Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy or Angel, quite obviously.
As is often the case for me and my fics, I write with a tendency to assume that the reader is familiar with, while not every detail of the episode I'm writing an AU version of, the broad beats thereof, and thus I don't include scenes that happened in the show unchanged, even ones where the POV character would be, unless there's something useful to add.
Thanks to lilykep for their assistance and beta-reading.
Next Year's Girl
By Kylia
Chapter 10: Unaccounted For Intrusion
November 28th, 2000
Hyperion Hotel, Los Angeles
"Who did I kill?"
Xander stared at the former vampire, sitting on the couch, watching him. He inhaled sharply, the desire to punch the blonde woman present, but not overwhelming, at least.
She's human, she's human, if I punch too hard, I might kill her. Maybe unlikely, but possible. And -
It wouldn't bring Jesse back, and as long as she was human - she couldn't really be held accountable for her actions as a vampire.
Of course, she's actively seeking out being a vampire, like Buffy's friend Ford. He turned out to be pretty fucking evil too. Not just wanting to be a vamp, but willing to feed a whole bunch of idiot kids to vamps. And Buffy. Sure, he wanted to note die, and Xander could respect that, but not that far.
Darla, at least, didn't seem to be doing that, but Xander couldn't tell if it was a lack of desire, or a lack of opportunity.
Her tone, as she said she knew that look, as she asked who she killed - wasn't as mocking as Xander had imagined.
Because he had imagined this. What he'd say to Darla, when he found her. His 'Hello, My Name is Inigo Montoya' moment. He'd imagined her asking why he wanted her dead - even if Darla remembered Jesse, she wouldn't likely connect him to the 'woman' she was seeing.
He'd imagined her asking with scorn, because obviously she was evil and not remorseful and hopefully a vampire by then and then he could dust her.
She didn't really sound remorseful here, but she sure didn't sound scornful either, not disdainful or really... anything.
Just tired. Tired, exhausted and resigned.
"My best friend. Jesse. One day, he was alive, then you found him in the Bronze, took him back with you, turned him and I had to stake him." Xander finally said. "And if it wasn't for the inconvenient fact that you're human now and have a soul, I'd love to stake you for it." Cordelia focused on Darla, ignoring everything else. The ex-vampire stayed seated, arms around her torso, looking back at him, unflinching.
Again it was more... resigned, than defiant.
"Since Angel refuses to save me, you'll get your wish to see me die sooner or later," Darla murmured. "Bronze. You mean that club, in Sunnydale."
"Yeah. You took him the first night Buffy was in Sunnydale." Xander looked at her. It was amazing how Darla didn't look as young as she had the handful of times he'd seen her - glimpsed her, really. A change of clothes and hair really did it, apparently. She'd been able to pass as a High School student, and now? She didn't look the part at all. "Buffy tried to stop you, but instead you turned him. A trap. Didn't work."
Darla paused for a moment. "I remember. It was just before the Harvest."
"Good." Xander growled. "I'd hate to dust you for something you forgot you did. If I get the chance. Keep in mind what I said. Do anything I don't like, and bye-bye the bones in your legs."
He turned away, not wanting to hear her try to apologize - sincerely or not - if she was inclined to. She did have a soul again, and from what they'd seen at that place the lawyers had put her up in, with all the broken mirrors -
She was dealing with guilt over what she'd done. But her solution was to lose the guilt by losing the soul, and stay... well, not alive, but not dead dead.
So maybe she'd apologize, maybe she wouldn't. Either way, Xander didn't want to hear it.
"Jesse got turned into a vampire?! You staked him?" Cordelia hissed, coming up behind him. "I mean - I always figured he ended up a Sunnydale statistic, once I found out vampires were a thing but-"
Cordelia came around looking at him. "The first night Buffy was in Sunnydale?"
"That's when he got taken. Dusted the next day." Xander answered. "I'm surprised you remember him." Cordelia never had the time of day for Jesse - apart from calling him a creep and telling him to go away. She'd always sought out Willow to pick on, and she'd sought him out for the same reason, though Xander had always fought back, but Jesse? Never.
Granted, he was... Jesse's crush on Cordelia had always been doomed, Xander had told him that more than once, Willow had, and - it had never gotten through. And he -
"Of course I do. The creep stalked me for like a year!" Cordelia pointed out, and Xander inhaled sharply again, biting his lower lip, slipping his hands in his pockets and - "I'm not saying he deserved to get turned into a vampire," Cordelia said, either not noticing or not caring about Xander's reaction "but -"
She's not wrong, but for god's sake Cordelia can you not speak ill of the dead for five fucking seconds?!
"He nearly fed off you." Xander interrupted. "Remember that 'gang takeover' of the Bronze, right after Buffy came to town?"
Cordelia blinked, stared, and then her eyes widened. "So that really was vampires. Because of course it was. It was always vampires in Sunnyhell. I wondered, after the whole thing at Spring Fling, but then summer and I never got to ask." She looked away, past Xander, out into the hotel's front garden.
"Sometimes it wasn't vampires. Sometimes it's demons, or witches making you blind so you fail the driver's test." Xander pointed out. "Or an invisible girl we all ignored going homicidal. The Hellmouth - the gift that never stops giving." He'd actually saved Cordelia from Jesse. At the time he'd kind of wondered if it was a bad trade-off. But once he'd really gotten it through his head that Jesse died the moment he was vamped...
Well.
Cordelia had her bright spots. A lot of them. Even then, even if he hadn't really noticed them at the time.
"I... I don't know how I forgot. He pinned me down and -" Cordelia paused, then let out a breath. "And you staked him?"
"Yeah." By accident. Which had somehow made it worse. "And I kinda figured that was it. And yet here's Darla, and she was a vampire who got dusted, so go figure." Just like Angel was a vampire who got a pass because he had a soul.
Jesse had never had that chance, and Xander still resented that, just a little.
"Well, Darla was brought back by evil lawyers with some crazy ritual written on ancient scrolls, and they couldn't even bother to cure her syphilis, so I'm not sure that's really all that much of a win." Cordelia pointed out. Which Xander had to grant was a good point, but -
"I thought you agreed with Angel that the evil lawyers were playing mind games."
"Well, I don't trust Wolfram and Hart or Darla as far as I can throw her, but it would be nice if she's dying." Cordelia shrugged. "Especially if it's soon. Then we can get Angel back to normal instead of risking all our lives with his stupid -"
"Obsession with saving her?"
"Obsession with her in general. And I'm still not convinced he's not going to make a mistake and give himself a moment of perfect happiness, and then where will we be? It'll be either stake him or call Willow and hope she can give him his soul back." Cordelia shook her head, "Neither choice sounds great to me. No. The sooner Angel stops trying to save Darla and just lets her die, the better."
There's the Cordy I grew up with. "That empathy thing is still a work in progress, huh?" Even as he said it, Xander wished he could take it back. What the hell was the point? I agree with her!
"I can empathize, Xander. I can empathize better than you can!" Cordelia snapped. "You hated Angel just because he got to have a soul and stay around and Jesse didn't, didn't you? God forbid you spend two seconds thinking about his situation. And then there's what you did when Buffy came back after running away-"
"Oh, and your 'defense' of her at the party was so great," Xander couldn't stop himself - even if yeah, he had been an asshole to her - not that Buffy hadn't kind of deserved it, but time and place, Xander, Time and Place.
"Better than you treating her like you did!" Cordelia raised her voice. Then she blinked, and Xander turned at the sound of Wesley clearing his throat.
"Is this something we should all be discussing?"
"No!" Xander barked, and only when he was done did he realize Cordelia had said it at the exact same time. Flushing, Xander turned away. Cordelia didn't blush, but she did huff and grab Xander's arm, tugging him towards the hall. "If we're going to argue, let's stop doing it with an audience."
Okay, that's a good point, but I don't actually want to argue so...
Halfway to the hallway, Xander pulled his arm free of her grip easily. "I don't actually want to argue. I don't - I don't actually disagree."
"Then why the hell did you-"
"Because falling into old patterns is way too easy with you." Xander answered, then he nearly dropped his head into his hands as he realized he was just saying out loud. And it doesn't even feel...
It felt too much like their sniping when they were dating. They'd argued even when they were together, but it usually - usually - hadn't felt as... sharp-edged. When they were together, they'd sometimes gone for the throat, or somewhere close, and it still hadn't felt the same as when they had before they'd dated. Or after.
When Xander had first come to L.A. it had felt... mostly like Sophmore year all over again, first half of junior year - that familiar, barbed words, sharp-edged sniping.
Now?
Now it felt dangerously familiar to a completely different time, and Xander did not want to think about it.
Cordelia was staring at him, eyes wide, "It really is, isn't it?" Cordelia murmured, voice soft and just a little horrified - Xander hoped to god it wasn't for the same reason Xander was feeling horrified, because that would just make it worse - then she shook her head, letting out a long sigh. "Just keep an eye on Darla." Cordelia instructed.
"Like I said, I don't trust her - this could be a mind game from her, it could be one from Wolfram and Hart, it could be both, neither - maybe she's dying, maybe she's not, but as long as Angel is going to obsess over her-"
"Better that she's here, yeah." Xander finished, and Cordelia nodded.
"Yeah. Especially if she is dying." Cordelia shook her head, "Knowing Wolfram and Hart, she probably is dying. If she fails to convince Angel to turn her into a vampire or do god knows what else to save her, she dies."
Xander turned to look at Darla. She was just sitting there, though her hands were in her lap now. If she wanted to run, she wasn't doing anything about it.
Is she processing guilt? Figuring her odds? Cursing Angel for not just turning her? Cursing the lawyers for bringing her back?
As he stared at her, Xander thought. About Jesse.
Darla had been giving this magical second chance, and sure, it came with two months left to life and dying of syphilis, but still. Life. And she only had the syphilis because she'd already been dying of it.
Of course, if I remember history and lit classes right, no guarantee there, you can go crazy from Syphilis... So maybe it wasn't worth the extra life then.
But Angel was determined to cure her, to give her that chance. Which was insanely stupid. And unfair. 400 years of evil and wanting to do it again? Goodbye.
And yet.
If Xander had had the chance, to save Jesse... or if it had been Willow
I really hate it when I see things from Angel's Point of view. Of course, seeing Angel's point of view didn't mean agreeing with it. If he'd let saving Jesse distract himself this much, drive him to this much obsession...
Well, everyone would have the same right to call me insane over it. Xander was self-aware enough to admit he might do it anyway, but...
He looked away from Darla, back to Cordelia.
"Do you think Angel will figure out a way to save her?" Xander asked. "Like, one that doesn't involve something even more evil than turning her into a vampire, I mean." Xander's search for a way to get his old body back had told him that if you were willing to sacrifice enough to the right demons, there was very little you get done to yourself, no matter how seemingly impossible.
But it was stuff like virgin hearts and feeding babies to things with more mouths than eyes and more teeth than than a shark or whatever.
"God I hope not." Cordelia murmured.
November 28th, 2000
Hyperion Hotel, Los Angeles
Watching Darla was proving to be very boring. She wasn't trying to escape, and the only time she'd spoken was to say she was going out into the garden. Xander had followed her out.
Darla hadn't tried to apologize, or defend or explain herself.
She was just... standing there, looking at the flowers in the garden. Whatever she was thinking, if there was any guilt or remorse, or just self-pity...
She wasn't even saying anything about the fact that he was watching her.
Xander really wished he could just dust her. Or he could know for sure she was one hundred percent evil. Maybe it would be okay to kill her then.
Except killing her, dusting her - wouldn't bring Jesse back. Would it feel good? Yeah.
And if she was a vamp, he'd do it in a heartbeat. But she wasn't. And Xander was just...
He wasn't prepared to commit murder. Even if Darla was Hitler with boobs and blonde hair. Which she probably wasn't.
So I'm just left hoping Angel doesn't find a cure.
The more he stood there, watching Darla, the more he thought about Anya. A thousand years of granting wishes in the most awful way possible. What did her kill count look like compared to Darla?
On the other hand, Anya wasn't trying to get her powers back anymore. At this point, at least, she seemed to be... content to be mortal now. But then, she wasn't dying.
And Anya never actually killed anyone I care about. That counted for a lot.
Xander had always kind of been aware he gave Anya a pass in ways he wouldn't someone else, but Darla was hitting him head on with that fact.
Things are simpler on the Hellmouth. There the vampires were happy to attack you just for walking anywhere. You could haunt a graveyard and rack up kills. They hung out in crypts and mausoleums more than anywhere else, and even outside of graveyards vampire dens were easy to find. Patrol, you were guaranteed to kill demons or vamps.
L.A.? Sure, Xander tried to focus his patrols in areas where he was pretty sure demons or vampires were common, going over crime reports, keeping track of mysterious deaths and unexplained disappearances...
But he didn't always find a demon. Didn't always find vampires. Sometimes he just found mortal crime - including muggers and probably worse - they never got far enough in making threats to actually say what else they had in mind. Xander didn't seek it out, but if someone was gonna try to mug him, he was gonan break their nose and their arm, at a minimum.
And in L.A. Vampire nests weren't always the obvious. Sometimes, you had a vampire living in an actual apartment. Including ones nicer than the craphole he'd been staying in before moving to the Hyperion.
The Hellmouth made things simple. Good. Evil. Human. Demon. Slay. Don't Slay.
L.A.? Not so much. And Darla, standing as she was in front of him, embodied that.
Xander turned at the sound of someone walking towards the doors from inside - Angel. His expression was flat. Maybe a little broodier than usual - it was all in the forehead, the way he furrowed it. Definitely broodier.
So she really is dying then. Wolfram and Hart wasn't lying.
"Xander? Go back inside," Angel ordered. Xander twitched, wanting to argue the point - Xander didn't work for him, didn't take orders from him - but...
What exactly would that accomplish?
"Just mind the soul, Angel," Xander muttered, mostly out of frustration with the guy rather than an expectation Angel's soul was at risk right this second, as he went inside, moving far enough inside that he couldn't overhear their conversation.
Not out of concern for their privacy. God no. Xander just didn't want to get sucked into Angel's melodrama and soap opera anymore than he had to.
I'm already too deep in this crap as it is.
"She's really not doing anything that gives us an excuse to hurt her, does she?" Cordelia asked, walking up behind him.
"No, apparently not." Xander agreed. "Which I really hate." He blinked, then turned back to her. "Do you ever miss Sunnydale?" It was a stupid question to ask Cordelia, since she'd run the moment she could and never looked back, but...
Who else could Xander ask?
And it's not like she had much to look back to... A little voice reminded Xander.
"Do you mean, do I miss the podunk little one-starbucks town that was on a literal portal to hell and you couldn't walk to school without finding a body on the way and another body stuffed in your locker?" Cordelia asked, raising an eyebrow, looking and talking at Xander like he was an idiot.
So, familiar territory.
"Well, when you put it like that..." Xander trailed off. "But yes. Do you ever miss Sunnydale?"
"Not even a little bit." Cordelia countered. "Sure, I still have to worry about vampires and demons and slimy bastards impregnating me with demon spawn and evil soulless monsters and of course, lawyers, but I can actually go a day without running into one of those apart from Angel. And I can even go out at night and be fine if I forget to bring a cross or holy water."
Xander blinked. Okay, so there's indulging in the fact that this isn't Sunnydale and then there's being insanely reckless. What the hell Cordy? If she got caught outside by a vampire "You can't possibly be stupid enough to not bring-"
"Of course not!" Cordelia countered, shaking her head. "Never leave the house without them, but I could and I'd probably be fine most nights." Cordelia Crossed her arms in front of her. "I can also pick out a vampire from a crowd more than half the time thanks to Sunnydale, and no, before you ask, I don't invite people in verbally, unless they're Angel."
Xander nodded, "That's good but don't you miss-" Xander blinked, his mind going back to what Cordelia had just said. "Slimy bastards impregnating you with demon spawn?" Xander quoted, eyes wide. "That's a very specific thing to just pick out of the air. What the hell hap-"
Cordelia's hand clapped over Xander's mouth and Cordelia leaned in, voice low and very emphatic: "If you finish that question, I will hurt you. Forget I said anything. All you need to know is that men suck."
Xander pushed her hand away. "I'd object, but I can't disagree."
Cordelia laughed bitterly, "I bet you thought not wearing any makeup and dressing like you do would make people less likely to catcall you."
Xander bit his lip and looked away. "Only for about five seconds before Anya disabused me of that notion." It had made sense to him, but he'd been forced to realize... yeah. No. Not how it worked.
"Good for her." Cordelia praised. She looked back at the doors, then back to Xander. "So what, you miss Sunnydale? I mean, I get missing your friends but-" She cut herself off as Angel came back inside, Darla in tow.
"I'm taking Darla to the Host." Angel told them.
"Angel, are you sure that's a good idea?" Wesley asked from somewhere off to the right and behind Xander. "Under the circumstances I'm not sure that-"
"I'm taking her to the host." Angel repeated.
"And when he tells you there's no solution?" Cordelia asked. "Are you going to start hitting up every seer and prophet and god knows what else in the city?"
"If I have to." Angel answered. Darla's eyes widened and she looked at him, about to say something, opening her mouth... and then she looked at Xander, at Cordelia, and said nothing.
"You really are an idiot, Angel." Cordelia noted, calmly. She wasn't, Xander noted, even saying it in some sort of condescending, insulting tone, like when Cordelia called him an idiot, or stupid, or a dumbass.
"She's not wrong." Darla finally said. "You can keep trying to find another way-"
"The Host will know what you need." Angel interrupted with a calm, serene certainty. It wasn't even flat, or sure of himself like Angel usually was. It was...
It was with serenity. Xander wasn't even sure what the word meant, exactly, just having heard it in various contexts but...
Yeah.
That was Angel.
Darla didn't respond, looking away.
"I don't know how long this will take." Angel told Cordelia and Wesley. "Feel free to head home." He turned and Darla followed after him.
"Right, we'll head home while you're off chasing every possible lead on how to save Darla. And probably find a way to kill yourself or lose your soul or both on the way," Cordelia muttered once Angel left.
"Is staying up all night being anxious going to help?" Xander pointed out. "Losing sleep worrying is a terrible idea. Did that enough about Buffy, way back when. And then more after Angelus showed up but both times, I realized it was a game you were never gonna win." Xander turned around, intending to head towards his room. He had an energy bar in there and he needed to grab a few extra stakes as backup.
Now that Darla was gone, he could go on patrol.
"Where are you going?" Cordelia asked. "You need to be following Angel!"
Xander stopped, standing stock still.
"Oh no. No. No way in hell am I getting more caught up in Angel's soap opera than I already am. Yes, I would love the chance to dust Darla, but we both know he's not gonna turn her. And he's not going to lose his soul."
"You went with him to save Darla from Wolfram and Hart!" Cordelia snapped, and Xander let out a long, ragged exhale.
"Yeah. And that's why I don't want to do more. And I went because Angel was walking into a trap. Now? Now he's just trapping himself, and that's different. Seriously," Xander turned back around, and looked at Cordelia. "Look me in the eyes and tell me you're actually afraid he's going to lose his soul."
Last time? Yeah, Xander had been worried. Because getting Angel to lose his soul was apparently a thing Wolfram and Hart wanted.
I really need to ask someone why they want that when they were so ready to have me dust him nine months ago. If Wolfram and Hart hadn't wanted Angel dead, Xander wouldn't even be in this situation, with slayer powers and a female body and living in L.A. and not being with Anya and spending way more time than was healthy around Cordelia - he nearly had a heart to heart with her! Ye gods that was a terrible sign.
Cordelia moved a few steps closer and looked at him dead on, right in the eyes. To the point where it was unnerving. This wasn't an argument, all heated and snippy. This was just straight up, staring him in the eyes and Xander bit his lip, trying not to flinch.
"Xander, at this point yes, I am worried he'll lose his soul." Cordelia said, voice soft, quiet, almost vulnerable. Almost. Which for Cordelia, was actually something. "I'm furious with him now, but he's still my friend. And at this point, I have no idea what he's going to do, but his obsession with Darla leaves all options on the table. Maybe he dies. Maybe he loses his soul. Maybe something else happens. So -" Cordelia cut herself off, took a long, shuddering breath, and then went on, "So please. Follow him to Caritas. Follow him wherever else he goes with Darla, and make sure he doesn't do anything stupider than he already has."
Xander couldn't help it. He flinched. He looked away, unable to maintain the eye contact, looking at Cordelia, her eyes and -
And her voice. No scorn. No steel. Just...
Cordelia always put up barriers. Even when things had been great between them when they were dating, she'd always had a few. And she still had some right now - but this...
This was one of those rare times when Cordelia just was, or nearly damn so. He'd only seen it a few times and -
The please. No sarcasm. No wheedling. Not even begging or pleading.
Just please.
"I hate you." Xander muttered, and he wasn't sure if he was saying that to Cordelia, or himself. Maybe both. "Fine." He had the one stake on him, and for this -
That would be enough.
"If this takes me out of L.A., you owe me gas money," Xander said quickly as he walked to the door.
He had to break the tension somehow.
November 28th, 2000
Condemned Pool, Los Angeles
By the time Xander had gotten to Caritas, Darla was already stepping up onto the stage to sing for the Host. And...
She was pretty good. Like, really good. Annoyingly so.
Staying out of Angel's sight was easy enough - Angel had his eyes so focused on Darla or the Host that he was barely looking around. Probably would have been easy to ambush, if this place wasn't neutral ground without violence. Xander didn't catch what Angel and the green-skinned demon were saying, but he did see the Host give Angel a piece of paper once Darla was done singing. Some sort of name or address.
So he followed Angel. Nearly lost him a few times, by being too careful about not getting seen, but it seemed like Angel was really not paying that much attention. Or, he just didn't care.
Maybe both.
And here they were, at an empty public pool. From the sign out front, it looked like the place had been condemned a couple years ago, and with the whole neighborhood looking like it was not that great, no one had bothered to fix whatever the problem was. Rather than following the two after Angel parked, Xander had gone around, taking advantage of Angel's focus on the matter at hand, and was now on the far side of the pool, watching Angel and Darla stand at the edge.
Angel stood at the edge, looking down.
Is he going to jump? Into the empty pool?
What even was Angel expecting to find here? Another swami? Because that had turned out great last time. Why was Angel even willing to listen to the Host after that? Hell, why am I? Xander was only still here in L.A. helping Angel because of what the Host had read from him.
On the other hand...
Xander shook his head before he could follow that thought any mre, and focused on what was happening at the far end of the pool. He watched Darla and Angel talk, but he was too far to hear them. Angel moved towards the diving board.
He's going to jump.
Xander tensed, readied to run and stop Angel from doing something so stupid, but he stopped himself at the last moment.
Even if Angel really did dive headfirst into the pool, it wouldn't kill him. Vampire. He might break a lot of ones and kinda splatter over the pavement, but technically, it wouldn't kill him.
It would be funny though.
Xander frowned as that thought occurred to him. Because yes, it would be, but Xander knew he really shouldn't be thinking like that. He was tired of hating Angel, and then here he was, wanting to see him suffer grievous bodily harm.
Then again, old habits died hard, and Xander still didn't like the guy.
From her body language, it seemed like Darla didn't want Angel to jump, didn't want him to what? Risk his life? Again, he wasn't going to die from the pool.
What is the point of the pool? Was there a magic doorway hidden inside of it?
Left with no better plan, Xander watched as Angel hesitated a moment longer, then walked the diving board and jumped, diving down head first.
Xander braced himself to watch Angel splat a bit, or something.
Instead, he vanished. A sort of bluish light covered him for a split second as he landed, and then... nothing.
Xander blinked.
Then rubbed his eyes.
Then blinked again.
Okay. So he wasn't expecting that... though what had he been expecting?
Darla stood there, confused, mouth and eyes opening wide and then - Blueish light, sort of like lighting crackling over her maybe? - Darla too vanished.
"Well." Xander stood up. "That was... anticlimactic."
Xander could only assume Angel had passed through some sort of portal, but... then how had Darla gone through? Summoned through to the other end? What was the other end?
He stood there, watching the pool, waiting for one of them to return for about a minute before he took a deep breath.
He had two choices. Well, maybe three. One, he could call Cordy and tell her he lost Angel and Darla. He didn't relish that.
Two, he could wait, and then wait some more, and eventually they'd come back.
Or not. Which brought back option one.
Or, he could go down into the pool and see if he could get through whatever portal they'd gone and vanished through. Granted, it would probably make Angel realize he was following them if the vampire hadn't already, but...
I suppose I could also try diving, but unlike Angel, going splat would kill me, so no thank you.
Xander dropped down into the shallow end of the pool and walked towards the deeper end, slowly, carefully. He reached more or less the spot that Angel had hit and...
Nothing.
There was something... off, about the place he was standing. He stepped to the right. Nothing.
Back to the previous spot.
Yeah. Off. A weird... 'something didn't belong' feeling. Something didn't belong. Magical? Could Slayer-ness detect portals, or was it that anyone would feel this specific spot was off.
Xander jumped up and down.
Nothing.
He knelt, pressing his hand to the concrete hard.
Nope. Nothing.
There was something here. Xander could only assume magical portal. But either it was two person occupancy only, or it really was you could only get there by jumping off the diving board.
"I am not doing that." Xander was left with going back to option two.
And so, that's what he did. He found a different vantage point, found some good cover, and crouched down behind it, watching the pool.
And with nothing else to do, thought.
And then tried to not think about what his brain wanted to think about.
Nope. Brain. We are not having this conversation. Xander told himself firmly. Just because he had a chance to actually stop and think about something in detail with no interruptions meant he should take take that opportunity.
He was here to watch for Angel, not reflect on his life, and what the hell he was actually doing.
Is this the thing I'm 'supposed' to help Angel with? Stop Angel from dying or losing his soul over this Darla stuff? So far, today at least, he was doing a bang-up job of that, since he'd lost the damn vampire.
About twenty minutes of standing around, waiting for someone to come back, some sign of them, finally, something did happen.
Stairs. Fucking stairs, appeared in the pool, appeared, leading up from somewhere... below the pool.
So not a portal to another dimsnion? The place was there the whole time?
The sound of something breaking distantly, several somethings - shattering? Something hitting something else? Repeatedly. It was hard to distinguish the vague sounds he was hearing this far away from one another, identify them...
And then nothing.
Xander swallowed and stared. Ideally, Angel didn't know he'd followed him. But this was not a great sign.
He debated what to do for the next five minutes when finally, Angel and Darla came up the stairs. Darla had her arm around Angel's shoulders, as if half-propping him up. Angel didn't look injured, or on the verge of death, which was good.
Instead he looked... defeated.
His shoulders were sagged, he was looking at the ground, but obviously not seeing it. He walked slowly, as they reached the shallow edge of the pool, and Angel took several seconds to muster the will to grab the ladder and climb out.
Darla didn't look any happier. She looked...worried. Brow furrowed, licking her lips a few times, twitching. But the worry seemed directed at Angel. She was worried for Angel.
What did Angel do?
And more importantly, why did it fail? Angel hadn't just failed to find a way to save Darla. He'd done... something, tried something. Xander had no idea what happened down there - and the stairs vanished as quickly as they appeared as Angel got out of the pool, Darla right behind him, so there was no way Xander could find out without asking - but you didn't look that sort of defeated unless you got your hopes up, right? You didn't look like your puppy died, the christmas tree burned down and you were just diagnosed with cancer if it was just a normal defeat.
So what did Angel do? And why did it fail?
Xander didn't know if he actually wanted to ask, but he watched them leave, following slowly behind them.
November 28th, 2000
Royal Viking Motel
Following Angel and Darla was once again easy - easier this time, because Angel really seemed to be out of it, barely focusing, missing several green lights for seconds at a time (and getting angry car horns for his trouble) but eventually, they stopped at a motel. The Royal Viking. Just from the look of it, Xander could tell it was the sort of place that even before moving into the Hyperion, he'd have rejected out of hand as a place to live.
The parking lot had a handful of very beat up cars, Angel's nearly pristine-condition car, Xander's also beat up car. Though it was in slightly better condition than the other cars
Xander was half laying down in the car's backseat, watching what appeared to be Darla's room through a window, though the blinds were partially closed. All he could really see was the loose outline of Angel and Darla. He wasn't sure what they were doing, apart from sitting.
Does Angel have a new plan? Some desperate new play? What about Darla?
So far, everything seemed...
Goddamnit Cordelia. This whole excursion was a waste of time, and laying in this car and peering out the window wasn't exactly comfortable and -
The sound of tires screeching as a something turned sharply into the parking lot drew Xander's attention to the new arrival - a black SUV with tinted windows.
And the make and model of that SUV was familiar.
It ought to be. He'd seen one on a day that was still burned into his memory.
It was the same make and model of the SUV that Wolfram and Hart had used to kidnap Faith when she was in his body.
And if that's not Wolfram and Hart I'll eat these lumpy backseat cushions. Xander waited, watching, not wanting to let them realize that he was here, that he knew it was them. No getting shot by the kinds of guns Wolfram and Hart had.
The door opened and two men, then two more came out, wearing tactical gear. Xander didn't seat any guns out and open on them, and while maybe they had some handguns, nothing worse - Xander could get up close, stop them from pulling guns if they had any-
But could he take on all four? Then again, once fighting started, if Xander shouted that it was Wolfram and Hart -
Then another person stepped out of the car. A man, wearing a suit, the top button undone on his shirt. No tie. The shirt looked rumpled, same with his hair.
Lindsey.
Xander slowly pulled the lever opening the door to the car. If he shouted now, they might have an opening to grab guns, but if he shouted as he attacked... he could run the distance between easily...
Lindsey said nothing, but nodded to the four goons and they moved towards the door to the motel, kicking it open.
And Xander opened the door to the car, tucked and rolled out and as he got to his feet behind Lindsey, he punched the lawyer in the back, sending him staggering forward. Xander caught the lawyer by the collar of his shirt, pulling him back to his feet, the other hand grabbing Lindsey's real hand - how did Xander not notice the fake hand in the parking garage? - and pinning his arm behind his back.
At the same time Xander was moving, he heard the sound of Angel and Darla both crying out, and through the doorway he could see that two of the goons had Darla, the other two had an Angel whose body was shaking.
Tasers.
"Call your men off, Lindsey," Xander growled.
"Harris." Lindsey said after a moment. "You're not going to kill me."
"No, but I can make this hand as useless as the fake one." Xander agreed. "Call your men off."
"I have a better idea. Let me go now, and my guys won't riddle you with bullets." Lindsey said, trying to sound confident, but instead, he sounded distracted, his eyes on the hotel.
Xander pressed his fingers against Lindey's arm hard, twisting, the Texan crying out in pain -
And then Xander felt something, someone, moving behind him, a chill feeling running all the way down his spine. Xander froze for about half a second - and that half a second was too long.
"What's this then?" There was a voice Xander hadn't heard in a very long time, and the last time he'd been this close to the source of it... I was this close to getting killed.
A hand, sharp, long fingernails snaked out, grabbing his shoulder. The hand pulled, Xander let go of Lindsey's arm, the Lawyer staggering forward, and Xander staggered back, nearly falling over as he turned and a face he hadn't seen in years, but still occasionally haunted his nightmares, was there.
Drusilla.
She looked all but identical to the last time he'd seen her. Long kinda flowing dress dress, long hair, red lipstick - the dress was red too this time, but it was Drusilla. Miss Craziest Fucking Vampire herself.
She's here to turn Darla.
All thoughts of how eager Xander was to dust Darla vanished entirely from his mind. Darla might want to be turned, still, but Lindsey was clearly leaving nothing up to chance, and Xander would slit his own wrists before he just let someone - anyone - get turned.
Xander lunged at Drusilla. "Angel! Get Darla out of here! They brought Drusilla!" He shouted as he did, tackling Drusilla to the ground - she only tried to get out of the way at the last minute, but didn't quite manage it -
With her back on the ground, Xander tried to grab her wrists, intent on pinning those - the long fingernails lashed out and one cut across his cheek. Xander hissed, biting his lip and trying to ignore the pain, but it caused his focus to lapse, and suddenly Drusilla rolled them. Now she was on top, looming over him, her hands grabbing his wrists and pushing them to the ground.
Fuck, she's stronger than she looks. Even for a vampire.
"Naughty naughty slayer. You're not supposed to be here," she said in a sing-song voice. "The stars told me you were dead. They lied! How rude." She hissed. "I'll fix you and then I'll fix grandmummy and..." she trailed off, staring at him, eyes widening, her whole body going stiff.
The fuck? Xander didn't wait. Xander kicked his legs, catching Drusilla's own and she yelped, her grip loosing just enough - Xander broke his arms free, scooted back along the asphalt - wincing a little as he felt it scrape against his skin through his shirt - and kicked at Drusilla again, this tile his feet catching her in the stomach. She flew backwards a few feet, crashing into the SUV.
Xander could see movement in the motel room out of the corner of his eye, but he couldn't spare the attention to look and see what was happenings as Drusilla got to her feet at the same time Xander pushed himself up to his. With the back of his hand, he wiped the blood off his cheek. His stake was back in the car. He had a small vial of holy water in his pocket, and the cross in one of the extra pockets on his cargo pants, but -
"You're not the slayer at all! You're the kitten, all dressed up in new clothes!" Drusilla shouted. She hissed. "Bad kitten!"
Kitten. That was what she'd called him, that one time she'd nearly killed him, when the whole town, when the love spell-
"Believe me, I'd be happy not to be like this," Xander shot back. He kept his eyes on her, watching as Drusilla watched him. She stepped a few steps to the right, then rushed at him.
"But you are like this! Bad kitten, pretending to be what you aren't!" She tried to slash at his face again, but this time Xander was more ready for her, and one arm went up, hitting the inside of her arm, the other trying to catch her in the stomach - Drusilla pulled back, avoiding that one.
"I'm not pretending to be anything!" Xander snapped, not sure why he felt the need to defend himself against Drusilla's crazy ramblings. "I'm not!"
"Xander, Alex, Xander, Alex." Drusilla sing-songed. "You're both and neither, kitten!" She kicked at his legs, catching him just under the knee, and Xander staggered back a pace, leg bucking - he snatched at Drusilla's wrist, grabbing, pulling her with him, towards him - and then he kicked at her legs at the same time as he leg go of her, trying to sweep them out from under her - Drusilla dodged at the last second.
"Shut up!" Xander snapped, Drusilla's annoying words needling at his brain as he ducked under another strike from Drusilla.
"You're ruining grandmummy's tea party! I'll ruin yours back!" Drusilla countered. "You can't stop me from saving her! Borrowed ill-fitting clothes or not!"
Right. Xander punched Drusilla, catching her on the shoulder, but she took the hit, not staggering back, grabbhing his shoulders, pushing down, pinning him in place.
"Look in my eyes, kitten!" She said. "I can fix you. I can fix what's wrong with you." She addied in a soft, swaying voice. Xander started to lift his arms, about to push up, hit her arms from the inside once both arms were between her arms, between him and her -
And then he hesitated. His arms lowered.
No. no. Xander felt his heart pounding in his throat, as he started to look at her eyes.
"Be in my eyes," She told him, voice almost a whisper.
A memory of Kendra, her throat, cut. Her body, dead, limp.
NO! Xander bit his lip, hands going up, between her arms, separating them - hitting the insides of Drusilla's arms, targeting opposite the elbow - Drusilla let out a cry of pain and surprise as Xander moved his head forward, hitting her in the face, his own head now throbbing, but the crunch and a look at Drusilla's face as her nose was caved in telling him he'd done what he'd wanted to do.
Drusilla said nothing, snarling and hissing at him, raising her hands - Xander pulled the vial of holy water out of his pocket and didn't bother to open it - he threw it, putting every bit of force behind it that he could, the glass hitting Drusilla's face, shattering holy water spraying across her face, her nose already broken, bleeding -
With a furious, agonized wail, Drusilla staggered back.
"No no no no no no! It's going all wrong! Miss Edith - the stars! They're changing! They lied!" Drusilla started babbling, speaking too quickly for him to understand, and he didn't care. There was an opening. Xander went for his car, the b ack door still open, and dove inside, scrambling for his stake. No, wait - it wasn't in the cupholder - where -
There! It had fallen to the ground on the passenger side!
Xander closed his hand around it as a different hand wrapped around his neck, yanking him back wards, closing tight. The stake dropped to the asphalt with a clatter.
Shitshitshit. Xander felt his windpipe close up as his body was pulled against Drusilla's behind him.
"You've ruined everything! You've ruined the stars! You've ruined the pretty flowers! I can't see my baby brother any more!"
Baby brother? What the hell is she-
Xander tried to kick at her legs, but even though he hit, Drusilla seemed unaffected, her other hand tracing a line along his chin.
"You're a naughty, bad kitten, and a naughty, bad slayer. No biscuits and tea for you! Never for you!" Drusilla snarled.
"Stop calling me kitten!" Xander tried to get out, though the words were garbled, unable to get enough breath to say them clearly. But he acted, desperate - with one hand, he was grabbing her free hand by the wrist, pulling it away from his cheek, with the other, he clawed at the hand around his neck, managing to slip under one flinger he pulled it back, prying under the hand - Drusilla wrenched her hand back, Xander spun, gasping for air, able to breath again. He looked at Drusilla - her face was bloody and burned, the holy water having done it's job, and shards of glass were still there - even with vampire healing, her nose was still broken.
"I don't care what the stars, or Miss Edith or Miss Cleo or whoever the hell you're talking to says!" Xander couldn't see his stake - it must have rolled, but -
He grabbed Drusilla's shoulder and punched her in the gut. Drusilla cried out, tried to double over, but Xande held her up, driving his fist upwards into her chin, then kicking her legs out from under her again, leaving her sprawling.
"You've ruined everything!" Drusilla said, crying.
"I don't care-" Xander started, but he was cut off by the sound of glass shattering - he half turned, seeing one of the goons Lindsey had brought sail through the window of Darla's motel room, hitting the pavement. Unconscious at a minimum.
Where's Lindsey? Where were Angel, and Darla?
The second question was answered with the sight of Angel coming out of the motel room, a semi-conscious darla in his arms. He looked past Angel - the other three goons were sprawled out on the floor or met of the motel. There was no sign of Lindsey.
"Daddy!" Drusilla called out, seeing him. "You must let me save Grandmummy! I -" Her voice was strangled and pained, and then it got more, almost sharp enough to cut Xander's skin, or so it felt. "You're not Daddy! It's never Daddy! Angel-Beast!" She tried to hiss, but it didn't work, pained sobs and her broken nose ruining the effect.
"You didn't happen to bring a stake, did you?" Xander asked, looking at Angel.
"No time, Lindsey got away, more of these guys could be on the way. I need to get Darla out of here!" Angel snapped. He ran past Xander, leaping into his convertible, tucking Darla into the other seat, as she groaned, head lolling to the side. Angel buckled her in.
Xander looked away from Angel, back to Drusilla - she was gone. No more a crying heap on the ground. He spun, looking -
"Xander!" Angel called out. Xander turned back to him. "Get out of here before more of Wolfram and Hart's people get here." He started up his car, raising his voice. "And thank you." He added, pulling forward, getting ouit of the parking lot and, wheels screeching, speeding away, rapidly breaking all speed limits and then some.
You should have grabbed your stake sooner, staked her or gone for a chair leg from the motel room or - Xander cursed himself. A vampire like Drusilla was dangerous. And he'd just let her escape.
But Angel was right. If Lindsey got away... more goons.
And hell, not just goons. Even with this place being a low-rent shithole, someone could call the cops.
Darla's not turned. That's... I guess that's good. Xander took a breath, and ran for his car, getting behind the wheel and starting it up again.
I guess Cordelia was right to demand I follow Angel... just not for the reasons she thought.
And he'd so looked forward to gloating she'd been worried about nothing.