Thanks

Kravius

For Disclaimer and notes please see Part One

Shifting Heart

Chapter 06

Xander looked up at the chime of the door and placed what he was doing to one side.  Getting up he realised just how long he had been sitting in one place, and stretched slightly to relieve the crick in his neck before he made his way to the intercom.  Since the apartment in which he was now living was one of the newest and most high tech in the neighbourhood it was a video system and, after he had made a few changes in the system, he was able to see Jonno standing with Harmony, and that they were both human.  Though Harmony appeared to be trying to hide her identity with a hat and dark glasses, the fact that her trench coat accentuated her figure rather than hiding it, made spotting her rather easy.  Without a word, Xander buzzed them up and opened the door.  Then he walked back to his workbench and put his foot back on the sewing machines peddle.

It was the sound of his sewing that greeted Jonno and Harmony as they arrived at the front door.  Glancing at each other at the strange noise, they walked in and saw Xander leaning over what he was working on.  It looked like an assault harness made out of leather, and to one side they could see a completed pair of pants and a jacket.

"Jeaz Harris, gay much," Harmony said as she breezed into the apartment, her eye giving the place a critical once over.  She had to admit she was actually quite impressed with the tasteful décor, and though she rolled her eyes at all the boy toys laying around the place, she could see the money on display.

Xander half looked up from his work and smirked at her, "Correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t most of the best fashion designers in the world men?"

"Yep, and most of the best are gay," Harmony pointed out with a smirk of her own.

Xander chuckled and replied, "All generalisations are false, Harm."

She cocked a perfect eyebrow at that, but held her peace.

"Wow, Xan, nice place you have here." Jonno enthused as he also cast an eye around the place.  His eyes in particular came to rest on a state of the art AlienWare PC system set up in one corner with a huge monitor and speakers arrayed around it.  He would love a system like that, but then he was not a millionaire; at least not yet.

"Thanks, Jonno, take a seat guys, and I’ll be with you in a sec." Xander said, "Kitchen is that away," he added with a wave towards the open plan kitchen just visible from where they were in the apartment.

Jonno nodded and walked towards it. "Want anything?" he asked Harmony.

"Soda," Harmony replied and took a seat in one of the nice plush leather armchairs, one toned leg crossing over the other.  She looked at Xander as he was leaning over away from her, and took a moment to admire the changes in him.  Halloween had somewhat improved his muscle mass and tone, and he was looking good for it.  Better, in fact, than most of the jock boyfriends she had dated.  If he were not such a geek, she would date him in a New York minute.

Silence reigned for a while in the apartment and then the sewing machine started up for a long moment.  Finally, Xander turned it off with a grunt of happiness, obviously finished.  He held up the new garment with a critical eye and looked it over.  It would be tough.  He had armoured it as best he could, even added some plating for trauma just in case, and it had a series of extra pockets and clips for various things.  It was designed for patrol to fit over a shirt and under a jacket.  It was pitch black, as were the other two items he had made that evening, and all of them were designed to be as hardwearing as possible.

"Nice get up," Jonno commented walking back into the area with three cokes, one for each of them.

"Thanks," Xander said, "they’re for patrolling.  I finally told the gang today."

"Does that mean I’m on?" Jonno asked a hint of excitement in his tone.

"Yep," Xander replied, looking at him cautiously, "Just remember this is dangerous and vampires, while nice and flammable, are tricky to fight."

Jonno waved him off, "I know, I know.  You worry too much."

"No," Xander replied deadly serious, "I worry just enough."

"Okay, I’ll be careful." Jonno said with an eye roll.

"Seriously Jonno, you have to be careful.  Don’t forget there will be civilians around now and, unlike the game, you can miss and hit them."

Jonno nodded seriously, "That one I am painfully aware of Xan," he said.

Happy that, for now at least, Jono was taking things seriously, Xander took the coke with a smile of thanks.

"They don’t know about me do they?" Harmony asked with a hint of curiosity and fear in her voice.  She was not sure how to feel about the gang knowing truth be told.

"Nope, they know *of* you, but not who you are.  I figured if you want to join us later, I would tell them later on.  Until then your secret – your rules." Xander told her seriously.
She flashed him a smile, and then lapsed into silence for a moment.  Then her face brightened again as she asked "Have you made what I asked for yet?"

Xander smiled, "Actually I have.  I tried to make it as feminine as I could, and I think I did okay.  It has some extra stats on it as well.  At least I think so, you’ll have to try it on and then we should be able to tell from that health sense we all have."

"Stats?" Jonno asked.

"Not tried to make anything yet?"

"Not yet, was going to ask if I could use that sewing machine actually."

"No worries." Xander said, as he walked to a nearby closet and pulled out the top for Harmony.  "I think I got the size right." He commented, passing the garment to her.

She eyed it critically; it was black, as were most of Xander’s designs, though this one had a line of blue either side of the bodice top.  It was shaped to her as best she could tell and would show a fair bit of skin.  Not that she was overly worried about that.  As she held it in her hands, she had a sense of power from it that was strange, but almost comforting.

Jonno and Xander eyed her with some enthusiasm.  Not just because she would look seriously hot in the top either, but also because they were interested in seeing if she could wear if successfully and get the full measure of use out of it.  Priests in the game could only wear items made of cloth, but this was real life, and there was no real reason why any of them could not wear whatever they liked.  Jonno had already decided to start making his own cloth gear, mostly because it would fit in with his self-image more.  Nevertheless, if Harmony joined them, the more protection she had the better. 

Harmony had, oddly enough, managed to grow on both of them.  Despite the fact she was occasionally caustic and still treated them both like social lepers, this had toned down significantly of late, and she was actually kinda of funny when she let her hair down.  They both found themselves being quite protective of her.  In truth, that could be a hang back to their characters and they both knew that Priests, while powerful in their own right, needed looking after in a battle situation.

"Got somewhere I can try this on?"

"Bedroom over there," Xander said pointing off to the right, "Or bathroom over there," he said pointing to the left.

Harmony nodded and walked towards the bedroom.  "Mirror in here?" she asked as she walked past.

"Yep," Xander answered simply.

Once she was gone, Jonno turned to Xander, "Think it’ll work?"

"We can only wait and see. I think it might though.  You and I have both noticed the differences.  I have a theory about them in part, but if this works I’d just put it down to good luck on our part."

Jonno suddenly laughed causing Xander to look at him strangely.  "Sorry, was just thinking of the armour stat on you if you wore Plate and turned into a bear."

Xander laughed as well, "That would be insane. Shame we don’t have a blacksmith around, huh?"

They chatted back and forth for a moment as they waited for Harmony to reappear, talking about various things from how their day had gone to when Jonno would start to patrol properly.  Then about five minutes later Harmony walked out of the bedroom and did a twirl.  "What do you think, boys?" she asked with amusement.  She was sure of their response, and it appeared Jonno was actually drooling, and, despite his newfound cool, even Xander was showing that he liked the look.

"Wow," Xander said eventually, "I’m good," he added with a laugh.

"Now I need a skirt to go with it."

"Skirt or pants?"

Harmony tapped her chin in thought as Xander elbowed Jonno out of the dream world in which he was living, "Skirt.  I’d look good in this and a skirt."

"That you would," Xander agreed wholeheartedly.  "I’ll get on that tonight. How long?"

"Just above the knee of course," Harmony said with a smile then frowned, "Or don’t you like my legs?"

Xander smirked, and did not reply seeing that trap a mile off.  "I’ll get on it.  Now how do you feel? I sense extra life for sure and I think more potential power from you.  What about you Jonno"

"Huh, what, oh yeah, definitely.  I’d say it’s a success."

"Great, then I’m going to need a few sets of these," Harmony said dong another spin that sent pulses racing.

"Erh – give me some time on that. Buffy has demanded I make her something as well."

"Buffy?  Why?"

"She found out I made my own stuff and demanded I make her something."

"She won’t be able to make use of the stats though, will she?" Jonno asked.

"You know, I dunno.  I was going to make her something with some attack power, and well everything I can imbue into it, to be honest.  Give her a little bit of an edge."

Harmony rolled her eyes and sat down, "You are such a loser, Harris, there is no way that girl is interested in you even I can see that.  Move on already."

He frowned at her tone of voice.  He would have missed it before Halloween, but he could swear she sounded almost jealous.  He shook that off, because there was no way Harmony was jealous when it came to him; it just did not compute.

Jonno was also looking at her a little suspiciously, but said nothing.

"Well, what’s on the cards tonight?" Harmony asked, "More spell training?"

Xander smiled, "Actually – no.  I have a martial arts instructor coming here in an hour to start training us."

"Why?" Jonno and Harmony said together, and then glared at each other.

"Just because we’re powerful with magic now, and probably won’t ever need it, does not mean that we should ignore other ways of protecting ourselves.  There may come a time when we are unable to cast, or shift in my case.  On the other hand, when we are in a public place and cannot use our spells anyway.  We will need to fall back on something else to help protect others and ourselves.  Besides, Martial Arts teach control and discipline, as well as raise our general fitness levels.  None of that sounds like a bad thing to me."

Grumbles were his answer, but neither Jonno nor Harmony told him no outright, so Xander figured he had won that argument before it even got going.

~#~

Jason Bell arranged the various magical items he had prepared around himself.  He was sitting in the centre of a pentagram, his ceremonial robes arrayed around him.  His eyes lit with an almost religious fever on the centerpiece of his collection.  A goblet that appeared to be made out of black metal he had coined as fel iron in his head.  It did not matter to him that Fel Iron was green in World of Warcraft, he had his delusions, and he was not letting anyone tell him differently.  Thanks to Halloween night a month and a bit ago, he had ascended, and he intended to make full use of that.  Already he had killed a few of the jocks who had tortured him for years, and he had enjoyed it.  His black and green shadow bolts killed them painfully while leaving no evidence for the police to collect against him.  He felt like a god now, but even that much power was not enough for him; he wanted more, as much as he could get his greedy hands on, in fact.  Thus he had used his families’ money to reach into the demonic underworld and his own considerable influence over demons to find this goblet. 

The goblet was said to be able to traverse dimensional barriers and he wanted to do just that, to reach out to a powerful demon and drain it of its fel energies.  That would charge him up even more than he already was.  The demonic taint that flowed through his veins was unlike anything any human had felt before and he had been unprepared for it.  The very first time he had cast a spell had, in effect, been his undoing. 

Where once there had been an unassuming twenty something college student, there was now a shell of a man obsessed with power and gaining more.  He did not eat, or drink anymore; instead he used the twisted demonic energies to survive and they allowed him to do just that, but not without cost.  Not that Jason Bell noticed that cost, or noticed that his eyes were turning black, or that his shadow seemed to be separate from him and starting to turn to a slightly glowing green color.  His eyes were focused on the possible source of more power that existed right in front of him. 

His weak voice mumbled the last few lines of the spell he had created; activating the goblet’s innate abilities, and the dimensions were severed into a portal that lay in front of him, snapping and hissing with power; an almost angry display of magical portent.

Then Jason Bell made the last mistake of his current existence and reached out mentally into that portal, smiling when he made contact with a source of immense power.  He welcomed it into his being and, at that very moment, Jason Bell was no more.

~#~

Liam Sanders stepped off of the bus and looked around warily.  He hadn’t been back to Sunnydale since Halloween night.  A night that had wrought some changes in the young man.  Officially he went to LA for college, but he had been thinking of moving to the arts focused college of Sunnydale, and had been checking out the campus the night in question, in particular one of the fraternities of the campus and had visited their party, which had just gotten plain old fashion weird in short order.  In fact the entire night had pretty much put him off the idea of attending Sunnydale U’ completely.  Until he had noticed some changes in himself.

It had started slowly at first, weird dreams of battles against creatures that he hadn’t ever seen before.  Memories of places that he couldn’t have been to nor heard about.  Then he had noticed an awareness in the people around him, how healthy they were, how powerful and a few other minor details.  He found whilst down his fathers gun club that he was now a dead shot with anything that came to hand, and in some cases he had managed to literally blow apart some of the targets.  Though he was happy, in those cases that he had been alone on the range, after hours.  Then he had found he could track just about anything anywhere.  He knew, for instance, that there was a rat in a nearby dumpster, a dog down the alley and something that he didn’t even recognize appeared to be moving underneath him. 

To put it simply, he had become about as freaked out as he had ever been in his entire life.  Then, as his father had taught him, he pulled himself together and began to investigate what could be causing the changes wrought within him.  This was one of the reasons he was now back in Sunnydale; the place where it had all started. 

Jason was not quite sure how he was going to find out what had happened, though he had a few ideas.  Firstly he was going to go and check out where he had brought his costume, and then he was going back to the frat house and ask a few pointed questions.  Then maybe, just maybe, he could pick up a trail, since as of late he was so good at following them.

He shouldered his rucksack with a few essentials in its depths and set off towards the nearest hotel.  First things first; he knew he had to find somewhere to lay down his head of an evening, as he sensed that being out at night in Sunnydale was not a good idea.

tbc

Shifting Heart
Chapter 05

"Where have you been all week?" Willow asked, her tone a little annoyed as Xander walked into the library.
"Urh-" Xander began, looking a little shell-shocked. "That’s a long story."
"One minute you’re in the Bronze and then I don’t see you for the rest of the week. I’ve been worried, buster, so you’d better spill!" Willow said walking up to him, prodding him in the chest and then hugging him tightly.
Xander ran a hand up and down her back and smiled, "Sorry, Wills, time has kinda got away from me this week."
"You’ve not even been in school!"
"I know, I know. As I said, I have been busy. *Really* busy."
"Doing what?"
Xander paused. How was he going to tell Willow everything that had happened. He realised that he could not tell her everything; at least not yet. She would not understand the Harmony situation in the least, and certainly would not understand that Xander had been spending most of his evenings helping to train her. Though she would get what had happened with his parents, but possibly not the fact he had invented a multi million-dollar device. It was a sticky situation and then some. At the end of the day, he had no wish to lie to his oldest and dearest friend. Therefore, he began to tell her carefully about his week.
At the end of his little speech Willow sat down heavily, "Wow." She said, looking at him carefully. "How do you feel. I mea, I know they weren’t parents of the year but still -"
"I know, it’s weird, and they didn’t actually contest it or anything but still it feels weird. Then of course I had to find a place to live."
"I’m sure -"
Xander cut her off, "I can afford a place, but thanks for the offer."
"How?"
"How what?"
"How can you afford a place to live? An after school job can’t make you that much surely? And these new clothes and stuff. I mean where’s all the money coming from? You’re not in trouble are you?"
Xander smirked. "No, I’m not in trouble, and actually I do alright at Uncle Rory’s garage, but no it does not make enough to live on. Actually – " he paused wondering how to tell and then decided that he could tell her after all. He was sure she would understand. However, perhaps it was time to come clean about everything that had happened since Hallowe’en. Fortuitously Buffy and Giles appeared at that moment, meaning he had everyone he needed to tell in one place. "In fact, now would be a good time to tell you all a few things that have been going on with me." He said, gaining Buffy and Giles’s attention.
"What’s the matter?" Giles asked curiously.
Buffy just looked at him curiously, so Xander waved at the seats. "Take a seat. This is going to take some explaining" he said with a sigh. It was time he had to tell them; they were after all his friends, he just was not sure they were going to be happy for him or not.
"It all started on Hallowe’en…"
~#~
The room became silent as Xander stopped talking, and everyone was looking at him as if he had grown a second head. He remained silent for a long moment and then frowned when it became clear that no one was going to say anything. "Guys?" he said pleadingly.
"Well, erm, that’s very interesting. Why didn’t you come forward before?" Giles asked for the rest of them.
Xander smiled slightly. He had been expecting Willow to ask that question, but either way it had to be answered. "That’s actually simple. It started slowly at first, and then I wanted to make sure I had control before I brought it before you guys. Then last week I wanted to tell you but other things came up."
"What can you do?" Buffy asked.
"Quite a lot. A druid is a combo class in World of Warcraft. That means I can deal damage a few different ways and even heal people when the need arises. I can cast spells or use melee damage as well. In the game, I could also tank, but obviously that is not something that can be used in real life. Because people, even vampires, aren’t as dumb as a computer controlled character."
"So you can kill Vampires?"
"In a few different ways." Xander replied with a smirk. "I found my spells are pretty good against vampires because they don’t like natural things. This is why stakes work so well against them."
"Interesting, do you have all the skills of your – urm – character?" Giles asked.
"Skills, abilities and memories as well. Luckily I don’t look like him though."
"Why’s that a good thing?" Buffy asked.
Xander glanced at Willow, who was very quiet and looking a bit of worried, but answered Buffy anyway. "He’s a Night Elf, big pointy ears, seven foot tall, and my character in particular was kind of purple with green hair."
Buffy snickered at the mental imagery, and Xander smirked at her. "You have grown a bit though," she said when the chuckles had subsided.
"A little, I’m about 6’4" ish at the moment, I’m hoping I don’t get any taller though."
"That doesn’t answer my earlier question though," Willow said, entering the conversation at last.
"I’m aware," Xander said with a smile at his oldest friend. "The characters in the game can have professions, a way of making things for their characters, or making gold, the currency in the game. My guy was a Leatherworker," he waved at his outfit, "and an engineer. Now somehow, and I think it was the magic of the night, this has been translated into a real world way of doing things. So while I can make just about anything now without a schematic, just by knowing how it all works and fits together. I cannot just hit something with a blacksmithing hammer and expect it to work. I have to use actual engineering equipment and calibrated measuring tools, and all that stuff. Luckily they’re simply enough to use when you get the hang of it."
"Wait – You made that outfit?" Buffy asked.
Xander smirked, wondering if either Buffy or Harmony would like to know they were very similar in their reactions. He had to say he doubted it very much though. "I did, yeah, and again real world it took me about three hours to make and a load of materials, unlike slapping a few bits of leather together in thirty seconds, like the game. Plus, I also had to treat the leather, but that was messy and I don’t want to talk about it."
"Can you make me something?" Buffy asked.
Once again, Xander had to smother a laugh at how very similar she and Harmony had reacted. Instead, since he did not trust his voice, he just nodded at her. She smiled widely at him and subsided to listen.
"Again, that doesn’t really answer my question," Willow pressed.
"I’m getting there, Wills. Unlike the game, I can toy with ideas and create things that I do not have a schematic memorised for. One of these things I showed to my uncle Rory."
"Isn’t he the one that worked at CRD?"
"And now at RDC. He’s fairly high up there and took my invention to the Board of Directors. They liked it and bought it, with a kinda royalty deal as well. Upshot is, I made a cool three Million up front and a nice income later on when they go into production. My uncle reckons they’re going to all become rich off of it, which means I will as well."
"Wow," Buffy said with a smile, "Nice going Xan."
"Yeah, what’d you create?" Willow asked, beaming at him, obviously happy at his turn in luck.
"I’d rather not say," Xander told them, "I will, but the truth is they made me sign a ton of non-disclosure documents. If you really want to know though…" he trailed off, his meaning clear.
"That’s cool. I’m just happy for you. So that’s the main reason you emancipated yourself then?" Willow asked with a knowing look on her face. She was well aware of how his parents were and just what they would do if they got a hold of that much money.
Xander nodded and then added, "It was Uncle Rory’s idea actually, but I think it’s for the best. We are both hoping it brings them to their senses. I’ve already made sure their house is paid off, but I can’t give them any money because they’d just drink it."
Buffy shared a glance with her mentor and father figure. They were not quite so knowledgeable about Xander’s home life and were both now wishing they had been aware of it beforehand. It sounded as if Xander had not had it as easy as they had thought from his easygoing manner.
"So when is the party?" Willow asked, surprising Xander. He had expected that one from Buffy.
"Next week."
"Party?" Buffy asked, obviously not twigging.
"Moving in party. I have a new place over the other side of town, nice apartment with a workshop on the roof and numbered parking." Xander said proudly. "It wasn’t easy to get, but surprisingly cheap."
"So, to sum up. You’re living alone now, have plenty of money and can help out on patrol."
"That’s not quite all of it G-Man," Xander said slowly.
"Go on." Buffy said nervously.
"I’m not the only one that was affected on Hallowe’en. I know of two others. One of whom is willing to help us out. The other, I’m not so sure about at the moment. They need more training, and frankly even when that’s finished I’m not sure they’ll be interested in helping out."
"Why wouldn’t they?" Willow asked.
Xander smiled slightly. "They’re not of the same mindset as us, Wills. They see this all as a pain in the butt, not a gift. Though they are being better about it all than I would have thought at first, and I’ve not killed them yet, which is a miracle all by itself."
"Who is it?"
"I can’t tell you that, but the other one I can tell you. We have a mage to join us, and that’s a *very* good thing. It’s Jonno by the way."
"What’s a mage in this context?" Giles asked.
"Powerful spell caster; they can nuke just about anything and have powerful AOE, that’s Area of Effect spells. Those spells cover an area and cause destruction, and, let me tell you, that is a lot of destruction. Jonno has a good handle on things as well, and he’s end game. Erh – that means he is powerful as all hell. It is hard to relate game stuff to real life though. Because normally, gear – the stuff you wear – would make a difference. He and I play though and we’re finding differences all the time from the game to real life."
"He’s willing to help?" Giles asked. "That’s good news. What have you told him so far?"
"General stuff only. I have not told him about Buffy, or exactly what we do in here. I figured I would leave that up to you guys. He knows about the things that go bite in the night though. He killed a crap load of them on Hallowe’en night. Which is one of the reasons I think it’s been fairly quiet around here lately."
"He must be the mage you heard about Buffy." Giles said, stroking his chin in thought.
"Might be,. He’s been out a few times practicing. But then, so have I." Xander admitted.
"Cool" Buffy said. "It’s always good to have more help. As long as you all do as you’re told by head slayer, as in me." She said with a grin.
"We all bow before Duchess Buffy, slayer extraordinaire." Xander said with a mock bow in her direction. "Well, Jonno and I will, don’t know about the other yet. It all depends on if I can get her to check her attitude at the door."
"Her?" Willow asked carefully.
Xander looked at her and then laughed, "Just NO, not a chance in hell."
Willow smiled. "I’m wondering who it is now with that reaction."
"You may find out soon, like I said, if I can train her. Jonno and I are working with her, but unlike Jonno and me, she has never played the game. She just caught the last costume in the store situation."
"So, how about tonight you show me what you can do?" Buffy said with a smile.
"That’s a tempting offer," Xander smirked, causing Buffy to blush at her unintended double meaning. "However, I’m still moving in, so I’ll have to pass."
"What about training then? You said you have melee abilities, so I take it you need to train those to keep them sharp." Giles put forth.
"Actually, not quite the way it works for me." Xander said with a smirk, then looked around. "I can show you if you like. As long as you promise not to scream, or attack me."
"Why would we do that, Xan?" Willow asked worriedly.
Suddenly Xander changed. It happened almost too fast to register, and most of it was covered by a small dust devil-like thing that whipped up out of nowhere. One minute Xander was standing there, and the next…
…The next a HUGE big cat was standing in his place. It was similar in looks to a lynx, or perhaps a mountain lion, except it was purple and much larger. Large fangs dropped down from its mouth and huge claws clicked on the floor as Xander shifted around.
They all shot out of their chairs and backed away until they realised exactly what Xander was showing them. Willow was the first to move forward, reaching out and running a hand from Xander’s head down his flank. The cat’s fur was actually very hard, almost armored, but also silken to the touch rather than rough. Xander turned his head and purred slightly at her and as she looked right into the huge cats face, it winked at her. A huge smile split her face and she waved Buffy over. "Come here Buffy, he’s amazing."
"He’s frickin’ huge!" Buffy said moving forward warily.
Xander chuffed a laugh which came out as a sort of half growl half purr that made Buffy back off a step again. Then when she was sure he was not going to attack her, she shifted forward again and reached slowly out. Once her hand was on his head she looked at him in surprise. "You don’t feel like a cat really, your fur feels almost armoured, but still silky."
Xander nodded carefully, and then backed away moving towards the wooden training dummy Buffy often used for practise. He cast a look over his shoulder; even in his feline form it was obvious that he was asking permission to show them what he could do. Giles nodded as did Buffy, and they stood back to watch.
Xander closed in on the dummy and then his claws flashed out in a raking move that seemed to leave a red after-image. Huge furrows appeared on the wood where his claws had passed and the dummy rocked quite a bit. Then there was a red flash that lit up the area and the dummy literally exploded into pieces. Once the dust had settled Xander sheepishly shifted back into himself and looked at them. "Urh – whoops"
~#~
Harmony Kendall slipped out of the computer store as surreptitiously as she was able, her eyes glancing around behind her dark glasses to make sure no one had seen her. She was in disguise, or what she thought of as a disguise. Dark glasses, fedora hat and a trench coat. She looked like an extra from a spy movie, but she had not gotten a second look from the people in the store. The bag she held casually at her side contained the latest copies of World of Warcraft and its various expansions ready to be installed on her laptop at home. Which would be the first time she had used it since her father bought it for her.
The truth was she was curious. She had seen the game in action a few times now; had even had a tinker when no one was around to check on her at Levinson’s house. She found herself quite liking it, but more importantly, she was curious about her own class. She had read all the information they could find of course and since it was about her, she had remembered it pretty well. That said, there was no substitute for actually playing the class for a while. She even knew the server Jonno and Xander used so she could join them if she wanted.
She was not entirely certain when they had become Jonno and Xander to her. In truth, and in any normal situation, she would have nothing to do with them. That said, they had both gone out of their way to help her out and, she had to admit, that meant something to her. Without them she would have been a danger to herself and those around her as the power was there, waiting to be used and tended to come out when she least expected it. Unlike them, though, she did not have the full package of the Hallowe’en night’s possession. They had detailed back histories for their characters which meant they remembered their training and personalities of the characters. In Jonno’s case, it had made him a lot more confident and it looked good on him, though at times he had a somewhat fiery temper. Xander was even more impressive. His character had over 10,000 years of experience crammed into his head, and it had made the once geeky young boy into a wiser man. In fact, she was thankful of it, because without those memories she had a feeling that Xander would not have helped her out. Because of them, he had the maturity to look past their history and move forward.
For probably the first time in her life Harmony was grateful to someone, and she was not sure what to make of it. She knew her life had changed utterly; her original dreams were on hold at the very least, and she had to think about the future to include her new abilities. Xander had mentioned that she could help them out with the nightlife if she wanted, but that it was her choice, and furthermore it was one not to be made lightly. She had found herself actually thinking about it. She had these powers now, so what would she do with them.? She had the ability to heal people from even the most grievous of wounds. Something that Xander had told her would be more than a little useful in Sunnydale, especially at night. Should she ignore the fact they needed those talents, or should she put herself out to help them? A week ago that answer would have been ‘get lost’. Now, after all they had done and continued to do for her, she was not so sure anymore.
With another glance around, Harmony set off towards her home and spent the next few hours in front of her laptop. She prayed her old friends would not find out about all this, because she knew that her reputation would be ruined. However, oddly enough, that was mattering to her less and less. Her old friends would have shunned her had she talked to them, but they would not have helped her out during such a trying time of change and confusion, and she was starting to realise that while the two geeks she was quickly becoming close to should have hated her, they did not. Her old friends, though, would, if they found out she was different from them, and that made her wonder if she had the right friends in the first place.

Yes I know, a second story with a similar premise probably isn’t the best idea in the entire world. That said this does go off into a different direction shortly after it starts. The main idea is similar though, but I’m going about things in a different way this time and as such the story could be quite a bit darker as almost a side effect. Let me know what you think on that regard.
This is what I get for starting a new class and thinking, hmmm wonder what would happen if I… stupid brain!
Doing strange things with the WoW universe as always, and I’ve brought Buffy up to 2007 for S3. So that should help those who know that WoW wasn’t released all the way back in the 90′s. Though even then I assume he was at 70-ish when he chose his costume so bring WoW up a year or so as well. All other crossover shifted around to match I will try to make it fairly clear in the actual story itself, otherwise I’ll be writing this overview all night.
Kravius.

Legerdemain

Chapter One

The vampire came in hard with a devastating haymaker that would have taken Xander’s head off had he not dodged out of the way. Xander responded by head-butting the demon in the face and following up with an elbow that crushed cartilage. There was a line of quicksilver cut into the night and one of the solid silver daggers, blessed and treated with holy water, was rammed home into the vampires heart. A quick movement of his arm later and Xander was pulling his blade out to prevent it dusting along with the vampire.
He span in place, one arm lashing out and holding a dagger in a reverse grip he slashed the next vampire across the throat. That put it out of the fight for a moment leaving Xander to deal with the final vamp. Pushing some of his longish hair out of his eyes Xander made a come-hither motion with his hand. The snarling demon dashed at him with hands outstretched.
Xander danced back out of its way, jumped up and planted a foot into its passing back. The vampire’s arms waved around as it suddenly lost control, sending it careening into a tombstone. As it shook off the shock, Xander almost lazily planted a dagger into the still choking vampire’s back, hitting the heart with the blessed dagger. Another quick retrieval, and he was wiping dust from his shoulders as the vampire exploded into dust.
A cough distracted Xander from wiping off his daggers, making him turn around and cock an eyebrow up at what awaited him. There were fifteen or more vampires arrayed in front of him, and they did not look happy at his casual disregard for the life of their comrades. Xander flashed them a smile, a quick salute and then threw down his hand. There was a sudden flash, and smoke billowed upwards from the floor.
As one, the vampires rushed into his position; only to find that he had vanished without a trace.
~##~
Xander Harris walked through the hallways of Sunnydale high with virtual impunity. These days it did not go well for those that got on his nerves, or even looked at him strangely. This did not seem natural to those who had known Xander before his change in worldview, but one year ago almost to the day he had undergone a very enlightening experience.
It had all started with a computer game.
Willow had called him around to her house one night a few years ago and wanted to show him something. He had gone, because, well it was Willow, so why would he not? Once there he had been directed up to her bedroom and when he had arrived at her door, it had taken several knocks to get an answer out of her.
It turned out that she wanted to show him a game, a computer game, which was always more her thing than his; at that time he did not even own a computer. He had some skills, thanks to his red-haired friend, but he was no wiz kid. Still he had watched and listened to her explaining it until he got to the reason why she thought he would like it. Dungeons and Dragons, it was not to him, but she was extolling its virtues and how it would replace Pen and Paper role-playing. He and Jesse had been very much into the scene for several years leading up to Jesse’s death.
Xander had quite lost the taste for it after that.
Still, he listened, he watched, and eventually he played. He created a character, and for several months before Willow lost interest in all things game related, he did quite well. He made himself a nice and detailed back-story as befitting someone of his PnP history and went through the motions of questing and instancing; which is to say he did dungeons. He had quite enjoyed it, but to him it lacked a cohesive story line that was so often supplied by a good dungeon master.
That was that, until a year later he noticed that Willow was a bit down about something and it was Halloween night. He decided that Willow cheering up was worth dipping into his road trip fund, and had gone out of his way to put a costume together for her. He had chosen to go as his character from the game.
Sometimes he doubted his own sanity, considering how often things went wrong in Sunnydale.
That night, for one night only, a man called Ethan Rayne, who happened to supply most of Xander’s costume, turned every one of his customers into their costume choice. There had been a whole slew of super hero’s in the town, along side their villain’s. Willow had gone as a ghost, her classic Casper outfit hiding her true costume, but since she had gotten the sheet-like costume from Ethan, she had, for one night, been dead and become a spirit; a thought that still gave Xander the wrong sort of chills. Buffy had gone as a noblewoman from circa 1800 which, in all honesty, was probably the most useless and annoying thing on the planet for the evening; at least according to Willow.
Xander had no first-hand knowledge of the goings-on of his friends for that evening. As soon as the spell had washed over him, he had disappeared for the night. Quite literally, in fact, as his character’s class allowed him to effectively hide the entire evening. However, he certainly had not been idle that evening. When the spell had ended and all the dust had settled, Xander had found a nice stash of stolen goods in his room and a note from himself.
That would have been an end of it, even with the odd note, but not for Xander apparently. He had retained full knowledge of the evening, all the skills of his character, all the memories and some of the personality traits.
This is just one of the reasons he suffered no fools gladly.
He had asked his friends about that night afterwards for some time to come; had they retained anything from the evening? Buffy had kept some knowledge of French, but that had faded fast. Willow only kept touching walls carefully to make sure she would not fall through. He had then spread out his questioning, but no-one else him had retained the amount of information he had.
At first, he put that down to typical Xander luck, but then he wondered what was different about him. To this day, he still did not know why, and after much deliberation, he had set out to find out just how much he had retained.
Everything, was the short answer; everything conceivable was stuffed into his mind and body. He had put on some muscle, mostly tightening up what he already had. His senses seemed somewhat sharper, but he put that down to his character’s training. He could effectively move through a room without anyone even knowing he was there. He tested and tested, finding out what he could and could not from his class. Then once he was happy with his knowledge, he wondered about other abilities from the game. He had a built-in vampire sensor now, and could tell how ‘well’ someone was just by concentrating on them. He could tell if they were sick or angry by the same method. It only worked on one person at a time, but it was useful.
It had certainly given Billy Fordham a nasty surprise, and nicely sidestepped an issue Buffy may have had with the person from her past.
He could cook – even better than he had already been able to. He knew some basic first-aid, which somehow had been applied to a real life setting. When he thought about his professions, he had come across a nasty shock.
While it was true he could pick any lock he had tried, he could also make his own clothing. He was able to construct weapons, and a host of other abilities. It was as if the spell had not quite known what to do, so it had tapped into the consciousness of the entire town and pulled the knowledge needed from the people under its effect. Xander knew that Willow had a character with just about every possible combination of professions, and he supposed the spell had gotten a lot of information from her.
The engineering was turning out to be very useful in ‘doing up’ a cheap bike he had picked up for a song from the buy, sell and trades.
So while he had been worried at first, he had learned that he had essentially just been given an upgrade, and should not look a gift horse in the mouth.
However, there were downsides.
His character had been a rogue ie a thief and an assassin. Highly trained and schooled in the arts of deception, thievery and silent killing. That had changed his moral outlook to the point where it was virtually unrecognizable from what it had been before that night. When he was short on money for lunch or just because he was bored, he would swipe someone’s wallet because it was easier than going to the ATM. He thought nothing of stealing from graveyards, and in fact it was turning out to be highly profitable. He became as angry as always, but where as it had been all heat and very little burn before, it was now cold and calculating. He did not get mad anymore – he got even, and that was another of the reasons people tended to stay away from him now.
His loner character’s persona had rubbed off on him more than a little too; he had withdrawn from the gang for a few reasons, and being a bit of a lone wolf was only one. He had found that he was becoming increasingly angry at the tactical decisions Buffy made and the fact that Giles allowed it to happen to the point where he had actually pointed out a few of her blunders and gotten himself kicked out of the group. He hadn’t thought that Buffy wanted only yes-men in her group of friends, but had found out otherwise fairly sharply.
Of course he still talked to Willow, but she had not much liked the changes he was undergoing either, although she still remained supportive. Xander hated to think of a world without a Willow and Xander in it, so was grateful for her continued friendship all the time.
As a side effect of his larcenous ways, Xander was making a nice sideline stealing from crypts and vampires, occasionally swiping stuff from directly under what was supposed to be a supernaturally enhanced nose. When there was something of interest to the council, he sold it to them via Giles. Another potential piece of badness he had attained was stealing the Du Lac Cross from a crypt. They had later found out that Spike had needed it for a spell to re-empower his sire Drusilla. At the time of course Xander had just thought it was rather ornate for a cross and shown it to Giles. He still spoke with the man, though now only usually on business.
That single piece had set him up for life. The council had been looking for one for the past century, so were very generous with his finder’s. He had used some of that money to emancipate himself from his parents, paid of their mortgage and then moved out.
He was now a property owner; a nice house close to the university campus and not too far from school. Not that he had any intention of going to college, but it was nice to check out the honeys on campus on occasion. He had a garage attached to the property in which he worked on his bike and a few gadgets, and a Broadband connection to the internet and a host of other goodies that he had always wanted but never been able to afford. He had even brought Willow’s World of Warcraft account from her, that being the game from which his character had come. He even played it on occasion, just to keep up with things and to remind himself of anything he needed.
As a side effect of being ousted from the gang, he had missed some important events in their lives, but had also been fray adjacent, which had pleased Buffy no end. It also allowed him to look at things from an outsider’s point of view and he spotted that Jenny Calender was not who she appeared to be. He had confronted her with it after class one evening and had gotten a teacher out of it. She had taught him all he now knew about computers and, more importantly, hacking. Blackmail was too strong a word for it, but it fitted just as well as nudging her in the right direction. He had also spotted when Angel became evil almost immediately and, given that he and Jenny, or rather Janna, were close, he had realized what she was working on. One late night he had saved her life, and gained a friend for the rest of his natural life. It was at that point she had *really* taken a shine to him, and showed him everything she knew.
It was a useful thing to learn.
The trouble with being a rogue in a game like World of Warcraft was that most of the skills were a little out of date. However, because WoW liked to be different, there were things such as Helicopters and Motorcycles and he had taken it upon himself to update his skill set. Since he had applied himself so diligently, it had not taken as long as he had at first feared. Xander now liked to consider himself a modern day rogue. The fact he was rich certainly had not hurt either since he was able to get private, and secure tuition for the various subjects he had wanted to learn.
Therefore, he had missed some things and he had averted some when it came to the Scooby gang. However, it did not stop him from going out nightly to do his own form of patrol.
That form of patrol usually meant taking out a few vampires. He had found he could cope with five new vampires alone, or less older vampires. He figured that one on one he could take a master, as long as they were not too old. It also entailed going through some interesting looking crypts and that is where his skills as a rogue really stood him in good stead. It was surprising to find out just how many crypts had interesting things inside, and just how many of those were protected via various quite ingenious traps or locking mechanisms.
Nestled in his backpack at that very moment was an item he had picked up the night before. Shortly before having to pull a Vanish on a large group of vampires he assumed had been sent by someone to get it. He was on his way to Giles to find out what it was exactly, and to tell him the details of the crypt and traps around, since it was this information which should ensure Giles took him seriously. The fact that he might make a few dollars on the side had not passed him by either.
He walked into the library, keeping his demeanor light. Visits to the library during the day never seemed to go well for him since he had been removed form the gang. Buffy was of the opinion that he should stay the hell out, which was almost amusing since it was after all a public place.
"Oh, it’s you."
Xander let out an internal sigh at the sound of that voice. Once he had lived to hear it, now not so much. He was starting to realize that his hero was a seriously flawed character, and she was not in fact his hero any longer. "Well hello there, Buff, how the heck are ya?" he asked with a hint of sarcasm riding on his tone. He glanced over to see that she was sitting at the ‘research table’ eating a sandwich. The blond haired slayer was not alone though, and it was not anyone he recognized. A complete brunette bombshell was sitting next to her, glancing at the sandwich Buffy was eating longingly. Not that Buffy noticed that, of course. That would mean looking up from her own carefully constructed little world, something that Buffy occasionally had some trouble doing.
"I’m good, thanks. Angel tells me that you were making trouble again last night." Buffy told him in her slayer tone.
Xander rolled his eyes. If it were not for the fact he frankly adored Janna he would bemoan saving her at times. Since he had, she had cursed Angel’s soul back into him a few days after Xander had saved her. For some reason, and with Buffy pushing it, Angel had been taken back into the fold and given a free pass on all the murdering and killing he had done as Angelus. That ticked Xander off quite a bit, especially since one of his friends had damn near died because of the vampire. He and Angel would never get on because of that, despite the fact that Xander had no interest in pursuing Buffy anymore. Xander would almost go as far as to say he hated the vampire if not for the fact that the entire affair seemed to have kicked Angel into action. He was a much more productive member of the team now and was not hiding in the shadows any longer. He patrolled with Buffy all the time and gathered information when she was not around. Of course, Xander was not too happy that Angel was gathering information on him.
"It was no trouble, just a couple of vampires," Xander assured her with a fake smile. It was almost sad how far they were growing apart now. He was just glad that Buffy had no interest in trying to pry him and Willow apart. Though he didn’t much like Buffy’s influence on his best friend of a lifetime, in truth he knew there was little he could do about it, other than protecting the redhead as best as he was able if it all went to hell.
Xander looked over to the obviously hungry brunette and smiled at her, "I’m Xander." He told her by way of an introduction, since Buffy was not going to do it.
"Faith," she replied laconically leaning back in the chair and giving him the once over. She had to admit she liked what she saw. Dark colors that suited him, some soft leather but no silk, and a stance that said the guy knew how to look after himself and then some. He almost reminded her of a slayer; he had that same confident stance that said he could handle whatever came his way, no matter what. Though she knew just by looking at him that she could take him if the need arose. There was obviously no love lost between him and Buffy, and she was trying to get in with the group so she could not appear to be too friendly. However, the idea of trying to get in with any group went against her grain. Therefore, it was possible that she would change her mind about that; especially since Buffy was so wrapped up in herself it was almost funny.
"Good to meet you, but if you’ll excuse me, I gotta see the G-Man." Xander told her with a smile, and promptly walked away. Faith was a little surprised by that; she was not used to men virtually ignoring her. He had introduced himself and all, but that was it. She had at least expected him to make a pass at her or something.
A few minutes passed, which Faith whiled away by dreaming of a chocolate fudge sundae and thinking about patrol the evening, before when suddenly the stuffy Brit watcher, who had introduced himself as Giles, almost ran into the room. "I must find my translation dictionary," he mumbled as he dived into the book cage.
Xander walked back out of Giles’ office at a much more sedate pace, leaned against the wall, damn near fading from sight by route until he remembered himself and concentrated on staying visible.
"Right – here it is," Giles said walking back to the table, absently moving Faith’s feet off the table and letting a book drop in front of one of the chairs.
Faith frowned, not at the leg moving, "You’re doing that here, in the open?"
"What – hmm, oh yes, of course." Giles responded.
"Ain’t ya worried someone will come in and see ya?"
He did not reply, so Buffy did in his stead, "No one comes in here – well mostly they know not to." Buffy told her, and then glared at Xander.
Xander held a hand to his heart, "I’m not welcome anymore in a public library? Oh, how will I cope? Oh, I know, I’ll just ignore it."
Faith smirked, but did not say anything yet.
Buffy on the other hand got out of her chair and walked towards Xander a little menacingly, "I’ve told you before that you’re not welcome here, not after what you said."
"I only pointed out that Patton you ain’t," Xander replied with a wide smile.
Buffy growled and stepped a little closer, glaring up at the dark haired young man threateningly. The effect was rather spoiled by the fact that he towered over her by a good foot, and was very unimpressed. "Look Buffy, if you can’t take a criticism get out of the kitchen before you get burned." Xander said with an eyebrow cocked.
Faith was shocked; one that he had the guts to say it, and secondly she doubted that she could take Buffy. She had one hell of a rep in the community and her Watcher had told her a fair bit about her as well.
"Buffy" Giles called out warningly, "As it happens, Xander often brings me things of interest and I think this may well be classed in the same way. I’m not entirely certain yet but it appears to be a diary. Written by someone close to the then mayor of the town. Being close to a hundred years ago, this is written in common demonic. That should give you a hint of how dangerous this man was. It could contain some very pertinent information on why the town was built on a Hellmouth, and perhaps some information on the Hellmouth itself."
"Oh, right, Been out stealing things that don’t belong to you again Xander?"
"I can hardly steal things that *do* belong to me Buffy," Xander pointed out with a smirk.
"Xander, do stop being tiresome, and if you can’t behave *I* will ask you to leave." Giles put in before Buffy could say anything.
"Whatever you say G-Man. So that’s of interest then?"
Giles nodded, "Our usual arrangement will suffice, I trust?"
"I trust you G-Man, and if you do stiff me, I’ll just swipe it from your house."

tbc

Shifting Heart

Chapter 04

"Huh," was Jonno’s intelligent comment as he opened his door and looked at his visitors.  He knew why Xander would visit him but Harmony Kendall – that one totally eluded him.

"Out of the way Nerd," Harmony said, pushing past the short man into the house proper; mostly to get off the street so no one saw her.

"Hey!" Xander snapped, "Remember what I said."

Harmony seethed for a moment before subsiding, "Sorry," she mumbled.

Jonno blinked at her and then turned to Xander, "What the hell?"  Then he smirked, "New girlfriend Xan?"

"Oh ha, ha," Xander commented as he walked in the open doorway.

"As if," Harmony said in a low tone.

"Okay then, why is she here;  not that I’m over joyed to see her, but Jock and Cheerleaders not my favourite people."

Xander smirked, "Nor mine, but it turns out there may be more fallout from Halloween than I thought."

Jonno looked at the beautiful blonde and smirked. "Her? What did she go as, a cheerleader and low and behold…" he trailed off his sarcasm clear.

"Why you little…"

"Quit it, both of you.  The fact of the matter is, Jonno, that she took the last costume at Ethan’s and didn’t know what it was."

Jonno wiped a hand down his face, "What was it?"

"My guess – Priest."

Jonno snorted a laugh, "Oh God, that’s rich.  Has the light deserted her already or is it waiting?"

Xander covered a grin, "Best I can tell, she’s got a full measure still."

"Scary thought.  Shadow abilities?"

"No idea; that’s what we need to find out.  She obviously has not played the game, so she has no idea what she can do.  Best I can tell, what she can do is trial and error stuff, and when she really needs it, like when she was attacked earlier."

Jonno looked at Harmony with some concern, "You okay?"

Harmony blinked back a little surprise and then snapped, "Yes, and hey, I’m right here. Don’t talk about me like I’m not."

Jonno shrugged. "Priest huh?  Don’t know a lot about them, used to have one only got them to about 20 before I deleted it, though."

"Ahh, that’s better than nothing at least." Xander said with a smile, "I figure we hit some of the sites and do some research.  Figure out how to do the spells in real life.  She can heal already though."

"You can?" Jonno said to Harmony in surprise.

Harmony smiled a slightly nasty smile and pulled out her flick knife, "Want a demo?"

"I’ll pass." Jonno, said taking a step back, "Best come up to my room.  Got the PC in there as you know Xan.  Erh – want a coke or something?"

Harmony sniffed and folded her arms over her shapely chest.

"Right, well this way then." Jonno said leading them up the stairs.

~#~

Several hours later Xander tossed down one of Jonno’s books and looked at Harmony then at Jonno himself.  "So what have we learned?"

"She’s got the potential to be very powerful and quite the healer." Jonno said thoughtfully. "That could help with what we were talking about earlier."

"What?  What were you talking about earlier?" Harmony said.  Her ice had thawed somewhat, and she was being less of a snotty bitch to the two geeks.  After all, she realised that they were actually going out of their way to help her.  It was what she had hoped.  Especially as she had not been very nice to the short person over the years.  Then again, she had been worse to Xander.

"I don’t know if she’ll be interested in that Jonno," Xander said carefully, "So I wouldn’t worry about it right now Harm."

"Can you *not* call me that, especially in public?"

Xander smirked at her, but otherwise did not comment.

"Ability wise, you have quite a few to sort through; I’m not sure how we’ll teach you though, Harmony."

"I figure she’s already got healing abilities, some destructive ones. "Xander trailed off and then suddenly jumped at Harmony.  She yelped and threw up her hands, wincing as if expecting a physical attack.  Xander bounced off the shield that popped up around her;  a shimmering bubble of holy light that deflected him off onto the floor.  "Shield too." Jonno commented wryly.

"I figured as much since she didn’t have a scratch on her after being attacked earlier," Xander said as he got up.  "It’s okay Harm, open your eyes."

Harmony did as he asked, and looked with wonder at the bubble that surrounded her.  "Wow" she whispered. "This game of yours is sounding more interesting all the time." .

"Sounds like you’re coming around to our way of thinking.  Beware of the geek side, Harm, because it is a tempting and seductive force." Xander commented wryly.

Harmony flushed and then glared at him. "As if." she drawled in her best Cordelia imitation.  Xander smiled slightly.

"That demonstrates that you can do it even if you’re not thinking about it.  So you need to learn what all the abilities are, and what they do, and then try to do it consciously." Jonno said, his mind whirring along at high speed.

"How?"

"We’ll meet up after school tomorrow and try some stuff out.  I have somewhere I go to practice." Jonno told her.

"Is it private?"

"Very."

"Good. I don’t want to be seen hanging with either of you."

"Charming." Jonno commented with a smirk.

"Count me out for that.  I’m meeting with my uncle about one of my tinkering tomorrow."

"Oh?" Jonno asked.

"I meant to talk to you about that actually.  We’re not limited to two professions now you know."

"Oh." Jonno said, then smiled.  "No that’s a limit of the game.  Hey, does that mean I could tailor now?"

"I expect so. I can leatherwork." Xander said with a wave at his clothing.

Harmony looked at him in shock. "You MADE that?"

"Yep." Xander replied.

"Can you make me a top like that, only female?" Harmony asked after a moments thought. "I’d look totally hot in leather."

"Definitely." Jonno said, blushing.

Harmony smirked at him, and then turned to Xander with a smile, "Please?"

"Fine, but you realise priests only wear cloth?"

"And?" Jonno asked, motioning to his belt. "I’m wearing leather right now.  I don’t think it matters anymore."

"Huh," Xander said thoughtfully.  "Interesting."

"Talking of limitations," Jonno said slowly, grinning widely. "Thought about talent trees?"

"What of them?"

"Well, you can only have two and that’s with duel spec, but we’re not limited to that anymore. In truth we should be able to do anything."

"I don’t see any trainers around, Jonno." Xander said.

"So?  Why not try one of the other forms from the other trees.  I bet you can do it.  After all, your character was balance for a while and Restoration."

"Shit, that’d be seriously cool.  It would also mean you could do serious damage with any of your spell types."

Jonno nodded, "I’ll try it out tomorrow.  Since Harmony doesn’t have the preconceptions we do, she should try stuff from shadow as well as holy; maybe some discipline too."

"What?"

"The trees you were just reading about Harm." Xander said rolling his eyes.

"Like I was taking notice." She commented with an airy wave of her hand.

"I know it’s geeky," said Jonno "but you need to know your own limitations and just what you can do now.  That way you’re safer in using it, and can make the best use of it all."

"I’m not sure I want to yet." Harmony admitted.  "I mean, it’s not going to help in the fashion business."

"I think we’re beyond that now, Harm," Xander said carefully.

Harmony pouted thoughtfully.  "Then what do I do?"

Jonno and Xander shared a look, but it was Xander who spoke. "Don’t worry about it too much right now, Harm.  For now, just learn control and how to use what you have.  If things work out, then maybe we can come up with something."

Harmony nodded, looking uncharacteristically bashful.  "Thank you." she said after a long moment.  "For everything."

Xander and Jonno smiled at her. "No problem," they said almost at the same time.

~#~

The newly christened RDC had been CRD before they had moved premises after some legal problems with their name and permits.  That was all sorted now and they were one of the leading small businesses in the area.  Their Research and Development business plan was among the best in the country;  their talent matching many of the larger companies in America.  What they lacked, though, was a killer product. 

Rory Harris, uncle to Xander, turned the small device in his hand repeatedly looking at it from every angle.  Essentially, it was almost sci fi; a field projector that could sustain a solid holographic field for a set amount of time.  It had some kinks to work out, but if he was right, then he was looking at the future of the company.  Despite his eccentricities, he was one of the company leaders, and his entire future was invested in making sure that it succeeded.  That said, he was not sure if he should follow through with the device, and in particular how they should proceed.  It had military applications for sure.  It stood up to small arms fire so far, and even some of the larger calibre fire they had managed to shoot at it.  It could be used in other areas as well, perhaps even medically if they could make the power source smaller. 

The thing of it was he still was not sure *why* it worked.  Only his nephew really understood that, and had explained it to his uncle freely as well.  This made Rory wonder what had happened to his charming but not too bright nephew to turn him into a brilliant inventor.  The field generator was not the only thing he had come up with either.  Most of it was quite mundane and not to the standard of the field generator, but the young man now seemed to have a knack for engineering that made no sense to Rory.

From his research Rory was now certain that it was uniquely Xander’s design and was not stolen, as best Rory could tell.  Xander had gladly signed documentation to make sure of that fact.  The other projects in the area were light years behind what Xander had designed.  Their power sources huge, and projectors equally massive.  What Rory had in his hand was the size of a matchbox at most.

He put it down on his desk with a sigh.  There was nothing for it, the Board had voted and it was decided.  They were going to buy the rights from Xander and, to that end, his nephew was due to arrive at Rory’s office in a few minutes.  If it were up to him, he would spend more time talking it over with Xander. 

He had a responsibility there after all and advice he should give, but then, as the Board had reminded him, he had one to them as well.  That said, he had brokered a damn good deal for the lad with continued royalties should they end up mass-producing the generator.  Rory was almost certain they would if they got a military contract, even though they currently did not have the resources to make anything other than test runs of designs.

The Board had a somewhat dangerous plan for expansion, and it all hinged on the little generator now on his desk.  He tapped a finger against it, and marveled at the design and construction of the thing.  He wondered how Xander had learned to made such good quality work, without him knowing.  He obviously kept an eye on the young man; after all, his own parents did not seem to care.  He read his school report cards and a host of other duties that were not really his to undertake.  Shop class, while good, was not Xander’s strong point until the last month or so.

It was quite possible that Xander was a prodigy who had not realised his potential before, and that worried Rory a little because how had he missed it?

A buzz from his intercom broke through his thoughts and caused him to start slightly and then reach out and key it into action, "Yes, Faye?"

"Your nephew is here." Faye said, her melodious voice holding a tinge of amusement.  Likely caused by Xander, who always flirted shamelessly with the 25-year-old blond secretary.

"Send him in please Faye." Rory said, straightening his jacket and pulling a file from his drawer.  A few moments later Xander walked into his office to the sound of Faye laughing, causing Rory himself to smile.

"Hey Unc." Xander said jovially walking to the visitors, chair and sitting down.

Rory waited for the door to swing to a close and then looked at his nephew.  He had changed a little since he last saw him.  He seemed taller and was wearing tailored leather.   Rory knew his job at Rory’s garage would not pay for this.  He brushed that aside though and instead got to business.  "Hey Xander.  Looking good.  I talked to the Board last week and they decided they want the plans to your device."

"Cool. What’s in it for me, if you don’t mind me asking."

"I got you a good deal.  A lump sum up front with more if we go into production and start selling units."

"Sounds good, but how much are we talking here?"

Rory smiled; this was good news at least. "A lot Xan. We’re talking three million up front with a 1% royalty on the unit itself."

Xander blinked several times in quick succession.  "What?"

"You’re my nephew; you thought I would let them skin you alive?  There is a wrinkle though."

"What?"

"You’re not quite eighteen yet Xander so anything we pay you would go through your parents…"

"Shit."

"Quiet, unless -" Rory trailed off, battling with himself and then pulled out another file.  "I had my lawyer draw this up."

Xander took the offered file and flicked it open.  After a moment his eyes widened. "That’s a big step."

"You could support yourself easily, and you know I’ll help you get set up."

"I know, but they’re my parents."

Rory frowned, "If only they acted like it this wouldn’t be a problem.  You know as well as I do that your father would spend it all on whores, and your mother would puke it down a sink.  You would never see a dime.  I managed to set things up so we can file this today, see a judge tomorrow and pass the money through to you the day after."

Xander sat back looking pale.  What his uncle had said was true, but he would be emancipating himself.  He would be alone in a sense, but then hadn’t he always been, even around his parents.  Rory had been more of a father to him than his own, and he was already saying he would help.  If he did not do this, though, he would not see a dime, and Rory had the right of it there.  Three Million US would disappear in a blink of an eye if he were not careful, and this made sure his parents did not steal it from him.  It hit him then.  He had to do this otherwise he would make his parents into thieves.  They would do it in a heartbeat, and that hurt Xander more than he cared to think.  "Shit, he summed up.

"I know Xan, but what are you going to do?" Rory said with a shrug.

"I’ll do it. Where do I sign?"

Rory smiled and pointed to several places on the papers, "There, there and there.  I’ll take this for you and it’ll all be other before the weeks’ end."

"Phew." Xander said, "I feel kinda weird."

"I know Xan, I know.  This is for the best, though, maybe it will force them to realise what they’re doing to themselves?"

"That’d be good.  Should I tell them?"

Rory shook his head. "I’ll deal with them tonight, and get them to Court tomorrow.  Take these," he said reaching into a draw and tossing a set of keys to Xander. "They are the keys to my apartment.  Stay there tonight. I’m going to stick with Tony and Jessica and make sure they don’t do something stupid."

"Thanks, Uncle Rory."

~#~

Sunnydale was coming up on one hundred years since it was hewn from the desert just outside of the then booming town of Los Angeles.  Since that time, it had been built to accommodate people of all races, and that means all races.  It was a haven for demonic kind as well as a nice place to bring up children, and the town Mayor was proud of that fact.  He was sitting in his office even at that late hour, working through some paper work for the school board and smiled in contentment.  He was over 100 years old already and had been working with a single-minded purpose.  Tailoring the town to be the perfect home, and offering for the various demon lords that owned his now blackened soul.  Not that you could tell that from looking at the man.  Mayor Richard Wilkins had a pleasant face and a ready smile, and it was not until you looked deeply into the man’s eyes that you realised anything was wrong.  When you did though, you could see something inhuman looking back out at you.  By then it was already too late, and you were lost forever.

For Richard Wilkins was not only dangerous, he was powerful and knowledgeable as well.  He had sensed that a change was coming; ever since Halloween just over a month ago he had been on edge, or as on edge as he ever got.  It was as if the town had shifted slightly away from the evil lair it truly was towards a more hopeful and light place.  He could not pin down the feeling, though, and that bothered him more than he cared to admit.

Even with the Slayer in town, he had been hopeful that nothing would bother his upcoming ascension.  That he would be able to ascend to his true form without any resistance after the Slayer had so handily dealt with the Master for him.  Now he was not quite as certain.

He put down his documents, walked to his private cupboard, and opened it carefully.  He knew he was not going to be disturbed at that time of night by anyone; even his faithful secretary had gone home for the night.  Therefore he was able to pull out several heavy tomes from a secret compartment inside the cupboard of tricks.

He walked back to his desk and placed the tomes down with a soft thump and a waft of dust.  He frowned, pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket, and swept away the dust.  He did so abhor germs and dirt.  Then he settled down and started to revise his plans slightly.  At this point, he was still able to make some changes in his ascension, and perhaps he should.  He was after all a cautious man and something was in the air and making him very cautious indeed.

To that end, he turned to the section on forms to ascend to and started to research what form would give him the best chance of success.  Each form had its own requirements and he would need to start working on getting these sorted before the towns’ centennial.

tbc

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Fabulous News First.

Someone I know from the GMC, that’s the Game maker community, has given me a game of theirs that they no longer have the time or the inclination to develop.  That’s sad news for the community but good news for me personally.  I know him as Siege, you may know him better as Lucifael.  The game is called Abraxium, and for something that is in early stages of development it’s got some cool features.

Good News

In discussion, I mentioned I was a bit of a fan of his work and he’s also let me run with a couple of the ideas he’s had over the years but never actually done anything with, so shortly I hope to show the fruits of my endeavours on that.

Bad News

Shifting Heart was quarantined over at Twisting the Hellmouth!  Apparently my grammar is even worse than I thought it was.  At first I was thinking, perhaps writing wasn’t something that I ought to be doing, but all the fabulous reviews I’ve gotten have made me revaluate that first panicked thought.  So instead I’m getting the grammar checked over and will shortly be reposting the parts I’ve already posted and I already have a new part ready to post when that’s complete.

Other News – Etcetera

So suddenly I have a lot more work on my plate than I was expecting, but I’m in no particular rush to get it all out there.  Abraxium in particular is going to take some serious graphics work, not my best subject, and my writing exploits are of course also taking up some time as well.  It’s nice to be busy, however, and I look forward to the challenges coming to me.

So sorry for the delay in posting any new parts to Shifting Heart, but worry not it’s still alive and kicking and there is much more to come in that universe. 

Talking of universes I’m going to start posting some thoughts on the Abraxium Universe shortly and I’d be really interested in hearing your comments.  Lucifael did tell me that people tended to use his post Abraxium to talk about FIC, I’m hoping no one will do that to me, because unlike him I’m not known as more of a writer than a programmer, I’m a little of both. 

Yes, that was a thinly veiled request

Kravius

Shifting Heart
Chapter 03

"There he is," Willow said with a smile lighting up her face as she spotted her crush and long time friend across the club.

Buffy turned to where Willow was pointing and waved her male friend over.  Then she went back to trying to spot Angel in the crowds.

"Hey Ladies, Looking lovely tonight," Xander said as he walked up to them.

Willow blushed while Buffy just took it in her stride her only reply was to cast an eye up and down Xander and smile before saying, "Not so bad yourself Xan…  More leather I see.  Trying to copy Angel’s fashion sense?"

Xander snorted a laugh and shook his head, "Do you see any silk?" he asked rhetorically.  "Can I get you ladies a drink?" he asked to head of any possible reply from Buffy.

"Just a soda," Willow said with a smile.  "You must be feeling flush?"

"Yeah, not doing badly at the moment got my first pay check yesterday." Xander said and then moved off into the crowds and towards the bar.

Willow turned to Buffy, "How much can he earn in an after school job?" she asked curiously.

Buffy shrugged, more interested in finding Angel than in anything Xander was earning.  However, she was happy for him.  He was obviously doing well for himself and as far as she was concerned, he deserved a little good in his life.  Now if she could just hook him up with Willow who she was sure would be perfect for him then she figured the group dynamic would be perfect.

Willow looked at Buffy with a slight smile, "See him yet," she said knowing that Buffy was not really concentrating on anything she was saying until they found Angel.

"Not yet," Buffy admitted, "Oh wait," she said suddenly and moved off into the crowds cutting through them like a knife through butter.

"Oh don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine," Willow huffed to herself and then smiled as a Soda was pressed into her hand from the side of her.  Xander had obviously come back a different way than he had left by.  "Thanks Xander," she said and turned to him.

"Not a problem for you Wills," Xander said and then followed Buffy’s progress with his eyes, giving them a roll when he saw her final destination.  In many ways, he was over his crush on Buffy now.  The lifetime crammed in his head had allowed him to see that their differences would mean they would most likely make either a horrible couple, or oddly enough a very good one.  He admired her still and not just for her looks, but also her spirit and determination.  That said, and perhaps it was Malufurian coloring his thoughts, but her relationship with Angel sickened him somewhat.  He tried to remember that he had a soul, that he was one of the good guys.  However, all he really saw when he looked at the guy was a vampire.  It was to his mind Buffy’s job to slay such creatures, not make googly eyes at them.

Still, in the end, it was her life and her decision.  This is one of the things Malufurian’s experience had taught him.  It was not up to him to make her decisions for her; it was all down to her.  He had his own life to worry about after all.  This brought him to Willow, who was smiling at him in a quite fetching way.  He was tempted to take up the invitation inherent in that smile he really was.  He was also terrified of doing so.  Willow’s friendship over the years had meant so much to him he could not even begin to describe it.  To his mind they were soul mates, he just was not sure that would translate well into a relationship.  He did find her physically attractive.  It was hard not to, she was a beautiful young woman now.  However, there were aspects of her personality he was not sure he would cope well with in a relationship setting.

"What are you thinking?" Willow asked, a little self-conscious as Xander had been staring at her for a few minutes.

Xander smiled at her, "Us, old times and how very important you are to me."

Willow blushed but smiled widely, perhaps this was the sign she had been looking for.

"I can’t imagine a world in which you and I aren’t friends that would destroy me I think," Xander said carefully.

Willow half frowned, perhaps this was not going in the direction she had hoped it was after all.

"Sometimes I think if it wasn’t for you I’d have gone postal years ago.  You have my soul wills.  I just wanted you to know that."

Willow blinked back sudden tears.  His tone was impossibly soft and caring it just tore at her heart for some reason.  "I…" she began but Xander reached out and laid a finger on her lips.

"Let me finish Wills," Xander told her, "Many nights when things got too much I was able to come to you and hide away and you’d hug me and tell me it was all going to be ok and that saved me Wills.  I don’t want to do anything to destroy our relationship, I want us to be ‘Willow and Xander’ for the rest of time."

Willow nodded, tears in her eyes.  She knew where this was going now.  Apparently her best male friend in the world was not as clueless as she had thought and this, unless she was mistaken, was him letting her down *very* gently.

"Is that okay?" Xander asked softly his eyes suspiciously bright.

Willow paused for a moment before nodding her shoulders a little slumped.  Then Xander pulled her in for a big hug and kissed her hair, whispering sweet nothings into her red tresses to calm her down.  Something he had done on many occasions Willow realised and suddenly she did not want to loose that either.  Xander had just told her he loved her, which is something she had wanted to hear for a long time.  Of course, it was not meant the way she had hoped, but the fact was she loved him too perhaps just as much in that way as he did her.  A relationship, to her mind, would be wonderful.  However, what if?  That was the question of the day, what if it all went wrong.  They might not be Willow and Xander anymore and that thought made her want to hide in a hole until it went away. 

No, perhaps it was better this way.

Buffy walked up, towing Angel by the hand and looked at the two of them with worry in her eyes.  Seeing Willow crying she reached out a hand and placed it on Willow’s shoulder.

Willow half turned, and cleared her tears away, "I’m okay," she said and she was as well.  She really was okay, which was strange because she was sure she would have been crushed if Xander had rejected her, but then he had not he had merely redirected her instead.

Buffy glared at Xander for a moment, but it failed to have any effect on him, which was new.  "What did you say?"

"That’s between us," Xander said seriously, still hugging Willow.

"It’s alright Buffy, it’s nothing bad.  In fact it’s kind of wonderful, we’re going to be Willow and Xander forever, and we’ve decided that being friends forever is the best thing in the world." Willow said carefully looking Buffy in the eye and begging her to get the idea.

"Oh," Buffy said sounding disappointed, then she smiled, "As long as you’re happy I suppose."

Meanwhile Xander’s and Angels eyes had met.  "Xander," Angel intoned with a deep voice.

"Vampire," Xander replied mildly, only to yelp when Buffy darted around Willow to slap him on the arm.

"Enough of that you two, who knew that a vampire had testosterone to throw into a pissing contest." Buffy said with a glare at her boyfriend.  Then she turned on Xander who was smirking, "And as for you.  Cut it out, he’s my boyfriend get used to it.  You want me to be happy don’t you?  Well he makes me happy." She said leaving no wriggle room.  Now Angel was actually smiling.

"Sure," Xander said carefully.  "For as long as that lasts I am happy for you."

Buffy narrowed her eyes at the tall teen and then realised that while Xander had always been taller than her he was actually taller than Angel was now.  Then shook it off as unimportant.  "Glad to hear it," she said eventually not wanting to get into a full-scale fight right at the moment.  She wanted to decompress from school, then go out, and slay some vampires.  Simple needs perhaps, but it was her life.  A full-scale argument would just ruin that for her and she did not want that for once.

Xander flashed a smile, "Anyway, can I get either of you a drink.  A soda, B negative?  Anything?"

"Soda, thanks," Angel said after a slight glare.  He realised that in his way Xander was trying to be nice, he was just unable to do it without being a smart ass in the process.  It was just Xander’s way in fact.  It was also up to him to be the adult.  To Angel’s reasoning, he had a couple of centuries on Xander.  He could be the bigger man here, despite the fact it was actually fun to spar with the young man.  Not that he would admit that in a thousand years.  In addition, he did not get the jealous vibe off Xander anymore, nor did he seem intimated by Angel anymore.  He could not put a finger on why, but it was almost as if Xander now thought he could deal with Angel if push came to shove.  That interested Angel he had to admit, and since he was no longer competing for Buffy’s ‘fair hand’ in truth Angel did not actually have a problem with Xander.  They had issues to work out, which either they would or they would not it didn’t much matter to Angel really, though it would be good for the group if they got along.  Therefore, he ignored the jibe and took the olive branch.

Xander nodded and looked to a slightly steaming Buffy, "Buff?"

"Coke," she said carefully neutral.  If Angel was not going to make a scene out of the quip nor was she.

Xander once again braved the crowds leaving Willow with Buffy and Angel.  "So – you’re okay?" Buffy said carefully.

Willow smiled a smile that lit up the area and nodded, "I actually am." She said sounding almost surprised.  "Now I can move on." She added with a grin and looking around as if to find a prospective boyfriend.

"Well, this time steer clear of any soulless vampires." Buffy said jokingly.

Willow laughed slightly, "That did put me off the idea for a while I’ll admit.  But surely I can’t get caught twice."

There was a moment of silence and then Buffy said, "Just in case.  I will look them over ‘k."

Willow nodded with a slightly worried look on her face.

Angel turned away to cover the smirk on his face and then back as Xander reappeared with their drinks.  "Here," he said with a slight smile and passed around the drinks as he had gotten another for Willow and one for himself as well.  "Wellllll, this is nice." He said then half frowned when he spotted someone, an unwelcome someone at that, trying to get his attention from across the club.  It was very low key, but there was no mistaking it, they wanted to talk to him and apparently, they did not want anyone to know about it either.  ‘Weird, what does she want’ Xander thought to himself.

"Thanks for the drink," Angel said causing Buffy and Willow to also thank the dark haired teen.

"Not a problem, got to share the wealth huh?  Anyway, got to – urh visit the boy’s room.  Be right back." He said in a distracted way.

Willow watched him go with a half frown and then turned back to Buffy, "That was weird; he hadn’t even touched his coke."

Buffy shrugged, "So – Patrol tonight?"

~#~

Xander cut through the club easily, the crowd moving out of the way of the new predator in their midst.  It was not a conscious thing with Xander but since finding his forms, he had a way about him now that made him stand out a bit.  He made his way quickly to the strange request and the even stranger requester and stood before them in double time.

They motioned for him to follow them and lead him out of the club’s back entrance and into an alleyway.  Then they turned to him and made a shushing motion as Xander opened his mouth to speak.  They darted a look around them nervously and then seemed to relax slightly.

"Harris," they said.

Xander frowned, "What do you want Harmony and what’s with the cloak and dagger routine?"

"I don’t want anyone to see us talking," Harmony Kendall said with brutal honesty.

"Well that’s easily sorted, I’ll leave." Xander said turning to do just that.

"No! Please, wait and hear me out." Harmony said reaching out and holding Xander’s elbow.

Xander turned back and glared at the hand until she removed it and then let out a sigh.  "What’s this about Harm?  It’s not like you to want to talk to me."

"I know, but you’re the only one I can think of to help me out."

"Help you out?  Why would I do that?"

"Please you’re hip deep into all the freaky shit that happens in this town and you know it.  I need your help here.  Would you refuse a request for help?"

Xander was about to say that indeed he would when he noticed her eyes.  There was no scornful look and a hint of actual intelligence looking out from her baby blues.  Not something he expected to see if he were brutally frank.  She had always been the school ditz and boy did she play her part well as well.  "Alright I’m listening."

"It all started on Halloween," she began and Xander tensed.  Apparently, he and Jonno were not the only ones having a problem with repercussions from that night.

"What did you go as?"

"I don’t know kind of a fantasy thing.  It was the only costume left when I went that new shop and I thought I would look hot in it so I got it.  But I don’t know what it was supposed to be."

Xander let out another sigh, "Oh boy.  Alright what can you do now?"

"Give me your hand," Harmony told him her eyes serious as she pulled out a small flick knife from her bag.

"You’ve got to be kidding me."

"Please, just – trust me."

Xander was about to tell her to go to hell when her expression caught him again.  Despite his better instincts, he held out his hand and let her cut his palm.  It hurt but he had suffered much worse over the years and certainly worse in Malufurian’s lifetime.

"Ready?" Harmony said, her voice wavering slightly.

"More than I’m bleeding on my new pants."

Harmony nodded to herself, lightly bit a lip and placed a hand over his palm.  Warmth flooded from her hand and spread up his arm and an almost holy glow spread halfway up his arm.  Then the warmth disappeared just after the glow did and Harmony stepped back.

Xander looked at his hand and ran a finger over where the cut had been.  There was not even a mark left and other than a little blood, he seemed to be perfectly healed.  "Right," he said with a frown.  "Tell me, can you sense how kind of healthy people are?"

Harmony nodded, "And I can feel the power coming off of you now you mention it."

Xander nodded again, mostly to himself.  This was a new wrinkle.  Luckily, he knew the game pretty well and what sort of class could heal like that.  She did not strike him as the paladin type, and besides he could not sense an aura coming from her of any type.  Used what looked to be holy powers, she just had to be a Priest.  This was damn near funny considering who he was looking at.  This time though the wrinkle was that she had no idea what she was dealing with and his knowledge was nominal at best having only seen other priests in action during the odd raid and instance.  The real insider knowledge was not available to him.  Malufurian’s massive amount of memories was not too helpful either.  His healing abilities were linked to nature, not using ‘The Light’.  He also had not had a lot to do with the priests either.  Some dealings obviously but it was the intimate knowledge he needed to help Harmony and he just did not have it.  Jonno would be no help either.  He was a mage, and had a rogue.  Not germane to being a priest in the least.  He had to help her though; otherwise, she could end up hurting someone.  He was well aware that Priests could do some serious damage.  The thought of the cheerleader having that sort of power was more than a little worrying.

"Well!" Harmony demanded when he had not said anything in a long while.

"I can help, maybe, I’m willing at least but it’s going to take some work.  You need to learn control."

"You’re telling me, I wiped out a bunch of freaks earlier and I don’t even know how."

Xander pursed his lips in thought, Holy power would be deadly to vamps and from the freaks comment it was likely she had come across vampires, especially in Sunnydale.  "I hate to tell you this but you need to come with me."

"What?"

"Unless you want to explode when you least expect it, or maybe hurt a friend or loved one because you do something without thinking about it.  Just to make your life a little more interesting I also need to take you to a fellow nerd’s house as well.  Get a handle on your abilities.  I know the costume you wore I think and we need to do some research and he’s the one with the means to do that."

"Who?"

"Jonno," Xander replied.

"Oh god not him." Harmony despaired.

"Cut that out for a start unless you want to do this alone.   You came to me for a reason, and I can help but I won’t if you keep that shit up."

Harmony pouted and stomped her foot in anger.  It was a fascinating thing to watch because she was very well made, it made Xander wonder how she had looked in her costume since the costumes themselves had been tier sets.  "Fine!"

Xander nodded, "I have to say goodbye to my friends."

"Why?"

"Because I’m not rude," Xander said with an eye roll and walked off to do as he had said.

tbc

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