See Part I for disclaimer and details.


Part IV: Homecoming

Los Angeles, California. Early March, 2000

A few months later, Xander Harris was at one of L.A.'s bus terminals at night, not really sure what he was doing there. Or rather, deep down he knew – but didn't exactly want to admit to himself.

{ It's been over three months...odds are it's most likely safe to go back to Sunnydale by now... }

Xander then remembered a conversation he'd had with Cordelia, when the secretary for the detective agency had dragged him, Angel and Drusilla on a shopping trip – after the female vampire had complained about her clothes. The human brunette had scowled and stated, "I know you hate carrying my bags and all, but could you please stop looking like you're on your way to a funeral?"

Even though he'd apologized his former girlfriend had known something was wrong, and hadn't stopped pushing until Xander had admitted the truth to her. "Look, Cor – you love L.A., and you belong here. I don't! I miss Sunnydale. It's still my home...I miss Buffy, and Willow, and Giles – hell, sometimes I even miss my parents! Guess I'm just homesick, that's all..."

The wandering teenager then recalled that the rest of the evening hadn't gone well – for whatever reason Cordy had gotten into a bad temper, upset and often snapping at both males present. The identical looks of misery Xander and Angel had shared – one because of her tongue-lashing, and the other from what she and Dru were doing to his credit card – had caused more than one passerby to mistakenly think they were brothers...

Snapping back to the present, the young man then came to a decision – the next day, he was definitely going to talk to Angel about going back to the Hellmouth.

As a Greyhound bus let out its passengers in front of him, Xander absently bumped into a girl with a duffel bag. And as they turned to face each other, Xander started to apologize, "I'm sorry-"

Then he saw her face and squeaked, "-Faith?"

The raven-haired beauty was no less surprised at the identity of her companion, but with much quicker reflexes instantly knocked him out cold and dragged him away.


Xander woke up in his apartment, tied to a chair. And instantly knew that he was in big trouble. Because it was a fact that the history between Faith and himself, was almost as bad as his one with Cordelia.

When he had first met the dark-haired girl from Boston back in 1998, the hormone-filled teen had been instantly attracted to her – both because she was a Slayer, and had the face and body of a demi-goddess. And months later – Xander still wasn't sure how, even after all this time – she had become his first, on the night he'd stopped those zombies from sending everything to Hell.

But, things had subsequently gone bad – the female warrior for the light had fallen into a bottomless pit of darkness after semi-accidentally killing a man, and had betrayed and tried to kill the good guys the previous year in Sunnydale. Before ending up in a coma...

"Xander?"

...which she was obviously no longer in.

"Come on, boy toy, I know you're awake..."

Xander cracked open his eyes with some difficulty; and he knew without the aid of a mirror, that he had a huge bruise forming around his left eye. The male victim groaned, "Long time no see, Faith."

The girl once called a 'firecracker' grinned, "Too long, stud. Now, what the hell are you doing in L.A.? I figured B would never let her favorite lapdog leave town and all..."

The previous year, the mocking words would have rattled him. But that was before the Initiative, and the visions... "How is everyone back home?"

Faith lost her grin, as Xander refused to rise to her taunts. "Y'know, passable, I guess. Didn't exactly stick around long enough to ask too closely. Now, are you gonna talk – or do I have to resort to the old threats and torture routine?"

Xander just smiled softly. "Whatever you do to me, Faith, it can't be much worse than anything I've already gone through..."

The rogue Slayer was starting to get pissed, but then she got another idea. Turning on the slut act, the girl purred, "You know what I think? All I need to do is give you another taste, and you'll start singing like a canary! What do you think, maybe this time it'll last longer than 7 minutes?"

To the Chosen One's instant astonishment and later fury, her future pincushion seemed to find that utterly hilarious. "Faith, for your sake don't go there. In the end it'd hurt you, a helluva lot more than it'd hurt me..."

That confused Faith, but before she could do anything else Xander started screaming in genuine pain – even though she hadn't laid a finger on him. The vision was a bad one, and the guy fell over in his chair as the fallen Slayer noticed blood coming out of his nose.

"What the hell is going on here?" the young woman demanded, as she picked the prescient oracle up off the floor. She hated not being in control of a situation...

Xander just told her, shaking his head, "There's a girl – she's gonna be attacked by four vamps. Not far from Eighth and Crenshaw. Soon. Don't suppose you could phone Angel for me, in order to stop it?"

"B's pet vamp is in town as well? And how do you know all that about the bloodsuckers?"

"Look, Faith, there's no time – a kid's gonna die 'cause of those undead assholes, and unless you want to go slay 'em, please call Dead Boy already! The number's on the fridge-"

"I asked you a question. How do you know all that?"

Xander was starting to get desperate, "It's sorta my thing now, I get visions from the Powers-That-Be. Faith, please, I know you don't take me seriously – but you can't just let this girl die like that. It would be wrong..."

There was a strange look on Faith's face for a moment, as she remembered the recent past in Sunnydale and hearing those words a lot – after temporarily switching bodies with Buffy. Then her self-loathing came to the surface, as she recalled what it was like to be the blonde Slayer – to be loved, respected and feared for the right reasons.

Without saying another word Faith left the apartment, after arming herself from Xander's stash of weapons, much to her ex-lover's surprise. The part-demon captive struggled with his ropes, and eventually got free; he quickly called the others at Angel Investigations, then set off after the human question mark himself.


Faith the vampire Slayer quickly made her way to the place the seer had described, and quickly realized he hadn't been lying – a blonde, maybe 17 years old, was surrounded by four of the fanged monsters. And just then one of them tired of the sport, grabbed the child and started sucking.

He never even noticed Faith staking him in the back, until he dissolved into ashes and the girl fell to the ground.

The Chosen One chuckled to herself, "Just like ridin' a biker..." She then decided to save the one-liners, until the others were pancake mix. Quickly attacking her enemies with a flurry of punches and kicks, the brunette quickly hit another vamp – obviously a newbie – and dusted him. The next victim ended up thrown against a wall, before Faith slammed her stake into his chest.

The last vampire simply moved back, hissed "Slayer!" before turning around and running off. Although he didn't get far, before Faith's wood hit him at 50 miles per hour and he joined his undead brethren in Hell.

The latest descendant of the long line of mystical warriors then turned around, before the blonde she had saved threw herself into the Slayer's arms, whimpering, "Thank you. Thank you! They would've killed me..."

Just like before in Sunnydale, Faith didn't know how to handle this sort of gratitude. The teenager left in her car; with nowhere else to go, the Chosen One dejectedly headed back to Xander's apartment building as it started to rain – and when she got there, the lost soul ran straight into the Dark Avenger himself. Angel.

"Guess boy toy got loose and started flapping his big mouth," the Slayer scowled and got herself into a combat-ready stance, as the rain started coming down harder.

"Did you hurt him?" Angel asked, expressionless.

"Not as much as I'm gonna hurt you, vampire. Took out four tonight, what's one more? And like the stud once said, that's my gig, right?"

"Faith. It doesn't have to be like this-"

"Yeah? You forgotten our history already? I tried to strip away your soul, and you played me! Then I shot you with that poison, and B went and gutted me to try to save your undead ass! And when I wake up, you weren't even there anymore!"

"Is that what this is about? You're feeling irrelevant?"

That did it, as the brunette decided to let loose all her fury. "What the hell, Angel, give us a kiss..."

A vicious fight broke out, as they started beating the hell out of one another. At times Faith's comments rang out, "Come on, get in the game!" or "You're gonna die!" until Angel realized what she was doing.

The Slayer was trying to commit suicide, the accumulated weight of her sins too much for her to deal with any longer.

Angel stopped going for the kill, and either just ducked or pushed Faith away. "I know what you're doing, Faith. And that's not the answer. I'm not gonna make it that easy for you..."

Faith threw herself against Angel, screaming, "I'm evil! Don't you get it? I'm evil! Do you hear me? I'm bad! Angel, I'm bad!" She began to sob, grabbing ahold of Angel's shirt and shaking him. "I'm bad. Do you hear me? I'm bad! I'm bad! I'm bad. Please. Angel, please, just do it..."

At that moment Xander arrived and spotted them, a stake in his hand.

Faith kept sobbing, "Angel, please, just do it. Just do it. Just kill me. Just kill me..."

Angel wrapped his arms around her shoulders, and pulled her against him. She quickly overbalanced the both of them, and they sank to their knees, the souled vamp still holding her as she cried. "Shh. It's all right. It's okay. I'm here. I'm right here. Shh..."

The young man born and bred in Sunnydale just watched in astonishment, as somehow a creature of the darkness started to bring the lost Slayer back into the light.


The next day, Xander arrived at the office of Angel Investigations and found Drusilla, Wesley and Cordelia there. The human woman took one look at his bruised face, and muttered a venomous, "Bitch..."

Dru looked offended, until Cordy rolled her eyes, "Not you! The other skanky killer, that Angel has downstairs..."

"Cordy..." Xander started to say.

She crossed her arms in annoyance, displaying her magnificent cleavage. "Don't start with me, Xander Harris! I still can't believe how last night you said you want to help her, after everything she's done! I mean, my God, Faith tried to kill you last year, remember?"

The female vampire purred, "Oh, poor li'l thing. All upset 'n worried that the wicked Slayer will steal the White Knight's 'eart..."

Cordy's eyes went huge for barely a moment, until she turned around and said scornfully, "Like anyone cares what your opinions are, Little Miss Psycho Vamp?" She then headed for the door, "Tell Angel I'll be at home, until the nutsoid bitch – human variety – is outta here!" before the former cheerleader left.

Xander turned to Wesley, and shrugged. "Wes, what do you think?"

The ex-Watcher sighed. "I understand why you and Angel didn't want to get the police involved; they would be ill-equipped to hold a Slayer against her will. And I understand why you both want to help her; we're not in the business of giving up on people. But Xander, there is evil in that girl. It doesn't matter what she wants, or says she wants. You two leave her to roam around free – she'll kill again. And it'll be on your heads..."

The man who'd once derided himself as 'Idiot Jed' didn't know what to say to that, and shrugging again went downstairs to Angel's private residence.

Drusilla, excited by her compatriot's words, purred, "Such a brave, strong 'andsome man...if only I could make you mine with a kiss..." she then started to glide forward, a wistful expression on her face.

Wesley, uneasy at having attracted her attention, started to say, "Now, Drusilla, see here..." – before deciding that just as discretion was the better part of valor, cowardice was the better part of discretion, and he ran for the sunlight.


Xander arrived with a box of jelly doughnuts, just in time to listen to Angel talking to Faith. "I understand what you're going through – and I want to help. But there are a few things we need to talk about first. That is, if you're rested. Do you want to rest?"

Faith replied morosely, "I was asleep for eight months. You rest."

Xander decided that was a good point to make his presence known. "Uh, anybody up for donuts?"

Apparently, that was the last straw for the Slayer. She got up and headed for the door, as Angel said hurriedly, "Faith, wait!"

"Why?"

"Like it or not, you're in no fit condition to leave here. You walk out that door now, and you'll be running for the rest of your life – and my bet is, it'll be a pretty short run."

Faith ignored that. "You know what? It doesn't matter anymore."

Xander quickly stepped between her and the door. "It does matter. It matters to me."

The brunette looked at him in incredulity. "Why are you doing this? Why the hell are you being nice to me, after everything I've done? Just 'cause we did it one time? Or because I saved that kid last night? Don't be so stupid. Now are you gonna step aside, or do we throw down? I mean it, lover boy..."

Angel quickly cut in, "Just outta interest, where are you gonna go if you leave? Back out into that darkness?"

Faith hesitated as the vampire went on, "I once told you that you didn't have to go out into there. Remember? That it was your choice. Well, you chose. You thought that you could just touch it. That you'd be okay. Five by five, right Faith? But the darkness swallowed you whole. So tell me..." He came to stand behind her, "How did you like how it felt?"

The Slayer turned around and slugged him – hard. But Angel didn't retaliate, he just slowly turned back to look at her. Faith stared for a moment at Xander, but didn't find any hint of condemnation there either. "Why do you guys reallywant to help someone who's murdered two people?" she asked hollowly.

Xander said, trying to act nonchalant, "Hey, Dead Boy slaughtered half of Europe in his day, and while I've only killed ten or so humans – I figure it's still enough to make you look like good in comparison..."

That got Faith's attention; and suddenly intrigued, she listened as Xander told her his life's story since the September of the previous year. Then gently, the two men drew out from her all that had happened in Sunnydale the previous week, after she had woken up.

For Xander, there was only one thing to do. "Faith...my opinion, you want to make a fresh start – you gotta go back and apologize to Buffy. And this Riley guy, whoever he is..." unknowingly referring to the man Faith had slept with in Buffy's body, and who had not yet given up looking for the hostiles who had killed Professor Walsh.

Eventually Faith agreed, once again apathetic to everything in general, and the preparations started to be made.


Sunnydale, California. Early March, 2000

That night four people arrived carefully in the town built upon the Hellmouth, sticking as much as possible to the back streets and less-travelled roads. Xander, Angel, Faith and surprisingly – Cordelia Chase as well.

The former ruler of Sunnydale High's elite had a number of reasons for inviting herself along on this trip. There was the fact that she still didn't trust Faith not to murder her associates, at any given time. There was also the fact that she hadn't seen some old school friends in months, and it would be a good chance to catch up.

But the most important reason was that Cordelia didn't trust Xander not to flake out and stay in this hellish one-Starbucks fleapit of a town, after their business with Faith was done.

Never mind that he had responsibilities in L.A.; the beauty queen knew for a fact she could figure out the X-man better than anyone now, and hadn't forgotten the conversation they'd had that night when the foursome had gone shopping. Cordy understood that if either Hurricane Buffy or that little boyfriend-stealer Willow flat-out asked him not to leave, Xander would cave faster than an alcoholic at an all-night kegger.

{ It's got nothing to do with anything else, like a certain nameless undead fashion victim suggested. And since my acting career has yet to get me anywhere, there's no point taking chances with my day job here... }

Angel stopped the car outside Giles' residence, Apt. B at 523 Oak Park Street. He and Cordelia got out, and then waited for Faith and Xander to do so as well from the back seat.

The ensouled vampire had gotten worried about the young Slayer, and not for the first time he wondered if this was pushing things too far too soon. The Master's grandchilde scanned the area with his preternatural senses; but Angel could feel no immediate signs of danger, and quickly looked back at his companions.

Xander had kept up a steady stream of jokes and anecdotes to try to lift Faith out of her gloom during the trip; the brunette Chosen One had quirked up her lips at a few of them, but now that they had arrived...she had settled back into that trance-like state, that the former Angelus didn't like at all.

The good guy vampire eventually rang the doorbell, and Giles answered it in surprise. "Angel..."

"Hey, Giles," the undead guy greeted him back.

"Giles!" Cordelia smiled and went to hug him.

"Oh my..." the former Watcher had a pleased smile on his face. "Cordelia, it's been quite a while. How've you been?"

She instantly said, "Well, it's been horrible lately! I mean, have you even looked at my hair and my clothes? And I can't even afford a decent pair of shoes on the lousy salary I make at Angel Investigations nowadays, but oh! I forbear, as at least my apartment is absolutely-"

"Thank you Cordy, but I think we've pretty much gotten the picture here," a male voice rang out from behind the couple in front.

Angel and Cordelia stepped aside, and Giles saw another face he had not seen in months. "XANDER?"

The guy looked around nervously for a moment, like a watchdog in the jungle. "In the flesh, G-man. And last but not least, we have..." he gestured, and the junior Slayer came out from behind him, staring at the ground.

"Faith..." the Englishman's face hardened, and he took a step backwards.

"It's okay," Angel said hurriedly, not wanting things to start off on the wrong foot. "She's with us – Faith's not here to harm anyone. Xander and I heard about what happened, and we convinced her to come back – and, and apologize..."

The former Watcher's eyes went wide at this, but seeing no trace of deception on any of their faces, he shrugged and gestured. "Come in..."

They made their way inside, and Rupert shut the door. "Do you mind if I phone the others? They'll want to know Xander's back, not to mention Faith..."

"Don't mention any names," Angel said quickly, before Xander could. "Just ask everyone to come over, and you'll explain when they get here."

"Why?" the former librarian asked, even as he started to punch buttons.

"Let's just say it's not entirely safe for me around here," Xander made a face.

Giles was confused at that, but looking at the bruise around his eye wordlessly agreed. All of a sudden though, a brown-haired young-looking woman came out of the kitchen. "Rupie, what's going on in-?" she abruptly stopped.

Anya Jenkins her name was now, but in the past – she had been known as Anyanka. As she had been an 1120-year-old vengeance demon, and the patron saint of scorned women.

Trapped in a mortal body after being stripped of her powers in an alternate universe by Giles, Anya had been a contradiction the previous year – someone that walked in both the human and demon worlds, yet belonged in neither. But slowly, she had acclimatized to becoming a human being, after suddenly finding herself to be an 18-year-old nymphomaniac.

Plus, she had been Xander's date to his senior prom...

"Xander Harris?" Anya exclaimed, as she saw the man she had been previously destined to both love and hate. "I don't believe it, you're finally back in town!" She frowned, "Have you been in some sort of fight? Whatever. I originally came back here to find you, ya know..."

Xander stared at her, until it finally dawned on him who she was. "Anya?"

"Of course, you big dummy! Who did you think I was? Anyway, I came to find you, and you weren't around for us to have some meaningless sex..."

Xander's eyebrows went up at this, and so did Angel's; Cordelia scowled, but Faith still looked to be totally spaced out. Giles simply did his best to listen to whoever was on the phone...

"...I mean, I was desperate – I hadn't had a good tumble in a thousand years! But then I found Rupie here. And believe me, the sex was unbelievable! I think it was because of his breakup with that idiotic Olivia woman...well, anyway, that's where we worked out an arrangement."

"Arrangement?"

"Yes, prior to our formal relationship he gave me all the orgasms my human sexual organs could cope with, and I helped him manage his business affairs. We've made lots of money off the NASDAQ and some other things since then...I've been trying to convince him to buy a local magic store business too, I'm sure it'll be a gold mine!"

Xander was completely astonished by the deluge of information, while Cordelia was relatively approving. "And that really works for you? Because let's face it, I may love Giles – but he's no spring chicken anymore..." the L.A. woman commented, descending into girl talk.

"Dead Boy, scary visions of the non-mystical kind here. So, remind me never to ask personal questions to women again. Ever!" Xander shivered, hissing his request to the vampire as Faith sat down on the couch.

The conversing female duo ignored them, though. "Of course – you should see Ripper in action!" Anya replied gleefully. "I mean, I get that it's almost like I'm cradle-snatching here, but my honey is almost too good in the sack to worry about that! Besides, who am I gonna find in this world that's my own age? Or who's not gonna care about my demon past?"

Cordelia's mouth dropped open. "Now I remember you! You're Anyanka, the evil fairy godmother thing. You showed up undercover in order to get me to curse Xander, or something!"

"Well, duh!" the other woman exclaimed, the temporary goodwill having vanished. "That's what I do! I mean, did. And no one can deny that I was the best, too! What, you have a problem now with ex-vengeance demons or something?" she said a bit threateningly.

The daughter of a tax cheat began to look annoyed. "No, not unless they start acting like an egotistical, self-centered, annoying little-"

The former favorite of the demon overlord called D'hoffryn slitted her eyes, "Oh, like you're one to talk! No wonder Harris here cheated on you..."

Having heard enough, Angel stepped in as the girls looked ready to tear each other's hair out and Xander had a dopey smile of anticipation on his face. "Okay, could you two please stop? Cordy, we're here for Faith, not a cat-fight..."

The two very similar women just turned their backs and ignored one another, with identical pouts on their faces. Giles got off the phone and said, "They'll all be here in a few minutes; apparently, they were coming over anyway for a meeting..."

"Something's rotten in the state of Sunnydale? That's new," Xander wisecracked.

Giles was about to reprimand him, when the brunette Slayer got off the couch. She looked at the former Watcher and asked, "Mind if I use your bathroom, G?"

He nodded, and as Faith left the room Anya hissed, "Are you sure that's wise? I mean, I heard what she got up to last week-!"

Before Giles or even Angel could say anything, Xander stepped forward to defend Faith's tainted reputation. "She's not going anywhere or doing anything bad. It'll be okay, I promise..."

Anya looked like she was ready to argue the point, and Cordelia did this thing with her forehead to indicate what she thought of Xander's obsession with Slayers, but before anyone said anything, the doorbell rang again.

Giles answered it, and two Wiccas came into the residence. Willow Rosenberg and Tara Maclay.

The native Sunnydale girl said in a surprised tone, "Angel? Cordelia? Hi..." Then Willow was thrilled to see the other member of their party, "Xander! You're back!" She quickly rushed forward in a blur of motion, and wrapped herself in his arms.

The former Research Boy was so very glad to see the sister of his heart, he hugged her back like there was no tomorrow. Xander hadn't realized how much he had needed to see his friend again, until just this moment. "Oh, Willow, my God, I missed you so much..."

Eventually they let go, and the Jewish computer hacker had an excited look on her face as she babbled, "Me too! So, how was the road trip? Oh, someone hit you – were you in a redneck bar? And did you really see all 50 states? Oh, oh, did you bring us back any presents? Souvenirs, maybe?"

Xander's smile slid off his face, as he looked at Angel and Cordy in confusion. But they too had identical looks of consternation. "What?" the co-founding member of the Slayerettes asked dumbly.

Willow was now also confused. "What, what?"

Up until now, Tara Maclay had been silent and somewhat uncertain about something. But now she took her opportunity to say to Xander, "I r-r-remember you."

Everyone was utterly confused by that. "Huh?" the people present echoed.

"J-just before December, I-I w-was about to, to get killed by t-two vampires," she stammered. "Th-they had B-b-british accents, a-and he-he was there..."

For the second time that night, Xander's memory clicked. "Oh! Right. When Spike and Dru almost – hey, miss, glad you made it okay. Uh, what's your name? I never caught it that night-"

"Xander, what are you guys talking about?" Willow demanded. Then she remembered her manners. "Oh! Tara, this is Xander Harris, he's my best guy friend ever since we were five. Xander, this is Tara Maclay – my new girlfriend."

Xander nearly let his jaw drop to the ground at hearing that Willow was now gay, as did the other two arrivals, and the redhead almost cringed in the realization she could have handled this particular revelation better. Most people began to look elsewhere, suddenly finding the wallpaper fascinating...

"Really. So now you're a...uh...um, what happened to Oz?" Xander asked slowly, trying to wrap his mind around this latest development.

Then Doyle's replacement caught Cordelia's expression, and realized what she was thinking – that he had thrown away whatever they'd had, for illicit smoochies with a lesbian. { No doubt about it, somebody up there doesn't like me. Man, when am I gonna learn to stop opening my big mouth? }

Anya meanwhile answered Xander's previous query, "That no-good male two-timer? He ran away after he was caught cheating on Willow, and good riddance to him! Too bad I didn't have my powers then, I'd have liquefied his entrails…"

This astonished the L.A. trio; well, maybe not Xander so much as the others, as he'd never really 100% approved of Willow's liaison with the werewolf. { I even warned Buffy about it, around when they first got together, but who the hell ever listened to me back in high school? }

"Yes, well, it was actually a little bit more complicated than that…" Giles started to say, when the doorbell rang again. "Ah, that'll be Buffy and Riley," the British man added, as he went to get it.

Xander and Angel exchanged a look, this was why they were here. "I'll go get Faith?" the former butt-monkey of the Scooby gang volunteered, and looked towards Angel.

"Maybe I should do it," the vampire said uncertainly.

Xander shrugged, and indicated for his boss at the L.A. detective agency to be his guest.


Just then, Buffy Summers and Riley Finn entered the room, laughing and chatting; and everything went to Hell in an instant.

Eyes wide, Riley's face contorted into murderous fury as he recognized the enemy. He stepped forward, withdrew his handgun and pointed it at Xander. "Everyone get out of the way!" he yelled towards the people near the target, but ready to pull the trigger of his weapon anyway.

Somehow though, Angel got there in time; he yanked the gun out from Riley's hand, full game face on, and shoved the soldier towards the wall. A solid 'thump!' resounded, as the human crashed and slid down to the floor.

"If the plaster's been ruined, you're paying for it!" Anya yelled, before anyone could say anything else.

"ANGEL!" Buffy the vampire Slayer then shouted. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" she demanded.

Cordelia ignored her, and snatching the sidearm from her boss, pointed it at the commando. "Don't move," she hissed at him furiously.

Riley got up anyway, anger exuding from every pore of his skin. "Put that down before you hurt yourself," he ordered Queen C.

The brunette girl just aimed for right between his eyes. "You think I'm scared of you? Get real, loser! Now you try anything funny again, and I'll shoot!"

"Cordelia!" Giles said roughly. "That's enough! Please, everyone, let's just calm down..."

"Buffy, call the Initiative," Riley looked towards his girlfriend. "We need to take these hostiles into-"

"Okay, okay, h-hold on a darn minute," Willow started to say. "Riley, this has gotta be some kinda misunderstanding..."

Finn looked incredulous at this. "What, are you people blind?" He pointed at Angel, "He's a vampire!" Then he pointed at Xander, "And as for him, he's a-"

Buffy interrupted her boyfriend, as she finally realized who else was there, "Xander? You're back-" She started to head towards him.

"NO!" Riley warned her. "Buffy, that's not your friend anymore! He's a filthy murderer, and he's not even human! He escaped from the Initiative..."

Up until now, Xander hadn't said a word. Slowly he made his way towards the blonde Slayer and her mate, and he looked intensely at the soldier and Buffy. After recognizing the man born near Huxley, in an empty voice and dreading the answer, he asked, "Buffy? Hi. Uh, this guy is your boyfriend? The Riley I heard about?"

The only daughter of Hank and Joyce Summers, thoroughly confused, merely replied, "Yeah, of course he is..."

Even though he'd known from the second he'd smelled Buffy all over the guy, Angel could not help his invisible feelings of hurt and betrayal at hearing this. And at the same time, something in Xander Harris shut down completely.

For months the boy had stayed away, thinking he was protecting his friends. And now, he had come back to learn that they – or at least Buffy, his hero – were in cahoots with the people that had captured and abused him like that?

Well, it was obvious now that since Riley knew he was back, there was no way Xander could stay here like he'd fantasized about. No way at all.

Willow decided to put her foot down. "Will everyone here please cut out the crazy talk!" They all looked at her in surprise, but she didn't back off. "Now Riley," the witch said, turning to him. "You know who Xander is? I mean, you've never actually met him-"

"We've met, Will," Xander cut her off, as his memory conjured up an image of Finn's face in his green uniform, shooting at him. "Just once, and just for a moment, but we've met."

"He killed Maggie Walsh!" Riley raged, in great hatred.

Buffy's eyes went wide at this. She turned to her former classmate and almost whispered, "Xander-?"

Cordelia, for her part, couldn't believe that the barely-fashionable Slayer was thinking of believing this asswipe over the guy who had fought at her side, and often saved her life, for nearly three years. { Short memory, much? }

The young woman turned to Xander, encouraging him to deny it, but what the challenged idiot actually said in that dead tone of voice was, "Well, technically that was Spike – although if it hadn't been him..."

The full implications of the situation finally hit Angel on the head, as he whipped his head around and stared at his employee – and as Xander nodded, the vampire growled menacingly, "He's one of the people who chipped Drusilla, and tortured you?"

This was news to the Scooby gang, who now didn't know what was going on. Buffy turned to her lover, wanting him to deny it. "Riley, what are they talking about?"

The Alpha Team leader looked at her. "Buffy, please call the rest of my unit. Now! These people need to be locked up-"

Cordelia had had enough. "Shut up about that," she told him coldly. "I won't tell you again. Or you will get it, where it hurts a guy the most!"

A heated debate got started, as the Scooby women demanded answers; and it was learned about Spike's rescue of Dru and Xander, as well as their escape and how some Initiative personnel had died that night in November.

Buffy was still lost, though. "Wait, wait, wait. Xander, I'm confused – why were you ever in the Initiative, and why is Riley insisting you're a demon? I mean, you're human..."

"Not anymore, not entirely," Xander said in that remote, hollow voice. "Not after what they did to me..."

"You're lying!" Riley shouted. And as a matter of fact, there was almost no proof anymore to the contrary.

During that night of the murders and prison breakout, Angleman had found himself in charge. And after dispatching the troops to capture the escapees, he had had plenty of time to think about what would happen next.

The good doctor had known there was no way that what he and Walsh had been doing could be kept secret, not any longer. With Maggie gone, there was no way to prevent some military jarhead coming into their operation and conducting a complete investigation. And the fact that they had broken a lot of laws regarding what had had happened to Xander, as well as other things, would now leave only him in the hot seat.

So Angleman had decided to destroy all the records of what had happened to the young man, aside from the ones detailing Xander's capture as a 'hostile'. He also disassembled the half-complete ADAM prototype – torching the demon parts, recycling the cybernetic ones, and wiping out all traces of Walsh's work. And thus, unknowingly, saving a lot of lives...

Clean as a whistle, Angleman had then presented the Initiative's side of things to the arriving Colonel MacNamara, who had subsequently confirmed the orders to capture Drusilla and Xander – dead or alive.

"Am I?" Xander said with a hint of menace, to Riley's previous outburst. "You think I'll ever forget the moment your people took me for no reason, just as I arrived home? September 26th, 1999 is a day I'll remember for the rest of my life, pal..."

This suddenly confused Willow. "September 26th?" she asked, looking around. "But, but, that can't be right! We got a postcard from you when you were in Las Vegas, back during early October – saying you were doing fine, and you'd be gone a while! Xander..."

The young man looked at her in confusion. "Wills, what are you talking about? I never sent you guys any postcards, and I was in Oxnard for nearly two months-" Then he looked at Riley with a slight sneer, as the light dawned. "Hey, uh, Riley? Odds are, you know my file from top to bottom. Just outta interest, when does it say I was first captured?"

Riley's face went white for a moment, as he looked around at everyone. "Septe- no, no, there-there must be some kind of mistake," he stammered. "The Initiative's mandate is to protect U.S. citizens, from any and all hostiles! We're, we're the good guys, we don't – we didn't – this isn't possible..."

The poor dupe suddenly looked genuinely confused, and the people from L.A. could see it was not an act; Angel, in particular. With a sigh, his face went human; the vamp then took the gun from Cordelia, and tossed it to Xander. Who subsequently tucked it under his shirt, out of sight.

Buffy then said to her boyfriend, fearing the worst, "Riley, you and me are gonna have to have a long talk about this..."

The male former Scooby member suddenly had a thought, and asked the residents of the Hellmouth, "Hey, wait a minute. All this time – you people can't have thought I was on vacation? I've been absent for nearly seven months! I mean how long did you guys look for me, when you realized I wasn't coming back-?"

The truth was suddenly, horribly obvious. Even or perhaps especially on the Hellmouth, out of sight was out of mind...

And then, just to make things worse, Faith came out of the bathroom.


Buffy Summers was instantly more pissed than she'd ever been in her whole life.

Everything boiled down to the sight of the dishevelled brunette in front of her. There was nothing else in her universe; every single thought in her mind was telling her to grab the other Slayer, and kill her. Break her neck. Yank out her still-beating heart. Tear her head open and rip out her brain, even...

The blonde freshman was so focused on her goal, Buffy never even noticed her Xander-shaped friend in her path – until she bumped into him. "Get out of my way, Xander!" the girl screamed.

"No. You gotta back off for a second, Buff..."

The senior Slayer couldn't believe what she'd just heard, and somewhat stupidly looked up at him. "What?"

"Faith came here under my protection. That means if you want her, right now you've got to go through me first. It's kinda this whole big Harris honor thing..."

"What?" she repeated herself. Then as Buffy tried to focus she examined Xander's face more closely, and took note of the bruise around his eye. "Did Faith hit you?"

"Uh, yeah, but that was a – a mistake. Sorta. Look, I know you're upset, but if you'll just calm down..."

"Calm down? CALM DOWN? Do you even know what that bitch did to me?"

"All the sordid details, actually," the former Jimmy Olsen to her Superman said softly. "I ran into her last night, and after she saved a girl from some vamps we talked. That's why Angel and I convinced her to come back, and apologize to you and Riley-"

"Apologize? APOLOGIZE?"

"That was the plan."

Buffy then glared at Faith, "Apologize to me, and I will beat you to death!"

For the first time Faith spoke, in a quiet, defeated tone. "Go ahead."

Xander grabbed Buffy, forcing her to look at him. He was starting to get worried... "Hey, that's not gonna happen! Buff-meister, I know you didn't mean that-"

"Yes I did!" the glare was now directed towards the young man in question.

"No you didn't," Xander said determinedly. "And I know that, because you're not a killer. Not like Faith, Dead Boy and me. Besides, do I gotta remind you of what happened with Ted, the crazy Robot Boy from a few years ago? How you felt, when you thought he was human?"

That cooled her down, and Buffy's murderous rage started to disappear. "Why the hell are you being so protective of her?" the Chosen One demanded, as her eyes then widened and she jumped to conclusions. "Oh my God – you're sleeping with that slut again, aren't you? Xander, of all the boneheaded-"

Faith shook her head. Angel plus Cordelia's expressions were ones of disbelief, and Willow's one of dismay. Anya didn't care, Riley was in deep confusion and Tara and Giles were trying to reserve judgement. But Xander's face went cold, almost showing contempt – and the 19-year-old Slayer was unable to believe her old goofball friend was sending such a look at her.

"Not that it's any of your business, but the fact is that I can't ever have sexual relations with a woman again. Not without...consequences," the young man said icily.

Willow, who had been watching this drama unfold in horror while Tara was holding her hand, finally spoke up. "Xander, what do you mean by that?"

"My money says he now suffers from some form of erectile dysfunction! I read all about that sort of thing in Cosmo!" Anya, who had been standing next to Giles, said excitedly.

"Oh come on, that rag is so yesterday! Marie-Claire is so much better – and no, it's not that! It's a long story," Cordelia cut in. "But basically, stuff happened on a boat after what the people of Captain Cardboard here did to him, and Xander's now a lot like Angel!" At the vamp's glance, she added, "Hey, I didn't say the 'eunuch' word this time, what's with the look?"

The man Willow and Buffy had almost mated with once during a love spell, turned towards his brunette acquaintance. "Cordy..." He paused. "It's not that simple, but not entirely wrong either, and unless I do it with a demon first sex is now a big no-no," Xander said after seeing the others' expressions.

That was a conversation-stopper. Anya suddenly asked, "So, are you really a demon murderer like Riley said? And if so, what's your kill count?"

Xander Harris was suddenly reminded of his prom night, and the way he'd desperately sought not to listen to the former Anyanka's man-hating vengeance exploits. "Look, Anya, lemme put it like this. That night when Spike freed Drusilla and me, he wasn't the only one who killed any guards we came across that were trying to stop us. And one time, when this lawyer was gonna tear my eyes out...I didn't let her! I don't like what I've had to do since high school, but you won't find me apologizing for it either. If that makes me a murderer, so be it..."

"XANDER!" Buffy and Willow said at once, unable to accept this. Riley, almost forgotten by everyone, started to get over his confusion and his anger came back in spades at hearing that.

And then, a vision hit like a tornado.

The male teenager started to yell, holding a hand to his forehead. Anticipating his seer falling over, Angel grabbed Xander and held him up. Faith got around to his other side for support, and said to the vamp after seeing Xander's expression, "Jesus, this one looks even worse than his little mind trip last night..."

"Wh-what's happening?" Tara asked timidly.

"He's having a vision," Angel said brusquely. "Xander's receiving a message from the Powers-That-Be..." He glanced at the ex-Watcher, whose eyes were wide, "That's his job now. What he's become."

Riley looked like he was completely lost again – but witnessing Xander's groans in shock, Buffy and Willow unthinkingly swept forward to help their friend. However, the women were forced to stop when Cordelia got in their path and snapped at them, "Back off! We know how to handle this. You two don't."

The stunned duo watched in silent hurt, as Cordy gave Xander a couple of pills then a glass of water from Anya, and she gently asked what he'd seen when Faith and Angel let go.

"Three lawyers," the guy replied. "Wolfram & Hart ones, I think. What happened the other day with that guy Marquez, they've hired some kinda demon assassin – lousy table manners..." The part-demon then looked up, "Wesley! He's all alone – if that thing finds him-"

The Sunnydale residents, apart from Riley and Tara, were surprised to hear that name again – but before they could ask questions, Angel made a command decision. "Faith, apologize right now and let's get out of here."

"What?" the brunette Slayer squawked.

"You heard me." The vampire's tone did not invite argument.

Faith looked at Riley and Buffy. "I, I – for whatever it's worth. I'm sorry..."

"You think that's gonna cut it?" Buffy demanded.

Willow shook her head as well, "Faith, what you said and did hurt a lot of people..."

"But she's here trying to make up for it," Xander insisted, almost completely recovered. "Besides, compared to what I've done, she's textbook redeemable...doesn't that count for anything with you guys?"

Cordelia saw their faces, and shook her head. "Forget it. These people have changed so much since last year, I can barely even recognize them..."

Giles then asked, although he was sure he would regret it, "Cordelia, what exactly is that supposed to mean?"

The former leader of the Cordettes ticked off the points on her fingers, "Giles, you're boinking someone young enough to be your daughter. Oz is MIA, and no one cares. Buffy is sleeping with the enemy, and Willow's become a big old lesbo..."

"HEY!" all the Scooby gang apart from Tara yelled.

The woman who would now never learn tact simply shrugged. "I just call 'em as I see 'em!"

The ex-vengeance demon nodded slowly. "Well, that is all true – I guess she does actually have a point..."

Angel was getting impatient. "Xander. Faith. Cordelia. Let's go!"

Willow and Buffy still couldn't believe this was happening, but just then Riley got in front of the Fang Gang and pointed at Xander. "That man is wanted for murder. He is not going anywhere, except jail!"

He who had been Angelus had had enough. Turning for a moment towards his ex-girlfriend, Angel said derisively, "You actually have sex with this guy?" Then the dark-haired vampire hit Riley in the face, dropping him to the ground unconscious.

"Riley?" Buffy yelled, and went to check on him. Furious at her ex, she then swung her fist and connected firmly with Angel's jaw.

The souled vampire was surprised by the punch, staggering back two steps and then slowly turning to stare back at her. There was suddenly absolute quiet, as almost all of those familiar with their history could not believe she'd done that.

"Angel..." Buffy started to say uncertainly.

Still staring at her the vampire said, "I told you three to get to the car. Why are you still here?"

Despite the chill, Xander then hugged his red-haired best friend farewell very intensely. "Goodbye, Will. I promise to get in touch, if and when I can..."

Willow tearfully hugged him back, as losing the closest thing she had to a brother again like this was pure torture. The former two-dollar costume king also shook hands with Tara, wishing her well, and gave Anya a quick wave. Then he grinned and embraced Giles, "G-man..."

"Don't call me that..." the British man choked up though, as he grasped his surrogate son.

Cordelia started dragging Xander away, eager to get gone. She sent a brief "Yeah, bye everyone..." over her shoulder to everybody present, and paused only for her traditional insult partner to say, "Goodbye, Buff-" before pulling him out the door.

Faith looked around at everyone, then finally at her fellow Slayer. "I know there's nothing I can do to make this up to you, B. I know I can't ever fix what I've done..."

"Damn right you can't. Get out of my town, and don't come back!"

"Angel suspected there was no way you were gonna give me a chance. Guess he was right."

Buffy got mad, this whole night having been some kind of sick nightmare... "I gave you every chance, damn you! I tried so hard to help you, Faith, and you just constantly spat on me. My life was just something for you to play with? Angel – Riley – Xander – anything that you could take from me, you did. I've lost battles before – but nobody else has ever made me a victim. Not like you..."

Faith shook her head. "And you can't stand that, can you? You're all about control. You have no idea what it's like on the other side! Where nothing's in control, nothing makes any sense! Where there's just pain and hate and nothing you do means anything. You can't even..."

"Shut up!" the other woman screamed.

"Faith. Go join the others," Angel ordered her.

The brunette looked at him. "What the hell am I even gonna do now? I don't..."

"I told you before, Xander and I will help you decide. But right now, we have a demon waiting. GET MOVING!"

The brunette Chosen One ceased to argue, and left out the door. The vampire looked at his former beloved and said emotionlessly, "Just for the record, you don't come after her. And your new boyfriend, he doesn't come after Xander either. None of you tell him where we're based, understand? If anyone shows up in L.A. and my people somehow get hurt, all bets are off. And if you're wondering what that means, let's just say they didn't call me the Scourge of Europe for nothing..."

As Angel walked out, Buffy muttered helplessly, "Oh dear God. I can't believe it's come to this..."

To Be Concluded...