In a somewhat exasperated tone Xander asked, "What the hell is up with this house?"

With a quiet chuckle, Adam waved his hand around the room. "Oh this little thing?" He tried to sound as innocent as possible. But from the sudden widening of Xander's eyes he couldn't help but to laugh. His laughter was short lived as he noticed the stern expression coming over Xander's face. "Actually this place isn't mine." He smirked at the confused expression he was receiving. "The company I own acquired this place when they took over a Tech-firm that went bankrupt."

Curiosity entering Xander's eyes he asked, "What company?"

"The one that was taken over?" he paused for a moment and looked to be deep in thought. "Hmm…I know I have the records in a bank vault…but I can't really remember the name. The idiots running it leveraged everything and went under. They tried to keep this place…but since it was bought with company assets it transferred to my company."

Rolling his eyes Xander replied, "No, what company do you own?"

"Oh that" There was a smirk on Adam's face. "Pierce Industries." Seeing Xander's eyes getting a somewhat glazed look, his smirk deepened. "What…is it that hard of a leap to go from Pierson to Pierce?" He was really enjoying this.

Xander's eyes seemed to come back from its amazed state and he voiced a question faintly. "So, how old are you then?" Adam seemed to observe him for some time before answering.

"I'm old enough to have started that company over 250 years ago." Xander's eyebrows shot up at this. He was thinking of pushing the issue a little further, but he had the notion that he wouldn't get any further than that.

"So…how often to you stay here?"

"The board uses this place every once in a while for company retreats. They basically run the company." With another smirk on his face, "I'm just the nameless lucky inheritor that reaps the benefits of this windfall. Anyways, they use this place a couple times a year. Other than that it doesn't see too many people." Seeing Xander forming another question he continued. "This is only the third time I've been here since we acquired it a few years ago. I come here when I want to be alone. Not many people can connect me to this place." Seeing Xander nod his head he decided to try to bring the conversation in another direction. "I come here for a few days at a time. It's good to be able to be alone with myself, but still be close by. However," He paused and looked intently at Xander. "This time…I think we will stay here until we have completed the first part of your training…and…until it will be safe for you to be out in the real world."

Sitting back into his chair, Xander closed his eyes. Opening them, he gave a quick nod. "How long do you think that will take?"

Pondering the question for a moment, Adam finally told him, "I really can't say until we start the training." Realizing that more needed to be said, "It may take a month, or it could take a year. Look, I'm not saying that we need to stay cocooned here, but until we get you prepared to use a sword with enough proficiency…it will simply be too dangerous out there for you."

'Oh great!' Xander thought vehemently, 'Another person who wants to protect me by keeping me on the sidelines.'

Adam noticed the dark wary look that entered Xander's eyes and tried to placate him. "I'm not trying to keep you away from people Alexander. But you have to realize that it would be foolish, and irresponsible for me to send you out to this new world for you when you are ill-prepared to face it. And it is not something that I'd do." There was a slight edge to his voice, a conviction that Xander couldn't ignore. So, he resigned his fate, and immediate future, into the hands of a man he hardly knew. It was with the next statement that he knew the 'Harris Luck' was still with him. "Besides…there's something you need to know" Adam's voice was not much softer, with a hint of uncertainty.

Reaching towards the small bucket, Xander took the last beer. Opening it, he took a long sip before replying. "What is it that I need to know?"

"Your 'buzz' is stronger than it should be." Seeing that Xander wasn't following completely, he elaborated. "You see, in a new Immortal the buzz is softer. In time the power grows. Also, taking in the Quickening of another Immortal will intensify your buzz. Your buzz is far more intense than it should be."

Shaking his head Xander asked, "How will this affect me?"

Adam, shaking his own head in response, answered. "I'm not sure. I think it may wind up being both a blessing and a curse." Looking over at Xander, and seeing that he wanted him to continue, he did. "You may be able to bluff your way out of a challenge. Another Immortal may assume that you have either taken quite a few heads, meaning that you are an excellent sword fighter, or that you have been around for a long time. That would probably lead them to the same conclusion. If you play your cards right, you may be able walk away without a challenge." Looking down at the beer in his hand, he took a long pull from the bottle before continuing. "If, by chance, you can't get out of the fight…it would most likely mean that you are being challenged by a master swordsman who is calling your bluff. Older immortals can read a person's body language . Some are able to gauge emotions and even determine your true age from the strength of the quickening however misleading it may be.. And with a buzz like yours they will be trying that much harder, and being that much more careful in the fight." Adam looked into Xander's eyes in an apologetic manner. "I am sorry, but I know of no way to fix this. I know of some ways to make you more aware of other's buzzes…it may give you a few moments to prepare yourself…but beyond that? I can only train you." In his mind Adam was trying to figure out if there was any way that magic may be able to help his new student. He, at this time, figured that it would not be a good idea to bring up that possible scenario. 'Let's give him a while before we turn his entire world upside down ……again.'

Unknown to Adam, Xander was thinking along the same lines Telling the 'Charmed Ones' or the Gang about his new condition was definitely going to be put on the back burner until he was able to protect himself, and more importantly, protect his friends and loved ones. With all the conviction he could muster he replied. "We'll deal with this. And…we'll do what we must."

With his admiration growing for the young man, Adam smiled while getting off of his chair. Making his way around the table, he placed a hand on Xander's shoulder. "That we will Alexander. that we will." And with that, both men left the 'Smoking Room.'

Two hours later, both men are sitting at a table in the kitchen, eating a meal prepared by Adam. One is drinking water while the other is consuming his favorite beverage.

"I can't believe you don't have anything to drink besides beer and hard liquor."

While snickering, Adam replies "What else would there be?" Trying to hold in a chuckle at Xander's unbelieving look, he relents. "I was only planning on being here for a couple of days by myself. We'll go shopping tomorrow. We're going to need more food." and with a sigh, "more beverages. Not to mention that we both need more clothes if we are going to be staying here for a while." Giving Xander a stern look, "You are going to need clothes to train in."

"When do we start training?"

Adam pondered this for a moment before responding. "We'll start with your physical training tomorrow. My friend Joe…he was the one I was on the phone with when you felt the buzz for the first time." Xander nodded to this, so he continued. "He is visiting another friend, Duncan…he's probably the best Immortal swordsman that I know of…Joe will get some training equipment and an assortment of swords to bring here. He should be here in a day or two." With a smirk gracing his features he concluded, "Then the real training begins." Xander could only nod and give a small smile of his own.

"I've kept myself in pretty decent shape. And I have had some training with kendo sticks." Adam nodded his head to this then suddenly smiled. His smile darkened and Xander knew no good would come of whatever was about to be said.

"We'll see just how good you are Alexander. Don't you worry, we'll see."

Xander sat there, feeling an impending doom, when he heard a soft buzz coming from Adam's jacket.

"Your coat it buzzing."

Walking over to his coat, he pulled his cell phone from the pocket.

"Hello?...Joe?...You're here already?" Adam looked at his watch and had an incredulous look in his face, "How did you get here so quickly?...A plane!...I am not paying you back for a plane ride here!" Adam gripped the phone a little tighter as Xander began to chuckle. "Oh he did, did he? Well tell him the next time I see him it'll be his head!" Even Xander could hear the laughter coming over the small speaker on the cell phone. "All right….fine….Give me a moment to open the front gate."

With a sigh, Adam put his phone back into the jacket's pocket while putting the jacket on. He then walked over to the wall near the hallway. Next to the base of a telephone, hanging on the wall, was a large button labeled 'GATE'. Pushing the button, he motioned for Xander to follow him to the front door.

They watched as the limo made its way down the long, winding driveway.

"I can't believe they got a limo." Shaking his head, Adam complained. "If he thinks I'm going to give him a dime then he's finally lost his mind."

Smirking, Xander said, "It's not like you can't afford it."

Looking over to Xander he responded, "That's not the point. The point is" the next part of his statement got cut off as both Immortals felt the sensation of 'The Buzz' as the car neared, causing Xander to stiffen while he fought to keep the sensation from overwhelming him like it had earlier. While discretely reaching inside his coat, placing his hand on the pummel of his sword, Adam smirked. "I guess Joe brought some friends along with him." Xander relaxed visibly.

As the car pulled to a stop, the back door opened. A grinning tall man with the body of a warrior stepped out. That had to be Duncan MacLeod. 'The Buzz' lessened considerably, but did not vanish entirely. Adam withdrew his empty hand from his coat while Duncan stepped aside from the door. Holding his hand towards the door, a female hand grasped it. A long, slender, and elegant leg was all that Xander could see emerging from the door. Once helped out of the car, a lady with a killer body that had to be Amanda, with a smile holding far more mischief than it should looked in their direction. Once eye contact was made, 'The Buzz' vanished completely. Duncan went to the opened trunk to grab their luggage, as a man in his mid 50's got out of the car. Holding a cane he made his way, limping, towards Adam and Xander with Amanda and Duncan not too far behind.

As the three made their way to the front door Adam gave a small smile in Duncan's direction before speaking to Joe. Smirking he said, "I see you picked up some stragglers along the way."

"Yea, well when I told Mac about you taking on a student, he told me there was no way he was missing this."

While Duncan and Adam had some playful, yet sharp word tossed back and forth, Amanda made her way over to Xander who was quietly listening to the barbs being thrown back and forth. Running her hand along his chest she commented "Well, aren't you the strong silent type." Running her hands along his body, the most coherent thought he could come up with was 'huh urm gah heh '.

Duncan, seeing that Xander was momentarily distracted glanced back at Adam with a question in his eyes. Adam, catching the glance, gave a short shake of his head as a 'No." Nodding his acceptance to this, he saw Amanda take a step back from Xander and he smirked slightly.

"Amanda, give it back to him." Turning her head, and putting on an innocent expression she had mastered for over a thousand years of existence she replied. "I have no idea what you mean."

With a stern look he replied, "Amanda, we've been here less than 10 minutes, and you're already at it." His stern expression suddenly brightened and he was smiling. "Now give it back to him."

With a defeated sigh she gave in. "Fine." Turning back to Xander she had in her hand a wallet. Looking closer at the wallet, Xander realized it bared a close resemblance to his own wallet. Reaching to the back of his pants, he felt the pocket back there finding it much emptier than it should have been. 'How did she?' but shook off the unproductive thought as he took back his wallet and made a show of counting his money while the others chuckled. Satisfied he put his wallet back in his pocket, deciding just might be fun having them around.

Breaking Xander's current train of thought, Adam looked at MacLeod and said in an exasperated voice, "I bet you all had to fly first class too!"

Before Duncan could reply, Amanda beat him to it. "But of course darling. We couldn't fly any other way." Sauntering up to Xander she hooked her arm around his leading him inside. "Alexander is it?" seeing him nod she continued. "Well come inside. We have much to discuss." Leading him back into the mansion he could be seen checking the location of his wallet every few steps.

Adam quickly turned around and proceeded after his new student, wondering what trouble they were going to be into, while Joe wordlessly followed. They had just made it to the beginning of the hallway when Duncan's voice could be heard.

"Isn't anyone going to help me with the bags? The training equipment is kind of heavy ! "

Joe and Adam's voices could be heard at the same time "No!"

Duncan just shook his head as he watched them walk down the hallway and turned to the left. He picked up their luggage and trudged his way after them

The rest if the night went along smoothly. Adam had to quickly explain why, and how, he was staying at this place, which got a surprised and shocked reaction from Duncan and Amanda, while Joe began to curse Adam out about running such a huge bar tab at his tavern when he had all of this money. While the rest of the room snickered, Joe fumed a little more before relenting after Adam presented him with a check that not only paid up the tab but with interest. Duncan and Amanda talked about their time in Paris, and recently returning, where Mac had reopened his dojo. Nothing truly important was raised during the rest of the conversation. Xander, however, began to feel more apart of these people and began to enter the conversation.

Adam mock complained about the possibility of having Mac and Alexander in the same place for too long, as they were both complete boy scouts. This got a snicker out of Joe and Amanda, and two identical grins coming from Xander and Duncan, causing Adam to groan for real. A little later in the night, Amanda decided to tell everyone that she was making Alexander her new project, which got a groan out of everyone, .

Around 10:30 at night, though it was still early, everyone decided to turn in. It was decided that Adam and Mac would begin Xander's training in the morning, while Amanda and Joe would do some shopping for the necessities of the house, causing Duncan to glance at Amanda and snicker. Duncan agreed to help in the training for as long as he was there, but figured on having to leave in a few weeks to go back to his Dojo.

Letting out a sigh of exhaustion, Xander entered his room. He was tired down into his bones. Both physically and mentally, he was tired. However, he knew there was one more thing to do before he could go to the loving embrace of voluntary unconsciousness. Making his way to the office, and the computer inside, he halted. Shaking his head, he made his way back to his bed. Reopening his duffel bag, he pulled out a cell phone and turned it on. Xander looked down at the phone morosely. 'I haven't talked to them in a while. This should be done over the phone, and not by e-mail.'

Using the first number in his 'speed-dial' he pushed send while taking his duffel off of the bed and laying down on the extremely comfortable mattress. Each ring of the phone seemed to hammer in his ear. He could feel his heart beating faster with each passing second. Soon he found himself holding his breath, more nervous than he had been in a long while. Then, after what seemed like an eternity, the ringing stop and a voice answered.

Hello? That one word, in that sweet voice brought a smile to his face. His heart went back to its normal beat, and his breathing relaxed.

"Hello Dawnie."

XANDER! He had to pull the phone away from his ear. Looking at the phone in amazement, that such a small speaker could produce such a loud response almost seemed hellmouthy to him. With an even larger smile he brought the phone back to his ear. On the other end of the line was a whirlwind of a conversation that, if he had not had so much practice with in the past, would have baffled his mind. Where have you been? Why haven't you called? It's been so long! You didn't forget about us did you? What have you been doing? I've missed you so much over here? Why aren't you answering me?

Xander couldn't help but to chuckle into the phone. "Breathe Dawnie, don't forget to breathe. You remember, inhale exhale?" He could feel her blushing on the other side of the line.

In a somewhat meek voice she replied, sorry

The meekness in her voice made his smile falter. With a caring voice he told her, "Oh Dawnie, don't be sorry. Really, that babble was Willow worthy."

That earned him a giggle, which seemed to lighten his heart. So…how are you? Are you still bartending and hanging with your boss and her family?

"I'm doing ok. I actually left Piper and her family this morning. Though they did make me promise to keep in touch." Dawn diplomatically decided not to point out his previous inability to keep in touch for an extended period of time.

So…what have you been up to? Where are you now?

"I've been keeping myself busy. I've been working and keeping myself in shape. Not much of a social life so far." Xander laid there, thinking that was about as close to the truth as he was getting, and not wanting to outright lie to Dawn, decided to switch topics instead of lying about where he was. "So, how are you and the rest of the gang doing?"

There was a brief pause before she answered. Well…things have been a little rough trying to set everything up on the Hellmouth. But we've managed to do ok for ourselves. There was another brief pause before she came back. It took a couple of months for it to happen…but we lost 2 slayers about a week ago. The sadness could be heard in her voice, and it almost brought tears to Xander's eyes. Buffy has been blaming herself. She keeps second guessing herself. I think after you separating from us in Oxnard, something changed with her. She really hasn't been 'The General' since…and she took this really hard.

Xander made his voice as solid as possible when he replied. "Buffy is a fighter. She'll get passed this in no time. She has you to help her. As well as Willow and G-Man. She should know that she can call me anytime to talk."

I know, and I think that she knows too. She has been talking to Giles like she used to in the old days. Its just hard for her still.

There was a long pause until Xander's eyes lit up. Smiling he asked, "Hey, you should have started college by now. How's that going?"

With a lighter tone she replied, It's going well. Classes are interesting, even made a few friends. It's a little hard not being able to bring them around here and all…but I'll deal. Even Xander could feel the smile on her face.

"You pick a major yet?"

Xander…I'm only a freshman…I'll pick my major sometime when I'm a senior This got a small chuckle on both ends of the phone.

For the next half hour they talked about nothing, and everything. From Willow still being with Kennedy, to her still having no boyfriend. Giles attempting to create a New Council of Watchers. It seemed money was a bit tighter than they thought. It was harder than predicted to gain access to the Council's funds…but they expected to gain more access any day now. Once they got the money, there was already talk of a Slayer school. While Robin wanted it to be based more on the lifestyle of a Slayer, it was surprisingly Giles who wanted their schooling to be based more on academics. A real shocker was that Andrew seemed to be pulling more than his fair share in responsibilities. He was apparently an above par chef, and his ability with computers, or those 'infernal machines' as Giles prefers to call them, was even better than Willow's.

'Will wonders never cease?.' He thought to himself with a smile as he hung up the phone. Having told Dawn to give the rest of the gang his love, he went to bed feeling much better than he had in a long while.

The next morning he made his way down to the first floor. Adam, Joe, Duncan, and Amanda were all sitting around the table eating some eggs and having a light conversation. Duncan, noticing Xander's entrance, wordlessly pointing over to the frying pan that still had some eggs on it. Without being told twice he gave himself a portion and sat at the table next to Amanda. Looking over at Adam, he saw something somewhat shocking.

"Adam, no beer with breakfast?" Adam looked up at him, with a mock surprised look on his face.

"I knew there was something I forgot!" Xander thought he was serious until he noticed Adam wasn't getting up. Everyone else gave a small snicker, while Adam gave a glance over at Duncan with a mock glare. With a smile Xander thought, 'Apparently I'm not the first to ask this.' With a snicker of his own, he dug in.

Duncan was the first to speak up after that. "Adam and I thought that it would be a good idea for you to see the skill that you may be up against." Looking over at Adam, he received a nod from the man. Looking back to Xander, he continued. "We have an assortment of swords for you to train with. For now we want you to find the one you are most comfortable with. Once you are good enough with that, we will start to train you on others." A smile suddenly appeared on his face. "Between Adam and myself, we have quite the collection of swords for you to choose as your own. If nothing you see there is what you want…don't worry…I'm sure we can eventually find you something.

Clearing his throat to gain Xander's attention, Adam spoke with a smile of his own. "The sword you choose as your own will be an extension of yourself. It will be your life-line. Make sure it is the one you want, because you WILL be using it to defend yourself at some point in your life." With his smile deepening he continued, "Though I have a bet with Joe that I know which type of sword you'll choose." With a pointed look at MacLeod, he smirked and continued. "All you boy scouts use the same damn weapon." This got a chuckle from Amanda, a snort of amusement from Joe, a grin from Duncan, and a confused look from Xander that just made Adam smirk even more. His smirk vanished and his smile became friendlier. "Once you finish breakfast we'll have you take a look at those swords. Then Mac and I will have a light spar in the back as a demonstration. Joe and Amanda will do some shopping, and once that is over with…you're training will begin." Once again his friendly smile disappeared and became one the unnerved the hell out of Xander. But he just swallowed his egg, and nodded his consent.

"Oh Adam, if you think that I am going to miss you and Duncan sparring…then you are sorely mistaken." Amanda had a smirk of her own on her face as Joe nodded his consent with a similar smirk. Adam just rolled his eyes but just shrugged.

Looking over at Joe he stated, "Please don't forget to pick up the order I placed last night. I had Maurice put a rush job on it…so it should be ready by the time you get there." Turning his attention to Xander, who was now finishing the last of his eggs, he smiled. "Well Alexander, lets find you a blade so we can begin."

With that, everyone cleared their plates and made their way to the array of swords lying on the deck leading to the yard in the back.