"Yea, though I walk in the Valley of the Shadow of Death, I will fear no evil, for I am the baddest motherfucker in the whole damn valley," Xander repeated for the third time in the mirror. He looked back at himself and saw a man in his mid-twenties looking back. The black suit was tailored well to him. He had Buffy and Dawn to thank for that. The patch matched the suit, as did the tie. The white shirt set everything off. His daily affirmation done for the day, he picked up the briefcase and turned to leave the room. He would like for nothing else but to go to the airport and head for Scotland. Scotland was nice, and the people there that could rip your arms off were either your friends, or afraid of what you would do in retribution.

Xander let go of the breath that he didn't realize that he had been holding. There was nothing he could do; too many people were counting on this meeting. He still didn't understand why Giles wasn't here for this meeting. Giles was the diplomat; Giles was the one that handled all high level talks. Xander shook his head as he made sure that the door to his room was shut. He didn't know exactly who the Justice League was going to send to meet him, or how he was going to be received, for that matter. He was sure that at least a few of the original seven would probably be there. Even he would understand that it was a major snub if that were not the case.

Xander assumed his best power stride as he walked the hall to the elevator. He waited impatiently for the car to whisk him to the lobby. He had a half hour to make it the three blocks to the Metropolis office that was holding the meeting. This was not a problem. He had walked the route four times yesterday, timing each trip and going with the average, he would have a ten minute cushion. He didn't have to push himself to make it, but he knew that his nerves would bump up the relaxed pace that he set yesterday. Thinking about yesterday led to last night, and that put a bad taste into Xander's mouth. He hoped that it wouldn't color his attitude today, but he wasn't too sure about it. His other fear is that it would color the capes view of him and his girls.

Heck, he knew they would know what hotel he was at. He was half expecting a welcoming committee in the lobby to show him the proper way to talk to them, and then send him back to Scotland with a message about how the others were to act. He growled as he hit the pavement and began the trek. He knew that some people in the League were normal humans like he was, but just trained and lucky. Well, trained, lucky, and with equipment that would set back a slayers food bill for a year. The League had some of the biggest and brightest with them, that is what Xander's problem was. The best and the brightest minds in the world, or worlds if you counted the extraterrestrial members, and no one, no one at all had figured out what was going down in Sunnydale. One visit a month could have culled the vampiric hordes, decimated the demonic denizens, and gutted the godlings. That was not the case. Years of struggle to prevent the end of the world while going to school and pulling odd jobs and double shifts just because someone didn't run an algorithm.

He growled as he reached the doorway of the office building. He knew that he had to keep the full head of steam that had built up on the way here on the inside where it wouldn't affect the meeting. He pulled a letter from his inside coat pocket, looked at it to verify the suite number and the queued up for the elevator ride. He scanned the crowd twice. He didn't expect to see anyone in costume, but he had memorized the facial features that were shown from underneath the masks and cowls. No one stood out as obvious, but that didn't mean anything. Finally, he was able to get into an elevator and soon he was on the floor of the meeting.

He soon realized that the suite that he was supposed to be in was the entire floor. He was the only one to step out of the elevator. He recognized the uncomfortable looks that others gave him when they realized what floor the elevator stopped on. Either they didn't like the tenants of this floor, or they realized that they had misjudged the man that got out. Xander really didn't care which it was, because now was the moment of truth. He walked up to the receptionist, and cleared his throat. As she looked up she had a puzzled look on her face.

"What's the opposite of diamic?"

Without thinking Xander answered, "Demonic."

"Oh, thanks. That finishes the crossword puzzle for today." She looked up and looked him up and down. "How may I help you?"

Xander put on a half smile on his face, "I have an appointment here at ten."

"Oh, Mister Harris, you are being expected."

Xander shook his head, "Mister Harris was my father, and I never want to be reminded of him. Call me Xander, or if you must Alexander."

The secretary nodded and jotted something down. In his mind Xander noted how no matter whom you were, when a secretary noted something when you corrected her, and you didn't see what it was, bothered you. She smiled softly at him. "Can I get you something while you wait? Coffee, tea?"

"No thank you, it might be too much for my nerves," responded Xander.

She chuckled slightly, her chest rising and falling as she did. "Please take a seat; someone will be with you in a moment."

Xander took a seat and looked around. He glanced at the magazines and saw the same selection as he would at a doctor's office. This helped cement the thought pattern of that all offices got the magazines from the same supplier. Xander resisted the urge to look at the time on his cell phone, and he didn't see any clock in the reception area.

Xander knew it was after his ten o'clock appointment. His sense of time wasn't that bad. "Either something has come up, or they are seeing how well I wait," he mumbled to himself. He was starting to regret not having the coffee or tea that was offered, but he would just have to soldier on without anything. He had already been through the magazines, and there was nothing interesting to look at in the office. He was about to stand up and ask the receptionist when someone would be with him when a door at the other end of the room.

Xander had never been adverse to fishnets, and today he wasn't going to start, especially when said fishnets were encasing the legs of a buxom blonde. Xander nodded to her and stood up. He ticked off the name of Black Canary in his head from the dossier that had been compiled for him. She was the current chairperson of the Justice League. With her coming to meet him, that did bode well for the meeting. It also sent his 'Sunnydale' sense into overdrive because nothing that started well would stay that way in his experience.