The Circle of Scooby

by red-jacobson

The activation of the world's slayers has caused massive destruction throughout the multi-verse, and the Circle of Ouroborus is determined to prevent that happening and recruit three natives of the critical timeline to save the multi-verse!

1. Chapter 1

STORY TITLE: The Circle of Scooby

PART: 01 of ?

AUTHOR: Red Jacobson ( )

DISTRIBUTION: , Archive of Our Own, Twisting the Hellmouth

DISCLAIMER: None of the Characters You Recognize belong to me, the Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel Characters belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy (Grrr! Argh!), and the Boondock characters belong to the Estate of Robert A Heinlein and his publishers.

SUMMARY: The activation of the world's slayers has caused massive destruction throughout the multi-verse, and the Circle of Ouroborus is determined to prevent that happening and recruit three natives of the critical timeline to save the multi-verse!

FEEDBACK: Of course! It Makes Me Write Faster

RELATIONSHIPS: Xander/Cordelia/Tara

RATING: R

WORD COUNT: 4,764

SPOILERS: A Crossover with RAH's Lazarus Long Books. I'm afraid that, while I'm going to do my best to explain things, at least a passing familiarity with Time Enough For Love, The Number of the Beast, The Cat Who Walks Through Walls, and To Sail Beyond the Sunset would help you understand who these characters are. None, but if you don't know how the Buffy the Vampire Slayer story goes by now, why are you reading this story?

AUTHORS NOTES: Something I've been playing with for years, and decided to dust it off and post it. I'm already working on the second chapter, so there won't be a huge delay. Also, I'm going to try something unusual for this story, no lemons. Frankly, they've gotten to be a bore to write, and I imagine they've become boring to read as well. Hope this goes well.

Prologue:

Another Time Another Place

"So, we are agreed, the Circle is closed on this issue?"

"No need to be so formal, Sharpie, we've been over this a dozen times at least. The so called Powers That Be buggered that dimension so badly that it's cascading over to the multi-verse. And, from what we've seen, the one time that anything even resembling a good outcome was achieved, it was these three that managed to change the Cusp event by working together. We've all agreed that this is worth the risk of discovery, we also know what will happen if we don't act. Not only this world, but all the other worlds where the Slayer arose will suffer the same fate, allowing the Enemy to consume those dimensions as well. We know we are going to do this, Hell, we've already got the clone bodies growing, why do we need to put it to the formalities?"

"Jubal, you know as well as I do why we put it to a vote, if the Circle is not unanimous, we don't act! I appreciate your affection for this world, but we have to be concerned with all the worlds, not just this particular creator's playground."

"Alright, Sharpie, go ahead and get it formalized. I vote Aye!"

"Colonel Campbell?"

"Aye"

"Woodrow?"

"Aye"

"Manuel?"

"Aye"

"Wyoming?"

"Of Course"

"Anne?"

"Yes"

"Commander Rico?"

"Aye!"

"And I vote Aye as well, the Circle is Unanimous, we will initiate retrieval of the three of them immediately."

Sunnydale California, May 7th, 2002

The body was laying on the floor of the bedroom, her distraught lover already gone on her quest for vengeance, when the back wall of the room seemed to fade away, showing a car hovering where the wall used to be. The rear hatch opened and two figures moved into the room. "Okay, the house is clear, let's move it!"

One of the figures lowered a duplicate of the body onto the ground, making sure to position it exactly the same way, at the same time as the other figure was lifting Tara onto a stretcher. "We got here in time, there is still time to revive her. Let's get going!" Picking up the other end of the stretcher, the figures moved back to the car and slid the stretcher inside before climbing after it. A few seconds later, the wall was back in place, and there was no sign that anyone had ever been there.

Los Angeles Wolfram and Hart Medical Wing - February 4th, 2004

Nearly the exact same scene was repeated in the hospital room where Cordelia Chase had spent the last several months.

May 20th, 2017

Xander coughed, wincing as the movement jarred his broken ribs. He had managed to prop himself up against the rock, trying to keep the blood out of his lungs, but he could tell it was a lost cause. Lifting the recorder to his mouth, he wet his lips again, "and that's what happened! We really screwed the pooch when the Slayers were activated without any warning. I'm just as guilty as anybody, we didn't think what would happen to all the girls who's lives were changed dramatically. Cough! Cough! Jesus that hurts! And those poor girls were just sitting ducks for any tin pot dictator or televangelist that had an ax to grind, they became the 21st Century version of WMDs, and there were border wars breaking out all over the place. And then the big boys got into it! I don't know what the fuck President Stillson was thinking, launching the nukes like that! What a fuckin' mess! As far as I know, I'm last of us left, I don't even know why I'm bothering to record this entry, but, I guess Giles trained me too well. Well, whoever finds my carcass, now you know the sordid tale of how a group of people in desperate circumstances banded together with the best of intentions and condemned the world to destruction. Heh! Oh hell, it hurts to laugh! I don't think I've got much time left, it's getting darker, this is Xander Harris, signing off..."

Xander closed his eye, thinking that at least he would see his friends again and a slight smile crossed his face as his breathing slowed. He didn't feel the ground shake as something landed next to him, or the female hand slapping his face, saying 'No you don't Doofus! We've come too far, and have way too much to do for you to be dying on us like this!"

Chapter One

Another Time Another Place

The first thing Xander noticed was that he was laying on something soft, and he sighed in contentment before he started picking up the sounds from around him. Everything was muted, except for a soft feminine voice crooning in his ear. It took him a while to recognize the song, considering it had been old even before he was born, but it was one that he and Cordy had danced to back before everything went to hell back in Senior Year. He smiled as he remembered the night that Cordy had sung it to him, but then the smile faded as he remembered the badness that happened not long afterward. He felt a soft pressure on his hand and he reflexively squeezed back, and heard a voice he never expected to hear again say excitedly, "He squeezed back, he's coming back to us!"

Forcing his eyes open, he blinked as they started focusing, he could tell he was in a room somewhere, and there were figures by his bed. Turning toward the voice, he cracked a grin, and still half asleep, murmured, "Queen C is here to greet me? I'm not sure if this is Heaven or Hell." He heard a giggle from the other figure next to him and his eyes widened in surprise. "Tara? Okay, I know this is Heaven, because there's no way you went anywhere else!"

Before Tara could react, a male voice interrupted, "Actually, Xander, all of you are still quite alive, and, if you'll give us a minute or so to wash the rest of the Lethe field from your system, and get you cleaned up, we will be happy to answer your questions." Turning to the figures sitting to the side of the bed, "Cordy, Tara, if you would give us a couple of minutes, I'll send Teena to get you when we're ready."

"Okay, Galahad, we'll be down in the lounge. See you in a few minutes Xander" Cordelia smiled, leaning down and kissing him firmly. While Xander was still processing the fact that Cordy had kissed him with the passion she used to, Tara leaned down and did exactly the same thing!

"Uh, Doc? What the hell just happened? I mean, sure, it's not totally outside the realm of possibility for Cordy to have kissed me like that, but, last I heard, Tara was strictly a girl's girl! And why do they look like they are still 21 years old? I know I was close to 40 my last birthday, and they were the same age."

The doctor chuckled, and said, "Let's just say it's one of the benefits of Very modern medicine. Here, take a look at yourself. Teena, can Xander have a mirror please?"

The voice that had been singing in his ear moments ago replied, "Sure thing, Doc, but Xander, have to let you know, those two have first claim on you, but I want a shot too!"

"Hush, Teena, he's still waking up, you can seduce him later."

"Oh, all right!" And a mirror appeared in front of Xander, he wasn't as surprised as he expected to be, based on Cordy and Tara's appearances, but it was still nice to see his 21-year-old face, with both eyes looking back at him from the mirror. "My eye! It's back, but how? They had to scoop the whole thing out!"

"Give me another minute, Xander, and we'll get you some answers, but, first, I'd imagine you are rather hungry, aren't you?"

As if hearing the word hungry had woken his stomach, it gurgled angrily, causing Xander to laugh, joined by the doctor. "Well, I guess that answers that question. Teena, can you go get Cordy and Tara and ask them to join us for breakfast?"

"Aw, do I have to? I'm going to have share him with them soon enough!"

"Teena, you are supposed to be a professional, and if you can't do that, I'll have to suppress your personality until you can control yourself! Xander has been through a lot, and he needs a lot more information before you can try to seduce him. Besides, you know that Cordy would flay you alive if you tried to poach without permission."

"Oh, I've already talked to Cordy and Tara, and they told me once everything is situated, I can take my shot at him! But, I'll behave for now."

Xander had been listening to the conversation with a bemused smile on his face, while he was looking around for the source of the other voice, since, as far as he could tell, he and the doctor were the only ones in the room.

"Um, Teena? While I'm certainly flattered by your interest, this is an awful lot for me to try and take it at once. The last thing I remember was bleeding out in the desert in Africa, and now I wake up here, wherever here is, and I'm greeted by two very dear friends who I was certain were dead! Hell, I went to their funerals, and yet they were sitting there, alive and well! I think it's time I got some answers, doc!"

"And you will get them, Xander, the girls will be here in a minute, along with your breakfast, and, after you've eaten, I promise you we'll explain everything." The doctor said, soothingly.

"Okay, I suppose there's no harm in waiting a bit longer." But then he noticed something, "Uh, Doc? This may seem like a strange question, but why are you naked?"

An amused laugh came from the doorway, as he turned his head to see Cordy and Tara standing there, dressed exactly the same as the doctor! "You just now noticed, Doofus? You must have been out of it!"

"Huh Buh-wha?" He said, intelligently.

"Don't worry about it, Xander, you'll get used to it. Cordy and I have had a lot longer to get used to the idea than you have." Tara said gently.

"Tara's right, babe, here in Boondock, we only dress for formal occasions, or if the weather requires it. The body modesty we grew up with is a thing of the past here. Of course, it does take some of the fun out of power shopping, but we find other things to do with our time."

"And I believe that's my cue," A voice came from the doorway to the room. A sandy-haired man dressed, to Xander's relief, in a kilt and shirt walked into the room. "Hello Xander, my name is Woodrow Wilson Smith, but most folks around here call me Lazarus..."

He was interrupted by Xander's "Long? Also known as Corporal Ted Bronson of Kansas City Missouri? Or Doctor Lafe Hubert? And, if that's the Galahad from the books, where is Ishtar? Or Hamadryad? I thought they were joined at the hips!" He laughed, "I don't know why I'm not more surprised, I've seen vampires and demons and other things that are supposed to be fictional, why shouldn't some of the more friendly and pleasant fictional beings exist somewhere too?"

Lazarus grinned at him, "Okay, that makes it a bit easier. Let me ask you, do the names Jake or Hilda Burroughs, or Richard Ames or Gwen Novak mean anything to you?"

"Yeah, Jake and Hilda, along with Zeb and Deety and Gay Deceiver were the ones that helped you rescue Mama Maureen, and Richard and Gwen, or Colin Campbell and Hazel Stone had their own adventures before signing up to rescue Mike from Luna. That reminds me, how did they ever get out of that mess? Last I heard they were both shot to hell, including Pixel. I know that there was another book but could never get my hands on it at the library."

"Blert?"

Xander blinked, "Pixel? Okay, I guess that means that others got out as well?"

Lazarus nodded as the kitten, attracted to the new voice in the room, jumped onto Xander's bed and curled up in his lap, purring happily as Xander scratched behind his ears. "Okay, I've got to accept that I'm actually in a place I read about years ago, along with people I was certain were dead, but the question is, why? Not that I'm complaining about being alive, or seeing Cordy and Tara again, but why are we here?"

"To put it bluntly, you and these two lovely ladies were rescued to prevent the activation of all the Slayers, because, unfortunately, what happens in one world echoes in the worlds that are similar, specifically, when Buffy had Willow cast that spell to activate all the slayers on your Earth, it caused the same thing to happen in every world where there was a Slayer. And, sadly, the same thing happened on those worlds as happened on yours. Within three years of the day that you died in that desert, the Earth was a burnt cinder. It would be billions of years before even the smallest forms of life would reappear. This is a loss of life that is unacceptable! We, that is, the Command Staff of the Time Corps, have investigated countless hundreds of timelines, and the only ones that don't end with a destroyed planet, have the three of you working together to prevent the activation.

"Also, by rescuing you, we have a chance to really bugger up the Adversary's plans on your world in another way. Do you remember the "Jasmine" incident? Preventing that disaster would set back their plans drastically, and anything that causes those bastards problems is good for us."

Lazarus stood, "I think I've given you enough to chew on right now, so I'll let you eat your breakfast, but try not to let Pixel have too much syrup, it gives him gas." Pixel raised his head at that, and glared at Lazarus, as though the very idea of such a dignified feline having gas offended him!

Xander's laughter was stopped when three trays appeared in the room, and the three of them, with help from Pixel, quietly ate their breakfasts. Xander, to Pixel's disgust, steered him away from the syrupy goodness until he jumped down in annoyance and left the room.

After they finished, Tara said, "I suppose I should be the one to start, since I've changed the most from the person you knew. The last thing I remembered before waking up here, was looking at Willow and seeing blood splashed across her shirt. I don't think I even realized that I'd been shot, but then everything went black. I woke up some time later here in Boondock, and Mama Maureen was sitting there waiting for me to wake up. She was the healer in charge of my recovery, just like Galahad was for you, and Ishtar and the Hamadear did for Cordy."

Smiling gently, Tara continued; "Anyway, after making sure I was awake and clear-headed, Maureen introduced me to Deety and Libby, of course, still being at the time, what did you call it Cordy, "A Great Big Lesbo?" she grinned at Cordelia, who snickered, "The sight of those two women sitting there gloriously naked was a bit distracting at first, but I got used to it."

"That was five years ago, by my personal time line. I found out a little later that, while my body was healing, a team of empathetic healers was working with me, dealing with the problems that being raised by my Father caused me, with the whole believing I was a demon garbage. I'm really looking forward to seeing him again, and expressing my displeasure personally!"

She shook her head, and continued, "Anyway, Deety and Libby introduced me to the World As Myth, and showed me how our lives had been manipulated for years by the Powers That Be, those supposedly benign beings who use their Champions to fight against the Darkness. Hah! Benign my ass! If they are benign, I'm the next Tamara Sperling! What they learned, and showed me, were that the PTB were actually aspects of the First Evil, who, in every written and oral history, is shown to be first, and foremost, a deceiver. I don't mind saying, now, that it was a shock, to learn that almost everything I believed true about myself was a lie! I had been basically programmed by those bastards to be Willow's lover and die tragically, so she could go on her vengeance tear. Don't get me wrong, I am still attracted to women, right Cordy?"

She smirked at the brunette, who just said, "Shush you! We don't want to break him yet, we just got him back!"

"True, but, as I was saying, once I was free of their manipulations, I learned that it's the person, not the plumbing that I'm attracted to, and I can get just as much pleasure from a good man as I can from a woman. Needless to say, that took quite a bit to get used to, but, eventually I was able to come to terms with the idea. One thing that I kept coming back to, was my feelings for you, I thought they were just friendship, when I was convinced I was girls only. But they were a lot stronger than that, I realized that I had fallen in love with you at some point, and I was heartbroken, because you were so far away. It wasn't until they rescued Cordy, and showed me the one timeline where the Slayers weren't activated, that I began to have hope."

Pausing to take a drink, Tara continued; "You see, the one time line they found where the earth wasn't destroyed, it was because the three of us worked together to prevent the problem entirely. I wasn't too sure how we could do that, but we've found a way. I know this is a lot to take in, but, what do you say, want to save the world again?" She finished with an impish grin.

"Leaving aside for the minute the idea of the three of us working together, and more, based on the kisses you each gave me, I will do anything, give anything to prevent what I witnessed from happening again."

"Why did you say that you were leaving the idea of us as a trio aside, Xan?" Cordelia asked, "If you are still concerned about what happened in school with "The Fluke", don't be, we learned that both you and Willow had been the victims of a lust spell by one of the PTB's agents. You and Willow both fought against it, and they had to keep hitting you over and over with the spell. That crap with Spike was a set up from the very beginning, he was directed to kidnap the two of you so that Oz and I would find you. I know now that you were in love with me, just as I was in love with you, in fact, I was planning to give you my virginity the night that we found you! The Bastards That Be couldn't have that, so they sent Skip to screw things up, and ended up running me out of town."

Xander had been getting angrier and angrier as he heard how they all had been manipulated, he wasn't surprised that they had been screwing him over, it was just what he expected from life, but when they started fucking with his girls, well, that was an entirely different story and he wasn't going to stand for it if there was a way to do anything about it! Biting back his fury, he took a deep breath and said,

"Alright, that answers part of my question, and I'm actually very relieved to find out that it wasn't Willow who caused the Fluke, because she was starting to get pretty deep in the magic then, and it was giving me a wiggins! But, Tara, are you sure about this? It's not just because I was the closest thing to a decent male you knew, is it? Because, while I certainly find you attractive, and love you as friend, I'm not in love with you. I'm not saying that it couldn't change, hell, if what Cordy and I had could become love, anything could happen!"

Tara chuckled, "Xander, one thing I've learned in the time I've been here, is that Love comes in the strangest ways. I'm not asking for you to fall in love with me, but I do want you as a lover. I spent 21 years afraid of my shadow, and too timid to stand up for myself most of the time. Not anymore! I've spent the last five years studying healing, as well as getting coaching from Lazarus and Zebbie in armed and unarmed combat, because I've got a whole new shot at life, and I'm not going to let it pass me by!

"The Time Corps is doing really good work, and I'm proud to be a part of it. They are the ones who gave all of us this new chance, and, I've already gone on dozens of missions, some of them to worlds you would know, like the time my team prevented the death of the oldest Halliwell witch, so the Charmed Ones weren't fractured by the schemes of the Source. I even went on a mission to attempt to prevent Angelus encountering the Kalderash clan, but we ran into interference by the fucking Powers, and Spike and Dru killed three of our team and I had to abort before they could be turned. I swear, if I ever get the chance, I'm going to drown the two of them in Holy Water!"

Cordy reached over and put her hand on Tara's shoulder, "You won't be alone, babe, you know that. Xander and I have just as much reason to hate Spike as you do, and we'll help you give the two of them their final bath."

Xander caught Tara's eyes and nodded, "You don't even have to ask, you know I'll have your back. But, if we're supposed to be fixing things, how is it going to work since our original versions are still walking around? Or, are you talking about sending our memories back? If Tara was in Sunnydale, I'd say that Halloween would be about perfect, but you were still back home for another year, weren't you Tara?"

Tara nodded, "I was living on a ranch in Death Valley until mama died, and then I took everything I could carry and headed toward civilization. Mama had told me that she had gone to USC Sunnydale for a year when she was younger, before they brought her back, and I was determined to do what she wasn't able to do, in her memory."

Cordy added, "You're actually right about the memories and when it will happen, the Time Corps will make copies of our memories and put them in three rings, putting them where we will find them the day before Halloween so that when the costumed chaos goes off, we can start making the changes we need to, starting with capturing and securing Spike and his loony bitch. Tara will be making her way to Sunnydale, so we can meet up the day after Halloween, which is a Saturday so we don't have school.

"Once we meet up and give the vampires their bath, we can start making plans, but one of the first things we need to do is getting our bodies into shape, and then we can arrange Tara's transfer into Sunnydale High. You and I will start dating right after Halloween, and Tara is going to be our mutual friend. I'm sorry to say you're going to find yourself subject to suspicion on Buffy and Willow's part, probably more Willow than Buffy, because she can't stand anybody getting close to Xander, but that will pass for the most part."

Xander cut in, "Okay, that's fine for a beginning, but what are we going to be doing to prevent the activation of the Slayers? Toying around at the margins is all well and good, but we need to either go big or go home, and I'm not going back home, it's a wasteland."

Cordy smiled at him, "I love it when you use your brain, Doofus, and to start with, the minute Joyce starts getting sick, we are getting her to Boondock and get the brain tumor and other problems taken care of. We're also going to track down a certain intern at the hospital named Ben and make sure he has a short, sharp accident one night, so that demented Hell Goddess will be trapped in her dimension for another millennium or so. Preventing Joyce's death, and the Glorificus situation should resolve the problem, since Buffy won't be driven to kill herself. Then Willow and the others won't make the mistake of bringing her back, which opened the door for the First Evil to start screwing around with people."

"Okay, I'll go along with that, but I want to at least try and keep Faith from going off the rails, Willow away from the magic addiction, and Buffy from fucking Spike if at all possible."

Tara made a face, "I still don't understand how she could have gone with him in the first place? Even ignoring the fact that he's a demon wearing a corpse, he was creepy as hell the way he stalked her."

He shrugged, "From what you're both saying, it was probably more of the Powers arranging things. So we've got the beginning of a plan, when do we start?"

Lazarus had walked in as he was speaking and said, "You won't start the mission for quite a while yet, your personal time, because you need to catch up to where Tara and Cordy are in their training, and then we will be going over each of your memories with a fine toothed comb to make sure we don't miss anything, we've only got one shot at this and if it goes belly up, we're all screwed."

"What are we waiting for? Let's get started!" Xander said, sliding his legs over the side of the bed and standing.

End Chapter One