Christmas came and with it Xander's birthday just a few days prior. He received two presents, both of which he was very happy about.

"Hey, Kid." Rory, one of the few Harris that didn't drink, for a good reason, held up a set of keys. "The Shelby's all yours. Title and paperwork are all in your name now. Treat it with respect, a restored Shelby is worth a Hell of a lot. How are you doing being on your own anyway?"

"Pretty good. I actually sleep though the night without being jolted awake by a drunk off his ass Tony stumbling around and breaking things and waking me up. 'Course that's better than what came before he stopped taking swings at me."

"I'm sorry I didn't know about it. I knew he was drinking, I didn't think he was hitting. If I had I'd have gotten you out of there."

"You spend a lot of time traveling for work, Rory. You were rarely in Sunnydale and rarely had the time to visit when you did. Besides, you live in Ojai. I don't blame you for not knowing. And now you do know."

"Yeah and I still do a lot of traveling for work and this isn't much more than a one room flophouse with a garage attached, you'd have a hard time with everything if I took you in. But you can consider my place a fall back position if being on your own doesn't work out."

"Did I tell you I'm trying a business venture?"

"No, you didn't. What are you trying to do?"

"Sunnydale's got a big gang problem. I'm trying to think of security measures that can help people stay safe from the gangs. It doesn't help that we've got the most useless cops ever in Sunnydale. Either they're afraid of the gangs or they're working with them because we never see cops out after dark, but we do see gang members."

"Damn, Kid. Sunnydale was bad when your old man and me were kids, but I didn't realize it had gotten worse. Are you still planning on leaving Sunnydale after you graduate?"

"I'm leaning in that direction most of the time. I've got a year and half to make up my mind one way or another. If Cordy and I are still together, I'm sure she'll have something to say about it."

"You like her, don't you? You get a dopey grin on your face when you talk about her."

"Yeah, I do. Anyway, thanks for the car, Rory. And let me know when you're back and I'll stop and visit, keep you up to date on what's going on."

"You do that, Kid."

'I wonder.' Rory thought. 'Just how bad is it in Sunnydale? Are the cops on the take? It's probably out of our jurisdiction, but I could always discuss it with the boss man. The one eyed spy master might have some ideas.'

Xander drove straight to Cordelia's home so he could show off the gorgeous dark blue muscle car. Lupe opened the gate for him and he drove up to the house. Cordelia was watching and came out as soon as he pulled up.

"Oh, wow! That is a beautiful car, Xander."

"It is, isn't it? Rory signed the title over to me as of today."

"Well this being your seventeenth birthday, that means I get to treat you to dinner and I got you a present." Cordelia held out the gift wrapped box she was holding and Xander eagerly tore into it. He gasped at what he found inside.

"How?" He manage to ask.

"You've mentioned a few times that you like it. It took some doing to locate the whole thing. It's actually two gifts in one because I also got you a DVD player so you can watch them. And since it's your birthday and Christmas is in a few days, I'll watch some of them with you and see if I can figure out what it is you like about it."

"That's actually a three in one gift. You're the best girlfriend ever!"

"And don't you forget it! Now, restaurant first because I made reservations and then we can go back to your place and watch some of it."

"The first season wasn't great, but it improved after that."

"We'll see, come on, Doofus, reservations."

"As you wish, oh Queen C." With a happy grin Xander held the passenger side door open and than hurried around to the driver's side. He carefully tucked his presents behind the seat before climbing behind the wheel. "Which restaurant?" He asked. Once Cordelia had replied, he headed for it. After the delicious meal where they discussed some of his ideas regarding things Harris Advanced Security might be able to make, they returned to Xander's apartment where they watched a couple of episodes of the complete DVD collection of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Neither of them knew one of Cordy's sheep had spotted them eating at the restaurant or overheard them talking, nor did they know Xander's new car had also been noted.

Not until school resumed after the holidays when they learned that new rumors where flying around about Xander owning a security business and owning and driving another expensive car, that is.

A/N Star Trek: The Next Generation ran for seven seasons starting in 1987. The DVD was invented in 1995 according to Wikipedia and it is currently December 1997. A pricey gift for the time, but Cordelia can afford it.

Did you catch the hint for who Rory works for?