A RIDE OF QUIET CONTEMPLATION

As the laughter died down the car was filled with an amiable silence. Adam glanced at the boy and frowned at what he saw. 'He's taking this far better than I would have expected.' He began staring out the tinted window observing the highway and cars passing by in the midday sun. 'I may not have done this in quite a while but usually one would be brimming with questions by now.' Another quick glance at the child brought a small, almost hidden smirk to his face. 'I suppose cramming an entire Twinkie into one's mouth would prohibit that.' That thought brought about a quiet chuckle. Though, perhaps it wasn't quiet enough.

Xander sat in the back of the limousine with a delicious Twinkie in his mouth. He was trying to calm his nerves and thought he was dong quite a good job. 'Ok, I'm sitting in a limo with a complete stranger, not so long after DYING.' Having swallowed the Twinkie, he stared down at his feet. He could still see small drops of blood drying on his dark pants that had gone unnoticed while they made their way though the airport. He thought back to what had just happened and could clearly remember dying. He could clearly, and painfully, remember being shot numerous times. The pain of the bullet ripping through his body was still deep within him. He could still feel the searing heat of the bullets as they bore into his body. The difficulty in breathing almost drove him into a panic attack back then. And if not for the meditating and breathing exercises Leo had taught him, it would have done so again. But above all he remembered the girl. The girl he saved, or hoped he had been able to save. 'I wonder if she got away.' He glanced out of the tinted window of the Limo before looking at his own hands and closing his eyes. 'Something extremely Hellmouthy is going on. I can't be a demon. I don't want to be evil.' He opened his eyes and stared ahead of himself catching a glimpse of the man ahead of him moments after the man, Adam, looked away.

Xander looked down next to him and saw the bag of groceries. He reached into the bag and pulled out a cold soda. Opening it he put the bottle to his lips and began to drink while reflecting on his current situation. The man in front of him was definitely an enigma. Who was he? He said his name was Adam. The last guy named Adam didn't work out to well, but Xander wasn't about to hold that against the man. He stole another quick glance at the man and noticed that his senses weren't telling him he was in any danger. Sure, there was definitely something different about the man, but he didn't feel threatened. But could he trust his own senses now? He took the half empty bottle from his lips, and took a deep breath. 'What if I'm evil? I don't even know if I can trust myself.' He looked up at Adam again, who was still staring out the window. Reading his expression he could feel concern coming from the man, along with sympathy, or perhaps empathy. He could tell that Adam was nervous as well, if only slightly. Taking that in, he realized that he himself didn't feel evil. He didn't feel like he was a demon. He knew he wasn't the same, but he was beginning to think that perhaps this wasn't something evil. Oh, it was definitely still Hellmouthy; but perhaps not evil. With that thought he decided that he needed some answers. He was about to speak up when he heard a soft chuckle.

Xander, knowing somehow that the chuckle was related to him in some way, wasn't sure if he should be offended or not, but quickly shook it off.

"What?"

Adam looked up. He was surprised that the boy heard him. He looked into his brown eyes and smiled slightly.

"It was nothing really. I just had a mental image that made me laugh slightly. I apologize."

He could see the boy's brow scrunch up in slight confusion, but he could also see him shaking it off. The boy looked nervous, as though he was about to speak but wasn't sure what to say. 'He's about to start with the questions. Damn, well…he held out much longer than I ever could have.' Just then Xander began to speak with a surprisingly steady voice.

"No. No, that's ok…Look...I…I…" he kept pausing, trying to get his thoughts to form into a coherent question. However; before he could continue Adam broke in.

"I know you have questions, but if you please…wait until we get to my home to start this." The way Xander was looking at him, he knew the child was about to object. So, he decided to press a little harder.

"Please, Alexander, this discussion is best done in private. And I have quite a bit to tell you." He glanced out the window trying to stall for a little more time. Looking back at Xander he could see the child was waiting for him to continue. "As I am sure that you already have a lot of questions, I can promise that you will have even more once my story is done." Breaking eye contact he stared at the bottle of beer he was holding in his hand. "We are talking about a long conversation. And that will most likely be followed by a long bender." Looking at Alexander he could still feel he wasn't quite convinced. "Besides, at the very least you need to have a shower and change out of your…current wardrobe." Waving his empty hand with a mock look of disgust, he looked pointedly at the dark trousers with the splotches of blood on them.

Xander too looked down at the pants stained with blood, his blood, and relented. With a smirk he looked up at the man in front of him. "I don't know Adam, this shirt is amazingly comfortable"

Looking at the boy he could barely contain his shock, and let out a snort. He pulled his face into a look of mock-outrage and stated "Of course it does, child. Do you have any idea how expensive those shirt and sweater are that you've now ruined? What am I going to use it for now? They're completely ruined!" He had his own smirk gracing his face until he heard Xander murmur in a mock English accent.

"And on our next episode we have 'Dishrags of the rich and famous'."

Xander looked up and realized he must have said that a little too loud. He was worried for a moment 'I survived multiple bullet wounds…I wonder if I could survive jumping out of a speeding limo going down a highway while going at least 80mph?" He shook off the thought and opted to place another smirk on his face as Adam began mumbling to himself.

"I definitely need another beer." They looked at each other. Looking each other in the eyes for a moment before both began to chuckle. Once that had died down, they sat in companionable silence.

Adam was trying to gather in his thoughts for the upcoming conversation, while Xander was trying to formulate his own questions all the while trying not to burp from downing half a soda in less than 5 seconds. It was though sheer willpower alone that he was able to accomplish such a feat.

It was no more than 15 minutes later that Adam and Xander found themselves arriving at Adam's home.

A NEW HOME

Xander stood there, his mouth agape in wonder at what lay before him. It was, without a doubt, the largest estate he had ever seen before. He had been to the mansion where Angel had resided for a short while. He had even been to Dracula's mansion while he was in Sunnydale. However; both places paled in comparison.

He glanced back towards Adam, who was just getting out of the car. His mouth was still hanging open, causing Adam to give him a smirk. 'What in the world could anyone need with a house, mansion, this large?' He couldn't get his mind around it. Taking in a deep breath, he began to observe this new environment. The front of the house had a long walkway going to the enormous double doors adorned in marble. In front of the house was a yard, clean cut, wide open, and was the purest shade of green he had ever seen. It looked to be freshly mowed. 'His front yard could easily be described as a park.' Shaking his head he looked back down the long driveway to the Iron Gate blocking the driveway…over to the connecting cement walls that went in both directions, most likely continuing throughout the perimeter of the property. He couldn't be sure because he lost sight of it in both directions when it was blocked by the trees that seemed to make its own wooded area. He looked towards the wooded area and saw tall, healthy trees, which completed the privacy that the mansion obviously afforded. Just the front of the place put him in awe. 'I wonder what the back is like; let alone what its like inside. This place should have its own zip code.' He was brought out of his musings by a hand gently applying pressure on his shoulder. Turning his head he saw Adam with a small smile on his face.

"You own this place?" You could still here the awe in his voice and see the wonder in his eyes.

Smiling at the boy he replied, "Yes, I own this place, as well as many others. Most are not as large as this place. They range from small studios, flats, houses, to mansions. I own several pieces of property all over America, and many times more all over the world." With a smooth movement Adam was walking an awed and wide-eyed Xander towards the front of the house. "There is much for you to know, but I do insist on you showering and changing into some new clothes." Upon entering the front doors Xander stopped short almost causing Adam to collide into him.

The inside was indeed as large as the outside appeared. There was a long hallway that seemed to go past some rather large rooms, it then opened up at the other end. From what he could see there were four large rooms along this hallway. Two on both sides before the hallway emptied into another open area. Looking to his left he could see a stairway that began near a wall and seemed to arc inward to the center of the room where it ended on a second floor. Looking to his right he saw an identical stairway that seemed to be a mirror image of the other, both basically running into each other where they ended and the second floor began. Looking up he could see a third floor. He could see the edge of the rail from the stairs going to this third floor. Following the rail, it seemed to end near where the first two stairways let you off onto the second floor.

Looking back at Adam he asked, "Where do I go?"

Looking at Xander, Adam looked as though he was trying to make a serious decision. After a short bout of silence he spoke. Pointing towards the stairs he spoke, "Go up those stairs, and follow them up to the next set. When you get to the third floor turn to your right and go down the length of the hall. There will be a room at the very end facing the hall." Pausing in mid speech he looked into Xander's eyes and came to a conclusion that he had been internally debating since noticing the young man at the airport. "Take that room. It's yours for as long as you stay. My room would be in the same location had you turned left." At saying this he heard Xander gasp, and knew what was coming.

"Adam, no…that's alright. I really don't think…" he never got the chance to finish as Adam held out his hand making a stop gesture.

"Listen Alexander, just take it for now. We can talk more about it later." He glanced down at his feet and furrowed his brow in concentration. "I'm hoping once we're done talking you will want to stay for a while." Looking back up he continued while stepping in front of Xander, "Now, when you finish…I'll be down that hallway," pointing behind him, "When you get to the end it opens into a large room that is actually two. To the right is a kitchen, and to the left is a den." Looking at Xander he could see the child was following him thus far, even as over-shocked as he obviously was. "If you look to the den their will be a door on the far wall that I'll leave open. I'll be inside."

With that being said, Xander looked at him for a moment before glancing at the stairway. With a sigh he made his way up to his new room. 'I really need to get some answers, and it seems as though Adam is the one who is going to give it.' Looking up the stairs, he held his duffel bag in one hand and gripped the railing with the other and progressed up the stairs. 'This has got to be the most fucked up beginning to any journey I've ever heard of.' After reaching the second floor and making his way up the second set of stairs a thought struck him. 'Oh man…if Chris knew about this…oh he is so going to be a dead man!' Shaking his head and chuckling lightly under his breath he made his way down the hallway to his room determined to wash away whatever stress he could, knowing full well that said stress would be finding its way back to him very shortly. And with that he entered his new room.

"Holy Shit!"