See Prologue for disclaimer and details. Welcome to the latest chapter of the story, folks, and thanks as always to everyone who has been reviewing the fic! 'Tis most appreciated. And please, keep those reviews coming! Doesn't matter if you love it or hate it, we hunger for feedback most desperately. Okay, now, we should mention that we're going to be focusing on the major events of season one in this fic, so not every episode of the season will be covered. And not everything will be the same as what it was on the show either; so let's get to it...


Part Six: Preying Of A Different Sort

The Bronze, Sunnydale

November, 1996

The world continued to turn as the general weirdness increased a few notches, and abnormality started to become the normality in the town built upon the Hellmouth.

Xander himself had noticed the strange stuff, and he was pretty sure so had Willow, Buffy and Jonathan. But Willow still wasn't speaking to him, he and Jonathan weren't exactly close, and Buffy, well...Harris suspected she wasn't exactly normal herself.

It had all started with the cheerleader tryouts, where the girl named Amber Benson had caught on fire. Buffy had been the one to quickly put out the flames and save Amber's life, while everyone else just gawked in disbelief. And there had been nothing in the paper afterwards about spontaneous freaking combustion?

Then had come an episode with Cordy. She had finally seemed to forgive him for the whole 'We Hate Cordelia' club business after that fight with Vamp Jesse, at least partially. But Xander's suspicions had been aroused when almost a whole day had passed, and the brunette hadn't spoken to him even once. Then the girl had suddenly gone blind, almost killing herself during her Driver's Ed course before Buffy had saved her from that speeding truck.

Way too bizarre.

In Xander's opinion, the weirdness had only increased when the girl named Lishanne had somehow lost her mouth in Dr. Gregory's Biology class, and the next day Buffy had acted drunk during cheerleader training and tried to hit on him before Willow and Jonathan dragged her away. ( That girl had major grip, though, I swear. )

Then things had abruptly gone back to normal, as Willow and a thin version of Amy Madison started hanging out together and Cordelia's blindness miraculously disappeared. Mr. and Mrs. Chase, along with Dawn and Cassandra, had accepted the medical opinion of 'hysterical blindness' or whatever the quacks had come up with to explain it. But the only thing Xander could figure was that some kind of mojo had taken place, that magic was real along with the vampires and the other unbelievable-but-true stuff out there.

A late-night conversation with Angel had later confirmed it, that some kind of witch must have wreaked havoc for a while. But just as Deadboy had pointed out, someone must have also taken care of the situation. And in Xander's mind, there was only one group of people who could have done it.

That was why Xander was keeping one eye on Cordelia in the club tonight, and the other scanning for the teenage trio in question. He also vaguely heard some guy next to him at the bar saying, "Seven, including Cheryl. I'll tell you, though, her sister was lookin' to make it eight!"

( Is that Blayne Mall? ) Xander turned around. And sure enough, it was. ( Great. Loudmouthed idiot, I oughta go find some place else to keep a lookout. )

"Oooh, Cheryl's sister? The one in college?" Blayne's friend asked.

"Home for the holidays, and lookin' for love! She's not my type, though. Girl's really gotta have something to go with me." Blayne then looked around as Harris shifted slightly, gaining the other boy's attention. "Hey, Xander. How many times you score?"

"What?" Harris wasn't really paying attention, his mind on other things.

"Come on, man, spill. Like I'm sure you and Cordelia have had plenty of opportunities over the last year or so, haven't you? 'Cause I heard some guys in the locker room say she's pretty fast, am I right or what?" Mall smirked.

His smirk vanished as Xander quickly got directly in his face. "Cordy may not be my sister, and I'm not a Chase, but you talk about her that way again? One of us is gonna end up in the hospital. Or maybe even disappear permanently. Do you understand me, numb nuts?"

The dark expression and furious hiss was enough to make both boys back away from Harris at once. "Right," "Whatever," they said, before quickly heading off towards another part of the club.

"You ought to watch that temper of yours."

Xander jumped at that voice practically right in his ear, the anger instantly disappearing. "Ngggyah!" he tried to stifle the unmanly yelp. "Geez, Deadboy, don't do that!"

Angel looked irritated at the nickname, not to mention the lack of fear nowadays. "Would you please stop calling me that? It's getting annoying."

"Sure, just as soon as you give up the phantom act, pal. Anyway, what's up?"

Angel looked around. "You seen Buffy Summers anywhere? I need to talk to her."

"Really?" Xander looked surprised. "Why?"

"Vampire with a forked hand. She needs to keep her guard up, he's very dangerous and he won't show her any mercy in a fight," Angel said absently, looking around.

"And that's got what to do with an ex-cheerleader babe, exactly?" Xander still didn't get it.

Again there was annoyance at Xander's description of the girl Angel loved. But a moment later, the former Angelus turned to look at Harris in surprise. "Well, she's the Slayer of course." His answer was met with a blank stare. "You do know what the Vampire Slayer is, don't you?"

"Sorry, the what?" Xander was still lost here, despite what he'd heard during the Harvest.

Angel shook his head minutely. ( The things I end up doing. ) "The Slayer, Harris. In every generation there's one girl in all the world, a Chosen One..." He briefly explained who and what Buffy was, as he started scanning for the girl once more.

( Whoa, ) Xander looked slightly stunned. ( Buffy's not only one foxy chick, she's also a mystical demon ass-kicker? ) Then a thought occurred to him. "Question. If that's all true, then why the hell do you wanna go anywhere near her? Isn't it, like, Buffy's job to try and kill you?"

"Yeah," Angel grunted. "But she doesn't know what I am yet. And I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell her. I'm supposed to look out for her as well as you, and I can't very well do that if her Watcher orders her to slay me on sight."

Xander shook his head. "Just my opinion, but I'd say sure as heck that ain't gonna end well. 'Cause girls hate it when you keep secrets from 'em. And that one really ranks up there, curse and all! She might even get pissed enough to go into slay-now-ask-questions-later mode, ya know what I'm sayin'? You should just find some way to tell her safely already, like you did with me."

The vampire shrugged. He'd considered that scenario, but the one-time Scourge had figured that calling himself 'Angel' and then revealing himself to be a vampire would be enough for Giles to identify him as Angelus using the Watcher diaries. And then, like the mortal had rather bluntly put it, it would indeed be slay-now-ask-questions-later time.

Just then Buffy, Willow and Jonathan showed up and the Slayer noticed Angel and Xander talking. "I don't believe it," Buffy said at once. "Those two know each other?"

The two sidekicks turned to stare as well, as Buffy started to walk off. "Who's that talking to Xander?" Jonathan asked.

A light bulb went on above Willow's head, even as she buried the hurt at seeing her beloved again. She had yet to resolve her issues with Xander, even after all this time. "That must be Angel. I think?"

"The guy who warned her about the vampires during that Harvest thing?" Levinson remembered the name.

Willow nodded. "That's him, I'll bet you."

At that moment Buffy reached the two guys. "Well, look who's here!"

Xander just smiled at his classmate. "Hi, Buffy."

Angel did that thing with his brow that often made women go weak at the knees. "Hey."

The schoolgirl felt a flutter in her chest, before squelching it. "So, you two know each other?"

"Yeah," Soul Boy said shortly.

"And he's such a delight to hang with!" Xander threw his arm around the vampire's shoulders, much to Angel's dismay. "Angel here's just a barrel of laughs everywhere he goes," Xander could not help adding sarcastically.

The former Irishman wanted to growl at the young idiot, even as he kept his gaze on the Slayer. "Just wanted to tell you something..." He glanced at Xander, who got the hint and went on his way.

Then he bumped into Cordelia. "What do you think you're doing, hanging out with that freak!?" Queen C demanded.

"Who? Buffy?" Xander looked surprised as he saw who it was Cordy was staring at. "I wasn't, actually. But so what if I did? Look at that body, Cor. She's Buff-alicious!"

Cordy truly began to despise the new arrival in town. "Are you seriously telling me you're attracted to Buffy Summers? That...that insane-o girl?"

Xander, sensing the green-eyed monster lurking in the brunette's heart, smirked for a moment. "Maybe. What, is that a crime?"

Cordelia wasn't the queen of the sophomore elite for nothing. In retaliation she fastened her eyes on Angel and purred, "Hello, salty goodness. Look at that hunk she's talking to!"

"No, no, no, NO!" Xander forced her to look at him. "Cordy? He's not your type. Trust me on that one!"

( Ah, this is more like it! ) "And how exactly do you know who my type is?" she demanded.

"Uh, all the guys I've seen you date since Dawn and I moved in? Besides, Angel's older than you. WAY older. And, and he's got this really weird sunlight allergy. Pretty much on a liquid diet, too. And if he thinks someone my age is just a kid, then you're just gonna crash and burn in public if you try to hit on him."

Cordelia frowned as she allowed Xander to lead her away. She sensed her former childhood enemy was being honest with her, but not completely. ( Hmmm. Gonna have to figure out what he's trying to hide from me. )


Outside Sunnydale High, Sunnydale

The next day

Buffy, Willow, Giles and Jonathan were discussing the disappearance of Dr. Gregory, possibly the only man on the faculty (apart from the librarian) who didn't think the Slayer was a juvenile delinquent. Not far away, Cordelia and Xander arrived in their limo.

"God, this is getting annoying! I can't wait till I get my own wheels," the Chase girl complained as they left the parking lot. "I'm nearly sixteen, you know, I need my independence!"

"Well, if I can't hitch a lift with you anymore, looks like I'm gonna have to start bus-ing it again," Xander replied.

The offhand remark only served to worsen Cordelia's mood. Every time she thought she was getting somewhere trying to improve Xander's social standing, he'd come up with some lame idea to send himself right back into the realms of loser-ville. ( I just...sometimes, I really wonder what it is I actually see in that big doofus. ) "Xander, for God's sake! You wouldn't have to catch that smelly, geek-infested roach coach if you just asked Daddy for one of the cars-"

"I can't afford the gas money or the insurance for anything in the Chase garage, sweetheart. And I think I've told you that," Xander cut her off, glancing at her in annoyance. "I can't even afford to buy a used car, remember?"

( OHHHH! ) the young woman wanted to scream. ( You pathetic thickhead! You're constantly being given the opportunity to become a Chase on a silver platter. And yet your stupid macho pride always gets in the way? UGHHH! ) Then the brunette reconsidered. ( Wait up. I don't actually want you to be a Chase, though, do I? Because if we ever do start dating, that'd be just too horrible to even contemplate. )

Caught up in her thoughts, Cordelia wasn't watching where she was going. Thus she crashed into Xander's back, after he had abruptly stopped walking. "OW! Hey, what's the big idea..."

Then the cheerleader saw the guy's face and followed his line of sight. Miss Chase's features instantly grew hard and angry as Xander, slack-jawed, muttered, "That, that must be the biggest chest I've ever seen..."

Harris never even noticed the instant smack to his shoulder. The female teacher he was ogling briefly stopped to talk to Willow, Jonathan and Buffy, and then walked off with Blayne, who had happened to be walking by and offered to show the new arrival to Science 109. Xander turned to Cordelia, "Can you believe it? For the first time in my life, I'm actually looking forward to school! See you later, Cor." Then he hurried off to get whatever info he could out of the Scooby trio.

( Oh, Lord, how do I get myself into these things? I'm crushing on a guy who won't even give me – ME! – the proper respect and attention I deserve. Oh no, don't tell me I'm turning into Willow Rosenberg? God! It can't be true! ) Cordy thought to herself in horror.

Cordelia soon caught up with her friends and put such nasty thoughts aside. Later she, along with the rest of the student body, learned that the new arrival at Sunnydale High was in fact Miss Natalie French, the substitute Biology teacher since Dr. Gregory had vanished. Cordelia hadn't been pleased to see Xander part of the drooling male fan club in class, lusting after Natalie's derriere.

That was why, when she bumped into Buffy at lunch, Cordelia said angrily to the Slayer, "Excuse you!" She went behind the counter, showing a piece of paper to the cafeteria workers. "Medically prescribed lunch. My doctor ships it daily. I'll only be here as long as I can hold my breath."

Cordelia opened the refrigerator, and instantly screamed like the lead actress in a horror flick. Inside the fridge was a headless dead body. Miss Chase backed away, yelling hysterically. "His head! His head! Oh my God, where's his head?!"

Buffy and Willow arrived on the scene, Jonathan and Xander close behind them. Both the boys and the girls were able to see the nametag on the lab coat, 'Dr. Gregory', and instantly looked completely sick and grossed out. Even Buffy looked ill, because even though she'd done quite a bit of beheading in her time it really wasn't the same as when a vampire went poof into dust.


Elsewhere within Sunnydale High

Later that day

While Giles and his three teenage charges were discussing the situation in the library, Xander was watching Cordelia talk to the police.

"So you're the one who originally found the body, is that right?" Detective Stein looked into his notebook, as the female teen nodded.

"Yeah. It was, like, majorly horrific! Ugh, I can tell you, it completely put me off the idea of lunch. Which might be of the good, actually. I mean, you don't think this outfit makes me look fat, do you?" Queen C briefly looked down at herself in dismay.

Stein shook his head. ( Teenagers. ) "Did you know the victim well? And did you know of anyone who might have wanted to harm him?"

"Oh, no! I mean the way I heard it, everyone really liked Dr. Grubby Ring," Cordelia shook her head.

"I think you mean Dr. Gregory."

"Yeah, uh-huh. By the way, are you any good in helping with speeding tickets? Because see, apparently my chauffeur Roger got hit with this totally bogus fine while he was taking me to this exclusive hair salon recently-"

"I think I've got everything I need for the moment," Detective Stein interrupted, shaking his head again and giving Cordy his card. "If you can think of anything further that might have any bearing on this case, please don't hesitate to call me or my partner, Detective Winslow. All right, Miss Chase?" He quickly moved away, escaping before Cordelia could say anything in reply.

Xander quickly came over. "Hey. You holding up all right?"

"I'm fine," the girl replied. "Well, sorta."

Xander nodded. "Principal Flutie called your parents, and they've sent the car around for you. He said you can go home for the rest of the day. I'll cover for you in class, fill you in with regards to homework and everything later on tonight."

"You aren't coming with me?" Cordelia demanded in disbelief. ( God, there was a time I'd have had to forcibly restrain him not to try to get out of school! )

Harris shrugged. "I can't afford to fall behind in any of my classes." He quickly escorted her to the parking lot before hurrying back to his classes for the rest of the day.


Chase Manor, Sunnydale

Later that night

"Did you really see a dead body at school!?" Cassandra said excitedly to Cordelia in her big sister's bedroom.

"Yeah," Cordy didn't look happy at the memory. "It was completely gross, too. What with the way the head was missing and all."

"Ewww!" Dawn chimed in. "And Xander saw it too?"

"Yeah, that I did," Harris said. "That's why I don't want you or Cassandra to talk to strangers at all from now on, understand? In fact, I want both of you to come straight home after school until further notice. No more mall time until they catch this guy, not unless me, Cordy, or Mr. and Mrs. Chase are also present."

"Xanderrrrrr!" Dawn whined at her big brother.

"Hey, you're not my brother. You can't give me orders like that!" Cassandra said belligerently, the almost fourteen-year-old girl deciding to stand up for herself.

"Cassandra, there's a killer on the loose out there, don't you understand? Someone who kills people. We're not talking about the make-believe stuff you see on TV. If you want, we can go find your parents right now and let them settle this, but think about it. Who do you think they're gonna agree with? Me or you?" Xander demanded.

Cassandra looked ready to throw a tantrum when Dawn touched her arm. "Don't even bother. When Xander gets this way, you can never win. Wanna pig out on some Ben and Jerry's in the kitchen?"

"Yeah!" Cassandra flounced out of the room, dragging Dawn with her and slamming the door shut. Xander then sat down on Cordelia's bed and let her sag into his arms, as the enormity of the day's events hit the female teenager all over again.

While elsewhere Buffy was watching the fork-handed vampire run away in fear after encountering Miss French on the street, Cordelia snuggled into Xander's embrace and thought to herself, ( I'm so glad Xander's here with me. Kinda weird but true, I really am. )


Sunnydale High, Sunnydale

The next day

Buffy had reported in to her Watcher and was heading for Biology class, wanting to investigate the weirdness regarding the substitute teacher, when the principal cornered her in the school hall. Flutie said, "You have to see a counselor. Everyone who saw the body has to go see a crisis counselor."

Buffy shook her head, "But I really don't need-"

But Principal Flutie interrupted her, "We all need help with our feelings. Otherwise we bottle them up, and before you know it, powerful laxatives are involved! Now there's someone here for you to talk to, and talk to her you will. Because I really believe that if we all just reach out to one another, we can overcome this thing."

"But I really, really don't-"

Bob Flutie seemed determined not to let his student finish a sentence. "No, you have to talk to the counselor and start the healing process. Right now. I mean it!"

"But Mr. Flutie, I-"

"Go! Heal!" the guy insisted. And so with no other option, the Chosen One went over to the counselor's office. Bummed out at remembering the teacher's gruesome death, Slayer hearing again allowed Buffy to hear what Cordelia was saying in the other room...

"I don't know what to say, it was really – I mean, one minute you're going about your normal life, and then it's like, who's that in the fridge? It really gets to you, something like this. But I guess when tragedy strikes, we have to look on the bright side somehow. Like, I think I've lost weight since yesterday, since I haven't been able to eat a thing. You gotta think positive, you know?"

The counselor replied, "I think so. So how did your family react when you shared the news of this tragedy with them?"

"Oh, okay I think. My parents were pretty supportive, even though Daddy muttered something about this not being the sort of thing he wants his name associated with in the papers. But last night, Xander helped me deal a heck of a lot."

The Slayer heard the counselor shuffling some papers and then say, "I'm sorry, Xander is..."

"Oh, him and Dawn are the two other kids living in my house these days. They used to be the Harris charity cases, but now it's like they're part of the family. Well, Dawn is anyway, but I swear – that lame-brain brother of hers wouldn't know what a great thing he's got going, even if it got up and bit him on the ass!"

Buffy sighed and leaned back, automatically tuning out. As this was obviously going to be a long session.


The residence of "Natalie French", somewhere in suburban Sunnydale

Later that night

Trapped in a cage and about to die in the basement, Jonathan Levinson saw his entire life flash before his eyes. All fifteen years, eleven months, seven days and six hours of it.

Not for the first time, the young man cursed the fact that when Xander had canceled his plans of helping the new Biology teacher make paper mâché egg sacks, he had eagerly jumped in to take Harris's place. Because Miss French was in fact a preying mantis lady in disguise, and on the prowl for male virgins.

She – it – had drugged Levinson after he'd arrived, slipping something into his drink. Then the Slayerette had woken up down here next door to Blayne Mall, who'd babbled about insect mating and biting off heads and how he didn't want to die like that...

( Buffy. I need Buffy. Buffy! ) Jonathan thought to himself. Then his eyes went wide as the She-Mantis opened the cage and dragged him out.

"Kiss me!" Natalie seemed to laugh, her voice still human despite the alien insectoid appearance. "You know you want to!"

"HEEEELLLLP! HEEEELLLLP!" Jonathan screamed like a girl.

His prayers were miraculously answered, when Buffy smashed the basement window and slid in to save the day. Blayne saw her first and called out, "Uh, hey, o-over here, hello! In the cage!"

Buffy ignored him and pulled her bag though the window. "Let him go!" she shouted at the She-Mantis, who was still holding her intended mate and meal.

It was a miracle how Natalie didn't kill Jonathan immediately. But the fight began as soon as the Slayer got close enough to hit the insect woman with bug spray. Willow and Giles came through the window next, and the Watcher headed straight for Jonathan.

Blayne couldn't believe it. ( What, did making All-Star last year count for nothing here? ) "Help me! Help me!"

Buffy ordered her Watcher, "Get everyone outta here!"

But Natalie knocked the Englishman down with one swipe of her claws. A vicious fight then took place with the She-Mantis, before Miss Summers hit the female insect with the sound of bat sonar, severely hurting and disorienting the fake Miss French the moment the tape recorder started playing the noise.

"Bat sonar. Makes your whole insect nervous system go to hell. And you can go there with it!" Buffy snarled as she slashed at Natalie fiercely and repeatedly with a machete, hacking her to pieces.

As Blayne got out of his cage, they all looked over the carnage. "Well, I...I'd say it's deceased," Giles muttered.

Willow nodded. "And dissected."

"Are you okay?" Buffy asked her male friend.

"Yeah, you got here just in time. Thanks, Buffy. Really, I owe you my life," Jonathan said honestly.

The Slayer blushed as Blayne added his thanks as well. Willow said, "Well, I'm really glad you're both okay. And I can't help thinking it's so unfair, how Miss French only went after virgins."

Jonathan stared at his red-haired friend. "What?"

Giles explained, "Well, you see, that's the She-Mantis' modus operandi. Uh, she only preys on the pure."

Everyone stared at the football player as he started protesting, "Hey, I don't know what you guys are talking about. And just so you all know, my dad's a lawyer. Anyone here repeats that to anybody, they're gonna find themselves facing a huge lawsuit!"

Blayne quickly stormed away up the stairs, as an embarrassed Jonathan took the machete and started to destroy the preying mantis's nest. Buffy glanced at her Watcher. "So, the Council can handle it if Blayne does get outta hand, right?"

Rupert Giles just started polishing his glasses, briefly wondering if perhaps he should have stayed with Ethan and the others after that fiasco with Eyghon, all those decades ago.


The Bronze, Sunnydale

The following night

Xander Harris, well on his way to being 'the one who sees everything', watched as Angel talked to and then left Buffy at the nightclub's bar, melting away into the crowd the way only a vampire could. Xander's ears then just barely heard the Slayer mutter, "Oh boy!" as she tightened Angel's leather jacket around herself. The male teenager then frowned as he thought over what he had just witnessed.

Without his father around to constantly tell him what a useless screw-up and waste of effort he was, Xander had a lot more confidence in himself and his own abilities than he otherwise would have. Thus he figured that his two acquaintances had been discussing the killer of Dr. Gregory, and that from Buffy's body language, the problem had most likely been taken resolved.

But that wasn't all. He also got the impression that the Slay-gal was starting to fall for Angel, big-time. Oddly enough, Xander wasn't as jealous of the guy as he might have been. Having the ensouled vampire save his life before he'd ever met the Chosen One probably had a lot to do with it, as did his suppressed feelings for Cordelia. Nonetheless, that episode with Darla in the alley notwithstanding, Harris knew that anything romantic between the Slayer and Angel simply wasn't going to end well.

It wasn't just his own attraction to Buffy Summers, or the fact that the bloodsucker was blatantly deceiving her in attempting to pass for human, which gave Xander cause to believe that. It was because he knew that the vampire was over two centuries old and would never change, whilst Buffy would. She would grow up and eventually die while Angel would remain forever the same: eternally young, good-looking, and drinking blood to survive.

Eventually, Xander just shrugged to himself as he went to follow Cordelia home. If Buffy and Angel were going to engage in the whole ill-fated tortured romance deal, then he should probably just keep his distance and let those two realize their mistake on their own. Making sure Dawn remained safe and happy was probably far more important than chasing after some girl, anyway, even if she was the Chosen One and all.

TBC...