I don't own Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Due South. They belong to Joss Whedon and Paul Haggis respectively.

Victoria's Other Secret

When Xander overhears his so-called mother speaking to his real mother on the phone, he quickly realises that his parents are not who he thought they were. His mother was a criminal with a messy past. His father... His father was a Mountie.

June 24th 1999

Harris Residence

"You can't expect us to continue living like this Victoria! He's your responsibility now. I've shouldered it for seventeen years now and it's your turn."

Xander's ears perked up as he heard his mother's somewhat shrill voice yelling into the phone. He had been preparing for his summer road trip for the last hour. Graduation was over and he was ready to leave.

"He's your son, Victoria, not mine. It's not my fault that you spent all that time in prison."

Xander's jaw dropped at the admission. Jessica Harris wasn't his mother? Certainly he had to be the subject of the spirited telephone debate. Xander couldn't decide which was a worse story: that his mother was a bitter drunk or that his mother was a bad enough criminal that she had spent seventeen years in prison.

"Dammit, Victoria, don't you do this to me. My sisterly duty is long since done here. I took care of your little bastard for seventeen years. That's enough…"

Xander winced at the declaration, but presumed that the term might be legitimate, if rather rude. Xander couldn't be sure if he was born in wedlock.

"If you can't take him off my hands, then what about his father?"

Xander perked up again. He had suspected that Tony Harris wasn't his father. After all, if his mother wasn't his real one, then what were the odds that his father was the real one either? Still, that was suspicion and this was confirmation.

"You still haven't told the damned Mountie? And you got the man shot last week? Wonderful, Victoria. Now he'll never take the boy. Yeah. Yeah, well thanks for nothing."

Xander sighed. He'd known for a long time that Tony hated him and that his mother… Jessica didn't care for him. Still, it made him angry to hear her trying to foist him off. And his real mother? Oh what a peach. Spent seventeen years in prison, foisted him off on her sister, never informed Xander's father of Xander's existence and apparently got Xander's father shot last week. Wonderful.

Xander thought for a moment. His mother was worthless, or so it seemed. His apparent aunt and uncle were drunken nobodies who despised him and whom he despised in return. What about his father? His father was a Mountie? His father had been shot. That was bad, but not as bad as it could have been. The way they had spoken of the Mountie suggested that he was still alive.

Xander glanced at his road trip fund. He figured it ought to be enough to get to Canada in a pinch. Yes. He was going to find his father. He was going to find a relative that he could be truly proud to call his own. His road trip was supposed to be a journey of discovery. It was time to make it a good discovery. But first, he needed some help…

June 25th 1999

Rosenberg Residence

Willow Rosenberg tapped the buttons on her computer keyboard firmly and smiled with satisfaction. "Okay Xander. Now I need your mother's name."

Xander nodded faintly and offered up a grin. "Let's see. The woman who raised me was Jessica Harris, née Metcalf. That would make my mother Victoria Metcalf."

Willow gave a brief nod and then typed that in. "Have you got anything else?"

Xander thought for a long moment. "She did time in prison. Seventeen years, I think. Plus my dad's a Mountie, which could mean that Mom is Canadian and maybe did her time in Canada. Can't be sure on that though."

Willow chewed on her lip and concentrated on her task of trying to track down Xander's parents. She wormed her way into Canadian criminal databases and finally found a name. "Victoria Metcalf, age thirty-eight. She did seventeen years in a Canadian prison for a laundry list of things that she did as her boyfriend's accomplice."

Xander nodded jerkily. "I take it this accomplice was a Mountie?" He didn't want it to be, but it certainly seemed to be the way his luck was going.

"Nope!" Willow grinned. "But the guy who arrested her was: Constable Benton Fraser of the RCMP. He was brand new when this arrest happened, only eighteen. He tracked her through a really terrible snowstorm, kept her alive and then brought her in."

Xander's jaw tightened. "This would have been right around the time I was conceived, right?"

Willow did a bit of quick mental math. "Yes. I think it would be."

Xander's smile was slightly bitter. "I guess Dad did a little more then keep Mom warm on that cold winter's night."

Willow winced. "I guess so."

Xander rubbed his eyes in irritation. As much as he was relieved that his father wasn't the criminal, he was a trifle irritated that his father and mother had barely even known each other. "Can you find him, Wills? Am I gonna need a passport?"

Willow wormed her way deeper into the RCMP database, looking into personnel files. She grinned at what she found. "Good news. You won't need a passport. Your father has been assigned to the Canadian Consulate in Chicago as a Liaison Officer. He's currently undergoing rehabilitative therapy for a gunshot wound that he received while pursuing..."

Xander's eyebrows raised a moment and he remembered what his mother… aunt had said. "Pursuing Victoria Metcalf?"

Willow nodded. "I'm sorry, Xander."

Xander shook his head. "You shouldn't be, Wills. I've got a father, now. He may well be worthy of the name, however sordid his relationship with my mother was."

Willow cracked a faint grin in response. "Chicago, Xander, that's where he is. Your best bet is the Canadian Consulate to start with."

"Thanks Wills." Xander grinned. "I don't suppose you could book me a flight to Chicago?" He held up a wad of cash. "I'll pay you back on the spot."

Willow's smile broadened. "You've got it, Xand."

July 1st 1999

Canadian Consulate, Chicago

Xander stared at the Mountie on duty for a long moment before deciding that the man on duty was not the same man as his father. The uniform was right, certainly, but the face was wrong. Xander sighed. He had known it was too easy. "Excuse me, Sir. Do you know where I can find Constable Benton Fraser? I understand he works here."

Nothing. Not even a twitch. Xander poked the Mountie in the chest experimentally. Yep, this guy was a real human. He was not a statue. Perhaps he had simply been concentrating and hadn't head Xander? Xander frowned. It seemed unlikely but it was worth a shot. He waved directly in the guy's face and then repeated his previous question. "Can you tell me where to find Constable Benton Fraser?"

Xander was getting irritated. The guy wasn't moving at all. Then it came to him. He had seen this sort of crap in movies. Those guards in England did this sort of thing. Xander rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Please tell me that your job isn't to stand there day after day like a glorified decoration. That would be really sad. Better still; tell me that this isn't my father's job either. I'm not sure I could prevent myself from laughing at him while he does this."

Still nothing. Xander was just ramping up to slug the guy and see if that loosened the idiot's tongue when a hand patted him on the shoulder. "You're wasting your time kid. He's not gonna move from that position until shift change. Take it from a guy who's seen it."

Xander turned to find himself facing a curly-haired guy with a sardonic grin. "You know this guy?"

The curly-haired guy smirked. "Naw, not this particular guy. I know a different Mountie. I'm Detective Louis Gardino of the Chicago P.D."

Xander was suddenly really glad he hadn't tried assaulting the Mountie for answers. He doubted the detective would have ignored it. "Xander Harris. I'm looking for a particular Mountie. Unfortunately that one isn't the right one and he's about as useful as a speed bump right now."

Gardino chuckled. "I can understand your problem. That Mountie I know has got a real thing for helping people. He might be able to help you out."

Xander nodded in agreement. "Where can I find this guy?"

Louis jerked his chin to indicate the direction he was headed. "The local chapter of the Chicago P.D. The guy you want hangs out with Detective Vecchio. His name's Benton Fraser."

Xander's eyes widened slightly. "Fraser, you say? Well now, that's a pleasant coincidence. That's the exact Mountie I've been looking for."

Gardino grinned. "I guess it's your lucky day, kid. C'mon."

July 1st 1999

Chicago Police Department

Ray Vecchio worked his way around his work station, straightening things up. He had agreed to go on vacation with his unofficial partner, Benton Fraser, in order to help his recovering best friend fix up Fraser's father's cabin in Canada. But first he had to get his area in order. "Hey Benny, have you seen the file on the McGriddle case?"

Benton Fraser, of the RCMP, glanced about the chaotic space that was Vecchio's work station. "I believe that it is under your plane ticket, Ray."

Vecchio spun about and spotted his ticket and the battered-looking folder that it was on top of. He grabbed the folder and glanced at it briefly. "McGriddle. Good. Now I just have to get this properly squared away and then maybe Lieutenant Welsh will turn me loose so we can get going northward."

Harding Welsh's booming voice echoed through the busy police station. "Huey, Louie! My office now!"

Detective Jack Huey was halfway to the Lieutenant's office as Gardino, who had just strolled in with some kid complained loudly. "It's Louis, Sir. Louis." Gardino shook his head in apparent exasperation and then turned to the kid at his side. "The guy you want is the one wearing the plaid stuff. He's right next to the guy who's losing his hair."

The kid smiled at Gardino thankfully. "Thanks a lot, Detective."

Vecchio couldn't help but interject. "Yeah, thanks a bunch Louie! And I'll have you know that I've always had this much hair."

The curly-haired cop smirked as he headed into the boss' office. "I'm sorry to hear that."

All Ray could do was growl in irritation.

"Are you Constable Benton Fraser?"

Ray sighed. Great. Benny was about to get another quest in the works and it was going to cut into his vacation time. "Look kid. We're going on vacation. Maybe Gardino can take care of your problem when he gets out of the Lieutenant's office, okay?"

The dark-haired youth shook his. "No. I need to talk to Benton Fraser." The kid turned back to the Mountie in question. "Is that your name?"

The Mountie nodded sagely. "That is my name, son. How can I help you?"

The kid grinned sheepishly. "I don't know if you can, really. My name is Alexander Harris. According to the information I've come across, I'm your son."

Fraser straightened as if he'd been shot again. "Ah. Understood." The sight of the unflappable Benton Fraser fainting dead away would be one that Ray would treasure to his dying day.

And here is your August 28th entry...

Anyone who'd like to try this one just drop me a line via the reviews.

Jasper