Isabel spent the next few days researching the town of Sunnydale via the internet, and its history. Both her parents had warned her that the presence of vampires in Rome meant that Methos had already started whatever plan he had that would lead to her eventual destruction, not to mention the destruction of potentially everything around her. She needed to know if they were right, if they were telling her the truth. Before they died, she would have never doubted them, but now it was different. They were different and Isabel wasn't sure who she could trust anymore. It saddened her that she had to resort to finding the answers behind their backs, but she couldn't think of any other way.
She felt even guiltier the more she researched as it looked likelier and likelier that they were right about Methos and the coming evil. From her research she had gleaned that the town of Sunnydale had been situated on what was called a Hellmouth, or center of all evil. Isabel had always been good at hacking into computer systems, and she had managed to do just that to a mysterious law firm called Wolfram and Hart which somehow seemed to know more about demons and things that go bump in the night than Isabel could ever hope to know. It made her curious as to how she had never seen any proof of the existence of this other world until tonight, but then it had never really occurred to her to look for it. Now she had, and she was learning more and more about Hellmouths and finding it utterly fascinating as well as frightening.
The Sunnydale Hellmouth had somehow mysteriously been closed, but the evil was not gone. She had managed to do a search of all potentially active Hellmouths in the area, and found that Rome was indeed the new center of evil activity. Which could mean only one thing. Methos was here.
He had to be. Her parents had warned her that if she didn't find him soon, danger would follow and she hadn't taken action. She knew now she should have. She would have to search harder to try to find him, or the evil would only get worse. She couldn't seem to find anything in the Wolfram and Hart database about the Immortal Methos, but that only meant that he was cleverer than she thought. There was plenty on Sunnydale though, and even more on the supposed 'chosen one', which had been what Xander Harris had thought she was when they first met.
The 'chosen one' or slayer, she learned was a young girl who had been called to fight evil. Wolfram and Hart's records stated that there was only ever one at a time, but that an anomaly that had occurred during the present slayer's tenure in Sunnydale had caused there to be two active slayers, one of which they seemed to have a particular interest in because she had gone rogue and murdered a few people from Sunnydale to Los Angeles. Isabel found this incredibly intriguing and wondered how much Xander knew about these slayers.
Were they the friends he had spoken of? Was the girl he had lost the chosen one the Wolfram and Hart databases had alluded to? She hadn't been able to find out as much as she had wanted to. The law firm had some pretty unbreakable codes in their database where the important information was obviously hidden. It frustrated her that she couldn't break through those particular systems, but she shook it off in favour of running the conversation she last had with Xander through her head.
When she first met him he had asked her if she was the one they were looking for…the chosen one. That would support the theory that the slayer was the girl he had lost. From the hints she got about those in Sunnydale and the one or two times Xander Harris' name seemed to pop up in connection with news stories about weird phenomena that happened in the town, Isabel managed to determine that he was more than just a regular guy who happened to know about demons and wanted to help fight them.
Xander Harris was obviously a warrior and it looked as if he was on the side of good. That made her feel a lot better, as she had agonized over the idea of his potential affiliation with Methos. If her parents had been right about him, she would have had to deal with it, and that was one of the last things she wanted to do. There was something about him that drew her to him. Maybe it was because she had never really had any friends who could understand her. Xander likely knew about immortals if he knew about demons. She could tell him about Methos, maybe get him to help her find him. If he fought demons and vampires, surely he was on her side.
She knew she should tell her mother and father that, but for some reason didn't want to. She had already told them too much about Xander as it was. For some reason, she wished to keep him a secret. It was likely they would only push for her to keep her focus on finding Methos and forget any outside interference. They might not trust him. And they would certainly push harder to get her to accept more power from them, which she didn't want. She just wanted to be normal. But that would never happen. Failing that, her only destiny seemed to be to find Methos and to potentially sacrifice her life to make sure that he died. It had been acceptable to her before, as she never really had much to live for save her parents, but now she found the idea to be a frightening one.
The closer she got to finding him, the less she wanted to die herself. Maybe additional power would help her survive his quickening should she manage to take his head, but at what price? Was she willing to sacrifice what little humanity she had left in order to live a little longer?
These were questions she was sick of asking.
Grabbing her coat, she left place and headed to the diner that she and Xander had gone to the second time they met. She knew his phone number was on the underside of the chair, and had decided she needed to talk to him, in order to get some answers. She needed to be in front of him, face to face when he confirmed that he was indeed on her side. And she needed to ask him if he would be willing to help her locate Methos. If he was the center of this coming evil, then certainly they were on the same side. He had to agree to help her. She suddenly did not want to do any of this alone.
She was surprised to find he was already there when she arrived. He hadn't seen her come in yet, but she saw him, sitting at the same table they had been at before and staring out the window, deep in thought.
She almost turned around and left as a sudden bout of nerves suddenly hit her. She wasn't sure why, but the knowledge that he was a demon fighter with years of experience and possible connections to a powerful slayer made her hesitate.
She didn't have a chance to change her mind however, as he turned, noticed her and waved her over.
"Wasn't sure if you would actually come back here," he said as she reached the table and sat down. "But I'm glad you did."
"What made you think I might?" She wondered. "You don't even know me."
"No, I don't," he conceded, "but I'm guessing from the conversations we've had that you and I have a lot in common…including the fact that neither of us is very popular with humanity at the moment. I wouldn't mind having someone to talk to again that isn't trying to kill me. How 'bout you?"
"I…" she paused, unsure of how to deal with the flood of sudden relief she felt. Was this what it was like to have a friend? It was so new, and exciting, and at the same time utterly terrifying. "I've never really had someone to talk to other than my parents. I don't really know how to…"
"Hey, don't worry about it," he interrupted, sensing her distress. "There's no manual, and I've had my share of mistakes."
"You mean your friends from Sunnydale?" She spoke without even thinking, but realized her mistake when he stared at her suspiciously.
"Did I tell you the name of the town?"
"No," she admitted. "I looked it up. I needed to know more about your world. I mean, vampires are real! I had to know what else was out there."
"Stay out of that world," his voice was surprisingly harsh and abrupt. "It's dangerous."
"It's even more dangerous to walk through it completely blind," she shot back. "I did my reading. This is the new Hellmouth. That's why you're here isn't it? To stop whatever's coming?"
"I'm just here to fight," he said darkly, looking away for a moment. She felt her heart drop a little. Had she screwed up this friendship thing before it even began? Shaking her head, she pressed on. Friend or no, there were things she needed to know…things only he could tell her.
"What about the others? The slayer…your friends? I know they're here. They have to be."
"Why does it matter?" He asked angrily. "Why can't you just stay out of it?"
"Because I want to help," she said firmly. "The man that killed my parents might have something to do with it. If that's true, then I might have information you or your friends could use."
"Why would your parent's killer have something to do with the Hellmouth?" He was looking at her again, and she could tell she had his curiosity piqued. That was good. She took a deep breath.
"He's an immortal. They are a race of men that live forever, only dying if their heads are cut off by a sword. When that happens, they receive the quickening which is…"
"The power and strength of the immortal they've just killed," Xander finished for her.
"I guess I shouldn't be surprised you know that," she said sheepishly. "What with fighting demons and vampires, you'd certainly know all about immortals."
"Actually I only found out a few months ago," he admitted. "But what does he have to do with the Hellmouth activity?"
"Methos? Well, according to my…sources, he is the reason behind it." She didn't want to tell him where the information came from. Although he believed and fought demons, vampires and other beasties, something inside her told her that telling him her parents were coming to her in ghost form was a bad idea, so she kept quiet. "I don't know why, or what he's after, but I owe him a grisly death for what he did to my parents. If you want to chip in on the beatings that's OK by me. Just thought I'd throw you a line, seeing as you seem to be in the thick of it already."
"You're thinking of fighting him?" His voice was incredulous and she forced her chin in a physical gesture of defiance. She wasn't sure why she felt so indignant that he would question her. After all, he didn't know about the strength she possessed and she certainly did not want him to. If he knew she was like the freaks he fought, who knows what would happen? She didn't want him as an enemy, even if she couldn't keep him as a friend.
"I have to," was all she could think to say. "He needs to die for what he did."
"He's immortal," Xander pointed out as if she were stupid. "You just said so. If that's true than the quickening…"
"Might kill me," she replied with a grimace. Unless you take your parents' offer of power…she told the voice in her head to shut up and refocused her attention on Xander. "I know that. But I don't have any other choice. He's the oldest living immortal and if he's stirring up big time Hellmouth trouble like what you guys faced in Sunnydale, then he can't be allowed to live."
"Don't give me the good guy speech," Xander said sarcastically. "You just want revenge."
"Maybe I do, so what?" She shot back angrily, eyes blazing. "What would you do to the person who took away the only people who ever meant a damn to you? Would you just let them go free?"
"No," Xander whispered as he was suddenly hit by a wave of self loathing. "I'd track them to the end of the earth….but I know what I'm doing. You don't."
"You think I care?" She asked.
"You should," he replied harshly. "You might think it's glamorous or exciting now, but if you get involved in this world there is no going back. You start wanting to help, but soon all you want to do is die and you can't even do that right. You lose those around you who matter the most. You can't even save them when they need you. Sound like fun Isabel? Still wanna find him?"
"Yes," she said firmly, though inside she was having doubts. "Whatever it takes. I have to pay him back for what he's done."
"You'll regret it." He muttered sadly. "Believe me."
"Maybe, but you can't stop me," She said firmly. "Will you help me find him or not?"
"I won't get my friends involved in this," he said with a firm shake of his head. "If you want to commit suicide, that's great…more power to you. I don't want to save the world anymore. All I want to do is fight one at a time until…"
"Until they kill you?" She interrupted. "Is that your grand mission? I guess all those reports I read about you were wrong."
"Those reports were about a guy who doesn't exist anymore." Xander replied as he stood up and put on his coat. "All that's left is me. I don't want to fight with you. If you want to talk again-about something other than demons and immortals, meet me here another night OK? I have to do one more patrol before I head back."
She nodded and watched as he left her sitting there, unsure of what to make of the person he now claimed to be. Why did she feel so confused? Why did she want to run after him and make sure he was all right?