MOVING FORWARD
It had been weeks since Sunnydale had collapsed onto itself hopefully taking the Hellmouth with it. He could only hope. Others were so sure that the Hellmouth was completely gone with no hopes of returning, however, Xander Harris had seen far too much to believe that with the amount of conviction everyone else had. Though, he couldn't live in the past, his present held much more pressing concerns. Well, pressing at the moment.
Shortly after reaching Oxnard he had come to the conclusion that he needed a break. However, Xander being the way he was would never allow himself to abandon so many people in need, especially his friends. It was almost ironic when all of his friends, with the exception of Dawn, and surprisingly Giles, confronted him and tried to persuade him to move on, and make a life of his own. Away from all of this. They were all aware that he had a good deal of money saved from work, and add to that the insurance money he received from loosing his eye, made it so he would be able to live a comfortable life and never truly have to worry about money. What they didn't know was that he was still the sole inheritor from Anya's will. That surprised him as well. It may be some time before he saw any of that money, and somehow she had accumulated a lot of it. She was, after all, over 1100 years old and had always loved money, but he didn't think he really needed it. However the fact that his friends were trying to force him out of the group once again, as though they didn't learn well enough the last time this happened, was all he needed as motivation to leave sooner than later. He was too tired to fight them, and part of him didn't want to. He told himself that it wasn't like he was planning on making a complete break. Perhaps he would take another small vacation. Not more traveling, perhaps he would settle down some place and just live a little. So as much as it pained him to leave his friends, "his girls," he decided to go.
When the day came a lot of tears were spent, on all sides. Even Buffy seemed to cry some, which he thought was a good thing. The junior Slayers could hopefully see she wasn't just some emotionless freak.
The person he was the most worried about was Dawn. She had already lost so much, she practically had him signing legal documents stating that he would constantly call, write, e-mail, message, send a carrier pigeon, to keep in contact with her.
That had been almost three weeks ago and he was already bored out of his skull. Even after leaving the always on the edge lifestyle and settling in a suburb of San Francisco, he had curiously found himself still coming in contact with the 'night life" he left behind. He was somewhat fascinated by the fact that even handicapped he could take on a vamp one on one and come out on top. He figured that the Hellmouth must have made the vamps there stronger. Well, he'd have someone look into it.
He wasn't going around at night looking for trouble, but it did seem to find him. That and there was no way in Hell that he would ignore someone's cry for help. He needed something to occupy his time, and he didn't think that becoming immersed in the night life would suit him for too long. He decided it was time to get a job.
He wasn't quite sure what to do. His having only one eye was too much of a handicap for him to get another job in construction, that and he didn't have a clientele for doing it on his own. He decided to go out and sulk and perhaps get a little drunk in the face of his current predicament. Not too drunk, he saw what that had done to his parents, but he decided some socializing along with some drinking may be just what the doctor ordered.
THE FIRST STEP
So there he was, waiting with a mass of other people in an overcrowded bar to be served.
He searched the bar to see what the problem was when he saw an attractive woman with brown hair who looked like she was about to go crazy. She was muttering to herself while attempting to get everyone there order. He slowly made his way toward her where she was still muttering to herself about how there is never any good help these days. She looked like she was about to break down when Xander decided to speak up.
"Excuse me miss. I couldn't help but to overhear you. Maybe I can help."
She looked up at him and saw a somewhat attractive man with a good build who was wearing an eye-patch. She regarded him skeptically. "Oh really, and just how are you going to do that?"
"I've worked behind a bar before for an entire summer. I can mix just about any drink that you can think of as long as you have the ingredients." He said noticing they had a very well stocked up bar.
"That wouldn't be a problem on my end" she returned with a smile. "But you think you can help out because you learned to tend bar for a summer?"
"Oh I learned to do that long before. Just about the time I was able to walk. You can thank my parents for that." He replied wearing a lop-sided grin.
She looked him over again, he looked pretty confident in his bartending capabilities and with his small grin she decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. Well that and she was completely desperate. "Fine you can sta-" she began to say when he placed a hand on the bar and vaulted over the top landing just next to her with a smirk on his face. "I was going to say that you can start as soon as you're ready, but I can see you're already ready."
He smiled and nodded his head, "I'm Xander by the way." And with that he went to help his first of many customers.
She smiled at his retreating back and said, "I'm Piper, and thanks for your help."
With that said, the night progressed fluidly. Xander kept pouring and mixing drinks, earning himself quite a few tips, and flirted with more women than he had come across in quite a long time. 'Perhaps they dig the eye-patch' he mused to himself, his quirky grin/smirk never leaving his face the entire night. He chatted amiably with the customers throughout the night, and when Piper stopped cursing her luck with her lack of help, which happened after 5 minutes of Xander's serving customers and never messing up an order, she became quite pleasant to be around.
All in all this night was turning out to be a godsend for Xander. He felt refreshed, and relaxed. Even through the throng of people wanting drinks or just to chat with the new bartender. This was definitely a good night for Xander, and the fact that he just made a friend, judging by the smile present on Piper's face, this night would definitely be placed in his "good night" column.
The night had progressed smoothly and now, just after closing, Xander and Piper were having a conversation while he was helping her close up the bar.
"So, could I interest you in a job?" she sounded hopeful.
He chuckled a bit while wiping up a table and placing the chairs on top. "Yeah I think I could do with a job, and I actually enjoyed myself."
"Not to mention all of the attractive women hitting on you throughout the night. You were quite the hit tonight."
This earned her another chuckle before he answered. "Well there is that too."
They both shared a small smile while they continued to clean the bar. After a couple of minutes of silence Piper decided to break it. "So on to the subject of money, and tonight…"
Xander looked at her and interrupted, "Don't worry about tonight, I made quite a bit on tips, however you want to break it up between me and the staff is fine. And as far as a salary goes…I trust you."
She began to stare at him so he relented, "Due to the recent development of this," indicating his eye-patch "I received quite a sum because of insurance. I also recently came into some more money before I left. So that's something I really won't have to worry about for the foreseeable future. I want this job, not for the money, but because it gives me something to due. Tonight was also the first time in quite a while that I had a truly enjoyable time." Smiling at her, he continued. "Don't get me wrong, I'm not allergic to money, but I'm fortunate enough right now for it not to be a pressing concern." He looked over to her finding her nodding along with what he had said with a sad smile on her face, indicating that she could relate. Suddenly the smile became quite a bit brighter.
"Well, let me say welcome to the newest Employee of P3." Her smile was full and genuine. He found his own become brighter. A smile that was not forced onto his face like it had been in the past. He was about to reply with a 'Thank you' while putting on his jacket that he had taken off when he started to tend the bar, when he felt the hairs on the back of his neck suddenly stiffen. His smile vanished. This was something that he was familiar with. It had been present throughout his life while living on the Hellmouth. He started to look around the room. Piper noticed his sudden change and was about to comment when she saw his eye widen.
He was searching the entire place with an intensity he hadn't felt in a while. The feeling he had was now far more intense, almost like an itch that had to be scratched. Living on a Hellmouth, he had discovered that one learned to form some sort of defense, an early warning system as to when trouble was around. While being on a Hellmouth trouble was a constant fixed point that hence that feeling was always present with him. There he had vague feelings when something was about to transpire. Now it was strong, and he could feel it with a certainty. He had virtually developed his own 'Spidey-Sense.' He began to sweep the room again when his sight landed on Piper, or perhaps a little behind Piper.
A figure began to shimmer into existence. Xander's eyes widened and before he knew what was happening he was rushing towards Piper with his arms outstretched. He saw it and knew one thing. Demon. With a capital D. It was huge; its skin was blue and quite muscular. It seemed to radiate energy and power and had a ball of energy already in its hand and had thrown at Piper's back. Xander tackled her to the floor as the ball went just over there backs. Xander rolled with his landing and came to his feet just to the right of the Demon. Without a conscious thought he found his foot connecting with the side of the Demon's head. Stunned it rolled to the floor to surge up again with extreme anger.
"YOU DARE TO STRIKE ME HUMAN"
"Oh I dare, I definitely dare!"
And with that statement he charged the Demon. He didn't want to give it the opportunity to fire and more of those energy balls and wind up hitting Piper. He went in fast and hard. He knew the demon had to be strong but he found it also to be slow. Every time it swung at him he was able to evade, just barely though. He was able to hit it on occasion. That did a little damage but merely seemed to piss it off even more. It was able to get a lucky shot through his defenses due to his extreme blind spot. Xander was sent sailing though the air and crashed into a table, knocking the chairs that he had placed in top of it.
With a little difficulty he was able to get back to his feet to see it stalk towards him with one intention on its mind. Death…death with as much pain as possible. He looked to his left and saw Piper flinging her hands towards the Demon and a look of Horror as nothing happened. 'Why the hell doesn't she run, and who the hell is this Demon and why the hell is it here. Is it after me, or her?' If it was here for her, he didn't want to remind the Demon that she was still in the room. While he was debating what to do another feeling washed over him. It wasn't a feeling of dread, almost a feeling of hope. Suddenly a blue and white light could be seen to shower in out of nowhere. When the light dissipated three people stood in its place. There were two women, extremely attractive and bore a resemblance to Piper. The third was a man. A little older than Piper, he looked trustworthy in Xander's eyes.
As the Demon was slowly stalking towards him, Xander could see Piper rush to the three newcomers. They must be her family, he decided. She had some quick words, took something from one of her sisters, read it, and then gave a quick nod. As soon as she nodded the third and youngest sister, threw a vial that exploded, and shattered, just at the Demon's feet and a mist surrounded it. The Demon turned around to glare at the person who would dare to interrupt its vengeance. When he completed his turn to face his next victim he found his worst nightmare. The demon's eyes widened in terror as he heard the three witches end their Power of Three spell. All was silent for a moment, and then there was nothing but agonizing pain for the Demon. It screamed its unholy scream as it was consumed in the magical flames that were consuming it and vanquishing it to the depths of hell. And as soon as it began in ended, with no indication that the Demon had ever been there. Well nothing other than the overturned table and chairs strewn on the floor. That and Xander, lay on the ground breathing a little heavy with a bruise forming on his chest under his shirt and coat.
He was about to say something witty when that feeling of absolute dread came about once more. The hairs on his neck felt as though they would never go back to normal. Whatever was coming was far worse than what had just been vanquished. He was also pretty sure it wasn't coming for him. He could just leave. Though he knew that would never truly be an option, not for him. Again he began to frantically search the room. He turned towards the three sisters and their friend and told them. "This isn't finished, we aren't alone." As soon as he said those words another shimmer occurred. Depositing another Demon. It looked to be identical to the last one, however it seemed to be stronger, and the power it possessed seemed to dwarf its brother, it almost felt like an assault to Xander, the Three witches, and their friend in physical waves.
The Demon's eyes searched its area; it could feel the vanishing essence of its brother and knew what had transpired. With a booming voice it declared, "YOU HAVE DESTROYED MY BROTHER. YOUR DAYS OF LIVING ARE NOW OVER. ALL YOU WILL KNOW FOR AN ETERNITY IS EXTREME PAIN." With this said it waved a hand and thirty new people, vampires, came into existence, surrounding them. With another wave of its arm all of the tables and chairs slid silently back to the far corners of the wall clearing out a large area. Its own battlefield. "KILL THEM NOW." And with that the vampires' game faces began to appear. Sudden gasps were heard from the sisters when one asked, "What are they?"
Piper responded, "I don't know Paige, but they don't look friendly." She frantically began to scan the room. "My powers were useless before…I hope they work now."
Casually walking towards them, listening to their conversation, he replied. "They are vampires Piper, and you can kill them just like they do in the movies." Xander studied their faces to make sure they were listening. "A stake in the heart, decapitation, sunlight, etc…" He was cut off as Piper waved her hands at one of the advancing vampires and it exploded into dust. "Or like that." He replied with a lop-sided grin. The other vampires backed off momentarily in light of this new development. "That was pretty cool. I think we are gonna have to have a little chat when this all done." His grin had turned into a full smirk. Phoebe, the witch closest to him replied.
"Well I don't see any stakes or sunlight around here do you?" Looking over at her sister, she turned back to face him "I don't think Piper can take all of them on her own. And we still have to deal with the demon."
Xander looked over to her and with a smile extended his hand as if to give a shake. "I'm Xander."
"Phoebe" she replied with a smirk bringing her hand over to shake his. When she looked down a stake was in her hands and she saw two more roll down the sleeves of his jacket. He looked to the other witch expectantly and saw her nod. He tossed one of the stakes to her and made a quick movement with that arm and another stake rolled out of the sleeve. The same question was put forth to unknown man and he got the same response. After tossing the stake in his other hand to the man he made a similar motion as before and another stake rolled into his palm.
Phoebe quirked an eyebrow at him. "I think we are definitely having that chat later, and how many stakes do you have with you?" He was about to respond when his posture changed, and before she could do anything he lunged at her. Thinking that he was about to attack her and that she was too slow to stop it couldn't think what to do. She hoped one of her sisters would see and stop him. Instead, to her surprise, she was gently shoved to the floor at his side. When she turned to him with extreme anger, she noticed a bruise forming on his face. She looked up to see a vampire growling at them. And again, before she could react the vamp was on its back and Xander slammed his stake into its non-beating heart. She gasped as it turned to dust like her sister's did. And with that, the fight was on. No quarter was asked for or given. With a fluid movement he was on his feet again. Phoebe was up a moment behind him.
Soon he was in the thick of it. He wasn't sure how he was still alive, he was getting hit by the vamps and if this had been Sunnydale he would have been worm food by now. Either they were weaker, or he was getting stronger. He didn't know and, at that moment, he didn't care.
Looking around he noticed that he was giving as good as he got. But they had been split into two groups. He and Phoebe were in one group and the other three were on the opposite side of the bar. Piper was making quick work of any of the vamps that were stupid enough to come at her. Paige and the other man were also doing fairly well, but with the large advantage of having Piper's ability on their side…soon all 10 of the vamps were dust. They were about to join Xander and Phoebe when the Demon decided to step in and challenge the three.
Phoebe looked and moved as if she were a slayer. She didn't have the strength of one, but what she lacked in slayer strength she more than made up for in grace. Between Her and Xander the 20 vamps that were attacking them were reduced to twelve. However Xander's handicap came in full force again as a vamp blindsided him and knocked him to the ground. Up till that point he was fairing well. But he could tell it wouldn't last. For every one that he was able to dust two more were just behind it. They were coming from all sides in all shapes and sizes , and now that he was on the ground the vamps were definitely ones to kick a man while they were down.
Their claws broke into his flesh, and their powerful punches and kicks began to bruise his skin and damage his bones. The pain was becoming intense and he began to drift towards unconsciousness. As he started to drift his mind suddenly took a detour and he found himself in some sort of trance. He could feel the kicks, punches, and claws striking him, but it no longer affected him. With a surge of energy that was inhuman he was on his feet again. Any vamp that was close enough to see him would have begged for their pitiful unlife, even though such a plea would have been ignored. What they saw was their own death. It was inevitable, it simply was.
With a feral snarl Xander leapt into the air and came down on the closest vamp. Where there would normally be only wild animalistic impulses there was now a cold, but knowledgeable appearance to him. It was the look of a soldier. With deadly and precise movements he cut through the remaining vamps as though they were nothing, because at this moment they were nothing.
Phoebe stood there in complete shock. She saw him go down and an overwhelming concern ran though her. She wanted to cry, yet se hardly knew him. The vamps seemed to concentrate on beating him to a pulp but she could barely move. She found herself having a harder time defending herself from the vamps that were attacking her. Then when she thought all was lost she saw him surge to his feet and heard an animalistic snarl come from him. She didn't know what to do. Then she saw the look of intelligence in his eyes, and the ease, and savageness, in which he went through the rest of the vamps and didn't know what to think. When he finished he looked straight at her. He began to advance towards her and she made ready to defend herself though she was trembling all the while. He stopped just in front of her and slowly brought his hand down. He gently caressed her arm until his hand rested on her stake. She released it into his grasp. He gave her a nod and made his way towards the other three battling the Demon.
Inside his mind Xander was in awe. He knew that there was a presence in his mind he could feel the soldier and could always feel the presence of the Hyena. That the soldier would act as it was now wasn't a shock. The Hyena though was another matter all together. He could feel its thoughts, its needs. Where once it wanted to be the Alpha, and kill all those weaker and those who would challenge it, now it KNEW it was the alpha. It sole purpose here and now was to protect its pack. It had grown and learned all while Xander was keeping it locked away. It felt compelled to protect all in its pack. All those that Xander would call friend. And now it wanted to protect the witches and the strange man. The man smelt different, but that wasn't important now. It seeked and accepted the guidance of it compatriot, the soldier. So with the powers of the Hyena and the intellect of the soldier, this new form jumped into the fray. The Demon never stood a chance.
With quick and swift movements Xander stabbed and pounded on the Demon. Hitting it from all angles never giving it time to recover from the wounds he was inflicting. One of the sisters, the one Piper referred to as Paige earlier, took a napkin and took some of the demons blood that was in a pool on the floor. She quickly vanished in that familiar shower of light to reappear a few minutes later where the battle was still taking place.
"Leo, how is he still fighting?" Paige asked.
Leo looked at Paige, and then looked back at the fight in awe. "I'm not sure. I've never seen or heard anything like this. He looks, and feels, as though he's being possessed by an animal spirit. I've only seen a few who were, but none, and I mean none were able to control the impulses as he is doing. Its like he has the ability of the animal, but is able to control the instincts and actions. And I have definitely seen those instincts before. They look all too familiar from when I was in the military during war-time. I don't know how he is doing it. But he won't last much longer. He is hurt, and hurt bad. I don't know how he even lasted this long."
Phoebe came up next to him. "I can see it in his eye. The determination, he'll last as long as he has to, and then he'll go on some more." Looking at Paige she queried, "Did you bring a potion?"
Paige nodded, "Yea I used the blood of this demon in the remains of our last potion. I know that it has the blood of his brother already mixed in but I don't think that will impair it." The three sisters nodded. Leo took the vile from Paige and with deadly accuracy threw it as the Demon. The vile and the potion landed on the Demon's back and splattered on it. Xander, who saw what happened last time was screaming in his mind. 'Move your ass soldier their going to vanquish its sorry ass.' As the witches started chanting flames erupted from the demon and it took a step back from Xander. It kept moving trying to get away from the flames but it continued to consume him as it did his brother. And like his brother his fate was sealed and he and the flames vanished into nothingness.
With the demon gone Xander began to come out of his trance, and as he did the pain came back full force. His body went limp and he fell to the floor. The last thing he heard before he drifted off was from Piper claiming "One day here and you ruin my bar, this is coming out of your paycheck." Even as he went to land of Nod he could feel the smile on Piper's face, even with the extreme worry in her voice.
Piper had a smile tinged with sadness and a lot of worry on her face as Leo bent over Xander and began to inspect him. He looked up towards the woman he loves and said. "The boy is badly injured. I'll be able to heal him but I think we should do this someplace safer. Lets go back to the Manor. Chris brought Wyatt up to the Elders. Those demons were here to kill us to get to Wyatt." He looked down at Xander again and spoke softly, "Lets go, he really does need help." And with that Piper put her hand on his shoulder and gave it an affectionate squeeze. Paige put her hand on Phoebe's shoulder and the five of them left to go back to the manor in that familiar display of showering light.