A scream resonated from the foyer of the one of the buildings (read: mansions) Giles had purchased using Council funds. Buffy recognized the scream as Willow's, and dropped what she was doing to sprint for the front of the building, wondering what was wrong. Buffy ran through the kitchen and a couple of corridors, and came to a screeching halt when she realized what had happened.
A smile blossomed on her face.
"Heya, Buff," Xander said, smiling as he maintained a hold on his red-headed best friend, who was bouncing excitedly.
"Hi," Buffy said, approaching the man tentatively.
"How are you?" Xander asked.
"Pretty good," she said, nodding slowly.
Xander smiled, released the redhead and wrapped Buffy in a big hug.
"I cannot believe you left me to bring in all the bags," Dawn said as she trudged in the door carrying a couple of suitcases.
"Hey, I told you this wasn't a free ride back in L.A.," Xander said, smiling at the girl.
"I didn't think you meant manual labor!" Dawn protested.
"Exploiting my sister?" Buffy asked, moving to hug the younger girl before Willow could get there. "Hey, Dawn."
"Hi, Buffy," she said, smiling at her sibling.
"Ah, you know," Xander said. "Kids are the best type of labor. Free work, don't have to pay 'em, make 'em work all hours…"
"That's horrible, Xander," Willow said, taking her chance to hug Dawn.
"So what are you guys doing here?" Buffy asked. "Don't you have work?"
"Yeah, Xander," Dawn said. "Don't you have work?"
"Heh. About that. My team kind of got suspended for acting outside the chain of command… so I thought, what the hell? Might as well see the new Hellmouth."
"Well, we have to celebrate," said Willow.
"Yes, celebrate, definitely," Buffy said. "And we need to tell Giles. He's around here somewhere, I'm sure."
"And we're not just here for a vacation," Xander said. "Like you said last night, I got Angel to have his people draw up those papers… they're from Wolfram and Hart though, so Wes looked at them. He said they're fine, but thought we should get Giles and maybe another lawyer to look over them."
"Oh," Buffy said. "Yeah, good. Okay. Well, we can deal with that later. How long are you guys in town?"
"Just three or four days," Xander said. "Even though I'm suspended, we're still training. Actually, Angel's gonna be training the guys. Everybody wanted to learn about vampires and everything, and we figured it couldn't hurt, so…"
"SWAT team vampire hunters," Willow said. "That sounds really cool. We could have used some of them in Sunnydale."
"Yeah," Xander said. "Especially since a shotgun at close range can just take a head right off. That'll get 'em dusty."
"So," Dawn said. "Are there rooms we can stay in?"
"Of course!" Buffy said. "Come on, we'll take you guys up, give you the tour, and then find Giles and go out to dinner, how's that sound?"
"Fine by me," Xander said.
"Great!" said Willow
Buffy and Willow led Xander and Dawn through the house, pointing out some of the cooler features, such as an honest-to-God secret passage that led from the library to the master bedroom, and to the wine cellar in the basement. Finding a couple of open rooms proved to be no problem – the mansion had thirty-seven bedrooms and nowhere near that many slayers yet.
The tour continued through the kitchen, which Willow and Buffy called 'Andrew's Sanctuary.' Xander had still, somehow, yet to meet the young man who was, by all accounts, a whining, annoying brat who just happened to be a genius with demonic languages… and very likely the biggest geek they had ever met.
After the tour, Buffy called Giles' cell phone – the phone they had forced him to buy – and told him that he was urgently needed back at the mansion. When Giles arrived, driving a sporty new Mercedes, he ran inside full of worry. When he saw the group sitting there, chatting calmly, he berated Buffy for alarming him while at the same time graciously greeting Dawn and Xander to Cleveland.
"So," Xander said as Giles drove them towards a restaurant. Xander sat in the back of the car between Willow and Buffy, with Dawn and Giles in the front seat. "That guy, Robin. He around much?"
"Oh, yes, he's generally very involved in everything that goes on," Giles said. "I believe he is out today looking for some specialized equipment we need."
Xander nodded.
"Why?" Willow asked, suspiciously.
"Oh, I just didn't know him, you know?" Xander said with a smile. "Was just wondering about his level of involvement."
"He's very useful," Buffy said. "Even if he does occasionally grate on the nerves."
"So, Buff," Xander said. "I hear you've got yourself a new guy, huh."
Buffy blushed. "Yeah, sort of, I guess," she said. "He's fun, but it's not really serious."
"And Will," Xander said, "how are things with you and Kennedy?"
"They're pretty good," Willow said. "She's great, you know, lots of fun. And the tongue ring…"
"A tongue ring," Xander said. "Now that's interesting. Very interesting indeed."
"He wants to know if he can watch," Dawn said.
"Dawn!" yelled everyone else in the car.
"What? He does!"
Xander and Willow laughed, as Buffy and Giles blushed. Dawn just rolled her eyes at the car full of prudes.
"What about you, Xander?" Buffy asked. "You got a special someone?"
"Ah, no," he said.
"Not anymore, anyway," said Dawn.
"Anymore?" Willow asked. "How come I didn't hear about this?"
"It was a very short-term thing," Xander said.
"Which didn't stop you from sleeping with her on the first date," Dawn said.
Xander just closed his eyes.
"The first date, Xan?" Willow asked. "That's uh…"
"I know," he said. "It… it was this whole thing. It's complicated. Anyway, we broke it off yesterday."
"When she punched him on the jaw inside the restaurant where he broke up with her," Dawn added.
"Thank you, Dawn, for telling everyone everything about my life," Xander said sarcastically.
"Hey, you're the one who made me haul all that luggage," she responded.
"And you still want to take on guardianship of her?" Buffy asked.
Xander grinned evilly. "You won't believe how many people will be looking for her if she breaks curfew," Xander said.
"You wouldn't," Dawn said.
"Do the letters 'A, P and B' mean anything to you?"
Dawn paled, and turned back to face out the front.
"You're evil," Willow said.
"Yeah," said Xander. "It's fun."
A few minutes later, Giles pulled into the parking lot of a nice restaurant. The group ate a good meal, filled with reminiscences and anecdotes, laughter, smiles and an all around good time. Xander noticed, however, that Buffy was abnormally timid around him.
After dinner, they all retired back to the mansion and sat around just talking, and reminiscing. Dawn and Giles gave up for the night at around midnight, and Willow soon after that, leaving Xander and Buffy alone to talk.
"So, really, how are you doing, Buff?" Xander asked.
"Okay, I guess," Buffy said, more shyly that Xander ever remembered her speaking to him. "You know. Training. Teaching."
Xander nodded. "Well, it looks like you guys are doing a great job here. Something to really be proud of, you know?"
"Thank you," Buffy said. "How is… policing going?"
"Pretty good, except for the whole being suspended thing. That kind of sucks. But we're doing good, you know."
Buffy nodded silently, the motion rocking her whole body. The two of them sat there, silent.
"It's weird," Xander said after a minute.
"What is?" Buffy asked.
Xander waved a hand between them. "This. Us. It's…"
"Awkward," Buffy finished.
"Yeah."
"I don't want it to be," she said. "I don't want things to be strained between us. I don't want… "
"Why me?" Xander asked, suddenly.
"Why you what?"
"Dawn. Why… We never really talked about that. Why do you want me to be Dawn's guardian? Why not… somebody, I don't know… better?"
Buffy laughed. "Xander, there is nobody better," she said. "You're, you know… a responsible guy, when it's important, and I know that Dawn's important to you. You're a good man, and… I trust you."
"Thank you," Xander said, sincerely. "That means a lot to me."
"Does it?" Buffy asked.
"Buffy… of course it does," he said. "It would from anybody, but it means more coming from you."
"I thought you didn't like me anymore," she said, softly, gazing at the floor.
Deciding that this was no time for being dishonest, Xander answered her truthfully.
"It wasn't that. I… I didn't like the person you seemed to be turning into… and I know that's not the real you."
"How?" Buffy asked, turning in her chair towards him. "How do you know that that's not the real me? People change, how do you know that I'm not really this ice-cold bitch who just –"
"Because I know," Xander interrupted, shifting to more clearly face her. "I just… I know. It's one of those things. You have a good heart, Buffy. I know you do."
Xander placed his hand on her knee, which drew her eyes.
"You just need to find it is all," he said.
Buffy placed her own hand over top of his.
"Did you ever wonder," she started.
"Don't," Xander said.
Buffy looked up at him.
"You were going to ask… something about the past. About you and me, and regrets, and maybe romance," he said. It wasn't a question, but she nodded anyway. Xander shook his head. "Now is not the time for that. You're, you know, with this guy, and having to settle in here and with all this responsibility. And I'm in LA, which is like a half a country away, and I'm really just getting, you know, comfortable with… with me. And if you asked me what I think you were going to ask me, I might have had to kiss you. And neither of us needs that."
Buffy nodded and looked away, removing her hand from his.
"Buffy," he said.
She turned back to him, her eyes moist.
"I do love you."
"I know," she said. "I love you, too."
"Sometimes… things just don't work out. For whatever reason… things just don't happen."
"I know," she said. "And you're right. We don't need… that…"
Xander nodded.
"Coulda been fun, though," she said, smiling playfully.
"That it could," he said. Xander unsuccessfully tried to stifle a yawn.
"I hope that's not a commentary on my waning beauty."
"Commentary on jetlag," Xander said. "And you're as beautiful as you ever were."
Buffy blushed. "Well, then, I think that's your cue to head to bed."
"You'd be amazed how much more sleep I got once I moved to LA," he said. "Guy could almost get used to not staying up twenty-three hours a day, if it weren't for Angel calling me twice a month to kill some demon, or save some damsel, or once, just once, to go see ballet."
"That one sounds fairly normal," Buffy said.
"Yeah, but there was this whole thing with a sorcerer, and the dancers being from 1890, and these minion guys trying to kill us…"
"Typical."
The two said their goodnights, headed off for their own rooms and went to sleep.
The next morning, Xander rose before most of the house and went for a two-mile run. He returned to the mansion hungry, sweaty and wide awake, then went to take a shower, which cleaned him off and gave his hunger time to really take effect. Dressing in a wife-beater and shorts, Xander made for the kitchen, still before most of the house was awake. By the time he got there, he was ravenous. He was greeted by a young blond man with an abnormally high pitched voice.
"Hello," he said. "You must be Xander. I've heard a lot about you."
"Yeah," Xander said, holding out his hand. "Andrew, right?"
"That is correct," Andrew said, shaking Xander's hand. "And may I say what an honor it is to meet one of the founding members of the Scooby Gang?"
"Uh, sure, thanks," Xander said, a little uncomfortably. "You guys got anything to eat in this place?"
"Of course!" Andrew said, perking up. "We have lots to eat. We have donuts, and waffles, eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes… I can make pretty much anything you want. French toast, even."
"Oh, you don't have to make anything," Xander said, not noticing Andrew's face fall. "If you've got like, cereal… and maybe some coffee?"
"Coffee, sure," Andrew said. He set a pot going. "And what kind of cereal do you want?"
"What do you have?" Xander asked.
In response, Andrew walked to a cupboard and opened it, revealing copious amounts of cereal. Andrew opened the next cupboard, and the next. All three were filled to bursting with cereal.
"Slayers eat a lot, and have many varied tastes," Andrew explained.
"Lucky Charms?" Xander asked.
Incredibly, Andrew grabbed the correct box without looking, then set it down in front of Xander with a bowl and spoon.
"Banana?" Andrew asked. Xander shook his head.
"Strawberries?"
"No, thanks. How bout some milk?"
"Oh! Of course. How silly of me. What percentage?" Andrew asked, opening the fridge to reveal eight gallons of milk, four of which had not been opened.
"Uh… two percent," Xander said. Andrew grabbed the correct bottle and set it in front of Xander.
"Thanks," Xander said. "I guess you guys use a lot of milk."
"Oh, yeah," Andrew said, a little excitedly. "Everyone has their own preferences of that, too. And they drink so much. We have two more gallons of each downstairs."
"Wow," Xander said, digging into the cereal. "So, do you spend all your time shopping?"
"No," Andrew said. "Once a week I go to the local Costco and load up, bulk. Even though we haven't been here long, they already know me there. We have a good relationship. It's nice."
"That's good," Xander said, a little amused by Andrew's enthusiasm about, well, everything.
Andrew then somehow managed to turn the conversation over to comic books and engage him about the various incarnations of Spiderman. A few minutes later, three tired looking young women wearing some decidedly unflattering sleepwear dragged themselves into the kitchen.
Looking up first, the one in the middle's eyes widened in shock. She grabbed the arms of the others, who looked at her oddly, then followed her eyes to see Xander sitting at the table, his well-muscled arms apparent for all to see. The girls quickly scampered back to their rooms.
Xander raised an eyebrow at Andrew. "What was that about?"
"Oh," Andrew said. "There's a kind of a lack of males around here, so whenever one shows up, the girls get all, you know… girly. Don't be surprised if you have a few shadows as long as you stay here."
"Thanks for the warning."
"Sure," Andrew said. "Usually, it's just me, Mr. Giles and Mr. Wood."
"Speaking of," Xander said. "Don't suppose you know where Robin is?"
"Oh, actually," Andrew said, "he was here just a bit before you. He stepped out for a few minutes, to go pick up a newspaper, I think. We don't have delivery here yet. He should be back soon. Why? Do you know him well?"
"Hmm? Oh, no," Xander said, smiling. "I just need to tell him something."
"Oh. Well, he'll probably be back in like fifteen or twenty minutes."
"Great," Xander said as he finished his cereal. "Thanks. Uh, should I… the bowl."
"Oh, I'll take care of it," Andrew said.
"Great. Well, I'm going to go really get dressed. Nice meeting you, Andrew," he said.
"Nice meeting you, too," Andrew said as Xander headed back upstairs.
Andrew turned around and sighed. "You forgot your coffee," he muttered, before clearing Xander's bowl from the table.
"This looks fine to me," Giles said as he finished looking over the paperwork Xander had brought. Xander and Buffy were in Giles' office. Buffy sat across from Giles as Xander looked at the furnishings in the room.
"Yeah?" Xander asked, turning back around.
"Yes," Giles said. "In fact, it is quite clear cut. It gives Xander guardianship of Dawn, as well as maintaining Buffy's responsibility. The large print is quite clear, and the fine print, even, is not confusing. It's really a very well written document."
"Well, that's what you get from an evil law firm," Xander said. "They probably get the best lawyers. Still, we should probably have an independent lawyer look over it."
"I don't think that's necessary," Buffy said. "Giles and Wesley both said it was fine… There shouldn't be a problem."
"I know," Xander said. He turned to Giles. "And, it's not that I don't trust you, or your intelligence, I do, it's just..."
"You want to do this right," Giles said. "Yes, I agree. Fortunately we have a lawyer on retainer. I'll just fax a copy over to them, and mark it urgent. How does that sound?"
"Great," Xander said, relieved. He looked to Buffy awkwardly. "I just want to be absolutely sure."
Buffy nodded. "It's Dawn."
Someone knocked on the door.
"Yes?" Giles called.
The door opened and Robin Wood strode in. "Hi," he said, smiling at the occupants. "I didn't know you were busy. Sorry. It'll only take a minute."
"Of course," Giles said. "I believe you've met Xander Harris? He and Dawn are visiting from Los Angeles."
"Right, hi," Robin said, turning to Xander with a smile. Robin was suddenly and violently shoved against the wall by an inexplicably irate Xander. Xander held his forearm to the older man's throat, cutting off his air supply. Xander held the struggling man to the wall with surprising ease.
"Xander!" Buffy and Giles yelled, both jumping from their chairs.
"Listen to me very carefully," Xander said calmly, looking the man straight in the eyes. His face was a stony mask. "Sometimes in life, people have reasons for doing things, and sometimes other people do not like those reasons. Some people don't like it when breaks don't go their way, and that's fine. But if you ever call Faith, or any of my girls a whore ever again, you will regret it, do you understand me?"
Robin tried to choke out some words, but Xander only pressed harder on his throat.
"You might walk again," Xander said, snarling. "With a cane. I hear they do amazing things with plastics these days. But if you so much as think about disrespecting them, I will be back for you."
Xander released his hold on the man and stalked out of the office. With a quick look to Giles, Buffy followed him, leaving Robin on his knees, gasping for breath on Giles' floor.
Giles poured a glass of water for the man, who graciously accepted it.
"Are you all right?" Giles asked, quietly.
"Yeah, no permanent damage," Robin said. "That was… bracing. Interesting friends you guys have."
"Yes," Giles said. "Xander has always been protective of the girls, especially in matters of the heart. I suppose… since they all spent their lives fighting these supernatural creatures, he wished to protect them from the more natural ones."
Wood finished off the water. "Well, I hope you don't mind me saying, but I hope he doesn't come around here too often."
"I should be wary of making enemies with him, were I you," Giles said, falling into one of the chairs on that side of his desk. "It would not be the wisest decision one could make."
"He that dangerous?" Robin asked, rubbing his throat.
"Well, yes," Giles said. "But that is not why. Xander is well loved in this house. Oppose him and you will be opposed."
"He lives in L.A.," Wood said, amusedly. "How much influence can one guy have?"
"Let me put it to you this way," Giles said. "If it came down to a choice between you and Xander, and I chose you, I would lose the support of Buffy. I would lose the support of Willow, and through her Kennedy. Seeing that, other slayers here would wander. Other Watchers who disagree with the way we've been running things would form their own factions. Some would undoubtedly return to the old way of things, treating slayers as weapons, tools, instead of as people. That is a state of affairs I cannot allow to return. For that reason alone, I would be on his side. Rest assured there are others."
"What if you sided against me?" Robin asked, his brow furrowed.
"I would have to hire some more help, and I believe Rona would buy me dinner. And one more thing."
Robin's eyebrows raised, and his head snapped to one side as Giles' fist drilled into his face. Giles stood, removed a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped off his knuckles, then walked back behind his desk.
"If you ever were to call one of the girls a whore again, I can very well assure you, you would not walk again. Now, was there something you wanted?"
"So, you're not even going to hear my side of that?" Robin asked.
"No," Giles said. "I am not. Was there anything else?"
"No," Robin said. "I think I can take care of it."
"Good," said Giles. "Now, please leave my office."
Robin nodded and left the room, shaking his head the whole way.
End Chapter 22