Wherever I May Roam

Disclaimer: own nothing, mayhap in another world, but not in this one, say thankya.

Summary: Xander makes a sacrifice, and we all know that on the Hellmouth, no good deed goes unpunished.

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Randall Flagg sat in thought in his assigned room. Things were going along swimmingly for him. The General and his men would be leaving in two days time to converse with other members of the Free Zones about his notion (and he felt sure that he would gain their blessings).

Raven was very devoted to him already. She felt the power in him, and thanks to his own mental shielding, she could not use her empathy on him to discern his thoughts nor his feelings. He still had not figured out what he was going to say to her about her father, for simply telling her that he had decided not to use her would not fly well. He felt, however, that the answer would come to him in time.

Janitor and he had talked for well over two hours that first time they'd met. Janitor was an interesting fellow, considered insane by many of his peers. The man, in point of fact, was a genius with a gift of inventiveness combined with his imagination. He loved to build things, random as they were. He could be very useful to the CFZ…if they'd merely use him. But they weren't for fear of what his unstable mind could produce, perhaps rightly so. But Flagg had dealt with the insane before, and had used them to his advantage. Janitor, while gifted, was not disturbed, not really, merely lonely and bored. Those two things could drive a man to do very disturbing things.

He frowned to himself as he considered the other elements to his plot. Xander was on the fence with him, he could tell, though he could not discern more than that. Flagg found that pretty ungrateful of him, as Flagg had saved his life. Giles and Tara were firmly against him, he could tell, but Tara was willing to enact his plan in the interest of saving her brethren. Amy and Dave had to go, that much Flagg was certain of. They were both potheads, disgusting creatures that Flagg had neither the time nor the patience for.

Now, in this world, most people held a general distrust of the ones who used magic, including himself in spite of the word going around that he was Messiah. He would have to capitalize on that, drive a wedge between the two groups to further his plans. The problem was that there was only so much he could do before the humans to make mages seem evil without the mages turning against him. He needed someone…someone who could attack the humans in ways that could not be linked back to him.

Sighing, he reached out with his mind, scanning as far as he could to try and find that which he was looking for. As he stretched his limits, he could feel something at the very edge of his mind. It wasn't quite real, it was on the mental level…but it was causing distress…and death where it was.

His search was interrupted by someone knocking on his door, drawing his attention away from the thing that he had found.

"Hey, Randy," Flagg frowned momentarily at that, but chose to put it aside as he came to his feet to answer the door, "You in?"

"Hang on, kid," Flagg said, grabbing his shirt and tossing it on as he answered the door, "Let a man get clothed, will ya?"

"Sorry," Xander said with an embarrassed smile as Flagg opened the door.

"Not a problem," Flagg said with a smile, "Come on in, Xander. Come on in and we'll palaver some."

"…Palaver," Xander asked as he walked into Flagg's sparse room.

"Sorry, slang from one of my prior homes," Flagg said with a grin, "We'll talk for a bit. Please, sit down. Drink?"

"Whiskey, if you have it," Xander said with a grin.

"Ah, a man's drink," Flagg said with a grin, and he conjured up some whiskey and poured it in two shot glasses, "To your health, Xander."

"And to yours, Messiah," Xander said, and Flagg laughed as they clanked their glasses together and threw back their drinks.

"So, I take it that's why you're here," Flagg said with a sigh as they sat down, the bottle between them, "You're curious about the rumors."

"Very much so," Xander said, pouring himself another round as he did so, "They're all talking about how you're the Second Coming of Christ."

"And what do you think," Flagg asked, wondering if he could discern his young friend's mindset.

"I dunno," Xander said, sipping his drink, "I don't think you're the Christ. I don't deny that you have power, but I just don't see you as the divine."

"Well, that doesn't surprise me, Xander," Flagg said with a grin, "See, what I am is not important. It's what my purpose is that matters."

"And what is your purpose," Xander asked with a small grin.

"To save the world," Flagg said, smiling widely as he said this, "What I am, Xander, is purpose. I know what my purpose is, what my place is in this world…and it is to save it and show it the way. Call me Messiah, Lord, Savior, Vishnu, Satan, Legion, call me what you will, but I amount to the same thing: purpose."

"When we first met, you didn't seem that interested in saving the world," Xander noted.

"Perhaps, perhaps," Flagg said with a sad smile, "I'm disappointed in this world. They created their own destruction, and thanks to that, their world is moving on much more quickly than it should have. The only truly innocent party, I feel, are the mages. They had nothing to do with Adam, nor with the science that made him. They are not responsible for this world's descent."

Xander sat in thought for a moment, then nodded, somewhat seeing where he was coming from.

"I fear for their safety," Flagg said with a frown, "For all their power, they could not hold against the humans, not as they are…divided."

"Why would they need to," Xander asked.

"C'mon, kid," Flagg said with a laugh, "Wise up, brother. The humans hate the mages. They associate them with Adam because they're not normal. And because of that, they're driving a huge wedge between themselves and the mages. Eventually…the two will break."

Xander took a moment to take that in. Sadly, what Flagg was saying made sense…it was entirely possible that after the war with Adam was through, a civil war between the mages and the humans could break out…and that could possibly spell the end of both.

As he went to say something, though, the wall ripped itself open with holes as led rained down upon them. Flagg shouted as he grabbed Xander and tossed him down behind the bed. Xander groaned out in pain as a white-hot sensation hit him in his side, nearly at his lung. He could feel the blood trickling down his stomach as the bullet came to a stop at his bone.

Suddenly, two men entered the room, both dressed in black with turbans on, covering their faces. They both had on crucifixes all over their bodies and both were holding bibles and AK-47s in their hands.

"Back, unholy thing," one of them shouted, "False prophet! Anti-Christ!!"

They both shoved their bibles into both his and Flagg's face. Flagg stared at the book for a moment, then proceeded to laugh his ass off at them.

Xander, on the other hand, saw the bible in their hands…and felt a burning sensation strike his face and skin full-force. He winced as the holy force struck him, and he recoiled in pain. He withdrew further into the crevice he was in, letting Flagg stand up over him. He felt like a coward, but he could not bring himself up against them.

"False prophet," Flagg asked with a laugh, "I think you'd best rethink those words, son."

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son to save us all," one of them shouted, "You shall not sully His Holy Name with your…your lies!!!"

Flagg stared at them, his smile having evaporated into the air, to be replaced with a frown. The men recoiled at the sheer anger that was radiating off of him, only to regrip their bibles and retake their stances.

"In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost," the two men said, very off from each other, "We implore You, Gentle Jesus…take this unholy thing from our sight!"

Xander screamed in pain and rage as the burning sensation built up anew. Holiness was something like a generator. Most of the time, it was absent save in places where it would build up over time, such as in a church or some other place of worship. In the face of two people who had such blinding faith to their higher power, though…to a demon, it could be enough to stop them from attacking them…particularly a new one.

To Xander, at that moment, it felt like the entire world had temporarily lit on fire. It was nothing like Hell, though…it felt…good…but horribly bad at the same time.

Flagg, meanwhile, had had enough of them. Moving with a speed that one would find unnatural for a man of his build, he crossed the room and drove both his fists into the two men's foreheads, easily knocking them out. He took their weapons and broke them down with an expert hand, tossing them away as he did so.

Sighing, Flagg turned back to his friend and looked down on him with a sad smile.

Xander stared up at him, momentarily seeing his eyes turn red, only for them to return to normal a half-second later.

"Well," Flagg said with that same semi-sad smile, "Look like Hell gave you something to remember it by."

"Yeah, guess it did," Xander said, a small tear running down his face.

"Show me your wound," Flagg said, kneeling down beside him as he did so.

Xander gritted his teeth as he moved to show Flagg where he had been hit. As he did so, the door burst open as MPs poured in. They shouted for Flagg to get down, but Flagg paid them no mind as he ripped away bits of Xander's shirt from the wound. He gently laid his hand over it, then closed his eyes and began to focus.

"GET DOWN ON THE FUCKING GROUND," one of the MPs shouted, "GET DOWN OR WE WILL FIRE ON YOU!!!"

From his angle, the MP could not see what Flagg was doing, and likely would not care either way. To him, all mages, especially Flagg, were freaks who deserved to be shot along with Adam.

Flagg continued to ignore him as he poured his energy into Xander. The wound around his hands began to glow white, and Xander cried out as his wound was healed.

"TAKE 'EM OUT," the MP shouted, and all the men opened fire on them.

The bullets could not even hit them. They were stopped by an invisible wall that held them suspended in midair.

"Christ," another MP whispered.

"Not quite right," Flagg said as he came to his feet and turned to them, a satisfied smile on his face, "But close enough."

He extended his hands and the MPs parted involuntarily for him. Flagg walked outside his room as the paramedics, led by Elliot, came in.

"No fatalities, and those two men are responsible for this," Flagg said to her as he walked on.

Elliot stared at him for a moment before nodding and moving into the room.