Note 1: To vanillagigglez, I'm glad you enjoyed it!

The One Who Sees
By Vinya

"I'm gonna do what any man would do about it. Something damn manly."
Xander to Larry

Chapter 2
Xander walked through the door, happily talking to Willow about something extraordinarily catty that he had said to Cordelia to get the girl to stop insulting him, when he heard the chatter from the library. "You think Buffster came to study for the test early too?" he asked her, genuinely curious.

Buffy wasn't exactly the type to go all out for academic achivement, but he really couldn't think of much else that she would have to do in the morning.

"Maybe," Willow responded, "But, I mean, Buffy?"

"Too true," he replied, laughing a bit as he hit the library doors and walked through.

…Just in time to catch his name.

With a stage whisper, he turned to Willow and said, "They're discussing me behind my back. Think it's good discuss, or bad discuss?"

Willow laughed, and put her books on the table as Xander followed her. "You guys are here early. What's up? Something evil and slimy?"

"We're not quite sure," Giles replied carefully, keeping on eye on Xander- who didn't miss the following stare. "Buffy had a prophetic dream last night; we were just discussing it."

"And I was in it?" Xander questioned, "Do I get the big hero role for once?"

Buffy looked at him carefully, not sure quite how to respond, and finally went for the straight forward approach. "Actually," she mumbled, "More the bad guy."

Eyebrows raised into his hair line, Xander took a step back. "What?"

"Well… I was on the beach I think. There was a bon fire- but I'm pretty sure the bon fire was metaphorical, you know? Because whenever I felt my slayer power rising in me, or whenever I focused on it, the fire would grow."

Giles nodded. "Continue."

"So there I am on the beach, and I'm alone. Except I feel somebody watching me, and it made me really uncomfortable… so I'm looking around, but nobody is there. I start walking around the bon fire, and I notice it's not getting big anymore. There's a new power… this is making sense so far, right?"

Willow nodded, worried for her friend, and took a seat beside the blonde girl. "It's okay Buffy, it was just a dream."

"But it wasn't!" Buffy exploded, standing up and swinging her hands skyward, "One moment I'm all alone, then I feel my power just… being engulfed. Not disappearing… just being overshadowed. There was somebody there! I look through the fire, and there's this shadow. This guy- except I can't see him. I just know he's there."

"And I'm the bad guy in this, how?" Xander asked, genuinely curious- it didn't sound like a Slayer dream to him, and much less one where he played a starring role.

"I'm getting to that," Buffy waved off his comment. "So I'm looking at this guy, and he's not saying or doing anything. He's all dressed up, with a suit and a tie. Nice shoes. His hair is really well cut. Then he looks up at me.

"He's maybe seven years older then us, and he looks like he knows me. I wasn't sure who it was at first. He only had one eye, and his face was scarred up. He was so angry… and he looked right at me, and he said 'I see you.' Just like that."

"Again- bad guy, how?"

The slayer took a long look at Xander, frustrated and upset. "It was you Xander. I didn't know it at first because he looked so angry. So not like you. Like he would kill me, but I couldn't move. I couldn't jump him, or run away, or anything. He was just staring at me, and he could see… I don't know. It felt like everything. He could see me."

"Are you sure it was a slayer dream," Giles questioned, one last look at Xander before he turned to Buffy, "Not simply stress? The master has caused us to lose a lot more sleep then I'm sure we would like-"

"No!" She exploded again, "It was real. It was Xander, and he wanted to kill me- but he was still my Xander, because he was warning me about it. You know? Like, if he had to do it at least he was going to give me a fair chance. And he was powerful. Dangerous. He was a big bad- and he scared me more then even the master did the first time I saw him, because with the master it wasn't personal… but I'm sure it is with Xander. And…" She stopped, breaking off her rant.

"Xander," she said slowly, "I'm sorry."

Everybody turned to the awe struck teen, who was simply sitting there and taking it all in with what seemed to be stride. Until you saw his eyes. "This is impossible." he said simply.

"Xander-"

"Buffy," he cut her off, "I wouldn't hurt you- I wouldn't touch you! And… I mean, come on! You really think I would just go off the deep end? Just like that?"

He stood and turned on his heel. "When you people get it into your heads that I'm you friend- come find me."

To be Continued