Major Rory Harris, Marine, wasn't surprised to get a call from Abigail Morris that his brother Tony and his wife Jessica had died in a car crash. Or that Tony had been drunk. Rory was pretty sure Tony had been trying to kill himself since he first picked up a beer bottle when they were teenagers. Rory had never understood why, not to mention, Tony had a wife and a kid. Something to live for, in Rory's opinion.
Xander was a great kid. Funny and thoughtful. Smart, not Willow level smart, but still smart. Rory had long suspected that Tony might actually hit Xander and Jessica sometimes, but he hadn't been able to prove it. So no, hearing they were dead in a car crash because Tony had been drinking wasn't a surprise.
Rory did the only thing he could do. He resigned his commission and went home. He sold his house in Ojai and Tony and Jessica's house. A fresh start would do Xander good, but dragging him away from his friends wouldn't, so Rory bought a house in Sunnydale and moved him and Xander into it. The kid had kinda been in shock since the accident. Not that Rory blamed him. He had been like a little ghost as they buried Jessica in the same cemetery as her father. Abigail hadn't wanted Tony's remains anywhere near them. Again, not something that surprised Rory. He had Tony cremated instead and put the urn in a safe. Xander might want it someday.
The only thing that seemed to help Xander was spending time with his friends Willow, Jesse and Cordelia. Actually, make that bickering with Cordelia. It seemed to be the only thing that sparked any life in the kid.
And then Cordelia did something that brought a smile to the kid's face. She kissed his cheek. He looked surprised and then smiled at her. After that, he seemed to snap out of the daze he'd been in. He played with his friends again. He started taking an interest in school again. Things were getting better for the kid and Rory was glad. But none of this was really surprising, even Cordelia kissing Xander. The two had been acting like an old married couple since the day they'd met anyway, so no, her kissing him wasn't a surprise.
What was a surprise was Abigail Morris coming to visit while Xander was in school and telling him things she shouldn't know. Like the fact that Rory Harris wasn't just a Marine or a sniper. Rory Harris was a demon hunter for the Marines. How had Abigail known? She was a seer. And her visions had turned terrifying. Willow and Xander finding out about vampires. Jesse becoming a vampire. Xander staking him. Fighting beside vampire slayers. Willow learning and abusing Magic. Manipulating people with it, trying to end the world. Xander and Cordelia being manipulated apart. Cordelia being manipulated more, into actually birthing a monster! Xander's potential unfulfilled and dying trying to fix someone else's mistake.
And then she told him, she had a plan. A way that just might save them all from that horrifying fate. A practice other Tribes still did but that the Chumash hadn't done in more than a century. The Guardian Ritual. Abigail wanted to make Xander and Cordelia, along with four others, into Protectors. They had the potential.
Knowing that both frightened Rory Harris and made him proud at the same time. He'd met other Protectors in his line of work. Fiercely protective and dedicated. You had to be to commit to a Ritual and transformation that took five years and twenty separate smaller rituals to complete. And if it saved the kids' lives? Well Rory would support it. Abigail assured him Xander would choose to be apart of the fight regardless of whether he had power or not. Like he, Rory Harris had chosen. The Ritual would give him an advantage. And the added bonus, that he and Cordelia could be together and not manipulated apart. Yes, he would support this, provided Xander agreed, of course.
And then Abigail asked him to take charge of their training. She wanted them thoroughly trained in modern, as well as traditional methods and he was the perfect person to oversee it. He would make sure they knew what they were doing and were as safe as possible. The Tribe would cover the costs, armor and weapons. The Elders had already agreed. Once Rory agreed they'd tell the kids, get their agreement and begin training them. Rory didn't hesitate, he agreed. Like he was going to be left out of this! Xander was his kid now, if Xander really was going to be apart of the supernatural world, then he was going to make sure, personally, that they were as prepared as they could be.
Telling the kids that the supernatural was real was easier than you might think. Kids are alot more flexible in their thinking than adults, so telling them vampires and demons were real was fairly easy. Telling them they couldn't tell anyone and had to keep it a secret for now, that was a little harder. Telling them they'd been chosen to help fight these things, if they wanted to, was probably the easiest part of all. All of them, the girls included, were excited at the idea of being superheroes. Being told it would take five years and that they would have to study hard, that part didn't go over quite so well.
But in the end, the kids, the Elders and Rory had all agreed, so now it was time to begin the Ritual. The one that hopefully, would save alot of lives.