Disclaimer : All characters belong to Joss Whedon and ME. I acquire no profits at all from this. The only thing I do own here is the story though. Honest : )

Rating : Mostly PG but I'm putting an R on this just to be safe.

Author's notes :  I have a flu and this was what came out of it. This is a result of sickness and a twisted little idea I had when I was a little out of it. The only thing I've decided on is that this is Xander's story. This is completely AU where Xander is the one who stands guard over Sunnydale , leading the Scoobies' charge against evil. Buffy isn't going to feature much in this fic. She's hardly in this at all. She does make an appearance here though so don't you worry too much okay ? Faith will take much more of a prominent role here. A pal of mine wants this to be F/X and since it's her birthday I'll probably comply. : )  Hiya *A !!! Happy 19 girl !!!

Feedback : yes please …?

Dedication :  To Lori Bush and Shawn (Ozmandayus ) for inspiring me to write , to Lesley for making me smile , to Wicked Ray whose stories simply kick ass and to all Xander fans as well. Last but not least to my birthday girl *A , aka Audrey, I love ya baby . Say hi to your mom for me : )

I hereby dedicate this all to you guys out there : )

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HELLMOUTH : Welcome to Sunnydale  … by Zauriel Angelus

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prologue -

 Another day , another death it seemed but this wasn't just another ordinary town … And if you haven't already figured out it's Sunnydale I'm talking about here then I'm gonna seriously start to question why you're reading this in the first place , not that I'm insulting you of course. It's just that it's too obvious really. Sorry if I sound a lil snotty but I have a flu and it's bugging the hell out of me plus when I'm sick, I'm usually very grumpy. ( It shows in my work too) Also note that I'm bored which is also another reason why I wrote this in the first place. 

Anyway since I'm the author here , I'll get back to the story now …  so picture an alley , dark and damp , smelly too. The sky is darkening and you can actually see the vague outline of the moon in the sky. Move your vision to the dirty ground and Voila !!!

Disgusting dead body.

Three people are standing over the same corpse. Oh , Guess who …?

" She looks kinda familiar."

The petite redhead was whispering in a rather conspiratory (sp?) tone which to say the least bothered the Englishman in her company a bit, seeing as there was no real reason to actually take that tone.

" Um …Willow, why are we whispering ?" Giles asked offhandedly as he crouched over to examine the deceased and took something out from under his long brown coat.

" I have no idea." Willow replied sheepishly.

" Well , we can pretty much rule out a normal cause of death just by looking at her. Do you know the girl ? I can't seem to stop wondering if I ever saw her from somewhere before."

 She was a young one , just barely seventeen and he was just thinking whether or not he'd seen her once before enter his domain – the high school library, for which he was solely in charge of.

" Can't say I actually know her and can I just ask you this ? How much time does it usually take before vomiting becomes a habit ?"

Giles stopped in mid-thought to actually consider his reaction and reply to that.

" I completely understand why you would bring that up now. She's the third one this week." Giles sighed and shook his head. " What a mess…"

The body was decomposing more rapidly than normal right before their eyes. Blonde hair was turning to white. There was blood dripping out of her eyes and speaking of which , those same eyes which were vaguely green once, they were both drying out in their sockets and the skin was peeling off rather disgusting as well. The stench of rotting meat was also getting stronger.

" I feel sick." Another voice piped out.

" Well Xan, you did just puke a minute ago."

Willow smiled at her childhood friend , offering him a tissue to wipe off the bit of nasty vomit from the corner of his chin.

" Thanks Will , that's the last time I eat cocoa puffs before patrol." Xander smiled weakly, accepting Willow's small gesture with absolute gratitude. " You seem cold, here wanna wear my jacket ?"

The dark-haired young man quickly slipped his black duster off, quickly wrapping it over Willow's shoulders  before she could say a word of reply.

" Thank you."    

" No prob." Xander grinned and shrugged. There was also another reason for taking off his favourite duster. He actually welcomed feeling cold at this moment in time. He felt that it made him less emotional and that in his opinion was good to be in situations like this.

" Xander , would you care to take a closer look ?" Giles asked, poking the corpse around with something sharp and pointy as he did.

" Uh-uh." Xander shook his head firmly in the negative , taking two more steps back. " I'm more than fine over here with this view."

" I was just asking Willow if she seen her before. Do you recognize her ? It might help us greatly in identifying our monster if you do."

" I don't know her G-man but I think I do recognize her. I also recognize recent vamp dust around here."  Xander observed.

" You can spot vampire ash laying around ?" Willow's eyes widened " When did that happen ?"

" Giles taught me how to spot their dust patterns a week ago." He proudly stated. " On topic , our monster probably doesn't like vampires either and if this is any indication …," he pointed out various spots of possible dusting. "… we're going to need the serious backup your council promised."

" I seriously doubt their promise will hold and need I remind you again Xander that I no longer have much association with that group anymore ? It's fairly obvious I don't like them isn't it ? Those blithering idiots can't do anything right. You give them the ingredients to make a perfect cup of tea and they'll make a bucket of bloody piss out of it."

" You're still sore about being fired ? It's been two whole years Rupert." Willow patted him softly on the back. " You're better off without them."

" What's with your mood Giles ? You're more tense than usual. You feeling ok ?"

" I do suppose you're right Xander. I seem to be a bit … off. "

" Don't sweat it Giles , we've defended Sunnydale without their help quite effectively. We can manage. The Scooby gang has managed this long so far. We'll hold."

" Yeah !!! Sing it Xander !" Willow agreed.

Giles stood up, sighed deeply and took off his glasses.

" I admire your confidence in our abilities Xander. I want to believe that myself but I'm not too sure. I've staked vampires and killed the occasional demon in my prime without so much as a sweat … but this is the hellmouth. If my calculations are right it's warming up and God alone knows what will happen when it blows. I doubt even we can handle that heightened level of supernatural activity in our midst. If we fail in our tasks , the end of the world will sweep over and all of our efforts will be for naught. If Armageddon comes by knocking the entire earth won't survive, much less Sunnydale. " 

The dark haired youth took on a more serious tone of voice, grim determination written clear on his face.

" This is my town Giles. I won't let anything like that happen. Ever. You know better than anyone. The future's not written in stone." 

To that Giles genuinely smiled. " I suppose not."

" You were saying something earlier about your old colleague maybe bringing us help too. What are the chances of that ?" Willow interjected while going over the scene to look for clues.

" Merrick …? As good a man as he is, much of his sanity left him long ago. After the death of his niece he became too obsessed with finding a potential. His offer of how he could actually help was also very vague. There's more chance of the council's unlikely help coming by than his."

" A potential what ?" Xander asked, perking up at the subject with interest.

" A potential vampire slayer. One chosen in all the world to be blessed with the strength and skill to fight the vampires , the demons and the forces of darkness. It is often said that the fate of the world would rest on his shoulders."

" Why can't we have one of those here ?" Willow asked.

" The slayer's practically a legend these days. The potential line died out centuries ago and whatever small knowledge the council had regarding the slayer has been lost along with him."  

" Hey ! The hellmouth was a legend !!! No one knew it existed either till you came along. It's back in action now. Maybe the slayer will be too." Xander pointed out.

" I seriously doubt that Xander but it is possible. Willow, help me take some samples over by those pipes. There are a few things I need to confirm." The librarian walked over to a pile of torn newspapers. We're missing something here. What is it ?

" Does that mean I'm patrolling alone again tonight ?" Xander frowned.

" If you're sure you're up to it." Giles answered without looking up at him as he combed carefully through the dump to look for clues.

" My back is kinda sore after that last clusterfuck at the bronze but I'm otherwise okay. Can you guys handle the research ?"

" I do hope so." Giles muttered. " We need answers fast if we need to stop whatever that did this to her. As for your patrol , if you do encounter our 'serial killer' , do not be too quick to engage…"

" Discretion is the better part of valor." Willow cheerfully finished for him right before her eyes drifted to a small chunk of wood lying close by.

" I get it. So the plan is to run when I meet this guy ?" Xander considered it for a moment. " That makes sense."

" So back to the girl , you said you recognized her."  Giles continued

" Yeah , it's sad. She's new I think.  She just arrived only two days ago. I heard she moved here from LA with her family. Cordelia said something about her name being Buffy … or something. It might've been Bunny Summers. I'm not sure."

" I've heard that name before."

" Hey guys  …" Willow's voice interrupted , holding up a sharpened stake for both them to see.

"… Look at what I found ."

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End Prologue-

End notes: Yeah … yeah , so I killed Buffy. I'm evil that way (hee) Did anyone see that twist coming though ? I'm mostly playing by ear with this one. No planned plots or whatever. The only thing I can actually be sure of is that Faith will come to town soon and something bad will happen. (hee) Anyway if you have any ideas or comments to help me with this , gimme a yell. I'd even welcome a co-writer on this. It seems to have lots of potential already and I don't want to see that wasted.

So gimme some feedback people and tell me what you want me to do and maybe just maybe , I'll do it : )

FEEDBACK !!!!!!!!!!!!

Till next time I remain …………

Ps : Ugh … I think I'm still a bit drowsy