TITLE: The Haunting of Lowell House (2/?)
AUTHOR: Kylia (kylia_Owl@yahoo.com)
DISCLAIMER: Nobody belongs to me, unfortunately. They 
belong to Joss &
Mutant Enemy, and a few other people I don't know.
FANDOM: BtVS
RATING: R - NC-17, eventually
SPOILERS: Up to 'Restless'; Dawn exists, but no 
mention of her being the
'Key'.
CATEGORY: Xander/Graham
SUMMARY:  Xander and Graham have another run in...
DISTRIBUTION: My Site 
(http://www.sockiipress.org/~kyliasworld/), List
archives, anyone else, ask, and you shall receive.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Not really an AU, but it diverges a 
bit. This is a new
pairing for me, so be kind *g*
But constructive feedback is appreciated :)
WEB VERSION:
http://www.sockiipress.org/~kyliasworld/Fic/B-A/X-Gr/haunting.html
FEEDBACK: Definitely. My muses need to be fed.
DEDICATION: To Liz
***********

Xander found himself back at Lowell House a few days 
after the dust had
settled.  It was still dark out, the sun not having 
risen yet.

He stood there, looking out at the empty space, his 
mind visualizing what he
would be doing soon.

"You come here often?"

Xander spun around at the voice, and was surprised to 
see Graham Miller
standing three feet away.  He was wearing a pair of 
jogging shorts, and a
thin T-shirt hung over is shoulders.  Even in the dark 
Xander could see the
sweat across his chest.

"I. uh, I didn't mean it the way it sounded."  Graham 
stuttered when he
realized Xander wasn't saying anything.

Xander thought back to the greeting and grinned.  
"Really?  That's too bad."
He turned back towards the empty lot.  "Actually, I 
seem to be coming here a
lot recently."  He turned back to face the soldier.  
"You done?"  At Graham'
s blank look he elaborated.  "Running?  Are you done?  
We could go get
something to eat."

"Yeah, that sounds good. Great.  I know this place 
around the corner."

Xander thought about the nearby places and realized 
that Graham must be
talking about Simon's.  The only other food place 
opened at this time was a
pastry shop and Graham struck him as more of a 
sandwich kind of guy.  That
was okay.

He grinned.  "Let's go."


*****

Xander sat in the small booth at Simon's Sub Shop, 
watching Graham add some
extra peppers to his sandwich.

"Riley said you left town, went back to work, when the 
Initiative cleared
out."  Xander commented.

Graham looked up, surprised that Xander may have known 
anything about him
and wondering when exactly Riley had said this.  
Things had been awkward
between he and his closest friend during the few times 
they had spoken.

"I did.  I came back. on assignment." Graham answered, 
returning his
attention to his sandwich.

Xander nodded, having expected as much.  "This 
assignment, it doesn't have
anything to do with why they tore down Lowell House, 
does it?"

Graham looked up from his food and stared at Xander 
for a second, weighing
how much he could say.  He didn't really know Xander 
very well, although in
the short time he'd spent with him, he felt he could 
trust him.  Riley had
implied that Xander was loyal and trustworthy and 
other positive adjectives.
Of course that was before he had returned to Sunnydale 
and the weirdness
that seemed to surround them anytime he and Riley were 
alone together.

There was also a part of Graham, separate from the 
soldier, that wanted to
trust him, maybe even wanted to find a way to see him 
again.

"Graham?"  Xander asked.  "You in there?"

"Yeah. " Graham answered finally.

Xander wasn't sure which he was acknowledging so he 
waited.

Graham took a swallow of his coffee and looked across 
the booth at Xander.

"They think Lowell House is.haunted."

Xander raised his eyebrows.  "Again?"  He thought he 
detected a slight smile
on the other man's lips.

"They don't know for sure, but we've run out of other 
possibilities.  I've
heard some strange things since I left."

"Like?"  Xander asked leaning forward slightly, 
remembering his own thoughts
when he heard about the building being torn down.

Graham looked away, staring deeply at his sandwich as 
if it held the secrets
of the universe. "Things moving around, strange 
sounds, the occasional
hallucination.  You know, weird stuff like that."  He 
paused and looked up
again.  "Three weeks ago, Mark Williams jumped off of 
the roof.  That's when
I came back."

Xander's eyes widened.  He hadn't heard anything about 
a recent suicide.

"He made the sixth death under unusual circumstances 
since Adam was defeated
and we pulled out."

Xander turned his head and stared over Graham's 
shoulder, his mind swirling.

"You didn't know about this?"  Graham asked, 
surprised.  Why else would
Xander have been at Lowell House both times he'd run 
into him?  "Any of it?"
His eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"No."  Xander answered.

"Riley didn't tell you?"  Graham asked, still trying 
to figure out why
Xander didn't know anything about it.

"No."  Xander looked back down to the table.  "But.we 
don't exactly see each
other much."

"I thought you were friends."

Xander smiled ruefully.  "No, Buffy and I are friends, 
I think.  Riley and
I, we get along okay, but our lives don't exactly 
intersect, not anymore."

Graham raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything.

"Look." Xander started.  "We're supposed to start 
construction on the new
building in a few days.  If there's something going on 
there, I want to know
about it."  He paused.  "Do you really think it's 
haunted?"

"That's what I'm here to find out."  Graham stated.  
"My superiors don't
like the idea of us leaving anything behind, but a 
haunting seems unlikely."

"What do *you* think?"  Xander asked, emphasizing the 
fact that he was
asking for Graham's opinion, not the military's.

Graham sighed. "A few years ago and I wouldn't have 
believed in vampires or
Slayers, much less ghosts."  He shrugged.  "But now."

Xander chuckled.  "I know what you mean."

They were quiet for a few minutes while they each 
finished their food.
Xander stood up first and left the building, waving 
briefly to Simon's son,
who worked the morning shift.  He wasn't surprised 
when Graham fell into
step beside him on the way back towards Lowell house.

"Can I ask you something?"  Graham asked after a few 
more minutes of
silence.

"Sure.  I can't guarantee I'll answer it."  Xander 
grinned.

"Fair enough."  Graham hesitated and Xander glanced at 
him sideways,
curious.

"You seem.different than the others."  He started.

"Different?"  Xander asked quietly, not sure where 
this was going.

"Yeah.  Giles reminds me of my old English teacher in 
high school, or some
overly dedicated librarian."  Xander chuckled at that 
and Graham smiled and
continued.  "Willow and Tara seem nice enough, not 
that I've spent much time
with them.  But Buffy.  she seems kind of. cold."  He 
answered hoping he
didn't offend his new friend.

Xander was quiet for a moment before responding.  
"It's nothing personal.
Buffy just.she doesn't get over things very easily, 
and she has serious
issues with The Initiative, even now."

Graham thought it was something like that.  "So, how 
did you get into all
this?"  He asked, changing the subject.

"All this?"  Xander quirked his lips.

"Demons, vampires."

"Willow and I have been best friends since 
kindergarten."  Xander began, not
entirely sure why he was telling his man anything so 
personal.  "We met
Buffy in High School when Will and another friend of 
ours were kidnapped by
a couple of vampires.  We saved Willow.  Our other 
friend wasn't so lucky."

"I'm sorry."  Graham said quietly, sorry he'd asked.  
He hadn't known Xander
for very long but found that he wanted to get to know 
him better and he wasn
't so sure bringing up painful memories was the way to 
do it.

Xander shrugged.  "It happened a long time ago.  I'm 
over it."

"Are you?"  Graham asked as he stopped walking.  He 
couldn't help thinking
of Forrest.

It was on the tip of Xander's tongue to affirm that 
yes, he was over Jesse's
death and that it didn't bother him anymore, but he 
stopped and considered
before answering.

"Yeah, mostly.  Sometimes I think about him, about 
killing him, but mostly I
'm okay."  He smiled slightly realizing for the first 
time that it was true.

*****

"You really think it's haunted?"  Xander asked again 
as they stood on the
level ground that had once been Lowell House.

Graham shrugged.

"What does Riley think?"  Xander questioned, his gaze 
never leaving the
ground.

"I haven't asked him."

Xander's head shot up.  He thought he had detected 
something in the other
man's voice, but didn't know him well enough to know 
for certain.  They
stood looking at each other for a few seconds before 
Graham broke the moment
and looked at his watch.

"I have to go."  He said, somewhat reluctantly.

Xander nodded.  "Yeah, me too."  He started to turn 
away and then stopped.
"It was nice running into you again."  He grinned at 
the slight pun, his
eyes going over Graham's jogging wear.

Graham smiled back.  "Yeah." When Xander started 
walking away, he spoke
again.  "Maybe we could go out some time."

Xander stopped and turned around again.  He looked at 
the soldier, trying to
decide what he wanted.  After a minute he grinned.  
"Call me.  Riley has my
number."

*****

Graham felt ridiculously nervous about going to see 
Riley.  He couldn't help
but think about how weird and awkward things had been 
between them lately,
and what Xander had said about Buffy and why she 
didn't seem to like him.

Graham had been in Sunnydale for almost three weeks, 
since just after the
Williams suicide.  In that entire time, he hadn't gone 
to see Riley more
than twice, and never since he had moved in with 
Buffy.  Things had been
strange enough between the two of them and he hadn't 
wanted any additional
weirdness with all of Riley's new friends around.

He had met Buffy and her friend's a few times but 
wasn't altogether
comfortable with them.  He wouldn't be here now if it 
wasn't for his desire
to get Xander's phone number and find out if Riley had 
any opinion on what
might be going on at their old fraternity.

He was just about to knock when the door opened and 
Riley stepped out,
hurriedly shutting the door behind him with one hand 
while zipping up his
jacket with the other.

"You're here, great.  Let's go."

Graham stared at his friend for a second before 
following him back into the
street.  Riley seemed a bit nervous.

"Where are we going?"

"I thought we'd grab some breakfast."  Riley suggested 
opening the passenger
side door to Graham's rental car.

"I've already eaten."  Graham answered after a minute 
as he started the car
and pulled away from the curb.

Riley didn't say anything and the two sat in silence.  
Graham continued
driving and found himself at the University, not far 
from where Lowell House
used to stand.

"What's going on, Ri?"  He asked after parking the 
car.

"Nothing."  Riley answered a bit too quickly.

Graham didn't believe him, but chose not to call him 
on it.

After a few moments, Riley spoke again.  "How long are 
you staying in town?"

"Until my assignments finished."  Graham told him, 
surprised that Riley
would even have to ask.  It wasn't too long ago that 
they were both
following orders.

Riley didn't respond but seemed tenser than before.  
Graham continued, "She
still hates me for what happened? Even now?"

Riley sighed.  "Not you personally, but the Initiative 
and everyone in it."

"You were in the Initiative."  Graham observed.

Riley didn't say anything else but it was obvious that 
Riley alone had been
forgiven for what Professor Walsh and the Initiative 
had done.  Not that it
mattered.  It was over now and there wasn't anything 
any of them could do to
change it.

Graham glanced at Riley, who was looking out of his 
window towards the
leveled frat house.  "Did you tell her why I came 
back?"

"I don't even know why you came back."  Riley stated.  
"Not really. Only
that your on assignment."

Graham realized that his friend was avoiding the real 
question so he just
waited.  After another few minutes of silence, Riley 
spoke again. "No.  She
thinks you're here for personal reasons, to visit 
family. or something."

Graham digested this information.  "I don't have any 
family here.  You
 lied."

Riley didn't say anything to that, so Graham dropped 
the subject and moved
on to why he had really gone to see Riley.  "I need 
Xander's number."

Riley turned around to face his friend, surprised by 
his change of subject.

"Why?"

"I ran into him this morning."  Graham didn't offer 
any more information,
knowing that Riley didn't really want any more.  Riley 
was well aware of
Graham's sexuality and would no doubt fill in the 
blanks accordingly.

Riley nodded once and pulled his wallet out.  He still 
had the piece of
paper Buffy had given him several months ago with 
Xander's phone number and
address.  He gave it to Graham as he climbed out of 
the car, figuring if he
needed it again, he could ask Willow.

"Where are you going?"  Graham asked, feeling as 
though things had truly
changed. Riley had felt more like a stranger than a 
friend the few times
they'd spoken in the past few weeks.

Riley didn't answer right away, and when he did speak, 
it was about
something else.  "Maybe we can get together before you 
leave."

Graham stared out of the car window at him as he 
restarted the car.  "Yeah,
maybe."

However, both knew that it was highly unlikely.  
They'd both made their
choices and apparently their friendship was a 
casualty.

*****

Xander was just bringing his last load of laundry in 
from the apartment's
community laundry room when the phone rang.

"Hello?"  He asked into the line.

"We've got a problem, Harris."

Xander sighed as he dropped the basket.  "What kind?"

The voice on the other end was thick, gravely and 
decidedly not human.

"You know that thing you asked me to check on?"

"Yeah?"  Xander tensed.

"I found out some things."

Xander looked across the room at the clock.  "Meet me 
at the usual place in
an hour."  He hung up the phone without waiting for a 
response.

Xander changed his clothes quickly and ate a cold 
slice of pizza, before
putting on his shoes.  He was just about to open the 
door to leave when
there was a knock.

"Graham."  He stated, slightly startled when he saw 
who was on the other
side of the door.

"You going out?"  Graham asked, disappointed.

"Yeah."  Xander sighed as he stepped into the hall and 
locked the door
behind him.  "You might as well come with me."

Graham fell into step beside him.  "Don't sound so 
excited."

Xander chuckled.  "I'd rather being going out, for 
*actual* fun."

Graham quirked an eyebrow.  "This isn't fun?"

Xander smiled.  "Not yet it isn't."  He continued 
walking for several
minutes, without saying anything more.

They were quiet.  Xander was busy thinking about his 
phone call while Graham
thought about his conversation with Riley.

"What's wrong?"  Xander asked finally, uncertain how 
it was that something
*was* wrong.

"I talked to Riley today."  Graham answered as if that 
explained everything.

And perhaps it did because Xander just nodded.

They continued to walk through town, towards one of 
the small cemeteries
when Xander spoke again.  "Don't worry about it."  He 
said quietly.  "It'll
pass, or maybe it won't, but either way, there's 
nothing you can do about
it.  Buffy has that effect."  He smiled ruefully.

"You sound like someone who knows what he's talking 
about."

"I am.  Been there, done that, burned the T-shirt."  
He grinned.

Graham nodded and for the first time since leaving 
Riley he didn't feel so
bad. "So, where are we going?"

"A crypt."  Xander motioned ahead of them.  "I got a 
call just before you

showed up.  It may have something to do with your 
haunted house."

*****