Deadman's Destiny

by Timberwolf

Set in season 5. Xander died. Buffy isn't up to par. B/X fic

The moon hung over LA with no care to what was going on below.

Cordelia was walking to Angel's investigations from a local club she went to. After a year in LA her worries of being attacked by vamps were nonexistent * this isn't Sunnydale.* She thought, but has usually thoughts come back to haunt you.

"Hello Girlie." A voice called out.

Cordy turned around, seeing the vamp she freaked. She was about to pull a cross out when he grabbed her. He was about to sink his fangs into her neck. When a breeze suddenly picked up and he was ripped away from her with force.

The vamp looked around to see what caused him to loose his meal. He didn't have much time. A fist connected with his face then he felt a roundhouse kick. Before he realized it he had a stake in the middle of his chest and turned to dust.

When Cordy saw the dark man her first thought was it's Angel.

"Angel?" Cordy asked still in shock

But Cordy only blinked and the man melted into the night. She turned on her heals and ran to Angel's investigation without looking back. Opening the door Cordy spotted Angel. She threw her arms around Angel's neck screaming

"Thank You, Thank You!"

With a puzzle look on his face he looked at her and said "For what?"

She looked at him and responded " For what? For saving my life…. You know from that Vampire. It was you, right?"

"I'm sorry Cordelia I was here with Wesley looking for that demon in these books." Angel spoke while pointing to the books.

"Cordy what did this person look like?" Wesley asked.

"He was tall wore dark clothes and fought with passion I've only seen when you fight." Cordy stated with an awe in her voice.

"How about facial features, scars facial hair, color of eyes, anything at all? Wesely spit out.

"No He was surrounded in black like it hung on him. Like he was impervious to the light." Cordy replied with a touch of annoyance towards Wesley.

"I suppose we should keep an eye out for him." Angel quickly added before the conversation came to fist fights between the two.

Outside on top of building opposite of Angel's Investigation the man watches the three inside.

"It was good seeing you again Cor. " The man said before disappearing into the night.

8:00 AM Angel investigation

Cordelia walked into Angel investigations to see Angel and Wesley hard at research.

"Good Cordelia we need you to look up this info on the computer for us." Wesley said.

"What no good morning here have some coffee. Get comfortable before you get started." Cordelia spoke with a anger note towards the two researchers.

" Oh sorry, good morning Cordelia. Would… Wesley started to say before getting cut off.

"Forget it just give me the information," Cordelia spit out with sarcasm.

" What did I say?" Wesley asked while looking at Angel who had a smirk on and was shaking his head.

They researched for 12 hours before they came up with where the unknown demon may be located. Angel grabbed a map of LA and looked at it before determining it be located near Chinatown.

They drove to the area they figured the demon would be but no luck. They started walking away from Chinatown, when a woman came running out of a alley way all bloody and screaming at the top of her lungs. She didn't even see Angel before see collided with him.

"Are you ok?" Angel asked with concern in his voice.

"A big ugly thing back there attacked me. Something came out of shadows ripped it away from me and started to fight it." She replied through a raspy voice from tears and being out of breath. Angel took off with Wesley right on his heals. Cordelia stayed behind to comfort the scared woman.

When they got to the alley where the woman ran out of they saw a dark clothed man fighting the demon they were looking for.

"My God, that is a Zencor demon." Wesley stated with fear in his voice.

They watched has the fighting duo kept hitting and kicking each other. But the demon had the upperhand. Specially when it grabbed the man and started pushing him towards the wall. Using the demon's momentum the man ran up the wall flipped over the demon coming behind it. He nailed a kick right in the middle of its back. The demon hit the wall. He was stunned for a moment. It was the man needed. When the demon turned around it had no chance. The man pulled two long daggers from his coat. Walked to the demon and sliced of his head, killing it.

By this time Cordelia came up and saw the end of the fight.

"Gross." Cordelia spoke while her insides were churning. "That's him, Angel."

"With a confused look both Wesley and Angel said "Who?"

"The man from last night. Who saved me. Hello don't you remember?" Cordelia spoke in an icy tone.

They looked at each other before realizing the man was still examine the body. He got up and started to walk away.

Angel asked, "who are you? Where are you going?"

The man kept walking but before he was swallowed up by the night he said in a cool voice, "Home."

Part 2

Sunnydale Memorial Cemetery

Buffy looked at Xander Harris grave. Her thoughts drifted to the dreadful day 4 months ago.

4 months ago The Lowell House AKA Initiative Base

"Xander get out, the house, it's going to blow up." Buffy yelled at the top of her lungs while trying to avoid the flames has they shoot up.

"NO, Oz is here I got to find him." Xander responded moving to where he was told they held the demons.

Buffy tried to get to him and drag him outside but a beam fell, blocking her way. The fire was consuming where Xander went. She heard Xander yell at her.

"Buffy go, I'll be ok. I'll see you outside." Xander yelled before turning back to his objective.

Buffy believed him turned around and helped a hurt Willow outside. She looked at the house, which was in a blaze by now. She watched has Riley exited the building with Forest around his shoulders but at the moment she was waiting to see her friend come out.

Riley laid Forest down on the ground next to Willow. He looked at Buffy then back at the burning house.

"Where's Xander?" Riley asked.

He's in the house still looking for Oz." Buffy said.

The fire was spreading closer and closer to the ammo, then it happened an explosion that made Buffy and Riley fall backwards.

Buffy quickly jumped to her feet and screamed at the top of her lungs

"XANDER!!"

She didn't get far. Riley along with Willow who was up was holding her back.

"Let me go. I have to save him." Buffy screamed, struggling to get out of their grip.

"Buffy, he's gone. There is nothing you can do." Willow said with tears falling down her face.

Present time

"She's still taking it hard." Riley said

"She blames herself for letting him die." Willow answered back with sadness in her voice.

"I've seen people die before and hurts for a month or two but not this long." Riley spoke with concern.

"Yeah, normally she be fine by now but Xander was special to her. If it wasn't…." Willow trailed off.

"If it wasn't for what?" Riley asked.

Willow decided to see how much Buffy told him. "Did Buffy tell you how she drowned and about a vampire called The Master?"

"Yeah she said she drowned but was revived. She also told me she fought a powerful vampire and defeated it." Riley stated wondering what Willow was talking about.

He saw Willow's face change expressions. "What, did she leave something out?" Riley asked.

"Yes, she did. Buffy was prophesized to be killed by The Master. This saddened everyone. We all were doing are own things to cope with it. Giles was at the library, I was crying in my bedroom. Angel was at his place brooding, I suppose." Willow said before being cut off by Riley.

"And Xander?" Riley asked wondering where this was leading.

"According to Giles, Xander charged into the library demanding what they were going to do to save Buffy. Giles told him there is nothing they can do. It is prophesized. Well Xander took off and dragged Angel down to the Master's lair. They found Buffy's head in a pool of water.

Xander gave her mouth to mouth and revived her. Saving her life" Willow spoke proudly about her deceased friend.

Riley had a shocked look on his face "She never told me."

"He saved her more than that time, many more." Willow spoke with sadness in her voice.

" I suppose we better not tell her about you and I then, Huh?" Riley asked while looking in Willow's eyes.

"No, she is in enough pain." Willow stated.

She walked up behind Buffy and laid a hand on her shoulder. Buffy looked up at her friend with tears running down her face.

"You did your best Buffy. It isn't your fault." Willow said trying to ease her friend's pain and guilt.

"I know, It's just that I miss him. I thought he always be here." Buffy said, while turning back to his grave.

"We got class in a half hour so we better hurry up." Willow said.

Buffy stood up and walked to the others. Since Riley came back from Iowa, she didn't want to be with him anymore. She blamed him for all of last year. Loosing Xander was the last straw. She never wanted to admit it but Riley was just a rebound guy like Parker. She noticed how Willow and Riley looked at each other and was glad he was moving on.

Nighttime doesn't come has quickly anymore. Buffy likes the night now, she likes to take out the demons now. They ruined her life enough and they are going to pay. Willow, Riley, and Buffy were patrolling the local park. In search of vampires Riley and Willow along with the others were worried that Buffy was on a suicide run. They talked about how it amazed them how Xander's death affected her. But out if everyone it was Spike who put it the best when he told them that Xander saved her life more times then they realized.

Back at Xander's grave, A shadow hung over the grave.

" Hello friend. How are you?" The man spoke.

He would have continued his conversation when the silence of the night was broken by a scream.

"Buffy, LOOK OUT." Willow screamed.

The man jumped to his feet. Running to where he heard the scream he saw four vampires on Buffy. One was about to sink his fangs in when he was unceremoniously ripped from her.

The other three Vampires got off her and went after their buddy. Willow and Riley came over to Buffy to see if she was ok.

Before they could answer she spoke

"I'm ok. What the hell happened?"

"I don't know there was just a blur of black over you and the vampires took off that way. Willow said while pointing to where they went.

Buffy got to her feet and started heading in the direction that Willow pointed too.

All the sudden one of the vampires came flying threw the air turning to dust. That is when they saw him. He looked at them for a second before turning around and vanishing into thin air.

Part 3

"Well that's new?" Riley asked in awe of what he saw. "I never seen someone take out four vampires that quick."

"I have." Was the only thing only thing Buffy said.

Willow catching on who she meant replied in a caring manner. "Angel wouldn't disappear like that on you anymore."

"Are you sure?" Buffy spoke with a touch of sadness.

Willow didn't say anything. She put a comforting hand on Buffy's shoulder. She remembered when Buffy told Angel that he was the biggest mistake of her life. Angel might go back to be cryptic man again. But again this guy seemed different, better then Angel. He seemed more adapted to fighting and the vanishing right in front of them. All she knew is she was in awe.

"I suppose we should go talk to Giles." Buffy said breaking Willow's thoughts.

They started heading back towards Giles. In the shadow's the mystery man watched and followed them. More specifically Buffy. He wanted to keep them safe. He knew the evil that was coming. His teacher told him. His thoughts were cut off when he realized he was standing outside Giles' apartment. He didn't want to be noticed, but he wanted to see him again. So he watched through the window seeing Giles. He smiled at the thoughts of the past. He decided he better go, no point in getting spotted. They weren't ready yet. He hoped they would be soon. He hated looking from the outside in.

Inside the apartment, they were talking about the mystery man.

"Giles, it was majorly freaky, I mean this guy took out four Vampires in less then a minute, and disappeared into thin air." Buffy said with a touch of annoyance to another mystery guy.

"Did you get a good look at this guy?" Giles asked going into research mode.

"Sorry, but it was dark couldn't get a good look." Buffy said.

"We think it was Angel." Willow piped in, ignoring the glare coming from Buffy.

"Hmm, Angel huh? Well I'll call Cordelia then and see if Angel is here." Giles answered.

Giles went to the phone and dialed the number to Angel investigations.

"Hello Angel investigations where we help the helpless." Cordelia answered.

"Hello Cordelia is Angel there?"

"Oh, Hello Giles, no Angel isn't here. He's…" Cordelia started to say.

"So he's here then?" Giles questioned.

"What? No, he left here 5 minutes ago on a case. Why would you think Angel would be in Sunnydale?" Cordelia asked.

"Well, ah.. we have a mysterious man around here, who looks like Angel." Giles stated.

Cordelia replied " Tall and dark clothes and vanishes right in front of you, Right?

"Yes, how'd you know?" Giles question while a confused look appeared on face.

"It sounds like the same guy who we saw here a week or so ago. He said he was going home." Cordelia answered.

"You mean he lives here?" Giles asked.

"He might, if he is the same guy. Oh Wesley wants to talk to you. Cordelia responded.

"Hello Giles, this guy is fearce fighter. He took out a Zencor demon." Wesley said.

"A Zencor demon, Oh my God! Is it dead?" Giles said with fear in his voice.

Yes, I thought I let you know. Goodbye" Wesley said.

"Thank you, and Good bye." Giles said.

He hung up the phone slow with the shock that there was a Zencor demon out there still.

"Giles, what is a Zencor demon." Willow asked.

Riley quickly answered "It's a powerful demon with great strength and fighting skills. Mainly an assassin for hire."

"How did you know that?" Giles turned and asked.

"Well, ah…. Professor Walsh, umm… Wanted to capture one but they were suppose to be extinct." Riley said with fear in his voice.

"Professor Walsh wanted it? To make Adam, right?" Buffy asked with anger on her face along in her voice.

"Yes, I guess so." Riley responded with the only answer he could supply.

The looks he got were angry looks but Willow decided to save Riley and asked "where is Spike?"

"He went out to get blood for himself. I wish he find a new place for himself." Giles said.

Meanwhile across town two vampire were chasing their dinner. When they were about to grab them, they were clothes lined and were on their backs. When all the sudden they realized the man in front of them pulled two stakes and staked them. Spinning them like old revolvers he put them back underneath his jacket.

The following night the gang decides to head to the Bronze and relax. The night didn't go has planned though. Willow and Riley wanted to dance but Buffy was there. They didn't want to make her uncomfortable. So they danced around every subject. No one could bring up anything that didn't start an argument. That is one thing they missed about Xander. He knew what to say to break these kinds of tensions. Even if it hurt him. They left the Bronze and were walking towards the campus when they heard a voice behind them.

"He's after me. Help me!" the man said.

At first Buffy thought a vampire was chasing this guy. When he collided with them she noticed that this guy was a vampire. She pushed him off and got into a fighting stance. He looked at them and said.

"Out of my way slayer he is after me."

She let down her guard a little and asked, "who?"

The vampire didn't answer her. He quickly pushed by them and started in a dead run only to be stopped by a stake in the heart. The gang turned around to the familiar sound of a vampire being dusted. A man stepped out of the shadows and glanced at them before turning around, Buffy ran to see his face. But he was gone.

Part 4

A dark man walked to an isolated part of town. He knew he needed sleep, so he headed back to his place. When he entered it, he threw his jacket on a chair revealing an assortment of weapons. Two long knifes with bone grips, several stakes, and other odd and ends. He took them off and headed to the bathroom. He turned on the faucet in the sink. He doused his face with water. He looked into the mirror and brought his hand up to his scar. *Every scar has a story behind it. * He thought. His thoughts took off from there.

4 months ago, shortly after Adam and his Army was defeated

"OZ, where are you?" Xander yelled trying to find his friend through the smoke and fire.

"Xander, is that you man? I'm over here." Oz screamed in a non-Oz way.

Xander moved to where he heard Oz screamed. He found him in a secured cell. Xander looked at the control panel. He decided he would hot-wire the controls. So he took off the control panel and spliced a few wires. Oz looked at him funny and asked. "Hey man, do you know what you're doing?"

"No Prob.." Xander started to say before he got a jolt of electricity going through his body.

"You ok?" Oz asked with a concern look.

"Man that smarts. Yeah just hang on Oz I get you out of there." Xander remarked.

After a few more tries Oz was free. Oz was about to thank him, but Xander said there was no time while he started back out the cellblock. Oz followed him when a beam with fire on it came crashing into Xander. He got lucky though it only burned a bit of his right side of his face.

"You Ok?" Oz asked again.

Xander nodded and they headed off again. The fire was consuming the room with a fury. Xander and Oz moved quickly around the burning beams, and the falling debris. When all the sudden a beam came down and landed on Oz.

"Oz, just hang on I'll get you out." Xander said while trying to lift the beam.

"No, it useless Xandman." Oz said while trouble breathing with blood coming out of his mouth.

"No damnit, I'm not going to loose another friend!" Xander exclaimed

He kept trying to lift the beam but to no avail.

"Xander, The beam hit me in the chest. I'm dying. Just go, give this to Willow please." "I kept safe from them. The never searched my front pockets. I guess guys don't like patting down other guys there. Oz said while coughing up more blood.

Xander looked at the envelope Oz gave him. He looked back at Oz and said. "I'm sorry man."

"I know, you can't save everyone. Take care of Willow for m…" Oz said before he died.

Xander sat there for a moment looking at his dead friend before noticing how close the fire was to the ammo. He got up and ran up the stairs and to the main floor of the Lowell house. He noticed the front was impassable because of the fire. He headed to the back of the house and jumped through a window with as the house exploded behind him. He landed on the ground and Oz letter landed a few feet away. Xander was knocked unconscious. A man approached him and carried him to the hospital. Xander had no ID on him so he was registered has a John Doe. Twelve hours later Xander woke up and was still dazed. He immediately grabbed the TV remote to see the news. He flipped channels till he found a station showing what happened. He noticed them caring out a bodybag. *Poor Oz* Xander thought. The reporter said that only one dead in this terrible blaze was Alexander Harris, a local boy. This shocked Xander, everyone thought he was dead.

He got out of bed, quickly put on his clothes and snuck out of the hospital. He made it back to his basement, luckily no one was there. He knew he couldn't stay there so he grabbed some clothes into a large sports bag, grabbed some money he hid. He walked out of his basement and got a motel room. He was tired and needed to rest. He fell asleep and slept for 16 hours. When he woke up he was in some pain, but he grabbed the painkillers that he spotted by his bed. He took a few of those and felt better. He went to the bathroom and got cleaned up. He got a local paper and found out that they were going to bury him/Oz tomorrow at Sunndydale Memorial cemetery. He figured he better see the gang. He headed out the door and thought * Why go to them? They ignored me all year. This is my way out. * He knew he should tell them, but he was hurt emotionally. They didn't care about him .

The next day at the burial Xander stood in the shadows and made sure no one saw him. He saw everyone say their teary eyed good-byes. He thought to himself * Now they care, Isn't that convenient.*

He waited till the last person was gone. He walked up to the grave and placed a guitar pick next to the tombstone.

"I'm so sorry Oz." Xander said with a tear rolling down his cheek.

He stood up and saw Giles' car pull away.

"Goodbye friend."

He turned and walked back into the shadows. He headed to the bus station and got on a bus heading to San Francisco. A place no one knew who he was.

A week later Xander was mostly healed. He still had a deformed face covered with scars on his right side. He got a job at a warehouse were he worked his ass off. His coworkers appreciated him but they thought Oz was mysterious. Xander made a decision when he got to San Francisco, since they buried Xander/Oz he become Oz. When He got off work he headed back to his apartment. On his way there he heard a struggle happening in an alley. He headed toward the noise with his stake in hand. * Old habits are hard to forget.* He thought.

When he got to the end of the alley, he saw two vampires attacking a blonde female. His first thoughts it was Buffy. Without a hesitation, he jumped into the fray staking one vampire easily. The second one not too happy his that his buddy was killed attacked Xander so he attacked Xander. The vampire underestimated Xander. He threw another punch, which hit Xander in the chest sending him hurdling towards the other end of the ally. The vampire charged him, but Xander quickly got to his feet in time to stake the vampire that wasn't thinking straight. He walked up to the female to see if she was ok.

"Are you ok?" Xander asked in a concern voice.

"I am, but you're not." She said putting on her game face.

*You did again Xandman.* He thought

A fist to the abdomen interrupted his thoughts. He hunched over, dropped his stake. Taking advantage of this she kneed him in the gut. He dropped to the ground and quickly scanned the area for his stake. She noticed this and quickly got to him and picked him up. She didn't notice was Xander grab a bottle. He smashed it on her head, which forced her to let go of him. He quickly got his stake and staked her before she could recover.

He continued his walk home. He looked at his watch *10:30*. When he finally reached his apartment, he took off his shirt and noticed the bruises. He figured he had a few broken ribs so he went to the bathroom. There he took out some gauze and tape and taped his ribs. He finished getting ready for bed and fell asleep dreaming what he dreamt about every night, Buffy. A few hours later he turned and twisted in his sleep. He wakes with a scream.

"NOOO!!"

"Still having them, Huh?" a voice asked

Xander sitting up and noticed the man sitting in the chair.

"Having what?" Xander asked, not to happy this guy watching him sleep.

"The dreams of the night not to long ago." The man said.

"Oh, yeah I guess. I wish I could have saved him." Xander said.

"You can't save them all." The man replied.

Xander was getting a little on end. He didn't like this guy.

"I don't care anymore. I'm done helping." Xander spit out.

"Oh yeah, why did you go down that alley to help that girl?" The man countered.

"She was a vampire." Xander replied back.

"Yeah, but you didn't know that." The man said in a calm voice.

"Who the hell are you?" Xander asked through gritted teeth.

"Name's Whistler, kid." Whistler replied.

"So is that suppose to mean something to me?" Xander asked getting more annoyed.

"I suppose not, I helped Angel and helped him find his part." Whistler stated.

"Which part? To sleep with Buffy and become Angelus again. To torture her and kill more people." Xander said with a fire building in his eyes.

He got out of his bed and walked into the living room. Whistler followed and said.

" I know, that wasn't suppose to happen. He wasn't suppose to fall for her. That was my fault."

Xander turned around, with an anger look on his face he spoke in a venomous way "Why are you here? Haven't you caused enough damage already?"

Whistler looked at the kid and wonder if the PTB's were right about him.

"We need you kid. She needs you." Whistler stated.

"Needs me, need me? I'm nothing, a Zeppo, I have no powers or special training." Xander spoke.

"Is that what you think? Man, they really twisted your mind didn't they?" Whistler asked. He didn't wait for an answer he continued with another question "Why do you think Buffy is still here?"

"She's the best slayer ever." Xander answered.

"Wrong kid, she's not the best. Do you know how many slayers there have been?" Whistler said.

Xander shook his head no.

"Thousands, actually the number is over ten thousand. Out of that many, do you know how many came back from the dead?" Whistler asked.

"No." Xander said.

"One…. Buffy. The only reason she's around is you kid. Even the PTB's acknowledge you. They even have a special category, which only you belong to. 'The White Knight' category." Whistler said.

Xander jumped back at the name and said. "Only Angelus called me that."

"I know kid, but you stood up to him, so they know your strength. Please we don't have much time." Whistler said with urgency.

"Time for what?" Xander asked calming down.

"Get ready for the evil that's coming." Whistler said.

"So, Buffy can defeat them. "Xander spoke not believing a word from Whistler.

" Wrong kid, she needs help big time. She'll need someone to lean on again, to comfort her. She'll need a fighter whose heart is stronger then any others. She needs to be loved. She needs you. "Whistler stated.

"What about Riley?" Xander asked with a hint of anger.

"Nope, she doesn't have him anymore. Besides if she did that guy couldn't handle the pressure." Whistler said hoping Xander would finally listen.

"Then there's Angel." Xander said.

This was annoying Whistler and he replied. "No Angel can't do it either!"

Xander looked at Whistler and realized this guy's patience was running thin. He looked like Giles when his patientence was running thin with Buffy.

"Ok, What am I suppose to do? "Xander asked in a defeated voice.

Whistler's face lit up with victory. "I'm going to train you like I trained Angel. We'll first get started in learning your demons and other spooks, after that I'll teach you magic. Then finally I teach you to fight and how to disappear into the night."

"What kind of magic?" Xander asked in an excited voice.

"This kind of magic if you are capable mastering it will give the capability to make light impervious to you. Also you will be able to leave an area in a blink of an eye unseen. To warn you though Angel was my best student and he could get these down." Whistler stated

"Well, I'm not Angel. Xander commented.

"That you're not. You're have cockiness about yourself." Whistler said with a grin forming on his face.

Xander had another question "What about my job? I need money to live." Xander asked

"Don't worry kid. I already talked to your boss said you were leaving for a new one. I keep you in supply of cash. So don't worry. So you ready to get started?" Whistler asked.

"Yes." Xander said.

It amazing how fast Xander learned about the demons and other creatures of the night. Whistler has never seen someone learn so quickly, Xander learned everything in about two weeks. When it came to the magic it took Xander longer. But slowly by surely He was mastered it, all but the two most important pieces that Whistler knew Xander would need. That took a month but finally he was learning how to fight. He learned several self-defense techniques including Tae Kwon do, Judo, Karate and several others. Finally he learned how to disappear like Angel. He mastered all these in a two months, which surprised Whistler.

Whistler entered Xander's apartment and called out, "Hey kid you around?"

He didn't hear or see Xander come in back of him and tap his shoulder.

Whistler jumped and said "Jeez kid, you almost gave me a heart attack."

He looked at Xander and his face was pure black even with all the lights on. Then all the sudden Xander was gone and in back on Whistler again. He tapped him on the shoulder. Again Whistler jumped.

He wasn't angry though. He was glad Xander mastered the hardest parts of the magic.

"It's time kid. You have work to do." Whistler announced.

"I'm going back to Sunnydale? "Xander asked a little hesitation.

"Sorry kid, it seems someone hired an assassin to kill Angel. You're going to LA to kill a Zencor demon." Whistler said

"A Zencor demon? I'm not sure I can kill one of those. It took over 50 warriors and 45 of them were killed before they defeated it." Xander said with fear.

"you're the only one who can kid, trust in your skills." Whistler said.

Xander turned around to pack his bags.

"Oh before you go, one last thing." Whistler said stepping up to Xander while placing a hand on his scars.

A light emitted from his hand and started to heal the scars.

Xander went to the mirror and looked at his face. All but one small scar right above his right eyebrow disappeared.

Before Xander could say anything Whistler said, "That one stays to remind you that you can't save them all."

"I can try." Xander said.

Whistler's final words slowly turned him back to the present.

"I'm sure you will kid, I'm sure you will."



Part 5

Buffy got up from her bed. She grabbed the picture of Xander by her bed and headed to the window. There she looked out into the early morning. Her mind went back that day that they saw Xander's body being taken out of the burnt house. That day she realized she was too late to tell Xander the truth. That she loved him. She wished that he was here now, protecting her and loving her. But he's dead and there is nothing she can do.

Outside in the shadows, Xander watched her in the window. How he wanted to hold her. But he remembered how they treated him last year. Ignored him when he needed them. He was always there for them. The one that upset him the most was when he was working on the gun and got electrocuted. They didn't even ask if he was ok. They just kept going 'poor Buffy and Riley they won't let her see him'. When he decides to reveal himself he is going to deck Riley. He blames Oz's death on him.

He turned and left the shadows and headed back home in order to prepare for the up coming evil. Soon he would have to reveal himself to them. Until then he has to walk in the shadows, he hated this part the most. It was too much like Angel. He hated everything Angel was. Whistler told him that he needed to do this and after the hundredth time they debated this, he finally conceded.

He got back to his hidden home and headed to his training room. There he proceeded to do his daily workout routine. After 5 hours of training he headed to the campus. He was standing in the quad, when he noticed her coming his way. He quickly spun around and looked at some flyers. When Buffy passed him she felt a warmth go through her. She turned and scanned the area. She only noticed a group looking at flyers so she

turned back and headed to her next class.

Xander watched her leave. He left the opposite way Buffy went. He was wandering the streets of Sunnydale. He wanted to see the streets during the day, when it seems peaceful. Xander saw Giles walking down the street towards him. He knew it was a bad decision to walk in broad daylight. He quickly dove into an alley and watch Giles walk by. He quickly headed back to his place where he waited till night to go out

again.

Buffy was patrolling by herself tonight. She needed time alone which

worried the others. They wanted to come but they knew better then to

argue with the slayer in this state. She was patrolling for three hours

and no signs of the mystery man or vampires. Two hours later six

vampires approached her. Sensing them she turned and faced them. She smiled at them and prepared for battle. What she wasn't prepared for was all six of them charging her at the same time. She was able to stake one before she was knocked down onto a gravestone and knocked out.

The vampires were about to descend on her when two of them turned to

dust. The remaining three vampires looked up and saw a man who had no face holding two stakes. They backed up before they smelled that he was human, so they figure that he was another easy meal. They attacked him at the same time. Xander quickly staked one while doing a roundhouse kick to another vampire. The third vampire grabbed Xander's arms making him drop the stakes. The vampire noticed that the guy had a face that was covered in darkness. He had never seen anything like this. With the vampire disoriented Xander easily disentangled himself from it. He pulled out his two daggers and quickly beheaded the vampire. The vampire, which was kicked, got up and ran. Xander pulled out a crossbow and fired it at the vampire turning it to dust.

He turned to see an unconscious Buffy lying on the ground. He lifted her up in his arms and carried her back to her place. He got out her keys

and opened the door. He placed her in her bed and reached down and moved strands of her hair from her eyes. He was about to leave when she called out his name.

"Xander, help me"

He turned around and noticed that she was still asleep. He made the

decision to stay. The sun was up an hour later and Xander stood over her watching protectively. He was watching her when she slowly started to wake. He turned and left her apartment. She looked around her bedroom wondering how she got here. The last thing she remembered was six that vampires were attacking her. She saw that she was fully clothed in her slayer gear. She thought she heard her front door close, so she got up to check. She opened the door and peered out, but she didn't see a soul.

Xander walked back to his place with his mind wandering back to the

night before. The urge to hold her and not let her go was overwhelming, but he held his ground. He knew it wasn't time yet.

Buffy was sitting in the quad on campus waiting for Willow. She wanted to tell her about last night. When she saw Willow approaching she got up to greet her.

"Hey Wills, what's up?"

"Oh, nothing much. Except there this cute guy who wants to go out with you." Willow said cheerfully.

Buffy spoke in anger "What? So you and Riley can feel better about

seeing each other?"

Willow was flabbergasted, but still was able to speak. "How'd you know?"

"Come on Will, even Xander could see you and Riley making eyes at each other." Buffy spoke with tears rolling down her face at the mention of Xander.

"What's the matter, Buff?" Willow asked.

"Last night I got in trouble with vampires. I was overwhelmed by them." Buffy said.

"You got them though. You're here, right?" Willow interrupted Buffy.

"No, I was knocked to the ground, I lost consciousness. I awoke in my

bed this morning, I don't even know how I got there. The weird part is

that I dreamt I was in trouble and I saw Xander in the distance and I

called for him to help me."

Willow didn't know what to say. She never expected this. She decided the best thing was to give her moral support. They stayed like this for an hour before Buffy spoke again. "I guess we go talk to Giles."

"Yeah, I guess so." Willow responded.

They headed over to Giles to talk to him. When they got there Spike was trying to watch the television but Giles was yelling at him for eating the last of the Wheatabix.

Giles looked up when he heard his door open. There he saw Buffy and

Willow enter. He looked at their faces and asked.

"What's the matter?"

Buffy didn't speak she just went over to a chair and crashed down. Giles looked at her before turning to Willow.

"What happened?" Giles asked.

Willow looked at Buffy before turning to Giles.

"Buffy was overwhelmed by vampires last night and was knocked out."

Willow said.

"How did you escape?" Giles asked.

Buffy answered through tears, "I don't know. I found myself in my bed

this morning."

Giles went and put an arm around her and said. "Maybe, you shouldn't

patrol tonight?"

"No, I have to, its my duty to protect…" Buffy started to say before she

was interrupted by Giles.

"Fine, we will accompany you though."

Spike heard this and said, "You can count me out. They got an Adam

Sandler marathon on tonight."

"If you want more Wheatabix, you will." Giles said.

* Damn, he's got me there * Spike thought. "Alright, I'll go."

Willow called Riley and told him the scoop. They all met at Giles'

around nine. They went on patrol at Sunnydale Memorial Cemetery, Buffy headed straight to Xander's grave. She stood there staring at the

headstone wishing that he was there with her. The rest of the gang came up behind her. They knew better then to say anything. Since the day he died, she felt that she had died also. She felt lost without his

wisecracks. She was so lost in her thoughts she never noticed the two

dozen vampires that approach them.

The vampires easily knocked them out, but not before Buffy took out two

of them. Their leader wanted them killed but wanted to torture them

first. They started to head back to their hideout. A few moments later

Xander came out of the shadows. He went over to the grave to see his

friend. He noticed that a necklace was on the ground. He saw that it was Buffy's. Xander then saw two piles of dust. He saw tracks heading off to the south so he followed them to see where they went.

Inside the hideout the gang was waking up. They all notice that they were chained to the wall in a room that was empty except for a table and four vampires.

"Good you're awake. Now the fun can start," A vampire said.

"Who are you?" Giles asked.

"Now does that matter who I am? All you should worry about is who dies first." The vampire responded with an evil grin.

He looked over the gang and stopped at Spike.

"Well, well if it isn't William the Bloody. I guess the rumors were

true. Helping the slayer now are we?" The vampire asked while laughing.

Spike mumbled something under his breath. The doors opened to reveal

where the vampires and the gang were. Another younger vampire came in.

The head vampire turned and asked, "Is he dead?"

"Yes." The younger vampire said.

"Are you sure?" The older vampire said.

"Yes, we even dug up his grave, his body was still there." The younger

vampire said.

"Good." The vampire said while grinning.

"Don't you have any respect to the dead?" Giles spat out.

"No." The older vampire said.

Giles was about to reply back when he heard sobbing coming from Buffy. He couldn't even comfort her.

Outside the doors a scuffle was heard. The older vampire turned to the

younger one and ordered.

"See what the hell is going on out there."

The younger one turned and went out the door only to fly back through

them a minute later.

"What the hell is going on?" The older vamp asked.

Before the younger one could answer a man entered through the broken

door with such a grace that the older vampire said.

"Angelus? He asked. Then he ordered the four vampires in the room to

attack him.

Before two them took a step they were dust. The other two were hesitant, but the older one pushed them forward. The first one came flying at him. He was cut off by a kick to the abdomen. He hunched over and got a stake in the back. All that were left was the younger vampire and the older vampire. The older one quickly left, knowing that if he stayed he'd be ash. The younger one got into a fighting stance. Xander stood there waiting for him to attack. Finally when he did, Xander easily blocked and countered every move the vamp had. Xander pushed off the vamp. He withdrew his twin daggers and pinned the vamp to the wall. When the vampire looked at him and only saw darkness, he asked.

"Who are you?"

The only answer he got was a beheading. Xander went and retrieved the keys on the table. He walked by Buffy. She felt the warm feeling go through her again. Xander went up to Giles and uncuffed one of his

hands. He gave him the key and left, but not before he left a piece of

paper on the table.

Giles quickly unlocked everyone. He went to the table and read the note aloud "Tomorrow night your place 7:00."

"I wonder who or what he is?" Riley said.

"He's human." Spike answered. .

Part 6

"What you mean they got away?" A female voice roared out.

She turned to her second in command.

"I know that her White Knight is gone and I sent my protégé to get rid of

Angel."

"Well, she failed because it was Angel that took us by surprise, my liege."

He replied with fear in his voice.

"I didn't fail. Someone got to the Zencor demon and me before he showed up. This warrior was different, he had a power that I've never felt before. He hid his face well and destroyed the demon quickly." The protégé said.

"So we have a new warrior out there thinking he's all that." Sydney said with a finger tapping the side of her head.

"What should we do my liege?" Brock her second in command asked.

"I need to think about this. Give me some time. Now leave me except you." Sydney said pointing to her protégé.

Everyone left leaving Sydney and her protégé Megan.

"What do you make of this my young one?" Sydney asked.

" Sorry my liege but I can't for the life of me figure how this person could destroy a Zencor demon. This person was quick and knew what to expect. I've never seen anything like this but…" Megan responded.

"But what? Come on you can tell me?" Sydney told Megan.

"His face, how can someone be covered in blackness like that and fight. I never saw his eyes." Megan replied.

"Yes that is puzzling... a black face." Sydney said trailing of in thought.

"What is on your mind, my liege?" Megan asked.

"Excuse me young one I need to read up on my history." Sydney said.

Sydney went to a shelf and pulled a book from it and started to read its passages.

"Oh and tell the boys to hunt down the mystery man and see if they can capture him." Sydney said without looking up.

Giles apartment

9:30 PM

"Where the hell is this guy." Buffy asked for the hundredth time.

"I don't know Buffy. His note said seven." Giles repeated his answer for the one hundredth time.

"Well I've had enough of this, I'm going to patrol." Buffy said storming out the door.

Willow, Riley, and Giles had to drag Spike to chase after her.

They didn't really need to keep an eye on her. They knew exactly where she was heading. When they got to Xander's grave they notice Buffy in an extreme angry state. They saw why, Xander's headstone was ruble and his gravesite was in ruins from the vampires digging up the grave.

In the distance they heard a fight going on. Buffy quickly took off and the gang had to try to catch up to her. They stopped dead in their tracks behind Buffy when they saw the mystery man fighting several vampires and other demons. They stood there in awe realizing that the demons were losing. The two blades made a song while they moved through the air. It sounded as if they were made for this person. But the swords sounded different.

One sounded sadder then the other. So in tune with each other, it was as if they were communicating with one another and when he sliced down a demon the climax of the sound was deafening. But still they didn't cover their ears. By he time the last demon was slain a lone figure turned and she ran back to report on the battle.

The gang looked in awe as the man's blades disappeared quickly. Buffy was going to approach him but he was swallowed up by the night.

Xander didn't want to talk to them in the graveyard. He was on his way to Giles' when he spotted a female being attacked and came to help her. He was ambushed but he remembered his lessons in magic and fighting and dispensed them quickly. The problem was that the gang was there. He watched as Buffy was upset but continued her patrol.

Around three in the morning the gang decided to call it a night. It was a quiet night with only a few demons and vampires. Giles and the gang entered his apartment. Giles went straight to the kitchen to get snacks and tea for the others.

"Damn him! This is pissing me off. He said he wants to meet with us but doesn't show up then when we see him in the cemetery he disappears." Buffy said collapsing on the couch.

"You see the way he fights. I mean those swords he has and the sound they make." Willow commented.

Giles was coming out of the kitchen and dropped the tray of food and tea on the ground. Buffy and the others turned to Giles who was white as a ghost. Everyone had confused looks on their faces. He slowly pointed towards his stairs. They slowly turned to see what he was pointing to.

"About time you noticed me." Xander said.

Everyone turned and noticed the man in black. Buffy slowly got up and

headed to the stairs. Xander got up and looked at her. Quickly Buffy pinned him against the wall.

"Who the hell are you?" Buffy asked pressing a stake against his chest.

Xander realized he still had his face in the dark. Slowly he let the light

in and the gang slowly saw his face. Buffy dropped her stake and backed pedaled.

"You're alive? How?" Buffy asked.

"I barely got out of the house before it exploded, then I left."

Xander said stepping closer to Buffy.

Xander saw Riley approach him. He quickly turned to him. Xander smiled at him then decked him hard knocking him on his ass.

"That is for Oz and all the others you and your cohorts killed." Xander seethed.

Willow quickly came forward.

"Oz isn't dead he left again."

Xander looked at her and smirked but his attentions were distracted by

Buffy. She came up to him and hugged him tightly. She looked up to him and said, "You're alive."

She leaned up and noticed his small scar. When she touched it, she wasn't prepared for Xander pushing her away. He turned to Willow an angrily said.

"Oz is dead Willow. He died when a beam hit him." Xander replied.

"No he ran away again you're lying." Willow screamed.

"Is that so? Well tell that to my nightmares." Xander replied.

He quickly turned and left the apartment. Buffy went to stop him but again Xander was swallowed up by the night.

Impressive, isn't it?" A voice behind Buffy said.

Part 7

The gang turned and noticed a man in drab leaning against the kitchen door drinking a beer.

"Who are you?" Giles asked.

"Names Whistler." Whistler replied.

Buffy stared at Whistler and said, "He's alive."

"That he is." Whistler said.

"If he is alive then who did we bury?" Riley asked rubbing his chin.

"Oz." Whistler simply stated.

"But Oz left a note saying he was leaving again." Willow commented.

"Note?" Whistler asked confused.

"We found a note outside behind the house saying Oz was leaving again." Giles responded.

"Behind the house? Oh that paper that flew out of Xander's possession when he crash through the window." Whistler commented on.

"If Xander was alive why didn't he tell us. He betrayed us by leaving."

Willow said.

Whistler was upset he got reports and even witness things to contradict these allegations.

"Betrayed you? All of the last two years he tried to help but you pushed him away. Last year you totally ignored him. So he was upset and figured this was a way out without hurting you guys. He never betrayed you, you betrayed him." Whistler screamed.

"We were there for him. He just seemed to stop hanging around." Willow responded.

"I wonder why. You guys always held him back even though he was special." Whistler replied.

"We were protecting him. We didn't want him to get hurt." Willow said.

"Hurt? What a bunch of crap. He gets thrown into a light post and gets up without a bruise. Angel decks him that would break a jaw of normal human but Xander just gets a bruise. In the last four years all he got was a broken arm. Which I might add healed three weeks faster then normal." Whistler said.

"What are you getting at?" Giles asked wondering what Whistler meant.

"Just out of curiosity where is Tara?" Whistler asked.

"She left shortly after Xander died. She got a summer job in San

Francisco." Willow said.

"Interesting." Whistler replied.



"What is?" Willow asked curiously.

"She was here to watch Xander. So she went were Xander was. The PTB's thought Xander would come about when he turned 18. But he didn't so they sent her to watch him. She actually was suppose to become his girlfriend but Anyanka got there first. So Tara decided to change the plan and chose his longest best friend." Whistler said.

"She was using me. She lied to me. I can't believe this." Willow said.

"You better believe it. That is why she didn't do the spell correct to find

Adam." Whistler said.

"Xander is a demon?" Spike asked. Then why couldn't I hit him?"

"He isn't a demon. He is like the slayer. Human but they got a mysterious power that I could explain but there isn't time. But it would pick him up has one." Whistler said.

"Then what is Xander if he isn't a demon?" Giles asked.

"There is no name for him. He just exists. There were others before him the last one was killed by The Master. Before he died he said one day a stronger one will come." Whistler spoke softly.

Buffy finally joined in the conversation after listening to Whistler.

"Where did he get that scar?"

"Whistler turned to her and smiled a responded, " He got that when he tried to save Oz. A beam that was on fire hit him. It caused nasty scarring on that side of his face. Has a gift the PTB's healed his face except for the one scar."

"Why?" Buffy asked.

"To remind him he can't save everyone." Whistler replied.

"He'll try." Buffy commented.

"Yeah, I know." Whistler stated.

Giles was busy going in research mode to look more on the subject. He was reading a passage that describes the man's actions and his two swords.

Giles looked up and noticed Whistler was looking at him.

"You want to know about the swords?" Whistler asked.

Giles stared at Whistler.

"The swords are known has Medrican swords. The word comes from one of oldest and dead language. These swords are rare. The PTB's say they are magic type swords. They supposedly won't harm the user. One represents the warrior. The other represents his love and devotion to the one he loves. When one dies that sword that represents them disappears into thin air."

"Why is it when Xander used them one sounded sadder then the other?" Willow asked.

"One represents the warrior who is to battle evil, the louder happier one. The sadder one represents the death of the innocent and if he feels unloved by the one he loves" Whistler stated while looking at Buffy.

"What is that suppose to mean?" Riley asked.

"You think it was at all strange for Xander to be here? Xander was destined to be by Buffy's side no matter what." Whistler said.

Everyone turned and saw Buffy staring out the door.

"What about his face and him disappearing like that?" Buffy asked.

"Well I found out that is part of Xander being. He has that to protect himself and the others. Just like your healing and strength is yours. I trained Xander to disappear like that like I did Angel." Whistler stated

" He hates Angel. Why would he want to be like him?" Willow asked.

"Please don't go there. I don't remember how many times we fought and I'm still recovering from the last one where he dislocated my shoulder." Whistler said.

"Where is he Whistler?" Buffy asked.

"He's not far. Trust me you'll see him soon." Whistler said and disappeared before more questions could be asked.

Part 8

Megan had never seen her liege so preoccupied. All day and night she was reading book after book and scroll after scroll. Megan had heard from others that Sydney was into history. When Megan had first been brought to Sydney, she'd wondered who Sydney was. But she soon found that Sydney was more then your typical demon. She was a demon of old that had seen and done a lot. She'd helped a vampire, known has The Master, come to be. Megan had found out that she was like Sydney, with the exception that she had human blood running through her veins. The funny thing about these demons is that they look completely human but their scent is different. That's why Sydney sent her to take out Angel. Angel wouldn't smell the demon in her because the human blood masked her demon's scent. The setback was that they didn't live as long as humans. Only a few hundred years compared to a few thousand.

"Yes child, what is it?" Sydney asked.

"What are you looking for my liege?" Megan asked in return.

"Just brushing up on my history. Nothing to worry about," Sydney replied.

"It's just…" Megan started to say but stopped.

"It's just what?" Sydney asked.

"You've never been buried in your books like this before." Megan responded.

"Very perceptive of you. I've heard of the being you described. He fought The Master and was defeated. This being was something The Master had never faced before. Whatever he threw at him he came back stronger then before. Then something happened and The Master destroyed him. Damn! I wish I was there so I'd know what he did to destroy him," Sydney said disgustedly.

"Maybe you should take a break and let your mind relax. Then, you can refocus and see if you can find something." Megan suggested.

"You're a smart kid. I do need some sleep. I take it you couldn't defeat the being?" Sydney asked.

Megan shook her head, hanging it low.

"Don't be ashamed. If The Master had trouble dealing with a similar being, I'm not surprised you and the others were defeated. Just remember that there is always a weakness."

"I didn't see one my liege. He is a master warrior. He fights and doesn't give up. I swear we could've had a thousand demons there and he would still have fought us to the end." Megan softly said.

"You're trying to hard Megan. Trust me, we will find the weakness. When we do, he'll die." said Sydney with authority.

"Is there anything I can help you with?" Megan asked.

"Always the helpful one. If you want, you can check those scrolls on the table." Sydney said.

"Have you found anything useful that may give me a clue as to what I'm looking for?" Megan asked.

"The only thing I've found is that when the slayer was discovered there was also another they found. The only thing I got was that they were supposed to be the male counterpart to the slayer." Sydney responded.

"What do you mean 'were'?" Megan asked.

"The Watchers Council tried training both but soon realized they could keep the male under control as well as the slayer. They found a way to kill off the male and made sure they never appeared again. One Watcher was very disappointed in this. He thought the Council was only going to hurt the world with these actions." Sydney said.

"Why would this man go against his brethren my liege?" Megan asked.

"He was training both of them and saw a connection between the two. He believed they were in love. Once they killed off the male, the Slayer was lost. It was rumored that she died shortly after her counterpart. It's also said that this is the reason slayers have a death wish." Sydney stated.

"Death wish?" Megan asked puzzled.

"Many vampires and demons believe that slayers have a death wish. There is a theory that states that they have part of their soul missing.

They want to die to be with their other half. A slayer doesn't live long on this plane, but on the plane of their counterpart." Sydney said reading from a book.

"Could this man be the counterpart to the slayer?" Megan questioned.

"According to this tome, some Watchers believe that the male slayer has returned. The only thing is, their power is usually latent. And it's a power no one has ever seen before." Sydney replied.

"So, if he is the male slayer, then his power has come forward. All we have to do is get the slayer and kill her to hurt the dark warrior." Megan stated proudly.

"If he is the counterpart, we just discovered his weakness." Sydney stated with an evil smile.

Buffy was walking to her apartment, lost in her thoughts. As a result, she didn't hear Xander walk up to her.

"Nice night for a walk." Xander said

"Hmm huh?" Buffy asked confused.

"I said, it's a nice night for a walk." Xander repeated.

Buffy slowly turned and saw Xander there. A smile appeared on her face, then disappeared.

"You left. How dare you leave me!" Buffy said through tears.

"I left because I was being pushed around. I thought that since you all thought I was dead it'd be easy." Xander seethed.

"I didn't want you to get hurt." Buffy said somberly.

"Well, that's why I fought. I didn't want to see you get hurt either."

Xander said in soft tones.

"I missed you. I cried more than I have ever had in my life. I don't know what it is, but I felt my soul was gone when I thought you were dead." Buffy said coming closer to him.

"I missed you too. But you still hurt me more than you'll ever realize."

Xander stated.

"I know. Let me try and make it up to you." Buffy pleaded.

"We'll see." Xander said.

"That's all I ask. I need you in my life. I think I've always known that."

Buffy replied softly.

"Then you should also have realized that if you need someone, you don't push them away." Xander retorted.

I know, I'm sorry for that." Buffy responded.

Xander just gave Buffy a comforting smile.

They continued to walk to Buffy's apartment in silence. When they reached her apartment Xander turned to leave.

"Please stay." Buffy pleaded.

"Buffy, this isn't what I had in mind when I said you could make it up to me." Xander said.

"No, I'm not ready for that yet. I just want you to hold me tonight. I need to know you're here, warm and alive." Buffy answered.

Xander's thoughts wrapped around her words. He let it go when she led him into her apartment and to her bed. They fell asleep with his arms wrapped around her.

Part 9

Consciousness slowly came to Buffy. She looked at Xander's sleeping form and kissed the side of his neck. A smile came to her face when he pulled her closer to him. She looked at the clock seeing that it was six thirty in the morning. She laid her head on Xander's chest, there she realized she never felt this safe or at peace in her life. The way Xander was holding her she could feel what she meant to him. She never realized the love she felt for him and from him until he was gone. She'd felt like something had been torn from her but now it was back, stronger then ever. She fell asleep realizing she was in love with Xander.

8:30 AM

Sleep slowly left Xander, he had bad dreams again but they seemed less painful, less real somehow. He felt a mass of weight on his chest. When he looked down he saw blonde hair. With one of his hands he played in her hair. When Buffy felt his hands in her hair she pulled him closer to her.

"Hmm, my Xander-bear." Buffy mumbled in his chest.

Xander smiled at that remark. He just toyed with strands of blonde hair while she held him tight. They laid there for awhile before getting up.

Buffy had class at ten thirty. Xander waited until she came out of the bathroom. He looked up and thought he was going to pass out. Buffy was standing in front of him wearing a towel that barely went a quarter way down her legs. Buffy saw Xander's stare and realized what he was thinking.

"You'll have to be patient awhile before you get inside this towel." Buffy said smirking.

Xander realized what she meant and replied, "I better get going. I need to go and get some clothes to change."

"No you don't. I have some of your clothes in my closet." Buffy responded.

"Why do I have clothes in your closet?" Xander asked curiously.

"When I moved into the apartment, mom brought a box that had some clothes you left after a patrol before you…" Buffy stopped talking and turned around.

She didn't want Xander to see her like this. She never let anyone see her like this. After Xander died she would lay in her bed and cry after patrol holding onto his shirt. She'd cry when she got up and anytime when no one was around. Xander turned her around. Seeing the tears run down her cheeks he leaned down and kissed them away.

"Buffy don't cry. You know I can't stand it when you cry." Xander tried to calm her.

"I thought you were dead. I can't explain it but it seemed like I'd lost a part of myself." Buffy sobbed.

"I know you thought I was dead but I needed space. You guys seemed to get along fine without me. I just wanted to find someplace where people needed me." Xander said in a hushed voice.

"We needed you Xander. Without you we...I was lost." Buffy replied softly.

"If I'd stayed, what would've changed? Nothing. I wouldn't be the man I am today, whoever the hell that is." Xander retorted a little more harshly then intended.

Buffy looked up at him with tear-filled eyes. She smiled at him and nodded her understanding. She leaned up and gave him a peck on the lips. "You better take a shower. I'll put your clothes by the door and there are towels in the closet next to the bathroom." She turned away and headed to her bedroom. Before she got there she turned.

"Xander?" She said waiting for him to respond.

"Yeah?" Xander replied.

"I love you." Buffy said.

Xander smiled, "I love you too."

With that they both turned to their destinations.



9:45 AM

Buffy grabbed Xander's hand and led him out of her apartment. Xander didn't know what to make of the situation. His hand was being held by Buffy's in a way he never thought he'd see. Her thumb stroked the outer part of his hand tenderly. He had her backpack. They finally reached the campus and Buffy led the way to her class. They neared the chemistry building were her first class was being held.

"Well, this is my building. I'll take my bag now." Buffy said softly.

Xander handed her the bag, which she quickly grabbed and pulled him down for a kiss. Xander was shocked but soon got over it. His free hand came and rested on the back of her head. The kiss was gentle. When they broke apart, she gave him a shy smile.

"I'll see you later." Buffy spoke.

Xander smiled at her.

"My last class gets over at 2:30. I'll be at the Magic Shop in back training. I love you." Buffy voiced quietly.

"I'll see you then." Xander replied.

Xander watched Buffy go. She held onto his hand until she absolutely had to let it go. He saw some girls come up to Buffy. He watched her turn around with a giant watt smile on her face. She slowly answered them and they looked back at him. Then they were gone in the building. Xander turned around and walked to his place.



Sydney's place

Sydney and Megan continued their research about the male slayer.

"Here's what I was looking for!" Sydney shouted excitedly.

"What is it?" Megan asked quizzically looking at the book.

"This is a copy I got made of a Watcher's diary. This specific Watcher was the one who trained the male and female slayers."

Sydney started to read the translation:

"I feel very proud today. I was informed I get to train the Slayers. There was some debate about who should train them. Should they be trained separately? Should they be left alone? After 5 sunsets it was decided and I couldn't wait.

***Flashback***

A man writing in his book:

As I write this, both of my Slayers lay dead. This is my personal journal. Some of the information I received from my talks to Pierre, a padre that knew them before us. The Council will never see this. I'm not suppose to have one of these but history is written by the victors. So I write this to tell the truth about how the Slayers came into our presence and how we destroyed them. I would love to skip straight to the end of my story so I don't have to go through all the pain again, but that's impossible now. The day the world changed for us was when we were on patrol.....

"Over there! Two children are being attacked!" Gregory screamed at his brethren.

Gregory and his group charged over to the spot only to see a young man and woman pummel the vampires. They'd never seen anyone do this. It usually took the whole group to take on a few vampires. They stood there in awe until they heard a noise behind them. Turning around they saw the vampires turn to dust. Looking back at the combatants they saw them staring at them.

"You should not be out at night." The female said with a french accent.

"Vampires are very dangerous." The male said with the same accent.

"How did you do that?" One of the brethren asked.

"Destroy the vampires? That was nothing." The male said.

"But vampires are extremely strong." Gregory pointed out.

"Not really. There are some that are quite strong but most are not that smart. They are easily defeated if you know what to look for." The female stated.

"What are you?" a young man asked.

"We were told we are known as s…" The female started to say but got cut off when a hand covered her mouth.

"Excuse us, we need to talk in private." The male said.

"Johan, what is it?" the female asked.

"I don't trust them, Michelle. We don't know who they are." Johan said.

"You didn't trust the padre either, at first." Michelle stated.

"The only one I truly trust, is you my love. I trust Whistler but he isn't the one who watches my back." Johan retorted back.

"You know Father Pierre hates when you call him that. Besides, it would be nice to if there were others to help us. " Michelle said with a smile.

"You know I can't say no to that smile. You are so evil." Johan replied with his own smile.

They walked back where Gregory and his group were talking amongst themselves.

"What do you make of them Gregory?" Christopher asked.

"I say they are the Slayers that the Watchers have been searching for over hundreds of years." Gregory replied.

"Are you sure? This would truly be amazing if we could have them as allies." Timothy stated.

"Yes, it would. But we need them to trust us first." Gregory said.

"Here they come." Christopher stated.

"Is everything well?" Gregory asked.

"Yes it is." Johan stated while eyeing the group.

"You are the Slayers are you not?" Gregory decided to get straight to the point.

"What are Slayers?" Johan said, deciding to play dumb.

"Please don't think we don't know. My group has been searching centuries for you." Gregory stated, full of arrogance.

"We are who we are. No more, no less." Johan stated.

"What about you, young lady? Are you a Slayer?" Gregory asked.

Michelle looked at Johan then turned her attention to Gregory and nodded. Gregory just smiled at Johan's look of disgust.

"We call ourselves The Council of Watchers. We watch and try to fight, but we are weak. We could use you two." Gregory stated.

"We fight by ourselves, we don't need your help." Johan seethed through his teeth.

"You fight well, but with our resources you could do more good." Gregory responded.

"We'll think about it. Give us until five sunsets." Johan stated.

"We'll meet here then. Do you have names?" Gregory asked.

"Yes." Johan stated.

Gregory and the rest waited for more but when they looked up, they were gone.

"Well, that was impressive." Christopher stated.

"We'll stay here until then." Gregory responded.



A church a few miles away



Whistling could be heard throughout the church.

"Whistler! Johan screamed.

"Sssh, my son. I thought I told you not to call me that?" Padre Pierre replied with a smile.

"I think we have a problem." Johan stated.

"What is it?" Pierre asked.

"There are these people out there who call themselves the Council of Watchers. They want us to help them. They say they have resources that will help us do better." Michelle replied.

"Ah yes, the Watchers. I've heard of them. Very intellectual people." Pierre responded.

"See, Pierre thinks they are good." Michelle said.

"I never said that. I said they are intellectuals. I have never associated with them. You two have been by yourselves for too many years. You don't have many resources or the resources to train properly. They may have them." Pierre stated with authority.

"We do fine on are own." Johan retorted.

"Yes, you do. But you could do more." Pierre stated.

"Yes...we could. I just have a feeling that this will lead to trouble."

Johan said.

"I remember you saying that same statement when you two came here five years ago. You were only 11 Johan. You need to learn to build some trust. Now go to your bedroom and sleep. You've had a long tiring night. We'll discuss this further tomorrow." Pierre said ushering them to their room.



Woods (Watchers campsite)

"I think we should leave them alone. They're doing what we're doing. They don't need us. We should leave now." Timothy stated.

"We've been looking for them for centuries so we could teach and train them. We are not meant to fight. The Slayers have the strength and skill to defeat the vampires. They know magic that is centuries old. I even heard they could speak languages long since gone. We need them and we need them now." Gregory retorted back.

"That's good, but should we train them together or separately?" Paul asked.

"Good point, I think they should be trained separately." Gregory stated.

"I disagree. If you saw them fight you'd see that they moved as a team. To separate their training you'd lose that edge. To train them together is the smart move." Christopher rebuked.

The rest of the Watchers nodded in agreement.

"I think we should turn in. We can discuss more of this tomorrow." Gregory responded.

*End flashback*



"Anthony, get in here!" Sydney screamed.

"Yes my liege?" Anthony said, with a tremble of fear.

"How come the translation is not done?" Sydney asked.

"I am sorry my liege, but it takes time to translate a language that is that old. It is older even than you." Anthony replied.

"You are so lucky I need you or you would be dead for that comment. Now get to work!" Sydney screamed.



The Magic Shop (2:45pm)



Buffy walked into the shop, looking around to see if Xander was there.

"He's not here luv." Spike said.

"When he comes, tell him I'm in training." Buffy responds while heading to the back of store.

"I'm not your message board Slayer. Find someone else." Spike retorted back.

Buffy glared at him.

"Alright, alright I'll tell him." Spike quietly said.

"Buffy." Giles spoke loudly.

"What is it Giles?" Buffy responded.

"What is with the large gym bag and what is that sound coming out of there?" Giles asked.

"Oh, that's just some training stuff." Buffy replied.

"Training stuff?" Giles asked confused.

"Yeah you know, gloves, swords, things like that." Buffy responded going into the backroom.

"Is it me or was that bag moving a little too much?" Giles asked looking at Spike.

Spike just shrugged his shoulders and went back to lounging around.

The bell on the front door clanged. Giles looked up to see Riley and Willow enter.

"Is Buffy here?" Willow asked.

"Yes, she's in the back room training." Giles answered.

"She say anything about Xander?" Willow questioned.

"Just that when he gets here to tell him she's in back. Why?" Giles asked curiously.

"I heard that she kissed Xander on campus." Willow said.

Spike jumped up out of his chair spitting out blood. "What did you say red?"

"Buffy kissed Xander." Willow repeated.

"On the cheek right?" Spike asks.

"Nope, right smack on the lips. I heard it was very passionate." Willow responds.

"Enough! That is their private life and I don't want to hear anymore about it. If Xander turned Buffy's suicide run around that's all I care about." Giles replies.

The store was in silence until the bell over the door sounded. Xander came in wearing a tight light blue T-shirt with an unbuttoned blue shirt over it with a faded pair of blue jeans.

"Buffy in back?" Xander asked.

"Yes, she is." Giles responded.

Xander went straight to the back of the store. When he opened the door he didn't have time to move before getting hit by a water balloon.

"I'll get you for that Buffy!" Xander screamed before closing the door.

Everyone went to the door and heard Buffy scream and things exploding.

"Should we go in there and stop them?" Riley asked.

Spike and Giles just stared at him as if he'd lost his mind.

"By all means, go in there and stop them." Spike responded extending his arm to the door.

For two hours they heard screams and laughter coming from the other side of the door. All of a sudden the door opened to reveal a very soaked Slayer.

"That's not fair Xander. You used a spell. All I had was water balloons." Buffy pouted.

"What did I have? Nothing, you hit me with ten of them before I could move." Xander responded coming to the front of the store showing that he was an equally wet.

"Are you quite done children?" Giles asked, unable to hide his grin.

"Giles, he used a spell to form a rain cloud over my head. It's not fair."

Buffy pouted.

"Oh no you don't. I'm not getting pulled into this." Giles responded.

Buffy looked at Giles then turned to Xander. Seeing the smirk on his face she jumped to tackle him only to find air. She hit the ground with a loud thud. Buffy turned over and saw the gang holding in their laughter. She saw a hand extended to her. She took a hold of it and pulled Xander down on top of her.

"I was only trying to help." Xander said looking Buffy in the eyes.

Buffy just stared at him. She was about to kiss him when she saw he still had the smirk on his face. She decided to retaliate. She started to tickle him. Xander started laughing and decided to tickle her. Both tickle combatants were now laughing and rolling over the ground not giving any leeway. Giles and the rest of the gang just watched them wondering what to do. Finally, Giles decided to break the two up.

"Um Buffy, Xander? We need to get to work now." Giles said.

Buffy and Xander both stopped and looked up seeing all eyes were on them.

"I guess your right Giles." Buffy said while trying to get untangled from Xander.

"Well I gotta go get some dry clothes." Xander responded while standing up.

"Why don't you just cast a spell to dry yourself?" Willow asked.

"Spells aren't made to used for convenience. It's not good to break the rules of nature. That leads to overconfidence and you go down a road that'll lead to no good." Xander replied with a dark glare at the Witch.

With that he walked out the store.

"Oh he forms rain clouds for fun but then says something like that. What a hypocrite!." Willow replied.

"Willow, Xander is right. Spell casting is nasty business. I don't want to see you to do anything rash." Giles quickly responded trying to cut off an argument with Willow.

Willow slowly nodded her head.

"Now, down to business. Riley, Willow, and Spike I want you to take the Meredith Memorial Cemetery. Buffy and I will take Sunnydale Memorial Cemetery. I say we go home, get something to eat and meet back here at nine." Giles said.

"Giles, what about Xander?" Buffy asked.

"Oh, um. Do you have his number or were he lives?" Giles asked.

"No I don't. I should have asked him." Buffy answered.

Xander went back to his apartment. While on the way he noticed the sun setting. He hated this time of day. When he got into his apartment he sensed another was there.

"How's it going kid?" Whistler asked.

"Whistler. What are you doing here?" Xander responded.

"Just on a tour stop. I figured I'd see how you and a certain Slayer were doing." Whistler answered back.

"What a bunch of bull. You and I both know how's it going between Buffy and I." Xander retorted.

"True...be careful, the evil is coming." Whistler replied.

Xander was about to respond but noticed he was alone.

"You're almost as bad as deadboy!" Xander screamed.



2:30 AM Meredith Memorial Cemetery



"This is boring. No demons to catch, nothing to hurt. This night sucks."

Spike said.

"Will you stop your complaining Spike? We'll be out of here soon." Riley responded.

Spike was about to say something when he heard a twig break. Turning around they noticed a figure drop to the ground.

"The council knows who he is." The voice said.

After hearing the murmured warning, Spike bent down to turn the person over. There was blood all over the clothes. A large gasp escaped both Willow and Riley when they noticed whom it was.

"Tara?" Willow whispered.

Part 10

Magic shop

"How is she?" Giles asked.

"Not good. She had a major gash on her head and multiple stab wounds." Riley answered.

"The doctors say she only has a thirty percent chance to live," Willow said through tears.

"I'm sorry Willow," Giles said.

"I wish I knew what she meant when she said that the council knows who he is," Willow replied with tears in her eyes.

"Yes, well, that is a strange thing to say," Giles responded.

"I guess we'll have to do research then," Riley piped in.

"Where's Buffy?" Willow asked.

"She went looking for Xander. He's been acting mysteriously lately and Buffy's worried." Giles answered.

"Well he does have all those powers all of a sudden. Maybe he's gone all evil." Riley stated.

"Or maybe I like the quiet." Xander said in an angry tone.

Everyone looked up at the door where Xander was standing with a dark look on his face aimed at Riley.

"Where were you Xander?" Giles asked.

"Here and there. I just got back from seeing Tara. I wish there was something I could do," Xander replied in a somber tone.

"There is Xander!" Willow exclaimed.

Xander just stared at her knowing what was coming.

"If we combine our magic abilities, we could do a healing spell," Willow said excitedly.

"NO SPELLS Willow! They're too dark and dangerous. How many times can I say that you can't do spells anytime you want? Some spells are darker in magic than others and what you want goes beyond dark. I won't do it." Xander coldly responded.

"If it were Buffy in the hospital dying you use your magic to save her!" Willow screamed.

Xander just stared at her and then he walked past her and entered the back room. No one noticed Buffy in the doorway watching the verbal exchange between the longtime friends.

"Xander, wait!" Buffy hollered.

She watched Xander continue into the back room. She ran after him, her glare burning into Willow. The rest just watched as Buffy ran into the backroom. They heard what sounded like someone hitting something, and hitting it hard.

"Well Witch, you really did a number this time," Whistler stated.

Everyone turned around to the new voice.

"What did I do? Xander has all these powers that he could use to help Tara," Willow said in her innocent voice.

"You of all people should realize that magic is very dangerous. If Xander uses his power for her, that will affect the balance of nature, doing more harm than good. Tara understands this that's why asked him not to do any spells on her. He wanted to save her but he knew he couldn't and it's eating him up inside. Then you had to go and complicate things by asking him to use his magic and saying that if it was Buffy he would've done the spell. My but aren't you the selfish one," Whistler finished his spiel.

"How dare you…." Willow started to say but got interrupted by Whistler.

"How dare I what? You think you're so innocent that if you do something bad all will be forgiven? Let me tell you something, you aren't that innocent. You need to shut up and listen for a change," Whistler seethed.

Giles walked over to Willow and shook his head to say enough was enough.

"You know what Tara was talking about don't you?" Giles asked.

"Pretty much, but first it's time for Xander and Buffy to learn the truth," Whistler stated.

They watched him walk to the backroom.

(Backroom during Willow's and Whistler's argument.)

Xander was hitting Buffy's dummy as hard as he could. Buffy came in the room shortly after he started whaling on the dummy. She saw him move at a speed that she could only compare to her own slayer's speed. With one final kick, Xander decapitated the dummy.

"Wow, I'm impressed. That dummy never knew what hit him," Buffy said with a full smile.

Xander turned and saw Buffy's smile and couldn't help but smile in return.

"I wanted to use a magic spell to help her. I know quite a few you know," Xander said in a somber tone.

"Why didn't you?" Buffy asked.

"She knew what I was thinking and she told me not to help her. She's yet another one I couldn't save," Xander replied with tears streaming down his face.

Buffy walked up to him and wiped his face with her hands.

"I know it is hard to think that way. I've been there you know," Buffy said looking lovingly into his eyes.

"She also told me that I'm special and that it was an honor to keep an eye on me," Xander said while looking into Buffy's eyes.

"What does that mean?" Buffy asked with a confused look.

"I don't know," Xander responded.

"Maybe I can help," Whistler said.

Both Buffy and Xander stared at Whistler. Xander was the first to find his voice.

"That'd be a first. You're more cryptic than deadboy."

"I'm going to tell you a story, but before I do you need to know the truth about you two. In the beginning there wasn't one slayer…but two. A male and female, two halves of a whole. For thousand of years they were by themselves. Now jump ahead a couple of centuries to two eleven-year-old orphans in a missionary in France, Johan and Michelle. When I first saw them, they had a connection I'd never seen before. They never left each other's side. Other kids made fun of them but they didn't seem to mind. On Johan's thirteenth birthday they got in a fight with vampires. Without training they knew how to defeat them and they did an excellent job. The padres helped to train them and do research," Whistler stated.

"So Xander is the…"Buffy said, but couldn't say it.

"The male slayer, yes. He's the first one in centuries," Whistler replied.

"First one in centuries? What happened to the other male slayers?" Xander asked.

"They met the Watchers…and it all went to hell from there," Whistler said.

1

2 **********FLASHBACK*********

"This is how you want to do the kick." Christopher said to Michelle.

"No that won't work. You want her to get hurt?" Johan asked.

"What are you talking about?" Christopher asked.

"Watch. Michelle come at me and try that kick." Johan replied.

Michelle came at Johan and let the kick fly. When she came down she was blindsided by Johans fist. She landed on the ground and Johan had her pinned before she knew what happened. He smiled at her, rolled off of her, and helped her up.

"See, if she tried that with a vampire she'd be dead now and I would be upset." Johan said with anger in his voice.

Christopher looked at him and nodded. "I see what you mean. What would you suggest?"

"If you took the kick and replaced it with a jab and then a roundhouse kick, that would work better." Johan said.

"That might work. But for now, go rest for awhile." Christopher responded.

Michelle and Johan left together while Christopher walked over to Gregory and the others.

"You need to discipline him." Gregory said.

"Why?" Christopher asked confused.

"He's disruptive, distracting and being a pain." Gregory seethed.

" I don't see why I should. They've been fighting together longer than we've been training them. He knows what's best for her and he wouldn't do anything to harm her. I've watched them fight vampires. He'd die for her and you want me to discipline him?" Christopher asked.

"I see your point Christopher. Go ahead and get cleaned up." Gregory said.

After Christopher left Gregory turned to the others.

"I think we may have to get rid of Johan. Without him we will be able to control Michelle."

"That's going to be hard. He doesn't leave her side at all." Paul responded.

"That's not entirely true. The other night they had to split up because two demons went separate ways." Morgon retorted.

"How do you know this?" Gregory replied.

"I was helping Christopher and I saw them split up." Morgon responded.

"Well that might just work." Gregory said.

"What might work?" Paul asked.

"We hire two demons to attack the slayers. Make them split up and have one lead the Johan into a trap. There we'll have Pricilla do a spell that will end the life of Johan and destroy any chance of any more male slayers." Gregory replied evilly.

"You had this planned from the beginning didn't you? Especially if you're going to use a witch." Morgon replied.

"I've had it planned for a while, but I had no means of killing him and make it seem like a

demon did it." Gregory responded.

The watchers just stared at Gregory in disbelief. They'd searched hundreds of years for the slayers and now they were going to destroy one?

"Do any of you have a problem with this?" Gregory asked, seeing if anyone would defy him.

No one said a word.

"What about Christopher? He won't be too happy about this." Morgon asked.

"He won't be told. If anyone tells him, they will die." Gregory answered.

Gregory and the others close to him went out to hire the demons. Several others in the council were worried about the fall back of this event. To take and end a life was one thing, but to extinguish the male slayer essence forever? It was maddening. Fearing for their own lives, they never said a word.

3 A week later

Two demons found their target and started attacking the slayers. One was to lead Johan to a spot were the ritual would take place, the other to keep Michelle busy. After a few minutes of battle, the two demons took off in separate directions. Johan and Michelle split up. Johan chased his demon for five minutes before cornering him.

"You picked the wrong person to pick on." Johan said.

"I don't think so." The demon replied.

All of a sudden Johan is flung into a tree. He sees a young woman with black eyes come out of the shadows. She starts speaking in Latin. Suddenly Johans mouth is gone. He tries to speak but can't. The witch danced around Johan, dosing him with herbs and powders. At one point her voice rose into a screechy sound. Johan knew what was happening. Tears started to fall down his cheeks. His mind went over spells until his mouth returned.

"Alzure culd marte bodety"

The witch stopped her chant, amazed by the power emanating from this man. She started chanting until the spell was complete.

Johan screamed out, "Parte maculd terre gula Michelle!" his body slumping to the ground.

Gregory came out of the shadows. "What was all that about?"

"You never told me he was so powerful. If I wasn't as far along as I was he could've stopped it," Pricilla stated.

"Well I didn't know. What did he say before he died?" Gregory asked.

"That I don't know. The language he spoke has been dead for centuries."

Morgon and some others came out of the shadows.

"What should we do with the body?" Morgon asked.

"Leave it," Gregory said.

He and the others turned and walked back into the shadows. Michelle finished with her demon and ran in the direction she saw Johan go. She came to a dead stop upon seeing Johan's body.

"No! Johan, wake up! Please! I need you…. I love you." Michelle said through sobs.

She held Johan's body rocking it back and forth. Christopher, becoming worried about his slayers, went searching for them shortly after dawn. He found Michelle holding Johan in her arms and crying. He came over to her and put a hand on her shoulders.

"I'm sorry Michelle," Christopher said.

Michelle didn't say a word. She picked up Johan and started to walk away. Christopher followed behind her. They made their way to the missionary. Pierre was out front and noticed them. When he saw whom Michelle was carrying, he ran to her. When he got there he noticed the tears on Michelle's face.

"Fix him," Michelle commanded.

"I'm sorry Michelle, I can't," Pierre replied.

"Don't give me your crap Whistler, I want you to fix him!" Michelle retorted.

"He's dead Michelle. I can't bring the dead back to life. No one can," Pierre said.

4 The next day

The padres had started their chant of mourning the day before. Now they were burying Johan. Christopher and the other Watchers were there. Christopher stood beside Michelle, while Gregory and the others stood off to the side. Michelle stepped up to Johan's body.

"Verte monis tocin Johan."

The ceremony continued. Gregory was watching Michelle with interest.

5 Later in the day

Pierre and Christopher are walking along a path beside the monastery.

"What did Michelle say back there?" Christopher asked.

"It's a very old language. They both knew it and when the other had something important to say to the other and didn't want others to know what they were discussing, they used that language." Pierre said.

"But do you know what she said?" Christopher asked again.

"Not really. I get the feeling Michelle won't be with us for too much longer." Pierre replied.

"What makes you say that?" Christopher asked.

"What you don't know is that Michelle and Johan were married. When they came here they were inseparable. One day Johan went out hunting with a local farmer. Michelle wandered around with a blank look all day. She kept searching the horizon for him. When Johan returned in the late afternoon he ran straight to Michelle. After that day he never left her again…until now," Pierre stated. They continued their walk in silence.

6 A week later

"Come on Michelle, you've got to train." Christopher pleaded.

"Why? It doesn't matter," Michelle said in a somber tone.

"You need to train so you can defeat the demons," Christopher said.

"I don't care. The only thing I cared for has died," Michelle replied in an angry tone.

"Fine. Go!" Christopher said.

Michelle took off and didn't look back.

"You need to teach her to concentrate." Gregory stated.

"It's kind of hard when her head, not to mention her heart, isn't into it." Christopher said.

"Well, get her head into it then." Gregory replied.

"That's going to be hard. Especially since the one person that kept her head 'into

it' is dead." Christopher stated.

"Please. One person shouldn't matter. You just figure out a way to get her thinking straight." Gregory said as he turned and left.

Christopher was walking home when Paul came up to him.

"What can I do for you Paul?" Christopher asked.

"You need to know that Johan didn't die by a demons hand." Paul stated.

"What?" Christopher asked in disbelief.

"Gregory and the others thought that Johan was a distraction for Michelle.

So they lured him into a trap and a witch cast a spell. It destroyed not only Johan, but the male slayer essence as well." Paul replied.

"Why the hell wasn't I informed? Didn't they realize they probably did more harm than good?"

"Gregory threatened to kill anyone who betrayed him." Paul responded.

Christopher didn't know what say. He just stood there staring off into space.

"I wasn't sure if I should tell you or not, but I figured I owed you." Paul said.

"Thank you," Christopher said walking off.

Paul turned and walked in the opposite direction.

******END FLASHBACK*********************

"Michelle died three days later. The day she died she had a smile on her face. The first time she'd had one since Johan died. She was buried next to her husband." Whistler said.

"You were the padre, Pierre?" Xander asked.

"Yes I was. When I was on my deathbed the PTB's came to me in a dream. They

gave me a chance to live and help others. They gave me a way to make up for my

mistake of not taking care of Johan and Michelle." Whistler answered.

"So, since Xander is the male slayer does that mean he and I are brother and sister?" Buffy asked curiously.

"No, not brother and sister, soulmates. You two were meant to be together since your birth," Whistler said.

Noise in front of the store broke them out of their conversation. Xander, sensing something wrong, grabbed Buffy into a tight embrace.

"Do you trust me Buffy?" Xander asked.

"With my life," Buffy answered.

Two men entered the backroom.

"They're not here sir," one of them said.