Who you gonna call

"Just stay out of the second bedroom." Xander warned.

"Whats in your second bedroom?" Dawn asked.

Buffy raised her eyebrows in unasked question as their friend ushered them into his apartment.

He looked down at her and very softly said, "Some of Anya's favorite fun time toys and other associated, uhm, equipment. "

Buffy startled and looked back at her sister, "Just stay out of the second bedroom, Dawn!"

Dawn did as teenagers do and looked afronted, "Alright. God. I'll stay out of the second bedroom, Buffy."

"Thenk -ungh- yew. " Xander tried for a Steve Martin as Ruprecht impression, but winced halfway thru as he dug his keys out of his pants pocket.

"Are you going to be okay?" Buffy asked as he started to unlock his apartment. She gestured to his bloody shirt, "I mean...."

"Oh, suuuurre." Xander breathed out a long deep breath. "A hot shower, some Tylenol, some bactine, and a whole messa butterfly bandaids and I'll be right as the rain."

"Ummmm." Both Summers sisters shared a concerned look.

Xander swung the door open and looked at his friends. "Yeah, I didnt buy that either."

"Look. We..." Buffy shared a look with Dawn. "We are staying the night. Our house is..." Buffy flinched at the memory of the last twenty four hours, "Still an active crime scene and you obviously need help."

Xander stepped into his apartment and looked at the mess. He then looked back at his friends, "Yeah, well, its a good thing I cleaned a little on monday."

"It was worse?" Dawn asked, entering the place and seeing the state of the place.

"Yes. Now all of my clothing is back where it belongs." Xander tried to sound proud of that fact. He instead looked down at his bloodied shirt and groaned.

"Okay. Okay, lets get you in the shower, Xander." Buffy took charge and started directing her friend toward his bathroom.

"I'm going, I'm going." He griped as she poked him forward.

As her sister hurried Xander into the bathroom Dawn shut the door to the apartment and searched for the nearest phone. Finding it under a rumpled blanket on the couch Dawn started dialing a number she had memorized a few years ago.

"Hello? Cordelia! Hey! Dawn, hey, we need help! Now!" Dawn was just relieved to hear the older older woman's voice. "Not good. Very not good. Tara... Tara died. She got shot. And... and... and Willow lost it. Went wicked witch. She flayed the guy who shot Tara, just peeled his skin off like he was a banana. Then she tried to kill us. She trapped me and Buffy and had golems try and kill us. She beat up Anya and Giles and stole their magic. And... Xander....

"Y-yeah. He did manage to save the day. Willow was doing something with a hidden temple we didnt even know existed and Xander... he.. he Xandered, y'know. God, Cordelia, he's in bad shape. We are all in bad shape. Buffy and I are okay, physically, at least. Xander looks like he picked a fight with a bear.

"She's... Willow is... I dont know. She lost her mind, Cordelia. She was talking about ending the world. Now? After Xander took three or four of her **** attempts she calmed down. Giles took her back to England for some kind of Coven magic rehab thing."

Dawn slumped on the couch, "Yeah. Happy fun times. Now, as to why I am calling. No. Not just to update you. Like I said. We NEED help. Get your guys and get their butts in gear and get the hell back here. My home is a crime scene, the Magic Box has been trashed, we have a weird magic temple nobody knows anything about and I might have to spend the night sleeping in Xander and Anya's sex dungeon because as I previously said, MY HOUSE IS A CRIME SCENE!"

"YES, I am upset! I think I deserve to be upset after the day I've had!"

Dawn calmed down, "Thank you.

"Thank you, Cordelia. Tomorrow morning then. Thank you." Dawn hung up the phone and let it drop to the floor.

"You arent sleeping in the "fun" room." Buffy announced. "You and I get the bedroom, Xander insisted on sleeping on the couch. Despite his injuries sustained fighting a bear."

"We need help. We really really need the help." Dawn muttered.

Buffy reluctantly nodded her head.