By David MycockWalking the Path 14/
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 laid Janna down on the couch where she could rest, it was clear to him and the others that she had drained herself keeping the shield up for so long and she needed rest. She gave him a small smile as stretched out before pulling Xander down next to her whilst the others took seats around the massive living room of the stranger's mansion.
So far they had said nothing else about who they were or why they had claimed they were there to help them, none of them had placed their weapons far from reach which seemed to amuse them more than anything else
"Okay so why don't you start by telling us who and what you are?" Xander started as he clasped Janna's hand who was watching with tired eyes but he knew she wanted to hear the answers as much of the others did
"My name is Lilith Tepes and this is my brother Adrian and as you no doubt can gather we are vampires" Lilith responded decided that to gain Alexander's trust they had to be honest "But we are no demonic vampire as you are used to we are nosferatu" she added as she noticed the glare Kendra sent her
"What does that mean?" Amy asked
"It means we are true vampires born of the same line as the no life king himself" Lilith answered
"Tepes?" Sarah asked surprised
"As in the children of Vlad Tepes more commonly known as Dracula?" Xander added a beat later
"That is correct" Adrian replied
"We should leave" Mr Sabuto spoke quickly
"No we shouldn't" Xander objected "We need to know why they are here, as they haven't attacked us we should give them the benefit of the doubt here" he added
Mr Sabuto looked to Kendra who looked unconvinced but after a look at the others in the room she nodded her head in agreement with Xander causing her watcher to sigh
"How did you find us?" Janna asked fighting off a yawn
"Father's probe located you as soon as Alexander activated the runes of the sword" Lilith answered "He was surprised that you activated it so soon, it showed you have a lot of strength within you Alex" she added
"So it was him who got inside my head?" Xander mused ignoring the confused looks of Kendra and Mr Sabuto who did not know anything about the sword or the events leading up to and after his discovery of his Romany heritage
"It was" Lilith agreed "He is linked to the sword since he was the one who created it and imbued it with magic" she informed them "When he realised the sword was active again the fact that you could activate a lot of it's power he decided to send us to help train you" she continued
"Train me why?" Xander asked looking at Janna who also looked slightly confused
"The sword is not imbued with ordinary magic Alexander but the ancient magic of the Romany people" Lilith responded "The ancient magic is more powerful than anything currently wielded by any witch alive today, someone who is not trained to handle that kind of power could do a lot of damage to those he is trying to protect" she warned him
Xander's face turned slightly pale as this information was given to him, Janna too looked uneasy as she realised that the legends of her people did not hold all of the information they should
"May I ask exactly what it is you are discussing?" Mr Sabuto asked as a silence settled over the room
"My sword the one I got from Janna's house is an ancient relic of our people" Xander began
"Our people?" Kendra prodded
"I have discovered lately that I am Romany on my father's side and because of that I can use the sword which can only be used by Romany and is imbued with magic" he informed them
"Why did you keep this information to yourself Xander?" Kendra asked looking a little let down by Xander's reluctance to share this information as she had come to understand that was what friends did
"I was still coming to terms with everything when things came to a head and I called you, it had nothing to do with not trusting you Kendra" Xander answered and although the others could hear him they could tell he was specifically talking to the African slayer "With everything that's happened lately I decided to just concentrate on dealing with Angelus" he added
"You cannot run from who you are Alexander" Lilith interjected
"What do you mean?" Amy asked worried for her friend
"Alexander is about to embark on a quest to locate our father in the hopes he will help him do something in the future" Adrian answered "This quest will be long and difficult, but from it Alexander and those who travel with him will learn much about themselves and what drives them in life" he continued "Whilst he has only just discovered his Romany heritage it has always been there inside him and now he has to learn to come to terms with it" he finished
"I have no problem excepting my true origins" Xander stated "But the danger that comes with that fact is what concerns me and how it could bring harm to those I love" he added "I wish to locate your father as he is the only one who can stop the civil war which has torn the Romany nation apart" continued "I will have to return to the Lavelle tribe which I am apart of to kill the man who deposed my grandfather and may have had my father killed to protect mine and Janna's child but even if I succeed in this we will still have to deal with the other tribes and other people who desire to have power so by finding your father I hope to put an end to all of this suffering and the threat it poses to our child and the other future generations of our people" he finished
Silence met this information as everyone digested what Xander had said, Lilith and Adrian both smiled as they realised that their father had been right in the fact that Alexander was a good person and would be a good ally worthy of been trained by them. Janna, Amy and Sarah already knew all this so were not to surprised by Xander's story but Kendra and Mr Sabuto looked shocked at what awaited Xander after they had dealt with Angelus
"The training you will receive from us will help you in your quest Alexander" Lilith told him
"Why have a quest at all, why not tell us where your father is right now?" Sarah asked unsure why the others hadn't realised that with the arrival of the children of Vlad Tepes why not have them lead them to him
"It won't work like that Sarah" Janna answered before either Lilith or Adrian could "We can't just be told where he is, we have to prove worthy of the right find him" she added to which Xander nodded his head agreeing with her statement
"That is true, father will not be found unless by the right people" Lilith explained with a smile as she recalled that her father had ordered her to delay them until they were prepared for finally locating him
"I take it by the fact that Vlad has sent you here he believes we may be the right people?" Janna inquired
"He does" Lilith answered "And father does not go by Vlad or Dracula any more he is known as Alucard" she explained "We all work for the Hellsing organisation" she added
"What is that?" Sarah asked not recognising the name
"It is one of the many organisations I mentioned before our hunt that like the watcher's council fights the terrors of evil" Mr Sabuto answered easily recognising the name of the organisation
"How does a vampire come to serve an organisation that destroys creatures like himself?" Kendra asked with a frown not understanding how such a thing was possible
"That is a long story but the fact it our father serves the Hellsing family which currently is headed by Sir Integra Hellsing" Lilith replied deciding that they didn't have time to go into that story right now
"We'll come back to that one" Xander said as another factor of the nights events came back to him "How did your bullets kill those demonic vampires?" he asked
"Another thing we will teach you and your mate" Adrian answered
"Why just me?" Janna asked blushing at the term Adrian had used to describe her
"You will be very important to keeping Alexander on the right path through his training as will your child when it is born, keeping you safe will require you are also trained to be as good as your mate" Lilith explained
"I'd agree with that statement" Xander said with a smile "But I would ask that Amy and my mom be trained up a bit as well?" he asked hesitantly "They will be coming with me on my quest" he added
"Very well but they will not be trained as much as you or your mate" Lilith said after a moments contemplation
"Thank you" Xander smiled at their agreement of his favour
"Xander do you really think they can be trusted?" Kendra asked ignoring her instincts which were screaming for her to attack
"I believe so Kendra, and if Mr Sabuto was able to get a hold of one of the Vatican teams I think we'll be able to match Angelus's numbers advantage" Xander replied with a grin at how this would help them deal with Angelus
"I was able to contact someone from the Vatican and after explain the situation including the fact that I was willing to give them the location of the hell mouth they have agreed to send their best team to help us" Mr Sabuto answered pleased that the Vatican had listened to him
"The best team the Vatican have is team Crow" Adrian put in having come across them during his travels before he had joined his father at the Hellsing organisation
"Cool name" Xander said "Who leads them?" he asked
"His name is Jack Crow, his parents were attacked and turned by demonic vampires forcing him to kill them when he was only a kid" Adrian replied "He was raised by the Vatican to become their master slayer against the darkness and whilst his manners leave much to be desired he is the best at what he does" he added
"Trust level?" Xander asked wanting information on a new potential ally
"He has a more laid back attitude when it comes to other supernatural elements such as witches than the Vatican itself but he is loyal to the cause" Mr Sabuto answered
"Then we will wait for them to arrive before going after Angelus again" Xander said as he noticed Janna had finally succumbed to sleep "And before you object Kendra remember he has more numbers right now due to the fact that Buffy and the others won't help us and that almost got us killed tonight" he told the others as he noticed Kendra frown at him but she nodded her head as he gave his reasoning for holding off on another hunt
"A good plan" Lilith said with a smile glad to see that Alexander appeared to be quite bright as well as brave
"I think we'd better call it a night, we are all tired" Sarah spoke as she glanced at Amy and noticed the witch was fighting to stay awake whilst Janna had already fallen asleep against her son
"I agree, you may all take rooms here as it is too dangerous for you to leave now that Angelus will have had time to call on more of his followers including his two childes" Lilith said with a nod
"Thanks" Xander said standing "We'll continue this tomorrow if that's okay" he added
"Agreed we still have much to explain and agree on" Adrian answered
Xander picked Janna up gently and followed Lilith as she led them upstairs to their guest rooms followed by the others although Kendra and Mr Sabuto did not look sure of the arrangements for the night but seemed resigned to the fact they had little choice but to agree as they too believe Angelus would have gathered a lot more of his followers than they could handle
Adrian watched their leave and smiled glad their first talk had gone so well especially with a slayer in the same room as them and fighting the instinct to attack them, he believed that was down the fact that she trusted Alexander to know if they posed a threat to them.
He looked out of the window and wondered how things would turn out now that things had been set in motion
Angelus almost killed the lackey next to him as he realised Harris and his friends would not be returning to their houses tonight.
After the strangers had turned up and killed most of his minions he had gone back to the factory to get more of his followers believing more bodies would give him the advantage again, but it was clear he was not going to be able to kill them tonight and so decided to head back and think over this new turn of events.
He would have to find out who these strangers were and how they managed to kill so many of his followers, he guessed they were death's children as Drusilla had called them but he hoped they would be not be as helpful as Drusilla had hinted they would be. He hated his plans be ruined by unexpected events such as this and so he decided to rip the near by lackey apart after all to remove some of his anger and frustration
On the other plain Cassandra smiled as she watched the meeting between Alexander and her son and step daughter, she was glad things were going smoothly between them as that would help build bridges with those who would be of the greatest help on his quest
"It is a good start" the tall man said as he appeared next to her
"Yes it is" she replied "But how he handles trying to gain the trust of Jack Crow and building the first bridges between the Vatican, the council and the Hellsing organisation will truly show if it is a good start to his quest" she added
"Agreed" the tall man nodded "If he does well I will allow you to talk to him for a few minutes in his dreams but be warned you can not tell anything that is to come is that understood?" he told her
"Yes my lord" she answered with a bow "And thank you" she added almost having to fight the urge to dance at the thought of been able to talk to Alexander at last