Revelations In White Light

Author: Anime Ronin

Rating: R

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Summary: Challenge/Story Idea from SwordofChiyun that involves Xander getting kicked out of Scoobies after Graduation and revelations of his real father and shades of his mother's family's past.

Crossover: Yes, with Charmed and some hints of Hercules.

AN: In this chapter, expect Canon to be shot to hell and back

Chapter 4 – From Betrayal Comes Hope and Light

{Sunnydale – 30 seconds after side story}

He looked down at the angelic being sent to earth in his arms and briefly wondered if Joyce would mind him taking care of the problem that was causing her headache. Thinking she would not, he let the healing powers that came with being a Whitelighter flow through his hands and into her body – like magic, as that is what it probably was, he could feel the dark mass of sickness within her shrink and disappear, but he also watched as her face became younger, less lined, the few strands of gray at her temples fade and felt her body firm up as she was laying on him. He figured he had knocked about five or seven years off of her features, and smiled, "Beauty never looked so good."

Joyce groaned slightly and shifted in his embrace, turning to seek the warmth as it were, and then opened her eyes, "Xander?"

"Hi, Joyce. Sorry about that – I should have warned you." He helped her to a sitting position and then to her feet, "Feeling okay?"

She nodded and put her hand to her forehead, but then frowned and felt around her face before looking into a near-by mirror and gasping. She turned around and for the barest instant he thought that he was going to get slapped, but then Joyce rushed him and hugged him harder than he had been hugged in a long time, babbling 'thank you' and other things that made no sense to him for several minutes before she pulled back and planted one on him but good.

It took several minutes for his brain to reboot and kick-start his automatic functions into gear "Wow."

Joyce smiled for a few more seconds and then took on a serious look, "What did you do to me, young man?"

"Not enough, if that response was any indication," he muttered. Straightening, he smiled at her, "I orbed in, you fainted and while you were out, I saw that you were sick, so I took care of it." He shrugged, "In the process you lost about five to seven years of physical age, so don't question good fortune."

She pecked him on the cheek again, "Thank you, Xander. Now, where have you been, young man, and what was that strange light you came in with?"

He allowed her to lead him over to the couch and for the barest instant he felt like the guy in The Graduate, but shook those thought right out of his head – Joyce was who he wished to be his mother, so no naughty thought despite the fact that she was drop-dead gorgeous, "What would you like to know?" She gave him a look and he grinned sheepishly, "It's part and parcel with the Whitelighter gig – orbing with heavenly lights and healing with angelic power."

Joyce blinked at him for a moment and then haltingly asked, "And what IS a 'Whitelighter'?"

He shrugged, "The long and the short of it is we're guardian angels for natural witches and Champions, occasionally."

"And you became a Whitelighter HOW?"

He winced at the tone in her voice, "Well, NORMALLY, we die and are offered the choice, but as my real father was a Whitelighter, I am half and have been trained ... mostly." He massaged his temples, "Normally it takes about four months to get the training and a few years on probationary duty to refine what you know, but I was in a fix, so ... a friend used some magic to speed up the process. Not the best idea at all, but it was the only one available to us at the time."

"So, you're alive?"

"Yes."

"And a Whitelighter?"

"Asked and answered, Councilor."

Joyce took a breath and let it out slowly, "So, you're here for Buffy and Willow."

"No." She blinked in shock and he went on, "A natural witch, not a practitioner, Joyce, and someone else who walked the dark path because it was all she knew. I don't care if Buffy or anyone else likes Faith or not, she has a job to do and will do it, but she will also be getting help in the process." Before he went on, he heard the front door open and felt both Buffy and Willow walk in, "Gotta go, Joyce. I was NEVER HERE." With that, he orbed out of the room and into his new house, procured for him by the Elders – he had something else to take care of first ... something far more personal than his betrayers.

{Residence of Anthony and Jessica Harris}

"Alessandro?"

He smiled, "Mom." He accepted her into a hug even as she began to cry – it was a good thing that he had worn a dark shirt, as her tears probably would have stained a lighter one with the amount of base she was wearing to cover the bruises on her cheek and temple. As he hugged her, he let his healing powers take over and work it's magic on her, cleaning the toxins and alcohol from her body, a surprisingly small amount, actually, and healing the wounds she wore, old and new, until she pulled away.

"You found him, then."

"It was more like he found me, and I've been given two charges to look after here in Sunnydale, mom." He resisted telling her about Ares and the others, but he would never get the chance as a voice from the front room bawled out for more Jack Daniels, "He's still alive, I see."

Jessica looked down, "I love him, Alessandro; I couldn't let him die."

Xander looked into the other room and could see the sickness within the form there, "You're going to have to – liver cancer, among other things." Xander, for the barest fraction of a second, contemplated going into the room and gloating over Tony, but no, that was something Harris Sr. would have done – he'd just not do anything simply because if he did, Tony would fritter away that chance too.

His mother apparently knew this as she sighed, "How long does he have without your help?"

Xander shrugged, "A week, maybe two, but no more than a month."

"And you will not help him?"

"No, mother, I will not – there are principles involved in such things and curing him as much as I could goes against most of mine." There was a good chance that he would catch hell for turning his back on the man who had, though it could be argued as far as the term goes, 'raised' him, but then again, it could just as easily go the other way.

"I see. What should I do, then?"

He looked at his mother and made sure he had her attention, "Get out of Sunnydale – never return. This place is evil and trust me when I say I know evil because I walked that path, mom." She gasped and he went on, "I did it to protect you and that son of a bitch, along with others – I'm not a Saint, never claimed to be, but trust me, I've seen evil and I don't want you near it."

Jessica nodded, "I ... I will leave, after..." she didn't finish the sentence.

He nodded, "Good." He drew himself up, "Now, for the not-so-fun parts of this trip – college and ... revelations."

{Residence of Rupert Giles}

Even after three cleaning of his glasses, Giles was still sure he was seeing things – in broad daylight, not two and a half feet in front of him, stood the figure of Alexander Harris, wearing a grim look, dressed in blue jeans, a white shirt, boots, a black jacket and wearing black gloves. It had been months since he had heard from the young man, one whom he had, now that he thought about it and could admit it to himself, failed and betrayed in the past; a young man whom had made a deal with the devils, so to speak, to keep their families safe and, just as easily, broken that deal for all save one, proving that even though he might not be powerful or a man of destiny, he was dangerous, "Xander."

"Rupert." Xander's tone was cool, clipped, not at all friendly, but that was to be expected. There was an air of power about him, a competence that Giles could see in Xander's eyes, but also a look that reminded him all too much of 'Ripper' at his most calculating and dangerous.

"Would ... would you like to come in?"

"No, I would not." Again, not surprising, "I am here to deliver a message to you that you will pass along to Buffy and Willow – I am back in town and enrolled at UC Sunnydale, I am still hunting on my own and I live on my own. DO NOT attempt to contact me for any reason, any where, any time – if I hear something I think you need to hear about, I will contact you, but outside of that, don't expect me to go out of my way to say hi."

"That ... is understandable. We ... we were wrong, I was wrong, Xander. You contributed more to our group than we could have possibly imagined and I would like to offer you my apologies."

Xander sneered at his offer, "Thank your lucky stars you aren't in the military, Rupert – they would have you up on charges of Conduct Unbecoming, Dereliction of Duty and if you were lucky you'd stay off of the firing squad ... provided you ever made it to trial. Tell Willow and Buffy that I am not someone they want to cross – I don't play nice, regardless of what my bosses want me to do, and I have people I am looking out for, one of them we all know. She's under my protection, so if Buffy or the Council wants her, they had better send somebody expendable because I shoot to kill." Xander finished his little speech and turned on his heel, walking away from the door and leaving Giles standing there, gaping, door wide open.

His mind took the clues offered and came up with the person's name whom was under Xander's protection – Faith; most assuredly the Council would want to get their hands on her, but more so Buffy would try and do more harm to the rogue slayer and, if Xander were to be believed, he would kill to protect the dark-haired Slayer.

"Good Lord in Heaven – what have we done?" Of course, no answer came, so he shut the door and went to the phone, dialing a number, and awaiting a response.

"Yell-o?"

"Buffy, it's me – Xander's back ... and he is not in a good mood. Get Willow and meet me here." He cut the connection even as he heard Buffy call for him to wait, to repeat what he had said, trying to order his thoughts.

{25 minutes later – Giles Residence}

He looked at the two young women in front of him and finished his tale, "And then he told me that he will kill to protect her, and I have no doubt in my mind that he would." Buffy, for her part, looked horrified at the meaning of it all, but Willow, dear, sweet Willow, looked enraged.

"He must be possessed. He'd never hurt us! It's not in him." She rose to get something and he stopped her with a sigh.

"Like we would never have hurt him?" This froze her cold and she then looked at him, her eyes wide and expression hurt, "Willow, I am afraid that we must accept the fact that, while not out enemy, Xander is no longer our ally, and we have nobody but ourselves to blame for it."

The redhead deflated at that, falling back into his couch with tears coming into her eyes, "But he's supposed to be there for us; he's Xander – loyalty incarnate."

"I do believe Apathy incarnate would be more precise these days, Willow. Be that as it may, do not attempt to contact him overtly – if you see him and can do so, follow him, but do not help or be seen by him. I want to know what kind of mentality he is in and if there is any way for us to get back in his good graces." Before he went too much further, the phone rang and he picked it up, "Rupert Giles residence."

"Rupert, it's Jason, mate – we have something you might want to hear."Jason Flemmings was an old college friend of his from the Watchers Council and if he was calling, it meant something 'of the bad' was in the air.

"And that would be?"

"The bloody seers and oracles we have here are all saying that a major player on the Hellmouth has come back, the kid you blokes pushed out, but he's got some serious backers now – higher up than anything we've ever seen before, The Powers That Be included."

Giles felt the blood leave his face all at once and acid begin to stockpile in his stomach, "Please tell me you are not telling me what I think you're telling me, Jason."

"No conformation yet, but we think your bloke Harris is a Whitelighter ... and he's a different kind of one, too. Apparently he was the cause of a big shift up there and now new rules are coming into play, apparently. I'll send you what we have, but take it from me, old mate, that it sounds like this kid ain't someone to cross. Cheers."

Giles set the handset down on his telephone back into the cradle and muttered, "Bloody Hell." His day and perhaps their entire situation had just gone from bad to worse.

{UC Sunnydale Dorm – Smith House}

He watched her from about five meters away under the guise that he was studying the campus map – she was tall, maybe five feet ten inches, and while not skinny, she was slim, possibly athletic at a buck sixty or so, with fair skin, blonde hair streaked with brown, as opposed to brown streaked with blonde, and a simple flower-child dress and blouse, carrying a satchel while looking around for something. Steeling himself, he walked over and plastered a confused look on his face, "Excuse me, can you tell me where the book store is?"

She looked at him and her light brown eyes, while having entire oceans of shyness in them, locked on his, "I-it's in that building o-over th-there."

He looked over where she was pointing, turned back and smiled, which made her blush lightly and look away, "Thanks. Xander."

She blushed a little more and looked back at him, a small, shy smile on her lips, "T-tara."

"A pleasure to meet you, Tara. Thank you for the help." He nodded again and walked off, knowing that she was watching him as he left, but also silently reeling from the amount of sheer power he felt in her – it was tightly controlled, disciplined, which was odd for a natural witch her age, but it heartened him slightly as he steered himself in the direction of the book store.

In just over an hour, thanks to a long line of students and only one register open despite the fact that four other employees were available, he was on his way back to his house, books in several bags, and wondering just what the hell he was getting into. Leo and Sonja, no doubt with a lot of prodding from Prue, Piper and Phoebe, had enrolled him in college and signed him up for a vast array of classes – Psychology 101, College Algebra, British Literature on top of his Composition 1 class, American History before 1870, Photography 101 and, undoubtedly Phoebe's doing, Theatrical Dance Studies. Seven classes that, while none of them were particularly hard, would eat up a lot of time as far as being able to watch his charge and continuing to hunt vampires.

"Xander Harris!" He froze and looked around, spotting a figure that was storming towards him and while she looked familiar, he couldn't place a name to the face.

"Yes?"

"Where have you been?"

He narrowed his eyes, "That's a personal question – who are you?"

The brunette looked more than a little affronted and scoffed, "Oh, I see – go to the prom with them and then promptly forget about them. Men haven't changed at all."

"Anya?" He internally sighed – this wasn't going to be easy, "What do you want?"

She smiled at him, "I wanted to know where our relationship was at, currently. I'm human now, and I have needs that need to be filled, so seeing as you're my boyfriend, I want you to give me orgasms."

One could have heard a penny drop on the semi-deserted street and he briefly toyed with the option of orbing back home, but that would tip his hand too early, "Boyfriend? Since when?"

"We went to the prom together, so we're boyfriend and girlfriend and, as such, you owe me orgasms." She reached forwards to grab his shirt, but he took several quick steps back in hopes of putting some very necessary space between them.

"Now hold on one damned second, Anya. We are NOT boyfriend and girlfriend and, as such, I owe you no orgasms."

"But you went to prom with me!"

"That wasn't a choice, Anya. Going to the prom with was a decision made on a lack of options – harsh but true. That aside, we have NOTHING in common, so it would be a completely unfulfilling relationship."

"But we'd be able to have lots of sex, right? That would make it fulfilling."

"For you, maybe, but what about me? Maybe I want something more than sex – Hellmouth forbid that I actually have a nice, normal relationship for once." He continued backing up, but she kept in step with him, "Look, I really hate to do this, but no, I am not your boyfriend, I am not giving you orgasms, end of discussion." That said, he took his one escape out – he orbed.

{35 yards away}

"Willow, tell me I did NOT just see that."

"GET BACK HERE AND GIVE ME ORGASMS, ALEXANDER HARRIS!"

Willow looked at Buffy, "Tell me I did not just HEAR that, Buffy." Buffy looked at her and it was very apparent that Anya had just yelled what she had yelled, so she went on, "Giles?"

Buffy nodded, "Giles."

{Sunnydale Hospital – that evening}

She looked so peaceful that it hurt him to do what he was about to do – Faith would wake up on her own accord in a few weeks, but as he would be in class, he would speed up the process with a little help from his dad. The power poured out of his hands and into her body, healing anything that had not been healed already and gently nudged her awake until she gasped slightly and slowly opened her eyes.

It took a minute, but she got them open and looked over at him, moving her lips several times until he put a straw there, which she greedily sucked on to get water into her mouth. Once she finished the glass, she let go the straw and rasped out, "Boy ... toy?"

"The one and only, Faith. Feeling any better?"

She winced and looked around, "Where?"

"Sunnydale Memorial – you were in a coma for a few months and I just woke you up." He took a seat in the chair next to her and held her free hand, which she clutched tightly, "Take it easy, Faith – you're not going to be hurt, not while I'm around, and I won't let anyone who would hurt you get close."

A nurse took that instant to walk in and start running through Faith's charts, telling them that the doctor would be by to sign her out in a little while, and that the contact numbers would be called, which is where Xander put his foot down, "No, absolutely not."

"Sir, we DO have policy here, remember?"

He got into the nurse's face, "Yeah, I know, and if those numbers are called, certain files that I have in my possession about medical procedures, VERY ILLEGAL medical procedures, that this hospital has preformed and other medical mishaps that have occurred, will be submitted directly to the Attorney General and trust me, lady, that I don't make idle threats. Everyone here will be prosecuted to the law's fullest extent and none of you will ever see the light of day again."

The nurse gaped at that and Faith softly snickered from her bed as the nurse nodded and rushed out of the room to stop the calls from being made, "Damn, Boytoy, you bluffed her good."

He smiled at her, "Who said I was bluffing, Faith?" He sat back down and took her hand again, "So, have any interesting dreams while you were out?"

She shuddered and he immediately regretted asking the question, "More like nightmares. I just want a chance to make things right, Xand, if nothing else then to apologize to Red, B and the others."

He snorted, "You can, if you want, but trust me, they got what they deserved and more." He caught the look that she sent his way and he squeezed her hand, "I'll tell you when we get to my place – it's not a nice story."

She nodded and the doctor took that point to come in and start the discharge papers – Mayor Wilkins had set up a fund to pay for the medical bills and after a few obligatory cautions, not to mention a fearful look sent in his direction, the doctor sent them on their way.

They walked out of the hospital into the darkness of night, stealing off to the side while Faith tugged at the loose sweats she had been given to wear while Xander looked around, "Faith, I want you to keep ahold of your stomach contents after I do this – vomit's tough to get out of carpet." Before she could say anything, he orbed them into his house and caught her from falling as the queasiness hit her; she looked pale, shaken and more than a little sick, but the glare she sent him made him smile sheepishly, "Well, let's just say I'm not the guy I used to be anymore."

{Giles Residence}

'That confirms what I feared, then." Buffy watched her Watcher clean his glasses again and sigh, "Xander is a Whitelighter."

"And for those of us who have just said 'huh'?"

Giles glared at her mildly and she shut up, "Whitelighters are what amount to Guardian Angels for witches and champions – and as he is not here to guide and guard the two of you, that means that at least Faith is under his protection, and perhaps another witch in town."

Buffy tried to wrap her mind around the thought of Xander protecting somebody, well, not so much protecting them, but rather protecting them as an 'angel', Whitelighter, whatever, and it just could not compute, "So, he's not possessed?"

"Quite the opposite, Buffy – he's been granted angelic powers to protect and heal his charge or charges with. How one becomes a Whitelighter is still something of a mystery, but sufficed to say, once one has attained such a rank, it is just nigh of impossible to lose it."

Buffy crossed her arms and began to pout, "So what if he has all of these super-cool supposed powers – he should still help us."

She heard both Giles and Willow sigh – it irked her that they thought that she was dumb; she was NOT dumb, but just a little slow on the uptake every once in a while. Was that such a crime?

"Buffy, need I remind you that YOU were the one who initiated his being kicked out of our little group? Granted, I did not try and stop you, nor did Willow, whom he probably feels most betrayed by, but you were the one who took charge even after he did save us all with his idea to destroy the Mayor."

"An idea that didn't save Oz, Giles. An idea that still made Angel leave, Cordy to leave and us to be left holding the bag!"

"An idea that kept us all alive so that you can bitch at him, Buffy," Willow chipped in with a sad tone of voice.

"Exact – HEY!" She looked at the sad-looking Wicca with a look of betrayal, "I thought you were on my side."

"I was, Buffy, but now that I think about it, I wonder if we did the right thing." The redhead looked like she was about to cry, "He's been my best friend since Kindergarden, Buffy, and I betrayed him like that – do you honestly think he would lift a finger to help any of us, me especially?"

Buffy snorted, "Of course he would, Willow – he's Xander, loyalty incarnate, remember?"

It was Willow's turn to snort, "No, that WAS Xander, Buffy. Trust me, nothing short of an apocalypse will get him to help us – we burned him, badly, and now just because he has some powers that you want, you want him back. He won't give us another chance to hurt him."

Buffy rolled her eyes and looked over at Giles, who appeared to agree with Willow, "Can you get the Council to make him work with us?"

"No, Buffy, I can not do that due to the simple fact that Xander works for people who are more powerful than the Powers That Be!" Giles sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, "Buffy, regardless of what you may want, there are certain people in this world who do not and will not bow to you – it appears that Xander is now one of them, so move on with it."

Buffy stomped her foot slightly, "Fine, but I don't have to like it." With her inner child satiated, she looked at Willow, "So, do you have your classes registered, yet?"

{Xander's Home 1 hour after arrival with Faith}

She sipped at the drink that he had passed her, something that smelled vaguely like coffee but was blue in color and, according to Xand, would restore her body a little quicker than her Slayer healing alone would. He'd been kicked out of the Scoobies, found his real dad, was a GUARDIAN ANGEL, for fuck's sake, and now he was sent back to keep an eye on her, to help her walk the road of redemption; fate, it seemed, had a wicked sense of humor. She'd killed two people, one of them accidentally, one of them not so accidentally, and tried to kill him too, but all the time he kept reaching out to her and actually getting information out of her on several occasions that she had him dead to rights, then he'd pull a Houdini and vanish into thin air. She snorted at the thought of her boss and how angry he had been at those reports – not so much at her, but at the fact that he'd failed to recruit X along with her at the same time.

"You alright, Faith?" She looked over to see him looking at her, worried, but then smiled and eyed the clothes he was wearing – jeans, t-shirt, boots and they made him look wicked good.

"Five by five, boy toy. Thinking how the boss went ballistic when he realized he should have gotten the two of us as a package deal."

X chuckled, "Aw, we couldn't have him take over the world THAT easily, now, could we? Granted, it probably would have been fun, but all things being equal, I prefer how things turned out – we're here, safe, alive, and not having to worry about your old boss waiting to stab one or both of us in the back at some point."

She chugged the last of her drink and then smiled at him, "True enough. So, who else have you told about this whole Whitelighter thing?"

"Joyce only; the others will figure it out soon enough as both Buffy and Willow watched me orb out of a confrontation with Anya earlier today."

Faith winced at that, "You know, you could have asked me to the prom, boy toy. Damned sight safer than going with that ... person."

He nodded, "Probably, but hindsight is twenty-twenty, right? Let's move on from that. Besides, we have class in three days and you need clothes."

Faith growled, "Your bosses are taking some SERIOUS liberties, Xand. I barely finished high school, and I'm a Slayer – girl doesn't exactly have a lot of chances to finish college, you know."

"Rules of the house, Faith, as I explained them to you – we both go to school and keep an eye on my other charge, but don't tell her what I really am."

"Then why'd ya tell me?"

He shrugged, "Honesty is the best policy, and add to that if I did something like orbing in on you, you'd slay me before I got the chance to stop you."

She winced, "I'd like to think that's not true, but given my tack record ..." she left it hanging as she stretched out in the plush chair, relaxing in the feel of it as she, surprisingly due to the past few months in a coma, felt sleep touch the edges of her mind. Her eyes took that opportunity to snap open and she hauled herself up as a thought struck her mind, "What about B and the Council?"

Xand, she saw, smirked smugly and leaned back with his own cup, though she could smell the hot chocolate from her position nearly ten feet away, "They'll leave you alone if they know what's good for them – I've already warned Giles about what I'll do to protect you and Tara, and I know he won't risk Buffy under any circumstances, so if the Council shows up, either they did a spell or someone else called them."

She gave him a slightly worried look as she stood and joined him on the couch, sinking into his side, "Do you really think I'm worth all of that, Xand?"

He wrapped an arm around her shoulder, "I know you are."

{3 days later – Monday, 0730 Hours)

If Xander ever had the chance, he would go back in time and find the individual that thought that starting school before the time of 0900 was a good idea, and then he would proceed to break every bone in the bastard's body – he was still recovering from the shopping spree that Faith had gone on and was, quite frankly, still wiped out from the shocks that came from Faith and her dragging him into the Victoria Secrets store. She'd modeled half a dozen different colors of no less than two-dozen different outfits for him, probably to see if he could die of blood loss to his lower extremities or from embarrassment, and before they left he had been told by three different employees and one passerby that he was one lucky son of a bitch ... and he had to agree with them on that score.

With a yawn and the knowledge that Faith was in far less-better condition than he (she'd not had her coffee that morning), they walked into their shared American History class – they had an identical schedule due to the fact that Buffy's and Willow's reactions were an unknown factor, so if he needed to protect Faith, he would be present to do so. They took adjoining seats near the middle of the class, which was set up like a regular classroom with desks rather than amphitheater seating, and Faith reached over and snagged his coffee cup, yanking it towards her and draining it completely in one go as other students walked in and snickered at the sight of her handing the empty cup back.

"Thanks, boy toy."

He grumbled something at her, feeling more than a little affronted at the loss of his coffee, but soldiered on as he heard a surprised gasp off to his left. He looked over and saw Tara, dressed much as she had been a few days before, save in earth tones now, and smiled at her, "Greetings, Tara."

She smiled shyly back at him, "H... hi, Xander." She took the seat next to him, and it struck him odd that he was the meat in a babe sandwich, but it was an observation that he kept to himself.

"Who's she, Xand?"

He looked at Faith, "Proof that there are good people left on this planet, Faith. That's Tara, and she helped me out the other day finding the book store."

Faith smiled a little, "Well, you're good people, Xand, so if she's good for you, then she's good for me. Hiya, Tara, I'm Faith, Xand's friend."

Tara blushed as Faith reached over his desk to shake hands and Xander knew why – Faith had worn a pair of jeans that morning, but also a low-cut halter top with her new bomber jacket and knew that Tara was being treated with a fantastic view ... Faith nearly topless. That said, Tara reached over and weakly shook hands with Faith before leaning back and blushing heavily. He looked at Faith and she winked, smiling as several more people and a Professor walked into the room.

"Alright you barely educated miscreants, in your seats and be quiet. I am Professor Jacob Snyder and ... oh no."

Xander could only grin as the twin brother of now-deceased Principal John Snyder looked directly at him, "Oh, yes."

{1 hour later - 0830}

"I don't fucking believe it!" Faith raged next to him while they walked to their next class, Psychology 101, "That troll is back!"

"He's the Troll's twin, Faith, and remember, he's the nice one ... as much as that might change things." He moved the bag on his shouldered his bag into a different position, "Besides, we got to meet Tara today – it can't be that bad."

Faith smirked, "Kind of a church mouse, if you ask me. Girl's gonna have to change that if we're gonna hang together and go trolling for bikers."

He smiled at her brashness – he knew that her stories of balling out bikers and everyone else were just that, stories, and she had admitted to him after he saved her from the Sisterhood of Jhe that he would be her first when she had a choice in it, and also because she wanted to, not for desperately-needed money. He had been honored and it turned out for the good, but still, the thought of Tara in leather, trolling for bikers was a compelling image.

"Maybe we can get her to take you for a few test drives, boy toy? See if she likes stick and all."

He chuckled at that, knowing from his briefing with Leo and Sonja that Tara preferred women over men, "Let's not push the issue, Faith – she must come with us willingly, and then we'll break her in."

Faith snickered at that as they walked, but his eyes kept scanning – he could feel Buffy and Willow's life force signatures in the general vicinity, and knew that they'd be keeping an eye on him and Faith, though if Buffy had her way, she'd attack Faith and be done with it.

"Ten o'clock high, boy toy," Faith warned him, letting him see both Buffy and Willow watching the both of them walk, and then improvised on it as she slipped her arm around his waist, a movement that he reciprocated as she leaned in and whispered, "Let's fuck with their minds a little, Xand."

"Yes," he whispered back and felt her shiver. "Let's." Even from the distance the pair were away from Buffy and Willow, he could swear he heard Willow's outraged squeak of disapproval and some patented Willow-babble, which for a split second warmed his heart and then chilled it as the memory of her betrayal hit him hard.

He must have tense a little as Faith squeezed him around the waist, "C'mon, stud, let's get to class."

{Same Time – Psych Building}

"That bitch." Willow was practically radiating waves of anger and Buffy, for a split second, felt as if she were happy it was not directed at her, but then did something that she never thought that she would do – defend Faith.

"She's his charge, remember? Besides, I doubt they're sleeping together – there has to be a rule about that."

That seemed to set the redhead's temper to a slow simmer from a rolling boil, but she still growled, "If she hurts him, I'll ... I'll ... I'll do something very not nice."

Leave it to Willow to make a Willow-ism out of a perfectly good threat.

{One Hour later – 0930 after Psych class, no Walsh}

"I'm going to kill Phoebe for this."

Faith looked at her companion in work and life and did her best not to break out into giggles of pure glee – Phoebe, who was apparently an Aunt of his, had somehow signed him up for a Theatrical Dance class that he was apparently going to drop, but he looked SO cute in his dance uniform of sweats and a tank top, headband and sneakers, but he was also the only guy in class. "Well, you won't have to troll too far for a date, boy toy. Every eye here is on you."

He glared at her and she repressed another bout of giggles, something that would ruin the reputation she had built, "Laugh it up, Faith, but if I recall correctly, YOU were the one who was crying at the end of Old Yeller."

She jerked her head up, "First off, you have no proof of that, and secondly, I DARE you to watch that movie and NOT shed a tear. Travis had to wax his own dog – that's harsh no matter how you slice it." She'd never had a dog, but always wanted one and was sure that, had she been in Travis' place, she would not have been able to pull the trigger.

"Class," the professor, a woman of middle years and in dance regalia, clapped her hands. "I'd like to welcome you to Theatrical Dance and I am Miss Davis. Now, as we have a single male in this class, we will be doing a self-penned number I like to call 'No Longer A Slave To the System'. Mister Harris, you will be the unfortunate soul who gets to don the padded suit that we, the liberated women of the world, shall punch, kick and toss. I do hope your health insurance is paid up."

Faith could only laugh as Xander growled clenched his fists – he was being relegated back to being a punching bag, again, but Faith knew he'd get in his hits when he could.

{90 minutes later - 1100)

"I still can't believe you got kicked out of class, Xand."

He was still smarting from the fact that he not only was the only guy in class, but every female, save Faith, had taken a groin shot on him once the suit went on, "Faith, not now." He just wanted to enjoy his early lunch in peace and then go to his last class of the day, College Algebra.

"Not now my ass, Xand. Your broke the Professor's nose!"

"She had it coming! I'm sorry if she thinks it was malicious intent, but you rack a guy in a padded suit and then go to break his nose you had BETTER be ready to get something in return. Besides, I fixed it, didn't I?" He blamed it all on Faith and Phoebe – Faith for drinking his coffee that morning and Phoebe for making him take the class.

"That and a nickel would get her a cup of coffee in my day, kiddo." He let his head sink to the table as Sonja's voice came out from behind a secluded pillar and her body followed it, "Still, I won another bet because of you, so it can't be all bad."

"Faith, Sonja, my teacher. Sonja, Faith, The Vampire Slayer. What bet did you win this time, who made it and do I get a cut?"

Sonja smiled, dressed in her habitual jeans and t-shirt, looking just like an undergraduate should, "If you'd get kicked out of your Dance class, Ares started it and no, you don't." She stuck out her tounge and sat next to Faith, who offered her a fry and a grin, "Thanks, Faith. So, you're the one who's slated to..."

"AH!" Xander cut her off, knowing of THAT particular bet – Faith, Tara, Willow and Joyce were all at the top of the list of who would get married to him, with as-yet-unnamed person in a tie for second and Anya ahead of Buffy, who sat in last place. With Tara and Faith as his charges, he blamed their being on the list solely on his father, Leo, "No giving her ideas."

Sonja smiled unrepentedly and Faith looked like she had gotten the gist of what was being said and laughter bubbled out of her even as Sonja went on, "Okay, anyway, I just came down here to see how you were doing and to get an update on your charges."

"Faith knows because I told her and Tara seems like an okay girl – powerful and she has a lot of discipline for someone her age, but it is holding."

Sonja nodded again and nabbed the few remaining fries from his burger while Faith polished off her own, "Good. Now, about Tony Harris – what are you going to do with him?"

He shrugged and took a drink of his Coke, "It's his time, Sonja – I am not going to take some sort of moral high ground and extend his wasted life."

Faith blinked at that and Sonja frowned, "Are you sure that is the decision you want to make?"

"If I heal him or someone else does, what do you think he's going to do, Sonja? Become a better person? Quit drinking? No, he won't change – ever."

Sonja's face didn't show approval or disapproval, so she just nodded, "I see. Buffy and Willow?"

"Have been warned."

Sonja looked at Faith, "Sore subject?"

Faith snorted, "As betrayed as he fells about Willow, damned straight it is."

"If you two want to talk, I can leave." Faith was right – Willow had betrayed him worse than anybody and he was still smarting about it, probably always would.

"C-can I sit here?" He turned, surprised, and came face to tray with Tara McClay, and instantly wondered just how much she had heard.

"Oh, Tara, hi. How long have you been there?"

She blushed and shrugged, "A-about t-ten seconds."

Faith kicked out a seat next to him, "Have a seat, Tiger." Xander couldn't help but smile – Faith only named people like that if she liked them and Tara, he could see, was blushing furiously as Sonja laughed her silvery tinkle.

"T-t-thanks." She took her seat and picked at her food for several seconds before turning to look at him, "A-are you f-f-following m-m-me?"

He arched an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"Y-y-y-you ask me f-f-for help, then you have two classes with m-m-me on the same day and ..." she blushed as he looked confused.

"Two classes? I only remember one."

Sonja smiled, "Because she didn't go into the Dance class – I saw her back out just as you and Faith walked in."

Tara shot Sonja a betrayed look, "Sonja!"

Sonja smiled, and then looked at him, answering the obvious question on his mind, "She's my roommate, Xand. Oh, and I've gained five pounds thanks to you."

He gave her a grin, "Hey, you have to decide when enough is enough on the Twinkies."

Faith sighed and kicked him in the shin, "Not another one."

He nodded, "The golden goodness of the Twinkie has stuck again. Now, Sonja, why are you in town? You could have told me, you know."

She nodded, "But I didn't because of you dad – apparently he wanted it to be a bit of a surprise."

He sighed and then looked at Tara, who appeared to be choking down some of her macaroni and cheese, "And I have not forgotten your question, Tara; my classes were chosen for me, as were Faith's and she and I are stuck together – your being in my classes are purely coincidental." How he kept a straight face during that bald-faced lie was a mystery to him, but he did.

Tara nodded and then forced herself to swallow the half-cooked pasta and glue they called cheese, "This is awful."

"I would say we could rise in revolt due to the way they destroy perfectly good food," Xander commented, pushing around the last of his fries, before grinning at Tara, "but I have it on good authority that half of what you see in the lunch line is strictly inedible and has been since the time of Christ, which is when they made it." Faith and Sonja both laughed at that and Tara choked on a bit of pasta, doing her best to not laugh as he mentally marked up a notch on his score board. "Well, ladies, as fun as this has been, I have to get to class early – my advisor wants to see me. Faith, stay out of trouble."

She snorted, "And who's going to keep you out of trouble?"

He gave her a wounded look, "Moi? Get into trouble? Never happen."

Sonja snorted this time. "Alcatraz."

He glared at her, "That was SO not my fault. You were the one who put us there, Sonja."

She held up her hands in defense, "How was I supposed to know there would be a tour at that time?"

Tara looked over at Faith as he and Sonja went back and forth, "Are they like this all the time?"

Faith shrugged, "First time I've met her, but knowing boy toy, it was somewhat his fault."

Tara then looked at him as Sonja stopped, having heard what Faith had called him, "B-b-boy t-t-toy?"

{Office of Professor James Hendrix – Advisor}

"Your record, Mister Harris, is somewhat astounding, if a bit worrisome." His advisor was looking through a Manila envelope that reeked of the deceased-Mayor's office, "Seventy three accounts of warnings from the Sunnydale PD for being out after dark, several assault charges, all of which were either dropped due to insufficient evidence or the true criminal was found, and one theft charge from the Sunnydale Armory that was dropped due to insufficient evidence." James Hendrix was a white, overweight male of middle years, not like the man who had once shared the same name.

Xander arched an eyebrow, "And this concerns you why, precisely? Either I was being set up, am a night owl or perhaps the best criminal in Sunnydale – take your pick."

Professor Hendrix sat back in his chair and stroked the cropped bear on his jowls, his face drawn into a frown, "Perhaps, perhaps not, Alexander. I do have another theory, though – you could be a hunter of demonic entities who patrols the streets and graveyards at night in hopes to destroy the newly- risen creatures commonly known as vampires."

To his credit, Xander kept a straight face, "Prove it."

Professor Hendrix smiled, "I cannot, at least not without jeopardizing my entire teaching career. What I would like to know is why you do it?"

"Provided that I even had the slightest clue what you were talking about, I would have to say that I think that things in Sunnydale are not what they seem to be – too many people disappear or die outright from things that have no reason to happen here and if someone were to look closer, they'd see things that needed to be done and do them." Xander could feel that Professor Hendrix didn't have any magical abilities and was under no compulsion, so he began to be more than a little worried.

"Of course you do not know what I'm talking about, Xander." He loosened his tie and exposed his neck, revealing the scar from a vampire bite, "Just as vampires do not exist."

"For future reference, they're called 'gang members on PCP'." Xander got to his feet, "I'm sure we'll speak of this again, Professor, but I have class to get to."

"Good luck, Mister Harris. I feel you may need it before too long."

(AN: I know this next part isn't in the Whitelighter's job description, but I figure it's a way to get closure)

Xander left his Advisor's office and went to his College Algebra class, sleeping through most of it, and was going out of the door when he got the 'call' from upstairs. Looking around and finding an empty place, he orbed up to the Elder's Chambers and came face to face with his dad, "Hey, Leo. What's up?"

Leo looked rather disturbed as he toyed with a pencil that was in his hand, a tell that it was not good news, "It's Tony Harris' time, son."

Xander's face went into a flat mask, "So? Send the Andrew Tess is always talking about or somebody else to go get him."

Leo shook his head, "No, we can't do that. Take him to the Gates, son, and let Peter handle it from there – consider this your last test."

Xander took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, "Don't tell me he's going to heaven, Leo. There's no way he's ... pure ... enough to get up there."

Leo just shrugs, "That's not up to me, son. Go."

With a sigh, Xander orbed to his old house and into the kitchen, where his mother was sitting at the dinner table and crying, "Mom."

She looked up, startled, "Xander? Mijo? Can you save him?"

Xander merely shook his head and she started crying, but he hardened his heart and walked into the living room; Tony was in his recliner, beer in one hand and remote in the other, his face pale and dripping with sweat. Frankly, he looked like shit, "Hello, Anthony."

"So, you're back, you worthless shit."

"It's time, Anthony." He orbed the remote and the beer into his hands and set them down, "You know it and I know it."

Tony, surprisingly, only nodded, "I guess it is – you gonna drop me into Hell, ain't ya."

Xander only shook his head after only a second of hesitation, "It's not my place to Judge, Tony - that's God's job; I'm just here to set up that meeting." He reached out and, in a flash, Tony's body dropped back into his recliner, but in that same instant the soul of Anthony Harris stood next to him and was enveloped in a muted white light. Without a word he orbed the both of them up to the Pearly Gates, where there was, surprisingly, no line to wait in, only a pedestal and an old man in front of a computer.

"Name?"

"Anthony Harris."

The old man, who was wearing what appeared to be a white robe over jeans, sneakers and a t-shirt, typed in the name and, after a moment, frowned, "Another one – that's four today." He looked up and at Xander, "You're not going to like this one, kid."

Xander's lips drew into a thin line, "He's not getting into heaven. There's no way between here and HELL that can happen after everything he's done to mom and me."

Peter merely shrugged, "Not my call, Chief, and no, he's not going to heaven." He looked over at Tony, who was sweating heavily, "But he's not going to Hell, either. To Purgatory with you, Anthony Harris." In a Flash, Tony was gone and Xander, remembering what little he could about the hierarchy of Heaven, Hell and Purgatory, silently cursed. "Them's the breaks, kid."

Without a word Xander orbed back to his mother's house and called the police, who came with an ambulance and took Tony away while his mother packed her things and left the arrangements to him. He called Faith and told her what had happened, telling her not to expect him home for a few hours, and then started on the lines to Sunnydale's numerous 24-hour embalmers and funeral homes. He was surprised that he felt as bad as he did – Tony Harris had abused him for more than half of his life and his mother for longer than he could remember, but he had put food on the table and all that shit and for some odd reason, Xander found that he just wasn't able to hate him like he was once able to.

"Because you're growing up, Xander." He never felt Sonja orb into the room, so that meant that she must have walked, "Happens to all of us eventually."

He felt her arms go around his waist and her cheek press into the back of his neck, "I want to hate him, Sonja. I want to rip him out of Purgatory and send him screaming into Hell where he should be ... but I can't. Why?"

"Because it isn't in you to be a monster, Xand." Faith walked into the room and he could only look down at the floor, "You grew up harsh, man, I know it because I did too, but you ain't like him. You'd never go that far, but you can't send somebody to hell like that."

"I sent Angel to Hell, Faith. I sent him because I didn't tell Buffy about the resouling spell." He looked over at her and was surprised to see her blurred slightly by tears, "What kind of person does that make me?"

"A good one, son." Leo orbed into the room, "By not telling Buffy about the spell she fought harder and longer than she would have if you hadn't. You saved the world with a lie, son – it's not often that an untruth is a good thing, but in this case, it was. That aside, Faith is right – you're a good person at heart, and that's why you were sent back here because as much as you would like to, you can't let things go undone."

"I got sent here to watch after Tara, Leo – Faith, if she woke up, I would have tried to help either way, but Tara was in a package deal."

"Maybe she was, maybe she wasn't son. Even we don't know what the Fates have in store for us – perhaps you were destined to come back here and find Faith, meet Tara and help guide them both along the path light and redemption. Perhaps you were meant to be with that woman who accosted you, Anya, and become a construction worker until Sunnydale imploded upon itself. The point is that we don't know anything other than what is in the here and now – so stick to what is and what might have been."

Xander looked up at his father, "You've been reading Prue's and your wife's college philosophy books again, haven't you. That sounds like something they have published in there."

Sonja giggled at that and Faith looked confused while Leo glared at him, "What, you think that I can't come up with something like that on my own?"

"Do you want an honest answer to that?" The voice wasn't his, Sonja's or Faith's – it was his mother's. "You never could come up with anything that insightful to save your life, Leo."

Leo looked pale, "Jessica."

"And that's our cue to leave, guys." Sonja orbed and he walked over to Faith, walking her out of the door and looked back at his mother, watching as she and his father talked for the first time since before he was born, and then orbed himself and Faith to their apartment.

"EEK!" He saw a flash of blonde and earth tones, then blackness as something hit his skull and he was knocked out.

{Xander's and Faith's place – unknown amount of time later}

The world hurt – that was as much as he was able to decipher from the sensations that came with waking up after being knocked unconscious. He could fell he was on a horizontal base and could hear two people nearby speaking in hushed tones, both of them female and one of them he identified as Faith. The other sounded oddly familiar, but not like Sonja, Piper, Prue or Phoebe, and definitely not like Willow or Buffy, so who was it?

"Boy toy? Xand? You okay?" To her credit, Faith's voice was pitched low and her soft hand announced her presence before she got there.

"Ow. What in the name of all that is good and holy hit me? A Mack truck?"

Even though he had not opened his eyes yet, he could feel the grin on Faith's face, "Tiger hit ya with her book bag, stud." The grin apparently vanished as her voice took a serious tone, "You five by five?"

"Four by three and a half, but I'm getting there, Faith." He slowly sat up and, just as slowly, opened his eyes to see a worried Tara sitting on his couch, her eyes and cheeks red and puffy from crying, and he groaned, "How much does she know, Faith?"

"Saw you orb us in and knows we have some magic mojo on us, but nothing too specific." She handed him a bag of ice and he put it to the side of his head, which worked to quiet the jackhammers that were going full-bore right there. After a few minutes he opened his eyes again and Faith spoke, "You gonna tell her anything?"

"A little." He stood, with Faith's help, and walked slowly to the couch before sitting on it. Tara, for her part, looked pale now and was trying to stutter out an apology, never quite getting past the first word, so he spoke, "Tara, it was an accident – nothing to be sorry for."

She was still pale and her cheeks were still puffy, but now she wasn't stuttering as badly, "What was that?"

"One of my abilities – I can teleport myself and several hundred pounds of stuff or people to places that I know in a cool rendition of heavenly lights, Tara, and I can heal ... a little bit, anyway." He massaged his temple slightly and grinned, "Remind me never to sneak up on you, Tara."

"Y-you're n-n-n-not m-m-mad?"

He shook his head gently, the pain ebbing away, "No, I'm not mad at you, Tara. I should have checked my landing area first, but I didn't and you got me fair and square."

She was silent for a moment and then looked at him, but not into his eyes, "What else can you do?"

He shrugged, "I'm alright at making potions, and I can sense energies, like Faith and you and a few others, but aside from that, I do have a cool trick that can heal people gradually over time, like they normally do only a few times faster than normal." Figuring it was safe, he used his own healing abilities and took away the last of the pain, watching Tara flinch only slightly as he did.

"And Faith?"

He looked over at her and she took up the question, "Mystical enhancements make me stronger and faster, heal quicker and I have better senses." She shrugged, "No big."

Tara looked down at her hands for a moment and he was about to speak when she did, "W-why can't you t–t-tell me t-t-that you're a-a Whitel-lighter a- and she's a-a Slayer?"

He was silent, but Faith took that point to laugh long and loud – this was a situation that he had not thought of, let alone prepared for, and he found himself at a loss to what to do. Faith, though, seemed to have it all well in hand.

"Yeah, I am a Slayer, Tiger. Boy toy here helps me out with some healing and orbing, but also to keep me honest."

"H-h-honest?"

Faith took a breath and he reached over to squeeze her hand, which she did right back, "Last year I slipped off the path, you know? I was evil and Xand kept trying to get me back over to the good guys – I nearly killed him once and he still kept it up, so he kinda got stuck with me."

"And as we're being so honest, I was no saint myself." Tara already looked like she was scared, but when he spoke, he seemed to calm just a little, "I made deals with demons to keep my friends and their family safe, but when they kicked me out I rescinded it for all of them but one. I nearly killed my step-father on purpose, I ... I've done a lot of things and I actually regret some of them, but now with Faith, I have to keep us both in check and that's not easy."

Tara's face was a study in contradiction – she looked relieved that he and Faith had opened up to her, but she obviously looked worried about what they hadn't told her; she looked hopeful that she could tell them her secret but also slightly reserved at that same fact. Seeing this, he leaned forwards and held his hand out, "Tara, now I realize that this may be a bit of a shock, but yes, I am a Whitelighter. I have nothing against you and if you want, I can help you ... if you are willing to trust me."

Tara's face scrunched up into an undecided look for a moment and she then took his hand, "C-can you protect me?"

He nodded, "I'm not bound by many of the normal Whitelighter rules, as they have changed recently, so yes, I can protect you." She smiled and squeezed his hand while Faith looked a little disturbed by it all.

"Xand, can I talk to you for a sec? I have a question that might upset her." She pulled him out of the room and in a low voice, voiced her concern, "We're playing the line pretty close here, Xand. What if B and Red find out about her and us?"

"If they do, they deal with it, or they deal with me, Faith." He cupped her cheek and he felt her relax slightly, "I can't let ether of you get hurt, so tonight we can take her out on a light patrol and break her in gently."

Faith smirked at this, "And then I get to see if she's as much of a wildcat as I think she is."

Xander could only groan as Faith walked out of the room and he hit his head against the wall – this was going to be a LONG night.

{That night – Restfield Cemetery 2100 hours}

After a little explaining, she had gotten Tara to ditch the 'flower child' clothes in favor of some jeans and a jacket and saw that the girl had it going ON – long legs like a swimmer, slender but fit torso and arms, and, were it encased in leather, a backside that could give her own a run for it's money. She'd seen X checking Tiger out from the corner of his eyes, but also keeping another eye out for trouble – he too had changed clothes, but into what she had pegged as his hunting clothes of black BDU pants, combat boots, a dark t-shirt and a long leather coat that held a butt-load of weapons and one she definitely wanted to get her hands on, a sword that seemed to radiate power. He'd told her where it was from, had been given to his family via the Greek god Ares nearly two thousand years before, and even Tara seemed a little dubious until he explained his family background. She figured it to be juiced to the max for some kind of wicked power, but while an encounter with a trio of vamps proved that, while a single cut didn't do it to dust vamps, it caused the vamps to be basically human as far as healing went, which was a big plus.

Faith liked how Tara had handled herself at first – a little scared and easily frightened, but the church mouse seemed to grow several hundred times in size after firing off a fireball to flambé a runner that had gotten a jump on them all. Tara McClay, Faith surmised, had a lot of potential in her and, even if it killed her, Faith would bring it out.

"Yo, X, you picking anything up? Cause I'm getting nothing but us."

Xander only nodded, "A couple of norms around, but something is really off about them." He'd pointed them out several times, and from what Faith could see they were just a bunch of frat guys in military clothes with bug zappers for weapons – what they could possibly do to them, she wasn't sure, but it appeared that they were just following them. It was when he stopped and cocked his head off to one side that she began to worry, though it wasn't for them as the grin splitting his face told her that it was a vampire, "Come on out, Spike – I know you're there."

"Droops! How the hell are ya?" The president of the Billy Idol fan club walked out from behind some trees and leered at her and Tara, "Still hanging around with the hot girls, I see, mate. Maybe I can borrow one for a while, or both if you don't mind."

Before she could pound the vamp, X laughed and it wasn't a nice one, "Oh, that's right – Dru dumped your sorry ass for a Chaos Demon, all antlers and slime, if I recall." This made the vampire growl and vamp out, which caused Tiger to shriek, but X calmly slammed his boot into the vamp's gut and grabbed it by the throat. His hand glowed for several seconds before he let go and when he did, 'Spike' looked decidedly unwell, "What's the matter, Spike? Eat someone that didn't agree with you?"

"What'd ya do to me, ye wanker? I haven't felt like this since ..."

"You were mortal?" All humor was gone from Xander's voice as he walked forwards, his back to her and Tara, but she was sure that there was a grim smile on his face, "You see, Billy Boy, I'm not exactly the person I used to be anymore." He orbed to the other side of Spike, who looked ready to pass out, and yanked him back by the hair, "I'm a Whitelighter now, for all the good that will do you in your last few moments on this planet."

"What'd ya do to him, X? He looks like he's ready to toss his cookies."

He smiled at her and she could feel Tara come up beside her, so she looked over and saw a look of horrified fascination on her face as X began, "Well, Faith, I told you about my ability to give people prolonged regenerative capabilities, basically boosting their own healing rate by two or three times, but not too much. Well, I just used it on Spike here, but as he is a vampire, an unholy creature of darkness, and my healing powers are basically Holy magic, I put the regenerative hurting on him – his own body is tearing itself apart cell by cell and by sunrise, he'll be nothing more than a pile of dust." He smiled somewhat proudly and kicked Spike in the back of one leg, sending him to his knees, "When you get to hell, Spike, tell the I sent you – they'll set you up with a few old friends of yours."

Spike's face came up and Faith recoiled at the sight – his pale skin was broken out in sores and pustules, his eyes were completely white and looked like grapes that had been in the sun for a day or two, and smoke was beginning to wisp out from under his clothes, "Help me, ladies. Please." His voice was less than a hoarse whisper as he slumped to the ground and twitched, still smoking, and just lay there.

Faith looked over at Xander, who was smiling grimly, "X, you gonna dust him or not?"

"Let him cook, Faith – he has two Slayers under his belt and I think it's ... fitting, that he die like this. Add to that the fact he almost bit Joyce a while back and I'm tempted to let him get back to 100% before doing this again."

Before Faith could say anything, Tara pushed forwards and stuttered a single word, "I-ignis!" A ball of fire erupted from her hand and before it impacted, she turned and glared at Xand, who had arched an eyebrow, "I don't like cruelty." The iron in her voice surprised Faith and that her stutter was gone, but Xander wore a smile on his lips.

"Then you would have hated him – he used to torture his victims by impaling them with railroad spikes, which is where he got his nickname, or rather, one of them. He was also a poet, a bad one by all accounts, so his other name was William the Bloody Awful Poet."

Tara, for her part, didn't budge, "No cruelty."

Xander sighed, "Alright – no cruelty." He turned and kicked the ground, "Take away all my fun, why don't you."

"Tiger," Tara looked at her, "do yourself a favor and get used to it – I talked to Sonja earlier and Boy Toy's cookies are all there, just not in one piece."

Tara looked at her oddly, "W-why do you c-call him t-that?"

"Boy Toy? Because before I went evil, that's what he was – we screwed one night and he got to me, you know? Even after I went bad, he kept trying to get to me and what he did get out of me saved the world."

"B-but do you, I m-mean, a-are you a-and he?"

Faith smiled, "Not from my lack of trying, Tiger, but truth be told ..." Faith trailed off as she though and then shrugged. "He's the first guy in a long time I've had as a friend and not a guy who was looking to get inside my pants. I like that and I don't want to mess it up." She felt a smile tug at the corner of her lips even as Xander came back towards them, his face drawn into a hard mask, and the smile vanished, "What's wrong, X?"

"Those assholes that were following us just got slaughtered by some demons – I'm not sure what happened, but it looks like they were trying to capture one of them with some over-sized bug zapper, or something." His mask broke a little and under it she could see a cold fury that made her shiver a little, "I thought that the rumors were just rumors, but now I'm not so sure."

"R-rumors?"

"Some military black ops shit here in town concerning demons – I want to get some more info, so get Tara back to her place safe, Faith. I'm going to keep an eye on you from up there, but you keep an eye out around you – you see anything out of the ordinary for Sunnydale, just call out and I'll be there."

Faith felt herself nod before she even thought about it, "Got it, Xand."

He looked over at Tara, "Be safe, Tiger." She blushed and he chuckled before vanishing in a column of white light and orbs.

Tara looked at her and, after a moment of looking unsure, hit her in the arm, "L-look w-what you got h-him to c-call me."

Faith could only laugh.

{Council Chambers}

Xander watched as Faith dropped off Tara and then made her way home, not being followed or even being observed as he did, and stopped watching as she locked the door, stepping back with a sigh, "What in God's name is going on down there? Capturing demons is the worst idea in the long, sad history of bad ideas."

"Humans have been known to test that limit, Xander." Sonja's voice came from behind him and her arms went around his waist, her cheek on his shoulder, "Day didn't go as planned, did it." It wasn't a question.

"It's not every day that you have to half-lie to your own charge after she knocks you out, so not, it's not been my best day." He turned around in her embrace and held her close – they had gotten close as teacher and student and kept that closeness as best friends without benefits, as it would have been too strange for the pair of them, "Am I in trouble?"

"If you were, you got out of it with getting rid of William the Bloody Awful Poet, Xand." She nestled her cheek into his chest and sighed, "What are your plans for tomorrow?"

"School and research, mostly. Why?"

She shrugged, "No real reason."

Before he could answer, though, he stiffened in discomfort, "What the hell was that?"

"One of your charges." She let go and they looked at the viewing rock, as he had taken to calling it; Tara was being dragged out of her dorm room by the same assholes that had been following them that night and looked to be unconscious. "No."

"Oh, HELL NO!" He instantly orbed near her location but hung back as he knew that, if he were to follow them, he'd know where to look for them if they got to be too much of a pain in the ass. Absently, though, he orbed his sword and another little surprise to his person as he followed them to the UC Sunnydale camps and under Lowell House.

Even though he didn't hear her, he knew she was there, "Faith, why are you here?"

"Sonja gave me the heads up, Xander. How're we gonna get our girl back."

"I am getting her back – you are getting out of here." He turned and glared at her, "I don't expect them to hand her back over without a fight, Faith, and if there is any killing going to be done, I am going to do it." He could feel what had been The Hyena snapping at the edges of his mind, urging him to protect his pack and kill those whom had harmed one of his own, and the Soldier was bristling at the thought of what was going to happen to Tara – he could FEEL his mind being pushed to the breaking point and knew that if he didn't move now, he would go in there and cause a blood bath that would make a slasher film look tame in comparison, "Faith, GO HOME! I don't want you to have to see this."

She gave him a defiant look and crossed her arms. "Make me."

"Go, son." Leo orbed in behind her and orbed out, a grim look on his face.

Xander only smiled ... and it wasn't a nice smile, either.

{Initiative Base, Examination Room}

Tara kicked at her captors again as they tried to stick her arm with a needle – she had been in her room and they had burst in, hitting her with some kind of energy or taser that knocked her silly for a while, but while in a semi-conscious state, she heard them saying she was a 'HST' and an 'experiment waiting to happen', and she felt more than a little fear. She had run to California to get away from her father, who had implanted in her mind that she was a demon, like her mother, and lived in fear until she met Xander, finding out just what he was. She knew that he would never help a demon and, as he helped her, she couldn't be one – simple logic, really. But now, when she needed him the most, she could only mentally shout his name and pray that he heard her.

Strangely enough, her prayers were answered, but from the look in his eyes, Xander wasn't about to leave anyone alive.

Several doctors and soldiers stood shocked as he solidified, sword in one hand and a knife in the other, and that was their last mistake – he tore into them with an animalistic fury that scared her, decapitating, disemboweling, amputating arms and hands, all through out the entire room until only three remained – him, herself and the head doctor, who looked oddly familiar.

"Who are you, young man? You are in a great – ARUGH!" Tara watched as the doctor pointed a finger at Xander and lost her hand at the mid-forearm with an almost contemptuous swipe of his sword.

"Who I am is none of your concern, madam." His voice was like ice, cold and hollow, but his eyes blazed with a fury that was almost poetic, if she thought about it; it was as if he were an avenging angel from God, smiting the wicked with his wrath to save the fair, chaste blonde maiden ... and she REALLY needed to lay off the sappy romance novels. "But if you must call me anything, call me ... Death. You have attacked one of my charges and, as such, I have been sent to arrange your meeting with HIM, so that he may decide your fate."

"Mercy, please." The doctor, whom she now recognized as Doctor Walsh, a professor of Psychology at the school, dropped to her knees and begged, for all the good it would do her.

"Mercy is for someone who is worth redemption, madam." Even as he raised his sword for the final strike, Tara could see his eyes become dead pools of brown, "And I'm the wrong person to come to for mercy to begin with."

"NO!" Another soldier, a little older than Xander, actually, barreled into Xander, or tried to, as he orbed and the man passed through him, slamming into the wall. After a few seconds, the soldier shook the cobwebs out of his head and spoke, "I won't let you kill her."

"Who the fuck are you?"

"Captain Riley Finn, US Army."

"Since when did it become the Army's policy to kidnap and possibly torture it's own citizens in obvious illegal medial facilities, let alone do some of the shit I've seen around ere?" Xander turned to Doctor Walsh, who had sunk to the ground, very pale now, "Oh, and that Frankenstein of yours, ADAM, don't worry about finishing him – a few friends of mine from on high are taking care of it as we speak. ANSWER ME, CAPTAIN!"

Riley Finn, Tara saw, jumped to attention and barked out, "Hostile Sub- terrestrials are in our mission specifications, sir. She shot fire from her hands and, as such, she must be an HST."

Xander only sighed, "God, and I thought that the Marines had the market cornered on SHEER FUCKING STUPIDITY!" As if without thought, Xander cut the bonds that had been clasped around her arms and turned back to Riley, who looked very pale right then, "Be advised, Captain, that if I EVER see you again, on campus, in class, walking across the fucking street, you will die. Tell your Commanding Officers what was really going on here ... or I will."

"And who are you, precisely?"

Xander got into Riley's face, "That's need to know information, Captain, and you don't need to know." That said, Xander pulled back and knocked the soldier out cold before turning to Walsh, who didn't look too hot, but had put a tourniquet around her arm to stop the bleeding. "Now, where was I, Tara?"

"You were about to leave Walsh to us, sir." Another being orbed into the room, but this one was armed with what she thought was a long stick with a blade on one end of it, "The Elders want to have a word with you PDQ, sir."

Even as several other beings orbed into the room, Xander nodded, "I want one of your men to sit on her until I get back – nobody but myself, my father or Faith gets within five feet of her."

"Hu-ah!"

Xander looked over at her and his eyes were no longer dead – they were bone tired, "Tara, I'm sorry this happened." She nodded and he went on, "As this has happened, I probably won't be your Whitelighter anymore, so good luck with whomever you get assigned to." He hugged her, even though he had some blood on him, and she hugged him back. When she let go, he orbed away and one of the others came to her.

"Ma'am? Are you okay?"

"Huh? Oh, I'm fine." With that, she passed out.

{Elder's Council Chamber – 2 hours later}

He looked at the assembled Council of Elders and knew that, regardless of what intentions he had gone in with, he probably was about to get his powers bound for eternity, now. "May it please the Council, I would like to speak in my defense." The Supreme Elder, a Milton Bearl look-alike, nodded and he stepped forwards, took a breath, and let it out slowly, "I know there isn't a damned thing I can say to change any of your minds about what went down a few hours ago, hell, in the past day. My primary charge found out who I was, sort of, she was captured by that bunch of idiot soldier-wannabe's who had that hunk of demon, human and electronics held together with duct tape and bubble gum, and I went in there with homicidal intent to get her back and a half-assed plan. I deny none of this – all I ask is that you at least show mercy on both of my Charges, as I told Faith to go back home and I let Tara basically find out that I am a cold-blooded killer."

The Supreme Elder nodded and took a puff on his cigar before adjusting his glasses, "Alexander, I, for one, cannot blame you for what you have done so far because I did the same thing about fifteen hundred years ago, though for very different reasons. However, I cannot allow you to act so recklessly in the respect that you are a Whitelighter and killed eight people today; regardless of the fact that I like ya, kid, you will now be punished, though not to the fullest extent of our law. I hear-by strip you of the title of Whitelighter and any powers that you may have due to said title, for the duration of the rest of the year. If, by that time, you have shown me that you can be trusted, you will be reinstated to your title. In the time being, Sonja will take over as the Whitelighter of both Tara and Faith, but as you and the latter live together, you will not be removed from the home or the institution of higher learning." He hit his rock/gavel on the table and stood, "We are adjourned."

Xander felt something leave his body even as Leo and Ares, not to mention Chris and Sonja, walked forwards, "Well, that went well."

Leo only nodded, Sonja smiled sadly, Ares said nothing but Chris smirked, "I guess you aren't that much of a Whitelighter after all, are ya? Not surprised – once bad, always bad."

As he wasn't constrained by the rules anymore, Xander looked at Chris and slammed his foot into Chris' groin so hard that the boy's body came off of the ground several inches before he collapsed into a fetal position, "Maybe not, but talk down to me again and I'll make sure the family photo has one less person in it."

"That was uncalled for, son."

"Says you – he's been busting my chops since day one and I'm sick of it. I'm sick of being looked down on and told that I'm not good enough and then those same people accuse me of not performing my duties like a true Whitelighter should when it suits them." He sat on a boulder and sighed, "Why is it so damned hard to walk this path?"

Ares, surprisingly, given his background, was the one who answered, "Because it makes you be honest with yourself, kid. Still, regardless of that fact, we need to have a little chat, but not until after class tomorrow. Trust me, you'll like this." Ares then orbed himself out of there with a laugh and Sonja sat next t him with a shiver.

"Ten'll get you twenty that he's up to no good."

"I don't take sucker bets." He slipped his arm around her and she orbed them to his and Faith's place, where she and Tara were waiting on the couch, "Hi."

"Boy toy, what's going on here?"

He took a breath and let it out slowly, "I've had my powers bound for a while, Faith, and someone else has been assigned to watch over you and Tara. Temporarily, I am no longer a Whitelighter."

Faith stood to argue and Tara looked ready to kill somebody, but Sonja interjected, "That's only partially true, Xander. You were BORN a Whitelighter, or rather, half of one, so you still have limited use of your powers, but they will take a bit more out of you than they normally would." This dampened the homicidal vibes he got off of the two and Sonja looked at him with a somewhat grim look, "Be that as it may, if you want to be a true Whitelighter, you must find a balance to somehow do your job and not slip into the Darkness."

"My Charge was in trouble, Sonja, and you told me yourself that a Whitelighter should do whatever they must to protect or save their charge – I didn't WANT to kill those people, but they put Tara in danger, and probably would have put Faith in danger as well, so I'll live with what comes with it."

She nodded, "Good – I see you picked up what I was trying to tell you that day." She leaned back into the small love seat she had orbed them to and smiled, "So, what's good to watch on TV around here? The Elders won't pop for basic cable near my place, so I'm stuck with local and PBS."

"Well, Sonja, we have basic cable, but I feel like going out for a little while before I turn in." Xander got to his feet and pulled on his jacket before grabbing his sword, "You know, seeing the sights and getting reacquainted with the local wildlife."

"Willy's, stud?" Faith got to her feet and smiled, "I could use a little tussle myself."

"No, you don't, Faith." Sonja frowned, "You and I have to get up early tomorrow for some serious chatting, so you get to your bed and I'll get Tara back to hers." She looked over at Xander even as he stashed away a few party favors, "Be careful, Xander."

He gave her his most winning smile, "Aren't I always?"

She gave him a glare, "Do you REALLY want me to answer that, kiddo?"

He gave her his most winning smile before packing away a few more party favors into his jacket and walked out of the door, bound for the bar and he knew that it was going to be FUN!

{Willy's Bar}

Willy Hart could be accused of a great many things – most of them were too evil to even think about, but nobody had EVER accused him of being stupid enough to not know when to duck and cover ... and this was one of those times. Through the front door of his modest bar walked a specter of the past, a person who had once earned the fear of the local demon populace by showing a will to not only deliver a message, but to kill the messenger as well, and that was BEFORE he had become a Whitelighter. Now, though, he had his hands full of another, more tangible specter of the local demon populace, or rather, the bane of the demon populace, Buffy Summers, The Slayer.

"You BASTARD!" Willy watched as the Slayer took swing and kick after swing and kick at the kid, Alexander 'Xander' Harris, but also saw her miss time and time again as he blocked, dodged or simply redirected the shot that was meant to take his head off of his shoulders.

"I would once say that you were wrong, Buffy, that my parents were married when I was born." He blocked on last savage shot meant for his gut and spun her around, a knife materializing in his hand and was then pressed to her neck as he held her close, back to front, "But as it turns out, I'm the product of a one night stand between mom and a Whitelighter – imagine that."

"You have a lot of guts coming here, Xander. I should kill you for being back in my town."

Harris laughed at this, as did several of the demons that were at the bar and watching the show, "Gee, Buffy, are you mad at me?" He looked up and smiled at Willy, "Is it that time of the month already?"

Willy winced at this, as did many of the demons as the Slayer screamed and slammed her head back, but hit nothing but a shower of sparkling white light, a shower that was repeated by Willy's side as Harris solidified himself, "Willy, good to see you again, man. How's business?"

"G-good, kid. How're you?"

He shrugged, "I've been better, but I've also been worse, so I'll call it even keel and good." Harris grabbed a bottle of whiskey and poured two shots, placing one in front of a female vampire and raising the other to her, "To your un-health, M'Lady," and slammed the shot back as the Slayer got to her feet and the vampire smiled, slamming her own shot back as well.

Harris looked around and saw a small poster with the word 'WANTED' printed on top and with the faces of Sheila and Ira Rosenberg, Tony and Jessica Harris, though the former had been crossed out and had 'DECEASED – NATURAL' over it, and two blank spots with Harriet and David Chase on it. Also on the sign was '$50,000 EACH, DEAD OR ALIVE' and this got Harris to look over at the barkeep and smile, "Do you want to tell me anything, Willy?"

Willy gulped, "Uh, well, you said they were all fair game, except the Slayer's mom, so we kinda put up a pool on who, where, when, why and how they each bought it."

The kid looked intrigued, "Any takers?"

"Several, but the Slayer stopped them."

"You're damned right I did. You son of a bitch, you almost got Willow's parents KILLED!"

Harris smiled, "But you didn't need me anymore, Buffy, so you and your families didn't need me anymore, or the protection I had extended to them. I did kind of explain this to Giles, so maybe you're not as fast on the up- take as I thought you were."

"To Alexander Harris," a demon at the end of the bar raised a beer. "The only human I know that could piss off the Slayer more than we can and possibly walk out of the fight."

"HARRIS!"

Buffy growled, "They left Sunnydale because of you, Xander. They left because you couldn't cut it."

"But I could cut it, Buffy – why do you think they were scared of me in the first place? I mean, surely your mom told you about that fight, right? Or how about the one after that? Or the one after that? There was one more, but two of the demons were smart enough to talk the others out of it, so I really don't count that one."

"What are you talking about?"

Harris laughed to the rafters, sounding more than a little unhinged as he did, "Oh, so that means that you never heard of those two poor Polgara demons that came after your mom, then. Ask the guy who just toasted me – he was there."

The demon, a large, slimy, antlered Chaos demon named Mike, nodded, "It wasn't pretty, Slayer. Let old Mike tell you a story."

{Flashback – S2, after Halloween but before Thanksgiving – voiceover by Mike/Matt Damon}

Harris had made the proclamation a while before, but several demons didn't think he had the juice to back it up, so they made a go at the Slayer's mom, your mom, but he was waiting on them. I kind of tagged along that time, to see what the whole thing was about, as I just got into town, but I am glad I wasn't those poor guys that night – the first Polgara demon he killed from about ten feet off with a shotgun, drum-fed and automatic, you know? Ripped the poor demon from stem to stern in about five seconds flat and then he dropped it, cause he was out of ammo.

Polgara demon number 2, Craig, I think, charged him and got a pair of what I think were .45's to the skull, but the kind just stood there as Craig kept coming, you know? Emptied the rest of his mag into him and the Polgara dropped about two feet in front of him, dead as a door nail. That's when Dino, a vampire I knew, pulled us all back, cause he knew that the kid wasn't playing, so we ran. 'Till he called off the protection that was the last time anyone knows about someone going after your family, or your crew's family, Slayer.

{End Flashback}

"Then why didn't you attack after then, huh? Scared?"

"Hell yeah we were scared, Slayer. In case you didn't know, he," Mike poked his finger at the kid, "is a sneaky, underhanded, no-good son of a bitch! I, no, we all thought he had just stayed low, you know, waiting to see who would be stupid enough to try it, but after those two vampires tried your witch's family and you tore them apart, well, it wasn't worth the risk to get the green."

"Is that a hint of respect I hear in your voice, Mike?" Harris sent the bottle he had opened sliding down to the Chaos demon, who caught it and saluted him before draining it in one go, "You see, Buffy, I wasn't as ... useless, I do believe that was the term you used, as you thought I was."

"But you used guns!"

"And bows, and knives, and swords, and even a car and a mailbox, once, but that was a separate issue. Be that as it may, I will use and have used any and all means necessary to protect my friends and my charges, Buffy. Oh, and that reminds me," he looked over at Willy, who shivered, "Tara McClay, Faith Williams and my mother are now under my protection too."

"I'll get it out, kid, promise."

"Splendid." He looked over at the Slayer, who looked outraged, "Problem?"

"You're protecting that murderer? WHY?"

The kid, to his credit, only shrugged, "Because she is my friend, Buffy, and I protect my friends. YOU, on the other hand, and Willow, for that matter, have means at your own disposal to protect yourselves."

The Slayer fumed, "I don't know that Tara girl, but Faith is a Slayer like me, so she can protect herself."

"Undoubtedly she can, but we don't want anymore accidents to happen, now, do we? Like tonight, those assholes under Lowell House who kidnapped Tara?"

"Riley? What about him?"

"Secret Military base, black ops, capturing demons and studying them for some God-awful reason. Killed a few people to get Tara, but she's safe and the project, I have been told, is being moth-balled." He took another shot of Irish whiskey as the Slayer worked her mouth a few times, but no sound came out, "Holy shit, that's good stuff. Willy, who's your supplier?"

"Um, that was a special case deal – I've got three more, two c-notes a pop."

"Put me down for one and store it – I'll pick it up tomorrow." Willy nodded and made a notation as the kid turned back and looked at the Slayer, who looked incredulous, "What? We DO have to keep the economy going, right?"

"You KILLED people tonight? Did they have souls?"

"They were about to dissect a human being with the ability to use magic – the soul idea is debatable." Willy had to agree with that one – even if he had sold his own soul a while back. "Besides, what do you care? You have your groupies, your ego-massagers, you ego-WHORE, so what do you care what I do?"

The Slayer said nothing, she just ran over, grabbed the kid and threw him from the other side of the bar to near the door, where he hit hard and rolled to his feet. She was again on the attack, but apparently he had been setting her up the entire time – for every punch she threw, he landed two, for ever punch she dodged, he landed a kick, for ever move she used, he had a counter-move and eventually ended the fight with a chop to her throat and slamming her face into a near-by pole, knocking her out cold.

He looked, for the barest second, like he was going to leave her there, but the kid sighed and slung the Slayer over his shoulder, "Have a nice night, Willy, gentlemen, ladies." With that, and the Slayer still slung over his shoulder, the kid vanished in a halo of white lights and a slight tinkle of sound. Things in Sunnydale, Willy knew, were about to heat up, and the outcome probably wouldn't be good.

{Summers Home}

Joyce jumped slightly when Xander 'orbed' into the room, but frowned when she saw her daughter slung over his shoulder, "What did you do to her, Xander?"

"Knocked her out to keep her from killing me." He dropped Buffy onto the couch and waved, "Toodles." He then orbed back out of the house and Joyce sighed.

"I must speak to that young man about proper manners."

{Next morning – 1000 hours, Photo 101 is over}

Xander yawned while Faith, who had not left his side since telling her of what had happened the previous night with Buffy, grunted – neither of them were morning people, or rather they were, from 1 to 5 am, rather than 7 to 11 am. Faith seemed to have liked the photography class, for all four minutes she was awake for it, and he knew that it was Prue who had set him up for this – she had taken no more than two rolls of film of him over the two months he had been at the Manor and they had turned out rather well. Their next class was Composition I, which would be followed by British Lit and then lunch and home – they wouldn't see Tara that day, as she was in science classes all day, but it was who he would see that worried him.

"You alright, boy toy?"

"Worried is all, Faith." He hugged her sideways and she squeezed him back, "Buffy won't be pleased with the fact that I not only kicked her ass, I did it in full view of the demons in Willy's Bar and I made it look easy too."

She stopped their forwards progress and looked at him, her eyes dark and serious, "I won't let her hurt you, Xander. If she goes to do it, I'll stop her."

"Only if I ask you to, Faith. I can afford to be kicked out of college – you can't." He pulled her into a hug and buried his nose into the crook of her neck, something she did to him as well, and inhaled the unique scent that was Faith before speaking, "Promise me."

"I promise, Xand." She pulled back and they started walking to class, hand in hand, and when they got there he was in for a rather unpleasant shock.

Sitting in the third seat from the front on the right side of the class, nearest to the windows, was Willow. She looked up ad her eyes narrowed, but when he felt his own eyes narrow, she put on a hurt look that he allowed himself to actually be hurt by for only a split second before the feeling of utter betrayal hit him like an aircraft carrier at full speed. He and Faith walked to the rear of the room and sat next to each other, both pulling out the things they would need, but apparently Willow wasn't going to let things stay where they were as she stood and walked over.

"I'm sorry, Xander." He could hear, no, FEEL the sorrow in her voice, but he did not let it affect him at all, "I can't tell you how sorry I am, for betraying you like I did, I mean. I just ... I just didn't want you to get hurt, so I sided with Buffy."

"That's nice to know," he stated flatly without looking up, pretending to find something in his textbook interesting.

"Would you at least look at me?"

He obliged her and put every ounce of emotional pain and heartbreak he could into his eyes, "There, happy? And even if you are not happy, how the FUCK do you think I would feel? You betrayed me more than I want to THINK about, let alone ever forgive – if that makes me a bad person, then fine, let it, I can take it."

"But we've been friends since Kindergarden, Xand." Tears began to well up in her eyes as she began to shake, "You did the whole Yellow Crayon thing for me, you were at my Bat mitzvah, we even Fluked together!"

"But I never betrayed you – Cordy was none of your business and neither was Faith; you had your chance, Willow, and you lost that chance, so that made us even. But when you sided with Buffy without even giving me the benefit of the damned DOUBT, you ENDED our friendship. You know I would have done the same thing for you, had the situation been reversed, and my point still stands – I did nothing wrong. You were the ones who failed to make sure that I could contribute something, even if it was teaching me how to research properly." He slammed his book shut as he noticed, from the corner of his eye, the crowd at the door growing, "So screw it – I can't change the past and neither can you. I don't want you in my life unless I can prove beyond a shadow of a fucking doubt that you won't stab me in the back like that again."

"But you'd let HER in your life and run that same risk?" Willow's temper flared and her eyes narrowed, "She betrayed us!"

"Are you sure about that? Are you sure that I wasn't having her playing both sides the entire time? You should know by now that I am a lot smarter than I let on, Willow, and that I play to win – sure, she got those two guys killed, but like Buffy said with her little sting with Angel to prove that Faith had gone bad, the ends justify the means." He dropped his voice to a harsh whisper and went on, "I was getting information out of her about the Mayor when we needed it, so if you or Buffy think you're getting her or having the Council go after her, they and you had better be damned well prepared to go though me as well ... and be prepared to lose a few people in the process."

Faith and Willow both worked their mouths for a moment before the former sobered and looked at the class, "Drama skit they're practicing, folks – whaddya think?" As a response they got a rousing round of applause as the students, now sure of no possible violence, filed into the room with the teacher following them.

"Now that the theatrics are over, class, I am Professor Caine, and I would like to say welcome to Composition I – I am a tough, but fair, teacher, and while I expect excellence from each of you, I also accept that not all of you will become the next Thoreau or T.S. Elliot." With that said, the professor, a mousy looking man of early thirties, started to hand out a class syllabus the size of a small phone book.

Even as he accepted his, he caught Willow giving him a look that plainly said 'this is not over'.

{After British Literature 2 hours later}

Faith could still hear her boy toy swearing fluently in several languages that he seemed to have picked up, Oriental by the sounds of them, at his apparently luck – Red had been in both of their classes that day and she had tried at every point to get X to forgive her and to drive a wedge between him and herself. By some odd act of a god she wasn't sure existed, they had been paired up in the second class to do a 'getting to know you' deal and she had told the red-haired witch that she and X were cool, that she would never hurt him again, but also gave her a warning that X was seriously angry and had a short fuse now – to not cross him by doing anything with magic, as she flat-out told the witch that he could sense it now, and that made the witch deflate, as if she had already been planning something. It was at times like that, that she could see why he had been so pissed at his old crew – they wanted to make themselves happy and damn everyone else.

"It's a risk all goodie two-shoes run and fall into, eventually." A figure orbed into the room and Faith recognized him from the television series, though there were some minute differences – not as much leather, hair was shorter and he was smiling slightly, "Faith, The Vampire Slayer, I presume."

"Ares, Greek god of war." She accepted his hand and shook it.

"Xander Harris, deposed Whitelighter and dedicated pain in the ass of all things evil." She groaned at the horribly lame joke, but Ares just chuckled at it, "I take it you wanted to talk to me about something, Ares."

The Greek god smiled, "Yes, I did, and I want Faith to hear this too – well, in a nutshell, as you have had your TITLE of Whitelighter removed, that makes you something of a free agent, a mercenary, if you will, and I would like to employ you on a time-to-time basis, myself and others within the Greek pantheon, to perform ... jobs, that we are bound by ancient laws and oaths to not do."

Faith looked over at X, who had a speculative look in his eye as he nodded, "Like?"

Ares just smiled, "Oh, little things – find this here, deliver that to this person, kill so and so because they're going to destroy the world, you know, stuff like that." She winced and he went on, "All good things, nothing ... well, as far as good and evil go, those are relative terms and gray areas, to be certain, but you would have the right to refuse any job you like without any explanation, but if you do start one, we expect you to finish it."

"Now hold on just one second," interrupted a rather annoyed voice as another individual orbed in, a man who looked oddly familiar – blonde hair, tall, somewhat large in the chest and shoulders, but more athletic than anything. "Ares, I thought we had a deal concerning my son." Faith blinked at this as Xander sighed and Ares grinned.

"Correction, Wyatt – we DID, but that was when he was a Whitelighter – now that he is not, he is fair game. I mean, you can't expect him to sit down her and go to school the entire time, do you, Leo? What's that saying – all study and no play makes Jack a social outcast?"

Leo growled and Faith found her way to X's side, "Is it me, or is this really weird?"

"Weird compared to what, Faith? Vampires, demons, ascension-minded Mayors, angels, Whitelighters, gods from the Greek pantheon ..." he let the list hang as she could only nod – a god and an apparent father arguing over the fate of a son wasn't exactly that news worthy in their line of work.

Several other people orbed in, or rather, one orbed several in, and Faith could only growl – five in total, three knock-out babes, one holding a baby, and a surly-looking kid who immediately got the hell out of Dodge with only a glare sent at Xander, "And they are?"

"Family – oldest to youngest, Prue, Piper, Phoebe and Wyatt." He embraced all three women, which made her more than a little uneasy, and then took the baby from the middle woman, which caused the baby to giggle, "Family, this is Faith, The Vampire Slayer, my former charge and my friend."

She did the meet and greet thing with the ladies while 'Leo' and Ares argued back and forth, Xander taking care of Wyatt, who appeared to be trying to put his toes into his mouth and X was telling him about how he'd get the chance to stick his foot in it later on in life.

"So, Faith, how long have you know, Xander?" The oldest, Prue, seemed okay, if a bit too serious, but that was okay with Faith.

"A little under a year, all said and done." She wanted to keep her answer simple and to the point, but no plan survives first contact with the enemy, as her first Watcher, Linda, used to say.

The youngest, a hottie named Phoebe, grinned, "Do you know what he was doing when I first laid eyes on him?" Faith shook her head and Phoebe smiled hugely, "He was on stage, STRIPPING."

Faith felt her jaw drop and her face redden slightly, "Boy toy was a stripper? And he didn't tell me?" She glared over at X, who she could tell was blushing even though he was looking away, and she growled, "I didn't even get a free show out of it."

"Between the two of them," Piper, Leo's wife and Wyatt's mother, said with a smile as she indicated her sisters, "he made over eighty bucks that night, and Phoebe spent the next two weeks trying to propose to him every chance she got."

"Prue did too, once," Phoebe defended herself, glaring at her sister as Prue began to chuckle and Faith felt her jaw and face go back to where they were supposed to be. Frankly, though, the exclamation didn't make her feel any better, though.

{Same time, Ares and Leo's position}

"Hang it all, Ares – you want my son as a free agent so that you can get around the rules and so the Elders make sure to ban him from the Corps; this way you and any other pantheon can use him as a mercenary!"

Ares, for his part, tried to look wounded, "Would I do something so devilishly sneaky, Leo?"

"Absolutely." Ares could only grin as the father and Whitelighter stewed in his own juices for a few seconds and then glared at him almost impotently, "I can't stop you or him, can I."

Ares' smile faded a little, "Leo, believe it or not, I am thinking about the big picture and Alexander's best interests – he is not a traditional Whitelighter by his own admission, and wouldn't be even if we had not done that spell; he would have been kicked out of the Corps on his own merits and I'd still be doing what I am doing right now, only you wouldn't have a leg to stand on." He reached up and stroked his goatee slightly, thinking, "This way, he isn't technically violating the Elder's wishes to stay out of trouble, but rather he is ensuring the relative safety of the world in certain instances and removing possible and obvious threats to Whitelighters, your charges and other Champions alike!"

Leo stopped growling for a second and then sighed, "Ares, if my son gets killed because of one of your half-baked ideas, I will find a way to kill you." With that said, Leo orbed away from the home and Ares could only smile, half-amused as he knew Leo would find a way to do it.

"Are you two finished?" Xander walked over with Leo's technically middle son, Wyatt, in his arms and had a slightly lop-sided grin on his face.

"For now, kid. What do you think of the offer?"

"I'd want full details on who I am working for, what they want, why they want it and about the people I'd be taking it from."

Ares nodded, "Sound thinking – you'd mostly be working for we of the Greek pantheon, occasionally with the Nornes and Oberon's Children, but the Asian and Egyptian gods like to keep their work in-house, for some reason." At Xander's look and Wyatt's confused gurgle, Ares shrugged, "Nobody can figure out why they do what they do – personally, I think it's that they have a problem with the way we do things. We take pride in our work and do it with style."

Xander only nodded, "Well, that's true – if the show was anything to go by, well, not everybody looks good in black leather armor like Xena."

The mere mention of the name brought a smile to Ares' face, "Now THERE was a general, kid – she had the looks, the attitude and sheer chutzpa to pull it off every time, even with a week without shaving."

Xander grimaced, as did Wyatt, "TMI, Ares. So, what's our first job?"

"Nothing until next week – something about blackout dates, I think, but it's going to be fairly easy." He grinned and orbed out of the house and back to Olympus, "I mean, it's not every day you get sent to steal back the Golden Fleece."

{Outside Xander's place}

"Are you SURE this is the place, Willow?" Buffy grumbled, looking at the small but nicely appointed house, "Could you be wrong?"

The witch shook her head sadly, "No, I traced him here, Buffy, Faith too, but there are some major players in the house – I have never felt that much power in my life."

Buffy snarled, "So, he has major-powered help and he's holding out on us – I should kill him for that too." She started forwards and Willow could only sigh – this wasn't going to end well.

With a mighty kick, the Slayer blew the door off of it's hinges and stormed into the house as full speed, but not two seconds later she exited the building via a window, also at full speed, and arced through the air gracefully before slamming into the very full trash cans on the curb, being covered in home waste.

Out of the door came Xander, holding a baby, and then Faith and then a mid- twenties woman with long dark hair and an irritable frown on her face, "Just who in the hell do you think you are breaking into my nephew's place, little girl."

"I'm the Slayer and he's going to pay for humiliating me like he did last night."

Xander, Willow could see, shifted the baby away and smirked, "But you made it SO easy to do, Buffy. You don't think when you're mad and that makes you too easy to defeat." He handed the baby off to the woman, who was apparently his aunt, "Hold Wyatt, Prue – this is going to get ugly, so get dad down here." In a flash he was moving forwards and slammed into Buffy, his fist doubling her over at the waist and flinging her back several feet before he slid to a stop and she slammed back into the trash, "You want to play rough, Slayer, fine by me, but leave my family out of it."

Willow watched Buffy get to her feet and scream, covered in garbage and even having a half-rotten banana peel on the top of her head, before charging him. It was like a train wreck, really, in that Willow knew what was coming but couldn't take her eyes off of the carnage that was about to take place.

"Boy toy's going to take her to school, Red." She looked over and saw Faith standing next to her, a smirk on her lips as Xander side-stepped Buffy and slammed her into the brick facade, HARD, "He's got her to out- matched it's not even funny."

"Then he needs to be working with us, Faith – we can help him and protect him." Xander, she saw out of the corner of her eye, grabbed Buffy as she stumbled back and preformed a snap suplex that hit Buffy high in the shoulders and neck area.

Faith looked at her, a look of pure shock on her face, "'Protect' him? Honey, I'm not sure what you're smoking, but you need to lay off of it – he can take any of you out at his worst and with you at your best, hands down and even playing by the rules." Buffy rolled to her feet and caught a leg that Xander flung out, but had that leg was a pivot point and allowed an inzugurri to the to hit her in the jaw for her troubles – honestly, it was looking more like a wrestling match than a fight.

"But he shouldn't have to fight, Faith! He's normal!"

Faith laughed, "He's never been normal, Red, and I can prove it – he's been possessed twice, both of them were still there, they've been merged with him now and he's just taken a job with the Greek pantheon to get something for them in a few weeks." Willow felt her jaw drop and Faith went on, "Not to mention he rates a natural nine and a half below the belt, if you catch my meaning, and that was last year – no telling what he's like now." She winced as both fighters got back up and Buffy actually landed a punch, but it was a glancing one that he turned into a spinning elbow into the back of her head even as Willow felt all of her spare blood run to her cheeks.

"So, you're sleeping with him? Typical."

Faith shot her a glare and a snarl. "We sleep together on the couch after a cocoa, yeah, but no sex – that's one of our rules ... for now." Xander was folded up by a kick to the gut and then went airborne by a hard uppercut, "Basically, we're friends – try looking that definition up some time."

"I was his friend, Faith, and I made a bad choice – I want to make up for it and he won't let me!"

"Do you really expect him to let you hurt him like that again?" Faith got into her face, or rather, Willow found herself looking at the bridge of Faith's nose, "Face it, Red – you fucked up and he won't let you get close unless he wants you to ... and right now that won't happen until your Slayer over there gets over herself and realizes that she ain't the only kid on the block anymore."

"But you were evil and he's giving you the benefit of the doubt – I should at least rate that much."

"But at least I let him know where he stood, Red. You've known him for over half of your life and you STILL haven't figured out the rules he plays by – he had you and B figured out in about two seconds, he's cool like that. In case you know it or not, you manipulate people to get your way and B's a power-hungry bitch who's going to get a lot of people killed if she doesn't check herself really quick."

"How DARE you talk about us like that, you SLUT!" Willow gathered her power to blast Faith, but quickly found that power slipping away as three chanting voices entered her mind.

"-bind her power, by the Power of Three, so say WE!"

"NO!" She could feel the power that she had accumulated over the years being bound to her body, her connection with the Earth slipping away until she was just Willow again, not the Wicca Willow Rosenberg, witch-supreme. "Who are you?!"

"The Charmed Ones, honey," the oldest, Xander's aunt, stated bluntly and Willow felt her blood turn into ice even as Buffy went down to the ground, Xander's knee falling into the small of her back. "We've got Faith and Xander under our protection, just in case someone like you tries anything magically."

"You have no RIGHT to bind my powers like that! She was evil – she deserves to be destroyed!"

"So was Angel, Willow, and you let him live." Xander's voice shocked her out of her rage and she turned to look at him – his face was partially bloody and his features schooled into a grim look that told her that not only was she in trouble, she would be lucky to ever get her powers back. "And don't you DARE start with that 'he has a soul' crap because, as I recall, so did HITLER! That aside, he sealed his fate when he killed Jenny – you are just really lucky that she got a better job offer."

"Too true, Alexander." A hauntingly familiar voice said as lights came down from the sky and formed a just-as-hauntingly-familiar figure that had once been Jenny Calendar. "Though this time around, Willow is my express student in magic, as she is now my charge."

Willow could only blink as a man went over to do something to Buffy, and then did the only other thing she could think of – she passed out.

AN: I know, I stole the idea of Jenny being a Whitelighter from the Journeyverse, but it was a good one and it tied up several threads that I've been worrying about. Also, this is the end of this chapter – THANK GOD! (Ducks Frying Pan of Doom swipe by muse) Stop it, April – I blame you for getting this story so out of proportion!

-(&%& proportion, Nick!

AN: I just DOUBLED the size of my story in one freaking chapter! Ahem, please excuse her language, ladies and gentlemen – but this is it. One or two more chapters to go and that's it for this story. R&R, please. AR.