Getting To Know You
A/N: Disclaimer's in the first chapter. Despite the title, folks, we're finally out of the meet-n-greet stage, and other things begin to happen. Yay!
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June 23, Cascade
They arrived back in Cascade well after the usual dinner time, feeling rather exhausted. Well, Xander and Jon didn't have much energy, anyway. It'd be a few weeks before Xander's stamina recovered, and Jon was still in somewhat shaky shape thanks to a couple of weeks of out-of control senses. Xander made sure Jon applied the lotion to all his rashes again before they collapsed onto Xander's futon. The loft was definitely getting crowded, but fortunately they were only a couple days out from being able to move into the larger apartment on the first floor.
Blair was the only one making much noise, but that was due to him getting everyone drinks and getting their luggage tucked somewhere out of the way while they waited for the delivery of their dinner.
If Xander or Jon had stopped to think about it, they'd both have gotten just a bit wigged out about how comfortable they felt with each other, like they'd known each other and been friends all their lives. Thankfully, neither one of them was thinking about things like that at the moment. Actually, Jon was mostly thinking about Sunnydale, and wanting to go there to get a feel for the town. Find out where the trouble spots were, where the demons (and that thought just sort of snuck in there) tended to hang out, which ones were bad news (all of them was his vote), that sort of thing. His mind was already dancing with half-formed plans for defense and offense. It was equal parts a lifetime of training in the Air Force and Spec Ops, and Sentinel instincts that was driving that line of thought.
Xander was, ironically enough, thinking along similar lines, though his thoughts were more concerned with himself, getting back into shape and learning to defend himself from nasties than they were with general, town-wide stuff. He was also contemplating Jon, and just how little he knew about the guy even now, though the whole 'clone of a fifty-plus man' thing sucked big hairy fat ones. Seriously. That had to kind of screw with Jon's mind a lot. Well, Sunnydale would distract him from the suckiness quickly enough, that was for sure.
Shortly after they arrived, Jim pulled Jon aside to talk for a little while. Xander glanced at Blair.
"Why do I think we're both of us going to live to regret that?" He asked.
"Because they're not only both of them Sentinels, but they're both military, and special forces military at that." Blair said. "And because Jim's got it in his head that you need to be as trained as it's possible to get you in the next couple months in order to survive Sunnydale. And he's probably going to drag me into it, because the good only knows I've gotten into some hairy spots over the last year."
"We're doomed." Xander said, sighing melodramatically, which made Blair laugh.
"At least they'll have to go slow at first, thanks to you being only just healed up." Blair pointed out. "And there's not enough time for either of them to get it into their heads to, well, give you the benefit of all their training, if you know what I mean."
Xander was afraid he did. He had no idea what sort of training special forces types got in the military, but his overactive brain was coming up with all sorts of scary scenarios.
If either of them had known exactly what Jon and Jim were up to, they'd both of them have run for cover.
"So." Jim said as he parked himself on a bench. He'd taken Jon to a nearby park where they could talk without being overheard, especially since it was after dark. Technically they really shouldn't have been there, but no one was going to question Jim too closely. He was a cop, after all. "Xander wants to go to Sunnydale, and you've agreed to it. Which means we need to get him up to some sort of speed so he stands half a chance of surviving that mess."
Jon snorted as he sat down beside Jim. "Tell me about it. I've got vague plans for dealing with that place running already, but I don't know enough about the town to come up with something concrete. I'll get a better idea once I've scouted the place." He fully planned on at least trying to guilt some SGC weaponry out of the older half, if nothing else.
Jim snorted in amused agreement. You could take the man out of the military, but almost never the other way around. "Right, that leaves us with figuring out what to teach the kid while you're both here."
"No martial arts." Jon said almost instantly. "Except maybe Krav Maga. Everything else is just about worthless, at least against what he'll be facing." Krav Maga was all about ending the threat as fast and efficiently as possible, by whatever means necessary. Other martial arts, while effective in self-defense, played 'nicely'. That is, they had rules of engagement, and things you weren't to do because it wasn't sporting. Krav Maga didn't give a shit.
"Agreed." Jim said. "And Krav Maga has the additional benefit of teaching folks to use anything at hand to kick ass and take names." Which was a very good thing when you're up against something that's trying its level best to kill you. Other martial arts focused on made-to-purpose weapons, not how to use whatever happened to be lying around. "So we teach him to handle knives, staffs, billy clubs, that sort of thing."
"And guns." Jon's voice was hard and tight. "I doubt they'll ever actually use any, because they're all underage, but they need to know how to handle them if they come across them."
"A modified SERE course wouldn't hurt, either." Jim wisely ignored the sudden tension in Jon's voice. There was a story there, he was sure, but he wasn't going to pry. Not his business. "So he doesn't freak out of he ever gets grabbed by something that doesn't eat him right away again. And it'll teach him to be able to handle himself in the woods if he needs to." Jim snorted. "And I just might drag Blair into all this as well. He's going to end up needing it. Hell, he's already needed it, and not had it."
Jon nodded. "We're going to have to do most of this after dark. He mentioned that's when the bogies come out to hunt, which means that's when he and his friends are running around. Teaching him to do this in the light of day only won't do him any favors."
Jim nodded in agreement. "I think we ought to try to get that gal friend of his, Willow, in on this. If they're going to be doing this, they need to be ready. And Buffy, though I've got the feeling she's already got some sort of training under her belt." There'd been something in the way she'd threatened to deal with Xander's attackers and the way she held herself that made him think she could back up the threat, despite her size.
"And it'll give him someone his age to grouse at about how mean we're being." Jon said with an amused snort. "Since you and I won't exactly be his favorite people at first."
Jim snorted in amused agreement. "There is that." He leaned back. "I plan on getting some stuff from the Army Surplus." Some good, sturdy boots, if there were any that weren't pre-worn. Maybe an old tac vest, so Xander could carry a bunch of stuff without having to worry about it too much. Definitely some knives. He'd have to see what was on offer.
"Good idea. At the very least, the stuff's built to take a beating." Jon agreed. "Which is more than can be said for civilian equipment.
"Better wait for all this until everything's moved. Thank goodness there's three rooms. We're going to be packing folks in, if we get both girls here." Jim said. While some part of him disliked the idea, having been a fairly solitary man until rather recently, there was another part of him that rather liked the idea … the Sentinel part. After all, way back when, tribe members had tended to live in fairly close quarters, and having his 'tribe' that close made it far easier for a Sentinel to protect them. Even if most of the group wasn't, in all actuality, his tribe, but Jon's.
Not that Jon was any less pleased than Jim about the idea. He definitely liked the idea of getting to know Willow and Buffy, whom he'd heard about, if only briefly. Giles … there was going to be a bit of friction there. Mostly because Jon thoroughly disapproved of the fact that the man hadn't even tried to teach Xander and Willow basic self defense when it became clear they were in the demon hunting business for keeps. That was just plain stupid on a level that generally got a lot of people needlessly killed, and Jon very much did not approve of it.
"We can use the basement of the building for a training area … most of it's not being used, so it wouldn't take much to get it set up over the next couple days." Jim continued. "Some mats and dummy weapons."
With a plan more or less set, the two men headed back to the loft.
"Xander, call those friends of yours in the morning. See if they're willing to come by, start of next week, to start training with you. No reason not to include them, and a whole ton or reasons supporting the idea." Jim said.
Xander cocked his head for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure Willow will be all for it. Buffy … is going to be a bit of a harder sell." Mostly because she was the Slayer, and not only did that gig come with the whole 'keep it secret' thing, it also came with heightened reflexes and extra strength, which she was understandably leery of letting loose with around normal people. But Xander figured Jim could handle it. And while Giles may have been training Buffy, he was no Army Ranger. Or Air Force Spec Ops, for that matter. Jim and Jon just had to have fighting skills that Giles simply didn't.
The next morning (Xander had insisted on taking the couch, now that he was healed up and they needed a fourth sleeping spot.), they all rolled out of bed, and then Xander made his calls.
June 27, Cascade
Xander waited until Jim and Blair went to work to call Buffy. Mostly because this conversation was going to bring up the whole Slayer thing, if only for the reason that Jim and Jon would need to be told about it, and he didn't want to get into that argument when Jim was in hearing range. Well, he hoped Jim wasn't still in hearing range clear at the precinct, anyway!
It took him the best part of an hour to convince Buffy, both of the necessity of telling Jim and Jon, and of the prudence in training with a couple of guys who knew some hardcore fighting skills. They might never have had to deal with demons, but Xander was very sure that Buffy could easily translate the moves to something she could use on any given demon. Willow had been far easier to convince. Xander's barely gotten the request out before she was agreeing. Both girls had agreed to arrive on the twenty-seventh, giving everyone in Cascade time to get everything moved.
The new apartment was mostly settled, with just a few boxes left to unpack. For the moment, Jim and Blair were rooming together, as were Xander and Jon, while Buffy and Willow got the third room. There wasn't much room to spare in each bedroom, but it'd do until the end of summer, when it would be reduced to just Jim and Blair again.
Now, Jim, Blair, Xander and Jon were at the airport. Jon was sticking very, very close to Xander, but that had more to do with the fact it'd been less than a week since they'd met and his senses weren't anywhere near under complete control yet, and this was a very, very … chaotic environment. Xander was making good use of his tendency to babble, and muttering under his breath in a constant stream of chatter that wasn't really aimed at anyone or any one subject, but that Jon was focusing on in an effort to hear what he was saying just in case he did say something important. It was a surprisingly effective way of blocking out the worst of the noise, at any rate, which reduced the amount of stress Jon was dealing with considerably.
And then the two girls were bulling their way through the crowds. Willow, spotting a splint-less Xander, temporarily forgot herself and the fact that he was injured, and damn near knocked him flat on his back when she jumped at him and hugged him. Half a second later, she realized what she thought was an error, and backed off, babbling a mile a minute.
"Relax, Willow. I'm fine. All healed up. Jim and Jon have some pretty awesome friends." Xander told them.
"So you're Jon?" Willow asked, eyeing Jon. Xander had filled her and Buffy in on that when he'd called them. Well, not the clone thing, but just that Jon was a Sentinel.
"Nice at meetcha." Jon offered a hand to both girls, luggage was gathered, and they all headed back to the apartment, Jon sighing in relief when they were finally clear of the worst of the racket from the airport.
Once the girls had put their stuff in their bedroom, Jim corralled everybody to the basement, where he'd set up a good-sized area to train in.
"Right. Everybody knows the deal with Sunnydale. Giles may have been ok with letting two of you not get some sort of defense training, but I'm not. So all three of you are going to be getting some serious training, so you've got a better chance at surviving that place. Jon and I're going to be teaching you as much as we can over the next couple months."
"Ummm." Buffy said. "Before you go getting all gung ho … Giles has been training me." She hesitated for a long moment, eyeing the room. "I'm the Slayer."
Jim didn't so much as blink at that news. "Well then, we'll start with you, see where you're at, since Xander and Willow are more or less going to have to start at the beginning."
Buffy grimaced. "I don't really think … "
Jim snorted. "I was a Ranger, Buffy. Trust me when I say I can handle you."
Buffy snorted. "Just remember you said that later."
That was the signal for everybody else to get clear of the area covered in mats. Both Buffy and Jim did some highly abbreviated stretching. Xander, watching them, could see both of them getting their game faces on. Well, he assumed that was Jim's game face, anyway. Buffy's he'd seen enough to recognize.
They circled each other for a bit before Buffy decided to try something. Her first few attacks were very tentative, as if she was deeply afraid of hurting Jim. Jim treated the half-assed attacks with the contempt they deserved, and aimed a far more brutal strike at Buffy's side. Blocking that seemed to kick the half-pint into gear, because she started coming at him faster and harder.
She was insanely fast. Beyond anything that a normal human could manage. She was also damn strong. Unfortunately, whatever training she had was for shit, because she really didn't quite seem to know what to do with either advantage. Sure, the hits she got in hurt like hell, but she wasted a lot of time and effort flailing around to no real purpose. She had the potential to be one seriously kick-ass fighter, though, if she'd accept instruction.
Jim finally called a halt to the spar. "Not bad, all things considered." He told her.
Buffy huffed. "Not bad?"
"You're stong, and insanely fast." Jim said. "And with the right training, you'd be a menace the likes of which nobody's seen in a long time, but whatever Giles has been teaching you, it's not doing you any good."
Buffy huffed. "All right then, Mr. Smarty Pants, if you know so much … "
Jim waved a finger at her. "None of that, girl. First thing's first, and this goes for all three of you. Kicking is a last resort. I may not be fast enough to grab Buffy's leg, but I'm betting there's demons out there who could, and I know I could catch a normal person trying to kick me. And if someone grabs your leg when it's in the air, you're up shit creek without a paddle. So keep the feet on the ground as much as possible. Second rule … aim for any weak spot you can find. Joints, eyes, and necks are always a good bet, even with critters that aren't human. Might not kill them but it will damn sure slow them down a lot. And that goes for vamps as well as the other stuff. A stake through the heart might be the traditional way to off the bastards, but there's always the chance of missing the heart. Slicing their heads off … is a far safer bet, and has the advantage of keeping you a bit further away from their teeth, since you have to get close to get the leverage needed to push something like a stake through someone's chest."
Well, that was common sensible enough, Xander thought.
"Third thing, you lot are going to hate me within the next few days. We're going to be working on a fitness regimen. And working a lot of nights, to get you all used to doing this sort of thing in the dark. Hopefully, by the time you go back to Sunnydale, you'll be a force to be reckoned with."
Xander could quite easily get behind that, even if he'd hate getting there.