Date written: Tues 27 Oct 2009
Author: Starway Man
E-mail: theop at hotkey dot net dot au
Disclaimer: The Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel characters are the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar, Kuzui, Fox, WB and UPN; I don't own 'em, and I never will. I also do not own any other characters from any television shows, movies, comics, videogames or literature that I might use. This work is meant merely for enjoyment, and no profit is being made off of it. Some of the text is from various TV episodes or movies or comics or videogames or literature, and so does not belong to me of course.
Rating: Overall R, with mostly PG-13 parts.
Symbols: " " denotes speech, ( italics ) specifies thoughts, and # # indicates phone voice.
Main characters: Xander, ensemble
Warnings: There is some violence, bad language, character death and mention of sexual situations in these stories.
Author Notes: A couple of years ago Night Hunter MGS (a.k.a. Matt) wrote an awesome series of stories called "31 Days of Xanderween" (http://www. fanfiction. net/s/3813208/1/31_Days_of_Xanderween), where he published one Halloween fic for each day of October. I was inspired enough to want to do my own version of the concept, and he has graciously allowed me to use his idea for this series of fanfic stories.
Author Notes 2: Hello one and all, thank you for all the reviews and feedback – truly, madly, deeply – especially you, The Doctor. Thank you for your idea regarding Ian Fleming and James Bond, but oddly enough I did a YAHF where Xander got turned into Bond during season 4, it was titled "A Simple Twist Of Fate" and published about two years ago. Anyway, gentle readers, welcome to the latest fanfic of this series! Now, this plot bunny is the darkest idea I've come up with in a while, and it's possibly the darkest story of the series apart from the Borg story #3. Funnily enough, the inspiration for this fanfic originally came after reading the novelisation of Knightfall, many years ago; I was tempted to do a Batman fanfic, but it's been done by many others before, so I came up with this instead. So for those of you who wish to continue on, I hope you like it...
Acknowledgments: My thanks of course to Matt for allowing me to dabble with his original idea this way. Also, my deepest gratitude to all my beta readers – Francis Eugene, Greywizard, American Soldier and Nodakskip – for all their help in getting these stories finished on time!
Classification: Alternate Universe, Angst, Crossover, Romance, YAHF
Summary: Thirty-one versions of Halloween, Xander-style. Fic-a-day series.
Title:31 Days of Xanderween Part Deux
***
Story 27: Avenging Angel
Main Street, Sunnydale, California
October 30th, 1997
It was love at first sight, that was the problem.
The moment Xander Harris had laid eyes on Buffy Summers he had fallen completely, utterly and hopelessly in love with her. Unfortunately the vampire Slayer, even though she knew perfectly well how Xander felt about her, simply didn't feel the same way about him. Thus, Harris knew that extreme measures were needed to win the heart of the beautiful Chosen One.
That was when destiny took a wrong turn, and started going up shit creek without a paddle.
( Oh my God, ) Xander thought to himself in amazement and delight, as he saw the five-hundred dollar bill on the sidewalk and picked it up. ( Wow, five hundred bucks?! That's it; I'm not going to be the two-dollar costume king this year. Nosiree, I'm getting a Halloween costume that'll leave Buffy gasping at my sheer manliness! )
Given the fact that Buffy was in love with the ensouled vampire named Angel, and Xander's ideas of manliness completely sucked, this was most unlikely. But as things stood, a lot of gasping would certainly take place tomorrow night as Xander entered Ethan's Costume Shop.
***
Sunnydale High School Computer Lab, Sunnydale, California
Later that night
The woman known as Jenny Calendar, who was also a technopagan named Janna of the Kalderash tribe of gypsies, leaned back in her seat as she looked at the email before her. The text was rather troubling to the Computer Science teacher, both for what it said and who it came from.
Around five months ago, a monk from Cortona named Brother Luca had sent out a global email about the upcoming apocalypse. He had warned about the child vampire known as the Anointed One, who had led Buffy to her doom the night of the Spring Fling Dance – and if it hadn't been for Xander bringing the Slayer back to life with CPR after she'd drowned, the world would have been destroyed by the ancient vampire called the Master. Brother Luca had disappeared afterwards – but now he had surfaced again, and sent the technopagan a private message.
( I don't get it, ) Jenny thought to herself in confusion. ( Why does he say that I need to monitor the 'reborn Slayer' tomorrow night? And Ezekiel 25: 17, what's that about? ) Jenny looked it up using Google, and the first site she clicked on read: 'and I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger, those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers'.
It wasn't the correct quote from the Old Testament, actually, but considering what kind of comic book Halloween costume Xander Harris had bought today, it was remarkably fitting as a warning by the prescient Italian monk.
***
Somewhere on the streets of Sunnydale, California
October 31st, 1997
Jean-Paul Valley, otherwise known as Azrael – the traditional assassin-enforcer of the Order of St. Dumas – blinked in confusion as he suddenly found himself some place that was completely unfamiliar to him. Named after the Angel of Death, Valley was descended from a long line of genetically engineered crime-fighters. A test-tube baby, Jean-Paul's genetic structure had been altered by the Order's scientists using animal DNA, engineering him to be capable of feats beyond those of a normal human. The only problem was, his conditioning had rendered Valley half-insane when he became Azrael, as well as an extremely efficient killer.
( Where am I? And how did I get here? ) Azrael thought to himself, as incredible chaos started to break loose all around him. ( What is this place? )
"Xander? Xander!" Jenny Calendar's voice intruded into his consciousness, as the schoolteacher crossed the street dragging Buffy – or at least the 18th century noblewoman Miss Summers had become tonight – along with her. "Are you all right? What's going on around here?"
"Unhand me at once!" Lady Buffy squeaked indignantly, before Azrael withdrew a sword and she pressed tightly against Jenny in sudden fear. "Good sir, who are you?"
The sword burst into flames, and Azrael smiled a death's head grin as Lady Buffy screamed. At this point in his life the crime-fighter had evolved from his former role as a member of the Order, to being strictly obedient to Batman, to finally becoming his own man. "Get behind me, both of you."
Azrael then rushed forward to attack an incoming demon. After seeing Xander's new and vastly above-average fighting skills, Jenny was naturally reluctant to leave; but just then another demon showed up, as well as the ghost of Willow Rosenberg. A few moments later Jenny, Lady Buffy and the Willow ghost had to run for it, but Azrael never noticed; he was too busy doing what he did best.
Mind-numbing violence, which was actually quite therapeutic for this incarnation of a half-mad angel of vengeance.
***
Outside St. Mark's Church, Sunnydale, California
A few hours later
The priest known as Father Fredericks had no idea what had possessed him to obey the cryptic message to come to Sunnydale from Los Angeles, until he found the semi-comatose body of Xander Harris.
It had been a pretty wild night for the last two hours, that was for sure.
Jenny, Willow, Buffy, her boyfriend Angel and the girl named Cordelia Chase had had quite a number of adventures this evening, but they had lost track of Xander – or rather, Azrael – right from the start, when Ethan Rayne's chaos spell had transformed all his customers into their Halloween costumes. The spell had ended when Rupert Giles, Buffy's Watcher, had found Ethan and forced him to end it.
But by that point, it had been too late for Xander in more ways than one.
For one thing, Azrael had gone on a killing rampage tonight; he had slaughtered anything that had gotten in his way – including three mini-demons who were actually possessed children. Once the spell was over, Xander had been able to remember everything – and the shock and the horror had been too much for him to deal with. So in a last-ditch effort to stave off insanity, the young man's brain did the only thing it could think of: it closed itself off from the outside world, and started to hunker down against the upcoming maelstrom of emotion.
That was why Father Fredericks had found the Harris boy just staring off into oblivion.
"My son, are you alright?" the priest asked in concern, taking in the scuffed and damaged Halloween costume. "Can you hear me? Are you hurt in any way?"
There was no reply, so Father Fredericks slowly lifted Xander up off the ground, and carried him into the sanctuary offered by the house of God. There was nothing else he could do except wait until morning, when it was relatively safe to leave for the nearest hospital.
***
Sunnydale Memorial Hospital, Sunnydale, California
November 1st, 1997
"But WHY can't you wake him up?" Willow demanded from the doctors, staring at Xander's prone form in horror as he just gazed blankly upwards at the ceiling. Miss Rosenberg's efforts to make her romantic crush snap out of it by shaking and slapping him had been quickly curtailed by the hospital staff, who warned her that if she did that again, she would be ejected from the room at once.
"I'm sorry, but we just can't, Miss Rosenberg," Dr. Isaacs gestured towards Xander, whose blinking eyes were the only thing to indicate that he wasn't dead. "We don't know what's happened to him, what sort of trauma took place to drive Mr. Harris into his state of catatonia-"
"Can't you give him some sort of drug to wake him up? Some sort of, uh, stimulant?" Jenny asked the doctor, exchanging a look with Giles.
"I wouldn't recommend it at this point, since we have no idea how he'll react to that sort of thing. That boy's been in and out of this hospital far too often as it is ever since he was six years old, after all," Dr. Isaacs replied.
"What? WHY?" Buffy demanded in her best 'Me Slayer, tell me!' voice.
"I'm sorry, but I can't discuss that with you. It concerns doctor-patient confidentiality, so please don't ask me that question again," Dr. Isaacs replied at once, sending the Chosen One a stern look. "I'd say the only people you can take that up with are your friend's parents."
"So, so where are they?" Willow asked, gesturing around the hospital room.
"They're speaking with the man who found Mr. Harris last night, Father Fredericks," the M.D. replied. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have other patients to attend to." The doctor quickly turned around and left.
"Giles, can't you do something to fix this?!" Buffy exploded, once Isaacs was gone. Her nature as the Slayer demanded action, but she was personally helpless to assist one of her two best friends in this world, which automatically meant a trip to Cranky Buffy territory. "You or Ms. Calendar? Can't you just do some spell or another to make Xander come out of la-la land?"
"Magic i-is not a miracle cure-all, Buffy, so please don't think of it as such," Giles admonished her as gently as he could. "If i-i-it was possible to do something like that, don't you think that I would have done it by now?"
"He's right, Buffy. Besides, magic can be a tricky thing when you're dealing with the human brain. Even the simplest of healing spells require great care to be cast, as the cure can sometimes end up being worse than the cause," Jenny said sympathetically.
Visibly deflating, Buffy and Willow just stared as a nurse came in to check Xander's IV drip before quickly departing. The Rosenberg girl, in particular, hated to see the love of her life this way, and made a private vow that she would never stop looking for a method to cure Xander of his affliction.
Unfortunately for her, though, Xander's mom and dad, who couldn't afford an extended stay in the hospital, had already signed over custody of Xander to Father Fredericks – who would soon make arrangements to have the catatonic youth transferred to his parish in the City of Angels.
***
Catholic Church hospice, Los Angeles, California
November 13th, 1997
Brother Luca stared at Xander's immobile form, having travelled here all the way from Europe. No one here knew how he had managed to find out that Xander was now a ward of the Church; all they knew was that somehow, the monk had managed to do so.
"There's been no change in his condition over the past two weeks?" he asked Father Fredericks.
"None," the priest shook his head sadly. "The poor child is just wasting away; at this rate, I fear that he will soon be lost to the world completely. He does not eat, or drink, or sleep; it is a miracle that his eyes are still working. Already, his limbs have started to atrophy..."
"I want to try something that I think might help," the monk told the priest carefully. "But it will mean transporting the boy out of the country, back to my place in Cortona. Will that create any problems?"
"Will you have the facilities to look after him properly there?" Father Fredericks wanted to know at once.
"Yes."
The priest looked a little annoyed at the one-word answer, but still maintained a polite tone, nonetheless. It appeared as if Brother Luca might be Xander's only hope, and he didn't want to antagonize the monk. Besides, he might actually be able to do something to help.
"Then I do not believe it will be a problem. His parents have ceded all authority over him to the Church, after all," Father Fredericks shrugged. "It will take a little while for all the paperwork to be sorted out, but I'm sure you can have Mr. Harris in a few weeks at most."
And thus, not long before winter officially began, Alexander Lavelle Harris departed his homeland, still trapped within his own damaged and fragmented mind.
***
Outside a fourteenth-century church, Cortona, Italy
May 11th, 1998
Nearly six months had passed, and at the same place where the demon named Moloch the Corruptor had been imprisoned into a book during the year 1418, someone with Xander's face trained hard to complete all the exercises that had been assigned to him.
After he and Brother Luca had arrived here, the monk had been able to awaken Xander using techniques best not mentioned or even thought of. The only problem was that, after he'd woken up, the young man could remember nothing after his final electroshock treatment and stretch session on the rack.
Harris was a tabula rasa – a blank slate containing no memory of anything that had happened in his life before that moment of awakening. Thus, there was no longer any memory of his love for Buffy Summers – and there was no longer any memory of being a child killer, of seeing those three dead bodies at his feet before he'd stumbled off and collapsed outside that church.
All things considered, it was a bargain that Xander would most likely have been content with if he'd still retained his former identity. But all he knew of his past nowadays was what Brother Luca had told him – such as his name, Alexander, the defender of mankind, and the place where he'd been born: La Boca del Infierno, or the mouth of Hell.
"How does it progress?" a nasal voice asked the monk, forcing Brother Luca to turn around.
"Satisfactorily," Brother Luca replied civilly to his visitor, Cardinal Ignatio Quartze. He did not like the older man very much, but the cardinal was high up in the Vatican hierarchy and his patronage helped keep operations at this church going. "Alexander is making great progress in attaining his former powers as Azrael."
"Please do not use that name again in my presence, or the name of that so-called Order of St. Dumas," Cardinal Quartze scowled. "To think that the youth of today is reading and enjoying that, that comic book drivel! And yet they spurn knowledge of the true history of the Church? What is this world coming to?"
"How can I help you today, Cardinal?" Brother Luca wanted to get back on topic, as the older man was famous for starting off on rants that could last for hours.
Cardinal Quartze drew himself up at once. "There have been developments in Sunnydale. A few months ago our informant, the mayor named Richard Wilkins, failed to contact us as per the arranged schedule – and so we sent a number of teams to find out why. Two of them disappeared without reporting anything back, but according to the third team, Wilkins is now dead – killed by vampires." It was fortunate for the Cardinal that no one would ever know now how the Mayor had been making fools out of the Church for decades, stringing them along until his planned ascension next year.
"I see. But what does that have to do with me?" Brother Luca asked, his brow furrowing.
"Isn't it obvious? You are to send your lab rat home at once, to deal with the vampires who killed our informant," Cardinal Quartze said haughtily.
"No, it's too soon," Brother Luca insisted. "Alexander has not progressed far enough yet, and his loyalty to us is not yet firmly established. We run too great a risk of losing him, if he goes back to that place now!"
"Don't be ridiculous. According to the psychologists, the man has already pledged himself to the Church mind, body and soul," Cardinal Quartze insisted.
"For now, yes. But what if his memories return once he goes home? What if Alexander becomes the person he once was again, and no longer desires to help in the battle against our enemies?" Brother Luca demanded. "Please, Cardinal-"
"Enough! The decision has been made," Cardinal Quartze cut the monk off sternly. "Clean him up and drive him to the airport at Perugia. The ticket to the United States will be waiting for him at the international terminal in Rome. Father Fredericks will be there at LAX, and transport him to Sunnydale. Once the boy has accomplished his mission, you can have him back to put the finishing touches to his training."
"And if Alexander doesn't come back?" Brother Luca asked, knowing when the battle was already lost.
"I have no doubt that God will know his own, once your young friend presents himself at the gates of Paradise," Cardinal Quartze shrugged before he turned and strode away.
With a heavy heart, Brother Luca went off to find Xander and tell him the situation.
***
Outside the Sunnydale city limits, California
May 12th, 1998
( So this was home, ) Xander thought to himself, looking out through the window as Father Fredericks drove the rental car into town from the Sunnydale airport. ( Strange how I feel nothing just looking at it. Maybe if I get the chance to explore a little once my mission is over, some spark of familiarity will return... )
"Are you feeling all right, my son? You haven't spoken much ever since we left Los Angeles," Father Fredericks said in concern. He was amazed by the difference just six months could make, actually, since the last time he'd seen Xander the young man was virtually a living corpse.
"I'm fine, Father. Maybe a little tense," Xander admitted. "It feels strange coming back to the place where I was born and raised, yet having no memory of any of it. You say you found me here last Halloween?"
"Yes, over there, by that church," the priest gestured towards one of Sunnydale's 43 churches as they drove along. "You were in a terrible state, my son, and your parents knew that there was nothing they could do for you. That's why they gave you to us; they hoped that we could succeed where they couldn't."
"And you still have no idea where they are now?" Xander asked. It was one of the first things he had asked Brother Luca after he'd woken from his catatonia.
"None," Father Fredericks shrugged helplessly. "All my efforts to find them have failed, they just disappeared one night and no one has seen them since."
"Do you think it could be vampires? Do you think THEY could be vampires?" Xander did not like to entertain the prospect, but the question had to be asked; because he knew all about the things which went bump in the night.
"Perhaps," Father Fredericks shrugged. "There is simply no way to tell. Mayor Wilkins made no mention of them in his communications to us – but even he could not know everything that went on in this city. You'd best keep an eye out while we're here."
Xander nodded silently as the car made its way towards City Hall. Once they arrived, both he and the priest made their way inside for a meeting with the new Mayor of Sunnydale, Allan Finch.
But Finch was a man they almost instantly knew would be of no real help to them. He was nervous and ill at ease in their presence, professing no knowledge of how his predecessor had died and grabbing the first excuse to terminate the interview – namely, a visit by David Chase, his wife Julia and daughter Cordelia.
"XANDER? I thought you were a brain-dead vegetable!" Cordelia exclaimed in surprise as Harris and Father Fredericks exited the Mayor's office.
"Do I know you?" Xander asked carefully, eyeing the brunette cheerleader carefully.
"What?" Cordy demanded. "Oh, are you serious? Of course you know me, we've known each other practically all our lives!"
"No, that's not true. Because my life began six months ago in Cortona, Italy – I remember nothing before then," Xander said carefully. "Who are you?"
"I'm Cordelia Chase, of course! And these are my parents?" the young woman said in teenage exasperation, indicating the two adults at her side.
"Did I know you two as well, before the amnesia?" Xander asked Cordy's mom and dad politely, looking at them cautiously.
"We've met once or twice," Mrs. Chase replied, staring at her daughter's former classmate before glancing at her husband. "I believe the last time we saw you was during Cordelia's eleventh birthday party, roughly six years ago?"
Xander instantly dismissed them from consideration. "May I speak to your daughter in private, then? I promise it won't take long, I'd just like to ask some questions if I may. There are things about myself I'd like to know, if she's willing to tell me."
"Go ahead, sweetheart," Mr. Chase gave his permission, doubting that anything too bad would happen if the son of Anthony Harris was being accompanied by a priest. "We won't be long." He then ushered his wife inside.
"So, you really don't have a clue who I am," Cordelia marvelled, after Father Fredericks abruptly excused himself to give them some privacy. "Is that right? You've never met me before today?"
"That's correct. Or at least as far as I'm concerned, that's the case, anyway," Xander frowned. "Were we friends?"
"Oh, hell no!" Cordelia laughed at once. "Xander, we practically hated each other-"
"My name is Alexander Harris. I take it 'Xander' is what you used to call me?" Harris interrupted, eyes narrowed. "And do you know what happened to my parents, by any chance?"
"Uh, no," Cordelia faltered for a moment. It finally registered with her that this wasn't the boy she had constantly ridiculed ever since elementary school, so the brunette girl asked, "So, um, what exactly do you know about yourself?"
"I was found in Sunnydale in a catatonic state last year. My parents gave me to the Church to heal me, and then they disappeared for some reason," Xander said simply.
"That's it?! You don't remember anything about Willow, or Buffy, or Giles, or the vam-" Cordelia abruptly cut herself off.
"The vampires?" Xander guessed what she'd been about to say, even though he hadn't the slightest clue about who the three people Cordy had just mentioned were. "Yes, I know about them, and I know that this town is infested with them. I've been trained to fight them as a warrior of God ever since I woke up," Harris briefly explained Brother Luca's plan to her.
"YOU? Fight vampires?" Cordelia said with sheer incredulity. "What, you think you're some kinda boy Slayer now? Come on, Xander, I've seen you fight. And I could take you, any day!"
"The old me, perhaps. But whoever you are, Miss Chase, you obviously have no idea who I am and what I'm capable of now. And what's this about a, a 'Slayer'?" Xander asked.
Hearing that question coming out of Alexander's mouth, Cordy was again reminded of the fact that this guy was no longer her old insult partner. She looked around and said, "Let's go somewhere more private, because this is probably going to take a while..."
***
Sunnydale High School Library, Sunnydale, California
A while later
After Cordelia had finished telling him a number of astonishing things within one of the building's empty rooms, Xander had collected Father Fredericks and left City Hall.
He doubted that he would ever see the Chase girl again, as Cordelia had convinced her parents for the family to move out of Sunnydale – that was what the meeting with Mayor Finch had been all about today – and besides, Harris had found that he simply didn't like her very much.
He didn't know whether it was an old memory rising to the surface out of the depths of his forgotten past, or simply just initial impressions. But either way, Xander had treated Cordelia merely as a source of information and left her behind as soon as he was sure there was nothing else he could learn from her.
That was why he and Father Fredericks were here, now, breaking into the British Watcher's office. Xander had learned that all of his old acquaintances were dead now, and after acquiring Rupert's Watcher diaries, he felt fairly sure that Cordelia hadn't lied to him about anything she'd said in that conference room.
Xander read an excerpt from a time period that he was most interested in:
( Diary of Rupert Giles, Watcher to the Slayer Buffy Summers. November 1st, 1997.
Alexander Harris was found in a catatonic state today in the hospital, having been transported there by the priest who initially found him. Some kind of physical and/or mental trauma must have affected the young man, which most likely has to do with the chaos magic of the previous evening – where many people were turned into their Halloween costumes, including Mr. Harris and Ms. Summers. My Slayer has unfortunately taken the news of his medical condition very badly, and I feel sure she blames herself for not being able to protect one of her closest friends... )
Xander then shuffled the pages a few months forward.
( Diary of Rupert Giles, Watcher to the Slayer Buffy Summers. March 2nd, 1998.
After the woman named Jenny Calendar was killed recently, I decided to avenge her death by attempting to destroy the soulless creature responsible; the vampire named Angelus mentioned previously in these annals. When I assaulted him in the abandoned factory where he had set up his lair, I miscalculated badly by attacking alone; but fortunately, Ms. Summers and her friends arrived in time to rescue me from my folly. I noticed, however, that while she was able to attack and defeat most of the vampire army which was present, the Slayer was unable to effectively fight Angelus himself.
Much as it pains me to admit it – I now believe that Ms. Summers simply may not be able to kill that never-to-be-sufficiently damned vampire, given he has the face of the man she loved and gave up her virginity to. For the record, I must confess that it is probably my own fault for ever letting my Slayer get involved in a romantic relationship with a vampire, soul or otherwise... )
Xander briefly felt ill before he flipped forward to the last entry, which read:
( Diary of Rupert Giles, Watcher to the Slayer Buffy Summers. March 12th, 1998.
It is to my shame and regret that I must record my Slayer is now dead; and possibly turned as well.
Ms. Summers was killed whilst within the Sunnydale General hospital, incapacitated by an outbreak of the flu. Apparently, Angelus came by while Willow Rosenberg and Daniel Osborne, the Slayer's best friend and her paramour, were standing guard for her. Unfortunately, the vampire snapped the young woman's neck, disembowelled the boy standing alongside her, and then, at the very least, drained the Slayer in her hospital room – if all the blood found on the sheets is any indication of his activities.
According to the testimony of the surviving security guards, he then left with Ms. Summers' body, and most likely returned with her to his new lair – she is now possibly, and quite probably, his newest childe, given how the records indicate he loved to torment and turn his victims. If so, I must deal with them both, as there is now no one else left in Sunnydale to do so.
The new Slayer named Kendra is still in her own country, and there are no ancillary sources of support to call upon. Either official or unofficial ones; recently, there has been a rumour that Angelus is responsible for the slaying of the local mayor, one Richard Wilkins, as a warning for no one to even attempt to interfere with him... )
Xander closed the book with a snap, glancing at Father Fredericks.
"Angelus," the young man said simply.
***
Abandoned mansion on Crawford Street, Sunnydale, California
May 13th, 1998
The insane vampiress named Drusilla looked quite upset as she heard her Daddy doing all sorts of things with and to the naughty former Slayer. Vamp Buffy's screams of pain and pleasure in the privacy of their bedroom were no good at all, and Dru knew that Daddy's newest daughter was no good at all, either. She wanted to get rid of her little sister, but Drusilla knew better than to try. Spike had tried to do that after Vamp Buffy had discovered his silly pretending act, and Daddy had punished him for it.
Drusilla fingered the locket she wore, which contained some of Spike's ashes. Daddy had flushed most of them away down the toilet, but she'd been allowed to keep a tiny portion. No thanks to the wicked little sister, who'd tried to get rid of them all.
( The bad Slayer made the Angel-beast go away, but now Daddy won't pay any attention to me at all! Oh, my precious Spoike, if only you were still 'ere... ) That thought was immediate cut off as, suddenly, Drusilla's psychic antenna began to vibrate.
The mad undead seer heard the whisperings of the moon and the stars and even Miss Edith in her head, and hurried away. She quickly found the objects of her search – a bad priest and a bad kitten – only he wasn't her kitten anymore, Drusilla could sense it. Her kitten was asleep, as was the horrible man in armour who made the stars scream in pain and the moon hide its face.
( Time to wake my kitten up... )
Drusilla pounced and hurled the priest into the wall, not bothering to check if the collision had killed him, as she already knew that even if he survived – Father Fredericks would get killed in a year's time by an Ethros demon. Then the vampiress just stared at her target, as he finished decapitating two minion vampires – his former parents, oddly enough – with his sword.
"Hullo, you naughty li'l boy," she greeted him eagerly.
"Do I know you, hellspawn?" Xander advanced forward, unable to take his eyes off her for even a moment, however badly he wanted to check on Father Fredericks.
"Manners!" Drusilla snapped, sounding like the prim and proper 19th century Englishwoman she'd been in mortal life. She stared Xander right in the eyes, "Look at me...be in me..."
Knowing nothing about her psychic powers, Xander did not attempt to avert his gaze as Drusilla crooned, "See me with your true eyes, remember who you are..."
But at that point, something unexpected happened.
Just as the former class clown and best friend of Buffy and Willow rose up from the abyss, Xander realized that he had just now killed his own parents – which, in conjunction with everything that had come before, was enough to make him snap completely. That let the Halloween persona take over instead, as an unholy light appeared in Xander's eyes.
"NO!!!" Drusilla screamed, the sound echoing throughout the mansion as the assassin-enforcer leaped at her, Azrael's acrobatic skills coming in very handy as the sword chopped Dru's head off. The resulting explosion of dust was almost music to his ears, as the man exulted in his kill; but then, the avenging angel remembered everything.
Well, everything ever since Halloween anyway, and the reason why he was here. A debt was a debt, and so Azrael grabbed Father Fredericks and hauled him out of harm's way before heading back into the mansion.
Angelus and Vamp Buffy just stared at him in momentary disbelief, as soon as they saw an unexpected face from the past. "XANDER?!" both soulless vampires said in unison.
"I remember you, vaguely," Azrael said, focusing on the vampiress for the moment. "The frightened noblewoman, wasn't it?"
Vamp Buffy grinned, and morphed into game face. "Not anymore. Xander, you have no idea how much I've missed you!!" She then rushed forward to attack, the memories of her human life making the vampiress assume that this guy couldn't possibly be any threat to her.
Too bad for Vamp Buffy that her assumption was wrong; Azrael's reflexes were so inhumanly fast that he simply ducked out of the way of her fangs, before his wooden stake penetrated her heart. Dust exploded, and then it was just the two them left.
"Did you kill Richard Wilkins?" the vigilante asked the vampire politely, as Azrael raised his sword.
Angelus already knew something was very, very wrong. Not only had he lost both his women today, but there was definitely something very off-putting about the teenager wearing Xander's face. He didn't like that – he didn't like it at all.
"What if I did?" Angelus snarled at his opponent.
"I'll have to kill you for that. Of course, I have to kill you anyway because you're a vampire – so all things considered, I don't suppose it really matters whether you did it or not. It's just the people I work for, they want to know who killed their information source," Azrael explained as he began to circle around, looking for an opening. He could tell the male vampire was far more experienced and deadly than the female one he had just dispatched, or the other female he had dusted earlier on
"And who exactly do you work for?" Angelus wanted to know, moving around and looking for any sign of weakness.
"The Chair of St. Peter." With that, the fight was on.
Angelus initially underestimated how capable a foe he fought, memories of the clumsy and annoying boy he remembered clouding his judgment. But using every scrap of skill and cunning at his command, along with his superhuman strength, the vampire quickly managed to disarm Azrael and engage in hand-to-hand combat. Again, Angelus was astounded by the strength of the blows, but with his undead stamina, he was able to shake them off and press the advantage.
Finally the vampire got lucky, spinning around with a roundhouse kick and making his adversary go flying through the atrium. Angelus stalked forward and said, "Nothing human can move like that. What are you now, Xander?"
Azrael leaped up from his prone position, jack-knifing to land upright on his feet. "Your death. NOW!"
Too late, the soulless demon realized someone was behind him before he felt the stinging pain of the cross Father Fredericks had slammed against the back of his head. That was why he failed to get out of the way as Azrael ran forward, his hand hooked into the shape of a claw – and then the human's hand somehow plunged through the undead flesh and tore the unbeating heart out of the vampire's chest.
Ashes rained down gently onto the floor of the mansion as, at long last, the Scourge of Europe was erased from existence.
***
Just outside the Sunnydale city limits, California
A short while later
As Father Fredericks drove them out of town, Azrael stared backwards in delight at the fire raging on Crawford Street, the mansion which had been a vampire nest now nothing but a flaming ruin. The man didn't know whether he had actually accomplished his mission or not by killing Angelus, but he felt fairly confident that he had done so.
( Oh well, if Brother Luca and Cardinal Quartze don't like it, tough. They don't own me, nobody does! ) Azrael thought to himself, as the flames started to spread to the other houses on the street.
"What are your plans now, my son?" Father Fredericks asked, as he glanced towards the passenger seat.
"I'm not sure yet. There's nothing more that Brother Luca's instructors can teach me which I don't already know, so I'm in no particular hurry to go back to Cortona," Azrael smiled. "Actually, I might hang around in Los Angeles with you, at least for now. I'm sure the Vatican wouldn't mind me helping to clean up that city's demon problems for a while."
The priest just stared at his companion, before he decided to avoid the airport and take them on the scenic route towards the unsuspecting City of Angels.
***
Next: Story 28 - How The Other Half Lives