by Rob Sorenson

Xander was hungry. Of course, he was always hungry in the best of circumstances, which certainly didn't apply here. His chains were chafing painfully against his wrists, and his neck was aching from Faith's brutal squeeze earlier when she'd slammed him against the concrete wall outside his cell. <Stop calling her Faith. That was NOT Faith!! It just looked and sounded exactly like her...>

He couldn't lie to himself. As terrifying as it had been to see Buffy and Willow's clones, Faith had been the one that had stuck with him the most. The look in her eyes, the cold predatory attitude...<Just when I think I'm getting somewhere...>

One of the great weaknesses of Xander Harris's personality was his difficulty with forgiveness. His mother had recently tried to reconnect with him, waxing poetic on how his dad was finally cleaning up his life. He hadn't had a drink in 3 months; he'd been hired as a night watchman at the restored factory where Angelus, Spike and Dru had called their headquarters all those years ago. His mother didn't know that bit of trivia, of course, and Xander thought it best to leave it out.

"Too little, too late." That had been his response to her as he hung up. Dad hadn't even had the guts to come to him; now Xander was supposed to just welcome him back into his life? He was required to drop everything and be supportive? Where had his father been he'd needed someone's support as a child? Generally speaking he'd been to whatever bar that would serve him, a list that had dwindled considerably as the years went by. In the rare occasions Tony Harris was home, he'd used Alexander's mother as an outlet for frustrations and disappointments that were no one's fault but his own.

Not for the first time Xander thanked whatever God there was for the priceless gift that came in the form of a little red headed girl named for a tree. It was she who'd given him his name when they were in kindergarten, and he'd accepted it immediately. When he was with her, it was like his home life didn't exist. Weak, tortured little Alex stayed at home, while goofy Xander walked the streets.

Inevitably, the day came when he couldn't seperate his two lives any more. His father had come home from a particularly bad day to find his wife missing. Without her to provide the necessary punching bag, little Alex was the next best option. Before he knew it, the child was tumbling down the stairs into the basement. Just prior to blacking out, he dimly saw his father lurch down the stairs unsteadily, cursing his son's clumsiness and stupidity. This would haunt Xander in his nightmares for years, as Buffy became aware of when they'd shared their dreams years later.

When he awoke the first things he saw were the soft, concerned eyes of Willow Rosenberg. She'd come over to see if he wanted to play Barbies with her and found the Harris family front door open. The inquisitive little genius had investigated and found her unconscious friend Xander bleeding at the base of his basement steps.

She'd helped him make his way to the couch, and hurried upstairs to the master bathroom. Clearly the Harris family had spent a good deal of time dealing with injuries based on the contents of their medicine cabinet. Willow took what she needed and ran back down the stairs, carefully avoiding Xander's blood so she wouldn't slip.

She gently cleaned his wounds, then bandaged them as thoroughly as a nine year old could. When his tears came she held his hand, having no clue what to say.

As it turned out, her mere presence had said everything Xander needed to hear.

This process continued periodically for the next seven years, with the two children filling the void left behind by neglectful parents. While Xander's were alcoholic and abusive, Willow's were self absorbed and unresponsive. Xander had never understood how they could possibly miss how special she was, and he told her so. This simple declaration of what Xander viewed as patently obvious had meant the world to little Willow, and slowly but surely she fell hopelessly in love with her best friend.

Then one fateful day Buffy Summers came into their lives, briefly creating a painful triangle that left no one happy. Still, Willow had sensed something special in the blonde haired girl, just as she had sensed something in her Xander. She'd never considered the possibility of her new friend as a superhero, but then she'd always had good instincts about people. For Xander's part, while Willow had given his life comfort and loyalty, Buffy had given it purpose. He was contributing something; Xander Harris mattered. All the loss and pain he'd suffered as a result of his commitment to her destiny had faded with time. In the end, he was proud to know her. It meant everything to him that someone like Buffy loved and respected him as much as she did.

Through it all, the once painful triangle between them slowly disappeared, replaced by a love so profound that they really didn't have to act like it, much less say so, except in the worst of circumstances. Their dangerous lives had forged a ferocious bond of loyalty and protectiveness toward each other; the only realistic comparison was the closeness among soldiers on the front lines of battle.

More often than not, this is precisely what they were. They'd seen each other's blood spilled, and had saved one another's lives more than they could count. Xander had belatedly come to the conclusion that his powerful best friends needed him as much as he needed tham.

More than anyone else, the person that brought upon this realization was Faith. She'd been through more than he could ever possibly understand, but he at least had a sense of the helplessness of it....and the anger. He could feel this powerful girl's need for him more acutely than Buffy and Willow, but his ability to ground her had been a revelation. This was what he did better than anyone because he'd done it for his best friends without even realizing it.

He could identify with Faith's bitterness. He'd held it toward his father for a long time, and to this day it remained. The big difference was he'd been lucky enough to find Buffy and Willow before it was too late for him. Faith, on the other hand, was dealt an infinitely crueler hand. Once Buffy came into her life, the only reaction Faith could possibly have was bitterness and resentment. Xander totally got it, and in the process gained vital perspective on his own existence.

Still...the woman he'd fallen in love with had once clasped her hands around his throat, choking him within an inch of his life. Much like Faith's clone had hurt him a few hours before. It was entirely too close to home, and Xander cursed himself for his inability to let go of the past.

His reverie was broken when Travers and his assistants walked into the room with a video camera.

**************************************************************

"Are we going to land soon? This is a long flight and I'm starting to feel a little sick." Dawn rolled her eyes; if she had to hear Andrew complain one more time..."We're on final approach, Andr--Willow. Can't you hear?" She'd almost forgotten they didn't look like themselves. Willow's spell had worked perfectly. Dawn and Clem had both picked up on the guy two rows back who'd been closely observing their moves since they'd arrived at Sunnydale Airport several hours before, and it was a relief that their surveillance guy appeared relaxed. The plan was working.

Andrew might have picked up on the tail as well; he was actually exceptionally intelligent, if a bit self involved. He'd rambled so damn much about his many phobias, however, that he hadn't paid attention. This was just as well. If he had, he probably would've acted unnatural and possibly blown it. Therefore Dawn had tolerated a lot more of his whining than usual.

"Of course I can hear. My head feels like it's about to explode, but my ears still work." He was speaking in an unnaturally loud voice. "Why couldn't I get some of Willow's power, too? I could do some kind of pressure reducing spell--OW!" Dawn had kicked him hard in the ankle.

"Andrew, xnay on the amourglay!"

"Huh?"

Clem leaned into Andrew. "It's Pig Latin. She's telling you not to talk about the glamour spell out loud." The nerd's clogged ears heard incorrectly and he spun to Dawn, eyes widened. "You called me a pig in Latin? Well, two can play that game missy. How about if I call you skank in Sumerian? You wouldn't feel so intellectually superior if I did THAT, would you?"

Dawn eyed the overhead compartment across the aisle, seriously considering stuffing Andrew into it when the plane suddenly dropped to the runway, causing her stomach to lurch a bit. Once the wheels touched she turned to her friends and found them serious and silent. <Good. They need to get their game faces on.> She silently prayed that Andrew would just stay quiet until they got to the suite and met up with Buffy, Spike, Willow and Faith.

Buffy had depended on her to keep the group in line, and she refused to let her down.... especially since Xander was in danger. When Dawn had lost her mother and sister in rapid succession, the others had stepped in and filled the void. It was a little bizarre if you didn't know them. A vampire, two lesbian witches and a goofy carpenter had basically raised her for over a year until Buffy recovered from her post resurrection depression. She developed a deep love and trust for them all as they rallied around her, just as they had for Buffy so many times before.

They disembarked, and Dawn was looking for some sort of sign that the Council would possibly be greeting them, while eyeing her perimeter for a possible trap as well. She'd considered the possibility of the hotel suite as a ruse to catch them off guard so that they could be attacked at the airport, but hadn't shared her thoughts with her sister. Buffy may not have agreed to the plan otherwise.

Sure enough, a tall, rather stiff looking man approached cautiously as they made their way outside toward the taxi stands. His bearing virtually screamed British upper class snob. At first, no one spoke as Dawn, with Buffy's scowl, bore holes in him with her eyes. <This intimidation thing would work better if my sister weren't so damn short>, Dawn thought ruefully. Finally, the nervous Watcher found his voice, but it cracked slightly as he spoke.

"Miss Summers, I presume?"

<Not the one you mean, but close enough.> "I am."

"We have arranged for you to be transported to the Warwick. If you could please come this way." He gestured toward a waiting limousine.

"Sorry, Charlie. I'm afraid I don't trust the Union Jackasses Transfer Service. We'll take a cab. Feel free to follow us if you like."

The Watcher stiffened at this show of disrespect. "As you wish."

They turned from his as one and Dawn picked a taxi at random, hoping that the Council hadn't rented them all. In all likelihood, she was being overly cautious; doubtless the limo was meant to provide exactly what the Watcher had said it would. Still, she would take no chances with the safety of Andrew and Clem. They'd gone above and beyond already, and she'd be enormously relieved once they were encamped in the hotel suite.

"Miss Summers?"

She turned to see the Watcher staring at her coldly. "If we see any sign that you are deviating from a direct route to the hotel we shall kill your Xander Harris, and mail him to you one body part at a time. Clear?"

It took every ounce of self-control for Dawn to refrain from roundhouse kicking this bastard into the street; in fact she'd taken a step toward him when she found two pairs of hands on each shoulder. She sensed the presence of her two friends on each side of her without breaking off her hateful stare at Xander's captor as Clem spoke with Faith's voice.

"That's not a good idea. These people are serious, and we need to do what they say for now." Dawn took a deep breath, nodded and gently shrugged their hands away. Not for the first time she was pleasantly surprised by Clem and Andrew's ability to stay cool when they had to.

They got into the taxi and Dawn spoke to the driver. "Do you know where the Warwick Hotel is?" The cabbie rolled his eyes and pulled into traffic without providing them with a verbal answer. Dawn decided to take it as a yes.

*************************************************************

"So....did you guys run into trouble? You're a little...flushed." Willow looked concerned at Buffy's appearance. The blonde Slayer reddened a bit more at the question.

"Ummmm...no. It was warm in the cab." Spike nodded in agreement, a slightly smug expression on his face.

"Right. It was hot as Hell in there."

Faith rolled her eyes while Willow took a few more moments than necessary to read between the lines. Typically, her eyes widened slightly when she caught up. "Oh, right. Of course. It gets really hot in the back of taxicabs, especially at night. Boy, if I had a nickel for every time I got hot in the back of a car..."

"Red." Faith's eyes were tightly closed. "Let it go already."

Willow nodded and decided a change of subject was in order. "Shouldn't the others be here soon? It strikes me that we won't see them arrive from this back alley entrance."

Buffy fixed a blank stare at her best friend. "As I recall, the majority of this plan was yours. I'm supposed to be think-on-her-feet girl, now?"

"No worries, B. You got cellphones for us, right? I told Dawnie to bring hers along. We'll just call her in a few." Faith smiled at the surprised looks on her friends' faces. She wished Xander had been here to see it. He'd often told her about how surprised they always got when he thought of something they didn't. A cold finger of dread came over her heart as she thought of him, and her smile quickly faded into a wince as Buffy and Willow walked off together to make the call.

"Faith? Everything ok?" Spike approached her cautiously, knowing she liked sharing her feelings about as much as Willow liked frogs.

"Yeah. It's cool. Just a little wired."

"That was pretty good thinking. The cell phone and all. I hate the bleedin things myself."

"Uh huh. I AM capable of more than kicking ass, you know. I do have a functioning brain."

"I never said you weren't capable of more." He decided to try to cheer her up. After making sure Buffy was out of earshot, he cocked one scarred eyebrow toward her. "Xander's told me some fascinating things about your capabilities."

Faith couldn't help herself. Spike would never be what Xander was to her, but damn, the vamp was hot. "I haven't even pulled out the good stuff yet. Didn't want to kill the boy so early on. You know, considering I love him and all. Why do you ask, big boy? B leave you all hot and bothered in the cab?"

Spike chuckled. "Alas, the ride was too short. Plus the driver told us we were doing things that a man of his faith wasn't allowed to see."

"Really? You showing B some of the old undead moves? I bet I've got a few live ones you haven't seen."

"I imagine you would."

She pointedly looked over his shoulder. "B's not even looking. Wanna sneak behind that dumpster and exchange info?"

"Tempting. Afraid I can't do it, though."

The dark headed slayer grinned. "Good answer. Pretty cool idea, though, huh?"

"I can't argue with that. In another life maybe...."

"Yeah. This is one of those times when not being evil really sucks, doesn't it?"

"I'll thank you for not using the words evil and suck in the same sentence to me, young lady."

"Not all sucking is evil."

He smiled. "True. Plus, being a good guy has its compensations." He cocked his head backward in the general direction of Buffy.

"My compensation is in chains somewhere because of us. If anything happens to him..." she trailed off, pissed at herself for showing vulnerability.

"Everyone is scared, Faith. No one has better reason than you. We'll kick the shit out of whatever they put in front of us and we'll find Xander. They have no idea how many of us they're messing with."

"I can't show weakness right now. God, I've never felt this desperate and helpless...Christ, why am I telling you this?"

"I think it's because you know I'd understand how...different it is. The rest of them have cared this much for one another for a while. They have no idea what it's like not to care about anything but yourself. My worst moments in life---vampire or not--will always be those moments when I thought Buffy could never love me the way I love her. A part of me hated her for causing me that much pain...but I kept coming. I kept trying. I loathed what she did to me as passionately as I loved her."

Faith's voice grew quiet. "Sometimes I feel like I don't deserve Xander. That's not to say he's perfect; God knows he isn't. Still...there's so much more to him than I ever thought." She hesitated before continuing. "Neither one of us had a lot when it came to a nurturing family. I think it's why we crave affection so much. I don't just mean screwing, though that's pretty cool. I mean holding hands in a movie. Falling asleep in each other's arms and kissing each other good morning. Washing each other's hair. Since we got together, this is the longest I've gone without touching him. God, I need him so much." She lost it completely and spun away, moving further down the alley, sobbing quietly with her head bowed. Spike followed, moving in front of her. He grabbed her arms and stared deeply into her eyes.

"Hey. Hey. It's all right. You need to let this out now, otherwise it could kill you later. Xander needs you to be focused on whatever Travers is going to throw at us. Then we'll find him and you can take his sorry ass home and do all those affectionate things that I bloody well don't ever want to hear about again."

Faith cracked a small smile through her tears as Spike gently took her hand and gave it a squeeze. She took a deep breath, nodded at him and wiped her eyes quickly with her free hand.

"Enough already. Let's go check on the others."

They walked together toward where Buffy and Willow were in conversation with Dawn. "Uhhh...Spike?"

"Yeah?"

"You can let go of my hand now."

"Right. Sorry."

After a few steps, Faith stopped. "William?"

Spike turned to her in surprise. Only Buffy had ever referred to him by his real name in over 100 years. "Yeah?"

"Thank you."

He shrugged, choosing to lighten the moment. "You can thank me by allowing me to reconsider that offer of dumpster-lovin'."

She smiled. "You got it right the first time, Blondie Bear."

He stopped dead in his tracks. "What did you call me?"

"You heard it right. Harmony and I had a little talk before I dusted her. I take it from your horrified _expression that you don't like it?"

"Two things. One: Don't ever call me that again. Two: If Buffy ever hears about this, I don't care how tough you are. I WILL hurt you."

"Ooooh. Looks like I own your cute little ass from now on."

"Oh, Bloody Hell."

Buffy came close enough to overhear her lover. "What's wrong?" she said, taking note of Faith's puffy eyes.

"Nothing. We're good over here. You get hold of Dawnie, B?"

Buffy wasn't buying it, but a meaningful look from Spike warned her away from pressing the issue. "They've checked in. We may want to get up there. She's on the verge of throwing Andrew off the balcony, and they're way up."

"How high is way up?"

"Top of the world, ma. 43rd floor. It's a penthouse suite. Apparently they named it after Cary Grant because he lived there whenever he was in town. That useless piece of information was brought to you by my sister."

"So...how do we get up there without being seen?"

They all looked up at the balcony far above. Spike shrugged. "We climb. Plenty of handholds."

Everyone nodded but a wide eyed Wiccan. "Hello? Straight D's in gym class over here. Cost me Valedictorian status, remember? Spider-Girl, I'm not."

Buffy felt bad for ignoring her friend. "Sorry, Will. I just figured you'd make yourself invisible or something."

"Well, I could do that I guess. I wanted to conserve my energy...but we could be seen. Ok, here goes nothing." She closed her eyes and was gone with a bright flash.

All three jumped at the unexpected light. Spike hollered at the space where Willow had once stood. "A little warning next time, eh witch? Jesus."

Faith had the devil in her eye. "Hey, B, how much you wanna bet I beat your ass up there?"

Buffy slowly turned and face her counterpart. "How much have you got?"

Spike sneered at them. "I was climbin' walls since before you two were born. I'll get up there in half the time you girlies can."

Both turned to him as one. "I think your boy toy needs a lesson in respect, B."

"I see that, Faith. I'm disappointed in him. I thought I'd taught him that he can't beat me in anything."

He shook his head. "I'll give you a head start, luv. This time you're going down."

"You wish I was going down."

Faith laughed. "Damn, B, I didn't know you had it in you. Good one."

Buffy's phone rang. Frowning, she picked up, only to hear the urgent voice of Willow.

"Buffy, I can see you down there. Hurry up."

"Oh, God, she didn't throw him off the balcony already, did she? I don't see Andrew flying toward us, so-"

"Buffy! Get up here. NOW." Willow hung up.

The Slayer just looked at Spike and Faith, all business. Nothing more needed to be said as they quickly started their way up the side of the luxurious hotel, Buffy afraid of what had Willow so spooked.

- End Chapter Thirteen -