Faith had just kicked in the door with enough force to shatter a cinderblock. As the door shattered and went inward, she was quick to take in her surroundings. Her slayer senses were going wild and seemed to emanate from a man who was staring at her with wide eyes.

As her mind caught up to what she was seeing, she recognized the man as being none other than Xander. To say that she was shocked would be a gross understatement. The first thought to go through her mind was that it wasn't Xander. Perhaps it was a demon assuming Xander's form. Or even worse, perhaps he had been possessed.

There were so many things that contradicted what she believed Xander would look like. For starters, the fact that he had both eyes was a dead give away. More than that, besides the slight waver of fear his body had displayed, he was currently holding himself much better than she had remembered. Not to mention he was wearing a long duster, and his entire manner was entirely different from when she last saw him. The fact that he looked far more buff and healthier, even with the jacket covering him, was the last defining feature that quickly told her that not all was as it seemed.

Normally she would have jumped in and attacked without mercy. There were only a few things here that were stopping her. First thing, and perhaps most importantly, was that there was a small voice in the back of her head questioning if this person may actually be Xander. There was also the fact that the power she had been honing in on had been here for a short while, and Giles looked to be in no danger. The third reason she wasn't quite sure how to define. It was based solely on the third man standing in the room. He was radiating a feeling of warmth and comfort. It wasn't something that she had felt before, but combined with everything else; it was enough to stay her hand, for the moment.

As she was taking this all in, she could hear a shaky "Faith?" coming from Xander. This was closely followed by a, "Bloody Hell!" from Giles.

Giles tried to calm his nerves as this new volatile situation suddenly presented itself. His initial outburst wasn't going to help anything. He took a calming breath and glanced at Faith, who was still posed ready, yet had not attacked. This was something he was truly marveling at.

"Faith, is there any particular reason you saw fit to destroy the door to my office?"

Faith never took her eyes off of Xander, and nodded her head at him. "He's putting off some seriously powerful vibes, G." The fact that her voice remained calm throughout this just added more pleasant surprises to the head watcher. Faith certainly had come a long way.

Giles looked between the people within his office, and then glanced towards the open doorway. There were a few other slayers visible, all ready and willing to jump in if needed. He sighed to himself. He wasn't about to put his slayers in trouble, especially if this wound up being some sort of trap. But, in his heart he knew that the person standing just a few feet away from him was Alexander Lavelle Harris, the genuine article. He wasn't sure how he knew, but he was more certain of that than anything else at the moment. Now, he just needed a way to diffuse this situation without any blood being spilled.

"Faith, tell me, is the feeling your slayer senses picking up one of an evil nature?"

Faith seemed to study Xander that much closer before shaking her head in the negative.

"No, G. Not evil, just insanely powerful."

Giles shot Xander a curious glance before looking back at Faith. "Just how powerful?"

"It's powerful enough that we all felt it down in the armory. And it was more than enough that you now have every slayer in the building outside in the hallway."

Giles took off his glasses and began to polish them. "Oh Dear." He looked enquiringly over towards the young man in question. "Anything you would like to share?"

Xander looked back and forth between Faith and Giles, finally landing on Giles. He shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm sure there's a lot to share. And, as I was saying before, we simply don't have the time now to share it all. And as for whatever she is feeling," He nodded towards Faith. "I have no answers for that just yet."

Leo spoke up. "From what I understand it was high on their 'to do' list. But, with The First showing up, it's been placed on the backburner until it's taken care of." Xander simply nodded along with Leo's statement.

Giles nodded. "I see. Xander, you must understand that I am not about to send any of the slayers into a battle with something as large as this being unanswered. Is there any way you can prove to us that you are who you claim to be. That you aren't a threat to my slayers?"

Xander looked at Giles and saw concern radiating from the man he had considered a father since before he blew up his high school. It was some concern for him, but an overwhelming concern, and a need to protect, his slayers. Before Xander had a chance to speak up, Faith beat him to it.

Nodding over towards Leo, she asked. "Who's he? He's putting out some vibes I've never felt before." She glanced over towards Giles. "They're warm, and nice. Complete opposite of the normal vibes the Hellmouth sends out."

Giles eyes lit up as Xander explained who and what Leo is. The man is a guardian, and guide, of natural born witches. The man is an actual Angel, if ever there was someone to give a reference, there wasn't anyone better suited. He had to smile as he saw his slayers' eyes widen in shock, even Faith's. He cleared his throat, gaining everyone's attention.

"Perhaps if Leo would vouch for you that would be enough?" He glanced over to the still awed slayers standing in the doorway, all nodding their head. He then glanced at Faith who gave one terse nod of her own head.

Everyone looked over towards Leo, who seemed to be in a deep contemplative thought, one finger tapping his chin. It looked as though this was going to be a tough decision to make.

"LEO!" Xander's exasperated voice cut through the room.

Leo looked at him with an innocent expression. "What? They want my word. That's very important to an Angel." He put his hand to his chin. "This could be my very reputation on the line here."

Xander rolled his eyes while the rest of the room chuckled. Well, at least no one was attacking him yet. Xander couldn't repress the shark's head smile that adorned his face.

"Fine, but don't be surprised when I tell Piper what it was you were trying to teach Wyatt that time." Leo's eyes lit up in worry.

"You wouldn't!"

Xander smiled. "I have it on tape." Leo's worry kicked up another notch as he quickly addressed Giles and the other slayers.

"He is who he says he is. I vouch for him."

Silence reigned throughout the room for a moment before Giles said, "Good enough for me." Others said the same or similar to Giles' statement, only they were chuckling while doing so.

Faith could be heard muttering, "Yep vouching due t bribery, it's definitely X." Even she chuckled after that.

All in all, things seemed to calm down. A sentiment, which was passed along to those in the hallway.

There was a quick shout, which sounded ominously like a mother shouting to her daughter, before a ballistic missile, cleverly disguised as a small girl, launched itself into Xander's chest.

"Oomph."

Xander stared down at an adorable little blonde haired girl. He looked around the room for some type of response as to what was going on, but only found the other occupants of the room trying to suppress their own chuckles, or full blown laughter.

Xander shook his head at the situation, glanced back down at the girl, who was still clinging to him and hugging him fiercely, before looking back up with a small smirk on his face.

"You know, this particular 'attack' seems vaguely familiar." He glanced over towards Giles, who had a small smirk of his own. "Can I keep her?"

Before anyone else could reply, the same voice that he had heard from outside, ostensibly the girl's mother came into the room.

"Ashley Goode, come over here." When Ashley made no move to extract herself from Xander's torso, her mother came over, her eyes glittering with amusement and a good deal of humor, and pulled the reluctant girl, Slayer if the strength of the young girl's grip was anything to go buy, away from him. "I think we'll hold on to her for a while."

Xander smiled and nodded. "What exactly did I do to receive such a greeting?"

The mother smiled. "From what the girls have been told about you, I'm surprised it was just Ashley that 'attacked' you."

Xander sent her a questioning glance, but before he could question her statement a new voice entered the fray.

"That would be my fault."

With a smile already plastered on his face, Xander glanced towards the open doorway to find Dawn standing in its frame. He shot her a serious expression before nodding his head once again.

"You know, I thought that particular 'attack' seemed vaguely familiar."

Dawn sent him a beaming smile of her own before launching herself at him, as she had done so many times when she was younger.

The force of the hug actually made him stagger back a couple paces. He gave her a curious glance.

"You sure you aren't a slayer?"

She beamed back up at him from where she was hugging him. "Not since the last time I checked."

He smiled back at her. "How are you doing, Dawnie?"

She mumbled something into his chest, along the lines of good. Well, as far as he could tell. She finally extracted herself as multiple people began to congregate into the office. The last person to walk in was an older gentleman, wearing a holstered gun, that walked up and placed his arm around the young slayer, Ashley's, mother.

Xander nodded to the man, and received the same in return. He began to glance around the room, noticing that while it was becoming quite cramped, there were quite a few new faces, and certain faces of old were not present.

He looked curiously over towards Giles. "I know you said that Buffy was in Rome, but where's Willow?"

Xander could feel the slight change in the people around him. The worry and sadness seemed almost palpable. That worried Xander to no end. Something had happened to his Willow, and he had no idea what.

Giles answered his question with a light tone. "She's actually on her way back from England. She should be back in the morning. I'm sure she'll be quite disappointed that she missed you."

Xander wanted to question more; perhaps find out why she was in England in the first place. However, from one quick glance at the expression Giles was sending his way, he decided against it. The former librarian was sending him a look that clearly stated 'this will be discussed later.'

Xander gave an almost imperceptible nod of assent, before changing his entire demeanor from one of worry to one that could easily be associated with the Xander of old. He sent a lopsided smile in Dawn's direction that got him one sent right back.

"So Dawnie you telling stories about me again?"

She chuckled slightly. "Only the good stuff, Xander. I promise."

Xander shook his head with a rueful grin. "There's no need to lie on my behalf."

With a great deal of amusement in Dawn's eyes, she replied. "I'd never dream of it Xan."

Xander sent her a full smile, which was reciprocated by most of the people in the room, even those who had never actually met the young man. Once Xander's gaze fell back onto Leo, his smile dropped from his face, and his expression changed to one of curiosity tinged with worry.

"Leo, are you ok?" Once Leo nodded, he continued. "You scared me back there. What happened?"

Leo took a deep breath before answering. "To tell you the truth, I'm not quite sure. The moment we got here, it felt like my body was on fire." His eyes carried a distant expression. "I've been poisoned before, by a Darklighter's arrow. It's one of the few things that can actually kill a Whitelighter, and that was painful and slow. This was far more intense, and seemed to be instantaneous." He gave a shuddering breath before continuing. "I've had to Orb into the underworld before." His eyes locked with Xander's. "The worse that happens there is that I feel a bit uneasy, and can't hear my charges even if they need me." He shook his head. "That, well, this was something else." With that he plopped back onto the chair that he had been placed in earlier. A tired look came over his face for a fleeting instant, before it was replaced, or concealed.

Xander glanced over towards Giles, who seemed to be deep in thought. Then, without notice, his eyes seemed to regain its focus.

"I-I think that it has more to do with the energy that the Hellmouth is giving off. I think that should you cross its barrier, you would no longer be feeling the discomfort that you were displaying before. I think it's the actual energy, the barrier the Hellmouth creates, that affected you so greatly." He took off his glasses and began to rub them furiously. "Though, as I said before. The little that I know of Whitelighters, and Elders, comes from research done at one point or another." He placed his glasses back on and glanced at both Xander and the Whitelighter. "It is something I'll research right away."

Xander sent the man a quick smile. If there was one thing that man loved, it was to research. Xander sighed as he looked around the room.

There were so many new faces in here. And beyond that, there were just so many faces that were too damned young to be here in the first place. This was something that was going to have to be looked into. It was something that was going to have to be changed.

He shook his head. "It's not that I'm not enjoying seeing you all again, or that I want to leave, but we really are in a hurry." He glanced over towards Dawn and sent her a small smile before looking back at Giles. "I promise to come back soon after this is over." He gave Giles a curt nod. "There's a lot we have to talk about." Giles nodded his head in agreement.

Xander glanced over to the wall by the open doorway. Faith stood over there, next to both Vi and Rona. All three of them were wearing weapons strategically placed all over their person. Standing next to them were three younger girls, none of whom Xander recognized, similarly dressed.

Xander looked at Giles while nodding in their direction. "My Slayers?" Before Giles could reply, Faith's voice cut over to them.

"Actually, X, they would be 'My Slayers.'" Xander glanced over to her with raised eyebrows. He certainly wouldn't expect something like that to come from that particular woman, yet somehow, it seemed to oddly fit. And for another thing, there wasn't any heat behind the statement, it was just simply fact.

He sent her a small lopsided grin. "I didn't mean anything by it, Faith." She just nodded her head back to him.

"Yes, quite." All eyes went to Giles. "Xander, since this is your show, you are, of course, in charge. However, Faith is in charge of the slayers going along. I'm sure she won't have any problems abiding by whatever plan you and yours come up with. But, in case I'm wrong, the final decision is hers to make."

The two men stared at each other before Xander broke out into a full fledged smile.

"I don't think anyone will have a problem with that, G-Man."

Giles gave a curt nod, and then started having the baby slayers, and those not leaving with Xander, back to their dormitories. Dawn wandered over to Faith, and began to quietly whisper to someone who had been her one time enemy.

"You have to understand something, Faith. He considers all of us 'his girls.' Nothing derogatory about it." She flashed the Slayer a quick grin that was pure Xander. "Just give the guy a chance. Trust me, he means well." She looked past Faith, and a few paces away Vi and Rona were quietly smiling and nodding along. "And at some point, it may even be something you cherish."

With that Dawn made her way back to Xander, gave him a quick hug, and made her way back to 'The Nursery' and hopefully calm down what was bound to be a maelstrom of young energetic slayers.

Faith watched B's younger sister wander off. An undecipherable expression marred her face. Most of the hostility that had been present from her actions of long ago had bled away from the girl. While she and Dawn were by no means close, they were definitely civil, and even got along on occasion. But sometimes, that young girl could surprise, and amaze her.

Once the room was basically cleared out, Xander was introduced to the three slayers he had never had the pleasure of meeting. He and Leo made quick introductions, as did Susan, Amy, and Julie.

Xander turned back to his one time mentor and father figure. "Well G-Man, it was good to see you again. I'll be back soon."

Giles nodded to the young man standing no more than a few paces from him. "You as well son, you as well."

Xander sent him a small and grateful smile, before looking over towards Leo, who was surrounded by the Slayers. "Leo, will you be able to transport all 7 of us?"

Leo shook his head. "So long as everyone can make physical contact with me, we'll all be orbed together."

Xander nodded goodbye to Giles, before making his way over to the others.

He looked straight at Faith, and then glanced to the other slayers as well. "I'd like to thank you all for agreeing to come and help us, it means a lot."

Faith just shrugged before placing a hand on Leo's shoulder, an action that mirrored what Xander had done. "Not a problem X, it's what we do."

It was the sentiment shared by her sister slayers as well.

Xander simply shot her a small smile and nodded towards Leo. "This may feel a little weird, but there's no safer way to travel."

And with that, they were whisked away in a shower of scattering blue and white lights. Soon the room returned to its artificially lit normalcy, leaving only Giles in an empty room. With a sigh he made his way over towards a plethora of books. He had quite a bit of researching to do; he may as well get started.

It was a few hours later that there was a quiet knock on his door frame, before he could give permission to enter, Dawn's head poked through the opening.

With a curious expression she placed herself in the seat on the other side of his desk.

"So Giles, what's a Whitelighter?"