Title: Best Laid Plans.
Author: Charlie
Timeline: Post BtVS S7 (initially), later on Post AtS S5.
Summary: Xander begins a new chapter of his life.
--------------
-Cleveland-
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The sensation of warmth stirred him from his sleep, warmth that he had desperately missed for years spread through his body. Still asleep, he smiled as pleasant memories flowed in his mind. One in particular, his high school swim team tryouts stood out. He remembered being somewhat uncomfortable and embarrassed and then diving into the pool. The cold, wet water provided a sharp contrast to the-.
"Shit."
Alex opened his eyes and sat up in his bed. Looking down, he removed his hand from the bowl of water that it had been. He turned and glared at his roommate and best friend. The older man was sitting in a nearby chair reading the newspaper.
"I always wanted to do that."
"Fuck you Riley."
Finn simply smiled in return.
"Anything happen last night of interest?"
"Yeah, He ran into a few vamps and Kennedy."
"Kennedy? That's Willow's girlfriend isn't it?"
"Yes."
"What did he have to say about her?"
"Cute butt."
Riley shook his head slightly in response.
"Anything happen with you after 'Joshua' left?"
"No, Buffy and Willow were pretty determined to find out why I was here. And I told them it was none of their damn business. Buffy got a little ticked off at that and they both left."
Alex simply nodded before starting to get up and grabbed the clothes he had lain out the night before.
"Guess I'll shower and we can go see Graham."
The other man merely nodded and went back to reading his paper.
----------------------
-Beneath the city-
----------------------
Three, large hulkish-shaped figures shuffled through the sewer. They had traveled a great distance to reach this town. The largest of the three walked in front, hunched over to fit into the small space. They were dressed in dirty; brown robes that concealed their appearance completely save for their glowing yellow eyes that peered into the darkness. Save for the shuffling of their feet, no sound came from them. In silent, they continued their journey, determined to see its end.
----------------------------------------
-Crestview School for the Gifted-
----------------------------------------
"Well if there is no other business to attend to, I would declare this meeting over." Travis looked over the group, he was still dressed in the blue-gray Armani suit he had worn earlier in the day when meeting with new students and their parents. Satisfied, he prepared to head for his and Buffy's room to change for the rest of the day when Kennedy spoke.
"Guys, we have a problem."
Everyone looked at the normally confident girl who now had a subdued look on her face.
"What sort of problem, Kennedy?"
She shuffled her feet under the table and cleared her throat. Beside her, Willow watched with alarm, as her girlfriend became very nervous. Finally, Kennedy looked over the other people present and spoke.
"We have a new player in town."
"A new what?"
"Last night I was patrolling the north side and I got ambushed by one of the vamp gangs up there. There were eleven of them, I got'em cut down to seven before they zapped me."
"Zapped you?"
"With a cattle prod. Anyway I woke up in an abandoned factory chained to a concrete slab with the pack leader threatening to do all sorts of THINGS to me."
"He didn't did he? I'll kill him if he did; he'll be days, weeks, and months in the dying. And then I'll ressurruct him and kill him again."
"No, Willow he didn't do anything. He didn't get the chance to do anything."
"You staked him?" Wood asked.
"No, someone tore his head off bare-handed in front of me and he dusted."
"What? What happened?"
"Before anything could happen, the lights in the place, went out and this voice, a man's voice started talking to the vamps. Saying they were dead and were going to be dead again this time permanently. And then this guy, I think it was a guy, shows up with a green glowing sword and just starts cutting the vamps down with ease."
Giles removed his glasses before speaking.
"You're saying that last night, you were captured and someone, a man, you presume, with a green sword saved your life? And destroyed several vampires with this weapon?"
"All but one, he killed the pack leader with his bare hands. And I don't think he needed the sword to kill those."
"Why do you say that?"
"He was strong Giles, he taunted the head vamp. He didn't show any sign of fear. It was like he was bored. One of the other vamps attacked him and he tore its shoulder out of joint. I know I heard the muscle and everything rip. He took the pack leader on in hand to hand combat and slammed him so hard into the floor that the concrete broke."
"And you say this all happened in the dark?"
She nodded.
"Was he a?"
"A vampire? No, I didn't sense anything from him. It was like he wasn't there."
"Maybe he's a half breed?" Willow suggested.
"I doubt it." Travis answered. "I've trained most of life and even with my strength, I don't have what it takes to tear someone's head off with bare hands. And neither does a slayer now that I think of it. Besides, even a half breed would have triggered the slayer's senses." He looked at Buffy and smiled.
"I know something that could."
Heads turned and looked at Spike.
"ADAM. He could do it, he was stronger then any demon in Sunnydale."
"ADAM's dead."
"So we thought."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Spike carefully lit the cigarette in his mouth, taking a drag before replying.
"What I'm saying is, how do we know that ADAM's dead or whatever? All we have is them Government bloke's word and they're about as trustworthy as the bloody Council was."
The room grew quiet.
Giles turned and looked at his former charge. "I take it you and Willow were unable to persuade Riley to tell the reason for his visit?"
Buffy's eyes narrowed as she spoke. "No we didn't, he wouldn't tell us anything. And now we know why."
"We do?" Fred was confused.
"Isn't it obvious? The government didn't give up on Walsh's work; they have a brand new ADAM version 2.0. And they brought here to test it."
"Buffy we don't know that for certain."
"Sure we do Giles. Brand new super strong guy shows up in an abandoned factory to save a slayer. And Riley's in town, not talking that's all the proof I need."
"In that case, I believe we should discuss this matter further before acting. The presence of the government here proves that they are aware of the Hellmouth and we also have to consider the fate of the school and the students."
The others nodded and the next round of discussions began.
------------------------------
-S. Lakeland Cemetery-
------------------------------
"Looks like they found a nice place."
"Yeah."
Graham had been laid to rest in one of the corners of the cemetery. A nearby tree provided just the right amount of shade to keep the sun from wilting flowers easily. The grass had been mowed sometime within the past few days by the looks of it. The granite headstone gave the appearance of being freshly cleaned. It simply read 'Graham (???), 1972-2003. Loyalty, Trust and dedication'. Somehow those few words summed up Graham perfectly.
Alex ran his hand along the headstone's edge, feeling the smoothness of the cut and it's coldness at the same time. Riley stood in front of the grave, eyes on the resting-place of his one time Initiative teammate. Alex silently moved around until he was behind him.
"What did they say happened?"
"Training accident."
"What really happened?"
"There was a hot LZ, he was taken out while covering the extraction from behind a minigun."
"Died a hero."
"He'll get an award in the sealed section of his personnel folder."
"Is he 'in there'?"
Riley looked back at him and nodded.
"Good, sense of closure for the family."
Alex stepped up close to the headstone and knelt down.
"I never really took the opportunity to get to know you. I'm sorry for that now, I wished I would have. You were a good, brave man, braver then pretty much everyone else I know. Thank you."
He reached out touching the stone, then the grass itself. Alex remained that way for a bit before slowly standing up. He backed a few steps away from the grave until he was shoulder to shoulder with Riley again. The former Iowa corn boy turned soldier slowly and quietly gave his fallen comrade a last salute. Quietly the pair left the graveside and headed towards their car in silence.
"Are you sure you want to do this?"
"It's something that has to be done one way or another. Might as well get it over with."
------------------------------------------------------------------
-Crestview School for the Gifted, 45 minutes later...-
------------------------------------------------------------------
"Nice layout."
Riley and Alex examined the school while sitting in Riley's car, an old sedan. The school was built on a fairly large parcel of land about 1.5 acres. On first glance both were surprised to find the plot of land still contained fairly dense woods. A large wrought iron gate built into a brick wall that ran around the boundaries of the property marked the entrance to the school. The gate and wall were around 7 and a half feet high and the wall appeared around eighteen inches wide. Riley squinted and tapped his companion on the shoulder before pointing at something in the wall. Alex looked closer at the walls and he saw what had caught Finn's attention. Built into the walls, just beyond the gate was a line of crosses that ran from the top to the bottom.
"I wonder who thought that up."
"Probably Giles."
Riley put the car in gear and pulled into the driveway of the school.
"Hello, we are not expecting any deliveries, I mean. Please state your business." An annoying yet familiar voice blared forth from a speaker box near the gate.
Riley lowered his window and responded. "This is Riley Finn. I've come to speak to Buffy and the others."
There was a long pause, followed by some indistinct chatter before the speaker replied. "Um, Come on in, they're in the library, if you pull into the parking lot, someone will guide you there."
"No thanks, I'll find it".
Riley looked over at his passenger who seemed unfazed by what was going on. Alex simply shrugged, "Vamp or not, that's Harmony for you."
In the windowless office, Harmony was having a full-scale panic.
"Okay, Buffy and the others are in an important meeting. And she expressly said NO disturbing her or them specifically unless it's an apocalypse."
Harmony thought for a moment before speaking out loud again. "Well she said don't disturb her specifically, she didn't say anything about a general school-wide announcement." She smiled at that thought and keyed the intercom.
"TO ALL IT MAY CONCERN, RILEY FINN IS ON CAMPUS AND HEADED FOR THE LIBRARY FOR AN IMPORTANT MEETING. THAT IS ALL."
Riley frowned and looked over at Alex as they continued down the walkway to where Buffy was. Seeing no response, he continued walking towards the inevitable meeting. As they came around a corner, the library building came into view. Setting his jaw, he pushed the double doors open and walked in with Alex right behind him.
He looked at the counter and office as he entered and was surprised to see no one there. Looking around, Riley spotted them gathered around a couple of tables in the back of the library. Finn waited as Buffy got out of her seat and walked a little closer to him. Behind her, he saw Willow; Giles and some other people he didn't recognize shift a little and focus their attention on him and her. A movement in the shadows caught his attention briefly and Riley saw two figures lurking back there, one with blonde hair, Spike and Angel.
Buffy cleared her throat and addressed him with a flat tone in her voice, "Hello Riley. Come to see me for help for another disaster you created?"
"I didn't come here for me, Buffy."
"Oh? Then why did you come here."
Instead of answering her, Riley merely stepped aside. Behind her, Buffy heard a muted gasp from Willow. Standing behind Riley was a dark haired man with a different yet familiar face.
"Xander", Willow spoke softly and slowly started tearing up. Holding back the floodgates, she got out of her chair and made her way closer to him.
Behind him, Riley heard the library doors bang open and he looked back as Dawn entered the building. With her came a woman that could have passed for a model, a thin, timid looking man and another woman that reminded him somewhat of Willow.
"There you are Xander." The model said somewhat harshly but with a warm grin on her face.
Willow was still smiling as Xander started walking towards her and then went right by without saying a word. Both she and Buffy turned and watched as he made his way toward the table. Stopping short, Alex looked at the other people at the table. Starting with an unfamiliar man, then Giles, Faith, Wood, Kennedy, and in the shadows, he saw Spike and Angel lurking. His gaze fell upon each in turn, some more intently then others. Satisfied, he turned his back and walked away from them. Again he passed by Willow and Buffy without saying a word; he stopped and looked at Dawn, Cordelia, Andrew and Fred. Finally he turned, looked at Riley and spoke without any emotion in his voice.
"I've seen enough, we can go now."
Finn nodded and the two of them prepared to leave.
"Go? Go where? You just got here. And now you're leaving without even saying hello to me? To Buffy?"
Alex didn't answer her as he and Riley started to walk away.
"Damn it Xander. I'm your best friend answer me."
"Alex. My name is Alex Harris. Not 'Xander'."
"What? Xander, what's wrong with you, why are you leaving."
He turned and looked at the confused red head.
"Nothing is wrong. I finished my business and I'm going home."
"But, but you're leaving and we haven't. I mean you haven't even hugged me and I'm your best friend."
She looked up at him, with a weak but hopeful smile. And Willow's hope was dashed by what she saw; Xander was looking at her as though she was a stranger. When he spoke there was no emotion in his voice.
"You're not my friend, you haven't been my friend since junior high school. I stopped caring about you a long time ago."
Willow opened her mouth but could say nothing and she closed it again.
"What did you do to him Riley." Buffy snarled at the other man. Finn ignored her as Alex turned and looked at her for the first time since entering the library.
"What did he do to me?" he paused noting Buffy was still looking at Riley, "He talked to me. He treated me like a person, like a friend would."
Buffy broke off the glare she was giving and looked at 'Alex'. For the first time she noted he had two eyes, eyes that were looking at her as though they had never met.
"Xander, why are you acting like this?"
"Seven years."
"What?"
"For seven years, I was there, fighting the good fight. Lending my strength for the greater good, compassion when it was needed and money when it came time to pay the bills. I never asked once for anything in return and I don't intend to ask for anything now. I'm done fighting now."
"Xander..." Willow tried to get his attention.
He continued, ignoring her. "I have a life now, a normal life, not a great life but a good one. I get up in the morning, work all day, come home, watch TV and go to bed at a reasonable hour. I don't fight demons. I don't patrol for vampires. I don't read musty old books written in languages. It's a nice life."
Buffy smiled, "that's good to hear Xander."
"And I don't want you in it."
Buffy stopped smiling, "what?"
"I don't want you in my life, I don't want Willow in my life, I don't want anyone here in my life now. I'm done with you."
Willow started shaking quietly, "w-why?"
"Everytime we fought the bad guys in the past, someone always lost something dear to them. Whether it was Ms. Calendar, Jessie or ...Anya, someone always paid the price. And that someone wasn't the hero, it wasn't the strongest person in the fight, it was always the people that no one noticed that lost the most. Normal people like me."
Buffy stood silent as he continued.
"I lost everything in those fights from my closest guy friend being turned into a vampire and dying by my hand. I lost my virginity to a psychopath who tried to kill me on the same bed where we had sex. I lost my future as an executive with the construction company. I lost my eye saving the life of a girl whom doesn't know a single thing about me and doesn't care. I even lost the one woman who accepted me for what I was and who I would have married. Then a few months ago I lost the two most important people in my life, my parents."
There was a soft but audible intake of breath when he said that.
"It was for them I left Oxnard, dad was all sorts of liver problems, he ended up in the hospital. I thought for awhile he was gonna die then and I realized that he's still my father and I still love him. Somehow, he got better, they both stopped drinking, went to therapy. He and Mom helped me I helped them. It wasn't perfect but for the first time in years we were a family again, little by little piecing our lives together. Then came one night, I got a call at work saying they had been in a car accident, a bus driver had hit them head on. Mom died instantly and Dad was fading when I got there..." His voice started cracking as he spoke.
"The doctors told me he was bleeding internally, too far gone to save. I went to his bedside and stayed there. When the time came, I held his hand and told him I was proud to be his son and that I loved him and mom. He smiled, took one last breath and went to be with mom."
Alex paused and took several deep breaths, trying to choke back his tears. There was a sound of soft crying from Dawn. Cordelia pulled the younger girl into her arms and held her as she sobbed. Willow remained where she was, tears softly streaming down her face. Buffy did nothing, her face was free of tears and she had no expression on her face.
Finally he regained his composure and continued, "Now, there's just me. My last real family is gone, so I'm moving on as best I that I can. Building a new life and leaving my old one behind. And that's why I don't want you in my life.
Surprised, Willow lifted her head with tears still in her eyes, "w-what?"
"I need friends, real friends in my life now."
"Xander... we're..."
"No we're not. We never really were friends Willow. Jessie and me were just the two kids who paid attention to you. When Jessie died and Buffy came to town, she became more important to you then I was. When Oz entered the picture, you pushed me out of your life. When you started practicing magic and got involved with Tara, you pushed me out of your life completely. And a few months after Tara's funeral you went and jumped into bed with a girl you barely knew."
Willow was literally shaking; he continued his voice flat and free of emotion.
"One of the things that make friendship work is caring about the other person. I cared a lot about you Will, more so then I ever thought. But you never cared about me; all you cared about was the power, the attention. You're just like Buffy, the person doesn't matter, all that matters is are they powerful enough for you."
With that, he nodded at Riley and they made their way to the door. Andrew, Fred and Cordelia holding a now confused Dawn parted as though afraid of them. All four had mixed expressions of grief, confusion and fear on their faces. Behind him Willow sunk to the floor, tears streaming down her face, sobbing and shaking she curled into a ball and lay there.
"Xander, What the hell happened to you in the past two years?" Cordelia asked.
Pausing before he followed Riley out the door, Alex answered her.
"I got older."
Author: Charlie
Timeline: Post BtVS S7 (initially), later on Post AtS S5.
Summary: Xander begins a new chapter of his life.
--------------
-Cleveland-
--------------
The sensation of warmth stirred him from his sleep, warmth that he had desperately missed for years spread through his body. Still asleep, he smiled as pleasant memories flowed in his mind. One in particular, his high school swim team tryouts stood out. He remembered being somewhat uncomfortable and embarrassed and then diving into the pool. The cold, wet water provided a sharp contrast to the-.
"Shit."
Alex opened his eyes and sat up in his bed. Looking down, he removed his hand from the bowl of water that it had been. He turned and glared at his roommate and best friend. The older man was sitting in a nearby chair reading the newspaper.
"I always wanted to do that."
"Fuck you Riley."
Finn simply smiled in return.
"Anything happen last night of interest?"
"Yeah, He ran into a few vamps and Kennedy."
"Kennedy? That's Willow's girlfriend isn't it?"
"Yes."
"What did he have to say about her?"
"Cute butt."
Riley shook his head slightly in response.
"Anything happen with you after 'Joshua' left?"
"No, Buffy and Willow were pretty determined to find out why I was here. And I told them it was none of their damn business. Buffy got a little ticked off at that and they both left."
Alex simply nodded before starting to get up and grabbed the clothes he had lain out the night before.
"Guess I'll shower and we can go see Graham."
The other man merely nodded and went back to reading his paper.
----------------------
-Beneath the city-
----------------------
Three, large hulkish-shaped figures shuffled through the sewer. They had traveled a great distance to reach this town. The largest of the three walked in front, hunched over to fit into the small space. They were dressed in dirty; brown robes that concealed their appearance completely save for their glowing yellow eyes that peered into the darkness. Save for the shuffling of their feet, no sound came from them. In silent, they continued their journey, determined to see its end.
----------------------------------------
-Crestview School for the Gifted-
----------------------------------------
"Well if there is no other business to attend to, I would declare this meeting over." Travis looked over the group, he was still dressed in the blue-gray Armani suit he had worn earlier in the day when meeting with new students and their parents. Satisfied, he prepared to head for his and Buffy's room to change for the rest of the day when Kennedy spoke.
"Guys, we have a problem."
Everyone looked at the normally confident girl who now had a subdued look on her face.
"What sort of problem, Kennedy?"
She shuffled her feet under the table and cleared her throat. Beside her, Willow watched with alarm, as her girlfriend became very nervous. Finally, Kennedy looked over the other people present and spoke.
"We have a new player in town."
"A new what?"
"Last night I was patrolling the north side and I got ambushed by one of the vamp gangs up there. There were eleven of them, I got'em cut down to seven before they zapped me."
"Zapped you?"
"With a cattle prod. Anyway I woke up in an abandoned factory chained to a concrete slab with the pack leader threatening to do all sorts of THINGS to me."
"He didn't did he? I'll kill him if he did; he'll be days, weeks, and months in the dying. And then I'll ressurruct him and kill him again."
"No, Willow he didn't do anything. He didn't get the chance to do anything."
"You staked him?" Wood asked.
"No, someone tore his head off bare-handed in front of me and he dusted."
"What? What happened?"
"Before anything could happen, the lights in the place, went out and this voice, a man's voice started talking to the vamps. Saying they were dead and were going to be dead again this time permanently. And then this guy, I think it was a guy, shows up with a green glowing sword and just starts cutting the vamps down with ease."
Giles removed his glasses before speaking.
"You're saying that last night, you were captured and someone, a man, you presume, with a green sword saved your life? And destroyed several vampires with this weapon?"
"All but one, he killed the pack leader with his bare hands. And I don't think he needed the sword to kill those."
"Why do you say that?"
"He was strong Giles, he taunted the head vamp. He didn't show any sign of fear. It was like he was bored. One of the other vamps attacked him and he tore its shoulder out of joint. I know I heard the muscle and everything rip. He took the pack leader on in hand to hand combat and slammed him so hard into the floor that the concrete broke."
"And you say this all happened in the dark?"
She nodded.
"Was he a?"
"A vampire? No, I didn't sense anything from him. It was like he wasn't there."
"Maybe he's a half breed?" Willow suggested.
"I doubt it." Travis answered. "I've trained most of life and even with my strength, I don't have what it takes to tear someone's head off with bare hands. And neither does a slayer now that I think of it. Besides, even a half breed would have triggered the slayer's senses." He looked at Buffy and smiled.
"I know something that could."
Heads turned and looked at Spike.
"ADAM. He could do it, he was stronger then any demon in Sunnydale."
"ADAM's dead."
"So we thought."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Spike carefully lit the cigarette in his mouth, taking a drag before replying.
"What I'm saying is, how do we know that ADAM's dead or whatever? All we have is them Government bloke's word and they're about as trustworthy as the bloody Council was."
The room grew quiet.
Giles turned and looked at his former charge. "I take it you and Willow were unable to persuade Riley to tell the reason for his visit?"
Buffy's eyes narrowed as she spoke. "No we didn't, he wouldn't tell us anything. And now we know why."
"We do?" Fred was confused.
"Isn't it obvious? The government didn't give up on Walsh's work; they have a brand new ADAM version 2.0. And they brought here to test it."
"Buffy we don't know that for certain."
"Sure we do Giles. Brand new super strong guy shows up in an abandoned factory to save a slayer. And Riley's in town, not talking that's all the proof I need."
"In that case, I believe we should discuss this matter further before acting. The presence of the government here proves that they are aware of the Hellmouth and we also have to consider the fate of the school and the students."
The others nodded and the next round of discussions began.
------------------------------
-S. Lakeland Cemetery-
------------------------------
"Looks like they found a nice place."
"Yeah."
Graham had been laid to rest in one of the corners of the cemetery. A nearby tree provided just the right amount of shade to keep the sun from wilting flowers easily. The grass had been mowed sometime within the past few days by the looks of it. The granite headstone gave the appearance of being freshly cleaned. It simply read 'Graham (???), 1972-2003. Loyalty, Trust and dedication'. Somehow those few words summed up Graham perfectly.
Alex ran his hand along the headstone's edge, feeling the smoothness of the cut and it's coldness at the same time. Riley stood in front of the grave, eyes on the resting-place of his one time Initiative teammate. Alex silently moved around until he was behind him.
"What did they say happened?"
"Training accident."
"What really happened?"
"There was a hot LZ, he was taken out while covering the extraction from behind a minigun."
"Died a hero."
"He'll get an award in the sealed section of his personnel folder."
"Is he 'in there'?"
Riley looked back at him and nodded.
"Good, sense of closure for the family."
Alex stepped up close to the headstone and knelt down.
"I never really took the opportunity to get to know you. I'm sorry for that now, I wished I would have. You were a good, brave man, braver then pretty much everyone else I know. Thank you."
He reached out touching the stone, then the grass itself. Alex remained that way for a bit before slowly standing up. He backed a few steps away from the grave until he was shoulder to shoulder with Riley again. The former Iowa corn boy turned soldier slowly and quietly gave his fallen comrade a last salute. Quietly the pair left the graveside and headed towards their car in silence.
"Are you sure you want to do this?"
"It's something that has to be done one way or another. Might as well get it over with."
------------------------------------------------------------------
-Crestview School for the Gifted, 45 minutes later...-
------------------------------------------------------------------
"Nice layout."
Riley and Alex examined the school while sitting in Riley's car, an old sedan. The school was built on a fairly large parcel of land about 1.5 acres. On first glance both were surprised to find the plot of land still contained fairly dense woods. A large wrought iron gate built into a brick wall that ran around the boundaries of the property marked the entrance to the school. The gate and wall were around 7 and a half feet high and the wall appeared around eighteen inches wide. Riley squinted and tapped his companion on the shoulder before pointing at something in the wall. Alex looked closer at the walls and he saw what had caught Finn's attention. Built into the walls, just beyond the gate was a line of crosses that ran from the top to the bottom.
"I wonder who thought that up."
"Probably Giles."
Riley put the car in gear and pulled into the driveway of the school.
"Hello, we are not expecting any deliveries, I mean. Please state your business." An annoying yet familiar voice blared forth from a speaker box near the gate.
Riley lowered his window and responded. "This is Riley Finn. I've come to speak to Buffy and the others."
There was a long pause, followed by some indistinct chatter before the speaker replied. "Um, Come on in, they're in the library, if you pull into the parking lot, someone will guide you there."
"No thanks, I'll find it".
Riley looked over at his passenger who seemed unfazed by what was going on. Alex simply shrugged, "Vamp or not, that's Harmony for you."
In the windowless office, Harmony was having a full-scale panic.
"Okay, Buffy and the others are in an important meeting. And she expressly said NO disturbing her or them specifically unless it's an apocalypse."
Harmony thought for a moment before speaking out loud again. "Well she said don't disturb her specifically, she didn't say anything about a general school-wide announcement." She smiled at that thought and keyed the intercom.
"TO ALL IT MAY CONCERN, RILEY FINN IS ON CAMPUS AND HEADED FOR THE LIBRARY FOR AN IMPORTANT MEETING. THAT IS ALL."
Riley frowned and looked over at Alex as they continued down the walkway to where Buffy was. Seeing no response, he continued walking towards the inevitable meeting. As they came around a corner, the library building came into view. Setting his jaw, he pushed the double doors open and walked in with Alex right behind him.
He looked at the counter and office as he entered and was surprised to see no one there. Looking around, Riley spotted them gathered around a couple of tables in the back of the library. Finn waited as Buffy got out of her seat and walked a little closer to him. Behind her, he saw Willow; Giles and some other people he didn't recognize shift a little and focus their attention on him and her. A movement in the shadows caught his attention briefly and Riley saw two figures lurking back there, one with blonde hair, Spike and Angel.
Buffy cleared her throat and addressed him with a flat tone in her voice, "Hello Riley. Come to see me for help for another disaster you created?"
"I didn't come here for me, Buffy."
"Oh? Then why did you come here."
Instead of answering her, Riley merely stepped aside. Behind her, Buffy heard a muted gasp from Willow. Standing behind Riley was a dark haired man with a different yet familiar face.
"Xander", Willow spoke softly and slowly started tearing up. Holding back the floodgates, she got out of her chair and made her way closer to him.
Behind him, Riley heard the library doors bang open and he looked back as Dawn entered the building. With her came a woman that could have passed for a model, a thin, timid looking man and another woman that reminded him somewhat of Willow.
"There you are Xander." The model said somewhat harshly but with a warm grin on her face.
Willow was still smiling as Xander started walking towards her and then went right by without saying a word. Both she and Buffy turned and watched as he made his way toward the table. Stopping short, Alex looked at the other people at the table. Starting with an unfamiliar man, then Giles, Faith, Wood, Kennedy, and in the shadows, he saw Spike and Angel lurking. His gaze fell upon each in turn, some more intently then others. Satisfied, he turned his back and walked away from them. Again he passed by Willow and Buffy without saying a word; he stopped and looked at Dawn, Cordelia, Andrew and Fred. Finally he turned, looked at Riley and spoke without any emotion in his voice.
"I've seen enough, we can go now."
Finn nodded and the two of them prepared to leave.
"Go? Go where? You just got here. And now you're leaving without even saying hello to me? To Buffy?"
Alex didn't answer her as he and Riley started to walk away.
"Damn it Xander. I'm your best friend answer me."
"Alex. My name is Alex Harris. Not 'Xander'."
"What? Xander, what's wrong with you, why are you leaving."
He turned and looked at the confused red head.
"Nothing is wrong. I finished my business and I'm going home."
"But, but you're leaving and we haven't. I mean you haven't even hugged me and I'm your best friend."
She looked up at him, with a weak but hopeful smile. And Willow's hope was dashed by what she saw; Xander was looking at her as though she was a stranger. When he spoke there was no emotion in his voice.
"You're not my friend, you haven't been my friend since junior high school. I stopped caring about you a long time ago."
Willow opened her mouth but could say nothing and she closed it again.
"What did you do to him Riley." Buffy snarled at the other man. Finn ignored her as Alex turned and looked at her for the first time since entering the library.
"What did he do to me?" he paused noting Buffy was still looking at Riley, "He talked to me. He treated me like a person, like a friend would."
Buffy broke off the glare she was giving and looked at 'Alex'. For the first time she noted he had two eyes, eyes that were looking at her as though they had never met.
"Xander, why are you acting like this?"
"Seven years."
"What?"
"For seven years, I was there, fighting the good fight. Lending my strength for the greater good, compassion when it was needed and money when it came time to pay the bills. I never asked once for anything in return and I don't intend to ask for anything now. I'm done fighting now."
"Xander..." Willow tried to get his attention.
He continued, ignoring her. "I have a life now, a normal life, not a great life but a good one. I get up in the morning, work all day, come home, watch TV and go to bed at a reasonable hour. I don't fight demons. I don't patrol for vampires. I don't read musty old books written in languages. It's a nice life."
Buffy smiled, "that's good to hear Xander."
"And I don't want you in it."
Buffy stopped smiling, "what?"
"I don't want you in my life, I don't want Willow in my life, I don't want anyone here in my life now. I'm done with you."
Willow started shaking quietly, "w-why?"
"Everytime we fought the bad guys in the past, someone always lost something dear to them. Whether it was Ms. Calendar, Jessie or ...Anya, someone always paid the price. And that someone wasn't the hero, it wasn't the strongest person in the fight, it was always the people that no one noticed that lost the most. Normal people like me."
Buffy stood silent as he continued.
"I lost everything in those fights from my closest guy friend being turned into a vampire and dying by my hand. I lost my virginity to a psychopath who tried to kill me on the same bed where we had sex. I lost my future as an executive with the construction company. I lost my eye saving the life of a girl whom doesn't know a single thing about me and doesn't care. I even lost the one woman who accepted me for what I was and who I would have married. Then a few months ago I lost the two most important people in my life, my parents."
There was a soft but audible intake of breath when he said that.
"It was for them I left Oxnard, dad was all sorts of liver problems, he ended up in the hospital. I thought for awhile he was gonna die then and I realized that he's still my father and I still love him. Somehow, he got better, they both stopped drinking, went to therapy. He and Mom helped me I helped them. It wasn't perfect but for the first time in years we were a family again, little by little piecing our lives together. Then came one night, I got a call at work saying they had been in a car accident, a bus driver had hit them head on. Mom died instantly and Dad was fading when I got there..." His voice started cracking as he spoke.
"The doctors told me he was bleeding internally, too far gone to save. I went to his bedside and stayed there. When the time came, I held his hand and told him I was proud to be his son and that I loved him and mom. He smiled, took one last breath and went to be with mom."
Alex paused and took several deep breaths, trying to choke back his tears. There was a sound of soft crying from Dawn. Cordelia pulled the younger girl into her arms and held her as she sobbed. Willow remained where she was, tears softly streaming down her face. Buffy did nothing, her face was free of tears and she had no expression on her face.
Finally he regained his composure and continued, "Now, there's just me. My last real family is gone, so I'm moving on as best I that I can. Building a new life and leaving my old one behind. And that's why I don't want you in my life.
Surprised, Willow lifted her head with tears still in her eyes, "w-what?"
"I need friends, real friends in my life now."
"Xander... we're..."
"No we're not. We never really were friends Willow. Jessie and me were just the two kids who paid attention to you. When Jessie died and Buffy came to town, she became more important to you then I was. When Oz entered the picture, you pushed me out of your life. When you started practicing magic and got involved with Tara, you pushed me out of your life completely. And a few months after Tara's funeral you went and jumped into bed with a girl you barely knew."
Willow was literally shaking; he continued his voice flat and free of emotion.
"One of the things that make friendship work is caring about the other person. I cared a lot about you Will, more so then I ever thought. But you never cared about me; all you cared about was the power, the attention. You're just like Buffy, the person doesn't matter, all that matters is are they powerful enough for you."
With that, he nodded at Riley and they made their way to the door. Andrew, Fred and Cordelia holding a now confused Dawn parted as though afraid of them. All four had mixed expressions of grief, confusion and fear on their faces. Behind him Willow sunk to the floor, tears streaming down her face, sobbing and shaking she curled into a ball and lay there.
"Xander, What the hell happened to you in the past two years?" Cordelia asked.
Pausing before he followed Riley out the door, Alex answered her.
"I got older."