"Why?" Andy immediately began questioning the ghost, he was a cop, interrogations were second nature to him. "Are you after Phoebe? Did you set us up to get to her? If so, why not just go after her when you saw her before?"

"I have no interest in her. My freedom was arranged by someone else. She wants a witch's soul, but she can only get it when they're dead." Jackson answered, smirking at Phoebe. "More specifically, when they die by their own hand."

"The vanquishing spell in your Book of Shadows," Cordelia exclaimed. "requires another ghost to say it. In order for one of you to say it, you have to be a ghost, which means letting yourself die, at least temporarily. It is a set up and it's aimed at you guys!"

"Who is she?" Andy demanded, as enraged over someone going after a girl he loved as a sister or Prue, a woman he just plain loved, as Xander would have been over someone going after Willow, the sister of his heart or Cordelia, the owner of his heart. "Who is it that wants the soul of a witch?"

"I don't know what her name is and frankly, I don't care. Don't even know if she has one."

"A demon?" Xander asked. "Which one?"

"Not telling, you'll find out soon enough, she's right behind me."

"Banish him now!" Xander called out. "If there's a demon incoming we need to be focused on her!"

"Light the candles," Cordelia called out. "and recite the spell!"

"No, I'm not done!" Jackson yelled as he went transparent and then wispy like mist and then ceased to be, just as a woman in fancy robes appeared.

"Not the way I expected you to deal with him." She said, clearly annoyed and then her eyes landed on Xander and narrowed. "Alexander Harris, you do like to throw a wrench in carefully laid plans, don't you?"

"Huh?" Xander said, clueless. "How the Hell do you know who I am?"

"Please, the Hellmouth is as favorite a vacation spot for Soul Collectors as it is for vampires. And you have a reputation."

"I do? What kind of reputation?" He asked warily.

"Distain for prophecy, but it's also well known that you challenged Angelus and he backed down from you, long before becoming a witch. From the force of your will alone. The only human to ever challenge Angelus and survive, one of the most vicious vampires ever, a Master, backed down from a child."

"Hey! I was seventeen, not a child!" Xander protested.

"And let's not forget, just recently you personally wiped out the vampire cult that worshipped the demon Balthazar."

"His goons attacked a girl I consider a sister, they had it coming." Xander said coldly, glaring at the Soul Collector.

"I have a question of my own, young witch, what's the Slayer's White Knight doing off the Hellmouth? And who would be interested in knowing this tidbit of juicy info?"

Prue decided they had enough answers and flung out her hand only to see something she'd only seen once before, when the Guardian of a cursed urn barely flinched from the force of her power. Crap, someone immune to her power, not good, at all!

"Not even the Power of Three is strong enough to vanquish a Soul Collector." The evil being informed Prue, she turned back toward Xander, she seemed rather fascinated by him. "You are a yummy one." She murmured. "A fairly unique soul. Touched by not one, but two higher powers. Defied prophecy successfully, nicely done on destroying the apocalypse Judge and the embodiment of Olivican, by the way. Giant snake demon with near godlike powers and a handful of humans took him down. Yes, quite a few demons would be interested in knowing you're in San Francisco."

"And if I left San Francisco, would people be safe?" Xander asked.

"Once I leave here, we'll have your scent. Wherever you go, someone will find you. Like the Charmed Ones or the Slayer, someone with a reputation is worth pursuing."

"Thank you for letting me know." Xander politely. "One further question, can a Soul Collector vanquish another Soul Collector?"

"Well, yes. We compete over souls all the time. If you think you can convince another Soul Collector to come after me, good luck with that."

"I don't need another Soul Collector, just the willingness to use my own abilities." He answered. "Don't move!"

The Soul Collector froze in place as Xander controlled her. Her eyes looked confused as she tried to understand and then panicked as she realized she really couldn't move.

'Evil being in my sight,

Vanquish thyself with all thy might!

The panicked look increased as the Soul Collector raised her own hand and phased it into her own chest, before pulling something formless, that looked like dark smoke, out of herself. Her body crumbled and dissolved away, leaving nothing behind.

"I think I need to look into a spell that hides my identity." Xander said. "So demons can't recognize me. And when the Hell did I manage to get a reputation?! I'm not a Slayer or a Charmed One, I'm just a guy trying to help!"

"She called you yummy, Xander." Cordelia told him, pushing down her own fear. "I'm adding her to the list of evil beings that have hit on you."

"You've got a list?!" He exclaimed. "There haven't been that many!"

"Ms. French, mantis demon that wanted you to fertilize her eggs before eating your head, Drusilla, crazy vampire Seer that got a crush and called you kitten. Faith."

"Faith's not evil." He protested.

"The skanky wardrobe, innuendos and grabbing your butt in front of me could be interpreted otherwise."

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A/N Original spell created by author.