"Where does he get off, talking to me like that?" Buffy asked the air as
she paced around the lobby of the Hyperion. "And then just blowing me off?
How could he do that?"
"What?" Gunn nearly yelled. "You're not serious."
"Did I ask you your opinion?" Buffy said.
"No, but you're gettin' it anyway," said Gunn. "Xander used to talk about you like you were God's gift. You were Buffy, this great girl who stole his heart, but never kept it. You were his hero. I think he even told you that once. You shoulda heard him and Angel go on and on about the wonderful Buffy. But if you're the same girl he talked about, you've changed a lot, and for the worse."
"I don't think you can—"
"I wasn't finished!" Gunn yelled, slamming his drink down on the counter, cracking the bottle. Everybody, even Angel, was surprised by the force in his voice. Buffy backed down a little. "Xander is a good friend of mine, and more than that, he's a good man. He's not perfect, none of us are, but he does the best he can. Does he endanger human lives? You better believe it. But it's not as cut and dry as that.
"What he does helps stop innocent people from getting hurt. It helps put criminals off the street, and makes this city safer. Not from demons, or some big evil, but from people who want to hurt others. He may not have mystical powers, or be able to move things with his mind, but doing what he does, he damn sure makes life in LA just a little bit better. So take a step back. Figure out what the hell you think is so important that you're willing to publicly berate and humiliate a man you used to call a friend for doing his best to help people."
Buffy started to talk very quietly but forcefully. "Human life is not something that can just be—"
"Humans be damned!" Gunn said. "If you spent any time at all on the streets, you would know just how much someone like him is needed. You think demons and vamps are bad? Try running every night from pimps, gang bangers and rapists who'd just as soon slit your throat as look at you. People got souls, yeah, but a soul doesn't make people good. It gives 'em the option. They have to take it."
"I did spend time on the streets," Buffy said. "Five years ago, I lived here in LA, and saw the worst people have to offer."
"Well obviously it didn't sink in," Gunn said. "Either that, or you're the densest person I've ever met."
Gunn stalked off in anger, slamming doors behind him as he went. The lobby was silent. With impeccable timing, Xander chose that moment to enter.
"Hey guys," he said, glancing around at the timid faces around the lobby. "Where's Gunn?"
Buffy snorted, and walked off, also slamming doors as she went.
"I'm thinking I missed something," Xander said.
"Gunn took it upon himself to chew out Buffy for being what he felt was rather... obstinate," said Wesley.
"She was being a bitch," Dawn said.
"Dawn!" scolded Willow.
"Well, she was," Faith said. "Girl needs to learn some perspective. Some of the people I met in prison were worse than most vamps. Well. Some vamps. A few, anyway..."
"Speaking of," Xander said. "I should really be arresting you and taking you back to prison."
The room grew silent.
"Oh," he said. "I'm not going to do it, I was just mentioning that I should. And you should probably lay low. Staying here is fine, but Street sort of recognized you. Just a warning."
"Thanks," Faith said, brow creased in concern.
"Actually," said Angel, "we're going to be working on getting her clemency. You wouldn't believe the amount of influence Wolfram and Hart has."
Xander looked at him pointedly.
"Okay, well, I guess YOU would. But most other people.... Anyway, you're not gonna say anything?"
Xander shook his head, then sighed. "I guess I better go do some damage control."
"Slipping into old roles, huh?" Angel asked.
Xander shrugged. "Once a comfortador, always a comfortador. Where's her room?"
"308," Dawn said.
"Thanks. If I die, make sure Gunn gets the battle-axe on my wall," he said with a smile, then headed upstairs.
He knocked on Buffy's door.
"What?" came the answer.
Xander shook his head and walked in.
"What do you want?" she asked.
"What's up with you?" he asked bluntly.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"No? Okay, good. Then you're not going psycho on me. Buff, I've been a cop for four years. What's bugging you about it now?"
"I never really thought about it before," she said. "But you're putting people in danger. Including yourself."
He sighed, and sat down on her bed. "So... what? You don't think there should be police officers? Just let everyone fend for themselves?"
"No," she said. "Police are a good thing."
"Okay... hypocrite much? So, what, you like cops, but not me as a cop, is that it?"
"I... I don't know," she said.
"Well think about it," he said. "What you said was wrong, Buffy. You know as well as any of us that human beings are capable of evil. Or do I need to remind you how Tara died?"
Buffy winced at that. Xander stood back up.
"My job is just to try to keep things like that from happening, and when they do happen, my job is to catch the people who do them. I put their lives in danger in search of the greater good. I don't know where your belief about a soul equaling somebody being good came from, but I can tell you without hesitation that you are wrong. So think about why you don't like me being a cop, and then try to come to terms with it. Because I'm not going to be quitting any time soon, and I would hate to lose your friendship because of my job."
She looked up at him, her eyes showing no signs of giving in. He walked to the door, and opened it, then paused.
"But," he said softly, "I will, if I have to."
Xander left her room, and headed upstairs to Gunn's.
He walked in without knocking.
"Hey," he said. Gunn was bouncing a tennis ball off his wall.
"Little blonde girl's got some messed up ideas, man," Gunn said.
"Yeah," Xander said. "I hear you defended me down there."
"Just said what needed saying."
"Still, standing up to a slayer is never a fun thing to do. I should know."
"And?" Gunn said.
"And... thanks. For saying whatever it was you said. I get the feeling that people haven't stood up to Buffy in way too long. Either that or she changed into an uber-bitch while I wasn't looking."
"Sure she wasn't always?" Gunn asked.
Xander laughed. "There were times..." he said. "But overall, no. Buffy was one of my best friends in high school. She saved my life more times than I can count, and I owe her for that. She wasn't always kind, and didn't always make the best decisions, but she was rarely as irrational as she's been since she showed up here."
"Tryin' to make me like her?"
"No," Xander said. "You know I wouldn't do that. And I just told her not to make me pick between her and my job, cuz she'd lose. I just came here to thank a friend."
Gunn looked up at him, nodded, and they yet again exchanged their overly- complicated handshake, after which Xander left the room.
"Okay, I'm going home," he said when he again reached the lobby. "I gotta be up way early tomorrow. I got training for SWAT."
"Is that what they were here for?" Wesley asked.
"Yep. I get a little more money and a lot more work, and I have to go through more training. But, it'll be worth it."
"Congrats, man," Faith said.
Xander nodded his thanks as he yawned.
"I'll be back around in a few days," he said. "How long are you guys staying?"
"Until we get things figured out," Willow said. "There's another Hellmouth in Cleveland that needs looking after, and we have Slayers to find and train, and funding to work out, and figure out who needs to go where and how we're going to do all of this and I think we'll probably be here at least a few weeks and maybe more because we really don't know where our funding is going to come from and I still have to research the scythe and everything but generally we'll be here for a while."
Xander laughed, and grabbed Willow into a rough hug. "I missed that, you crazy redhead. Okay, I'm out. Goodnight, folks."
"Xander!" Dawn yelled, stopping him at the door.
"Yeah?"
She ran up to him and gave him a big hug. "I missed you."
"Missed you too, Dawnie," he said. He kissed her on the top of her head, then walked out and drove home.
- - - - -
"Harris, you're here early," Hondo said the next morning.
"Traffic was lighter than I expected," he said.
Hondo smiled. That was the second time he'd heard that.
"And call me Xander, if you would."
"I'll call you Xander when you pass my test."
"Fair enough. What's up first?"
"Firing range," Hondo said. "Gotta test your accuracy."
- - - - -
"This is incredible," Hondo said, looking at the target. "You're one of the best shots I've ever seen."
Xander shrugged. "I grew up on video games."
Hondo shook his head. "This might challenge Street," he said. "We'll have to check. But first, the sniper range."
Hondo folded up the target and led Xander to the long-range target zone, where Street and David 'Deke' Kay were waiting for him. After a quick introduction, Hondo handed Xander a rifle.
Xander checked his gun out, and adjusted a few settings, and took aim.
"You have thirty seconds to study the board," Hondo said, indicating a few planks of wood up on top of a large hill that had playing cards stapled to it. When time was up he gave Xander further instructions. "I want the best hand you can find. You have five shots and ten seconds, and Street and Deke will be taking their best shots, too. Timing starts as soon as you fire."
Xander nodded, lined up his first shot and squeezed the trigger five times in quick succession, almost in unison with Deke and Street. Hondo looked through his binoculars and saw holes appear in fifteen playing cards that were up the side of a mountain from them.
"What'd you get?" he asked of his two best snipers.
"Man, I didn't get shit," Deke said. "He took some of my cards. I got a four, two sixes, an eight and a queen."
"Street?" Hondo asked.
"Two pair. Nines and jacks, plus a king."
Hondo brought his binoculars up to his face and looked at the cards. "Damn," he said. "Aces and eights, full house. Very nice, Harris. Now, let's go see if you actually did beat Street on the range."
The group went back inside and checked Xander's target sheet against the one hanging under the sign that said 'Best Single Clip.'
"Nope," Street said. "I still got the record."
"What can I say?" Xander said, smiling at the man. "I was a little tired."
Xander spent the next week and a half running through tests and drills, some alone, some with the other members of Hondo's team. Whole passed the tests with room to spare, and the whole team was tested again on the tenth day. They pulled the plane run, as the others had in their first certification, and finished it in three minutes and eighteen seconds, just shy of the course record that had been set by Hondo's earlier team. Only this time they didn't lose anybody.
After the test, Xander went back to the Hyperion. Much of the group was in the lobby, going over papers or just talking. Buffy was nowhere to be seen. Xander snuck up behind Willow.
"Guess who!" he said, covering her eyes with his hands.
"Xander," she said.
"Yeah... but guess again," he said.
"Xander," she said again.
"Ah, you've found me out," he said, smiling "What's going on around here?"
"Slayer finding and budget crunching," she said.
"Wow. Am I ever glad I didn't stick around for that."
"Ah, but you're here now," she said.
"Yes, but leaving again. I'm wiped from the tests," he said. "We passed our qualification today. As of tomorrow morning, I am officially a member of SWAT."
"Xander, that's great!" Willow said, giving him a hug.
"Thanks," he said.
"What's all the commotion?" Gunn asked, coming into the lobby.
"Xander made SWAT," Willow said, her grin a mile wide.
"All right, I knew you could do it, bro," Gunn said.
"Yes, I do believe congratulations are in order," said Giles.
"Giles!" Xander said, noticing the watcher for the first time and pulling the older man into a friendly hug. "I missed you the other day. How's it going?"
"I'm doing as well as can be expected, I suppose," Giles said. "A little worn around the edges, but over all not bad."
"Great," Xander said, smiling.
"Xander?" came a voice from the balcony. A few people looked up and saw Buffy standing there. "Can I talk to you?"
Xander smiled at Willow, then made his way up the stairs. He and Buffy ducked into a room to talk.
"Okay," she said. "I've been thinking about what you said, and I don't know why I reacted like I did. I do know that I don't like you being a cop, but I also know that police are necessary. And I don't know how to reconcile the two."
"Okay," Xander said.
"But, I also don't want to lose your friendship," she said. "And I don't know how to do both, because the thought of you out there, taking shots at people, getting shot at sometimes, it just, it makes me want to barf or something. But, you've never not been my friend."
Xander said nothing.
"So," she said. "I don't know where we stand."
"Well," Xander said. "I appreciate your honesty. And I don't know what to tell you, except that I also don't want to lose your friendship, either. I like you, Buff, but you can't go around yelling at people because of what you think is right. I'm not one of your troops."
"I know that, Xander," she said.
"But?"
"But I don't want you to be a cop."
"You don't have a choice on that one."
"I know."
Xander sighed. "Look," he said. "Can you, for now, put aside your hatred of my job? So that, at the least, we can be in the same room and not get into a screaming match?"
"I can try," she said. "If you don't bring up work-related subjects."
"I'll do my best," he said.
"Friends?" she asked.
Xander smiled. "Friends."
They walked out of the room.
"So," Xander asked when they got back downstairs. "What's the plan shaping up to be?"
"Well, we have decided we need a presence on the Hellmouth in Cleveland," Giles said. "And, with the help of Wolfram and Hart, we have seized much of the assets of the Watcher's council, so that will make things much easier. Buffy and I, along with many of the new slayers, will relocate there. We will start a school, of sorts, to train new watchers and slayers."
"Sounds like a plan," Xander said. "Who else is going?"
"I am," Willow said. "Kennedy and I are both going."
"City of Angels for me," said Faith. "We figure, keep me as close to the cutthroat lawyers as possible. Also, I can help Angel out with stuff."
"I, unfortunately, will be accompanying the slayers to Cleveland," said Wood.
"Unfortunately?" Xander asked.
"Mr. Giles has convinced me that my skills and knowledge would be useful as a Watcher, and trainer of Watchers. Unfortunately, that means leaving Faith behind to tend for herself. I will, however, be making fairly regular visits."
"Don't go gettin' too up on yourself," Faith said, smiling. "Just cuz you're hot and good in bed don't mean you own my ass."
Xander laughed.
"I'm staying, too," Dawn said. "School's good here, LA's a better environment than Cleveland... but what isn't, really?"
Xander looked at Buffy. "Don't want her on the Hellmouth?"
"Not a chance," Buffy said.
Xander nodded. "I get that. You realize she's going to wrap Angel around her finger until he lets her help."
"Yeah, but the deciding factor is that here, she won't have to deal with a bunch of PMS'ing slayers," Buffy said.
"Ooh, good call Dawnie," he said.
Dawn just grinned at him.
"Wes, you going to Cleveland too? Training Watchers in your future?"
"No," he said. "I shall be staying here. Angel still needs somebody who can translate demon languages and interpret prophecies."
Xander nodded. "Okay. How long are the rest of you staying?"
"Another couple of weeks," Giles said. "Robin and I shall be flying out to Cleveland in a day or two to find an appropriate property, and probably have some work done on it."
Xander nodded. "Two weeks. Well, I'll just have to make the most of the time I've got."
"Yes," Willow said, smiling at her friend. "We all will."
----------
End Chapter 3
"What?" Gunn nearly yelled. "You're not serious."
"Did I ask you your opinion?" Buffy said.
"No, but you're gettin' it anyway," said Gunn. "Xander used to talk about you like you were God's gift. You were Buffy, this great girl who stole his heart, but never kept it. You were his hero. I think he even told you that once. You shoulda heard him and Angel go on and on about the wonderful Buffy. But if you're the same girl he talked about, you've changed a lot, and for the worse."
"I don't think you can—"
"I wasn't finished!" Gunn yelled, slamming his drink down on the counter, cracking the bottle. Everybody, even Angel, was surprised by the force in his voice. Buffy backed down a little. "Xander is a good friend of mine, and more than that, he's a good man. He's not perfect, none of us are, but he does the best he can. Does he endanger human lives? You better believe it. But it's not as cut and dry as that.
"What he does helps stop innocent people from getting hurt. It helps put criminals off the street, and makes this city safer. Not from demons, or some big evil, but from people who want to hurt others. He may not have mystical powers, or be able to move things with his mind, but doing what he does, he damn sure makes life in LA just a little bit better. So take a step back. Figure out what the hell you think is so important that you're willing to publicly berate and humiliate a man you used to call a friend for doing his best to help people."
Buffy started to talk very quietly but forcefully. "Human life is not something that can just be—"
"Humans be damned!" Gunn said. "If you spent any time at all on the streets, you would know just how much someone like him is needed. You think demons and vamps are bad? Try running every night from pimps, gang bangers and rapists who'd just as soon slit your throat as look at you. People got souls, yeah, but a soul doesn't make people good. It gives 'em the option. They have to take it."
"I did spend time on the streets," Buffy said. "Five years ago, I lived here in LA, and saw the worst people have to offer."
"Well obviously it didn't sink in," Gunn said. "Either that, or you're the densest person I've ever met."
Gunn stalked off in anger, slamming doors behind him as he went. The lobby was silent. With impeccable timing, Xander chose that moment to enter.
"Hey guys," he said, glancing around at the timid faces around the lobby. "Where's Gunn?"
Buffy snorted, and walked off, also slamming doors as she went.
"I'm thinking I missed something," Xander said.
"Gunn took it upon himself to chew out Buffy for being what he felt was rather... obstinate," said Wesley.
"She was being a bitch," Dawn said.
"Dawn!" scolded Willow.
"Well, she was," Faith said. "Girl needs to learn some perspective. Some of the people I met in prison were worse than most vamps. Well. Some vamps. A few, anyway..."
"Speaking of," Xander said. "I should really be arresting you and taking you back to prison."
The room grew silent.
"Oh," he said. "I'm not going to do it, I was just mentioning that I should. And you should probably lay low. Staying here is fine, but Street sort of recognized you. Just a warning."
"Thanks," Faith said, brow creased in concern.
"Actually," said Angel, "we're going to be working on getting her clemency. You wouldn't believe the amount of influence Wolfram and Hart has."
Xander looked at him pointedly.
"Okay, well, I guess YOU would. But most other people.... Anyway, you're not gonna say anything?"
Xander shook his head, then sighed. "I guess I better go do some damage control."
"Slipping into old roles, huh?" Angel asked.
Xander shrugged. "Once a comfortador, always a comfortador. Where's her room?"
"308," Dawn said.
"Thanks. If I die, make sure Gunn gets the battle-axe on my wall," he said with a smile, then headed upstairs.
He knocked on Buffy's door.
"What?" came the answer.
Xander shook his head and walked in.
"What do you want?" she asked.
"What's up with you?" he asked bluntly.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"No? Okay, good. Then you're not going psycho on me. Buff, I've been a cop for four years. What's bugging you about it now?"
"I never really thought about it before," she said. "But you're putting people in danger. Including yourself."
He sighed, and sat down on her bed. "So... what? You don't think there should be police officers? Just let everyone fend for themselves?"
"No," she said. "Police are a good thing."
"Okay... hypocrite much? So, what, you like cops, but not me as a cop, is that it?"
"I... I don't know," she said.
"Well think about it," he said. "What you said was wrong, Buffy. You know as well as any of us that human beings are capable of evil. Or do I need to remind you how Tara died?"
Buffy winced at that. Xander stood back up.
"My job is just to try to keep things like that from happening, and when they do happen, my job is to catch the people who do them. I put their lives in danger in search of the greater good. I don't know where your belief about a soul equaling somebody being good came from, but I can tell you without hesitation that you are wrong. So think about why you don't like me being a cop, and then try to come to terms with it. Because I'm not going to be quitting any time soon, and I would hate to lose your friendship because of my job."
She looked up at him, her eyes showing no signs of giving in. He walked to the door, and opened it, then paused.
"But," he said softly, "I will, if I have to."
Xander left her room, and headed upstairs to Gunn's.
He walked in without knocking.
"Hey," he said. Gunn was bouncing a tennis ball off his wall.
"Little blonde girl's got some messed up ideas, man," Gunn said.
"Yeah," Xander said. "I hear you defended me down there."
"Just said what needed saying."
"Still, standing up to a slayer is never a fun thing to do. I should know."
"And?" Gunn said.
"And... thanks. For saying whatever it was you said. I get the feeling that people haven't stood up to Buffy in way too long. Either that or she changed into an uber-bitch while I wasn't looking."
"Sure she wasn't always?" Gunn asked.
Xander laughed. "There were times..." he said. "But overall, no. Buffy was one of my best friends in high school. She saved my life more times than I can count, and I owe her for that. She wasn't always kind, and didn't always make the best decisions, but she was rarely as irrational as she's been since she showed up here."
"Tryin' to make me like her?"
"No," Xander said. "You know I wouldn't do that. And I just told her not to make me pick between her and my job, cuz she'd lose. I just came here to thank a friend."
Gunn looked up at him, nodded, and they yet again exchanged their overly- complicated handshake, after which Xander left the room.
"Okay, I'm going home," he said when he again reached the lobby. "I gotta be up way early tomorrow. I got training for SWAT."
"Is that what they were here for?" Wesley asked.
"Yep. I get a little more money and a lot more work, and I have to go through more training. But, it'll be worth it."
"Congrats, man," Faith said.
Xander nodded his thanks as he yawned.
"I'll be back around in a few days," he said. "How long are you guys staying?"
"Until we get things figured out," Willow said. "There's another Hellmouth in Cleveland that needs looking after, and we have Slayers to find and train, and funding to work out, and figure out who needs to go where and how we're going to do all of this and I think we'll probably be here at least a few weeks and maybe more because we really don't know where our funding is going to come from and I still have to research the scythe and everything but generally we'll be here for a while."
Xander laughed, and grabbed Willow into a rough hug. "I missed that, you crazy redhead. Okay, I'm out. Goodnight, folks."
"Xander!" Dawn yelled, stopping him at the door.
"Yeah?"
She ran up to him and gave him a big hug. "I missed you."
"Missed you too, Dawnie," he said. He kissed her on the top of her head, then walked out and drove home.
- - - - -
"Harris, you're here early," Hondo said the next morning.
"Traffic was lighter than I expected," he said.
Hondo smiled. That was the second time he'd heard that.
"And call me Xander, if you would."
"I'll call you Xander when you pass my test."
"Fair enough. What's up first?"
"Firing range," Hondo said. "Gotta test your accuracy."
- - - - -
"This is incredible," Hondo said, looking at the target. "You're one of the best shots I've ever seen."
Xander shrugged. "I grew up on video games."
Hondo shook his head. "This might challenge Street," he said. "We'll have to check. But first, the sniper range."
Hondo folded up the target and led Xander to the long-range target zone, where Street and David 'Deke' Kay were waiting for him. After a quick introduction, Hondo handed Xander a rifle.
Xander checked his gun out, and adjusted a few settings, and took aim.
"You have thirty seconds to study the board," Hondo said, indicating a few planks of wood up on top of a large hill that had playing cards stapled to it. When time was up he gave Xander further instructions. "I want the best hand you can find. You have five shots and ten seconds, and Street and Deke will be taking their best shots, too. Timing starts as soon as you fire."
Xander nodded, lined up his first shot and squeezed the trigger five times in quick succession, almost in unison with Deke and Street. Hondo looked through his binoculars and saw holes appear in fifteen playing cards that were up the side of a mountain from them.
"What'd you get?" he asked of his two best snipers.
"Man, I didn't get shit," Deke said. "He took some of my cards. I got a four, two sixes, an eight and a queen."
"Street?" Hondo asked.
"Two pair. Nines and jacks, plus a king."
Hondo brought his binoculars up to his face and looked at the cards. "Damn," he said. "Aces and eights, full house. Very nice, Harris. Now, let's go see if you actually did beat Street on the range."
The group went back inside and checked Xander's target sheet against the one hanging under the sign that said 'Best Single Clip.'
"Nope," Street said. "I still got the record."
"What can I say?" Xander said, smiling at the man. "I was a little tired."
Xander spent the next week and a half running through tests and drills, some alone, some with the other members of Hondo's team. Whole passed the tests with room to spare, and the whole team was tested again on the tenth day. They pulled the plane run, as the others had in their first certification, and finished it in three minutes and eighteen seconds, just shy of the course record that had been set by Hondo's earlier team. Only this time they didn't lose anybody.
After the test, Xander went back to the Hyperion. Much of the group was in the lobby, going over papers or just talking. Buffy was nowhere to be seen. Xander snuck up behind Willow.
"Guess who!" he said, covering her eyes with his hands.
"Xander," she said.
"Yeah... but guess again," he said.
"Xander," she said again.
"Ah, you've found me out," he said, smiling "What's going on around here?"
"Slayer finding and budget crunching," she said.
"Wow. Am I ever glad I didn't stick around for that."
"Ah, but you're here now," she said.
"Yes, but leaving again. I'm wiped from the tests," he said. "We passed our qualification today. As of tomorrow morning, I am officially a member of SWAT."
"Xander, that's great!" Willow said, giving him a hug.
"Thanks," he said.
"What's all the commotion?" Gunn asked, coming into the lobby.
"Xander made SWAT," Willow said, her grin a mile wide.
"All right, I knew you could do it, bro," Gunn said.
"Yes, I do believe congratulations are in order," said Giles.
"Giles!" Xander said, noticing the watcher for the first time and pulling the older man into a friendly hug. "I missed you the other day. How's it going?"
"I'm doing as well as can be expected, I suppose," Giles said. "A little worn around the edges, but over all not bad."
"Great," Xander said, smiling.
"Xander?" came a voice from the balcony. A few people looked up and saw Buffy standing there. "Can I talk to you?"
Xander smiled at Willow, then made his way up the stairs. He and Buffy ducked into a room to talk.
"Okay," she said. "I've been thinking about what you said, and I don't know why I reacted like I did. I do know that I don't like you being a cop, but I also know that police are necessary. And I don't know how to reconcile the two."
"Okay," Xander said.
"But, I also don't want to lose your friendship," she said. "And I don't know how to do both, because the thought of you out there, taking shots at people, getting shot at sometimes, it just, it makes me want to barf or something. But, you've never not been my friend."
Xander said nothing.
"So," she said. "I don't know where we stand."
"Well," Xander said. "I appreciate your honesty. And I don't know what to tell you, except that I also don't want to lose your friendship, either. I like you, Buff, but you can't go around yelling at people because of what you think is right. I'm not one of your troops."
"I know that, Xander," she said.
"But?"
"But I don't want you to be a cop."
"You don't have a choice on that one."
"I know."
Xander sighed. "Look," he said. "Can you, for now, put aside your hatred of my job? So that, at the least, we can be in the same room and not get into a screaming match?"
"I can try," she said. "If you don't bring up work-related subjects."
"I'll do my best," he said.
"Friends?" she asked.
Xander smiled. "Friends."
They walked out of the room.
"So," Xander asked when they got back downstairs. "What's the plan shaping up to be?"
"Well, we have decided we need a presence on the Hellmouth in Cleveland," Giles said. "And, with the help of Wolfram and Hart, we have seized much of the assets of the Watcher's council, so that will make things much easier. Buffy and I, along with many of the new slayers, will relocate there. We will start a school, of sorts, to train new watchers and slayers."
"Sounds like a plan," Xander said. "Who else is going?"
"I am," Willow said. "Kennedy and I are both going."
"City of Angels for me," said Faith. "We figure, keep me as close to the cutthroat lawyers as possible. Also, I can help Angel out with stuff."
"I, unfortunately, will be accompanying the slayers to Cleveland," said Wood.
"Unfortunately?" Xander asked.
"Mr. Giles has convinced me that my skills and knowledge would be useful as a Watcher, and trainer of Watchers. Unfortunately, that means leaving Faith behind to tend for herself. I will, however, be making fairly regular visits."
"Don't go gettin' too up on yourself," Faith said, smiling. "Just cuz you're hot and good in bed don't mean you own my ass."
Xander laughed.
"I'm staying, too," Dawn said. "School's good here, LA's a better environment than Cleveland... but what isn't, really?"
Xander looked at Buffy. "Don't want her on the Hellmouth?"
"Not a chance," Buffy said.
Xander nodded. "I get that. You realize she's going to wrap Angel around her finger until he lets her help."
"Yeah, but the deciding factor is that here, she won't have to deal with a bunch of PMS'ing slayers," Buffy said.
"Ooh, good call Dawnie," he said.
Dawn just grinned at him.
"Wes, you going to Cleveland too? Training Watchers in your future?"
"No," he said. "I shall be staying here. Angel still needs somebody who can translate demon languages and interpret prophecies."
Xander nodded. "Okay. How long are the rest of you staying?"
"Another couple of weeks," Giles said. "Robin and I shall be flying out to Cleveland in a day or two to find an appropriate property, and probably have some work done on it."
Xander nodded. "Two weeks. Well, I'll just have to make the most of the time I've got."
"Yes," Willow said, smiling at her friend. "We all will."
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End Chapter 3