It all began with Willow Rosenburg being allowed into the Harris's house by a very drunk Mrs Harris, who went straight back to her drinking without a thought. The red head knew the way to Xander's bedroom and went straight there to prepare to tutor her friend. While clearing a space she found some magazines hidden under a pile of other stuff.
'Oh, that girl looks like Buffy and the other looks like me but I'd never dress like that and OH MY GOD!!!' Was the train of thought. She sat stunned at the sight of what the Buffy and Willow look-alikes were doing with their tongues and fingers and so on. She began slowly flicking through the pages and getting more and more aroused. Perhaps fortunately she hadn't gotten very far into 'handling her own problem' when the sound of Xander walking down the hall snapped her out of it.
"Willow hey how are…" Opening the door to find his old friend, his old female friend leafing through THAT magazine nearly gave him a heart attack. "Will, those aren't mine, honest, I'm just minding them for a friend and I can see you're upset but please don't be angry with me."
The sight of his oldest friend sitting rock still with her eyes on the page but clearly not actually seeing made him assume she was too angry to form words. Actually the girl was having one of those rare life-altering revelations, one she did not have until meeting Tara in most timelines.
"Xander." She said, looking at him nervously. He looked at her with increasing alarm, she didn't look like she was going to kill him or turn him into a slug. She looked like she was afraid he would be angry with her. "Xander, I need to tell you something."
"Will whatever it is you can tell me."
"Xander, what would you say if I told you I was bisexual?" Fear clearly in her voice now. She had kept telling herself she was straight despite the fantasies she had been having since puberty. But her reaction to the mock-Buffy porn had hit her like a truck.
"I'd tell you you're my oldest friend and I love you in an oldest friend way and I will support you no matter what."
"Xander, I'm bisexual." Was the response.
"Willow you're my oldest friend and I love you in an oldest friend way and I will support you no matter what."
They hugged for a while and got on to their maths work, though the female half of the pair was distracted throughout the evening. Eventually it was time for them to go on patrol and she packed up her books.
"Xander, I can't let you keep these you know." Was the Jewish girls comment as she packed the porno mag's into her bag along with the maths text.
"Ahh."
"Oh and Xander, do you think you we can find Faith?"
The Boston Slayer was nearly ready to leave for her nights hunting when the knock on the door interrupted her. She was surprise to see the two of them outside the door.
"Red, Xman, what is it?" Because they never came here, no one did from the Scooby's, not even her supposed Watcher. It had to be some kind of disaster in the making for them to lower themselves to seeing her wretched self in her humble hovel.
"I'm sorry." These were the last words the southie expected to hear from the smaller woman.
"For what?"
"For being a jealous bitch."
The sound of sword practice in the main hall was a distraction to Rupert Giles as he inspected the renovated house. This was mainly Xanders idea and work, it was amazing how much the boy - no man - was capable of when he was involved in helping someone.
Faith lived here now, as of course did Angel, which was definitely an improvement for the younger slayer. The changes had been paid for by the Council on the understanding that this was to be the new slayer headquarters and would house the library of rare works safely. That it also gave a slayer a decent place to live didn't seem to be considered important.
The building had been cleaned up, the doors and windows repaired and the electrical wiring fixed. The bedrooms were not all fully furnished, but then so far only two people lived here. The kitchen fully refurbished, and Faith was a pretty good cook, she said it was cheaper to eat good food at home than junk food outside.
"And god knows I've been poor long enough to not waste money like that." Was her explanation.
Giles watched Faith, Buffy and Xander at their sword practice and noted reluctantly that Angel was actually a good teacher. Willow was sitting on the couch with Oz, but discussing Witchcraft with Amy. Cordelia was off shopping, there were odd currents swirling around her relationship with Xander, but then again there always had been.
"Mr Giles I feel admit that the Watcher council seems to have been mistaken on the advantages and disadvantages of the slayer having a group of companions." Wesley said while sipping his Irish Breakfast Tea. It was a very civilised arrangement that had been created here, in his far from humble opinion. "This place has real possibilities."
"Yes, real possibilities." You prat, the older watcher did not add.
Faith was wondering where the hell she was going. Her life had been led out on the far edge of survivable for so long it felt bizarre to have a safety margin. All men are animals, she had had that pounded into her by her mothers teaching and her mother's dealer's dicks and now here was one offering her a safety net. Bizarre didn't even begin to cover it. Alone in her bed, she pulled the cover tighter and tried to sleep.
Cordelia was wondering basically the same thing from her Cordeliaesque perspective. She knew and accepted that she was the best and deserved the best; she was, after all, Cordelia Chase. Some things complicated her future, however. Daddy was doing time, and Mother was on the run in Central America with the money from several offshore bank accounts. The only job offer she had received that paid an income worthy of a Chase was as an actress, a career she had been nearly sold on.
However it was in the field of acting where actual acting ability was not required but the ability to find a thousand variations on 'fuck me harder, fuck me harder' was definitely useful. So not the sort of work suitable for dinner party conversation at the Yacht Club. And then there was Xander, who probably wouldn't abandon his precious Scooby Gang if his life depended on it. Which it did, of course.
The warmth he gave her life was much more than just the warmth of his body next to her this night. Why couldn't he give up a fight he knew full well was suicidal? She loved him but couldn't stay here to die in poverty; he wouldn't leave, so there it was. And his determination to help Faith, even when the skank's suspicion was as obvious as his need to be helpful, it was frustrating.
Or maybe useful. Cordy had to leave him but he didn't have to be alone afterwards, she didn't have to feel guilted out by abandoning him, and Faith could be the means to do it. The Boston slut bomb in the bedroom down the hall would be a challenge, but nothing Cordelia Chase couldn't handle.
Willow Rosenburg was fairly certain about most of the things the other two were questioning. She was going to do a double degree in Computer Science and Business, while becoming the most powerful and skilled witch she could be. Oz would be with her, of course. No her problem was Buffy Summers and her narrow mind.
Snuggling closer to Oz she smiled and reminded herself to be happy that not everything had gone badly. Her boyfriend's response to her announcement was to 'claim' her before the competition made a move. Which claiming involving taking her virginity there and then. Perhaps fortunately the Library had been empty at the time. And her parents had been very politically correct about it all, hence the sleeping together in her bedroom part.
The aforementioned Buffy Summers, aka The Slayer, aka, Bufficus Maximus, was extremely frustrated by her inability to quite get over finding out about the witch. Finding out that the other girl played for both teams would have only thrown her briefly as a general idea. But finding out that a girl she had shared change rooms with for three years was bisexual was different. It was like finding out that Xander had been secretly watching her with a hidden camera or something. She rolled over and tried to get back to sleep.
Xander, Cordelia and Faith were patrolling the west end of the graveyard while Buffy, Willow and Giles took the other. That way they were close enough to call each other for backup and far enough apart to be able to conduct a more effective sweep. It was not so much Xander's soldier memories as his research based on them that led to the change of tactics.
The whole world was green through the mail order Russian night vision goggles and the peripheral vision was shot. But to the dark haired man it beat the usual wandering around half blind. Faith was in front being the slayer and having perfect night vision, slayer senses, etc. Xander was to her right and a couple of steps behind, both of them had swords. Cordy had a supersoaker and formed the third point of the arrowhead formation on the slayers left.
"Vampires!" The cheerleader shouted as she sprayed out holy water on the attackers. Faith and Xander moved to either side of her with broadswords and started fighting. Lacking the slayers superhuman speed and reflexes Harris mainly went for hands and the occasion leg, to cripple the vamps for Faith to dust later. Cordelia stayed back and made sure no-one attacked the others from behind or the side.
"Xander, do you need help?" Came the call from the other group, it was Giles speaking.
"No, three dusted no injuries, resuming sweep, Xander out." Was the response. His confidence in himself increased with this success, he was on a winning streak ever since the 'why don't we make use of the mansion' idea worked. They finished for the evening and went home, it had been a long day.
"So, Xander, how are things going with you?" Joyce Summers asked of her guest. He had fixed some things around the house and, as was his habit on these occasions, was now writing out a list of things that needed doing while helping himself to her homemade apple and cinnamon muffins. "Buffy doesn't really talk about much, well she talks without actually saying anything?"
The future construction foreman looked at her for a moment while continuing to munch on his muffin. He came over her to do things around the Summers house partly to have talks like this with the woman across the table from him. And yes, in his research he had discovered the term Oedipus Complex, but she wasn't actually his mother and what he fantasised about in his head was his business, right?
"How do you feel about gay women?"
"I've had gay friends before now Xander, I deal with interior decorators all the time after all." Joyce responded, wondering what brought this up.
"Ok, to rephrase, how would you feel about a gay woman who lusted after your daughter?"
"Well it would have to be an improvement over that dreadful vampire." Was her automatic and vehement response. "Call me old fashioned if you like but I think anyone my little girl dates should have a pulse and not be a retired serial killer. I know this is California and I'm as liberal as the next person but someone has to draw a line somewhere."
"I knew there was a reason I liked you." The sober Harris responded.
"And I thought you only liked me for my muffins." Buffy's mother said with a smile. "Oh, have you thought about the job offer."
"The apprenticeship?" He asked. "Well I've thought about it but do you really see me as a carpenter, I mean …"
"Xander, I just showed Vincent the work you've done for me and he suggested it himself. 'It would be a shame to waste a natural talent', that's what he said." His mother figure reassured him. Vincent, or Vinnie as he preferred to be called, was a tradesman who had done various things around the Gallery, with an expanding business. "Call him after you finish your coffee, I have his number."
"Feel's kinda ambitious, Harris's aren't tradesmen, were drunks."
"Every tradition starts somewhere, start a new one." And her daughters only similar age male friend looked a little more certain suddenly. "He said you can start after graduation, so you have your diploma."
"Ok, I'll do it."
It began with the simplest of things, a visit to a man at work from his girlfriend. Or rather she went to pick him up from his future employers office and showroom. As she walked in through the converted warehouse she looked at the displays showing "What your new kitchen/bathroom/whatever will look like once our skilled and caring tradesmen have renovated it!" Her response was totally in character.
"God I can tell why Xander thinks he'll fit right in here!" She said, quite loud enough for anyone nearby, including the yet to be actually hired Harris, to hear.
"What do you mean exactly?" Came the voice of a middle-aged man nearby. Her boyfriend was in the office going over the details of his soon to be apprenticeship with office manager.
"You do realize that the bathroom display has green walls, a yellow ceiling and a purple door, right?"
"And the problem is?"
"Are you colour blind or do you use the only heterosexual interior decorator in California?" The girl responded to Vincent Caruso, who amazingly enough was amused rather than insulted.
"So, what changes would you suggest?"
"Well that was different." Faith announced as she slid down onto the king sized bed next to Cordy.
"What, it can't be the girl/girl thing 'cause you seem to be really mucho experience girl there." Xander responded as he lay down on the other side of his girlfriend. Chase the youngest was still too blissed out from what the slayer had been doing to her to comment.
"Comfort sex from a guy and sport fucking from a girl, wicked strange."
Breakfast at the Mansion, the next morning
"What did you mean by calling me a sport fuck last night?" The former rich girl demanded, over her raisin toast.
"Its not you C girl, it's the screwin' style you have." Began the explanation. "See, guys just whip it in, whip it out and wipe it, while girls try to be all 'caring' and 'commitment' and 'fulfilling emotional needs' and shit like that."
"Hey Cordy I never had any complaints." Xander said quickly, trying to head off an explosion.
"Nah you're a good screw, wicked good, just boytoy was all 'making love' and making sure I got off before he did. Never had that from a guy before." And the Bostonian really didn't seem to be doing anything more than explaining herself.
"And me?" The non-slayer female asked in a quiet monotone.
"You were just eating pussy." The east coast girl replied, not really paying attention as she ran over her mental shopping list.
Xander was sitting wondering if he would have a murder to cover up soon. Cordelia was wondering if she would BE a murderer soon. Faith was wondering if the two for one special on frozen chickens at the supermarket was still on.
"Well gee, look at the time Cordy, we'll be late for school if we don't give it a hurry up." The soon to be apprentice carpenter said loudly to the group while grabbing his girlfriend and forcefully hustling her out of the room. "See you for Scooby meeting after school, and Faith, there's a thing called tact, look it up."
"Cordy, what the hell was last night about?"
"Fun?" His girlfriend responded, for lack of anything better to say.
"Queen C, we both know you are not gay, or bi, or even curious." He responded, never letting her break eye contact. "You are planning something, aren't you? Something you need Faith's co-operation for but don't trust me, YOUR BOYFRIEND with. Something you are willing to go down on a girl you don't even like all that much for."
She said nothing, trying to break eye contact and get out.
"What have I done that's so terrible that you don't trust me any more?"
"I can't stay in this town, and you won't leave, so I was trying to get you a girlfriend." Came the eventual response. "I love you but I won't stay here and die with you, and I have no prospects in this town for much except being little miss 'I used to be important until daddy got caught cheating on his taxes', I'm nobody now and?" She was crying towards the end. Everything she had ever been had been taken away and the only thing she valued, Xander, was the thing she was going to have to leave. Life wasn't fair.
The dark haired man looked at her before kissing her on the forehead and smiling.
"Who says I can't leave? The rest keep telling me I'm a burden, useless, a hindrance, and Vinnie has branches in LA." He said. She was looking up at him with hope now, a trembling smile forming. "I won't quit the fight, but Faith isn't exactly little miss popular, the Council want to move her to LA too and she'll need me. I can be her research boy, weapons master, medic?"
Because he had either already obtained the needed skills and experience from his Scooby experience, or could get them easily enough. Especially since he had gotten on the good side of Wesley, who was more than willing to train him so he could truthfully say he now had a 'staff' instead of being a one man band in The Colonies.
"You mean it, you'll leave here with me?"
"Yeah. If Faith wants to move with us we could get a two bedroom place." The junior Watcher had been amazingly enthusiastic about it, and helping pay rent, etc when asked. If they were in LA he could go there to be her watcher some times and get away from the 'Buffy is God' camp here in the 'dale.
"No, we'll get a really big bed." The former Queen C replied, thinking of the dark slayer's tongue and what she had done with it last night. "I have to get ready for when Sport Fucking becomes an Olympic event."
Faith was planning the spread she would put out for the gang when they got home. She was slower than she should be because her mind kept drifting back to the previous night. She hadn't broken in a straight girl before, she had been the inexperienced one with her two previous girlfriends.
"I took her cherry. Maybe I should get some for dessert as a momento." She chuckled to herself.
The stay here, and the developing friendships with the two, made her hope she could persuade them to come to LA with her. X-man was her first male friend, and Cordy her new apprentice in the art of girl pleasing.
"Now, where did I put the olives?"