Author: Jaderose

Pairing(s): V/C X/T

Status: WIP

Feedback: Yes please. This is the first time I've ever posted here.
Disclaimer: Not mine. To poor to sue.

Author's Note: This is set during Xander's Great American Road Trip right after 3rd season. Also this is slash and I guess kink so you're warned.

=============================================================

‘Man! Am I glad I got out of Oxnard when I did. One more night, and I think the owner of that strip club would’ve had me dancing instead of washing dishes,’ Xander Harris thought to himself with a sigh of relief as he and his new, well for him anyway, Harley Davidson Softail Fat Boy sped away from another little wide-spot-in-the-road town.

With a wry grin, he let his memories drift back to that time and the circumstances surrounding that job.

@~~`~~ ~~`~~@

Three dollars and fifty-eight cents.

Xander stared, dejectedly, at the small collection of coins scattered across his single remaining dollar bill.

He had been about two miles outside of Oxnard, enjoying the freedom of his much anticipated road trip, when his classic of a car became a classic pile of junk in the middle of the deserted highway. Grumbling, he gathered his backpack and keys, ready to hike into town for a towtruck, but fate wasn't done with him yet. He had only walked a few yards away from the car when it decided to add ‘exploding pile of junk’ to it’s repertoire of tricks. Hellmouth instincts had Xander kissing asphalt and covering his head before he even realized what he was doing. After picking himself up off the ground and getting his heart out of his throat, he stood there, in the middle of the highway screaming and ranting at the sky and the Powers That Be for picking on him once more, before grabbing his backpack and starting the hike into Oxnard.

It was nearly dusk when Xander drifted into town and over to the diner where he figured he could pick up a paper and something to eat. The first part was easy as there was a local paper stand right inside the door, but the second part wasn’t so easy after claiming a booth to go over his current financial situation. After digging through every pocket on his pants and through his backpack, he came up with the meager three dollars and fifty-eight cents, remembering all too late that he had stored the majority of his money safely under his carjack where no one would think to look for it. Right before the car decided to change its shape and occupation.

“Why the *hell* does this have to happen to me?” he grumbled, staring at the pathetic amount on the table as he cradled his head in his hands. The explosion from earlier and the long walk into town was starting to make itself known through various aches and pains throughout his body as well as the beginnings of a truly massive headache. “I can’t even afford aspirin to help kill this headache. Why can’t I have a summer off from my life? Is that too much to ask? Just one summer where everything goes right. No drunks fighting. No crisis to be averted. No ‘we must get this or the world will end’ type problems. Just one summer. That’s all I ask.”

“Sounds like you need a break, Sugah,” purred a voice laced with an accent that was pure Dixie and Xander looked up to find the lone waitress of the diner standing next to his table, the flirty _expression she had been wearing when he had come in replaced with one of mothering sympathy that he had only seen after Willow had bandaged him up. Her nametag declared her name to be Sue Ann and she seemed to fit the image of a Southern diner waitress. Blond curls were pulled up into a ponytail that fell like a cloud around her shoulders while blue eyes were decorated with bright blue makeup. Her face had a slightly weathered look as if she was more use to being outside than in the faded blue dress and dingy white apron she currently wore. A tattoo of something was trying to peek out from under her short sleeves on her right arm, but there wasn’t enough visible for Xander to make it out.

She slid into the seat across from him and dropped her pad on the table before fixing him with a resolve face that put Willow’s to shame. “Now, tell Sue Ann your story, and I’ll see what I can do to help a handsome young man like yourself.”

Startled, Xander glanced around the diner to find himself the only patron with the cook watching them with an amused grin. “Will you get in trouble for talking to me on your shift?” he asked, not wanting to get her in trouble with his problems.

“Nope. Now talk,” she ordered, and so he did. He didn’t talk about the Hellmouth or those problems, glossing over the facts and making it seem more like a vacation from the normal chaos in a graduate’s life only to find that chaos coming back to bite him.

As soon as Sue Ann heard the whole thing, she insisted that he was going to stay with her and like it. Every time Xander tried to mount an argument she shot it down with the same flirty refrain of saying it had been a good long while since there had been a descent scandal in the small town, and having a sweet, young stud like him staying with her was just too perfect to pass up.

“It’ll keep the old biddies on their toes with the gossip,” she replied with a wink. Xander gave her a shy grin while turning a bright red and finally gave in, starting to flirt loudly and outrageously with her, making her giggle and blush like a schoolgirl.

A couple of days later found him washing dishes at, of all things, a ladies’ strip club. Of course this tickled Sue Ann to no end, and she teased him about it endlessly. After a few weeks of dishpan hands, he was able to take the money from selling the POS scrap metal that had been his car, and, pooling it with the money, had bought an old, beat-up Harley Davidson Fat Boy in desperate need of some TLC. The engine ran if you held your tongue just right, but the rest of it was hanging on by a shoestring and bailing wire. Fortunately, Sue Ann’s late husband had been a Harley lover, and she had learned how to fix their engines out of sheer self-defense. So, during the day, Xander worked on the body, and at night, she worked on the engine.

By the end of June, Xander had enough money saved to move on and the bike couldn’t have been in better shape. She purred so prettily that you thought an overgrown cat had gotten lose, but for a few days, he had fretted over what to do with the body, not wanting to ride the bike while it’s body was all dingy and rusted in spots. His answer came in the form of a dancer at the club with a pushy customer turned vampire.

Xander had been walking out the door after his shift to find the long, blond-haired James in a hissing argument with a pale woman that screamed “vampire” to Xander’s instincts. Palming his vial of holy water while removing the stake from his pocket, Xander casually made his way over just as she vamped out, lunging for James. Holy water to her face got her off James long enough for Xander to dust her before offering James a wry smile and a hand off the ground.

“You okay?” Xander ran a critical eye over James. The lanky dancer seemed a bit shaken but other than a few bruises where he had hit the ground, he looked fine.

“Yeah, thanks man. I owe ya one.”

Xander brushed his words aside. “It was nothing. Just a few words of warning. Try to keep a vial of holy water on you and a choker with crosses on it can only help in cases like that.”

James nodded. “Gotcha.” A smile spread across his face. “Maybe I can do something for you. You’re still fixing up that bike of yours, right?” Xander nodded, confused as to where this was going. “Well, my uncle owns a bike shop and I do most of the paint jobs. Lemmie fix her up real sweet and we’ll call it even, okay?”

“Deal,” grinned Xander, holding out his hand.

And James had done a marvelous job. Her body was painted a russet brown with metallic black flakes and a playfully grinning, twinkle eyes hyena on either side peered out at the road. In sweeping letters across the gas tank, her name was proudly displayed. In a moment of maudlin memories, Sue Ann had confessed that she missed Savannah, Georgia where she had met her late husband and as a thank you for all her hard work and kindness, Xander had named his purring beauty, Savanna.

James had also gifted him with a custom helmet to match the bike. It was done in the same russet brown but with a black crest painted down the center and black tufted ears on each side. It resembled the head of a hyena but was missing the eyes and muzzle, those unable to be painted on without covering up the faceplate.

So, on the last day of June, Xander had stepped into the diner and borrowed Sue Ann long enough to say good bye and tell her that he would stop back on the way back to Sunnydale. Just as he was about to step back out the door and start on his way once more, the cook caught his attention and tossed something at him. It turned out to be a soft, leather biker’s jacket that looked about as beat up as his bike use to.

“If you’re gonna ride a Harley, you had better look descent out of respect for the bike,’ announced the cook with a stubborn set to his jaw. Xander was about to protest only to get a good look at the resolved _expression and nodded his thanks for the present instead. Slipping the jacket on, he gave Sue Ann one last kiss on the cheek and sped out of town, resuming his interrupted trip.

@~~`~~ ~~`~~@

That had been about a month ago, and Xander was just passing the city limits into Chicago. He was going on little sleep, having had to crash at several rest stops along the way, but not getting much in the way of sleep due to his nighttime instincts waking him at every little sound. He was looking forwards to his adventures in the Windy City after hearing about the sights it held from various people along the road as well as a descent night’s sleep and recovery, but as he looked around, he noticed a lot of streets that had craters big enough to swallow busses or semis, and the surrounding buildings were so rundown, he sincerely hoped no one was still living in them.

‘Huh, must have come in on the bad side of town. This place looks more like a war zone than part of a city,’ he mused before a feminine screech of outrage broke through his musings. ‘Complete with sound effects.’ Instinctively, he turned Kima towards the scream, his mind already planning several possible courses of action before he even realized what he was doing. As he fishtailed around a corner, he saw a twenty-something young woman in jeans and a blue shirt facing off with what looked like about ten guys about halfway up the block, and giving them hell both physically with the large wrench she was welding and at the top of her lungs as she used words Xander wasn't sure she was old enough to *hear* let alone use. While Xander tried to figure out how to get in the middle of the fight without getting either the young woman or himself hurt, she took a nasty hit to the head and went down in a graceful, but unconscious, heap.

Before any of the goons could grab her, a loud pissed off growl filled the air, sounding more like a wild creature than a bike’s engine and turned as one to see this White Knight in hyena colors, formerly known as Xander Harris, come barreling down on top of them. Thanks to fighting vampires and demons for the last three years, it didn't take all that long for the goons to be in the same state as the lady. Although she didn't look like a wild dog had gotten a hold of her. All the goons were still breathing, they were supposed to be human after all, but as Xander calmed down a bit he started counting injuries. Four of them had either busted legs or arms; another one looked like his face was going to have to be reconstructed because he was the unfortunate shmuck that the bike's front tire had hit when Xander used her as a battering ram by balancing on the back tire. The other five were a tangle of broken noses, black eyes and ripped shirts from Xander's clawing.

After making sure the bad guys weren't going to get up any time in the next day or so Xander scooped up the lady and carried her about half a block, knowing Kima was following, making sure to keep an eye out for any friends the goon squad might have before checking her over. Brown cowboy boots, tight but worn jeans and a mechanic’s shirt rolled up to her elbows appeared to be her outfit of choice while a belt holding a pouch was slung around her waist. Brown hair fell around her shoulders and he was pleased to see that her only serious injury was the lump on her head.

'Sorry about this,’ he softly apologized before digging through the pouch on her waist. It was the only place he could see that could possibly hold a wallet and soon he found her, buried under a portable tool kit. In seconds, he found a picture of her standing outside of a garage bearing the sign ‘Last Change Garage’ and her driver’s license, which named her as Charlene Davidson.

“Charlene Davidson, Last Chance garage,” he murmured, glancing at the lady held in his arms. “Huh, I like it, but you don’t look like a Charlene. I bet you’re more of a Charlie.” He tucked the wallet back into the pouch and made sure it was securely fastened before maneuvering her onto Savanna in front of him. Carefully, he started towards the address that had been on the driver’s license.

=================================================================

As Xander pulled up in front of the garage and turned off Kima’s engine, the lovely lady in his arms began to stir.

“Easy, Miss Davidson,” he soothed, holding her steady as she sat up, rubbing her head. “You took a seriously nasty knock on the head back there.”

Moaning slightly at the pain that arced through her head, Charlie held her head as she waited for the world to quit spinning, vaguely aware of the broad, steadying hand at the small of her back that kept her from falling over as she swayed slightly. Once the world stopped moving beneath her feet, she stepped away and watched as her savior climbed off a sweet looking bike, pulling his helmet off, and leaning back against his bike, trying to look as non-threatening as possible while letting her study him to her heart’s content, a pose she recognized from the Mice.

He was a handsome young man in his late teens or early twenties, about six footish with dark, thick hair and eyes the color of really good dark chocolate. He looked like he might be muscular, but under the baggy jeans and t-shit, it was hard to tell. The only thing that looked like it fit was the worn black jacket that gently hugged his broad shoulder. When she made it back up to his eyes, she was startled to see the same battle-weariness that she often saw in the Mice, complete with a small, sweetly crooked smirk as he held out his hand.

“Hi. I’m Xander Harris and I’ll be your crazy White Knight for the day,” he quipped.”

Charlie grinned despite herself and took his hand. “Charlie Davidson, and thanks for the rescue. I normally hate being regulated to the damsel in distress, but in this case, I’ll make an exception.”

Xander’s smirk turned into a full grin as he brought her hand up to kiss, only to disappear at her small wince and gasp when his lips brushed her knuckles. Lowering her hand, he examined it, cradling it in his wide and callused hands. The delicate skin on and around the knuckles was slightly swollen, bruised and there were a few small scrapes, indicating that she hadn’t used only the wrench on those goons, although a few of those scrapes looked to be a few days old. He quickly did another slow look over her body to see if there were any other nasties while carefully leading her into the front door of the garage.

“Damn! I forgot about your injuries for a sec. Come on, lets get you comfortable, and I’ll start patching you up,” Xander cajoled as he lead her over to her couch and gently pushed her down while looking around for her first aid kit.

“You don’t have to do that. I’ve had worse, believe me,” protested Charlie as she watched him gather up her well stocked first aid kit and a towel wrapped around some ice. She could tell that he was probably running on adrenalin and was in danger of crashing any minute now.

He tossed her that quirky grin again as he sat down in front of her, the first-aid kit open next to him, not even blinking at the fullness of it and making her wonder again just what his life had been like before arriving in Chicago. “Hey, it’s all part and parcel of the White Knight service,” he replied with a slight shrug. “Besides, if I hadn’t hesitated, then you wouldn’t have that chicken egg on the back of your head.” They sat in a comfortable silence as he bandaged her hands and checked to make sure she wasn’t concussed before brushing soft “get better” kisses over her hands. A few seconds later, and everything was put back and tossed away and she was comfortably sitting on the couch with the makeshift ice pack on her head.

“So, how did a lovely lady like yourself end up arguing with those Neanderthals back there anyway?” Xander asked when his curiosity finally outweighed the comfortable silence.

Charlie gave him a small smirk and an exasperated sigh. “Those goons work for a business man named Lawrence Limburger,” she explained in a matter-of-fact tone. “He’s been trying to buy up all the land around here, and when money doesn’t speak loud enough, his goons usually do.”

“Limburger, isn't that a smelly sort of cheese? Lemmie guess, he came by to offer you a ton of money to sell out, you told him where he could stick that idea along with all the money, and his goons have been hassling you ever since, right?” Xander summarized with a disgusted shake of his head.

Charlie nodded, carefully. “Pretty much. But I’m not defenseless. I can fight fairly well, thanks to my dad and his buddies, and I’ve got some friends who are really overprotective of me so it’s not like I’m in mortal peril every day,” she quickly reassured him, hoping to avoid adding another male to her “overprotective” list. The Mice were bad enough, Vinnie especially, but she didn’t need Xander in that category.

“Just every other Tuesday, huh?” he half-joked softly. He recognized the signs of someone who had seen too much danger with no way to stop fighting what was causing it. Those same signs stared back at him in the mirror every morning. Thus, with a wary mental sigh, Xander added another woman to the ‘his-girls-who-must-be-protected-at-all-costs’ list that had started with a red-haired friend from childhood and continued with a blond Slayer. 'At least I've got a full set again, a blonde, a brunette and a red head.'

They sat and chatted about neutral topics for a couple more hours, moving into the kitchen area for a bite to eat when stomachs spoke up to remind them of dinner, before both were doing more yawning and apologizing than actual talking. Xander shot her an apologetic smile as he glanced at the clock. “Well, I’d better get going. I still have to find a cheap place to crash,” he announced as he got up and started getting himself ready to leave, despite his body’s protests at the movements. “And take care of that pretty head of yours, ‘kay?” He caught himself mid-stumble as his body obviously decided to stat shutting down no matter how much he silently protested the action.

The second time he stumbled, Charlie leaped from the couch to help catch him only to tumble herself and stop her fall with one hand on the edge of the dinette table as her head spun. “Damn it, Charlie-Girl! You know better than to move that fast while still recovering from a bash to the head,” she berated herself softly as the world slowly quit doing its version of the Twist. She righted herself and looked up just in time to see Xander give her a slightly insane but totally sympathetic grin.

“We’re quite a pair, aren’t we?” he commented, sarcastically as he stood there, weaving slightly.

“Oh yeah,’ she chuckled. “Tell ya what, you sleep in my guest bedroom, assuming we can make it up there, and tomorrow, I see about calling in some favors to get you some crash space. Deal?” She carefully nodded her head towards the stairs that lead to her ‘apartment’ and hoped that he’d take her up on her offer.

Grinning almost drunkenly, Xander made his way back over to her. “Deal. Come on, we’ll lean on each other and pray our worlds spin in opposite directions.’

Laughing softly at that, they wobbled around the garage, locking everything up and then very carefully staggered up the stairs, leaning heavily against each other. When they reached the guest room, Charlie was happy to see she had freshened it up since the last time someone had crashed there, but Xander didn’t care since he was almost asleep by the time she wrestled him under the covers, pausing only to take off his boots, placing the knife that had fallen out on the stand next to the bed.

Charlie chuckled softly and shook her head as he mumbled something and buried further under the soft covers. ‘Men are the same no matter where they come from,’ she mused, using the wall for support as she made her way slowly to her own room With a sigh of delight, she kicked off her own boots and snuggled under her covers when a muzzy through danced across her mind.

‘I hope the guys don’t scare him too bad tomorrow. God, I pray that they’re quiet when they come in.’ That thought got a snort and a silent ‘yeah right’ before pain and exhaustion pulled her into the warm embrace of oblivion.
***

The next morning, Charlie woke up to a beautiful day. The sky was clear, the sun bright and cheerful and in the tree a few lots down you could hear the birds giving their usual morning song turned pissed off shriek as Vinnie's unique rebel yell startled the feathers off of them and caused Charlie to bolt straight up in bed. After a few blissful seconds her head reminded her that pulling that kind of stunt was incredibly stupid, when one's head was still annoyed. She just managed to carefully navigate down to the garage and get sat down when the guys came barreling in with their usual exuberance.

"Mornin', Charlie-girl. What's new?" Called out Tall, Tan and Dangerous, A.K.A. Throttle for short, as he and his bros. eased off their bikes and swaggered over to her.

"Mornin', Babe. The baddest mamma jamma in the universe has arrived, your day may now begin," Vinnie, also known throughout the galaxy as the Great White Loud Mouth, bragged as he flopped onto the couch beside Charlie, causing her to wince slightly.

"Morning, Charlie-ma'am. Are you all right?" Modo, the third and gentlest, of largest, of the Martian Mice, asked in his rumble as he took in ther sight of her hunched over figure and the pain lines around her eyes once he used his tail to lift her head. Charlie gave him a weak smile as the other two instantly lowered their volume and cuddled around her.

Just ran into some goons yesterday on the way home from the store and got a bump on the head. Nothing serious, guys, really," she tried to reassure as said guys leapt up and started gathering things. Throttle went and hunted up some aspirin and a glass of water, while Vinnie fluffed up a couple of the throw pillows and gently convinced her to stretch out, perching on the edge of the couch to carefully smooth Charlie's hair back. Modo appeared from the direction of the stairs, just as she finished off the meds, with her grandmother's old quilt in his massive arms. Together the three badass bikers tucked her in, each laying a tender kiss on her forehead with a whisper of sleep sweet. Charlie decided that the attention was way to nice to protest about being treated like a fragile doll and drifted off to sleep with the soothing lullby of the guys' quiet murmuring and the pings and tings of them tuning their ladies in her ears.

"Hey bros. Didcha see the sweet new bike over in the corner? I wonder who it belongs to, cause it's waay to perfect to need fixsin'," Vinnie commented, showing that, wonder of wonders, he did occasionally pay attention to something other than himself, Sweetheart or Charlie.

"Must belong to the guy passed out in Charlie-ma'am's guest room," Modo mused in answer making both his bros turn towards him. Before either of them could start pelting him with questions all three sets of sensitive ears twitched to a soft, sock covered footfall on the stairs.

By the time Xander had stumbled wearily down the steps the three Martian Mice had donned their helmets and were leaning against their ladies in casual defense. Not that it did them a bit of good since Xander completely ignored then in favor of checking on Charlie then shuffling into the kitchen area muttering the word coffee over and over under his breath. The three bewildered bikers looked at each other then as one shrugged their shoulders and settled back to see what else happened.

Meanwhile, in the kitchen Xander fiddled with the coffee pot until it made that most beautiful of sounds, fresh dripping coffee. Then the poor guy leaned his head against the cabinet above the pot and just stood there hoping that the caffine would raise with the steam. After barely managing to keep awake he grabbed a cup and poured some coffee with his sugar and took a very careful first sip, letting out a deep purring moan that had one mouse's antenna twitching madly. Still not acknowledging the bikers he made a pass by Kima to pat her on the gas tank as he shuffled into the living room. There Xander sat his coffee down on the table in front of the couch, then dropped down on the floor between the two only to muffle an unmanly yelp as something poked him in the small of the back.

He shifted over to the less bruised hip and pulled a collapsible crossbow out of the waistband of his jeans and laid it on the floor beside himself causing the guys to raise a collective eyebrow and shift their first estimation of him a bit.

"Are you guys going to stand there all day or are you going to come sit down?" Xander suddenly asked, making the large Martians jump. The mice looked at each other and sauntered around to the other side of the coffee table, getting their first good look at the sleep trousled Xander.

Xander allowed the three rather large beings a few minutes to look him over while he sipped his coffee and did his own scanning. 'Huh. All I'm getting is protectiveness so if they're demons I guess they're friendly. And furry, very furry.' Xander mused as his train of thought derailed a bit. 'Dang you Larry! If you weren't already dead I'd kill you for making me realize I have a thing for fur.' He groused as he yanked his thoughts back to the here and now.

He let the silence stretch for a few more seconds then smirked and snarked, "Since Kima didn't sound the alarm I'm assuming you're friendly, so what are you?"

Modo and Vinnie both give Throttle a look that could be read even through their helmets that said, 'You're the leader so lead.' Throttle heaved a quiet sigh and stepped forward.

"What makes you think we're not human? And who's Kima?" Throttle asked in vain as Xander merely raised an eyebrow and settled back a bit more comfortably.

"Well, let's see, I guess you could pass as really hairy humans but the tails kinda give it away," Xander answered, ignoring the second question. 'No Xander you can't have him so quit imagining what that smoky voice would sound like begging for it harder and faster.' He mentally scolded himself as part of his thoughts wondered off to the NC-17 section of his brain again.
'Bad Xander! Bad!'

While Xander was trying to rein in his hormones the three bikers were holding their own speaking glances discussion that ended with the other two shrugging and leaving the explanation up to poor Throttle again. He studied the dark haired youth as he rapidly flipped through what facts to tell him.

Throttle sighed more audibly this time, drawing Xander's attention outward again, as he removed his helmet with a faint pressurized hiss, "We're Martians."

"Okay, that's new. Aren't you supposed to be little and green?" Xander quipped with a tilt of his head and an endearing, smartass smirk. '*whimper* Somebody in the love and lust department up there must really hate me.' He lamented as he got a good look at Tall and Tan.

"Watch it, punk!" Vinnie snapped, impatient to find out why this guy was in *his* Charlie's place.

Xander threw him a sepremely bored look, "Yeah yeah. Settle down, I've been threatened by bigger and badder
than you since I was 15 so just chill. I'm just here to look after the lady same as you," he muttered absently as he checked on the lady in question. He thought he caught a whisper of a whimper so he stroked a soothing finger across the back of her hand and gave a soft half smile when she settled lack down.

Vinnie growled deep in his chest and stepped forward ready to annihilate this punk who dared to touch Charlie.

'Hmmm. Looks like Char has a admirer. Let's see how serious he is,' Xander thought to himself as he followed some mischief imp's instructions and placed a hand on Charlie's quilt covered hip.

Throttle grabbed Vinnie's tail before he leaped at the young man and gave it a sharp yank, causing the white furred mouse to give an indignant yelp. "Cool your jets, Vincent. Why are you looking after Charlie-girl?"

"How much did she tell you about what happened yesterday?" Xander parried so he wouldn't get into trouble with Charlie. Buffy and Willow taught him a long time ago that opening his mouth without all the information was a baaad idea.

"Just that she was jumped by some goons on the way home from the store," Throttle reported as he used his tail to snag a chair and settled in comfortably.

Xander gave a soft, some what rude, snort, "More like ten of those S.O.B.s had her backed against a wall and she was giving them hell physically and verbally. Who'da thunk that those kinda words could come out of that sweet looking a mouth," He continued as he cut a quick glance to Vinnie to watch his reaction. Vinnie growled at Xander and would've tried jumping him again if Modo hadn't placed a big hand on his shoulder.

"Mmmmm. Vinnie quit growling. Guys quit antagonizing him," Charlie mumbled half asleep then snuggling deeper into her quilt.

There was a quiet murmur of yes Charlie-girl and Charlie-ma'ams as they waited for her to go completely back to sleep.

"Look, now that I'm awake let's start over. My name's Xander," he introduced as a peace offering.

Throttle grinned and took up the intros an his side, "I'm Throttle, the walking temper there is Vinnie and the big guy there is Modo." Xander gave them each a nod and was about to ask why they were on Earth when Kima gave a motorcycle version of an attention getting yip. Xander's head swung around and he was on his feet and heading over to her before the guys could
even figure out where the sound came from.

"What is it, girl?" He questioned her as the guys traded shocked looks with each other.

"So, Cub, why are we still here?" She queried as she cuddled up to her 'son'. "The female is back with her pack and being well looked after. Or is it you've finally found a potential mate among one of the males." She teased.

Xander quickly turned his back to the rest of the room as he blushed and scoldingly tease back, "No Kima! It's a bad Kima! Although would it'd still be considered bestiality if the one I want is from a different planet?" He mused out loud with a very wicked grin.

Kima gave a sharp bark of laughter and replied, "Well, I know one thing their fur is softer than it looks. The Alpha brushed against me when they taking care of their female. If I still had a body that could do something about it *I'D* take him to mate just to feel that fur again."

Xander gave a deep, chested extended growl at that admission causing the guys to shiver and twitch, and not necessarily with fear. "evil female. I better head back over before they freak even worse."

Xander strolled back over to his spot and carefully flopped back down so he wouldn't jar his bruises to badly. "Sorry 'bout that guys. She's used to being on the road by now and was wondering what was up."

Throttle jerked out of his shock first and asked, "How did you get an A.I. bike? I thought humans weren't to that point yet."

"Tech wise I don't think we are, at least, not the general public. Kima's a thank you from a Shaman I helped a few weeks ago. See, a couple of years ago I was accidently possessed by a hyena spirit for a few days along with some other kids. When we finally de-possessed everybody my hyena stayed with me. Turns out she was the matriarch of the pack and decided I needed more protection than they did. So when she pretended to go back, what she really did was find a nice, quiet corner of my mind and curled up to rest. When I helped the Shaman he asked if there was anything he could do in repayment and before I could tell him no, Kima took over and asked to be put in the bike." Xander explained in a bit of a ramble with a fond gaze towards Kima.

"So why does her tank say Savanna?" Vinnie asked, fasinated inspite of himself.

Xander gave a little chuckle and replied, "I'm not awake enough to get into that story right now. Try asking me later."

"How do you understand what she's saying?" Modo rumbled finally proving he could talk when he felt the need.

"Probably the same way you guys understande your ladies. Practice and instinct, right?" Charlie chimed in unexpectedly as she eased up on an elbow and rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

"Pretty much. Mornin' Char, how ya feelin'?" Xander inquired as he started checking her head over automatically. 'We just won't tell them about the translator spell that came with the deal.' He thought.

Charlie rolled her pretty blue-green eyes and sighed, "I'm fine. Still a bit of a headache but not bad. The guys pumped me full of painkillers before I fell asleep." She explained as she batted Xander's hand away. Xander just grinned and started a mock slap fight that he let her win after she collapsed into a fit of giggles. At that sight the Mice let down the last of their guard, figuring anybody who could make Charlie laugh before she had her coffee was cool in their book.

Charlie leaned back against the arm of the couch as she caught her breath. "So since my place is still standing I guess you guys decided to play nice," she mumbled around a jaw cracking yawn prompting Xander to pop up and go get her some coffee.

"Well, aside from us having to sit on Vincent here to keep him from giving into the baiting from your boy,we're still in the getting to know each other stage," Throttle reported with a slight smirk as Xander came trotting back the the coffee and sugar.

He glanced at her to find out how she took her coffee to find Charlie mildly glaring at him, Xander instantly pulled out the puppy dog eyes he reserved for Buffy when she was about to turn him into Slayer Kibble, "I didn't do anything. I never even touched him."

Kima, proving she had been paying attention the whole time, just cackled her handbars off. "Shhh! Can't you see I'm trying to use the patented Xander Charm here." He scolded playfully in a stage whisper. Kima just cackled louder while everyone else started to grin. "Fine. See how you are. Can't even get love from my bike," Xander mock sulked causing everyone else to finally give in and crack up.

TBC...