She commanded the room’s attention as she strode cat-like across the dance floor. Teenage boys gawked at the blonde in the short black dress. But her eyes remained set on one figure; her eyes never leaving his.

“ Angel.” She whispered before they kissed hello.

“ You’re late.” He smiled devilishly.

“ Fire me.” She challenged.

“ I can’t. ”

“ Sucks to be you.” She smiled and lead him to the dance floor for a slow song.

“ Where were you?” He asked while they danced.

“ Duty called. I aced a vamp out by the bus depot.”

“ Did a 400 pound wino offer to wash your hair?” Came a voice from behind her. “Cuz that’s what happened last time I was there. Of course that was ten years ago.”

“ Oh my God! Xander!” Buffy hugged him tightly. She hadn’t seen him in almost two years. Xander had been working as a photographer since he got out of college but two years ago he had gotten an itch to join the military. He had been stationed in Germany and as far as Buffy knew, his release wasn’t supposed to be for another two weeks.

“ Yay! It’s `Welcome Home, Xander’ time!” He did a little impromptu dance for them. “My release came through early and I found a photo-journalist position. Starts Monday.” He informed them.

“Where? Here?” Buffy asked with excitement.

“ You are looking at the newest field reporter for the Sunnydale Times.”

“ So you’re home for good.”

“ And ready to slay.” He said with a smile.

“ When did you get back?” Angel asked kindly. Over the years he had come to respect Xander’s protectiveness of Buffy. Eventually they had become friends. Xander had grown and matured enough to know that Angel would never hurt Buffy, vampire or not. At least not anymore since that Romani curse had been fixed so Angel couldn’t lose his soul again.

“Just now. Figured I’d stop by my old stomping grounds, find my favorite scourges of the underworld, you know the usual.”

“This is so great!” Buffy said happily. Leading them to a large booth in the corner. They sat down and ordered drinks. For the next few hours they played catch up and laughed like they hadn’t since high school.