You made me tear up in the middle of Starbucks. The few bits of verbal roughness are nothing when encased in the pathos of your storytelling. Thanks. :)

Crying in your coffee. Well, for this story, that's a huge compliment, thank you.

This story is great, I ♥ it! Please write more soon!

Thanks. We'll see what I can do after my classes are finished.

Poor Xanny. So happy you updated.

Didn't plan to make him cry, but it felt right for the moment.

You know, bone marrow transplantation is almost never the first treatment for any disease, because it is always dangerous. They start off by killing off the patient's existing bone marrow, which can lead to fatal infections. Then, even with a family donor, there's graft-versus-host disease, which is as unpleasant as it sounds. BMT is not a magic bullet.

More realistically, they would have put Xander on chemotherapy, and he'd be in the hospital for a few weeks of pain, as the doctors were trying to induce a remission. Only later if necessary would the doctors search for a BMT match, and only if they determined that an autologous transplant wouldn't work. The story is just moving too fast.

Besides, after a transplant, he'd still be prone to infections, would be on immunosuppressive drugs, and generally need very careful handling.

Some leukemias can only be cured with BMT--AML, for example. But children and teens are more prone to ALL and Hodgkin's disease.

Sorry, but I went through (non-BMT) treatment problems with my mother; I had to do a lot of reading. I've seen too many stories that use transplantation unrealistically.

Thanks for the info. Chalk it up to questionable doctors at Sunnydale, okay? I do have a plan that should make it okay.

Well, Xander is just starting to meet the members of his new extended family. He just met the Father of the group in H, and the maternal figure in Alexx. But wait till he gets a look at Calleigh! If she wasn't the sister, he would be going after her in a heartbeat!

Oh, I think he'll drool over her anyway.

I think that Speed just found out the hard way why Xander said that Red is the reliable member of the trio. And Willow can be certain about one thing: Speed is a man of his word. He says he will be a good big brother to Xander even when they are grandparents, you can take that to the bank!

It's nice when you find a good family member.

Well, Speed just meet up with Xander's best friends. And if he needs to know anything about him, these two are the ones to ask. And if and when Willow reaches the age to leave this town, if she has gotten her hacking skills down good, she might just truly impress H!

They'll probably tell him if he's screwing up with Xander or not.

Well, Speed is doing the right thing. He's making practical plans for the future. And I can hardly wait for Xander to meet his extended family, the CSI Miami group. He is going to be a welcome member to this extended family.

Sometimes Speed can seem irresponsible (ie. his gun), but I don't think he could be on H's team if he wasn't a planner.

Sounds like Xander is going to be meeting a family that will treat him right. And Speed is going to be a small part of Xander's new family!

Speed will be the link between Xander and the family/team.

Happy to see an update. Looking forward to the next bit.

Thanks. Hopefully when RL slows down a bit, Musie can get back to my open fics again.

great update.

Thanks.

Oh wow... amazing story!
Lucky Xander for reuniting with his brother and finally start getting the love he deserves. :)
I'm sure he'll be able to defeat the illness.. I hope.
Congrats! Eager to read more.

Normally, I'd say not to hold out too much hope for Xander's survival in one of my fics, but this is one where I'm trying to be nice to him.

Well. It looks like Alexx has another chick to mother hen over, but Xander eally needs it. I always liked how she was such a beautiful loving and caring person on the show. I can see her being just what Xander needs to heal. Speed is a great guy, and I can see him as protective of those he cares for, but I can't see him as overtly affectionate or 'maternal'.

Oh yeah, Xander definitely needs Alexx's mothering. Speed's character will change at least a little to accommodate his brother's inclusion in his life.

Really enjoyed this one too - as little of it as there is .

Need more! Need a nice Xander is Speed's brother fix.

(And kinda dread to know what happens to Speed later on - unless you go totally AU on me!)

I'll put you out of your misery right now, Speed won't die in 'Lost Son'. And I'll try to poke Musie into working some more on this.

Good chappy. More please!

Glad you liked it.