Here is chapter four. Tell me what you think! The story will start to pick up some speed at this point, hopefully I'll have the next chapter up by the end of this week or the beginning of the next.
O you whom I often and silently come where you are that I may be
With you,
As I walk by your side or sit near, or remain in the same room with
You,
Little you know the subtle electric fire that for your sake is playing
within me.
W.W. 1867
Methos is still sitting next to Cassandra as she sleeps when he feels Xander's approach. He is about a mile away. He had been actively searching for the young man to return ever since he left. He was a little late, but he had faith that Xander would bring back what he needed. Methos like many of the truly ancient immortals has a large amount of control over his quickening. Cassandra, like himself, was able to manifest the quickening as a tool. For Cassandra it was the voice and her visions. Methos on the other hand was able to control his quickening to such a degree that he could mask his presence to almost nothing. If he knew in which direction to look he could sense an immortal almost five miles away. But right now he was using his considerable control to monitor Cassandra's condition.
The quickening is so very tightly entwined with the conscious mind that it shapes itself to frame the thoughts and emotions of the owner. Kalas' quickening was like a conflagration of hatred, looking to burn everything and anything that came into contact with it. MacLeod's is a deep amber, golden, reaching out to protect all those around him. Kronos' was like a black sphere, greasy and slippery, trying to dominate all around.
Methos had been writing about quickenings for over a thousand years. Of all the immortals he had ever met there were only two others that could do what he can with his quickening. One was Darius, although he suspected that the quickening he took at the gates of Paris had a lot to do with what Darius was able to do. The other is Cassandra and as of this moment her quickening is as still as a pond. On the surface there was no movement. If Cassandra was indeed there she had withdrawn into the depths of her unconsciousness. By scanning a little deeper he could feel the turbulence beneath the surface. Memories rearranging themselves, settling themselves into the caverns and crevices of her mind, sorting themselves out to make sense. In the middle of it all was Cassandra trying to decode all the images thrust into her consciousness.
Out of all the immortals he has ever met none have had presence of young Alexander Harris. His quickening radiated off of him like the way a flame flickers and burns on a candle. The sheer amount of power he had within him was incomprehensible for one so young. It was no where near the strength of his own but it was still quite formidable, to him Xander's raw essence far outmatched MacLeod's.
He had brought it up with Cassandra when they had pulled him onto the island and into their cabin but they wouldn't understand the source until much later. They had been on the island for a year trying to heal wounds. It had been hard at first but as with all things time had prevailed. Days with only each other for companionship brought out the best they had in each other. However the one thing that had solidified that relationship was Xander. Together they were able to raise the young man from uncertainty to confidence. They were able to teach him that there was more to him if he only stopped limiting himself. To Xander, they were his parents and they could do nothing wrong. Even after telling him about their shared past, and after telling him what he had once been, he stood up and told them that he understood. They had asked him if it mattered to him and he had said no. 'I can't change the past, and all I know is what you have shown me' is what he said to them.
It was only when he had taken Xander back home to witness his funeral from afar did he realize where his power had come from. Xander was raised on top of the Hellmouth. The natural ley lines that intersected over the mystical hotspot strengthened his latent quickening. Much like a piece of metal becomes magnetized if it is in contact with a magnetic field, Xander's quickening absorbed a lot of power during his time there. He thought that Xander's ability to survive so long on top of the Hellmouth was because his quickening was giving him just enough to survive without dying.
Xander was something special and he was destined for something great, and after focusing a little harder on his young ward's presence he found that he wasn't alone. It wasn't another immortal, he would have felt such an intrusion against the familiar. It was a mortal, but this one's essence was stronger, brighter, but unsteady. Methos had also seen that some mortals were able to register in his mind's eye. They were usually the brilliant and the special. They had enough essence to register if actively searched for them, but they wouldn't register on his normal immortal senses. It would be interesting to see who it was exactly Xander would be bringing to his home. Methos sat back and continued to study Cassandra as she slept, waiting for a sign of her return to consciousness.
…
Xander and Faith pull up to the driveway of Methos and Cassandra's home. Faith seeing that they have slowed down considerably looks at her surroundings. Even through the darkness the two-story home is very impressive. The grass is green and the rose bushes in the planters that surround the home are neatly pruned and well cared for.
Slowly she gets off the bike so Xander can prop it up using the kickstand. She stands back as Xander goes through his saddlebags and retrieves a handful of packages. He takes her hand gently into his and gestures towards the house.
"Let's go, I have to drop these off."
"Whose house is this?" She asks, wary of the unknown.
"It belongs to a couple of friends of mine. I want you to meet them."
Taking a deep breath and nodding she says, "Ok, let's go."
"These people have been my family for the last couple of years, they won't hurt you." He says hoping to ease her fears.
With that they begin to walk up the walkway towards the front door. The walkway is lined with small lights and miniature roses in full bloom. The fragrance from the flowers surrounds her almost making her heady. As they get closer and closer to the house Faith's sense of warning starts to tingle at the base of her skull sending shivers down her spine. The porch light turns on and the front door opens. There framed by the doorway stands a man, a little taller than Xander. He is skinny, no, his clothes make him appear skinny and he is looking at them both with a sly grin.
"I was wondering what took you so long," he said and then looked at Faith, "but now I see you've brought company."
Xander steps directly in front of Faith as if to protect her. Why would this man threaten her? Then she realizes that her senses are being triggered by the man standing in front of them, although the sense was now receding it was definitely coming from him.
"She's a friend Adam, I trust her." Is all that Xander says.
He trusts me? Faith thinks, her heart flying. She has never been affected like this before, by anyone. It is something that she is not used to. It scares her and exhilarates at the same time.
"I thought I met most of your friends and I don't recall you mentioning a beautiful young lady named…" Adam says.
"Faith, my name is Faith." Faith introduces herself.
"Faith, a beautiful name. Very well then, welcome to my home Faith." He says directly to her. "Has Xander here told you of the situation?"
"No he hasn't."
"That's ok, I'll leave it up to him to explain things to you."
"Here are your books Adam." Xander says handing the books over to Adam. "Is there anything we can do to help?"
"Not right now, I'll need to do some translations and then I'll give you a call. Faith is welcome to help as well. Xander can't speak with you privately for a minute?"
"Yeah sure." He leans over to Faith. "I'll be right back, you just wait here and afterwards we'll head over to my place."
"Sure, no problem." She replies.
"Please make yourself at home, have a seat." Adam says before both he and Xander move into the house.
Making sure that she is out of earshot Adam asks, "Do you know she is a slayer?"
Xander was surprised at the statement, "Yes, how did you know?"
"I could sense it and I think she was able to sense me too."
"Sense you?"
"Yes slayers have an innate sense of danger, it is a sense that is attuned to the amount of power or energy a person gives off. That's how they can find Vampires and other demons, they sense the power within them."
"So are you saying that our quickenings give off that kind of power as well?"
"Yes, but mine is a unique signature as you can imagine."
"How is Cassandra?" Xander asks
Adam takes a deep breath, "She is still unconscious. I'm not sure what is taking so long but I'll wait it out by doing research. I'll call you when I have something more concrete. Will your 'friend' help as well?"
"Yes I think she will if I ask. What is it?" Xander asks seeing a look of apprehension on Adam's face.
"You'll have to tell her what you are, you do realize that don't you?"
"Why?"
"She's a slayer, you're immortal, something is going to happen that will force you to show her. It would be easier to tell her rather than die in front of her."
Xander nods as he mulls over the words Adam said and with that they walk to the front of the house.
Faith is sitting on one of the chairs in the living room that is adjacent to the entryway. The furnishings and the assortment of things that are in the room impress her. She isn't an expert on antiques or anything but when she was growing up in Boston she had seen a lot of the old colonial monuments, the homes restored to the original state when such and such founding father was alive.
The stuff in this room was just as old or even older. Xander had moved up in the world it seemed. She had a lot of questions to ask Xander. Some things weren't adding up in her mind and she was determined to find out why. Now isn't the time though. She'll have to wait until they are in a more private setting where it was just the two of them. No bullshit, just straight answers. With that Xander and Adam both walked back into the room.
"Sorry to keep you waiting here." Adam apologized, "But I had to go over some things with Xander."
"Oh no trouble at all, I was alright in here." Faith replies.
"Thanks Adam but we have to get going. If you need anything just give me a call."
"Sure, it was nice meeting you Faith."
"Likewise." Faith says with a smile.
Xander and Faith exit the building and make their way to the motorcycle.
"Xander we have to talk, not now but when we get to your place, ok? There is something else going on here and I don't like being kept in the dark."
Xander sighs, he didn't think that he would have to cross this bridge so soon. "Fine, let's make our way to my place and we'll talk over some dinner. You are hungry aren't you?"
"Don't try to change the topic, and yes I'm starving."
They mount the bike and Xander kick-starts the bike to life. They pull away from the house and make they're way towards Xander's apartment and the imminent revelations that will be made there. In the distance lightning and thunder can be heard. It is going to be a rainy night.
…
Faith had thought that Xander lived in an apartment. Well she was wrong. Xander actually lived in a house about fifteen minutes away from Adam's. It was a modest single story home. The yard was well cared for, as was the overall appearance of the house.
Xander pulls out a garage door opener and pushes the button to open the garage and they pull inside. As they disembark off the motorcycle she sees a car to her right. A red '57 Cadillac a classic car if she ever saw one. Outside lightning strikes and the sound of the thunder quickly follows.
Xander turns back and says with a grin, "Welcome to my humble abode. It's not much right now but I'm still working on the furniture but I have all the essentials."
They walk into the house and she immediately sees what he means. His house is sparsely furnished. It still smells of paint and dry wall. The kitchen and the living room are the only rooms that have furniture and most likely the bedroom as well. The décor is much more modern than Adam's house is but still elegant nonetheless. He leads her into the kitchen, which is all oaks and ivory colored tile. The stove, microwave and the refrigerator are all stainless steel.
"You want to take a shower while I get dinner going?" He asks her.
Faith is still looking over the interior of the house and doesn't hear his question. Xander asks again, "Faith?"
He finally gets her attention and she looks at him, "What?"
"You want to take a shower while I start dinner?"
Distracted she replies, "Yeah, sure." She walks into the living room where the entertainment center is and sees the setup there. Eight speaker surround sound system with two floor sub woofers. A huge amp for the speaker leads and the DVD and VCR leads. Above that is the satellite receiver all of the hardware is centered around a flat fifty-one inch big screen TV.
Faith calls over her shoulder, "Uh, Xander?"
Xander's voice is heard from the kitchen. "Yes?"
"Is this stuff all yours?"
"Last time I checked it was." came the reply.
"Not to sound nosy or anything but how can you afford all of this?"
"You want the real answer?" He says walking in from the kitchen.
"Yeah." She says curious to hear the explanation.
"I'm a, and this isn't a joke, I'm a day trader."
"Excuse me?" She can hardly believe her ears.
"Yeah, follow me." She follows him in to the room adjacent to the living room. In it is a small office complete with three PCs a TV, and a fax machine. "I had Adam help me with getting the hardware." He says sheepishly.
"Where did you get the cash to start off with?" She says.
"Well Adam and his wife Cassandra gave me a lump of cash for one of my birthdays and I took it and invested it. What you see today is the fruit of my investments. Now no offense but you really need to take a shower."
Faith upon hearing the last statement blushes with embarrassment, something that surprises Xander. He had never, ever seen Faith blush at anything. More surprising is that he finds her incredibly beautiful. He needs to get out of the room right now, before his hormones get the better of him.
Faith was thinking about how she must smell. She hasn't had a showered in a week, and all that she had was left in the alley when Xander found her. She didn't even have any clean clothes to change into. With that she blushed even more, "Uh, Xander I don't have any clothes."
Xander just stares at her for a moment and then shakes himself and says, "Say again?"
"I left my stuff in the alley. I don't have anything to change into."
"Oh, yeah sure. I mean you can use some of my stuff. Here follow me I'll get you some sweats."
Walking into the bedroom Faith can see that this is the room that has the most thought behind it, all dark woods and black contrast against the white walls. The bed, a king most likely, had a comforter with a navy blue and black pattern on it. Next to the bed was a small table. On it is a lamp, a small pile of books and two remote controls. The controls are for the VCR and the TV that sit opposite of the bed. Xander walks to a dresser that is on the other side of the bed and opens a drawer. Turning around he hands her a sweater and some warm-ups.
He shows her the bathroom, how to turn on the water, the heater, where all the amenities are and says pointing to a rack next to the shower stall, "and here is where I keep all the towels. Ok you should be set so I'm, uh, going to get started on dinner."
He is about to leave when he hears Faith's voice, "Can I have your boxers?"
Xander freezes where he is and slowly turns around and looks at Faith. "Say again?"
"Can I have you boxers?"
"That's what I thought you said." Xander takes a deep breath willing away thoughts from his head as he asks, "Why would you want my boxers?"
"Xander I don't have any clothes. That includes my underwear. Unless you have an ample supply of women's underwear available, I think it would be best if you gave me a pair of your boxers."
Xander for the second time tonight just stares at Faith. Suffice it to say that he is thinking some very ungentlemanly thoughts. "They're in the top drawer." He mumbles out, but Faith didn't understand a word he said.
"What?"
"They are in the top drawer to the right. I'm going to get dinner ready right now, ok?"
"That's fine, but you owe me some information."
"I know, I know and I promise to tell you. You like Italian?"
"Sure."
"How does chicken alfredo sound?" He asks.
"Sounds great."
They stand there looking at each other uncomfortably for a few seconds more until they say at the same time:
"I better get dinner ready."
"I better get in the shower."
With that they turn, Xander towards the kitchen, Faith towards the bathroom.
Good going Xander! The zeppo strikes again! A beautiful woman is in your bedroom and asks you for your underwear and you freak out. Xander berates himself. I better get back in there and show her that I am not the complete idiot I seem to be. He turns back to his room and is about to say something but stops as he sees Faith's form retreat into the bathroom. She pulls off her shirt and tosses it to the ground. He gets a good look at Faith's toned, smooth back the slight beginning of the curve of her hips. Xander for the third time that night can only stare. Turning around quickly back towards the kitchen he thinks to himself that maybe it was time for him to take a shower as well, a nice long cold one.
He needed to get his mind off of the situation so he decided to focus entirely on his cooking. He pulled out a pot to boil water for the pasta and a pan to fry up the chicken quickly before adding it to the meal. In another pot he threw together the ingredients he needed for the alfredo sauce. By the time Faith came out of his room dressed in his clothes Xander was nearly done with the dish.
Faith walks up to the counter and sits at one of the barstools. "Should I be afraid or impressed that you are cooking dinner?"
"Definitely impressed. I'm a pretty good cook if I do say so myself."
"Right, I guess I'll have to see for myself wont I?"
"Let me get the chicken off the burner and I'll serve up the best chicken fettuccine alfredo you have ever had."
As Xander reaches back behind him Faith sees the chicken is already off the burner and says, "Isn't that the chicken there?"
Distracted for a moment Xander looks at what Faith sees and puts his hand on the burner where the chicken had once been simmering on. Faith can hear the sound of Xander's flesh sizzle as it is burned by the hot metal. The smell of it fills the kitchen. Xander yells out in pain and quickly cradles his hand close to his body. Faith is around the counter in a flash, she grabs a dishtowel and quickly soaks it with cold water.
"Xander give me you hand! We need to put this on it!"
"No! I'll be fine, I have a first aid kit in the bathroom let me go get it."
"Sure and how are you going to wrap your hand? Let me do it!" Faith says not understanding why Xander didn't want her help. She grabs his wrist and pulls it out. What she sees frightens her. Xander's hand begins to knit itself back together, the burns fade away under the tiny little sparks the float on the wounds. Dropping the dishtowel she backs away quickly. Looking to her right she picks up the knife Xander had intended to use to cut the chicken with.
"What the fuck are you!" She screams at him.
"Faith listen, I can explain…" Xander tries to calm her down, he doesn't understand why she is reacting the way she is.
"Yeah right, you're just like the mayor aren't you?"
"The mayor?"
"Yes! He could heal fast too, get the fuck away from me!" She swipes the blade at him trying to get him to back off.
"No! Faith its not like that at all!"
"I am NOT going to be used like that again! Back the fuck off or I swear I'll kill you!"
The mayor had used her, the mayor was invulnerable, and now she thought he was the mayor. He needed to get the knife away from her before she hurt herself. Inching closer to her he tries to coax her into swinging the blade at him again. She does and Xander catches her arm just inside of her wrist and pulls the knife away at the same time pinning her to the counter.
"Faith! Look at me! I am not the mayor! I wouldn't ever do that to you!"
"Why should I believe that?" She says through clenched teeth.
"This is why." Suddenly he backs off of her and they stare at each other for a few seconds. "I'm going to show you something that I have never shown anyone." Xander flicks his wrist and the inverts the blade. He raises his hand and brings it down. Faith thinking that he is going to kill her braces herself but realizes to late what he is going to do.
Faith screams, "Xander! NO!" but she is too late as the blade punctures him between his ribs, through is lung and then his heart. The last word that he whispers to Faith as she catches his in horror is "Stay."
There is so much blood as Faith pulls the knife out of Xander. She holds her hand over the wound and use the other hand to try to frantically push the blood back into his body hoping that it would somehow heal itself. But she feels no pulse and he has stopped breathing. She thinks to herself what have I done? Why did he kill himself? The last word he said was 'stay.' Even if Faith wanted to move she couldn't. her body would not react to commands it just sat there cradling the dead body of the man who only hours ago showed her nothing but kindness. She realized that she was crying and tried to wipe the tears from her face but only succeeded in smearing more of Xander's blood on her face. She sits there like that for a long time just rocking the body back and forth as one would do to comfort a child, only she was doing it to comfort herself. She was like that until something caught her attention.
Small lightning bolts appeared over his chest wound as they had when he had burned his hand. To her amazement the wound began to close itself until there was nothing there. What startled her even more was when touching the place where the wound had been she felt his heart begin to beat. She was pretty much terrified when he sat up gasping for air.
Turning around to face Faith he says, "You stayed."
With those two words Faith punches him with a hard right hook that hits Xander square in the jaw. The last thing that Xander thinks of is 'She broke my jaw' and for the second time that night he falls to his kitchen floor unconscious.
…
