The man waited until the little group of Scoobies finally left the
hospiatl. First checking the corridor for any witnesses he quickly opened
the door to Xander's room and entered.
"Mr Harris," the man greeted the teen as he stepped into the room.
"Uh, hello?" Xander responded confused.
"I'm Mr Jones," the man introduced himself with a small smile and shook Xander's hand. Than he sat dowm on the chair at his bedside.
"Well, I don't want to sound rude, but what the hell are you doing in my hospital room," Xander asked even more confused.
"Oh, where are my manners," Mr. Jones said and shook his head "Mr. Harris, I'm representing the Brotherhood of Taraka."
When he mentiontioned the Brotherhood Xander eyes went wide. "Oh shit," he muttered. "Look I didn't kill bug guy, okay? He slipped and broke his neck..," Xander explained, but quickly recalled that the assasin didn't really have a neck he could barke. "You don't buy it?" he asked. Mr. Jones simply shook his head. "So, you are going to kill me now?"
"On the contrary," the man told him with a smile. "I'm making you an offer."
"Huh," was Xander's only response. After a moment he was able to formulate a response."Could you explain that a bit"
"Very well," Mr. Jones said "I should begin at the beginning. A few months ago we sent a three man team after your friend, the slayer. Two of out operatives didn't return from this mission. Our surviving team member reported that one was killed by Miss Summers and the other one was killed .. by you."
"Look, I can explain that," Xander told him
"Oh, I'm sure you can," the man said. "But that's not the reason I'm here. You see, each time an operation fails, we sent a team of observers and to collect data of the individuals that messed it up. In this case, Miss summers and you. The purpose of this opbservations is to check out new potential members for the Brotherhood," he explained. He waited a few seconds to let this information sink into Xander's brain.
"We observed you and Summers for the past few weeks. Finally we decided that you were not suitable for our needs, since you have no real combat value and the deafeat of our colleage looked like pure luck. After that realisation we shifted out main attention to the slayer. But her decision to spare the vampire's life also put her off our list."
He took a deep breath before he contiued.
"That was when you came back into the picture. I must say, I'm impressed that you were able to take out a more tha 200 years old vampire."
"Well, thanks fro the praise," Xander said. "But what do you want?"
"I'm offering you a job."
"Me?" Xander asked bewildered. "A job ? As an assasin?"
Mr. Jones simply nodded at that question.
Xander looked a few moments at the older man. Then suddely he began to laugh hysterically.
"Oh, that's a good one," he said after he had calmed down enough."Me. An assasin. In a wheelchair."
Mr. Jones raised an eyebrow and looked dissaprovingly the young man."Mr. Harris, there is no need to redicule the whole situation," he told Xander. "Of yourse we won't let you work for us in a wheelchair. I rather thought on both of your feet."
"What?" Xander asked when he realised the hidden meaning behind those words.
"You heard me correctly," Mr: Jones simply said.
Xande gulped. "How?"
"Oh, the Brotherhood has a lot of magicans in their service," he explained. "We will heal you injuries and bring out some of the potentials that are hidden inside of you."
"What do you mean." Xander asked confused.
"Well you have been possed by a soldier and a hyena," Mr. Jones clarified. "We will give you those ablities back, this time under you full control. And after that you will fulfill contracts for us."
Xander thought about the whole situation fow a few minutes. "That awfully sounds like a deal with the devil," he finally said. "I have to think good about that offer."
"I can't give you that time. The offer stands. Accept or deceline it. There are dozens more like you that we have in waiting position."
"I don't know," Xander said, still unsure.
"I see. I have to make the whole thing more interesting for you,"What about revenge?" he said. "I can see it in you eyes. You want revenge on the slayer, right? The offer I'm making you is not for a lifetime Mr. Harris. After three years of service we consider the service we provided to you paid. And you are a free man again. You leave the Brotherhood with all your abilities intact and and from then on it's up to you what you do with them. You can still work for us or you can take you revenge on you former friend. So, what do you say?"
Xander looked directly in the other man's eyes, his anger still boiling behind them. "Count me in," he simply said.
"Very well," Mr Jones said with a smile while he took the wheel chair from the other side of the room. "No come on young man. We have a plane to catch," He said as he helped Xander into the wheelchair.
"But all my things," Xander protested. "And there are people her I want to say goodbye to."
"First of, I've been at you home and I have already gathered the few important belongings that were there," Mr. Jones explained as he wheeled Xander though th abbonded corridors of the hospital."And second, well we can't allow anyone to cantact persons fron their former lifes. I'm sure you understand the wish of our organisation to stay as secret as possible," explained the situation to Xander. He felt that the young man wanted to protest, so he quickly sontinued. "And if you would still do it, we would be forced to eliminate everyone you contacted
"Look mister, one phone call ,okay?" Xander almost pleed with th other man as he wheeled him out of the hospital and up to limusine. "I won't talk about anything regardin the Brotherhood."
Mr Jones sighed a he carried xander out of the wheelchair and into the back of the limosine. "Well, alright you can call one of your friends once we are at the airport."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------
"Hello?" came the voice from the other side of the line.
"Hi Cordy," Xander replied with a smile.
"Xander?" Cordelia asked excited "I was just on my way to the hospital."
"Forget it," he simply said. "I'm not longer there."
"What?" Cordelai asked shocked. "What are you doing outside of a hospital bed?"
"Well, that's a bit difficult to explain," Xander said "You see, last night a man came into my room. He offered me a special therapy with which might regain the use of my legs."
"Really? That's great," sge replied happily. "Where are you. We have to celebrate this."
"I'm at the airport," he simply said.
"What?"
"Yeah, there are a few conditions. I have to leave immediately and that can't tell anyone where I'm going. And I can't contact anyone during the thrapy" Xander explained. "I just had one phonecall"
"And you called me?" Cordelia asked.
Xander snorted "Who else do you think I would call? The people who still support miss slay a lot."
"How do you know that I don't support her," she challenged him.
"I know you Cordy. You mabe sometimes are a tactless and selfless little princess," Xander said and could imagine the outraged look on Cordelia's face."But you also have more integrety in you little finger than most people have in their whole body."
Both kept silent for a minute.
"So, do you know how long this therapy might take?" Cordelia finally asked.
"I don't know, it could be a couple of years," Xander said, trying to stick as much as possible to the truth.
"Well that means that we won't see ech other in the next few years," she stated.
"Seems like it," Xander replied.
"Xander," Cordelia said a bit shy. "I just want you to know that I don't regret anything between us."
"Same here," Xander replied with a smile.
"Just promise me one thing."
"Anything Cordy."
"Visit once you can walk again," she said.
"Promise," Xander replied truthfully
"Goodbye Xander," Cordlial finally said. "Love you."
From the sound of her voice Xander could tell that it took a lot of willpower for her to tell him this.
"Love you too Cordy. Bye," he said and hung the receiver up.
He looked at the man that stood the whole time behind him and whoe had heared every word.
"Happy?" he snapped angrily a the older man.
"You really don't understand my intention," Mr.Jones said as he wheeled Xander through the airport. "I don'r want to cause you more pain Mr. Harris. I just follow strict regulations. Regulations that existed for over two thousand years."
Xander shihed."So, where does our little journey lead."
"Europe," Mr Jones simply said."Germany to be precise. The Brotherhoods current headquater is there. We have all the instalations there to bring you back to you old form and even beyond that."
"I hope so," Xander muttered. "I've sacrificed already enough," he said as they approached the terminal.
"Mr Harris," the man greeted the teen as he stepped into the room.
"Uh, hello?" Xander responded confused.
"I'm Mr Jones," the man introduced himself with a small smile and shook Xander's hand. Than he sat dowm on the chair at his bedside.
"Well, I don't want to sound rude, but what the hell are you doing in my hospital room," Xander asked even more confused.
"Oh, where are my manners," Mr. Jones said and shook his head "Mr. Harris, I'm representing the Brotherhood of Taraka."
When he mentiontioned the Brotherhood Xander eyes went wide. "Oh shit," he muttered. "Look I didn't kill bug guy, okay? He slipped and broke his neck..," Xander explained, but quickly recalled that the assasin didn't really have a neck he could barke. "You don't buy it?" he asked. Mr. Jones simply shook his head. "So, you are going to kill me now?"
"On the contrary," the man told him with a smile. "I'm making you an offer."
"Huh," was Xander's only response. After a moment he was able to formulate a response."Could you explain that a bit"
"Very well," Mr. Jones said "I should begin at the beginning. A few months ago we sent a three man team after your friend, the slayer. Two of out operatives didn't return from this mission. Our surviving team member reported that one was killed by Miss Summers and the other one was killed .. by you."
"Look, I can explain that," Xander told him
"Oh, I'm sure you can," the man said. "But that's not the reason I'm here. You see, each time an operation fails, we sent a team of observers and to collect data of the individuals that messed it up. In this case, Miss summers and you. The purpose of this opbservations is to check out new potential members for the Brotherhood," he explained. He waited a few seconds to let this information sink into Xander's brain.
"We observed you and Summers for the past few weeks. Finally we decided that you were not suitable for our needs, since you have no real combat value and the deafeat of our colleage looked like pure luck. After that realisation we shifted out main attention to the slayer. But her decision to spare the vampire's life also put her off our list."
He took a deep breath before he contiued.
"That was when you came back into the picture. I must say, I'm impressed that you were able to take out a more tha 200 years old vampire."
"Well, thanks fro the praise," Xander said. "But what do you want?"
"I'm offering you a job."
"Me?" Xander asked bewildered. "A job ? As an assasin?"
Mr. Jones simply nodded at that question.
Xander looked a few moments at the older man. Then suddely he began to laugh hysterically.
"Oh, that's a good one," he said after he had calmed down enough."Me. An assasin. In a wheelchair."
Mr. Jones raised an eyebrow and looked dissaprovingly the young man."Mr. Harris, there is no need to redicule the whole situation," he told Xander. "Of yourse we won't let you work for us in a wheelchair. I rather thought on both of your feet."
"What?" Xander asked when he realised the hidden meaning behind those words.
"You heard me correctly," Mr: Jones simply said.
Xande gulped. "How?"
"Oh, the Brotherhood has a lot of magicans in their service," he explained. "We will heal you injuries and bring out some of the potentials that are hidden inside of you."
"What do you mean." Xander asked confused.
"Well you have been possed by a soldier and a hyena," Mr. Jones clarified. "We will give you those ablities back, this time under you full control. And after that you will fulfill contracts for us."
Xander thought about the whole situation fow a few minutes. "That awfully sounds like a deal with the devil," he finally said. "I have to think good about that offer."
"I can't give you that time. The offer stands. Accept or deceline it. There are dozens more like you that we have in waiting position."
"I don't know," Xander said, still unsure.
"I see. I have to make the whole thing more interesting for you,"What about revenge?" he said. "I can see it in you eyes. You want revenge on the slayer, right? The offer I'm making you is not for a lifetime Mr. Harris. After three years of service we consider the service we provided to you paid. And you are a free man again. You leave the Brotherhood with all your abilities intact and and from then on it's up to you what you do with them. You can still work for us or you can take you revenge on you former friend. So, what do you say?"
Xander looked directly in the other man's eyes, his anger still boiling behind them. "Count me in," he simply said.
"Very well," Mr Jones said with a smile while he took the wheel chair from the other side of the room. "No come on young man. We have a plane to catch," He said as he helped Xander into the wheelchair.
"But all my things," Xander protested. "And there are people her I want to say goodbye to."
"First of, I've been at you home and I have already gathered the few important belongings that were there," Mr. Jones explained as he wheeled Xander though th abbonded corridors of the hospital."And second, well we can't allow anyone to cantact persons fron their former lifes. I'm sure you understand the wish of our organisation to stay as secret as possible," explained the situation to Xander. He felt that the young man wanted to protest, so he quickly sontinued. "And if you would still do it, we would be forced to eliminate everyone you contacted
"Look mister, one phone call ,okay?" Xander almost pleed with th other man as he wheeled him out of the hospital and up to limusine. "I won't talk about anything regardin the Brotherhood."
Mr Jones sighed a he carried xander out of the wheelchair and into the back of the limosine. "Well, alright you can call one of your friends once we are at the airport."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------
"Hello?" came the voice from the other side of the line.
"Hi Cordy," Xander replied with a smile.
"Xander?" Cordelia asked excited "I was just on my way to the hospital."
"Forget it," he simply said. "I'm not longer there."
"What?" Cordelai asked shocked. "What are you doing outside of a hospital bed?"
"Well, that's a bit difficult to explain," Xander said "You see, last night a man came into my room. He offered me a special therapy with which might regain the use of my legs."
"Really? That's great," sge replied happily. "Where are you. We have to celebrate this."
"I'm at the airport," he simply said.
"What?"
"Yeah, there are a few conditions. I have to leave immediately and that can't tell anyone where I'm going. And I can't contact anyone during the thrapy" Xander explained. "I just had one phonecall"
"And you called me?" Cordelia asked.
Xander snorted "Who else do you think I would call? The people who still support miss slay a lot."
"How do you know that I don't support her," she challenged him.
"I know you Cordy. You mabe sometimes are a tactless and selfless little princess," Xander said and could imagine the outraged look on Cordelia's face."But you also have more integrety in you little finger than most people have in their whole body."
Both kept silent for a minute.
"So, do you know how long this therapy might take?" Cordelia finally asked.
"I don't know, it could be a couple of years," Xander said, trying to stick as much as possible to the truth.
"Well that means that we won't see ech other in the next few years," she stated.
"Seems like it," Xander replied.
"Xander," Cordelia said a bit shy. "I just want you to know that I don't regret anything between us."
"Same here," Xander replied with a smile.
"Just promise me one thing."
"Anything Cordy."
"Visit once you can walk again," she said.
"Promise," Xander replied truthfully
"Goodbye Xander," Cordlial finally said. "Love you."
From the sound of her voice Xander could tell that it took a lot of willpower for her to tell him this.
"Love you too Cordy. Bye," he said and hung the receiver up.
He looked at the man that stood the whole time behind him and whoe had heared every word.
"Happy?" he snapped angrily a the older man.
"You really don't understand my intention," Mr.Jones said as he wheeled Xander through the airport. "I don'r want to cause you more pain Mr. Harris. I just follow strict regulations. Regulations that existed for over two thousand years."
Xander shihed."So, where does our little journey lead."
"Europe," Mr Jones simply said."Germany to be precise. The Brotherhoods current headquater is there. We have all the instalations there to bring you back to you old form and even beyond that."
"I hope so," Xander muttered. "I've sacrificed already enough," he said as they approached the terminal.