"Kin and Kind"
By Viridian5
8/10/01

RATING: R; Pike/Benny, Giles/Ethan, Xander/multi-directional. If m/m interaction bothers you, pass on by.
SPOILERS: small stuff from "Welcome to the Hellmouth," "Consequences," and "Fool for Love."
SUMMARY: Xander wanders into the secret tangles of a few very complicated lives.
ARCHIVAL/DISTRIBUTION: Anywhere, as long as you ask me first.
FEEDBACK: Hell, yes. Feedback can be sent to Viridian5@aol.com.
DISCLAIMERS: Pike and Benny, from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie, belong to Joss Whedon, 20th Century Fox, and Kuzui Enterprises/Sandollar. I’m just dusting them off and letting them play. Some things here have been adjusted to reflect the Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV show canon, which belongs to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy Inc., Kuzui Enterprises/Sandollar Television, and 20th Century Fox Television. "Rikki-tikki-tavi" is from The Jungle Books, Volume Two by Rudyard Kipling. No infringement intended. Suing me would be a waste of time.
NOTES: This story could be read as a stand alone or as a sequel to my story "Reunion," but either way it runs on a timeline and canon that have been adjusted to bring it in line with the TV show, just like "Reunion" does.
Definitely pre-"Into the Woods."
Thanks to Te for setting me straight on some confusion about the threshold laws. Thanks to Nonie for the read-through.

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"Kin and Kind"
By Viridian5
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Xander tossed a stake from hand to hand as he walked home. Riley would probably go out on slaying patrol again on his own later anyway, and there was nothing Xander could do about it. The guy wanted to feel useful and prove himself, something Xander understood.

If only Riley read hints that well. Xander had been hinting all over the place about his interest, but Riley remained stubbornly... Midwestern. Or he wasn’t interested back. It could be that, and the not knowing for sure remained a problem that the hint method had. Thing is, the hint method let both sides save face and pretend nothing happened if the attraction didn’t go both ways, whereas going up and asking could send Riley screaming away. And Riley seemed to need a friend lately, so it would be bad on both sides if a come-on chased him away, but worse for Riley. Really.

Xander would feel warmer about his own altruism if said altruism hadn’t also kept him alone.

Well, he had Anya, but her ideas about what girlfriendly devotion entailed could be really weird. The sex was good--and weird--but so many times he had no idea what was going through her head. As in, all the time.

Sometimes he really needed somebody he understood, and, God, did he understand Riley.

When Xander turned the block, he almost walked right into a fight. Three vampires were ganging up on this guy in a trench coat. The guy had a stake and some good moves, but the ganging up thing seemed to be wearing him down. None of them had noticed Xander--like that never happened--but he couldn’t walk away. He knew how he’d feel if somebody with a backpack full of stakes saw him in trouble but left him to it. Not that this guy would ever know....

Whatever.

Xander nailed one of the three dead-on from behind--not exactly fair, but it’s not like the vampires would have been fair if their places were reversed--with a stake, and the guy took advantage of the other two vamps’ surprise to dust another vamp. That left only one, who suddenly didn’t like the odds and started to run. The guy suddenly had a plastic water gun in his hand and drilled a hole through the vampire’s head with a concentrated and apparently high-pressure spray of what had to be holy water. Really disgusting. He staked the vamp as soon it fell.

The guy winced as he came up out of his crouch and winced deeper as he took his own backpack off to put his stake away. "Thanks, man," he said, sounding hoarse. He looked kind of delicate, too pale, very worn out, a bit too thin, and pretty scruffy, but he had a nice spark in his eyes. He reminded Xander of a stray puppy you found out on the street and wanted to bring home to take care of.

What, it wasn’t enough that he was already spending too much time watching Riley?

"No problem. Looks like you didn’t need much help," Xander said.

"Not too many people step in on this shit. Or carry stakes."

"I hang with the Slayer."

The guy looked impressed. Good. "Yeah? So did I, for a while." Okay, maybe it wasn’t impressed. Surprised, maybe. Happy?

So was it Buffy? Faith? Xander really didn’t want to spend time with anyone who’d hung with Faith. "Which one?"

"Blonde in LA a few years back. Buffy. You too, huh? You know her?" He made a hand gesture, then winced again in what looked more and more like pain.

"What?" Then Xander got the gesture. "No! Not in, you know, a Biblical sense or anything. Not that I couldn’t if I wanted to."

"Uh-huh."

Time to change the subject. "You okay?"

"Yeah," the guy said through gritted teeth.

Xander realized that part of the back of the guy’s trench coat hung kind of strangely. Like it had been slashed. When he tried to get around to get a better look, the guy moved to make sure he couldn’t. "One of them had a knife?"

"It kind of stings, yeah. I don’t know how deep the cut is. Stupid of me. They got me like I was an amateur. I’m too used to having someone watch my back. Ben’s gonna kick my ass when he finds out what I got into without him."

Bleeding knife wound of unknown depth as they stood out on the street in Sunnydale after fighting vampires. Not of the good. "You should--"

"I’m not going to the hospital."

"Hey, I don’t like hospitals either, but they beat bleeding to death."

"I’m not--"

"Look, I’ll take you to somebody who knows more about this than I do, and he’ll clean you up." Giles had to have some knowledge, what with the Watcher stuff and the wild youth with Ethan Rayne. Every time Ethan had looked at Xander it seemed like the creepy old sorcerer was thinking that he hadn’t seriously corrupted anyone in a while and he really missed it, and that forced Xander to imagine what kinds of things Giles must have done with him. Some of the imaginings didn’t bother Xander as much as they should have, and that scared the hell out of him.

"Okay, okay. But I should call my partner first."

"Later." As Xander led the way, he said, "By the way, I’m Xander."

"I’m Pike."

"Like the--"

"Not like the fish."

"I was thinking ‘like the spear.’"

"Oh. Well, yeah, definitely like the spear."

"Please try not to bleed too much on the carpet," Giles said, all clipped passive-aggressive pissed off English guy.

Okay, Giles really wasn’t happy to see them, but it wasn’t like they were interrupting anything important. Giles was always reading. "I don’t think he has much of a choice, G-man."

"I think my undershirt is working as a bandage for now," Pike said. "Or like a paper towel."

"Xander, is there a reason why you brought your new friend here?"

"He wouldn’t go to a hospital."

"No, I meant why do you bring him to me?"

Since Pike looked like he wanted to melt into the floor and hide, Xander tried to lighten things up a bit. "Because you’re a librarian, not a doctor? Sorry, because you’re a magic store owner, not a doctor." A magic storeowner, even. "Damn, I left out the bit about being a coffeehouse singer."

Giles sighed. "I don’t know whether I should be annoyed or flattered that you came to me with this. For now I’m annoyed."

"Hey, you have to be able to do a better job than I could."

"Now I’m really annoyed."

Pike started to back up. "I’m feeling much better now. It doesn’t even hurt anymore. Thanks for everything, folks."

"Sit." Stern Watcher voice. Pike scooted into the bathroom and sat down on the toilet seat. "Strip."

"Hey! And... I’m sitting down!" Pike protested. He looked really pale in the light. Unhealthy pale.

"Perhaps I could pinch myself and wake up from this nightmare. I seem to be dealing with two Xanders."

"Hey!" Xander said.

"Do you have a name?" Giles asked.

"I’m Pike."

"All right then. Pike, I’d like you to take off your coat and however many shirts you’re wearing so I can look at your wound."

"Yeah, okay."

"I assure you, I am not a chickenhawk."

"If you were, would you say so? No." But Pike stripped off his backpack and thick leather bracelets so he could take off his coat, a holster that held the water gun on one side and a Sig Sauer on the other, a flannel shirt, and one bloody ribbed undershirt. That left him in camo pants, combat boots, a brown leather collar, and dogtags. Pike was small, but he struck Xander as being scrappy and persistent too, a bit like those little terrier dogs that would dig their prey out and never let it go until it died. Or like some other small digging creature, like that kids’ story about the mongoose and the snake. Rikki-tikki-tavi? But, stripped down and bleeding, Pike looked really vulnerable, even though the clothes no longer disguised the muscle and wiry strength his thin body had.

Xander mentally slapped himself. No matter how much the situation and Pike’s kind of semi-undress suggested a weird porno, he would not leer. Besides, Pike also had a lot of scars. Not grotesque ones, but.... That wasn’t turning him on either. No way.

"Will I need stitches?" Pike asked. "I feel like such a baby, but I can’t see the fuc-- uh, the thing since it’s on my back."

Xander coughed to hide a laugh. He couldn’t tell if Pike watched his language out of some respect for librarians or because his first impression of Giles got to be Attack!Giles, but it was funny either way.

"No. It’s long, but it’s shallow. Cleaning and bandaging should be fine," Giles said. Xander wondered when he’d ask about the gun. He had to sooner or later, even if it was only to stop Xander from dying of curiosity. "Xander, you might want to hold Pike’s hand."

"Uh, no, why?" Really he didn’t.

"Just do it."

"Fine, fine."

Xander found out that Pike had one hell of a grip after Giles started to apply the hydrogen peroxide. Sneaky Giles. Giles finished Pike’s back about five minutes after Xander finally, thankfully, lost feeling in his hand.

"Thanks, Mr. Giles," Pike said as he started to get dressed. He shoved the bloody undershirt deep into his backpack. "I really appreciate this. I’ll get out of your hair." Pike elbowed Xander and gave him a look before he could make any comments about Giles’ hair. "‘Bye now." Pike stood up and speeded out.

Xander wondered if he looked as confused as Giles did. "Yeah, thanks, Big G. I’ll go after him and see that he doesn’t get into any more trouble." Xander followed at a similarly high speed, hoping to get out before Giles got a chance to ask him any questions. He knew he’d get grilled next time Giles saw him, but maybe by then he’d have some answers from Pike and a good cover to explain the stuff he didn’t know.

Xander caught up with Pike on the sidewalk. "Hey! How about some warning?"

Pike kept walking but didn’t seem to mind Xander keeping pace. "He has somebody over." He still sounded a bit hoarse, making Xander wonder if that was how he usually sounded. It was pretty sexy.

Then what Pike had said broke through. "What? Giles? Way to go for him. But how’d you know that?"

"The way his eyes kept flicking in a certain direction. It probably means he has someone over. If somebody’s getting some action, I don’t want to be interrupting it."

"I get that. You got a place to go?" Seeing as how Pike smelled like dinner to Sunnydale’s large vampire population right now.

Pike shrugged. "I can go back to the van." Whatever Pike saw on Xander’s face made him say, "We’re not homeless. We just like to travel."

"The lure of the open road, huh? I did that one summer until the car broke down, and I had to wash dishes and, uh, dance to pay for room and board and repairs."

"I had a van like that once, breaking down all the time. I never had to strip to get it fixed though."

"I never said I stripped."

"You didn’t have to. Not like it’s a bad thing." That definitely looked like interest on Pike’s face. Hot damn. "Anyway, my partner will show up eventually." And the way his eyes sparkled when he talked about his guy partner also suggested that he at least swung that way. Possibilities, maybe, especially if Pike and his partner were open-minded.

"You can stay at my place for a while. Give him a call, and he can walk you to your van."

"And they said chivalry was dead."

"Eh, who’s ‘they’ anyway?"

Pike smiled a little, sweet and sad. "I’m not used to nice people."

Xander figured Pike would change his mind on that character judgment if he’d noticed how often Xander had checked him out tonight or exactly what thoughts had led to his little offer. "Uh, yeah, well."

"Real good at taking compliments too."

"Mmmm."

"I’ll stop saying nice things about you."

"Thanks, man. So, is there a lot of slaying to be done in other places not here?"

"Hell, yeah. I never understood why the world gets only one Slayer, though lots of people out there are ‘slayers’ with a lower-case S. They have to be. For instance, you don’t ever want to go to this little town called Santa Carla...."

"Nice place." Pike smirked. "I can say that without you losing the ability to speak, right?"

"Thanks, and you’re funny. How’s your back doing?"

"It didn’t really hurt much until your friend starting poking at it. Now it only bothers me when I breathe."

"What was up with you taking your undershirt? You that hard up?"

"No way I’m leaving something coated with my blood at a sorcerer’s house." Pike went pale. Paler. "Oh, shit. He does have my blood. How could I be--"

"Calm down, excitable boy. Giles is a good guy, and he’s not going to use a few bloody Q-Tips to steal your soul. And how do you know he does any of that stuff anyway?"

"If I hadn’t started watching people, the last few years would have killed me. Giles is okay?"

"Cross my heart."

"Okay, but I’m trusting you on this. You better not let me down." Pike took out a cell phone.

"Hey, you don’t have to call your friend right away. You’re welcome to stay."

"Thanks, but Ben worries about me. I should have checked in by now anyway." Pike dialed. "Yeah, it’s me. I’m okay. Somebody took me in for a while." Pike smiled at Xander. "You should come pick me up, because I don’t think he’ll let me leave unless I have an escort through the streets. Not like that. He’s a good guy. And one of Buffy’s crew. I don’t believe my weird luck either. He reminds me of somebody. Guess. Yeah, really. Tab B2 into slot A, like she had a refill kit. Good to know I’m replaceable. You’re so fucking sweet. Back at you." Pike gave his friend the address, then turned his phone off. "Hey, thanks."

"Enough with the thanks already." Xander tried to think of stuff a good host would do. "You hungry, thirsty?" Anything to avoid asking Pike about the gun or the comment about Xander replacing him. He wanted to know and he didn’t want to know. And he didn’t want to upset Pike.

"Thirsty, yeah."

"Coke good?"

"Great."

Xander felt weirdly tongue-tied now and didn’t know why. Fortunately, Pike seemed content with carefully leaning back on the couch with his eyes closed when he wasn’t taking sips from his can. Being tired and hurt distracted from your host’s imperfections, it seemed.

In any case, the doorbell rang ten minutes later. The partner had either been in the area or flew. When Xander opened the door to see a scruffy, dark-haired guy waiting there look at him, he almost knocked down Pike, who stood right behind him, ready to go, as he stepped back.

Couldn’t be. Couldn’t be. Some things about Pike’s partner said "vampire." But Pike killed vampires. Xander didn’t want to believe.

"You’re the guy who saved Pike’s hash? I appreciate it. Nice place," the guy said as Pike walked out into the hall before Xander could grab him. Damn, he moved fast.

It could be nothing. He could be wrong. It could be that the partner was newly turned and Pike didn’t know, didn’t want to know, didn’t want to believe....

"I will rip their fucking hearts out," Ben said as he peppered little kisses across Pike’s face and stroked his hair. "Nobody messes with you."

"They’re already dead, and it’s not that deep. Xander and I nailed ‘em. Relax," Pike answered, running his hands over his partner’s back. How did Benny know about the knife wound anyway?

Unless he really was a vamp. Fuck. And Xander didn’t have a weapon anywhere near him. Maybe he had a chance if he could choose his moment right, play along and then jump. No way he would just hand Pike over.

Benny tossed his head to move a wave of messy black hair out of his eyes, tightened his arm possessively around Pike, and smirked. Then he reached into his coat pocket and tossed an envelope across Xander’s threshold. "Hey, could you see that Buffy gets that? I put a lot of thought into writing it and all."

Xander didn’t reach for it. "Pike, your friend is a--"

Benny moved, faster than Xander had ever seen, and that was saying something. He blurred, leaving what almost looked like speed lines that took him and Pike through the window down the hall in a loud crash. Xander ran after them and stopped at the broken window, glad he still wore his shoes since shards of glass gleamed all over the carpet.

He wasn’t stupid enough to stick his head outside to look for them.

Besides, he didn’t have to. He knew they were already gone.

Fuck. Fuck!

He needed Giles for this.

"Xander, what on earth are you--" Giles’ attitude changed the moment he saw Xander’s face. "Come in."

Xander bent over to catch his breath, then poured out his story. "Pike got taken. His friend got vamped and handed me something for Buffy before he took Pike out the window with him." Xander gave the envelope to Giles. "I don’t know where they went, but Pike’s tired and hurt and I don’t know how well he’ll do against a friend who’s a vampire. It’s... hard when it’s a friend. I think they were lovers too, and I don’t even want to think there. Pike mentioned a van, but I don’t know where they parked it. They’re probably hightailing it out of Sunnydale by now anyway."

Giles turned the envelope over in his hands. "Pike didn’t go into any more detail about it."

"No. I’m lucky I know Pike’s partner is named Ben. Pike didn’t get into his daily life with me much." Xander saw Giles’ face go still and pale. "What?"

"Pike. Pike and Ben. Benny?"

"Giles, you’re freaking me out here."

"We can’t hand this envelope over to Buffy."

"Why?"

"Because if this is the Benny I think it is, he’s one of Lothos’ get and must bear her nothing but ill will. As for Pike, Pike is Benny’s partner and has been for years."

Couldn’t be. "Lothos was the vampire master she took out in LA. But that was years ago, and Pike is human!"

"Yes, he is."

Xander couldn’t take it in. At all. "But he’s human and alive, and that was years--"

"Yes."

"How long have you known about this?"

Giles suddenly looked even older. "Benny started becoming something of a legend among Watchers three years ago. Reports said that he’d become some kind of hybrid, somehow retaining characteristics of Lothos’ get while gaining some from the Master’s. Reports also said that he kept a mortal lover, something that left him an outcast among vampires."

"What? For playing with his food?"

"Yes. They consider him perverted and quite mad. He’s hunted by his own kind."

"Why didn’t you ever tell her?"

"Benny and his paramour were roaming the country, impossible to find since they never stayed in one place long, and the world needed her here. The Council felt he was less of a threat since he never cared for taking over the world or fighting the Slayer, and I think they thought that such a young vampire would never last against all the ones out to kill him. In any case, I knew that Buffy had been... involved with Pike in LA, and by the time I heard anything, Pike had already been with Benny for about a year. He would be irrevocably changed. The Council commanded me to keep the news from her."

Years now. What kind of effect would spending years with a crazy vampire have on a person?

Xander tried to imagine someone loving him enough to stay by him even after his death, even after becoming a bloodsucking creature of the night. Sometimes he remembered the way Jesse’s flesh had given way under the stake in his hand before exploding into dust. His best friend.

Giles shook his head. "My God, I literally had Pike in my hands tonight."

"Proof. And bait," Xander said bitterly.

"It’s not like that at all! Did it ever occur to you that perhaps I might be thinking that I could have found a way to give Pike asylum?"

"Sorry, couldn’t separate you from the Council for a moment. But do you think Pike would have accepted it from us?"

"No, I don’t. But given time, perhaps--"

"Perhaps we could have killed Benny and forced Pike to deal. We have to read whatever Benny put in that envelope. And don’t give me that crap about having morals, because you were going to do it before I suggested it. It might help."

Giles opened the envelope. "Do you mind?"

"What? You think I’m not going to read it too?"

"Do I have to say that I’ll probably decide that this letter and its contents must never leave this room?"

"I got that."

They each read silently. "Hey, Buffy. Been awhile. I would have visited sooner, but I wasn’t sure what I wanted to say to you. I mean, on the one hand, you stole Pike and turned him on me, and that splash of holy water in the face followed by electrocution really fucking hurt. On the other hand, you tossed him aside like trash afterward, leaving him to fight all the vamps who came to LA looking for you. Left him to fight them all alone, while you went off looking for your ‘normal’ life. Good touch not telling him that you were moving away until a week before you did. But, hey, you wanted to make sure he didn’t come with you to remind you of the slaying. With what you did and all the slaying, he was so hurt, so tired, so easy.

"I know you don’t really give a damn about him, never really did, but I figured it might chap your ass to think that I took something that used to belong to you. He either helps me kill or goes off by himself knowing I’ll kill without him. And we both know that some day when we fuck I won’t be able to stop with just a taste of him, I’ll drink him dry and turn him. So I wanted to leave you a little thank you note and tell you that I cleaned up the mess you left in LA. So thanks, Buff."

"We can’t show her this note," Xander said. He felt sick. Pike could have been safe at the apartment....

"Do you really think so, Xander?" Giles answered.

"What crawled up your ass and died?"

"Intriguing phrasing there," a voice said from behind them.

Xander turned, recognized the speaker, and moved to get to the chest that Giles kept some of his weapons in. But Giles grabbed his arm to stop him. And he saw that Ethan Rayne looked very comfy in his silk pajamas and robe and just-fucked glow....

No. Way. "Are you nuts?" Xander asked Giles. "After what he did to you? Over and over? After what he did to Buffy that time?" Worse thought. "Did you help him get away from the Initiative?"

"Such fierce, judgmental children you have, Ripper."

Giles looked fierce himself. But at Xander. "In the end, I feared that the Initiative would be even more irresponsible in using Ethan’s power than Ethan is." He sounded part Giles, part... not.

"Responsibility is such a heavy burden. That’s why I prefer to leave it to the professionals."

Even Ethan’s voice set Xander’s teeth on edge. "And that meant that you had to sleep with him too?"

"No, that was something he wanted to do," Ethan said. "Oh, don’t look at me like that, Ripper. Are you so deathly afraid of your children finding out what you are?"

There was something about Ethan that dared you to hit him. Of course, you had to come in close to do that....

"I could find them easily," Ethan continued. "It’s amazing what you can conjure with some blood and pain. I only need a few of those cotton swabs you used on him."

Giles looked torn.

Okay, that made Xander’s stomach feel much worse, even aside from how he’d promised Pike that no one would use his blood to hurt him.

But they weren’t hurting him. They would be saving him.

Right?

But it was Ethan Rayne who wanted a bit of Pike’s blood, and who the hell could trust him? "There has to be another way," Xander said. "Then, once we find them, I could go alone. I have a connection with Pike."

"Absolutely not." At least Giles hadn’t mentioned that the last time Xander had said something about being the best one to talk reason to somebody he had "a connection" with, that last somebody had been Faith, who then tried to rape and strangle him.

Xander had learned to be thankful for the small mercies from his friends.

"Look, Pike figures you’re a sorcerer, and I don’t know what he’ll make of Ethan Rayne. I seem unthreatening."

"Only because you are," Ethan said. "And, yes, you’ll be dreadfully disappointed in Pike when he lets his lover suck you dry. I’m sure Pike is a perfectly nice boy when he’s not helping his vampire lover kill."

"No one asked you," Xander said.

"That’s right. You only need my help in tracking him down."

The lights went out, plunging the house into darkness. When Xander heard gunshots, instinct made him drop himself and knock Giles down to the floor. Flares of fire flew through and hit with the sound of shattering glass, spreading flames. He heard a few solid thuds and moans of pain. It was all so fast. When somebody ran by, going out the door, Xander followed and tackled him down, then pinned the smaller, thinner body against the paving cobbles with his own. Pike. It had to be.

But then something grabbed Xander by his collar and sent him flying. Look, Ma, no gravity. The next thing he knew, he had his back to the wall and sharp teeth at his throat. He was outside, in Giles' back patio area. No threshold issues. He struggled, but Benny was so much stronger than he was, crushing his arms, and he couldn’t see what he was doing....

"No!" Pike whispered harshly and shook one of Benny’s arms. "Not him! He means well."

"Don’t they all," Benny said, his tone sneering.

"No, Benny. Just no."

Benny growled a little but backed off from Xander’s neck. Thank God. But his grip stayed tight.

"Don’t waste your time trying to save me, Xander," Pike said. "I’m where I’m supposed to be, and there’s no turning back anyway. But thanks for thinking of me. Take care of yourself. You’re one of the good ones." Pike gave him a quick, sweet kiss, then whispered, "This is about where I always figured I’d end up anyway," into Xander’s ear on an enticing puff of hot breath.

"And I guess I should thank you for saving Pike’s life," Benny said, before giving Xander a deep kiss, with tongue. Room temperature mouth and body, but he had a wicked tongue. When he finally gave Xander a chance to breathe again, he said, "And this is for your own good. Trust me," before clubbing Xander down, knocking him out.

"Xander!"

When Xander opened his eyes, the pain made him wished he hadn’t. "Present," he groaned. "Everybody okay?"

Giles’ left cheek was swollen and purple, obvious even in the lantern light. "I’m fine. Ethan disappeared in the dark." He sounded rueful but far from surprised. He sounded very Giles.

"Figures." He was never going to look at Giles the same way again, that was for sure.

"I’m taking you to the hospital. At least you fared better than I did. He pistol-whipped me. Took me like I was an amateur." Giles sounded so offended that Xander laughed, which didn’t do the ball of pain his head had become any favors. "I didn’t expect them to come back, and I should have. I’m amazed they left us alive."

Yeah, he fought them. They’d knocked him out to prove it, hadn’t they? "That would be Pike. And I think they were in a hurry. He pistol-whipped you?"

"He used guns for us and Molotov cocktails for the rest. Fortunately, the fires hadn’t spread far while we were unconscious. One in the kitchen and one in the bathroom. He knew exactly where to go."

"You think Benny doesn’t know exactly what Pike’s blood smells like and couldn't figure out where it is, whether he's outside the building or not?"

"Your point."

"The doctor said that I have to wake you every 30 minutes," Anya said.

"Maybe we can make a game out of it," Xander answered as he put his shirt back on. He couldn’t wait to go home.

"That would be a very stupid game. Not much fun either."

"You try to be the one whose head feels five sizes too small."

"That also sounds like a very stupid game."

Normalcy. At least as it ran in the life of Xander Harris. "That’s why we’re not playing that one."

"You’ve been very quiet. For you, at least."

"It’s stupid."

"I took that risk when I asked."

"I’m just thinking about how things in my life could have turned out differently. How I’m pretty lucky." He could have been a nomadic vampire’s mortal love-slave.

Worse, a mortal love-slave who didn’t want to be saved. How could you help someone who didn’t want it and would do anything to avoid it?

It was wrong, like Rikki-tikki-tavi bedding down with the snake and maybe killing the family instead.

"Very lucky. You have me. If my life had turned out differently, I’d only be interested in you as another filthy male to curse to a grotesque death or an eternity of misery."

"That cheers me up a lot." It did a bit, actually.

When she smiled, it lit up her face and eyes. "It was meant to."

Xander would also have been happier not knowing that Giles and Ethan were still... involved, but what could you do? Then there was Riley and Buffy falling apart....

Hey, actually, he was pretty lucky in love.

**********************THE END***********************