Title: A different kind of Slayer.

Author: Adalisa

Feedback: I love it. It's inspiring... and let's face it, it's the only real reason to keep writing.

Distribution: Mama Chelle's site, XanderSlash's site and my site. Anywhere else, just ask. I won't say no.

Summary: Well, you're going to know after reading the first three paragraphs, so let's keep it as a surprise until then.

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: Everyone here is property of Joss Wheldon, Warner Bros. And another bunch of people. But they keep treating them bad, so I play with them.

Content: X/A

Spoilers: Welcome to the Hellmouth / The Harvest.

Notes: This is an alternative Universe, so everything you know about the characters is going to be changed in one way or another. I'm in a little Buffy overdose since Fox began airing S2 every day of the week, and S3 in Fridays... so if you see me writing too much, don't worry. School is still on strike. Also, I'm doing a little bit of experimenting writing here... I promise things will heat up in the sequel.

By Adalisa.

1981

Ethan Rayne held the baby in his arms and smiled. He had never pictured himself as a fatherly type, but seeing his son, cradling the little baby, he felt that his decision had been the right one.

Having an affair with a married woman hadn't been at all unusual, he had had his share of men and women in his time, so this was no exception.

Loving said woman, however, had been a nice change... and after that, all the liaison was full of surprises for the British uncaring man. The woman had gotten pregnant with Ethan's baby, because her husband was sterile. The man had accepted the fact calmly, and he and his wife had decided to raise the baby as if it had been born inside of marriage and not in a obscure adventure. She loved Ethan, but she loved her husband too, so she wouldn't leave his side... or the beautiful, pacific town of Sunnydale.

That had triggered Ethan's decision. If his son or daughter was going to live in the Hellmouth, then it would have the means to protect himself. The sorcerer spend the first months of his lover's pregnancy investigating, reading and experimenting. Since no book described even the existence of any spell that could help to his proposes, Ethan had turned to his own flair of inspiration. After much trial and error, he had hit the jackpot.

He had known the spell invented by him had worked the moment his son breathed for the first time. The baby's strength emanated from his small body.

Ethan smile grew, his son would grow up to be the Slayer, the Chosen One. Even better, not only that insured his son's survival until at least his sixteen birthday, when Ethan would take more cards in the matter, but also he would prove a puzzle to the Watchers.

Now, he only had to break the news on the baby's mother and her husband.

* * *

1996

"I kinda like the new librarian." Willow Rosenberg was saying, as she had lunch with her closest friends, Jesse and Xander. "The books he brought look really great. History and the Occult..."

"I dunno..." Xander joked, as he picked up his sandwich. "Too much history might cause some damage."

"More than Larry's fist?" Jesse pointed, as he looked towards the place where the Football team members spend lunchtime. "I still can't believe you don't stand up against him, Xander... I mean... you've been taking kung-fu and karate classes since Kinder garden!"

"I don't believe in violence, " Xander answered, as he kept eating. That was not all the truth, but he was not in the mood to explain it to his old friend. Instead, he turned to his other good friend. "Say, Willow... You know from where they picked up this librarian guy?"

"From England. I think he was a curator in the museum, or something..."

"I can't believe it! They are closing the gym just because a girl found a dead guy in her locker... " Cordelia Chase walked towards them, sporting a 'Queen of the world' attitude that they were very familiar with. They had been good friends in elementary school, until she became popular and decided to cut all her ties to the 'losers'. Even so, sometimes they crossed words or even got together to talk... that is, when Jesse was not around. He was the only one who hadn't accepted Cordelia's change, much less her reject when he had invited her once to dance.

"Are you sure?" Xander asked, suddenly more serious than before.

"Didn't you dreamed it, Cordelia? Can happen with all the hair spray..." Jesse muttered, trying to not let his anger show. And in doing so, he missed the look of reprove that Willow was giving him.

"Yes, I'm sure he is dead; No, I didn't dream it." Cordelia shove her hair from her head, exasperated. "Why I still bother to talk to you?"

None of them answered as she walked away, mostly because they knew she didn't want an answer. But as Willow opened her mouth to resume their previous talk, Xander got to his feet.

"Sorry, guys. Just remembered I forgot something in the class room... See you tonight at the Bronze." Not letting them answer, Xander rushed inside the building. His heart was pounding fast, as he knew what the dead body could mean... Of course, he had to check it first.

* * *

Rupert Giles was reading in the library, completely puzzled. Six months ago, he had gotten a call from a very cryptic guy from the Watcher's Council called Merrick. Merrick had told him that the new Slayer had been called in America, and, although he was going to make the Chosen One aware of her destiny, it was Giles' duty to be the Slayer's Watcher. So he had packed everything, left his job at the Museum, and landed in an American Highschool, right in the Hellmouth.

Sounded like an everyday occurrence to a Watcher, but Giles still wasn't very sure of it.

To make things worse, he had barely started to adjust, when the council had called him again: Merrick was dead, and he hadn't told anyone the identity of the new Slayer. Their only data was that the girl was supposed to be a student in Sunnydale High. And that she was unusual.

Those had been Merrick's words to the council, the last time he called. "The new Slayer is unusual."

So Giles waited, and tried to investigate for his own, and waited some more time, not really knowing what to expect.

But whatever he was expected, he never even imagined the turn that events took.

As he was busy reading about more disappeared children, a young student enter the Library, looking very agitated. Giles took off his eyes from the book he was reading and started to descend the staircase, getting ready to do his usual work.

"They were here last night." The boy said, leaving Giles speechless. "There's a dead body in the library, totally drained."

"Excuse me?" Giles managed to ask, still holding the book in the page he had been reading. "Who were here?"

"What kind of Watcher are you?" Hearing those words, the British man paled a little. He knew that some people outside the Council knew about the Watchers, but he had never expected a high school student to know the secret. Much less to do angry comments about it. "The vampires. Creatures of the night. Blood suckers. Isn't it time we get to do something? Or are you waiting for Apocalypse to come?"

"I... I think you are a little confused... " Leaving the book and it's contents forgotten in the table, Giles got a closer look to his interloper. He had seen him a couple of times in the school aisles, but never paid much attention to him. At least, now he remembered his name.

"...Xander. Whatever you think you saw, or whatever this dead boy means, you don't have to do anything about it."

Xander looked at the librarian with some exasperation in his face, breathed in, and began talking very slowly, as if Giles were a child and not at least ten years older than him. "O.K. Let's do this from the beginning... In each generation, a Slayer is born. Born with the strength and skill to hunt vampires, to stop the spread of evil..."

"Ah... I'm already familiar with the story, Xander... What is your point?"

"The point is, I am quite familiar with that too, because I'm the Slayer."

Giles blinked, digesting what the boy had just told him, and then smiled, trying to ease the blow. "I think you might be a little more than confused, Xander. I do not know from where you got this information, but you're not the Slayer. The Slayer is a girl."

"Merrick said the same thing." Xander answered, trying to sound calm. "He also said that the Council would never believe it... Lothos had some saying in the matter too, but since he is ashes now, I don't think it is important."

At the mention of the old Watcher and the centuries old vampire who had been killed in the summer, Giles regarded the boy with a little more attention. His mind knew it was impossible that Xander was telling the truth. In all the Watchers' diaries there wasn't a single mention to the possibility of a male Slayer... but if Xander had known Merrick and Lothos...

"I... I have to pick up something from my office..." He turned around, hoping to distract the boy, who, after a few minutes, started flipping through the pages of the book Giles had been reading. Taking advantage of that, he turned around and threw a sharp letter opener right to Xander's head.

The boy didn't even blink, he simply lifted his arm and caught the letter opener with one hand.

"You need more proof?" Xander asked, walking to him and giving the letter opener back. "I'll see you tonight at the Bronze."

* * *

Xander was walking to the Bronze, looking as calm as casual as he always did. He knew he was late for both of his meetings, the one with Willow and Jesse, and the one with Giles, but he hadn't been able to get out of the house without telling his parents that the Watcher had finally arrived, and that had lead to a phone call to his uncle Ethan, who had proceeded to explain him, once again, all the things involved with living in the Hellmouth. Including the little, but apparently important fact that they were living just days before the Harvest, whatever that was.

He was so immersed in his thoughts that he might have not noticed he was being followed, but after living in Sunnydale all his life, and staking a couple of vampires even before his abilities as the Slayer appeared, he knew better. There was someone following him, and trying his best not to be noticed.

In any other circumstances, Xander would have keep on walking until he was near the Bronze, and then deck whoever it was. But that night, he was in the mood to play a little mind game. So he did a quick turn in one dark alley, and waited until his follower was near enough to get him in a neck grip.

That hadn't been the best course of action, he thought seconds later, as his follower threw him up over his head, and towards the floor.

Xander regained his equilibrium and decked the other guy with one fast quick, sending him back against the wall of the alley. Then he rushed up and held a stake he always kept under his jacket to the other guy's throat.

"Who are you?" the guy asked, genuinely surprised.

"You were following me and you don't know?" Xander let his guard lower. Had this guy been a vampire, he would have gone to game face by now. "I don't like to be stalked, you know."

"Kids shouldn't play with stakes." The guy said, pointing to the weapon Xander was still welding "That's not very safe."

"In case you haven't noticed, Sunnydale is not very safe." Xander looked at the other man, who was dressed with black trousers, a velvet red shirt, and a black coat. Maybe he wasn't a vampire, but he sure dressed like one. "Why were you following me?"

"I thought you were someone else... I... I was waiting for..."

"Well, don't do that again, or you'll get yourself impaled." Xander began to walk away, but in the last moment, he returned. "Hey, I don't remember seeing you around... What's your name?"

The question obviously took the guy by surprise, since his face was a shock mask. "A... Angel."

"Nice to meet you Angel. I'm Xander. " He offered him his hand, which the other man took. "Wanna come to the Bronze? . Sunnydale's alleys in the night aren't the hot place to be."

Angel nodded, still looking a little too surprised, and began following him to the club.

It wasn't after they had got inside, when both men questioned his actions.

* * *

Xander never got to his reunion with Willow and Jesse. He had barely got into the club, when Giles intercepted him. After excusing himself with Angel, he had got to a corner to talk with the stubborn Watcher who still didn't believe that the boy was indeed the Chosen one.

"If you are a Slayer, prove it. You must be able to tell if there is a vampire in this room." The Watcher finally insisted.

"One?" Xander looked at him and grinned. "There are at least 20... and that's not counting the ones outside. This is the Hellmouth, Giles. You have to be a little more specific. " With that words, he looked over to the balcony and started scanning the room, trying to locate any vampire who was leaving the club, and not only watching probable preys. "Hey, do you know what the Harvest is? We're supposed to get one of those soon."

"The... Harvest?" Giles looked at him, surprised. He was still trying to get any proof that Xander was not the slayer. "Where did you got that information?"

"The times-life calendar of the Occult." Xander looked at him, still annoyed that every word he said was doubted. "My family has some friends in the Wicca Circles, they called this afternoon and told me. But I didn't got any details..." Xander turned around, just in time to see his shy friend Willow walking away with a vampire. "Shit!"

"What?" Angel had come close again, wanting to know what was going on. He had recognized Giles as a Watcher, and after putting two and two together, he had ended up with five. It was a risk for him to let the Watcher see his face, but given the bizarre turn of the events, it was necessary. "Is there something wrong?"

"I have to go... A friend of mine is in danger... Giles, you go to the library and try to find anything about the Harvest." Xander was starting to walk away, when he heard Angel's voice.

"Oh, no. He can't be the Slayer... Can he?"

As Xander left the Bronze, trying to find Willow, he began wondering if he should get cards, or maybe an add in the papers. It was getting tiresome that the people who knew about the Slayer didn't think he could get the job done.

* * *

He finally caught up with them in one of the Graveyards of the town, mostly thanks to Willow's scared screams for help. Things did not got better there, since there was another vampire there, this one carrying Jesse as her midnight snack.

Under the surprised look of his friends, Xander dusted the vampire who had captured Willow, yelling at her not to get out of the crypt until the other one had been taken care of. But even as he managed to get a stake between the ribs of the blonde vampire girl, a third one appeared, giving her the chance to run away, still carrying Jesse as her prey.

The third vampire was tougher than the other two, and he managed to corner Xander, hitting his strong enough to make him loose his stake, which fell to the floor.

"I don't like my food to bite back, " The undead creature snarled, as he leaned in to kill Xander.

"I'm not food, blood-breath." Xander stuttered, managing to give the vampire a hit in the chest, strong enough to get him away. Trying to keep it distracted, Xander kept kicking him, forgetting all about getting his stake back. So it was a big surprise for him when suddenly the vampire turned to dust in the middle of the fight.

"I... I think I killed it..." Willow stammered, still holding the wooden stake that she had picked, once her fear had let her move.

"Good thinking, Will." Xander hugged his friend, glad to have at least saved one of them. "C'mon... I'll take you to a safe place."

* * *

Giles gave Willow a cup of tea, hoping that it would help her to calm down, while Xander paced around the room.

"Xander... I think it would be better if you took Willow home... or try to rest... tomorrow..."

"Tomorrow my best friend could be dead, Giles. We need to know where they took him." In that moment, he seemed to remember something and looked around. "Hey! Where's Angel? I thought he had stayed with you..."

"He came with me to the library, and then he said he was going to do some research on the Harvest... I'm sure you can locate him easily..."

"I don't think so Giles, I just meet the guy." Xander seemed to consider something, but he kept silent, sitting down in one of the main table chairs.

Hearing the admission from the boy's lips, Giles frowned. He had been thinking into calling the Council and explain the situation he had found in Sunnydale, but now that he knew that there were quite a number of people knowing about the Slayer and the Watchers, he decided to postpone it a little more. Besides, he still had no intention on telling the Council that somehow they had a male Slayer.

At the end, it had been Willow the one to come up with the answer, showing them the way to crack the Town's records, finding the sewer's system map and the connection it had with the crypts. After she printed a copy of the zone that ran under the cemetery and the nearby zone, Xander decided to return and try to save Jesse, while Willow and Giles found more information about the Harvest.

* * *

"You don't want to go in there."

It was still night, at least three hours before dawn, and Xander found himself once again face to face with Angel. This time, the guy was in the deserted mausoleum where Xander had saved Willow.

"Why not? They took my friend." He asked, at the same time that he kept looking for anything that could be a door.

"They'll be waiting for you. And if you want to play to be the Slayer, you should be..."

"I'm not playing to be the Slayer." Xander had found the hidden trap door and hit it with all his strength, opening it with a bang. "And if you want to say anything else, it will have to be down there."

Angel saw as Xander descended the stairs in the hidden entrance, shaking his head. He couldn't believe that the boy was so sure of himself. And still, he couldn't let him go alone into the Master's lair. He had to be sure that the boy, who seemed so full of life and freedom didn't die that night.

* * *

Jesse was dead.

Xander realized it just as soon as his 'friend' hugged him, clearly happy to see him and to be rescued. No one alive was that cold. But even so, Xander didn't say anything, and began walking away, following Willow's map, as Angel walked behind them, watching for anything that followed them.

It was not that Xander didn't realized that sooner or later, he would have to stake Jesse. It was simply a matter of principle. If they had turned Jesse into a vampire, just to see if he fell in the trap, the least Xander could do was to play along. Maybe he could learn something useful from him.

However, the plan didn't go as smoothly as that for two things that Xander hadn't considered. One was the fact that the vampires weren't taking him too seriously. After all, he was a mortal boy compared to most of them, so the only thing Jesse knew was that the Master was coming.

That was not much help.

The second thing, which was the one that prevented Xander from dusting his former best friend, and taking some of the other undead creeps in the process, was Angel's sudden protectiveness. The vampires had surrounded them in an empty deposit that was just below the school grounds, according to Willow's map. In that moment, Xander had thanked the girl silently, without it, they would have been wandering around for years. It had been then when Jesse had revealed to be a vampire, although that hadn't been a surprise to Xander, who had the stake ready... But Angel had grabbed him by the jacket, pushing him through the opening that lead outside, as he kicked Jesse to throw him with the rest of the vampires.

"Why did you do that for?" Xander asked, once outside and partially safe. "I had everything under control!"

"You were going to get killed. They were too many..." Angel refused to look at him in the eye, his mind going through a whirlwind of confusion. "Look, if you really want to stop the Harvest, you have to find the Master's vessel and kill him. But what I would recommend is leaving town. Only the Slayer can try to beat the Master and you..."

Angel didn't had the chance to finish, as Xander walked away, fuming. "I don't care what do you say. If you want to help, fine. Come and help. If you don't, I don't want to see you ever again."

Angel stared after him for a long moment, his conscious mind yelling at him that he didn't had to listen to that boy, that he was waiting for the real slayer, a blonde girl he had seen only once in California, that no one would be able to stop the Master and his minions. But at the same time, he couldn't pry his eyes away from Xander's back... and wishing that somehow he was right, and he was really the Slayer Angel was supposed to help.

* * *

Giles hung the phone, not very sure of having done the right thing. He had just called the Council, to tell them that he had finally contacted the Slayer, that indeed it was an unusual case as Mr. Merrick had said, but nothing more. Even when Xander had shown him the night before that he was indeed the Chosen One, Giles hadn't found any good reason to tell the Council about it.

In the morning, after telling them the news about Jesse's death, Xander had explained what Angel told him about the Harvest. Giles still didn't trust much on the mysterious man, but what he had told Xander matched with the information he and Willow had managed to get from Internet.

Those were the good news.

The bad news had been the planned massacre for that night, when the vessel would take enough blood to freed the Master from his prison.

So they had gone to the Bronze, armed with stakes, crucifixes and holy water. Xander in the lead, Giles and Willow following. The watcher hadn't want the girl to come, but she had made very clear that if those things had killed one of her friends, she wasn't going to stay in home waiting for them to get her best friend.

In the heat of the moment, Giles thought she was talking about Xander. Once inside, Xander made his way towards the stage, where a blonde vampire girl, the one who had captured Jesse according to Willow, was feeding on the people that had been in the club to have fun. In her forehead, they could see the three spiked star that marked her as the vessel. While Xander fought against her, who seemed fairly confident of her own strength, Giles and Willow freed the rest of the club attendants. It was then when Giles saw how Jesse tried to attack another girl, and Willow, angry for the first time since the watcher had known her, emptied a holy water canteen over his head.

"She told you she was not interested in you!!" Willow had yelled, as the girl, Cordelia Chase as Giles had been informed later, managed to stood up again. Jesse had stumbled back and Cordelia grabbed one of the stakes Willow carried and impaled it into the boy's chest. After that, they had hugged, crying as if everything had ended.

Of course, nothing had actually ended until Angel arrived. Xander and the vessel were fighting, both of them keeping the other at a safe distance. But when Angel had arrived, the blonde vampire had been distracted, she turned around, surprised at seeing the other man, and Xander had used that split moment to impale her, using one of the microphones that were on the stage.

Then, they had left the Bronze, among the multitude of fleeing people. The Watcher left his office, just in time to get the last comments in the happy conversation that Willow, Cordelia and Xander were having.

"So, what did he said?" Willow asked, as Xander played with a small black box. Cordelia was sitting at her side, and Giles noted that their hands were entwined. It was weird, since he had never once seen them together before the night at the Bronze.

"That I was not what he had been expecting, he was thinking on something more female, but that even if someone came and told him otherwise, I had earned his respect. That no matter what everybody said, for him I am the Slayer. Then he gave me this." Xander smiled, opening the box and pulling a small silver crucifix from it. "The way I think of it is that if I stopped Apocalypse, I deserve some credit."

"Don't let it go to your head, Xander." Giles told him, as he placed his cup of tea in the oak table. "This was only the beginning. We live in the Hellmouth and..."

"And anything can happen here. I know, G-man. But as long as I have my friends with me, I'm sure we can take care of everything."

Giles sighed. Of course, this was nothing like the cases covered either in the Watchers' diaries or the Handbook. A male slayer, who relied on others' help. A male slayer, whose friends knew his secret and also did some vampire killing.

But then again, maybe that wasn't that bad.

Maybe, after so many centuries of tradition, it was time for a different kind of Slayer.

The End.

--

Adalisa

-Obi Wan and Darth Maul Rule!

(WhiteKnight's own Dama de los AU)