Title: Destiny's Choice 1/? Rating: PG-13 Author: Bastard Snow

Summary: The sequel to Knight's Chosen. A new threat and new faces enter Sunnydale. How will the Scoobies deal?

Disclaimer: None of this belongs to me. It belongs to those who own it. Who are not me. They are more. . . Joss-ish, UPN/WB-ish and Fox-ish. I am not- ish.

Spoilers: Season 4, generally, and some earlier stuff, too.

Pairing: B/X, F/R, others. . .

A/N: Okay, gotta give much thanks out here to Drake, my ever-present, ever- helpful, and often-demanding beta. Sometimes his suggestions are ludicrous, but he makes my work better. Also to my B/X inspirers, Lori Bush, Brooke, Ozmandayus and many, many others without whose work I would. . . uh. Well, I pretty much wouldn't be writing.

Feedback: I LOVE feedback. It's not going too far to say feedback is my reason for living. Okay, maybe a little too far, but I really, really like it. Please?

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It has been five months since the last time the world didn't end. And though much has happened, life in Sunnydale has been, for the most part, livable. Xander has been promoted twice: once for good work, once because he stuck around when someone above him left. His new responsibilities as head of carpentry require longer hours, and thus he takes fewer patrols than he used to. However, two slayers and a group of soldiers, a witch and a watcher have been more than enough to keep the Hellmouth in check.

Buffy and Willow continued college, Willow excelling, Buffy doing pretty well herself. Xander and Buffy are as much in love as they have ever been. Because of his promotions, Xander has moved out of the Summers household and into his own apartment. Buffy has a bunch of clothes there, as well as toothpaste, a toothbrush, hair brush, her shampoo, a razor, and certain feminine products that Xander still refuses to buy when he goes shopping. She helped him pick out new furniture, new wallpaper, dishes, and general wall art. There have been exactly three nights since he moved that Buffy has not slept in his arms, in his bed. But she doesn't live there. Really.

Giles, after the (somewhat) untimely death of the magic shop owner rented the building, purchased the stock and now owns the Magic Box. Faith, who, with the help of Willow and Giles got her GED in December, works there and is, not surprisingly, very adept at getting male customers to buy things they really don't need.

Faith and Riley are still together. Faith, more often than the others, patrols with the Initiative soldiers. Though Faith and Riley's relationship has been quite physical, they have yet to reach the stage where they exchange a certain four-letter word.

Willow became very good friends with Tara, the girl who they saved from being sacrificed at the hands of the Fargath demon. After checking on her, Willow found that Tara also had an interest in witchcraft, and was, in fact, much more experienced than she was, though she had less raw power. Tara is aware of the Scooby activities, but as yet has not participated.

Joyce's gallery is doing very well. Her keen eye for art-not-in-the-shape- of-masks and a little help from Giles in locating particularly rare items has given her a reputation as an excellent consultant. Consequently, though she is often on the road, money is not as tight as it once was for the Summers family.

Life in Sunnydale, generally, is good. It does, however, sit on top of a Hellmouth.

* * * * *

"Another quiet night in Shady Hills," Faith said. "Have we killed anything here in the last month?"

"I'm sure we have. What about that accountant-vamp?" Buffy asked.

"No, he was over in Restfield."

"The Moghra?"

Faith shook her head. "Covington. Remember, he threw Xander into the Anderson crypt, knocked off a gargoyle and impaled itself?"

"Oh yeah. I'm sure there's been something."

"I don't think so, B. Face it, this place is washed out. No vamps, no demons, no nothing. For a month. How boring is that?"

Buffy looked at her watch. "Okay, it's almost 3 a.m. and we've pretty much done the circuit twice. Let's pack it in for the night."

"Sure thing, Boss," Faith said.

"Faith, I told you. . ."

"Yeah, yeah, don't call you boss. Whatever."

Buffy smiled at her. "Going to Riley's tonight?" she asked.

"Nope, Walsh has him out at some conference. He'll be back in a couple days."

"Okay. Then, would you tell my mom that I'll be stopping by tomorrow?"

"Sure thing, B. Later," Faith said.

Buffy walked to Xander's apartment and let herself in. She smiled, hearing him snoring in the bedroom. Buffy quickly undressed herself and clambered into bed with him. Xander, somehow, managed to wrap his arms around her without really waking up.

He muttered something that sounded suspiciously like 'lub oo,' or quite possibly 'tub goo' before passing out again.

Buffy nuzzled closer to him and fell asleep, content.

* * * * *

Faith awoke from a solid slumber. After a quick shower, she made her way down the stairs, to where Joyce was brewing coffee and cooking some eggs.

"Breakfast, Faith?"

Faith grinned. "Love some," she said. The immense amount of fantastic food Joyce was able to fix up at a moment's notice was one of the best things about living there.

Faith poured herself a cup of coffee and sat at the counter.

"How was patrol last night?"

"Boring, as always," she said. "There were no demons or vampires or anything."

"Isn't that a good thing?"

"Well, yeah, I guess. Thanks," she said as Joyce shoveled some eggs onto a plate and then added some buttered toast and some jelly.

"So why wouldn't a lack of evil be a good thing?" Joyce asked.

"It's a balance thing. If we're not fighting evil, it's either because it's planning something big and holding back, or because it's moved somewhere else and we're out of position. What with us bein' on Hellmouth, I'm thinkin' it's planning something big."

Faith inhaled her breakfast. "Damn, Joyce, you have got to be the best cook this side of anywhere."

Joyce smiled. "Thank you, Faith."

Faith looked at the clock. "Oh, crap, I gotta run. Jeeves has a buyer he's talking to so I have to run the shop for a while."

"Have a nice day, Faith," Joyce said.

"Thanks! Oh yeah, B said she'd be droppin' by later," Faith called as she ran out the door.

Joyce smiled, shook her head and started to fix her own breakfast.

* * * * *

"I know, I know, I'm late," Xander said, running into the trailer-cum- office that sat on the construction site that was just being set up. "I had some trouble with my door."

"Your door?" Steve asked.

Xander nodded, grinning. "My girlfriend kept shoving me up against it."

The men sitting around the table laughed.

"Okay," Steve said. "Now that we're all here, let's get down to business."

Xander sat in his chair as they started going over the plans, equipment and supplies necessary for the job, and deciding on the number of workers they'd need. Xander was still surprised at the fact that he was able to make intelligent and knowledgeable contributions to the discussion.

* * * * *

Willow woke at about 10 am, alone in her dorm room. It had basically become just hers since Xander moved into his own apartment. Buffy still came by regularly during the day. Her computer was there and she did her homework there. She just didn't sleep there, like, ever.

Willow smiled at that thought. She missed Buffy's company, yes, but she was so happy that her two best friends were so completely in love. And she still got to see Buffy, and she and Xander had regular lunches together.

'It's not like I'm lonely. Tara's always over here practicing spells and stuff,' she thought, a smile coming to her face. 'And there's the Scooby meetings every other day.' All in all, she was content.

After a quick shower, she gathered her books and headed off to her first class of the day.

* * * * *

Giles stood behind the counter, watching somewhat in awe as Faith convinced a young man, who had come in for the workings of a love spell (approximate cost $16), that he needed to purchase an entire set of (fake) runic tablets (retail price $83.99) and a set of tarot cards ($12.99) in addition to the love spell components.

Faith smiled coyly at the man, he melted like putty in her hands and picked up a book on the various uses of salamander eyes ($12.95 on sale).

The man approached the counter and Giles happily rung up the sale, and threw in a free pamphlet on the safe and practical use of magic. The man left, his arms much heavier and his wallet much lighter.

"That was quite an impressive display, Faith," he said when the door closed.

"What can I say, Jeeves? I got a way with the customers."

"Yes, you certainly do have that." He glanced at the clock. "Well, I must be off to my meeting. Watch the shop?"

"'Course," she said, turning to see the next vict-customer who had just walked into the store.

Giles walked into the store room in back, located the address, then went out into the alley and got in his car. It wouldn't start.

He kept turning the ignition. The engine wouldn't turn over.

"Blast!" he yelled at the car. This was the fifth time in two weeks it had failed him.

He walked back into the store, caught the cordless phone that Faith, who had just racked up another sale, tossed at him and called a cab.

"Not one bloody word," he said.

"I didn't say nothin', bossman," Faith said, raising her hands in a show of surrender.

Giles nodded shortly and went outside to wait.

"Doesn't mean Xander won't when he hears about it, though," she said to herself.

* * * * *

"Hey, Mom!" Buffy said as she walked into her house.

"Hi, sweetie," Joyce said, looking up from her crossword puzzle. "How are you?"

"It's a beautiful day, I finished with my one class I have today, and now I'm home visiting my wonderful mother. So, peachy, with a side of keen."

"Oh, no," Joyce said. "You're giving me compliments. What do you want?"

"Can't a daughter just love her mother?" Buffy asked, innocently.

Joyce leveled a glare at her daughter.

"Okay, so, there is a reason that I wanted to talk to you."

"I'm waiting," Joyce said.

"Well, you know, school's over in a couple months."

"Uh huh."

"And, well, Faith is living here."

"Mmm hmm."

"And so. . . I was thinking about. . . maybemovinginwithXanderafterschoolends."

Joyce stared at her daughter, eyes wide.

Buffy hit her with puppy dog eyes and a small pout.

Joyce continued staring, her face expressionless. Then she cracked a little. A grin was trying to force its way onto her face. Buffy wrinkled her brow in confusion. That broke her mother completely.

Joyce leaned back in her chair, laughing a full laugh, and almost falling out of the chair.

"Buffy," she said once she had recovered, "I had assumed you already lived there."

"What?" Buffy asked incredulously. "Mom, I live with Willow at the dorm."

Joyce laughed even harder.

"Why are you laughing at me?" Buffy asked seriously.

"Buffy, you haven't lived with Willow since Xander got his own apartment. Some of your stuff may be there, but it's pretty much storage."

"Huh?"

Joyce shook her head. "How often do you sleep at the dorm?" she asked.

"A lot!" Buffy said. "Why, I slept there just. . ." she paused. "Well it couldn't have been more than. . ."

Buffy sat down. "Huh."

"Buffy?" Joyce said, standing.

"Yeah?"

"You have my permission to move in with Xander," she said, tossing the crossword to her daughter. "See what you can do with that. I'm going to take a shower." Joyce chuckled her way up the stairs.

Buffy sat there, pondering the implications of her mother's statements.

* * * * *

Buffy walked into the Magic Box to find Faith behind the counter and Willow sitting at a table reading.

"Hey, B," Faith said, closing the register for the night. "What's up? You look like someone just dropped a bomb on you."

Willow looked up from her reading and frowned at her friend's expression. "You okay, Buffy?" she asked.

Buffy looked up at her two friends and shook her head to clear it.

"How. . ." she started.

Faith and Willow waited.

"How. . ." she tried again.

Willow shot a concerned, questioning look at Faith, who shrugged her ignorance.

"How long have I been living with Xander?"

Faith laughed, and a small smile broke out on Willow's face.

"Just found out today, did you?" Willow asked.

Buffy nodded as she sat down across from the redhead.

"Are you okay with it?" Willow asked.

Buffy took a deep breath and nodded. "I was asking my mom if it was okay if I moved in with Xander this summer, and she couldn't stop laughing."

Willow nodded. "I get that. Buffy, you've been living with Xander for almost two months."

"I have?"

Willow nodded and patted Buffy's hand. "I'm afraid so," she said. "Pretty much since he moved there."

"Oh," Buffy said.

"Hey, there's my three favorite girls!" Xander called as he walked into the store. He walked over and gave Buffy a quick kiss before sitting down next to her and picking up a magazine.

"Xander?" Buffy asked.

"Yeah?"

"How long have I been living with you?"

Xander froze, a look on his face like a deer caught in headlights. Faith and Willow waited to see how he would react.

His face clouded up in mock anger. "Okay, who told?!" he demanded.

Faith rolled her eyes as Willow grinned.

"It was you, wasn't it, Willow? I've always known you had it in for me."

Willow rolled her eyes, and Xander was quickly distracted by an irate, petite blonde shoving her chair out from the table.

"You knew?!" she yelled.

"Well, I live there, Buff. I'm bound to notice when someone else does too."

She hit him.

"Why didn't you tell me I was living with you?" she asked.

"Well," he said, shying away from her, "you seemed so happy deluding yourself. Who was I to take that away?"

"You jerk!" she yelled, renewing her assault on Xander.

"And see? I was right! You find out and now I'm getting hit! Ow!"

Buffy sat down in a huff. "Did everybody know except for me?" she asked.

She looked around at the nodding heads and sighed.

"Hey, are you okay with this?" Xander asked, seriously.

Buffy looked him in the eyes and nodded. "Yeah," she said. "It just came as kind of a shock. Mom told me when I asked her if it would be okay for me to move in with you this summer."

Xander grinned and kissed her.

"Good," he said. "So, what's the Scooby-plan for tonight?"

"Same as always," Faith said. "Jeeves said we need to do a quick sweep of the cemeteries, but with the recent quietness of, well, everything, we can make it a light night."

"Excellent," Xander said. "Easy livin' on the Hellmouth. This is what it's all about."

"Xander, shh!" Willow said. "You'll jinx it!"

Xander smiled at his best friend, then blew a raspberry at her.

* * * * *

"And it's another uneventful night on the Hellmouth," Faith said as she and Xander strolled through a cemetery.

"Yep, just what the doctor ordered," Xander said.

"I don't know," Faith said. "I could go for some violence about now."

"Oh, that's right," Xander said. "Riley's out of town."

Faith gave him a look that said 'watch it.' "And that means what?"

"Just that you miss him," Xander said. "The bumpier parts, at least."

Faith rolled her eyes. "Is sex all guys think about?"

"Pretty much, yeah," Xander said. "I mean, come on, am I wrong?"

"Not exactly. But there's more than just the sex," Faith said.

"I know," Xander said. "But uh. . . how much more?"

"When did this become 'Twenty Questions on Faith's Relationship?'" she asked defensively.

"Hey, not tryin' to pry," Xander said. "Just taking an interest in my friend's life is all."

"Yeah, well," she said. "I guess. . . just say. . . it's a good time. And. . . more than that, I can't say."

Xander nodded. "Okay. So you have fun, and there's a possibility of more- ness. Well. . . that's good, I guess."

"How do ya figure?" she asked.

"Seems to me, that means that you're good now, and there's the prospect of more, seriouser goodness. Not that you need to settle down or anything, but. . . I think it helps if you know the relationship can progress."

Faith nodded. "That makes sense, I guess."

A man in a leather jacket walked across the cemetery a few hundred feet in front of them. They paused.

"Vamp?" Xander asked.

Faith paused, reading her slayer senses. "Nope," she said, finally. "Human, just a dumb one to be out this time of night."

"Well, we're pretty much done here, and he's heading my way. I'll trail him and make sure he gets home okay. See you tomorrow?"

"Sure thing, X. Later."

Xander walked off in the direction the man had gone and Faith turned off to head back to Joyce's house.

Xander tailed the man until he saw him walk into an apartment complex, then headed home.

After Xander passed, the man stepped out of the doorway he had ducked into and smirked.

"Amateur," he said. He walked out onto the street, lit a cigarette and walked back towards the cemetery.

* * * * *

Faith walked into the Summers household.

She hung up her jacket and grabbed a glass of water, then headed upstairs.

She had just about entered her room when a voice stopped her.

"You're home early."

Faith paused, confused for a moment. Then a light went off in her head as she recognized the voice.

"Hey, Dawnie," she said. "Shouldn't you be in bed?"

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End Chapter 1