Title: Home Sweet Hellmouth

Author: Mac Xaiver

E-mail: mac_xavier@yahoo.com

Disclaimer: I don't own anything!

Summary: A Xander is a Xander is a ... Lexa?

Rating: R-NC17

Archive: Yeah, sure.

Home Sweet Hellmouth
By Mac Xaiver

****** Sunnydale High School******

They say the Devil is in the details, and it looks like they were right.Whoever "they" are anyway. But then again, that’s a detail, too, isn’t it?

This is making my head hurt. Actually, so is that girl sitting over there glaring at me. Or am I glaring at me? Okay, again with the head and hurting. Not of the good, really.

Also, mental babble isn’t good either. And can some one just tell me why she’s dressed like Faith? Or maybe it’s more like that vampire version of Willow from the weird wish dimension. Not that Wills didn’t look hot as all hell, but ... so does the girl version of me.

And that thought just gave me an icky feeling all over.

Okay, so on a purely objective level, she’s as hot as Faith or Buffy or Kendra. Hell, she’s hotter than Cordelia. But she’s -me-, which gives this particular line of thought a serious "bad thought" label.

******

Research. I hate research. Books full of gross things that want to eat people and prophesies about one of my best friends dying. Okay, so this being not my universe technically she’s not one of my best friends. But a Buffy is a Buffy is a Buffy. Right to her just touched up blonde roots.

Can I just say that I’m glad that I didn’t end up in Vampire Willow’s universe? Cause the grabbing my butt and cooing in my ear would have been freak-some. First clue I wasn’t in that particular piece of insanity was the Willow-in-the-fuzzy-sweater. Which was a normal type thing. My Wills dresses like that too. First clue I wasn’t in my universe? The guy in the brightly colored Hawaiian shirt. Not bad looking, if it wasn’t what I’d look like as a guy. And obviously he’s never been subjected to ... Um, bad thoughts, not going there. Going there leads to the music of pain. Or me going hunting and I’m not quite sure I should tell these versions of Giles the Watcher Man and Buffy the Slay-gal that the Hyena is still very much a part of me and isn’t going anywhere thank you ever so much. I like being the Hyena. I wonder if Xander-me was possessed by a Hyena spirit and how did they get her out of him? Did he just get a hard on looking at me? I know G-man got one when I came in, which is still ick, but not as ick as *me* getting a woody for *me*. But I’m a cute guy. Oh, *ICK*! I did not just think that!

Oops, guess things aren’t too different from home. G-man is glaring at me and guy-me. Probably because I’ve been making with the spaced out. Time to be Attention-Girl.

******

"With what little Miss Harris has been able to tell us about how she arrived here, I can’t see how we might return her to her own universe," Giles said as he cleaned his glasses.

Buffy shot a glare at the female version of her Xander-shaped friend. "How do we know she’s telling the truth? I mean, she could be some weird demon thing."

Lexa pushed away from the library table, using one hand to shove her long dark hair out of her eyes. "I don’t have to sit here and be insulted. You can insult me after I leave. And, Giles?"

"Yes, Miss Harris?"

"It’s Lexa," she said with a forced cheerful grin. The tall dark haired girl turned on her heel and stormed out of the library.

"She could be some weird demon thing?" Xander echoed as he stood up, shaking his head. "Good one, Buffy."

"Where do you think you’re going?" Cordelia demanded as her boyfriend started out of the library.

Xander sent her a goofy grin. "To find myself."

"Good luck," Oz said.

Xander waved and went to find Lexa. It didn’t take long, he just thought of the first place he went when he was upset with the gang and there she was. A Twinkie stuffed halfway in to her mouth.

She swallowed and gave him a slightly sheepish smile. "I took the chance that we’d have the same locker and combination." Then stuffed the rest of the Twinkie into her mouth.

"Buffy didn’t mean anything by the demon comment," Xander said as he slid down the wall to sit next to his not-quite-double. He accepted the other Twinkie when Lexa offered it. "So, our friends are the same, our lockers are the same."

"Our love of cream-filled golden goodness is the same," Lexa said with a goofy grin of her own.

"And our keen sense of humor to deflect real concern," Xander returned seriously.

She scowled. "Okay, note to self, defense mechanisms don’t work against myself. Damn."

"I know this is kind of freaky," he said as his arm automatically when around her shoulders. "But would staying here be that bad?"

"It’s not home, Xander," came the whispered answer. "As much as home sucks, this isn’t it."

Xander could only watch as his ... he guessed she’d be his sister, stood up and paced. No, correction. She wasn’t pacing. Okay so she was pacing, but it was the predator in a cage kind of pacing. Like a ...

"You’re still possessed by the Hyena," Xander said slowly.

"Bonded to, actually," Lexa corrected absently as she continued to pace. "You too, huh?"

"I was, but Giles got it out. Hey, maybe he can get it out of you, too." He paused when she shot him a horrified look. "Okay, or not. Why not? And for that matter, why aren’t you trying to eat us or something?"

Lexa shook her head. "Because even if you guys aren’t my real Pack, my senses say you’re my Pack. And I don’t eat people. The school mascot was one thing, but I was very annoyed when the others ate Principal Flutie. Stupid cubs. Thought they could turn on my Wills and Buffy." She growled quietly then shook it off. "Willow, Oz, and Giles are my Pack. The rest of the kids that got possessed couldn’t hack it as Hyenas. They were better off going back to being human."

"But ... How are you still you if you’re the Hyena too?" Xander asked as his eyes followed Lexa’s prowling movements. Why couldn’t he move like that? Oh, yeah, he wasn’t Hyena-boy anymore and she was all Hyena-girl. "And still not getting why you looked like you’d puke at the thought of getting rid of the Hyena.

"Last Question first, okay? Like I said, we’re bonded together. If the Hyena spirit is exorcized or whatever, then my soul will get ripped out too. There’s not a difference between us anymore." Lexa flashed him a grin. "The spirit is all instinct, no intellect. Granted, I’m not brains girl but I’m still smarter than the Hyena. And once Giles found the spell to bind the spirit to my soul, I was left in control. Uh, mostly. The instincts still get away from me sometimes."

"Why couldn’t he find that spell when I was Hyena-boy?" Xander complained.

"Maybe he did. One question first, Guy-me," Lexa said slowly. She stopped pacing to study him. "Who was the Alpha in your version of the Pack?"

Xander rolled his eyes. "I was, Girl-me."

"And it sounds like you paid about as much attention in biology class as I did," Lexa snickered. "Xander, the Alpha in a Hyena pack is the strongest *female*, the Queen. Watch the Discovery Channel once in a while. The Hyena’s Spirit couldn’t have been bound to you. It would have been like trying to get a lawn mower to make chipped ice."

"So ... what would have happened if I’d kept it?" Xander asked with a frown.

Lexa thought carefully for a few seconds. "I think you would either have started playing on the home team or your head would have exploded. We’d have to ask Giles."

"You mean ... Ew."

Lexa snickered again. Then she froze and sniffed the air. Xander frowned at her sudden tension. He could feel it vibrating along his nerves as her stance shifted from simply stressed to ready to fight. He glanced down the hall in both directions, still frowning. "What’s wrong, Lexa?"

"You can’t smell ... ? Oh, right. No Hyena. There’s a Vampire in the building." Lexa frowned as well, unconsciously echoing Xander. "We should get back to the others."

"Right," Xander said as he stood up. "It’s probably just Angel, but better safe than food, right?"

The tension went way up at that suggestion. Lexa’s voice was a soft growl. "Angel? Shit."

"Hey!" Xander yelled as she started to run back toward the library. "Wait up!"

******

Angel’s head snapped around when the library doors slammed open. For a moment he thought that it was the other Slayer, Faith, but the girl was too tall, too well muscled, and smelled far too much like Harris. She looked too much like Harris, who was right on her heels. Although there was something a little different about the hatred in her eyes, it was somehow hotter, brighter, than Harris’ hatred. Then again as soon as she laid eyes on him the chocolate brown eyes turned a bright yellow-green. The girl snarled and leaped between Angel and Giles.

"Not a demon thing, huh?" Buffy snapped at Xander as she started to try and get Lexa away from her boyfriend ... ex-boyfriend.

Xander grabbed her arm and shook his head. "No, not a demon. She’s still the Hyena. Only ... she’s the one in control."

"How can you be sure?" Willow asked from behind Oz.

The werewolf remained silent as he warily watched Lexa.

"Because she was eating Twinkies and not the school mascot," Xander explained bluntly.

Buffy sneered. "I can take her. I beat you when you were possessed by the Hyena."

Xander shook his head. "Can I just point out that she’s been the Hyena for at least two years? Let her alone, Buff." His eyes locked on the frozen tableau of Lexa crouched protectively between Angel and Giles. "She ... she sees us as her Pack. She’s just protecting Giles."

"Giles doesn’t need to be protected from Angel!" Buffy protested.

Lexa stood up slowly, her eyes still glowing yellow-green as she glared at the souled Vampire. "What are you doing here, Deadboy?"

"I ..." Angel started, only to break off and glare back at her. "The better question would be what are you doing here? Who are you anyway?"

Lexa gave a wild giggle as she shifted her weight, ready to attack at the slightest provocation. "I’m the girl from out of this world, Deadboy. From where you loved me and hated me and tried to ruin my life and kill everyone I love. I’m not going to let you do that here, Deadboy."

"Lexa, please," Giles said quietly but firmly. "This isn’t your world. Angel is not going to harm me."

"But I’m stuck here, right?" Lexa said with a definite growl in her voice. "And if I’m stuck here then I need my Pack. You guys. *Angel* isn’t Pack. He’s a disaster waiting to happen."

"Hey!" shouted Buffy.

Lexa shot a hard glare over at the Slayer. "Sit down and shut up, Buffy."

"Don’t talk to her like that ... Whoever you are," Angel said quietly, which drew Lexa’s attention back to him. Which suddenly made the Master Vampire very nervous, even as he felt himself stiffen in his pants.

Her nose twitched and her hard glare deepened into a stone faced scowl. "Don’t even think about it. I’ve had enough of corpses in my bed to last a lifetime." Hate-filled yellow-green eyes blazed brightly up at Angel, staring through him to Angelus. "I made a deal with the demon to protect my
friends before, for all the good it did me, you son of a bitch. Next time I’ll just stake you."

Around the library eyes widened in shock and horror. And in one case rage.

"You slut!" Buffy yelled. "You stole my ... Your Buffy’s boyfriend!"

"And if you’d have kept your fucking legs shut *your boyfriend* wouldn’t have turned into a psychopathic murderer! If you had staked the bastard when he started killing people he’d never have come after me! I’d never have had to make that fucking deal to keep Willow, Oz, Giles, Miss Calendar and YOUR MOTHER alive!" Lexa screamed back at the Slayer. "And when he broke the pact, *I* turned on him! I did what you couldn’t! I sent him to Hell and I got fucking dragged along for the ride!"

The room fell silent and if Angel could have paled he would have. The thought of Angelus touching this wild girl made him feel ill. As if something pure had been tainted. The way he’d have felt if Harris had made the same bargain with Angelus ... His eyes widened and shot from Lexa to Harris and back. The way she looked, the way she smelled ... All too much like Xander Harris. "You’re ... He’s ..."

"Give the man a cigar," Xander said snidely. "She’s me. A girl me, but a me nevertheless."

"But ... the ... the clothes," Angel stammered out.

"It’s all I have left after my world’s Angelus torched the rest of them," Lexa snarled as she waved up and down the length of her body. Just a sliver over six feet tall in steel toed Doc Martins, low riding black leather pants just tight enough to show every curve, a cropped red silk tee-shirt, and a short black leather jacket made up her wardrobe. She tossed her long dark hair over her shoulder with a flick of her hand, where it fell in thick nearly black waves. "Of course, that’s because I kicked his ass for killing Miss Calendar and torturing Giles. You did it too, didn’t you, *Angel*?" Lexa spat the name like the very word burned her mouth.

"Didn’t ... Didn’t your Willow do the spell to restore his soul?" Willow asked, breaking the sudden silence.

"Yeah, she did," Lexa said as her voice softened. "She was shaping up to be a real kick-ass Witch, my Wills. Her timing was a little off that night. I put my body between Angelus’ sword and Buffy right before the spell kicked in. And all three of us went on our merry way to Hell."

"What happened? You said you made a wish," Xander said quietly. "For everything to go back the way it was supposed to be."

"Guess I just wasn’t supposed to be." Lexa laughed bitterly. "We came back from Hell, me and Angel. But everything was wrong between me and my friends. Between me and Angel. So I made a wish. Halfreck granted it and here I am. With everything the way it’s supposed to be."

Xander let go of Buffy and went carefully to Lexa’s side, mindful of the fact that with the Hyena as part of her she could probably rip him apart with her bare hands. Carefully he pulled her into his arms and rocked her gently as she started to sob.

"Get lost," Xander hissed at Angel. "Stay away from Lexa. Stay away from me."

Angel backed away cautiously. If Xander had been a White Knight for Buffy what would he do for a girl who was essentially himself? Right down to smelling of Willow and Twinkies? The Vampire didn’t think he wanted to find out.

Part 2

Xander left Lexa curled up under a blanket on the couch in Giles’ office, so worn out physically and emotionally. He was feeling pretty ragged himself, but he had meant what he’d said. If Angel got anywhere near Lexa, he’d kill him. Or at least he’d try to kill him, and probably get himself killed in the process.

It wasn’t the first time he’d backed down the Master Vampire ... It was the first time anyone had seen him make Angel back down. First when he was just going to sit back and let the prophecy play out that would end in Buffy’s death. Then when Buffy had been in the hospital with that super mega flu thing. And now. For Lexa. For the first time in three years, it wasn’t about Buffy. He wondered if the Buffy from Lexa’s dimension had run away after sending not only Angel to hell, but one of her best friends as well. Maybe he’d ask her later.

"I can’t believe you’re taking her side," Buffy complained a little too loudly for Xander’s liking.

"Will you keep it down?" he hissed. "She just got to the point where I don’t think a pin dropping would wake her up."

Willow moved between them almost reflexively. "I’m not taking sides, Buffy. I’m just saying that Lexa has some ... issue type things. Mostly with you and Angel and Angelus."

****** Alt-Sunnydale, The Harvest ******

Jesse grins at Lexa. "It’ll be great. You and me. We’ll even turn Willow. The three of us, together ... Always. Just like it’s supposed to be."

"I can’t," Lexa managed, practically sobbing.

Then the crowd of students panic, they surge toward the exits ... Jesse gets pushed into Lexa ... Into the stake she’s holding.

"I love ..."

"Me, too," Lexa whispered as the dust settled onto her clothes. "Always, Jesse."

****** Alt-Sunnydale, The Pack ******

Lexa snarled and lunged at the man who’d hurt what was hers. *Wise One! Smart One! Hunt Sister!* Her fingers arched into claws and snagged the zookeeper’s robes as she twisted, falling to her back ... and with a kick to his guts, he went sailing over Lexa and over the wall into the enclosure with the Hyenas.

All of the other teenagers had recovered and scrambled away as fast as they could while the hyenas recovered and stumbled to their feet. Except for one ... The lead female. The one in Lexa.

She paused, nudged the redhead’s cheek with her own, then moved on to the blonde, also touching cheeks. Then she crouched beside the older male, sniffing carefully. He wasn’t badly harmed that she could tell, although it looked like his skull had been rattled. His eyes opened slowly then blinked behind the bits of metal and glass that she couldn’t really picture him without. Nose to nose Lexa could see the brownish gold flecks in the green eyes. They were nice eyes.

"Lexa?"

She grinned at him and bit his ear playfully, giving it a gentle tug with her teeth.

Giles sat up, holding her by her shoulders at he stared down at the now hopelessly smeared circle of magic. "Oh, dear."

Lexa giggled. Yes, this pack was much better than the Hyenas. Smarter, stronger.

****** Alt-Sunnydale, Prophesy Girl ******

Lexa smirked over at Angel after the short fight with the minions. "You know, Deadboy, I could almost trust you. Now stop looking at my neck."

"I’m not looking at ..." The vampire’s voice trailed off at the sight of the blonde Slayer’s body floating in a pool of water.

"No!" Lexa screamed. She ran forward, splashing into the water to drag Buffy’s body out. All of those classes that Willow made her go to at the youth center kick into action as the larger girl began CPR on the tiny Slayer. "Breathe," she demanded between forcing air into Buffy’s lungs.
"Damn it, breathe, Buffy." In her head she was counting as she did compressions. One. Two. Three. Four. *Breathe, you selfish little bitch!*

And Buffy gasped for breath.

****** Alt-Sunnydale, Parents Night ******

"Did you really think I would fall for this?" Spike demanded.

Lexa and Angel looked at each other and shrugged.

"It was worth a shot," Angel said.

"Told you my idea was better," Lexa grumbled.

Angel rolled his eyes. "Sure, ‘kill them all’ counts as a plan."

"Still better than you pretending to be soulless."

Spike waved his hands in the air. "Hello, Big Bad here. Going to kill you all?"

Lexa grinned at him, Angel still holding tightly to her arms. Tightly enough for her to kick off the floor and plant both feet firmly in the bleach blonde vampire’s chest. Spike flew through the air to slam into the lockers at the end of the hall.

He staggered to his feet and bellowed. "GET THEM!"

****** Alt-Sunnydale, Frat Party ******

"I cannot believe you talked me into this!" Lexa hissed at Buffy and Cordelia.

"Stop complaining and pull!" Buffy snapped back.

Cordelia continued to blame them both loudly in between yelling at the Frat boys and screaming for help.

Between the Slayer’s strength and the boost from the Hyena, Buffy and Lexa freed themselves just in time for Angel to come bursting through the door with Giles and Willow. Lexa took the fight to the Frat boys, specifically going for the one that had groped her before and after chaining her up. Buffy caught the sword thrown to her by Giles and killed the demon.

There was silence for a moment then the sharp cracking of bone, followed by Lexa’s snarl of: "No means NO, you little shit!"

"You saved me!" Cordelia gushed as she swept past Buffy to drape herself around Angel’s neck.

****** Alt-Sunnydale, Halloween ******

"But I do have a costume," Lexa assured her two best friends as she held up her bag.

Buffy snatched it out of her hand and rummaged through it quickly. "Lexa, this isn’t a costume. It’s a tank top and really short shorts."

"And a gun belt?" Willow added hesitantly.

"It is too a costume," Lexa protested with a grin. "I’m going as Lara Croft, Tomb Raider."

****** Alt-Sunnydale, Angelus’ Bargain ******

Lexa panted harshly as she ran through the graveyard. Her long strides, swift and even, they ate up stretches of ground at a pace that made it difficult for the vampires chasing her to keep up. But there were too many to fight alone, even with her strength and agility. The only thing keeping
her alive just then was Angelus’ desire. His desire for mind games. His desire for her.

She was being herded, like prey, and there wasn’t a damned thing she could do about it.

"Hello, Kitten," Angelus purred at her as he grabbed her arm, yanking her against his chest. "You don’t call, you don’t write. A guy could get the idea you don’t like him."

Lexa snarled and raked her nails across his face. A back handed blow sent her tumbling to the ground.

"That wasn’t *nice*, Kitten."

"I’m not nice, Deadboy," Lexa growled as she rolled to her feet. "And don’t call me Kitten."

Angelus smiled cheerfully at her. "Aw, but Kitten ... I have a deal for you."

"Not interested," she said sharply.

"Oh, you will be," he sang out. "See, if you give me what I want, then I’ll give you something you want. I get you ... and I leave your friends alone."

****** Alt-Sunnydale, Becoming ******

Lexa ran forward as soon as she saw Buffy’s sword get knocked from her hand. Angelus had killed Miss Calendar. He’d killed Willow’s fish. He’d *tortured* Giles. *Giles*. Buffy could protect the Pack best. So Buffy had to live. Angelus couldn’t kill Buffy.

She didn’t think as she folded her body around the blade of Angelus’ sword. She didn’t feel the blade slice into her stomach.

Her eyes drifted up and locked with Angelus’ outraged eyes as he released the sword to grab her shoulders instead.

"What have you done, Kitten?" he roared. "What have you done?"

It was getting dark, but her eyes stayed locked on his. Angelus screamed again, and Lexa forgot about Buffy, forgot about the portal opening. Angel was back and was staring down at her in confused shock and horror.

"Lexa?" he whispered.

She smiled faintly. "Deadboy, you asshole."

Then it all when dark, and there was only endless cold and screams that might or might not have been her own.

****** Alt-Sunnydale, Return ******

Lexa staggered into the library, half out of her mind from pain.

"Who’s the naked chick?" asked an unfamiliar voice, although Lexa’s senses screamed slayer at her.

"Lexa?" squeaked Willow.

"Dear lord," muttered Giles.

Lexa looked up blankly as Giles wrapped her in his tweed jacket. She snuggled into the warmth of the solid body as he lifted her off the floor.

"Willow, call Buffy and Joyce," the Watcher ordered as he carried Lexa into his office. He sat on his couch cradling her when she refused to let go of him. "It’s alright, Lexa. Everything shall be alright now."

"P-p-pack," Lexa forced passed half frozen lips.

****** Alt-Sunnydale, Band Candy ******

Lexa snarled and pinned Ripper down by straddling his hips and pinning his arms over his head. "We can play, *later*, Ripper. There are little helpless babies to save first!"

Ripper grinned and bucked his hips into hers. "That a promise, ducks?"

"Fuck, yeah," Lexa hissed back.

****** Alt-Sunnydale, The Wish ******

Lexa sprawled across the table in the courtyard where the ‘Scooby Gang’ usually sat together, even Cordelia now that she and Willow were good friends. But she was alone. She’d been alone since a few days after the thing with the cursed candy.

Since the rest of the gang found out that she had wild monkey sex with ‘Ripper’. Actually, Lexa was just surprised at how long it took them to figure it out. Giles hadn’t managed to look her in the eye for the entire time, and he’d blush every time she caught him looking at her at all.

Like taking a tumble with an enthusiastic, inventive, and surprisingly gentle, Ripper was just so much worse than being the willing sex toy of Angelus.

Damn it, she’d just needed to feel *warm*, to feel safe. She felt that with Giles, even when he was all Ripper on them. He was Pack, sex was natural between Pack members.

And no one had really touched her since she’d come back from Hell with Angel right behind her. No spontaneous Willow-hugs. No light shoulder punches from Buffy. No more leaning back to back with Oz. No more movie nights with the four of them sprawled on someone’s livingroom floor. Giles didn’t even push her hair out of her eyes. She and Angel simply avoided each other outside of Slay-related business.

The most contact she’d had since before the thing with the candy had been when someone sent a Vampire version of Willow to the library. Being groped by an undead version of her best friend since kindergarten was a serious eye opener.

Thank God, Giles had figured out how to send that thing back where it belonged.

But still not being touched had been driving her insane.

"You don’t look happy," said a pleasant sounding voice.

Lexa pushed herself up on her elbows to glare at whoever had decided to risk the wrath of the Queen of the Psycho people. "I’m not. Go away."

"Come on," the other girl said in a coaxing tone. "Don’t you just sometimes wish things could be the way you want them? That something horrible would happen to the people who’ve abandoned you?"

"You know what I wish? I wish things would go back to the way they’re supposed to be," Lexa snarled as she rolled off the picnic table.

The strange girl grinned at Lexa as she transformed into something that didn’t look quite human anymore. "Done."

****** Sunnydale Highschool Library, Giles’ office ******

Lexa sat up screaming, tangled in the blanket Xander had tucked around her and tumbled off the sofa. Willow, and Oz rushed in, ready for trouble.

Lexa launched herself into their arms and started sobbing that she’s sorry. She’s just so cold. Why don’t they want to touch her anymore?

Oz stroked Lexa’s back as the lanky girl sobs against his girlfriend’s shoulder. "Hey. Touching."

The girl version of Xander gave a shaky laugh and the three of them squeeze onto the small sofa.

"Why do you need to be touched so much?" Willow asked as she pet Lexa’s hair.

Lexa practically purred with pleasure. "Hmmm? Oh. Hyena thing. Very social. Very physical. Lots of touching."

"Like Wolves," Oz concluded.

"Yeah," Lexa sighed as she let her eyes drift closed. "Warm. Warm is nice." Lexa managed to drift back to sleep as both Oz and Willow stroked her hair and back.

"What’s with all the screaming?" Cordelia asked quietly.

"I’m thinking she had a nightmare," Willow offered with a slight shrug. Lexa was sprawled across both their laps so neither was inclined to move. They didn’t want to wake her.

Cordelia frowned. "Oh. Okay." The cheerleader frowned more as she studied the three on the sofa. "So ... Where is she supposed to stay? I mean, she can’t just sleep here in the library."

"I don’t know, maybe she can go home with Xander?" Willow suggested.

Oz frowned. "Wouldn’t his parents notice?"

"Probably not," said the redhead. "We’d have to ask Xander anyway. Oh, or she could come stay with me. My parents are still out of town."

"She’ll need clothes," Cordelia pointed out.

"Xander still has some stuff in the guest room," Willow pointed out. "His clothes should fit her. They’re about the same size."

Oz nodded.

Cordelia shrugged. "That sounds like as good a plan as any."

And Lexa slept, unaware that they hadn’t even thought of asking her where she preferred to stay.

Part 3

"Okay, so Lexa comes to my house," Willow said once the Girl-Xander woke up and they had finished researching for the night.

Lexa carefully put down the book she had been about to help put away. "I’m what?"

"Well, it makes sense," Cordelia announced. "You can’t stay with me, my parents would wonder what was up. Especially since you don’t have an over night bag or anything, and I don’t hang out with people dressed like whores."

The blow was sudden and just as obviously pulled. It was meant to discipline not to injure. It still knocked Cordelia to the floor. Lexa frowned down at her. "Don’t talk to me like that."

"You’ll take it from Buffy but not from me?" Cordelia shrieked.

"No. Buffy’s comment came from being the Slayer," Lexa explained flatly. "She has to consider the fact that I could very well have been a demon. That little comment of yours is just because you’re so used to being a bitch that you don’t even think before you insult someone." She pulled the other dark haired girl to her feet as easily as if she were lifting Willow. "I am not a whore, I’m not dressed like a whore. If you call me one again, I will hit you again. Think before you speak, Cordelia."

The cheerleader turned to Xander. "Are you even going to say anything?"

Xander shrugged. "Don’t call her a whore?" He looked over at Lexa with a frown. "Could you not hit her? She’s my girlfriend. Besides, she has a point. Her parents would notice something was up, and if they didn’t the maid and housekeeper would. My house is a bad idea too." Lexa just nodded grimly when he paused. "That leaves Buffy’s house, Willow’s house, or Giles’ place."

"You guys could have asked me and what about Faith?" Lexa asked with a frown. "Where does she live?"

"Sunnydale Motor lodge," Oz supplied.

Lexa’s frown deepened. "Why? I mean, she’s one of the gang right?" There’s a long pause. "Well?"

Xander dropped his eyes. Willow shifted from foot to foot. Oz just shrugged. Buffy glared at Lexa. Cordelia frowned slightly, as if she hadn’t thought much about it. Giles at least looks ashamed of himself.

"I cannot believe you guys," Lexa finally said. She shook her head and started out of the library again.

"Lexa, where are you going?" Xander asked as he started to follow her.

She shot a disgusted look over her shoulder. "I’m going to find Faith and crash with her. She’s a Slayer. She shouldn’t be left out in the cold like this. No one should."

The doors shut behind her with a heavy thud.

Giles took off his glasses and absently started to polish them. "I believe that Lexa has made a few very good points just now. Both about the fact that we didn’t ask her opinion as to where she might stay, as well as about leaving Faith in the Hotel."

"Where else is Faith supposed to stay?" Buffy demanded.

Giles scowled. "As I am supposed to be the Watcher for both of you, I suppose she should be staying with me, as she lacks any other sort of adult supervision."

******

Why am I not surprised to find Faith in a cemetery, hunting? Oh, yeah, it’s because she’s more like me than she is like Buffy. Faith would have made a fantastic Hyena. Would have been a real bitch to have had to fight her to stay Alpha all the time. Besides, with her being a Slayer and a Hyena, she might have won.

Lexa let her thoughts wander as she watched Faith fighting a small group of vampires. The dark Slayer had a style that was more predatory than Buffy’s. Buffy used the "oh look at what a tasty snack I am" bait method of slaying. On the other hand, Faith appealed to the innately sexual nature of the vampire to throw them off guard. Lexa privately referred to it as the Fight or Fuck instinct.

As the last vampire exploded into dust Lexa started to applaud.

Faith whirled around with stake still in hand, pulled back at the ready.

"Whoa, there, Slayer," Lexa said as she raised her hands in mock surrender. "I’m not a vampire."

"Who are you and how the fuck do you know who I am?" Faith demanded as the other girl jumped down from her perch on the crypt.

Lexa grinned. "Oh, that’s easy enough. I’m the female version of Xander from another dimension and we hung out together there. Besides, Slayer is just your job description. You’re Faith. I’m Lexa, and it’s all of the good."

Faith’s lips twitched as if she were fighting a smile. "That’s just screwed up to be believable here."

"Well, this is the Mouth of Hell," Lexa said with a shrug. "Look, me and the Scoobies had a ... disagreement. Could I crash with you?"

"I guess," Faith said, frowning slightly. "You do know where I live right?"

"Yeah, that’s one of the things we disagreed on." Lexa scowled at the memory. "I don’t get it. In my world you lived at Casa Summers. What gives?"

"No shit?" the younger girl asked in surprise.

Lexa nodded. "No shit." She waved a hand around the graveyard. "What do you say we blow this place?"

"I should finish patrol first." Faith grinned. "But I think six vamps was pretty good."

The girls fell into step, side by side, as if they had walked together a hundred times. Lexa kept her voice low, knowing that heightened hearing of a slayer would catch the words. "It’s going to be more than six in a few minutes. We’ve got about eight more trailing us."

"Think you can hack it?" Faith teased. "I know Xander’s pretty decent in a fight, but you look badass."

Lexa flashed her a grin that wasn’t anything the younger girl had ever seen on the boy’s face. "Oh, I’m a bit more than badass, Faith."

Faith stopped in her tracks when Lexa’s eyes gleamed yellow-green for a second. "What are you?" she hissed.

"They ever tell you the ‘Xander got possessed by a Hyena’ story?" Lexa asked still grinning.

"That the one where he and a bunch of other kids ate the school mascot?" Faith frowned.

Lexa nodded. "Yeah, that one. Only in my world I didn’t get unpossessed. Technically speaking. I’ve got all the Hyena stuff going for me, only with my personality in charge. Cool, huh?"

"Wicked," Faith said with a smirk.

"Glad you feel that way," Lexa told her perkily. "Cause here comes the party."

Giles found them mid-fight. He paused to study their styles and slowly came to the conclusion that the girls were toying with the vampires. He smiled faintly and shook his head. The children were having fun. "Girls, I believe it is past time for you to end this."

"Aw," Lexa whined as she back handed her last opponent. "And things were just getting interesting."

"Come on, Jeeves, we’re just," grunt, punch, knee to the groin, "getting warmed up."

"Now, if you please," Giles ordered firmly.

Lexa sighed. "Okay, okay."

The stake twirled in her hand, reversed direction in a well practiced move, and arched around to slam directly into the heart of the vampire she had been beating on. Faith’s exploded into dust at the same instant as if they had long practiced synchronized slaying. Thoughts of the two girls teamed up to wreak havoc on the demon population of Sunnydale danced through the Watcher’s mind as they turned to look at him expectantly.

Lexa’s nose twitched and she glanced over at Faith with a smirk. "Hungry or horny?"

"There’s a difference?" Faith shot back.

The girls both laughed, and Giles was rather grateful that his trousers were loose. He suppressed a moan when Lexa’s nose twitched and she flashed him a grin.

"So, what can we do to you, G-man?" Lexa chirped.

"You can stop calling me that infernal nickname for one thing," he said, sounding annoyed. "It has also come to my attention that it is highly inappropriate for either of you to be living in a hotel without adult supervision."

Lexa and Faith both snorted derisively. Then looked at each other, Lexa in understanding, Faith in surprise.

"You too?" Faith asked the other girl.

Lexa nodded. "And probably Xander, too, seeing as almost everything else about us is the same."

"Harsh," the dark Slayer said quietly.

Lexa just nodded again then shifted her attention to Giles. "So, what are we going to do about Faith living in the hotel?"

"Both of you will move in with me," Giles said. "You’ll have to share the second bedroom, and it may be some time before I can obtain a second bed for the room."

"Sounds fun," Faith purred with a leer at Lexa.

"Wouldn’t be the first time I shared a bed with a friend," Lexa said easily. She stretched her arms over her head, grabbed her elbows and arched her back until it popped, unconsciously presenting her body for the avid examination of Faith and the more subtle looks from Giles. "Let’s go, I’m ready to crash out."

******

Lexa frowned. "But I can’t start school. I don’t exist here, remember?"

"Thanks to Willow and that dread machine, yes, you do," Giles informed her, much to Xander’s amusement. "You and Faith are both my wards as of this morning. Lexa and Faith MacLeod."

Xander turned to Willow, shaking his head. "No more Highlander marathons for you."

"What?" protested the redhead. "I could have made it Ryan!"

Lexa moaned and dropped her head onto the library table.

******

*AMBUSH!* screamed Lexa’s instincts as she and the two Slayers slipped into an alley. "I’ve got a bad feeling about this ..."

"Thank you, Princess Leia!" Buffy snapped as she ducked a vampire’s swinging fist.

Faith just laughed and fought with wild abandon. Lexa shook her head but joined her friends in the fight.

As it came to an end Buffy threw the last vampire to Faith. The dark Slayer’s hand came up and started down in an arch almost too fast to see, straight for the creature’s heart.

Lexa’s hand closed around Faith’s wrist in a crushing grip, stopping the stake less than an inch from the man’s chest. At the pissed off glares she was getting from both Slayers, Lexa only shrugged. "Human."

Faith dropped horror filled eyes to the human she had nearly killed, trembling until she dropped her stake and Lexa pulled her back into a comforting hug.

"You almost killed a human," Buffy whispered. She stared wide-eyed at Faith in horror

Lexa rolled her eyes. "Hello? He walked into the middle of a Slay-fest, it would have been an accident." She glared at the small sniveling man as her eyes flashed yellow-green before turning brown again. "So, why is one of the fine civil servants of Sunnydale hanging out around the warehouse district at three am?"

"I ... I need to talk to the Slayer," stammered the Deputy Mayor. Allan Finch looked from one girl to another to another. "Uh ... Which one of you is that?"

"Either of them," Lexa said nodding toward Buffy and Faith. "I’m the one they call Hyena."

Finch swallowed hard. "I ... I have information ... About what the mayor is ..."

"How about we take this back to Giles?" Faith suggested.

Lexa nodded. "Let’s go."

"Hey!" Buffy protested as the other two girls started to lead Finch away. "I’m supposed to be in charge ..."

******

Xander’s head snapped around to look at the library doors, just before they opened to reveal Lexa and Faith pushing a small man through, followed by a pouting Buffy.

"How did he do that?" Cordelia whispered to Willow.

The redhead only shrugged with a small frown.

"We have a stool-pigeon," Faith announced cheerfully.

Buffy dropped into an empty seat at the table. "He could have just told us what he has out there."

"And while we were all hanging around playing tiddly-winks, we could have all just gotten killed out there too," Lexa growled. She prowled around the library. Wesley, the new Watcher sent to replace Giles, shied away from the Hyena possessed girl as she moved past him. Lexa ignored him, he wasn’t Pack and as such was only tolerated. "Finch is going to tell us what he knows, but it’ll all be useless if we can’t use it."

Xander grabbed Lexa’s wrist and pulled her into a chair. "Sit, then tell us what’s going on."

"We were fighting vamps," Faith started slowly.

"There were lots of them," Buffy complained. "Like they were just waiting for us or something."

"Which they probably were," Lexa continued. "But we were taking them out the way we always do. Then he shows up," she paused and nodded toward Finch, "and Buffy throws him to Faith. If I hadn’t realized he was human he’d be dead."

"The three of you nearly murdered someone?" Wesley shrieked.

"Collateral damage," Xander snapped at him. "It would have been like walking into a cross fire between the X-Men and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants."

"Does that make me Wolverine?" Lexa teased.

"You’re too tall to be Wolvie," Faith argued. The gang stared at her blankly for a moment. "What? Lexa left her comics out, I took a look." She tossed a leer at her roommate. "On the other hand you’ve got the body to be Psylocke."

"Then you get to be Kwannon," Lexa said with a grin.

Xander grimaced. "Please tell me you guys aren’t looking for a way to switch bodies."

They just grinned at him.

"Back on topic people," Cordelia said loudly. "How can this ... person help us?"

"Exactly the question I would like answered," Giles said calmly. "Mr. Finch?"

The Deputy Mayor told them everything he knew about the Mayor’s plans for Ascension. The Slayerettes were silent for a long moment.

"This is bad," Oz concluded.

"Ya think?" Faith snorted.

******

"Guess who our commencement speaker is for graduation?" Xander asked dryly as he dropped onto the couch between Lexa and Willow.

"Darth Vader?" Lexa suggested cheerfully. She was going to graduate. Okay, so it wasn’t in her own dimension, but this one wasn’t bad. Besides, she had actually survived High School.

"I wish," Xander said as he stole her Coke. "Guess again."

Willow frowned. "Xander, stop being a poop. Who is it?"

"Mayor Mac Demon."

"Shit," Lexa said concisely.

Xander nodded. "I couldn’t have said it better myself."

"Yourself did say it," Willow pointed out. She paused and frowned. "We’re all going to die, aren’t we?"

"Probably," Xander offered.

"But we’ll go fighting," Lexa said calmly. Her eyes glowed yellow-green as she smiled at them. "And it’ll be a fight that no one ever forgets."

Part 4

Xander slid out from between the two warm bodies that flanked him. Lexa and Faith rolled into each others arms with quiet mutters. He grinned slightly at the picture the two girls made, long tanned limbs tangling together as Faith’s head shifted to rest on Lexa’s shoulder. But, as raunchy as Faith could get, and as often as Lexa could match her, it wasn’t about sex. It was about comfort.

They were his girls. They actually called themselves his girls. His pack.

It was a little creepy, but he kind of liked it. It being the warmth and affection they showed him. The mile wide protective streak Lexa had for him didn’t hurt either, and Faith was showing him how to fight. Of course Faith’s lessons in fighting included every dirty trick in the book and a few
that he was pretty sure she’d made up on her own.

******Three weeks ago

"Why are we here?" Faith asked with a frown. "Where are we for that matter?"

"Welcome to the hell that was my home," Lexa growled. She sniffed and tilted her head. "Come on, F, this way. Damn it, I should have come here sooner. That first night I was here, but no. I had to get all distracted-girl."

The dark haired Slayer shook her head and followed her ‘pack sister’ through an open window into the basement. "Still not getting it, L."

"This was my house in my dimension," Lexa whispered. "Guess who lives here in this one."

"Boytoy?"

"One of these days I’ll get him to tell me why you call him that."

Faith grinned for a second then frowned again. "We’re supposed to be patrolling, Gal pal. So why are we here? Missing your old digs?"

"Not hardly," Lexa snorted. "Need to check on Xan. Make sure he’s safe here."

"And if he ain’t?"

Lexa’s eyes glowed as she turned to her friend. "Then he comes with us."

"Gotcha," Faith said with a sharp nod. There were secrets they whispered in the dark, in the room they shared at Giles’ place. Secrets about things that hurt, about things that Buffy and Willow would never understand.

Sure, Willow’s parents were gone all the time, but with the exception of the burning at the stake thing, they’ve never actively tried to hurt her, and Buffy’s old man hasn’t been around in ages, but again, except for the M.O.O. thing, Joyce hasn’t really hurt Buffy.

But Faith and Lexa, they’d bonded over growing up in living hells. The kind of hell that Xander was probably living in.

The two girls slipped upstairs and passed a woman in a drunken stupor on the couch. They kept their steps silent, like when they were stalking vampires, although neither thought they’d have been heard over the pounding coming from the second floor.

They traded dark looks before the bolted up the stairs, abandoning stealth in favor of speed. Faith hit Xander’s father like a starting forward for the Green Bay Packers. Lexa crouched beside Xander and checked his pulse.

"F! Leave him, we’ve got to get Xan out of here," Lexa growled out as she carefully tugged up Xander’s jeans then lifted her ‘brother’. "Like Deadboy told me, that piece of shit isn’t worth killing."

Faith paused with her fist pulled back. "Angel told you that? I thought you hated him?"

"It was before he lost his soul," Lexa said curtly. "Let’s go."

******

"What happened?" Giles demanded as his two wards carried Xander’s battered body into his apartment.

"Dad happened," Lexa said flatly. "Guess in this dimension Deadboy never did give a damn about Xander. Not that I’m shocked or anything."

"Apparently in Gal pal’s dimension, Angel talked her into leaving home after he found her old man pounding on her," Faith explained. She sounded angry. "Doesn’t look like he felt the need to help Xan-man out in this one."

"Asshole," Lexa growled as she carried Xander toward the bathroom.

Giles moved to stop her. "Shouldn’t we take him to the hospital?"

"Why? They’ve never done anything about this before. Besides, he’s eighteen now, and doesn’t have to go back there." Lexa leveled a hard look at Giles. "He can stay here. Can’t he?"

"O-of course," Giles stammered out under her yellow-green glare.

******

Xander woke up in the bath tub as Lexa rinsed shampoo from his hair.

"Hey," she said quietly. "Hold still, I’m almost done."

"Um, kinda naked here," he muttered, blushing.

Lexa giggled. "I noticed. Don’t worry about it. I’m you, there’s nothing here Faith hasn’t seen before and we haven’t let G-man in here."

Xander stared at her, suddenly noticing that she was just in her bra and jeans. Very tight, very low cut jeans. Ah, shit.

Lexa smiled faintly. "Don’t worry about that either."

Xander gasped softly and closed his eyes as her hands worked over his body. He relaxed with a sigh. Lexa would take care of him. He went back to sleep

******

"I’ll just make up the couch for Xander then," Giles said once Lexa had locked the bathroom door in his face.

Faith shook her head. "I’m thinking that X-man is going to be crashing in our room."

"I hardly think that’s appropriate, Faith."

"This isn’t about ‘appropriate’, Giles," Faith said bluntly. "It’s about Pack, Xander’s more Pack to L than anyone else is, even more than me. He stays in our room." The dark slayer stalked into the room she shared with Lexa and tried to remember the stuff she’d looked up about hyenas when she was trying to figure out some of the older girl’s behavior. With a grin she stripped the sheets off both beds and shoved them together.

Xander needed his Pack, so he was going to get his pack. Or at least part of it.

******Present

"I think I’ve found something that might be able to help," Willow said hesitantly. She put the book on the table in front of Giles. "See, this will let someone retrieve the powers and abilities of a previous possession without actually getting possessed again. Maybe if ..."

"Willow, this is a very dangerous spell," Giles informed her. "There may not be a way to counter its effects once we no longer need them."

"But if we cast it on Xander, and he can access all the Hyena and Soldier stuff," Willow protested, "then we stand a better chance against the mayor. And maybe we can use it on Lexa too? She was Lara Croft the Halloween we all got turned into our costumes."

"Who?"

Willow rolled her eyes. "The Tomb Raider? Brainy and brawny? Video game character?" She put her Resolve Face on and aimed it directly at Giles. "We need all the help we can get, and Lara Croft is supposed to be almost as good at research as you are."

******

"We don’t have much time to think about this do we, Xan?"

"Nope, we don’t, Lex."

"So, you up for being the Beta?"

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me, Mr. I’ll Let the Slayer and Willow walk all over me and then make myself Cordelia’s personal doormat."

" .... I’m already the Beta aren’t I?"

"To every female in the world, but it’s not like you’re an Omega. You don’t let everyone push you around, just your girls." pause "So why does Faith call you Boytoy?"

"Never mind, let’s go let Giles and Wills do that hoodoo that they do on us."

"This has something to do with when you and Willow fluked, doesn’t it?"

"Not talking about it."

"We are -so- talking about it."

"No, we’re not."

"Yes, we are. Spill it, or I’ll ask Faith."

"You’re cruel."

"I’m you as a girl, so I’m thinking that’s not such an insult."

"Statements of fact are not insults."

"Good point."

Cordelia shook her head as she listened to the conversation between Xander and Lexa. "You two really do share the same brain."

Oz nodded. "It’s like watching Pong."

******

My name is Lara Croft ... No, LEXA! I’m LEXA damn it! Stupid spell, if the Hyena can’t overwhelm me then I’m not going to let my all time favorite video game character do it either. Damn it, Xander isn’t having any trouble staying Xander while he figures out how to control the Hyena and the Soldier.

Nice arse, though.

... I did not just think that. Damn it, yes I did. I shouldn’t but I did. I’m a very bad girl. Maybe I can get Giles to spank me later.

Shoot me, stuff me, mount me. Oh, there’s a thought.

For the love of Twinkies, why can’t Giles wear jeans? Bet Xander’s ass wouldn’t distract me then. If I have to get all Lara Croft, why can’t he get just a little bit Ripper?

And if Wesley Wyndham-Price doesn’t stop trying to look down my shirt I’ll rip his lungs out. After I fuck him through the floor. Of course that might just give him a stroke. Hmmm. Stroke. Stroking. Here, Ripper-ripper-ripper
...

This is my brain and my body. Warped little creature than I am. I just need Lara Croft’s skills.

Last time all I got were a few good gymnastics moves and a thing for sports tops and Doc Martin’s.

Damn it, can’t Xander have just a little trouble with this? I don’t belong here. This is his world, his friends, his pack. I don’t belong here.

******

Controlling Soldier-boy is easy. I’m still me when I’m him, only I’m me with army skills and stuff. The Hyena is ... it’s different this time. It’s not the same spirit, exactly. I’m ... It’s male. He’s male. But he’s almost like all the bits of the first spirit fused together.

Deep breath. Okay, maybe not so deep. Mmmm. Smells good though. What smells so good?

Okay, that one ... slightly spicy and warm and Twinkies? That must be Lexa.

And that one ... sex, blood, and sweat .... Faith it is. Yummy. Huh.

Let’s see ... dusty, musty books, tea, and ... is that what magic smells like? Neat, that’s Giles’ scent. I can see why Lexa likes it.

I didn’t just think that. Nope, not me, I’m manly man guy.

(Sniff) That’s Willow. I’d know that smell even without being Hyena boy again. Strawberries. But now she has wolfie smell on her too. I guess that’s from Oz. Hey! They’ve had sex! Oh, I’ll rip his lungs out and hang them in my den ...

Note to self, don’t kill bestest friend’s boyfriend. It would be rude.

That ... ew. Deadboy. Not looking any closer at that scent thanks.

Hmmm. Buffy. She smells like lilacs and that expensive soap Joyce buys. Nice.

Mate. Huh? Cordelia smells like mate to me. Maybe I should tell her I love her. Prom was nice, she looked so great in that dress. Well worth most of my road trip money. She looked even better than the other girls.

******

"Why is Xander sniffing me?" Cordelia demanded from Giles and Willow.

"Mine," Xander growled as he wrapped his arms around her waist. He shot a glare at Wesley. That pompous jackass paper-pushing idiot was looking at his mate.

Willow grinned widely. "I think the Hyena in him sees you as his mate."

"Hyena? Why is there a Hyena in Xander?" Cordelia shrieked. "AGAIN?!?"

Xander’s hand went over her mouth. "Hush. I’m still Xander. This is for the fight. Graduation, remember? Big evil mayor going to try and eat all of us? I’ve got the soldier memories back in full, too. Wanna test them out?"

Cordelia’s eyes widened when he gave a slow thrust against her butt. She yanked his hand off her mouth. "Okay. We’ll be back."

"Make it fast," Buffy said with a grin. "We’ve only got a few hours left."

"Fast can be good," Faith offered as Cordelia dragged Xander past her. She managed to leer at both of them before they vanished into the very back of the Stacks. "Boytoy’s gonna get some!"

"That’s quite enough, Miss MacLeod," Wesley said sharply.

"Shut up, Wus-ley," Faith said cheerfully. Lexa only smirked.

******

Xander, Faith and Lexa lost track of each other in the battle. Faith had gone after the mayor’s vampire minions with something suspiciously close to glee. Xander was in command of the student forces, and they were doing well. Lexa was ... somewhere around. All Xander knew was that she was still alive, and that was just because he could feel her.

"Fire!" Xander shouted above the noise of the fight. "Pikes! Fall back! Second line! Fire!"

The bad news was, the Mayor had ascended. The good news was, he’d eaten Principal Snyder.

What sucked was that even after they’d ‘enhanced’ Xander and Lexa by returning the gifts from previous possessions to them, they were still going with the blow up the school plan. Xander hated that Lexa was having so much trouble controlling the Lara Croft personality. But she was controlling it, mostly. Although she did sound kind of good with an English accent.

Right back to the fight.

"Retreat!" Xander ordered as the giant snake formerly known as Mayor Wilkins turned toward where Buffy was taunting him. With the mayor no longer trying to eat the students it was time for them to get as far away from the building as they could. "Bug out! Move it, move it!" Xander bellowed, urging the other students to make a run for it.

He moved after the others, part of his mind wondering where Lexa had gone, part of his mind worried about Willow, part of him was very worried about Cordelia. He noticed Faith fighting near Angel and knew the dark slayer would be alright. And Buffy would be okay ... so long as she got out of the school before it exploded.

At least with the soldier memories he’d done better than just throw together the explosives and detonator.

They were in full on retreat and Lexa was still missing. That was not making either the Soldier, who viewed her as part of his unit, or the Hyena, who knew his Alpha when he saw her, at all happy. Xander wasn’t happy about it either.

******

Xander was the one who started rounding up the Scooby gang, even Wesley’s unconscious body got carried over to their fall back point. A very battered Giles arrived with a dazed looking Buffy.

The blonde Slayer blinked at them and smiled faintly. "Fire bad, tree pretty."

"Um, right," Xander said as he sat her down next to Faith’s undamaged side.

Oz and Willow were basically unhurt, but the dark Slayer was nursing a broken wrist and collar bone. Giles was limping, and other than being knocked cold Wesley probably had a few cracked ribs at the least from getting trampled by evacuating students. Cordelia was fingering a large rapidly purpling bruise on her arm and wincing when she tried to move her shoulder too much.

"Where’s L?" Faith asked quietly. Her eyes roved over the firefighters, police and medics as they worked to contain the damage from the school’s explosion. "Xan? Can you ..."

Xander shook his head. "I can’t feel her. There are too many people around to try scent tracking her yet."

"What if ... What if she’s dead?" Willow asked quietly.

"She’s not," Xander said firmly. "I can’t feel her, but if she was, I’d know."

"How do you guys do that anyway?" Cordelia demanded with a little less force than she would have used before. "Know where the other one is?"

"She’s me, Cordy," Xander explained. "Most of it is just guessing but sometimes ... it’s like looking through another set of eyes. Lexa’s eyes." His eyes worked over the crowd around them, searching. "But ... I can’t find her. We need to find her."

"She’s a big girl, I’m sure she can take care of herself," Giles said calmly.

Xander shook his head. "No, she can’t, Giles. You’ve seen her fight. It’s like she doesn’t have anything to lose."

"What about her life? That’s pretty lose worthy," Oz suggested.

"Not when you don’t think you’re supposed to exist," Xander snapped.

Willow’s eyes widened. "But ... But she’s a Xander! Xanders are always supposed to exist."

"There was already a Xander here," Faith pointed out. She frowned. "You don’t think she’d just split do you? I mean ... we’re her Pack. She needs us."

"We’ll find her, Faith." Xander’s voice was firm. His eyes flashed yellow-green as he looked away. "She’s ours, and we’ll find her."

Part 5

Angel watched Buffy and her friends for a moment, frowning slightly when he realized that Lexa was missing. It didn’t matter, the girl hated him and he was leaving Sunnydale for Los Angeles. But there was still something about her, that something Angelus had seen in her own world maybe. The recognition of another predator.

He paused as his eyes focused back on Buffy for a moment. Was that why he had fallen for the Slayer? A hunter seeking another hunter as his mate? Angel hoped not, he hoped he was a better man than that. But it was better that he leave now. Even if that meant he wouldn’t find out what happened to Lexa.

Buffy didn’t even notice when her ex-boyfriend turned and vanished dramatically into the smoke. Her attention was firmly focused on Xander as he started giving orders so they could find Lexa if she were still in the crowd somewhere.

******

"So, you’re still going on your road trip," Oz said as he watched Xander throw a single duffle bag into the back of his car.

"Sort of," Xander said, slamming the trunk lid closed. "I need to find Lexa. She’s out there and she’s hurting. I can’t let her lick her wounds alone, you know?"

Oz nodded, his face as impassive as always. But other wise he was pensive. He and Lexa had their problems once Lexa had adapted to living in this world. Mostly over territory, as in his Wolf didn’t want to share and her Hyena saw him as a beta male in her pack. They’d worked it out, actually it was more like Lexa pulled him aside at the Bronze and told him that they were pack and if he wanted to challenge her for the spot as top dog then he’d have to actually -be- the top dog. Staring into Lexa’s yellow-green eyes, Oz knew he couldn’t do that. He wasn’t an Alpha. He’d shown her his throat on instinct.

Willow smiled faintly as she leaned against her boyfriend. "So you’re going to find Yourself?"

"Yeah, well, she needs me," Xander said. He held open his arms. "How about a Willow hug before I hit the road?"

The redhead practically dove into her best friend’s arms and hugged him tightly. "I don’t want you to go!"

Xander gave her a crushing hug in return. "I’m sorry, Wills, but I need to do this. For Lexa and for me."

"Don’t worry, Red," Faith said cheerfully as she threw her duffle bag into the backseat. "I’ll make sure X-man and L come home safe and sound."

"Faith?" Xander frowned.

The dark slayer grinned. "What? You thought I’d let you go alone?"

"That was the general idea," he pointed out.

"Too bad, Boytoy. I’m going with you."

Xander stared as Faith hopped into the front passenger seat and slammed the door behind her. He looked over at Willow and Oz. The redhead just giggled and the werewolf shrugged. It looked like Faith was going on the road trip with him. "I must have been really bad or really good in a previous life to deserve this. Hey, guys, keep an eye on Buffy and Cordelia for me will you?"

"Sure, man," Oz agreed while Willow nodded. Xander’s best friend was giggling too hard to give him a verbal answer.

Faith knelt on the seat and turned to grin at the three Scoobies. "Let’s go, X-man, we’ve got an Alpha-girl to find!"

"Right," Xander chuckled. He gave Willow one last tight hug and clasped hands with Oz quickly then slid into the driver’s seat. "Alright, Faith, let’s hit the road."

The dark Slayer whooped as Xander pulled away from the curb.

******

They made it to LA before the car died. Xander dropped his head on to the steering wheel and whimpered.

Faith sighed and leaned her head back against the head rest. "So, I’m thinking that we don’t have much in the way of money to get this fixed."

"Nope. I used a big chunk of the road trip fund to pay for Cordy’s prom dress," Xander admitted.

"But you bought mine and Lexa’s dresses, too ... Xander, how long have you been saving up for this trip?" Faith demanded.

Her pack brother flashed a grin at her. "Since fourth grade."

"And people think you can’t focus," the Dark Slayer snorted. "Damn, Boytoy, any thing else you put that kind of time into?"

"Sure," Xander said cheerfully. "Killing vampires."

Faith twisted in her seat and started to say something when two bodies crashed onto the hood of the car. "Fuck! We’re on vacation here!" she screamed at the sky.

"Hey! Watch the paint job," Xander snarled as he grabbed the stake he kept next to the gear shift. "Uncle Rory just got it detailed!"

One of the vampires dusted before Xander and Faith could scramble out of the car. The one remaining held up his hands when Faith pounced on him and shouted, "HEY! It’s ME!"

Faith’s stake paused pressing against the vampire’s chest. "Angel? Shit, man. Sorry. But what the fuck are you doing out here?"

"Uh, could you move the stake first?" Angel ask looking down at where the Dark Slayer still held her stake against him.

"How about you answer her question then we’ll talk about moving the stake, Deadboy," Xander said flatly.

Angel craned his neck around to glare at the human boy. "I was patrolling."

Faith shrugged. "Sounds reasonable to me, Xan-man."

Xander shrugged back. "Your call, Faith."

"Decisions, decisions," Faith chanted in a sing song voice. She squirmed where she was perched over Angel’s hips. "What ever will I decide?"

"Faith," Angel managed in a strangled tone. "Get off of me."

Xander grinned at her as she slithered off the soul having vampire. "Have I mentioned that you’re evil?"

"You’ve brought it up a few times," Faith snickered.

Angel closed his eyes and resisted the urge to bang his head against the hood of the car under him. He was fairly sure that this Xander, fully merged with the spirits of the Soldier and the Hyena, would stake him if he messed up the paint job. "What brings you two to LA?"

"We’re looking for Lexa," Xander said after a quick mental debate on telling the vampire the truth. "She vanished at graduation. Sort of like you only without the drama of telling everyone that she was leaving to protect Buffy."

"Which she wasn’t," Faith continued. "Lexie’s a bit dicked up in the head right now, so we’re looking for her."

"Are you sure she didn’t get caught in the explosion or ..." What ever Angel had been about to say was lost when Xander’s fist slammed into his jaw.

"Lexa isn’t dead," snarled the former Donut-guy. "I’d know."

"Right," said Angel after he popped his jaw back into place. "Okay, she’s not dead. And that hurt by the way."

Xander’s eyes narrowed and flickered yellow-green. "It was supposed too."

"Yeah, I suppose so. Look, I’ve got a friend. Maybe he knows something about where Lexa is?" Angel offered as he backed carefully away from the two angry mortals. "I’d like to help ..."

"Got a car?" Faith asked with a smirk.

"Of course I do. Why?"

Faith nodded and turned to Xander. "Okay, Boytoy, you follow me and Soul-vamp. You need to cool off."

"I must be hearing things," Xander muttered as he climbed back into his car. "The Boston Bad Girl just told *me* to cool off."

Part 6

"Nice place," Faith snorted as they arrived at Angel’s basement apartment.

Xander nodded. "Very Bat-cave. It works for you."

"See now that’s what I told him, but does the man listen? Of course not. I’ve only been sent by the Powers to make sure he doesn’t lose his connection to humanity after all, what does my opinion matter?"

Angel shook his head slowly. "Faith, Xander, meet Doyle. Doyle ... this is Faith and Xander."

"Yeah, I know," Doyle said with a tight smile. "Got a head-splitting vision of them right after ya left. Can’t do much to help them, though. Not a lot of people are going to be in a hurry to tell me about the Hyena."

"At least now we know she’s in LA," Xander muttered.

Faith scowled. "And we’re supposed to just take a demon’s word for it? I’m thinking ‘no’ by the way."

"Hey now, there’s not call to be rude about it," Doyle protested. "I’m very much human." He sneezed, revealing his demonic face. The Seer shook his head until the blue-green skin, red eyes, and mass of short black spines vanished. "On my mother’s side that is."

"Like I care," Faith said sharply.

Xander grabbed her arm when she started forward. "Not now, F. Lexa first, remember?" He started to stroke up and down her arms when she moved back to lean against his chest. "Relax. We’ll find her, we’ll slaughter a few vamps and demons, and then we’ll head home to the Hellmouth."

"The Hellmouth ain’t home," Faith grumbled. "You and Lexa are."

His hands tightened on her shoulders briefly. "That’s because we’re family, and I know you aren’t forgetting G-man and the rest of the Scoobies."

Faith shrugged but didn’t say anything.

******

"Someone explain to me why we’re at a strip club?" Xander ground out through clenched teeth. To his hyena enhanced senses the smell of sweat and alcohol were nearly overwhelming, and the pheromones saturating the air were making him tense.

Doyle rolled his half empty glass of whiskey between his hands. "Because this is in the middle of the area where some of my associates have seen Hyena, and right smack in the middle of where some of the nastier creatures have been going missing."

Xander started to growl. He stopped suddenly when a familiar song came on over the speakers to replace the last dancer’s guitar driven rock song.

The club when dark as the heavy primitive drum beat filled the building.

"Only at the Inferno Room, the Hyena!" A single light came up aimed at the curtain across the back of the stage.

Xander blinked. "Oh, shit."

"That was my first reaction," Doyle said just barely loud enough to be heard over the music as Lexa prowled down the length of the stage. "My second was to keep Angel far away from here."

"Was there a third reaction?" Xander growled.

"Yeah," Doyle said. He paused to toss back what was left of his whiskey. "She’s worth dying for."

******

Lexa prowled down the length of the stage, biting back a sigh and hoping that her ‘brother’ wouldn’t interrupt her act. If he thought for one second that she hadn’t sense him the second he entered the building he was sorely mistaken.

She reached the very end of the stage and started to swing her hips and head to the beat, making her hair swing against her back.

Suddenly she bent at the waist, letting her long dark curls sweep toward the floor before she rolled back up, flinging her hair back out of her face.

The Pack’s Alpha started moving her body more aggressively to the heavy pounding beat. She yanked the zipper of her butter-soft brown leather jacket down hard to the cheers and catcalls of her audience. She bent forward again, only to throw her body over backward into a handstand and let the jacket fall down her arms.

Lexa paused in her handstand to do full extension splits before she shifted into a walk over. As she rolled back into a standing position the jacket stayed on the stage floor. She hooked it with the toe of her spike heeled boot and did another painfully slow backbend, kicking the jacket toward the back of the stage as she swung her legs up and over again.

She continued dancing in her fringed brown leather bra top and the matching brown leather pants and boots, hair caressing her gold glitter streaked body as she moved. Her hands stroked up and then back down, smoothing over her breasts and the flat taunt muscles of her stomach, to her thighs and back up again as she rocked her hips forward and back to the pounding rhythm.

Lexa put her back to the stage and ran her hands down her sides, to her hips. A solid yank pulled the break-away leather pants off. She whirled around swinging them overhead and let fly toward the back where the jacket had landed.

The G-string and garter were fringed, too.

******

Doyle glanced over at Xander and raised his eyebrows slightly. "That isn’t how most fellas look at their sisters, ya know."

Xander turned eyes gone yellow-green on the half-demon, a dangerous smirk playing on his lips. "Angel didn’t explain about Lexa did he?"

"Uh, he said she was your sister."

"She’s not my sister. She’s *me*."

"Fond of yourself, aren’t ya?"

"Shut up, Doyle."

"Er. Right."

******

Lexa crossed her arms over her breasts, lifting them slightly, then moved one arm behind her back. A flick of her fingers freed the velcro clasp and the movement of her shoulders as she danced slid the bra straps off her shoulders.

Her eyes locked with Xander’s and she winked.

Then the bra was flung back toward the stage curtains.

The crowd howled it’s approval as Lexa prowled the edge of the stage, gathering up the money thrown up. She occasionally paused to give out kisses to the men who slid fives into her garter.

Xander had moved to stand at the foot of the stage and held up a twenty with eyebrows arched at his female-self.

She took it with her teeth.

******

Xander stood outside the club waiting for Lexa to finish getting her stuff together to go home.

"You’ve seen that she’s fine, can’t ya just leave it at that?" Doyle complained. "I’m not looking forward to her finding out I’m half-demon and ripping my lungs out through my ears."

"She knows already," Xander said without looking at him. "But feel free to leave if you want. I’m not."

"Little late for that, Xan," Lexa called as she slipped out of the shadows behind the club. "So, what do you and demon-boy here want?"

Xander smiled when he saw the dark green sweater she’d swiped from him before graduation.

"Would you people stop calling me that? I’m half-human, too," Doyle grumbled.

Lexa blinked at him slowly. "You do realize that I’m Hyena-girl and he’s Hyena-boy, right? Demon-boy, not so much the insult from us."

"She has a point," Xander admitted. "But Deadboy is still an insult when talking to or about Angel."

"Okay, again, what’cha want?" Lexa asked, raking her hair out of her eyes.

Xander smiled. "For you to come home. Back to the Pack. You know, be the Alpha."

"Xander ... I don’t belong in Sunnydale," she said, shaking her head slowly. "You do, you’re their Xander. And with you being Soldier-boy and Hyena-boy they don’t bloody well need me hanging around, too."

"Your English is showing." Xander teased.

"Xander," Lexa sighed.

"Look, could you at least come back to Angel’s place with us? See Faith? She misses you," Xander said.

Lexa sighed again and caved. "Alright. My bike’s over there."

"Bike?" Xander turned to look. "Whoa."

Doyle’s jaw dropped. "That’s a ...."

"Harley Softail Fat Boy," Lexa finished. "Did I mention that stripping pays really well when you’re good at it?" She walked over and stroked her hand down the matte silver finish. "I just love custom paint jobs, don’t you?"

"Faith is going to come in her pants when she sees this," Xander breathed. "Fuck, *I* might come in my pants."

Lexa grinned at him. "Want a ride?"

"Fuck yeah," Xander laughed.

Doyle was still gawking when they roared out of the parking lot. "Holy Hell," breathed the half-demon.

Part 8

“So where are we going?” Angel asked as he trailed behind the three pack members and Doyle. It was Doyle’s idea that they have a going away party before the pack left for Las Vegas.

Xander shrugged, which was a feat in itself as he managed to do so without removing his hands from either Faith’s or Lexa’s back pockets. “This is Lexa’s party and she’s not telling.”

“We’re going to a bar. You’ll fit right in,” Lexa said cheerfully.

Doyle glanced around his eyes going wide as he recognized the neighborhood the trio had brought them to. “You’re taking us to Caritas?”

“Relax, Sparky,” Lexa instructed. “There’s a spell that prevents violence inside the club.”

With that Lexa headed for what appeared to be an abandoned warehouse. Doyle only whimpered and followed the Pack inside. Angel stopped and stared for a moment when it looked like his seer, the Dark Slayer and the Harris ‘Twins’ had walked into a blank wall. Lexa leaned back out, grabbed his shirt front and yanked him through the illusion.

“Sexy Lexie! What are you doing back here?” cooed a green skinned demon with red eyes and horns in the loudest lounge lizard suit on the face of the earth ... And he looked good in it.

******

Faith had flatly refused to get up on stage once she found out that Caritas was a karaoke bar. When the Host had prompted her to reconsider with the offer of telling her about her destiny, she pointed out she already knew it ... and it was to kill things that pissed her off.

Lexa had laughed and dragged Xander up to sing with her. They managed to pull off a decent rendition of ‘I’ll Be There’.

“Well, kids, at least someone’s going on a trip to the land of neon lights,” the Host said cheerfully as he sipped at his Sea Breeze. “You’ll find your way back home eventually, but there’s something you need to do in Las Vagas first.”

Xander leaned back in his seat. “But you don’t know what, right?”

“Sorry, sweetie-kins, but I can’t see that,” the Host said giving the tall young man a pat on his thigh.

“Good thing the three of us were heading that way in the first place,” Lexa sighed. “Is this going to be a good thing or a bad thing, Host?”

“It’s a little bit of both, just like everything else in this life, doll-face.” The Host pointed out with a small smile.]

“Oh, this just sucks,” Faith grumbled. “Do we got demons to slay there or what?”

“Just the kind you carry inside,” the Host said softly.

“Deadboy’s up next,” Lexa and Xander said together.

******

“So this is it, you three are just leaving,” Angel commented as Xander climbed behind the wheel of his newly repaired car. “You’re not going to call Giles or Buffy or Willow and let them know you’re alright, that you’ve found Lexa.”

“Nope,” Xander said as Faith settled beside him after slamming the trunk with all their things closed. “This is a family bonding thing for us ... Letting Lexa know that she’s part of us in every way that matters.”

“And you can’t do that in Sunnydale?”

Faith answered that one. “No, we can’t. It maybe where the Pack belongs, but we can’t connect there the way we have too. It’s ... The Hellmouth is Queen Buff’s turf. LA is yours. We need ... what do ya call it? Neutral ground?”

“Vagas is as good a place as any to work this through,” Xander added. “The Host even says there’s plenty of vampires to hunt so long as we’re careful to avoid the weirdo humans who think they’re vampires.”

Angel rolled his eyes. “Some of them should probably be staked anyway.”

“We’re not allowed to kill people for being stupid, Angel,” Faith snickered.

“Are we going or not?” Lexa asked as she rolled her bike forward until she was even with Faith. “Let’s hit the road already!”

Xander flashed her a grin. “What’s the matter, sis? Don’t like the company?”

“Let’s just say this city’s dead,” Lexa drawled.

“Bad, bad, *bad* pun, Sexy Lexie,” Faith complained.

Lexa just shook her head, silently vowing to get the Host for spouting off that nickname if she ever saw him again.

Xander started his car at the same instant Lexa started her motorcycle. The twinned roars made Angel wince and step back from the vehicles.

“I hate when they do that,” the souled vampire complained.

“Do what?” Doyle asked as the Pack drove away.

“The same thing at the same time,” Angel answered as he stared after them. “But not as much as when they call me ‘Deadboy’ together. That’s just ... irritating.”

******

The three member Pack paused over looking the so-called Sin City.

“It’s sparkly,” Xander observed.

Faith nodded. “That just means the shadows are deeper.”

Lexa stared down at Las Vegas. “It smells of sex, greed and death.”

“Charming,” the lone male muttered. He raised his voice. “Are you sure we have to go down there? Can’t we just hit one of the smaller towns or something?”

“The Host said here,” Lexa sighed. “I don’t like this any better than you do, brother-self. But until we face what’s here we can’t go home.”

“The kind of demons we carry inside,” Faith echoed the Host’s words. “Whatever the hell that means.”

“I guess we’ll find out,” Xander grumbled. “Let’s go.”

The car and the motorcycle started the rest of the way down the hill to that last stretch of highway between them and what the Host had seen waiting for the interdimensional twins. And Xander also wasn’t happy about the plan for Lexa to find another job as a stripper.

The End