AN:
Ok, small chapter but warning's ahead.
Mentions of rape inside.
Just give you a heads up ok, nothing explicit just mentions ok?
Just a quick chapter for the minute, to fill in untill the next part of innocence comes in.
More big thankyou to all those who have reviewed, reviewing makes me write faster :)
Again, thankyou :) Hope you enjoy whats to come.
M
Xander looked around, there was darkness as far as the eye could see, solid black night. No stars, no clouds, just darkness. Creating a torch in his hand he stood up and looked around. No walls, no buildings, nothing.
"Where the hell am I?" he muttered.
"Nowhere." Came a voice out of the dark, he span around to see the owner of the voice but came up empty. There was no one here but him.
"Come on, how can I be nowhere?" he asked, feeling a bit silly about talking to thin air.
"You're outside of space and time. I should know, this is my realm." The voice suddenly coalesced into a form stood in front of him, causing him to jump back.
"What's going on here, outside out space and time? What does that mean?" Xander asked. He was getting a bit impatient; he'd left Buffy and Angel in the warehouse with that demon. "Buffy! You've got to get me back there."
"Buffy is fine. She got out of the warehouse with Angel, they are both fine." This calmed Xander a bit, not much though.
"So where am I? I don't give me this 'outside of space and time' spiel again. I want to know exactly where I am." Flashing into his work clothes he looked around, it was still darkness as far as the eye could see.
"You're in our realm now. We are the oracles, we see all that is and all that can be." The 'oracle' waved his hand and he saw back to Halloween, all the choices he could have made. His ION costume, a Soldier uniform, a batman costume, a terminator, a Jedi... he couldn't explain it but he could see how the events unfolded from there. "That was the turning point in your life, who you dressed up as would shape the world around you. It would shape your future."
"But how... they're all me but... different." It was amazing, he could see himself with a lightsabre, morphing around as a T1000, crouching on a rooftop in a batman outfit with Cordelia dressed as Catwoman. They were all being played out in front of his eyes.
"You are the first human to ever see this; you think the choices you make are set in stone? Every choice you have ever made, that anyone has ever made, they are all played out here. Here in Hypertime anything is possible." The oracle waved his hand causing the vision to dissipate.
"You mean... everything... everything that anyone has ever done... could ever do... it's all played out somewhere?" seeing the 'oracles' nod he created a chair quickly and sank into it. "Whoa!"
"Indeed, you shouldn't be here. You are the only version of yourself that has ever had the power to reach here. There are others, beings that navigate Hypertime; we are just one of them." The oracle simple just stood there and watched him.
"But how do I get back? Buffy, Faith, Willow... they need me." Standing up again he looked around for a way out.
"More than you know, look." The being created the 'window' again showing Xander the night when the judge had blasted him.
Buffy and Angel escaped the
warehouse through the sewers and then went back to Angel's house.
There they slept together. Xander turned his head away, allowing them
some modicum of privacy. Afterwards Angel rose from the bed, almost
showing physical pain. He staggered outside and fell in the street,
screaming Buffy's name over and over as the rain washed over
him.
Xander watched as a prostitute walked over to see if he was
ok, he watched as Angel stood up and drained the prostitute dry. He
left her body lying there in the ally, taking her money and packet of
cigarettes he walked off into the night.
"What... huh?" Xander just said as the 'window' vanished.
"Angelus has risen again; the curse that held him had a clause. If he were to experience one moment of happiness then his soul would be taken from him." The oracle explained.
"I've got to get back, help Buffy..." Xander turned to the oracle. "Show me how to get back, please."
"Buffy is fine. Angelus won't hurt her tonight. If you want to leave you have the power to go anywhere you want, any time you want. You just have to want it enough."
"Fine, I want to be there. I want to be with Buffy, with the one I love." He said it. He loved Buffy.
"Then create a door to the one you love and walk through it." The oracle said as if it was that simple.
Ok, here goes. Door to the one I love, sounds simple enough.
He closed his eyes and imagined a door to the one he loved, upon opening his eyes a bright green door was in front of him.
"Can I... can I come back sometime... see this again?" he asked the oracle before reaching out to open the door.
"The door is always open to you; you just have to find a way to open it." With that the oracle vanished into the ether.
Cryptic bullshit as always, well it's now or never. Reaching out he opened the door and stepped through, only to find himself in Faith's motel room.
"Faith?" He exclaimed, looking over she was stood there in just a towel, hair dripping wet. She's obviously just got out of the shower.
"Boytoy? Damn, you said you could teleport but I figured you'd give a girl some warning first." She said with a grin on her face.
"But... this was supposed to be... never mind. Look Buffy's in trouble, Angelus is back again." With that he just opened the door and ran out leaving a very confused Faith.
"Damn, that the first time I've had a bloke run out on me when I'm just in a towel." Shaking her head, she went over and closed the door before returning to the bathroom to dry off. She didn't notice the man open the door and let himself into her room before shutting the door softly behind him.
Running to Angel's place Xander had time to think about what he'd seen, all the different versions of himself, Hypertime. Damn the things he'd seen... they were fading from his memory, he couldn't picture what the... the... damn he couldn't even remember what they looked like now. He ran, ran for all he was worth to Angel's house. Where Buffy was, he wouldn't hurt her, not tonight. He'd been told that, but by who... he couldn't remember. Reaching Angel's house he blasted open the door with a flash of power and stepped through.
"Xander!" Buffy exclaimed, sitting up in the bed and pulling the cover up to cover herself. "What are you doing? Where have you been? We say you get hit by the judge then we were running ourselves... where's Angel? What have you done with him?"
"Buffy... oh god... Angel... he's not Angel anymore." Xander tried to explain, words were failing him now, he couldn't even picture where he had been.
"What are you talking about Xander? What have you done to Angel?" Buffy was starting to get angry; he could see the energy streaming through her.
"Angel... when you two... you know... when you two..." Again he tried to explain but found he couldn't make the words.
"Xander were you spying on us? Watching us?"
"No! No, Buffy nothing like that. I was told by... by someone... if Angel experiences a minute of happiness then his soul will be taken from him again. So when you, you know... his soul, he's Angelus again."
"Xander, who told you? Where were you?" Buffy said standing up, wrapping the bed sheet round her body.
"Uh... damnit I can't remember... I was somewhere... with people... I think... when the judge hit me... Buffy I can't explain it, I just know." Xander said, turning his back allowing her to get dressed.
"Xander you're not making any sense. Come on we'll go and talk to Giles, work out where you were and what happened to Angel."
Turning round he saw Buffy was clothed. "Sounds good, I don't know where I was... oracles... they called themselves oracles. I remember that, but that's pretty much it."
"Ok, we'll find Giles and ask about these oracles. See if he knows anything about them. Come on." Buffy ran out the door, followed by Xander.
The next morning at school
"Giles, we were looking everywhere for you last night." Buffy said, walking into the library.
"Yeah G-man, we needed to talk but you weren't here or your place."
"Uh... no I had a prior engagement. May I ask what was it so desperate that it couldn't wait until this morning to talk about? The judge? Is he..." Giles trailed off.
"Fully assembled and working... he hit Xander with some sort of energy, came right out of his hand. Me and Angel barely got out of there alive." Buffy said sitting down next to Willow.
"My god, Xander are you... did he hurt you?" Giles asked as Willow's face flushed with concern.
"That was the weird part Giles, I don't remember much after that. I remember something... or someone, they called themselves the oracles. They told me about Buffy, about something that happened. Then I found myself running towards Angel's house, broke down his door and found Buffy there asleep." He was careful to omit the part about appearing in Faith's hotel room, which they didn't need to know.
"The oracles you say... well yes, I've heard of them. Agents of the powers that be, they are foreseers, beings that see the future. They are good I assure you, and then you found yourself running to Angel's apartment you say?" Giles was cleaning his glasses by this stage, obviously relieved that none of his surrogate children were hurt.
"Good guys, huh. They showed me something else... but I can't picture it anymore, Giles it's like they blanked my memory of what happened there."
"Well they are mysterious beings, perhaps you saw something that you shouldn't? A future event perhaps? If they didn't want you to remember it I'm sure it would be well within their powers to make you forget."
"I suppose... anyway... they told me... no, I know that Angel lost his soul last night. Angelus is back." Xander waited for that shoe to drop, for a long time no one made a sound. The library was quiet as the morgue.
"Good lord, you mean to tell me that we not only have the judge, Spike and Drusilla to deal with but now Angelus as well?"
"Fraid so G-man, no holiday time for us on the Hellmouth." Xander quipped sitting down.
"Buffy, how did you fare? Against the judge I mean?" Giles asked looking over at the slayer.
"I kicked him; it was like a brick wall. Then my foot, it felt dead. It was like a sudden fever... Giles if he got his hands on me..." Buffy grimaced letting the sentence fall off.
"In time he won't need to, as his powers grow he won't need to touch you. A look or a glance is all he would need." Giles explained looking round the group. Things weren't as bleak as they looked. There was a slayer, no two slayers now. A kryptonion and Xander, who himself had the power of... well he was powerful.
"Yo! Guys what's up?" Faith grinned, looking at Xander as she walked through the door. Leather pants and a bright green top, finished off by a loose black denim jacket.
"Angelus is back, I was just filling the guys in." Xander said, he could barely keep his eyes off her.
"Cool, well not cool. Angelus wasn't he pretty bad?" Faith swung over the table and sat on the edge next to Xander.
"Yes, he was the scourge of Europe, the worst of the worst. I dread to think what he will do now he's free." Giles said picking up a book from the counter.
"Ok, we find and we slay. No big deal right?" little did Faith know she'd endeared herself to Xander with that one quote.
"No! We find him, there has to be a way to put his soul back, Giles?" Buffy practically shouted to the room.
"Well yes Buffy, the magick's used to ensoul Angel in the first place are dangerous, they were old gypsy magick's. I may know someone that could help with it will take time." Giles looked round the group and focused his glance on Jenny.
"Ok then, you look into it. Meanwhile we still have school, and Ms. Parker's got a test today in math." Buffy grimaced as she said the words.
"Oh god, your right. How could I forget, I haven't studied or anything." Xander grimaced banging his head on the table causing Faith to look at him weird.
"We'll wing it, or you could always... you know." Buffy grinned wiggling her fingers at Xander to pantomime his using his powers.
"No way Buff, I'm staying away from using my powers for a bit. Every time I use them it seems to be getting easier, I don't want to get to the point where I use them for everything."
"That is a good point Xander, and it shows that you are being mature about your powers. A great step if I may say so." Giles smiled over at Xander, allowing his pride to shine through. The boy had come a long way in the two years he had known him; he was becoming a good man. Perhaps whatever god had given him these power's had known what he was doing after all.
"Oh, G-man. Can I talk to you about something, in private?"
"As you wish Xander, in the office perhaps?"
"Sure." Xander said as he walked into the office and sat down.
"Meanwhile I'm sure you all have classes to attend?" Giles turned to the remaining group.
"Come on Willow, I'll tell Ms Jacobs that Xander's running late, or something..." with that Buffy and Willow left the library as Giles walked into the office to see Xander sat down in the chair, he looked worn out, not physically but emotionally. "Xander? Is everything ok?"
"Far from it Giles, I found out last night that my mom and dad aren't my mom and dad, and then my da... no Tony, kicked me out of the house."
"Good lord, you mean to say that you were adopted?"
"Dunno Giles. The birth certificate say's that Tony and Jessica Harris are my parents, but I checked my DNA against Da... Tony's, there's nothing in common. He says that my dad is my uncle Jack who lives out in Colorado."
"Dear lord, and then he kicked you out?"
"Yeah, told me I'd never amount to anything then told me never to come back. Giles what am I going to do?" Xander let his head fall onto the desk with a thump.
"Xander... do you have somewhere to stay? Any other family you could stay with?"
"Not round here Giles, I mean I've got my uncle jack up in Colorado, or Uncle Nick over in Vegas. Think I've got an aunt Weasy, or Weasley in Scotland but nothing close. Family's always been kinda spread out if you know what I mean, we don't get together or anything like that. I've never even met most of them, just photos and Christmas cards.
"Well I know it's not much, but if you would like you can come and stay with me for a while if you would like? I have two spare rooms in the flat at the moment and your more than welcome to one of them, I may have to move some books out of them first but I'm sure that wouldn't take long."
"Giles, are you sure? I mean I don't want to impose or anything." Xander looked up at him with a tear in his eye.
"Xander, you would be more than welcome. As it is I have plenty of space, having someone else in the house would be a welcome change." Giles smiled down at the young man. He was growing up to be quite the selfless man.
"Thanks, I mean thank you, really. You don't know how much this means to me." Xander let his head fall to the table again and started crying.
"It's ok Xander, why don't you go home and pick up your things. I'll tell the teachers what has happened and make sure they know that you won't be in school for the remainder of the day, if you meet me at my flat at four I'll let you in and we can get you moved in. That is if that's alright with you." Giles turned away as he spoke; he knew Xander wouldn't want to be seen like this. As he turned he noticed movement out of the corner of his eye. "Excuse me Xander, there are some tissues in the desk drawer if you need them."
Walking out of the office he noticed Faith still perched on the table, she was leafing through one of his older volumes.
"Is he alright in there?" she asked, putting the book down and looking over at Giles.
"He's fine. He's just had a lot on his plate at the moment... family troubles and such. Quite a gifted young man and he has had so many troubles in his past, but he still puts others first." Walking over Giles noticed Faiths bag lying on the floor with clothes hanging loosely out of it. "Is everything alright with you Faith?"
"Five by five, G."
"Are you sure? If there is anything I can do to help you... I am your watcher now and it is my duty to help you in any way I can." He could see that Faith was upset about something, up close he could see her makeup was smudged and her hair tangled and dusty. "Faith, what has happened to you?"
"Look it's no big ok, last night when boytoy left my room... the hotel manager saw him leave. He figured he was a client of mine, thought I was on the game or something. He came in after Xander had gone and... He tried to... look never mind ok? I'm sure Xander has more troubles than me." Faith turned away, the tears in her eyes making it hard to focus on Giles or the library. She didn't want him to think she was weak, she was the slayer. She couldn't afford to be weak.
"Tried to do what Faith?" The voice carried the length of the library, cold as ice. Turning her head she saw Xander stood in the door of the office, anger coming off him in waves.
"He... he tried to rape me. When I said no, he kicked me out. Saying what use was I turning tricks if I didn't put out." Faith burst into tears letting her head fall against Giles' chest.
"He what!" Xander's form burst into green flames as he walked towards Faith.
"Xander! Stop!" Giles shouted. "This isn't the way to do things. Faith has been through enough without having to deal with your anger as well."
"Sorry," he extinguished the flames but his anger wouldn't let the power fade from his eyes as he walked over and pulled Faith into a hug. "Faith, I'm so sorry. If I'd know I... I'm sorry." He looked down into her eyes holding her tight.
"Faith, why don't you go with Xander and retrieve his things from his house, Xander will show you where I live. Take your things there and move into the other room, Faith, which hotel was it you were staying at?" Giles asked, noticing the look that fell between the two teens.
"Motel six on highway three. Just north of town, Giles you don't have to do this. I'll find somewhere else; just need some time to sort things out."
"Nonsense, you're staying with me. As are you Xander. You two go now, I'll take care of things here. Xander you take these," he threw his house keys at Xander and smiled when the teen caught them. "Let yourselves in and move into your prospective rooms. The bedroom at on the left has its own bathroom with shower, I propose Faith take that room while Xander take the one at the end of the hall. I have my own ensuite as well so the one in the hall will be Xander's, if you agree?"
Both of the teens nodded before leaving the library together. It would be interesting living with these two, perhaps a learning experience even. Now, to deal with this motel manager. He picked up the phone and dialed the principal's office.
"Principal Snyder, I have to take some... personal time. The rest of the day... No, it can't wait... Certainly... and Mr. Harris will not be in school for the rest of the day... family issues... I will close the library for the day and deal with any work tomorrow... Thank you." Replacing the phone on the hook he went over and grabbed his jacket, someone attempted to rape a slayer. His slayer, this was unthinkable. He would deal with it. He'd deal with it the old fashioned way.
Walking out the library doors he placed the closed sign on the door then locked them. Smiling a ripperish grin he then walked out of the school.
AN: Ok cookies to Silentbobfoley for spotting all the DCU referances in chapter 4.
Cookies also to Theskelron for spotting the Highlander referance in chapter 6.
Cookies this time round for anyone who can name the rest of Xander's family, and their respective fandom's :)
More to follow soon.
M
