"Sixty years," hissed Xander. "Sixty years, Bob!"

"I know, kid. I know."

"Do you? Do you really?"

Bob slowly looked towards him where they stood on a country bridge in England, leaning on the railing side-by-side. A mile away was an ancient cottage the immortal had owned for at least a century and had carefully kept. It was here that he had brought Xander after freeing him six months before during the two weeks the vampire had been unconscious. Since then, he had been fighting tooth and nail to bring back the man he'd known out of the almost insane creature he'd become.

"No," he replied after a moment, "I really don't. Just…" Bob ran a hand back through his hair, saying, "Christ, kid, stop it. You've made it this far – almost as far back to normal as you're probably going to get. Don't slide back."

Xander scowled, staring at the river beneath them.

"Why not?" he spat viciously. "I promised her that I'd be there. And I was so close…"

Shaking his head, he asked, "What did they want me for? I know you hacked into their system and took whatever the hell they had. And who were they?"

"Our military," replied Bob in a disgusted tone. "And, yes, I did take their files. Destroyed the bloody system too."

"What did they take me for, Bob?" demanded the vampire.

The immortal sighed heavily and nudged a stick on the edge of the bridge down into the water.

"They wanted to make an army."

Xander stared for a moment then snarled, shoving himself away from the railing. He spat, "An army! They wanted an army of vampires!"

"It would be a powerful force."

"And what when one of them turned out to be a Rogue? What the fuck would they do when the poor sap went mad and started killing them all?" He then laughed hoarsely, saying, "Ha, they'd do just what they've done already. Die a messy death."

Snorting, he ducked his head and leaned heavily against the railing, hands clasped behind his neck. Bob looked at him sadly for a moment then looked away towards the river.

"What do I do now, Bob?"

"I don't know, kid. But it's your life, your choice for whatever you do next. I suppose you just survive."

Xander sighed then muttered, "Dunno how well I'm going to do that." He scrubbed a hand across his face as he straightened, staring sullenly towards the sky. "I wasn't cut out to live forever."

"None of us really are," said Bob as he clapped a hand on his shoulder. "But we do what we must. You'll figure something out, don't worry."

"I hope so."

Bob smiled, saying, "C'mon, kid, let's go get some grub."

"Alright. But you're cooking," replied Xander as they headed back towards the cottage.

"Bugger."

---

"Alexander Harris?"

Xander, hunched over in a table in a neutral demon-run bar, looked up towards the person speaking to him. He'd sensed them coming in – the slimy presence of them unable to allow him to ignore them – and smelled the demon blood mixed with human as they stepped towards his table. Slowly he picked up his glass, sipping idly at the blood, then frowned expectantly at the person.

The half-demon coughed, looking suddenly nervous in his expensive suit then reached into his coat. Xander's hand blurred instantly and suddenly there was a Desert Eagle lying on the table.

"Careful," he growled.

"Just reaching for some papers, Mister Harris," said the half-demon with a cold smile. He continued reaching into his coat and did indeed pull out a folded stack of papers, unfolding them and setting them down on the table. "My employer's have a proposal for you."

"Who's your employer?"

"Wolfram and Hart."

Xander's eyes narrowed at that.

"No thanks," he said. "I prefer to keep away from lawyers. Particularly lawyers that help demons, vampires, and killers get off."

"You are a vampire, Mister Harris," pointed out the half-demon.

Xander smiled at that, fangs flashing.

"I'm well aware of that. But I don't kill people."

"You have. We have kept records of your…ahem, other half's killing sprees, Mister Harris. Very carefully in fact."

"Blackmail?" inquired the vampire, arching an eyebrow. He then laughed, adding, "You don't want to make an enemy of me, Mister Lawyer."

"And you," said the half-demon, "do not wish to make an enemy of us, Mister Harris. In fact…we could give you back everything you desire. Your family…"

Xander was on his feet and had the barrel of the gun pressed to his forehead in a blur. Around him the bar burst into motion and the owner, a half-demon like the lawyer but more likeable, exclaimed, "Oy, break it up!" She rushed over to the table then came screeching to a halt as she realized who was holding the gun and the sudden crimson color of his eyes. "Oh, Christ, Mister Harris, please put down the gun. The spells…"

"I know what the neutrality spells will do if I actually fire this gun," growled the vampire. "But I'm not intending on firing, now am I, Mister Lawyer? And you are very quickly going to take those papers and leave without another word."

The half-demon sighed and picked up the papers, sliding them back into his coat. He then gave Xander a chilly look, saying, "You are making a grave mistake, Mister Harris. Wolfram and Hart could…"

"Could bring back my family, I know. But I'm also well aware of what that might very well do to them and the world – I've considered that so many times and read everything on it I could find. I'm not about to bring them back with the chance of something going wrong."

He lowered the gun then and slammed his fist down on the table, cracking it in twain. Xander smiled coldly, eyes burning the color of old blood, and snarled, "And if you so dare raise them to hold against me or dare try to blackmail me, I will come at you so fast you won't know what hit you. Even after that you won't know what hit you. I will kill every single man, woman, demon, and vampire within your building and then I will bring it down on your corpses if you dare mess with my family. You understand that, Mister Lawyer?"

"We have a very clear understanding," replied the half-demon stiffly. He then smiled, stepping back, and said, "I'm very sorry you won't take our offer, Mister Harris. I had, ah, looked forward to working with you."

Xander smiled again, all fangs, and purred, "Well you'll just have to live with disappointment."

"It seems I shall. Farewell, Mister Harris."

The expensive suit smiled and left at that, the bar settling back down behind them. Even as the patrons settled, the owner looked closely at Xander.

"You okay?" she asked uneasily.

"No," growled the vampire in response. "I come in here to have one drink away from my mother hen keeper and I get that fucking moron." He then looked down and sighed heavily as he shoved the gun under his coat, the red fading from his eyes to leave them their odd mix of hazel and green again. "Sorry about the table, Reski."

"Tables can be replaced," said Reski, waving it off. Smiling, she added, "A good customer never can be. Shall I get you another drink? On the house, of course, since you got rid of that slime."

Xander smiled at that.

"I'll take the drink offer but I'll pay for it."

"You sure?"

"I know its hard enough to get blood as is," said Xander as they walked towards the bar, he taking a seat as she walked around to nudge the young man behind it out of the way with her hip. Reski nodded as she opened the small fridge behind the bar, pulling out a bottle with two fingers of one hand as she grasped a glass from the shelf behind her with the other. As she filled the glass and set it down in front of him, she admitted, "Anyone else would've taken me up on the offer no problem."

"I'm not most people," pointed out Xander as he picked up the glass.

"No, you're not."

Reski smiled and leaned on the bar, looking curiously at him. He blinked back at her and asked, "What?"

"You're just a strange creature," she replied. "Not like any of the other vampires in here."

"Well I'm not like any other vampire." Xander sipped the blood, absently wondering how he'd gotten to this point where he could just drink this so casually as if it were a Coke. And how long had it been…God, one hundred and fifty-three years. The last sixty of which had been a blur of rage in which his being had mixed with the Rogue's and they had only just barely come apart. It was far closer to the surface than he liked now but he truly could control it. They knew each other now – respected each other even, as much as they could.

"So I've noticed," said Reski with a smile. Then she frowned and added, "There are demons waiting for you outside with orders to kill you."

"I know, I sense them too," murmured Xander, remembering that Reski's demon half was a psychic type. "They came when the lawyer did. If they really knew anything about me, they'd know better than to try this."

Reski tilted her head to the side at that.

"Maybe it's a test."

"If I had accepted, I'd agree with you. Now it's just their attempt to try and either get rid of me or see just how far they can push me."

"How far will that be?" asked Reski.

Xander smiled and drained the last dregs in the glass, idly licking the edge of it before he set it back down on the bar. Then he leaned forward towards her and her eyes widened as she watched his eyes swirl, green flowing with hazel before scarlet flooded across both.

"Oh, I think they've pushed me far enough," he purred. "Keep your patrons inside for…oh, ten minutes. That should be enough time to deal with them."

"On your own?"

"I'll be fine," assured Xander. He gave her a rakish smile then was moving across the room, his form blurring and vanishing before he had reached the door. Reski blinked then rushed after him, already hearing the sounds of battle outside as she carefully pushed the door open to peer out. One of the demons – a big, heavily armored thing – crashed against the wall nearby as she looked around then she gasped as she followed its flight path and saw Xander. And she realized for the first time just how different from other vampires he really was.

She had seen vampires fight before – had even seen the Slayer once upon a time. Vampires were all power for the most part with Slayers almost the same but with some grace.

Xander, however, was something else entirely.

There was power behind every strike but each move was smooth and graceful with a savage undertone. He was a blur at times, only visible when he hit the ground or twisted in the air to deliver a shattering blow to a demon's face. It was…it was a beautiful and deadly dance that destroyed everything in its path and it took Reski's breath away.

"Wow," she murmured as the fight ended, the last demon's head sent careening away with an almost negligent backhand blow. Xander stood still amongst the carnage for a moment, the only sign of the battle the dark spatters at the edge of his long coat, then turned to smirk at the sky.

"I hope you enjoyed the show," he called out to the night. "Try it again and I'll come after you. I can smell you, lawyers. I'd suggest you move on and try your tactics on someone without a working brain." With that he walked back towards the door and smiled as he saw Reski. "Watching the show?"

"That was beautiful," she breathed, staring at him. "Just…amazing."

He looked a bit shocked at the compliment then flushed slightly as he said, "Thanks. I should be getting back before the mother hen comes after me. You take care, Reski."

"You too, Mister Harris."

"Xander," he said with a smile as he turned to walk away.

Reski smiled, leaning against the doorframe, as she watched his retreating back. Then she turned and pulled the door closed, heading back towards her patrons, and savoring the fact that she could call him by his name now.

It meant…oh, it meant so many things.