Child of the Hellmouth

Child of the Hellmouth
calikocat
word count: 5938

Author's Notes: Writing my own version of an episode nearly killed my brain. And my beta wasn't happy cause I sent her a revised version after sending her the first version of it....I added like more than a thousand words. XD

XXX

They walked in silence, having already covered any and everything they'd seen or done during the summer since he'd come home a week ago. Well...Xander didn't tell her absolutely everything because he didn't want to give her a heart attack over the unbelievable stuff. Like the kind of power his brother and friends had...that would a big fat hell no. Besides, they were across the ocean, and had no interest in their little slice of hell.

He had told her how pretty Kurama was and that they'd danced together at the wedding. He even told her about the walks and the going for ice cream. To which she had asked; “So does that mean you're gay now?”. Xander had smiled and shook his head and replied that no he wasn't, but it was nice to have “options”. She nodded and grinned back because he'd showed her pictures of Kurama, and Xander was right...he was really pretty. Not even Angel was that gorgeous.

After a week they had exhausted all topics that came to mind and as they walked they felt Jessie's absence more acutely than they ever had when it was just the two of them. When Jessie was alive they never ran out of things to talk about, for both of them it was like a limb was missing. The loss was that severe. Xander had hoped that they would at least run into a vampire by now.

Finally he could take the quiet no more. “I'm just so bored!”

Willow smiled patiently at him. “You've only been back a week.”

“And we've already exhausted both movie theaters and all of our old board games. If I never play Candy Land again I will die a happy Xander.”

“We could play I Spy.”

Xander shuddered. “Booring.”

“Well if you would spy something besides a tree or a tombstone it might be more fun.”

Xander let his head hang. “I've gotten so bored that I almost can't wait for school to start.”

“You just miss Buffy.”

“Some. You hear from her lately? Not that I care in the romantic sense.”

“Of course not, you have Kurama now.” He mock-glared at her and she rolled her eyes and tried to hide her smile. “Just the one post card. You both have a bad habit of not keeping in touch when you leave town.”

“Come on, I apologized for that...like twenty times already.”

Willow gave him a grin. “Doesn't mean your out of the dog house mister.”

He gave a heavy sigh. “I'm doomed.”

“Darn tootin'.” She hopped up on the low wall that bordered the cemetery they'd been walking by, her face growing thoughtful, her eyes distant.

“And suddenly you're thinking too hard.”

“I just...”

“Come on spill.”

“I can't wait for school to start either.”

“Well yeah, but you're Willow and you love school. While I'm Xander who flails in terror at the educational system.”

That earned him a Willow glare, but she plowed on. “And I can't wait to see Buffy but...”

“But?”

“It's just been so peaceful.” She hung her head in shame. “I'm a horrible person.”

He tapped her forehead. “You're not bad, just thrilled with the change of peace and good will toward men.” He leaned against the wall beside her. “And you're totally right about it being peaceful. Patrol has been a bust all week.” He wasn't expecting the sudden blow to his arm. “Ow! What was that for?”

“Since when do you patrol, alone, and when were you going to tell me?”

Xander shrugged. “For a while now. I'm careful. I always...” He paused, he could feel a cold tingle on the back of his neck, something was wrong. He glanced over his shoulder. Oh look, a vampire. What he said was; “Ahhh!” As he grabbed Willow and drug her off the stone wall.

The vampire followed them, drool trailing down it's chin, and Xander backhanded it while simultaneously pushing Willow behind him. Then he dropped to the ground and kicked the vampire's feet out from under him before rolling on top of the evil undead and thrusting a stake in and out of it's heart. Thank god he had the stake in his pocket to begin with.

“You okay Wills?”

“Yeah I'm-- Xander look out!”

Something tackled him, grinding his face into the dust below him, but he rolled trying to get the upper hand. This one was bigger, bulkier and no matter how Xander twisted, he couldn't get his stake within slaying distance of the asshole's heart.

Suddenly the vampire was gone, flying across the street and into a tree before bursting into dust. Xander looked back to see what had attacked the vampire and saved him.

“Hey guys. Miss me?”

“Buffy!” Willow got there before him, lucky her, not being on the ground and covered in vampire dust. By the time he managed to roll to his feet to hug her Willow was already making small talk. “How have you been?”

“Yeah Buff. Long time no see.”

“I've been okay. What about you guys? What have you losers been up to, besides walking around like happy meals? And since when are you Slay Boy?”

He stared at her for a moment. Was this really Buffy? 'Cause Buffy didn't talk to them like that. Buffy didn't call them losers. “I was doing okay.” He waved his stake in the air. “I dusted the first one.”

Willow nodded. “Besides those were the first vampires I've seen since I've been back. Not that I went out at night by myself, 'cause that would be dumb.”

Xander slid his stake back in his pocket. “According to the paper there have only been a handful of people go missing.”

Buffy frowned at Willow in confusion. “Paper?”

“I've been keeping an eye on it, and there were only a few of accidental deaths by barbeque forks since you killed the Master.”

She looked back and forth at them. “You guys weren't here?”

“I was in New York with my parents for a couple of weeks. They dropped me off in D.C. to stay with my Uncle for about a week while they went to another conference. Then we came back to Sunny Dale. And Xander spent the whole Summer in Tokyo.”

Buffy looked at him. “Oh really?”

Xander blinked at her, wondering where this new Buffy had come from. “Yeah. I went to Yusuke's wedding and just kinda stayed. I hung out with him, his friends, and helped out in his in-laws restaurant. I just got back a week ago.”

“Huh.”

He tilted his head to the side as if to get a better look at her. “You okay Buff? Oh hey, nice hair.” She smiled at him but it didn't seem to reach her eyes.

“So what did you do this summer? Did you slay anything in L.A.?” Willow asked.

“Nah. It was pretty quiet. I just shopped, and partied some.” Her eyes were drawn away. “What's that?”

Xander and Willow glanced at the cemetery. “Ah.” Xander murmured.

Willow looked excited. “That's the Master's grave. It's the last thing we did before leaving.”

Xander nodded in agreement. “There was chanting and holy water, you missed the fun.”

Willow bounced a little. “We got to wear robes and everything!”

Buffy didn't look enthused, or sorry that she missed it. “Too bad.”

The smiled faded from Willow's face some, it looked like she'd caught on that something was different. “...So have you seen Giles?”

“I just got here Willow, besides I'll see him at school.”

Xander glanced at Willow and their eyes met, she nodded at him and they moved closer to Buffy. Maybe the Buffster felt left out, or hurt that they hadn't sat around moping without her around. He nudged her with his shoulder as they fell in step with her and started walking.

“I'm glad you're back.”

“Me too.” Willow grinned as she looped her arm with Buffy's.

Buffy smiled, but it still didn't look real. “Me three.”

xxx

The first day of school was not what Xander had expected. Sure his classes were just as yawn-worthy as he knew they'd be. Willow, his bestest bud, was already ahead in all the reading by like a hundred years and encouraged him to do the same, or at least pick a book up. Giles was already hitting his own books, not that he ever stopped.

Buffy was...At first he thought he'd imagined it in the excitement of her return and the reappearance of vampires. But she was definitely different. It was like she was only half there. His worries only doubled when he stopped by the library after school to talk to Giles.

As he watched her knock Giles around with her quarter staff and destroy some of his training equipment he wondered what the hell was going on with her.

He waited for her to leave the library before coming out of the stacks. “Kinda intense today isn't she?”

Giles looked up, surprise clear on his face. “Been there long Xander?”

He shrugged. “Long enough. So uh...did she beat you up too badly for a...well...”

His pseudo-father looked at him closely. “Xander?”

Xander took a deep breath. “Do you think you could train me too? It's just that Kuwabara, a friend of Yusuke's, was teaching me how to fight and I want to keep it up.”

Giles looked surprised, as if something of that sort had never occurred to him, but his eyes changed to a more thoughtful expression. “That's not a bad idea. Why don't you change into your gym clothes and show me what you've learned so far? Then I can draw up a plan to continue what he started.”

Xander grinned, it was more than he'd been hoping for. While it had been made clear that he wasn't the Slayer, he had stayed in the thick of things proving that he was useful and deserved a chance. “Oh, I've been running every morning...is that okay?”

Giles nodded. “It is, now hurry, off you go.” He smiled fondly at the retreating boy. “He's just full of surprises.”

xxx

Xander moved carefully through Sunny Dale, keeping an eye on his surroundings, and trying to keep his mind off his tired body. He'd keep patrol light tonight, he'd be of no use to anyone if he got snacked on. Giles' was a force to be reckoned with and he now had a much higher appreciation of the training the guy put Buffy through. He should have expected it really, because on a normal day the watcher could put Buffy through her paces, and he'd seen Giles best her during sword play before.

A sound caught his attention, a rustling beneath the ground of a new grave. He moved closer and got there just a dirty hand clawed it's way through the sod. Patiently he waited for the baby vamp to climb from its grave, and once he had a clear shot at the chest he struck, plunging his stake in and out of the heart.

As the dust whirled about him he swung around, stake ready once again. And he stopped.

“You've gotten better at that.”

“Brood Meister!” Xander's smile and voice were mocking as he looked at the vampire, his hair gelled to perfection.

“Don't call me that.”

Xander rolled his eyes. “So what's up your Cursedness? You usually stalk Buffy, not me.”

“I don't stalk. I lurk.”

“Riiight.”

Angel glared at him, which would have been scary before summer vacation, but the vamp had nothing on Hiei. That guy could glare...and that third eye of his...creepy much. Angel continued to glare. “Have you noticed anything different about Buffy?”

Xander nodded and started to walk away, Angel fell in step and walked beside him. See they could be civil. Wouldn't Willow be proud? “She seems off, twitchy even. She killed some of Giles' training equipment.”

Angel made a sound of agreement. “She's colder than I've ever seen her.”

At that he smirked and did his best not to laugh, out loud anyway. “Gave you the brush off did she? What? You've never been rejected before? Welcome to the real world.”

“Brat.”

“I try.”

Angel snarled something unkind before stomping away and then disappearing into the shadows.

Xander snorted and shook his head. “Drama Queen.” He frowned though, now even more worried. If Buffy was being cold to Captain brood...well whatever it was it wasn't good.

xxx

“It wasn't about groping was it?” The words left his mouth before he could stop them. Of course it wasn't about groping, otherwise Angel wouldn't have been in such a mood last night. “Never mind, stupid question, I know it wasn't.”

Both girls stared at him, Willow gave him a stern poke to the ribs. “How do you know?”

He shrugged. “I ran into Angel while on patrol, he didn't seem like he'd been kissing or groping a pretty girl.”

Buffy continued to look at him strangely. “I thought we went over this, I'm the Slayer, I'm the one who stakes the vampires.” Her look changed from strange to disapproving. “You're gonna get hurt Xander.” She turned back to Willow, almost as she were dismissing him. “It wasn't about kissing. It was just shop talk, all business, nothing more. Vampires, anointed one, evil plots abound. Sound familiar?”

Xander stared at her. Was this really Buffy? The Buffy he loved and respected? The one he put himself on the line for? Not that he knew breaking a prophecy was a major deal at the time...but still.

Willow glanced from Buffy to Xander, a little worried frown marring her face. “So what's up? And will there be research?”

“Vampires are getting antsy, nothing new. I can handle it.” She closed her locker with more force than necessary.

Xander nodded, even if he didn't completely agree. He moved to make sure Willow was between him and Buffy. He wasn't sure he wanted to be so close to her at the moment, and for Willow's sake he put on a smile. “So we going to the Bronze tonight? Cibo Motto is playing.”

Willow's eyes brightened and her bounce was back in full swing. “Cibo Motto! Really? They're playing?”

He rolled his eyes. “Nope, they're tap dancing.”

Her eyes got round in excitement. “They can...wait, that's sarcasm.” Xander grinned as she elbowed him.

“Well if it isn't the Three Amigos.”

The three of them exchanged a look. Buffy and Willow looked as confused as he felt. He rubbed his chin in thought. “Wasn't that a Disney film with Donald Duck, a cigar smoking parrot and a pistol packing rooster?”

Willow shook her head. “That was the Three Caballeros.”

He blinked. “Huh.”

Buffy looked at them strangely. “Stooges fits better.”

Cordelia frowned at them. “Whatever. So did you guys fight any evil fiends this summer?”

“Nah, not so much.” Xander said then blinked. “And we're really not supposed to talk about all that...like in public. As in out among the gen-pop where everyone can hear us.”

Willow shot the cheerleader a worried and slightly panicky look. “You haven't been talking about the world almost ending all summer have you?”

“As if. It's bad enough I have to go to the same school as you social rejects. Like I would admit to hanging out with you guys for an entire evening.” She turned slightly to focus on Buffy. “I just wanted you to know that I'll keep your secret.”

Buffy shrugged. “Then it's a mutual kind of thing.” At Cordelia's raised brow she elaborated. “You keep my secret and I won't tell anyone you spent an entire evening with us.” She walked away without looking back.

A confused frown appeared on Cordelia's face. “What's with her?”

“I think dieing damaged her circuits.” Xander muttered.

“Xander, she doesn't have circuits, it's not like she's not a demon robot...at least I hope she's not. I don't want to go through that again.”

Cordelia whirled to face them. “Demon Robot? When did that happen?”

xxx

The band was good, but then Cibo Motto usually was. Their music had a way of wrapping around you like a playful lover...not that he knew anything about that. An image of Kurama and his smile flashed in his mind but he shook it way...now was not the time to think of pretty former thieves. He glanced at Willow who was practically scowling at her ice cream, she sighed and met his eyes.

“Something is up with Buffy.”

“Not disagreeing with you. It's like she's someone else. You think maybe pod people are real? This is the Hellmouth, it could totally happen.”

She gave him a look that bordered on her resolve face and he just smiled at her. “Xander be serious. Maybe she's upset because of what Angel said. I mean that Anointed One is still around.”

He nodded absently, it was possible, but not likely...but then again. “Maybe. He did kinda lead her to her death and all.”

He felt that little cold chill again, something was behind him, and how creepy was it that he could kinda sense vampires now...except when he turned to look, it was Buffy, and not a vampire. She was dressed to kill, figuratively, in a sexy little black dress. He stood and pushed a chair toward her. “Nice of you to join us.”

“Yeah.” She bobbed her head a bit to the music, the movement drew Willow's eyes to something behind them.

“What's wrong with Angel? He looks upset.”

Buffy shrugged, not even glancing back. “All those decades of being sunlight challenged must be getting to him.” Willow's eyes widened in shock, and Xander couldn't blame her. He could practically feel his subconscious waving a red flag in warning. Then Buffy glanced at him, her eyes glittered, and not in a nice way. She moved closer to him, very very close. “Let's dance.”

Xander blinked. “Ookay.” He was too stunned to do anything but let her lead him to the dance floor as a new song started up. It was like everything was suddenly moving much slower, everything got louder, and Buffy pulled him closer. Her body was warm, at odd with her shadowed and cold eyes. She brushed against him, curves swaying as only curves could and a part of him was singing Hallelujah it's about time.

He swayed with her, it was hard not to when she was practically plastered to his front. It was sexy, sexier than anything he'd ever seen or felt. But it was all wrong, he had alarm bells going off constantly in his head.

When someone who like-liked you asked you to dance their smile was warm, real. He'd danced with someone like that. Buffy's eyes were empty, and a cold chill ran over his skin that had nothing to do with vampires, and the room spun for a moment. He could see Angel glaring at him, Willow looked ready to cry, and Buffy moved closer, like a lioness going in for the kill, a cold little smile on her painted lips.

“Xander. Did I ever thank you, for saving my life?”

He swallowed. This was wrong. Buffy never looked at him like that, like something that could be used and discarded. “No.”

She slithered around him to whisper in his ear. “Don't you wish I would?”

He jerked away from her, his heart pounding, aching. And he almost hoped his eyes were glowing, just to scare some sense into her. “Don't flatter yourself Slayer. I've had better offers all summer.” He tried not to snarl at her startled face as he left the dance floor. On his way passed Willow he barely managed to give her a smile. The attempt was feeble, pathetic, and he knew it, but he had to get out of there. He needed to run...

And he did. He ran as if he could escape the memory of the most recent blow to his ego. A series of snarls startled him as he ran, the shadow within him was out in force tonight. It's displeasure rivaled his own. Neither of them liked being prey.

He hurt more than when she rejected him before Spring Fling. He'd had so many offers in Japan, god he was pathetic. After all those pretty girls and one fox, he'd gotten used to being wanted...god...what was wrong with her?

Xander practically flew by the park entrance and didn't stop until he reached Jessie's grave where he immediately collapsed, shaking. He pounded the ground, snarling again, until his hands ached. When he felt like he could speak without screaming, or snarling he rolled over onto his back and looked up at the leaves of the maple.

“I really don't get girls, especially when they're pms-ing. All those offers stroked my ego...but one little demeaning dance with Buffy and I'm back where I started. God, you have no idea how much I miss you right now Jess. I'm drowning in Slayer grade estrogen.”

He lay there for a few moments until a flash of pink and blue caught his eye.

“Ossu!”

“Hey Botan. What are you doing here?” He asked in Japanese.

“Oh, you know. Making my rounds.” She gazed at him curiously. “Are you wearing the translator?”

“Wait a second.” He pulled the ear bud out of his pocket and stuck it in his ear. “Now I am.”

“Wow, your Japanese has improved. I told you that it would start to stick.” He rolled his eyes and she grinned at him. “So I just happened to see you running through town like a crazy person and decided to check on you.”

He snorted and sat up. “I'm not the only crazy person around here.”

“Oh?” She hopped off her oar, willing it to disappear as she sat beside him. “Want to talk about it?”

“Not really.” He sighed. “Just tell me one thing.”

“Sure.”

“When someone dies...can they go crazy?”

“Crazy?”

“Buffy isn't acting like Buffy.”

“Hmm. Well I can't speak from personal experience because I've never died. However in all my years as a guide I can truthfully say that people react in all sorts of ways. Some are accepting, others go into a rage, some try to plead with me or bargain. But it's their time to go and once they calm down I take them to Koenma.”

“What about Yusuke?”

She smiled at him. “I think that's something you should ask your brother.”

He smiled back at her before sighing. “Even if Buffy's gone loony-toons, someone needs to patrol.”

“I'll keep you company.”

“Thanks Botan.”

xxx

“Even if she was attracted to me...she wouldn't have been that cold about it. She's got to be possessed. Or it's that time of the month.” Xander concluded, taking note of the odd looks Giles and Willow were giving him. “So we're agreeing with the possessed theory then?”

Willow nodded. “Otherwise she wouldn't be acting like such a b-i-t-c-h.”

“I can spell Willow.” He muttered as she blushed.

Giles looked heavenward for a moment, his hand twitched and Xander wondered if he was going to polish his glasses. “Yes well. She may simply be dealing with issues we cannot comprehend. Her death at the Master's hands must have been very traumatic. She may not have dealt with it fully.

Xander noticed Buffy coming up to their table, and he sent a warning gaze to Giles before greeting her. “Buffy.”

Giles turned. “Oh. Good morning. Did you sleep well?”

“Not really, on account of the Master's gone.”

Silence reigned over their little corner of the cafeteria as that tidbit of information sunk in.

“WHAT?”

xxx

Xander swung the sword in an arc above his head. When he had asked Giles to train him he'd been thinking of Kuwabara's hand to hand combat. He hadn't given much thought to weapons, mostly because he had nothing to combat Kuwabara's Spirit Sword. But Giles was nothing if not practical.

“Keep your wrists fluid.” Giles reminded him, Xander rolled his eyes and Willow kept up her pacing.

“I don't like this, we should have gone with her.”

“Personally, when she blows, I want to be far, far away from ground zero.”

“Xander!”

He shrugged. “Just sayin'.” They were all hurt by Buffy's actions. She'd claimed she couldn't slay and keep an eye on them at the same time. Hello, he'd been patrolling since they'd found out about vampires. Giles was a watcher, and had been for longer than Buffy had been a Slayer. And Willow never went anywhere without a little perfume bottle that was half holy water. A little ingenious piece of work, mixing holy water with perfume not only hurt vamps, but it screwed their noses up enough that they couldn't track you as well while you ran away. But did Buffy care that they knew the score? No, she was off in her own little twisted world that suddenly made no sense to the rest of them.

“Ah! Ahh! The translation was wrong.” Giles exclaimed. Xander froze. There was that feeling again, that little chill that spoke of predators getting too close. Giles didn't seem to notice and kept on. “It actually says the person, or persons nearest to the Master when he died, as in physically...Good god. It is a trap.” He lifted his head and his eyes widened. “For us.”

Xander whirled with his sword and decapitated the vamp that was behind him. Another screamed, and he could only assume one vamp had gotten a face full of perfumed holy water. But there were too many and they rushed him and grabbed the sword before he could swing it again. But he still had his fists and his stake, and he dusted another before they could completely immobilize him. One leaned down toward his throat, fangs ready as Xander continued to struggle.

“Don't.” Another warned and the vampire holding him blinked.

“Why the hell not?” Xander wrenched his arm away to elbow the vamp holding him. It snarled and made for his throat again.

“The Mazoku.” The other vamp whispered. “The Anointed needs the girl for the Master's resurrection. We don't need the boy, and unless you want us all to die you'll leave him alive.” The next thing Xander knew was blackness.


When the blackness went a way the ceiling was spinning, and his nose hurt, or maybe it was his whole head, it was hard to tell. Why am I looking at the ceiling? The last thing he remembered was...Vampires! He struggled to stand up, gripping the table that was now on it's side. Stupid undead, disrespecting Giles' handy dandy research table...hmm. Maybe he had a concussion. He shook his head as he finally managed to get back on his feet.

“Xander!”

Oh joy, Buffy was back. She reached for him and he stumbled back. He snarled, using sheer will to keep his eyes normal, but it was hard. Half his pack was gone...possibly dead...stupid hyena shadow. He glared at Buffy, and she took a step back. Right then he hated her. All the little betrayals piled up in his heart and he wanted to hurt her.

“What happened?”

“You need me to draw you a picture? Vampires happened, the ones you could handle.”

Her eyes were wide now, he could see a little bit of the real Buffy in there now. Huh...maybe it wasn't too late. He could also see a little bit of panic in those green eyes. “I don't know, I was kinda unconscious. And I don't know what your problem is, and I don't care. If you weren't so busy running for bitch of the year you could have stopped this. I don't care what your issues are, but you need to work them out now. Because if they hurt Willow or Giles we're through and I'll kill you.”

She was staring at him now, as if she'd never seen him, and it gave him a little thrill, and he knew his eyes had flashed that creepy glowy green.

xxx

Giles looked at Xander, his eyes were still dazed and Ms. Calendar was keeping him steady. “Where?”

Xander stared at the scene below. “She's working out her issues.” His voice was cold, and he didn't care that Giles was looking at him warily, or that Buffy was totally wailing on the Anointed One's followers. Willow was alive and in his arms, but he couldn't stop shaking. She was safe, but he had come too close to losing her. That's not something he could handle, not after losing Jessie. He hardly noticed the big vampire go up in flames.

Willow moved in his arms and he held her tighter. “Is it over?” Her whisper was strong, she was going to be okay.

He shook his head. “Not yet, she's got one more issue.”

They all watched as Buffy smashed the Master's bones, her fear shining through on her tear-streaked face. Once the bones were dust she fell apart and Angel went to her to help her pick up the pieces.

xxx

Today school went the way it was supposed to. Buffy was really back this time, and he'd forgiven her. Dieing had messed with her more than they'd all thought. Mortality had come knockin' and reminded her that it was her destiny to die young. Just not this time, he'd seen to that.

He realized he'd been staring in the weapons cabinet for nearly five minutes...just how hard had those vamps hit him?

“Thank you.”

Xander jumped and turned startled eyes to look at Giles. “For what? And don't sneak up on me like that!”

“For forgiving her.”

Xander let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding and shrugged. “I get it. I don't like what she did, but I get it. Having her mortality shoved down her throat scared the bejezus outta her. But still, I'm glad it's over. I'm not sure I could have handled Bitch Slayer much longer.”

“Xander.”

“If she'd kept it up I'd have gone back to Japan.”

“Xander!”

“What?”

“You wanted to train?”

“Oh...right. So?”

“Quarter Staffs please.”

“Yay.” He reached for the staffs and tossed one to Giles who caught it easily. “Nice.”

“Thank you. Now, shall we?” They moved away from the book cage to a more open spot.

“Let's shall.”

Giles gave him a look before attacking. Xander blocked, but barely. Giles was faster than he'd been expecting. Giles swung again and Xander took a step back, shifting his body weight to take the blow with his staff.

“Not bad.” Giles nodded in approval before attacking again, this time faster and with more force behind the blows. However Xander was a fast learner...well he was now anyway. Training with Kuwabara could be painful so paying attention was vital.

Xander spent most of his time on the defensive, blocking the majority of Giles' attacks. He'd managed to dodge a few, and only a couple met their targets.

They were both breathing hard when Giles took a step back. “You did well, considering this was your first time using the quarter staff.”

“Thanks.”

“I thought you were my Watcher.”

They both looked towards the counter. “Oh.” Giles looked surprised. “Been there long?”

“She's been here for at least ten minutes G-man.”

“Really?” He still looked surprised, however he managed a stern look at Xander. “I thought you weren't going to call me that anymore.”

Xander shrugged. “I never agreed to that.” He held his hand out for the staff and Giles tossed it too him. “So...tea?”

“Oh...of course. Just a moment...since when do you drink tea?”

“I spent the summer in Japan Giles, everyone drinks tea there.”

“I don't have green tea.”

“That's fine. As long as you have sugar.”

Giles nodded and headed for his office and his kettle and Xander headed toward the weapons cabinet with the quarter staffs. He cold hear Buffy follow him.

“So...you're really serious about this Slay Boy thing.”

He snorted as he put the quarter staffs away. “I'm not trying to take away your spotlight. You're the Slayer, and I get that, but you can't be everywhere at once.”

She nodded. “How long have you been patrolling?”

“Since the Harvest.”

“Why didn't you tell me? You could have gotten killed...and then Willow would have cried. Me too by the way.”

Xander sighed and turned to face her. “Look. I've forgiven you cause you were really messed up with the whole dieing thing. And Willow's forgiven you cause she's Willow, but you and I are not okay.” He glared at her and she looked at her feet. “You really hurt us Buff, not the almost getting Willow and Giles killed part, hello site of mystical convergence, almost dieing is the norm around here.”

She looked back up at him. “About the Bronze...”

“I'm not a toy that you can play with in front of your brood boy just to make him jealous. You ever treat me like that again and I will pack my bags and move to Japan. I don't have to stay in Sunny Hell if I don't want to. Yusuke and Keiko would be glad to have me, heck Keiko's parents practically adopted me over the summer. I have other options open to me now.”

She was crying now, quiet tears that streaked down her face. “I—I'm so sorry Xander. I don't...did I make too much of a...mess to fix us?”

He sighed. What was it he had told Koenma? Oh yeah, he'd die before giving up on either of his girls. “No, but you gotta realize Buffy, we're here to stay. We won't run away, ever. You're our friend and we won't give you up without a fight.” He gave her a soft smile. “We will be okay, I just need a few days to process. I know I'm not your match, it just hurt to be reminded of it like that.”

A broken sob escaped her and she covered her mouth, as if to take it back. “Xander.”

“Come here.” His smile and open arms were all she needed before she flung herself at him and broke down again. “It'll be okay.” He met Giles' eyes as he held one of his best friends in the whole world close. “I promise it'll be okay.”

XXX