Revelations In White Light
Author: Anime Ronin
Rating: PG – 13 (for now due to mentions of abuse - may go up later due to swearing, blood and demonic horror)
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Summary: Challenge/Story Idea from SwordofChiyun that involves Xander getting kicked out of Scoobies after Graduation and revelations of his real father and shades of his mother's family's past.
Crossover: Yes, with Charmed and some hints of Hercules.
PART 3
AN: I've been kicking around some ideas for X, as he is only a half- Whitelighter, but I am also unsure as to who the real villain within the Whitelighters is, so I've selected someone to take the fall. I know it isn't canon, but I don't care – I stopped watching the show after Shannon D was taken out and only started again last night.
{Council of Elders Chamber – Two months later}
"So, sirs, you see, he's either a natural or a prodigy." That pretty much summed up the G – PG thoughts of what Sonja had about Xander, as her R and NC – 17 ones were not appropriate to be vocalized or thought of in the presence of her Elders or otherwise acted upon without aide from alcoholic libations. She'd been teaching Xander Harris, son of Leo Wyatt, a Whitelighter who slept with a mortal to bear a son who had fought demons on the Hellmouth, and the kid was good at what he did – it only took him a few days to get the basics of both healing and orbing, and a few hours to get over the queasy factor of orbing, but basically anything she taught him he soaked up like a sponge and retained it
"Is that a fact?" The Supreme Elder's voice was dark and cold, like glacial ice or something, while several of the other members of the Council appeared to be accepting the praise of a student from a teacher. "Has he shown any violent tendencies? Perhaps slipping into the Darkness?"
Sonja thought back and then shook her head, "No, sir, not so much that I would be worried. Yes, he does get angry, but we all did, at one point or another, sir." She and everyone else knew that the Supreme Elder had it out for Xander, and Xander, being Xander, was too damned pig-headed to give the man the satisfaction of seeing him quit/fail/turn traitor, so when he appeared to be at a breaking point, he dug down deep and proceeded to pull rabbits out of his ass.
The Supreme Elder smiled at this slightly, "So, you believe that he's ready for a test? Or is your own friendship with your student clouding your judgment?"
Sonja bristled at the accusation slightly, which was rare as she rarely took offense to anything, "Supreme Elder, with all due respect, sir, my friendship with Alexander has nothing to do with his progress – he's a good kid, despite where he came from, and he'll make one hell of a Whitelighter."
{Flashback}
Sonja looked down at her student and winced in sympathy as he emptied the last of his breakfast into the bay, "Feeling better?"
He glared up at her and spoke in a nearly falsetto voice, "Not yet." Xander stuck his head down over the piling again and hurled up some bile – he'd just managed his first solo orbing and ended relatively on-target, but it was the relatively that had caused the Whitelighter-in-training to straddle a 2-inch steel pipe and possibly end any chances of ever having children.
After a few more minutes of dry heaves, some deep breaths and a little healing from her, he was back on his feet and wincing, "So, Sonja, how was that?"
"Aside from the rough landing on your part, not bad for a first solo, Xander." She couldn't help but beam at him – he'd been under her training for a little over a week now and aside from a few minor miss-haps, nothing had gone wrong; he'd learned ad mastered basic teleportation of objects, had a firm grasp on minor healing, and could ride her trail when she orbed, but this exercise was to determine just how well he could orb on his own – he needed practice, but when they started out, everyone did. "You feel up to another orb?"
He winced, "Not yet." He gingerly sat on the edge of the platform they had been shooting for and he sighed, "So, teach, tell me about yourself – likes, dislikes, favorite hobbies, who and why you became a Whitelighter, all of that."
Sonja blushed lightly, "Not much to tell, really – I like kittens, hate snakes, I like to sing, surf and read, hate war and imitation crab meat." She took a breath and let out slowly, "I became a Whitelighter, or rather, I was offered the chance when I died saving my niece from a Mage who wanted her inborn powers of magic." She looked over at Xander and saw him wincing in sympathy, then smiled slightly, "She grew up, got married, had kids and grandkids, one of them named after me, and died at the ripe old age of eighty four a few years ago – it's hard to watch sometimes, but seeing as I get to help out other witches and Champions, it all balances out."
He nodded and then looked puzzled, "Wait a second – Leo said that you're a fairly new Whitelighter, that you just finished your training, in fact. How is it that ..."
Sonja had the good grace to blush, "Um, well, you see ... my orbing wasn't all that great. It took me nearly a month to even get the basics and another ten years to master getting objects to my hands and other places in one pieces. My healing is top-drawer, though, so you don't need to be worried, and my orbing has gotten that much better." She looked up at her student and saw his stricken look and did her best to not burst out into laughter, a challenge that she eventually lost and burst into gales of silvery, bell-like laughter that often had her in trouble or confused with a fairy.
It took several minutes for her to get herself back under control and once she did, Xander was feeling well enough to stand without wincing, "Okay, now let's go to Alcatraz."
"Nowhere with pipes, right?"
Silvery, bell-like laughter was heard again.
{End Flashback}
"Of that I have doubts, Sonja," the Supreme Elder said with more than a little hint of arrogance in his voice.
It was one of the Council Members, surprisingly, who lost their temper first, "Supreme Elder, given your animosity towards to the young man in question, I would think that it would be ... appropriate that you step down from this panel in respects that your opinion of his and his abilities are more than a little biased."
Before the Supreme Elder could object to that, they all felt a shock of cold hit their systems and shivered as one as a large piece of flat rock flickered and showed a scene that left them all cold – The Charmed Ones, their Whitelighter, Leo, and another Whitelighter, Chris, were all captured and three demons were attacking the youngest child, Leo's son by way of Piper Halliwell, Wyatt, but the child's shield was holding up. Chris was strapped to an alter and about to be stabbed with a ceremonial dagger by a demon who looked like a cross between a bloodhound and a center for the LA Lakers, when there was an explosion heard from off of the screen and bits and pieces of what appeared to have been a door came flying in.
"Howdy, boys. Mind if I crash your party? She'd know that smart-ass voice anywhere, but it was something of a surprise to see Xander walk into the picture holding a sword that reeked of power from the Greek Pantheon and wearing a grim smile on his face that bespoke the fact that something was about to die ... and it wasn't going to be him.
The demons, seven in total, all looked at him and, save the one who was about sacrifice Chris in what appeared to be a summoning ritual, rushed the armed figure, who began to cackle lightly and met the first one head-on with a spinning slice to the torso that had pitifully little effect.
Sonja looked up at the Elders, "Elders, we must help them! They'll die if we do nothing."
The majority of the Council appeared to agree up the Supreme Elder wore a wolfish grin on his face, "No, Sonja, we will not help them." He appeared to be gleeful as Xander was knocked back to the wall by one of the demons, but lost that glee when he saw the boy smile and use the sword to slice free Prue, Piper and Leo, Phoebe being out cold for some reason, before going after the demon that was approaching Chris.
"But Supreme Elder, they are the CHARMED ONES, not to mention two of our own and a third that is in training!" An Elder from the end of the Council table, the same Whitelighter from Chine who had spoke up for Xander the first time around, stood and didn't appear happy, "Would you leave them there to die?"
"Absolutely." The voice wasn't that of the Supreme Elder, but rather it was of Ares, the Greek god of War, and as Sonja spun to see him, she saw that he wasn't alone, and not one of the three Greek deities were very happy. "After all, he DID set this entire thing up, didn't you, oh Supreme Elder?" Ares' voice was mocking at the 'respect' he had shown, but none of the tension in the room lessened as the picture showed Prue and Piper taking one demon apart, Leo orbing out and Xander killing another before being slashed across the stomach by the claws of another demon.
"I DID NO SUCH THING!" The Supreme Elder's voice was defensive in all ways, but Sonja fancied that she could hear just a little guilt in his voice as Leo orbed into the Council Chamber.
"Treason!" Leo Wyatt, father of Wyatt and Xander, not to mention future father of Chris, did not appear to be a happy bunny, as the saying went. "You set this up, Supreme Elder, and my family is about to die because of it."
The entirety of the Council was not looking at the Supreme Elder, who appeared to be sweating a great deal and stammering, "O... of course I did not, Leo. Why would I do that?"
"We don't have time for this, Leo." Ares walked forwards with the other two, who Sonja could now place as Artemis and Athena, "He's one of mine, so I can help him with their help, but it has a price – I don't know what this will do to his mind, so it may end up you and the others will have to put him down."
Sonja began to panic slightly, "What are you going to do to him?"
Ares looked at her, "Basically we're going to cram the rest of his training into one spell and then fuse the two other spirits with his own – now, if they were all human spirits, then I wouldn't be worried, but seeing the Hyena has been there the longest, I'm not sure how ... stable he will be once this is over. That's why I'm offering Leo the choice because," Ares looked at the 'screen' and saw Xander fighting a demon weakly, "if we don't move now, he's dead."
Sonja looked over at Leo, who appeared to have a pained look on his face while the other Elders present merely looked intrigued at what his decision would be; Leo finally sighed, "Do it."
Ares nodded gravely and looked at the two goddesses, who nodded in return, and all three raised their right hands in the air and said right hands began to glow as they spoke a single word that bespoke of power, command and just a tad bit of fear.
"MERGE!"
{Warehouse – ten seconds before}
As far as rescue plans went, his could probably have been better – break in, free the hostages and fight our way out; honestly, it was a plan worthy of a Slayer's lack of mental preparation and he could only blame himself for that even as the blood began to peter out and his heart was hammering to keep it flowing.
Suddenly, there was no pain, none at all, and he felt lighter than air, lighter than orbing, actually, and he felt a soft, warm glow hit him and ... nothingness. From then on, the being that had once been known as Xander Harris knew no more.
{Council of Elders}
"Did it work?" Sonja looked at the floating body on the screen and saw the wounds reversing themselves, but there was no movement from her friend and the question still stood as she glared at Ares, "Did it?"
The Greek god of War looked at her and shrugged, "He's alive, but aside from that, I can't tell you." Ares then sighed, "We've done all we can do, so make sure whatever happens, it keeps us all alive." With that, he and the other two deities vanished with a sparkle of light.
"Holy God," one of the Guardians said in fear as a nearly-animalistic snarl came through the screen's 'speakers' and Xander looked up – his eyes were glowing yellow green, his body was bulking up and his movements were controlled, disciplined, brutally effective by rights of a soldier.
The assembled Elders, Guardians and Whitelighters watched as he tore through two more demons, Prue and Piper taking out two others, and then stalked the last of the bloodhound demons with a savage grin on his face, "One, two, Alpha's coming for you. Three, four, better lock your door."
"Stay away from me, you freak!"Sonja could only blink as the demon backed up in fear and Xander, who had called himself 'Alpha', was still advancing.
"Aw, name-calling isn't nice, pup. Xander surged forwards faster than Sonja could blink and tore the throat out of the demon even as Leo orbed out to collect his family. "Guess you won't be calling anyone else names from now on."Leo showed up in the picture and grabbed his family, not to mention the unconscious Phoebe, and orbed them back to the Halliwell manor even as Xander grunted, fell to his knees and clutched his head.
"You see, he is not worthy to be a Whitelighter. He obviously has no control of his mental faculties and, as such, I say he be destroyed." This upset several people in the Chamber, Sonja perhaps most of all, but it was when Leo came back that a declaration was made that history would write shifted the balance of power in the Heavens.
"Then you will have to kill me first, Supreme Elder. I will not allow my son to be destroyed, regardless of what you say or feel."
"And then me, Supreme Elder," Sonja chipped in and stood next to Leo. "I never abandon my friends."
The Supreme Elder looked befuddled for a moment and then raised his hands, as if to strike them down, but dropped them when the man of the hour orbs in – Xander is still looking pained, Sonja could see, but looked to have also regained his faculties from the grim look on his face.
"Guardians, destroy him!"
Xander looked over at the closest Guardian and stretched out his arms, offering his body to the Guardian Angel, "Do it – I won't stop you."
"...No. I refuse to follow an order that I do not believe to be just. Semper Fi, sir."
The Guardian stepped back and allowed another to take his place, but none did – in fact, not a single member of the Council stepped forwards to destroy Xander, so the Supreme Elder merely snarled and raised his fist to the heavens, gathering power enough to possibly level a large city. Even as he threw his fist forwards and released the bolt of energy, something odd happened, something that Sonja would remember to her last days, she was sure – the bolt of blinding white light sped forwards, but slowed, became dimmer and eventually vanished all together as the other Elders of the Council squared their shoulders.
"NO!" The Supreme Elder raised both of his arms this time, but no power would gather there, so he rushed forwards, hands outstretched, as if to strangle Xander, who had sunk to a knee at that point. Before he got there, though, he slammed into a barrier of pure magic, rebounding only to strike another barrier, quickly finding himself boxed in by the magics of the other Elders and his own being suppressed, "What are you doing!?"
One of the older Elders, a man who looked surprisingly like Milton Bearl, walked up and smiled, "We've been waiting for you to make a mistake like this, Max." (AN: I don't know the Supreme Elder's name, so I gave him one) "Consider yourself under arrest and removed form power."
Sonja moved forwards and knelt next to Xander, who appeared to be holding on to consciousness by a thread, "Xander, are you okay?"
He looked up at her and for a briefest instant, his eyes glowed yellow green, but then his puppy-dog brown eyes came back, "Sonja? What's going on?"
She looked back at the Supreme Elder and saw the others of the Council stripping him of his power and banishing him, "Justice, Xander." She raised her hands and smiled, "Sleep, my friend. The world will look better in the morning." She put him under and began healing any of his obviously non-healed wounds even as Leo walked up.
"Is he going to be okay?"
She shrugged, "Only time will tell."
{Halliwell Manor – 3 days later}
He felt something cold on his forehead, something cold and wet – he knew that it wasn't Kit, the cat that seemed to hang out around the manor these days, as her toung was warm, rough and preferred his cheek to his forehead, and as he was in a horizontal position, she would have to have been either on his chest or his throat, and seeing as there was no warmth there, it wasn't her. That deduced, he let out a small groan in hopes that whatever it was would identify itself properly.
"Xand?" Sonja? "How do you feel, kiddo?"
He took a breath and opened his eyes slightly, feeling a little pain as his tensed different parts of his body to check for injury – aside from being stiff and sore, he didn't feel too bad, "Been better, my beautiful Guardian Angel." His eyes opened a little more and then all the way as Sonja and her normally immaculate hair came into view as Sonja with serious bed head / Miss Frizzle hair. "Nice hair, Sonja."
She blushed and put her hands through it somewhat self-consciously, "Well, I just got here, and..." she stopped talking as a grin spread across his face and scowled slightly, "Jerk."
"Nag."
"Infant."
"Old Maid."
She looked scandalized, "OLD?!" She poked him in the chest, HARD, "I am not even one hundred years old yet, INFANT, so don't you DARE call me OLD!"
He grabbed her hand and massaged it slightly, not to mention the spot that she had jabbed, "God, never change, Sonja."
She looked at him for a split second and then her lower lip began to quiver and she broke down ala Mihoshi on Tenchi, bawling oceans of tears and slamming her face into his chest, clutching him in her patented and feared 'grip of sure and painful suffocation' for several moments before calming herself enough to get off of his chest, which had been thoroughly soaked, "Sorry."
He only smiled at her and sat up slowly, his abdominal muscles protesting greatly until he was on what amounted to a sitting vertical base, "How long have I been here?"
She wiped her eyes, "Three days – you took a pretty bad beating and even our healing couldn't help you all the way."
He looked at her, "Sonja, what aren't you telling me?"
She looked sheepish, "Why don't I go get Leo? He'd be able to explain it better than I can." She patted him on the chest and was out of the room quicker than he could protest.
In just under two minutes Leo walked into the room and held Wyatt, who was doing his best again to stick his toes into his mouth, "Awake, I see."
"Wyatt, what have I told you about waiting to put your foot in your mouth?" It did Xander good to see the baby stop and then looked at Leo, "Apparently. What happened to me?"
"I had to make a choice – Ares, Athena and Artemis could complete your Whitelighter training, but also merged your souls ... at the risk of driving you insane." Leo looked into his eyes and looked to be pleading for forgiveness, "It was the only way you were going to survive that set up."
"Set up?" Xander's blood pressure started to rise as he fought his way to his feet, muscles protesting the entire way, "That whole situation was a set up?"
"By the Supreme Elder, yes."
Xander was literally seeing red, "Where is that son of a bitch?"
"Banished and stripped of his power." This did little alleviate the rage that was building so Leo apparently decided to try another approach, "Beware the Dark Side, my son. You are very close to crossing that line."
Unable to pass up such an obvious opening, Xander snarked back, "Look, Leo, Yoda you are not. I know the Dark Side – I walked it a long time ago, and I know how easy it is to go down that road."
Leo looked perturbed, "You walked the Dark Road?"
Xander nodded, "When I made the deal with those demons in Sunny D to keep our families safe, I made a deal to ... ignore ... certain things and signs that they were sending up." He frowned and then smirked, "I guess that's why I was able to forgive Faith for walking the path too ... and why I'm probably never going to trust Buffy or the others ever again."
"Leo?" Prue took that opportunity to stick her head into the room and smiled, "Piper's looking for you – something about a leaky faucet?" Leo nodded and orbed out of the room, allowing Aunt Prue to take his place, "How you feeling, kiddo?"
"Better, even more so that Phoebe isn't trying to get me in the sack every chance she gets." They shared a grin at that thought – he was technically their nephew by marriage, so step-nephew or not, he was off-limits and Phoebe had not been pleased with that.
"You know, I couldn't help but overhear you talking about a girl named Faith." He gave her a look and she went on carefully, "Is she the Slayer that lost her way?"
"Yes, through no real fault of her own – yes, she killed a man, but the stupid fuck was dumb enough to charge a pair of Slayers in the middle of a fight. Tragic, but don't expect me to shed a tear over him."
Prue gave him a look, "Sonja told me what saw happen between you and Faith – she was your first?" He didn't respond with anything other than a look, so she went on, "You'd give her another chance?"
"Yes, she deserves one."
"And Buffy? Does she deserve one?"
He snorted, "She deserves a 9 millimeter in the skull, but as that is not too likely to happen, I'll have to say that I may one day forgive, but I will never forget."
She held up her hands as if in surrender, "I'm not asking you to, but just ask yourself what you would have done in their position."
"Trained me, first of all, and secondly to stop being so hypocritical about who is and is not WORTHY of their help." He started to walk around a little, his muscles stretching and aching, but the ache was lessening as he did, "Prue, I'm not going to shit you here – IF I get sent back to the Hellmouth, don't expect me to be helping them with anything less than a world-ending event. They burned me once – I'm not going to let them do it again now that I have something they might want."
"What are you talking about?"
He sighed, "Buffy's all about power – if she can't have it herself, she wants to be able to control the person or people who have it; Willow is a mistress of manipulation, I know because I taught her most of what she knows, and Giles is too loose with how much say he has in Buffy's life. To put it in other terms, Giles is the LT, Buffy is a Sergeant First Class, at best, and Willow is a Specialist. I was a PFC, maybe a Corporal, and while the Sarge was in control of the squad, the LT let her run the entire outfit – I knew better and she found a way to get me off the team so I couldn't call her on it." He saw her blank look, "She was scared, Prue, that I would find a way to make sure she didn't get lost in the power – and rightfully so. No, I wasn't trained, but as they never took care of that, and I was able to do things on my own that none of them were capable of, I think she saw me as a threat to her power."
"That's kind of thin, Xander."
He shrugged, "It's a theory, Prue – and unfortunately, it's a good possibility."
"Hey," Piper stuck her head into the room and looked at Prue, "you're supposed to be watching Wyatt, Prue."
"Oh, crap." She hugged him and dashed out the door, Piper taking her place. Figuring it was a set up, he went along with it.
"Aunt Piper."
She winced, "I'm only five years older than you, Xander – don't call me that." He gave her an insufferable grin and she sighed, "Feeling better, I see."
He grabbed some clothes and yawned before starting to pull them on, "Like I told Prue, I've been better."
She nodded, "Alright, so on to business." She slapped him on the shoulder, "I KNOW you swore earlier, so that takes care of that." He rubbed his shoulder and muttered something about abuse before she went on, "Are you going to turn to the darkness – yes or no?"
He blinked, "To the point, aren't you?"
She shrugged, "It saves time. Answer?"
He sighed, "We all walk in the darkness at one point or another, Piper, and I'll try not to walk there again and don't you DARE use that Yoda line on me." She smiled sheepishly as Chris walked into the room, "All I can tell you is that I'll use my better judgment."
"I, for one, won't be sorry to see you go."
"You're just saying that because I kicked you a... butt twice." Chris shot him a dark look, "Don't go there, Chris – I know the road is well-lit for easy traveling, and before you call me a hypocrite just shut up and listen to me." Both Chris and Piper could hear the conviction in his voice and said naught a word, "Like I've said several times – I've been down that road, and if you follow me, I WILL stop you and drag you off of it." That said, he pulled off the sweats and t-shirt he had been wearing and grabbed a towel, clad only in his boxers, and stalked off for a shower that he sorely needed. Before he got there, though, Chris stopped him with a question.
"What if you slip off the edge again and walk the dark path?"
Xander could only snort, "I'm sure the line to take me out will be around the block with you at the front, Chris. Whoever comes, though, better be expendable."
{Council of Elders Chamber}
He could only smile as the kid orbed into the Elder's Council chambers wearing a pair of black BDUs, combat boots, a t-shirt and looked like he had just gotten out of the shower without the chance to comb his hair; Xander Harris had never been one to let the opinions of others really dictate what he did or felt and Ares always had liked that about him, "Hey, kid. You all there?"
Xander nodded, "All my cookies are accounted for – not all in one piece, but they're all there. Thanks, Ares."
He shrugged, "Hey, I couldn't let one of mine get killed like that. On the battlefield in single combat, Tartarus, mass combat is one thing, but saving his family is another." He held out his hand and the sword that had been in the kid's family for over two thousand years appeared there, "I think you dropped this."
Xander caught the blade, "Thanks – I get the uneasy feeling that I might be needing it soon."
"Warrior's instinct." He chuckled as Leo and Sonja entered the chamber, the former with a grim look on his face and the latter with a half-smile that bespoke of someone who knew something that nobody else knew, "What's wrong, Leo?"
"He doesn't like who one of his charges are," Sonja said cattily, giving Leo a vicious smile. "After all, she's the first person to ever actually get close to killing him."
Leo growled, "Son, if she lays a hand on you, defend yourself."
While Ares himself was in the dark, apparently Xander wasn't as he gave a slightly dark look at his father, "She was in a bad place, Leo – don't tell me you never made a mistake and regretted it later."
Before Leo could answer, the Council walked into the chamber and were seated, "Alexander Harris-Wyatt, while your training as a Whitelighter has been completed though in a rather ... unique means, given your background we see fit to assign you a charge on the Hellmouth, one Tara McClay. Also," the new Supreme Elder said with a grim look, "we are assigning you to look after the well-being of one Faith Williams, the Slayer. Help her in her road to recovery, Alexander, and know that as things are moving, keeping both of your charges well will be difficult, especially with your past animosity towards Buffy Summers and her group."
"Whitelighter or not, they try anything and I'll teach them a lesson none of them will soon forget." Ares smiled at the neutral tone Xander used with the Council – he wasn't threatening anybody, but rather giving them all fair warning of what would happen if the blonde Slayer or her troupe of trained chimps tried anything, "So tell the Powers That Be to keep her on a leash or she'll get put down."
The Council of Elders murmured at that but order was restored by a sigh from the Supreme Elder, "Alexander, I am afraid that I must ask that you work out your problems with Miss Summers and her cadre without use of force – your own training and experience, not to mention the magical merging of the other two souls in you, have made you the most dangerous Whitelighter to ever exist. Don't make me regret allowing you to continue your training. Meeting adjourned."
AN: Alright, I'm ending this chapter here – Faith is still in a coma and Tara's just gotten into town. Expect an ending to the whole family idea with Xander's family, but not until after the next chapter, which is going to be more of a side story. R&R, AR.
Author: Anime Ronin
Rating: PG – 13 (for now due to mentions of abuse - may go up later due to swearing, blood and demonic horror)
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Summary: Challenge/Story Idea from SwordofChiyun that involves Xander getting kicked out of Scoobies after Graduation and revelations of his real father and shades of his mother's family's past.
Crossover: Yes, with Charmed and some hints of Hercules.
PART 3
AN: I've been kicking around some ideas for X, as he is only a half- Whitelighter, but I am also unsure as to who the real villain within the Whitelighters is, so I've selected someone to take the fall. I know it isn't canon, but I don't care – I stopped watching the show after Shannon D was taken out and only started again last night.
{Council of Elders Chamber – Two months later}
"So, sirs, you see, he's either a natural or a prodigy." That pretty much summed up the G – PG thoughts of what Sonja had about Xander, as her R and NC – 17 ones were not appropriate to be vocalized or thought of in the presence of her Elders or otherwise acted upon without aide from alcoholic libations. She'd been teaching Xander Harris, son of Leo Wyatt, a Whitelighter who slept with a mortal to bear a son who had fought demons on the Hellmouth, and the kid was good at what he did – it only took him a few days to get the basics of both healing and orbing, and a few hours to get over the queasy factor of orbing, but basically anything she taught him he soaked up like a sponge and retained it
"Is that a fact?" The Supreme Elder's voice was dark and cold, like glacial ice or something, while several of the other members of the Council appeared to be accepting the praise of a student from a teacher. "Has he shown any violent tendencies? Perhaps slipping into the Darkness?"
Sonja thought back and then shook her head, "No, sir, not so much that I would be worried. Yes, he does get angry, but we all did, at one point or another, sir." She and everyone else knew that the Supreme Elder had it out for Xander, and Xander, being Xander, was too damned pig-headed to give the man the satisfaction of seeing him quit/fail/turn traitor, so when he appeared to be at a breaking point, he dug down deep and proceeded to pull rabbits out of his ass.
The Supreme Elder smiled at this slightly, "So, you believe that he's ready for a test? Or is your own friendship with your student clouding your judgment?"
Sonja bristled at the accusation slightly, which was rare as she rarely took offense to anything, "Supreme Elder, with all due respect, sir, my friendship with Alexander has nothing to do with his progress – he's a good kid, despite where he came from, and he'll make one hell of a Whitelighter."
{Flashback}
Sonja looked down at her student and winced in sympathy as he emptied the last of his breakfast into the bay, "Feeling better?"
He glared up at her and spoke in a nearly falsetto voice, "Not yet." Xander stuck his head down over the piling again and hurled up some bile – he'd just managed his first solo orbing and ended relatively on-target, but it was the relatively that had caused the Whitelighter-in-training to straddle a 2-inch steel pipe and possibly end any chances of ever having children.
After a few more minutes of dry heaves, some deep breaths and a little healing from her, he was back on his feet and wincing, "So, Sonja, how was that?"
"Aside from the rough landing on your part, not bad for a first solo, Xander." She couldn't help but beam at him – he'd been under her training for a little over a week now and aside from a few minor miss-haps, nothing had gone wrong; he'd learned ad mastered basic teleportation of objects, had a firm grasp on minor healing, and could ride her trail when she orbed, but this exercise was to determine just how well he could orb on his own – he needed practice, but when they started out, everyone did. "You feel up to another orb?"
He winced, "Not yet." He gingerly sat on the edge of the platform they had been shooting for and he sighed, "So, teach, tell me about yourself – likes, dislikes, favorite hobbies, who and why you became a Whitelighter, all of that."
Sonja blushed lightly, "Not much to tell, really – I like kittens, hate snakes, I like to sing, surf and read, hate war and imitation crab meat." She took a breath and let out slowly, "I became a Whitelighter, or rather, I was offered the chance when I died saving my niece from a Mage who wanted her inborn powers of magic." She looked over at Xander and saw him wincing in sympathy, then smiled slightly, "She grew up, got married, had kids and grandkids, one of them named after me, and died at the ripe old age of eighty four a few years ago – it's hard to watch sometimes, but seeing as I get to help out other witches and Champions, it all balances out."
He nodded and then looked puzzled, "Wait a second – Leo said that you're a fairly new Whitelighter, that you just finished your training, in fact. How is it that ..."
Sonja had the good grace to blush, "Um, well, you see ... my orbing wasn't all that great. It took me nearly a month to even get the basics and another ten years to master getting objects to my hands and other places in one pieces. My healing is top-drawer, though, so you don't need to be worried, and my orbing has gotten that much better." She looked up at her student and saw his stricken look and did her best to not burst out into laughter, a challenge that she eventually lost and burst into gales of silvery, bell-like laughter that often had her in trouble or confused with a fairy.
It took several minutes for her to get herself back under control and once she did, Xander was feeling well enough to stand without wincing, "Okay, now let's go to Alcatraz."
"Nowhere with pipes, right?"
Silvery, bell-like laughter was heard again.
{End Flashback}
"Of that I have doubts, Sonja," the Supreme Elder said with more than a little hint of arrogance in his voice.
It was one of the Council Members, surprisingly, who lost their temper first, "Supreme Elder, given your animosity towards to the young man in question, I would think that it would be ... appropriate that you step down from this panel in respects that your opinion of his and his abilities are more than a little biased."
Before the Supreme Elder could object to that, they all felt a shock of cold hit their systems and shivered as one as a large piece of flat rock flickered and showed a scene that left them all cold – The Charmed Ones, their Whitelighter, Leo, and another Whitelighter, Chris, were all captured and three demons were attacking the youngest child, Leo's son by way of Piper Halliwell, Wyatt, but the child's shield was holding up. Chris was strapped to an alter and about to be stabbed with a ceremonial dagger by a demon who looked like a cross between a bloodhound and a center for the LA Lakers, when there was an explosion heard from off of the screen and bits and pieces of what appeared to have been a door came flying in.
"Howdy, boys. Mind if I crash your party? She'd know that smart-ass voice anywhere, but it was something of a surprise to see Xander walk into the picture holding a sword that reeked of power from the Greek Pantheon and wearing a grim smile on his face that bespoke the fact that something was about to die ... and it wasn't going to be him.
The demons, seven in total, all looked at him and, save the one who was about sacrifice Chris in what appeared to be a summoning ritual, rushed the armed figure, who began to cackle lightly and met the first one head-on with a spinning slice to the torso that had pitifully little effect.
Sonja looked up at the Elders, "Elders, we must help them! They'll die if we do nothing."
The majority of the Council appeared to agree up the Supreme Elder wore a wolfish grin on his face, "No, Sonja, we will not help them." He appeared to be gleeful as Xander was knocked back to the wall by one of the demons, but lost that glee when he saw the boy smile and use the sword to slice free Prue, Piper and Leo, Phoebe being out cold for some reason, before going after the demon that was approaching Chris.
"But Supreme Elder, they are the CHARMED ONES, not to mention two of our own and a third that is in training!" An Elder from the end of the Council table, the same Whitelighter from Chine who had spoke up for Xander the first time around, stood and didn't appear happy, "Would you leave them there to die?"
"Absolutely." The voice wasn't that of the Supreme Elder, but rather it was of Ares, the Greek god of War, and as Sonja spun to see him, she saw that he wasn't alone, and not one of the three Greek deities were very happy. "After all, he DID set this entire thing up, didn't you, oh Supreme Elder?" Ares' voice was mocking at the 'respect' he had shown, but none of the tension in the room lessened as the picture showed Prue and Piper taking one demon apart, Leo orbing out and Xander killing another before being slashed across the stomach by the claws of another demon.
"I DID NO SUCH THING!" The Supreme Elder's voice was defensive in all ways, but Sonja fancied that she could hear just a little guilt in his voice as Leo orbed into the Council Chamber.
"Treason!" Leo Wyatt, father of Wyatt and Xander, not to mention future father of Chris, did not appear to be a happy bunny, as the saying went. "You set this up, Supreme Elder, and my family is about to die because of it."
The entirety of the Council was not looking at the Supreme Elder, who appeared to be sweating a great deal and stammering, "O... of course I did not, Leo. Why would I do that?"
"We don't have time for this, Leo." Ares walked forwards with the other two, who Sonja could now place as Artemis and Athena, "He's one of mine, so I can help him with their help, but it has a price – I don't know what this will do to his mind, so it may end up you and the others will have to put him down."
Sonja began to panic slightly, "What are you going to do to him?"
Ares looked at her, "Basically we're going to cram the rest of his training into one spell and then fuse the two other spirits with his own – now, if they were all human spirits, then I wouldn't be worried, but seeing the Hyena has been there the longest, I'm not sure how ... stable he will be once this is over. That's why I'm offering Leo the choice because," Ares looked at the 'screen' and saw Xander fighting a demon weakly, "if we don't move now, he's dead."
Sonja looked over at Leo, who appeared to have a pained look on his face while the other Elders present merely looked intrigued at what his decision would be; Leo finally sighed, "Do it."
Ares nodded gravely and looked at the two goddesses, who nodded in return, and all three raised their right hands in the air and said right hands began to glow as they spoke a single word that bespoke of power, command and just a tad bit of fear.
"MERGE!"
{Warehouse – ten seconds before}
As far as rescue plans went, his could probably have been better – break in, free the hostages and fight our way out; honestly, it was a plan worthy of a Slayer's lack of mental preparation and he could only blame himself for that even as the blood began to peter out and his heart was hammering to keep it flowing.
Suddenly, there was no pain, none at all, and he felt lighter than air, lighter than orbing, actually, and he felt a soft, warm glow hit him and ... nothingness. From then on, the being that had once been known as Xander Harris knew no more.
{Council of Elders}
"Did it work?" Sonja looked at the floating body on the screen and saw the wounds reversing themselves, but there was no movement from her friend and the question still stood as she glared at Ares, "Did it?"
The Greek god of War looked at her and shrugged, "He's alive, but aside from that, I can't tell you." Ares then sighed, "We've done all we can do, so make sure whatever happens, it keeps us all alive." With that, he and the other two deities vanished with a sparkle of light.
"Holy God," one of the Guardians said in fear as a nearly-animalistic snarl came through the screen's 'speakers' and Xander looked up – his eyes were glowing yellow green, his body was bulking up and his movements were controlled, disciplined, brutally effective by rights of a soldier.
The assembled Elders, Guardians and Whitelighters watched as he tore through two more demons, Prue and Piper taking out two others, and then stalked the last of the bloodhound demons with a savage grin on his face, "One, two, Alpha's coming for you. Three, four, better lock your door."
"Stay away from me, you freak!"Sonja could only blink as the demon backed up in fear and Xander, who had called himself 'Alpha', was still advancing.
"Aw, name-calling isn't nice, pup. Xander surged forwards faster than Sonja could blink and tore the throat out of the demon even as Leo orbed out to collect his family. "Guess you won't be calling anyone else names from now on."Leo showed up in the picture and grabbed his family, not to mention the unconscious Phoebe, and orbed them back to the Halliwell manor even as Xander grunted, fell to his knees and clutched his head.
"You see, he is not worthy to be a Whitelighter. He obviously has no control of his mental faculties and, as such, I say he be destroyed." This upset several people in the Chamber, Sonja perhaps most of all, but it was when Leo came back that a declaration was made that history would write shifted the balance of power in the Heavens.
"Then you will have to kill me first, Supreme Elder. I will not allow my son to be destroyed, regardless of what you say or feel."
"And then me, Supreme Elder," Sonja chipped in and stood next to Leo. "I never abandon my friends."
The Supreme Elder looked befuddled for a moment and then raised his hands, as if to strike them down, but dropped them when the man of the hour orbs in – Xander is still looking pained, Sonja could see, but looked to have also regained his faculties from the grim look on his face.
"Guardians, destroy him!"
Xander looked over at the closest Guardian and stretched out his arms, offering his body to the Guardian Angel, "Do it – I won't stop you."
"...No. I refuse to follow an order that I do not believe to be just. Semper Fi, sir."
The Guardian stepped back and allowed another to take his place, but none did – in fact, not a single member of the Council stepped forwards to destroy Xander, so the Supreme Elder merely snarled and raised his fist to the heavens, gathering power enough to possibly level a large city. Even as he threw his fist forwards and released the bolt of energy, something odd happened, something that Sonja would remember to her last days, she was sure – the bolt of blinding white light sped forwards, but slowed, became dimmer and eventually vanished all together as the other Elders of the Council squared their shoulders.
"NO!" The Supreme Elder raised both of his arms this time, but no power would gather there, so he rushed forwards, hands outstretched, as if to strangle Xander, who had sunk to a knee at that point. Before he got there, though, he slammed into a barrier of pure magic, rebounding only to strike another barrier, quickly finding himself boxed in by the magics of the other Elders and his own being suppressed, "What are you doing!?"
One of the older Elders, a man who looked surprisingly like Milton Bearl, walked up and smiled, "We've been waiting for you to make a mistake like this, Max." (AN: I don't know the Supreme Elder's name, so I gave him one) "Consider yourself under arrest and removed form power."
Sonja moved forwards and knelt next to Xander, who appeared to be holding on to consciousness by a thread, "Xander, are you okay?"
He looked up at her and for a briefest instant, his eyes glowed yellow green, but then his puppy-dog brown eyes came back, "Sonja? What's going on?"
She looked back at the Supreme Elder and saw the others of the Council stripping him of his power and banishing him, "Justice, Xander." She raised her hands and smiled, "Sleep, my friend. The world will look better in the morning." She put him under and began healing any of his obviously non-healed wounds even as Leo walked up.
"Is he going to be okay?"
She shrugged, "Only time will tell."
{Halliwell Manor – 3 days later}
He felt something cold on his forehead, something cold and wet – he knew that it wasn't Kit, the cat that seemed to hang out around the manor these days, as her toung was warm, rough and preferred his cheek to his forehead, and as he was in a horizontal position, she would have to have been either on his chest or his throat, and seeing as there was no warmth there, it wasn't her. That deduced, he let out a small groan in hopes that whatever it was would identify itself properly.
"Xand?" Sonja? "How do you feel, kiddo?"
He took a breath and opened his eyes slightly, feeling a little pain as his tensed different parts of his body to check for injury – aside from being stiff and sore, he didn't feel too bad, "Been better, my beautiful Guardian Angel." His eyes opened a little more and then all the way as Sonja and her normally immaculate hair came into view as Sonja with serious bed head / Miss Frizzle hair. "Nice hair, Sonja."
She blushed and put her hands through it somewhat self-consciously, "Well, I just got here, and..." she stopped talking as a grin spread across his face and scowled slightly, "Jerk."
"Nag."
"Infant."
"Old Maid."
She looked scandalized, "OLD?!" She poked him in the chest, HARD, "I am not even one hundred years old yet, INFANT, so don't you DARE call me OLD!"
He grabbed her hand and massaged it slightly, not to mention the spot that she had jabbed, "God, never change, Sonja."
She looked at him for a split second and then her lower lip began to quiver and she broke down ala Mihoshi on Tenchi, bawling oceans of tears and slamming her face into his chest, clutching him in her patented and feared 'grip of sure and painful suffocation' for several moments before calming herself enough to get off of his chest, which had been thoroughly soaked, "Sorry."
He only smiled at her and sat up slowly, his abdominal muscles protesting greatly until he was on what amounted to a sitting vertical base, "How long have I been here?"
She wiped her eyes, "Three days – you took a pretty bad beating and even our healing couldn't help you all the way."
He looked at her, "Sonja, what aren't you telling me?"
She looked sheepish, "Why don't I go get Leo? He'd be able to explain it better than I can." She patted him on the chest and was out of the room quicker than he could protest.
In just under two minutes Leo walked into the room and held Wyatt, who was doing his best again to stick his toes into his mouth, "Awake, I see."
"Wyatt, what have I told you about waiting to put your foot in your mouth?" It did Xander good to see the baby stop and then looked at Leo, "Apparently. What happened to me?"
"I had to make a choice – Ares, Athena and Artemis could complete your Whitelighter training, but also merged your souls ... at the risk of driving you insane." Leo looked into his eyes and looked to be pleading for forgiveness, "It was the only way you were going to survive that set up."
"Set up?" Xander's blood pressure started to rise as he fought his way to his feet, muscles protesting the entire way, "That whole situation was a set up?"
"By the Supreme Elder, yes."
Xander was literally seeing red, "Where is that son of a bitch?"
"Banished and stripped of his power." This did little alleviate the rage that was building so Leo apparently decided to try another approach, "Beware the Dark Side, my son. You are very close to crossing that line."
Unable to pass up such an obvious opening, Xander snarked back, "Look, Leo, Yoda you are not. I know the Dark Side – I walked it a long time ago, and I know how easy it is to go down that road."
Leo looked perturbed, "You walked the Dark Road?"
Xander nodded, "When I made the deal with those demons in Sunny D to keep our families safe, I made a deal to ... ignore ... certain things and signs that they were sending up." He frowned and then smirked, "I guess that's why I was able to forgive Faith for walking the path too ... and why I'm probably never going to trust Buffy or the others ever again."
"Leo?" Prue took that opportunity to stick her head into the room and smiled, "Piper's looking for you – something about a leaky faucet?" Leo nodded and orbed out of the room, allowing Aunt Prue to take his place, "How you feeling, kiddo?"
"Better, even more so that Phoebe isn't trying to get me in the sack every chance she gets." They shared a grin at that thought – he was technically their nephew by marriage, so step-nephew or not, he was off-limits and Phoebe had not been pleased with that.
"You know, I couldn't help but overhear you talking about a girl named Faith." He gave her a look and she went on carefully, "Is she the Slayer that lost her way?"
"Yes, through no real fault of her own – yes, she killed a man, but the stupid fuck was dumb enough to charge a pair of Slayers in the middle of a fight. Tragic, but don't expect me to shed a tear over him."
Prue gave him a look, "Sonja told me what saw happen between you and Faith – she was your first?" He didn't respond with anything other than a look, so she went on, "You'd give her another chance?"
"Yes, she deserves one."
"And Buffy? Does she deserve one?"
He snorted, "She deserves a 9 millimeter in the skull, but as that is not too likely to happen, I'll have to say that I may one day forgive, but I will never forget."
She held up her hands as if in surrender, "I'm not asking you to, but just ask yourself what you would have done in their position."
"Trained me, first of all, and secondly to stop being so hypocritical about who is and is not WORTHY of their help." He started to walk around a little, his muscles stretching and aching, but the ache was lessening as he did, "Prue, I'm not going to shit you here – IF I get sent back to the Hellmouth, don't expect me to be helping them with anything less than a world-ending event. They burned me once – I'm not going to let them do it again now that I have something they might want."
"What are you talking about?"
He sighed, "Buffy's all about power – if she can't have it herself, she wants to be able to control the person or people who have it; Willow is a mistress of manipulation, I know because I taught her most of what she knows, and Giles is too loose with how much say he has in Buffy's life. To put it in other terms, Giles is the LT, Buffy is a Sergeant First Class, at best, and Willow is a Specialist. I was a PFC, maybe a Corporal, and while the Sarge was in control of the squad, the LT let her run the entire outfit – I knew better and she found a way to get me off the team so I couldn't call her on it." He saw her blank look, "She was scared, Prue, that I would find a way to make sure she didn't get lost in the power – and rightfully so. No, I wasn't trained, but as they never took care of that, and I was able to do things on my own that none of them were capable of, I think she saw me as a threat to her power."
"That's kind of thin, Xander."
He shrugged, "It's a theory, Prue – and unfortunately, it's a good possibility."
"Hey," Piper stuck her head into the room and looked at Prue, "you're supposed to be watching Wyatt, Prue."
"Oh, crap." She hugged him and dashed out the door, Piper taking her place. Figuring it was a set up, he went along with it.
"Aunt Piper."
She winced, "I'm only five years older than you, Xander – don't call me that." He gave her an insufferable grin and she sighed, "Feeling better, I see."
He grabbed some clothes and yawned before starting to pull them on, "Like I told Prue, I've been better."
She nodded, "Alright, so on to business." She slapped him on the shoulder, "I KNOW you swore earlier, so that takes care of that." He rubbed his shoulder and muttered something about abuse before she went on, "Are you going to turn to the darkness – yes or no?"
He blinked, "To the point, aren't you?"
She shrugged, "It saves time. Answer?"
He sighed, "We all walk in the darkness at one point or another, Piper, and I'll try not to walk there again and don't you DARE use that Yoda line on me." She smiled sheepishly as Chris walked into the room, "All I can tell you is that I'll use my better judgment."
"I, for one, won't be sorry to see you go."
"You're just saying that because I kicked you a... butt twice." Chris shot him a dark look, "Don't go there, Chris – I know the road is well-lit for easy traveling, and before you call me a hypocrite just shut up and listen to me." Both Chris and Piper could hear the conviction in his voice and said naught a word, "Like I've said several times – I've been down that road, and if you follow me, I WILL stop you and drag you off of it." That said, he pulled off the sweats and t-shirt he had been wearing and grabbed a towel, clad only in his boxers, and stalked off for a shower that he sorely needed. Before he got there, though, Chris stopped him with a question.
"What if you slip off the edge again and walk the dark path?"
Xander could only snort, "I'm sure the line to take me out will be around the block with you at the front, Chris. Whoever comes, though, better be expendable."
{Council of Elders Chamber}
He could only smile as the kid orbed into the Elder's Council chambers wearing a pair of black BDUs, combat boots, a t-shirt and looked like he had just gotten out of the shower without the chance to comb his hair; Xander Harris had never been one to let the opinions of others really dictate what he did or felt and Ares always had liked that about him, "Hey, kid. You all there?"
Xander nodded, "All my cookies are accounted for – not all in one piece, but they're all there. Thanks, Ares."
He shrugged, "Hey, I couldn't let one of mine get killed like that. On the battlefield in single combat, Tartarus, mass combat is one thing, but saving his family is another." He held out his hand and the sword that had been in the kid's family for over two thousand years appeared there, "I think you dropped this."
Xander caught the blade, "Thanks – I get the uneasy feeling that I might be needing it soon."
"Warrior's instinct." He chuckled as Leo and Sonja entered the chamber, the former with a grim look on his face and the latter with a half-smile that bespoke of someone who knew something that nobody else knew, "What's wrong, Leo?"
"He doesn't like who one of his charges are," Sonja said cattily, giving Leo a vicious smile. "After all, she's the first person to ever actually get close to killing him."
Leo growled, "Son, if she lays a hand on you, defend yourself."
While Ares himself was in the dark, apparently Xander wasn't as he gave a slightly dark look at his father, "She was in a bad place, Leo – don't tell me you never made a mistake and regretted it later."
Before Leo could answer, the Council walked into the chamber and were seated, "Alexander Harris-Wyatt, while your training as a Whitelighter has been completed though in a rather ... unique means, given your background we see fit to assign you a charge on the Hellmouth, one Tara McClay. Also," the new Supreme Elder said with a grim look, "we are assigning you to look after the well-being of one Faith Williams, the Slayer. Help her in her road to recovery, Alexander, and know that as things are moving, keeping both of your charges well will be difficult, especially with your past animosity towards Buffy Summers and her group."
"Whitelighter or not, they try anything and I'll teach them a lesson none of them will soon forget." Ares smiled at the neutral tone Xander used with the Council – he wasn't threatening anybody, but rather giving them all fair warning of what would happen if the blonde Slayer or her troupe of trained chimps tried anything, "So tell the Powers That Be to keep her on a leash or she'll get put down."
The Council of Elders murmured at that but order was restored by a sigh from the Supreme Elder, "Alexander, I am afraid that I must ask that you work out your problems with Miss Summers and her cadre without use of force – your own training and experience, not to mention the magical merging of the other two souls in you, have made you the most dangerous Whitelighter to ever exist. Don't make me regret allowing you to continue your training. Meeting adjourned."
AN: Alright, I'm ending this chapter here – Faith is still in a coma and Tara's just gotten into town. Expect an ending to the whole family idea with Xander's family, but not until after the next chapter, which is going to be more of a side story. R&R, AR.
