Title: Phoenix Risings: Necro-Gate
Rating: PG-13/R
Chapter Number: 7
Author: White Werewolf
Category: Buffy/Xander, Eric/Faith, Sam/Daniel (Maybe), Gabrielle/Joxer
Spoilers/Timeframe: All I know for sure it is after "Becoming Part 2."
Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the ideas and my computer.
Summery: After Buffy leaves Sunnydale, Xander decides to go looking for her. On the other side of the universe, Ninedinna wants the book she created...the Necronomicon Ex Mortis: the Book of the Dead.
Author Notes: This part is just a prologue to the Phoenix Risings Trilogy; which is in turn the starting fic to a huge series. This is the third part of the trilogy. It will be mainly focused on the Buffy/Xander relationship and it will be housing many crossovers.
Special Thanks: Danii, Tenhawk, Teri, Silent Bob Foley, and X-Lander
Crossovers Planned:
Buffy: the Vampire Slayer
Hercules: the Legendary Journeys
Evil Dead
Stargate SG-1
Xena: Warrior Princess
Boy Meets World
Cameo Crossovers will suddenly appear. Take a read, and see if you can spot one.
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The vampiress snarled, "I am not Gabrielle!" She punched him across the face. "You know who I am, Dammit! I'm Callisto."
His eyes widened as he flipped her over to her back. "You really think you're Callisto?"
He pinned her down while she morphed her face to the vampire image that she's became accustomed to for over 5,000 years. "I've been waiting along time for this, Hercules."
Hercules looked up as another vampire was about to drain Kirk's neck. "Xander, take care of him."
The boy grinned, "Right." He went to his pocket and pulled out a stake. He leaped forward at the vampire and pulled him away from Kirk. "Get the hell away from him, Fangface."
Ryan smirked, "What are you going to do? Stake me?"
Xander launched his hand forward and aimed for the demon's heart, but Banks intercepted his hand and grabbed the stake. He tossed aside as the very vampire pinned down the boy. "Pathetic mortal."
Kirk was too frozen in fear. He didn't know what to do. So, he just stood there and watched as these two people fought off the vampires.
Hercules said to his opponent, "I don't know why you took the name, Callisto, Gabrielle. But you are Gabrielle. You traveled around with Xena. Remember Xena? You remember Joxer?"
His eyes widened getting an idea. He knew some things about vampires over the years and knew how they worked. "Joxer!"
The door to the bathroom opened with Joxer saying, "I think I got my shirt stuck in my zipper. It is called a zipper, right?"
The warrior looked at the scene unfold as Hercules and someone else were rolling around on the floor. "Do you really think this is the time for that? I mean, you are the son of a god and all, but learn to keep it in your pants."
Hercules looked up at him, "Joxer, just look at who I'm fighting."
Joxer nodded as he looked underneath Hercules. His eyes widened, "Gabby?"
The tone of the voice hit the vampire like a ton of bricks. She flipped Hercules around so she was on top. The blond looked up at the eyes of the new visitor. She could feel something happen in her body. Something broke free as she saw that goofy grin from thousands of years ago.
In a lowered voice, she asked, "Joxer?"
He nodded as he walked over to her. Joxer crouched down and clasped the sides of her face with his hands, "Yeah, Gabby. It's me."
She shook her head as tears started to emerge from her eyes, "But you're dead."
Joxer shook his head, "Nope. I'm alive and kicking."
The vampire released Hercules and stood up. She walked over to Joxer who was now also standing up. The blond took her hands and touched Joxer's cheeks, making sure he was alive. "You're alive, but how?"
He wrapped the vampire in his arms and pulled her into a hug. "It's a long story, Gabrielle. But it is me. I'm alive."
The blond vampire looked at the person in front of her, and could feel something happen within her. She didn't want that.
The vampiress pulled away from the man in front of her. "No! No! No!" She yelled in anguish. "I'm Callisto. I want to kill Hercules."
Glaring at the man in front of her, she morphed her face once again and growled, "Get away from me!"
She ran to the door and looked back at the three men, "I'll be back Hercules! You hear me! I'll be back!"
***
Xander grabbed his stake that was lying on the floor. He managed to turn around and jam the wooden weapon into the demon's heart.
Ryan looked up to see his sire hugging this mortal, "Callisto?" He whispered as he crumbled to dust.
The boy stood up as he dusted himself off. "I needed that." He looked at Hercules, "What's going on?"
The demigod smiled, "I was talking to Kirk. I told him that he better layoff the alcohol."
Xander showed a confused look, "He believed you?"
The actor chuckled, "I smelt alcohol on his breath. He already was drunk. I just took advantage of that."
The two friends turned around to see Joxer hugging the other vampire. Xander was about to launch himself at the demon when his friend yanked him back. "Don't, Xander."
He showed a confused look, "Why?"
The elder man smiled, "That's Gabrielle."
All of a sudden, they heard, "I'll be back Hercules! You hear me! I'll be back!"
Then she ran away from the dressing room.
***
"So, how do we find this vampire slayer?" Jack asked. "It's going to be like finding a needle in a haystack."
"Needle in a haystack, O'Neill?"
Jack nodded, "It's an expression, Teal'c. It means that it's going to take a while to find it. A needle is something small, and a haystack is big. It's going to take you a while to find something that small in something that big."
The alien nodded, "Indeed."
"Do you have any contacts, Daniel?"
The archeologist looked up at the colonel, "Why do you think I'd have any contacts, Jack? I'm just as new to this as you."
He said, "Well, I thought that since you were all about that ancient artifacts stuff and into the unexplained phenomenon, you'd might be well into this kind of stuff."
Daniel shook his head, "I don't know anyone, Jack. I can't think of anyone."
Sam showed a confused look remembering a past conversation, "What about Merrick?"
"Who is this Merrick, Daniel Jackson?"
He said simply, "Merrick died a few years ago, Sam. How can I contact him when he's dead?"
"Danny boy's got a point, Carter. It's not like he can go talk to him. With being under a grave and everything."
She nodded, "I know that, Sir. But if this Merrick was someone that Daniel knew, maybe Merrick left some notes behind. We could use that to research."
Daniel scratched his head; "He did live in Los Angeles for a while. I was told that he was found dead with..." Suddenly he remembered something.
"With what, Daniel?" Sam asked.
He answered, "With two holes in his neck."
Jack asked, "You remember his neck getting bitten now?"
The archeologist replied, "I haven't thought about Merrick in awhile, Jack. So if he died by a vampire bite, maybe there is some recorded information. Sam and I can go to the library and read his obituary. I think he has a sister here now too."
Jack nodded, "Alright. Teal'c and Sam will go to the library and look up this Merrick guy. Daniel and I'll go visit his sister."
***
"So that was Gabrielle?" Xander asked the two people remaining in the room with him.
Joxer nodded, "And she went out the door."
Hercules sighed, "It appears that way."
The warrior said in heated voice, "We need to go after her, Hercules. We have to find Gabrielle."
The demigod said, "We will, Joxer. I just gained two of my eldest friends back, I'm not going to lose them."
Xander said, "I'm going to call Ash and tell him that you, a new friend, and I are going on our patrol. We'll meet up back at Ash's after we're done."
Hercules said, "You do that, Xander."
All of a sudden, Xander thought of something. He turned to Joxer, "You love Gabrielle, right? I need to know completely, Joxer. Do you, Joxer the Mighty, love Gabrielle?"
Joxer just looked at him, "That's kind of an awkward question Xander."
The demigod asked, "What are you getting at, Xander?"
The boy said, "Well, if love is involved, I'd think Aphrodite might be able to help us. After all, she was with you Herc when you placed Joxer into suspended animation."
"Good point." The actor said to his young friend. He looked to the ceiling,
"Aphrodite!"
A sudden burst of golden sparkles flew in the room as the Love goddess appeared, "Hey Baby Bro, Joxy, X-Babe."
"We need your help, Aphrodite." Joxer said in an urgent voice. "I don't know how to tell you this, but Gabrielle's back."
She squealed, "Tubular. Go get her Joxer. You finally can be together. After all these centuries."
Hercules said, "Problem is, we don't know where she is. We were hoping you could cast a spell that would help Joxer find her."
The blond said with a wide grin, "If it finally helps get Joxer and Gabrielle together, I'm all for it."
Joxer said, "Give me a spell that actually works, Aphrodite. Or that doesn't cause trouble. I don't want another scroll where it read, 'Gabrielle awoke with a jerk.' I still don't get it."
The Love goddess smiled, "Don't worry about it, Joxy. You have nothing to worry about." She clicked her fingers, and said, "There you go. You'll find her. Just start walking, and you'll reach her. Problem solved."
"What I want to know is why was she calling herself Callisto? From the show, she was a psychopath who wanted to kill anything in her path."
Hercules said, "That's pretty much what she was. Then she became a goddess and then Xena killed her."
He nodded, "I remember that. I was there."
The tall man said, "We'll find her, Joxer. Don't worry about that."
Xander asked, "Vampires lose their souls when they get turned. But it looked like Gabrielle had two people within her."
Joxer questioned, "Two people?"
Hercules thought back to the meeting, "Now that you mention it, she did look like she was confused. It was like there were two people inside her. I wonder what happened to her during all those centuries. We lost her in Egypt."
The warrior sighed, "I remember, Hercules. I remember searching for her. I remember going a long time trying to find her before Aphrodite came to me."
Xander said, "She seemed to be more in control when Joxer was talking to her. Maybe Joxer can get through to her. But what I want to know is how come there still some good in her. I need to call Giles."
Hercules said, "You call Giles, I'll call Ash. Then we'll head for Gabrielle."
***
"What are we looking for, Captain Carter?"
Sam said as she sat down in front of a machine. "I'm using the Microfilm Reader, Murray."
He raised an eyebrow, "Microfilm Reader, Captain Carter?"
She nodded, "It's a way for people to get old articles from Newspapers. According to Daniel, Merrick died April 15, 1996. So I'm looking for his full name, Merrick Jamison-Smythe. I'll be able to read his obituary."
"Understood."
With that said, Sam and Teal'c started to go through the old articles.
Sam stopped temporarily looking at an article.
Teal'c questioned, "Who is this OJ Simpson?"
Sam looked back at her friend and saw that he was interested. The blond answered simply, "He was a football player that was accused of murder."
"Did he get caught?"
She nodded, "Yeah, he did. There was a highway car chase and everything. Of course OJ was proven innocent." Taking a second she said, "Forget about OJ, Murray. We need to worry about Merrick."
She continued to go through the microfiche when she found an article, "According to this Merrick was found with two holes in his neck like Daniel remembered. However, there was a hole found in his head too. The article says that Merrick also had a gun wound that was self-afflicted."
"I see. Does it mention anything else?"
Sam returned to the screen and pulled down the article more. "Merrick has a sister named Sylvia Jamison-Smyth. Let's just hope Daniel and Colonel O'Neill get some better information."
***
The vampire screamed into the ceiling, "What the fuck is going on!"
Inside her mind, two people were circling around each other.
"Give me my body back!"
Callisto smiled, "I don't think so. I enjoy this youthful body. After all these centuries, I'm just as beautiful as the day that we were turned."
Gabrielle glared at her, "That's because you used the sarcophagus. I want my body back you bitch!"
Then the blond bard pounced onto her vampire self and shot a right cross across her face. "You've been in control way too long."
Callisto used her feet and kicked Gabrielle off of her. "You wouldn't be fighting back if you didn't see your precious Joxer. What is with him? You see his stupid grin and all of a sudden you fight back?"
Gabrielle picked herself up and said, "So? What does Joxer have to do with this?"
"You tell me. Why does Joxer make you have the strength?"
Gabrielle thought back to her days of fighting beside him, "Because he cares about me. Because he's saved my life a few times. Because..."
"Because why?"
***
"When was the last time you talked to Merrick, Daniel?"
His fiend answered, "It hit my pretty hard when I found out. I was on Abydos when it happened."
Jack said, "Good alibi. Better not tell his sister that. Tell her something else."
Daniel stated, "I was planning to."
The two friends walked up the sidewalk to the front door. Daniel reached out his arm and pressed the doorbell.
Soon a woman answered the door, "Hello?"
Daniel said with a saddened smile, "Hello, Sylvia."
The woman smiled, "Dr. Jackson. It's been a while. Good to see you." She glanced at the man next to him, "and who is?"
The archeologist said, "This is my friend, Colonel Jack O'Neill."
Jack grinned, "It's nice to meet you. Sylvia, is it?"
She grinned, "Yes, it is. Come inside."
With that said, Sylvia opened the door further and allowed the two people entrance.
Daniel said, "I want to apologize for not making it to your brother's funeral. I was in Cairo at the time, stranded. I had difficult trying to get the radio to work."
She nodded, "I'm sorry to hear that, Dr. Jackson."
He smiled, "Daniel. Call me Daniel."
The woman said, "Alright, Daniel it is. Merrick will be sadly missed. Please sit down."
The three of them went into the living room and sat down. Jack and Daniel sat on the couch while Sylvia sat in the armchair in front of them. "How did you leave Cairo?"
Daniel responded, "My ex-girlfriend found me. She was in the next city over. Got worried when I never returned."
"I'm sure that's quite the tale and I'd like to hear it at some point." Seeing Daniel's face at that moment reminded her of something her brother said to her. "Oh, it's a good thing you came by, Daniel. Merrick wanted me to give you something."
He nodded, "He did?"
Sylvia grinned, "He did. I didn't know how to contact you, so I'm glad you stopped by." She turned to Jack, "You're certainly quiet, Colonel?"
Jack smiled, "I didn't want to interrupt. Seemed you two had stuff to talk about. I'm sorry for you loss by the way. I'm sure Merrick was a good man. Daniel told me that he was."
The woman said, "Merrick was a good man and a good brother. Although he spent many hours on his work. He was quite a loner. I was surprised to see a young blond woman at his funeral. She was the only non-family member. She just kept to herself at the back of the church."
Sylvia stood up and said, "I'll be right back with what Merrick wanted to give you, Daniel."
With that said, Sylvia left the room leaving Jack and Daniel to talk.
"Cairo?"
Daniel said innocently, "It was the only thing I could come up within that ten minutes, Jack."
"I know, but Cairo? You could've said you had a sick relative of your own or something else."
Just as Daniel was about to answer, Sylvia came back into the room, "Here you go, Daniel. This was his notebook. He wanted to give it you."
He got off the couch and approached the elderly woman, "Thank you."
Sylvia nodded, "Merrick left me explicit instructions not to look what was inside. And I respect him for that. I believe you saved his life, Daniel."
Jack asked, "You saved his life?"
Daniel said, "Merrick needed a blood transfusion and I was the only one at the time with his blood type."
"Yes, AB negative is a rare type indeed. Anyway, this book was only met for your eyes."
He grinned, "Thank you, Sylvia. I'll cherish it." He brought the book to his side, "By the way. I wanted to ask you something."
"What can I do for you?"
Jack said, "Recently we came upon a problem dealing with something that your brother worked with. We were hoping to get some information on that matter."
Sylvia said, "As I said earlier, Colonel. My brother was very indulged in his work. He kept to himself. Everything he knew, he wrote into that book. Now, if you excuse me, I was expecting company any minute now."
Daniel said, "Well, we must get going anyway, Sylvia. Thank you for the book and again, I'm sorry for you loss."
She grinned, "It was lovely of seeing you again, Daniel. It was nice to meet you, Colonel. Do come back."
"We'll keep that in mind, Ms. Jamison-Smyth."
"Good. Now, if you don't mind, I have to get ready."
Daniel nodded, "It was good to see you again. Goodbye."
Daniel, Jack, and Sylvia said their goodbyes and went their separate ways.
***
Callisto snarled again, "Because why?"
Spending all those centuries on the other planet, it gave her the time to think about her life. It was all she could really do. She knew that none of her friends would be alive if she ever got back home.
Realizing that, she gave into the darkness. Knowing that there was no hope for her, that she would be alone forever more living in this eternal torment.
When Callisto was in Hercules's dressing room, Gabrielle not only laid her old eyes on Hercules but also on Joxer. Joxer gave her the strength to finally fight back, but the question was, why?
Though all those years, she thought about Xena and Joxer. The two best friends she had. Xena was a person with a troubled past and the three of them worked together in helping Xena deal with her inner demons.
She remembered the first time she met Xena and how much she wanted to be like her. She wanted to become just like Xena, but soon, Gabrielle found her own path and it was to aid Xena. She grew from there and became another person entirely.
The two were best friends and had a great partnership. They worked well together.
Then she thought about Joxer. Joxer was a mystery in itself. Since she met him, he wanted to become a warrior. Someone who wanted to be like Xena also, but he seemed never to try and work towards that goal. He seemed to always just be there to make her laugh.
To laugh.
That was something that she hasn't done in ages. Joxer was always able to do that, and as soon as the vampire saw Joxer in Hercules's dressing room, Gabrielle saw that goofy smile and couldn't wait to laugh again.
Was that what gave her the strength to fight back. To laugh? No. That wouldn't be enough.
But why did he make her want to fight?
Throughout the past centuries, it gave her time to think. That's pretty much all she could do. She thought about all that Joxer has done for her, besides being able to make her laugh. He has saved her life a few times and that's always an aspect of a person that would be honored. He cared about her a great deal. He always tried to comfort her. He's seen her at her best and at her worst.
It also made her realize that maybe Joxer did more than care for her. The time made her realize that he, Joxer the Mighty, was in fact in love with her.
Did she love him?
Gabrielle didn't know. But if she can brake free from Callisto's hold on her, she'd use this time to help him become a warrior. She'd train him like how Xena trained her.
"Because why?"
Gabrielle pounced on her, "Because he loves me!" She grabbed Callisto by the arms and threw her over her shoulder and she launched her to the other side of the room.
Now, Gabrielle had to find a way to defeat Callisto.
***
"Hi, Giles."
"Why, hello, Xander. How are you?"
The boy said, "Physically fine. Mentally fine at the moment too. I need some help on vampires."
Giles sat down on his couch, and spoke into the phone, "What kind of help do you need?"
Xander thought about what he had to say. He had to think of a way where he would explain the Gabrielle/Callisto problem without giving too much away. "When people are turned, the soul leaves, right?"
"For the most part, yes."
"Most part?" Xander asked in surprise.
His friend answered, "When a human is turned, the placement of the soul is quite interesting. Most people believe that the soul leaves right away, but other people believe that that this is not the case."
"Is not the case?"
The watcher nodded, "When vampires are first introduced to the human host, the demon feeds on the host's family. With each family member they kill, the soul gets weaker and weaker. As soon as the vampire kills the last of the immediate family, the soul departs from the body."
Xander tried to clarify, "That means the soul never leaves until the last of the human's immediate family is dead."
"That is one theory on how the soul leaves the body when a vampire is sired."
"So that means Angel had to kill his family in order to become Angelus."
Giles said, "Precisely. The host's family is something that is very powerful. It has to be dealt with in order for the vampire to be free."
Xander grinned, "Thanks, Giles. One more question. If I remember correctly, Spike wasn't his real name. And I believe Angelus wasn't his real name either. Am I right?"
Giles thought back to his days of researching Spike and Angel. "You are correct, Xander. Sometimes, a vampire changes their name to clean their history of the former host."
"And the vampire remembers all the memories of the host?"
"Again, right. Xander, what are you asking about?"
Xander answered, "Well, a group of us are hunting down a vampires and wondering what happened to the soul. Buffy and Faith weren't with my group tonight, and Wesley wasn't around. I called you because I knew you'd have the information."
Giles said, "Fair enough. I wish you well, Xander. Now, do you have any more inquires. I have some other matters to attend to."
The teenager said, "No more questions, Giles. Thanks for the help. Goodbye."
"I'll talk to you later, Xander. Goodbye."
With that said, Giles and Xander hung up their phones.
Giles final thought before getting to his other matters was, (Something doesn't seem right. What were you really asking about, Xander?)
Xander looked at his friends, "Well, I think I figured out the Gabrielle/Callisto situation."
"Oh," Hercules said in interest. "Do tell."
***
"That's it!" Bad Faith yelled. She opened the book once more. "There's got be a spell that can help me find this warrior. Why the fuck hasn't he shown up?"
She flipped through the pages looking for a spell. "C'mon, c'mon. I've had enough of this waiting crap. Where the hell is this warrior?"
***
"Over hear, Sir!"
Daniel and Jack looked to Sam and Teal'c sitting in a park bench in Henson Park.
"How'd you guys do?" Jack asked as he approached them.
Sam said, "We looked up information on Merrick, Sir. It all seems to be what Daniel remembered. He had three holes in though, not two."
Daniel asked, "Three holes?"
Teal'c nodded, "Indeed, Daniel Jackson. Two from a vampire bite and one from a gun shot wound. It appears that he committed suicide."
Daniel nodded, "It makes sense."
Jack and Sam asked at the same time, "It does?"
The archeologist said, "The book Sylvia gave me was his personal diary. I went to his last entry and it appears that he planned to do that in case of something drastic happened. It appears Merrick was more into the vampire mythos then I suspected."
"Vampire mythos?" Jack asked.
He nodded, "Apparently Merrick was a part of a group of people from London. It was called the Watchers' Council and they were responsible of training vampire slayers as well as other supernatural creatures. It appears that vampires are not the only creatures of the horror genre to actually exist."
"What are you saying, Daniel?" Sam asked.
"Vampires do exist, Sam. As well as werewolves, witches, mummies, demons. All the things that your parents told you as a child that didn't exist, actually do. And it's the vampire slayer's responsibility to defeat these creatures."
Jack asked, "Just one girl has to fight these creatures. That hardly seems fair."
"You're right, Jack. It isn't fair. But life isn't fair either. If it was, I'd still have Sha're and Skaara would still be safe." Getting excited, he said, "but what gets me interested, is that this world isn't the boring world we were brought up to believe in. Recently we found out that the goa'uld existed and then the tok'ra as well as other alien species like the Nox. Now, there's also vampires, werewolves, and so on. This is completely mind blowing. But also explainable on a lot of problems that people have wondered about over the centuries. Maybe that's how the Easter Islands formed."
"That's all well and good, Daniel. But, we need to know about the vampire slayer. Does it mention one that is currently active?"
Daniel said, "Right. Sorry." He went though the pages again and said, "According to Merrick, he was training a girl named Buffy Summers. She was also blond."
"Why does that matter, Daniel Jackson?"
The Colonel said, "Sylvia said there was a young blond woman sitting in the back of the church during Merrick's funeral. Maybe that young woman was this Buffy Summers."
Teal'c asked, "How do we find this Buffy Summers?"
***
Xander nodded, "It's like this. You said Gabrielle was missing. I'm guessing around 5,000 years ago?"
Joxer looked at Aphrodite and Hercules.
The demigod nodded, "Around that."
Xander grinned, "Alight, so it's been 5,000 years since she went missing. We suddenly find her as a vampire calling herself Callisto. However, when Joxer talked to her, it seemed as if Callisto disappeared and Gabrielle emerged. Am I right?"
Joxer went back to his confrontation with the vampire and said, "Yeah. When I talked to her, her eyes were different. There was something in them asking for help. I think Gabby is still alive."
Hercules said, "In my experience, I've never seen a vampire do what Gabrielle did. It seems that she might very well be alive. Only as a vampire."
Joxer said in confusion, "But vampires lose their soul. That's what you said."
Xander stated, "I talked to Giles, Joxer. When a person is turned, the soul is placed in a difficult position. The vampire has to kill the host's family in order for the soul to leave the body. Now from what I've seen from the show and from talks with you, Herc. Did Xena or any of Gabrielle's other friends die with two holes in the neck?"
Hercules, Joxer, and Aphrodite looked at each other. Neither of them could say that had happened.
Aphrodite said, "Now that I think about it, Sweetcheeks, no. Xena died from her battle with Warlord Zylox. Gabrielle's family died of naturally causes."
Xander smiled glad his idea was proving to be true. "Now, if Gabrielle was denied that, of killing her friends, it's a good chance that her soul never left. That in fact, the vampire could very well still have the soul of Gabrielle."
Hercules asked, "But why go after me now? Why calling herself Callisto?"
Xander commented, "Being from Sunnydale, I've had to fight vampires who were named Angelus and Spike. From research, I found out that Angelus's real name was Liam. Spike's real name was William. I'm thinking Gabrielle took a new name. The demon went inside Gabrielle's memories and chose a name from a person that was long dead, that was a psychopathic murderer...Callisto."
Hercules said getting the gist, "So, it would seem. That Gabrielle never got the chance to kill her family, allowing her soul to still reside within her body. Sometime, the demon must've taken over and called itself Callisto."
Joxer asked, "But why did she attack Hercules now?"
The boy shrugged, "Must've been trapped or something until now. I'm thinking going after Hercules would be something a vampire Gabrielle would first do. Well, you know after she killed Xena, Joxer, and her family. Something must've kept her away. And something finally let her loose."
Joxer said, "Let me get this straight. Gabby somehow became a vampire and was taken away from her family not allowing her soul to leave the body. Sometime as a vampire, the vampire Gabby picked a new name for herself...Callisto. So at that point in time, two entities were in that vampire...our Gabby and Callisto. Suddenly, now Callisto comes to kill Hercules and takes a look at me. Gabby sees me and suddenly fights back. I was able to talk to her for a few seconds, and then Callisto came back in control. Now, Callisto and Gabrielle are fighting for control?"
The Sunnydale visitor said, "That's what I'm thinking. Hercules, being a demigod is immortal."
"Ageless. Xander, ageless. I can still die."
Xander corrected himself, "Right. Callisto figured you'd still be alive. But seeing Joxer alive, someone that was a close friend wasn't suspected. That gave Gabrielle the power to fight back. I'm thinking that Joxer has to confront Gabrielle again and help her defeat Callisto."
Joxer asked, "But how do I do that?"
Xander and Aphrodite looked at each other. Then she looked at Joxer, "Confess your love to her, Joxer. When I touched Gabrielle's string I saw her return as a vampire. The only way I knew to save her was for you to come back at a later time. Which of course was why Herc, you, and I agreed to put you in suspended animation. But as I said earlier, you woke up early. Gabrielle's coming wasn't something that caused you to wake up. You obviously woke up from something else."
***
Bad Faith slammed her foot on the motorcycle and drove down the highway with the book on her back. She kept glaring at the road in front of her. "I'm coming for you warrior. I'm coming for you."
***
"Hi Ash."
Ash smiled allowing Buffy and his niece to come inside.
"Hi, Uncle Ash."
The former promised one said, "Hey girls. You're just in time."
The two slayers walked into the room noticing Gunn and Wesley were already inside.
Noticing someone wasn't there, Buffy turned to her friend, "Where's Xander?"
Ash shrugged, "He hasn't come yet. I'm sure he'll be coming around shortly."
Buffy nodded to herself and walked over to her other friend, Gunn.
"I hope the kid's alright." Ash said to Faith.
She grinned, "I'm sure he's fine. He and Kevin are probably going over some lines or something. X told me that Kevin was trying to give him a guest spot on his show."
"That's cool. Well, when Kevin and Xander come, we can go and patrol."
"Five by five." Faith said with a grin.
Together, the two Williamses sat down with their other friends.
Soon the phone rang, and Ash went to pick it up. "Ash Williams speaking."
"Hi, Ash."
The S-Mart employee said with a lop sided grin, "Hi Sorborino."
"Sorborino?"
He chuckled, "Just trying something new."
Hercules said, "Stick with Kevin, Ash."
Faith's uncle nodded, "Consider it done, Kevin."
Hercules got right to the point of the matter, "Ash, Xander and I are going to do our own patrol. We met up with some other friends and thought we just do it by ourselves. Alright?"
"Yeah, it's cool. See you in a few hour then?"
"A few hours. See you then, Ash."
"See you later, Kevin."
Ash hung up the phone and looked at the people in the room with him. "That was Kevin. He, Xander, and a few other people are going on their own patrol. They'll meet us back her in a few hours."
Faith got up, "Alright. So, X and Sorbo are already on patrol. I say we split into two groups and do a patrol tonight. Meet them back here after."
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TBC
Rating: PG-13/R
Chapter Number: 7
Author: White Werewolf
Category: Buffy/Xander, Eric/Faith, Sam/Daniel (Maybe), Gabrielle/Joxer
Spoilers/Timeframe: All I know for sure it is after "Becoming Part 2."
Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the ideas and my computer.
Summery: After Buffy leaves Sunnydale, Xander decides to go looking for her. On the other side of the universe, Ninedinna wants the book she created...the Necronomicon Ex Mortis: the Book of the Dead.
Author Notes: This part is just a prologue to the Phoenix Risings Trilogy; which is in turn the starting fic to a huge series. This is the third part of the trilogy. It will be mainly focused on the Buffy/Xander relationship and it will be housing many crossovers.
Special Thanks: Danii, Tenhawk, Teri, Silent Bob Foley, and X-Lander
Crossovers Planned:
Buffy: the Vampire Slayer
Hercules: the Legendary Journeys
Evil Dead
Stargate SG-1
Xena: Warrior Princess
Boy Meets World
Cameo Crossovers will suddenly appear. Take a read, and see if you can spot one.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The vampiress snarled, "I am not Gabrielle!" She punched him across the face. "You know who I am, Dammit! I'm Callisto."
His eyes widened as he flipped her over to her back. "You really think you're Callisto?"
He pinned her down while she morphed her face to the vampire image that she's became accustomed to for over 5,000 years. "I've been waiting along time for this, Hercules."
Hercules looked up as another vampire was about to drain Kirk's neck. "Xander, take care of him."
The boy grinned, "Right." He went to his pocket and pulled out a stake. He leaped forward at the vampire and pulled him away from Kirk. "Get the hell away from him, Fangface."
Ryan smirked, "What are you going to do? Stake me?"
Xander launched his hand forward and aimed for the demon's heart, but Banks intercepted his hand and grabbed the stake. He tossed aside as the very vampire pinned down the boy. "Pathetic mortal."
Kirk was too frozen in fear. He didn't know what to do. So, he just stood there and watched as these two people fought off the vampires.
Hercules said to his opponent, "I don't know why you took the name, Callisto, Gabrielle. But you are Gabrielle. You traveled around with Xena. Remember Xena? You remember Joxer?"
His eyes widened getting an idea. He knew some things about vampires over the years and knew how they worked. "Joxer!"
The door to the bathroom opened with Joxer saying, "I think I got my shirt stuck in my zipper. It is called a zipper, right?"
The warrior looked at the scene unfold as Hercules and someone else were rolling around on the floor. "Do you really think this is the time for that? I mean, you are the son of a god and all, but learn to keep it in your pants."
Hercules looked up at him, "Joxer, just look at who I'm fighting."
Joxer nodded as he looked underneath Hercules. His eyes widened, "Gabby?"
The tone of the voice hit the vampire like a ton of bricks. She flipped Hercules around so she was on top. The blond looked up at the eyes of the new visitor. She could feel something happen in her body. Something broke free as she saw that goofy grin from thousands of years ago.
In a lowered voice, she asked, "Joxer?"
He nodded as he walked over to her. Joxer crouched down and clasped the sides of her face with his hands, "Yeah, Gabby. It's me."
She shook her head as tears started to emerge from her eyes, "But you're dead."
Joxer shook his head, "Nope. I'm alive and kicking."
The vampire released Hercules and stood up. She walked over to Joxer who was now also standing up. The blond took her hands and touched Joxer's cheeks, making sure he was alive. "You're alive, but how?"
He wrapped the vampire in his arms and pulled her into a hug. "It's a long story, Gabrielle. But it is me. I'm alive."
The blond vampire looked at the person in front of her, and could feel something happen within her. She didn't want that.
The vampiress pulled away from the man in front of her. "No! No! No!" She yelled in anguish. "I'm Callisto. I want to kill Hercules."
Glaring at the man in front of her, she morphed her face once again and growled, "Get away from me!"
She ran to the door and looked back at the three men, "I'll be back Hercules! You hear me! I'll be back!"
***
Xander grabbed his stake that was lying on the floor. He managed to turn around and jam the wooden weapon into the demon's heart.
Ryan looked up to see his sire hugging this mortal, "Callisto?" He whispered as he crumbled to dust.
The boy stood up as he dusted himself off. "I needed that." He looked at Hercules, "What's going on?"
The demigod smiled, "I was talking to Kirk. I told him that he better layoff the alcohol."
Xander showed a confused look, "He believed you?"
The actor chuckled, "I smelt alcohol on his breath. He already was drunk. I just took advantage of that."
The two friends turned around to see Joxer hugging the other vampire. Xander was about to launch himself at the demon when his friend yanked him back. "Don't, Xander."
He showed a confused look, "Why?"
The elder man smiled, "That's Gabrielle."
All of a sudden, they heard, "I'll be back Hercules! You hear me! I'll be back!"
Then she ran away from the dressing room.
***
"So, how do we find this vampire slayer?" Jack asked. "It's going to be like finding a needle in a haystack."
"Needle in a haystack, O'Neill?"
Jack nodded, "It's an expression, Teal'c. It means that it's going to take a while to find it. A needle is something small, and a haystack is big. It's going to take you a while to find something that small in something that big."
The alien nodded, "Indeed."
"Do you have any contacts, Daniel?"
The archeologist looked up at the colonel, "Why do you think I'd have any contacts, Jack? I'm just as new to this as you."
He said, "Well, I thought that since you were all about that ancient artifacts stuff and into the unexplained phenomenon, you'd might be well into this kind of stuff."
Daniel shook his head, "I don't know anyone, Jack. I can't think of anyone."
Sam showed a confused look remembering a past conversation, "What about Merrick?"
"Who is this Merrick, Daniel Jackson?"
He said simply, "Merrick died a few years ago, Sam. How can I contact him when he's dead?"
"Danny boy's got a point, Carter. It's not like he can go talk to him. With being under a grave and everything."
She nodded, "I know that, Sir. But if this Merrick was someone that Daniel knew, maybe Merrick left some notes behind. We could use that to research."
Daniel scratched his head; "He did live in Los Angeles for a while. I was told that he was found dead with..." Suddenly he remembered something.
"With what, Daniel?" Sam asked.
He answered, "With two holes in his neck."
Jack asked, "You remember his neck getting bitten now?"
The archeologist replied, "I haven't thought about Merrick in awhile, Jack. So if he died by a vampire bite, maybe there is some recorded information. Sam and I can go to the library and read his obituary. I think he has a sister here now too."
Jack nodded, "Alright. Teal'c and Sam will go to the library and look up this Merrick guy. Daniel and I'll go visit his sister."
***
"So that was Gabrielle?" Xander asked the two people remaining in the room with him.
Joxer nodded, "And she went out the door."
Hercules sighed, "It appears that way."
The warrior said in heated voice, "We need to go after her, Hercules. We have to find Gabrielle."
The demigod said, "We will, Joxer. I just gained two of my eldest friends back, I'm not going to lose them."
Xander said, "I'm going to call Ash and tell him that you, a new friend, and I are going on our patrol. We'll meet up back at Ash's after we're done."
Hercules said, "You do that, Xander."
All of a sudden, Xander thought of something. He turned to Joxer, "You love Gabrielle, right? I need to know completely, Joxer. Do you, Joxer the Mighty, love Gabrielle?"
Joxer just looked at him, "That's kind of an awkward question Xander."
The demigod asked, "What are you getting at, Xander?"
The boy said, "Well, if love is involved, I'd think Aphrodite might be able to help us. After all, she was with you Herc when you placed Joxer into suspended animation."
"Good point." The actor said to his young friend. He looked to the ceiling,
"Aphrodite!"
A sudden burst of golden sparkles flew in the room as the Love goddess appeared, "Hey Baby Bro, Joxy, X-Babe."
"We need your help, Aphrodite." Joxer said in an urgent voice. "I don't know how to tell you this, but Gabrielle's back."
She squealed, "Tubular. Go get her Joxer. You finally can be together. After all these centuries."
Hercules said, "Problem is, we don't know where she is. We were hoping you could cast a spell that would help Joxer find her."
The blond said with a wide grin, "If it finally helps get Joxer and Gabrielle together, I'm all for it."
Joxer said, "Give me a spell that actually works, Aphrodite. Or that doesn't cause trouble. I don't want another scroll where it read, 'Gabrielle awoke with a jerk.' I still don't get it."
The Love goddess smiled, "Don't worry about it, Joxy. You have nothing to worry about." She clicked her fingers, and said, "There you go. You'll find her. Just start walking, and you'll reach her. Problem solved."
"What I want to know is why was she calling herself Callisto? From the show, she was a psychopath who wanted to kill anything in her path."
Hercules said, "That's pretty much what she was. Then she became a goddess and then Xena killed her."
He nodded, "I remember that. I was there."
The tall man said, "We'll find her, Joxer. Don't worry about that."
Xander asked, "Vampires lose their souls when they get turned. But it looked like Gabrielle had two people within her."
Joxer questioned, "Two people?"
Hercules thought back to the meeting, "Now that you mention it, she did look like she was confused. It was like there were two people inside her. I wonder what happened to her during all those centuries. We lost her in Egypt."
The warrior sighed, "I remember, Hercules. I remember searching for her. I remember going a long time trying to find her before Aphrodite came to me."
Xander said, "She seemed to be more in control when Joxer was talking to her. Maybe Joxer can get through to her. But what I want to know is how come there still some good in her. I need to call Giles."
Hercules said, "You call Giles, I'll call Ash. Then we'll head for Gabrielle."
***
"What are we looking for, Captain Carter?"
Sam said as she sat down in front of a machine. "I'm using the Microfilm Reader, Murray."
He raised an eyebrow, "Microfilm Reader, Captain Carter?"
She nodded, "It's a way for people to get old articles from Newspapers. According to Daniel, Merrick died April 15, 1996. So I'm looking for his full name, Merrick Jamison-Smythe. I'll be able to read his obituary."
"Understood."
With that said, Sam and Teal'c started to go through the old articles.
Sam stopped temporarily looking at an article.
Teal'c questioned, "Who is this OJ Simpson?"
Sam looked back at her friend and saw that he was interested. The blond answered simply, "He was a football player that was accused of murder."
"Did he get caught?"
She nodded, "Yeah, he did. There was a highway car chase and everything. Of course OJ was proven innocent." Taking a second she said, "Forget about OJ, Murray. We need to worry about Merrick."
She continued to go through the microfiche when she found an article, "According to this Merrick was found with two holes in his neck like Daniel remembered. However, there was a hole found in his head too. The article says that Merrick also had a gun wound that was self-afflicted."
"I see. Does it mention anything else?"
Sam returned to the screen and pulled down the article more. "Merrick has a sister named Sylvia Jamison-Smyth. Let's just hope Daniel and Colonel O'Neill get some better information."
***
The vampire screamed into the ceiling, "What the fuck is going on!"
Inside her mind, two people were circling around each other.
"Give me my body back!"
Callisto smiled, "I don't think so. I enjoy this youthful body. After all these centuries, I'm just as beautiful as the day that we were turned."
Gabrielle glared at her, "That's because you used the sarcophagus. I want my body back you bitch!"
Then the blond bard pounced onto her vampire self and shot a right cross across her face. "You've been in control way too long."
Callisto used her feet and kicked Gabrielle off of her. "You wouldn't be fighting back if you didn't see your precious Joxer. What is with him? You see his stupid grin and all of a sudden you fight back?"
Gabrielle picked herself up and said, "So? What does Joxer have to do with this?"
"You tell me. Why does Joxer make you have the strength?"
Gabrielle thought back to her days of fighting beside him, "Because he cares about me. Because he's saved my life a few times. Because..."
"Because why?"
***
"When was the last time you talked to Merrick, Daniel?"
His fiend answered, "It hit my pretty hard when I found out. I was on Abydos when it happened."
Jack said, "Good alibi. Better not tell his sister that. Tell her something else."
Daniel stated, "I was planning to."
The two friends walked up the sidewalk to the front door. Daniel reached out his arm and pressed the doorbell.
Soon a woman answered the door, "Hello?"
Daniel said with a saddened smile, "Hello, Sylvia."
The woman smiled, "Dr. Jackson. It's been a while. Good to see you." She glanced at the man next to him, "and who is?"
The archeologist said, "This is my friend, Colonel Jack O'Neill."
Jack grinned, "It's nice to meet you. Sylvia, is it?"
She grinned, "Yes, it is. Come inside."
With that said, Sylvia opened the door further and allowed the two people entrance.
Daniel said, "I want to apologize for not making it to your brother's funeral. I was in Cairo at the time, stranded. I had difficult trying to get the radio to work."
She nodded, "I'm sorry to hear that, Dr. Jackson."
He smiled, "Daniel. Call me Daniel."
The woman said, "Alright, Daniel it is. Merrick will be sadly missed. Please sit down."
The three of them went into the living room and sat down. Jack and Daniel sat on the couch while Sylvia sat in the armchair in front of them. "How did you leave Cairo?"
Daniel responded, "My ex-girlfriend found me. She was in the next city over. Got worried when I never returned."
"I'm sure that's quite the tale and I'd like to hear it at some point." Seeing Daniel's face at that moment reminded her of something her brother said to her. "Oh, it's a good thing you came by, Daniel. Merrick wanted me to give you something."
He nodded, "He did?"
Sylvia grinned, "He did. I didn't know how to contact you, so I'm glad you stopped by." She turned to Jack, "You're certainly quiet, Colonel?"
Jack smiled, "I didn't want to interrupt. Seemed you two had stuff to talk about. I'm sorry for you loss by the way. I'm sure Merrick was a good man. Daniel told me that he was."
The woman said, "Merrick was a good man and a good brother. Although he spent many hours on his work. He was quite a loner. I was surprised to see a young blond woman at his funeral. She was the only non-family member. She just kept to herself at the back of the church."
Sylvia stood up and said, "I'll be right back with what Merrick wanted to give you, Daniel."
With that said, Sylvia left the room leaving Jack and Daniel to talk.
"Cairo?"
Daniel said innocently, "It was the only thing I could come up within that ten minutes, Jack."
"I know, but Cairo? You could've said you had a sick relative of your own or something else."
Just as Daniel was about to answer, Sylvia came back into the room, "Here you go, Daniel. This was his notebook. He wanted to give it you."
He got off the couch and approached the elderly woman, "Thank you."
Sylvia nodded, "Merrick left me explicit instructions not to look what was inside. And I respect him for that. I believe you saved his life, Daniel."
Jack asked, "You saved his life?"
Daniel said, "Merrick needed a blood transfusion and I was the only one at the time with his blood type."
"Yes, AB negative is a rare type indeed. Anyway, this book was only met for your eyes."
He grinned, "Thank you, Sylvia. I'll cherish it." He brought the book to his side, "By the way. I wanted to ask you something."
"What can I do for you?"
Jack said, "Recently we came upon a problem dealing with something that your brother worked with. We were hoping to get some information on that matter."
Sylvia said, "As I said earlier, Colonel. My brother was very indulged in his work. He kept to himself. Everything he knew, he wrote into that book. Now, if you excuse me, I was expecting company any minute now."
Daniel said, "Well, we must get going anyway, Sylvia. Thank you for the book and again, I'm sorry for you loss."
She grinned, "It was lovely of seeing you again, Daniel. It was nice to meet you, Colonel. Do come back."
"We'll keep that in mind, Ms. Jamison-Smyth."
"Good. Now, if you don't mind, I have to get ready."
Daniel nodded, "It was good to see you again. Goodbye."
Daniel, Jack, and Sylvia said their goodbyes and went their separate ways.
***
Callisto snarled again, "Because why?"
Spending all those centuries on the other planet, it gave her the time to think about her life. It was all she could really do. She knew that none of her friends would be alive if she ever got back home.
Realizing that, she gave into the darkness. Knowing that there was no hope for her, that she would be alone forever more living in this eternal torment.
When Callisto was in Hercules's dressing room, Gabrielle not only laid her old eyes on Hercules but also on Joxer. Joxer gave her the strength to finally fight back, but the question was, why?
Though all those years, she thought about Xena and Joxer. The two best friends she had. Xena was a person with a troubled past and the three of them worked together in helping Xena deal with her inner demons.
She remembered the first time she met Xena and how much she wanted to be like her. She wanted to become just like Xena, but soon, Gabrielle found her own path and it was to aid Xena. She grew from there and became another person entirely.
The two were best friends and had a great partnership. They worked well together.
Then she thought about Joxer. Joxer was a mystery in itself. Since she met him, he wanted to become a warrior. Someone who wanted to be like Xena also, but he seemed never to try and work towards that goal. He seemed to always just be there to make her laugh.
To laugh.
That was something that she hasn't done in ages. Joxer was always able to do that, and as soon as the vampire saw Joxer in Hercules's dressing room, Gabrielle saw that goofy smile and couldn't wait to laugh again.
Was that what gave her the strength to fight back. To laugh? No. That wouldn't be enough.
But why did he make her want to fight?
Throughout the past centuries, it gave her time to think. That's pretty much all she could do. She thought about all that Joxer has done for her, besides being able to make her laugh. He has saved her life a few times and that's always an aspect of a person that would be honored. He cared about her a great deal. He always tried to comfort her. He's seen her at her best and at her worst.
It also made her realize that maybe Joxer did more than care for her. The time made her realize that he, Joxer the Mighty, was in fact in love with her.
Did she love him?
Gabrielle didn't know. But if she can brake free from Callisto's hold on her, she'd use this time to help him become a warrior. She'd train him like how Xena trained her.
"Because why?"
Gabrielle pounced on her, "Because he loves me!" She grabbed Callisto by the arms and threw her over her shoulder and she launched her to the other side of the room.
Now, Gabrielle had to find a way to defeat Callisto.
***
"Hi, Giles."
"Why, hello, Xander. How are you?"
The boy said, "Physically fine. Mentally fine at the moment too. I need some help on vampires."
Giles sat down on his couch, and spoke into the phone, "What kind of help do you need?"
Xander thought about what he had to say. He had to think of a way where he would explain the Gabrielle/Callisto problem without giving too much away. "When people are turned, the soul leaves, right?"
"For the most part, yes."
"Most part?" Xander asked in surprise.
His friend answered, "When a human is turned, the placement of the soul is quite interesting. Most people believe that the soul leaves right away, but other people believe that that this is not the case."
"Is not the case?"
The watcher nodded, "When vampires are first introduced to the human host, the demon feeds on the host's family. With each family member they kill, the soul gets weaker and weaker. As soon as the vampire kills the last of the immediate family, the soul departs from the body."
Xander tried to clarify, "That means the soul never leaves until the last of the human's immediate family is dead."
"That is one theory on how the soul leaves the body when a vampire is sired."
"So that means Angel had to kill his family in order to become Angelus."
Giles said, "Precisely. The host's family is something that is very powerful. It has to be dealt with in order for the vampire to be free."
Xander grinned, "Thanks, Giles. One more question. If I remember correctly, Spike wasn't his real name. And I believe Angelus wasn't his real name either. Am I right?"
Giles thought back to his days of researching Spike and Angel. "You are correct, Xander. Sometimes, a vampire changes their name to clean their history of the former host."
"And the vampire remembers all the memories of the host?"
"Again, right. Xander, what are you asking about?"
Xander answered, "Well, a group of us are hunting down a vampires and wondering what happened to the soul. Buffy and Faith weren't with my group tonight, and Wesley wasn't around. I called you because I knew you'd have the information."
Giles said, "Fair enough. I wish you well, Xander. Now, do you have any more inquires. I have some other matters to attend to."
The teenager said, "No more questions, Giles. Thanks for the help. Goodbye."
"I'll talk to you later, Xander. Goodbye."
With that said, Giles and Xander hung up their phones.
Giles final thought before getting to his other matters was, (Something doesn't seem right. What were you really asking about, Xander?)
Xander looked at his friends, "Well, I think I figured out the Gabrielle/Callisto situation."
"Oh," Hercules said in interest. "Do tell."
***
"That's it!" Bad Faith yelled. She opened the book once more. "There's got be a spell that can help me find this warrior. Why the fuck hasn't he shown up?"
She flipped through the pages looking for a spell. "C'mon, c'mon. I've had enough of this waiting crap. Where the hell is this warrior?"
***
"Over hear, Sir!"
Daniel and Jack looked to Sam and Teal'c sitting in a park bench in Henson Park.
"How'd you guys do?" Jack asked as he approached them.
Sam said, "We looked up information on Merrick, Sir. It all seems to be what Daniel remembered. He had three holes in though, not two."
Daniel asked, "Three holes?"
Teal'c nodded, "Indeed, Daniel Jackson. Two from a vampire bite and one from a gun shot wound. It appears that he committed suicide."
Daniel nodded, "It makes sense."
Jack and Sam asked at the same time, "It does?"
The archeologist said, "The book Sylvia gave me was his personal diary. I went to his last entry and it appears that he planned to do that in case of something drastic happened. It appears Merrick was more into the vampire mythos then I suspected."
"Vampire mythos?" Jack asked.
He nodded, "Apparently Merrick was a part of a group of people from London. It was called the Watchers' Council and they were responsible of training vampire slayers as well as other supernatural creatures. It appears that vampires are not the only creatures of the horror genre to actually exist."
"What are you saying, Daniel?" Sam asked.
"Vampires do exist, Sam. As well as werewolves, witches, mummies, demons. All the things that your parents told you as a child that didn't exist, actually do. And it's the vampire slayer's responsibility to defeat these creatures."
Jack asked, "Just one girl has to fight these creatures. That hardly seems fair."
"You're right, Jack. It isn't fair. But life isn't fair either. If it was, I'd still have Sha're and Skaara would still be safe." Getting excited, he said, "but what gets me interested, is that this world isn't the boring world we were brought up to believe in. Recently we found out that the goa'uld existed and then the tok'ra as well as other alien species like the Nox. Now, there's also vampires, werewolves, and so on. This is completely mind blowing. But also explainable on a lot of problems that people have wondered about over the centuries. Maybe that's how the Easter Islands formed."
"That's all well and good, Daniel. But, we need to know about the vampire slayer. Does it mention one that is currently active?"
Daniel said, "Right. Sorry." He went though the pages again and said, "According to Merrick, he was training a girl named Buffy Summers. She was also blond."
"Why does that matter, Daniel Jackson?"
The Colonel said, "Sylvia said there was a young blond woman sitting in the back of the church during Merrick's funeral. Maybe that young woman was this Buffy Summers."
Teal'c asked, "How do we find this Buffy Summers?"
***
Xander nodded, "It's like this. You said Gabrielle was missing. I'm guessing around 5,000 years ago?"
Joxer looked at Aphrodite and Hercules.
The demigod nodded, "Around that."
Xander grinned, "Alight, so it's been 5,000 years since she went missing. We suddenly find her as a vampire calling herself Callisto. However, when Joxer talked to her, it seemed as if Callisto disappeared and Gabrielle emerged. Am I right?"
Joxer went back to his confrontation with the vampire and said, "Yeah. When I talked to her, her eyes were different. There was something in them asking for help. I think Gabby is still alive."
Hercules said, "In my experience, I've never seen a vampire do what Gabrielle did. It seems that she might very well be alive. Only as a vampire."
Joxer said in confusion, "But vampires lose their soul. That's what you said."
Xander stated, "I talked to Giles, Joxer. When a person is turned, the soul is placed in a difficult position. The vampire has to kill the host's family in order for the soul to leave the body. Now from what I've seen from the show and from talks with you, Herc. Did Xena or any of Gabrielle's other friends die with two holes in the neck?"
Hercules, Joxer, and Aphrodite looked at each other. Neither of them could say that had happened.
Aphrodite said, "Now that I think about it, Sweetcheeks, no. Xena died from her battle with Warlord Zylox. Gabrielle's family died of naturally causes."
Xander smiled glad his idea was proving to be true. "Now, if Gabrielle was denied that, of killing her friends, it's a good chance that her soul never left. That in fact, the vampire could very well still have the soul of Gabrielle."
Hercules asked, "But why go after me now? Why calling herself Callisto?"
Xander commented, "Being from Sunnydale, I've had to fight vampires who were named Angelus and Spike. From research, I found out that Angelus's real name was Liam. Spike's real name was William. I'm thinking Gabrielle took a new name. The demon went inside Gabrielle's memories and chose a name from a person that was long dead, that was a psychopathic murderer...Callisto."
Hercules said getting the gist, "So, it would seem. That Gabrielle never got the chance to kill her family, allowing her soul to still reside within her body. Sometime, the demon must've taken over and called itself Callisto."
Joxer asked, "But why did she attack Hercules now?"
The boy shrugged, "Must've been trapped or something until now. I'm thinking going after Hercules would be something a vampire Gabrielle would first do. Well, you know after she killed Xena, Joxer, and her family. Something must've kept her away. And something finally let her loose."
Joxer said, "Let me get this straight. Gabby somehow became a vampire and was taken away from her family not allowing her soul to leave the body. Sometime as a vampire, the vampire Gabby picked a new name for herself...Callisto. So at that point in time, two entities were in that vampire...our Gabby and Callisto. Suddenly, now Callisto comes to kill Hercules and takes a look at me. Gabby sees me and suddenly fights back. I was able to talk to her for a few seconds, and then Callisto came back in control. Now, Callisto and Gabrielle are fighting for control?"
The Sunnydale visitor said, "That's what I'm thinking. Hercules, being a demigod is immortal."
"Ageless. Xander, ageless. I can still die."
Xander corrected himself, "Right. Callisto figured you'd still be alive. But seeing Joxer alive, someone that was a close friend wasn't suspected. That gave Gabrielle the power to fight back. I'm thinking that Joxer has to confront Gabrielle again and help her defeat Callisto."
Joxer asked, "But how do I do that?"
Xander and Aphrodite looked at each other. Then she looked at Joxer, "Confess your love to her, Joxer. When I touched Gabrielle's string I saw her return as a vampire. The only way I knew to save her was for you to come back at a later time. Which of course was why Herc, you, and I agreed to put you in suspended animation. But as I said earlier, you woke up early. Gabrielle's coming wasn't something that caused you to wake up. You obviously woke up from something else."
***
Bad Faith slammed her foot on the motorcycle and drove down the highway with the book on her back. She kept glaring at the road in front of her. "I'm coming for you warrior. I'm coming for you."
***
"Hi Ash."
Ash smiled allowing Buffy and his niece to come inside.
"Hi, Uncle Ash."
The former promised one said, "Hey girls. You're just in time."
The two slayers walked into the room noticing Gunn and Wesley were already inside.
Noticing someone wasn't there, Buffy turned to her friend, "Where's Xander?"
Ash shrugged, "He hasn't come yet. I'm sure he'll be coming around shortly."
Buffy nodded to herself and walked over to her other friend, Gunn.
"I hope the kid's alright." Ash said to Faith.
She grinned, "I'm sure he's fine. He and Kevin are probably going over some lines or something. X told me that Kevin was trying to give him a guest spot on his show."
"That's cool. Well, when Kevin and Xander come, we can go and patrol."
"Five by five." Faith said with a grin.
Together, the two Williamses sat down with their other friends.
Soon the phone rang, and Ash went to pick it up. "Ash Williams speaking."
"Hi, Ash."
The S-Mart employee said with a lop sided grin, "Hi Sorborino."
"Sorborino?"
He chuckled, "Just trying something new."
Hercules said, "Stick with Kevin, Ash."
Faith's uncle nodded, "Consider it done, Kevin."
Hercules got right to the point of the matter, "Ash, Xander and I are going to do our own patrol. We met up with some other friends and thought we just do it by ourselves. Alright?"
"Yeah, it's cool. See you in a few hour then?"
"A few hours. See you then, Ash."
"See you later, Kevin."
Ash hung up the phone and looked at the people in the room with him. "That was Kevin. He, Xander, and a few other people are going on their own patrol. They'll meet us back her in a few hours."
Faith got up, "Alright. So, X and Sorbo are already on patrol. I say we split into two groups and do a patrol tonight. Meet them back here after."
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TBC