David Bowie "Heroes"
Title: We Could Be Heroes(2/?)
Rating: R-ish
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Timeline: Season 2 Halloween onward
Pairings: Most canonwise, Xander/Faith
Crossover Material: Assassin's Creed
Spoilers: General BtVS and AC ending information
Summary:
After Halloween, Xander finds himself with the knowledge of the
assassin Altair Ibn La-Ahad and the decision to either use these new
skills to help his friends or not. But not everyone is very happy with
that arrangement...
"Giles, there's someone out hunting vampires!"
Xander cocked his head to the side at the sound of Buffy's voice as he flipped through one of the books for research and grinned at the Watcher's reply of "That would be you doing that." Either Giles was too tired to be proper British or he was starting to grow on the man.
"No!" he heard Buffy whine. "Its someone else – a guy I think. I couldn't get a good look at him and he just disappeared when I started to chase him!"
He bit the inside of his cheek to avoid grinning at that – his dye work of gray and green over the white of the robe worked well then. In the dark and with the right shadows he could disappear easily, which was exactly the effect he had wanted.
"What do I do?"
"Perhaps we should try talking to this hunter," he heard Giles suggest. "But there's to be no fighting with him if he appears human."
Buffy continued whining after that but Xander tuned her out, debating when to allow this confrontation they wanted. Then he heard "We'll try tonight" from Giles and decided that was good enough. After all, the sooner he dealt with them, the sooner he could keep working.
Because he'd found out of a few underground workings and plots against his friends. Things he had put a permanent stop to once he'd been sure of his new skills. And the things he had done were starting to garner him a name in the vampire and demon communities.
They were afraid now. And that was just how he wanted them.
He didn't really want the gang to know what he was doing. Buffy would insist he stop, Giles would probably stand with her, Oz would just shrug, he still wasn't sure where Cordelia would stand in things or if she even was in things, and Willow…he wasn't sure where his best friend stood anymore. She might side with him. Or she might side with Buffy and say it was too dangerous, even whilst she was starting to practice magic.
Pff, too dangerous.
Xander frowned at that and closed the book, feeling irritable now. That had been arrogant. And he couldn't afford that – arrogance like that was what had gotten Altaïr in trouble and it could get him in just as much. It could get him just as killed as the assassin had gotten members of the Brotherhood.
Rising, he grabbed his backpack and tossed it over his shoulder, smiling at Willow slumped over asleep in her chair. Then he walked towards the library doors and heard Buffy call after him, "Xander?"
"Got a headache suddenly," he called back.
"Oh. Want me to walk you home?"
He paused, briefly wondering what that was about then he remembered. Angelus was back around now.
Turning, he smiled and replied, "I'll be fine. Trust me."
Buffy gave him a bewildered look but didn't say anything as he continued out the door. Though if she had followed, she might have seen him pulling out a throwing dagger that was hidden underneath his shirt and smiling serenely as he walked away, flipping the blade through his fingers idly. As if daring someone to try and stop him.
"Doesn't look like we're going to find him," sighed Buffy as she brushed vampire dust off the sleeves of her jacket.
"Find who?" queried a voice above her with a strange accent and she gasped, looking up into the tree above her. "GILES!" she yelled, drawing the attention of her Watcher.
The older man came running across the graveyard, as there was a chuckle from the tree. A lean figure in a cowled robe that blended into the shadows dropped to the ground and Buffy saw the glint of metal before he almost disappeared into the darkness of the tree.
"I heard you were looking for me, Slayer," he stated in that strangely accented voice that sounded so familiar but also not at all.
Giles frowned and asked, "How could you know that?"
"I have my ways. And now I've found you – what do you want?"
Buffy stared at him for a moment then demanded, "What are you doing? Are you crazy to be doing this? You could die!"
There was a low chuckle from the shadows as the man seemed to disappear again then Buffy spotted the flash of red – his sash – and found her eyes drawn to what of his face that she could see.
"We all die," stated the man firmly. He then cocked his head to the side asking, "And who are you to tell me what to do?"
Buffy started to open her mouth but Giles beat his Slayer there with, "We are not here to tell you what to do. We simply were worried you might be…"
"A madman?" interrupted the cloaked man. "A simple wild killer destroying all vampires and ghouls be they killers or not? Oh, no, I make sure they are guilty before I take them, I assure you."
He then clasped his hands together, flat of his palms touching, and the Watcher saw a gleam of metal at the underside of his left wrist.
"If that is all, I'll be off."
"Wait!" exclaimed Buffy as he started to disappear into the shadows. She thought he was gone and grumbled to Giles, "We don't even know what to call the crazy maybe madman."
His voice came from the shadows then and she jumped as they heard him say, "Call me Altaïr."
The Slayer blinked then looked at her Watcher asking, "Now what?"
"We leave him be," replied Giles. "I have the distinct impression that he is an ally only so long as we do not cross him."
From his perch in the tree above them, Xander eavesdropped on Buffy and Giles. At the man's words he found himself nodding in agreement – he was running on his own rules and the assassin's creed now. If they did something he couldn't agree with, he'd have to do something.
He might even go as far as killing if it was bad enough. Altaïr's memories gave him the knowledge that sometimes that really was necessary and he accepted that.
He just hoped he wouldn't be forced to that point.
After a moment or two more of watching them as they continued through the cemetery, he slid off the branch and landed in a slight crouch as the base of the tree. Flipping his hood back up, he fell into the shadows and began to move across town towards Willy's.
With Angelus out and about he needed to scare up some information. And frightening them until they talked was so much fun.
"The White Knight defending the defenseless maiden," sneered Angelus as he found Xander guarding Buffy's hospital door. "How touching."
"Is it?" queried Xander as he released the hidden blade into his hand from where it was hidden under his coat sleeve. He glanced down the hall and, seeing no one, lashed out at the vampire with the blade. Angelus staggered back with a line of blood across his cheek and stared.
"The hell…"
"I am not the defenseless boy you remember," stated Xander coldly. "Nor am I scared of you."
"You should be," growled the vampire. "I'm going to tear you limb from limb and leave the pieces for precious Buffy to find."
"Try me. Maybe I'll leave your limbs for Spike and Drusilla to find."
The cold matter-of-fact voice made the vampire hesitate and regard Xander closely. He was right – he had changed. There was a tenseness to him now, like a coiled snake ready to strike or a bird ready to dive, swooping up its prey in unforgiving talons. And the look in his eyes…that was the look of someone that had killed and would kill again. Someone separate from the killing, however, who didn't enjoy it like he did. It was simply a task – and that's what scared the vampire.
Angelus frowned then hissed, "I'll teach you to fear me again."
"Fear you?" repeated Xander, wondering absently why he hadn't already killed the vampire. Oh, yes, he was still hoping Buffy would grow a pair and do the deed herself. But he was getting impatient… "When has it ever seemed I feared you? I've hated you since the day I found out you were a vampire."
"I'm better than that coward."
"And yet I'd still rather have him back." The youth flicked his wrist, the hidden blade sliding back into his gauntlet, then growled, "Now leave. Or I'll kill you here and now, Buffy wanting Angel back or not. Because that's the only thing that's stopping me."
Angelus sneered then tossed the flowers he held at Xander's chest before storming off down the corridor. The former Zeppo caught them and shook his head before straightening them and carrying them inside. He carefully placed a choice few alongside others Willow had brought earlier in a vase then threw the rest in the trash.
Looking at his friend's restlessly sleeping form, he sighed and shook his head.
"Can't believe I'm letting that thing kill more people for you," he muttered, dark eyes flickering with self-hatred. "I won't do it again. So you get one last chance, Buff. If you don't stop him, I will."
With that he moved outside again to return to his seat, waiting as a guard until morning.
Xander watched Buffy board the bus from where he stood leaning against a tree, the line of his jaw clenched tight. He didn't make a move to stop her – leaving was her choice.
But, damnit, he wanted to slap some sense into her.
As the bus pulled away, he shook his head. Thanks to Altaïr he had been preparing himself for the possible future occurrence of him having to kill one his friends. Being on the Hellmouth could do terrible things to people, after all, and any of them might change for the worst.
Buffy, though, she didn't have the assassin's memories like he did.
With her absence he could move more freely but he would have to step up work to make up for the lack of a Slayer. Sighing, he stepped away from the tree and shoved his hands deep in his pockets as he started home.
Harsher training could be done whilst she was gone and maybe he might even get those emancipation papers he'd gotten signed.
Smiling at the thought of being out from under his parents' roof, Xander's steps became somewhat more cheerful and he strode off towards what might be a fitful summer even if it was missing his friend's presence.
But Buffy would be back.
He could feel it in his gut.