The Archer

"You're absolutely sure that this Dominique is the person who killed Finch," asked Giles the next day.

Everyone, minus Angel, was there.

"Yeah," said Xander, "I recognized her voice."

"Who is this woman," asked Wesley, annoyed at being kept out of the loop.

"Dominique was my trainer," said Xander, "She's one of the best Archery Masters in the country, maybe the best in the world."

"What do we do," asked Willow.

"I'm leaning towards blind panic myself," said Xander, echoing the Watcher's sentiments of old, "If Dominique has somehow gone over to the other side, then…I don't think we have much of a chance."

Suddenly, the bell rang.

"You'd all best get to class," said Giles, "Xander, I want you and Faith to come visit me right after school. As a matter of fact, everyone come and see me after school."

"Xander," said Willow later that day, "Can I talk to you?"

"Sure," said Xander.

Willow led him into an empty classroom then sat down on the desk.

"What's up," he asked her.

"I just want to say…I'm sorry."

"About what?"

"When Buffy came to me about exorcising your demons," she said, her voice quivering, "She told me that I, being a powerful witch, should be able to do it. I thought about the consequences at first, but then…it was like a challenge and I completely forgot about the consequences. It became about me. It became about me getting power. I'm just as bad as Buffy was! God, Xander, I'm so sorry."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I was ashamed. And it was so easy just to blame it all on Buffy. Now that it looks like we may all die, I just want you to know that. I'm sorry."

"…I can't feel your aura."

"It's the magic. It screws up auras when their being read through the senses and not through magic. That's why you couldn't tell before."

"…I forgive you, Willow. You could have kept this from me and I would never have known, but you didn't. You took responsibility for your actions and told me the truth. I forgave Buffy for what she did because she did the same thing. I'm not about punishment, I'm about that second chance. And, before you ask, I'm against giving Angel that second chance because he had it and lost it. But, that's done with. There's nothing I can do about it."

"Why are you so good to us, Xander?"

"Because, you're my family. You deserve the best I can give."

Xander sat inside the library late that night. Faith was out with Buffy and Cordelia, patrolling. He was there to watch over Willow while she, Wesley, and Giles did a locator spell to find Dominique. Angel was out investigating. Xander strung his longbow and loaded an arrow into it. His mind was warped and wigged.

Willow had confessed to being just as bad as Buffy today and he had forgiven her, Dominique was back in town and taking up the Angelus Awards for them, plus the Mayor was being investigated by the group. Finch had been the Mayor's second-in-command, so that made the Mayor fall underneath suspicion. That was, actually, where Buffy was tonight.

Xander looked up as he heard the library doors open, then took aim. Dominique was there, walking easily toward him.

"Willow," he said, "You guys get out of here."

The three looked at him oddly, then looked to Dominique.

"No," said Willow, "I won't leave you here."

"Go," said Xander, "Get out now while you still can."

The two finally obeyed him, while Wesley was already out the back. They ran up to the stacks and out the back way.

"Hello, Dom."

"Hello, Xander."

She silently walked over to him and deposited her longbow onto the library desk. Xander, understanding this as a sign of momentary peace, relaxed, but did not unload his weapon.

"I guess this is question time, huh," she asked.

"Yeah," said Xander, "I guess it is."

"Well, let's get started."

"Three questions first: What? How? And Why?"

"Ah, the three questions. The What? I guess the best answer I could give you is that I'm working for the Mayor, the local baddy in town. The How? I've been working for him ever since I moved to Sunnydale. The Why? He's got power. And power's something that I've always enjoyed."

"What about all you taught me? Honor, courage, and the like?"

"…When I started to train you, it was mainly because of my relation to you."

"Relation?"

"Ask someone about it. I knew from the moment I saw you that you were a born soldier. I just didn't know what cause. So, I trained you. I taught you all those nice things, but, and this is the point that I cannot stress enough, I've always been this way."

"Evil?"

"Essentially, yes. I always said that honor and the Code were two of the most important things. That's what my teacher taught me, at first. Then, he killed my family. He told me to forget about both when it came down to power. Power was important. Not power through magic, not power through religion, not power through politics. Just sheer, undiluted, power. All those nice things were the buildup to the true lesson. You have to be evil to get ahead in the world."

"What about your parents? Did your teacher kill them too or were they really in a car accident?"

"They were."

"So, you taught me all those things…just to teach me evil?"

"It's a method that's been used for centuries. Then, you went out and killed those gangbangers. You couldn't even handle the first time you actually killed someone! I had such high hopes for you. I thought you'd carry on in my footsteps, be my true son. In the end, you couldn't handle the truth, not to sound like Jessup, but still."

"The truth, for you, is that power rules all?"

"Yes. It's something I discovered early in life. Power through independence. When you returned, I was already going to go to Mongolia and train there. One key thing I forgot to tell you: the teacher is a demon who can slow or speed up time."

"So, why give me your house, your crystals, and your money?"

"Corruption comes through power. I wanted you to be like me. I thought that if I gave you all those things, then you would become corrupt with influence and ready to start the life I had planned for you when I returned. Instead, you open my home up to a filthy whore of a Slayer and train her! And you get powers through the meditation that I taught you! You did the exact opposite of what I wanted, but that shouldn't have surprised me. I realize now that you were always going to be a good soldier, not my kind."

"Why me? There had to have been others!"

"Relation."

"What are you doing back in town?"

"The Mayor's plans are about to come together. He needs me here now. So, I'm here."

She leaned in close to him and he did not back away.

"Get ready, Alexander. Ragnorak is coming."

She pulled away, grabbed her weapons, then walked to the door. Xander drew his arrow back and let it fly. Dominique heard and turned around. She held her hand up and stopped the arrow from hitting her. The arrow hung in midair, held up by her powers. She glared at him, then the arrow turned around and was sent back to him. Xander ducked down, barely missing the arrow as it embedded itself into the very spot his head had been.

"Farewell, soldier," mocked Dominique as she left the library, "We'll meet again soon."

Xander punched the door to his parents house in. Today was a day for answers.

"Xander," yelled his father in concern, "What are you doing?"

Xander just yelled and grabbed his father, then slammed him up against the wall.

"Dominique," he growled into his father's face, "What do you know about Dominique?"

"That woman who trained you," said his father in fear, "Nothing but that!"

"You lie!"

Xander pushed his father away from him, then loaded up his longbow and pointed it at him.

"I want answers," whispered Xander.

His father nodded.

"Alright," he said, "Dominique. Xander, please put that away. I won't tell you unless we're sitting down and that thing is away."

Xander glared, then nodded. He relieved his bow of the arrow, placed it into his quiver, then placed the longbow on his lap as he sat down.

"Xander," said his father as he sat down, "I just want you to know before I say this that I love you and I always will."

"Get to the point."

"Ok. Dominique…she's your aunt."

"...What?"

"She's your aunt, son. Her sister was your mother. I met Dominique and her sister back in high school. Dominique was, back then, well known as someone to watch out for. When I started dating her sister, it was almost as though my death certificate had been signed. Then we…and you were born. Nearly half a week later, your mother died. No one ever found out how, though I still think it was Dominique."

"And…your wife?"

"I met her when you were two. I was just…so lonely. I dated her and we got married a month later."

"So, that's why she hates me."

"…Yeah. What brought this about, son?"

"Dominique's back in town," said Xander, "And she's out to kill everyone and everything in it."

"God, I knew it was a mistake to let you train with her!"

"At least now we have a better chance of stopping her. Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"Something isn't adding up. Dominique told me that I was eighteen when she gave me her house. I wasn't eighteen then, and we both know that. If she's my aunt, then why did she say I was eighteen?"

"…Because you are."

"What?"

"You're eighteen, Xander. As of today, nineteen, actually. We enrolled you in school a year late. Dominique's request. I was afraid of her, so, I agreed."

"…How could I be so fooled by her?"

"That's her art, son. She pretends to be good, and no one can see past her lie."

Everyone was gathered in the library late that night. As it turned out, the Mayor was involved in something very demonic, something they heard him call an Ascension. Now with Dominique being back in town and on the warpath, things were beginning to look pretty bad for the group.

"I wish we knew what to do," said Giles.

"I'm drawing a big blank," said Cordelia, "Xander's trainer's against us, Mayor's against us, which means most cops are against us, and the Mayor has this secret plan that we have no idea what the Hell is! Unless we find out what it is, then…I think we're done."

"Where's Wesley," asked Buffy all of a sudden.

"Yeah," said Willow, "Come to think of it, I haven't seen him since he ran off."

Xander thought for a second. Then, every single voice in his head screamed at him. Something was wrong. He ran for the door, arrow already slung inside his bow.

By the time he reached his house, it was too late. The once grand house was alit in fiery furry.

"Oh, my God," said Faith as she looked upon the destruction, "Our home!"

"It was never our home to begin with," said Xander in anger.

"Xander," whispered Buffy behind him, "Look."

Xander looked up to where she was pointing. There, hanging in a tree, was Wesley. He was severely cut and bruised, blood dripping from his head. He was hung from a tree by the feet, like some kind of unholy bat. Xander pulled back his bow and aimed at the rope as Buffy, Faith, and Cordelia got underneath him. Willow focused on him to make sure that he fell slowly, as did Xander. He let the arrow sing and it struck the rope. Immediately, Wesley began to fall, but witch and archer caught him and slowly brought him down into the waiting arms of the Slayers.

"He lives," said Xander, "We need an ambulance, along with the fire department."

Xander stood inside of the library that night along with the others, awaiting Giles's return from the hospital.

"How is he," asked Cordelia as Giles walked inside.

"He's stable," said Giles, "However, he is in a coma. The doctors…say he may never wake up. He took quite a beating."

Xander turned away from the group and looked out into the night sky. Dominique had done so much good for him, and now he had learned that all that good had been meant for wrong. Honor. She had none, yet taught it to him with the purpose of teaching him that it was wrong. In reality, it made sense. To be taught something your whole life, then be told that it was completely wrong. It had to be traumatizing. Almost like when he had discovered demons. He'd been told that they didn't exist, but once he learned they did, then he'd jumped into the fight.

Xander had no choice but to think now about what he and Faith were going to do. They had no home now, all his money was in the banks and probably wiped out of their memory banks by now…except for the money that he had put underneath Faith's name. All that Dominique knew about her was, hopefully, that she was a Slayer. Maybe she didn't know her name. He would have to check that out tomorrow. But, they needed a place to stay right now. Dominique would surely be out after him, so he wasn't willing to put any of his friends in harm's way by staying with them. Suddenly, an opportunity came into his mind.

"Buffy," he turned to the Slayer, "Is Angel at the mansion?"

"He's on his way here," said Buffy, "I called him a few minutes ago."

"Wonderful," said Xander, "I need to ask him something when he comes back."

Then, the library doors opened and the ensouled vampire walked inside.

"Buffy," he said, "I'm here. What's happened?"

"Xander just lost his home," said Buffy.

The vampire looked at her, then turned to Xander. Xander had long ago realized the difference between Angel and Angelus, but he still expected the vampire to smirk at him. Instead, the vampire looked even more broody than usual.

"How," he asked.

"My trainer," answered Xander, "Dominique. She burned down the house and put Wesley into a coma."

"I'm sorry," said Angel, and he truly meant it, "If there's anything I can do for you, just…let me know."

"There is something you can do," said Xander, "Do you still own your old apartment?"

"…Yes. I see where this is going. I moved all my stuff out of there. You can move in anytime you want."

"Tonight, then," said Xander, "She has no idea where it is and if I can keep her off my trail for a short while, then she won't know where to look."

"Do you need help moving in," asked Angel.

"No," said Xander, "I lost everything in the fire. Faith, is that alright with you if we move into his old apartment?"

"…OK, Xander. But, first, we need a little bit of joy to make this day better. I mean, it is still your birthday."

"We have more important things to worry about, Faith."

"Fine," said Faith, "We'll take a vote. All those in favor of giving Xander his birthday presents right now, say 'aye.'"

"Aye," was heard by all but one voice.

"Fine," said Xander with a smile, "Just make it quick."

"OK," said Faith, "Oz, Willow, why don't you two give him yours while we got and get ours?"

"Cool," said Oz.

"Yeah," said Willow, "You're going to like mine, Xander."

"Well, mine's here, too," said Giles, "It's with Oz's…gift."

Willow smiled and reached into her bag, then got out a slip of paper. She gave it to Xander, who stared down at the design.

"It's a temporary tattoo I made," said Willow, "I ground up magic and melted it down into ink, then I got Amy to draw this picture using the magic ink I made. All you have to do is put it wherever you want, put some water on it, and bingo! Protection spell. If you want to get it off, just ask me and I can do it."

"Willow," said Xander, "This is cool! I like the design and all. It kind of looks like Faith. Thank you!"

Xander enveloped his friend in a hug. Willow smiled at him as he let her go, then turned to her boyfriend. Oz smiled and nodded, then walked into the book cage. He pulled out the guitar case and handed it to Xander.

"Ah," said Xander, "You bought me a Tommy Gun! Thank you, Oz."

"Tommy Gun," asked Oz, "Those are for violin cases."

"…That's true," said Xander.

He opened the case up and then stared down at the guitar, his jaw hanging open. He stared at it, then stared at Oz, then went back to staring at the guitar.

"I think he likes it," said Angel with a smile, "Let me see."

Angel stepped up to the table and stared down at the guitar.

"Now, that's a good guitar," said Angel, "It kind of puts my gift to shame."

"You got me a gift," asked Xander.

"Of course," said Angel, "Buffy practically made me get you one. She told me about this the minute after Faith did."

Angel reached into his coat and withdrew two devices. They were in the shape of an eagle perched on a bar.

"A Colonel or Captain's ranking," said Angel, "Buffy told me about all these new things you can do. She also told me about how you managed to get in touch with your hyena, vampire, and soldier self."

"I was wondering why you never noticed," said Xander.

"Well, I never was around," said Angel, "Until the Hellmouth, that is. And then we were in a fight for our lives, so…not much time for chat. Which reminds me: thanks for the longbow you gave me that night. Why did you do that, anyway?"

"I wanted to see if you knew how to use one," said Xander, "Where'd you pick those up?"

"World War II," said Angel.

"Ugh, I think it's Giles's turn," said Willow.

"Oh, sorry, G-man," said Xander.

"Quite alright," said Giles as he lifted up a heavy case onto the desk. It was wrapped in camouflage wrapping paper.

"Ooh, big," said Xander.

He gripped the paper and simply ripped it off, sense there was no tape on it. Underneath it all was a glass display case. It held a rifle with a single clip clasped underneath it. There was a gold plate on the case.

"'Lee-Enfield,'" read Xander, "'British Army. This weapon was used by Tech Sergeant Lance Giles during World War II in North Africa. It is to be passed down from his nephew Rupert Giles to his own children.' Giles, I can't possibly accept this. It's just too much."

"Xander," said Giles, "I'm old. I'll probably die before I get the chance to have children, let alone the chance to give them this. You're the closest thing I have to a son. Please, accept it."

Xander stared at the British man before him, then turned to look at the weapon. He turned back to Giles and nodded. Giles came forward and placed an arm on Xander's shoulder.

When Faith, Buffy, and Cordelia returned, Xander was fiddling around with his new guitar.

"Do you like your presents so far," asked Faith.

"Yep," said Xander with a smile, "Though I can't wait to see what's next."

Buffy smiled at him, then placed her gift onto the table. Xander opened the box and stared down at the marvelous bow before him.

"It's a Blackfoot longbow," said Buffy, "Mom practically insisted I give it to you. Do you like it?"

"I love it, Buffy," said Xander as he examined the bow, "It looks like it could still work."

"I wouldn't suggest trying it out yet, Xander," said Giles.

"Good idea," said Xander as he placed the bow back into its box, "Thank you, Buffy. That means a lot to me. It's a perfect gift."

"You're welcome," said Buffy.

"Here's mine," said Cordelia as she placed a set of keys into his hands, "Giles told me about what happened to your car. I got Daddy to take a look at it and voila! It's all spiffy and new for you."

"Ah," said Xander, "Man, Cordy. You shouldn't have done that."

"Oh, it's alright," said Cordelia, "He didn't mind. It's just outside, whenever you're ready."

"Cool."

"OK," said Faith, "My turn. I was going to sing a song for you during the party, but the Bronze is closed up."

"Party?"

"Yeah. I know you said no, but…we did it anyway."

"Wow. I had absolutely no idea. I can just imagine what kind of a shock that would have been. I probably would have died of a heart attack."

"Well," said Faith as she reached into her coat, "Here it is."

Xander looked at what was in her hand. It was a beautiful dagger with a black handle, curved, and a slit down the middle of the blade. Xander carefully took it from her and examined it.

"This is a thing of beauty, Faith," he said.

"Well, I'm beautiful-"

"Modest, too."

"-and it's beautiful. We both belong to you, Xander. And we're happy with that."

Xander carefully put the dagger onto the table, then wrapped his arms around Faith.

Faith curled up against him on the drive to Angel's apartment that night. Neither planned on going to school tomorrow, what with Faith not having to go to school and Xander needing to get everything in order. They would spend the night relaxing, then face tomorrow. Xander put his arm around Faith and turned on the radio. As it turned on, it began with, ironically, the ending of the song he had been listening to when all this had started…

My, oh my, he whispered along so as to not disturb Faith, You sure know how to arrange things. You set it up so well, so carefully. Ain't it funny how you knew life didn't change things? You're still the same, old girl you used to be.

You can't hide your lyin' eyes. And your smile is a thin disguise. I thought by now you'd realize. There ain't no way to hide your lyin' eyes.

There ain't no way to hide your lyin' eyes. Honey, you can't hide your lyin' eyes.