Title: Best Laid Plans.
Author: Charlie
Timeline: Post BtVS S7 (initially), later on Post AtS S5.
Summary: Xander begins a new chapter of his life.
Author Notes: Round and round, the ship goes. Where it lands, the
author doesn't know. Will it (B)uffy, (C)ordelia, (D)awn, (F)aith,
(F)red, (H)armony, (K)enndy or (W)illow that wins the Xandman?
Amy slowly walked into the kitchen to find Alex and Sam sitting at the table laughing. They noticed her standing in the entranceway and waved her over. She hesitantly pulled a chair out and sat down beside Xander.
"Are you okay Amy?" Alex asked.
"I'm fine. Just tired." She smiled at him.
Sam beamed silently at the pair. She was happy for two reasons, the first being Amy appeared in better health both physically and mentally with Alex present. The second was that Alex himself seemed pleased to be around Amy. The sound of the front door opening drew her attention as a few seconds later her husband entered the room and found the trio around the table.
Riley was surprised to see them around the table, he was especially surprised to see Alex's hand around Amy's but that would wait until later. His wife got up from her chair and embraced him in a tight hug. He stroked her hair absentmindedly. Reluctantly he broke their embrace and looked at Alex.
"We have a situation that you two need to know about."
Alex merely nodded but Amy looked confused as Alex stood up.
"What do you mean, 'you two'?" Her confusion and concern grew from the look on Xander's face. "What is going on Xander?" He looked guilty at hearing the pleading in her voice. Alex reached out and took her hand and rubbed it slowly as he spoke to her.
"Amy, do you trust me?"
She nodded slowly.
"I would never do anything to hurt you, okay? I need you to know this because what I have to say and do will be hard to understand."
Again, Amy nodded.
"Good because this," Xander's face shifted to that of another man "is a bit hard to understand."
Amy did what most people would have done in her shoes.
She fainted.
Sometime later, after Amy was moved to the Finn's couch and revived, Alex explained what had happened and Cole introduced himself to the young girl. It took an awful lot to surprise Amy after her life in Sunnydale but the tale Cole and Alex told her did it.
"So you there's two of you in one body but you're separate people?" She hoped she had it right.
"Yes." Alex told her.
"Okay."
The sound of Riley clearing his throat drew them back to the present and it drew a hard look from Sam to her husband.
"I really hate to interrupt the moment but this really important." Riley informed them.
"Sure Riley, what is it?"
The former member of the Initiative handed him a vanilla folder and spoke, "I think you and Cole might find these interesting."
Alex flipped open the folder and started perusing the contents. The first thing he saw were some aerial photographs, it took him a second to realize what he was looking at. It was the crater that held the remains of Sunnydale. The remains of his life with Anya. He swallowed with some difficulty, pushing back the pangs of grief he still felt. There were other photographs of the crater some apparently taken from different angles with different cameras. Parts of those photographs were highlighted, with symbols noted on them. There was also a single page report that Xander briefly skimmed through not really understanding. It was after going through all of it that he looked up at Riley confused.
"So what does it all mean?"
Finn hesitated before speaking, "I think Cole knows what it means."
There was a pause as Xander looked off into space and then his face shifted as Cole took over. He stood up with a scowl on his face. Shaking his head, he started pacing and drumming his fingers on the countertop. Amy hesitated and picked up the folder, she was confused as she looked through the contents.
"What's wrong?" She asked.
"Not what. Who was wrong. And in this case, Buffy Summers a.k.a. 'The legendary Slayer' was wrong. Very wrong."
"What do you mean?"
"Alex told you about the last days of Sunnydale and the final battle, right?"
She nodded.
"Good because it's all crap."
Now Amy was really confused, "What?"
Cole looked her in the eyes, "The hellmouth on Sunnydale, is still active."
There was silence in the kitchen before Amy managed to speak again.
"But, Xander said that the vampire, Spike wore some mystic amulet of a champion and sacrificed himself to seal the hellmouth."
He nodded before replying, "Couple of things, One Spike is 'alive' we saw him in Cleveland with the others. Two, I have a hard time believing that a demonic spirit, the thing that keeps a vampire ticking would ever WILLINGLY be the thing that shuts the door to the mouth of hell. And finally, I may not have graduated high school but I got my GED and I even I know that something as old and smart as the 'First Evil' wouldn't have uncovered a weapon like the Slayer's scythe AND handed it over UNLESS it had something in mind."
"Then what is it planning," Sam asked.
"I don't know." He turned and looked at Riley, "And you got this from Travers?"
"He handed it over in person."
"I thought you said he was dead." Amy spoke again.
Riley and Cole looked over at her, silently prompting her to continue which she did.
"Xander said that Giles was sure the Watcher's council had been destroyed and the potentials were dead."
Cole considered her words before answering. "Amy, the Watcher's council has been around since the dawn of civilization. That's literally thousands of years, trust me they didn't survive this long by being lucky."
She blinked, trying to figure out what he meant "So they weren't killed?"
"No, granted they were a little surprised at the method the First chose but they weren't unprepared. They had a few backup plans, they're not stupid after all."
"But how?"
This time Riley spoke, "There are quite a few groups involved in this fight Amy. The Watcher's council, my people, not to mention several powerful covens, magic users and others."
Amy slowly nodded as understanding came over her, "magic".
"Yeah, Travers isn't an idiot, he did what countless heads of the council did before him. He prepared and updated the guidelines of the council. Especially what to do in the event of the attack on the council building and the potential slayers."
"Other council heads?" Sam asked warily
Riley answered his wife, "During the Second World War, records indicate that some members of the Nazi party dabbled in the occult. Almost of their 'doings' involved demons. Hence the firebombing of London and other places throughout England. Not to mention the numerous arrests and executions of otherwise ordinary people in every country they conquered."
"Watchers and potential slayers. And the bombing, they were targeting the Watcher's council."
"Correct and the council hid protected by the British government and the other allies."
"So after the First's attack, they hid again?"
"Yep, re-trench and regroup. The surviving field Watchers contacted their host governments and were placed in protective custody along with the potential slayers."
"No wonder Buffy's Watcher couldn't find them. He thought they were mostly dead but they were in hiding." Sam spoke out loud.
"Yeah and after Willow's little spell, the council had a whole NEW set of problems to deal. Fortunately, they adapted pretty quickly and started training the 'new' slayers with government help."
"So why didn't they step in and help against the First?"
Riley was uncomfortable as he answered, "They were. Had Buffy failed... well that section of California would be glowing in the dark for the next few thousand years."
All the color drained from Amy's face at that response. "Oh my god, they would have, I mean you would have. Why?"
"Why not?"
Amy's gaze shifted to Cole stunned at what he had send.
"What?"
"I said 'why not?' It's acceptable losses."
She stared at him, "Look Amy, you may not like it but the alternative was either nuke Sunnydale or lose California and possibly the West Coast of North America, if not the world. Seems a pretty easy decision to make to me."
He stopped, glanced at the photos again before speaking, "But, now this hellmouth is active again and so is the one in Cleveland. New rules, new players, a whole new ball game is about to start."
"So what happens now?" Sam asked.
Riley and Cole stared at each other for a long time before Finn answered his wife, "We tell Buffy and the others. They have to know."
"They won't believe you." Amy's voice was trembling as she spoke, "I know Buffy, she won't believe that anything's wrong. She thinks she's always right."
"Well it really doesn't matter anymore what Buffy thinks." Cole answered her, not bothering to slow down as he continued, "I think it's time somebody brings bottle blondie back to Earth and I know just the guy."
He looked at Riley, Sam and Amy. "I'm going, are you guys game?" Riley looked over at his wife and saw the answer in her eyes. "We are."
"Amy?"
She nodded.
"Good. Well that's all I got to say. See y'all in a little while." With that his face shifted and Alex took over. He walked over to where Amy sat and she grasped his hand in her own. Seeing this, Sam and Riley left the kitchen, partially to get ready for the road trip and partially to give Amy and Alex some space.
"Are you gonna be all right?" She asked him.
"Yeah. I'll get over it."
"Are you sure?"
"He asked me if I wanted to or not and I said yes. I'm fine Amy."
Alex brought his hand up and brushed her cheek lightly.
-Cleveland, Ohio-
Dawn sat her bed, a look of sadness and regret on her face. She looked out at the overcast sky outside her window and wondered where Xander was. And if she would ever see him again.
"Dawn?" A tentative knock accompanied Cordelia's voice.
"It's open." Her voice was quiet.
Cordelia cautiously made her way into the room. The former cheerleader felt her feelings of sadness and loneliness intensify as she saw Dawn. Quietly she sat down on the bed beside her.
"Hey, how are you doing?"
"I'm fine." The younger girl said in a very unconvincing voice.
"Dawn, you've barely eaten in the past few days. You've got us all worried about you. Even Buffy."
"Really. I guess it must be serious for sis to interrupt her bitching about getting her butt kicked to say something."
The ex-seer smiled at Dawn's words, "She does tend to go on about that, doesn't she?"
"That's all she and Faith do is bitch about how they lost. They don't care about the other part or anything else. Just that they lost."
Cordelia sensed what Dawn was referring to, "he'll be back Dawn."
"He was gone for two years last time."
"It won't be two years this time. I promise you that."
Dawn looked unconvinced, "what makes you so sure?"
"Call it my Xander-shaped intuition."
The younger girl smiled at that.
"Hey is she gonna eat tonight or what because this pizza smells really good."
"IN A MINUTE HARMONY." Cordelia called out to her best friend, she spoke softly to Dawn, "Same old Harm, vampire or no vampire."
Dawn giggled at that and Cordelia pulled her into a warm hug for a few seconds before they both stood up.
"Come on, we better get out there before she scares Andrew anymore."
"He's not that scared of her anymore."
"Oh sticking up for him are we?"
"No, I'm not."
"Uh huh, you're blushing."
"I am not."
Author: Charlie
Timeline: Post BtVS S7 (initially), later on Post AtS S5.
Summary: Xander begins a new chapter of his life.
Author Notes: Round and round, the ship goes. Where it lands, the
author doesn't know. Will it (B)uffy, (C)ordelia, (D)awn, (F)aith,
(F)red, (H)armony, (K)enndy or (W)illow that wins the Xandman?
Amy slowly walked into the kitchen to find Alex and Sam sitting at the table laughing. They noticed her standing in the entranceway and waved her over. She hesitantly pulled a chair out and sat down beside Xander.
"Are you okay Amy?" Alex asked.
"I'm fine. Just tired." She smiled at him.
Sam beamed silently at the pair. She was happy for two reasons, the first being Amy appeared in better health both physically and mentally with Alex present. The second was that Alex himself seemed pleased to be around Amy. The sound of the front door opening drew her attention as a few seconds later her husband entered the room and found the trio around the table.
Riley was surprised to see them around the table, he was especially surprised to see Alex's hand around Amy's but that would wait until later. His wife got up from her chair and embraced him in a tight hug. He stroked her hair absentmindedly. Reluctantly he broke their embrace and looked at Alex.
"We have a situation that you two need to know about."
Alex merely nodded but Amy looked confused as Alex stood up.
"What do you mean, 'you two'?" Her confusion and concern grew from the look on Xander's face. "What is going on Xander?" He looked guilty at hearing the pleading in her voice. Alex reached out and took her hand and rubbed it slowly as he spoke to her.
"Amy, do you trust me?"
She nodded slowly.
"I would never do anything to hurt you, okay? I need you to know this because what I have to say and do will be hard to understand."
Again, Amy nodded.
"Good because this," Xander's face shifted to that of another man "is a bit hard to understand."
Amy did what most people would have done in her shoes.
She fainted.
Sometime later, after Amy was moved to the Finn's couch and revived, Alex explained what had happened and Cole introduced himself to the young girl. It took an awful lot to surprise Amy after her life in Sunnydale but the tale Cole and Alex told her did it.
"So you there's two of you in one body but you're separate people?" She hoped she had it right.
"Yes." Alex told her.
"Okay."
The sound of Riley clearing his throat drew them back to the present and it drew a hard look from Sam to her husband.
"I really hate to interrupt the moment but this really important." Riley informed them.
"Sure Riley, what is it?"
The former member of the Initiative handed him a vanilla folder and spoke, "I think you and Cole might find these interesting."
Alex flipped open the folder and started perusing the contents. The first thing he saw were some aerial photographs, it took him a second to realize what he was looking at. It was the crater that held the remains of Sunnydale. The remains of his life with Anya. He swallowed with some difficulty, pushing back the pangs of grief he still felt. There were other photographs of the crater some apparently taken from different angles with different cameras. Parts of those photographs were highlighted, with symbols noted on them. There was also a single page report that Xander briefly skimmed through not really understanding. It was after going through all of it that he looked up at Riley confused.
"So what does it all mean?"
Finn hesitated before speaking, "I think Cole knows what it means."
There was a pause as Xander looked off into space and then his face shifted as Cole took over. He stood up with a scowl on his face. Shaking his head, he started pacing and drumming his fingers on the countertop. Amy hesitated and picked up the folder, she was confused as she looked through the contents.
"What's wrong?" She asked.
"Not what. Who was wrong. And in this case, Buffy Summers a.k.a. 'The legendary Slayer' was wrong. Very wrong."
"What do you mean?"
"Alex told you about the last days of Sunnydale and the final battle, right?"
She nodded.
"Good because it's all crap."
Now Amy was really confused, "What?"
Cole looked her in the eyes, "The hellmouth on Sunnydale, is still active."
There was silence in the kitchen before Amy managed to speak again.
"But, Xander said that the vampire, Spike wore some mystic amulet of a champion and sacrificed himself to seal the hellmouth."
He nodded before replying, "Couple of things, One Spike is 'alive' we saw him in Cleveland with the others. Two, I have a hard time believing that a demonic spirit, the thing that keeps a vampire ticking would ever WILLINGLY be the thing that shuts the door to the mouth of hell. And finally, I may not have graduated high school but I got my GED and I even I know that something as old and smart as the 'First Evil' wouldn't have uncovered a weapon like the Slayer's scythe AND handed it over UNLESS it had something in mind."
"Then what is it planning," Sam asked.
"I don't know." He turned and looked at Riley, "And you got this from Travers?"
"He handed it over in person."
"I thought you said he was dead." Amy spoke again.
Riley and Cole looked over at her, silently prompting her to continue which she did.
"Xander said that Giles was sure the Watcher's council had been destroyed and the potentials were dead."
Cole considered her words before answering. "Amy, the Watcher's council has been around since the dawn of civilization. That's literally thousands of years, trust me they didn't survive this long by being lucky."
She blinked, trying to figure out what he meant "So they weren't killed?"
"No, granted they were a little surprised at the method the First chose but they weren't unprepared. They had a few backup plans, they're not stupid after all."
"But how?"
This time Riley spoke, "There are quite a few groups involved in this fight Amy. The Watcher's council, my people, not to mention several powerful covens, magic users and others."
Amy slowly nodded as understanding came over her, "magic".
"Yeah, Travers isn't an idiot, he did what countless heads of the council did before him. He prepared and updated the guidelines of the council. Especially what to do in the event of the attack on the council building and the potential slayers."
"Other council heads?" Sam asked warily
Riley answered his wife, "During the Second World War, records indicate that some members of the Nazi party dabbled in the occult. Almost of their 'doings' involved demons. Hence the firebombing of London and other places throughout England. Not to mention the numerous arrests and executions of otherwise ordinary people in every country they conquered."
"Watchers and potential slayers. And the bombing, they were targeting the Watcher's council."
"Correct and the council hid protected by the British government and the other allies."
"So after the First's attack, they hid again?"
"Yep, re-trench and regroup. The surviving field Watchers contacted their host governments and were placed in protective custody along with the potential slayers."
"No wonder Buffy's Watcher couldn't find them. He thought they were mostly dead but they were in hiding." Sam spoke out loud.
"Yeah and after Willow's little spell, the council had a whole NEW set of problems to deal. Fortunately, they adapted pretty quickly and started training the 'new' slayers with government help."
"So why didn't they step in and help against the First?"
Riley was uncomfortable as he answered, "They were. Had Buffy failed... well that section of California would be glowing in the dark for the next few thousand years."
All the color drained from Amy's face at that response. "Oh my god, they would have, I mean you would have. Why?"
"Why not?"
Amy's gaze shifted to Cole stunned at what he had send.
"What?"
"I said 'why not?' It's acceptable losses."
She stared at him, "Look Amy, you may not like it but the alternative was either nuke Sunnydale or lose California and possibly the West Coast of North America, if not the world. Seems a pretty easy decision to make to me."
He stopped, glanced at the photos again before speaking, "But, now this hellmouth is active again and so is the one in Cleveland. New rules, new players, a whole new ball game is about to start."
"So what happens now?" Sam asked.
Riley and Cole stared at each other for a long time before Finn answered his wife, "We tell Buffy and the others. They have to know."
"They won't believe you." Amy's voice was trembling as she spoke, "I know Buffy, she won't believe that anything's wrong. She thinks she's always right."
"Well it really doesn't matter anymore what Buffy thinks." Cole answered her, not bothering to slow down as he continued, "I think it's time somebody brings bottle blondie back to Earth and I know just the guy."
He looked at Riley, Sam and Amy. "I'm going, are you guys game?" Riley looked over at his wife and saw the answer in her eyes. "We are."
"Amy?"
She nodded.
"Good. Well that's all I got to say. See y'all in a little while." With that his face shifted and Alex took over. He walked over to where Amy sat and she grasped his hand in her own. Seeing this, Sam and Riley left the kitchen, partially to get ready for the road trip and partially to give Amy and Alex some space.
"Are you gonna be all right?" She asked him.
"Yeah. I'll get over it."
"Are you sure?"
"He asked me if I wanted to or not and I said yes. I'm fine Amy."
Alex brought his hand up and brushed her cheek lightly.
-Cleveland, Ohio-
Dawn sat her bed, a look of sadness and regret on her face. She looked out at the overcast sky outside her window and wondered where Xander was. And if she would ever see him again.
"Dawn?" A tentative knock accompanied Cordelia's voice.
"It's open." Her voice was quiet.
Cordelia cautiously made her way into the room. The former cheerleader felt her feelings of sadness and loneliness intensify as she saw Dawn. Quietly she sat down on the bed beside her.
"Hey, how are you doing?"
"I'm fine." The younger girl said in a very unconvincing voice.
"Dawn, you've barely eaten in the past few days. You've got us all worried about you. Even Buffy."
"Really. I guess it must be serious for sis to interrupt her bitching about getting her butt kicked to say something."
The ex-seer smiled at Dawn's words, "She does tend to go on about that, doesn't she?"
"That's all she and Faith do is bitch about how they lost. They don't care about the other part or anything else. Just that they lost."
Cordelia sensed what Dawn was referring to, "he'll be back Dawn."
"He was gone for two years last time."
"It won't be two years this time. I promise you that."
Dawn looked unconvinced, "what makes you so sure?"
"Call it my Xander-shaped intuition."
The younger girl smiled at that.
"Hey is she gonna eat tonight or what because this pizza smells really good."
"IN A MINUTE HARMONY." Cordelia called out to her best friend, she spoke softly to Dawn, "Same old Harm, vampire or no vampire."
Dawn giggled at that and Cordelia pulled her into a warm hug for a few seconds before they both stood up.
"Come on, we better get out there before she scares Andrew anymore."
"He's not that scared of her anymore."
"Oh sticking up for him are we?"
"No, I'm not."
"Uh huh, you're blushing."
"I am not."