Setting Things Right
Author: Anime Ronin
Disclaimer: See previous chapters – I'm lazy.
AN: No, I will not describe what was said in the conversation – FF.NET forbids that level of swearing, I believe – so we'll just have to make due with our over-active imaginations on just what was said.
AN2: As to the my actually writing out the e-mails in the last chapter, yes, it was a way of apologizing for both Alex and myself for putting out such crap in his overly-dramatic departure from Sunnydale and his actions up to that point. I would like to thank Queen Boadicea for being as truthful as she was – had she not planted the proverbial axe in my skull, I probably wouldn't have written that last chapter and the story would have well and truly sucked.
AN3: At the end of this chapter the winner of the 'Lynda's friend/acquaintance/pain-in-the-ass' should be named ... or not, I haven't decided.
Chapter 6: Of Bullets, Computers and Lightning Bolts
The next morning after sending out the e-mails to Sunnydale, Alex's ears were still ringing from the verbal filleting he had been given from Giles – up until that point he had never really thought the former dark mage capable of such language, but the variety of topics and the wordage used the previous day had set Alex back on his heels with awe and had even left more than a few still-tender wounds on his psyche.
Shaking off those wounds, he set off on his morning work outs and to make breakfast, as both Lynda and Faith had gone out the previous night on a quick patrol and had run into a small, well, to him a small gang of vampires that numbered twenty and had dusted only ten before both parties decided that discretion was the better part of valor. Quite frankly the both of them looked like hammered dog meat when they returned, so he figured that they were due a good, hearty breakfast that morning.
"Morning, Alex." Faith's voice made him jump slightly and turn as he reached the bottom of the stairs; she was dressed in a pair of sweats and a tank top with socks, but she appeared to be disgustingly chipper that morning, "Ready to work out?"
"What are you doing up, Faith? You barely got in three hours ago."
She shrugged and began to stretch out, "I never was much of a sleeper, and I guess being a Slayer lets us need less sleep."
He shook himself off, clearing his mind of the view he was getting of Faith's backside, intentional or not, and started stretching out as well; the differences between this Faith and the Faith he had known in Sunnydale was remarkable – she didn't ooze sex appeal or inspire wanton lust in all she passed, but rather it was almost understated and snuck up on you if you allowed it to. She wasn't as brash or snarky about things, but not timid or even normal – she was Faith, in her element, and completely comfortable in the fact that she could handle anyone or anything that came her way.
They worked through the push ups, crunches, chin ups and pull ups without a word, Faith matching him move for move, and then he started out on the Tai Chi, as it was bitingly cold that morning; at first it was not noticeable, but it soon became apparent that Faith was having problems centering herself to move properly, so Alex stopped and turned to look at her, "Is there anything wrong, Faith? You're not centered, so you can't do your moves properly."
She blew out a slightly frustrated sigh, "Nothing you would understand, Alex. You're normal."
Alex couldn't help it, he barked out with involuntary laughter that turned into a cackle as he let some of the Hyena shine through and could feel his eyes glow, "Honey, I am a lot of things, but normal isn't one of them. Now what's wrong?" His eyes shifted back and the world lost some of its sharp definition that his Hyena eyesight allowed for.
She shook herself off slightly and looked back at him, "I can't sleep. I can fall asleep but then something wakes me up and I can't get more than an hour at a time."
Alex frowned, "Have you told Lynda? How long has this been going on?"
"Since the first night you were here." She looked hard at him, "What happened?
He had hoped she would not have remembered or known what had happened, but seeing, as he could not get out of it, he planned for the worst, "You were having one hell of a nightmare and Lynda wasn't having too much luck subduing you; I used my strength to hold you in place until you calmed down and went to sleep."
Faith looked slightly troubled by this revelation, "You're stronger than me?"
"At my fullest, yes, but barely. I don't like using my strength any more than I have to and at that point in time it was necessary; forgive me for it." He didn't want Faith to distrust him any more than she did; it would make things harder than they already were.
For a moment she was quiet, looking into his eyes and once again Xander found himself getting lost within her gaze; he new that she needed a friend, but if things kept going like they were he may have trouble defining where the line of 'friend' ended and 'mate' began.
"Alright, but I want to see your strength, full-out, later on." Her voice was neutral but he could tell that she was taking a big chance with what she was saying.
"Okay, but first you get back to bed because this morning, you and Lynda get breakfast in bed by me." He saw something spark in her eyes, "Any preferences?"
"Pancakes? With bacon and eggs?"
He smiled, "Sure. Sunny-side up?" Her smile almost lit up the room and he shooed her out of the kitchen, "Good, get comfortable and I'll be up there in a while." He had barely finished the sentence when she was already on her feet and up the stairs; she apparently liked breakfast in bed, so he'd have to remember it for special occasions.
It took him half of an hour to find and cook all the necessary things for breakfast and then another ten minutes looking for suitable trays; he took Faith her things first and almost lost a hand when she started to wolf down the pancakes – they looked funny, like they were Mickey Mouse with lop- sided ears, but they were cooked and good. Easing his way out of her room, he went to the end of the hall and slowly opened it, making sure that Lynda wasn't undressing or anything; when he saw that it was clear and she was stirring in her bed, he opened the door and walked in.
"Lynda?"
"Hmmmph," came the muffled reply from under the comforter. The lump moved slightly and the edge of the comforter edged down to reveal the half-asleep face of Lynda Price with her normally immaculate hair, as straight as could be and devoid of anything bad, looking like a rat's nest with it's frizzy nature and bed-head look, "Alex? What are you doing in my (yawn) bedroom?"
He smiled, the smart-ass in him coming to the forefront, "Seducing you with breakfast in bed." At her slightly piqued look he expanded, "Bacon, eggs, pancakes, toast, marmalade, some fruit and your breakfast tea, one sugar, and one cream."
She smiled blearily and sat up, revealing that she did indeed sleep in pink flannel pajamas with a yawning teddy bear on the left breast; he held his snicker in place as he placed the tray on to her lap and unveiled her breakfast, "Bon Appetite, Madame."
She took a sniff of the tea and then the pancakes, which lacked the mouse ears of Faith's, and then smiled up at him, "Consider your seduction of me complete for the moment. Now, if you will excuse me," she dove into her own breakfast with much the same gusto as Faith had, only he was far enough away to not get caught in the feeding frenzy.
+++
With breakfast finished and clear away, they set about their daily chores and dealings; school started in a little over a week and Alex would be attending school with Faith to keep an eyes on her – when asked, Lynda revealed that she was a day trader and was actually very good at it. Alex wasn't against the idea of school, but technically he had already graduated high school and wasn't all that keen on going back again, even if he did get to hang around with Faith all day long.
The doorbell rang and Lynda called back, "Alex! Door!"
Alex walked forwards and saw the UPS deliveryman with his dolly and two packages, "Yes?"
"Alex Harris?"
"Yes." He handed over his California driver's license and then signed for the packages, "Thanks, man."
"Whadda ya got there, Alex?" Faith poked her nose over his shoulder as he inspected the two packages, "Plain brown-wrapper boxes? You're ordering porn and sex toys behind our backs and not planning on sharing, Alex? Shame on you!"
He could hear Lynda's laugh echo from the back of the house and he looked over at Faith, "No, miss gutter brain. These are the things I had G-man send me from California." Putting them both on the front table, he opened the first and saw that his SOCOM had been disassembled before being packed, saw all of his mags were full and then the supply of ammunition he had procured in LA.
"Wicked." Faith breathed over his shoulder as he put the SOCOM together with quick, practiced movements and locked a mag of special bullets into the gun, racking the slide, "Cool! Can I try it out?"
He gave her a look, "Does this LOOK like a toy to you, Faith? Until Lynda gives her say-so and you get licensed, no." He then opened the other box and put the UMP together, attaching the suppressor, scope, sling and fitting the forward grip into place before slapping in a mag and racking the bolt mechanism. "Good to go."
"Lynda, can I PLEASE have one of those?" He looked over to see Lynda had come into the room and Faith was dong her best to make puppy dog eyes at the older woman, "PLEASE!" Had it been Dawn making that level of pleading, he would have given her anything, including a kidney if so desired, but with Faith the 'innocents defined' look didn't look right.
"No, Faith."
"But he gets to have them!" Faith started to pout and it was all he could do not to chuckle.
"But he has a license for both weapons, Faith."
"So get me one, too!" She was in full pout mode and Alex found himself trying even harder not to laugh, while Lynda's resolve was quickly fading under Faith's mostly sincere brown eyes.
"No Faith."
"YES!"
"NO!"
"YES, YES, YES!"
"NO, NO, NO, NO!"
"YESYESYESYESYESYESYESYES!"
Lynda's jaw set resolutely, "No, times infinity plus one."
"Y- ... damn."
Alex couldn't handle it anymore and felt to the ground, howling in laughter as the Slayer and Watcher went back and forth like a pair sisters or best friends, or Buffy and Willow in some cases.
+++
Alex and Faith stepped into the 'Whiz Kids' computer store to pick up his system; Diane had called an hour before and Lynda was waiting outside – Faith was not, Alex told himself, present for protection from Diane, even if both were dressed in leather pants, halter tops and looked absolutely mate-worthy. "Diane."
"Harris." The now-electric-blue haired woman smiled prettily at him and then looked oddly at Faith, "And this is?"
"Faith, the friend that I came to help out. Now, to business; the system is ready, right?"
Diane smiled, "Yes it is; fired it up this morning and tested it out personally – it was hard to decide what to do with it, so I ran it through the paces." She stated the balance on his system and then accepted his cash, "You know, Harris, you never did give me an answer on my offer from last time – ya want something to eat?" The sex appeal oozed out of her voice and for a split second, Alex was VERY tempted to say yes, but Faith beat him to answering.
"Sorry, honey, but he has something to eat at the house – a variety, actually." He didn't have to look at her to see the smile on her face; he could feel it from where he was looking over the list of things in the system.
"Oh really? Are they of good quality?"
"Some of the best you can get around these parts," he chipped in absently as he bundled up the packet she had handed over. "Now, can we see it?"
"That's a loaded question, Alex," Faith snickered as Diana began to blush lightly.
In a little over twenty minutes Diana showed he and Faith all she had done to the computer and what she had loaded on to the hard drive; there was a copious amount of flirting between all three parties and while Alex found it occasionally difficult to keep his mind on business, it felt good to be able to forget just who he had started to become.
"Damn," he cursed even as his phone buzzed in his pocket – he had jinxed it, "Go."
"Alex, we have a slight situation that you need to be apprised of; Kakistos in now in Boston and hunting Faith."
"Location and Defenses?"
"I shall have them sent to your e-mail," Lex promised just before he killed the connection.
"Shit." He looked over at where both Faith and Diana, both of whom looked very worried, "I need to get into my e-mail, now." He went to the computer that Diana gestured to and quickly entered his account, noting that Dawn had left a message that read 'OPEN RIGHT NOW, XANDER', but forwent it and opened the post by Lex, reading it for a moment, "Well this isn't good."
"What is it, Alex?" Faith looked over his shoulder and read the note, "Who is Kakistos?"
"Master Vampire who has just gotten into town and is already hunting you."
"What'd I ever do to him?"
"You were Called, Faith. He's one bad hombre and he needs to be taken out now."
"So I stake him and we go home to mess with your computer."
Alex shook his head, "He's over two thousand years old, Faith – stakes don't go through his skin anymore." (AN: The Greek Freak is 2000+, right? If not, sorry.) Alex logged out of his account and looked over at Diana, who looked worried, "I'll pick it up tomorrow ... or not at all." That said, he left the shop and ran back to the house, remembering just what Kakistos had done the last time around, "No chance in Heaven, Hell or Earth, vampire."
+++
"Have you lost your mind, Alex?" Lynda looked over at him as he tugged his shirt down into place, hiding the body armor he had picked up from the Sunnydale Armory a while back, and then strapped his thigh holster into place, "He is a Master Vampire and he will kill you."
"Maybe, maybe not, but we'll see just how well these bullets work and just how impenetrable his hide really is." Checking the mag on his SOCOM, he racked the slide and slid it into the holster before checking the UMP over.
Lynda sighed, "Faith, can you talk some sense into him?"
"Already tried to, Lynda, but it appears here that boytoy has a death wish." She sat on the other edge of his bed even as he slapped the mag into the UMP and worked the action on it, "Do you even know where he is, Alex?"
"Yes, I do, Faith, and no, I don't have a death wish – I don't want to die but I don't fear it either." Snugging up the sling on the weapon, he slid his long duster over the entire affair and began loading the numerous pockets, inside and out, with various pieces of equipment that ranged from duct tape to a pair of WP grenades he'd managed to lift back in Sunnydale.
"This is why you were sent here, wasn't it." It wasn't a question with the way it was said by Lynda, whom had apparently pieced everything together.
"Part of it, yes. If this goes right, nobody else will have to die because of him."
"And if it doesn't?" Faith's question hung in the air for a moment before he found the courage to answer it, even if it was cryptic.
"Then I hope that everything comes out for the best, Faith." He looked over at her and saw that her eyes, while not full of tears, had a sheen to them, "Faith, I know that you don't know me very well, but let me tell you that there are two things that I absolutely do not tolerate – child abuse and letting my friends get hurt when there is something I can do about it. You and Lynda are my friends and with Kakistos gunning for you, he's going to have to go through me first to get you."
"Pretty words, Alex, but if you're dead, where does that leave us?" Lynda sat next to Faith, her own gray eyes narrowed slightly, "Let's just say that you don't come back tonight and Kakistos survives – where does that leave us?"
"Get out of Boston and go to Sunnydale without any delay – Buffy and Giles will know what to do." Going to his dresser he grabs a crucifix from a small tray and puts it on, slipping it under his armor, as a last line of defense, "I may die, but I'll take more than a few of them with me, girls, my promise to God." That said, he walked out of the room, doing his best to ignore the sound of Faith breaking into tears and Lynda doing her best to console the Slayer. It was times like this that Lex's words came back to haunt him, about him being a cold SOB when necessary.
(AN: I know it seems fatalistic and slightly callus right now, but do you honestly think they will let him go and face Kakistos all alone? Yes, it does appear that Faith worries about him, but that could just be a friendly kind of a worry.)
+++
"What in the hell was I thinking?" It was the seventh time he'd asked himself that even as he set up the last of the booby traps on the visible exits of the warehouse; he'd procured some plastique and detonators, just a small amount, but he had enough for four doors and used the two WP grenades on sky-access windows that were readily accessible from catwalks; he had to have been smoking some good stuff to think that he alone could take one a twenty century old Master Vampire with fifty of his closest minions alone. It was a bad idea but it was also the only one he had with the girls back at the house.
"I'm not sure, Alex," a voice said from right behind him, Faith's voice, and he cursed himself for not sensing her earlier. "What WERE you thinking earlier? Did you believe I'd leave you out to dry while you pulled off a wicked crazy stunt like this?"
"No, I didn't think you'd follow me. Where's Lynda?"
"Right here, Mister Harris," came the woman's cool voice, making him look up and try not to chortle at the chakram on her waist, which sat next to a sword and several crosses in a stiff leather belt.
"Stay off the doors and the windows, they're rigged to blow." He sighed, looking at the pair of women, "What are you two doing here?"
"Pulling your fat out of the fire if you get into trouble," came the snarky reply from Faith.
"And whom, might I ask, will be pulling your fats out of the fire if we do find trouble down there?" He glared at Faith and then at Lynda, whom both smiled at him slightly, making him groan, "Yeah, okay, I deserved that." He pulled his SOCOM and holster off, handing it to Faith, "Do NOT shoot me with that, Faith, or Lynda for that matter." He showed the slightly giddy Slayer how to load, chamber and drop the mag from the gun quickly, making sure she had it down before he moved up to where Lynda sat and removed his jacket, and then his shirt, followed by his armor, which he handed to her; she and Faith being kept safe were paramount in this op now that they were there, so he'd have to be a little more careful than he normally was.
"Everyone ready?"
"Not yet," Lynda said to Faith, looking at Alex as he pulled his shirt and jacket back on. "Plan?"
"Rake the outside flanks with controlled shots and whittle away at the minions while you cover our six and make sure to keep an eye on Kakistos." It wasn't much of a plan, but it was the best he could come up with on such short notice for three instead of one. "One shot per vamp, Faith; do not waste your ammo on them – fire and forget. Got it?"
"Five by five, boytoy." He cringed at that slightly, seeing Lynda arch an eyebrow at both of them out of the corner of his eye, but looked at Faith with a LOOK, which she shrugged off with a smirk.
"Alright, let's go. May God help us all," he muttered the last part under his breath as they made their way into the warehouse, sneaking as quietly as they could, but even as they did Alex amped his strength and senses up to what he called 'combat mode', which was about two or three slips above that of normal for him, which happened to be twice that of normal humans.
Over the next ten minutes they worked their way into the warehouse that Kakistos had set himself and his lieutenant, Mr. Trick, up in while they bolstered their forces, which by Alex's eye, consisted of fifty vampires of various backgrounds; he took point with Faith covering Lynda in the back, but all the time Alex was doing his best to keep an ear or a nose out for trouble in every direction. Soon they found themselves in the midst of the vampires, both minions and master, and in a loose line that went from Lynda to Alex himself and Faith left to right – Faith had screwed the suppressor on to the SOCOM at some point and Alex had done the same thing to the UMP before arriving at the warehouse, but also had it set to single shot in hopes to control his ammunition expenditures and maximize the damage output.
Looking over at Lynda, then at Faith, he raised his UMP level and squeezed off three quick shots at the three closest vampires while Faith snapped off two – three vampires incinerated themselves, one convulsed in shock and another shattered into icy chunks before all hell broke loose with Faith leading the charge and emptying her mag with abandon while Alex chose his targets and Lynda yipped loudly and slung her chakram at whomever was coming up behind them. Soon, however, most of the minions were either dust, crouching under cover, or had run away, leaving Kakistos standing arrogantly out in the open, Trick behind him and Lynda covering Faith, whom was trying to reload the SOCOM.
"Ah, we have guests, my childe." Kakistos' voice was like a set of French- manicured nails screeching across the chalkboards with their purring and sent shivers up Alex's spine. "Bold, effective planning and execution of this ambush and weaponry to back up any threats they make – they will make excellent additions to our family."
"No chance, Kakistos," Faith snarled as she worked the slide on the SOCOM, firing at the freak but stopping when the bullet ... stopped. "What the fuck?"
"Charming in her use of language, isn't she? I would figure that the Slayer would know more about her adversaries before engaging them; I, for one, know that young Alexander by her side has made a most impressive impact upon the world with his ... imaginative use of modern weaponry and brutal ruthlessness against both friend and foe alike."
"You know a lot for a corpse, Kakistos," Alex said, reaching into a pocket and pulling out a canister that he hoped would work.
"The Art of War is a book that teaches everyone, even I, how to do battle, Alexander. Now, give me the Slayer and her Watcher and I shall allow you to go free."
Alex pulled the pin on the canister and let the lever fly off, "Um, no, I think not." Hurling the can at Kakistos, he wasn't surprised that it flew past the vampire and his minion, because that was what he had planned. "Last chance to get out of this with your un-life, bloodsucker. Leave or be dust."
Kakistos snarled out a laugh, "You amuse me, Alexander – do you really think that holy water hand grenades would work against me?"
Alex paused, "You watch Monty Python?"
The vampire shrugged, "Doesn't everybody?"
"Actually, that wasn't holy water, Kakistos." Bringing his UMP up again, he grinned, "It was a hydrocarbon mixed with a chemical that makes it similar to napalm in that it sticks to whatever it touches." Flipping the UMP to full auto, he grinned more, taking a slightly feral nature even as Faith began to chuckle and Lynda also chuckled, which made both Kakistos and Trick frown, "Anybody care for some vampire flambé?" He pulled the trigger and emptied the last six rounds in the mag before watching the fireworks, almost literally.
In an instant both Kakistos and Trick were engulfed in fire that began to spread, which made the hidden vampires run and open doors and windows, which were rigged to blow, and made all hell break loose even as Lynda grabbed him and Faith, dragging them out of the now-burning warehouse. He could hear the screams of the vampires caught in the inferno even as they ducked into Lynda's waiting mustang and sped off, minutes before the police and fire departments arrived.
+++
The ride back to the house was a silent one, well, silent after Alex managed to get Faith to hand over the SOCOM and tac holster – Lynda went to her room to write up an after action report to detail what went down with Kakistos, Faith was feeling uppity and went to the punching bag for a few rounds while Alex went to an old friend for an old routine, staring at a shot of whiskey with both it and the bottle out of reach. It still irked him slightly that just as he was getting to enjoy his, albeit temporary, new life with Lynda and Faith, when his boss Lex stuck his nose back into things – sure, he was his boss and, such was fitting the title, could tell him what to do, but Alex was starting to wonder just whom had gotten the better end of the deal with being sent back, him with having a second chance or Lex, whom had used him as his own little assassin/counter-agent?
"Your father drinks." It wasn't a statement from Lynda as she walked into the room, taking a seat next to him.
"In excess."
"You do this to spite him?"
"It's meditative."
"How so?"
Alex only shrugged his shoulders, "Not sure, but it works." He really needed to get more guy friends his own age this time around – Oz was starting to rub off on him way too much from the last time line. "Your report done?"
"Yes – I have amended it to show very little involvement on your part in case anybody at the Council got too curious about you."
"Travers, you mean." Alex let out a ghostly chuckle and reached for a pack of cigarettes, "I'll enjoy putting a bullet into that bastard when the time comes." Smoking was a habit that the Soldier had taken up for an after-op ritual, and somehow it had crossed over.
As he lifted one to his lips, Lynda snatched it out of his hand, "You shall not smoke in the house, Alexander. If I can't you can't." She looked longingly at the cigarette before shredding it in her hands, "So, what was with that little performance earlier? If we had not followed you, would you have been able to take Kakistos alone?"
"Probably not – sometimes I get an over-inflated view of self worth and importance, Lynda. I've been given certain advantages and inside information, so it makes me think I am superior, but I'm not. It happens to everybody, Slayers too, so let's count this as a lesson learned and be done with it." Reaching over, he poured the shot back into the bottle and put the stopper in it, "Night, Lynda."
"Good night, Alexander."
+++
Picking up the computer from a very relieved Diane the next morning was the highlight of said morning – she laid one on him the second he walked in the door, in front of God and everyone, and then slapped him good and proper for scaring her and Jenny like that. It took only a few minutes to explain, in vague terms due to the people present, what had gone down and he walked out of there with is new computer. Once back at the house, as the girls were still sleeping, he quietly set up the system ad opened his mail, Dawn's first.
To: Xharris@y......
From: DawnPatrol4ever@y...... Subject: OPEN RIGHT NOW, XANDER!
Alright, mister, we need to have a SERIOUS discussion about what went down on Halloween. I know I dressed as Mako-chan, but aside form the odd need to kick Buffy's butt, nothing weird happened until yesterday when I accidentally fried a tree across the street – I called down a bolt of lightning from a clear, blue sky, Xander. This has me really freaked out, so mail me back and tell me what you think about it. Giles and Jenny are both working on it, but I need to know what my future husband thinks about me being a living bug zapper. Love, Dawn. PS. Buffy's being a cow about my wanting Mr. Gordo – can you talk some sense into her?
Alex smiled at Dawn's message – he'd hoped something like that would not have happened to her, but she lived on the Hellmouth, so it was always a possibility. The 'future husband' part niggled at him slightly – he'd be nearly 23 when she was of legal marrying age, and add to the fact that if, and this was a gigantic if, IF he allowed himself to ever see her like that, then he'd probably face the wrath of Buffy, Willow, Ripper and worst of all, Joyce.
To: DawnPatrol4ever@y......
From: Xharris@y...... Subject: ROTGLMAO
I know you think that it's serious, Dawnie, but remember this – you live on the Hellmouth, so things will seem odd on occasion; this is probably just a little something left in your system from Halloween and it was your mind's way of getting rid of it. Now, if it happens, again, make sure you point it at anyone other than your mom, sister or the Scoobies (try Cordy's sheep for target practice – it'd probably be the first original thing to go through their minds in a while ... kidding, don't use it on them).
Oh, and to your 'future husband' remark – honey, I'd be honored to one day walk you down the isle, but first I'd have to make it pats your sister, Willow, Giles and then your mom, so I don't see it happening any time soon. Now, I gotta go – someone is at the door. Write back soon, X.
Sending off the mail, he went to the front door and opened it, "Yes?"
"Is Lynda here?" The man before him was of average height, with dark hair and eyes, a goatee and pork chops down his jawline, but was also dressed from head to toe in black and looked over his sunglasses at Alex. "And whom, might I ask are you?"
"Alex Harris, I'm staying with Lynda and Faith for a while before I go back to California." Mentally cursing himself for forgetting his gun, he stepped back and edged the door shut, "One second please." Once the door closed, he smirked and walked up the stairs to Lynda's room, wondering just how to tell her that Ares was here to see his 'Warrior Princess' and leave with all of his parts and pieces in place.
AN1: Okay, here's Part 6 to Setting Things Right – I also have a severe case of writer's block, hence the crappy / generic scene between Kakistos and X/F/L. I tallied up the votes and Area won the poll and will generally be the pain in the ass he's always been towards the 'Xena' character.
AN2: Note – The Assassin and the Sorceress will be taken down for a total re-vamping; the story I have on my computer just flat-ass sucks and I'm getting bored with the game/statistics/ limitations, so I'm removing it for now and retooling it. Expect nothing out of me for a while – finals are coming up and they will be a true pain in the ass this year (what possessed me to take 24 credit hours? – oh yeah, I want to get out of school, that's what possessed me.), so I need to buckle down. Thanks, and remember to review. AR.
Author: Anime Ronin
Disclaimer: See previous chapters – I'm lazy.
AN: No, I will not describe what was said in the conversation – FF.NET forbids that level of swearing, I believe – so we'll just have to make due with our over-active imaginations on just what was said.
AN2: As to the my actually writing out the e-mails in the last chapter, yes, it was a way of apologizing for both Alex and myself for putting out such crap in his overly-dramatic departure from Sunnydale and his actions up to that point. I would like to thank Queen Boadicea for being as truthful as she was – had she not planted the proverbial axe in my skull, I probably wouldn't have written that last chapter and the story would have well and truly sucked.
AN3: At the end of this chapter the winner of the 'Lynda's friend/acquaintance/pain-in-the-ass' should be named ... or not, I haven't decided.
Chapter 6: Of Bullets, Computers and Lightning Bolts
The next morning after sending out the e-mails to Sunnydale, Alex's ears were still ringing from the verbal filleting he had been given from Giles – up until that point he had never really thought the former dark mage capable of such language, but the variety of topics and the wordage used the previous day had set Alex back on his heels with awe and had even left more than a few still-tender wounds on his psyche.
Shaking off those wounds, he set off on his morning work outs and to make breakfast, as both Lynda and Faith had gone out the previous night on a quick patrol and had run into a small, well, to him a small gang of vampires that numbered twenty and had dusted only ten before both parties decided that discretion was the better part of valor. Quite frankly the both of them looked like hammered dog meat when they returned, so he figured that they were due a good, hearty breakfast that morning.
"Morning, Alex." Faith's voice made him jump slightly and turn as he reached the bottom of the stairs; she was dressed in a pair of sweats and a tank top with socks, but she appeared to be disgustingly chipper that morning, "Ready to work out?"
"What are you doing up, Faith? You barely got in three hours ago."
She shrugged and began to stretch out, "I never was much of a sleeper, and I guess being a Slayer lets us need less sleep."
He shook himself off, clearing his mind of the view he was getting of Faith's backside, intentional or not, and started stretching out as well; the differences between this Faith and the Faith he had known in Sunnydale was remarkable – she didn't ooze sex appeal or inspire wanton lust in all she passed, but rather it was almost understated and snuck up on you if you allowed it to. She wasn't as brash or snarky about things, but not timid or even normal – she was Faith, in her element, and completely comfortable in the fact that she could handle anyone or anything that came her way.
They worked through the push ups, crunches, chin ups and pull ups without a word, Faith matching him move for move, and then he started out on the Tai Chi, as it was bitingly cold that morning; at first it was not noticeable, but it soon became apparent that Faith was having problems centering herself to move properly, so Alex stopped and turned to look at her, "Is there anything wrong, Faith? You're not centered, so you can't do your moves properly."
She blew out a slightly frustrated sigh, "Nothing you would understand, Alex. You're normal."
Alex couldn't help it, he barked out with involuntary laughter that turned into a cackle as he let some of the Hyena shine through and could feel his eyes glow, "Honey, I am a lot of things, but normal isn't one of them. Now what's wrong?" His eyes shifted back and the world lost some of its sharp definition that his Hyena eyesight allowed for.
She shook herself off slightly and looked back at him, "I can't sleep. I can fall asleep but then something wakes me up and I can't get more than an hour at a time."
Alex frowned, "Have you told Lynda? How long has this been going on?"
"Since the first night you were here." She looked hard at him, "What happened?
He had hoped she would not have remembered or known what had happened, but seeing, as he could not get out of it, he planned for the worst, "You were having one hell of a nightmare and Lynda wasn't having too much luck subduing you; I used my strength to hold you in place until you calmed down and went to sleep."
Faith looked slightly troubled by this revelation, "You're stronger than me?"
"At my fullest, yes, but barely. I don't like using my strength any more than I have to and at that point in time it was necessary; forgive me for it." He didn't want Faith to distrust him any more than she did; it would make things harder than they already were.
For a moment she was quiet, looking into his eyes and once again Xander found himself getting lost within her gaze; he new that she needed a friend, but if things kept going like they were he may have trouble defining where the line of 'friend' ended and 'mate' began.
"Alright, but I want to see your strength, full-out, later on." Her voice was neutral but he could tell that she was taking a big chance with what she was saying.
"Okay, but first you get back to bed because this morning, you and Lynda get breakfast in bed by me." He saw something spark in her eyes, "Any preferences?"
"Pancakes? With bacon and eggs?"
He smiled, "Sure. Sunny-side up?" Her smile almost lit up the room and he shooed her out of the kitchen, "Good, get comfortable and I'll be up there in a while." He had barely finished the sentence when she was already on her feet and up the stairs; she apparently liked breakfast in bed, so he'd have to remember it for special occasions.
It took him half of an hour to find and cook all the necessary things for breakfast and then another ten minutes looking for suitable trays; he took Faith her things first and almost lost a hand when she started to wolf down the pancakes – they looked funny, like they were Mickey Mouse with lop- sided ears, but they were cooked and good. Easing his way out of her room, he went to the end of the hall and slowly opened it, making sure that Lynda wasn't undressing or anything; when he saw that it was clear and she was stirring in her bed, he opened the door and walked in.
"Lynda?"
"Hmmmph," came the muffled reply from under the comforter. The lump moved slightly and the edge of the comforter edged down to reveal the half-asleep face of Lynda Price with her normally immaculate hair, as straight as could be and devoid of anything bad, looking like a rat's nest with it's frizzy nature and bed-head look, "Alex? What are you doing in my (yawn) bedroom?"
He smiled, the smart-ass in him coming to the forefront, "Seducing you with breakfast in bed." At her slightly piqued look he expanded, "Bacon, eggs, pancakes, toast, marmalade, some fruit and your breakfast tea, one sugar, and one cream."
She smiled blearily and sat up, revealing that she did indeed sleep in pink flannel pajamas with a yawning teddy bear on the left breast; he held his snicker in place as he placed the tray on to her lap and unveiled her breakfast, "Bon Appetite, Madame."
She took a sniff of the tea and then the pancakes, which lacked the mouse ears of Faith's, and then smiled up at him, "Consider your seduction of me complete for the moment. Now, if you will excuse me," she dove into her own breakfast with much the same gusto as Faith had, only he was far enough away to not get caught in the feeding frenzy.
+++
With breakfast finished and clear away, they set about their daily chores and dealings; school started in a little over a week and Alex would be attending school with Faith to keep an eyes on her – when asked, Lynda revealed that she was a day trader and was actually very good at it. Alex wasn't against the idea of school, but technically he had already graduated high school and wasn't all that keen on going back again, even if he did get to hang around with Faith all day long.
The doorbell rang and Lynda called back, "Alex! Door!"
Alex walked forwards and saw the UPS deliveryman with his dolly and two packages, "Yes?"
"Alex Harris?"
"Yes." He handed over his California driver's license and then signed for the packages, "Thanks, man."
"Whadda ya got there, Alex?" Faith poked her nose over his shoulder as he inspected the two packages, "Plain brown-wrapper boxes? You're ordering porn and sex toys behind our backs and not planning on sharing, Alex? Shame on you!"
He could hear Lynda's laugh echo from the back of the house and he looked over at Faith, "No, miss gutter brain. These are the things I had G-man send me from California." Putting them both on the front table, he opened the first and saw that his SOCOM had been disassembled before being packed, saw all of his mags were full and then the supply of ammunition he had procured in LA.
"Wicked." Faith breathed over his shoulder as he put the SOCOM together with quick, practiced movements and locked a mag of special bullets into the gun, racking the slide, "Cool! Can I try it out?"
He gave her a look, "Does this LOOK like a toy to you, Faith? Until Lynda gives her say-so and you get licensed, no." He then opened the other box and put the UMP together, attaching the suppressor, scope, sling and fitting the forward grip into place before slapping in a mag and racking the bolt mechanism. "Good to go."
"Lynda, can I PLEASE have one of those?" He looked over to see Lynda had come into the room and Faith was dong her best to make puppy dog eyes at the older woman, "PLEASE!" Had it been Dawn making that level of pleading, he would have given her anything, including a kidney if so desired, but with Faith the 'innocents defined' look didn't look right.
"No, Faith."
"But he gets to have them!" Faith started to pout and it was all he could do not to chuckle.
"But he has a license for both weapons, Faith."
"So get me one, too!" She was in full pout mode and Alex found himself trying even harder not to laugh, while Lynda's resolve was quickly fading under Faith's mostly sincere brown eyes.
"No Faith."
"YES!"
"NO!"
"YES, YES, YES!"
"NO, NO, NO, NO!"
"YESYESYESYESYESYESYESYES!"
Lynda's jaw set resolutely, "No, times infinity plus one."
"Y- ... damn."
Alex couldn't handle it anymore and felt to the ground, howling in laughter as the Slayer and Watcher went back and forth like a pair sisters or best friends, or Buffy and Willow in some cases.
+++
Alex and Faith stepped into the 'Whiz Kids' computer store to pick up his system; Diane had called an hour before and Lynda was waiting outside – Faith was not, Alex told himself, present for protection from Diane, even if both were dressed in leather pants, halter tops and looked absolutely mate-worthy. "Diane."
"Harris." The now-electric-blue haired woman smiled prettily at him and then looked oddly at Faith, "And this is?"
"Faith, the friend that I came to help out. Now, to business; the system is ready, right?"
Diane smiled, "Yes it is; fired it up this morning and tested it out personally – it was hard to decide what to do with it, so I ran it through the paces." She stated the balance on his system and then accepted his cash, "You know, Harris, you never did give me an answer on my offer from last time – ya want something to eat?" The sex appeal oozed out of her voice and for a split second, Alex was VERY tempted to say yes, but Faith beat him to answering.
"Sorry, honey, but he has something to eat at the house – a variety, actually." He didn't have to look at her to see the smile on her face; he could feel it from where he was looking over the list of things in the system.
"Oh really? Are they of good quality?"
"Some of the best you can get around these parts," he chipped in absently as he bundled up the packet she had handed over. "Now, can we see it?"
"That's a loaded question, Alex," Faith snickered as Diana began to blush lightly.
In a little over twenty minutes Diana showed he and Faith all she had done to the computer and what she had loaded on to the hard drive; there was a copious amount of flirting between all three parties and while Alex found it occasionally difficult to keep his mind on business, it felt good to be able to forget just who he had started to become.
"Damn," he cursed even as his phone buzzed in his pocket – he had jinxed it, "Go."
"Alex, we have a slight situation that you need to be apprised of; Kakistos in now in Boston and hunting Faith."
"Location and Defenses?"
"I shall have them sent to your e-mail," Lex promised just before he killed the connection.
"Shit." He looked over at where both Faith and Diana, both of whom looked very worried, "I need to get into my e-mail, now." He went to the computer that Diana gestured to and quickly entered his account, noting that Dawn had left a message that read 'OPEN RIGHT NOW, XANDER', but forwent it and opened the post by Lex, reading it for a moment, "Well this isn't good."
"What is it, Alex?" Faith looked over his shoulder and read the note, "Who is Kakistos?"
"Master Vampire who has just gotten into town and is already hunting you."
"What'd I ever do to him?"
"You were Called, Faith. He's one bad hombre and he needs to be taken out now."
"So I stake him and we go home to mess with your computer."
Alex shook his head, "He's over two thousand years old, Faith – stakes don't go through his skin anymore." (AN: The Greek Freak is 2000+, right? If not, sorry.) Alex logged out of his account and looked over at Diana, who looked worried, "I'll pick it up tomorrow ... or not at all." That said, he left the shop and ran back to the house, remembering just what Kakistos had done the last time around, "No chance in Heaven, Hell or Earth, vampire."
+++
"Have you lost your mind, Alex?" Lynda looked over at him as he tugged his shirt down into place, hiding the body armor he had picked up from the Sunnydale Armory a while back, and then strapped his thigh holster into place, "He is a Master Vampire and he will kill you."
"Maybe, maybe not, but we'll see just how well these bullets work and just how impenetrable his hide really is." Checking the mag on his SOCOM, he racked the slide and slid it into the holster before checking the UMP over.
Lynda sighed, "Faith, can you talk some sense into him?"
"Already tried to, Lynda, but it appears here that boytoy has a death wish." She sat on the other edge of his bed even as he slapped the mag into the UMP and worked the action on it, "Do you even know where he is, Alex?"
"Yes, I do, Faith, and no, I don't have a death wish – I don't want to die but I don't fear it either." Snugging up the sling on the weapon, he slid his long duster over the entire affair and began loading the numerous pockets, inside and out, with various pieces of equipment that ranged from duct tape to a pair of WP grenades he'd managed to lift back in Sunnydale.
"This is why you were sent here, wasn't it." It wasn't a question with the way it was said by Lynda, whom had apparently pieced everything together.
"Part of it, yes. If this goes right, nobody else will have to die because of him."
"And if it doesn't?" Faith's question hung in the air for a moment before he found the courage to answer it, even if it was cryptic.
"Then I hope that everything comes out for the best, Faith." He looked over at her and saw that her eyes, while not full of tears, had a sheen to them, "Faith, I know that you don't know me very well, but let me tell you that there are two things that I absolutely do not tolerate – child abuse and letting my friends get hurt when there is something I can do about it. You and Lynda are my friends and with Kakistos gunning for you, he's going to have to go through me first to get you."
"Pretty words, Alex, but if you're dead, where does that leave us?" Lynda sat next to Faith, her own gray eyes narrowed slightly, "Let's just say that you don't come back tonight and Kakistos survives – where does that leave us?"
"Get out of Boston and go to Sunnydale without any delay – Buffy and Giles will know what to do." Going to his dresser he grabs a crucifix from a small tray and puts it on, slipping it under his armor, as a last line of defense, "I may die, but I'll take more than a few of them with me, girls, my promise to God." That said, he walked out of the room, doing his best to ignore the sound of Faith breaking into tears and Lynda doing her best to console the Slayer. It was times like this that Lex's words came back to haunt him, about him being a cold SOB when necessary.
(AN: I know it seems fatalistic and slightly callus right now, but do you honestly think they will let him go and face Kakistos all alone? Yes, it does appear that Faith worries about him, but that could just be a friendly kind of a worry.)
+++
"What in the hell was I thinking?" It was the seventh time he'd asked himself that even as he set up the last of the booby traps on the visible exits of the warehouse; he'd procured some plastique and detonators, just a small amount, but he had enough for four doors and used the two WP grenades on sky-access windows that were readily accessible from catwalks; he had to have been smoking some good stuff to think that he alone could take one a twenty century old Master Vampire with fifty of his closest minions alone. It was a bad idea but it was also the only one he had with the girls back at the house.
"I'm not sure, Alex," a voice said from right behind him, Faith's voice, and he cursed himself for not sensing her earlier. "What WERE you thinking earlier? Did you believe I'd leave you out to dry while you pulled off a wicked crazy stunt like this?"
"No, I didn't think you'd follow me. Where's Lynda?"
"Right here, Mister Harris," came the woman's cool voice, making him look up and try not to chortle at the chakram on her waist, which sat next to a sword and several crosses in a stiff leather belt.
"Stay off the doors and the windows, they're rigged to blow." He sighed, looking at the pair of women, "What are you two doing here?"
"Pulling your fat out of the fire if you get into trouble," came the snarky reply from Faith.
"And whom, might I ask, will be pulling your fats out of the fire if we do find trouble down there?" He glared at Faith and then at Lynda, whom both smiled at him slightly, making him groan, "Yeah, okay, I deserved that." He pulled his SOCOM and holster off, handing it to Faith, "Do NOT shoot me with that, Faith, or Lynda for that matter." He showed the slightly giddy Slayer how to load, chamber and drop the mag from the gun quickly, making sure she had it down before he moved up to where Lynda sat and removed his jacket, and then his shirt, followed by his armor, which he handed to her; she and Faith being kept safe were paramount in this op now that they were there, so he'd have to be a little more careful than he normally was.
"Everyone ready?"
"Not yet," Lynda said to Faith, looking at Alex as he pulled his shirt and jacket back on. "Plan?"
"Rake the outside flanks with controlled shots and whittle away at the minions while you cover our six and make sure to keep an eye on Kakistos." It wasn't much of a plan, but it was the best he could come up with on such short notice for three instead of one. "One shot per vamp, Faith; do not waste your ammo on them – fire and forget. Got it?"
"Five by five, boytoy." He cringed at that slightly, seeing Lynda arch an eyebrow at both of them out of the corner of his eye, but looked at Faith with a LOOK, which she shrugged off with a smirk.
"Alright, let's go. May God help us all," he muttered the last part under his breath as they made their way into the warehouse, sneaking as quietly as they could, but even as they did Alex amped his strength and senses up to what he called 'combat mode', which was about two or three slips above that of normal for him, which happened to be twice that of normal humans.
Over the next ten minutes they worked their way into the warehouse that Kakistos had set himself and his lieutenant, Mr. Trick, up in while they bolstered their forces, which by Alex's eye, consisted of fifty vampires of various backgrounds; he took point with Faith covering Lynda in the back, but all the time Alex was doing his best to keep an ear or a nose out for trouble in every direction. Soon they found themselves in the midst of the vampires, both minions and master, and in a loose line that went from Lynda to Alex himself and Faith left to right – Faith had screwed the suppressor on to the SOCOM at some point and Alex had done the same thing to the UMP before arriving at the warehouse, but also had it set to single shot in hopes to control his ammunition expenditures and maximize the damage output.
Looking over at Lynda, then at Faith, he raised his UMP level and squeezed off three quick shots at the three closest vampires while Faith snapped off two – three vampires incinerated themselves, one convulsed in shock and another shattered into icy chunks before all hell broke loose with Faith leading the charge and emptying her mag with abandon while Alex chose his targets and Lynda yipped loudly and slung her chakram at whomever was coming up behind them. Soon, however, most of the minions were either dust, crouching under cover, or had run away, leaving Kakistos standing arrogantly out in the open, Trick behind him and Lynda covering Faith, whom was trying to reload the SOCOM.
"Ah, we have guests, my childe." Kakistos' voice was like a set of French- manicured nails screeching across the chalkboards with their purring and sent shivers up Alex's spine. "Bold, effective planning and execution of this ambush and weaponry to back up any threats they make – they will make excellent additions to our family."
"No chance, Kakistos," Faith snarled as she worked the slide on the SOCOM, firing at the freak but stopping when the bullet ... stopped. "What the fuck?"
"Charming in her use of language, isn't she? I would figure that the Slayer would know more about her adversaries before engaging them; I, for one, know that young Alexander by her side has made a most impressive impact upon the world with his ... imaginative use of modern weaponry and brutal ruthlessness against both friend and foe alike."
"You know a lot for a corpse, Kakistos," Alex said, reaching into a pocket and pulling out a canister that he hoped would work.
"The Art of War is a book that teaches everyone, even I, how to do battle, Alexander. Now, give me the Slayer and her Watcher and I shall allow you to go free."
Alex pulled the pin on the canister and let the lever fly off, "Um, no, I think not." Hurling the can at Kakistos, he wasn't surprised that it flew past the vampire and his minion, because that was what he had planned. "Last chance to get out of this with your un-life, bloodsucker. Leave or be dust."
Kakistos snarled out a laugh, "You amuse me, Alexander – do you really think that holy water hand grenades would work against me?"
Alex paused, "You watch Monty Python?"
The vampire shrugged, "Doesn't everybody?"
"Actually, that wasn't holy water, Kakistos." Bringing his UMP up again, he grinned, "It was a hydrocarbon mixed with a chemical that makes it similar to napalm in that it sticks to whatever it touches." Flipping the UMP to full auto, he grinned more, taking a slightly feral nature even as Faith began to chuckle and Lynda also chuckled, which made both Kakistos and Trick frown, "Anybody care for some vampire flambé?" He pulled the trigger and emptied the last six rounds in the mag before watching the fireworks, almost literally.
In an instant both Kakistos and Trick were engulfed in fire that began to spread, which made the hidden vampires run and open doors and windows, which were rigged to blow, and made all hell break loose even as Lynda grabbed him and Faith, dragging them out of the now-burning warehouse. He could hear the screams of the vampires caught in the inferno even as they ducked into Lynda's waiting mustang and sped off, minutes before the police and fire departments arrived.
+++
The ride back to the house was a silent one, well, silent after Alex managed to get Faith to hand over the SOCOM and tac holster – Lynda went to her room to write up an after action report to detail what went down with Kakistos, Faith was feeling uppity and went to the punching bag for a few rounds while Alex went to an old friend for an old routine, staring at a shot of whiskey with both it and the bottle out of reach. It still irked him slightly that just as he was getting to enjoy his, albeit temporary, new life with Lynda and Faith, when his boss Lex stuck his nose back into things – sure, he was his boss and, such was fitting the title, could tell him what to do, but Alex was starting to wonder just whom had gotten the better end of the deal with being sent back, him with having a second chance or Lex, whom had used him as his own little assassin/counter-agent?
"Your father drinks." It wasn't a statement from Lynda as she walked into the room, taking a seat next to him.
"In excess."
"You do this to spite him?"
"It's meditative."
"How so?"
Alex only shrugged his shoulders, "Not sure, but it works." He really needed to get more guy friends his own age this time around – Oz was starting to rub off on him way too much from the last time line. "Your report done?"
"Yes – I have amended it to show very little involvement on your part in case anybody at the Council got too curious about you."
"Travers, you mean." Alex let out a ghostly chuckle and reached for a pack of cigarettes, "I'll enjoy putting a bullet into that bastard when the time comes." Smoking was a habit that the Soldier had taken up for an after-op ritual, and somehow it had crossed over.
As he lifted one to his lips, Lynda snatched it out of his hand, "You shall not smoke in the house, Alexander. If I can't you can't." She looked longingly at the cigarette before shredding it in her hands, "So, what was with that little performance earlier? If we had not followed you, would you have been able to take Kakistos alone?"
"Probably not – sometimes I get an over-inflated view of self worth and importance, Lynda. I've been given certain advantages and inside information, so it makes me think I am superior, but I'm not. It happens to everybody, Slayers too, so let's count this as a lesson learned and be done with it." Reaching over, he poured the shot back into the bottle and put the stopper in it, "Night, Lynda."
"Good night, Alexander."
+++
Picking up the computer from a very relieved Diane the next morning was the highlight of said morning – she laid one on him the second he walked in the door, in front of God and everyone, and then slapped him good and proper for scaring her and Jenny like that. It took only a few minutes to explain, in vague terms due to the people present, what had gone down and he walked out of there with is new computer. Once back at the house, as the girls were still sleeping, he quietly set up the system ad opened his mail, Dawn's first.
To: Xharris@y......
From: DawnPatrol4ever@y...... Subject: OPEN RIGHT NOW, XANDER!
Alright, mister, we need to have a SERIOUS discussion about what went down on Halloween. I know I dressed as Mako-chan, but aside form the odd need to kick Buffy's butt, nothing weird happened until yesterday when I accidentally fried a tree across the street – I called down a bolt of lightning from a clear, blue sky, Xander. This has me really freaked out, so mail me back and tell me what you think about it. Giles and Jenny are both working on it, but I need to know what my future husband thinks about me being a living bug zapper. Love, Dawn. PS. Buffy's being a cow about my wanting Mr. Gordo – can you talk some sense into her?
Alex smiled at Dawn's message – he'd hoped something like that would not have happened to her, but she lived on the Hellmouth, so it was always a possibility. The 'future husband' part niggled at him slightly – he'd be nearly 23 when she was of legal marrying age, and add to the fact that if, and this was a gigantic if, IF he allowed himself to ever see her like that, then he'd probably face the wrath of Buffy, Willow, Ripper and worst of all, Joyce.
To: DawnPatrol4ever@y......
From: Xharris@y...... Subject: ROTGLMAO
I know you think that it's serious, Dawnie, but remember this – you live on the Hellmouth, so things will seem odd on occasion; this is probably just a little something left in your system from Halloween and it was your mind's way of getting rid of it. Now, if it happens, again, make sure you point it at anyone other than your mom, sister or the Scoobies (try Cordy's sheep for target practice – it'd probably be the first original thing to go through their minds in a while ... kidding, don't use it on them).
Oh, and to your 'future husband' remark – honey, I'd be honored to one day walk you down the isle, but first I'd have to make it pats your sister, Willow, Giles and then your mom, so I don't see it happening any time soon. Now, I gotta go – someone is at the door. Write back soon, X.
Sending off the mail, he went to the front door and opened it, "Yes?"
"Is Lynda here?" The man before him was of average height, with dark hair and eyes, a goatee and pork chops down his jawline, but was also dressed from head to toe in black and looked over his sunglasses at Alex. "And whom, might I ask are you?"
"Alex Harris, I'm staying with Lynda and Faith for a while before I go back to California." Mentally cursing himself for forgetting his gun, he stepped back and edged the door shut, "One second please." Once the door closed, he smirked and walked up the stairs to Lynda's room, wondering just how to tell her that Ares was here to see his 'Warrior Princess' and leave with all of his parts and pieces in place.
AN1: Okay, here's Part 6 to Setting Things Right – I also have a severe case of writer's block, hence the crappy / generic scene between Kakistos and X/F/L. I tallied up the votes and Area won the poll and will generally be the pain in the ass he's always been towards the 'Xena' character.
AN2: Note – The Assassin and the Sorceress will be taken down for a total re-vamping; the story I have on my computer just flat-ass sucks and I'm getting bored with the game/statistics/ limitations, so I'm removing it for now and retooling it. Expect nothing out of me for a while – finals are coming up and they will be a true pain in the ass this year (what possessed me to take 24 credit hours? – oh yeah, I want to get out of school, that's what possessed me.), so I need to buckle down. Thanks, and remember to review. AR.