Shoot to Kill

Disclaimer: Don't own nothin'.

Timeline: after 'A New Man.'

The Dove, the Serpent, and the Dagger

University of California, Sunnydale:

The cafeteria was filled with students from all walks of life. Some had been lifelong residents of the haunted town, while others had had the misfortune of joining its populace simply because they hadn't had the grades to get into a better…or safer university. A few, however, were there because they felt they had a sacred duty to protect the town from the forces of evil, which so plagued it.

The Slayer, Buffy Summers, and her redheaded friend, Willow Rosenberg, the witch, were amongst those gathered inside the cafeteria. Alongside Buffy was her boyfriend, Riley Finn, the head commando of the Initiative. However, to their extraordinary embarrassment, they were in the company of one Xander Harris, who did not have the distinction of going to the same college as they were…or going to college, period. He had not been able to, and that was why he was there. To mooch off of their hard earned success.

Or, at least, that was their opinion.

In reality, the young man had simply found himself in need of food and, considering the fact that he had no money that he was able to access at the moment, he had believed that his friends would be happy to share a bit of their food with him. He had been wrong. So, now, as he ate one fry, all he had been willing to take, and just listened to them talk, he completely missed the subtle hints and tone of their voice…telling him to step off.

"Professor Walsh told me that I needed to spend more time with my classmates," Buffy turned her gaze pointedly at Xander, who wasn't paying much attention to the conversation at hand, "You know, she says I'm being cut off from my new world by remnants of the old, back in high school."

She completely forgot that Willow had been in high school with her. As did, in fact, the woman in question, herself.

"She did say that we were still needing to get acclimated to our new environment," she said in support of Buffy, still without enough backbone to stand up for her lifelong friend.

"Well, I need some help doing my TA work," he said to them, "Would you mind helping? I could use a few extra hands."

"Sure," they both agreed.

"We should get started," Willow said with a small grin.

"I have it on me right now," Riley lied.

They all looked pointedly at Xander, hoping that he would believe that they simply wanted him to leave so that they could get some work done…instead, they found him to be staring at the other side of the room. The three turned their own gazes to follow his eyes and found them to be locked onto an impeccably dressed man with green hair and a brown beard, his polished shoes clacking against the tile as they moved. He was smiling.

The Slayer felt her radar go off in an instant. This man was dangerous, she knew that much. Whatever he was doing there wasn't good. Slowly, she slipped her hand into her purse, intending on withdrawing a stake so that she could deal with this perp, only to stop short as he greeted a member of their table.

"Xander," he smiled widely as the Zeppo stood up to better meet him, "It is so good to see you again."

"…Hello, Matthew," their friend greeted him.

"Please, no need to be formal," his eyes glinted as he said this to Xander, "Just Matt, please. Ah, and this must be Miss Rosenberg," Willow blushed at being addressed directly, "She is even more beautiful than you made her out to be." She blushed even more so, then quietly began to rage as she realized that Xander must have talked about her, not liking it after…last year, "And this must be the Slayer, Miss Summers," he made to take her hand but, was interrupted as Buffy stood up and quietly growled at Xander.

"You told him who I am," she demanded.

"Please, no reason to get angry," Matthew stopped her before she ripped Xander's throat out, "I knew that you were the Slayer long before Mr. Harris did. And I am very sorry for the loss of your friend, Oliver Pike, to a vampire before you left."

Buffy did a fairly accurate imitation of a goldfish as she stared at him. She had never once mentioned her old boyfriend to any of the group…she didn't like to remember him. That alone was enough to prove to her that Xander hadn't mentioned her, but, it was enough to make her extremely pissed off.

"How do you know about that," she asked him, quietly.

"I have many friends inside LA," Matt said to her, "Most of them began watching you the second you were called. They were able to stop a vampire hit against your father."

She stopped in her attempt at ridiculing him for watching her. She didn't know what to say now that she knew that this man was either directly or indirectly responsible for saving her father. But, then, she didn't even know this man. How could she trust him?

Before she could continue on, Xander took control of the conversation.

"Matthew," he didn't obey the man's wishes of informality, "What is it that you want?"

"Do I need a reason to look up an old friend?"

Xander's look spoke for itself.

"Alright, alright," Matt admitted, "I do want something. Might we go outside and talk in private for a moment?"

"No," Buffy answered for him, "He doesn't go anywhere with y-"

"Sure," Xander remarked, taking the Slayer by surprise, "We'll go out to the quad."

"Xander, I don't want you-"

"The world doesn't always revolve around what you want, Buff," Xander remarked to her, causing all three of them to shut up in complete shock, before he turn to Matthew and said, "You lead, I'll follow."

The Dove, the Serpent, and the Dagger

Buffy crouched down in the bushes as her friend and the stranger spoke. After they had left, Riley had had to leave for class, as had Willow, but she was free for a while. She wanted to know what power (she had come to the conclusion that Xander must be underneath a spell, one that made him completely hateful of her, all in order to sabotage her) this man had over him.

"…How's Nick doing," Xander asked Matthew.

"Pretty good," the two were sitting at a bench with their backs turned to her, "He and his cousin just got married in Omaha."

"Figures the hillbilly'd get married to his cousin," Xander and Matt shared a laugh.

"What about Samantha?"

"…Dead," Matthew answered solemnly, "Died of a vampire attack."

"She could handle vamps."

"Not fourteen."

Buffy blanched. Even she couldn't handle fourteen vampires alone…or could she?

"…Her brother?"

"Dead. Same attack."

"Damn. I liked them. …Ok, what do you want?"

Buffy perked her ears up at that. She was about to get the juicy bit.

"You know what I want."

"A blow job?"

She forced herself to remain silent. It was so unlike Xander to use that kind of language.

"That, but not from you…and…"

"The Rune Stone," she filed that away for later memory, "And how do you want it?"

"Whatever way it can come," he answered, "Just so long as it's through by next Tuesday. You know where it is?"

"I can get it to you tonight."

They began to talk about mundane things so, secure in her knowledge and in her belief that he was underneath a spell, she moved on, completely forgetting the fact that if he had been under a spell, he wouldn't have talked back.

The Dove, the Serpent, and the Dagger

"Is she gone," Matt asked in boredom.

"Yeah," Xander answered him, "So, what do you really want?"

"…Do you trust me," Matt turned his gaze to Xander as he asked.

"No," his response was immediate.

"Good," Matt smiled at him, "I'm having problems…in the Sect."

"What kind?"

"Politics," he sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "They're starting to come up against me…they haven't done that to a Leader in years."

"And you figure it'll all stop once the company's topper comes back in?"

"That's part of it," Matt responded, "But not the point. There's…one job I was given to personally oversee the success of. Every time I had someone, picked someone, they failed. That's the main argument…they say I've lost my knack."

"I don't believe that," Xander reaffirmed him, "You never had it."

"But, I figure," he continued on, as though he hadn't heard Xander, "That if I have it completed, then they won't have anything to go against me on."

"You know why I left…politics suck, man. I won't get back involved because of them. Besides, I like being independent."

"Yet, you continue to hide from your friends. Why is that?"

"They wouldn't approve. They wouldn't understand."

"I don't doubt it. Your friends seem to be…terribly narrow-minded."

"They haven't seen the side of the world that I have."

"…Come back to the club tonight, Xander, and I'll make it worth your while."

"…I'll think about it."

With that, the bounty hunter stood and left his former contractor alone.