TITLE: Slayer's Knight AUTHOR: STEPHEN HOWE

TITLE: Slayer's Knight AUTHOR: STEPHEN HOWE

E-MAIL: sh01@bigpond.com.au

FEEDBACK: Sure.

DISTRIBUTION: Ask and ye shall receive!

DISCLAIMER: All characters belong to Joss! He created everything! Set in season 6.Some spoilers but mostly AU. Xander has discovered his destiny only to have it ripped away from him. Dawn is still here .Set just before the battle with Glory. SUMMER'S RESIDENCE. Xander and Giles were talking about whether Buffy and Dawn would come out of loosing Joyce unscathed. " They're both strong young women Xander I think they should be all right. As long as we give them room and support." Xander watched as Buffy hugged Dawn while willow talked to them both. " Love.. That's another thing they will both need Giles. One of the things that go through your mind is that there's no one left to love you anymore. No one to comfort and support you in your time of need." Xander looked at him. " Your sure Glory had nothing to do with her death? I mean it seems awfully suspicious that Joyce should just up and die when Buffy's close to the date..." Xander realizes he had said too much but the look on Giles's face meant he couldn't leave it hanging. Giles gripped Xander by the arm and forced him into the kitchen. " Just how do you know what day she'll battle Glory?" Xander sighed. " Giles I..." He made a decision. " Okay I'll tell you what I can. When Willow and I went to LA to tell Angel about Joyce we went to this Karaoke bar that Deadboy was supposed to be at called Caritas. The host wouldn't tell us anything till one of us sang." Xander blushed. " Well till I sang.. He told us where Angel was then pulled me to one side... The demon gripped Xander by his chin and moved Xander's face from side to side before he prodded and pried his body like he was a prize cow. Xander finally pushed his hands aside. " Hey bud I had enough of that working at the Fabulous Ladies... Never mind just what are you playing at?" " You're the ONE! " He eyed him critically. " Boy you need to really work out.. Fast. " He places a hand on his shoulder. " I sense you have all the skills you need inside you but you need to hone the martial side of these skills before May 22nd." "What's my birthday got to do with anything?" The demon cocks his head then mumbles, "You are the one for her." Before going on. " Nothing it's the day the Slayer will go against Glorificus and she will need you by her side ... What's your name again?" "Xander." The demon stares at him. " Please let that be short for something." Xander shakes his head. " Alexander L... Alexander Harris." He smiles. " Well now isn't that a coincidence. Alexander... Defender of Man. Well Xander you will have to train and train very hard if you want to live up to your namesake.. And your destiny." PRESENT DAY Giles fumed at him. " So you knew the day Buffy would have to face Glory yet you kept it to yourself?" Xander looked at his mentor. " What and have everyone give up like you did when the prophecy told you she would die? Hell no! I've spent the last six months training everyday and most of the night, and held down my job just so I could be ready. " He lent against the counter. " I was going to tell you tomorrow Giles and give you this." He held out a manila envelope. " The other thing I was told was that I would not be coming back from the battle. Something happens.. That's all he would say." Giles is shocked as he grips the envelope. " What? What happens? " He sees Xander will tell him no more. " What about the rest of us?" Xander slumps back against the counter and shrugs. " Everyone but me returns here. I guess Snyder was right I was born to be a sacrifice." Xander suddenly smiles. " But at least Buffy and the rest of you come through and that's fine by me." Giles stiffens. " Look Xander I know things have been hard for you since Anya.. Left." Xander cut him off. " She didn't leave me Giles she chose to go back to D'Hoffran when he caught her at a low time. She told me her ex boss appeared to her just after Joyce's funeral when she was beginning to doubt whether mortality was worth dying for and he offered her the Vengeance gig back. Of course she jumped at it.. Hell I would have too!" THE NEXT DAY. Dawn makes her way downstairs to find Buffy dressed up as if she were going on a date. " Getting in early or getting ready really early?" Buffy grins sarcastically at her. " No sis I'm going to go to the bank today and try to find out if he'll accept sex in exchange for money. Before you start I'm actually going to find out about starting to pay the mortgage payments again." Dawn finishes pouring milk on her cereals. " It's been six months Buff Mom's insurance would have paid it off surely." Buffy shook her head. " No I found out yesterday Mom cashed in her insurance to try and keep the Gallery afloat. At first I thought it was Dad secretly paying for the utilities and house repayments but after talking with him his new wife has every cent he earns tied up." Dawn grins for the first time in months. " Wow a real mystery! Maybe the Gallery's doing fine and it's paying all the bills. " She frowns. " No wait it closed down.... Maybe Giles knows?" She has another spoon full of breakfast then tells her. " I have to see him before school so I can put out a few feelers." Buffy sips her coffee then says." Just don't be to obvious Dawn. If it is him I don't want him to know we know." She places her cup down. " You know what he's like if it is him he'd just faint from embarrassment. " THE MAGIC BOX. Dawn sneaks in to try and see if she can over hear Giles saying something that would give them a hint but all she sees is Xander asleep on his couch. She tip toes over to surprise him when several letters catch her eye. All but one were addressed to Xander's flat but re directed to a post box. All except one that, after she turned it over, came from the same bank Buffy was going to this morning. She folded the letter and slipped it into her pocket before she left Giles's and raced home. She caught Buffy just as she was leaving and raced up to her. " BINGO!" She waived the open letter in front of Buffy before holding it behind her back. " I know who our Mystery sugar daddy is." Buffy is trying to get the letter from her as Dawn asks. " Before I tell you did you know Xander lost his apartment and, as we speak, is sleeping on Giles's couch?" Buffy stopped trying for the letter and exclaimed. " No way! He would have said something! Besides if he did lose it he's probably trying to get another one." Dawn holds the letter up. " Not likely sis! He'd be pushing it if he did..." Buffy is sat at the kitchen table as she re-reads the bank statement then compares something with one of the letters of demand from the bank. Dawn points it out to her again. " See each month the same amount is deducted from Xander's account and the amount and code is the same as Mom's mortgage." Dawn sits down at her side. " Then if you check back he also had the quarterly utilities and phone deducted from his account as well." " No wonder he lost his apartment!" Buffy looks at Dawn. " But why? Why would he do this?" Dawn shakes her head. " Buffy, Buffy, Buffy you poor young fool. It's one of two things either he still loves you enough to put him on Giles's couch while he pays for all this." Dawn looks surprised. " Ohh or maybe it's me he secretly loves and he's just waiting till I turn 18 to ask me out!" She begins to hyperventilate. " Oh god It's me I know it! He loves me. " She grins and begins to spin. " he finally loves me." Buffy shakes her head. " God spare me from puppy love...Next dumb idea?" She has to shake Dawn from her daydream." I said next dumb idea?" " Oh yeah maybe he's luring us into a false sense of security then BAM! We wake up in some sheiks harem!" She grins. " Mind you if he's the Sheik then..." Buffy is still reading the statement as she tells her. " If he even looks sideways at you he wont be in the mood for anything.. Ever!" Dawn stands up and walks over to the sink. " You're just jealous because he loves me and not you! Why I bet you haven't even thought about him that way." She sees the letter shake then Buffy turn bright red. Dawn is shocked. " OH MY GOD! You do! You do have those thoughts about him. EEW!!!" Dawn is shaking her hands. " My sister has the hots for my boyfriend!" END OF 1 Believe me it gets better!