Title:  Uncommon Distractions
Author:  Kay
Email:  kaygrr@hotmail.com
Feedback:  Please?  Because watching a grown girl cry is just pathetic.
Website:  ssfdu.tripod.com/kay/journal.htm (love for Sandy)
Archive:  Just let me know, eh?
Fandom:  Buffy
Pairing:  (Xander/Graham) + (Xander/Spike) = Xander/Graham/Spike
Rating:  PG-13
Disclaimer:  Mine?  What? *These*?  No, they're Mutant Enemy's.  They just
followed me home and wouldn't leave until I played with them.
Spoilers:  The last season of Buffy.  The incident with Glory, and the ep
"The Body".  (Look at me, trying to be vague).  And that ugly rumor about
Spike and a certain blond slayer?  Never happened.
Summery:  Graham and Riley are called back to Sunnydale when the area 
destabilizes.  When they return, they discover there are new factors in 
lives of the Scooby Gang, especially in Xander and Spike's.

Part 3/?

Graham sighed blissfully and opened the passenger door to the vehicle.  
Humming to himself, he climbed inside.

"Are you sure you don't want to drive?" Riley asked.

Graham just grinned and shook his head.

"Right.  Distracted.  I should've known."  Riley got behind the wheel with
a rueful smile.

"You should've," Graham agreed.  Riley knew he was in no shape for 
concentrating on the road.  Oh, he could have done it if it had been 
necessary, but he really didn't want to.  They'd just finished staking out
Xander at his current job.

God bless construction work.

Riley had seemed bored most of the time they had spent watching the 
construction site of a new set of tract of housing, but Graham had been 
enthralled.  Xander had walked around in faded jeans and a button down 
shirt, carrying lumbar and tools.  He had been quiet, but had laughed and
joked around with the other workers when they spoke to him.  He seemed 
popular, always ready to lend a hand if it was needed before anyone could
even ask.  Graham hadn't been able to hear anything that was said, but the
smiles on the faces of the men around Xander made him wish he could.

As the day had grown warmer, Xander shed his shirt and just wore a white
undershirt.  Riley had made a show of waving his hand in front of Graham's
face to break his concentration.  Graham smacked the offending hand away;
it was blocking his view of Xander.  The dark-haired man's face had been set
in lines of concentration as he had focused on sawing boards down to size and
plotting out angles and distances for walls and foundations.  The afternoon 
sun had summoned up a sheen of moisture that covered Xander's skin and his
body had gleamed as he worked the day away.

Graham closed his eyes, picturing Xander once more.  The image that rose
in his mind wasn't perfect:  Xander had only really spoken when spoken to,
and his eyes had been dark with weariness.  It wasn't the same exhaustion as
they had seen in the girls, but Graham still didn't like it.  He asked 
Riley, "Did you notice how tired he looked?"

"What, you did?" Riley asked with exaggerated surprise.  "I would've
thought you were too busy staring at his ass."

Graham glared at him.  "I didn't *just* look at his ass."

"True.  The rest of the time, you were making sheep's eyes at the rest of
him."

"Only you would make a comment about sheep's eyes.  I guess that unhealthy
obsession you developed with them back on the farm never really - hey!" 
They were going to have to clean up the car.  There were too many pieces
of paper lying about that Riley could ball up and throw at him.

"He should head straight home," Riley said, mind back on the mission.  
"We'll connect with the surveillance team there and see if we can find out
what's got him so worn out."  They couldn't risk following him too closely
themselves for fear of being spotted, so another team would handle that 
until he reached his house.  Graham and Riley crammed themselves inside a
different surveillance van just as the sun started to go down.

Graham watched the video screens with interest, wanting to see what
Xander's apartment looked like.  It didn't have much in the way of furniture in the
living room or two bedrooms and it was cluttered as though Xander hadn't
had time to do any real cleaning.  It wasn't dirty; it just wasn't neat.  It
looked as though Xander hadn't been spending much time there...Graham 
resolutely ignored that line of thought.  No thinking about Xander
spending all his time with Anya for him.  He'd just think about Xander in a tank
top some more instead.

The sound of the van's radio crackling to life startled him out of his 
reverie.  //Harris has been joined by an unknown individual.  They're both
enroute to his apartment.//

"Copy that," Riley acknowledged.  "It's probably Anya," he said quietly,
glancing at Graham.

"Probably," Graham agreed, keeping his tone neutral.  No need to broadcast
his crush to the techies, now was there?  He watched the monitor more 
closely and was rewarded after several minutes by seeing Xander enter the
apartment closely followed by...Hostile 17?

Graham heard Riley swear and instantly sympathized.  He'd heard Riley 
complain about Spike and the way the vampire was sniffing around Buffy
more times than he could count.  He remembered Spike from his incarceration 
within the Initiative compound, when he was just Hostile 17 awaiting 
chip-insertion.  He'd noticed the vampire because of his amazing eyes and
lean body, feeling the insistent pull of lust even as he'd reminded
himself that the man was evil.  What the hell was he doing with Xander?

Neither man said anything.  Xander dropped his tools on the floor and
headed for the bathroom, the only room without a camera in it, while Spike walked
into the kitchen.  While Xander showered and changed his clothes, Spike 
pulled a bag of liquid out of the refrigerator and poured it into a 
saucepan, as well as stuck a frozen dinner in the microwave.  By the time
Xander returned, hair damp and wearing clean clothes, Spike had the dinner
waiting for him on the counter.  Xander took it with a quiet thank you and
wolfed it down.  Spike watched him, sipping the heated liquid that he'd 
poured into a mug.

Blood, Graham realized.  Spike kept blood in Xander's refrigerator.  And
made Xander dinner!  What the hell was this?  Riley was no help; he looked
even more confused then Graham felt.  They both stared at the screen,
trying to understand what was happening.

Spike watched Xander over the rim of his mug.  "Maybe you should stay in
tonight.  You look tired."

Xander licked his fork clean and shook his head.  "We've got work to do. 
No rest for the weary."  He threw out his dinner box and opened one of the 
drawers in the kitchen and pulled out a pair of stakes and a handgun.  "No
rest for the wicked, either," he said, shrugging on a jacket.  "Let's
go."

Spike tossed back the rest of his blood.  Wiping the back of his hand
across his mouth, he followed Xander out the door.

"Where the hell are they going?" Graham asked.  "Xander just spent the
last ten hours at work!"  He grasped the door handle to the van's side door, 
waiting for the all clear signal.  As soon as the tech nodded, he and
Riley hit the street.  They kept their distance, not wanting either man ahead to
notice them.  Neither of them spoke; focused on the mission, Graham pushed
his concern to the side to deal with later.

Xander and Spike moved with purpose; they weren't out on the random 
wandering patrols that Riley had described as being the usual for Buffy's
friends.  The two men walked quickly toward their goal:  one of Sunnydale's 
many cemeteries.  Once inside, they slowed down, speaking in quiet tones
to each other.

Graham shook his head.  They were an open invitation to attack.

He should have remembered what thinking thoughts like that in Sunnydale 
could do.  Five figures appeared from the shadows, circling Xander and 
Spike.  Graham eyed Riley, waiting for a signal that they should
intervene.  

Riley shook his head so Graham went back to watching, muscles tense.  If
Xander looked like he was in trouble, he was going in.  He was sure Riley
would be right beside him.

Xander and Spike separated, turning to keep the beings surrounding them in
sight.  The five strangers vamped out as they closed in.  Xander immediately 
pulled out the stakes he had stashed away, Spike vamped out, and the fight
was on.  Xander staked one of the vampires immediately and fended off 
another with his stake, while Spike dusted two others before they could 
react.  Spike barely paused before leaping upon a third, knocking it to
the ground and snapping its neck before thrusting a stake into its heart.  The
blond man was on his feet immediately and moved in on the remaining
vampire. 
 
 Obviously frightened, the final attacker hesitated, giving Xander the 
opportunity to stake it cleanly.

Graham watched as Spike spoke intently to Xander.  It didn't make any real
sense, but it looked as though Spike was protecting Xander.  Not just
making sure that he didn't die, which would have made sense from the situation 
Riley had explained:  Spike had to keep him alive or else Buffy would kill
him.  Spike had gone beyond that, though.  He had hurried the killing of
the vampires he'd faced, not taking any time to toy with them or enjoy the 
carnage.  Not only that, but now he was checking Xander over carefully,
damn near fussing over him to make sure that he hadn't been hurt.  It was 
impossible, but it looked like Spike cared about Xander, that he was 
actually worried about whether Xander was injured or not.

Graham consciously relaxed his hands, loosening the fists he hadn't
realized he'd made.  He didn't like seeing Xander in danger; he liked seeing Spike
practically fawn over him even less.  Spike had to have some sort of plan,
one that would ultimately end up hurting Xander.  It might relate back to
the vampire's obsession with Buffy, the one that made Riley crazy every
time he talked about it.  Whatever it was, Graham wasn't just going to stand by
and let the blond bastard use Xander.  He'd find a way to work it into 
mission parameters: he wasn't going to let Xander be hurt.

Riley's hand on his shoulder forced Graham out of his brooding reverie. 
Graham nodded sharply to indicate that his head was back in the game.  He
watched as Spike argued with Xander, their voices too low for him to know
over what.  Whatever it was, Xander refused to go along with Spike.  The
vampire lit a cigarette, his jerky movements telegraphing his irritation
clearly.  He wasn't angry enough to leave Xander, though; the two men 
continued walking deeper into the cemetery together.  Graham and Riley 
drifted along behind them, waiting to see what happened next.

The demon that arose slavering from behind a tomb came as a complete 
surprise to Graham.  He immediately pulled out his side arm, as did Riley
beside.  Of course, that was after he took a few steps back and successfully 
managed not to soil himself.  He clamped down on his panic, smoothly 
shifting into battle mode.  His emotions faded away and he became the 
soldier he'd trained so long to be:  calculating and cool and efficient. 
It was this calm that allowed him to notice a few things, even as the demon
rose to its true height and loomed large in the moonlight.

First, Spike and Xander didn't really seem surprised by the demon's 
appearance.  Neither man wasted anytime with surprised exclamations or 
panic;  instead, Xander retreated a few paces and pulled out the handgun
he'd retrieved at his apartment.  At the same time, Spike launched himself
at the demon, not hesitating for a moment as he tore at the creature with
clawed hands.

Second, Spike was definitely protecting Xander.  The vampire was pitting
himself against a demon, a creature that he could injure and torment as
much as he liked without any repercussions from the chip inside his head. 
Riley had spent hours talking about the reasons why he loathed Spike, so Graham
knew quite a bit about him.  He knew that Spike should have been
inflicting as much damage on the demon as possible, drawing out its pain as he 
concentrated on enjoying the torture.  Instead, he was working as quickly
as he could to kill the demon, glancing back at Xander whenever he could, 
checking on the dark-haired man to be sure that he was all right.

Graham and Riley held their positions.  So long as Spike and Xander were
in no real danger, they had no reason to break cover and compromise the 
mission.  That didn't mean that Graham wasn't burning to interfere, to
pull Xander away from both the demon and the vampire, but he stayed true to his
training and didn't reveal himself.

Spike kicked the demon once more in the head then leapt away from it,
giving Xander a clear shot at it.  Holding his weapon with surprising 
professionalism, Xander fired two shots.  With a wailing sigh, the demon
collapsed, its skull shattered by the two bullets.  Spike nodded approvingly 
toward Xander.  The two men spoke quietly, then walked quickly out of the
cemetery, heading back to Xander's apartment.

Graham and Riley continued to follow them at a distance.  After watching
the two men enter the apartment building, Graham led the way to the
surveillance van.  He sat down and scooted closer to the wall of television screens, 
needing to see what was coming next.

Xander put away the stakes, then reloaded and stored the gun.  He then 
disappeared into the bathroom again and once more emerged with damp hair,
wearing a pair of blue flannel pants and nothing else.  He yawned hugely. 
"Night, Spike."

"Night, Whelp."  Spike was sprawled across the couch flipping through a 
magazine.

Xander walked into his bedroom and flopped down onto the bed, sighing as
he wriggled around on the sheets.  After finding a comfortable position, he
fell asleep almost immediately.

As soon as Xander disappeared, the vampire tossed the magazine onto the 
table and rose to his feet.  He began to move about the apartment, quietly
putting used dishes in the dishwasher, shifting Xander's tools off to the
side so they were no longer a hazard, and just in general neatening the 
apartment.

"I wonder if he does windows," the tech commented.

Graham exchanged a confused glance with Riley.  What the hell was going
on?  Spike was now Xander's houseboy?  He didn't like this at all.  Spike
wasn't acting at all like the vampire Graham remembered from his confinement
within the Initiative base.  There, he'd been coiled energy personified,
muttering scorching curses and always looking for a chance to escape.  Riley had
told him tales of Spike gleefully reveling in violence, and yet the blond man
was picking up the apartment of a supposed foe.  And since when was Xander 
comfortable about having Spike in his apartment?  They were wishing each
other good night like they were Waltens instead of enemies.  Graham 
impatiently motioned for the tech to turn up the volume.

Spike finished with his cleaning.  For a moment he stood in the middle of
the apartment, shifting his weight as if in indecision.  The moment passed
and he walked silently across the room to Xander's bedroom door.  He
paused outside, head cocked to the side as though listening.  After a few moments
he slowly pushed the door open and went inside.

Graham's muscles tensed as he readied himself to move.  He knew Spike was
chipped, knew that he couldn't hurt Xander, but he couldn't relax.  The 
moment it looked as though Spike was going to do anything to harm Xander,
Graham was going to be out of the van and up the stairs to stop him.

Spike stood in the doorway, staring down at Xander.  His gaze roamed over
the sleeping man's body, tracing the lines of his back, the way one of his
legs hung off the bed.  He stood like that for long minutes, then walked
toward Xander.  He reached out and lifted Xander's leg, gently maneuvering
it back onto the bed before pulling the blanket up to cover him.  He brushed 
his fingertips over the exposed skin of Xander's shoulder, then silently
left the room.  He walked over to the other bedroom, shed his clothes and
fell into bed himself.

After neither man moved for a half-hour, the tech leaned back in his chair.  
"Show's over.  Harris will sleep for another five hours and then get up
for work, and this Spike guy will sleep for most of the day.  Then he'll
either leave wearing a protective layer for the sun or wait for Harris to come 
home."

Graham nodded and he and Riley exited the van.  As they drove back toward
base, Riley looked over at him.  "Weird."

"Weird is putting it mildly.  Since when is Spike Xander's guardian
angel?"

"I think Tyndal needs to hear about this."

Graham agreed.  As soon as the returned to base, they reported to the
major. 
  
Tyndal received them in his office, listening to their observations 
without comment.  He nodded slowly as they fell silent.  "I think you men
are right.  Harris and this Spike's actions are out of character, based on
all the intelligence we've gathered on them.  It needs to be looked
into."

"I have a theory, sir," Graham volunteered.  After Tyndal nodded his 
encouragement, he continued.  "I believe that Willow and Tara's spell is
keeping any more HSTs from entering the Sunnydale area, but that doesn't
explain why the ones already present are more under control.  I think that
Harris and Spike are responsible for the restoration of order."

"Or at least play a large part in it," Riley added.

Tyndal considered their words.  "I agree.  Tomorrow, I want you to initiate 
contact with Harris.  If he's part of the reason the situation here hasn't
completely gone to hell, then I want you to help him.  We need the
Hellmouth stable for the sake of national security and I'm not willing to rely on
the efforts of one civilian and an HST."  He shuffled some of the papers on
his desk.  "For the time being, avoid contact with Summers.    Until we 
understand why she's abandoned her work as the Slayer I don't want her 
involved."

Graham and Riley snapped salutes at the major and were dismissed.  As they
walked toward their quarters, Graham watched Riley carefully.  He'd just
been ordered to stay away from his ex.  Graham had no idea what to say, so
he settled for sneaking glances at his friend at every opportunity.

Finally, Riley couldn't take it anymore.  "I'm fine, Graham.  I'm not
happy, but I'm fine."

Graham nodded slowly.  Riley had never been able to lie to him, not about
anything that really mattered.  "Just checking."

"I know."  A sudden grin lit the light-haired man's face.  "Actually, I 
should be worried about you.  After all, tomorrow you're going to be
meeting Xander."

Graham froze, his shirt half-pulled over his head.  He glared at Riley. 
"You fuck."

Riley's grin was unrepentant.  "We've been ordered to contact him.  To
work 
closely with him."

Graham threw his shirt at Riley.  "Now I'm never going to get to sleep."

Riley pulled the shirt off his head and tossed it back at him.  "Just
don't be too loud, all right?  I need my beauty rest."

"No amount of rest is going to help that mug of yours."  Graham fell
easily into the pattern of bickering, but his heat wasn't in it.  He was going to
see Xander tomorrow.  He was going to talk to him and be near him and not
have to stalk him...

He was never going to get to sleep.

*****