"The Rebirth" by Shadow Master AKA Ryley Breen

email: : This is just for all of the legal buffs who might take exception to this. I do not own anything about Buffy the Vampire Slayer or The Matrix Trilogy nor anything even remotely related to them. I am not making a profit but rather I am doing this strictly for my own enjoyment. So please do not sue me or send Agents to my door because I have nothing of value save my god like imagination and sad addiction to crossover fanfics.

Note : This is yet another fanfic that my mind has thrown out but I am not sure where I am going to go with it or how long it will last. Most likely your reviews will determine much as well as how long the effects of this particular creativity bug stays in my system. Please review and if you have any suggestions I will be happy to accept them and if they are really good I will try and incorporate them into this fanfic. Now it is time to go down the rabbit hole once again…..

The Rebirth

Another day another dollar! , Xander thought to himself as he entered his newly bought apartment , If it weren't for the money I make working construction I would seriously consider moving into a better line of work. Maybe a computer programmer? They make tons of dough and only have to sit in their neat little cubicles all day.

He chuckled to himself at the image of him dressed in an immaculately clean suit typing computer code and making his latest pitch to some snobby supervisor. He might be a lot of things but computer savvy wasn't one of them by a long shot. The only reason he managed to pass his high school computer classes was because Willow had been the substitute teacher for a long while after Miss Calendar was killed. Not only had she not allowed him to waste time in class playing solitaire on the computer but she had all but forced him to stay after school until she was sure he had understood everything. True he had only passed with a C- but that was a fair bit better then the rest of the Ds he had gotten in many of his other classes with the exception of woodworking hence his job at a construction company. In any case though there was no chance he was smart enough computer-wise to get a decent enough desk job at some computer company. Which left him where he was right now which was dirty, tired, hungry and exhausted walking into his place. He had briefly shared it with the former vengeance demon Anyanka but after two months of finding that there was nothing more to her than good sex he had decided to call the relationship quits. She was just too new to the whole hey-I'm-human thing to really hold his interest and contrary to some people's opinions his brains were not located just below his waist.

He wasn't entirely sure why, beyond the healthy relationship and long term commitment reasons, but he was looking for something deeper than just a roll in the hay as the basis of romance between him and a woman. He wanted someone who understood him and accepted him for who he was rather than someone who would try and change him into what they thought the ideal man would be like. Cordy had been like that off and on during their relationship back in high school and even though he genuinely felt guilty for that fluke of a kiss between him and Willow he had also been relieved. It was like a part of him was glad to be free of that partnership and all the confining rules that had come along with it. No more having to break the bank to try and afford clothes she would approve of or expensive gifts to make up for when he put his foot in his mouth. He was free to look elsewhere for companionship and he was determined to let the women of the world know that Casa del Xander was open for business. Unfortunately his predictable luck with women in high school seemed to be following him into his life as an independent person as the only women who seemed to be interested were demon women. So aside from Buffy and company having to bail him out of another demon sacrifice ritual he had gotten downright paranoid about any woman who showed interest in him.

Looking down at his feet he saw that today's paper had been delivered and reached down to pick it up. He sighed though when he looked at the headline 'Children of Zion strike again' and wondered what kind of world he lived in where everyone and everything seemed bent on destruction and blowing things up. This terrorist group had been around since he was about three years old and had done some pretty daring things but the end result was still a massive body count and another demolished building. With only one or two exceptions it seemed that their targets were primarily government buildings or federal law enforcement agencies like the FBI and CIA. It wasn't just in the USA either but all over the world and even after fourteen years the authorities still didn't seem any closer to putting a stop to them then at the beginning. Still with the closest Fed Building being in LA he didn't think they had a great deal to worry about here in good ol' Sunnyhell, California. Unless of course those wackos get it into their heads to try and nuke the entire west coast to make a single clean sweep of their 'unholy enemies' or whatever they called the feddies. He never really liked those that thought that change came out of a barrel of a gun or with the boom of a bomb and while that might seem strange coming from someone who had orchestrated the bombing of his school it wasn't really. He understood after finding out about the things that went bump in the night that force was sometimes an unpleasant necessity when dealing with opponents that had no interest in talking things out. He just felt that most terrorists were just people with a lot of pent up anger looking for a way to vent it and deciding that to either form or join a terrorist group was the way to go.

Still not my problem , he thought to himself as he tossed the paper onto the dining room table, I just hope someone catches those trigger happy morons before they decide to take things up a notch.

It was just about when he entered the kitchen that he heard something that made him freeze in place and listen harder for the sound in case it happened again. One of the first things he had done when he had moved in was to find all the spots in the apartment that gave off a creaking noise when someone stepped on it. He knew that while his place may be safe from vamps there was a multitude of other nasties that weren't overly inconvenienced by that pesky 'invitation' rule the undead had to follow. Add to that the fact that he was a founding member of the Scooby gang and it wasn't all that odd to expect some demons might want to pay him a 'friendly' visit. He waited a bit and then moved himself in the hopes that he could entice his unknown intruder into moving aas well so he could find out where the sound was coming from. Moving into the kitchen he went over to one cupboard, opened it, and withdrew a wicked looking knife with serrated edges that in addition to being quite sharp had been blessed by four priests. Now sure there were demons who could stand up to that and perhaps live through being stabbed by it but it would hurt like a sonnuva bitch when placed in the right spot. Sticking in behind him underneath his belt he moved to the living room and just as he stepped into it he was rewarded with the sound he had been waiting for up until then.

Oh man! I can't believe they're in my bedroom! He groused mentally as he wondered what the sick demon or human was doing in there.

He shook his head to clear it before any seriously disgusting thoughts entered into it and tried to decide on the next course of action. One, he could try and get to his phone and get Buffy over here with the rest of the gang. Two, he could leave now and hope that the intruder would be gone by the time he got back. Three, he could do the hero thing and try and deal with this problem on his own. Calling Buffy was tempting but he doubted that the perp would wait around for reinforcements to come and would likely be pressured into action. Whether that was running away or killing Xander right then and there was anyone's bet. Leaving right away might save his life but he doubted it would solve anything since as he had nothing of mystical or occult value in his place beyond the basics you could buy from any number of sources. That meant it was most likely him they were after which meant they would keep coming back until they got him so leaving would only prolong the inevitable. That left confronting the perp which in his case required that he find some way to take him by surprise and get a killing hit in before the other could react.

First I have to get him down here! , Xander thought as he looked around the room to see what he had at his disposal, What would be a nice juicy piece of bait to get this guy to come running?

Unfortunately the only thing that he could think of using was his newly bought TV which was big enough to cause quite a bang and would catch anyone's attention when they saw it smashed. The only problem was that it was brand new and if he busted it he would have to wait until next paycheck to buy a new one if not the next one after that. While not a TV addict there were a few shows that if he missed or wound up only catching a few minutes of he was very cranky for the rest of the day or night. Still if Buffy could sacrifice parts of her precious wardrobe to combat the forces of darkness he could at least sacrifice one television. Walking over to his TV he pushed it violently off the stand causing it to slam onto the ground with a boom and smoke a bit as something short-circuited. Moving over to a nearby window he smashed it with his elbow and then with less noise made his way to a wall which on the other side was the bedroom. For a moment it seemed as though his baiting wasn't going to work but then he grinned as the encouraging sounds of rapid foot falls headed for the bedroom door. Counting down the distance between him and the intruder he waited until just until the perps head was about to appear before he lashed out with his knife intending to stick it into the throat or chest.

Unfortunately much like other nicely laid plans this one didn't go the way he thought it would as the man, from his build and face, would have been killed he seemed to blur as he slid out of the path of the knife. Xander immediately tried to pull back the knife arm but before he could the man grabbed it and twisted it until he was forced to drop the knife. Refusing to go down without a fight he used the man's focus on one arm to bring around the other in a half decent right hook. This did not improve matters as the man's other hand lashed out in a blur to catch it before it could make contact. This made Xander a little desperate so he did the only thing he could think of and rammed his head forward aiming haphazardly for the other guy's nose. Now I know what some people might think, headbutting someone can be just as painful on the sender as the receiver if you don't do it right but at this point the Zeppo was willing to try anything. Contact was made a moment later and while he did hurt his head a bit the feel of drops of warm liquid hitting his head told him he had hit his mark. Taking advantage of the moment of distraction he kicked the guy between the legs, wincing in sympathy for a moment, before bringing an elbow down right on the base of the guy's skull. He had expected the guy to drop to the ground at which point he would climb on the guy's back and attempt to snap his neck. Unfortunately this guy was stronger than your average human as well as quicker and while it was clear he was hurt he was still on his feet. Feeling the fear well up with in him he made a desperate move and swung his right knee up to catch the guy in the face. This apparently was what the guy had been waiting for since the moment the foot got in range the guy caught it and then lifted him clear off the ground before throwing him into a wall. He hit the surface hard and was in a dense haze when he hit the floor to the point where he could not move nor really tell what was going on around him. He knew somehow that the man who had broken into his place was still there but that was about all he could say for certain.

Gotta g-get up! , he thought to himself as he tried to will his limbs to move, Those who go down in this kind of fight tend to stay down!

Using the wall for support he pushed himself upwards on shaky feet as his senses slowly began to fall back into synch with his mind. He could tell that the man was talking on a cell phone now and that he was getting panicky about something. With a growl of frustration the man terminated the call and looked like he was just going to leave and walk away. He didn't even take one step before he stopped, turned around, and walked over to Xander who was only just starting to learn how to stand on his own two legs again. Unfortunately the man seemed to think he should start from the beginning again as with a vicious right hook to the jaw the Zeppo was sent to la-la land and blackness enveloped his mind.

Late Morning, Xander's Apartment

The thick and comforting substance of unconsciousness was wrapped around him tightly and although his mind was incapable of forming coherent thought at the moment his heart was quite content to remain in that peaceful awhile longer. That was why when he suddenly felt himself drenched in cold water it was a shock to his system that caused him to sit upright and scream to voice how cold the water felt to him.

"Xander! What happened here!" came the familiar voice of his sandbox friend Willow who sounded on the verge of hysterics.

With his senses cleared and fully alert thanks to the cold bath he looked around and found Buffy and Giles there as well inspecting the apartment for added trouble and clues.

"Some creep broke into my place and we had a little tussle that's all." , He replied as he got to his feet, "Geez Willow did you have to dump a bucket of cold water on me! A simple shaking would have gotten me up just as fast and would leave me nice and dry!"

"I tried that but it didn't work and what did you say about a thief breaking into your place?" Willow said managing to both reply to his question and ask one of her own.

"I got home from work late and heard somebody rooting around in my bedroom." , he replied as he walked into said bedroom to get a dry shirt, "There wasn't time to call for help so I tried to beat him on my own."

"Well that sure went spectacularly!" Buffy said sarcastically as she examined the dent his body had made in the wall when he had been thrown into it.

A little annoyed at the jab she had just taken at his competency in battle he said "There wasn't time to call you or the others Buffy. I had to handle this on my own. You may be the Slayer but even you can't be everywhere at once. The rest of us have to learn to take care of ourselves without you because it's a fact of life that you won't always be there to save our lives."

Buffy looked a little taken aback by his statement but Giles stepped in to prevent any potential squabbling from taking place.

"While I agree that a certain amount of self-reliance is needed Xander it seems that this intruder might be a bit more than a normal man can handle." The Watcher pointed while trying not to anger the young man any further.

"Okay I'll admit the guy had some moves but I could've taken him if he hadn't run off the way he had." Xander said defensively while inwardly agreeing with the father figure's opinion.

"He ran away? Why?" Willow asked in the cute little curious and confused way she could when she came across a particularly interesting question she wanted to figure out.

"I don't know. He was talking on his cell phone for a moment, arguing, and then ran off." , Xander replied as he rubbed his jaw where he could feel a nasty bruise forming, "Not before he laid me out with mean right hook though."

"Hmmm, it could mean that he was just hired help and was called off when you detected his presence." Said the Watcher as he pondered this unusual turn of events.

"Yeah but he didn't seem real happy about it hence the purple and yellow splotch on my jaw." Xander replied with a wince as he touched the mark harder and produced the expected but by no means enjoyable pain.

"In any case perhaps it would be prudent to stay with Mrs. Summers for a time until we can determine just who it was that attacked you." Giles suggested as Xander could practically hear the gears turning the head of the man in tweed.

"No way Giles! Whoever has suddenly decided to notice Xander T. Harris is a professional not some garden variety street thug." , Xander declared in refusal of the suggested alternative in accommodations, "Besides I refuse to put Mrs. S in any trouble. She has enough to worry about with Buffy being the Slayer without having to worry about guys in suits causing her trouble."

"But Xander.." Willow began with the wish no doubt to persuade her friend to go where it was safe.

"No 'buts' Willow. Besides the guy was trying uber-hard to not be detected so I doubt they'll try anything anytime soon." , Xander said firmly to quiet the wicca's arguments, "That should give us some time to figure out who they are and what they were after in my apartment."

"I'm going to take a leap and say that it wasn't your wardrobe because I doubt anyone would find those old Hawaii shirts valuable enough to steal. Burn yes, steal no." Buffy said with some levity hoping it would make up for her earlier remark.

"I'll have you know that I got a call just last week for one of my cocoanut and palm tree ones from some guy in Hungary." , Xander said in mock defense of his treasured shirts, "He actually has quite a collection from what he told me."

They all chuckled at this and while Xander was still a bit annoyed that Buffy thought so little of his fighting skills he knew she didn't really mean anything by it. So with a few more kind words Buffy and the others left for their respective jobs or interests leaving him to deal with the mess. The only saving grace was that he didn't have to work today so he didn't have to worry about getting chewed out by the boss for being late. Sadly this was when Murphy's Law decided to kick in with the phone ringing and the caller ID showing it was the construction company calling. For a moment he stood there debating whether or not to bother answering but after looking at the smashed TV in his living room he walked over and picked up the recieverl.

"Harris." He stated calmly as he waited for the yelling voice of his supervisor bellowing for him to get down to the construction site to fix some screw up or another.

"Last night's attack won't me the last Mr. Harris." , came a slightly garbled and unknown voice, "They weren't after your possessions, they were after you."

"What? Who is this ?" Xander asked as he rechecked the caller ID only to find it stating 'Unknown Name, Unknown Number' instead of the name of the place where he worked.

"I can't stay on the line for long. They probably have it monitored." , the voice said ignoring his questions, "If you want to know more come to the abandoned church where your friends fought the order of Taraka and Spike tomorrow night. Come alone, tell no one."

With that the phone went dead and all Xander heard was dial tone before he hung up himself and wondered what the hell he had gotten himself into this time.

Unknown Location, Later than Day

"You were detected." Came an echoing voice from the darkness of what appeared to be a room of some kind but nothing present to indicate what type of building the room was a part of at all.

"It couldn't be helped. If I hadn't moved out of the way I would have gotten a knife in my throat." The now known 'theif' said while trying to remain calm and collected.

"It would have been preferable if you had been killed. Then you would have been marked as just one more dead body in Sunnydale." , came the Dark Voice with a tone that he did not care for excuses, "Now the tin-horns and collaborators know we've been there and who we are interested in. It will be more difficult to acquire the target now."

"Not if we can get one of our people to him first, give him our version of events before our enemies get to him." The Thief countered in the hopes of downplaying the severity of his screw up.

"Yes, I had a similar thought and have already asked Gabriel to arrange a meeting with Mr. Harris." , the Dark Voice said making it known that he was one step ahead of the Thief, "With the right spin on matters we can make certain that he will not even consider anything those fools might tell him to the contrary."

The Thief seemed somewhat pleased that he had apparently anticipated the Dark Voice's plans and hoped that it would succeed since it would mean a lesser punishment for him than if they had lost the target entirely. Still he knew all too well that he was walking on very thin ice at the moment and his every movement as well as word would determine if he would live to see tomorrow.

"Still your mistakes have made them aware of our interest in young Mr. Harris and as such you must be punished for your errors." , the Dark Voice said in a judging manner, "Normally such a failure would be punishable by death but in this case as you are one of our more skilled operatives I think a night and a day spent in purgatory will suffice."

The thief froze at the mention of the abominable place where neophytes and the elderly among them were sent for discipline wherever they misbehaved. He knew that this was a double insult coming from the Dark Voice, special treatment as though he had not earned his rank but rather had been given it due to special connections and that he was given a punishment used only the old weaklings and children among them. That in addition to the torment one received in purgatory itself was enough incentive to cause him to promise himself that he would never fail again. That and a promise to gain some revenge against the target for bringing such shame upon him and tarnishing his spotless record.

"As you command." The Thief said bowing towards the source of the Dark Voice before walking over to a nearby phone.

The Streets of Sunnydale, Late Afternoon

Just who are these wierdos? Xander thought to himself as he walked along the sidewalk with no particular destination in mind.

After that mysterious call this morning he put in a call to a friend of his at the local phone company to see if he could find out who really called him and where it came from. Unfortunately Tony looked three times for the Zeppo he had met during his various meetings at construction sites and all three times it showed that the call came from the construction company he worked for which led him to where he was now which was square one. He knew that the person, a man by his guess despite the distortion in the voice, didn't work for his boss and he knew he hadn't been dreaming things when he had seen the 'Unknown' messages in place of the usual caller ID. That of course made him all the more paranoid and curious as to why the fates decided his life needed a little more excitement than the usual apocalypse and demon trouble. Still there was a certain gratification in knowing that you rated such attention from the PTBs but that happy was quickly overshadowed by the question of how he was going to deal with it. He had a little over twenty-four hours until the supposed meeting so there was still time to try and get to the bottom of this before he was in too deep to pull himself out. That meant some sniffing around the local low-life hotspots and seeing if there were any new players in town that sounded like the guy that had trashed him last night.

Looks like it's time to pay Willy the Snitch a visit , he thought to himself as he angled back to his apartment to pick up the necessities for such a trip, The guy may claim to be on the straight and narrow now after the whole Sisterhood of Jhe thing but Willy's smart enough to keep his ear to the ground in case another group of demons decided to follow the Sisterhood's example.

So after picking up a couple of daggers, a cross, five stakes and a short sword he headed for Willy's bar and hoped there wouldn't be any unpleasantness. He had told Buffy earlier that he had been learning how to defend himself without her being there to save him but truthfully he was still not ready to tempt fate by going into a dangerous situation unprepared. Tucking a final trinket into his pocket, as flash/bang grenade he had pilfered awhile back along with the rocket launcher for their battle with the Judge. If he had to make a quick exit it would blind and deafen most of the demons in there long enough for him to make it to the door. As he was about to leave his apartment he debated whether or not he should leave a message on Buffy and Willow's answering machine in their dorm room. It would make good sense to let them know what he was going to try just in case things went sour but he was afraid that if they got the message before he got to Willy's that they would try to stop him and give him the 'you're hopeless in battle' speech. While not exactly false it wasn't exactly true either and brought too many painful memories of the time during High School when they tried to kick him out of the slayage. That coupled with the whole 'wham-bam-thank-you-Xan' thing with Faith and it was not one of his fondest memories. With this in mind he walked up to the entrance of the bar determined to prove that he could handle one snitch and a bar full of drunk demons.

Walking up to the bar he asked "Hey Willy! How's tricks?"

Willy jumped at the sound of his voice no doubt worried that Buffy was with him but calmed down quickly when he realized that Xander was here alone.

"What do you want Harris?" Willy asked in a tone that did not speak well of how much he respected the Zeppo.

Irked slightly Xander responded "Oh the usual. A bowl of pretzels, a glass of whatever you have on tap and some information."

"Information on what?" Willy asked like he was inquiring about the weather.

"New players in town. Look human but are make vamps seem like old men in terms of speed and strength." , Xander responded in a no-nonsense tone, "Might have been around asking questions about me and my friends. Hear anything?"

"New players come into Sunnydale all the time Harris and they all ask about the Slayer." , Willy responded as if talking to someone with special needs, "Besides I got out of the information business, way too hazardous to my health."

"Willy, Willy, Willy! Why do you lie?" , Xander asked as he mockingly shook his head, "We both know you're a snitch through and through. Besides I know after the Sisterhood came through here you'd be listening hard to give yourself as much advance notice as you could in case it happened again."

"So what if I do! I don't have to tell you anything!" , Willy stated with contempt as he occupied his attention cleaning a mug, "Your just the Slayer's gopher! If it wasn't for her you woulda been vampire chow the first week of high school before the Harvest!"

Now this comment started to piss Xander off as Willy was pretty much a spineless coward who would sell his services to whomever could pay him more or who threatened his continued existence better. The mere fact that the Snitch was willing to mouth off to him like this without any fear whatsoever made it pretty clear that as far as Willy was concerned Xander was even less of a man than he was. Thing was he had proven that night with Jack O'Toole that he wasn't useless and that he was just as capable as any other normal human being in dealing with the supernatural world. Granted against a vampire of fifty years plus or a real bad ass demon he would have to leave to Buffy but he was far from helpless. With Willy's statement Xander became determined that before he left this bar not only would he have the information he was after but he would also leave the Snitch quaking in his boots.

"Maybe you're right Willy, maybe I am just a big waste of space." , Xander said while going through the motions of pondering something, "Then again I'm pretty sure most vamps look at Buffy and see nothing more than a short, weak, pathetic blonde."

With as much speed and accuracy as he could manage he withdrew one of the daggers he had brought with him and brought it down on a hand Willy had flat against the bar surface. The Snitch let out a yelp of shock and pain as the dagger pinned the man's hand to the bar and with his other hand Xander grabbed the affected hand at the wrist so that Willy couldn't pull it free or get a hold of the dagger. This attracted the attention of the rest of the bar patrons but none of them made a move to intervene since most of them were demons and most of them were actually enjoying the show.

"Now you have a choice to make Willy. You can either tell me what you know about these new players or you can wind up like the newbie vamps who see Buffy Summers as just another tasty treat." , Xander said as he twisted the dagger a bit for the right effect, "So what's it going to be?"

"Ahhhh! Man! You're a freakin' psycho Harris!" , Willy replied before the Dagger was twisted just a little bit more, "Ahhh! Fine! They been in town a little over two weeks! No one knows a lot about them except they ain't normal! One minute they're there and the next they ain't!"

"Why the lack of info?" , Xander asked letting his eyes carry the implied threat, "If they've been in town that long I figure you would have made some kind of pitch to them by now or at least found out where they've set up shop."

"Look I don't look into these things myself! I just listen to what the customers say and a few info brokers who sell me stuff!" , Willy said being completely honest both with what he was saying and the fear on his face, "Most of the demons are hanging back to see what they're up to! The humans who go looking don't usually come back!"

"Why? What happens to them?" Xander asked insistently threatening to twist the knife even more.

"I don't know! They probably wind up dead!" Willy said as he tried to think of something, anything, to appease the madman in front of him.

Xander looked at him, both his eyes and his body language, trying to determine if the Snitch was holding anything back or if he had actually spilled everything. Willy had likely been buying and selling info among other things ever since he opened this place up in Sunnydale. He doubted this was the first time someone has used such methods to force info out of the man and he had likely managed to bluff or bullshit his way through such interrogations. Still if the smell of piss was anything to go by Willy was telling the truth because no man afraid enough to lose control of his bladder could still lie to him. Pulling the Dagger out of the Snitch's hand, wiped it on Willy's sleeve and put it back in its sheath. He pulled a fifty-dollar bill out of his wallet and tossed it onto the table figuring that the guy at least deserved something for his trouble. That and the fact that it might give the Snitch more incentive not to try for any payback in the form of cops or demon hit-things coming to his place.

"Thanks for the info Willy." , Xander said as he made his way to the exit, "Next time don't be so slow to share. It'll be less painful for both of us."

Stepping into the daylight he was a little disappointed at the lack of info he had to show for his efforts but he was rather proud of the show he had managed to put on in there. Now that the annoyance at being considered a pathetic loser had worn off he was all but ready to sag against the wall in relief that he had managed to pull it off. He knew that none of the patrons of the bar were exactly loyal to Willy but he himself was a known member of the Slayer's crew. That made him a tempting target for any demon looking to hurt the Slayer either just for fun or as an opening shot for something bigger. In any case he was lucky to come out of that bar in one piece so it was probably a good idea to get going before the patrons wise up and start coming. He made it to one of the main streets of Sunnydale before he saw someone coming down the road that he really didn't want to get into an argument with at the moment. Apparently Buffy had gotten the same idea he had about where to go for information about the latest big bad on the block. The downside though would come into play when she found out that he had been doing the same thing at the same place without any back up.

Man is she going to be mad when she talks to Willy! , Xander thought to himself as he quickly made himself scarce, If she didn't like me handling one unknown thief by myself roughin' up Willy in his own place will really make her day.

Xander's Apartment, Thirty Minutes Later

Uh-oh! Looks like more trouble bothered to look in the phone for my address! , Xander thought to himself as he spotted a black Ford P.O.S parked outside his apartment building, Wonder if I should be flattered or worried about getting all this attention?

The old Xander that still remained inside of him told him to beat feet to Willow's house and hope they just went away. The current Xander though was bolstered by the his success at Willy's and the fact that if this 'attention' he was receiving lately spelled trouble for the future. Something more than the usual run of the mill baddies were showing up in Sunnydale, something the Scoobies had never had to face before. While he may be at a loss to explain how the Thief did it but he knew he hadn't been dreaming things when he had seen the perp's body blur last night. Somehow he had become as fast as if not faster than Buffy was when she was in her Slayer zone and everything was working at its peak in perfect synch with everything else. Add to that the presence of people who were either Feds or organized crime related and even he had to admit it was outside of the jurisdiction of the Slayer. Both Giles and Buffy had made it clear that they didn't hurt or kill humans under any circumstances and that such people were better left to the proper authorities. The only time they had violated this unwritten law was with the local PD when it became clear that they were idiots under the Mayor's control. Even then though they only dealt with the human's that practiced dark magic or were aiding the local demon population. Which meant if this was a purely human force coming against them or more precisely him than there was little the Scooby Gang could do to help him.

Better face the music and see what the what is. , Xander thought as he walked up to the door and opened it knowing that it would be open if there were Feds inside, Hopefully they're here to tell me that they can take care of this Thief fella and that I don't have a thing to worry about.

As soon as he entered the apartment and laid eyes on the federal agents he felt a sudden and potent manifestation of the fight or flight impulse and that left him puzzled. The only other time Feds had ever shown up in Sunnydale had been to pick up the Invisible Girl of Sunnydale High School and he himself had not been present when they showed up. Despite that when he looked at the two federal agents in their impeccable black suits and pitch black glasses he couldn't help but feel as though he was in danger. They were not overly impressive in appearance in fact they took the whole Men In Black blend into your surroundings tactic to an extreme. The most unsettling thing though was the complete lack of any real emotion on their faces and the feeling that any supposed emotion that might appear there was an illusion. For a moment he wondered if they were robots like that one that had dated Buffy's Mom for awhile but discounted that since they didn't seem like saccharine sweet psycho killers. After all those kind of killers would be smiling at him right now trying to put him at ease until they could feed him placating drugged cookies. These guys were all business and didn't look like they had a laid back bone in their body and that if they tried to look laid back they might pull something.

"Mr. Harris. I am Agent Dalton and this is Agent Wright." , Dalton said with all the cheer of someone serving a court summons or rattling off a weather report on the radio, "We understand there was a break in at this apartment last night. We were wondering if you could answer a few questions."

"Sure but why does a simple B & E rate Feds? I mean you guys gotta have more important things to look into." Xander said as he took up a defensive position between the window he had broken but not boarded up or replaced and the door.

"Normally we would leave a break and enter case to the local authorities however this one is unique and thus has required our involvement." , Wright said as he seemed to take in the apartment as a whole, "Can you describe the man who broke into your apartment last night?"

Thinking back to what he could remember he replied "He was about your height Agent Dalton but looked like he had a face like Kevin Bacon. He was of fair to moderate build wearing a dark red trench coat, same color pants, black shoes and a black shirt. He also had dark shades kinda like yours but with a bit more coolness in the design."

The two agents looked at each other and nodded for some reason before Dalton said "Mr. Harris while I cannot divulge everything we know I can say that the man who broke into your home last night is a member of an international terrorist group we have been trying to stop for some time now. Why they might be interested in you I cannot say."

This caused all kinds of wheels to begin spinning in Xander's head as he tried to figure out what an international terrorist group might want with him. Since he was hardly an international figure and didn't make waves he was pretty sure he hadn't done anything to piss some group off either religiously or personally. That left the possibility that he had something they wanted and weren't willing to obtain by oh say buying it from him the legal way. After all he could honestly say that there was nothing in his possession that he wouldn't be willing to part with for a small sum of cash. After all he had depleted his savings account a great deal during his road trip across America and a little money wouldn't hurt. Still terrorist groups by their very nature were a greedy bunch as it took a great deal of money to bomb buildings and fund armies. He doubted they'd be willing to part with any amount of their blood money when they could just kill him and take what they wanted.

It was at the conclusion of this fact that Agent Wright stepped forward and said "Until we can ascertain what it is they want from you Mr. Harris we recommend that you do not engage in any frivolous activities. Go to work and then come home. Here is my card, if anything else happens please call me immediately."

Taking the card from the federal agent he inspected it to see just what branch of the government the man belonged to but what he saw surprised him. While it did bear several of the marks and words one would expect a federal law enforcement ID to have it did not specify an actual agency or bureau. Looking up at the agents he wondered for a moment if they were fakes but if they were that they were going to great lengths to appear genuine. They did not however stick around to allow him to scrutinize them further and so with a simple not in his direction they left the apartment, got into their car and drove off to where ever they had set up shop. The Zeppo was getting a bit nervous at all this attention that was suddenly being paid to him and for a moment he considered just making a run for it. After all if he put some distance between himself and Sunnydale maybe the Thief and his people would lose him leaving the Feds with nothing more to do than go home. He shook his head at that believing that if the Thief and his people could track down a proverbial needle in a haystack like him to Sunnydale then there was no where he could hide. He also doubted that the Feds would allow a potential tool in their fight to take down this terrorist group slip away without some kind of fight.

In other words I'm screwed if I do run and I'm pretty much screwed if I stay put. , Xander thought as he plopped down onto his couch to rest, Well with a little luck my own personal deep throat will fill in a few blanks tomorrow night.

Giles' Apartment, The Next Morning

"So G-Man! Any news on who the creep was who trashed my place?" Xander asked as he strolled into the former Watcher and Librarian's apartment.

What met him however was a group showing emotions that ranged from anger to concern to outright worry in the case of one formerly mousy little redhead. It was Buffy who was currently glaring at him like he had just insulted her fashion sense and luck with men in the most evil way possible. Giles was the one showing concern but his look was a bit more recognizable as it was the same look the ex-Watcher had given him before the gang had tried to place him fray adjacent in High School. Willow, his Willow, was probably worried that he had once more gotten himself into something dangerous and was willing to do anything to keep him safe regardless of how it violated the guy code. It only took him a moment to realize what he had done in the past twenty-four hours to cause them to look like this and silently promised to pay Willy a visit later. The Snitch had obviously told Buffy about his little visit and predictably the Slayer was mad that he had done her job for her and had put himself in mortal danger for no good reason. True Giles and Willow were probably more concerned than angry at him since walking into a demon bar was not the smartest or safest thing to do in this town.

"None so far Xander although I would wager that you know that since you paid a visit to Willy's yesterday afternoon." Giles said in a tone that while not accusatory did make it clear that the man wasn't pleased with the reckless action.

"What were you thinking Xander? Were you thinking?" , Buffy exclaimed with her arms emphasizing her displeasure, "You don't go into a demon bar and throw your weight around like that! Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

"Hey! You do it all the time! Besides Willy's a spineless chicken, I could beat the crap out of him with both hands tied behind my back!" Xander retorted defending his actions against her blunt assault.

"I go there and do it because I'm the Slayer! None of the demons in there can touch me and Willy might be a spineless coward but a lot of demons owe him favors!" Buffy shot back making her status as the Chosen One the basis of why she can enter the bar looking for information without being too concerned.

"Look Buffy! I admit that maybe I didn't put too much thought into it when I went in but everything turned out alright in the end." , Xander stated as he tried to reign in his temper and voice his position more rationally, "Besides the guy that broke into my place was human and very good at what he did if his act last night was any hint. That means he's out of your reach. You said it yourself, the Slayer deals with demon and supernatural threats not humans and everyday criminals. Let's say you do go after him and somehow manage to capture him, then what?"

"We tie him up and hand him over to the police." Buffy replied quickly as though it was the most obvious thing in the universe.

"Right! They might be getting better than the days of dumbness from when the Mayor ran things but they're still pretty thick headed." , Xander shot back a bit amazed at her brief lapse into stupidity, "Even if they were competent police officers they wouldn't be able to hold this guy."

"How do you know that?" Giles asked as he seemed to realize that the Zeppo might have come into some information they did not have.

Kicking himself for unintentionally slipping he replied "When I got back to my apartment last night some Feds were waiting for me. Apparently this Thief guy is important enough to rate their special attention so they said they'd be sticking around for awhile."

As he expected Willow's stress level shot up a level as did Giles' concern for him rose along with it once they realized what this new bit of information meant. Buffy's protectiveness also went up which probably meant that for the next few days he would have a short blonde shadow following him around. This would certainly complicate matters if he wanted to make the meeting tonight with Mr. Mysterious which meant he would have to start thinking up ways to out think her.

"Federal agents you say? Did they say what this man was wanted for?" Giles asked as he took off his glasses and began to clean them due to a familiar nervous habit.

"No, just that they'd be sticking around until they found out what exactly this guy is after." He replied being perfectly honest with them.

"Well then we leave it to them. They'll catch the guy and send him up the creek or whatever." , Buffy said sounding happy that she wouldn't have to deal with this guy herself, "Until then Xander just consider me your fashionable Slayer bodyguard."

Oh Joy! Xander thought as he did his best not to roll his eyes at the image of Buffy following him around trying to remain invisible to everyone while at the same time ready to step in and help him on a moments notice.

It also was a problem in that it would make it more difficult to reach his meeting place tonight. He was still a bit leery of the unknown voice that claimed to have information concerning the Thief and his group but it was the only option he had short of waiting for the other shoe to drop. That would be a bad thing for his friends since they were more used to dealing with claws and blades than bullets and bombs and that meant he had to deal with this on his own in the hopes that they could be spared any trouble. He knew he was probably doing the wrong thing taking their choice of whether or not to be involved away from them but they were important to him. They were his family, the only family that mattered in place of the godforsaken one he had been born to where neither mother or father lived up to their responsibilities as parents. As such he would do anything to keep them from harm even if it meant that he had to bite the big one himself to do it.

Not that I'm eager to die or anything. , he thought with some levity, after all tomorrow night is the season finale of the Simsons and I can't miss that!

"Alright but just so you know I'm going to need some private time every now and then." He stated wiggling his eyebrows in an exaggerated manner.

To this they all rolled their eyes, some in disgust while others did so in barely restrained laughter.

"No problem Xander. I'm sure since Anya left you've had to take on some extra chores and responsibilities." , Buffy said sarcastically making the double entendre obvious, "Just don't think that just because I'm your bodyguard that you ask me to take on some of those responsibilities."

Xander was at once both angry and oddly intrigued by the images that Buffy had just provided for him and for the moment remained silent about it. On the one hand Buffy had just thrown in his face the fact that his one potential girlfriend since Cordy had left him and thus implied that the vengeance demon found him lacking. On the other hand though was the image of he and Buffy in some rather arousing positions as well as providing some help in certain areas. He might no longer have ideas about Buffy and him getting together romantically in the future but still she did provide him with a few happy thoughts from time to time. In any case though it didn't change the fact that she would be watching him like a hawk until she was satisfied that the threat to him was over and done with which neither of them knew how long that would be. He had hope that this would just be a short blip on their radar of the weird and things would go back to the way they usually are with the vampires and the demons.

"Sure thing Buff! To each their own as they say." He retorted and held in a chuckle at the slight bit of crimson that colored her face for a moment.

Late Afternoon, Quitting Time, Outside the Construction site

I guess it was too much to hope for that Buffy would be too tied up in classes to watch me 24/7. , Xander thought as he spotted the blonde Slayer waiting for him outside of the walls of the construction site.

He had come in to work today to go over the plans for the next stage in the construction of the apartment building they were putting together. The basic foundation was laid along with the underground parking area so it was now time to start constructing above ground. On the side though he had looked discreetly online using the computer in the foreman's trailer for info on notable terrorist groups. Agent Dalton had said which group the Thief belonged to only that the Feds had been after this particular group for some time. How long 'some time' was in the eyes of the government was anyone's guess but if he had to make a guess than he would speculate at least five years plus. It wasn't easy to find the information he was after given that most of the specifics he was after were probably under top level classified for no ones eyes only security. Fortunately he had picked up a few tricks from watching Willow hack into the town government databases looking for info on the Mayor. It had gotten him slightly farther but he still wound up getting tossed out of the systems he wanted to get into and had almost gotten the company computer fried. Fortunately Willow had told him some of the signs to look out for when hacking to find out whether or not you had been caught and were about to receive some tainted files. After one serious close call though he had decided to call it quits computer hacking wise and just do the work he had come here to do before going home.

Unfortunately that left him with Buffy waiting for him outside of work and him with only a few hours to think up a way of getting rid of her and getting to his meeting. Fortunately though his friends always claimed that he had an overactive imagination so he was fairly certain that he would be able to come up with something useful. After all Buffy was hardly the brightest bulb in the bunch and she relied more on Giles to come up with any real plans than trying to think up ones on her own. He almost chuckled as he walked up to the Slayer as he took into account the fact that while she may have the edge on him physically he was likely smarter than her intellectually. After all despite what some people might think of him he was actually smarter than his D average said he was and that if he didn't have to worry his abusive parents or helping fight the good fight his grades would actually be higher than they were at the time of graduation. Unfortunately being smart and getting good grades did not necessarily go together like most people think they do. In any case he was fairly confident that he could out think Buffy and get away in time to meet with his anonymous source.

"So anything interesting happen at work today?" Buffy asked as she fell into step behind him.

"Naw! Just some paper work and planning for the next part of the apartment building." He replied as his attention was divided between the conversation and his own inner planning.

There was a pause in the conversation for a moment and Xander looked back to see the Slayer oddly introspective and contemplative as if she was trying to find just the right way to say something. It was odd because for the most part it was getting her to be quiet that was the problem and what irritated most vampires that attacked her to no end. Stopping and waiting for her to spit out whatever it was that was bothering her he began to wonder if there was something more to her lately than the snide remarks and the insults to his competency. Sure they were friends and all and he would not exchange her for anything or anyone in the world but still even he had to admit that there were times when he thought she was little better than the Cordettes had been. In the last while since he had been attacked though he believed a cross between her inner bitch and her overprotective Slayer self had come out. He didn't really blame her with the combination of Watcher Council bullshit and relatively unknown territory she traveled in daily probably making her side with caution overkill where normal people were concerned. Still it made him want to hit her sometimes with a very big lead pipe but instead he simply weathered the storm and hoped for the best.

"Xander … look … I know I said some pretty bad things to you lately…" , Buffy stated as she seemed to pretty much be making this up as she went along, "It's just these past three years it seems that things have been getting more and more dangerous here on the Hellmouth. It's like some cheesy TV series where the writers have to come up with a big bad that's even more evil than the one last season. I'm just afraid that something might finally come along that I won't be able to protect you from and I just couldn't take losing my Xander-Shaped friend."

It was pretty much a condensed version of Willow-becoming-Buffy-babble and it touched him in the same way that a friend of his cared about him so much that the thought of losing him sent their minds into a bit of chaos. The idea she had about the whole TV series bit was of course way out there but he understood and to a certain degree agreed with it. After all they had gone from just one Master Vampire to three Master Vampires and a Judge to a Mayor ascending into a pure blood king kong sized demon snake. At the rate they were going it was only a matter of time before the only thing left of Sunnydale was a large crater in the ground. This mind set kinda worked for him in that she wouldn't be too cheesed at him when he ditched her later and hopefully would just settle for a slap on the shoulder without the extra Slayer oomph.

"Look Buff, I know that being the Slayer isn't easy and I'd like to think that me, Willow and Giles help to make things a little bit easier for you." , Xander said as he grabbed he comfortingly by the shoulders, "Just try to understand that you can't protect me from life and life is never one hundred percent safe."

"I know the world isn't safe and I don't want to keep you from living your life but I'm not about to stand by and let you get hurt!" Buffy stated with such resolution in her voice that he knew there would be no talking her out of her position.

"Okay how about we compromise; you promise to stop being so over protective and I'll do my best to stay out of the really dangerous situations. How's that?" he asked as he sought a compromise to their two positions that they could both live with.

She nodded reluctantly in agreement and with that decision they proceeded to walk in the direction of his apartment. While he was walking he was sad that he would most likely be damaging this newfound peace when he skipped out later on without her knowing. Still it had to be done whether she would understand or agree with the reasons later on or not.

One way or another I'm gonna have some serious explaining to do tomorrow morning. Xander thought to himself as his mind imagined how angry they would all be with him later.

Unknown Location, Same Time

"Report." Commanded Agent Dalton as he looked at his partner Agent Wright.

"Mr. Harris used some amateur hacking methods in an attempt to access some of our more classified files." , Wright said in an emotionless tone, "Most likely tricks he learned from Ms. Rosenburg."

"Was he able to access the files on the group we are investigating?" Dalton asked with come concern filtering into his voice.

"No. However covert observation of his behavior since the incident indicates that he intends to take matters into his own hands." , Agent Wright replied efficiently, "He has made inquiries in another areas to ascertain the identity of the intruder to his apartment and his location. A confrontation would seem imminent."

"Most likely what they desire if Mr. Harris is indeed the objective." , Dalton commented before asking, "Should we intervene should they attempt to acquire him?"

"No. This is a matter for his own people to deal with. We must deal with the larger threat of the organization itself." , Wright stated in the negative, "Contact their nearest craft and inform them of the situation and most likely scenario involving Mr. Harris."

"Understood." Dalton said as he raised his right hand to his communication gear's ear piece.

Then without a word both seemed to vanish leaving behind the bewildered forms of two humans who were no doubt wondering 'How the hell did I get here?'.

The Street's of Sunnydale, 11:40 p.m

Well I think that an hour or so of chewing out followed by death glare number 5 is about the best I can hope for when all of this is over with. Xander thought to himself as he warily proceeded down the street towards the church that his source had mentioned.

By the time eleven p.m had come around he had finally set upon a plan to distract Buffy so he could slip out and get to his meeting on time. In retrospect he was surprised that such a simple plan would prove so effective in distracting the veteran Slayer long enough for him to slip out his bedroom window. All it had taken was a call for a pizza delivery from a restaurant based on Sunnydale U's campus and the arrival of a suitable male delivery guy. With Buffy still on the rebound after Angel jumping ship and heading to LA it didn't take much to get her to start talking and flirting with the delivery guy. He had managed to slip out of the conversation saying that he was going to get his wallet in his room to pay for the pizzas. In fact he was just going there to open the window and shimmy down a rope made of bed sheets and knew by the time Buffy finally said goodbye to her new crush he would be too far away to be tracked down.

He hated to play on her emotional and relationship troubles like that but it had been the only thing he could think of given what he had to work with at the time. He knew that there was no way he could be strong enough to knock her unconscious physically and he didn't know enough about Slayer physiology to slip a mickey into her drink that would do the job right. After all it had taken a special concoction on the part of the Watcher's council to find a way to just temporarily take away her Slayer abilities. He did not have the time to figure out what it would take to knock her out cold for a few hours. Besides if the Thief tried to break into his place again he didn't want to leave Buffy completely defenseless and he knew she would need to be at peak to keep up with this guy. He still couldn't get over the blurring motion the guy had managed to pull off and it was causing a buzzing in the back of his head that just wouldn't go away. It was like a splinter in his brain that he just couldn't get rid of no matter how hard he tried to figure out how he had done it.

As he spotted the bell tower of the church in question he double-checked the weapons he had brought with him. In one coat pocket he had two grenades, one flash/bang and one standard go boom grenade, which he had brought in the hopes of taking any uninvited guests by surprise or covering his escape should he need to make one. In the other coat pocket he had a standard police issue firearm which he had acquired after one of the local cops had gotten killed by a 'gang member on PCP'. He had two spare clips for it just in case things got nasty with one being normal bullets and the other being hollow points just in case he needed to get past some body armor. Strapped to his back was his favorite battle axe which he had become quite good with since it was the only thing that he had managed to use with any skill that was almost a guaranteed kill in one shot. He had a cross and a wooden stake on hand as well just in case he ran across any vamps out for an evening meal and thought he looked extra tasty. With his luck though it would probably be some kind of female were-cat demon looking to bed him and then eat him. Still he figured he was as prepared as he could hope to be given that he didn't know what to expect when he arrived at the church. If the worst happened than at least he could be reasonably sure to take out some of them out with him when he went down for the final time.

When he got within eyesight of the front doors to the church he noticed two people acting like guards standing on either side and a moment after he noticed them they noticed him. They were rather unusually attired, at least in his opinion, wearing black dusters of a style he didn't recognize and immediately labeled as being either home made or expensive designer made coats. The rest of their clothes were of different shades of the same color with not one scrap of bright cloth among the entire bunch. He couldn't tell if they were armed or not but he decided to assume that they were since believing otherwise would likely get him killed if things took a turn for the nasty. When he came within ten feet of them they didn't even ask for identification but instead simply opened the door to the church and let him walk inside. This seemed odd but he dismissed it believing that whoever his deep throat was had just described him or shown a picture to let them know who to let in and who to keep out.

Once inside of the church he was surprised to find it in relatively good condition given the smoking skeleton it had been after Buffy had set it on fire during the battle with the Tarakens, Spike and Druisilla. Off hand he recalled vaguely that some off beat religious organization had bought it six months ago and funded the restoration of the church. While his critical construction worker's eyes could still pick out a few places where some repairs needed to be done he had to say that whoever had been hired to do the job were pretty good at their job. Standing in front of the alter was a person who at first he mistook for a man but when the person turned around it was revealed to be a woman. Her hair was short but curly and looked to be about Joyce's age if he had to make a guess and she was dressed in a black men's business suit as if in defiance of the idea that clothing choices should be restricted to ones god given gender. She was fairly tall but with a slim lanky build and he had to say that if it were not for a few telling features here and there he wouldn't be surprised at all if she was often mistaken for a man. It wierded him out a little bit but when his mind compared her to what he had seen on the hellmouth since meeting Buffy he found that this was pretty tame compared to vamps, mantis ladies and vengeance demons.

"Ah, Mr. Harris, I am glad you agreed to come." , the woman said as she motioned to a rather plush chair to her right indicating that it was for him, "Given what happened to you I was not sure if you would come given the suspicious nature of my offer."

Xander could tell almost right off the bat that she was English if not by the accent in her voice then by the rather long winded and proper English way in which she spoke. This set him on edge a bit as it warned him that these people might be members of the Watcher's Council looking to eliminate the people they viewed responsible for Buffy veering off the path of the Slayer that they had laid out for her to follow. Like Giles he held no illusions that Buffy's way of doing things was immensely different from what Travers wanted or would condone. While the bulk of this independent way of thinking lay squarely on the Slayer's shoulders Quentin no doubt believed that some of it rested with Giles, Willow and himself for encouraging and supporting this way of thinking. When added to Buffy's summary resignation from the Watcher's Council prior to their defeat of the Mayor and he knew that sooner or later some kind of action would be taken by the Brits overseas. Perhaps this was it, perhaps they intended to make an example out of him and give Buffy a certain amount of incentive to return to their service. It did not speak well of their intelligence since harming or killing him would only provoke her into further retaliation and violence from which few could survive.

"I needed answers and you seemed to have them so I decided to take my chances." Xander replied while keeping an eye on his surroundings for any tweed wearing idiots trying to be inconspicuous.

"I assure you that we have no wish to harm you. In fact it is quite the opposite." , the woman said trying to be the gracious proper British hostess, "The person who broke into your apartment was a member of your government, a scout meant to verify where you lived and apprehend you if possible."

"What did he want with me? You said he wasn't there to pocket my baseball card collection but me. Why?" Xander asked with a bit of levity as he waited to see if they got his humor.

"Despite what you might think Mr. Harris the governments of the world have known about the existence of the supernatural and the demonic for a long time." , the still unnamed woman said as she began to answer him, "Up until the second world war though they have not had the technology or the skill to do more than keep such phenomena under control or terminate them."

"For the past fifty years though work has been done to try and harness these forces both for commercial and military ends. In the case of the military it was harnessed for the purpose of creating a super soldier that could meet the more dangerous demons on a level playing field. Essentially they wanted to create their own version of the Slayer without the restriction of gender and age. There have been numerous versions of this super soldier program over the years but for the most part they have ended in failure due to one unseen variable or another. However in the late eighties a Dr. Wachowski hit upon a breakthrough wherein he could enable a test subject to somehow defy the laws of physics and nature. While this was considered a monumental breakthrough there was one flaw that made it a limited success. Those who received the 'upgrades' experienced extremely shortened life spans and died within months of undergoing the process seemingly of old age."

"While this is all interesting an X-Files-Mulder conspiracy way what does that have to do with me?" Xander asked indicating the need to get to the point and in a hurry.

Annoyed a bit at the interrupting the lady answered "It involves you because three years ago there was an accident of an unknown nature in the complex where the good doctor was working wiping out almost everything concerning the process he had invented. From what we have been able to discern they have managed to reconstruct most of his work from various reports and samples taken from the few remaining 'prototypes' still alive. However there is one thing that they lack in order to move forward in their research and that is the core formula for a chemical the doctor had made to make the rest of the process possible. They had all but given up hope until they learned through their agents in this town that for one night trick or treaters had turned into their costumes."

"In particular you had turned into a solider, a lieutenant if I recall the reports correctly, with all the memories and skills of that person. What you might not know is that the army fatigues that you incorporated into your costume once belonged to a guard that had been stationed to personally guard the good doctor. The two were rarely out of each others sight for more than a few moments and as Dr. Wachowski frequently liked to talk a lot the lieutenant would likely have heard all sorts of things."

"Like the core formula you were talking about." , Xander stated as he completed the line of logic that the woman had laid out for him, "Look I barely remember anything from that night about the soldier's personal life much less what happened on the job. The only things that stuck was a working knowledge of most military fire arms and perhaps a few basic protocols and procedures. Everything else has gone by-by along with the rest of the spell."

"We suspected as much when we discovered the reason why they chose to come after you. However they seem to be of the mindset that while you may consciously not be aware or cognizant of the knowledge you obtained that it might still reside in your sub-conscious in some form they can use." The woman stated calmly as she put the final piece of the puzzle into place.

So some idiots in the government are fiddling with the mojo and the monsters to make their own little wind up soldiers and they think the Xan-Man held the key in his melon to making it work again. Unfortunately that made him even more uneasy as he clued into just how valuable this formula could be to just about anyone if those people could get their hands on the rest of the experiment info. Looking at the woman and a few other people who had moved into his field of vision since the explanations began he wondered if these people were after the same thing as the government was. After all who wouldn't want to have the means to create someone like the Thief, who he presumed was one of the prototypes yet to die, given the ass whuppin' he had been dealt. He decided to try and see if he could get the answers he was looking for out of simple questions that asked for some very specific answers. If they tried to dodge the questions or outright lie he would use the flash/bang grenade he had brought with him and try to make a break for it.

"… And what exactly do you plan on doing about it? Assuming of course you don't want the secrets to this process yourself." , Xander asked deciding to start with a sharp strike to shatter any façade they might have in place, "Oh and while we're at it what's your name?"

Surprisingly the woman actually seemed pleased at his question and answered "It is our intention to eliminate this information before they get the chance to examine your mind for it. It shouldn't be a problem and we already have equipment set up for just that purpose. As for your latter question my name is Gabriel."

From what he could tell of the way she acted during the answer he was fairly sure she was telling the truth for the most part but she was also being vague in certain areas as well. She said that they would act to eliminate the information that was being sought after by the government but she was a little vague on the 'how' part of that solution. 'Eliminate' could mean anything from ripping the information out of his head to killing him on the spot in order to ensure that the Feds didn't get it. Then again he could just be completely paranoid and they could genuinely wish to help him and protect him from the less than honorable sections of the government. It was a sticky choice, to allow them to help him or to let his paranoia do the talking and make a run for the door before he was completely boxed in. Given that these were people he didn't know and this was Sunnydale he decided to err on the side of caution and let paranoia save him from trouble once again. Slowly, carefully, he rose to his feet without making it look as though he was getting ready to accept their offer knowing that if he acted like a crazy person and ran they would be all over him in moments.

"Well Gabriel it's nice to see that some people aren't afraid to take a stand against the government." , he said as he slipped a hand into the pocket where the flash/bang was stored, "As for your offer I'm afraid that I'm going to have to say no. I'm sure you know your stuff but I have this little rule about having strangers poke around inside of my head. I mean you just know they never clean up after themselves when they're done."

With a swift movement he yanked out the grenade and quickly pulled the pin out before lobbing it in Gabriel's general direction and making a dash for the door. He was about three steps into his run before the most unusual thing he had ever seen in real life happened and for a moment he was wondering if he was actually back at his apartment fast asleep. For right there beside him in mid-air as if it were racing him to the door was the very flash grenade he had just lobbed in the direction of his would be captors. Instinct was the only thing that saved him from the brunt of the explosion as he just barely managed to raise his arms in front of his face as the grenade went off. All at once his sense of hearing and sight were overwhelmed rendering him both blind and deaf to the world around him. He knew that the effects of the grenade would only be temporary and would wear off fairly quickly but given his current predicament it couldn't happen soon enough. Deciding that taking his gun out and shooting it in random directions wouldn't get the job done he pulled his battle axe from it's hiding place underneath his jacket. Pulling it into the ready position he relied on the only thing that might tell him what was going on and from where the attacks would come from and that was the vibrations in the floor.

It might be a long shot but when you think about it long shots have been the only thing keeping me in one piece so far. Xander thought to himself as he strained his sense of touch to feel the footfalls of Gabriel and her people.

Unfortunately his amazing ability to survive just about any fight seemed to have finally run out as he felt the axe all but torn from his grasp without even the slightest hint that the one who had done it had gotten close enough to do it. He was about to reach for his sharp pointy stake but before he could even begin to move his right arm in the right direction he was seized from all sides. He couldn't tell exactly how many pairs of arms had a hold of him but he was fairly certain that it was more than he could normally handle. This of course didn't stop him from flailing about and doing his best to be the most uncooperative captive possible as well as getting a kick in where he could. This caused them to retaliate a bit rougher than they otherwise might have as they seemed to drag him back to Gabriel who seemed to be mightily pissed off from what he could make out of the blur ahead of him. Roughly they slammed him back into the chair he had recently vacated and held him down from behind making it impossible for him to move around more than a few inches in any direction.

"Sorry Mr. Harris but I'm afraid that no is not a valid answer in this situation." , Gabriel said as she walked right up to him, "Bring me the red pill!"

One of the few people not occupied with keeping him pinned down walked up to her and handed her something although it was too small for him to see. Still with a name like 'red pill' he had a feeling that the name was meant to be taken literally rather than metaphorically like the name of some kind of torture or freaky mind control thing. His suspicions were confirmed as one of the people holding him changed from his shoulders and went for the head as it was forced back and his mouth forced open. With all the strength he could must he tried to either close his mouth or turn it away from Gabriel who was trying to get something into his mouth but these guys were stronger than vamps. With vampires, especially the new ones, you had a little leeway in trying to wrench your head one way or the other. True that probably had to do with the fact that the vamps weren't overly picky about which side of your neck they bit into when they fed. In the case of these people however there was only one way they were going to get whatever it is they wanted into him.

"Just let it happen Mr. Harris! One way or another we are going to get what we want and there's nothing you can do!" Gabriel said as frustration was managing to cut through her cool English demeanor.

"That's Xander to you and I'm quite enjoying making this as hard as I can for you!" Xander replied as he tried to kick her in the shin to make her drop the object in her hand so he could then squish it underfoot.

With a growl she did something he hadn't expected and punched him, HARD, in the gut causing all of his strength to leave him for a moment and give her the chance she was looking for. Try as he might to keep his mouth shut he was temporarily helpless as she forced the pill down into his mouth and forced his jaw shut. He could feel it knock around inside of his mouth but thanks to some deft manipulations with his tongue he managed to keep it pinned down beneath it. This last for about two minutes before they played dirty and clamped his mouth and nose shut so that he couldn't breath no doubt hoping that in his desperation to breath he would swallow the pill. Unfortunately they were right on the money with this one as despite his best efforts to keep calm and rationally resist their efforts he couldn't keep himself from panicking. With a little jerk in the wrong direction and no control over his involuntary responses he felt the pill slide down his throat and fell still as a knew fear washed over him. What was the red pill? What was it supposed to do to him? What was so damned special about him that he was suddenly rating this kind of attention?

"Well Mr. Harris now that that has been accomplished all that is left for you to do is enjoy the ride." , Gabriel said with an arrogant smirk on her face, "Take him into the next room and hook him up to the equipment. We'll need it to get a lock on his position so that the Scythe can get into position for the pick up."

Still slightly stunned by what had just happened and what might still be to come he was in a daze as they dragged him from the chair he had recently occupied to a side room in the church off of the main room. They had almost reached the door when the sound of shattering glass filled the room and startled him out of his stupor as he turned to see what was going on. What he saw was something he wasn't sure whether he should be cheering about or simply adding it to the already mounting terror inside of him. Kneeling in a crouched position usually reserved for sprinters or those who have fallen from a great height was a woman dressed all in red with light brown skin and hair done up in dreadlocks. The dark shades covering her eyes immediately made him think that she might be a Fed but with their strict dress code it was more likely she was just someone else after him for as yet unexplained reasons. He silently sent up a prayer to whatever deity he had somehow offended in a previous life to deserve this and hoped that that same deity would take some pity on him right now.

"Niobe!" growled Gabriel as she looked upon the African American woman who was slowly standing up as if for dramatic effect.

"Gabriel." Niobe said emotionlessly as if the blonde wasn't even worth a bitter response.

"You're too late! He's already taken the red pill!" , Gabriel said as she moved from the head of the group heading towards the door to a showdown position facing Niobe, "There's nothing you can do to keep him from us now!"

"We'll see about that." Niobe said and without another word she charged the suit wearing blonde in a burst of speed so fast Xander knew he was dealing with another person just like the Thief.

"Get him hooked up!" was all Gabriel said as she charged herself in order to meet her adversary head on.

He was kept from seeing any more of the battle as the merry minions as he had come to refer to them as dragged him into the room they had been heading towards. Their progress was halted as an Asian man with a goatee and mustache was standing not ten feet in front of them amidst four dead bodies that had obviously had an unfriendly encounter with a gun. Before any of the four bruisers who were manhandling them could move the Asian man raised both his arms and opened fire with his twin berettas hitting them all square in the head dropping them in an instant. This unfortunately dropped him unceremoniously to the ground which was shockingly soft despite being made of stone but when he looked down to see if he had landed on anyone he saw something he would not soon forget. The bottom inch of his legs and butt that were in contact with the floor looked to be stuck in the floor like landing in a shallow puddle of goo. The frightening part though was the fact that the goo seemed to have a mind of its own and was slowly beginning to cover his body.

"What the HELL?" Xander yelled as he jumped to his feet with a layer of the goo still on his legs and still attempting to cover his body.

"Damn." , the Asian man said before pulling out a cell phone and hitting the speed dial, "Sparks. The tracer program has already been initiated and his perceptions are altering at an accelerated rate."

Sparks, whomever that was on the other side of the phone connection spat out some kind of reply causing the Asian man to move over to a weird combination of machines and wires. It looked like someone had taken the entire contents of a pawn shop and connected them via wires to each other in a rather haphazard fashion. The Asian man took one of the cables and disconnected it at one end before connecting it to his cell phone at the bottom. Once that was done he strode over to Xander and guided him to an old barber's chair and sat him down as quickly yet gently as possible.

"W-what are y-you doing?" Xander managed to get out as the shock and fear of being covered with the equivalent of liquid stone had him almost paralyzed with fear as he knew not if it was going to kill him or just freeze him in place.

"I don't have a lot of time to explain this to you. Suffice it to say that the pill they gave you started a process which I cannot stop." , the Asian Man said as he began to connect suction cups with wires to various parts of his head and torso, "If I do not complete the process than there is a very good chance that you will die. Do not worry though, you will not fall into their hands, our ship is already in position, you will be safe."

"What? You mean you guys are all aliens?" Xander exclaimed as his legs and half his torso was already covered in the liquid stone.

"You might say that." Came Niobe's voice as she strode into the room looking a little worse for wear.

"Gabriel?" the Asian man asked as he continued to prepare and operate the equipment.

"She managed to get to a hard line before I could finish her." , Niobe replied as she began to help her friend operate the equipment, "How's it lookin' Ghost?"

"It's going to be close. If we had come in any later he would have been beyond our help." The man called Ghost replied as he looked into some kind of viewer kind of like the thing Spock looked into to take examine sensor readings in the original Star Trek series.

Nodding at this Niobe took out her own cell phone and after pressing the speed dial button placed it to her right ear and said "Sparks? How's it coming?"

She was silent as the reply came over her phone and seemed displeased by something this Sparks said before returning her face to its usual stoic form. Xander was unable to take anything more in as his attention was more focused on the liquid which was mere moments away from climbing up his neck. It was not a situation he was happy with and it made him wish all the more that he had though to take Buffy along for this meeting. While it would still have been one helluva slobber knocker for the both of them to find a way to get outta here it would definitely be better than this. HELL! Anything would have been better than the mess he was in right now and his only hope was that these two people , Niobe and Ghost, were actually on his side.

As his heart began to increase its tempo to alarming levels he heard Ghost say "We're going to need a lock soon Sparks. He's dangerously close to popping."

As the liquid reached his chin Xander was all but certain that this was it, that his life was over and the next stop for him was the good ol' pearly gates. Knowing his luck though he was probably going to have to ace a written exam before they would let him inside heaven. He was about moments away from swallowing a stone smoothy before everything, every one of the five senses he had, went out completely. The strange thing about it was that it wasn't the slow fade to black that one would expect from losing consciousness. No this was more like someone just reached inside his head a flicked all the switches into the off position or like a TV that had the power cord yanked quickly from the wall.

Hopefully things won't get too weirder. Xander thought to himself as he lost the ability to form a coherent thought.