Chapter 4.

When you have 5,000 years of memories, you learn to prioritize. And school, which had seemed so important just on Friday, no longer seemed to matter as much. Not that he was thinking of skipping unless it was important, but teachers and even Snyder no longer seemed to possess the air of authority the way they once had. In fact, Snyder had come by to heap abuse on them and Xander had just smirked at him. "Thank you for your marvelous insights, Mr. Snyder. Why don't you run along and share them with the rest of the students. I'm sure they'd love to hear from you." It wasn't the words. It was the tone; pure Methos.

"Oh my gosh! Xander!" Willow squealed after Snyder was safely away. "You're going to get in so much trouble!"

Xander just snorted. "Let him try. Even if he does try something... our permanent records? Not so permanent. Won't even follow you to college, much less beyond."

"But- but- but I worked hard for that record!" Willow lamented.

"Well, it will help you get into college, Wills." Xander amended. "But once you're there, you gotta start all over. Believe me, you'll have a lot of fresh starts in life. Eight or nine in a lifetime."

"I still say that's kinda freaky." Buffy said. At a look from the others, she added. "But who am I to throw stones? I kill vampires for a living. Well, not 'for a living' as I don't get paid. But you know what I mean."

Xander threw an arm around the Slayer. Life was too short for petty grudges. "I know exactly what you mean."

One thing that became very clear over the next few days was that Xander was now an old man trapped in a teenager's body. Even more than the Old Man ever had been. The girls in his life seemed to like talking about clothes, boys, clothes, shoes, and boys. In that order. Xander couldn't understand how he had ever stood it. And now they were talking about relationships. Xander suppressed a moan, but couldn't suppress an eye roll.

The fact that a 250 odd year old was laying the moves on a 16 year old girl didn't irk him the way it used to. Buffy was very much an adult to his eyes now and capable of choosing her own mate. The opinion that she was choosing poorly was one thing that his new memories hadn't changed. However, if he had to hear about Buffy and Angel and what clothes she should wear next time she saw him, someone was going to lose their head. Wooden sword or no.

Xander was so deep into ignoring his friends that he only just barely heard a male voice say something about Oreos and apple juice.

"Ford?" Buffy turned around and her eyes lit up.

"Hey Summers." Ford said nonchalantly. He gave Buffy a hug then stepped back.

"Ford!" Xander jumped up and gave the boy a hug too. "Glad to see you! Gosh, it's been what? Seventeen years? Tell me, do you like football?"

Ford was more than a bit taken aback by this stranger being so friendly. "Uh, sure. I played cornerback back in LA."

"Ford, Xander. Xander, apparently you already know Ford." Buffy introduced them.

"Nope, we just met. But I can already tell we're going to be good friends." Xander plastered on a huge fake smile.

Buffy sighed at her friend's antics. "Sit down, Xander before you scare him off." she ordered. "What are you doing here, Ford?"

Ford shook off his shock. "Uh, matriculating."

"Huh?"

"I'm finishing out my senior year at Sunnydale High. Dad got transferred."

"That is great!" both Buffy and Xander said at the same time.

"I'm glad you think so, Buffy. But...?" Ford looked questioningly at Xander.

"I've been feeling a little outnumbered lately. We could use another guy in the group." Xander answered. And if it happened to be a nice, normal guy that Buffy clearly already liked, then that was far better for Buffy than an immortal creature of the night. Now, if he could just introduce this Ford to the nightlife in a way that didn't freak him out, that would be perfect.

In the end, Ford got invited to a night at the Bronze, which Xander also accepted despite the training he had been planning on doing that night.

"So, Ford and Xander seem to be hitting it off." Willow said as she and Buffy waited in line for food.

"I know. Xander is... very enthusiastic." Buffy allowed. "Have we been too girly around him lately or something? He seems a little starved for guy-time."

"I think it's the memories." Willow admitted.

"Still?" Then again. The two of them had chatted in French for almost an hour the other day before she'd even realized it. That French test was in the bag.

Willow frowned. "You only had a few years to integrate. He had 5,000."

"True." Buffy shrugged. "I wonder what they're talking about?"

"Can't you hear? You know, with your...?" Willow pulled her earlobe and hinted... badly.

"Ears?" Buffy teased. "No. Super-senses not so good for hearing over loud music and a room full of talking kids. If I try to concentrate in here, I just end up with a headache."

They both looked over at the boys still playing pool, wondering.

"So, how do you feel about vampires?" Xander began just as soon as the girls were out of hearing range. Subtlety be damned.

Ford muffed his shot. Then looked at Buffy before looking back at Xander. "She told you?"

"She told you?" Xander sounded more surprised.

"No, I worked it out after I saw her fighting vampires back home." Ford answered.

Xander took his shot. "You still didn't answer my question." Xander said as he chalked his stick and lined up another shot. It bounced out of the corner pocket.

"I didn't have to come here, you know. It's only an hour commute back to LA." Ford said.

"I know. Which was why I asked. And you still haven't answered the question." Xander said as Ford shot. Avoiding the question a second time like that seemed very suspicious. Warning bells were starting to go off in his head.

Ford shot him a glare. "I jumped at the chance to come here because I wanted to help Buffy. I- I wanted to see her again." he finished slightly abashed.

The warning bells in Xander's mind went from blaring to rather muted. But not totally gone. He paused for a minute before speaking again. "I'm trying to decide if that's really sweet or just plain stupid." He was saved from deciding by the return of the girls. And they brought a guest.

"Hey guys! Look who we found!" Willow chirped happily.

Buffy seemed less enthused that Angel was here. "Angel, this is Ford. We went to school together in

L.A."

"Nice to meet you." Angel said as he shook Ford's hand.

"Whoa! Cold hands!" Ford observed.

"That's because Angel's a vampire." Xander said. Everyone turned wide-eyed at him. His three friends- okay, two friends and Angel were aghast that he'd just blurt out their secret like that. Ford was wide eyed at meeting his first vamp. "What? He already knew." Xander explained to his friends... and Angel. Three wide-eyed stared transferred to Ford.

"I was looking for the right time to tell you." Ford shrugged at Buffy. "I know you're the Slayer. I found out right before you got booted from Hemery."

"I have to wonder, why is a vampire hanging out with the Vampire Slayer?" Ford asked as he stepped out from behind the tree he'd been hiding behind.

Angel was a little taken aback. It was hard to fool a vampire's senses and he knew that a human had been up ahead, but he'd been hoping it was Buffy. She'd been a little distant back at the club. "Ford, wasn't it? It's really none of your business. But I'll tell you what I'm curious about. Someone who knows about vampires and comes to Sunnydale of their own free will. That makes me curious."

Surprising Angel yet again, Ford just smiled. "You're right. I do have an ulterior motive for being here. Wanna see?"

"Sure." Angel agreed.

The next thing he knew, he was waking up chained to a concrete pillar. His wrist hurt and he had the taste of human blood on his mouth. Worst of all, the dead body of Billy Fordham was lying at his feet in a pool of blood that was much too small to have killed the boy. And to top it all off, there was another kid in goth makeup and a cloak looking at him hungrily.

Omake:

Xander took his shot. "You still didn't answer my question." Xander said as he chalked his stick and lined up another shot. It bounced out of the corner pocket.

"I don't know." Ford said. "I mean, living forever, the ability to fly. That stuff sounds pretty cool." Ford shot and missed.

"Vamps can't fly."

"You sure?"

"Been fighting them for over a year straight. Never seen one fly yet. Or turn into a bat, or a wolf, or mist." Xander said then took a shot.

"Huh. Still, living forever would be awesome." Ford said. "Even if it means you have to drink blood."

Xander was rapidly losing his inclination to befriend the boy. "First of all, living forever would suck. You'll have to watch your family and friends slowly grow old and die in front of you; hating you for your eternal youth. And second of all, being a vampire means you're dead. You're no longer in control of your body. If you're lucky, you get to go along for the ride as a vile demon takes over. It likes to start by killing all your family and friends if it can just to rid itself of those memories of when it was human."

A/N: Ford thinking Vamps could fly was just me poking fun at the differences in canon between the movie and the series. But this got a little too Uber!Xander for my taste.