STORY TITLE: The Circle of Scooby
PART: 06 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: 4,340
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.
Streets of Sunnydale
Friday, October 31st, 1997
Minutes after Escaping from Xander and Cordelia
Pain, the entire universe was pain, drowning out the voice of Miss Edith, even drowning out the singing of the stars. She didn't know how long she had been running, trying to escape the pain that was burning her face and eyes, she could barely see in front of her. All she could think about was getting to Spike, he would make things better, stop the hurting, so the two of them could really punish the naughty kitten and his girls. They would scream for years, such beautiful songs of agony before she would let them die, oh yes, they would suffer, they would suffer so badly. They would burn-
It was too bad that the Holy Water had damaged Drusilla's ears and her eyesight and she didn't realize it as the pain driving her was too overwhelming. Dru wasn't alone on the streets that night.
Coming toward her, moving far too fast for safety, was a Chevrolet convertible with Jack O'Toole behind the wheel. Jack had just made bail for the latest of his run-ins with the police and had wasted no time picking up Parker, Dickie, and Bob and robbing the closest liquor store.
That was about an hour ago and the four of them had wasted no time in enjoying their score. Jack had just turned around to grab another beer when his speeding car hit something. It took Jack almost 30 seconds to realize something was wrong because he couldn't get the car under control! It was swerving all over the road and when he tried to turn the wheel or his feet fumbled for the brake pedal nothing happened.
It was only when the car left the road entirely and collided with the gas pump at the 7-11 that he realized he and the others were going to die and there was nothing he could do about it. The car knocked the pump over and burst into flames, engulfing the car and everybody inside it.
When the fire was eventually extinguished, no notice was paid to the vaguely woman-shaped ashes underneath the car.
The Mayor used the deaths of the four young men to emphasize the dangers of drinking and driving and his popularity increased a point or two, briefly.
TCOS & TCOS & TCOS
Chase Manor
Cordelia's Bedroom
Saturday, November 1st, 1997
9:00 am
"Yeah, Wills, I'm fine, I promise. It was freaky as hell, I'm not gonna lie, but we all survived. And yes, I do still have all the memories. No, I'm not going to talk about them right now. Why? Because they are ugly, real ugly, Will, and I don't want to think about them more than I absolutely have to. Just let Buffy and Giles know that I'll be at the library at 1:00 o'clock, and make sure that Angel and Miss Calendar are there too, this affects them just as much, okay? One o'clock, Will, I'm not going to rush in there too early, I'm just barely awake, and need to get some breakfast. Okay? Alright, I'll see all of you at 1 o'clock."
Putting down the phone, he handed it back to Tara, who was sitting up in bed, her arms around Cordy as they both grinned at him. "Geez! How did I manage to forget just how annoying she could be when she wanted to know something? Anyway, I wasn't kidding about breakfast, let's get cleaned up and dressed so we can hit the IHOP or something."
Tara chuckled, sounding far more like herself than she had last night, "Yeah, we did manage to get kind of sticky last night, and we probably ought to at least change the sheets so the maid doesn't faint or, worse, tell Cordy's parents."
Cordy shrugged, "That won't bother my father much, and his wife will be more unhappy that I had sex with Xander, and not a boy from one of the 'good families'. And neither of them would blink at Tara, after all, 'experimenting with other girls' is considered almost expected in the upper classes, don't you know?"
They laughed at Cordy's over-the-top 'posh' accent but managed to get all three of them into Cordy's shower and, eventually, they were all clean and dressed.
TCOS & TCOS & TCOS
The Harris House
10:45 am
Tony Harris stumbled out of bed, his hands fumbling for the glass of water and the two aspirin that he had put on the nightstand last night. Tossing back the pills, he emptied the glass in three swallows, praying for the pain to go away.
He held himself very still for the next several minutes before the pain started receding and he was able to open his eyes without the room spinning around him. Forcing himself to walk, using the bed and then the chair to steady himself, he reached the door to the bathroom. Turning the shower on as hot as he could stand it, he stripped out of his clothes as he stepped under the water. The heat punished him for his weakness, for not being able to keep her safe, for the way he treated his son, and Jessica. Eventually, he was able to tolerate the water and started cleaning himself, hoping to find a way to turn himself around, to be the father his son needed, and the man his wife married.
Finding clean underwear and pants, he got dressed and headed toward the stairs, hoping that somehow Jess was feeling better than he was. Hearing the sobs from what used to be her bedroom, he tried to hold down the violent upheaval in his stomach. Rushing into the room, he saw his wife sitting at the computer, tears rolling down her face as she stared at the screen. He must have made a noise because she turned to look at him, her eyes sharper than he'd seen in years, and wondered what the hell had happened.
He didn't have to wait for an answer, because she said, "We both got emails this morning. From Heather!"
The world collapsed around him, it was impossible, Heather had been dead for nearly 18 years! Was this some kind of sick joke?
Jessica was on her feet, and putting her arms around him, holding him tightly as he trembled. She was saying something, it took a few minutes to sink in, and he remembered, the code they established when the Misfits were hatching their grand plans to carry on Heather's work.
"Who? Who sent the message? And do you know where the code key is?" He managed to croak out, his throat dry again.
Jess nodded, "It was Rom, and I had the code book taped inside the drawer of the desk. Strange how easy it was to transfer from what we used to use to email isn't it? It was the only reason we bought the computer after, well, after, and kept it up to date. But the main thing is, we're going to have to get our shit together, Tony. The message said that Xander and Charles and Cynthia's daughter Cordelia, as well as little Willow are all involved in the same thing we were, and he told Xander to ask the fucking Watcher about Heather. So we are going to have to tell him everything, even about our daughter. I honestly think he's forgotten he ever had a sister, the poor kid."
Tony managed to sit down in the other chair in the room, dropping his head into his hands and closing his eyes. Well, he was trying to find a real reason to get help for him and Jess, this was about as good as it was gonna get. Looking at his wife, he quirked a grin at her, "Well, I guess we need to see when the next meetings are scheduled. If we're going to support our son and his friends, we can't do it drunk, agreed?"
Jess nodded, "I'm going to contact Paul, let him know we're both getting it together and getting back in the saddle. Nobody would think twice about a girl contacting her brother, after all." She paused, "You know, it's been almost 100 years since he became Mayor, do you think he might have something 'special' planned for the anniversary?"
Tony thought about it, nodding, "He always has seemed to be focusing on a long-term plan, maybe that's part of it?" Standing, he continued, "if we are going to have a conversation like this, we need to get this place cleaned up, and pour those damn bottles down the sink! It's too bad Catherine fell to the darkness, we could have had her cast an alcohol aversion on us until we could get into the program again."
Jessica grinned, "Well, we can check if Xander knows anybody who's a trustworthy practitioner, or we can take a trip to LA and see what we can find there."
The two of them were moving with an actual sense of purpose as they gathered up all the half-empty bottles of booze and poured them down the sink. Jess had all the windows in the house open, trying to get the fresh air in and to push out the smell of drinking and neglect. It wouldn't fix everything, but it was a start.
TCOS & TCOS & TCOS
Sunnydale High School
Library
Saturday, November 1st, 1997
12:15 pm
Willow was starting to get annoyed with Giles, he kept asking the same questions over and over. Questions she'd already answered with all that she knew. Did he honestly think that wording the question differently was going to change her answers? She didn't have the patience to deal with him being a poopy-head, and she was going to tell him! Didn't he understand that she was worried about her best friend since she was five years old more than whatever information he might have?
Turning to face the older man, her resolve face firmly in place, she said, "Giles! I've already told you everything I know. Xander told me that he was possessed by a Xander Harris from several years in the future, and that there was a lot of bad stuff coming our way. The only thing he mentioned was that somehow Angel would lose his soul and unleash Angelus, killing over 200 people, including people we are friends with, before he was stopped. I don't know anything more than that, and if you don't like my answer, well, why don't you go and stuff it up your jumper?"
Willow almost snickered at the expression on Giles' face, but she'd actually looked up different British phrases to use. Although she wasn't sure what it meant.
Before he could say anything, the doors to the library opened and Buffy strode in, looking very unhappy. "Actually, I can give you a bit more information about the curse, since Xander actually told Angel about it last night." Turning to Willow, she smiled, "I was outside the doors and heard what you said to Giles. Way to go with the Brit-speak!"
Looking back at her Watcher, Buffy said, "Yeah, basically, if Angel experiences a single moment of happiness, Angel goes bye-bye and we are dealing with the Scourge of Europe again. Not something I'm eager to see happen, personally. So, Xander said he'll be here at 1 o'clock, so we can all sit and wait for answers."
They were all so focused on their argument, that they had no idea they weren't alone at the moment. No, back in the depths of the stacks, listening to every word they said, stood Rom Snyder, just waiting for the moment to make his presence known.
TCOS & TCOS & TCOS
Library
1:00 pm
Exactly as the clock clicked one o'clock, Xander pushed the library door open and walked through, flanked by Cordy and Tara. Their entrance put a stop to the argument just long enough for the three of them to start firing questions at him again. Shaking his head, he moved to the end of the table and sat down, gesturing for Cordy and Tara to join them.
He let them babble at him for as long as he could stand it, before putting his fingers at his mouth and gave a piercing whistle, making Buffy wince and the others glare at him.
When there was silence, he looked at Giles, "I said that Jenny Calendar needed to be here, and so did Angel, so where are they? I didn't say who needed to be here because I enjoy the sound of my own voice, you know. So where are they?"
"I'm here, Xander," came a voice from the shadows, as Angel walked forward. Buffy looked up at him, but then looked away, an unhappy expression on her face. Xander nodded at the vampire before turning back to Giles, a questioning look on his face."
Giles started stammering and polishing his glasses, "Well, I, I, uh, didn't think it was necessary to involve Miss Calendar in this, she's not really involved with Buffy's group, and it didn't seem wise to spread this information too widely..."
The Watcher didn't get to keep making excuses because Xander had moved from his chair and was standing directly in front of the man, a furious look on her face. "You damned idiot! Jenny Calendar is involved down to her Romany roots! She's one of the people whose life I'm trying to save. Call her, call her now, or I will cut you out, you won't get a drop of information. And incidentally, if word one of this gets to those murderous blue-blood bastards sitting on their fat arses in England, they will never find your body, am I understood?"
Giles paled but went to the phone and after a few attempts, managed to dial Jenny's number and ask her to join them in the library as soon as possible. When he hung up the phone, he turned to Xander and tried to glare at him, "I really don't appreciate your tone or your threats, Xander, may I ask why you are suddenly so hostile to me? I don't recall doing anything to justify this treatment."
Xander laughed, bitterly, "Oh, I can think of quite a few things you've done that justify it, Ripper! To start with, you carry the mark of the Sleepwalker on your arm, and it's going to wake up within the next few weeks and kill all of your friends except for that scumbag Ethan. But I'm going to give you a bit of a break on that one, you were all young, dumb, and looking to get laid, people do stupid things for that. No, I want you to look me dead in the eye and tell me you won't be participating in the
'Tento de Cruciamentum' on Buffy's 18th birthday and I'll shake your hand and call you friend. Can you do that?"
The silence stretched between them for an eternity until Giles looked down, and Xander nodded, "I thought so. Do you understand just why I have no particular use for you, or those bastards in England?"
"Xander, please, you must understand, these traditions have stood for thousands of years, almost since the first Slayer picked up a stake. Yes, to an outsider it looks horrible, but the Slayers who pass the test, are often stronger and more resilient than they were before. And if I were to refuse to administer the test, I would be replaced by somebody who would, and quite likely killed. Do you think I like what I'll be forced to do? Damn it, I don't, but if I am here, I can try to protect all of you from the reactionaries on the Council, who see you and Miss Rosenberg, and Miss Chase and this young lady I don't know, as an impediment and interference in the Slayer's sacred duty. They would have no compunction at all in having you all killed."
The library was completely quiet, until Buffy stood and ran out the room, with Willow right behind her, a stricken look on her face.
"And you still work for those fuckers? There's going to come a time when you're going to need to make a decision, Giles. Don't make the wrong one, it will not turn out well for you."
Turning to walk back to his seat, he saw Jenny standing just inside the doorway, a shocked expression on her face. "Okay, what the fuck is going on here? Rupert? Xander? Will you explain why two teenage girls ran out of here with tears in their eyes, and both of them looking like they were going to be sick?"
Xander sighed, "I'm afraid I had to rip the blinders from their eyes about the true nature of the Watcher's Council. You are aware that Buffy is the Slayer, aren't you?"
Jenny nodded, and he continued, "I'm sorry I couldn't have been more gentle with them but there just wasn't time and Giles pissed me off with his attitude of knowing what is best for everyone without having all of the necessary information he needed."
"Now, Willow, Buffy, Angel and Cordy know this next bit, so hopefully Willow and Buffy will be back by the time I finish. Last night, in a typical display of Harris Luck, I was possessed by a Xander Harris from several years further down the timeline, and I've lived through the next several years and buried every person in this room, those of you who left enough to be buried, anyway."
Jenny gasped and Giles paled, and Xander said, "Now, are you willing to listen to me? Personally I would have loved it if my future self hadn't given me anything but future lottery numbers, but he didn't, so if I have these memories, I'm going to do my damnedest to prevent the death and destruction he saw."
Buffy and Willow had come back to the library and walked on shaky legs to the table. Both of them showed signs that they had been crying and, as pale as they were, they probably had been sick as well. He gave them a look of pity, before saying, "Okay, we are all here, so it's time for some introductions. Cordy?" She stood and walked over to him, taking his hand, "One of the memories that I have from future me is that I was married to Cordelia Chase and we had been together for many happy years, long enough to have four healthy children. Two boys, Jesse and Kelly, and two girls, Hilda and Maureen. So when I found myself back in my 16 year old body again, the first thing I did, after we made sure our kids were safe, was to convince Cordy to go out with me."
Cordy took over, spinning the fiction they had come up with. "He told me things about me that nobody, but nobody knew, not even my father or any of his wives, and that was enough to convince me that, if we weren't actually married, we still knew and trusted each other beyond any limits. And, well, I'd actually been thinking I was enjoying my time with him in school and helping out, so I decided to take the leap. We're not going to get married anytime soon, but we are dating and will see how it goes."
Xander smiled at her and squeezed her hand lightly. "And that brings us to Tara, Miss Tara Maclay, and yes, you have heard her name on the news in the last couple of days for turning in her father and several others. But her being here is something we want to keep quiet, for her safety if nothing else. Her mother is receiving medical treatment in a secure location but Tara needs a place to stay hidden. Ironically, she chose Sunnydale because her mother told her she had been happy here. But the reason she is with us, is that Cordy saw her fighting three vampires last night and Tara was using magic to burn them. Cordy helped her with the last vamp, and the two of them started talking, and when I caught up with them after helping Angel with Lady Useless," he gave Buffy a grin, and she smiled back, a little wanly,
"When I caught up with them, I was shocked as hell, but also very happy, because Tara was one of us starting not long after high school graduation, until she was killed by a stray bullet a few years later." Looking directly at Tara, he said, "Don't worry, Tare, that's not going to happen this time, I promise you that." Turning to the others, "That's why I trusted Tara enough to bring her with us.
"Now, for the important stuff. When Buffy faced the Master last spring, she actually did die, briefly, until I was able to revive her with CPR. This was enough to activate Kendra Young, a potential in Jamaica who is currently being trained by Sam Zabuto, a very traditional Watcher. And Giles? Ask yourself this: why weren't you informed of Kendra's activation, when I'm sure you informed Quentin Travers and the others that Buffy had survived her encounter with Nest.
"Kendra died in the spring, during a whole mess that I hope we've short-circuited by telling Buffy and Angel about the escape clause to the curse. In the original timeline, after Kendra died, a girl named Faith Lehane was activated, at the worst possible moment. She and her Watcher, Diana Dormer were captured by an ancient vampire who called himself Kakistos.
"Faith saw her Watcher, a woman who had actually taken her in and fostered her, giving her the first stable home she could remember, Faith saw her being literally torn to pieces as the woman screamed in agony. And Faith knew that she was next, but she was activated as the Slayer and was able to escape. Running scared out of her mind, she traveled from Boston all the way to Sunnydale, looking for help from Buffy to fight Kakistos."
He looked at Buffy and the others, "Cordy and I are going to be flying to Boston either over Christmas if we can arrange it, or at the end of the school year, but that may be too late to prevent Diana's death and Faith's torture, which would not be good. What I need from you, Giles, if you are willing, is a letter of introduction to Faith's Watcher, so she will give us a fair listen. Will you do that?"
Giles nodded, "Of course. Xander, I am not perfect, and you've forced me to look at the Council with fresh eyes, but I am a Watcher, and protecting and helping the Slayer is my duty."
They all jumped as music started playing loudly from the upper stacks, and they stood, only for all of them but Xander, Cordy and Tara to stare in confusion as Principal Snyder walked out of the stacks, a portable CD player in his hands. "Your duty, Watcher? Just like Patrick Remington-Travers did his duty to Heather MacLeod?"
Walking down the stairs, he set the CD Player on the table and gave Xander a nod, "Sorry to interrupt, but I am so sick of the man's sanctimonious twaddle that I can't stand it any more." Gesturing toward the music player he said, "Just in case somebody is listening to your conversation. And Harris, you really need to think about Opsec when you are tearing someone apart. I picked up enough from what you were shouting to have a very good idea what your memories are like. Now, Watcher, unlock your files and bring out everything you have on Heather MacLeod, and her friends that called themselves the Misfits. I have a feeling a couple of people will find the information enlightening."
End Chapter Six