Release

Author: Anime Ronin <anime_ronin[at]hotmail.com>

Rating: PG 13 (for swearing)

Summary: Xander's been keeping a secret for over a year and with the release of Angelus, that secret will be exposed.

Disclaimer: I don't own BTVS or any of its characters – some could argue that we truly own nothing, but rather that the Governments of the world own it all and we are merely leasing it.

AN: this has been on my computer for a while, and I figured I'd give it a try. Enjoy – reading or criticizing, it's up to you.


Chapter 1

Even as he positioned himself into the flight path of Joyce, whom had just been back-handed by Angelus when she attacked him, he could feel it rising to the surface of his mind, like a submarine that had just preformed an emergency blow (all ballast tanks blow out water and they shoot to the surface); it was something that had been present for over a year and he'd sometimes had trouble keeping in check, but even as Joyce slammed into him and he did his best to cushion her fall, he let out a slight snarl of anger.

"Ah, and the White Knight comes through with the save again. How touching," Angelus sneered as Buffy did her best to fight off several vampires, noticing that Willow, Oz, Giles and Cordy were doing their best to shield Dawn from the carnage. "It's kind of sad, really; here is the one person who actually wanted to dust me for my past crimes and would have done it in a heartbeat, but he was prevented because of his love for someone who will never love him back." The Master Vampire struck a tragic pose, "Oh, how truly … pathetic."

"Keep talking, Captain Forehead," Xander felt himself snarling even more as he checked Joyce over for injuries. "If you hurt Joyce more than it looks like, nobody will keep me from ripping you apart."

"Oh, really? Not even your precious Buffy?"

"If she gets in my way, I'll just have to kill her too." Everyone, even Angelus, looked at him as the promise of violence and possible death colored each and every word he spoke, even as Joyce whimpered in pain. "Cracked jaw, maybe a few loose teeth and a concussion; looks like you're dust, Angelus." Even as he felt his own consciousness slip away and another take its place, he gave for a viscous smile, "I told you I'd be there when you died, asshole, and I do keep my promises." That said, he gave forth a snarl of pure fury and then began to cackle – They Hyena was back and he was hungry.

*****

Angelus may have loved to play head games with The Slayer and her friends, but he wasn't stupid; he knew that Xander Harris would rip him apart, soul or no soul, if given the opportunity, and it appeared that he intended to do just that as he surged forwards and struck out with an inhumanly fast right that connected hard enough to make Angelus stumble back and see stars, all the while he was still cackling.

"You stupid fuck, did you really thing the kid would keep me caged forever?" The voice was that of Xander Harris, but it held a dark edge that made Angelus want to shiver, if he were able to, "For over a year he's kept me pinned up and just swore he'd never let me out, but then you give him a reason to by harming the Alpha Female of his Pack." Angelus struggled to regain control of his facilities and even as he did he felt a sharp punch to his gut followed up by another to his jaw, making it shatter even as it did.

"Don't kill him, Xander! Please!" Even through the pain and the broken jaw, Angelus sneered – Buffy wouldn't allow the boy to kill him.

"Go fuck yourself, Slayer. He's already dead." Even as the words were spoken, Angelus felt a sharp kick to his ribs that lifted him off the ground several inches and then another kick that sent him flying into a wall almost ten feet away.

Even with his demonic healing, Angelus knew that it would take more time than he probably had to heal enough to make any kind of a fight back to the one human who would ever be able to make the claim he kicked Angelus' ass; that thought firmly in mind, he reached into his jacket and removed his secret weapon – a .38 snub-nosed revolver – and fired six times at point-blank range.

*****

Even as the bullets hit home and both Buffy and Willow screamed, Hyena Xander smiled; the kid had planned on the vampire to pull a stunt like that and had worn a bullet-proof vest for such a reason, proving that he'd made a good choice in choosing an Alpha for the Pack nearly a year ago. The kid was as ruthless as they came when he needed to be, and was good at letting people see what he wanted them to see – all things that were necessary in a good Alpha, but what made him a great Alpha was his willingness to kill those within his own Pack who dared challenge his leadership.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Was that supposed to hurt?" Alpha ripped open the kids shirt to reveal the vest, smiling and trying not to giggle insanely, "The kid ain't stupid, vampire, and neither am I." Reaching into the back-draw holster the kid wore, he removed the M9 the kid had filled with blessed hollow points and emptied the 15 + 1 magazine into the vampire.

For a second there was no sound, but then Angelus screeched in agony and dropped to the ground even as the gun dropped to the ground and a stake was removed; Alpha could feel the kid in the back of his mind doing a fair impersonation of his own cackle and grinned ferally, knowing that anyone he killed after that point was gravy. "The kid and I will see ya in hell, Angelus; save us a seat like the good bitch you are."

Even as Slutty screamed, "NO," he slammed the stake into the heart of the fallen vampire; he watched as the vampire slowly crumbled into dust and then let out a howl of pure elation even as the true mind of Alexander Harris came back to the forefront – the kid had promised him to be let out on occasion and the kid always kept his word.

*****

Rupert Giles could only watch in mute fascination as Xander Harris, Class Clown and originator of the 'Scooby Gang', calmly reloaded the pistol he had dropped less than a minute earlier and then slid it back into the concealed holster he wore before removing the bullet-proof vest that had saved his life. The boy never seemed to be rarely anything more than an annoyance to Rupert, but in actuality he had the sneaking suspicion that the true Alexander Harris was not the one he showed to the general public.

"How could you?" The whispered words came from The Slayer, Buffy Summers, and were laden with pain even as Xander picked up the moaning form of Joyce Summers, her mother.

"Simply, Elizabeth. I do the jobs that you and the others can't; it's who I am and what I do." The young man's voice was even and even as he started to walk away, it never changed. "Don't do anything stupid like attacking me, Elizabeth; I would not like having to explain to your mother how and why I had to kill you."

No, Giles came to the conclusion even as the young man exited the building, there was more to Alexander Harris than anyone had ever believed.

The End