The More Things Change
Author: RoguesKnight
Chapter 5: We're not in Kansas anymore
Disclaimer: Don't own them. Barely own my sanity at this point. The characters contained within belong to Fox, Marvel, Joss Whedon, and Mutant Enemy.
Dedication: To my darling fiancée who's been keeping me as sane as possible. I love you! To my readers/reviewers thank you for your support so far and all your kind words. Thanks also for your patience as things got hectic recently with school and work and I had little to no time to write.
We now return to our regularly scheduled fic...
The brilliant California noonday sun shone down on the Mojave Desert, baking everything in sight, including the three occupants of the older model black convertible sitting in the middle of nowhere. The call from Rogue had come late Saturday night with a meeting time and location, picked to ensure the least likelihood of anyone noticing something slightly out of the ordinary going on. Of course the instructions had also been for Xander to head out alone but there'd been no way in hell that anyone at Angel Investigations would let him agree to those kinds of terms. Besides, Deadboy hadn't been too keen on the idea of letting Xander borrow his car and just leave it in the desert for who knew how long. And so, Xander found himself seated in the passenger seat next to an increasingly irate Faith and in front of a nervous Dawn. * Could be worse * he reasoned with a quiet sigh * I could have ended up with Faith and Kennedy. At least Dawnie's probably not going to throw any punches at Faith just to pass the time. * For some unknown reason, the red-headed Slayer and Faith were almost constantly butting heads over the smallest decisions of late. Normally the thought of two beautiful women fighting each other wouldn't have bothered him too much and the potential catfight would have provided a welcome distraction from the heat of the desert, but it usually lead to an upset Willow to see Kennedy and ...well anyone not getting along, and no matter how old he got, he'd always have a weak spot for his Willow. Which is why he'd convinced, or rather bribed, Kennedy to stay back at the Hyperion and handle the phones. * I hope Willow appreciates this * he thought * Giving up fifty dollars worth of twinkies is not something to be undertaken lightly *. The sudden blaring of the car horn broke him from his thoughts.
" God damn it" Faith screamed into the desert before turning to face Xander, " I'm giving your friends or whatever five minutes to show up and then I'm dumping your sorry ass out in the middle of this wasteland and heading back to the hotel and bed." Of all the things that could be said about Faith, "morning person" was definitely not one of them. Xander fought the urge to grin. He knew it was petty, but Faith had recently taken to barging into his bedroom at random times, most consistently while he was in the shower, to complain to him about the new Slayers' lack of skill or to look for his twinkie stockpile. Specifically asking her to drive him out to a meeting place in the middle of her nap time was the perfect way for him to get revenge. Maybe she'd have a better idea of what courtesy meant when he got back from New York, whenever that was Faith continued ranting about the earliness of the hour under her breath, her eyes fixed on the clock in the dashboard.
" Don't worry Xander" Dawn said with false cheerfulness from the back seat as she sat up behind him, " I wouldn't let her leave you out here all alone." She'd taken off the dark t-shirt she'd been wearing earlier to reveal a neon pink bikini top and the thin band of pink peeking up from beneath the waist of her short jean shorts suggested it was part of a matched set. Her usually dark hair had begun to bleach lighter from all the time she'd spent with Cordelia worshipping the sun on the roof of the Hyperion, and was tied back to allow as much skin as possible to be hit by the sun. Faith turned her head, giving the younger woman a skeptical look without a word and turned back to face the clock. Xander turned as well to face the back, an amused smile playing across his lips at the thought of Dawn forcibly trying to stop Faith from doing something she'd set her mind to.
" Does Buffy know that you're borrowing her bikini again Dawn?" Xander smirked. In the days after the destruction of Sunnydale, it'd been rough on everyone, not quite knowing where their places in the world were anymore. However things had quickly become as close to normal as they ever were and the early morning hours had been filled, on more days than not, with the sounds of sisterly squabbling as Dawn tried to sneak off to school in yet another one of Buffy's outfits. " Or for that matter that you're ditching school to sit in the middle of the desert and sunbathe? You know that she's going to kill you for this right? Followed by me when I get home. I don't know how it happens, but whenever you get into some sort of mischief, I'm usually punished right along with you."
" Don't sweat it Xand," Faith spoke up, " Little sis here has all her bases covered. I'm just gonna have to hit the sheets extra hard with Principal Woods to make sure this little field trip doesn't ever reach B's attention." A slow sensual grin spread across her face. It'd been pure luck that Woods had been able to find a high school in L.A. desperately in need of a new Principal, it'd been even more of a coincidence that it happened to be Dawn's new school. " Of course, I'm not doing this out of the goodness of my heart or nothing. I ain't going that soft. Dawnie here's offering up a nice chunk of change in exchange for my help in keeping this trip secret. Why the hell she thinks you're worth it is beyond me, but hey, money's money."
Xander looked at Dawn expectantly. " Hey" the sixteen year old said defensively, " It's not like Buffy never skipped school for some pointless reason, you know, like saving the world or something. I just wanted to get a break from it all, if even for a few hours. You cannot believe just how annoyingly shallow some high school girls can be." Xander smiled, his mind drifting back to his own high school days. " And besides," Dawn continued, " it's not fair for me to have to be in school when all the new Slayers don't have to get enrolled or anything, even though a lot of them are still school aged themselves. Furthermore, if I was in school right now then by the time I got back to the hotel, you would already be off in New York. I just wanted to be able to say goodbye in a more personal way than just a quick 'have a good trip' kind of way, you know?". Xander and Faith shared a grin before turning to a brightly blushing Dawn. " That is soo not what I meant to say" she corrected hastily, waving her hands in front of her for emphasis.
" Oh, come on Dawn," Faith teased, her mood sliding easily from dark to teasing, " I know just how you want to say goodbye to Xander." Her dark eyes sparkled with mischief as her gaze slid from the embarrassed teenager to the nearly equally uncomfortable man in the front seat, " Judging by experience though it isn't that much different than a quick 'have a good trip'." She laughed easily and turned to face out into the nothingness of the desert, a grin pulling at her lips and the dashboard clock which had seemed so important mere moments ago completely forgotten. * That'll teach him to pull my sexy ass out of bed to play chauffer * Faith thought.
The trio sat in an uncomfortable silence save for the sound of the radio as Faith turned on the car's engine to try and find some decent music to kill the time, well uncomfortable for at least Dawn and Xander, as Faith finally found the only radio station she could and was lustily singing along to some country song that even Xander wasn't familiar with. Needless to say pure silence would have been preferable at that point. A soft hand landed on Xander's shoulder and he turned, only to find himself looking into Dawn's light hazel eyes. " Xander," she said softly, a faint blush coloring her cheeks, " you know that I'm over that whole crush on you thing, right?" Even though he didn't quite believe that, he nodded, " It's just that you're pretty much the only other normal person I get to spend any quality time with and now you're heading off to New York for god only knows how long without telling anyone how they can reach you, or even where you're going to be. I mean, what if you decide you like it out there doing whatever it is you're doing than you like being out here with me....err, I meant that as my friend" she hastily added, her cheeks turning a deeper red.
Xander covered her hand with his gently and smiled, " Dawnie, I'm just going to visit an old friend of mine at her new place. I'll probably be out there a week at most before she gets tired of my antics or I break something and she sends me home to you guys. I'll try and give you guys a call when I get there if I can and let you know that I arrived safely. I promise." He gave her hand a soft squeeze, earning a shy smile from the teen.
Any further conversation was interrupted by a large dark shape passing in front of the sun and the rumble of jet engines. The car's three occupants watched in awe as the sleek black aircraft hovered for a few moments before lowering landing gear and touching down in the desert a few yards away. * Either that's my ride * Xander thought eyeing the dark jet in amazement * Or we've driven out onto some sort of government testing grounds and we're about to be arrested and locked away in some sort of top secret facility * The boarding ramp to the jet lowered and a muscular figure that was definitely not Marie came cautiously down the steps. As he stepped into the bright glare of the sun, the three seated in the car got their first good look at him. He had dark, wild, hair and a broad chest; the dark leather jacket over the grey tank top completed the ' I'm a badass, don't mess with me' look the guy was obviously going for. As he walked towards the parked car, the three tensed, something about the way he walked gave the impression that badass wasn't just a look for whoever he was, it touched every part of his being. " You Harris?", the man half grunted, half growled at Xander when he finally reached the passenger's side door. Xander nodded mutely, wondering just what he was getting into. " I thought you were told to come alone," the gruff figure continued with a disapproving glance at Faith and Dawn, " This ain't some sort of family picnic. So grab your shit, tell your girl and your sister here that you'll see them later and that they never saw any of this, and come on." With that he turned and began heading back towards the jet. Faith unfortunately, just couldn't let it end at that.
" Just wait one damn minute," she demanded, hopping out of the car and quickly running in front of the gruff individual, stopping in her tracks and crossing her arms over her chest defiantely, " I am not his girl. And just who the hell do you think you are? I'm not about to let my friend head off to god only knows where just because you told him to. Now, you're going to tell me just what the hell is going on, and who the hell you are or the only place Xander's going is back to L.A. with us." The man regarded Faith for a moment, his dark eyes meeting hers before turning his head back to face the remaining occupants of the car.
" Listen kid," he called, something close to amusement clear in his voice, " would ya mind getting your sweetie out of my way and come on already? Our little trip out here to pick you up wasn't exactly cleared with the FAA if you know what I mean. I'd like to be on our way before we have to do any explaining as to what an unregistered aircraft is doing out in the middle of the desert to the local Barney Fifes if you don't mind." The 'sweetie' comment was perhaps the worst mistake he could have made As he turned his head back towards Faith, it was met by her fist. The force of the blow was enough to lift him off of his feet and send him sliding across the sand until he came to a rest beside the car.
Faith slipped into a low stance, ready incase her victim decided that he wanted any more, and shook her fist out gingerly, " Damn buddy. What the hell do you have for a skull, steel? I mean I've known some hard headed men in my time, but you take the cake." As the figure came to his feet beside the car, Faith got her answer. Not in words, but rather a low growl and a sharp metallic sound as six long blades popped out of his hands. " Holy shit" Faith muttered, wondering for the first time if she'd managed to get in over her head as the clawed figure slowly advanced on her, forcing her back towards the jet. " Hey Xander, Dawn, would it be too much trouble for you to get off your asses and give me a hand?" She called out as close to panicked as she ever got. It was enough to startle the two Scoobies into action and they scrambled out of the car, careful to maintain a safe distance from the clawed guy until an opening presented itself. Fortunately they didn't need one.
" Logan behave!" a gently accented southern voice yelled from the top step of the jet's boarding ramp. As one, the four individuals on the ground turned to face the voice's owner. A slender young woman was descending the ramp; she wore tight black jeans and a short sleeved dark purple shirt with long white gloves extending from her fingers to just below her elbows, leaving the barest hint of skin exposed. As she neared the group, her delicate features became more noticeable, she had full pouty lips, and warm brown eyes that sparkled with an inner life, but perhaps most startling was the prominent patch of white hair that fell across her face in sharp contrast to the natural brown of the rest of her hair. " Ah mean it. Y'all wouldn't let me fly the Blackbird out here to pick Xander up on my own even though Ah've been training on the simulator for a while now, so Ah can't believe you'd expect him to meet us by himself. Now, behave yourself." The man she'd identified as Logan, growled dangerously, giving the younger people around him a glare before sheathing the claws under his skin again with a quick movement and barging past back into the jet. " Don't mind him," the young woman said with the barest glance backwards, " He's not exactly the trusting type. Xander already knows me, but you two Ah haven't had the pleasure of meeting yet. Ah'm Rogue." She extended her hand first to Dawn, who'd been gaping at the girl since she'd gotten off the plane.
" Dawn" she replied, forcing herself not to measure her appearance against Rogue's. * This is Xander's friend? * she thought forlornly. * How could I ever compete with her?*. She gave herself a mental slap, remembering that Xander didn't think of her as anything more than a sister, and forced a cheerful smile, " Pleased to meet you Rogue." Rogue smiled in return before offering her left hand to Faith.
" Faith," the dark haired Slayer said, taking Rogue's hand, " So, what's up with short, sexy, and metallic. Is he honestly afraid of a tiny thing like you, or did he just not want me to kick his ass?" Faith was many things, but unconfident in her fighting prowess was definitely not one of them
Rogue laughed, " Ah wish Ah could control Logan. He probably just wanted to get the hell out of here. And the sooner Ah've collected Xander here, the sooner he gets his wish." She raised her eyebrow slightly at the Slayer " And sugah, sexy? Ah'm not exactly sure you're his type. He's ...well...no one really knows how old he is, but let's just say old enough to be your father at least." Xander's soft chuckling caught her attention and she walked to him with a smile. " And you mister, what do you seem to think is so funny?" She enveloped him in a hug, whispering " Good to see you again Xander."
" Your manners are about as good as I remember Ma...Rouge" he corrected, pulling back to smile at her, " No hello? Just questions right off the bat....ah...the young. It's good to see you too. As for what I think is so funny...let's just say Faith has interesting taste in men. I can attest to that personally" he added with a grin in Faith's direction before ducking behind Rogue.
" Cut it out" Rogue laughed, slapping at him and stepping away. Turning to Faith and Dawn she smiled, " It was nice to meet the both of you. I'm glad Xander decided to go back to Sunnydale after we met each other a couple years ago, there's an old saying that you can judge a person's character by the company they keep. The fact that he has friends like the two of you says a lot about you." Dawn blushed at the unexpected compliment and even Faith showed a small smile. " Unfortunately, Logan was right and we are on a strict time table if we want to avoid raising any eyebrows from the locales." Faith nodded in understanding and headed back to the car, opening the trunk and retrieving the two small bags Xander brought with him. Rogue gave Xander a slight push towards Dawn and smiled, " Come on up after you've said your good-byes, I'll make sure we don't try and leave without you."
Xander walked over to the obviously upset young woman and enveloped her in a tight hug, " Shh Dawnie, there's no need to be so upset. I'm just going for a little while. I mean how long can anyone put up with me? I'll be back before you know it. If I'm not careful, probably right back out here in the middle of the desert." He smiled, releasing her slowly and ignoring the small wet spots on his shirts where her tears had fallen silently. " Don't let Kennedy tear apart my desk chari, eh? I've gotten pretty used to it." He joked before leaning over to give her a kiss on the cheek. Dawn, however, had other plans. She turned her head slightly and brought her lips to meet his for a brief kiss before running off to the car without a single word, leaving Xander standing wordlessly.
" She'll be fine Xan," Faith said setting his bags beside him. " I'll stop at a Dairy Queen or something on the way back to L.A. and treat her to whatever she wants." If possible, Xander seemed even more shocked by that statement, it must have shown because she quickly added, " You say one thing about me going soft, and I'm going to throw your scrawny ass onto that jet. Now get out of here." She gave him a quick hug before heading back to the car herself without so much as a look back.
Xander's gaze lingered on the two women for a moment before he picked up his luggage and headed up the boarding ramp of the Blackbird. " You can set your stuff in the back," Logan growled as the ramp came up behind him. Xander nodded silently, slightly dazed by the sheer beauty of the craft. Something inside him just itched to learn all he could, to see how it would handle under his control. Shaking the idea off as a fantasy, he set his luggage down and headed back towards the cockpit. Logan was seated in what Xander presumed was the co-pilot's seat and Rogue was seated behind him. In the pilot's chair was a man with dark brown hair wearing some sort of visor and a black uniform. He turned in his seat, measuring up the younger man and though Xander couldn't see his eyes, he could tell the gaze was far from friendly. Slightly unnerved, Xander silently took the seat across from Rogue.
" Remember that guy I said you'd just have to meet?" Rogue asked, nodding towards the pilot as he fired up the engines. Xander nodded. " That's him. His name's Scott, but everyone on the team calls him Cyclops."
* The team? * Xander wondered briefly. " Damn," he said aloud, " and that's what I wanted to use as a code name." Rogue laughed and Xander thought he even detected the faintest hint of a smile from Logan. " So, Rogue," he continued, " I love what you've done with your hair . What else have you been up to since we parted?" From the look she gave him, Xander got the feeling that it would be a long flight.
Author: RoguesKnight
Chapter 5: We're not in Kansas anymore
Disclaimer: Don't own them. Barely own my sanity at this point. The characters contained within belong to Fox, Marvel, Joss Whedon, and Mutant Enemy.
Dedication: To my darling fiancée who's been keeping me as sane as possible. I love you! To my readers/reviewers thank you for your support so far and all your kind words. Thanks also for your patience as things got hectic recently with school and work and I had little to no time to write.
We now return to our regularly scheduled fic...
The brilliant California noonday sun shone down on the Mojave Desert, baking everything in sight, including the three occupants of the older model black convertible sitting in the middle of nowhere. The call from Rogue had come late Saturday night with a meeting time and location, picked to ensure the least likelihood of anyone noticing something slightly out of the ordinary going on. Of course the instructions had also been for Xander to head out alone but there'd been no way in hell that anyone at Angel Investigations would let him agree to those kinds of terms. Besides, Deadboy hadn't been too keen on the idea of letting Xander borrow his car and just leave it in the desert for who knew how long. And so, Xander found himself seated in the passenger seat next to an increasingly irate Faith and in front of a nervous Dawn. * Could be worse * he reasoned with a quiet sigh * I could have ended up with Faith and Kennedy. At least Dawnie's probably not going to throw any punches at Faith just to pass the time. * For some unknown reason, the red-headed Slayer and Faith were almost constantly butting heads over the smallest decisions of late. Normally the thought of two beautiful women fighting each other wouldn't have bothered him too much and the potential catfight would have provided a welcome distraction from the heat of the desert, but it usually lead to an upset Willow to see Kennedy and ...well anyone not getting along, and no matter how old he got, he'd always have a weak spot for his Willow. Which is why he'd convinced, or rather bribed, Kennedy to stay back at the Hyperion and handle the phones. * I hope Willow appreciates this * he thought * Giving up fifty dollars worth of twinkies is not something to be undertaken lightly *. The sudden blaring of the car horn broke him from his thoughts.
" God damn it" Faith screamed into the desert before turning to face Xander, " I'm giving your friends or whatever five minutes to show up and then I'm dumping your sorry ass out in the middle of this wasteland and heading back to the hotel and bed." Of all the things that could be said about Faith, "morning person" was definitely not one of them. Xander fought the urge to grin. He knew it was petty, but Faith had recently taken to barging into his bedroom at random times, most consistently while he was in the shower, to complain to him about the new Slayers' lack of skill or to look for his twinkie stockpile. Specifically asking her to drive him out to a meeting place in the middle of her nap time was the perfect way for him to get revenge. Maybe she'd have a better idea of what courtesy meant when he got back from New York, whenever that was Faith continued ranting about the earliness of the hour under her breath, her eyes fixed on the clock in the dashboard.
" Don't worry Xander" Dawn said with false cheerfulness from the back seat as she sat up behind him, " I wouldn't let her leave you out here all alone." She'd taken off the dark t-shirt she'd been wearing earlier to reveal a neon pink bikini top and the thin band of pink peeking up from beneath the waist of her short jean shorts suggested it was part of a matched set. Her usually dark hair had begun to bleach lighter from all the time she'd spent with Cordelia worshipping the sun on the roof of the Hyperion, and was tied back to allow as much skin as possible to be hit by the sun. Faith turned her head, giving the younger woman a skeptical look without a word and turned back to face the clock. Xander turned as well to face the back, an amused smile playing across his lips at the thought of Dawn forcibly trying to stop Faith from doing something she'd set her mind to.
" Does Buffy know that you're borrowing her bikini again Dawn?" Xander smirked. In the days after the destruction of Sunnydale, it'd been rough on everyone, not quite knowing where their places in the world were anymore. However things had quickly become as close to normal as they ever were and the early morning hours had been filled, on more days than not, with the sounds of sisterly squabbling as Dawn tried to sneak off to school in yet another one of Buffy's outfits. " Or for that matter that you're ditching school to sit in the middle of the desert and sunbathe? You know that she's going to kill you for this right? Followed by me when I get home. I don't know how it happens, but whenever you get into some sort of mischief, I'm usually punished right along with you."
" Don't sweat it Xand," Faith spoke up, " Little sis here has all her bases covered. I'm just gonna have to hit the sheets extra hard with Principal Woods to make sure this little field trip doesn't ever reach B's attention." A slow sensual grin spread across her face. It'd been pure luck that Woods had been able to find a high school in L.A. desperately in need of a new Principal, it'd been even more of a coincidence that it happened to be Dawn's new school. " Of course, I'm not doing this out of the goodness of my heart or nothing. I ain't going that soft. Dawnie here's offering up a nice chunk of change in exchange for my help in keeping this trip secret. Why the hell she thinks you're worth it is beyond me, but hey, money's money."
Xander looked at Dawn expectantly. " Hey" the sixteen year old said defensively, " It's not like Buffy never skipped school for some pointless reason, you know, like saving the world or something. I just wanted to get a break from it all, if even for a few hours. You cannot believe just how annoyingly shallow some high school girls can be." Xander smiled, his mind drifting back to his own high school days. " And besides," Dawn continued, " it's not fair for me to have to be in school when all the new Slayers don't have to get enrolled or anything, even though a lot of them are still school aged themselves. Furthermore, if I was in school right now then by the time I got back to the hotel, you would already be off in New York. I just wanted to be able to say goodbye in a more personal way than just a quick 'have a good trip' kind of way, you know?". Xander and Faith shared a grin before turning to a brightly blushing Dawn. " That is soo not what I meant to say" she corrected hastily, waving her hands in front of her for emphasis.
" Oh, come on Dawn," Faith teased, her mood sliding easily from dark to teasing, " I know just how you want to say goodbye to Xander." Her dark eyes sparkled with mischief as her gaze slid from the embarrassed teenager to the nearly equally uncomfortable man in the front seat, " Judging by experience though it isn't that much different than a quick 'have a good trip'." She laughed easily and turned to face out into the nothingness of the desert, a grin pulling at her lips and the dashboard clock which had seemed so important mere moments ago completely forgotten. * That'll teach him to pull my sexy ass out of bed to play chauffer * Faith thought.
The trio sat in an uncomfortable silence save for the sound of the radio as Faith turned on the car's engine to try and find some decent music to kill the time, well uncomfortable for at least Dawn and Xander, as Faith finally found the only radio station she could and was lustily singing along to some country song that even Xander wasn't familiar with. Needless to say pure silence would have been preferable at that point. A soft hand landed on Xander's shoulder and he turned, only to find himself looking into Dawn's light hazel eyes. " Xander," she said softly, a faint blush coloring her cheeks, " you know that I'm over that whole crush on you thing, right?" Even though he didn't quite believe that, he nodded, " It's just that you're pretty much the only other normal person I get to spend any quality time with and now you're heading off to New York for god only knows how long without telling anyone how they can reach you, or even where you're going to be. I mean, what if you decide you like it out there doing whatever it is you're doing than you like being out here with me....err, I meant that as my friend" she hastily added, her cheeks turning a deeper red.
Xander covered her hand with his gently and smiled, " Dawnie, I'm just going to visit an old friend of mine at her new place. I'll probably be out there a week at most before she gets tired of my antics or I break something and she sends me home to you guys. I'll try and give you guys a call when I get there if I can and let you know that I arrived safely. I promise." He gave her hand a soft squeeze, earning a shy smile from the teen.
Any further conversation was interrupted by a large dark shape passing in front of the sun and the rumble of jet engines. The car's three occupants watched in awe as the sleek black aircraft hovered for a few moments before lowering landing gear and touching down in the desert a few yards away. * Either that's my ride * Xander thought eyeing the dark jet in amazement * Or we've driven out onto some sort of government testing grounds and we're about to be arrested and locked away in some sort of top secret facility * The boarding ramp to the jet lowered and a muscular figure that was definitely not Marie came cautiously down the steps. As he stepped into the bright glare of the sun, the three seated in the car got their first good look at him. He had dark, wild, hair and a broad chest; the dark leather jacket over the grey tank top completed the ' I'm a badass, don't mess with me' look the guy was obviously going for. As he walked towards the parked car, the three tensed, something about the way he walked gave the impression that badass wasn't just a look for whoever he was, it touched every part of his being. " You Harris?", the man half grunted, half growled at Xander when he finally reached the passenger's side door. Xander nodded mutely, wondering just what he was getting into. " I thought you were told to come alone," the gruff figure continued with a disapproving glance at Faith and Dawn, " This ain't some sort of family picnic. So grab your shit, tell your girl and your sister here that you'll see them later and that they never saw any of this, and come on." With that he turned and began heading back towards the jet. Faith unfortunately, just couldn't let it end at that.
" Just wait one damn minute," she demanded, hopping out of the car and quickly running in front of the gruff individual, stopping in her tracks and crossing her arms over her chest defiantely, " I am not his girl. And just who the hell do you think you are? I'm not about to let my friend head off to god only knows where just because you told him to. Now, you're going to tell me just what the hell is going on, and who the hell you are or the only place Xander's going is back to L.A. with us." The man regarded Faith for a moment, his dark eyes meeting hers before turning his head back to face the remaining occupants of the car.
" Listen kid," he called, something close to amusement clear in his voice, " would ya mind getting your sweetie out of my way and come on already? Our little trip out here to pick you up wasn't exactly cleared with the FAA if you know what I mean. I'd like to be on our way before we have to do any explaining as to what an unregistered aircraft is doing out in the middle of the desert to the local Barney Fifes if you don't mind." The 'sweetie' comment was perhaps the worst mistake he could have made As he turned his head back towards Faith, it was met by her fist. The force of the blow was enough to lift him off of his feet and send him sliding across the sand until he came to a rest beside the car.
Faith slipped into a low stance, ready incase her victim decided that he wanted any more, and shook her fist out gingerly, " Damn buddy. What the hell do you have for a skull, steel? I mean I've known some hard headed men in my time, but you take the cake." As the figure came to his feet beside the car, Faith got her answer. Not in words, but rather a low growl and a sharp metallic sound as six long blades popped out of his hands. " Holy shit" Faith muttered, wondering for the first time if she'd managed to get in over her head as the clawed figure slowly advanced on her, forcing her back towards the jet. " Hey Xander, Dawn, would it be too much trouble for you to get off your asses and give me a hand?" She called out as close to panicked as she ever got. It was enough to startle the two Scoobies into action and they scrambled out of the car, careful to maintain a safe distance from the clawed guy until an opening presented itself. Fortunately they didn't need one.
" Logan behave!" a gently accented southern voice yelled from the top step of the jet's boarding ramp. As one, the four individuals on the ground turned to face the voice's owner. A slender young woman was descending the ramp; she wore tight black jeans and a short sleeved dark purple shirt with long white gloves extending from her fingers to just below her elbows, leaving the barest hint of skin exposed. As she neared the group, her delicate features became more noticeable, she had full pouty lips, and warm brown eyes that sparkled with an inner life, but perhaps most startling was the prominent patch of white hair that fell across her face in sharp contrast to the natural brown of the rest of her hair. " Ah mean it. Y'all wouldn't let me fly the Blackbird out here to pick Xander up on my own even though Ah've been training on the simulator for a while now, so Ah can't believe you'd expect him to meet us by himself. Now, behave yourself." The man she'd identified as Logan, growled dangerously, giving the younger people around him a glare before sheathing the claws under his skin again with a quick movement and barging past back into the jet. " Don't mind him," the young woman said with the barest glance backwards, " He's not exactly the trusting type. Xander already knows me, but you two Ah haven't had the pleasure of meeting yet. Ah'm Rogue." She extended her hand first to Dawn, who'd been gaping at the girl since she'd gotten off the plane.
" Dawn" she replied, forcing herself not to measure her appearance against Rogue's. * This is Xander's friend? * she thought forlornly. * How could I ever compete with her?*. She gave herself a mental slap, remembering that Xander didn't think of her as anything more than a sister, and forced a cheerful smile, " Pleased to meet you Rogue." Rogue smiled in return before offering her left hand to Faith.
" Faith," the dark haired Slayer said, taking Rogue's hand, " So, what's up with short, sexy, and metallic. Is he honestly afraid of a tiny thing like you, or did he just not want me to kick his ass?" Faith was many things, but unconfident in her fighting prowess was definitely not one of them
Rogue laughed, " Ah wish Ah could control Logan. He probably just wanted to get the hell out of here. And the sooner Ah've collected Xander here, the sooner he gets his wish." She raised her eyebrow slightly at the Slayer " And sugah, sexy? Ah'm not exactly sure you're his type. He's ...well...no one really knows how old he is, but let's just say old enough to be your father at least." Xander's soft chuckling caught her attention and she walked to him with a smile. " And you mister, what do you seem to think is so funny?" She enveloped him in a hug, whispering " Good to see you again Xander."
" Your manners are about as good as I remember Ma...Rouge" he corrected, pulling back to smile at her, " No hello? Just questions right off the bat....ah...the young. It's good to see you too. As for what I think is so funny...let's just say Faith has interesting taste in men. I can attest to that personally" he added with a grin in Faith's direction before ducking behind Rogue.
" Cut it out" Rogue laughed, slapping at him and stepping away. Turning to Faith and Dawn she smiled, " It was nice to meet the both of you. I'm glad Xander decided to go back to Sunnydale after we met each other a couple years ago, there's an old saying that you can judge a person's character by the company they keep. The fact that he has friends like the two of you says a lot about you." Dawn blushed at the unexpected compliment and even Faith showed a small smile. " Unfortunately, Logan was right and we are on a strict time table if we want to avoid raising any eyebrows from the locales." Faith nodded in understanding and headed back to the car, opening the trunk and retrieving the two small bags Xander brought with him. Rogue gave Xander a slight push towards Dawn and smiled, " Come on up after you've said your good-byes, I'll make sure we don't try and leave without you."
Xander walked over to the obviously upset young woman and enveloped her in a tight hug, " Shh Dawnie, there's no need to be so upset. I'm just going for a little while. I mean how long can anyone put up with me? I'll be back before you know it. If I'm not careful, probably right back out here in the middle of the desert." He smiled, releasing her slowly and ignoring the small wet spots on his shirts where her tears had fallen silently. " Don't let Kennedy tear apart my desk chari, eh? I've gotten pretty used to it." He joked before leaning over to give her a kiss on the cheek. Dawn, however, had other plans. She turned her head slightly and brought her lips to meet his for a brief kiss before running off to the car without a single word, leaving Xander standing wordlessly.
" She'll be fine Xan," Faith said setting his bags beside him. " I'll stop at a Dairy Queen or something on the way back to L.A. and treat her to whatever she wants." If possible, Xander seemed even more shocked by that statement, it must have shown because she quickly added, " You say one thing about me going soft, and I'm going to throw your scrawny ass onto that jet. Now get out of here." She gave him a quick hug before heading back to the car herself without so much as a look back.
Xander's gaze lingered on the two women for a moment before he picked up his luggage and headed up the boarding ramp of the Blackbird. " You can set your stuff in the back," Logan growled as the ramp came up behind him. Xander nodded silently, slightly dazed by the sheer beauty of the craft. Something inside him just itched to learn all he could, to see how it would handle under his control. Shaking the idea off as a fantasy, he set his luggage down and headed back towards the cockpit. Logan was seated in what Xander presumed was the co-pilot's seat and Rogue was seated behind him. In the pilot's chair was a man with dark brown hair wearing some sort of visor and a black uniform. He turned in his seat, measuring up the younger man and though Xander couldn't see his eyes, he could tell the gaze was far from friendly. Slightly unnerved, Xander silently took the seat across from Rogue.
" Remember that guy I said you'd just have to meet?" Rogue asked, nodding towards the pilot as he fired up the engines. Xander nodded. " That's him. His name's Scott, but everyone on the team calls him Cyclops."
* The team? * Xander wondered briefly. " Damn," he said aloud, " and that's what I wanted to use as a code name." Rogue laughed and Xander thought he even detected the faintest hint of a smile from Logan. " So, Rogue," he continued, " I love what you've done with your hair . What else have you been up to since we parted?" From the look she gave him, Xander got the feeling that it would be a long flight.