Title: A Fair Exchange.
Author: Charlie
Timeline: Post BtVS S7 & AtS S5. Sequel to "Best Laid Plans."
Summary:Xander begins revamping the slayer school but finds his biggest challeges lie within.
Feedback is always appreciated.
Author Notes: Round and round, the ship goes. Where it lands, the
Author doesn't know. Will it be (A)my, (B)uffy, (C)ordelia, (D)awn, (F)aith, (F)red, (H)armony, (K)ennedy or (W)illow that wins the Xandman?
Flashback
"So I guess you're it."
Cole spoke as he regarded the figure in front of him. A man dressed in medieval-looking clothing with coal black hair and grayish skin. His face was that of a cruel, harsh man with burning red pools of light where their eyes had been. Swallowing, he noted the creature seemed to be studying him as well and continued talking.
"You're the new 'big bad guy' drawn here to kill me and destroy the world or whatever." He paused to look more closely at the creature, "What the hell are you anyway?"
The thing's glare seemed to intensify as its eyes glowed brighter. Had Cole been chewing gum he surely would have swallowed it. As it was, he felt his body go numb and fear seemed to shoot through him. The phrase 'blood turning cold as ice' immediately ran thru his mind. The creature raised its right hand and pointed it at him. Black lighting tinged with purple erupted forth from it and for a split second Cole thought he was going to die. That though vanished as the lighting struck him but didn't kill him. Instead, it wrapped around his body, binding his arms to his sides and rendering him unable to move.
"Hero."
Cole looked up in surprise as the thing spoke. It seemed to regard him for a second before walking towards him. The creature stopped right in front of him and continued it's visual inspection.
"You know, if you're just gonna speak one word at a time, this could be a REALLY long conversation and I have work in the morning."
The creature flicked it's wrist slightly and Cole was yanked off his feet. He hung suspended in mid-air, his body rotated until he was lying on his back facing the ground. Confused, the hunter looked up at his impromptu captor.
"Hero," the thing repeated it's first word in a voice that sent chills up and down Cole's spine. He listened as it continued. "Heroes are a lie. An illusion created by themselves and those around them. I am the truth. I am POWER made flesh." It paused and regarded him, "for decades I ruled my people as a man, now I will rule ALL people as I am now."
Cole struggled to free himself briefly before replying, "Oh is that so? What you're gonna go on Donahue and bore people to death with your life story until they let you rule?"
The thing simply raised it's hand and Cole went backwards slamming into a mausoleum behind him with enough force to knock the air out of his lungs. The creature remained where it stood and slowly lifted it's other hand in a simple gesture and spoke, "Arise".
He took a deep breath trying to his wind back before he answered, "I'd like to but he seem to have me a little tied up here." When it didn't reply, Cole opened his mouth to say something else when he heard the noises. Noises he that sounded familiar, somehow. He looked around trying to sense where the sounds were coming from when he saw a skeletal arm burst up from beneath the dirt. Others joined it and as he watched a half dozen things dragged themselves from the ground. They didn't resemble zombies, vampires or anything else he had previously fought. Indeed, they looked little more then walking skeletons though unarmed ones. Of course in his current imprisoned state, it mattered little if they were armed or not.
Cole was so caught up in analyzing the situation he paid no attention to the sound of stone and rock moving behind him. The chosen one gulped and put on a brave face, "I don't think the groundskeeper here is gonna appreciate you messing up his work like that. He's pretty touchy about that sort of stuff. I remember this one time-". His voice died as the red-eyed creature focused it's attention on him again.
"Consider this, a harbinger of things to come. Hero." And then it faded from view.
To his relief, Cole felt his bonds weaken so slightly. Of course that meant little as the skeleton looking things started walking closer to him. He shifted his weight trying to break free and succeed in falling face first into the dirt. As he lay there momentarily stunned he heard the sound of something moving and felt something approach him. Looking up, Cole expected to see one of the skeletal creatures grinning down at him. Instead he saw the stony face of a gargoyle stature staring at him. Except that most statures don't have blue glowing eyes or the ability to growl at people. The gargoyle leaned closer to him and opened it's mouth to reveal surprising sharp-looking teeth. At that point, Cole said the first thing that sprang to mind.
"Oh boy."
End Flashback
-Crestview-
The two people, a man and a woman moved in unison. Each was a perfect reflection of the other; their movements were smooth, conducted with an air of grace and no wasted motion. Slowly they finished and brought their hands together in front of themselves. The woman took a deep breath and let it out trying to remain calm. Behind her, Angel watched with concern on his face.
"Faith, you've got to keep your calm."
"Trying to Fang, just not doing so good."
"What's wrong."
She seemed to shrug off his question and walked away from him to where her workout towel lay. Faith silently mopped the sweat off her brow as Angel watched her.
"Faith," He began.
"I heard ya the first time Angel," She paused, "I just thought I had more time."
"More time?"
The dark slayer turned around to face him; "I should be used to it by now, running out of time. I mean it's been like that my whole life. Every time something good happened it wouldn't last. It would always fall apart one way or another. I thought I was used to it, even in SunnyDale, I knew things wouldn't last. When I came back with Red, I thought this was going to be it. One way or another, I wasn't going to be able to just walk away this one."
"But you did."
"Yeah, just not like I thought I would. I mean, I had people who I thought I could hang with, a guy that cared a little about me and everything. Then HE goes and screws everything the hell up."
"Xander."
"Yeah, Xman. I mean, what gives him the right to strut on in here and kick the shit out of us whenever he wants."
Angel waited a minute before answering, "I don't recall him doing that, Faith."
She looked at him in surprise as he continued, "As I remember it wasn't Xander who attacked you first and even then he was defending himself."
"Defend himself? He beat the shit out me, threatened to kill you and Spike. Then snapped B's arm like a twig."
"That was Cole, Faith. Not Xander."
"Yeah well X, sure as hell didn't stop him."
"No he didn't."
Faith just looked at him incredulously, "And you're okay with what he did?"
"No, I'm not okay with what he did Faith. The Xander I remember wouldn't have done any of those things. But, the Willow I remember wouldn't have tried to destroy the world and the Buffy I remember wouldn't have done a lot of the things she did either. The man I see now isn't the boy I knew in Sunnydale. He's changed, become a man. A man I don't recognize, never dreamed he would be and somehow I don't think anyone else did either."
He looked a little harder at Faith, "I don't know what happened in Sunnydale after I left. I know things and people changed, I guess I didn't realize how much they had changed."
"Why did you leave?"
"Because I wanted what was best for Buffy. I wanted to see her walk in sunlight. I wanted to see her happy. I guess that didn't work out."
The slayer considered his words briefly, "You know when you came back from Hell, X was all for seeing me stake you."
Angel nodded, "I couldn't really blame him."
That threw Faith for a second, "What?"
"He had to stake his best friend Faith. He helped organize patrols with Willow, Cordelia and Oz when Buffy ran away. He blew up a demon with a rocket launcher," the vampire paused noting the surprised expression on her face, "Xander was always there trying to make things easier for Buffy. If it meant staking me so that Angelus couldn't threaten her anymore, he would have done it."
"That's why you're not pissed that he lied to Buffy about the spell."
He nodded. "I don't know what happened in those last few days in Sunnydale Faith."
She held up her hands to stop him, "I didn't do anything to him, A."
"Not even tell him you're sorry?"
Faith frowned at that, "What is it with you guys? First Wood, now you."
"Wood told you to apologize?"
She shrugged in response and Angel focused on her more intently, "Why didn't you? Why haven't you?"
"Didn't seem important."
"Doesn't it seem important now Faith?"
Silence followed Angel's words before Faith threw the towel down and stalked from the gym. The vampire watched her leave and then lowered his gaze to the towel on the mat.
"Good luck Xander."
-Elsewhere-
Amy watched as Dawn, Cordelia and Andrew chatted amiably with Mrs. Hollings. A little further away Wood and Alex were talking. She felt someone touch her arm, turning she found Kennedy staring at her rather intensely before nodding her back towards the conference room. Silently she followed the younger woman back inside, closing and locking the door as she did so. Turning she found Kennedy was now glaring at her in undisguised hatred. Amy didn't bother waiting for the slayer to open her mouth before starting.
"So I guess you're still pissed off at me."
"Still? You tried to KILL her AND me."
"And? She tried to kill ME BEFORE. Hell, she tried to destroy the whole world before. Xander was the only one that stopped her." She finished with a trace of bitterness in her voice.
Kennedy continued to glare at her, "Willow wasn't going to blow up the world. She could have stopped herself." That provoked a harsh laugh from the other woman.
"Willow, stop herself? God how naïve are you? When we were kids, she was desperate to get attention, especially Xander's. That's all she wanted was for him to never leave her alone. She started hacking into the school's computer to bump up his grades and arrange his schedule so she would always have him around."
The slayer blinked at hearing that bit of news. Amy continued on, "She pined away for him for years, always wanting him to see her. And when she FINALLY got him, she threw him away. Yet there he was, stopping her killing all of us. He was the only that could."
Kennedy swallowed, "I could have stopped her."
Amy laughed, "Yeah right. Not even Tara could have stopped her." She noted the slayer's reaction to that name. "Problem Kennedy?"
"No." Her voice wavered slightly drawing a slight smile from Amy. "I guess you're more confident then I thought I would be. I don't know if I could handle never being more then second best to Xander."
And with that Amy unlocked the door and left the room, leaving the young slayer deep in thought.
Author: Charlie
Timeline: Post BtVS S7 & AtS S5. Sequel to "Best Laid Plans."
Summary:Xander begins revamping the slayer school but finds his biggest challeges lie within.
Feedback is always appreciated.
Author Notes: Round and round, the ship goes. Where it lands, the
Author doesn't know. Will it be (A)my, (B)uffy, (C)ordelia, (D)awn, (F)aith, (F)red, (H)armony, (K)ennedy or (W)illow that wins the Xandman?
Flashback
"So I guess you're it."
Cole spoke as he regarded the figure in front of him. A man dressed in medieval-looking clothing with coal black hair and grayish skin. His face was that of a cruel, harsh man with burning red pools of light where their eyes had been. Swallowing, he noted the creature seemed to be studying him as well and continued talking.
"You're the new 'big bad guy' drawn here to kill me and destroy the world or whatever." He paused to look more closely at the creature, "What the hell are you anyway?"
The thing's glare seemed to intensify as its eyes glowed brighter. Had Cole been chewing gum he surely would have swallowed it. As it was, he felt his body go numb and fear seemed to shoot through him. The phrase 'blood turning cold as ice' immediately ran thru his mind. The creature raised its right hand and pointed it at him. Black lighting tinged with purple erupted forth from it and for a split second Cole thought he was going to die. That though vanished as the lighting struck him but didn't kill him. Instead, it wrapped around his body, binding his arms to his sides and rendering him unable to move.
"Hero."
Cole looked up in surprise as the thing spoke. It seemed to regard him for a second before walking towards him. The creature stopped right in front of him and continued it's visual inspection.
"You know, if you're just gonna speak one word at a time, this could be a REALLY long conversation and I have work in the morning."
The creature flicked it's wrist slightly and Cole was yanked off his feet. He hung suspended in mid-air, his body rotated until he was lying on his back facing the ground. Confused, the hunter looked up at his impromptu captor.
"Hero," the thing repeated it's first word in a voice that sent chills up and down Cole's spine. He listened as it continued. "Heroes are a lie. An illusion created by themselves and those around them. I am the truth. I am POWER made flesh." It paused and regarded him, "for decades I ruled my people as a man, now I will rule ALL people as I am now."
Cole struggled to free himself briefly before replying, "Oh is that so? What you're gonna go on Donahue and bore people to death with your life story until they let you rule?"
The thing simply raised it's hand and Cole went backwards slamming into a mausoleum behind him with enough force to knock the air out of his lungs. The creature remained where it stood and slowly lifted it's other hand in a simple gesture and spoke, "Arise".
He took a deep breath trying to his wind back before he answered, "I'd like to but he seem to have me a little tied up here." When it didn't reply, Cole opened his mouth to say something else when he heard the noises. Noises he that sounded familiar, somehow. He looked around trying to sense where the sounds were coming from when he saw a skeletal arm burst up from beneath the dirt. Others joined it and as he watched a half dozen things dragged themselves from the ground. They didn't resemble zombies, vampires or anything else he had previously fought. Indeed, they looked little more then walking skeletons though unarmed ones. Of course in his current imprisoned state, it mattered little if they were armed or not.
Cole was so caught up in analyzing the situation he paid no attention to the sound of stone and rock moving behind him. The chosen one gulped and put on a brave face, "I don't think the groundskeeper here is gonna appreciate you messing up his work like that. He's pretty touchy about that sort of stuff. I remember this one time-". His voice died as the red-eyed creature focused it's attention on him again.
"Consider this, a harbinger of things to come. Hero." And then it faded from view.
To his relief, Cole felt his bonds weaken so slightly. Of course that meant little as the skeleton looking things started walking closer to him. He shifted his weight trying to break free and succeed in falling face first into the dirt. As he lay there momentarily stunned he heard the sound of something moving and felt something approach him. Looking up, Cole expected to see one of the skeletal creatures grinning down at him. Instead he saw the stony face of a gargoyle stature staring at him. Except that most statures don't have blue glowing eyes or the ability to growl at people. The gargoyle leaned closer to him and opened it's mouth to reveal surprising sharp-looking teeth. At that point, Cole said the first thing that sprang to mind.
"Oh boy."
End Flashback
-Crestview-
The two people, a man and a woman moved in unison. Each was a perfect reflection of the other; their movements were smooth, conducted with an air of grace and no wasted motion. Slowly they finished and brought their hands together in front of themselves. The woman took a deep breath and let it out trying to remain calm. Behind her, Angel watched with concern on his face.
"Faith, you've got to keep your calm."
"Trying to Fang, just not doing so good."
"What's wrong."
She seemed to shrug off his question and walked away from him to where her workout towel lay. Faith silently mopped the sweat off her brow as Angel watched her.
"Faith," He began.
"I heard ya the first time Angel," She paused, "I just thought I had more time."
"More time?"
The dark slayer turned around to face him; "I should be used to it by now, running out of time. I mean it's been like that my whole life. Every time something good happened it wouldn't last. It would always fall apart one way or another. I thought I was used to it, even in SunnyDale, I knew things wouldn't last. When I came back with Red, I thought this was going to be it. One way or another, I wasn't going to be able to just walk away this one."
"But you did."
"Yeah, just not like I thought I would. I mean, I had people who I thought I could hang with, a guy that cared a little about me and everything. Then HE goes and screws everything the hell up."
"Xander."
"Yeah, Xman. I mean, what gives him the right to strut on in here and kick the shit out of us whenever he wants."
Angel waited a minute before answering, "I don't recall him doing that, Faith."
She looked at him in surprise as he continued, "As I remember it wasn't Xander who attacked you first and even then he was defending himself."
"Defend himself? He beat the shit out me, threatened to kill you and Spike. Then snapped B's arm like a twig."
"That was Cole, Faith. Not Xander."
"Yeah well X, sure as hell didn't stop him."
"No he didn't."
Faith just looked at him incredulously, "And you're okay with what he did?"
"No, I'm not okay with what he did Faith. The Xander I remember wouldn't have done any of those things. But, the Willow I remember wouldn't have tried to destroy the world and the Buffy I remember wouldn't have done a lot of the things she did either. The man I see now isn't the boy I knew in Sunnydale. He's changed, become a man. A man I don't recognize, never dreamed he would be and somehow I don't think anyone else did either."
He looked a little harder at Faith, "I don't know what happened in Sunnydale after I left. I know things and people changed, I guess I didn't realize how much they had changed."
"Why did you leave?"
"Because I wanted what was best for Buffy. I wanted to see her walk in sunlight. I wanted to see her happy. I guess that didn't work out."
The slayer considered his words briefly, "You know when you came back from Hell, X was all for seeing me stake you."
Angel nodded, "I couldn't really blame him."
That threw Faith for a second, "What?"
"He had to stake his best friend Faith. He helped organize patrols with Willow, Cordelia and Oz when Buffy ran away. He blew up a demon with a rocket launcher," the vampire paused noting the surprised expression on her face, "Xander was always there trying to make things easier for Buffy. If it meant staking me so that Angelus couldn't threaten her anymore, he would have done it."
"That's why you're not pissed that he lied to Buffy about the spell."
He nodded. "I don't know what happened in those last few days in Sunnydale Faith."
She held up her hands to stop him, "I didn't do anything to him, A."
"Not even tell him you're sorry?"
Faith frowned at that, "What is it with you guys? First Wood, now you."
"Wood told you to apologize?"
She shrugged in response and Angel focused on her more intently, "Why didn't you? Why haven't you?"
"Didn't seem important."
"Doesn't it seem important now Faith?"
Silence followed Angel's words before Faith threw the towel down and stalked from the gym. The vampire watched her leave and then lowered his gaze to the towel on the mat.
"Good luck Xander."
-Elsewhere-
Amy watched as Dawn, Cordelia and Andrew chatted amiably with Mrs. Hollings. A little further away Wood and Alex were talking. She felt someone touch her arm, turning she found Kennedy staring at her rather intensely before nodding her back towards the conference room. Silently she followed the younger woman back inside, closing and locking the door as she did so. Turning she found Kennedy was now glaring at her in undisguised hatred. Amy didn't bother waiting for the slayer to open her mouth before starting.
"So I guess you're still pissed off at me."
"Still? You tried to KILL her AND me."
"And? She tried to kill ME BEFORE. Hell, she tried to destroy the whole world before. Xander was the only one that stopped her." She finished with a trace of bitterness in her voice.
Kennedy continued to glare at her, "Willow wasn't going to blow up the world. She could have stopped herself." That provoked a harsh laugh from the other woman.
"Willow, stop herself? God how naïve are you? When we were kids, she was desperate to get attention, especially Xander's. That's all she wanted was for him to never leave her alone. She started hacking into the school's computer to bump up his grades and arrange his schedule so she would always have him around."
The slayer blinked at hearing that bit of news. Amy continued on, "She pined away for him for years, always wanting him to see her. And when she FINALLY got him, she threw him away. Yet there he was, stopping her killing all of us. He was the only that could."
Kennedy swallowed, "I could have stopped her."
Amy laughed, "Yeah right. Not even Tara could have stopped her." She noted the slayer's reaction to that name. "Problem Kennedy?"
"No." Her voice wavered slightly drawing a slight smile from Amy. "I guess you're more confident then I thought I would be. I don't know if I could handle never being more then second best to Xander."
And with that Amy unlocked the door and left the room, leaving the young slayer deep in thought.