Title: Up Over Everything (1c/?)
Author: Brooke
Email: yabbadabbadome13@yahoo.com
Rating: R
Disclaimer: I don't own anything. I wished I owned the two Xanders' from "The Replacement" though. Buffy and friends are owned by Joss, Mutant Enemy, 20th Century Fox, The UPN and whoever else has rights to the show.
Summary: Part 2 in my "Romeverse". Can the Buffy, Xander and Willow put personal issues aside to fight and survive against a growing evil – one that can strike too close to home?
Distribution: I don't know why anybody would want this, but if somebody does…sure.
Feedback: Definitely!! Tell me if it sucked or if you liked it. Whatever. Just write back!
Authors Note: Takes place in an AU season 1 where Buffy and Xander are best friends and Willow is the new girl as Sunnydale High. It is the beginning of their sophomore year and, as 15 and 16 year olds, hormones and feelings are taking center stage.
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Willow sat at the table in the middle of the room, focused on the book before her. She would occasionally glance back to Buffy, who was perched on the stairs behind her. The Slayer was, by nature, more effective on the physical aspect of the slaying, and not so much the fact finding, but had, this time, insisted on helping out with the books part. Giles had accepted her insistence, understanding her need to help get her friend back, and assigned her one of the smaller texts to look through so as to put her to as much use as possible.
"Wow!" Buffy exclaimed suddenly, drawing the attention of both Willow, from the table, and Giles from behind the reference desk. "Apparently," she continues reading from the book in her lap, "Noah rejected the hyenas from the Ark because he thought they were an evil impure mixture of dogs and cats."
Willow nodded having found similar connotations in her readings. "Hyenas aren't well liked."
"They do seem to be the schmoes of the animal kingdom," Buffy sighed and pushed herself up, walking to the table and hopping up to sit on it. She glanced down at the book Willow had been looking at and scanned one of the shorter paragraphs that seemed to have something to do with possession. The Slayer pouted suddenly, turning her gaze to the door at the opposite side of the room, "Why couldn't Xander be possessed by a puppy or, or some ducks?"
Willow faced the blonde with a sad grin, "That's assuming 'possession' is the right word."
"Oh, I'll say it is," Giles commented as he approached the girls in the center of the room, and the Slayer faced him with renewed worry. "The Masai of the Serengeti have spoken of animal possession for, for generations. I... I should have remembered that."
Buffy swallowed and cursed the fact that she hadn't remembered her conversation with the weird zookeeper earlier. Then again for allowing Xander to talk her out of going into that cave herself. Her gaze suddenly turned to Willow, and she hated that her heart clenched in anger while she watched the other girl continue to thumb through her text. If Willow hadn't decided to try to be the 'cool kid' and go in with Kyle in the first place, nobody would be in this mess. "So how does it work?" she asked suddenly focusing back on Giles in hopes of quelling what was rapidly approaching rage in the pit of her stomach.
The Watcher removed his glasses and chewed briefly on the ear piece, "Well, apparently there's a, a sect of animal worshipers known as Primals." He explained as if from memory, "They believe that humanity, uh, consciousness, uh, the soul, is a, is a perversion, a dilution of spirit. Uh, to them the animal state is holy. They are able, through trans-possession, to, to, um, draw the spirit of certain animals into themselves."
Buffy brow clenched. She didn't like what she had understood of what Giles had told her or that whoever had brought those things into Sunnydale had something planned. "And then they started acting like hyenas," she cut in, stopping the Brits stuttered explanation.
Giles looked directly at her and Buffy tried to give him and innocently apologetic grin in response. "Well, only the most predatory of animals are, are of interest to the Primals, so, uh, yes, yes, that would fit, yes." He had noticed that the girl had a bad habit of interrupting him, and then turning his explanations into the verbal equivalent of a Dr. Seuss book. His internal ranting over Buffy's lack of manners when she started questioning him again.
"So, what happens to the person once the spirit's in them?"
Giles swallowed and shook his head, not wanting to give her this information, "If it goes unchecked..."
He decided that the picture would explain what he didn't have the heart to tell her and handed Buffy a book open to the page that he had last read. The page that put all of their research into perspective, and sent the Slayer into high alert.
Buffy took the book from him and looked at the engraved black and white picture on the page. She let her eyes rove over the image: a group of men, mangled and bleeding on the ground, various limbs and…heads…strewn over the dirt. Her stomach clenched when she thought of what could happen… what was happening to Xander and his pack. That they would inevitably devour each other and she slammed the book closed, slamming it down on the table beside her. Buffy was actually shaking when she hopped off the table and headed briskly towards the door. "I gotta find Xander," she said in a quivery whisper, not looking behind her when she pushed the doors open and disappeared into the hall.
Willow watched the Slayer in a sort of frightened awe when she left the room. She had watched Buffy deal with a variety of other monsters since she had learned about the Slayer and the Hellmouth, but never had she seen that reaction from her exactly. But then again, the danger, the monster had never been so close. Buffy had the fight Jesse, would again, but Xander was something wholly different. Xander wasn't a demon. He was still him only not in control.
The redhead glanced at Giles briefly before sliding the book Buffy had deposited to her side of the table and picked up the book, finding the page Buffy had been presented with quickly. She gasped and her heart dropped at the picture she saw. Whatever Buffy would have to fight to get Xander back, and whatever Xander was doing…committing, while under the affects of this thing, was her fault.
**
Rhonda watched Buffy walk out of the library with a determined stride and growled. She was the reason that she had been exiled from her pack. She was why Xander had told her to leave, and now she was fending for herself.
The dark haired girl tightened her grip on the object in her hand and started after the small blonde. She'd been on her way running from the gym, seething at the situation, when she had passed the gym equipment locker, wide open. She hadn't really thought about it much beyond the fact that in a pack there was one alpha female – and in hers she was the only female at all. It was her position. And this nobody, this outsider, had, without even trying, displaced her from her throne. If she wanted it back she would have to fight for it, Rhonda had reasoned, when she hefted up the steel baseball bat out of the pile of sporting goods.
But there was something else, and she knew it. It was why she had picked up a weapon in the first place. Her opponent had something in her. Her competition was strong, and Rhonda could sense it, smell it, taste it even, it was so strong. She knew that she might need some extra strength to even out the struggle. She already had the element of surprise; she smiled to herself while she stalked behind Buffy, getting closer with each step, tightening her grip on the bat accordingly.
Rhonda checked up and down the hall as it emptied after the sound of the bell. She settled that it was now or never as she saw only a few straggling students left outside classrooms and slipped into swing distance, raising the bat over her shoulder with a sneer…
"That's not smart," Xander growled from behind her, gripping the girls shoulder in a painful vice grip that forced her to lower her arm.
Buffy whirled around at the sound of Xander's voice and saw his taking the metal bat from an ashamed looking Rhonda. The Slayer didn't know what to say while Xander grinned at her and then spoke directly into Rhonda's ear with a harsh whisper. "Why don't you say that you're sorry?" he smiled over her shoulder to Buffy.
Rhonda glanced up but did not meet Buffy's eyes when she spoke, still wincing under the pressure of Xander's grasp. "I'm sorry," she said quietly.
"You're sorry who?" Xander pressed, shaking her a little.
"Buffy," Rhonda said quickly. "I'm sorry Buffy."
"Good girl," Xander smirked and then shoved her a little ways down the hall, "Now run along and find Kyle."
Rhonda glanced back over her shoulder, but Xander never turned to meet her eyes. He was focused on Buffy and she dropped her head. She hadn't acted quickly enough, and even though she had been given permission to associate with her friends again, she was afraid of what would come when Xander joined them. Rhonda dropped her head again and headed down the hall, not knowing if her stomach was growling because of her fear about facing Xander again, or from hunger, as she followed Kyle's scent easily through the empty hall.
**
Xander eyed Buffy as she stood silently in front of him and tossed the bat dismissively to the side with a loud clatter. "Are you ok?" he asked with a raised eyebrow and a grin that belayed his actual concern.
Buffy cleared her dry throat and nodded. "Yeah," she swallowed nervously under Xander's hooded gaze. He was approaching her as if in the hunt, slow and methodical in his movements, head dropped as he watched her. "Thanks."
He cocked his head to the side and grinned. "Anything for you."
That threw her. That was Xander who had said it, but it wasn't in the tone. And the look in his eyes, the predatory glare, told her that his intention behind the promise was not entirely Xander either. "I've been looking for you," the Slayer steeled herself and spoke evenly, trying to match his new dominating demeanor, and he stopped short of being able to grab at her.
"Coincidence," Xander muttered and studied her eyes. Something in her change in body language had halted him, but not deterred him completely. "I've been looking for you too."
"Good thing you found me first," Buffy bit out with a forced smile as she turned towards the bat on the floor.
"She wouldn't have hurt you," he told her confidently.
Buffy raised her eyebrows doubtfully. "Would you be saying that after she introduced that bat to my head or can you see into the future?"
Xander shrugged, "The future," he replied simply and watched Buffy shirk back some. That was the signal he was waiting for and wasted no time closing the gap between them and wrapping his arms low around her waist.
Buffy's jaw clenched at his move. Normally it wouldn't bother her, but the way he looked at her now told her to be cautious of him. That any lapse in defense could end her up in a situation he didn't want her to be in, but she let him keep his hold on her. She decided that she needed to keep him calm and in her sights for as long as possible in order to ensure his safety. As long as she could keep him away from 'his pack' the picture in the book would not become a reality, and if to do that, she had to let him think that he was in control and she liked it that way, then so be it.
"She didn't want to die," he continued with a shrug, slipping one hand up Buffy's back and combing his fingers through the hair that was falling loose on her back.
Buffy leaned back to look into his eyes after he made the comment, but he didn't pause at it. "Die?" she questioned, trying to sound neutral.
He moved his hand up to the nap of her neck and smiled when he felt Buffy relax slightly, and involuntarily he noticed, under the gentle massaging of his fingers. "They know to leave you alone."
Buffy nodded and pulled back from the encirclement of his arms and grabbed his hand with a smile. She detected the implied threat and had watched how he handled Rhonda, and knew that he was in charge of the rest of them. Buffy figured that she had better play along with him; so at least, she could have the assurance that they would Kyle and them would not do anything drastic without Xander's word. She just had to keep him busy until Giles and Willow figured out how to fix them.
She fixed him with a sweet smile, trying to get him to trust her enough to do what she wanted, while not stepping on his toes, because he obviously thought he was some sort of 'alpha male'. "Lets go to class," Buffy suggested, tugging him a few steps down the hall towards the computer lab.
Xander countered her pull and shook his head slightly in resistance. "I don't wanna," he offered a play pout and stepped forwards again, this time wrapping his arms high around Buffy's shoulders.
She felt him bend down, using his nose to push aside the hair lying on her neck and she tilted her head back away from his mouth before he could kiss her there. "Nun uh," she shook her head slowly and turned in his arms again, mostly because he had arranged his hold on her securely enough for her not to e able to break it without too much of a struggle. "Class," she insisted taking leisurely steps down the hall again with Xander following her slow pace. Buffy was minorly distracted when she felt Xander's lips on her neck while she walked them to class, and she felt him smile against her spine when she swallowed under the light tracings of his tongue.
He pulled his head back when they reached the closed door of the room and halted her movement. "No class," he protested again, letting one of his arms fall from her shoulder and slip down her front. He laughed at the shocked gasp Buffy released when he grabbed her breast nonchalantly, but pouted when she quickly broke the contact by ejecting herself from his arms.
Buffy was fuming when she had turned to face her friend and her fist clenched in anger at what he had just done, but when she whirled to face him the reality of the situation reasserted itself. She saw his pout, a façade put up over his indifference at her withdraw as if he were completely unaware that he had done anything wrong at all, and she was reminded that she wasn't talking to her friend – wasn't trying to get Xander to go to class. She was dealing with something, for all intents and purposes, that was on par with a vampire. The Slayer's stomach quaked at that analogy and she felt another wave of anger rise up towards the red head she had left in the library. This thing she was dealing with was just wearing her Xander's body, and if she scared him off now she could loose him completely.
"Listen," Buffy sighed, calming herself down and plastering on another smile. "Why don't we go to class," she suggested as she stepped closer to him and gripped his arms, pulling them securely around her waste, "and work on this," she tapped his temple lightly. "And then," she smiled suggestively up at him, "when that's over, we'll go somewhere quiet and work on this," she finished by running her hands slowly down his chest and to the waste band of his pants, gently curling her fingers just over the edge underneath.
Xander growled deep in his throat and was about to offer his refusal of her plan to go to class first by simply pulling her down the hall, but she must have read his mind because she had extracted herself from him once again and had tugged him into the room. He looked around suspiciously at the kids seated at the desks and sneered slightly. He hated being surrounded by so much physical inadequacy, especially when there was better uses of his time, he thought as he cast a glance to Buffy while she pulled him to a table near the back of the room. He forced a grin when the blonde turned to smile at him and he slumped down into his seat.
Buffy looked at him, reading his anger and restlessness at his current location and moved closer to him, whispering into his ear softly. "This'll be so worth it," she promised him and caught his almost devious smirk that broke out on his face. He turned to face her, but Buffy pulled back just in time to miss the contact that his move would have created. She wanted to tease him just enough to keep him interested, and keep him in crowded places enough to not have to follow through – at least not until he was him again.
Xander looked at the side of Buffy's face while she typed on the keyboard on the desk and let his hand fall to her thigh, running it up and down in long strokes until it wandered up past where she could ignore and turned to face him. He just held her gaze, not speaking his intentions, and literally heard her heart beating despite the noise in the room. Buffy's jaw shook as she let her hand fall atop his as it moved on her thigh and stopped the movement, sliding it down until it rested on her knee. "Class," she whispered sternly, and Xander shrugged at her.
"Whatever…"
"Hey, Buffy," a male voice sounded and Xander slit his eyes as he watched Jeff take a seat on the edge of the table on Buffy's side.
She cast Xander a quick glance, reading his confrontational mood at the other boy's appearance, and then turned to Jeff. She needed to get him out of there in order to avoid a confrontation that she could feel her friend gearing up for through the tension that was now pouring off if him.
"Yeah?" Buffy asked, trying to sound indifferent.
Jeff swallowed and looked down at the blonde girl and her…lap dog, was the best word he could think of to define Xander. He hated the kid now. Ever since he had told him that he wanted to ask Buffy to Winter Fest he had been all over her, just to spite him. But just because Harris seemed to have attached himself to Buffy's hip didn't mean that they couldn't still hang out. "I, uh…I…"
"I…uh…I…" Xander mimicked with a chuckle. "Wanna get that sentence out."
Jeff shot his teammate a glare and noticed the location of his hand as it had reclaimed it's position on Buffy's upper thigh. He darted his eyes between the girl and her friend and chose to keep speaking. "I'm having this thing on Saturday night," he stated clearly and looking directly into Buffy's eyes, "You should show."
"A thing?" Buffy's eyebrow raised and felt Xander's grip tighten beside her.
Jeff shrugged and dropped his voice an octave. "Well, my parents are going AWOL so…never look a gift house in the mouth." He laughed a little bit, "So, can I expect you?"
Xander snorted out loud and sat up straighter in his chair, "She's busy…"
"Are you?" Jeff asked Buffy. "It's probably going to last a while, I'm sure you could at least stop by for a few minutes. It'd mean a lot to me."
Buffy glanced to Xander and found him continuing to eye Jeff, "I have to check. I think I…I have some things to take care of, I mean…"
Jeff swallowed nervously "And here I got up the courage to ask you without Cordelia…"
Buffy gave him a genuine grin and she continued. "We can try," she offered hopefully, dropping her hand to Xander's and discreetly moving it back down to her knee.
"We." Jeff nodded and stared into Xander's large condescending smile. "Alright," he settled. "I'll be expecting you guys." He slit his eyes at Xander but spoke to Buffy and smiled at her, "I'll give you a call with the deets."
"Ok," she nodded.
"Right." Jeff tapped the table with his finger and pushed himself up. "I'll see you around, Buffy." She nodded at him as he walked away.
"How'd he get your number?" Xander asked, drawing Buffy's attention away from watching the other boy retreat back to his table.
She picked up the disapproving undercurrents in his questioning tone, "Probably from the team directory or something – or maybe from Cordelia," she answered without thinking. She cursed the fact that she didn't anticipate the situation well enough to maneuver her way around it because the next thing Buffy knew she saw a sneer spread across his dark features just before he pushed himself out of the seat.
"I'm outta here," Xander huffed and headed for the door at a brisk pace.
"Xan!" Buffy called, drawing the stares of her classmates as she pushed herself out of her seat, "Shit."
"Sorry I'm la…" the teacher, Ms. French, was cut off when Xander collided with her shoulder on his way out of the room. "Alright," she turned and spoke to his back when he didn't stop to acknowledge her in the doorway. "It had better be an emergency Mr. Harris!"
Ms. French turned into the classroom with a good natured smile on her face, only to be forced to jump put of Buffy's way as she headed for the door. "Ms. Summers'," she called out before Buffy could escape, but the Slayer only slowed her pace.
"Sorry Ms. French," she gave a shaky grin while trying to work out an excuse on the move. "I forgot my…computer…controller," she offered while moving her hand around as if she were using a joystick. "It's in my locker; I'll be right back…" Buffy didn't stop for a response before she turned and headed out of the room, letting the door shut behind her.
Buffy scanned the now empty hall for signs of Xander and hoped that Ms. French was as cool as she had made herself out to be earlier in the year. She couldn't afford having the school call her parents and tell them about her running out of class – and she had actually intended on going to that one, too.
She headed slowly down the hall, examining the closed doors and sighed. He had probably already found the others and they were probably ripping each others heads of as she though. Buffy sighed and turned to head back to the library, needing to find out what she should do next from Giles, but stopped when she spotted the door of the Faculty Room propped open. The Slayer narrowed her eyes and crept towards the room, softly pushing open the door the rest of the way when she reached it.
Empty.
Buffy shook her head and studied the room that she had put Herbert in earlier that day, but now only found his mangled cage left on the table in the center. She approached it and picked up one of the bones scattered about the surface of the wood. "They are strong," she exhaled, sifting her fingers through the pig's remains. She had been afraid for her friend before, but looking at the bent and broken cage put things in a perspective that was all too real.
"He was a cute little guy," Xander said from behind her and Buffy whipped around to face his calm voice, the bone she was hold clattering to the floor in the process. "We'll all miss him." He sighed and shut the door softly behind himself, starting slowly toward her.
"Xander," she breathed and shook her head to clear it. She had never known him to be able to sneak up on anybody like that, especially not her since she had become the Slayer. Add to that the fact that he had shut the door and seemed to be stalking towards her and she was on red alert, trying to read what his next move would be; but unfortunately she was coming up empty – his eyes belaying nothing outside of an obvious intent to make her earlier promises good, and she tried to back up a step. "You scared me."
"I know," he said simply and stopped in front of her.
Buffy sighed and shook her head at his response, "Why'd you leave class?" she tried, trying to keep her distance as well as keep the conversation light.
He licked his lips slowly and watched his friends eyes dart to them momentarily. She was probably thinking the same thing that he was – it had been way too long…she wanted him and he knew it. "Same reason you left to follow me."
Buffy let out an uneasy laugh, "If I were following you, you wouldn't be behind me." Xander shrugged at her and closed the distance between them. Buffy tensed involuntarily, but relaxed when instead of reaching out to touch her, his hand grazed pass her side and settled on the tabled behind her, leveraging himself to lean into her. "Look," she huffed and slid out from in front of him to the side. "This is ridiculous."
"I agree," Xander cocked his head to the side and eyed her, starting towards her again slowly. Silently backing her up across the room with a devious smirk in place.
"Well, good," Buffy nodded and licked her lips nervously – Xander's eyes locking on hers, just as she had forced herself not to do to his. "Lets just go to the library. We need to see Giles."
Xander shook his head coolly. "You promised me something," he raised one eyebrow.
The Slayer saw the wall behind her and realized that she had to act now, or be backed into a corner literally. "Let's just go to the library," she tried again. "We need to talk."
"You said a quiet place," Xander reiterated in a completely non-menacing voice despite his inconspicuously threatening actions. "I gotta admit, I'm kinda anxious to see how you're going to take care of this," he smirked and unfastened his belt in one swift move.
"Whoa!" Buffy gulped and tried to side step him out of the trap he was trying to back her into. He matched her move to the right and she quickly faked to the left to evade him, but he caught that move as well; keeping her back to the wall. Buffy set herself and prepared for her last ditch move in this situation, giving no warning before she jumped at him, sending them both to the ground with her straddling his stomach, but effectively clearing the path to the door. She utilized her superior strength and grabbed his arms, pinning them to his sides. They needed to get to Giles and he had to listen to her long enough to understand why.
Before Buffy could talk she found herself looking down at Xander's satisfied smirk. He held her eyes and shifted his hips up against hers, rocking slightly, and she knew that she had not considered this plan nearly enough. Xander smiled at her loss of concentration and peered up at her, "Knew you were waitin' to jump my bones."
**
Rhonda kept her head down as she approached the steps that Kyle and Tor were seated on, but, despite her silence they both turned to face her when she approached.
The two boys eyed her momentarily before Kyle pushed Tor over and made room for her to sit beside her. "Sorry," she muttered, keeping her eyes locked ahead.
"S'alright," Tor offered unemotionally while Kyle just sighed.
"Have you seen Xander?" he asked instead, locking his eyes with hers defiantly. Almost as a teat to see if she still belonged with them.
"Yeah," she swallowed, finally raising her gaze to meet both of theirs for a short moment. "He was inside with Bu…"
"You three!" Mr. Flutie announced loudly as he approached them. He had been looking for them all morning, and now it wasn't just for skipping class – although he'd get them for that, too. "Where's Harris?" he asked when he reached them.
"What?" Kyle asked with a defiant smirk in place.
Mr. Flutie fumed, "Oh, don't think I don't know. Now where's Harris?" he challenged their dismissive attitudes.
Tor raised his eyebrows, "Probably in class," he offered before leaning into Rhonda, sniffing her briefly.
Flutie narrowed his eyes at the troublemakers, but dismissed the answer, "Three kids saw you two outside Herbert's room. You're busted! Yeah! You're goin' down."
"How is Herbert?" Kyle asked looking into the principal's eyes.
"A little crunchy," Tor answered for him with a grin.
The two boys broke into a laugh that Rhonda joined in on despite her confusion as to what was going on, and Mr. Flutie set his incensed glare on all three of the kids. "That's it!" he shouted, now intending on making all three of them pay. Nobody may have seen the girl, per say, but where those two chuckleheads went, she was never far behind. "My office, right now," he demanded to louder more adamant laughter. "NOW!" he pointed back into the school.
Kyle stopped laughing abruptly and stood to his feet, glaring right into the man's eyes before raising his hand behind him to stop Tor and Rhonda's cackles. He broke the stare down and headed inside to where Flutie had pointed and the other two followed, Principle Flutie taking up the rear while he continued to rant.
"You're gonna have so much detention, your grandchildren'll be staying after school." He sneered at them as he made his way to the front of the line and pushed open his office door.
He reached his desk and leant against the front of it while the teens filed in and stood in front of him, all three keeping their eyes trained to the floor. Mr. Flutie crossed his arms over his stomach and shook his head, "I have seen some sick things in my life! Believe me! But this is beyond the pale! What is it with you people?"
Flutie narrowed his eyes when Kyle raised his eyes to meet his, not offering an explanation but making some sort of high pitched noise in his throat. He let his arms fall to his sides when the other teens followed suit and all of them started mulling around the small office slowly – watching him as the moved in a sort of choreographed stalk.
"Is it drugs?" he pressed, shaking off their behavior momentarily. "How could you? A poor defenseless pig?" Flutie's voice trailed off when he noticed that they had surrounded him, the whining noise that they were all making flooding the room. "What are you doing?"
**
Xander growled low in his throat and shifted his legs, making up for not having the use of his arms with extra thigh muscle and rolled Buffy over onto her back – he used her hesitation a the unexpectedness of the move and reversed their positions, pinning her arms above her head while he peered down at her with a smirk from the cradle of her thighs.
"Get off of me," Buffy demanded harshly when he rocked his hips into hers again and she felt her skirt riding up at his move. She had been uneasy before, but, as she struggled against his grip, she was bordering terrified that he was proving to be a match for her in sheer physical strength. She didn't want to have to go for the check-mate that would undoubtedly end up hurting him, but he seemed bent on pushing his luck.
Xander bent down and ran his tongue over her neck, up the side and to her earlobe which he bit at lightly. "Is that what you really want?" he purred in her ear while she continued to struggle against him – writhing in a way that he really had no problem with, as she was involuntarily countering his movements. "No," he pulled back with a small grin. "We both know what you really want," Xander was content to have the conversation with himself. "What you've been after for months…you want danger, don't cha Slayer?"
Buffy flinched at the cruel taunt in his voice and shook her head. He was trying to get into her mind – he was succeeding at getting into her mind. She had told Xander before about the calling she heard every night after sun down. Something – some force that pulled her to the hunt now. She had told him that sometimes she didn't feel herself until her was out patrolling the darkness…and this thing had remembered that.
"You like your men dangerous, too huh?" His words came out mumbled against Buffy's chin as she had lifted her head to dodge his kiss. "That why you dig on that Angel guy following you? You like mean guys…maybe meaner than me."
Buffy gasped when he spat the vampire's name out – one thing she had never mentioned to him was her inappropriate fascination with her Protector. It was obviously something Xander had been dealing with on his own, had pieced together based solely on the fact that she had allowed Angel to continue to exist in the town, that she insisted on patrolling with his numerous times. Didn't he stop to realize that maybe she had made that sacrifice for his benefit, for extra protection for his and Willow's safety…
"That's not true and you know it," Buffy argued, sliding back on the floor a little to shift Xander's position against her. "You're in trouble, Xan," she offered when he matched her move, keeping her where he wanted her while continuing to grind against her. "You are infected with some hyena thing; it's like a demonic possession!"
Xander ignored her plea and his jaw shook at the sensations swamping his body, but growled in frustration. He had her right where he wanted her, but he couldn't do anything about it unless he released her hands, undoubtedly setting her free. "Well," he barked, switching his grip and grasping both of her wrists with one hand. He smiled at the change and slid his free hand down Buffy's side until he reached the hem of her skirt and slipped his fingers underneath – skimming the bare skin of her thigh while she increased her efforts to get free. Xander watched her eyes go wide when he hooked his fingers around the waist band of her panties and tugged minutely, "Guess who just got mean," he growled down at her.
**
Mr. Flutie set himself and tried to move calmly behind his desk to put some distance between himself and the kids, but found them matching his movements. "Now, stop that!" he demanded, while they moved to the front of the desk, staring him in the eyes. "You're only gonna make things worse for yourselves," he decided to reassert his authority, "I tell you how this is gonna work: I am gonna call your parents, and they are gonna take you all home."
He reached for his phone, but snatched his hand back in surprise when Tor beat him to it with a swift move, and continued to stare him down. Peering at him with hooded eyes. Mr. Flutie tried to match his gaze, but was unable to withhold his fear mixed with confusion and then gestured with an out stretched hand to be given the phone.
Tor felt Kyle move behind him and grunt deep in his throat, a low tenor that broke his resolve and he handed over the phone to the principal.
Mr. Flutie snatched it from the boy's hand and huffed out harshly, "Thank you." He reached for the keypad and pulled it to the other side of the desk to dial, but was halted this time when Rhonda tore it away from him and threw it off of the desk, ripping the cord from the wall.
Rhonda's laugh preceded her false apology, but she still smiled menacingly sweetly. "I'm sorry..."
"That is it!" Mr. Flutie shouted, taken aback by her actions…all of their actions. He stormed from around his desk and tried to push his way through Tor and Kyle, who had taken positions in front of him, but Kyle growled and lunged at him enough to startle him back a step. Flutie swallowed in a newly brimmed terror at the boy as he fell back into his seat and watched his with wide eyes. The three kids surrounding him again, now all growling and sniffing him with demonic grins of their features.
Mr. Flutie's voice shook as his eyes darted between the three disturbed teens, "You're about this close to expulsion, people!" He pushed himself back up from his rotating chair and faced Kyle. "I'm willing to talk to the school counselor, and we can discuss options..."
He tried to get past them again, but Rhonda pushed him backwards again, sending him back into the chair, and he was distracted from responding when Tor climbed onto his desk and growled openly at him, the boy's teeth bared in his face.
"Get down from there this instant!" Flutie demanded through a set jaw. He had been briefed on how to handle drug addicted students, but had never once been presented with how to act in a situation like this. He tried to remain calm, but he was becoming genuinely scared of these kids.
Rhonda used his divergence in attention and moved to the principal's side, snapping her hand out and racking her nails down the side of his face.
Flutie whipped around to face her, his hand covering his face before withdrawing it and studying the blood that had coated his fingers. "Are you insane?!" he asked her with wide eyes, finally allowing the pure terror to leak from his voice.
Tor watched him focus on Rhonda and took the opportunity to jump on him from the desk. Kyle smiled and tilted his head to Rhonda who laughed and jumped onto the principal after Tor, Kyle right behind her.
Kyle didn't wait to see what Tor of Rhonda was doing; he simply bit into a free space on the man's abdomen – tasting the blood in his mouth while screams echoed the room from their joint attacks as they fed.
**
Xander dropped his nose into the crook of Buffy's neck and traced her jaw with the tip of his tongue, and he heard her sigh – a mixture of frustration and a sort of welcome approval…egging him on. "Do you know how long..." he punctuated with a thrust of his hips, and let the hand under her skirt wander to the front, "I've waited... until you…"
Buffy swallowed when his hand probed between her legs and she used his break in concentration the break her hands free of his grasp and throwing him off of her. She jumped quickly to her feet and faced him with a hard stare, trying to straighten her clothing without taking her eyes away from him. Xander dropped his head while he stood up to face her, he didn't waste any time by being put off at her rejection and approached her fluidly.
"Until you..." he was breathing slightly panted breaths while he resumed his task in backing her across the room, "Stop kidding yourself that we won't be together? You just keep playing these games…leading me on and taking what you want…"
Buffy shook her head at his accusations. No matter what he was saying about her indecisiveness, one thing was clear. And that was that Xander could give a rat's ass about her not being his official girlfriend right now. That was blazingly clear as she glanced down at the slight tenting of the front of his pants and took another step back. "Look, Xander," the Slayer cut him off, "I don't wanna hurt you..."
He startled her by grabbling the unsuspecting Slayer by the shoulders and slamming her back against the vending machine, ending her speech by actions. "Now do you wanna hurt me?" he taunted while looking directly into her eyes while they tried to focus on the room again.
Buffy shook her head to clear it of the stars that sprung up when the back of her head connected with the soda machine. She struggled against his hold, but Xander held her in place, seemingly using no exertion to counter her efforts.
"Come on, Slayer," Xander breathed again, his dark eyes searching hers, then scanning over her face while he pinned her body back with his. "I like it when you're scared."
Buffy's continued to struggle, weighing her remaining options in the situation. He was definitely going to do something that they both would regret if she didn't stop him, and she realized that whatever had been left of Xander throughout the day so far had melted away into nothingness now. "You don't want this, Xan," Buffy pleaded with him as he continued to push her. "Not like this…"
Xander ignored her voice completely, "The more I scare you," he took a deep breath just above her head, "the better you smell." He dove in, not wasting anymore time and forced his mouth onto hers, kissing her roughly and forcing her to move with him.
Buffy cursed that his kiss wasn't completely one sided and she pulled back breathlessly. "Xander stop it," she swallowed deeply and turned to escape another kiss. "You know you don't want it like this." She could only hope that there was an ounce of humanity left in her friend – something that she could still appeal to…
Xander grabbed her shoulders again and growled in increased frustration. "You're right," he sneered and tossed her easily from the machine and across the room. Buffy stumbled with the harsh movement and stopped herself short of tumbling over the backrest of the couch Where the fuck is the faculty?! she screamed to herself, just wanting a diversion.
"I want it like this." Xander was leaning over her back before she could stand up again and he grabbed her ass roughly through her short skirt.
Buffy slipped her leg around his and locked it between his from behind; pulling roughly and causing him to stumble back in the table. She thought she had a chance to breathe, but Xander was back upright in a second.
He grabbed her viciously and swung her around again, this time bending her over the table that was formerly behind them and covered her back with his body again. Buffy clenched her eyes shut when he didn't waste any time sliding his hand back under her skirt and she felt the waste band of her underwear tear after a hard tug.
Buffy's jaw clenched angrily and she forced herself away from the table with a hard shove and sent Xander stumbling backwards. She had had enough and there was no more talking to him…she quickly snatched up a text book she saw lying idle on the table and turned to face him. She aimed before she turned and as not to waist any time and flinched as the flat of the heavy book connected solidly with her friend's temple, turning him around before sending him to the floor.
The Slayer stood, book raised, and still on the defensive while she waited for him to push himself up, but it didn't happen. Xander stayed face down on the linoleum floor and Buffy swallowed before tossing the book aside.
"I'm sorry, Xan," she muttered to him as she ducked beside him and rolled him onto his back. She studied his relaxed features, a drastic contrast to the uniform devious grin he had been sporting earlier, and grinned to herself before running her fingers through his hair. Unconscious Xander was her Xander. Buffy sighed and gripped his forearms to pull him into a sitting position. She took another deep breath and hefted his limp frame onto her shoulder, only struggling briefly with his bulky dimensions before hurrying out of the room and back to the library.
~*~*~
Willow was watching footage of feeding hyenas – tearing into a mutilated carcass - on the computer monitor with a morbid fascination. She couldn't believe that anybody would ever want to invoke this type of power for anything, let alone that Xander was running around with the potential to carry this type of carnage out. But according to what Giles had found, he was heading for this fast. Hopefully, Buffy had had some luck…
She looked up when the blonde in question huffed her way through the swinging doors, and jumped to her feet when she saw her carrying Xander over her shoulder.
Buffy winced and tried to walk faster. While she could support Xander's weight it was straining her neck and there was a shooting pain from her arm on up, "Hurry up," she bit out in more discomfort than anger, "We gotta get him locked up somehow before he comes to."
Willow ran to the cage and flung open the steel door a worried look in her eyes, "Oh, my God! What happened?!"
Buffy huffed out a breath and slid Xander onto the floor inside the cage as gently as possible, so as not to cause him anymore physical damage, "I hit him," she admitted while arranging him in a comfortable position.
"With what?" the redhead asked while eyeing their unconscious friend while Buffy passed her and walked back into the room.
"Book." Buffy mentioned not looking back. "Shut the cage," she told Willow while she slumped into her vacated seat and watched the loop of the hyena video that had been playing on the screen. "He tried his hand at felony sexual assault," Buffy said absently and heard the clang of the door closing and locking in place.
Willow faced her with an upset look plaguing her wide green eyes, "Oh, Buffy, the hyena in him didn't..." She knew that there was a clear difference between normal Xander and this one, and she could read by Buffy's quiet demeanor that the Slayer knew too – but was having a more difficult time distinguishing the two.
Buffy sighed and shook her head, "No. But it's safe to say that in his animal state his idea of wooing doesn't involve a Yanni CD and a bottle of Chianti." She watched as Willow approached her and sat in the seat across from her. "Hopefully that oughtta hold him," she glanced back at Xander lying on the floor in the cage before turning back to her friend, "Where's Giles?"
Willow trained her vision to the boy in the cage, her tone mirroring the dejected look in Buffy's eyes. "He got called to some teacher's meeting," she said recalling vaguely, but then jumped back to Xander's fate, "What are we gonna do? I mean... how do we get Xander back?"
Buffy was about to answer, uncertain of a plan, but sure that something needed to be done right away when Giles entered the library again – a sort of lost look clouding his face.
Buffy sighed and tucked some of her fallen hair behind her ear before speaking "I got him outta the situation," she gestured back to Xander, "Right now I'm a little more worried about what the rest of the pack are up to."
Giles spoke up and let his weight fall to his hands as he leant between Buffy and Willow against the table. "The rest of the pack were spotted outside Herbert the mascot's cage. They were sent to the principal's office."
"Good!" Willow exclaimed happily – the situation finally getting under control "That'll show 'em." But her expression faltered at Giles' silence and she swallowed, "Did it show 'em?"
Giles exhaled a deep breath but remained silent, his brow furrowing as he searched for what to say.
Buffy spoke up first, her voice holding a grave inquisitiveness. "They didn't hurt him, did they?"
Giles turned to look her in the eyes. This girl may be immature at times, but every now and then something would break through. Something that told him that innocence was fast fleeing and any attempts at joking or making light were mere exercises to try to keep that from happening completely. To protect herself from being drained by this world too quickly – times like this. "They, uh..." Giles shook his head and broke their gaze, "Ate him."
Willow slumped back hard in her seat, eyes wide and focused ahead and Buffy's expression matched hers. Both trying to process what Giles had just told them.
"They ate Principal Flutie?" Buffy asked her question saturated with a flood of childlike wonder at what evils were in the world.
Willow repeated her question, still not looking directly at anybody, "Ate him up?
Giles nodded and removed his glasses, cleaning them studiously, "The, uh, official theory is that wild dogs got into his office somehow. There was no one at the scene."
"But Xander didn't," Willow added hopefully and spoke to Buffy who shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "He, he was with you."
Giles turned and noticed a still unconscious Xander locked in the cage. "Oh!" he said relieved, "Uh, well, that's a small mercy."
Buffy turned serious, turning to look at the boy in the cage while speaking to her Watcher, "Giles, how do we stop this? How do you trans-possess someone?" As the Slayer she couldn't stand idly by and let people be killed – and she couldn't and wouldn't let that burden fall on any of her friend's shoulders, especially not his.
Giles shook his head, "I-I'm afraid I still don't have all the pieces." He headed back to the desk and pulled out the book he had studied earlier. "Um, the accounts of the Primals and their methods are a bit thin on the ground," he explained to the girls, "There is some talk of a-a-a predatory act, but the exact ritual is, is, um...The Malleus Maleficarum deals in particulars of demonic possession, which... may apply..." He thumbed through the bookmarked pages unaware of the lost look in Buffy's eyes before he found what he was looking for, "Yes, one, one should be able to transfer the spirits to another human."
"Oh, that's great." Buffy sighed sarcastically, "Any volunteers?"
Giles didn't catch her unspoken joke while his mind worked through the situation feverously, "Oh. Good point."
Buffy shifted restlessly in her chair, about to stand but deciding against it. She simply crossed her arms over her stomach, "What we need to do is put the hyena back in the hyena."
Giles nodded at her logic, but recognized that it was easier said that done, "We just need to know more, uh..."
Buffy spoke up again, having connected the dots before he could complete his thought, "Betcha that zookeeper could tell us," she quirked an eyebrow to Willow. She had seen the possession happen – had been there at the scene… she knew just as much about what happened first hand as Buffy did, and her perspective would need to be put to use in order to get everybody back to normal. To get her best friend back. "Maybe he didn't quarantine those hyenas because they were sick," she suggested.
Giles nodded to her when he saw her waiting for his approval. "We should talk to him."
Buffy nodded, actually fighting the itch to run out after the weird man who had called her illiterate and beat him for bringing this crap into her town. "Okay. I need to change, then I'm gone," she told them, standing up slowly, now more aware than before of Xander's actions in the faculty room. She headed briskly for the doors but stopped just as she reached the exit and turned to face her Watcher and friend. "Oh, wait, somebody's gotta watch Xander." She locked eyes with Giles. Buffy had been hoping that he would be able to drive her to the zoo, but he seemed like the most formidable match for Xander should he wake up…
"I will." Willow interrupted her thoughts and stood up to face the Slayer. "I mean…this…he went it after…"
Buffy shook her head, dismissing her friend's guilt trip simply because she didn't have time to deal with it. "Will, are you sure?" she asked skeptically. Willow couldn't even face her with complete confidence right now – and Xander had managed to shake her with some of the things he had said. "If he wakes up..."
Willow gulped and held her hand out for the keys to the cage, "I'll be alright," she assured. "Go."
Buffy hesitated for a moment but dropped the keys into Willow's awaiting hand. She had a zookeeper to rough up for information, and she knew she would do it with lighting quick accuracy. She didn't have time to waste messing around with this man, and then she'd be right back. Nothing could happen in the half hour she set aside before she would have her Xander back – Willow would be fine here by herself for that time.
"Go get the car," Buffy turned to Giles and spoke decisively, causing the older man to jump into action. "I'll go get some sweats and meet you outside."
Willow watched the Slayer and Watcher leave the room before turning to face Xander in the cage. She swallowed and slipped back into her seat at the table and pulled a book over to continue researching and set the key on the table beside her as she settled into the quiet.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The End Part 1c