"You gonna help her?" More of a statement than a question.
"Yes." Xander sat at the breakfast table, thinking that almost anytime except now would
be great for this conversation. Peferably some time way way off into the future. Christina handed
him a cup of coffee and stood waiting. "I have to."
"Why?"
"She's my best friend, my oldest friend. If this is something wrong, I can't abandon her."
"She killed my grandmother."
Xander rubbed his face. "I know she did, and I don't think she meant for that to happen,
but she did and there's gotta be consequences for that. Just don't know what's that going to
be."
"Jail would be good."
"I don't think any jail could hold her. Not with her mojo."
"So she gets away with it."
Xander sighed. "Anybody tell you about Faith?"
"Faith?"
"Yeah, she was, er is, a Slayer, long story, but but she was a little more on the dark side. She
killed a human, well maybe that was accidental, but then she killed another trying to escape custody.
She hurt a lot of people, really hurt them. She could of still been free."
"But she's not...free."
"No she's in jail, but she's there because she feels she needs to be there, cause with her Slayer
strength, with her training, no jail could keep her in."
"So?"
"So if she didn't feel that she had anybody in her corner, she wouldn't have made that choice.
She'd still be out there, or dead, or popping up, coming at us until one of us had to kill her. We don't
have to like what Willow has done, but we can't abandon her. I can't."
"Okay." Christina's tone told Xander that she was shelving the subject to be used later.
Christina was gone, school and all, Xander had the day off. Anya was at the store, reasy for
a day of go money go.Xander hadn't a thing to do, except maybe get this Watcher thing on the road.
Like reading some of those books Giles and Buffy had brought over, but as someone once said, he
wasn't very book friendly. Still. He should do something Watcher-like, so he headed for his hidey-
hole. Sat down on the chair, and stared at his computer.
A Macintosh Plus he and Willow had found in Mrd. O'Leary's trash duting their first year at
Sunnydale High. Briefly his mind flashed back to Willow's eye roll as he grabbed it, and the still
connected hard drive, leaving her to bring the keyboard and the mouse. Complaining all the way that
he would never need it, should get a much better computer, and really, who used such an old
computer now a days. "But it's so simple to use," he'd responded. "Simple comuter, dumb guy,
works for me."
Not that Willow wasn't right, mostly. The computer was easy, had everything he'd need for
word processing, okay slower word processing, but it still worked faster than he could type which
was the point wasn't it. Even though it had spent much of the intervening yeard propping up
whatever he threw over it. It did get used, mainly as a word processor, hey it did have MSWorks
1.1 on it. Mostly for typng practise, and a lot of the stuff he wrote were summaries of what he'd read
in the numerous research sessions he'd taken part in.
He still liked the simple computer - dumb guy concept, preferring to leave the hacking, which
he couldn't do anyway, and the web surfing to Willow, who was much better at it than he was
anyway. But Willow wasn't available, he knew the value of internet searching. He could have gone
into Christina's room and use the computer there, but except for certain situations, he considered that
a no go zone. So it was just him and the Mac.
A few trips to the landfill, which had quite a selection of tossed out computer junk, had
provided him with a few more working hard drives, an external 56.6K modem. Christina had
downloaded some stuff from the internet and saved them, with Macsee, on to disks.
Xander spotted the pile of disks beside the computer, and was happy to see that she had done
so, and it gave him something to do besides cataloguing books. Well no time like the present.
Ten minutes later, he had changed hard drives, plugged the disks into the slot, dragged and
dropped the programs into the appropriate folders. Five minutes to configure the external modem,
and another five to dial in and set up an account with Sunnydale's Free-Net. Which offered really
really cheap net access if you didn't mind no graphics. Not that he couldn't get graphics if needed.
But while surfing, and most other times, his imagination was scary enough.
"Still playing with that old thing."
That old thing nearly ended up on the floor and Xander jerked and twisted to see who was
talking.
Buffy stood in the oorway. Xander tried to remember if he had heard the door bel ring. He
realized that he hadn't but decided to let it go.
"Hey. Uh, what brings you here?"
"You, the things you said at the meeting last week. The whole Watcher thing." Buffy
shrugged. "I'd have been around earlier but its been that kind of week." Buffy looked at Xander.
"I'm not real thrilled with you."
"Christina's not either, about my helping Willow, I guess I can't blame her, but well Willow
is, well Willow."
"She betrayed us."
Xander nodded and wondered how many times he was going to have to replay this conversation.
"Yeah, I know, but, well, I can't just abandon her. I keep thinking about Faith, and how it
wasn't until Angel proved that he was rootin for her, not on her side, but in her corner, that she
decided that she had to be where she is."
"Faith is where she desreves to be," Buffy ground out. "I can't believe that you'd think Angel
would be on her side after what she did to me. To all of us."
That last seemed to be added in haste. Xander let it go.
"Not arguing about what she did, but if Angel hadn't been there, and let her know that he saw
something of value in her, she would be dead, and more than likely one of us would have had to kill
her."
Buffy thoght of a reply, but decided he was probably right. "Willow couldn't be like Faith."
"I know that," Xander replied. "I just don't want her feeling like there's no one on her side."
"Is this whole being a Watcher thing going to mean that we're gonna disagree more than
usual?"
"I don't know Buff. It's kind of weird looking at it through their eyes. Not that I can, but
well, from the pont of view of one who uh is a Watcher and not a fighter." A smile crossed his lips.
"I'm even thinking of going to LA and a[ologizing to Wesley."
"Apologize to Wesley?" Buffy goggled at him. "What ever for?"
"He was trying to do a job, and we weren't helping." Xander pushed a hander through his
hair. "Maybe I just got a different perspective, I don't know, and maybe it will mean we don't agree.
I don't think that's gonna happen but it might, and if Chris gets put into more danger than she needs
to be or I think she can handle, I gotta recommend that she don't."
Buffy worked her way through that sentence. She had spent a lot of time trying to keep him
safe, out of it, and now, he was in it closer than ever. She wasn't sure how to react to that. She
didn't trust the Council, she thought he didn't either.
"I don't," he said when she asked about it. "But I think I'm oing the right thing. Besides,
the Council's real keen on the idea, well not the idea of me joining them, but about having Wtchers
assigned to Witches, and Christina's not going to be consigned to some oversuffed tweed suit. Also,
they've got way more resources than we do, and some day we might need them."
"Yes." Xander sat at the breakfast table, thinking that almost anytime except now would
be great for this conversation. Peferably some time way way off into the future. Christina handed
him a cup of coffee and stood waiting. "I have to."
"Why?"
"She's my best friend, my oldest friend. If this is something wrong, I can't abandon her."
"She killed my grandmother."
Xander rubbed his face. "I know she did, and I don't think she meant for that to happen,
but she did and there's gotta be consequences for that. Just don't know what's that going to
be."
"Jail would be good."
"I don't think any jail could hold her. Not with her mojo."
"So she gets away with it."
Xander sighed. "Anybody tell you about Faith?"
"Faith?"
"Yeah, she was, er is, a Slayer, long story, but but she was a little more on the dark side. She
killed a human, well maybe that was accidental, but then she killed another trying to escape custody.
She hurt a lot of people, really hurt them. She could of still been free."
"But she's not...free."
"No she's in jail, but she's there because she feels she needs to be there, cause with her Slayer
strength, with her training, no jail could keep her in."
"So?"
"So if she didn't feel that she had anybody in her corner, she wouldn't have made that choice.
She'd still be out there, or dead, or popping up, coming at us until one of us had to kill her. We don't
have to like what Willow has done, but we can't abandon her. I can't."
"Okay." Christina's tone told Xander that she was shelving the subject to be used later.
Christina was gone, school and all, Xander had the day off. Anya was at the store, reasy for
a day of go money go.Xander hadn't a thing to do, except maybe get this Watcher thing on the road.
Like reading some of those books Giles and Buffy had brought over, but as someone once said, he
wasn't very book friendly. Still. He should do something Watcher-like, so he headed for his hidey-
hole. Sat down on the chair, and stared at his computer.
A Macintosh Plus he and Willow had found in Mrd. O'Leary's trash duting their first year at
Sunnydale High. Briefly his mind flashed back to Willow's eye roll as he grabbed it, and the still
connected hard drive, leaving her to bring the keyboard and the mouse. Complaining all the way that
he would never need it, should get a much better computer, and really, who used such an old
computer now a days. "But it's so simple to use," he'd responded. "Simple comuter, dumb guy,
works for me."
Not that Willow wasn't right, mostly. The computer was easy, had everything he'd need for
word processing, okay slower word processing, but it still worked faster than he could type which
was the point wasn't it. Even though it had spent much of the intervening yeard propping up
whatever he threw over it. It did get used, mainly as a word processor, hey it did have MSWorks
1.1 on it. Mostly for typng practise, and a lot of the stuff he wrote were summaries of what he'd read
in the numerous research sessions he'd taken part in.
He still liked the simple computer - dumb guy concept, preferring to leave the hacking, which
he couldn't do anyway, and the web surfing to Willow, who was much better at it than he was
anyway. But Willow wasn't available, he knew the value of internet searching. He could have gone
into Christina's room and use the computer there, but except for certain situations, he considered that
a no go zone. So it was just him and the Mac.
A few trips to the landfill, which had quite a selection of tossed out computer junk, had
provided him with a few more working hard drives, an external 56.6K modem. Christina had
downloaded some stuff from the internet and saved them, with Macsee, on to disks.
Xander spotted the pile of disks beside the computer, and was happy to see that she had done
so, and it gave him something to do besides cataloguing books. Well no time like the present.
Ten minutes later, he had changed hard drives, plugged the disks into the slot, dragged and
dropped the programs into the appropriate folders. Five minutes to configure the external modem,
and another five to dial in and set up an account with Sunnydale's Free-Net. Which offered really
really cheap net access if you didn't mind no graphics. Not that he couldn't get graphics if needed.
But while surfing, and most other times, his imagination was scary enough.
"Still playing with that old thing."
That old thing nearly ended up on the floor and Xander jerked and twisted to see who was
talking.
Buffy stood in the oorway. Xander tried to remember if he had heard the door bel ring. He
realized that he hadn't but decided to let it go.
"Hey. Uh, what brings you here?"
"You, the things you said at the meeting last week. The whole Watcher thing." Buffy
shrugged. "I'd have been around earlier but its been that kind of week." Buffy looked at Xander.
"I'm not real thrilled with you."
"Christina's not either, about my helping Willow, I guess I can't blame her, but well Willow
is, well Willow."
"She betrayed us."
Xander nodded and wondered how many times he was going to have to replay this conversation.
"Yeah, I know, but, well, I can't just abandon her. I keep thinking about Faith, and how it
wasn't until Angel proved that he was rootin for her, not on her side, but in her corner, that she
decided that she had to be where she is."
"Faith is where she desreves to be," Buffy ground out. "I can't believe that you'd think Angel
would be on her side after what she did to me. To all of us."
That last seemed to be added in haste. Xander let it go.
"Not arguing about what she did, but if Angel hadn't been there, and let her know that he saw
something of value in her, she would be dead, and more than likely one of us would have had to kill
her."
Buffy thoght of a reply, but decided he was probably right. "Willow couldn't be like Faith."
"I know that," Xander replied. "I just don't want her feeling like there's no one on her side."
"Is this whole being a Watcher thing going to mean that we're gonna disagree more than
usual?"
"I don't know Buff. It's kind of weird looking at it through their eyes. Not that I can, but
well, from the pont of view of one who uh is a Watcher and not a fighter." A smile crossed his lips.
"I'm even thinking of going to LA and a[ologizing to Wesley."
"Apologize to Wesley?" Buffy goggled at him. "What ever for?"
"He was trying to do a job, and we weren't helping." Xander pushed a hander through his
hair. "Maybe I just got a different perspective, I don't know, and maybe it will mean we don't agree.
I don't think that's gonna happen but it might, and if Chris gets put into more danger than she needs
to be or I think she can handle, I gotta recommend that she don't."
Buffy worked her way through that sentence. She had spent a lot of time trying to keep him
safe, out of it, and now, he was in it closer than ever. She wasn't sure how to react to that. She
didn't trust the Council, she thought he didn't either.
"I don't," he said when she asked about it. "But I think I'm oing the right thing. Besides,
the Council's real keen on the idea, well not the idea of me joining them, but about having Wtchers
assigned to Witches, and Christina's not going to be consigned to some oversuffed tweed suit. Also,
they've got way more resources than we do, and some day we might need them."