbed her stomach. "I feel lousy."

"Turkey came out rather splendidly," Giles told Buffy.

"Oh, it was yummy," Buffy agreed.

"It's just, did you see me?" Willow asked, still thinking of the fight. "Two seconds of conflict with an indigenous person, and I turned into General Custer."

"Violence does that. Instinct takes over," Giles told her.

"Yeah, that's the fun," Spike chimed in.

Buffy glared at him. "Nobody asked you."

"Oh, lay off. You all had a fine meal," he grumbled. "You'd think one of you would bleed a little."

"Good work, Buffy. On both counts," Giles said.

"Thanks," she mumbled, clearly bummed out.

"Well, you know, you should be very pleased," he said.

"Wasn't exactly a perfect Thanksgiving," she said, shrugging.

"I don't know. Seemed kinda right to me," Willow said, smiling. "A bunch of anticipation, a big fight, and now we're all sleepy. And we did all survive."

"I guess that much is true," Buffy said. "First Thanksgiving on my own, and we all got through it."

"First Thanksgiving ever, and the food made up for all the other stuff," Kitty added.

"And you know what? I think my syphilis is clearing right up," Xander said, putting an arm around Anya as he smiled.

"And they say romance is dead. Or maybe they just wish it," Buffy joked.

"Well, maybe we started a new tradition this year," Willow said. That earned a look from everyone, who didn't want to repeat the stressful day. "Maybe not. But at least we all worked together. It was like old times."

"Yeah, especially with Angel being here and everything," Xander said without thinking.

Everyone realized his mistake and looked at Buffy cautiously — well, Spike was smirking. She was staring at Xander in shock and dropped the fork in her hand.

"What did you say?" Buffy asked slowly. Xander didn't reply and instead whistled casually while looking around the room. "Angel was here?"

Giles awkwardly cleared his throat. "Y-yes, for a short time. His, uh, his friend had a vision regarding the, uh, the spirit warriors."

"Oh my god," Buffy whispered in disbelief. She glanced at Kitty, who was just as close to Angel as she was. "I can't believe him! Coming back but being too much of a coward to see me or Kitty! Forget me. She's like his sister!"

"Yeah," Kitty said, scoffing as she tried to cover up the fact that she saw Angel too. "H - how dare he? Best friend privileges revoked."

Buffy narrowed her eyes, a bit of jealousy creeping up on her. "You saw him, didn't you?"

"Yup," she said quietly, avoiding eye contact.

"And you didn't tell me he was here?"

"Nuh-uh."

"I'm gonna kill you," Buffy said, her eyes wide.

Well, it was more of a sisterly threat than a real threat, but Kitty was still threatened. "But Angel told me not to tell! Be mad at him!" Kitty said, scooting her chair back.

"Oh, I can handle being angry at you both," she said. Buffy's feelings were incredibly hurt by Angel not telling her he was there, and Kitty agreeing to hide it. "I'm gonna shave your eyebrows off."

"No!" Kitty shouted before running from the table with her hands over her eyebrows. Buffy jumped up and ran after her. "Stay away, Slayer — ah!"

Kitty tripped on the way to the stairs, the oversized boots causing her to slip. Buffy stood over her with a smug smile while Kitty backed away. "Stupid boots," she mumbled.

"Ha!" Spike laughed. "That's what you get, thief!"

♡︎

It was around two in the morning when Kitty — with both eyebrows still standing — wandered into the kitchen to get some leftover turkey from the fridge. She was half-asleep as she scarfed it and a glass of water down. Then she began to head back upstairs, forgetting all about the vampire they left in the living room.

"Cute jammies," Spike said in a teasing tone, stopping her from leaving.

Kitty glanced at him, still tied in the chair, before looking down at her sleepwear which consisted of an oversized Jem and the Holograms shirt and matching little shorts. "Thanks. They are cute," she agreed, nodding in agreement. "Do you want some turkey or something?"

"I want blood," he whined. "I'm starving. I couldn't drink the blood in that place because it was drugged so they could experiment on us."

"Oh," Kitty said with a frown, coming closer to the tied-up vampire. She took a seat on the couch across from him. "They did the 'can't hurt anyone' thingy to you?"

"Suppose," Spike muttered bitterly.

"I can't exactly feel bad about that part cause you definitely would've killed me last week if they hadn't."

"That's fair," he said. "Will I at least get fed in the morning?"

Kitty toyed with the end of her shirt, feeling bad. "Uh, the butcher Angel got his blood from is actually closed the next day for the holiday." Spike groaned dramatically and threw his head back. "Sorry."

"I'm gonna waste away to nothing."

"I do think you're being a touch dramatic."

"Well, you've had a huge meal and a gallon of mashed potatoes with leftovers to spare," Spike reminded her. "I'm allowed to complain when it's been nearly two weeks since I've eaten."

"What if you drink my blood?" she asked curiously.

Spike rolled his eyes. "You've missed the part where I can't bite anyone."

"You can't hurt anyone," she specified. "But like, what if it's a mix of my willingly offering blood plus you intending to not drink so much that I pass out or die? And I don't know, just, maybe try to not bite super hard?"

Spike studied Kitty carefully, confused by the turn of events. "Are you seriously offering me your blood? Are you sleepwalking?"

"No, I'm not sleepwalking," she said, rolling her eyes. "I just don't like seeing people in bad shape. Plus it's Thanksgiving and I stole your boots, but I can retract my offer if you—"

"Now, wait," he said, as Kitty started to get up. "It's not out of the question, but how do I not know if this is a trap? That Slayer isn't waiting around the corner to stake me?"

"Buffy's halfway to LA," Kitty told him. She was going to yell at Angel for not telling her that he was in town. When Buffy returned, they would officially question Spike. "I was just offering but don't actually know if it'll work. Cause biting hurts so technically it could just give you another headache."

Spike tilted his head as he continued to watch her. "Bite doesn't have to hurt," he told her. He thought of the dens where humans would willingly give their blood for the good feeling that a bite could produce. "It can feel nice — euphoric, even. We just make it hurt cause, well, we're evil and it's fun when hearing the screams."

"You're a psychopath, aren't you?" Kitty asked, seeing the smile on his face when he thought about the pain and screaming.

"Just a bit," he said, shrugging as much as he could with the ropes around him. "So, I promise not to drain you dry or make it hurt. What do you say?"

Kitty sighed and got off the couch. "Guess we can give it a try."

Spike playfully chomped his teeth twice as Kitty approached, earning an eye roll. She stood in front of him for a moment, thinking over where to let him bite. Sure, she could hide one on her neck so long as he bit low enough, but Kitty didn't exactly want Spike's lips on her neck. So, she settled for her wrist, which could be hidden by a shirt.

"Okay, eat up, or whatever," she said, slowly bringing her arm to his mouth.

Spike leaned forward, and Kitty flinched a little when his lips brushed her skin. She didn't know if the way he was looking up at her while biting made it better or worse. It did sting a little when his teeth broke the skin, but then Kitty felt what Spike had been talking about. A feeling of warmth and pleasure rushed through Kitty, who let her eyes flutter shut as Spike drank her blood.

Then just as her knees began to buckle, Spike withdrew. Kitty let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding. Spike watched as she blinked a few times, coming to her senses. She looked down at her wrist which had two, small puncture wounds.

Then as Kitty looked down at Spike, who was breathing a bit heavier, he ran his tongue along his bottom lip. "You taste like fucking candy," he couldn't help but admit, never having had blood so sweet. Never having had the blood of a Cupid.

Not really knowing how to take that compliment, Kitty ignored it. "Um, are you, I mean, like, are you feeling better."

"I am," he told her. "Bandage that and drink another cup of water before laying down, Kitten."

She nodded in understanding while backing away from him. "Right, um, we don't tell Giles about this. He already thinks I'm too nice and forgiving."

"Yeah, this obviously stays between us," Spike said, rolling his eyes. He didn't want a stake to the heart.

"Oh," Kitty remembered, stopping at the stairs. "You've gotta pretend to be hungry when G wakes up. You know, keep up the complaining and withering away to nothing stuff. Be annoying."

Spike smirked. "Trust me, I have no problem being annoying."