Disclaimer: Don't own a damn thing.
Author's note: So if no one's noticed by now, I have a soft spot for Faith's character and how much potential she had that Whedon threw out the window. The loss of her watcher, Diana, is a prime example of how Faith needed people but tried to seem strong, and it backfired so heavily. It's also an example of how Whedon will claim that he's trying to empower women through his characters but then with the way he treated Faith and Cordelia, as I've said before, it was basically a smokescreen to show his female characters trying to make male characters less special but those who were more genuine in their characters were thrown to the wolves. That's not true feminism and it's not empowerment. It's called favoritism towards characters. Writers, leave any favoritism to your readers/fans, or else you only put your characters on a pedestal, which NO ONE needs. Along with that, the use of the supernatural entities in this story is me trying to be more consistent with what was shown in Buffy, as I was told the number of writers incorporated different mythologies without much reasonable explanations. Also, this story while incorporating elements of my personal faith is not meant to push the issue on anyone. I hope you all enjoy this next chapter.
It was the middle of the morning as Jonathan helped Diana and Faith pack up their essentials for their move to the hellmouth. The shorter teenager found that he got along fairly well with the two ladies as Diana proved to be an intellect he could interact with and Faith treated him as a person and an equal. The three were ready to go until they each felt something in the room. They turned to the entrance and found Whistler standing there smiling.
"What are you doing here?" the young man asked.
"Wanted to congratulate you all on a job well done," the man replied. "That bastard's been a pain in the ass for centuries. Almost as bad as the Master. I've got someone else in mind that I want you to help. If you two, as watcher and slayer would like to accompany him, I can accommodate you."
Faith looked to her surrogate mother, as if silently communicating before Diana turned to Jonathan. "Can we have a word?"
Jonathan walked with them to one of the bedrooms and stopped to listen.
"Is this Whistler that you were telling us about?" the watcher asked.
"Yeah that's him. He's been keeping his word so far. He's pretty powerful to do what he's done. But what's up?" he replied.
"We already know that something about him isn't human. At least not entirely," Diana said as if thinking. "Something about him is definitely supernatural. But it's nothing neither I nor anyone in the council has encountered personally."
Jonathan looked to them as he listened to what Diana said. He knew for certain that Whistler was not exactly human, but he was never certain what he was. He figured he would ask once he got back to Sunnydale.
Two days Later...
Shelbyville, New Mexico
The newly formed trio had arrived in the small town and checked into a hotel room. When they left, Jonathan found a small note with an address that led them to a small suburban neighborhood. As the short young man looked around he noticed that there weren't too many people moving about the town. However, he figured that it wouldn't matter as long as the people were alive. As he continued looking around, he saw a young lady with honey blonde hair with her head down and walking at a brisk pace. As he got a closer look, he saw that she had a silver aura around her.
'That's her,' Jonathan heard Whistler's voice in his mind and he followed her as she walked inside a store.
Inside the store, Tara Maclay looked around for specific items that she thought she could use. Her father was away at work while her brother was doing something or other. She figured she had some spare time to focus her magical abilities. Once she gathered everything she needed, she approached the counter and noticed a short young man along with a brunette girl and an older woman enter the shop. She quickly paid for everything while keeping an eye on the strangers before she left. As she exited the shop, the young woman stopped her, causing her to jump in fright.
"Sorry! Sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you," the young man said.
"C-can I help you with something?" Tara said as she tried not to look him in the eye.
"I just want to talk. My name is Jonathan Levinson. These are my friends, Faith and Diana," he said. Tara looked at the three before she made up her mind.
"Follow me."
The four sat in a coffee shop with the three newcomers sat patiently with the young woman.
"M-my name is Tara. Tara Maclay. W-what brings you all here?" she asked as she kept discretely looking at the clock.
Diana looked at the young woman with curiosity before speaking up, "My charges and I are here to...resolve some sort of issue here in this town. Has anything strange gone on that you know of?"
Tara looked up to answer Diana, but her eyes widened slightly as she caught sight of one of the shop's customers. The man in question noticed Tara and decided to sat somewhere to keep an eye on her.
"W-well no. At least...nothing I've heard. Maybe whoever told you was wrong."
Faith could hear the girl's lie as she was no stranger to hiding truths given what her mom and father had put her through growing up. She immediately felt sympathy for Tara as she began to see that the situation of her life was not as unique as she initially thought. Faith took Tara's hands into her own and looked her in the eye, "Tara, please. If there anything that you know of, you can tell us. I know we're new to you, but all we want to do is help. We can protect. Just tell us what you know and we'll take care of it."
The young witch could see the sincerity in the other girl's eyes, as well as in Diana and in Jonathan's. To see it in a male was new to her but it gave her hope. Before she could answer, she saw the man who entered earlier speaking with an older gentleman. The man approached the group and put on a forced smile.
"Hello. I'm Tara's father. I hate to interrupt but it's time that Tara came home," the man said as he grabbed Tara by the arm and yanked her away. As the group watched on, Tara looked back with an expression of absolute fear on her face. Once they were gone, Jonathan looked to the ladies.
"I'm no expert in family drama, but I think I know why we're here. We need to do something," he said as he and his new friends got up from the table. Once outside, they looked around only to see the car nowhere in sight.
"Dammit!" Faith shouted. Before they could do anything else, they heard a slight fluttering and turned to find Whistler holding a camera.
"I know where she is. The address isn't far from here," the fedora wearing stranger said. After giving them directions, he disappeared.
Moments later...
At a ranch-style house on the westward outskirts of town, the trio got out of the car and approached the door. Jonathan raised his hand to knock on to see the window by the door, where Tara pressed herself against it in an attempt to get their attention. Her frightened expression got their attention and the young man managed to kick the door in. As he looked in the living room, he saw Tara on the floor holding herself as her father stood over her and her brother stood by with a passive expression.
"Whoever, you people are, get the hell out of my house now!" Jed Maclay said. His son moved closer as he sneered at Jonathan.
Jonathan looked at the two men (as if they behaved as such as far as he was concerned) and stepped to Donny. With a flick of his hand, Jonathan palmed Donny into the kitchen on the other side of the house. Jed stared in shock and moved back when the short young man slowly approached. However, it was Faith that charged and caught the older man's throat in her hand and lifted him off the ground.
"You pathetic motherfucker," Faith sneered at him. "This is how you treat your daughter. What the hell has she done for you to act like a monster to her?!"
"She's a demon!" Jed said.
"What?" Diana finally spoke up as Faith dropped him.
Jed looked up at the ladies and gentleman before he gathered himself, "The women in our family...they have demon inside them. That's where her magic and my wife's came from. When they reach a certain age, the demon gets let loose."
Jonathan and Faith looked to each other wondering if each believed the story. Diana raised a hand before she replied, "What kind of demon?"
"What?" Jed said.
"What kind of demon. I work for a council that has trained individuals on how to fight demons. There's a number of half-breeds walking around, some of whom are actually peaceful," Diana said causing Faith to look at her in surprise. "So what kind of demon is Tara going to be?"
Jed looked caught before he replied, "Does it matter? A demon is a demon."
"I think it matters to me, seeing as I've been called one my whole life," came Whistler's voice before he suddenly appeared in front of everyone. "And for the record, neither Tara, nor your wife, Marie, have demonic lineage in them."
"Say what?" Faith said.
"Come on, Slayer. You can sense when vampires are near. And when you're any any of the half-breed demons, your slayer senses spike. Did you ever feel anything demonic about Tara here?"
Faith thought on his words as she remembered what she had encountered since this whole business with the supernatural started. Diana had told her about her senses on more than one occasion for every demon she encountered. But the moment she met Tara, she did not feel the need to kill Tara.
"You're right. But why would this asshole say that?" the dark-haired girl said.
"Oh that's simple: it's to keep the women in line. Another hole in that flimsy story was that he never said on who's side of the family it comes from. Did it come from his grandmother or from his wife's side? Here's another fun fact about biology, anyone who's a quarter demon or else, don't have as much power as say the half-breeds running around this planet, who continually intermingle with their own to produce more of their race of half-breeds. So even if Tara was part demon, it would've been so miniscule that it would've practically diminished," Whistler explained.
Faith clenched her jaw as she listened. She looked at Jed, who was too shocked to even slither away, and felt ready to tear him apart with her bare hands. However, she looked at Tara who had gotten back on her feet and looked on in shock before her mouth curved upward to form a smile.
"Well, then, I suppose we'll have to do something to fix this situation. The question is what?" Diana said as she moved to Tara and took her in her arms in a warm embrace.
Whistler smiled at the group before he answered, "I've already got that covered."
"Freeze! SVPD!" an officer shouted as he and his unit came into the house. The squad moved into and around the house where a few arrested Jed and carried an unconscious Donny out of the door. One of the officer's came down the stairs holding a woman whom Tara bore a resemblance.
"Mom?!" the girl said as she moved to her mother.
"I'm fine sweetheart. This fine officer came in and told me what was going on," Marie said. "It's a great relief knowing that the demon mess was all a lie."
"Don't worry ma'am. We'll make sure Jed and Donny are punished to the full extent of the law," he said before he looked to the rest of the group. "Which one of you is Diana Dormer?"
Diana looked hesitantly at him before she replied, "Me."
"Thanks for the tip. Our town is normally peaceful. You can imagine our surprise when this camera came in showing what Jed had done to his daughter and the excuse he came up with. You were a big help to get our chief to approve bringing this guy in," he said as he handed her the camera, which the watcher recognized as the one Whistler had.
"No problem officer," she said. As the officers took away the father and son, the group turned and looked at Whistler who winked and smiled at them before he disappeared with the fluttering sound.
"Guess we got our miracle," Jonathan said.
Later that night...
Restfield Cemetery
Sunnydale, California
Xander's back hit the stone bench in the middle of the surrounding tombstones. He sat up and his eyes widened as he saw the vampire he was fighting being joined by three others. He had immediately regretted his decision to split away from the rest of the gang, as he had hoped that with the summer setting on, the vampire population wouldn't escalate until the fall. He figured word must've gotten around town to the local vampires, hence his current predicament. The young man stood on his feet and held out a stake, despite the odds against him.
"You're seriously going to take us on meatbag? What? No slayer's skirt to hide behind?" the lead vampire said. Xander felt pissed about that statement but decided not to act.
"Better behind her skirt than the ground. I'm pretty sure the whole 'night of the living dead' deal went out in the 60s pal."
The vampires looked confused at his words before they decided to charged. The first vampire that made it to him was flipped over after Xander ducked. The next vampire was met with a right hook to his face. Unfortunately, the third vamp kicked Xander in the stomach, bringing him to his knees before the fourth kicked him in his face, knocking him onto his back. Xander's heart pumped faster as he felt that this would possibly be his last night as a human. It was one of the two things he feared ever since Jesse died.
"When we turn you, we're using you to make sure we take out the slayer," the leader said as he picked the teen up and brought his mouth to his neck.
Xander wasn't sure what happened, but he felt something within him snap, and with a roar, the vampires were blown back by an invisible force. The four demons looked at the teen, ready to tear into him with their game faces when they all stopped. Xander had a white aura surrounding him that glowed brightly. Xander looked up and his hands were lit by silver fire without burning him and his torso had sparks of lightning crackling around it. As one of the vampires foolishly tried to charge him, Xander turned and grabbed it by the neck and it's body was engulfed in flames before it turned to dust. The other three looked at him and tried to take off in the same direction. Xander looked at him and swung his right arm, unleashing a wave of silver fire that incinerated and dusted all three in one sitting.
The halo of light and the energy that surrounded him faded away and he fell to his knees in relief. "Man. That was crazy! But awesome! What the hell was that?"
"More like Heaven, actually," came a woman's voice. Xander turned to see a beautiful brunette wearing white robes smiling at him.
Xander stood up before he addressed the newcomer, "Who are you?"
"You can call me Ambriel. As for what I am..." she said before a light flashed and she was sporting large white feathered wings.
"Huh. Would you mind if I faint right now?" Xander said trying to keep himself together.
"You'll have to hold off on that. I need you to be aware of some things. You know about what happened to your friend Jonathan, yes?" the celestial being said.
"What about him?"
"Who do you think supercharged him?" Ambriel replied.
"Wait, you did that?" Xander said as he stepped back.
Ambriel snorted out a laugh before she answered, "Not me. My boss, the Big Guy. He did that."
Xander felt his knees go weak at the thought but he thankfully remained standing. He was ready to jump for joy but there was something he needed to know. "Why did you guys tap Jonathan?"
"Because he's one of the people we need to really turn the tides of what's happening. You're one of them as well. But with your potential stifled, your destinies will be worse than they should. Imagine if you stood by your friends, with more people showing powers and skills you could only hope to have as you're relegated to being the equivalent of background decoration," she explained.
Xander flinched at the explanation as he believed that situation to have started before Buffy left. The blonde slayer shutting him out despite his objections to Willow doing the soul curse was the outstanding example of this occurrence. He knew Buffy would always count his objections to Angel as jealousy, and she was right...before now at least. But after seeing what the terror that was Angelus did to his friends, he knew that no good could ever come with having to trust a vampire, including one of Angel's condition. After all, a soul did not make any human purely.
"Why are you here? And what happened to me?" Xander spoke up.
"You've been empowered by the Holy Spirit, much like Samson. However, along with new strength, you've been given an extra charge. The fire and light of His holiness is what you used to defeat the vampires. Your power allows you to be as strong as any witch or warlock, like Jonathan. And it makes you stronger than the slayer."
Xander thought on that last statement before he said, "I doubt Buffy would like that. Then again, ever since the hyena thing and Valentine's day, the idea of me having any power scares them."
"Why do you suppose that is?"
"Excuse me?"
Ambriel let out an unnecessary breath before she started again, "Why do you think Buffy behaves the way she does in regards to you? In her mind, you have power would seem like a bad thing because you could potentially be stronger than her. She sees you as the normal one, which to her means you're not good enough to be in this fight. And your supposed best friend is starting to treat you the same way."
"Hey, Willow is my best friend!"
"And I suppose her not listening to your objections in spite of her feelings for you makes that abundantly clear. My point is this: in time, those two will gain more power, and they've already begun treating you as their whipping boy. That's not how friends or a team work. You falling in line behind her like a willing slave will only bring you and everyone around her pain and trouble than you all really need."
"Why are you telling me this?! You act like I shouldn't help my friends at all!" Xander shot back.
"I'm not saying you shouldn't help your friends. I'm telling you the horrible truth about the changing dynamics in your relationships with the girls and the watcher. You've had the backbone to stand up to her and the others, which is why she's alive now. But now you've started to show less of a spine. You've been given the power to help change things immensely, just like Jonathan."
Xander looked down at the ground before he looked back at Ambriel. "So how do I do that? It's not like I can flip this power on like a switch."
"The power is already there. You just need control. The spiritual power you can use at any time, as long as you have faith in what He has done and what he's given you. You have the qualities to be chosen by Him for this mission. As for the fighting, you don't need to know how to fight like a slayer, but I can teach you how to fight period, if you'll allow me to," she said as she held out a hand.
Xander looked at her as he considered her offer. He had heard those stories about demon deals and saw for himself the consequences after that fraternity lost their demonic supplier. He remembered as a child that his mother told him that the devil would appear to people as an angel of light. But his new power allowed him to see that this being told the truth. As he looked at her, he saw her halo and found no trace of darkness. Xander held out a hand and shook hers.
"Very well. I'll take you somewhere to help you. Once you return, you'll feel like a new man," she said before they teleported.
Not even a second later...
Xander and Ambriel appeared back at the cemetery with Xander feeling worn out from his training in the White Space. His appearance had changed slightly as he had become more muscular. He looked up to his new friend with a smile. "That was intense."
"Indeed. But now it's at your abilities are at your full disposal. Use them well," Ambriel said before she disappeared with a flap of her wings.
Before Xander took another step, his walkie talkie buzzed as Cordelia's voice blared out, "Xander! Are you okay?! You better not be ignoring me dweeb!"
"Chill out, Cordy! I'm fine. Just tired is all."
The walkie talkie remained silent before the head cheerleader came back on, "Good. If you're up for it, we're going to head to the Bronze."
"Sounds fun," Xander before he cut his equipment off and walked away.
At another of Sunnydale's cemeteries, Willow stood with Cordelia and Oz as Xander apparently cut contact off with them for the moment. She had become concerned about him when he suggested they split up and had hoped he didn't get into trouble, although she privately felt that Xander could never stay out of trouble when it came to demons. She had hoped that whenever Buffy came back that they could talk about it.
"Willow, are you sure about that feeling you had?" Cordelia said, cutting through the redhead's thoughts.
"I'm sure. Whatever it was felt strong but not evil for some reason," Willow replied.
"And you think it probably followed him?" Cordelia followed up.
"I can't say. But it doesn't feel like it did. Either way, I don't think Xander can keep this up," Willow said.
"Because he's normal? Newsflash: so am I! Why single him out?" the cheerleader asked.
"I'm not singling him out! I just think that he's going to get himself and us into trouble and I don't want him to get hurt is all," Willow said. Cordelia shook her head at the other girl's thinking and decided to go meet with her boyfriend. Willow watched her go before she decided to follow her.
Oz stayed back as he thought over what his girlfriend said. He did think it rather odd that Willow didn't single him out as he didn't have much to offer in combat combined with his lycanthropy. However, he decided not to say anything. Truthfully, he had no reason to defend Xander as he remembered the Valentine's day incident. But Xander's objections to Willow doing the soul curse left him conflicted. He wanted to believe that Xander thought that a someone with no magical experience could not perform a powerful spell. But he did not want to upset Willow and chose to ignore it. He followed his girlfriend and associate after letting those thoughts go.
Author's note: I know what I gave Xander will make him seem overpowered. But wait until you see what I have in store once this story is finished and I get to the next one. Also, in regards to Xander and Ambriel's exchange regarding his standing with his 'friends', it is actually more truthful than the show lets on, especially when you objectively look at Buffy's behavior to her friends as the seasons go on. I've seen certain opinions of Xander, and while some were actually objective and painted him as an imperfect who does not think himself perfect, others are just outright exaggerating, in large part because he is the average guy who is damned by a portion of the audience one way or the other while the other characters are treated like saints. As I've said in one of my other stories, putting certain characters on pedestals will only leave you disappointed once you look at the show in an objective light. Also, Oz's assessment and his feelings of his relationship with Willow and how he likely feels about Xander before season 4 are more accurate, but the show tries to paint Xander and Oz's interaction as being just regular guys being guys when real life paints a drastically different picture. Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and if you have questions, particularly spoiler free ones, I'll be happy to answer them.
