STORY TITLE: The Circle of Scooby

PART: 05 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: PG-13

WORD COUNT: 4,269

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?

CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE DEPARTMENT: I'm borrowing a bit of Cordy's childhood background from my buddy IronBear's stories, specifically Rio Blanco on the Mouth of Hell, and the Hell-er-nator Stories. If you want some amazing Xander/Cordelia stories, do yourself a favor and check him out!

A QUICK NOTE ON ANONYMOUS REVIEWS: It doesn't do either of us any good if you ask me questions about the story, but don't sign in so I can reply. The guest who left an unsigned review for the first chapter asked some fairly interesting questions about the story that I would have enjoyed discussing with him or her, but as it is, there's no way that can happen. So please, if you have questions or concerns about the direction the story is going, please do us both a favor and sign in so I can respond to you. Thanks!

SPECIAL THANKS TO PAX HUMANA: For Beta and Typo-busting services.

Sunnydale Streets

Forty-Five Minutes Ago

"Oops, I need to go, about a half dozen fashion victims are heading my way. I'll call you back." Cordy heard Tara's phone disconnect and she moved to confront the bloodsuckers. "Hey! Fang boys, what the hell are you doing out here? Isn't Halloween too commercial for you types?" Come on Chase, get them focused on you, not on the sleeping kids, you can take these dipshits. "Hey! I'm talking to you, you idiots, what the hell do you think you're doing out here tonight? Get out and go back to Dru, maybe she and Miss Edith will have some tea and cakes ready for you?"

'Oh! That got a reaction, but then who'd want to work for that loony-toon? Yeah, they don't like that at all, time to get my luscious ass out of here!'

The next several minutes would always be a blur to her, her legs pounding as she ran, using the Cheerleading leaps and jumps to keep just ahead of the demon gang. Finally, she saw the fence surrounding the water tower and put on a burst of speed as she scrambled up and over the fence. Pushing off, she landed 12 feet inside the fence and scrambled to her feet. She grinned as the vampires ran straight into the fence, and bounced back, the reinforced steel too much for them to just tear through. Okay, she had a minute or two, let's get ready and dust some of the leeches, and then she can call Tara and find out what's going on. Giving a quick count, she saw that it was only five of them, not the six she thought. One less target doesn't bother her at all.

Reaching into the pockets on the side of her pants, she pulled out the metal slingshot and seated it along her arm, then grabbing the small glass vials with wax seals. Putting one of the Holy Water vials in the slingshot pouch, she put the rest in her breast pocket where she could reach them easily.

Pulling back the pouch, she sighted on the lead vamp and pulled back, hoping her body remembered enough from growing up, letting the rubber snap and shoot the vial directly into the vamp's eyes where it shattered. The demon's anguished screams were very satisfying, but she was already reloading and firing at the next vamp. The two of them were screaming and clawing at their faces as they fell to the ground. She got one more before the last two started showing some intelligence, backing away from the fence and starting to move around the outside, splitting up so she couldn't track them both.

The next twenty minutes were the most tedious game of cat and mouse she could imagine, but at last, she was able to get to the ladder on the tower and climb up to the walkway that was about 20 feet or so off the ground, giving her a much better view of her prey. One of them was walking cautiously around, trying to find a way through the fence, but not seeming to figure it out. Not exactly a Mensa candidate then. Taking advantage of his distraction, she pulled back and whistled sharply as she released, making the moron look up, only to catch a face full of holy water. She snickered, "Oh, I love listening to the music of the night," before moving around the walkway, trying to find the last target.

It took Cordy a moment to realize that she was only hearing one screaming vampire, not four of them, so she hurried around to where she had come in. The sight she saw had her giving a cheer, as her beautiful, wonderful husband was dusting off his hands, as the last of the vampires was falling apart.

"Damn it, Xander, it's good to see you! Now, Tara's got problems too, let me get down and we can get to my car and rescue her!"

TCOS & TCOS & TCOS

Five Minutes Later

Xander knew his grin looked ridiculous, but he really didn't give a damn, he'd been scared shitless that he'd be too late, and find Cordy either injured or turned. So hearing her voice and seeing her unharmed, the cross hanging out of the front of her fatigues, made him happier than he'd been since waking up on Boondock.

When they got to the parking lot, he saw Snyder standing in the window of his office. When Snyder saw them as they crossed under the lights, Xander saw his body relax and turn away, lowering the blinds on the window. He really wasn't sure what that was all about, because he was acting a lot different than the last time. But there wasn't time to think about that, Tara needed them.

Cordy had told him about Tara's call, and the Dru was coming after her, and he just prayed that they were on time. He climbed in the back of Cordy's convertible and started refilling their water guns from the bottle of Holy Water, swearing as some of it splashed during the sharp turns. Cordy pushed her car to the limit, narrowly avoiding a couple of accidents, but they were pulling up at the Ramada and he was handing Cordy her guns, and he lifted his super-soaker as they ran through the lobby. The clerk tried to stop them, but Cordy gutted him with a glare. They didn't have time for this right now!

Running up the stairs to the second floor, he could hear Dru's voice from the end of the hallway and then heard the door being broken in. He was running toward the bitch, raising his weapon, but Cordy beat him to it. With a yell of "Stay away from her, you bitch!" She started spraying Dru with Holy Water, making the psycho vamp back away from the door, screaming in pain. He started forward, a stake in his hand, Spike may have got away from him, but nobody threatens his family, nobody!

He was almost in range to shove his stake in her heart when her flailing hands hit the fire extinguisher and sent it flying into him, and Xander had no room to duck so it hit him in the stomach, knocking him down and shoving all the oxygen from his lungs. All he could do was cough and watch Dru run blindly down the hallway and through the stairway door.

Rolling over on his side, he would have laughed if he could catch his breath. Cordy had Tara wrapped in her arms, looking like she was trying to take their witch's tonsils out with her tongue. Managing to cough loud enough to get their attention and his wives broke apart, and Cordy looked embarrassed at the distraction.

Between the two of them, they got him on his feet and into Tara's room. Before he could object, Tara was casting one of her healing spells, and the pain in his ribs faded away, leaving him able to breathe again. Tara was turning away, but Xander put his hand on her shoulder, pulling her against him as he claimed his kisses as well. He wasn't liking the way Tara was trembling in his arms, and looked over at Cordy and saw the same concern. They would need to get to the bottom of the problem, because their wife was always cool-headed, both in the scrum and afterward, so this was unusual. Pulling back, he kept his arm around Tara as he looked around.

"'Fraid there's not much I can do about the door babe, the damage is too great. Don't worry, I'm sure we can cover the repair, but we really need to get out of here so we can snuggle and figure out what the fuck went wrong, because the Enemy figured things out way too quickly."

The three of them spent the next few minutes while gathering Tara's belongings, agreeing on what they would tell the clerk.

TCOS & TCOS & TCOS

Cordy was surprised at how easy it was to get Tara out of there. A mention of 'gang members on PCP' and the clerk would have done just about anything to see the last of them. But, to make sure that things were covered, she handed him her Platinum Card and told him to use it to cover the damages. The greedy look faded when she told him to send the itemized bill to her father at Chase Investments. She knew that the bill would be correct and completely itemized when Daddy received it. Charles Chase had a well-deserved reputation for taking care of his money. Which made it strange, thinking about it, that he would have run into such trouble with the IRS. Was this something else that the Powers did?

That was something else to look into, but she was worried about Tara, this reaction wasn't normal, not at all. They would have to talk to her when they got home and snuggled in.

TCOS & TCOS & TCOS

1630 Revello Drive

Sunnydale, California

10 minutes after Ethan's spell breaks

There were dozens of thoughts rushing around her brain right now, but the one Buffy was holding onto, was that she was going to tear into Giles the next time she saw him. 'A quiet night for the supernatural, yeah right! If tonight was quiet, she really didn't want to see a busy night.'

Looking up at Angel, she almost winced at the look of sadness in his eyes and wanted to punch Xander, not a slayer strength punch, just a normal one, for the bombshells he dropped on Angel, and now her, tonight.

"He, he really said that you would lose your soul if we were together, that way?" She tried not to think about the images her brain supplied at the thought of her and Angel getting naked together, even though she had spent a lot of time recently thinking about it. "Are you sure it wasn't jealousy, because he did try and ask me out a few times last year."

Angel shook his head, "He wasn't jealous, not at all, I watched the way he was with you, he cares for you, a great deal, but it's a protective caring, almost like I looked at my sisters when I was alive. He's your big brother, whether you knew it or not. Believe me, this would be a lot easier to take if I could convince myself it was just jealousy. Even though pointing out the age difference would have still hurt, either way. No, he's your big brother, and that makes him a very dangerous man."

Buffy laughed, "Xander? Dangerous? No way! He's Xander, my Xander shaped friend, he's not dangerous to anybody, unless they try to take his Twinkies anyway."

She didn't like the look on Angel's face, like he couldn't believe what she was saying, "Not dangerous? Are we talking about the same Xander Harris? The Xander Harris who found the courage to follow you into the Bronze during the Harvest, and ended up staking the body of his best friend since childhood, that Xander?

"Or the one who showed up on my doorstep the night you faced the Master and forced me, with his strength of personality alone, to lead him into the Master's cavern and arriving in time to save your life by giving you CPR until you were breathing on your own. He did what I didn't dare to do.

"There were several other instances I can remember, such as the night that the Anointed One had Willow, Giles, Jenny Calendar and Cordelia captured and was going to sacrifice them to bring back the Master. Didn't I hear something about him threatening to kill you if they were harmed? Are you sure he's not dangerous? Because if you do, I don't want to know what you consider dangerous. It would probably be something to give Lovecraft nightmares."

Buffy listened in surprise, but then she sat back against the couch and she started thinking about the last two years since she arrived in Sunnydale. She couldn't believe she'd been so blind, and then there were other times that Angel didn't mention, like when he was possessed by the Hyena and had her pinned down in that classroom. She'd been less than a minute from giving in before she managed to knock him out, he was really getting inside her head. If he really was her brother, maybe that was a good thing, because she could see that he would be extremely protective of her.

She shook her head, smiling wryly, "Okay, yeah, I guess I missed a whole lot, I just put him in the normal guy, perfectly harmless category and didn't think about it again." Sitting up on the couch and leaning forward she said, a bright smile on her face, "So, now that we aren't going to be dating, are you going to take Xander's suggestion about helping us with Latin and Gaelic or any other languages you know?"

TCOS & TCOS & TCOS

Chase Manor

Cordelia's Bedroom

Five minutes after they arrived

The bedroom door was closed, and the three of them had stripped out of everything before sliding under the quilt on Cordy's bed. Xander gave Tara a couple of minutes to get comfortable before he moved closer, wrapping his arms around the trembling witch, with Cordy holding her from behind.

Softly, he asked, "Are you ready to talk about what's bothering you, Tara? Because this is really out of character for you, and it's worrying us. You know whatever it is, we'll be there with you, don't you?"

Tara nodded, but then started crying, "Damn it! I don't know what the hell is wrong with me, I've been through far more dangerous situations than tonight, and it never bothered me before. It just seems like, ever since I arrived, my emotions are all over the place, and I can't control them. I'm either stupidly happy, or worried about nothing, or even just falling apart at the drop of a hat, I don't understand it."

Xander had been listening intently as Tara let it out, and the way she was describing how she was feeling, it suddenly hit him. Hearing Cordy gasp, he caught her eyes and saw the same understanding. Pulling Tara tighter, "Lover, I think I might know what is causing your problems. This is kind of an embarrassing question, but, when did you start going through puberty, do you remember?"

Tara frowned, "I think I started when I just turned 14, but why would that matter, I'm almost 27 now, I should be done with puberty by now."

He shook his head, "No Tara, you're mentally almost 27, how old is your body?

She stared at him, before she understood what he was saying, and groaned, closing her eyes. "Fuck! I thought I was through this crap already, now you mean I've got another year at least to put up with it?"

Cordy leaned closer and planted a kiss on Tara's neck before saying, "I'm afraid so, babe. Xan and I started when we were almost 11, so these bodies are done with the nonsense. But, we'll help you as much as we can to keep you steady, and there are some vitamin and other supplements that will help level things out. It's not going to be pleasant, but we'll get through it. Now, you said something strange happened with Snyder?"

He sat up, "Yeah, it was really weird, one minute he was his normal self, but when I mentioned that Cordy was being chased by 'gang members' and asked him to let me go help her, he looked at me and then nodded, but then he said we should talk to the librarian, and ask him for all the information he has on a Heather MacLeod, and her group of friends. Then he said, they called themselves 'the misfits' not the Scooby Gang."

Cordy sat up, swearing, "What the hell? How the hell would even know that name? And the way he was talking, it sounds like he was part of these 'misfits'. Yeah, I think we need to have quite a conversation with Giles."

"Agreed, but there's something else to discuss, bringing Tara into the library with us. I've got an idea of the story we can use, and it has the bonus of being impossible to disprove. We can say that you, Cordy, saw Tara using a flame spell to fight a vampire. And since you can do the flame spell almost in your sleep with the time you spent learning and meditating, I'm sure that Giles and Jenny will be very interested in talking to you. And the fact that you know about vampires means that we don't have to hide things from you."

Tara nodded, a lot calmer, "Okay, that's a good idea, but what about my identification? If he pays attention to the news, he's going to make a connection between me and what happened in Death Valley."

Cordy said, "Actually, this is something that I think he can help you with. You could register as a home school student, to keep your information out of the records until Cletus and Donnie and the others are locked away in a deep hole. I'm sure that he and Jenny would be willing and able to tutor you between their other duties. And if, strange as it seems, Snyder is actually going to be helpful, we can feel him out as well. Hell, if nothing else, we can visit the 'Alibi Room' and bribe Willie to put us in touch with somebody who can put together a new identify for you. It won't be cheap, but I've already got stupid money or my own, and Xander is going to invent and patent some of Jake's simpler gadgets, so the money won't be a problem."

Xander stretched, before laying back down, "Okay, we've got some possible plans to bring Tara in, but there's something we need to think about, but we can't talk about it, not yet. We need to figure out how the Enemy found out what we were active, and if we can make sure they can't see or hear us."

The girls nodded, and Cordy leaned over to turn out the lights. They were all asleep in minutes.

TCOS & TCOS & TCOS

Carpinteria Coffee Shop

Carpinteria, CA

11:45 pm

Rom Snyder pulled his car into the slot in front of the door and shut off the engine. Taking a deep breath, he stroked the watch on his wrist slowly, before opening the car door and stepping out. His eyes were casually scanning his surroundings as he walked to the front of the shop.

Opening the door, he saw that the counterman noticed him and he gave the signal, tapping his fingers on his leg as he walked to the counter. Okay, good, nothing had changed since the last time he was here. Rom didn't think that he would have let anything happen, not after Rom saved his sister from the Chaos Demon all those years ago. Too bad the girl couldn't deal with the real world and just blocked it out, she was cute and definitely interested, but it wouldn't have been fair to bring somebody into his life that couldn't handle knowing the truth. He snorted, he may have the same hairline, but he wasn't Jack Nicholson, and he certainly wasn't Colonel Jessup!

Taking a seat at the end of the counter, his back to the wall, he ordered a coffee and a blueberry muffin, heated. A few minutes later the man brought his order and they exchanged a smile before he went back to the other customer, looked like a doctor just finishing his shift from the rumpled uniform and the exhaustion on his face.

Finishing his snack, Rom wiped his face and hands and paid the ticket, leaving a good tip as always. Leaning over he said, "Where's the men's room here?"

The counterman pointed out the door, "Around the side of the building, let me get you the key."

He came back a few minutes later with a key attached to a yardstick, and Rom grinned, remembering the key in Summer School all those years ago. Taking the key, he walked steadily to the back of the building and unlocked the door. Pulling the key from the slot, he opened the door and closed it behind him. After using the toilet and washing his hands, he pulled his keys from his pocket and moved to the supply closet. Unlocking the door, he inched it open, his hand turning on the light. He looked through the gap in the door until he was satisfied that the 'tells' were in place. Pushing the door open, he stepped in and closed the door behind him. Turning the lock and listening for the 'click'.

He grimaced as he looked around the tiny room, the closet he was in. There was just enough room for the desk and the chair, and the computer on top of the desk. Moving behind the computer, he took the keys and removed the lock on the power cord, and then on the phone line. Plugging the two cords into the outlet on the wall, he moved to the front of the desk and sat down. Turning on the computer and monitor, he waited until it was booted up and logged into his AOL account to connect to the internet.

As the lights flickered silently across the modem he was very happy he had disconnected the speaker ages ago.

While the computer was connecting, he opened the bottom drawer of the desk, pulling out a dry erase whiteboard, a marker, and a magnifying glass. Taking off his wristwatch, he flipped it over, showing the false back. Popped off the back, he removed the tiny booklet and set it next to the magnifying glass.

Sitting silently, he put together the message he needed to send to the others and wrote it as concisely as possible on the whiteboard. Open the tiny book, he picked up the magnifying glass and started searching for the matching code phrase. Once he was finished, he double-checked the message and opened up the different email programs, so that each recipient got a message from a different address, with an innocuous subject.

Opening the first email, the one from Heather , he typed in Charles' address and entered the message. The one to Paul Stein was Heather PolicemansBenevolentAssociation, and he sent Paul the same message. He hesitated over the last one, but with their son involved, Tony and Jessica had to know as well, so he searched and found the email address he was using to contact them. Once the messages were typed and sent, he sat back, rubbing his eyes. "I hope the others remember their codebooks, otherwise they are going to be blindsided when the shit hits the fan."

End Chapter Five

I know, I know a bit shorter than usual, but it was a good place to end it. And this will be the last chapter until Sunday or Monday, I've got a few other stories that I have to pay attention to, and I'm celebrating my birthday on Sunday, so I'm going to be busy. See you soon!