"'Happily Ever After' is a Modern Invention" by Shadow Master
(BtVS/Disney Animated Movie Universes/Assassin's Creed/Possibly Others)
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the copyrighted materials contained herein. They are the rightful property of their respective creators and/or associated companies. I make no money from this whatsoever and have no plans for changing that at any point in the future. I write for fun and because there are people who enjoy reading my stories. Therefore please do not take any legal action against me. It isn't worth it in the least because there's no way I have enough money to either cover the legal fees OR make it all worthwhile.
Note 1: I originally just planned on doing a crossover with the top Disney Animated movies (naturally with Xander as the central character) but then I wanted to make things a little more interesting. Take the G rated stuff that was safe for kids and upgrade it up to PG-13 or perhaps even R. As far as I know (I could be wrong) no one's done something like this. In most cases they stick to the boundaries established by the animated movie or maybe up it to PG. As for the Assassin's Creed stuff…well…it just sounded better than dropping in Xander as just himself post Sunnydale.
Note 2: If any of you readers know where I can get info online focused on the stories that the animated movies were based on, basic info of the region/time/culture the animated movies took place in and stuff like that. Why? Because I want to take the animated movie and modify it so that it's closer to how things really would've gone in those times and places. I'll do my own searching of course through YouTube and Google searches but any help would be appreciated. I might not use what you send but I'll still appreciate it.
As always positive reviews will be gratefully received, constructive criticism will be considered but not necessarily acted on and of course negative/bashing/venomous reviews will be ignored or burned as fuel to keep this story going. I don't care if some people don't like my stories or think I made the wrong choices in terms of plot. This is a hobby for me, exercise for my imagination and a way to have fun. Don't like my stories? Don't like how I do things? Don't read my stories. Go find another fan fiction story. One that you do like.
Well enough of that.
Hope you enjoy this story!
'Happily Ever After' is a Modern Invention
Scottish Castle HQ
Post Destruction of Sunnydale
Conference Room
Willow's POV
~This is SO not going to be good.~ She thought while setting up for the meeting that was going to happen in a little over fifteen minutes.
At the same time though she couldn't convince herself to just let it go.
Ever since the destruction of Sunnydale the Scooby gang and the survivors of the final fight had been working overtime to take responsibility for their actions and make something better. If she'd had more time and more resources she might've been able to focus the Awakening spell to just the Potentials that'd come to Sunnydale. Time however hadn't been on their side and so she'd been forced to just focus on doing the magic that turned every girl that had the potential to become the next Slayer INTO a Slayer.
Seeing as how the world was still spinning and hadn't been transformed into a literal hell on Earth type of place she believed that they made the right call.
The only problem was that it still left hundreds if not thousands of girls worldwide with their lives irrevocably changed. None of them had been willing to absolve themselves of the responsibility they had to the girls they'd affected so once everyone had been patched up they'd gone on to acquire what they'd need to do right by the people they'd changed. That meant moving to seize what assets were left floating in the wind thanks to the destructions of Watcher HQ in London and finding any surviving Watchers worth allying with.
By worth allying with she meant they were more like Giles than Travers.
It'd taken awhile because they hadn't been the only ones with the idea to take advantage of the fact that the Watcher's Council had been decapitated and plunged into chaos. Everyone from their enemies to the old Council's allies tried to claim as much as they could before anyone else could. Fortunately there were quite a few people who owed Giles favours or were willing to help just to make sure the others looking for a piece of the pie came up with nothing. In the end it'd come down to a small 'disagreement' at the Travers estate that resulted in Giles bleeding on a statue no one thought was important but turned out to be the complete opposite. Turned out it was a statue used in a ceremony to pass governing power from one head of the Council to his chosen successor. With the death of Travers and so many of the top Watchers the magic in the statue had shifted so that any Watcher of a certain seniority could become the new head. With Giles' blood hitting the statue the magic instantly put him in charge and through arcane means made sure the mundane paperwork reflected this change in ownership.
Oddly convenient all things considered and none of the Sunnydale survivors were willing to look a gift horse in the mouth.
It'd been a few months since then and as of last week she'd begun working on a spell that would allow them to find all of the newly Called Slayers. They already had the logistics for the task ahead of them all in place so nothing was left but the actual finding of the girls. Unfortunately the spells left behind by the Old Council were of only minimal help since they were mostly focused on finding the NEXT Slayer rather than a few hundred thousand of them. More than that she'd learned that Slayers have a natural obscuring effect when it came to locator spells and that'd extended to Potentials. Only if one or the other were in close proximity to a powerful individual or organization could they be detected by magic but even then it just let the caster know one of them was in the area. In the end those not of the Council could only watch for young ladies exhibiting skills and abilities that a Slayer was known to possess. For the Council though they possessed the means to narrow down the search considerably when it came to Potentials and specifically find the newly Called Slayer with precision.
Disappointingly, unless they wanted to find a new Slayer one at a time, a new spell would be needed in order to find them all in one go.
She'd poured every free moment she'd had into crafting the new spell and consulted with Giles when he had the spare time from the day to day duties of the Council head. In the end the framework was sound and the details obeyed all the laws of magic she'd learned since she began reading Giles' books in the high school library. She'd tested it to varying degrees but as she did so a possible problem came to the top of her mind that caused her concern.
Would her spell be able to see past the obscuring effect that hid Slayers from magical detection?
She'd looked at what the Old Council had possessed on the spell they used to find both Potentials and Slayers but no details were provided as to the architecture of the spell. Giles had theorized that the spell had been created back during the time of the First Slayer and has simply been passed down through the ages without any background information. Personally she'd seen this as sloppy work since she believed that when you work to make something it was important to document every part of the process so that others could replicate the results consistently. Giles on the other hand thought that the details had been left behind so as to ensure that any potential traitor to the Council could not pass this information along to the forces of darkness.
She still didn't like it!
In the end she had decided to simply pour as much power into the spell as she could in order to overwhelm the obscuring effect.
Two days ago she'd cast the spell and while it'd left her feeling drained she had been pleased with the results…
…until she started getting more results than should've been possible.
She'd been confused at first and thought that perhaps she had messed up somewhere but after spending the rest of the day going over every word of her work she could find nothing wrong. Like a perfect equation everything was in its proper place to provide her with the answer to the question of where all the newly Called Slayers were on planet Earth. Not liking a mystery especially within her own work she'd spent the next day trying to trace every positive contact generated by the spell to its source. At first everything had gone as expected and she'd written down the precise location of each new Slayer down to a square block.
It was only later that she discovered the truth and the actual scope of the changes her Awakening spell had caused.
Thus the call for this meeting.
~Done!~ She said putting the last of the necessary info in the right place for the others to see it in context with the rest.
Hearing the door opening she looked up and realized that she'd finished just in the nick of time since the governing members of the New Council had arrived. One by one they took their assigned chairs in ways that matched their personalities and when all were seated Giles got everyone's attention with an intentional cough.
"Now that we have all assembled perhaps you can explain the reason for this meeting." Giles said looking to her, "You sounded somewhat troubled over the phone."
"Yeah what's the sitch Red? You suddenly find out you like whips and chains?" Faith asked with a playful grin on her face.
Doing her best not to react to such steamy imagery she shook her head in the negative before taking a deep breath to relax herself.
"For the past week I've been putting together a new spell to try and find all the Slayers that got Called thanks to the mass Awakening I triggered." She said figuring that the best place to start would be the beginning, "I used various other spells as source materials and two days ago I went ahead and cast it. The thing is it did more than it should've done."
"What? It give away their location to Wolfram & Hart?" Xander asked sounding worried about the possibility.
"No. Well not unless they were specifically waiting for me to do this and were eavesdropping but I don't think that's the case." She replied seeing the reason for his concern, "The spell did what it was supposed to do in that it located all the newly Called Slayers but the problem is that I got back more confirmations than are possible. According to the Old Council records only a very small percentage of the female population within the right age range are likely to be Potential Slayers. Right Giles?"
"While I do not know the particulars that does sound about right." Giles replied with a nod of his head and a glimmer of understanding in his eyes.
"I looked through the records to find out how many Potentials there are at any given time and used that information with the spell to let me know when I'd found them all." She said bringing up the map of the world on the large TV with red dots indicating a Potential's location, "These are all the ones on Earth that I found."
"Looks like we're going to be clocking a LOT of miles for the next few years." Buffy said looking amazed by the number of dots and where they concentrated, "So what's the problem?"
"The problem is that the number of confirmations I have would only make sense if there'd been three times the number of Potentials on Earth before the Awakening." She replied bringing up a mystical mirror showed the GROWING number of spell confirmations, "And it's only growing higher."
"That's impossible." Robin said sliding into denial, "Unless someone's cloning Potentials assembly line style the confirmations shouldn't be going any higher."
"Indeed. There should not be a new generation of Slayers for at least fourteen years." Giles said sounding equally in denial of the news.
"I thought so too so I tried to find out what was going on." She said inching her way to the big revelation, "What I found out was…the Awakening spell…it reached a lot further than we realized. A LOT further."
"Are we talking about outer space? Alien Slayers!" Andrew exclaimed looking like his geek engine was revving up.
"No. No matter how unprecedented the Awakening spell was the Slayer essence and the magic that activates those containing it can only be human." Giles stated firmly sounding certain of these facts.
"Then where're all these extra Slayers coming from?" Xander asked bringing everyone to the most relevant question.
"Short answer?" She rhetorically asked knowing there was an explosion of talking coming, "The multiverse. An unknown number of parallel timelines, realities and dimensions."
To everyone's credit they waited a whole five seconds before a storm of questions and denials filled the air.
Giles' POV
"Dear Lord." He muttered as his educated mind quickly began to logically work out the size of the problem Willow had revealed.
"YES!" Andrew exclaimed like someone had told him he'd scored VIP tickets to THE most important nerd convention EVER.
"I'm not sure which of those gives me the wiggins more." Buffy said looking back and forth between him and the science fiction fanatical young man.
"Ditto." Xander said agreeing with his longtime friend.
"I was merely coming to grips with a risk that I had thought we had neatly evaded when casting the Awakening spell." He explained taking his glasses off to soothingly clean them, "It had been a concern of mine that performing such a potent spell atop an active Hellmouth could result in consequences beyond our own dimension. Remember Boca Del Inferno is essentially a weak spot between our world and a hell dimension but it is not a direct connection but rather a crudely dug tunnel with plenty of weak points and crevices. Holes that the effects of the spell might have seeped through to interact with other dimensions. When nothing ominous occurred within the first year since the casting I thought my concerns unfounded."
"Well it's seven different kinds of freaky but what does this mean for us?" Faith asked looking a little unsettled but not genuinely worried, "It's not like we can go dimension hopping after them plus we've got our hands full managing the baby Slayers here. No way we got enough cash or people to handle newbies from other dimensions."
"I think the question we oughta be asking ourselves isn't CAN we handle more than one dimension of newbie Slayers but SHOULD we ignore the Slayers in the other dimensions." Robin said entering the conversation with a serious tone, "Travelling to different dimensions might be hard for us but for people in the other dimensions it could be as easy as walking from one room to another. What do you think'll happen if one of the newly Called Slayers decides to come HERE for a chat? I doubt the Awakening spell takes personality or sanity into account when it flips their Slayer switch into the on position."
THAT had everyone, himself included, a little worried about the potential implications.
It'd been one of the biggest worries once they stopped to think about it that the spell would empower the wrong girl. Some of them might like to think that the Awakening spell would only empower the right people. The ones that at their core had the right qualities to become a Slayer that could be relied upon. Sadly, as head of the New Council, he had to take a more realistic viewpoint and there were others who shared it. Much like Robin had pointed out the Awakening spell didn't take the mental or the spiritual into account. It only focused on finding a shard that matched what it was looking for and changing it from dormant to active. Thus it was possible that one who'd been Awakened could possess a dark heart or was more inclined to use their new abilities for selfish ends.
In private, with only the few with the resolve to act, he had already begun drawing up plans for dealing with newly Called Slayers who proved to be a threat to that which the New Council had sworn to protect.
The definition of 'dealing' was broad, flexible and if necessary permanent.
"And if they all come at the same time we're going to have a REALLY bad day." Robin said putting the exclamation point on his position.
"Well…that's a bummer." Xander said with a bit of sarcastic levity, "I'm for finding these Slider Slayers before they find us…with an ARMY."
"But how?" Dawn asked from her chair next to her sister, "If the multiverse is really all it's cracked up to be we'll have a lot of ground to cover and a lot of prep work we'll need to do."
"She's not wrong." Willow said directing them to prepared pictures of various worlds, "According to various theories about parallel realities, timelines and dimensions they can either be very similar to our own or very different."
"But doesn't the fact that the Slayer has to be a human girl mean those dimensions are like ours?" Buffy asked her brows furrowed with mild incomprehension.
"Not necessarily. Humans are resourceful and can survive in any number of hostile environments assuming the necessary materials, knowledge and time are available." He replied remembering a few classic books that explored the scenario, "One Earth could be experiencing a post nuclear apocalypse while another could be going through a second ice age. If humans have survived either scenario it is likely because they have constructed contained compatible environments."
"Huh?" Buffy asked obviously having a limited vocabulary that did not include many of the terms he'd just used.
"Think all those movies with underwater domes with cities in them." Xander explained with a smirk on his face.
"Oh. Got it." Buffy said as an image no doubt popped up in her head.
"And I'm guessing that another problem is making sure we don't pop into these other Earth's someplace that'll kill us instantly?" Xander asked looking at his best friend Willow.
"Yeah. That's why we'll need to build probes along with the gateway itself." Willow replied with a nod before removing one large picture to show a basic drawing, "As soon as we have a working dimensional gateway that's safe to go through we send the probes through first to scout each destination world. Once we have more information finding a safe place to come through should be simple and let us know what kind of world we'll be walking around in."
"Isn't making that stuff complicated? And expensive?" Dawn asked curiously, "We might not be hurting for money but I don't remember seeing a manufacturing plant on our list of assets."
"Quite. Even with all the advancements in technology made the last few decades Travers and his inner circle proved obstinately difficult when it came to embracing them." He said remembering the few times a suggestion was made only to be shot down, "As such the number of modern assets and manufacturing methods at our disposal are few."
"Can't we outsource?" Xander asked sounding only half sure of his idea, "We won't need to tell them what it's for just that we need some probes ASAP and we'll pay for quality."
"That could work." He thought as considered the best approaches to take, "However they would need to be no bigger than your average chair, airborne and equipped with the means to detect and record the information we will need."
"We can probably cut down on the size by replacing technological sensors with magic ones." Willow said sounding like she was getting excited about the project.
After that each member of the governing body of the New Council began to contribute ideas for how they could make this venture succeed. He on the other hand merely watched with a proud smile on his face at the cooperation and respect that was being shown. Had this situation occurred during Travers' reign he would've only listened to the suggestions of his staunchest supporters and even then issued orders based solely on his view of what needed to be done. As a result it'd been via a Traditionalist's point of view that decisions had been made thus hamstringing the Council leaving them unprepared for the new and the dangerous.
He firmly believed that it was this weakness that'd left the Old Council vulnerable to the agents of the First Evil.
~Never again.~ He thought as he made a promise mentally, ~Together we will make this New Council into what the Old one should have been allowed to become had it not been held back by a few powerful backward thinkers. As much as I might detest certain modern advancements if they can help protect my charges I will embrace them as much as I am able.~
He hoped that they all appreciated the sacrifices he was making for them.
One Month Later
Scottish Castle HQ
Private Lounge for the New Council's Governing Board
Buffy's POV
"Are you sure there isn't anybody else?" She asked collapsing into her favourite chair and doing her best to let go of the anger she was feeling at the moment.
"For the tenth time Buffy NO! There's nobody else we can go to for this!" Willow replied pouring herself a cup of her favourite coffee to sooth herself, "All the other people with the credentials we need are under contract with a government we can't let get a leg up on us. The thing that makes her a pain in our ass is the same thing that keeps the major governments from signing her into a long term contract."
"And the reason we're not just making these probes ourselves without her?" She asked growling at the qualities that'd make ALL the major governments of the world back down.
"Because we can't afford to screw this up Buffy." Willow replied sitting down in her own chair, "We need these probes to work perfectly and whether we like it or not Doctor Meredith McKay has the skills for the job and signed our NDA. If we wait to find someone else that fits the bill we might be too late to save the multiverse Slayers."
"Can we please call them something else?" She asked with a groan as she remembered how Andrew had been acting since the meeting a month ago.
Ever since then the nerd and tentative new member of the Scooby gang had been babbling about how cool it was and how one of the newly Called Slayers could be a character from one of his favourite comic books or movies. Naturally she'd said that hoping for that was ridiculous but Willow had pointed out that the core truth of the multiverse was that anything was possible. No matter how unlikely it was possible that somewhere out there a reality could exist where even the most fantastical of fictional beings could actually exist and be as real as they were. This had many of them both smiling with excitement and others cringing at the possibilities this represented because it meant that not just the good things were possible but the bad ones as well. Both the existence of inspiring heroes and monsters so terrifying looking at them would drive you insane were possible where the multiverse was concerned.
"Sorry but the term fits." Willow replied denying her support in coming up with a new name for the girls they were trying to get to, "Just remember that McKay's contract clearly states that once the design of the probe is finished, a working prototype is made and it works flawlessly her job will be done with and she'll be gone with a nice pay check. We just have to hold out until then."
"How's she taking the revelation about magic and demons?" She asked hoping for a humorously humiliating response she could hold over the condescending woman's head.
"Denial at first and then I had a few Slayers show off to try to ease her in. The woman just started talking about genetic abnormalities and possible gene rearranging." Willow replied not looking too pleased but not defeated either, "It took me conjuring a fireball and destroying one of the waste baskets before she started to realize something weird was going on. I gave her the vetted briefing about what we do, the truth about the world and why we needed her help. It took her an hour or so to get a grip on things but after that she dove into the project like a duck to water. Honestly if it wasn't for her personality I actually think I'd like working with her on all the different ways we could make magic and science work together."
"That's a pretty big 'if' you got there Willow." She said in complete agreement about the doctor's personality problem.
Arrogant, condescending, insulting and treated everyone around her like he was surprised that they hadn't sent the world to hell already.
That pretty much summed up Doctor McKay to a T.
Still…if she was being honest…she had to admit that what she'd been hearing coming out of the R&D labs made her believe that the woman knew what she was doing.
"How're we doing with the rest of the prep work?" She asked moving the discussion away from the infuriating scientist.
"Pretty good. We've already picked out where we'll be building the portal system and are working on getting quarantine and decontamination equipment installed in the room." Willow replied sounding happier about that side of things, "Once that's done I'll be working with the coven to add some wards and spells to make sure we don't bring back anything harmful. It won't be foolproof but that's where Janice comes in."
Janice? Oh yeah!
One of the things that Giles had proposed had been the need for a qualified doctor to be added to the castle staff as well as one with a strong grip on things such as viruses and the like. According to her Watcher the world's they'd be visiting might be similar enough to theirs for them to go there but they'd also be different in ways that could be dangerous. One of those ways being if certain viruses and diseases that they were safe from here turned out to be different enough to bypass the antibodies that existed in their systems. To hear him talk all it'd take would be for some virus to put on a fake moustache and hat and there was a chance that the defenders in their bodies that'd beaten the local version of the virus would miss the new ones entirely. As a result he'd hired someone qualified to handle conventional injuries but who also had the credentials for handling problems that happened when you went where no one's ever been before.
"How's she doing?" She asked hoping for a more positive and less petty response.
"She's given us one helluva wish list both for the castle infirmary and for the lab she'll be using to analyze everything the probes will bring back." Willow replied looking a little in awe, "Giles says he should be able to get most of it through government contacts at a reduced cost but the rest will take some time to get here. Not exactly the sort of stuff you can get at a hospital or the local drug store."
"And learning about the stuff that goes bump in the night?" She asked figuring that there was no way to avoid that 'talk' given what they were going to be doing.
"That took some time and dipping into Giles liquor cabinet." Willow replied remembering the entire meeting, "Once she got over the initial shock she asked for any books or documents about the demons we run into the most. I think she's going to try to apply her medical knowledge to what's in them to come up with a more scientific explanation for things. Not like Walsh did but more like a translation from magic to modern medicine. I think it'll be good since it'll make training up the other doctors we hire easier."
"As long as she doesn't start talking about brain microchips and making demon-human cyborgs it's all good." She said with a bit of humour even as she conveyed her position.
She wasn't really worried about a repeat of Maggie Walsh since she knew that Giles would never agree to hire someone who might go all mad scientist on them.
"It'll still be a few more months before we're ready to send the first probes through." Willow said finishing her cup of coffee, "Then a week or three after that before the information they bring back's been analyzed enough to justify sending someone through. So about half a year I'd say."
"Isn't that a bit long?" She asked with a bit of concern, "I thought we were trying to get to these Slayers fast."
"We're just going slow enough that we won't make major mistakes when we do go and bring them back." Willow replied sounding like she understood the contradiction, "It's risky enough diving into something without getting ready but diving into other realities without doing the necessary prep work is seriously of the Bad. We're talking possible global catastrophe if we don't dot our eyes and cross our tees."
"I just hope that all this time we spend prepping doesn't wind up costing us down the line." She said remembering times past when taking too long caused things to end badly.
Just like how evil didn't care whose day it was ruining when it wanted to do something you couldn't count on them to wait for you to be ready to kick their butts.
You could only work with what you had and do your best to come out on top.
Six Months Later
Xander's POV
"So what's the what?" He asked after they'd all sat down for their monthly meeting, "Are we set to step through the looking glass?"
"Doctors McKay, Frasier and Jackson have completed their preliminary analysis of the information the probes have brought back. The've concluded that the environments on the other side are safe for us to experience without the need for contained environmental suits but still stress caution." Giles replied from his place at the head of the table, "The probes did not explore the entire 'earth' on the other side but only the area within a mile of their arrival points. Some encountered to indigenous life forms while others found cities at various levels of development. Danielle has informed me that she will do her best to study both the audio was well as the video from the probes in order to prepare a briefing for whoever is sent through."
"Soooo…a week and the first team goes through?" He asked figuring a week would be enough for somewhat nerdier Lara Croft look-a-like to finish the brief for the first location.
"Most likely. Given the potential dangers involved I've decided to limit the team size to three people. Each will be specialists in a separate field in order to cover as many angles as possible." Giles replied with a nod of his head, "A combat specialist, a magic practitioner and a scientist in whatever field would do the most good for the reality being visited. They will be limited to whatever they can carry themselves since the portal will not be large enough for a vehicle to pass through it even if we could get it down to the room. Interaction with the reality is to be kept to the minimum necessary in order to find, make contact and explain the situation to the new Slayer."
"Will we be bringing them back here or giving them a crash course in their reality?" Dawn asked writing down some notes on a pad of paper.
"Of course we'll be bringing them back." Buffy replied as though it was obvious, "All the stuff we'll need is here including the instructors."
"I don't think there're too many girls, Slayers or not, who'd be willing to leave everything they know on the say so of people they barely know." Dawn said no doubt making some blonde jokes in her head, "Plus depending on what their home's like our reality could wind up feeling like hell to them. We have to think about the chance that they WON'T come back with us and what we'll have to do to accommodate them."
"Dawn presents a valid point." Giles said nodding in agreement, "I've only had a brief discussion with Danielle but some of the realities visited by the probes look to be at a development stage close to medieval times while others the height of the Roman Empire. To people who've lived their lives there our world would seem to either be the realm of the Gods or a terrifying realm filled with incomprehensible monsters. If we are to do the most good we may have to consider long term stays in each reality at least to the point where the Slayer can stand on their own reliably enough."
"Do we have the numbers for that?" Buffy asked sounding a little worried, "I mean sure we've gotten enough to open up some new branches in Cleveland and other places but we all saw the number of Slayers Willow's spell found. We're talking a major investment here."
"We'll manage Buff'!" He said doing his best to sound confident, "Just gotta stay focused on the whole 'one step at a time' angle. It'd be nuts to expect us to hit all the realities at once and crazier to send teachers to every single one in one go. We can't let ourselves rush things and do a sloppy job with the Multiverse Slayers."
"He is right Buffy." Giles said forestalling any further objections from the first Sunnydale Slayer, "What we do and how we do it will define our new Council going forward. If we wish to prove to others that we are better than the Old Council and can be trusted we can ill afford to act carelessly or halfheartedly."
"So who gets first crack at the assignments?" He asked deciding to voice what he'd been thinking about from the beginning, "I call dibs on anyplace tropical!"
"I appreciate your enthusiasm Xander however I believe it would be a tad risky for you to go through the gateway." Giles replied trying to approach things diplomatically, "While Danielle's efforts and the information the probes have delivered will reduce the risks they will not eliminate them. Given your visual impairment and limited methods of coping with the unexpected it might be more prudent for you to remain here."
"Giles danger is our middle name. We're a group that fights demons, vampires and dark mojo users." He pointed out not agreeing with what G-Man was saying, "We all know what we're doing isn't going to be safe. How's this any different?"
"The fact that we know what to expect here maybe." Buffy said sounding like she sided with Giles, "The other side of the portal's gonna be a whole different ballgame."
"We might have all the books and scrolls Buffy but unless all of you've suddenly gained perfect precognition the future's just as much of a closed book to you as it is to me." He said turning back her reasoning on itself, "As for the multiverse being full of surprises you're not immune to them any more than I am. None of you are."
Looking at the assembled people he saw the looks in their eyes, the words barely kept from their lips, and in a moment of clarity realized that an old argument had reared its ugly head again. An argument that he thought he'd managed to knock out of them every time he managed to be something other than a fragile glass person.
An argument that was beginning to anger him now and pissed him off a lot back then.
"But that isn't the real reason you're all against me going through is it?" He asked looking each of them in the eye one at a time, "You don't want me going through because I'm the 'normal' one. The weak one. Isn't it?"
That final question had an edge to it in order to convey to them how big of a mistake they were close to making.
"That's not it at all!" Buffy exclaimed trying to defend her words, "You're missing an eye Xander! You can't tell me that that doesn't put you at a disadvantage. A BIG one!"
"So I adapt. You don't need depth perception to shoot a gun." He fired back eyes narrowing and a frown on his face, "Besides we're not going to these places to cause trouble and if trouble finds us we can try to talk our way out. If that doesn't work we use a flash bang or something else and make a run for it. As long as we go through with the right gear we can handle anything that pops up."
"And if they have better weapons? Better tools? What then?" Giles asked using logic and reason, "It is unlikely that all of the realities we have to visit will lack those advantages to say nothing of the skill level of those who wield them."
"Isn't that why you're having us go in teams? So we can cover all the angles?" He asked striking with words at the weak point of G-Man's statement.
Things took a turn away from what he'd been expecting when with a sigh Giles raised his hand to signal the others to quiet so that he could say something uninterrupted.
"Understand Xander that despite what you might think we are not singling you out. ANY Watcher that had impaired senses or needed a cane to get around would also be cautioned against getting involved with a mission such as this. You are indeed correct that everyone is vulnerable to surprises regardless of their abilities but it is those same abilities that give them a chance to come out alive." Giles said in a calm tone while looking him straight in the eye, "Your missing eye and the handicap it places on you reduces your odds of surviving a surprise never mind escaping alive. Can you fault your friends for not wishing you to come to harm needlessly?"
"Maybe my odds are better than you think." He said with slightly less venom in his voice, "And it's not that I don't appreciate that they care about me. It's that after all we've been through and fought I thought I'd proven that I'm not some helpless idiot. That I can still fight even with an eye missing!"
"Buffy and Willow might not give your past actions the weight they deserve because their concern gives them tunnel vision but my eyes are not so clouded." Giles said not raising his tone in the slightest, "That said caution cannot be cast aside so I propose a compromise: you can go through the gateway to find and guide the Slayers but I will choose which realities you visit. I will do my best to choose destinations equal to your skill but without placing you in undue danger. Agreed?"
He considered what the head Watcher had offered.
Giles was someone who he considered a father figure and while there were times the Brit had made choices he didn't agree with he did trust the man. While the offer was not what he wanted, that being unfettered involvement in the missions to other realities, he realized that pushing for more might backfire on him. Perhaps by completing the missions Giles chose for him he could prove that he had what it took to take on more dangerous ones in the future. Complete the tasks asked of him and in doing so prove that he was capable of doing more.
"Fine. But you better shoot straight with me G-Man." He replied nodding in agreement with the proposal, "No treating me like I'm made of glass or like I haven't been fighting with all of you for almost a decade."
"I assure you that I will take great care to choose assignments matching your skill." Giles said in a way that could not be, "I promise."
"Thanks G-Man." He said with the last of his simmering anger being dispelled.
With this the meeting progressed as they evaluated other members of the New Council for the task of passing through the gateway to the realities containing Slayers. They could not send too many or else they'd be shorthanded in their own reality in their fight against the forces of darkness. As they recruited more members, found more local Slayers, they'd be able to do more but for the time being their limits must be respected.
He just hoped that their shortcomings did not wind up costing them dearly.
Later That Day
Willow's POV
"This isn't good." Buffy said from her position in her private study, "I…I don't want Xander mad at us but he's trying too hard to prove himself. He doesn't realize just how much danger he'd be putting himself in!"
"He's always been like this Buffy." She said while working on the paperwork that'd been dropped in her office, "There've been tons of times that it'd have been safer for him to just stand back but he won't. I don't think he can."
"What do you mean?" Buffy asked looking curious.
"Well…you know Xander didn't have the best home life right?" She asked deciding that understanding was more important than secrecy, "It's actually worse than you think. Tony Harris was a bastard that could only raise himself up by stomping down on Xander and his mother. It stayed that way for years and no one did anything. They just clung to ignorance or apathy. That's why Xander can't stay safe or stop trying to fight. It's because if he does he'll be just like the people who walked away from how Tony treated him instead of doing something."
She could tell instantly that Buffy had trouble comprehending what Xander had put through since despite the marital difficulties Missus and Mister Summers had their family had been a good one while it'd lasted. A person could imagine things like a parent beating their child and watch fictional portrayals of it on TV but neither had the same weight as actually witnessing it firsthand or seeing the consequences of the beatings. Xander had always tried to do his best to hide what Tony did to him and pretend like he was okay but there were only so many times you could see bruises, cuts or behaviour born of repeated violence before you just knew. It was what'd caused her to want to help Xander however she could if only to sooth the scars on his heart. It was also the way he somehow managed to keep going and fight to become a better person that'd caused her to fall in love with him at such an early age.
Even if he only felt familial love towards her rather than the sort she'd once desired.
"But then…how can we keep him safe?" Buffy asked in quiet tone of voice, "How can we keep him from getting hurt or dying?"
Before she could answer there was a knock at the door and with a look both she and Buffy agreed to pause their discussion until the visitor was out of range.
"Come in!" She said loudly enough to be heard through the door.
The door then opened to reveal Doctor Danielle Jackson who was in charge of interpreting the information concerning the language, culture and beliefs of the people in the other realities. There was a good chance that they'd need to hire on additional experts in the future to fill in the spots where Doctor Jackson fell short but for now the lady seemed to be doing well enough.
"I have the reports on the first thirty realities the probes have visited Miss Rosenberg." Doctor Jackson said carrying in an armful of folders, "Mister Giles requested that I drop off copies to all the members of the governing board."
"Thanks Doctor Jackson. I'll look them over as soon as I'm finished with Buffy." She said with a polite smile and a nod.
"Please, call me Danielle. No need to be so formal with me." Doctor Jackson said with a kind smile before putting the folders down on the desk and then leaving.
"She's pretty thorough." Buffy said opening the top folder before skimming the info on the first page, "These reports are a lot thicker than I thought they'd be."
"We'll be going to completely new realities Buffy. Everything there is going to be different from the way things are here." She said evaluating the height of the thirty folders stacked on top of each other, "We can't make any mistakes or the people there will know we're not local. We could wind up insulting someone or saying the wrong thing and get run out of town!"
"Sigh…I'm gonna have a lot of studying to do." Buffy said closing the folder.
While she didn't mind studying she had to agree that committing the knowledge to memory to the point where they'd give nothing away to the inhabitants of the other realities was needed. It was as she considered the sheer amount of things she would learn that she had an epiphany, an idea, and as it grew in size hope blossomed in her soul.
Without hesitating she grabbed the first folder and began to read through it as fast as she could while at the same time miss nothing.
"What's up? You usually only this active after your third Espresso." Buffy said even if her voice only just registered through her incredible focus.
"I think I've figured out a way we can keep Xander safe AND let him have what he wants at the same time." She replied before setting the folder she'd finished to the side and grabbed a new one.
"REALLY!?" Buffy asked looking both excited and interested.
"If we can find realities that aren't that dangerous but still have newly Called Slayers in them then everything'll be perfect." She replied as she ready page after page, "We can't choose ones that're completely harmless or Xander'll figure out what we're doing and get even angrier. We just need to be VERY careful and do our best to keep Xander from figuring things out."
A light of understanding appeared in Buffy's eyes and without saying a word she grabbed one of the folders and began to go through it. Despite what people might think Buffy wasn't a dumb blonde and had proven that when she'd passed her IQ test with flying colours. Not as high as hers of course but much higher than the average of all the scores of their class.
Between the two of them they'd go over all thirty of the reports and look for the ones that represented realities that had miserable odds of Xander getting hurt but on the surface would seem challenging. It helped that Doctor Jackson's reports referred to each world by a number-letter combination rather than by what the locals called it. There was probably a name or something elsewhere in the file but she could just persuade Giles to print a separate set of prep sheets when the time came to hand out official assignments. She doubted that Xander would be able to commit to memory all the letter-number combinations much less what reality they belonged to. So long as none of the prep documents handed out after Giles had made his choices contained specific city, town or country names Xander would be none the wiser.
This could work!
With Buffy helping her they'd make short work of the pile of folders and hopefully reach Giles before Xander could make any recommendations of his own. The aged Watcher would see how this idea would solve all the problems entered around Xander at the moment and help them.
She was sure of it!
A Village a Short Distance Away From the Scottish Castle
Hours Later
Curtains were drawn.
Doors were locked and the inside of the room was lit only by the light of candles.
Rolled to the side of the room was a large rug and it didn't take long to find out where on the floor the rug was meant to go. However what was also revealed was two strange circles drawn on the floor composed of intricate lines and symbols. Kneeling in one was a figure wearing a cape with a hood drawn over their head to hide their features even from the light of the candles that otherwise could expose them. Even the words whispered from the figure's lips were too soft to ascertain the gender of the figure or even what they were saying.
When the circles on the floor gained an ever rising luminescence though a more important factor took centre stage.
An image took shape over the unoccupied circle composed of a series of shapes that when seen together loosely formed that of a man clad in ancient clothing.
"What is thy bidding my master?" The figure spoke with the utmost reverence.
"No need to be so submissive my friend." The ancient man replied with respect in his distorted voice, "You have served me well in the past. Now…how have things developed with your mission?"
"Your warnings have proven to be true my master." The hooded figure replied obediently without raising their gaze, "The New Council is indeed working to open a way to other realties. It would appear that Rosenberg's grand Awakening has reached further than anyone thought possible. They now act to journey beyond this reality to take responsibility for those whose lives they have altered."
"Good…they are proving to be more honourable than their predecessors." The ancient man said with approval in his voice, "And what of Alexander Harris?"
"He continues to raise his star higher my lord through hard work and resolve as strong as a rod of iron." The hooded figure replied dispensing what'd been learned, "Sadly Miss Rosenberg and Slayer Summers have relapsed into old habits. They attempted to have Alexander removed from the list of candidates to go through their gateway but were thwarted when Mister Giles agreed to compromise. Alexander could go through the gateway but only to realities approved of by him beforehand. Mister Giles promised that he would not be coddled but neither would he be put in unnecessary danger."
"Ever have Rosenberg equated power and superior education with competency. Ever have they underestimated Alexander's abilities." The ancient man said with disapproval, "Still I supposed that they cannot entirely held at fault. It is easy to watch people you barely know walk into harm's way but it is different when it is someone close to your heart. Fear of them coming to harm or dying clouds their judgment and causes their hearts to quake. It is good that the head of the New Council is wise enough to see the value of Alexander."
"Sadly the girls have found another way to disrespect Alexander's strength and skill." The hooded figure stated with concern, "They intend to cherry pick the realities Alexander visits and persuade Mister Giles to accept their choices. On the surface the realities they've chosen appear challenging and respectful of the young man's abilities but in truth have been chosen purely on the poor odds of anything dangerous occurring. In short they intend to deceive Alexander and use their lie to dispel his ill mood towards them."
"Proof if ever was any that kindness can do harm as well as help." The ancient man said with disappointment, "How likely do you believe it is that Mister Giles will agree with their proposal?"
"He views Buffy as a daughter and Willow his apprentice." The hooded figure replied with doubt, "Mister Giles' feelings for them and his own concern for Alexander's wellbeing will likely prove enough to sway him to their cause. Fortunately I foresaw this."
"Oh? Tell me of your plan." The ancient man asked with interest.
With a smile that was barely perceivable the hooded figure explained her plan to the ancient man in great detail. All in all it took a full five minutes before it all came to an end but the ancient man's chuckling proved that it amused him significantly.
"Well planned and excellently played my friend." The ancient man said with great approval, "In fact as a reward I shall add some 'spice' of my own to the plan. Both out of respect for Alexander and in gratitude for your exemplary work."
For a moment the image of the ancient man seemed to freeze in place, like a movie that'd been paused, but once the image began to move again light from the circle beneath it began to rise up to fuse into one. One by one, like grains of sand, it all came together before with a mighty displacement of air an item popped into existence before gravity caused it to drop to the ground.
"Take this and give it to Alexander before he enters their gateway to the other realities." The ancient man ordered with amusement humming in his voice, "Call it…call it a good luck charm if you will. While some might call his luck chaotic it has often served him well and kept him alive in spite of the odds often set against him. It will help him on his path and guide him home once his work is done."
"Your will be done my Master." The hooded figure said picking up the conjured item, "It shall be interesting watching their expressions change when they realize how their plans have been reduced to ashes. Then, when Alexander returns, only a fool would doubt his abilities or his ability to fight alongside them shoulder to shoulder with the rest of them. No matter what the foe."
"Never underestimate someone's ability to do something foolish my friend." The ancient man said in a measured way.
With those words the image of the ancient man disappeared and all the arcane light with it dissipating the feeling of power that'd been in the air while the light was present.
There was much to do, much planning, but with the potential rewards she had every reason not to fail.
The Multiverse Gateway Room
A Week Later
Giles' POV
"Well…let us get the show on the road then." He said after taking a deep calming breath, "Initiate the activation of the gateway and set it for the closest reality on our list."
"Yes sir." One of the members of the Devon Coven said before she and two others began to chant in order to direct the arcane energy to do what they wanted it to do.
While not a historic occasion since there were quite a few records of magic users and demons opening portals to other dimensions and realities it was a first for him. He may have read many books and scrolls on the subject before Willow's revelation and even seen a few during his time in Sunnydale but it was a little different when YOU were the one opening the gateway to another world. Every step in creating the New Council's gateway had been explained to him in detail before he signed off on it and he'd done some of the research as well when he had time away from his duties as head of the organization. While there were details that he was unaware of the important parts were well ingrained into his memory…
…but it didn't make this moment any less tense.
In order to make sure they could reach as many of the realities where a new Slayer had been Called the gateway had been connected to the nearest lay line in order to provide the necessary power. Even if they had gathered every magic user friendly to the New Council their reach with the gateway would've been extremely limited. Fortunately Willow had proven up to the challenge and with the support of her staff she'd managed to solve the problem without too many mishaps.
Nevertheless he had the New Council's various informants on alert for any sign that their activity was causing certain heads to look in their direction or perhaps even planning something. They had after all focused their efforts on creating the gateway, powering it and ensuring that it could reach as many destinations as possible to say nothing of gathering the necessary resources for the 'away missions' as Andrew repeatedly called them. They had not devoted much time to ensuring that those with the ability to do so would not detect anything from the basics to the particulars of what they were up to.
He had already prepared various statements to give to their allies, informants and contacts with varying degrees of detail in each one depending on just how much they were trusted.
When an increasing in lighting caught his attention he looked up to see the various components that made up the gateway, the elements that powered it and the parts that controlled it glow with increasing power. Like lights being lit in sequence they came on, sometimes individual or in sets, until all were activated and the energy being directed came together in the circular convergence point that the teams would walk through. When the manifestation of the dimensional tunnel actually appeared he likened it to how water from a lake was temporarily thrown upward by a thrown rock only to retreat back the way it came becoming calm.
"The gateway is active and stable." The Coven witch said even as she worked with her team to make sense of what the various control spells were telling them, "It'll reach its destination reality in three…two…one…contact! Connection established and there's no sign of instability on the other end. We're good to go Lord Giles."
"Very well." He said before pressing the button on his intercom microphone, "Team one? Your are cleared to proceed."
"Roger that Lord Giles." The team leader said before the trio proceeded down a set path to the gateway his two team-mates following close behind.
For the first team to go through they'd chosen not the best of those who worked for the New Council but rather people whose skills and adaptability gave one reason to be confident. All three of them had experience in visiting some of the most remote places Earth had to offer and possessed skills that would allow them to survive should things become dangerous. Watching them go though he was peripherally aware of the anticipation within him but decided it was understandable. While the gateway had been used several times for sending the probes this would be the first time something living would pass through its event horizon. Willow had assured him that she and her team had gathered recorded information from a variety of sources and has used magic to gain understanding of the gateway's qualities when first it was used.
When Team One passed through and there was no sign that anything had gone terribly wrong he awaited the next agreed upon step to occur.
"This is Team One Leader. Have successfully arrived at destination reality." The Leader's voice said through the radio speakers, "No immediate causes for concern. Mild vertigo symptoms are abating quickly. No other adverse effects detected. The light is green."
"Acknowledge Team One Leader." He said pressing the transmit button on the radio microphone, "Proceed with the mission. We will re-establish connection for a status update in twelve hours."
"Understood. Team One out." The leader said before the radio went silent.
With a nod to the Coven members the gateway was shut down leaving the first team on their own for twelve hours. He reassured himself that since the destination reality was the one that was closest to their own the time differential would be negligible. However for the other teams the further their destinations were from home the more differences there would be in the passage of time. Fortunately they'd planned for this in that once the time differential reached more than triple the magic user on the team would detach themselves from the main team. They would then find a secure location and wait for the next attempt at communication from Earth's side of things. If no response came from the away team a probe would be sent through with the ability to locate a very special jewel all three team members possessed and track it down. Should the team be in danger or somehow be separated from the jewels two teams would be sent for the express purpose of rescuing the missing team.
He sincerely hoped that such rescues would be rare if not non-existent.
Over the course of the next hour several more teams went through the gateway until finally the time came for Xander and his team to pass through. Despite agreeing with Willow and Buffy's choices for mission destinations he couldn't shake the feeling that it could all go very wrong if the young man were to connect the dots. While age had tempered him somewhat he knew all too well what male pride could do to a man and how determined Xander was to prove he'd earned a place on the frontlines. However he also knew that a person could not overcome physical handicaps or injuries through sheer willpower alone. Many a Watcher of the Old Council had attempted to do just that and the lucky ones only got themselves killed with the unlucky ones dragging a great many more into death's cold embrace. While it was a sign of strength for someone to keep fighting even when in pain it was a sign of wisdom to know when for the good of the group one had to step off the battlefield.
Xander had not learned that wisdom yet and putting him in needless danger to teach it was not an option.
Instead the realities chosen by Buffy and Willow were the best option. Though the two girls likely thought otherwise their selections would offer significant challenges without putting the young man in unnecessary danger. With any luck the difficulty the lad would experience on the other side would highlight the problems his reduced vision could cause and any other shortcomings would likewise compel the lad to rethink his position. He would of course console the lad upon making the decision to leave the other multiverse missions to more capable people and perhaps assign him to finding the newly Called Slayers in this reality. There were plenty that had not been located yet and if he recalled correctly he had yet to assign someone to search the wilds of Africa. With the proper training beforehand from qualified instructors the lad would do well and should be satisfied with the challenges such an assignment carried with it.
It was then though that he noticed something odd.
While Xander had arrived fully prepared to embark on his first mission to another reality there was no sign of his two teammates. Contrary to what some might think he had not agreed to put Buffy and Willow with Xander if only to further support the idea that they were letting the lad fly by himself on his own merits. His team members were Jason Olson and Sandy Carson with the former meant to represent the academic side of the team while the latter would be the assigned magic practitioner. Both were remnants of the Old Council but fortunately everything he had learned about them made it clear that they did not agree with the politics of Travers and his inner circle. According to the file he'd read the unlamented former head of the Old Council had even covertly abused his power to keep the two from being promoted as retaliation for their behaviour towards him.
When added to the fact that his review of their work showed capability and versatility he had ample reason to be confident that Xander would not come to harm.
"Just open up the gateway and send me through G-Man." Xander said through his radio, "I'll stick around the arrival point until Sandy and Jason join me. Promise."
He could tell that the lad was somewhat impatient and that it'd likely grow the longer he had to wait for his teammates. Given that impatience often led to recklessness he turned to the Coven members and gave them the nod to begin the sequence to open the gateway. Better for Xander to still be calm and willing to wait for the rest of his team then be reckless upon reaching the other side in an effort to vindicate his abilities.
"Very well. However remain next to the arrival zone for two hours at the least." He said while giving the signal to start up the gateway, "As soon as Mister Olson and Miss Carson have arrived we will send them to you. Only then can you begin to look for the Slayer there. Understood?"
"No problem G-man." Xander said giving a thumbs up to the control centre, "I've got no desire to solo things. I'll wait."
Good.
He'd been concerned for a moment that the lad might become irritated at being told to wait for his teammates on the other side either because it could be interpreted as a slight to his intelligence or a subtle belittling of his abilities. Evidently not being stonewalled from going through the gateway and being sent to a, from his point of view at least, random destination had helped the young man's mood quite a bit.
When the gateway finally opened to the destination chosen by Buffy and Willow then approved by him Xander marched forth no doubt imagining a grand adventure with every step. While still on mission to make contact with and aid the newly Called Slayer it would be quite the adventure and one he might've taken if responsibilities didn't require him to remain here. Still each team had action cameras with them and would no doubt file detailed reports upon their return so he could experience what they had second hand at least.
He smiled at the mix of work and entertainment he would soon have.
The smile didn't last.
Xander was less than five steps from the event horizon of the gateway when he noticed something glowing in one of the lad's pockets. At first he thought it was merely some gear that he hadn't noticed before but when he searched his memory became certain that there had been no light when they'd been speaking coming from that pocket. Had Xander turned something on? It was only when he on a whim manipulated the controls on the cameras in the room to zoom in that alarm manifested within him.
"Xander! STOP!" He yelled before realizing that he hadn't pressed down on the 'talk' button.
Dashing over to tell the young man to stop he found he was too late.
With a single half outstretched arm Xander made contact with the event horizon and THAT was when his worst fears made an appearance. With a crackling display akin to an active Tesla coil the object within Xander's pocket reached out with arms of white energy that moved quickly to seize every limb and joint of the young man's body. The boy who'd helped found the 'Scoobies' didn't even have time to cry out in surprise before the arcs of energy connected to the frame of the gateway, sent a pulse of some sort to it and then flung Xander through the event horizon.
"Get a lock on his-" he yelled trying to get the Coven members to ascertain where Xander had been sent…
…only to be too late as the gateway shutdown.
"Do what you can to reestablish a connection to whatever reality Xander was sent to." He ordered the Coven members, "I will notify Willow. If we work quickly enough we may be able to rescue him."
"I wouldn't bother. It'd just be a waste of time."
Turning towards the source of the voice he was surprised to see Doctor Jackson standing in the doorway of the control room with a pleased grin on her face.
"What do you mean?" He asked not knowing how the woman could come to such a conclusion but having a sinking feeling anyway.
"There were no set destinations in the talisman in Mister Harris' pocket but rather a set of parameters and conditions." Doctor Jackson replied as she casually strode forward, "Namely the presence of a newly Awakened Slayer, a reality with less than a twenty percent deviation from this Earth and one that will make full use of Mister Harris' various skills and abilities. Other than that there was nothing to control where in the multiverse he's been sent."
"I take it by this detailed piece of information that you are the one who gave Xander this talisman?" He asked placing one hand behind his back and preparing one of his quicker incapacitating spells.
"I might have given it to him in the hallway as a 'good luck charm' but it was actually my Master who created it." Doctor Jackson replied stopping a few steps away from him.
"Does this Master have a name I might be familiar with?" He asked deciding to fish for information before knocking the woman out.
"Indeed he does." Doctor Jackson replied with an amused twinkle in her eyes, "His name is Janus."
Janus, Roman god of transitions and division of self.
"Bugger." He muttered taking off his glasses and cleaning them fiercely.