Buffy patrolled in an almost fog. The day had been an incredible one
and had been full of firsts for her, and everyone else. Xander's new
abilities could no longer be denied, and she knew in her heart that
now she never had any hope of keeping him, or Willow out of this
fight. Secretly she was glad for that. Ever since the death of her
first Watcher, Merrick she had assumed she was on borrowed time.
Everything she'd even been told, by him and by Giles only confirmed
that. Slayers hardly ever lived past two years. She hadn't, if it
hadn't been for Xander…
There it was again, her thoughts returning to Xander and his new
abilities. Of course even without them she knew that he would
probably have never stopped the fight. Oh she'd of tried to force him
out of it, of course. But he was stubborn, as stubborn as she was and
she knew he had a temper that wouldn't quit. When those two came
together he was a force to be reckoned with, and that was before
Halloween. Now, he still had the stubbornness, still most likely had
the temper, and now, now he had the strength and the power to back
both up.
Buffy couldn't help but give a slight shiver that had nothing to do
with the chilly November air. She couldn't help but remember the
beginning of the school year. When she had come back from L.A. and
been queen bitch to all her friends. Getting them kidnapped had been
the highlight of her failures since returning. If Xander had his
powers then, she didn't know if she'd even be here.
She shook the chill from her mind and tried to concentrate on
patrolling, wondering where Xander was right now. They had tried to
patrol together, a kind of coming out party for him. It had lasted
all of about an hour. Xander had said she traipsed through the
cemeteries like she was bull elephant on steroids. Did she even
understand the concept of stealth', he had asked. Naturally she had
gotten offended and told him she knew what she was doing.
FLASHBACK
"Maybe you do Buff, but how do you expect to catch any vamps when you
announce you're coming from like a block away."
"I don't announce," Buffy said defensively, "I'm very no announcy. I
can sneak up with the best of them Xander Harris, thank you very
much."
Xander snorted, "Sure Buff, I've seen more stealth from a blind fat
man in a china shop."
"Are you calling me fat?" she asked dangerously. Xander shook his
head, "Of everything I just said fat' is the word you want to take
issue on?"
He collapsed onto a gravestone, in defeat. "I think we need to face
facts Buff, we're two different people. The way we patrol is totally
different. I know you've got that whole super-girl confidence thing
going and that's great. I just, I need to be sneakier and less showy,
I'm sorry."
"Are you saying we can't patrol together?" she asked, almost hurt,
feeling like he was abandoning her.
"No, that's not, I mean yeah but I don't mean completely. I just," he
stopped and rubbed his hands through his hair, chuckling for a moment
at the way it stuck up on either side of his head. That was something
he was going to have to deal with before school tomorrow.
"I just think that we need to be away from one another when we
patrol. You can do what you want, I'll do my ninja creep thing in the
shadows and make sure you don't get anyone sneaking up on you, and
I'll also be able to catch any of the ones that try to run when they
hear you coming. I'll still be here, but I'll just be mister
invisible."
Buffy nodded her head, accepting that they were just far too
different to make patrolling together really work.
END FLASHBACK
That had been over an hour ago and she had no idea where Xander was.
He had said he was going to stay close, but she had no idea if he was
out there or not. He had vanished completely after their conversation
and she hadn't been able to sense hide nor hair of him since. It was
probably just as well, she thought. If she couldn't detect him, then
there was a good chance that the vamps couldn't sense him either.
She was brought out of her inner thoughts by the sound of a familiar
voice, "Angel?"
She said quietly as the approached the edge of the building she had
climbed up on to get a better vantage point over the immediate area.
She looked down and was startled at what she saw. Angel was talking
to an attractive woman in an old fashioned gown. She couldn't quite
make out what they were saying, being to far away even for Slayer
hearing but they didn't look like strangers. When the woman stepped
right into his personal space and caressed his face she felt a surge
of jealousy, and then fear. She hated that feeling, the sudden
insecurity when someone you thought you knew, wasn't who you thought
they were at all. She expected it from teen boys, she'd gone through
it enough at Hemry, but she didn't think she'd get the same thing
from Angel.
"Boys will be boys I guess." she heard from behind her. She spun and
saw Xander standing there with an almost sad look on his face. She
knew there was no love lost between him and Angel, but she also knew
that he'd get no satisfaction from this.
"I guess this makes you happy, huh?" she said, you were right about
him.
"Hey, whoa, slow down there Buff, he's just talking to her. We don't
know what the story is so we shouldn't jump to conclusions."
"I think conclusions are kind of obvious here, Xander," she said
waving her arms in Angel's direction. "Angel knows a good looking
older woman and they don't seem to hate one another."
"Knowing her and doing anything with her are two totally different
things." Xander said as he nodded his head towards Angel. Buffy
turned and saw that Angel and his mystery friend were leaving, in
opposite directions.
"I still don't like the guy Buff, and probably never will, for
obvious reasons, but that doesn't mean I'm going to automatically
think the worst of him." Buffy turned to him in disbelief, "Ok," he
said as clarification, "maybe I will but I'm not going to go shouting
it from the roof tops. I respect you too much to do that."
"Thanks Xander." she said, and gave his a quick hug. Xander returned
it and then said, "If we hurry you can catch tall, dark, and fangy,
and ask him what's the what."
Buffy considered it for a moment, and considered how it would feel if
Angle told her the woman was more than a mere acquaintance, and she
decided she couldn't handle that right now.
"No, that's all right, I'll seem him tomorrow."
Xander raised an eye brow at her, but said nothing. Instead he turned
and started going back the way they had come. Both Slayer and Mutant
were deep in thought but for different reasons.
AN: Where possible I'm going to put dates in to try and give a
reasonable sense of the passage of time. Looking over the series it's
easy to see where the date of certain things fall. For instance,
Amends, season three where the First tries to get Angel to kill
himself happens at Christmas time. Then helpless, where Buffy loses
her powers for that damn fool test, happens on her Birthday, so that
means her birthday is after Christmas. In season two, Innocence
happens, where Angel is soulless, happens on her birthday, and then
we get Phases and Bewitched, bothered, and bewildered. Where we find
Oz is a ware-wolf and Cordy breaks up with Xander. Looking into the
full moons of 98, particularly Jan and Feb I found that the full moon
of Feb did in fact happen a few days before Valentines Day. So using
all this I can peg Buffy's B-day to either early Jan, or Early Feb.
Anyone that can lock it in for me a little closer than that let me
know.
Monday Morning
November 3, 1997
Xander walked into Sunnydale high for the first time in his life with
a spring in his step that he couldn't get over. Last nights patrol
had been a rousing success. He had bagged four vamps on his own and
he had done it without Buffy having any idea he was even doing it.
Let alone needing her help. He was a little down for his blonde
friend, after all finding out about Angel and his lady friend had
really been a blow to her he was in a good enough mood that he could
be optimistic about the outcome of that little problem. Plus if Angel
did end up breaking her heart, he might be able to talk the small
Slayer into letting him cut off some of Angel's parts.
In addition to that little happy he'd also had a good night with his
mom. He had come home to her cooking the first meal he could ever
remember her cooking and it had smelled delicious. She had said she
liked to cook when she and his father had first gotten married, but
as he slipped into his bottle home cooking wasn't as important as it
used to be.
Now however she was giving it another try. Something new with what
she hoped to be her new improved family she had said. They had spent
most of the night talking and he had gained further insight to both
her, and his father. It was going to take a long time to heal the
wounds but he was beginning to see just a little bit of light at the
end of that tunnel, and was willing to believe that just maybe, he
could have a real family. So overall just about everything was right
in Xander's world.
This of course meant something had to try and piss in his proverbial
corn flakes.
And that little golden stream of annoyance came in the form of none
other than Larry Blaisdale. Xander couldn't help but grin as the
football player made his way towards him. Xander took a sharp turn
and headed into a more secluded spot, he certainly didn't want to do
this in front of an audience. He remembered everything Logan had done
Halloween night and pounding on Larry the Pirate had been one of the
highlights of the evening.
Xander stopped in the hallway leading to the locker room and turned
to face the way he had just come, leaning up against the wall in a
relaxed way. Not a moment later Larry came around the corner with two
of his fellow players, Pete Hanson, and Ronnie Mayborn. Xander's grin
just widened.
"Hey there Lar, what's up?"
"You know it's amazing Harris," Larry said cracking his
knuckles, "but for some reason I feel that I really, really owe you
an extra pummeling today. And what do you know, you're bodyguard is
no where to be seen."
"Nope," Xander said, smiling as he stepped away from the wall to
stand in the middle of the hallway, "I fired her, told her I can
handle my own problems."
"Well that was pretty stupid, because with her around maybe you
wouldn't have gotten yourself all bruised up. And what's with that
pussy ponytail anyway?"
Xander shrugged, "Thought I'd try a new look, why you like it?" he
batted his eyes at Larry and delighted in the way the football
player's face turned red. But he also caught something else, a scent
that he could have sworn smelled like arousal. He shook his head to
clear it as Larry stormed at him like a bull.
Things seemed to suddenly move in slow motion for Xander, as his
combat reflexes kicked in. Instantly he saw that Larry's back up
hadn't stormed in with him, probably because they didn't think Larry
was going to need their help to pound on puny Harris. Xander
grinned at that, and nearly chuckled out loud at their mistake.
Xander decided that just a little showing off was in order here, as
it would send a message he needed sent.
He sidestepped the rushing football player and grabbed his shirt as
he started to rush by. Normally a maneuver like this wouldn't be
possible, but considering he outweighed Larry by nearly 300 pounds,
it was more than possible. Xander grabbed Larry's closest shoulder
with his other hand and then lifted.
The football player's feet left the ground and Xander held him
suspended for a second before he slammed him, reasonably softly to
the ground. The air was instantly knocked from Larry's lungs and
Xander didn't give him a chance to recover as he lifted him off the
ground and pinned him to the wall, his feet off the ground. He turned
his head sharply at the sound of moving feet and froze Larry's back
up in place with a look. Satisfied they weren't going to try anything
stupid he turned back to Larry.
"Larry, Larry, Larry," he began in a calm, cold tone, "you should
thank me, you know why?" Larry shook his head, fear driving him to
answer the person that had suddenly become very, VERY
frightening. "You should thank me because I decided to do this in
private. No one else in school needs to know that Loser Harris' beat
the shit out of the toughest jock in school without even breaking a
sweat. Wasn't that nice of me?"
Larry knew better than to do anything but nod his head. Fear still
robbing him of his voice as he felt his feet dangling off the ground.
Larry wasn't, despite some people's opinions to the contrary, a
stupid person. He was in fact quite intelligent. A fact he downplayed
out of fear of what his fellow football players might think. He had a
reputation to think about and so he played his part in the school
hierarchy, because he didn't know what else to do. Now here was this
guy, totally moving against it, and there was something in his look,
something that told Larry that Harris knew his secret. As Harris
looked down and then back into his eyes and grinned just a little
sadistically Larry knew for sure. Harris leaned in close to him so
there wouldn't be any doubt and said, "Also I'm gonna be real nice
and not tell anyone about that huge boner you've got right now
either."
Larry paled as Harris leaned back away from his and continued, as if
he hadn't just said that, "I'm gonna keep this little, altercation
between us, how about that? You guys don't tell anyone and neither
will I. You do, or try to make trouble for me or any of my friends
and not only do I tell EVERYONE in the school that I kicked you ass,
but I'll do it again in public, and the next time…I break bones."
The tone in his voice told Larry that Harris absolutely meant exactly
what he had just said. He looked over at Pete and Ronnie and knew
that they believed him too. He nodded his head in agreement and just
like that his feet were back on the ground and Harris had stepped
back two giant steps to give himself some room. probably in case I
try anything again, Larry thought, as if I'm that stupid.
His shoulders slumped as he headed back the way he had come with his
two friends in tow. Just as they were about to turn the corner Larry
heard Harris call his name and he looked back. The evil look in
Harris' eyes made him shudder, "Remember, Larry, we keep this between
us as long as you guys leave my friends alone, and don't try anything
stupid again, right?"
"Right," Larry said, trying to sound more brave than he
felt, "nothing stupid."
With that he took off with his friends, headed for class.
Xander watched Larry and his two friends go with no small amount of
satisfaction. He knew it was wrong to enjoy what he did. After all,
in his own way he had bullied Larry exactly like he'd been bullied
his entire life. Sure he could try to justify it, but he still knew
it wasn't right. Especially since he now knew that Larry had to keep
one hell of a secret to himself. In a way he felt bad for the jock,
after all, it had to be hard lying to everyone, including yourself,
everyday.
Finally Xander shrugged, it wasn't his problem after all. Larry would
find his way or he wouldn't, and it wasn't his responsibility to help
him. He looked at his watch and cursed as he realized how late it was
and that he was going to miss the girls if he didn't hurry.
As Xander came through the halls he couldn't help but overhear Giles
and Ms. Calendar talking about something that sounded suspiciously
like a date. The idea of two old people dating, and maybe getting,
together would have made his skin crawl prior to Halloween. Now
however he had a bit more maturity and thought it nice that Giles
might be able to find something other than being a Watcher to occupy
his time. God above knew the old guy needed to mellow out some. Of
course this new found maturity didn't mean Xander wouldn't harass the
hell out of Giles when the time was right.
He arrived just in time for class and was surprised at the looks he
received from his classmates. This was the first introduction of the
new Xander Harris and it looked like it was coming off perfectly. As
Xander took his seat next to Cordelia he couldn't help but grin as he
saw her looking at him out of the corner of her eye. He could smell
the interest she had in him coming off in waves. Once he might of
even thought about giving it a try with her. In retrospect he
couldn't believe he hadn't seen it before that their verbal sparring
held more to it than simple insults. Oh well, he mentally shrugged,
that time's come and gone. Could have been fun.
He turned from Cordelia and looked two the real interest he had now
and saw her deep in talks, by note of course since the teacher was
trying to begin class with Buffy. No doubt the Buffmeister was
pouring her heart out to her best friend. Oh Angel was with another
woman, I don't know what I'm going to do. Blah blah, blah. Sometimes
he really didn't understand women. And judging from the chuckle he
received from his little voice, it was obvious that that was going to
be a continuing sentiment of his life.
He tuned back in his seat and tried to listen to the lesson that the
teacher was trying to hold, he couldn't help but hold his head in
near physical pain as he listened to Cordelia give her interesting…
perspective on Marie Antoinette.
"She was going to let them eat cake." he heard her say. This was
going to be a long day.
Thankfully class ended as it always did and he quickly fell into step
behind his two best buds. Instincts older than him caused him to turn
and walk backwards a few steps, checking behind them for any possible
threats. It wasn't really necessary he knew, not here in school, but
this was still Sunnydale after all.
He turned back in time to hear Willow and Buffy beginning their talk
about the mystery woman from last night.
"I don't think so," Buffy said, "they seemed pretty friendly."
"I told you last night Buff, doesn't mean anything. You need to just
go talk to Angel and be done with it."
Willow looked at him with mild annoyance, "Oh yeah Xander, like it
wouldn't make your day if Angel was doing something with this woman."
Xander shrugged, "Would it give me a happy if Angel were doing
something wrong? Sure maybe, but not if it means he's gonna hurt
Buffy while he does it. I'm not that big a jerk."
Willow quickly tried to correct herself, "Oh, oh I didn't mean that,
I just meant that you know you've been jealous of him in the past,
this would be good for you."
Xander looked at Buffy then back at her, "Maybe once but not anymore,
interests have shifted." he allowed his eyes to linger on Willow for
just a moment before turning to Buffy, "I'm telling you Buff, all
things aside, my past jealousy and crush on you included. You just
need to talk to Angel, it would be much better than this moping."
Xander's turning to Buffy caused him to miss the duel looks of
confusion and hope that swam over Willow's delicate features. Buffy
however didn't miss it and, never being one to pass up a chance to
poke her nose into someone else's relationship said, "Are you saying
you're not interested anymore Xander?" She said it in such a way as
to make sure he knew there was no pressure to answer, and that she
wasn't trying to be rude, but that she also would like an answer."
Xander just shrugged noncommittally an said, "All I'm saying here is
that I'm your friend and I know that's all I'll ever be to you. Which
is cool, I've outgrown that and I'm looking onto something that I'm
pretty sure will be a whole lot better for me in the long run."
Then as quickly as he said it he immediately switched topics, trying
to get the conversation away from his love life, or current lack
there of. He wasn't quite ready to make the first move with Willow,
he wanted to make absolutely sure that she knew he wasn't "settling"
for her, and this little conversation, a god send in his mind was
just the thing he needed to do that. In a couple more days he'd be
ready to let Willow know how he felt.
"So, crazed dance party at the Bronze?"
Buffy didn't seem to enthused, although she did seem mildly amused by
his crazed dance maneuvers. He calmed a bit and said, "Very calm
dance party at the Bronze?" Still no enthusiasm, so he went for
broke, "Moping at the Bronze?" he finally asked as he slipped into
the seat next to Willow in one of the Common Area couches.
"I'd suggest Oreos dipped in apple juice, but maybe she's over that
phase."
"Ford?" Buffy asked in shock as she turned to the new guy that had
stepped up behind her.
"Hey, Summers. How you been?" he said and held his arms out to which
Buffy quickly jumped into for a hug."
"Oh my God!" Buffy exclaimed, "What are you doing here?"
"Matriculating." Was the simple one word reply.
Buffy looked at him confused and said, "Huh?"
He smiled at her and said, "I'm finishing my senior year at
Sunnydale. Dad got transferred."
The look on his face as he said that indicated he wasn't happy about
moving to what most in L.A. would consider, the "Boonies".
Buffy seemed to ignore the look and said, "This is great?"
"You think so?" he asked uncertain, "I didn't think you'd remember
me."
"Remember you? Duh!" she said as if that was a stupid thing to
say, "We only went to school together for seven years. You were my
fifth grade crush."
"So," Xander said, interrupting the reunion, "you two know each
other?"
Immediately after he'd said it he felt Willow stiffen ever so
slightly beside him. The tone in his voice was probably a bit more
biting than he meant it to be. He could only imagine what his best
friend was thinking. He didn't care; he'd explain himself to her
later. From the moment the guy had come up there was something that
was just off about his scent. He was alive, Xander was sure of that,
but there was something there and he couldn't put his finger on it.
Whatever it was though it was making Xander damn uncomfortable. That
could be bad because now days an uncomfortable Xander could be a bad
thing.
Buffy seemed to suddenly remember her manners as she introduced the
guy as Billy Fordham.
"Hi." he said, with no emotion in his voice. Buffy looked at him a
little curiously he noticed but he just smiled. "Nice to meet you."
Willow said in her typical friendly way.
"Ford and I went to Hemry together in L.A." Buffy explained to Xander
and Willow before turning back to Ford and asking, "And now you're
here?"
Ford nodded, "Dad got the transfer and boom, here I am."
"So you were sweeties in fifth grade?" Willow asked. Xander couldn't
help but smile at her. She was already seeing how romantic it was
that someone from Buffy's past was here and it was someone that she
had crushed on when she was younger. Xander could see her point; at
least this guy had a pulse which was a major step up from Deadboy.
Still, something about him was rubbing Xander wrong and it was making
him nearly openly hostile to the guy. Xander knew he was going to
have a LOT of explaining to do to Willow.
He snapped his attention back to the conversation as Buffy explained
something about this Ford guy ignoring her back when she was younger.
He made some cute little joke about being a "manly sixth grader" and
everyone thought it was so funny. Xander laughed to be polite, his
thoughts still elsewhere.
It wasn't really until Buffy said something about moping, and
listening to a song "I touch myself" that Xander's attention snapped
back fully to the conversation. His eyes widened and Buffy blushed
over so slightly as she quickly explained she had no idea what the
song was actually about. Everyone grinned at her discomfort and
allowed her to quickly change the subject by inviting Ford to the
Bronze with them. Xander smiled ever so slightly; at least this guy
had pulled Buffy out of the funk she was in over seeing Deadboy with
that woman last night. So the guy couldn't be all bad, right?
"Oh only in the literal sense." Xander joked as Ford asked if he
would be intruding. Ford laughed and so did Xander but not before
Xander caught just the slightest look of hostility pass over Ford's
eyes. Xander would have sworn he imagined it any other time but now
he listened to his senses when they told him things. His eyes about
that look, and his nose about this guy's scent were ringing alarm
bells in his head and Xander made a silent decision that he was going
to be keeping his eyes on Mr. Fordham for the foreseeable future.
Buffy and Ford left together after than after mutual agreements to
link up at the Bronze. Xander watched them go and asked before he
knew what he was saying, "Gee, doesn't Buffy know any fat guys?"
"Oh that's what that song is about?" Willow asked, suddenly blushing
and Xander just looked at her and smiled, as he put his arm around
her shoulder and said, "You know Wills, don't ever change. I love you
just like you are."
He saw the shocked look on Willow's face as he said it and she smiled
uncertainly before Xander pulled her closer. Willow smiled, liking
the attention and Xander smiled at her, even as his mind started
processing what he was going to need to do about young Mr. Ford.
That night found the gang playing pool at the Bronze. Ford was
regaling them with stories of a ninth grade beauty contest, and a
Buffy Summers swimsuit moment that embarrassed the Slayer as she came
in to catch the tale end of it.
"Ford," she pouted, "Stop that. The more people you tell the more I
have to kill."
Ford just laughed, as did Willow. Xander himself also found it
amusing, but didn't say anything, instead concentrating on the table
in front of him.
Ford said, "You can't touch me Summers, I know all your secrets."
Xander couldn't help but comment as he asked, "Care to make a small
wager on that?" Buffy gave him a dirty look as she told them she was
going to grab a drink. Xander watched her go and saw her run right
into Deadboy.
Buffy just needed something to drink. She could feel the hostility
coming off of Xander in waves and she couldn't figure it out. She was
sure that he was telling her that he was interested in Willow, so why
was he acting like this towards her friend? It felt like jealousy but
that didn't make sense. Was it just something he was doing out of
habit. Or was he trying to be Mr. Protectiveguy, trying to protect
her from a possible disastrous ending like her dating prospects last
year with Dangerman. She didn't know but it was starting to bug her.
Maybe she could get Willow to take him out on the dance floor. Maybe
all those memories he had in his head now included some dancing
lessons and she could get Ford to herself with out Xander hovering.
Her internal musings were cut short as she ran right into Angel.
Xander had caught Deadboy's scent when he had come into the club but
had decided to let the evening play itself out. Now he was glad he
did as he watched the two awkwardly try to talk to one another. The
discomfort he immediately sensed from Ford was gratifying and he
couldn't help but dig the knife a little deeper as he told Ford that
Angel was someone special to Buffy.
"He seems older." Ford said, trying to sound blasé about it but not
quite reaching his goal. "You're not wrong," Xander said much more
cool about it. Acting as if this was all no big deal. Inside however
his mind was again processing new information. Ford seemed seriously
put out by Buffy having someone in her life. But was that because he
was looking to hook up with her, or was it something else. Xander
needed more information and he needed it soon. This verbal sparring
was getting him no where but in trouble with Willow and he couldn't
have that.
Xander winced as he was able to hear the conversation Buffy and Angel
were having and he heard him lie right to her face as he told her
that he had been all night last night reading.. That didn't bode well
for the vampire Xander knew and Xander could sense the hostility in
Buffy as she came back to the pool table.
"Hey Angel," Willow said, trying to be nice. She could sense
something was up as well, but not sure what it is. She looked at
Xander real quick who mouthed, Tell you later.' The redhead nodded
her head and they both turned back to watch Buffy introduce Deadboy
to Ford.
It was the way Ford commented about the broody vampire's hands that
finally caused things in Xander's mind to click. There was a tone
there, an almost, "I know something you don't know I know." tone that
Xander recognized. Ford knew about vampires. Xander wasn't sure how
he knew, and he didn't care. He was just as sure of this as he was
sure of anything else. Ford knew about vampires, and he was hanging
out with the Vampire Slayer. Did that mean he knew about Buffy too?
Xander didn't know for sure but his earlier plan to keep an eye on
the new guy in Buffy's life had just jumped in priority.
Buffy couldn't stand this. Angel had lied to her, and now he was
acting all possessive of her. Who did he think he was? Well she'd
show him, she made her feeble excuses to everyone and then invited
Ford to take a walk with her. She left out of the Bronze as quickly
as she could without running out the door.
As she and Ford were walking and she was trying not to answer all the
hard questions about her relationship with Angel she welcomed the
sound of a struggle as it reached her enhanced ears.
"Could you get my purse?" she asked Ford, as she tried to get him out
of harms way. Ford nodded and headed back into the Bonze. Or at least
he started to. He heard the unmistakable sounds of a fight and moved
in the same direction Buffy had. As he got closer to the alley he saw
a young woman come running out of the alley, crying. He watched her
go and kept moving and turned just in time to see Buffy slay a
vampire.
He couldn't help but smile at her feeble excuse of a cat, and he
decided to let her off the hook, explaining that yes, he'd seen her
kill a vampire, yes he knew vampires were real, and oh yeah, he knew
she was the Slayer too. Buffy's eyes widened in shock as she realized
this was going to be a very, very long night.
"So he told you just like that?" Willow asked later on the phone?"
"Yup," Buffy said, "he told me he found out right before I got booted
from Hemry."
"Wow," Willow said, "that's neat right, it is neat, since that means
you don't have to hide it from him."
The two girls talked a while longer. Buffy told Willow all about the
good things that could come about, if Ford knew about her night job
and could be trusted to keep himself safe. Willow for her part was
telling Buffy all about the strange new signals coming from her
bestest friend. Buffy didn't want to say anything that would get
Xander into trouble if she had misunderstood him, but she did give
Willow a few encouraging words about giving Xander another shot.
The two giggled about life and acted like teenaged girls do, never
knowing that the two men in their lives were involved in a little cat
and mouse game of their own.
Xander had seen Willow home shortly after everyone else had left. He
had begged off on a claim of being tired after last nights patrol and
still getting used to it. As soon as Willow had shut her front door
he was off like a shot. He reached the Bronze in record time and from
there began tracking for Buffy's and Ford's scent. Buffy's scent was
of course everywhere around the place, but not intermingled with the
new scent of Ford. He caught it and a direction and was off again,
shimmying up a fire escape and using the rooftops as cover.
Luckily for him Buffy and Ford hadn't gone far, just to one of the
too numerous graveyards of Sunnydale. He crouched down low onto a
Mausoleum and listened as Ford explained how he had found out all
about Buffy being the Slayer. Xander smiled at himself, for having
figured that out on his own, but at the same time he was confused.
Why would Ford tell her that if he really was up to something. He was
ready to give the guy the benefit of the doubt and decided that he'd
follow the guy for tonight, and if he just went home like a good
little boy, he'd apologize to Buffy and Ford tomorrow.
Of course that's not what happened, and Xander had to again curse
himself for his new found paranoia. Of course not too loudly, because
once again he'd been right.
Buffy had walked Ford home, or where he said his home was. He had
told her he wanted to stay out on the porch till she was gone and
Buffy had believed him. Not ten seconds after Buffy had rounded the
corner at the end of the block Ford was off the porch and headed back
towards downtown.
Xander followed him till he got to a dilapidated building, that
Xander could just hear music coming out of. He gave Ford a few
minutes then followed him into the underground club.
Xander's eyes widened as he realized that underground was appropriate
in more ways than one. Not only was this place guaranteed not to be
official, but the door he came in, led to another door and then
immediately down into what looked to be an old bomb shelter. Xander
passed a man working on the door, welding a lock to the entrance that
looked like it would only open from the outside, trapping whoever was
inside the club, inside. This was not good. Xander walked along the
catwalk above the main floor, mingling with the other patrons,
looking for, and finally finding Ford talking to a man and a woman.
Kids really, not much older than himself, if older at all. Xander was
just able to make out their conversation, and when he heard the
words, "true-believers" he knew what was going on here, and it made
his blood boil. He decided he needed to get out of here before he did
something he wouldn't regret later.
Willow was just getting ready for bed when she heard the knocking at
her window. "Xander?" she called quietly and opened the shades. It
wasn't Xander, but it was Angel. She looked at him confused, even
more so by the uncomfortable look on his face and asked, "Angel,
what's wrong?"
"I, I need your help with something Willow." the vampire said quietly.
"Help, like with homework?" she asked, knowing that wasn't the
answer, but she was nervous. She wasn't supposed to have boys in her
room and she was certainly not supposed to have vampire boys in her
room. Of course mom and dad had never made that rule because they
didn't know that vampires were real and would probably use me as a
research project if I brought it up but they'd probably make that
rule if the knew that vampires were real and that they want to come
in her room and…. ok, she needed to get a grip she told herself.
"I need you to look someone up on the internet for me." Angel said,
clarifying his reason for being there.
"Oh, because I'm net girl." Willow said, excitedly. Now they were
talking about something that she could handle.
"Right, could you, please?"
"Oh sure, who do you want me to look up?" she asked, booting her
computer up.
"Billy Fordham."
"Uh, Angel, you promise not to bite me if I tell you something you're
not going to like?" Willow asked nervously.
"You gonna tell me I'm jealous?"
"Well you do get that way, don't you Deadboy? And don't worry Will,
if he tried to bite you he'd exist just long enough to wish he
hadn't." Xander's voice came from the window.
Angel spun to face the boy that had so easily snuck up on him. That
wasn't supposed to happen. "How'd you do that?" Angel asked, trying
to keep his composure at the deadly look in the boy's eyes. Suddenly
the boy didn't look like a boy at all and Angel internally decided
that wasn't a title he'd use with him anymore.
"Wouldn't you like to know, Deadboy?" Xander said, his grin appearing
on his face, softening the glare he was giving the ensouled vampire.
"Xander stop," Willow said, a small amount of fire entering her
voice, "Angel is here because he's worried about Buffy and Ford."
Xander nodded his head, "I heard," he said tapping his left
ear, "remember super hearing now Will. I heard your conversation
while I was making my way up here."
"Super," Angel trailed off as he started paying attention to the
young man's scent in front of him. It suddenly hit him, he smelled
just like he had Halloween night. That would mean…"You've still got
your powers from Halloween, don't you?"
Xander just grinned at him and said, "You get a cookie, Angel." Then
he turned back to Willow. "You definitely want to go ahead with that
search Will. I just followed Ford to a club that is definitely not in
the phonebook."
"Followed Ford?" Willow asked, raising one of her eyebrows, "But I
thought you said you were tired and wanted to go to sleep."
"Well, I…That is I." Xander tried to explain but the hurt look on her
face just wouldn't let him. Finally he said, "I wanted to make sure I
was right before I said anything Will. I didn't want you to think I
was saying what I was saying out of jealously. I didn't want you to
think it was Buffy I was after anymore."
Angel noticed the calming effect the words had on the girl and he
grinned. Looks like Xander was finally over Buffy. This was good,
maybe that meant that he'd stop calling him that infernal nickname.
"So Overbite, what's got your underwear in a bunch over Ford?"
Or not.
Sunnydale High
Next morning.
Xander was in a foul mood. Ford was up to something and he was
looking to hurt Buffy to do it. Willow last night had had just enough
time to find that Ford wasn't registered for class, before her mother
called out asking if she was going to bed. Willow quickly ushered
both he and Angel out the window and told them she'd keep looking.
FLASHBACK
"It's probably nothing." she had said before closing the window and
drapes.
"That'd be nice." Angel had said, trying to be polite. He looked at
Xander and Xander smiled and said, "Yeah, I don't believe that
either."
"So you didn't tell me what got you suspicious." Angel said, as they
both moved down the street.
"That's right I didn't." Xander said.
Angel allowed the silence to reign for a few more moments before he
said, "Well?"
"Hold on a second, we're being watched." Xander said, so quietly only
Angel could have heard it.
Suddenly four vampires jumped out of the bushes. "Angel the traitor
you die tonight." the biggest one said, as the four leaped at the two
men.
"Xander run." Angel had screamed, as he fired off two quick punches
to the two closest vampires. Taking one to the side of his head for
his trouble.
It was in that moment, when Angel didn't even think about his own
safety, but told Xander to run for safety that Xander realized that
underneath the whole vampire thing was a pretty decent guy. Four on
one odds were no good at all, and he didn't even think about that,
all he thought about was keeping Xander, a guy who constantly
harassed and insulted him safe. Xander couldn't let that slide, not
one bit.
"I don't think so." Xander said, anger in his voice catching one of
the vampire's attention.
"Oh look," he said, as he approached Xander who simply stood there,
waiting, "the little mortal thinks he's going to protect his pet." He
laughed as he launched a devastating haymaker at Xander's head. Angel
was watching and didn't even have time to shout a warning…not that it
was needed.
Xander watched the punch come in and threw one of his own, right into
the vampires punching hand. The muffled sound of bone hitting metal
was just audible before the vampire yelled in pain and yanked back
his now broken hand. The vampire never had a chance however to study
it before there was a distinct, Snikt' sound and his head was
separated from his neck.
The other three vampires froze as did Angel in that moment. Even
knowing that whatever happened to Xander on Halloween night was still
with him hadn't prepared Angel for the sheer brutality of it. There
was no hesitation, no thought; he simply removed the vampire's head
as if he were swatting a fly. Angel gulped, realizing that could be
him if he ever pissed Xander off enough. Then those thoughts ended as
Xander dove at the three remaining vampires that had been doing their
best to slam a stake into Angel's chest.
END FLASHBACK
Xander shook his head to clear it. It had been a quick, brutal fight
and the three vampires hadn't had a chance. After it was over Angel
offered to walk Xander home and Xander had just looked at him as if
to ask if he was retarded.
"Sorry." the vampire had said after seeming to realize how stupid it
was to think he needed to protect Xander from what was out here.
"It's alright….Angel. I've got a better idea, why don't we find
ourselves a cup of coffee or something. Sit down and, have a talk."
"Are you asking me out on a date?" Angel asked, grinning slightly.
Xander just looked at him shocked; he'd never heard him make a joke
before. He just chuckled and said, "Keep it up Angel and I'll do more
than clip your wings."
It was his turn to laugh at the slight nervous look that suddenly
crossed Angel's face and the two allies moved off and indeed found
their cup coffee.
Xander didn't know what had happened last night, but somewhere along
the way, the two had made some kind of peace. He wouldn't ever really
like Angel, because he couldn't forget what he was. Somehow he didn't
think Angel wanted him to forget. He somehow got the feeling that
Angel was relieved at the powers Xander now had, as if he could keep
people safe from Angel should something ever go wrong. It was a
tentative peace to be sure, but it was something.
Xander walked into the school and gave a deep breath, looking for one
scent in particular. He found it sure enough and headed directly for
it. He found Willow trying to do this nervous dance thing with Ford
and Buffy, trying not to spill the beans about her looking into
Ford's records.
"Hey Wills, got that thing in the computer lab for me done yet?" he
asked as he came up. HE could see the utter relief on her face as he
asked and she said, "No I was just going to get it, but Buffy and
Ford wanted to hang."
Xander nodded, "Oh yeah sorry guys, Wills helping me catch up on some
computer make up. I don't want to be the only one that doesn't know
how to use the thing, you know?"
Ford and Buffy had nodded and Xander took Willow's elbow and guided
the now extremely guilty hacker away, whispering in her ear that she
did great.
As they entered the computer lab Xander sat Willow down for a few
moments so she could catch her breath. "Are you ok?" he asked, the
concern evident in his voice and Willow nodded, "I just don't like
lying to her like that and not telling her is just as bad as lying
and I don't know what I'm going to tell her when I do tell her and oh
do you think she's gonna be mad at us."
"Breath, Will, breath. You're going to pass out."
He took her hands and said, "Hey, don't worry; it's going to be fine,
I promise."
"O, ok." she said, calming down somewhat. He looked at her for a few
more moments and then asked, "Ok, now what do we need to do?"
"More research, that's what." Willow said, as she booted up the
computer. Xander took a spot up behind her, softly rubbing her
shoulders, as she looked for more information on Billy Fordham. If
Xander had been in front of her he would have seen the content smile
on her face as he gently rubbed her shoulders in support.
That night found Angel, Xander, and Willow going back to the club
that Xander had seen Ford in. Apparently there was a connection and
Willow and Angel wanted to see it for themselves.
They had found it all right and Angel was as disgusted as the rest of
them were. Perhaps even more so because he knew what being a vampire
was like and he couldn't believe that anyone could romanticize that.
He had called them all fools and basically pissed all of them off.
Xander had suggested a hasty retreat at that point as he wasn't
looking for a fight.
They had all left, and Angel had gone to Buffy's hoping to explain
everything they had found out. Xander had suggested that he explain
his relationship with the woman Buffy had seen him with the other
night. Angel had blanched slightly at that and had taken off a moment
later.
The next morning Xander found Giles and got an update from him. Giles
explained that Buffy had called him from his date with Ms. Calendar
at monster trucks of all things to tell him that Ford and she had
found vampires at the school. While there they had discovered that
Drusilla, a vampire Angelus had turned was still alive. It turned out
that was who he was talking to in the playground two nights ago.
Even more damning to Ford's case was that a vampire he had claimed he
had staked was the one that had succeeded in stealing one of Giles'
books. None of the books in Giles possession were things you wanted
falling into the wrong hands. Xander made a command decision at that
point and went out looking for Ford.
He found him looking for Buffy and when Ford saw him he asked, "Hey
Xander, what's up? You seen Buffy?"
Xander looked around and, seeing that no one was watching said, as he
grabbed Ford by the throat, "Listen to me wise ass, I don't know what
your game is, but I've got a pretty good idea. You and those freaks
in that club want to make a deal with some vamps, and you're going to
trade them Buffy for eternity. Right or wrong? And just so you know,
I can hear your heartbeat and if you lie to me, well let's just say I
can squeeze a lot harder than this. Got me."
Xander could see the utter fear in Ford's eyes and knew that he was
deciding whether or not he could get away with a lie, finally he
nodded his head and Xander put him down.
"Talk and talk fast." Xander commanded, and he did.
Ford told him all about how he was sick and he was afraid to die.
That fear had driven him to use the knowledge he had of Buffy being
the Vampire Slayer to try and make a deal. He wanted to live and he
didn't care how he did it.
Xander just shook his head, "Your game is up, loser. Angel, her
boyfriend told her last night everything we found out. I don't
imagine she's going to be too interested in seeing you anymore. The
best thing you can do is just leave. Get out of Sunnydale and don't
come back."
Ford sneered at him, "It's so easy for you to judge me, isn't it?
You're healthy; you don't have to worry about dying, what about me
huh?"
"HEY asshole," Xander said, stepping right into the guy's face, "I
risk my life every night in this damn town, trying to keep people
safe from the very thing you want to become? I don't know what kind
of dream world you're living in but wake up, vampires KILL people and
they like it. Now get out of town, and if you ever show up in this
town again I'm just gonna assume you're here to hurt Buffy and I'll
kill you first, you got it?"
Ford just nodded his head sadly and turned and walked off. Buffy came
up a few moments later, and saw Ford heading off.
"Where's he going?" she asked, although from her tone Xander could
tell she really didn't care.
"He's dying Buffy. That's what this was all about. He's dying and
he's scared, and he didn't want to take that final dirt nap. So he
figured he'd make a deal with Spike and Dru, and give them you in
exchange for eternity."
He turned to his friend, he saw the tears forming in her eyes,
although he didn't know if it was from the information that Ford was
dying, or that he was ready to betray her in such a fashion. In the
end it didn't matter as he opened his arms to her and she went into
them as he gave her a hug. He saw Willow standing up near the
school's entrance and he guided the tearful Slayer up the stairs and
into the waiting arms of her friend. As he headed into the school
Xander took one last look at the broken figure that was Billy
Fordham. He shook his head and then headed back into the school.