Smells Like Teen Spirit
Summary: One thing changes on the path back home for Xander. Begins at the Zeppo episode.
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Los Angeles…
Kyle sighed to himself as he walked over to his fridge and pulled out a beer, gingerly sitting down on his couch in his crappy apartment.
"The things we do for money," he said to himself, popping the can open and taking a big gulp, preparing to drown himself in booze before getting up tomorrow to continue shooting the film (he frowned to himself as he move around, trying to get comfortable in his seat but finding it almost impossible).
Before he could even get halfway through his beer, a loud knock echoed against his door. Sighing, he moved to get up, wincing as he did so, and gingerly walked over to the door. As he did so, he paused, feeling…IT quiver in something akin to fear. Shrugging it off, Kyle looked through the peephole and saw a face he hadn't seen in quite some time.
"Heidi," he said, "What're you doing here?"
"We need to talk, Kyle," she said in a commanding voice, "Open the door."
Kyle could feel IT demanding that he run for Alpha, but he once more shrugged it off, knowing that it would be a cold day in Hell before he ran off to Sunnydale. He opened the door…
…and the door pushed open, slamming into his forehead and sending him down to the ground. Kyle moaned out in pain, gingerly touching his forehead as it exploded in pain, feeling the slick blood as it began to pour out his body. Slowly, he looked up, and saw Heidi and another man that he thought looked familiar, but he couldn't place the face.
Heidi was…leering wasn't quite the word, but he recognized the look all the same. It was the look of a predator. She walked over to him, her leather pants squeaking out as she did so, and he backed away, feeling IT begging him to run.
"Stay," she ordered sharply, and he stopped without thought, causing her to smile and say, "Good boy."
"W-what do you w-want," he said shakily.
"Oh, shh," Heidi said to him, squatting down to face him, and she rubbed a hand against his face, causing IT to quiver even more, but this time in both fear and pleasure, "Don't worry, baby…Alpha's here."
"Wha-" was all he got out before he was knocked unconscious.
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"Put him on the couch," Heidi ordered casually, looking around the apartment as she did so.
Jack closed the door behind him and roughly picked up Kyle, tossing him onto the countertop as he did so.
"I said on the cou-" Jack roughly punched her in the face, bringing her down to the couch. He stood over her, pulling out his knife and chicken foot as he did so.
"Get this, girl," Jack snarled at her, "You are not in charge here, I am! I brought you back," he began to circle the chicken foot around her, and she could feel the voodoo energies circle around her, drawing her back to death, "And I can send you back."
Heidi's mind raced as thoughts of self-preservation invaded her mind. She was the Alpha now, and no one else…but, Jack had the power to end the magic that had brought her back. If she was to cement her place as leader of the pack, she would need to remain on his good side…
Another thought invaded her mind, one which caused her to smile. She would need a mate…
"Ok," Heidi said, smiling a seductive smile, "You win. You are Alpha."
"That's right," Jack said with a smile, putting the chicken foot away as he did so, "Now, you go break him. I'm gonna go get a few friends to help out."
Heidi watched him leave the apartment with a cross between a smirk and a frown on her face, before shrugging and picking Kyle up.
"This is gonna be fun," Heidi whispered, ripping Kyle's shirt from his body.
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Xander walked down the halls with a bored expression on his face. Fact was, he was tired from last night, and was barely there this morning. So, it came as quite a shock when Buffy came out of nowhere and hugged him tightly.
"Either I'm having the beginning of a really good dream," Xander said, "Or I'm so bored I've actually begun to leave my body and enter a different universe."
Buffy lightly punched him on his shoulder as she came away from him (Ow, he thought to himself, Damn Slayer strength), smiling at him as she did so.
"What's up, Buff," Xander asked.
"Nothing," she said, though it was obvious that there was something, "Y'know I love you, right? Well, not, 'love you' love you, but, in a friend way…right?"
"Yeah, friend-love, got it," Xander said, "And, obviously, not friends with benefits."
"Oh, well, that's a given," she replied.
"Oh, that hurt," Xander said, mock saddened, "So, seriously, what's up with the love? Not that I'm complaining, just curious."
"Nothin'," Buffy said, still with the something face, "Just wanted you to know that."
"…'Kay, whatever," Xander said, deciding to shrug it off, "You seen G-Man yet?"
"Heading that way right now," Buffy said, "Wanna come?"
"I thought I was fray adjacent now," Xander said, following her to the library.
"You're still fray adjacent," Buffy remarked, "But, that doesn't mean we don't want you involved at all."
"…Coulda fooled me," Xander said quietly as she entered the library, and he followed two seconds later.
"New Watcher," Buffy asked, and Xander noted the presence of a slightly-older man dressed like Giles.
"New Watcher," Giles reiterated, "Good morning, Xander."
"Mornin'," Xander said, flopping down in a seat, "So, this guy evil?"
"I beg your pardon," the newbie said in an uppity voice.
"I just asked Giles if you are evil," Xander explained to him in a 'duh' voice, "G-Man?"
"No, he's not evil," Giles sounded oddly disappointed at that, "And don't call me that."
"I say, does this young man know about…" he trailed off at that, not knowing how to complete the sentence.
"What goes bump in the night," Xander asked, getting up from his seat, "Let's see, ladies and gentlemen, for the grand prize, do I know about what goes bump in the night. Let's see, who do we have here, you, young lady," he sauntered up to Buffy and presented her his hand, which was pretend-holding a microphone, "What's your name?"
"…Buffy," she said, not quite getting it.
"Well, Buffy, if you answer this question correctly you get, you guessed it, A NEW CAR," Xander said, ala Bob Barker, "Are you ready?"
"Yes, Bob," Buffy said with a smile.
"Ok, your question is," he pretend-read from a card, "Does Xander Harris know about what goes bump in the night," he thrust his hand in her face, "Your answer!"
"Oh, gosh, I know this one," Buffy sat there, thinking about it, "Oh, gosh…is it…yes?"
"Correct," Xander shouted, "You just won A NEW CAR," he pointed to the front of the library.
"Oh, I wanted the Mercedes," Buffy pouted.
"Sorry, Buff," Xander said with a smile, "That's all for today, everybody, be sure to have your pet vampires spayed and neutered. G'night, Fresno!"
"…Is he insane," the new Watcher asked.
"Yes," Giles said, stifling his chuckles as he rose to walk behind the newbie, "You get used to it."
"Whoa, where am I," Xander said.
"Are you serious," Buffy asked, catching Xander's wink, "You were just acting like you were Bob Barker. The Hellmouth must be messing with you today."
"It…does that to people," the new Watcher looked positively pale at that.
"Yep," Buffy remarked glibly, "It does strange things to people. Made a girl invisible once."
"I see," the new Watcher said, before positively running for his books.
Xander lifted up his hand, and Buffy enthusiastically slapped it, causing him to groan out in pain. The doors opened again, drawing all their attention.
"Sup, B, X, G," Faith said, walking inside and coming to a stop, "New Watcher?"
"New Watcher," Buffy, Xander, and Giles said as one.
"He evil," Faith asked, coming to sit down beside Buffy.
"No," Giles responded, once more sounding disappointed.
"Um, how rude of me," the newbie said, coming up to them and extending a hand, "Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, at your service."
Faith and Buffy looked at the offered hand before Faith shrugged and spat in her hand, quickly grabbing hold of his hand to his obvious disgust and said, "Pleased to meetcha."
"…Likewise," Wesley said as he pulled out a cloth to wipe his hand clean.
"I'm gonna go get some breakfast," Xander said, "Faith, care to join?"
"Sure, X," Faith said, getting off the table as she did so, "Later G, B, and…guy."
"But," Wesley tried to protest, but she was quickly out the door before he could, "…This isn't going to be easy, is it?'
"What was your first clue," Buffy asked with an all-too sweet smile.
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Rhonda sat down in her seat, nursing a glass of bourbon as the stove continued to bake her cookies. She was at her whit's end with this situation. Heidi was back underneath IT's influence, and Jack was working with her. Whatever they were gonna do, it was gonna be bad, she knew that much.
She shuddered and took a long drink from her bourbon as Principal Flutie's face crawled across her eyes. She was tired…very tired. She didn't want to be a part of this, she just wanted to live what was left of her life.
She resolved, then and there, to get out of Sunnydale, as soon as possible. She was tempted to pack a bag and leave then and there, but she knew Heidi would be after her the second she found out. Heidi was trying to take over the pack…but, she wasn't totally lost to IT…it was more like she and IT were working together…
Sighing, she took another long drink as the timer went off, letting her know her last batch of cookies were through. She decided that she would sell as much as she could, then get the Hell outta dodge. She knew that they would be back soon, probably before the end of the day. She would give them what she didn't sell, then leave as soon as they were gone.
She wanted to run then, that very moment…but she was scared…and she found herself oddly submissive to Heidi…like she had been to…
She frowned to herself as another option presented itself to her…the Alpha…Xander.
She placed the cookies down as she prepared a new batch, her desire to leave and her fear of Heidi warring with each other, and her new idea to seek out Xander blazed in her mind.
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"…And he shall arise!"
Kyle felt an oddly exhilarating sensation as he woke up. All he could remember was Heidi coming to his door, then…
The memories hit him, and his eyes went green for a long moment, before returning to their normal color. Memories of the hunt and the Alpha circulated through him.
"Kyle," he looked up from his couch at Heidi, who was leering down at him.
"…Alpha," he whispered, and he slowly crawled off the couch to her feet.
"That's right, baby," he took in her scent as she raked her hand through his hair.
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Jack scoffed to himself as Kyle woke up and began sniffing at Heidi's feet. If it weren't for the fact that Heidi had demonstrated the strength behind their possession and resurrection…well, he knew what Harris was capable of, and he also knew that his friends were as dangerous as he was, if not, more. Jack may be dead, but that didn't mean he was stupid. Still, this business had to end soon. He had only two or three days left before the stars went out of alignment to the point where he could no longer raise the dead nor send them back…and he had no intention of letting Heidi hang around, not with what she was capable of.
He turned to the door as he heard someone knocking. He opened it up, and welcomed the two men in.
"Who are they," Heidi asked.
"This is Julio," Jack indicated the Hispanic man dressed in jeans and a white shirt who nodded at her, "And this is Greg," the black man dressed similarly with dreadlocks nodded, "They're old friends of mine that moved to LA. When they heard what Harris did to Bob, they couldn't refuse the offer to get some payback," Jack finished, silently thankful that they hadn't heard about his death months beforehand.
"We're gonna get this guy back for killin' Bob," Julio said, anger in his voice.
"The Hell is up with him," Greg pointed down to Kyle, who was snarling at the intruders.
"Don't mind him," Heidi said, "Up," Kyle stood up at her call.
"When do we leave," Julio asked, eager to get vengeance for Bob.
"Soon," Jack said, sitting down at the counter, "For now…have a cookie."