CLASH OF THE TITANS

Author: Dampyria

Fandom: M7 / BtVS crossover

Summary: Buck gets hurt trying to help someone from the Watchers. (part 1)

Rating: PG13

Paring: JD/Xander (slash)

Spoilers: BtVS (Post season 7 – Pre Comics season 8), M7 (none - ATF universe)

Disclaimer: I do not own Magnificent Seven or Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

JD was just finishing up his letter to Xander when his mobile rang. Annoyed at the interruption he thought for a second not to answer the damn thing, but at the end his sense of duty won and he picked up the ringing annoyance.

As soon as he heard his bosses panicked voice on the other end, his mood changed in seconds, going from annoyance to worry to outright panic. Chris never panicked. He was their fierce leader that never backed down and laughed in the face of danger. Whatever had set him off must have been big and bad.

Listening carefully to the conversation he paled and then begun to tremble. Buck was on his way home as he heard sounds of a confrontation coming from one of the side alleys and went to check it out.

From there on the details were a little sketchy. All they knew was that shots were fired and that when the uniforms arrived at the scene they found one dead man and an unconscious Buck lying not far away. There was no sign of an assailant.

Buck and the victim were transported to the St. Mary hospital were they withheld Buck for further analysis.

This is all that JD needed to hear. Without saying good-bye he closed the cell phone and scrambled something on the mail he was writing, he then powered it down and raced down to the parking lot. He had to get to Buck. He had to see how he was doing. 'Oh God let him be all right,' he thought as he sped through the deserted roads.

The hospital was full of life. A contradiction if he ever heard one. The entrance hall was packed with patients waiting for their turn and nurses busily running around trying to tend to said patients. JD was about to stop one of them when he saw a solitary figure looming in one of the corners.

Recognizing Vic's solid frame he hurried over.

"What's going on? How is Buck? Is he going to be all right?" he fired in rapid succession.

Vic looked grim and just when JD started to fear the worse, he spoke: "He is unconscious. The doctors are doing some tests, but so far they didn't find anything that could explain his lack of awareness. They are going with poison on this one."

"Do they know what kind of poison?"

"They have no clue. Said they never saw anything like it and the worst part is that our mystery corpse was killed by the same poison. Buck is starting to show some of the same physical signs as our John Doe."

"God! What is his condition right now?" wanted to know JD.

"This is all I know. We should join the others for an update." Said Vin and started moving toward the elevator.

They found the rest of team seven occupying good part of a waiting room. As excepted Joshua and Nathan were sitting, talking among themselves. If JD had to guess, he would say that they were discussing the medical case.

Ezra was nervously playing with his cards, trying to keep himself occupied, so that he didn't have to think about what was going on in the next room, while Chris was angrily pacing up and down the room. As soon as he saw them he motioned them over.

"I assume that Vin has filled you in?" Chris asked JD.

"Yeah, is there any news?"

"Unfortunately no. The doctors don't have a clue on what is going on. All that they know is that the same thing that killed our presumed Mr. Wood is now slowly killing Buck. They say that he has more or less a couple of days before the damage done to his body is irreversible. So we have to move fast," said Chris.

"Nathan, you and Joshua stay here and keep an eye on Buck, while you wait for the autopsy report. Try to found out as much as possible from it. JD and Ezra will return to the office and found out anything they can on the dead guy. He didn't have a wallet on him but we found this card in his pocket," he said pulling a small card out of his jacket and handing it over to JD. "If we are lucky this is the identity of our mystery man, if not maybe this Robin guy will know who this is."

"Meanwhile I and Vin will return to the crime scene and found what the cops missed," concluded Chris.

"Are there any questions?" asked the leader of the team already moving toward the elevator, when JDs quiet voice stopped him. "Can I see the body?"

"Why?"

"I know someone that works for the NWC. If I gave him the description maybe we can get positive ID on the John Doe and info on what he was doing here and if he had any enemies."

"How well do you know this guy?" asked Chris taking out a Polaroid of the deceased.

"Well enough. We are friends." JD took the picture and took a shot of it with his phone before returning it to Chris.

"Okay then, make the call."

JD stepped away to call, while Joshua and Nathan went to the morgue to check on the progress of the autopsy. Chris instructed Vin to get the car while he waited on the news from JD.

Five minutes later the younger agent returned, with a grim face.

"I talked to my friend and he indentified the body as one Robin Wood, 32, senior researcher of the NWC. At the time of his death he was supposed to be researching some ancient myth in Dallas. Xander doesn't know what he was doing here and is not aware of any enemies that would wish harm to Mr. Wood."

"And there was nothing that would point to Wood having anything to do with poisons?"

"No nothing, but you can ask him yourself. He is going to be here in four hours," said JD frowning and biting his lip.

"What are you not telling me?" hissed Chris, irritated by the younger man indecisiveness.

"He mentioned something about their own investigation into the murder. He wasn't very clear on what he meant and when I tried to find out more he said that he had to go and hunged up. I tried to call back, but his phone is not connecting."

"Sure, fine, let's all join up and investigate! Unbelievable! JD found out what you can about those NWC guys. I want a full report when we meet up in two hours to compare notes."

With that said Chris left, leaving behind a very distressed looking JD and an intrigued Ezra.

"So this friend of yours, this Xander…" he tried to poke information out of his young companion.

"Let's go to work." JD interrupted him, marching toward the elevator.

The ride to the ATF HQ was spent in silence. Ezra was concentrating on his driving, throwing from time to time a curious look at the other. Not that JD noticed. He was staring out of the window the entire time, his thoughts in turmoil.

Now that he had a little time to himself he tried to organize the events of the night. His best friend, that occasionally acted like his older brother was slowly dying because of a mysterious poison, the same poison that killed Robin Wood, Xanders colleague and father of Faith's unborn child. Xander was coming to town to ID the body of his friend and run a parallel investigation to their own.

Xander sounded very un-Xander like on the phone. He was like a totally different person. At first he was very supportive and worried about Buck, then when he heard that the other victim was Robin Wood his tone of voice changed. He became aggressive in his questioning and secretive in his answers. JD knew the signs. Xander closed himself off and was withholding information that could potentially help save Bucks life.

Try as he may, he couldn't help himself but feel that this time, they were going to be on different sides of the barricade. If Buck died as result of this, JD would never forgive him or himself for that matter.

The car gently stopped. JD looked up confused until he realized that they already arrived. He opened the car door and was about to step out when a firm hand stopped him. JD looked at Ezra in confusion.

"Are you okay?" asked Ezra.

"I will be just as soon as we catch this guy." He tried to get out again but the hand on his elbow remained unmoving.

"What?" he asked, this time annoyed.

"Will you be able to work the case even if you'd have to go against your lover?"

"Buck is dying! What makes you think that I will not give a 120 percent and then some?"

"This is not what I meant. Will you be able to remain impartial even if you have to go against the one you love?" whispered Ezra.

The tone of voice in which the question was asked, made JD freeze in place. There was sadness and pain in there, but also a knowledge that comes from first hand experience. Without turning to look at him JD replied: "Even if it breaks my hart."

As soon as the words left his mouth the hand retreated and the two ATF investigators left the parking lot in silence. They had a mystery to solve and a killer to catch.

Xander was supervising the baby Slayers training as the call came. He motioned Kennedy to take his place and retreated to a more private location. Making sure that he was alone he smiled and flipped open the phone.

"Hey there beautiful," he purred into the phone.

"Hey Xander," came the quiet response, too quiet. It immediately sent off a warning bell in his brain.

"What's wrong?"

There was silence on the other end of the line and just as Xander was about to repeat the question JD spoke softly,: "Buck was hurt."

"Is he going to be alright? I mean is he …"

"No, not yet at least. He has been poisoned."

"I'm sorry. What do the doctors say?"

"They had never seen anything like that. They can't indentify the poison, not even make an educated guess."

"Do you know who poisoned him?"

"No, he heard a commotion in an alley and went to take a look. There was a fight going on and when he intervened the attacker slashed him with something that had a poisoned end. When the police come to the scene, the person that was being attacked was dead and Buck was unconscious. The doctors said that the same poison that is killing Buck was present in the victims' body only more of it."

JD stopped in his narration and collected his thoughts. The next part of the story was, in some ways the more difficult one.

"JD?" inquired Xander.

"The victim that died in the attack had on him a NWC card. He didn't have a wallet or any other ID, so we are not sure who is it? Maybe you could help us with it?"

Xander paused for a moment, feeling a weight settling in his stomach.

"What does it say on the card?"

"Robin Wood." JD heard a quick intake of air and then a myriad of whispered curses, or so he guessed, since most of them were in a language he couldn't even begin to categorize.

"As I said we don't know for sure. All we have is a business card that the deceased had on him. For all we know he could just be someone that was given the card. Are you up to identifying the victim?" JD voice was sympathetic and very professional.

"Yes."

"Okay, wait up, I am sending you a photo."

Xander closed his eye and for the first time in years, prayed. Prayed that the victim was just some unfortunate John Doe that somehow got a hold of Robins card, prayed that Faith hadn't lost the only man on earth that was able to ground her, prayed that the baby she was caring hadn't lost his father before he could even met him. He prayed and all the while the feeling of imminent doom was growing inside of him.

A few seconds latter the phone made a quiet ping and the last vestige of hope dissolved like snow in hell. Xander stared at the picture on his phone, his mind blank, refusing to acknowledge the evidence before him.

He must have been stuck like that for quite some time. The next thing he knew was that someone was shaking him with all too much force. He detached his eye from the screen and came face to face with a frantic Kennedy.

"Hey if you grab me like that Willow will get jealous," he joked. It was always the best strategy in situations like this, when your world, or the world of someone you know, has been turned upside down and inside out.

Kennedy gave him a strange look before shaking her head in exasperation, "Do I need to worry about whatever this is?"

"No, for now just resume the training. If something comes up I will let you know."

The Slayer gave him one last searching look, before turning around and joining the other girls leaving Xander alone with the phone still on in his hands. If before his head was void of any thought, now it decided to kick in full gear.

Without missing another beat he began to walk toward the fortified castle that was now their home while talking on the phone. "JD?"

"You okay Xan?" asked the agent.

"Yeah I am fine. Sorry about that, it was just a little bit of shock."

"So you can positively identify the man in the picture?"

"Yes, that was Robin Wood, one of our head researchers."

"I am sorry, Xander. I wouldn't be this pushy but the time is of essence here. Can you tell me anything about him? What was he doing here?"

"As I have already told you he was one of our researchers. Currently he was hunting down a book in Dallas. He was studying a myth of Darilafus and had just discovered that a rare old book regarding this subject was located in Dallas. I have no clue what was he doing up there."

"Okay, what about his enemies? Did he have any?"

"None that I am aware of," said Xander with a bitter smile. If only JD knew, he thought to himself.

"All right, I will need contact information for Faith and his friends and other members of your organization that knew him."

"Look JD I am sorry, but I can't do that."

"Xander…"

"No. I know that time is important and that is why I am flying down there as soon as possible with a team. You can't contact any other member of this organization, especially Faith. All the communication will go through me, or one of my team. We are starting a parallel investigation."

"Xander wait…" exclaimed JD, but it was too late. The connection has been already broken.

Xander was running up the stairs towards the west wing of the castle where their administrative offices were located. Turning left he didn't even pause to knock on the massive oak door before bursting in.

Giles was sitting behind an old mahogany desk going over what looked like financial data with one of the baby Watchers, when the door violently opened letting in a red faced Xander. The sudden intrusion startled the older man and his apprentice.

"For the love of God, Xander! There is an absolutely marvelous custom that the rest of modern world uses when they enter a room and it's called knocking," groaned Giles.

"I am sorry Giles, but there is something important that I have to discuss with you. And no, before you ask, it can't wait."

Giles was about to protest, when he saw the look of desperation in the younger mans eye. Turning to the Watcher in training he sent him away. Once the door was closed behind the youth Giles devoted his entire attention to the man before him.

"What's going on?"

"I got a call from a friend. Earlier this day a corpse was recovered in Denver. It didn't have any ID on him save from a business card from the NWC. He sent me a picture of the victim."

"Is it one of ours?"

Xander didn't say anything, just opened his phone and hand it over to Giles.

"Dear God," murmured Giles, starting to clean his glasses. "How did this happen? And what was Robin doing in Denver? Shouldn't he be in Dallas?"

"They don't know how this happened. They think that it was some kind of poison. My guess is that they come in contact with some fluid from a demon. But there is more. A cop was injured in the fight. He is still alive but the poison is killing him slowly. I told my friend that I am on my way there with a team."

"So your friend knows about the supernatural?"

"No, not really. We hung out together when I stopped in Denver on my way here. He is an ATF agent. The one that was hurt is a colleague of his."

Giles looked tiredly at Xander then picked up the phone on his desk and started to dial a number when the other interrupted him by yanking the phone out of his hands.

"What on earth…? We don't have time to waste. I need to call our contacts so that we can start with the damage control."

"I am well aware of that, but you have to listen to me first. Cutting them out of the investigation won't do us any good. Their team is like a family and when one of them is hurt they would do anything to make it better, even ignoring orders. Do you really think that removing them from the inquiry will stop them from noising around? Would we stop if Dawn or Willow got hurt?"

"Very well, what are you suggesting?"

Xander was a little taken aback by Giles willingness to listen to him, but he recovered quickly.

"I would suggest a joint investigation. At least on the paper. Have your contacts transport Robin to one of Rileys military labs for analysis, they should found a match on the thing that attacked Buck. In the mean time me, Willow and one of the older Slayers will run interference with the ATF team. We will let them do their thing, while at same time, we will be running our own investigation. When we find the demon we finish it and burry the entire case."

"I must say this is a quite reasonable plan. Do you have any more suggestions?" asked Giles intrigued.

"I think that we shouldn't tell Faith or anyone else about what happened. We should keep this as confined as possible."

Giles was about to interrupt him, but Xander didn't give him a chance. "No, hear me out. Faith just found out that she is going to be a mother. She is very emotional at the moment and prone to do something risky and stupid that will endanger not only her but also her unborn child. Let me clean up this mess and then I will tell her personally, and will assume all the responsibilities for keeping it from her."

The older man studied Xander for a moment and then nodded.

"Very well. This is now officially your mission. Take Willow and Kennedy with you as a support group. I am going to arrange the private jet, it will be faster then the regular flights."

"Yes sir!" he mock saluted and dashed toward the door.

"And Xander," called Giles after him. "Stay safe. Faith isn't the only one that let's feeling get in the way. I know that this is going to be a very emotional case for all of us, but please, try to keep out of harms way."

"Always do," said Xander and disappeared out of the door, leaving behind a worried Watcher.

TBC in part two… Xander arrives in Denver and has his first brush with team seven and more importantly with Chris. Stay tuned…