FIC: A New World (20?)

"AHHHHH!" Faith screamed, her tortured voice faltering to a rasp. Her head dropped limply onto her chest, dried tears clinging to her face, her nostrils filling with the smell of charred flesh.

Her flesh.

She wasn't sure how long she'd been here, her body being shredded by the psychotic demon. At first she'd stayed quiet, gritting her teeth against the vampire's torture. Then she'd screamed abuse at the monster. Soon she was sure she'd beg, not that it would do any good.

She swallowed at the feel of the cold palm stroking her cheek. The vampire suddenly giggled in her high-pitched trill. "Pretty Raven, hurting all over. Not so pretty any more." She recoiled as far as her chains would allow her when the demon leaned into her, her shackles jangling, but the demon grabbed her hair, yanking her head towards her and whispering in her ear. "Does your soul sing to you, deaire? It sings to me, of evil, pain, and misery. Such a pretty tune."

When she didn't answer, the demon released her grip and walked over to the table. "I think someone needs to learn to answer when spoken to," the demon giggled. "Lessons for naughty girls are so much fun."


"This it?" Xander peered through the darkness, to the looming Mexican-style hacienda.

"It's the building." Angel confirmed, his eyes fixed on the building. "There's three guards by the door. Illyria and I will go deal with them."

"But-," Xander's voice trailed off when he realised the vampire and the goddess had already left the van. "I hate it when he does that."

"At least you're not related to him," Connor muttered.


Angel dropped the last of the guards to the ground, his neck broken, worry twisting his stomach. He looked towards the building's wooden-pannelled door. His first inclination was to charge right through the door, but it wouldn't do any Faith for him to get killed before he got to her. "Strength in numbers," he muttered before turning to Illyria. "I'll go get the others. Stay here."

"And if anyone comes?"

His answer came instantly. "Kill them." They'd murdered innocents, his friends, the woman he loved, they deserved no mercy.


Roger Whyndham-Pryce glanced up at the sound of an alarm going off. Putting down his glass of finely-matured Irish Whiskey, he turned from the delightful sight of the Slayer's screaming demise to his grey-faced companion. "It appears we have unwelcome visitors," he sighed theatrically, "do me the favour of dealing with them."

Agent F nodded. "Yes sir. Alive or dead, sir?"

He glanced at the CCTV footage of the intruders before answering. He recognised two of the group as Slayers, but he had more than enough of them. Finally he came to a decision. "Kill them all."


Xander hung back as they strode through the palatial hacienda, allowing the super-powered ones to combat any threat they ran into while he kept a watchful eye on Dawn. The aforementioned girl shot him a worried look. "Do you think Faith's gonna be alright?"

"She'll be fine," he lied even as his guts twisted in fear. He couldn't lose another person.

Suddenly a figure leapt out of a room to Angel's left. Xander barely had time to blink before the Irish vampire snapped out a sideways elbow, smashing the side of the would-be attacker's face. Before the assailant had time to react, Angel had swept his legs from under him. The moment the interloper hit the floor, Angel had hold of his head, and twisted, tearing it off its shoulders.

Xander shuddered. The only time he'd seen the Irish vampire that focused, ruthless, was as Angelus. It was unsettling to see the soulled version could be just as ruthless.

"Giles," Angel's worried voice broke through the deathly silence that followed his destruction of the attacker. "You might want to see this."

"A decapitated man?" Giles sniffed. "I think not."

"Come here," the vampire urged, "I think I know who did this."

"Good lord," Giles hurried forward and crouched beside the body. "Who-, bloody hell!" the Englishman exploded. "It's a robot!"

"I know," Angel nodded. "We were attacked earlier in the year by a group of androids. Their leader impersonated Wes' dad. The inside knowledge he had, knowing Andrew, it had to be him behind the androids, using them as a test run for this."

"Oh bollocks!" Giles exploded. "That bastard! I'll rip his bloody heart out!"

Xander exchanged a worried glance with Dawn before starting forward. "Don't."

Xander stopped dead at the voice in his head, allowing an oblivious Dawn to hurry on. "W…Willow," he whispered, tears forming in his eye. "But you're d..d-."

"Dead!" Willow's scream caused his head to pound. "Don't you think I've noticed it, mister? I've come back to help. Faith needs you. See that door to your right?" he nodded. "You need to go down there." He stepped towards the doorway. "I love you, Xander."

"Love you too, Willow," he whispered before disappearing through the doorway and down the darkened stairwell beyond.


Giles stood, barely able to control his enraged shaking. That bastard, he seethed, not even Travers in his arrogance had betrayed the Slayers like this. But Pryce, he'd rip his lungs out. "Where's Xander?"

He glanced towards the pale-faced former key. "I beg your pardon, Dawn?"

"Xander, he's gone!"

A quick glance around confirmed the last remaining Summers was correct. Giles shook his head, stupid bugger, Xander had probably done one of his trademark charges into danger. Would the bloody boy ever learn to wait? He exchanged a worried glance with Angel. Coming to the unplatable decision that they didn't have time to search for him, he spoke. "Vi, Rona, come with me," he instructed. "We'll go after Pryce. Dawn, go with Angel and the others, see if you can find Faith and the other Slayers."

"But -."

"Dawn," he fixed the teen with his sternest gaze. "We don't have time to look for him in this bloody maze. Xander can look after himself."

God, he hoped he was right.


Agent F sighed regretfully as he saw the figure hurrying through the darkened corridor, heading to his position hidden in the shadows. It had come to this. He stepped out of the shadows. "Hello, Xander."

"R…Riley," the younger man screeched to a halt, almost falling over his feet, eye filling with shock. "What are you doing here?"

"I think you know."

There was a long silence. Xander shook his head. "But why?"

"Why?" Riley's jaw tightened, the facial gesture tugging painfully on the left side of his face, pulling at the patchwork of interwined scars there. "Why? Four months ago my unit ran into a family of Qwar-Laks. They butchered my unit, tore my face apart, but most importantly, they took my Sam!" He took a second, forcing his temper under control. Angry men lost fights. "I asked Giles two times to station a Slayer with my unit but he refused, said Slayers had to be under Council control. If he hadn't, my Sam might still be alive!"

"I'm sorry," Xander shook his head. "But this is wrong, you know that."

"And I'm sorry you came here," he started towards the intruder. "Because now I'm going to have to kill you."


"Sorry Riley," Xander whispered as he pulled the revolver he'd purloined from one of the outside guards out of the back of his belt, aimed and fired. His old friend's eyes widened in shock as he aimed and fired.

His ears filled with the reverbrations of the rounds exploding. With the distance between him and his target, and lack of cover it was impossible to miss, even allowing for his visual disability. His bullets tore through the soldier, the first smashing into his left shoulder, the next two ripping through his heart.

"Ahh!" Riley stared at him, a look of dawning surprise on the Iwoan's face as he fell onto his back, blood spilling out on the paved ground.

Xander stared down sadly at his former friend before stepping over the body and carrying on. Seeing a door at the end of the corridor, he increased his pace.

Xander gasped as he entered the chamber, stomach twisting in terror. Doubling-up, he dry-heaved for a few second before looking up at the naked woman fastened spread-eagled to two poles in the centre of the room.

The once-beautiful Slayer had been torn apart. Her legs and arms looked to be broken, twisted to hideous angles, both her shoulders doubtless dislocated. Several of her fingernails had been ripped out, viscera leaking from her mangled hands, and her heavily-brutalised body was covered with a variety of burns, bruises, and cuts, some made by knives and some by whips. Both her eyes looked to have been bludgeoned shut, several of her teeth littered the floor torn out by pilers, and her nose was shattered, spread across her face.

Swallowing, he hurried forward, grabbing a pair of blood-stained bolt-cutters off the table beside the Slayer, he shuddered at the thought of how they'd been bloodied, and began working his way through the chains holding the brunette. The brunette started and whimpered at his approach. Bile rose in his throat at the sound, Faith whimpering it was a crime against nature. "It's okay, Faith," he kept his voice as steady as he could. "It's Xander."

"Z..zandess," his name was unrecognisable through the Slayer's tortured mouth.

"Yeah," he caught the Slayer as she slumped forward. "Is me," he agreed. "It's gonna be okay," he lied. He couldn't see how Faith could ever be okay again.

"Get out," the Slayer slurred. "Danger."

"Let me worry about that." He started to lift the Slayer into his arms. "We won't be here -."


"Oh dear," Roger tutted as he saw the group split up, watching their progress on the computer screens. "It would appear the game's up. Bugger." He turned to his companions. "Miss Madison, Mr. Rayne. It would appear we're about to have guests."
"They're down here," Angel picked up the pace. "I can smell Slayers." Angel's foot slammed into the door, sending it flying. Stepping into the room beyond, he stopped and swallowed at the sight of the several dozen girls who could only be Slayers. Shaking it off, he turned to his son. "Connor, you and the others -," his voice trailed off when he realised his ashen-paled progeny was staring at the far end of the room. "What's up -," his voice broke again as he followed his child's gaze. "N…no," he started forward, stomach hollowing at the sight of Xander holding his broken protégée in his arms. "What have they done?" he hissed, his rage growing even as his demon laughingly taunted him.

The hairs prickled on the back of his neck as he sensed a presence he'd not felt in years. "N..no," he whispered again as a willowy figure stepped out behind the youth. Terror growing, he shouted. "XANDER!" He punched the glass only to curse when the pane failed to shatter. It had to be mystically enhanced. Turning, he darted out of the room, knowing even as he ran he'd be too late.


"Hello handsome Sunnydale boy," his blood chilled at the unmistakable voice. "One eye, but still you see." After a gulp, he laid the Slayer on the ground and turned to face the insane vampiress some ten feet away, she'd been lurking in the shadows the whole time. "I'll have to see if you see better without any!" the demon exploded into laughter, her giggles echoing around him.

"You did this?" he was surprised that anger rather than fear was the over-riding emotion. "Then you'll die."

"No," the demon's eyes flashed yellow. "You will." A heartbeat later and the vampire was beside him, her fist smashing into his jaw. Blood filling his mouth, he flew across the room, crashing into the wall and sliding down to the ground. What he heard next scared him more than anything so far.

"Such a pretty boy," the vampiress giggled. "Been alone since my William took up with the Slayer. Not going to be alone anymore."


Faith groaned as she forced her head up, seeing the blurred figure of Drusilla stalking the crumpled Xander. "N…no," she stuttered through mangled lips. She wanted to help, but her body was on fire, all she could do was watch. She owed Xander that, he deserved witnessing someone watch his death.

"Don't you dare! You owe him! Help Xander!"