Title: First steps to ever more...
Author: Adalisa
Email: [email protected]

Feedback: I love it. It's inspiring... and let's face it, it's the only real reason to keep writing.
Distribution: My site, XanderSlash' archive. Anyone else, just ask.
Web site: http://members.tripod.com/luxshine/

Summary: Xander starts coping with the fact that he is an immortal.
Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: Xander and all the Btvs characters belong to Joss Wheldon, Fox network, and WB. Corey Raines and the Immortals belong to Rysher and Panzer/Davis Productions. Still, I'm not doing this for profit, so please, don't sue.

Content: X/Other.

Warning: This has m/m. You should know that already, since you found this.
Spoilers: Choices.
Sequel to: Who wants to live forever?
Notes: I've only seen three episodes of Highlander. Yeah, I know. I'm missing a great series. But for some reason, I never get on time to see it. Anyway, one of those episodes I was so lucky to get was Corey Raines' introduction. I fell in love with him. I mean, besides the fact that he is _Nicholas Lea_ and I'm a big fan of him, Corey's personality stuck me as great. Then I saw Choices, with Xander's decision to travel around the States to find himself. I couldn't resist. The plot bunny bite and bite hard. I really hope you like this and forgive any mistake I did regarding Highlander' canon. Also, well, I'm aware I'm being a little too harsh with Willow, Giles and Buffy, but bear with me. I'm re-watching Season 3, and somehow, after Lover's Walk and The Zeppo, it's hard to see them in a kinder light.

The first slip was almost an accident.

It was about a week after he came back, when he went to visit Giles. Things had changed while he was away, but not enough to be unrecognizable. Although Buffy and Willow were now in college, and the library had been destroyed, there was still the need for research, and the ex-librarian, ex-Watcher house was the new meeting place.

Of course, the books had not been destroyed. Xander had helped some other students to move all the important books before burning the school, and thus, every time there was a question to be asked Giles usually could find the answer.

"You are looking for what, Xander?"

Almost all the time. But this time Giles had a puzzled look worth of been photographed.

"Immortal human beings. You know, not monster like." Xander answered, smiling and trying not to look suspicious. For what Corey had told him, the Watchers that recorded the movements of the immortals were not like the Watchers who watched over the Slayers, and thus, was unlikely that both groups had anything in common, but even so, the new immortal was curious. He wanted to find out if despite all the secrecy, there had been any leaks of information that he could use.

"Vampires? Werewolves? Demons?" Giles numbered, still puzzled. For him it was not normal thing that Xander was interested in any kind of research, particularly not with such a strange subject.

"No, no. You know, normal humans. Like, nothing special, except that they can't die." As he talked, Xander looked around the old dusty books that the ex-Watcher had still not finished archiving. "Or age. Simply... immortals."

"As far as I know, Xander, there aren't such things as immortal human beings." Giles sighed, and assumed his usual lecture tone. The one that he used to explain basic things to Xander. "It contradicts the main nature of being human. Why do you want to know?"

"Oh, just curious." With a smile, the younger man took one of the books and sat down. "So, what's the thing we're looking for Buffy now?"

Giles blinked, but soon he forgot all his doubts and began explaining to Xander some of the main troubles that Buffy was facing.

The second slip happen just a month and a half later.

It had been an easy month for Xander. He got himself a job as a bartender at a Bar near the Sunnydale College, which gave him freedom to visit Buffy and Willow when the girls needed him. Since he usually got the night shift, he slept all morning, trained in the afternoon repeating the exercises that Corey had given him, and then went to work.

Working out, he used the beautiful Spanish steel sword that Corey had given him, to learn to feel its weight as part of his arm. But he had also found a wooden Kento sword that his older brother had left at home when he married, and discovered that, although the weight difference was great, the wooden weapon would make a perfect stake used properly. He had not revealed to his friends his newly improved fighting techniques because there was not a proper way to break the news to them.

And they were not supposed to know about his immortal state.

Without that little tidbit of information, how was he going to say that he had spent two months practicing fencing with a stranger?

A stranger that had said good-bye to him with a kiss.

A kiss that came to his dreams every so often, that he could almost taste it all over again. Even when he did not knew what his reaction to it should be. It was fear, it was thrill. It was something in between.

But his time of peace came to an end when Spike returned to town.

After Buffy, Willow and Giles decided that the vampire's claims of being incapable to attack human beings were true, and a new, if somewhat wary, truce was called for, the Slayer also decided that, since Xander lived alone, his basement would be perfect to keep the now defenseless vampire safe.

No one cared if Xander was really safe, but that was to be expected.

Still, Xander's routine was mostly unchanged. He still slept all morning, trained a little while the vampire still was sleeping, feed Spike, and then went to work. The few times that Spike had caught him training, Xander simply shrugged and assured that it was just because he was tired of being the weak link. Spike had laughed of it, but hadn't mentioned it to the others.

That had not been the slip.

The slip came when they were fighting a huge, ugly demon thing with spiky tentacles. It was so huge that Buffy alone could not take it by herself, and so all his friends were there to help her. Xander and Spike were sort of fighting back to back, mainly because Buffy had make it very clear to the vampire that if anything happened to his friend, she would gladly thrust a stake through his heart. And because in two simple weeks Spike had come to respect Xander's loyalty enough to try and protect the human a little.

Xander was not taking that very kindly, but knew that fighting with a tentacled monster was not the best place to argue about that.

And so, he had been slightly distracted when the monster grabbed him from behind, and struck a spike through his stomach. It was painful, and Xander had to bite back his own mouth to prevent himself from spitting blood, but only Spike noticed. The young immortal managed to untangle himself from the thing's crushing embrace by sticking the axe that had been given to him as a weapon, and fell to the floor, coughing.

"Are you o.k., Xander?" Buffy asked, not even turning around to see his friend.

"Sure, Buffy... just got a bad blow..." Xander coughed blood once, before standing. His shirt was soaked in his own blood, but other than that, he was perfectly fine. Spike looked at him, puzzled, but didn't say anything as the monster attacked back.

They defeated the monster and walked away, Buffy with a little more bruises than usual, Willow with a black eye, and all of them soaked in green goo after the thing imploded, which prevented the girls and Giles from realizing the darker stains on Xander's white shirt.

The immortal and the vampire arrived to the Harris house, and before Spike could question him, Xander got in the shower, and closed the conversation.

Since it was only his first brush with death after his awakening, Xander had been quite surprised to see that the wound had disappeared, that there was no scar, especially since he had felt the spike going through his stomach, his blood gushing out... And it hadn't felt good.

Xander hoped that the vampire would forget the incident, but the next night, as he was preparing to go to work, Spike was waiting for him.

Apparently, even when the curse prevented him from actually biting a human being, there was nothing written against shoving a human against the wall with game-face on.

"What?" He asked, as he tried unsuccessfully to breathe. And found himself thinking of Corey, and what would he do if it was Corey and not Spike the one who was holding him like that. Lately, Xander had discovered that those images were not unwelcome at all. In fact, they were quite welcome.

"You are breathing." Spike said, sniffing. Then, he brought his face lower, almost touching Xander's neck. And surprisingly, that made Xander feel a shiver. "I can smell your blood. You have a pulse."

"Yeah, and you do not. Can we move on?" The young man asked, smiling. He had no doubts that Spike could not kill him, and if he didn't die, there was no way of proving that he was immortal.

"You should be dead... With that wound, no human could have survived" Spike insisted, looking into his eyes as if he could pry the secret by glaring.

"Just because you've killed more men than you remember, doesn't make you an expert, Spike!" Xander couldn't keep the smile from his eyes. But his tone of voice was enough to make the vampire believe that he was serious, that he had no idea of what the immortal creature was talking about.

At the end, Spike let him go to work, as always. But even so kept an eye on him, always watching, always ready.

The third slip was not exactly a slip. It was more like a full free fall out of an airplane.

And it came exactly two months after he had left Corey to return to Sunnydale.

Spike's suspicions had only grow with time, and that made Xander nervous. The vampire once offered to spar with Xander, but the immortal had refused. Even when he knew that Spike would attack to kill, and it would be a great work out, Xander didn't want to explain why he had gotten so good with the sword, or why he kept a real weapon in his house.

After that, things had gotten a turn to the bizarre.

While Xander was working, Spike managed to gather the group at Giles' house. Even when the others didn't know it, the truth was that the vampire was slightly worried about his human host... mainly because as annoying as he was, Xander was the only one who still treated him as a vampire, as a threat. The only one who seemed to remember that Spike was still William the Bloody, and not some lame copy of Angel.

"I'm telling you, your friend is possessed." He told them, once they were all reunited. He had hoped an outburst of reactions... and was very surprised by the actual result.

The Slayer merely looked at him, annoyed. The Watcher seemed to be expecting him to continue. The Slayer's new pet-boyfriend seemed truly confused, but didn't say anything. The witch didn't even blinked.

When it was obvious that no one was going to say anything, Giles coughed. "And what are the proofs that sustain that, Spike?"

That was unexpected by the vampire, and it showed in his face. How could they have missed the so obvious changes? "He's better at fighting... Way much better. I've seen him train with a sword at his house... And he heals fast." He blurted out, immediately. The truth was that he didn't know Xander that well before, to know if his apparent carefree attitude was part of his personality or not. After all, he had always seen the boy in life-threatening situations.

"Xander wouldn't know which side of the sword is the one he has to grab. " Buffy told him, with a grin. She seemed mightily sure of herself, and Spike wondered once again what his sire saw in her to be so stupidly obsessed. "Now, tell the truth, Spike. Has Xander been harassing you? He is like that with vampires."

"If Xander is bothering you, we can talk to him and make him stop." Willow added, cheerfully. Way too cheerfully if one recalled her latest experiments with magic. "You don't have to invent such a big lie."

Spike let the subject drop. He really couldn't believe how it had passed from 'One of your friends is possessed' to 'let's protect the vampire from persons who remind him he's dead and evil'.Sighing, he waited for the Watcher to finish explaining the last ominous prophecy he had managed to find in his old books before leaving the house, ready to continue his almost routine stalking of the human boy whose welfare seemed to be the last thing in his friends' heads.

Totally ignorant of the meeting going on at Giles' house, Xander had been working like always.

He enjoyed the work of a barman, since it allowed him many things. First, he got to know people. There were a lot of persons who grabbed a place at the bar, ordered a beer, and started talking about their problems. Xander had found that he had a good ear to listen to them, and sometimes, just sometimes, could say something to help. And his comments were appreciated, just as they had not been at school, where everyone thought that he wasn't listening at all. Second, he and his boss had developed a good working bond. Anytime that Xander needed to go, he would work in other shifts, and his boss allowed his comings and goings without questions. It was a good deal.

He had been serving the nth beer of the night, when the humming started in his head. Xander immediately lifted his head, hoping to see Corey at the entrance, only to see a strange Asian man with an all knowing grin.

The man walked towards him in a straight line, almost as if he didn't saw all the patrons that were on the bar that night. As he approached, Xander could see the glint of a sword inside the man's coat.

"You are a young one." The man said, eyeing Xander with attention. The young immortal did the same, knowing fully well that he was eyeing a future enemy. He didn't answer the man's question, as it would have been useless. "I'll assume you know the rules of the Game."

"I do." Xander answered, not letting his eyes flicker.

"Meet me at the construction site, in one hour." The man continued, with a smile. Xander breathed deeply, having expected something more of his first challenge, but nodded. He knew what construction site the other was referring to. The place of the old school, the one that he had helped blow up to save the whole town, just a summer ago.

An eternity ago.

When the man left, Xander informed his boss he would be leaving early and went home to get his sword. As he did, he wondered briefly what would he say to Spike if the vampire was home, but his mind was blank. All he could think about what that he had been challenged, that he was going to fight a duel...

And that it was going to be a fight to death.

There was no one home when he arrived, so Xander thought he would be free of any question that the vampire had. He had noticed that Spike seemed more and more interested in him and his life as time went by, and he was not sure of what to do about it. He couldn't tell him the truth, and he couldn't keep lying. There had to be something in between.

Spike arrived a couple of minutes after Xander had left, and for that reason it wasn't hard for the vampire to pick up Xander's scent and follow it. He knew that the teenager was excited, and scared about something, and Spike was decided to either bring proof that no one could deny, or help Xander if there was need for that.

Not once he questioned himself that decision. The fact that he would be helping someone whom he had tried to kill more than once, someone that should be counted among his great enemies. Or the fact that now he was becoming protective of Xander, just as he had been of Drusilla. It was not a pleasant line of thoughts for the vampire, and he swiftly ignored it, as he had been for the past weeks.

Spike followed the very clear scent of excitement and fear to the old school. Although the reconstruction had started right after the big explosion, bureaucratic cuts and rumors of it being haunted keep the work slow.

Spike liked that. He enjoyed when humans feared.

But as he began walking amidst the half traced construction, the half done hallways and rooms, suddenly he wished that it was just as the time when he had first come to Sunnydale, when all he had on mind was finding a cure for Dru.

It was easy to let himself dwell in that memory, when he was the hunter instead of the prey, and even had overpowered Angelus... when he had first seen the terrified Xander, when he almost had killed Xander... all in those same hallways.

He could almost hear the clash of the axe that the Slayer had used that day, as it hit the floor.

Blinking, he realized that it was not a memory. He was hearing clashing swords nearby.

Spike ran towards where the library had been, following the sounds of a duel. It was a frantic movement, and he couldn't tell which combatant was winning only by the sound of it. A thousand things came to his mind, the first of which was that maybe Buffy and her infuriating Watcher had decided to use the old school as a training ground, but his thoughts kept going to the fact that Xander had a sword, that Xander had been practicing with one.

The scene at the school library was everything Spike hoped not to see. Xander was there, sword in hand, fighting against a strange looking Asian man. Both were sweating, and it was obvious that the fight had been going on for some time. There were notorious cuts in both men's suit, and a strong smell of blood around both. So strong that Spike couldn't tell who had lost more ground.

And he was not going to stand waiting to find out. Grabbing one of the pipes that the workers had left behind, he moved in to attack the man who was dueling Xander. However he was not silent enough, as the teenager saw him, with a horrified expression.

"Spike, don't!!" He yelled, giving his attacker time to turn around and disarm Spike with a swift movement with the sword. Spike growled, feeling himself trapped, and knowing that he would not be able to defend himself from the man, now that he was unarmed.

"Why did you warn him, fool?!" he asked to Xander, who had dropped the defensive position and was ignoring the vampire.

"I... I am sorry... he is not..." The young man began saying to his opponent, who also sheathed his sword.

"The rules say it's one against one." The man cut Xander's apologize short, and then turned to leave. "There is no honor in fighting one who doesn't care to keep the rules."

When the Asian man left, Spike turned to see Xander, concerned over the blood that stained his host's clothes.

"Are you all right?" He asked, the question sounding alien in his mouth.

"Why did you have to interfere?" Xander answer, his eyes dark with rage.

"He could have killed you!" Spike's voice mirrored his anger at both the idea and the ingratitude shown by Xander. He was tired of those under his protection dying, even if he was not going to admit it to the boy.

"Or I could have killed him." Xander answered, and began walking away. "I'm tired of everyone assuming I can't take care of myself!"

As the boy walked away, Spike shook his head in disbelief. How could have he missed the fact that he and Xander were so alike?

Then, another thing came to his mind. Sure, Xander's clothes had a lot of bloodstains and cuts...

But he hadn't seen a single wound on Xander's skin.

The following week was almost unnoticed by almost everyone. For Buffy, the routine was amazingly boring. She went out patrolling, killed some vampires, studied. Willow kept trying to get better at magic, but even Giles had seen how to stop it from having havoc consequences.

Spike hadn't mentioned a thing about the duel to the humans, a small thing that Xander appreciated. He still felt cheated out of it, because even when he had been loosing when the vampire arrived, he was sure that he could have won the duel if given more time. With those thoughts in mind, he had been practicing drills almost to the point of exhaustion, not aware that Spike watched him during those sessions.

The vampire didn't have many reasons to keep observing the young man, except his own growing worry. He still couldn't know if it was a possessed Xander, or if it was part of the youth that he had never seen while occupied trying to kill the Slayer and her friends, although the last seemed highly unlikely.

Because if the Slayer' little White Knight, as Angelus more than once called Xander, was going around challenging strange men to duel, Spike would have noticed much sooner.

Things began changing when a body was found on the outskirts of Sunnydale. It was the body of a woman, in her mid-thirties, beheaded. The forensic team had announced that it had been done with a sword or a similarly sharp object, and no one had identified the girl.

Still, the moment of her death was placed as right in the middle of a freak storm that had hit Sunnydale, and of course, Giles and Buffy decided it was necessary to investigate.

The reunion at the librarian house was, if anything, tense. While Giles and Buffy analyzed every possible hypothesis regarding the murder, Willow happily began talking about ritual be-headings by many different cults. Xander simply read one of the tomes he had selected, reading carefully, not even paying the necessary attention to answer to his oldest friend's babbling.

Spike, for his part, couldn't take his eyes away from the boy's bag.

Without any explanation, Xander had carried a camping bag with him that night, and Spike knew that he had been carrying that thing all day. It was big enough to hide a sword inside, but the vampire was not sure. He really didn't want to think that the kid was carrying the Spanish steel sword around, because that also meant that Xander could have been the killer.

Not that Spike minded that much. He wasn't that picky about preserving life. But if Xander had killed the nameless woman and the Slayer found out, things could get nasty in a very short amount of time.

"I'm going to check around, to see if I see a strange looking person beheading people." Buffy said, standing up. She had a very smug look in her face, the kind of which told Spike that the Slayer really didn't believed that she was going to find any kind of trouble.

"I'll go with you." Xander was on his feet, the bag on his back, almost in no time. This earned him a strange look from Giles, but no one said anything to stop the teenager.

Spike wanted to follow them, only staying because he knew that if _he_ left the research session, then they would be noticing.

"I think I found something!!" Willow suddenly shrieked, leaving Spike to wonder if he had gone deaf from one ear. Not paying any attention to the vampire's uncomfortable expression, the redhead began reading the information in her laptop. "There have been killings such as this all over the country... in the past 200 years! And some in Europe too... The bodies are always found in desert places, and there are signs of electric storms nearby... The bad news is that there is no pattern to be followed, just the beheading... Sometimes there is a lapse of 10 years between the finding of bodies, sometimes longer. And it's very seldom that two are found in the same city."

"Which means you have nothing." Spike told her, enjoying her hurt expression. "We have nothing."

"On the contrary..." Giles looked up from the book he had been reading, an old manuscript encased in leather. "I found an old Norway tale about an evil immortal wizard who traveled along the country side, challenging his enemies to a duel with swords. He killed his foes by beheading them, and a storm would follow each killing... There is no recording of a way to kill him..."

"How do they know he was immortal?" Willow asked, as always wishing for the obvious to be stated for her.

"Once he was caught and burned. The next day he was walking as if nothing had happened...." Giles answered, closing the book as he did. "We have to find Buffy... this thing could be too much for her to take on alone..."

Spike wanted to say something, watching how the two mortals hurried to go. That he doubted that the chronicle that the ex-Watcher had found was true, that it was not Buffy for whom they should have worried.

That he had seen Xander fight a duel with swords.

But instead, he grabbed his own jacket and followed, unwilling to be left alone.

Buffy and Xander were patrolling the old school when Xander felt the humming again, only that twice more intense than anything he had felt before. He had accompanied Buffy fully aware that the only one who could have killed the woman was an immortal, and that the woman herself was probably one. Convinced that the immortal who had killed her, had been his first opponent, Lao Tsa, and that if Spike hadn't interrupted them, maybe the woman would still be alive.

**And after your head** his mind told him, but he ignored it. After all, Corey had told him that not all immortals were looking for a fight. Maybe she had been one of those.

Even so, it really didn't mattered, since she was dead and her killer around. Very near if the humming in his head was any indication. "Buffy, I don't think there's anyone here. Let's check the graveyards..." He began, trying to get the slayer away from the source of the humming.

"Are you deaf?" His friend answered, looking at him as if he had grown a second head. "Can't you hear that clashing? Those are swords... I bet we found our killers..."

"But... Buffy, how can we be sure...?" She didn't stop to hear him, so he only ran after her, towards the very clear sound of two swords dwelling. But she had the advantage, so he arrived only seconds to late to prevent her from storming between Corey Raines and Lao Tsa, kicking the sword out of Corey's hands with her always smug expression.

"There is no sword fighting in my territory..." Buffy was saying, as she picked Corey's sword. She seemed not to notice Lao Tsa's annoyed glare. "... And obviously, there are no beheading killers on the loose. You have your choices, men... either answer questions peacefully, or we do this the hard way..."

"Apparently, its impossible to have privacy on this town." Lao Tsa mumbled, lowering his sword. "I have no business with you child. Leave now, and forget what you saw."

"What? No death threats against the Slayer?" It was obvious to Xander that Buffy's sarcasm was highly unappreciated, by either men. And that his presence was not a secret, since Corey kept glancing in the direction where he was, still hidden by shadows. "You really must be new on this."

"It was a mistake, interrupting you." Xander spoke up, walking towards them. He let himself smile at Corey, who answered his smile with a nod and a questioning lift of an eyebrow, before concentrating in Lao Tsa. "We will leave now..."

"Xander, stay out of this!!" Now Buffy sounded angry, just as she did every time she didn't understand what was going on around her. Of course, Xander didn't listen to her, simply kept on walking until he grabbed her shoulder. "You don't..."

"No, Buffy. It's you who don't get it. Look, these guys aren't vampires, or demons. They're just... you know, carrying private business." As he spoke, Xander saw how Corey let out a sigh. Obviously, he had been worried that the teenager hadn't kept the secret. "So, we're going to leave them continue, and return with Giles. O.k.?"

"Don't talk to me as if I were stupid, Xander!" Buffy jerked her arm free, and turned to see Lao Tsa. "Now mister, you have two..."

"I was mistaken, I see you have honor." The Asian man was focused on Xander, barely giving notice to the fact that Buffy was standing just a couple of steps nearer, holding a stake in a menacing pose. "We will finish our duel now."

"Finish?" Corey spoke up for the first time, looking at Xander, worried. He didn't make any more questions, even when he wanted to. Buffy's presence kept him from speaking. "But what about..."

"Duel?" Buffy squealed, but was completely ignored.

"We can finish our business later, Mr. Raines." Lao Tsa bowed slightly, before turning to see Xander. "Now, I will take care of our unwanted witness..."

"No!" Xander moved again to stand between the unsheathed sword of Lao Tsa and Buffy, who was looking from one to the other, confusion playing in her eyes. "She'll leave now. She doesn't know anything..." Then, pleading, Xander turned to see his teacher. "Corey... please... take her away."

The thief nodded, and placed a hand on Xander's shoulder. He really didn't want the younger man to face Lao Tsa, but there was nothing he could do. Insisting on fighting would only lead to more questions by the blonde mortal, and he really wasn't looking forward to that. "Good luck, my friend." With a gentle squeeze, Corey walked to leave, only stopping to retrieve his sword and grab Buffy.

"Hey! Let me go!" She complained, as the thief began dragging her away.

"We cannot stay here, Miss." He told her, not once wavering in his hold, even when she was struggling with incredible strength. "You don't want to stay, anyway."

"What is going on here?!" Buffy tried to avoid be dragged, but Corey hold was too firm and strong, so she found herself following despite all her attempts to escape. "Have you all gone insane? Why don't you let me do my job?!"

"Your job should be working behind a counter at Blockbuster, lady, not sneaking around half-built schools." Corey told her, as they walked outside. The faint sound of swords clashing could be heard, and the thief silently hoped that Xander could defend himself, that the new immortal was the winner. "Now scram, this is not a good place to be."

"Why-?"

"BUFFY!!" Willow's yell interrupted the Slayer, as her friends and Spike arrived. She waved at them, and, with a last tug of her shoulder, managed to finally free herself from Corey's grasp. "Thank G-d we found you! We don't have good news..."

"And who's your new friend?" Giles asked, nodding towards Corey, who had a hand on the handle of his sword, almost nonchalantly.

"He's not a friend." Buffy immediately quipped.

"The feeling is mutual." Corey said, eyeing the group with mixed feelings. Now he remembered the name of the blond, since Xander had more than once mentioned it to him. And with a little math, he could tell who the others were, although he had imagined Oz to be shorter. He was facing Xander's friends, the ones that had caused the young immortal to return to this town, instead of staying with Corey. And now, the thief really didn't understand why. Or what was going on there. "My name is Corey Raines. I'm a friend of Xander..." he began, without taking his hand from his sword.

"You're not Xander's frien��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������e the older man gasped and took off his glasses.

"If that... if that is so..." He began stammering, in a way that remind Corey of the expression that Watchers got when Immortals found them. "... Then... then we might be in the wrong track... We... ah... found information about an immortal wizard who killed his enemies by cutting their heads but... there... there was nothing about possession..."

"Maybe the wizard enemies' souls possess people?" The redhead ventured, with the silliest smile Corey had ever seen on a mortal. As if things were really just a game. "That would explain why he still has enemies... If nothing can kill him..."

"But that doesn't explain why sword-guy was here." Buffy said, pointing towards Corey who was only grateful that no one had thought of actually going to check on Xander.

Before anyone could say anything, lighting almost blinded them, followed by a deafening thunder. The mortals looked at each other, surprised, but Corey didn't loose any time. As more lighting followed, the thief could hear the screams of pain behind them, and cursed himself for not having warned Xander of how hard a Quickening could be. There was not a doubt in his mind that it had been the younger immortal the one who had come out triumphant, and now he was worried for his friend's mind.

He reached Xander just as the lighting were dying down, and he saw the young boy fall to his knees, breathing rapidly, his eyes open and staring at the empty space. At Xander's side, there was the dead, beheaded body of Lao Tsa, and both swords were lying on the floor, forgotten for now. Without pausing, not even caring if the boy's friends had followed him, Corey kneeled, gathering his friend in his arms.

How much he had wanted to do that, almost since getting to know the boy... And now that he had the chance, Corey couldn't stop the cold claw of fear in his heart. Fear that Xander's will was not strong enough, fear that the older, dead immortal's personality tainted the pure heart he had come to like so much in their time together.

"Xander... resist..." He whispered, as he closed the embrace, hugging the young boy tightly to his chest. "Remember you're Alexander Harris... You're Xander... Concentrate on that..."

It took time, but finally, the tears began coming out of Xander's eyes. The young immortal rested his face on Corey's chest and they stayed like that, entwined in a loving, intimate embrace completely obvious at the shocked stares of the mortals.

And the somewhat jealous eyes of an immortal vampire.

The end.