Crypt Raider
Chapter 6
By Verbosity
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer:
Well, I own, nothing, except the plot. All
characters
are the properties of their respective owners, who are
not
me...I make no profit, nor do I dig into anyone else's, at least
not
that I know of, so don't sue.
"You do know what you've let yourself in for?" Lara said once they were out of Bryce's hearing range.
"What, with Bryce? Ah, don't worry. I have a friend back home he reminds me of. Except Willow's prettier, and a woman, and bit less of a geek…and gay…and…well okay, maybe their not so similar, but talking to him will still be the same. I won't understand half the sentences, so I'll just nod, smile, and look at all the really cool gadgets."
Her only reply was a chuckle.
Xander took a look around the room she led him to. There were a number of shelves laden with books and various other curiosities. On one shelf there was six inch high Egyptian statue, while on another was a model of a old sailing ship. He was willing to bet that the collection of objects around the room was worth a small fortune.
Lara walked around the massive mahogany desk and seated herself while motioning for Xander to pull up a chair.
Facing the large flat screen monitor, he noted the small camera lens visible on the top edge of the screen. Facing the monitor Lara spoke, "Ring, Ranaldis." Momentarily the screen activated and the word "connecting" appeared.
"Lara? Is that you?" The sound of the voice brought to mind some crotchety old man, and a moment later this image was confirmed as a picture appeared.
The man was old, as he looked to be in his seventies or eighties, with a long narrow face and a sparse beard that had gone all white. This silvered hair was wild and unkempt, looking like someone had assaulted it with garden shears, and spectacles covered his blue eyes. The eyes peering out from behind the lenses were not in the least wild or unfocused. They glimmered with a sharp, avid, intelligence as they looked through the screen at Xander and Lara.
"Hello, Ranaldis. Your information on the temple was just a little off this time." Lara's voice had a chiding note.
"Bah. You try piecing together exact information from millennia old scroll fragments and we'll see if you do any better. I warned you I expected to be wrong on a few points."
"Yes, but you were wrong by about fifteen feet and twelve thousand pounds when it came to the temple guardian. My pistols weren't terribly effective against something that big and when I fed it one of my C-4 charges, and I think I only gave it indigestion. Please do try not to be that type of wrong in the future."
"But you have it?"
"Of course. The statue is in the vault."
Sharp blue eyes peered through the screen at Xander. "And this is the American Bryce mentioned?"
"Quite. Alexander Harris, this is Marko Ranaldis. Ranaldis is a supplier of information and knowledge ranging from the ancient world into the realms of the arcane. If it was ever written, he can generally find it, translate it, and piece it together meaningfully. Of course, he charges a hefty fee for most of his services."
Ranaldis snorted. "I certainly do. My old bones have a need to be comfortable in this dreary world. Doing that properly doesn't come cheap." He paused, his eyes studying Xander again. "However, I must say I am curios about this latest wrinkle."
Lara sat straighter, appearing to hear something in the man's tone. "Has something else happened?"
The old man shook his head. "Answer me a couple questions first. What time did he appear? Be as specific as you can."
Lara raised an eyebrow consideringly, but complied. "About one in the afternoon two days ago.
"And you, Alexander. Tell me exactly what circumstances brought you here."
Xander glanced hesitantly at Lara and, at her nod, related his story once again. Ranaldis remained intent upon Xander's narration, interrupting several times to ask questions about small details. What did the fragments of the broken statue look like? What shade was the light that engulfed him? How long was he enveloped by it? And so forth. The grilling proceeded for about five minutes before the old man was satisfied. They watched as he settled back into his chair, mulling it all over.
After a few seconds of silence Lara cleared her throat.
"Don't pester me young lady. Never rush genius; all it gets you is crappy product."
"You're on my payroll…"
Ranaldis cut her off, saying, "I would be working on this even if I wasn't. This is, by some means, bigger than just a single American popping in from a parallel dimension. I would guess that the destruction of the statue in the other world unbalanced something important. Because when he crossed over, anyone and everyone with any kind of sensitivity felt it. What that means, precisely, I don't know yet."
He eyed Xander once again. "My contacts in the spiritual realms are, as you would probably put it, "freaking out." I can't get them to make any sense on the matter."
There was a moment of silence as Xander and Lara absorbed this.
Xander muttered something under his breath, and all Lara caught was, "…stepped in it again…"
"Do you know of any way to return him home?"
Ranaldis shook his head. "No, and I wouldn't try even if I did. Not with the ether reacting the way it is. Not until I knew more."
"Then find out more. Do you have any idea of how long it will take?"
Another snort emanated from the man. "No idea. Weeks to months, is my best wild guess."
"Months!" The word was forced out of Xander. "But the guys, they…" He trailed off and took a deep breath, coming to grips with the unpleasant truth: if Lara and Ranaldis couldn't get him home faster, than there was nothing he could do.
The gaze of the man on the other side of the screen showed a hint of sympathy and he could feel Lara's gaze from beside him.
"You can't speed it up, hunh?" Xander said.
"I'm sorry Alexander. Your friends will simply have to do without you until we find a way back."
Xander suddenly felt Lara's hand on his arm, a warm comforting weight, as he looked down at his hands.
"Do everything you can Ranaldis. I'll deposit to the usual account. Contact me again when you have anything."
"Wish me luck, I have a feeling I'm going to need it." The connection terminated.
Months, the word echoed in Xander's head. Anything could happen in that time. His friends could be killed, the world could end, and, he almost laughed at the thought, his job would certainly be gone. By that time he would be just another Sunnydale statistic: Alexander Harris. Age: 22. MISSING.
His parents wouldn't turn a hair; they didn't care if he was alive or dead, other than to berate him for one thing or another. Buffy…who knew how Buffy would react, given the way she'd been behaving. He heart was good, but… Maybe his disappearance would be the jolt that brought her back to herself. Maybe it would finish driving her over the edge. Willow would certainly be frantic. He just hoped she didn't go postal like with Tara. Granted, he hadn't been killed in front of her, but "missing" in Sunnydale was synonymous with "dead." Dawn. Xander probably had been one of the more normal people in Dawn's life. He had tried to be something of a constant for her during the crap being the slayers sister and The Key entailed. Here's to hoping this didn't shake her up too much.
Maybe his disappearance would help out Anya, at least. She could finally get rid of the last of the emotional baggage he had saddled her with. This might be the way to cut the last of the rather painful ties between them.
And Spike…who the hell cared what Spike thought, aside from Buffy. The bleached wonder should long ago have been dust from his point of view.
Xander wondered if they would figure out what had happened. If the girl he had saved got away…if she had she might be able to tell them. But that didn't mean anything. He was here, and from the look of things he was going to be here for a while.
Coming back from his thought he became aware that he had been sitting silently for quite some time. Lara's hand was still resting on his arm and she sat quietly beside him, a comforting presence.
Raising his head, he met her gaze. There was concern, sympathy, understanding, and one or two other emotions he couldn't put a name to. Gazing silently back, he felt a curious warmth, at her regard.
Whoa. Was his immediate response to the feeling. He was not going there. Lara had no interest in him. There was no possible way.
Suddenly embarrassed, he groped for something to say. His eyes landed on the screen and a thought came to him. "Lara, how much is this costing you? Ranaldis, I mean."
Her mind jumped ahead of his to where he was headed. "Don't worry about the money Xander. As long as you're with me it's not a concern."
His mouth worked for a moment at the firm statement, then, "Thank you, but I feel like I'm mooching off you. I should be…doing…something."
"Well, we can't have you "mooching", can we?" A grin began to creep onto her face. "I haven't had a new sparing partner on the practice mat in ages."
