A/N Thanks for all of the great reviews. This is quickly becoming one of my most top rated stories so thanks. Also I'm giving a special shoutout to war90, I'm really happy that you're enjoying the story.
And to Darklight, I do have it planned for one other DC villian to come to Sunnydale, but I haven't decided who it's gonna be. I do however have it planned out who the other super hero coming to town will be though.
Chapter 10
The Pack
The Joker's warehouse
"Hold still baby or daddy can't kill you." the Joker said as he shot at Harley again.
"I'm sorry, Mister J." Harley said as she flipped expertly away from the shots.
"Sorry?" the Joker asked as he dropped his now empty pistol to the ground. "You lose my babies and all you can say is sorry!" he said as he slapped her hard across the face, sending her tumbling to the dusty floor. "You find those damn hyena's and you find them now!" he spat out as she scrambled to her feet.
"Oh and Harley." he said calming down as she opened the warehouse door. "Bring me back a cinnamon roll and a cappichino, I'm starving."
Sunnydale zoo
thirty minutes later
"Listen man, if you like Buffy then go for it." Xander was saying to Jesse as they walked through the snake terrarium area.
"But don't you like her?" Jesse asked. He had seen all the looks the two would always give each other.
"I'm not gonna lie to you, because I do have feelings for her." Xander replied as he stopped and looked at his friend. "But I think the best thing for me and her is just to stay friends. Not only because you told me you like her and have feelings for her but...because I'm thinking about leaving Sunnydale."
"What!" Jesse exploded. "But you just got here."
"I'm still debating about it, but if I did leave it'll be at the end of the school year." he replied as they continued to walk. "I had to come here and find out about my past." 'And to try to find Spike.' he thought to himself. 'But for all I know he's probably, dead by now.'
"But what about all the monsters? We need your help here." Jesse pointed out.
"No you don't need my help." Xander said as he turned around to look at him again. "You have Buffy and I was thinking of making sure that you guys got karate lessons, so you could defend yourselves better."
"So you're really leaving?" Jesse asked sadly. He had just gotten one of his bestfriend's back, only to lose him all over again.
"Hey, like I said man I'm thinking about it. Hey there's Buffy and Willow." Xander said as they walked out of the terrarium and out into the open area. "I would appreciate it if you kept this between me and you."
"I will." Jesse said sadly.
"You coming?" Xander asked as he started to walk up to the rest of his friends.
"I'll catch up in a minute." Jesse called out.
"I don't know Buffy." Willow was saying as she nervously looked around to see if anybody was listening. "That sounds a little to far fetched to believe, even for me."
"I'm telling you, Willow I think Xander is the dark knight."
"But we all saw Xander when both of the batmen broke into his house." Willow tried to reason.
"I know. I'm still trying to figure that out."
"Well what proof do you have, that makes you think it was him?"
"Well um...do you remember last week when I was poisoned by the Joker?" Buffy asked, waiting until Willow nodded. "When I was driving with Batman, it seemed like I was talking to Xander the whole time."
"Buffy you must have been totally out of it when you had the Jokers toxin in you." Willow said shutting down Buffy's theory.
"Well what about when Xander calls my mom, Miss Summer's?" Buffy asked. "That's the same thing Batman says to me."
"Buffy come on, don't you think you're overreacting a bit?" Willow asked as she put her hand on her shoulder.
"Well how does he know..."
"Hey girls, what's the what?" Xander asked as he walked up behind the two, startling them.
"Oh...ummm..."
"We were just..."
"Thinking about going to the Bronze tonight." Buffy made up. "You coming?"
"I'll have to pass on that." Xander said with a shrug. "I have a few things to talk to Diana about tonight."
"Oh..." was all Buffy said.
"Hey, where's Jesse?" Willow asked.
"Oh, he's..." Xander stopped as he pointed and then looked behind himself. "Hey he was standing right over there."
Letting out a sigh, Jesse was about to go and watch the zebra's mating to cheer himself up, but then he suddenly heard a muffled scream. Whipping his head up to his right, he saw Kyle and his gang from school, dragging a beautiful blonde, wearing daisy dukes, into the hyena exhibit.
Chancing a glance back, he saw Buffy and the others going the opposite direction. Wanting to let off a little steam, he quickly followed up behind the gang to see if he could help.
Harley dropped the last of her cinnamon roll in her mouth and threw away her empty cappichino cup. She had looked all around the small town for the Joker's hyena's but to no avail. But seeing as though the zoo was the only place she hadn't checked, she decided to try her luck.
"Whoa, babe alert." she heard a voice say that snapped her out of her musings.
Looking up from out of her daze, she saw two boys along with two girls staring at her. Wondering what they were looking at, she looked down at herself and remembered that she was wearing some dasiy dukes and a very revealing top.
She looked like the typical californian girl, not the crazy court jester of the Joker.
"I've never seen you around school or for that matter Sunnydale before." the lead boy said as he walked up to her. "Are you new?"
"You could say that." Harley told him nervously. 'This little twirp is trying to push up on me.' she realized. 'Maybe I should just play along.' "Actually, I am new to SunnyD and I'm not in highschool. I'm in college and I lost my dogs." she said as she digged in her pocket and showed them a picture. "Have you seen them?"
"They don't look like any dogs I've ever seen." Kyle said as he and the others examined the picture. "They look more like..."
"Hyena's." Harley finished for him. "Yeah, I know."
"Well um...there's a hyena exhibit over there." Tor said pointing over his shoulder. "Maybe we should try there."
"Sounds like a plan." Kyle said with a smile. "You coming..."
"The names...Quinn." Harley said using her last name. She was scared that they would probably find out who she was if she used her first name.
"Well Quinn, you coming?" Kyle asked.
"Maybe, I should..."
"Just come on!" Kyle said losing his patience, as he grabbed Harley roughly from behind and put his hand over her mouth. Ignoring her screams he dragged her into the hyena area.
Hyena House
Kyle and the others tore through more tape blocking the way in the exhibit and look around.
"Cool." Kyle said as he finally let go of Harley.
"What do you think you're doing?" Harley demanded to know as she kicked Kyle in his shins. She was an accomplished martial artist, but she didn't want to reveal who she was, because the Joker didn't want Sunnydale to know he was in town yet. He told her it was because he had big plans.
"Ow." Kyle whined as he hopped on one foot, while holding onto his hurt leg. Ignoring him Tor and the girls walked up to the enclosure and looked in. Harley stayed back with Kyle behind her.
"I don't see any hyenas." Harley said as she crossed her hands over her chest. And as soon as those words left her mouth, one of the hyenas growled and showed itself between some rocks.
"Okay! Now we've seen it and it's not mine." Harley said as she tried to leave, only to find Kyle blocking her path.
"Are you sure?" Rhonda asked. "He looks awfully cute."
"Maybe you should take a closer look." Kyle said as he and Tor grabbed her from either side.
"No!" Harley yelled out, as they dragged her up the steps and lifted her up to the bars. Although she really wasn't worried about the Hyena's because her puddin' had developed a pheramone that made them go through a stage of dormancy so they wouldn't harm her.
And like the white night that he was, Jesse came in, pulled their arms off of her and helped her away from the railing.
"You heard the girl." Jesse said as Harley moved behind him. "She said no."
" And what are you gonna do about it?" Kyle asked.
"Something, damn manly." Jesse said putting up his fists.
Suddenly the hyenas growled, making Jesse, Kyle and the others look down at them to see what the commotion was about. The hyena's eyes flashed green, and then two of the kid's eyes followed suit. The hyena's eyes flashed green again, and two more kid's eyes did the same. If they had of been paying attention, then they would have seen that they were standing on a sacred circle painted on the floor.
Harley however was saved from their fate as she felt something brushing up against her leg. Looking down she saw that it was the Joker's two hyena's.
"Where have you guy's been?" she asked as she crouched down and started to pet them. "Me and daddy were worried sick about you."
"I see that you've found what you were looking for." Kyle said as he walked up to them and started to sniff the other hyena's and pet them. And to Harley's surprise, they didn't bite Kyle or the others. Usually when someone besides her or the Joker tried to touch them, they would get mad or try to eat them.
"Yeah and they are cute." Heidi said as she and Rhonda joined in and patted them. And that's when Harley knew something was wrong. As she stood up ready to leave, she looked back and saw that Kyle and the others were right behind her.
"Why are you mooks following me?" she asked Tor.
"Because you're our queen." Tor replied as he sniffed her hair. "And we're your pack."
'What the hell is...' she thought to herself and then it came to her in a flash. She remembered seeing the kids eye's turn green and then she looked down and her suspicion was confirmed when she saw the sacred circle on the floor.
"Magic..." she whispered to herself. "Alright then let's go so I can introduce you to your new boss." she said as she looked back at Jesse, who still had his back turned from them. "But what about him?"
Kyle and the others turned and laughed when they saw him, but then Jesse turned around and his eyes started to flash green as he smiled an almost wolfish smile.
The Jokers
Warehouse
"Hey boss, you'll never guess what I got." Harley said as she slinked into the door of the warehouse.
"If it's not my cinnamon roll or my hyena's I'm not interested." as soon as those words left his mouth both of his hyena's ran into the room and up to him.
"Boy's." the Joker said happily with a laugh as he got down on one knee to pet them.
"And that's not all." she said as she opened the door wider and the Pack walked into the room.
"Who the hell are these little brats?" he asked as he looked up at them with utter contempt.
"To make a long story short, something magical happened now they're our new gang."
"Our new gang?" Joker asked with a raised eyebrow. "What can these little bastards..." he was cut off as Kyle and the others picked up his car and lifted it over their heads. "Oooohhh, now that's what I call teamwork." he said as he walked over and wrapped his arms around them, after they lowered the car. "Now this is what I want you boys to do."
Wayne Manor
Later that day
As Xander opened the door to his home, a blonde whirlind quickly engulfed him in a hug.
"Hey babe." Xander said as he kissed Selina on the forehead.
"Hi, is that for me?" she asked as she eyed the box in his hands.
"No." Xander said as he sat her down and digged into his pocket. "But this is..." he said as he handed her a little black box. With a giggle, she opened it and saw a beautiful golden necklace with a cat pendant on it.
"It's so beautiful." Selina said as she undid the clasp and put the necklace around her neck.
"Yeah, I know you like cats so when I saw it at the jewelry store I knew you'd like it."
"What's going on?" Diana asked as she walked into the room.
"Mommy, look what uncle Xander bought me." Selina said as she held up her necklace.
"That's nice honey." Diana said eyeing the jewelry. "Now go upstairs to your room and finish your homework. Me and your uncle have to do some talking."
"Okay mom." Selina said as she left the room.
"I wish you wouldn't spoil her so much." Diana said giving Xander a look.
"You shouldn't worry about that so much." Xander said with a shrug. "You're doing an excellant job raising her and it's not like I'm gonna corrupt her or anything."
'He still doesn't get it.' Diana thought to herself. "Now what did you want to talk to me about?"
"Well first things first." Xander said as he handed her the package. "This came for you in the mail."
"Whose it from?" she asked, not seeing a return address on it.
"I don't know but...hey it has the Wayne seal on it." he said as he reached to open it, only for it to let loose a small electrical discharge and shock him. "Ow..." he yelled as he took his hand back. "...it must be magically sealed."
"Magical?"
"Yeah, just like the stuff from the warehouse batcave." Xander informed her. "Some parts of it can't be touched by anyone but me, or it shocks them."
"So whoever sent this meant for me to open it and nobody else." Diana figured as she reached for the seal and without being shocked opened it.
"So what's inside?" Xander asked anxiously.
"That old goat..." Diana said with a huge smile as she showed Xander what was inside. It was a custom made Batwoman suit. It was made out of the same material as the Batman suit, but only more lightweight and instead of showing muscles it would show the curves of her body. The only other noticible differences were that her suit had a golden symbol of a bat in the middle of it's chest, the cowl had smaller horns, and it also had a hole in the back of it so her hair could flow out.
"I thought, I told him I didn't want to be Batwoman again." Diana said with a smile as she sat the box down on a table.
"You might have to be." Xander muttered to himself.
"What did you say?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Just sit down, because I need to explain a few things."
"You're gonna leave!" Diana shouted after a few minutes of Xander explaining himself.
"Like I said I'm thinking about it and if I do leave it'll be at the end of the school year."
'Uncle Xander's gonna leave me.' Selina thought to herself from her position of hiding. 'I...I can't believe this.' she thought as she ran up to her room to cry.
"Poor little rich boy." Diana said with a disgusted shake of her head. "Things getting a little to tough so you decide to run."
"It's not like that. The only reason I came here was to kill..."
"So this is all about revenge for you?" she asked cutting him off.
"It was at first but..."
"But what? Xander do you have any idea how many people are counting on you...the Batman?"
"But they have Buffy." Xander countered.
"And she has proven time and time again that she needs help." Diana said as she stood to her feet and jabbed him in the chest with her finger. "And what about me and Selina?"
"You both can come back with me. I think Selina would love it in Gotham."
"Theres no way me and Selina are going to Gotham." she said as she jabbed him in the chest again. "We were born and raised here and by God if I have too, I'll put on that Batwoman suit on and defend Sunnydale myself."
"I got to get out of here." Xander said as he stood to his feet and walked to the door.
"And there's something else you need to do." Diana yelled out, making Xander turn around and look at her. "You need to finally grow up and accept some responsibility." and with that Xander walked out of the door.
The Bronze
Twenty minutes later
As Xander got out of his car and walked to the Bronze entrance, he saw Buffy holding onto Willow who was crying.
"Will's what's wrong?"
"Jesse's what's wrong." Buffy answered for the still weeping red head. "Me and Willow were just hanging out in the Bronze and Jesse came in and totally insulted us both."
"Something's wrong with him." Willow cried out as she latched onto Xander. "I've known him my whole life and he's never acted like this before."
Before Xander could say anything to try to comfort her, a loud boom suddenly filled the air. Looking up they saw a large smoke cloud billowing further in the city, followed by the sound of a security alarm going off.
"What's going on now?" Xander asked irritated.
"I don't know but I have a feeling we should check it out." Buffy told him.
"I do too." Xander said, while internally debating on whether he should leave and change into his batman costume. "Let's just take my car." he said making up his mind.
Sunnydale Securities Bank
As Xander parked his car in front of the blazing inferno, that used to be the bank, he and the others saw five figures emerge out of the building wearing ski masks and carrying large bags of money.
"Maybe we should just wait for the police." Xander suggested as he saw that they were just burgerlers. Suddenly one of them flipped a nearby bench high into the air. "Maybe not." he said as he and Buffy jumped out of the car.
"Willow you stay here." Buffy said as they ran to engage the supernatural threat.
"Xander get out of the way." one of the male bank robbers told him as if he were annoyed.
"How do you know my name?" Xander asked as he grabbed his arm. "Who are you?"
"The Pack." one of the other males answered as he punched Xander hard in the face, sending him almost ten feet in the air.
"Xander!" Buffy yelled alarmed as she was about to run over and help him.
"You should worry more about yourself." one of the masked girls said as she did a spin and sidekicked Buffy in the chest. With an inhuman laugh the other girl of the Pack joined in on the fun.
As Xander opened his eyes, from his position on the ground, he was just able to avoid getting his head smashed by a large black boot. Using the momentum of the roll, as he came up he threw out a punch and a spinkick, that was easily blocked.
"Come on, Xan-man." one of the boys taunted. "I know you can do better than that."
"Jesse." Xander finally realized as he blocked a kick from Jesse and Tor, at the same time, on his forearms. Not being able to move fast enough, Kyle came up behind him and swung his sack of loot at his head, knocking him back down to the ground nearly unconcious.
"Come on guys." Kyle yelled loud enough for the whole gang to hear, as he heard police sirens in the distance. "Let's get out of here."
"Be seeing you, Xand." Jesse said with little emotion as he kicked Xander hard in the ribs. With a laugh at Xander's obvious pain, he took something out of his pocket and dropped it on Xander's chest.
"Bye, Buffy." Rhonda called out as her and Heidi did an almost mirror imaged spinkick, that caught Buffy full in the face. As she landed next to Xander, the only thing she could hear as she closed her eyes, was the hideous laugh of the Pack.
Wayne Manor
"What the hell happened to you?" Diana asked as she saw Xander walk into the living room, looking like one big bruise.
"I...I'll explain later." Xander said as he walked past her, not saying what he really wanted to say to her. "I have somewhere to be right now."
Diana just looked at his retreating form, shook her head sadly, and walked off in the other direction.
Jokers Warehouse
"That's one hundred for me and one dollar for each of you." The Joker was saying as he grinned widely while counting his loot. "And none of you had any problems with the bat?"
"No, but we ran into that Slayer you were telling us about." Kyle said as he threw down a sack full of money.
"And we kicked her ass." Heidi said as she and the others started to laugh at that fact.
"That's all?" the Joker asked. "You didn't kill her?"
"The police were coming." Tor informed him.
"No matter." the Joker said as he went back to counting his money. "I'll just pay her a little visit later." he said as he leaned back and started to laugh crazily.
"Now go." the Joker said as he stopped laughing. "Go out and play. Just come back to me in a couple of days."
Sunnydale Library
"I'm telling you Giles they were way stronger than me." Buffy was saying as she and Willow explained what happened.
"Vampires?" he asked.
"No. I mean why would vamps rob a bank and how did they know my name?"
"Actually there have been several incidences where vampires and other demons have robbed banks." Giles replied as he poured them and then himself some tea.
"And maybe there's an outside force that's trying to kill you, other then the Master." Willow suggested.
"I'm inclined to agree with Miss. Rosenberg." a voice said in the darkness of the room, startling everybody.
"God, will you stop doing that." Buffy said as she saw Batman appear out of the stacks.
"It's my job to lurk and be sneaky, Miss Summers." he replied walking up to the table.
"You...y..yy..."
"It's alright Mr. Giles. Calm down."
"How do you know all of our names?" Willow asked. Strangely feeling comfortable around the Dark Knight.
"I'm a detective Miss Rosenberg." Batman said as he turned to look at her. "It's my job to detect things."
"W-what do you mean there's an outside force behind this?" Giles asked finally finding his voice.
"Because, I found this at the scene of the crime." he replied as he dropped a Joker playing card on the library table.
"Wow if you'd of brought more cards we could be playing poker right now." Buffy said sacastically.
"It's the calling card of the Joker." Batman said, instantly causing Buffy to stiffen at the name.
"He's...he's here?" she asked.
"I believe so."
"But what about the demons that attacked Buffy and Xander at the bank?" Willow asked.
"They weren't demons, Miss Rosenberg." Batman informed her. He really didn't want them to find out it was Jesse yet, until he found out what was going on. "I'm still investigating the situation, but I think that the Joker might have done something to the people you fought today."
"What makes you so sure that the Joker is the cause of these people being super strong?" Buffy asked as Batman started to fade back into the darkness of the room.
"I don't." he said over his shoulder. "But if you have any other theories then please find them out." and with that he was gone.
The next day
"Has anybody seen my car keys?" Xander asked as he walked into the kitchen where Selina and Diana were.
"You have four other cars." Diana pointed out. "Why not take one of them?"
"Those keys are missing too." Xander said with a scratch of his head. He totally missed the guilty look Selina had on her face.
"Well, I still have my keys so I'll just drop you off at school." she told him. "Then when I get back home I'll look for all of your keys."
"Alright." Xander said ackwardly. "Come on squirt, we'll take you to school first." he said as he picked up Selina, who had a saddened look on her face as she layed her head against his chest to hear his heart beat.
The Gym
later that day
"Alright, it's raining, all regular gym classes have been postponed, so you know what that means." Coach Harrold said as he held up a large rubber ball. "dodgeball! Now, for those of you that may have forgotten, the rules are as follows: you dodge." he said as he tossed the ball to Buffy.
Blowing his whistle, he watched as the two groups moved back from center court. He whistled again and the ball throwing commenced. Jesse nailed his first victim, just as Buffy and the pack members easily dodged the balls. The coach sat back enjoying the game from the sidelines, as Jesse nailed another victim. Buffy threw a ball and hit her mark, at the sametime Jesse threw again and nailed Willow hard on the back. She gave him a hurt and confused look as she walked off of the court. As he caught the ball he watched Willow go, but soon continued the game.
Willow sat down, crossed her arms and kept looking at him and a few seconds later just the pack and Lance were left on one side, Buffy on the other. The pack looked at her briefly, then focused on Lance, who fell to the floor and cowered as they each threw their balls at him hard. With wide eyes, Buffy ran over, helped Lance up, and stared at Jesse. He stared back for a moment, then shrugged and left with the others.
"God, this game is brutal." Coach Harrold said to himself as he wiped a tear from his eye. "I love it."
Nobody in the room saw that Xander had entered the room. He was going to tell them that they found Principal Flutie eaten alive, but instead he saw the whole confrontation. Quickly jotting down a few notes, he walked out of the school gym.
later that day
Willow stood in the hallway nervously waiting for Jesse after class, and went up to him when he came from the other hall with the pack.
"Jesse... What's wrong with you?" Willow asked. With a smile Jesse looked at the others briefly and pulled Willow aside.
"I wanted to apologize for the things I said to you earlier." Jesse said lowly. "And I guess you've noticed that I've been different around you lately."
"Yes."
"I think, um... I think it's because my feelings for you have been changing." Jesse said as Buffy and Xander walked around the corner to her locker.
"And, well, we've been friends for such a long time that I feel like I need to tell you something." Jesse told her seriously.
Willow then looked at him expectantly. She had been waiting for as long as she could remember. Jesse was finally going to tell her that...
"I've, um... I've decided to drop out of school. So I won't be needing your help anymore. Which means I won't have to look at your pasty face again." Jesse said as he and the pack started to laugh.
With a crushed heart and tears stinging her eyes, Willow turned on her heel and ran. Buffy watched her quickly walk by, slammed her locker and approached Jesse with her arms crossed, with Xander a step behind her. Seeing the love of his life walk up to him Jesse stopped laughing.
"You gonna say something to me next?" Buffy asked as Jesse leaned in to whisper something in her ear.
"Maybe, later."
"So are you done picking on, Willow?" Xander asked as he got in Jesse's face. They got so close that their noses were only inches apart. "Because, I'm dying for you guys to try to pick on me."
"The way I'm feeling right now, buddy I don't think you should mention the word dying." Jesse replied as he lightly tapped Xander on the shoulder.
Xander just looked at them and they started laughing again more loudly. And at that moment Buffy realized where she heard that laugh from. Ignoring that fact, she and Xander ran in the other direction to try to find Willow.
"So you believe that Jesse and the others are the Jokers henchmen?" Giles asked as he walked out of the stacks.
"Yeah." Buffy replied as she held onto Willow who was still softly crying. "They had that same dogish laugh and everything."
"A hyena." Willow muffled from Buffy's shoulder.
"What?" she asked as she looked down at Willow.
"They were laughing like a pack of hyena's." Willow said looking up at her.
'Of course, hyena's.' Xander thought to himself. 'That's the Joker's M.O., he has to be the one who did this to Jesse and the others. But how?'
"Nevertheless, when did all of this trouble start?" Giles asked, getting them back on subject.
"The zoo." Buffy and Willow concluded together.
"That's wierd that all of your car keys are missing." Willow said as she, Buffy, and Xander walked further into the zoo.
"Yeah, I'm just glad that Diana was able to drop us off here." he said as they ducked under the tape and started in, but were then caught in the act by a zookeeper.
"Oh, hold it, hold it, are you blind, or are you just illiterate?" he asked. "Because hyenas are very quick to prey on the weak."
"Oh, w-we were just gonna take..."
"You're not going in there." the zookeeper cut Buffy off. "Anyone that does is in a world of trouble."
"No, no one's going in there." Willow said as she and Buffy came back out."
"Why is it off-limits?" Buffy asked.
"It's a quarantine. These hyenas just came in from Africa, so keep out." he replied as he cocked his eyebrow. "Even if they call your name."
"What are you talking about?" Willow asked.
"The Masai tribesmen told me that hyenas are capable of understanding human speech." he answered them. "They follow humans around by day, learning their names. At night, when the campfire dies, they call out to a person. Once they separate him, the pack..." he stopped to snap his fingers. "devours them."
"Wierd." Buffy replied.
"Hey." the zookeeper said looking around. "Where's that boy that was with you?"
As Xander looked around the hyena pit, he saw a sacred symbol drawn on the floor. Quickly snapping up some pictures, with a small camera, he walked out to meet back up with the others.
"And you're sure that, that's what the zookeeper said to you?" Giles asked as they again met at the school library. He wasn't sure when he would ever get some sleep.
"Yeah and he was way spooky." Buffy told him.
"Then perhaps Batman was wrong about the Joker's involvement in this." Giles said as he took his glasses off to polish them. "From what I've read about the Joker he doesn't dabble in magic."
"Actually, he is involved." Batman said as he walked into the room. "Just not in the original way I thought."
"That's it!" Buffy yelled as she stood to her feet and pointed at the dark knight. "I'm so going to put a little bell on you."
"Very amusing miss Summers." Batman said, even though he struggled not to grin, as he tossed a folder on the table. Spilling it's contents as he did so. "I did some surveillance earlier today and I found this at the zoo's hyena chamber."
"This circle's symbol looks vaguely familiar." Giles said as he examined the pictures.
"It should. Especially if you have a book on the works from Sherman Jeffries' on cults and rituals or the Malleus Maleficarum."
"You really do your homework don't you?" Buffy asked.
"I'n more ways then one." Batman said as he looked at her.
"Then if the Joker isn't responsible for this then who..."
"The zookeeper." Willow said aloud. "He was acting way wierd today."
"You're absolutely right, miss Rosenberg." Batman said causing her to smile. "After finding out about that rare species of Hyena's and the spell that was used, I did a background check on him. His name is Edward Mallory and he's wanted for animal smuggling and a few other things. My guess is he smuggled those Hyena's into Sunnydale so he could steal their spirit's and become a powerful being."
"So we know who did what and why, but what do we do now?" Buffy asked.
"With the help of Batwoman, I've managed to figure out a way to pull a reverse-possession of which I want Miss Rosenberg and Mr. Giles to perform."
"So what am I supposed to do?" Buffy asked as she stood to her feet.
"Come with me. I put a tracer on one of the pack members." (that's what Xander was doing when he got in Jesse's face.)Batman said as he turned his back to her. "Now let's go hunting."
"I didn't say she looks better than you, I said she looks better." a man said to his wife as they got ready to leave to meet her sister.
"I heard what I heard." he wife said irritated as she looked over at her son. "Joey, chew. You have to chew or you'll choke." she said as they got in their jeep.
"I don't see why we have to have this conversation every time we see them." Mr. Anderson continued the argument.
"I didn't start it." she replied in a huff as she put on her seatbelt.
"Damn." Mr. Anderson said as he looked at the ignition. "Where are the keys?"
"Huh?" Mrs. Anderson said as they heard Joey's name being called from outside and began to look around.
Suddenly Kyle looked down from the Jeep's roof into Joey's window. The mother screamed as two others climbed onto the hood and slapped at the windshield. Jesse was at the window opposite Kyle and they all pounded on the car.
"What going on!" Mr. Anderson asked nervously as he looked around. "Hey! Get off! Get off of there!"
"Get away!" Joey cried out as Jesse broke the window with his elbow, growled, and reached in for him.
"Joey! Joey! Joey!" his mom yelled as she reached back to try to protect him.
Buffy suddenly came running up, grabbed Rhonda and threw her off of the hood to
the ground. She climbed to the roof and did an in-to-out crescent kick, knocking Kyle off. She then looked down at Jesse's feet sticking out of the window.
He stopped reaching for Joey as he suddenly picked up a scent. Crawling back out of the window he looked up and said...
"Xand..." and that's all he got to say as a powerful punch lifted him off of his feet.
"No, it's Batman."
As Jesse stood to his feet the pack gathered around him and looked up at Batman and Buffy. Batman only scowled as Buffy straightened up and put her hands on her hips.
"C'mon. You know what you want." Buffy taunted as she turned, jumped off of the car and starts running down the street, with Batman only a step behind her. With a growl the pack gave chase.
Hyena House
"Giles...Giles they're coming!" Willow yelled out as she saw Batman and Buffy running for their lives.
"Alright, I need you back over here so we can begin the ritual." Giles said as she sat down next to him in the circle and started to speak in an unrecognizable language. Mere seconds later, Buffy and Batman came spilling into the room with the pack growling hungrily behind them.
As the majority of the pack, were about to go after Buffy, Jesse waved them back and they went after Batman instead.
"I guess it's just me and you, Buff." Jesse said as he pounced at her. She faked him out and jumped on him, knocking him down with her on top holding down his arms.
"Been waitin' for you to jump my bones." Jesse said with a smile, then quickly growled and rolled Buffy over onto her back so he's on top now and has her arms pinned down.
"Get off of me." Buffy ordered him, as she heard Batman grunting in the background.
"Is that what you really want?" Jesse asked as Buffy started to struggle a bit. "We both know what you really want. You want danger, don't cha? You like your men dangerous."
"You're in trouble, Jesse." Buffy tried to reason. "You're infected with some hyena thing, it's like a demonic possession."
"Do you know how long... I've waited... until you'd stop pretending that we aren't attracted..."
Before he could get the rest out, Buffy threw him off of her and quickly got up to face him. He gets up too, and began to approach her as she backed away.
"I wish, Willow would stop kidding herself and realize that I couldn't settle with anyone else but you."
"So you knew that Willow had a crush on you?" Buffy asked.
"Since the beginning." Jesse said as he backed her up against the wall. "I was actually gonna ask her out, but the day I saw you that all changed."
"Jesse, I don't wanna hurt you." Buffy said as he roughly grabbed her by the arms.
"You've already hurt me." Jesse informed her. "By falling in love with Xander instead of me."
"Wha..."
"Don't deny it. I've seen the way you two always look at one another." he said angrily. "But that's all gonna change." he said as he moved in to kiss her roughly on the neck. But didn't get the chance, because a vase was suddenly smashed over his head knocking him unconcious.
"Are you alright?" Batman asked.
"Yeah, but how did you..."
"I used gas grenades on them. The Pack will be out of it for quite some time." Batman said as he pointed at their unconcious forms, over his shoulder. "Now come on, Mr. Giles is almost done with the spell.
As Giles mumbled the last words of the incantation, the zookeeper jumped out of his place of hiding, and jumped in the way of the spirits of the Hyena's as they floated in the air.
"Finally." he roared almost animalistically. "I've transcended."
"Yeah, straight to jail." Batman informed him.
"Do you really think a jail could hold me?" he asked as he advanced on him.
"Maybe not." the dark knight said with a shrug. "But let's find out anyway." he said as he charged the zookeeper, knocking him down and away from Willow and Giles.
Angered the zookeeper got up and punched Batman, as Buffy flipped over and kicked the zookeeper in the chest. Finally waking up, Kyle and his gang saw the fight and began to crawl away on their butts. The zookeeper charged Buffy again, but she tossed him over onto his back. He got up and tried again, but Buffy got under him and threw him up and into the hyena pit. He tried to climb out, but was dragged back down by the hyenas. Kyle and company got up and scrambled away. Buffy and Batman ran to the pit to see if they could save the zookeeper, but they were too late. The zookeepers screams stopped as the Hyena's had their last human meal.
Wayne Manor
thirty minutes later
As Xander walked out of the piano room, he saw Diana about to take Selina up to her room. Meeting his gaze, she was about to walk away until Xander grabbed her arm.
"Can we talk for a minute?" Xander asked.
"Yeah." Diana said glumly. "Selina go up to your room and I'll be up in a second to tuck you in." seeing that her daughter did as she was told, Diana turned and looked at Xander suspiciously.
"I...I wanted to say that, I'm sorry." Xander told her seriously. "You were right about everything you said. I don't want to stay in Sunnydale just for revenge, because I realize now that I'm needed here. And...and I love you and Selina. You're a part of my family and I had no right trying to make you leave your home."
"So you've finally grown up." Diana realized.
"Yeah." Xander said with a sad smile as she walked past him. "You'll never give up on me will you?"
"Not until you give me a reason too." she said as she headed upstairs.
"Wait." Xander called out. "I'll tuck, Selina in tonight."
As Xander approached Selina's bedroom, he frowned as he heard her quietly sobbing to herself.
"Selina are you okay?" he asked as he opened the door and saw her on her bed.
"I'm...I'm fine uncle Xander." she replied as she sat up and wiped away her tears.
"Then why are you crying?" he asked as he sat down next to her on the bed.
"I..it was just my allergies."
"You don't have to lie to me babe." he said as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "Now what's wrong?"
"You're leaving." she almost yelled out as she flung herself on him and started crying again.
"Hey...hey, who told you I was leaving?" he asked as he gently squeezed her back.
"I...I overheard you and mommy yesterday." Selina said as she looked up at him. "Did I do something to make you want to leave?"
"Of course not and I'm not leaving, okay. This is our home."
"Really?" Selina asked as her tears started to subside.
"Really." Xander confirmed.
With that said, Selina reached under her bed and handed him a shoe box. Curious to what she was giving him, he opened it and saw his missing car keys.
"I see you really didn't want me to leave." Xander said as he smiled at her.
"Sorry."
"You don't have anything to be sorry about." he said as he stood to his feet, as she layed back in bed. "I'll see you in the morning squirt." he said as he tucked her in, kissed her on the forehead, and walked to the door.
"Uncle Xander." Selina called out, making him turn around.
"Yeah?"
"I love you."
"I love you too, babe." he said as he walked out of the room and closed the door.
Sunnydale High
The next day
"I heard the vice-principal's taking over till they can find a replacement." Willow was saying as she, Jesse, and Buffy walked across the quad together.
"It shouldn't be too hard to find a new principal." Buffy commented. "Unless they ask what happened to the last one."
"Guys, I wanted to say that I was sorry about what I said." Jesse said as he ran his hand through his hair.
"Well, it wasn't really you." Buffy said with a shrug. "And plus Kyle and his gang don't seem to remember anything either."
"Still, I can't remember all of what happened but, I'm still sorry." and as soon as those words left his mouth, Xander ran up and punched him in the jaw.
"Ow!" Jesse yelled out. "What was that for?"
"For hurting, Willow's feelings." Xander said as he shook his sore fist. "And for..."
"Xander he's not possessed anymore." Buffy informed him. She had forgotten to call him and tell him about what had happened last night.
"And plus he just apologized to me." Willow added.
"Opps." Xander said sheepishly. "Sorry man, but hey nobody messes with my Willow." he said as he gave her a hug, making both Willow and Buffy smile.
"Well, I didn't do anything else, did I, around you guys or anything embarrassing?" Jesse asked still holding his sore jaw.
The girls smiled at that question, and Buffy considered what to tell him.
"Nah!" Buffy lied with a shake of her head.
"Not at all." Willow put in.
"C'mon." Buffy said as she looked over at Willow and Xander. "We're gonna be late."
"See you at lunch." Willow said over her shoulder to Jesse.
"Cool! Oh, hey, goin' vegetarian! Huh?" Jesse yelled as he gave them two thumbs-up. Willow turned and smiled at him. Maybe there was hope for the two yet. As Jesse started to head the other way he was met by Giles.
"Mr. McNally, I've been reading up on my, uh, animal possession, and I cannot find anything anywhere about memory loss afterwards."
"Did you tell them that?" Jesse asked.
"Your secret dies with me." Giles whispered into his ear.
"Oh just shoot me if this ever happen's again." Jesse said half joking.
Giles patted him on the shoulder as he shaked his head and started walking along the balcony. He then leaned on the railing and watched Jesse go.
The Joker's warehouse
"The pack never reported back." Harley said as she finished changing into her jesture's costume and got in the Joker's purple car. "The spell must have ended."
"Who cares?" Joker replied with a short laugh as he threw a black duffle in the backseat. "With the money they stole for me, I can finally finish my plans. Now come on baby, let's recruit some more henchmen."
A/N I wanted Xander to have a bit of a different personality then he did in the show. You see my theory is that the Xander on the show had a white knight personality because he was abused by his parents. That action manifested itself in a way that when he see's someone in trouble he tries to save them. Maybe the powers that be arranged it like that. I don't know.
But the Xander from my fanfic never had to experience that. He never had to experience abuse(of that nature) and basically never had to want for anything. He grew up to be a rich boy, basically. But as Diana put it to him and seeing as what he learned, he see's that this is his destiny. And that he needs the others just as they need him.
Oh and I'm gonna be mixing Batman missions with some of the Buffy episodes and I'll be skipping others. But don't worry for the episode I skip, I'll put up a summary for what happens.
TBC...
Please Review...