Legacy Of The Fathers

Legacy of the Fathers

Notes: Apologies for how long this chapter has taken to get done - again, I´ve had real life cutting in on me and I had a week´s break from working on anything, which was kind of nice for a change. Although it also meant I had far too many crazy ideas and no time to write the. Gack.

And dissertation. I STILL haven´t got anything actually done for it. Reading yes, but motivation to write...gyah. I´ll be writing at the last minute, as always. Anyway, back to the fic.

Trust me, a plot is coming. Eventually :)

And, as always, this is for Collie, who is evil and mean and did I mention evil? :) Hope you like!

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A stunned silence hung in the library.

Buffy was already halfway around the table, ready to grab the man, who had only caused trouble on the last occasions that he had been in town. Giles stood up, saying her name softly and stopping her where she stood.

"Ethan," Alexander pushed his chair back from the table, standing up. He tried to smile, but everyone could see that it was forced.

Without a moment of hesitation, Ethan descended the staircase, pushing carelessly past Buffy. Grabbing his God-son, he pulled him to him in a tight embrace. "You doing all right, Xander?" he asked quietly, holding him back at arm´s length.

Alexander´s smile was watery. "Yeah. Great."

"My arse," Ethan retorted. "You look like crap."

"Not big on the compliments, huh?"

Ethan reached up and cuffed him lightly across the head. "I´m known for being too honest for my own good, Xander," he replied. "Told your little Slay-girl that it was one of my virtues, not so long ago and I stand by it. If you look like shite, I´m the one to say it and get my arse kicked for being rude."

"I could like this guy, " Faith snickered. "Real people skills."

"Ethan," Giles interrupted quietly. His hand still resting on Alexander´s shoulder, the taller man looked over at his old friend. "Y-y-you know you shouldn´t be here. If they find out..."

"Ripper, do I look like I give a damn about being caught?" Ethan retorted. "I´m his God-father and if I can´t be here when he´s spilling his guts about his past and all his inner-demons, what kind of godfather am I?"

"Is...is he right, Ethan?" Alexander asked, looking from one to the other. "Could you get in trouble...?"

"No more than usual, Xander," Ethan said with a forced grin. "And it looks like we´ve confused your little mob of mates, doesn´t it? Am I right in guessing that you didn´t tell them who your dear old God-daddy was?"

"As if he would want to admit to having any kind of connection to you," Draco put in, sneering.

Much to the apparent surprise of the small group present, Ethan didn´t seem to take it badly, a twinkle in his green eyes as he turned to survey Draco, who arched a brow in response.

Ethan chuckled. "Nice to see that Fluffy and Company haven´t managed to tame you yet, Malfoy," he remarked, receiving a broad grin in response from Draco. "I would have been disappointed if I showed up and you were all hugs and puppies."

"Give 'em time," Alexander said warmly, his lop-sided smile a little more natural. He flashed an affectionate look around at his friends. "I haven´t met someone who hasn´t been snuggle-fied by my girls."

"Contagious goodness..." Ethan shuddered, a look of nausea on his face. "That's the one thing I'm most afraid of when I show face in good old Sunnyhell. Its worse than the common cold, from what I've heard." Draco snickered and Ethan smirked. He turned his attention to the bemused faces at the table. "So... girls and... bloke...I would be Ethan Rayne, Xander's God-father and one of the few people who can verify that what he said is true."

Buffy gaped at him. "You´re Xander´s god-father?"

"Nice to see all those blonde jokes aren´t in vain," Ethan remarked. "Never thought I would meet one incarnate, though."

Buffy looked like she wanted very badly to throw a punch at the gangly Englishman, while Draco sniggered. "Good one, Rayne," he said, applauding. "Have to remember that one."

"Dear God..." Giles moaned. "I should never have left him in your charge, Ethan."

The sandy-haired man grinned. "You took my Godson and I took on your latest pity project, Ripper," he reminded his friend. "I´d say it was a fair trade, although, I´d rather have Xander about. He needs someone to teach him sarcasm properly. What kind of bloke can´t even insult his friends properly?"

"Ethan, if you don´t wanna be pummelled by a Slayer, I´d suggest shutting up right about now," Alexander chastised, then nodded to Buffy. "And yeah, he´s my God-father. I only found out a few weeks ago...just before mom...well..." His eyes filled with pain. "Ethan was the one who told me who I was. He was the one that helped mom hide it from everyone."

A bony hand squeezed his shoulder. "And I´ll say it again, Xander," Ethan said quietly. "Your mother would be damned proud of you."

Smiling wanly, Alexander returned to his seat at the table, sitting down and looking at his hands, which he folded in his lap. "You gonna do the convincing thing instead of getting all proud of and embarrassing me?"

"When you look so dashing when your face is crimson? Oh, I don´t know..."

"Ethan..."

Chuckling, Ethan nodded, moving to stand behind his Godson´s chair. Bringing his hands down to rest on Alexander´s shoulders, he looked around the upturned faces at the table. "So, yeah, Xander, here, is the son of Voldemort, Heir of the Darkest of the Dark wizards and only kid of a psychopathic madman. Convinced? Good."

"I´m not convinced," a quiet voice said from the stacks, another figure lingering in the shadows, barely even visible.

"Great," Alexander groaned.

"He´s been lurking up there as long as I have," Ethan noted cheerfully. "He didn´t think I´d noticed him, but with caveman brow that prominent, how could I miss it?"

Alexander snickered. "That was kinda mean, Ethan."

"That was kinda the point, Xander," Ethan retorted, giving his smirking Godson a half-grin. Leaning back casually in his seat, Draco marked a point in the air with his finger, grinning up at Ethan.

"With wit that sharp," he remarked. "You´re going to do yourself an injury one of these days, Rayne."

"Look at what´s talking."

Buffy looked up at the new arrival, who carefully skirting the patches of sunlight on the floor to approach the stairs. As always, he was clad in darkness, both in shadows and clothing. "Angel?"

The dark vampire made his way down the stairs, his eyes fixed on Ethan. "I met He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named´s mate...the mate of the Snake-beast, Dru said... there´s no way Xander can be his son."

"Well, well, Angelus. Nice to see you´re as thick as ever," Ethan sighed, meeting Angel´s eyes with a measured expression. "Yes, I remember that meeting...gave her an armed escort, you and that nutty tart of yours did."

"My name," the vampire said coolly. "Is Angel."

"Have it your way, Angelus," Ethan replied amiably, smiling. "Now, do you want to be the one to tell the Heir what you almost did to his mother? How you wanted to kill her, but that froot-loop of yours told you not to because she recognised who she was dealing with?"

"She wasn´t Xander´s mom," Angel said stubbornly. "She can´t have been. He...he can´t be the Heir."

"Why?" Alexander was the one to voice the question. Angel turned his eyes to the young man, looking over his mismatched clothing, the dark-bags under his eyes, his pale face and unruly hair. "Huh? Why is it so impossible to believe?"

"You... you´re... you´re Xander."

"Yeah," Alexander said coolly, standing up. "We had realised that, but I´m the Heir. I should know. I met my father."

"Your... father?"

"Yeah," The laugh was strained and tight. "Voldemort. Met him. He didn´t take as much convincing as you to believe that I was his kid. Apparently, I look just like he did when he was my age as well. Now, if you wanna make a big deal of it..."

"Xander," Giles interrupted quickly, holding up a pacifying hand. "Perhaps...is there some way you could...could you describe your mother so that Angel might be able to-to-to verify what you have claimed?"

Alexander shot a venomous look at Angel. "Yeah," he replied coolly. "She was real small. About the same height as Buffy. Long, blonde hair. Brown eyes. She had a mark on her left shoulder. A mark from him. My father."

The vampire staggered back a step, his face going ashen.

"Believe me now, huh?"

"But you..."

"Me...?"

Angel shook his head. "No way..."

The smile that spread on Alexander´s face was mirthless and hard. "Didn´t you ever stop and wonder why I was never afraid of you? Even when you were threatening us. Even when you were Angelus, I was never ever afraid of you."

"That can´t be true," Angel snapped.

"Sorry, buddy, but it is," Alexander said coldly. "I never trusted you, that´s true. I never liked you. Everyone knows that. But afraid of you? I never was. I had no real reason to be. You never tried to do anything to me. You thought it was because I was an easy target...I was thinking about it and I think it was deeper than that. I think you were afraid of doing anything to me, because of who I was."

The vampire laughed, although it was an oddly strained sound. "Afraid of doing anything to you?"

Alexander raised his eyebrows. "Just think about it, Soulboy," he said, spreading his hands expressively. "All those times you could have killed me. Easy target, right there for the tormenting of the Slayer, but did you? Not once."

"I-I..."

His dark-brown eyes hooded, Alexander stepped out from the table and studied the vampire. "I always get used as bait. I was used as a target, but nothing ever did me real harm. Buffy has died, Willow and Giles have ended up in hospital, but me? Did anything serious ever happen to me? The worst I´ve had is a broken arm and that was when I got in the way."

"What about the hyenas?" Buffy challenged. "You were one of the people who got possessed by one. How do you explain that?"

"You had to bring that up, didn´t you?" Cordelia looked ill at the thought. "I heard about this once and `Eww´ doesn´t come close to it."

"Hyenas?" Ethan demanded, an oddly-worried look crossing his face. "What´s this about hyenas?"

Even Draco looked intrigued, sitting up a little straighter in his chair. "And I thought you being a snake was strange enough, but hyenas..." He made an imperious gesture with a hand. "Do share..."

A faint grin crossed Alexander´s lips. "Ferret, I´m not a slave. Waving your hand at me won´t make me do anything."

Draco grinned. "Well, it was worth a try, wasn´t it?" he said amiably. "So, are you going to explain what happened regarding hyenas and why I have a feeling it doesn´t simply revolve around doing something doggy style..."

"Yes," Ethan added briskly. "I am a little curious about you and what you had to do with hyenas and possession."

"Like you can criticise me for getting possessed," Alexander said to Ethan.

"Valid point, but explain." Ethan crossed his arms, his expression stern. "Now."

Alexander nodded. "A pack of demonic hyenas from Africa were at the zoo. They possessed me and some other people when we were on a school trip a coupla years ago," he explained quickly to his godfather and friend, then turned his attention back to Buffy. "That was another occasion when I got lucky. Didn´t you notice the position that I held in the pack?"

Willow, Buffy and Giles exchanged puzzled looks.

"Somethin´ tells me that´s a no," Faith remarked dryly.

"I´ll second that," Draco agreed, smirking. The dark-haired Slayer looked him up and down, returning the smirk. "So, Snakeboy, care to share about your pack position? If it involves sex, do feel free to go into graphic detail to disturb your friends."

"I was the Pack Leader," Alexander said, shaking his head at Draco, who grinned back at him. "If I had been totally powerless, they would probably have turned on me for being weak. They didn´t. They were my pack. They knew I had power and they willingly followed me."

"Good Lord..." Giles said, removing his glasses and polishing them rather frantically on his tie. "I...I never noticed that there was any kind of-of-of ranking in the group."

Ethan shook his head. "Bloody hell, Xander..." he said. "Head of demon-hyena pack and some people thought you were normal. And there I was, thinking my Godson had a quiet life here."

"So you think it´s kinda wiggy?" Alexander said. "I mean, I was given high ranks and I was never hurt, not even by the worst stuff that the Hellmouth could throw at me. I mean, there were zombie guys who seemed to think I fitted in with their `kind´."

Angel took another step back from the younger man he had considered harmless for so long. His usually white face was grey and he seemed to be muttering a litany of curses under his breath, shaking his head.

"That is kinda...weird," Willow murmured, staring at her long-time friend. "You´re just so...Xandery and...well...not magic."

"Not really," Ethan interrupted. "The kid is completely steeped in power. So much of it that you can´t tell where he ends and it begins. Even when his abilities were masked, he would still have had that aura."

"But other powerful people...I-I-I mean, I´m...kinda powerful..."

Ethan gave the witch a sympathetic look. "Your kind of magic is a cultivated magic, Red," he said. "It´s learned and built up through practise, but it can never match natural ability. Xander...he was born with this power...like the Slayers are..."

"And it´s mainly a dark power, right?" Alexander asked grimly. Ethan reluctantly nodded. "It can be controlled, right? I mean, if I did learn how to use it, I wouldn´t go dark, would I? I wouldn´t be like my father?"

"The dark magics are as powerful as the light," Giles replied. "It´s all a matter of the choices that you make. If you did learn to-to-to use the power you have, it´s up to you whether you-you-you use it for good or bad."

A loud yawn from Draco Malfoy drew all eyes.

With his arms stretched over his head, he seemed genuinely surprised at the fact that everyone was giving him an odd look.

"What?" he demanded, lowering his arms. "This is boring. Yay. We´ve got the son of Voldemort. Tut-tut. Using powers is bad. Aaargh. Everyone is afraid of big scary Snake. I´m bored. Are we done?"

"Ferret," Alexander shook his head, rolling his eyes. "You know, you have a real gift of ruining a mood."

"Mood? You call this a mood? So you´re the son of a Dark Lord. It´s not exactly something to get worked up about." A few funny looks were directed at him. "Well, all right," he agreed. "Maybe it is a little, but I´ve heard all this. It´s boring. I want to do something." He perked up as he asked eagerly. "Can I curse someone?"

"NO!"

Ethan laughed, then cuffed Draco across the back of his head. "You´re overreacting a bit there, Ripper, old man," he said. "The cocky little nit wouldn´t dare to try and curse anyone. He knows I´d wring his neck if he tried anything."

"Not even a little bit?" Draco looked up hopefully.

"D´you want to have me dragged off by a horde of demons?"

Malfoy looked like he was seriously considering it. "Have you changed your will so I get that nice little estate in the midlands yet?" he asked.

"Not yet."

"Damn..." Draco heaved a huge sigh. "Well, looks like I´ll have to wait a while."

"Are you serious?" Faith demanded.

The blond smirked. "When it comes to cursing someone who thought it was funny to put starch in my underwear, I´ve never been more serious in my life," he replied, his eyes remaining on the Slayer.

"Ferret, you´re a freak."

"And your point is?" Draco drawled. "You´re a brain-dead wanker with crap taste in clothes and terrible hair, so I would say I got the better end of the bargain."

"Jerk."

"Pillock."

"Ass."

"Arsewipe."

"If you two are quite finished this...highly mature verbal battle," Giles interrupted, putting his glasses back on. "Perhaps we could decide where to go from here. Xander, do-do-do you wish to learn about your powers?"

Alexander shook his head vehemently. "No."

"Aww, Snake!" Draco whined, pulling a face at his friend. "You´re no fun! You have all this power! You should learn to use it and we´ll take over the world! You and me! C´mon! It´ll be fun!"

Brown eyes looked down at silver. "Ferret, if I was going to take over the world, I wouldn´t choose you to be my side-kick," he said sincerely. "I would want to work with someone who doesn´t bug the crap out of me."

"There is also the-the issue of someone trying to do that already," Giles said. "I do believe that if you could use your abilities, Xander, it-it would be a great advantage."

"Hold on! Someone nicked my idea already?" Draco slapped a hand down on the table, a look of irritation on his face. "Damnit! I knew I should have put my name on it! So...do we defeat him and take his place?"

A snort of laughter from Faith made the blond look at her.

"What?"

"You...takin´ over the world, Goldielocks," Faith replied, smirking, nodding towards the longish blond hair hanging in swathes around his face. "You can´t even control your hair. How´n´the Hell you meant to control anythin´ else?"

Draco smirked back at her. "Faith," he said, sincerity dripping off his voice. "It appears that you haven´t realised that I left my hair au natural to make you feel more at home with the unkempt look that you seem to favour."

"You jerk!" she laughed as she said it.

"Thank you," Draco replied jovially. "And now, Giles, our Snakeboy, here, says he doesn´t want to use his powers. We all know it could turn out to be a very bad thing if it went wrong, so - despite my desire to be titled Devine Diva of the Universe - I do think we should stand by his decision."

"Devine Diva of the Universe?" Alexander echoed, a look of disbelief on his face.

Draco preened a little. "Well, I do look good in a tiara," he replied.