Title Series: Slayer in a Half Shell
Rating: R
Chapter Title: No More Secrets
Author: White Werewolf
Category: B/X
Spoilers: Up to after Oz left but before Tara
Distribution: Ask and you shall receive
E-Mail: whitewerewolf81@yahoo.com
Disclaimer: Buffy: the Vampire Slayer is owned by Whedon, Fox, and UPN. Laird, Eastman, and Mirage Studios own Ninja Turtles
Author's Notes: ....... denotes thought.

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Later That Day

The window to the Sunnydale Museum just started to be cut through. Soon, the cutting formed a circle in the glass. A hand poked through and went to the doorknob. The doorknob twisted and the door soon opened allowing entrance.

THWACK!!

A ninja star hit the alarm destroying it instantly. This allowed the force behind the ninja star easy and unnoticed entrance. "See, Boss. We're not worthless," a voice said.

A man nodded as he entered the museum. "You've proved your point at this time, Bebop. Now lets get the jewel."

Rockseady responded, "Don't you need your machine, Boss? It would be a lot easier for us to locate the jewel."

Shredder was shocked. His two mutants were actually making sense. It frightened him. They usually acted like nimrods, but this proved to be different. Of coarse he didn't want the mutants to know that he was impressed, "You're right, Rocksteady. But you better now let this go to your heads."

The rhinoceros said, "Sure thing, Master Shredder."

Shredder took out the device Krang gave him and turned it on. The noise was not too loud, or too soft. It was at a normal tone and steady.

The three walked around the museum allowing the beeping to get louder. The noise did exactly that. They edged closer to an end of the main hallway. The closer to the end of the hall, the louder the beeping got. Finally Shredder, Bebop, and Rocksteady got to the end of the hallway. There was a problem though.


"Where's the jewel?" Bebop asked.

Shredder shook his head. "According to this, the jewel should be here."

"Where?" A confused warthog asked.

"Here," said Shredder getting a little annoyed by their ignorance again. He realized that he had nothing to fear after all.

"Oh," Bebop began, "so, where is this jewel?"

Shredder looked around and soon saw an opening to the next room. Obviously, the jewel was in the next room. He said sarcastically, "I wonder about you sometimes. All you have to do is use your heads."

Bebop and Rocksteady exchanged confused looks. But, the warthog soon thought of something. He stepped a few feet back and prepared himself in a football quarterback's charging stance. "I get it." He then charged the northern wall headfirst.

Rocksteady followed him in the charge, and they soon collapsed onto the ground after hitting their heads on the wall. "Ouch," the warthog said as he rubbed his soar spot.

Shredder shook his head, "Idiots. The jewel is in the next room to your right." Annoyance soon started to boil in his blood.

"My right?" Bebop asked looking to the left of hallway, "or his right?"

"Good question." Rocksteady chimed in.

Shredder pulled both their right arms and showed them the door he was explaining. "Oh, your right." Bebop replied.

"Let's just get the jewel, and call Krang," Shredder ordered.

"Right," the rhinoceros confirmed for understanding.

"Let's do it." Bebop agreed.

The trio walked into the next room and soon found a small display case. Shredder went behind the display case, which was on a wooden podium. The two mutants stood on the right and left sides of it.

Rocksteady noticed a sign, "The sign says not to touch it."

Bebop read the sign too, "He's right, Boss."

Shredder shook his head, "Shut up. We're going to take the jewel and that's final." Then he placed his hands on both sides of the cubed displace case. He very cautiously lifted the case to reveal the jewel.

Bebop took the jewel in his right hand, and took some steps back. He was about to pitch it when Shredder retrieved it and place the jewel in his front pocket. Before the ninja clan master was about to speak, Bebop said, "I was only playing, Boss."

Shredder replied, "There's time for fun, and then there's time for work. It's time to work now."

Bebop nodded, "Sorry, Master Shredder. What do we do now?"

Shredder returned, "We call, Krang. He'll tell us what to do with the three objects."

Rocksteady went to his pocket and pulled out his communicator. "Here you go, Boss."

Shredder took it from the rhinoceros and turned on the power. The screen soon came to view a pink brain. "Krang, we got the items. What do we do now?"

***Giles's Apartment***

During Shredder's Capturing of the Jewel

Buffy just slumped into the couch. She sighed as she closed her eyes to rest. There was so pain in her soul. Her boyfriend of a few months just left. A tear escaped her right eye and it slid down her cheek. The Slayer soon felt something on her face. She opened her eyes to see the thumb of Xander's right hand grace her cheek.

"You okay, Buffy?"

Buffy wasn't okay. She wanted to be held, and comforted. But from who? Then the blond warrior looked at Xander and smiled a little, and he returned with a lop sided grin. That made her feel a little better. "I'm getting there, Xan. We've got bigger problems on our hands."

Leonardo nodded, "Right, Buffy. We know Shredder has the ring and the sword. However, that leaves the jewel. We have no idea where to look."

Splinter looked to the former librarian. "Do you have any more books on the subject, Mr. Giles?"

Giles looked around his apartment. Books were scattered everywhere. The reason being that they searched through basically everything in his apartment. He wiped his glasses and replied, "Not at the moment, Splinter. We pretty much went through everything."


"What about that book?"

Everyone turned to look at Usagi Yojimbo. "What book?" Questioned the former watcher.

Usagi pointed to the top of the television set. "That book Mr. Giles. Did you check it out?"

Giles returned, "No, I didn't Usagi. Thanks for pointing that out." He left his seat and picked up the book the rabbit pointed out. The man went back to his chair and opened it up. He quickly went to the index.

"Well, Giles?" Asked an interested Donatello.

Giles looked at the turtle, "One moment please." He nodded, as Giles went back to the reading. The former watcher scanned the index and soon found a page for the Ring of Squinix. "Here's something," Giles opened the page and began to read out loud, "the Ring of Squinix, Sword of Jiptko, and Jewel of Zanubis can be used together to open the Hellmouth. A ceremony has to be formed. The bearer of the three objects must chant the following prayer three times under a full moon. 'Juspotic kelix borenzy lunus funeus abata clactu varacta nickto.' The Ring of Squinix, Sword of Jiptko and Jewel of Zanubis will transform into a key. The key has to be thrown into the Hellmouth to force it to open."

Xander smiled, "Even if Shredder gets the jewel, he still needs the book to open the Hellmouth."

"And we have that." Usagi contributed.

Donatello looked back at the paper. "Um, guys?"

"What is it, Donatello?" Willow asked her turtle friend.

Donatello returned, "According to this, the full moon is tonight."

"Are you sure, my son?" Questioned Splinter.

Donatello nodded. "I am, Master Splinter."

Raphael looked at the clock on the wall. "The time's 10:00 now, Master."

Buffy responded, "That doesn't look good."

Just as Xander was about to say something, Anya did. "Can I talk to you, Xander?"

Xander replied, "Can we talk later, Ahn? We have planning to do."

Anya shook her head, "It's important."

Xander sighed. He turned to his friends to say something, his right arm was being pulled. "Ow. Let go of the arm, Anya!"

Anya returned, "We're talking now!"

Xander was pulled out of the room. He poked his head into the living room, "If I don't come back in thirty, send for meeeeee!"

Buffy looked at her friends, "What do you think that was about?"

Willow shrugged her shoulders, "With Anya, it's probably sex."

Michaelangelo replied, "I don't need to hear that."

"Same here, Mikey." Raphael agreed, "that woman has real problems."

Willow said, "Don't I know it."

Buffy reminded her, "We all know it."

Giles remembered, "Quite so."

Anya pulled Xander into the bathroom. She closed and locked the door behind them. The ex-demon went up to Xander and started to unbutton his shirt. "Time for some fun, Xander. I need some Viking action." Then she started to kiss him.

Xander was surprised. He pushed her off of him. "Is that what you wanted me for? Sex?"

Anya nodded, "Of coarse, Silly. That's what we do. Whenever something bad is about to happen, we always have steamy sex."

Xander shook his head. He remembered what Buffy told him a few days ago. "We need to talk, Ahn."

Anya smiled, "You're cute when you're serious."

Xander couldn't take this anymore. He was getting used, and this time was no different. "The Hellmouth is about to open, and you want sex?"

"Yes."

Xander shook his head again. "I admit it, Anya. When we started going out, the sex was great. Hell, it was fantastic, but there is such things as limits."

Anya's eyes widened, "Limits? There's a limit to my Viking?"

Xander started to feel rage in his heart. "Yeah, Anya. I can only take so much. If we don't stop having sex all the time, we're going to break up."

Anya's eyes narrowed this time. She pointed her finger to his chest. "You're going to give me an ultimatum? Is that it?"

Xander realized what he said. There was no taking any of it back. He meant every word of it. "Yeah, I guess I do."

Anya pointed harder into his chest. "Oh, you're the one to make ultimatums, Xander. I should give you one. I see the way you look at Buffy. I see the way you love her. I may have your body, but she has your heart. Either, we move away from Sunnydale to start a new life, or we're through. Do you hear me, Xander? We could be over!"

Xander shrugged his shoulders. "I hear you loud and clear. I can't leave Sunnydale. Forget being in love with Buffy. I'll never leave her, Willow, or Giles, Anya. They're my family. They're much better than the one I was given at birth. I guess this means our relationship is over."

Anya was in rage. "Fine, Xander. Goodbye." With that said, Anya unlocked the door and stormed out leaving a surprised Xander.

Tem Minutes Later

A noise was heard from the door.

Knock!! Knock!! Knock!!

"Leave me alone!" Screamed Xander.

"Can I talk to you, Xander?"

Xander was surprised. He knew that voice. The young man went to the door and opened it. "You called me, Xander?"

The turtle returned, "That is your name, isn't it? Or is Zeppo okay?"

Xander shook his head. "No, Xander's fine. What's up, Raphael?"

Raphael walked into the bathroom. He jumped up onto the sink counter. "I saw Anya leave. I wanted to talk to you about it. Everyone was surprised that I did. Especially Buffy."

Xander sat on the toilet lid. "Fine, Raph. Talk to me. What can you say to me to make me feel better?"

Raphael returned, "We're a lot alike, Xander. Often times, we're taken for granted by the people we love most. Leo, Donny, and Mikey do that. It's the same with you, Buffy, and Willow."

"Congratulations Raph. You just found something in us that was common. Good for you. Give the turtle a prize."

Raphael couldn't believe what he was hearing. Here he was trying to be civil with the kid, and Xander wouldn't have it. "Listen, Xander. I'm getting fed up with your attitude. Anya just left you and I'm trying to cheer you up. What was I thinking? Once a Zeppo, always a Zeppo, I guess."

The words hit Xander like a ton of bricks. "Sorry, Raphael. I didn't mean it. Please continue."

Raphael nodded, "S'okay, kid. As I was saying. We both are taken for granted, but when a big deal is about to happen, we're right in the middle of it. We tend to joke as well. Sometimes the jokes hurt people and sometimes it's needed to lighten the mood. It all comes down to this, Xander. The Turtles and the Scoobies need us. We're the heart and soul of the team. Leo and Buffy are the leaders. Donny and Willow are the smart ones, and Giles and Splinter are the authority figures."

Xander was shocked. Raphael was right. He had Xander right to the core. One thing though. "What about Mikey?"

Raphael thought for a moment, "Mikey is the easy going, fun having type. Kinda like Anya I suppose but to a lesser degree. They do get on our backs."

Xander said, "Don't I know it." He got off the toilet seat and walked over to the counter that Raphael was sitting on and looked into the mirror. He sighed, "I never really thought about our teams that way, Raph. I guess we are a lot alike."

Raphael jumped off where he was sitting and turned to Xander. "As much as I love to talk more about touchy feeling stuff. The guys are waiting for us. As for Anya, now that you two are done, try and work on Buffy. She needs you right now. Before you do though, give her time to get over Riley. The way he split hurt her pretty bad."

Xander nodded, "Right. And Raph?"

Raphael replied, "Yeah?"

"Thanks."

"No problem, Zeppo."

Xander actually laughed in response.

"Xander, we need to talk."

Xander and Raphael exchanged looks as the young man opened the door. "Hey, Buffster."

"Hi, Xander," she turned to Raphael, "can we talk?"

Xander returned, "Of coarse."

Raphael nodded and headed for the door. He turned to Xander. "Remember what we talked about." Then he left leaving the Slayer and her White Knight to talk.

***The Living Room***

Fifteen Minutes Prior

"So, do you think Shredder has the jewel?" Donatello asked.

Michaelangelo returned, "Don't know, Dude. It's a possibility though."

Willow replied, "Yeah. We've been talking for sometime after you guys came back from the barn. And that was five hours ago. That would be enough time to steal the jewel."

All of a sudden, Anya stormed into the living room and headed for the door. "Damn that Xander." She looked at the door and saw Usagi, "get out of the way, Rabbit King."

Buffy immediately sprung to her feet and walked over to the ex-demon. "What happened, Anya?"

Anya glared at her, "You wanna know what happened, is that it?" she nodded, "we broke up. You happy now! Apparently sex with me isn't satisfying enough for Xander. That and he loves you, Buffy. He loves all of you. I told him to leave Sunnydale with me, and he decided not to. Now get out off my way!"

Buffy's eyes widened. He loved her, and this was the second time she heard about it. The Slayer really had to talk to that boy. There was also the thought that that maybe Anya only said that to justify her anger. "Xander doesn't love me. At least, I don't think so. If you two broke up, I'm sorry. But at least help us stop Shredder and his goons before you leave."

Anya shook her head. "Not going to happen, Buffy. I'm done. Xander and I are through!" Then she shoved Usagi Yojimbo out of the way and walked out.

"Well that's just perfect." Raphael said. "At least Anya's gone for good."

Buffy turned to that turtle, "What is it with you, Raphael? You're happy that Xander and Anya broke up? Not to mention Riley and me. What's up with that?"

Raphael replied, "Here's the facts Buffy. Xander and me may not get a long sometimes, but I know him. I mean, I truly do. I know what he hates and what he loves. As for Anya, all of us seemed to have a problem with her. Now, they're broken up. Anya's gone, and Xander will be better off. As for Jack Ass, I never really liked him much. Too boring if you ask me. In fact, I'll go talk to Xander right now to cheer him up. We really need to talk anyways."

Leonardo protested, "Someone should talk to him, Raphael, but that someone is either Willow, Buffy, or me."

Raphael walked up his brother and glared at him, "Listen, Leo. I'm going to talk to him, and that's that. You try and figure out what to do and try to find the jewel." Then he walked off.

Giles interrupted, "As much as we love to talk about the relationship issues, we got bigger problems."

Splinter replied, "You are correct, Mr. Giles. We need to stop Shredder."

The communication was stopped when they soon found the television was turned on, "Will you turn off that television, Michaelangelo?" Asked Giles, "this is no time to watch cartoons."

Michaelangelo returned, "But Pinky and The Brain is a quality cartoon."

Leonardo grabbed the remote control, "if you want to watch television, then watch the news." He then flipped through the channels until he found CNN. "Watch this."

Conversing commenced further for about four more minutes until Michaelangelo spotted something, "Check this out."

Everyone sat down and watched the screen. A anchorwoman came on and said, "Sunnydale Museum was broken into a few hours ago. All that was taken seemed to be the legendary Jewel of Zanubis. The police are looking into the scene of the crime to determine who stole it. As for evidence, a ninja star was found on the alarm." Then Mikey turned off the television.

Willow shook her head, "Shredder has the jewel now. He has everything now."

Buffy's mind was on the subject anymore. All that was on her mind was Xander, "I'll be right back. Don't do anything fun without me." Then she left for the bathroom in pursuit of Xander.

***The Bathroom***

Present Time

"What's up, Buffy? Everything okay?"

Buffy shrugged her shoulders. " Getting better. How about you? You just lost Anya."

Xander looked in the mirror again. He leaned on his clenched hands, which were on the edge of the sink counter, "I'm getting there. I wouldn't worry about it. The Anya relationship was doomed to begin with."

Buffy went into her pocket and pulled out Xander's car keys. She felt the engraving on the bracelet that was now on the key chain. "Xander?"

Xander nodded, "Yeah?"

"Why is my bracelet you gave me on your key chain?"

Xander gulped, "I. . .well. . . the. . . thing is. . ."

Buffy said, "Yeah, go on?"

Xander nodded, "This isn't easy for me to say."

Buffy walked over to him and placed her hands on his shoulders. Then she gave them a squeeze. "Xander, please tell me. Why didn't you give me that bracelet back."

Xander knew it was now or never. Leonardo's words echoed through his mind, 'tell her how you feel.' He looked into Buffy's green eyes, which led to her soul. He could see a mixture of pain and compassion. Xander wanted to tell her his love for her, but he knew it wasn't the right time. "I can't tell you at the moment, Buffy. I don't think it's the right time. We just went through two break ups, and it would be too soon if anything happened."

Buffy's eyes widened at that moment. She knew exactly what he didn't want to say. Xander already told her when he was coming to from his being unconcious. Then Anya told everyone that he loved her. "Xander. . .I know what you want to say to me. In fact you already did."

Xander was shocked. "I did?"

Buffy nodded, "When you were waking up earlier, you told me that you loved me. I didn't know if you meant it, because I thought you could be delirious. Then Anya tells us that you love me, and I just thought she was just upset. I know that you love me."

Xander gulped, "You do?"

Buffy nodded, "Yes."

"S-s-o, where does this leave us?"

Buffy took a deep breath. She didn't want to lose Xander. Especially, now since Riley just left her to find his inner donkey. But, Xander has proven time and time again that he cared about her. She looked into his brown eyes and could see the love he had for her. The Slayer wanted to learn more about him. "I don't know, Xander. I would like to explore a relationship with you, but not now. There's too much pain in my heart right now with Riley leaving. It does help that I know that you are in love with me. It's going to hurt you that I won't be able to return that love."

Xander slowly nodded, "I can wait, Buffy. If you want me as a friend now, then I guess that's okay, but please promise me, that we'll give this relationship a chance. It wasn't my choice to love you, Buffy. I just love you. I love that all is Buffy including the Slayer part."

Buffy pulled him into her embrace and tears started to emerge from her eyes. Xander just told her that he that was in love with her. "Xander. . .I want to tell you that I do love you. Never doubt that I don't. But, if you give me some time to get over Riley, I will love to try it with you."

Xander nodded, "I can live with that." Then he took his key chain back from Buffy. Xander took off the bracelet and handed it back to her. "I kept this because I kept meaning to give it back to you. Its just thought that with you with Angel, and then Riley, I would never get the chance to give it back to you and for you to know the reason behind it. But, now, since we had this talk, I think the owner should have it back."

Buffy accepted it and placed it on her wrist, "My wrist has been naked without it. But when did you get it back?"

Xander returned, "I ran into Amy after that episode with her mother, and I asked for it back. I told her that I wanted to give it back to you at some point, but I wanted to be given back to you when you felt the same way about me. Now, I know that you want to try something in the future, so I guess you can have it now."

Buffy smiled as her response. "Let's get out of here, and stop Shredder."

Xander nodded, "Lead the way."

The future couple left the bathroom to find only Raphael tied up and his mouth taped.

Xander immediately removed the tape and started to untie him, "What happened, Raph?"

TBC (To Be Concluded)