The Monster's Loose

Shattered Conceits

Jenny Calendar had finished her last lesson of the day and was just as eager to escape the school as her students. The only reason why she wasn't the first out the door was the Toad. Her private name for the excuse for a human widely known as Principle Snyder. The small, in more ways than one, man was prowling the hallways and he enjoyed cornering the staff almost as much as the students. Exercising what little power he thought he had.

Only when she was sure he was long gone did she put the last couple of papers into her bag and try to leave. Jenny was nearly out the building when she almost ran into Rupert. Jenny was too busy keeping an eye out for the Toad and the school Librarian hadn't been looking where he was going either. Obviously worried about other things.

That was not good. As well as his job in the school Rupert Giles was also an active Watcher. Guardian and guide to The Slayer. One girl in all the world with the power to fight the ancient darkness that threatened to engulf humanity.

When a Watcher was distracted chances were someone, or more accurately something, was trying to end the world. "Rupert!" She said, getting his attention.

Jenn... Miss Calendar, I... I mean..."

She laughed to herself. It was fun to make the normally stuffy and proper Englishman stutter. "Yes?"

His shoulders dropped. "I was just coming to find you. I fear we could use your help." He admitted.

It was definitely the end of the world.

As well as being a computer science teacher, Jenny happened, amongst other things, to be a techno-pagan. Merging the new science of computers and the internet with the ancient mystical arts. It wasn't for everyone, but the two worked surprisingly well. If you were careful.

Rupert knew this, and knew the risks of abusing such powers. He wouldn't have come to her with this if it wasn't important. "You are aware of what happened last night, during Halloween." He asked her as they walked to the Library.

"Not really." She admitted. "Something about riots, I kept my head down."

"That was a good idea. An... shall we say acquaintance of mine came to town. Ethan Rayne."

"I've heard of him." She hissed. "He's..." Jenny struggled to think of the right words.

"He's a selfish git. Dedicated to causing chaos and mischief in the name of any one of a dozen depraved and twisted higher beings." Rupert spat. "Likes to think of himself as inventive, but really all he is is just vindictive at a world he thinks slighted him. Tosser."

Jenny had never heard Rupert sound like that. She knew he had hidden depths, but there was real anger in his voice. The infamous Rayne must have been more than just an acquaintance.

"Somehow he must of heard I was in town. The little show last night was just to say hello." The Watcher told her.

"What did he do?" Jenny asked, not sure she wanted the answer. The man's deprived reputation preceded him.

Rupert stopped, they were just outside of the double doors to the library. The was a sign on them, apologising for being closed as stock was being taken. "He opened a costume shop in town and used a bust of Janus to curse the items. The wearers became their costumes."

Jenny blinked. "That would cause a riot." She admitted, mind racing with possibles. "Still, might have been fun. Being, I don't know, maybe Wonder Woman for a night."

"There were, have been , side effects." Rupert chose his words carefully. "Xander was affected and his choice of costume has had consequences I doubt anyone could have predicted." He put his hand on the door. "You should prepare yourself."

More than a little concerned Jenny went inside. At first nothing looked out of place, she was half expecting an apocalyptic disaster, then she saw him, or should that have been Him. He was a giant, easily twice the size of Buffy. The library suddenly felt small with Him in it, the world wasn't big enough. He wore a crude toga made out of what looked like a bedsheet,but somehow made even that look regal, godlike even, over muscle that looked like it had been carved out of fine marble.

Then there was His face. More than simply handsome, every line from the shape of Their eyebrows to the angle of the jawline was perfectly shaped. A soft smile played across His features, as if Jenny's slack jawed awe at His presence was an old joke.

She didn't care.

Above all this was what she saw over His cliff like shoulders. Folded tight were a pair of wings. Actual, real wings. "Oh Gods!" She gasped.

He shook his head gently, long golden locks with a hint of dark cascading around Him. "I am no creation of Gods. I am Sanguinius, the Emperor's angel."

There was a harrumph-like noise and Jenny looked to her left. Buffy was by the book cage, crossbow in hand, pointing at the Angel. "Give us our Xander back!" She demanded.

"Xander?" Rupert had said, but Jenny couldn't imagine that the being before her could have once been the young man.

"As I have said:- A thing, once done, cannot be undone" He told her grimly and Buffy's eyes hardened.

Rupert cleared his throat. "As you can see, things are complicated."

"Is that really Xander Harris?" Jenny whispered under her voice.

The Watcher nodded, "Yes, I am afraid so."

A thought came to her and Jenny looked around again. "Wait, where's Willow?" The red haired girl had perhaps the worst hidden crush on Xander Jenny had ever seen.

"It was all too much for her. Buffy and I agreed that she should try and do some research into the character Xander went as, the one that is still here."

"Mr can't-give-a-straight-answer here didn't like the idea." Buffy snarked. "Hence the lack of trust." She patted the bow menacingly.

Sanguinius didn't seem to care. "I am only concerned that Xander's research was incomplete. Willow Rosenberg is not so lax and may jump to certain conclusions without all the facts."

"Sounds like you've got something to hide." Buffy pointed out.

Rupert frowned. "It also sounds like something of Xander remains."

"Ha! Knew you were lying!" Buffy said triumphantly. "Now give him back!"

"I have access to his memories, Slayer. But that is not Xander. His personality, that which made those moments, it is no more."

"Then what are you hiding?"

"We all have secrets Miss Calendar." He said in a voice that cut straight through her. "Hidden truths we ourselves do not wish to recognise. Even the brightest stars cast deep shadows, my own darkness is no different."

"See, I knew you were evil!" Buffy half shouted.

They looked back to The Slayer with another unreadable expression. "Perhaps. But I have always believed the virtue of one's character is measured by the struggle between our own darkness and light." The angel sighed. "Assuming Miss Rosenberg is as through in her research as ever the truth will come out. My Father did not build my brothers and I perfect. I do not doubt it was in his power, rather it was his design."

"You have brothers?" Jenny gasped

"There were twenty of us. Two... failed, nine rebelled. Of the nine that remain too many have died." He said in a level voice that spoke volumes. "Those that rebelled succumbed to their flaws, their avarice and their fears. I refuse to."

Rupert cleared his throat. "What is this flaw?"

The angel pulled himself to his full hight, Jenny could see his wings ripple. "A thirst. Not the simple thirst of the man in a desert. One that cannot be quenched. It strips you of all reason, a madness for which there is no cure. Turning brother against brother, son against father. A rage that is all consuming. Fathomless, bottomless, all consuming. Without end."

"A thirst for what, exactly." Buffy asked.

"Xander thought it was a jest. He did not know, couldn't begin to understand, there was a very good reason why I was know as the Blood Angel." With that Sanguinius showed them his teeth. Jenny bit back a Gipsy curse of her people. The had fangs, two pearl white fangs.

A sudden, loud, thunk echoed in the silence that followed those words. Buffy's crossbow bolt flew across the Library, straight and true. It would have pierced the angel's heart, it should have. Instead He simply plucked it from the air. Moving so fast the rest of the world seemed to stand still.

"I am no vampire." He explained, casually offering the bolt back to The Slayer. "I control the Thirst, it does not, will not, control me."

The small blonde reached for a sword.

"I have no wish to hurt you, or any person."

Buffy wasn't listening. Short sword in hand she leaped at him. Jenny could already tell it wasn't going to work. The Slayer was fast, the angel was so much faster. Moving like mercury He flowed in and around her swings. Even with her speed and skill looked like a child waving a plastic toy.

As she became more and more desperate her swings became wild. Hacking first into the bannister and then furniture. Even so she began to score hits.

The winged giant could only move so much in the confined Library. He took a couple of cuts on his arms. Both healing so fast Jenny could see the skin knitting back together. Buffy also saw it and that just made her swings all that much more desperate.

Sanguinius neatly sidestepped one overhead blow that would have split anything else in half and suddenly it was over. He was behind the Slayer before she had time to get her balance. Holding her clear off the floor, at arms length, by the back of the neck. The sword in his other hand.

Buffy kicked and punched in the air, helpless as a new born baby pitching a fit. "Forgive me." He asked before calmly knocking her head against the near wall. It looked like a gentle tap, but the dent in the support and the way Buffy went limp showed it was a lot more than that. "She has skill, but her passions cloud it." He told Rupert. "Impatience is a curse of the young, one she can ill afford."

As Jenny helplessly watched He put the unconscious Slayer on the table, resting the back of her head on a book taken from the shelves. "Now, there is much I must do. You will have to excuse me." Both Jenny and Rupert pushed themselves against the counter.

Sword in hand the angel left, ducking slightly to get through the human sized doors.

End Shattered Conceits

Authors note:- sorry, a young Buffy (this is early season 2 remember) is no match for a Primarch. Much of the lore describes these guys moving faster than the blink of an eye, shattering bone and steel with bare hands. That's before we get to the good parts!

Two hearts, genetically enhanced to the point they can't even be called human. There's no way she could stand against Sanguinius. That's not to say he doesn't respect her, or that later Buffy (season 7) won't have picked up enough experience to be more of a threat. It's just at this point, distracted and unfocused as she obviously is it's not a fair fight.