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"You ready for this?" Gibbs asked his junior.

"Ready as I'm going to be," Tony sighed.

"Welcome to Glenville High School. I'm Melanie Black, and I'm the principal here," the woman introduced herself.

"Good afternoon, Ms Black. I'm Anthony DiNozzo, and this is my colleague Jethro Gibbs. We made an appointment to discuss enrolments."

"Ah, yes. You have a child changing schools mid-year, I take it."

Tony sighed. He really, really, really hated this part. "Okay. Here's the deal. We each have a child in California, they've been friends since, what – kindergarten?" When Gibbs nodded, he went on. "We are each getting custody, Gibbs of his daughter, and me of my half-brother, and we want them to continue to be able to go to school together. So. We would like to be able to enrol both of them into your school, Xander first, and then Willow, when she gets out here."

"Uh huh. I hesitate to ask, but we do have some more conservative people active in our PTA: will you be an open couple in the school?"

Tony blushed, while Gibbs snickered. "We're not a couple, Ms Black," Gibbs smirked. "We really and truly are colleagues, nothing more. Apart from it being against organisational policy to have a relationship with your subordinate, it's against my rules to become involved with a co-worker. Which I expect you to remember with Kate," he added to Tony.

"Yes, Boss," Tony replied, still squirming. He'd known this would happen. Two men turning up together to enrol children.

"So you won't be an open couple, then?" she asked hopefully.

"We won't be a couple. Period. Besides, I prefer redheads."

"Okay, then. Well, let's begin the enrolment for... who was it?"


"Feel better, now, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked, still smirking.

"No, Boss, not really. I knew that was going to happen. I know it was best to go in together to arrange both their enrolments at the same time, and make sure that they both got in, and made sure they could stay together, but, man I hated that!"

"Packed for the weekend?"

"Yes, Boss, I'm all packed and ready for my headache inducing red-eye flight across the country. And I've even managed to get Xander's room set up. You know, between the job and the school interview where the principal thought we were a couple," he added crossly.

"Good."

"Think I'm going to have to move, though."

"Yeah? Why?"

"Do you really thing anyone's going to enjoy Xander and me living in that apartment? I mean, it's fine for one, maybe two adults sharing a room, but damn if it isn't going to be tight. And I just know he's going to be one of those types that just bounce all over the place. And the books, and the homework, and oh God, am I going to have to find places for swords and stuff?"

"So you're thinking what? House in the suburbs?"

"Something big enough so that I can still have people over, and Xander has room to move. Near enough to you that the two of them can still see each other like they're used to."

"That's a pretty big move," Gibbs warned.

Tony stared off into the distance for a few minutes. "I think we've finally found some family that we can be proud of," he said thoughtfully. "It's nice."

"And in a year or so he'll be off to college."

"Which could be here. There are plenty of great colleges around here, for both of them."

"They have to grow up someday, DiNozzo."

"I know. But a house is a great investment, anyway."

"Yeah," Gibbs agreed, smiling. "Yeah, it is."


Tony grabbed his bag out of the car, and slung it over his shoulder. He was regretting all this travel, and would love to just crawl into a bed and stay there for a week. Except he was picking up his brother, and that was honestly more important than sleep. He and Gibbs had to check into the hotel, catch a few hours sleep (thank God for twenty-four hour check-ins) and then head around to Giles' place to pick Xander up. After that, it off to the Harris house to talk to Tony Harris, and pick up any other stuff that Xander wanted to keep, before crashing at the hotel, and flying home Sunday. Monday, they had uniforms to buy, class schedules to arrange, and other fun stuff. Hopefully everything would be sorted by the end of the week.

Catnap managed, they arrived at Giles' place. Tony leaned against the door frame as Gibbs knocked. He had barely finished knocking when the door was flung open, and Xander was there, bouncing. "You're here."

Tony scowled at him. "Let me guess: someone let you have sugar for breakfast?"

Xander laughed. "I'm just excited. Is it wrong to be excited? I'm leaving my home and my friends, and Giles. Is that wrong? I kind of think it's wrong, and I'm really going to miss everybody. I think I'm even going to miss Cordy, which is weird, but it's kind of like I know what she's going to say, and we really get to have a flow sometimes, but then we kissed at Buffy's place, and again at school, which was really of the weird, but I'm leaving now, and I don't have to think about Cordy kissage any more, which is of the good."

Tony stared at his brother. "Xander, if you do not shut up, I am going to have to strangle you, which would be unfortunate as Gibbs would then have to arrest me. Got it?"

"Self-defence, DiNozzo. You'd get away with it," Gibbs assured him as he walked into the house.

"Really," Tony asked as he followed Gibbs. "You think that would fly?"

"Oh, certainly," Giles decided. "Between the word of a federal officer, and a school faculty member, I think you could get away with it."

"You're just saying that because I've been up since six," Xander grinned.

"God help me, you're right," Giles moaned.

"So you're excited about leaving?" Gibbs asked, grinning.

"Oh, no. It's Saturday, you see. No school, which is always of the good," Xander explained, winking.

Tony glared, then cuffed Xander on the back of the head.

The effect was startling. Xander straightened, and scowled at his brother. The happy teen of moments ago was gone, and someone darker had replaced him. He turned to more fully face his Tony, braced, as if for a fight. "Don't do that again," he growled.

Gibbs watched the boy with surprise. That was something he hadn't expected, but perhaps explained why Harris had stopped the beatings. He turned to Tony, and cuffed him. "Idiot," he muttered.

"Sorry, Boss. And, uh, sorry, Xander."

Xander looked at Gibbs for a moment, then relaxed and grinned. "That's okay. Over now." With that, he walked to the kitchen to get a drink.

"Boss?" Tony asked. "What just happened?"

Gibbs looked at Giles. "Yeah, Giles, what was that?"

He sighed. "Xander has these … little ways. The girls don't know," he added.

"Is there a problem?"

"You've been told there's problems with gangs?" When both men nodded, he continued. "Xander is very protective. He would give anything to protect his girls from anything bad, and that includes himself. He has something of an edge which comes, I dare say, partly from growing up with that Harris man, and partly from dealing with the, er, bullies and, uh, gangs around town. He plays the fool so that the girls don't see his, er, hard side, and worry."

"So the happy kid bit is just an act?"

"Yes and no. He does love being around the girls, but... It's just another part of him. One that doesn't see the light of day very often, and only when pushed. I don't think he'll take very kindly to that kind of discipline, Agent DiNozzo."

"Yeah," Tony agreed. "I would hate to be decked by my little brother."

Gibbs and Giles smirked in agreement.


Gibbs watched as Xander got out of the car when they arrived at the Harris residence. The boy made a quick check of the surroundings and of his companions before moving out, and even the way he moved reminded Gibbs of Marines he had fought alongside. The boy was much closer to the way he was after Tony's head-slap than the smiling mask he portrayed. Thinking back, he had also seen something like this the first time they met, when he stood to meet two strange men invading his territory, covering his friend, and then again when the principal had walked in. No, Gibbs was pretty sure this wasn't just a response to 'er, gangs and, uh, bullies.' The boy was far too disciplined. And the librarian was far too hesitant on certain words and phrases. There was a pattern there, if only he could figure it out. But for now he had Tony Harris to deal with.

Xander had led the men to the house, and checked the door. He didn't seem too surprised that it was unlocked, but just opened it, and stepped through. He quickly scanned the room, and stepped aside to allow the men to enter. Turning to the men, he said, "I'm going up to check my room. He's on the couch."

Gibbs nodded to Xander, then turned to Tony. "Get a bucket of water." He was going to have to walk a fine line. He very much wanted to beat the crap out of the man for the way he'd treated the boy, but that would cause more problems than it solved. More than anything, Xander needed to be out of here and far away. He did not need any legal entanglements from an abusive bastard like the lump laying on the couch.

When Tony returned with the water, Gibbs nodded, and he dumped the very full bucket over Harris' head. Tony Harris started upright, then overbalanced onto the floor. As soon as he could, he reared unsteadily upright, cursing at whoever had had the temerity to wake him, let alone in such a way. He spotted Gibbs, standing beside the couch, and swung at him. Not at all unhappy to do so, Gibbs easily blocked the punch, and returned with a textbook right cross, knocking Harris back to the floor. The second time the drunkard made it to his feet, he was a little more wary, and stayed back away from the stranger who stood in front of him.

"Who the hell are you, and what are you doing in my home," he bellowed.

Gibbs quickly flashed his ID as he introduced himself. "Special Agent Gibbs and Special Agent DiNozzo, NCIS. I'm thinking of having you charged with assault of a federal officer – a nice, heavy charge," he smirked.

"Oh, no, you don't. You're trespassing. I never said you could come in here, and I was just defending myself. You got no cause to arrest me," Harris taunted.

"Really? 'Cause I was invited into the house by a resident, and was just standing there when you tried to hit me. I was the one forced to defend myself. And I'm not the one about to face charges of child abuse," he added.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"We can subpoena the hospital records for your son, Alexander Harris. That, and his testimony, is all we need to prove our case of child abuse."

Harris sneered. "You'll never get that little punk to say a word, and hospital records can disappear. You got nothing on me."

"Really?" Tony asked, starting to get really mad. "'Cause we've already go the records. And if you were so sure he wouldn't talk, why did you stop hitting him last year?"

Harris stared at Tony, startled, then recovered. "That boy won't say a word, if he knows what's best for him. Town like this, no one wants to live on the streets."

"Alexander already has a place to stay while he's in Sunnydale," Gibbs reassured Harris. "The same place he's stayed for the last how many days?" he asked Tony.

"Three nights, I believe."

"Hmm," Gibbs mused. "Your son has been absent from your house for three days. Have you filed a police report yet?"

"What do you mean?"

"You son has been effectively missing for three days. Have you filed a missing persons report?"

"He's not missing. Lazy bastard's sleeping in."

"As a matter of fact," Tony retorted, "he was up at six this morning. Or so we found out when we picked him up from the safe house. Although," he added, looking at Gibbs, "he was right about one thing. Alexander is a bastard. Proudly so," he informed Harris.

"You bastard," Harris roared. "You take that back. I married that slut good and proper."

"Doesn't mean you're my father," Xander taunted from the stairs.

"That fucking slut," Harris shouted, rounding the couch and heading for the stairs.

Xander met Harris with a hand to the other man's throat. Rather than trying to choke him, Xander dug his fingers and thumb into the tender spots under the jaw and dragged his face close. "I told you last year," Xander growled. "You don't touch me, or her, ever." He tossed Harris back, and the man stumbled to the floor, stunned. "Tony," he said calmly, "I believe you have some paperwork for him." With that, Xander turned and jogged back up the stairs.

Tony stared at the stairs for a moment, before making his way to the kitchen table. Clearing a space, he laid out the paperwork to renounce any claim of custody. Strictly speaking, it wasn't necessary as Harris had no blood relationship. But Tony was only a half-brother, and they wanted to make things as smooth as possible for the transfer of custody.

It was nearly an hour before Xander was ready to leave. He had roused his mother and gotten her to pack. He had managed to convince her to go to her sister's place, using the trump card of Harris' fury at finding out Xander was someone else's child. Xander refused to leave until his mother had signed her more important round of paperwork and driven off. He had even stood guard at the bottom of the stairs while she packed so that Harris couldn't go up to give her a farewell gift. He warned her that he had expended his generosity with her. In seventeen years, she had neglected him thoroughly, occasionally remembering to get take-out or get clothes for him. Part of him felt that he should love his mother, but he just couldn't make himself care. He had gotten her out of the house, and sent her on her way. That was all he could manage.

Having stowed the duffles in the boot, they went to get in the car. First, though, Gibbs slapped the back of Xander's head. Xander turned and scowled, but Tony was surprised to see that it was less of a reaction than he'd gotten. Surprised, and not that happy, really.

"We had it covered, Xander," Gibbs growled. "You follow my lead, got it?"

Xander glared at him for a moment, then relaxed and nodded.

Gibbs smiled. "Let's get going."


By the time they had gotten back to Giles' place, Buffy and Willow had arrived. Xander all but bounced up to the girls, hugging both, and talking excitedly. Turning back to the adults, Xander asked, "Is it okay if we go to the mall for a few hours?"

Tony glanced at Gibbs, then nodded.

"We'll want to talk to the two of you about your new school," Gibbs said. "But that can wait till this afternoon. Call us if there's any problems, okay?"

The teens nodded, then tore out of the apartment.

"Oh, thank God," Giles murmured. "I truly don't know where they get all that energy from. I know they were at the Bronze until about eleven last night," he added.

"'The Bronze?'" Tony asked.

"Oh, it's a teens club. Sort of a nightclub, but the highschool students go there. They do serve alcohol, but not to any of the school students. I think the college students also go there," he added thoughtfully.

"They're allowed to go to nightclubs here?"

"Oh, it's quite harmless. I've checked it out. And the one parent who cares, Buffy's mother, is happy for Buffy to attend. Honestly, it is the teenagers' single venue, apart from the cinemas. And school of course, but even Principal Snyder objects to the children 'hanging around' after hours," he added with a smirk.

"Yeah, because kids always want to hang at school," Tony responded, rolling his eyes. "All the cool kids, anyhow."

"I don't think Xander or Willow have ever been mistaken for 'cool kids,'" Giles offered.

"Not a problem as far as I'm concerned. I'd rather they be smart and hard working," Gibbs replied.

"And join the Marine Corp?" Tony asked slyly.

"Wouldn't take much to get him there."

"Erm... You want Xander to join the Marines?"

"You have a problem with that?"

"Oh? No, just surprised, I guess."

"What would you have him do?"

"Oh, well, um..." Giles thought for a moment. As much as he thought a Slayer would benefit from Xander's loyalty and intelligence, he really couldn't see the Council ever accepting him. They saw the goofy child, an American with an inadequate education, and no breeding. They saw everything but the truth, something Giles, himself, was only beginning to see. "There are any number of areas he could go into. He already has a passable grasp of a couple of languages, needs much more work to become fluent, of course, and could do with a number more to become an archaeologist or student of the antiquities."

"He could pick up some modern languages, and work as a translator for the Corp," Gibbs countered.

"That he could," Giles agreed, amused.

"You don't think he would go for a sports scholarship?" Tony asked.

"I don't think so," Giles replied. "He's not much into sports for its own sake. I've noticed he goes out running every morning, and exercises, but that appears to be for the purpose of fitness. Apart from his fondness for snack foods, the boy is disgustingly healthy. Oh, and you're going to need to buy a lot more food," he warned.

"Er... why?"

"Don't you remember how much you ate as a teen, DiNozzo?"

"Ah!"


"So you're leaving tomorrow?" Willow confirmed.

"Tomorrow morning," Xander agreed, sighing. "Apart from the flight taking so long, we've got to add the three hour time difference, and getting to LA first. So, in reality, it's going to take eleven or twelve hours just to get there. We leave here after breakfast, and should get to Tony's place in time for a late dinner."

"Do you know anything about the school you're going to?" Buffy asked.

"All I know is that they've managed to get us into a school near Gibbs' place, and we're supposed to be pretty much together, like here, even though Will's not joining me for a few weeks."

"That was really nice of them," Buffy smiled.

"I think they want to make sure we're not so homesick that we take off for Sunnydale of the next available bus," Xander shrugged.

"But we'll still be able to talk," Willow reassured her friend. "And I've been showing you how to do the video calling and all that, and Giles has been getting some texts together, so it'll be just like we were here."


"Private school," Xander repeated.

"Glenville High," Tony confirmed.

"You're sending me to a private school?"

"Yes, Xander, we're sending you to a private school. It's a nice school, a small school, with small classes, and teachers who actually give a damn."

"But private school," he whined. "Am I going to have to wear a uniform?"

"Deal with it Xander. Gibbs doesn't like any of the public schools, and Glenville has a good rep. I had to go to military school, so it could be worse. You want to stick with Willow, you're going to Glenville."

Xander sighed, dejected.

"The uniforms aren't that bad. Not over the top. Just... pretty normal clothes. Smart. Except everyone's wearing exactly the same thing. So you won't stand out," he added, smiling.

"And maybe you'll outgrow those shirts of yours," Buffy chirped.

"Don't diss the shirts, Buffy. They're classics."

"They're eyesores," the blonde argued.

"I'm going to have to agree with Buffy, Xander," Tony added. "Those shirts are a little too 'Magnum PI' for me. Cool show, but I seriously don't want to live with the shirts. Besides, we'll be in DC, not Hawaii."

"I start with the shirts, and the car will come."

"In your dreams," Tony snorted.

"What will happen with the children when you're held up on a case?" Giles asked.

"I've already spoken with my neighbour. If we're caught up late or overnight, they can either stay at my place or over with Mrs Reynolds. She'll check in on them if they stay at my place. I've got a guest room that Xander can use when he sleeps over, and I'm pretty sure he knows what I'll do if he does anything inappropriate."

Xander's eyes widened as he hunched down in his chair.

"If necessary, and I've already cleared this with the Director," Gibbs added, "they can come into the office."

"Just so long as neither of them asks me for help with their homework, we'll be fine," Tony added.

"So what's the plan for this week, Tony?" Xander asked his brother.

"Well, Monday you've got testing. They want to see how your classes match up. They we've got to get uniforms and stuff. Hopefully you'll be starting school by Thursday or Friday."

Xander made a face. "Have I told you how much I hate tests?"

"Everybody does," Tony assured him.

Xander sighed. It was for the better. It had to be. It would be, he decided. They weren't out of the fight, they were just relocating. He was still going to be doing something to help. The Fight was the most important thing, and he would still be helping. It was for the best.