AN: Apparently, I forgot to put this on the first chapter, but just to be clear, this is slash. I'm sorry if anyone read it and was upset about it. Thanks for the reviews that I got, they are appreciated.

Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed or Buffy or Angel

Warnings: Slash

Chapter 2: Revelations

Two days later, after Xander skipped out on the Bronze, claiming exhaustion and possible sickness, as well as a second evening and night of organizing the office, he found his birth certificate.

"Peter Alexander," he whispered to himself. It had a good sound to it, he decided. It was sad that he couldn't go by that name though. Along with the birth certificate was an official name change certificate. He had gone from Peter Alexander with no last name to Alexander Lavelle Harris. And there were adoption record as well.

Xander put all the papers into the file marked as him and sat there for a moment. Then he pulled the entire file out of the cabinet and took it up to his room with him. It had all the important information about him throughout his life, and he didn't want it in the hands of his parents anymore.

In his room he looked at his birth certificate again. His was the only name on it, apart from the doctor's signature. Both the line for mother and father were blank. He wondered briefly if she had removed her name with magic or if she had given birth somewhere other than the hospital and then dropped him off somewhere.

He started to think that the latter was true but then thought, But how would they have known my name? The hospital wouldn't have named me, would they? Or maybe there was a letter requesting that I be named something specific…

He decided it was pointless to think about and put the file in his small fireproof safe hidden in his closet. He'd gotten it a couple years ago after his father had taken one of his stuffed animals and ripped it up in front of him. He wouldn't have cared except it was a present from Willow during kindergarten. The safe held his most valuable and sentimental things. A few rare baseball cards from his days collecting as a kid, a letter from Jesse sent the summer before Buffy had come, a small collection of photos of Jesse, Willow, and Xander as kids, and one of the Scoobies, a gold pocket watch that had been sent to him one Christmas, unmarked besides his name and a "keep it secret" note. It had shown up on his bed that night. His parents had never seen it.

Now that he thought about it, he wondered if it was from his mother. Or maybe his father. He wasn't sure if either possibility was something that he cared to think about.

He looked at the clock sitting next to his bed. It was 3:37. He replaced the things he'd pulled out and shut the safe and his closet. Collapsing on the bed with a silent groan of relief, he allowed himself to drift off. As he neared the edge of sleep he wondered what Angelus's proposition was.

Xander woke up late the next morning. He couldn't even remember turning his alarm off that morning, and it was almost time for second period before he got to school. He groaned as the last person he wanted to see stopped him as soon as he stepped through the door.

"Harris!" shouted Principal Snyder. "You are an hour late. That's detention."

"Yes, sir," he said, not in the mood to make a fuss. The troll looked at him as if waiting for him to protest, but Xander merely asked, "May I go to class, please?"

"Yes, but if this happens again, a note will be sent home," the disagreeable man said with a sly smile on his face. It was almost as if he knew what would happen to Xander if his parents received a note.

Xander nodded and went down the hall to his locker just as the bell rang and students came pouring in to the hall. He spent most of they day in a daze, barely paying attention in class and more often than not, missing the time passing, so deep in thought was he. Two thoughts in particular he kept coming back to. One, depending on how powerful he was, he very well might be as good as or better than a Slayer in a fight, and two, what the hell did Angelus want with him?

That evening, after a short patrol with Willow and Buffy, well, more like he and Willow following Buffy around while she patrolled, Xander headed home. There had been no sign of Angelus or his cronies during the round, and only a few newly risen vamps had needed dusting. Xander pondered what he was going to do. Tomorrow was Saturday, and he was considering confronting his parents. He wasn't sure however, because his dad could get violent on occasion, and they obviously hadn't wanted him to know, at least not yet. He was actually surprised that one of his parents hadn't brought it up at one point in one of their many tirades about how worthless he was.

He sighed. This whole thing was just too much, and he half wished that he could just forget about it and go on with his life.

"Penny for your thoughts," Angelus said, startling Xander, who stopped and turned to the vampire, who was leaning up against one of the trees that lined the street.

"Uh, they're probably not worth that much," the boy said, his hands fumbling nervously. He started to reach behind to where he had a stake stuck in his back pocket, but the vampire fixed him with an almost disappointed look.

"I'm not going to hurt you, Xander. I wanted to talk to you about my proposition."

The vampire sounded so much like Angel that Xander hesitated for a moment. He may not have liked the soul version, but he had a certain degree of respect, though not without criticism. After a seconds thought he pulled the stake out.

"I feel better with this between you and me anyway," he said.

"Of course, but if you really want to stake me, I'm sure that there are much more pleasurable ways of doing it," the vampire said with a sly grin. Xander blushed at the thoughts that the comment elicited in his head. "Anyway," the vampire continued, "my proposition. By now, I'm sure that you have discovered the truth about your family, at least some of it."

Xander nodded and Angelus continued. "You are half-witch half-demon," Xander grimaced slightly, but the vampire didn't stop. "Your powers are bound, so that you would remain ignorant of them. I don't know who bound them, but I suspect that it was your mother. She probably feared the demon side of you and decided to lock all of your magic away."

"But…I know that half-demons have been some of the most evil, but shouldn't the good magic from me being a witch like, I don't know, balance out the evil of the demon?" asked Xander with not a small amount of hope.

"It probably would have, had you been raised by a witch who has been willing to teach the control to you. But as it is…I don't know."

Xander's face fell, and he closed his eyes briefly. As he did, Angelus's face brightened for a moment in glee, before quickly transforming to a look of sympathy.

Xander opened his eyes and gestured for Angelus to continue.

"I'm afraid that living as long as you have on the hellmouth has caused the demon powers to become stronger, and they are threatening to break the binding. Now, I believe that the only way to control your demon at this point would be to awaken your witch powers as well and learn to control them both at the same time."

"Why are you telling me this?" Xander asked. "Are you suggesting that you could train me? I would have thought you would want my demon powers to break free."

"Normally, that thought might have crossed my mind, but I owe a favor or two to your family, and I thought that this might take care of the debt. Angelus might be one of the most feared names in the Underworld, but everyone knows that he keeps his word. Your father got me out of a tight spot once, about a decade before I met the gypsies. And your great-grandmother…let's just say that she was a great woman."

Xander continued to look at him for a few seconds, warily considering what he had said and Angel continued. "Besides, who better to know about a demon's powers but a demon, right?" The subtle jab did what it was supposed to; reinforcing the idea that Xander couldn't go to any of the Scoobies.

"I'll…I'll have to think about it," Xander said, gripping his stake nervously.

"That's all I ask. After all, I want to help you," the vampire said.

Xander started backing away, his house only half a block away. He turned when Angelus didn't move to follow him, then he paused.

"Thanks Angel," he said quickly and darted to his house.

Angelus smirked at his fleeing back, and as he vanished began laughing quietly.

"This is going quicker and easier than I expected. I wonder just what the Watcher's books say about half-demons?"

"Sir," the vampire minion said.

"Yes, my young friend?" The response came from a high backed chair that was facing away from the desk it sat behind.

"We are getting reports that Angelus has been confronting Alexander Harris."

"Hmmm…so the former traitor has discovered the Haliwell. That shouldn't be a surprise." After a brief pause the voice continued. "What has happened during these confrontations…that is such an ugly word."

"It seems no one has been close enough to overhear, but they have been non-violent, though the boy seems to be nervous. They merely talk, and then Angelus watches to make sure the boy gets home."

"I wonder. We are going to have to assume that Angelus has told him he's adopted, and of his heritage. The poor boy is going to be in such a state of shock. It may be that I could rescue him earlier than planned. Watch these conversations, and get close enough to listen. If it looks like Angelus intends to turn the boy stop him, and make sure the boy stays alive. If it looks like Alexander is considering joining the vampire make arrangements to bring him to me. And change the contingency plans accordingly." The chair swiveled around to reveal Mayor Richard Wilkins III. "That will be all."

"Yes, Mr. Mayor."

It was another two days before Xander finally had the confrontation he had been dreading.

"What is the matter, Xander?" Willow asked. "I know something is wrong. You've been off all week." They were in the library. It was empty but for the two of them.

Xander sighed, he couldn't tell her everything, but maybe he could get around the whole truth.

"I'm…" he started, and paused.

"What is it? You can tell me!"

"I'm adopted."

"Oh my god! That's great news…isn't it?" Willow hesitated. "They're worse than your parents, aren't they? Of all the things! You'd think that a wonderful person like you would deserve more. Look what you do…"

"Willow," Xander cut her off before the babble could truly get started. "I don't know if they're worse or not. My birth certificate doesn't have their names on it. But just so you know, my real name was Peter Alexander. Mom and Dad changed it to Alexander Lavelle."

"Wow," Willow gushed. "That's cool. I mean with the whole Peter meaning rock and Alexander meaning protector of man and everything. What does Lavelle mean?"

Xander blinked. "I have no idea."

"Hmmm, maybe I'll look it up. But that doesn't matter. I bet I could find out who your mom was. All I'd have to do would be to hack into the hospital database for that day and see. It would be a cinch."

"Thanks, Wills, you're the greatest."

"Of course I am."

He leaned forward and hugged her.

"I think they're cheating on you, Oz."

Willow and Xander broke apart, startled, and looked at Cordelia.

"Looks that way," the werewolf said. Then he gave that little grin that only he could do and sat down next to Willow.

Xander turned slightly red, and turned away from the couple. He looked at Cordelia, who gave a knowing smirk. The dark haired duo had broken up a few weeks ago. They'd realized that they were hot together, but really they made better friends. Cordelia had also figured out that Xander was lusting after Oz, and that she was basically his attempt at being straight. It hadn't disturbed her so much as it had amused her greatly. Here she had been worried about losing him to Willow, when it was the other short red head that she needed to watch out for.

"Hey," Willow said to Oz.

"Hey," was the simple response.

Cordelia rolled her eyes and sat down next to Xander.

"So, did you get donut-boy here all straightened out?" Cordelia asked Willow, with her usual tact. None.

"I didn't need to be straightened out. I'm perfectly straight." He seemed to realize what he'd said. "Not that there was a question or anything, about my straightness, and um…"

"Just stop while you're ahead, zeppo."

"Can it, airhead." Xander had long ago learned that Cordelia's insults were her way of showing her respect, even like. The more she insulted you, the more she liked you, unless she didn't like you. But if she meant them, you would know, and so would everyone else.

"You shouldn't call him names," Willow said. "I thought you two were still friends after the whole breaky-uppy thing." The red haired hacker-witch, on the other hand, still hadn't figured it out.

"I'll call him what I want, geek."

"Cordelia, I still don't understand why you hang around if you see us as being so inferior," Buffy had entered the room. Her eyes held the slightly haunted look that they'd had since Angel had gone poof and Angelus had made his grand reappearance. It seemed a bit lighter than normal though. There hadn't been a sign of Angelus for over a week. Except for his conversations with me, Xander thought.

"Who says I hang around you?" asked Cordelia. "Oz is in a band. That makes him cool…even if he is on the five year plan for graduation."

Oz nodded his head in recognition of the statement, and Xander quirked his mouth in an attempt not to smile. Buffy hadn't "gotten" Cordelia either, but it seemed that Oz had. It must come from the whole not talking thing. You start hearing what people aren't saying, mused Xander.

Giles came out of his office and the Scooby meeting was officially underway.

"Let's see," started the Watcher, "unless you know of any new events that you've yet to inform me of," he paused here to glance at everyone, but focused on Buffy, who shook her head, "then the only major threat is still Angelus."

Buffy blanched slightly, as did Xander, but no one seemed to notice, as everyone else was focused on the Slayer.

"I must again stress that you must be extremely cautious. He seems to be intent on taunting us for now, and he most definitely knows how, having been a part of our group for some time. But he could cease playing at any time, and that would be deadly. We have cast uninvite spells on all our homes, but all it takes is a careless word and he will have access again."

"My poor fish," Willow murmured.

"It could have been your life!" Giles said shortly. Then he promptly apologized. "Do forgive me, Willow. I am under a lot of stress, but that shouldn't excuse me being harsh with you. I am sorry about your fish."

"That's okay, Giles. I understand," the girl said, leaning into Oz. The conversation ceased for a few moments as the door opened.

A slightly hesitant Ms. Calendar started in, and after a few moments of silence, asked, "Am I welcome?"

With a quick glance around the table, Giles nodded an affirmative. "Yes, you are."

She gave him a small smile, and took a seat on the other side of Cordelia, and was quiet for most of the meeting.

"We were just discussing the danger that Angelus poses, which I am sure you are aware of." The gypsy nodded, and they resumed.

"I fear that Angelus may be up to something. We have not heard from his or his childer, nor seen evidence of them for nearly two weeks. Unfortunately, neither is there evidence that he has left Sunnydale. We must be on our guard."

After the Scooby meeting Cordelia hung back and grabbed Xander. She pulled him away from the others down a side hall.

"So what is going on with you?" she demanded of the young man.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Don't play with me, geek-boy. I've known you for just as long as Willow."

Xander sighed. "Okay, fine. I found out the other day that I'm adopted. My birth certificate didn't have a name for mother or father. It didn't even give me a lost name. And my name was originally Peter Alexander," he said in a rush, avoiding the Queen of Sunnydale High's eyes.

She leaned in and gave him a hug. "That's mixed news, I guess, huh? Those slimeballs that try to claim parenthood aren't yours, but you have no way of finding your real ones."

"Yeah…though Willow says she is going to try and hack into the hospital databases and see if she can find out possible mothers."

"That's good. Now. Tell me the rest of it," she ordered.

"That's everything."

"Xander Harris!" she said narrowing her eyes at him.

"Look, Cordy."

"Don't you 'Cordy' me, buster."

"Fine, there is more. I'm just now ready to tell anyone. Okay?"

Cordelia looked at him for a long moment, waiting until he met her eyes.

"Okay. I'll give you a while, but if you don't tell me soon, I will make you, okay? I worry about you."

"I know you care. And I love you for it."

"And I love you. Dweeb."