[#014- Time of Need]-Useless One (BTVS)

[erebusbeck]

Theme Prompt: #014-Time of Need
Title: Useless One
Fandom: BTVS (sometime during late season 7)
Rating/Warnings: PG
Bonus: Yes
Word Count: 878
Summary: Xander steps up. Or tries to.

This was practically home now. Buffy’s house. A few years ago, he would have been in heaven with all the young, nubile girls filling every flat surface. Now, he was too tired, half-blind, and unable to see them as anything more than potential weapons and people to clean up after. That was all he could do anymore. He was the clean-up guy, the fix-it guy, the run errands guy.

“Xander, can you do a couple of loads of laundry? We’re out of clean towels.” Anya asked while she was passing through the kitchen where he was making himself a sandwich.

“On it.” Xander stuffed half the sandwich in his mouth and chewed quickly. He needed to feel useful, contribute, and the only way he could think of to help now was research, even more slowly now that he couldn’t focus well, and being the manual labor guy.

He went back up to the kitchen after putting in a load of towels and found a much bigger mess than he’d left. “You all have hands, you can clean up after yourselves,” he yelled in the general direction of the living room.

He got back a lot of “Sorry!” but nobody came to help him clean up. Of course not, they were the Chosen Ones and he was the Useless One.

He went back down to the basement to switch the load to the dryer and put another load in the washer. He hoped the old machines would stand up to their current increased usage. He heard a crash upstairs and sighed. “Now what did they break.”

He found that someone had broken three of the wood pieces under the handrail of the stairs. He didn’t know what they were called but he knew how to fix them. “Who did this?” Nobody fessed up. He shook his head and went to get his tools.

Later, he was putting the last load of towels in the dryer when Buffy found him in the basement. She hopped up on the washer after he emptied it. “They are exhausting. Like having a million Dawns around.”

“She’s really stepped up lately though.”

“Dawn? Yes, she has. She’s really had to grow up fast this last year.” She watched him put a dryer sheet in and turn on the dryer.

“Make yourself useful,” he said as he plopped several towels in her lap to fold. She hopped off the washer and put the towels on top of it and started folding them.

“Xander?”

Her voice sounded weird, so he turned to look at her. “Buffy?”

“I know you’ve been through a lot, but I need you to do something for me.”

“You know I will, if I can, Buff.”

“I know but… it’s a big ask.”

“What? I mean, go big or go home is what I say.”

“Yes, sure, you’re saying that all the time.” She smiled at him and stopped folding towels. “I need your help. Sure, I can train them like a Slayer, but I can’t train them like what they are, ordinary girls. Can you show them some of your tips for survival? Maybe take some out on a patrol a few times?”

“Buffy, I…” He was overwhelmed that she would ask him that. Almost proud of himself that she thought that highly of him.

“You can say no. It’s very dangerous out there.” Buffy quickly said. “You would really be no match for an Uber-Vamp but there are regular vamps around and who knows what else.”

“No. I mean, yes, I can do that if you need me to. I just thought…” He motioned to his eye patch. “I thought I had screwed up enough.”

“What? No! It was me that screwed up and you lost an eye. You have more experience in the field than any of those girls and you don’t have any superpowers. You’re the most resilient person I know.” Buffy grabbed his hand. “Probably I haven’t said this enough, but I depend on you just as much as I do Willow or Giles.”

“You’ve never said it.” Xander smiled. “Maybe you said it in your head though.”

“If you’re finished stroking the boys’ ego, you’re needed upstairs.” Spike said from the basement stairs.

“Don’t listen to him, he’s an ass.” Buffy shot a glare at Spike who turned around and stomped back upstairs. “I’m being serious.”

“I know. Now, go on. I have towels to fold and then a class to teach in the ‘Xander Harris School of Survival’.”

“Thanks, Xander. You know I kind of love you, right?”

“Yeah, yeah. And I kinda love you, too.” Xander turned around and continued folding the towels, moving more quickly. He wasn’t so tired, after all.

A huge crash and growling came from upstairs, and he ran up to find the door open, the window was broken, and Slayers and some of the tougher Slayer’s-in-waiting battling something on the front lawn. The remaining girls were standing in the middle of the room, watching the fight. “Everyone, grab a weapon and pay attention to the other windows and the back door.”

His training sessions would have to wait.