By David MycockWalking the Path 17/
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.
Jack and the padre sat down at the table indicated by Xander and noticed there were three women and two girls already there, he guessed one of the girls was there watcher's slayer. Mr Sabuto joined the group straight away whilst Xander went to get Lilith and Adrian now that Jack had promised not to cause any problem by trying to attack them, he found them in the next room and quickly told them it was all clear and then headed back to the kitchen followed by the two nosferatu
"Okay let's get started the quicker we have our talk the quicker we can get out there and check out the mouth of hell" Jack said aggressively as he saw the two nosferatu enter the room
"Calm down Jack, rushing things here will get you and your team dead" Xander told the older hunter "The hell mouth is not something to take lightly" he added
"Plus we have a lot to talk about including why we asked you come here" Mr Sabuto spoke up "But first I think introductions are in order" he continued "This is Kendra my slayer" he indicated the African slayer
"I am Father Adam Guiteau" the padre added
"To his left is my mother Sarah" Xander started before Jack cut him off
"You mother, what the hell is she doing here?" Jack asked in surprise
"She's a witch as is Amy and Janna who are next to her" Xander said frowning at Jack's tone of voice
"I see well I guess that just adds some firepower to your group although technically we aint allowed to work with witches" Jack replied with a smile "But I'll use any advantage to take out the enemy" he added as he noticed the kids frown deepen
"Good" Xander said glad that was out of the way "And this is Lilith and Adrian Tepes of the Hellsing organisation" he pointed to the two nosferatu
"I've met him before" Jack said raining in the urge to attack the two vampires as he had promised
"Yeah well keep in where it belongs in the past" Janna told the man she wasn't sure she actually liked too much
"Now the reason we asked you here is somewhat complicated but first have you heard of the scourge of Europe?" Xander asked
"Yes we have extensive records of their activities and the death toll they left behind them" Father Adam finally spoke up looking a little pale as he remembered just how much death the four vampires who made up the scourge had caused
"Well here is the current situation Darla is dead she was staked last year but we are facing the remaining three members Angelus, Drusilla and Spike" Xander informed them
"Where has Angelus been for the last century our records on him seem to stop as if he just disappeared?" Father Adam inquired
"He attacked a gypsy tribe at the turn of the century killing one of their most cherished daughters and so in return my people cursed him with his soul" Janna explained "I was sent here to make sure the curse held but I was unable to stop it from been broken" she added
"How was it broken?" Jack asked intrigued
"He fell in love with the slayer assigned to the hell mouth named Buffy" Xander replied "She returned his affection and eventually they ended up making love and thus gave Angel as he was called a moment of true happiness which broke the curse and unleashed Angelus once more" he added "Since then he hooked up with Spike and Drusilla who were already fighting, however Buffy and her group has refused to do anything to stop Angelus" he finished as he stood and began to pace a little
"Why?" Jack asked now angry at the notion of a slayer not during her duty "And how are there two slayers I always though there was only supposed to be one slayer alive at a time"
"To answer your first question Buffy still loves Angel and is doing everything she can to somehow bring him back and the others including her watcher are allowing her to do this to keep her happy" Janna answered "I was working on retranslating the soul curse and was willing to try and cast it but as I already knew it was too powerful a spell for me to cast and I also discovered it would not just be a risk to me or my soul if I did cast it" she continued
"What does that mean?" Father Adam inquired
"I have just found out recently I am pregnant and so I refused to cast the spell which angered Buffy and her group" Janna answered "One of them believed she could cast the spell even though she has never cast a spell in her life so Alex decided to destroy the disk which contained the translated soul curse" Janna explained "What really brought it home to me was how little Buffy seemed to realise the danger involved in the casting of this spell as she was actually willing to allow Willow to cast the spell" she said with a shake of her head
"Okay now how about you tell how there are two slayers?" Jack asked filing away what he had just learned for later as he didn't like the sounds of it one bit
"Buffy was killed last year facing off against the master the leader of the hell mouth vampires at the time, he drained her little and then dropped her in a pool of water where she drowned" Xander started to explain "I forced Angel to take me to the caves where the master was located and was able to bring her back with cpr but seen as she was dead for a few minutes it was long enough for Kendra to be called" he continued "And I am glad she was as at least we have one slayer who is willing to slay Angelus" he added at the end
"Sounds like one hell of a bad situation" Jack said with a frown
"Tell me about it" Xander said with a shake of his head "We almost got killed last on our last patrol until Lilith and Adrian turned up and saved us, we didn't have the numbers or the right weapons to really do any damage" he told the Vatican hunters
"And so you managed to convince the watcher to contact the Vatican?" Jack asked sounding a little impressed with how Xander managed that task
"Not all watchers agree with how our bosses conduct relations with the other organisations across the world Mr Crow" Mr Sabuto informed them "I hope that after this situation is finished we can try and change how we deal with each other and maybe begin to form an alliance and really pull our resources together and really make some headway in dealing with the darkness we face" he added
"Sounds good but do you actually think we can pull it off?" Father Adam asked with hope that it was possible to stop the arguments that stopped the forces against evil from pulling together
"It is possible Father if enough people pushed for it" Lilith spoke for the first time ignoring the look of hate on Jack Crow's face
"The Hellsing organisation has tried many times to pull together an alliance of forces to combat our many enemies but has failed due to infighting and fear by the leaders of our respective groups" Adrian added
"You mean fear of losing power?" Sarah said "That they wouldn't be in control of their group anymore" she added
"Yes they believe an alliance would mean a loss of power for them selves" Lilith said with a nod
"Which means it's the way an alliance has been proposed which is causing the problem" Janna said thoughtfully
"Enough of this" Jack interrupted annoyed "Can we get down to how we are going to deal with the vampires" he added
"Of course" Mr Sabuto agreed with a nod
"Right how many vamps do you think we are up against?" Jack inquired
"A lot" Xander replied with a frown
"How can you be sure?" Father Adam asked
"The hell mouth attracts more vampires and demons than anywhere else I'm betting and even though we've reduced some of his following as did Lilith and Adrian when they arrived they'll have more due to their reputation alone" he explained as evidence
"How many men do you have in your team?" Sarah asked hoping the Vatican's team would give them an edge
"There's a total of seventeen of us" Jack answered "With a range of weapons including firearms even though they don't have the ability to kill them they do weaken them" he added
"You don't have bullets that kill vampires?" Amy asked surprised
"Not everyone has the same capabilities and weaponry" Adrian pointed out
"Would you be willing to share the ammo for this hunt?" Xander asked carefully knowing he was trading on dangerous ground
"If Mr Crow does not try and keep any for his people to use to reverse engineer for his own side" Lilith replied "When we try and start bringing our organisations together we will begin to discuss exchanging weapons and ammo" she added as the two Vatican hunters frowned
"You got a deal lady" Jack growled "And if we do get to a point where we try and form an alliance believe me you'll have my support and my voice carry's weight with the Vatican teams" he added
"Thanks Jack, okay lets start planning our hunt" Kendra said having listened carefully to everything that had been said so far learning everything she could for the future
On the other plain Cassandra and the tall man watched with pleased expressions as the first meeting went well, Xander had already gained the trust of Lilith and Adrian and was during well so far in his dealings with Jack Crow.
"Excellent he shows much promise for the future" the tall man said with a smile
"Indeed my lord he has even gained Vlad's approval as my husband has decided to talk to Alexander mind to mind throughout his quest" Cassandra added
"It says a lot about his character" the tall man told her "You may visit him for half an hour in his dream tonight as promised but remember no matter how much you wish to you cannot tell him of what is to come" he added
"I know my lord and thank you I will not abuse your trust" Cassandra replied frilled with what she was about to be able to do
Angelus watched as his followers began to gather for the nights attack, he knew Harris and his group would not be able to resist coming out to patrol in the hopes of killing him and so he had decided he was going to just go for overwhelming force against them, it may not be a very imaginative way of killing them but it was the quickest way of doing it and he wanted to get back to tormenting Buffy before he finally turned her.
He was even counting on the extra numbers including Drusilla and Spike who was now walking around again much to his annoyance to be able to deal with the two strangers who had turned up. He smiled in anticipation of the fight to come
Cassandra shook her head at the arrogance of the vampire Angelus; he truly believed his pitiful plan would succeed in killing Alexander and his group. He was not taking into account that any new factors could turn up like it had the night before, it was clear to her his imprisonment inside his souled self had not done Angelus any favours.
The vampire had no idea what was in store for him and his followers that night, with the combined force that Alexander had called together there would be no stopping them from destroying the remaining members of the scourge of Europe and afterwards he would be able to finally begin his quest.
"Okay so we are agreed, all of us will go on the hunt tonight" Jack said as stood "Full weapons and whatever armour we can use" he added
"We'll all be armed with the same ammo for any fire arms we use provided by Lilith and Adrian" Xander added as they replayed the plans they had made
"The formation we use tonight will ensure we won't be caught out by any attacks from behind as thanks to team Crow we have the numbers now to split up" Mr Sabuto put in
"We won't be far away from each other the second team will just be ghosting the first one, if they try and overwhelm us then we will charge in catching them by surprise as Angelus and his followers have no idea we have gotten some reinforcements except for Lilith and Adrian" Janna continued the flow of the conversation
"I think there is one more thing we should do before tonight" Xander said after a few minutes deep thought
Janna looked at her lover and seemed to understand what was going through his mind, she admired his hopeful optimism but she didn't believe for an instant it would work and so decided to head him
"Alex they will not help us you know that" she told him before anyone else could say anything "Buffy will not now or ever kill Angelus and the others will not help us without her say so" she continued "Just let them go they have chosen their path and we have chosen ours" she finished
Xander looked at her long and hard for a few minutes as a war raged inside of his heart. He knew Janna was right and yet a very small part of him was clinging to the past friendship he once had with Buffy and others.
He closed his eyes and finally decided now was the time to cut those bonds as they were no longer important in the eyes of Buffy and the others as far as they were concerned and so they shouldn't mean anything to him either as he had other priorities top of which was the beautiful woman who was currently watching him in concern.
He opened his eyes to look at her and gave her a small smile
"You're right Janna, they chose their path and we have chosen ours" he repeated what she had just told him "They won't help us not now" he added
"Are you sure of that a hundred percent?" Jack asked not quite believe a slayer could turn her back on her calling so easily all for a vampire
"You don't know Buffy Summers Jack, from everything Alex and Janna have told me she'll cling to Angel for as long as he is alive" Sarah informed him
"How is that possible?" Father Adam asked concerned "How can a slayer fall so far?" he asked a second later
"Miss Summers was never raised from birth by the council as every other slayer has been since the council was formed" Mr Sabuto explained "She grew up as a normal teenager before she was located by Merrik her first watcher and whilst she proved a good slayer whilst he was alive his death effected her badly" he continued "When she was forced out of L.A she decided according to Mr Giles's report that she was no longer going to continue to be the slayer however things did not go according to her plans but still the fact is she was never a conventural slayer" he finished
"Plus Giles never really tried to exert his control over her and was quite happy to allow her to lead something which she has come to rely on" Xander added
"Which opened the way for her to have a relationship with a vampire correct?" Lilith inquired
"Exactly" Xander agreed "Giles was originally against it but he quickly came to except it most likely to make up for the guilt he felt in how Buffy died last year" he added
"That's messed up" Jack told them with a disgusted look on his face "How can any human have sex with a corpse?" he asked
"I think she forgot he was a vampire and saw him more as a human than a vampire" Janna said thoughtfully
"Sick" Jack mumbled in response to which the others all nodded in agreement
"Okay let's get ready for tonight" Adrian said after a few seconds silence
"We'll be back at night fall after we fill the team in on what's going on and don't worry kid I'll guarantee they won't attack those two" Jack told them as he and Father Adam left the manor
"I will prepare the ammo we will need for tonight" Adrian said before heading for the armoury
"Alexander we have four hours before night falls lets us begin yours and Janna's training in ancient magic" Lilith said as she stood whilst Xander and Janna shared a quick look before nodding and following her out leaving the others to sit and talk about the upcoming fight
Cassandra and the tall man watched as Alexander and Janna began the most important part of their training learning to control the ancient magic of the gypsies
"Everything is now in place for tonight's fight" the tall man said with a smile of anticipation
"I still say you place too much faith in the boy" the short man replied as he returned
"You have already been warned Tanith" the tall man replied glaring at the power that be's represenitive
"Sorry my lord" Tanith responded not liking how things in Sunnydale were changing as well as the fact that Alexander and his group were now outside of the powers control
"Why have you returned?" Cassandra asked
"I asked him here to see if Alexander his group would indeed pass this test as we believe he will" the tall man told her "I think the powers need to see what we see in them so they can stop worrying so much" he added with a warning look at Tanith who paled at the implications he saw in that look
"As you wish my lord" Cassandra said even if she didn't like it one bit as she did not trust the powers that be very much especially Tanith
"Now before they begin their test begins we should discuss what will happen in Sunnydale once Alexander and his group leave" the tall man told them both
The two beings with him both bowed at his command and waited for him to speak again about how things would progress from here
"The second slayer Kendra and her watcher will remain on the hell mouth as well as a Vatican team who will arrive in two weeks time" the tall man told them both
"Why not keep Jack Crow and his group on the hell mouth?" Tanith asked hoping to land control of the best of the Vatican teams
"Jack Crow's destiny is not to guard the hell mouth but to follow his own path which will intercept with Alexander's at different points along the way" the tall man answered noticing the frown his answer caused to appear on Tanith's face
"Lilith and Adrian will remain with Alexander and his group until the end, their destines are now tired together due to Vlad's orders" the tall man continued "All of them are out the powers control is that understood Tanith?" the tall man asked in a dangerous tone
"Yes my lord" Tanith replied hating the decree instantly but knowing he could do nothing but obey it as he was sworn to do
"Now lets us watch how events unfold" the tall man said after observing Tanith for a few minutes whilst Cassandra frowned at the look on Tanith's face which made her distrust of the powers deepen