Title: Divine Damnation
Author: DhampyrX2
Rating: PG-13 for language and supernatural violence
Summary: Yet another secret origins of Xander fic that my twisted little brain cooked up.
Timeframe: Post Season 7
Disclaimer: I own nothing. I do this for fun. Please don't sue me.
Xander was somewhat pleased as he awoke the next morning (not that he actually needed to sleep, per se. And even when he did, he certainly did not need to do so in a coffin to increase his pishogue recovery the way Mara did). He was reconnecting with his family, Bell would set up a meeting with Cordy, he was okay with Dawn, getting there with Willow, he was going to get to scare Bell's husband silly tomorrow (with Urd and Skuld there to cheer him on, no less), and he was finally free of the yoke he had associated with connections to Tony and Jessica Harris.
"Now, if I can figure out a way to explain this all to G-man, and start to calm Buffy down, it should all be smooth sailing from here." he mused aloud.
If he had taken the time to think that statement over, he would have sworn he could hear half of Asgard, and most of Nifelheim laughing at him and his optimism.
Buffy had been searching out Willow all morning to get a report on how her surveillance of Xander was going. She finally managed to corner the Wicca in the manor library just after breakfast.
"So, Willow, is out little project doing well." the Slayer asked looking around her to see if anyone was listening in on her. That inattention to Willow made her miss the scowl directed at her.
She did not, however, miss the frosty anger in her voice as she hissed, "You mean where I was spying of Xander under you orders, Buffy?" The Wicca allowed just the tiniest bit of wide eyed shock at her tone to creep into the blonde's face before she spat, "It went perfectly. I got plenty of footage of Dawn trying to comfort him over your attacks and of Robin trying to reassure him that his team would be alright. Because we all know how well Xander takes being fray adjacent while people he cares for are in danger."
"Willow, he lied to me. I need to..." Buffy tried to say.
"Try to find another reason to lay into him while making me feel so slimy I think I might turn into a frog?" Willow interrupted icily. "And you know how I /hate/ frogs, Buffy. Oh, and to top it all off, he knows about the camera too. He discovered it last night." Willow added, not mentioning that /she/ had told him about it, or mentioning what she had learned about Xander's true species. "So not only do I feel like slime for spying, Xander knows I did it, and me might never trust me completely again. Thanks ever so much for that."
Buffy looked on wide eyed for a minute, before asking, "He found it? But...how did he know it was you who did it?"
Willow rolled her eyes, glad she had worked up a good cover story with Xander for questions like this as she replied, "Who else would he ask about it, Buffy? The only ones here capable of rigging a camera like that are me and Andrew. And he was scared to death that it /was/ Andrew. Or did you want me to stay silent as Xander beat on him, and worried there were similar things in all the rooms like we found after the Trio mess? I wasn't going that far for your paranoia, Buffy. I was barely able to justify doing it in the first place. I wasn't going to lie to him and set up someone innocent to take the blame for my mistakes."
Buffy had the good grace to hang her head in shame at Willow's dressing down as she responded, "I'm sorry I put you through that Willow. It's just that..."
"NO! No more excuses, no more justification, and no more half baked plans, Buffy. I'm sick of this. I can't tell you if he was right or not, but when I first caught on to the lie I confronted him about it in private, and his reasons certainly were. I never should have let you drag me between the two of you like this. I'm done with it. You want to attack Xander? Fine. But do it without me. I'm officially Switzerland to this whole mess. I'm not siding with either of you, and taking the chance to lose a friend over it again. Work it out for yourselves." Willow interrupted, before closing the book she had been reading and storming out of the library.
Buffy could only hold in her tears and steel herself against the tide of emotion the conversation had brought as she watched Willow go.
Meanwhile, in one of the primary station offices of the realm of Valhalla, a former Scooby was getting some interesting news.
"Yo, rookie! You got call up from C11U in Japan! Get yourself together and get to the dispatch." the overall chief for Cordelia's Valkyrie unit bellowed.
Cordy rolled her eyes from the seat where she was thumbing through an Asgard fashion magazine as she replied, "What? Why would a class one goddess request me? I mean come on, I'm the newbie here."
The Chief's voice was not pleased as she snapped, "I don't know and I don't care, rookie. All I know is that Belldandy, Norn of the present, requested you by name. So hitch up you breastplate, strap on your sword, and get yourself to Midgard pronto, before I kick you all the way there myself!"
Cordy let out a put upon sigh as she stood and replied, "Alright, alright. Jeesh. Rude much?" before she headed to the dispatch so that she could get the specific location and teleport there.
It was only after Cordelia Chase had left the room that the chief smiled maniacally. "Not even here a year yet, and she hasn't shown any fear, or backed down from anything. That girl's going to be one of the best Valkyries I've ever had."
As Belldandy waited patiently for her guest to arrive, she served tea to her husband and tried to reassure him that tomorrow's visit with her brother would be nothing to get too excited over.
"But Bell, he's a demon! And every time the subject has come up with them in earshot, Urd and Skuld have both made it a point to laugh. When they agree on something that makes them laugh at me, I've learned to get a little worried." Keiichi said, a light sweat breaking out over his brow.
Belldandy looked a little taken aback, before she smiled reassuringly and replied, "I know, anata. But he's our brother, and he wants to meet you. He's really a sweet boy (show of hands for who here can just picture her adding 'he's just a violent maniac' ala Kasumi Tendo right here), once you get to know him. I'm sure you'll get to like each other in no time."
"But, I mean...He's a demon. And after all the problems we've had with Mara over the years." Keiichi protested weakly in the face of his wife's beaming smile.
"Yes, well Mara can certainly be naughty at times, I know. But Alex is usually a stabilizing influence on her. Most of the people who know him agree he acts more like a kami than a demon outside of work. And I feel bad already that he missed our wedding." Belldandy responded as she poured a cup of tea for herself.
Keiichi finally nodded in acquiescence as he replied, "Alright, Bell. I suppose this will just have to come with the territory of being married someone as wonderful as you. Besides, if he can keep Mara calm, he certainly can't be all bad."
The smile he received in return made the young man feel warm all over as she replied, "Oh, thank you so much for agreeing to come with us, Keiichi-kun. And you have nothing to worry about. He would never actually hurt someone I love permanently. He'll just want to talk to you and make certain you're as wonderful as I know you are."
For some reason, the goddess's response made her husband break out in another cold sweat.
Buffy was seated at her desk, listening to the report the two junior Slayers she had sent to follow Xander yesterday afternoon were giving. Finally, after they finished, she asked, "SO, he went to a Japanese restaurant, sat at the bar, and chatted up some tanned, platinum blonde honey after she arrived?"
The eldest of the two, Mary, a nineteen year old Italian brunette nodded eagerly as she replied, "Yes, Miss Summers. She showed up after he had been there about an hour, and seemed to surprise him. We weren't really sitting close enough to listen, but they seemed close."
"So Xander has some hottie chatting him up? Well other than his track record with attracting the wrong kind of woman, that certainly doesn't say much." the eldest Slayer mused thoughtfully.
The youngest Slayer in the room, a tomboyish auburn haired seventeen year old girl from San Diego originally, by the name of Alex, spoke up then. "Actually it didn't look all that hot. I mean, she was gorgeous and everything, but it was all friendly from what I saw. Unless it got more relationship like after we finished our food and left the place to hide that we were watching him, I'd say they were just good buds or something. They kind of reminded me of they way my older brother and sister act around each other, actually."
Mary just nodded in agreement with her partner's statement.
Buffy mulled that tid-bit from Alex over for a bit before she said, "Well, thanks for watching him, girls. I appreciated it."
The hero worship in both younger Slayers' eyes was evident as Alex replied, "He did you wrong, Boss. It was no problem keeping an eye on the jerk."
Mary then asked, "Do you want us to still follow him when he leaves manor, Miss Summers?"
Buffy thought the offer over for a minute before she answered, "No. All he's done is go to eat, and go to the park so far. And after talking to Willow, I'm going to have to rethink how I want to approach all this. Just lay off him for now."
The girls nodded in acceptance of her orders before she excused them from her office to think things over by herself.
Xander whistled a jaunty tune as he repaired some wooden training dummies that a couple of Giles' Slayers had accidentally broken the arms off of while training yesterday. A part of the demon thought of how much easier it would be to fix them with his magic, but it was a passing fancy at best. Even if he didn't need to maintain a low profile, which he did, he had found that he actually liked working with his hands like a mortal. It was something he had never had the opportunity to try until his tenure as a Harris, what with everything in Asgard and Nifelheim either done with, or aided by, magic. The simplicity of the work just seemed to agree with Hild's son. The fact that he had a surprising talent for the work didn't hurt his attitude toward it, either.
As he worked, he was still aware of his surroundings, and so had to make an effort to keep whistling as if he was unaware as he felt someone watching him from behind.
Giles cleared his throat lightly before he said, "I'm sorry to saddle you with this Xander. The girls got a little too emotional after all the excitement, and took it out on the equipment. They're not used to seeing things like that with us all spread out as we usually are."
Xander was careful to fake a surprised flinch as the Watcher spoke, giving the illusion that he had been unaware of the older looking man's scrutiny. He stood and looked directly at Giles as he replied, "No sweat, Giles. Just because I've been in the field so much doesn't mean I've lost my talent for carpentry. It feels kind of good to get back to it as a way to settle in."
The watcher looked over Xander's face carefully, making the one once called Buffy's White Knight wonder if this would be another confrontation from someone who could see through his concealment. Even if he meant to speak with Giles about everything, he still wondered if the former Ripper could see through him.
End Part 7
