Transference

"Say, Buff, would you rather the Slayer spirit had passed into me, making me the slayer, when I saved you in the Master's cave or that it just dissappeared leaving Kendra alone and without a fellow slayer to help her in the fight against evil if she ever needed it?"

Xander hoped that made sense and was also laced with enough guilt that Buffy would rather transfer than eliminate another vampire slayer being in the world.

The blank hypnotized look came across Buffy's face and for a long second she said nothing. Then slowly and very quietly she answered. "I would rather it passed to you."

And then the world changed.

Xander blinked as he found himself alone in the library. No Buffy. No Giles in his office. Just him a stack of books for research and an empty library.

Before he could even wonder what had happened he had a sudden on rush of memories. Of a second life he had apparently lived. Diverging from the second he had revived a drowned Buffy with CPR.

His jaw dropped as he realized exactly how much he had changed the world. And yet in some ways it hadnt changed at all. The Master still died, vampires were staked, Spike came to town and weirdness abounded as usual.

The biggest change was in Buffy. The bad attitude Buffy that had shown up after summer vacation was now compounded by the loss of her Slayer abilities. And him being the person with said abilities made him her least favorite person. There was no reconciliation and change in her behavior after the failed Master resurrection.

And then Angelus happened. Only this time ahead of schedule. The school year had barely started and Buffy unleashed that monster on them all, instead of going to a Frat party with Cordy and exposing the demon cult. Only unlike Buffy he didnt have any emotional hang ups. Angelus barely managed a week of freedom before Xander had put him down.

Which made Buffy hate him even more, apparently.

Worse still Willow was caught in the crossfire. Stuck between her best female friend and her oldest friend. It got so bad Xander had pulled her aside and told Willow it was okay to let him go. That their friendship was strong enough to last through a brief hiatus while Buffy got her head out of her ass.

He was really niave when he'd said that. Xander hadn't expected Buffy to still be pissed off five months later. Then again she seemingly really believed in that star crossed lovers bullshit.

So now pretty much all his time these days was spent in school, researching with Giles and then out on the town slaying. Which... well, not exactly fun but he was saving lives and making a difference.

"Huh." He mused as he suddenly realized that thanks to the way things happened in this new timeline, Jenny Calendar had never been exposed as Janna Kalderash. She was still operating under the guise of a helpful techno pagan that had the hots for Giles.

He had also never dated Cordelia in this reality. Without Spike having to call the Order of Teraka to kill Buffy they hadn't had that Basement kiss to push them into dating. He was mildly upset about that. His first real kiss was denied him. Also the first set of breasts he had ever touched. And all the other stuff dating Cordy had caused, the moments together and whatnot.

Willow was still dating Oz. Buffy monopolizing Willow's time made it happen faster in this new reality then it had in the last one. In part because Willow liked Oz and partly because Buffy seemed to be trying to replace the Xander shaped hole in Willow's life.

Slumping forward on the table Xander leaned down and thumped his forehead against the wood. This might not have been his smartest idea.

Still, whats done is done. It's not like he could reverse things by asking Buffy the question again. Xander hmmed to himself. Well, maybe he could but would it really make for a better outcome? He had done as good a job if not a better job the Buffy when slaying. He hadn't let Angelus run loose for more than a month.

Nodding to himself Xander stood up, feeling proud of what he had done. And what he could do still. Especially with what he knew between the two timelines. There was that snake demon fraternity that had never been dealt with in this reality. And setting fire to a frat house sounded like a good outlet for his anger right about now.