Summary: Just after Graduation Xander finds some new information out. Follow him on his journey of discovery.
Note: the beginning is similar to another story I have. Also I do not own any media or recognizable characters.
Two months had passed since graduation. A month since every spell on him finally broke. To say his time outside of Sunnydale opened his eyes to the truths of the world would vastly understate the lessons he had learned.
Sure he knew that people were not inherently good, even with a soul, a big argument that he held against Angel. However, he had not been prepared for some of the darker aspects of the human psych. He also had a crash course in the darker side of society, demon and otherwise. Whistler had thankfully given him some reference material before sending him off into the world. Still, he found himself constantly trying to process and adapt to some of the information he had garnered during his travels. Then he learned of the Hunters and the 'other' demons. Lots of fun there. The hardest lesson by far had been coming to terms with the truth that Willow had used magic against him without his knowledge or permission.
The girl he had known since kindergarten. One of his first and two months ago he'd have said truest friends. Apparently he had underestimated the addiction of magic.
After a full week of recovery, a painful process that he did not ever wish to repeat, he had called Giles warning him of the issue. The man had promised to look into it and Whistler had popped in telling him that it would receive the proper attention. Only then did he relax some.
He had yet to forgive her though, and as such had not contacted her or even Buffy. He kept in touch with Giles every other week, but he didn't want to give the girls any chance to talk him into going home. After what Whistler had told him would happen, he knew he could never return no matter what his heart wanted because he would always put the world first. He'd done it often enough.
The balance demon had offered him some choices. He could live a basic 'ordinary' life. He doubted seriously he could get behind that. Follow in the footsteps of the Watchers, document and learn about the supernatural. Not really his bag. Or he could train with and become a Hunter. They tended to have too narrow of views for him though. However the last choice held the best possibilities.
He liked the idea of traveling around and if he ran into evil he'd handle it. However, if there were peaceful demons that needed his help, he would give it to them in return. He'd seen the darkness of humans too many times to think that demons were always the ones causing the problems.
First thing he had to do was get Whistler to create fake ids for him. Which wasn't too hard since his mom had forged his age on his papers for years. Everyone thought he was eighteen, a newly fledged adult. In reality he'd only just turned sixteen a month before graduation. It'd probably surprise a lot of people to know such.
Then again when he thought about it there was a lot that people, his 'friends' included, didn't know about him.
Like his intelligence. Many thought he skated by in school by the edge of his teeth. Not true. Granted he had a C average, but that was in advanced classes that he took with Willow. Most kids couldn't even keep up with those classes and he did so despite all the patrolling and monthly big bads. He also helped a lot in researching. He may not know every language fluently but more often than not he found the reference needed and set it out for Giles or Buffy. Sure he acted like he didn't like research, but after years of keeping his head down due to Tony 'Beat-the kid' Harris, it was a hard habit to break.
He'd learned very early in life to hide his true self. It kept him in one piece more often than not.
Like the fact he kept his knowledge of the supernatural hidden. Oh he'd known about the darkness before Buffy came to town. But he knew to not speak of it because being different or having knowledge tended to get one killed. He'd always had a weird sort of perception that allowed him to recognize those that weren't fully human. When he spent as many nights outside thanks to Tony as he had as a kid he got to know who to avoid. Still, knowing and admitting were two very different things. He didn't want to bring more attention to himself, even with his crush on Buffy at the time.
None of his friends even knew that Tony wasn't his real father. Oh Jesse had known, but the secret had died with him. Willow had not become privy to the information and he saw no point to tell anyone else. At one time he thought it would make a difference, it had even given him some hope. Now though it was just a name on a piece of paper, probably the only accurate document on him.
For all he knew John Winchester could be as bad or worse than Tony Harris. Quite frankly he didn't think he wanted to find out.
Rubbing a tired hand over his face he took a sip of his coke, eyes scanning the small bar he now sat in. Normally he strayed from such places, worried about the bar keep calling the cops on him for being underage, but there wasn't another restaurant for miles and his last ride had dropped him off here.
Since his vehicle had died, the engine dropping out spectacularly somewhere near Oxnard, he had hitch hiked from town to town. Sometimes he took odd jobs to earn some cash, others he was busy with the supernatural. More often than not he ended up walking and camping. Who knew all those nights of surviving the Hellmouth would come in handy?
Still he had put as much distance between himself and Sunnydale as possible, which is how he ended up in North Dakota at the Roadhouse.
When he'd first walked in he silently thanked the powers that he'd gotten rid of all his eyesore shirts and kept to jeans and flannel. Because the patrons of this bar looked rather rough. A precursory scan pointed out several weapons and signs that hinted the men and women inside were either dangerous criminals or Hunters. The soldier leaned towards Hunters, and Xander agreed.
He wondered if it would be bad form to look up Ethan Rayne and thank him for his Halloween prank junior year. Without the soldier in his mind Xander likely would have had an even harder time of it than he had. Of course the Hyena helped too, even if she did give him unnatural urges to hunt at the most random times.
He had sidled up to the bar like he belonged, a trick the soldier had taught him. The owner was a middle-aged female that looked like she could definitely take care of herself. Her eyes clearly told him to not try any bullshit with her, but since he wasn't ordering anything alcoholic he figured he'd be fine. Sure enough she had seemed surprised by his order of a coke and sandwich but she also gave him a smile, so he considered it a win.
He didn't speak to anyone, as he knew he really didn't belong. Instead he watched the TV reporting the news, more specifically the weather. He would need to know for when he started for the next town since he doubted he wanted to get a ride from anyone here.
He kept an eye and ear on his surroundings, another habit from soldier boy. It helped him learn the names of those around him. The bar lady was Ellen and the guy with the mullet was Ash. A few others echoed but he didn't bother to commit them to memory. While networking usually helped in hunting, he doubted anyone would take him seriously. One of the things that sucked about being a kid still.
He'd been there for about an hour when Ellen popped out, yelling to Ash to watch the bar. Xander had considered leaving shortly after that but something in his gut said he needed to stay.
The feeling grew as the minutes passed. Ash had been on the phone and he seemed rather agitated but he didn't put too much stock into that. However as time dragged on he noted that only hunters seemed to remain in the building and that could not be good.
Sure enough the feeling proved right as the doors and windows all slammed shut, locking by an unseen force. He'd learned about these types of powers belonging to the Judeo-Christian demons and it never ended well.
The others started to panic, banging against the walls and glass, trying to break out using chairs and tables, but nothing worked. Xander grabbed Ash by the arm.
"Is there a cellar? Or a storage closet?"
"What? Yeah a closet but…" The man seemed confused.
"Gather everyone in there," Xander ordered, pulling his bag to grab the items he needed.
Shouts caught his attention alerting him to the flames working to engulf the building. Not bothering to wait for Ash he yelled out.
"Everyone to the storage closet now!" He started herding them in with Ash. Once inside he started to draw on the door and the walls, floor and ceiling.
"What the hell are you doing," one man yelled.
"You just trapped us," another growled.
"No, I'm saving our lives. Now shut up!" Xander took a breath and concentrated, Latin flowing off his tongue clearly. The hunters watched in surprise as the symbols glowed brightly, a shield like substance reaching out and around them until all the symbols connected. They could see fire licking at the wood of the storage closet but no heat or smoke reached them.
"I'll be damned," one whispered hoarsely.
"How are you doing that," Ash breathed, one finger poking at the shield, moving away quickly from the small shock he felt.
Xander shuddered slightly, trying to keep the power flowing. "Spell." He muttered distractedly. "Should fool whatever into thinking we're burning inside the place."
Looks were exchanged but Xander didn't notice. He just hoped he could keep this up.
