Disclaimer : All characters belong to Joss Whedon and ME. I acquire no profits at all from this. The only thing I do own here is the story though. Honest : )

Rating : Mostly PG but I'm putting an R on this just to be safe.

Author's notes :  I have a flu and this was what came out of it. This is a result of sickness and a twisted little idea I had when I was a little out of it. The only thing I've decided on is that this is Xander's story. This is completely AU where Xander is the one who stands guard over Sunnydale , leading the Scoobies' charge against evil. Buffy isn't going to feature much in this fic. She's hardly in this at all. She does make an appearance here though so don't you worry too much okay ? Faith will take much more of a prominent role here. A pal of mine wants this to be F/X and since it's her birthday I'll probably comply. : )  Hiya *A !!! Happy 19 girl !!!

Feedback : yes please …?

Dedication :  To Lori Bush and Shawn (Ozmandayus ) for inspiring me to write , to Lesley for making me smile , to Wicked Ray whose stories simply kick ass and to all Xander fans as well. Last but not least to my birthday girl *A , aka Audrey, I love ya baby . To everyone who's read this and reviewed. Thanks for everything.

I hereby dedicate this all to you guys out there : )

~**~

HELLMOUTH : Welcome to Sunnydale  … by Zauriel Angelus

~**~

part 1-

" Oh , great … I'm gonna be so late."

The watch on her hand spoke the language of time loud and clear. It was well past eight thirty and the promise she had made earlier on the phone was to arrive ten minutes before. A dozen curses were at the tip of her tongue but she held them all in. Being angry with her mother wasn't going to get her anything but a headache and having talked to Willy the snitch was already enough of a headache by itself.

She shook her head and grimaced , pulling her maroon sweater jacket closer around her. Letting out a breath, she ran a hand through her short dark brown hair, unconsciously  tracing the scar just above her eye, a small line that cut across her right eyebrow. Her thoughts slowly drifted off to one dark-haired young man she knew, as did the unwanted emotions that came along with him.

" Xander …"

Damn that boy…

" Hey baby , where are you off to in such a hurry ?"

The brunette paused in her thoughts, her walk stopping abruptly as she felt eyes watching her from behind.  She turned her head , seeing a handsome face now coming to view. 

He was tall and big at six foot seven and dressed not too shabbily either. Deep blue eyes peered out almost shining in the dark , as he gave her the once over. He casually stepped closer to where the beauty was , a slight smile on his face.

" This is a dangerous town y'know ? Can't be walking out all alone too much." He offered her a handshake.

" Name's Flint , what's yours miss …?"

In the past she would've fallen head over heels to get the type of attention of this nature. He was good looking , decently attired and reasonably charming at first glance. She would've given him her biggest smile back then. These days , a lot of things have changed. 

Times were different now … she was different.

" I'm not alone."

" What ?"

" I'm not alone … and if you've had any sense at all , you'd stop bothering me. Buzz off."

On Clint's face was a pure look of surprise. He clearly wasn't expecting that response at all. Quickly the big man flew off into a rage, his  features taking on a decidedly inhuman face.

" Listen you arrogant lil bitttttsshh-"

His human mask was now gone but even more pronounced was the evident shock in his eyes as his body quickly faded into the breeze, his ashes floating all over the sidewalk. 

" No use in giving my name to dust."

She blinked, twirling the stake in her hand slightly. For a second there, she thought someone did say her name.

" Cordelia !"

" Huh …?"

" What was taking so long ? I was almost worried."  A familiar voice spoke out.

Wearing a loose t-shirt and baggy pants, a teen around her age whose reddish brown hair stood up at spikes approached her from the side.

" Oz … you startled me. I ran into a vamp."

" No problem then."

" Nope. Willy didn't give us much but Willow called just now. Another girl kicked the bucket. She didn't say much but there's a big group meeting at the library. She told us to get back there pronto. We're already running behind as it is."

" Aren't you glad now that I have Sheila to help us with that ?" said Oz as they both walked to his parked vehicle nearby.

" Your van doesn't make me miss my car any less, wolfy."

" Give her time." Oz grinned.

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

" I've got nothing."

The large dusty tome slammed onto the table with a loud thud , the echo bouncing off the walls of the small library she sat in.

" Willow , do be more careful with that book. It isn't exactly cheap to come by." Giles reprimanded as he sipped his newly brewed tea.

" I'm sorry. I'm just frustrated. How goes the Merrick search ?"

" Not well. We don't really have much in the way of leads and I'm still waiting for some friends of mine to return my calls. The test results of the residue left at every murder scene have all been inconclusive. We've acquired no match on what the particular secretion is, no clues whatsoever. The chemical compounds are unlike anything I've ever seen or read about but maybe … that's where we're going wrong."

Giles paused his brain now working on overdrive. " Maybe it doesn't exist at all. Maybe it shouldn't have. It could be an accidental by-product of some sort."

" Or in turn the secretion might be from an accidental by-product." Willow chimed in with a pencil raised in the air as Giles nodded in agreement , reaching with her free hand to retrieve another donut from the desert box on the table.

" Why couldn't I see that sooner ?" Giles suddenly slapped his forehead. " We've wasted so much time going around in circles unnecessarily. It's something entirely new !!! It was so bleeding simple and I didn't see it till now."

The Englishman abruptly stood up from his chair and started pacing the library floor his  anger directed solely at himself.

" I'm supposed to be good at this. Obviously I've done a bang-up job so far." Deeply he sighed. " I can't possibly imagine feeling any worse than I do now."

" Pastry ?"  Willow suddenly offered a chocolate dipped donut.

" Any jellies left ?" Giles asked with a hopeful look on his face.

" Um … I ate the last one minutes ago. We're all out."

" Oh …" The librarian's shoulders slump down again even more. "… n-never mind then."

Seeing the disappointment on Giles' face , Willow quickly made a mental note to get more jelly donuts next time before deciding to pull them back into their previous discussion.

" We can't rule out magick either. I sensed something there. A slight supernatural presence if you will. Bad vibe. Chaos is written all over it. Dark and powerful stuff to be playing with which brings up the possibility that a mage might be involved in this."

" Your sessions with Miss Calendar seem to be paying off rather well." Giles smiled.

" I'm doing what I can." The redhead grinned shyly.

" Having been more attuned to these new um …sensations, did you happen to experience the same feeling at the other sites ?"

" Just this new one. The others were all negative. I think a lot more happened at that alley than we know."

" Yes." Giles agreed , his eyes now cast over the wooden stake placed in the middle of the large table in front of him. " I believe so too."

Just then Cordelia and Oz walked through the doors.

" Hi guys ! What's up ?" came Cordelia's wide-grinned greeting as Oz quietly smiled at her side.

" You're late." Giles eyed the time on his watch.

" Couldn't be helped." Oz spoke up before moving to give Willow a small peck on the cheek. The redhead smiled and blushed in response.

Ignoring their little moment, Cordy went straight into her detail as she took her seat at the table, " Willy said he'd been hearing of some new arrivals making waves in the 'dale. Nothing more than that. Doesn't have a clue to our wanted monster or any other news that could give us a tangible lead on that. The local demon population seemed skittish to even say much to our favorite snitch and he actually feels insulted too."  

For a second the brunette stopped and really looked around at everyone.

" Where's Xander ?"

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

" AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH !!!!!"

Wind is rushing through his hair, adrenaline pumping away into his veins like crazy. The music's loud as is the company. The ride is no doubt wild and the night is hot. What's not to enjoy really.

" DON'T WRECK MY CAAARRRRRRRR !!!!!"

Of course seeing as Xander's barely hanging on to the hood of a red Shelby classic that seems to be going a hundred miles per hour and fighting a screaming vampire stuck at his side, who's also trying to throw him off and make him road kill … there's really not that much to relish.

" Would you cut that out ???!!!" An exasperated Xander seethed." Stop shouting into my ear !!!"

" THIS IS ALL YOUR FUCKING FAULT !!!!"                         

Vamp dude makes his way to punch the X-man but slips his grip a bit as the car almost hits a lamp post. 

" RICHIE !!! YOU MORON !!! WHERE DIDJA LEARN HOW TO DRIVE ???!! YOU ALMOST TOTALLED MY BABY !!!"  

" I never took any proper lessons Jamie !!! You killed me before I got to sixteen !!!"

The Shelby swerves and jerks around some more with both man and vamp holding on for dear life or unlife, which of course goes for Jamie the screaming vamp with the bad blonde hairdo. ( I didn't mention that detail yet before did I ? Don't think too much of the monstrosity guys and girls. I'll spare you the visual. It's just horrible. Let's just leave it at that.)

" FUUUCCCCCKKKK !!!!"

" That just about sums it up …" Xander muttered out as he winced.

Vamp on the hood (heh) tries to hit out at Xander again , stretching his arm to full length as he swung. The first blow hits our hero in the chin , throwing his balance for the moment and Xander is forced to hang on with one hand . Gritting his teeth he holds on desperately, praying not to lose his grip as the vampire prepares to clock him one more.

" DIEEEE !!!"

" Rich you're blocking my-"

BAM !!!!! *yelp* !!! CRUNCH !!!! 

Drops of blood splats and spatters into the air , a fleshy chunk of something hits the windshield though , right in front of the demonic driver's vision. Xander narrowly avoids being hit but at the same time somehow manages to regain a better grip and balance onto the car's metal hood.

" Jesus !!! What the hell was that ??!!!" he shouted out.

" Is that what I think it is ?!" Jamie asked no one in particular in open mouthed shock.

" YOU HIT A DOG !!! LOOK AT WHAT IT DID TO MY PAINTJOB !!!"

Suddenly Jamie starts to tear up, his cries quickly taking to loudly weeping as it goes on.

" Oh my GOD… I … I h-hit a harmless … innocent animal. He didn't deserve it. Poor doggy … I should die,  not him !!! I'm so evil now…forgive me Lord …"

" KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE DAMN ROAD !!!" screamed fashion reject Richie again.

Xander could only shake his head in utter disbelief.

" You've got to be kidding me …"

~**~

" …understand that patrolling is very serious work. You're simply not ready for that yet. He on the other hand will do alright on his own." Giles finished the final touches of his new lecture.

" Of course he is. He's probably having the ride of his life compared to us. Why are we always stuck with the heavy research ?"

" Focus Cordy." Willow chipped in her two cents, not without a kind smile in her grace. " This is important too. It needs to be done."

The brunette softened a bit but didn't let the matter go completely.

" But this is boring. I want some action. Plus I can't read French too well." Cordelia  pouted.

Giles pursed his lips together and made off to work another task. With a soft sigh he resigned the chore of handling Miss Chase to Willow, who with but a gesture of a look had Oz move from his seat to peer from over Cordy's shoulder and examine the brunette's current study material.

" That's not French."  Oz blithely commented, at which point narrowed eyes met his gaze.

" Whaddya mean …?"

******

End notes : I wanted to focus more on the Xander and this gang of Scoobs here on this part which is why a certain dark haired slayer isn't here yet. I wanted to get a better grasp of their dynamics here and flesh out how they work as Xander's support on this hellmouth. Faith WILL appear soon so Faith fans, you're just gonna have to be patient on that for now. I'm doing what I can now and I'm pretty busy up here in SG. Hopefully I can get the new part out before I'm sent to Boot camp. Ten more days to my lack of freedom and when time runs out, that means I'll be out of any action for three weeks. *sigh* Bummer….

Anyway I hope you liked this part. Tell me what you think okay ?? Next time Faith's gonna make her entrance : ) Peace Out.

FEEDBACK !!!!!!!

Till next time I remain …….