A/N takes place a few days after the episode Ted. So it's a couple of weeks after Kendra joined the group. Also this is a Xander and Trish episode. I also originally planned to do this episode a little later in the series.
Chapter 8
Angela, Jesse, and Hell Oh My
Harris Manor
Xander let out a sigh of relief as Joyce Summers picked up Kendra and his mother, so they could go to an art gallery show for the weekend in LA. Whoever said living with two women was easy, was the biggest liar of all time. Kendra fit into the group perfectly, but at home she would ask so many questions that it made his head hurt. "Xander what does this mean? Xander what does that mean?" she would alway's ask him when she saw something she didn't understand. Especially when she saw something on TV.
Xander often thought about what it would be like to have a little sister and now he found out. And what he found out was that he didn't like it. Oh who was Xander kidding he loved every minute of it. He loved playing the big brother role to Kendra. She was shy around him at first and didn't understand his sense of humor but she was slowly getting used to him. He would even get her to smile alot, when she tried that "I'm the slayer and tough as nails" role with him.
But what he hated was how much she missed out in life. They would often have late night talks after patrol and she would confide in him about her life, or the lack there of. She had no family or friends and she didn't even know how to do simple things like ride a bike. Seeing that his new friend was socially awkward, even worse then him, he promised himself that he would teach her how to have a good time.
But now Kendra was going to have it all. A big brother in him and Oz, a mother in Jessica and Joyce, sister's in Buffy, Willow, Trish and even Cordelia when she decided to play nice, and a father role in Giles and even Mr. Zabuto once Xander talked to him when he came into town. As he sat there and thought about ways to try to make Kendra's life better, there was a knock on the door. As he got up to answer it he saw that it was Trish.
"Hey Xand." Trish said as she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and sauntered inside. "Where's your mom and Ken?"
"They went to LA for the weekend." Xander replied as he followed her into his living room. "I'm also glad that you're here, I've been meaning to talk to you for a while now."
"Yeah, what about?" she asked as she flicked on the tv and cut the volume on mute, so she could give him her undivided attention. She noticed how Xander's face, seemed to go bright red for a minute before he said anything. That let her know that whatever he had to say to her was important.
"I wanted to talk about us." Xander said as he blushed again. God why does this have to be so hard? "About when we almost kissed." he said thinking about a couple of weeks ago when she had staked her first vampire.
"Where was I at when we almost kissed?" Trish asked teasingly as Xander sat across from her.
"I just want to know where we stand?"
"We're friends right now, Xander." Trish informed him. "That is if you want to take this a little further?" she asked seductively as she leaned over to where he was. As they were inches apart from kissing one another on the lips, Trish saw something on TV that caught her eye. "Hey, what's that about?" Trish asked as she leaned back in her seat and turned up the volume. Xander just looked at her and pouted, after a second he looked on the television to see what got her attention.
"And in other news, I'm standing here with Miss Diana Thomas, of whom is the mother of Angela Thomas the little girl who almost burned to death in a fire a few weeks ago. Now Miss Thomas why did you call the station and please update us on how your little daughter is doing." the reporter asked. As the camera panned over to the young black woman they showed that she had tears in her eyes.
"Well, Miss Cruise I called because my little girl has a terminally ill diesease. We found out about it once we took her to get checked out, after the fire."
"I'm so sorry to hear that." the reporter said sounding sympathetic. "If our news station can do anything to help, just let us know."
"There is one thing." Angela's mother said. "The doctor told me that my daughter has only about a month to live, her last wish before she dies is to meet the Angel that saved her life from the fire."
"If you're out there Angel." the reporter said into the camera. "Please contact the station and we'll give you full..."
"I can't fucking believe this!" Xander screamed as he shut off the tv and stood to his feet. "We already have enough monsters killing people in sunnydale, now the doctors are helping them do it."
"Xander, calm down." Trish begged. She had never seen someone that angry before. Especially not Xander. He had always seemed so calm and in control.
Xander just looked at her with a sharp look, until he closed his eyes and let out a deep breath. "I'm sorry." Xander apologized as he sat back down beside her. "But she's just a kid. She doesn't deserve this."
"So what do you want to do now?" Trish asked after a few minutes of uncomfortable silence.
"Let's go and visit a little girl." Xander said as he stood to his feet and grabbed his coat.
Sunnydale Hospital
Terminally Ill Ward
Sixth Floor
Angela sat on her bed in the hospital alone and scared. For months now she wondered why she felt weak and tired all of the time and now she knew why. It was because she was dying. But just a few weeks ago, she was saved by an Angel and she felt in her heart that if she saw him again, that he would save her.
As she took off the baseball cap that her Angel had dropped during the fire, she layed back in her bed and prepared to fall asleep. As soon as her head hit the pillow, she felt a gust of wind brush against her face. As she opened her eyes and looked to the open window, she saw her Angel dressed all in black carrying a blonde haired woman in his arms.
"You came." Angela cried out as she jumped from the bed and ran to him. With a smile on his face, Xander put Trish down and engulfed Angela in a big bear hug.
"I came." Xander confirmed as he put her down and smiled at her.
"I still have the cap that you dropped, Angel, just in case you want it back." Angela said causing Xander to wince at the name that she had called him.
"Angela, my name is Xander not Angel."
"Oh, well that's a funny name." she replied as she handed him the cap.
"You keep it." Xander said as he happily gave the hat back. "Besides, I got you something anyway." he said as he reached into his jacket pocket and took out a little black box. With a huge smile on her face and a giggle Angela took the box and opened it. What she saw took her breath away. It was a expensive and beautiful looking golden necklace with a pendant with the depiction of an Angel holding a little child.
"It's beautiful, thank you." Angela said as she gave him another hug.
"I can't take all of the credit." Xander said as he broke away from the embrace. "My friend, Trish helped me to pick it out." he said as he pointed at the blonde who was standing behind him.
"Are you an Angel too?" Angela asked causing Trish to smile at her.
"No sweetie, I'm not an Angel." Trish told her as she sat down on her bed.
"I got the message from your mom, that you wanted to see me." Xander said getting Angela's attention. "So what do you want? I promise that I'll give you anything."
"I want...I want you to cure me." Angela said sounding much older than her years. Xander just looked at her like a deer caught in headlights.
"Ang...Angela, I don't know if I can do..."
"You promised!" Angela cried out as she gave him a stern look, with tears forming in her eyes. Xander just looked at her with tears in his own eyes as he engulfed her in a hug.
"I promise. Do you hear me Angela, I promise that I'll make things better."
Hearing someone trying to open the door, Xander took Trish in his arms and jumped out of the open window. Angela ran to the window and looked out into the early morning sun but Xander and Trish, were already gone. As the door finally opened, Angela looked around and saw that it was her...
"Mom?" she asked as she ran up to the older woman and gave her a hug. "Look my Angel was here and this is what he gave me." she said as she showed her the necklace, Xander had given her.
"That's beautiful sweetie." her mom said wondering how she had gotten the necklace. She loved her daughter but she knew that she had an over-active imagination.
"And guess what else he said, mommy? He said he was going to cure me." Angela said innocently.
"Oh he did, did he?" Diana asked with a scowl. "Listen sweetie, we need to talk." she said as she sat down on her bed.
"I can't believe you told that little girl that, Xander." Trish said as they walked to the hospital parking lot and got into her car. "Since when do you have the power to heal anybody?" she scowled at him. She was just a little girl and there was no reason to get her hopes up like that.
"I was giving her hope Trish." Xander said as he met her gaze. "I...I couldn't just say no to her."
Suddenly Trish's cellphone started ringing. With a sigh, she sent another glare towards Xander, then answered her phone. "Hello... oh hi daddy. No I don't have anything important to do today. Okay, I'll bring him with me. Bye." she said as she hung up the phone.
"What did your dad want?" Xander asked. His previous anger replaced with curiousity.
"He said that he wanted me to come to LA." Trish said as she started her car. "And he said that he wanted me to bring you with me." with a confused look on his face, Xander got comfortable in his seat for the long ride to LA.
Three Hours later
Stone Manor
Through the whole ride from Sunnydale to LA, Xander and Trish didn't say to much to each other. Which was quite a feat for Xander, but when someone was mad at you that would give anybody an incentive to be quiet. Looking up at the huge victorian styled mansion, seemed to snap him out of his musings though.
Trish for her part wasn't really mad at Xander, but rather dissappointed in him. She had read the little girls charts when they visited her and she had only a few months to live at best. Then her 'Angel' had come along and told her that he could get her to live. That just seemed to creul in Trish's eyes.
Pulling up on her father's driveway, she was surprised to see her father already standing at the door with a smile on his face. He was a powerfully built man that looked to be in his early forties, with greying hair and glasses. There was something in his eye's though that just didn't seem right. Ignoring the feeling of dread that washed over her, Xander and Trish exited the car.
"Hi daddy." Trish said as she ran up to him and gave him a hug.
"Hey, princess." he replied in a deep voice. "So this is Xander I presume?" he asked as he looked at the nervous teen behind his daughter.
"Yes... yes sir." Xander replied as his voice squeaked a little.
"Don't be so nervous, my boy." Thomas Stone, told Xander as he shook his hand. "Now come inside, all three of us have some serious talking to do." he said turning all business like.
"So why did you want to see me sir?" Xander asked as he made himself comfortable in the big plush arm chair in Thomas's study.
"Please, call me Tommy." Mr. Stone replied as he let out a sigh. "And what I have to say to you is going to affect all of us."
"What do you mean daddy?" Trish asked, getting a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach.
"I've...I've been lying to you." he admitted. "You see Xander I knew your father Sparda."
"What?" Xander asked with wide eyes.
"Just hush for a minute son. I'll explain everything. Trish, Xander...I was a deserter just like Sparda. I'm a demon and me and Sparda were top generals for the army of hell."
"But... daddy...I ...I'm a demon?" Trish asked. All her life she had felt a little different, but this.
"You're only half demon. I know that this is a shock to you but please baby, let me explain." Thomas begged. Once he saw that she calmed down a little, he was about to start his story until Xander interrupted him.
"Tokar." Xander said the name out of the blue. Thomas just looked at him and narrowed his eyes.
"How did you know my real name?"
"Let's just say that I got in touch with my father on halloween." Xander informed him. He couldn't remember everything about his father's past but Tokar the conquer, stood out in his mind. Thomas just seemed to except what Xander had said and continued on with his story.
"Once me and Sparda found out what Mundus was planning we jumped dimensions and tried to start another life. Neither of us knew that Mundus would track us down here though. It took a long time for him to find us, but by then we had already started a family. Trish I got married to your mom and had you and years later Sparda was with your mom and had you." Thomas explained.
"But then we found out that Mundus was trying to open up the hellmouth. Sparda met me at my home and I was prepared for war. As soon as I went to the door something hit me over the head. Once I regained consciousness, I found myself on my couch with a note on my chest. On the note, Sparda said that I had to much to live for in that I had a daughter and a wife and that he wanted to do this alone. He knew he wasn't coming back."
"So he didn't care anything about me?" Xander asked a little hurt. "Wasn't I enough for him to want to live?"
"It wasn't like that Xander." Thomas informed him with a pained look on his face. "Your father was the only being in the world at the time, that was powerful enough to stop Mundus. I knew that he loved you but it was something that he had to do. Anyway a few days later after your father...dissappeared, I went to Sunnydale and told your mom what had happened. She was still very angry with your father and told me to leave."
"Wait a minute are you talking about Uncle Billy?" Trish interrupted.
"I see you remember Sparda's old name?" Thomas asked as he gave his daughter a smile. Him and Sparda were like brothers, so when his wife had Trish, she called him her Uncle Billy. Thomas remembered that Sparda loved his little girl to death.
"I...I remember that night. I was five and hiding on the staircase when I heard someone knocking on the door. I saw that it was Uncle Billy and I was about to go down and give him a hug but I saw that he was dressed funny and had a sword. Then I saw him knock you out and dump you on the couch. When he was about to leave he looked up on the staircase and saw me. He gave me a kiss on he forehead and he told me that he was sorry that I had to see him hurt you. It was like he was saying goodbye to me. But then he gave me this." she said as she took off a beautiful silver necklace with a circular pendant on it.
"Let me see that." Thomas said as he took the necklace from his daughter. He had never seen it before but he sensed power from it. "Sparda you old dog you." he said as he triggered a secret compartment on the pendant. As he let Xander and Trish see what was inside of the pendant, Xander saw that it was a miniature version of the golden orb, that his father had left for him.
"What is that?" Trish asked curiously.
"It's a sacred demo-shard." Thomas answered as he held it up to the light. "It's used on half breed demons so they can unlock their dormant powers. Is this what you want to do Trish? Do you want to use this to unlock your powers?"
"I...I don't know." Trish answered honestly.
"Well I'll put it back in here, until you're ready." Thomas answered as he put the stone back into the pendant and handed the necklace back over to her. "Are you okay, Xander?" Thomas asked as he looked over at the teen. "You seem quiet."
"Just...thinking about something sir, Tommy." Xander corrected himself.
"We went to visit a little girl that Xander saved, Daddy." Trish answered for Xander. "She just found out that she's terminally ill and she's going to die in another few months."
"I'm sorry to hear that." Thomas said as he gave them both a look.
"And what makes it worse is that she thinks that I'm her guardian angel and I told her I was going to save her."
"Maybe you can." Thomas muttered to himself as he stood to his feet. "Stay here I'll be right back." he said as he ran out of the room.
"What was that all about?" Xander asked. Trish just shrugged.
"So what do you think, I should do?" Trish asked after a few minutes of awkward silence. "About getting my powers I mean."
"I don't know." Xander said as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "But if you did have your powers then I wouldn't have to save you all the time."
"Xander!" Trish yelled as she threw a pillow at Xander's head, as he chuckled.
"I hope, I'm not interrupting anything?" Thomas asked as he entered into the study carrying a small black bag.
"No we were just messin' around." Trish said as she placed the pillow back on the couch.
"I see." he said as he gave Xander the bag. "Inside that bag is a blue orb called a resurrection stone. Your little friend doesn't have to be dead for you to use it, she just has to hold it for about a minute and any damage done to her will be repaired. Keep in mind though that this crystal can only be used three times in a lifetime."
"Thank you, sir."
"As I said before call me Tommy." he replied with a chuckle. "Now you two get out of here. I think you have a little girl to save."
Terminally Ill Ward
"I'll see you in the morning, sweetie." Diana said as she kissed her daughter goodnight.
As soon as her mother left the room, Angela got on her knees in front of her bed and started to pray. Suddenly she heard a strange noise in the room and instantly her head whipped around towards the open window.
"Angel." she called out as she walked to the window.
"Not quite." a dark and evil sounding voice said as unseen hands grabbed her. As a red vortex opened up in front of her she let out a blood curdling scream.
"How do you think Kendra is going to feel? About me being a demon, I mean" Trish asked Xander as they walked down the halls of the hospital.
"She doesn't treat me funny." Xander said as he hunched his shoulders. "So I don't think she'll judge you either." Just as Trish was about to comment, they both heard a scream.
"Oh my God, Angela." Xander said as he and Trish increased their speed. As they got to Angela's room and ran inside they saw the still screaming Angela get sucked into a red portal. Just as Xander was about to go in after her, Trish grabbed his arm.
"Xander what are you doing, you don't even have any weapons."
"I don't care, I have to get her back." Xander replied as he handed her the bag.
"Then, I'm going with you." Trish told him as she dropped the bag on the floor and clutched her pendant.
"No..." Xander said as he put his hands on her shoulder. "I need you to stay here just in case the portal closes. If it does then I need you to get to Giles and tell him what's going on."
"Okay." Trish told him. As he turned around ready to jump into the portal, Trish grabbed him again and pulled him into a lingering kiss. "That was for luck." she explained as he dazingly jumped into the portal.
Hell
Fire and endless pits of lava greeted Xander as he emerged on the other side of the portal. Before he could get his bearings, the portal closed up behind him. Surprisingly it wasn't as hot as he thought hell would be. 'Maybe it's because I'm a devil.' he mused to himself.
"Damnit!" Xander shouted as he noticed that the portal had closed. Before he could think of what more to do, he heard an odd muttering. Walking over to the source of the muttering he looked down into a vast cavern and saw an unimagenable amount of demons clammering about. One demon however stood out most to him, not only because it was holding Angela but because it was...
"The Master." Xander muttered to himself. With his demonic blood boiling and a plan forming in his head, he stood to his feet.
"Don't cry my sweet." The Master told Angela as he stroked her cheek with his taloned hand. "This will be over very soon."
As he leaned in to bite the trembling little girls neck he heard a growl. Looking up he saw a black clad figure with white hair dropping down from the air. Letting Angela go making her fall over in the process, he was punched in the face by the figure. The force of the blow of which sent him sprawling to the ground.
As Angela looked up at her savior she saw that it was...
"Xander?" she asked. But he looked different. Not only was his hair white, but his once liquid brown eyes were now red.
"Yeah, now come on." he said as he helped her to stand to her feet. Before he knew what was going on a few waves of the demons started to attack him.
fifteen minutes later
Xander ran for his life, with Angela piggy backing on his back as he literally ran through hell. He still couldn't understand how he had gotten free from all of the demons though. It was like they held up no resistance.
What almost broke his spirit more than not being able to find a way out, was all of the people that he saw being tortured in hell. Even though he knew the people probably deserved to be there it was still heart wrenching seeing them there. He didn't even want to think what it was doing to Angela's mind.
As he turned another corner to escape, hell's forces he suddenly heard someone weakly calling his name. As he looked over to where the source was coming from, he almost dropped Angela because of what he had seen. There in front of him stood, the beaten and bruised form of his old friend Jesse McNally.
"Jesse, man wha...what are you doing here?" Xander asked.
"I...I don't know. I ... I'm just so confused." Jesse said as he shambled over to the two. "The last thing I remember was hitting on this hot chick at the bronze and then I came here."
"I'll explain it to you later man." Xander said not understanding what was going on himself. "Just come with me and I'll find us a way out of here."
"I know where a portal is." Jesse said as he started to nervously twitch. "It might be our way out of here but I'm just not strong enough to jump through it."
"Show me where it is." And with that Jesse took Xander and Angela deeper into hell, but sure enough there was a red portal there. What bothered Xander though was the fact that none of the demons tried to stop them.
"The only way I can get out of here and I'm not trying to sound gay, but I need you to hold me close." Jesse said as he looked Xander dead in the eye and then winked at Angela.
"Xander..." Angela started. There was something strange about Xander's friend and she just didn't trust him.
"It's going to be okay, sweetie." Xander said as he held her in his arms and kissed her on the forehead. "We're going home soon."
"There they are." a menacing voice said behind them. Turning they saw almost thirty demons running in their direction.
"Oh, crap...Jesse come on!" Xander yelled as he grabbed Jesse by the arm and jumped through the portal. Once they made the jump, the lead demon smiled and said "fool." under his breath.
As Xander and the other's emerged on the other side of the portal, he was relieved to find himself back on earth. But he wasn't in the hospital where he had hoped, but by the looks of the place they were in downtown LA.
"Jesse man we made it." Xander said as he sat Angela down and looked at his old friend.
"Yes." Jesse said in a voice not of his own. "And thanks to you, I'm free at last." he said as he started to laugh maniacally as his body started to change. Xander felt Angela run behind him and hold on to the back of his jacket as he watched Jesse turn into a hulking black demon with horns.
"At last we meet, son of Sparda." the demon said, in a low scary voice, that made the hair on the back of Angela's and Xander's neck stand on end. "How rude of me to not introduce myself. I am Lord Ahriman, the new ruler of earth." he said with a slight bow.
"My God, what have I done?" Xander asked himself, as Lord Ahriman started to approach him.
TBC...
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