Note: I apologize for not getting this chapter out sooner. My original beta reader has some RL stuff (work) that is keeping him too busy to beta read for a while. So...as of right now I would like to thank DextersLab2003 and Nightangel for beta reading the current and following chapters :)
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Xander was the first person to move. The fact that his friends were in such an extreme state of shock told Xander that this was exactly who he thought it was. 'Shit, what the Hell is going on?' He was rapidly advancing on the man. 'We'll figure it out later.'
'I can feel his buzz..' Xander put his sword in a thrusting position. 'Take him out and we'll sort the rest of it out later.' That was his last thought before all he felt was pain.
He was only a few feet away and closing in on the long lost Immortal. With a speed and reflexes that were totally unnatural, Richie pulled out a large and deadly looking bastard sword.
Xander was already lunging with his sword, trying to pierce the other man's heart. He could almost feel his sword penetrating his target when the unthinkable happened.
With a speed that was clearly inhuman his thrust was blocked and parried. The force and strength possessed by his opponent was staggering. Xander was still moving forward when Richie landed a backhanded blow, sending Xander air born from one end of the room to the other.
While still air born, Xander collided with the bar on the opposite end of the room. When he hit the ground it felt as though his entire body was one large bruise.
It was only years of abuse fighting in this war that kept him conscious. Thankfully, due to his immortal healing, and his ability to focus that he picked up from Leo, he was able to get back up and into a kneeling position.
He quickly surveyed the room. Duncan still was in a state of shock from seeing his old student, a man he knew to have beheaded himself, standing in the doorway as alive as ever. But Duncan did seem to be slowly drawing himself out of that state. The fact that the hate and anger seemed to ooze out of every pore of his ex-student's being was not helping the situation.
Methos, thankfully, had quickly recovered from his shock, and was now putting himself in a defensive position. One that would help him in defending himself and Duncan should the Highlander need assistance.
Xander knew that neither man had a clue as to what they were getting themselves into. That man, Richie, if it even really was Duncan's student, seemed to be as strong, if not stronger, than Caleb. That was just what they needed, another uber-strong bad guy. Another minion of the first that was stronger than a Slayer was something that he could have done without.
Seeing that Richie was about to move, Xander knew he had to do something. From his kneeling position, he placed his sword on the ground next to him. Forming an energy ball in his hand, he threw it at Richie. The ball impacted against his chest sending Richie pack a couple of steps. There was a small amount of smoke coming from where the ball had made contact and, even more importantly, Richie seemed to be in pain.
Getting onto his feet, Xander began to rapidly fling energy balls at the same spot on Richie's body. Each ball impacted where it was sent. Each one backing Richie up a couple of steps, he was now in the den. Each ball that Xander threw caused more pain than the last. With a scream that was full of both extreme rage and pain, Richie retreated through and out of the house, vanishing into the night.
Once the commotion was over, Xander fell onto one knee with his face a mask of pain. With the adrenalin from battle wearing thin, Xander was beginning to feel more drained than he had in a long while. The more he tried to retain his focus the more tired he became. Before even he knew what was happening he was passed out on the floor. The two other Immortals were still staring at him in shock, which quickly made its way into worry.
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He didn't know how much time had passed. When he awoke he found himself on one of the plush couches in the den. He could hear both Adam and Duncan talking softly in the kitchen.
'I bet at least one of them has got a beer.' Xander snorted to himself at the thought. He slowly got up and stretched. 'Perhaps I could use a beer too.' His movement was enough to draw the attention of the other two Immortals, who were now staring at him and had silenced their conversation.
Xander made his way over to his two friends/teachers. He gave a small smile and a quick nod once he had reached the table. He grabbed a beer out of the pail in the middle of the table, as had both of the other Immortals.
"So…what exactly are we talking about?"
Adam gave him an incredulous look that was soon followed by Duncan. Closing his eyes and taking a few calming breaths, Adam opened his eyes and resisted the urge to scream at his student followed by a good throttle. Instead, he spoke in a calm, rational manor.
"Duncan and I were discussing what had transpired in that room no more than an hour ago."
Xander gave Adam an incredulous look of his own. "You mean to tell me it has almost been a full hour and you've only finished off 6 beers?"
Adam narrowed his eyes at his student while draining the rest of his beer. He placed the bottle back onto the table none too gently.
"I was a little preoccupied."
Both men stared at each other for a few moments before both broke out into small grins. Reaching for another beer, Adam continued his conversation with his now conscious student.
"Are you ok?"
"I think so."
Xander rolled his shoulders and gave a quick stretch of his body. There was no pain or discomfort from being thrown from one end of the 'smoking room' to the other. What had made him loose consciousness was his sudden lack of energy. That didn't seem to be a problem at the moment, but it was something he was going to have to work on. Perhaps he should talk to Leo soon. He hoped it was simply a matter of not practicing his meditation and magical exercises for the past few months.
"As painful as that experience was, it was the energy balls I used that drained me and knocked me out."
In a voice laidened with more pain than Xander had heard, or wanted to hear again, Duncan spoke. "That was my student, ex-student, Richie Ryan. But…" Duncan's tone took on a small amount of accusation, though it was still overpowered by the pain still there. "You were trying to kill him."
"No I wasn't." The light in Duncan's eyes seemed to come forth to a small degree, and a curious expression, lined with hope, formed. "I was trying to kill him, temporarily. I went for shots to his midsection, and left his face alone. Like us he's immortal, so whatever damage there was would have healed." Duncan gave him a quick nod and a slight smile. He took a sip of his own beer. His hands were still shaking slightly.
With a heavy heart Xander continued. "Though had it been life or death with no other recourse, I would have killed him permanently. I wouldn't let him kill you, or Adam, or myself if there's any way I could prevent it."
Duncan thought on that for a moment before nodding his consent. Taking another sip of beer, this time with more steady hands, Duncan reflected on the events that transpired this night. He was brought out of his reflections by Adam's voice.
"How exactly were you able to use energy balls? I've seen it done before, a long time ago, but that was done by Demons and their ilk."
Xander just shrugged. "It's something that I've come into recently. I'm not really sure of the source. I was recently under the impression that it was from my Quickening. Though, if none of you can do it…" He left the statement out there.
"You didn't think on bringing that up during our conversation earlier?" Adam's tone sounded somewhat hurt. 'Perhaps Alexander isn't as ok with who he had been in the past as he had let on.' That thought displeased Adam more than he cared to admit.
His voice became a bit harder and some disbelief could be heard. "And why the hell didn't you use them earlier tonight when you were fighting for your life? You nearly gave me a heart attack!"
Xander responded. "First of all…Not bringing it up tonight has nothing to do with you. I trust you with my secrets. I trust you with my past. But there are secrets I have that aren't mine to tell." Adam was staring him in the eyes, trying to feel the sincerity in his words. After a quick moment he nodded his acceptance of the situation. "I was never able to use them tonight because I've basically ignored all of my training for the past three months while I've been trying to learn how to fight. I barely had enough time to react out there tonight just defending myself…let alone put out anything offensive."
Adam narrowed his eyes at his student. "Well I guess we really need to increase your training then. Don't hold anything back. Anything we can do to help you survive is something we'll work on incorporating into your training. I won't let you loose your head due to you holding back on us."
Xander seemed to think it over for a moment before nodding his consent. Also feeling somewhat chastised. His mind flooded back to earlier this night and replayed the events that brought him to this moment. He had learned so much, so much had been said. Though, at the moment, it was one thing that was said earlier that was having the most impact on him. His entire demeanor suddenly changed.
A smile was given to the two older Immortals.
In a curious tone, Adam asked his charge, "Why are you smiling?"
"Well, I think that you may be finding out more about my past soon. But beyond that…I learned something new, and great, this evening."
Both Duncan and Adam couldn't help but to have small smiles in place due to the sudden cheerful demeanor their student was giving.
"And what would that be?"
Looking over to Duncan, his smile grew. "You heard what The First said tonight. It was afraid of you. It was worried that you were going to destroy it." All of them smiled a little more with that statement. Some were more feral than others. "And as a famous saying goes…'There's more than one way to skin a cat!' Now all we have to do is find out how it's done." Xander picked up his beer and put himself into a more relaxing posture. "I may be mistaken, but I believe that we have a few more resources than we did several months back."
Adam spoke up. "This is all well and good, but perhaps we should focus on the more immediate threat. That being Richie."
Duncan looked a little downcast at this, but soon brought his resolve back. With a nod and a fierce look of determination he brought his mind to focus on the task at hand.
Seeing the new found determination in Duncan's very posture, Xander couldn't help but to be slightly awed by it. "Believe it or not, I have a few theories I'd like to throw out there. But I have a few questions to ask first." Seeing both men about to respond, he held up his hand to stop them. "However, I'd like to contact my friends and warn them of the possibility of being attacked by The First."
That particular thought brought a terrified expression to the two other immortals, who were now digging through their coat pockets for their cell phone. "Duncan, don't forget to contact your friend. If it was listening in, she could be in danger." Duncan gave a quick nod while waiting for Amanda to pick up the phone. Adam was currently trying to contact Joe.
After having contacted the Haliwells and told them of what to look out for, he called Giles. This certainly wasn't a conversation he was looking forward too. It was no small miracle that it was in fact Giles who answered the phone after the first couple rings. The man's voice was like a balm on Xander's very soul. He had no idea just how much he missed them. It was now hitting him like a freight train. It was 15 minutes later and an uncountable amount of promises to call him again later that Xander had been able to impart the important information.
'Easier than I expected.' Xander couldn't help but to have a genuine smile gracing his face. Everyone he cared about in this world was ok. Not only that, but they had been notified about a possible threat before it attacked. He looked up at the other two occupants of the room. Both men were looking at him expectantly.
"Well then…let's get started."