God Shuffled His Feet: An Alias/Buffy Crossover
By: Sam Lincoln
Rating PG-13
Summary: An ancient evil stalks Agent Sydney Bristow
Spoilers: General spoilers for the current seasons of Alias, and Buffy, but nothing specific to any storyline.
Disclaimer: All characters from Buffy and Angel are property of Mutant Enemy. All characters from Alias are property of Bad Robot and Touchstone Television. All characters are used without permission and no infringement is intended.
God Shuffled His Feet: Chapter Five
-Sunnydale-
"I really don't see why you are still here," Giles groused. "There are plenty of things for you to blow up outside."
"And miss out on a chance to watch the master in action? Not a chance," Colonel O'Connell replied. "Besides that zombie attack was deliberate, somebody has to hang around to make sure they don't try again."
Giles looked up from the text he was reading, "It was what?"
"Targeted, I had troops downtown report that a group of zombies broke off from the main group and came this way. They didn't touch anything or anyone that wasn't in their way."
"And why didn't you mention this sooner?"
The colonel shrugged, "It didn't come up?"
"Didn't come up? That is precisely the sort of information I need to identify the spell that summoned these bloody zombies!" Giles shouted. "IF you don't want to be thought of as an amateur then stop acting like one." Giles noticed the faint hints of a smile around the Colonel's mouth, it was an expression he had come to know since becoming Buffy's Watcher. "And what pray tell is so funny?"
The colonel's face colored as she slapped a hand over her mouth, "I'm sorry Mr. Giles, I guess the absurdity of the situation just caught up to me. You're right, this is serious, and I should have mentioned the zombies sooner."
Giles felt his temper recede, "Oh all right, and please, call me Giles, or Rupert, no one else feels it neccesary to call me Mr., why should you be any different."

"Then I guess you'll have to call me Anne," the Colonel replied with a smile. "So Rupert, tell me, does knowing the zombies targeted this house help?"
In ripely Giles reached down and picked up a book. He opened it up to a specific page and held it up for the Colonel to see. "As a matter of fact it does. We're dealing with an Orb of Nergal."
"A what?"
"An orb of Nergal." Giles sighed, "Nergal was the Babylonian god of death. The orb allows you to control the dead."
"How do we stop it?"
"Destroy the orb of course, but it must be done quickly. The longer the orb is used the more powerful it gets and the greater its sphere of influence becomes."
"Does that mean what I think it does?"
"If you mean more zombies then yes, it does."
"How many more?"
"If left unchecked the orb's influence could cover the planet."
"This stopped being funny long ago. Master Sergeant Judge!" The Colonel called out.
"Yes ma'am." Sergeant Judge asked as he walked int other room.
"Get Sergeant Hickman on the radio, tell him Mr. Giles has found the answer to our zombie problem."
"Yes Ma'am," the sergeant nodded and left the dining room.
"So now that you've figured that out is there any reason to stay here? I don't like being where the bad guy wants to be."
"If I'm right and we are dealing with an Orb of Nergal then there is a force behind the attacks, and whoever that is would have to know that the first attack failed."
"So that means there will be another attack, in greater numbers...which means the force guarding the orb will be smaller, especially if the second attack meets resistance. Pretty ballsy Rupert, I don't have any additional troops. Hell I'm probably going to have to send Sergeant Judge back to base to make sure nobody breaks into it." Colonel O'Connell paused, "Plus I don't ask my men to make suicide stands."
Sergeant Judge walked into the room. "Excuse me ma'am, but Carpenter wants to talk to Limey."
Giles cocked an eyebrow, "Limey?" he asked Colonel O'Connell.
The colonel shrugged, "We were in a hurry."
Giles sighed and took the headset. "Hello Xander..."
Colonel O'Connell turned and faced Sergeant Judge, "Master Sergeant, I need you to report back to HQ. Mr. Giles and I will keep an eye on things here."
"Are you sure that's a good idea?"
"Not at all Master Sergeant but I need you at the base. You've got more combat experience than anyone else in the unit and I need you keeping an eye on the junior officers and NCO's, not baby-sitting me and a librarian."
The battle-hardened sergeant nodded slowly, "I understand ma'am." Sergeant Judge saluted. "I'll see you back at HQ."
"Take care Tom," Colonel O'Connell said as she returned the salute. The sergeant spun on his heels and walked out of the house.
"What was that all about?" Giles asked as he returned the headset to its cradle on the radio.
"Oh nothing, just some military stuff." O'Connell lightly replied.
Giles frowned, "Colonel O'Connell, Anne, what is it?"
"I already told you, it's nothing," O'Connell walked over to a satchel Sergeant Judge had left behind. "Come on, you can give me a hand with this."
"With what?""
"If it's just going to be the two of us then we'd better make the front lawn as deadly as possible." O'Connell hefted the satchel, "This goes a long way towards evening the odds."
Giles nodded, "I understand, what do you want me to do?"
-Sri Lanka-
Buffy pressed herself against a fallen tree as bullets landed all around here. "Next time Buffy don't taunt the ancient evil when it threatens to arms its minions with guns," she chided herself. "How are you doing Will?" She called out to Willow who was crouched behind a tree several feet away.

"Oh ok I suppose, but I've decided I don't like guns," the witch replied.

"Buffy!" Jack Bristow shouted. "Can you lay down some covering fire?" Jack was hunkered behind a boulder with Mr. Gupta.

"I pretty much can't move over here," Buffy replied.

"Hold on," Willow said, "Let me try something...you'd better close your eyes," she added. Willow held out her hands and a brilliant ball of light shot out of them. The orb streaked across the jungle and exploded in a blinding flash in front of the people shooting at them.

The glare from the explosion had barely faded when Jack jumped out from behind his cover and stormed the enemy position. Buffy rested her machine gun on the fallen tree trunk and fired into the trees in front of Jack. She released the trigger when the CIA agent disappeared into the line of trees. Buffy stood up and walked towards the tree line as the sound of gunfire slowly died out.

"Agent Bristow?" Buffy called out.

Jack emerged from the tree line, "I'm fin Buffy. Come on, we still have a lot of ground to cover before it gets dark."

"Uhm, I hate to sound like a broken record, but where's Vaughn?" Buffy asked.

"I haven't seen him since our last rest break," Willow added.

"He possibly just got cut off from the rest of us by the ambush," Jack said.

"Isn't that what he's supposed to be preventing?" Buffy observed.

"Vaughn is under a lot of stress, he and Sydney have been...seeing each other," Jack explained.

"They're dating? Aww, how sweet," Willow exclaimed.

"Vaughn is probably just pushing a little too hard to get to the temple it's easy to do and very understandable."

"Well how about from now on I take point," Buffy said, "I want to get home to Sunnydale in one piece."

As Buffy and Jack argued neither one noticed Mr. Gupta slip off into the jungle. The elderly man deftly searched the jungle floor until he found the prone form of Micheal Vaughn. r. Gupta reached out and shook the CIA agent's shoulder. "Mr. Vaughn wake up please." Mr. Gupta looked around to see if anyone else was nearby. When he saw that one one was he placed his hand over Vaughn's forehead. A small gold spark lept from his hand into Vaughn's head.

Vaughn's eyes snapped open and he took a deep, gasping breath. He sat up and looked around. "What happened?" He asked.

"Relax Mr. Vaughn, I found you lying here unconscious. Do you have any idea what happened to you?"

"No, not really," Vaughn replied as he stood up. "I was walking down the path when I heard something. I went to investigate and then nothing."

"I suspect this had something to do with it." Mr. Gupta reached down and picked up a fist-sized rock, the dull red sheen of blood glistened in the sunlight. "So you were talking to the First when one of its minions jumped you, I see."

Vaughn jerked back from Mr. Gupta. "What do you mean?"

"The First, it's been talking to you for as long as you've been in the jungle. Let me guess, it's taken the form of a dead loved one?"

"How could you possibly know that?"

"Simple deductive logic really, both Buffy and Willow have faced the First before, so they are already on guard against it. Mr. Bristow is so totally focused on saving his daughter that he will ignore everything that stands in his way. That leaves you Mr. Vaughn as the weak link."

"Hey, I'm just as willing to do whatever it takes to get Sydney back as Jack Bristow," Vaughn protested.

"I never said you weren't Mr. Vaughn. It's obvious how much you care about her, but you also have ghosts in your past do you not?" Mr. Gupta stared into Vaughn's eyes. "Powerful ghosts indeed. I can see why the First selected you."

"I didn't do anything wrong ok? I'd never do anything to jeopardize this mission."

"Easy Mr. Vaughn, i know that, but why didn't you tell us?"

"Because Jack wouldn't trust me, he'd say I'd been compromised. He'd order me home, or worse."

"The First is not something you can fight on your own Mr. Vaughn, thought at the same time it is something you have to face by yourself."

Vaughn frowned, "What do you mean?"

"The First exploits whatever personal demons haunt you, and the only person who can overcome those demons is you." The two men stared at each other for a moment. "Now come, the others will be getting worried."

"You won't tell them about the First, will you?"

Mr. Gupta shook his head, "No, that is something for you to say, it is not my place."

Vaughn nodded, "Thank you."

"However, I suspect that if Mr. Bristow were to find out on his own your life would not be worth much."

Vaughn smiled, "That's only if we don't get Sydney back, and based on what I've heard if we don't get Sydney back my problems will be the least of our worries."

-Sunnydale-

"The coast looks clear," Xander told the other, "come on." Xander shifted back behind the tombstone he was using for cover and waved Anya, Kennedy, Andrew, and Sergeant Hickman forward. They ran across an open expanse of ground and came to a stop behind a mausoleum.

"I'll make sure the crypt is clear," the sergeant told the group. "Watch my back." Sergeant Hickman eased the door open and slipped inside the mausoleum.

"Hey Anya, remember that time Buffy got hurt and we went patrolling with Riley?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Did you ever think we'd be the oens with the guns doing the cool military moves?"

"No, and frankly I don't see the point. It's not like it's hard to outthink a zombie," Anya pointed out. "Besides, I don't like guns."

"I'd be more than happy to take it off your hands," Andrew offered.

Anya pointed her shotgun at Andrew, "Forget it."

"Tut, tut pet, never poitn a shotgun at someone unless you mean to shoot it," Spike said. The group turned and saw the vampire standing behind them.

"Spike, what are you doing here?" Xander asked.

"Same as you I suppose, trying to find a way to get rid of these. Say where did you get those lovely toys? I didn't think guns were your thing."

"Initiative gave them to us," Xander replied.

"Can I have one? Killing zombies is boring work."

"Here, have mine," Anya said. She handed Spike her shotgun and ammunition bag.

"Hey why does Spike get a gun!" Andrew protested.

"Because," Anya replied.

"Because why?"

"Just because," Anya insisted. Andrew did not look satisfied with the answer, but did not press the issue.

"Thanks for this," Spike said as he started to walk away.

"Hey Spike, where are you going?" Xander asked.

"What, you thought I'd hang around the lot of you just because you gave me a boomstick? Yeah right, soldier boys make me nervous, remember." Spike walked off into the night before Xander had a chance to reply.

"Pleasant guy," Will commented.

"Being a vampire will do that," Anya noted.

"That guy's a vampire?" Will asked in disbelief.

"Of course he's a vampire, why else would he be asleep in the middle of the afternoon?"

"I don't know, I just thought he was a rock musician. Wait, if he's a vampire..."

"Why is he living in Buffy's house, why didn't he try to kill us and why did I give him a gun?" Anya suggested.

"Well...yes," Will admitted.

"I'm going to check on Sergeant Hickman, he's been in there a long time," Xander abruptly said.

"What's the rush?" Anya asked.

"The story of Spike, aka William the Bloody is a tragic one, but one that reflects the redemptive natur of love..." Andrew began to say.

"That's why," Xander told Anya before slipping inside the crypt.

"Spike was known as the Slayer's slayer, a ruthless killer who delighted in torture. It was only when he first laid eyes on Buffy that his rampaging heart was softened."

"What?" Anya exclaimed, "That's not even remotely right. Look Will don't listen to him, all you need to know is that Spike's a vampire who doesn't kill people...anymore...unless he's been brainwashed."

Will rubbed his temples, "Forget I asked."

Will was cut off by the crypt door flying open and a vampire with Xander clinging to its back ran out into the cemetary. "Somebody get a stake!" Xander shouted, "I can't hold on for much longer."

Anya calmly walked up to the ramapging vampire and held out a stake. The vampire exploded in a cloud of dust and without any support Xander fell to the ground, "That worked out better than I imagined," Anya commented.

"What happened?" Will asked.

Xander gingerly picked himself up off the ground. "There was a vampire in the crypt, it jumped the sergeant and I jumped it while it was snacking on him."

"Is he ok?" Andrew asked.

Xander ran back into the crypt without replying. The rest of the group followed Xander inside where they found him helping the sergeant hold his hand to his neck. "Kennedy look in the sergeant's pack for a medical kit." Xander nodded at an olive green backpack lying on the floor.

Kennedy ran over to the backpack and started rummaging through it. "I found one!" She exclaimed.

"Good now come over here and put it on," Xander instructed. Kennedy waited for Xander to move his hands then slapped the large bandage onto the sergeant's wound. Xander took a deep breath. "Ok Andrew, Kennedy, I need you two to take the sergeant to the hospital."

"Are you sure?" Kennedy asked.

"He'll die if he stays here," Xander explained.

Kennedy sighed, "Alright, Andrew give me a hand with him." She slung her shotgun over her shoulder and picked up the fallen soldier. The trio limped out of the crypt, leaving behind Anya, Xander and Will.

"And then there were three," Will commented.

Xander picked up the sergeant's backpack and gun. "Come one, we've got an orb to find."

"Are you nuts?" Anya shouted. "The three of us against all those zombies?"

"Do you have a better idea?" Xander asked Anya.

"Well...no," Anya admitted. "Fine, let's just get this over with."

"When we get out of this remind me to hurt my mechanic badly," Will said as they walked out of the crypt.

"So where are we going oh fearless leader?" Anya asked Xander.

Suddenly a brilliant gree light blazed into the sky, casting a weird green glow over the graveyard. "I'd say that way looks promising," Xander said as he pointed towards the pillar of green light.

"Lucky break," Anya groused. "If the orb hadn't gained additional strength..."

"And you consider that lucky?" Will asked Anya.

"Sure, at least now we know where the orb is," Anya explained. "Of course now there will be more zombies."

"How can there be more zombies? Just how many people have died in this town anyway?"

"A lot," Xander replied. "Now come on, let's go check that light out."

"You know they always say don't go into the light." Anya grumbled as they crept across the cemetary.

"Oddly enough that adivce only holds true for near death experiences," Xander noted. "And when you're fighting vampires, or looking for evil, zombie-making orbs you want to go to the light."

"Learn something new everyday," Will quipped.

They continued towards the center of the cemetary until Xander heard the umistakeable sound of zombies, "Everybody down!" he ordered. The group ducked behidn a collection of tombstones and watched as a large group of zombies shuffled past on their way out of the cemetary.

"What the hell was that?" Will demanded after the zombies were safely past.

"That was me hoping like hell that Giles is no where near Buffy's house," Xander said. "Come on, let's go bust up an orb."

-Sri Lanka-

Sydney stared out of her cell window at the fading sunlight. She sighed, she had not heard from her neighbour since their last conversation and Sydney was starting to worry about the elderly farmer who had befriended her. She watched as the light waned from yellow to orange.

"It always does that you know," Danny said from behind her.

"What?" Sydney asked. The shock of seeing her dead fiance's face had finally worn off, almost.

"The sun, it always falls before the night."

Sydney stared at the evil spirit. "But the sun always returns the next day," she replied.

"True, of course you don't have that luxury," the First said. "You'll be dead you see."

"Vaughn will save me," Sydney insisted.

"You still think your friends are going to save you?" Danny's form suddenly morphed into Buffy's. "Tut, tut, you didn't think they could go up against the Big Bad and live did you?"

Sydney took a step back, "You're lying, I've seen you look like a lot of people, this doesn't prove anything."

"You don't pay very close attention to details do you? I can only take the form of someone who's already dead."

"Fine, then let's see you wear Vaughn's face," Sydney demanded. "You can't can you?"

"Do you really think your precious Vaughn is capable of saving you?" The First sneered.

"Of course I do, because he'll do whatever he has to. I know he will because I would do the same for him."

"I wouldn't count on it, especially after a chat with daddy dearest." The First morphed into the spector of Vaughn's father. "I've been having nice long chats with my boy about all sorts of things, but your mother most of all."

"You son of a bitch!" Sydney hissed. "How dare you do that!"

The First shifted back into Danny, "I've got news for you Sydn, I'm evil. I'll do whatever the hell I want."

"You are so not going to win," Sydney defiantly said.

"Talk is cheap and from where I'm standing you're the one locked in a cell."

"But you're the one with the losing record," Sydney shot back.

"Not this time, because you're going to help me."

"Killing me doesn't count as me helping you."

"But that's the best part, you are. Don't get me wrong, you are going to die. But that's only the first step. What i'm after is your soul, that pure warrior soul of yours. It is what's needed to allow the demon slumbering under this temple to come back to life...in you."

"You're going to kill me so a demon can possess me?"

"Not quite, but close enough. Your soul is needed to act as a focus for the demon to reamin in this world, a battery if you will. Your body will still be technically alive, but you won't be in control."

"Are you finished with the long-winded exposition yet?" Sydney asked.

"I believe I am, why?"

"I just wanted to know when I could escape," Sydney replied.

"And just how are you planning to do that?"

"That would be telling now wouldn't it?" Sydney said with a smile.

"Like i've already said, talk is cheap."

"A couple of your robed thugs are going to walk through that door. When they do I am going to kick their ass and there isn't a damn thing you can do about it."

"Oh there's not huh?"

"Just watch me," Sydney confidently said.

"This should be interesting," the First folded its arms across its chest.

The cell door opened and three of the First's followers walked into the cell. One was holding a set of manacles while the other two carried long knives.

"Hi there, I gather you're expecting I'm going to go quietly?" She asked the Bringers.

"She going to try to escape you idiots. Grab her!" The First ordered.

The two Bringers with knives reached out for Sydney. Before they touched her however she grabbed their outstretched arms and swung them together. The Bringers staggered from the force of the impact and Sydney used the opening to lay out the third Bringer with a roundhouse kick. As the Bringer fell to the ground it lost its grip on the manacles it was holding, tossing them into the air.

Sydney grabbed the manacles and spun them around her head, building up momentum. She whipped the manacles at one of the two remaining Bringers; they connected with the Bringer's head with a sickening crunch. Sydney dove for the dead Bringer's knife and came up with it in time to block the final Bringer's attack. She ducked the Bringer's next slash and she drover her knife up into the Bringer's chest. She twisted the knife to maximize the damage done by the blade. The Bringer slumped to the ground, blood pumping out an already dead body.

Sydney reached down and picked up a key ring that had falled onto the floor. "Well what do you know, I kicked your guards' asses. By now." Sydney opened the cell and ran out into the hall.

Sydney walked a short distance down the hall before she remember, "Mr. Sanjay!" She exclaimed. Sydney turned around, determined to free the kindly old man who had kept her spirits up.

Unfortunately a large number of the First's guards came running from the direction of Mr. Sanjay's cell. Sydney cursed, there was no way she could take on the entier group. She sprinted down the hall and rounded a corner. She caught sight of another door and ducked into the room beyond it.

"You're not going to escape you know," the First said from behind Sydney.

"Well I'm not going to let you use me as a demonic battery," Sydney countered.

"But are you really willing to do what it will take to keep your soul away from me? There's only one way out and you know it."

"Yeah, it's called the front door," Sydney said as she yanked the door open and sprinted down the hallway.

Sydney ran through the temple trying to find a way out. She did everything she could to avoid encountering large numbers of guards. After a while she came to relaize that they were hearding her somewhere. She stopped running and pressed herself tightly into a niche in the wall. A pair of guards came running down the hall. Sydney waited until they had almost run past her before she struck. She ran into the guard closest to her and drove her knife into its neck. The force of her attack drove both Sydney and the dying guard into the remaining guard, knocking it off its feet. Sydney withdrew her knife and slashed the other guard's throat.

After she was satisfied that both the guards were dead Sydney ran back down the hall the way she came. "If they think they can herd me they've got another thing coming," she muttered to herself.

Sydney also slowed her pace. She realized she was rushing, and the easiest way to get killed in her line of work was to rush what you were doing. By sacrificing some speed Sydney was now less likely to blunder into an ambush. She chided herself for not realizing that fact sooner.

The hallway she was in eventually lead her to the large alter room that doubled as her torture chamber. Sydney suppressed a shudder at the sight of the stone table in the center of the room. She carefully looked around the chamber but did not see any sign of the guards. Something about the room felt off to Sydney so she crept along the wall of the room and stayed clear of the table in the middle of the chamber.

Sydney reached the other side of the chamber without incident. She breathed a sight of relief as she walked into the hallway and right into something. She looked up and saw that she had walked into a man wearing all black and a priest's collar.

"Why hello there little lady," the man said in a heavy Southern accent. "Now what's a pretty young thing like yourself doing in a place like this?"

Sydney slowly backed away from the man, there was something about him that made Sydney's blood run cold. "I've been kidnapped," she told the man, "can you tell me how to get out of here?"

"Why should I do that?" The man asked. "It's obvious why you're here, look at you, backing away from a man of the cloth like that. You're dirty, offensive in the eyes of God. You are here to be cleansed, scourged of all sin, and as a man of the cloth I can't let you run away from your holy duty."

"I cannot let that happen!" Mr. Sanjay said from behind Sydney. Sydney turned and saw the elder man striding across the chamber.

"Mr. Sanjay no, I can handle this," Sydney told the Indian man.

"No dear girl, you cannot. Run, I shall hold this beast off. The exit is not far down that hall."

"But..." Sydney protested.

"No, this is is what I must do, whatever happens is what was meant to be. I shall not shirk from my duty to protect you!" He held out his hand and a bolt of energy shot forth and struck the evil priest, knocking him backwards.

Sydney ran towards the exit Mr. Sanjay directed her to, but before she left the room she stopped and turned around. She could know leave Mr. Sanjay behind.

"I know what you are and what you serve," Mr. Sanjay told the priest, "and you will not succeed."

"Really now, and why should I believe the word of a heathen like yourself?"

"Because I am a follower of Vishnu and I carry his sacred fire." Mr. Sanjay shot another energy blast at the priest.

The priest deflected the energy bolt like a person swatting away a fly. "That's a fancy title, but I serve the one true God; everything else is as motes of dust in a hurricane next to it." The priest grabbed Mr. Sanjay head with both hands and twisted with such force that he spun the old man's head around.

Sydney watched in horror as the old man's lifeless body fell to the floor. "You bastard!" she screamed and changed the priest.

"This is what I'm talking about," the priest said as he dodged Sydney's attack. "You know you need to be here, why else would you stay?"

"To make sure you pay for killing an innocent man," Sydney resolutely replied.

"He was far from innocent. He opposed God's will, and you cannot do that without paying the price." The prist grabbed Sydney by the hair and delivered a powerful backhanded slap that knocked Sydney out.

"Amen," the First said as Buffy, appearing next to the priest.

"Hallelujah," the priest replied. "I assume this is yours?" he asked, indicating Sydney.

"It is, now what are you doing here?"

"I found him in Vienna. I wanted to let you know personally..."

The First nodded, "Good, now get out of here. The Slayer is about to make an appearance."

"The Slayer?"

"Yes, the Slayer, but now isn't the time for you to meet her; you're not ready."

"I think I know when I'm ready," the priest bristled.

"You think you can question my judgement?"

"No, of course not, I am your humble serveant."

"That's what I thought. Now get out of here, there's plenty for you to do elsewhere, and don't worry, the demon is just a tool, you will still be my most trusted serveant."

"I wasn't worried, I serve you, and concerns over my place by your throne is pride, and pride is a sin."

"You are such a bood boy, and by this time tomorrow you'll have a new playmate."

"I can hardly wait," the priest replied with an evil grin. He picked Sydney up and place her on the alter in the middle of the room before walking out of the chamber.

To Be Continued