With a Father's Love
By Teri

Summary: We know Xander has loved Buffy since he first saw her, but what if it was a different kind of love? Sound a little odd? You might be surprised how well the pieces fit. Come on, you know you are curious. Aren't you? Rated: PG

Warnings: Hank/Joyce - Post-Chosen with some flashbacks


Giles watched Xander for a moment. He could just imagine that as the way Xander named his daughter. Some how it just seemed right. "Thank you for telling me. I am convinced that you are Hank Summers and I am also convinced that you are the Xander I knew. My next question is how and why?"

"How AND Why? That is two questions, but I'm glad you asked." He smiled widely causing Giles to smile a bit. He really had missed the boy.

"Joyce and I were determined not to allow my visions to come true. So, like all good parents faced with a threat to our child. We learned everything we could. We became virtual experts on Slayer mythology and prophecy. Of course with all the prophecies about Buffy, things looked pretty hopeless that is until I met THE MAN."

"What man?"

'The man with the power."

"What power?"

"Voodoo."

"Voodoo?"

"The man with the power."

Giles took a minute to realize what had happened. It was an old joke. Voodoo sounded like 'who do'. "XANDER!" Giles' tone was warning, just as it had during many a night of long research when the 'boy' had gotten silly.

"Right, so the man. The man who allowed me to save Buffy . . . " He sat back as his mind flashed back to the memory.

"Hank?" Joyce asked as she continued to stare at the book in front of her.

"Hmmm?"

"Read this." She ordered as she pushed the book in front of him and he did as he was told.

I hear the star singing, Spikey. They tell me SHE will be saved by her father. He sees what they are planning and will save HER. He turns himself into a kitten and protects HER. Won't recognize him, SHE, won't know her Daddy saved her again and again and again. SHE won't be your third. He won't allow it. Kitten is a good Daddy.

"What is this?" Hank asked not quite grasping the potential implication of what he had just reads.

"A watcher copied that down from something Drusilla said to Spike after he killed that girl Nikki." Joyce explained.

"Drusilla? The vampiress who has visions and hangs out will William the Bloody, killer of Slayers? That Dru?"

Joyce only nodded.

"I thought the watchers didn't think much of 'her stars;' why write it down?"

"The reference to the third, presumably a third slayer."

The couple didn't say anything for a few minutes.

"When I was her age, I would never have allowed my Father to hang-out with me." Joyce' voice broke the silence.

"No." He agreed.

The couple remained silent for a while.

"But someone my own age . . . " Joyce thought aloud.

He didn't answer her.

They were silent again.

"Do you think the passage could mean Buffy?" Joyce asked.

Hank glanced over at the door to his 5 year-old daughter's bedroom, his Buffy. "I don't know."

They continued to ponder the text silently. Each wondering how they were going to accomplish the impossible and see that their daughter lived into adulthood.

"Mommy?" Both Hank and Joyce turned to see their small daughter standing there holding her small stuffed pig, rubbing her eyes.

Hank went over and picked her up. "Sweetie?"

"I had a bad dream."

He began to stroke her back as she buried her head in his shoulder.

Joyce had moved next to them; trying to soothe her little girl. "It's only a dream, Sweetie."

"Vampires," the little girl sobbed. "The vampire attacked me."

Joyce and Hank exchanged a glance.

"I am here with you and you know your Daddy will protect you." Joyce started.

"Always." Hank whispered more to himself than his daughter. Joyce heard him though.

Buffy looked up at her father with awe, feeling braver knowing her Dad would always be there for her. "I know you will, Daddy. Always."

"That's my Brave Girl." Hank squeezed his daughter causing her to smile. Of course, once she smiled he began to tickler her.

"Poor Joyce, it would take her another 20 minutes before she got either of us to bed." Xander smiled thinking of how Joyce got him to bed after Buffy was a sleep. After a moment he went back to looking off into nothingness. "We never really talked about that night again, but after that we started researching ways to make me fit in, appear her age, be able to be there when I was needed. We knew what we needed to do."

"Okay, but that doesn't cover 'the man?'"

"Getting to that G-man. Getting to that." He smiled. "So, by the time Buffy was called, we still hadn't figured out how to do it. Joyce and I knew that it was only a matter of time until she was killed or found by a watcher. So, I called my old friend Merrick. In the intervening years I had discovered how different he was from other watchers. He was not pleased about our rouse, but came anyway. He trained Buffy. Luckily, Joyce and I had made sure she was athletic and in good condition. Years of gymnastics will do that."

"With Merrick in the picture, my visions changed and I knew she was safe until Sunnydale. Joyce and I knew that our little girl needed to go Sunnydale, we knew what it was, but every time we decided to simply prevent her from going I would get visions of the whole town dying or worse. We knew she had a destiny in Sunnydale and that we had to find a way before then. . . . "

The doorbell rang. Joyce went to the door.

"Hello, Mrs. Summers?" The man asked.

"Yes?"

"May I speak to you and your husband?"

Joyce turned and Hank nodded. She turned and allowed the man in, never actually inviting him.

"Good to know you are cautious." The man commented as he entered. "I know what you are trying to do. You want to save the slayer from the prophecies. You know that will disrupt things don't you?"

"Yes." The Summers both answered each caring only about their only daughter first. Hank continued for both of them, "Buffy's safety comes first."

"Well," the man smiled oddly for a moment. "I should have reservations about dealing with people that name their child 'Buffy'. What were you thinking?"

Joyce kicked Hank in the shins. Hank looked at her indignantly and mouthed the word 'oww'. The other man either didn't notice or didn't care to comment.

"However, your plan will cause a good amount of Chaos. It will have the Watchers and the Powers so confused. Centuries of prophecy will be averted. It'll be fun. So, I'm in. You just found the man who can help you." He smiled genuinely this time. "By the way, my name is Ethan Rayne."

"Ethan?"

"Ethan."


I hope someone is still enjoying this story.

Thanks,

Teri 6/12/04