ATF Mobile Command Center
Outside Mill Creek, Washington
One month later...
Colonel Jack O'Neill, U.S. Air Force closed the tent flap behind him, before he walked over to the group of his team members. "How's it going, Carter?"
"Well...could be better, sir," his second-in-command Captain Samantha Carter told him, as she looked back at the two people being interviewed separately. "The rest of the cult members are buying the cover story that we put together. But those two? They have all the memories, mostly intact."
O'Neill looked over the two people in annoyance as he spoke, "Damn. But why? Most of the others don't remember much..."
The alien Tok'Ra symbiote called Selmak spoke through his human host, General Jacob Carter - Sam's father. "The effects of the Nish'ta on most humans is memory loss. There are rare cases of humans being able to recall events, but with regards to the young woman - I believe there is a much simpler explanation."
"And that would be?" O'Neill wondered.
"She was most likely a concubine."
"Oh, boy," Captain Carter said at that revelation. "But, uh, why would that make a difference? If that's what he used her for, then wouldn't she be just as drugged as the rest of them?"
"No," Jacob spoke, his human voice taking over from Selmak. "You already know Seth wasn't a nice guy, Sam. But the fact is, the Goa'uld often like their non-willing human concubines to have...a touch less brainwashing. Enough to be controlled, yeah - but sex with someone who is a complete zombie isn't much "fun", in their own twisted view of things."
His daughter looked at him with a sick look. "Please tell me you're kidding. She was just a sex slave to him?"
"Yes, but not a slave," General Carter told her, as he looked at the very attractive and well-endowed redhead. "The way she's dressed, the odds are that she was his favorite. She most likely was at his side at all times..." The alien rebel/U.S. Air Force officer thought hard for a moment. "How long did he have her?"
Sam Carter looked over a sheet on the clipboard she held. "About seven months. She vanished from a small town in South Carolina..." She faced her dad, "Is there any way to help her forget that time? Being a concubine to a Goa'uld...that would not be very easy to get over."
"Actually, I think she'll be okay," Jacob told her. "From the records we do have on Seth, he treated his favorites with great care. Well, as much as possible under the circumstances. I'm betting she was almost treated like a queen..."
"Sorry, Dad," Sam said, shaking her head. "But that doesn't sound all that much better to me!"
"Hey, dumb question I know; but how you holding up?"
The 24-year-old Kimberley Erlandson took her head out of her hands, to look at the man who sat down across from her. "You want to talk to me?" she asked him, surprised. "After what I did to you?!"
"That wasn't you. Well, not totally anyway," he told her with a shrug.
She looked at him in mild shock. "How can you be so calm about this? I goddamn near raped you, and almost beat you to death as well!"
"You remember all of that?" her companion asked, curious. "So, uh, can you fill in the blanks? I managed to piece together most of it, but-"
Kimberley just sighed, before she began the story. "He-" the woman said with a shudder, before going on.
"He told me that he was thinking of taking over your body. Because the one he had, had become known to the impure ones..." She looked down. "He ordered me to 'test' you. To see if I would...like you. And when you tried to stop me, whatever was controlling me - it got pissed that you were defying my 'god'."
The former concubine then got a thoughtful look on her face. "And I don't think I ever had a guy ever resist me like that before. Thanks anyway for trying..."
"You're welcome," the black-haired man said simply. "Kind of reminded me of my first time, actually. Of course, she beat people up before we wound up sleeping together..."
She laughed a little. "Well, at least you're sticking to what you know. But I've got to ask, just how old are you? And please say at least 18!"
"With a few months to spare, yeah."
"Oh, thank God!" she exclaimed. "The last thing out of all this I needed, was a statutory rape charge from screwing a minor!"
"Don't sweat it. And if I had been underage..." Xander told her, jerking his thumb back to the officers, "I get me the feeling they wouldn't have charged you anyway." After a moment he asked, "So, are you going to be okay with this?"
"I honestly don't know," Kimberley told him. "From what they said - they really don't want this in the papers, anymore than I do. And that the government would pay for my shrink sessions, at least..."
"A government headshrinker. Huh," the guy mused. "Look, I know you most likely want to forget all this, as soon as possible. And if I was in your shoes, I guess maybe I would too. But if you ever need to talk about it...I mean, it sounds like you won't have many people you can talk to about all that crap. So, I'll be there for you if you want."
She looked at him with unsure eyes. "I don't know."
"Well, how about I give you my email address - and if you want to talk, we can. If not..." he trailed off. "It's your call."
O'Neill cut off her reply as he came over, "Mr. Harris? I need to have a word with you."
A minute later, the two men were off by themselves in a corner of the massive tent. "You mind telling me who you are?" the colonel then demanded.
The teen looked at him, confused. "I thought I already told those other guys my story?"
"Yeah, that you did," O'Neill said, narrowing his eyes. "You came to town, and heard about the cult. And because you're such a nice guy, you tried to find out what was going on; but you got caught sneaking in."
"That's right."
"Well then, Mr. White Knight," O'Neill said, not noticing Harris flinch at the label. "Can you please tell me why you happen to have a sealed government file?"
"I have a what?" Xander asked, shocked.
"Yeah, with some group calling themselves the Initiative," the older man responded. "They sealed up your records, right down to your birth certificate, pretty well. Want to tell me why?"
"You want the truth? Haven't got a clue."
"Yeah, sure you don't," O'Neill said, completely unbelieving.
Seattle, Washington
Two nights later
Xander sat in the nearly-empty cybercafe, more-or-less killing time. He was checking the news web sites for reports on the cult, but only finding vague stories about it - and how the cult members had all been brainwashed by an old KGB method, that the government felt it was best not to release. (Sounds better than the truth, I suppose... )
The former Sunnydalian had told the Air Force people that he didn't know much about Seth, or where he'd come from. As Xander had instinctively known he had to keep quiet on the visit the cult leader had paid to his cell in the compound, where the guy had revealed a lot of information to him.
The asshole had liked to brag a lot, that was for sure. Looking back on it, Harris suspected that Seth had thought he was just another typical humans- are-at-the-top-of-the-food-chain ignoramus; and it was safe to tell him things that would never be believed, by your typical U.S. citizen.
But then again, he had grown up on a Hellmouth. The Goa'uld parasite had underestimated his familiarity with the world of the weird and impossible, and denial? For Xander Harris, it truly was just a river in Egypt.
The information he had gotten had shocked him. Gateways to other worlds, planets with humans all over the place worshipping guys like Seth as gods...
Xander had given Kimberley his email address, but he doubted he would hear back from her. At least not till the shock of it all wore off, which he didn't think would be soon. Or if she repressed or rationalized the things that just didn't fit into the normal human world-view...
The hard part had been retrieving the two weapons he had hidden in the woods, before he'd tried to get into the house. Another fact the teen had left out of his post-captivity interview.
When Xander had first seen them on the two perimeter guards he'd taken out, he'd known they were some kind of sidearms. But he had no idea how to use them and he didn't want to guess if it came to a fight, so he had taken the pistols they'd carried instead.
He had then hidden the rest of their gear away from the compound. He figured they would come in handy, after Seth had told him all about them...
#Hello?#
"Hey, Giles," Xander said into his cell phone. "Just thought I'd check in."
#Finally! You were supposed to do that a few days ago,# the annoyed Englishman said in that old familiar, wonderful, annoyed tone.
"I know, G-man, I know. But I got held up with something. You guys hear about the cult up in Washington state?" Xander said, as he skimmed CNN's website.
#What? Don't tell me you were involved in that madness!#
"Well, only the tail end of it," Harris told the Watcher with a grin. "I was told how quickly people vanished into it, and kinda thought it might have been demon-related. You know how it is..."
#Ah. Of course. And was it?# came the eager question.
"Nope, it was something else entirely. Something I'm guessing isn't in your books. I'll just say this, Giles, it totally blew my mind when I heard it all," Xander said truthfully.
#By all means, do tell,# Giles then said, sounding a little too eager.
"Not over a cell phone, G-man," Xander said, as he opened his email for the first time in a week. "Besides, I had to sign some stuff saying I would keep quiet about parts of it, or else I wouldn't be a free man at the moment."
#What?! Xander! That doesn't sound very-# Giles began to say.
But a surprised Xander cut him off. "Ack! Sorry, Giles, but I have to go. I'll check back in a day or two!" he said, as he hit the end call button.
The guy had glossed over the typical junk email. That he could increase his penis size by as much as 25 %, get a better mortgage, or better long distance phone service. But what stood out was the email from Cordelia.
Xander had been waiting a while for it; in fact, he'd been getting a little worried. And the subject heading was not easing his worry at all.
From: Formerprincesshotmail.com
Subject: XANDER, OPEN THIS EMAIL RIGHT THE HELL NOW!
Dear Dorkhead,
I know it's a lot earlier than I said it would be, but I've got bad news. The past week here has been worse than the last three years on the Hellmouth!
I would have emailed you as soon as it started, but my new older sister like totally forbid me to. She says we can't let anyone know, but then you of all people know how well someone forbidding me to do anything works out!
First off; these two are my real flesh and blood. We went and had all the tests done all over again; and there's no more doubts. The Halliwells are my family.
And for the first three weeks, it went so well. Our grandmother died last year, and it sucks that I never got to meet her, but she left the three of us this great house! And it's huge...I'm talking classic stylish manor here.
Then on the night of the full moon I got into the attic, and found some musty old book. I just read the first page, and then whammo! It's all gone to hell; and we're barely inching our way through all the crap that's coming at us from all directions. Sorry I can't tell you everything in an email, but lemme put it this way; the details are Sunnydale-worthy.
Xander, bottom line - I need you here. So get your lame ass to San Francisco, like immediately!
And yeah, I know we thought we would have more than a month apart, but I need you here. I need someone I know and trust watching my back! This is way serious, Harris. If accommodation is a problem we have a room you can use, and you can be our live-in handyman or something. You were always fixing stuff around your parents' house; and Lord knows these days, this place needs it!
Just hurry, all right?
Love, Cordelia
1329 Prescott Street, San Francisco
P.S. I said move your lame ass, dummy!
Halliwell Manor. San Francisco, California 8 pm the next night
"Any word from your boyfriend yet?"
Cordelia looked at her new sister with annoyance. "I keep telling you, he's not my boyfriend! Anymore."
"Sure, sweetie. Whatever you say," Piper told her younger sister with a laugh.
"How the hell can the two of you be so calm about it all?" their oldest sister Prue scolded them. "You invite this guy to town - no, to live here - without hardly even consulting us, not to mention you want to tell him about everything what's happened! Need I remind you that normal people can get killed, if they're around us?"
"Oh, please! This has got nothing to do with Xander!" Cordelia told her back. "This is about Andy, isn't it? Look, it's not my fault if that cop is too much of a wuss to handle the real world..."
Piper shook her head, still amazed at how out of the three of them - the youngest sister was the only one who hadn't completely freaked out, right from the start. In fact, some of the stories she had related about the town she'd grown up in, made her think the last week had been tame, in comparison...
"You honestly think this Xander guy can handle all the things we'll have to deal with nowadays?" Prue asked, raising her voice.
"Oh, of course he can! He's known about this sort of stuff even longer than I have. And if he's saved the world by stopping a gang of zombies, I think he can handle this!" was Cordelia's quick response.
"Wait," Piper said at once. "Is this more Hellmouth stuff?" she asked her sister.
"That's what I want to know," the fourth dark-haired girl in the room demanded. "There's nothing in the Council records that I read about...that mentions zombies on the Hellmouth..."
"The zombie thing? It's happened twice," Cordelia said, holding up two fingers. "First at a party at the start of senior year, and then during last spring that night when those assholes wanted to set off the bomb that Xander stopped."
"Okay, but how does stopping a bomb save the world?" Prue asked, confused.
Cordelia let out an exasperated sigh. "It was while the Hellmouth was open."
"And that would mean what?" Piper asked her.
"Oh, nothing much," Cordelia said sarcastically. "Just hell on Earth, the whole world sucked into oblivion. Every human being suffering in eternal torment, stuff like that. Just read the bad parts of the Bible, and then multiply them by ten."
"Well, I must say - there is no mention of any of this in Mr. Wyndam- Pryce's diaries!" an older man in the room said, from his position near the window.
"Well, duh!" Cordelia said sarcastically. "Xander only ever told me about it."
"And you just take this boy's word for it, with regards to something as serious as that?" the man asked her, shocked.
Cordelia nodded right away. "Hey, I trust him again nowadays. He says it happened, then it happened."
"With all due respect, Ms. Halliwell," he told Cordy in a supercilious tone, "He should not be trusted. He supported Slayer Summers in going against the Council..."
Cordelia looked at him in anger, before she turned to the Slayer next to him. "Hey, Kennedy, just wondering; but when's your 18th birthday?"
The Slayer cast her a confused look, and the lone male present suddenly stiffened. "In about a year and a half. Why?" the Chosen One asked.
Cordelia kept her gaze on the Watcher. "Why don't you ask your friend here? His bosses already have a party planned for you. It's...tradition," she spat out the last word.
Kennedy looked at Terry Scott, her Watcher. "What does she mean by that?"
The Council operative was spared at that moment by the ringing of the doorbell. "Oh, that must be your boyfriend," Piper told Cordy, as she went to answer it.
"I told you, he's not my boyfriend!" the brunette called out, as Piper left the sunroom.
Prue was going to say something, when she noticed a horrified look come over her newfound sister as Cordy clutched her head. ( What? )
"Piper!" Cordelia yelled, as she ran out of the room.
Piper stopped, with her hand on the handle. "What?" was all she got out, before Cordelia tackled her to the ground.
A mere second, before the upper parts of the door exploded inwards from a fireball.
Glass and wood fragments rained down on the sisters, as two men in way too much leather came charging in. "Kill 'em all!" the leader shouted.
The demons attacked with the belief that they were facing the Charmed Ones, the most powerful witches on this plane. They had to move quickly, or else they wouldn't last. However what they didn't know was that having only just gotten their powers, the three sisters didn't know how to wield them in a fight like this.
Thus, the only people offering any resistance were Cordelia and Kennedy.
Kennedy jumped into the fray, by kicking one of the demons to the ground with Slayer strength. Cordelia just smashed a vase against the other's head. When it just shrugged the blow off, Cordy suddenly wished she had paid more attention when Giles had tried to teach her how to fight...
So with nothing else to lose, the brunette teenager kicked the demon hard in the balls. "Get the hell out of my house!" she shouted.
The demon moaned in pain, as Cordelia congratulated herself. But then it tried to grab her by the...
"Eeew!" she screeched, as the young woman jumped back to where Prue had managed to drag Piper. Very quickly, Kennedy also was tossed into the group.
"Excuse me!" Terry told the demons, as he came up to them. "But this house is protected by the Watchers Council! If you gentlemen know what's good for you-"
The head demon smirked at him. "Ah yes, the mighty Watchers Council..." The other demon dutifully laughed at that.
He went on, "Old men who have inexperienced little girls to fight for them..." The demon raised his hand, as a ball of fire formed in it. Looking at the four women he added, "And here I thought killing you all would be a challenge..."
He wound up to throw it - and stopped dead, as a bolt of blue lightning struck him from behind. The demon then went down in a howl of pain. The fireball extinguished itself, as he fell unconscious to the ground.
As he fell, the Charmed Ones and their Slayer friend saw a young man standing on the outside steps. Xander Harris.
Cordelia felt great relief at the sight of her former squeeze. She didn't know what the hell he was holding in one hand, but he held a sword in the other; which right now was definitely of the good.
Xander fired off a second shot, but the running demon was able to dodge the stream of energy. It charged at the male teenager, knocking him off the porch; also knocking loose both his weapons, as they rolled down the hillside grass, fighting.
After a few moments of fighting, the demon with his vastly superior strength tossed the human boy off of him. Xander flew to the edge of the lawn; his head just missing the top of the concrete wall, that was the divider for the lawn and driveway.
The demon stood slowly, as he watched the boy fly. The witches were the first priority, then the humans...
It got a nasty surprise, however, as the forgotten sword was plunged into its stomach as soon as it turned around. His hands grabbed for the handle, but the brunette girl holding it refused to give an inch as she shoved harder and twisted the blade.
"Will you just die already!?" Cordelia shouted, as the male's eyes locked with hers. She could feel the hatred for her, as the demon fell to his knees.
"You can't stop us all, little girl. We. Will. Kill. You!" it rasped.
"Yeah? Over my dead body, pal!" Xander said, as he came over and took the sword handle from Cordelia. "Now, what the hell exactly are you? And why did you attack them?"
The demon laughed, even as blood poured from its mouth. "You'll get nothing from me, human..."
"Yeah? Well, fine. Then I guess we don't need to keep this conversation going, do we?" he turned to the girl next to him. "Cordy, the other thing I dropped? Go get it, carefully."
She nodded, as she went back to the steps.
"I'll give you one more chance," Xander told him. "Why did you-"
The 18-year-old was cut off, as the demon spit in his face. "Have it your way," Xander said through gritted teeth. He took the device from Cordelia's hands, and spared a quick glance to his companion. "Demon?"
"Demon," she answered.
"Okay then," Xander said, as he pulled out the sword in a single fast move. Then three bright blue flashes brightened the dark night. The demon disintegrated, after it was dead.
And luckily, the neighbors had already learned not to look at what was happening in the kooky house of the street, if they knew what was good for them.
"Where did the other one go?" Prue demanded, when they came back in.
Xander ignored her, as he walked over to the other demon on the floor. It now had a battleaxe sticking out its back. He did a slight double take at the teenage girl and the older Englishman. ( Oh, yeah. Slayer and Watcher... ) Xander figured he knew what was the what, but didn't voice his questions at the moment. He simply asked, "Dead?"
"Very dead," the oldest Halliwell told him.
Without a word, the Xandman stepped up and pulled the ax free. Everyone made a sick look at the wet sound it made, coming out. "Stand back," Harris then ordered them all.
"Ah, what are you going to do?" the Watcher demanded as Xander opened fire.
"Destroy the evidence. Don't really feel like burying anyone tonight," Xander told him, as he hit the demon with another blast, then another. The body vanished, as if it had never been there. There wasn't even a mark on the carpet.
"And that's what happened to the other one," Cordelia told Prue, as she set the sword covered in demon blood down.
They all stared as the S-shaped weapon made a strange sound, and folded up in Xander's hand. "Who are you, young man?" Terry demanded to know, with his eyes firmly on the weapon still in the interloper's hands.
Xander looked at Cordelia. "Interesting people you're hanging out with..."
"Hey, not that we're not grateful you showed up," Piper said, as she pressed a cloth to her head to stop the bleeding a glass shard had caused. "But-"
"But, who the hell are you!?" Prue demanded taking over her sister's question.
"Calm down, you guys!" Cordelia said, gesturing wildly. "I told you he was coming. He's Xander, my favorite Sunnydale dork."
"Oh, why thank you, my favorite drama Queen C," Harris told her with a bow and a smirk that matched hers.
Cordy suddenly closed the distance between them, drawing him into a tight hug. "I can't believe I actually missed you," she whispered into his ear.
"Yeah, well, I missed you too, Cor," Xander told her, before they broke the hug. Then he looked over to the remains of the door. "Obviously, I can't leave you alone for a minute, can I?"
"Oh, like this is my fault!?" she moaned.
"Well, those demons didn't try to come kill me!" the guy told her, amused.
"Oh, fine, just get your tool kit or whatever from the trunk. And fix that door, pronto! There's a draft coming in that won't do anything good for my skin complexion," Cordelia ordered him.
"Just like that?" Xander asked her in amazement. "Cordy, honey, that door is almost completely blown apart. And the kind of glass that's left, is not looking very inexpensive..."
"Excuse me!"
They looked back to an agitated Prue. She said, "Hi! Just wanting to know - what the hell is that thing you used to kill those demons with?"
Xander just held it up, "It's called a zat gun," he said with a shrug.
"Zat gun?" Terry inquired. "I have never in all my 40 years seeing anything like that!"
"Yeah, well, that's not a big surprise to me, Watcher guy," Xander told him.
The Englishman looked shocked for a moment. "Watcher? Ah, I mean, I don't know what you're talking-"
"Oh, come on!" Xander moaned. "Young teenage girl, fighting with an old English dude alongside her? There's no point even trying to start spinning the yarn with me, I've known about you people ever since I was 15 years old. Well, at least you don't look as bad as Wesley did..."
"Hey! He wasn't that bad, Harris," Cordelia scolded him.
"Cordy, lemme refresh your memory; we were fighting the hugeass giant demon snake at Graduation, and he got knocked down in the first minute of the fight!" Xander responded, before he suddenly got a semi-sad look in his eyes. "So. I guess Faith didn't last in that coma, huh?"
Cordelia shook her head. "It happened a week ago, from what they tell me."
There was silence for a moment, as Xander contemplated the news. "Okay, I know she went bad and all, but still - to go out like that..." he sighed. "Well, I do have a few tools in the trunk. Guess I should try to do something with what's left of this door," the young man told her, before he went out towards his car parked on the street.
"Yes, well, I-I had best report this to the Council," Terry said, as he headed for the phone in the kitchen with Kennedy right behind him.
"Cordelia Halliwell, I want some answers about your friend - as in right now!" Prue told her sister.
"Well, you can just ask him yourself, he'll be back in a sec..."
"No," Prue said, before she turned to Piper. "Use your power, freeze them."
"Why?"
"Because," Prue told her. "We need more than a minute to talk about this, before he gets whatever he's after out of that car."
"Fine," Piper waved her hands, and everything around them stopped. Cordelia looked at the face of the grandfather clock, as the hands froze in place.
"This is, like, so unnecessary!" she told her sister angrily. "We have nothing to fear from Xander! He's just...Xander!"
"So, your boyfriend normally carries around a sword and a ray gun like that?" Prue asked.
"Well, okay, the ray gun thing is new," Cordelia told her, forgetting to admonish her sibling for once about the misinterpreted boyfriend status. "But swords were pretty much the norm du jour, back in Sunnydale. For our little gang, anyway."
"Look, Cordelia, you hafta understand - we're just new to all this," Piper said, trying to play mediator - as it had always been destined to be. "To you, Terry, Kennedy and even this Xander guy, that sorta stuff is...normal. But to Prue and me, it's not..." Then the middle sister stopped, as she looked in surprise to the door. "How the-"
Cordelia spun, and her mouth dropped open. Xander had walked up with an old blue toolbox. ( He's not frozen? )
As Harris bent down to examine a hinge on the door, he felt them all staring at him. "What?" the guy asked, confused at their stares.
All three sisters looked at him for a moment, before they turned as one to look at the clock that had been in their family for countless years.
Its hands were definitely still frozen in place.