Author Notes: This isn't as long as I planned but I'm moving this weekend so I decided to just put up what I had.
Be Warned This Story is Not Beta Read
Pairing: Xander/Gwen, Jack/Ianto, Owen/Tosh, The Doctor/Rose, Buffy/Angel, Willow/Kennedy, Dawn/Conner, Mickey/Martha, Spike/Illyria, Andrew/Vi
Summary: Xander's life changes when he becomes involved with another secret organization: Torchwood.
Crossovers: Torchwood, Doctor Who, Heroes, Chuck, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Blade (the movies), Hellblazer, Transformers (the movie), Smallville, Supernatural, Reaper, House, Bloodrayne, Charmed, The L Word, The X-Files, Hellboy (the movie), Artemis Fowl, Harry Potter, Bionic Woman (2007), Bones, Friday Night Lights, Nip/Tuck, Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles, Lost, Alias
Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Doctor Who, Torchwood or their characters. (Although I do wish I owned Dawn and Gwen.)
Rating: R for strong language, some violence, and sexual situations
Season: Post "Chosen"/"Not Fade Away"in the Buffyverse; Post "The Last of the Time Lords"/"End of Days" in the Doctor Who worlds
Category: Action/Drama/Humor/Romance
Spoilers: Basic Knowledge of Doctor Who (2005) and Torchwood as well as all of Buffy and Angel
88
Riley looked at the forms in front of him and tried not to think of what he would be doing if he signed them. "Is something the matter, Major Finn?"
Riley looked up into the hunger-filled eyes of Lex Luthor. He could tell the billionaire wanted him to sign the paper but that wasn't the point. If Riley signed the non-disclosure agreement Luthor had presented him with, then no matter what happened as result of the testing done on the alien he and his men had retrieved, he couldn't say a word. Riley was starting to believe Graham's theory that the alien, who called itself Elita One, didn't mean any harm and simply attacked Riley and his men because it, or rather she, was scared. Realizing that Lex was still staring at him, Riley finally shook his head. "No, sir. No problem." And he signed the paper.
88
By the time Special Agent Seeley Booth had arrived at the murder scene, the press had already caught wind and were at there. "Perfect," Booth grumbled as he ducked under the police tape. The flight from Washington had left him more than a little jet-lagged and the last thing he felt like doing was dealing with the press on top of the latest of the 'Sylar' murders. "Got anything?" he asked the nearest person in a CSU uniform. When the response came back negative, Booth wasn't surprised; Sylar never left anything for anyone to find. "How many victims?"
"Seven. But only one with the head removed."
"Jesus," Booth gasped, unconsciously fingering the cross around his neck. He never liked going to murder scenes but the Sylar ones, with their lack of evidence and hint of cannibalism, always gave him the worst nightmares. He was lead into the surgery room of the plastic surgeon's office that the latest murders occurred at, where the seven victims lay strewn about. "Oh, god," he whispered upon seeing that one of the victims was a young girl. "Who are they?"
A young officer, whose was tinged with green, began reading off names. "The man over there is Dr. Christian Troy, the woman next to him is Julia McNamara; over there is Matt and Annie McNamara and that's their father, Sean, over there. That's Liz Cruz and Olivia Lord in the corner."
Booth swallowed down his bile when he noticed Olivia's head was cut open. "Anything else?" he asked shakily.
The officer nodded. "Yes, sir. It may be nothing but according to all reports, there was an eighth person in this building."
Booth turned sharply to face the man. "What?"
"Eden Lord," the officer continued, "daughter of Olivia. The surveillance cameras from outside clearly show her entering right before we lose the footage."
"What are you saying?"
"We believe that Miss Lord has been taken by Sylar."
88
Riley couldn't sleep. He had tried to convince himself that it was because his wife wasn't with him but he wasn't buying it anymore. He knew that he was feeling guiltily over essentially signing the death warrant of Elita One. As he rolled over and tried to get in a more comfortable position, he heard the door to his room creak open and footsteps approach his bed. Moving with the lighting fast reflexes that years of battling demons had given him, Riley pulled a gun from under his bed and whirled around, aiming at the intruder's head. "Good to see you, too," Graham cracked.
Riley relaxed and sent his friend an angry glare. "What?"
"You signed the papers, didn't you?" Graham asked in a slightly accusing tone.
"I had to," Riley sighed.
"I know. But that doesn't mean Luthor will get to do whatever he wants with Elita."
"It doesn't?"
Graham grinned. "Nope. We're gonna stop him."
"How?"
"Have you ever heard of Sector 7?"
88
Xander covered his ears, trying to block the sounds coming from the room down the hall. "Not exactly what you pictured you'd be doing with your life, is it?" Ianto asked as he passed two earplugs over to him.
"You mean sitting and listening to a girl test out her ability to scream?" Xander asked. "Not really, no."
Ianto grinned then winced as another one of Tyra's sonic screams came down the hall. "How far?" Suresh's voice came.
"Far enough," Xander yelled back, the earplugs doing little to block out his headache. How he and Ianto had come up with the job of testing Tyra's range was still beyond him.
"What do you think Matt's power is?" Ianto asked, carefully removing his earplugs.
"Hopefully, not as painful as this one, whatever it is," Xander replied.
"No pain, no gain, right?" Ianto laughed. Barely a second later, another of Tyra's screams came, knocking the unprepared Ianto down.
"Right," Xander nodded.
88
"Is this really fair?" Xander asked Jack.
Jack shook his head. "No, it's not. But neither was you sending Gwen to come see me."
Xander, who had been in the process of inflating an air mattress, paused. "What's that now?"
Jack smiled as he unfurled a sleeping bag. "Gwen stopped by my office this afternoon with a rather surprising announcement." He gave Xander a pointed look. "Maybe you should take your own advice and tell her you like her."
"I take it you don't share her feelings?"
"Oh, I do," Jack corrected. "But I'm already in love." Xander was puzzled until he saw the meaningful glance Jack shot at Ianto, who was readying another air mattress.
"So because I encouraged Gwen to act on her feelings, I get stuck with all the newbies?"
"Well, there's that and the fact that no one else has the room to house them."
Xander sighed and finished his task. "How is she?" he finally asked.
"Good," Jack said. "She's staying at the Hub for tonight since she left Rhys and Casa de Xander's all full up."
Xander winced. "Damn it. She wouldn't have to stay at the Hub if I hadn't opened my big mouth."
"True," Jack conceded. "But you did what you thought was right; that's what a real friend does and I'm sure Gwen knows that."
"Really?" Xander couldn't help the hopefulness in his voice.
"Yeah. But just to be on the safe side, I wouldn't have any sharp objects lying around when it's just the two of you."
"I'll keep that in mind."
Dean sauntered over to where Xander and Jack sat and joined them, handing each man a beer. "Why does Bela get the bedroom?" he asked, quizzically. "Isn't this your place?"
Xander nodded. "I didn't have the energy to argue with her."
"Been there," the elder Winchester said.
"Where's that?" The trio looked up to see Bela's approaching form.
"Nowhere special," Dean replied, faking a smile. "Just talking about our mutual hatred of all things you."
Bela matched Dean's smile as she said, "Keep dreaming, Dean."
As she walked off, Jack watched her go. "Anyone else notice she's quite attractive?"
Xander and Dean cast each other worried glances but said nothing. The awkward silence was broken by Ianto's cellphone ringing. "Jack," he called. "Mohinder wants to speak with you."
Jack hurridely jogged over to Ianto and took the offered phone. After a few tense seconds, the immortal hung up, clearly upset. "What's up?" Dean questioned.
"It's Sylar. He got another victim."
88
Jack leaned back in his chair and Xander could tell that whatever ability Sylar had gotten from the woman in Los Angeles, it wasn't a good one. "What's up?" he asked, walking into the office.
Jack looked at him wearily and sighed. "The woman Sylar killed, Olivia Lord? She had the ability to find others like her."
Xander blanched. "You mean..."
Jack nodded. "Now he has his own version of Suresh's list. A far more complete list."
Xander sat down across from Jack. "That's not good."
Jack began replying but a shrill alarm began blaring and a panicked look crossed his face. "What the hell is that?" Xander asked, having never heard that particular noise before in his tenure with Torchwood.
Jack looked him dead in the eye as he said, "That means you better go to the Council." Off of Xander's confused look he added, "The Doctor installed it. It alerts when a TARDIS had been activated."
"But the TARDIS is my apartment, remember?"
"Exactly," Jack said. "It isn't the Doctor's TARDIS."
Suddenly, everything became clear to Xander. "It's the Master."
"Ahead of schedule."
88
Riley put down his cup of coffee and stared at the young man across from him. "So Elita One is an...AutoBot?"
The teen, Sam Witwicky, nodded. "That's right."
"And there are other like her here on Earth?"
"Four."
"And they...transform?"
"Yep. But from what you've told me, Elita hasn't had the chance to since Lex has been keeping her locked up."
Riley shook his head and the rather stunning girl beside Sam, Mikaela, smiled. "Hard to wrap your head around, huh?" she asked, grinning.
"Not when your in my business," Riley laughed.
"So," Graham cut in, "do you think you can help?"
"Of course," Sam replied. "When do you want to get her out of there?"
"How's tomorrow night?"
"Perfect."
Graham smiled at Riley and the elder man realized that in just two days, he'd be a wanted man; and he kind of liked the feeling.
88
Giles stood in the entrance of the Council as Xander and Spike walked up the steps. "Hello, Ripper," the vampire greeted, flicking his cigarette onto the grass which had a new 'Do Not Walk' sign on it.
"Spike," the Head Watcher said through gritted teeth. "So good of you to accompany Xander."
"Well, somebody's gotta make sure that the whelp doesn't get himself killed," he shot back.
Giles beckoned them inside. "Everyone's in the board room," he stated. As soon as Spike had gotten slightly ahead of them, Giles pulled Xander aside. "Are you sure about this? I mean, you don't have to face them."
"Yeah, I do."
Giles seemed to be struggling with something for a moment but eventually he just nodded and they caught up with Spike outside the board room. "Are you ready?" he asked them. After getting the nod, Giles pushed open the door and led them inside.
Xander felt the room tense up as he and Spike entered. He was perfectly aware that neither he or Spike had given any explanation as to where they had been and that Giles and Angel, the only two people who had known where they were, had never said anything. As he looked out he saw that Giles had gathered everyone in the room: Buffy and Angel sat together as did Willow and Kennedy and Wood and Faith; Andrew, Dawn, and Vi were also in the room.
Dawn immediately ran up to Xander an enveloped him in a hug. "Where the hell have you been?" she demanded, stepping back to look at him.
"It's a long story," Xander smiled.
"Joined a group that fights aliens," Spike interjected.
"Or you could tell it that way."
"What?" Came the response from the Head Slayer.
Xander drew his attention to Buffy as he said, "Aliens, Buff. They're as real as demons."
"Is that so?"
"You can bet your badly dyed hair it is," Xander replied, glad to have a long table and a vampire he'd come to tolerate standing between them.
"Perhaps it's best if you start at the beginning," Giles said, hoping to divert Xander and Buffy's hostility long enough for the Slayer to hear what was happening.
Xander nodded and began telling the others everything that had happened between him and Torchwood. "That's where you've been?" Dawn asked, still clutching Xander's shirt slightly.
"Yeah."
"So you need our help?" Willow asked.
"I really do, Wills. Especially yours."
Willow blushed a little as she said, "Well, you've got it."
"Mine too," Wood spoke.
"And you know I'm going," Dawn said from beside him.
"I think I'll stay here," Buffy said quietly. Noticing the looks she was getting she added, "Just in case something else happens while you guys deal with Sylar."
"I'm with Buffy," Kennedy said.
All eyes fell to Angel and Faith. "What the hell?" Faith shrugged. "I'm in."
Finally, never taking his eyes off of Buffy, Angel said, "I'm going with Xander."
"I thought so," Buffy said, a small smile on her face. She turned to face Xander. "You make sure that Angel and Dawn come back, you hear me?"
"Of course."
Buffy smiled at him. "And don't die, okay?"
"I won't."
"Well," Giles sighed, "what now?"
"Now, we find the Master."
88
He looked over at her sleeping form, still not quite able to fathom why he had taken her with him instead of killing her like the others. It might have been that she was easily one of the most beautiful women that he'd ever laid eyes on but that seemed ridiculous to him, since beauty and sex meant nothing to him anymore. More than likely, he reasoned, it was the way she had barely reacted when he'd killed her mother and those other people in the building; like seeing such a horrific vision was almost enjoyable to her. And that made her very interesting to him. Just like the book he'd found at the home in London where he'd killed the language guy; the one that had been all about demons. And when things interested him, like Eden and the book, Sylar made sure to know everything there was to know.