By David MycockWalking the Path 15/
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 found sleep hard to come that night as the events that had happened that night ran through his mind, they had come so very close to death during the fight and he found himself at fault for underestimating Angelus. He should have realised that Angelus would bring his followers along and that they may have been more of them than they could handle. He slowly got up moving himself out of Janna's embrace without waking her, he rubbed his eyes as he replayed the fight again and could only come up with one thought and that was Buffy's and the council's way of hunting vampires was ineffective and stupid and it had to be changed and replaced by actual tactics that would not only succeed in completing their objective but also make sure they survived.
He stood and quietly dressed before exiting the room and heading towards the nearby tower which Adrian had pointed out as they headed to the guest rooms, he needed some air and to try and clear his head. As he came out onto the tower he noticed someone else was already there looking out across the darkened grounds of the manor they were currently in, the figure turned revealing it to be Lilith dressed in a black silk gown but showing no effect from the wind which was currently blowing.
"Trouble sleeping Alexander?" she asked with a smile
"Yes" Xander answered slightly uneasy at the woman's appearance "If I'm disturbing you I can go" he offered
"No that is okay" Lilith replied turning back to the grounds "So what is disturbing you?" she inquired
"What happened tonight, the fact that we used such stupid tactics to try and kill Angelus" Xander answered as he leaned against the tower "I should of realised that using Buffy's tactics wouldn't be very useful against Angelus he knows how we work too well" he added "I guess I have further to go than I thought" he sighed
"That is true Alexander" Lilith told him facing him again "You do have far to go and this is just the beginning of the changes you must go through if you are ever to be ready to find father" she informed him looking him straight in the eye "You must not fear change even if it is painful to learn from it, it is just apart of life we all must go through" she finished
"I know" Xander agreed "I guess I just have to except I'm not going to be able to learn what I need to without going through some mistakes along the way am I?" he asked with a strained smile as he hoped none of those mistakes would get someone he cared for killed
Lilith watched him for a few seconds with a look which gave him the feeling she knew exactly what he had just thought finally she spoke again
"You need rest Alexander it will do you no good tomorrow to be suffering from exsurstion when we begin your training" she told him with a half smile
"You're right good night Lilith and thanks for saving our lives" he told her in reply with a smile in return before leaving the tower
Lilith watched him leave glad to see that he was as indeed bright as he had begun to seem to her, she turned back to the grounds and wondered how things were going back at Hellsing manor.
Janna woke to find Xander missing from their room but before she could get up to try and locate him the door opened and Xander entered looking pensive but determined, she watched as he undressed and got into bed pulling her into an embrace
"What's wrong Alex, where did you go?" she asked
"I needed some air" he replied kissing her forehead "I had a lot of think about after everything that happened tonight" he added "I bumped into Lilith on the tower and she helped me put my thoughts into order" he continued
"Thoughts like what?" Janna inquired ignoring the part about meeting the female child of Dracula for the time being as she trusted Alex not to betray her as Giles had
"About how stupid we were to use the same tactics as Buffy uses" Xander sighed in reply "Angelus knows as we hunt from his memories of being Angel, so he'd know what kind of formations we use, the weapons and usually how many of us are out during the patrol" he informed her "I should of realised that we should of changed all of that before we went out but I allowed myself to get carried away with the thought of destroying Angelus to think clearly" he added
"Alex you can't foresee everything" Janna cautioned him "I think we all got carried away with the idea of finally destroying Angelus that we didn't think things through but we are alive to correct that mistake" she added
"We are alive once again by luck" Xander said with a grimace "It was pure luck that Lilith and Adrian arrived when they did and if they hadn't we'd be dead" he continued his voice tight with the fear of loosing Janna and the others
"Or maybe it was fate" Janna shot back "There are things greater than anything we can imagine in this world Alex and fate is one of those things" she tried to make him understand "You have to put the past behind you and just concentrate on the future" she said kissing him deeply
'She is right young one' a mental voice echoed inside his head causing Xander to jerk in surprise
'How in the hell' Xander thought without realising he was projecting his thoughts back to whoever had spoken to him
'No need to shout Alexander I am not deaf' the voice spoke in an amused tone
"Alex what's wrong?" Janna asked concerned by his silence
"There's a voice in my head" Xander told her confused how such a thing was possible before remembering that he actually lived on a magical portal to hell
'I am not just a voice Alexander' the voice spoke again whilst Janna had a surprised look on her face
'Who are you?' Xander asked
'Can't you guess?' the voice asked amused once again
'Vlad?' Xander thought as Janna tried to come up with a response
'If that is how you choose to think of me yes' the voice answered 'If you are wondering how I am reaching you with my thoughts that should already be clear to you' the voice added
'The runes?' Xander asked
'Well done' the voice said 'I may believe that you and your friends are not ready to find me yet but that does not mean we cannot talk' he continued
"Who's voice is it Alex?" Janna asked finally finding her voice
"It's Vlad" Xander whispered 'What do you want' he thought at the same time
'In time young one in time' Vlad's voice answered before fading away
"How did he manage that?" Janna asked
"It's something to do with the runes" Xander replied "He said that even though we can't find him yet that didn't mean he couldn't talk to us or at least me" he added still trying to understand what had just happened
"I Guess that answers any questions that Kendra or Mr Sabuto might ask about Lilith or Adrian's intentions or if they are who they say they are" Janna said
"Agreed" Xander said with a nod "This is getting complicating" he sighed as he pulled Janna down and this time began to drift of to sleep and Janna soon followed
In England Alucard smiled as his little experiment worked, he had not been so sure he would be able to use the runes to open a telepathic link to the actual bearer of the sword.
It was not something he had tried before but considering what he believed the young man was capable of one day accomplishing he had decided to try it and make sure to keep an eye on him as he went through his trials
Adrian wondered through the basement of the manor to where he had begun to set up a target range where he would begin to train Alexander and his friends in the use of their weapons and how to create the ammo which actually dusted demonic vampires something he knew was new to Alexander and his group.
He was looking forward to seeing what the young man was capable of after what his father had told him about him, he looked up as Lilith entered wearing her black sleeping gown
"How are things coming?" she asked
"The range is set up and I have a way of explaining how our ammo is created" Adrian answered glad he and his sister had come so that they could talk so easily
"Excellent, father's mind has been inside the house just now" Lilith told him surprising her brother
"Really, how do you know?" he asked the surprise leaving his voice
"My training in the magical arts exceeds yours Adrian that is why he has asked me to train Alexander in that area, father was using ancient magic to contact Alexander" Lilith explained
"Why would he do that after he gave us orders to delay them locating him?" her brother asked confused
"If I know father he is trying to gain more information on Alexander whilst keeping an eye on him" Lilith responded "I really do believe he expects great things from Alexander and I tend to agree after the conversation I just had with him" she continued "He is smarter than he first appears and his main concern is protecting those closest to him" she added
"I agree, he is willing to except help even if he is not completely sure he trusts us yet" Adrian nodded "He is also not obverse to taking control of the group when needed and somehow getting them to function on the same wave length" he continued
"Then his training should go smoothly" Lilith said with a smile
Jack Crow shook his head as he drove to where his superior had told him was the location of the long sought hell mouth, he was somewhat sceptical that anyone from the council would suddenly tell them where the portal was but he was willing to check it out just encase the guy was series.
"Hey Jack how long before we reach Sunnydale?" Father Adam Guiteau asked from beside him
"Another couple of hours yet padre" Jack replied as he checked his rear mirror to see the other van following them which contained his newly built team
Jack was still recovering from the events which had pitted him against the vampire Valik and brought about the destruction of his first team including his best friend who had been turned into a vampire forcing him and the padre to hunt him and his girl down and slay them.
After making sure the black cross was safely hidden by the highest ranks of the Vatican order he and Father Adam had been ordered to rebuild team Crow. They had only been back in the game for a few months and while Jack did not believe his new team were up to the standards of his old crew they were some of the best hunters he had seen, he was looking forward to testing their combined abilities against the dangers of the hell mouth
"So what first when we arrive?" the padre asked
"We found the council guy Sam Sabuto and some independent hunter he's working with called Alexander Harris and from there we get a detailed threat analysis of the hell mouth for the bosses and then we do some hunting" Jack said as he lit a cigar
"Sounds like it should be quite an adventure" father Adam said as he laid back against his seat and tried to fall asleep whilst Jack smirked at the idea of the challenge Sunnydale would bring