Title: Family Matters

Author: DhampyrX2

Genre: X-over

Series: Impure Souls

Rating: PG-13, just to be safe

Summary: Xander has hidden family. Xander discovers them. Xander's life gets turned upside down in a way that will hopefully help everyone evolve a bit.

Timeframe: The college crap has begun.

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. Don't sue me, I'm poor.

Author's Note: To answer someone's question, 'matriculate' and 'matriculating' as Xander uses them in this story mean to get an education. It means that whomever he's speaking to is an active student at the University.

"So, what else is up with the Buff, any vamp action?" Xander asked after a time, making sure to filch as many of Willow's fries as he could get away with safely.

Buffy gave Xander a bit of a sideways look at his question, as if she was unsure to confide in him or not. Eventually she shook the feeing off, Hellsing demon hunter or not, he was still her Xander shaped friend. "I did get jumped by a demon of non-specific origin last night," she admitted.

Xander seemed to perk up in child like excitement as he responded, "Yeah? Something apocalypse-y? Do we need to assemble the Scooby Gang?"

Buffy held back a laugh, as she replied, "No, but thank you for asking."

Xander looked pensive as he asked, "I just got way too excited, didn't I?"

Seras' bell like laugh lit up the room as she hugged him reassuringly and put in her opinion, "You came in just a little bit too eager love."

Xander gave his mightiest pout as he replied; "I thought you liked it when I'm eager."

This earned him several laughs at the table, although Buffy's and Willow's were both tinged with a bit of nervously uncomfortable undertones while Vicky blushed a bit and replied, "Hush, now. That's not the type of thing to say in public. You're positively incorrigible."

Buffy smiled a bit more genuinely at Seras' reaction. It seemed Xander had found a truly nice girl for a change. "You just need to get out in public a little more there, Xand," she advised reassuringly.

Xander's reply, whatever it may have been, was cut short by the arrival of Buffy's new roommate, Kathy. "Hi, everybody. Squeeze in," the overly energetic brunette said as she took a free chair from another table and forced her way in with them.

Buffy was a bit annoyed by the intrusion, but still tried to be friendly as she introduced her roommate. "You all know my roomie, Kathy?" she asked the gang.

"I don't think we've had the pleasure. Xander Hellsing," Xander said by way on introduction as she offered Kathy his hand to shake.

"I'm Seras Victoria, Xander's girlfriend," the Police Girl added when it was her turn to introduce herself. Of the people at the table, only Xander noticed her slight narrowing of the eyes as she looked at Kathy.

Xander tried to focus his senses deeper then, since he knew that Seras was hardly a suspicious person be nature. He saw a bit of what had her concerned now that he looked closer. Something about Kathy's scent and aura was...off. He wasn't adept enough to identify what was wrong, but he knew enough to recognize that /something/ was wonky. He ignored the little discussion about the girl borrowing Buffy's sweater without permission as he tried to think of a way to get more information.

"So, where're you from, Kathy?" Xander casually inquired.

Kathy had a quaver in her voice so faint only Xander, Seras, or Buffy would have been able to detect it as the brunette replied, "Nebraska, originally." After she had answered she picked up a big, sloppy hamburger from her tray and took a huge bite, as she tried to keep an eye on Xander without being obvious about it.

"Ahh, yes. Big sky country," Xander mused in a carefree manner.

Buffy missed the subtle little byplay between the hidden dhampir and her roommate as she glared at the big drop of ketchup that fell on her sweater.

"Well, what do you think?" Xander asked as he and Seras headed toward the mansion Alucard had purchased for Xander to stay in. It kind of irked Xander that the No Life King had splurged with such obvious opulence toward him; ignoring the fact they were supposed to keep a low profile, Xander was still a man of simpler tastes. Still, the sprawling compound gave the couple a place to train, complete with a firing range built into the basement, apparently at Teg's request according to the note they found in there the first day.

"I doubt she's human. Her heartbeat was off, and she was really nervous when she heard your last name was Hellsing." Seras replied earnestly.

"I noticed. Of course, not human isn't automatically evil. I mean, look at us." Xander responded.

"True enough. Although I like to think we just retain our humanity in the face of what we've become." Seras countered, still obviously uncomfortable acknowledging her inhumanity.

"I don't really see it as that much of a change to struggle against as far as our personalities go. I mean, Gramps was pretty much the most horrible monster in existence for centuries and stuff, but he ended up that way for very human reasons. I think he'd have been just as terrible, mideon or not. All being a vamp did was extend his lifespan. It's not like the revs, where something else entirely takes over the dead body and uses the memories still stored in the brain to impersonate the victim," Xander supplied,

"I know. It just still bothers me sometimes is all," Seras returned.

"No biggie. It still wigs me out a lot too," Xander replied with his typical half-grin.

"It also doesn't get a handle on the whole Kathy issue," Seras reminded him.

"The problem here would be how to explain our concerns without explaining where they come from," Xander mused aloud.

"This would certainly be easier if we weren't hiding our heritages from the whole group." Seras commented in exasperation at their situation.

Xander shrugged as he responded, "We agreed to wait until they're used to you and trust us to be good with each other. I really don't want to worry about Buffy trying to sneak up and stake us from behind."

"I know. I agreed to keep quiet as well. Cor, I can see they aren't totally going to accept me at first. It's just frustrating to think up a way that we can broach this. Everything is all so much easier at home," Seras replied.

The White Knight sighed as he commented, "Don't I know it, Vicky. Don't I know it."

The next morning Xander and Seras got the opportunity to introduce the young vampiress to the final active member of the Scooby Gang as they saw Giles sitting in the dorm lounge with Buffy, Willow, and Oz.

They also saw Kathy there, describing a dream she had had to Giles, one they apparently had some knowledge of. "G-man, good to see you alive and well! And Kathy, nice to see you again."

"Yes, Xander, it's nice to see you as well. And please stop calling me that insufferable nickname." Giles returned with a small smile.

"Hi, uh Sanders, right?" Kathy responded with just a hint of nervousness.

"Xander actually." the White Knight replied good-naturedly.

"Sorry. Wow, look at the time. You know, I do need to dash. My whole schedule is off because someone kept me up all night. Well, it's been fun. Toodles." Kathy returned, looking pointedly at Buffy as she mentioned someone keeping her up all night.

Buffy glared at her the whole way out of sight until she finally commented, "Xander, thank you so much for scaring her off. There's something about that girl that's just...grrr."

"Maybe more than you think Buff." Xander replied with concern.

"What do you mean, Xander?" Willow asked curiously.

"Nothing I want to bring up until I have more info, Wills. Suffice it to say my Belmont sense is tingling near her in ways that make me want to find a whip." Xander responded, which made Giles go pale even as the others watched him with looks of askance for an explanation.

"As much as I'd love to hear his, I need to get to class. Can you guys fill Xan and Seras in on the evil that is Kathy?" Buffy asked in a rush, before leaving once she gained positive confirmation.

It took the gang five minutes to recount the ritual Buffy had been seeing in her dreams to Xander and Seras, and another few moments for the pair to ponder over what they had heard. "Well, first off, Giles, this is Captain Seras Victoria of the Hellsing Organization, my girlfriend. Seras, this it Rupert, the G-Man Giles, a man that has been far more of a dad to me than Tony Harris and Richard Hellsing put together," Xander said to start things off.

"A pleasure to meet you," Giles said as he shook the Police Girls hand in a bit of shock. He had been taken aback both by how casually Xander had mentioned the top secret organization, thusly assuming Giles knew about it, and at the heartwarming sentiment behind the lad's introduction of him.

"Likewise. Xander has positively raved about you, Mr. Giles," Vicky returned with a bright smile.

"Please just call me Giles, Ms. Victoria. Every other person here seems to. Well at least every American so far," Giles responded with a fatherly grin.

Seras decided to get a bit playful with her lover as she replied, "Well, that explains why Xander insists on calling you others names, then."

"Vicky!" Xander exclaimed in alarm, knowing what she was about to reveal.

"I do say, what has she got you so worked up over, Xander?" Giles asked with a grin.

"Why I thought you'd be proud, love," Seras said sweetly, too sweetly in his humble opinion, to Xander. She turned her attention back to Giles as she answered, "What's got his knickers in a twist is a desire to hide the fact he now has dual citizenship by authorization of the Queen herself as part of a commendation for his services to the Hellsing Organization. His input has brought us back from the brink of extinction after a rather nasty patch." The pride in Xander toward then end of her declaration was clear for all to see.

As Xander surveyed the stunned looks of his friends, minus Oz who looked as he always did, he took the opportunity to snarl, "The first one of you who buys me anything tweed /dies/." He took a moment to school his features noticeably as he added, "Besides, the thing with Kathy and Buffy is more important."

Giles seemed to be holding back saying something remarkably fatherly and British as he reigned in his feelings of pride in his surrogate eldest son (due to Xander being a Scooby longer, even if Oz was actually older) as he replied, "Yes, quite right. But we will have to take the time to discuss this properly. Perhaps over a spot of proper tea?"

Seras looked remarkably grateful as she responded, "That would be positively /delightful/ Mr. Giles. The tea here has been so awful. I'd be so happy to have a proper cup outside of the blends we brought with us."

"Ahem. As nice and disturbing as this all is, there's still the Kathy issue here," Xander interjected. Once he had everyone's attention again, he said, "Yesterday, when we met her, Seras and I both noticed she seemed a little nervous around me when she heard my last name. I think the way she all but ran from us the second I showed up illustrates that."

Willow gave him a look similar to the one she had been giving Buffy, the one that said 'I'm you're friend, and I support you, but please step calmly into this rubber room just for me'. "No offense, Xander, but you sound kind of..."

"Paranoid?" Xander supplied with a grin. "When you face a few dozen ghouls controlled by four scientifically created FREAK chip vampire copies because of a bad tip I guess you come off a little jumpy. in retrospect," he added.

"Um, no. I can't say I've ever seen that," Willow responded awkwardly.

"Sorry." Xander replied contritely. "Let's just say Sunnydale isn't the center of bad stuff. Some of the things Teg and the others deal with..." Xander added before trailing off.

Seras took over then, as she allowed Xander time to compose himself. "Sadly, we've had to learn to be cautious. We had a FREAK with psychic abilities pose as Sir Integra's 'sister' despite the fact she was an only child that nearly managed to kill her, for example. If ma...well that's classified. Suffice it to say one of the handful of factors that were unaffected by the thing's powers dealt with her. Regardless, we all got much more paranoid after that. I suppose it rubbed off on Xander even though he came later. And frankly, Kathy looked nervous about him from the moment she heard his last name was 'Hellsing'."

"I kind of noticed it, too," Oz supplied serenely.

"Giles, we're kind of flying blind here. Do you know a spell that can confirm or deny anything conclusively, because I don't know one that doesn't require a second witch," Willow asked.

Before the Englishman could answer, Xander supplied, "That might not be the best path, Willow. If they're /both/ under a spell it might cloud any results a spell would give. I'd look for more physical proof."

"Like what?" Giles asked thoughtfully.

"Hair, fingernails, anything like that that Buff could provide. A few simple tests could search it out quietly. I'm sure Buffy would supply them as wigged as she seems to be around Kathy.

A few hours and a supply of toenails that regenerated after being destroyed later, the group was left in a quandary.

"Ok, we know, she's not human. Now what?" Xander asked.

"She's not human. I kill her. I'm the Slayer." Buffy said with icy finality.

"Not human doesn't equal evil unless you're with those zealots in Iscariot. Hellsing has a few non-human agents that have saved us before. We know she's hiding what she is. We need to know if she's evil," Seras mentioned evenly. Frankly, Buffy's attitude had her more than a little upset.

"She writes her name on her food and plays 'Can You Believe in Love' non-stop!" Buffy cried out indignantly.

"That proves she's irritating, not evil. If getting on your nerves was a killable offense, G-man would have offed me the first week he met me, and we all would have killed Snyder and Cordy both at some points." Xander retorted.

"Then what do we do?" Buffy asked more aggressively than the situation dictated, making the others nervous.

"That depends. Giles, what have you found on the ritual?" Xander asked in a cold monotone reminiscent of Teg.

"w..we...well, it a-appears to be a version of...oh dear," Giles began.

"What?" Buffy snapped impatiently.

"A ritual to remove a human soul." Giles supplied.

"And we have evil. Hello, slayage." Xander said with a sigh.

"Good. Time to take care of something." Buffy said with a bright smile as she picked up Giles' favorite battle-axe.

"Not so fast, Buff. If she's sucking out your soul, killing her might hurt you. Let's take the time to think." Xander said as he stepped in front of her to stop her.

"Xander, move. Kathy /has/ to die!" Buffy snapped.

"Please let Giles look for a way to reverse the ritual first." Xander replied without moving an inch.

Buffy's response was to take a swing at Xander, but she stopped in mid-motion as she felt a bite of pain in her left buttock. She looked down at the brightly tailed dart in said muscle group, up to Seras, who had fired it, and let out a petulant "No fair." before she collapsed to the ground unconscious.

"Good timing honey." Xander said with a smile.

Seras just grinned in reply.

"Now what?" Willow asked with obvious concern.

"I'm still not sure the ritual is related to Kathy. She might just be a coincidental victim. But, I'm going to subtly ask her what her deal is while you guys find a way to reverse this and restore sane Buffy to us." Xander replied as he headed to the door with Seras in tow.

"Xander, be careful and try to be tactful." Giles called out from behind him.

"Don't worry, I'll be subtle." Xander responded with a smile.

CRASH

"You want to run that by me and my whip again, demon?" the Belmont heir asked icily as Kathy crawled to her knees and searched the room for a way out. Of course the closed door guarded by an upset looking Seras removed any hope of finding that exit, but it didn't deter her search

"It's the only way I can stay here! They'll take her home, realize it was a mix-up, toss her back and never find me!" the demon whined.

"If you had asked, I might buy that. But from where I'm standing I see a demon trying to remove the /Slayer's/ soul. That sort of ruins your credibility." Seras responded archly from her post at the door.

"But I...she's the Slayer?" Kathy asked in confusion.

Any other conversation was interrupted as a white mist flew out of her mouth and out of the room, going through the walls as if they didn't exist. "And that would be her Watcher undoing your spell, which makes you expendable in the extreme," Xander happily reported as he took out Shenzi and aimed it at Kathy.

"In the name of God, impure souls of the living dead shall be banished into..." Seras gravely intoned until she was interrupted.

"WAIT!" Kathy cried out desperately with tears in her eyes. "I'll go back! I swear! Just take me to the others and I'm gone!" she pleaded pathetically.

"What do you think?" Seras asked.

"Gets her gone either way, and it saves us a mess, plus possible retaliation from dimension hopping demons. Besides she doesn't seem the type for dangerous evil." Xander replied in a bored tone. His features grew stern again as he addressed Kathy. "You ever pull anything like this again and you'll live just long enough to regret it," he warned.

Twenty-five minutes of incessant sniveling and searching later found the two of the demons in the woods, who gladly took possession of Kathy from the mideon pair.

"Don't forget what I said." Xander warned as they departed.

When they reached Buffy's dorm room, figuring that was where the others were headed once Buffy came to, they were met by a very nervous group that was happy to see them both safe and sound.

"So you sent her home?" Willow asked after a quick explanation of events from Xander and Seras.

"With the way they were treating her I got the naughty kid in for a grounding vibe. I figured it was worse than anything we could do to her." Xander replied with a smile.

"Good." Buffy responded tersely, her arms crossed in agitation. "I mean borrowing my sweater was bad enough, but my /soul/? talk about grabby," she sneered. Her demeanor lightened, though, as she added, "Thanks for helping me with getting it back, though."

"We're buds. We do things like that for each other." Xander replied good-naturedly.

Seras smiled as she commented, "Only Xander would consider saving your soul as 'just a friend thing'."

Willow rolled her eyes as she replied, "Don't I know it, Seras. Don't I know it."

END PART 27