Title: And the Saints Boweth Before the King

Author: DOKChairman

Time/Spoilers: Takes place after the events in 'Grave'.

Summary: I could write a summary, but then it would give away everything.  So no summary, but I'll give you a hint.  The opening I put down for the story is indicative of some of what the story might be about.  Not much of a hint, I know, but it's all you're getting.

Disclaimer: Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy own the rights to Buffy the Vampire Slayer and all of its characters.  I own nothing except the story, and the Anna Kournikova poster on my bedroom wall.  I just got the new Coldplay cd so now I guess I own three things.

Distribution: If anyone knows of any good archives or websites that I could post this story on, please tell me.  I am always looking for ways to get my work out there, and any help would be appreciated.  Please e-mail me with your suggestions.  Also, I know that this is slightly off topic, but does anyone know of any sites I could post my Farscape story on?  Any fanfiction site that accepts sci-fi stories would be acceptable.

Author's Note: I promise not to write a lot of garbage this time, so I'll be brief.  In this chapter you can expect to see some subtle, and some not so subtle, changes in the relationship between Buffy and Xander.

Author's Note 2: I've realized something as I've gone over my previous chapters.  During the scope of this story I've already alluded to myself as being a god and a dictator.  It seems that I have some obvious megalomania issues.  Does anybody know how to cure me of this affliction?  I need to be humbled.  Somebody ream my story please, just so that I can be taken down a notch or two.

Author's Note 3: Since I have received only one conflicting report (I'm sorry lwbush, but I think Nikapi is right.  I don't think Xander's mom is named Joanne.) and since I have no reason to doubt the validity of the response, Nikapi gets the gold star for providing me with Xander's parent's names.  Thank you, oh wise one, for departing your generous wisdom on my unworthy presence.  I will now make sure that whenever I use their names in my story, that is if I ever mention them again, I will use their correct names.

Author's Note 4: After reading your review lwbush, I was struck by a sense of irony.  You say that you're a polisci major and a history minor.  Well, I'm a history major and a polisci minor.  Isn't irony great?

Author's Note 5: I am starting a new story in the Buffy verse titled In the Shadows of Twilight.  Look for it within the next week or so.

            A pessimist is an optimist with experience.

                                                                                    -Anonymous

Chapter 10: Good Intentions

            Xander sat down heavily in his chair.  He wearily looked up into Thomas's pleading face and sighed.  "You're saying that if I don't go back in time to save myself as a child, then the person that I am right now will no longer exist?"

            "Yes Xander, that's pretty much it.  It's as I told you earlier; time is circular.  Just like Peter told you as well, that if you only travel on the main river, then you would only have one outcome.  That outcome is you not existing."  Thomas explained.

            Xander rubbed his hand across his face.  "Well, then I guess I have no choice.  What do I have to do?"

            Thomas smiled in relief. "You must come to Frankfurt with us.  That is where your uncle's company is headquartered, and that is where you will take your test.  In familiar surroundings."

            Xander looked confused, "But I've never been to Frankfurt before."

            Thomas grinned, showing off his white teeth.  "Sure you have Xander, you were just too young to remember."

            Xander groaned, "It seems that's there's a lot of stuff that I need to remember."

            Thomas grinned again and said, "You will Xander, you will."

            At seeing Xander's acceptance of his situation, Peter reached into a pocket on his jacket and pulled out a cell phone.  After dialing a number he brought the phone up to his ear and spoke into it, "This is Black.  Have the jet fueled up and ready to go within the hour.  We will want to leave for Frankfurt as soon as we arrive.  I want no delays."  Peter then shut the phone and placed it back in his pocket.

            That was the last straw for Buffy.  For the last fifteen minutes she had sat quietly, but she couldn't keep quiet anymore.  She was having a hard time believing everything that these two guys were saying about Xander.  It's not that she thought that Xander was necessarily incapable of accomplishing the things that they said he did, but the whole story just seemed way too farfetched for her.

            Besides, she wasn't about to let her friend, the only real friend she had left in Sunnydale (her sister didn't count because she wasn't a peer and Anya was well…Anya), just leave with two relative strangers.  Especially not when they wanted him to take some test and save the world.  Saving the world was her job and she had always tried to keep Xander away from that aspect of her life.  Well at least ever since their senior year she had tried to keep him away from such dangerous situations.  She wasn't always successful she knew, but that didn't stop her from still trying.

            Buffy had resigned herself to the fact that she would probably never be able to lead a normal life.  But that didn't mean that her friends couldn't either.  She had always thought that out of everyone, Xander had the most potential for normality, and yet once again, Hellmouthy complications were screwing up his life.  She wasn't about to let that happen.  She wanted her friend to be happy and safe.

            Buffy voiced her concerns to Xander, "Xander, you're not seriously thinking of going along with this are you?"

            Xander sighed, "Look, Buffy, I don't want to, believe me.  But I don't see any other options.  You heard what Thomas said.  If I don't do what they want, then I cease to exist.  And while my life might not be in the best shape right now, I certainly don't want it to end."

            Buffy felt a little panic enter her voice.  She tried to control it before it became too noticeable.  "Xander, you don't even know if what they are saying is the truth or not.  Just because these two seem to know so much about you doesn't mean that they're telling the truth."

            Thomas entered the conversation, "I assure you Miss Summers, that I am not lying.  If Xander does not take the test and go back to his past, then he will die."

            Buffy walked up to Xander and looked into his eyes as she spoke.  She tried to convey to him all the worry and apprehension she felt over this situation.  "Xander think about what they're saying.  They want you to take some test that will determine whether you live or die.  How do you know you can even do it?"

            Despite seeing the concern in Buffy's eyes, Xander still got angry over Buffy's question.  He hated it when people questioned his ability to do things, even when the question was warranted.  He had spent most of his life being told he was useless by people he cared about.  For some reason though, the comments always hurt more when they came from Buffy.  Buffy was his hero, and her approval and belief in him meant a lot to his self-esteem.  Replying more harshly than he meant to, Xander said to Buffy, "What makes you think I can't?"

            Buffy recoiled slightly from Xander's tone and took a step back.  She knew that she had said the wrong the thing, but she was surprised by Xander's response.  She had no idea he was that sensitive.  "I didn't mean anything Xander.  I just think that maybe you should know more about what you're agreeing to before you leave with them."

            Still feeling hurt by Buffy's remark, Xander at least recognized the truth in Buffy's words.  He really should no more.  Xander asked Thomas, "Buffy's got a point, what else do I need to know?"

            Thomas stayed quiet and didn't answer.  After contemplating for a while, he turned to face Peter.  Silently, a question passed between them and Peter nodded his head.  That was all the answer Thomas needed.  Turning back to face Xander, Thomas said in as even a tone as possible, "The test that you must take has a certain…stipulation.  In order to take the test, to travel to the realm between worlds and interact with the Powers That Be and their representatives, you must be between worlds yourself."

            Thomas paused and said with more strength, "What that means is that you must be in flux.  You must be between the realms of life and death."

            Xander interrupted and said, "What does that mean, be between the realms?"

            Thomas scrunched his forehead in dissatisfaction, "I was getting to that.  In order to be between the two realms, you must be alive yet dead.  Your body will temporarily stop functioning, allowing your soul to travel to the in between realm, and take the Powers' test."

            This time, Buffy wasted no time in letting her opinion be known.  Exclaiming loudly, "Hell no!  Xander you cannot take this test.  There is no way that I'm going to allow this to happen.  I will not allow them to kill you!"

            Xander's eyes flashed with anger.  He began arguing with Buffy.  "Allow?  Who said anything about getting your permission?  This is my life and I can do whatever the hell I want with it.  You do not tell me what to do Buffy!"

            Buffy matched Xander's anger with her own.  She could not understand why Xander was being so adamant in letting himself be put in danger.  She saw it as her job to make sure that Xander, and everyone else, stayed out of harm's way.  "I'm the Slayer!  This is my gig, not yours.  There's no need for you to get involved like this."  Calming herself, she said in a gentler tone, "I don't want to see you get hurt Xander."

            Xander calmed as well.  "Damn it Buffy, I don't want to get hurt either.  In fact I make it a habit to avoid pain as much as possible, but this is something that I can't avoid.  You heard Thomas.  Unless I do this I die, so I don't really see a choice here.  I appreciate your concern Buffy, but I control my life not you."

            Buffy was not about to give up.  "I know that Xander, and no ones saying that you don't have any say, but I don't think you know what you're getting into here.  We should call Giles and…"

            Buffy never finished her sentence because Xander interrupted her.  Grabbing her arm in a firm grip, Xander began pulling Buffy to the back of store, where the training room was.  If they were going to have this argument, Xander didn't want to do it in front of everyone else, especially Dawn.  Xander wanted to say some things that he didn't want anyone else to hear.

            Turning to look over his shoulder as he walked, he said "Buffy and I are going to have a little talk in the training room.  In private."

            Buffy began to sputter in anger as Xander practically dragged her into the room.  The fact that she was the slayer and could have easily broken Xander's hold seemed to have slipper her mind.   As soon as they were inside the training room and the door was closed, Xander let go of Buffy and moved off into the middle of the room.

            "Xander!  What the hell do you think you're doing?"

            Xander looked straight into Buffy's eyes and said with as much authority as he could, "Buffy, shut up."  Acting purely on instinct, Buffy instantly quieted and stifled anymore of her objections.  She had never heard Xander talk like that to her and it shocked her into silence. 

Xander, seeing that he had Buffy's complete attention, began talking in as serious and as calm tone as he could manage.  "Buffy, I love you.  You're my friend, and quite frankly I would die for you.  I would do anything necessary to keep you safe, even if that meant putting myself at risk.  I have done it before and I will most likely do it again. 

"However, just because I would do those things for you, does not mean that you control my life.  I am no longer the incompetent and clumsy teenager who you met six years ago.  While I may not have super powers, great fighting skills, or magical abilities, I have learned many things over the years.  I have learned responsibility and that my actions have consequences.  I understand that by taking this test I could be killed, but I am willing to take the risk if it means saving my life and stopping someone from opening the Hellmouth. 

"Do not fight me on this Buffy.  I could really use your support right now.  Your opinion means a lot to me.  I don't want to do this without you but I will if I have to."

Buffy couldn't help but hear the sincerity in Xander's voice, and her anger disappeared.  She was now just worried.  She wanted to support Xander and she did understand his right to do what he wanted to do with his own life, but the chance of Xander possibly dying was too high in her opinion.  However, she could see that any further argument between them would get them nowhere and might even make the situation worse.  "Fine Xander, if you want to get yourself killed then so be it, but I will not watch you do it."

Buffy then turned around and began to walk to the door of the training room.  She had no intention of being part of any thing that might result in her friend's death.  She did not want to see it happen.  Her anger and concern were making her turn her back on her friend.  In her opinion, the argument was over.  She just wanted to get out of there.

Xander didn't see the argument as over though, and he yelled out in anger and hurt, "Buffy, what the hell is wrong with you?  All I want is for you to back me up on this."

Buffy turned back around to face Xander and walked up to him.  "Back you up?  You want me to support you while you do something stupid that could get you killed?  I don't think so.  You can do whatever you want Xander, as you so eloquently proved with your little speech, but so can I.  And if I want nothing to do with this insane little test then there is nothing you can do about it."

Xander shook his head in disgust as he stared down at Buffy.  "God, you can be such a bitch sometimes.  All I want is for my friend to help me out, and all you can think about is yourself.  I always thought that you didn't care about me, but I never thought I would be proven right until now."

If Xander didn't know Buffy so well, he would have been completely unprepared for what happened next.  But even with his knowledge of Buffy's behavior, there was very little he could do to prepare himself for the resounding slap that his comment had earned.  Buffy hit him hard on the face, knocking him back a step, but Xander still managed to stay on his feet.

When Xander recovered enough to focus back on Buffy's face, he could see many different emotions in her eyes.  He saw anger, hurt, shock at what she had done, and fear.  He instantly felt bad, especially when he saw the beginnings of a tear form in Buffy's eyes.  He hated seeing Buffy cry.

With her voice starting to choke up Buffy said, "How can you say that?  How can you say that I don't care?  You are one of the most important people in my life Xander.  You, Dawn, Willow, and Giles.  You guys mean everything to me.  You're a bastard for saying I don't care."

Buff then turned away from Xander and walked away from him.  Wrapping her arms around her middle, she stared at the ground.  Xander, meanwhile, was feeling like a bastard.  He instantly began berating himself for saying such a stupid thing.  He needed to apologize.

He slowly walked to behind Buffy and tentatively placed his arms around Buffy's shoulders, pulling her small body into a hug.  Buffy initially struggled for a little bit, but eventually stopped and wrapped her arms around Xander's waist.  Xander began mumbling into her hair, "I am so sorry Buff.  I did not mean what I said.  I know that you care.  I was being a jackass and a moron.  Just your typical foot in mouth disease stuff.  Do you forgive me?"

Buffy lifted her head up to look at Xander's face and graced him with a small smile.  "I forgive you Xander.  And I'm sorry too, for not giving you what you wanted.  It's just that I am so worried about losing you.  With Giles and Willow still in England, I need my Xander-shaped friend in one piece."

Xander got a lopsided grin on his face as he reluctantly broke the hug.  He said, "In one piece huh?  That reminds me, you never answered my question."

Buffy looked confused, "What question?"

Xander waggled his eyebrows as he said, "You know, if you wanted to become my 'trophy wife'."

Buffy laughed exasperatedly and said, "As tempting as the thought is, I'm gonna have to say no.  God, here we were having a tender moment and you had to go ruin it with sex talk." She smiled good-naturedly at Xander and gave him a slight push.  Well it would have been a slight push if Buffy had been a normal girl, but the cruelties of Fate decided to remind both Buffy and Xander once again that she was not a normal girl.

Despite Xander's previous claims to the contrary that he was no longer a clumsy person, it just so happened that there was a little clumsiness still left in him.  Added to the fact that someone had carelessly left one of the rolled up workout mats in the middle of the floor, and combined with Buffy's slayer strength, it was a disaster waiting to happen.

Xander's feet hit the mat, causing him to lose his balance, and he began to fall backwards.  His arms flailing about trying to grab hold of anything to stop his fall, but only grabbing air, Xander hit the ground with a loud thud.  

At first, Buffy laughed.  It was only a natural reaction to seeing something straight out of a cartoon.  It was typical Xanderness behavior.  But when Xander had not moved from the ground, to say that he was all right and give Buffy some lame ass excuse as to why he had fallen, she began to worry.  When Buffy bent down and shook Xander's shoulder and there was still no reaction, she began to panic.  She had seen Xander be pummeled countless times by vampires and demons and still walk away relatively unscathed, so seeing Xander still not moving after only falling on the ground really scared her.

Shaking, Buffy moved her hand up to Xander's neck and felt for his pulse.  What she felt there froze her in blind shock.  There was nothing.  She could not feel a pulse at all.  Moving her head down to rest on Xander's chest, she placed her ear over his heart and listened.  There was nothing there as well.  By now Buffy was in full panic mode.

How?  She asked herself.  How is this possible?  Buffy knew that there was no reason whatsoever for why Xander should not have a pulse, and yet there he was, lying on the ground, dead.

Exploding upward, Buffy raced to the door of the training room, and in her haste, literally tore the door off its hinges.  Running outside to the waiting group, Buffy began shouting in between gasps of air.  "Xander!  He's…hurt…not moving.  I don't know what's…wrong.  He doesn't have a pulse!  Help him!"  Buffy couldn't believe it, but she was hyperventilating.

Both Thomas and Peter sprung to action at the same time.  Thomas made it into the training room first, and Peter was right on his heels.  Soon everyone else had run into the training room.  When Buffy ran back into the room she saw Thomas and Peter kneeling next to Xander, one on each side of his body.  Peter was checking Xander's pulse while Thomas was looking at Xander's eyes.

Thomas stopped studying Xander long enough to look over his shoulder and ask Buffy, "What happened?"

Buffy shook her head vigorously, "I don't know!  I pushed him and he tripped over that mat and fell on the ground.  That's all.  He shouldn't be like this.  It was an accident.  I didn't mean to do anything."  Thomas glared at her and turned back around to continue studying Xander.  Buffy meanwhile kept repeating to herself that she didn't mean it.

Dawn saw how distraught Buffy was acting and moved to her sister's side.  She wrapped Buffy up in a hug, and Buffy tightened her arms around Dawn painfully.  Looking up into Dawn's face, Buffy said tentatively, "You believe me don't you Dawn?  I didn't mean to hurt Xander."

Dawn sighed.  "Yeah Buffy, I believe you.  Everything is going to be all right."

  As if to prove Dawn wrong, Thomas spoke up in a dejected tone.  "It's too late.  He's gone."

At hearing that, Buffy broke away from Dawn and rushed over to Thomas.  Grabbing him by his shirt, she lifted him into the air and said, "Save him.  It's not too late.  You can save him.  Give him that sword and make it heal him like it healed his hand."

Thomas got a surprised look on his face, "Wait!  You misunderstood me.  Xander's not dead.  He's passed to the in between realm.  He's taking his test."

Thomas's look of surprise was mirrored by Buffy.  She lowered Thomas to the ground and went to look at Xander herself.  "Are you sure?  He doesn't look any different."

Thomas smiled an encouraging smile.  "Oh I'm sure.  Look at his eyes.  The way they move as if he was dreaming.  His body may act like it is dead, but I assure you Miss Summers that he is still very much alive."

Buffy's shoulders slumped in relief.  "How long will this last?"

Thomas now looked frustrated.  "I don't know.  He is not even supposed to be taking the test right now.  He hadn't even undergone the correct preparations yet.  The Powers must have used the opportunity when you pushed him to take him to the other realm.  There is a large bump on his head, and he should be only unconscious, but he's not."

Buffy began to question Thomas on everything that he knew about this test.  Buffy wasn't able to prevent the test from happening, but she was damn well going to make sure that she could do everything possible to ensure that Xander passed.

Meanwhile, Peter had stopped his own examination of Xander's body and had moved away from the rest of the group.  Taking the opportunity of the distraction provided by Buffy's interrogation of Thomas, Peter moved out of the training room and into the main area of the shop.

Reaching again to inside his jacket, he pulled out his cell phone.  Flipping it open he began dialing an international call.  As he waited for the call to connect he looked back to the training room to make sure that nobody could overhear his conversation.

Peter's attention was brought back to his phone when he heard a clicking sound signifying a connection.  Soon a woman's voice came on the line with a distinctly professional sounding voice.  "H&P Shipping.  How may I direct your call?"

Peter responded promptly, "Customer service please.  Extension 256."

That was the correct phrase, if Peter remembered right.  The woman's voice came back on.  "One moment please.  I am directing your call now."

Peter's ears were then assaulted by a high-pitched buzzing sound, which was soon replaced by a dial tone.  A few seconds later, a man picked up.  Peter wasted no time in starting.  "It's Black.  There have been some unexpected developments."

The man asked, "What developments?"

"Our timetable has been moved up.  Mr. Harris is taking the test as we speak."

The man replied harshly, "In Sunnydale?  Unacceptable.  He was supposed to undertake the test in Frankfurt under controllable conditions.  Conditions that we controlled.  What happened?"

Peter didn't stop the disdain from entering his voice as he answered the man's question.  "The slayer took it upon herself to assault Mr. Harris.  He passed to the in between realm as a result of her assault.  Why he did, I don't know.  The Powers are moving faster than we anticipated."

The man yelled into the phone, "Damn it Black!  You were supposed to prevent stuff like this from happening.  As stipulated by our deal, you facilitate Mr. Harris and we distract his enemies from causing him any harm.  If you cannot fulfill your end of the bargain, then I will find someone who can."

Peter responded icily, "Do not threaten me.  If you even attempt to break our deal, you will be hunted down and dealt with.    I don't care about you.  I only care about protecting the interests of my clients.  If you interfere with those interests, you will be dealt with the same contempt as a common criminal.  You will find yourself dead, in an alley, with your throat slit.  Do you understand me?"

Peter heard no response.  He didn't expect to, but he knew that he had gotten his point across.  "I will contact you when the situation has changed.  Do not worry.  I have every faith in Mr. Harris's ability to succeed."  Peter then closed his phone, ending the conversation.

Placing the phone back in his jacket, Peter quickly made his way back into the training room, hoping no one had noticed his absence.

To be continued………………….

P.S.  All right everybody.  I expect a roaring debate over who the mystery man on the other side of the phone was.  Do not disappoint me.  I do not react well to disappointment.

            In other news, the next chapter will bring us back full circle.  We are now back to the present, with Xander in the bar with Dick.  We will finally learn what task the creature wants Xander to perform.  Read this next part carefully, as it is probably one of the most important chapters in the entire story.  Thank you for your time.