Xander-Hog Day 27/100 Author: Tohonomike Disclaimer: All characters belong to their rightful owners...it will start off with the Joss/ME characters, and any other characters or real-life folks are clearly not mine. NO money is involved.
Sunnydale High School Library, 8:30 AM
"And then we drove over the Golden Gate Bridge, circled back to the Hotel, and called you as we were about to be seated for dinner," Willow told the girls.
"Wow, Will, that's a heck of a time," Buffy said, shaking her head. Jenny had driven her, Willow, Cordelia, and surprisingly to Buffy, Dawn, from the airport back to the library as Doyle, Giles and Xander rode back in a different vehicle.
"So, did he tell you about the Resets," Dawn asked quietly, noting that the subject hadn't really been mentioned in Willow's account of the trip.
Yeah, Dawnie, he did, and I was quiet surprised to see how much you've…grown since I saw you a couple days ago," Willow sighed, answering quietly.
"Did he tell you how hard it's been for him?" the young girl continued, "The killing, the memories, the occasional brutal nightmare?"
"The what, Dawn!" Buffy interrupted from the front seat in shock, "Who did Xander kill?" Willow also seemed confused and spoke first.
"Xander said he'd dressed up as different costumes and picked up a few skills that'd be helpful later, Dawn," Willow asked, starting to get worried, "Why would he have nightmares?"
"You know that Highlander show?" Dawn asked, turning to Buffy, "I'm getting to the point, sis." Willow nodded, as did the other girls in the car, 'Mm, Adrian Paul.'
"Xander was tricked into going as Kronos, who beheaded Jonathan dressed as either Caspian or Silas, then to learn to deal with the guilt he went as Methos," Dawn said matter-of-factly. Willow gasped, but Jenny voiced the realization.
"So Xander was Two Horsemen of the Apocalypse with over ten thousand years of memories?" the teacher stated carefully.
"And he was Spartacus, Alexander the Great and a few others," Dawn replied, "And the spell didn't just make him believe and act like it; due to a spell he remembers everything in their lives, even fictional characters. A man once asked what we are but our memories, I think, and Xander for all intents and purposes was each of them." Buffy surprised them by speaking first, and maturely.
"Wow," she responded, "When you guys got off the plane and he gave me a hug he told me he understood the weight of responsibility I carry around. I didn't really get it, but a guy who conquered the world and…" Cordelia, surprisingly, reached out a hand and comfortingly patted Buffy's shoulder as Dawnie quietly hugged a very quiet, pale and teary-eyed Willow before they got out of the car.
"Okay, so after you two put the hurt on the Rayne-Man, anything happen next?" Xander asked as they pulled into the school parking lot.
"Nah, not really, but some of it seems to be stickin 'round if ya know what I mean?" Doyle replied, "I feel I personally know every tavern in Western Europe, and need to go find Macleod to go lookin fer the ladies if you know what I mean." Giles nodded begrudgingly as Xander actually chuckled.
"Okay, we're here," Xander said, "And the girls seem sad about something."
"Probably think you should dress as Richard Gere or Tom Cruise instead of manly characters," Doyle guessed, not yet seeing their expressions, "Though I'm kinda surprised that a kid like you would pick an old '71 flick like Vanishing Point. The guy wasn't really heroic, though there's more stuff there than in most of today's car-chase stunt movies. Now, goin as Bullitt and following through just like real-man Steve McQueen? That woulda been sumptin to see…"
Xander turned away from Doyle to find himself group-hugged by the teenage womenfolk as Jenny seemed to whisper the reason to Giles and Doyle. Doyle seemed to straighten up and stare measuringly at the young man.
"Now see what I mean?" Doyle asked Giles, gesturing at Xander, "The lad has already been through the thick of it and is still basically himself, and that's what it'll take to get through this mess. We need the 'Cooler King' not some floofy poofy Top Gun pretty boy mentality."
"W-While I get the reference," Giles remarked, "I don't understand what you're getting at, Mr. Doyle."
"What I mean is, this'll probably take a solid personality, regardless of skill, and that that willingness to take a beating to see something through is what's keeping him sane, and what will carry us out of these time loops."
Doyle watched as Xander pulled up with Dawn in the passenger seat, smiling at them as they reached the sidewalk.
"Xan, Mornin' Light," Doyle greeted them, "What's on the agenda tonight? Another real-man car chase?" Dawn smiled and rolled her eyes at the nickname.
"Nah," Dawn let out, "We'll go for a drive along the coast highway, but just to pick up general skills. I'm going as a Hacker to get computer skills and sharpen up my thinking. We just need to drop off the usual precaution-stuff with the gang."
"Oh, what about me and Xander," the Irishman asked, as they entered the shop. Dawn smirked.
"Well, given Xander's style of dress and the car he's getting us at the dealership, he'll be…"
"MAGNUM!" T.C. yelled as they took the curve in the coastal highway doing thirty over the limit, "Thomas! What the hell do you think you're doing trying to kill us!" The dark-haired man in the Hawaiian shirt and shorts smiled his trademark grin as he recovered a bit from the sudden vertigo and the turn faster than his helicopter-flying comrade of many years.
"OhmigodwereallgoingtodieXanderpleasestopthecarandnotkillus!" Willow somehow managed to babble and screech at the same time. Thomas Magnum slowed the vehicle and pulled into the Pacific Coast overlook.
"Okay, who are you guys and what are you doing in my Ferrari?" the young man asked, then pointed at the man next to him, "You sound like TC, but Red I don't know?"
"That's because I am TC, and you look a lot like your cousin Tony from California, and drive like always, Thomas," the man responded as the girl sitting back and between them looked confused. The men looked in the mirrors, as did Willow, who gasped.
"I look like Dawnie! One minute I'm in Sunnydale, and the next minute I'm here! O-okay, we need to call Giles and ask him what's going on!"
Magnum pulled out a cell phone, but it refused to connect to an existing service, so they quietly drove into a café touting its brochures to the nearby Hearst Castle. Willow got out and they attempted several phone calls to no avail.
"Okay, we need to get back to Sunnydale, Xander," Willow said, only to be halted by the young man.
"Why are you calling me Xander?" the former private investigator asked, "The last thing I remember, I'd just taken a drive with TC from my retirement party at Higgin's estate when this happened."
"The body you're in belongs to a friend of mine, and I seem to be in the body of another friend of ours," the red-head declared, starting to hyper-ventilate from near-panic, "So we drive back the way we came, and try to get back to where we belong." The two men looked at each other.
"I ain't got a problem with it, Thomas," the man said, "And I definitely want my in-shape beautiful black body; this guy needs to work out…a lot."
Forty minutes later the spell broke as they sped at high-speed into Santa Barbara city limits. Xander slowed the car down to avoid being ticketed, and turned to the other two.
"You dressed as Willow, Dawn?" Xander asked, slightly confused, "Why?"
"Well, she is hacker gal, Xan," Dawn said, "And, I don't know?" Xander sighed and said they'd talk about it later in private.
Dawn thought about it, realizing she might have overstepped some boundaries in her attempt to make herself more attractive to Xander. The young man seemed a bit quiet for the remaining half-hour into Sunnydale and on to the Library. Willow greeted them, especially Dawn, with astonishment.
"You went as me?" Willow asked in confusion, "Why?"
"You're smart hacker girl and contribute to the slaying with research and stuff?" Dawn answered as the others looked uncomfortable about the unknown Doyle being present, "Oh, Doyle's okay, he already knows all about this stuff and just kinda got caught up in the spell like everyone else."
SHS Library, 9 AM, Same Reset
"So why are you mad at me for going as Willow, Xand?" Dawn asked when they finally had their 'talk' the next morning during training and before others came around. Doyle was out getting coffee and food, "You weren't mad when I dressed as Buffy." He gave her a long neutral look before answering.
"Well, you're kind of aware that there could be a relationship between me and Willow when this over right?" he replied neutrally as they continued to spar. Dawn nodded since she couldn't deny it.
"Yeah…but I thought you were starting to show interest in Miss Calendar again?" she averred, "And I did want the Willow boosts…and I don't know?"
"Hmm, and that last part's why I'm uncomfortable about it, Dawn," Xander responded, "Remember the no 'stuff' rule? This comes close to breaking it."
"Please don't be disappointed, Xan," Dawn said, stopping her fighting, and feeling lost about it. Maybe she had gone too far, but she'd started having these feelings and, "I-I…"
"It's okay, Dawn, just don't do it again, okay?" he said, putting his arm around her and leading her over to the table for water, "And don't tell me anything, okay?"
"But Xander," she said and continued anyway, "I won't talk about her feelings and such about you, but there are some things we might want to help her out with aft we end the Resets." Xander grimaced but nodded as they made their back to the training area.
"What kind of things?" he sighed as they began, "And let's slowly move up as far as we can go speed-wise." She nodded as they began to circle each other.
"Well, she seems both meek and uses it as a control," Dawn commented, "But I'm not sure if she really is aware of it yet." Xander nodded, feinted, then backed away, "She wants recognition without the responsibility, and she wants to be the center of attention but doesn't want to risk losing all attention."
"How's that different from most people?" Xander asked as they charged, struck out, blocked and countered twice."
"Just the degree of it, and the fact that since she's unaware of it, she's not a meddling bitch yet," Dawn remarked, trying to take advantage of her language harshness to gain a few touches as they approached minion levels of speed, "Means that with some training and discipline…she'll turn out alright." Xander hammered the air around her head to see if she'd shift into a follow-up, and when she didn't, barely touched her with a crescent kick on the right.
"So, why the concern?" Xander asked, "Why not just suggest training?"
"I just wanted you to understand that the skills she really needs are not the physical ones, Xan," she replied as they hovered at four times human speed in their actions, both noting as the door came open to reveal Doyle being followed by the gang.
"Thanks for the heads-up, Dawn," Xander remarked, temporarily distracted from the Dawn side of the Willow equation, "Just don't do it again."