Backfire - Spander Files

There was a squeak to Xander’s right. He turned his head and saw Cordelia
standing with her hand over her mouth.
She lowered it slowly and breathed out, “Xander?”
He smiled at her astonishment. “Hey, Cordy. Pretty as ever.”
The surprise left her face, she sat on the bed and grinned foolishly. “You’re back.”
Facing Willow again, Xander scrunched his face. “So, that was weird.”
“How do you feel?” Willow sounded desperate.
“Dead.”
The girls gasped.
“Just kidding. I feel…fine.”
Suddenly Cordelia stood up and shouted. “Giles! Buffy! Oz! Ms Calendar!”
Before she got to Oz, all four were in the room.
Prepared for the worst, the shock of Xander’s smile was met with silence.
Then the commotion was deafening.
*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*
The quiet was deafening. The last time he remembered this kind of quiet was when
he woke up in the dirt, where Drusilla had buried him.
Desperate for sound, Spike fished the lighter from his pocket and flicked the lid
open and closed. He purposely did not spin the wheel to ignite a flame, though. His
self-punishment was the darkness.