Chapter One

Title: Like a puppet on a string 1/??
Author: Michael Wilson
Email: wyrdradio@yahoo.com
Rating: 15 - 18
Disclaimer: Joss, Mutant Enemy, and a lot of other people own the characters from Buffy and Angel.
Spoilers: Seasons 1-7 of Buffy, the puppet episode of Angel and the Dana episode
Summary: Title: Like a puppet on a string 1/??
Author: Michael Wilson
Email: wyrdradio@yahoo.com
Rating: 15 - 18
Disclaimer: Joss, Mutant Enemy, and a lot of other people own the characters from Buffy and Angel.
Spoilers: Seasons 1-7 of Buffy, the puppet episode of Angel and the Dana episode
Summary: Once more it seems that life for Xander isn't going as it should and becoming something new gives him a new... perspective... on life.
Author's Note: " " is for speech while * * is for thoughts.
Distribution: If you like it... please feel free to place it on your site... but please tell me first.


Nighttime on the edge of the desert is a strange time, especially when you know that the things that go bump in the night really do exist. Being alone wasn't making things any easier.

*I should have known when no one jumped at the position for searching Africa for Slayers, that there had to be a reason.*

Xander Harris sighed and rolled his one eye up toward the heavens.

"Couldn't you have warned me or something?"

There was no answer. Most people wouldn't have expected one, but knowing how his life had gone so far, Xander wouldn't have been surprised.

*With my luck_ there's a lottery going in up there right now over who gets to mess with me next.*

Xander continued onward in his nightly patrol. Oh sure, the village might change from day to day or week to week, but it was still the same thing - hunt, find, slay... and keep an eye out, ha ha, for any gorgeous teenage girls doing things they shouldn't be able to do.

*Still... I have had some good luck so far. I've found six girls so far and managed to get my own Watcher assigned to me. Compared to Wesley and those other idiots who used to run the Council... Stephanie isn't too bad.*

Stephanie McMasters, 27, 5'7" tall, long red hair, sparkling emerald green, bubbly British accent, and a body to kill for... all in all, quite a lovely woman. Add to that equation the fact that she had the most beautiful and precious daughter in existence, a fact Xander was willing to fight over, Stephanie was about perfect. The only problem... she wasn't interested in him.

*It doesn't seem to matter what Michelle and I do, Stephanie just won't see me as anything more than another `so called' member of the Council.*

The New Watchers Council - rebuilt after the whole fiasco with The First and slowly gaining back its previous numbers - was filled with people who shared a certain point of view; they all seemed to believe that one must not fraternize with those one works with... so therefore, no dating Xander.

*It has to be a conspiracy. I bet Willow and Buffy got together and told everyone to keep away from me... told them I'm off limits. I bet Dawn too, she probably still has that crush on me. They probably think I can't handle things right now... or they think...*

At that moment, there was a chirp at his belt and Xander pulled a walkie-talkie free.

"Go ahead."

There was static for a moment then Stephanie's beautiful voice.

"Mr. Harris... we have finished the research on the latest series of attacks and have found nothing that matches. I am afraid that this might be beyond our capabilities."

Xander winced. He hated it when people called him Mr. Harris. Most people understood that and would call him Xander, but not Stephanie.

"It's Xander, Stephanie... not Mr. Harris... and I refuse to think that anything is beyond my capabilities. This is just something new... and nothing to be too worried over. If all else fails, we can always call Giles and see if he can get the Devon Coven to do a scan of the town and see what's going on."

Xander moved down the street and was about to continue, when he heard a scream.

"Hold on..."

Xander took off toward the scream and found himself in a dark alley. At the end, there was a woman lying on the ground with some kind of odd shape hovering over her.

"Hey! Get off of her!"

Xander rushed forward just as the thing on her bolted and ran off into the night.

"Steph... got an injured woman in that alley three blocks up from the post office."

Xander leaned over her and checked her out. She wasn't bleeding, but she wasn't conscious either. He quickly checked her pulse and found it to be there... just a little slow.

"Pulse is ok... little slow... and she's not bleeding. I'm going after what jumped her."

Xander took off after the shadow and found himself in the more touristy area of town. The street was empty with only a few locations to choose - a small grocery, a café and a toy store. Xander was about to move to investigate the grocery when he heard something break inside the toy store.

"The toy store... I'm going in."

Xander ran over to the door and found it open partway. Slipping inside, he looked around carefully. His eye scanned the back wall and found that there was nothing leading to what might be a back entrance.

"You've got no way out of here. You might as well give up."

Xander moved slowly into the room and shivered. There was an odd feeling in the air and it was getting on his nerves.

*Something about this just feels... wrong.*

Xander walked toward the back and into a section that was nothing but wall to wall puppets. Some looked realistic while others were simple numbers made of felt. One in particular seemed to have an almost... evil... expression on its face.

*Scary...*

Xander shook his head and looked away. As he did, the puppet blinked and glared at the back of his head, slowly pulling what looked like a silver egg out of its pocket... then quickly hid it behind his back as Xander turned back around once more. Xander stared at it again then turned around to head back to the front of the store. As he moved, he saw something more out of the corner of his eye... and was thrown backward and blinded by a flash of light.

*******

"What the hell was that?"

Xander blinked and sat up. Everything seemed... different. He looked around and saw that he was alone.

"Xander!"

Xander blinked and reached down to press the talk button on his walkie-talkie.

"Yeah... I'm here."

There was static, then Stephanie's voice.

"Where are you!"

Xander shook his head and got to his feet.

"I'm in the toy store. Whatever it is I was chasing jumped me and knocked me out. I'm on my way back now."

Xander reached down and turned off his walkie-talkie just as Stephanie began to reply.

"But we..."

*******

"... checked there already and it was empty."

She looked at the dead device in her hand and growled.

"Damn that man!"

Stephanie sat down with a growl and fumed.

"Mommy?"

Stephanie looked up at the startled face of her six year old daughter, Michelle, and winced.

"Are you ok mommy?"

Stephanie nodded.

"Yes... I'm just worried about Xander. You should be in bed, sweetie."

Michelle moved closer.

"Is Xander ok?"

Stephanie nodded.

"Yes... he's fine. He just worried mommy is all. He never stops to think about everything that could happen... about those who depend on him... those that care about him."

Michelle watched her mother as she got up and began to pace.

"He's always doing that. He jumps at danger and doesn't think twice. Why..."

Michelle smiled at her mother.

"Because he loves us."

Stephanie stared at her daughter in shock.

"What?"

Michelle nodded.

"He loves us... all of us. He loves me and Zalia and Shana and Raina and Monique and Amelia and even you too Mommy."

Stephanie blinked in shock and just stared at her daughter as Monique, one of the Slayers, entered the room.

"It's true. He loves all of us more than the value of his own life. He would die before he would allow any of us to get hurt."

Stephanie stared in awe.

"But how can he..."

She was interrupted by the door opening and was startled by Monique suddenly moving toward the door. A stake was in her hand, then thrown at the small creature that entered the room. It hit it in the chest and the figure fell to the floor.

"Ow! Damn it, that hurt!"

The figure sat up and glared at them with the stake sticking out of its chest and a furious expression on its felt face... a face that was wearing an eye patch. It looked down at its chest and stared in shock at the tufts of stuffing oozing out around the wound.

"What the hell..."

Xander looked up in shock as he slowly lifted a hand up to his face... a felt hand... and screamed in shock.

"I'm a freaking puppet!"

*******

"Ouch... stop it already..."

Stephanie stared down at Xander as she sewed up the hole in his chest.

"Stop it now... you know it doesn't hurt. You just think it does."

Xander's head turned to look her in the eyes and glared at her... but it was hard to look menacing when you're made of felt.

"Well... maybe... but it's disturbing to see you shoving that needle in and out of my chest."

He stared down at his chest, which was now covered in a thin layer of fuzz, and sighed.

"Oh God... this can't be happening to me. I'm a freaking puppet. Why does this kind of thing always happen to me?"

Stephanie finished her last stitch, then tied it off.

"There... done... and as to why you, it's because you jump into dangerous situations without thinking about the consequences."

Xander sat up and hopped down off of her lap. As he began to pace about the room, he slowly nodded.

"I know... but it's just who I am. I couldn't live with myself if something happened to any of my girls."

He looked up at them and saw the same expression on all their faces... warm loving smiles. It was a nice feeling, until Monique smirked at him and leaned in to whisper into Shana's ear.

"Isn't he just the cutest when he glares like that?"

Xander sighed and shook his head.

"Ok... how do we change me back?"

A look of worry crossed over all of their faces.

"We don't know. We're going to have to contact the Council."

Xander winced.

"Buffy's going to kill me..."

He shook his head and nodded.

"Ok... call them."

Stephanie nodded and picked up the phone. As she worked her way through the switchboard, Xander felt himself being lifted up into the air as Michele cuddled him to her chest.

"Wha... hey?"

Michele smiled and cuddled Xander like a baby.

"You're so cute. Mommy... can I keep him?"

Stephanie smirked as she spoke to the operator and nodded her head.

"Yes dear... I'm sure he'd be safe with you."

Xander looked at them, one by one, then sighed.

"At least it saves me time walking..."

******

"I'll get it!"

Dawn dove over the couch to get to the phone before one of the horde got there first. Some of them were still getting used to being uber-strong and they'd gone through seven phones already.

"Hello, Slayer Central, home of the hormonally challenged."

Dawn frowned for a moment as she tried to recognize the voice on the other end, then smiled when she remembered.

"Hi... yeah, I remember you. You have that adorable little girl. How are things going with you two and Xander?"

Dawn's eyes widened in shock as she listened to everything that had just happened.

"Oh my God! Yes... get him here as soon as you can. I'll get one of the research teams on it as soon as I get off the phone. We'll figure this all out, I promise. Tell Xander that we will figure this out."

Just then there was the sound of breaking glass and a scream.

"Damn it! Got to run. It's one emergency after another here. Give my love to Xander and we'll see you soon."

Dawn hung up the phone then turned to run toward the screams.

"If someone isn't dead... I'm kicking ass!"

*****

"Now remember honey... don't let go of Xander for anything."

Michelle nodded.

"I promise mommy."

Stephanie nodded, scanning the airport for their gate.

"And what do you do if someone tries to take him to examine him?"

Michelle grinned.

"I throw a tantrum like how Shana showed me... a big one."

Stephanie smiled.

"Exactly... ah, this way."

She took her daughter's hand and smiled down at the fuming Xander, his head sticking out of a baby snuggly her daughter was wearing. Michelle wanted to carry him, but after dropping him three times, twice on the head, they nixed that idea and decided on the snuggly instead. This way, no one would get too curious... and Xander would stop growling.

*All we need is for some overly ambition security guard to get the idea to examine him too closely. Too much attention and Xander might snap.*

She saw their gate off to the left and taking Michelle's hand, led her there.

"Place your bags on the belt, remove all metal from your pockets then step through the detector please."

Stephanie placed first Michelle's bag then her own on the conveyor belt then motioned Michelle through. As Michelle moved to walk through, the attendant stopped her.

"You'll need to give me your doll so I can scan it."

Michelle shook her head no. The attendant moved to take Xander from her and a scream that would make a Banshee look on in admiration filled the airport. The attendant backed away in terror and just stared as Michelle continued to scream... creating such a disturbance that one of the supervisors rushed over, ripped the security wand from off of the attendant's belt then waved it up and down Michelle's body... finding nothing.

"It's ok! No one's going to take your doll! Step through!"

Hearing those words, Michelle - still screaming - stepped through the metal detector, followed quickly by her mother. Stephanie took her hand and instantly, Michelle stopped. They walked onward quickly toward the plane and once they walked around the corner, Michelle looked back and smiled.

"Was that good mommy?"

Stephanie nodded.

"That was perfect baby."

A groan came from Michelle's chest as Xander slowly blinked his eye in pain.

"Next time I travel with you kid... remind me to bring earplugs."

End Part One