Chapter 3

Xander's Place
Tuesday Afternoon.

[ "What is it Rhodey?" Asked Stark with a sigh. ]

"The kid's gone," he stated quietly as he headed up the stairs. "We were testing the armor like I told you we planned to do last night, but we got jumped by something like twenty vamps at the gravel pit where we were. Faith got hurt, not seriously, but it affected the kid pretty bad. We took her to the hospital and dropped him off here at the house so no one would see the armor." Jim paused. "I feel that it is partly my fault -- no one checked on him last night, and when we got here this afternoon, he was gone."

[ "Damn! I was afraid of this. He has such a confidence problem, that he's probably blaming everything on himself, and ran off. I wanted to get him some counseling, but he seemed to be okay and talked me out of it," Tony said thoughtfully. ]

"James!" called out Deidre in her thick Scottish brogue.

Rhodey dashed down the stairs to see everyone staring at Deidre as if in shock. And what he saw made his blood run cold as well!

She stood there with tears in her eyes, holding both chest plates. Xander had already been gone for at least fourteen hours.

"Tony, things just got worse. The kid left both chest plates here when he took off. He's been out maybe fourteen hours on the internal batteries," he explained in a worried tone.

[ "Shit! That means you need to find him in the next eight hours to be safe, Rhodey. I'll get a lift up to Sunnydale and contact you when I get there. ] Tony Stark paused for a moment, thinking. [ "Good luck, Jim." ]

Jim looked at the phone before he clicked the it off.

"Mr. Rhodes, what does this mean?" Asked Giles, not really comfortable with not knowing what was going on.

Rhodey turned to the group and looked directly at them.

"Xander left here without any means to recharge the internal batteries that power the device controlling his heartbeat. He has been missing for possibly fourteen hours so far. To be safe, he has to be found in eight hours or less, or it's likely his heart will just stop," Jim said softly, his voice thick with emotion.

Willow gasped, putting her hands to her face in shock. Buffy stood still, shocked beyond reaction. And Faith buried her face deeper in Giles' chest, not caring that the others were seeing her showing emotion.

"Well then, we need to start looking for him, right?" asked Giles. "Willow, you know him best. Where would he go?"

Unknown Location
Tuesday Evening

Xander sat huddled in the window seat of the room, hiccupping. He had been crying for most of the day, alternating between racking sobs and quiet sniffling. His guilt over Faith's getting hurt had only been the starting point of his breakdown, his anger at himself for being weak was the last straw.

\\ Soon, I won't have to worry about anything ever again. //

Stark International Helicopter Landing at Sunnydale Airport
Tuesday Evening

"I'm just as guilty as you are on this, Tony. I knew that the hormone and steroid therapy to bulk up his muscle mass could cause mood swings. And I knew what he had been through the last couple of years. I AM a doctor, and I'm supposed to think of these things," Su Yin said as Tony helped her out of the helicopter.

Tony turned and told the pilot to service it, and be ready at a moment's notice for anything. Grabbing his former lover's hand, he led her over to the waiting limo.
He gave directions to the driver, then turned back to Su.

"Maybe you're right, Su Yin, but I'm equally guilty. I knew that he was suffering from PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) and survivor guilt. I've seen it before enough, and I should have pushed harder about getting him to see a psychiatrist," Tony sighed as he sat back on the plush seat.

Xander's Place
Tuesday Evening
Two Hours to go

Willow was the last to check in, only to report that there was still no sign of Xander. The gang had been everywhere in town looking for him, and had found no trace.

"Are you sure that there is nowhere else we could look, Willow?" Giles asked her, worry lines etching his forehead.

"No, we've checked everywhere that I can……..DAMMIT!" Willow cried out, as a long forgotten memory surfaced.

"What is it?" Tony asked.

"The old Nun's house, on Richards Road. I forgot completely about it! It used to be the one place Xander used as a haven when we were little. Vamps stay away because it's supposed to be consecrated ground," Willow gushed.

"Let's go!" Said Tony.

The group piled into several cars and made their way to the house.

Sister Mary Margaret's Home

The procession pulled up in front of the house and everyone piled out at once. Buffy rushed to the gate only to have Rhodey pull her back.

"Whoa there, Tiger! Hold up for a minute! I think we ought to be careful about this, don't you?" he suggested.

"Yes, that is exactly right. If we crowd him, it could be worse than if we never found him. We must allow him some dignity or we will have made a serious mistake," added Giles.

"I agree. Tony, you take Giles and Joyce with you, the rest of us will stay out here," Deidre ordered. The rest didn't like it, but they reluctantly agreed, knowing it was probably for the best.

"He's probably in the Den; he always liked the view of the ocean from there. Second floor in the back," Willow suggested.

Tony picked up the chest plate and led the way.

They entered the house quietly and made their way to the second floor, peering in rooms until Joyce signaled that she had found him.

Tony went in first, having somewhat of an understanding of what Xander was going through.

Xander was sitting in the window seat, looking out at the setting sun. He caught the glimpse of Tony in the window and spoke.

"You found me," was all he said.

"Yeah, we did. Had the entire gang going crazy looking for you," Tony said gently. "Why, Xander?"

The young man turned to the Billionaire and answered him purely from raw, angry, emotion.

"Tony, have you ever wished that you had never been born?" He asked.

"No. Even though there have been some rough times, I have never wished that," Tony replied honestly.

"I don't think anyone knows, but my mother died in childbirth. My father remarried to a lush and has been drunk since I was three. I learned to cook when I was six, so I could feed myself." Xander paused to let a large sob out. "I have been beaten, thrown out like last week's trash, and been told how worthless I am so many times that I cannot remember anyone ever telling me I did anything good. I just can't take it anymore."

"I have heard that you saved Buffy a couple of times. That has to mean something, doesn't it?" Tony asked.

"Yeah, the only bright spot in an otherwise dismal life. I couldn't save my best friend though, and things have never been the same since then."

"I don't think it is that bad, Xander," Tony started, but was cut off immediately.

"What do you know,? You, with your billion dollar business. Sure, you almost got taken over once, but what do you know? Have you ever had to sleep in a garden shed on Christmas Eve because your parents threw you out? Have you ever hung around friends' houses till you wore out your welcome because you hadn't eaten in several days? Have you ever failed at everything you tried to do?" Xander sobbed out angrily.

"And then, you get the chance of a lifetime to be someone, someone who could actually make a difference, and you mess it up so bad that the only girl who cares about you almost gets killed? Tell me, Tony! what do you know about that?" Xander demanded angrily.

Tony Stark, Billionaire. The man who had everything looked at the young man in front of him and had nothing to say.

From the hallway, Joyce and Giles stepped into the room and stood alongside the billionaire.

"Xander, I don't know if it means anything to you, but I owe you more than I can ever imagine. You've saved my daughter's life more than once, and that is a debt that I doubt that I can ever repay. If there is anything at all that you want, tell me, and I will do what ever I can to make it happen," Joyce told him earnestly.

Xander stood up and moved to the woman who had treated him like he was member of the family and hugged her.

"For you, Ms. Summers, anything. I would do anything possible for any of the Summers women, but you should keep me away from them. People die around me," he said, walking back over to the window.

"Xander, I must disagree with you, most vehemently," Giles stated, looking over at the young man. "The average lifespan of a Slayer is about 11 months. Buffy is in her third year. You have made a difference. When she faced The Master, and numerous other master vampires and demons; you were there. It is because of you she is still alive."

Giles paused to clean his glasses.

"Xander, much of what has happened is my fault. It is my responsibility to train and help the Slayer, and I almost wrote her off because of a prophecy. You refused to do so, and thereby, saved her. I have never given you any credit for much of what we have accomplished, and I realize now that I should have. Many of the ideas that have defeated our foes, have been yours. And I, with my attention solely on Buffy, have ignored both you and Willow badly and I must apologize. Xander, you are a good person, truly a 'White Knight'."

Xander looked at Giles and nodded, and then he grabbed his chest as pain shot through it. The batteries were just about drained.

"Xander, there is something else you need to think about," said Joyce. "If you die, Faith will blame herself. You saved her from something worse than a vampire or demon. You saved her from herself. If you die, I don't think she will last long. She loves you, Xander, and she is trying very hard to be the kind of girl you can like. You were the first person in a long time, to treat her decently. If she loses you, I don't know what will happen."

"It's true Xander," Tony agreed. "Su told me she totally lost it at the hospital when she thought you had died. If you really did die, I don't think she would last a week. She would take it upon herself to take on every vampire in town, and she would do it alone. That is her way, or was, until she met you."

Xander stood looking out the window at the gathering darkness for a few moments and then started to pull his shirt off.

Tony took that for the sign it was, and helped him put the chest plate on.

They took Xander back to the house, where Su did a full exam on him, finding out that there was nothing seriously wrong and he was really okay.

The others looked at him a little uncomfortably, all except Faith. She knew what it was like, being in a dark place, and being very afraid you're not going to find your way out of it.

Xander's Place
Two Weeks Later.

Giles and Deidre sat sipping tea while she attempted to explain the armor's capabilities to him. She soon realized, however, that the man was thinking of other things and finally gave up. Giles was in a quandary. The little group that had formed around Buffy was starting to fall apart.

For some unfathomable reason, Buffy and Willow now wanted Xander out of Slaying, even though he was not actively participating, and had been working at pushing him out of the group even before he got hurt. The whole situation had gotten worse since Xander's injury. The girls didn't even want him to help with research anymore.

Ever since Faith had joined them, she was constantly compared to the older Slayer, something Giles was guilty of as well. This did nothing but foster jealousy, and even animosity between people who were supposedly fighting on the same side. Unless there was something big expected, Buffy would not even patrol with Faith, pushing her off on her own.

Buffy's relationship with Angel was falling apart too, and that was eating at the senior Slayer as well. He had tried to talk about it with her, but she changed the subject as soon as it came up. Buffy tended to avoid her problems rather than deal with them.

At the moment, they were waiting for Xander to get home from his counseling session. He had made a kind of peace with the gang, though they still watched him carefully.

All except Faith, that is - she treated him like nothing happened. This likely helped smooth things between them.

Giles was going to try to get Faith into counseling as well, after Joyce had suggested that it would help her out in the long run. None of the Council training provided for any long term care of slayers, after all, most died during their first year.

Personally, he felt he was not really ready to take on the responsibility of an additional slayer right now, but the Council had not yet given Buffy her Cruciamentum. Normally, it happened on the Slayers eighteenth birthday, but the test had been delayed due to some prophecy that the Council wouldn't talk about with him.

So now, he was trying to help two slayers, both with issues. One in love with a vampire with a soul; the other slayer was trying to find out who she was.

He was only half listening to Deidre, and was therefore surprised when she got up and left him sitting at the table and went to her workshop.

Giles followed a moment later when he realized what happened.

"I must apologize for my behavior back there, Ms. McTaggart. There was no reason for me to behave so rudely. I am just afraid that I am getting involved in more than I am capable of handling," Giles told her quietly.

Deidre looked at Giles fondly.

"Rupert, you're a good man, one who listens to his heart and does not feel honor bound to follow tradition blindly. You care for your charges, and you recognize that they want and need your full support. You have realized what many of the others have not, that the times are changing, and tradition is no longer as important as the end results." She looked at him carefully. "You will do what is right Rupert, I have faith in you."

Giles was now paying attention to Deidre and was amazed at the technology involved in the armor. He found himself thinking what a Slayer wearing this armor could accomplish.

While he was musing on this, Faith came in.

"Hey, G-man, D, what's the what?" She asked.

"I wish you….oh never mind," Giles answered, giving up for once.

Deidre snickered at his comments and turned to the young Slayer.

"Xander will be home any minute Faith. Make yourself at home," she said.

"Thanks, D," Faith replied, as she moved into the training room which occupied the rest of the workshop.

Giles observed the young woman as she started stretching in preparation for a workout. She had changed so much in the last couple of months that she was almost a completely different person than when she had first shown up.

There had been some sort of confrontation with Xander, that much he knew. But then Xander involved Joyce, and she started talking to Faith; and getting Faith to communicate with her. Faith had returned to school, started to dress less like a trollop, and started to be more responsible.

It took some effort on his part, but he was able to stop comparing her to Buffy, and get the others to do the same. It was a gradual change, but a positive one.

They heard Xander drive in, and he leaned in and tossed a "Be right there, Faith," comment as he ran by. Giles knew that Faith had taken Xander's injury very hard. He suspected that she had feelings for the young man, and he was glad that things were working out.

He disliked keeping the armor a secret from Buffy, Willow and the rest, but it was Xander's and Mr. Stark's secret. Buffy and Willow did seem glad that Xander wasn't patrolling anymore, and he was willing to keep that secret. Angel was helping quite a bit, but his relationship with the blonde slayer had been strained lately.

Her keeping his return from Hell a secret had caused all sorts of problems, and things had not gotten any better now that they had realized that they can never really be 'together'.

Xander entered the room and greeted both Giles and Deidre warmly, then joined Faith out on the mat. He went through some stretches with her, and she started leading him through a simple martial arts exercise routine.

Suddenly Giles was struck by another thought that made him feel bad.

\\ Why didn't I think to have Buffy give both Xander and Willow some basic self defense lessons? It would have helped them protect themselves, and eased our worries some. //

"You know Faith, since you started me on this routine, more of the soldier memories from that Halloween have been coming back, and I'm remembering his moves. They aren't as smooth and flowing as what you've been teaching me, but they are effective. If you want, I'll show them to you," Xander offered as he was taking a breather.

"You can show me anything, anytime, boytoy," Faith flirted back, bringing a red flush to Xander's face.

Giles shook his head watching the two teens flirting and turned to Deidre.

"Well, I am running a little bit late for an engagement, Deidre, so I need to be off. I will be seeing you soon, I am sure," he said. Then he turned and started to walk away.

"Goodbye Rupert, say 'hi' to Joyce for me."

"I will…" He replied without thinking, and then turned back to her, a surprised look on his face.

"Just go, Rupert, your secret is safe with me……For now," Deidre teased.

\\ "She is good for him. Now if she can get rid of some of the stuffiness," // Deidre thought to herself.

"So, what's the plan for tonight Xan?" Asked Faith.

"Thought we would patrol like we usually do, wherever Buffy tells you to go," he grinned back.

"Yeah, works for me. But I am getting tired of her always telling me where to go, and what to do," Faith started.

"Well, it does work to our advantage right now," Xander pointed out. "We are fairly sure she won't be near us, and we can keep this secret a bit longer.

"I know, but for some reason, I feel badly keeping things from her."

"I agree with you Faith; but for now, it's for the best. Tony wants to make sure the armor is working properly before I use it openly. Besides, it still has a lot of testing circuitry and diagnostic tools running. When he is sure, Tony will let us tell the others," Xander explained.

"Whatever," Faith said. "Well, I better get going home, to do my homework, see you about nine. Then we'll head out to wherever Princess Buffy sends us."

"Sounds good to me Faith," he told the your brunette as he kissed her on the cheek and headed to the house.

Deidre watched Faith as she gathered up her bag, and kept touching her cheek where Xander had kissed her. She smiled to herself as she watched the tough young slayer walk out of the workshop like she was floating on a cloud.

Later that Night
Collinswood Cemetery

Faith walked alongside the black-armored Xander, flipping her stake up in the air and catching it as it fell.

"This is just so dead tonight Xan, pardon the pun," she laughed.

"That was a bad one Faith, you been hanging around me to much," he returned.

Something caught his eye off in the distance and he zoomed the opticals in to get a closer look. Faith saw him freeze and tried to see what he saw, but her Slayer vision only managed to catch a dark shape running at full speed. From one of Giles' books, Xander remembered it as a Lucertola Demon, a huge man-shaped lizard demon that was extremely vicious. And it looked like it was after something, or someone.

Xander turned back to Faith and called to her.

"Faith, it's a demon. Looks like a Lucertola from what I remember. Real nasty ones. I'm on it. Keep up if you can," he said.

Faith could hear the smirk in his voice. He started running, and she used her Slayer speed to pass him. Then she fell back, stunned, as he kicked in his boot jets and zoomed up into the air past her.

"No fair!' She called to his vanishing form.

The fifteen seconds that his jets lasted gave him a huge head start over the fast moving Slayer, and he hit the ground running. He had almost caught up with the demon when he heard fighting.

Slowing down and approaching carefully, he found Buffy, Angel, Willow and Oz fighting a dozen or more vampires. He also saw that the demon had grabbed Angel by the neck.

As Xander closed in on the fight, Oz went down as a vampire slugged him while he was reloading his crossbow. Willow flamed the vamp, but was nearing exhaustion. Buffy had been knocked back by the demon who was now concentrating on Angel, and she was dazed and unable to stand.

Xander made his decision to intervene. Even knowing Tony wanted the armor kept secret, his friends' lives were more important.

He had a partial recharge in his boot jets so he fired them off long enough to jet above the demon and drop onto its back.

"Wonder why he wants to pull Deadboy's head off?" Xander said under his breath. \\Although that's not such a bad idea, except for the hurt it would put on Buffy//, he added mentally.

The demon collapsed to his knees with a hiss and let Angel go. Even though the vampire didn't need to breathe, having his head almost pulled off was not something you recover from instantly. The demon jumped up and whirled around, looking at the armored form with anger in its eyes.

"You have cost me precious time, human. I was almost done earning my fee when you interrupted. Now I have to spend further time, punishing you for your impertinence," it roared with anger.

"Take your best shot, snake breath," Xander smirked in return.

The demon rushed the black figure and grappled with it, sending it sliding backwards. Xander's booted feet plowed up the grass of the cemetery until the demon's rush was stopped by the cold stone walls of a crypt. Xander pushed the demon back to arm's length and then triggered his palm repulsors.

The twin beams of force shoved the demon back into a tree. It bounced off the trunk and stumbled to the ground where it looked up at the armored black shape with something akin to fear.

"Who are you that dares to interfere with Akronnet the Assassin, mortal?" the huge man-shaped lizard asked.

"They call me Ironman," Xander replied in a soft voice, intended for only the demon to hear.

The demon leapt up, pulling a wicked looking mace out of a case hung on its hip and swung it at the armored man.

Xander ducked under the swing, forced the demon's arm up, and then backhanded it, knocking it into a headstone, which snapped under the impact. He looked around for something to use as a weapon against the monster and spotted Angel's sword lying not too far away. Xander dodged another attack and made a dive for the sword. He came up with it in his hand, but was too late to avoid the demon's next swing.

The mace impacted on his left shoulder blade and sent him cartwheeling away. Xander was not really affected by the impact, but landed in an awkward position. As it was, he managed to jump up as Akronnet swung at him again.

This time he caught the head of the mace in his left hand, and he could hear the exoskeleton's micro motors whine as he stopped and held the mace.

"No. Not possible," Akronnet whispered, fear evident in his voice.

Ironman locked eyes with the demon and silently swung the blade. There was a meaty 'chunk!' sound as the blade cleanly severed Akronnet's head and sent it tumbling to the grass. The rest of the body crumpled a couple of seconds later.

Xander looked over to the rest of the group and saw that they were beginning to recover. Faith arrived about the same time, so he nodded to her slightly. Understanding what he meant, Faith nodded back and went to helping Buffy.

Xander tossed the sword back toward Angel, leaving it stuck quivering right in front of the souled vamp. He turned once more to take a quick look around and jogged off, the color of the armor quickly blending in with the darkness.

Faith was helping Buffy who was still dizzy, stand up.

"Whoa, hold on Faith, one of you needs to slow up a bit," Buffy groaned.

"Which one?" She joked back.

"Ummm. The one in the middle?" Buffy sighed.

"How many of me do you see?" Faith asked.

"Just three now, but when you first got here, there were four. How is everyone else?" Buffy asked, concerned as to the welfare of her friends.

"Oz looks like he has a lump on his head. Willow needs a nap, she looks exhausted. Fang looks like he has recovered and you seem to be doing better."

"Yeah, thank God for Slayer healing. What are you doing here?" She asked.

"Was patrolling where you told me, then heard a battle going on over here and came to check it out," Faith replied.

"Oh, where did that black colored guy go?" Buffy asked.

"What black colored guy?" Faith asked, knowing full well what Buffy was asking about.

"The one that came and pulled the demon off Angel, then fought and killed it."

"Don't know, B, guess it left before I got here," Faith reflexively lied to protect her best friend's secret.

Angel was standing, looking at the demon's body in silence, his mind spinning in turmoil.

\\ That was Xander, I know it was. I recognized the voice as well as his scent. What the hell is he doing? //

"The demon asked him who he was, and I think he said he was 'Ant Man'. He might be with that black outfit," Buffy mused.

"Don't know, B, but you definitely need to get that head looked at. Better let me help you get to G's place," Faith said, smirking to herself. "Just let me call Xander and let him know I won't stop by on my way home."

She pulled out a cell phone and hit the speed dial for his cell. She explained about Buffy and the others getting attacked by a demon and rescued by an 'Ant Man', and that she was helping them get to Giles' place.

Angel had tuned his hearing to Xander, and heard the laughing. \\ What is going on here? // wondered the souled vampire.

Xander jogged home feeling pretty good; the armor was performing better than expected for the early model it was. There were already some new modifications being made in the updated version that Tony was bringing with him when it was finished.

He slipped into his room quietly and stripped off the armor, grabbed a quick shower, then headed up stairs with the armor's 'black box'. He turned it over to Deidre and gave her a brief overview of the night's fight and how the armor performed.

Deidre grabbed the box and headed out to her shop, pausing long enough to tell Xander, "This has been invaluable, Xander. Wait till you see the new armor, the modifications will be something else."

"When will it be ready?" Asked the anxious young man.

"Tony will be bringing it out in about two weeks.

"Cool."


~~~~~ ***** ~~~~~

Two Weeks Later
Sunnydale High school Library

When Xander entered the library at the end of the day, he found both Willow and Faith looking around.

"What's up guys?" he inquired.

"Don't know X-Man, found the place still locked up, and there is no sign that Giles has even been here today," Faith answered.

"And Buffy got called out of third period for some sort of family emergency," Willow added.

"Let's go check out Giles' place. See if he was just sick or something," Xander suggested.

The three teens piled into Xander's car and drove in silent speculation to the Watchers home. As the group approached the door, they noticed that it was slightly ajar, something they knew that Giles would never do unless it was a dire emergency.

Xander started to push the door open, but was held back by Faith, who stepped in front of him and listened at the door.

"I hear someone faintly groaning, but nothing else, let me go in first, I have the best reflexes," she said.

Pushing the door open, she crept silently into the house. Faith scanned the living room and the kitchen, then quietly went down the hall. The sounds were coming from Giles' bedroom, but Faith checked all the other rooms before peering inside.

What she saw really shocked her, Giles was lying on his stomach, hands bound behind his back, he was groaning slightly.

"In here," she called to the others.

She pulled the plastic hand cuffs off of him and rolled him over to his side. He opened his eyes and tried to focus them.

"Buuufffyyyyy, helllppp her," He slurred.

"What's wrong with Buffy?" Xander asked softly.

"Council have her, want her to take cruc, cruce, Cruciamentum," he said.

"The council's got their hands on Buffy, and they want her to take a Cruciamentum? What is that Giles?" Willow asked.

"Test, rob Slayer of her powers, have her go after very bad vampire and slay him."

"They want her to try to slay without her powers? Are they insane?" Xander grunted.

Giles was rapidly recovering as he sipped on a glass of water supplied by Faith.

"The Cruciamentum is a test administered by the Council on a Slayer's eighteenth birthday. Buffy's test was delayed this year for some reason. They say it is to test the skill of a Slayer, but I think it's really a way to have a new, younger, more controllable Slayer called. Four out of five slayers do not survive the test," Giles explained.

"They were here this morning before I could leave for school, and told me the test was happening today. I refused, and they knocked me out and gave me something to make me sleep. Before I went completely out, I heard them call the school."

"Yes, Buffy was called out of third period today," Willow explained.

"Then they have her," Giles said slumping.

~~~~~ ***** ~~~~~

Across Town

Buffy found herself waking up groggy from the injection that Quentin Travers had given her. She remembered refusing to do the test, and then the prick of a needle.

The last thing she remembered hearing before all went black was someone speaking.

\\ "Now maybe we can get a real Slayer to work with." //

As she sat up holding her head, she could feel that she was being watched. On the table in front of her was a plain stake. And on the other side of the table, a huge vampire watched her every move.

TBC