Knights of the Intrepid
Disclaimer: Don't own anything you recognize.
§◙§
The United Kingdom; London, England; Watchers' Council Headquarters; September 27th, 2016:"Come on, Jess," Xander called his dog to him, and the hound quickly made his way to his master's side, trotting along with him as he walked along the Council halls.
He had debriefed several Watchers and Slayers on what had occurred, with the Slayers completely disbelieving him about what happened with the Slayers (it was obvious that they believed that he had simply murdered two Slayers, despite what he said), and now he was on his way to the Head Slayer's office to debrief her on what had happened.
He hoped that his old friend would be understanding…though, he doubted it.
He knocked on the door quietly, knowing that she would hear him anyway.
"Come in, Xander," he heard her call out, "And leave the dog outside."
Xander scowled slightly, knowing that Jesse would like it even less than he did, but, he needed to speak with her, so, he decided to do as she wished.
"Hey, boy," he squatted down and rubbed Jesse's neck tenderly, "Why don't you go visit Andrew, huh? You remember Andrew, don't you?"
Jesse barked, confirming that he did remember Andrew.
"Go play with Andrew, alright," he said to him, "I'll be back in a little while."
Jesse whined a little bit, not liking the idea of leaving Xander alone.
"Please, Jess," he pleaded, "I'll be back in a bit."
Understanding that Xander would be alright, Jesse turned and headed back down the hallway, remembering where Andrew would be. Xander smiled and stood up, knowing that Jesse would be alright with Andrew.
"Come in," Buffy called out, and Xander turned around and entered her office.
"Xander," she stood up, dressed in one of her fancy designer outfits that her salary could afford so easily, and motioned for him to sit down in one of the leather seats nearby, "How are you?"
"…Been better," he responded with a sigh.
"What happened, Xander," Buffy got straight to the point, her gaze intent though, he could tell that she had a pretty good idea of where this would end.
He went through the story once more, including every detail that he could think of to try and convince her of the fact that he had defended himself and not coldly and needlessly killed two Slayers, as was the main viewpoint for most Slayers.
As he finished, he could tell from her look that she hadn't liked what she heard.
"You were attacked by two Slayers," Buffy started, "And, in return, you blew off one of their arms and fed the other to your dog?"
"The one whose arm I blew off was armed with a knife," Xander reaffirmed, "The other was killed by Jesse in his wolfish state, and she wouldn't have been killed if she hadn't been in my room to kill me in the first place."
"They could have been underneath a spell of some kind, did you think of that," Buffy asked.
"I was more focused on keeping myself alive," Xander responded.
"…If it were two Watchers or two mages, things would be different," Buffy stated with a sigh.
"I figured that out already," Xander remarked.
"You know the vampire number has increased over the years at an alarming rate," he nodded, he was all-too familiar with that fact, "Slayers are needed now more than ever, much more so than Watchers or mages. If it had been two Watchers or two mages, we wouldn't be having this conversation, but…Xander, I'm placing you under arrest."
"What," he demanded, completely thrown off by this turn of events, "Why? I defended myself! I shouldn't be detained for defending my life."
"And subsequently ending the lives of two Slayers," she responded, "We need Slayers more than we need you, Xander. Slayers make this world work, and you took two of them away. For that, I have to place you under arrest."
"Even though they were trying to kill me," he was astounded, "I get punished for trying to stay alive."
"No, you get punished for killing two Slayers," she raged at him, "If you had died, they would have received disciplinary action but, would not have been locked away. You, on the other hand, will be."
"This is unfair, Summers," he stood up quickly, and she came to her feet right along with him, "To hold your Slayers above the rules you have set up in the past is completely unfair, and unlawful."
"It doesn't matter what you think, Xander," Buffy yelled, "You are going to jail for this!"
"I'm out of here," he responded and, as he turned away, Buffy grabbed his shoulder and pushed him into the nearby wall, his head hitting the brick…hard. He slipped down along the wall and passed out, blood spilling from the gash.
"…Lydia," Buffy spoke into the intercom, "Have two Slayers come and take Mr. Harris down to the dungeons. And make sure there're two guards waiting for him."
"Yes, Ma'am," the Slayer on the other side said with an eerie calmness in her voice.
§◙§
The Country of Tanzania; a former British Army fort constructed during World War II; September 28th, 2016:
Amy walked into the apartment complex with a sigh. She had just been given word that Xander was being detained by the Council due to his killing two Slayers and his assaulting Buffy Summers, and she didn't like it one bit. She doubted that Xander, despite his dislike for his former friend, would attack her, even if she got him riled up. Amy knew Xander had better sense than to do that.
As Amy approached Vi's room, she could hear a noise from the room. She walked carefully, trying to pinpoint what that noise was.
It was a moan, followed by a roar that she knew too well.
Pulling out a stake as she moved, Amy opened Vi's door quickly, and charged in, ready to save the young Slayer from the vampire that had her in its clutches.
"Do you mind," only to come to a stop as she saw a disgusting sight.
Vi was on her bed, naked, with her back facing the sky. On top of her was a robust, male vampire, his game-face on in full length. There was blood on his mouth, blood that had come from Vi's shoulder, apparently. He, too, was naked. It was obvious what they had been doing.
"What the Hell do you think you're doing," Amy yelled at her, her eyes going slightly dark as she did so.
"Getting laid by a hot vamp," Vi said with a glare as she pushed the vampire off of her, "What do you think you're doing, interrupting my fun?"
"Stopping you from making a big mistake, that's what," Amy snarled, "You know what happened with Buffy. Why would you even think about letting a vampire do that to you."
"Because, it felt good," Vi said, and she leered at her, "You should try it."
"No, I don't have necrophilia, thank you very much," Amy snarled at the Slayer, her magic and anger growing by the second.
"Oh, well," Vi said and, before Amy could even mutter a spell, she had covered the space between the two and was holding Amy against the wall by her neck, "Guess we'll just have to change that."
"Let go of me," Amy tried to build up power to release herself, but, found that she couldn't do it. Something was stopping her.
"Roger," Vi called out to the vampire, "Bring the necklace. She'll be the first."
The vampire in question smiled evilly at Amy and reached into his clothing, which was lying in a pile along the bedside floor, and withdrew an ancient looking necklace with a single green gem in the center.
Amy struggled as the vampire placed the necklace around her throat, knowing it was useless with Vi's grip around her, but, doing so anyway to know that she'd fought whatever they were going to do to her.
"Atistrata," Vi said smugly and, as Amy stood there, a white essence escaped her body, causing her to gasp in pain and collapse to the ground. She writhed around for a second, trying to gain some control over the pain but, found that she simply could not.
Vi and Roger watched her as they dressed, smiling at their handiwork as the witch lost her will. After several minutes, the writhing came to an end and Amy just lay on the floor, her eyes dead of any semblance of life.
"Stand," Vi ordered and, like that, Amy came to her feet, her eyes watching the two with a look of quiet expectation. She was waiting for more orders.
"Go and gather the Watchers and mages in the amphitheater," Vi commanded, "Tell them that their Slayers have gifts for them all for their great services to us."
Amy nodded her head dully and set off to accomplish her task.
