David Bowie "Heroes"
Title: We Could Be Heroes(8/?)
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...
Faith blinked again at the place they were in; Caritas, the sign outside had claimed. When she'd convinced X to go bar trawling with her, she hadn't expected to end up in a bar of mixed races. She could see demons politely talking with humans they would eat on another day, for God's sake.
"Trippy," commented Xander from next to her. "And sheesh that's a bright suit."
"Eh?" said Faith then she saw him – a green-skinned demon with short red horns wearing a bright red suit with a canary yellow tie was coming towards them. "That's somethin' yah don't see every day."
The demon grinned at them and exclaimed, "Ah, Caritas virgins! It's a delight every time."
"I bet," grumbled Faith. Then she gestured around and asked, "So what's the what, Greenie? Never seen demons and vamps act like friendly neighbors towards humans."
The demon started to respond but Xander spoke first. "It's a neutral territory," he said softly. "A place to talk in peace. I'm guessing there's some magic to keep them all from fighting."
"You got it, sweetcheeks!" exclaimed the demon. "Lorne, by the way – I run this busy booming place."
"Nice. I'm Faith and this is my man Xander. So what's the sitch?" At the demon's confused look, Faith explained, "What d'they all come for? 'Cause I know it ain't just the peace and fucking quiet."
"She's a treat," commented Lorne with a smile at Xander. He then replied, "I'm the sitch, raven. People sing for me and I read them, tell them a little about how life's going to treat them."
Faith's eyes widened at that then she croaked at the horrific noise of a bulky demon in a biker's jacket taking up the stage across the bar and thoroughly butchering Thunderstruck. Turning to Xander, she then seemed to shake off the shock and tugged on his arm. "C'mon, X, let's try it."
Xander frowned at that since someone reading him might just give away something about the Piece of Eden Altaïr had hidden. Then he looked down into Faith's dark eyes, which were lit up with a delight he rarely saw, and relented. If singing once for a demon could make his girl look like that, he'd risk anything.
"Okay," he said. "What do we sing though?"
"Just tell the mic whatever song you want and it'll bring up the words, sweetcheeks," piped Lorne. "Anything is open for singing!"
Faith grinned then grabbed him, dragging Xander easily up onto the stage as the demon lumbered off. H blinked when she shoved the mic at him and purred, "You pick, Stud." Xander frowned thoughtfully then said something in a low voice into the mic, grinning as the first strains of Don't Fear the Reaper began to play.
Maybe this wouldn't be too bad after all…
Lorne smiled from his seat at the bar as he watched the pair on stage. It was obvious they were both crazy about each other and they got into the singing easily, the girl bouncing her hip happily against the boy's.
She sang like a Wookie but she made quite the show to watch – enough that the enthusiasm negated her voice. Half the bar was already drooling over her and rest weren't far behind. Even some of the ladies were giving her glassy-eyed looks.
The demon grimaced then as he started getting the first readings off of them. Hard life's from both of them though she'd had the harder time – it made them perfect for each other.
He paled as he realized she was the Slayer – or a Slayer, he amended, remembering he had heard there were two now – and saw the hardships ahead of her. Mainly they were dealing with a petite blonde with hard eyes and a snarling redheaded witch with eyes flooded with pitch darkness. Not good signs.
And the boy…damn, he'd been worked over good. Lorne caught a few snippets of the life of the assassin the kid carried the memories of as well and sighed. It just wasn't fair to throw all that onto a kid as young as he was.
Pain split the demon's head then and he clutched at it, eyes widening. Muttering to the bartender to bring the pair to him when they were finished, he retreated to his office and poured himself a glass of the strongest drink he had from the mini-bar. Downing it quickly, he shuddered and leaned heavily against the wall.
The poor kid had knowledge of the Pieces of Eden – knowledge almost every group in the world would kill for. They had been sought for centuries since the brief surfacing in the Third Crusade. And the assassin had been the man that had hidden them; the man that had been hunted across the world but never found.
World just wasn't fair.
Lorne looked up as the door opened and the pair came in. Faith took one look at him and bluntly stated, "We're gonna die, ain't we?"
"Faith," admonished Xander, laying a hand on her shoulder. He looked at Lorne over her head and asked, "That bad?"
"Pretty bad, sweetcheeks," replied the demon as he pushed himself away from the wall and moved to collapse behind his desk. "You've both got a lot of enemies. Blonde girl and a redheaded witch'll be the tougher ones for you, raven."
"B and Red," murmured the brunette then Lorne focused on Xander.
"And you, kid – had to be tough dealing with that assassin."
The boy stiffened, muscles tensing for a possible fight, and said, "Altaïr and I aren't that different."
"Not too much so," mumbled Lorne. He then sighed and stated, "You're both going to have hard times because of that. The Pieces of Eden have been sought for centuries – and even more so since that one popped up during the Crusades."
"No one should have those," growled Xander. "They're too dangerous. Altaïr knew that."
"That he did. But he's long gone, sweetcheeks, and no one ever found him to wring the information out of him. Now they've got you."
"Like hell anyone's gonna take my man," snarled Faith. "We'll rip 'em apart, won't we, X?"
"Damn right," came the agreeing snarl.
Lorne nodded, saying, "I believe you. And I wish you both the best of luck but that's all I can tell you."
Xander nodded then leaned forward, dark eyes searching the demon's face. At the glance, Lorne smiled tightly and assured, "I'm not going to tell anyone, sweetcheeks. Neutral, peaceful man I am."
"Thanks, Greenie." Faith then turned her head to the side and asked, "We ready to go then, Xan?"
"Yeah," he replied, eyes still on Lorne. As they turned to walk out the door, he paused and mumbled, "Thanks," before closing it firmly behind him.
Lorne groaned and buried his face in his hands, shaking at the realization that he hadn't told them the worst of what he'd seen.
Faith captured and tortured, her body littered with bloody lacerations.
Xander, his eyes black with rage, sweeping through a building and killing everything in his path.
Faith hefting him over her shoulder as they were surrounded by demons, ready to die protecting him.
Xander kneeling in a puddle of blood and hugging a limp body stabbed through the stomach with a sword as a brunette child cried nearby.
He closed his eyes, willing the images away, and hoped that those two kids wouldn't end up at such a terrible end. They could be a great force for the side of good.
So long as the evil side didn't get their claws in them.
"Guess we gotta take on B and Red at some point," stated Faith as she slung her bag back into the trunk.
"If we believe him," pointed out Xander.
"Greenie didn't seem like a bad guy. And yah saw his face, X. He was real tripped out by somethin'."
He nodded in agreement, mumbled, "Yeah, but what? I get the feeling he didn't tell us everything he saw."
"Yah really want to know?"
Xander frowned thoughtfully then smiled, shaking his head.
"Nah. Too much insight to the future wouldn't make things as fun."
Faith smiled at that and walked around the car to kiss him, purring, "There's the man I love. Now let's motor, I'm itchin' for some travel."
"As milady commands," he intoned seriously with a low, sweeping bow as she climbed into the car. As Xander flopped into the driver's seat, he cranked the car and pulled away from the curb before asking, "So where to next? Somewhere else in California or we want to go to another state?"
"Don't care," came the reply as she leaned over, her head resting against his shoulder. "You pick."
Xander considered it for a moment then shifted so his arm was wrapped around her shoulders, left hand gripping the steering wheel tightly.
"How about we just drive?" he asked with a smile. "Y'know, let the road take us wherever."
Faith smiled and replied, "Sounds perfect, Stud."
Smiling, he turned his head to kiss her forehead then focused on the road in front of them that could lead them to God knows where. So long as they were together though, they'd be alright.