The Higher Plane of the Powers That Be
November 4th, 1997
The Powers That Be were all dead now, thanks to Logan and Raven. 'Body' parts and metaphysical blood were splattered everywhere.
"That was no fun at all," Raven said, with a bored yawn.
Logan nodded. "They didn't put up much of a fight, that's for sure. Not even real gods, just a group of self-important wannabes." He kicked away an 'arm'.
Raven picked up a 'head' and crushed it between her hands. "Both Kross and Aludin are dead. Bellatrix not only failed, but died like an idiot as well. Plus we have a new Dark One on the loose. So what now, Logan?"
"We deal with our problems," the demon god sighed. "And I'm open to suggestions?"
"We could use the new dark witch, that Rosenberg girl, to kill the Slayers?" she suggested.
Logan nodded. "That could work, Raven."
"But first, why don't we go back home and have some...fun," she purred in his ear, massaging his shoulders.
At once they disappeared, leaving the bloody mess behind them...
Back in Sunnydale, Xander checked out the suit he'd chosen for Giles' funeral. Everything seemed okay, so he explored the Crawford Street mansion; and he liked what he found (thanks to Bellatrix's handiwork). { This could be great place for the Scooby gang to use, rather than the school library. Plus, no vamps can enter here thanks to the wards. }
He could sense how powerful the wards Bellatrix had set up were. Looking for anything that could help Willow, Xander found a skull that his crazy aunt had hidden behind a wall - along with a box.
{ A vampire skull? How the heck did Bellatrix get that? I thought the head dusted along with the rest of the body! Huh. I'll keep it for now, I guess... } Shrinking the skull down to less than an eighth of its true size, Xander put it in his suit jacket; having no idea that the skull was Drusilla's.
Placing the box down on a table, Xander started trying to open it. { Damn it, it won't open! } "Alohomora!"
The box opened up and inside, he found Willow's heart. Well, not her physical heart; the black crystal version. Which was weird, he'd never seen anything like this. { Must be dark magic. } He picked up the heart in his hands.
Straightaway, Xander had flashes of Willow's evil deeds, what she'd done while under Bellatrix's control. { Whoa! The Dark One was right, if she really did all that...Willow might actually be beyond saving. But that won't stop me from helping her! } He put the heart into his suit jacket. Concentrating with all his might, he tried returning to the cemetery - and thus Xander vanished in a puff of whitish smoke.
Meanwhile, down in Tartarus, an infuriated Bellatrix was meeting with an amused-looking Hades.
"Welcome back, my dear. You didn't really believe I'd let you get away with what you tried to pull off, did you? Well, either way, you'll be staying down here for good this time - and no one is going to help you, ever again." He turned to two of his minions. "Take her away to be tortured - along with Ethan Rayne, the Dursleys, Ginny Weasley and Neville Longbottom."
"This isn't over! I'll have my revenge, Hades!" Bellatrix screamed, while being dragged away by two demons that look like the Grim Reaper.
"No you won't, Bellatrix. You haven't realized it yet, have you? I'm not foolish enough to make the same mistake twice! Your magic is gone. You're nothing but a squib now," Hades chuckled.
The mad witch's angry screams echoed throughout the Underworld...
Elsewhere, Buffy was ecstatic to learn that Xander was still alive, the moment he apparated into the cemetery. She gave him a hug and said, "Thank God you're back!"
"Thanks, Buff. Ya know, I could get used to this," Xander replied with a big grin. He then turned to Faith and said, "You must be the new Slayer, huh?"
"I'm Faith. B tells me you like to cross-dress?" the brunette asked laughingly.
Xander instantly lost the smile. "No I don't. So let's not go there, huh? I've managed to lose enough bets in my life already!"
"Ya sure, Xander?" Buffy chuckled, but then she stopped when he sent her a glare.
"Buffy, what have you been telling Faith about me?" Xander demanded.
"Um, that you're like the brother I never had?" the blonde offered weakly.
"What? Come on, Buff, that mouth to mouth I did to save your life last year - that didn't mean anything to you?" Xander asked, eyes narrowing.
She shrugged. "Sorry, Xander. Angel's the only one for me, you know that!"
He sighed. Xander didn't know if Buffy knew how that vampire was dust nowadays, but he figured now wasn't the time to discuss *that* subject. "Where's Willow?"
"Faith threw her like a football into that tree," Buffy pointed behind her.
"Way to go, B, throwing me under a bus there? Not cool," Faith said in annoyance.
"You killed Willow?!" Xander demanded in shock.
"No, she's fine, dude. Well, more or less. I saved her from killing B, if you prefer looking at it that way," Faith told him.
Xander walked to the nearby tree to check on Willow. "Faith, you could have caused brain damage," he said with a hard look on his face, before turning away.
"Is Willow his girlfriend or something?" Faith asked, she couldn't help hoping that Harris was single.
"No," Buffy shook her head, "they've just been friends since they were little kids."
Ignoring his former crush, Xander lifted Willow up against the tree. Oddly enough, he thought she looked good with black hair. { Wow. Willow sure has changed a lot since I was in Tartarus and Hogwarts, } he thought to himself.
Willow opened her black eyes, and saw Xander's smiling face. "Oh, Xander! I missed you so such much!" she cried out. Then she jumped him with happy-ish tears running down her cheeks, trying to kiss him - but he moved his head back, and instantly lost the smile.
"Willow, what have you done?" Xander's voice now had a cold, hard quality to it she'd never heard before.
"I did some bad things, I guess. I killed people, Xander. Including my parents. I never trusted Bellatrix, and I shouldn't have helped her; I know that. But she was the only one that would help me get you out of the Underworld!" Willow tried to justify her actions.
"Did it never occur to you that I didn't need your help to get outta there? 'Cause I had a plan to escape, even if Hades hadn't chosen to send me back. Why the alliance with my crazy aunt, Wills?"
"She was the only one who could give me what I wanted! And I...I wanted to make Buffy pay for putting our lives in danger! Not helping me bring you back, I - that goes for Giles too. Heck, even Cordelia wouldn't help with the research! Plus, I knew you had a huge crush on Buffy since she first came to town. I was thinking I was going to lose you to her, now that Angel's dust!"
"Willow, two things. One, you can't lose me to Buffy; she doesn't feel that way about me. Two, I will never leave you; not willingly, anyway," he promised her.
Not far away, both Slayers watched without saying a word. Buffy thought to herself, { I hope this works. I don't want to have to fight Willow again if it doesn't... }
Xander then said to Willow, "Bellatrix is back in Tartarus where she belongs. I also got your heart back for you, Will."
"Really? Xander, you're the best!" She kissed his cheek chastely.
He pulled out the heart from his suit jacket. "Sorry but I couldn't fix your heart, Will. Guessing you're the only one who can do that."
"Don't worry, Xander, I will," Willow smiled, wiping away the tears. "Somehow, I will."
Xander's hand glowed blue as he inserted Willow's heart into her chest. And then the black-clad witch started to cry all over again.
{ Man, where's a good psychologist when ya need one? }
TBC...
