Chapter Twenty-Five
P3,
San Francisco,
California.
As the group entered the club, they could hear the others chatting amongst themselves. Only then did it hit Xander that he would have to face Willow and Giles, two more people that he had issues with. He wanted to focus on tonight, but he wasn't sure that he could hold his temper in their presence. He slowed his descent down the stairs, wanting to postpone the less than joyous reunion as long as possible.
Seeing what Xander was doing, Joyce told the others to go on ahead for a moment, even Dawn, who she as yet had not allowed out of her sight. She figured that as the club were filled with people who would protect her daughter with their lives, she couldn't really be any safer.
"Xander, are you alright?" she asked him.
"Of course I…" he trailed off at the look Joyce was sending his way. "… Not really."
"I know you don't want to speak to them," she began, not needing to specify just whom she was referring to, "but you're going to have to, at least enough to explain the situation and work out a plan."
"I know," he sighed. "The problem I have is that I'm not sure I'll be able to stop myself from starting an argument."
"Well I'm sure that between the rest of us we'll be able to diffuse any tense situations. I think they're realising how badly they've messed up, so I don't think you'll have any problems on that front."
"Good, because I really don't need it right now. I need to focus on saving Buffy and killing Malcolm, and I won't be able to do that if I have to deal with them. Not to mention that having both Deadboy and Cordy around will test the very limits of my tolerance."
"From what I hear, they were both on your side concerning how the others have been treating you, so I'm not sure you have a lot to worry about."
"I hope you're right."
"I'm a woman, I'm always right."
"And on that note…" Xander quickened his pace down the stairs into the club, a smirking Joyce following close behind.
Upon entering the club, Xander immediately spotted Willow, who started running over to him until Prue and Piper blocked her path. He nodded gratefully to the two sisters as he made his way over to the bar area, deciding that his best bet was with the only person in the room he didn't know.
"Hey, you must be Gunn," he said as he got close enough to talk.
The man in question turned round and, after recognising him from a photo he saw in Cordelia's apartment, shook the proffered hand.
"Guilty as charged. Xander right?"
"Yeah. I just wanted to say thanks for coming."
"Hey, I never like to pass up a chance at taking the bad guys down a peg or two," Gunn told him, waving away the gratitude with a smile. "Anyway, there was no way I'd miss meeting someone who can produce the reactions you do from Cor and Angel. Speaking of which…"
"Xander!"
The unmistakable sound of one Cordelia Chase shouting his name, as she'd done a thousand times before, caught Xander's attention and he turned round. A split second later, a beautiful brunette blur was charging towards him and attached itself to his side.
"Hey Cor, looking good."
She looked up at him and flashed her trademark 1000-Watt smile. "Well, duh! I always look good."
He was glad that he'd been expecting the slap she hit him with, otherwise he might have 'flamed on' as he liked to call it; he might not be able to fly, but he knew his flame was far cooler than Jonny's. Also, by keeping under control, he wasn't led into conversations he didn't want to have at that moment.
"What the hell have you gotten me into Doofus!" she yelled, the glare she'd been sending his way moving up a notch from his comment.
"Well, there was that time on my birthday when…"
"I meant now stupid!" she shouted to interrupt him, a faint blush appearing on her cheeks.
"Oh," he said with a grin. "Nothing you couldn't have refused to do Cor. You know better than anyone that I wouldn't take your choice away."
Cordelia's rage left as soon as it had arrived. "There you go again, actually making sense. When did you go get a brain transplant?"
"The same day as your personality transplant I'd imagine."
"Why you…"
"Listen Cordy," he sighed, his shoulders slumping slightly, "I've had a hell of a week so far and I'm in no mood for our usual verbal sparring, so if you have anything to say that isn't an insult I'm all ears, but other than that please just leave me alone."
It was the genuine weariness in his voice and not his words that made Cordelia comply with his wishes and forego their 'argument'. No one else knew this, but she and Xander had met up last year when he had to be in LA for business and had cleared the air between them, both realising that it was counter productive to let any animosity remain between them when they'd rarely see each other.
It hadn't been that hard to do in the end, as her time in Los Angeles had given her time to reflect on the person she had been in Sunnydale and could see that, while what Xander had done in kissing Willow behind her back was wrong, it was also something she had done to previous boyfriends on numerous occasions. It also helped that he was genuinely remorseful for his actions, and had gone out of his way to make it up to her, buying her prom dress for her a shining example of that. She also knew that he'd followed her home at night; not in a stalker way, but to ensure she got back safely.
Seeing Xander now, she could see that the past week had taken its toll on him. Physically he looked fine, in fact he looked better than ever, not that she would admit that, but she could tell by his eyes that emotionally he was running on nothing but fumes. Not that she could blame him for being that way considering, a lesser man would have given up long ago, but giving up wasn't something Xander knew how to do.
"What's it feel like to be in the spotlight?" she asked eventually, deliberately steering clear of the obvious questions like 'how are you?'.
"Lets just say I'd rather be a supporting actor instead of a leading man. There's too much riding on what I do for me to take any sort of satisfaction out of it."
She nodded, her own experience at being in the spotlight at high school giving her a little insight into what he meant, even if it wasn't quite the same thing. She then remembered what happened before they got there and smirked slightly. "Did you send Leo on purpose to annoy Angel?"
"No, although it does sound like something I'd do," he admitted, a small smile forming on his face for a moment before vanishing from sight. "Whitelighters aren't allowed on the Hellmouth so there was little option, and I had warned Deadboy that he might not feel too good around him. I guess the effect was worse than I thought it would be, given that his royal broodiness isn't here."
"So, do you have anything that looks like a plan, or are you thinking of taking a page out of Buffy's book and just charge in guns blazing?"
"Buffy doesn't have a book," he snorted, thinking of the 'brilliant strategic planning' the blonde Slayer possessed, "she has the back of a postage stamp and even then there's only one word; 'Charge!'. I do have a plan, it's just not one many will like, at least not those coming from Sunnydale anyway, but I'll get into that once Deadboy is here because I don't want to go through it twice."
Although he had been trying to ignore them, Xander couldn't help but notice the Sunnydale group in the far corner of the club eyeing him. It was obvious that Willow wanted to join them, but Giles and Tara, with the help of the P's, were keeping her occupied or restrained as much as they could. He sighed silently, knowing he would have to speak to them eventually, but wanting to drag it out as long as possible.
Xander spotted Wesley coming over and once he was within distance, held out his hand. After looking in surprise for a moment, the former Watcher shook it firmly. "How you doing Wes?" Xander asked, genuinely curious.
"Fine thank you Mr… Xander. May I take this opportunity to offer my condolences for your recent loss."
Xander's eyes flashed green for a moment at being reminded of Anya and his parents, something that Cordelia and the others noticed, before responding. "Thanks." He remembered that they probably didn't know about the most recent development so he turned to Cordelia, who would probably be the most affected. "I don't know if you're aware, but my parents are dead."
"Oh god, Xander. Are you okay? Do you know what happened?" she asked, knowing how he would take it. Neither herself nor Xander hit the jackpot when it came to parents, but that didn't mean that either one would want them dead.
"Answering in order; yes and Spike."
Going by the tone he used, Cordelia knew not to ask any more. "Oh. So, what's with the whole green eye thing then?"
He winced slightly, knowing that his luck had run out. "I've been given an upgrade, it comes with the green eyes and a few other extras."
"Such as?" Gunn asked.
Xander didn't have time to answer as a shrill noise interrupted them. "Xander Harris, come over here this instant!"
Xander could feel the flames beginning to appear, and quickly turned to Cordelia. "$10 bucks Willow will say I've been possessed again."
Seeing the flames that were growing around his body, Cordelia shook her head. "I don't take suckers bets."
No longer fighting the change, the flames instantly doubled in size, causing Cordelia and the others to instinctively take a step back despite the lack of heat.
"He's been possessed again!"
"Xander, look out!"
Prue's warning came a moment too late, as Xander was struck from behind by a large blast of magical energy thrown his way by Willow, knocking him to the ground. He quickly realised that he hadn't been hurt by the blast, simply knocked off balance, and quickly got to his feet and span round to face his attacker.
What he saw surprised him; Willow's generally blemish free face was now marred by black veins, her eyes were now obsidian and her normally red hair was the same colour. He knew enough about magic to realise that she'd lost control of her powers and was now running on her baser instincts.
"Hello Willow."
His voice had taken the same hollow and echo-like quality it had when he first came out of his coma, and coupled with the billowing flames surrounding him, Prue and the others knew that he was seriously pissed. Not that they could blame him, if they'd just been attacked from behind by someone they'd known since kindergarten they wouldn't be best pleased themselves.
"Get out of my friend's body," Willow demanded, her own voice sounding less human than it had a moment ago.
"Willow, I'm neither possessed or your friend."
"The Xander I know wouldn't say that, nor does he have green flames covering his body."
"The Willow I know wouldn't be all black eyed, raven-haired and veiny like you, so that means you must be possessed too."
"No! Leave him now!"
As she went to fire another blast, wanting to expel whatever evil entity had obviously taken residence in Xander's body, Piper waved her hands and froze her on the spot.
"Xander, are you alright?" the Charmed One asked.
"Yeah, I'm just peachy with a double helping of keen," he replied sarcastically. "She's known me all her life and the first thing she does when she thinks I'm possessed is to try and blast me out of existence."
"What's going on Xander?" Tara asked eventually, moving towards Xander and the still frozen Willow despite what she had just witnessed.
She had been shocked by the power she felt emanating from him when he had initially unleashed it, but unlike her girlfriend she had not thought ill of him. She could sense that behind the, to her, scary persona he was currently using, he was still the warm and gentle person she had grown to care for like a brother.
"Don't worry Tara," he soothed, his tone far more warm than it was with Willow, but still with that hollow quality to it. "Willow isn't hurt, and the affects will wear off in a little while. I'm surprised it worked actually," he commented, turning to Piper.
"She's a practitioner, not a natural born witch," Piper explained, knowing what Xander was referring to. "In fact I can actually feel her power fading as we speak. It hasn't completely, but the power she has now is far less than it was when they first arrived, and I doubt she'd even be able to scry at the moment. Whether it will continue to dwindle until she is completely without magical ability I don't know, only time will tell."
"Must be her distance from the Hellmouth," Xander thought aloud. "It must have been feeding her somehow, which would account for her sudden increase in power the last couple of years."
"Why are you on fire and why are your eyes green?" Giles asked, finally finding his voice.
The newly reinstated Watcher was ashamed to admit that he had come to the same conclusion as Willow upon seeing Xander's transformation, although he didn't condone Willow's knee jerk reaction no matter what the circumstances.
Even if they had been correct, and Xander had indeed been possessed by some demon or spirit, Giles would not have sought to kill him unless all other avenues had been tried and proven unsuccessful. The troubling thought was that he was aware of the spell she had used, and knew that Willow hadn't in fact been trying to kill him either, which meant that she had nowhere near the control over her magical ability he thought she did for it to have backfired as it id.
That of course didn't matter; the fact that the first thing they thought upon seeing Xander wielding such large amounts of power did. He should have known that the young man was fine; Leo had told him that Xander was in possession of a large well of power that had until recently been dormant, and the sisters had informed them all that he was in fact now in complete control of all his abilities. Even Cole when he came to collect them explained that he was powerful, more powerful then the half-demon in fact, and Giles could attest that Cole's power was formidable to say the least. However, like many times previous, he had misjudged him.
It was that reflexive response, that anything happening to Xander must be bad, that had garnered Xander's ire in the first place, not to mention their foolish belief that he was incapable of defending himself, despite all evidence to the contrary. Giles knew that, for himself and the others to ever get back on a more friendly footing with the young man, they would have to stop prejudging him and instead give him the benefit of the doubt and have faith in his abilities.
"The 'glowy green eye' thing seems to be a side effect from the spell the Elders or monks did on me. I'm still not used to it so when I'm stressed or upset it happen involuntarily. The flames are a new addition, but I can't say I'm complaining."
"It seems we have a lot to talk about my lad."
"I'm not your lad and I don't see that we have anything to talk about Mr. Giles," Xander ground out, finding it difficult to remain calm in his 'friend's' presence, especially after what Willow had tried to do. "You're here because I might need your help, nothing more. Once this is over, we'll talk, but until then I'd appreciate it if you just leave me alone."
"But Xander…" both Giles and the now unfrozen Willow said in unison.
"Silence."
Everyone in the room with any sort of mystical background could feel the power behind that word, knowing instantly that he had just cast a spell. Looking at Giles and Willow, they could see exactly what spell it was. Both were looking decided panicked, which wasn't surprising as their mouths were now missing, smooth skin taking their place.
"Xander, reverse it," Joyce told him sternly; shocked that he would do something like that to them.
Xander looked at Joyce and for a moment she was actually afraid of him, something she'd never felt about him before.
"It will wear off in an hour Joyce," he informed her, his tone flat and emotionless, "which should give them enough time to think about things."
"That's not the point."
"Perhaps," he conceded, "but I've found that certain people only learn their lesson when they experience the consequences of their actions."
Xander closed his eyes for a moment and mentally willed the flames to disappear before addressing everyone. "Right, I suggest that we all make ourselves comfortable while we wait for the Transylvanian Concubine to arrive, which will probably be only an hour or so, and then we'll get this ball rolling."
As Xander predicted, it was only an hour or so later that a cursing and swearing Angel came rushing down the stairs of the club, covered in a heavy duty cloth to give him some protection from the sun, although he was still smoking slightly. Once he was sufficiently extinguished and far enough away from Leo that he could relax slightly, Xander began.
"Okay, it seems like introductions are in order and as I'm the only person that links all three groups, it's down to me to do it. Seeing as we're in their town, not to mention their club, I'll start with the delectable Halliwell sisters.
"First we have Prue, who can bowl men over with but a look and a person who can have an out of body experience without the annoying near death side effects. Then there's Piper, who's nearly as good a cook as Joyce, which is something I never thought was possible, and who never has an excuse for being late. The man standing behind her is her fiancé Leo, who's the closest thing you'll see to a bona fide angel without wings and a halo. Next is Phoebe, who is a vision in more ways than one, and who often feels like she's walking on air. The man she's straddling is her boyfriend Cole, otherwise known as Belthazor who is a lot like Deadboy over there but without the brooding or the forehead. Last but by no means least is Paige Matthews, a new arrival into clan Halliwell whose introduction into our world was only recently.
"Next we have the LA crew, beginning with Cordelia Chase, who is as blunt as she is beautiful, and always willing to tell you what you need to hear instead of what you want to hear. Next to her is Wesley, former Watcher turned rogue demon hunter, who seems to have finally removed the rod from his ass and grown some balls. Then there's Gunn, who from what I've been told swings a mean battleaxe and is living proof that you don't need to have formal training or funky powers to survive in our world. Lastly there's Deadboy, otherwise known as Angel, who will never be on my Christmas card list but will always be on my 'call in the cavalry' list. Yes, he does brood a lot, but considering the alternative it's better that way.
"Then we have the Sunnydale group, starting off with Joyce 'never cooked a meal I didn't like' Summers, who is as beautiful as she is caring and the mother I would have chosen had I been given such a privilege. Then you have her youngest daughter Dawn, the best little sister I could have asked for and president of the 'Xander is a hunka hunka burnin' love' fanclub. Next we have Rupert 'Ripper' Giles, de-facto father to us reprobates and a man who manages to make Tweed look good. Then we have Willow, a woman who has known me longer than I've known myself and one of the most… knowledgeable people I know. Finally we come to Tara, Willow's better half and owner of one of the purest souls that has ever existed.
"You're all here for one reason; to help rescue Buffy Summers, Vampire Slayer and more importantly Joyce's eldest daughter, from The Source. It isn't going to be easy, but then again nothing worth doing ever is. The secondary objective, the one I'll be doing alone, is destroying Buffy's captor."
"Why will you be doing it alone?" Cordelia asked.
"Because I'm the only one who can do it."
"What are you gonna do, kill him by telling your jokes?"
"I was thinking more along the lines of breaking every bone in his body as slowly and painfully as possible actually, but I might leave the jokes as a contingency plan just in case I have problems breaking his funny bone."
Seeing the looks he was getting from Cordelia and the others, Xander went on. "The bastard killed my girlfriend, had my parent's killed, kidnapped a friend of mine and, worst of all, insists on calling me Alexander. That alone gives me the right to turn him into a pretzel shaped demon, and if you add the nifty little prophecy stating that I'm to destroy him I'd say that pretty much settles it."
"How do we save Buffy?" Angel asked, honestly not all that bothered about Xander's seemingly suicide mission.
"You'll have to split up into teams; one will act as a diversion while the other, smaller one will actually rescue Buffy. Cole will be on the team to rescue her, as he knows the place better than almost anyone else, aside from myself and Malcolm."
"Malcolm?" Cordelia asked.
"The Source."
"No wonder he's so evil with a name like Malcolm."
"I would suggest Angel go with Cole," he continued, ignoring Cordelia's comment, "as while I hate to admit it, he's the best at getting around unnoticed, and Buffy would no doubt like to see a friendly face. The third person should be Paige…"
"What!"
"Ladies," he said calmly to the four sisters, who were all currently glaring daggers at him, "I know you four want to stay together, but to be blunt, it's the Power of Three not the Power of Four. Paige will be able to back them up magically, and also help heal any injuries Buffy might have."
"I might have the power, but I've only known I was a witch for a couple of days," Paige reminded him, worried that he was putting too much faith in her.
"I've only known I was The One Who Sees for a week, and I'm doing fine."
"Yeah, but you cheated and had the Elders speed up the process…"
"… Something I can do for you as well," he said, cutting her off. "The spell wouldn't be as intensive as the one I went through, it would just be a download of the basics of magic, starting with the Rule of Three of course," he added when he saw the looks he was receiving from the Charmed Ones. "You'd be able to cast a few simple offensive and defensive spells as though you'd been born doing it, but for anything else you'll have to learn it just like everyone else."
"Do I have a choice?" she asked warily.
"Always," he responded immediately, wanting to ensure she knew he would never take away her right to choose. "I'm sure Deadboy and Cole could do it without you, but I'd prefer them to have some additional back-up, and have someone there in case Buffy is injured. Knowing her she'd want to get back at whoever is in her line of sight once she's free and I'd like her to be as close to 100 to do so."
"Shouldn't we just get her straight out?" she asked reasonably.
"You haven't met Buffy yet," he replied, garnering small smiles from all who did know her, "but the only way you'll get her to do anything is if she wants to do it anyway. So, feel like getting a head start in the whole magic scene?"
Paige thought about for all of two seconds before answering. "Sure."
Just like the Elders had done with him, he cast the spell the moment she answered in the affirmative. Luckily, she only got a fraction of the knowledge Xander did, so she simply felt woozy for a moment instead of being put into a coma.
"Give it a try," he told her once she got her bearings again, "something simple like a fire spell."
"Xander," Giles began tentatively, not wanting to lose the power of speech again, "elemental magic is extremely complex."
"Not for natural born witches; they're naturally able to perform magic so they can attune with nature, the elements, far easier."
Paige meanwhile had ignored their conversation and attempted the spell. A couple of moments later a small fire spelling out her name appeared in front of her. Unlike Xander's flame, this one did emit heat, so after allowing it to burn for a few seconds longer, she reversed the spell and the flames disappeared.
"Right, now for the diversionary team; The Charmed Ones naturally, as you've got more reasons than most to take this war to them, not to mention that the demons will flock to you like moths to a flame. I know you don't like the pro-active approach to demon fighting, but we're trying to not only ensure the Source is gone, but to put a severe dent in the demonic forces that might try to fill the void that would be left. For back up, you'll have the Watchers-no-more, who both have some magical ability and know how to weald a blade with deadly accuracy. If you help them to 'Charm' their blades, it'll give them an extra edge."
"What about the rest of us?" Cordelia asked, noticing her absence from the plan so far.
"Gunn, Willow and Tara will be waiting outside to provide extra assistance if necessary. The rest of you will be staying here."
"No way in hell are you leaving me out of this!" Cordelia screamed immediately upon realising she wasn't going along.
Not wanting to have this conversation in front of everyone, Xander grabbed Cordelia by the elbow and led her to the office before anyone could say a word. "Look, I'm not leaving you out."
"Well what do you call it?" she snapped.
"Looking after two of the most important people in the world to me," he replied seriously, cutting right through her ire. "Leo can't go because he's a full Whitelighter, and I can't think of anyone who would protect Joyce and Dawn more fervently than you."
"Well," she said, feeling a little flustered, not to mention foolish, "alright then."
She should have known that Xander wasn't trying to keep her out of the fight, knowing how much he hated it when it was done to him. It actually made her feel good that he thought she was capable enough to keep Joyce and Dawn safe, as she did indeed know that they are two of the most important people in his life. All she wanted to do now was prove his faith in her was justified.
"Now," Xander continued, "lets get back in so we can work out the finer points of my master plan."
"Like making sure you don't get your dumb ass killed."
"I don't get to die until I've fulfilled my greatest fantasy."
"You're not having any janitor's closet flashbacks are you?" she asked with a small smile.
"No, I see you as nothing more than a friend. A kickass, gorgeous friend with legs that don't quit," he added with a leer, "but a friend nonetheless."
"Damn straight," she agreed, inwardly pleased that he still thought she was hot. "Seriously though Xander you better not die, as there are a lot of people who like having you in their lives, me included."
Xander drew Cordelia into a hug. "I've no plans on meeting my maker just yet Cor, not until I'm so old I find blended food too hard to chew and Matlock the best show ever made."
"Good."
It took almost an hour for the plan to be finalised, and by then most of them were all more than a little antsy. It was for that reason that Xander thought that the best thing to do would be to get a little training in.
He had the magic wielders together, working out the best and most efficient spells they'd need. He even had Giles and Wesley practising their skills, knowing it was better to have something and not need it than to need it and not have it.
On top of brushing up on their mojo, he also had the group working on the weaponry, blessing them or warding them against damage, to give them every advantage. Lastly, they were checking on Willow's magical ability now that she was cut off from the Hellmouth.
He guessed that at the moment Willow would probably be as powerful as she was senior year of high school, which was, if he remembered right, hardly powerful at all. From a military standpoint it meant that they had one less heavy hitter available to them, on the other it gave them an indicator as to why Willow's growth in power was coupled with her growth of arrogance and superiority.
In any event, it would mean that Tara would have to take up the slack, which Xander didn't think she'd find all that difficult. She might not use it as freely as Willow, but he knew that she was almost as powerful when she put her mind to it, and a damn sight more controlled too.
Remembering that Tara was in fact a natural born witch, he would need to talk with Leo concerning assigning a Whitelighter to her, which would have one major obstacle to it all the time she was a Sunnydale resident, but living on the Hellmouth meant that she was in even greater need for one.
Cole was going through some basic self-defence techniques with Joyce and Dawn, Cordelia joining in to make things even. It had taken Xander a while to get Joyce to agree, but after reminding her that with the world they lived in, knowing how to defend themselves wasn't just important, it was necessary.
Leo and Gunn were doing a little sword training, the Whitelighter wanting to brush up on skills he hadn't needed in decades and Gunn wanting to learn from someone who was closer to his own speed and strength. Angel had tried on a couple of occasions to spar with Gunn, but the young fighter found it difficult to train with someone who could almost move faster than he could see and could lift him up one handed without breaking a sweat.
That left Xander and Angel as the only ones not doing anything, and that was exactly how he wanted it.
"Hey Deadboy, fancy a spar?"
Angel looked over at Xander and didn't bother to suppress the smirk that appeared on his face. He hadn't lied when he'd told Spike he respected him; it would be hard not to respect a normal human that went out and fought things faster and stronger for years and live to tell about it, but for him to think that he could fight him at his level was a little extreme.
While he might be saddened to see a fellow warrior for light fall, he knew that both Cordelia and Buffy would be devastated if the boy did die, so maybe knocking some sense into him now would be the right thing to do. The fact it meant Angel could hit him and not get any flack for it made it all the sweeter, as although he did respect him, he really didn't like him.
"Sure," he replied, trying to keep the eagerness out of his voice, "why not."