Sunnydale

The Initiative

Riley and his men were watching a truck pull up, as Prof. Walsh joined them.
They all stood watching the men moved a covered box from the back of the truck through a back door and deeper into the Initiative complex.

" What's that, Prof. Walsh?"

"Just another delivery for some experiments I am doing. Nothing you need to
worry about."

Just then the box moved and nearly toppled from the pallet it was on. Walsh turned to the men.,"

"Hurry up and get that in the Lab,." She ordered angrily, as a Voice came from the Box.
" Let me out here NOW!"

Riley looked at Walsh questioningly.

"It's an HST. Don't worry. We have it under control," She informed him, as
she signaled the guard that worked in the back labs to take the box back. As the door closed, Riley looked at his friends.

" That's not normal."

Xander pulled to a stop at the side of the road looking up at the Sign that proclaimed
"WELCOME TO SUNNYDALE"

It seemed that it had taken him a life time, but he was home. But was it, really?

He had another life in
his head - 471's.

Which one is the real me anymore? he asked himself. I've killed both humansand monsters. I can remember hunting down convicts when I was eight, but at
the same time, I was hiding from my dad up in a tree in my back yard. I know
I was not at Manticore, so it must have been the spell that did that. But what are Memories? Just something in your head?

Well he had to stop wasting time with these useless reflections; he needed to get into town. Max was there somewhere. He could feel her. Some were.
Starting the Bike, he took off into town. It was late afternoon and the sun was shining behind him.

OUTSIDE THE MAGIC BOX

Willow and Tara were walking down the street heading to the Magic Box.
Buffy would be starting her Patrol soon and they wanted to see her before she went out. They had just finished making a magical pin for her to wear, one that would help protect her from magical attacks.

Tara heard a motorcycle slow down behind them, and looking back, she saw a guy
looking closely at them. He was cute but.… She was so not into guys.

" Hey Red, want to ride on my handle bar?" the guy said.
Willow stopped at those words and turned pale, slowly turning around.
Oh shit, thought Tara. She was about to grab Willow and drag her away from the guy before she could hurt him, when something she never would have thought happened.

Willow screamed and jumped on the guy, locking her arms around his neck.

"YOURBACKINEVERTHOUGHTYOUWERECOMEINGBACK!"

"Yes, I am back, and breathing is becoming a problem, Wills," the guy said, pulling Willow off of
him.

"Hey, how's it going? I'm Xander," he said, sticking his hand out to the blonde who gasping like fish out of water.

" Oh, uhm, uh, Xander, this is Tara," Willow said. Then, more quietly, "My girl friend."

" Oh. Uhm. Nice to meet you." Xander was in a little shock. "Uhm. Uh. Where is Oz?"

" He cheated on me, and we broke up."

"Ok. Uhm, where's the Gang at? I went by Giles' place and no one was there. I was heading over to Buffy's house,'cause I know your Mom and Dad were probably out of town."

"Well come in, we meet here now," the redheaded witch said, pointing at the Magic Box.

"Sure." He pulled his bike up on the sidewalk.

As Willow walked in, she turned the open sign to close. Giles and Anya were
going over the day's sales.
" Anya, it's only a few dollars. It doesn't mean the end of the world," Giles
said, glancing up at Willow.

" A few dollars here and then, a few more there, and soon we're living on the street. The economy crashes and then a depression sets in, and the world economy falls apart. We have to find that money!" Anya replied in an irritated voice.

" Oh, hey, Xander," Anya said, as if he had been just over yesterday.

" Xander, my boy! I am so glad you are back," Giles said, coming around the
counter to hug him.

God it's nice to be home, Xander thought to himself.

He had already decided not to tell the Scoobies about Manticore. They had more than enough to worry about without this added to the mix. He just needed to find the base here. Then get Max out, and then figure out if he was going to stay.

Max and he had to have some serious talk, and have them soon.
All the mating stuff came on far too fast.

Just then Buffy and Riley walked in.

"Whose Motorcycle is that outside?"

Xander Stood up.

" Mine, Buffster."

Buffy came to a stand still for a moment. Then she ran and jumped on Xander. "You came Back! You're not mad at me."

Riley just looked on as his girlfriend was climbing over some other guy.

"Hey. My name's Riley," he said, looking at the dark-haired man. "That's my girl friend, You've got climbing on you."

"This one alive?" Xander asked Buffy under his Breath as he reluctantly pulled himself out of the Slayer-hug.

"Yes!" she smirked, hitting him on his shoulder.

"Ouch, Buff! Slayer strength!" Xander said with a grin. Riley didn't know what to make of what was going on. Just who was this guy? And why were Willow and Buffy grinning so much? And Giles acted like his favorite son had come home.

Only Tara and he look confused. Anya looked like she didn't care. either way .

" So Xander did you bring us any souvenirs?" Buffy asked, with a grin.

" Nope, just myself."

" Were did you get your Motorcycle? Where is your Car?" Willow asked.

"The car didn't make the trip. It's somewhere out in big cow country, Wills. As for the Bike, I am bringing it here for a friend of mine. Max."

"What have you been doing?" asked Buffy.

Xander hesitated for a moment, since didn't want his friends to
get involved with Manticore.

" Well, ran out of money, so I did some bike messengers jobs. But before that, I had to lower myself to being a stripper for a while. And that is all I am going to say on that."

Both Willow and Buffy blushed and grinned and Giles started to clean his Glasses.

Riley thought Oh great! Not only is my girlfriend hanging on another guy, the guy's a Stripper, too.

Anya looked at Xander

" So, what were your rates?"

As everyone looked at her, she looked back, puzzled, and asked, "What?"

"Ok, Now That everyone knows I am back, I need to go get a place to stay,"
Xander said.

"Nope, you're staying at my home, Xander." Buffy said. "Mom wouldn't stand for you staying in a hotel. So follow me."

"Say, why don't I just give you a ride on the bike?"

"Really? That would be so cool," Buffy smiled and off to the Door. " Hey, Riley, see you at my mom's. OK?."

After Buffy and Xander were gone, Riley turned to Giles and Willow and asked, "What in the hell was that?"

"That was Xander," Willow said.

" And What's a Xander?"

" Best friend and snugly guy."

"Snugly Guy?"

Riley and Tara didn't know if they liked that.

" Yes. He's also quite good with sex," Anya noted as she looked up from the register. They all looked at her again.

"What? Willow, you know he was caught cheating with you."

" What?" Tara asked. Both Tara and Riley were looking at her.

" It wasn't like that."

"Yes, it was," Anya corrected her. "Cordy caught you two at it and I was summoned because of it,"Anya reminded her.

" It's also how I lost my powers. You don't think I would forget that, do
you?"

" Well, Willow, what happened?" Tara asked.

" Well, it was kinda like this..."

BUFFY'S HOUSE.

Xander drove the motorcycle up on the drive way at Buffy's, as Joyce walked
out side to see who had pulled up at her home.

When she saw who it was, she pulled Xander into a hug, that could have put Buffy's Slayer strength to shame.

"Xander, where have you been?" Joyce asked.

" Just seeing the country, Mrs. Summers."
" Hey now, you're out of school, you can call me Joyce, now."

Buffy stood back, smiling, as Xander and her mother talked. She could remember the times after High School when Xander would stop by. He and her mom would talk For hours.

Joyce really liked him; he was the son she never had, and she would mother
Him relentlessly. It was very unlike his own home, where his mother would not even know if he was home most of the time.

After they had talked for a while, Buffy broke in."

"Mom, Xander needs a place to stay for a while. Could he stay here? I know I'm not here a lot but it would help him out."

Joyce looked at Xander, and winked so Buffy couldn't see it.

" I don't know, Buffy. Me, here alone with a handsome
younger man. What would the neighbors say?"

Buffy started to gasp. Her mom thought Xander was handsome.
EEEWWWW.

He was Xander, not some stud.

" Of course, he can stay, Buffy. The neighbors need something new to talk about," Joyce said.

" So what you doing tonight, Xander?" Asked Buffy.

"Oh, look around town, see what's the what. Seems like I have been gone forever."

" Well, be careful. You know, this is the Hell mouth."

"Yes, mother." Xander told Buffy,. making Joyce smile at their bickering.
"Well, I'm off to get ready for bed, Xander. You can stay in Buffy's room tonight, then tomorrow we'll fix up some thing else."

" Ok, thanks, Joyce. See ya in the morning."

After Joyce had gone upstairs, Buffy and Xander went to the Kitchen. They
were setting around the table when Riley arrived with Willow and Tara.

Riley and Buffy started to talk about patrols, then they left together,
Buffy calling over her shoulder that she would see him later.
Willow and Xander started to catch up with all the things that had happened over the summer, here in town.

All the while Tara was watching Xander. There was something
wrong with his aura, she noticed.

And Willow saw a bottle of pills in his pocket.

A little while later, she noticed that he started to get some shakes, and when he thought no one was watching, he swallowed several of them.

After Willow and Tara left to go back to their dorm, Xander got up and left. He needed to find Max.

He decided to walk the streets instead of drive them because he might miss something.

He started out,in the warehouse section of town, working his up town. He was about half way there when he saw a Vampire walking toward Giles' apartment, without any apparent fear, so, Xander decided to watch him.

As the vamp got closer to Giles' he who it was:. Spike.,

What was Spike doing back in town? He thought the vamp world have better sense than to come back here with a Slayer pissed off at him.

After a few blocks, Xander was completely sure that Spike was heading to Giles' place. Xander moved up behind him and watched as he knocked on Giles' door.

When Anya came to the door, Xander stood back and listened to them.

" Well, love, do you have it?" Spike asked Anya.

"Yes, Spike, here you go," she said as she picked up a Ice cooler and handed it to him. "That should cover you for a few more days."

" Yes, it should, but how about some more later?. I help the Slayer out, you
pay me, that's our deal, right? How about a bit of a bonus, huh? I took out a Feral Demon tonight. Could that slide me some more later?"

" I don't know. I can ask for you. but you know that's up to Buffy."

"Ok, love. Well, I'll see you later."

As he turned around Xander knew he would be seen if he stayed were he was, so, he jumped into a tree and hid in the Shadows in the limbs.

As Spike walked under him,he stopped for a moment. He thought he smelled something off, like there was something around him. He looked around,. but after a moment, he started to walk again. There was nothing he could see, so Spike kept walking.

After he had passed, Xander jumped down from the tree. Spike working with Buffy?. What in the world has been going on? Was this part of the wish?. Was he even in his own world? When Cordy wished Buffy had never come to Sunnydale, she created a whole new world. Is that what was happening?

And now that he was back here, he could see changes. He didn't know. And the only people he could think to asked would be Giles or Anya. But he didn't want to drag the Gang into anything with Manticore.

He decided to wait a few more days to find out what all was
different here.

THE BRONZE

Buffy was sitting with Riley and some of his crew when Xander walked in.
There was something off about him, but Buffy couldn't quite put her finger on it.

At the Magic Box and her mom's, he was Xander. Here, he was different.

Riley turned to see what Buffy was Watching, since they had been talking about what had happened on the Patrol. Buffy noticed that Xander was walking like a Vampire, stalking the place like he was looking for someone. His eyes never stopped moving from one side to the other.

Buffy and the rest of the Crew were hidden back in the Shadows under the upper floor with her and Riley was in the middle of the group so Xander couldn't see her or him.

As she watched him, he would stop every so often and really look at someone or another.

Before he made it all the way across the floor, Buffy had noticed that everyone he looked at was a Vampire. She had planned on dusting them later, but for now she was just watching them, making sure they didn't kill anyone.

Why interrupt a good evening with friends before you had to?.

"What's he doing here?" Riley asked her.
"He said he was going to check out the town after he had been gone for so
long," Buffy replied. Xander was just about to go up the stairs when he
stopped and then looked straight at Buffy.

Well, I thought I smelt her here. Time to get gone, . Xander thought. Hoping she had not seen him, he turned and headed out the door. Buffy watched him go.

What was going on with that? He could not have seen them. It was too dark here. And where was he going now? she wondered. Buffy looked over to Riley, and with a look of concern, both got up and followed him out into the night.

PROFESSORS WALSH's LAB

Max came to and looked around the small lab. Manticore had her again.

"Oh good, you're awake," Prof. Walsh said as she walked in. "We can get some
information from you now."

"Lady, I won't tell you anything about the Transgenic."

" Don't worry, I don't care about them. First off, who's the father?"

"Father? What do you mean?"

"Why, 452, you're pregnant."