Xander Harris sat in the library trying to make sense of the book in front of him, which was in Latin and therefore about as hard for him to comprehend as his math's text books. Actually that was a lie, he had a problem with maths, it was a tested fact, whereas his language skills were quite reasonable if he knew the language. Given the distinctly iffy nature of his Latin, therefore, the work was slow going. Read a passage, refer to Wheelock's Latin for a bit he didn't get, read a passage, double check the college Latin text of choice, etc.
When the door opened at first he didn't even notice Giles go to deal with it, and then the two men in suits came to talk to him and asked him some questions and it was a blur after that. Finding out you are an orphan, and a suspect in the death of your parents, is often like that.
"No detective Stein, Xander was with me all night." Faith had explained. And indeed he had been, it was the reason that made him a suspect. They had been patrolling together, well doing a sweep of the area between The Bronze and his home, and his father had met him at the door with a half full bottle of Bourbon. The fight with his parents had gotten totally out of control right there on the front step, waking the neighbors when a thrown bottle broke their window.
"So you're telling me you have no idea who set the fire?" The cop asked.
"Might have been them, they were plastered and drunks do stupid things like that." And she was speaking from experience, given her parents. "I mean is it the first time you have had a complaint about them?"
The dark haired boy was in no fit state to notice the nuances of the interrogation, even if he could have heard it. He did notice Willow and Giles were there with him, and the funny looks the group was getting from some of the cops. Exactly how much the local police knew about vampires, demons, etc. had been a source of precisely zero soul searching among the slayerettes, it just never came up. They never seemed to take any part in dealing with it, and except for suspecting Buffy of murder that one time were not harassing them either. Not even to pull over and question them when they were seen walking in a group with crossbows, swords, battle-axes, and other medieval weapons in plain sight.
They were never questioned about it. Which, if you pondered it, should have been ringing alarm bells in their heads. As they now were in the surviving Sunnydale Harris, since connecting the dots that other people didn't even see was his prime skill and it distracted him from other things. The library was ten deep in books on demonology, witchcraft and similar subjects, and no one in authority ever asked WHY? The self-same library had enough feudal armament to re-fight the 100 years war, and no one in authority ever questioned it. The librarian spent many hours a day teaching one of his students the ninety nine best ways to kill someone, with or without weapons, and no-one in authority even looked at him funny for it.
"Xander are you ok?" Willow asked, and then felt embarrassed at the question. He was a homeless orphan and as suspect in their death and she asks 'are you ok?'
"Why?" Was his eventual response, having stopped looking at the floor and begun staring intensely into Giles eyes.
"Xander, we will never know why these things happen, tragedies of this nature are…" The watcher was cut off by the boy.
"Why have the cops been systematically covering up for us?" The boy asked. "The guard on duty got a good, close look at my face when I stole that anti-tank rocket we killed the judge with, and there were hundreds of witnesses in the mall who saw Buffy fire it. The place was packed, we are 'known troublemakers', are you telling me that a connection was never made?"
"Xander, don't you think that we should be dealing with your troubles here and now rather than distracting ourselves with this?" The Englishman said, because it seemed to him that the boy was just trying to distract himself. "And perhaps you should keep your voice down while speaking of this?"
"Gman, we are going to be questioned so that there is the right paper trail saying the matter was investigated properly, and then they are going to let us go." The poor student was sounding totally confident and decisive now, not his usual self at all. "There were three detectives and a uniform close enough to hear me admit to stealing a JAVELIN LIGHT ANTI TANK WEAPON FROM THE SUNNYDALE ARMORY, and none of them even blinked when I mentioned it. I could have shot my parents in the middle of the street in broad daylight and I'd still be released."
The bit about exactly what he had stolen and from where had been spoken loudly enough to be clearly audible to Faith, who was just being led out of the interview room at the time. Given that this was on the opposite side of a room full of detectives she had cringed, noticed Stein miss a step, and then how everyone was aggressively not noticing Xander and his admission. Clearly it had been audible to Stein too, and nothing was happening.
Xander was cleaning his shotgun, a Franchi SPAS-12, after a rough nights slaying while Faith took her shower. It had been an eventful couple of weeks, all up. He was formally under Giles guardianship, a legal process that should have been slow and bureaucratic but, surprise surprise, was over before they left the police station that day. Then came the 'where will he stay?' argument, followed by the 'why do I get special treatment when we leave Faith out in that motel room?' argument, followed by the Bostonian moving in here with the Summers and him officially into Giles's place.
Officially, because the amount of latitude Joyce was willing to give the people who were helping to keep her little girl alive was amazing. Or not so amazing, really, given the circumstances. After all, if letting Faith and Xander use her house as their love nest made them happy it also made them more productive, and hence able to take more of the load off Buffy. Finding out that the male in question had saved her daughters life repeatedly at the risk of his own was the decisive factor, ultimately.
Faith, of course, insisted she was not in love with Xander, or his girlfriend. She also insisted it was just that he was a useful partner in slaying, willing to take orders and competent at anything once allowed some proper training, and 'the best hump I've had since Boston'. She walked out of the shower drying herself, smiling as he finished his task and undressed.
"And B turned ya down big boy?" She said with the same smile she usually had when the thought hit her. She made sure the Italian firearm was secure in the new guncase when she added. "That girl has NO appreciation for fine beef."
The orphan smiled as he left the room, wearing only his towel, to go down the hall for the shower. It was a routine comment, and not a secret one, she made it often enough in both Joyce and Buffy's presence, after all. The slayer's mother had not disagreed, hoping someone like him might take Buffy away from Angel, who she distrusted and disliked.
As he entered the bathroom he noticed Buffy standing in the doorway, watching him. The elder slayer was looking thoughtful, which was unusual for her, and he turned to face her.
"Bufficus Maximus, how are you on this wonderful night?"
"Wondering about something." She replied. "Well two something's, one thing and another thing."
"Willing to answer questions if asked, might not be useful answers but they will be entertaining."
"Ok, one, how did you know the shotgun would work?" A question asked with a puzzled look. "Well I didn't, but I figured if it didn't no harm done since you were all there to handle it." Was the response, followed by "But I figured that blowing the heads off amounted to cutting the head off, since it wasn't attached, and even if it didn't dust them not having a head would make biting people a bit hard."
"Two, has anyone told you that you and Faith remind them of Mulder and Scully?" This said with more of a smile.
"I remind you of a guilt stricken FBI agent who believes aliens kidnapped his sister? Buffy, I don't have a sister." Xander was genuinely puzzled by the comparison.
"No, the two of you are such opposites, and yet your strengths and weaknesses are so different that each has what the other lacks." Which was the most intellectual comment he had ever heard from her. "Oh, and you look to outsiders like you are a couple, but insist you're not."
"Ok." He turned back towards the bathroom door before asking "Oh, how do you feel about Willow being bisexual, given that you do gym together and use the showers at the same time and all?"
Buffy was staring at him.
"Ok, so, you remember Vamp Willow?"
A nod of the head from the slayer.
"You remember how afterwards Willow said she was 'kinda gay'?"
A nod of the head from the slayer.
"You remember saying that that didn't mean Willow was, vamps don't inherit that from the human?'
A nod of the head from the slayer.
"You remember Angel started to disagree and you shut him up?"
A nod of the head from the slayer.
"Well, Willow's my friend, and she acts jealous of you and how close you are to Faith, and if the girls showers are like the boys showers there's no privacy at all."
"You think she's, ah, after me?" Was a squeak from the slayer. Which was exactly why Xander was raising the subject now, he had been afraid this would happen.
"Not with Oz around no, but things happen, and if she makes a move I need you to know what you'll do." He said, looking directly into her eyes. When he spoke again it was with the smooth precision of a machine gun turret coming to bare on target. "See, some people freak when someone gay comes on to them, and feelings get hurt. People have used it as a defense in murder trials, actually."
Buffy just nodded, it hadn't occurred to her that this was happening, she had put the whole 'kinda gay' comment out of her mind immediately. Which was hardly unusual for her of course. But clearly the dark haired man in front of her had put a lot of thought into this, and been waiting for the right time to speak.
"And frankly I don't care if you say yes, no, or maybe, but I do care about Will's feelings, and if you call her a dyke or hit her or something just keep in mind I walk behind you with a loaded shotgun."
The bottle blonde slayer was still standing there when the he stepped into the bathroom and the shower started running. Her mother, who had also heard the conversation was also thoughtful. Buffy and that red haired girl? Well it would be an improvement over dating the undead, she supposed.
Buffy was wondering if her red haired friend was watching her as she showered, if it turned her on, and why she couldn't decide how she felt about it. There was a strange mix of feelings. Who to talk to about this? She was still standing there thinking about it when the man who had started her thinking finished his shower and went back to Faith's bedroom. She got to sleep eventually.
The sound of fighting started Faith and Xander running towards it automatically. As he ran he held his shotgun across his chest, with Faith moving steadily ahead of him, she was a slayer after all. Then he saw her falling back towards him, actually she was just slowing down as she surveyed the scene.
"Buffy, Willow and Oz are on the left, B is fighting and the other two with crossbows." She explained the situation; they had been working together long enough for a division of labor to get worked out. "There's another group of vamps moving in from the right, you handle them and I'll help B."
"Ambush the reinforcements and fall back to Willow and Oz's position." Xander responded, back into soldier guy mode, and not sure if it was recent studdy, possession memories or too many old war movies.
"Check." Was the dark slayer's response, the repeating of instructions and wait for confirmation thing being something the dark haired boy had taught her over the last weeks. She was running at full speed towards the main fight, leaving Xander to pick an appropriate ambush position.
Just exactly what was the ideal ambush position against vampires was still a bit uncertain. He knew they could smell people, and see better in the dark, but was having the breeze coming from them to you enough to protect you from being smelled? It worked for lions on the nature specials so he assumed it would work for him. Testing with Angel was the best he had, and it was probably making him excessively cautious, Angel was a master vampire, older and more experienced than most he would face here. Still, better safe than sorry.
"Hey B, nice night for a slay, huh?" The Bostonian shouted as she approached the fight, to make sure they didn't just see someone running in and assume it was a vamp and shoot at her. As it was she was risking a 'friendly fire' incident with red, given how the witch resented her.
"Oh, I don't know Faith, I like to slay when it's cooler, you know, early spring slayage is really the best, or maybe late autumn." Replied the blonde.
The booming of a twelve gauge interrupted them for a while and they dusted the remaining vampires. When the shooting stopped Faith moved to where she ought to be able to see Xander moving towards them, and spent an anxious few seconds until he appeared. It occurred to her that she should have stayed with him until they were sure eight rounds was enough, that being the weapons capacity. Reloading would take longer then it would for a vamp to run up and kill him, after all. 'Next time', she thought, next time.'
The group moved on as soon as Xander had reloaded. There were no more contacts that night, and the group dropped off Willow and Oz before Faith, Buffy and Xander went home to Casa Summers. The did not hear the phone conversation between the witch and werewolf, she always called to see he got home all right.
"You know Xander never actually denied setting the fire that killed his parents." Oz stated, expressing the thought that had been with him for some time. Not a concern, exactly, but a thought.
"Well no, but hey, we don't know for a fact he did it and, wow what about that maths test today, was that third question in the second part on quadratics a toughie or what?" Was his girlfriend's response.
Phone calls to someone who spoke as little as Oz were normally interesting or boring, depending on whether he had something profound to say or not. If he didn't the conversation tended to be very one way. As in this case, if he did have something to say it could be disturbing. And as a lifelong Sunnydale resident, Willow was already deeply disturbed.
Angel's Mansion, the next day after school
"Angel, I need to know something." Buffy said.
"Anything specific?" Because there were an awful lot of things she needed to know that she didn't. He loved her but wondered how she survived occasionally.
"About vamp Willow and the 'kinda gay' thing." She didn't quite know where to head from here.
"Yes Buffy, it does mean that Willow herself must be bisexual. And yes, I do think she has a crush on you, but I don't think she realizes that herself." He looked at her for a second, at the way her expression changed, and asked "What brings this up now?"
"Xander brought it up a while ago, it was before Deputy Mayor Finch defected, actually he said he wanted me to know what I'll do. That's what he said 'know what you'll do'. That and mentioning the lack of privacy in the girls showers "
Frankly the souled vampire was surprised that the annoyance in the Hawaiian shirts had that much sense. Then he admitted to himself that was unfair, Xander was annoying partly because he had seen the potential danger Angel posed even when he hadn't himself.
"And you don't know how you feel about Willow being turned on watching you shower." It was a statement in a calm voice, a calm he did not really feel. He loved Buffy and wanted her for himself, knowing that now he could never have her. Being made to face this didn't help. "And you don't know how you feel about NOT being angry or revolted by it, that you might be 'kinda gay' yourself."
"WHAT! Me, I'm not gay, I like guys and only guys, I mean…" A clearly upset slayer.
"Buffy, you've had gym since then, haven't you."
"Yes."
"Have you taken any precautions against being seen naked by Willow, because after all it's like you are showering with Xander." Best to shake her out of her mindset now, Harris was right about that, he was annoyed to admit to himself.
"No I haven't, I mean…" She hadn't thought about it that way, though she realized he was right. Splitting the showers up into male and female assumed a heterosexual world, it assumed members of the same sex had no interest in each other. Being in the showers with Willow WAS like sharing the showers with Xander, and she knew how she would respond if he seriously suggested that.
"Buffy, this is a hard thing for me to admit but I agree with Xander. Oz may be out of the picture one day and then you and Willow would make a cute couple. You need to work out if you want to give it a try, because Willow returned my soul to me and I owe her more for that than I can ever repay."
The blonde slayer had a lot to think about on her way to the library that afternoon.
Buffy had made a point of getting paired up with Faith for patrol that night, or at least sharing the patrol as a group so she could talk with the younger slayer. She had always gotten the impression that the dark haired girl would have experience with girls, so she seemed the obvious one to talk to about this. Who else was there? Cordelia? Giles? Oz? Wesley? She could hardly talk to Willow about it without knowing how she felt about the whole 'Willow wants Buffy' issue.
"So B, red wants to munch your rug huh?" The dark slayer asked cheerfully.
"Everyone seems to think so." She admitted. The younger Summers would never have phrased it that way, but she had asked Faith a question about sex, being angry because she got a Faith answer would be hypocritical.
"And ya can't just ask her 'cause she'd say 'ME, I never, I mean maybe a little, I mean Oz, yes, there's Oz, and I mean, the fluke with Xander, and oh god you think I'm a pervert' followed by persuading her family to move her to a boarding school in Maine."
"Pretty much." Was the blonde's response, thankfully cut off by the Xander kneecapping a feyoral demon that came at them from behind. Actually the demon wasn't even threatening them, it had been running towards a nearby road. There were gunshots now, and yelling, and the group was moving towards the action when Faith stopped them.
"Let me and Xander do a recon B, otherwise we'll end up with bullet riddled slayer." And with that the pair headed off at an angle to the line of travel of the demon. There was a crypt there that gave a good view of the area, the orphan had mentioned it before. Since hooking up with Faith involved dealing with Mrs. Summers a lot, he had actually had some parenting, which included motherly advice on possible careers and developing his talents.
"You do realise that you actually have a subject you're getting A+ for regularly, don't you?" Joyce pointed out one day. The tv was on in the background, a story about Mayor Wilkins being arrested by the FBI as a result of testimony from Deputy Mayor Finch.
"Shop class yeah, but I can never get the stuff bright people get, like Willow." Who was his standard of what a good student ought to be, for obvious reasons. He was appalling at all those subjects, giving him a self image as a total accademic loser.
"Xander, it means you have a solid career waiting for you, if you start working at it now. You also seem to see problems and their solutions where even Mr Giles does not, which is a leadership and management skill, though I would suggest you start small." Was the elder Summers response, leading to a stunned silence as the boy stared at her goggle eyed. No Harris had a career, solid, soft, or otherwise. "For instance, there are a lot of little things that need doing around here, and at the gallery, not to mention friends of mine, and I would rather pay you to do it than a stranger."
Hence his part time handyman business, his correspondence course in small business management, and, a growing collection of US Army Field Manuals he had acquired and devoured. That was his own idea, to develop his tactial thinking. He had picked up on the importance of remembering 'tactically advantageous terrain' in the process. Terrain like the crypt.
The top of the crypt gave a clear view over the local shrubbery to the road and surroundings, where a police car had apparently pulled someone over and the vamps had seen it as the dinner bell ringing. It would be over soon, amazing it had lasted long enough for them to even notice.
"Faith bring up the Scoobs and I'll set up a crossfire from here."
"Here, not straight to the fight." Because bullets don't have eyes, and whatever ammunition the two patrol officers still had were flying in that direction. Buffy being Buffy she resented and fought taking orders, but guns made her nervous enough to actually listen occasionally
"Check."
Now in command mode, Xander was all business as he raised the weapon to his shoulder and aimed at the knees of the nearest target. At long range, well, long range for a shotgun, he probably wouldn't have enough pellets on target to blow the head off, so chopping its legs out was the next best choice.
BOOM, one went down and a cop look in his direction, BOOM, another went down and they got the hint, started shooting at the knees instead of the chest as they had been trained. He felt, rather than heard, Buffy leap onto the crypt and kill a vamp sneaking up on him from behind.
"Thanks Buffy."
"Don't mention it."
BOOM, another went down. It was another night on the hellmouth.
"Willow, I, ah, I have something to ask, ah, tell, well, ask and tell you really." Buffy Summers said with uncharacteristic shyness. They were in her bedroom, with Joyce, Faith and Xander carefully not in the house. If it went badly they were a phone call away at Angel's old mansion, if it went well they had his permission to stay overnight.
"Is it about what Xander and Angel talked to me about?" The red head asked in a serious voice. And that had been the most startling thing that had happened to her in a long time.
"Ah, well, yeah." The slayer responded as her friend stepped closer, still with an unreadable expression on her face. Buffy had been assured that the other girl had 'responded positively.'
"They told me that vamp Willow's behaviour means I'm bisexual." One more step towards her, a few words, then another, a few words. Buffy was looking at her like a terrified mouse watching a snake approach. "Xander said he mentioned it to you weeks ago. And now you want to tell me something."
A pause. A step closer.
"What do you want to tell me than? Is it to do with why you've been turning to face me while showering after gym for the same few weeks?" The red head asked as she took a few more steps, she was within a few steps of the slayer now. Still the unreadable expression on the tiny Jewish witch's face.
"I have been?" She hadn't noticed any such change in her behaviour herself.
"Oh yes, full frontal nudity, shaved pussy and all, and the way you shampoo your hair keeps your hands out of the way so its all on display." Still the unreadable expression.
"Oh, ah, did you like, ah are you upset, ah…"
"I have only one way to respond to your ASSUMPTION that I want you. All the assumptions on the part of all my so called friends." The non-slayer said in a now very stern voice.
"Oh." Was all the elder slayer could say.
Then the substitute computer teacher moved suddenly, hooking her foot behind the blonde's leg and pushing her, so that she fell on the bed behind her. Buffy felt everything suddenly move too fast, as her jumper, t-shirt and bra were all ripped up over her head in one movement, trapping her hands as the other girl plunged down and started running her tongue around her nipples.
"Oh, ah, but what about Oz?" Buffy finally managed to force out, in a massive display of concentration while distracted.
"Next time." Willow was still sitting on top of the other girl, leaning forward to lick, suckle and nip on the others breasts while holding down the clothing wrapped hands. The slayer was trying to form the next question, and finally came out with something.
"Oh, oh, that's good, oh, oh, yes, more, oh yes, oh…"
Sunnydale High School, the Monday morning
Rupert Giles was one of the last people in the school to notice the enormous smiles on Willow and Buffy's faces that morning. They also looked tired, relaxed and dishevelled, the overall effect created a clear 'we spent last night having SENSATIONAL sex' look. Oz was sandwiched between the two, having met them on their way in the entrance that morning. While his expression was exactly the same as always, his total lack of objection to the way Buffy, on his right, had her hand in his left rear pants pocket, while Willow, on the other side had the right hand one, indicated to most people that he was less than devastated by the situation.
"So B, ya had a good night or what?" Faith asked with a smile. She herself had, as usual since hooking up with Xander, had wonderful night. The couple had slayed several vampires and a couple of demons, before returning to the mansion.
They slept in the vampire's special bedroom actually, the one with mirrors on the roof and walls, a larger than king size four-poster bed, red silk sheets… The souled vampire had had it fitted out during his brief Angelus period the previous year, or rather Drusilla had. Angelus had her and several other female vampires in his 'family', and every family needs a playroom, doesn't it?
Angel himself was now in a less elaborate bedroom in another wing, given he would never be able to use such a bedroom again, ever. The thought of all that effort for a kinky love nest, and him never being able to make use of it, must have been another torment for the vampire. At least Xander hoped so, as he made love to his woman. Revenge is sweet.
"Faith, what do you think of Detective Simmons?" Xander asked, as he walked over to the bar fridge in his towel. Sex with Faith was a full workout all by itself, so he always wound up showering afterward. Often with her, leading to more sweaty shower requiring activity, etc.
"I think you're being ambitious xman."
"Ambitious?"
"A threesome with Simmons? Ok, I mean yeah she's cute in a playmate of the year sort of way but she's straight, I'm fairly certain of it." The dark slayer said thoughtfully. "I mean yeah, alright, she had great tits for an athlete, actually won the state full contact Shotokan title last year, and there's the whole 'take charge and move out' personality, plus the way she smiles gives me a high for hours and…ok Xand, you talked me into it."
"I meant asking her about how the 'Xander Harris, evil mass murderer' investigation is going." He responded.
"As opposed to a good velocity murderer, I suppose?"
"Huh."
"Physics joke, evil mass murderer, why not a good velocity murderer?" She looked at him, and stated. "I've been spending too much time with red, haven't I?"
"Possibly." The two had been trying to iron out their differences, and Faith coming right out and explaining she was not competition for Buffy romantically had helped. It had caused some denial, but still they were working together, which was a big change.
"Why do you care, you're the one who said they would cover it all up?"
"Faith, why are they covering it up? Is it just that the Mayor wanted us to keep the way clear for his ascension? Are they just letting us handle the non-human bad guys in town, I mean there are actually normal, everyday human criminals in Sunnydale you know?"
"There are?"
"Well they don't work at night, obviously, but yeah there are some." The dark haired male responded. "Oh, and about Simmons, I like the way you're thinking."
"You do realize you're the only one here who doesn't put SPD's behaviour down to simple incompetence, don't ya?"
"Faith, I know I'm paranoid, but am I paranoid ENOUGH?"
"And have you noticed none of your so called friends have had the guts to come out and ask you if you murdered your parents?"
"Hey, to believe I could get away with murder you'd have to believe I'm more than just a loveable goofball who's only fit to fetch doughnuts." Was his response. "And hey, no one would ever believe that, would they? " "Glad to know your not bitter or anything Xand." Said the woman who actually knew if he was guilty or not.
"Me? Never." He smiled. "I love you Faith."
"Love you too Xander."