"We normally go by Susan, Willow, and Xander," Xander introduced with an amused grin, remembering to use Buffy's alias.
"We did not have sex with penguins," Buffy added as they entered the mansion, eying Giles suspiciously.
"We had lots of sex in cramped quarters for a couple of days and then spent a few hours crammed in there with penguins," Xander explained, forcing himself not to laugh.
"Dude," Willow groaned out.
"Dude," Xander replied reasonably.
"Dude?" Faith added, clearly confused.
"Willow was telling Xander he didn't have to be in total share mode, and Xander replied that the truth is a lot less embarrassing than what you were already thinking," Buffy translated.
"I can dig it," Faith said with a nod as she closed the door.
"This is my niece, Faith," Giles said, completing the introductions.
"We got the magic circle and everything ready in the other room," Faith said.
"And this will tell me why I keep jumping back and forth?" Xander asked hopefully.
"This will tell us if you have non human ancestry and possibly give us a clue as to the cause of the phenomenon," Giles replied. "I've never heard of anyone who's had your problem before, so I doubt we'll figure it out all in one go, though I will be pleasantly surprised if that does occur."
"Pretty sure my parents are both human," Xander said with a frown as they entered a large room, filled with bookcases along one wall containing large leather bound tomes that drew his attention, before he noticed the exercise and sparring equipment on the other side and a large complex circle filled with runes or glyphs done in tape in the center of the room.
"Tape?" Willow asked in surprise.
"Prevents it from being accidentally broken as so often occurs with chalk and powders, while being much easier to clean up than oils, paints, or blood," Giles explained.
"Practical," Xander said with approval.
"Let me explain what we're doing," Giles said. "The circle will filter out external influences while the crystal ball will isolate and magnify your magical signature so we can get a clear reading on you."
"I have magic?" Xander asked before shaking his head. "Of course I have magic, there isn't a scientific reason for me playing leap frog with the universe."
"Everyone has magic," Giles assured him, "but yes it's almost certainly the reason you keep jumping back and forth."
"Could you stop it?" Willow asked. "The jumping I mean."
"Not sure I want it to stop," Xander admitted, "but controlling it would be a dream come true."
"Not stop?" Willow asked, trying to process the idea.
"I've been jumping for almost half a decade," Xander replied, "I'm not only used to it, I actually enjoy it most of the time. Give me the ability to control when and possibly where I jump to and I'd be in heaven."
"Oh," Willow said as she considered it. "Yeah, that would make a difference."
"If we can ascertain the reason for your jumping we may be able to discover the trigger, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. The first step is to examine your magical signature," Giles said, handing Xander a thumbtack and a crystal ball. "Just prick your palm hard enough to produce a single drop of blood and let the crystal ball rest on it, I'll do all the rest." He gestured for Xander to enter the circle.
"What do we need to do?" Willow asked, eager to see magic performed.
"Stay well back from the circle and don't interrupt," Giles told the excited red head, "I'll answer all your questions after the ritual is complete."
Willow nodded and sat at one of the tables near the bookcases, Buffy joining her while making sure to give the magic circle a wide berth.
Giles turned to Faith. "We'll practice activating a magic circle later, for now just observe."
"Sure unc," Faith agreed, taking a seat with the other girls.
Xander pricked his left palm and he rested the crystal ball against the resulting drop of blood as Giles cleared his throat and began chanting something in a guttural tongue that none of them recognized. The air gained a smell of copper and a strong breeze began to swirl around the room, getting stronger as Giles continued the chant. At the two-minute mark the crystal ball in Xander's hand began to glow green and Giles instantly stopped chanting, causing the wind to fade and the crystal ball to go out.
"A great deal of power, very close to the surface," Giles said, "I should have guessed that would happen."
"And what does that mean?" Xander asked, hoping to get some answers.
"That your talent is extremely powerful, far more than I had considered likely," Giles replied. "The scent of copper and wind indicate that you have no infernal blood, though you may have traces of divine ancestry."
"What, like Zeus?" Faith asked.
"Yes," Giles agreed. "The Greek Pantheon was fairly prolific and traces still exist today, generally only noticeable through certain traits that the god or goddess in question was associated with."
"Like my mother's strength coming from Thor," Buffy said without thinking about it, then blushing as everyone stared at her. "Forget I said that," she ordered.
"Ah, yes," Giles said, rubbing the tattoo on his wrist as he realized Susan's distrust of him may stem from her sensing the faint demonic taint. "Something like extraordinary strength is in fact quite common among those descended from warrior gods."
"You're descended from Thor?" Faith asked Buffy in disbelief.
"I'm my mom's daughter," Buffy replied.
"Back to Xander," Willow suggested urgently.
"Yes," Giles agreed. "It's definitely not a curse or infernal bloodline. Wind, copper, and green give me more than enough for further research. Give me a week and I'll see what I can discover."
"Sounds good," Xander said, handing Giles the crystal ball and thumbtack. "I'm actually surprised I'm not cursed."
"It does sound like something that would happen if you ran over a Gypsy while joy riding at twelve," Buffy joked.
"The Romani are actually quite forgiving of youthful transgressions," Giles said before realizing she was joking.
"Well, if that's all I believe there is some fast food with our name on it," Xander said, knowing Buffy wouldn't want to hang around the Watcher.
"I'm going to stick around," Willow said, "if nobody minds? I've got questions, in fact I have a list of questions."
"I always knew she'd leave me for someone with a bigger library," Xander said melodramatically, making Willow blush as he leaned down to give her a kiss. "You get your learn on, we'll go out and have fun. Take notes to share with us for our next trip."
"I always do," Willow babbled, "the notes I mean not the kissing and the penguins and go… shoo!"
"And we're off," Xander said, grabbing Buffy's hand as she grinned at the flustered redhead.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"I was joking about the fast food unless you feel like it," Xander told Buffy. "There are some decent restaurants I could take you to."
"Not really in a restaurant mood, though I do appreciate the choice," Buffy assured him.
"So, what do you feel like doing?" Xander asked.
"I'm not sure, I feel kinda antsy," Buffy decided.
"Antsy?"
"Full of energy," Buffy replied, "but not in the camping mood."
"Being a teenage male I am nearly always in the camping mood, but I get your drift," he replied with a grin. "How about dancing?"
"I could dance," Buffy agreed with a smile, giving his hand a squeeze.
A scream broke out and Buffy found herself running towards it, Xander right on her heels.
They followed the sound into an alley, two vampires had a teenage boy against the wall, fangs out and ready to feed. The only reason they hadn't killed him already was because they were too busy arguing over who got to feed first.
"You went first last time!" the blond vampire in the black leather jacket argued.
"Yeah? Well, I'm the one that lured him in!" the dark haired vamp in shorts and a tank top fired back.
Buffy grabbed the blond vampire and slammed him into the alley wall as if he was made of Styrofoam. The sound of bones breaking was loud in the narrow alley.
"Let him go!" Xander ordered the dark haired vamp.
"What?" the vampire asked dumbly, as he turned to see what had happened to his partner.
Xander took the opening and sprayed mace in his face and open mouth causing the vampire to fall to the ground choking.
Buffy flung the blond vamp against the opposite wall, breaking still more bones before stomping on the downed vampire's neck, snapping it. "Dang, forgot to carry a stake," the petite blonde girl complained.
Xander scanned the alley and spotted a short two by four that he handed to her. "No point, but I think you're strong enough to stake them without one."
"You say the sweetest things," Buffy said, snapping the wood by flexing her wrists and then using the ragged ends to stake the two vamps.
The teen they'd saved looked from the two piles of ash and back to them. "So… vampires are real?"
"Yes, so don't follow strange men into dark alleys," Buffy said bluntly.
"If you tell anyone they'll probably medicate you," Xander told the boy who he recognized as a new student named Vance, since they had history together.
"Fuck," Vance cursed.
"Why would you follow them into a dark alley anyway?" Buffy asked.
"Um," Vance cleared his throat and looked nervous.
"Oh!" Buffy said, surprised as she realized why.
"Talk to Rodney on the basketball team," Xander said, "he's plugged into the local scene."
"Wait, really?" Vance asked.
"How did you know?" Buffy asked Xander.
"I've had a couple of guys make the jump with me to feel me out about things," Xander replied. He shrugged. "I'm not gay, but that doesn't mean I've got problems with other people being gay."
"Most guys are only okay with lesbians," Vance said.
"I'm not most guys," Xander said with a shrug.
"Yeah," he agreed, thinking about seeing Xander vanish and return with various rare or extinct animals. "How did you throw them around so easily?" he asked Buffy, "I couldn't budge them."
"I'm descended from Thor," the Slayer replied, not wanting word of what she was to get around.
"Seriously?" Vance asked in disbelief.
"On my Mom's side," Buffy assured him.
"Gods and vampires exist," Vance said slowly.
"Lots of things exist," Xander told him, "Freak out once you're home safe."
Vance blinked and looked around nervously. "Yeah, I think I'll do that. Thanks!"
"You're welcome," Buffy said with a smile.
Vance almost ran for the safety of the street, vowing not to be fooled by a pretty face and tight jeans ever again.
"You look happy," Xander said.
"I am," Buffy said. "Most of the time people are too freaked out to say thanks, so when someone takes the time… it makes all this worthwhile, you know?"
"Yeah, I can see it," Xander agreed. "Are you descended from Thor? I mean the Slayer thing aside I could see it."
"Mom mentioned it before showing how she could bend rebar like most people opening a stuck cabinet," Buffy replied. "I don't think being a Slayer is connected to it and it covers for being one if anyone asks."
"We need to get you a hammer," Xander decided. "I'll see if the mayor knows someone who can make one, it'll really throw the Watchers off the scent if they discover you've been killing vampires."
"Ohh, good idea," Buffy said. "You know what?"
"What?"
"I no longer feel antsy," Buffy said, stepping close and pushing him against the wall.
"Yeah?" he asked with a grin.
"Yeah," Buffy agreed, lacing her fingers behind his neck, "killing some vampires seems to have been just what I needed."
"And what do you feel like doing now?" Xander asked as he leaned down.
"Camping," Buffy replied, capturing his lips with her own.
Xander's stomach growled loudly.
"Or we can get some food and then go camping," Buffy said with a grin.
"Also good," Xander agreed. "Plus I think we can find someplace a little more comfortable to camp."
Buffy pouted.
"Or we can find another dirty alley, stake some vamps, and go camp for a little while," Xander quickly said.
Buffy smiled and then frowned. "It's not too weird is it?" she asked softly.
"Buff, I jump worlds every week, this is pretty tame," he assured her.
"Okay," she brightened up.
"But we are seriously getting you a warhammer, it'll help with your cover and look cool as hell!"
"You are such a geek," she said with a laugh as she grabbed his hand and lead him out of the alley in search of food.
Typing by: Abyssal Angel
TN: Why is it always a magic circle? Why are there no magic squares or triangles or dodecahedrons? Or even abnormal shapes? And why are they always 2D? Maybe rituals need to be in a 3 or 4 sided pyramid or a sphere or something even crazier. Why's it always a circle? If it's just because that's the way it's always done, it'd be interesting to consider that the Egyptians practiced a different kind of magic and that was the real reason for the pyramids.
TN2: I will laugh so hard if Xander is a descendant of Janus. Something like that would even go on to explain much about him in canon. Though I bet Odin's got a stake in there somewhere…