The Archer
It was early in the night when the plane came to a halt at the loading area. He opened the hatch that separated him from the cargo, then walked inside. There were a few coffins, a fair amount of luggage, and there was a tall wooden box big enough to contain a tall human. Or a vampire. He calmly walked over to the door and unlatched it. Then, he pulled it back. There, chained to the box, stood a tall vampire in a straightjacket.
"Zachary Kraelic," asked Xander.
"…Who are you," asked the vampire, "You're not one of the Watchers."
"No. I'm here to spring you."
Xander let his vampire face show and he calmly walked over and unfastened the straightjacket and unlocked the chains from their locks. The vampire took off his jacket and walked out of the box.
"What's up with the rescue," asked the confused creature.
"Oh, it's simple," said Xander as he allowed the vampire to go ahead of him, "I'm doing a favor for a friend."
"And that friend would be?"
Then, the vampire gasped and tensed as he felt the stake enter his heart.
"She's called Buffy," whispered Xander.
He tossed Kraelic onto the pavement, allowing his dust and ashes to be swept away by the wind. Sighing to himself, Xander calmly threw his stake onto the tarmac and allowed one of the plane's wheels to destroy it as it moved backward to level itself with the disembarking chamber.
He carefully put on the straightjacket, then waited for his accomplice.
"Faith," he called.
"Coming," said Faith as she climbed up the ladder to the cargo hold, "Sorry, X. One of the bag boys came, so I had to distract him."
"What did you do," asked Xander as Faith began to strap the jacket together.
"I just led him to the hallway, where he got chewed out by his supervisor for making out on the job. I told him I was his sister, so…he ain't getting fired, I hope."
"Good going."
Xander sighed again and pressed his arms against the straightjacket. It wouldn't be hard to get out of it, it just involved numbing his shoulder. He wished his sensory powers could help him on inanimate objects but, aside from a few quirks here and there which could easily just be the Hellmouth, his abilities mainly ranged against humans, demons, and vampires.
He backed into the box and allowed Faith to chain him up. She gave him a quick hug for support, then closed the box. He heard her lock it, then walk away. Xander took a calming breath, then allowed himself to fall into his visions, but not before altering his own body's perception to look like Kraelic.
Buffy sat down beside her Wicca friend that night in her room. She hoped that the redhead would help her. If she didn't, then she might have problems. Giles wouldn't help her, but fortunately Willow was completely unaware of what Xander, or that demon wearing his flesh, was up to.
"Willow," she began, "I need you to listen to me. And don't panic."
"Every time someone says that, it means there's something to panic about," said Willow.
"Well…yeah. But, there's no reason to panic…just yet."
"What's wrong, Buffy?"
"Xander's possessed."
"OH, my GOD! What happened? What got him this time? Was it the hyena, because we dealt with that before, but it can't be the hyenas because they got shipped back to Africa a few weeks after that. It's the soldier from Halloween last year, no that can't be it. Giles destroyed the statue. OOH, maybe it's The First, that thing that was haunting Angel. Or maybe-"
"Willow! Breath!"
"…OK. Better now."
"I don't know what Xander's possessed by. All I know is that he's not himself and he's convinced Giles, Faith, and my mother that he's just got gifts through meditation. Like he even knows how to."
"Um, Buffy. He does."
"What?"
"See, Xander wasn't always a goofball. Well, he's always been a goofball, but, he wasn't always a total goofball. He used to be an archer, a darn tooting good one from what I heard. His teacher, I think her name was…Dam, or Sam, or maybe Mo, I don't remember. Anyway, his teacher taught him all about meditation, inner calm. Before you came, he was different. He was very calm, very nice. Then, around a month or so before you came, he got in trouble. He stopped meditating, stopped using his bow, just…stopped. He started to crack jokes every other minute. Me and Jesse were freaked by it."
"Uh-huh," said Buffy, trying to hide the fact that she couldn't remember who Jesse was.
"But, we got used to it. Then, you came."
"How do you know all this?"
"Remember a few years ago when Xander invited me to his house because his mom was making her 'famous call to the Chinese place?'"
"Yeah."
"Well, I went over there. I hadn't been over for a long while, so his mother started to talk to me about his behavior. She preferred the Xander who never talked to her, never wanted to be around her, not the Xander who talked non-stop. I told her that I had no idea. Then, she started complaining about Xander not meditating, Xander not practicing, Xander not hanging out with us, all the things that kept him away from her."
"Wow. He really had it rough?"
"You have no idea. He truly wanted them to get a divorce, but…Once, Xander told me that he envied you. At least your father had the sense to divorce his wife, and not stick around to make both her life and his life a living Hell. Although, he told me yesterday that he and his father were getting along better, though his mother is still avoiding him."
"At least his relationship with his father is existent," whispered Buffy.
"What are you talking about? You spent the weekend with your father not a week ago."
"…Yeah, but, it's like talking with…a non-existent Faith. Only, you get a lot less cursing."
"Sure, Buffy. But, at least both your parents give a damn about how you feel. Only Xander's dad seems to, and that's just recently."
"…Enough. Xander's possessed and we need to do something about it."
"Like…?"
"Exorcise his spirits."
"Buffy, that's dangerous. I mean, we could accidentally destroy his soul and then…no more Xander."
"It'd be better than having an insane Xander that's stronger than me going around, killing people with his arrows."
"Like, oh say, Angelus?"
"…"
"Ok," said Willow after seeing Buffy's glare, "Fine. But, still, it's hard to do."
"Certainly you, with your Wicca powers, could pull off such a spell. I mean, you are powerful, right?"
"Right. And, if I succeed, my power will grow. So, cool! I'll do it. When?"
"After about a week and a half."
"Why not now?"
"I've got to lose my powers for a while to fight a vampire so that the Council won't kill us all."
"Oh, Buffy, how brave."
"Yeah, thanks. Anyway, Xander's demon is helping us out. Now, I don't know why, but he's going to ensure I get through the test. Then, we'll exorcise him after the danger's passed."
"Aren't you worried he's going to betray you while he's doing that?"
"He needs me for something, I just know it. So, I know he'll keep me alive until after the test."
"So, use him, then lose him?"
"Exactly. That way, everyone's a winner."
"…Ok, I'm in."
"Cool."
Xander held onto the ledge as the vampire squatted down.
"See, Xander," said vampire, "The thing about us vampires is that we are primal beings. We wallow in blood, thrive in death, and love the decay of life. It's a blissful cycle that'll never end. See, Xander, the bad thing about you now is that you're in a bad situation. You have to think like a vampire, not to stalk it, but to pretend to be it. You'll feel all the sensations of a vampire once you're let loose. In order to create the dusting effect, you'll need to delve deeply into the vampiric state. The one thing you have to remember is to not drink. Your mind will become momentarily confused as you delve deeper, and you might end up losing the battle. The question here is…can you control your fear?"
With that, vampire stood and kicked Xander's arm. He fell into the chasm below.
Buffy felt sleep pulling at her. It was only one day away from the test and Giles had been injecting her sense three days ago. Xander had been missing for a while, and he was presumed to be locked away. She was somewhat antsy from her lack of power, but also from the upcoming battle. She knew that Xander wouldn't completely go all out, but then this wasn't Xander. The demon, she believed, needed her for its plan, whatever it was. It was fortunate that so many people needed her. If it weren't for that, she wouldn't stand a chance.
She recalled Xander telling her about his powers that night when Giles had informed her of the Curciamentum. He had come up with an extremely good explanation, one of which she had informed Willow about. The only thing that she'd left out was that Xander had said that he'd die if she tried to expel his spirits. It was a good attempt to dissuade her, but she'd seen through his lies. Xander was weak, whereas this being was strong. The difference was so strong that anyone could tell it, and only a moron would believe that he was the same person. But soon, he would be. And he'd go back to worshipping her, and then all would be right with her world again. And then she could forget how she betrayed the world, along with her friends.
Xander woke up, lying on the floor. The Watchers had tranquilized him, then untied him. He stood up and shook his head to clear the cobwebs. Then, he sniffed. He could smell blood. Fresh, warm, Slayer's blood. He felt his face shift as he allowed the vampire instinct to overcome him, just for a moment. There were cameras all around the building, so he had to put on a good show for the damn Watchers.
He quietly stalked around the house, gaining a familiarity for the area. Then, he saw an arrow flash by his face. He glanced to his left and saw Buffy, standing there with a crossbow. He wanted desperately to believe that she'd missed on purpose, but…it was unlikely. He jumped off the staircase and carefully approached. This needed to be short and fast.
Buffy tossed her crossbow onto the ground and pulled out a stake. This was Xander, she kept on telling herself, then she reminded herself that this was a demon wearing his skin. Allowing her anger to consume her, she lashed out at him with her stake.
Xander caught the stake and tossed her over the couch, gently so as to not harm her. He had to cause a few bumps and bruises, but only enough towards where the Council wouldn't get suspicious. He waited until she got up, then threw a pulled-punch that knocked her down to the ground.
Buffy groaned as Xander's punch sent her to the ground. Then, she looked up and saw a bottle of holy water. She grabbed it, opened it, then tossed its contents at his face.
Xander felt the holy water hit his skin and, sense he was so encased with the vampire state of mind, he felt it burn his skin. He allowed smoke to be seen as he clutched his face, leaving only one hole upon through his fingers so that he could see Buffy. He saw her stand and grip her stake, then saw her thrust it out at him. Xander moved backward as her stake went where his chest once was, knowing that she saw him still standing there. He knew that a camera was positioned in the room, and he also knew that at that angle, it couldn't see where the stake had landed. He focused all his energy on himself and felt his body shake violently. Then, he felt as though all the moisture in his body disappeared. He looked down to see dust below his feet, falling to his now invisible person.
Sighing to himself, he cautiously sat down and allowed his mind to rest while he continued allow the dust to remain there. It took a lot out of him to project such an image, and now he was thankful that the door opened, bringing a gust of wind inside. He allowed the dust to disappear, but remained invisible as Giles and three other men entered.
"Well done," said the man before Giles, "You defeated your opponent. The Council is very pleased with your performance."
Buffy had to resist the urge to stake him, knowing that these men were probably stronger than her. She looked behind her, to where the dust of the vampire Xander had impersonated had it. It was gone. Groaning and cracking her muscles, she silently thanked him for his help, then promised him that soon he would return to normal.