By David MycockWalking the Path 12/
Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy the vampire slayer or any other of the characters in this story they belong to Joss Whedon and whoever else created the characters used in this story. Any characters I created I own.
Pairing: Janna Kalderdash/Xander Harris
Summary: Set after the love spell episode. Xander begins to walk his own path after leaning of his true origins. This also has a twist from the love spell episode with Xander actually sleeping with Jenny during the spell and the reactions from the rest of the group.
Xander walked into Sunnydale High with a slight smile on his face as he thought back two hours and the time he had spent with Janna before been forced to get up and come to school pretending he was not even friends with the beautiful woman who now carried his child which he knew would be a disaster waiting to happen if the school found out about his relationship with Janna.
He knew Principal Snyder was looking for any excuse to expel any of Buffy's friends and was watching them closely, he had tried to use Giles's close friendship with Buffy against them already but to no avail however his situation with Janna was completely different as there was actually something going on between him and Janna.
He noticed Buffy talking with Willow and Oz near the lockers and he wondered if they were actually going to stay out of his and the others way when they went hunting tonight or if Buffy had convinced the others to try and stop them. He hoped his former friends would use their brains and stay out of the way, it was way past time that Angelus was put down. As he passed the staffroom he saw Janna exit with Giles following close behind both looked angry and he had to fight the reflex to go and see what was going on, before he could decide where he was heading Buffy was in front of him glaring at him
"What do you want Buffy?" he asked with a resigned air
"Stop trying to kill Angel and give me the soul curse that's what" she spat in answer giving Xander his answer as to whether she had excepted the inevitable
"He isn't Angel any more Buffy and it's time you excepted that" Xander answered "And as for the curse over my dead body" he added before turning and walking away leaving Buffy to glare at his back
Ten minutes ago:
Janna sat in the staffroom reading over the daily school reports when Rupert Giles walked in with a tired frown on his face, he noticed her almost immediately and headed to where she was sitting. She sighed knowing she was in for another argument and so stood and prepared herself
"Miss Calendar?" he said trying to sound polite and treat her as just a fellow member of staff encase someone entered
"What can I do for you?" she asked wishing she was back at her house in bed with Alex
"I want you to first convince Xander and Kendra to stop their hunt for Angelus and second I want you to retranslate the soul curse so we can perform it, Buffy deserves to have her boyfriend back after all she has done recently" Giles informed her trying to sound confident
"I will not do either of those things Rupert as you well know" Janna replied trying to keep her temper "Buffy as Alex has pointed out does not deserve anything especially for someone to risk their lives or soul to bring that vampire back" she added "He has killed a dozen people since he came back and all she has done is cry and moan about loosing her boyfriend tell me Rupert how can you allow such a thing?" she finished
"I am her watcher and I believe having a stable relationship is paramount to her ability to do her duty" Giles responded
"That is ridiculous as she is one of only a handful of slayers who have had any friends or lovers and the others all did their duty without such things, Kendra is prime example of that" she shot back before turning and beginning to leave as she knew they would get no where arguing especially here where someone could walk in
"We are not finished" Giles hissed following her out of the staffroom
Janna noticed Alex walking through the corridor and catch sight of her, a part of her wished he would come over and intervene but she knew he would not follow as they had agreed whilst in public they had to remain apart but she noticed the worry in his gaze as he watched Giles follow her to her classroom.
"Leave me alone Giles we are finished with this conversation" she said facing the angered watcher
"I want that soul curse now Jenny" Giles spat having had enough of the entire affair and knew the only way to get Buffy to back off was to acquire the spell
"For the last time Rupert no" she replied "Buffy has to pay for unleashing the nightmare that is Angelus again and this is how she will pay and if you are not careful you will pay with her" she warned him not liking his posture
"Is everything okay Miss Calendar?" a female voice asked from behind her and both adults turned to find Amy Madison standing near the doors
Giles looked at the young witch for a few seconds before turning and exiting the classroom annoyed as he knew Buffy would once again go on a rant about saving Angel ignoring just how much trouble they faced
"Thank you Amy" Janna said pleased to see Giles leave
"Alex asked me to check to make sure nothing happened" Amy responded walking over "He was worried by how angry Mr Giles was looking" she added
"I think he is beginning to cave under the pressure of recent events" Janna explained "But letting his anger control him will not help and neither will following Buffy's advice"
"Hopefully it'll be over soon" Amy said "Alex said once Angelus is dead we'll be leaving" she added
"We?" Janna asked confused
"I'm coming with you" Amy explained "Alex told me what you plan to do and I offered my help" she added
"But what about school?" Janna asked
"My father will be happy to have me leave Sunnydale and I can always learn as I go along" Amy replied "He understands there are more important things going on than finishing school and he has become more afraid for my safety since the deaths within the town escalated" she continued
"Where we are heading will not be without danger Amy" Janna warned her
"I know but the fact is there is much we could learn on this journey and I want to make sure Alex and you stay safe as I know he would make sure I am safe" Amy said in a soft voice proving what Janna already knew and that was that the young witch really did value her friendship with Alex
"I am sure you will be of great help Amy and I know Alex will be relieved he will not be leaving you behind to face the darkness of Sunnydale alone" Janna told her warmly
"Thanks" Amy replied as she sat and began discussing the quest they would soon undertake
Xander sat in the dinner hall thinking about what Amy had told him about the confrontation she had interrupted between Janna and Giles and he really couldn't wait for this to be over so they would leave not only Sunnydale but Buffy, Giles and the others behind.
It was the second time he had thought this and this time it did not cause any pain at the idea, his friends or the people he had thought of as friends had turned on him and Janna without any real reason even after all they had been through together. Before he would have hated the idea of leaving them behind to deal with the dangers of Sunnydale but now he felt very different, Kendra and Mr Sabuto had already said they would most likely remain on the hell mouth after Angelus was dealt with so he knew the group would have backup.
He now had other priorities beginning with Janna and their unborn baby, then he had his mother and Amy to watch out for and finally he had to deal with somehow taking control of the Lavelle tribe and ending the civil war between the tribes by locating the lord of all vampires Dracula who's history was more interesting than anyone would believe.
He wondered how his life had become so complicated and then shook that thought of as he realised he wouldn't change it for anything.
Lilith and Adrian reformed as night began to once again fall on Sunnydale, as soon as they were in their normal forms they felt the dark tendrils of magic emanating from the hell mouth. As they were not demonic vampires the tendrils had no effect on them at all which they were quite happy about.
"We will go the manor and arm ourselves before we head out to find Alexander" Lilith told her brother
"Good idea" Adrian nodded "Where do you think we will locate Alexander?" he asked
"Father stated that he was engaged on a hunt for a demonic vampire and its followers and so would be mostly found patrolling the town especially the graveyards" Lilith responded
"Father really did get a lot of information out of his probe of the boys mind" Adrian mused
"That is because Alexander was not prepared the first time and the second time he was not fast enough to close his mind but the fact that he tried pleased father as it showed strength of mind" Lilith informed him
"If we want to find him quickly we better get going" Adrian told his sister and together they headed for the manor their father had bought for them
In the living room of Janna's house sat Xander, Janna, Kendra, Mr Sabuto Sarah and Amy who had asked to join them on their hunt
"So it would seem we may encounter Buffy and the others out there" Mr Sabuto sighed after Xander, Janna and Amy had filled the others in on what happened that day
"It looks like it" Janna nodded "I think Buffy will not stop until we actually kill Angelus" she added
"And the sooner we do that the better" Xander put in "For everyone" he added
"So where do we start tonight?" Sarah asked as she prepared herself for another night of hunting, she had spent the day relearning as much magic as she could in the time allowed
"Oak ridge cemetery" Xander answered
"Why there" Kendra inquired hoping tonight she would engage Angelus
"It's closest to the abandoned industrial area so there are lots of factories and other buildings they would be using as a base" Xander explained
"Sounds like a good starting area" Janna agreed before suddenly rushing out of the room
"Is she going to be okay been out there?" Mr Sabuto inquired with a worried frown
"She'll be fine and no offence to either mom or Amy but Janna is our best spell caster" Xander replied "But someone will have to keep close to her, Mr Sabuto I think that should be you if we get into a real combat situation as you can then cover her with your crossbow as she casts" he explained "I'll stick with her if there is no activity" he added
"Who will cover Amy and Sarah as they are casting?" Kendra asked
"Damn" Xander suddenly cursed as he realised they did not have enough people to cover the magic casters
"I have an idea" Janna told them as she returned from the toilet looking slightly better
"Go on?" Mr Sabuto said
"Amy, Sarah and me will all have to be armed with crossbows as well and then we can cover one another as we cast" Janna explained as she sat down and then leaned into Xander who placed his arm around her shoulders
"That will limit our spells though" Amy pointed out
"That will be a price we will have to pay to make sure you guys don't get left on your own" Mr Sabuto told them "If you are on your own you will easily be overrun as you will be busy casting and it takes a few seconds to reload a crossbow" he continued
"We have another hour until full dark so we better get ready, it's a shame we don't have any armour or something that could stop the vamps claws doing to much damage early on" Xander said with a sigh
"There are other organisations out there that do employ a more modern day way of fighting vampires including using firearms and armour" Mr Sabuto informed them
"Can they be contacted?" Xander asked
"The council do not usually like dealing with them especially one particular organisation also based in England as the council is" Mr Sabuto answered
"It aint their lives on the line here Mr Sabuto" Xander shot back "Who would be the best organisation to call who could reach us quickly?" he asked
"You make a valid point" Mr Sabuto conceded "The Vatican has multiple teams engaged all over the world engaging any supernatural forces attacking innocent people" he informed them "It is most likely there are a few teams who could be close by and may be able to reach us in time to be of help" he added
"I'm surprised they don't have a team here anyway" Janna said after a few seconds
"They do not know the location of the hell mouth as the council decided it was best not to have them close to one of our slayers encase they tried to exert influence on the slayers and replace us as their trainers" Mr Sabuto explained
"Sounds like a very heavy situation" Xander mused "But still make a few calls and see if there's a team close by we could do with some back up and having some more people here to keep the hell mouth closed will be a good thing if Buffy continues to be reckless" he continued
"Again you make some good points as you are new to this side of the demon hunting, hopefully the council will see things your way" Mr Sabuto agreed
"It's my call man and if they have a problem with it they can talk to me about it" Xander said heatedly "They can think politics and power all they want but I am thinking about lives and keeping the portal that could allow thousands of demons and vampires to swamp our world shut" he added before standing and walking away as images of Jessie surfaced Janna quickly followed him
"Don't take his tone seriously Mr Sabuto Xander means you no insult, I think he see's your council's views as too narrow in the long run and that it will get more people killed in the here and now and since Jessie was turned forcing him to stake him he takes the deaths much more seriously especially if they could have been prevented" Sarah tried to explain
"That is alright Sarah" Mr Sabuto replied "I agree whole heartedly with your son's view" he continued "The council's leaders are more concerned with power and money than they should be" he added "And refusing to make alliances with the other organisations limit our responses to any series threats and cost us dearly in lives" he finished
"Then maybe its time things changed" Sarah said before standing and walking into another room followed by Amy who had listened to everything in silence as she was still new to everything
Mr Sabuto waited a few minutes before standing and walking over to the phone to begin trying to find if any of the Vatican hunting teams were close at hand whilst Kendra began meditating in preparation of the nights hunt
Lilith and Adrian were both fully geared up for the nights outing and were just waiting for full night to fall, they had already reported in to their father through the radio and he was please with their quick start. They hoped to locate Alexander as quickly as possible as the training they were to give him and his mate would take a long time to learn and they also wanted to make sure nothing happened to Alexander's mate as their father had ordered.
On the other plain Cassandra smiled as she watched her step daughter and son prepare to leave their manor not knowing that tonight would mark the shift of how the darkness was fought. It would also be the first step to reuniting their people under one leader which would stop the civil war that would one day if left to rage cause the extinction of their people.
The meeting that was about to take place would be the start or Alexander's quest and she awaited it with much anticipation.