Disclaimer: Joss, WB, UPN et al. own Buffy. George Lucas, Lucasfilm, LucasArts and others own Star Wars. Michael A Stackpole owns the X-Wing and I, Jedi novels. I do not.
Title: Sunnydale Jedi: Chapter 8
Author: Paradigm Shifter
Rating: PG-13 again, people.
Pairing: Err… Xander/ Buffy
Feedback: Please, I beg.
Thanks: All my reviewers. You know who you are. Luis, again, for all his suggestions and ideas for what could happen. Also his questions about the 'rest of the gang'. Things will happen as and when they do…
Notes: I know, I'm rubbish at updating. Sorry, Jane McCartney. And also, can't remember who said that Crystal's watcher wasn't doing his job, but you are right. He isn't. But then again, that is the whole point…
Continuity: General season 5 (Dawn)
Crossover: Buffy / Star Wars. Old Republic.
*
Xander, Dawn and Crystal sat in the lounge of the Summers household. Xander was explaining something to the two of them.
"Dawn, Buffy isn't the same person she was before she went into that portal. She's become an animal, one with the strength and speed of a slayer, with the intelligence of a human. She might not be able to utilise it all at the minute, but it wont be long before she does get some of her human mental capabilities back, and then we're in trouble if she goes nuts."
Dawn shook her head, unwilling to hear that they had brought back her sister from Hell, only to have her as an animal they would have to guard day and night, both to stop others from hurting her, and her hurting others. "Can't we do anything, Xand?"
Crystal sat silently watching the two talk about the future of the greatest Slayer ever to be born.
Xander frowned, an alien expression on his features. He sat back slowly, thinking. "Well… I could…" he tailed off, "no. That is wrong. I couldn't do that."
"Do what, Xander?" asked Dawn. "If it might help Buffy, do it."
Crystal stood up, stretching. "If you don't mind, I'll go check on Buffy and then go to bed. It's getting late…"
Xander nodded, "OK, Crys." Dawn smiled gratefully. She didn't like seeing Buffy as she was now. It hurt the memory of her, even though she was back, and memories were not the only thing left to hold on to.
Crystal headed up the stairs after returning Dawn's smile.
"So what do you want to do, Xander?" asked Dawn again.
Xander pulled a face, but answered. "I could go into her mind, and try to find out what is wrong. But Dawn…"
"Yeah?" Dawn could tell that Xander was torn about this. "Xander? What's wrong?" Dawn got up from the chair she was sitting in and sat next to him on the couch, wrapping an arm around him. "Xander?"
Xander straightened, and stood up suddenly. If he had turned round, he would have seen the hurt look on Dawn's face as he did so. "Dawn… I explained about the dark side, remember?" Dawn nodded, and Xander continued. "Well, going into another's mind is dancing very close to that. Far closer than I want to go, after my brush during my trip. If so much as one thing goes wrong, I will fail, and it could kill her. Could kill Buffy."
Dawn looked up, tears in her eyes.
"Do you want Buffy to die if I screw up again?" Xander whispered quietly.
Dawn hugged Xander from behind, as he didn't want to face her. Couldn't face her. "Xand… Buffy wouldn't want to be like she is now. Even Cave-Slayer was brighter than this. And you said it yourself. Buffy is dangerous like this. If you try, and it doesn't work… well, at least you tried… but if you don't try, you'll never know, right?" Dawn tried to force a cheerful tone, but the tears welling in her eyes made it difficult.
Xander turned and wrapped Dawn in his arms, so the two shared a hug. "OK, Dawn. I'll try it tomorrow. That OK?"
"Yeah, Xander." Dawn smiled through tears. "Xan…"
"XANDER! HELP!" Crystal shrieked from up the stairs.
"SHIT!" was all Xander could think to say as he raced for the stairs.
*
Crystal looked in on Buffy as she walked past to have a shower. Xander and Dawn had extended their hospitality to her, and said that if she wanted a shower, she could have one. That she didn't have to ask. It was a far cry from the council, who had penny pinched on every aspect of her living comforts, both when training, and when in the field with her watcher. She almost expected the old faggot to suggest 'saving water' with her. The mere thought of that sent her screaming. It was true that in centuries past, watchers and Slayer often had 'relationships' but at those times, travel was far more difficult, and the relationship was often out of mutual necessity. While some watchers and Slayers fell in 'love' most just lived together as it was a method of releasing tension, saving money when travelling (only one bed needed) and keeping warm in the often-shitty weather that so many areas seemed to have in those years.
Think of that, Crystal had not heard from, or seen her watcher since she walked out of the bar with Xander, leaving him unconscious on the floor. That didn't bother her though, not really, cause the guy was a stiff arse even for a Brit.
Stepping into the shower, Crystal dropped the robe she had had on, and turned on the taps. The sound of the water cascading down his the creak of the door opening as Buffy followed the person who had woken her up.
In the primitive part of her mind that had been left over since her return from Hell, one thought was running. Her Slayer instinct found the Slayer instinct of Crystal, and recognised it as a competitor. The thought running was:
KILL.
*
Crystal turned at the sound of the shower curtain moving open. Gasping in shock at the obviously angry person standing the other side, Crystal reacted when Buffy lunged at her, aiming for her throat.
Holding up her hands, trying to stop the claw like fingers grasping for her.
"XANDER! HELP!"
*
Xander and Dawn got to the top of the stairs just in time to see Crystal slip over and crack her head hard on the tiles in the shower. Buffy's head shot up at the sudden intrusion and growled at the two arrivals, before letting go of Crystal and charging out of the shower, water flying everywhere from her clothes.
Xander saw the charging Slayer and pushed Dawn roughly back down the stairs, calling out, "Dawn, MOVE!" She didn't fall down, but was propelled far harder down them than she would have liked. Xander stood and waited until Buffy got very close then side stepped.
Buffy, angry as she was couldn't properly recognise that her quarry had moved, and so ran full tilt into the wall. Sagging down, she hissed as Xander approached. "Buffy, you all right?" he asked.
Waiting until he was close enough, Slayer instinct taking over, memories of the tortures in Hell fuelling her rage, Buffy pushed off the wall and launched at Xander.
"I don't want to have to do this, Buff…" Xander looked vaguely guilty as he dived into the Force and took her in a gentle but firm Force grip. Suddenly trapped in a vice she couldn't see, Buffy, or her Slayer instincts at least, started to struggle violently. As she struggled, Xander realised that his Force grip was slipping, and that if she got free, she wouldn't just hurt him now. She would kill him, no questions thought of, let alone asked.
Xander tightened his Grip on the maddened Slayer.
"Crystal, you OK?" Xander called over his shoulder. "Crystal?"
There was no response.
"Dammit. OK, Buff, sleepy time…" Xander fixed her with a mesmerising stare, making the Slayer lose her anger in his eyes, watching as time and space swallowed the torment. "Sleep, Buff. Sleep…"
Buffy slowly stopped struggling, and her eyes drooped as Xander's Force command overrode her body. Seconds later, Buffy collapsed in the Grip, completely unconscious. Slackening his control, Xander let Buffy slip slowly to the floor, as he turned to check on Crystal.
*
"Dawn! Get up here!" Xander's call was loud and decidedly embarrassed.
Dawn bolted up the stairs, only to reach the top and discover a deeply crimson Xander Harris at the entrance to the bathroom.
He pointed to the shower. "She's… uh… naked…"
Dawn raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, Xand. Convention dictates that people having a shower have no clothes on. Your point is?"
Xander blushed deeper. "My point is that she is… well… naked."
Dawn rolled her eyes. "Whatever, Xand. Are you saying that you want me to look after her?"
"Uh… yeah, please. I'll get Buffy."
"OK." Dawn was smirking at Xander's discomfort.
*
Dawn sat next to the bed she had managed to get Crystal into. The Slayer had yet to regain consciousness, but that wasn't what was worrying her. Dawn wanted to know what Crystal would do to Buffy when she woke up.
Xander stepped through the door and sighed. "She hasn't woken up yet?"
Dawn shook her head. "No. Why? What's wrong?"
Xander sat on the bed, and brushed a lock of hair off Crystal's face. Dawn felt a pang of jealousy at the move, but buried it quickly. She didn't own Xander, and he wasn't about to go after either of them. Jailbait, remember? "The longer it is before she wakes up, the less likely it is."
"Yeah, what about Buffy?"
"I put her in a healing trance after she was unconscious. It isn't usually possible to do it to a non-Jedi, or someone who does not wish to be, but her mind is so messed up, it worked. If her Slayer physiology doesn't speed it up, she should wake in about," he looked at his watch, "seven and a half hours."
"Oh."
"No, the question is, what do we do about this? Buffy attacked another person. What if she had attacked you? Or me, and I wasn't ready?"
Dawn sat silent.
Xander looked down. "I'm gonna have to go in… before she wakes up, and hope I can find whatever is wrong…"
"Xand…" Dawn put a hand on his shoulder. "Why don't you call Angel, and the rest, or Giles and Willow again? Maybe they can help?"
Xander shook his head. "No. I don't want any of them seeing Buffy like this. They have memories of her, and I don't want them damaged if something goes wrong. If I can't heal Buffy, not even Willow and Tara's most effective, and dangerous spells will be able to do anything."
Xander looked hard at Dawn. "There is one more thing. Dawn, I need to go back, but I don't know how. So much will go wrong if I'm not there… not that it will be a bed of roses if I am there… but if I'm not, all the life, on all the planets in that galaxy will fall to a menace that even now is working toward them… I can feel it in me, like an itch I can't scratch…"
Xander put his head in his hands. "…I don't know how!"
"But… Xand…" said Dawn in a small voice, "you've… you've only just come back…"
"I know." Xander's voice was hollow. "We'll wait until midnight, and if Crystal hasn't woken, I'll wake her up."
*
*
*
"Xan… it's midnight."
"I know, Dawn, be there in a second."
Xander took the stairs two at a time until he reached the top of the stairs, and then slowed as he passed Buffy's room and entered Crystal's.
"Nothing?" he asked.
"No." Dawn shook her head. "She hasn't even stirred."
"OK." Xander walked over to the bed and held his hand out at Crystal's forehead, finger pointed right between her eyes, mere millimetres away. Closing his eyes, Xander pushed the Force into her, kick starting her mind, and waking her up.
He pulled his hand back violently as Crystal sat bolt upright. "That bitch…" came out of her mouth. "That hurt!" She rubbed the back of her head, to discover a large lump there. "Ow…"
"You OK, Crys?" asked Xander with a concerned look.
"Yeah, I'll be doubly better when I get Buffy though."
Dawn squeaked at that, and Crystal looked at her apologetically. "Sorry, Dawn, but that hurt."
Xander smiled. "You already said that…"
"Yeah, so what? Its true!"
"Fine… OK!" Xander held his hands up in supplication. "Don't hurt me! Or Buffy! Please?"
Crystal rolled her in exactly the same way Dawn did, and Dawn giggled. "What?" asked Crystal nonplussed.
Dawn broke out laughing even louder, and it was Xander's turn to roll his eyes. "Oh, brother…"
*
When Dawn and Crystal woke the next morning, they found a note from Xander. It read:
Hey gals.
Thought I'd do it without worrying either of you, but if you've found this, I'm still in. don't worry about Buffy waking up, while I'm in her mind, she'll spend most of her energy trying to repel me, wont be enough left to wake her up.
A little smiley face had been drawn, followed by his name.
Xander.
The two hurriedly pulled on some clothes and ran into the room where Xander had left Buffy.
They found them both in the room, Buffy lying on her bed, and Xander slumped in a chair pulled up right close to the bed, and his hand resting on Buffy's arm.
Crystal pulled Dawn back. "Lets leave him alone. We don't know exactly what he's doing anyway…"
Dawn nodded, and the two headed downstairs.
*
Xander had used the Force to worm his way into Buffy's mind. The unconscious Slayer had enough of the Slayer instinct still functioning to be aware that someone was forcing his or her way in without her permission. Her defences were on overdrive trying to repel the invader.
The first thing Xander encountered was, due to a lack of comparable instances, likened by the Jedi to a Holocron's Gate Guardian. It proved to be an admirable comparison, except for one thing.
This guardian didn't ask you to leave nicely.
This one kicked your spiritual butt.
The first thing that let Xander know he was under attack was the 'boot' to the back of his head. He rolled with the fall, and used the momentum gained to get back up. Turning, a picture perfect image of Buffy faced him, except for one thing.
Buffy didn't dress in tight leather. And she didn't scream 'DIE, DEMON!" to her closest friend.
"Oh, man… it's the bloody watcher all over again…"
Xander turned and ran.
*
Xander reached the centre of Buffy's mind in short order. He had avoided most of the guardians that most people have in their heads: the indoctrinations of religion or society, their own personal consciences, ethics and morals, and had been aided by a very pissed off Slayer essence.
It didn't like being invaded.
In a burnt clearing in the mental landscape Buffy had created, was sitting Buffy the girl. Not the slayer. Not the hell survivor. The girl. What she had been before becoming the slayer, what had matured into the blonde goddess that Xander had worshipped since he met her, but begun to hide in fear of rejection.
Some people say its better to let feelings out in the open, and see what happens. Xander didn't believe a bit of it, and his Jedi training had only emphasised that point. If no one knew, no one could hurt you, no matter how had it was to go through the day seeing that person all the time. Inevitably, if you let someone in, they stab you in the back.
Standing and seeing the Buffy he had known, Xander's repressed feelings came to the fore once again.
"Buffy…" Xander didn't realise he had spoken out loud until her head rose with a quizzical expression.
"Who are you?" she asked, still sitting on the floor, arms wrapped around her legs, head only raised slightly from the resting place it had had on her knees.
"Buff… I'm Xander… you know… friend Xander." Xander spoke softly, while thinking to himself; great, Harris, talk to her in her mind and regress to caveman language…
Buffy tilted her head, as if listening to someone. Suddenly, her eyes widened, and she shot up, screaming, "LOOK OUT! BEHIND YOU!"
Xander spun at the warning and turned just in time to miss having his spine snapped by a Slayer instincts boot. It still caught him on the shoulder, and sent him spinning violently to the floor. "Ow… dammit… I thought I lost you?"
Xander got carefully to his feet, in time to see two Buffy's fighting each other, perfectly matched.
Except for one thing.
The Slayer instinct was winning. It fought dirty, while Buffy didn't. And two even opponents will always have only one victor if one fights dirty. The one that doesn't follow the rules will win. Every time.
Something Sidious had whispered into his mind when he had been fighting Dooku popped into his mind. Honour is only an effective shield against those who carry the same shield. Against one who has no honour, it is but another weapon for them to batter you with. Good luck, boy…Xander shook himself as Sidious' laugh echoed around Buffy's mind.
"Oh, God, no… not again…"
The two Buffy's looked over at Xander, and with a twin movement, sent him spiralling back into his body…
*
Xander sat upright in his chair suddenly, muscles complaining at having been in the same position for… Xander looked at the clock on the wall. His eyes bulged at the position of the hands.
"Fourteen hours!" the exclamation was at the top of his voice, causing a shout to come from downstairs.
Xander stood up, stretched and looked down at Buffy.
It was her fight now…
When she woke up, whether she was a person or an animal was no longer in his hands…
*
End chapter 8. Should be another 4 or 5 chapters to go with Sunnydale Jedi. Hope your still enjoying it, and I know, I'm lousy at updating. Incidentally, the trip into Buffy's mind was meant to be similar to the trip Willow made in the original 'Journey of Discovery', and cover a couple of chapters. I killed the idea after the miserable way Willow's trip was finalised…
Notto Bene: this is the last chapter of Sunnydale Jedi that I have written so far. I usually write three or four chapters before posting the first so I can change things in them as I write. Coupled with the fact that I want to get a few other things done, both story wise and life wise.
Final Note: FEEDBACK! PLEASE!
