Disclaimer: I own nothing, Joss owns all

1

2 A new type of Hero Part 4

By Michael Dunbar



"This is the person we've been waiting for?" Jesse says after there was 5 minutes of silence, there was so much tension in the air it could be cut with a knife. Buffy was staring coldly at the man before her eyes wondering how he got the best of her, she was angry too but at herself for attacking him not that she showed it.

"I would guess so" Giles replies stepping forward, he holds his hand and Xander grabs it firmly and shakes, Giles pulls his hand free and gently rubs it with his other all the while smiling at Xander "nice grip".

"So I've been told.. What now, I am unsure of what we do next, I have never done this before"

"And as you can see from our warm welcome neither have we" He replies with a warm smile "I shall introduce you to our merry bunch, this is Willow, a witch"

The redhead steps forward and holds out her hand Xander shakes it but more gentler then he did Giles, she smiles nervously at him then grabs a hold of Oz's hand and steps back to her place.

"This is Jesse.. The umm idiot of the group" Although it normally would be taken as an insult Jesse just laughs and steps forward.

"Nice to meet you man and by the way that wasn't cheerleading you saw back there.. I was umm stretching"

"Cheerleading?" Xander says confused.

"Good.." Jesse replies

"And this is Oz, a werewolf"

Oz nods his head toward Xander and Xander does the same.

"Oh and of course Buffy but you.. Umm met her"

Xander smiles and turns his eyes on Buffy he can still see that she is slightly annoyed as she looks like she just wants to leave as she keeps fiddling with a bracelet around her wrist.

"It is a great pleasure to meet you" Xander says softly and lets his eyes linger on each Scooby before they go back to Buffy "All of you, you are legends in my mind"

"We are?" Jesse asks then a whispered "Cool" can be heard.

"I always heard there were 5 Scooby's though.. Well that is what my master told me"

Master?" Buffy repeats in her mind What is he from Hong Kong or something, idiot

"There is" Jesse replies "My girlfriend Cordelia.. We didn't invite her because she can be a bit. What's the word?"

"Bitchy" Giles, Willow, Oz and Buffy say at once.

"I was going to go with over the top myself" Jesse replies.

They stand there for a few moments unsure what to do next, the Scoobs aren't entirely trusting of Xander just yet and they are definitely not comfortable with him and Xander can detect this and he expected it. He knows it will change, they will become good friends he is sure. The slayer though seems.. A little reluctant to even look at him and she hasn't said sorry for attacking him but he won't push it, maybe this is the way she is.

"Time to go then" Giles says clapping his hands "Tally Ho and all that"

The Scooby's giggle but Xander isn't quite in with the English jokes and just remains stoic. "Nice one Giles, not even you say Tally ho" Jesse replies smiling at the watcher.

"Maybe I should start, it's a what's the word.. "Cool" phrase" He sets them off giggling again as he actually demonstrates the quotation marks with his fingers. "I guess it is time to go, come on Xander"

Xander falls behind as he watches them converse trying to grasp an understanding of what they are speaking off, but it is to no avail as it just seems like gibberish to him. He watches Jesse make jokes on several occasions sending them into laughs well except for Buffy; she seems upset somewhat and keeps staring at Xander. Walking up beside her he looks at her, he thought she'd be taller, have muscles or something, but she to him looks small and fragile and very pretty.

"Are you okay?" He asks to which he gets no reply, he can find no reason why she should be mad, SHE was the one that attacked him HE should be mad, but Xander doesn't get mad, he never has. He remains in control at all times so he is unable to fathom why Buffy is acting the way she is in fact to him it seems kind of childish. He decides to drop back again from the side of her and walk behind them. They pass a large warehouse and walk onto a car park; many cars sit parked in the spaces here and Xander looks them all over.

"So" Jesse says as he falls back to walk beside Xander "How do you like Sunnydale so far?"

"Well I haven't really seen much of it, but it looks nice"

Jesse laughs out loud and punches Xander gently on the arm "You are so wrong.."

"Ca n I ask you a question?"

"It's not about cheerleading is it.. To which id have no clue anyway"

"Umm no.. What is this cheerleading?"

"Never mind." He says rather quickly "You can ask me your question now"

"Well, is Buffy always like this.. She seems upset at me but I can't figure out why"

"The Buffster.. Oh, that's cos you beat her.. She doesn't like been beaten"

Xander suddenly got it, he must have embarrassed her in front of her friends because she'd always won.. Always. It still seemed weird to Xander if there was a better fighter than him out there he would gladly accept the help but he knows there is not.

"She'll get over it" Jesse replies "after all she'll have to, you will be stopping at her house"

Jesse speeds forward leaving Xander to himself; Xander's heartbeat had just quickened at them words, living at the slayer's house.. But they are all women, how was he to act. He had never lived with any women and had only met a few in his lifetime he knew they were different than men not only in the physical sense but mentally as well. He was nervous.. Very nervous. They walked passed a small convertible car and stop at the side of a small white van.

"Welcome to the Oz mobile" Jesse says outloud "I call shotgun"

Before anyone can stop him he runs around and jumps into the passengers seat making Willow sigh, she loved him but why was he so stupid most of the time, there was no seat in the passenger side it was taken out to make more room for instruments. Jesse pulls himself back out of the passengers seat and walks back round.

"Chose to go in back" they all smile knowingly and even Oz breaks a smile, Oz jumps up into the drivers seat and Giles opens the door on the side of the van.

Jesse jumps in and takes a seat on a make do seat that was a metal beam along the side of the van, Willow goes next trying to be as near to the driver's seat as possible and then Giles. Buffy stares at Xander and points for him to enter.

"Ladies first" Xander says and lets Buffy enter albeit reluctantly.

God he makes me sooo angry Buffy says and bites the inside of her cheek And I don't even know why Buffy looks away as Xander enters and takes a seat down near the back doors of the van, he looks casually at her once or twice but then closes his eyes and rests the back of his head against the van.

The engine roars into life as Oz turns the key and reverses out of the car space, he turns left and exits the car park then heads into town.

"So who was your master" Jesse was curious just to see if it was that guy off of Kung Fu: the legend continues.

Images flash in Xander's mind of his master and of the first day he tried to train him, he was a persistent child but he had no patience whatsoever.

------------------------ Flashback --------------------------

"Raise your arms a tiny bit.. No too far, down a bit.. Too low now just try to get them on line with your eyes at all times"

"This is stupid" the child shouts out and lets his arms drop to his side, the kid is no older then 8 and he looks angry, his small clump of hair sticks up and he looks like he's been sweating, he is wearing a karate type suit. "Why must I block, can't I just hit them first?"

Kalit couldn't help but smile at that remark "And if your opponent is faster and stronger, what then?"

"Then I grab a stick and hit him with it"

"That is not very honourable"

"He shouldn't be attacking me in the first place"

"A block gives way for many counter attacks. It is strategic positioning that makes you a better fighter, it is like a game of chess only more painful, if you have your arms in the right place and he tries and takes your queen you could rip his queen out from under him without him even noticing"

The kid stares at him.

"Think of it like this, your opponent is larger, faster and stronger but he is a clumsy fool and knows nothing of the arts, you can win with ease, a block is a vital part of martial arts and you will need to learn it for your future"



------------------------- End Flashback ------------------------------------

Xander smiles at the memory "his name was Kalit" he responds to Jesse's question "he was a great man"

"And where is this great man now?" Buffy's voice sound out them words and Giles smacks his hand against his forehead, as he already knows the answer.

Please don't hurt her.. And don't fight in this small van He pleads in his mind as he stares at Xander and waiting for a response.

"He is dead" The end of that argument, she shuts up and so does he but she feels mad at herself again for saying such a stupid thing. She crosses her arms and looks over at Willow, who seems to be looking at her strangely. "What?" Buffy asks but with her body language, "Nothing" Is Willow's reply but she keeps a smile on her face.

The van comes to a halt with a screech of tires and Giles opens the door letting everyone get out, Xander is the last to exit the vehicle, he walks around and looks at the house before him. It is very pretty, not like his forest, which is a different type of pretty. It seems cosy to him and he can tell that Buffy had been living here for sometime, it was the little things. The smell he had picked up off Buffy a little earlier was the scent of red roses and they lay here in this garden. Buffy steps forward and walks towards the door, she opens it up and lets everyone in, Xander walks up and she motions him inside which he obliges.

A staircase is right in front of him. The colour of a nice feeling carpet on his feet is dark red and it runs all the way up the stairs, a few pictures are attached to the walls he can see, pictures of Buffy and an older woman that must be her mom. A picture of a young Buffy gets his attention, she is playing in a sandbox building a large castle, he smiles at the photograph. Giles and the rest had left moments earlier to get Joyce but now they return and walk back through a woman follows them, he pulls the satchel from his shoulder where it had been plastered the entire journey and just holds it in his hand.

"You must be Xander" she says happily and walks towards him "I am Joyce and we will be happy to have you"

"Well thank you Mrs.." She interrupts him.

"Call me Joyce please."

"Joyce" He continues and smiles " I am thankful for your hospitality"

"Isn't he polite" She says and smiles "now Buffy will show you to your room and we will be having dinner in a short while, so hurry up and un pack"

"I will" he says and smiles.

"Come on then" Buffy says rather huffily and walks up the stairs, he follows her as she reaches the top and turns right then left into a room, he enters and she just casually stands there.

"Here's you room.. Be happy.. Anything else?" She asks

"Well I would like to know why you are angry with me" he says and places his satchel on the bed "we must work together so it is better for us to put this, whatever it is behind us"

Crossing her arms for a slight moment she seems reluctant but then sees the realisation of his argument and sighs.

"Okay.. Okay, I'm sorry okay, it was my fault I attacked you, it was my fault I lost.. Though I wouldn't if I was really trying" He lets that slip " It's just you embarrassed me in front of my friends and I just feel angry and I guess I took it out on you.. I'm sorry"

"That's okay, Apology accepted" Turning around he opens the satchel and removes the money, he places it on the bedside table and Buffy stares at it "What?" He asks.

"Where. .Did you get that money?"

"My master gave it to me to go umm.. Shopping?"

She smiles "Damn wish Giles would pay me"

"You want pay?" he grabs a of the notes and hands them to her "Here you go"

Smiling she hands them back "It was just a joke.. Nice gesture though, I can hear mom calling me, Don't be too long dinner will get cold."

"I won't" he replies, he sits on the bed and looks around at his surroundings, a large wardrobe sits at the bottom of the bed and a chest of drawers lays right near the door, a large window is opposite the door and looks out onto the back garden. Xander smiles happily and places what little clothes he has on his bed then walks out of the door and down the stairs.