Chapter 52: Nothing But

"Okay. Let's everyone calm down." Xander looked at the cop that had a gun on him. The police officer didn't exactly look like he was in control of the situation. He kept looking at the other one. The lady cop. They didn't come in expecting this. And likely weren't in contact with anyone else. Not with how twitchy the guy was. And how he kept looking at his partner. It would have been quite easy to step forward, disarm the male and use his weapon to shoot the other in the head. With his body armor, there wasn't that much risk. It would have to be a head shot though. The cops would also be wearing Kevlar vests.

Still, that was a line he didn't exactly want to cross. Not until he was certain that they were actually cops. So, he kept his hands raised.

"What are you doing?" Gordon hissed towards his partner. He kept switching between Kate and the guy he was holding up. He didn't like the look of him. The one-eyed guy was way too calm. Like he had expected it or something. Just biding his time, until he could make a move. "This is not what we came here for."

"Shut up." Kate snapped back. She watched as the fugitive she had stumbled upon didn't move. It wasn't much of a reassurance given what she had learned about the young woman. "I said, on the ground. Now. Do it now."

"Uh, could you show us some identification?" Xander asked. If they weren't who they said they were, then he could move. It would make it so much easier if they weren't what they claimed to be. The government agent got the feeling that the three of them worked for the same boss though. "Just so I know that you aren't just here to rob us."

Ruffalo reached into his pocket with the hand that held his flashlight and pulled out his badge. He showed it to the man, keeping the gun on him at all times. Never even letting his eyes leave his target.

"That's good enough." Xander said. He couldn't really tell if it was real, but it probably was. Especially since there wouldn't be many that could have just snuck in there and identify Faith by sight. "Can I get some names?"

"Detective Ruffalo. That's Detective Lockley." Gordon stated. He was getting antsy. This was not what police work was.

"Now. On the ground." Kate stated impatiently. She didn't stop looking at the slayer.

Xander wondered if there was something personal there. That was quite a bit of animosity for it to be recognition off of a wanted poster or something. He turned his head towards the slayer. "I think you better do what the lady detective says right now. Before anybody makes any life ending decisions."

"Xander." Faith growled. She didn't move though. No way was she going back to jail. She wondered what she should do. She wasn't going back, but she couldn't just take out the cops. With the guns, she'd likely have to severely injure one or both. Maybe even kill them. That wasn't acceptable. Not anymore.

Xander took a breath. The situation was getting out of control. If Faith tried anything, he'd be forced to act. And killing innocent cops just doing their jobs wasn't something he looked forward to. "Faith. Just relax. Everyone, be cool."

Xander turned his head slowly and looked her in the eyes. "Remember when I told you we had to talk?"

"Yeah. But, now isn't the time." Faith snapped back. She was getting edgy. That much was clear in her tensed posture.

"I think maybe it is." Xander turned back and looked at the blonde detective. "I am going to reach into my pocket and take out my identification. Okay? Let's all be careful about this. She's not going to move, I'm not going to move much, just let me show you my identification and we can all sort this thing out."

The blonde nodded at him. She was ready to adjust her aim and fire at him if he tried anything. The man certainly didn't look like a government agent. Despite the attempt at a calm inducing expression on his face.

Xander swallowed and reached into his pocket slowly, pulling out the black wallet that held his identification. He carefully opened it, showing it to both of the police officers. "See. Department of Homeland Security. The guard at the front gate may have mentioned it. Now if you could please but away your weapons, we can discuss this in a civilized manner. My associate over there, she's not going to try anything. Are you?"

Faith rolled her eyes. But, nodded. It was dumb. Like a fake badge would get the two cops to leave. Given the situation though, she had to let Xander call the shots and let things play themselves out. It was frustrating though. She might have to let herself get captured and try to escape later. The thought of being shoved in a police car didn't fill her with any glee however. Nor what to do about getting Xander out of it.

"You expect me to believe this?" Detective Lockley asked skeptically. She shone her light on the badge. It looked real enough, but she couldn't believe it. Not by looking at the man in front of him. He looked serious enough, and looked like he could handle himself. But the eyes, well eye, spoke of something much darker.

Xander sighed. He glanced back at Faith. Certainly not the situation he wanted to be in when he had to tell her the truth. "Right. I guess I shouldn't be all that surprised. Can't be too careful now days. Okay. Call it in."

"What?" Detective Ruffalo blurted out. He had stayed in the back, trying to figure things out, but it was getting ridiculous. From his partner pulling her firearm, to some thug pulling out a badge, he had a feeling that things had gone way over his head. And way out of control.

"Call your boss. The badge has my ident number." Xander explained. He could feel Faith watching him. Probably cycling through a hundred different emotions. He'd have to deal with that later. "You recognize her. That's fine. She's a material witness on a case I'm working. I need her here. She's got clearance to be here. That's not common knowledge. So, make the call and get us cleared."

"I've got them covered." Gordon stated after a moment's thought. He looked at his partner. "I think maybe we should call it in."

Kate sighed and pointed her gun down, making sure she could aim it quickly if necessary. She pulled out her cell phone with one hand and called back to her precinct. Even with the late, or really early, hour it didn't take long to go through. She went through the motions of checking the man's credentials. Surprisingly enough, it checked out.

"Thanks." Kate said, not really feeling it. She was about to hang up when the captain came onto the line.

Xander watched as the disbelief, annoyance, and finally anger crossed over her face. Whoever she was talking to, certainly wasn't happy about her asking about him. Probably had something to do with them not supposed to be there.

"My captain wants to talk to you." Detective Lockley grumbled. She shoved her phone at the now identified government agent. Her weapon stayed in her hand though.

"Thanks." Xander said, taking the phone. He didn't quite relax. He couldn't really trust someone that had pulled a gun on them and seemed to be emotionally involved. Plenty of rogues out there that let their emotions get the better of them. He put the phone to his ear. "Yeah. This is Agent Harris."

Kate watched him. Annoyed. Apparently once she had put the call through, it had started a chain reaction. Which culminated in someone calling her captain when he was at home in bed and patching him in. Captain Del Vecchio had not been happy with her. And had made his annoyance at getting called up by one of the higher ups at the federal agency known to her.

"Okay." Xander said into the phone. He looked at the blonde stare at him angrily. He was tempted to smile. As fun as it might have been, it wouldn't have helped matters. And technically, he was still on the job. No time for fun and games. "No. It's quite alright. I get it all the time. I guess I don't look the part."

He looked over at Detective Ruffalo, who still had his weapon drawn. Xander covered the mouthpiece. He whispered, "You can put the gun away now."

Gordon hesitated and looked at his partner. Kate nodded at him and he put his sidearm back into its holster. Yup, he was definitely in over his head.

"It's really no problem. No, I think it shows her to be an exceptional detective." Xander looked back to Kate. She was still holding her sidearm. "Yes. Well, not many police officers are willing to go above and beyond at three thirty in the morning. No, no, that's fine. Okay."

Xander held the phone out towards Kate. "He wants to talk to you."

Kate grabbed the phone back and put it to her ear. "Yes. Yes, sir. Okay. Thank you, sir"

She closed the phone and put it back into her pocket. She placed her weapons back in its holster as well. The detective sighed and looked at the man she had been trying to arrest. Then at the young woman she had wanted to capture. Then finally again at the government agent. "Captain Del Vecchio says that we are to assist you in any way we can."

Xander smiled. Warmly, so as not to unduly annoy the police officers. They were just doing their jobs. "Thank you, Detective."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Buffy's coming back." Giles didn't wait for Willow to sit down before him. "Apparently Xander was in New York, and did something to her boyfriend. She's on her way here now. We're going to be picking her up in a few hours."

Willow frowned. Giles had woken her up five minutes ago and she wasn't all the way there yet. She rubbed her eyes. "What are you talking about?"

"The Immortal." The watcher said again. "Buffy just said that Xander did something to him. And there were slayers gone. I think they went with him."

"What? Which ones?" Willow said, waking up. She had been asleep, snuggled up close to Kennedy when Giles had knocked on her door and told her to come to his office as soon as possible. She was still in her pajamas.

"Vi. Colleen. Monet." Giles read off of his list, going over the expected ones. Willow didn't look too surprised. "And Faith."

Willow's eyes widened somewhat at that revelation. "But, they don't even like each other. Why would she go with him? Unless it has to do with Buffy. She's never liked Buffy. They must be planning something. Oooh."

"Willow. Stop." Giles put a stop to the Willow stream of consciousness ranting before it could get too far out of hand. He stood up from his chair. "We need to move fast now. Xander is acting with impunity, and he's been taking slayers with him to do so. That cannot be allowed to stand. We need to decide what to do right now."

"I haven't really had the time to…" Willow said, less than confidently.

"Willow, we don't have much time here." Giles sighed. He pulled off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. He was getting a rather terrible headache. "Xander needs to be taken out of the picture. One way or another. Frankly, I would want it to be done with the minimum of pain. I'm sure you can agree to that."

Willow nodded.

"Then we need to find Riley." Giles said quietly, replacing his glasses. "And we need to find him now. Incarceration may be the only chance we have for him. It'll keep him out of the way, and maybe then we can get through to him. And Mr. Carravaggio will have to be dealt with as well. I hope that just telling him not to come back will be enough. But, we may have to see if Riley can handle that as well. Xander needs to be separated from these people that are using him. Then maybe we can reach him. Help him."

"But, Robin was saying that…" Willow broke in. It was still a rather drastic step. And if they went that way, then there was no turning back. No way to take it back. It would permanent. That much she knew.

"I know. He has his reservations, but he doesn't know Xander like we do." Giles spoke, trying to convince the young witch. He didn't want to act in such a manner himself. While Andrew had proven himself less than ideal in the positions he had been placed in, Xander was ill-suited for the work.

There was no finesse to the young man. None of the sophistication and class that were required to lead any number of slayers. And he did not have the advanced research ability that their current staff had. For an amateur, Xander was very good. Better than many. But, Giles had worked to make the Watchers' Council a professional organization. The elite. And Xander simply had no place there anymore. It was unfortunate, but for them to step up, some needed to step aside. Retirement would not be the worst thing that could have happened to the now one-eyed hunter.

He looked at Willow, his old charge. He looked her in the eyes. "Willow, I need to know what you found out."

"I tried to search for Riley on the net." Willow said explaining her methods of determining their wayward ally's location. "I couldn't find him. The government databases that track things like that were too well protected. I couldn't get through."

Giles noticed that she said that last part with some amount of chagrin. Hopefully, other methods had proven more fruitful. "But, you have more?"

Willow nodded quickly. "Yes. I was able to work a tracking spell. I found some old stuff of his that Buffy had left behind here. There was some magic protecting his location, but I was able to bypass it. He's in North Carolina. At an army base. Fort Bragg."

"If you knew all of this, why didn't you tell me sooner?" Giles looked down at Willow, disappointment clear in his eyes.

Willow couldn't meet the look. "I guess I thought we wouldn't really have to do it. I mean, that it would come to this. I wanted to see if there was another way first."

"Willow." Giles sighed. "We cannot allow our past feelings to blind our judgment. Xander has made mistakes that need rectifying. As regrettable as it may be, and I feel as badly as you do, but we need to do this. This is the only way to protect the slayers. If people are using Xander, and we can't get him away, then this is our only hope. Our first priority is to protect this world. And they are the only way that we can do this. Please, Willow. We need to do this. I can't keep asking you. So this is the last time. Can I count on you to support me?"

Willow looked up at him reluctantly. She nodded. The weight of two decades worth off friendship hanging off of it. "Okay."

"Thank you." Giles said. He took a seat. "We need to get to Riley. But first, we need to get Buffy and she can let us in on the situation. She may have knowledge of how many slayers that Xander has turned. And what he is capable of. We can decide exactly what to do then."

Willow nodded. "Okay."

Giles dismissed her and turned back to the files on his desk. He had gathered what information he had on the slayers that were with Xander. Faith included. If he had too, he would cut them loose. They couldn't be allowed to corrupt the others.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Damn." Rudy said to himself. He took his headphones off. The monitoring system was recording everything, and strictly speaking, it hadn't been necessary for him to listen in. But, things had started to heat up, and he wanted to have things done in real time as much as possible.

He had to report back to Lampkin. And to Xander. One Riley Finn had to be dealt with. It shouldn't be that hard. Just some pressure on the base commander to deny any requests for leave from Riley or any of his men. The only problem was the civilians that were on the old Initiative strike teams. That shouldn't be too hard though. The military was quite a stick to threaten with when it came down to it. Of course, Riley could always go AWOL.

It wasn't how he had wanted things to go down. The man hadn't spent that much time with the Council, but he had spent enough there to see how dedicated they were to the fight. They were all good people there. Even Rupert Giles. Wanting to do the good things. Even risking their own lives to do it.

Of course, it was said that the road to Hell was paved with good intentions. And the people that did the paving were the misguided ones that had the power to make things change, but not the wisdom to see what was necessary to do that. Or even what the end goal should be.

He sighed. The computer would transcribe whatever else could be gotten from the house. He didn't have to be up that late. But, it was important. Giles would find one way or another to get to them. Riley would be their most expedient method. Ironically enough, it was also the most easily tracked method.

The administrator had read through Riley's profile when he had pulled it up for Xander. The soldier had come from a fairly low-income home; raised by a single mother. Joined the military at 18. Recruited for the Initiative only a few years into his service. Of course, the reasons that he was hand selected for that assignment were not widely known. Not even to those soldiers that had been a part of the Initiative.

As much as their service records were taken into account, Walsh and the rest of the leadership of the Initiative had heavily weighed their psych profiles.

Riley hadn't been the most stellar soldier. Strictly middle of the road. That wasn't to say he wasn't smart, because he was, just not that great in the ways that a soldier needed to be intelligent. Not if he wanted to advance to be more than just one of the crowd. The man had attempted Ranger School, but had failed out, not allowed to re-start. In most cases, he would have stayed a career grunt, never advancing too far, stuck in a less than grand position.

That was until the Initiative had come calling. Walsh had determined that he made the perfect subject for the program. Part of that due to his childhood, which was unsurprising given her background. Riley's childhood, and relationship with his single parent had given him a different relationship with women than most of the others potentials in the program. When it came to female authority figures, he would tend to listen to them and follow orders, even if he had misgivings. Professor Walsh had been able to capitalize on that. He made a perfect test subject. One who wouldn't complain or think about what was going on.

Of course, that Freudian determination didn't exactly count on Buffy's influence. Though it did somewhat anticipate his reaction to her. There were other side effects to that part of Riley's psyche though. Besides helping bring down the Initiative, that influence formed from childhood had other near disastrous consequences. One of the most important of which was letting a known criminal and murderer go. Simply because his ex-girlfriend told him to.

One of the other potential consequences would be what Riley would do once Buffy and Willow were able to talk to him. Rudy had no real hopes for Riley to simply say no and walk away. Even with his wife, and four year old child, Riley would be at Buffy's side if she needed help. He would likely be willing to sacrifice his career and risk the lives of his wife and daughter to help Buffy. Loyalty to a fault. It was admirable in some ways. But, blind loyalty was not something to be desired. Not even in a soldier. Not all the time. And especially in someone that didn't anticipate the long term consequences of his actions.

If Riley hadn't been a factor, Xander may have had the time to clean things up. To convince Giles and the rest that working together was better than what they were going to attempt to do. But, if Riley tried to force their hand, Level 6 would come back hard. And that wouldn't be good for anyone standing in their way.

It was too bad that those on the top had deemed the Council security risks. And not worth the risk of alliance given the United States' other allies, and their current view of the Watchers' Council. With a little more truth, the situation could have been averted. Some information could have opened Giles and the others' eyes to the world around them. Make them aware that their actions had repercussions. Of course, given the security issues they already had with personnel such as Andrew, and the bumbling of their field slayers and even upper management, he wasn't sure that it would have been enough. They'd already been warned of their screw up in Germany. And still Giles was determined to act unilaterally. Not even attempt to contact the allies that Xander had revealed existed in countries around the world. Or to make structural changes to ensure that such mistakes were not repeated. The only lasting improvements so far had been what he and Xander could provide in terms of intelligence and training. Good leaders like Eduard in the field could only do so much when upper management was less than ideal.

And it was all simply because Giles thought that he knew the best way. It seemed he had learned from listening too much to his superiors in the old Council. When he had broken his slayer's trust. Now he listened too little. Determined to make his own way. Hungry to prove himself worthy of leading the organization that had so easily kicked him out. Certain that his experience meant that he should be the one to lead. Power was a blinding factor. Even obscuring the truth when it was laid out in front of him.

There was no easy choice. And no clear right answer. They'd have to try to find their way, and hope that whatever they did, it was the correct course. The one that would sacrifice the least, for the greatest good.

But, there were always sacrifices.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Uh, you can probably go now. I can find my way back." Xander said, stuffing his badge back in his pocket. He looked towards Faith, she did not seem at all amused by the situation. She wasn't talking at least. That was a good thing. Be best not to have their big verbal throwdown in front of strangers.

"I don't think so." Kate stuffed her phone back in her pocket. "I want to know what's going on."

"Hmmm. No. Your captain said to assist me in every way. I appreciate what you're trying to do here, but it's really better for everyone involved if you just go home. And forget about tonight." Xander turned his back and started for the door to the van.

"She's a slayer isn't she?" Kate called after him. She watched him stop. The detective felt some grim satisfaction at that. Though she wished she could see his face. The hours of research had paid off. Young female, extraordinary abilities, vampires, it all made sense, if one looked in the right place.

Faith couldn't hide the look of shock on her face. Though she shouldn't have been that surprised. The detective had known that Angel was a vampire after all.

Xander turned around, no emotion visible on his face. There had been a reason that the cop was out there that late at night. And the surface facts of it didn't warrant such scrutiny. That really only left the truth. Unfortunately, she'd gotten a little deeper than he would have liked. He looked her in the eyes. "That's an interesting term."

Xander glanced at the other detective. He looked rather confused. Likely not as enlightened as his partner. "Do you really want to be throwing out such terminology given our present company? Because I get the feeling you haven't exactly been completely honest about everything."

"Kate, what's he talking about?" Gordon glanced at his partner, a look of confusion planted on his face, obvious to everyone. "What's a slayer?"

Kate returned the look. "I want answers. I need to know. But, if you aren't prepared to go all the way for this, then you can go back to the car. I won't think less of you if you do."

Detective Ruffalo thought about it. It only took a moment. He shook his head. "Got to stand by partner right? Lay it on me."

Xander chuckled once. He looked at the truth-seeking detective. Been a long time since he had found anything really amusing. "If you're sure... You want me to do this? Or do you, Detective Lockley?"

"She's a slayer. As in vampire slayer." Kate stated, looking at the fugitive. "Granted with mystical powers, super strength, speed, and other abilities to hunt down and kill demons and the like. And sometimes murder humans."

Faith crossed her arms over her chest. She didn't look happy. "I don't do that anymore."

Xander walked up, breaking into the burgeoning argument. "I think I'll take it from here."

Kate nodded, looking away from the slayer. Not wanting to get too drawn into that yet. Not when there was something else going on. "Go for it."

"Okay. You got your vampires. You got your demons and you got your magic." Xander recited. "That's most of it. Basically, there's a whole underworld deal going on. Most everything supernatural and occult that you ever heard of really exists. Except leprechauns. They're myths. And, that's pretty much everything."

Gordon burst out laughing. "This is a joke right. I mean, you're all in on it right? Kate set this up, and you're just fucking with me. I bet you're even taping this."

"Fraid not detective." Xander shook his head. He looked around and found an old pipe on the ground. He picked it up and tossed it to Faith. "How about a demonstration?"

Faith nodded, and bent the thick pipe into a circle. She didn't even have to strain. The slayer smirked and tossed it to the now not amused detective.

"Jesus Christ." Gordon exclaimed as he examined the pipe. It wasn't fake. It was an old and strong steel pipe. Bent around by a pretty thin young girl. PCP might have been able to give someone enough to do it. But, if that had been the case, she would have flipped out when they had pulled their guns. "This is really real. Jesus."

"Yeah. He exists too." Xander smirked at the detective. At least he was taking it pretty well. No flipping out or disbelief to speak of.

"Now that you're done with that, I want to know what happened here." Kate said impatiently. She glared at the government agent. The whole federal versus local antagonism was only part of the annoyance she felt. Another part was that he had used that pull to keep her from a quarry that had gotten away years ago. If only after she had sent the murderer to jail. Prison break wasn't something that made her particularly happy. And, the rest of it was probably just the man's character. He seemed to find the situation disgustingly amusing. It was getting her goat but good. "Now."

Xander nodded. "Alright. You ever see the Creature from the Black Lagoon?"

"You're kidding me right?" Kate scoffed. She accepted demons and vampires. But, something from a b-movie was a bit much to take. "What was this really? Some kind of demon?"

"No. Now, I'm not talking about the actual creature from the Black Lagoon. Cause that's a movie. And that was really Ben Chapman and Ricou Browning." Xander explained. His lifetime of watching old monster movies had honed his intellect, giving him a well rounded understanding of popular culture. Hard to believe that it would come in handy. "This was something else. Visually similar."

"What some sort of prehistoric throwback then?" Detective Ruffalo put in, wanting to add something to the fascinating conversation. It was mindblowing. Though it certainly did explain his partner's tenacity. She was one of the smartest detectives he had ever known. And she wouldn't have gone around digging into things that she shouldn't if there hadn't been anything to it.

Xander turned to him. "Actually, that's a common misconception. In Time's Black Lagoon, the gill men were descended from an extraterrestrial race that landed on Earth in the Devonian period. One of their members was exposed to ancient bacteria and became all deformed, and then went insane. That's the creature that was in the original movie."

"Xander." Faith snapped at him. "He means the real creature."

"Ah. Right." Xander smiled back at her. Some levity never hurt, and could help people cope with the situation. But, evidently it could be too much at times. "Back to business. What happened here is essentially a pair of mutates. Mutated humans. In this case, genetic engineering crossing human DNA with that of various fish."

"So why where they here?" Kate asked.

"Good question." Xander had thought about it. The close access to a protected harbor was likely part of the reason. And the large warehouses offered plenty of places to hide. And in this case, build a nest. The machinery they had taken out could have been due to them wanting to protect the egg. The future of their species, given that the others were dead. "My guess. They wanted to protect their egg."

"Egg? As in more of these things?" Kate asked incredulously. "Did you kill them all?"

"Uh. No." Xander could anticipate the reaction. It didn't make it any more pleasant however. "Not quite. They're still alive."

"Why not? They were here destroying things. If you're some kind of demon hunter and she's a slayer, then why didn't you kill them?" The demand for an explanation was clear in Kate's tone of voice. She wouldn't accept levity again.

"They didn't kill anyone. In fact, they avoided attacking any humans they came across. These weren't mindless animals. Not anymore. In fact, one of them fought the other to keep him from attacking us. He killed the only other adult member of his species. That earned him some amount of leeway. So I got him out. He'll be taken care of. To see if we can change him back." Xander explained carefully. "Insurance will cover the damaged machinery and they'll never come back here again. So there really is nothing to worry about. You can leave, and not worry about this type of situation coming up. And if I'm wrong, and it does? Then I'll come back and deal with it."

"That's unacceptable." Kate stated coldly. "They can't just be let go. They committed a crime here."

"And what are you going to do?" Xander challenged her reasoning. "Fine them? Charge them with trespassing and vandalism? Property damage? Where are you going to hold the trial? Marine World?"

"Damn it. They shouldn't just be allowed to walk." Kate exclaimed. She had had enough of the vampires and other monsters of the night setting their own rules. Not being bound by the law. The only justice that they faced was at the hands of one of their own. A vampire. A vigilante. Not true justice. Human justice.

"They're not." Xander pulled out his badge and flipped it open for her to see. Technically he shouldn't have told her. But, he had authorization to exercise judgment in such matters. For certain people at least. Government employees already exposed to the truth was part of that group. Especially if they were so very determined as Detective Lockley was proving herself to be.

It would have been nice to have been able to tell the Council though. That might have been something that could have gotten them to pull their heads out of their collective asses. Unfortunately, the men at the top had seen the way of things. The unreliability of the Council. And that they needed their foreign allies more than to bring in a group of amateurs that had proven their inability to act in a professional manner. Especially since they still showed no real attempt to change. He didn't have enough pull. And neither did the good like Robin and Eduard. Without a major restructuring, they would never be brought into the fold. And, the others, the Germans most specifically, would never allow for an alliance with a group that allowed genocide, not if it was led by the same people that had failed in the first place. It didn't matter that the victims weren't human. And right now, the Germans were more important. The Council had muscle. The Germans brought unity. "Department of Homeland Security. Remember? This is a legally sanctioned operation. Nobody walks the night with impunity. Not anymore."

"Then why weren't you there when I got kicked out of LA?" Kate grit her teeth. "When they all said I was crazy for investigating these types of things."

"Not my area." Xander shook his head. "Look. This is legally sanctioned, but it isn't exactly out in the open. As I'm sure you can easily tell. So you need to keep it under your hat. The both of you."

Gordon nodded. He wasn't sure who he could tell in any case. Who would believe him?

"Why? This is validation of everything I have done." Kate said angrily. The truth. Shoved into everyone's faces would be something of value. But that wasn't why she was angry. Her father had died because of the darkness. If he had known, then he could have better protected himself. And there would be scores of innocents in the exact same position. "Why is this being kept secret? People are dying because they don't know what's out there."

"I know." Xander replied, not getting emotional in response. That wouldn't help anyone. "Trust me. I know. I've lost people too. As I can see you have. But, this can't get out. The world is not ready for such a thing."

"Why? You let this demon go here and you and your slayer just lay down the law like you get to decide what goes free and what needs to die? Who gave you the right?" Kate said, getting into his face. Forcing him to justify his existence.

"The federal government. I don't make policy. I just enforce it. With enough leeway given to me so that I can make decisions on the fly. Doesn't mean there's no one I'm forced to answer to." Xander explained. Though it wasn't the complete and utter truth. There were things that he did that even those superiors that knew him best did not know of. The deals made. The bargains struck. At this point, nobody really knew who he worked for. As he wanted it. "And you know, what you just said, that's the problem too."

"What are you talking about?" Detective Lockley shook her head. It was getting confusing. It had been simple before. Good and evil. Human and monster. Applying human laws to it muddled things up.

"These weren't demons. These were mutated humans. Humans." Xander sounded the last word out slowly. "His name is Gage. I knew him in high school. He didn't ask to be turned into some mutated fish man. But, it happened. And he chose not to kill anymore. But, you would lump him together with every monster out there prowling the streets. He's no angel. But, he's no demon either. To you, it's semantics. For the rest of us out there, it's a matter of truth. Demon. Demon implies a moral judgment, intentionally or not. To see that some species of nonhuman being is a demon, confers the meaning that it is evil. That isn't true. And you keep thinking that way, and every nonhuman just living and letting live is going to see you as an enemy. And trust me, there are way too many things out there for you to be thinking that way."

Faith wondered when Xander had started to speak so intelligently. Like an adult rather than the goofy kid she had known him as. She didn't realize of course that he had worked for a living. That he had worked in that adult world where people talked in a professional manner. It hadn't been all demons and monsters for the man. He had board rooms and meetings with men in suits that had gone to Harvard.

"Fine. So what should I call it then?" Kate was still flippant. Either not getting, or not wanting to get the distinction. It did make things easier. Sure, there were some exceptions, like Angel, but those were singular. It was quite a leap to see whole other species of creatures that lived in the shadows as not evil.

"How about Gage? That's his name." Xander replied bluntly. He shook his head. "And you're still not getting it. These demons and monsters. They existed on Earth long before humanity did. Take the hellhound. They share 95 of their DNA with dogs. Should we consider dogs to be demons as well? And therefore evil?"

"What are you saying?" Gordon asked. "You say she's a vampire slayer, and that's okay, but that they aren't necessarily evil?"

"Statistically speaking, vampires are pretty much all evil." Xander looked toward the cop; he was asking good questions. There was hope for him yet. "That's not profiling, it's a matter of record. Vampires are genetically near identical to regular humans. That said, psychologically they're wired like sociopaths. They are innately self-centered beings. The law and morality does not concern them when it comes to what they want. There are some exceptions, as exist in any group. But, that does not make a stake first and ask questions later approach the same as stopping more blacks than whites over for routine traffic stops because the statistics say that the proportion of criminals is higher in the black population over the white one. Vampires are not wired like humans. And Kwaini are not wired like vampires. This isn't race. This is species."

Xander's throat was getting parched. He'd done a lot of talking. And he had been up all day, the day before. "Look. If you both want to stay in this thing, then you are going to have to figure out the differences. There aren't just demons, a homogenous group, out there. There are vampires. And Fyarl. And Skilosh. And Prio Motus. And Brachen. Most of those are violent. What any rational person would consider pure evil. But, not all. And those good people, yes people, in each population can vary in ratio with the evil ones. This isn't a total war for humanity. It's the justice system. Blind. Equal. And fair, no matter what they look like. That is what you should be concerned about. Not if it's a demon or a human or black or hispanic."

It was the truth. For a cop. For Xander, it mattered very little. He may have the word of law. But, he knew better than most that he was an executioner. Making it legal didn't make it right. He was the dirty little secret that nobody liked to talk about. That did just as much evil as any monster. In the name of security. Not justice.

And that was a truth too. His own.

"Okay." Xander said. "Look. I'm dog tired right now. And I want to go home. So, this is where we part ways. However, before I go, we need to set some ground rules."

He stared at Kate and then Gordon. They could see the seriousness in his eye. They looked at each other and then nodded at the man.

"Good. First, nobody talks about this, or me. In fact, you never met me. I don't exist. You don't know what I look like. You don't know where one escaped fugitive Faith Lehane is. This, this thing never happened." Xander stated, being as clear as possible. "But, you're cops. You are out here on the streets, protecting people. Dealing justice. And that means that sooner or latter, people like you might get caught up into something serious. Something more than natural that you might not think you can handle safely."

Kate nodded reluctantly at that.

Xander reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. He took out a pen and wrote a number on it. He passed it over to the detective. "This is a private cell number. If you, either of you, at any time, find yourselves in over your head then call me. If you find yourself butting up against authority that is holding you from saving the goddamn world, then call me. If you need to talk to someone because the secrecy of the real world is driving you crazy, then call me. Call me, and I'll come. There aren't enough of us out there, and we need all the ones we can get."

He pressed it into her hand, and squeezed. Xander looked into her eyes and could see that she was something of a kindred spirit. Not as far gone as him, but she had been close. There was hope for her yet. Back on the other end of the road. "This is what I do. This is what Faith does, despite her past. It takes all kinds. Not all of us can be heroes."

"You got that right." Kate took the number and slipped it into her pocket. "What did you used to be? Before this?"

"I used to drive an ice cream truck." Xander smiled, wanting to lift some of the tension.

Detective Lockley looked at him strangely. She wondered if he was telling the truth. She could usually spot liars, but he actually seemed like he was telling the truth. Which was absurd. "So what happens now?"

"Nothing." Xander shrugged. "You have your truth. This case is solved without any casualties. And the world keeps on spinning. This is a good day detective. Enjoy it."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Author's Note: I was thinking of another segment where Faith talks to Xander about what just happened, but this felt like a good place to end. Maybe in another section or in a flashback or something.

As for Buffy, she's still going through it so she hasn't had time to think about what happened and what she should be learning. Willow is still on the fence. She's working with Giles, but face to face, things could change.