"Come on, Xander," Dawn whined as he picked her up on the next loop, "Thanks to Carter, I know math and physics, and Frasier covers the biology and chemistry, a-and they both had doctorate degrees. Come o-o-o-n, how about some fun." She attempted puppy eyes.
"Now, Dawn, you need social studies and English to round things out a bit," Xander smirked, "And I think you'll like the choice I've made. We're gonna be archaeologists that know how to use guns."
"Cool, I think," the girl said, noticing the smirk with suspicion, "But what about the spell?"
"We'll have everything we need at Ethan's but will need to get it before the spell ends…"
"But how are our other selves going to know the spell and everything?" Dawn said, frowning as she replayed the sentence in her mind. "Why don't we go get the ingredients somewhere and cast the spell so it does it thing when the spell starts?"
"Hmmm, good thinking, Dawn," Xander conceded, "I think Giles might have what we need, and maybe Ms. Calendar would know where to get anything he doesn't have…Okay, let's get the costumes and see about getting the spell going."
Miracle of miracles, Dawn and I actually found enough of what we needed by raiding Giles' cache of material and Jenny's desk. Ripper's memories allowed us to make use of chamomile in place of another ingredient; I still suspect it was a difference in the smell given off when the spell executes. I cast the spell for Dawn, and we just left the Library to take the kids trick-or-treating as Giles mad a comment about the smell in the air as he entered. I have to admit that Ripper was good at his magic, but sometimes wasn't the best with ancient language word tenses when it came to improvisational magic casting. More on that later.
Dawn and Xander had gotten back to the Library with the kids in record time with record candy achievement. Ten minutes before the spell was due to kick in, the two young people laughingly entered the Library to find Giles begin a round of cataloguing. The man looked up and started, as he for a moment mistook the two for people he'd met previously.
"Sorry Giles," Xander addressed the older man, "Didn't mean to spook ya." No smirk on the youth's face led Giles toward a little forthrightness.
"That's alright, Xander," Giles replied, "For a moment I thought you two were people I knew from back in England."
"Well unless Indian Jones and Lara Croft are based on real people…" Xander smiled, "Probably not." He and Dawn sat down to await the spell, and the young man heard the kettle whistle. "Anybody like tea? I noticed earlier there's a very fresh Djaarling in the office." Dawn smiled and nodded, and a surprised Giles also assented. The young man came out a few moments later, tray in hand, Giles' car keys on the office desk. 'At least I've picked up a few habits that I don't mind.'
"Back to your earlier observation, Xander," Giles said, taking a sip of tea and giving it and Xander an appreciative nod, "There was, indeed a Doctor Henry Jones upon whom the movies were made, I had the pleasure of meeting him during my college days, then just a few years ago, shortly before his passing. And while there isn't a huge robot or such nonsense, my third cousin, Lady Croft, is indeed an archaeologist of sorts. Her reputation, unfortunately, does tend to match the reality."
Buffy and Willow entered the Library a moment later, chattering about the Lady dress. Willow had the sheet draped over her shoulders like a big beach towel, covering herself from unwanted attention. They seemed curious as to the tea drinking that was going on as neither Dawn nor Xander drank the beverage.
"Hey guys," Buffy greeted, "Boy, Xan, our groups followed yours and made out like bandits."
"I am the master of sugary goodness, Buff," Xander replied as he sipped his tea. Setting the cup down absently, it fell to the floor between him and Dawn, breaking into shards. He and Dawn reached down and bumped heads, smiling until their hands were each cut on pieces of the china cup. Reaching for the same pieces, their slightly wounded hands met as they felt the magic creep up on them.
Xander fell over and writhed, Dawn grasping his hand in reflex in hopes of steadying him as she, too, was then overwhelmed by pain. Willow gasped and collapsed to the floor as the slayer fainted. Giles attempted to get up from his seat, but a green light emanated from the entwined, bloodied hands of Xander and Dawn, enveloping them in a fog of energy that for a few brief seconds arced lightning to the floor where the Hell Mouth had opened the night the Master died, to the lights and to other conductive protrusions. The ground shook as with an earthquake.
Outside, the City of Sunnydale quaked, and to those rare few that'd been caught in the eye of a hurricane, the night lit up and the sheer of the storm's eye became clear and frightening, seeming close and on the horizon at the same time. The lighting, except being green, was as light as noontime, before suddenly turning to gold-tinged white and lapsing back as the Hell Mouth fractured open, then closed. Only a minute had passed, but Giles recovered from his shock to check on his charges, finding first Buffy, then Dawn, then Xander fine, before heading for Willow. Approaching her, he watched as her spirit sat up from the body.
"Good Lord!" Giles exclaimed, taking a step back, "Willow, you're separating from your body. Lay back down while I try to perform CPR on you." The young teen looked confused, then down at herself before looking fearfully at her mentor, then did as he bade. He removed his jacket and began his efforts, pushing aside the sheet out of the way. Three minutes later he began to worry, starting to doubt his procedure when he was tapped on the shoulder.
"Allow me to help you, I've done it a time or two," Xander Harris directed in a flat mid-western accent, fedora tipped up. He began slightly more abrupt compressions then switched to the breathing. He did this a few more times then completely removed the 'ghost' sheet from her arms and a choker the girl wore around her neck. "Now, Rupert, I want you to maintain the compressions while I concentrate on the breathing, got it?" Giles nodded, and a minute later Willow gasped and choked as she revived.
"Xander?" Willow gasped as she fell into unconsciousness. The young-looking man looked to the older-looking man.
"She'll be okay, now, but if there's a hospital nearby, you'll probably want to get your daughter there as soon as possible, just to be on the safe side," the man said, "And you might want to get a hold of this Xander person, might make her waking a bit easier." They were interrupted by a young woman's British-accented voice.
"Cousin Rupert?" the young teen asked, confused, "What happened to my body? Why am I a child again?" The two males looked at her. Giles in obvious confusion as a possibility sank in. 'Xander' stuck out his hand to her.
"Rupert seems a bit off, miss," the apparent teen greeted her with a small smile, "I'm Doctor Henry Jones, but please call me Indiana." The woman grasped his hand, at which time he noticed obvious differences in his own physical status as she replied.
"Lara Croft, Professor Jones," she half-smirked, half-smiled in humor, "And it appears I'm not the only one to…experience whatever has brought us here and in our current predicament. And I'm hoping Rupert here can help us out?" The librarian watched the interplay closely and with increasing amazement.
"C-Certainly, but I need to point out to you t-that you are actually possessing the bodies of two of the students at the school at which I'm Librarian," Giles imparted.
"I'm dead?" Lara asked, surprised, "H-how?"
"N-No! Most certainly not, Lara," Giles assured her, placing a hand on her shoulder, "I've received no such word in the last few weeks since last we'd spoken." The girl sighed in relief, reassured. Giles reached into his office and made a phone call for an ambulance while Jones and Croft made the red-head and a young blonde dressed as an 18th Century noblewoman more comfortable. This caused the latter to stir and regain consciousness.
"W-where am I?" the young woman asked in petulant tone of voice. She looked around to see the commonly clad male and the indecently-clothed girl turning their attention toward her, "You heard me, I demand to know where and by which means came I to be in this…library?"
"You passed out, apparently," Jones answered, "And we were assisting the librarian to help you until we can figure out just what is going on." The young woman was about to say something when she noticed the librarian exiting his office and walking back towards them.
"Uncle Robert!" the slayer gushed at the Englishman, "I'd hoped to find someone to help me…" She squeezed again, cutting off airflow. She released him as he sought to recover his equilibrium once more. "Does that disgracefully-dressed girl with the lout mean you're now a Watcher?"
Giles looked over at Jones and Lara, fighting back a pained smile as they looked annoyed, but Giles managed to recover, "They are associates of mine, yes, but Lady Croft is helping me train the, er, Slayer, and the 'lout' is actually Professor Jones, who does a lot of field work and thus cannot always dress at his station."
"They seem a bit young, uncle," Lady Elizabeth remarked, "Your usual associates tend to be older than yourself by many years." Giles proceeded to quiz Lady Elizabeth for a few minutes, as the ambulance arrived. Jones and Croft fielded the few questions asked by the ambulance crew, which left shortly. Jones turned to Croft as Giles seemed overly-engrossed in the possessing spirit in his charge.
"Well, Princess," the professor began, sighing, "Any ideas on how to give these kids back their lives? I've dealt with ghosts and such, but no real possessions like these."
"Well, no," Lady Croft admitted, "And don't call me 'Princess' when Lara will do." He smirked, then waved at her to continue. "But it does seem to me unusual that the kids dressed as us and became us."
"So you're saying the costumes might be a focus for the 'magic' involved?" Jones asked, thinking aloud. "Then we need to find the caster, or at least the place the kids found these clothes. I mean, these are my clothes, gun and hat."
"And your whip Professor Jones?" the young tomb raider flirted, humor glinting in her eye as her eyebrow raised, "Is there something I need to know?" Unfortunately Giles intruded, preventing it from going further.
"I say, I'm somewhat unsure as to a course of action," the Watcher stated, "But the costumes, as I overheard you postulate a moment ago, are probably the place to start. There can't be that many costume shops in Sunnydale, can there?" He handed a phone book to Lara, and a map to Jones as Lady Elizabeth begrudgingly made tea for the group.
Ten more minutes passed, tea was served properly, and three stores mere mapped out as possibilities as Jones made a directory assistance call as Giles' phone book was, of course, last year's. Giles looked at the map, tracing his finger over Party Town, and the K and Wal-Mart stores. The big stores, dealing mainly with the seasonal kiddie side of things, were unlikely to be the source of the change, and that left Party Town or…
"Ah, there's a more recent addition to our list, G," Jones addressed the Watcher, and looked at the map, "A place about a mile from here, Ethan's."
"Ethan's," Giles stated with surprise, then a flash of anger came over him, "That's the one we'll bloody want to check first." He reached for his coat, and fetched his keys as the two archaeologists checked over their weapons. Lady Elizabeth looked confused.
"What's going on?" she pled with her 'uncle', "Where are we going?"
"We're going to visit the person responsible for this circumstance," Giles told the girl, "That way we can see you properly home. Now I want you to stay here. We'll be back in very little time."
"Well, that's not goin' to happen is it?" William the Bloody asked as his eight minions followed him into the library and flanked him. "So, the Slayer's all fluff and noise, huh? That's almost disappointing."
"Just when I thought it was getting easy," Jones sighed heavily, "I take it you're the local vampire guy?"
"Yeah, whelp, that'd be me," he said slipping into game-face and swaggering almost all the way to Buffy, as Jones and Croft drew and fired into the vampires.
"Aim for the faces!" Jones called out as the two archaeologists poured twenty-four rounds into the undead, faces destroyed, and three minions actually dusting before a fast-moving and enraged Spike turned and changed course, tackling the professor as Giles pushed Buffy into the office and drew a wooden stake and cross.
"Wood through the heart, Lara!" Giles called out to the young woman holding the only unaffected minion at bay with a knife and a chair.
"Rupert!" she called back, "Dust the cripples and then help Dr. Jones!" He moved quickly to dust the four wounded minions, glancing to find Jones pressed back against the office door, which gave way under their weight.
Lara, meanwhile, had become hard-pressed, leaping backwards and aside as the undead bastard simply charged and attempted grabs. Finally, she was pushed hard against the weapons cage, unable to move when she heard three screams, one female and two male, one especially bad as it fell outward into the room. The vampire in front of her dusted, Rupert having chosen to come to here immediate aid rather than Jones' and together they watched as William the Bloody grabbed its face, and stumbled back, gasping.
Snap shot out in the brief silence as a whip lashed from inside the office, wrapping around the neck of the vampire. Yank! And the surprised corpse jerked forward and down. Croft and Giles slowly started moving as to help when they saw the professor come out of the office charging, and Angel walking through the door with a concerned look on his face.
"Die, vampire!" the archaeologist cried out, Giles' wooden crucifix from the office wall in his hand. He pounded the vampire in the back of the head, paused very briefly in thought, and used the end of the cross to wipe blood off his neck wound. Spike though dazed rolled away, and instead of the heart, Jones scored a deep stomach shot. Spike winced, looked horrified, and very briefly screamed as his demonic essence exploded the corpse into white-sparkling dust. The crazed and whimpering Lady Elizabeth came out of the office and threw herself sobbing at her 'uncle' as Angel and Lara walked over to where the young man dusted himself off and began to recoil his bullwhip.
"How did you do that, Xander?" Angel asked, stunned beyond belief, "And why are you dressed like Indiana Jones?"
"Well, Irish," Jones addressed the vampire, "I'd think someone around as long as you could fill in the blanks. I do because for now I am."
"Jones? It's you?" Angel replied, flabbergasted, "How? And how did a clear miss of the heart kill Spike?" He gestured at the dust pile as the young man sat wearily at the table and poured himself some more tea.
"What effect do you expect when a vampire tries drinking from a man who's supped blessed water from the Grail?" the archaeologist sighed with a very tired smile. Angel's eyes went wide as a cruel chuckle was shared by Giles and Lady Croft. And taking a wooden crucifix with the blessed image of the Lord on it, touched with my blood…"
"And the demon didn't have a chance…" Angel whispered, nodding, "But how are you here? I mean it's a madhouse outside, children and others turned into their costumes…"
"We were just going after the guy who we think is responsible when blondie showed up," Jones replied, getting up. "I guess we should all get over there, Irish."
"Irish?" Lara Croft asked, not hearing an accent from the new arrival. Jones chuckle again.
"Lady Lara Croft, allow me to present to you Mr. Angel," the smirking professor bowed, "Who I first met at the end of the Great War many years ago, and due to a gypsy curse, the only known vampire to have had his body's soul ripped from the beyond and restored to this world. Except for a tendency to only buy the cheap French wine and when drunk fall back into his brogue, not a bad person." He turns back to Angel. "Have you at least become a little less… mopey? Maybe taking up the hobby we discussed?" The vampire actually seemed to blush slightly.
"What hobby?" Lara pressed, Giles raising his eyebrows in support.
"I, uh, took up playing the saxophone back in the twenties when Indy and King Oliver and Louis Armstrong were bumming around Chicago and other cities," Angel replied, then looked at 'Xander', "And I've kept in practice with it and the violin ever since…the only things I did except mope…and I recently took up the 'good fight' against vampires and the other demons."
"Well, good for that," Jones smiled, "If he turns out to have any talent, I'm expecting you to pass on the skills to the kid I'm…in now. After decades of brooding, you better be able to play blues sax without letting us down, because I know there's no way you've learned to sing. "
"I think I can manage that, and my singing isn't that bad," Angel retorted. Jones stared at him. "Okay, not quite as bad."
Elsewhere/Elsewhen/Maybe Another Dimension/Maybe Not
"Raid…on Sietch Tabr…Sardaukar captured…victory total…" the signalman reported. Paul looked at Gurney.
"My son and sister and Sietch Tabr live solely because of you Gurney Halleck," Paul Muad-Dib stated so Stilgar and the other Fedaykin could hear.
"No, Sire," Gurney demurred, sighing in satisfaction at the Sardaukar defeat, "It was only because of that strange night I told you about, and that young man named Alexander who told me what I told you. I remember a green flash, and I'm back earlier than when I'd left."
"We owe him Our Thanks, Gurney, a bond of water…" the young prophet near-whispered. "We'll make our victory absolute, but not allow the things to happen that would have. There must not be a God-Emperor. We'll find a middle path."