Title: Cry Havoc Once More
Author: Knife Hand
Feedback: Constructive feedback appreciated, flames unappreciated
Spoilers: First four series of Buffy with some elements of five and six.
Rating: R
Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy. I would buy it but I am broke.
Summary: The final battle is about to be joined and the fate of the world hangs in the balance. Friends will become enemies and enemies will become friends. A look at the final battle and the path that lead to it. (Multi Crossovers)
AN: Generally I really like Buffy and I usually write B/X fics, but for this fic I have decided to incorporate and focus on one aspect of Buffy's personality that I usually overlook or tone down. Also no Glory or Dawn.
AN2: OK. I understand how everyone believes that Xand and Tara are not evil, just remember there is still well over a decade between 'now' and the confrontation in the first chapter. All will become clear in time. *Smirk* :) As Robert Jordan says, 'read and find out'. Thanx for the reviews.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~Present, Late 2015~
Xander ran through the vampire he faced with his Claymore then he decapitated it. In the few seconds till he had to face his next opponent he took a quick look around. Through a gap in the chaos of battle, Xander saw Faith fighting a mixed group of soldiers, vampires and demons. She moved with deadly grace and economy, using her swords, bracers and shin guards to deadly effect and he saw several of her opponents go down in the seconds he watched her. Nearby he saw Buffy laying waist to several members of his army, not that he really cared, they were expendable. Buffy wore no armour, arrogant as always, and was fighting with a broadsword in one hand and a large battleaxe in the other.
Another break in the fighting showed Tara. She was dancing. Flowing from place to place in an almost hypnotic motion she was twirling her quarterstaff to keep enemies at bay, breaking wrists, arms, legs, heads, anything that got in her way. Occasionally she would send off a spell of some sort, maybe a fireball that would rip through ranks of friend and foe alike. Xander stopped looking around as he faced his next opponent, an Immortal who was probably several hundred years old. He idly notice that the eclipsed sun was sinking in the West, the fighting had gone on for several hours, and soon the armies would be calling it a night, so to speak, so that they could rest for the next day. As his reflexes took over, Xander's mind slipped back into the past.
********
~The Past, Mid 2003 (AN: Kinda screws with your mind a bit, huh?)~
Xander walked off the plane at LAX and hired a car from the rental booth. He had a perfectly believable excuse for the weaponry that allowed him to pass through airport security, something he had cooked up with Graham, who had rejoined the military as a supernatural advisor with the rank of Colonel, with full army clearance. Xander jumped into the rental can and drove out of the airport. He tried not the think of the terrible possibilities that had befallen Tara on the hour long trip to Sunnydale. Despite the tension that had developed in the past, Xander's first stop in Sunnydale was at the Magic Box, and it was to be as tense as ever.
Xander walked into the Magic Box and found that things had not changes much. Buffy was still pretending to research while Willow actually did research, Giles was half sitting on the ladder leading up to the restricted section and Anya was still behind the counter, counting the money. For a second it seemed like old times, the all looked up, expecting a customer, and when they saw Xander, they went back to what they were doing. For point three seven five of a second.
"XANDER!" Willow called and came bolting up to him and giving him a tight hug.
"Wills? Air?" Xander managed to get out.
"Sorry." Willow said, backing away.
"So? What brings you back to Sunnydale?" Buffy asked sightly defensively.
"Tara, actually. I tried calling her yesterday and she did not pick up." Xander said.
The room went shock quiet.
"Maybe she was out." Buffy commented.
"Nope. It was a private cell phone I gave her, she always had it on her. Always." Xander said, glancing at Willow when he said the last word.
"That was YOU?!?" Willow almost screamed, her face flushing with embarrassment.
"What happened? I need to know." Xander said.
"She left town." Buffy replied.
"Did she tell you?" Xander asked, not believing.
"No, but it was understandable." Giles contributed.
"Tell me everything." Xander demanded.
So they did. Willow's magic highs, bringing Amy back and the 'Incident'.
"You." Xander said, rounding on Willow. "You disgust me. How could you? And you," Now rounding on Buffy, "Are you fucking stupid? No note, no nothing. She disappears in SUNNYDALE and you think she simply left town? You of all people should know better. I, at least, am going to look for her!"
With this, Xander turned and stormed out of the Magic Box.
********
Tara woke in darkness and pain. She did not know how long it had been since he had been taken, running into that van was no accident. Since she had been brought here, wherever here was, she had been almost constantly beaten, she had even been raped. The clothes that she was wearing had been reduced to rags. She was chained to a wall in what could only be described as a dank basement, the windows had been shuttered, only letting minimal light in during the day. Her once shiny and well kept blond hair was now dirty and limp and she had bruising over her face and most of her body. Ever since she had been taken, she had silently preyed for some kind of rescue but with each minute that passed, her hope diminished and she slipped deeper into despair. She heard a door open and a flood of light enter the room, giving her a glimpse of the person entering the basement before the door was slammed shut again.
"NO! Please, no. Help. Somebody, anybody, Help! Help me Xander." She screamed as the figure approached. "Please, no. Please, don't do this. No, please, don't Donny."
After that, all that could be heard from the basement was horse screams of pure terror.
********
Xander approached the house, slowly, quietly. He had spent over two months searching for Tara, and it had led him here. His first clue was in Sunnydale. There had been a witness who had seen the abduction. From there, Xander had followed a trail of evidence, beating up snitches, paying bribes, pulling strings and calling in markers from all over the place. As the days and weeks slowly passed, he got more and more desperate. Finally Xander had caught a break that had led him to this house.
When he heard the scream, Xander did not hesitate. He ran across the lawn, broke down the front door and followed the sound to the basement. When he got there, Xander was shocked and appalled. He saw Tara, lying basically naked, huddled in a corner vainly trying to fend off a fairly large man. Then he recognised the man, it was Donny, Tara's brother. A rage came over Xander, and he raced over, pulling Donny away from Tara and slamming him into a wall, rattling the open chains nearby. Xander started punching and just kept punching Donny until he was a bloody mess. Then he went over to look at Tara. At first she flinched at his touch, but he quickly removed his long trench coat and wrapped it around her body.
"It's ok, Tara. It's me, Xander." He told her, over and over.
After a reasonably short amount of time, Xander was able to lift Tara, without her screaming, and move her to his car. Grabbing a few items from the trunk, Xander walked back into the house and when he left a few hours later he was wiping blood off his hands and the Maclay's were dead, their bodies still warm. After a few days and a few phone calls, the case was closed, an unsolved occurrence of a violent break and enter gone wrong.
********
~Present, Late 2015~
Xander looked over the semi sleeping form of his dark queen. While the physical scars of twelve years ago had healed quite well leaving barely any mark, the psychological ones were still haunted her. She was his only weakness, his driving passion in this world. For many years, she had been the sole purpose of his existence and he would not have changed that for the world. He remembered that once, years ago, he had found Angelus' diary, something that he thought even Angel had forgotten about. He remembered on passage that Angelus had written about passion.
'Passion. It lies in all of us. Sleeping, waiting, and though unwanted, unbidden, it will stir, open its jaws, and howl. It speaks to us, guides us. Passion rules us all. And we obey. What other choice do we have? Passion is the source of our finest moments. The joy of love, the clarity of hatred and the ecstasy of grief. It hurts sometimes more than we can bear. If we could live without passion, maybe we'd know some kind of peace. But we would be hollow. Empty rooms, shuttered and dank. Without passion, we'd be truly dead.'
The passage was true, every word, and Xander knew that without passion, firstly in a form with Willow, then with Buffy, even shortly with Faith and Anya, but most importantly with Tara, he would have been dead long ago. His passion had kept him going, given him strength, even given him the courage to risk his life for others. Now his passion was only for Tara, and for her he had chosen this path.
TBC
Author: Knife Hand
Feedback: Constructive feedback appreciated, flames unappreciated
Spoilers: First four series of Buffy with some elements of five and six.
Rating: R
Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy. I would buy it but I am broke.
Summary: The final battle is about to be joined and the fate of the world hangs in the balance. Friends will become enemies and enemies will become friends. A look at the final battle and the path that lead to it. (Multi Crossovers)
AN: Generally I really like Buffy and I usually write B/X fics, but for this fic I have decided to incorporate and focus on one aspect of Buffy's personality that I usually overlook or tone down. Also no Glory or Dawn.
AN2: OK. I understand how everyone believes that Xand and Tara are not evil, just remember there is still well over a decade between 'now' and the confrontation in the first chapter. All will become clear in time. *Smirk* :) As Robert Jordan says, 'read and find out'. Thanx for the reviews.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~Present, Late 2015~
Xander ran through the vampire he faced with his Claymore then he decapitated it. In the few seconds till he had to face his next opponent he took a quick look around. Through a gap in the chaos of battle, Xander saw Faith fighting a mixed group of soldiers, vampires and demons. She moved with deadly grace and economy, using her swords, bracers and shin guards to deadly effect and he saw several of her opponents go down in the seconds he watched her. Nearby he saw Buffy laying waist to several members of his army, not that he really cared, they were expendable. Buffy wore no armour, arrogant as always, and was fighting with a broadsword in one hand and a large battleaxe in the other.
Another break in the fighting showed Tara. She was dancing. Flowing from place to place in an almost hypnotic motion she was twirling her quarterstaff to keep enemies at bay, breaking wrists, arms, legs, heads, anything that got in her way. Occasionally she would send off a spell of some sort, maybe a fireball that would rip through ranks of friend and foe alike. Xander stopped looking around as he faced his next opponent, an Immortal who was probably several hundred years old. He idly notice that the eclipsed sun was sinking in the West, the fighting had gone on for several hours, and soon the armies would be calling it a night, so to speak, so that they could rest for the next day. As his reflexes took over, Xander's mind slipped back into the past.
********
~The Past, Mid 2003 (AN: Kinda screws with your mind a bit, huh?)~
Xander walked off the plane at LAX and hired a car from the rental booth. He had a perfectly believable excuse for the weaponry that allowed him to pass through airport security, something he had cooked up with Graham, who had rejoined the military as a supernatural advisor with the rank of Colonel, with full army clearance. Xander jumped into the rental can and drove out of the airport. He tried not the think of the terrible possibilities that had befallen Tara on the hour long trip to Sunnydale. Despite the tension that had developed in the past, Xander's first stop in Sunnydale was at the Magic Box, and it was to be as tense as ever.
Xander walked into the Magic Box and found that things had not changes much. Buffy was still pretending to research while Willow actually did research, Giles was half sitting on the ladder leading up to the restricted section and Anya was still behind the counter, counting the money. For a second it seemed like old times, the all looked up, expecting a customer, and when they saw Xander, they went back to what they were doing. For point three seven five of a second.
"XANDER!" Willow called and came bolting up to him and giving him a tight hug.
"Wills? Air?" Xander managed to get out.
"Sorry." Willow said, backing away.
"So? What brings you back to Sunnydale?" Buffy asked sightly defensively.
"Tara, actually. I tried calling her yesterday and she did not pick up." Xander said.
The room went shock quiet.
"Maybe she was out." Buffy commented.
"Nope. It was a private cell phone I gave her, she always had it on her. Always." Xander said, glancing at Willow when he said the last word.
"That was YOU?!?" Willow almost screamed, her face flushing with embarrassment.
"What happened? I need to know." Xander said.
"She left town." Buffy replied.
"Did she tell you?" Xander asked, not believing.
"No, but it was understandable." Giles contributed.
"Tell me everything." Xander demanded.
So they did. Willow's magic highs, bringing Amy back and the 'Incident'.
"You." Xander said, rounding on Willow. "You disgust me. How could you? And you," Now rounding on Buffy, "Are you fucking stupid? No note, no nothing. She disappears in SUNNYDALE and you think she simply left town? You of all people should know better. I, at least, am going to look for her!"
With this, Xander turned and stormed out of the Magic Box.
********
Tara woke in darkness and pain. She did not know how long it had been since he had been taken, running into that van was no accident. Since she had been brought here, wherever here was, she had been almost constantly beaten, she had even been raped. The clothes that she was wearing had been reduced to rags. She was chained to a wall in what could only be described as a dank basement, the windows had been shuttered, only letting minimal light in during the day. Her once shiny and well kept blond hair was now dirty and limp and she had bruising over her face and most of her body. Ever since she had been taken, she had silently preyed for some kind of rescue but with each minute that passed, her hope diminished and she slipped deeper into despair. She heard a door open and a flood of light enter the room, giving her a glimpse of the person entering the basement before the door was slammed shut again.
"NO! Please, no. Help. Somebody, anybody, Help! Help me Xander." She screamed as the figure approached. "Please, no. Please, don't do this. No, please, don't Donny."
After that, all that could be heard from the basement was horse screams of pure terror.
********
Xander approached the house, slowly, quietly. He had spent over two months searching for Tara, and it had led him here. His first clue was in Sunnydale. There had been a witness who had seen the abduction. From there, Xander had followed a trail of evidence, beating up snitches, paying bribes, pulling strings and calling in markers from all over the place. As the days and weeks slowly passed, he got more and more desperate. Finally Xander had caught a break that had led him to this house.
When he heard the scream, Xander did not hesitate. He ran across the lawn, broke down the front door and followed the sound to the basement. When he got there, Xander was shocked and appalled. He saw Tara, lying basically naked, huddled in a corner vainly trying to fend off a fairly large man. Then he recognised the man, it was Donny, Tara's brother. A rage came over Xander, and he raced over, pulling Donny away from Tara and slamming him into a wall, rattling the open chains nearby. Xander started punching and just kept punching Donny until he was a bloody mess. Then he went over to look at Tara. At first she flinched at his touch, but he quickly removed his long trench coat and wrapped it around her body.
"It's ok, Tara. It's me, Xander." He told her, over and over.
After a reasonably short amount of time, Xander was able to lift Tara, without her screaming, and move her to his car. Grabbing a few items from the trunk, Xander walked back into the house and when he left a few hours later he was wiping blood off his hands and the Maclay's were dead, their bodies still warm. After a few days and a few phone calls, the case was closed, an unsolved occurrence of a violent break and enter gone wrong.
********
~Present, Late 2015~
Xander looked over the semi sleeping form of his dark queen. While the physical scars of twelve years ago had healed quite well leaving barely any mark, the psychological ones were still haunted her. She was his only weakness, his driving passion in this world. For many years, she had been the sole purpose of his existence and he would not have changed that for the world. He remembered that once, years ago, he had found Angelus' diary, something that he thought even Angel had forgotten about. He remembered on passage that Angelus had written about passion.
'Passion. It lies in all of us. Sleeping, waiting, and though unwanted, unbidden, it will stir, open its jaws, and howl. It speaks to us, guides us. Passion rules us all. And we obey. What other choice do we have? Passion is the source of our finest moments. The joy of love, the clarity of hatred and the ecstasy of grief. It hurts sometimes more than we can bear. If we could live without passion, maybe we'd know some kind of peace. But we would be hollow. Empty rooms, shuttered and dank. Without passion, we'd be truly dead.'
The passage was true, every word, and Xander knew that without passion, firstly in a form with Willow, then with Buffy, even shortly with Faith and Anya, but most importantly with Tara, he would have been dead long ago. His passion had kept him going, given him strength, even given him the courage to risk his life for others. Now his passion was only for Tara, and for her he had chosen this path.
TBC