bXander Goes To Gotham/b
Reprimanding and Spying
Almadynis
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Giles gently set down the phone in its cradle as he stood in the Sunnydale High School Library, and turned to stare at his Slayer and her friends. He wondered where he had gone wrong in teaching her. How could she turn on her friend, when he had been doing what she could not? Giles' hands shook in his effort to not strangle the foolish girl, to talk calmly and rationally.
"Have any of you seen Xander?"
Buffy, Willow, and Oz, looked up from where some had been actually researching and others had been painting their nails. Willow did seem to look rightly ashamed, Oz wrapping an arm around her to comfort. Buffy however seemed angry. "I kicked him out weeks ago, Giles. We told you that! He lied to me!"
"You told me that he had left, you didn't tell me why. That was Xander on the phone. So, let me see if I understand this correctly. You physically attack one of your staunchest supporters for lying to his friend to save the world when she herself would not have in fact fight her hardest had she known that there was a chance her lover could be re-ensouled. Thereby said friend managed to prevent the death of the girl, and the end of the world. The only wrong done was that the girl was stupid enough to think that an entire four quarts of blood to close a portal instead of what would amount to a paper cut. In the process sending a completely innocent soul to a hell dimension. Is that correct?" Throughout this entire tirade, Giles kept his tone even, but his Ripper was making itself known and the two girls seemed to shrink back in their seats. Buffy especially, who looked ready to both run, cry, and scream in denial all at once.
"Uhhh…yes?"
"Ah. In that case, you will find yourself in need of a Watcher at the end of Graduation. I will be joining my son in Gotham." After all, he knew Xander like the back of his hand, since the boy had begun spending the nights with him when his biological father was in one of his moods, and later for no other reason than, 'I don't want to stay home, would you mind?' Several times, Xander had unconsciously called him 'dad' and it had warmed his heart every time. It was time for his Slayer to fly on her own.
Giles ignored the erupting screams and tears, going back to his books. Trying to find a way to kill a two hundred foot snake that was twenty feet in circumference.
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Bruce Wayne listened again to the tape made of the phone call between one Dr. Rupert Giles formerly of The British Museum, now Sunnydale High School Librarian and knew that he wasn't hearing all of the nuances of the call. Not for the first time, he wondered if the woman that had helped him nine years prior was in fact the woman that had called him two weeks ago.
It was entirely possible that she had learned what a moneybags Bruce Wayne had inherited and was sending her son to collect, but the boy didn't seem to be interested in the money. Hell, he had been hesitant to ask to call a long distance number. He would start worrying about gold-digging when Xander asked to borrow the jet. What he needed to worry about was the double-talk.
On a sheet of paper, Bruce started a list of words, and some possible alternate meanings to them. Barbeque-forks…and Bruce stopped. Other than that one word, all the rest seemed to have their own meaning. It was the relationship between the two men that gave the words something that they shouldn't have had. So the only way he would understand the conversation was to study and get to know Alexander LaVelle Harris.
He would have to socialize as Bruce.
Damn.
Bruce sighed and looked at the cameras that were situated overlooking Xander's room and raised an eyebrow. "Alfred? Come look at this. I want to know what you think."
His friend and only confidant came to his side and peered at the camera. "Master Bruce, you are looking at a home-sick child trying to get comfort in the only thing that remains steady in his new surroundings. It does happen occasionally, Sir."
Bruce rolled his eyes at his friend, but he did understand Xander's predicament. The only thing that remained true to him were the stars. The fact that the bed was probably much more luxurious than he was used to probably didn't help. Or the Egyptian cotton sheets.
Bruce sighed and added another possibility to his list. Xander could be exactly what he appeared. A seventeen year old boy that was running from an abusive home.
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