A/N Ok, we are nearing the home stretch now. What started out as a one shot to help me articulate some of my issues with the show and the treatment of the characters has turned into a full on story.
In the one shot the Scoobies were broken apart by revelations made by the goddess Epione, a goddess of suffering and the soothing of pain. In the next chapters, each member of the group identified and began to correct their basic problems.
Giles is no longer oblivious to the harm his actions and inactions cause and has begun trying to correct his mistakes, reaching out to both Alex and Faith.
Willow has begun to realize her brain does not make her judgement infallible and her use of magic has been questionable.
Faith has begun to open up and to realize people really can and do care for and about her.
Buffy has begun to realize she is not the center of the group, but a part of it.
Wesley and Angel's reaction have not been covered and that is on purpose. Wesley at this point was a pompous, arrogant ass, while Angel was never really part of the group, just tolerated for Buffy's sake. As canon Xander put it, "Angel is our friend, even if we don't like him." Sums it up it doesn't it.
As for Alex and Cordelia, they have reconnected and are stronger than ever, realizing their love for one another and ready to face the future together. Plus he is starting to stand up for himself.
So now is the time to bring them back together and the beginning of making them a team, not just a group of individuals that happen to work together.
In the next chapter they will be introduced to Amelia and we will learn more about her and her specialties and how she can help them.
We will learn about Alex's potential abilities and what being an Avatar means.
In an earlier note I stated that the list of abilities is being taken from The Percy Jackson wiki. That wiki lists 7 potential abilities an Avatar of Janus could have. For the purpose of this fic, I will be using only 5 of them; portal manipulation, probability manipulation, lie detecting, chronokineses, (which is the ability to speed up or slow down time in a limited area. I am picturing this to act like Piper Hallawell's power on the original Charmed) and the ability to protect doorways, thresholds, gateways etc. Earlier I hinted that 2 of these abilities might even have been something canon Xander had. Those 2 would be the probability manipulation – would explain those improbable victories if he was accidentally bending the odds in their favor – and the lie detecting, which is an ability that can be extrapolated out to include the ability to see through lies, illusions, glamours and the false fronts people put on. Might be why canon Xander was so good at pep talks, as well being able to convince Angel and Angelus, as well as Jack, to do what he wanted them to do, he could 'see' what it would take to convince them. As well as Caleb's 'The One Who Sees' application.