Title: One For All (4/?)
Author: Cyclone
Feedback: Please be gentle.
Distribution: Gimme credit and a link. Plus, archived at
Rating: I'm gonna go say PG.
Spoilers: Up to Graduation, then AU version of events after that.
Disclaimer: The characters depicted herein belong to the almighty Joss. I'm just borrowing them for a while.
Summary: Thanks to Xander's sacrifice, the Slayer and Slayerettes can live normal lives... until now.
Author's Note: Read the previous parts -- including the prologue -- or this is not going to make any sense whatsoever.
Revision Note: Corrected a little error involving a mixup in firearms knowledge.
* * *
Xander stared at the ceiling and sighed as he once again pondered this strange arrangement. It seemed that every time he came by Sunnydale, he wound up in bed with Faith.
It made a strange sort of sense. They were both Slayers, and Slaying got them both hot. This was just their way of cooling down. But that didn't make it feel any less wrong.
"Mmm..." Faith moaned as she shifted awake, "...penny for your thoughts, boytoy?"
He smiled and turned to look at her, "Is that all they're worth?"
She cocked an eyebrow, "A nickel?"
He shook his head, "Sorry. Not for sale. How's your stomach doing?"
"You saw it up close and personal last night," she grinned.
"Okay, how's it feel then?" Her wicked smile broadened, and he added, "You _know_ what I mean, Faith."
Her smile faded, "It's better. Doesn't hurt like hell to bend over any more." She snaked an arm around him and kissed him. With a wink, she asked, "You ready for round two, lover boy?"
* * *
"Xander, I cannot believe you could be so careless," Giles said, shaking his head. "I thought you'd learned by now."
"Careless? About what?"
Giles sighed, "Buffy showed up today, asking about a friend of mine named Alex who was in town at the moment and had a propensity for disappearing."
"Oh," Xander shrugged. "That. She wasn't going to give up until she had an answer... Rupes."
"You could have at least warned me about it!" Giles snapped. "And why didn't you tell me you'd saved her from a vampire attack before you went to Los Angeles?"
"Didn't seem important," Xander said. "What'd you tell her?"
"I told her that..."
* * *
"...he 'appreciates his privacy,'" Buffy said, annoyed. "Rupes said he'd be breaking a hard-earned trust if he told me."
Willow pouted in sympathy, "Well, that's not fair. Rupert knows he can trust you. But at least you have a name now, right?"
"Yeah," Buffy said with a slight smile. "Alex," she said dreamily. "It's short for Alexander. Means 'protector,' did you know that?"
"Sounds like you're hooked on him."
"Oh yeah," Buffy said. "I dunno... tall, dark, handsome, and he's good in a fight too. What's not to like? Also... I can't shake this feeling that I know him from somewhere. Like he's one of the not-memories... and I really want to remember."
* * *
"What's the latest apocalypse, G-man?"
"A, um, a demon. Valkorr, Collector of Souls, is expected to emerge from his slumber during the rising of the Hellmouth's power, on a night of the new moon."
"Tomorrow night," Xander nodded. At Giles' look, he shrugged and said, "Hey, when you're a werewolf, you tend to keep track of things like that."
"Yes, I suppose you would," Giles said. "I-in any case, we must act quickly. A-an archaeological dig has recently, um, unearthed his sarcophagus."
"So how tough is this demon?"
"Ah, well, the last time he awoke, a regiment of the U.S. Cavalry fought him to a standstill... losing half their forces in the process before he stopped to recover. It appears that Mayor Wilkins... dealt with him."
"So," Xander said thoughtfully, "we're gonna have to break out the big guns. You still have my stockpile?"
"I-indeed."
* * *
"What's this?" Faith asked, looking at the weapon Xander had handed her.
"Fianchi SPAS-12," Xander replied absently. "Twelve-gauge semi-automatic shotgun. Here," he pulled off a box of shotgun slugs and slid it across the table to her, "load it up. Those slugs are blessed, so it should give you some extra punch."
He held up his own weapon, an Objective Infantry Combat Weapon he had "requisitioned" some time ago and left with Giles after test-firing it a few times. Sighting down the weapon, he checked its condition and nodded in satisfaction as he began to load it. Sliding the extra clips into his combat webbing, he reached over and began loading additional weapons.
"Is that a hand grenade?" Angel asked.
Xander looked up and grinned, "Not just any hand grenade. This is the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch."
Giles snickered, then chuckled, then laughed. At Angel and Faith's blank expressions, Xander rolled his eyes, "Oh, come _on_. Don't tell me _Giles_ is the only one who watches Monty Python?" Shaking his head in disappointment, Xander looked at Giles, "You got the rocket launchers?"
Composing himself, Giles nodded, "Indeed."
"You sure you know to use 'em? We've only got two shots, and I don't want you to miss."
"I won't."
* * *
Angel shifted his grip uncomfortably on the matching FN P-90s Xander had given him. He usually didn't use such modern weapons, and the crash course Xander had given him didn't mean he was any more comfortable with them.
It didn't help that Xander had made it explicitly clear that the ammunition was illegal and expensive and that the guns were equally illegal and virtually irreplaceable.
"All right," Xander said, "remember the plan. We go in, bypass the zombie minions this guy's supposed to have, then unload on him. If the guns don't work, we lure him out, and the G-man hits him with the rocket launchers."
The other three nodded.
"Let's go."
They nodded, and Xander led the way onto the dig. Soon, the darkness of the tunnel engulfed them. Xander held up his hand.
"Lumos."
A small glowing orb appeared, hovering over his hand. It lit the tunnel but cast a peculiar greenish tint on everything.
"Neat trick," Faith commented.
Xander snorted, "Magic isn't just about cursing vampires and throwing fireballs, Faith."
* * *
The shotgun thundered deafeningly in the tunnel, and Xander turned to Faith and bellowed, "Don't waste your ammo on these guys!" Matching actions to words, he used the stock of his OICW to club in the skull of a nearby zombie.
The battle was joined.
* * *
The battle had begun auspiciously enough. The zombies were virtually no threat to the three experienced demon hunters, and Xander's first shot -- a 20mm grenade from the launcher attached the OICW -- slammed into Valkorr's chest, sending the demon flying back against the cave wall. As they continued to sustain fire on the demon, the zombies lost coordination... until they paused to reload.
Now, Valkorr held Angel up by the throat. Angel raised both guns and fired. Blessed 5.7mm rounds sprayed at Valkorr from point blank range, slamming into the demon's chest and staggering him... but he didn't let go. The slides locked, and Angel dropped the two empty guns, reaching for his sword.
He never reached it.
"A fine addition," Valkorr rumbled, touching Angel's chest with his other hand. Angel howled, his back arching as he writhed in pain. Energy flowed from Angel's chest into Valkorr's hand.
The demon dropped him to the ground and turned to face the others, "Thank you, Slayers."
The vampire picked himself up, working his neck around... and smiled.
"Well," Angelus said, "it's good to be back."
* * *
"Abort, Giles, abort! Damn it, abort!" Xander called as he emptied the last few rounds from the OICW. Leaping into the pickup's passenger seat, he grabbed the BAR he'd left for Giles to defend himself with should the need arise.
"Why?" Giles asked. "What happened?"
"Bastard took Deadboy's soul!" Xander snarled. He flicked the safety off and, bracing the weapon, he pulled the trigger, emptying its magazine in seconds.
Faith leaped over into the bed of the pickup and yelled, "Move it, G!"
* * *
"Ah, well," Valkorr said. "Another time then, Slayers."
"Well, thanks for the favor, soulstealer," Angelus said. "Be seeing you."
"It was a pleasure," Valkorr replied. "It is a fine soul. Never have I seen its like."
"Yeah, yeah," Angelus snorted. "Go ahead and keep it. I sure as hell don't want it back."
That said, the vampire ambled away, whistling cheerfully. He had a phone call to make.
* * *
Buffy yawned sleepily as she picked up the phone.
"Mmm... hello?" she mumbled muzzily.
//Hello, lover. *click*//
She bolted upright, suddenly wide awake. "Hello? Hello?! Who the hell is this?!" For some reason, the voice sent a chill down her spine.
//If you'd like to make a call, please hang up and try again.//
For a long moment, she stared at the phone, unable to bring herself to move, as the recorded message repeated itself.
The phone fell from her limp hand, bouncing off the bed and clattering to the floor, but she made no move to pick it up. Instead, she curled up into a fetal position and, for reasons she could not identify, began to cry.
"Oh, God..."
* * *
"Oz..." Willow said tiredly, looking at her husband, who was doing a good job of imitating a kicked puppy. "We're already a month behind on the mortgage."
"I know," he said reluctantly. "I just... I don't want to lose you."
"You don't trust me," she stated, a hint of accusation in her voice.
He shook his head, "No, baby, I do trust you." He hesitated and looked out the window at the darkened street, "But... it's not safe out there at night."
"Oz, this is _Sunnydale_," Willow said. "This isn't L.A. or New York. I'll be _fine_."
Not wanting to argue any more, she turned and left, closing the door with a little more force than was really necessary. Her shoulders sagged for a moment before she squared them and marched toward the car.
*Damn it!* she thought. *Everything's falling apart! First the band's popularity sinks, then we fall behind on our payments, Oz is getting paranoid... at this rate, I'll be looking for a job in a couple of months.*
With a defeated sigh, she started the engine and began the drive to work for another late-night programming session.
* * *
"Okay, we got everything?" Xander asked. He looked at Giles and raised an eyebrow, "Two Orbs of Thesulah?"
"It was all I could find," the ex-Watcher said apologetically.
He shook his head, "No big. We only need one. If this works."
"Are you sure you can do this?"
"Wills pulled it off from a hospital bed, G-man," Xander said, "and I've got every ounce of witchy power she had. I can do this. I just hope I don't make a mistake."
"All right," Giles said hesitantly. "Well, we'd best get started then, shan't we?"
"Yeah."
"How do know I'm saying this right?" Faith asked.
"I wrote it out phonetically. Think Hooked on Phonics, and you'll be fine."
Giles licked his lips and took the same role he did when they first tried the spell. "Quod perditum est, invenietur."
"Not dead nor not of the living," Xander intoned solemnly. "Spirits of the interregnum I call..."
* * *
Valkorr frowned as he felt an inner tug.
The feeling drew him, and he followed.
* * *
"Asa sa fie! Asa sa fie!" Xander's voice rose. "Acum! Acum!"
He slumped in his chair, exhausted. "Did it... did it work?"
"The Orb is still there," Giles replied, brow wrinkled in confusion.
CRASH!
"It failed because the soul you seek... is now mine."
Valkorr had arrived.
* * *
Author's Postscript:
Now _that's_ a cliffhanger.
Author: Cyclone
Feedback: Please be gentle.
Distribution: Gimme credit and a link. Plus, archived at
Rating: I'm gonna go say PG.
Spoilers: Up to Graduation, then AU version of events after that.
Disclaimer: The characters depicted herein belong to the almighty Joss. I'm just borrowing them for a while.
Summary: Thanks to Xander's sacrifice, the Slayer and Slayerettes can live normal lives... until now.
Author's Note: Read the previous parts -- including the prologue -- or this is not going to make any sense whatsoever.
Revision Note: Corrected a little error involving a mixup in firearms knowledge.
* * *
Xander stared at the ceiling and sighed as he once again pondered this strange arrangement. It seemed that every time he came by Sunnydale, he wound up in bed with Faith.
It made a strange sort of sense. They were both Slayers, and Slaying got them both hot. This was just their way of cooling down. But that didn't make it feel any less wrong.
"Mmm..." Faith moaned as she shifted awake, "...penny for your thoughts, boytoy?"
He smiled and turned to look at her, "Is that all they're worth?"
She cocked an eyebrow, "A nickel?"
He shook his head, "Sorry. Not for sale. How's your stomach doing?"
"You saw it up close and personal last night," she grinned.
"Okay, how's it feel then?" Her wicked smile broadened, and he added, "You _know_ what I mean, Faith."
Her smile faded, "It's better. Doesn't hurt like hell to bend over any more." She snaked an arm around him and kissed him. With a wink, she asked, "You ready for round two, lover boy?"
* * *
"Xander, I cannot believe you could be so careless," Giles said, shaking his head. "I thought you'd learned by now."
"Careless? About what?"
Giles sighed, "Buffy showed up today, asking about a friend of mine named Alex who was in town at the moment and had a propensity for disappearing."
"Oh," Xander shrugged. "That. She wasn't going to give up until she had an answer... Rupes."
"You could have at least warned me about it!" Giles snapped. "And why didn't you tell me you'd saved her from a vampire attack before you went to Los Angeles?"
"Didn't seem important," Xander said. "What'd you tell her?"
"I told her that..."
* * *
"...he 'appreciates his privacy,'" Buffy said, annoyed. "Rupes said he'd be breaking a hard-earned trust if he told me."
Willow pouted in sympathy, "Well, that's not fair. Rupert knows he can trust you. But at least you have a name now, right?"
"Yeah," Buffy said with a slight smile. "Alex," she said dreamily. "It's short for Alexander. Means 'protector,' did you know that?"
"Sounds like you're hooked on him."
"Oh yeah," Buffy said. "I dunno... tall, dark, handsome, and he's good in a fight too. What's not to like? Also... I can't shake this feeling that I know him from somewhere. Like he's one of the not-memories... and I really want to remember."
* * *
"What's the latest apocalypse, G-man?"
"A, um, a demon. Valkorr, Collector of Souls, is expected to emerge from his slumber during the rising of the Hellmouth's power, on a night of the new moon."
"Tomorrow night," Xander nodded. At Giles' look, he shrugged and said, "Hey, when you're a werewolf, you tend to keep track of things like that."
"Yes, I suppose you would," Giles said. "I-in any case, we must act quickly. A-an archaeological dig has recently, um, unearthed his sarcophagus."
"So how tough is this demon?"
"Ah, well, the last time he awoke, a regiment of the U.S. Cavalry fought him to a standstill... losing half their forces in the process before he stopped to recover. It appears that Mayor Wilkins... dealt with him."
"So," Xander said thoughtfully, "we're gonna have to break out the big guns. You still have my stockpile?"
"I-indeed."
* * *
"What's this?" Faith asked, looking at the weapon Xander had handed her.
"Fianchi SPAS-12," Xander replied absently. "Twelve-gauge semi-automatic shotgun. Here," he pulled off a box of shotgun slugs and slid it across the table to her, "load it up. Those slugs are blessed, so it should give you some extra punch."
He held up his own weapon, an Objective Infantry Combat Weapon he had "requisitioned" some time ago and left with Giles after test-firing it a few times. Sighting down the weapon, he checked its condition and nodded in satisfaction as he began to load it. Sliding the extra clips into his combat webbing, he reached over and began loading additional weapons.
"Is that a hand grenade?" Angel asked.
Xander looked up and grinned, "Not just any hand grenade. This is the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch."
Giles snickered, then chuckled, then laughed. At Angel and Faith's blank expressions, Xander rolled his eyes, "Oh, come _on_. Don't tell me _Giles_ is the only one who watches Monty Python?" Shaking his head in disappointment, Xander looked at Giles, "You got the rocket launchers?"
Composing himself, Giles nodded, "Indeed."
"You sure you know to use 'em? We've only got two shots, and I don't want you to miss."
"I won't."
* * *
Angel shifted his grip uncomfortably on the matching FN P-90s Xander had given him. He usually didn't use such modern weapons, and the crash course Xander had given him didn't mean he was any more comfortable with them.
It didn't help that Xander had made it explicitly clear that the ammunition was illegal and expensive and that the guns were equally illegal and virtually irreplaceable.
"All right," Xander said, "remember the plan. We go in, bypass the zombie minions this guy's supposed to have, then unload on him. If the guns don't work, we lure him out, and the G-man hits him with the rocket launchers."
The other three nodded.
"Let's go."
They nodded, and Xander led the way onto the dig. Soon, the darkness of the tunnel engulfed them. Xander held up his hand.
"Lumos."
A small glowing orb appeared, hovering over his hand. It lit the tunnel but cast a peculiar greenish tint on everything.
"Neat trick," Faith commented.
Xander snorted, "Magic isn't just about cursing vampires and throwing fireballs, Faith."
* * *
The shotgun thundered deafeningly in the tunnel, and Xander turned to Faith and bellowed, "Don't waste your ammo on these guys!" Matching actions to words, he used the stock of his OICW to club in the skull of a nearby zombie.
The battle was joined.
* * *
The battle had begun auspiciously enough. The zombies were virtually no threat to the three experienced demon hunters, and Xander's first shot -- a 20mm grenade from the launcher attached the OICW -- slammed into Valkorr's chest, sending the demon flying back against the cave wall. As they continued to sustain fire on the demon, the zombies lost coordination... until they paused to reload.
Now, Valkorr held Angel up by the throat. Angel raised both guns and fired. Blessed 5.7mm rounds sprayed at Valkorr from point blank range, slamming into the demon's chest and staggering him... but he didn't let go. The slides locked, and Angel dropped the two empty guns, reaching for his sword.
He never reached it.
"A fine addition," Valkorr rumbled, touching Angel's chest with his other hand. Angel howled, his back arching as he writhed in pain. Energy flowed from Angel's chest into Valkorr's hand.
The demon dropped him to the ground and turned to face the others, "Thank you, Slayers."
The vampire picked himself up, working his neck around... and smiled.
"Well," Angelus said, "it's good to be back."
* * *
"Abort, Giles, abort! Damn it, abort!" Xander called as he emptied the last few rounds from the OICW. Leaping into the pickup's passenger seat, he grabbed the BAR he'd left for Giles to defend himself with should the need arise.
"Why?" Giles asked. "What happened?"
"Bastard took Deadboy's soul!" Xander snarled. He flicked the safety off and, bracing the weapon, he pulled the trigger, emptying its magazine in seconds.
Faith leaped over into the bed of the pickup and yelled, "Move it, G!"
* * *
"Ah, well," Valkorr said. "Another time then, Slayers."
"Well, thanks for the favor, soulstealer," Angelus said. "Be seeing you."
"It was a pleasure," Valkorr replied. "It is a fine soul. Never have I seen its like."
"Yeah, yeah," Angelus snorted. "Go ahead and keep it. I sure as hell don't want it back."
That said, the vampire ambled away, whistling cheerfully. He had a phone call to make.
* * *
Buffy yawned sleepily as she picked up the phone.
"Mmm... hello?" she mumbled muzzily.
//Hello, lover. *click*//
She bolted upright, suddenly wide awake. "Hello? Hello?! Who the hell is this?!" For some reason, the voice sent a chill down her spine.
//If you'd like to make a call, please hang up and try again.//
For a long moment, she stared at the phone, unable to bring herself to move, as the recorded message repeated itself.
The phone fell from her limp hand, bouncing off the bed and clattering to the floor, but she made no move to pick it up. Instead, she curled up into a fetal position and, for reasons she could not identify, began to cry.
"Oh, God..."
* * *
"Oz..." Willow said tiredly, looking at her husband, who was doing a good job of imitating a kicked puppy. "We're already a month behind on the mortgage."
"I know," he said reluctantly. "I just... I don't want to lose you."
"You don't trust me," she stated, a hint of accusation in her voice.
He shook his head, "No, baby, I do trust you." He hesitated and looked out the window at the darkened street, "But... it's not safe out there at night."
"Oz, this is _Sunnydale_," Willow said. "This isn't L.A. or New York. I'll be _fine_."
Not wanting to argue any more, she turned and left, closing the door with a little more force than was really necessary. Her shoulders sagged for a moment before she squared them and marched toward the car.
*Damn it!* she thought. *Everything's falling apart! First the band's popularity sinks, then we fall behind on our payments, Oz is getting paranoid... at this rate, I'll be looking for a job in a couple of months.*
With a defeated sigh, she started the engine and began the drive to work for another late-night programming session.
* * *
"Okay, we got everything?" Xander asked. He looked at Giles and raised an eyebrow, "Two Orbs of Thesulah?"
"It was all I could find," the ex-Watcher said apologetically.
He shook his head, "No big. We only need one. If this works."
"Are you sure you can do this?"
"Wills pulled it off from a hospital bed, G-man," Xander said, "and I've got every ounce of witchy power she had. I can do this. I just hope I don't make a mistake."
"All right," Giles said hesitantly. "Well, we'd best get started then, shan't we?"
"Yeah."
"How do know I'm saying this right?" Faith asked.
"I wrote it out phonetically. Think Hooked on Phonics, and you'll be fine."
Giles licked his lips and took the same role he did when they first tried the spell. "Quod perditum est, invenietur."
"Not dead nor not of the living," Xander intoned solemnly. "Spirits of the interregnum I call..."
* * *
Valkorr frowned as he felt an inner tug.
The feeling drew him, and he followed.
* * *
"Asa sa fie! Asa sa fie!" Xander's voice rose. "Acum! Acum!"
He slumped in his chair, exhausted. "Did it... did it work?"
"The Orb is still there," Giles replied, brow wrinkled in confusion.
CRASH!
"It failed because the soul you seek... is now mine."
Valkorr had arrived.
* * *
Author's Postscript:
Now _that's_ a cliffhanger.
