Chapter Twenty One

Strybing Arboretum,
Golden Gate Park,
San Francisco,
California.

Pretorius' body slumped to the floor, before disappearing in a swirl of green mist. As Xander turned to Paige, she took one look at his pulsating green eyes before going to scream at the top of her lungs. She didn't get a chance however as Xander managed to put a hand over her mouth before she could make a sound.

Seeing the way that she was staring at him he realised his eyes had changed colour again and he made a concerted effort to revert them to normal. Once he felt that he'd succeeded, he spoke to Paige as calmly and soothingly as possible. "I know it was a shock to see me do that," he told her softly, "but screaming isn't a good thing to be doing right now. If I take my hand away, are you gonna control yourself?"

Paige was still shocked by what she had just seen, but had calmed down enough to nod in reply. Xander took his hand away slowly, and it was at that point Paige realised that he hadn't stopped her from running, but simply had his hand covering her mouth. The realisation that he hadn't been restraining her made her feel better about him, but not about what he had done.

"Why'd you kill him, he didn't even make a move to hurt you?" she asked, her mind conflicted between the man who's company she'd been enjoying the last couple of hours, and the man that had just violently killed another being without provocation or remorse.

Xander began walking quickly through the arboretum, wanting to get back to the manor, Paige managing to keep pace beside him. "Do you want me to explain how he was evil incarnate and wouldn't have hesitated in killing both of us if he had an opening, or do you want the truth?" he asked, his tone light.

"The truth," she replied, "although the other reason sounds just as valid given everything I've been told."

"Oh they are," Xander confirmed, "they just weren't why I did it at that moment. I killed him because he's a demon, I was angry, and it would make me feel better. Just so you know it did by the way," he added, "I'm feeling a lot better."

Paige was shocked by the answer; the fact he had just admitted to killing someone to make him feel better was not endearing him to her. "Oh."

"Back in Sunnydale," Xander continued, "whenever I had some tension that needed to be released, I'd either have lots of sex with Anya or go out on patrol and dust some vamps. With Anya dead and San Francisco a vampire-free zone, apart from one soon to be dusted exception, I haven't had those luxuries and with everything I've gone through the last few days I've really needed to release some tension."

Paige still couldn't tell whether he was joking, insane, or a bit of both. "Had you thought about talking it over with someone instead of killing something, you know like normal people do?"

"Oh yeah," he snorted, "I can go to a shrink and say 'my girlfriend has been killed by a demon after telling him that I was the one prophesised to kill him, I just found out all of my friends trust a vampire more than me in protecting someone I consider to be a sister, and I have a hell goddess out for my blood as she's been told I know the whereabouts of the only thing that can send her home, all in the last week or so'. As we told you earlier, telling someone who's not in the know about what we do will only get you an extended stay in an institution. Although I'm sure the facilities in a place like that are second to none, I'd rather put off trying them out until after my first divorce. Apart from the very occasional exception, demons are evil. Pretorius was definitely in that category and no one's going to be crying over his rotting corpse."

Paige was now shocked that he'd managed to function at all, given what he'd just casually told her. She herself has had a lot happen to her the last twenty-four hours, but most of that had been to open her eyes to a whole new world and a whole new family. Xander had lost not only his girlfriend, but all of his friends as well. Practically his entire life had been destroyed in the space of a week, and here he was acting as though it were an everyday occurrence.

She knew from professional experience that keeping everything bottled up the way he seemed to be doing was not the healthiest option, so she tried to think of something to help him. "How about talking to someone who is in the know, someone who will better understand what you're going through?"

"Not counting you, everyone I know who's aware of the real world already knows about what I'm going through, either through causing it or witnessing it, and they all deal with things the same way I do," he replied, allowing her to see what a predicament he was in.

By talking to someone who didn't know about the world Xander lived in, they would consider him insane and lock him away 'for his own protection', and most of the people who did know were probably in as much need of someone as Xander.

"Anyway," Xander continued, "even if there was someone I could talk to about everything I've gone through the last few years, I wouldn't."

"Why not?" she asked.

"I come from Sunnydale," he responded, as though it were obvious, "look, I know this is all new to you, but living the life that I do you learn to either weather the storm or become another victim."

"I can kinda understand that, but I'm still not happy with the whole 'killing something to make you feel better' thing you've got going. Last night those demons would have killed all of us had Cole and the others not managed to stop them, but they had been trying to kill us. All that guy Pretentious had done was deliver a message, admittedly not a good message, but he made no move to hurt either of us and you snapped his neck without warning and did it because it made you feel better. You can see why I'd consider that less than normal behaviour can't you?"

"His name was Pretorius by the way, but yes I can see what you mean. I know using violence as a pressure valve isn't normal, but if you haven't guessed already neither am I. Paige, you can't treat demons the same way you do other humans, as you'll end up dead, or worse one of them. He might not have done anything to us this time, but that doesn't mean he wouldn't next time, to us or someone else. By killing him now I've made sure that he didn't kill anyone in the future."

"Who are you, George Bush? 'Oh no, they might attack us, lets get them first'." She mocked.

"The difference is," he replied not rising to the bait, "the demons actually will attack us, and killing them first is sometimes the only way to stay alive to see another sunrise. You can't waste time finding evidence that a demon has killed before dealing with it, because if we did the world would have been destroyed or overrun by now. Until you've had more experience with the demon world, you'll never truly understand what it's like and why we do the things we do. I could spend hours debating the pros and cons, but we'll never agree until you've experienced it first hand."

"Okay, I'll agree to disagree for the time being. What are we going to do about your friend… Buffy was it? Didn't I hear you mention her before?"

"Yeah, as I said she's someone I used to know," he said emphasising the 'used to'.

"You're gonna help her though, right?" she asked, uncertain whether he would.

Xander suddenly stopped and span round to face her, an astonished look on his face. "Of course!" he shouted, causing people to turn and look at the couple.

"Sorry," she said, "it's just that I haven't exactly been getting good vibes off you whenever she's been mentioned."

"Not surprising, we've recently had a disagreement about what is considered the correct way to treat a friend and ally."

"Oh." Paige could tell that there was more to do with it than that, but decided that it was best left alone for the time being.

Xander started walking again, Paige quickly following suit. "I know that doesn't tell you much," Xander said apologetically, "but that's all I can actually say about the subject. I may not like her at the moment, but I would never allow anything bad happen to her if I'm able to prevent it."

"So what now?" she asked.

"Pretorius' body should materialise in Malcolm's lair, which he'll take as my answer, so he'll be expecting me tomorrow at midnight," he responded. "I don't like disappointing people so I'll just have to keep the appointment."

"You're not going alone are you?" she asked, concerned for his wellbeing.

"If you'd asked me a couple of weeks ago you wouldn't have got an answer, as I'd already be on my way to kill everyone and everything in my sight until she was safely in my arms."

Paige now realised there was a lot more to this than he was letting on, as that wasn't the sort of thing you say about a friend, although it looked like he wasn't aware of his choice of words.

"And now?"

"Now the answer is 'hell no, I'm gonna call in the cavalry'. Come on, we need to get back to the manor, there are a couple of phone calls I gotta make."

The Magic Box,
Sunnydale,
California.

Giles, Joyce and the others were all still sitting around the table in the shop going through every book Giles had at his disposal, looking for anything that might be helpful in finding Buffy, when the phone started ringing.

Giles got up with a start, the sudden interruption to the silence that was permeating the shop making him jump, and he took a couple of calming breaths and a cursory wipe of his glasses before answering. "Hello Magic Box, Rupert Giles speaking."

"Hello Mr. Giles, it's Xander."

Giles winced at the formal and almost unfeeling way that Xander greeted him, but tried to maintain a happy tone. "Xander? It's nice to hear…"

"No time for pleasantries," Xander said abruptly, cutting him off, "I know that Buffy is missing."

"Phoebe told you then."

"No," Xander said confused, "one of the Source's flunkies delivered the message to me. Spike took her and gave her to the Source as a gift. He's using her to get to me."

"Are you going to rescue her?" he asked, instantly realising his mistake.

"How can you ask me a question like that?" Xander all but growled out, finding it hard to keep from shouting at the older man, "I maybe mad at her, and you for that matter, but I would never allow her to be hurt or killed because of it!"

"I'm sorry Xander, I didn't mean to suggest…" his attempt to apologise was cut off once again by Xander.

"Forget it," Xander sighed, his anger deflating as fast as it emerged, "I'll give you that due to the amount of stress you must be under."

"Thank you," Giles replied, knowing that he had gotten off lightly only because there were more important things to discuss, "although I'm certainly not the only one to be under a certain amount of pressure at the moment. I have to ask this Xander, how are you going to handle this, you can't just give yourself up."

"I know that," he said, trying hard not to snap at the ex-Watcher, "he'll just kill us both and I don't intend on dying just yet. That was the reason I was phoning, I'm going to send Cole and Leo to get you and the others."

"Leo can't come to the Hellmouth," Giles pointed out unnecessarily.

"No he can't, but he can go to LA and get Angel and the gang. Cole's the one coming for you, he'll be there this evening, giving you time to gather whatever you think you might need. Someone will ring to let you know when and arrange a place to collect you."

"We'll be ready." Giles paused for a moment, considering whether to bring up his parents yet or not. "Xander…"

"Now is not the time Mr. Giles; once everything is sorted we'll have a chat, but right now we need to concentrate on the job at hand."

Giles never thought he'd miss being called G-Man, but now there was nothing he'd like more. "I understand. I'll see you soon Xander."

"Bye," was all Xander said before hanging up.

Giles just stood there, listening to the dial tone for a while, wondering if his relationship with the young man he considered a son could ever be reconciled.

"Why didn't you tell him about his parents?" Joyce asked as Giles put the receiver down.

When she saw the hurt look Giles had on his face she felt bad for him, guessing that Xander hadn't been very pleasant, but knew that he'd brought it on himself.

"He was in no mood to speak to me, I could tell he was making an effort just to be civil and wanted to get off the phone as soon as possible. He rang to tell us he knows who has Buffy."

"Was it Spike?" Dawn asked, still hoping that she was wrong and he had nothing to do with it. She still couldn't believe that Spike would do something like that, as he'd always been so nice to her.

"Yes, Spike was the one to take her I'm afraid Dawn. It appears that he has allied himself with the Source and it was for him that he took her."

"He wants to trade Buffy for Xander," Willow quickly deduced.

"That appears to be the case, but both Xander and I know that he won't keep his end of the bargain even if Xander agreed to his terms."

"Xander's not going to leave her at the Source's mercy is he?" she asked, causing the others to look at her as though she suddenly grew a second head.

Giles softened his look when he realised he had made the same mistake himself. "No Willow he's not; I was silly enough to voice a similar question and he was appalled that I could think so little of him, and right to do so. He isn't going to just hand himself over as the Source will undoubtedly kill them both, he's sending Cole to retrieve us later today and sending Leo to fetch Angel and the others from Los Angeles so we can all help devise a plan of action."

"Its no wonder Xander wants nothing to do with you," Dawn said angrily in defence of her crush, "if that's what you think of him."

"You're right," Giles replied, "I feel we may have burned our bridges with him beyond repair."

"Not we Rupert," Joyce said with a pointed look, "Dawn and I were as much in the dark about this as he was."

"Yes, I know. I am surprised you're as calm about it as you are."

"Believe me I am far from calm about this," she said, her voice rising slightly and growing harder, "the only thing stopping me from throttling the lot of you is that getting Buffy back is more important to me. Once she is safe and sound, we will all be having a conversation about your habit of keeping important information concerning my daughters from me."

The look that Giles, Willow and Tara were receiving reminded them of the look Buffy had in her eyes just before she shoved a stake through the heart of a vampire, realizing that it was a Summers trait and not a Slayer one. "As there's nothing more to do for the time being, I think I'll go home and do some housecleaning as I've left it the last couple of days. Come on Dawn."

"Can't I stay here?" she whined, not wanting to leave.

"I don't want you out of my sight at the moment." her mother replied.

Dawn knew how worried she'd been about Buffy, even though she'd been trying to hide it from her, and her own situation was only adding to her worry so she nodded in acceptance and started packing her things up.

"Let me know when to be here, we're coming with you."

"Joyce, do you think…"

"Unless the next words out of your mouth are 'of course'," Joyce said cutting him off, "I suggest you don't say anything."

"Of course."

Joyce nodded in satisfaction and left with Dawn, leaving a relieved looking Giles behind.

Hyperion Hotel,
Los Angeles,
California.

Cordelia was just about to get herself another coffee, her fifth so far, when the phone started ringing. Composing herself and putting on her best PA voice, she answered it. "Angel Investigations, we help the hopeless."

"Hi Cordy." Cordelia smiled at hearing Xander's voice.

"Xander! How are you?" She instantly regretted asking him that, how did she expect him to be, full of the joys of spring? "Sorry, I didn't mean…"

"Don't worry Cor, I know what you meant. Given everything that's happened I'm okay, but once everything's blown over I'm expecting a long period of depression interspersed with bouts of anger and self-loathing. It's been a while since we've talked," he said, trying to sound upbeat, "how goes everything for my favourite sparring partner?"

"Too much to talk about on the phone," she replied, maintaining the pretence that nothing was wrong for his benefit, "we have to meet up and talk in person. Don't tell anyone, but I kinda miss having you around to insult."

"Well that's partly what I've rung about, is Angel there? I need to speak to him." She was surprised that he wanted to speak to Angel, given that he never wanted to be in the same hemisphere as the souled vampire, but decided against commenting, as even she knew when to keep quiet.

"Yeah, I'll just put him on for you."

She transferred the call to Angel's office, Angel picking it up immediately.

"Hello?"

"Angel."

He recognised Xander's voice immediately. "Xander." Angel was surprised that Xander was calling him, but realised that it must be important and therefore tried to keep his natural animosity towards the boy to a minimum. "How can I help?"

"You know about Buffy?" he asked, not wanting to be on the phone any longer than necessary.

"Yeah, Giles thinks that Spike took her and asked us to keep an eye out."

"I know where Buffy is, want to help get her back?"

Angel wasted no time in responding. "When and where?"

"Get everything you think you and the others will need ready for this evening. I'll send Leo to come get you; he's a Whitelighter, basically a guardian angel, so the demon in you may not feel too happy in his presence. I'll ring later to confirm a time."

"We'll be ready and thanks for the heads up."

"Don't think this changes anything; I need your 'A' game on this and as much as I enjoy annoying you, this is more important."

"Understood." Angel said nothing for a moment. "I'm sorry about Anya."

"Thanks."

Xander put the phone down without saying goodbye, not that Angel expected any less. He left his office and walked over to Cordelia.

"What did the Doofus want?" she asked, knowing he wouldn't call to talk about the weather.

"We're going to San Francisco, Xander's sending someone to pick us up this evening so we need to get everything ready. Call Wes and Gunn and let them know the situation and tell them to be her in an hour."

"I'm on it. What's going on?" she asked while calling Wesley's cell phone.

"Xander knows where Buffy is and he wants help getting her back."

Cordelia was surprised that Xander asked for his help given their history. "It must be bad if he wants your help."

"I know."

Halliwell Manor,
San Francisco,
California.

After getting off the phone with Angel, Xander and Paige started to make themselves useful by doing a little tidying. They didn't get very far before Prue and the others arrived back.

On hearing the door open, Xander went out to greet them, kinda. "I'm glad you're back, we have a situation."

"And hello to you too." Prue responded making it clear she wasn't amused with his greeting.

Being around as many women as he had, Xander recognised the tone immediately and went into damage control, putting on his best Xander Grin combined with his puppy dog eyes. "Sorry Prue, I didn't mean to be rude."

Prue was powerless against his two most powerful expressions and caved faster than her sisters had ever seen. "I'll let it slide this time, but there'll be some serious hitting of the Xander if you do it again. So what's up?"

"The Source has Buffy."

Xander knew he could have sugarcoated it a bit, but he just didn't have the energy.

Talking about Buffy of course reminds Phoebe of her conversation with Giles earlier in the day and rushes over to him. "Oh my god," she almost shouted in a panicky voice, "Xander I completely forgot what with everything that's happened but Giles rang earlier and said she'd been taken. You were still out from the spell and…" she was cut off by Xander when he smiled warmly at her whilst placing a hand on her shoulder to calm her down some.

"Don't worry about it Phoebe," he said, knowing why she acted that way.

"I just don't want you thinking I kept it from you on purpose."

"I'll admit it crossed my mind," he revealed, "but seeing how you reacted just then I know it wasn't intentional. You could have said nothing, hoping that I hadn't talked to Giles yet, but you didn't. It says a lot about the type of person you are that you told me."

"So you've talked to him?" Prue asked, surprised given his feelings towards them at the moment.

"Joyce and Dawn deserved to know what's going on if nothing else. I was civil and held my tongue but don't expect me to be all nice as pie when I see them again."

Everybody nodded in acknowledgement of that, feeling that they'd be the same in his place.

"What are we going to do?" Piper asked, getting things back on track, "I'm guessing the Source wants to do a swap, you for her?"

"That about sums it up." He could see their faces and could tell what they're thinking. "Don't worry, I'm not stupid enough to think he'd actually let her go willingly," he assured them, "so we'll just have to persuade him. Leo, Cole, I know this is going to be a strain on you, but do you think you'll be able to go get the others from Sunnydale and LA?"

They looked at each other for a moment before nodding in unison.

"That's a relief because I kinda already told them you would," he informed them with a guilty expression.

"I take it Leo will be going to LA while I get the Sunnydale group," Cole commented.

"It'll be easier that way," Xander said, agreeing with Cole's statement. "Leo, I haven't told you a lot about the LA group, but the leader Angel is a vampire."

Leo did a double take, trying to tell if he'd heard what he thought he heard. "What?"

"I know, believe me I find it strange and I've known him almost five years now. Basically around a century or so ago he fed on a Gypsy girl and her family cursed him with his soul. His story is a lot like Cole's; he used to be evil but now he's fighting the good fight on the road to redemption, the difference being that Cole has a personality and made the choice willingly. He's definitely on the side of the angels, pardon the pun, and so long as he doesn't experience a moment of perfect happiness he'll stay that way. Believe me when I say we're all better off that he keeps it."

"I take that to mean it's happened before. What caused him to lose his soul?" he asked.

"He had sex with Buffy," Xander told them, not quite managing to keep his own distaste out of his tone and expression.

The tone in his voice lets everyone know what he thinks about that little detail. Phoebe shuddered at the thought of having sex with a dead body.

"Eww!"

Prue looked at her strangely, "how can you say that Phoebe, you have sex with Cole. They're both demons."

"Yeah, but there's a difference." Phoebe put her arms around Cole, smiling instinctively. "Cole's alive; he was born just like we were. Vampires are nothing but animated corpses inhabited by a demon. I may have a few kinks in the bedroom department, but necrophilia is definitely not one of them."

Xander's had time over the years to think about this particular topic and has made peace with it, mostly. "If you love someone enough you can overcome any obstacle, you've got two prime examples right here. Look, she might not be one of my favourite people at the moment, but even I can't deny that they loved each other at the time; she didn't know he was a vampire when she first met him and by the time that happened she was already falling for him. I also know that they had no idea about the clause in his curse until after he lost it and, while Buffy might not have been able to control herself, I know he would never run the risk of letting Angelus loose."

"Yeah, but still…"

"Don't get me wrong," he said cutting her off, "I have as much trouble with the idea as you do, but as someone once said 'love makes you do the wacky'. I don't think any of us can truly take the high ground on this anyway; Cole may be alive but he is still a demon, Leo is technically dead and has been for nearly sixty years and Anya is, was, a millennia old former vengeance demon."

He know he had them there, as not one of them could say they have a conventional relationship so they didn't have a leg to stand on. They all took a look at each other, realising the truth in his words and decided that people in glasshouses shouldn't throw stones.

"You're right," Phoebe admitted, "sorry."

"Don't worry about it," he assured her, "I've done my fair share of Buffy/Angel bashing in the past, it used to be one of my favourite pastimes in fact, it's just that I've learned that if you don't let go of the past you don't have much chance of a future. Anyway Leo, the main reason I brought it up is because you and Angel might feel uneasy being around each other, I've already warned him so he's prepared. I might not like him but I do trust him, that and he knows I won't hesitate about dusting his brooding ass if he ever lost his soul again."

"Okay, I'll take your word for it, but he might not enjoy the orbing process."

"Not seeing a problem myself," Xander said with a grin, "as I said I trust him but I don't like him. Deadboy and I only interact when absolutely necessary and even then only the absolute minimum required."

"Is that who you were talking about that caused Buffy to glare at you when we first met?" Phoebe asked.

"Yep, she's always hated the fact that me and Sir Broodsalot don't get on. Anyway if you're both alright with that plan, all we need to do is work out a place for everyone to gather. We can't exactly do it here, even if was in perfect shape Angel would be turned into a crispy critter with the amount of windows this place has."

Piper noticed the looks she was getting from her sisters and sighed as she nodded her head slightly. "I guess the best place will be P3, I can close it for a couple of nights without losing too much revenue, but beyond that…"

"Don't worry," Xander said knowing how important the club was to her, "if we haven't sorted it out by then there'll be nothing to sort. I'll contact Angel so can one of you contact the others?"

"Why can't you?" Prue asked.

"You have to ask?" he responded.

They all know he didn't want to speak to them, but Leo had an idea. "What if you rang Joyce? I'm sure she'd like to speak to you."

Xander thought about saying no, until he received another 'slap' from Prue. "Okay, okay, I'll do it," he said while rubbing his head.

He turned to go use the phone when Paige stopped him by placing her hand on his forearm. She had kept quiet while they were planning what to do, mainly because she had no idea what to say, but she did know that things were going to get hectic later, so she wanted to tell the others who she really was before then.

"Xander?"

He turned to look at her. "Yeah?"

She nodded her head in the direction of her sisters and he quickly cottoned on to what she wanted.

"Oh, yeah." He turned so he was facing the sisters again. "Ladies, we need to have a chat before we do anything else."

"Good news or bad?" was Phoebe's immediate reply.

"Definitely good news," he said assuringly, "it'll be a little unexpected for you is all."

"Well don't keep us in suspense," Piper said, hating it when things like this were dragged out.

Xander turned his attention to Paige, who seemed to want him to be spokesperson again so he started thinking of the best way top approach this.

"Do you know about the relationship between your mother and her Whitelighter Sam?" he asked the sisters.

"Yeah," Prue answered, "it caused a little trouble between Leo and dad; he doesn't like Whitelighters much considering everything and when he found out Leo was one he didn't take it very well to begin with. We met Sam a couple of months ago when we had to deal with the demon that killed our mother."

"You did?" Paige asked, excited that she might get to see her biological father.

"Yeah, he'd had his wings clipped and had been living at the lake where she died."

"Had?" Paige asked not liking the connotations.

"Yeah, he helped us defeat the demon by allowing it to inhabit his body while we electrocuted it. We killed it, but it also killed Sam in the process."

"Oh."

Paige's hopes were dashed at that moment and her shoulders slumped slightly. Xander noticed and pulls her into a hug, knowing that hearing that your father was dead like that couldn't be easy.

Piper watched the exchange between the two with a curious expression. "Guys what's going on?"

"The reason I was asking about your mother and Sam is that during their time together, they had a child, a baby daughter."

No one could say that the Halliwell sisters were dumb; they could all tell from the way he was talking and the way he would look over to Paige fleetingly what he was getting at. They all looked at one another, using the silent communication that only the closest of relationships could use, before Prue asked the question they all wanted the answer to. "What are you saying?"

"That child was Paige."

"What!" All three sisters screamed at the top of their lungs. They may have thought it, but to have their thoughts confirmed was a completely different thing entirely.

"I told you this would be unexpected," was Xander's helpful reply.

"Why have we never heard about this before?"

Xander did something they didn't expect, he shrugged. "The Elders either didn't know or kept her a secret; your mother and Sam put her up for adoption to keep her safe, as there had never been a child born of a witch and a Whitelighter before. I know you don't want to hear this, but Paige would have been a sought after commodity in the demon world, her blood alone would have been able to enhance a myriad of spells and rituals."

"You never told me that!" Paige said to him, a shiver going down her spine at the thought.

"Gee, I wonder why?" he said sarcastically.

Anything Paige was going to say in response left her head when her sisters all stepped closer to her. Xander took a couple of steps back, knowing that this was a momentous occasion for all four of them.

Phoebe took a step closer to Paige than the other two, looking at Paige as though she were searching for something. "I thought that there was something familiar with you, you look a bit like Grams when she was younger."

"I do?" Paige asked, pleased that there was a family resemblance.

The other sisters' eyes widened in realisation that Phoebe was correct, Piper voicing her corroboration first.

"Yeah, now Phoebe's mentioned it you do. We have loads of photo albums that you can look at if you'd like?"

Paige started nodding her head vigorously, making Xander wonder whether it would fall off. "I'd love to."

Prue came over and pulled her into a hug. "Welcome to the family Paige. You know we should have worked it out sooner, given that your name begins with a P."

"Does this mean you'll be changing the name of the club to P4?" Xander asked Piper.

"It's a definite possibility," she responded, seriously considering it. She suddenly turns to Xander with a curious look. "As she's a Halliwell does that mean she's a witch?"

"Yep and a Whitelighter as well, she's got powers a plenty although hers are dormant. Like you they would need to be activated for her to make use of them. I've already talked to her about whether she wants me to activate them or not."

All three Charmed Ones turn to the newest member of the family. "Well?" Phoebe asked.

"I'm not sure," she replied, still uncertain, "I'd like some more time to think about it."

Before anyone could put their two cents in, Xander stepped in. "Hey, no pressure," he reassured her, repeating what he'd already said, "you have all the time in the world to decide what you want to do. Why don't you four do some sister bonding, you've got a lifetime of memories to catch up on after all, while I ring Joyce and Angel?"

The girls all nod in agreement to that, already making their way upstairs. "Sounds like a plan to me," Prue said while gently leading Paige by the hand, "come on Paige it's time you learned more about your family."

The three men smiled at the women as they moved out of sight.

"So what do you want us to do?" Leo asked Xander.

"Well I'm guessing that we're not gonna see them for a few hours, so someone needs to let the people that are working at P3 that it's closed for a couple days. Then once I've contacted the others we'll head there and clear some space so you don't orb or shimmer anyone through a table or chair."

"You know that can't happen," he informed his friend.

"You're bringing people into what you keep telling me is not their war," Xander replied, making air quotes whilst rolling his eyes when he said 'their war', "without the consent of the elders or the PTB. Malcolm might have started it by working with Spike, but I've always noticed that the bad guys seem to get a bit more leniency when it comes to breaking the rules. Add Glory to the mix, as we all know we haven't seen the last of her, and you can forgive me if I want to be a little extra cautious."

"Isn't that a little fatalistic?" Leo asked.

"Not when it's true," he replied.

"Point taken. I'll sort out the staff, Cole can begin clearing P3 and you go contact everyone and let them know when we're arriving. I've just realised we still haven't worked that out yet."

"Seven sound okay with you two?"

Leo and Cole look at each other and shrugged. "Yeah, it gives us a few hours to get everything ready."

Xander nodded in agreement and went to the phone, deciding to call Angel first as he guessed that he might be on the phone a while with Joyce.

Summers Residence,
Sunnydale,
California.

Joyce was in the kitchen washing the dishes that had been lying around the last couple of days, as she hadn't really been in the mood to do much of anything around the house since Buffy's abduction. Now that she knew where she was, and that Xander and the others would rescue her, she was in better spirits.

When she heard the phone start ringing, she called out for Dawn to get it, which she did.

"Hello?" she greeted politely.

"Hi Dawn Patrol," Xander replied with a warmth in his voice he thought would never come back.

"Xander!" she squealed in delight, happy to hear from him.

"Good set of lungs you got there Dawnmeister, how you doing?" he asked.

"Better now," she replied in a happy tone that brought a smile to his face.

"Aw shucks, you're making me blush. I hope you're not tiring your mom out, I know she's back to her normal loveliness now, but you've both been through a lot the last couple of days."

She would normally roll her eyes to a comment like that but she knew that it was true. "Don't worry Xander I've been the model daughter," she said in her most innocent voice. Of course Xander didn't buy it for a second as he was the one to teach her that voice in the… The realisation that he never did any of that stuff with her hits him and he momentarily couldn't speak. "Xander, you still there?" she asked.

"Uh, yeah, sorry I zoned out there for a second." He decided there and then that those memories he had of her, no matter how he received them, were real and would never allow himself to think differently again. It didn't matter how she got here, she was his Dawnie and that's all that mattered. "You better have been, or else I shall have to think of a suitable punishment when I see you."

"You're coming back?" she asked in a hopeful tone. Ever since her talk with Buffy she had been worried that she might never see him again.

"No, you're coming here," he replied, knowing what the response would be.

"Cool! I've always wanted to see the Golden Gate Bridge!"

"I'm sure we can arrange it Dawnie," he said with a smile, "we have a couple of things to do first, but there'll be plenty of time for sightseeing after. She's going to be fine you know."

"I know, because she has her White Knight looking after her."

"What did you say?" he asked in shock, having only been called that once before.

"That's what you are. You've always been there to charge in and rescue her when she got her stupid ass in trouble."

Xander silently sighed in relief, glad that she didn't say it for any other reason. "Dawn, what have I told you about that kind of language?" he asked.

"Buffy told me about being the Key."

"She did?" Xander said surprised by the change of subject, forgetting all about Dawn's more colourful language.

"Yeah, I think she realised that she should have told us before. I know she didn't tell you and that you're angry with everyone about it."

"Not everyone Dawn, you and your mom had nothing to do with it. I know you have a lot to tell me Dawnie, but I need to speak with your mother first okay?"

"Okay," she said disappointedly. Dawn put her hand over the receiver and called for her mom, who appeared a couple of seconds later drying her hands on a tea towel.

Exchanging the towel for the receiver, she indicated for Dawn to go finish washing the dishes, which she pouted about but complied with nonetheless.

"Hello Xander, it's lovely to hear from you," she said in a voice he could tell was genuinely free of pain.

He had never said anything, but he could always tell when she was trying to hide how much pain she was in. She felt she had to hide it from the rest of them and he played along, as it made her feel better to know they weren't always worried for her.

Of course that was because he was hiding how much he was always worried for her, but that was okay as, she played along too.

"It's great to hear your voice too Mrs. Summers," he replied with complete sincerity.

"If I have to tell you one more time to call me Joyce, so help me I'll…" her rant was cut off before it began by Xander's laughter.

"I'm just kidding around Joyce. How are you feeling?" he asked seriously.

Joyce was touched by how much he cared about her.

"Excellent thanks to you."

She could almost feel his embarrassment, knowing he never felt comfortable when praised. She'd tried to help him with that by praising him whenever possible, but some traits never go away.

"I didn't do anything, that was all Leo," he said trying to move the credit away from him.

"We both know that if you hadn't been worried about what caused my tumour and asked him to check into it I'd still be in hospital," she said in a tone that brook no argument. "I don't know how I can ever repay you."

"Knowing you're well is all I need Joyce," Xander paused for a moment before taking Prue's advice, "I'm sure you've already realised this, but you've been more of a mother to me than my own ever was and I don't know what I'd do if anything ever happened to you."

"I feel the same about you Xander," Joyce told him sincerely, her eyes moistening slightly at his confession. "I'm glad that you called," she said changing the subject, needing to see him before continuing that particular discussion, "Buffy told us about Dawn and about her keeping it from you."

"Dawn told me. I know you mean well Joyce," he said tentatively, mindful that she was Buffy's mom, "but I would really like it if we could not talk about your eldest daughter at the moment. I don't want any harm to come to her, but apart from that I'd really rather have nothing to do with her, now or in the foreseeable future."

"Xander, I understand why you feel that way, and I'm not going to try and defend what they did as they were wrong to do it, but making decisions about your future when everything is still raw isn't wise."

"I take it you mean my transferring out here and leaving Sunnydale?" he asked, guessing that Buffy must have mentioned it.

"Yes."

"Do you honestly blame me for wanting a new start, given everything?" he asked, his emotions starting to surface. "At this moment as far as I'm concerned there are only two reasons to stay in Sunnydale and I've spoken to both of them in the last few minutes. My friends have proven once again they don't trust me, my girlfriend is dead and don't even get me started on my parents."

Joyce's voice hitched slightly at the mention of his parents, knowing that he needs to know what's happened to them. "Xander, there's something I need to tell you."

"What?" he asked recognising the tone to mean that it wasn't good news.

"I don't know how to say this, but I'm afraid that your parents are dead."

There's silence on the phone for a moment before she heard a thump and a different voice on the other end of the line.

"Hello Joyce?"

"Leo is that you? What's happened to Xander, is he alright?" she asked frantically, worried for her surrogate son.

"He's collapsed Joyce, what's happened?"

She gasped into the phone, her worry increasing. "I just gave him some bad news. The same night he took Buffy, Spike also killed Xander's parents."

"Oh my god, hasn't he suffered enough?" Leo asked rhetorically.

Over the last week Xander had been slowly losing everything that tied him to the real world. Leo knew from experience that once someone had lost everything that they fight for, they almost begin to welcome death. They may not take their own life, but they will take greater and greater risks until they die. He silently vowed to ensure that Xander didn't end up like that.

A thought suddenly entered his head. "Were they turned?" he asked.

"We're not sure," Joyce replied, "so Rupert had them cremated to be on the safe side, the last thing Xander needs is to have vampire versions of his parents running amok."

"I can't argue with you there," he replied, shuddering at the thought of what that would do to Xander's already frayed psyche. "I'm going to have to hang up now Joyce; the girls heard the commotion and are taking care of Xander at the moment, but I want to see if there's anything I can do. Just so you know, he called to let you know that Cole was coming to collect you all at seven this evening, I'm guessing at the shop Giles owns."

"Is it possible for him to come here to my house now and collect the others later?" she asked, not wanting to wait that long. "I feel responsible and want to help however I can."

"I'm sure he'll manage under the circumstances," Leo replied, "if anyone will be able to get through to Xander it's you. He cares for you a great deal you know."

"The feeling is more than mutual. The address is 1630 Revello Drive, it might be wise if he arrives outside and knocks on the door as Willow and Giles have placed wards on the house and they might react to him," she informed him.

"Don't worry I'll let him know."

"I'll let you go now Leo, I'll see you soon."

"Bye Joyce."

She waited for Leo to put the phone down before doing so herself. As she turned round she saw Dawn standing in the kitchen doorway with a worried look on her face.

"Is Xander okay?" she asked.

"He will be honey," Joyce told her softly, "he's just had a lot of bad things happen to him in a short space of time and it's taken its toll on him. A friend of Xander's is going to be here soon to take us to him, so we better get ourselves ready. Go upstairs and pack some clothes, we don't now how long we're going to be there so pack several changes of clothes."

"What about the others?" she asked, more out of curiosity than because she gave a damn. It would be a long time until she felt the same about them given everything.

"At the moment my two priorities are Buffy and Xander. I'll call them quickly so they know when to be ready, after that it's up to them."

"Okay, I'll start packing." Dawn then raced upstairs to her room.

Joyce already had several outfits packed for when she was in hospital, so she used her time to phone Giles.

"Hello Magic Box, Rupert Giles speaking."

"Rupert, it's Joyce."

"Is anything wrong?" he asked worriedly.

"I just got a call from Xander, he said that Cole will be at the shop tonight at seven."

"We'll be ready. What time should I expect you?"

"Dawn and I will already be there, Cole is coming for us in a few minutes."

"Might I ask why?" he enquired, curious as to why they were going earlier.

"I told Xander about his parents and he hasn't taken it well, so I've asked for them to collect us now so I can help him."

"Is there anything I can do?"

"I think you've done enough for the moment Rupert," she replied in a clipped tone. "We shall see you later." She put the phone down before he had a chance to respond.

She's tried to keep her anger she felt towards the man in check, knowing that any argument she had with him at the moment would be counter productive, but even she had a limit. She knew that it wasn't all Giles' fault, but his and Buffy's treatment of Xander had most certainly contributed to his current mental state.

While Xander may not be the most forthcoming person when it came to his emotions, his negative ones at any rate, he like anyone else needed to have the love and support of his friends, something he must feel he no longer had.

He might have Leo and the others, but they'd only known him a few days. He needed people who have known him years, friends that could understand the subtle changes in his mood that could easily be overlooked by those less used to them.

She hoped that she'd be able to help bring Xander out from whatever state he was in right now, not just for him but for Buffy as well.