Title: Xander Harris: Year One (Chapter Six)

Author: Randall Stone

Disclaimer: All characters are belong to someone else.

Summary: Some are born to destiny. Others make their own.

Notes:
Spoilers: S1-4

Continuity changes: Hopefully everything will be explained in the
text. One note- Veruca tragically stepped in front of a bus the
day before she was going to be turned into a werewolf, so Oz will
be hanging around.

We have now left the Season 4 continuity. Only events described
or referred to directly in this fic should be assumed to have
occurred.

Category: B/X, a little B/R early on
Rating: PG-14- nothing worse than what's on the show.


*****

ONE WEEK LATER

Giles was tuning his guitar when he was interrupted by a knock at
the door. Sighing, he set the guitar aside and walked over to
answer the door. He was somewhat surprised to be confronted by the
sight of a subdued looking Xander.

"Xander! Come in, come in." One of the features Giles had looked
for when renting an apartment was an entryway that received direct
sunlight at all hours of the day.

"Hey Giles."

"Xander, it's good to see you again... but why are you here?"

"Don't worry, I'm not going to get you in trouble with Buffy."
Xander held up the books that Giles had loaned him earlier. "Just
returning the books you loaned me. I'm done with them."

"You read them?" Giles couldn't keep all of his surprise from his
voice.

"Yeah. Don't look so shocked. That demon handbook is a real page
turner. Not that it matters now." Xander didn't have to feign much
of his bitterness as he slammed the books down on Giles' table.

"Buffy's going through a lot right now, Xander. I've been talking
with her about your contributions. I'm sure she'll come around
eventually." Giles rose to shelve the books Xander had handed him,
and retrieved a few other volumes. "In the meantime, these should
prove educational."

"I don't know. She seemed to have her mind pretty made up." Xander
grudgingly accepted the new volumes.

They sat in silence for a moment before Giles was struck by another
thought.

"Xander, are you working right now?"

"Not so much." Xander had discovered at his last job interview that
his ring did not, in fact, provide him with any mind control powers.

"My friend Manuel runs a construction crew out of this area. If you
don't mind hard work, the pay is quite reasonable. He'll start you
out working under the table, so it's tax free as well. Let me give
you his number."

"You sure he'd be looking for a guy like me?" Xander asked as Giles
was looking around for a pen.

Giles looked up at him and grinned.

"Just tell him Ripper sent you."

---

LATER THAT NIGHT

Giles was reclined in his chair reading the Watcher Diaries
(1854-1857) prior to going to bed when he was suddenly interrupted
by the entrance of a very energetic Buffy Summers, with Willow in
tow.

"Giles! You're not going to believe what we ran into on patrol to-"

Buffy stopped speaking when she saw Giles' robe and slipper clad
state.

"Maybe this is a bad time."

"No no, quite all right." Giles placed a bookmark in his book and
set it aside. "What happened?"

"Well, Willow and I were patrolling Shady View when I thought I
heard a noise up ahead. I had Will stay back while I sneaked up the
hill. You know that big hill, where you can see the side part of
the graveyard? Anyways, when I got to the top I could see a bunch
of guys, maybe four or five of them. They were zapping this
vampire."

"You mean with a taser?"

"No. A taser hits them with the darts and then runs electricity
along that, right? This was more like firing a bolt of lightning.
Pretty weird, huh. Anyways, the other weird thing is, the guys
were all done up in commando gear. Like in the Army."

"See Giles! Who's got the crazy conspiracy theory now?" Willow
broke in.

"Yes, quite right." Giles removed his glasses and rubbed at his
temples. "I feel such shame for doubting Spike's veracity.

"Did you see where the men went?"

"No. I went back to get Willow, and by the time we got back they
were gone."

"I see. Have you discussed these commandos with Sunnydale's less
savory element?"

"No. I could go see Willy later though."

"That may prove informative. Also, Xander may remember something
useful from last Halloween."

"No! Giles, we already had this talk. It's for his own good that
he not get involved."

"He should be safe if he is only here in a research capacity."

"The answer is no." Buffy looked to Willow for support.

"Yeah, you know, he always gets way too involved."

---

Todd watched as the young woman staggered out of the bar, obviously
drunk. He eyed her neck hungrily. Women disappeared around
Sunnydale all the time, didn't they? There was no way that-

"Tsk. Tsk." Todd's thoughts were interrupted by the shadowy figure
that had appeared next to him. "Didn't your mother ever tell you
that it's rude to stare at a lady's neck?"

"I wasn't staring at her neck. I was... checking out her legs."

"Don't lie to me, Todd. I hate liars."

"OK, maybe I was. No harm in looking, is there? Besides, that
pig's blood you've got me on tastes like crap."

"You'll get used to it." The figure twirled a stake around in his
hand. "So what's new, Todd? If it's interesting I'll try to forget
this unpleasantness."

"Um... word on the street is Tony Scipoli is in town."

"Who?"

"They call him Big Tony. He was a small time gangster before he got
turned. Word is, he runs the Chicago underground now."

"Doesn't he know the slayer is here?"

"They say he killed the last two slayers that went to Chicago. He's
supposed to be pretty well armed."

"Guns? In Sunnydale?" Xander couldn't help but laugh.

"Hey, that's just what I hear."

Todd shuddered as the figure next to him laughed again.

"Time to roll out the Sunnydale welcome wagon."

---

THE NEXT DAY

"So you learned nothing?" Giles asked.

"Nope. Willy didn't know anything about our commandos. He was very
concerned about some new demon in town though." Buffy responded.
Buffy, Willow, and Oz were all gathered in Giles' apartment in a
Scooby meeting.

"What did he say?"

"The usual. You know: blah blah blah mysterious blah blah
terrifying. Sounds like he's mostly killing vampires though."

"I don't think that is an urgent problem, although we should look
into it at some point. Regarding the commandos; seeing as we have
failed to get any new information, I think we should reconsider
contacting Xander."

"No, it's too dangerous."

"He doesn't have any special powers or anything." Willow added.

"Right, that is e-bloody-nough." Giles was finally losing his
temper. "While I agree that fighting vampires is hardly a safe
situation, Xander has been helping for three years and has never
been seriously hurt. I don't know why you want to exclude Xander
from your lives, but please stop dragging that out."

"We're not trying to-" Buffy started.

"Oh, really? When was the last time any of you talked to him?"

Oz spoke into the ensuing silence.

"Man has a point."

"Oz!" Willow was shocked.

"Look, you know that I stay out of your personal lives. The last
thing that I want to be is a bloody guidance counselor. But this is
starting to interfere with my ability to gather information.

"I'm calling Xander in to be at our meeting tomorrow. I expect you
all to at least be civil. Do you think you can manage that?"

Giles looked around the room as Oz, Buffy, and Willow nodded in turn.

"Good. I'm sure the boy will manage not to get himself killed."

---

Big Tony was staying in the top floor of the Sunnydale Hilton.
Built by an overly optimistic land developer in the early eighties,
the hotel was set a little ways out of town. Though low occupancy
and depressed rates had taken some of the luster off the hotel
through the years, it still provided the highest standard of living
available to Sunnydale's temporary residents.

And Tony was used to the best. He had been living high off the hog
in Chicago for the last twenty years, and now he was looking to
expand his operations to the west coast- both for the increased cash
flow and as a vacation spot.

Though Tony could hardly appreciate the famous Southern California
sun, he could definitely enjoy the nightlife. The body of the girl
in the bed next to him testified to that fact.

Since this was largely a scouting mission, he had only brought six
vampires into town with him. One was standing lookout downstairs,
one was in the video room manning the security equipment, and the
other four were in the main room of the penthouse, ready to act as
his bodyguards or manservants, as needed.

Most of the available surfaces in the main room were covered with
either cash or product. Tony didn't believe in making unprofitable
trips.

Tony was roused from his contemplation by a beep from the portable
radio by the bed. It was from Jimmy, the lookout. Tony grabbed
the radio.

"What is it?"

"There's a guy here to see you."

"Is it the lawyer?"

"No."

"Is he human?"

"Yeah."

"What's he look like?"

---

Jimmy looked at the young man in front of him. The man was dressed
in a long black trench coat, blue jeans, and some solid work boots.
He was also holding a crossbow three inches away from Jimmy's chest.

Jimmy looked into his eyes, searching for any trace of anxiety or
distraction. Nothing.

"Serious."

Jimmy's belief was confirmed by the thwack of a crossbow being
fired. His walkie talkie clattered to the ground as his body
dissolved into dust.

---

"Jimmy? Jimmy, you there? Damn it." Tony walked out to the main
room. "Look sharp. There's somebody coming up. Somebody serious."

---

Xander's next move was interrupted by the approach of a weaselly
looking man.

"Young man, I should warn you that your current course of action
will set you in opposition to some very powerful forces."

"Who the hell are you?"

"Lee Manners, from Wolfram and Hart. We represent Mr. Scipoli. My
card."

Xander looked distastefully at the proffered business card.

"You work for these bloodsuckers?"

---

At the moment, the bloodsucker in question was watching the elevator
anxiously, along with four of his best men- all of them heavily
armed. Tony did not like to be disturbed.

The four watched as the indicator for the elevator steadily climbed
towards seventeen, the number for their floor.

Thirteen.

Fourteen.

Fifteen.

Sixteen.

"Ventilate it." Tony gave the order before the dial had even
clicked all the way over to seventeen.

The vampires opened up fire, crisscrossing the entire height and
width of the elevator to make sure that nothing could survive.
After what seemed like an eternity the elevator doors opened with
a 'ding' sound.

A body dropped out of the elevator- the bullet riddled body of Lee
Manners.

Tony quickly started giving orders.

"Damn! Hank, you go down the stairs and get the car ready. Will,
keep watch out here. You two, come with me."

Tony ran back into the main room.

---

Will was standing guard near the top of the stairs when he thought
he heard the sound of a vampire being dusted. Cautiously, he walked
to the edge of the stairwell. One of the highlights of the building
when it was designed, the square spiral of the stairs left open a
twenty by ten foot central chimney.

Will didn't hear anybody moving on the stairs. After a moment,
he cautiously leaned over the side railing to look down. Will's
caution went unrewarded as a hand grabbed him from below, yanking
him over the railing before he could react.

Vampires are very resistant to damage. Many injuries that would
kill a human will leave a vampire smiling and asking for more. The
damage caused by a fifteen story fall is not one of those injuries.
Xander had this fact confirmed when Will's screams were cut off by a
sickening wet smack.

---

Luke was starting to get a little antsy as he watched the security
cameras. He hardly had any visual coverage of the stairway, and
the only thing he could see moving on the monitors was his boss
running around frantically in the main room.

Suddenly, all of his monitors' output turned to static. Luke got up
and walked down the hallway to report this latest development to his
boss.

Luke was barely able to get out a scream as the garrote was wrapped
around his neck from above. He couldn't get out any sound as he
felt the wire digging deeper and deeper into his neck, until he
finally turned to dust.

---

Tony looked over the room. They had managed to gather all of their
important belongings in the two suitcases in front of him. He and
his last two bodyguards all had fully automatic rifles with full
clips. He was finally starting to relax a little. Then he tried to
contact the rest of his vampires.

"Hank? Hank? You there Hank?"

Tony switched frequencies on his hand held radio.

"Will? Will? What are you and Hank doing Will?"

Tony changed frequencies again.

"Luke? What the hell are Hank and Will doing? Luke? C'mon Luke,
answer me! Answer me, damn it!"

Tony threw the radio to the ground.

"They've got all the exits covered. Check the terrace."

Glancing at each other nervously, the vampires made their way
outside. Tony divided his attention between watching the door and
keeping an eye on his men through the glass. His view was suddenly
cut off by somebody outside closing the blackout shutters.

Tony heard some gunfire, then silence.

Tony finally lost it.

"Who are you? What the hell are you doing here?" Raising his gun,
he fired wildly into the far wall, not stopping until the clip ran
dry.

Tony ran through the penthouse until he found another gun, and fired
that one wildly into the terrace as well. As the clip ran out Tony
suddenly became aware of a presence behind him. And of a large,
wickedly sharp knife being held against his throat.

"You-"

"Shh... don't want to lose your head."

Tony swallowed, and nodded.

"Now, who told you it would be a good idea to come to Sunnydale?"

"Everybody knows it's an open town. The Slayer scares most gangs
away."

"But not you."

"I'm not scared of no boogeyman."

"Well Tony, here's how this is going to go. You're going to haul
your fat ass out of town. You're going to talk to 'everybody'.
Here's what you're going to say: Sunnydale is closed for business.
Understand?"

Tony nodded.

"Then say it."

"I understand."

"Good. And if I ever see your ugly face around here again... well,
we won't be having this conversation twice.

Tony nodded again. He didn't move for almost a minute after the
mysterious intruder had departed.

---

Riley had thrown himself into his work- both in the classroom and
out- since the death of a man under his command. But now, a week
later, he was starting to feel a bit better. At least enough to
ease off of work a little bit and start to resume his social life.

Today's expression of his social life was a date. It had been a
while since Riley had been on a romantic date, and he was looking
forward to it. Normally he'd feel a little bad about dating a girl
in the class that he TAed for, but Walsh's draconian reputation
would crush any rumors before they began.

Riley swallowed down the sudden lump in his throat and checked over
his clothes and the flowers one last time. Finally, Riley summoned
up his courage and knocked on Buffy's door.

*****

I discovered something today: I can not write B/R flirtyness. I
tried, but my body just rejected it. I think it's because I've seen
S4 episodes too recently. I'm sure you'll all be crushed by the
fact that most of the B/R action will be taking place off screen.

--Randy