Eye of the Beholder

Well, this was randomly a little bit dark.  But with the lightness of hope, too, so really, it's all good.

Main Points:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Summary: Xander deals with the aftermath of Caleb.
Word Count: 250
Rating: Gen

The pain was unbearable, but it was almost nothing compared to what followed.

Willow being unable to look him in the eye.  The rest too haunted by even the bandage to visit.  He remembered, vaguely, like it’d been a dream, the others standing around, waiting until the doctors proclaimed he’d live and then leaving as quickly as they were capable.  By striking at him, Caleb had single-handedly managed to destroy their morale, and Xander hated being helpless, hating being the instrument that might lead to their destruction.  The pain, even on the best days, was bad, but the drugs helped.

When it was clear he wouldn’t die outright, he refused the drugs, helping with the pain or no.  If he was going to go down, as it seemed like this was going to be the end of days, he was going to go down fighting.  And if he’d been the instrument crucial to destroying the Scooby’s morale, he’d do what he could to restore it, because, after all, that’d been his role, and what reprise?  No matter how stupid, how mundane it’d seemed at the time, now he could see how it wasn’t un-masculine or weak or anything like that.  And that gave him strength.  He just had to do the same for the others.

So he couldn’t show weakness, had to put on a brave front.  Okay, so he would.  If someone needed him for something, he’d be there.  They’d forgotten what they were fighting for, and he’d remembered.