"It appears that Xander's parents did in fact sell him to someone. But his mother couldn't tell me to whom."

"Oh." Anya said quietly. Then she shrugged, "That's too bad, he was a good orgasm friend."

"Anya!" Willow yelled. "How can you say that? Don't you care?"

"He lived in his parent's house, they can do whatever they want with him."

Buffy just had to add her two cents, "He did go willingly. We saw him. All he had to do was say no. We would have helped."

Giles managed to refrain from smacking his charge by strength of will alone. "He came to us for help last night, Buffy. And we laughed at him. Why would he ask again? And from what his mother said, it does have some basis in legality. She mentioned that they had a letter from a judge saying they could do anything they wanted to him. I can only guess that they somehow obtained a court order severing his rights as an adult. That means his parents have complete control over his life and can in fact sign him over to someone else."

Buffy bounced in her boyfriend's lap, "But now we know he was telling the truth, we didn't before. Even if it is legal, we still could have stopped them and hidden him until they gave up."

Riley was totally confused. "Would someone explain to me just what in the hell is going on?"

Spike tipped back in his chair, "Easy mate. Harris came here last night claiming that his parents were planning on giving him to some bloke. We were teasing him about becoming a 'Love Slave', he got pissed and left." Spike smirked, he'd never really liked the Harris boy. That attitude of his was no doubt being knocked out of him right now.

"Well duh. I wonder why?"

Buffy turned to look at her perfect, blond boyfriend, "But Riley, we didn't know he was serious. I mean, come on. Who would believe a thing like that?"

Riley pushed Buffy off of his lap and stood up. "Buffy, you're sitting in a room with a vampire, a former vengeance demon and a witch, and you're telling me that you couldn't believe one of your *friends* when he asked for help?"

"But Riley," Buffy whined, "we didn't know he was serious."

Riley shook his head, he loved Buffy, but sometimes her attitude confused the hell out of him. "Buffy, Xander is your friend, he shouldn't have to prove anything. If a friend has a problem and asks for help, you help. No questions asked. That what friends do."

Buffy pouted, it wasn't fair. She wasn't the one who sold him, why was she in trouble?

Willow raised tear filled eyes to Giles, "What are we going to do? We don't even know where to start looking."

"There can't be that many people that Mr. Harris knows that would do such a thing. We'll start there."

Anya thought back to some of the conversations she and Xander had had before she'd left for greener pastures. "What about his father's boss? He's rich and he likes both kinds of orgasm friends."

Giles felt a glimmer of hope, "I wasn't aware Xander's father had a new job. Who does he work for?"

"Giles, Xander told us all about it when his father got the job. He was totally shocked that his father would be working for a man like Antony DiBlasi." Riley said.

Giles winced, another example of just how badly they'd treated the boy. Someone that Xander had barely met knew more about what was going on in his life than his long time friends. If, no *when*, they found him, he would do everything he could to make it up to him.

*****

Antony watched the moon shining over the ocean from the balcony of the guest room. He'd moved Xander in here rather than deal with changing the sheets on his own bed. He turned back to check on him and found dark eyes studying him intently.

"How do you feel?" he asked quietly.

"Better. It doesn't hurt as bad now."

"That's good." Both fell silent, unsure of how to continue. Xander couldn't take it any more, he had to know.

"You know my dad is setting you up, I had nothing to do with it. Are you going to let me go?" he whispered.

Antony sat in the chair next to the bed and regarded the boy silently for a moment before he answered. "No, I'm not. I dreamt of you last night. I was completely shocked when you answered the door today. I knew your father was up to something before he offered you to me, nothing is ever that easy. I knew you'd probably hate me for it, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity. I want those dreams to become real. And you'll definitely be safer here with me."

Antony reached out and ran his hand through Xander's hair, ignoring the instinctive flinch from the light contact.

"I will find out what he's up to and who he's working for. He'll pay for his greed, and for what he's done to you. But know this, and believe it. I want you. I will *never* hurt you and I will do everything in my power to make you happy."

"Then let me go. I don't want to be somebody's slave."

"That I can't do." He smiled wryly, "And I don't consider you to be a slave, but you are mine. No matter what happens, I will never willingly let you go. Never."

He continued to run his hand through Xander's dark hair and waited for the dawn, listening to the boy quietly cry himself to sleep.

*****

The early morning sun shining in his face finally forced Xander to open his eyes. He didn't recognize the room he was in, but the man sleeping in the chair next to the bed he definitely remembered.

He wanted to take the time to study his new 'owner', God, he hated that word, but finding a bathroom and relieving the pressure on his overly full bladder was a priority.

He tried to sit up, a loud groan escaping when the abused muscles in his back protested his movement. That one sound was enough to wake the sleeping man.

Antony opened his eyes to see Xander trying to get out of bed by himself. "Hang on Xander, let me give you a hand."

Xander glared at him, but accepted his help. Once he got on his feet he shook off the hands holding him steady and staggered out the door. He vaguely remembered where the bathroom was and headed in that direction.

His memory was correct and he found the bathroom without too much trouble. He took care of business and washed his hands, wishing he could find an excuse to stay in there longer. The knock on the door let him know that his time alone was up.

He snatched open the door and snarled, "What?"

Antony held out a toothbrush and razor he'd retrieved from his own bathroom, "Here, I thought you might want this. I'm sorry, but you can't take a shower yet. David said to wait for a few days, give the cuts some time to heal. But you can wash off, I'm sure that'll make you feel a little better. I'll go get you another pair of my sweats, do you want a t-shirt? It might be better if you didn't wear one, but it's up to you."

Xander wasn't prepared for him to be so nice, it went against everything his father had taunted him with. His confusion was evident, "Yeah, clean clothes would be a good, shirt too." Xander hung his head and mumbled, "Uh, thanks, Mr. DiBlasi."

"Xander, please, call me Antony, or Tony if you'd rather. It's a little too late to stand on ceremony now. I'll be in the kitchen when you get done. Just go through the living room and take the first hall to the left."

"Okay." Xander watched the older man turn the corner before he shut the door and locked it. He sat on the edge of the tub, trying to clear his mind.

There was no way he was going to tell Tony that he'd dreamed about him too. Had been dreaming about him for months. Those dreams had eventually led to his break up with Anya.

Dreaming of being with a man had totally freaked him out at first, but over time he'd come to look forward to those dreams. Everything was good there. He was happy and safe. He knew the man in his dreams loved him, and would never hurt him. He never made fun and always laughed at his jokes, no matter how corny they were.

Even the sex in those dreams had been better than anything he'd ever done with Anya. The more intense the dreams got, the less time he wanted to spend with her. He couldn't understand it, but it felt like he was cheating every time he slept with her. She had finally had enough and left for San Francisco. She claimed that she loved him, but he knew she didn't. Not really. If she had, she never would have left.

But this, it wasn't supposed to be like this. He wasn't supposed to be a possession, traded to help some slimy lawyer get what he wanted.

He stood up and started running water in the sink. He stared at his reflection in the mirror, seeing the dark spotty growth of beard and the darker circles under his eyes.

The small cut on his lip drew his attention and he felt an overwhelming rage run through him. His dreams of finally being happy might have been just another quirk of living on the Hellmouth, but he wasn't going to do what his father wanted.

A small grin crossed his face, maybe, just maybe, they'd be able to turn the tables on his father and those lawyers.

But first, he and Tony would have to talk.

Next Part