(Hello?) answered a cheery voice on the other end.
"Hi, I'm looking for the Cleveland Institute of Demon Slaying. Is this the right number?"
(Xander! It's so good to hear from you. How are you?)
"I'm good, Will," he said. "How are things on your end?"
(Pretty good) said Willow. (The kids have pretty much recovered from the demon attack. I don't think we realized how big a magnet for evil thingies a house full of Slayers would be.)
"Yeah, Faith told me some of the girls got injured," Xander said, able to picture the redheaded witch's nose wrinkle at the mention of the younger slayer. "And don't be like that, Will. She's on a good path."
(What? I didn't do anything.)
"Uh huh. Sure."
(Okay fine, Mr. Pushy-pants. I'm still not entirely comfortable with her being in such close proximity to you and Dawnie.)
"Well, she's been fine," Xander said. "And I'm in an 'innocent until proven guilty' mood."
(Xander, she was proven guilty. Remember? Trial? Prison? Confession? That whole thing?)
"Right. Uh… well, then how about I'm giving her a second chance?"
Willow sighed. (Fine. But if she kills you, I get to say I told you so.)
"And I'm sure my corpse will be sufficiently embarrassed." Xander coughed to clear his throat. "Hey, uh, I talked to Angel earlier."
(Uh huh?)
"Have you, you know, talked to Buffy recently about… well, about the uh… about Dawn?"
(Noooo) Willow said. (I think she's been talking to Giles about Dawn some, though. Why?)
"Well, Angel said something about Buffy uh… wanting to make me Dawn's co-guardian."
There was an expectant silence. (And…?) Willow said, eventually.
"And? AND?!? Willow, I'm not cut out to be anybody's guardian."
(Okay, first? Dawn barely needs any guardianship anyway. She's pretty grown up on her own. And second, Xander, yes you are. You're all responsible and stuff.)
"I'm not responsible. Do you know how often I lock myself out of my apartment?"
(Xander, it's not the same thing) Willow protested. (Dawnie is way more important to you than getting into your apartment, I know you wouldn't screw up something like that. And anyway, I bet you have somewhere pretty close that has a key, don't you?)
"I… how did you know that?"
(Xander, you're not stupid. You learn from your mistakes.)
Xander sighed.
(Look, just don't write it off, okay? Give it some thought?)
"I know," he said. "Actually, I called to talk to Buffy about this."
(Oh) Willow said. (Well, she's not exactly here.)
"Patrol?"
(Date, actually.)
"Ah," Xander said. "How's she doing?"
(Actually, she's doing a lot better) said Willow. (She's, you know, relaxed. Doesn't snap at people, er… much. There was like a week there where she kind of didn't come out of her room much, and some of the girls said they thought they heard crying, and I went to check on her but she said she was okay, but then she still didn't really interact for a few days, but she hasn't really been after people since that, and I think maybe she had a catharsis or something because she's pretty relaxed now and I think she's going to be okay.)
There was dead silence on the line for a moment.
"Willow?"
(Yeah?)
"That was by far the most adorable phone babble…"
(Oh, shut up.)
Xander laughed. "Well, could you have her call me tomorrow?"
(Yeah, of course Willow said.)
"Okay. I'm gonna hit the hay. G'nite Will."
(Night, Xan.)
"Okay," Xander said. "And that's all they need?"
"Yeah," Angel said, looking over the form once more. "Jeez, I thought they'd at least need a signature or something. Xander Harris, you are now the emergency contact for Dawn Summers. That was easier than it had any right to be."
"Don't jinx us now," Xander said, checking his watch.
"What did Buffy say?" Angel asked.
"Haven't talked to her, yet," said Xander, shaking his head.
"You really should call," Angel said.
"Oh, I did. She was out o… uh. Out." Xander shifted uncomfortably.
Angel raised an eyebrow but let the unsaid comment remain that way.
"Anyway, she's supposed to call me today," Xander said. "I figure then I can talk some sense into her head."
"Sense?" Faith asked, walking into Angel's office. "In Buffy? Hey, I got a bridge I want to sell you."
Both Angel and Xander suppressed laughs and turned to the Slayer.
"What's up?" Angel asked.
"Nothin'," Faith said. "Saw a couple of my guys in here, figured I'd say hey."
"Your guys, huh?" Xander asked.
Faith shrugged, and smiled. "So what are you trying to talk sense into Buffy about?" he asked.
"Yeah," Angel said. "I wasn't entirely clear on that either."
"Oh come on," Xander said. "Buffy… Dawn… wanting me to be co-guardian… any of this familiar to you?"
"Yeah," Angel said. "But what kind of sense does Buffy need to be talked into?"
Faith looked on with interest.
"Oh come on!" Xander said. "I'm not cut out to be anybody's guardian."
"Why is that, exactly?" Angel asked.
Xander was slack jawed. "You're not serious," he said.
"Don't I look serious?"
"With hair like that it's a toss up," Xander said.
Angel glared.
"Okay, fine," Xander said. "I didn't go to college. My father was what passes for the town drunk, and my mom wasn't a whole lot better. I barely finished high school, and, hell, the only reason I even made it that far was because a little red-headed girl took a liking to me, and shared her bag lunch with me."
Angel and Faith continued to look at him, expectantly. He looked right back.
"Well?" Angel asked after a few more seconds of silence.
"Well, what?" Xander asked.
"Is that all?" Faith asked.
"Is that all? Isn't that enough?"
"No," they said together.
Xander looked at them as if they were crazy.
"Xander," Angel said, "you're not your father. I never met the man, but… if half of what you and Cordy have said is true, it is obvious that you're not like him. At all. You're a police officer. You protect people everyday. You're in a position of responsibility, and you handle it well. You're smarter than you give yourself credit for. And most importantly, you show more love for the people you consider family – which, I might point out, already includes Dawn – than anybody I have ever met."
"Yeah," Faith added. "Shit, if I had kids, I'd feel great about leavin' 'em with you."
Xander looked at Faith, sincerely touched by her words. "You mean that?" he asked.
"Hell yeah, X," she said. "You're one of the best guys I know. Which, granted, ain't sayin' a lot, but still, ya know?"
"Yeah," Xander said. He sat back in his chair. "That's maybe the nicest thing anyone ever said to me."
"Well, Jesus, Xander," Angel said. "Faith trusts her hypothetical kids with you. Buffy is trusting her sister with you. Her real sister with you. And you guys aren't even getting along right now. Don't you think that says something?"
Xander frowned. "Huh."
"Oz!" Angel yelled.
Xander and Faith turned to see the black-haired musician stop, back up and walk to the door. "Yeah?" Oz asked.
"You trust your kids with Xander?"
Oz raised an eyebrow. "Don't have any kids."
"If you did?" Angel asked.
"Yeah, sure. Why?"
"No reason," Angel said. "Headed somewhere?"
Oz pointed outside. "Devon's in town. Pickin' me up in a few, we're gonna hang."
The trio in Angel's office waved to Oz, who waved back and resumed his trot out of the hotel.
"And you cheated with his girlfriend," Angel pointed out after he was sure Oz was out of hearing range.
"Ah, see! There's another reason," Xander said. "I cheat."
Angel rolled his eyes. "You were seventeen. You can't pick out every mistake in your life and say 'see, that's why I'm not good enough.'"
"Past earnings are no indication of future success," Faith said.
They looked at her.
"I was watching TV, stock commercials are everywhere," she defended.
"Anyway," Angle continued, "nobody expects you to be perfect, or even to be like a surrogate father for Dawn. I'm sure that what Buffy wants is more of a big brother thing… just for you to be there when Dawn needs you."
"Not like you wouldn't do that anyway," said Faith.
"Yeah but –"
"Tell you what," Faith said. "Ask Dawn what she thinks. It's her life, she should have a say. See if she wants you as her guardian. I mean, she's old enough, right?"
Xander blinked. Angel picked up his phone and dialed Dawn's room.
"Hey, could you come down to my office for a minute? No, it's nothing bad. Great, thanks."
Angel smiled. "She's on her way down," he said.
"I got that much," said Xander. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat waiting for the young girl – scratch that, the young woman, to decide if she trusted Xander enough.
"Hey, chill," Faith said, leaning forward and patting Xander on the back.
The trio sat there in Angel's office, silent.
"What's up?" Dawn said when she popped into the office. "You guys look like somebody died. Oh, god, did somebody die?"
"No, everyone's fine," Angel said with a reassuring smile.
"Okay. So what's going on?"
"Have a seat," Xander said, as he himself stood.
"I'll stand, thanks," said Dawn, crossing her arms over her chest. "Somebody wanna fill me in?"
"Okay," Angel said. "Well, we've set up Xander as your emergency contact for school, uh, which was what Buffy wanted."
"Okay…" Dawn said. "Is that it?"
Angel looked pointedly at Xander.
"See, it's like this," Xander said. "Your sister thought it would be easier for you if you had somebody in town who could, you know, sign things… because you're not old enough yet, technically. You know, like, a legal guardian."
"Right," Dawn said. "So basically, she doesn't want to have to deal with me anymore."
"No, Dawn," Angel said. "That didn't come into the conversation at any time."
"And it's a valid point," Faith said. "If my watcher hadn't emancipated me from my mom back in Southie, I would have been given over to the state. You know, if they coulda found me."
"And held you," Xander said.
"That too," Faith said. "Anyway, my life coulda been… well, it kinda was hell. What I mean is, if I had been, you know, vaguely normal? Woulda sucked not having a guardian cuz uh… field trips and… help me out here."
"Anyway, the point is, it really does benefit you to have a legal guardian in town," Angel said.
"So, what?" Dawn asked. "Is Buffy coming back?"
"No," said Angel. "She thinks you're pretty much old enough to make most decisions on your own, but she wanted somebody in town, in case of emergency. The three of us have been discussing it, and we were wondering who, given the choice, you would want as your guardian."
"Xander," Dawn said immediately.
Angel and Faith smiled.
"Why?" Xander asked, his face serious.
"Well, along with you being emergency contact, that means I get the hottie in uniform to come pick me up at school when I get in fights."
"When?" Xander asked sternly. "Dawn…"
"Also," said Dawn continuing, "I trust you. You'll do what's in my best interest most of the time, but still let me, you know, do my own thing. Make mistakes and whatever. You'll help me without suffocating me."
Angel looked pointedly at Xander again.
"I'm still going to talk to Buffy about this," Xander said.
"What?" Dawn asked.
"Big sis also chose Boy Toy," Faith said. "He's been a little… what's the word?"
"Lacking confidence," Angel said.
"Really?" Dawn asked. "Aren't you and Buffy not getting along?"
"Yeah," Angel said. "But she said that's not going to stop her from doing what's best for you, and she thinks that means making Xander co-guardian."
"She… said that?" Dawn asked, hope clearly evident in her eyes.
"Pretty much verbatim," Angel said. "Only… with 'I' instead of 'she.' And 'me' instead of 'her.' And 'Dawn' –"
"We get it, geez," Xander said. "Anyway. We just wanted to run that by you. And we all really do want what's best for you, including your sister."
Dawn smiled at him and nodded.
"Okay," Xander said, looking at his watch. "I've got to –" His beeper went off. "Uh. Probably go shoot some people. I'll see you guys later."
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End Chapter 15