1The Bronze, Evening

It was a standard night at the Bronze with him, Willow and Ford attempting to get to know one another, although, for the newest possible Summers family member, he was a little more interested in seeing if he could find some more holes in the guy's story.

He and Willow had gotten to the Bronze early and hung out for the most part, waiting for Buffy to finish her early evening patrol when Ford had shown up. The young man had immediately locked onto them as 'friends of Buffy' and began chatting them up about the blonde Slayer. Oh, it was cleverly disguised as small time chitchat but he was able to see it for what it was fairly easily in his present suspicious mind set.

Willow had given him a couple of odd looks every now and then when his questions strayed too far from the 'polite' and wandered into 'mean' territory but that happened less and less. Once he had a better idea of what keywords and the like triggered her disapproving glares, he was able to dance easy enough on the edge between 'polite' and 'mean'. Unfortunately, Ford also apparently learned after the first few questions but what he learned was that Xander Harris might be onto him; which made his responses more vague as well as guarded. Didn't stop the Zeppo from trying to pick the guy's brain in order to get some inkling of what the transfer student was up to, but the limited progress Xander was having was getting irritating.

Currently, they were playing pool and this helped his Q&A session greatly, since when Ford was concentrating on making his next shot he was less able to think about his answers and thus unintentionally more honest. Just as he was about to poke a bit at what sort of transfer the guy's father had received, Buffy trotted up to them and he knew it was time to reign in his questioning just in case 'Big Sister' took offense to some of the questions.

"Ford! You made it." Buffy said happily as she stopped in front of the pool table.

"Wasn't hard to find." Ford said in his 'old friend' tone of voice.

"Buffy, Ford was just telling us about the ninth grade beauty contest, and the, uh, swimsuit competition." Willow said giving her friend an idea of what had been going on before the blonde Slayer got there.

Willow had been quite the attentive audience when Ford had decided to regale them with info on Buffy's Hemery High School exploits. He to had been interested, but he had taken care not to let the stories divert him from his own private investigation. Still, he had to smile at the idea of ninth grade Buffy strutting her stuff on stage in a bathing suit. Oh, he was sure it was just your standard one piece bathing suit since there was no way in hell that the faculty or the organizers would permit bikinis or the like to be worn by the competitors. Add that to the whole 'beauty pageant Buffy' concept and he couldn't help but wonder what else his hero had done before coming to Sunnydale

"Oh, my God, Ford, stop that! The more people you tell, the more people I have to kill." Buffy exclaimed as some of her more embarrassing moments came to light.

"You can't touch me, Summers. I know all your darkest secrets." Ford stated with a little too much certainty in his voice.

Could he know that Buffy's the Slayer? Xander thought to himself as he tried to disassemble the teen's statement mentally, Or is he referring to something else entirely?

"I'm gonna go get a drink. Ford, try not to talk." Buffy said warningly before turning and heading towards the bar.

Watching the Slayer go, he kept Ford's face in sight at all times to try and catch any hidden reactions or subtle changes that might give him some clue as to what 'Secret Guy' might be thinking. However when a certain corpse with a soul showed up, he found it difficult to focus his attention in three different directions at once so for the moment he removed Angel from surveillance.

"That's Angel." Willow said being ever so helpful.

Time to see how he'll react when the 'potential boyfriend' route is closed off. Xander thought before turning to Ford and saying, "He's Buffy's beau. Her special friend."

"He's not in school, right? He looks older than her." Ford asked looking a little miffed for what reason was unknown.

"You're not wrong." Xander stated trying to see just how far he could use this situation to his advantage.

After all, if Ford did perceive Angel as a possible obstacle to his plans, whatever they might be, it might be enough to get him to reveal his true intentions when new guy A tried to eliminate vamp B from the equation. Whether or not he'd step in quickly enough to keep Overbite from becoming dustbuster food was something he'd decide when he had to and not a moment before. Seeing Buff' and the corpse heading their way he shifted his concentration to focus almost completely without being obvious about it. If ever there was a time for the new guy to unintentionally give away his true nature it would be in close proximity to a serious obstacle.

"Didn't want that soda after all?" Ford asked as he noticed that the Slayer had come back without the drink she had gone to get.

"Not thirsty." Buffy tried to say in a normal voice but was obviously her 'I am angry at Angel' voice to those that knew the truth.

"Hey, Angel." Willow said trying to steer things back to happier pastures conversation-wise.

"Hi." Ford said holding his hand out for a man's handshake.

"This is Ford. We went to school together in L.A." Buffy said introducing the two with her mood improving as her thoughts turned from the vamp to her newly arrived old friend.

"Nice to meet you." Angel said politely but with a look in his eyes that said he didn't like the potential rival.

Nice to know I'm not alone in the 'I do not like Ford' club. Xander thought sourly, Even if it has to be Deadboy.

"Whoa! Cold hands!" Ford exclaimed as he almost jerked his hand out of Angel's.

If he's so shocked then why does he have that glint of joy in his eyes? Xander thought as yet another anomaly about Ford presented itself before a realization hit him square in the forehead, He knows about vampires!

That realization sent his mind whirling as he tried to grasp all the implications of that one statement, especially what it could mean for his favorite Slayer. If Ford knew about vampires in more than a movie sense then it wouldn't be too big of a stretch for him to know about Buffy's slaying activities back at Hemery High. After all, if the guy hadn't been there personally for the infamous burning down of the school gym, he had to have heard something from the few human survivors of the incident. That made his sudden arrival in Sunnydale even more suspicious given the holes the Zeppo had already uncovered. He had seen Ford in daylight so he knew that the guy wasn't a vamp, so the question became that of what else could cause the guy to come after Buffy. Possibility after possibility went through his head but each one was discarded as being either too unlikely or just plain insane from his point of view.

Guess I'll just have to keep a closer eye on the guy from here on out. Xander thought as he refocused himself on the outside world.

"Y'know, it's getting really crowded in here tonight. Um... I'm a little hot." Buffy said with barely concealed displeasure as she turned to Ford, "You wanna take a walk?"

"Um, sure! That'd be nice." Ford replied somewhat unsure of where Buffy's request had come from.

"Okay, then, um... " Buffy said as she was a little thrown herself at his desire to go walking with her, "I'll see ya tomorrow."

With a few more exchanged pleasantries, Buffy and Ford headed for the exit leaving a redheaded genius, a vamp with a soul and one sword wielding Zeppo to entertain themselves. In the next few moments the unlikely trio had three different reactions to the absence of their de facto leader and friend. For him, it was to remain quiet and try to figure out what Ford's game was, for Willow it was an attempt to put the fun back into pool again and for Angel it was to pull a vanishing act that would make Batman jealous. Obviously Ford was bugging Lord Forehead a lot more than the Zeppo and that probably meant that Fang face was heading off to do some snooping.

That guy needs to learn how to check guys out better. Xander thought as he came up with a pretty good picture of what the vamp would do to try and get info. After all, while he's probably going to beat on every snitch in town and break open filing cabinets in the school I will be checking out the local real estate companies for Ford's new digs and inquiring with a few teachers tomorrow 'on Ford's behalf'.

Three seconds later he reviewed what he just thought and fought the urge to vomit at the ways his first comment could be interpreted if anyone had heard it.

I SO need to dust that vamp! Xander thought vehemently, He's starting to mess with my head in ways I don't want!

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After History Class, Last Class of the Day

Well that's seven for seven. Xander thought as he left the classroom and headed for the Summers house, Seven discreet questionings of teachers and seven denials that anyone named Billy Fordham has been added to their class lists in the last week.

It was beginning to look more and more like Ford was up to no good since last night. Under the guise of going to see a movie, he had snuck into the most popular real estate office in Sunnydale and looked at all the new sales. There had been nothing in the new houses or apartments area but surprisingly enough someone had rented out an old basement bunker a little over a week ago. It was officially designated as office space but held the possibility of being a large apartment from what he could see of the photos. Ford's name wasn't on the lease but that didn't exactly mean anything since it wouldn't be too difficult to make up an alias. He doubted that the real estate company would do too deep of a background check so long as the money was good and the possibility of bad P.R was low.

Gives me a place to start looking though. He thought as he spotted Willow heading for the front doors ahead of him.

Another thing that had made him a little concerned was how jittery Willow had been all day. It was like she was expecting a vamp or some kind of demon to jump out of a locker and bite her or something. He had tried to figure out what was going on but aside from his best bud's discomfort level rising anytime Buffy or Ford got close he had nothing else to work with. That either meant that something about Buffy and Ford had the redhead spooked or little Miss. Rosenberg had been drinking too much coffee again. Being a naturally nervous person, it was not very safe for the hacker to indulge in too much caffeine since that only made things worse. Willow knew this, so he had to assume that she had found something out about either Buffy or Ford that was making her freak out.

Better find out what it is before she has a heart attack. Xander thought as he picked up the pace to catch up with her.

"Hey! Willow!" he said as he came up beside her.

"Ahhh! Oh! Hi Xander." Willow said as she almost jumped out of her skin at the unexpected appearance of her friend.

"Hey, what's the what here?" he asked casually while watching her face for hints, "You look like you've just been told you might be held back at the end of the year."

This had the desired effect as less than three seconds later she swatted him on the shoulder before saying "Don't even joke about that Xander! Besides we both know that there's about as much chance of me being held back as there is Snyder being nice."

"Truer words were never spoken." Xander said with a smile as he slung an arm around her shoulders, "Still, you look pretty tense there, Will. You wanna tell me what's going on or do I have to guess?"

For a moment Willow looked indecisive, like she was weighing the benefits and costs of telling him, before spilling the beans entirely. From the visit by Angel last night, something he'd have to speak to Overbite about later, to the confirmation of Ford's lack of enrollment before ending with her failed search for a transfer in Hemery High's computers. Add it all up and you got Ford being a big fat liar as well as being up to something decidedly of the suspicious. He then let her in on his own findings and after coming up with a half assed reason why he'd check up on Ford before hearing what she had found out they both agreed they needed to get to the bottom of things.

While it might have been smarter to head to Buffy with this info, neither of them wanted to get the blonde Slayer worked up over what was essentially circumstantial info. There could be a perfectly reasonable explanation for why Billy-boy was selling them false info rather than coming clean.

Then again this IS the Hellmouth so odds are he's up to something. Xander thought as Willow told him of her plan to meet up with Angel, Better tag along with Deadboy and Willow just in case they get into trouble.

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Alley Leading to the Rented Basement Bunker, Evening

"I double checked the address you gave me and all I could find out about it was that it's been turned into something called 'The Sunset Club'." Willow said as she, him and Deadboy walked down the sparsely lit alleyway, "Nothing incriminating that I could see from the computer records."

"He leaves no paper trail, no records, that's incriminating enough." Angel said obviously not willing to budge from his position that Ford was up to no good.

"Yeah, I'm gonna have to go with Dead Boy on this one." Xander said in agreement, "It's always a bad sign when you go looking for something and find next to nothing."

The more he had heard about what Willow and Overbite had managed to uncover, the more he was sure that Billy Fordham was setting up the blonde Slayer in a big way. The lack of a paper trail leading from Hemery High to Sunnydale, his reaction to Angel at the Bronze and the fact that he apparently hung out in a place designed to survive a nuke filled him with a deep distrust of the boy. Somehow he knew that when they stepped inside of the club up ahead he wasn't going to like what he'd find in the least.

"Could you not call me that?" Angel asked clearly annoyed by the nickname.

Xander just smiled as they stopped in front of the entrance to the club and Angel knocked twice on the door. A few moments passed before a view port slid open revealing a pair of questioning eyes.

"We're friends of Ford's." Angel said as though it was some kind of pass phrase in order to get entry into a secret society's lair.

Which it kinda was from a certain point of view, but that didn't make it sound any less corny to the Zeppo's ears. Still, a few moments later the door opened and they were let into a room that looked like a hastily put together underground club that wouldn't stand a chance of being officially sanctioned if people in authority knew about it. Add to that the fact that just about everyone else was either dressed like a Goth or similarly dark clothing and he had a sinking feeling he knew what the theme of the club was going to be.

"Boy, we blend right in." Willow said with a mix of sarcasm and nervousness.

She had a point since she with her bright striped shirt, him with his usual jeans-Hawaiian shirt combo and Deadboy's funeral home look they kinda stuck out a bit.

"Let's look around. You guys check out downstairs." Angel ordered before stalking off without another word to them.

"Sure thing Overbite." Xander muttered to himself as both he and Willow descended down the staircase to the lower level.

Being careful not to attract any more attention than they already were the two of them carefully scoped the place out, trying to see if they could spot Ford or get a feel for what this club was all about. Unfortunately, when they passed an open black coffin with a Dracula wannabe inside both of them got a pretty big hint about what the theme of the place was.

"Are you noticing a theme here?" Xander asked angrily as he watched the people around him idolize the one thing he hated the most.

"As in 'Vampires! Yay!'?" Willow replied not liking the stormy look growing on her childhood friend's face.

Before he could turn and tell Willow they were leaving a blonde young woman in a blue pre-1900s dress came up behind them with a hostess' welcoming smile on her face.

"You guys are newbies. I can tell." She said in a friendly tone of voice.

"Oh, no. We come here all the time." Willow said trying to deny what might get them in a little trouble if this place turned out to be 'members only'.

"Don't be ashamed! It's cool that you're open to it. We welcome anyone who's interested in the Lonely Ones." The blonde girl said in a way that made it clear she completely believed the crap she was spewing.

"The Lonely Ones?" Willow asked with some confusion despite the vamp décor covering the place.

"Vampires." Replied Angel as he came up from behind them.

"Otherwise known as the dark and foul blood sucking fiends." Xander said just to make it clear where he stood on the matter.

"So many people have that misconception. But they who walk with the night are not interested in harming anyone. They are creatures above us. Exalted!" the Blonde Girl stated with clear belief in her voice.

"You're a fool." Angel said without hesitation and in a tone reserved for leaders about to take others into a situation that would kill them all.

"A dead fool if she and the rest of these idiots stay in this town much longer." Xander said knowing it wouldn't take long for the local undead to catch wind of this all you can eat buffet.

"You don't have to be so confrontational about it. Other viewpoints than yours may be valid, you know." Blondie stated as she took offence to their tone and stalked off in a huff.

"Now nobody's gonna talk to us." Willow stated clearly not impressed with the way he and Lord Forehead had just acted.

"I've seen enough. I've seen this type before. I mean, they're children making up bedtime stories of friendly vampires to comfort themselves in the dark." Angel said angrily as he no doubt had a low tolerance for people willing to serve their body up as an entrée.

"Is that so bad? I mean, the dark can get pretty dark. Sometimes you need a story." Willow asked trying to get them to see another point of view.

"These people don't know anything about vampires. What they are, how they live, how they dress..." Angel began ranting before another club patron came down the stairs wearing an outfit exactly like his own.

With a normal human growl of anger and frustration, the vampire with a soul stormed out of the place no doubt to keep himself from doing something he'd regret later.

Deciding that since their primary source of muscle was leaving they would be smart to follow. Both he and Willow proceeded up the steps behind him.

"One thing I don't get is why Ford is hanging out with these guys if he knows Buffy is… you know…" Willow said trying to get her point across without divulging info inside enemy territory.

"I think I have a pretty good idea." Xander replied as his hands twitched towards the cardboard tube that contained his swords.

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Summers Home, Later That Evening, Xander's Room

"Damn fools!" Xander growled as he practically threw his schoolbag and the cardboard tube down on the floor as he paced about the room.

Despite his desire to tell Buffy everything right away so they could give Ford and his moronic friends a wake up call both Angel and Willow had convinced him to wait until tomorrow in the library with the others. Despite the fact that their suspicions about Ford looked to be easily enough to get the blonde Slayer to begin to doubt her 'old friend', Willow thought it might go better when they both had clear heads. Neither Deadboy nor he were entirely objective or rational at the moment and it would do them no good if Buffy just thought they were being a pair of jealous jerks. While he thought he could do a convincing job of being 'not jealous', he knew that Deadboy would be another story entirely. When it came to Buffy, he had about as much control over his actions as Buffy had where Overbite was concerned. Still, he couldn't help but wish he could do something to get those idiots in the club to open their eyes. They WORSHIPPED the very things that had killed his best bud and bro Jesse for God's sake! The MONSTERS that took his brother in all but blood away from him and these idiots treated them like they were heroes!

Throwing himself onto his bed rather than continue to stalk about the room in a furious frenzy he tried to convince himself that it wasn't their fault, that they had just been fooled by the media versions of vampires, that they just needed to be told the truth. While this did manage to quell some of his anger there was still enough inside of him he promised himself that he'd be there when Buffy went to confront Ford and his friends.

No way was he going to let his personal hero go into that lions den without back up of some kind and thanks to the lingering remnants of Hitokori Battousai, he could be that back up. He could tap into the assassin's skills just like he had when he had attempted to dust that female vamp the night before Ford showed up. While he might not use those skills to kill or even hurt those fools, he would definitely give them several reasons to rethink their plans in the forms of sliced weapons and trashed furniture. With more than a Slayer blinded by her desire to see her friend as a friend, they just might clue in that they had bitten off more than they could chew and let them leave without trouble.

With that plan firmly in mind, he decided he'd try to get some sleep so he'd be fresh and ready to tell Buffy the truth tomorrow. Putting a pillow on the floor he took his swords from the tube, sat down and soon fell to sleep. If he had stayed awake a little longer he might have noticed the door to his room open a crack and a shadow moving away from it.

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The Next Day, Steps Inside Sunnydale High School, Noon

Sitting on the stairs eating lunch and talking about their classes neither he nor Willow noticed Buffy approaching them until she was right on top of them. Much of Xander's anger had dissipated thanks to a good night's rest but he was still dead set on going with Buffy when she left to confront Ford and his followers. He knew that Deadboy would likely be there as well but he still thought it'd be handy to have a swordsman present in case the vamps showed up for dinner. Turning around he watched Willow jump in surprise just as her blood pressure likely spiked a bit.

"Buffy!" Willow said excitedly and nervously.

For a moment it looked like Buffy might turn around or find some other way of avoiding them and right then Xander knew that Lord Forehead had gone ahead and told the Slayer everything. Making a mental note to tell the vamp off for trying to steal all the credit for himself, Xander waited to see how things would go in the present

"Did, uh, Angel...?" asked Willow apparently catching onto the same signs as he had.

"He told me everything." Buffy replied with her tone of voice letting them know she hadn't liked what she had been told.

"I'm sorry we kept stuff from you." Willow apologized with genuine regret on her face.

"It's okay." Buffy said with a smile that couldn't fool a village idiot.

"When Angel came to my room he was just really concerned for you, and we didn't wanna say anything in case we were wrong." Willow said as she explained why there was need for secrecy and everything.

"Did you find out what Ford is up to?" Xander asked just in case some new info had come up that he and Willow didn't know about.

"I will." Buffy said before turning to walk away with the determination of a Slayer on her face.

"Not alone you won't." Xander said grabbing Buffy by the shoulder to keep her from walking away before he can say his part, "Look Buffy I know this is personal for you but if Ford has done his homework on this there's no telling what he has waiting for you at that club. For all you know, he could have six people with tranq-guns waiting to take you out the moment you step inside."

Turning around, he could see that she clearly didn't want him to come along even though she appreciated the fact he was willing to help her out.

"Thanks Xander but I really need to handle this on my own." Buffy said as honestly and meaningfully as possible, "You're right when you say that Ford probably has something up his sleevebut I can handle it. Knowing's half the battle right? Besides you have enough on your plate with that Bat-o-saki guy running around in your head."

"Exactly why I should be going with you." Xander said although his voice held a bit of hesitation in it, "Look I'm the last guy to be singing assassin-boy's praises and everything but with his skills and me in the driver seat I know I can help you out!"

"And if the sword guy you have sitting in your head decides he wants a turn at the wheel? Do you really want to tempt fate by letting him cut loose inside that club?" Buffy asked trying to make him understand her point of view, "No I need to handle this on my own. I spoke to Giles and he says he should have the ingredients for that spell by the time the school lets out for the day. So stick around and let him fix you up okay?"

These were the questions he had asked himself more than once since he had discovered what went on in that club. Truth be told, he didn't know what would happen if he tried to tap into Battousai's knowledge at the club, given his opinion of the patrons there. For all he knew his anger towards them might link up with the assassin's own bloodlust and he could wind up slaughtering everyone there before Buffy stopped him. Add to that the fact that all the other times he had tapped into the hitokiri's knowledge it had always been warily and only as much as absolutely necessary. Would he be able to maintain that kind of control in the thick of things especially if the vamps turned out to be waiting for Buffy at the club?

"Fine. You be careful though okay?" Xander asked angry at the hand the Fates seemed to be giving him lately.

With a smile and a nod Buffy turned and headed away but whether it was to class where he and Willow would be going soon or off directly to Club Sunset he didn't know. He just hoped that the blonde Slayer thought things through and didn't let her feelings of friendship for Ford cloud her judgment. He understood the need to rescue a friend or steer them away from a dangerous path but he had a feeling that there'd be nothing Buffy could say that would get Billy-boy to change his mind about vampires. For some reason he felt that Billy Fordham was committed, for whatever reason, to being a vampire lover and perhaps becoming a vampire himself one day.

Why would anyone revere those bloodsuckers much less want to become one of them? He thought as he lost sight of the patch of blonde amidst the throng of students, I just don't get it.

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After School, Sunnydale High School Library

Walking into the library immediately after classes, Xander still couldn't get his mind off Buffy heading into that den of vamp-lovers alone. She was the Slayer, she had beaten fate already and he knew of no one stronger than her, whether it be physically or mentally. Reasons such as these popped up every few seconds to convince him that everything would be okay and he had nothing to worry about. Nevertheless, no more than a few minutes after a point in favor of Buffy's survival disappeared he was right back where he started. It had gotten to the point where he forced himself to focus on the spell Giles would be casting after school to get the Hitokiri Battousai out of his head. Not exactly something he was looking forward to considering the spell would be messing with his head, hair and eyes but it was an equal exchange between worries so it worked. Now though with the spell due to be cast in the next few minutes he found its hold over him lessening since one way or another it would be over soon. The same could not be said for the worry of whether or not Buffy was okay.

She had left for the Sunset Club at noon as she had been missing during all of the afternoon classes. He and Willow had done their best to cover for her by telling the teachers that the cafeteria food hadn't agreed with her and that she had gone home. Considering that over half of the people in the school thought that the lunch lady was planning to kill them, it was an entirely plausible excuse for leaving school around noon. However as he looked about the library and saw that Buffy was nowhere to be seen and he saw nothing to indicate that Buffy had even come here before leaving the school. That meant that from one in the afternoon until the present Buffy had not been seen or possibly heard from since leaving to confront Fordham at the club.

Not good! Buffy might be determined to make that idiot friend of hers see the light but to take almost three hours is nuts! He thought as he watched Giles come out of his office with what he presumed were the ingredients of the spells, one to detect what didn't belong and another to remove those elements, What's taking her so long to check in?

"Ah, Xander. Are you ready?" Giles asked as he took notice of the one who would be the subject for the spells set to be cast.

"Ready as I'll ever be, G-Man." Xander replied as he stopped in front of the main research table and looked down at the ingredients the Watcher had placed there, "So where do you want me?"

"Just sit down in any chair you wish. The spells themselves do not require that the person they are cast on be in any specific position." Giles replied as he took a book from under his arm and began to flip through it, "Now as I am sure you are eager to rid yourself of the remnants of Battousai in your mind and body, let us begin."

From there things went directly to incomprehensible for the Zeppo as Giles began to chant in a language that sounded like it had more in common with another dimension than good old planet Earth. Still it was probably just one of the many dead languages Giles knew plus a little of his own lack of talent when it came to the ones taught in classes at this very school. After all, it just seemed so incomprehensible to him why he should want to learn French when he had absolutely no intention of going anywhere that would require him to be able to speak it half decently. In fact the only use he could come up with for learning French would be to charm the ladies since some seemed to swoon if you could fake the accent well enough. Not that that would help him at all in this school since every date worthy girl already knew Xander 'geek' Harris by sight already.

Thanks in no small part to Cordy setting the standard for all other female students to live by. Xander thought sourly as Giles picked up a bowl with a fine blue powder in it.

In a move no doubt done with the intention that it be finished before any objections could be made, the Watcher tossed liberal amounts of the powder onto the Zeppo as if to try and turn his scarlet hair blue. Coughing a bit as some of the blue stuff got into his lungs, he was about to ask Giles what the heck dousing him in dust was all about when all of a sudden he could feel parts of him tingle. It was not a good tingle or even 'sitting-on-a-activated-washing-machine' tingle but something far beyond it and he knew that the spell was either complete or nearing completion.

As the chanting stopped his theory was proven accurate and so he waited for G-man to do his usual 'interesting' explanation of what had been changed by the Halloween spell and to what degree. However instead what he got was Giles flipping through the book again and actually tasting the blue powder he had used. This was followed by several minutes of running around the library taking random books off the shelf and reading certain sections of them before returning to the main table and re-examining the blue powder.

"Giles? Is something wrong? 'Cause you're kinda giving me the wiggins right now with all the pacing and the tasting." Xander asked as he tried to get the Watcher to fess up to what was the matter before something Hellmouthy happened.

"W-well it's just that according to the spell book I should now be able to perceive glowing shades of blue in various areas of your person, showing me where the changes are and of what type they are based on the shade of blue." Giles explained as he took his glasses off and began to vigorously clean them, "However when I finished casting the spell all but one of the areas I expected to be indicated lit up."

Getting increasingly nervous Xander asked "Which area didn't light up G-Man?"

"Your brain or rather your mind to be precise." Giles replied as he put his glasses back on, "According to the spell your mind is completely free of tampering of any kind."

Needless to say this floored the Zeppo since he couldn't understand how the spell could miss the instincts, feelings and memories of a cold-blooded killer. After all he knew he didn't… have…anything…like…that…before. It was then that Xander remembered the trip to the museum, the dream he had and the bloody encounter with the killers the night of the costume dance. Those things had happened before Halloween but he had more or less dismissed them as a bit of Hellmouthy weirdness passing through or his questionable before bed snacks. Now though, with this revelation by Giles, he began to wonder if there might be something more going on than any of them thought.

"Hey Giles? Is there a spell specifically to scan the mind?" Xander asked with anxiety barely concealed, "Y'know one that checks for spirit possession or something like that?"

"You mean to say that your memories of Hitokori Battousai might have been placed in your mind prior to the Halloween incident?" Giles asked with some surprise at both the Zeppo raising the possibility and not coming forward with the info beforehand.

With a sigh, Xander told the Watcher all about what happened at the museum, the nightmare he had that night and the voices he had heard the night the Japanese family was killed. From the sounds he heard that weren't really there in the museum, to the lingering sensation of pain on his cheek after waking up from the nightmare before ending with the voice that helped him beat the murderers as well as the ones that spoke to him on his way to Buffy's place. With each bit of information he could tell that Giles was feeling both upset that the Zeppo hadn't come clean sooner and concerned about the possible implications of these new disclosures.

"While I can understand your reluctance to think about these memory flashes Xander I still wish you had come to me sooner." Giles said before heading over to the book stacks in search of something, "For one thing it would have saved me quite a sum of money and I would have had a better idea of where to look for a remedy to your condition. Still I believe I know of a way to exactly determine what is wrong with you."

Finally finding the book he sought, Giles returned to the main table and opened the book to reveal a clear crystal shaped like an obelisk with a leather string tied around the top to turn the whole thing into a necklace. Taking the necklace out the Watcher placed it around the Zeppo's neck and then flipped through the book until he came to a specific page.

"By using this crystal in conjunction with a spell, it should be able to show whether these… discrepancies are due to a partial possession, soul remnant or something else entirely." Giles said as he held the book in front of him and began chanting, "Mind to soul, spirits that toll; reveal the source of that which is known, show us the threads of thought that have been newly sown."

With a flash from the crystal akin to that one would get from a camera's flash bulb, the spell was activated and all that was left was to wait for the spell to conclude its search of Xander's mind.

"Now in a few moments the crystal will glow a specific color which will show us the precise nature of the memories and sensations you mentioned." Giles said as he set the book aside in anticipation of spell's conclusion, "If it is some form of possession it will glow blue, if it is the remnant of a soul white will be the color and so on for every possible malady."

A few moments passed and right on schedule the crystal did indeed light up as both the Watcher and the Zeppo had expected it to but what was not expected was the color of the light. The look of surprise on the G-Man's face made it clear he had not anticipated this result and that seriously made the Xan-man worry, since Giles being surprised was the same as Buffy with an idea. Basically that all sane people should get to a safe distance as soon as possible if they wanted to keep all their parts and pieces.

Waiting with baited breath as the Watcher opened the crystal book once again to find out what the blood red glow emanating from the crystal meant, he hoped it didn't mean what he thought it meant. Ever since he had been shown the world of the demonic , deadly red had ceased to be a color associated with apples, cherry lipstick wearing beauties and was now currently associated with blood and those that drank it. He didn't even want to think of the possibility that he was either turning into a demon or had some P.T.D (possession transmitted disease) left over from the alpha hyena. That possibility would add a whole new level of trouble for him to have to worry about aside from the bone breakage from normal slaying related activities.

"Good lord." Giles muttered to himself as he apparently found what the color red meant in the crystal book.

"Giles? What's the what?" Xander asked fearfully, "You know it scares me when you start talking about the Almighty."

"Well, it seems Xander, that the cause of your condition was one that we never considered as a possibility." Giles replied as he closed the book almost without thinking, "I must say that I am rather astounded by it all."

"Giles? Explainy please?" Xander said getting a little irritable at the Watcher's delaying of the answers he wanted.

"Well it seems Xander that you have not had the memories of Hitokiri Battousai implanted or otherwise deposited in your mind as we first suspected." Giles replied trying to give off a calming atmosphere, "The truth of the matter is that you are the reincarnation of Himura the Battousai."

At that precise moment anyone and everyone within hearing range of the library heard one single word yelled at the top of some teenage guy's lungs.

"WHAT!"

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

One Hour Later, Sunnydale High School Library

"Iya! No!" was the first thing bellowed from his lips as he shot up into a sitting position on whatever smooth surface he had been laying on.

"Easy Xander! Easy!" came a voice to his right trying to urge him to be calm and settle down.

Looking in the direction of the voice he saw that it was Willow who had spoken with a look of deep worry on her face. For a moment he wondered how much time had passed since Giles had dropped the bomb of all bombs on him. Looking out the window he could see that the sun was at best an hour or so from setting completely so he guessed he had been unconscious for about the same period of time. He could still remember the feelings, the shock and disbelief, which had flowed through his entire being at the news which caused him to black out. Him, one Xander LaVelle Harris, was the reincarnation of a bloodthirsty assassin swordsman named Hitokiri Battousai! Ridiculous! There wasn't a blood hungry bone in his entire body! It had to be a mistake of some kind! A cosmic screw up! How else could you explain how the spirit ofa unrepentant killer could be reborn into the body of someone whose full name meant 'defender of mankind'! With these thoughts the emotions that had led to his blackout the first time around returned and began to build towards reaching their former intensity. He could feel his mind on the verge of shutting down again!

"Xander! Xander, we need you to calm down." Giles' voice said as it pierced through the storm of emotions currently dominating the Zeppo's thoughts, "I know this information must be overwhelming but it's not as bad as you think!"

"How? How Giles? You just told me that I'm the reincarnation of a bloodthirsty murderer! An assassin!" Xander exclaimed as he pushed down his emotions enough to converse coherently with the Watcher, "Tell me how it's not as bad as I think it is!"

"Well let us think for a moment shall we!" Giles replied showing a bit of annoyance in his voice, "How about the fact that you've been Battousai's reincarnation for over fifteen years and have not committed one heinous act in all that time? Or perhaps I need to remind you one of the basic rules of reincarnation is that those who are evil in one life get reborn into a terrible existence as karmic punishment!"

That made Xander pause and with him the maelstrom of emotions threatening to send him back into a state of unconsciousness. He had lived his entire life in a way not typical of what one would expect of a blood crazed killer and what Giles said about the rules of reincarnation did feel right.

"Besides Xander, it is one of the basic principles of the world that history is inevitably written by the victors and while the Imperialists did win I doubt they would have been entirely honest or thorough in their record keeping." Giles explained as he pressed his advantage, "During wartimes many acts that would seem unforgivable seem almost reasonable. In all likelihood the victorious Imperialists edited out any facts or events that would have portrayed them in a negative light. Therefore it is entirely possible that we in the present have an incomplete picture of who Hitokiri Battousai truly was and how he behaved."

With Giles' words of reason, the storm of emotions propelled by his own idea of who and what Battousai was began to lose strength. With the official version of 'the truth' under suspicion and no one around from that time to confirm or deny each fact there was no reason to believe that anything he had been told about Battousai was true. Oh he was likely from Japan and most definitely a swordsman but aside from that there was nothing in the history books he could trust concerning the famous Hitokiri.

"It is as my father once told me when I was about your age" Giles said in an oddly reflective tone of voice, "'is it who you were that is important or who you are that matters?' and that is a question you must ask yourself now Xander. Does knowing who you once were in a past life really matter or is it who you are right now that counts?"

See, now this is why I let Giles do the thinking! Xander thought as the emotions that minutes earlier had threatened to overwhelm him faded into formless mist.

"Thanks, Giles." Xander said with a genuine grateful smile on his face.

"You're quite welcome." Giles stated with a 'you are welcome' grin before looking at his watch, "Hmm. Buffy is late for her early evening training sessions. Do you know where she might be?"

"Buffy! Shit!" Xander exclaimed as he hopped off the table and darted to the open office door in order to get the exact time from the clock inside.

5:25 p.m

"Xander? What's wrong?" Giles asked looking concerned at the sudden change from relief to panic.

"Giles, Buffy went to confront Ford at his vamp loving club right after lunch." Xander replied grimly as he walked right over to the tube tied to his backpack, "If you don't know where she is and no one else has that means she's been M.I.A for almost four and a half hours."

"You don't think--?" Willow began to ask as the hacking redhead began to think up bad possibilities with her genius mind.

"I'd say it's almost a certainty that she's in trouble and Ford has something to do with it." Xander replied as he took out both his katana and wakizashi before sliding them into place beneath his belt on the left.

"While I will admit to some concern, I'm certain Buffy can handle a few misguided teenagers." Giles said in an attempt to forestall any jumps to conclusions.

"Giles, these guys were smart enough to rent a bomb shelter as their base, study their target and use the one piece of bait that Buffy couldn't ignore." Xander said making a few adjustments to the positions of the blades on his left hip, "I doubt they'd do all that planning and not take into account that their prey could throw them around like rag dolls."

"Let's go then." Giles said with concern as he realized that the young man was right.

After a quick stop at the weapons case in the book cage Willow, Giles and Xander set out for the Sunset club to rescue their friend.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

The Sunset Club, Inside, 5:50p.m

"Just ten more minutes until sundown." Ford said to the inner circle of his little band.

Diego and Chantarelle smiled with anticipation of the 'gift' they were prepared to receive tonight when the vampires arrived. They and all the other regular patrons of the club had believed him when he had approached them with the plan to be turned and achieve true immortality. To them, it was all too logical: rent a suitable location and start up a club, have him make contact with the Slayer and lure her there, use a combination of tranq guns and stun guns to knock her unconscious and then wait for their sires to arrive.

Of course, unlike them, he had more insight into the way a vampire thought than the rest of the sheep around him. They were all too stupid to look beneath the surface of all the stories and tales about the undead and see the truth. He, however, was different. He knew that while handing them the Slayer would definitely make the vampires he dealt with happy, it was by no means enough to justify turning a large group of people. No, for that an even bigger offering needed to be made, and for him, that meant serving up all his 'friends' for the nosferatu to drain dry. That and that alone, would secure him the honor of being turned into one of them and finally cheating death that plagued his body even now. All he had to do now was keep Buffy drugged and the rest of the fools here blissfully ignorant of what was about to happen to them.

"How long do you think it'll be before they get here?" Diego asked as he shot a glance at the unconscious Slayer tied to a chair.

"Not long. With the Slayer all tied up here waiting for them, I give them twenty minutes tops before our sires get here." Ford replied as he took a sip of his drink, "So chill out and think about what you plan to do for the rest of eternity."

Like the mindless fools they were, both Diego and Chantarelle believed him without question and left to enjoy their last moments of life. All he did was smile at how everything was falling nicely into place just like he had planned it from the beginning.

From the moment he had discovered the existence of vampires at Hemery High, he had devoted all his free time to finding a way to convince one of the undead to turn him. Each time his parents had taken him in for chemotherapy treatments, the pain and nausea he felt only provided him with further incentive to look for a way to escape the slow painful death that was coming. It had been only three months ago that he had come upon the key to his escaping death and achieving immortality. Piecing together bits of eyewitness accounts to the burning down of the school gym along with descriptions of the Slayer, he had discovered that his old friend Buffy Anne Summers was a Vampire Slayer.

With that information at the core, he began to plan it all. From the gathering of the 'cannon fodder' to the renting of the bomb shelter and most recently laying the bread crumbs out for Buffy. Now, in a few short minutes he would receive his big payday and death would be denied its prize of his soul. The idea that he would soon no longer need to worry about death and have a limitless number of tomorrows to look forward to filled him with joy.

Soon. Soon I will have nothing to fear at all. Ford thought with a smile as he imagined what the future would hold for him.

Suddenly the sounds of footsteps coming down the stairs on the other side of the metal door that had been used to keep Buffy inside reached his ears and some confusion entered his mind. Who could that be? The sun was still up outside so it was unlikely that the vampires he had made the deal with had come. True, he supposed if they used the sewers and kept to the shadows, they could avoid lethal exposure to the sun but why take the risk?

He had assured them that the Slayer would be completely bound and unconscious when they arrived and had even explained his plan to them so they could see how it couldn't fail. It was possible that it was a few more 'true believers' coming at the last minute to become a part of the grand change, but that was unlikely. After Buffy's friends had left, he had announced to everyone there that the time had come for them to cast off their lives as mortals and prepare to embrace immortality. Everyone had been told to be here by no later than twelve noon or else they would miss everything. Therefore, unless it turned out to be followers of the truly dimwitted sort, it couldn't be any more sheep.

Could it be Buffy's friends come to look for her? Possibly. Even though he had tried to make sure that the Slayer would come to 'face him' alone and without any back up waiting in the alley.

No sense taking chances. He thought before turning to those that had been assigned the tranq guns and stun guns and saying, "Get into position, just in case it isn't the Lonely Ones."

With nods in the affirmative, both teams of six moved into position at various strategic points on the first and second levels of the bunker. With three of each team on each level they'd have the only entrance covered pretty good. Those with the tranq guns would take positions giving them the best line of sight possible on the door while those with the stun guns would be closer to the door in hiding waiting to attack targets of opportunity. With such good coverage, even if Buffy's friends attempted a rescue, it would be a waste of time and just give him a few more sacrificial lambs to give to his sire. Looking to confirm that everything was in place, he smiled at what an amusing pre-rebirth show this would be for him.

However, what Ford could have never anticipated was that Mr. Murphy would be watching his little plan unfold and decide to his own little spin on things to spice matters up a little. So it was with no little bit of surprise when in the space of three seconds, two diagonal cuts were made in the door from corner to corner causing it to crash to the ground with a clang.

So unexpected was the sight that for a few seconds after the destruction of the door both those armed with stun guns and tranq guns stood frozen in shock. As it turned out that was all the crimson haired demon on the other side needed to cross the threshold and began laying into his band of armed followers.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

The Steps Leading to the Bomb Shelter Door, 5 Minutes Earlier

"You know, they're gonna hear us coming." Xander said as the trio of him, Willow and Giles looked down the steps that would lead to the Sunset Club.

"Indeed, but we have little choice but to proceed." Giles stated as he made sure quiver holding his crossbow bolts was securely fastened to his hip, "Any vampires that Mr. Fordham has made a deal with will be along shortly and I think we would all prefer to be long gone when they arrive."

"Assuming they're not in there already." Xander stated as his mind came up with a worse case scenario.

"Perhaps, but let us try to remain optimistic, Xander. Buffy would have sensed if there were any vampires present upon entering the room and would have sense enough to retreat rather than box herself in." Giles said trying to keep his two charges from becoming pessimistic about their chances.

"In any case, there's no telling what they have in there but I bet a month's Twinkie supply that it's a little more sophisticated than blunt objects and their fists." Xander stated as he used his left thumb to loosen his katana from its scabbard, "Let me go in first Giles. With Battousai's skills, I should be able to take out at least some of what they might have waiting for us before they have a chance to react."

Giles looked at him somewhat reluctantly and the Zeppo could tell the Watcher was concerned about what sort of harm he might do with such lethal weapons.

"Don't worry Giles, I'll make sure to hit them with the back of my blade." Xander said, trying to convince the older man that he could do this. "Willow saw Battousai do it on Halloween which means I should be able to do it too."

Giles looked over to Willow to confirm his claim and when the budding hacker nodded, he too nodded giving Xander permission to go in first. Silently, he unsheathed his katana completely and took the lead with the Watcher and the Hacker following a safe distance behind. As he reached the bottom he could hear sounds of movement through the door and knew that Ford and his buddies were getting ready to roll out the red carpet for them.

Deciding it was time to throw a little surprise into the mix he motioned with his free hand for the others to stop before getting into a ready position with the sword in front of the door. Closing his eyes he looked within himself for the memories of his past life as Battousai and the skills the man had possessed as a Hitokiri. He knew that this would be unlike anything he had done before including that little skirmish with the female vamp that Angel refused to stake. This wasn't a lair of vampires he was about to enter where he could slay targets as they became available but a group of jackasses who were one hundred percent human. Therefore, lethal force or even moves that would do more than give them superficial cuts were out the window. This would also require him to give a great deal more control over to his past self than he had last time and given the instincts that probably came with being an assassin, he'd have to watch himself closely the entire time. No matter how good the guy had to have been to be reincarnated into Xander Harris he was still a professional killer and that meant that lethal force was easier for him than leaving enemies still breathing behind him.

Just remember what Giles said and everything will be okay. He told himself as he opened his eyes and put his game face on. Concentrate on getting Buffy out of there and worry about the morons later.

With that thought in mind, it was time to get the show on the road and he knew just how to start things off. Gripping the sword handle with both hands he centered himself and then with two lightning quick slashes, going from corner to corner and top to bottom, he cut the steel door into four pieces. Less than a second after he had finished the final cut, the door fell to pieces with a clang leaving a clear entryway for him and the gang to enter. He did not stay to admire his work though because he knew that his dramatic entrance would only stun those inside for a few moments and those were moments he needed to take full advantage of right away.

Charging inside, a quick glance around told him everything he needed to know about the situation and what he'd need to take out as well as in what order. Darting to the right he brought his blade down in a vertical slash cutting through the stun gun being wielded by one of the club goers before kicking what was left of the weapon in the direction of one of the men holding a tranquilizer gun. Just as he had anticipated, the man lost his focus on firing in order to avoid the sparking piece of metal flying through the air towards him. This gave Xander all the time he needed to cross the distance between the two of them in order to deliver an upwards diagonal slash slicing the gun in half just shy of the man's fingers. A swift elbow to the man's jaw knocked him down and cleared a path to the second person with a tranq gun who was just beginning to bring the weapon to bear on the Zeppo.

However, with a few swift moves he learned from playing dodge-ball in gym class, he zig-zagged in and out of the crosshairs faster than the idiot could correct his aim. If the guy had been a professional marksman instead of a teenager, the young man might have tried to time his shot for when Xander would next enter the crosshairs. Since he wasn't though, he kept trying to re-aim the weapon again and again giving the reincarnated swordsman time enough to get into range and disable the threat much as he had the last one.

Hope the others are doing as good as me right now. Xander thought as he risked a look out of the corner of his eye back towards the entrance.

From the brief glance, he could tell that Willow and Giles had managed to take out both the person with the stun gun on the left side of the door as well as the last person with a tranq gun he had spotted upon entering. However that was where their progress had stopped as they were forced to seek cover from the three remaining gun wielders on the lower level. Those people had to be taken out before any attempt could be made to rescue Buffy and it looked like he was the only one of them in a position to do anything about it.

Running towards railing before him, he let the Hitokiri's instincts guide him in what to do next. Leaping into the air, he waited until he had cleared the railing before reaching out with one hand and grabbing the metal he had passed over, causing him to arc downwards. Releasing the railing before he wound up slamming himself into the concrete that made up the upper level, he let himself drop to the ground and by pure chance dropped right onto one of the three remaining wielders of the tranquilizer guns.

His landing wasn't exactly stable but with a little extra bending in his knees he managed to keep from falling on his ass. Pushing off the now unconscious enemy, he darted across the room to the closest of the remaining two gun wielders. This was a little more difficult as the density of the assholes down here was much greater than it had been on the upper level, but thankfully, his surprise entrance scattered many of them in his immediate area. His unexpected arrival also had the benefit of causing two of the three people with the tranq guns to turn away from Giles and Willow in an attempt to deal with him.

Hopefully they'll be able to take out the last one and get down here. He thought as he brought his sword up to disarm his target, 'Cause I don't much like the idea of trying to dodge the people with stun guns given the significant lack of maneuvering room.

With a quick slice and elbow shot to his target's jaw, he turned to move onto the next target only to find that one of the club patrons had apparently decided to grow a brain. With a stun gun in one hand and a young woman armed with a tranq gun standing next to him he had Buffy by the throat making it clear what his intentions were.

"Okay, that's enough! You three stop right where you are or I send a couple thousand volts right into your friend's brain!" said the teen with the stun gun that had to be wearing the most ridiculous vampire/Goth outfit he had ever seen.

Not good. Xander thought as he glanced at the distance separating him from Buffy.

There was at least twenty feet between him and the chair where Buffy was tied up and even with his reawakened skills, the odds of him being able to cross that distance before the idiot pulled the trigger on the stun gun was small. A part of him wondered if he could chance it, since Buffy was the Slayer. Her super fast healing might be able to handle any damage the volts did. The idea was quickly discarded though, as there was no way he was willing to save Buffy only to find out later that she'd be brain dead for the rest of her life. With charging in no longer an option that left talking and maybe his best improvised Dirty Harry impersonation. After all, these were just a bunch of kids his own age, not hardened warriors like the ones he took out after the costume dance weeks ago. No way would they have the stones to put their own lives at risk when the pressure was on.

"No, I don't think you will." Xander said as he put the katana in a more relaxed position, "After all, she is your only bargaining chip and once she's gone, there's nothing to stop me from using this sword to make you a head shorter."

This most definitely got everyone's attention, including that of Willow and Giles, the latter of which was no doubt beginning to wonder if his earlier pronouncement of his ability to keep Battousai at bay was in error. Hopefully he'd clue in. Otherwise, he'd unintentionally wind up joining the morons as far as number of obstacles went.

"Yeah right! You and your pals are the good guys!" the laughably dressed teen said with a laugh, "You won't hurt us! You think we'll believe a load of crap like that after watching you knock the others out instead of killing them? Don't insult my intelligence!"

The fool was putting on a brave front but Xander could tell it was barely more than skin deep. He knew he was backed into a corner and was grasping at anything he could find that stood a chance of getting him what he wanted and out of here at the same time. All that would be needed would be one final push and he'd cave for sure.

"Given that you and your pals are here planning on serving yourselves up to a bunch of vampires because of some romanticized 'Interview With a Vampire' crap version of the truth, I didn't think you had any intelligence." Xander said mockingly before turning dead serious, "As for being the 'good guys' I think you have us mistaken for the other guys. See, all my friends and I are interested in is killing vamps as well as any demons that cross our paths. Since you all seem determined to join the ranks of the undead, my friends and I would probably be saving ourselves some time killing you now. Right, Giles?"

C'mon G-Man! Catch onto what I'm trying to do here! Xander pleaded as he waited for the Watcher's reply.

"I-indeed. If you lot have lost the cerebral capacity to comprehend the mistake you'd be making in turning yourselves over to the vampires, then you are all lost causes." Giles stated a bit unstably at first before firming up his voice, "As the war my friends and I are fighting, is a most arduous one. We can't afford to let you bolster the enemy ranks by so much as one person. However, if you'd be willing to release our friend, unharmed, to us it might inspire us to give you the benefit of a doubt as to what path you will take."

"So there you have it! Release Buffy and live, or keep her and we save ourselves the hassle of hunting your undead asses down later." Xander said as he brought his katana into an offensive based stance, "What's it going to be?"

"Gee, tough choice!" said the young woman standing next to the clown vamp dressed idiot before she turned and shot a dart right into the chest of the fool with the stun gun, "It was getting boring anyway."

Needless to say, everyone in the room was dumbfounded by the young woman's actions and watched with slack jaws and wide eyes as she just trotted out of the club as if they weren't even there. Willow unexpectedly was the first to recover and what came out of her mouth was probably the central theme of everything that was going on in everyone else's heads at that moment.

"Well, that was anticlimactic."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Sunnydale High School, Library, Two Hours Later

"Ooohhh! What hit me?" Buffy said a little woozily as she sat up on the table.

"Well, I wasn't there personally but probably a couple of tranquilizer darts along with many volts of electricity." Xander said as he steadied the unbalanced Slayer.

"Xander?" Buffy asked rhetorically as she turned to look at him.

"Yep! Little bro Xan-man made the big save and rescued you." Xander said sounding like he had done it all single-handedly.

Of course this was met with a few fake coughs from Giles and a glare from Willow who didn't like their own contributions being edited out.

"Naturally though, I couldn't have done it without my able bodied side-kicks, Tweed Guy and Hacker Girl." Xander quickly added which got him rolled eyes from Giles, a shaking head from Willow and as he had hoped a giggle from Buffy.

It was then though that the blonde Slayer took notice of his still red hair and unchanged twilight eyes and that got him a big look of surprise.

"You still got that Batty guy's hair! Didn't the spell work?" she asked before looking over to Giles for her answer.

"Yes, well, it would seem that while the more cosmetic parts of Xander's costume were readily identified by the first spell, there was nothing to be done about changes to his mind." Giles replied before indicating that Xander would finish the explanation.

"Looks like the memories and everything I have of Battousai weren't placed there by the spell on Halloween, Buff'." Xander said with a little discomfort from the truth showing, "Turns out I'm the reincarnation of one Hitokiri Battousai."

"Oh." Was Buffy's only reply to that bit of news before her mind went off in an entirely different direction, "Where's Ford? I am so going to give him a piece of my mind!"

"We looked for him after we cut you loose from the chair, but he was long gone." Willow replied a little disappointed herself that she didn't get to give Billy-boy a piece of her mind.

"Indeed. However with his desertion and Xander's rather heavy handed approach to negotiation, I think we can take some satisfaction in that we managed to scare those imbeciles at the club away from any future dealings with vampires." Giles stated while adjusting the position of his glasses a bit.

"That's something at least." Buffy said in agreement before swinging her legs over the side of the table and getting to her feet.

Unfortunately her sense of balance was still a little off center as she wobbled a bit before Xander stepped in and steadied her.

"Easy there twister-girl! Let's get you home and into bed so you can sleep the rest of the knock out juice off." He said as he helped guide her towards the library doors.

"What about patrolling tonight?" Buffy asked since she knew that she still had a job to do.

"Given the excitement you've had and your current condition I believe I can permit you a night off." Giles stated before grinning a bit, "Just this once of course. After all what could happen?"

If the gang hadn't been distracted by the condition of their blonde friend and the events at the Sunset Club they would have stared at Giles in disbelief while the Watcher said 'oh bugger'. After all, there were a few select phases and words that you simply did not say on the Hellmouth and unfortunately 'what could happen' was one of the more dangerous.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Streets of Sunnydale, Heading Towards the Bus Station, Same Time

"Damn that sword swinging freak!" Billy Fordham growled as stomped his way down the sidewalk towards the bus station, "He ruined EVERYTHING!"

Two and a half hours ago.

That was how long ago things had been going so smoothly for him and he had felt secure in the knowledge that he would soon beat the tumors that were slowly tearing his brain apart. He had planned so thoroughly, taken everything he could think of into consideration, just to make sure that nothing could go wrong. He had even asked around at the school for the dirt on Buffy's friends so he could factor them into the equation. By all accounts they were just a bunch of Slayer wannabes riding on Summers' back while she fought the vampires and the demons. Add to that the fact that Xander was supposed to be a dimwitted weakling and Rosenburg a mousy computer geek and he had thought that the only possible threat to his plans would have been Mr. Giles. While he didn't exactly know what the old man was in relation to the Slayer, he figured it had to be something like an advisor or researcher. Harris, Rosenberg and Giles were supposed to be petty annoyances at best that could be easily dealt with through the use of a few tranquilizer darts. Nowhere in his research had there been any mention of Xander possessing inhuman swordsmanship or speed that would put the greatest samurai master to shame. The glowing golden eyes were a sure sign that he wasn't completely human; he had figured that out in the first few seconds of the fight, but he couldn't think of anything that matched Harris' description from the few demonology books he had acquired. In short because of one unseen element his entire plan had not only been rendered worthless but also necessitated a speedy departure from Sunnydale.

Not that he was afraid of Summers and her friends, but the vampires he had made a deal with wouldn't be pleased when they found the club minus one Slayer. The undead gang would likely gorge themselves on any sheep they found there and vent their anger on them, but he had no doubt they'd remember him for a long while afterwards.

If he stayed in Sunnydale, it would only be a matter of time before they found him. He doubted very much that his death at their hands would be a quick one when they finally got their hands on him. So, for now, his only choice was to leave and come up with some other way to beat the illness that would kill him in six or so months.

So deep was he in his own thoughts that he never noticed the black limo gliding up next to him until he was side by side with the rear door. His first thought was that it was some rich snob looking for directions to the rich part of town, but then he thought that was impossible given how small the town was. So, given the foul mood he was in, he decided to just ignore the rich brat and hopefully they would take the hint and leave him alone.

The passenger in the limo was apparently determined because despite Ford's refusal to even look in the limo's direction the window rolled down revealing a distinguished looking businessman smoking an expensive cigar. He was definitely one of those Wall Street types, the sort that had money to burn, but there was also a feeling of something dark about him that Ford had only felt in vampires up until then. Of course, compared to him, vampires might as well be a lit match compared to the torch of darkness he could feel coming off of this guy. Deciding to at least hear what this guy had to say, he came to a stop and turned to look at this mystery man. The limo did likewise come to a stop leaving only a door between himself and this unknown businessman.

"You were so close tonight, weren't you, Mr. Fordham. Another hour and you might have achieved your goal and escaped the tumor eating away at your brain." The Businessman said in an omniscient way, "Such a shame that it all had to be spoiled at the last second by Xander Harris."

"Look, whoever the hell you are, if all you want to talk about is that, we have nothing more to say to each other." Ford said in barely restrained anger at this stranger rubbing his face in his defeat.

"Please, don't take my words the wrong way, Mr. Fordham. I am actually quite impressed with the thought you put into your plan and the ease at which you were willing to sell out your friends to the vampires." The Businessman said with a hint of actual respect in his voice, "How would you like a chance to not only get even with Xander Harris, but also to escape the tumor in your brain at the same time?"

"What? Is this some kind of sick joke?" Ford asked, but reigning in his anger as best he could just in case the deal was on the level.

"No, I am quite serious. Agree to my offer and not only will you not have to worry about dying any time soon, but Mr. Harris won't know what hit him when you come for him." The Businessman said before taking a puff of his cigar, "So, are you interested?"

It took Billy Fordham surprisingly little time to decide, but on examining the young man's situation what did he really have to lose.

"Deal." Ford stated with conviction.

"Excellent." The Businessman stated as he opened the limo door and welcomed his newest acquisition inside.