Stakeout Ch 13
Shady Hills Cemetery
Sunnydale, CA,
November 24, 1998
10:34 PM
Contrary to popular belief, night vision was not very useful when fighting vampires.
There were two types of night vision gear available for the Stakeout Teams to use while on patrol, light amplification and infrared. Light amp would take the available ambient light and increase it electronically, but all that resulted in was various shades of green when seen though a scope or binoculars. Any strong source of light would cause the scope to flare and wash out the image, rendering it useless. Infrared was more useful in that you could easily tell vampires from humans, but the vampires were at most only one or two degrees warmer than the ambient air temperature, resulting in a faint blue image compared to the orange or red figure produced by human body heat.
Tim Harris had known this when he had been selecting his gear for the night's mission, but the compromise he had settled on was proving to be almost unworkable. The infrared scope on the M21 7.62mm NATO sniper rifle would not allow him to clearly identify targets. Matt Parker had both regular and light amp binocs and could not guide the shots the way a spotter could have done in the daylight.
Tim and Matt were on the top of a two story chapel, wrapped in grey and black ghille suits. The two marksmen were barely able to keep up with the fight occurring a mere fifty yards ahead of them, next to a crypt that was a part of some ritual that was supposed to take place. All Tim could see was that a few orange figures were swirling though a group of blue figures, the blue shapes disappearing one by one.
-Sierra Four to Sierra Six, unable to take shot IR, tangos unclear, over.- Tim whispered into his throat mike, letting Gabriel Martin know that he was unable to fire.
-Sierra Four, copy, Sierra Five, hold position.- Gabriel responded, also letting Peter Murray know to stand by at his location with Steve Angelo twenty yards from the fight to the south. Gabriel was 25 yards to the north with Scott Kelly, all the deputies with SMGs and shotguns at the ready.
-Sierra Four to Six, switching to normal scope. Prepare to pop flares on my signal- Not waiting for the confirmation, Tim quickly unsnapped the IR scope from the sniper rifle and slapped on an adjustable power conventional scope. 'If I ever meet the guy who came up with these interchangeable constant zero scope mounts,' Tim thought to himself, 'I'm definitely buying him a beer.' The rifle was now able to shoot within a minute of angle up to 500 yards. At 50 yards the rifle would place his shots inside a half inch of it's aiming point; of that, .308 inches was the diameter of the bullet itself.
Beside him, Matt had put down the binocs and was now brought a FN M249 Squad Automatic Weapon to bear on the target zone. The Belgian light machine gun was ready with a 200 round belt of 5.56mm NATO, with tracers loaded one-in-three among the full metal jacketed cartridges. The backup plan involved the ground teams firing parachute flares into the air every 15 seconds until the threats had been neutralized by the sniper team. The down side to that plan was that every person within a couple of miles who wasn't blind and deaf was going to realize that there was a military trained sniper team in the area as soon they started shooting.
Peering though the optics as he heard Gabriel confirm his last transmission, Tim swept along the target area before sighting in on two figures struggling at the edge of the group. Focusing the scope, he was able to see the distorted visage of a vampire facing toward him, but it the face of the human fighting him that caused his blood to turn to ice.
Xander.
Shady Hills Cemetery
Sunnydale, CA,
November 24, 1998
10:33 PM
The Scooby Gang had thought they could leave him behind. They thought that if they planned everything right, they could sneak out to the demon ritual without him none the wiser, without him fouling up the attack the way that he usually did and endangering them. But instead, he had worked out what they had done, tracked them down, and was now merrily wreaking havoc on their carefully drawn out plans.
Murphy (of the Law's of Combat fame) had really fouled up the fight tonight.
Xander Harris was with Giles, Oz and Willow, covering for them as they prepared a counter-spell for the demonic ritual that night, but it had been another attempt to keep him out of the fighting. Giles had prepared the ingredients back at the library, Willow and Giles was doing the chanting, and now Oz was standing besides her with a crossbow, picking off any vampire that came too close to them. Standing by with a short sword in hand, Xander could only watch as Buffy and Faith tore through the assembled vampires trying to get to the demon performing the spell. He couldn't quite remember what the spell was supposed to do, it was either supposed to make the minor demon into a major Bad Guy or cure male pattern baldness, he couldn't remember which. Although looking at the hairless demon with brown and pink molted skin, he was betting more on number two.
Watching Buffy and Faith fight, you could almost ignore the fact that they were outnumbered three to one. The previous intelligence they had scared out of Willy the Snitch was that there were going to be only five vampires along with the demon, but there had been fifteen vamps on site when the crew came up on the open crypt. That number was now down to six, but the vamps were fighting for their very unlives now rather than just defending their boss..
Hand clenching on the sword handle, Xander watched as Buffy kicked and punched a vampire into near insensibility before throwing it toward Faith, who would stake the vamp in midair. Buffy's stake had hung up in the ribcage of an earlier vamp, destroying the wooden weapon as well as the undead creature. The resulting tag team slaying would be fascinating to watch, if it hadn't resulted in more danger to the two Slayers.
Xander watched as Faith took a running leap off a tombstone, a captured sword in her hand, and vaulted over the few remaining vampires to directly attack the Demon-In-Charge, breaking the bowl that contained the spell ingredients along the way. Xander snorted to himself as he thought of the title he had just come up with - it may have been accurate and funny, but he doubted anyone besides Faith would appreciate the acronym that came from that title... and maybe Oz.
Looking over at Buffy, Xander could see that she was busily bouncing the two remaining vamps off various crypt walls and tombstones, weaponless and temporarily unable to dust them. Seeing that Giles and Willow were relatively safe now that most of the vamps were gone, Xander started toward the remaining fight intending to throw his sword to Buffy when he saw that a third vampire was coming up behind her and she didn't realize it.
Moving quickly, Xander took a running dive toward the vampire, swinging his sword at the vampire's neck. The vamp managed to deflect the sword with his left hand, losing a couple of fingers in the process but otherwise staying alive... or undead, as the case may be.
Giving a snarling scream, the wounded vamp charged Xander, who began to back peddle while swinging the sword around in front of him. The sword kept the vamp from overrunning him, but he had to keep moving back to keep the vamp from grabbing him. Xander cursed under his breath as he kept swinging - he was a fair hand with a sword, but had never received any actual training like Buffy, Faith, and Giles had.
"Xander! Get out of the way!" Hearing Willow shout that made Xander's ears go red; it wasn't like he was deliberately getting in the way. Catching a quick glimpse of Oz trying to shoot at the vampire with his crossbow, Xander tried to maneuver out of the line of fire, but the vamp wasn't co-operating, as he realized that not only was he attacking an armed human, but another human was attempting to shoot him, not to mention that two Slayers were about to join in this fray momentarily.
Looking at the vampire's furious eyes, Xander felt a calm start to pass through him. Seeing the vamp begin to rush him, he instantly knew what his intention was - to grab him, sword or no sword, and use him as a hostage to get away from the varied enemies around him. Winding up as a after-getaway snack was merely a bonus.
As though in slow motion, Xander swung his sword one more time toward the vampire's neck, only to see the vamp knock the sword away with his injured arm, resulting in a deep gash on his forearm, but otherwise sending the sword flying through the air toward Buffy. The blonde Slayer neatly plucked the sword out of mid-air in the middle of her sprint toward the remaining fight, her last two opponents still slowly turning to dust, but there was no way she would reach her endangered teammate in time. Faith, her adversary headless on the ground, was a couple of steps behind her as well.
Xander could see the unholy glee in his opponent's yellow eyes as he got within arm's reach. Still reacting in that calm, emotionless fashion, Xander moved his weight to his right leg, and with all his strength, kicked out and down with his left, smashing though the vampire's right knee.
Before the vampire could scream from the excruciating injury, Xander took a small step forward, setting his left foot down, and as the agonized vampire began to jack knife forward, brought his right knee up full force into the vamp's chest, throwing him onto his back.
Xander looked around and saw that Buffy and Faith were a few seconds away from reaching him. He did not want the vampire to attack or try to get away, but he didn't have his sword anymore. Taking a quick breath, Xander used the only other weapon he had left.
The vampire had just enough time to look up from his position on the ground to see the teenager jump up into the air. The last thing the vamp saw was 180 pounds of Xander Harris dropping toward his head, feet first.
Sunnydale High School Library
Sunnydale, CA,
November 24, 1998
11:45 PM
Xander sat with his head slightly down, trying not to listen to Buffy chew him out. In fact, he was more interested in looking at Willow and trying to gauge the look on her face, to tell the truth. After witnessing his little airborne stunt with the downed vamp, Willow had proven that people's faces can indeed turn green, just before she ran for the bushes to throw up. Willow was now sitting unsteadily besides Oz, who had stood beside her to make sure nothing happened to her as she tossed her cookies behind a bush.
Buffy and Faith has not gotten sick, but they had stood in stunned disbelief after witnessing the end of the fight. Seeing that the vamp had not dusted, Xander asked Faith for her sword. After the Slayer handed it over, Xander carefully decapitated the vampire, not that there was much of the vampire's smashed head left, watching as it finally disintegrated.
"...Are you even listening to me, Xander?!? That was one of the dumbest things I've ever seen you do. What the heck were you thinking attacking a vamp like that, without a weapon even? Faith and I could have taken it out, you should have let us do it..." Xander looked up at Buffy, who was standing a couple of feet in front of him, her hands on her hips.
"That vamp was about to blindside you, Buff. What would you have wanted me to do?" Xander's question only served to anger the blonde Slayer.
"That vamp was not going to blindside me, I would have taken care of it. You should not have jumped into that fight..." Buffy looked like she was winding up into another rant, but suddenly Xander was tired of it, since he just realized something - Buffy was apparently more upset with the fact that Xander thought she needed rescuing than that he got involved in the fight.
"You had no weapon, you were fighting two vamps you couldn't dust, and that third vamp got within striking distance of you without you knowing it. You sure you could have taken it?" Xander was looking steadily at Buffy.
"Yes! I've been attacked before, I would have beat him off, you shouldn't be getting into fights you're not trained for..." Xander give a mental sigh as Buffy began the same argument again. Looking around Xander could see that Faith and Giles did not fully agree with Buffy, but also that they were not going to intervene on his behalf.
"You know what, you're right." That statement brought Buffy to a complete halt.
"Of course I am." Buffy looked a little unsure even as she replied. "You're not going to do that again?"
"Probably not. One pair of trashed sneakers is enough." Xander looked down at his formerly white tennis shoes, which even after a lot of scuffing and kicking were still stained with red and grey goop. So much for vampire dust.
Seeing the anger flashing across Buffy's face, Xander turned toward Giles. "There's nothing else to do tonight, right Giles?"
The older British man gave a slight start. "No, we've done quite enough tonight, Xander. All that is left is routine patrolling," the Watcher responded.
"Cool. I'll be headed home then." Xander stood and started to walk out of the library when Buffy's voice stopped him.
"You can't walk home by yourself Xander, it's too dangerous."
Rolling his eyes before turning back toward the Slayer, Xander raised Faith's sword, which he had just picked up. "Even with this?"
Seeing a faint look of embarrassment on Buffy's face, Xander turned toward Faith. Reversing the sword in his hand, he offered it to her and in a young sounding voice said, "Beautiful Lady, could you walk me home and protect me from the big bad boogieman? Can you tuck me into bed? I promise to be a good little boy."
The dark haired Slayer gave a short laugh before glancing toward Buffy's angry scowl. Still smiling, she responded, "Sure, but you know that bad little boys get spanked, right?" She took the proffered sword in hand.
Xander waggled his eyebrows up and down and smiled. "You promise?" Seeing the disapproval on Willow's face, and the faint amusement on both Oz's and Giles' faces, he crooked his right arm and offered it to Faith.
Sliding her left arm into his, leaving her sword arm free, the two began to walk off. "Night, guys," Faith called out, not turning to see the anger on her sister Slayer's face for being made fun off. But what really gilded the lily was when Xander started to whistle a tune that after a moment was recognizable as 'We're Off To See The Wizard' from "The Wizard of Oz." With that, the older Slayer growled and stalked off.
Old Range Building
Sunnydale County Sheriff's Academy
Sunnydale, CA,
November 25, 1998
01:55 AM
Gabriel Martin neatly stacked the papers on his lectern before placing them in a manila folder. While the After Action Reports did not get officially filed with the Central Records Division of the Department, they still kept records on the unit's computers. The twins would make backup copies of all the data on the hard drive and destroy the hardcopies, both for security's sake and to save room in the office. Gabriel liked to hold on to actual paper while working however, so the manila folder's contents would wind up in a shredder before he left for home. Now that the debrief was done all he had to do was dispose of the papers and lock up the empty building.
Looking up Gabriel was surprised to see Tim Harris sitting at one of the tables in front of him. The older deputy's eyes were fixed on a slim back up knife that he was twirling between his fingers like a pencil. Tim had told him that he did stuff like this to increase his dexterity, but this was the first time Gabriel had seen him use a knife like that.
The narrow black bladed knife rolled over Tim's fingers in a continuous motion, the bright sharpened edge flashing as the knife flipped end over end between his fingers. The blade stopped for a moment before it reversed itself, going in the opposite direction. Finally the knife stopped twirling and in one smooth motion was replaced into the sheath Tim had strapped on his lower left arm under his shirt sleeve.
Tim looked up at Gabriel, his gaze steady for a long moment before he spoke. "I'm getting tired of this crap."
"What crap would that be?" Gabriel pulled a chair over and sat down on the opposite side of the table.
"Watching kids risk their lives while we stand around with out thumbs up our asses." Gabriel knew Tim almost never used profanity in his speech.
"We're not exactly doing nothing here Tim."
"No, but we tonight we were watching kids fight demons with medieval weapons while trained police officers with military weapons couldn't do anything because we could have blown the kids apart with the demons. We can't do the over watch thing anymore, it's almost useless at night with the gear we have. We have to be next to them for this to work."
"Yeah." Gabriel could tell that Tim was upset with the whole situation. "How has it been trying to get close to the kids?"
"I've run into Xander a couple times on the street, but it hasn't gone beyond that. We never were that close before. God only know I wish we had been." Tim gestured toward the wiretap recorders and computers. "Could you believe the crap Summers was saying?"
Gabriel shook his head. The deputies had heard Summers bawling out Xander for jumping into the fight that night, where among other things she had brought up the fact that Xander had received no combat training from either Slayers or the Watcher.
"I was thinking of pushing forward with the contact thing. The only way that I'm going to get inside their group is if they know that I know about vampires." Tim stopped speaking for a moment, visibly putting his thoughts in order. "I don't think they would take it very well if I just walk up and say I know about their night jobs."
The two deputies sat quiet for a few moments before Tim stood up and pushed his chair under the table. "I'll sleep on it, maybe something will come to me tonight." Gabriel stood as well, watching as his partner grabbed his war bag and looked back at him. "Sorry about bending your ear about this."
Gabriel waved him off. "Don't worry about it, we have to get things moving anyway." Locking up his desk and tossing the papers into the shredder, Gabriel picked up his bag and walked over to the doorway where Tim was standing. Flipping off the light switch, the room was illuminated by only the computer monitors. "See you tomorrow Tim."
Sunnydale High School Library
Sunnydale, CA,
November 26, 1998
03:30 PM
Rupert Giles had always thought of the school library as a sanctuary, but not as much as he was that day. After spending an hour in Principal Snyder's office justifying the book budget he had submitted for the upcoming year, Giles had been only moments away from throttling the little troll. Only years of training had prevented him from satisfying his urge to strangle the miserly sadistic school official until his eyes popped. However, this did not keep him from having the occasional pleasant daydream contemplating where he should dispose of the body.
Walking toward the library doors, Giles was struck by a strange odor, one that reminded him of burning candle wax. Feeling his anxiety jump up to match his suddenly rushing heartbeat, Giles pushed his way though the swinging doors to see Xander and an unknown man doing something at the library table.
"Xander! What in the devil are you doing with that lighter?" Giles could see that Xander was running a cigarette lighter over what appeared to be a black boot.
Xander looked from the boot toward Giles with a smile. "Hey there Giles. I'm just polishing my new boots here." Xander gestured with the lighter toward the other boot sitting on the table and various other boot polishing equipment, such as a brush and boot blackening wax.
"With a lighter? Giles asked disbelievingly, looking toward the unfamiliar man sitting next to Xander.
"You put a layer of wax over the boot, then you melt it with a lighter so it fills in the cracks in the leather. Then you polish it with a cloth till it has a good shine. Beats brush shining for sure." The man responded in a matter-of-fact voice as he stood and walked toward Giles. "Hello, I'm Tim Harris."
Giles took the offered hand as he looked at the man's face. He looked to be his approximate age, with a striking resemblance to Xander under the oversized mustache that would not have looked out of place on a Victorian-era British Army officer. It was not just the shape of his face and his hair color, but the look of humor that sparkled in his brown eyes. His hand shake was strong and confident, with calluses that showed that this man was not afraid of manual labor. Giles felt a definite liking toward him. "I am Rupert Giles, the school librarian here. You are Xander's father, I presume?"
A lopsided smile appeared on Tim's face, further strengthening his resemblance to Xander. Even so, Giles could tell that the smile was not entirely that of humor. "Afraid not, Mr. Giles. I'm Xander's uncle, his father's older brother. Sorry about the mess here, I was just showing Xander how to give a pair of leather boots a proper Airborne polish."
"You were in the military then, Mr. Harris?" Looking at his neat clothing and haircut, it was not difficult to imagine Tim Harris as a soldier.
"Yep, twenty years in the Army, topped out as a Master Sergeant. And call me Tim, people calling me Mr. Harris makes me think I'm in trouble."
"Very well, Tim. You may call me Rupert or Giles as these barbaric children insist on calling me" Giles said with a slight smile on his face.
Tim turned to look at Xander with a mock frown on his face. "Xander, you call an school teacher by their last name? Where are your manners?"
Xander grinned back at him. "I was raised by wolves, remember Tim? They're the one that taught me how to eat too."
Tim looked beseechingly up at the ceiling. "Saints preserve us from the young." Looking back at Giles, who was restraining a smile. "On behalf of the Harris clan, I offer our most sincere apologies."
"No need, Tim, Xander means well." Giles looked back at the boots and materials sitting on top of old newspapers on the table. "Are you almost done with your boots, Xander? I need to lay out some books in a few minutes."
"Almost Giles. Let me finish buffing this boot." Xander began to rub at the boot he was holding with a cloth. "Man, am I glad you had these boots Tim, my old sneaks just about had it."
"You got Xander his new boots, Tim?" Giles looked over at the boot box sitting on the table. The boots, and in fact the box itself, looked brand new.
"I saw his shoes when I gave him a ride this morning, and I had these sitting around my house, so I came by to give them to him. I lost the receipt to these and I couldn't sent them back to the store I bought them from." In fact, Tim had been waiting for Xander to walk from his house so he could give him the ride. Once he saw the sneakers that he had heard about over the wiretap, he went to the police uniform store afterwards to buy him a pair of black steel toe combat boots.
"That was very generous of you, Tim." Giles turned as he heard the library door open and Buffy, Willow, and Cordelia walked in, with Buffy and Willow both saying 'Hi Giles' in unison. "Good afternoon to you. Do you know Mr. Harris here?"
The redhead was looking at Tim with a strange expression that changed to pleased recognition once his name was said. "Uncle Tim, I haven't seen you in years, are you still in the Army, how are you doing..." Willow would have continued her happy babble if Tim had not interrupted.
"Hey there cutie, still letting your mouth get away from you?" The warm smile on Tim's face confirmed his identity as much as his name had. The teenager rapidly walked up to Tim and gave him a hug, but then pulled away, her shyness apparently kicking in.
"Don't worry Red, you're not an eight year old anymore." Tim raised his hand and gently stroked her cheek of the shy girl before touching her scarlet hair. "Got rid of the braids, I see. At least you kept your hair long."
"No, no more braids, some kids at school were making fun of me, calling me Pippi Longstocking..." A brief glance over towards Cordelia even as she spoke, "...so I got my mom to take them out, I'm so glad to see you Uncle Tim, you're living here in town now?"
"Call me Tim, Willow. Yeah, I run the hardware store now. I gave Xander a ride this morning, he looked like he had stepped into chemical waste with his sneakers, so I brought him some boots I had." Tim turned toward Xander, who had been smiling at the reunion. "How did you mess up your shoes Xan? You never did tell me."
The smile on Xander's face slipped a little, as did the looks on Buffy's, Willow's and Giles' once they realized what shoes Tim was talking about. But Xander stayed smiling as he replied. "I was cutting through a construction site walking from school and stepped in some spilled paint. By the time I got home I couldn't get them clean."
Tim nodded his understanding and then turned toward Buffy and Cordelia. "Hi, I'm Tim Harris. Who might you be?" he said with a smile, knowing full well, but going though the motions regardless.
Buffy and Cordelia both smiled at Tim. "I'm Buffy Summers, Willow and Xander's friend," replied the blonde while the taller brunette responded, "Hello, I'm Cordelia Chase, Xander's girlfriend."
Tim comically widened his eyes and looked over at the young man. "Xander! How come you didn't tell me you had such a gorgeous girlfriend?"
"Because she insisted that we didn't tell anyone." Xander was smiling, but the smile, like Tim's smile earlier, wasn't completely full of humor.
"But she's saying it now, I'd be running up and down the halls shouting if I had a girl like that when I was in high school." Tim looked over at Willow. "What happened to the Cracker Jacks rings, Willow?"
Seeing Willow blush, Buffy asked her best friend, "Cracker Jacks rings?"
Willow looked up at Buffy, trying to keep her eyes away from both Xander and Cordelia. "When Xander and I were eight years old, we were eating Cracker Jacks when found plastic rings as the prizes."
Once Willow stopped talking, Buffy raised her eyebrows and looked over at Xander, who was blushing slightly. "Spill it, Xander."
"Will thought it was a sign that we were meant to be together, so she had Tim do a mock wedding. She had to bribe me by promising with her juice boxes for a week. But we stood on Granddad's desk at the store and Tim did the ceremony."
"Did you kiss the bride, Xander?" Cordelia did not look upset, in fact she looked amused.
"Yep. A peck on the lips." Xander looked over at Willow, who was blushing deeply. "Wifey over there knew that I lost things a lot at that age, so after the 'ceremony' she took my ring and told me that she was keeping them for us until I wasn't such a boy."
"That's so cute, Willow! Did you take any pictures?" Buffy was teasing, but to all their surprise Tim answered.
"Actually, I did. I still have them in a photo album at home." Tim looked at the smiles on Giles', Buffy's and Cordelia's faces as well as the embarrassment on Xander's and Willow's. "I'll have to dig them out if you want them."
"Surely, if you have the time, Tim." Giles smiled briefly before turning toward Buffy and Willow. "Actually Buffy, I am sure you will be happy to hear that there is no need to do research tonight." With a quick look at Tim, Giles managed to have the girls understand his meaning. "All you have to do is your regular homework."
"Yea me, no research! Come on Willow, lets get going." Buffy took her best friends hand and started toward the door. "Good to meet you, Mr. Harris."
"Tim, call me Tim! Unless you want me to be calling you Ms. Summers, Buffy." Tim smiled at the blonde.
Buffy blinked for a moment at the use of her name before returning the smile. "OK, Tim. Good to meet you." Once the redhead said her good byes the two girls left the library.
"I have to study too, give me a call later Xander." With that Cordelia turned and left as well.
Xander turned and faced the table, memories of kissing Willow going though his mind. "If you give me a minute, Giles, I'll have all this off your table." He started to pack up his boot polishing gear. "I owe you at least dinner for this, Tim."
"No problem, Xander." And it was not a problem. Tim had no intention of letting Xander pay for dinner. Turning toward Giles, Tim stuck out his hand again. "Pleasure to meet you, Rupert."
end Ch 13