The Way of The Warrior

Date written: Mon 12 Apr 2004

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters are copyright Joss Whedon, UPN, Mutant Enemy, Kuzui, Sandollar and probably a whole bunch of others as well. No profit will be made from this work, besides that of getting feedback in any way, shape or form.

Continuity: This story initially takes place in what would have been BTVS season 8 (late Angel season 5), and then in an AU season 7.

Category: Alternate Universe, Action, Adventure

Spoilers: There are references to many things through to the end of BTVS season 7, and Angel season 5.

Main characters: Xander, Faith, Buffy

Warnings: Some overt violence, character death, language and sexual references are present.

Rating: Overall R to be safe, with mostly PG-13 parts.

Acknowledgments: Thanks to www.buffyworld.com for the transcripts, without which much of this story couldn’t have been written.

Summary: Xander meets the demon who gave Spike his soul back, in Africa. And what would have happened if Harris had gone through the portal that night to meet the Shadow Men, instead of Buffy?

Title: The Way of the Warrior

***

“Blood and vengeance

My sword is singing

Through bone and flesh

The way of the warrior

Is ever death”

(Conan of Cimmeria, CONAN THE BARBARIAN)

“Love is sacrifice.”

(Insect-like demon, ANGEL)

“Man, Buffy! My whole life just flashed before my eyes. I gotta get me a life!”

(Xander Harris, BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER)

***

Senegal, Africa. Late February, 2004

Alexander Lavelle Harris, age 23, was so. Very. Tired.

The life of the one-eyed man hadn’t been easy lately, as Xander had been on the Dark Continent for quite a while now. And despite being dressed in the traditional garb of the ‘great white hunter’, he looked both weary and totally stressed out.

That was because after a mystical scythe and his best friend Willow Rosenberg had activated every potential vampire Slayer in the world the previous year, he and his people – the survivors of the so-called Scooby gang – had scattered all over the planet to find and train the Chosen, for their new destiny.

Or at least warn them what was the what in their lives now, anyway.

Harris had found at least 25 teenage Slayers in his travels, so far. Most of the meetings hadn’t been pleasant; and having to deal with the tears and angry relatives, not to mention the language barriers, had definitely been no barrel of laughs either.

That night as he walked along in the hot, sandy environment of a nameless desert village, Xander glanced at his companion...Faith, the vampire Slayer.

Dressed in uncharacteristically conservative clothes the brunette woman, for her part, wasn’t feeling too great either. Basically because after her boyfriend named Robin Wood had died as a complication of wounds received the day of the mass Slayer activation, she hadn’t really cared much about anything – including her appearance.

But surviving was a hard habit to break, given the life she had led up until now; ghetto chick, Chosen One, and former prison convict. And so, Faith carried on with her duties – but without any of the old fire, the enthusiasm for life and slaying that had made Xander eye her with such awe and lust back in 1998.

As they walked along the path through the primitive huts, the two former lovers were stopped by a villager who cried out, “Toyenza coyengara! Erio mtuwana.”

Faith looked at the man beside her. “What’s he saying, stud?”

Xander briefly glanced at the dark Slayer, briefly unsettled by the old nickname. He then looked through a pocket dictionary they had bought upon entering the country, “Something about...danger. Death?”

Faith just shrugged. “Not like we don’t deal with that every day.” Then she started walking again towards her target, not caring if Xander followed or not.

The villager said insistently, “Ymirira! Odja kufa! Ymirira!” holding Harris by the arm. But the former Zeppo – seeing Faith getting further and further away – just gave up, shook him off and followed after her.

The African knew he would never see the brunette couple alive again. Only one man in living memory had ever entered the cave of the dark demon close by, and left it intact afterwards...and that was because the bleached-blonde creature in black leather hadn’t really been a man, after all.

~~~~~~

Faith and Xander arrived at the cave entrance; the residence of something they had heard had been killing people in the area for centuries. The woman looked around, “Wait here, while I look for Demon Boy. If I’m not out in five-”

Xander instantly objected to that plan. “That’s crazy, Faith! Look, we should stick together-”

“Just do as I say, boy toy,” the Slayer interrupted in a bad mood, before walking in.

“Sure,” Xander muttered to himself. “Just doing my job here...”

FLASHBACK

Bath, England. Summer, 2003

Xander Harris and Rupert Giles were talking alone, in the Englishman’s family home. “Well, I must say,” Giles began with a sigh, “we certainly have a big job ahead of us. Finding and guiding all the new Slayers in the world...”

Xander replied, “Yeah, about that – I got something I need to tell you, Giles.”

“Oh, really? What?” his companion asked, somewhat distracted as he looked through his desk.

“That that’s your job, not mine. I’ve made a decision; I’ll help you find those girls and tell them the situation, even train them if I get the opportunity – but then, that’s it. I’m out of the Slayage business.”

Giles was stunned; he had thought that after the last seven years, his surrogate son would never just throw in the towel like this. The de facto head of the Council stopped what he was doing at once, “What on earth are you talking about?”

Xander replied in a monotone, “I said I’ll assist you to clean up the mess I helped make, thrusting God-knows-how-many girls into danger from demons and vamps without their informed consent – by finding and telling them what happened. And where they can go for training and guidance, if they want. But after that, I’m quitting.”

Rupert, who was still stunned, then asked, “Xander, may-may I ask what brought this on? And, and where were you planning to go-?”

Harris just smiled softly, looking out the window at the glorious English countryside. “Lemme ask you something, G-man. You ever seen that movie, ‘The Shawshank Redemption’?”

Giles fought down his irritation at the old nickname. “No, I haven’t. Why?”

Xander briefly explained, “It’s a film about a guy sent to jail for life, over a crime he didn’t even commit. And in the end, all he wants is to escape that hellhole he’s been trapped in for twenty years, and live out the rest of his days in Mexico. If I recall correctly, ‘in a warm place with no memories of what’s come before’.” He smiled, again without humour. “Sounds like a plan to me.”

Giles frowned. “You still haven’t explained why. And for Heaven’s sake, the girls won’t want you to leave-”

Xander snorted, startling his former high school librarian. “Why? I’ll tell you why...”

He turned around, and took off the black eyepatch around his left eye, instantly causing Giles to look away.

Harris just smirked, “That’s why in a nutshell, G-man. Haven’t you noticed lately how Buffy, in particular, can’t bring herself to really look at me? Because now that the excitement’s over, I’m just an unpleasant reminder of the past. Kinda hard to believe in your great decision-making ability, constantly seeing the results of it – right? Besides, Anya’s gone now. And it’s long past time I started living my own life.”

Even though he thought Xander was making a mistake, Giles didn’t argue the point. And anyway, he thought that it was more likely than not Willow, Buffy’s sister Dawn and maybe even Willow’s girlfriend Kennedy would soon talk Xander out of this... “Very well. So, uh, wh-where do you want to go to scout out the new Slayers?”

The former class clown looked at the Watcher, and said bitterly after putting the eyepatch back on, “Like I said, Giles, somewhere warm. It’s not like I can stay in this country much longer, what with the frickin’ weather you have over here. Do you have any idea what it’s like, when a blast of cold air hits my empty eye socket?”

Giles just shook his head as the American went on, “It’s like...like an ice-pick stabbing me directly in my brain! And it’s summer right now. I don’t even want to think about the nightmare that’ll happen, when Christmas rolls up around here...”

The Watcher winced, he hadn’t thought of that. “Africa suit you, then?”

Xander accepted with remarkable brevity, “Thanks.”

Rupert nodded and then added, “Well, I-I wish you good luck, Xander-”

Harris interrupted and quickly replied, “You’re welcome, Giles. But I’m just doing my job here.”

END FLASHBACK

Xander pulled out of his little trance, waiting at the cave entrance after thinking about the past.

Thinking about how he’d felt, over so many things. Losing his eye. Losing Anya Jenkins, his former fiancée. Losing touch with everyone except Giles, who’d sent Faith to find him – when he hadn’t reported in to anyone, in months. Except to send a mbuna fish to the guy called Andrew Wells...

The young man chuckled at the memory. He and Faith had been at Lake Malawi, located in the southeastern corner of the continent; the ninth largest lake in the world, that straddled the borders of the countries Mozambique, Malawi and Tanzania. They had found and trained a few new Slayers in the region, and one of them had given him said fish from the lake as a token of thanks.

The southern Californian had just graciously said “thank you”, and then sent it off to the biggest surviving dork of Sunnydale to get rid of the creature; he’d only later learned that mbuna fish needed to live in a group environment, or they didn’t survive long.

Exactly like Slayers...

Xander looked at his watch, and noticed Faith had been gone longer than five minutes. He was about to enter and charge to the rescue – just like the White Knight that the vampire called Angelus had once sneeringly dubbed him as – when he got an idea, that would never occur to a Slayer. “Hello, Mr. Demon? Can I come in?”

There was a short silence, and the only son of Anthony and Jessica Harris felt like a fool. But then a sibilant voice hissed, “Enter.”

He did so, holding up a flashlight to light his way. Xander then saw paintings on the cave walls. Images of people’s faces in pain, bodies with blood pouring out of them, skulls littering everywhere.

Then his flashlight went out, the mystical place offended by his use of modern technology. “Hello?”

“You seek me, human?”

Xander whirled around, and saw a shape in the darkness. Two shapes, actually – and sprinting madly, the former Halloween soldier quickly found Faith on the ground. Dead.

He knelt to examine her, then looked up and screamed at the owner of the voice, “You lousy bastard! You killed her!?”

The demon was unmoved. “Your woman failed the trials that all must undergo, upon entering this sacred place. She was supposed to be a legendary warrior? She was nothing but a pathetic excuse for a Slayer...”

“Trials?” Xander asked emotionlessly, just as a distraction while he worked out the best way to kill this thing in the shortest time necessary.

The ancient, hideous-looking demon replied, “Judgments of worthiness. For it is within my power, to accomplish almost anything I wish. Be it restoring life to the dead, the soul to a vampire-”

Xander was thunderstruck, and briefly distracted. “YOU were the one who gave Spike his soul back?”

The demon, that had been moving away, quickly looked back with those glowing green eyes. “You know of the vampire with a human soul?”

Xander stood up. “Sure, both of them. Now, I’m gonna have to kill you for what you did to Faith; you do know that, right?” He brought up the shotgun he’d bought illegally on the black market, and aimed it at the demon’s head.

The evil thing backed off, suddenly somewhat nervous. “If I die, your woman remains lost forever. I can bring her back...”

Xander shook his head. “She’s not my woman, not anymore. And resurrecting a Slayer? Been there, done that. Never works out well. Yeah, time for you to die...”

The one-eyed man opened fire at the demon. But ducking madly, the supernatural creature avoided the deadly hail of bullets; and the duo had a merry old chase around the cave, until the human was out of ammo. The demon then jumped him, but Xander stabbed at it with a knife; they fought madly and viciously, until eventually the resident of the cave held Harris immobile down on the floor.

It purred, “You have been an amusing distraction, little man-”

Xander got even more pissed at those words, as they reminded him of the troll called Olaf; the former husband of his lost Anya. “Glad I provided entertainment value.”

The demon then said in a different tone, “It is time for you enter the trials. You wish to save your friend as your reward?”

Harris fought to get loose. “No thanks, to both things. Because if there’s one thing I’ve learned in the last few years, it’s that I never test well – and you don’t raise the dead without consequences.”

The demon considered that. “True enough. Yes, you are not quite...normal for a human, are you? The supernatural world has touched you deeply...”

Xander was still trying desperately to get free. “Well, guess that’s what you get...after that darn hyena possession, Halloween joyride, and hanging with Slayers for the last eight years...”

The enemy shook its ugly head. “No. I refer to the life-force of the Earth within you. The quantity you possess...is unimaginably high. I can sense it, just from touch-”

It took Xander a few seconds to realize what the creature was referring to, as he inadvertently stopped struggling. “You mean two years ago, when Willow tried to kill me on Kingman’s Bluff in Sunnydale?”

The demon abruptly squeezed tighter. “Enough chatter. Forfeiting the trials, your death is mandatory...” It then plunged its fist into Xander’s stomach, releasing a howl of agony from the human as his entrails spilled out onto the ground.

But that wasn’t all.

A green light, the same one that Willow had shot into Xander while trying to destroy the world with Proserpexa’s effigy, poured out up the demon’s arm – and for the first time in millennia, the creature screamed in pain.

Because in all the universe, there are balances.

You can’t have an up without a down. A left without a right. A north without a south, and so on.

The fact was the demon had killed Faith, a warrior for the Light, and that act had been duly noted by the Powers That Be...along with the fact that there were currently no potential Slayers, to take over for her. So their ally the life-force of the Earth decided to take steps to both avenge her murder and rectify the situation, after a miniscule part of it emerged from its dead meat prison, after all this time.

Somehow, impossibly, the world simply stopped turning on its axis. And then, equally impossibly, the planet started rotating backwards; retracing its path around the sun, completing one solar orbit over the course of a year. Rewinding and erasing the lives of all those present above or beneath its surface, living or undead.

And when it was done, the Earth started moving in the right direction again, as history resumed.

~~~~~~

Sunnydale, California. Late February, 2003

The war against the First Evil was not going well, as the creature continued its plans to exterminate the Slayer line and legacy; as well as both Chosen Ones. That was why the original vampire Slayer, Buffy Summers, had declared an emergency and used the contents of an “emergency kit” belonging to one of her predecessors.

Dawn Summers, her teenage brunette sister, looked in awe at a bright blue portal of light – something that had been generated, as the result of an ancient Sumerian ritual. < Wow. And see for yourself, but only if you’re willing to make the exchange? What the heck does that part of it mean? >

Xander Harris, who at this point in his life still had both eyes intact, voiced the exact same question. “But what does it mean?”

Buffy looked adamant. “It means I have to go in there.”

Willow, who felt more than a little panicky at that, instantly disagreed. “No, it doesn’t! Where does it say that? It doesn’t say that!”

Robin Wood, currently principal at Sunnydale High and son of the 1977 Slayer Nikki Wood said simply, “Buffy, you don’t even know what you’re exchanging. You don’t know if you’re ready yet-”

The blonde woman remained unmoved. “That’s the point.”

The redhead pleaded with her friend, “No. Buffy, we don’t know where you’re going or how we’ll get you back!”

Xander nodded. “Buffy, you can’t.”

Willow then voiced a question that was more relevant, seeing how the oldest Slayer had already made up her mind, “How will we get you back?”

Buffy said simply, “Find a way.” She then attempted to leap through the window of light; but this time around, the portal seemed reluctant to cooperate – and bouncing against what seemed a solid barrier, the Chosen One hit the floor. “Ouch! Well, that didn’t go as planned.”

Anya Jenkins, the former vengeance demon known as Anyanka, could not help smiling at this – as she hadn’t enjoyed listening to Buffy’s ‘everyone sucks but me’ speech, earlier that night. “Guess someone wasn’t worthy?”

Buffy just sent her a mean stare, as Dawn helped her sister up. “Whatever. Well, anybody else got any bright ideas?”

Xander suddenly cocked his head. “What is that?”

The gang looked around in consternation, as no one else could hear anything; the sounds of the tribal drumbeat of the spell from earlier had disappeared, after the portal had been activated.

“Come on, can’t you people hear it? The chanting – I don’t understand what it’s saying, but I feel...damn weird...” Xander quickly walked up to the portal, and then turned around. “I think it wants me to enter-”

Both Anya and Willow shouted at once, “NO!”

Buffy quickly agreed, “It’s too dangerous, Xander, there’s no telling what you’ll find on the other side-”

Xander just looked at her, unsure if she was being serious. “And yet, it was just peachy for you to go in there, just now?”

Buffy glared daggers at him. “I’m the Slayer. You’re not.”

Xander definitely didn’t like the superiority act that his first love had developed tonight. “And you never, ever get tired of reminding me of that, obviously...”

Buffy said nothing, just staring at her friend. Xander got even more annoyed and disregarding the danger quickly said, “Well, at least I have an invitation. So, see you all later!”

“Xander, don’t!” Dawn shouted, but it was too late and he’d jumped through.

Willow stared after him and said simply, “He’s gone.”

Anya had a question. “What was that about an exchange?”

There was a flash of light – and a huge, growling demon appeared. It quickly started to throw people around, and tear 1630 Revello Drive apart; before it got tired of the sport, and left the house.

Buffy got up, groaning. “Well, that was fun – not! Spike, come on, we got ourselves a demon to kill. Willow, find a spell to reopen that portal, so that we can exchange them and get Xander back.”

“What?” Willow asked in disbelief. “How, exactly?”

The brunette girl called Kennedy, who at this time was still just a Slayer-in-training, frowned. “You've got the magic. Use it.”

Her sort-of girlfriend replied, “I-I-I don’t even know what magic to use!”

Buffy said roughly, “Then figure it out, use whatever and whoever you need to. Like I said before, the situation’s desperate. Now let’s get going, people!”

~~~~~~

Unknown desert dimension. The same time

Xander Harris tumbled out of the portal, and found himself in the desert of his dreams – that night that the First Slayer had tried to tear out his heart, after a magic spell to defeat the cyber-demonoid creature called ADAM. “Oh, I remember this place. This can’t be good...”

Then he heard chanting again, and without any other plan Harris went off to find the source of it. Xander soon arrived at a group of three men dressed in tribal fashion, each holding a tall staff and wearing different colored headdresses. “Hello? Who are you guys? And, uh, where are we?”

The so-called Shadow Men looked at one another, and then at him. The trio then started speaking in some incomprehensible language...that for some reason, Xander easily understood. < Magic mojo with built-in Universal Translator. Ya gotta love it! >

“You are not supposed to be here,” the Red Hat Shadow Man said, interrupting his thoughts.

“This place is for the Slayer alone,” added the Black Hat Shadow Man.

“Your presence now has forever altered the balance,” finished up the Brown Hat Shadow Man.

Xander just shrugged, feeling somewhat embarrassed. “Well, hey, you guys invited me here, right?” There was no response. “Well, someone did anyway!”

The Shadow Men got up, and started circling around him. After a few moments, Mr. Red Hat nodded in understanding. “Gaia guided you here. The life-force of the Earth.”

Xander was completely confused. “Huh? What?”

Mr. Black Hat dismissed his concerns. “It is irrelevant now, even though one day you will learn the truth of the matter. For the moment, there are other things which should concern you.”

Xander nodded. “Right. Uh, just curious...” he looked around at the open desert. “But, um, I feel like I know this place. Why does it feel so familiar?”

“This is where your people were born, long before the First Slayer walked the Earth,” was the reply from Mr. Brown Hat.

“No kidding?” an astonished Xander looked at the trio, before pulling himself together. “Yeah, never mind. Look, we sorta got ourselves a situation back home-”

Mr. Red Hat cut him off, “All that, we already know. We have been here since the beginning.”

Mr. Black Hat added, “And now, we are almost at the end. We have no information to give you, though. All we can offer is power.”

Xander thought about that. “What sorta power? You mean like, X-ray vision? Or something useful, something to fight the First?”

The three Shadow Men looked at each other again, briefly. “We cannot make you a Slayer like your friend, the last guardian of the Hellmouth-” Mr. Brown Hat started to say.

Xander interrupted, “You mean Buffy. And, uh, did this magic translation thingy just go on the fritz, or what? 'Cause you meant to say latest, right?”

Mr. Red Hat shook his head. “No.”

< Uh-oh! > Xander thought in horror. < That can’t be of the good! >

The trio all started banging their staffs onto the earth. “But we have learned much, since the First Slayer was created. Do you accept the power we offer?” the Shadow Man asked.

Xander thought about it for a while. All of it, the pros and cons. < Okay, let’s look at this logically. We’re up against an ancient unstoppable evil, that’s gone on the warpath because Willow, me, Tara and Anya screwed up and brought Buffy back to life. And I was brought here for a reason, even if I don’t know exactly what it is. So I gotta do something! >

Thus, in the end Harris nodded. “If it helps defeat the First, okay.”

One of the Shadow Men instantly whacked him unconscious with his cane.

~~~~~~

Xander woke up, finding himself sitting on the ground; shackled at the wrists and chained to the Earth – just as Buffy would have been, in another possible reality. “Hey! What the fu-”

Mr. Brown Hat interrupted his tirade, “We are at the beginning. The primal wellspring of power. Now prepare yourself.”

Xander stopped struggling against his captivity, as the Shadow Men started banging their staffs onto the ground again. Mr. Red Hat then took the lid off of a box Xander hadn’t noticed before; black smoke came out in long tentacles, dancing around the cave as if it was sentient. Alive.

The men keep tapping their staves rhythmically as Mr. Red Hat said, “Here is the source of your new strength.”

“The energy of a demon. Its heart and its spirit,” Mr. Black Hat added.

“It must become one with you,” Mr. Brown Hat finished up.

Xander shook his head in horror. “Forget that! I didn’t sign up for this, demon magnet or otherwise. What’ll that stuff do to me, anyway?”

Mr. Red Hat responded, “This will make you ready for the final battle.”

Mr. Black Hat added, “This is how it was then, with the First Slayer. How it must be now, even though you cannot become one of the Chosen.”

Mr. Brown Hat then said, “This is all there is for us to give.”

Xander kept struggling as the black smoke came towards him, entering his body through his nose and ears. “No!”

Mr. Red Hat said sternly, “Do not fight this. Or your journey here will have been in vain.”

Xander wasn’t Buffy; he couldn’t resist that argument. And that moment of hesitation was all that the demonic power needed to also enter through his mouth, and circulate all throughout his body.

The guy screamed in pain, thrashing about as his eyes were filled with a black, oily substance. Then as his eyeballs went back to their normal white and chocolate brown color, Xander Harris fainted.

But the Xandman soon woke up, feeling angrier than he’d ever been in his whole life.

More angry than when he’d learned Buffy was irrevocably destined to die, and no one but him was gonna do something about it.

Or when Buffy had been willing to risk the whole world, just to give Angelus his soul back.

Or when his ex-girlfriend Cordelia Chase had constantly humiliated him, after they’d broken up during senior year.

Or when the Scooby Gang had drifted apart and left him behind, after high school was over.

Or when Joyce Summers had died, after the doctors had basically just kicked her out of that hospital way too soon.

Or when he’d seen Spike and Anyanka having sex, witnessing the whole beautiful show live on TV, and later learning the vampire had been shagging Buffy as well.

Or when Buffy had tried to kill Anyanka after a moment’s thought, because she wasn’t the mass-murdering demon that the Slayer had been boning for months and, therefore, it wasn’t a completely gray area for her.

Xander then noticed the Shadow Men standing there, just watching him; so Harris furiously tugged at his restraints.

The effect was amazing. The chains snapped in half, and were instantly ripped out of the ground as well. Xander saw that and calming down a little, he whispered in amazement, “Wow!” Then he turned to the trio, “Hey, just for the record? You didn’t tell me it would hurt so much!”

Mr. Red Hat said calmly, “You did not ask.”

Xander groaned and rolled his eyes. “Great, comedians. So, anything else you should tell me that I don’t know!?”

The African seemed to consider that. “Yes...” He then held his hand up to Xander’s head – and gave him a nightmare vision of the current situation.

~~~~~~

Sunnydale, California. A short while later

Willow attempted an arcane ritual and began shouting, “Via, concursus, tempus, spatium, audi me ut imperio. Screw it! Mighty forces, I suck at Latin, okay? But that’s not the issue. I’m the one in charge, and I’m telling you open up, portal, now!”

Magic enveloped her, and sucked power out of Anya and Kennedy to activate the mystical gateway. Buffy and Spike, who had the dead demon carcass waiting, then threw the corpse into the portal – and as they’d hoped, Xander came tumbling out afterwards.

Spike immediately demanded answers. “What happened, whelp? Where’d you go? What did ya learn?”

Xander ignored him though, having a freaked look on his face. The platinum-blonde vampire, impatient after the gruesome fight he and Buffy had gone through to get him back, then grabbed Harris by the shoulder. “Look, Droopy Boy-”

What happened next, absolutely no one was expecting.

Xander Harris – the weak one, the powerless one, the donut delivery boy and Mr. Window Replacer of the group – grabbed Spike by the duster and threw him across the room, making William the Bloody crash into the wall and slide down in a bloody heap.

“SPIKE!!!” Buffy screamed in panic, and went to check out her former lover. Once she was assured he was okay, the Slayer arose with bloodlust a-plenty in her eyes. “All right, who are you – and what have you done with Xander?”

The man now with demon corpuscles throughout his system just looked at her, bearing a poker face his old high school friend named Oz would have envied. “It’s really me, Buffy.”

“Bull! The real Xander can’t do something like that!”

The empty expression didn’t change in the slightest. “Ampata wasn’t evil. And I had you to bring me back...”

Ms. Summers froze, hearing her own half-forgotten words from 1997 repeated to her. She rapidly became convinced, “Xander? It’s really you...but how did you – what did you-”

He just looked around at the others. “I’ll explain everything later, but right now we got eight miles of bad road comin’. On account of there’s an army of Turok-Han über-vamps, just waiting to be released from underneath that seal at the high school...”

~~~~~~

Sunnydale, California. Late March, 2003

The stress of the situation didn’t decrease, just because Xander came back a lot stronger than he had ever been before. The First Evil continued to gather its forces, with war inevitable.

And in addition, a...situation came up – regarding Spike.

It was discovered the British vampire still had a post-hypnotic trigger within him, that the First had used to make him kill – without even being aware of it. However, Buffy was certain Spike could and would overcome it, and Willow had to head off to Los Angeles; so Robin and Giles took matters into their own hands.

They set up a plan to get rid of the potentially deadly security risk, once and for all. Giles distracted his Slayer, while Wood fought Spike; but it didn’t work. William the Bloody was de-triggered, and nearly killed Robin; Buffy got there too late at the last minute, after she realized what her former Watcher was up to.

And that night, a showdown outside Buffy’s bedroom took place. Giles said, “Buffy...I-I understand your anger. Please believe me, we did what we-”

Ms. Summers could not bear to even look at him. “He’s alive. Spike’s alive. Wood failed.”

The Englishman hesitated. “Well, that doesn’t change anything. What I told you is still true. You need to learn-”

Finally, the blonde Slayer looked at her betrayer and said coldly, “No. I think you’ve taught me everything I need to know.”

And just as she was about to slam the door in his face, Xander arrived onto the scene. “BUFFY!” he shouted.

The young woman frowned. “Xander? What is it?”

The guy demanded, “What the hell’s just happened?”

Buffy didn’t want to talk. “Go away, all right? I’m not in the mood at the moment, for a deep and meaningful!”

Harris came into her room anyway as she turned around, and Giles followed – closing the door behind them. Because ever since the meeting with the Shadow Men, Xander had gained in confidence – as he now had the physical strength to back up the courage of his convictions, as well as a much smaller tolerance for the foibles of others.

The construction worker said at once, “I spoke to Wood, and I also spoke to Spike. Now, I wanna speak to you about what happened this evening.”

The Slayer was confused at that. “Why? It sounds like you already know everything-”

Stone-faced, Xander replied, “Yeah, and that’s what’s gotten me wigged here. Now, did Woody tell me the truth? That if he tried to stake his mother’s murderer again, Spike’ll kill him – and you’ll let that Billy Idol lookalike do it?”

Buffy was almost uncomfortable for a moment. “Yeah, but so what? Because I mean, Spike’s the most valuable asset we’ve got-” She then shut up, as a look of disbelief played across Xander’s face. “What?”

The man born in Sunnydale asked slowly, “Who are you? 'Cause I swear to God, you aren’t the Buffy Summers I knew anymore.”

The Chosen One was instantly angry again. “What the hell’s that supposed to mean?”

But Xander only got completely pissed. “It means, Slayer, that you’ve crossed a line you can’t ever come back from. The precedent’s been set; you’ve willingly consented in turning a blind eye to murder! I mean, who’ll be next? Anyone who pisses you off, or who wants Spike dead? Like Giles? Me?” A pause. “How about Dawn?”

“JUST SHUT UP, XANDER!!”

“I don’t think so. This shoulda been said a long time ago, Slay-gal. And to be honest, I’m damn glad Joyce didn’t live to see this-”

Livid and furious, Buffy completely lost her head and went to punch his lights out. But Xander caught her fist in his right hand – and then he squeezed. Hard.

Giles looked on in shock, as the blonde Champion screamed and cradled her hand in incredulity, whilst staring at him. “You broke my hand, you son of a bitch!”

Xander just stared back at her. “I didn’t squeeze that hard. And Slayer healing factor, you’ll be fine by morning. Whereas if I’d let you hit me, I’d be in the hospital for days with a broken jaw! Or else another snack for Spike?”

Buffy looked away for a moment, then glared at him again. “You’d just love an excuse to hurt him too, wouldn’t you?”

Harris just looked exasperated. “I don’t believe this, is that all you can think about? Open your eyes and take a look at the big picture, already! Morale stinks around here; all the SITs think you don’t give a rat’s ass about them-”

The Slayer was honestly outraged to hear that. “Yes I do!”

“You got a damned funny way to show it, then. After all – he’s definitely shown to still be under the First’s control with that trigger, a danger to everyone however you want to paint it, and what do you do? Unchain Spike at the first opportunity, for him to chow down on the potentials if the First Evil shows up!”

“That’s not how it-”

Xander ignored her interruption, “And while we’re on the subject, let’s not forget when you forced Spike down my throat, made me live with him – just because you decided Mr. Fangless shouldn’t be left alone in the high school basement? Did I ever once hear an apology from you for putting my life in danger, just 'cause you’ve developed fluffy bunny feelings for your British undead lover?”

Buffy was stunned silent by that accusation, as Xander turned to the other occupant of the room. “Which brings us to you, Giles...” he took a deep breath. “You don’t know how much you’ve disappointed the shit outta me, G-man.”

“Now see here-” Giles started to say.

“No, you’re gonna shut the hell up until I’ve said my piece. Unless you want a trip to Sunnydale General, to treat a couple of broken arms!”

Xander looked deadly serious, and Giles couldn’t believe he was being threatened like this. The carpenter then said, “Now, when you arrived with Kennedy, Molly and Annabelle last December, did you or did you not put Buffy in charge of this whole mess?”

“Xander, you don’t understand-”

“It’s a real simple question, Giles, yes or no?” And as Rupert took off his spectacles, Xander added, “And don’t try to avoid me by polishing your goddamn glasses! After seven years, I know all your tricks and stall tactics!”

The former Watcher couldn’t believe Xander’s animosity, almost as much as his Slayer. “Well, yes.”

“Then I got news for you, British man. You don’t try to stab your commanding officer in the back like that, especially during war time like this!”

“Xander-” he tried to say.

“You thought Spike was a big danger. You thought Buffy wasn’t taking that danger seriously. Fine, I even agree with you on that much. But if you felt that goddamn strongly about it, you shoulda just quit the army and staked Spike on your way outta town! Or asked me to talk to Buffy! Or something, anything but the betrayal you just perpetrated!”

Harris stared at his so-called friends. “Now both of you, listen up. It’s too late to try to keep this quiet, I betcha by this time tomorrow morning almost everyone will have heard the news – so we gotta try to put some sorta positive spin on all this. Tell all the girls that Spike’s been cured, and he’s not a danger anymore – thanks to the efforts of the united Scooby gang. So you two are gonna be civil to each other in public, in order for them to believe it, okay? Or I will get very unhappy with you both!”

He turned to leave, before adding, “We don’t have time for personal feuds, people. We got a war to win, and we can’t afford to fight amongst ourselves. So don’t make me have to mention this, ever again!” Xander then slammed the door behind him, leaving Buffy and Giles to just stare at each other.

~~~~~~

Sunnydale, California. April, 2003

Faith the vampire Slayer was in the backyard of 1630 Revello Drive, doing gymnastics and treating herself to a grand old workout.

Having recently escaped from the prison in Stockton at the behest of her former Watcher Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, she had helped the original vampire with a soul named Angel become one of the good guys again. And after Willow had shown up in LA to re-ensoul Angelus, she had decided to accompany the witch back to the Hellmouth, where she was most needed.

The welcome home party hadn’t exactly been something to cheer about, but then again with her past record here – that wasn’t exactly unexpected.

Suddenly, Faith’s Slayer-sense went crazy as she felt a supernatural entity close by. She whirled around, and saw Andrew and all the SITs staring at her from the rear window of the house. But she ignored them – as Faith knew there was a demon nearby...

Then Xander Harris, of all people, stepped out of the bushes to join her. He stared briefly at the others in the kitchen, who took the hint and quickly disappeared. Then the dark-haired man guy turned to face the brunette woman, “Hey, Faith. I heard you were back-”

The Slayer barely even glanced his way. “Hey yourself, stud. Listen, don’t want to alarm you, but I just felt a demon close by – we gotta-”

Xander interrupted her, “Yeah, that was probably me arriving here, I just got back in town. Guess Buffy and Willow didn’t tell you what happened to my ass a few months ago, huh?”

“No,” Faith frowned, staring at him. “In fact...B’s never even mentioned your name, if I recall right. What’s up with that?”

Harris sighed, and briefly explained the situation. “So you see, those Shadow Men dudes gave me the energy of a demon, which is why I show up on your Slay-dar...”

Faith chuckled. “Slay-dar?”

Xander looked annoyed. “Whatever you wanna call it! But ever since then, Buffy’s pulled away from me completely.”

“Why?” the Chosen One was confused, as in the old days she’d thought their bond was unbreakable.

“Maybe because I’m technically stronger than she is? Which doesn’t mean squat, of course; all those guys gave me was the strength. No fighting skills, no supernatural agility, so Slayer healing...” He snorted. “You know what I basically am? The muscle in a cheap Hollywood B-movie!”

The Chosen One moved closer. “Unreal. So, why didn’t G train you?”

A shrug. “Giles tried, whenever the guy had time in between looking for potential Slayers and bringing them here. But I’m still the same old klutz I ever was. Ask anyone!”

Faith smirked. “Then let’s have ourselves a workout. I wanna see what you can do...”

A short time later, they circled each other carefully. “So why didn’t you ask B to help actualize your potential, or whatever the in-phrase is these days?” Faith asked, still smirking.

Xander shrugged briefly and said without malice, “Because Spike is the only guy she has time for anymore. So unless you wanna kill me, guess I’m stuck with you.”

That stung, as the smirk was wiped from her face. But as they sparred, Faith had to admit he hadn’t been kidding; Xander was nowhere near the level of a vamp or herself, when it came to fighting ability-

WHAM!!

Faith flew back in disbelief, as the guy she had once bedded out of feeling hungry and horny got in a lucky punch. She felt a rib fracture, and landed on the grass twenty feet away. “Ah, shit!”

Xander rushed over at once, “Are you okay? I’m sorry, Faith, I-”

The woman just swept his legs out from under him, and straddled the guy once he was on the ground. “Lesson number one; never drop your guard, for anybody!”

On his back, Xander looked at her and laughed once he understood the Chosen One was basically all right. “You always did like being on top, as I recall...”

Faith couldn’t help it; she blushed and quickly got off him. They sat next to one another on the lawn as she asked, “So, what’s the story with you and the former demon girl already? Red mentioned a little of what happened, during the drive from LA...”

Xander looked away and sighed. “You mean Anya. What can I say? I royally screwed up there, Faith. Nowadays, that’s over – for good. Ever since I became the new and improved model Xander Harris, my temper’s gotten a whole lot worse; probably due to the demon influence. We’ve had a number of horrible fights since then...” he broke off.

The junior Slayer said uncomfortably, “Look, stud, I’ve been meaning to mention it ever since I got back. About what happened that night, in my motel room-”

He cut her off, “What, when you tried to kill me? I got news for you, Faith, you weren’t the first woman to do that; or the last. And since I forgave Dark Willow trying to blast me into little pieces last year, I figure it’d be darn hypocritical of me not to extend the same courtesy to you. Besides, this is no time to be hanging onto old animosities...”

They got up, and Xander held out his hand. “Fresh start, what do you say?”

The raven-haired Slayer shook it at once. “Deal.”

~~~~~~

Sunnydale, California. May, 2003

In the Summers residence, Rupert Giles was studying photographs of a mission located north of the Hellmouth, near a place called Gilroy. His aim was to uncover information about the new Big Bad that had blown into town; the fallen preacher called Caleb, that was a minion for the First.

And their former hostage named Andrew Wells, continually whining about his food being stolen, was not making that task any easier.

So Giles just said to the youth irritably, “Shut up. Pay attention.” He then held a magnifying glass over one particular photo, “Dawn, what do you see?”

The former Key was confused. “What am I looking for?”

Rupert said patiently, “On the back wall, a...knothole.”

Through the magnifying glass, Dawn saw an imprint of what looked like Caleb’s trademark ring in the wood, on a wall next to a statue of the Virgin Mary. “That’s not a knothole!”

The former Watcher nodded. He said to a Slayer-in-training, “Amanda, would you go down to the basement and get Spike?”

Dawn mused, “Maybe this’ll help...if this does bring us closer to Caleb.”

Faith walked into the room eating a pastry, with Xander not far behind her; a situation which was getting more and more usual, these days. “Sounded like there was news...” she said.

Andrew glared at her thievery, but she just ignored the nerd like everyone else. Spike then walked into the room and drawled, “What’s up...Rupert?”

Giles ignored the sarcasm. “Spike, I have a mission for you.”

William the Bloody sneered, “Oh, really? 'Cause, you know, sometimes our missions end up with you trying to kill me. I’m not fond of those.”

His compatriot said simply, “This is bona fide...with real ramifications. Take a look at this.” He handed Spike the photo and the magnifying glass, who examined the thing – as did Xander, after he was done.

Spike looked at Giles. “Looks like our boy’s been here. You want me to go check it out?”

Rupert nodded. “I need someone who can take care of themselves, in case Caleb has...left some souvenirs. It’s a mission near Gilroy-” he went to hand over the address.

Xander interrupted him. “Maybe I should do it? It’ll be quicker – on account of I’m not limited to only travelling at night, like him.”

Giles looked at the vampire, who just shrugged, and then nodded at Harris. “Very well.” Xander quickly got started for the door, when Faith called out, “Hey, wait up!”