Zeppo 3: Slayer Evolved
Part 12: State of change

"BUFFY!" Willow ran into the dorm room, white as a sheet. "Professor Walsh is dead!"

"What?" The Slayer dropped her hairdryer on her foot and cursed under her breath. "What happened?"

"Her car exploded. The college is saying it was an accident, but the police have the entire parking lot cordoned off…"

"Xander…"

"He couldn't, could he?" Willow looked worried. "Not Xander…"

"Maybe not Xander but Master Chief John-117 could."

"What are we going to do?"

"I'm going to see if I can pick up any clues, while you get back online and try and get hold of Cortana. We need to know what really happened…"

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"Holy shit!" Faith sat bolt upright as the local news came on the small TV she had convinced Xander to find. "Did you do this?"

"Yes." Xander sat at his workbench, his armors shield generator disassembled in front of him. "With Walsh dead, it will force the Government to assign a new administrator to the Initiative. Hopefully it will be someone we can talk things through with."

"You hope they do. What if they assign someone who thinks just the same way as Walsh?"

"I've got several contingency plans worked out, mainly involving getting as far away from Sunnydale as we can, hopefully drawing the heat off the others."

"But the Initiative knows that B is a Slayer."

"What's that I hear in your voice? Worried about Buffy?"

"Look, I've changed. I'm not like I was. Having someone point a gun at your head and pull the trigger does that to a girl."

"I told you. It was a necessary evil."

"It didn't feel like that to me…"

"Damn it!" Xander slammed his fist into the metal worktop. "You think I wanted to do that? You think I wanted to point a gun at your head? Even an unloaded one? Every time I try and be the same old Xander, I have this voice in the back of my head telling me that I need to get out there and do what has to be done, no matter what. There are times when I'm still me, but then there are times when all I can hear is the Master Chief telling me that the Initiative is the enemy, and everyone there should die."

"My god." Faith stood and walked over to Xander. "Have you ever told anyone?"

"Cortana knows because of the nightmares I have about the Chief's old missions, but I've never told any of the others. Buffy tried to push me out once because she didn't think I could survive, as I was 'just human'. If I told her I had post-traumatic stress from something that never really happened, she'd push me out for sure."

"I find it hard to believe that B would do something like that. She even tried to pull me back from the edge…"

"Yes, but you're a Slayer. She understands what you can do, how important you are in the grand scheme of things. I'm just a kid who lucked into something out of a computer game for god's sake! She still sees me as her 'Xander shaped friend', even after all I've done since I became a Spartan."

"B can be a little narrow-minded at times. Strange I know, considering who she's dated, but it's just the way she is. And I don't think it's the Master Chief abilities or memories that make you what you are. You have a good heart and a very well defined sense of what's right and wrong. That's a very rare trait these days."

"You're just trying to make me feel better…" Xander lowered his head.

"No, I'm not." Faith took the young man's face in her hands and lifted it so they looked eye-to-eye. "Ok, so I didn't know you before you became a Spartan, but I've snuck a look at Giles' Watcher diaries a few times. I've read about the things you did before. You stood up to Angelus when B was in the hospital. You saved her life when she drowned. You've always been there, never backing down. You, Alexander Harris, are more of a hero than any Spartan."

"Thanks." Xander smiled slightly as he looked up at Faith.

They remained motionless for what felt like an eternity, just looking at each other. Xander was constantly aware of Faith's hands resting against his face, the softness of her skin compared to where he needed a shave.

"I need to finish this…" Xander tried to break contact, but Faith held him in place.

Not saying a word, she lowered her head to close the gap between them and kissed him deeply on the lips.

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"OK PEOPLE, LISTEN UP AND LISTEN GOOD!" The tall Africa-American man in a USMC Colonels uniform shouted at the assembled Initiative staff, scientists as well as agents, "My name is Colonel Avery Johnson, and from now on, I am God! My beloved Marine Core has, in its infinite wisdom, assigned me to clean up this mess you've gotten yourself into. I don't care what kind of Keystone Cops outfit this was before I arrived. From now on, everything is by the book!" He looked at the Field Team. "Which one of you grunts is in charge?"

"That would be me, sir!" Forest stepped forward. "Lieutenant Forrest Gates, Sir!"

"And to think this had to happen to me…." Johnson shook his head as he chewed on the end of his cigar. "Ok, I want status reports from all department heads by 0800 tomorrow. Lieutenant Gates with me. The rest of you, DISMISSED!"

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"I managed to get through to Cortana." Willow looked up from her computer in the back of the Magic Box.

"And?" Buffy dropped the book she was reading and ran over to the table. "What did she say?"

"She said that yes, Xander planted the bomb that killed Professor Walsh. He did it in the hope that the government would assign someone more reasonable as head of the Initiative… someone they could talk things through with."

"They really think that a car bomb is the way to go? If the Initiative wasn't gunning for them before, they will be now."

"Cortana said that Xander spent days going over the pros and cons of planting the bomb, but decided that he needed to take that lead, or he'd be forever just reacting to what the Initiative did first. I kind of think that it was the Master Chief doing the thinking. I've been reading up on the Halo universe, and this is defiantly a Spartan thing to do."

"Anyway could you back-track Cortana? Find out where they are?"

"No. For one, Cortana is a 25th Century A.I. programmed to infiltrate enemy computer systems and turn them against their owners, and that is way out of my league. Secondly, she wasn't anywhere I could trace to. She can exist completely on the internet if she wants to, making it impossible to work out where she's based out of. She could be operating from a laptop connected to a phone line in Timbuktu, and I wouldn't know the difference."

"They have to be in or around Sunnydale, and somewhere they have room to hide all their stuff. We know that Xander still has the Warthog, and something that big is going to draw attention if left out in the street."

"What you going to do?"

"I'm going to go down to Willy's and see if any of the regulars have seen Xander or Faith."

"You think they'll talk to you?"

"Hopefully. The bar is kind of neutral territory… A place everyone can be themselves as long as they don't try and eat the other patrons." Buffy grabbed her coat. "Keep looking for Cortana. We have to find them before the Initiative does."

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Xander gasped for air when Faith finally broke away. He was a little surprised to find that she was now sitting on his lap, her arms wrapped around his shoulder. There was a hungry look in her eye, something that screamed pure predator.

"Maybe we should…" Xander stated to protest, but Faith pressed a finger against his lips to silence him, and then started to pull up her shirt.

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Willow was nose deep in her computer and didn't even hear the shop door open.

"I'm sorry but we're…" Giles stopped mid-sentence when he saw the team of armed Initiative agents standing at the front of the shop. Their weapons were drawn, but aimed at the floor.

"Rupert Giles, I presume?" Colonel Johnson stepped forward. "I was wondering if you could tell me the whereabouts of Mr. Harris."

"I don't know." The former Watcher took off his glasses and started to clean the lenses. "And even if I did, I wouldn't tell the people who want to dissect him."

"Maggie Walsh was out of control. Her actions against Mr. Harris were not sanctioned by the government."

"I know I am not a citizen of this country, but I am fully aware of just what your government is capable of. There is nothing that you can say or do that would make me tell you anything."

"I can understand your loyalty to him, but he is a suspect in Professor Walsh's death, and as such, we need to talk with him." Johnson pulled a business card from his pocket and placed it on the table by the door. "If you should see him before we do, ask him to call me, anytime. All I want to do is talk."

"I'll tell him," Giles nodded, "if I see him."

Johnson nodded politely, before turning and leaving the shop. The Initiative agents backed out after him, keeping their eyes on Giles and Willow.

"An improvement on Professor Walsh." Giles walked over to the table and retrieved the card. "Willow, call Buffy and tell her what just happened."

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"What just happened?" Xander lay back on his bed, looking at the ceiling.

"I know you're a little less experienced than I am, but even you should be able to tell that we just had sex." Faith proper herself up on one elbow, holding the covers up to protect what little modesty she had. "I wanted it… I'm sure you wanted it… So what's the problem?"

"The problem is it complicates matters. I dated a girl called Anya for a while. Well, I call her a girl, but she was a former vengeance demon. The problem was she became too obsessed with Cortana's ability to play the stock market. It got to the point where she was more interested in the money she could make by being around me than any feelings or attraction she may have had for me as a person. Since then I've tried to avoid relationships."

"No wonder you're so tense all the time. You need to get laid more."

"And that's what this was?"

"No." Faith shook her head. "I like you Xander. I always have. You were the only one who tried to make me feel really welcome when I first came here. You never told anyone about what happened between us, when most guys your age would have been bragging about it to everyone in sight. Apart from Angel, you're the only person who's tried to help me."

"And that's reason enough to sleep with me?"

"Look at it this way. I'm not kicking you out this time."

"True." Xander looked at his watch. "But I do have to go. There's something I need to take care of."

"I'll be here when you get back." Faith smiled.

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Buffy was making her way back from Willy's bar when she decided to make a quick sweep of the nearest graveyard to make sure everything was as it should be. There was no sign of any newly risen vampires, so she headed for the exit.

"Buffy." Xander called from behind a tree.

"Xander!" The Slayer turned round to find herself face-to-face with a fully dressed Spartan. "Why did you kill Walsh?"

"It needed to be done. So does this." Xander raised his shotgun and pointed it at the startled Slayer. "I'm sorry."

There was an ear-splitting crack as he pulled the trigger.

To Be Continued…

Agent-G: Yes it was a little Deus Ex Manchina, but I couldn't think of a better way.

Rankokunalpha1, me, Shawn, go-get-some, dogbertcarroll: Thank you, I do try my best.

Anime-Ronin: I hope that answered your questions.