Title: Half Way Home

Author: Pulpgeek

E-mail: pulpgeek@hotmail.com

Rating: Say PG-14 same as the show

Disclaimer: The characters do not belong to me. They belong to Joss Whedon and some suits. If they belonged to me there would a whole not be all this Buffy torture going on.

Category: Not going to say but I tend to be a B/X fan so take from that what you will.

-Half-Way Home-

An hour tell closing and my higher brain functions have already taken the night off. The two giggling witches in the corner should have been enough of a clue but it was when I caught myself flirting with customers I knew the boy was headed for a breakdown. The aforementioned witches aside the Magic Box does not attract flirt-worthy types. Time for Xander to take drastic sanity restoring measures.

With no shoppers keeping me pinned behind the counter I ambled over to watch Willow and Tara pretend to study. Willow may still be something of a geek but no one finds calculus to be that entertaining.

"So, Tara, ready to give up your witch loving ways and run off to my castle in the sky? Or at least my apartment down the street?"

Tara blushed. Tara is always blushing. I'd probably stop teasing her is she wasn't so darn cute when she gets embarrassed. Her cheeks get all red and she makes these little noises. Willow had a big cheshire cat grin. It's all part of our cunning plan to flirt with Tara until she realizes she's gorgeous. Willow's determined to drag her out of that shell so I've been recruited to help. Not that I resisted much.

"Come on beautiful' I said, falling to one knee "What can she offer that I can't, aside from intelligence, good looks and decent job prospects?"

That warranted a smile so I congratulated myself on a successful round of flirting.

"I'd love to Xander but I think your girlfriend would kill us. Alas, we can never be."

That brought me to my feet. "Willow! Tara made a comeback! She's one of us now."

Willow and I both hugged an increasingly red Tara. "One of us. One of us."

Tragically, from a humor perspective anyway, Willow just had to explain in detail.

"See, there is this old black and white movie and it has this dinner sequence where all the freaks welcome a new member and they all chant one of us, one of us' and well maybe that was a dumb reference and now I sound like an even bigger geek than usual" Willow looked up at me. "Go away Xander, your making me revert to my non-cool pre-witch self."

I couldn't help but laugh at Willows fake pout. Teasing would probably have continued but the door chime signaled the arrival of my other two other favorite girls.

"Dawnster" I called out as the teenager bounded her way towards me. "How fare the Summers women this fine evening?" Yep. I'm in rare form tonight. I was about to get an earful of the troubling and angst ridden life of a high-school student when her older sister and slayer of my heart interrupted.

"I was hoping to get in an early patrol and get some quality sleep time. If I'm not bright-eyed and perky for tomorrow's exams this whole semester is going to be a wash. You guys mind keeping an eye on the munchkin for me?"

Dawn didn't even have time to protest the munchkin crack before I grabbed my coat.

"Willow and Tara can close up and mind Dawn. I'll patrol with you."

"I don't know Xander, two witches in charge of a magic shop. That way lies all kinds of badness. Not to mention missing spell ingredients."

Her best innocent face firmly in place Willow shoved us out the door. "Go on, Dawn will be fine and we promise not to destroy more that half the store."

A normal patrol for us was a lot more than just looking for vampires to stake. We talk, flirt, and occasionally much junk food. Plus the whole vampire slaying part. Can't forget about that. Tonight though I was with the Slayer, not my girlfriend. A little hand holding but that was about it. Things have been that way a lot recently. Pressure. Lot's of it. With her mom dead she has to take care of Dawn. Earn a living. College. Save the world on occasion. With all this going on who wouldn't be distant and moody?

Tonight is looking to be worse than usual. We are heading towards a part of the cemetery she normally avoids. For understandable reasons. We took the long route, checked out all the recent graves but in the end we ended up right where I thought we would. At her mom's grave.

It's well taken care of, fresh flowers and everything. She comes here a lot. Sometimes with Dawn or one of us, mostly by herself. Sometimes I wonder if she is ever going to truly recover. I've found her here more times than I care to think about. Just standing listlessly trying not to cry. She hates that, crying in public. Always has. I like to think I've seen more sides of her than anyone else and in the past six years I have only seen her cry twice.

Tonight made three. I held her lightly and did my best impression of a rock. Stable, quiet, dependable. That's me, rock boy. When she gets like this it is best to just shut up and let her deal.

"Why do you think she took me in? Of all the kids who needed homes why the hell did she adopt a stupid, angry bitch like me?"

That hit me like a body blow. Self-loathing had been part of her make-up for so long. I thought we had dealt with it. Moved on. So I'm wrong. Again. What a shock.

"Faith."

She doesn't say anything. Just keeps staring at her mother's grave as if she expects the grave marking to confirm her worst fears. That she wasn't the daughter her mother had wanted.

"Faith." Stronger this time. I turn her around, looking right into her beautiful tear-stained eyes. "Your mom was a very smart women. She saw how special you are, even when you didn't see it yourself. She loved you, never once did she do anything to show a single second of regret."

That earned me a hug. One with enough Slayer strength behind it to crush the breath out of me. I just pulled her closer and stroked her hair. That normally helped.

"She'd be so proud of you Faith. Dawn, school, slaying, your handling more than any one person should and doing a damn good job of it to. Your taste in boyfriends isn't bad ether."

I didn't see her smile, not with her head buried in my chest but I could feel it. One of those rare, sweet smiles that light up her face. She is so beautiful like that, it kills me that happiness is so hard for her to come by.

"Enough of this young lady. You have a busy day tomorrow so it's home to bed for you."

"To bed? Why Mr. Harris, are you trying to take advantage of me?" Even in the moonlight the wicked look on her face sent shivers down my spine, among other body parts.

"Not with the Dawn monster loose. Can't shatter her tender young mind with our crazy antics." It had been far to long since we had been alone as a couple. Hectic schedules and a nosey little sister did not contribute to serious romance.

Faith sighed in agreement. We settled on a kiss. A slayer-level kiss mind you. Faith kissage could kill a lesser mortal. I just lost feeling in my legs. One of the lesser known but still vital slayer powers.

When people talk about great kisses they usually remember the taste, or how their lover smelled. Whenever I kiss Faith those parts of my brain are long gone. All I know is the smooth velvet of her lips and the burning heat that comes from them. That and that when the kiss ends I always ache like some part of me was ripped away.

..

After dropping Faith off at her house, with a rather chase goodnight kiss due to an underage viewer, I head back to my apartment. It was supposed to be for the two of us, but when her mom got sick Faith moved back home. It is far too big for just me but to get a new place would be like giving up on her coming back. That is never going to happen. Never.

That sounded melodramatic. Still, some of my best memories are in this place. It was the first apartment I had after leaving my parent's basement. The mornings I woke up with Faith snuggled up beside me were among the happiest days of my life. I want them back so bad I could cry. For now I'm just worn out. Work, school, patrol and what remains of my love life leave precious little time for sleep. Glorious, wonderful sleep.

I throw my jacket on the couch and head for the bedroom. Just crashing sounds like quite the plan right now. I am about to leap headlong into oblivion when my sleep starved excuse for a brain notices something out of place.

Waiter, there is a blonde in my bed.

A cute blonde. A naked cute blonde. Curled up like a child in the center of my bed, sleeping the rest of the just. Wow. Poetry. Bad sign. She is small, frail looking and quite a bit beyond cute now that I think about it. Gorgeous actually, tangles of golden hair form the perfect frame for an angel's face. Stop. Where the hell did that come from? I don't even like blondes. Brunettes, one particular slightly crazy brunette.

Thinking of Faith drags me back to reality. This is the room where I would spend hours just watching her sleep. All the tension and anger drained from her, the gentle innocence she always hides out in the open. She is the one who should be sleeping here, notwhoever this is.

The girl springs to life before my hand even reaches her shoulder.

"Xander?" She is wide awake, her eyes clear and sharp.

The familiarity in her voice drives away any response.

"Why am I naked?" The tone is accusing but her expression is the one Willow used to get when she thought I was trying to get one over on her. She is using a sheet to cover herself and the beginnings of a blush are spreading over her cheeks. My traitorous heart twists the knife just a little.

"Xander, stop ogling and say something."

"I am not ogling."

"You are so ogling my butt."

Banter flowing easily. Danger.

"One more time, where are my clothes and how did I end up in your bed?"

The confusion in her voice is real. Her body is not the only naked thing on display, raw emotion stands out on her lovely face. This is not a joke and she doesn't look crazy. In this town that leaves one major suspect. Your pal and mine, the Hellmouth.

"I'm sorry but I have no idea how you got here. What's the last thing you remember?"

"Glory. I was fighting her and there was this gate and Dawn was going to kill herself so I jumped and.how come I'm not dead. I should be six feet under but I'm alive and naked."

I maybe understood half of what she said, but I heard enough. Glory. I don't think I'll ever forget her. What she almost did. The way she beat Faith almost to death. Probably would have if Will hadn't used a spell to paralyze her. The blood on the ritual knife as it fell from my hands. Faith holding Dawn. We came so close to losing her.

The girl is crying now, confusion turning to despair. Almost as a reflex I reach out for her. Strong arms pull me in close. Far stronger then such a slight girl should be. Familiar strength.

Oh god.

I pull back slightly so I can see her eyes.

"Who are you?"

The words might just has well have been a fist.

"Xander? Pleaseyou know me." A pleading whisper.

"You're a Slayer."

Light returns to her eyes. "The Slayer. One girl in all the world bla bla great destiny yada yada kill the vampires ect. Buffy Summers, chosen one. That's me."

Funny, she doesn't look like a Buffy, that's a name for one of Cordy's old crowd. A cheerleader. A prom queen. Some silly little thing. This girl is none of those. I can feel the strength in her. The courage. Like Faith.

Buffy Summers.

Summers.

Crap.

This isn't happening. Even on a Hellmouth this isn't happening.

I think I need to call Willow. Now.