A/N Syg, ohh boy, you've done it again. A story based on your idea has to be written and I would dearly love to be the one who writes it. I think it's a great idea!
In the last few stories I've written Tony Harris has worked in some capacity for Mayor Wilkins, in this story he still did, just a different way than in the other stories. This may be a little confusing because both Shadows stories take place in the same au, but the first one had time being reset to an earlier date. In The Shadows of Love and Hate, it's implied that time reset as of the day Buffy would have been called as the Slayer, allowing Kendra to be Called early, but I never actually stated that. Which means the reset could have happened much sooner, at any time really. Which is how I'm explaining why Tony had a different job in this story than that one.
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"Have a seat you two." Charles motioned to the two chairs on the other side of his desk and waited until they'd sat down before continuing. "Xander, I don't know if you knew this, but your father and I went to Sunnydale High School at the same time."
"I've never thought about it." Xander admitted. "But I do know both of our families have been in Sunnydale for several generations, so it makes sense you guys went to the same school."
"We did and back then your father was torn between being a cop and a firefighter and opted to attend the Police Academy."
Xander's first instinct was make a crack about the movie by that name, but he restrained himself. "I didn't know that, he never talked about any kind of work he ever did. Just made cracks about how I wasn't like him, which is, I personally think, a good thing."
"No doubt." Charles agreed, which was something he was also grateful for. "Tony Harris actually had a will and a pension. The pension was from when he retired on a medical disability from the Police force when you were five."
"As far as I knew, he wasn't suffering from any health problems except for being a drunk and what comes with that."
"His medical discharge was listed a mental, not a physical, problem." Charles informed him. "As to what exactly he suffered from, that's not listed on his paperwork. The pension kept the family financially solvent and he and your mother, who never worked, had a joint checking account. Xander, I'm sorry to say Tony Harris deliberately left you out of the will he had."
"That doesn't surprise me, he had no use for me."
"There's more, the reason he kept you out of his will is because he didn't acknowledge you as his biological child, but as solely Jessica's child. Which means you're not entitled to any assets he had. Unfortunately that means the house which he, alone, had title to. Unless you want to take a DNA test and can present proof that you're his son, I'm afraid there's isn't much we can do about that. You might be able to successfully sue the estate and a judge might rule in your favor, but there's no guarantees that you'd win."
"I don't want proof Tony Harris is my father." Xander muttered. "I'd rather believe there's nothing of him in me. I'll get a job, I'll find a way to pay my own way."
"I understand and I sympathize, but actually it's not necessary as your mother had her own life insurance policy, paid for out of the joint checking account and since you father had her listed on the account himself, it's probable that he was aware of it. It carried a double indemnity clause, if your mother died of anything other than natural causes, which includes murder, the policy pays out double it's worth."
"Maybe she thought Tony would be the reason for her dying one day, gods know the Police got called often enough on domestic abuse charges." Xander said bitterly. "They'd sober him up and put him back on the street and now I know why, he was one of them."
"Her policy will take care of your needs for a long time." Charles continued, wishing there was some way he could make this easier for the young man, who seemed to have aged with deepset pain over the last few days. "And pay for college and your expenses, you won't need to work while you finish school."
"I guess that's something, at least." Xander muttered bitterly. "It took my mother being murdered, that's all." He hid his face in his hands and tried to block out the horror for a minute before looking up again. "Thank you for your help, Mr. Chase." He said sincerely. "I don't mean to sound ungrateful, it's a lot to deal with."
"Not necessary." The older man assured him. "There's one more thing, Xander. Tony Harris left a letter addressed to you. Do you want it or should I put it aside until later?"
"I'll read it, might as well get it all over with in one move." Xander held out his hand and Charles placed the sealed envelope in his hand. Xander tore it open and read what was written there.
"I had dreams once. I wanted to be a cop and help people. Than I discovered the cesspool that is Sunnydale and that serving that cesspool was a family obligation and thanks to your mother, I have no son to give to his service. And now it's too late, you're not my son and you ruined my future. But the cesspool ruined my life, destroyed my dreams. And she has no idea who she screwed me over with."
There it was in black and white, Tony's reason for making his childhood Hell. "I'm glad I'm not his, but he could have been my father if he'd wanted to, even without sharing DNA, he just didn't want to."