Chapter 2: The Explanation
*****Xander's P.O.V.*****
It had been five years since they had closed the hellmouth in Sunnydale. The slayers' council was reorganized with Giles and Buffy as its head. Willow and Xander handled two different branches. Willow recruits—or rather finds—witches while Xander handles the slayers' care. Dawn and Andrew are in charge of the Watchers. Dawn managed to get her degree in history in three years and was almost through her graduate program. The discipline Buffy had to fight; Dawn had to study. There were a few surviving Watchers Giles could've used to train and recruit watchers, but after the deception of the First, the Scoobies were wary of trusting outsiders for lead positions. If they weren't in the final Sunnydale battle, they weren't a position of leadership within the new organized IWC.
Robin and Faith did all the training of the newbies. They stayed with Xander primarily for a full six months or a year before he let them near Faith. Her intensity could be too much for the youngest of them. Xander was always protective of his girls. Buffy and Kennedy handled the advanced training with older or more experienced slayers. Kennedy's arrogance caused Buffy to keep a tight rein on her the first few years they were outside of Sunnydale. Kennedy was experienced and capable, however, so Buffy knew she had to be used effectively.
When Robin and Faith had broken up a few years ago and Willow and Kennedy followed soon after, though, changes had to be made. Now Faith worked with Kennedy, and Buffy had Robin partner with her. It was a good fit because Faith had no qualms about teaching Kennedy some humility.
After a time, though, the leaders spent less time training and more time putting out fires. Because Willow had unleashed so many foot soldiers for Good with her spell, things were unbalanced. The Powers That Be (TBTB) were allowing more violent demons to break into their realm. Places with strong evil elements and high crime rates were beginning to attract dark supernatural elements.
A few weeks ago, there had been signs indicating that a new hellmouth was trying to form in Starling City. They had been watching the city closely. Willow, though, was uneasy. The citizens of the town were being forced to fight back. Vigilantes had been popping up in the city for a while. When the lead vigilante, the Arrow guy, disappeared, the city really had started to unravel. Willow decided that she needed to investigate in person. Predicting a hellmouth emergence wasn't an exact science.
Buffy agreed, but she insisted that Xander go along to scout out the situation. He had good instincts for determining if it was a foothold situation with the supernatural underworld or a true birthing of another hellmouth. Also, Buffy was still a bit protective of Willow. She had learned to fully emerge herself in only the good magics, but Buffy never wanted to put her in a situation that might make it easy to embrace the easier dark magics.
Before heading to Starling City, Willow tracked the IP address that seemed to always be around when one of the city's vigilantes pop up.
"I got it!" she yelled to Xander. "This vigilante group should be our contact group. They have been fighting a losing battle and don't know it."
"So you want to just pop in on them? What if they're a shoot now and ask questions later kind of group?" Xander pointed out.
"I'll be on guard. You know, I can stop anything that comes at us," Willow said confidently. "Unless they have their own witch, but I don't think so. They do have a very smart hacker, though."
"I'm ready to go when you are. After we make contact, we can bring in a team to set up a base," Xander said. "You know where to go? I don't want to get lost in a strange city."
Willow smiled and held out her hand. "It's some kind of dance club. From what I can tell, the activity during non-club hours is always down in the basement," Willow said.
Xander grinned. "Cool. It sounds like that's where their secret lair is!" he observed. As a fan of comics, he had a soft spot for vigilante superheroes. It was nice to know that there were others out there without superpowers fighting the good fight.
She teleported them to the basement of some building. Xander started to ask where the hell they were when Willow held her finger to her lips. There were voices very close. They walked slowly toward the noise, stopping at some stairs that led up to the club probably. The small group talking was upset. Xander and Willow listened, hoping to find out more about them. One of their own had been turned into a vampire, but they were struggling to accept it. Willow nodded, so Xander stepped forward with her.
Xander made their presence known. "Your friend is dead. Now a demon is wearing her face and has access to her memories."
There were three people in the room, two men and a woman. They all turned quickly when Xander spoke. The large African American pulled out his gun while the young guy aimed an arrow at them.
The attractive blonde frowned at the appearance of the two strangers. "How the hell did you get in here?" she asked them.
Xander stepped closer and gave them a grim smile. "That isn't nearly as interesting as why we've come," he said.
The two men and blonde woman face him. Their dismay and trepidation were clear, and Xander could tell that they were braced for a blow.
"We are here to help," Willow assured them, giving them a friendly smile.
"Who are you?" the woman asked. "How did you get in here?"
"I'm Willow. This is my best friend Xander. We're what you'd call experts in the supernatural," she said.
"Supernatural?" the young guy said incredulously. "Like vampires?"
"Exactly like vampires," Xander said. "Vampires are real. When a person becomes one, they have died, and a demon takes over their body. Your friend is dead."
"No, she's not! She was just here!" the women exclaimed in disbelief.
"That was her shell," Willow said. "Your friend is gone. However, she has access to all your friend's memories, so she will seek to destroy all remnants of her former lives. Normally a vampire kills their family and friends first."
"She killed her dad—she loved her dad," the woman said, her eyes full of sorrow.
"It wasn't your friend that killed him," Willow said, hoping to alleviate the pain she knew they were in. Xander and Willow would never forget their long-gone best friend Jesse—the first friend to be turned.
The woman was silent as she thought about what they were saying. Xander could tell by the look in her eye that she wouldn't be easy to convince. She must be the hacker. Science and facts would be her thing. "Not everything can be explained by science," Xander said.
"I heard about some strange things when I was overseas, but I thought it was just superstition," the African American man said.
"I'm sure most of what you heard was true," Xander said. "Don't be angry at your friend. She didn't kill anyone. The demon that took up residence in her body did this."
"Demons? You expect us to believe demons are real, too?" Felicity asked in disbelief.
"You'd be surprised what's real," Xander said.
"We can help you," Willow said. "How about you tell us who you are?"
"So you came into the club, and you don't even know who we are?" the young guy asked in surprise.
Xander was surprised. "This is a club? Cool!" he said. Clubs always made him nostalgic for his time in the Bronze back in Sunnydale.
"You didn't know that?" the guy asked, looking more confused by the minute.
"Well, I tracked your IP address and the only life signs were down here, so this is where I teleported us to," Willow explained.
"Teleportation?" the woman scoffed.
"How about you introduce yourselves and will tell you more," Xander said. "As I said, I'm Xander. This is Willow."
"I'm Roy," the young guy said. "That's John Diggle. We call him Dig. She's Felicity."
Since Xander hadn't given last names, he didn't press them for theirs. There would be time enough. He looked around the room at their operation. He could see the Arrow guy's costume in a glass case. "Are one of you the Arrow?" he asked curiously.
"He's dead," Felicity said flatly. Xander could tell that was still a fresh wound.
"Was it vampires?" Willow wondered.
"He didn't die here. He was killed by the League of Assassins," Dig said.
Xander and Willow exchanged a glance. Why would that group come to Starling City?
Felicity gave Dig an annoyed look. Obviously, she didn't want them learning anything about the fallen hero. She was protective and loyal, qualities Xander admired.
"Let's get back to the fact that you said you could fly," Roy said.
"I can't fly...not really," Willow said, looking thoughtful. "I guess if I really wanted to, I might be able to…" Her voice trailed off as she considered the best way to fly. Would she use a specific spell? Could levitating be considered flying if she was high enough? If she lost her focus, she could plummet to her death. Nope. She better not try that. Distracted about the possibilities, she went silent.
Roy looked at Xander in dismay. He recognized that look. He's seen it too many times on Felicity when she's in the middle of a puzzle. "Is she trying to figure out how to fly?" he asked, incredulous.
"Probably," Xander said, giving Willow a fond look. "She teleports. It's different."
Felicity snorted. Willow focused on her. "You don't believe in magic?" she asked, distracted from her musings.
"I could consider the possibility that some type of contaminate causes something like vampirism. It's obvious that Laurel isn't the same. We've seen the fangs from a few criminals on the street, so we know something's going on. But magic? I stopped believing in fairy tales a long time ago," Felicity said, an edge of bitterness to her voice that didn't used to be there.
Xander felt an empathy for the woman. It was clear that she'd been through a lot. He recognized the look of loss in her eyes. Xander figured that the Arrow had been someone very special to her.
"We've seen too much to stick our head in the sand. You can't ignore what's happening in your city," Xander told them. "If our suspicions are correct, your city's crime wave isn't natural. Things are just going to get worse."
"So now you're blaming the criminal activity on the supernatural?" Felicity scoffed. "The devil made them do it?"
Xander grinned. "You'd be surprised. Demons are real. Vampires are real—so is magic," Xander said.
Willow saw her doubt and raised her hand, and levitating Roy's bow into her hand, causing his eyes to bug out.
"How did you do that?" Roy asked in awe.
"Magic," Willow said.
"Cool!" Roy said eagerly. "We could sure use some magic helping us on the streets."
Dig was decidedly uncomfortable. He didn't like fortune tellers, magicians, or anything that defied the norm. He shuddered. "How about you don't go floating things around me?" he suggested.
"Why are you here? Why should we believe anything you say?" Felicity demanded.
"We're here to help you," Xander said.
"We have a lot of experience with this kind of thing," Willow said.
"I bet," Felicity said sarcastically. "Look, thanks for dropping by, but we've been doing just fine. We always figure out how to handle whatever happens. We'll figure this out."
"Do you know how to kill a vampire? Are you prepared to kill your friend?" Xander asked.
The three of them were silent. Dig finally said, "We'll do what's necessary to protect this city."
Willow moved toward Felicity. "It's okay to let people help you," she said, trying to connect with the woman. Willow could sense a deep hurt.
"I don't know you. I don't know if your magic powers are real or not, but I don't care. Just leave," Felicity said.
Willow nodded. "Okay. We'll go. We'll come back tomorrow," Willow said.
After they left, Roy exclaimed, "Holy Shit! Can you believe what just happened?"
"No," Dig said, sitting down in one of the chairs. "I can't wait to tell Layla. She'll tell me to go take a long overdue nap!"
Felicity was typing away on her computer and said nothing. Roy and Dig waited a minute or two, but she still was silent. "Felicity?" Dig prodded. "What are you doing?"
"I'm using the facial recognition software I developed to see if I can get a hit on two visitors," she said.
Dig stood and both men walked toward the computer. "You're pretty incredible, you know that?" Roy said, smiling at her.
"I try," Felicity said distractedly.
"Don't you have to have last names to get a hit?" Roy asked.
"I've hacked into the DMV and U.S. Passport records. Both require a photo. I should get last names right about…now," she said smugly.
"You got a name?" Roy asked in surprise.
"Yep," Felicity said smugly. She turned toward them and stepped aside so that they could see her monitor. "Meet Willow Rosenberg and Xander Harris. They're from Sunnydale, California."
Dig's eyes widened, recognizing the town. "Sunnydale? Seriously?" he asked.
Roy looked confused. "Why? What's the big deal about Sunnydale?" he asked.
"Sunnydale is that town that was swallowed up—literally—by a massive earthquake five years ago," Dig said. Felicity typed something on her computer.
"And those two were in the group of very last survivors to leave Sunnydale when the earthquake hit, turning the city into a giant crater," Felicity shared.
It seemed that their new would-be friends knew a little something about survival after all.
******Chapter End******