Chapter 1: Bad news and ghost from the past.
Twenty minutes before the phone rang
"Willy… Willy!" said Xander with growing irritation, and a lot of lassitude.
He had been on the phone with the bar tender for more then a half hour now,
and Willy's plaintive tone was creeping on his nerves. "Would you please
SHUT THE FUCK UP! Now listen to me, just five minutes, for hell's sakes."
On the other end, the line became quiet. "So, Willy, first you had done well, by
bringing the cubs to me. Now, here is what I want you to do. I need forged paper
to make the cubs mine legally. I need to be their guardian." Xander said calmly.
"I also want you to take care of the burial of their parents, you have until tomorrow
evening!"
"………………………………….."
"I know perfectly well, that it's going to be difficult Willy, but I'm your pack leader
and you will obey me, UNDERSTOOD!" said Xan beginning to growl lowly.
"………………………………….."
"I know that you don't like it, to be true I don't like you, you're a weak link in the
Sunnydale were-hyena pack, if someone else had been Oba, you would have been
dead a long time ago. But as pack leader, I know that you can be useful sometimes,
and because of that, I protect you, but keep in mind that that can change." He continued
more calmly, but keeping the growl in his voice. "So, just do as I said and call me
if you have a problem or when you are finished," said Xander taking a command tone
that none of his friends would ever heard before hanging up the phone.
After that, he decided to go fetch a comforter from the dresser in his bedroom; he
was really beginning to feel tired. Tonight, he would sleep on his couch, and tomorrow
they would be going somewhere else. He needed to make plans, to choose a place to
settle with the kids, he could not plan this trip lightly, children needed security. He needed to call several of his friends, needed to find a new place, a new city and a new
pack. Narcissus would help him find some contact, the though of St-Louis were-hyena's
pack leader made his mind wander to lalaland, to the beginning of his own story,
the story of Sunnydale's Oba.
Flashback
Six years before
Xander had just got out of the library; he had lied to Giles and the girls. He could still
feel the hyena in his mind. He had control of her, but she was there, purring with
contentment because she was still there.
She had chosen him because he had the stronger spirit, and she had been right, it
had been strong enough for her to merge partially with him. Strong enough to not
destroy him in the process, making it impossible for the witch and the warlock to remove
her. Yes they had weakened her for the moment, but with time, she would possess her
host entirely again, and when that happened the hellmouth will tremble on its foundations.
That thought only, frightened Xander more then anything. He could not risk letting
her loose again, because she would hurt his friends, maybe kill them. He needed to
find a solution to control the hyena definitely, or he would have to die! He knew that
he could not ask Giles or Willow would know and she would try to help him. Xander
could not risk her fucking with the mojo; she was too unpredictable when she was doing magic, always adapting, changing parts of the spell or ingredients. He loved her, but the
hyena was too dangerous. What if she messed up and gave more power to his beast, god, he
doesn't want to see that! Dead friends were most definitely not good friends. He
ran more than walked to his home that night, more frightened by the shadows of
his mind than the vamps.
End flashback
Since that moment, Xander had changed his life style and his view of the world for the
second time, meditating each morning, eating vegetable more often not wanting to give
his beast the taste of fresh meat, exercising in different martial arts clubs, but the most important change had been his total immersion in Giles' precious books. He had begun
with the library first, then the watcher's private collection searching for a solution so
he would not have to kill himself. While searching Xander began to learn. He learned first
that he was not useless we it came to study, that when properly stimulated his mind was
really quick to retain information. After six years he could now understand a lot of
ancient human languages, like Egyptian, Sumerian, Latin, Greek,…..and a lot of more
obscure human and demon dialects. He could read, write and, most of the time, speak
them. One day, just for fun he had asked Giles how much of them he knew, and after
hearing his answer had realised that he knew a hundred more than the watcher. This had
been the catalyst to begin a University scholarship by correspondence, only needing to
go to a limited number of conferences. The day he had had his first PhD in linguistics,
he had made the snoopy dance of the millennium, only regretting that his friends were
not with him to celebrate. Now he had four more, in Anthropology, Archaeology, his
false trip around the USA had been a good excuse for practical work training in Canada, History of arts and myths and legends of the world, and Demonology, but he had done this one only for the fun. Thanks to Wesley for this one, he had recommended him to the special private school in England. Wesley, another one of his hidden secrets! Where would he have
been without Wes; he had been so close to killing himself because the hyena was becoming
too powerful for him to control her, when the watcher had made his appearance. He
would always be glad for the solution Wes had found.
Flashback
The hyena was so close to the surface these days that Xander knew that he would have
to terminate himself soon if he didn't want her to get loose. She was fighting him all
the time, but more and more since the slayer and her new watcher had arrived on the hellmouth. She was considering Faith as a challenger for her pack leadership, and each
time they were in the same room Xander had to reinforce his mental walls. Buffy was
just a beta since the hyena had proved her dominance to the blonde slayer by fighting
her, but she had never fought Faith, and the powerful female was on her territory. Because
of that, he could not risk befriending the dark beauty, and because of Buffy he could not befriend her watcher. He had to wait for the right time to talk to him, knowing that he
needed to apologise for the way he was acting in front of him. Wesley Wyndam-Price
was probably his only chance of help right now. Tonight was the first time they were
alone in the library. Buffy had taken everyone else with her on patrol, letting him and her hated new watcher to look after wolf-Oz until the morning. He needed to take his chance
to talk with him now or never.
"Mister Wyndam-Price?" asked Xander with incertitude in his voice.
"Mister Harris," answered Wesley with an annoyed tone.
"May I disturb your reading for a moment, please?" continued Xander with extreme politeness.
Wesley took his time before nodding to the teenage boy; Xander's attitude was disturbing him. Normally the boy was some dumb, joke-cracking, annoying brat, but here he was a
calm young man who seemed deadly serious, and that was spooky even for a watcher like him.
"I…." Xander hesitated. "I wanted to apologise for my behaviours these last few days.
I know that I have acted poorly in front of you, and that I have probably hurt your feelings
with my bad jokes at your expense. It was never in my intentions to reject you and Faith,
but I have some serious problem that force me to follow Buffy's lead when it comes to
the group. I really would like to know you, and maybe befriend you, and…." He took a
deep breath, before continuing. "I would like to ask for your help. I'll understand if you
don't want to give it to me, the only thing I can do is apologise again," Said Xander.
Wesley was taken aback, from all the people of this group; he could have expected that
from Mister Giles, but never from that boy. He took a moment to digest the information, before answering in a neutral tone.
"I accept your apology Mister Harris, but before I accept to help you, I want to know
what is your problem, and why can't you go to Mister Giles?"
"Fair enough. I can't go to the group because they think that they have solved that
particular problem a long time ago. As for my problem, well, you must have read Giles
report to the council, since your supposed to be Buffy's new watcher." Wesley made a
nod before giving Xander a sign to make him continue. "Then you must know that a
group of children and I were possessed by hyena spirits, and that thanks to Willow and
Giles we were de-possessed. Well, the story doesn't end at that point for me! You see my hyena was pack leader the strongest one of her pack. She never left me, the spell
weakened her, but she had had the time to merge herself partially with my soul before
that. I control her most of the time, but she's becoming stronger and stronger as the time passes. Soon she will be in control of my mind once again, and it can't happen. I've
searched for a solution for more then two years now. I've read every book in this library and
elsewhere and when I say every book, I mean every book. Even the more obscure one on Tek'laa demons, and I had to learn their language before doing that. I've found nothing;
I know that I will have to terminate my life soon, before I become a threat for my friends and
the hellmouth. You are outside the group and you have the knowledge to help me have a
last little chance. Even if you don't help me, I will ask you not to repeat our conversation to the others. Willow would try to help and she has a tendency to mess really badly with the mojo. She would probably free the hyena faster, or empower her. I don't have confidence
in her not to act and I can't trust the others not to tell her." He finished with a sad tone.
Wesley was stunned by the boy's story, that a young man with no special power had found the force to restrain one of the most powerful spirit possessions within his mind all this time. Only for that, Wes would help him. He was a unique case to observe, he was fascinating.
Wes was looking at the subject of his last thesis on ghost and spirit through the ages, he
would be the perfect ending for his PhD in advanced Demonology. The younger watcher could not keep the smile, which was now blooming on his British face.
"After reflection, I will help you Mister Harris-"
"Xander"
"Sorry?"
"If you're going to help me, I would like for you to call me Xander, and maybe give me permission to call you Wesley," explained Xander.
"Well, Xander, as I was saying, I will help you. But I would like to make a deal with you;
I have a thesis on ghost and spirits to finish my PhD, would you agree to be the anonymous subject of it? It would help me a lot, and it would not disturb your life too much. It may even help us with the research to help you find a solution to your problem. I have some friends who could help us and…" Wesley was becoming more exited as the minutes were passing. Xan had never seen him so animated, so full of light, and suddenly he could feel his hyena calm and the sounds of a light purr of contentment begin to invade his mind. She liked Wesley and he was beginning to like the stuffy British too. A chuckle escaped him and he interrupted Wesley once more.
"Sure Wesley, you can observe me as much as you want if it can help the two of us," and Wes's smile grew a little bit more. "But I would like to do the same with you, I'm writing a thesis on the watcher society for my Anthropology PhD." He said laughing openly now.
"Anthropology PhD?" asked Wes with a fish face.
"Yeah, well, I'm not as dumb as I look. When I began to research I found that I could be really smart if I wanted. So, two years ago, I decided to pass a central jury to have my graduation faster and after that I began a scholarship PhD in linguistics by correspondence. Last year I began Anthropology and this year it's Archaeology, and I would like to begin another one next year but I don't know were to go for a demonology one," said Xander with a smile.
"You… you… are you a genius?" asked Wesley with respect
"They've tested me after the jury, I'm close to Einstein, but I have a concentration problem and a selective memory problem. I can't retain some subjects like mathematics, or science, or other subjects based on logic. If I had not been possessed, I would have stayed Xander the donut boy." Xander answered with a sad expression. "So, deal?"
"Deal!"
The two of them smiled, and a deep understanding look passed between them.
"Xander?"
"Yes, Wesley," said Xan with a light voice.
"For your Demonology PhD, I could recommend you to a great school; have you something against demon professors?"
"Why, Mister Wyndam-Price, are you telling me that you got your PhD in a British demon school?"
"Of course not, I'm telling you that I got my 'PhDs' in a British demon school," answered Wesley with a sweet tone.
"PhDs, Wesley?"
"Six of them, Alexander, and I'm finishing the number seven, maybe I'll do another one after that." He said innocently.
"My, my, but you must be a genius, how interesting!" And they began to laugh like little boys who had just discovered their father's playboys.
End flashback
That night had been the beginning of a deep friendship between the two men. Wesley was the only one to know the real Xander, and it was with him that Xan had partied with when he had obtained his first PhD. Wes had the best result ever for his thesis after they had found a solution for Xander's problem. They searched for a solution in the private library of different demon friends of Wesley. But it was a really old Shaman in Utah who had finally helped them.
Xander had been made part of the earth, merging totally with the hyena, accepting her and binding her to his soul. By doing that he had became a shifter. Contrary to an ordinary were-wolf or hyena he was not bound to the moon cycle. He could shift at will and that was the advantage he had use to became Oba, but that was another story, and he could hear the phone ringing, interrupting his train of though.
What happened when the phone rang
Xander got himself out of the couch, and took the phone with lassitude.
"Harris's house, if they killed you, we kill them!"
"Sorry, Major Eric Trent speaking, may I speak to Mister Alexander O'Neil?" said a strong voice full of exasperation.
"It's himself on the phone, what can I do for you major?" answered with mistrust.
"I'm sorry to disturbed you at this time of the night, but I've tried all day and you were never there. I'm Colonel Jonathan O'Neil's lawyer."
"What has Jack done this time?" asked Xander with a little smile in his voice.
"I'm sorry to inform you that the Colonel had died on a mission three days ago, and he has left you all of his possession."
Xander let himself fall stunned on the floor, mouth deeply opened and tears falling freely on his face, now white as marble. Jack was dead . . . how could he . . . how could he fucking die on him. Jack could not die, he was….JACK!
"Sir? Sir? Are you still on the phone?" asked the major with worry.
"Yes, yes I'm still there, Major, can you tell me how he died?" asked Xander with a broken voice.
"I'm sorry sir, its-"
"Fucking classified!" interrupted Xan
"Yes sir, it is, I'm sorry to ask this but, could you come to Colorado to sign the papers, or would you prefer for me to send them to you?"
" Did, did, do you know if Jack left me his house?" asked Xan thinking suddenly of the kids and his need to find them a new home.
"Yes, sir."
"In that case, I'll take my kids and be in Colorado in a week, Major. Can you ask someone to take care of the house until we take up residence there."
"Yes, sir, I'll take care of everything for you. Sir, may ask you a question? It's for the papers?"
"Go ahead, Major," said Xander with the voice of someone close to collapse.
"What was your relationship with the Colonel, sir?"
"The Colonel was my father, Major, he was my father!" and the tears ran on his face again.
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°
hello,
I just wanted to clarify a detail; in my story xander had his first PhD at 17,
but contrary to what you all are thinking, he will have the four other ones
when the beginning of my story take place. In this time line, just a couple of weeks
before Gloryficus came in SunnyD. Ok?
if you have some more detail, which bother you can find me on aol messenger
eachfriday night until midnight, and my sn is betweenthecandle, feel free to contact me
I'll be happy to answer all your questions.
Bye Jude