Disclaimer: I do not own BtVS or associated properties.

Xander heard a scream for help and followed it out of reflex, finding a large vampire had Aura and Harmony cornered in an L-shaped back alley. The vamp's grin said he saw Xander and didn't think he was a threat at all, which unfortunately he was probably right about, and lacking the element of surprise Xander figured his only chance was if he was standing next to the vamp and got him to look away... a faint hope at best.

"Save us!" Harmony screamed.

"What's in it for me?" Xander asked, pretending not to care as he walked over.

"What?!" the girls chorused in shock.

Seeing the vampire was clearly amused and hoping to get it to lower its guard some more, Xander just shrugged. "Look at the size of him and tell me what you could possibly have that would be worth my almost certain death facing him."

The vampire outright grinned at seeing it was going to get entertainment with its meal.

"Money!" Aura burst out.

"Sex!" Harmony shouted out at the same time.

"Money and sex?" Xander asked, looking doubtful. "How much money are we talking here?"

"A hundred dollars!" Aura shouted quickly. "Each!" Harmony added.

"Sex and a measly two hundred dollars?" Xander asked, acting insulted. "Do you see the size of him? Look at those arms!"

The vampire flexed and showed off his muscles.

"Look at him," Xander commanded. "He's not some fledge! He could probably punch through that brick wall. Show 'em how strong you are. Show 'em you're a master," Xander encouraged the vamp, slipping his stake out when the vamp turned to punch the wall and slamming it home, hoping he didn't miss the heart.

The vamp turned with a snarl of rage, ripping the stake out of Xander's hand as it brought a clawed hand up to rip off his face, only for the vamp to finally burst into ash, taking Xander's stake with it.

Xander took a deep breath and tried to pretend he'd planned all that and hadn't just peed himself a little. "I guess two hundred is OK, since he wasn't that bright," Xander said, trying to sound thoughtful as he joked with the pair.

"Two hundred dollars? You'll be lucky if I don't sue you!" Harmony snarled, her fear turning to anger as she recalled the day's events and seeing him as a safe outlet. "Yeah," Aura added quickly, falling into familiar and comfortable patterns. "For all we know you were in on it with him!"

Hearing the two sneering at him and accusing him of being in league with a vampire after he'd just risked his life to save theirs, he felt a cold anger overtake him. "So let me make sure I have this straight. You made me an offer to save your worthless hides, and now that you are no longer in danger you are welching on the deal. Fine, that just means if I ever hear you screaming for help again I can just walk away and spend my time more productively, like getting a drink."

Harmony sneered something about what a loser he was, so he turned and strode off without a backwards glance, but he'd gotten no more than halfway to the street before he heard them screaming for help once more. He turned and saw they were being cornered by a pair of vamps that had been attracted by their earlier screams.

"Save us!" the pair screamed.

Xander turned and walked down the alley, stopping a good dozen feet away and considered his options. He had no stakes on him, having only carried one out of habit to use as a last resort, since he was on the outs with Buffy at the moment. The best he could do was buy some time and pray for a miracle.

"I saved you just a minute ago," Xander said, faking anger. "I was offered sex and money only to find that not only did you have no intentions of fulfilling your end of the bargain, but that you planned on accusing me of being behind your problem in the first place. What could you possibly do to make me believe you would honestly pay me this time, and what could you possibly offer that would tempt me to face two vampires at once?"

The girls started making wild and kinky offers of possible sexual favors and a surprising sum of money they had in their personal checking accounts. The vampires looked both surprised and lustful as Harmony ran off a large list of sexual acts, some of which she no-doubt only knew about from rumor. Meanwhile, Xander's eyes scanned the alley for anything he could use for a stake as he tried to recall when Buffy's patrol route took her into the alleys behind the Bronze.

"I swear on my mother's grave!" Aura promised.

"Your mother isn't dead," Xander said with a growl, actually having no clue about Aura's parents but needing to keep the vamps entertained so they wouldn't just tear into the pair. "Wait, isn't she the MILF with the big tits that the pizza delivery guys rave about because all they have to do is knock and she calls out for them to come in and BOOM, she's naked on the sofa?"

Aura sputtered and one of the vampires looked at Aura and grinned. "I always did prefer more mature women," he said with a toothy grin.

"You wouldn't mind going and killing her mother for me, would you?" Xander asked politely. "I mean, I'd hate for her to swear on her mother's grave when the woman was still alive, that would be wrong. She lives at the mansion on Crescent, the one with the blue Lexus in the drive. It's hard to miss."

"Go on, make an honest woman out of her," the other vamp encouraged with a smirk, figuring he could feed on the three teens while his friend had his fun, which would probably take hours, and score them a rich house to rob.

"Take your time," the departing vamp suggested as he vanished around the corner; only for the slayer to appear a moment later following the familiar sound of a vampire dusting.

The remaining vamp quickly spun to put his back against the wall, keeping the two girls in front of him. His eyes darted around for a way to escape, but the L-shaped alley only had two exits and the mercenary could easily delay him enough for the slayer to stake him, unless... "How much?!" the vampire demanded, facing Xander but keeping an eye on the slayer.

"For?" Xander asked sounding unconcerned, keeping in character.

"Keeping the slayer off me long enough for me to escape," the vamp said nervously.

"I'll need the girls unharmed so they'll pay me..." Xander said, seeing a way to ensure Harmony and Aura could get out of it unharmed.

"What are you doing, Xander?!" Buffy demanded, as Willow and Oz caught up with her. "I told you I didn't want you out here!"

"And I clearly didn't care," Xander said bluntly. Turning to the vamp he said, "As long as it pisses her off, I'll work cheap. Give me all the cash you have on you and the girls. Just walk over to me, keeping them in between her and you, and pass me the cash. Run like hell and I'll delay her."

"What?!" Willow exclaimed in shock at the sight of Xander working with a vamp.

"Stay there, slayer," Xander ordered, glaring at Buffy. "These girls are my meal ticket and I won't have you screwing that up!"

The vamp almost breathed a sigh of relief as Buffy obeyed Xander because she wanted to know what was going on. A small bundle of cash was shoved into Xander's hands.

"Move quickly," Xander ordered the vamp as Xander stepped forward to take the vamp's place holding the girls.

"Bye," the vamp said, showing speed that vamps normally weren't capable of as he vanished down the alley.

"You saved us... again," Harmony said in shock.

"Oh it wasn't that big-" Buffy began, only to be ignored.

"You saved us from the one and even after we were mean to you, you got one to leave and the other to let us go safely," Harmony said amazed.

"What can I say? You made a persuasive offer," Xander said, dropping the mercenary persona he'd been using and joking around once more, relieved to be alive himself.

"What the hell was that?!" Buffy exploded, wanting answers and no longer willing to wait on them.

"What's her problem?" Aura asked.

"Their problem," Harmony corrected, seeing Rosenberg looking much the same.

"Earlier today when that spell made every woman in town lust after me, I made them do all sorts of sexual things for my entertainment," Xander deadpanned.

"No you didn't!" Buffy and Willow exclaimed together, horrified at the idea.

Xander nodded. "That's right, I didn't, though I could easily have had them both go through the whole Kama Sutra with me. No, what I did was fend off their advances and turn them down over and over, thus I'm untrustworthy and can't hang with them anymore."

"It wasn't like that at all!" Willow exclaimed, though she couldn't find anything else to say about what it was like.

"Anyhow, I'm out of stakes. I only had the one on me, so I'm just going to call it a night and stop hanging out in dark alleys," Xander told the two girls, walking off and ignoring the Scoobs.

"What did we miss?" Oz asked the two girls curiously. He knew Buffy and Willow would probably calm down and accept Xander back in the group in a couple of days, but now it looked like Xander might not accept. The lupine part of his nature was a bit disturbed by the thought.

Sunnydale High, the next day...

Sarah wasn't one of the cool crowd, but she was well connected enough to hear what they talked about and what was making the rounds today sounded like the answer to her prayers. Her best friend had died last month and his voice had started calling her at night, asking her to come outside. She knew that meant bad things, but apparently there was someone who would take care of things for a fee and you could barter down the fee by offering him certain 'services'... She smiled and set out to find Xander Harris, unaware several other people were doing the same thing for much the same reason.

Typos by: Ordieth