The month between Prom and Graduation went by way too quickly for Xander's liking. First there were his four remaining AP exams, followed by a week of swim team practises and the final Swim Team Meet of the year, and then came the last ever finals that he would take at High School.

By the time the week of finals actually came around Xander felt as though he'd done hardly anything beside study for exams in over a month. Thankfully, the weeks that he'd spent studying for his AP exams had actually been useful for his finals too.

"Your time is up." Miss Jones told the class, as the clock struck three. "Please put down your pens and wait quietly for me to collect your papers.

"Woohooo!" Someone behind Xander whooped loudly.

"Quietly, Mister Hermez." Miss Jones reproved sternly, though the corners of her mouth twitched upwards.

Xander understood how Hermez felt. This had been their last final. They were done! There was nothing more they had to study for, nothing more they had to learn, no more exams that they had to sit until college. They were officially done. (Well, except for the three days that they had to attend school in the lead up to graduation)

Sitting quietly and waiting to be dismissed was always hard to do on a Friday afternoon, but it seemed especially frustrating now. Why did they have to wait for Miss Jones to collect their tests? Couldn't she do that after she had let them go?

Eventually, Miss Jones had all the tests in her hands and, after wishing them a good weekend, she dismissed them. What followed was the most desperate rush for the door that Xander had ever seen. A few guys actually knocked over their chairs in their hurry to get out of the classroom.

Xander shook his head in amusement as the thin doorway hampered the students' enthusiastic rush exit causing a bottleneck effect and giving Miss Jones the opportunity to force the boys to right their chairs. Eventually though, the entire class poured out into the hallway talking loudly.

"I can't believe it." Willow was exclaiming to Buffy a few steps ahead of where Xander was walking. "We're done. Actually done."

"I wouldn't have thought you'd be so happy about that, Wils." Buffy commented. "I thought you liked school."

"I do." Willow agreed quickly. "But I also like no-school, and there's been so much school recently I'm about ready for some no-school time."

"Me too." Buffy agreed. "But then, I was about ready for no-school time about nine months ago."

"Buffy, nine months ago you'd only just gotten back to school." Willow pointed out.

"I know."

Xander watched them walk ahead of his with an ache in his chest. If there was one thing he missed about the old Xander it was the easy friendship he'd had with Buffy and Willow. They'd barely spoken to him since Prom (a stark contrast to the rest of the school who constantly seemed to want his attention) and, according to Faith, who'd heard it from Oz, Buffy and Willow had taken his winning Prom King as a sign that their Xander was gone for good. Apparently there had even been a brief mention of searching for some kind of magical cure, but Giles had nipped that in the bud.

It sucked because, despite how bumpy their friendship had been all year, Xander had never thought that it might just end abruptly. Sure he was going away to college, and wasn't planning on coming back very often (if at all), but he'd always thought that they would at least stay in some kind of contact. Even if that had just meant that they exchanged awkward emails once a month.

But now it seemed as though the longest friendship he'd ever had was over. Just like that. And, yeah, his life was definitely easier for it, and he didn't regret anything that had led to this point, but it still made him sad.

Things had been so much easier a year earlier. Not that Xander wanted to go back to life before Tony, and he didn't exactly miss living with the fear of Angel hanging over his head either. In was actually weird to think that school was about to break up for the Summer and there was no apocalypse in sight. There was no Master trying to open the hellmouth and no Angel trying to activate Acathla. Just a good, old demonless graduation.

"Oi, Xander!" Percy greeted, appearing suddenly at his shoulder. "You ready for tonight?"

"What?" Xander asked, before his brain caught up with him.

"Post Finals pool party tonight, my place." Percy reminded him. "Come on, man, you said you were coming."

"Cordy and I'll be there." Xander assured him. "No way Cordy and I would miss out on the chance to defend our shoulder wars' title."

"Great." Percy's expression brightened. "Do you know if Faith's coming?"

Xander shook his head in amusement. As weird as he found it to be invited to the popular kids' parties, Faith seemed to find it even weirder. She'd been invited to almost every party since Prom. Something that Xander wouldn't have found too surprising if the invites had all come from the guys (especially after Doug's mind blown expression when he and Faith had eventually come out of the bedroom at Percy's Prom After Party), but Cordelia had assured them that the Cordettes liked Faith too.

Faith had put it down to the Cordettes being brainless sheep who did whatever Cordelia told them too. But Xander knew there had to more to it than that. After all, the Cordettes hadn't been too sheeplike to try and ostracize Cordy for dating him.

Percy's face fell. "She's not?"

"Huh?" Xander asked. "Oh, no, she is. I was just thinking about something else."

"Finals are over, dude!" Percy clapped him on the shoulder. "We can finally stop thinking about stuff."

"I don't think that's how it works." Xander pointed out in amusement. "Besides, we still have three days of school next week."

Percy waved a hand dismissively. "Yeah, but that's for signing yearbooks and stuff - not actually thinking."

12-12-12

Xander's original plan for the afternoon had been to mooch in front of his TV and eat junk food. It had been one of the rewards that he had used to motivate himself to study and he'd been looking forward to it all week. But, despite the fact that he knew that there was no exam that he needed to be studying for, his mind didn't seem to be on board with the mooching. It was annoying. Every few minutes Xander's brain would remind him that he needed to be studying. Then he would feel guilty for a few seconds before he remembered that his exams were over.

So, half an hour into his planned TV watching, Xander gave up on the idea and made his way downstairs to work on the last engineering project that Tony had given him for his birthday - a wireless robotic arm.

The robotic arm was by far the hardest project that Tony had given him (and definitely the most time consuming) but Xander was almost halfway through making it and hadn't gotten stuck yet. Despite the arm being bigger and more involved than anything Xander had made before, it didn't require him to learn any new skills or techniques. Instead, it incorporated all the different skills that he had learnt through his earlier projects. It was incredible to realise just how much he had learnt over the last six months.

Once Xander reached the bottom of the stairs he knocked on the door that led to Angel's part of the mansion.

"Come in." Angel's voice called.

Xander pushed open the door and stepped through it, grimacing at the darkness. "Mind if I turn on a light?"

"Go ahead." Angel said. "I didn't expect to see you today."

Xander switched on the overhead light and saw that Angel had a book in his lap. Huh, he'd never considered how useful vampires' night vision would be for reading in the dark.

"I had my last final today, but my mind is still all itchy." Xander explained. "You mind if I work on the arm?"

"Itchy?" Angel frowned in confusion.

"You know," Xander shrugged, wondering how to explain it. "Like it doesn't want to sit still. It keeps telling me that I should be doing things, but I've got nothing I need to do. I was hoping that by working on the arm I could trick it into thinking I was actually doing something."

Angel still looked confused. "By working on the arm won't you actually be doing something?"

"Exactly!" Xander agreed, before glancing down at the book in Angel's hand. "Whatcha reading?"

"The Annals of the Four Masters." Angel answered, holding up the front of the book for Xander to read.

Xander squinted at the cover. "Annala na... I have no idea what that word is. Who puts a 'g' before a 'c'?"

"GCeithre." Angel pronounced for him. "Annála na gCeithre Máistrí."

"I have absolutely no idea what you just said."

"The Annals of the Four Masters." Angel said, his tone indicating that it should have been obvious. "It's a collections of chronicles of Irish History."

"Which you're reading because you were born in Ireland?" Xander guessed. "Do people even speak Irish anymore?"

"Gaelic." Angel corrected. "And, yes, they do."

"Oh," Xander considered that. "By the way, have you picked a date to move to LA? Cordy and I are planning on moving on the 1st of July, but Tony said that I should tell you that your apartment is ready whenever you want it."

Angel stared at him. "My apartment?"

"Yeah," Xander frowned. "You know, the apartment that you'll be living in next to mine and Cordy's. We talked about this."

"No, we didn't."

"Yes, we did," Xander protested. "And you said…" He searched his mind for the memory. "Oh, well, I meant to talk to you about it. I talked to Tony and he's reserved the apartment next to mine and Cordy's for you."

"Why?" Angel was staring at him expressionlessly.

"Because I asked him to." Xander explained simply, but Angel didn't look satisfied. "Oh, you mean, why did I ask him? Because you're our friend, as weird as that still is, and if we're all going to be living in LA it makes sense for us to all live near each other. Besides, do you even have any money?"

Angel's expression began to darken.

"Not that there's anything wrong with having no money." Xander added quickly. "I just thought it would easier for you if you had somewhere to stay. It's not like you can actually get a job or anything, right?"

"Xander…"

"And it's not like you haven't been living in my house for the last nine months anyway." Xander continued. "Besides, Cordy and I will both feel way safer if you're close enough to kill any demons that might try and attack us."

"Xander!" Angel repeated firmly.

Xander shut his mouth with a click. "Yeah?"

"Thank you."

Xander perked up at that. "You're welcome. Unless that was one of those 'thanks but no thanks' kinds of thank yous. It wasn't was it?"

"No."

"Oh good." Xander grinned at him. "This is going to be great. So, when were you thinking about moving? You can wait to move with me and Cordy in a month if you like, or you could move now."

"I'll think about it."

"Right good, you do that." Xander told him, before wincing. He hated it when his words started to get a life of their own and refused to stop coming out of his mouth. "I'll be over there, working on the arm...quietly."

Much to Xander's relief his mind seemed content to let him work on the arm without any guilt trips about studying and, by the time that it was time to get ready for the party, he had managed to get two solid hours of work in on the arm. It felt way more satisfying than mooching in front of the TV would have. No wonder Tony didn't watch many movies and spent all of his spare time in his workshop.

Percy's party was the perfect end to a week of finals. It was great to the have the opportunity to eat food, joke around, and play some pool games without the threat of school or tests hanging over their heads. Xander and Cordelia even managed to hold onto their Shoulder Wars' title despite the fact that Faith had challenged them. Faith might have been a slayer, but Bobby - the football player she had chosen as her vehicle - had been worse that useless and had lost his balance the first time that Xander had head butted him in the chest.

13-13-13

On Saturday, Xander and Cordy both slept in until lunchtime, and then lounged around the mansion for a few hours until Xander needed to meet David for his fight training. Xander had been tempted to cancel the training as a reward for having finished with finals, but it wasn't as though he didn't enjoy the trainings. Besides, David was supposed to bringing down the keys to his and Angel's apartments in LA.

After the training, Xander had a rushed shower, before meeting Cordelia at the Sunnydale High Athletes BBQ. The BBQ was great. Though it was a little embarrassing when the coaches called for their attention and began to wax lyrically about their star athletes who were leaving. It was especially awkward for Xander who knew that the only reason he was any good at swimming was the remnants of the shark DNA that he had been exposed to.

The BBQ officially finished at eight, but then Larry suggested that they carry thing on down at the beach. So they all piled into cars and took the party to the beach (and away from adult supervision) and it was after two in the morning by the time that Xander and Cordelia crawled into his bed back at the mansion.

Cordelia returned home on Sunday, since her mom got edgy when she stayed away for more that thirty six hours, and Xander spent the afternoon working on the robotic arm again. Angel, who had apparently decided to move to LA as soon as possible, spent the first part of the afternoon packing away the stuff he was planning on taking with him. There wasn't much of it so then he sat on the couch and watched Xander work while he waited for the sun to set.

"You should say goodbye to Buffy." Xander commented. "She'll be upset if you don't."

"I said goodbye to her a month ago."

"You told her you were leaving a month ago." Xander retorted. "That's different to a goodbye."

"We're not together anymore." Angel said, sounding uncomfortable. "We haven't been since last October."

"You should still say goodbye." Xander told him. "I've barely spoken to my parents since I moved in here, and I'm still going to say goodbye to them."

"Buffy's not related to me."

"That you know of." Xander grinned at him. "Who knows, maybe one of your cousins moved to America and had lots of kids, and one of them married someone with the surname Summers."

Angel's face took on a pinched expression.

"But that's not my point." Xander continued quickly. "My point is that you and Buffy used to be close, like really, really close, and since you don't completely hate each other, you should say goodbye before you skip town."

Angel sighed. "Fine. I'll stop in to see her tonight."

"Good, she'll like that." Xander told him, turning his attention back to the screws that he was screwing in by hand. "And if you could not mention that you're going to be living next to me and Cordy, that would be great."

"Why?"

"Because she's pissed enough that we're moving to the same city." Xander pointed out. "The last thing I need is for her to know that we're going to be neighbours again. She'd probably confront me about it in the middle of the corridor again."

"I won't say anything to her." Angel promised.

"Thanks," Xander grunted out the screwdriver in his mouth as he tested the finger joint that he had just screwed together. " 'ey, 'oo a…" He spat the screwdriver into his hand before trying again. "Look at this, it bends just like a normal finger."

13-13-13

The next two days of school were possibly the most boring two days Xander had ever experienced. Sure they were given their yearbooks in homeroom on Monday, and then got to pick up their graduation robes and hat, but it sucked to be at school with nothing to do. Skipping class had never been so tempting. But Snyder had told them all that anyone who was caught truant wouldn't be allowed to graduate, so Xander forced himself along to his classes.

The only interesting part of the two days were their yearbooks and, by the time that school was let for the last time on Tuesday, Xander had counted the number of times he was in the yearbook (twenty seven), the number of times Cordy was in the yearbook (thirty one), and had exchanged more yearbook signatures than he'd known there were students. Of course, that meant that his own yearbook contained the signatures of the entire senior class (even Buffy and Willow), along with a whole bunch of random freshmen, sophomores, and juniors - some of whom he didn't think he had ever seen before.

Graduation was the next day and, while it was exciting to be given his little scroll of paper that ensured that he'd never have to go back to highschool, it sucked that Tony couldn't be there. Xander and Tony had spent a lot of time brainstorming different ways that Tony could have attended in some form or another, but in the end they had both decided that it would be too risky. So, instead, Tony had promised to watch the event live from the small camera that Xander had set up, and then Xander drove down to Malibu after the ceremony to celebrate with him. It meant missing Percy's graduation party, but Xander knew there would be plenty more parties to enjoy in the month before he and Cordy moved.

13-13-13

"I can't believe you're ditching me here." Faith grumbled, a few weeks later as she watched Xander packing up some of his things into a box. "With them!"

"Oz will still be here." Xander pointed out. "You get along well with him."

"I get along great with Oz." Faith corrected, kicking her feet up on the coffee table. "That doesn't mean that I was to spent the next six months hanging around with Buffy and Willow."

"Gwen and Aphrodisia are staying in Sunnydale too." Xander reminded her, before noting her grimace. "I thought you got along with them."

"I do. Sort of. In a boring as hell, but not as annoying as Buffy, kind of way." Faith explained.

Xander winced. There wasn't really anything he could say to that. "Wait, why six months?"

"I turn eighteen in six months." Faith answered, as though it should have been obvious.

"So…?"

"So I have a deal with the Osbournes and Wes that says I can move to LA then." Faith explained.

Xander looked up from the box he was taping up in surprise. "You're moving to LA?"

"You thought I was going to spend the rest of my life here playing the second string slayer?" Faith asked incredulously.

"And you're waiting until you turn eighteen?" Xander asked, impressed by her restraint.

Faith shrugged. "The Osbournes have been great and I don't want to just up and ditch them. So I promised I'd stick around until I'm all legal. Besides, Wes says I should wait and my GED. I think Giles is rubbing off on him."

"And then you'll come and hang out with me, Cordy, and Angel?" Xander asked, with a grin. "That'll be awesome. I'll talk to Tony about getting you an apartment next to our, like Angel's."

"Get an apartment for Wes too." Faith ordered. "Otherwise he'll probably insist on moving into mine to keep an eye on me."

"Well, he is a watcher." Xander laughed.

Faith made a face at him. "And I'm coming to hang out with Broody. You and Cordy will probably be all collegy by then and poor Broody will probably be driving himself insane with all the sulking. He'll need someone to patrol with."

13-13-13

Xander wasn't sure how he was feeling as he and Cordy followed the moving truck out of Sunnydale and onto the highway. He'd expected it be exciting, but it was also a lot sadder than he'd thought that it would be.

Sunnydale had been his home his entire life and now he was leaving. There was something final about it. Like it was the end of an era or something - which he supposed it was.

It was sad to think of all things (and people) from his past that wouldn't be in his future.

There would be Willow or Buffy either - the only time they had spoken to him since Prom was when he had asked them to sign his yearbook. There wouldn't be Giles or Oz either. Or the Crawford Street Mansion.

Not to mention that Sunnydale had been where Xander had met Jesse. And it had been where Jesse had died. In a way, the town held all his memories of their times together. The ice cream parlour that they had eaten ice cream together. The Elementary school they had attended together. The playground where they had raced down the slide. And now Xander was leaving all those places behind.

Instead there would be college and Rush Week (since Cordy had won that bet). He would be living with Cordy, and next door to Angel (and in six months Faith and Wesley). Not to mention that one day he would have to admit that he was Tony Stark's son and then, when Tony died in the very distant future, actually take over as CEO at Stark Industries.

He could be anyone he wanted and there wouldn't would be anyone trying to force him to fit the mold that he had outgrown. He could do anything he wanted and there wouldn't be anyone trying to hold him back.

It was almost scary how limitless his future seemed.

13-13-13

A.N. Dear wonderful readers, I am very sad to announce that this is the end of 'ION'. I had planned to write more stories in this series, but have since decided to permanently step away from the fanfiction world. I am getting increasingly busy and will be spending my writing time working on Original Fiction.

What I am going to do though, is add one more chapter outlining my sisters and my plans for the rest of the series. These plans will be rough, and in bullet point form, but you're welcome to read them if you want to. (You're equally welcome to decide you'd rather let your own imagination finish the story for you.)

Thank you very much for all you wonderful encouragement and support. I have loved writing for you all.

BakenandEggs