Chapter 12.
A/N: Due to the road trip, SG-1 is about a week ahead of Sunnydale right now. This chapter will catch Sunnydale up a bit.
Please review! Compliments make me write faster; criticisms make me write better.
If you've never tried to sell something on the black market, you really don't know just how difficult it can be. Especially your first time. You see the black market, even more so than the open market, is based on trust. Trust that the deal is legitimate and trust that your buyer/seller isn't working for the police or going to rob or kill you. Thus, when a 17 year old kid walked up to one of the few nefarious humans in Sunnydale, they were less than enthused about doing business with him. Even the evil denizens of Sunnyhell wouldn't give him the time of day. Most weren't interested and others recognized him as a friend of the Slayer and then they really weren't interested. He finally found a buyer willing to give him $500 bucks for the gun and Xander was quite happy. Until the demon took off without taking the gun or giving him the money.
"Hey Xander, what's up?" Buffy asked from behind him.
Xander turned and tucked the gun in the back of his waistband making sure than Buffy never caught a glimpse of the weapon. "Buffy. That was horrible timing."
"You missed school today. And were you talking to a demon?" the Slayer asked.
Xander sighed. "Yes on both counts. I've been trying to get some info on this NID base. I finally found a demon that wasn't scared of talking to me and then you show up." It was half true. He had been asking about the base as well.
Buffy shrugged. "You try Willie yet?"
"You can only squeeze a snitch so many times before it pops. Kinda like a zit." Xander joked.
"Eww. Gross. Thanks for that imagery Xan. Now, the next time I have him in a head lock, I'm going to be worried about popping his head and getting oil on my clothes." Buffy complained with a smirk.
Xander smirked back. "You done patrolling for the night? If you don't mind giving Willie a squeeze, I'll go train with Angel."
"You sure you're up for that?" Buffy looked a little worried.
"Yeah, I needed a day off after that first night, but I had it and I slept a bit today too. I'm good to go." he assured her.
"Okay, just be careful." Buffy ordered.
"Are you sure you're okay? Cause otherwise, you're getting worse." Angel made a face.
Xander made a face back. Overall, he was getting worse. He was getting better at doing the moves consciously, but he was finding tapping into Carter's memories harder and less reliable than just two nights ago. "Actually, I'm getting better. The soldier memories I had are fading though."
Angel tried to make another face, but he hadn't let the last one go. "You mean I was fighting the memories of a soldier the other night? Well whoever he was. He was pretty good."
"She is pretty good. She kicked your ass a couple times." Xander smirked.
Angel took a breath and readied a finger to make a point, but the point never came. Even when a normal human would have been gasping for air, Angel just stood there with his mouth open and his finger pointed at the ceiling in a strange parody of a televangelist paused on a TV screen. Finally he put his finger down. "You're right. Her moves are better than Buffy's. With those moves and Buffy's strength and speed... you'd be unstoppable."
Xander was surprised at the compliment but shook his head. "Doubt that. Guns tend to work fairly well on the living. Super powers or no."
They fell into their stances and commenced fighting again.
"What about... weapons training?" Angel asked between blows.
"With what weapons?" Xander countered verbally and physically.
"I have... some quarter... staffs." Angel dodged a punch and a sweep attempt.
"Sure." Xander answered, landing a side kick.
Angel rolled to his feet, when Xander didn't follow up he went for the staffs. Grabbing two, he walked back toward Xander. Instead of throwing him one though, he started attacking with both staffs.
Xander jumped back, "Don't I get one?"
"I don't know. Do you?" Angel smirked.
Xander ducked and weaved around the room as Angel swung the staffs. He soon got inside Angel's guard. He gave the vampire two good body blows before grabbing an arm and performing a Judo throw. But instead of releasing after, he hung on to the arm and twisted; planting a foot on Angel's shoulder so the vampire couldn't spin out of the arm lock.
"Give!" Angel cried.
Xander stopped twisting, but didn't let go. Instead he took the staff that was still in the hand he was twisting. Then he released and stepped back. They were both smirking now. As they fell into staff combat, Xander found that he was able to rely on the memories of Captain Carter more in this type of combat than he currently was in hand to hand. And her memories of staff training and his own and hers in hand to hand and he soon swept Angel off his feet and had the tip of his staff aimed at Angel's chest.
"Not bad." Angel conceded.
"Got any other weapons?" Xander asked.
"I've got some swords." Angel shrugged. "I'll give you a blunted metal one and I'll use a wooden one. We should be pretty safe that way."
Xander didn't do nearly as well with the swords. He had no memories to fall back on and was pretty much making it up as he went. He took a pretty good beating until he finally he had to swallow his pride and ask Angel to show him how to sword fight.
Angel smirked as he won the battle of wills, but did show Xander how to fight with a sword. By the end of the night, Xander knew at least the basic blocks, thrusts, and cuts. He also had a healthy collection of bruises. But at least nothing was broken.
With his parental units safely passed out in the living room, Xander was able to have another large dinner. The next morning after a large breakfast, he left for school carrying all his weapons. He reached the library before anyone else, he put his weapons in a corner behind his backpack and sat down to read.
Giles was in about 20 minutes later. "Ah, Xander. Good to see you again. We were a bit worried when you didn't show up yesterday."
"I had some other stuff to take care of. Plus SG-1 was already scouting this place out. I figured it was wise to stay away until they had left." Xander explained.
Giles scratched his temple. "Yes, they did stop by. Apparently you made a strong enough impression on them that they agreed to take Buffy out of their reports for now." Xander breathed a sigh of relief before Giles went on, "However, I fear that this will only buy us time in dealing with this issue."
"Time is good." Xander said. "It will give us time to research and if we're lucky, maybe get some resources we can use in this fight. Speaking of which..." Xander got the weapons from behind his backpack. "I have the knowledge needed to build some cool technology, but I have zero money. I was thinking of just selling these, but I decided that Buffy needs them more for now. I don't suppose the Watcher's Council has a finder's fee for returning lost weapons?" Xander set the crossbow and sword on the table.
Giles ignored the crossbow but picked up the sword lovingly. "Well, I might be able to give you a little something for the crossbow. But this, I'm very glad you brought this back. What ever you could get on the street for this wouldn't be enough. I'll see to it you get a reward for returning it Xander, though you'll have to give me time. The reward for this will have to go through the Council." Giles found the sword's sheath in the book cage and locked it away. Then he went to his office. He came back out holding some money. "$60 for returning the crossbow. Good enough?"
Xander nodded and took the money. "Thank you. Then there was something else you might be interested in." Xander said as he took out the Beretta. He showed Giles the empty clip and the empty chamber and put the safety on before he set it on the table.
"What is that?" Giles asked.
"It's a gun. Beretta M9." Xander answered.
"Yes, I can see that. Why do you have it?" Giles expanded his question.
"Found it with the other weapons. Think it's worth about $500, but haven't been able to unload it yet." Xander explained.
Giles mouth tightened. "Very well, I'll give you $300 for it."
"I was hoping for something closer to 5." Xander complained.
Giles snatched up the gun. "Yes, well as a 17 year old boy, 300 is as high as you're going to get from anyone with any intention of paying you." Giles said as he put the gun deep in one of the drawers of his desk. "I'll have the money for you by Friday. Agreed?"
Xander didn't see any real choice, so he just nodded. A newly disarmed Xander sat down to read some more before school started.
"Good lord, what are you reading?" Giles interrupted.
"Some stuff about ancient Egyptian demons." Xander didn't even look up.
"Yes. But you can understand it?" Xander did look up at that. "It's in ancient Egyptian! You can read it?" Giles cried.
Xander looked back down. He had to blink twice before he noticed the hieroglyphics.
% Sorry % Jolinar thought. % I thought it would make it easier. I didn't mean to cause trouble. %
"Umm. Yeah. I guess so." Xander agreed nervously.
"I've been trying to translate that since we met SG-1. Does it say anything in there about Gould or Goa'uld?"
"Not as such, but I can fill in the blanks with what I know about them and the Tok'ra from Halloween." Xander explained.
Xander went on to explain how demons were in control of the Earth. Humans were little more than a nice challenge for demons to hunt. How the Goa'uld landed in Egypt. They took human hosts and then created the Jaffa. Then, using the Jaffa and their superior technology, they drove the demons from the Earth. They took most of the people in the area as slaves, but that was actually a step up in the food chain for them. The Goa'uld taught the people farming, road building, irrigation, writing, math, and astronomy. It was actually a pretty good deal for the humans. But after a few generations as more and more of their number were carried through the Stargate never to be seen again, the humans rebelled and forced Ra to leave. They buried their Stargate so that the old gods could not return.
Xander then filled in the blanks that the book didn't cover. That on a dig in Egypt, the Stargate was dug up and activated. And how Colonel O'Neill had blown up Ra and humans from earth were now exploring the galaxy.
"You mentioned something about a Tok'ra. What is that?" Giles asked.
"That's the alien that I went as for Halloween. Tok'ra literally means 'Against Ra'. Ra was the most powerful of all the Goa'uld. They are the Goa'uld resistance." Xander explained.
"And they're a third species?" Giles wondered.
"No, technically, they are the same species as any Goa'uld. But they choose another path. They still require hosts like them, but they only take theirs willingly." Xander stated.
"Willingly? Good lord. Who would do such a thing?" Giles harrumphed.
Xander could feel Jolinar's annoyance at Giles' words. He sent calming thoughts to his new friend before he went on. "Well, there's many reasons to agree to be a host. Long life, near perfect health, seeing sights that you could never imagine. But the biggest draw would probably be the knowledge. Goa'uld and by extension, Tok'ra have genetic memory. When you become a host, you get the knowledge of your symbiote and the combined knowledge of all their previous hosts. It's a pretty sweet deal."
"Knowledge you say?" Giles was suddenly intrigued.
"Like you wouldn't believe. Dozens of ancient languages." Xander teased. "But unless we wrest control of the Stargate away from the military, the odds of anyone meeting one are slim." It wasn't a lie. Taking into account all the people on Earth, the odds of meeting Xander and Jolinar were slim indeed.
Xander was bored. Things that used to be a challenge for him were barely worth a second glance. He had finished his math homework while the teacher had explained the concepts to everyone but him. He stared out the window and tried to think about what he'd do about SG-1 and the NID. Suddenly he felt his lips move. "42." they said.
/ Thanks for covering for me. / Xander thought. / What was the question? /
% She asked what the answer was. % Jolinar thought back.
/ But what was the question? / Xander asked again.
% Life, the Universe, Everything. % Jolinar answered.
They were silent for a moment. / You're kidding me. / Xander asked in shock.
He felt laughter and mirth coming from his symbiote. % Of course. It was an algebra problem. %
Xander started shaking with silent laughter. The teacher thought he was coughing and sent him to the nurses' office. / You are the best symbiote... ever! / Xander complimented his partner and he laughed out loud in the empty hallway. He stopped and looked where he was. He turned away from the nurses' office and headed for the library. He could kill some time there before lunch. / I can't believe you've read Douglas Adams. /
% Technically, you've read Douglas Adams. I viewed it through your memories. % Jolinar explained.
When he got there, Giles was polishing the sword he brought back. "How goes it?" Xander asked.
"Yes. Well it... goes." the librarian answered. "Is there a reason you're here or are you just skipping class?"
Xander almost started to explain how Jolinar had told him a joke, but stopped himself at the last second. "I had a coughing fit and the teacher sent me to the nurses' office."
"But you're okay, so you came here instead?" Giles finished.
"Just some saliva down the wrong pipe. Can you teach me how to sword fight?" Xander asked seeing Giles put the sword away.
"I'm afraid you'd beat me handily. What about Angel?" Giles countered.
"No memories of sword fighting. I don't think I even touched him once." Xander complained.
"As long as you've got some free time, I don't see why I can't teach you the basics." So from then until lunch. Giles taught Xander how to sword fight. His methods were completely different than Angel's. Xander never received a hit from Giles. He also thought he learned a lot more from Giles than he did from Angel.
But by lunch time, Xander was starving. A normal school lunch barely took the edge off.
/ Jolinar? / Xander asked.
% Yes? % Jolinar responded.
/ How close are you to being... done? Rebuilt? Whatever? / Xander continued.
% I am quite close. Three or four more large meals and I should be done. % Jolinar answered.
/ Could you turn down the hunger for now? I'm starving and there's not going to be another chance to eat until after school. / Xander begged.
Xander found himself getting very full without taking another bite. % Sorry about that. Without it on though, it will take much longer for me to finish. % Jolinar explained.
/ Turn it back on after school. We've got money and I'm taking you to the all-you-can-eat buffet tonight. / Xander told him. / We might be able to finish you up tonight. /
% I would appreciate that. % Jolinar stated.
English class wasn't any more exciting than any of his other classes. However this class did have Cordelia Chase, who was nice to look at, funny to listen to, and fun to mock. It probably would have been funnier if she hadn't been serious or if she had understood that she was being mocked.
After class, Xander wasn't paying close attention as the girls talked about relationships or something.
"Xander, did Angel have any visitors while you were there?" Buffy asked.
"No. Why?" Xander wondered.
"Angel was with a girl last night." Willow explained.
"Willow, do we have to be in total share mode?" Buffy complained.
"Why didn't you say anything last night?" Xander asked concerned.
Buffy shrugged. "It's not a big deal. He was just talking to a girl. A really pretty girl." Buffy frowned and crossed her arms.
"Hey, I can ask him about it tonight, if you like?" Xander offered as they entered the lounge.
"Really?" Buffy brightened for a moment then slouched again. "No. I can't have him thinking I was checking up on him."
"But-" Xander started.
But Willow stopped him, "It's girl-logic. Just accept it." She advised as she sat down and Xander sat next to her.
"Yeah." a voice said from behind Buffy, "I found out myself that there's no accounting for girl-logic."
"Oh my god! Ford?" Buffy shrieked.
"Hey, Summers!" Ford responded.
After hugs, Buffy introduced Billy Fordham to Willow and Xander. Xander knew that he still had a crush on Buffy and yet, he couldn't feel jealous of how close Buffy and Ford were right now.
% You are recognizing that he is not a competitor for Buffy's romantic interest. Neither are showing any signs of being attracted to each other. % Jolinar pronounced.
/ Well that's... good. I guess. / Xander decided.
% Perhaps. % Jolinar was silent for a moment.
/ What's wrong? / Xander asked.
% Buffy is a stunning woman. % Jolinar observed.
/ I noticed. / Xander said wryly.
% Yes, but Ford does not. % Jolinar observed. % It is similar to the way that you do not see that Willow is a beautiful woman as well. %
/ Willow? Willow isn't a woman. She's... Willow! / Xander shouted in his head.
% She's both. % Jolinar told him with a mental shrug.
"...and I'll see you guys in French!" Buffy says as she escorts Ford away.
/ Aww, crap. What'd we miss? / Xander asked his symbiote.
% We missed nothing. I recorded the conversation for you to view later. % Jolinar consoled him.
Willow spoke up, "Oh, that's what that song is about?!"
After school, Xander skipped hanging out in the Library and instead headed straight for the all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet. Jolinar steered him away from his favorite meat dishes. Protein contained less energy per pound than fats and was harder to process than carbohydrates. Chow mein, rice, noodles, and anything fried like pot stickers and egg rolls were piled on every plate. He also picked out one meat dish each time up to keep things interesting. Jolinar was also particularly impressed with the caloric content of cream cheese wontons and insisted on getting a few every trip. Jolinar also insisted on grabbing up some particularly fatty pieces of beef that all the other patrons had been avoiding. He claimed that there was a lot of energy in them. Xander took his word for it and dutifully swallowed.
Xander lost count of how many drinks they got but he was pretty sure that they had eaten around eight plates of food. He sure hoped Jolinar had gotten enough to eat, because the owner of the restaurant was eying him rather like he eyed Buffy right before he banned her from eating here again.
/ Jo, I think it's time to split. / Xander thought.
Jolinar was silent for a moment. % I understand. We will need to locate a suitable new host for me and then I will leave. %
/ What? No! I mean we need to leave the restaurant. The owner is giving us the stink-eye. / Xander clarified.
% Oh! Yes, then. Let us leave then. This has been most satisfying. % Jolinar announced.
After hanging at the Bronze for a couple hours, Buffy left to escort Ford home and then patrol, while Xander and Angel walked Willow home. Angel asked Willow to find anything she could on Billy Fordman and he'd stop by the next night to pick it up. After which Xander and Angel walked to Angel's place.
Sparring was rough that night. Xander was determined to do this on his own, without the help of Carter's memories.
"Are you sure you want to keep doing this?" Angel asked.
Xander was panting and dripping with sweat. He just nodded and grabbed a drink of water. "Let's go." He motioned to continue the bout.
An hour later, Xander sat on a chair catching his breath. "That enough for tonight?" Angel asked as he rolled his shoulder. Xander had gotten him that last round. He had to give it to the kid, he was tenacious. When he had first started fighting him, his form was perfect and even with Angel's speed, he found it hard to get inside Xander's defenses. Now, Xander's form was... well it was still there, but it was slow. Angel found it much easier getting inside the kid's defense. But it didn't seem to matter. Xander just never let up. Eventually Xander got his hits in. And he was improving. His speed was coming back. Angel could see the difference just from the start of tonight's bout to the end. Xander was faster, in spite of how tired he could see the kid was. He shook his head. "Come on. Let's get you home." he told him.
Xander shook his head. "No. Swords first." he insisted.
Angel sighed and got the swords out. "Okay. If you insist. I just don't want Buffy yelling at me that I'm pushing you too hard." Angel said. A half hour of forms and instruction before they started sparring again. Angel was surprised that Xander seemed so fresh after such a short rest. And not only did he use everything Angel had taught him in two nights, but he also seemed to use other moves. Some were wild and obviously made up, but some where controlled and precise. Angel certainly maintained control of the fights, and only hit Xander enough to show him that Angel was in control. But Xander did get in some hits too. One to his hamstring certainly would have eventually been fatal. Angel smirked. If Xander had come this far in two days, he would be a formidable opponent in a few months. He hadn't had a worthy opponent to fence against since he had been turned. As Liam, he had been had been a fine swordsman in his day. Probably the only thing he loved in life besides his little sister and alcohol. Angelus had played with swords here and there, but no human could match him. He had too much talent and speed. And Angel just never got the chance.
"So, what did you and Buffy talk about before she left?" Xander broke Angel from his thoughts.
"Oh, she just wondered what I did the night before." Angel answered.
"And what did you tell her?" Harris continued.
"That we trained. Nothing else happened." Angel insisted.
"You didn't tell her about the pretty lady you talked to?" Xander raised an eyebrow.
"She knows about that?" Angel stopped fighting.
"Oh yeah." Xander nodded. "And I don't pretend to be an expert on women, but lying to one about talking to another pretty girl... that's a big no-no." Xander thought about what he just said. He wasn't an expert on women, but he did have the memories of one and an alien who had been hosted by several women. He wondered if he might look through their memories and become the first man in history to actually understand women. Forget defeating the Goa'uld. Understanding women would put him in the annals of history. After that, saving the world would just be a foot note.
"So, what do I do?" Angel looked pensive.
"Come clean. Sooner rather than later. And don't tell her you know she knows. It's better if she thinks you are coming clean on your own. Mutcho points there. But you lose them if she knows that you know she knows, you know?" Xander told him.
"So I should lie?" Angel clarified.
"Nooo. You tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. But only the part of the truth that she want's to know about." Xander explained. It was pretty much exactly what he had done with his friends so far. And that had turned out okay, right?
"Okay. I'll go right now." Angel decided.
"It's a bit late. Or early depending on how you look at it. She's probably asleep." Xander reasoned.
"I suppose. She's probably asleep. Don't know how you kids operate on so little sleep. I get cranky if I don't get my full ten hours." Angel admitted.
Xander shrugged. "Kids are tough. I'll see you tomorrow night. We'll find out what Willow found on Ford."
"Yeah." Angel agreed. "You want me to walk you home?"
"No. I'll be fine." Xander held up one of his stakes. "Besides, that's what this training is for. Isn't it?"
/ Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. / Xander thought to himself. / Pride at not wanting Angel to walk me home like a little kid is going to get me killed. /
% Get us killed you mean. I am not yet fully recovered. I doubt I will survive your death. Now, focus! % Jolinar commanded. % You have beaten Angel many times. And killed other vampires. %
/ Angel wasn't- / Xander dogged a kick. / ...actually trying to kill me. I'm tired and this is no fledgeling. /
"Oof." Xander made a sound as all the air was driven from his lungs. The vampire tackled him to the ground and straddled him. Xander wanted desperately to tell him that he was a friend of the Slayer and that he would regret killing him, but his lungs refused to work. Instead, he put all his energy into fighting off the demon sitting on his chest. Punching, hitting, and just plain holding him at arms length. But the vampire was too strong. Easily batting his arms away. Time slowed almost to a standstill as the vampire bent towards his neck.
/ Help me! / Xander begged his symbiote.
% I am too weak to take control. % Jolinar answered.
/ I didn't say take control. I said help me. Both of us. Together! / Xander explained desperately.
% That's not possible. % Jolinar responded. % Only one can be in control of the host body at any given time. %
/ Time to test that theory. If you're right, we die. On three. / Xander stated. The vampire lunged forward. / Three! / Xander shouted and pushed.
Jolinar focused on something only once before attempted to his knowledge. Pushing himself and his strength forward while not pushing the host out. He wasn't even sure if his weakened state would be a help or a hindrance. He had less power right now, which would make it easier to not push the host out. But he was unfamiliar with using power at this level, which made it difficult to control. He could hear Xander shouting 'Three' but he ignored it. This was going to take his full concentration. He pushed gently, and pushed just a little bit more, but he felt the host slipping.
Xander felt himself slipping away. This was it. This was the end. Ever since he met Buffy, he figured he'd go down this way. He wondered if they'd bury him next to wondered if Tony would show up sober for the funeral.
Jolinar felt the host sliding back and he was now in charge of the body. But he was not at his full strength and too weak. He pushed against the vampire to no avail.
No. Xander Harris was not going down to one lousy vampire. He started pushing back.
And then something just clicked. They felt sharp teeth tearing at their neck. They smelled the fetid breath of the vampire and the rich, loamy smell of freshly turned dirt. They let their eyes glow bright and their power flow. Suddenly the weight was lifted from their chest as the vampire was thrown up and away; into a mausoleum. They looked around for Buffy or Angel or whoever had thrown the vamp off them. But there was no one there but their own two hands.
"Who are you?" asked the vamp as they both stood up.
#"I'm Batman!"# they said and let their eyes grow bright again.
The vampire had a very confused look on his face. Right up until the point he turned to dust. They weren't even sure if the vampire had been frozen in place in shock or if they had moved so fast that the leech hadn't had time to react. But here wasn't the place to wonder about such things. They sprinted home. Only stopping once they were safely inside.