"Hey Dawnie, you ready?"
"Yeah Xand, let's blow this pop stand."
It had been many, many years since that Halloween. Sunnydale was a distant memory, the crater grown over with a lush growth of trees. The New Council was running smoothly, granted the start up was rougher than either would have liked. There were now protocols in place of finding, training and placing the new Slayers that popped up worldwide. Buffy's greatest wish for her Sisters came true, no Slayer ever fought alone.
Their family had all been heroes in the end. Buffy lived to be the oldest Slayer on record, dyeing of old age at the grannified age of 73. She'd stayed in the fight right up to the end too, followed by her own daughters and granddaughters. Three of whom carried the name Joyce, one Tara and one Cordy. Dawn had done a scrying after she'd gone, and found her smiling in heaven with their mother. The Prime Slayer finally got her gift.
Willow had gone on to be one of the most powerful and revered witches in the world. Her hair bleached white by her power, the dark taint of the 'Mouth washed out by her goddess. When her mortal body died she became one of the earth goddesses. He was pretty sure that lovely forest over their old home was her handwork. He let he know every time he visited the tree they'd planted at the first official New Watchers Headquarters in Devon. Sometimes he could feel her answering him back.
Giles, the great Watcher who taught them all how to be heroes, died in his sleep at 86. He left behind a great legacy of not just being the Watcher to emulate, but also the kind of person one ought to be. He had never married, or even had a serious relationship after Sunnydale, but he had adopted. And his children were the happiest they could be. He was as known for his protective fathering as he was for his great knowledge. The Rupert Giles Library of Magic was the greatest gift they could give to his memory.
The loss of the LA Fang Gang saddened Dawn and Xander. They were the only ones who they might have stuck around for now. The two vampires with souls were resting though, and they were more than due their peace. Dawn and Conner had become friends, both people-who-weren't-supposed-to-be. They had offered to take him with them, but he declined, saying he wanted to stick around for a while longer. Make sure there weren't any extra bumps in the road after they left.
They'd come back for him someday. When he was ready.
For now though, it was time for them to leave. It had been centuries since the Scoobies faded away, becoming more legend than fact in some cases. They'd planned it that way, when they wouldn't be Dawn the Key and Xander the One Who Sees, but just Dawn and Xander, two more people in a world of millions.
He'd changed alt modes one last time, becoming a sleek Lotus Elise in a dark orange color and black racing stripes. The gunmetal had been fitting at first, but Dawn pointed out that the style wasn't really him and neither was the color. She'd picked it out, he'd agreed and it just worked. For the timeframe they were aiming for he'd look cutting edge, not sci-fi escapee.
Dawn did her thing with a little mojo so the time frames were right, telling him about Sam and how he was acting now and the set she had for them so that regardless of their welcome, they'd have a place to stay. Now there was only one thing left to do.
It was time for them to find the others.
"Ok, suitcases?"
"Check."
"Mojo box?"
"Check."
"Memory box?"
"Check and check double for Mr. Gordo."
"Right. Green thing?"
"Check."
Whap!
"Ow! Wills!"
The small willow sapling on Dawn's lap rustled in a way that seemed mocking.
"You really should know better by now Xander."
"Right. We miss anything?"
"Driver."
"Huh? But I'm… oh right."
Xander's holoform coalesced in the driver's seat, looking a bit abashed.
"Ready to rock, Dawn-patrol?"
"Let's do it!"
Grinning as the green portal opened in front of them Xander gunned, headed towards another world.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sam was excited. He'd been talking to a girl online for a while, not as a potential date, but because she was someone who believed in the odd, but also believed that sometimes people were better off not knowing everything. He'd hinted at some things, she'd agreed on some points and corrected others, proving she knew what had gone on in Mission City. Bumblebee had checked the signal, coming back as belonging to a D. Summers in Cleveland. She was real and she was human and, apparently, she was safe.
It had taken a while but she'd finally agreed to meet up to chat since she was going to be visiting the area. She'd suggested Look Out Point, preferably when only they would be around.
He asked why.
She wanted to meet the others and offer some help.
Her connections and her personal wealth would make things much easier for the 'Bots and their human supporters.
Sam was still reluctant until she mentioned that perhaps Bumblebee had an odd recharge sometime in October? She'd be happy to explain and ease any worries he might have over it.
After talking with Optimus and the others it had been agreed.
Now they just had to show up.
It was relatively dark, not late enough for most teens to be sneaking out, too late for the after-school jaunts, when they heard the hum of a motor approaching the look out.
He was a bit startled when the car doors opened and a man and woman stepped out.
"Dawn?"
"Hi! You're Sam, right? This is Xander. Best friend forever and knows even more than I do. He's my ride."
"And gutter minded much?"
"You wish, Sparky."
They bantered for a bit, moving around to plant a sapling Dawn had been holding.
"So I bet you're all wondering just why I wanted to meet all of you, right? And you big guys can come out and transform. By now you've realized that no one's followed us, we aren't wearing any trackers, and we aren't communicating with anyone over comms."
Slowly the four large vehicles transformed into their bipedal forms, eyeing the human with uncertainty.
Dawn and Xander just smiled at them.
"Hello Optimus Prime, it's a pleasure to meet you. You too Ironhide, Ratchet, Bumblebee.'
Four sets of optics turned to Sam.
"Hey don't look at me! I never once mentioned your names!"
"Actually, he never told us anything about the Autobots. We learned a different way. Let me tell you a story."
The male stepped forward even as the female moved back to sit near the freshly planted tree.
"A few years ago, or a lot depending on the time paradox, I was recruited to show some kids around Trick-Or-Treating. My first choice of costume, that of a soldier, was nixed when a kid grabbed the last toy gun. Going with the next best bet, I grabbed some scraps of plastic yellow armor that were in the bargain bin and modified them to look like the armor of a character from a new-ish movie, not really thinking much of it. That night a Chaos Mage cast a spell that turned everyone who bought one of his costumes into that character. Little monsters became real, fake wounds bled, and superheroes were suddenly real.
The day after, mostly everyone changed back to what they actually were. Except for one. There was no way to reverse the change. Going from a 180lb lanky teen to a 4 to 5 ton alien robot required too much power. He used his new shape to help his friends fight those that wanted to destroy the world. Somewhere along the way he picked up a little sister that was more than meets the eye. A power that could have rivaled the AllSpark packed down into a tiny human girl."
Xander looked up at the assembled bots with glowing blue eyes.
"That teen was me."
"Impossible, magic doesn't exist."
"That's your cue Willow!"
Every set of eyes and optics turned to the female as she hastily backed away from the tree. They watched as the tiny sapling shot up, becoming a massive, fully grown willow tree in a matter of seconds.
"We left our world when we weren't need any more. We came here to help however we can."
The form of Xander shimmered and disappeared and the Lotus Elise pulled forward, engine purring softly before it broke apart with a musical hum, folding and twisting until a bot not too unlike Bumblebee stood there.
"My name was Xander Harris, but you can call me Crossfire if you prefer."
He stood there, waiting for their reply, Dawn leaning on his foot.
He was a bit surprised when Optimus stepped forward.
"Greetings Crossfire, welcome to Earth as it were."
Xander grinned. Something told him this was going to be good.