Title: White Knight, White Light, Part 8 – L.A. Times

Author: Xanfan

Rating: R/NC-17 for violence

Pairing: Xander/Angel

Summary: Slash Xander means more to the Scoobys than they could possible imagine, and when something happens to him, chaos ensues. Crossover with Highlander.

Spoilers: Anything in Ats & BtVS is up for grabs, but I have messed with the timeline a bit. I have tweaked the timeline a bit to suit my own purpose, so there.

Warnings: CHARCTER DEATH and Violence and slash.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Words in Italics indicate thoughts.

The time passed quickly once they got home to L.A. Before this whole thing happened, Angel had been training Xander, not only to fight hand to hand, but also with various weapons, including some basic sword techniques. So Xander had some knowledge going into his training with Adam.

He still got his butt kicked daily, but Adam said he was making good progress and doing really well.

The first week they were home, Xander received about five phone calls a day from Sunnydale, "just to check in" with him. Angel and Adam put a stop to it, limiting the phone calls to one per person per week, unless there was an emergency, saying all the phone calls were interrupting Xander's training. They didn't limit emails, so he still had an inbox full of email everyday, which he was glad to have.

The L.A. crew themselves kept a pretty close eye on him. He often had an audience for his training sessions and the group had gotten downright touchy feely with him, he was always getting hugged or patted on the back or, in Angel's case, kissed breathless.

Xander became more skilled as time passed, even being able to knock Adam on his ass a couple of times. Adam's friends Duncan and Amanda each came for a visit and to help train Xander and get him used to fighting people with different styles and skills.

So Xander improved and the groups, both in L.A. and Sunnydale, grew closer and stronger.

Then Xander had his first challenge. Five months after his first death, a headhunter came to town. Xander's skill level was such that Adam had declared him fit and could no longer offer him the protection of a teacher (meaning fighting in his stead). And even if he could have, Xander wouldn't have let him.

The headhunter was pretty cocky, thinking that this new immortal's head would be easy to take. He was wrong. Xander was used to fighting true masters of the art of sword play as well as supernatural creatures many times stronger than himself, so one headhunter with only a couple of hundreds of years under his belt was not that much of challenge.

Not that it wasn't a decent fight, but five minutes in, the headhunter knew he had vastly underestimated his opponent. Unfortunately for him, he only had a minute to regret his mistake, as six minutes into the fight his head departed his shoulders and he was no more.

Xander first quickening was brutal and painful, his body unused to the feeling of having another's essence thrust into his brain.

But Xander was also used to having things possess his body, or at least try, so he was able to deal with the other man's memories and personality much better than Adam had ever seen. Adam himself usually took longer to deal with the backlash of a quickening than Xander had.

Xander arrived back at the hotel quiet. He nodded to the small group gathered in the lobby waiting for his return and silently walked past them to his and Angel's room, then stripped out of his clothes and climbed into the shower. I took a man's life. He then proceeded to collapse to the floor of the shower, wrap his arms around his knees and cry like his heart was breaking. Which it was.

Angel had followed Xander up to their room. He had started to give his boy some space, but when he heard the sobs Xander couldn't hide, he quickly went into the bathroom. Angel pulled off his clothing and stepped into the shower with his sweet boy and held him while he cried. Angel couldn't stop his own tears from falling.

He had no words of comfort, he could just hold Xander and let him cry. When Xander's sobs quieted, Angel used one finger to tilt the boy's face up to his. He placed a kiss on Xander's lips and said the only words that came to mind, "I love you."

Xander kissed Angel back and said, "I just killed a man."

"I've killed hundreds, if not thousands, of men, women, and children." Angel said softly.

"But you're working to redeem yourself."

"So work with me. Not that I think you have anything to redeem yourself for, but if it will make you feel better, we can work for redemption together." Angel said.

"I killed him just to save my own skin." Xander said, tears still streaking his cheeks and combining with the water that was flowing over them.

"You killed him to save me, because I can't lose you again. Those hours that you were dead were the lowest point in my existence, worse than a couple of hundred years in hell or the minutes after I got my soul back when I remembered everything Angelus had done. If he had killed you, I would have hunted him down and tortured him for days, then killed him, let him revive and started the process over again. It could have taken years for me to grow bored and finally rip his head from his shoulders. Do you think I would have a chance at redemption after that? What you did was a mercy killing. It's not like you are going to go out and look for heads to take like he did. You have said you'll only answer challenges or fight in your own defense. He was a monster looking for power, not a man fighting for his own life." Angel said.

Xander just looked at him for a few moments, then broke into giggles.

Angel stared at his boy, unsure if he had gone over the edge or if his sick sense of humor had just kicked in.

Between gasps and fits of giggles, Xander finally managed to speak, "O-o-only…you…could…make…cutting…off… a guy's….head…into…a mercy….killing."

Angel started to chuckle. Soon the two of them were clinging to each other in mirth instead of sadness and desperation.

They settled down and finished their shower. They dried off and crawled into bed, settling down with Angel spooned behind Xander, wrapping his arms around his boy.

Angel fell asleep before Xander. Despite the young immortal's exhaustion, his mind could not help but replay the evening's events over and over again.

He had killed a man, and no matter what Angel said, it was still wrong.

Eventually, Xander settled into sleep and the last thought he had before his mind gave in to the sweet call of sleep was, At least we still have tomorrow.