Buffy Summers-Harris woke up slowly, almost luxuriating in the warmth and quiet of the day. It was a full twenty seconds before the first negative thoughts managed to creep into her mind, which was a pretty good start to an average Slayer's day.
The first thought was, <It's quiet... too quiet. Dawn should be crying...>
The second thought was delivered by a shiver that ran up her left side, <The bed is empty. Where's Xander?>
Her third thought was accompanied by a smile as she realized that negative thoughts could go to hell. She opened her eyes slowly, smiling again as she saw Xander half asleep in the chair by Dawn's crib, gently rocking their daughter with a loving motion.
That was when the last thought of her waking mind caused her eyes to snap open and adrenaline to bolt her entire system fully awake.
"Oh crap! I'm going to be late for class!"
Xander jolted fully awake himself, looking around quickly. "Whaaa?"
"Class!" Buffy moaned, "I have to get to class!"
Dawn made her presence heard at that point, a low wailing cry that even Xander's returned attention couldn't completely settle. "Shh... shhh... It's ok Dawnie... Your mum's just gone crazy... nothing for you to worry about."
Buffy shot him a dirty look, "Don't call her Dawnie, Xander. She'll grow up thinking that's her name."
"And now mommy thinks you're stupid too..." Xander shook his head sagely as he stood up, "You'll know who you are, won't you?"
Buffy pursed her lips, trying to keep from smiling as Xander placed the little girl down in the crib and then turned to face her. "You going to get ready so I can drop you off, College girl?"
Buffy shook her head, grabbing a shirt to go with the skirt she had chosen and started getting dressed. "I thought you had to be on the site early today?"
"Being the foreman has some privileges." Xander rejoined with an easy smile, moving up behind her and placing a hand on each hip. "I called in, Joe is going to cover for me while I drop my lovely wife off at her classes."
Buffy shivered, smiling over her shoulder, "Your 'lovely wife' doesn't have time to play this morning, Xander."
Xander nodded, smiling with an air of much put on disappointment. "Alas... mine poor heart beats it's last."
"Goof."
"Guilty." Xander smiled, "But I seem to remember you calling me some other names once upon a time..."
Buffy shivered as she remembered that night, long past.
"Buffy?" Xander spoke softly as he walked slowly up to the sobbing Slayer.
Buffy looked up at him, her eyes red and swollen. "Go away."
"Come on, Buff..." Xander spoke hesitantly, pain in his voice. "It'll be all..."
"Don't you DARE tell me it'll be alright!" Buffy snapped at him, glaring up at him through the mist shrouded eyes. "You have NO idea how I feel right now!"
Xander swallowed, nodding. "Yeah. I guess I don't. So tell me."
"Why? So you can say 'I told you so'?" Buffy asked sarcastically as her anger kept rising to replace the sorrow.
Xander shrugged, looking pained by her tone. "Look. I don't like Angel. You know that, I can't hide it. But I'd never do anything to hurt YOU, Buff."
"You just hate Angel cause you're jealous of him." Buffy accused him, her anger cooling but still there.
Xander nodded, surprising her. "There's that. But I also can't get passed the fact that he IS a vampire, Buffy... and part of me just can't understand how you can."
Buffy looked down, the honesty in his voice striking home. "He... he has a soul."
Xander shrugged, "It has nothing to do with his soul, Buff. It's his heart that bugs me. No beat? No breath... no warmth. He drinks BLOOD to live... He once killed so many people that he earned the title 'Scourge of Europe'..."
Buffy's anger was back, flaring brightly. "He wasn't Angel then! You have NO RIGHT to talk like that."
Xander nodded, "Yeah. I'm sorry. He's looking for you, you know."
"I don't want to see him." Buffy grated out.
Xander took a breath, "Yeah. I figured. Look... Miss Calender and Giles are..."
"I certainly don't want to hear anything from THAT bitch." Buffy snarled, her emotions still having rein of her mind and body.
Xander just nodded slowly, sitting down beside her and letting the silence stretch out.
Finally he spoke again, "Would you have preferred that she didn't tell us?"
"No." Buffy admitted after a long drawn out moment.
Xander nodded, again letting the silence stretch. "You know that Angel was just trying to do the right thing."
"I don't care." This time her voice was petulant, and Xander took that as a victory. The anger was being replaced by self pity, the next step would be tough, but he knew Buffy could manage it.
"Ok." Xander said simply.
After another long moment, Xander just shrugged again and smiled. "He was way to old for you anyway, Buff."
The Slayer looked up at Xander in shock, her eyes wide and white. Then, slowly, an involuntary bubble of laughter slipped from her throat. It came up slowly, as she fought against every painful chuckle, but it came. And finally she rocked with the laughter, hysterical though it was, and felt Xander slip an arm around her and hug her tightly to his side.
She leaned into the hug, resting her head on his shoulder as she laughed. Then she cried again, her laughs becoming wracking sobs that caused her slight frame to shudder against him, so Xander held her closer, his hand gently rubbing her hair and back.
After long minutes, she looked up to see him looking patiently down at her, and shivered as she realized how close their faces were.
Xander caught the shiver, and his expression changed to a confused look that suddenly struck her as irresistibly *cute*, so she pushed closer until their lips met in the darkness. His eyes widened so much that she had to suppress another bout of giggles and closed her own as she enjoyed the warmth radiating from his skin.
Then he pushed her gently away, "Buffy... I..."
But she didn't want to be pushed away, not again. "Shh..."
Xander's protests were cut off as the most beautiful girl he knew caught his lips again. He groaned at the pleasure of it all, her lips, her body, HER. But again managed to break away from her, his heart breaking both by his resistance and the hurt look in her eyes. "Buffy... I can't... not like this. Please..."
His voice was so plaintive that Buffy knew she had him. He was asking permission and succor with that single voice, and she knew that whichever she chose to give him would decide the matter.
Still, the fact that he had asked was enough to give her pause. The timing was all wrong, even she knew that. Even if she wanted to pursue a relationship with Xander, this was simply NOT the time to do so. And they both knew it.
But suddenly, looking at him as he stared back with eyes that were so warmly expressive, Buffy was taken by his expression. He was caught on the cusp of desire and honor, in the way that only Xander could be, and she felt herself slip over the razors edge.
"But I want this." She said in a low voice as she pulled his resisting head lower.
When their lips touched for the third time, Xander groaned and lost all will to resist. He knew it was wrong, he knew he should be running for the hills, but he just couldn't fight the force he felt inside him.
<Oh God, I'm going to HATE myself for this.>
And then he kissed her back.
"You ok?" Xander asked, concerned at her wife's sudden wandering attention.
Buffy grinned, shaking her head to clear it, as she finished getting dressed. "I'm ready."
"Come on then." Xander nodded to the door, "Unless I miss my guess, Joyce has breakfast already on the table."
Buffy slapped him lightly on the shoulder as she passed, "When it comes to Mom's cooking you never miss your guess. I think she likes you more then me."
Xander chuckled as he checked the baby monitor to make sure it was one, then followed. "I'd say it was touch and go there for a while. In fact I'm pretty sure she almost killed me at least twice."
Buffy smirked batting her eyelashes, "Well you DID knock up her little girl... who was 'still in highschool and far FAR too young to have a baby!'"
Xander smirked at the falsetto imitation of Joyce's oft proclaimed objections, and grabbed his wife by the hips and drug her too him. "You know I love it when you talk like that..."
Buffy laughed, but pushed him away. "Not NOW. I'm late."
Xander's face froze, his eyes darting back to their room and the sleeping infant in panic.
Buffy laughed again, "Not that kind of late you doof! Now let me go!"
Amid an exaggerated air of relief, Xander let her go and then meekly followed her down the stairs to the kitchen, still shivering with the memory of hearing those words once before.
"Late for what? It's Saturday." Xander responded in confusion.
Not that he wasn't happy she was talking to him, of course. They hadn't shared too many words since THAT night. He didn't know if she hated him, or what, but he wouldn't blame her if she did. He'd wasted all his will power telling her to keep that damned raincoat on, he supposed, because it sure as hell wasn't there when he needed it.
"Not that kind of late, Xander." Buffy said, her face twisted in an emotion Xander couldn't recognize.
Whatever it was, it sent a shiver up his spine.
"Well then what kind of late..." Xander drifted off, his eyes widening as he remembered all the bad daytime TV with scenes that started like this. "You... We... Oh."
Buffy nodded, her face still that mix of emotions that Xander couldn't place. "Yeah."
They sat there for a long time, silence between them growing in intensity until Buffy spoke again, "So... what do you think?"
"I'm trying not to right now." Xander replied honestly, the shock having disengaged his normal defenses.
"Oh." Buffy said, her voice and face dropping.
The silence stretched out for another long time, until Xander broke it this time.
"What do you want to do?"
Buffy shook her head, "I don't know."
Xander nodded. "Ok."
"Ok?"
"Yeah. We'll just have to figure it out." Xander said slowly. "Together... if you want?"
Buffy smiled through the confusion of emotions, and Xander felt his heart skip a beat as everything became all right with his world.
Joyce Summers looked up to see her daughter and son-in-law walk into the kitchen and beamed at them, "Breakfast is ready."
The gleam in Xander's eyes was enough that she had to suppress the urge to laugh at the boy, and she watched as he tucked into the meal with his usual gusto. Buffy, also as usual, just picked at her food until Xander was done with his then quickly got up and hauled the protesting boy from the table.
"Buffy... but... food!?" Xander managed to get out as she hauled him out the door.
"Xander... Class!"
Xander's reached out for the table, but he just missed grabbing the last of the bacon as Buffy hauled him off. "Damn... Dawn's sleeping Joyce! Should be good for a couple Hou... urks! Hey! Buff... easy on the colla'''' urk!"
Joyce laughed appreciably as the two vanished out the door, and went about cleaning off the table. Whenever she thought about those two... three... those three, she corrected herself. Whenever she thought about those three, she felt warm all over. Not that it had always been that way, of course.
Joyce still had conflicting emotions about the day she found out her daughter was pregnant. She'd been absolutely furious with Buffy for being such a fool. Not only had the girl had *sex*, which was bad enough for any mother to deal with at that age, but she hadn't bothered with protection!
Joyce could have cheerfully strangled her at that point, but Buffy was in such bad emotional shape anyway that it would have been superfluous. So, she guiltily admitted to herself, Xander had received the brunt of her ire.
She'd laid into him with everything in her arsenal, and a few things borrowed from her own mother just for good measure. But he never faltered. Not once through the entire time had he ever shirked a single request, demand, or order. No matter had much abuse had been heaped on it. Xander never let anything drive him off.
And she had tried. Joyce had to admit that, she had certainly tried to get rid of the irresponsible brat who'd gotten her daughter pregnant.
The same 'irresponsible brat' who had instantly gone out and gotten a part time job at a construction yard delivering coffee and had basically run himself ragged for the rest of school year to impress her. Joyce smiled slightly as she thought back to one night in particular.
Joyce Summer woke up with a slight start, eyes wide as she heard a noise from outside. She rolled the blankets off her and moved quietly to the window of her room, looking outside. Her eyes widened as she saw three figures fighting in the yard below.
<What the?>
She quickly grabbed a robe and rushed downstairs, heading for the phone. She hoped that Buffy wouldn't wake up, but also knew that it wasn't likely. Her daughter slept the sleep of the just, it would take more then a few noises to wake *her*. Especially not lately, Joyce admitted with a frown.
The Pregnancy was taking a lot out of her normally vibrant daughter, and Joyce suspected that her little girl was pushing herself too hard. Unfortunately, she couldn't say much about it until it became a health risk, not after she'd laid down the law about keeping up her schooling despite everything else.
Joyce found the phone in the dark and picked up the receiver, starting to dial 911, but froze as one of the faces outside was briefly illuminated by a street lamp.
<Xander?> She dropped the phone is surprise, moving inexorably closer to the window as the battle outside grew in a silent intensity.
Xander's heart was in his throat as he struggled against the iron like clawed fingers that were going for his throat. He could see the bleach blond vampire snarling at him from above, an ugly rictus that made the creature's face a thing of horror. On a sudden impulse, Xander slammed his head forward and butted Spike's face with his forehead.
"Bloody hell!" The vampire hissed in pain as he fell back, clutching at his broken nose. It would heal quickly, true, but it still hurt like hell.
Xander forced himself to his feet against the pained urging of his aching muscles, palming the stake he'd dropped as he did. "You aren't getting past me, Spike."
The blond vampire just snarled at first, but quickly straightened himself up and glared at the human who was blocking his way. "I'll have you for lunch, *boy*... and the Slayer for desert."
Xander pulled himself up, his eyes dangerously cold as he returned the glare and coldly repeated himself. "You aren't getting past me, Spike."
The two men glared at each other, neither budging so much as an inch in the mental confrontation until a voice came from behind Xander.
"Xander? What do you think you're doing??" Joyce asked, her voice clipped but low as she berated him. "I don't know what you're into, but don't bring it to my daughter's doorstep!"
Xander glanced over his shoulder, his face shocked, "Miss Summers... look out!"
Joyce frowned, then yelped in shock as hands grabbed her from the side and a slender arms wrapped itself around her throat. "I have her... I have the Slayer's nasty mother."
"Good work, Dru." Spike smiled through his snarl, then used Xander's distraction to lunge to the attack.
Xander let out a muffled gasp as the vampire hit him in a solid tackle, but clenched his fist around the stake this time and went with the force (as much because he was surprised by the attack as by any actual *plan*). The two of them hit the ground in a roll that sent them tumbling back toward the house, one coming out on top and then the other. When they came to a shuddering halt, Spike was grinning wildly down at Xander, one hand easily keeping the stake at bay while the other slowly squeezed the boy's throat.
Xander started to turn blue, then gurgled as his eyes bulged and the world began to dim. Spike smiled wider, knowing the sight of death and loving every instant of it. He leaned closer, his voice low but enough that it was heard by everyone present.
"Give it up, wanker. You're already dead." He grinned, "And then I'm going to go into that house and feast on the Slayer and her mum. And you failed to stop me."
Joyce's eyes widened, the impossibly strong arm around her throat tightening as whoever was holding her laughed softly to herself.
"Nnnnnnn....." Xander groaned out, his muscles suddenly tightening even more as he glared up at the Vampire above him. His free hand let go of Spike's wrist, suddenly punching out almost of it's own will, and crushing the demon's trachea.
Spike's eyes widening in shock, the pain almost debilitating even though he didn't need to breath through it. He kept his grip though, stubbornly tightening it to return the favor as he tried to speak through his ruined throat.
All that came out was an enraged gurgle, so Spike just ratcheted his grip up another notch.
Xander's free hand struck out again, this time striking at the vampire's ribs under his arm. A loud crack sounded, and Spike's eyes widened again in pain, and this time his grip slackened slightly as the pain ran up his arm and entire side.
Xander took the advantage and struck again, then again and again, each time hitting the broken ribs and mashing them even more. When he felt Spike's grip falter slightly more, he surged up, his arm ripping from the demon's grasp and plunging the stake into the bleach blond's chest.
The vampire stared at him for a long moment, shock etched on his face along with confusion. "Bloody hell."
Then the demon vanished into ash as Xander almost fell back in exhaustion. Almost.
A wrenching scream of rage brought him up in time to see Joyce being tossed aside by a furious Drusilla, who charged straight at him with blazing eyes. Xander just had time to lift his stake as the Vampiress impaled herself on it, her eyes blinking as a thousand emotions echoed through them.
He stared back up at her, his shock echoing her own at the suddenness of the attack and the kill.
Then she vanished into dust, and Xander let himself fall back in shock and tired pain.
"I told you, Spike." He said softly, "You weren't getting past me."
He didn't know how long he lay there, but after some time another voice broke the silence.
"Mom? Xander!? My God! What happened here!?"
And that, as they say, was that as far as Joyce was concerned. Once the shock had worn off, both of the attack itself and of learning her daughter's 'destiny', both she and Buffy had started asking some serious questions of Xander.
And they'd both been shocked to learn that he'd been sleeping outside their house every night for weeks, determined not to let anything get near her daughter. Or his own, Joyce conceded.
That kind of dedication, that kind of love, that was enough even for an angry mother. Xander had never slept outside again. He'd had the couch whenever he wanted it, then a cot in the spare room, and eventually Joyce had given in and bowed to the inevitable as his relationship with Buffy progressed past the day he dropped to one knee in front of her and all their friends and offered a ring to her daughter.
Joyce was broken from her reverie by the first cries over the baby monitor and she shook herself slightly and got up to go see her granddaughter.
Xander whistled as he pulled his car into the makeshift lot at the new work Site, waving to a couple of the men who grinned and waved back. He parked the car and got out, grabbing his tool belt from the back and heading for his trailer before doing anything else.
"Hey Xander." Joseph Rally smiled at him as he approached.
"Hey Joe, everything copacetic?"
Joe nodded, "Yeah. So far so good, Xan. Everything's humming away."
In the background they heard a crash, followed by a yell of anger, and Joe winced. "Damn it. I'll go..."
"Nah, that's ok Joe." Xander smiled, "It's just 'Jim Bob' as usual."
Joseph chuckled, nodding.
"I'll handle it while I make my rounds." Xander told him, "Why don't you go check on the finishers who are working on the lobby? I'll be around there in an hour or so."
"You got it, kid." Joe said amiably as Xander moved passed him.
Xander quickly found the source of the trouble and smoothed out the bruised egos, and sent the scraped arm back to the trailer to be bandaged. Once he was certain that things were back on schedule he headed off, making the tour of the site and ensuring that everyone was where they were supposed to be, and more important, had everything they needed to finish the job.
That done, he headed back for the trailer to put in the morning call to the head office just to see if the clients had asked for any list minute changes. Another daily ritual that chewed up about thirty minutes on a good day.
When he hung up the phone, Xander sat back for a couple minutes and shook his head with a grin. <Who'd have thunk it? I'm actually considered competent at something.>
He was the youngest foreman the company had ever employed and, so far at least, he was handling the job pretty well. He still had a hard time believing it some days, especially when he thought about how he'd gotten the job.
"Ow, hey! Watch it kid!"
Xander yelped himself as he fell back from the man he'd bumped into, dropping the paper he'd been reading as scalding hot coffee burning him through the material of his shirt and pants. The man he'd bumped into glared at him, also trying to hold his shirt away from his skin as he looked down at the dozen coffee's he'd just spilled.
"Dammit."
"Jeez, I'm sorry Mister." Xander said apologetically. "I wasn't watching where I was going."
The guy sighed, nodding, then glanced at his watch and cursed. "Shit. I've got to get back. Damn."
"What is it?"
"You just made me spill the entire crew's afternoon Coffee, kid." The man frowned, "And I don't have time to get any more before the shift starts."
Xander's eyes widened, and he spoke instantly. "I'll get you some more. How many and what kind?"
The man blinked, but figured what the hell and told him When he moved to give the kid some money for it, he was surprised to find the boy shake his head. "No thanks. I screw up, I'll fix it."
Then the boy got this... look... and somehow the man knew he didn't mean just the coffee. Still he nodded, and told the kid where to find the work site. As the boy walked off, the man glanced down at the paper on the ground and picked it up.
<The Want Ads?>
Not the most auspicious start to a career, Xander supposed, but it worked. He delivered the coffee and walked away with a part time job as a gopher. And that's what he did. He went for this, and went for that. But in the downtime he watched and learned, and surprisingly found a talent he never knew he had.
That summer he was shifted to the labor pool as the low man on the pole and started working his way up. What was a summer job running materials around the site grew into a position as Carpenter's apprentice by the end of the summer.
For his part, Xander had just shrugged and gone back to school while keeping up the job whenever he had free time. It hadn't been easy, but he'd known that Joyce would string him up if he dropped out of highschool for any reason, so it was something he'd had to do.
By Christmas he was a full carpenter, licensed and certified by the state.
Not bad for a highschool loser.
Xander smirked lightly to himself and got up and headed out to do the rest of his job.
Buffy Summers-Harris walked the halls of UC Sunnydale, wondering how she was going to spend her spare class. She'd already called home enough times that her mother was prepared to unplug the telephone if she did it again.
"Buffy!"
She turned, already smiling as she heard Willow's voice coming up behind her. "Hey Will."
"Hey." Willow panted slightly from running to catch her. "How's Dawn?"
"She'd good, Willow." Buffy grinned suddenly, "I woke up this morning to see Xander half asleep in the chair, rocking her."
Willow got this 'awww' look on her face, and the two of them broke out laughing at the image.
"You're a lucky girl." Willow told her as they calmed down, and Buffy caught just barest hint of the old jealousy in the red-head's eyes.
It was a fading emotion, but it was one that had hurt them both in the aftermath of that night.
"You... and Xander?" Willow's face was a mask of hurt as she stared at her friend. "But... Angel? Cordelia?"
Buffy was studying her feet by that point. At the time she hadn't been thinking about anyone else, and she was fairly certain the same was true of Xander. It was horrible of them, and they both knew it.
For all the silence that had happened between them, it had been worse for Xander and Cordelia. She'd broken up with him less then a week after that night. Not for cheating on her, she didn't even know about that yet, but because he was ignoring her at every turn.
Buffy knew that was just his guilt speaking, because her own guilt was actually out massing her anger with Angel. Not that he could tell the difference, she thought miserably. He didn't really deserve the cold shoulder he'd been getting, and the crux of it was that he was going to get even worse when this broke.
Buffy thought all those things, but only nodded miserably in response to Willow's shock.
"And you're...?"
Again she nodded.
Willow looked like she was the one with morning sickness, she turned from one side to the other, and finally shuddered. "I have to go."
Buffy watched her run, wishing she didn't understand the red head's reaction, wishing she could manage to muster the desire to blame her for it.
Buffy smiled at Willow, glad that they had been able to repair their friendship, though it had taken the better part of a year and was nowhere near as strong as it was. Despite the Wiccan's ever stronger relationship with Oz, Willow had still carried a flickering flame for her childhood friend.
"So what's up for tonight?" Willow asked, still smiling though it was starting to look just slightly forced.
Buffy shrugged, "Patrol I guess. Nothing big on the horizon according the Giles' books."
"Yeah, I know." Willow nodded, "Jenny told me when we were doing our last lesson."
"How are those going anyway?"
"Pretty cool really." Willow's smile was no longer forced, her eyes gleaming. "I have to admit that Jenny knows some great spells."
"You just remember what she always says." Buffy frowned with mock severity.
"Yeah yeah," Willow grinned, looking up with rolled eyes. "Magic is not a toy. Magic is a tool more dangerous then any gun and should be treated with respect. I'll keep it mind."
"See that you do." Buffy grinned.
"I will." Willow promised, her face innocent.
Buffy smirked and grabbed her hand from behind her, holding up the crossed fingers between them. "Funny."
"I thought so." Willow grinned, then she sobered. "Seriously though... it's scary some of her history lessons on misuse of magic."
Buffy nodded, "It's probably supposed to be."
"Yeah." Willow said, then glanced at her watch. "OMG! I'm going to be late for class... see you later?"
"You know it."
Rupert Giles looked up as the door to his study opened, and smiled moments later.
"You look really really cute with those glasses, Rip." Jenny Calender smiled at him as she walked over to his desk.
He shrugged, "Why do you think I kept them after I got the contacts?"
She shrugged, "Well I *thought* that you just liked wiping them clean."
They both laughed at that, and Giles got up and walked around to where she was sitting on the corner of his desk. He leaned down and kissed her lightly, "Glad you're back."
She shrugged, "It was just a two day, Rupert."
"It felt like years." Giles said, smiling as he pulled her lightly off the desk and wrapping the brunette in an embrace.
"Mmmmmm..." She moaned lightly, "I definitely missed THIS."
"As did I." Giles said, no longer smiling as his mouth was quickly busy with other matters.
Minutes passed, then they broke apart, both flushed but happy.
"SO..." Jenny said, sitting again on the corner of the desk. "What's on the books for tonight?"
Giles shrugged, "Just a normal patrol."
"Whose?"
"Buffy tonight." Giles said, "Faith has a rather large exam to study for... not that she was willing to admit that to me. It's a good thing I have an in with the new highschool."
Jenny Calender smirked, "You mean some nasty, nosy, *teacher* dared go behind her students back to talk to you? I'm shocked."
Giles grinned lightly, kissing her again. "Ah... but I can be most... persuasive."
Jenny's laugh echoed around the room as her hands reached up and wrapped around her neck and he abruptly straightened up, causing her to squeal lightly as he plucked her from the desk and caught her in his arms.
"Oh Rupert..."
"Call me Rip."
"Giles?" Buffy called out as she knocked lightly on the front door of the large apartment. "Giles?"
Slayer hearing enabled her to hear a scrambling coming from another room and past experience told her to wait rather then rush in with stake held high. Such action would NOT be appreciated, on either side.
Buffy shivered at the memory, and leaned against a door.
On cue, Giles and Miss Calender stumbled out of the back room, still getting dressed in a hurried fashion. "Eww. I'd say get room, but you did that so I'm just going to be grateful."
Giles scowled at her, "The last thing I need from you is a lecture on *sex*."
Buffy blushed, missing the time when it had been so easy to embarrass the stuck up brit. Alas, those days were gone now since Miss Calender had gone to work on him. Giles and his alter ego, Ripper, tended to share the same body much more closely lately.
Good for patrol, not so good for the poor Slayers who had to deal with him.
Not that Faith would admit that, Buffy reflected. There was a girl who was way over the top, even by local standards. Anyone who had the strength of stomach to stand against a door while Giles and Jenny were getting it on was scary. But when self same person spoke up halfway through to offer TIPS... well, that was a story Buffy could have done without.
Xander had gotten a kick out of it though, once he'd removed Dawn from the vicinity. Buffy smiled, shaking her head. She'd known for a long time, maybe even from the moment she met him, that Xander would make someone very happy someday. But truthfully, she'd never believed it would be her.
Giles interrupted her reverie, "Are you ready for patrol?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah. Ready to roll."
Giles nodded, "Quite. Xander?"
"Staying with Dawn tonight." Buffy replied, "Mom has a meeting."
"Oh. You do have backup, right?"
Buffy nodded, "Yeah. I'm meeting Riley at the Bronze. We'll sweep there, then move on to the graveyards to nail the risers."
Giles nodded, "very well. You have your cell phone?"
"Never leave home without it." Buffy grinned.
"Excellent. Good luck then." Giles said, handing Buffy a list of probable grave sites that may contain vampires.
"Cool. I'll meet up with you tomorrow to debrief."
"Excuse me?" Giles frowned.
"Sorry. Too much time around Xander and Riley." Buffy reddened ever so slightly. "Those two kinda scare me sometimes."
"Xander has always scared me." Giles muttered under his breath, but motioned to the door. "You may as well go."
"K, gotcha." Buffy winked, "Going to go get *hard* at work again?"
"Out!" Giles thundered, causing the blond slayer to run for the door while laughing. He shook his head, leaning back against the wall behind him while Jenny smothered laughter at his side. "You should be ashamed of yourself. That attitude is all your fault you know."
"Mine?" Jenny placed a hand over her breast, "Are you forgetting Slayer Jr by any chance??"
Giles sighed and nodded, "Ah yes. Well perhaps there is sufficient blame to pass around."
Jenny purred as she stepped closer and grabbed his lapels, "Now... shall we take her suggestion and get back to... work?"
The Bronze was roaring with music and conversation, all according to the usual pattern, when Buffy walked in. She spotted Riley Finn at the bar and walked up to the pleasantly handsome figure and smile at him, "Hey."
"Hey yourself." He said, turning around to lean back on the bar. "You ready?"
"You bet." She replied easily. "Just another night in the life."
Riley nodded, glancing around. "You see any?"
Buffy looked around slowly, looking for the usual tells as well as listening to her instincts. Finally she shook her head, "No. Looks clean."
Riley nodded, "Ok... Let's move out then."
Buffy smiled up at him, "In a hurry are we?"
The ex-soldier winced, reddening somewhat. "Uh... well... yeah. A bit."
"A date?" She grinned widely.
"Buffy..." Riley growled.
"Come on. You KNOW that your gonna tell me." Buffy said smoothly, "Or I'll find out from Xander. He can't keep ANY secrets you know."
Riley looked at her, a flicker of amusement passing on his face, as he decided to refrain from reminding her that Xander had acted as an advisor to the Initiative for three months before she found out. And the only reason she DID find out was because Xander had finally succeeded in his campaign to get her clearance . Just as he was equally certain that she had no clue about some of his lesser known exploits as listed in his Initiative dossier. Still he doubted that Xander would keep THIS secret, Riley knew that his friend was one man who understood the proper doling out of intelligence. The second Buffy got onto a topic her husband didn't think she needed to worry about, he'd trot out this little tidbit to side track her.
So Riley Finn, late of the United States Special Projects Unit, sighed and decided to cut his losses. "I'm seeing Anya."
Buffy blinked.
"Anya!?" She shook her head as she tried to process that. "Anya who tried to arrange a threesome with my husband and ME!?"
Riley nodded, wincing.
"Anya who tortured men for twelve hundred years? That Anya?"
Riley nodded.
"Why!?"
The blond soldier just shrugged, "Shouldn't we be going?"
Buffy frowned, then nodded. The two of them walked to the door and left the Bronze. The instant the noise was gone, Buffy charged back in to the conversation. "Why!?"
"She's... nice."
"She's a pain in the ass." Buffy said simply.
Riley had to agree, and nodded. "Yeah... but she's got another side that's... nice."
"If you say so." Buffy shook her head as they headed for the graveyards. "How on earth did you two hook up??"
Riley shrugged, "How else? Xander introduced us."
Buffy spent the rest of the walk to the graveyard laughing so loud that they had to dust four vamps who came by to see what was so funny.
By the end of the night, they had taken out eight more newbies and a couple would be masters who came by to retrieve their newly risen progeny.
"Is that all of them?" Riley groaned through the ache as he sat down on a gravestone.
"Yes that's all of them, you big baby." Buffy smirked, stretching out the kinks as she casually did a cartwheel just to annoy the blond man.
He ignored her. "Then are we done?"
Buffy sighed and nodded, "Yeah. We're done. I've got to get back home anyway. I hope Xander didn't keep Dawn up all night again."
"The way he spoils that girl you'd think he was the god-father, and not Giles." Riley grinned.
Buffy nodded, shrugging. "He'll have to get over it. There is no way I'm going to let him walk all over us when she gets a little older."
Riley laughed, "Good luck. The guys at work figure that she'll either grow with a silver spoon in one hand and an AK-47 in the other."
Buffy scowled at him, her finger snapping out away from them. "Go. Now."
He laughed and flipped her a mock salute before turning and heading for his date. As he did, he glanced back. "Check in when you get home, you hear?"
Buffy nodded, "You too. Don't forget either!"
"I know the SOP," He grinned, "Me and Xander wrote it up, remember?"
"Get!"
Buffy snuck into her darkened room, smiling as she saw Xander asleep against the head board of their bed with Dawn curled in his arms. She took a step towards them when a flash pf vertigo assaulted her, and she almost cried out.
She stumbled, just catching herself, and blinked.
The room flickered in her eyes, cutting itself down to half its size, looking just like it had before Xander had gotten permission from Joyce to expand it into the guest room.
She spun around, reaching out to catch herself as everything flickered again and came back to normal. She took a deep breath, leaning against the dresser and found herself staring at the photos that were proudly displayed there.
Her and Xander.
Xander, Willow, And her.
Her and Dawn.
Dawn and Xander.
Xander, her, and Dawn.
And others. She frowned, staring at them as they altered slowly. Her wedding photos faded away, replaced by pictures of her with Riley of all people. Then another one shifted and changed, and she saw dawn vanish from it. Her eyes flew over them all, searching for her daughter, but Dawn was gone from all of them.
"No..." She whispered. "No."
"No!" Her arm flashed out, sweeping them all away in a rush of noise as she grabbed the one picture she KNEW had Dawn in it and shook it with all her strength, as if she could force it to reveal her daughter. "NO!"
"Buffy?"
The gentle voice and light touch ripped her out of the nightmare vision and she spun around, looking at Xander's earnest face.
"What is it? What's wrong?"
"Dawn. I..." Buffy glanced down at the photo and saw her daughter smiling brightly back out of it, just as she should be. "I... I don't know."
Xander slowly rocked his wife as she shivered in his arms. He hadn't been able to get anything out of her, but whatever it was it had hit Buffy where she lived.
"Can you talk about it now?" He asked softly, gently broaching the subject for the third time.
For a long moment there was no answer, and he figured so much for 'Threes the charm'. Then Buffy spoke. Slowly, haltingly, softly so he had to strain, but she spoke.
"It... it was so strange." She said softly, "I... I got dizzy... and the room changed."
"Changed?" Xander frowned, tightening his hold on her as he rocked her back against him. "Changed how?"
She shook her head, her hair lightly brushing his face as he bent down to her. "It's hard to explain. Everything just... changed."
"Can you tell me any detail? Not the overall... just what you noticed."
She took a deep breath, "The room... looked like it did before you renovated. It was my old bedroom again... Then the pictures..."
"The pictures?"
Buffy nodded, "Dawn was gone from them. All of them."
Xander stiffened, his grip on her tightening as he involuntarily looked over to where his daughter was sleeping. "What?"
"And you too..." Buffy kept going, then paused and frowned. "No. You were there... but it wasn't the same. Our wedding pictures were gone... there was a picture of me and Riley in it's place."
"Riley?" Xander frowned, "You don't even like Riley."
"I do." Buffy said, "I just think you like him a lot more is all. But that's not the point. Why'd the pictures change? What happened to Dawn?"
Xander slowly drew in a deep breath, resuming his gently rocking. "I don't know. I don't know..."
"But we'll find out."
The next morning was bright and sunny, and a Saturday, so when Xander got up he quietly slipped Dawn from her crib and walked her downstairs so she wouldn't cry and wake Buffy up.
"Morning Xander."
"Morning Joyce." Xander returned, smiling at his mother-in-law over his daughter's shoulder. "How'd you sleep?"
"Pretty well until the crash." Joyce said with a smirk, "Do I dare ask what that was about?"
The frown on Xander's face instantly wiped the smirk from hers. Joyce knew the young man well enough to be sure that he'd blush if he didn't have something serious on his mind. "What is it?"
Xander shook his head as he set Dawn down in the highchair at the table and locked her in place. "I'm not sure."
"Is Buffy alright?"
Xander glanced up sharply, seeing the concern in a mother's face. "Yes. Yes... she's... fine."
"Did something happen last night?"
Again, all Xander could say was, "I'm not sure."
Joyce reluctantly accepted that, not liking it one bit, but accepting it. She settled into cooking the morning meal as Xander got out the baby food and pint sized spoons and tended to her granddaughter.
"Nnnnnngggggghhhhhhhh...." Buffy groaned as she stretched and rolled over in bed. The warmth of the feather duvet was such that she really didn't want to move, but it was competing (and losing) against the smell wafting up from downstairs.
She sniffed delicately at the air through the tiny peep hole she'd made in the mass of blankets over her head, her eyes still shut against the intrusion of the waking world. She could hear the faint sounds of activity below, and knew it was time to get up.
So she groaned, and rolled over again, tossing the duvet to one side and slipping her legs off the bed as she sat up. The night before felt like a horrible nightmare to her, one she was glad to put away from her thoughts.
Until she walked over to the dresser and saw the picture frames scattered across the floor.
Buffy felt her heart drop, this empty spot opening in the pit of her stomach, and she just leaned against the dresser as the feelings from the night before flooded back. Whatever it was, it wasn't a dream, of that she was certain.
And if it wasn't a dream, Buffy felt her face tighten, then it was a threat to her family.
"Buffy?"
She smiled wanly at Xander as she came down the stairs, "Morning."
"Morning." He smiled back warmly. "Breakfast is on the table. Figured you'd be down soon."
She nodded, silently walking to the table and taking a seat. She started to pick at her meal, and Xander looked at her for a while until she couldn't ignore it any longer. "What?"
"It's still bothering you." He stated simply, "Have you got any more ideas on what it was about?"
She shook her head.
"Do you think it was prophetic?" Xander asked, his voice surprisingly steady for a ma whose heart was practically in his throat.
"I..." she hesitated, "I don't see how it can be. I saw the... past? Present? I don't know. It can't be the future though... why would we change the room back? Or get rid of our photos of Dawn??"
"We wouldn't." Xander said simply. "Ok. So it's not that. Maybe it could still be Slayer related though..."
She shrugged, "Maybe."
"Then we take it to Giles." Xander said calmly. "As soon as you're done."
Buffy winced, but nodded. "Ok."
After they had told him, Giles just looked between them for some time, long enough to make Xander nervous.
"Uh... Giles?" He ventured finally. "You're scaring me here."
Giles looked puzzled, "What? Oh... Oh, sorry. No, I was just wondering..."
"Wondering what?"
"Well..." He turned to Buffy, "Are you certain this wasn't just a dream... maybe you..."
"Giles." Xander snapped, cutting him off. "She wasn't dreaming. She hadn't even gotten to bed before this happened."
"Right." Giles said, then sighed as he removed his spectacles and began to clean them. "Very well... I'll look into this... but I have to say, it doesn't fit with anything I know about Slayers or any demons in my experience."
"Like we've never run into anything new before."
Giles glared briefly at Xander, but nodded. "That is true... though you hardly need to be quite so sarcastic about it."
Xander bristled again, but Buffy put a hand on his arm and he settled down.
"Thank you for looking, Giles." Buffy said quietly, so quietly in fact that her tone seemed to alert Giles to something.
He shifted upright in his chair, peering owlishly at her for a moment before speaking. "No trouble at all, Buffy. I assure you, whatever this is, we'll get to the bottom of it."
"Thank you." Buffy said again and even Xander relaxed.
"Yeah, thanks G-man." He said, relieved.
Giles didn't even notice the G-man crack, he was already frowning to himself as he got up and checked his personal library for books that might help. "Let's see..."
The two of them watched him move from book to book for a few moments before Xander hesitantly spoke. "Uh... can we help here, Giles?"
"What? Oh.. No... No I don't think so." Giles said after a moment, "Why don't you go out and I'll let you know if I can turn up any leads. Once we have something specific then perhaps we can get the group together and make a serious foray into the resources at hand."
"Right." Xander said, pulling Buffy along with him as he headed for the door. "C'mon, Buff, let's allow the man to work..."
"Sir, we've located the Monk."
"Finally. I had thought that the beast had destroyed their order entirely."
"No, Sir. But it would seem that he is the last."
"Where is he?"
"Sunnydale."
"On the Hellmouth?? What in Gods name would a monk be doing there!?"
"We don't know... but... what if that's where they sent it?"
"Even those fools wouldn't be stupid enough to send a dimensional key to the location of a Hellmouth."
"But if they did?"
".... Have my brigade prepared. We ride to the mouth of hell."
"Yes My Lord."
"And my God help us all if you are right, Stephen."
"I pray that I am not, Sir."
"I as well. We must find this monk... we must know the form and location of the Key."
"I'll tell the men, Sir. They'll be prepared."
"Good. See that you do."
"Joyce has Dawn for the day," Xander said, smiling, "And I've got the weekend off... sooooo..."
Buffy smiled wanly at him, knowing that Xander was heading somewhere, but not really caring where. It just felt good to have him at her side at the moment. "So?"
"So..." Xander paused, smiling wickedly, "Let's go crazy."
Buffy smiled at him a little deeper at that, but genuine puzzlement entered her eyes. "Excuse me?"
"Dinner, dancing, the works!" Xander said, smiling. "We'll toss in a little impromptu patrol to keep the Watcher happy and work off some nervous energy... and then..."
"Then what?" Buffy smirked at him, thinking she knew what was coming.
"And then," Xander waggled his eyebrows, "We check into a suite at the hilton for the night. No crying dawnie, bless her soul, and no Mother-in-law with bags under her eyes because of all the noise we made to face over breakfast."
Buffy grinned, pushing him away from her as they walked, but Xander just made a detour that wound up with him right back at her side with an arm wrapped around her shoulders. "Come on, Buff. You know to wa-ant ta..."
"One," Buffy arched her eyebrows at him, "If you ever use a Pauly Shore line to seduce me again, you'll be sleeping on the couch for a week."
Xander swallowed, eyes widened. "Check. And two?"
Buffy smiled, "I'd love to. But you know that Mom only has Dawn for the day."
"Bzzzz... Sorry, you lose. Next player." Xander grinned.
"What?"
"Already cleared it with Joyce." Xander grinned, "I said that I thought you needed something to take your mind of the night job. I didn't mention the impromptu patrol, of course."
"Of course." Buffy smirked, then frowned, "Can we afford it?"
"Buffy, love, light of my life...." Xander said, then paused thoughtfully before going on, "leech of my wallet... Ow!"
"Serves you right." Buffy scowled playfully at him, "And you just remember that you insisted I go to college."
"Point taken." Xander rubbed his shoulder where she'd hit him, "Still, the answer to your earlier question is Yes. We can afford it. You seem to keep forgetting that I *AM* the foreman, and as such I get a pretty nice paycheck."
"I didn't forget." Buffy pouted, "But you paid my tuition, help out with the bills at home, and are making car payments on a brand new SUV... I just don't want you to max out your credit in case we have problems or something..."
"Relax." Xander said, smiling. "I'm good. I swear."
Buffy looked at him, seeing the intense, almost eager, look on his face and had to laugh lightly. When he looked hurt she sobered instantly and leaned into his hug. "I'd love to Xander."
"Cool." Xander smiled happily as they walked down the road.
"Good god, B." Faith rolled her eyes as Buffy tried on the third outfit of the evening. "Just get some saran wrap and be done with it. You KNOW X would love that."
Buffy glowered at her, stripping off the red blouse and reaching for a black one. "Yuk Yuk, Faith. This coming from the girl who suggested I give Xander a threesome for his birthday."
Faith shrugged, "Most guys I know would love to unwrap that present."
"Faith, most guys you know wouldn't know *how* to unwrap that present." Buffy countered.
Faith sighed, nodding. "I know. It's depressing what the brit has done to my social life."
Buffy shook her head as she slipped on the silk blouse and buttoned it up, "You know he's only worried about you, Faith. The bad girl attitude scares Giles..."
"Yeah." Faith pursed her lips, "I have ta admit though... If you guys hadn't told me about his Ripper days, I probably would have blown out on him by now."
Buffy looked at her for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah. That's what we figured. We thought you should know why Giles seemed over protective. You remind him of himself, and he's got a lot of regrets from those days."
Faith took a deep breath and nodded, "Yeah. You know, I'd like to have seen him like that... just once."
"I wouldn't." Buffy shuddered as she pulled on a pair of tight fitting blue jeans. "I've seen edges of it once in a while... they were scary enough. Sometimes I wonder if Ripper had any limits..."
"No limits needed. None wanted." Faith smirked.
Buffy was silent for a long while, thinking about Ethan Rayne and the demonic tattoo that he and Giles shared. "You don't mean that, Faith. Trust me, you don't mean that."
Faith frowned curiously as Buffy rubbed her shoulder lightly, as if comforting an old wound. "You say so, B."
"I do." Buffy said, getting up and looking at herself in the mirror. "What do you think?"
"Tsssss...." Faith laid a finger on Buffy's hip, then snatched it back. "Hot!"
"Perfect."
"Whoa."
"Close your mouth, Xander." Joyce advised, lightly tapping him under chin. "I'll kindly ask you not to leer quite so openly at my daughter."
"How about if I just leer at my wife?"
"That'll be fine." Joyce smiled.
Xander grinned back, then looked back up the stairs and repeated his earlier observation. "Whoa."
"Why thank you kind sir." Buffy smirked as she came down the stairs, blue hip huggers and black silk blouse forming her wardrobe.
"Any time... hell, *every* time." Xander said with a smile as he met her at the bottom of the stairs and offered her his arm.
Buffy took it gracefully, her slight frame being dwarfed by Xander's much larger size. They glided to the door, arm in arm, while Joyce held Dawn up so she could see her parents. "Have fun, you too."
"We will." Xander said, smiling.
"Not THAT much fun."
"Mom!"
Joyce rolled her eyes, smirking. "Ok, fine. But don't come crying to me if Dawn winds up with a little brother or sister."
"Mom!!" Buffy cried out again, this time in shock.
Behind them they could hear a lot of suspicious sounding laughter.
"Oh shut up, Faith!"
Xander didn't say a word, figuring anything he did say would get him in trouble somehow, and instead just opened the door and held it wide for Buffy. "My Lady."
Buffy smiled up at him as she walked out, and Xander smiled back for a moment before tipping an imaginary hat to Joyce, Dawn, and Faith. "Ladies..."
Then he closed the door, diplomatically ignoring the sounds of laughter from inside.
Joyce turned to the door, holding Dawn up so the infant could see out the glass. "You're Mom and Dad look really good tonight, Dawn... I think that you have a really good start on life..."
Behind her, Joyce didn't notice the furious mix of emotions that passed across Faith's face as she watched Grandmother and child from her seat on the steps.
The evening had gone perfectly, in Xander's opinion. The restaurant hadn't been the best in town, but it was the best that could be had on short notice. And in Sunnydale, that was still pretty good.
<One good thing about Vampires I guess...> Xander thought morbidly, <There is always a cancellation.>
After they'd eaten, the Bronze had been the next stop. And Xander was just as glad that they'd spotted the first Vamp because Buffy was prepared to dance him under the table and he *really* wanted to conserve his energy for later.
<The downsides to marrying a Slayer.> He thought, smirking as he followed his wife off the dance floor and after the vampire that had just left the Bronze with a young girl.
They made it outside just as the Vamp led it's prey into an alley, and were off in hot pursuit just as quickly as Xander could hand a stake off to Buffy.
They made it to the head of the alley just as a shriek cut the night air, ad both of them stepped on it. The girl was laying back against the wall of the alley, eyes wide in terror as she stared at her hands. Xander frowned as he saw that her hands were covered in dust, and he quickly looked around.
<Nope. No vamp in sight.>
"What happened?" Buffy snapped out quickly, looking at the girl, but keeping her guard up.
"M-m-m-man... with a s-s-s-sword!" She stammered out, pointing down the alley in shock.
Buffy and Xander looked at each other, "Man with sword??"
She nodded, eyes still bugging out. "H-h-he chased another guy out of t-t-there..."
She pointed to an open door, "Then c-c-cut the h-h-head off... offf... oh my god..."
"Where did he go??" Buffy asked urgently.
"T-that way... a-after the weird guy." She said, still shaking.
"Go." Xander told Buffy, "I'll be right behind you."
Buffy looked at him for a moment, then nodded and ran off.
Xander reached down and plucked the girl up. "Come on... let's get you inside for now, ok?"
"N-no!!"
"Tell me what I want to know, Monk!"
"I won't!" The young monk gasped back, again trying to break past his pursuer and escape from the dead end he was in.
The Knight moved fast, too fast, his blade coming down in an attempt to block the monk. Unfortunately he misjudged the stroke and the Monk's speed, and the blade bit into the Monk's chest.
The robed figure's eyes bugged out in shock as his hand clawed up and grabbed at the Knight. The Knight dropped his sword, suddenly clinging to the Monk and almost gently laying him down. "Tell me! Tell me what you did, Monk! Before the Beast learns of it!"
"Hey! Hey you!"
The Knight turned around to see a figure rush up on him from the dark and he panicked. He grabbed his sword and bolted, cursing the fate that caused him to overreach his blow.
Buffy ran up, skidding to a stop as she came to the bleeding monk. She fell to her knees and bunched up his robes, trying to staunch the flow of blood. "Hey... Hey, it'll be ok. I'll get you to a hospital and you'll be fine."
The dying man shook his head, his bloodied hand grabbing her by the shoulder. "Slayer..."
"How did you know that?" Buffy asked, almost falling away from him in shock.
"Slayer..." The monk repeated, "You have the key. You have to protect it..."
"Key? What key?" Buffy frowned, "I have a house key... but really, I do protect it."
The monk closed his eyes, but kept speaking. "The Key to an ancient evil... we sent it to you for protection."
"Then you need a better courier." Buffy quipped as she applied pressure to the wound, "I didn't get any key."
"We sent it in a form you would defend... a form you would love."
Buffy's eyes widened, a chill hitting her from all sides as her mind clicked on a connection. When she spoke it was more an attempt to deny what she suddenly *knew* then an admission. "Dawn. It's Dawn."
The man nodded, "Your daughter... yes. We sent her to you..."
Buffy's heart had stopped, her face white as bone, as she spoke with a certainty born of some instinct from deep within her. "She's not real."
"She doesn't know that." The monk said softly as he died, his body becoming still under her as Buffy stared at him in horrified shock.
"Buffy?" Xander's voice came up behind her, "Buffy are you... Oh shit. Buffy!? Are you ok!?"
She nodded slowly as she felt Xander's arms wrap around her, but for the first time in her memory she couldn't draw any comfort from his embrace. She just continued to stare blankly at the lifeless corpse in front of her.
"I'm bloody well coming!"
Rupert Giles, Ex Watcher extrodinaire, grumbled to himself as he nonetheless moved very quickly to the door. In Sunnydale he knew that late night visits were not good things, no matter who was at the door.
When he checked the peephole, the formerly irate watcher threw the door open without hesitation. "Xander! What happened?"
Xander Harris helped Buffy through the door, the young Slayer was moving under her own power but looked to be in shock. "I don't know, G-man. Something's hit her hard... but it doesn't seem physical. She's in shock."
Giles nodded, taking ahold of Buffy's free shoulder and helping Xander guide her to the couch. "I take it that your night 'off' didn't go well?"
"You could say that." Xander pursed his lips in irritation. "We followed a vamp out of the Bronze but some guy with a sword got him first."
Giles raised an eyebrow. "Well... that's good, isn't it?"
"You'd think so. But then he went on to kill a human dressed in brown robes just down the alley." Xander replied, laying the shell shocked Buffy out on the couch. "Hey babe... you ok?"
Buffy's eyes moved to look at him, but she didn't speak or even nod.
"Come on, babe..." Xander urged, "What happened? You've seen people die before... It's horrible but..."
Her eyes closed, and her head shook slightly. "It's not that."
"Then what is it?" Xander asked gently, his conversation with Giles forgotten.
Buffy swallowed, "Dawn..."
Xander's blood ran cold and his eyes darted to the phone, "What about Dawn? Is she in danger? I'll go over there right..."
"No..." She whispered, her voice echoing with a hopeless ring. "No... She's fine. I think."
"Then what is it?"
Buffy looked between Xander, her husband, and Giles, her watcher, and tried to make a decision. Long seconds passed, turning to minutes, before she spoke again. But when she did she started to babble as she told them both what the monk had told her.
When she was done, Another shocked silence descended.
"Bloody hell." Giles whispered, immediately rushing for his books.
"No." Xander shook his head, "No."
"Xander..." Buffy looked up at him, "It's true. I know it is. I FEEL it. It's a Slayer thing."
Xander shook his head back and forth, falling back from her as he fell into one of Giles sofa chairs, but he didn't say another word in his shock.
"Rupert?"
Buffy looked up to see Miss Calender tiredly enter the room, tying up a rather sheer housecoat.
Jenny frowned, looking at the shocked look of denial on Xander's face, the tired resignation on Buffy's, and the frantic exhibition of book tossing coming from Giles. "Ok... What did I miss?"
Hours later, the light of the predawn sky already showing up in the distance, Giles and Jenny had finally managed to piece together some form of an overall picture of the situation.
"So that's what we've found." Giles said, sighing as he leaned back from the oaken table and cleaned his glasses furiously.
There was a short silence that was broken, to everyone's surprise, by Xander's first words since Buffy's revelation earlier.
"Let me make absolutely certain that I understand this..." He said slowly, coming alive for the first time in hours.
The other three turned to watch him, emotions playing across each of their faces. Jenny seemed interested in what he had to say, Giles was surprised he had spoke up, but Buffy was both relieved and suddenly afraid of what Xander might have to say.
"These Monks," Xander said calmly as he stood up, "Cast a massive spell on us all to make us believe that Dawn was mine and Buffy's daughter?"
"Urmm.. Well... yes."
"But she isn't?"
Giles shrugged, "I'm not really certain of that. You see, her essence was drawn from both you and Buffy... That's why the blood tests confirmed the parentage when she was born."
Xander scowled, recalling Giles insistence that those tests be made. He hadn't liked the insinuation that Buffy might have slept around on him or something. But, at the time, it was necessary to make things tougher on the Council should they somehow want to control Dawn. Now, it seemed, it was even more useful. Xander picked up a newspaper and mindlessly twisted and rolled it between his hands. "Alright... So Dawn is our child."
"Indisputably."
"But... what? Buffy didn't actually give birth to her?"
Giles nodded, "That would seem correct... The spell, if we're right about this, created the 'back history' in our minds."
"How far?"
"Pardon me?"
Xander shrugged, "How far back? Did Dawn just show up in our lives tonight? Yesterday? Last week? A month ago? A year? How far?"
"I... well..." Giles blinked furiously, "I don't know. It's fair to say that the spell was cast no further back then Dawn's birth, however..."
Xander's mouth twisted. "I see..."
He walked around the table, his posture that of someone deep in thought. He stopped at one point, looking at Buffy in shock. "Then we didn't...?"
Buffy looked down at the table, then shook her head.
Xander nodded thoughtfully again, and continued to walk around behind Giles. Then he stopped, and suddenly whipped the rolled up newspaper as hard as he could across the back of Giles' head.
The crack the paper made echoed even in the small room, and the impact blew Giles' glasses off and flung them across the table. The british man yelped in shock, his hand flying up to hold his head where he had been hit, and both women looked with wide eyed astonishment and sheer shock at Xander.
"Bloody HELL!" Giles snarled, spinning around on Xander. "What was that for you little PRATT??"
Xander met his irate gaze with equal force, but there was an odd twinkle in the back of his eyes. "THAT was for the NINE months of *torture* you put me through! All the damned 'errands', the stupid cracks about keeping it in my pants, and the impossible to understand british put downs! All for getting your 'Slayer' pregnant! Something I didn't even DO!"
Giles mouth worked in shock as he stepped back in surprise, after a moment a look of sheepish resignation showed on his face. "Well... how was I to know!?"
Xander's face cracked, his well controlled facade crumbling as he watched Buffy and Jenny start to giggle from behind Giles. In a few moments he was laughing as hard as they were and Giles was staring at them all in a kind of irate fascination.
"What's so bloody funny!?"
"I'm going to take Buffy home." Xander said after the amusement of the moment had faded to the sheer horror of the reality once more.
Giles shook his head, "Don't."
"Huh?"
"You have the room still, right?"
Xander nodded, "Yeah... until this afternoon anyway?"
"Get it extended." Giles advised. "You both need the time away... now more then ever. I'll help Joyce with Dawn if needed."
Xander hesitated, but then nodded. "Ok..."
Giles looked at Xander seriously for a moment, "Xander..."
Xander looked up, questioning. "Yeah?"
"How do you feel about this?" Giles asked.
Xander's lips curled, "I feel like ripping those damned Monks apart for screwing with Buffy's life."
"But?" Giles asked, hearing the hesitation in the boy's voice.
Xander hesitated, "But... But I love her, G-man. I love both of them, and... it scares the hell out of me that I didn't... That she didn't *choose* me... that she... we aren't..."
Giles nodded, clapping a hand down on Xander's shoulder. "I understand... but Buffy might not. Be careful what you say... remember, she's confused too now."
Xander nodded, "I'll remember."
"Good. Now go on... get out of here. I'll find out whatever else I can and let you know what I can find about."
"Thanks." Xander smiled weakly at the Watcher.
Xander let himself and Buffy into their room at the Hilton, turning on the lights as Buffy made her way across the room slowly.
"I don't know about this, Xander..." Buffy said quietly. "I... We should be home..."
"Dawn's fine." Xander said, smiling softly at her. "And Giles' will check on her today... you need some sleep... and I think we need to talk."
Buffy swallowed, sitting on the bed and nodding. "I know."
Xander hesitated a moment, then started to speak.
Buffy did the same.
"I..." They said together.
They stopped.
"You go..." They said together again.
"No you go..."
Finally Buffy held up her hands, "I'll go..."
Xander nodded, pulling a chair up to sit across from her. "Ok... You go first."
Buffy took a deep breath and nodded, "Xander... I... We... We didn't happen."
Xander's heart just stopped. He started to speak, but Buffy kept him from it.
"Xander... you're the greatest..." She smiled softly at him, "But..."
"But it wasn't us." Xander looked down at his feet.
Buffy nodded. "It just wasn't."
Xander got up slowly, rubbing the side of his nose as he held in his emotions. He knew that Buffy had a point, and he cursed the monks for putting them in this situation. He turned away, looking at the far wall as he spoke, doing anything to keep his emotions from showing to her. "I know... I... I won't hold you to any memories that were forced on us, Buffy... I... hope..."
Xander looked back, gathering up his coat and putting it on as he kept his face mask like, a practiced skill he had mastered over years with his father. "I hope that you'll let me visit Dawn..."
Buffy watched in heartbreaking shock as Xander buttoned up his coat and left the room.
Xander got as far as the end of the hall before he slumped against the wall and buried his face in his hands.
He sobbed, dry eyed and soundless, but heart rending sobs just the same.
He hadn't cried in years, not since he'd turned five years old. Not over anything. Pain didn't reach his exterior. That was one of the things that Xander had always taken as a point of pride. He'd taken beatings from Bullies, vampires, demons, and even his own Father without crying. He'd never let any of it get him where it hurt, because physical pain was nothing.
Then he let Buffy in.
He'd let her in like he'd never let anyone in before. Or since, with the single exception of Dawn.
And Buffy had just ripped him apart from the inside.
His silent sobs turned to self hating laughter.
The worst of the situation was that he couldn't even blame it on her.
Those goddamned MONKS. That was the only thought that kept running through his mind. If that wierdo with the sword hadn't killed that one earlier, then he'd have cheerfully slaughtered him with his bare hands. They'd given him everything he'd ever dreamed of since meeting Buffy.
Her love.
A beautiful daughter.
A life better then he'd ever fantasized.
Xander snorted painfully. All that, and the only thing it cost was Buffy's life. Her right to choose. By god, those fucking Monks *raped* her.
And they used his image to do it.
His face tightened up again, his fists curling into white knuckled balls, and Xander Harris stood up again. He pulled his cell phone from his pocket, hitting the first speed dial button. "Joyce? Xander. Yeah... No, things went south last night. No, Buffy's fine... she's... shaken up right now. Could you come over to the hotel and talk with her? I... I think it would be best if you came over right away... bring Dawn. Thanks Joyce."
He hit the 'end' button, then hit the second redial button.
"Riley? Riley, shut up. I know what time it is. I need access to the Initiative computers for a couple hours. Just make it happen, you know that my clearance is good. Thanks. Twenty minutes... I'll be there."
Xander walked down to the lobby and outside, crossing the street. He waited on the other side until he saw Joyce arrive with Dawn, and then left when they had gone inside.
Buffy found herself staring at the door for long minutes after Xander had left, her heart tearing inside as she tried in vain to find that separation she knew had to exist between how she felt and how the Monks programmed her to feel.
It wasn't fair.
It just wasn't FAIR, goddamn it!
Wasn't being the Slayer enough? Wasn't risking her life every single night enough? Buffy finally slumped, burying her face in her hands. Wasn't losing everything she'd ever known and being told to go out and fight... to go out and DIE, enough!?
Wasn't ruining her life, enough?
Buffy started to cry. Because she was the Slayer, because she was the chosen one, because of HER, Xander's life had been ruined as well. He didn't ask to be forced to give up college to care for her and Dawn. To give up HIS future, because someone thought the Slayer could protect some mystic talisman!
She slumped bonelessly on the bed, then slowly curled up as she kept crying.
He didn't deserve this. He was better then this, better then her. He had a chance at a future, something that Buffy knew she didn't. And he'd had that ripped from him by those monks. Buffy shivered in fury, her hands clenching constantly, her nails coring holes in her skin as she raged. If she ever found those bastards...
A rapping sound startled her.
"Buffy?"
"Mom?" Buffy almost wailed in surprise.
The door opened, and Joyce came hesitantly in. "Buffy? Are you alright? Xander said you might need to talk."
Buffy sat up quickly and tried to wipe her tears away before her mother could see them.
"Buffy!" Joyce said, her voice shocked as she suddenly rushed in, "What happened?"
Damn.
Joyce was by her side in an instant, Dawn in her arm as she put her free one around Buffy. "What happened?"
Buffy shuddered, starting to speak, then Dawn gurgled in her grandmother's arm.
Buffy's eyes widened, for the first time seeing her daughter.
Her daughter.
"Dawn!" She sobbed, pulling the child from Joyce's arms and hugging her tight. "Oh God, Dawnie..."
Joyce paled, not understanding what was going on but somehow realizing that something fundamental in her life, in the lives of her family, had been irrevocably altered.
"Buffy? What's happening? Where's Xander? What's going on?"
Buffy shuddered, sobbing again as she rocked her daughter back and forth with a single minded desperation. "Damn them... Damn them all..."
Joyce, bewildered and terrified, put her arms around her daughter and granddaughter both. Then the three of them rocked slowly on the bed. One terrified, one enraged, and one utterly oblivious.
"Come on, Xan... what's the what?"
Xander kept walking, his face carefully controlled as he *stalked* to his destination. Riley jogged backwards a bit, holding up his hands. "Hey! Hey! Talk to me, man! What the hell is going on?"
"It's personal, Riley." Xander said.
"You're getting me to give you access to a top secret database that the Government doesn't even acknowledge exists!" Riley snapped, stopping and laying a hand on Xander's chest.
Xander came to a stop, turning his gaze on her friend. "Someone hurt my family, Riley. And someone else wants *my* daughter."
Riley's hand dropped. "Dawnie? Who... How?"
"I'll tell you when I know." Xander brushed past him, heading for where he knew a secret door was hidden.
Riley Finn sighed, shaking his head in defeat. "Alright, Xander."
He caught up with his friend and stepped past him to the access panel. He placed his hand in a recessed scanner, then put his eyes to the retinal scanner that appeared. "Finn, Riley. Agent in Charge, New Initiative."
"Access granted." The computer chirped, the door sliding open to reveal a rather modest office with a computer access terminal.
"Ok, Harris." Riley said resolutely. "It's all yours. You get caught... it's both our ass."
Xander nodded, sliding down behind the computer terminal and calling up the database search page.
Monks. Knights of Byzantium.
Search Global Database.
The first result took two seconds. It returned nothing, no data found in the local server. The next took almost a minute. Same results. The computer spent thirty minutes working, cross referencing the two key phrases that Xander was able to give it, until finally it hit a CIA record over thirty years old.
That report was written by an agent who had stumbled onto something he didn't understand, and agent who reported having watched a woman slaughter over fifty men in armor with her bare hands.
A woman named Glory.
Xander's eyes narrowed, and he started typing again.
"Sunnydale."
"Yes, your gloriousness..."
"God I hate the Hellmouth."