Xander can't believe this. All he did was fill out a stupid test because Giles strong armed him into it. Xander had to see Snyder because his 'test' didn't even leave him a spot on the list. He knows he has law enforcement but he'll worry about that tomorrow and he'll have Buffy with him so that's a win in his book. Snyder sent him up to a mysterious room in the school for a private meeting. Xander opens the door and is kind of surprised by what he sees. He sees three guys all soldiers. He is impressed though if Xander didn't remember his life as Guts they would have had him fooled completely. He looks past the soldiers and sees an older woman sitting in a desk. The older woman smiles seeing Xander instantly pick up something about her boys.

"Mr. Harris" The older woman said.

Xander just kind of half smiled. "That would be me."

"I'm Professor Maggie Walsh, and these are my assistants Riley Finn, Forrest Gates, and Graham Miller."

Xander shakes everyone's hands now realizing this is a recruitment pitch. "So what do you want? Not that I don't appreciate you getting me out of career day."

Walsh smiled. "We wish to discuss with you your extracurricular activities."

Xander shrugged. "I'm thinking swim team."

Wash rolled her eyes not amused. "No Mr. Harris, your current nighttime extracurricular activities." Walsh shows Xander a picture of himself carving up a demon the day after the Eyghon incident. Giles channeled his anger about what happened to Jenny on Xander, and Xander channeled his anger out on this poor bastard.

Xander looks at the picture and just puts it down. "So what do you want?"

Walsh was curious he didn't say it was him but he didn't deny it either. "I'm curious about what you plan to do with your life after highschool."

"Hotdog on a stick shows potential." Xander quipped.

"What about college?" Walsh asked.

"Solid C's and deadbeat parents no college." Xander answered.

Walsh looked at him with interest. "What if I could get you a full ride at UC Sunnydale?"

Xander instantly realized what was going on she wants him to join her little band of misfits. However after what happened to the Hawks he will never swing his sword for someone else again. He'll never be a mercenary. He fights demons now to help Buffy and get payback for Jessie. Xander gets up and walks for the door. "Not interested."

Xander went for the door but was cut off by Forrest. Xander just grabs him and throws him to the floor. Riley and Graham jump on Xander but they're blinded by a flash. Xander punched Graham and Walsh got up and stopped Riley from getting involved.

"What about the things that happen in this town?" Walsh asked.

Xander shrugged his shoulders. "Every town has its wonders."

Walsh glared at him. "Most town secrets don't involve mysterious murders. Look at this girl." Wash held up a folder. "Harmony Kendall all her blood was drained after being stabbed twice with-"

"An ice pick" Xander answered that's Sunnydale's usual cover story.

"A barbeque fork" Walsh finished her original sentence.

Xander snatched the folder away from Walsh and was quickly reading it. "The first stab didn't kill her."

Walsh nodded. "Second one was what did her in. The wounds were so close it took a while to see it."

Walsh was surprised when Xander just hugged her and had a euphoric look on his face.

Xander instantly broke it. "Sorry about that, I gotta go."

Walsh put her hands up. "Mr. Harris" She gives him a card. "Anytime between now and graduation you actually want to listen to what we have to say you call."

Xander nodded. "Yeah I'll think about it." Xander says as he rushes out the door. He won't.

Forrest was getting off the floor. "He took the folder."

Walsh shrugs. "It's just a copy."

Riley just took the site in confused. "You think he'll join?"

Xander was in a hurry and so was Puck who was relieved that not one person in that room could see him. Xander was roaming the halls.

"Now if I was a redhead with nothing to do on career day where would I be?"

Puck was sitting there almost euphoric with the happiness and relief coming off of Xander. "The library"

Xander rushed into the library and saw Buffy and Giles. Buffy was taken back by the sudden entrance.

The slayer looked at him he looked so happy. "Xander what is it?"

"No time have you seen Willow?" Xander asked.

Buffy shrugged why is he going after Willow like a madman. "No, why?"

Xander caught his breath. "Good news she deserves to hear it first."

Giles told him about a room they set up for a private firm interested in her and one other student. Before the watcher could just tell him to wait Xander was gone and Buffy was running after him she wants to know what turned Xander into an impatient 5 year old on a sugar rush.

Xander made it into the room and saw Willow and a short guy with black hair along with two guys in suits.

One of the guys in suits stood up. "Excuse me this is a."

"Piss Off!" Xander shouted and the man sat back down in fear earning a laugh from Buffy.

"Subtle" The guy with black hair quipped.

Willow was kind of shocked. "Xander what are you doing in here?"

Xander was catching his breath. "Good news don't think you should have to wait to hear it."

Willow excuses herself and is out in the hall with Buffy and Xander. "OK Xander I think I'm not going with them but why did you storm in like that?"

Xander showed her the folder he took from Walsh. "Harmony's autopsy report"

Willow glared at him and her eyes turned red. "Why would I want to see that?"

Xander opens it. "Because she died from blood loss after being stabbed twice with a barbeque fork."

Willow was in thought until it clicked and her eyes turned back to normal. Tears were running down her face and a genuine smile came out for the first time in weeks. "I only bit her once."

Xander smiled. "I know."

Willow was smiling as the guilt was coming off. "I didn't…"

Xander put his hands on her shoulder. "You absolutely did not kill Harmony. Someone was setting you up for the guilt trip and potential slayage."

Willow burst in smile and tears and jumped onto Xander hugging on instinct. "Thank you" She kept repeating. She stopped herself in time like she thought she did. She's still a vampire but she wasn't a murderer.

Buffy had an ear to ear grin. The nightmare was over. Xander being the person that he was refused to let Willow suffer from guilt one second longer than she had to. It's why her feelings had changed for him. Willow broke off from Xander and hugged Buffy.

Xander watched the two in a smile until Puck yelled. "Heads up"

Xander was tackled to the floor by a Cyclops of all things. Survival instinct instantly took hold and Xander grabbed a knife from the cyclops's waist and stabbed him. Buffy ran over and tackled the Cyclops off Xander. Willow pulled out her full game face and sank her fangs into her own wrist.

The Cyclops threw Buffy into a row of lockers and Xander charged at him with his knife but the Cyclops moved aside and knocked Xander down. Willow grabbed the Cyclops by his hair and pulled him back. The Cyclops looked back at its target and she had a big bloated mouth. Willow spat her blood all over the Cyclops's face she just needed to get it in his mouth or eye and her blood will take care of the rest.

The Cyclops feels the world turning white around him. His boss told him to beware the Martian blood but he didn't listen. "You might have saved yourself for now Martian vampire but you will not save Angelus."

Willow and Buffy each had a look of concern. Xander knew what was coming next. "Go, I'll take care of uno eye."

"Are you sure?" Buffy asked.

Xander nodded. "Yeah" He replies as the Cyclops's body crumbles to pieces from exposure to Willow's blood. "See all I need now is a broom and dustpan."

Buffy and Willow make a dash for Angel's apartment. They both enter and see the place is a mess. Whatever came in here Angel didn't go down without a fight. Willow looked around before realizing there was no point whatever has Angel is long gone now. She goes to the fridge and pulls out some of the pig's blood she keeps around here for herself. Killing the cyclops took a bit out of her and Buffy is starting to smell like food.

Buffy spots Willow drinking the blood. It definitely gives her the wigs but she knows it has to be done to keep another incident like Harmony from happening. "So what's it taste like?"

Willow just laughed. "As far as I'm concerned it's Hawaiian Punch."

"So what happens when you don't feed?" Buffy asks Angel never answered this but maybe Willow will.

"The voice gets worse." Willow said. "It gets into your head and just screams let me out let me have it."

"I'm so sorry Will." Buffy said she knows Xander told her not to but.

Willow just smiled. "Relax Buffy it's not your fault and I'm...nowhere near over it but today helped and Angel taught me so much. He showed me how to control my powers, my bloodlust…mostly, and I'm almost as good of a fighter as him now. He's even going to start training me to start using my big vampire nose if I can ever find him."

Buffy just nodded. "Let's go back to the library maybe watcher man knows."

Giles and Xander are at the library Xander found a ring in the chunks of Cyclops and gave it to the watcher. He never realized how much Giles really worked until Giles started dragging him into the library with him at 4 in the morning everyday. Xander is going through books looking for information while Puck is saying whether or not he knows the demons in the pictures.

Puck pointed at the picture. "I think I dated her for a couple weeks."

Xander closed the book. "Puck I'm 2 seconds away from buying a birdcage, so how about we play a round of the quiet game?"

Puck just nods as Buffy and Willow enter. "Hey Buffy, hey Willow" Puck instantly put his hands against his mouth and turned to Xander. "That doesn't count I was talking to them."

"Any word on deadboy?" Xander asked which caused the girls to look at him funny. "What? I don't like him but he's helping Willow."

Buffy nodded no. "Whatever sent the Cyclops after us, it has Angel now."

Giles put the ring on the table. "This is the only lead we have."

Puck looks at the ring and puts on a face of fear which doesn't go past Xander.

"You know what this is don't you Puck?" Xander asked.

Puck just nodded. "They're bounty hunters called the Order of Taraka."

Xander was shocked. "How the hell do you know that?"

Puck went on to explain how for forty years him and the Skull Knight were guardians of a place called the deeper well the resting place of the dead old ones. They explained how the order was paid to extract the coffin of an old one. How each day for nearly 2 years they faced a new threat. Some were human some were not but they always worked alone. Now it seems that their target is Willow.

The scoobies make an easy enough plan. Giles will do research about enemies of Angel that could hire them, while Buffy and Xander take shifts escorting Willow around town. Xander says he'll even teach Buffy how easy it is to sneak into Willow's room since her parents are emotional deadbeats.

The next morning Xander is asleep at the side of Willow's bed sword held in his arm. The teenage vampire rubbed her eyes waking up. She saw Xander asleep in the corner some guard he ended being. She moves next to Xander who wakes up.

"You're not much a guardian Alexander Harris." Willow quipped.

Xander just points at her window. "I had someone on guard."

On the bottom of the window Puck is marching left to right with an army soldier's hat on.

Xander looked confused. "Where did you get the hat from?"

Puck points to the closet. "She collects Barbies."

Xander looked at the clock. '7:42' "7:42, Buffy was supposed to take over at 6."

Willow was instantly alert. "You think something happened to her."

Xander was already up and strapping his sword to his back. "I don't know, but I'm going to find out."

"And I'm coming too." Willow said.

Xander put his hand up. "No you're not."

Willow was in shock. "Why the hell not she's my best friend, if ever a friend there was."

"That's why it could all be a trap to lure you out." Xander said grabbing his sword. "Puck, follow her make sure she gets to the library."

The elf put his hand up in a salute. "Sir, yes sir"

Xander makes a run to Buffy's house if anything has happened to her. He got into the house and just did the only thing he could and shouted her name.

"Xander get out of here now!" Buffy shouted from the basement but it was too late.

Mealworms descend form the ceiling and onto Xander's back. Xander just quickly falls back and squishes a number of them and rolls away. Buffy opens the basement door and pulls up Xander they both go for the front door but it's surrounded by mealworms and they have no choice but to fall back to the basement.

Buffy throws Xander duct tape and he retapes the crack in the door shut. When he wished him and Buffy alone in her basement this wasn't exactly what he had in mind as he sat down with her on the steps and puts his sword down.

Buffy was catching her breath. "Are you alright."

"Dandy" Xander replied. "So what's with all the worms?"

Buffy shrugged. "I have no idea. He started off as a geeky make up salesman and he just splattered into that."

Xander rolls his eyes. "You can't be serious. We're gonna die because of a shallow need for make up you don't even need."

Buffy rolled her eyes. "You know what I am out there almost every night it's high risk, sub minimum wage, and consists mostly of sharp pointy things. So forgive me for being a girl once in a while."

Xander was surprised at Buffy's face. He'd forgotten how young she really is and how much she really wants a normal life and put his hand on her shoulder for support. "No, Buff I'm sorry. I forget how much you have put aside for others including your own life once. I had no right to come down on you like that."

Buffy nodded. "It's fine but what we really need is a way out of here."

Xander pointed to his sword. "How about the 6 foot sword I attack demons with?"

Buffy pouted. "Your sword is not going to cut it I spent 20 minutes hacking into him with an axe no good."

Xander was going through his options. He had nothing. "We're going to die here aren't we?"

Buffy shrugged unless she can think of something she's leaning towards yes. "Unless we can think of a way out, it's likely."

Xander just shrugged he wonders if being killed by this guy will be as painful as bleeding out was.

Buffy put on a sad face. "I'm sorry Xander."

Xander was confused. "About what?"

Buffy just pointed up. "The plague man, The Master, Spike, every other demon I guess there is a reason the slayer isn't supposed to have friends they bring them down with them when they die."

Xander just looked at her. "Wow, that's a load of crap."

"Excuse me" Buffy replied.

"That's a load of crap!" Xander shouted.

Buffy was trying to control her anger. "If this thing kills us I got you killed because you were trying to protect m-"

"I chose to come here." Xander cut her off. "Just like I chose to go down in the sewers after Jessie that day. Most teenagers are concerned about acne we fought the demons of hell and kicked their sorry butts back to it. We have saved the world twice and saved god knows how many people on random nights. If this is it there is no where else I want to be right now then here with you."

Buffy regained her resolve. "Screw this we're going to live and if not." She grabbed Xander and kissed him. Xander was wondering what to do. Is he dead already? Is this a dream? No if this was a dream naked Buffy would be kissing him. He realized that it's real. Not wasting time he kissed her back. The two teens broke apart and Xander realized they need to have a talk before they do that again not that he didn't enjoy it.

Buffy went down the basement with Xander and started looking for weapons. Xander was looking through a box called Hemery. To his surprise he pulled out a lighter with a cross engraved into it.

Xander shows the lighter to Buffy. "You want to explain this one Buff."

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Belonged to a guy I knew in LA."

Xander just tested and smiled seeing that it still works. "Any fun stories using it."

Buffy just smiled thinking back. "I know what to do. Trick I used in Hemery."

Xander came out the basement ready for a fight. "Hey maggot man why don't you fight like a man and not a set of worms."

Xander watched on as all the worms descended from the ceiling and eventually transformed into a man that would look rather harmless to human eyes.

Maggot man just let out a creepy smile. "The Cerberus knight and the slayer double the bounty I can collect."

Xander pulls out his sword ready for a fight. He charges and splits maggot man's head like a melon.

Xander pulls his sword out and watches as the man tries to put himself together. At this Buffy comes through the basement door. She pulls out the lighter and lights it. She then pulls out a can of aerosol hairspray making a flamethrower. She douses maggot man in flames until his body breaks down into a heap of worms. Buffy continues the fire assault and the mealworms burn to ash. Xander looks at the ring and realizes they just scorched another member of the Order of Taraka.

Buffy looks at the ring in Xander's hand and says "I guess Will and Angel aren't the only targets."

Xander just smiled. "Nope we all are. So who did we all piss off as a group?"

Buffy shrugs. "We piss people off on a daily basis Xander."

Xander just nods in agreement he had 7 death threats this week and it's only Tuesday. "Let's go to the library maybe Giles has a better idea."

Buffy just nods in agreement. "Giles would keep a list."

Buffy and Xander make it to the library and see Willow right outside. Now that the adrenaline of nearly dieing wore off Buffy is going to have to deal with what she and Xander did.

"Willow what are you doing out here?" Buffy asked.

Willow shrugged. "I don't know I tried to walk in and Giles told me to get out. He really yelled at me too." Willow pouts never seeing Giles so angry with her.

"Don't worry it's when he takes off the glasses and goes into tranquil fury that you have to worry." Xander quips.

Buffy was short tempered at that. She barges in and Xander follows. They see Giles with a Jamaican girl with Puck hiding under the table.

"Giles, are you going to introduce us to your friend?" Buffy asked.

The girl introduced herself. "I am Kendra de vampire slayer."

Author Notes

Thanks to everyone who is suddenly following and favoriting The Bet and this story.

This chapter of the story was split up in two and odds are the next one will be too.

Up Next: The gang tries to rescue Angel and just who shot the mayor anyway?