Title: The One Who Sees
Author: Dhampyrx2
Category: Crossover W/ X-Men: Evolution, X-Men comic elements
Timeframe: Post-Dirty Girls, S7
Pairings: I'm open to suggestions that don't involve Spike, unless he reverts to his old, evil self
Summary: Xander's loss of an eye at the hands of Caleb stirred up a hornet's nest of trouble. His family is angry, worried, and happens to include several Alpha Class mutants, who will descend on Sunnydale with a vengeance to find out what happened, and take their frustrations out on the Caleb and the First Evil's hides.
Standard Disclaimer: I own squat. Several very wealthy people own the rights to Buffy, X-men, and any other character I may throw in. I make no money off of this. Nobody else try to do it either.
Distribution: You want it, just ask.
Once the situation in the hall had been mostly sorted out, Xander coaxed Buffy to enter his room so he could finish explaining it all. Well, he would have preferred to stay standing and get a little exercise, but his mother and Aunt Rogue all but forced him back to bed, and told him he'd stay there for everything but bathroom breaks until the doctors told him otherwise, forcing him to restrain himself from rolling his remaining eye at them.
The fact that TJ and Tabitha were both laughing at his predicament did not aid him in that struggle in the least.
"Okay, were all making nice now. Could someone /PLEASE/ tell me what the hell is going on?" Buffy exclaimed, as she stood with her back to the far corner of the room, with her arms folded up under her breasts in a clearly defensive position.
Xander shrugged apologetically as he replied, "Like I told you, Buff, this is my family. Allow me to introduce my dad, Kurt Wagner, my mother Wanda Maximoff-Wagner, and my baby sister Talia Josephine Wagner." he said, as he gestured to each with his right hand. It should be noted that of the three of them, only Kurt bothered with smile and a friendly wave as he was introduced. The women of the family just scowled dangerously at her.
Xander sighed a little at their reactions as he continued, "If you watch the news, you might also recognize them as the X-Men known as Nightcrawler, the Scarlet Witch, and Nocturne." He then gestured to the others in the now overcrowded room and added, "As for the ones that nearly turned you into paste in the hall, that's mine and TJ's godfather, Logan aka Wolverine, my Auntie Tabitha, aka Meltdown, and my Aunt Rogue."
He then looked at the others and said, "Everyone, this is Buffy Summers, the Vampire Slayer." He waited for a few tense seconds, amusing himself by watching Buffy gape like a fish as she tried to process everything that was going on, before he innocently asked, "Any questions?"
Buffy stared at her oldest male friend for several moments before she asked, "Xander, since when did you have family that were part of the X-Men? I mean, I've met your dad, and he'd qualify more as a disgusting drunk, than as anything remotely resembling a mutant superhero. And I know these people weren't at your almost wedding." Her voice carried a hint of oncoming hysteria as she spoke, revealing just how overwhelmed she felt.
Xander looked sadly at her for a few seconds before he replied, "Buff, you know my foster parents. The Wagners are my real family."
"Then why were you living here with the Harris'?" she queried in confusion.
"For protection." Talia spat at her from where she stood next to her brother's bed.
Buffy mulled that over for a few seconds before she seemed to understand. "Oh! You mean because he's a normal powerless human, and you're all like super-mutants? I guess that makes sense."
Most of the room, minus Xander and Willow, who were worried about how Buffy would react, and Kurt who was too polite, snorted in derision at the Slayer's words.
"Uh, Buff? I kind of sorta...am a mutant." Xander replied weakly.
"What? Since when, Xander? You've never shown any kind of powers I've seen, and I've known you for seven years." Buffy replied incredulously. "I mean what kind of powers could you have?"
Xander shrugged non-commitally as he answered, "They're subtle."
Surprisingly, it was Logan who explained beyond that, as he lit a cigar in blatant disregard for the 'NO SMOKING' sign posted behind him. "Napoleon there puts out skin tight field that cancels most powers minus natural stuff, like lightnin', plus he as somethin' Chuck classified as 'tactical precognition'." the Canadian said gruffly.
"Huh? Napoleon? What the?" Buffy said confused, as all of the assembled X-men, and Willow, smiled fondly, while Xander groaned.
"Uncle Logan, I'm taller than you now. Do you still have to call me that?" the White Knight whined.
Tabby chuckled as she responded, "Oh, you know old Badger there never lets nicknames go, kiddo. You're always going to be the Little General to him. Just like Kitty's going to be 'Half-pint' for here until eternity and Roguey will always be 'Stripes'."
Buffy, who still looked totally lost, was rescued by Willow as she explained, "Xander's active power is the ability to see and analyze almost everything around him to the point he can figure out what will happen for every possibility within a few seconds, Buffy. It's actually advanced enough that for most stuff, he can work things out to the point it's like precognition. That means he can plan really well, so Mr. Logan calls him 'Napoleon', since he was plotting stuff and ordering people around to get things done even when he like ten years old."
Buffy mulled that over for a while before she asked, in a mildly perturbed voice, "Why didn't either of you ever tell me?"
Xander shrugged as he replied, "You and Giles would have tried to keep me out of things to protect my insight. But, without me in the action to read probability factors, my power would have been useless. Besides, it's not fool proof. I couldn't read what Glory was doing, for example. I can't read squat from the First, either. Hell I barely can get a few minutes a head of Caleb when I'm right on top of him..." The mutant carpenter trailed off, eyes wide, as he realized what he had just let slip in front of Willow.
To her credit, it only took the Wicca about ten seconds to pick up the implications of what Xander had just said. "You knew." she whispered. "You knew you were going to lose your eye before Caleb gouged it out." she continued, her face and tone awash with mounting horror. "Xander, you told me you couldn't read Caleb at all. Why? Why did you let that happen?"
Xander looked away, shame-faced from her broken hearted words, as he replied, "Because Kennedy, Vi, and Chao-Ahn would have died if I had played it any other way. And that was the best case scenario."
The whole room was silent as the implications of the boy's sacrifice hit them full force. Willow, Buffy, Wanda, Tabitha, and TJ's eyes filled with mounting tears, as Kurt, Logan, and Rogue looked on with the kind of saddened respect one gives to a warrior willing to sacrifice everything, even his own life, to protect his comrades.
"Oh Xander." Willow whimpered hollowly, as she rushed forward and hugged him, weeping into his chest with misplaced guilt for what he did to save a girl she felt a growing attraction toward.
"It wasn't your fault, Wills. I knew what I was doing going in. I have no regrets about it." Xander soothed, as he held her. His eyes met Buffy's as he tried to convey similar comfort to the obviously devastated Slayer.
Buffy watched the scene before her with equal amounts of shock at what Xander did, guilt for leading Xander to it, sorrow for her friend's loss, and respect that he would face it so bravely. Heaven knew she did not react so unselfishly within a few minutes of learning her prophesized fate at the hands of the Master so long ago.
Kurt looked on with a haunted look as his eldest child held onto Willow and comforted her. He placed his hand gently on his son's shoulder, gaining Xander's attention, and whispered, "I am so proud of you, son."
"Danke, Vati." Xander whispered back to his father with a sad grin.
The emotional scene was finally cut short, as Faith stepped into the room, looked around, and said, "Quite a crowd you got here, Boytoy. What's going on?"
END PART 2B