Summary: This is an ongoing AU from Xander being Wolf-possessed, not Hyena possessed, and I've kept as much of the original dialogue as possible.
Thursday, October 30th, 2 AM
"Alex, it's me, Hondo," the retired and rehired police veteran said into the phone, "I really need you and Angel, only, to come over to my house right away. I have visitors who have information regarding that Spike we've been concerned about. Half-hour? Great."
He turned to the two people on his front porch who were covered by his shotgun, looking at them again. The man seemed unsure of what was going on, and he'd said as much. The woman, on the other hand, seemed ill at ease in what looked to be another set of the man's clothes and was barefoot. Her eyes looked like the world had ended, and Hondo could tell there was something very unusual about the vampiress. He'd killed enough of them since Alex had introduced him to the shadow world.
They waited about ten minutes before Alex and Angel pulled up in one of the SUVs. Angel waited until Alex had cleared the front end before starting up the walk way. As the two reached the front steps, Hondo could tell they'd both detected the visitors. He called out to them before they could take action.
"Hold up guys," Hondo cautioned, "Right now I have them both covered and I'd like to hear what this is about before you spring into action." The man stepped forward, hands in front of him, clearly unarmed.
"Hi, uh, I just gave her a change of clothes and a ride up her," he said, "And even though she's a vampire, a Mr. Whistler called me on the pay phone where she met me, and told me to mention his name to Mr. Angel, whichever of you is he? That's all, really."
"You're not entirely human, are you?" Angel responded.
"Half-Brachen," the man sighed, "We're peaceful in general though." Angel nodded at his, and indicated that Hondo should cover him on the side of the porch opposite the woman. He cocked an eyebrow at Xander, who gestured him forward with a small smirk.
"So," Angel said, walking carefully to within six feet of the visitor, "what do you have to tell us, Miss..."
"Edith, Angel," the woman sighed sadly, "You'd think the man who turned me crazy" She looked up "so that I was so broken that I never left my body before the demon moved in, would recognize his own handiwork."
"Dru?" Angel gasped in genuine surprise, her voice, clothes and clarity clashing with his memories of the very face in front of him, taking a step back, "How?"
"Edith, Angelus," she emphasized, frustrated and starting to sob tears of water and blood, as she explained how the goddess Glorificus leached out the consciousness of the body-controlling intelligence, leaving the demonically-unhindered soul, Miss Edith the human soul of the body, temporarily in control. "I don't want the demon back. You have your soul. I don't want to watch her anymore." He reached for her, causing her to pull back, "Please don't touch me..." as she broke down in tears and sobs. The three demon fighters looked at each other and reached the same conclusion.
"Giles."
Xander had carried 'Edith' out to the car, asking to restrain her until they could get to the weapons cage. She nodded, and thanked him. Angel called Giles and Jenny both, asking for them to meet at the Library with any literature they had on curses, souls and the blood ritual involved in turning.
Giles, bringing Kendra and Zabuto along, found Xander just clearing out the cage and escorting a woman into it, helping her to sit at a table with tea and a pitcher of water. He closed the cage to find Kendra in particular looking confused as Angel brought them up to date, introducing the 'driver.'
"Oh, and this is Mr. Doyle," Angel added, "He's half-brachen, who are peaceful, and seems a mutual contact asked him to drive...Edith...up here."
"Are you a-collectin' de vam-pires , Xander?" the slayer asked with a slight mock to her match her raised eyebrow, "Or just be wantin' a matched set?" The youth's face seemed to lighten by years to his true age as he was zinged by usually reticent girl.
"Ow, Kendra," Xander returned, "You know Angel belongs to Buffy, I just thought I'd get her a Barbie as an early birthday present to match her Ken-doll."
"The slayer shot would ricochet and hit me," Angel sighed in mental pain, "but can we get back on track, please?"
"Y-yes, let's," Giles remarked. "So, apparently, 'Edith' claims to be the soul in the vampiress known as Drusilla, and Edith had just taken holy orders when yo—Angelus broke her sanity and then turned her. And she claims that a goddess sapped the demon's consciousness and this has allowed her at least temporary control?"
"Rather unbelievable," Mr. Zabuto offered, but seemed to be considering the situation.
"She was also a seer, that was why Angelus wanted her so badly," Angel added. "Maybe the connection to higher powers confused something?"
"I don't mean to get in the way of the whys," Alex interrupted, "But going on the theory of truth, can we anchor her soul like Angel's?"
"I-I don't know," Giles admitted, then turned to Jenny, who briefly looked caught in the headlights, "Could you get on th-that infernal machine a-and perhaps look up gypsy soul curses or something?" She nodded in relief that her secret was still safe, and got onto the Internet as the others, Alex with his background as John Clayton included, began research. Alex pushed a table up against the cage, and passed through books for Edith to double-check as they completed, as a back up to their sleep-deprived efforts and to keep her company as she didn't trust Angel near her.
Spike's Base in Los Angeles, 7:00 AM
"So none of you could find my Dru, that's what you're telling me?" Spike quietly bit out, "Does any one know anything?"
"All we know is that the blonde woman who killed eight of us," a vampire gang leader said, "was screaming about 'that crazy woman knows where to find my key' so I'm guessing Drusilla got away...and we tracked her to where she got into a car..."
"Well, we postpone everything until Friday night, then," Spike ordered, "We'll look for Dru tonight, gather and be ready to head out as soon as the sun goes down tomorrow."
SHS Library, 7:30 AM
Xander woke from his cot after a three-hour nap. They'd not found anything in particular, tough Jenny had sent off e-mails to her coven and some people in Romania. He looked into the cage where Edith was resting, Angel having provided her with 'food' the night before. Her revulsion, and crying afterward, seemed to have swayed Zabuto, and therefore Kendra, both of whom would return soon to take up protective watch.
"Alexander," Edith called softly to him as he moved away, causing him to turn back, "Thank you for trying." He gave her a small smile and nod, and she continued more seriously as Giles walked in, "But we forgot to talk about Spike last night. He's been turning a lot of young brigands in Los Angeles, and plans to come back to Sunnydale on All Hallow's."
"Do you know how many, or what he's planning?" Giles asked softly. "It would be a great help."
"I only saw thirty, but I really tried not to pay too close attention to what Drusilla did," Edith replied, "Her insanity was even greater than my own, and I really only made any kind of sense when I had a vision."
"Thirty vampires, huh?" Alex said, thoughtful, "I guess we really do need to be out escorting kids Friday night."
Ethan's Back Room, 7:30 AM
"And that is where he'll be, Captain," Sahjhan told the time-preserved man, "Now eat more and get ready, you'll need your strength Friday night. There will be others of is kind about, so be prepared."
Wolfram and Hart Building, 7:30 AM
"Well, Darla, feeling better?" William Holland greeted the raised human with the vampire's memories intact, "We're thinking of sending you home tomorrow night."
"Home?" the confused young woman asked, "Where would that be?"
"Sunnydale, of course," the lawyer beamed, looking for a response.
"Angelus," Darla softly whispered, showing both fear and hope at the same time.
"Ah, yes, I believe he was mentioned in the paperwork," Holland responded, "But you'll be enrolled as a junior in high school and be fostered by—"
"High School?!" the young blonde interrupted incredulously, "But I was a little too old even when I was alive the first time."
"Now, don't worry, the man who's agreed to foster you, Mayor Richard Wilkins," Holland replied with a reassuring note, "has been aware of your general situation, and that you're legally sixteen, and he'll have tutoring provided to get you up to speed."
"But what about my, ah..."
"We almost missed the...affliction," Holland responded, half-embarrassed, "But the Mayor is a bit of a...germ-sensitive individual, so we made sure we brought you back whole and with a clean bill of health when we did..."
"But why?" the former vampiress responded.
"Angelus annoyed a few people, and some non-people," Holland smiled, "So they figured they'd get back at him by having you show up alive and taken care of, leading a human life...what he pines after and whines about. The Mayor owed a few minor debts that were canceled when he agreed to help out."
"Uhm, when do I start this new life?" Darla asked reticently.
"You'll drive up this afternoon, and start school tomorrow morning."
SHS Library, Lunchtime
The entire group gathered to discuss the Halloween situation and preparations, and were surprised at being introduced to Edith, then told of Spike's plan. They'd covered the shadow side of things when Cordelia brought in the gymnastics and cheerleader contingent, including Harmony, Aura, Dawn (not Summers), Joy, Amber, Lisa and Lishanne.
"Okay, everybody, Buffy, Cordelia and I are very glad you're here today," Xander said, "As you know, Vice Principal Snyder had the wonderful idea that all of us would escort kids trick-or-treating. Now, Principal Snyder wanted to pick our costumes for us..." Silence struck the crowd. "But Principal Flutie decided to settle for a theme, and one linkable to the others. Since we have so many of us, it means we were able to be flexible about many of the choices, but not too far." He gestured to Cordelia,.
"We insisted that if we had to do this, we'd look goooooood, right girls," she stressed, nodding at her Cordettes, who started bringing out costumes in groups. "That's why we got your actual measurements, and the shop owner promises that not only will the costumes be real, you'll be the costume. And he's giving us better than Party Town quality at clearance prices. Buffy..."
"Okay, from a really big checklist, you all rated the type of costume and such you'd be happy enough with, and you'll be traveling in teams of six or seven to a street. We've all lived here, and you know that for the most part, that the candy hall for the kids is about the same on all the streets. Also, the police have donated radios for each street group, so if somebody gets hurt or runs into trouble, emergency services can show up and help without ruining it for the kids. Xan..."
"Thanks, girls," Xander smiled, "The Mayor and Council have gone all-out this year. He's even gotten Fondren High and a bunch of the Greek Houses at Sunny U to put in appearances. I know, most of it is political guys showing 'they care' but what it means is that pretty much every kid in the area will be probably be escorted, that's like two or three thousand kids out there. At both schools and the University, there will be bag lunches with extra candy and fruit in the cafeterias for afterwards. We're hoping to get all the kids back here by six or six-fifteen, just before dark at six-thirty anyway. Then, I don't now about you, but there's a circuit of party's being given by those who didn't get nailed by kid-duty. Mr. Giles, with Dave and Fritz, has tried to provide any excuses for variance in costumes, and it boils down to this...our school will do what's necessary to beat Fondren and the college kids at this. Mr. Giles, anything else?"
"Well, yes, actually," the librarian spoke as he stepped forward, "The Mayor, Chief of Police and Principal Flutie have all written letters of commendation for those participating, so those of you going on to college will have that little extra, especially if you decide to attend the local university."
"Hey, Xander!" Harmony called out, "People want to know about the swords, wooden stakes and little squirt guns."
"Oh yeah," Xander replied, "That's just our little secret. The swords are so that we're all 'Immortals' like that Adrian Paul show Highlander. Is Snyder here?" They looked and called out 'no' "And one of the ways to kill a troll is a wooden stake and holy water." Laughs. "Our little joke when he rags on us tomorrow night. And if your darling angels get out of hand, consider the squirt gun a bonus."