Title: Sunnydale through the mirror part 2

Author: Robert to archive: just let me know where.

Pairing/Characters: none as of yet

Rating: pg

The Bronze.

Buffy and Willow were sitting watching Jessy try to get one of the Jocks to talk to her. It so wasn't going well. He just looked through her, but she kept it up.

"Should we go get her?" Willow asked.

"Nope, she hasn't been shot down enough yet," Buffy said with a grin, watching one of her oldest friends act all goo-goo over a blonde with big muscles.

"So, Xander going to show tonight?" Willow asked. Looking her friend over, She remembered how both she and Jessy had pulled Buffy aside this afternoon after the new guy had stopped Larry from his daily bullying.

"He said he would." Buffy certainly hoped so, it was nice to talk to him. But soon as he found out about her mom, he would disappear like all the other guys she liked.

"Oh, I found out something about him too," Willow paused. "He left the school in Ms. Summers car."

"So she gave him a ride home," the blond told the redhead. "He might live next door or something."

"Or something is right; he lives at the same address," Willow said, looking over at her friend. "She took him in, that's why she was all over the place to stop the PTA starting something about him moving here."

"What? Why? She his aunt or something?"

"Nope, new mom," Willow said, waggling her eyebrows. "You know, my mom is on the PTA ."

"Yeah. Just a regular Harper Valley we got here." Most of the meetings were spent talking about who was sleeping with whom, while trying to keep anyone from finding out who you were sleeping with.

"Well, she said she took him as a foster kid. It was going through before the divorce; she wanted kids and Snyder shoots blanks," the redhead gossiped. "Anyway, she got the kid and the home, and Snyder got a small apartment across town. Then she got the big job, too."

"What about Xander?"

Buffy really didn't care what happens to Snyder, not after some of the things he had said about her and her mother, and the fact that he couldn't have kids was a blessing from God. She knew her life was hell and home, what kind of life would kids have Snyder?

"Nothing much. Just that he's standing over by the door."

Buffy whipped her head around so fast she almost gave herself whiplash, only to not see Xander and then hear a chuckle from Willow.

"Buffy's got her first Crush. My, how she's grown up."

Willow sat there, wiping a non-tear from her eyes as she smiled at Buffy, who gave her one of her very best death glares that she would only glare at her friend and then only if they were pissing her off.

"I am not bothered by your glare of death,": Willow advised her. "Oh, look at that," she said, pointing behind Buffy, who once again looked.

There was nothing there, however, and when she looked back to her friend, Willow was gone. It was one of her many defenses against the Glare. Buffy saw her moving off to the bar to get a drink.

"You can run, but you can't hide!" Buffy called to her friend, who just smiled and ordered some drinks, one for her and one for Buffy as a peace offering.

A few streets over

Xander was walking to the Bronze.

Joyce had offered to drop him off and pick him up, but that was so not going to happen. Who wants to show up at a club with your mom? Certainly not him.

He had crashed a few raves while on the streets in LA; he knew how to handle himself and this was Sunnydale - nothing bad happens here.

Then he felt a twinge he hadn't felt anything like in a while. Not since Lothos. He moved a little faster, watching the alleys as he passed.

He didn't even have a stake with him, he realized nervously. After all, he didn't need one. They were gone – no more vampires. There couldn't be; he had killed them all.

Just as he passed one alley, an arm shot out and pulled him in. He fought back until it spun him around. The yellow eyes of a vampire looked back at him.

"Oh, Hello," it said to him. "You're just in time."

Xander just looked at him in surprise, as the vampire went for the kill.

Only to be knocked away from him.

Standing behind the vampire was a beautiful girl. She just shook her head.

"You're the Slayer?" she asked, with another shake. Turning, she threw a stake, hitting the vampire in the heart and turning it to dust.

"Some Slayer. Don't you even have a stake?"

"No, they were all gone," Xander said, still shaking from the encounter.

Here," she said, handing him another stake. "Maybe if you were a girl, this wouldn't have happened."

"Wait a minute, and slow the estrogen wagon down. How the HELL does that have to do with me having a stake or not?"

"Duh. If you were a girl, you would have had a something to protect yourself in a dark street. A mace or at least a stake."

"Mace wouldn't have stopped him."

"Not Mace. A Mace," she said with another shake of her head.

"Oh, one more thing," the dark beauty said. "Tell your Watcher, the Harvest is coming."

"What Watcher" Xander said, watching the girl. "My watcher is dead."

"Well, duh," the dark haired girl said, while thinking, These Slayers get dumber and dumber. "Not the dead one. You have one here in town; she's looking for you."

"Where is she?"

He wanted to know so he could go in the other direction as fast as he could. There was no way he would get in the middle of this again. He had started to make friends; he had a family again. There was no way he would got back to Slaying.

"I don't know where she is now. I am so not her or your keeper," she said with a snippy voice.

"Who are you, anyway?"

"A friend."

"What if I don't want you as a friend."

"Well, doofus, I never said I was your friend." With that the girl turned and walked into the shadows and was gone.

"Great. Disappearing girls. What next?" Xander looked around fast. "Did I say that out loud?"

Making sure nothing else was in the shadows, he headed off to the Bronze.

Bronze upstairs.

Jenny watched the kids dance and flirt downstairs from her position on the second floor of the club.

She had been in Sunnydale now for a week. She had moved into her new job at the school, as the new Librarian, and had moved all her books in. Along with the weapons.

All she needed now was the Slayer. The spell she cast last night said she should have arrived today, but the only new student was Alexander Harris. Which was funny, as the Slayer's name was Alexandra Harris.

But she had looked into it, and made sure it wasn't a typo. He was, indeed, a he and so could not have been the Slayer.

Merrick had told the Council that the new Slayer was a little different and not to send anyone else around her 'til he had something figured out. But now that he was dead, Jenny would get the chance to be a Watcher for a Slayer.

She had wanted that for so long, not that she wanted anything to happen to anyone else. But for a Watcher, it was the ultimate goal, and now she had it.

She still didn't understand how she managed to get it, though. She had had to overcome a lot of obstacles to get here.

First, she was an American. Most, if not all, Watchers were English. Then there was the fact that she was more of a free spirit than most Watchers, too.

But Quentin Travers had chosen her, even before that Wesley guy, who was so far up Travers' butt that he could taste what Travers was eating. And he had even overlooked her family back ground.

So she knew something was up with this assignment. What it was, exactly, she didn't know yet. But that was of no matter now. She was here and he was there and with luck, she would never meet him again.

As she stood up there, watching the crowd below, she was trying to figure out if there were any Vampires here, but she just couldn't find any, even though she knew there had to be some. After all, a lot of Students went missing after they come here.

Just then, the new student from school walked in. Alexander, she remembered as she watched him. She noticed that his clothing was a little messed.

Like he had been in a fight, she thought. And his walk - it wasn't the walk of a teenager, it was the walk of a predator. She had seen the walk before while watching tapes of Slayers.

Vampires had the walk, too...

Was he a vampire? she though. He had the look, the black clothes, the watching looking for a easy mark. Then he saw something and moved off toward a blonde sitting alone - that Buffy girl who just about lived in her library.

Seeing that, she knew she had to do something. She picked up her bag, felt around in it to make sure she still had her stake, then moved off to save the poor girl. While again wishing she had her Slayer here.

Xander had seen Buffy from the doorway of the Bronze and was making his way to her, when he felt a sharp pain in his back. Looking back over his shoulder, he saw a beautiful older lady with a stake in his back.

"This is just not my night," Xander sighed.

"Come on, let's take this out side," the woman whispered, tugging on his arm.

Willow was on her way back to Buffy when she saw what was happening and followed them outside.

Once outside

Jenny pulled back to stake him but felt something she shouldn't feel, body heat. The Boy just stood watching her, as she felt him up, then put a hand on his neck to feel his pulse, all the while the stake at the ready.

"So, Watcher, huh?" Xander said easily. He knew he could take the stake from the woman at anytime, but he didn't want to hurt her. And from the way her hands were shaking, she was scared out of her mind.

Jenny nearly dropped her stake when he said that. He knew what a Watcher was! This was bad! No one know about Watchers; they were the back up. She needed her Slayer.

"H...h...how do you know that name?" Jenny finally got out. This kid was really scaring her. He had a pulse, but moved like a predator. He knew about Watchers so he probably know about Slayers, too.

Could he be hunting the Slayer? He did show at the same time as the Slayer was supposed to.

"Easy, there," Xander said, grinning a little. "I was the Slayer."

"What," Jenny drew back in surprise. "Slayers are girls."

"Not this time," Xander just shrugged his shoulders. "I think God wanted to see if a man could do it better this time."

"Man..." Jenny looked his up and down. "Kind over-estimating yourself, aren't you?"

"Hey, all man here," Xander all but yelled. "And, anyway, I quit. Find yourself another one."

"Hey, not that I believe you, but if you're the Slayer, what your last Watcher's name?"

Jenny didn't know if she believed him at all, but if he was telling the truth then the way Merrick acted would make sense.

"His name was Merrick. Now tell your friend I told you the Harvest is coming."

Xander started to turn and leave.

"What friend? I just got here the other day and have been looking for you."

"Tall, dark, deadly with a stake. Looks like a Victoria Secrets model, but without the running around in her underwear."

"Alexander," Jenny started, "if you're the Slayer, you can't walk away from it. It's what you are, not who you are."

"Nope, I am not. I am just a guy," he said, starting to walk off again.

"If you sit back and do nothing how many will die?" Jenny said, trying to reason with him. If he could not be reasoned with, she would have to call the Council and she had a good ideal what they would do next. Not something she wanted to do, really, but the needs of the many and all that…

"I don't know them." Xander had stopped, his head down.

That's what bothered him the most. He was not a selfish person, but he wanted out. He had killed his master vampire and now he was out; it was in the rules - you win and it's over. Not, you win, then the next big bad comes after you.

"Think of your mother, your father." Jenny could see she had him, she just needed to start pulling him back slowly.

"Mom's dead and dad is off doing whatever he wants to."

"Who are you staying with?"

"Mrs. Summers," Xander said, looking of his shoulder at her, his eyes filling with something, she didn't know what.

"Ok, so you're staying with my boss. But what can you do to protect her and others? If you do nothing, they could die very bloody and painful ways. If you fight for them, they could live a long time. Tell you what - you think about it. And if you want to help them, come see me, at the library. If you don't, then you can sit back and watch them all fall one at a time. This is the Hellmouth here."

"Hellmouth?" Xander turning to the Watcher, to see if he could tell if she was lying.

"The mouth to hell. Every nightmare you have had is here; every thing that goes bump in the night. And the Slayer's job is make sure that they get bumped, first."

"I'll think about it." Xander turned and all but ran back into the Bronze.

Jenny just smiled.

Got him. she thought, then turned and headed home while, unknown to both Xander and Jenny, some people had overheard everything that had went on.

After both Jenny and Xander were gone, Willow stood up from behind a trash can.

It had stunk to high heaven back there, but the more the two talked, the more she wanted to listen.

Willow looked both ways, then said, "What the hell was that about?"

She knew she had to find out more. If they were crazy, she needed to keep them away from Buffy and Jessy.

Also watching from a neat by roof top, Cordy asked, "Victoria Secret model?", then turned and jumped to the next building.