Xander shook his head to clear the bright flash that had practically blinded him. "Could'a warned me." He muttered as he blinked repeatedly to clear the purple and green dots that were now dancing in front of his eyes.
Glancing around he noted he was hanging just above orbit of a planet, a blue and green one, just like earth. In fact if it hadn't been for the twin stars glittering in the distance or the three moons, it could have been just like any other planet he'd seen so far.
"So, this is what you wanted to show me?" He asked no one in particular, focusing on the planet he quickly dove through the atmosphere in a style reminiscent of an emerald meteor and started to look around the planet.
It was barren, plants and trees, maybe some animal life, but no intelligent life that he could see. Bringing up his speed he quickly shot back up in the air, circling the planet to see if there was any life he'd missed on his first look around, but the second inspection came up pretty much the same as the first. "Ok, quiet planet, what am I supposed to do now?" He asked, hoping that someone would give him guidance. He'd deliberately been keeping the name the woman had told him out of his mind, she'd obviously sent him here for a reason, and he definitely wasn't going to leave without figuring out what that was.
"What the..." He muttered, looking up to see the bright white flash off in the distance that had grabbed his attention. "Whoa," He muttered, looking at the giant craft that had just entered orbit. It was huge, like city huge, the construction reminded him of the city he had seen while trying to find Oa, only this was flying and so beautiful.
"This I gotta see," He grinned as he accelerated upwards, through the atmosphere and around to get a better look at the city ship as he had nicknamed it. He brought himself to a stop in front of the ship and just hung there in space, the sheer size of the ship astounded him. "Uh hi?" He grinned, waving as he spotted someone staring at him through what looked to be some sort of force field. The woman simply waved back after a moment, shock obviously plastering her face.
"Stupid question," Xander grinned as he moved forwards slowly, hands up to show no malicious intent as he pushed himself through the force field. "Mind telling me where I am?" He asked, inside the force field now he could feel air, as such he was happy that the woman could hear him, if not understand him.
"Ion?" The woman asked, confusion on her face now. "Aren't you supposed to be earthside? We received a call from Faith asking for help."
"You know me?" Xander asked, a bit in shock at this revelation. "And Faith?"
"The Green Lantern Corps," The woman shrugged. "Are you alright?" She asked as she watched him hover across to the balcony she was on and stand in front of her.
Xander just watched the woman carefully as he came to land in front of her, she was wearing a simple black bodysuit, not as form fitting as the Star Trek ones, but it looked a lot comfier and was obviously built with practicality in mind. Her short curly brown hair was hanging loosely around her head as she seemed to be as curious about him as he was about her. "What is this place?" He asked, looking around at the magnificent city ship.
"Atlantis," The woman told him with a smile. "But you already knew that," She stifled a laugh. "You came with us remember, the first time to the Pegasus galaxy. The Wraith war, all of that?"
"Sorry," Xander shook his head, the implications of what Oma Desala told him finally sinking in. "This is going to sound crazy, what's the date?" He asked, almost afraid of the answer.
"October fourteenth," The woman said with a shrug. "We're down to two ZPM's, so it took us a bit longer to get here than it would do normally."
"Right," Xander drawled out. "The year?" He winced as the woman looked at him like he was crazy.
"Two thousand and nine," The woman replied after a moment. "You're not Ion are you?"
"Not the one you know," Xander grimaced. "It's nineteen ninety nine for me," He shook his head as he braced himself on one of the barriers and stared out at the stars. "Ten years?" He almost shouted into the emptiness of space. "You sent me ten years into the future?"
"She was an Ancient," Doctor Weir told him after they'd gone through the initial introductions. "One of the Ascended ones."
"And these Ascended, they're capable of this?" Xander asked, his hands wrapped around a mug of coffee that Doctor Weir had brought for him. He was still edgy here, not knowing exactly who around here he could trust and who already knew his secrets.
"More than capable," Doctor Weir told him with a smile. "We know the Ancients were experimenting with time travel when they were still on this plane of existence, once they ascended, the must just not need the technology anymore."
"Nice to know," Xander quipped.
"We're heading on to Earth from here," Doctor Weir told him. "We only stopped to let the secondary systems cool down for a minute. We should be in earth orbit within the hour."
"Sounds fun," Xander smiled, though it didn't quite reach his eyes. "So, you're part of Stargate Command then?"
"Not directly," Doctor Weir shrugged. "More a civilian contractor, when Doctor Jackson discovered the location of Atlantis, it was decided that a civilian team of scientists would work better than a full military operation would. You and Faith came along at first to keep the peace and help out in case we needed it."
"We left Earth?" Xander asked in shock, that didn't sound like him at all. Admittedly he could always just teleport back or just use the Stargate, but to not be there if something did go wrong, that was definitely rubbing him the wrong way, especially after what had happened to Sunnydale.
"For a while," Doctor Weir explained. "You both made trips back from time to time, Buffy's engagement to Jon, Willow's... graduation... things like that."
Xander frowned as he caught Doctor Weir's slip but didn't pull her up on it; there were some things about the future he just wasn't ready to know just yet. Xander was shocked out of his musings by a soft knock on the glass door that Doctor Weir had closed so they could have some privacy.
"Ah, Doctor Zelenka, is everything alright?" Doctor Weir asked with a smile.
"Yes, yes of course," Zelenka answered with a small stammer. "I heard you were back on board," He smiled over at Xander. "I was just wondering, is there any news on Rodney?"
"Rodney?" Xander asked in confusion, frowning as he felt really out of depth here catching the end part of things he hadn't yet even thought about doing.
"We haven't seen him in years," Zelenka frowned. "And it's not like him to leave Atlantis like this, I know he wanted to do the training, help out and all, but he must have earned a break by now."
"Training?" Xander asked, standing up to move across so he could see Zelenka properly. "Look, I'm sorry Doc, but I'm a bit lost here."
"You recruited Rodney, Doctor McKay," Doctor Weir told him with a smile. "After the incident with evacuating the refugees... never mind," She shrugged. "Come in Doctor, this is a bit of a long story." She smiled as Doctor Zelenka moved into the room and closed the glass door behind him.
"This isn't the Ion we know," Doctor Weir explained.
"Oh," Zelenka frowned. "An alternate reality then, especially with the fight going on back earthside. You must have come through with the rest then."
"The rest?" Xander asked in shock. "What fight?" He frowned. "Wait, no alternate reality, I'm from the past, or you're in my future, whichever, this time travel stuff is going to give me a headache I just know it." He groaned as he sat back down in his chair and frowned as he tried to wrap his head around it.
"Right, so you're from before the Atlantis mission got started then?" Zelenka asked, obviously trying to put the timeline straight in his head.
"By a few years," Doctor Weir smiled. "This Ion is from ninety-nine, it seems Oma Desala sent him here for some reason."
"Ohhh," Zelenka drawled out. "Doctor Jackson told me about his dealings with her, I believe the term he used was..."
"Difficult?" Xander grinned, trying to picture Daniel dealing with the woman he had met in the coffee shop.
"Confusing," Zelenka finished off. "A sort of Zen riddle without an answer."
"That's her," Xander smiled. "So what's the fight going on back on earth, am I there, you know..."
"I'm not sure we should tell you," Doctor Weir frowned.
"What, did I implement some sort of temporal prime directive or something?" Xander grinned for a second before frowning. If time travel was in his future, or his past, would he implement something like that to stop people telling him things?
"Not that I know of," Zelenka frowned. "Though you should ask, well yourself, or O'Neill for the question to that."
"Colonel O'Neill?" Xander grinned. That actually did take a load off his mind, while he was, in one sense still reeling over hearing about Buffy getting engaged; knowing that the people he cared about were safe was a load off his mind.
"Green Lantern O'Neill," Doctor Weir grinned at him. "Ring trainer to the Corps." She laughed as Xander just stared at her, his mouth open in abject shock.
"Whoa," Xander came to a complete stop as he just hovered in the lower atmosphere of Earth. He couldn't take the future talk anymore on Atlantis so had just teleported here, probably leaving a very confused pair of doctor's in his wake, but he needed to see this all for himself.
"What happened?" He whispered, staring down at where Sunnydale used to be. Only it wasn't there anymore, none of it. The entire town had been wiped off the map and replaced with... it took him a minute to recognise it but once the shock wore off he grinned and shot down to the right altitude.
It was a lake, Sunnydale was a great lake. He grinned at the sight of it, the lush greenery growing around it and the sheer size of the lake with rivers running in and out of it to the sea. It was just stunning, and there, right in the middle of the lake was Oa.
It was the same city he had seen when looking for OA. The same spirals, the same soft grey buildings, the same lines and hexagonal designs, only now, with the water around in and the sunlight gleaming on it, it just looked amazing.
"What happened?" He muttered, forcing himself to land on the lakeside so he could just take in the view for a moment.
"You did,"
Xander span around as he recognised a familiar voice from behind him. "Giles," He grinned, turning around to see his mentor simply hanging there in the air, surrounded by a soft golden glow. "Uh, The yellow ring, it's not..."
"It's perfectly safe," Giles smiled at him as he came down and landed beside Xander. "You taught me, or will teach me, how to control it. Control my fears so to speak."
"I taught you?" Xander grinned.
"Yes, well," Giles chuckled slightly and started polishing his glasses. "So, you told me you would be here, though I must confess, I never actually believed you about the future, even when everything you said would happen came true."
"So, you know everything?" Xander asked, it made sense and was sort of calming in a way to know that he did get back to his own timeline and could tell Giles about all of this.
"I know," Giles smiled softly at him. "Just as you know that I won't tell you what is to come," Giles carried on, ignoring the teen's objections. "You asked me too, before... well, before. Some things you can't change Xander, and others you might make worse."
"I can see that," Xander quipped. "This looks like a paradise." He grinned as he saw three more bright green lights fly down from space where they went down to fly into the city. "The corps?"
"A work in progress," Giles smiled. "Jack is doing good work with them, along with the other trainers."
"So, where am I then? Out dealing with cosmic bad guys? Relaxing on a beach?" Xander stopped when Giles frowned at him. "What? Come on Giles, spill. I'm not dead am I?"
"No," Giles smiled slightly. "The last communication we heard from you, you said you would be returning in two months."
"Returning?" Xander frowned. "Where from? Doctor Weir said they heard from me that they were needed here."
"They were," Giles nodded. "We do still need them, even though the fight is over, we will still need the power of Atlantis to help out while you and Clark are away."
"Clark?" Xander questioned, and then frowned as Giles' waving his hand dismissively. "Oh come on," He groused, wanting to know so much about his future but not being told the answers was definitely starting to bug him now. "At least tell me where I am, the other me I mean, some other galaxy? Exploring space? Where?"
"You're on Earth," Giles smiled slightly as he gave in to Xander's questioning. "Just not this one."
"Another dimension?" Xander grinned. "So that's what Doctor Zal... whatever was talking about. We've been dealing with other dimensions?"
"Well, this is only the second time so to speak," Giles smiled. "But neither times have been what you would call pleasant."
"So I'm there, exploring this other earth?" Xander grinned wider. That definitely sounded like fun to him, especially if he knew that there were the Corps here to protect Earth.
"For a while," Giles smiled, not wanting to tell him the rest about him being trapped there for some time. There were some things that he did need to keep secret from the young man, so as not to adversely affect the timeline when he went back.
"So," Xander grinned. "Buffy's engaged, Willow graduated... from where?" He shook his head in frustrated when Giles just frowned at him. "Oh come on, give me something here. I was sent here for a reason, obviously to change something, so what gives Giles, what's happened that's so bad?"
"Perhaps I should show you," Giles said finally, standing up and then taking off so he was a few feet above ground level.
"Finally," Xander nodded as he did the same, following Giles as they flew out towards the main city.
"The world changed you know," Giles explained as he flew on. "You wrote it all down, the changes from The Crisis. Only you, Jenny and Faith could see them, the rest of us, we were affected."
"What changes?" Xander asked, picking up his speed so he could fly along next to Giles.
"When the Crisis happened, the dimensions collapsed. You three weren't here at the time, I believe you called it 'Hypertime'." Giles continued to explain. "But because you were outside of normal time when it happened. You three were unaffected by the change."
"What change?" Xander asked again, trying to wrap his head around the concept of collapsing dimensions.
"You'll see," Giles smiled at him as they approached the city, there were no shields up so the two just flew directly to the main tower and landed softly on one of the empty balconies. "Xander, I must stress, this will be difficult for you, there have been many changes in the past year, not all of them good."
"I'll adjust," Xander said firmly as he pushed past Giles' hand and walked through the doorway.
"Oh man, am I glad to see you!" Xander could barely get a thought in when a red blur attacked him, hugging him tightly and then just as quick the blur was gone, back to where he had originally been by a control panel. "Where's Clark? Is he with you? Did something happen? Did..."
"Bart!" Giles' shout quickly silenced whatever else the young man had to say. "Please, do slow down, I will explain everything in due course, but Clark is not back yet, nor are we expecting him back for another two months."
"But Kara..." Bart started to protest but was shot down by a very effective glare coming from Giles.
"We are just on our way to see her ourselves." Giles said patiently. "Now, have we heard any more from Faith?"
"Not yet," Bart sort of blurred for a second before he reappeared next to Giles holding a stack of papers. "Last report said she was trying to make contact with this bat demon thing down in Gotham."
"And when was that?" Giles asked, leafing through the papers quickly looking for dates.
"A little over a week ago sir," Bart said softly.
"Then I suggest you go and check on her," Giles smiled as he pointed out of the window. "I will take care of things here while you help Faith in Gotham."
"Field trip," Bart grinned before blurring again and reappearing next to Xander, this time clothed in bright red with a stylised lightning bolt design on his chest and arms. "Gotta say, great to have you back man. Knew Anubis couldn't keep you down." He grinned for a second before he was gone in a blur of red light, leaving his slipstream to rush through the main building.
"What the..." Xander looked on in amazement, trying to see where the young man had gone but by the time he had turned around, the man had simply vanished, leaving only a wake of waves on the lake that were slowly dissipating as proof of where he had gone.
"Bart," Giles smiled. "You'll get used to him. Lord knows I have had to." Xander grinned as he continued to follow Giles out of the room and down a small staircase. "As I said, things have changed."
"Yeah," Xander nodded. "We've got speedsters as well now? What else, New Gods... Wait, Gotham, as in Gotham City?" Xander came full stop as Giles nodded to him. "Faith's checking out the Batman?"
"I'm afraid so," Giles nodded sombrely as he continued to walk down. "As I said, when the Crisis happened, dimensions were merged. We don't know precisely how many dimensions there were originally, nor how many merged into this one. As you, Faith and Jenny were the only ones who could catalogue the changes; we were left to go on only your memories of what used to be against what is."
"And that was a waste of a perfectly good explanation," Xander quipped as he jogged up to see where Giles had stopped on a gangway overlooking a great hall. "Whoa," He exclaimed, looking down at all the people beneath him.
There were Green Lantern's there, dozens of them. Some aliens he hadn't even seen before were there wearing the uniform proudly.
"The refugee area," Giles said with a smile. "Anubis, whom Bart mentioned. When he opened the gateway, people and things bled through. We're trying to keep the peace until we find a way to get these people home."
"They're all..." Xander paused, letting the implications sink in. He looked around, now actually staring at individual people instead of the crowd.
"From other dimensions, yes, we've been able to calculate approximately fifty dimensions are left. The people here have come through from various dimensions though, not just one." Giles explained, looking down at the crowd.
"Wow," Xander breathed out, he could make out people he definitely recognised there.
"Their home dimension, what changes occurred in the timeline, those sorts of things. I believe there is even a different version of you here somewhere," Giles chuckled as Xander whipped around to look through the crowd again. "He's helping out somewhere at the moment, his distinct gifts as a Time Lord are helping him to access the Ancient database here for General Carter."
Xander just stared in awe as Giles waved his hand over a door and opened it for them before closing it behind them. "It is quite a sight," Giles chuckled. "I remember the first week after the fight, when we started to notice them. I didn't believe it at first myself either."
"It's just..." Xander struggled to find the words as he thought back to everything he had just seen. The Corps there, helping out, keeping the peace between the dimensionally stranded people. It was more than he could ever had expected.
"Gibbs," Giles smiled, nodding at the man by the door they were heading for.
"Giles," The man nodded back in respect, he was wearing the Green Lantern uniform as well, standing proud outside the door, the Green Lantern ring on his finger shining brightly as he stood guard.
"Leroy Gibbs," Giles introduced the two. "A friend of your fathers. Jack brought him in to help with the trainees and to help with the Ori crisis."
"Nice to meet you," Xander smiled, holding out his hand for Gibbs to shake.
"Same, again," Gibbs nodded, shaking Xander's hand and looking at Giles for an explanation.
"Later," Giles nodded as he opened the door. "It's a long story."
"Then you can tell me later, you're buying." Gibbs smiled as Giles walked by and motioned for Xander to follow him.
"Later, and I'm buying." Giles nodded with a smile as the doors closed behind him.
"Buffy!" Xander shouted, darting forward to where he could see Buffy lying in a hospital bed next to another blonde woman. Both were badly beaten and bruised and neither seemed to be moving at all.
"Xander," Giles shouted, running forward to catch the young man. "She is alright, she's just resting."
"What happened?" Xander shouted, twirling round to face Giles. "Who did this?" He practically screamed in Giles face, emerald energy now flashing around him in anger.
"Anubis," A quiet voice came from behind him, causing Xander to twirl around to see who it was. "Xander, it's been a while."
"And you are?" Xander shot back, his eyes looking over the young man that seemed so protective of Buffy. He was a bit older than Xander was now, maybe in his early twenties. With short cropped hair marine style and a casual dress sense.
"Jon," The young man answered, holding his hand out. "So this is it huh? The future time you told us about?"
"Guess so," Xander nodded, the anger starting to seep away as he shook the young man's hand and noticed the engagement ring Buffy's finger for the first time. "Buffy's boyfriend?"
"Fiancé," The man corrected with a sly grin.
"And the other woman?" Xander asked, looking at the thin blonde next lying next to her. Only on this bed, there was an open window behind her, letting bright sunlight stream in, and various lamps around her that seemed to be simulating sunlight.
"Kara," Giles said with a small smile. "Buffy gave her her ring to help defeat Anubis." Giles explained. "When she couldn't, she came here to find you."
"Is he..." Xander frowned, the anger starting to come back as he thought of getting revenge on the person that had done this to his best friend.
"Taken care of," Jon smiled at him. "You kicked his ass through the multiverse, that's how we're stuck with the refugees."
"I caused that?" Xander asked in shock.
"Kinda," Jon said sheepishly. "Anubis had the portal open; you just kinda ripped it when you tore through it to get to him."
"Did we?" Xander asked, getting more and more curious about what had happened as time moved on.
Jon just shrugged as he turned to Giles. "I believe so," Giles answered. "In your first communication, you said that your friends on the other side of the dimensional rift were able to help you remove Anubis from Clark."
"He was possessing someone?" Xander asked, memorising the name Anubis to look up when he got home, he must have been some sort of high ranking demon to have been able to do this to a Slayer, especially one with a Green Lantern ring.
"Clark," Another voice came from the shadows on a walkway above, causing everyone to stare up at him.
"Angel," Both Xander and Jon snarled out together. "What are you doing here?" Xander continued, stepping forward so he was covering Buffy's unconscious body with his own, he briefly smiled as he felt Jon do the same behind him.
"Heard you were back," Angel continued, not moving from his spot in the shadows. "Never got a chance to thank you for your help last year."
"My help?" Xander asked in disbelief, a bit taken back that he would do anything to help Angel. As Giles has said, a lot of things much have changed in the years since he returned to his normal time. "So, what do you want?"
"To see if Buffy is alright," Angel said softly.
"She'll make it," Jon replied harshly. "Not that you were there to help out when we needed you."
"I had my own battles," Angel shot back, ignoring the young man. "As you well know." He said, looking Xander directly in the eye. "You're not him, you smell the same, but you're not Harris."
"Same guy," Xander shot back, hovering upwards to meet Angel's glare at his own level. "Different vintage."
"Buffy thought you were crazy," Angel said, finally getting the subtext. "You're really you, from before."
"Yeah," Xander nodded. "So I don't know what you've been doing, what's happened or why I would help you. Hell, the last time I saw you, I was sending you to... well, hell. So how the hell did you get back out of the pit?"
"I was pulled out," Angel said. "Saved by someone, something." Angel paused, looking down at the two blondes lying unconscious down in the medical bay. "Is Kara going to be alright?" He asked, genuine concern on his face.
"She will," Another voice came from the gangway as an alien walked into view from the shadows. His Green Lantern uniform displayed proudly under a white lab coat as he walked over, his ring sparking restless energy with every step. "It will just take time; she received a hell of a beating." The alien continued. "Stirling," The alien said by way of introduction, holding one of its clawed hands out for Xander to shake.
"Xander," Xander nodded as he shook the hand of the alien, it, he was lizardlike, with two folded wings on its back that flowed down the back of his uniform. The skin was a pale blue, almost translucent with shades of shining purple and green.
"It's a pleasure," Stirling smiled, baring a grin of scarily sharp teeth. "Jack recruited me, but I've never had the pleasure before."
"Pleasure's mine," Xander smiled back. "Doctor?"
"Field medic," Stirling nodded. "I help out when I'm planetside, when I'm not on patrol of course." Stirling added the last part quickly as he smiled sheepishly towards Xander.
"Hey, you're help is more than welcome here," Xander nodded before turning back to Angel. "So you have your answers," He frowned, wondering exactly what had happened between him and Angel.
Angel just nodded before moving off back into the shadows. "Watch your back Xander," Angel said quietly as he moved to leave the room. "When you get back, thing's aren't exactly what they appear in Sunnydale."
"Cryptic much," Xander frowned as Angel left the room. "Guy never changes." He muttered as he turned back to Stirling. "So," He smiled, nodding down to Giles who had moved to the doorway and was talking to the Green Lantern guard there. "How'd you get recruited into all this anyway?" He asked as he followed the alien out of the room.
"I'm just about to leave for patrol," Stirling smiled again, baring those frightening teeth at Xander. "Fancy joining up?"
"Love too," Xander smiled back as he watched the lizardlike alien hang up his lab coat on the nearest wall. "Where we heading?"
"Oh you know," Stirling smiled. "The usual." He grinned over before taking off out of the nearest open door and over the balcony in a green blast of energy.
"The usual?" Xander shouted after him as he dove out of the window to follow. "What's the usual?"
"What... hold on..." Xander frowned as he pulled to a stop behind Stirling just off the coast of New York. The flight over had been pretty interesting, Stirling recounting some of his adventures since he had joined the Corps, fighting the Goa'uld and other various enemies. Where his home planet came from, and how the Crisis had set his race free from their own imprisonment.
"What, what's wrong?" Stirling called back, pulling himself to a stop a few dozen yards in front of Xander. "You see something?"
"Uh, no, but we're patrolling New York?" Xander asked in disbelief. "Out in the open, you know, flying around?"
"Just like always," Stirling nodded. "Standard patrol, we go in, patrol for an hour or so, then report back to base."
"And people are alright with this, with... well, you?" Xander asked, a bit in disbelief at the thought of how people would react to seeing aliens like Stirling about in the open. On a subconscious level, he's already realized that people must have accepted aliens existing; the giant alien city floating in the Sunnydale lake gave credence to that idea.
"Sure," Stirling nodded. "Are you sure you're alright Ion?" He asked, hanging in mid air and waiting for Xander to respond.
"Yeah," Xander smiled, shaking off the future shock. "It's just... it's nothing, come on, race you down there." He grinned before taking off down towards New York harbour in a flash of emerald light, laughing as he looped around the Statue of Liberty before blasting off towards the main city with Stirling in close pursuit.
"Woo hoo!" Xander screamed as he shot down Fifth Avenue high above the street, his emerald glow lighting up the various buildings around him as he spiralled around in the air and pulled himself to a stop. "This is amazing." He grinned, noticing a few people staring up at him and waving he simply waved back, smiling as they smiled at him before continuing on their day.
"You don't patrol much anymore?" Stirling asked as he came up to hover beside Xander. "I mean, I know working with Atlantis takes up a lot of your time and all, but still..."
"Yeah, it's just... people accepting this all, I'd never get tired of this." Xander grinned, slowly lowering himself to street level. "They're actually happy to see us, not scared or running away or anything." Xander froze, looking in one of the shop windows. "You've got to be kidding me." He laughed before walking into the shop and smiling broadly. "Holiday destinations around the galaxy?"
"Yeah," Stirling smiled. "We've got a dozen or more humans on Dreaireegr prime, they love it there, something about Kamanza, our capitol. It's the crystal buildings, we even caught a few people trying to bring back crystal tech through the Stargate."
"You're kidding me," Xander frowned. "What happened?"
"We sent the tech back; the people responsible got a five year ban from 'Gate travel." Stirling explained. "We're just here to promote the peace, not enforce it. You said that remember."
"Yeah," Xander nodded. Memorizing that quote for later use, it wasn't really stealing the quote if he took it from himself in the future anyway. "So people do this, you know, go for holidays around the galaxy?"
"Oh yeah," Stirling nodded. "Hold on," He frowned. "Green Lantern nine, reporting in." He announced, holding his ring up before it started to display a young woman that Xander didn't recognise.
"Green Lantern nine, we are receiving reports of a bank robbery in progress on Twenty-Ninth avenue, orders are to apprehend and assist local enforcement." The holograph from the ring reported before dissipating back into the ether.
"Understood," Stirling nodded as he looked at his ring. "Ring, what is your current charge?"
"Ring charge at one hundred percent and stable," The ring reported, drawing a confused look from Stirling.
"Ring, check again." He muttered before turning to Xander. "I haven't been down to the central battery in days, been too busy with Buffy and Kara."
"Ring charge at one hundred percent, current full charge being held by relative distance from Ion." The ring reported.
"Huh," Stirling frowned, an expression that looked completely wrong on his lizardlike features. "You do that, charge the rings just by being around them?"
"Guess so," Xander nodded. "Shall we?" He smiled as he walked out of the shop, waving at the shop owner as he went. "You take the lead, first time in New York." Xander smiled, missing the confused look on Stirling's face before he took off and shot down the street.
"This is Green Lantern, put down your weapons and exit the building." Stirling shouted, using his ring to amplify his voice to it could be heard inside the bank.
"Glad you're here guys," One of the police officers smiled as he approached the two. "We weren't counting on it, but things sure as hell go a lot smoother when you guys are around."
"How's it looking?" Xander asked, feeling a bit out of place in this strange new world that he had somehow helped to build.
"Three guys, armed with semi automatics. They entered about an hour ago; we haven't heard anything since then." The policeman explained. "We were trying to open communications when we got the report that you guys were coming."
"Uh, ok," Xander smiled over, a bit unsure as to what to do next.
"Three primitive ballistic weapons?" Stirling asked, waiting for the policeman to decode what he had said before nodding slowly. "Fine, we'll be right back."
Xander was a bit taken aback by this as he watched Stirling simply walk towards the bank, his green shield flickering up and surrounding his body as he walked. "Uh, shouldn't we have a plan or something?" He asked, jogging forward to catch up with him.
"Why? These guys always surrender when you walk in, it's not like they can actually hurt us or anything." Stirling frowned. "Unless you want to take lead, I mean, it's your city."
"Uh, no, sure, go ahead," Xander said after a moment, a bit confused as to why he thought New York was his city.
"I mean seriously," Stirling muttered as he walked over, using a construct to rip the doors off the hinges. "Why do people try this anymore?" He frowned as he saw the three robbers over in the corner, each now pointing their guns at him. "I mean, don't you guys know who we are?"
"Uh hi," Xander grinned as he walked in behind Stirling.
"Open fire!" One of them men shouted, pulling back on the trigger of his weapon and unleashing a barrage of bullets towards the two Green Lanterns.
Stirling simply stood there and let the bullets bounce harmlessly off his shield, while Xander cringed for an instant before bringing up a large wall construct between the two. "Jesus," He muttered as the firing stopped. "Bullets bounce remember, we don't want any injuries here."
"There are none," Stirling explained. "If there were, the emergency services would take care of them once we left."
"That's not how we operate," Xander said firmly. "This may be new to me, but we don't let innocent people get hurt simply because it makes our job easier." He waved his hand, dissipating the wall before whipping out with three tendrils of green energy that ripped the guns out of the bank robbers' hands. "No casualties, that's how we operate. We're here to protect people, not let them get injured because of us."
"Sorry," Stirling frowned. "I guess... I mean, I'm not used to operating down here, I've only been transferred here recently, I normally operate out towards the P49 sector. We don't have ballistic weapons there; Zat'ni'katel's and staff weapons, maybe another type of energy weapon from time to time. No one else out there uses projectile weapons and energy weapons just get absorbed by our shields."
"When we get back, get someone to help you adjust then," Xander frowned as he sent out rope constructs to wrap around the robbers, rending them effectively harmless as they fell to the floor. "Giles should help, or Faith, hell I don't know, but get someone to help before you get someone down here killed."
"Understood," Stirling nodded sharply as Xander lifted the three robbers up on glowing green platforms and marched towards the main bank doors. "Look, I'm sorry alright, I just didn't think."
"We have to," Xander commented as he floated the robbers down in front of the police officers. "If we don't, then people die."
"Like the Goa'uld," Stirling shot back before taking off, leaving Xander to look after him.
"Wait up," Xander shouted, dissipating the bonds holding the robbers before taking off after Stirling. "What did you say? What happened to the Goa'uld?"
"Before or after you slaughtered them?" Stirling shot back. "You know what happened, you were there. You hunted them down, basically massacred them all. Made the galaxy a safer place, it's all in the history books."
"I did that?" Xander asked, hanging in the air in shock. "I couldn't... no, I wouldn't... what..." He paused in disbelief, watching as Stirling simply shot off into the atmosphere.
"Giles, what the hell happened?" Xander shouted as he walked into the control room in Oa. "What did I do?"
"I'm afraid I don't understand Xander," Giles said, walking down from the desk he was working on and across to Xander. "What exactly are you asking me to tell you?"
"For one, what happened to the Goa'uld, and why people seem to think I basically slaughtered them all." Xander spat out, dying to find out the explanation for this. "What gives Giles, what happened back there?"
"I... I think we should talk Xander," Giles frowned, nodding over to one of the technicians before walking towards the balcony. "Come on, I'll explain what I can."
"You'll explain everything G-man," Xander ground out as he walked after Giles, taking off from the balcony after Giles. "What happened, I mean, with the Goa'uld, what did I do?" He asked, flying alongside Giles as they shot over the lake.
"You slaughtered them," Giles said softly. "Declared war and then systematically took their hierarchy apart piece by piece. The system lords didn't stand a chance."
Xander just froze, hanging in mid air as he took in what Giles had just told him. "What... I... I..." Xander couldn't believe what he was hearing, basically being told that he was destined to be a mass murderer in the future, even if it was war, the Goa'uld were still alive, not something to be systematically destroyed like that.
"Though, we have discussed this in length before," Giles nodded as he hovered around in front of Xander, the yellow glow coming from Giles seemingly more comforting that when it had been coming from Ethan a few short days ago. "It wasn't your fault Xander; you have come to accept that."
"What, was I possessed or something?" Xander half joked, watching Giles closely for a reaction. "I was?" Xander asked, his jaw dropping as he received confirmation from Giles.
"It's... difficult to explain," Giles frowned, polishing his glasses. "It's not something that can be changed, but again, that is something that we have talked about at length before."
"Well we can talk about it again," Xander said firmly. "What was it, a vampire, some sort of demon, something I can fix?"
"Nothing like that," Giles shook his head softly. "Your own demons so to speak, you have told me about this conversation before, the one we are having right now. And you deliberately told me not to reveal what happened, it is something you will have to face on your own."
"And become a killer?" Xander asked, his voice full of spite. He just couldn't understand how he could become something like that, something so dark.
"You did what you had to," Giles said firmly, taking Xander by the shoulders. "Something you will understand shortly."
"Somehow I doubt that," Xander snorted, staring directly into Giles eyes. "I have enough nightmares in my life."
"You have no idea," Giles said softly as he released Xander and floated away from him. "We should go; I believe Baulder is trying some new equipment to integrate Ancient, Asgard and Kryptonian technology together."
"Wait, Kryptonian?" Xander frowned. "As in Superman... Clark," Xander frowned as he put it all together. "I'm working alongside Superman?"
"You keep calling him that," Giles chuckled slightly as he took off towards Oa slowly. "Though only you, Faith and Jenny seem to know what it means."
"I'll have to explain it sometime," Xander laughed. "Seriously though, Clark Kent, kryptonian. Can fly, heat vision, strongest man on earth?"
"Sounds like the Clark we had here," Giles nodded. "And his cousin Kara, they've both been a great help while you and Faith were in Atlantis."
"Whoa," Xander grinned. This knowledge was certainly worth all the headaches that time travel was causing, knowing that he was working alongside Superman, the Superman, the legend himself. "That's just... I can't explain how cool that is." Xander laughed as his grin threatened to split his head wide open.
"That's what you said the first time," Giles laughed.
"This is the first time for me," Xander smiled as they both came in to land on a balcony. "Jesus, Superman, Batman..." Xander laughed again as he thought back to the young man that had greeted them when he first arrived. "The Flash?"
"Bart?" Giles laughed. "You and Faith call him that, Clark seems to have nicknamed him Impulse."
Xander just laughed at that, drawing strange looks from the people around him. "Uh, Baulder right?" He asked, eying the small Asgard that was walking towards him.
"Indeed," The diminutive grey alien bowed his head slightly, his voice the same toneless gravelly voice that Thor had. "I wished to work on the main link today, though with Mr Kent not available, I need yours or Mister Giles pass codes to access the mainframe."
"Use mine," Giles said with a smile. "The sooner we can integrate the kryptonian technology into the database, the sooner we can try and find a cure to your cloning problem."
"Indeed," Baulder nodded. "The kryptonian database could hold invaluable knowledge to our cause."
"Wait, you're a Green Lantern?" Xander asked, finally spotting the green ring on the small alien's finger.
"Indeed," Baulder intoned.
Xander waited for a moment for Baulder to continue and then shrugged when he just stood there staring at him. "All right then," He quipped. "Do we have many alien members then?" He asked, turning to Giles.
"Some," Giles nodded as he followed Baulder down out of the main room and into a corridor. "Asgard, like Baulder joined up under the recommendation of Jack, while Sterling and the other Furling member, joined up when the Furling home planet rematerialized."
"Whoa," Xander paused in the corridor, looking into the room ahead where Baulder had opened the door. "Is that..."
"The central core," Giles nodded, smiling as Xander looked in awe at the giant green core that flooded up from the center of the room.
"It's amazing," Xander muttered, walking into the room and walking across to the catwalk that crossed over the entire room. "How far down does this thing go?" He asked, staring down and seeing if he could see the bottom of the giant column of contained swirling green energy.
"To the bottom," Giles explained. "You built it with Thor's assistance, a combination of your energy replenished with zero point energy in a self renewing state."
"You've got to write this down for me," Xander quipped as he held his hand out and felt the similar energy contained within the core single across his skin. "There's no way I'm going to figure that out when I get back there."
"You will," Giles chuckled as he typed in a few codes on the main access panel for Baulder. "Go ahead; you should have full access now."
"My thanks," Baulder commented. "I will leave a full report on your desk once I have finished my calculations."
"Thank you," Giles nodded as he walked out of the room. "You coming?" He asked, smiling over at Xander.
"Uh, yeah, sure," Xander nodded, barely able to take his eyes away from the swirling emerald energy that was contained in the center of the room. "You know, it kinda looks..."
"Like a warp core," Giles finished off as he closed the door behind them. "You've told me, on many occasions." Giles laughed as Xander looked a bit petulant for a moment before grinning.
"You know, this future thing isn't half bad," Xander laughed as they made their way through the corridors, he smiled and nodded at every human and alien wearing a Green Lantern uniform as they passed in the hallway.
