Dreams and Ideas

by Shadow Master

These are a collection of fanfic crossover ideas that my admittingly warped imagination has come up with. For the most part this is to satisfy the plot bunnies but if you see a drabbleshortetc that you think deserves to be made into a full fanfic let me k

27. The Brother You Never Knew You Had

"The Brother You Never Knew You Had" by Shadow Master aka Ryley Breen

"The Brother You Never Knew You Had" by Shadow Master aka Ryley Breen

email: ryleyunderscorebreenathotmaildotcom

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the copyrighted material shown herein. They are the rightful property of their respective creators and associated companies. I am making no money off of this so a law suit would be beneficial to no one. That means take your hands away from your cell phones Mr. Executives.

Note: I realize I said that I would not post another entry into my 'Dreams and Ideas' fanfic until after I had completed at least two of my in progress fanfics. However after reading the majority of the fanfic Willow Destine a plot bunny popped into existence demanding that I write something about it. Therefore I have decided to exercise the right of an author to perform emergency deviation from established plans in order to get the carnivorous demon plot bunny off my back.

To those of you who are worried that this will cause me to fall back into old habits you are worrying for nothing. This is just making use of the pressure valve on my creativity engine so I can focus more on the fanfics that I have chosen to center my attention on: Black Wing, Divergence, A World of Difference and A Distant Relation. Once one or two of the annoying new plot bunnies have been satisfied I can resume work on these four stories and get them finished. So be patient my loyal fanfic readers.

Now on with the show…

The Brother You Never Knew You Had

Bar Harbor, Maine, Sunset

It's not much but it is more promising than the other leads I have been handed up until now. Petros Xanatos thought as he drove out of the city towards his county home, I don't know why I chose to start this up again. It was dead end after dead end before. Little reason to believe it'll be any different this time.

In the end he supposed it had to do with the birth of his grandson Alexander and the surprising influence it had on reigning in David's more questionable nature. Up until that point, the relationship he had possessed with his son had been strained, to put it mildly. It was simply that their two views on the good life were in complete conflict with one another. He was a simple man with simple tastes who was quite satisfied with the life of a fisherman. David, on the other hand, had been, and to a degree still was, determined to live a life worthy of note and recognition by the entire world, first by becoming richer than any man really needed to be in order to get by in this world, and then by doing one newsworthy thing after another. It bothered him that his son had to make a spectacle of himself like that but, after so many arguments and ill chosen words, both of them had decided to just accept that the other would never change.

Now, though, it looked like David was finally ready to settle into fatherhood and that responsibility would prompt him to think twice about any scheming he might consider doing. There would still probably be a few more questionable events, especially since he had a feeling that it had been him who had rescued the gargoyles from the police, but he would trust that his son would be a little more discrete this time around.

For him, though, he would be taking up a search that he had all but abandoned thirteen years ago. It had been after one of the more explosive arguments he'd had with his son about the direction David had decided to go in. He had been drowning his sorrows in a local bar, mourning the slow death of his familial relationship with his son, when a stranger had sat down uninvited at the same table. He chuckled a bit at the memory of how he'd tried to politely tell her to leave him alone or find another table to sit at. Throughout it all, she had simply smiled at him and asked if he wanted to tell her what happened with an offer of how to make him feel better. At the time he had thought her some sort of prostitute but the clothes she had been wearing were more respectable than the women he occasionally saw on street corners at night. Nor did her face seem overly covered by make up and cosmetics in order to meet with what the times considered a beautiful woman. In the end, he had come to the conclusion that she was an average person who simply chose to stick her nose into his business without permission. Things had gotten heated between them, almost to the point where the bar owner would have asked them to take it outside, then in one act she silenced both his voice as well as his anger.

She kissed him.

It had been almost fifteen years since he'd ever been kissed by a woman, ever since his beloved wife passed away, and while he would never forget his spouse the strange woman's action hit him like the mother of all waves. From there they began talking in a more civilized way and he gradually became willing to let her know about the difficulties he was having with his son. She consoled him and helped him to realize that while he may never approve of his son's lifestyle David was still his son where it mattered. From that point onward their relationship grew from simple acquaintances, to friends and eventually they fell in love in a way that was both similar yet completely different from the kind he felt with his wife. He was happy, happy like he had not been since his darling wife Alexis had passed on, and within a year the most joyous thing happened.

Jessica LaFayette became pregnant by him.

It was a wonderful time for him and not a day went by that they didn't discuss the grand future that awaited the two of them once the child came into the world. However, there had also been an undercurrent of apprehension and fear in her eyes when she thought he wasn't around or looking at her. He asked her about it a few times, but she always brushed him off saying that she was just worried about something she saw on the news or about how they'd be able to support their child. He had never completely believed her but saw no reason to press the issue with her since he believed that she would tell him the truth eventually. However, in her seventh month of pregnancy, the worst thing he could ever conceive of happened as well as the most baffling.

She disappeared without a trace and without a single word to him.

For a full week he talked to everyone they knew as well as the employees at every means of leaving the city that she might have used, but no one had seen anyone matching her description since the day she disappeared, nor did the police find anything suspicious when he filed a missing person's case with them. For three months the police pursued the case with due diligence but, in the end, they were forced to call of the search reducing their efforts to simply putting Jessica's statistics with the national registry of missing persons. He, however, refused to give up and spent every moment of free time he had after his duties as a fisherman to look for her. He was no Sherlock Holmes by any means but, with some help from a retired private investigator who lived in town, he slowly learned the basics of the trade. Together they sought Jessica using every resource at their disposal and, for three years, he sought out any sign of where the woman who carried his child had gone. However in the end even he had to admit that their efforts were getting them nowhere and Dixon himself judged the odds of finding her to be between slim and none. It had been a painful time in his life and not a day went by that he didn't wonder if he had given up just a month, a week or a day short of finding that one crucial clue.

Now though, in seeing my son experience the joy of his firstborn, I feel I have finally regained the resolve to seek her out once more. He thought as he turned off the main road and onto the dirt one that led to his home, I will find you Jessica and this time I will not let you go!

However it was not to be for, just as his home came into sight, an explosion rocked the road he was on easily within ten feet of him. So potent was the shockwave that he had to fight to keep his truck on the road and while he managed to do so this seemed to only provoke the cause of the first explosion. While no stranger to icy roads, even he was at his wits end as to how to keep his vehicle under control and so it was that with a trio of explosions the truck was knocked into a series of fast paced rolls. Over and over again the truck did roll tossing him about the cabin with only random chance letting him do anything to lessen the damage that was being inflicted upon him. However, lessening did not mean preventing as pain lanced up his leg and he lost feeling in his right arm that some part of his mind told him was not good. Fortunately for him, the Fates took pity on him allowing his truck's impetus to finally die out and causing the vehicle to finally come to a complete stop. However it was only a small bit of mercy for with the fading of coherency of mind he knew that he was hurt very badly. In all likelihood, unless someone happened to come to see him in the next few hours, he would die never having fulfilled his promise and never experiencing the joy of watching little Alexander Fox Xanatos grow up.

It was with these thoughts, a mix of regret and sorrow, that the blackness of unconsciousness took him and a single tear trickled down his blood soaked face.

&

New York City, The Aerie Building, The Board Room, One Day Later

Oh the burdens of running a corporate empire! David Xanatos thought as he listen to one of his division heads drone on about the latest developments, Funny how they leave this part out whenever they depict the life of wealthy C.E.Os in the movies.

Still, he did his best to keep his poker face in place so as not to let on how truly bored he was and how he was only catching every other sentence. While some might consider this sloppy of him, he knew that Owen was taking mental notes in the corner and would relate all the important facts to him later. It was one of the perks at having an aide de camp who was even more meticulous than Halcyon Renard's own Preston Vogel, which was quite an accomplishment. Not that he was letting his second in command to run the entire company while he indulged in the benefits of being filthy rich, but for tedious things like this it was necessary. He was just about to try and bring Mr. Manheim's report to a swifter end when he heard Owen's cell phone go off, prompting the blonde man to swiftly answer it. This by itself was not very odd since many people called him every day for one reason or another but, thanks to his legions of underlings, only the most pressing got forwarded to Owen's personal cell phone. Only patience would determine whether or not it was an emergency or simply an annoyance that had managed to bully its way one step shy of the top.

It was when he heard Owen begin to talk in hushed, clipped, tones that he realized it was most definitely the former possibility and that robbed Manheim of any attention his boss might have bestowed upon his presentation. Three minutes later the call was concluded and Owen approached him in a pace that for most would have been considered brisk but, to those that knew the right hand man of David Xanatos, it was a sign of great concern. Within moments his friend and confidante was at his side and, when the glasses-wearing man bent down to relate his information, the C.E.O of Xanatos Enterprises knew it was of the utmost urgency.

"Mr. Xanatos, I regret to inform you that your father has been in an accident." Owen said with traces of true concern lying just beneath the surface, "He is seriously injured and currently undergoing surgery at a local hospital."

This one bit of information succeeded in doing what even a meeting between Demona and Fox's father could not do in that it shattered his infamous composure completely.

"Owen! Get the private jet ready immediately!" He ordered as he got up from his chair at the head of the table and headed to the door of the boardroom, "I want it ready for take off the instant we arrive. Cancel all of my appointments for the foreseeable future."

"At once, Mr. Xanatos." Owen replied before he began to follow his employer while dialing up the local airfield.

"B-b-but Mr. Xanatos! The meeting!" Babbled Mr. Manheim, who obviously realized a little too late that he should have kept his mouth shut.

"There are some things more important than business, Mr. Manheim." He said in a voice that could have frozen molten lava, "I suggest you remember that or I will be forced to terminate your contract."

This shut the division head up so fast the terrified man might well have cracked a tooth in the process. Of course this mattered little to the C.E.O of the company since he was already out of the room and heading to the bedroom to pack. All the while he was walking down the hallways of his home and corporate headquarters, he was thinking of his father. What sort of accident was it? What was his father's current condition? Those were the sort of questions that battered his consciousness as he entered the bedroom to find his wife Fox and their son playing on the bedroom floor. For a moment the sight warmed his heart but it lasted for but a moment before the current state of his father returned to his consciousness. Without hesitation, he immediately went to the closet and began to pack the essentials that he'd need for at least a week in Bar Harbor.

"David? What's wrong?" Fox asked, almost immediately sensing that something was wrong with her husband.

It was that one question that stopped him in his tracks and caused him to sit down on their bed as the gravity of the situation finally hit him.

"My father's been in an accident. He's in surgery at the moment." He replied no louder than whisper and feeling no stronger than one either.

"Oh David!" Fox gasped as she picked up her son and rushed to her husband's side, "What happened?"

"I don't know. However I guarantee you I will find out." He said before cold steel entered his voice, "And should I find that one of my business rivals is behind this, I will make it my business to bury them!"

With that said, he and his wife began packing for their trip, knowing that every moment counted in situations like this. Once he arrived at the hospital and got a better grip on the situation, he'd personally make sure that his father received nothing but the best medical care his fortune could buy. If a specialist in Russia was required, then that specialist would be in Bar Harbor, Maine within twelve hours, one way or another. If there was some sort of experimental treatment that hadn't yet passed clinical trials, he'd be sure to obtain the specifics so it could be used to heal his father. NOTHING would prevent him from seeing his father well again, even if it meant going to Avalon itself to bargain with his mother and father in law.

Hopefully, though, it won't come to that. He thought since at present he wasn't exactly on good terms with the Lord and Lady of Avalon.

Still, it bothered him greatly that now, when there was still so much left to do, his father was teetering on the edge between life and death. It had been no secret between the two of them that neither he nor his father were particularly close but, after the birth of his son, he had begun to see what his father meant by the importance of familial closeness. In the weeks that followed the birth he had begun to lay down the groundwork for a closer relationship with his father. Now, though, if Fate chose to be particularly cruel, he might never get the chance to undo the damage he had done through his own selfish ambition.

Hang on father! I'm coming! He thought as he slammed a suitcase shut.

&

Five Hours Later, Bar Harbor, Maine, Mount Desert Island Hospital, Fox's P.O.V

This is tearing David apart inside. Fox thought as she watched her husband's reaction to the doctor's full diagnosis of his Father's injuries.

It had been five hours since her husband had received word that his father had been in an accident and only one since they had arrived at the hospital. It had taken about thirty minutes before the doctor that had been in charge of Petros' surgery became available but, eventually, the aged man did come to explain the situation. As minute after minute passed and the doctor revealed the extent of the elder Xanatos' condition, she began to wish that the healer had never approached them. From what the surgeon was telling them, the injuries to the old fisherman were not good and neither was the prediction of whether or not the local resident would make any sort of recovery, much less a full one. Naturally, David began to question (or perhaps interrogate would be the better word) the doctor on what precisely would be needed in order to increase his father's chances at a full recovery. Initially the doctor tried to tell the C.E.O of Xanatos Enterprises that they were already doing everything they could but, after a few choice words about the man's future employment at the hospital, a few possibilities were submitted.

"It'll be alright, David. Your father is just as stubborn as you are and he won't go down without a fight!" She said in an effort to lift her spouse's spirits as best she could.

"I know. I know." David said, sounding only marginally better than he did beforehand.

It was this that hurt her terribly to see David like this. She hated to see a man who once stood toe-to-toe with the Lord of the Third race reduced to something more approaching an ordinary man. However, while her knowledge of medicine was probably not much better than his, she knew a bad diagnosis when she heard one. Multiple bone fractures, in some cases bones were completely crushed, as well as damage to several major organs. According to the surgeon, they'd done as much as they could in one session but that Petros would need time to regain some of his strength before he could safely go under the scalpel again. While the surgeon had tried to appear optimistic, especially once her husband put the fear of God into him, her time as an actress allowed her to see past the surface. The doctor's optimism didn't rate higher than her son's shoe size and, despite some flickering embers of hope when the more experimental procedures were mentioned, unless some sudden wave of good fortune came their way, David would lose his father and that loss would hurt her husband greatly.

Desperate times call for desperate measures! She thought as she chose to utilize a resource she hoped wouldn't have too many strings attached to it.

"David? Would you mind holding onto Alex for a while?" She asked as she passed her son to his father, "I need to make a trip to the little girl's room."

Without protest her husband took their son and, with as much casualness as she could manage, Fox made her way to the ladies washroom down the hall. Once inside, she quickly assessed the room, looking to see if anyone was in there with her, before locking the door behind her. She couldn't afford for anyone to see her try this and she had doubts that it would work if there were any unwanted spectators in range. It was untested, something she had seen during Puck's lessons with Alexander, but her memory was good enough that she felt she could make an attempt at it. Therefore, before her own misgivings concerning her idea took hold, she placed both of her hands upon the nearest mirror and began to chant.

"Mists between us vanish, barriers between us disappear." She said putting all her will into drawing upon what magic lay within her, "Form a connection for that is my wish, allow me to speak with one that I hold dear."

It was never easy when she tried to utilize the power that was her birthright as daughter of Queen Titania, but after she had almost lost her son to Oberon she promised herself she would not be so under equipped the next time. So, while the restrictions placed on the Puck required that he focus almost totally on Alexander's education, that didn't mean she couldn't sit in on a few of the lessons. The trickster of Avalon was quick to pick up on her intentions and frequently used her as an object example for his young student. True, the jester couldn't help but crack a joke or prank her for his personal amusement, but she was learning and that was the important thing.

Besides, she made him pay for it the next day when she went shopping and needed a pack mule for all her purchases.

As she felt the magic stirring within her, Fox did all she could to maintain a high level of concentration and thus maintain the integrity of the spell as the arcane energies did their work on the mirror. She knew she was going to feel the drain of using her magic an hour from now but, if there was even the slightest chance that her mother could help, it was a price she was willing to pay. With a ripple much like a disturbed lake's surface, her magic interacted with the mirror and, gradually, what she saw before her changed from her own reflection to the interior of a medieval castle. Then, as the image finished gaining definition and depth, she could also see that the spell she had cast had worked out perfectly for there, sitting on the throne about twenty feet from her, was Queen Titania. A smile was on the green skinned woman's face and it didn't take a genius to determine the cause. It had always been subtly mentioned in their previous discussions that her mother lamented the waning strength of her magic. In fact, it was a secret suspicion of hers that the attack by Oberon on the Aerie building was not only meant to allow Alex to stay with his parents with Puck as an instructor, but also to prod her into mastering what power she had. Still, her questioning of her mother of that could wait until later. Right now pursuing a possible means of helping David's father took precedence.

"Greetings, daughter. I see that you have managed to perform a communication spell successfully." Titania, aka Anastasia Renard, said with bits of pride in her voice.

"After the fifteenth try, yeah." She said, wanting to get the small talk out of the way quickly, "Look, I need to ask a favor of you mother. David's father is in the hospital and it doesn't look good. The doctor's don't look optimistic about his chances of surviving his injuries."

This earned a genuine expression of concern and empathy for the situation from her mother but, much like her daughter, the Queen of Avalon was quick to deduce the truth behind appearances. She just hoped that there was some loophole or sub-clause in Oberon's laws that would allow her mother to help just this once even if it came at a price.

"This is dire news you bring me, daughter. I presume that your favor involves aiding your ailing mortal father in law?" Titania asked with reservation in her voice that could only come from the restrictions placed upon her by her Lord and husband.

"I know that by Oberon's law you cannot interfere in the affairs of mortals, but I think your husband proved that his laws have a certain amount of flexibility to them." She said, unveiling the argument she had come up with right before she cast the communication spell, "Surely since Petros Xanatos is family through David, you can afford to bend the rules enough to save him."

"Were it my choice alone, daughter, I would gladly do all I could to heal my mortal brother in law." Titania said with true regret in her voice, "Sadly, Lord Oberon has since made amendments to the laws governing interaction with the mortal races, greatly reducing the ability of his children from 'bending' them for their own purposes. Though I hold some sway in the rulings of my husband, this is one matter that even I cannot disregard no matter how much I might wish to."

"But doesn't the fact that you're his queen mean that you are his equal in power, or at the very least are important to him?!" Fox asked, inwardly cursing Oberon for unknowingly covering his ass by amending the laws involving interacting with mortals.

"While I am stronger than all the other fair folk on Avalon, Oberon rules because he possess power superior to all, including myself," said the woman once known as Anastasia Renard. "I am sorry, my daughter, but without the permission of the Lord of the Isle, I cannot intervene as you wish."

For a moment she felt like tearing her mother a new one, ripping into her about everything the Third race has done to her family, but in the end she knew that the woman who gave birth to her was truly sorry about her inability to help. Much as her mother whispered in her ear before leaving the night of Alex's birth, the only way to defeat Oberon is to turn his own rules against him. Sadly, Oberon was quick to reduce his vulnerable spots when he sensed that someone was about to beat him over the head with his own laws. So if her mother truly believed that there was no way around the rules binding her, then it truly must be hopeless.

"Thanks anyway, mom." She said before she ended the communication spell.

With that done, all she could do was go back to her husband, console him as best she could and hope for the best for her father in law.

That and pray.

&

Five Days Later, Mount Desert Island Hospital, Petros Xanatos' Room

Point of View of David Xanatos

"I am sorry, Mr. Xanatos. There's nothing more we can do for him."

"The best we can do is try to make his final days as painless as possible."

Those were the words spoken to him by two of the top medical specialists on the planet, ones that he had flown in from across both the Pacific as well as the Atlantic in the hopes that their expertise would save his father from the dire wounds present on his body. However both, after only a day of examination of the relevant information, had concluded that the local doctors had indeed done all that was possible for his father. The wounds were from what the police were calling the detonation of previously undiscovered pockets of methane gas. Personally, the only gas he believed was involved was the vapor that existed between their ears and he fully intended to launch his own independent investigation to determine the truth. He refused to believe that a plot of land he had grown up on as a child suddenly decided to blow up when nothing like that had ever happened before. Gas pockets did not simply form underneath perfectly stable land, nor did they explode simply from someone driving over them. No, there was something more to this and he was going to get the bottom of it no matter what it took.

"D-David?" Came a weak and pain-filled voice from the bed before him.

Looking up from his contemplative position sitting by his father's bedside, he was shocked to see that his father was awake and that the one exposed eye was opened.

"I'm here, father." He said moving closer to his father before getting down on his knees before the bed.

"W-what happened?" his father asked, clearly unable to recall how he came to be in the hospital.

"You were in an accident. You're at Mount Desert Island Hospital." He replied grasping his fathers hand as gently as he could, "But don't worry! You're going to be just fine. I guarantee it!"

"H-heheheh…AGGHHH!" His father chuckled before a flare of pain, caused his face to scrunch up in pain.

"Father! Hold on I'll get the doctor!" he said before reaching for the emergency signaling button on the side of the bed.

"NO! N-no need, my son. I-it has passed." Petros said managing to somehow get his hand to grasp his son's firmly, "Besides, I doubt that there is anything they can do to prevent what is coming."

"Nonsense. You've always told me that the Xanatos family is made of sterner stuff than most people think." He said attempting to redirect the conversation towards topics that didn't involve his worst fear at the moment, "Just stay strong and let the doctors put you back together. You can't leave the fishes alone for too long, now can you?"

"I appreciate what you are trying to do, David, but we both know what is coming." Petros said in a solemn voice as he accepted his fate, "I have lived a good life, I have been blessed to have brought life into this world and to have a grandson thanks to you. I have but one regret that I am sad to say I will have to take to my grave."

"What is it? Tell me and I'll make sure that it's taken care of!" he said deeply disturbed by where things were going, "I promise. Anything!"

"I-I had hoped that I w-would be able to introduce the t-two of you myself, but now it seems you will have to f-find him yourself." His father said straining to get out what he needed to say, "You see you have a—AAAGGHHH!!"

Like last time, his father's face scrunched up in pain but unlike the previous flare of pain this one did not lessen after a few moments. Instead it seemed to get even worse as the seconds ticked by and it scared him to the point where he didn't hesitate to stab the emergency button. All the while the pain his father was going through tore at his soul and despite all the wealth he possessed it meant nothing to him right now. He'd gladly sacrifice his entire corporate empire if it meant his father would make a full recovery. However, if any wish granting gods or goddesses had heard his silent plea, they chose to ignore him completely. Whether that was because they didn't care or because they took pleasure in seeing him suffer such misfortune after so much good luck, he wasn't sure… nor did he really care. Almost without his noticing it, the hospital personnel entered the room and immediately went to work to try and alleviate his father's pain. The air was filled with chatter as more than four people tried to co-ordinate treating his father and reducing the pain that their patient was in. It bothered him to no end that all he could do was stand back and watch them work. He knew all too well that he was no doctor. HELL! He probably would barely have the qualifications to be an orderly much less anything else! So he clamped down on his feelings and allowed the doctors to do their work.

"D-DAVID!! DAVID!!" His father bellowed out despite the pain such exertion was no doubt causing him.

"Please, Mr. Xanatos! Calm down. You're only making your condition worse." One of the doctors said in an effort to get the elder Xanatos to stop straining himself.

"M-MUST T-TELL HIM!!" His father yelled as though desperate to accomplish one important thing before it was too late.

Compelled by his father's actions, David pushed a path through the doctors surrounding his father so he could get to his father's side.

"I'm here, Dad. What is it? What do you need to tell me?" He asked, determined to hear what his father had to say to him if only to allow his dad to calm down afterwards.

"D-David…I never told you this b-but y-you…have a y-younger b-brother." Petros said with every word seemingly a struggle to get out of his mouth at an audible level.

You could have knocked him over with a feather right then.

"I-I wanted to tell you …but…the truth is I d-don't know…where he is." His father continued to say heedless of the shocked expression on his son's face, "H-his mother…disappeared a-about two months before h-he would have b-been born. H-he'd be…a-about eighteen now assuming he's still alive…"

His father went silent after that, the exertion of speaking this much dragging him down bit by bit, but there was no way he'd let it end with this. He was going to hear it all as much for his own sake as it was for his father's state of mind.

"What was her name? Father!! Who is she!?" he exclaimed, heedless of the protests of the surrounding doctors at getting the patient even more worked up.

"H-her…n-name was…Jessi-ca LaFayette…" were the last words his father spoke before the monitors attached to him sounded the end of his father's life.

Forced out of the way by the doctors, David barely registered their presence as he dropped down into a chair by the door.

Three thoughts kept revolving through his mind again and again.

His father had been involved with another woman besides his mother.

That woman had disappeared eighteen years ago.

And somewhere out there he had a younger brother.

&

One Month Later, The Aerie Building, Private Office of David Xanatos, Afternoon

"What do you have for me, Owen?" David Xanatos asked as his right hand man approached him at the same the blonde man had for the past three weeks.

"I have been able to confirm that eighteen years ago, one Jessica LaFayette did live in Bar Harbor, Maine during the time period your father specified." Owen replied as he opened the file folder in his hand, "Using this as a foundation I attempted use the destinations of every means of public transportation that she could have used. However based on the files your father kept from his own investigation, it is unlikely that she used any of them when she left.

"I have also received back word from our contacts in the Federal government, as well as other institutions. According to them there is no sign of anyone matching Ms. LaFayette's description in any of their files around that time, whether it be under her real name or an alias." Owen reported even though he could see his employer getting more and more upset, "Nevertheless, by pursuing a more round about course of action, I believe I may have narrowed down the possibilities to one."

"To one?" David asked his friend wondering how the alternate self of Puck had managed to reduce the entire teenage male population of the USA to just one.

"Yes, sir. Using the fact that Ms. LaFayette was seven months pregnant at the time and notes acquired from her attending physician at the time, I have been able to estimate a probable time frame for your younger brother's birth." Owen replied putting the folder down on the desk in front of him, "Using this to narrow the search criteria, I ran a search on all male births that occurred within this time frame. Once a list of possibilities had been established, I then compared the personal statistics of Ms. LaFayette, thereby eliminating those that were too tall or too short to be her."

While he usually praised Owen for his thoroughness, the suspense at learning the location of his younger brother had him feeling rather impatient, "Get to the point Owen."

"Very well, Mr. Xanatos. Based on my extensive search, I believe Ms. LaFayette currently resides with your brother in Sunnydale, California. She changed her name to Jessica Harris and married one Anthony Harris not long after she would have given birth." Mr. Burnette said with a little annoyance at the explanation of his hard work being cut short, "Your brother's name is Alexander LaVelle Harris and he recently graduated from Sunnydale High School with slightly above average grades. However it was when I investigated further into his medical history in an effort to establish a DNA match that I discovered something… disturbing."

Not wanting to wait for his aide de camp to speak further, David picked up the file the blonde had laid down on his desk. Flipping through the surface files until he reached those that looked like they belonged in a hospital, he began reading in earnest. Before he read through even half of them, he was so thoroughly disgusted with his brother's foster father that a fierce desire to repay Anthony Harris for every injury took hold. However it was just before he was about to take action against this man whom he'd never met that he recalled what he had told Fox soon after she'd been released from prison.

'Revenge, my dear, is a sucker's game'

With great difficulty he reigned in whatever feelings of vengeance he might have had and, instead, began to think of a way to free his brother from such a detestable father. Looking the medical files over a second time, he was amazed that no one had called child services after so many suspicious injuries. While some could be written off as simple accidents consistent with a teenager's way of life, the majority of them could not be labeled as household accidents unless the attending physician was exceedingly incompetent. In fact, with the few pictures that were included in the file, he'd say some of them had been caused by severe beatings.

"While I came to the same conclusion as you, Mr. Xanatos, about the majority of young Alexander Harris' injuries there were others that were more exotic in origin." Owen said, as if sensing the direction his employer's thoughts were going, "Though considering the town he grew up in, he is quite fortunate to only have minor scars and but a few broken bones."

"Is there something special about this town, Owen?" He asked his major domo, sensing that this tidbit of information was coming from more mischief oriented sources.

"Indeed, sir. While Sunnydale might appear to be no more than a quiet Californian town, it is in fact a disguise for one of the most dangerous phenomena known to mankind." Owen replied with increased seriousness in his voice, "It sits atop a Hellmouth."

"A Hellmouth? What's that?"

"A location where the dimensional barrier between this reality and a rather unpleasant hell dimension is at its weakest. There are several such weak points all over the world but it is the one in Sunnydale is the most potent." Owen explained before going over to the viewer built into the wall and inserted a CD from his pocket, "As a result it tends to draw in various demons and black magic practitioners, making it rather hazardous to the health of uninformed local residents. Considering it has forty-three churches and twelve cemeteries, you can imagine what the current death rate is in this particular."

"I'm assuming that there is a reason why state and federal authorities haven't launched a full investigation into the area." He said, unable to keep his tone completely free of skepticism.

"Yes sir. For the past one hundred years, a powerful practitioner of the black and demonic arts has ruled over the town. Using a combination of spells and legal aide from the law firm Wolfram & Hart, he has managed to keep the truth about the town from spreading too far." Owen explained before bringing up a picture of a man who looked like your standard politician false smile and all, "However, given how most people tend to respond to reports of the supernatural and demonic, it is likely that the focus of his efforts has been to keep state and federal law enforcement from learning the truth. Without the support of the authorities, any local attempting to warn others would not be taken seriously.

"Thus it is something of an achievement that your half-brother has managed to endure for as long as he has. Although I believe I may have a theory as to why this is so, I will require more time to confirm it." Said Mr. Burnette, concluding his report.

"I look forward to hearing the results of your theory," he said, filing away this information for future reference. "In any case now that you have found my long lost half brother, I believe it is time for the two of us to finally meet. I am sure that it is what my father would have wanted."

"I have already taken the liberty of putting the company jet on standby at the local airfield, sir, and securing accommodations for you at a small rented property on the outskirts of the town." Owen said, shutting off the viewer in the wall, "Assuming weather does not become a factor or some unforeseeable business emergency, you could meet your brother in twelve hours."

"Excellent. I'm sure Fox and my son would welcome a short vacation to California." He said before closing the file folder on his desk.

"Perhaps, sir, but I believe it would be prudent to not have them stay near the Hellmouth for an extended period of time." Owen stated while employing an odd habit of cleaning his glasses, "While not immediately harmful to them, any person possessing even a small amount of fey magic within them will experience certain…complications if they undergo prolonged exposure to the Hellmouth's demonic energies."

While more than a little interested at this statement, it concerned his wife and child after all, but he could also tell from the resolve in Owen's eyes that it would be a Herculean task to get more information out of him. Therefore he decided that he would wait until a more appropriate time had arrived when he could afford to spend a day or two maneuvering his friend into a no escape position.

"Not a problem. Depending on how things develop, I don't think we'll be spending more than a month there at the most." He said as he proceeded towards the door to his private office, "It shouldn't take much any longer than that to ascertain just what sort of person my brother is, meet with him and then come to an agreement about the terms of our unusual family bond."

He knew he sounded a tad…impersonal about meeting his half-brother but until he learned more about Alexander Harris as a person rather than a collection of facts, it was the prudent course of action. After all, if Alexander the Lion turned out to be a completely despicable fellow, then their first meeting would also be their last. However, if the son of Jessica Harris (nee LaFayette) turned out to be someone he could come to like, then perhaps he would be willing to establish closer ties.

Only time would tell.

&

Sunnydale, California

The Next Day, Outside of the Harris Home

Early Afternoon

"Are you really going to go, Alex?" Jessica Harris asked from her position on the front walkway of the Harris home.

"You know I've been planning this for a while, Mom. I'm eighteen now and I've been saving up for this road trip for three years." He replied as he continued to pack things into the trunk of the car his Uncle Rory gave him, "I need some time away from this place in order to find out what I want to do with my life. To find out if I really am the worthless waste of space Tony keeps saying I am."

"Don't believe a word of what he says. He might be your father but the truth of the matter is that he's jealous of you." His mother said in a rare serious tone of voice that he almost never heard, "He looks at you and sees everything he's missed out on, everything he's not, that's all."

It was a position he knew all too well because it was often the same reason he came up with for why Tony beat him off and on every day of every week of every year. It was the only reason he could come up with that made any sense to him and gave some reason to why someone who should love him could be so despicable to him. However, in the depths of his soul, he knew that pieces of crap like Tony Harris didn't need reasons to act like assholes. They acted that way because they could, because no one stood up to them to put a stop to it, and that was all there was to it. Looking at his mother, though, he couldn't help but feel a little bit of resentment towards her as well. Not because of the things she did, because Jessica Harris always did what she could to make his life as tolerable as possible. She kept the fridge well-stocked with booze, worked her butt off trying to make ends meet since Tony couldn't keep a job and always let him know when the drunk was in a bad mood by wrapping a sock around the front door knob. No, it was more the things she didn't do that pissed him off. Why did she put up with Tony? It was clear that if they left Tony together, any money made could be put to better things than booze. Yet, no matter how many times he got the crap beat out of him or how many times he walked in the front door to find his mother sporting as new bruise, she never did a thing to stop it.

He wanted to believe that she had reasons but, for the love of God, he couldn't understand what reasons could be so important that they'd justify being subjected to a brutal hell like this day after day?

"Maybe, but I need to believe that myself before I can move past all that crap." He said before he slammed the trunk of his car shut, "I've already made a deal with Bobby at the liquor store to make sure you don't run dry of booze to pass to the slob. Keep him drunken off his ass and he shouldn't be able to do more than slur swear words every so often."

"Do you at least have that medallion I gave you on?" She asked with a tad more urgency then was the normal for her.

Sighing, he pulled the medallion from beneath his shirt to show her that he did indeed have the medallion on. It was something she'd given him on his fifth birthday back when things weren't quite so bad and Tony only got drunk after a really bad day at work. In the beginning, she had made him believe that it was a magical medallion that would keep him safe from the monsters under his bed. When he'd outgrown the idea of magic and monsters under his bed, she had told him that it was an heirloom of her grandfather's that was very important to her. Out of deference to the love he still had for her, he chose to honor the memory of his great grandfather and he wore it to this day, putting it on without fail every morning. When Giles had come to Sunnydale, he'd had the Watcher take a look at the medallion but all G-man could confirm was that it did possess shielding properties. Given how he was a complete amateur in the fighting department, he figured he could use all the protection he could get in order to keep from getting sent to the hospital every time he tried to help out. There had been a few times that he'd had to leave it behind when time was short and he had to rush to the aide of his friends, but for the most part he wore it as often as possible.

"Good. Now make sure you don't lose it on your trip or I'll mix a laxative with the first meal you eat when you get back!" His mother said with a smile he knew all too well, since it was one he often wore when needling Deadboy.

He was about to say something in reply to that, something about her cooking already made him and the bathroom good friends, but both of them were distracted when a black BMW that looked like it cost more than the city's repair budget pulled up. While most would have dismissed it as simply belonging to some city official, they were quickly proven wrong when the car came to a stop right in front of their home. This, of course, made him wonder if someone from child services or perhaps some hotshot lawyer had chosen to finally make an example of Tony Harris. This was somewhat supported when out of the driver's side front door emerged a man with blonde hair and glasses that looked like he was born with a rod stuck up his ass. The man, however, was definitely observant since the first thing he did once both feet were out of the car was survey the immediate area for trouble. Was he a bodyguard as well as a driver? However what really caught his attention though was that the moment the man wearing the glasses laid eyes on both him and his mother the driver went instant statue for a moment with surprise on his face. It was only for a moment though before the bodyguard walked around to the rear passenger door that faced the house and opened it.

Looking at the woman who stepped out first, it took him less than a minute to recognize her as Fox from that action TV show 'The Pack' that was on the air a little over a year or so ago. In her early thirties and still looking like she could make most high priced models look fat, he would have found reports of her having a child to be pure fiction if she wasn't holding a toddler in her arms. Still, either she shelled out a couple hundred thousand to get back in perfect shape or it was genetically impossible for her to be anything but beautiful. However, it was clear that she was not overly comfortable in such common surroundings and who could blame her, considering she probably spent most of her time in the lap of luxury. He knew he'd probably feel uncomfortable if he had to visit someone in the slums who lived out of a pieced-together shack. It wouldn't be that he thought he was better than them or anything, he'd be pulling a Harmony if he did, it was simply that his unfamiliarity with those people would make him nervous. One wrong word or move and things could turn very ugly, very quickly.

Next came a man that bore a vague resemblance to Jonathan Frakes but had obviously traded in the hotshot second in command mojo for the suave C.E.O package. Dressed primarily in shades of grey and black was a man who he knew only through his association with Fox (mostly because the man only showed up in NYC news and business oriented stories. He had a short attention span for that) was one David Xanatos, billionaire extraordinaire. He had heard through the grapevine that the billionaire had married the TV actress awhile back and had a kid with her but up until now he wasn't entirely sure it was the truth.

The real question, though, was 'why were they here' along with 'what did they want' and not necessarily in that order.

Fortunately they didn't have long to wait since, just like the bodyguard, the moment that Mr. Xanatos looked in the direction of him and his mother, he froze before examining them like a detective did a crime scene. It was not a look he liked in the least and, given that the rich in town often had strong ties to the demonic, Xander chose right then to treat them as potential enemies. With that in mind, he tried to covertly inch closer to his mother using what skill he inherited from his Halloween soldier memories. As he did this, Xander almost chuckled at his actions. Only moments ago he was thinking about how he had gone from resenting his mother and now he was taking up a position to protect her from potential harm. He guessed that no matter what happened, he couldn't help but feel at least some love for her because, unlike Tony, she actually felt some love for him. Thus, with observant eyes, he watched David Xanatos, Fox Xanatos and Mr. Rod-up-his-ass approach the two of them.

"Mrs. Harris? My name is David Xanatos and this is my wife Fox and my right hand man, Mr. Burnett. I've come here to discuss a matter of some importance." Mr. Xanatos said sounding quite polite and cordial, "However, it is also somewhat private, so perhaps it would be best to discuss matters inside."

"First of all, going in there right now would probably be the wrong thing to do, given who's in there right now." Xander said, sounding polite but with a hint of menace hiding in the background, "And if you want to talk at all, at least give us a reason why we should listen to you in the first place."

For a moment it looked like the rich man would refuse but, after Fox put a comforting hand on his shoulder, he seemed to cave on the issue.

"I am here on behalf of my father, who passed away recently. It was his last wish to find two people he desired to see a great deal." David explained with grief still in his voice, "His name was Petros Xanatos and the people he wanted to see was a woman named Jessica LaFayette and the other one was the child they made together. I've spent every day since his death trying to locate them and my search has led me here."

O-kay! Definitely not what I was expecting when I asked for a reason! He thought as he tried to process this bombshell of a response, Still, I think someone sold him some bad info 'cause the only thing connecting the Harris family to this LaFayette woman is that she has the same first name as my mom.

Turning to see what his mother had to say about this, Xander received the second largest shock of his life in as many minutes. Instead of the vaguely clueless and puzzled look he'd expected, Jessica Harris, his one-and-only mother, looked like her world had been obliterated in an instant. In fact the shock was so great that her legs gave out under her causing her to fall to her knees with only her subconscious commanding her arms to keep her from falling the rest of the way.

"Mom!" he exclaimed as he rushed to her side and did his best to support her since she obviously wasn't coherent enough to do it herself, "You alright?"

"P-Petros…is dead…?" muttered his mom as though that one thought was the only thing occupying her mind at the moment.

What?! Does that mean Mr. Money Bags over there is telling the truth?! He thought to himself as he tried to understand what the HELL was going on.

So baffled mentally was he that he didn't even notice Mr. Burnett's approach until the stiff man was already on his knees next to his mother.

"If I may, Mr. Harris?" he asked looking for permission to diagnose Jessica Harris.

"The name's Xander, blondie. 'Mr. Harris' is the slob inside getting plastered." He replied before making a decision and nodding with permission, "Just don't try anything funny or someone else will be driving your boss for the next few months."

"Of course." Burnett said before he began to carefully and neutrally examine the still dazed woman in front of him.

It was only three minutes but when it was over and the glasses wearing man seemed to have concluded his examination.

"As I suspected. Lack of a proper diet combined with the shock has left her in a highly disoriented state." Burnett said before pushing his glasses up a bit further on his nose, "Rest would be the best treatment as well as a change in her eating habits. She should be put to bed immediately."

"Not exactly going to be easy with the slob in there drinking himself into a stupor. He tends to get loud and bully-like before finally passing out in the living room." He said, not liking the idea of trying to get past Tony while the idiot was still coherent enough to deal out a beating, "Besides, I wouldn't want you guys to get beer stains on those five hundred dollar clothes."

"If that is the case, then I will have to speak with Mr. Harris before you put your mother to bed." Owen said before getting back to his feet and heading towards the front door.

"Um…I wouldn't do that if—" he began to say not wanting the guy to get thrashed by that drunk of father he had but was stopped by the hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry about Owen. He's a man of many talents." David Xanatos said with the utmost confidence in his right hand man.

For the next five minutes he waited, even though he thought that the rich man was making a mistake, but when the driver/bodyguard emerged he was virtually unharmed. The only sign that anything happened was a slight mussing of the man's impeccable hairdo and what could have been a stain of some kind on the cuff of his white shirt. Thinking back to all that his ears had taken in during the past five minutes, Xander tried to reconcile the silence that had existed with the struggle he presumed took place. Either this man was a complete master at hand to hand combat or he had some kind of stun gun in that suit of his with the knowledge of how to use it effectively in his head.

"Mr. Harris has seen the…wisdom of allowing us to pass unhindered." Burnett said with only a moment's pause to wipe most of the stain off his cuff, "It should be safe to escort her to her bed so she can get some rest."

"Fine. But I'll do it and then we'll go someplace private so you can tell me why you think my mother is this 'Jessica LaFayette'." He said in a tone that would not be denied by anyone, much less a rich C.E.O.

With that he helped his slowly recovering mother to her feet and, with one of her arms over his shoulders, he guided her into the house and up to her room. He didn't quite know what was going on but he did know that his mother was in no condition to handle any more shocks to the system. Therefore he would handle these people himself and hopefully get them to go away so he could go on the road trip he'd been planning the entire year. After all, he wasn't going to let some big shot with way too much time and money on his hands run his BMW through what passed for his life just for kicks. That was what rich people were after right?

&

The Espresso Pump, Downtown Sunnydale, Forty Minutes Later

"So let me get this straight. Eighteen years ago my mom went by the name Jessica LaFayette, had a 'relationship' with your dad, got pregnant and then pulled a Copperfield two months shy of giving birth. Is that about right?" Xander asked sounding like he was humoring the delusions of a crazy person.

"That's the abridged version, yes." David Xanatos replied looking at the young man who, for all intents and purposes, was his younger step-brother.

"And you think I'm that baby she was carrying?" Xander asked, sounding like he was seriously wondering about the sanity of the people he was sitting down with.

"It not so much 'think' as 'know', Xander." He said and with a gesture to Owen the blonde man produced a single sheet of paper from his briefcase, "Before my family and I came out here, I managed to acquire a sample of your DNA and compared it with my own. As you can see the test results are fairly conclusive."

He watched as his brother looked over the paper that Owen had passed to him and, as he watched the teenager, he tried to find similarities between Xander and his father. Their build was similar, though a bit leaner and the jaw had definitely come from Petros Xanatos without a doubt. Bit by bit he could see more and more of his father in the young man in front of him if only in physical characteristics. The most prominent and telling of the physical attributes were the eyes, the brown eyes, one's that could go from warm to ice cold in the blink of an eye. He saw similar eyes whenever he looked in the mirror and had seen similar eyes when he was younger on the face of his father. If the eyes were indeed windows to the soul, then he could tell looking at Xander Harris that the Xanatos fire did indeed burn inside of him.

"Well this looks authentic, but that doesn't mean much considering how much money you probably have to burn." Xander said, sounding like he was willing to give the whole scenario the benefit of a doubt, "But let's just say, for the sake of argument, that I believe everything you've told me from start to finish. What exactly do you want?"

It was the one question he had trouble answering himself.

What did he want from his younger brother?

His first response to this question was to get to know the teenager better and learn about Xander's life from the young man's own mouth. He had files and, in some cases, amateur video of what kind of life his father's youngest son had led the past eighteen years. It was a life of abuse at the hands of an alcoholic step-father, a life of loyalty to those people he considered friends and a life of courage fighting against the darkness. It had been a little hard to believe all the reports of Xander's adventures alongside the eldest Slayer on the Sunnydale Hellmouth. The town's ability to attract, generate and enhance the supernatural was beyond anything he had experienced himself after awakening Goliath's Clan. Almost as amazing as the past three years of Xander's life was the fact that, despite being the most normal member of the demon hunting group dubbed 'The Scooby gang', his brother had proven to be indispensable time and again. A normal teenage boy proving many times over that one didn't need special powers or knowledge to make a difference impressed him greatly. Learning all this and reviewing it now only made his first gut reply to the question all the more correct so he chose to make that his response.

"To get to know you better. I want to make you a part of my life." He replied, being more honest with those two senses than he had ever been with anyone aside from those close to him.

This was obviously not quite what his younger brother had expected if the slightly slacked jaw was any indication. No doubt his mind had been filled with news broadcasts, movies and various other media forms of the fabulously wealthy making the young man suspicious of anyone who fit the general profile of a wealthy person. Not that suspicion of such people was a bad thing because he knew all too well from personal experience that some of the wealthy elite of the world were monsters both in as well as out of the office. You had to be careful when dealing with them or you'd be lucky to make it away from the negotiation table with the shirt on your back. Hopefully, though, Xander would take his actions up until now into account rather than rely on the sensationalistic version of the rich and famous that the media liked to employ. To seal the deal, though, he thought it would be best to nip some of the concerns that were likely lurking in the young man's head at the moment in the bud.

"Look at this objectively, Xander. What could I possibly gain from a deception like this aside from you?" He asked, hoping that logic would defuse any mental bombs inside the young man's head, "From what I've learned, your family is lower middle class with your mother providing most of the income aside from your step father's unemployment insurance checks. You hold no position of influence that would be of use to me financially or in the corporate arena. Even your 'Scooby gang' would not be valuable enough for me to orchestrate such an elaborate charade."

"A Slayer, a wicca and a Watcher wouldn't be valuable?" Xander asked, not questioning that he himself wouldn't be of much use to any big shot schemes Xanatos might have.

"I already have an expert in matters pertaining to magic as well as demonology so that area is covered. As for Ms. Summers, she is but one person and is needed here more than in New York running special errands for me." He replied explaining clearly why he had no intention of using Xander to get to his friends, "After all, if the Hellmouth opens and the world does come to an end, it would be bad for my family as well as for Xanatos Enterprises."

This seemed to cause the gears to turn in his head and, for a few minutes, nothing was said on either side but their eyes never left one another for one second.

"I need to think this over. How long do you plan on being in town?" Xander asked in a voice that gave nothing away concerning what was going on inside his head.

"A week, possibly two, but after that we have to head back to New York." He replied, even though he was prepared to stay a month if necessary, "A C.E.O can only put off work for so long before problems start cropping up."

"Then you'll have my answer in one week." Xander said before getting up from his seat and walking away down the street before vanishing from sight.

For a time nothing was said between those that remained sitting at the table at the Espresso Pump but the silence was beginning to stifle him so he chose to break it.

"So what do you think Fox, my dear?" He asked turning to his wife, who was sipping a cup of tea in one hand while waving her finger in front of her son's face while the child lay in his car seat.

"The place makes a decent cup of tea. I think I'll try to get the blend recipe before we leave." Fox replied showing no sign of either humor or misunderstanding.

"Fox." He said with a tone that told her he was serious and wanted a serious answer.

"What do you want me to say, David? I've only just met the kid, so it's a little early to form an opinion of someone." Fox said, trying to lighten the mood somewhat for her husband, "Still, I can see the family resemblance and he's definitely got the Xanatos edge in him."

"Yes, he does." He said almost at whisper level as he recalled both the eyes of his younger brother as well as what Owen had been able to uncover about the boy's nighttime activities.

"However, the question becomes: how big a part of your life do you want Xander to be?" Fox asked her tone turning a bit serious but mostly curious, "Someone who's invited to Christmas dinner or just someone you send gifts to on their important days but never actually see that often."

It was a valid question.

Truthfully, he wasn't quite sure just how close he wanted to be to his brother. At first, when he had recovered from the loss of his father, it had just been a desire to give his father's spirit some closure. It had been Petros Xanatos' last desire to connect with his long lost child and most assuredly make Xander a part of the family in every way. So that had been his goal in the beginning but, as the prospect of meeting a brother became more real, a desire all his own began to manifest within him. A desire to learn more about the young man who shared his father's blood with him and perhaps to experience what it was like to have a brother in the first place. It was a unique feeling that had not dimmed one bit since he first laid eyes on the teenager of Sunnydale, but rather had grown at an enhanced rate. The young man was neither an abusive drunk nor someone who forgot his loyalties to those important to him making him better than both of the people who raised him. He realized it was a bit unfair of him to judge Jessica LaFayette (nee Harris), but without knowing the reasons surrounding her decision to vanish in her seventh month of pregnancy his mind was producing one worst case scenario after another.

The only way to learn what really happened is to ask the woman herself. He thought with a frown as he tried to speculate how hard it would be to get the answers he desired, But it's anyone's guess whether or not she would open up to me seeing as how we've only just met.

In the end he decided that the only thing he could do was to wait until she trusted him enough to divulge the entire truth. For all he knew, she had perfectly sound reasons for disappearing eighteen years ago and, if that was so, his distrust of her would disperse like darkness at sunrise. For now, though, he would wait with his family at the cottage they'd rented on the outskirts of Sunnydale for his brother's answer.

&

Three Nights Later, Midnight

"Well then Alex shall we see if ol' Puck is right about the wrinkly Lady Jessica?" Puck asked his young charge as they flew across the starlit sky over the town of Sunnydale.

"Pucky, Pucky!" Was the response he got from the toddler that he held in his arms.

"Glad to have you aboard, Number One!" Puck said as the two of them reached the neighborhood the Harris' lived in.

He knew he was taking something of a risk using his true form on a Hellmouth and using Alex Xanatos so he could use that form in the first place. However he had to know whether what he had sensed three days ago was what he thought it was or just his overactive imagination. It had first made its presence known when they were on the approach to the Harris home for the first time. If he had to liken it to anything, it was like he had entered the range of a familiar scent that he had not smelled in a very long time. The scent had only gotten stronger as they got closer to the home and when he had finally laid eyes on Jessica Harris, he knew he had found the source of the presence. Looking at her, the sense of familiarity increased and he got his first hint as to the reason he felt like he knew her.

Her eyes spoke to him.

They were old eyes, the kind that none of the mortal races had, and that made him think that she might be a Halfling. If she was half human and half fae, then that would explain the centuries he saw in her eyes but it also raised the question of how she had survived on the Hellmouth for eighteen years. He spoke the truth when he had told David that prolonged contact with the energies from the Hellmouth was dangerous for someone with fey magic in the blood. For those that chose to endure a few years exposed to its demonic energy the Hellmouth tainted their minds, causing them to pay more attention to their darker natures. If those few years expanded past the six year mark, those with fey heritage generally began behaving more like dark mages or demons than a child of Oberon. Past the ten year mark was where things got to the point where most had to be put down, lest they draw unwanted attention upon the Third Race by humankind. While most of his family had the common sense to steer clear of Hellmouths and only visit if they absolutely had to, there had been a few rare cases of prolonged exposure. Those fools, like his brother Loki, thought they could prove their strength and resilience by pitting themselves against the cesspool of demonic energy. Suffice it to say that, after the idiot's numerous attempts to seize control of the Third Race or bring about an apocalypse, he had been chained down in a cave someplace until he came to his senses.

Considering it had been more than a thousand years since he'd seen his Norse brother, he didn't think Lord Oberon's plan of detoxifying Loki was working.

However, this fact only made it more odd that he could see very little of the degenerative effects of a Hellmouth in both Jessica and Xander. How had they accomplished this? There had been some discussion and experimentation on neutralizing the effects of the demonic energy on the Third race, but nothing conclusive had come of it. The one behind the experimentation had been Morgana Le Fay and, while she claimed to have come up with a way for fey to stay on a Hellmouth for centuries before needing to return to Avalon to recover, it had never come to fruition. After presenting her findings to Lord Oberon and Lady Titania in a closed meeting, all tests had been stopped. From that point on, all studies and experiments on the subject were forbidden under penalty of being completely stripped of their powers for eternity. No explanation was given but it was no secret that Morgana had not been pleased with this decision at all. There was even a rumor that gained strength from time to time that she continued her research in secret in defiance of the decree by the Lord and Lady of Avalon, but no proof was ever found and so nothing more than repeated warnings could be dealt to the fey woman. According to some of his siblings, she had dropped out of sight entirely two centuries ago with not one fey having seen her since then.

Could Jessica Harris really be Morgana Le Fay?

It would certainly make sense since she would possess the knowledge to stay atop a Hellmouth and not be corrupted by it. It would also imply that Xander was a Halfling like the little tyke in his arms. However he refused to speculate further on the matter until he had proof to substantiate his suspicions. Only then would he begin to make any choices concerning the futures of Xander and Jessica Harris.

Arriving at the Harris home, he decided that a little reconnaissance would be best since he had no desire to encounter the foul Tony Harris again. It had been disgusting enough the first time when he went into the beer stinking home to neutralize the drunk so Xander could take his mother to her bed unobstructed. Without magic, he had been forced to use hand-to-hand combat to render the fool unconscious, requiring him to actually come into actual physical contact with the filth.

Needless to say, he did not desire a repeat of that encounter.

Flying carefully around the windows of the house, he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Tony 'that drunken asshole' Harris was passed out in a chair in front of the TV in the living room. Since Jessica was nowhere in the living room, he could rest easy from here on out. Without further delay, he zipped up to the next floor of windows and quickly made his way to where Jessica most likely was at the moment.

His plan was a simple one: teach little Alex how to circumvent any magical wards or barriers that might be in place then move on to some moderate level examination spells to see if his suspicions about the woman were accurate. If she truly turned out to be Morgana La Fey, then they would have to have a few words, not only about her son but also her defiance of The Gathering. It was no secret that if a Halfling or a full fey refused to return to Avalon of their own free will, then the Three were sent to drag them back to the Island. He'd heard that Banshee had to be dragged back the night Fox gave birth and got a metal clamp put over her mouth as punishment. Considering the bitch valued her mouth over everything else, it was a fitting punishment that she would not soon forget. How was it that Xander and Morgana managed to avoid their search efforts? It was a secret he wouldn't mind learning for his own future use.

Coming to a stop in front of the window of the master bedroom, he decided that it was time to begin little Alex's lessons beginning with ward and spell detection.

"Now this, little one, is one of the cooler detection spells that I know. It's a little advanced for you right now but I'm sure you'll master it if you work hard enough." He said before turning to face the window more directly, "A window is a doorway and a glass allows clear sight, bring forth that which is hidden and make it visible to my sight."

With a move that made it look like he was blowing chalk dust from the open palm of his free hand, blue mist sprang forth, enveloping the window for a moment before vanishing. After it had left, though, symbols and runes appeared in a complex pattern both around as well as on the window to the master bedroom. There was no clear Fey signature to the symbols or the way they were set out but whoever had put them there was a master magic user. In this configuration such potent symbols would make it impossible for lower level demonic riff raff to enter through the window. In fact it would take a magic user of equal skill or a demon possessing insane strength to break through it to get at the people inside. Fortunately for him, he had centuries of experience both in terms of human magic as well as Fey based mystic spells or abilities. It wouldn't be hard to dismantle these wards and protection spells. It'd be a bit of a stretch to make this a lesson for Alex, since the incantations he would use were unfeasibly far for the little tyke to learn.

Maybe he could this some kind of preview of things to come?

Teachers did that these days, right?

Using a spell that was required to be spoken in the tongue of the Fey, hence why it was a bit advanced for little Alex to use, he caused the symbols and wards to part like they were part of a curtain. The spell would only last for about five minutes but that would be more than enough time to get through and find out what he wanted to know. Flying through the window with child in arms, he figured it was smooth sailing from here on out.

The bands of arcane energy and iron based wire that shot out of nowhere to completely ensnare him proved otherwise.

It was then that he realized that the spells placed on the window were only the first level of protection and that there was a second that snapped into place when the first was swept aside. He hadn't expected such a complex set up from someone trying to hide their presence from searching eyes and, for his mistake, he'd paid the price. On the plus side, though, he had managed to use what magic he had to float little Alex over to a nearby chair before the wires or bands ensnared him completely. He was about to try and use his skills to free himself from his restraints when the sound of footsteps reached his ears from the other side of the room. Turning to see who it was, he saw that it was indeed Jessica Harris, as he had suspected, but given how she had not been in bed it could only mean that she had anticipated his little nighttime mission. Considering she had three days to work with, it was not very surprising that she'd manage to put all of this place.

Hopefully, though, she'll be easier to chat up thinking she has me in a bind. He thought hoping that this theory was correct.

"While I'm flattered that you set all this up for me, I'm afraid S&M games just aren't my thing." He said while testing the strength of the wires, "Now if you wanted to play a little strip poker then save me a seat!"

"Same old Puck. You're sense of humor hasn't improved even after eight hundred years." Jessica Harris said as both years and pounds evaporated from her form until she looked just like she had when she'd met Petros Xanatos.

This proved to him all the more that she was of the Third Race but, more than that, now that the years of time had been washed away he knew who she was.

"Well it's hard to improve on perfection, Morgana." He said as he looked into the eyes of his sibling with a smile on his face, "So what've ya been up to?"

"Oh, this and that. I've always had something to keep me busy." Jessica, aka Morgana, replied as she walked over to where Alex Fox Xanatos sat watching them, "Then again, I suppose the same could be said for you since you're training this quarter breed child. Did you volunteer or did Lord Oberon do this to you as punishment?"

"Why, I chose to become the little tyke's tutor, of course!" He replied, sounding like Oberon had been helpless before his choice, "When I laid it all out for Big Daddy Oberon, he just couldn't say no."

"In other words you pissed him off and this is punishment?" she asked with a raised eyebrow and a half smirk on her face.

She always was too good at seeing through the bullshit. He thought watching her pick up Alex into her arms.

"So tell me, what brings you and your mortal master to Sunnydale, Puck?" Jessica asked before letting little Alex play with her finger a bit, "I know he said that he was here to track me and Xander down, but is that all he's after?"

"Yep. Just wanted to obey his dear old dad's last wish and find you two." Puck replied, still covertly trying to figure out a way to free himself, "Though after actually meeting your bouncing baby boy, the whole 'big brother' thing might be growing on him a bit. He's probably thinkin' about inviting Xan-man to come back to the Big Apple for a few weeks as we speak."

This bit of info had the interesting effect of having Jessica actually look contemplative as well as thoughtful concerning the prospect of her son spending some time with his Big Bro. He guessed her hesitation about backing the idea from the beginning had something to do with her efforts to hide the two of them on the Hellmouth. Then again, he remembered seeing Davy's little bro filling up the trunk of some old clunker when they'd pulled up, so maybe she was actually okay with the idea. Searching his own mind for the potential obstacle that was messing with old Morgana's thought processes, he could only conclude that she was worried about Xander popping up on Titania's radar. He always figured that the Lady of Avalon kept tabs on her daughter and grandson, so if Xander popped up then it might be enough to prompt her to visit. In the end, though, he decided it would be best to just stop speculating and wait for his sister to pick up her end of the conversation.

"Very well. I will talk with Xander and try to convince him it would be a good idea to spend some time with his older brother." She said with a nod and a smile implying she supported the idea fully.

Well I didn't expect THIS to be her response! He thought, since he had predicted more negotiation and term stating before the former enemy of Arthur Pendragon would permit anything.

"Don't mistake my supporting this little 'brotherly bonding' session as complete support, Puck. I will expect you to do all you can to aid Xander should Lord Oberon or Lady Titania choose to pay your mortal master and his family a visit." Jessica said in a tone that would not be permitting compromise of any kind, "I have not spent the last eighteen years keeping him safe and giving him some semblance of a normal life only for them to drag him back to Avalon. If I find out that you did not do all you could to aid him, I will be most cross with you, Puck. I believe you know what happened to the last person whom I became cross with, yes?"

He shuddered at that memory remembering all too well what happened to the last child of Oberon who pissed off Morgana Le Fay. It was still talked about among their siblings to this day and he had no wish WHATSOEVER to have that kind of hell thrust upon him at ALL.

"No problem, sis! Just consider me Xan's personal advisor, diplomat and lawyer all rolled into one stunning package!" He said with a vigorous nod of his head to show he'd back her son up of Big Daddy Oberon or Titania showed up.

"Good. Now take your young charge here back to his parents." Jessica said as, with a wave of her hands, the spells and wires binding him withdrew back to where ever they came from, "After all, I know better than most that little boy's need their rest or they'll get all cranky on Mummy and Daddy."

Levitating Alexander Fox Xanatos into his arms, he gave a quick bow before flying out the window of the Harris master bedroom. Soaring high into the sky and heading for the cottage where Davy and Fox were hopefully still sound asleep rather than angrily awaiting their return. After all, he had promised to tell them ahead of time if he was taking Alex out for a lesson and he sincerely doubted that they'd prove lenient for his first time breaking a promise to them.

&

Two Months Later, New York City, Aerie Building, Indoor Arboretum, Evening

"Is that him, my sister? The one we seek?" Asked a silver clad teenage woman from her spot on the balcony overlooking the rest of the Arboretum.

"Aye, Natalie. There before us stands the son of Morgana and, from what I have learned, he has only received the bare minimum instruction from the Puck." Spoke another woman with an Irish accent in her voice, "A few parlor tricks and some measure of direct assault are all that he is capable of."

"Then, my sisters, Natalie and Sheena, I believe it is time we introduce ourselves to the heir of Le Fay and enlighten him as to the benefits of gaining our favor." Spoke a third young woman, clad in a form fitting red evening dress that had caught more than one mortal male's eyes since she arrived, "After all, who better than young Alexander Le Fay to fill the void left by Mordred."

With that the three women clad in silver, green and red proceeded in perfect formation towards the stairs that would lead them to the lower level. With every step they took, their minds delved deeper into the possible futures that could be born of the alliance about to be formed. None of them had any doubt that the young Halfling would resist their offers at first. He was the son of Morgana Le Fay, after all, and no spawn of her loins would willingly bargain from anything less than a position of power. However they were confident that with some…sensual persuasion over the course of several weeks they could bring him around to their way of thinking. Once that was done, the mortal world would be powerless before their quartet and an empire would be forged to rival Avalon itself.

They would prove that four half Fey could accomplish what even a pure blooded Fey could not.

They would show them ALL!