Let's see... I'm still continuing this. So hopefully it'll be around 4/5 chapters or so. I just wanted to reintroduce you to an old character/friend.
Harry Potter and the Slayers Crusade may be over... but what REALLY happened behind the scenes?
Dare to know... Aude Sapere.
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Chapter 2
The One with the Scalpel
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It was yet another early morning for Xander as he made his way from the flat he shared with his three companions to the Ministry. He was almost too tired to remember the keypad combination for the phone booth, finally realizing he was dozing against the broken down telephone while London bustled around him.
He sank into his desk chair warily, clutching a cup of good, old-fashioned American coffee. As soon as he reached over for his mug to take a first sip, the door flew open and Andrew came inside. "Xander... they've been looking everywhere for you!"
"What?" Xander retorted, abandoning his cup and racing through the corridors until Xander was face to face with two Aurors. "Oh... what's this? The inquisition squad?"
"You were sent an owl at approximately twenty five minutes past seven this morning," one of them replied, beckoning Xander to follow. "You follow. The boy stays."
Andrew looked like he half wanted to protest, but Xander shushed him and followed the two Aurors back into the elevators.
"I was here past midnight last night," Xander sighed as the gates closed and the elevator began to descend. "And you wanted me here by seven thirty this morning. What gives?"
"What you are about to see is top-secret government and Ministry material," one of the Aurors droned as Xander yawned widely next to him.
"Tell me something I haven't heard before."
"You would be wise to close your mouth and listen to him," the other Auror said in an irritated tone. "We didn't request to be up this early to show you what they have told us to show you either."
Xander swallowed his yawn and looked at his shoes. No matter how many times he tried to convince himself he belonged there, they always made him feel ten inches tall.
They reached their destination and from outside the gates slid open to reveal an elderly witch, who also looked slightly annoyed. "We've been expecting you the past quarter hour," she growled as the Aurors lead Xander by.
Xander was really beginning to get annoyed as they followed more staircases and corridors, finally reaching a secondary elevator.
"If you're taking me to hell, I'm not dead yet," Xander complained as the gates closed on them again. But this time, it was the elderly witch accompanying him. The two Aurors stated they would remain at the gates until Xander returned.
The elevator ride seemed to take forever. While inside, Xander looked at everything he could besides looking at the witch, who was hunched over and held a knarled cane in one hand.
Finally, the elevator slowed with a shudder. Xander sighed slightly as they were plunged into total darkness.
Then a cool female voice sounded around them. "Identification and purpose."
The witch next to him groaned out loud. "Fiona Sable. Initiative zero one." Her voice was slightly twanged with boredom.
"Thank you and have a pleasant day."
The lights had suddenly turned from gold to a deep turquoise blue as the grate slid open and Xander was yanked out by the powerful hands of that little elderly witch.
But once he stepped out, he suddenly wished he could turn around and go back inside.
A wide expanse was set before him. Complete with a large pit and three levels above of a circular shape containing offices and sleeping quarters, it looked like the same Initiative that Xander had grown fond of.
"When we were told of the Slayer's coming, we requested all information," the witch said, tugging Xander along. "This just happened to be in her files."
"So you requested a copy?" Xander asked in amazement as the witch lead him toward a large barracks area, where a crowd of people wearing long white doctors coats were lingering. "Those files didn't happen to mention why this place closed down, right?"
"They did," a crisp female voice said from inside the group. A figure stepped forward, beaming at the little witch. "Thank you, grandmother. I'll take it from here."
The witch let go of Xander's arm and disappeared into the darkness.
"What is going on here?" Xander asked in confusion.
"I'm Healer Tressa Sable. These are my counterparts. I believe you remember Daniel Osbourne. He is the one that requested you have access to these facilities."
Words completely failed Xander at the very time he needed to get off a sarcastic retort.
"We have granted you access in the hopes that you will tell us what did happen to your... American Initiative. We have a different purpose here. Instead of maiming and destroying life, we seek to study, observe and preserve it."
"A...A sanctuary?" Xander asked weakly.
"Precisely," Healer Sable replied, stepping forward. "If you'd like to follow me, I'll give you the grand tour." As she stepped out into the light, Xander noticed that she was quite different in appearances compared to her tiny grandmother. She was quite pretty.
But enough was enough.
"I'm not going anywhere until you tell me exactly what the hell all of this is," he said firmly.
"I thought you might demand that," the Healer said, her voice noticeably cooler. "Daniel?"
Oz stepped out into the light, also donned in the long while cloak of the healer.
Xander's eyes widened even more. "What is this?"
"It's just what it looks like."
"They recruited you?"
"Yes."
"To perform tests on other werewolves?"
"In part."
"Why am I here?"
"To see."
"See what?" Xander felt his patience ebbing away.
"To see how it's done right." Healer Sable was also getting annoyed as she turned toward Oz. "Perhaps you'd like to give him the tour."
"You want?"
"Take me."
Xander followed Oz as he showed him the entire complex. The weaponry was quite different from what the original Initiative had used. Instead of a barracks full of high powered and sophisticated guns and grenades, there were a collection of orbs and crystals dangling from the ceiling. The main containment area was anything but the place of damnation it had been for all of the hostile creatures from Sunnydale.
It was shocking to see the change.
The entire area was a three-story large zoo exhibit, in Xander's opinion. There were trees and flowers and odd music. There were creatures in the trees that welcomed them joyfully. Xander thought sarcastically of all the creatures who couldn't wait to kill their captors. Oz seemed to be thinking around the same lines.
"It isn't the same place. Not anymore."
"You say that now," Xander replied weakly. "Do you even remember what that Initiative did to you?"
"I do," Oz said crisply as they took an escalator back down toward the command center. "But you have to understand... they study these creatures for the purpose of knowing why they are part of a magical world."
"You'll study them, sure," Xander said sarcastically as they rejoined the groups of healers. "But is that before or after they try to eat you?"
"You doubt too much, Xander," Oz said, lifting a small briefcase from a pile of identical ones underneath a table. "That's your problem."
"I almost died in that last facility... excuse me if I have the jeeves for this one."
Oz turned toward the Healer in charge, who just shook her head in exasperation. "Xander Harris, please come with us. We'll return you to your office."
"Not until you tell me why I'm down here," Xander replied stubbornly.
The Healer blinked before turning back to Oz. "You didn't tell him?"
"Tell me what?" Xander was really agitated now.
"We need your help," Oz said simply. "We want this to be the right way. We don't need a Sunnydale repeat."
"Good," Xander said, "because I'm really not looking forward to facing demons again."
"Will you help us?"
Before Xander could open his mouth to reply, something hard tapped him on the head. As he lost consciousness, he saw the Healer tuck her wand back inside her cloaks.
He couldn't answer her. He couldn't even glare at her.
All he could do was beg for sleep to come.
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To be continued...
