you wore your jacket like shield of honor

Quick beta, like 'a' shield.

He regretted not bringing the car, it was taking time to get back and he was stuck with Spike and he couldn't stop thinking. "We should get this back to Willow and Buffy right away."

Should the stuff in quotes be another paragraph?

Also, YAY!

I fucking love this fic!

Okay fixed.

LOVE it, Ali. I mean it. You are really defining Xander for me... Or, at least, his lust for Spike.

I just hate it when Xander gets rational and strong and walks away. Uncooperative beast.

I know, connie. It's hard.. t snickers uncontrollably

But what do you have Xander up to? Hmm?

Originally this was supposed to be a short pwp with alleyway sex, but Xander talked himself right out of that.

Originally this was supposed to be a short pwp with alleyway sex, but Xander talked himself right out of that.

This happens. Which is why so far I have:

He waited until the man was several blocks from the hotel before confronting him. That way, he couldn't call out for the others. Isolate them: the first rule of the hunt. The man moved differently than he had when afflicted; there was grace and confidence where before Connor had sensed unease and discomfort. He still sensed discomfort, but this time, it was of the mind, not the body.

There was no surprise in the opaque blue of the man's eyes when Connor landed in front of him, just a dull recognition a stranger should not have had. Yet he knew Cordelia, so perhaps he was no stranger after all. He hadn't seen him during the summer with Fred and Gunn, but that just meant he was free from their influence. Good. He could provide Connor with answers Fred and Gunn would withold, thanks to their foolish choice of loyalties.

"Make it quick. I haven't time for this." The voice held the promise of England, his father's land.

Connor smiled. "Did he hurt her?"

"Cordelia? No. Are we through?" The man turned his head in dismissal, and the glow of the streetlights caught the jagged mark at the side of his throat.

"Your wound, was it from an honorable battle?"

The eyes turned from ice to fire, like those of a cornered beast. "Honorable? What a funny word for it."

"Were you protecting something?"

Harsh laughter split the air. "Nothing," he spat, "of import."

"Yet you protected it still, like they do Angelus."

"Yes," the man said quietly. "Like they do Angelus."

The words held meanings tangled like ivy in underbrush. Nothing so simple as hatred in them. Resignation, anger, pain, loss, love.

"What are you to them?"

"A fall-back, nothing more. You have more standing with them than I, I fear, even with all that you've done."

"I did what was necessary. Someday, when the beast shows his true face, they'll understand."

"Will they, now?"

Wry tones, a challenge and chastisement in one. Connor bristled.

"They will." He hoped he sounded strong, certain.

"Do you really believe that?"

Connor said nothing.

"Smart boy. You must have gotten it from your mother."

"What do you know of my mother?" Connor spat.

"More than I care to, I'm afraid, but that's really none of your concern, now is it?"

Connor moved closer, until the man was backed against the alley wall, his eyes still watching Connor as though he were some sort of insect. It was a look Connor had seen on dozens of faces, but that didn't mean it was one he would accept without question.

He (Xander) has that habit, don't he? There's was going to be happy gropage in the steam room, then he got all noble and left.

Elena, Xander's currently keeping a close eye on Spike and waiting for Spike to turn. There will be many opportunities for angsty bonding and weird connecting. Still trying to decide how far to take it in the milieu of the V!Giles world.

"Tell me about her, the demon who birthed me. Tell me what I am."

"I haven't the faintest idea, and I could care less what you are." "You lie, I can smell it on you." Connor stared at him through narrowed eyes. "Why?" "Perhaps because it should be the truth." "But it isn't." "No, it isn't."

****

Because damn it, they seem to be talking around the sex. But, that said and the bunny puked out, I think I find the PWP without P more interesting than a PWP would be.

I like your Xander much.