“Giles!”

A head covered with brown hair popped up from behind the shelves.

Buffy smiled at him quickly, and then jogged over so she was in front of him. “Giles, there’s something up with Xander…”

Giles, who had just awakened to the world from bookland, heard “Xander” and “something”, which didn’t help him much. “Whah?”

Buffy grimaced, and then pulled her Watcher up. “I said, there…is…something… up… with…Xander!”

“Oh” replied the Watcher intelligently.

Buffy scowled at Giles, then pulled him to the large table in the middle of the library. Once there, she sat him down, then seated herself next to him.

“No, seriously. There’s something up with the Xandman…” she reiterated, this time, allowing the worry to permiate her voice.

“Has it anything to do with his eh…personal matters?” Giles asked, remembering the several evil beings who had tried to date the young man over the years.

“No, for once the demons do not have a crush on Xander, but something is up…” she said, “I mean, have you seen him recently? He’s eh, um, well…grown.” 

“How so?”

“He’s been working out a lot, at least I think he has…” Buffy said, frowning to herself.

"And this is a problem?” Giles snorted, “I should think that would be a wonderful thing. He is probably doing it so he can better help during battles, Buffy.”

“I know, Giles, but I don’t think that he’s battling with me anymore. I think he found someone new…” Buffy’s eyes were downcast as she said it, filled with pain at the seeming loss of Xander and worry about this new hunter.

“Someone new? A vigilante, you mean?”

“A deadly one…” The Slayer replied, her eyes locking with his, her voice deadly serious, “The one that’s been hacking through nests…the one I found out about
from Willy…”

“But, Buffy, you were told there were two of th-” Giles stopped, and then thought about what he was going to say. In a moment, the Watcher’s mind went over every piece of information. “Oh dear.”

“I think he’s the ‘Kid’ in ‘King and Kid’…” Buffy said after Giles realized what she was saying.

“Well” the librarian said slowly, thinking as he spoke, “What exactly do you intend to do about it?”

“I don’t know, Giles. I don’t know…” Buffy replied, again showing the ache in her eyes, “But I do know that I’ve got to find this ‘King’ person…”

“Indeed you do, because you will probably need to ask his help…” Giles said quickly, back to his firm ground, black and white business.

“His help?” The young girl exclaimed, standing up in the process out of aggravation.

“Yes, Buffy, his help…” Giles said slowly.

“Why?”

“Well,” Giles explained, “Firstly, I am sure that he would be a helpful asset to have against the Mayor. Secondly, I have received this in the mail today…”

Giles held up the book he had been reading through. It was large and the cover was strange. It was of a rough material, and it seemed to have a screaming, decayed face on the cover. Inside were pages of diagrams and incantations, all written in a red liquid
that Buffy didn’t want to think about. The Slayer then looked to her Watcher, whose eyes were tired and upset.

“What is it, Giles?” She asked.

“Quite possibly the most evil piece of literature on this earth. The Necronomicon Ex Mortis, the Book of the Dead…”

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

“We’ve been detected, Daddy-O” Xander said quietly as he slipped into Ash’s car. He’d stayed after school to use the weight room, but it had been a useless trip, because everything had been so easy. No matter what weight he had put on, he could do it. Xander didn’t know what that meant, and he had no time to figure it out because Buffy problems were more important.

“What do you mean, kid?” Ash asked, stepping on the gas and pulling away from the curb.

“I mean that today, Buffy told me all about two ‘psychos’ as she put it who are running around killing vampires…”

“Well,” Ash replied, driving carefully along the road, “What’s the big deal? These people are your friends, right? And they fight vampires too, right? So I don’t see the problem…”

Xander looked to his mentor and growled under his breath. “Yeah, but I didn’t want them to know about it. It’s just…I can’t explain it, but I don’t want them to know about you, Ash…”

“Why?” Ash replied, his voice faking hurt, “Not good enough table manners? People don’t like losing a fork to my hand?”

Xander laughed, realizing that his friend was just trying to calm him down. “No, it’s just that if they meet you, they’ll make you work to a schedule. I won’t be you and me hunting vampires for fun. It’ll become our ‘sacred duty’, and in general ‘sacred duty’ sucks…”

“Gotta agree with you there, Xand…” Ash replied, taking a turn onto Woodrow Street, “I’ve done sacred duty. I’ve been the chosen one; it blows. And if I didn’t know any better, I’d say I still was. I swear, you’d think I was connected with that damn book…”

“Let’s hope not, Ash.” Xander said with a small chuckle, “I don’t think the other demons would appreciate deadites. Too much over crowding in the caves as it is…”

“Yeah, well, if I never see another one of those goddamned things again, it will be too soon…” the clerk replied, turning onto Wilson Street. He drove for a little longer, then stopped at the third house on the block.

Xander, who was engrossed by thoughts of Ash and his old problems, suddenly realized where he was.

“Why are we at my block?” the young man asked, his voice void of any sort of humor.

“Well,” Ash said, turning in the seat to face his friend and partner, “I’ve been meaning to ask you something. I know you don’t have a very good family life-“

Xander snorted. Ash gave him a good-natured glare, then continued. 

“And I know that on the few nights you do go home, you hate it. So, I was wondering if you’d like to move into the apartment, like completely…”

Xander looked at his mentor like the man had offered him a pass to Shangri-La and then lunged across the seat to hug him.

Ash, who hadn’t realized just how strong Xander could hug, was barely able to wheeze out “I guess that means yes…”

The young boy paused, then disengaged himself from the other, realizing that he had block the flow of air to the man’s lungs. He looked at Ash for a moment, then said in an overjoyed voice “Yes, it does!”

The two looked at each other, and thought of the emotional scene of a few seconds ago; then they began to laugh. They laughed long and hard, enjoying the laughter and knowing that there would be more of it. However, it ended a few moments later.

“You won’t say anything, will you, Ash?” Xander asked at last, a trace of a giggle still audible in his voice.

“I promise, not a word…” Ash said, “And you neither…”

“I swear it!” Xander declared.

They were silent for a moment, then the seriousness of their situation hit them.

“If I’m gonna be bunking with you, Ash,” Xander asked at last, his voice quiet and somber, “Why’d you bring me here?”

“To get your stuff…” Ash answered, “I even cleared all the junk out of the trunk for you…”

“Okay…”

“Okay…”

“Let’s go then.”

“Yeah, Kid…”

The two got out of the car, making sure to be quiet. There wasn’t any particular reason; it was just the sort of instance when you are quiet. They met on the sidewalk, and then began walking to the house. As they walked, Xander noticed that Ash was looking at
his metal hand.

“What’s up with the hand?” the boy asked as they got to the walkway, which was in need of some work, “Malfunctioning? Need me to look at it?” 

“Nah… I was just wondering if that little scene in the car revoked my macho crap license or something…” Ash replied, trying to keep a straight face.

“Oh please…” Xander dismissed it, “Have you ever watched ‘Bridges of Madison County’? No? ‘Beaches’? No? Then you’re fine. Besides, if that first time you let me into your apartment didn’t, that sure as hell won’t…”

Ash swung around to face his young friend, a confused look on his face. “Whadaya mean?”

Xander rolled his eyes with a grin. “I remember you looked at me then with this expression…it was like you’d just seen them shoot Bambi’s mother or something…It was priceless!”

“What do you mean, me?” Ash retorted, “If anyone looked sappy, it was you. You looked like a damned kicked puppy!”

“Did not!”

“Did too!”

The discussion continued till they reached the door, then both fell quiet. At last, Ash stepped back once and asked Xander if he needed any help.

“No thanks. It’s mostly clothing, and I can put that in a bag, so don’t worry about it…I don’t have much…”

“Okay, kid.” Ash said, “I’ll be waiting…”

Xander looked back at his mentor and partner, stepped into the house, and then closed the door behind him. Ash stayed at the step, still looking at his hand and thinking about the boy.

He hadn’t been a happy man for a long time. The last time he’d been happy, he’d been with Linda, just before that horrible Trip. Then, Linda had…well, Linda was gone, and he’d been with Sheila. But that relationship hadn’t been right. The two had been just
too different. It was all good and well to talk of eternal love and conquering the bad guys to marry the lady, but in real life, the idea of a relationship had to include common interests. And common century. Since then, he hadn’t had a serious relationship with
anyone, and he’d never had many friends.

Then he’d transferred to Sunnydale. A nice, friendly looking little California town that in reality was steeped in demons and vampires and built over the Hellmouth. And in this crazy little paradox of a town, he had met a lonely boy who was in way over his head. And this boy, with his goofy sense of humor, his strange skills, and a bizarre mix of bravery and practicality, had somehow become his best friend and his son. Wasn’t life a barrel of laughs? Now all he needed was a girl and he was set.

It was then that Ash realized that several minutes had passed and still no Xander. As the S-Mart clerk pulled his head from the clouds, he heard an uneven thumping noise and a then a whimper. The whimper was followed by an inebriated yell. His heart jumped to his throat. Ash knew his young friend could take care of himself in almost any other situation, but, as Ash knew from experience, personal crap can turn anyone
into a victim.

Another whimper, this time with a frightened scream at the end of it, came through the door. Ash, without a thought in his mind other than to defend the boy, growled in anger and kicked the entrance with everything he had. Though the door was made of good
oak, it nonetheless came crashing down at Ash’s blow.

The scarred man quickly entered the home, and then looked up the stairs. There, near the stairs, he could see an extremely drunken man who was yelling and bashing a broken broom into a hunched figure in the corner. Ash knew who that person in the corner was, and it made him so mad that he snapped the doorframe he was holding onto.

“Get the hell away from him!” Ash shouted, the muscles in his neck straining with rage.

“Whu?” the drunken figure replied, turning clumsily towards Ash, “Whu the ‘ell you doing here, ya bas’ard! Dis is my ‘ouse an if you don leave, I’ll call da polize!”

“Get…the…hell…away…from…him!” Ash bellowed, stomping his way to the steps.

“Get out!” Xander’s father replied, his voice much louder, “Dis iz my goddamn ‘ouse an-“

Ash didn’t even wait for the man to finish. Instead, he ran up the stairs with incredible speed and punched the drunken bastard into the next room. Ash looked in to make sure the heartless jerk was out, and then turned to Xander.

His young friend was in a terrible state. There were bruises all over his body that were quickly changing color, and in a few spots, blood oozed out slowly. He was curled up into a ball, his hands around his ankles, every part of his body shaking like a scared
child. Ash had seen his partner fight vampires like it was no sweat, demons like an annoyance. It was horrible to see the boy like this. And Ash knew that it wasn’t the first time either… 

“Xander?” he whispered to the beaten figure, “Are you all right?”

“Please don’t hit me…” came a ragged murmur from within the tight ball of flesh.

“Xander, no one is going to hit you, I promise. It’s me, Ash…”

When the boy made no move, Ash cursed under his breath and held a hand out. Lightly, so as not to hit any unseen injury, he touched the boy’s shoulder. Xander jerked back, as if he had been struck by lightning. Then, he looked at the hand that had touched him and looked up.

“Ash?” he said, his voice rough and shaken.

“Yeah, kid, it’s me…” Ash replied in a soothing tone, “Good ole’ Ashley…”

“Ash?” He asked again, as if it couldn’t be true, “Ash, where’s my dad?”

“Not here.” Ash replied roughly.

“How’d you know?” Xander asked, a bit more solid now.

“I heard the yelling and the thumping;” Ash replied, “then I came in to check and…”

"You saw him hitting me, right?” Xander finished bitterly, “You saw him beating the crap out of me while I cowered in the corner like a goddamned child! All that work, all those nights, and I still couldn’t stand up to my father…”

“No…” Ash told him slowly, “I saw you victimized by a person who is supposed to take care of you. And what you did wasn’t cowardly or any of that crap. The fact that you haven’t committed suicide before now tells me you’re a very brave young man.”

“Bull…”

“I bet you would tell your friends that all those scars and bruises came from fighting vampires, didn’t you?” Ash asked at last, upset at those faceless “supposed” friends who had never made an attempt to investigate.

Xander nodded slowly.

There was silence for a minute or two, and then Ash asked, “Do you have everything?”

“It’s in that bag.” Xander replied raggedly, pointing to a large duffle bag that had fallen halfway down the steps, “All of it. The only things I want from here…”

Ash looked at the bag, at his friend, and then finally at the door behind which Xander’s father lay knocked out. He’d seen Deadites do horrible things, vampires kill people, demons wreak havoc, but as he fully soaked in the scene, he realized that human beings could be worse than any monster, and crueler than any demon.

Finally, he helped Xander up with a grunt, grabbed the bag, and walked out. Xander followed behind him, limping a bit, but by the time they got to the car, he seemed much better. Without a word, Ash opened the trunk, put in the duffle bag, then closed the trunk
with a crash. Xander got into the car on his side, and then promptly fell asleep. Ash got in, closed the door behind him, and drove them home.

Part 5