And now, the story continues.
An Eternal War
Chapter Three
By IceWing (icewing@one.net)
Chapter 3
Xander opened his eyes.
"Ok, eyes open. Not in my room, not Buffy's house. Either I'm dreaming or I've been kidnapped. I'm hoping for the dreaming part." He looked around and found himself in what seemed to be a rather well decorated study of some sort. Books, lots of books. Seeing nobody else in the room, he began peering at the books on the shelf. One thing he had learned from being Research Guy, not to mention a slayerette in general, and a friend to Willow and sort of the same to Giles, was that you could tell a lot about a person from the books they kept. As he walked sideways along a shelf, he traced a finger along the spines, reading the titles out loud. "Richard the Fifth. Atlantis: Fact or Fiction. Aztec Religious Ceremonies. Walking Amongst the Worlds. Mississippi River Law."
"Kind of interesting that one." Spoke a voice from the doorway. Xander spun around to confront whoever, or whatever, was there. Through the doorway stepped a tall figure, clad in leather pants, a pair of Nikes and a white t-shirt. Rolled into the sleeve of the tee was something about the size of a box of cigarettes. But what really caught Xander's eye was the jeweled dagger attached to the belt.
As he backed away cautiously from this figure, Xander examined him to see if this was an old foe or a new one. 'Let's see. Male. About 6'2". Slender but not skinny. Clothes could be from any time in the past forty years. No scars, no ridges or fangs. Old fancy dagger, which means possibly really old guy. As opposed to the late twenties which I seem to be seeing. Doesn't ring any bells, but definite caution signs.' Putting on a show of bravado, Xander pulled the book from the shelf and ran his fingers across the cover. "How so? Seems like a fairly dull subject." His eyes never left the man who was walking to the table in the center of the room.
As he pulled out the chair and sat down in it, he responded. "Open to the middle of the book. You'll see a pretty good indication of what Mississippi river law was really like." As he finished speaking, he poured a glass of water from the serving tray off to one side of the table and watched Xander.
'Ok, he's sitting down. Not on this side of the table. No hostile movements. This MIGHT just be an innocent dream. Maybe.' With one eye on the unknown individual, Xander thumbed through the book. His eyes grew wide as he found the example the guy mentioned and pulled it from the book. "I can see what you mean." Holding up the antique revolver, Xander looked over it carefully. Seemed to be in pretty good shape. Markings on it, assuming its for real, meant this thing is from the civil war. Looking over the guy at the table, Xander made a decision. This was not an enemy. Enemies seldom inform you of hidden weaponry in their libraries.
"Nice piece," said Xander as he walked to the table, still holding the book and pistol. "But I am going to go out on a limb here and say that all this is not quite what it seems." He set the book down, pistol on top of it, and sat down across from the table from the stranger. "Care to fill me in, or do we get to be cryptic?"
"Not much throws you, does it kid?" The man chuckled. "I think I like you. The name's Harlequin." With that he offered his hand to Xander, who shook it cautiously. "I'm guessing you're kind of curious as to what is going on here?" asked Harlequin as he waved his hand to encompass the library.
"Well, now that you mention it, yes...."
"There's a long story and short story. What it boils down to is that I'm here to help. The long version, well, I'm going to hold off on that for a while, when we meet up in another library." Xander looked at him a bit oddly, trying to judge what exactly this unknown individual knew and didn't know.
"Any particular reason I should trust you?"
"Well, first, this is your dream right?" Xander countered with a quip about nightmares being his too... "Fair enough. I assume since you hunt vampires, that you are wearing a cross?" Xander's eyes narrowed as he slowly nodded. Harlequin held his hand out, palm down on the table, and waited.
Pondering this, Xander realized what he was being offered. He lifted the chain, with its small, blessed crucifix, from around his neck, and lowered it onto the still hand, where it did... nothing.
Putting the chain back where it belonged, Xander responded. "Not necessarily a valid test, since this is a dream, but for now I'll believe that you aren't cousins to DeadBoy. Now, care to explain how you know about vamps and get to the point here?"
"How I know about vamps is part of the long version, which you'll just have to wait for. Suffice it to say, I know about them, about the Slayer, her Watcher and about you and your fellows. You might even say it is the reason that brought me here. And that brings me to why I am here now, talking to you. Xander my boy, I have some good news and some bad news." As he said this, he reached up to his t-shirt and removed what was rolled in the sleeve. A deck of cards, although not like any cards Xander had ever seen. Harlequin began shuffling the deck as he continued. "My purpose here, tonight, with you is twofold. First, I wanted to introduce myself. So that when next we meet, which I fear will not be under the best of circumstances, that the introductions will already be complete and I will be able to get things done, while there is time. Secondly, I need you here to I can do a proper reading for you. The Fates are not sitting still where you are concerned, and that worries me." He looked at Xander as he passed the cards to him and asked him to shuffle once, while thinking about that which was most important, then cut the deck. As he took the deck back, he looked at Xander. "I've been watching you for a while. All of you. Your group has something I have not seen in years. Something truly wondrous. But only while it is whole. It's a case of the sum being more than all the parts." He readied his hands to begin laying out the cards and looked Xander in the eye. "It's an interesting play on words. Whole and hole. Sounds the same, and can even sometimes look the same. Remove one, and you have the other. And with the wrong one, the center cannot hold. And right now, more than ever, the center must hold. Otherwise, its all for naught." A smile was on Harlequin's lips, but did not reach his eyes as he drew the first of the cards and began to read the Path's of Fate.
The first card he laid down was of a wizened man wearing robes and holding a staff. Xander blinked as the card was set down. The picture on the card was so lifelike that for a moment he could have sworn that the torches behind the figure were flickering, as if actually on fire.
"The Hierophant. A new arrival who shall ally with you in your battle." Harlequinn laughed. "I guess that would most likely be me," he said as he revealed a second card. On it could be seen a pair of crossed scimitars, reversed. "An unseen enemy lurks nearby." He looked at Xander. "This is why I am here, for this foe is more than you have faced before." A single wand, tipped with amber, was on the third card. "A new strength. Something I hope to be able to teach you and your associates during my stay." The next card was turned over and lay down, showing a man and a woman, pressed against each other, holding each other close. "Love shall be revealed, but a heart shall be broken in the process." Harlequin looked at Xander again, setting two more cards down, one on top of the other. Ten swords arrayed in a circle, shining in the light, was on the topmost card, while a set of scales was underneath. "And I am afraid that broken heart bit may not be figurative..."
With a wave of his hand, the cards seemingly leapt from the table to the deck in his hand.
"Wish I had some better news for ya kid. But right now things don't look too good for the White Hats. And I wish that the next time I see you that it would be under better circumstances." Harlequinn shook his head. "Be seeing you around kid..."
And with that, the room and everything in it faded away, leaving Xander alone in his dreams. Alone and confused.
*****************
Giles' cursed as the phone woke him up. Muttering under his breath, he picked
it up to silence the ringer. He glanced at the clock before speaking. "It
is now three in the morning. Whoever this is, you best have an excellent health
plan, for I am planning on pummeling you severely." Even at this ungodly
hour, Giles still had a thesaurus-like vocabulary.
"Is this the guy responsible for that blonde hellion who tears up my bar from time to time?"
"Who are you and how did you get my number? And didn't anyone ever inform you that it is far from considerate to be calling people at 3 am and asking them questions.?"
"This is Willy. And I..."
"The snitch?" interrupted Giles.
"Yes, Willy the snitch." The shady barkeep seemed slightly upset at the characterization, but continues, albeit in a huff. "Since you know about me, I am assuming this is indeed the tweedy guy who used to be known as the Ripper." Giles started to interrupt, but Willy cut him off before he could really get going.
"I'm only saying this once, so you best listen up. There is a vamp in town, holed up at the old Allied Chemical Warehouse on the southside. He's managed to acquire some kind of biological agent and is planning to dump it into the city water supply. Has turned one of the security guys so he can do it unsuspected, but the guy isn't going to wake up for another day or so. Since that little fireball of yours is such the hero, I thought it might be a good idea for her to stop him."
"Why in the world should I believe a wor...."
"Look you stuffed shirt! I may cater to the night life of this town, but I don't want the whole town dead. I have family here you know. So you better stop this guy before he can dump the stuff in the reservoir. And even though we've been on opposite sides, good luck to you and yours." And with that the line went dead.
Hanging up the phone, Giles cursed. Then grabbed for his glasses and cleaned them before putting them on. It was going to be a long day.
********
They stood outside of the door to the warehouse. The area was ominously silent. Even though they had been rolled out of bed an hour before dawn, all of them were keyed up. They knew that this was not the average run through the park. A vamp had come up with something really dangerous and had to be taken out quickly, before the idea spread.
"Anybody wonder why SunnyDale has so many abandoned warehouses?" quipped Xander. Glares from the rest of the group drove him into silence. Buffy looked at the locked door in its steel frame and motioned Oz forward. From one of his pockets, the musician produced a small vial and began pouring it onto the lock. Vapors rose from the deadbolt as a sizzling could be heard and the lock succumbed to the hunger of the acid. After about a minute, Buffy leaned against the door, careful to avoid the remains of the lock, and pushed hard. The door swung open with a muted pop as the deadbolt gave up the ghost. Silently the scooby gang moved inside, not realizing they were not as unseen as they believed.
Once inside, they soon came across a large room. At the center of it, sitting on a table, was a container the size of a briefcase, a large biohazard insignia displayed on all sides. Everyone gripped their weapons tightly and moved into the room. They had to either get the case and get it away, or dust all their opponents. Failure was not an option this time. As one, the Scooby Gang moved into the room, and the battle was begun.
The assault quickly became a swirling melee of combatants. At the head of the
charge was Buffy.
Before the five could even move halfway across the expanse of the room, the
vampires were upon
them. Immediately, they swung into two pairs, with Buffy acting as a roving
member, bouncing
back and forth as needed. Oz and Willow worked smoothly together. Willow would
hold off the
vamps with a cross in one hand, a super soaker filled with holy water in the
other. A vampire
approached, she would slow it down with the cross then shoot it in the eyes
with the holy
water. As the vampire was screaming in pain as its face burned, Oz would dispatch
it with a
stake to the heart.
Giles and Xander had taken a different approach. Giles was armed with a wooden
sword in one
hand, a highway flare in the other. Any vampire who made it past the boken would
soon feel the
bite of the flare as their bodies were quickly consumed by flame. Xander was
armed with a pouch
of wooden stakes and a Roman short sword. With no wasted movement, he would
slice off any body
parts left exposed by his opponents. Arms, legs, fingers and heads, they were
all dust before
hitting the floor. Whenever the opportunity presented itself, he would hurl
a stake through the
heart of any vampire out of sword reach.
The room was swarming with combatants. Buffy blocked a snarling vamp before
it could claw her
across the face. Grabbing its arm, she spun and yanked it down over her shoulder,
snapping the forearm between the wrist and elbow. 'Thank you Steven Segal' she
thought as she stabbed the screaming vampire through the head with a stake.
'You'd think dying would make em a bit more resistant to pain..' As the dust
fell to the floor, she flipped across a charging vamp's shoulders, using her
inertia to throw it off step and tumble to the ground.
As the vampire regained its footing, Xander lunged at it. Twisting to the side, the undead was able to miss being decapitated by the gladius Xander was wielding. While over extended, Xander saw the vamp turn to him, ugly as sin, and lash out with its booted foot. The kick took the Slayerette in the side and knocked him back into a pile of debris.
'Oh, this is not good.' thought Xander as he tried to get back to his feet. Shaking off the shock of the hit, not to mention his less than graceful landing, Xander looked to see what the current status of the fight was. 'Oh shit!' And with that he charged back into the fray.
Giles swore. Xander had been knocked flying across the room, leaving him as the odd man out. Not normally a problem, but his highway flare was getting close to the point where he would REALLY like to light another one. Buffy was about 20 feet away and he needed somebody to cover him while he made the switch and lit the new flare. As he moved closed to Oz and Willow, he spared a quick thought to hoping Xander was ok.
Willow was worried. Oz was calm. Together they had dispatched over half a dozen vampires. The numbers were more evenly matched now, but the good guys were still outnumbered a bout one and a half to one. Giles had moved in towards them, swapped flares, then backed over towards Buffy. The slaying continued, with only Xander really taking a solid hit so far.
Movement out of the corner of her eye caught Buffy's attention. A vamp, game face showing, was charging at her. Her eyes narrowed as she noticed it was wielding the sword Xander had started out with at the beginning of the fight. 'This must be the bloodsucker that kicked Xander. No vamp hurts my friend and gets away with it.' Her hand tightened on the stake as she began a roundhouse strike. The sword was coming up, but she could tell that the vamp's aim was off.
'She still doesn't know its there,' screamed Xander to himself. 'But I'll get it before it touches her....' He smiled faintly as Buffy looked at him, into his eyes. 'I'm coming Buffy... Xand-man to the rescue again!'
Buffy swayed to the side slightly as the sword passed over her shoulder, moving to the side away from her head. She laughed as she slammed the stake into the vamp's chest. The vamp looked down at the stake, a look of utter disbelief on it's face. Before she could watch it turn to dust, something heavy hit her from behind, spinning her around. As she recovered and moved on to the next vamp, one of four remaining, she saw the vamp which had hit her from behind crumbling to dust. Pulling a fresh stake from her belt, she leapt onto one of two vampires harassing Giles. A short struggle later, she plunged a stake through its dead heart. "All bad guys should be self disposing. Makes the morning after so much easier."
Giles thrust the flares into the hair of the vamp he was dealing with and watched as its 80's hairdo went up in smoke quickly followed by the rest of it. "Too much hair spray," he commented before moving to assist Buffy in dealing with the last two vamps standing which were being held at bay by Oz and Willow. Moments later, the battle was over.
Buffy walked over to the only foe not dust. The rest of the gang followed her. The room was still and quiet as the four mortals stood over the staked vampire. They watched as blood seeped from around the stake in its chest and leaked from its mouth. Buffy looked down at the undead, then at Giles. "Ok, this is new... Any particular reason why we are looking at a bleeding vampire as opposed to a small pile of dust?" As she spoke, the stillness in the room was broken by a breeze which was seemingly coming from nowhere. As the Slayer, her Watcher and the witch looked around for the source, Oz looked down. The vampire in question did not seem quite right for some reason. The wind grew in intensity, but only around them... Dust on the other side of the room remained untouched by the swirling currents.
"Interesting..." spoke Oz as he watched what seemed to almost be
glowing sand start to blow off
of the vamp. Buffy turned to ask Oz what he was talking about when the stream
of glowing
sand-like particles being blown off downed enemy caught her eye. As she watched,
it was almost
like a fine layer of debris was being blown off an ancient artifact by the winds.
She watched,
her eyes growing wide as the process continued. Faster and faster was it spinning
off into
nothingness as it revealed...
Buffy dropped to her knees and screamed, reaching out and wrapping her arms
around the form
which was no longer a vampire
"Oh my god! Oh my god..Ohmygod Ohmygod Ohmygod....." She lifted his head and scooted forward so her lap cradled his head and kept it still... Tears were welling up in her eyes as she looked up at Giles, pleading silently for him to do something, anything, to make all this better. To make the stake, and the wound it caused in Xander's torn flesh to vanish. Her fingers softly brushed his hair off of his face as she whispered that she was sorry and that she didn't mean it and everything was going to be ok.
Willow stared down at the impaled body of her childhood chum and now best guy friend in the world... This couldn't be happening. Not now, not like this. As she watched, she could see his shirt soaking up the blood from the wound.
'Salty, ' thought Xander as he coughed up some blood. 'This is not a good thing. Laying on the ground, being able to see the end , non-pointy, of a stake, which seems pretty well lodged in my chest. Kinda itches. Buffy smells good... I like being like this. Just kinda wondering exactly why she had looked straight at him then driven the stake in like that. She has such soft eyes. Feels like I could lose myself in those eyes. Man, that stake really is starting to hurt..' Another cough caused him to spit out some blood... 'Not a good thing to be spitting up blood like this..' He looked up at her, a tear rolling down his face, meeting his eyes with hers and as she continued to beg him to be ok. Being ok. Something he kinda doubted he would be ever again. All because of her. How could she do this to him. "Buffy," he whispered, beginning to feel somewhat sleepy... He tried to raise his hand, but could not move his arm.
"I'm here Xander. Just hold on. You're going to be ok. We're going to get you to a hospital and they'll fix you right up. Its going to be ok."
He commanded his arm to move, and with a Herculean effort he raised it to her face and touched her cheek, leaving a faint bloody streak where it touched. "Buffy... Why?... " A cough racked his body, stripping him of what little strength he had.. His lips moved, but no sound came out.
His strength gone, he smiled once more at his princess and closed his eyes. His hand was caught before it fell to the ground.
The scream of the Slayer pierced the night. But there was naught but darkness.
End Chapter 3