"I was afraid I'd be in trouble for agreeing to help them." Xander told Colonel O'Neill after they'd filled General Hammond in on their little adventure and were currently being checked by Dr. Fraser in the infirmary.

"Naw, the Asgard are one of our most important allies. Helping their little grey butts is a good thing."

"Good. I promised Cordy I'd be home in time for Christmas, getting arrested for helping aliens figure out a way to survive would put a damper on that. Oh, crap! I still have to get her a Christmas present. I hate shopping."

"Yeah, I always tended to do the last minute thing too. So, how are we doing, doc? Are we safe to be let back out in public?"

"Oh, Colonel there so very many ways I could answer that, but since you outrank me, I'll just stick with, you appear to be fine. You can go, but if you notice any problems, let me know."

"Yes, ma'am."

"You got it, doc."

"Cordy is not going to believe this. I came here to tell you about abductions and experimenting and get abducted and sort of experimented on. Murphy must get a sadistic glee out of the stuff that happens to me."

"Huh, so it's not just me the little imp follows around. I don't know whether to sympathize or be glad he's not solely concentrating on me."

"Share the misery kind of thing?"

"You got it."

Chuckling, Xander headed off to catch his plane ride back home. Where he discovered something was going on with the Initiative. Riley and Buffy, along the Scooby Gang, gathered in Giles' condo to discuss it.

"The Initiative is being shut down. There's going to be an inquiry. I don't understand why." Riley told the group.

"Because you were breaking the law. It was going to catch up to you." Xander told him.

"We're not breaking the law. We're here under special congressional approval."

"Anyone who's passed High School civics can tell you, Congress doesn't have the power to do that." Xander said. "They can only declare war or have the military help with border control. And the only legal exception to Posse Comitatus is an insurrection."

"What you talking about, Xander?! What is Posse whatever?" Buffy asked, annoyed.

"It's a law that's existed since just after the Civil War that restricts military to their bases and forts. Which means your involvement in this project, made it an illegal project. And the fact that you didn't know that, says they didn't pick you for your brains or because you were a promising cadet. They picked you because you're an idiot. You didn't know the law, but should have, which means you also didn't bother to do your due diligence."

"What's due diligence?" Willow asked.

"It means to verify the legitimacy of questionable orders. And your orders were definitely questionable."

"How do you know?" Riley asked, getting pissed. "You're not in the military."

"No, but you could say it's been an interest since I was a sophomore in High School. Which is why I knew you were breaking the law."

"Xander, did you have something to do with Riley getting in trouble?" Buffy said, in a dangerous tone of voice.

"He got himself into trouble, Buffy. I just reported it to the proper authorities. Which is what you're supposed to do when you see a law being broken. Your stupidity had us on the verge of a war and innocent people were going to die because of you. People our group have been trying to protect for years now. You really think I was just going to stand by and let you endanger innocent lives?!"

"That not what we're doing! We're trying to help!"

"No, you're trying to control them. There's a difference and the difference means you intended to use them. They can't be integrated into society and made productive citizens. So modifying their behavior only makes sense if you intend use them in some way, most likely as weapons. But it won't last, they're smart enough to get around it or break it. And when they do, they'll turn on you. They'll kill you and then they'll go on killing. Alot of innocent people will die because of you."

"He is correct, Buffy. There is no legitimate reason for trying to modify these creatures behavior. Which leaves only an illegitimate reason. If this had not been halted, Captain, you and you group would have been responsible for mass murder." Giles stated.

The Initiative people left Sunnydale. Unfortunately, no one knew for sure what happened to them, nor was their ultimate goal verified, since no one had the contacts to find out. No one except Xander and Cordelia that is. Colonel O'Neill and General Hammond weren't able to find out much, but they were able to find out, that there had been a lot of arrests and court martials, including of Riley Finn.

Aside from Buffy being bummed over her sort of boyfriend leaving town and not coming back and Willow sympathizing with her, Christmas went well. Xander remembered to get Cordelia a Christmas present, even if it was last minute. She loved the gold necklace with a little Roswell grey on it, a reminder of his latest adventure with aliens.