Disclaimer: I do not own the characters from Buffy, Pitch Black or Final Fantasy. This story is written only for entertainment purposes, not for financial gain.

Prologue

Xander stared at the rapidly fading forms of the slayer and his supposed 'bestest bud'.'Sure' he thought sourly 'Walk the girl two blocks to make sure she gets home safe, but ignore the poor defenseless male who has to walk half the town… in the dark…with only a stake and his natural wit to protect him!'

"Typical!" he muttered under his breath, before turning abruptly and starting of for home. As he went he made sure to keep to the better lit sections of the streets, which he noticed, not for the first time, were surprisingly sparse. He wondered absently if it was due to the hellmouth, or just the normal ineptitude of the local government, not that it really mattered. It just made it harder for him to get home in one piece from the Scooby meetings. After all it's not like Buffy or Giles ever offered to see him home. He could count on the fingers of one hand the times they had done so.

Lately, Xander had been feeling that the others didn't want him around. He'd noticed that, more and more often, his suggestions were being shot down, particularly by Buffy. Willow was supporting her as well, something he found hard to stomach. Wills had been his beat friend since kindergarten. They'd always stood up for each other and never let anything… or anyone come between them; Even the addition of Jesse hadn't divided them, they'd just expanded their friendship so it included him. He was gone now of course, but when they had added Buffy to the mix, Xander had imagined it would be much the same. However, that didn't seem to be the case. Willow no longer seemed to want to spend any time with him. Unless Buffy was otherwise engaged. Even with her new found crush on him; something he thought Buffy was behind. He found himself increasingly on the outside of their group. And he didn't like it. At all.

Xander was pulled from his increasingly dark thoughts by a cry for help from a nearby alleyway. He reacted immediately, but cautiously, well aware it could be a trap. As he positioned himself so he could see in the alleyway and get an idea what he was facing he was shocked to find two vampires attempting to hold down a female demon whilst a third was trying to undress her. His eyes narrowed and his gaze hardened. He didn't care if it was a demon no one deserved what was about to happen to her, besides he recognized her species as one he'd read about in one of Giles' books. She was a Gr'atni Demon…well something like that, he knew they were only aggressive if there was a threat against either their mates or their children. Seeing that all the vampires were…occupied he rushed towards them as quietly as he could and the first was staked before the other two even knew he was there. He pushed through the dust of the first and drove his stake through the second even as they began to react to his presence. Done and dusted. The third however, had dropped the Gr'atni and it tensed ready to flee as the dust cleared, expecting to see the Slayer. Instead he saw a teenage boy, one who couldn't be more than seventeen armed with a stake and a surprisingly determined expression.

Xander spoke softly in a surprisingly good impression of Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry, "Well Punk. You gotta ask yerself, are you feeling luck…Eep!" Before he could finish the vampire lunged forward to attack him. He quickly raised the stake in preparation, placing it firmly between them. Then watched stunned as in a somewhat ironic happenstance; the vampire was dusted as it tripped mid-lunge over the prone body of the demon it'd just dropped.

"Why is it they wait for Buffy to finish her quips before attacking?" He said dolefully looking through the dust at the only remaining occupant of the alley. He crouched quickly next to her and spoke softly "Hey, Miss… Are you gonna be okay? Can I help you anyway?" He looked at the fallen demon in concern, she looked in a bad way, he hoped he hadn't arrived too late to help her. She groaned in pain and turned over looking at him, stunned that a human would come to her rescue and then to further offer their help, to a being that was obviously not human. Who was this strange boy?

"I shall be fine in a little while, Human. You have my gratitude. I am Caliefnos of the T'ama Clan of the Gr'Atarni. I hope to repay the debt I owe you one day…" She said, formally while struggling to sit up. She watched amazed as the boy, with no hint of fear at her fierce appearance, reached out a hand and aided her gently raising her into a sitting position. He didn't even react to the feel of her scaled skin! As her wounds began to heal she carefully observed this… strange man-child.

Xander shifted, uneasy with her focusing on him, before speaking up. "Umm, Hi. I'm Xander…Alexander Harris, actually and hey, no need to repay me I only did the same as you would have, had you been in my place." When he said the last he raised his eyes to meet hers and she was struck by the sincerity they showed. He genuinely believed that! It was true of course, but no human she'd met had ever suggested that a demon was capable of honour or of acting with compassion. Who was this Xander? She would have to keep an eye on him, he was most…unusual.

A.N: This is my first published story so I am interested in hearing what people think about it. Please leave a review so I can tell if people are interested or not. If there is interest in it I will continue to post… Thanks Sajahi.