By David Mycock Portals and Dimensions 25
Walking the Path
Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy the vampire slayer or any other of the characters in this story they belong to Joss Whedon and whoever else created the characters used in this story. Any characters I created I own.
Pairing: Janna Kalderdash/Xander Harris (There will be other relationships in this story but this is the main one)
Summary: Two days after the end of the first story Xander and his friends arrive in L.A to meet up with Vlad Tepes Lawyers not knowing the adventure awaiting them and the changes it would bring within the group.
(Dark Dimension)
Xander had followed Aura quietly as she led them to the room where Giles was working, he still could not quite believe the history of this dimension. He had never believed they would enter a dimension where things had gone so wrong and now that was exactly what they faced, he could feel Tara trying to relax him over the bond and he allowed her feelings and calm words wash over him replacing his anger and fear with a strange calmness
Lilith looked back as she followed the slayer and noticed the sudden change in Alexander from anger and fear to calm and knew it was Tara's influence on her friend and she was grateful for it, she doubted Janna could have managed the same thing because no matter how much she loved Alexander she was prone to allowing her emotions to get the better of her whilst Tara controlled hers nearly all the time it was one of the reasons why she had been chosen to be bonded to Alexander by whatever power was watching them
Aura kept herself aware of where the three of them were at all times, she may believe they were no threat but that didn't mean she would let down her guard. Giles and Wesley had taught her much since she had become the slayer and this included a lot of things she had once considered fantasy and things you see in the movies, been flung through dimensions was possible as just before everything went to hell Buffy and the gang had dealt with a vampire version of Willow who had come from a dimension where the Master had conquered Sunnydale so she knew what they were telling her could be true
"We're here" she told them as she came to a halt "I'll go in first and explain things over wise Giles and anyone else in there will just try and kill you" she added with a frown before entering the room
"I think we better be very careful here" Lilith said quietly to her two companions
"Agreed, everything about things place screams war zone" Xander said with a nod of his head "And that means these versions of some of our former friends will act more like soldiers than anything else" he added
"There is a lot of anger and hate in that room, directed at the people responsible for what happened here" Tara told them using her senses to the fullest "We must be very careful with what we say and do" she continued
"I feel it too" Xander said as he concentrated on the bond which had enhanced his and Tara's senses "I still find it hard to believe we have landed in a dimension where I turned dark" he sighed as he leaned against the wall
"That was always a possibility Alexander not just for you but for me as well" Lilith advised "It was also possible we could come across a dimension where the entire Scooby gang were dark or my father was still running amok" she continued with a guarded look "I had hoped we would not encounter any of them but it was always possible we would and I am sorry I did not warn you earlier but you were worried enough" she went on "We will deal with this as best we can and hope father and the others can reverse what the cult did before anything truly dangerous happens" she finished as she leaned against Xander not liking their situation anymore than her two friends did
Tara moved to Xander's other side and leaned against him feeling even calmer now that she was closer to him, the bond seemed to make her feel safer than she ever had especially if she was in contact with Xander. He was tense still but his anger and fear were under control for now
They turned towards the door as Aura reappeared looking slightly surprised, but she also seemed relaxed meaning anything could have happened inside the room
"You can come in now, Giles would liked to talk to you" Aura informed them "Just keep you hands away from your weapons" she cautioned them
"No problem, as I said before we are not here looking for trouble" Xander reminded her as he and his friends followed her into the room
(Other Realm)
Malek growled as he watched Alexander continue to survive no matter what seemed to happen during his journey, he was glad they had finally landed in a dimension where danger was everywhere and he had enjoyed seeing the slayer they had encountered attack the boy but was soon angered as Lilith stopped her
Time was running out for his plan to succeed, time was once again moving in this dimension and Cassandra and their lord were watching things closely. Nearly all of his support was gone because he continued to advocate direct action even if it risked the wrath of their lord but he knew none of them would betray him because of the oaths they had taken. He knew Tanith could no longer be trusted with any further information regarding his plans because he had begun to be swayed by Cassandra and their lord's views
He needed to prepare as he knew he would have only one chance to strike and that was when the portal opened again and so he began he watched and waited after explaining it to his few remaining supporters, he laughed as he watched the alternate Angel try and hit the boy before been stopped by Lilith not noticing one of his followers slip away with a worried look on his face
(Home Dimension Sunnydale)
Janna sat between Sarah and Amy as team Shadow finally arrived, nearly all of the members looked at the three nosferatu with barely contained hate bar the leader who knew it was not a good idea to anger the king of the undead. He was also a long time friend of Jack Crow and he had been warned by his friend not to get on the wrong side of the Sunnydale crew and would do just that
"This is Vincent Wilson, the leader of team Shadow" Sam Sabuto introduced "He has been a very great help in dealing with quite a few problems we've had since you left" he added
"It's nice to meet you, Jack's told me some interesting stories about some of you" Vincent replied "I can't wait to meet the kid when we get him back, he sounds like a lot fun and one full of ideas" he added with a smile as he lit up a cigar one of the many things he and Jack Crow both liked
"Alexander indeed has many ideas about how to change the way we wage our war but that will have to wait until he completes his own tasks" Alucard replied
"So any idea how strong this cult is?" one of the men of team Shadow asked
"They have at least seventeen members left as we have killed ten of them so far" Adrian replied "We have cut their numbers to the point where they can no longer use magic to escape so they are trapped in Sunnydale" he continued "However their magic is deadly and they are all armed so this will not be easy" he finished
"We also have to make sure we do not kill these men" Sir Integra told them as she placed the files of the main leaders of the cult onto the nearby table
"I take it these three have the information you need to get the kid of his friend back right?" Vincent asked as he looked over the two documents before passing them along to his men
"That is correct" Sir Integra agreed "They must be taken alive so they can tell us what they did to create that portal in the first place so we can reverse it and retrieve Alexander and Lilith" she continued
"Once we have the information then what do we do with them?" Vincent inquired
"They're dead" Janna spat in answer startling the others in the room as she had kept quite since she had returned to the room "They cannot be allowed to live as they are too dangerous, they can do this again to any of us or even against our various organisations" she added
"True" Alucard said with a nod "I agree they must be eliminated master once we have Alexander and Lilith back" he added facing Sir Integra
It was soon agreed that the entire cult would indeed be eliminated once they had succeeded in rescuing their lost allies; they now waited for the Hellsing team to find the location of the cult
(Dark Dimension)
Xander was keeping a close eye on the alternate Angel after he had tried to nail him, Lilith had stopped him cold and warned she was not allow any harm to come to either him or Tara. The alternate Giles had agreed that they would not attack again unless given a reason too, Xander was having a hard time looking at this Giles seeing him confined to a wheelchair
"So what is it you want?" Giles asked as he continued to read something on his table
"Just a place to stay until we move on, although we don't know how long we will stay here we do know we will leave once the portal opens" Xander answered
"Dimensional magic is not something to mess around with, tell me why you did so?" Giles asked in reply looking up for a moment
"We didn't mess with anything Giles" Xander replied trying to make sure no anger crept into his voice "A cult ambushed me and Lilith in our home dimension, they opened the portal and sent us through it" he continued
"We knew something was going on that included dimensional magic and decided to check it out, however we had no idea the intent of the cult was to ambush us" Lilith stated "Just before they opened the portal the leader of the cult told us we were the intended target of the ambush" she added
"I see" Giles said with a sigh "Which means the only way you'll ever return home is for someone from your home dimension to reverse what this cult did" he continued
"That is correct" Lilith agreed "Our friends and family are already tracking down the cult and hopefully we'll be going home soon" she added with a smile which was shared by Xander and Tara
"You stated the ambush was for you and Harris what about your other friend, how does she fit into this?" Angel inquired
"Tara is not from our home dimension she is from one of the other dimensions we ended up visiting" Xander answered "During the visit some higher power decided to bond her to me and so she had to join us on our journey over wise it would of killed us both when I left that dimension" he added
"Interesting" Giles mused "A higher power bonded a young woman to you" he added talking mostly to himself before he turned fully to face Xander "Why did they do this?" he basically demanded to know
"According to a vision I had I have to possible outcomes" Xander replied feeling depressed as his mind turned again to what Cassandra had told him and Tara "One of those outcomes is good and one of them means I turn dark like the Xander of your world so they bonded Tara to me because they believe she can keep me from walking the darker path" he informed them as Tara walked over and took his hand in hers quelling the rage which had begun to build within him as the conversation turned to things he would rather forget
"And what makes them believe you can be saved considering the Xander of this world did turn dark?" Giles inquired "And what makes them believe Tara can help?" he asked a second later
"Mr Giles the Xander of my own dimension was not evil and he did not turn against you when my Buffy and Giles dealt with Faith and the Mayor, he helped them all the way as did Willow, Oz, Cordelia and Wesley" Tara replied before Xander could speak "Cordelia and Wesley left Sunnydale to go to L.A to help the Angel of my dimension fight the dark forces there as he was ordered to do by the powers that be, Xander remained and continued to help Buffy fight" she continued "This proves that just because your Xander turned that does not mean all Alexander Harris's are evil or doomed to become evil" she finished a little heatedly
Giles listened as the young woman spoke and he had to admit everything she had at the end was true, just because his Xander had turned that did not mean it would happen in every other dimension. He had to be clear headed about this and could not keep comparing this Xander Harris to his own
"I need time to think and discuss this with my companions, Aura please show them to a spare room" Giles said after a few minutes "We will talk later" he added
"Thank you Giles" Xander said in reply as he followed Aura out of the room followed by Lilith and Tara
"What do you think Giles, are they lying, is that our Harris?" Angel asked trying to keep his own anger under control
"No they are our not lying, I used a spell to check their aura's and they do not match our own" Giles replied as he removed his glasses and cleaned them "That is most certainly not our Xander Harris" he added "Call the others in we need to discuss this and alert them to what has transpired" he told the vampire who nodded and left leaving the watcher to his thoughts
(Other Realm)
Cassandra, Tanith and her lord watched the conversation with interest, each of them were surprised it had not come to violence considering the history of this dimension
"It would seem no matter what dimension bar our own the watcher is quite clever" their lord commented
"Indeed, he did not allow his emotions to control him and made sure to find the truth by using that spell to check their aura's" Cassandra agreed "It is a shame our version of Rupert Giles is such a failure" she added
"He had his moments, then allowed himself to be controlled by Buffy Summers" their lord stated "There is still time for him to redeem himself" he added
"It would seem things are about to come to a head" Tanith said before noticing one of his colleagues waiting for him by the door "Excuse me my lord" he said and quickly walked over to talk to him
"Something is going on" Cassandra said as she watched Tanith pale
"Indeed" her lord said as he noted the emotions playing on Tanith's face "I think Tanith was right things are coming to a head" he mused
(Home Dimension Sunnydale)
As the discussion continued to go on about how to deal the cult Janna continued to keep quite and just concentrate on what would happen once they rescued Alexander and Lilith. Nearly everyone jumped when the phone went off and Kendra quickly moved over and answered it and everyone noted the small smile that appeared on her face, after a quick conversation she placed the phone down and faced everyone
"That was the Hellsing team they've located the cult" Kendra told them "We need to move, it seems they are trying whatever ritual you interrupted before" she added
"Then let us end this" Alucard growled as he led everyone out of the house