It Started In Oxnard - How It All Began

by red-jacobson

In several of my stories, I have Xander and Tara meeting and becoming lovers in Oxnard. This is one version of how that could have happened. Crossover with Highlander and other sources as the story progresses

11. Chapter 11

Series TITLE: It Started In Oxnard

Story TITLE: How It All Began

PART: 11 of ?

AUTHOR: Red Jacobson ( )

DISTRIBUTION: , Archive of Our Own, Twisting the Hellmouth

DISCLAIMER: None of the Characters You Recognize belong to me, they all belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy, the Dogma Characters belong to Kevin Smith and his company, and the Highlander Characters belong to whoever owns them (sorry, I looked and couldn't find the information), The Veronica Mars characters belong to Stu Segall Productions.

SUMMARY: In several of my stories, Xander and Tara met in Oxnard and became lovers. This is One Possible Version of How It Happened

FEEDBACK: Of course! It Makes Me Write Faster

CATEGORY: Eventual True Poly Relationship

RELATIONSHIPS: Xander/Tara/Harmony/Cordelia/Drusilla/Jenny C/Susie/Daria/Ellen

RATING: NC-17

WORD COUNT: 6,973

SPOILERS: None, goes A/U immediately (i.e. a few minutes) After Graduation.

WARNINGS: If You've ever read any of my stories, you know what to expect, Oral, anal, Femme-slash, dom/sub, and multiple partners.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Don't expect much in the way of lemons from now on folks, things are starting to pick up speed and we are going to be heading toward the finish line! Buckle your seat-belts, it's gonna be a bumpy ride!

Hey there, it's been a while, hasn't it? Sorry about that, but between major bouts of depression, struggling to find a job (still trying), this pandemic, and a multitude of other stories screaming at me for attention, it's taken this long to get back to the story. I'm going to do my damnedest to not let it sit as long before the next chapter because we are getting close to the end of this story. This one isn't as long as the usual chapters, because I'm mainly just focusing on the main story, we'll touch base with Buffy/Oz/Willow, Angel and Doyle/Harry and Wesley, and Joyce and Giles later on.

Wolfram and Hart

Special Projects Division

Downtown Los Angeles, California

Monday, May 31st, 1999

5:25 pm

Lindsay grinned as he opened the email from his contact at the telephone company. It looked like his hunch, and promised payment had paid off, in spades! He didn't care how the man had managed it, but with Jacqueline Crawford's phone number, he had gotten transcripts of a variety of panicked conversations between her, Duncan Macleod, Connor Macleod, Richie Ryan, and several other people that Mister Winters was interested in. Although he was curious who this Faith was that Jacqueline mentioned in her message to Adam Pierson.

He had found several references to this Pierson in connection to the other immortals, so it was likely that the man was also an immortal, but there was not a great deal of information about him and no know photographs. Possibly a relatively new identity for him. Something to continue researching.

Also, where had this 'Methos' person disappeared to? He was seen in the security footage leaving with what was believed to be the Spear, but nothing since then. This would take deeper searching, but this Faith is the more urgent matter...

Setting his computer to search for any references to Faith in connection to Xander Harris, since Jacqueline's call originated from one of the Sunnydale cell sites, he turned back to re-read the conversations.

'So they are all going to be meeting at someplace called 'Susie's' in Oxnard after closing tomorrow evening? That would be convenient for allowing Mister Winters to express his displeasure. And I'm sure Curtis will be interested in the location as well. Doubtful that the man could actually harm any of his targets, but as a distraction he will do nicely.'

It was while he was looking into where 'Susie's' was located, and seeing that it was a strip club gave him a momentary grin, the search he was running for 'Faith' completed. Opening the file, he noted the information about Faith Lehane, and her history with the Sunnydale crew, including the death of Allan Finch.

It was intriguing that this Adam Pierson had removed the Lehane girl from Sunnydale, what did he think that would accomplish? From the medical records, the girl was in a coma, with possible brain damage caused by falling from a window into the back of a moving vehicle, and was not expected to revive. Did Pierson have some sort of mystical healing abilities?

Gathering all the available information, including his plans to provide some of this information to March, Lindsay encrypted the document and sent it to the client for approval. Knowing Mister Winter's habits, he would likely be responding fairly quickly. While he would never even breathe a word of it, Lindsay was extremely grateful to have been able to provide the information Winter's wanted. He had absolutely no desire to be turned, let alone spending a year or so being raped by the man! If there was going to be penetration involved, he would much rather the other party be female and on the receiving end.

The times he had to bend over for Holland in front of all the Junior Partners were humiliating enough, but they didn't happen as often as they used to, he'd learned to be very thorough in his work quite quickly. Although he did relish the memories of seeing Lilah in that position and was hoping to see it again, preferably with him being in Holland's place!

But that won't happen if the bitch keeps being as lucky as she has been, Lindsay thought with a frown. Once this case is cleared, he and Lee need to put their heads together and figure out a way to engineer Lilah's fall from well, not grace, there's precious little grace working for Wolfram and Hart but from the approving view of the Managing Directors.

Hearing the chime that indicated a response from Mister Winters, he opened it and read it quickly. As expected, the client had found the confusion and concern of the thieves to be quite amusing and gave his approval of using Curtis March as a distraction.

1227 Holiday Drive

Ventura, California

8:20 pm, Monday, May 31st, 1999

Adam put down his phone and swore under his breath. He really didn't need this right now! Turning slowly, he called, "Hello Faith, my name is Adam Pierson, and some friends of yours asked me to help you."

The voice came from the garage, skeptical, "Yeah, right, who're you trying to kid? I don't have any friends in Sunnydale, just the Boss, and he wouldn't be happy that you've kidnapped me!"

Walking toward the door, but staying out of Faith's line of sight, Adam said, "Actually you do have a friend there, a young man by the name of Xander Harris. He and his girlfriend convinced a friend of mine to contact me. And, if by your 'Boss' you are referring to Mayor Wilkins, I'm sorry to tell you that he is no longer with us. He was destroyed during the Graduation Ceremony just over a week ago."

There was silence from the garage, but then he heard the faint sounds of a sob, and Adam nodded grimly. 'Good, the shell is already starting to crack, if only we had some more time before the shit started hitting the fan.' Stepping into the garage, he looked toward the car, only to see something rushing toward his head. Moving quickly, he reached up and grabbed the baseball bat before it could hit him, pulling it out of the young girl's hands.

Faith was staring at him, her eyes wild, darting around the garage, obviously looking for an escape route. Adam was struck by how young she looked to have already experienced so much pain. He sighed and spoke softly, "I know you have no reason to believe me, but I'm actually here to help you, because Xander and Cordelia are concerned about you, and convinced my friend to try and help you."

She shook her head violently, "No fuckin way that X-man or Queenie would give a shit about me! They're too busy kissing Princess Buffy's butt to care about anybody else, especially somebody like me! I'm a fucking killer, I murdered Finch, and those other people, why should they care about an evil monster like me?"

Adam shook his head, "You're not a monster, Faith! Trust me, I've seen monsters. You were a young girl who was forced to survive a horrible background, and, when you finally had some stability in your life, it was ripped away from you by Kakistos. You managed to make it all the way across the country, only to be let down by those who should have supported you. The thing is, Xander and Cordelia realized they screwed up, and want to make amends."

Faith glared at him, "Okay, say I buy that for a dollar, what makes you think I want their help? They had their chance, and blew it!"

Adam sighed, "They did, and both of them realize it. But, consider what they were going through at the time, you are all teenagers, and with the best intentions in the world, you get things wrong." Moving to the car, he said "But, if it wasn't for them, you would still be in that hospital bed, slowly dying because of the influence of the Hellmouth. Can I ask you to put aside your suspicion long enough to meet with them? I need to get to Oxnard because there's been a bunch of attacks that we need to deal with, and I'm not going to leave you on your own."

She stared at him for a long moment, before relaxing slightly, "Okay, I guess I can give you that much, and yeah, I remember the Boss laughing about the problems Queenie was having." Looking down at herself, she said, "But do you have anything I can wear? I'm not going to be letting them see my naked ass anytime soon."

Adam chuckled and opened the passenger door of the car, pulling out a couple of large bags. "Here you go, I got you a variety of things. I'll show you the bathroom where you can change." Waving her into the house, he said "From what I was told, you had a preference for leather and jeans, so I hope you like them."

ISIO & ISIO & ISIO

Faith shut and locked the bathroom door behind her, suddenly realizing she needed to use the can. She was still trying to deal with the idea that the Boss was dead, how the fuck could that happen? He was invulnerable right up until he changed, wasn't he? And there was no way that B and her gang could do something to take a true demon all the way out! But, this guy didn't seem like he was lying, just stating a fact, it didn't make sense.

And then telling her that X and the Queen wanted to help her? But, X did try and talk to her, right when things were starting to go bad didn't he? Maybe he wasn't just trying to get into her panties again? Shit! This is too confusing to deal with right now.

Stripping out of her hospital gown, she frowned when she saw that the bandage that should be there, where B had stuck that knife in her gut, was gone, and all that was left was a faded scar. What the hell? No, I'll try to figure that out later. Let me get some clothes on in case he decides to open the door.

Opening the first of the bags, Faith was pleasantly surprised to see grownup panties and bra's, stuff that she could actually wear. Nothing really sexy, but that's okay, she wasn't feeling particularly sexy right then anyway. Pulling the underwear on, she dug deeper, and there were some decent jeans, and a top she wouldn't be embarrassed to wear. She shook her head, either Adam was gay or had another girl help him pick out the clothes.

Dressing quickly, she grinned at the leather pants in the other bag, she'd wear them another time, it was time to boogie. Putting on the pair of sneakers, she put everything else in the bags and unlocked the door.

Surprisingly Adam wasn't standing outside the bathroom door, and she could hear his voice coming from down the hallway.

"She's getting changed into some of the new clothes now, so we should be on the road in a few minutes."

"..."

"How do you think she is, Jacqueline? She's scared, angry and suspicious, just like anybody would be if they were dumped into this situation. I consider it a minor miracle that she is even willing to talk to Alexander and Cordelia. I told you before when I heard the story, nobody covered themselves in credit when Faith got to Sunnydale, and if I ever meet up with Rupert Giles, or that arsehole Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, he and I will be having several sharp words! The damage those Fyarl buggering morons did to that girl, thanks to their precious Watcher's Council, it will take a long time before she's able to trust anyone. And then we can start dealing with the feelings of guilt for Finch and the others."

Faith grinned at the way the man was angry on her behalf, and the idea of Wussley getting torn a new one was something she would love to see. English wasn't that bad, although he was more focused on B and her drama. Stepping into the room, she saw Adam notice her, and he nodded, continuing to talk on the phone.

"Actually, she's ready now, and I'm pleased to tell you that you did an excellent job choosing the sizes and clothing, everything seems to fit properly. I'll let you get back to the others and we'll be there within the next hour or so, I'm sure Faith would enjoy something to eat, and I haven't eaten since breakfast."

Hanging up the phone he smiled at her, "That was a friend of mine, Jacqueline Crawford, you'll meet her later tonight. She's also friends with Xander and Cordy, and asked me to get involved. So, ready to get something to eat on the way?"

Faith nodded, "Yeah, I could eat, and thanks for the clothes. One thing I'm wondering though, why did this Jacqueline think you could help me? Are you a shrink or something?"

"That's kind of a long story, but first, when you were with your first Watcher, did you ever read anything about the 'lightning warriors'?

ISIO & ISIO & ISIO

On the Road to Oxnard

10:05 pm

Adam was surprised that Faith was accepting of the existence of immortals, only needing to see him slicing his arm and watching the wound heal to believe him. He had been a bit evasive as to how old he was, not wanting to tell her he was over 4,000 years old. He could do that later if necessary. She just thought he was around two hundred and fifty or so, and that he had been trained as a doctor over the years. It was the truth, just not the complete truth.

Most of the ride was fairly enjoyable, as he shared with her some of the lighter stories of his travels, including being a part of the Sons of Liberty and the Boston Tea Party. Which she really enjoyed, admitting that when she was in school History was one of her favorite subjects.

Although, things did get strange at one point. Faith had dozed off briefly, and when she woke up, she was shaking her head, muttering something about 'that was weird, even for me!' When he asked what she meant, she just shook her head, "Sorry, but that's something I need to talk to the X-man, Cordy and the others about. At least now I'm willing to believe they really do want to help me. If you can't trust the Voice of God, who can you trust?"

That had been surprising, he'd heard about the Metatron, but to have him make an appearance meant that a lot more was going on than he was aware of. It might be interesting to stick around for a while, he was always interested in something new after all.

The rest of the trip was quiet, with Faith lost in her thoughts until they pulled into the parking lot of Susie's and parked. Faith stared at the sign, then gave him an incredulous look, "Seriously? You're taking me to a strip club? I got nothin' against eye-candy, but is this really the time?"

He chuckled, "I know, but most of the people we are meeting are here, including Xander and Cordy. Susie closed the club down for the night so we could meet."

She looked at him for a long minute, before shrugging and opening the car door. Adam walked up to the front door and knocked sharply, and the door was opened by Xander, who looked at them and pushed the door open wide, giving Faith a tentative smile. To Adam's relief, she smiled back and said, "I need to talk to you and the Queen, about a wicked strange dream I had on the ride, then we can deal with the rest of the shit that's happening."

Xander nodded, "We can do that. Adam, Duncan and Amanda just got here, and everybody is by the bar. Cordy and I will be talking to Faith and then we'll join you."

ISIO & ISIO & ISIO

Xander turned and waved to Cordy, and she walked over to join them, before heading to the locker room where they could have some privacy. Faith was still smiling at them, but he could see the tension around her eyes, and he wondered just what sort of dream she had, did she have a family dream, or one like Dru and Daria had described?

When they got to the locker room, Faith turned to them and started talking,

"Okay, look, this ain't easy for me to say, but thanks for getting Adam involved. Getting me away from the Hellmouth helped in ways you may not believe. When we were on our way here, I fell asleep, and in my dreams I was shown just how you tried to help me, X more than you Cordy, but you had your own shit to deal with, so it's cool. The scary part was seeing just how bad the Mayor manipulated me, making me think he cared for me, when I was just a handy weapon to get rid of people. He was an expert at doing that, and seeing it from the outside, really hurt!"

He and Cordy shared a glance, this was going better than they had expected, but Faith was still talking. "I ain't ashamed that I started crying, and then I found myself in a wooded grove of some kind, and there was a pool with a woman in the water, weird looking, almost like what Poison Ivy would look like if she was a real person. And no, I don't mean Uma Thurman! There was also a woman there, long dark hair and a white dress, didn't say anything, and the freakiest thing was, a guy with wings was standing there, and he looked like Hans Gruber, remember, from Die Hard?"

Xander couldn't help it, he gave a low whistle, shaking his head. "Damn, Gaia and the One Above All? I knew that Gaia was involved with Aphrodite and the others, but this is a lot bigger than I thought."

Faith stared at him, "You ain't shittin' me, are you X-man? You know who these people are? Have you dreamed of them too?"

"No, I haven't, but Dru and Daria, who are two other members of our family, you'll meet them soon, both of them had dreams about them. We've only had contact, briefly, with Aphrodite. But, go on, please?"

"It was the Hans Gruber guy, said he was the Voice of God, and that I was forgiven for what happened back in Sunny D, and while I was trying to get my head around it, the woman he was with walked me into the pond, and Gaia, is that her name? Stood up and the two of them put their hands on my shoulders and pushed me under the water for a second and then let me up." Faith shook her head, smiling slightly, "I don't know which of them was John the Baptist, but that was the strangest baptism I'd ever heard of. I did feel better when they let me up though. So, what's the 411, why are we all here?"

"Well, the short version is, we pissed off the vamp who rules Los Angeles, and he sent a message late last night that he knows who some of us are, and we are planning how to send the son of a bitch all the way back to Hell. There's a lot more going on, but that's the important part right now. We'll sit down and give you the full story after we finish here, okay?"

"Five by Five, X. But you've been awful quite there, Queenie, that ain't like you, what's going on?"

Cordy laughed, "Xander covered the high points. When it's time to give you the whole story, I'll have a lot more to say, but I do want to say that I'm very glad to see you again, Faith." Then she moved and pulled Faith into a hug, which shocked the girl, but then she relaxed and returned the hug.

He hated to do it because they were comfortable, but the clock was ticking. Clearing his throat, Xander said, "We need to join the others, but I'm sure nobody will care if you two keep hugging, they're used to it by now."

ISIO & ISIO & ISIO

The Angel's Roost Tavern

Los Angeles

Monday, May 31st, 1999

11:00 pm

Curtis March smiled coolly at the five 'men' sitting around the table. It had taken some quick talking but all of them were willing to meet together, their disagreements set aside for the next few days. They knew that if they were successful, the Master of Los Angeles would be pleased with them, and that would lead to more assignments and more money for their clans.

Taking a drink of his beer, he swallowed and said, "Okay, you'll get the word to your men to start heading out immediately? I want Oxnard to be flooded with your people before dawn, and tomorrow night we'll fall on the bastards like Satan's hard-on! Pass the word though, that I want Connor Macleod and Richie Ryan, the assholes in the pictures, and the redhaired bitch taken alive, I'll deal with them myself, understood?"

"And the others?"

Curtis grinned, "Think of it as an open bar, drink to your hearts content."

The others laughed and drained their beers before heading for the door. March watched them go until the door closed behind them and his smile dropped. He really hated working with the fangs, but it was easier than trying to hire a bunch of humans, and nobody, not even the leaders of their clans, cared if the cannon fodder got dusted.

And, now that the work was done, he could have a bit of fun. Scanning the room, his eye landed on a curvy blond, who was casually watching the mirror above the bar. Catching the woman's eye in the reflection, he raised his glass to her. The woman pasted a professional smile on her face and slid off the stool, carrying her drink with her.

After a few minutes of conversation, the two got up and headed to the back of the bar, where the private rooms were available. It was unfortunate that they were so absorbed in what they were doing that neither of them noticed the young man in leathers and a three-day growth sitting at the bar watching them.

A few minutes later, he stepped outside and pulled out his cell phone, and dialed a number that rang in Oxnard.

ISIO & ISIO & ISIO

Susie's

Half An Hour after the Previous Scene

Faith wasn't sure she could believe her eyes. From the minute Xander had walked into the room, he was in charge, even the older ones like Adam were listening to what he was saying. They offered suggestions, sure, but he was the one making the final decisions. She remembered hearing something about him having some strange memories from Halloween a couple of years ago, but this was still not what she was expecting.

But even stranger was the reaction to almost all of the women to him, if she didn't know better, she would be willing to swear that he was banging almost every one of them, including Susie and Jacqueline, or as she introduced herself, Jenny. The only ones he didn't seem to be screwing were Amanda, Colleen, and Yvette, who were with three of the other guys. It was driving her crazy trying to figure out what was going on, but the X-Man promised the whole story later, so she said back and listened, adding suggestions if she had something to say.

She also wanted to know why Adam and the other Immortals kept giving the black chick, Daria, pitying looks when the girl wasn't looking at them. Faith didn't know what that was all about, but it was making her nervous. Unfortunately, there was no way to get answers right now, they were all focusing on making plans.

Looking around the room, most of them were fairly calm, except for Jenny, Connor, Duncan, and Richie who were pissed, which was understandable, since it was their places that got burned out. The only one who seemed to be freaked out was the girl Colleen, who was sitting next to Connor. Faith couldn't blame her, since the real world was all new to her, and that's enough to mess with anybody's head.

Xander looked around the table, "Okay, I think we can all agree that this was a retaliatory strike by Russell Winters, in exchange for the warehouse, and he's going to pay for that, but the question is, how do we get to him? I'm open to suggestions from those of you who know more about him than I do."

Jenny took a drink and swallowed, before saying "The big problem with Winters is he's a relatively public figure, unlike the Master back in Sunnydale who was stuck in the Hellmouth. He's got businesses and lawyers, and even though his home address is known, it's not like raiding a lair." She shook her head, "People should have realized something was off about him when they realized where he built his house."

"What's so special about his address, Jenny?" Harmony asked, leaning forward to look at the older woman.

"The current address is 10666 Ceilo Drive, in Benedict Canyon. The house that used to stand there, until it was torn down in the mid-seventies, was 10050 Ceilo Drive, the house where Sharon Tate and the others were butchered by the Manson Family. Can you image the darkness that seeped into the very grounds?"

"Shit! And you think Winters knew about it when he built the house?" Xander looked pale and he wasn't the only one. Hell, even Adam looked slightly disturbed. But when Dru looked startled and sat up in her chair, everyone turned to look at her.

It was weird, her eyes looked different, almost glowing green and her voice was sharper, everyone looked surprised at the change, and she said, "Mummy lady is very unhappy about the evil leaking from that place, it is poisoning the land all around, needs to be cleaned up, chop! Chop!" Sitting back in her seat, Dru shook her head, "That was most unusual, but it does answer the question, doesn't it?"

Tara was staring at her in shock, before smiling widely, "Oh yes it does, sister, yes it does!" Turning to Xander and Harmony she said, "A cleansing ritual! It will purify the area, and allow the earth to start fighting back against the evil done there. It won't solve the problem, but it should start to weaken him, and he probably won't have any idea what is happening to him."

There was a burst of excited voices, until Xander said, "That's an excellent idea, Pet! But, do you know how the ritual can be done, and how many witches are needed?"

Tara nodded, "It's an easy ritual, Sir, my mother taught it to me when she first started training me. And if Dru and Jenny can help, I would only need a few more to support. And, the best part, if we can get a clear image of the area, we can do the ritual right here." She paused, a slight frown on her face, "Actually Sir, it might not be a bad idea for you, Ma'am and Cordy to do a cleansing ritual as well, to get rid of the taint of the Hellmouth, since you all grew up there. Maybe Jenny as well, since you lived there for several years."

Xander nodded, glancing at Harmony and Cordy, "Not a bad idea, pet. And if we can do it before the big ritual, we can help. But, when you say clear image, do you mean a mental image, or an actual picture?"

"A picture, as long as it's clear enough should do fine," Tara said, after a moment's thought. "I'm going to need to get some supplies though. There's a New Age shop not far from the hotel that should have what we need."

"Okay, Jenny can you get on-line and track down recent aerial photographs of the address? The newer and clearer the better. There's a Kinko's in town that can print them for us, so we can use those images for the ritual." When Jenny nodded he smiled, "Okay, that's a good first step, but..."

He was interrupted by the chirping of Colleen's phone going off. She pulled it from her purse and frowned. "I'm sorry, it's the police office who took my report on Curtis, it might be important."

She stood up and moved toward the side of the room and spoke for a few minutes before coming back, and it was obvious it wasn't good news. She was even paler than normal, and she threw herself into Connor's arms, shaking badly.

When she calmed down enough to speak, she said, "Somebody from Wolfram and Hart got Curtis released on bail, and he was seen earlier tonight with several 'gang leaders' talking about being in Oxnard before dawn and ready to attack late tonight. He heard Curtis saying that he wanted Connor, Richie and me alive, but everybody else was fair game. The officer didn't understand exactly what Curtis meant, but he told the 'gang leaders' that it was 'all you could drink' and they all laughed. Were they vampires?"

Connor pulled her tighter, a frustrated look on his face, "Aye lass, I'm afraid they are. But we've handled the fangs before, they shouldn't give us any problems."

Xander surprised Faith by laughing, "Actually, I don't think they will give us any problems. Pet, we'll need to hold off for a day or so on the big ritual. Can you increase the size and power of the surprise you gave the vampires at the warehouse?"

Faith saw the looks of comprehension, followed by really nasty grins on Dru, Cordy, Tara, and the immortals, while the others just looked confused.

Tara smirked, "Oh, easily Sir, and if this Curtis is with them, he should be blinded for several minutes at least, so one of you can give him his haircut."

There was laughter around the table, and then Jenny got up and said, "Excuse me for a minute, need to drop a penny."

Seeing her chance, Faith said, "Now that you mention it, I need to pay the rent myself."

Quickly taking care of business, Faith washed her hands and was leaning against the sink when Jenny came out of the stall. The other woman gave a start to see her there, but moved to the other sink, only to freeze when Faith said, "You wanna tell me what your problem is with Daria? She seems like a decent girl, and she's obviously in tight with X-Man and the others, so why are you and Adam and the beefcakes all looking at her like she's got some horrible disease?"

Jenny opened her mouth, about to say something, but then closed it. "This isn't the place to talk about it Faith, it's something that knowing won't help anybody, and could hurt them. Xander and the others don't know, and if we are all extremely lucky, they won't ever have to know. Please trust me, it's not something that you can do anything about, none of us can. If it happens, it happens and we'll deal with it then."

Faith looked at her for a few seconds, her mind moving quickly before it all fell into place. "Crap! She's like you, isn't she? But she don't know it because she hasn't died yet, and you don't want to tell her in case it doesn't happen."

Jenny nodded, "Basically, yes. When one of us is around another, we hear a kind of 'buzz', it's a warning that there is another immortal around and it could be dangerous, so we can prepare. For someone who hasn't had their first death, what we call a pre-immortal, the 'buzz' is still there, just a lot weaker. All of us felt the buzz from Daria when we met her. If it happens, I'll probably be the one to teach her, but if nothing happens, then I'll be very happy for her."

"Damn, that's a shit situation, ain't it? Adam told me about some of it when we were driving up here, dying over and over again, until somebody cuts off your head. Not something to look forward to. Hell, I'd take a vamp over that, anytime."

Jenny shrugged, "It's not all bad, you find yourself relaxing about things that you used to worry about and you're a lot more open to trying new things. And the sex can be fantastic! All those years of experience?" She grinned, "Speaking of that, I'm sure you've noticed the rather unusual relationships in our group, haven't you?"

"You mean, how you and most of the others are having sex with the X-Man? Yeah, I noticed that, why?"

"Well, it's not just Xander we're sleeping with, we're also sleeping with each other. Is that going to bother you?"

"All of you?" Faith blinked as she pictured Cordy and Harmony and some of the other girls naked and tangled together, "Damn, that's a hell of a picture! But, I've had my tongue in plenty of girls, including Buffy a few times, so I got no problem."

"You and Buffy? That must have been interesting, too bad Xander didn't get to her earlier, having his cock slide up her ass might have dislodged the stake she'd shoved up there." Finishing washing her hands, Jenny said, "We need to get back out there, we can talk more later."

ISIO & ISIO & ISIO

10066 Cielo Drive

Benedict Canyon

Los Angeles, California

Tuesday, June 1st, 1999

12:12 am

Russell smiled slightly as he watched Kendall slowly undressing her latest target. She had been extremely excited, having seen the woman in several films over the last few years. It's a pity she hadn't won the Best Actress last year, it would make the film she's currently performing in even more valuable. Not that the woman had any idea she was being filmed, unlike Kendall, who knew where every camera in the room was and made sure that her face was never clearly seen a very sensible woman, and with a sense of self-preservation that was quite entertaining.

He was still considering turning her, she was practically a vampire in her attitude already, and it would be enjoyable to have her skills available full time. He'd already received invitations to several homes that he hadn't had access to previously, thanks to Kendall's display at Holland's party the other night.

Thinking of Holland, it was time to check on Lindsay's little project. He quite enjoyed his dealings with young Lindsay, his fear was quite delicious, even if it was doubtful that the boy would ever experience what he was terrified of. While it was amusing to threaten him with being chained to his bed and raped, when Russell wanted a bed partner, it was a female, either one of his minions, or a mortal who fell into his clutches. Not that he was ever going to tell Lindsay that, fear was a delightful motivator.

Signing into his computer, he nodded slowly, at least a hundred of the 'independents' were on their way to Oxnard already. Doubtless, they would be dust piles before another night passed, but that wasn't anything to be concerned about, it would be easier to bring the rest under his control where they belonged. Although, now that he knew where the thieves were, even if some of them survived the initial attack, they wouldn't expect another attack an hour or so later, would they?

Now, should he use some of his minions as stake fodder, or bring in some of his human agents? There were benefits to both approaches, he would need to consider things, he had several hours before he needed to make a decision, after all, and Kendall had her playmate sufficiently aroused now, it was time he joined them.

ISIO & ISIO & ISIO

Ramada Inn

Oxnard

Tuesday, June 1st, 1999

2:30 am

Curtis waved off the night bellhop, carrying his suitcase into the room. Shutting and locking the door in the boy's face, he set the case down in the middle of the floor and ran his fingers along the hidden seam. Opening the lid, he smiled at the sword, carefully disassembled and packed in foam. Picking up the hilt, he slid it into the tang, nodding in satisfaction at the sharp 'click' as they locked together. Rolling the hilt around in his hands, getting used to the feeling again, he carefully picked up the bottom portion of the blade, sliding it into the base of the hilt, making sure that it was in place properly.

Standing, he gripped the hilt and started swinging the sword, making sure his movements were smooth, waking up his muscle memory. While he did not doubt that he could easily take the Ryan pup's head, Curtis wasn't foolish enough to think that Macleod would be easy prey. The canny bastard had at least two hundred years on him, and the man hadn't been hiding away. Of course, Macleod would expect him to play by the 'rules' and that was why the Highlander was going to be missing his head.

Satisfied with the feel of the sword in his hands, he picked up the final part of the blade and joined it to the rest, testing the reach and speed before grabbing the sharpening stones. Wouldn't want the bastards suffering from a dull blade taking their head, would he? He laughed, imagining the look on that cunt Colleen's face as he killed her protectors, and she would know that her pain was just beginning. Hell, maybe he'd let any of the fangs that weren't dusted have her for a day or so, and then he could have his fun.

Picking up his sword, he slid it into the scabbard inside his coat, hanging it on the inside of the door. With a yawn, he set a wake-up call for noon and shut off the lights. Laying down, he was soon fast asleep, dreaming of the other heads he had taken, and the fun he had with their women afterward.

ISIO & ISIO & ISIO

Oxnard Inn

Xander's Room

Approximately the Same Time

Faith lay on her back on the air mattress, staring at the ceiling. She was still trying to get her head around everything that Xander and the others had told her. At first, she was amused at how Harmony had jumped him in the shower until the blonde had explained how different his behavior was from what she expected. Faith had been surprised that she and Harmony had so many similar experiences, although she hadn't been as successful at getting the guys to leave her be with just a blowjob, it's a wonder she never got pregnant.

But then they started talking about the dreams, and how Faith showed up in the very first one. That was even harder to deal with than realizing Dru used to be a vampire! By the time they got to the end, she thought her head was going to explode, and she didn't know how to deal with everything they told her.

Yeah, the dream she had in the car had kind of prepared her that there was some kind of connection between her and Xander, but that didn't mean she was ready to drop her panties and join the harem. Sure, some of the girls were sexy as hell, and hearing about how Xander had rocked all of their worlds made her curious since he hadn't been bad for a virgin, but nothing special when they screwed before. She wouldn't mind a bit of playtime with any of them, but the way they were talking, things were a lot more permanent than she wanted anything to do with. That just wasn't her style.

She was still thinking when she fell asleep. But then the dreams came.

End Chapter Eleven