Exposure

By Adrian Tepes

Rating: PG-13 to R.

Summary: The actions of Champions bring changes across the world and to one man in particular. This is his story.

Disclaimer: All properties, characters, etc… are copyright of their respective owners. I make no profit off this and am writing for my own amusement and enjoyment.

Takes place during the S8 comics and follows/replaces/adds on to the series canon from there.

Author's Note: Special thanks to everyone who helped me with this story. You know who you are. I couldn't have done it without you.

Timeline: Takes place during S8 comics Issue #6, "No Future for you Part I"

Chapter One: Sending out an SOS.

Scotland was a nice place to visit and for the most part, it was even nicer to live there. Especially when you could see the whole countryside in its native beauty from own your personal castle. Except, Xander thought to himself, when you'd seen all the countryside you want to see, whether it was crawling in undead intent on a brutal killing spree or just brushing up on their ballroom dancing. Currently he wasn't looking at trees in a forest but rather, he was in one of the small towns that surrounded their Scottish castle home.

He was in said town replenishing the rather considerable amount of crucial supplies that had been expended in defense of their home. And so the Slayers that had accompanied him could shop to their hearts (and his wallet's) relative content. A glance confirmed the girls, Renee, Satsu, and Tori were still busy looking through the book racks. He had known the first two a bit longer then Tori but only by a few months. Still in an army of hundreds of Slayers, they had no trouble standing out in his mind.

They were accompanying him in lieu of his normal shopping partners, all of who were busy back at the castle. Obviously Dawn in her current state couldn't be seen outside in the daylight hours let alone go shopping. Otherwise she would be browsing through the various shelves of old books, forever searching for something to read. Xander once again wondered what had happened that resulted in the younger Summers sister being giant-sized. Buffy was doing the big sister thing and trying to spend more time with her, which was a good idea as far as he was concerned.

Willow was also absent, ostensibly talking with Buffy and examining Dawn's condition. His best friend had made it in time to defend the castle from Amy's assault and had almost fallen victim of her and Warren's revenge. How Warren had survived being flayed alive by then 'Evil' Willow was something that still confused him. Buffy and Satsu's rescue mission only had been a partial success. Willow was back and healthy but the news of being at war with the human race was somewhat of a downer. Willow was the world's most powerful witch and Buffy had three separate identities to keep her safe but both had been left feeling somewhat powerless and decidedly not safe.

Buffy, he thought, looked like she was taking the General's last words a bit harder then she initially had told them. The strain of leading and looking after hundreds of newly empowered slayers, of trying to coordinate the remnants of the Old Watcher's Council, of simply being a good big sister and friend to the people in her life, and then the bombshell news gleaned during the mission to rescue Willow, had taken a lot out of her. Buffy; needed her friends now more then before, but try as she might, she hadn't been able to fix all of the broken bridges that crashed into the crater of their hometown. Before Xander could go on an internal rant about Giles disappearing from his Slayer's side he was interrupted.


"I hate this."

"Dawn you know we're doing the best we can."

Dawn Summers frowned as she lowered her gaze to look at her older sibling. One of them had been brought back from the dead twice while fighting demons and vampires and now led an army of mystically empowered women that spanned the globe. The other was actually an ancient artifact that predated almost everything made human, only recently made into the size of the Jolly Green Giant. Yet despite these differences, they were sisters still. They were there for each other, through the good and the bad.

Dawn's frown deepened as she spoke, "Yeah I can tell you're really concerned".

"Well maybe if you told me a little more about how this happened, we could speed up the research a bit" Buffy's answer held equal parts sarcasm and sweetness, an indication that they had had this conversation before.

"Give it a rest you two." Willow's voice halted the conversation. The redhead witch emerged in the courtyard where Dawn was currently resting. Quietly she walked around Dawn looking the massive eighteen-year-old over for any marks, symbols or tattoos that perhaps had been missed, anything at all that would provide a clue towards how to help her. The precious few moments of silence ended as Buffy greeted her, "Any luck in the library?"

"Nope. There's nothing in there that resembles Dawn's condition."

"Rats," Dawn responded.

Remembering Amy's attack, Willow said, "I think being a rat would be a lot worse Dawn".

"Hmph." Dawn pouted as she faced out over the castle wall.

Buffy tried again, "Dawn, it's just that if we knew more about what had happened, we might be able to help you faster."

Dawn glanced down at the pair, "What difference would it make? We're all doomed in love anyways."

"That's not true."

"Says you. At least my first time didn't kill anyone."

That struck a nerve and Buffy deflated ever so slightly. "Dawn... I didn't know…" She stopped as she felt a reassuring hand on her shoulder as Willow intervened, "Dawn. That was mean."

The younger girl slumped down, her gaze coming down to her feet, "It's just hard you know, going from that to this. I thought it would be different."

"We all did Dawn" Buffy had found her voice. "I thought maybe I could get something with Ang--, him. I didn't really think much beyond that."

There was another period of awkward silence as the three young women pondered each other's words. A slightly devious idea crept into Dawn's mind, "Say, Willow."

The witch heard her name and looked up at the younger Summers sister, "Yes?"

"What was your first time like?"

"What!" Willow felt her cheeks flush red at the question. "Well, you know, you want me to share something that's private and we already know Buffy's. Seems only fair you share." Willow turned and found Buffy was also gazing at her with a questioning look on her face. Knowing there wasn't any way out of this, she gave up.

"All right. My first time was… sweet."

"Sweet?" The sisters spoke simultaneously.

"Uh huh. Sweet and light and soft. I hadn't felt so exposed and safe at the same time."

"So it was Xander" Dawn surmised.

Willow shook her head no "Oz."

"Oz?" Dawn seemed a bit surprised but then her and Willow's gaze were drawn to her sister who was now grinning ear to ear.

"A-ha. I knew it!"

"Knew what?" Willow had a bad feeling about this.

"I knew it, before graduation. You and Oz were late and he had this grin on his face… You had the 'world-ending sex' with Oz!" Buffy was hopping and dancing as she spoke.

Willow opened her mouth to say something but could only squeak as her face became as red as her hair. Dawn meanwhile had a horrified look on her face. "Oz? He used to give me a ride in that van sometimes. Willow… you didn't do it in the van did you? Willow?"

Willow couldn't answer as Buffy slowed down from her celebrations. Not getting a response, Dawn assumed the worst. "Oh my god you did,… I SAT IN WILLOW JUICE!"

That snapped both older girls from their respective states, turning as one they shouted "DAWN!"


A few minutes ago Xander Harris and his trio of accompanying Slayers had been merrily shopping away in the town when they were interrupted. The interruption took the form of the back wall of the shop blasting inward showering the contents and costumers alike with bits of stucco, brick and wood. Reflexes honed in his now destroyed hometown had led Xander to duck down behind a sturdy wooden bookcase. Shielded from the debris, he focused his attention on the source of the blast, the back wall. Or rather what had been the back wall, now stood what he guessed was the responsible party.

The responsible party was a massive, stone gray thing, covered in a sort of armor or reptile-like scales. Paying no mind to the people cowering around it, the creature stomped forward smashing any merchandise that had survived its entrance.

"Xander!"

He turned and saw that the girls had weathered the blast with no sign of injury or damage. The Sunnydale survivor saw that their eyes had already locked onto the creature headed their way and it didn't take a Watcher to figure out what was on their minds. And while he wasn't about to stop them from slaying, there were other priorities.

"Listen, get Mr. Concrete out of here before you get your slay on. There's a lot of hurt civilians around here and a full-scale fight here would be bad news for them."

He watched them charge the beast head on, wondering if they heard him at all. Satsu led the way with a flying sidekick aimed squarely at the thing's body. She hit it solidly, bounced off and came up holding her ankle. Renee followed up, throwing flurry of kicks and punches that connected but left her as the one wincing. Satsu's voice reached Tori before she could mount her attack. "Stop! You'll only hurt yourself".

The third Slayer turned and regarded her fellow Chosen with a surprised look that changed to one of understanding as she saw them holding various bruised and rapidly swelling body parts. "Feels like I punched cement only with no give at all." Renee held her right hand in her left, trying to massage it as the Slayer healing did its thing.

Xander for his part was only half watching the Slayer trio as he worked his way around the store trying to remain out of sight. So far he had successfully managed to find some of the store's other customers. Two, he had helped escape the battle. But, the third unfortunately would need, a body bag. Watching the girls' ineffective attempts to harm the creature, he once again cursed not bringing a weapon or two with himself. Even his beat up axe right now would help in the hands of a Slayer or someone else who knew how to use it.

The Slayers in question were preparing for another attack when an older man, who Xander presumed to be the owner of the shop re-emerged armed with what looked to be a working shotgun. Xander's suspicions were confirmed when the man aimed and fired at the offending beast. The creature, if it felt or was hurt by the blast didn't show it. Instead it raised its arms and to Xander's surprise, a long spike-like appendage shot out and through the mid-section of the man who dropped his gun and slumped down.

"Oh crap."

While Xander was debating on how to reach the shopkeeper while avoiding the monster, both of them were distracted. The distraction took the form of a surprising steadily shower of concrete bits; wood and even trashed store merchandise pelting the creature. Turning his head, he breathed a sigh of relief. Satsu, Renee and Tori, still nursing their injuries, were busy throwing anything they could get their hands on. Annoyed, the monster focused its attention on the Slayers and started moving towards them. Their objective met, the Slayers began to retreat, luring the monster farther away from the injured civilians and Xander. Satsu paused before joining her comrades and he used the opportunity to reassure her, "Go, I'll call Buffy and get help". A shadow of a smile crossed her face before she fled, the creature right on her heels.

Abandoning all pretense of hiding, Xander ran to where the fallen shopkeeper lay. First he checked for a pulse and was relieved to find one. Gently he examined the wounded man, determining that the spike had passed through the body cleanly. Quickly and efficiently, he bandaged the man's wound, slowing the loss of blood and without further injuring the man.

As he did so, his words to Satsu repeated over and over in his head, 'call for help'. It wasn't until he physically looked down at his right hand that he realized what he was doing.

"GAH!"

With a start, Xander dropped his cell-phone. Except it wasn't his cell phone. It looked nothing like the sleek, blue and black Motorola he carried. Glancing down at himself he realized that not only was his phone missing but also now he was wearing a harness of some sort. Or rather, he was wearing a belt with big empty slot in the middle where the belt buckle would be.

He took one step back and realized that there was more to this belt. Reaching around his back he pulled something off a hook and brought it up to his face. It was a long tube with an obvious opening at one end. It looked like a flashlight but he'd never seen a design like this one. Xander glanced down at the floor where he had dropped what he thought was his phone. Kneeling he picked it up and examined it in his hands, absent-mindedly replacing the flashlight on the belt. The phone looked like an older model, silver trimmed in black. One section boasted a circle of red and yellow with a strip of green attached. Growing more curious, he flipped it open. Where the exterior led one to believe the phone was several years old, the display led him to believe the opposite. It looked nothing like nothing less than a miniature computer screen. Something like they had back at the castle. Now Xander really had questions. Starting with his sanity at the moment.

'Call for help'.

Xander became a voyeur in his body, as he watched himself enter a three -digit number into the phone. He didn't know where he got the number or where he got the idea to enter it into the keypad came from. All he knew was that he did both, flipped the phone closed and was rewarded with a somewhat loud yet smooth voice that said "Standing by" as though it were waiting for something. Vaguely he made the connection between the empty slot on the belt and how the phone seemed to fit. Before he realized it, he was sliding the phone into the slot and that's when a word he never heard before slipped past his lips.

"Henshin."

"Complete."

Xander's world erupted into crimson light.


"Hey there.

Buffy turned her head ever slightly as Willow took a seat beside her. At some time in the past, the castle's previous owners had installed some wooden benches on the battlements and that's where they were now. Watching the day pass slowly by, Buffy reflected on the conversation with Dawn.

"Give her time" Willow seemed to sense what Buffy was thinking about. "She's still growing up you know."

"I know, I just w--… I hoped she wouldn't have done it so fast."

"You mean like me, Xander and, you did."

Buffy didn't answer her right away, "Yeah. Like I did. If Mom was still here…"

"She would be proud Buffy. She always was, even when you weren't around. She was always saying how proud she was of being of your mother. I think she would be very happy with the job you've done caring for Dawn."

"That's about the only thing I've done right since …she passed away. I couldn't stay in school. Couldn't keep the house up. I couldn't even keep a normal boyfriend."

Willow 's voice broke in, "Buffy you can't keep dwelling on the back then. You have to live in the now present. You don't have to worry about studying for midterms, earning a steady paycheck. You'll find someone, I know you will."

"Ya think?"

"Of course, the whole world is out there waiting to get to know who Buffy Summers really is. Your horizons have been so broadened that I'm so not making a dent in what you're really worried about, huh?"

"Does it ever stop? You know, the hurting from… them."

Willow looked down, her small hands held within them great power, but now they were shaking as hard as she was. "I don't think so. I still think about Tara and dream about her."

Buffy noted that she hadn't said anything about Oz but maybe she had reason not to. He was as far as everyone knew, alive albeit dropped off the radar map by choice. Her own memories of Angel warred with those of Spike. Twice she had dared to love an almost impossible love and paid dearly for it. Then again, as she studied Willow's face, at least Angel was still alive. Maybe Spike was as well though she dared not hope for that.

The pair lapsed into silence, both girls trying to figure out if either had been better off in the romance department and why. Each alternating thinking the other was better off than they were.


Outside, the slayer's struggle with their as yet unknown opponent was not going well. Not well at all, Satsu groused. The demon was definitely the strongest she had encountered thus far as in her career as a slayer. The same type of armor that largely encompassed its body covered the monster's face. Armor-like plating was also present around its hands and feet, rendering them nearly as well protected. She flashed briefly back to her first meeting with Buffy, then with Xander telling the group, that everything had eyes, heart and head. 'When in doubt', he said, 'ignore everything else and go for those weak spots'. The dull ache in her ankle snapped her attention back to the present.

"Shit".

Ignoring the pain she circled the beast aware that Renee and Tori were doing likewise. Even 100 healthy and armed to the teeth, taking this guy down would have been a tall order for Satsu. In Renee's and her injured states, she didn't have the slightest idea about how to handle this even with Tori's help.

So her reaction to seeing something strike and stagger the rampaging monster was one of complete surprise. Going by the reactions of her fellow slayers, they were equally surprised. The new arrival blocked a retaliatory strike by the fiend than sent it sprawling with a boot to the midsection. Satsu focused all of her attention on the newcomer as it turned to regard them. The figure was masculine and was roughly the same size as the demon but that's all they had in common. He was mostly black save for the red and silver armor on its torso and shoulders. Silver bands were also present at the wrists and elbows of its arms. A rather imposing belt also silver in color was wrapped around its waist with various items hanging off of it. But it was the head that drew most of her attention. A helmet dominated with two huge yellow 'eyes'.

Satsu had never seen anything like it in her life, pre or post slayer. She watched as it turned to confront the monster with calmness in its step. The beast had scrambled to its feet and charged, intent on pounding the newcomer into the ground. The unknown silver-clad figure swiftly sidestepped the charge, deflected the otherwise wild swing and connected with a right cross to where the demon's jaw would have been, effectively stunning it. He then followed with a flurry of punches aimed at the monster's chest and head, staggering it further and forcing it back off. Without missing a beat, the new arrival grabbed something from around his waist, and aimed a steady stream of yellow energy at the creature.

Staggering and smoking, the creature studied the figure that had harmed it so greatly in such a short amount of time and then took off running.

The newcomer seemed content to watch it flee before returning its attention to the trio of slayers that had witnessed its debut. Silently the three exchanged looks, Tori's feet were already shifting to confront their erstwhile savior as she turned around and saw nothing. She quickly scanned the whole area, mindful that the others were doing so as well. Both the monster and the mysterious figure in black had disappeared. Her confusion gave way to annoyance rapidly at not being able detect any sign from either of them.

"Oh my god, Xander!"

Renee's voice broke through Tori's focus as she remembered the fourth member of their party.

Quickly she moved to help Satsu as they followed Renee back to the remains of the store. Inside they found Xander standing by himself, in control of this battlefield as he was at their Scottish home.

He regarded the girls' physical state, taking into account the injuries to two of them. "Any luck?"

"Nope, got away." Satsu's voice was laced with frustration and the smallest traces of a Slayer in pain.

"Well nothing more we can do. Emergency people are on their way so I think we should disappear before we have to answer some uncomfortable questions."

The slayers nodded Xander tossed the keys to Tori as he moved to help Satsu with her injury and instructed Tori to retrieve their car.

End Chapter One.