Into the Blue Sky
By Adrian Tepes
Rating: PG-13 to R.
Summary: The actions of Champions and Chosen bring changes across their world. This is the story of how some of those changes might have gone.
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: S8 comics, during the events of "No Future For You Parts 1-2".
Episode Three: Blurry.
"Just occasionally, I wish I could take sleeping pills like a normal person," Xander mused in his room. After defeating the jumping monster and calling the professor to tell him the whereabouts of his car, they had returned to the castle. Reflecting on the day's events had left him slightly unsettled.
Preoccupied, he logged into his PC and mechanically began checking everything. 'So the belt not changes me into that strange suit of armor, it also lets me change from red to blue armor. And those two suits have different capabilities. The blue form is pretty weak physically, but really fast and agile. Plus, it creates a weapon to be used,' he mused to himself.
Xander paused as he subconsciously registered an email from Renee blinking in his inbox.
Curious, he clicked on it and read the message in silence, 'Sparring partners, huh?' Xander looked down at himself. 'Well, I'm in pretty good shape, I guess. Still wouldn't hurt to get in some more practice before tomorrow'. Finished, he logged off and went to get his workout clothes. The nice thing about living in a big, honking castle was all the space it gave them. The downside he considered as he gathered everything up was the all the space he had to walk to and from. A glance at the clock revealed it to be just past ten at night and if he strained he could hear the faint sounds of a TV playing somewhere.
"Yours for only three payments of 19.95"
A boy about ten years old wandered down a hall. Clutched tightly in his grasp was a well-worn teddy bear dressed with as a pilot, with a scarf around the neck and a set of aviator's goggles on its head. The boy's footsteps were silent as he padded closer to a door where he could hear a pair of adults in a heated debate.
"Listen, woman, I will not send in those bloody papers."
"Oh you won't, will you? And what about in a few weeks when we're no better off then the Morgans, scratching and clawing, trying to put a bit of food on the table, let alone make rent."
"I will not let that happen, every man in my family has provided for theirs without being on the dole. I will not be the first to break that tradition."
At that point, the door leaned open and the little boy looked into the room at his parents who looked back at him. "What's wrong Andy?" his mother asked.
"I can't sleep," was the boy's answer. He rubbed his eyes and yawned. Shooting her husband a look, the woman moved over to him and placed a hand on his forehead. Finding it slightly warm, she sighed as she picked him up, turning to face his father as she did so. A morose and downtrodden look covered his face as he approached them. His hand reached out and brushed his son's hair, "Hey there, champ, you gotta get some sleep, otherwise you won't be able to show all your mates whose king tomorrow".
The boy yawned and relaxed, his head drooping and laying on his mother's shoulders. "Are you and Mum going to split up like Tom's parents did?" Thankfully, the boy was so tired he couldn't see the face of either of his parents, "Don't worry about what we're doing, you just need some rest. Right, David?"
David nodded in agreement with his wife, "Yes, just yes, champ. Your mother and I will work this out." Andy started nodding off as his mother carried him off to bed. David watched them leave the room and looked down at the slip of paper in his hands.
His voice was barely a whisper, "Don't worry lad, Nicole. Dad's going to make this work."
Some distance away from the house of David and Nicole, an old homeless man struggled his way into one of the many parks in the area. Muttering to himself about shelters and rules against alcohol, he sat on a wooden bench. Around him, he could see and hear the numerous insects that populated the area at night. His mind already clouded by the booze in his hand, he barely felt a tiny pinprick along his back. It would be daylight before anyone found the body.
Xander wiped his forehead, as he had worked up a quite a sweat punching the heavy bag. After a good twenty minutes, he had removed his sweatshirt. Ten minutes later, his undershirt had followed and he stood before the bag, shirtless in workout pants and extremely confident.
"Fear my awesome power! For lo, like Kurt Russell before me, I am a formidable eye patch-clad opponent. And lest you think I refer to Captain Ron, Let me assure you that the one-eyed character of which I speak is none other than the mighty Snake Plissken, who taught me the very ass-handing I'm about to deliver unto you."
"Careful, Xander, you're going to taunt that poor bag right off its chain," came a fairly smooth and definitely female voice.
"BUFFY!" He yelped and quickly hid behind the bag. Shaken, he continued, "Sorry, heh, thought I had the ol' danger room booked for the whole late-night slot. So I could be alone with my, you know…sweaty, shirtless self," the last few words barely audible.
She walked past him, headed towards a seat beside the window, "What inspired the sudden training montage Belt Man?"
"Oh, Renee asked if we could be sparring partners tomorrow, so I figured I should re-acquaint my body with non-Dance-Dance-Revolution-related movement first," Xander answered while still behind the bag.
"Sparring Partners?" She asked with an arched eyebrow.
He emerged from behind the bag, pointing at her with the index finger on his right hand, "Don't arch your eyebrow at me, young lady. Renee and I are just pals. Our workout sessions will be as non-physical pugilistic-related activities can possibly…" his defense lost steam as Buffy had turned towards the window, her hand drawing the symbol from the church on one of the many fogged panes.
"Buffy? You okay?" Xander asked as he gathered up his Sunnydale Swim team shirt.
She rested her head in her right hand as she answered, "Sorry, I'm in full-on fret mode about the whole 'Twilight' gimmick. We still don't know what this thing has to do with Uncle Sam declaring shock and awe on us, right? You heard anything more from our friend in the library?" Her eyes never left what she had created as she finished.
Xander pulled his shirt on, "That's a negatory. Giles has been incommunicado for a few weeks now. But I'm sure he's got too many new books that need shelving to worry about a classic that's already been checked out, you know?"
He moved to stand in front of her, "Um, not that anyone is checking you out of course. Not anyone here, I mean. In this gym. Right now. Also has anyone seen where I left my bad analogy?"
"Made more sense than I just bolted out of," she spoke with a wearied tone. "Trouble in slumberland?"
"I've been having repeats of the same bad episode every night this week. There's this…thing chasing me, and no matter how hard I run, it always ends up scoring the pounce. But right before it swallows me whole, the big smelly looks me right in the eyes and says 'The queen is dead, long live the queen'.
A twenty-something woman slammed her car door shut. With a press of the button on her keys, the trunk of her car opened. She quickly retrieved her two bags of groceries and closed it. Thankfully, none of the fresh produce had bruised and her dinner wouldn't be the leftover Thai food tonight.
She never felt the slight sting pierce her skin, managing to get halfway up the stairs to her flat before succumbing, the bags slipping from her lifeless arms, spilling their contents down the steps.
Xander sighed as the bus pulled off. His date/not-date with Renee had been a bust. Not that they hadn't had fun or enjoyed each other's company. He dropped his gaze to the ground, it was just that…
"Renee is trying to skip out on her assigned duties," Satsu paused as she glared at the younger girl. "Kitchen Patrol."
Renee gave a weak laugh as she was dragged away by the other slayer, promising to make it up soon, and left Xander with a lot of free time on his hands. So he decided to head into town, hoping for a quiet day of sight-seeing. His plan lasted until he saw the morning paper proclaiming another killing spree on the loose.
Xander read and re-read the stories, gleaning all the details he could. 'A homeless man in a park had been the first body found, followed by a woman feet from her second story apartment. Several bodies were found along a well used jogging path.' He paused as he read further, 'no apparent connection'. Xander hoped the good doctor was up and awake at this hour.
"Ah, Good morning, Xander," Dr. Williams greeted him.
"Hello Doc, sounds like you've been awake for awhile," Xander answered as he started walking, subconsciously heading towards the area where the joggers had been found.
"Well, as I get older, I find my mornings start earlier, so I take it you're calling about that object you procured?"
He looked around the empty street before answering, "Not exactly. I was calling about the latest, umm, newspaper headlines, the bad kind."
There was a brief silence on the other end as he could hear the doctor fumbling with his own copy of the paper, "Good lord, not another one" Williams hesitated before asking the obvious, "You don't think there's another of those things out there doing this do you?"
"What can I say, Doc? I'm not a big believer in coincidences." Xander replied.
"Ah well, I do have an old classmate that works for the police. I'll check in with him and try to get back with you as soon as I learn something."
"Thanks, doc," Xander said as he hung up and started examining the area.
Wide sections of the park appeared to be cordoned off. Bright yellow bands of police tape informed the public to stay out and away. Xander stopped well away from them and began looking around. His practiced eye looked through the foliage and surroundings.
'The bushes look intact, the grass is well maintained', he examined the area around his feet, 'but likely wouldn't hold footsteps'. He started walking away from the site of the joggers towards where the woman had been found earlier, her apartment came into view fairly quickly, car still parked in front.
Xander eyed the area and did a rough survey, 'Judging by the angle, the shooter would have had to been near the middle of the park…' He quickly started walking that way. As he closed in on the area, he noticed a large picnic style area had been set up. Judging by the well trimmed path, this area was designed to be used by any of the neighboring families who might want an impromptu outdoor party. As the former carpenter walked through the area, he couldn't help the feeling he was being watched. Slowly, he walked to a group of trees on one side of the grove and quickly cut behind one of them. Xander silently counted to ten before easing his head around the trunk and saw…nothing. He released a breath he hadn't known he was holding and almost relaxed. That is until he happened to glance upwards and saw a fearsome creature staring down at him.
The thing dropped from the branches as he backed away from it. Large, compound eyes dominated a ball-shaped head. Its body was thin and compact yet muscular, as were its legs. The appearance of yet another highly intricate symbol apparently carved to appear on its waist confirmed his earlier suspicion. He summoned the belt even as the creature advanced toward him. "Henshin," was all he said before he charged the bug-like demon.
Apparently, whatever else the creature was, it wasn't a good fighter as he pummeled it easily. The demon's face and head were rocked by his powerful strikes until he knocked it backwards and away from him. Xander cracked his knuckles as he moved toward it, intent on finishing the fight. That's when something he missed became a factor in the fight. From the creature's back, a pair of thin, yet sturdy wings deployed. The creature flexed its wings for a second than started beating as they lifted it off the ground and it started moving away from him at an increasing rate of speed.
Naturally, Xander gave chase but the creature's flight speed moved it far out of his reach in seconds. He paused, following the creature with his eye until it flew upward into the sky.
'Crap, I'm losing it.' His eye strained to locate the beast again but the effort was in vain.
'Great. Had a lead, lost the lead,' he kept staring into the sky, 'I need to find that thing before someone else dies. Come on, ugly, come back here and fight.'
Had Xander been paying attention he would have heard the belt humming again. But his focus was on the monster he had so recently lost sight of. "Son of a bitch, I almost had him and than the damn thing flies away" he said with an angry tone. His frustration all too evident as he spoke again, "Come on, how the hell do, I find the bastard." That's when the belt stopped humming and all of a sudden, Xander's world became a lot clearer. The colors grew sharper and more vivid, the songs of the birds and bugs reached from across the park.
"Huh?" He looked around and saw nothing at first. His curiosity led him to a pond, where he saw his reflection. The armor had changed again, this time to a brilliant green, while again reducing its overall mass and bulk. 'Okay, I'm green now, that's new,' he pondered, 'like last time. First I was red, than I was blue. Now I was red, but I'm green. And man are those crickets are loud'. He turned as he heard the chirps apparently getting louder, the dull roar of airplane thousands of feet above, sounded much closer. The booming, pulsing beat of a radio from a house blasted into his eardrums. Xander's hands gripped at his head as he staggered away. His vision got fuzzier and fuzzier, the screeching and cracking of everything in the park. It wasn't until he was nearer one of the roads that ran parallel to the park that he was overwhelmed by the blaring of the truck's horn.
Xander collapsed on the ground, and lost consciousness.
"This is about sex, isn't it?" Dawn paused as she towered over an apple tree, "because everyone keeps trying to give me the birds and bees speech, which I outgrew ten years and six hundred shoe sizes ago." The younger Summers sister's hands combed through the tree, gathering its ripe fruit into her palms as a familiar red-head hovered nearby.
"No one's trying to lecture you, Dawn, but none of my spells are going to shrink you like a cotton sweater until I know exactly what mojo your loverboy used." Willow watched as she gathered the fruit into one hand, "and speaking of clothes, have you been wearing the same outfit since you… blossomed?"
"What, did my proportionate stench tip you off?" Dawn swallowed the dozen or so apples she had found whole, "cause unless Lane Bryant redefines 'Plus-sized' in a hurry, it's only going to get worse."
Her hunger sated, the giant teenager sat down even as Willow floated nearby offered, "I swear I'll un-embiggen you the second you tell me what incantation your significant other used while you two were… being significant together."
"You're worse then my sister, Willow," Dawn supported her head in one giant hand as she continued, "Why is everyone so sure this is Kenny's fault?"
"Um, because he's a thricewise?" Willow smiled wryly, "I'm as sensitive to profiling as the next gay Wiccan Jewess, but not every stereotype is untrue." She stopped smiling as tears started to form in Dawn's eyes.
The giant brunette felt the tears starting flow again, "You don't understand, he was the only guy on the campus who treated me like a friend, not a… a walking pair of boobs."
"Oh sweetie, don't talk like that," Willow comforted her, "Boys are into you because of your legs not those itty-bitty things."
That drew a laugh and a giggle as Dawn's tears ended quickly with her wiping them away, "Heh, I missed you Will. But the truth is—"
"Miss Rosenberg?" a new voice, belonging to Renee drew their attention, "Sorry to interrupt, but Buffy was wondering if you could give her a hand with the castle's new defense system?"
Willow admonished the young slayer, "First of all, what did we discuss about calling me by my mother's name?"
"That I'd be turned into a baby goat if I didn't knock it off?" Renee offered.
"Very good, Renee,' Willow nodded approvingly. 'And please tell Ms. Summers, that I already double-checked our perimeter's enchanted moat this morning."
The dark skinned girl raised a hand, "Actually she said she was looking for, and I quote 'Laptop-Geek Willow, not Broomstick-Action Willow'. I think she needs help figuring out the new radar stations we just installed."
Willow sighed in defeat. "Right, I forgot we added GI Joe to the long list of people who want us dead." Her face betrayed her resentment, "But the best surveillance gear in the world is only going to tell us if the chicken-hawks are on their way. What are we supposed to do when they actually get here?"
Dawn answered the question for her, "Whatever we have to. All's fair."
The truck driver tried in vain to shake off his sudden drowsiness. Driving near the park on a bright day, he hadn't felt the small sting that doomed him. Finally, he succumbed and lost control of his vehicle, sending it crashing into a line of parked cars. The brutal smashing of metal on metal reverberated throughout the area and managed to do what alarm clock didn't.
Wake Xander up out of a deep sleep, that is. He blinked as he opened his eye and attempted to figure out where he was. The Sunnydale native was indoors, in a fairly nice soft bed with the curtains drawn. 'Okay, still go my clothes on, that's a good start,' he thought as he pushed the covers back and sat up. The room blurred slightly as he did so and he stopped. 'That's not of the good. I need to find out where I am.'
Xander managed to get out of the bed easily enough and he started to examine his surroundings more intently. The bed didn't look like it had much seen use, stacks and piles of various things covered the dresser and other furniture in the room. He eyed several photos of a young couple including one taken right outside a church as he reached the door and listened. Hearing nothing, he carefully opened the door and looked out into the empty hall. Carefully, he started walking down the hall, and found himself in an unoccupied kitchen. Xander saw a few pill bottles on a shelf high above the floor. From where he was, he could barely read the labels on them.
"Ah good, you're awake." Hearing a man's voice, he looked around and saw its owner, standing at the other entrance to the kitchen watching him with a look of relief, "Thought might have to call the hospital for you, instead of waiting for Nicole to get home." He approached Xander and offered his hand, "Name's David."
He took the offer and shook it, "Xander. Nice to meet you David, thanks for saving my hide."
The Brit smiled, "I was just doing the right thing. You're lucky I found you on my walk around the neighborhood. Otherwise you might be getting an IV in a hospital right now."
Xander had the images of the dead and the creature flash through his mind 'well one of us was lucky, not sure which yet', "Yeah I was doing… something and well, that happened."
"Going to look at the bodies they found, were you?" David ventured a guess that caused Xander to stiffen, "You'd think after all the horrible things people see, they'd eventually stop wanting to see anymore."
"No, it's not like that," Xander protested as the other man eyed him, "I…I just wanted to see if it was someone I knew." David merely nodded and led the pair out of the kitchen and into the living room, "How did you know about those anyway?" Xander asked.
David's response was to point to a television that was on with the sound off and a graphic informing him that another killing spree had begun. Both of them stopped to watch Sky News, and David turned the volume up.
"And authorities are still unsure about the cause this sudden outbreak of the sleeping sickness. With the death toll now numbering more then twenty victims, people are starting to demand answers. NHB experts are cautioning those residents who live in the outbreak area to remain in their homes and minimize outside contact."
Xander was eyeing the pill bottles along the wall, recognizing the names on the labels, 'Pain pills and an anti-depressant?' David scowled as he shut off the television and pulled a chair away from the table. The American caught the brief flash of pain across his pain as he sat down.
"Well, pull up a chair, Xander. We've got some time yet before Nicole returns from the market."
He did as he was asked and studied the older man, noting the lines on his face.
"I take it you don't believe the news about this epidemic?" Xander commented.
The older man regarded him silently as he brought a cup of tea to his lips. Xander resisted the urge to fidget before he finally answered him.
"My grandfather, my father and me, we all used to work at the Wollerson textile works. So did his brother, my uncles, even my sister worked there. It was tiring work, but as long as you knew what you were doing, it was all right." He paused then continued, "And then they came, bloody bureaucrats. Said the laws made it impossible for the place to keep us all. Had to let us go but not to worry, they'd help everyone who was let go find a job elsewhere, and those who stayed would get more money. My father was one of those they had to let go. He went home and stayed there. My grandfather retired one day and passed on the next Monday. My grandmother used to say, 'he wouldn't know what to do if he couldn't work', and I guess he was right."
Xander choose that moment to speak, "And you got hurt."
David sat up a little straighter and eyed him with suspicion. "I used to work construction back in California, seen a lot of guys come to work hurting. They'd pop some pills before they started working."
Xander's eye didn't leave the other man's as he asked, "Am I right?"
The Brit grunted, "You're sharper then I took you for. Yeah I got hurt because of the inexperienced fools they hired to replace the people they fired. Damn rookie didn't know how to work the machine properly. They said I'm the lucky one, because I can still walk. Some luck that is."
He regarded Xander carefully, "Construction, eh? Is that what happened to your other eye? Someone screw up on your crew?"
"You could say that," Xander answered cautiously, "She tried to do something before the rest of us… were ready."
David raised an eyebrow at that, before he could say anything else, the two men heard the soft padding of small feet. Xander turned as a little boy came into the room. The boy rubbed one hand across his face while clutching a Nerf gun in the other.
"What's the matter lad?" David diverted all his attention to the boy leaving Xander to make the obvious conclusion. The older man bent down and placed his arms on his son.
"I think Ol' Mrs. C is sick, dad."
"And why do you say that, Andy?"
"'Cause, she just fell down and went to sleep when she was in her garden."
As soon as he heard the boy's words, an icy ball materialized in Xander's stomach. "Did you see anyone else?" he asked.
The boy turned around and looked at him with something akin to confusion. "This is Xander, Andy,' David explained. 'He's a tourist from America."
Andy's eyes grew very wide as he stared at him. "Are you a pirate?"
"No, I'm not a pirate." Xander felt a little silly answering the question. "Oh, you're the guy that stalks Batman."
"That's the other company," he corrected the boy as David eyed him oddly. "It's a comic book thing."
"Right, Andy," David elected to move on, "Did anyone else see Mrs. C fall down?"
"No" Andy turned and eyed Xander again, "Are you –"The ringing of the phone interrupted the question. His father quickly answered it and spoke with the person on the other hand before hanging up. "That was Nicole, she'll be home from her shift at the hospital in a few minutes."
"And she has no idea I'm here," he finished for David who nodded. Xander's brow furrowed as he started thinking, 'One, lots of people are dead again. Two, the prime culprit for all these deaths is that creature that got away. Three, these people's neighbor very likely was the latest victim. Which means, that there's a good chance this kid's mom will be next on the hit list.'
He was already moving towards the side of the house with David behind him.
"Look you're in no shape to leave just yet. Nicole will look you over before you go," The older man protested. Behind them trailed the little boy. Xander listened, but his focus was on the street outside. He quickly scanned the area and saw nothing but didn't feel assured. David appeared by his side with a quizzical look on his face as the watched for his wife's approach. After a few minutes, he nodded as a white sedan pulled up. "That's her."
A blonde dressed in scrubs emerged from the vehicle and retrieved a bag from the back seat. As she was doing this, all the hairs on the back of Xander's neck started standing up. He cast anxious glances toward the sky as she approached them, bag slung over her shoulder. She called to her husband as she approached, "Well then, is this patient? He looks healthy enough to me."
Xander took a few backward steps his nervous eye never stopped scanning the skyline. Without looking at her, he spoke "Backyard, NOW." Her eyebrows were raised at the commanding tone in his voice and when he grabbed her hand and drug her to the rear of the building, she and her family became very upset.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing?"
"Hand's off my wife!"David's angry voice was the loudest as he followed the stranger who appeared to be kidnapping his wife. Once around to the rear of the home, Xander released her wrist and turned to face David. "It's not safe up front, trust me on this. What is really behind these attacks is out there."
David managed to control his anger for a bit longer as he replied, "Oh, and what might be out there that caused you to act like a lunatic?"
Xander paused his gaze shifting rapidly between the husband and wife as he tried to figure out how best to say 'well there's flying demon that's killing people somehow' before the people came with a strait jacket. As he tried to figure out what to say, he literally felt something inside his mind screaming 'NOW' and he acted.
Snatching Nicole's arm, he pulled her to the ground in a move that further upset her husband. Make-up, money, napkins and the other assorted contents of her purse quickly spilled onto the ground. David's anger cooled rapidly as something impacted the bricks where her head had been. Xander bent down, grabbed a napkin and used it to pull the object from the bricks.
It vaguely looked like a needle or pin, only smeared with some strange substance. As he glanced between the napkin in his hand and the brick where it had hit, he noticed the discoloration appearing already. Carefully he wrapped the needle in the napkin and pressed it into the woman's hands.
He stepped back as he turned his gaze back towards the sky, his hands went to his waist as he mentally summoned the belt into existence.
"Henshin," and the belt's humming began and, bit by bit, his body was replaced with the strange suit of armor until at last his head transformed into the bizarre mask/helmet combination. A glance at his reflection in a window told him he once again was green.
David and Nicole for their part were shocked, even as Andy got over his surprise and moved towards the stranger. David found his voice first, "What the hell?"
"Fine choice of visitors you invited in, David," his wife noted. He glared at her, "And just what is that supposed to mean?"
She shrugged as she stood up and faced him, "It means you're a lousy judge of character, just as always."
Xander was doing his level best to ignore the couple as he focused on trying to find the monster again. Their arguing was starting to grate on his ears when he heard it. There was a faint buzzing sound, like a mosquito made as it flew within earshot. He slowly narrowed in on that sound when Andy reached him.
"Hey Mr. Do you need a gun? Like this?" the little boy dangled his NERF pistol to him. Distracted, he clumsily accepted the gun and two things happened.
First, the toy gun completely changed. One minute it was a toy, the next it was a fairly elaborate and highly detailed hand crossbow with green and gold highlights and a bolt already loaded.
The second thing that happened was a subtle change in the tone of the buzzing, as though the creature had done something.
Without thinking, Xander snatched something out of the air above the boy's head. As he brought it closer, he saw it was another of those spikes.
As he peered in the direction it had been fired from, he unconsciously cocked the crossbow even as he searched the skies.
His eye tracked in on a faint movement, within a second locating the monster flying happily in front of some clouds. He brought the crossbow up, took aim and fired. There was a pause a heartbeat in length before he lowered the weapon and turned towards the formerly squabbling couple.
In silence, he gave the weapon back to the boy, only pausing to note as it returned to its former toy gun state.
He turned his attention back to the parents and spoke, "I think that did it, no more sleeping sickness".
"And just how can you be sure?" David asked.
His answer came in the form of a brief fireball that illuminated the sky in the area Xander had fired.
With a sigh, Xander reverted back to himself.
"Thanks for your help, I'll be going now."