Two Become One

Chapter 1: The New Slayer.

Some people love flying, other people hate it and others feared it. Xander was one of those that felt meh towards it. Flying was just another way to get from point A to point B only faster. It was also one of the only ways to get from Scotland to Florida. Xander had sat back in his seat with his hands behind his head as he thought of the upcoming task at hand. He had to find the activated Slayer, inform her of what she is and that vampires, demons and other monsters were real and convince her of coming back with him. There was no idea on when that was going to occur or if. That was why the ticket was one way. Once he had the girl convinced he would purchase a couple of tickets to Scotland

"Mommy," a little girl was heard from a few rows up. "When are we going to see Mickey Mouse?"

"In a couple of days," her mother answered.

When Xander was younger he had always wanted to visit Orlando Florida, well all of Florida, but Orlando was the main city. All of his friends wanted to go to Miami. He wanted to go ride the movies, see Disney World, Epcot, MGM Studios, Animal Kingdom and maybe even hit a water park or two. Not now, not with the mission at hand.

"Mommy?" the little boy from the same row Xander was in stared at him. "Is that man a pirate?"

"Justin." the boy's mother stared at her son in a disproving fashion. "You shouldn't ask questions like that. She turned to Xander. "I'm sorry about that."

"That's okay Ma'am," Xander said. "Pirates are cool, although I don't see myself as one. I'm more of a Nick Fury type."

"Nick Fury?" The boy blurted out. "He's black and your white."

"Justin," the mother snapped. "How about a story. A fairytale story, except it's different."

"The dragon eats the knight and marries the princess?" The boy asked in an eager tone."

"Not quite," the mother chuckled. She took a deep breath. "There once was a dashing prince who fought against minions of evil. One time during battle a witch used a magical perfume to lure the hero to her home where she captured him. She threatened to hurt several people if the prince refused to marry her."

"Why didn't he fight her?" her son asked.

"Because the prince was under a spell that made him weak." The mother answered. "Miles away was a small town girl who was as ordinary as other girls. She was pretty, she got decent grades, she liked to go shopping with her friends, she wanted to be a veterinarian and she worked and an ice cream shop."

"How did she know about the prince?"

"She didn't at first. She was going to the movies with her friends."

"What movie did she see?" The child asked.

"They went to see Despicable Me . Now on the way to the theater an old man paused to speak with the girl. The man was a wizard and he told the girl she was the only one who could save the prince."

"Did she have any super powers?"

"Yes but she didn't know as of yet."

The story sounded familiar to Xander. Just replace the wizard with watcher and the girl with slayer and there you go. He could see Giles as a wizard, heck, Buffy told him that Giles dressed up in obvious costume wizard gear when he reopened the Magic Box. He got the wizard and girl figured out, who would the prince be? Him? Nah. Angel, Riley, Spike? As he tried to figure it out he felt himself being pulled into a world of slumber.

"Home sweet home," Charley sighed as the limo pulled up to the new large house. It was the second time since his becoming a vampire that he and the others moved. The first time was a few years after he had turned and it was to the house that Jerry Dandridge had owned. They lived there until recently. A few months ago Fright Night was bought by Universal. They want to retool the show and bring it down to Orlando to shoot. They also wanted to keep Regine as the hostess and that meant they all had to move down to the south.

Charley was surprised Regine kept on hosting the show after she had succeeded in getting revenge. The studio had practically begged for her to keep on hosting. She agreed because she believed it would annoy and hurt Charley as a form of rubbing salt in the wound.

"You say it like you don't like it," Bosworth said. He got out of the drivers side and let out Regine and Belle first before he opened the door for Charley. "What is wrong, little one? You don't care for the humidity?"

"Nobody does," Charley answered. He fought to keep from glaring at the over sized ghoul. "Except the bugs. I'm sure you will love it down here with the battleship sized bugs."

Bosworth grunted and would have said something if Belle hadn't intervened. The transvestite rolled between the two and placed her hand against the ghoul's mouth as she shook her head.

"What do you think, Charley?" Regine asked. She was staring at the large house. "Do you think it will suit our needs?"

"It does look big enough," Charley said as he approached her. "But where are we going to keep our coffins?" He glanced over at the movers who were bringing the crates that carried their coffins inside. He lowered his voice. "They don't have basements here because of the water table. That is what I heard."

"We will find a place," Regine assured him. "We may have to black out the windows in one room but we will find a—"

"Isn't it past your bedtime little girls?" Bosworth asked. He and Belle were staring down the road with an amused expression on their faces.

They were staring at a trio of teenage girls all on their bikes. One had red hair and freckles, another had an olive undertone to their skin and the third was African-American. Charley didn't care about the other two. His eyes were drawn to the one in the middle the one with the olive undertone. She had slightly wavey shoulder length hair that was light brown in color. Her oval shaped eyes were the color of jade and framed by thick eyelashes. She was emitting an energy that was innocent and pure. Charley had never felt an energy like that coming from someone before. It was almost like the energy from the princess in a dream he had.

"Uh oh," one of the mover's said. "Hey, Tony, your sister is here."

"Huh?" Another mover grunted and set down the boxes. "Lyra? What are you doing here?"

"I had to bring the wallet that some genius left behind," The girl in the middle said and held up a wallet.

"Aw shit." Tony smacked himself against the side of his head. His eyes bugged out. "Aw sorry guys."

"No need to apologize," Regine said to him.

"Lyra," Charley repeated the name. He could not remove his gaze from the girl. "That is a pretty name."

"Thank you," Lyra said.

"Her name means harp," Tony explained. "Which fits cause she is always harping on me."

"That's cause you need it," Lyra said as she stepped off her bike "You ready?"

"Yeah," Tony crouched down and held out his hands.

Lyra threw the wallet at Tony. He caught it but the force of the throw caused him to move his arms back.

"That was quite a throw," Charley commented.

"Damn, Lyra, you didn't have to throw so hard," Tony grumbled.

"I didn't," Lyra said as she climbed back onto her bike. "I always threw like that."

"Not since your sixteenth birthday," Tony said

"Whatev," Lyra said before she and her friends rode off on their bikes.

Tony stood back up as soon as he placed his wallet back into his pocket he rubbed his arm. "Sorry you had to see that, Ms Regine."

"That is perfectly all right," Regine said. She never used her real last name. Eight years ago the first "Regine" retired from hosting duties and convinced the studio for her "Daughter" to take over. Regine had used make up to make her look a little older through the years and when she came back as the next generation she looked young again. "Sometimes the little sister will have to look after her older brother and do things for him." She stared at Charley as she said this. Without losing her smile she turned back to Tony.

"Shouldn't be swearing or acting like an idiot in front of you," Tony said as he picked up the boxes. "Although I'm surprised Lina didn't come with her."

"Lina?" Regine asked.

"Our little sister. She's a big fan of yours, fan of horror in general."

"Ah," Regine smiled. "Then I have a gift for you. The new version of Fright Night will start in July. I will give you three studio audience tickets. Charley will remind me to give them to you."

"I will," Charley agreed. Sometimes he would accompany Regine to the show. A few times she even dragged him in front of the camera. He was her nemesis. The great vampire hunter, Chaz Broker who also was her lover. They played it up in front of the cameras. He might even be there when Tony and his sisters would be there and he could see Lyra again, although he wasn't sure why he was struck by her like that.

It was time for the meet and greet. In the previous evening, Xander got himself settled in to his hotel room. During the morning he practiced what he was going to say to both Lyra and her family. To her parents he had to pose as a representative for a fancy boarding school in Europe that was impressed with Lyra and wanted her to come and study with them. That was the easy part. The second was trying to convince Lyra of what she is and try to get her to agree to come to Scotland with him.

"Here it goes," Xander said as he rang the doorbell to the Daugherties. He was dressed in the best suit he owned. It was tan with an ivory shirt and gold tie. He had his shoes shined and his hair slicked back. He carried the phony pamphlet for the school. If the grades were average and below he would bullshit about how the school wanted such students to help and improve their grades.

"Hello?" The young girl who answered the door did not look like she was sixteen. She looked like she was twelve. She had her brunette hair tied into a ponytail and had a shirt that had "Voldemort is My Master Now," written across it.

"Hello," Xander greeted back using his most chipper tone. "May I speak with either one of your parents? Tell them it's Mr. Harris. We spoke on the phone."

"Mom," the girl looked back over her shoulder. "Mr. Harris is here."

"Let him inside, Lina," a woman's voice was heard. "I'll be right with you. I'm making refreshments, Lina let your father know he's here."

"You can come inside." The girl stepped back inside to allow Xander to enter. "I gotta go pause the DVR." She pressed the button and made her way towards the back of the house.

"Do you like lemonade, Mr. Harris?" Mrs. Daugherty asked.

"I would love some," Xander said.

"Please grab a seat at the kitchen table," Mrs. Daugherty said as she entered the room carrying a pitcher of lemonade. She was a Hispanic woman about medium height and a little on the pudgy side with her hair cut into a pageboy bob.

"Dad is here," Lina said before she ran back to her TV show. The screen was paused as a man was about to stake a vampire. Xander couldn't help but to smile.

"She's a big fan of his movies," Mrs. Daugherty said as she poured the sweet and citrusy drink into three tall glasses with ice.

"Fan of horror movies in general," Mr. Daugherty added. He was a tall man with dark blond hair that was plastered to his head with sweat. He had a lot of Irish features. Xander hoped he could relate. There was plenty of Irish in the Harris bloodline and certainly plenty of Irish whiskey, cream and beer as well. "As long as there is a monster in it. She's not a big fan of slasher flicks or psychological thrillers."

"She recently discovered the Peter Vincent movies though," her mother explained.

"Me too," Xander added. "They are a lot of fun." He and the others watched it and sometimes used it to discuss what Vincent did was wrong and what he did was right. "Only knew about him for a few months."

"So did we," Mr. Daugherty nodded. "Six months ago we never heard about him and apparently he was arrested and sent to a mental hospital twenty two years ago after decapitating some college student. We didn't hear about that in the news. You would think that would have made the news."

"Yeah," Xander said. He looked Peter Vincent up on Wikipedia. He had never seen or heard of anything he was in before or heard about him. His mother kept up on the Hollywood gossip and she never said anything about Vincent going nuts, or about his death. He was certain that damn Earthquake was involved. "As much as I would love to talk about horror movies I am here to talk about Lyra and about the Shire Education system."

"Oh yes," Mrs. Daugherty said in a polite tone. "I am a little surprised that you choose our Lyra. Her grades our decent but she isn't a straight A student."

"We at Shire like to find the ones who are not perfect but who have potential. We find these girls we take them under our wing and we expand their horizon. Certain elements might be holding your daughter back. With a change in environment and teaching styles we believe we can turn anyone into a straight A student." Damn he was good.

For a couple of hours they talked back and forth about both the Shire and about Lyra. Xander found out that Lyra was into comic books and anime. They had something in common then. He knew that Lyra hated beets and was allergic to wool. He had to assure her family that the uniforms were cotton based. Lyra also had a slight phobia to blood. Okay, that might be a problem but they might be able to overcome that.

"Of course the final decision really comes down to both you two and Lyra," Xander said at the end.

"Well actually the final decision comes down on the price," Mr. Dougherty said.

"You don't have to worry about that," Xander said. "The price is pretty low." He hated to have to make any parent of a Slayer pay, but they can't always be free. "Five hundred dollars will cover the cost of initiation, dorm, books, and food. Any additional costs will come out of the pocket."

"That's all?" Mrs. Daugherty asked.

"That is pretty much it," Xander said as he leaned back and placed his hands behind his head. "But like I said it all depends on you and Lyra."

"If that is all then yes," the older man said with a smile. Both he and his wife seemed ecstatic. "I'm sure Lyra would love to go."

"Where is she?" Xander asked. During their hours he had not seen their older daughter. A young man in his late teens or early twenties came in and went into one of the rooms but that was it.

"She should be home soon," Mrs. Dougherty said. "She went with her friends to Fun and Wheels."

"Fun and Wheels?" Xander asked.

"It's an activity area," the woman explained. "Go karts, bumper cars, bumper boats, an arcade and mini golf."

"Oh." That did make sense. Why be cooped up all day in the house during the summer when you live in a place like Orlando? "It would best if she and I discussed this over dinner." He had to get her alone so he could tell her the truth. Of course most parents of teenage girls would not allow their daughter to speak with a man alone who they had just met. "I understand if you don't trust me with her. Most parents do. We just don't want her to feel that she is being coerced into going. We only want students who want to purely go on her own."

"That does seem odd," Mr. Dougherty's voice took on a tone of distrust again.

"We had students freak out emotionally," Xander said. "They only went because they felt that was what their parents wanted, not what they wanted." He knew he was sounding more and more suspicious. He hated to have to break out the ring, but he had to speak with Lyra alone.

"This is beginning to sound fishy," Mr. Dougherty said. "The low price, the all of sudden interest in Lyra." He traced his finger along one of the paths of condensation drops.

"We can assure you that we are legit and only hold Lyra's best interests at heart." Damn it, he was going to have to break it out. He reached into his pocket and felt for the ring. "I can have you speak with the headmistress and one of the teachers." He found the ring and slipped it onto his finger. The "headmistress" was a woman named Natalie Bannock. She was a Watcher from Scotland who was visiting some of her family in Toronto when the Watcher's Counsel Headquarters was blown up. She had her own Slayer Cell working with her in Canada but she was willing to play the role of headmistress. The teacher in question was Giles.

"We are still not convinced," Mr. Dougherty said.

"There is also a former student who is now a counselor," Xander continued as he laced his fingers. The jewel on the ring was changing colors from red to purple to blue to green, to yellow, to orange and back to red again. "She even got her younger sister enrolled."

"Did she?" Mrs. Dougherty asked as she blinked. Both she and her husband appeared half asleep.

"I'd be more than happy to give you names," Xander said while still flashing the ring at them. "The Headmistress is Natalie Bannock, there is Rupert Giles the History Teacher, Willow Rosenberg teaches math and has computer classes, Elizabeth Summers is the counselor and her sister Dawn is the student." He hated using that fake name for Buffy since she hates it when people mistake her real name as a nickname and think her real name is Elizabeth, but not many people would take someone named Buffy to be serious. "I can also give you numbers."

"No need," Mr. Dougherty said. "The credentials are legit. You have both our permission to for Lyra to go and speak with her alone."

"Thank you," Xander said. He let his hands dropped back into his lap where he removed the ring. He hated having to use that, but sometimes it was a must. He had to convince the Slayer's guardians of allowing her to go with him. He could have just used the ring period, but it was easier with a cover story and he knew that he nor anyone else was allowed to use the ring on a Slayer. "And thank you for the lemonade."

"Your welcome," Mrs. Dougherty said. "Would you care for another glass?"

"No, thank you I am good." He was going to have to play the waiting game now. "I do need to use the bathroom though."

"It's at the end of the hall," Mrs. Dougherty said and pointed.

"Thank you again," Xander said as he rose up from his chair.

Once he returned he thought about making some small talk with the Dougherties or maybe watch some more of the movies that Lina was watching.

The front door opened and a teenage girl stepped inside. She immediately spun around and stuck her head outside. "Thanks guys. Call me as soon as you get home." She stepped back in. She looked like an older version of Lina except her eyes were green, not brown and both her green eyes were on Xander. "Hello?"

"Hi," Xander greeted and held out his hand. "My name is Alexander Harris of the Shire Institute in Scotland."

"You're going to boarding school," Lina said.

"Wait, what?" Lyra turned from her sister back to Xander.

"The decision isn't final, until you say it is, Lyra," Mrs. Dougherty said. "Your father and I have been speaking with Mr. Harris. It sounds like it would be a nice school, but the choice is yours."

"But me?" Lyra asked. "They want me? I'm not the best student."

"I have already explained it to your parents," Xander said. "Perhaps we could talk about it over dinner just the two of us." Whoops. Now she was going to get the wrong impression.

"A date?" Lyra asked in the same tone as if she were offered mud for dinner.

"It's not a date," her mother told her. "It's just to talk about the school without us being helicopter parents."

"You trust me with this guy?"

"Perfectly," her father told her.

"Okay wow." Lyra held out her hands. "You won't let me take any of the cars unless it is to take Lina somewhere and you trust me to be alone with this guy? This must be one damn good school."

"First watch your language," her mother said. "And secondly it is a good school."

"And a good price," her father added.

"If you guys are certain but first I gotta give something to Lina," she turned to her sister." Here she tossed a pastel object at Lina.

"Another plush animal," Lina said as she caught it. It was an odd looking bear in tie-dyed pastels with a mop of rainbow colored troll doll styled hair. "Wow."

"Sorry it can't be as awesome as tickets to your new favorite show," Lyra said in a snide tone.

"Are you ready?" Xander asked her.

"I guess."