David Bowie "Heroes"
Title: We Could Be Heroes(4/?)
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...
"So what it like, X?"
"What's what like?" asked Xander from where he was opening a box in his new apartment – which was a warehouse he'd bought with money taken from vampire nests and the few odd job wages.
The Slayer looked at him from the pile of boxes she was lounging on then replied, "Having some dude's memories in your head. That's gotta be hella weird."
He shrugged at that and pushed the box aside as he saw it was his comic collection.
"It was at first," he answered. "But I've dealt with that. Its not like Altaïr pops up at times – all I have are his memories and skills."
Faith shrugged then asked, "So what was he? And where from?"
Xander opened another box with his pocketknife then replied, "He was an assassin working from their stronghold in the town of Masyaf."
"That don't tell me much, Stud."
"Get up and help me unpack and I'll keep talking."
Faith gave an unladylike grunt at that and piped, "And get my gorgeous hands dirty?"
Xander smirked and jibed, "Gorgeous hands? It's the gorgeous ass that makes men stare."
"Damn right it is," said the Slayer. "So what'cha want me to do?"
"Unpack the boxes you were sitting on."
As she turned to do that, he began talking again.
"Masyaf, for your information, is in the Holy Land. Or was, its probably a ruin or long gone by now. He saw other cities too: Jerusalem, Acre, Damascus, to name a few. And he killed several figures during the Third Crusade, including his own leader and the Grand Master of the Knights Templar."
"Killed his own leader?" repeated Faith, pausing in her unpacking. "What the hell'd he do that for?"
"He was wielding a powerful artifact that had the power to alter what men can see," replied Xander in a bitter voice. "Altaïr defeated him and hid the piece in the hopes no one would be able to use it again."
She frowned then asked, "So this guy was real? Like a real live assassin back in the past?"
Xander nodded slowly as he stacked up cheap pots and pans he'd bought in preparation for getting his own place.
"I looked up all the information I could find on the time," he replied. "Couldn't find anything on Altaïr himself, which isn't surprising, but I did find a lot on other things. The existence of the Hashshashin, the group of assassins he belonged to. And the deaths – or missing status - of the nine people he was sent to assassinate in 1191. Robert de Sablé's death too."
"Who?"
"The Templar."
Faith noticed the slight growl in his voice as he said the name again then asked, "You carrying a grudge for them too, X?"
"S'one thing that's carried over," he replied in a rough voice. "He might not be a presence in my head but I've picked up a few traits of his. I try not to let them cloud things though."
She nodded then lifted up a battered box of VHS tapes. "Star Wars?"
Xander grinned at that, his anger fading away, and he chirped, "Glad I didn't forget those." At her sad look, he asked, "Have you ever seen them?"
"Why'd I want to see something so geeky?" she demanded, her hard cloak folding around her. Then she jumped as Xander wrapped an arm around her shoulders and took the tapes out of her hands, his warm fingers slightly brushing her.
"'Cause its Star Wars," he replied. "It's like the God of sci-fi movies."
Faith frowned at them then shed her defensive cloak again. Around him…she didn't feel she needed it. And she'd heard about the movies but never had had the chance to see them. Di has been going to buy them for her then…
Choking down the memory of her Watcher, she smiled.
"Guess I should take the word of the geek, eh?"
"That's geek assassin to you," chided Xander. He grinned then said, "C'mon, let's put together the TV and VCR by the couch we hauled in earlier. Then we can go grab some food and come back to watch A New Hope before patrol."
"Only one?"
"Save the rest for staying up tonight after patrol."
Faith blinked then asked, "You want to hang with me for that long, X?"
Xander smiled then replied, "Hell, Faith, I was gonna ask you if you wanted to move in with me maybe. 'Cause you don't deserve to be in that shithole of a motel."
She stared at him then straightened up, pulling away from him. "I ain't gonna move in and be your bitch, Stud."
"Like I'd ask you to do that," he chided. Touching her arm gently, he said, "Faith, you deserve better than what you've got. I mean, yeah, I am drooling over the gorgeousness of you but I want to be your friend first. If anything comes out of that…well, I'd be one damn happy man. But first and foremost I just want to be your friend."
"You ain't shittin' me?"
"No way in hell." Xander smiled and asked, "So, what do you say, Faith?"
She frowned at him for a moment then replied, "I say you'd better get your shit together, X. I ain't gonna clean up for you just 'cause I'm a woman."
"You'd hand me my balls if I asked you to do that," he said as he slung his arm around her shoulders again. And was delighted when she leaned into the embrace, even if she did so a little stiffly.
Faith grinned and stated, "Damn right I would! Now where's that TV, Stud? We've got a movie to watch."
"Faith!" rang out a voice from above her, the thick accent not hiding who it was from her. She knew Xander's voice no matter what now, even when he was hiding it underneath Altaïr's accent.
His shout broke her out of the battle rage and she realized that B had tossed a human at her…and she'd been about to stake him. If X hadn't shouted…
Her knees went weak at the realization then she shoved the man down and went after the last vampire. As B turned towards her, she heard a thump from behind her and saw Xander stalking out of the shadows in his cowled robe with all the wrath of an avenging angel.
"What the hell, Summers?" he growled as he approached. "You toss a mortal towards another Slayer during a fight with vampires? What sort of idiot are you? If I wasn't here, she would have killed him!"
Buffy looked startled then demanded, "What are you doing here? This isn't your problem!"
"You've made it my problem," snarled Xander, anger thickening his accent. He tilted his head towards Faith and she gave him a small smile to tell him she was all right. Shaken up but all right.
"Vampires are my job to kill!"
"My choice," he pointed out fiercely. Then he leaned down and dragged the man up, Faith watching the ripple of his muscles under his robe with an appreciative glance. "Now what sort of idiot are you?" he demanded of the man.
The suit looked like he was about to piss in terror then stammered out something about being the deputy Mayor. Faith blinked and saw Buffy's surprised look as well – she had to imagine the shock on Xander's face, though, since she couldn't see it under the darkness of his hood.
"I see," murmured Xander. He then let the man go and turned to Buffy with, "I'd take him somewhere safe and then get him out of town after you find out just what he knows."
"Right," growled the blonde, angry with him for telling her what to do. She knew what she needed to do! It wasn't like she needed this stranger to tell her what to do!
He nodded then turned away, moving away from them. His boots kicked up the vampire dust scattered in the alley then he said slowly, "I suppose we should work together, Slayers. The Mayor is a major danger to the town."
"How do you know about that?" demanded Buffy.
"I told you some time ago that I have my sources," he replied harshly as Faith realized what would happen. He'd be found out if he actually started working actively with them. And God knew what rats next that would blow up. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a poker game to interrupt. I'll see you tomorrow night, Summers, in that library you call a headquarters. We can talk of a possible alliance then."
Before Buffy could say anything else he was gone, blended into the shadows in silent steps and vanished. Faith had to give him credit – he wasn't as fast as a Slayer or as strong, but X knew how to handle himself thanks to Altaïr. And he wasn't shy about using the shit he'd learned from the assassin's memories.
As Buffy cursed, she grabbed the deputy mayor's arm and began to lead him away, expecting the older girl to follow.
She needed to have a talk with him when she got home, though.
"Working with them's gonna get yah found out, Stud," said Faith bluntly as she entered the warehouse to find him leaning against the counter. He was dressed down to the gray-green robe and pants of his hunting gear and had his boots off, feet bare against the dark kitchen linoleum. "Yah know that, right?"
"I'm aware," replied Xander wearily. "They'll at first insist I'm crazy, then perhaps that I'm possessed, and then finally they'll try to stop me from hunting."
She moved to the refrigerator and pulled out a Coke can, cracking it open. Then she walked over and leaned next to him, her shoulder comfortably resting against his muscled arm.
"Yah ain't gonna let 'em though, right, Stud?"
"Not a chance in hell."
"Good."
Xander turned to look down at her then wrapped an arm around her shoulders before asking, "You're going to stand with me, right?"
"Abandon my only bud?" questioned Faith. "Fuck, X, like I'd do that."
"I didn't think so."
He then sighed and frowned. She caught the downcast look and gave him a light nudge in the ribs – light because she knew despite all he could do that he was still human and Slayer strength could break his bones.
"What's the what? You'd got something itchin' at yah."
For a long moment he just stared at the floor then he turned, his eyes meeting hers. Damn, she knew that haunted look in his dark eyes all too well.
"I keep thinking about that alley," he murmured. "If I hadn't been following you, keeping an eye on you both, you'd have killed him."
Faith sat down her Coke with a little shudder. She'd been trying to ignore the realization of that but now it came crashing down onto her.
"Yeah," she said. "And then I wouldn't be protected by that creed of yours, would I?"
Xander stiffened then he pulled her into a tight hug, surprising her as he buried his face in her hair.
"Christ, Faith," she heard him breath as she wrapped her arms around him. "It'd have been an accident."
"Still would'a been murder," she murmured into his chest. She leaned her face against him, the robes soft underneath her cheek, his chest rising and falling reassuringly. "We both know that."
"Yeah…"
Faith felt a shudder run through him – a realization of how close he'd come to having to go by the rules of the creed when dealing with a friend. No, she amended, with someone he loved.
'Cause she knew what she was starting to feel towards him. And she knew too that so did he 'cause she'd seen him watching her.
"But it didn't 'cause'a yah," she said. "I never said thanks either."
"You don't have to," Xander murmured. He then grumbled, "Damn, its one AM. We should go to sleep."
Faith clutched at him and breathed, "Not yet."
She felt him nod against her head and heard, "Alright. But let's move to the couch, eh?" At her mumbled agreement, they moved out of the open kitchen towards the couch. He settled down first and she slid close to him, her head leaning on his shoulder with his arm wrapped tightly about her waist. As she absently fiddled with the hem of his robes, he picked up the remote and turned on the TV, channel flipping until he settled on Looney Tunes.
"Daffy's better than Bugs," she mumbled sleepily into his chest.
The grunt of disagreement he uttered rumbled through her and she smiled, feeling safer here next to him than anywhere she'd been before. Not long after that the gentle rise and fall of his chest under her cheek lulled her to sleep as Bugs dealt with Elmer Fudd again onscreen.
Xander looked down at Faith as she dozed off and marveled at how innocent she looked when asleep. How small.
After the small amount he'd learned about her past during the time they'd lived together, his protective streak for the young woman had grown. He wanted to make sure she was okay – that nothing like that happened to her again.
He leaned his head against hers after a moment as the realization that he loved her weighed on his heart.
Question was…would they survive what was coming to maybe enjoy that if she felt the same as he did?