Here is the next part of my story Leaves of Grass. Sorry for the delay in this chapter, work and real life had gotten in the way this week so I wasn't able to put the amount of time into this chapter that I would have liked. Anyway as always I look forward to your comments and if you review leave an email so I can respond. I really do write to all those who review or email!
What invigorates life invigorates death,
And the dead advance as much as the living advance,
And the future is is no more certain than the present.
W.W 1881
Adam and Giles were running side by side. They were few paces ahead of Riley and Xander. Adam and Giles were talking the entire time. Giles for the most part was making good time despite the quick pace they were keeping. For Giles jogging is something that he does to keep in shape. Training with Buffy was one thing but a good run is something that really pushes his limits. It also seems that, much to the chagrin of the two younger men of the group, that he and Adam have much better stamina. They were only on their fourth kilometer and the two boys were really starting to loose ground to Giles and Adam.
Thought slightly winded Giles was still able to have a conversation with Adam. "So Xander has been with you for almost two years?"
"Yes, give or take a couple of months." Adam answers
"That must have been interesting for you." Giles smiles. "I remember Xander being quite a handful."
"That he was. That he was." Adam says. "Early on though he had quite a self esteem problem. The boy had very little confidence in himself."
"Yes I remember that as well." Giles says. "But I thought by being part of our cause he would gain confidence on his own. He did have his moments of selflessness though."
"We were able to see that but I think that at that point of time he couldn't see it himself." Adam says.
"He looks to you for guidance, like a father." Giles states guiltily
"And I look at him like a son." Adam says simply
"I should have been able to do that for him." Giles says. "I'm sure he told you about his family?"
Adam nods. "For most of them, Buffy, Willow, Xander, I became the de facto father figure." Giles says pausing a moment to catch his breath. "But I fear that I focused on Buffy the most and then Willow." A hint of sadness can be heard in his voice. "It seems that I had repeated the sins of my own father with Xander."
"Don't take it to hard. He still looks at you with respect and I found that respect is something that Xander does not give out easily."
"Thank you." Giles says appreciating the compliment.
Behind them are Riley and Xander who are trying to keep up with the two older men. "For a couple of old guys they are really in good shape." Riley says to Xander.
"Yeah, I mean I wouldn't have pictured Giles as the running type you know?" Xander answers.
"I never really got to thank you properly for the save last night." Riley says after a moment's pause.
"Don't worry about it, you saved me right after so call it even." Xander says.
"You know Xander you are not anything like the person that Buffy says you were." Riley tells him.
"Oh really? What did she say about me?"
"Well for one thing she said you weren't the best of fighters, but I guess a lot can change in two years huh?" Riley says.
"Well I wasn't the best of fighters but I was a decent one." Xander says feigning hurt in his voice. "But staying two years with Adam and Cassandra you tend to pick up on a few things."
"A few?" Riley says with a chuckle, "I think that you picked up more than that."
"Okay you're right. But a lot of that also goes hand in hand with training with a Slayer on a daily basis. Not many can say that they do that can they?" Xander says to Riley.
"No I guess not. Then again not many can say that they are seeing a Slayer romantically."
"No they can't." Xander says. "So how long have you and Buffy been seeing each other?"
"About a year. You and Faith?"
"Well if you count from the first time I met her to now I would say about three years." Xander says.
"And if you don't count all the time in between?"
"Almost a month. But you know all that time in between I told you about?" Riley nods. "Well some things happened during that time that gave us a head start."
Xander and Riley continue running in companionable silence. They were brothers in arms and now they are part of a very small fraternity of people who had loved Slayers. They see the two men turn at the next corner and realize that they were close to the house once more. Xander looks at Riley who nods and they both take off at a sprinters pace.
Xander calls over his shoulder as they pass Adam and Giles, "Come on you slow pokes! You guys are getting slow in your old age."
The two older men see that Riley and Xander pull away and Giles says to Adam, "Now we can't have them winning now can we?"
"Of course not!" Adam says and they too take off running.
…
Buffy and Faith are upstairs in the kitchen getting some water to drink when they hear voices from upstairs. Faith tosses two bottles to Buffy and she picks up three. Making their way upstairs they can hear that the voices are coming from one of the guestrooms.
Carefully opening the door Buffy and Faith stop short and look in awe at what they see. All around the room things were floating or rotating or even orbiting each other. Buffy had known that Willow and Tara had been able to move things before but this was amazing.
Cassandra looks up at the newcomers and smiles. "Hello ladies, I trust that your training session went well?"
"Uh, yeah, just peachy." Buffy says. Faith just nods. "So when did you guys discover the Matrix?"
Willow looks over to Faith and Buffy. "Huh? Oh the floating things? Well Cassandra showed us some types of meditation to help us concentrate."
"Yeah it is so awesome we're able to do stuff now in minutes that usually would take us hours to do." Tara puts in.
"Nonsense girls. All I did was allow you to concentrate on what you were doing rather than what you were trying to accomplish. You both have excellent potential."
"Cassandra how do you know so much about this stuff?" Buffy asks her handing her a bottle of water. Faith hands Tara and Willow a bottle each.
"Well I was raised to be a healer first. Over the years I've been a priestess, worshiped as a goddess and have been a witch. So as far as my track record goes I've got quite a bit of experience." Cassandra says. Moving to the door she motions all the young women to follow her downstairs.
Once again in the kitchen the girls all sit around the kitchen table as Cassandra busies herself behind the counter. Cassandra, done with what she was doing, returns to the table with a large bowl of fruit. She sits down with the rest of the girls and motions to the bowl saying, "Help yourself."
They all reach into the bowl grabbing some fruit and Cassandra says, "Well if you haven't noticed the men and the women are training separately. Adam and Xander thought that it would be best for both groups to work together if we were able to mix our two groups in such a way so that we would have to work with each other."
"So we ended up halving both groups in order to get us to work with each other." Tara says.
"Exactly. So did the plan work?" Cassandra says looking at Faith and Buffy.
Buffy seeing that Cassandra is expecting an answer from her or Faith answers. "Yes, definitely. We were able to work out some things today and put to rest a few others."
"Yeah we have an understanding now don't we B?" Faith jokes. Turning to Willow and Tara she says, "I'll answer any questions you have Red." Faith could tell that Willow wanted to get some answers from her and that most of those answers have to do with her relationship with Xander.
"No questions asked?" Willow says.
"None, it was the option that Xander gave to me so it would only be fair to give them to you as well." Faith answers back.
"Do you want to do this privately?" Willow asks.
"No, I trust B and Cassandra and B trusts you and Tara. So fire away."
"Fine. What is going on between you and Xander." Willow asks.
Taking a deep breath Faith says, "Jeez, you don't pull any punches do you?" Pausing she answers. "I love him." Cassandra's hand goes to hers and Cassandra throws her a questioning look. Faith nods that what she says is true and Cassandra just smiles.
"Are you sure?" Cassandra asks her.
"Positive. I love him Cassandra. I would die for him. I would be at his side even though I may age while he stays young, even though I may die and he'll live forever. Young, old, good and bad I love him."
Willow watches the exchange carefully and asks, "And Xander?"
Faith looks at her in the eye and says, "And Xander loves me too."
"How long have you been together? I mean you disappeared a couple of months ago, have you been with him the whole time?" Willow asks. Although Xander had been dead to her for almost two years she still cared for him greatly and now that he was alive again she wanted him to be cared for.
"Together? About a month now." She answers quietly.
"A month? How could you possibly say that you two are in love only after a month of being together?" Willow asks. "Have you guys slept together?"
"I know because there is something there Red. He makes me happy and he accepts me for who I am. No one ever has accepted me as is they've always tried to make me into some one else or say you should be more like so and so. Not Xander, he accepts me, he loves for who I am." Faith stops suddenly and then adds softly, "He forgave me."
"For what?" Willow asks
"Everything, everything I did to him, his friends, his life- everything. He doesn't even know the whole story of why I did what I did and he never pushed me for it, never asked me for it, he just took my word that I had changed. He trusted me when I had no one to turn to Red."
"What about the other question? Have you slept together?" Buffy and Cassandra both start to protest the question when Faith motions to them to be quiet.
"I said no questions asked and I'm sticking to my word." She says to the two women flanking her. She looks Willow in the eye and says. "Yes we have slept together but only once."
"When?" She asks the Slayer.
"The night we closed the Hellmouth. He saved me and we went back to my motel room. One thing led to another and we slept together." Faith answers.
"Then what?" Willow asks eager to find out more from Faith.
"She kicked him out of her room." Buffy says with a smile.
"What!" Willow says. Tara and Cassandra are looking at Faith with disbelief.
"Excuse me! Thanks a lot Ms. Subtlety! Could I at least tell my own life story?" Faith says to the blonde Slayer.
"You kicked him out of your room?" Cassandra silent up until now asks Faith. "Why?" Faith and Xander had always been close ever since she had met the young woman. The fact that she would kick Xander out is an interesting fact in itself.
"It wasn't the sex that scared me, that part was great…" suddenly remembering her audience she quickly covers up and says, "but it was what had happened afterwards that scared me."
Tara is now also very interested in the exchange and asks, "And that would be?"
"There was a moment where I felt that I could love him or even want him to love me back. You know how I was Red I reacted the way I usually did. I pushed him away." Faith says.
Willow sits back and considers what she just heard. Looking at Faith intently she sees that Faith is expecting some sort of judgement. Leaning forward and grabbing a piece of apple from the bowl she asks Buffy, "So how was your training session?"
"Pretty good, Faith laid me out though." Buffy says reaching for another piece of fruit in the bowl.
Faith looks from Willow to Buffy who both just continue to eat their fruit. She then looks at Tara who just shrugs and reaches for a piece of fruit as well.
Buffy asks Tara and Willow, "So aside from the floating thing did you guys learn anything else?"
"Oh yeah Cassandra taught us some really great stuff." Tara says.
"I think that most of what I taught them will apply to you and Faith as well Buffy. It will help you focus your minds enough to get the full potential of your Slayer powers." Cassandra says.
"Wait a minute! That's it?" Faith says to Willow. "I answer your questions and I'm forgiven?" Faith couldn't believe that was all she had to do.
"I forgave you a while back Faith." She says to Faith. "All I really wanted was to get the scoop on Xander and you." She says with a smile. "I haven't seen him for two years and he comes back alive and with a girlfriend? I already know about one but the other I thought I would like to hear from you."
"But you…?" Faith couldn't believe her ears. She was about to say something else when Cassandra's hand on her arm brought her out it.
"I told you forgiveness comes from the least expected places." Cassandra says to her.
Faith nods and says to the girls, "So you want to hear some dirt on Xander huh?" Buffy and Willow nod their heads enthusiastically. "Well Xander had promised to take me out shopping the day after we met so…"
…
Outside of the house the four men arrive on the drive way at the same time. Winded from their long run and tired they stop momentarily outside before walking inside.
"Not bad for a couple of old Brits eh?" Giles says to the two younger men who are breathing harder than the older men.
"Yes Xander, I thought you said you were keeping up with your training?" Adam jokes.
"Well you guys," Xander pauses to breathe, "cheated!"
"Cheated! How could you say such a thing?" Giles says with false indignity.
"You threw empty garbage cans into our path!" Riley exclaims.
"Is it our fault you guys are so out of shape that you couldn't dodge a few plastic tubs?" Adam says.
"The youth of America." Giles states.
"Exactly." Adam says. Xander and Riley are about to protest more when Adam cuts them off and says, "Lets go inside I get something to drink."
Upon walking inside of the house they are greeted by the sound of laughter filtering from the kitchen. Adam and Giles look worried. Seeing their looks Xander says, "Isn't that a good thing?"
Riley agreeing with Xander says, "Yeah, I mean they haven't killed each other so that's a good thing, right?"
"Of course that's a good thing." Giles says. "But…"
Adam continues, "But we are walking into a group of women who are laughing about something. Now you tell me Xander, these women really haven't seen each other in a long time and they are going to tell each other stories, right?"
"So?" Xander says not quite comprehending the point that Giles and Adam are trying to make.
Giles and Adam smile. Giles answers. "Well lets look at it this way. The only thing they have in common is you. They are laughing about some stories they are telling each other. So I'm going to ask you this Xander. Have you done anything embarrassing since you've been with Faith?"
Xander pales slightly and quickly walks towards the kitchen. Adam and Giles chuckle at the youth's discomfort and the rest of them follow Xander to the kitchen.
Faith's voice is heard saying, "…and then he changed to the cutest shade of red ever."
Xander walks into the kitchen with five pairs of female eyes looking at him with humor. "Uh oh." Xander says under his breath. Xander stares at them for a moment before saying, "So how was your work out?"
"Oh fine Xander." Buffy says a smile playing across her face. "But I think later on today we might need your help with a few errands." She says gesturing to the girls sitting at the table.
"Really? What would those errands be?" Xander says cautiously.
Willow says. "Shopping!"
His eyes widened and Xander's skin blanches at the mention of shopping. Looking at Faith he says, "You didn't tell them…"
Before she can answer Tara says, "Yeah, I think there a couple of new stores downtown. Now what were they?"
Buffy says with her smile now even bigger than before. "I think a Victoria Secrets just opened up, you want to go Xander?"
Xander can feel the heat rising to his face as he remembers the time he had taken Faith to the Victoria Secrets at the mall by his home. She had been able to tease him relentlessly and even gotten the sales girls to play her game as well. Though it was a funny memory it was still embarrassing.
"That's the color! Look he's turning red!" Faith says laughing. Her statement elicits laughs from the rest of the table. Xander tries to formulate a rebuttal but the sheer amounts of blood rushing to his head seem to have disrupted his thought processes.
Before he can say anything Adam's voice stops him. "Better just give up Xander, you're out numbered five to one and they smell blood in the water."
Xander seeing that Adam was right tired his best not to look bothered by their remarks but his red coloring was still drawing the attention from women sitting at the table.
"You're no fun Adam." Buffy pouts as she sees Xander takes Adam's advice and walks away.
"Aww come on Xander we were just joking with you!" Faith says.
"Who me? I'm fine, just a little tired from our run, that's it." Xander says to her.
Faith makes her way over to him and says, "Well I'd like to make it up to you anyway." Reaching up she brings her arms around his neck and kisses him. The others at the room smile at the action. They continue to kiss until Adam clears his throat rather loudly.
"Ahem! If you two don't mind you are both blocking the way to my refrigerator and thus blocking the way to the cold water." Adam quickly adds, "Not to mention my beer chaser."
Grinning Xander and Faith move out of the way and Adam tosses bottles of water to Xander, Riley and Giles. With his head still in the refrigerator Adam says, "Damn! All out of water." Closing the refrigerator behind him with a bottle beer in hand he says, "I guess I'll have to make due with this."
Now that they were all together Giles asks, "Well Adam what do you have to show us?"
Adam takes a file he had left on the counter that morning and hands it to Giles. "This is all that we could find on the prophecy I had mentioned last night. In there is the actual prophecy and the translation I was able to put together. Also in the back is are copies of the police reports pertaining to the two murdered girls."
"I see." Giles says flipping the pages looking at the information. "What about this here?" He says pointing to a document.
"That is all the information that we could find on the 'awakening.' From what I can see the ritual is a way to siphon off energy from anything. But all we've found is that the ritual can be done at any time."
"So you've found no correlation between the murders and the ritual?" Giles asks.
"None. But both appear in the prophecy. So that is why we're asking you to help us, hopefully you will be able to look at it at a different angle." Xander says.
"The girls all had their eyes and tongues removed. As well as some of their blood." Adam explains.
"How can you be sure, about the blood I mean?" Buffy asks. Riley had made his way over to her and was now standing behind her.
"The amount of blood on the scene does not coincide with the injuries sustained. So either the blood was taken or someone cleaned up after themselves." Adam says.
"What about vampires?" Willow asks.
"Wouldn't count on it Red." Faith says to the witch. "Since when have vamps been known to clean and precise when it comes to blood? No bite marks on the victim, no signs of struggle, each one was killed with a single stab to the stomach. Not a vamps MO."
"Then what do we have to go on?" Buffy says.
"We know that the killings happen one week apart. At first we thought it was for the awakening ritual but now we know that they just coincide within the prophecy. The stopping of the murders will not preclude the awakening ritual, but it may stop something else, but we don't know what it will stop." Cassandra explains.
"So can we do?" Tara asks.
"Research." Giles answers. "According to this we have three more nights before the next murder."
"Anyone have any more to share?" Adam asks.
"Well an hour before the attack at the club we went to see Willie. He said a pair of people came into his bar an roughed up a couple of vampires."
"That would have been Adam and me but Adam did most of the roughing up." Cassandra tells the group.
"Well he also said that a lot of action was going to hit town soon all because some guy was able to get one of the local vampire-who-would-be-master to work for him."
"He had told us just as much as well." Cassandra says to Buffy.
"Then we should expect heightened levels of activity throughout the town until this prophecy comes to pass." Giles states.
"We'll patrol then." Buffy says gesturing to Riley and herself. "We'll widen the area of patrol to get more ground covered."
"We could patrol as well." Faith says indicating that she and Xander were available to patrol.
"Tara, Willow and I can research more into the prophecy to see if you may have missed anything." Giles says holding up the folder.
"Cassandra and I will help you as well." Adam says. "Do we all know our tasks?" Adam asks the assembled group. Seeing that they all understand he continues, "Good, we'll meet at Mr. Giles' shop at six o'clock then."
The group sounds the affirmatives as many get up to leave. Willow, Buffy and Tara all have class today and need to get back to the dorms to get ready. Cassandra gets up offering them a ride to the campus so that she can talk to the two witches and Buffy about training their metaphysical abilities. Riley also gets up to leave to get back to campus to prepare for his mid-morning class. Giles and Adam are now looking over the file trying to point out possible leads and mistakes in the information before them.
Faith and Xander look on as the group dissipates. Faith looks at Xander and sees that he is more at ease than she can ever remember. "You're happy that you're home aren't you?"
"I won't lie and say that I'm not." Xander says to her.
"But?" Faith knows that he is holding something back.
"But I can't help but think that by telling them what I am that I have pulled him into a world even more dangerous than before."
"You did that with me." Faith tells him.
"Yes, but you wanted to stay with me and I felt that I at least owed you the truth. That and the fact that you wouldn't have trusted me otherwise." He tells her with a small grin.
"We couldn't have that now could we?" Faith says leaning closer to him. They are about to kiss when they are interrupted by the sound of Giles clearing his throat.
"Ahem! Do you mind doing that elsewhere?" Giles says.
"Yes, you two are giving us tooth decay with all that sweetness." Adam says.
Xander looks at Faith and says to her, "Why don't we go back to the house?"
"Sorry but no can do. I'm meeting Cassandra downtown in about ten minutes. I already have a change of clothes here and you still have to get to work." Faith says as she turns away back to the training room to gather her things.
"That was probably for the best Xander." Adam's voice next to him grabs his attention. "I don't want you being to distracted today. You'll need you rest and your wits about you for the time being. We are three nights away from the next murder and four nights away from a potential Armageddon. Things aren't going to get any easier from this point on."
Turning to look at the area that Faith had once occupied he says, "I know. I know."
…
The Master is walking around his new lair looking at the current accommodations. "The good thing about old churches is that many of them have these underground chambers." He gestures to the room around them. The room was like a sub basement of some sort that the entire church had been built upon. "Some times they are used mostly for storage or they are used to hold special items the Vatican has given to the church for safe keeping." The Master continues to walk around the chambers. "Think of it as a throw back to early Christianity were the Christians were forced to practice their religion in secret."
Keith and Aaron look on not daring to question or interrupt the Master when he is talking. If he wishes to speak they will listen.
"Now when this church's congregation left for greener pastures and a bigger church they took the sacraments and the items that they thought made the church special, a crux so to speak of spiritual energy." The Master pauses looking at his two followers making sure that they were paying close attention. "But these men of cloth have long forgotten why this place was erected here on this spot."
Taking out his sword the Master begins to draw lines in the sand. "The world is full of fault lines, physical and metaphysical, the physical fault lines are where the continents move and slide against each other. The metaphysical are where the spiritual energies move and slide against each other. When these lines cross immense power can be found effecting the land, people, plants and animals around it. Stonehenge, the Nasca plains, the pyramids certain places in Tibet are all examples of this phenomenon."
"As is this church. The Hellmouth is not just the portal to hell. That is only the physical manifestation, the Hellmouth is the sum of all of its parts metaphysical and physical. However it is very rare when both aspects of the Hellmouth coincide."
Seeing that he was looking at them to ask why Keith asks, "Why it that Master?"
"When they both coexist in the same moment the energy that can be released is incredible. However in order to release the power many specific things must take place. Much like the hydrogen bomb that implodes on itself so violently that it causes the plutonium atoms to separate and release the potential energy hidden within the atomic bonds." The Master gestures with his hand to the room. "So it is with the Hellmouth. Many look to the Hellmouth as the opening to the demon world. I however am a classicist and the Hellmouth is actually the meeting of all of the metaphysical fault lines in this area. A crux of dark and light energies waiting to be released and I have waited for this precise moment in time to occur my friends."
"Three nights from now all the right conditions are finally going to come into place that we will witness the release of this great energy. Three nights from now we will become the most powerful men in the world!" The Master's maniacal laugh resounds in the small room. He continues to laugh as he turns to his silent audience a row of jars sitting on a table.
Walking over to the jars he reaches out and caresses one with his hands. "And you my little ones will be there to help me." They eyes and tongues with in the jars begin to bob up and down slowly as if to affirm the Master's last statements. Seeing this the Master grins. So close. So very close.
…
Swing, thump. Grunt, kick. Block, dodge. The night was still young but the sheer amount of resistance that Buffy and Riley were facing were much more than they have seen in two months. The Vampires tonight seem stronger, faster, driven. They were coming at them from all sides and it was enough to corner her and Riley in an alley leaving only one way out: through the vampires. The group they are facing is the third group of vampires that they faced that night.
Riley wasn't fairing as well as previous excursions into the fire zone. Every time he blocked a punch or kick or even tried to strike out an opponent he felt a pain in his side. Remembering the particularly hard hit he had taken earlier that night he realizes that he probably has bruised ribs. The thought is only in his mind a moment as he ducks under a right cross and strikes back with a stake to the heart of the vampire. With it turning to dust he turns to see if Buffy needs his assistance.
Buffy as always was in complete auto drive. She had only one goal and that was to stake the vampires attacking her. She had come up with a pretty good plan on how to stake vampires over the years. Using her legs because of their longer reach she initiates battle with a vampire. The vampire being new and now well versed in the ways of fighting opens itself up for a quick stake to the heart. It was a formula that had worked for her in the past and works for her now. However that was against small numbers of vampires. Not more than three at once. She finds that she can't focus too long on a single adversary unless she would be blind-sided and taken out. When it cam to larger groups Buffy is more defensive waiting for mistakes that she can capitalize on.
But that wasn't happening tonight. Vampires fight with emotions running thick. These vampires did not. They were all focused on fighting and killing. Emotions allow for mistakes, without those Buffy was quickly tiring because she had nothing to capitalize on. The Vampire she had been fighting suddenly arches her back as is she wanted to touch her head with her toes. Suddenly a stake emerges from her chest and the vampire explodes in a pile of dust. Replacing her is Riley who is quickly moving to her side to provide back up for her flank.
"So honey, how's your night going?"
"Horrible. Can you believe these guys? All I want is to go out on a nice quiet stroll with my man but noooo they have to go and try to kill us. Not once, not twice but three times!"
"I can see how that can put a damper on your mood." Riley says with a grin as he stakes another vampire. There are only two left and Buffy was just about to stake hers.
Turing to face the last vampire he winces in pain. Turning too fast his body protests and he can feel the pain lance up his spine. The wince is all the vampire needs to attack. Within moments he was on top of Riley throwing punches at his head which he was trying to protect as well as his injured ribs. The stake in his hand was now long gone, dropped when the vampire took him down. If he was going to die he was going to die fighting. Using his left hand he throws several jabs to the vampire's face pushing him back slightly but the vampire catches the fist and yanks on the arm. Riley can feel his shoulder protest against the force of the pull. Though not dislocated Riley still feels the pain and cries out. Just as he thought that the vampire would tear his arm off it changes into a pile of dust and Buffy quickly goes to his side.
"Riley are you okay?" She asks him.
"Never better." He tells her.
Buffy tries to take his right arm and lift him up but again Riley winces in pain. "What's wrong?" She asks him full of worry.
"I think I bruised my ribs and my should is feeling like crap." Riley says to her truthfully. "Aside from that and the multitude of bruises I'll have tomorrow I'm fine."
"We're going back to Giles' right now. We'll fix you up good as new." Buffy says as they limp to the well lit street. "We're not that far off but I think that we're done with patrol for tonight." She tells him.
"I'll second that motion." He tells her as she helps him to Giles' shop.
…
Xander's sword sings through the air as a head flies past him before changing into dust Bringing up his sword for the killing blow he checks on Faith out of the corner of his eye. She was handling her adversaries as well but she was still favoring the ankle she twisted slightly in a earlier fight. Xander brings his sword across his opponent's neck severing the head and thus changing the body, like the hand before it, into dust. Turing around to see if there were anymore vampires close enough to engage he finds that the only one left was the one Faith was pummeling. An uppercut and a side kick to the vampire's chest causing the lung cavity to collapse puts the vampire down hard enough that Faith can walk over to the vampire and finish the job.
"You okay?" He asks her.
"Yeah, I'm cool." She says but she is still limping from her injury.
"What about that?" He asks pointing to her ankle.
"It'll be fine in about an hour." She tells her. Xander just continues to look at her. "What?"
"I know that you can take care of yourself Faith but I still worry." He tells her. "I don't want to loose you."
Faith looks up at the man she has come to love with such a passion. She had never had anyone ever worry about her. She would fight as if it was her last battle. She never had anything to return home to but now she did. It scared her and warmed her at the same time. Walking over to him Faith's favors her ankle again and falls into Xander's arms.
"Good thin you're here to catch me huh?" Faith says looking up at Xander.
"I'll always be here to catch you." Xander says back to her softly.
Nodding Xander helps her up and scoops her off of her feet. "Well I don't want you to hurt yourself anymore than you have already." He carries her all the way to their car.
"Xander! I can walk! You don't have to carry me the entire way.
"I would be severely lacking in my duties as knight and protector of all that I survey!" He says with false bravado. "I shall carry my lady to yon carriage." He says nodding to the car.
Sighing and rolling her eyes she leans her head against Xander's shoulders. "Fine. But if you drop me you're going to have hell to pay and I'm going to take it out on your armored ass!" She says jokingly.
"I'm not so sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing." Xander says.
"It can definitely be a good thing Xander, just play your cards right." Faith tells him.
Xander opens the door to the car and sets her down in the passenger seat. Closing the door behind him he walks to the other side of the car and gets into the car as well. Looking over at Faith he sees that he head is resting back on the headrest and her eyes are closed.
"Hey are you there still?" They had pushed themselves pretty hard tonight. Four groups of vampires in three hours, in those three hours he had broken his collar bone twice, his nose four times and shattered his wrist once. He however had his immortal healing abilities to fall back upon. Faith on the other hand although she had her Slayer healing powers it didn't even compare to immortal ones.
"Yeah just a little tired is all." Faith says her eyes still closed.
"Don't worry about it. Just go to sleep, I'll wake you up when we get to Giles' shop okay?" He says to her gently.
"You'll have to take a rain check on that last one Xander." She says in a mumbled whisper.
"Don't worry about that. You just get some rest." He tells her. Rain check or no he wants the next time they have sex to mean something. He doesn't want to have sex he wants to make love to Faith and he wants her to make love back to him. He won't settle for anything else, not this time.
Those are the thoughts in his head as he pulls the car away from the curb. The car falls behind the horizon and out of sight. Out of the shadows a puff of smoke can be seen. Stepping in to the light Jonathan continues to stare in the direction of the car that had just driven away.
He had killed the young man. He shot him three times. Yet he is still alive and killing his vampires. His blood was red and warm and his heart beats in his chest. The man isn't a vampire or a demon. He is all too alive. A seraph perhaps, the young man personified the image of an avenging angel, unstoppable in battle, unyielding direction. Truly a man to be respected. Jonathan would have to talk to the Master about his adversaries.
Jonathan is really starting to rethink his loyalties. To find an enemy as unstoppable and ruthless as yourself is truly unnerving. Immortal, unyielding and if the young man was any indication of his kind the exact polar opposite of the vampire race. Yes he would have to talk to the Master again, he would have to ask him why he would want to turn his back on his own race.
…
"So according to this you are Death?" Giles asks the man sitting across the table from him.
Adam looks back at the Watcher and shrugs. Giles chooses his next words carefully, "Well, it's just that you are not quite one would expect as the basis of the third horseman whose presence heralds the coming of Hell's kingdom."
Cassandra snorts at the last comment. Adam glares at Cassandra a moment before turning to Giles and saying, "I'll have you know that I was the scourge of three continents for over a millennia!"
"What stopped you?" Giles asks him.
Adam looks at Cassandra quickly before answering Giles' question. "I met someone who helped me begin my path to redemption."
"I see." Giles says looking over the information in front him again.
Cassandra interrupts his thought process as she asks "You aren't the least bit bothered by what he was?"
"Quite frankly? No. I've done things that I am not proud of that I can do nothing about." Cassandra and Adam's eyebrows rise at the last comment. "That and I've forgiven individuals who have done much worse to me personally who have claimed to have reformed or changed. What you did in the past thousands of years ago has nothing to do with why you are here now."
Adam smiles at the Watcher's remarks. "I have met so very few mortals who are as wise as you Ruppert. Those that I have told of my past usually aren't as accepting as you."
Giles smiles at the man and says to him, "Not many men have been living on the Hellmouth for five years. Living in this," he gestures around him, "can age a man."
"Yes we were able to see that when we first found Alexander." Cassandra says. "He seemed so young but his soul seemed weathered with age."
"Out of all of those who were here I think that Xander, next to Buffy, had the most taken from him. He was forced to kill his best friend since childhood to protect himself. He has helped to save the world so many times but could not receive any recognition from his peers. I wish there was more I could have done for him."
"You did well to raise him Watcher." Cassandra tells him. "Alexander still looks upon you with a great amount of respect. I think that your recognition and recognition from his friends was all he really needed."
"Yes." Giles says quietly. Deciding to change the subject Giles asks the pair, "Have you found anything more on the awakening ritual?"
"I have found plenty on the ritual, even on the ritual that the prophecy points out specifically." Adam tells him.
"And what did you find?" Giles asks him
"That the ritual is bound by any time restraints and that it can be done at any time." Cassandra answers.
Frowning Giles says, "Are you sure? So far the prophecy has been correct. The portents up until now are all occurring and the murders have been so precise that they must have something to do with the ritual."
"I'm telling you what we found in the past hours supports what I had found over the last few weeks. Something is not matching up here and I'm not sure why." Adam says.
"Perhaps a mistranslation?" Giles says hopefully.
"At this point I'll try anything, but I seriously doubt mistranslation. I proof read the translation myself and compared it with the original. I'm fairly sure that it is correct." Adam says to Giles.
"I'll keep looking through the material we have here." Cassandra adds as the two men take out the copy of the prophecy and begin to proof read the document again.
"Yes perhaps there is something in the books that we have yet to find." Giles says. Standing up straight he walks to one of the selves and studies it a moment. Pulling out a few books he walks back to the table and places the books on top. "These books deal mainly with the subject of metaphysical energy transfer. If anything on this ritual exists then it would be in one of these volumes."
Looking at the stack Cassandra takes one and opens it. She is about to read the first pages when Buffy comes into the store helping a wounded Riley inside.
Giles is the first to help Riley and asks, "What happened?"
"Tough night for patrol Giles. We were up against a lot of competition tonight." Riley answers weakly.
"Riley don't try to talk." Buffy tells him. "I think he's hurt pretty bad. He might have some broken ribs and the swelling around his shoulder is not looking good." The worry on Buffy's face is apparent.
Adam takes Buffy's place as he and Giles help bring Riley to a chair where he can rest. After sitting him down Adam reaches into the bag he had brought with him and takes out a small maglite flashlight. Turning it on he shines the light into Riley's eyes to watch their reactions. See that he was not in shock he starts to examine Riley more closely.
"Now Riley I want you to tell me when something hurts okay?" Riley grunts and nods. Adam pokes at his ribs and when Riley grunts again in pain Adam stops looking at the area much closer. Poking and feeling for any breaks Adam says, "I don't think that his ribs are broken, just badly bruised. As for the swelling around his shoulder have him take some aspirin for the pain and for the swelling we'll to put an ice pack on him."
Buffy looks as Adam gives his prognosis and asks him. "Are you a Doctor too?"
"I was in a past life. When you live as long as me you tend to pick up a few things." Adam replies easily. "Riley you'll have to rest all day tomorrow, no training okay? I'll take a look at your shoulder tomorrow to see if you can go on patrol but for right now we'll need to tape up your ribs."
"I have bandages and medical tape in the back room, I'll go get them." Giles says.
At that moment Xander and Faith walk into the shop. Seeing that everyone present was attending to Riley he asks. "What happened?"
Riley is the one who answers, "A couple of vampires got lucky tonight and caught me off guard."
Faith asks Adam, "Is he going to be alright?"
"Yes, but he may be out of the game for a good day or two, depending on how his shoulder feels tomorrow night."
"Damn." Xander curses under his breath. They were already outnumbered but now they would possibly be short a man. Buffy's voice brings him out of his thoughts.
"Did any of you notice that he vampires tonight were a little more gun-ho than usual?"
"I did. They were actually thinking while we fought them." Faith answers. "It made them incredibly hard to deal with tonight."
"I noticed that too. They were using well-calculated attacks. I've never see that kind of coordination from a group of attacking vampires before." Xander says.
"Looks like whoever we are trying to stop has decided to up the ante a bit then?" Adam says.
"It would seem so." Cassandra says.
"We can't let that stop us now. We need answers and we are now two nights away from the next murder." Giles says. "Buffy take Riley home and see to it that he gets rest. We should call it a night, I'll continue to research here if the rest of you want to join me, but those who went on patrol tonight are all to go home and get some rest."
Xander and Faith are about to protest when Cassandra tells them, "Go home. We will be fine here. You two need your rest too."
Faith answers, "Fine, I was tired anyway. Xander take me home." Turning to Buffy she asks, "You guys need a ride?"
"No we're cool. I've got Riley's car parked out back and I'll drive us back to campus." Buffy says.
Buffy, Riley, Xander and Faith all leave the store. The three remaining individuals in the room turn back to their books and manuscripts their efforts now redoubled. Cassandra looking at the stack of books in front of her once again picks out a small tome to read forgetting about the one that she had set down earlier. The page that the book was turned to was that of a globe with several lines drawn on it. Surrounding the globe is pictures of the planets in a pattern around the globe. Cassandra finished reading the small tome places it on top of the open book. She takes the next book in the stack and begins to read.
From behind the book placed on top of it a single word can be seen on the page below: Hellmouth.
…
The Master's new lair made Jonathan uneasy. The old building is torn and charred from the fire that had consumed it some time in the past. The chamber underneath is cold and dark. The tunnels that lead to the underground room started first in what was the basement of the old church and led him down in the darkness for a while before coming to the chamber. There was one way in or out of the chamber. Jonathan hated closed spaces and this chamber was as closed as it could get.
The chamber itself was large and spacious and had an altar at one end. From the mental picture of the church above he believes that the altar is directly below the one above ground.
The Master is standing behind the altar arranging his jars in a neat row. Looking up he sees Jonathan walking towards him. "Jonathan! I trust all is going well?" He says almost cordially.
"Very well. But I have found an interesting conundrum." Jonathan tells the Master lazily.
"Well out with it vampire what is it that your feeble mind cannot comprehend?" The cordial face of the Master is now cold and hard.
"My people had several run-ins with the protectors of the city and it seems that my people are fighting a dead man."
The Master laughs, "Funny statement coming from a reanimated corpse."
Jonathan grinds his teeth at the last comment. "Well I had put three bullets into him myself. He should be dead but tonight he is alive and well using his sword to kill my people."
"A sword you say?" The Master says curiously.
"Yes, I also had the opportunity to study him tonight and I found something very interesting."
"I'm in no mood for guessing games, what did you find so interesting?"
"What I found interesting was what exactly did you do to turn your back on your own kind? The boy feels like you, not as strong but the same nonetheless. It would seem to me that your kind has sent some one here to deal with you." Jonathan says to him.
What happens next isn't what Jonathan expects. He was hoping at least for recognition but what he gets instead is a loud laugh. "My kind are a unusual beast We, unlike your kind, have a free will to choose who and what we wish to be. I have chosen this path and I chose it a long time ago. If there is another of my kind here then it is entirely coincidental."
"He knows how to kill vampires and how to fight them despite my kind's considerable strength." Jonathan continues.
"Then that is your problem isn't it vampire? My kind has been around as long as man has walked the Earth. You shouldn't be surprised that some of my know how to defeat your kind."
"Then I would ask that you compensate me for my losses in the face of this resistance."
"I will consider it. Leave now vampire." The Master says to him.
Jonathan leaves the lair. He had gotten all that he could extract from the Master without angering him. Angering the Master was something that he could not afford to do. The man is insane and would kill him and his brood without hesitation. For a master vampire Jonathan is relatively young but relying on his mind and common sense allowed him many victories and the respect of the vampires he commands. The Master is a wild card that Jonathan does not trust. The Master had caused the loss of many of his soldiers and many casualties within his ranks. Jonathan will only support the Master's madness for so long. Once it became too much he would cut his losses and leave the Master to his own fate.
Back inside the lair the Master beckons his two minions. "Keith, Aaron come here. It seems that another immortal is in town and he is fighting with those who are trying to stop us. Take care when you go out to harvest. Jonathan tells me he is strong and fast enough to fight vampires. So watch yourselves. We cannot let this one person stop our plans. When you go out take care to watch your backs."
"Yes Master." They both say to him.
Although this new information is surprising to him the Master will not let it effect his plans. He has waited so long for this moment that he would be damned if he let a single immortal stop him.
…
The next day Xander, Faith, Buffy, Adam and Cassandra are all training. Adam and Cassandra were pretty much cleaning the floor with the rest of them but once in a while the two Slayers would be able to get their shots in. Xander on the other hand was having better success when facing the elder immortals. He had almost thrown Adam much to his own surprise. His surprise was short lived though as Adam quickly countered the throw and Xander found himself getting to know the mat once again.
Riley was not present this morning because of his injuries but the others decided that after the fights last night some training would help them that night. Xander is now facing against Adam once again. Xander hates sparring against Adam. Not so much the fact that he looses every time they spar but the fact that Adam seems to toy with him.
Adam didn't live to be five thousand years old just because he is smarter than everybody, that played a big part of it but it is not the only reason he lived for so long. The other reason is that Adam was just that good. Every time he spars with Adam Xander sees a new move or a hint of the person underneath Adam Pierson: Methos. If Adam is good Methos is lethal. Where Adam would hesitate a second to allow for surrender Methos would kill outright. If Adam thought that Xander needed to learn a lesson of some sort while sparring the lesson would come from Methos. Adam cultivates his mind while Methos trains his body. The duality of Adam's personality is unnerving at times but Xander learned early on to cope with it.
Adam and Xander walk up to each other and bow. Turning to the others in the room Adam says, "Can everybody please move back against the walls?" Turning back to face Xander Adam says, "I have a theory I would like to test out with young Xander here."
Everyone nods and moves to the sides of the room. Cassandra throws a curious look to Adam to which Adam just nods his assurance, Cassandra looks unsure at first but nods her head as well.
"Xander I want you to know that I'm not going to hold back this time and I want you to do the same. Understood?"
"Yeah I guess so." Xander answers unsure if Adam was just joking with him or not.
"You shouldn't guess Xander. You should know." The hand that strikes Xander in the chest throwing him back a few feet is so fast that the movement barely registers in his mind before he feels the impact. Adam doesn't let up as a flurry of punches hits him all over his body. Xander still shocked at the ferocity of the blows can barely bring his arms up to block the punches hailing down on his body. Even when he brings his arms up to block the blows he is met by great pain as the punch he did not see connects with another part of his body. As soon as the flurry started it stops.
"That should be enough for a warm up right Xander?" Adam says coolly. "Now you attack."
Nodding Xander walks up to his mentor and assumes a ready stance. Xander now knowing that Adam was serious about not holding back goes on an all out offensive. Xander's foot snaps out to Adam's knee. Knowing that he would easily avoid such a tactic Xander only seconds after letting the kick go lets out a punch with his right hand. Adam now off balance from dodging the kick falls easy prey to the punch that connects to his jaw. Adam staggers back and stutter-steps and wrenches his body upright.
Buffy, Faith and Cassandra watches on as the two men are fighting. Most men Adam's size would have tripped due to the force and momentum of the strike but Adam is able to keep his balance and continue with the fight. Xander pressing his marginal advantage continues brings the fight to Adam. For the two combatants the speed of the fight has slowed to a speed where every punch and every kick can be seen easily. To the audience the speed of the fight increases to a pace that leaves even the slayers in awe. The punches become blurs as the two fighters limbs become streaks of movement.
Xander throws a roundhouse punch at Adam's head. Adam easily parries the punch pushing the blow off to the side. Xander pivoting on his front foot turns his body with the direction of the deflected blow and catches Adam with a spinning backhand. His moment of glory is short live however as Adam quickly recovers dropping to the ground performing a sweep catching Xander's right ankle before he can get his left foot down to distribute his weight evenly. The result is Xander falling to the ground.
Adam rising from his sweep brings his leg and around performing an axe kick designed to catch Xander square in the chest. As Xander falls he sees Adam's leg coming down upon him. Just before the impact of the kick reached out and catches the leg like he would a football absorbing most of the impact before hitting his body. The force of the kick however is still strong enough to break a few of his ribs upon contact.
The sound of Xander's ribs breaking reverberates in the room as the three women continue to watch the two men fight. Cassandra's hand on Faith's shoulder is the only thing that stops the young woman from going to Xander's side. Cassandra shakes her head no and watches as the young woman's emotions play across her face: worry, anger, understanding then worry again as she turns back to watch the two fighters.
Xander having caught Adam's leg twists his body violently causing Adam to flip over Xander's body as they both fall to the ground. Adam grunts as the sound of his knee popping under the pressure and the force of the throw. Adam rolls with the fall and gets up slowly his weight on his back leg. Xander too is slow to get up. Both men are now breathing hard with sweat flowing off their bodies freely. A loud pop is heard as Adam's knee heals itself. Xander grunts and stands tall as he feels his own ribs heal as well.
Xander looks at Adam and sees that his normally green eyes have turned a cold gray. Gone is the smile and good-natured mannerisms of Adam, the being standing before him is Methos, is Death. If the fight was difficult before it was now going to get a whole lot harder. Then Xander does something that surprises even him. He grins. Methos sees this and grins back.
Methos charges Xander at an incredible speed, faster than Xander could think possible, and hits Xander. The force of the blow pushes Xander back far enough that he rebounds off of the wall and right back into Methos' incoming foot. The sidekick Methos performs on Xander should have been enough to tear him in half, it should have been so fast that he could have seen it coming at him. But to Xander the kick comes at him at a speed that is almost unreal. The speeds at which his hands react are just as unreal as well as he parries the blow off to the side and is able to back away and put some distance between him and Methos.
Both Faith and Buffy stand agape watching the fight unfold in front of them. Cassandra looks on without any emotion playing across her features. Her mouth is in a grim line as she follows the movements across the floor.
Methos pulls his foot out of the wall quickly and turns to see Xander running towards him. Not one to back down from a fight once challenged Adam also charged at Xander. Like two trains crashing into each other at full speed the three women witnessing the fight can feel the force of the collision. However the force of the collision isn't felt on the physical plane but on the metaphysical one. They can feel the energies of the two men colliding with each other and violently being thrown away from their bodies. The sheer force of the meeting is enough to make the two slayers flinch. Cassandra continues to watch the two fighters but now she is using her second sight to see them fighting. The force of their quickenings surrounds their bodies like great storms and Xander's is continuing to grow just as Methos' as they each let the power course through them. Xander's grows sporadically while Methos' waxes and wanes to match Xander's. Xander is doing what is coming naturally to him while Methos' is using his considerable control to coax more of Xander's potential out to the open.
Adam had told Cassandra earlier that he thought that Xander was getting stronger. She had dismissed the statement but now she sees that Adam was in fact correct. The plan was to slowly bring out Xander's potential while training today to see what his limits really were. Looking at the two fight it seems Xander's limits are amazing. She postulates that the reason for Xander's sudden increase in power is his return home. The Hellmouth had added to his latent immortality and now it seems that it is adding to his quickening every moment he spent here. Many things learned to adapt to their surroundings and Xander is no exception. Xander's quickening adapted early on to allow him to have a normal life before dying the first time now it seems that now he was close to the source of power that had helped him survive for so long his quickening automatically started to bolster his reserves once again. Though the Hellmouth is now complimenting Xander's own power it still couldn't compare to the amount of power Methos had within himself. She could tell that Methos is still holding back.
Methos and Xander are now grappling with each other like Olympic wrestlers. Xander brings his knee up to hit Methos in his stomach but Methos blocks the knee with his own foot and brings his knee up into Xander's shoulder. All can hear the wet sounding pop as Xander's shoulder is dislocated. Crying out in pain Xander is forced to release Methos and tries to back away from him to let his arm heal Methos has other plans however.
"Come on Xander I know you have more than this!" He yells at him as he begins another relentless attack.
Xander cries out in pain as he feels his body protest against the beating that he is receiving. His arms ache and every muscle where he has been hit throbs. He feels his strength being tapped out by Methos' attack.
"Have you remembered nothing we have taught you Xander?" Methos yells over his barrage. Xander's face is a mixture of confusion and pain. "You're muscles aren't the only source of power you have!"
Xander's mind drifts to an early point of his training with the two ancient immortals.
…
Xander is lying on the floor huffing. He can barely move his muscles and his body screams in protests against any movement that he even attempts to make.
"Xander why are you on the floor like that?" Adam asks.
"I can't keep going. I'm not strong enough. My body is too tired." Xander gasps between breaths.
"The Vikings had a belief that Odin would induce a berserker rage to aide the greatest warriors in battle." Adam tells him.
"Rage is a source of power as well but most important is will. You have to will yourself to continue. Look deep into yourself and find that source of power. Use it to help you continue on."
Xander closes his eyes and focuses on his inner self. Not sure what he was looking for he opens is eyes and finds that he is refreshed and ready to go again.
"You see? There is more to power than just muscles." Adam says with a smile.
…
Xander is brought back to the present as another kick catches him in his side sending him flying across the floor. Closing his eyes again he focuses on his inner self. This time however he finds his source of power. His quickening, in his mind's eye, is a blue sphere glowing and brimming with power. Lightening crackling over its surface. He reaches out to touch it and a bright white light flares and engulfs him. Opening his eyes he sees that Methos is almost on top of him once more but this time Xander is able to take an offensive of his own.
Seeing the renewed strength in his student's body as well as his eyes Methos says, "Good. I thought that you had all but given up on me."
"Not quite." Xander says through clenched teeth. He could feel Methos' presence more than ever now. It matched his and he knew that is was still greater than what he could feel. In his mind's eye Xander embraces the blue sphere making it a part of him self.
Cassandra gasps in disbelief as Xander's power flared even stronger again. Faith turns to her and says, "What's going on? What do you see?"
"Power. Pure power." Cassandra says as she witnesses Methos matching Xander's power once more. They are fighting fluidly now movement no longer confines them as they move through space with such seamless fury that they could very well be fighting in a room lined with swords and knives and they still wouldn't even get a scratch. They are fighting on a level beyond anything she had ever witnessed before in her life it was amazing. Their blows were now so powerful they were registering physically, the shockwaves they generate when their blows connect could be felt in the room.
Xander was movement itself. But even in this state he could not move as fast as he wants, he still feels confined by the limitations of his body, which he has far exceeded already. Punch for punch, kick for kick they trade off never stopping, never pausing. Sweat pours off of them as they move around the floor coupled in the deadly waltz kept in time only by the pounding of their blood in their ears.
But like a candle that is about to burn out Xander's power flares once more in a flurry of punches taking one last offensive. Methos counters back but is too late to stop himself when he realizes that Xander had just tapped his own power out. His backhand connects with Xander's head twisting it around the foot he had thrown a split second later connects with Xander's back. Without his focus and power Xander's body looks almost like a rag doll being tossed around. His neck turns and a loud cracking sound can be heard. Before even gravity can take hold of his limp body the kick to Xander's back connects and his body almost folds in half as it flies away from Methos.
Xander's eyes are open and glossy before he even hits the ground. Adam is running to his side already straightening out his body so that his immortal healing can properly align his bones.
Buffy screams at Adam, "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!!!"
Faith doesn't even attempt to scream as she just tackles Adam to the ground and proceeds to pummel him. By the time Cassandra pulls her off of him he too is also dead.
Faith runs to Xander's side where Buffy quickly moves over to let the other Slayer get closer to her loved one. "Oh Jesus! He broke him in two!" Faith cries out.
"Faith it's okay." Cassandra tries to calm the slayer down.
"OKAY!!! Xander trusted him! He is like a father to him and then he beats him to death? No it is NOT OKAY!"
"I knew this was going to happen Faith. What I didn't know was that Xander wouldn't be able to sustain the amount of power he was putting out." Cassandra explains.
Faith stands slowly along with Buffy right behind her. "You better have a good explanation Cassandra." Faith says coolly her eyes staring daggers at her.
Just to her side Buffy is also mirroring the look on Faith's face as she says, "You better do it quickly too because two pissed off slayers are two things you definitely don't want to see."
Taking a deep breath Cassandra looks at the two and decides that she doesn't want to be pummeled to death either and says. "Fine but you just beat the one who has the answers to your questions to death." She says pointing to Adam's prone figure. "If you really want to know why we did this I'd say wait for him to come back and you'll get your story."
Faith looks at Cassandra then to Adam's body. "Fine. We'll wait. This better be good or a swear to God…"
"I understand. Just wait and all your questions will be answered." Cassandra says.
With that Buffy and Faith tend to Xander's body while Cassandra tends to Adam's. It they had to wait for their answers they would wait. As long as it takes, they will get their answers.
…
Adam's body jerks up as he breathes in deeply. Adam is about to ask what had happened to him when he hears a growl come from his left. Turning his head he can see Buffy holding Faith back who is trying to make her way over to him. Faith finally shakes herself loose from Buffy's grasp and comes face to face with Adam.
Looking down at him she says, "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you right now."
"How about I'd just get back up?" Adam says sarcastically.
"Don't try to make this any less than it is Adam, plus I'd probably just kill you over and over again until I felt better." Faith says coolly.
"Then I would take over and do the same thing." Buffy adds now standing at Faith's side.
"If you both did that then you would never find out why a simple sparring session finished with Xander dying." Adam says. Cassandra helps him up and assists him over to a bench where a bottle of water waits. Taking the bottle he chugs the water down in a few gulps.
Looking at the two Slayers Adam begins. "The quickening is a source of great power. Our kind fight each other to the death in order to gain other's quickenings. However for many the power of the quickening is latent and does not manifest itself until we take the head of another immortal. However there are a few immortals that have learned to use the power within."
Checking to make sure that he didn't loose anyone Adam continues, "Xander has a tremendous amount of power for his age. Power which has been manifesting itself little by little ever since we arrived here in Sunnydale."
"The time of the gathering is at hand and the first ones to die will be the young immortals, like Alexander." Cassandra tells the girls. Faith's expression changes from anger to worry as she remembers what Xander had told her about the gathering. One left.
"But Xander is different than all of the other young immortals in the game right now." Adam explains. "He has the power to match an immortal fifty times his senior. If he could learn to tap into that reserve Xander could very well survive to be the one!"
"But what about you or Cassandra? You are both stronger than Xander, don't you want to be the one?" Buffy asks.
"No. Two thousand years ago I had resolved myself that I would not win the game. No matter what I did not want to be the last." Adam answers.
"We have lived for so long and to go on as the last immortal is just to much to ask." Cassandra says.
"But it's not too much to ask of Xander?" Faith says glaring at them.
"No." Adam answers simply. "We both have lived through some very dark times." He says gesturing at Cassandra. "Should one of us or the other ancients win the game we would be tempted to return the world back to those dark times."
"Xander has great potential and in order for him to survive he needs to realize at least some part of that potential." Adam tells the two Slayers.
"To do that you had to beat him to death?" Faith says harshly.
"What you saw there is just a small piece of what he could do. The problem is though so far the only time he has been able to manifest his power is when he is under pressure or duress and only then. Something happens unconsciously to him during that he allows himself access to his power."
"But this is the most that we've been able to draw out of him though." Cassandra continues. "His body hasn't been trained to handle that kind of overload."
Adam gestures to Xander. "You two should take him upstairs to the couch or a bed where he'll be comfortable, his bones should have knitted together by now so it should be safe to move him. We'll stay down here and clean up."
Faith glares at Adam still. Sighing Adam says, "I'm sorry I killed him, it shouldn't have gotten that far but it did. I'm sorry."
Faith is still angry, he can tell, but she accepts his apology and she and Buffy pick up Xander's body and take him upstairs.
Cassandra moves closer to Adam and asks, "Why did you tell them all that?"
Adam looks at the door and the stairs leading up to them and says. "Because the truth is something I think they wouldn't take very well."
…
Thanks again for reading my story! I really appreciate all the support that everyone has given me and they really do encourage me to write more! I'll be working on the next chapter through the weekend and the next week. I look forward to all of your comments.
