Want to be a Cowboy

This not for profit, just for fun.

Plot: What if some the school bombing was investagated

by real cops, not Sunnydale cops.

Hope you enjoy.

This is a dark story, plent of bad things happen to good people. it has Bad lauguage, sex, drugs murder and death.

Enjoy (Grin)



“Fun day,” Xander mused to himself.

The Scoobies had just had good night. The Town didn’t

though.

The Mayor was dead. The big bad they had been fighting

for over a year. He had made it to demon form, and

they had taken him out. But in the end Snyder and 20

students and parents had died, too.

It was a happy time and a sad one, too. He had led the

students in the fight and lost a few friends there.

But the town was still breathing, which was all to the

good. He was to meet Buffy and Willow today, and it

was going to be their last free time. The girls were

going off to College and he was off to the working

world; well, after his tour of the USA, that is.

The next few days were going to be the best in

Xander’s life.

‘Til the FBI came to town.

Xander was heading toward Buffy’s house. He was

leaving in the morning and the rest of the country

awaited. He was just about to knock on the door when…

“Freeze! FBI!”

Men came out of the wood work and little red dots

appeared all over his chest.

Looking up the street at Buffy’s house, he could see

her and Willow standing in the window, looking at him

as the Agents threw him to the ground and cuffed him.

One of the Agents was a tall man, who was busy

informing him of his rights.

“Alexander Harris. You are under arrest. You have the

right to remain silent...”

Xander just lost track of the rest. He just watched

Willow crying and Buffy mouthing unheard words and he

immediately realized what he had to do: protect his

girls.

Buffy was THE Slayer and needed to be out in the

world. And his Willow, she would never make it through

any of this.

Him, though, what did he have? Nothing. Just them.

And he wasn’t about to let anything happen to them if

he could help it.

So he would take the fall. For everything they’d

done.

***

Sunnydale P.D. headquarters

“Mr. Harris, please tell us why you did it?” Agent

Mulder asked in a low voice.

“I didn’t do anything.”

“We have you on tape,” Mulder pointed a remote at a TV

in the counter, the screen clicked on and a tape

started. “This is a Security tape from a security

camera across the street from the school.

The tape clearly shown Xander getting out of a van and

rolling drums into the school. Also, he appears to be

talking to someone who wasn’t there.

Xander thought to

himself.

“Still not saying anything.”



“Alexander, please, I want to help you. But you have

to talk. The bomb killed a lot of people. You could

get the death penalty.”

“I can’t say anything.”

“Can’t or won’t? Who else are you protecting?”



“I was alone.”

“No, you were not. The bomb was put together by

someone with Military training. We found a rocket

launcher hidden in your room. How did you get that?”

“Not talking.”

***

Outside the interrogation room.

Agent Mulder’s partner watched the interrogation with

some of the local police.

“That Harris boy was always going to be trouble.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, we’d get three or four calls a week to his

house. His parents would be drunk and fighting

usually.”

“The boy’s medical record shows he has had been beaten

just about everyday. He had new bruises every time he

was seen, sometimes even broken bones. And you still

did nothing?”

“Calm down, Agent Scully. We had orders not to

interfere with that house that came from the Mayor’s

office.”

“What? Why would the Mayor care about him?”

“Don’t know. Just that boy could just about do

anything and we were told to look the other way. He

was always in a fight somewhere. Could be found

wandering the streets at all hours. I even found him

sleeping in the middle of Main street, one time.”

“Just what was going on in that house?”

***

Buffy’s house



Willow and Buffy were sitting around, still in shock.

The TV was broadcasting a news report of Xander’s

arrest.

“The Troubled Teen is reported to have killed at least

23 people in the Graduation bombing. His parents have

not made a statement at this time, and the police have

only said that they have a subject under arrest. But

we did gotten an interview with a Student at the

school that told us that Alexander was a slacker who

skipped class and was always in fights. There were

even rumors that he was a homosexual, and that that

was the reason he did this terrible crime.”

“What is happening?” Willow said softly.

“I don’t know but we have to do something,” Buffy

insisted. “Xander didn’t do anything wrong.”

Giles walked in, having been at the Police station all

day.

“Giles, what’s going on?” Buffy asked, as her mom also

walked in to see what Giles had to say.

“I talked to an Officer there. It seems that Xander

is not talking to anyone. He is apparently taking the

blame for everything.”

“Well, I’m going to go down there and get him out,”

Buffy announced as she got up and started to the door.

“Buffy, STOP!” Giles called to his Slayer. “I have

been in contact with The Council and they are doing

everything they can to cover for us. But not him.

They will throw us to the wolves and wait for the next

Slayer to be Called if we so much interfere with this.

According to them, this is a Mortal concern.”

“What?!?” Willow yelled at him. “Xander is our

friend!”

“Of course, Willow. I know he is, and he is very dear

to us all. But the Council doesn’t see it that way.

As far as they are concerned, he is a normal boy

here.”

“What? All of these children are normal,” Joyce said,

tears in her eyes.

“No, Joyce. They are not. Willow is a novice Witch,

Buffy is a Slayer, Oz is a Werewolf and I am a

Watcher. The Council considers that a bonus. But

Xander

has no useful skills in their estimation, so he is on

his own as far as the Council is concerned.”

“But we have to do something,” Buffy insisted.

“I have planned on it. I using some of my personal

money to get him a good Lawyer, see how it proceeds

from there.”

***

Sunnydale Police Station.

“Mulder, something is not adding up here.”

“What do you mean, Scully?” he asked from across the

desk, as he finished up his report.

“Well, where is the Mayor’s body? No one found it.

And from everyone we talked to about Harris, no one

believes that he could kill someone.”

“Scully, we’ve heard that before many times before.

No one wants to believe that next door neighbor could

kill anyone. But it’s always the guy next door that

DOES kill someone.”

“I know, but this kid is not a murderer.”

“I don’t think so, either.”

“What then why....”

“He knows who did this. And the big question is

‘why?’ The Mayor was very interested in him and some

of his friends. Why? Did you know that the Mayor has

no record of his birth, and he has apparently never

been out of office in 100 years.”

“Come on...”

“Here, look at this,” he said as he pushed a book of

old newspaper photographs over to her.

Looking at the photos, she saw a progression of photos

of Mayor Wilkins, from around the early 1890's ‘til

1998.

“This is incredible.”

“It is, isn’t it.”

***

In the integration room

Xander sat looking from his lawyer to his parents.

“Just tell me who else was in on it. I can use that

to get a better sentence.”

“No one helped me. I was on my on.”

“No, you weren’t. That gang of sluts helped you,”

Mrs. Harris said.

“Gang? We can work with that.”

“Its ME. No one else was there, I did it alone!”

“No, son, you did it with a gang. Just get in front

of the Judge and tell all about your friends that

helped you, and you should get off.”

“Ms. Morgan, I did it all alone. Just me.”

“If you don’t tell the Judge about your gang, you WILL

go to prison,” Lila Morgan promised him. “We at

Wolfram & Hart can only do so much.”

“I did it. I will take the fall. No one else was

there; no one else was part of this.”

***

Later that day

Willow and Buffy had just left. They had fought and

fought with Xander, insisting that they were going to

tell the truth and let the chips fall where they

might. They were not letting Xander do this.

He had finally talked them into letting it happen the

way he wanted. Besides what the Council would do to

help, which was nothing, it would put people in

danger.

Buffy was the Slayer and needed to be free. And

Willow what wouldn’t be able to help if she was in

Prison with him, leaving Buffy alone to fight the good

fight.

It was a bitter truth for them, but it was still a

truth.

As soon as they had gone, he was taken in front of a

Judge, where the Judge asked him for his plea.

He didn’t say anything, merely looked blankly at him.

His lawyer tried to get him to say something, bit

Xander just looked out the window.

He had known that one day he would lose the good

fight, but he always thought it would be a monster

that got him, not this.

But he would take this just as he would take anything

to help Buffy. Whether it was a claw, sword or jail

time, he would take it.

So long as she was free.