By Fire of the Spirit 6
Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy or any of the other characters in the show. They belong to Joss Whedon. I am not gaining any profit from this story.
Subject: Xander/Tara
Summary: Set during forth season of the show. After a fierce battle with Ethan Raines Xander is struck by a stray blast cast by Willow, it breaks down the barriers inside his mind unleashing the two spirits that have been joined with his during his time with the slayer. One of them gains full control of him and decides to take out the slayer, however along the way it takes an interest in the new friend of Willow.
(Initiative Base)
Xander jumped up as the door to his cell slip open of one of the soldiers entered, he didn't immediately recognise him but he noted he seemed very nervous. He could feel the hyena and the soldier within him telling him to attack now but somehow he did not believe this man was any threat to him, he was too jumpy as if he was afraid of been caught anywhere near here
"Move now, the guards will be back in a minute" the soldier hissed "And make sure you knock me out before you go" he added
"Why are you doing this after capturing me?" Xander asked as he moved forward wary of this been some sort of trick
"Because not everyone here agrees with what Walsh and the others are doing and we especially do not agree with her capturing none hostiles like you now go" the solider replied with an agitated look
Xander nodded pleased to hear this before darting forward and nailing the man in the face knocking him out of the cell and into the nearby wall where he slid to the floor unconscious. Xander looked around before running down the hall ignoring the shouts of the imprisoned vampires and demons inside the other cells.
As soon as he turned the corner he ran into the two guards, they stopped in shock at his appearance which gave him the chance to spear one of them in the chest and following up with a viscous backhand which sent him to the ground. He grabbed the fallen soldier's blaster kicking the other soldier who was just starting to react in the back of his leg dropping him to one knee; he turned and stunned him before running forward. He ran around another corner only to come face to face with Finn and another guard who were both laughing at something but quickly stopped when they noticed him, he smirked at them both before dropping them both with the stunner as they went for their side arms as he ran past them he made sure to kick Finn in his face re-braking his noise which satisfied the more violent approaches of the hyena and the soldier.
By now the base alarms were beginning to sound and he wondered what had taken them so long to sound, he guessed the soldier who had released him had not been working alone. He dived round a corner as another guard came running down one of the other corridors and fired his own blaster at him, he waited until the guard began to turn the corner before whacking the butt of the blaster into the man's gut and the followed through with jamming in down the back of his neck knocking him out. He turned and ran hoping to find an exit only to run into three more guards who were blocking his way forward, he managed to get off two blasts with his stunner which took down two of the three guards but the third managed to fire his own which nicked him in the leg sending him to the floor.
At this point he allowed the hyena to come to the fore of his mind and take control, unlike when he was possessed he was very much still the main presence in his mind the hyena was just making the decisions of what to do. He watched as he dived at the guard who had come closer believing he had taken care of the threat, the hyena tackled him to the ground and pummelled him into unconsciousness before running down the corridor and turned the corner to find the staircase which obviously led upwards in front of him.
"Hold it right there Harris" a voice shouted behind him
He turned to find the leader of the Initiative Maggie Walsh who posed as a college professor who taught Buffy and Willow and seven guards all pointing blasters and two berretta's at him. He knew he would not be able to get up the stairs quickly enough without been shot and he didn't want to risk been hit by any more bullets, he quickly forced all of his concentration on Tara and the bond she had forced between them and let her know everything that had just happened including the fact that not the people who belonged to the Initiative were enemies.
He felt her just at the back of his mind pleased to hear he was okay and he could feel her send a burst of information back to him which alerted him to the fact she had gotten Angel, Faith, Cordelia and Wesley to come back and help rescue him. He looked back at Walsh as she slowly approached with two of the guards and he wondered for a moment if he could take her captive and escape that way until two more guards came up behind him and grabbed his hands and roughly pushed them behind his back
"How did you get out of your cell Harris?" Walsh asked with a frown
"Finn came in intending to continue our last fight and I beat him to the punch" Xander replied "You should really get a hold of some better personnel Walsh" he added
"Funny response for a prisoner" Walsh replied wondering if indeed Riley had intended to get some revenge on Harris and got more than he bargained for "Forest find Riley" she ordered as she saw him run around the corner just as Xander answered
"Yes mam" he replied and ran off
Xander just smiled at the woman who was clearly annoyed at one of her prisoners almost escaping. He almost laughed as Forest returned with the soldier who had helped him escape in the first place
"Where is Riley?" Walsh all but demanded to know
"He is unconscious mam in Harris's cell" Forest replied "I found Graham down the hall just waking up from trying to stop Harris escaping" he reported nodding towards the soldier who had helped him who had blood running down his noise "Finn has a broken noise again mam which does suggest he got into another fight with Harris" he added
Walsh frowned at this answer whilst Xander did everything he could to stop from laughing out loud at this turn of events, it was clear to him that Graham had come to before Finn and placed him in the cell so he would take the blame for letting him out. The fact he had broken his noise again just helped make it look more like Finn got into his cell to try and beat him up and he escaped as a result, he quickly relayed this to Tara as well almost smiling as he could almost hear her laugh over the bond.
"Take Riley to the infirmary and then once he has been patched up put him in the brig for a full day as punishment for his mistake" she ordered Forest and Graham not noticing Graham was trying his best to hold in his own laughter that his ruse had worked although he was annoyed Xander had not managed to escape although he had almost made it "Put Harris back in his cell and make sure the guards keep a close watch on him" she added before storming of
Xander smirked once before he was dragged back to his cell past the soldiers he had taken down, he could hear the hyena laughing at the damage they had done whilst the soldier just gave the impression of been impressed by what he had just done.
(Angel's Car)
Faith had listened to everything that had happened to lead up to this, she had grown more and more annoyed at Buffy for her actions towards Xander and Tara both and also at her dismissive attitude towards Giles as well until she needed him.
She shook her head at how dumb both Buffy and Red were been, how could Xander possible fake been shot. She had smirked at the fact that Xander had bedded the witch and claimed her as his mate as the hyena would put it., she felt a slight wench as she realised she had missed out on any chance of forming a relationship with Xander because of her past mistakes but she quickly shuck these thoughts off.
"Tara, are you okay?" she asked as she noticed the witches sudden distraction
"Xander just contacted me over the bond I created between us, he was set free by one of the soldiers" Tara answered
"Why would one of them do that?" Angel asked as he glanced at her before returning his gaze to the road
"It seems that there is a small group of Initiative personnel who do not agree with their goals and especially the orders to capture non hostiles" Tara responded frowning not liking the way that sounded
"Does that mean they are taking other people in who have some sort of ability?" Wesley asked also picking up the way that had sounded
"It's a possibility" Angel responded "We'll have to make sure we do a very firm look through the base in case there are any other people down there" he told the others
"Tara did Xander escape and if not will these people help us when we attack?" Faith asked looking at the witch who was suddenly smiling
"No he did not but he does believe they will help us when we make our move, I think one of us should make contact with the leader of this group or at least who Xander thinks is the leader, he is called Graham and see if we can co-ordinate an attack" Tara informed them
"A good idea, I think either me or Faith should do that as they will not recognise us" Cordelia spoke up "What were you smiling about Tara?" she asked
"Xander re-broke Finn's noise during his escape and Graham placed him in his cell making it look like he was responsible for the escape because he put his personnel wants first" Tara explained laughing a little at the thought "According to what he sent over the bond last Finn is been locked up in the brig for a full day for it" she added
"Good" Angel said with a laugh pleased to hear Finn was not having an easy time of it "It's nice to see Xander is annoying someone who actually deserves it" he stated with a smile
"As far as he was concerned at the time Angel you did deserve to be annoyed" Tara responded "Xander will never fully trust you Angel because you are a Vampire, also because your sire was Darla who murdered his second best friend in his life Jessie" she continued "But he knew he could count on you to help when it was needed which is why he trusted you to help me get him out of there" she continued "His dislike of you was due to the fact you both fancied Buffy at the time but that ended when he started to date Cordelia, he just liked to annoy you for the fun of it" she told him
"I guess I can understand that" Angel said with a sigh "It's nice to know I've urned some trust from him in all this time" he added "I guess I was holding on to some of my past thoughts on Xander, time to let that go along with a lot more of my past connections there" he continued
"What do you mean by that Angel?" Cordelia asked quite curious what he meant
"I mean my connection to Buffy" he replied "It's clear she is still making huge mistakes where it concerns her boyfriends" he added "I killed a lot of people when Angelus retook control after I lost my soul and she allowed it because she let her feelings control her and now her friend is in danger and she is ignoring it just because it makes her current boyfriend look bad" he explained "It's made it clear to me how she allows herself to be distracted from her calling and ignores her friends when they need her, I've just been helping her believe she is doing nothing wrong by not making her face the truth" he said sighing "It's time I do something I should have done a long time ago and wake her up to her own stupidity" he stated knowing this would proberly be the last time he saw Buffy in such friendly terms because he knew she did not take thing like this easily
"Do you really think she will listen?" Wesley inquired "Miss Summers can be quite stubborn, she quit the council for you when you were poisoned remember" he added
"Another point in fact Wes, she quit the people who whilst pains in the neck can help her keep this world safe just because they refused to help a vampire who they are swarn to destroy" Angel replied "I never saw it before because I was blind by my feelings for her, well no longer she has to wake up and see what is really going on" he told the others "I will not allow Xander to suffer or be killed just because Buffy doesn't want to see the truth about her lover" he stated
Faith smiled at this pleased to see that Angel was no longer going to be blind to Buffy's faults, Xander whilst loyal to Buffy had never been afraid to confront her when she made mistakes. She knew she was still tying to make up for her own mistakes but she had at least admitted she made them whilst Buffy had always believed she had never made any mistakes in her life.
She was a little nervous about going to Sunnydale so soon but at least thanks to Tara's spell was safe from been discovered by Buffy and the gang, she looked to where Tara sat and noticed she had her eyes closed and she wondered what she was doing.
"How far are we Angel?" she asked
"Another hour and half I'd say" Angel replied "I'd try and get some rest for now" he suggested
Faith and the others nodded and each tried to settle in their seats and fall asleep each hoping their return to Sunnydale would go smoothly.
(Initiative Base)
Riley paced his cell incensed that he was in the brig for something he hadn't done, but neither Walsh, Forest nor Graham would believe he hadn't entered Harris's cell aiding in his escape attempt. He did not know how Harris had gotten out but he would find out and if someone had let him out and them made sure he was blamed for it he promised he would make them pay.
Graham sat in his dorm in Lowell house above the Initiative Base and thought over how he could help get Xander out of the base; Walsh was ordering tighter security measures so it would be a lot harder to get to Xander's cell without been seen and the control room was been guarded a lot more as Walsh had discovered someone had turned off the camera's outside the cell block.
He laid down on his bed and wondered how he could stop what was happening, Walsh was beginning to act like a crazy woman ignoring the harm she was doing to the innocent people she was having captured who had magic in them or some other ability. He and his fellow resisters had to find some way to stop this before it got out of hand and more innocents died.
Xander leaned against the wall of his cell listening to Tara over the bond, it seemed to be getting stronger to the point they could actually talk to each other now. This pleased him greatly as it was helping to keep him calm, he was happy to hear Tara had succeeded in getting Angel, his crew and Faith to help her in a rescue attempt.
Tara was filling him in on what Angel had said during their trip back to Sunnydale, he was a little surprised to find that finally the souled vampire was going to cut himself off from Buffy and make her see the mistakes she had made. He sat himself down and wondered what would happen once he was out of here and the Initiative had been dealt with one way or another.
Their plan to contact Graham and co-ordinate an attack was a good one and the soldier within him was pleased to see they weren't just going to storm in without a plan. He quickly reminded Tara about Spike who had escape from this base just after he had gotten a chip put inside his head, he may be able to help them get in if they couldn't get in contact with Graham. He heard he agree before suggesting he get some rest for when they did come for him, he wished her a goodnight before closing his eyes and trying to sleep wishing he was home with Tara curled up with him.
(Angel's Car)
Tara smiled as she caught Xander's wishful thought and she couldn't help but agree. She wished they were together in his apartment instead of in this situation. She missed his comforting presence and his loving attitude towards her but she would get him back and she would help make Finn and his fellow Initiative personnel who were not part of Graham's resistance pay for what they had done.
She closed her eyes and tried to sleep but she found it very hard in the cramped back seat and she couldn't help but feel lonely without Xander's presence.
"Don't worry Tara we'll get him back" she heard Faith say and she turned to see the dark haired slayer was looking at her with a small smile
"I know we will" she said smiling back before finally pushing away the lonely feeling and began to fall asleep as Angel pushed the car harder hoping to beat the sun rise
(Sunnydale next day)
Buffy walked onto campus alongside Willow, they had stopped Giles's house who had told them of his concerns for Xander and Tara who he could not contact. Buffy had lost her temper that her watcher could think her boyfriend would try and kidnap them and told him to go to hell before storming out followed by Willow. She couldn't understand how any of them could question Riley's good intentions after all the help he had given them.
Willow was feeling more and more confused as what was the truth and what was a lie, if Giles was right Xander and Tara had vanished and could not be find and whilst he believed what they had been told the day before about the attempted kidnap of Xander she like Buffy couldn't see why the Initiative would bother to try and take him. But who else could have taken them if they were missing and if they were wrong and the Initiative were behind this them she was betraying her friends by doing nothing but she didn't want to anger Buffy by suggesting they ask Riley about this.
(Giles Residence)
Giles sighed as he sat down and drunk from his tea, his brief meeting with Buffy and Willow had not gone very well and again Buffy was unwilling to listen to any bad remarks about Finn or the Initiative and Willow seemed to be willing to follow her head. He looked up as someone knocked on his door and he quickly walked over and opened it and was shocked to find Tara outside
"Tara, my god where have you been I've been trying to contact you and Xander since last night?" he asked grabbing the surprised witch into a small hug before releasing her and checking to make sure she was unhurt
"I'm okay Mr Giles" Tara assured the watcher pleased he seemed so concerned about her and Xander "I went to L.A to get some help, Xander was captured by the Initiative last night and he told me if it should happen I should get Angel and his crew to come and aid us because he knew Buffy and Willow would not help us" she explained to him
Giles sighed as he heard this knowing she was quite correct especially after the confrontation he'd just had with his slayer about this very fact.
"Where are they staying?" he asked as he quickly gathered a few things intending to go and see Angel and plan their next move
"They've set up at Angel's mansion on Crawford street which has been abandoned since Angel left" Tara answered "I came to see if you will help us retrieve Xander and any other innocent people they may have taken?" she told him
"Of course I will help Tara, let's go" he responded as he left his house followed by Tara