"Who were you expecting?" Xander asked.

"A man, dressed as you are, not as strongly built, maybe a decade older."

"Colonel Sheppard. My Commanding Officer. He nearly fell in. I had just translated the inscription. I knocked him out of the way and ended up falling in myself."

"You did not know that this is a Sanctuary for those who seek Ascention? Why come to this world if you did not know?"

"We were exploring. We were just curious. Which reminds me, what was that thing that was chasing Arvid?"

"The Beast. It is terrifying."

"Uh huh, doesn't tell me what it is, though."

"Something we fear."

"That's all you're going to say, isn't it. Okay, well I'm hungry, I haven't eaten in a few days. I'm willing to work in exchange for food. Eventually my people will figure out how to get me out of here."

"You wish to leave Sanctuary? You will not even consider Ascention?!"

"Heaven isn't heaven without my Cordy."

"Cordy?"

"My wife. Trust me, she's worth passing up Ascention for."

Over the next six months, Xander fell into a routine. He had no issues with meditating once in a while, but not the hours of it every day that these people did it. So he would patrol, looking for that Beast and trying to figure it out. Was it a projection? Something out of phase with our dimension? Something like that creature Picard and that alien Captain had to deal with? Yes, he was a Star Trek fan, he proudly admitted it. When he wasn't patrolling, he was planting crops and later harvesting them. He repaired broken furniture and houses, basically he kept himself busy, knowing McKay would figure it out eventually. Especially with Cordy breathing down his neck. She wouldn't accept anything less then him coming back to her and neither would he. Twice the Beast, as they called it, came into the village. The people ran and hid each time. Xander just watched it, trying to figure it out. It seemed to study him too and then would just disappear. What was it?

"Why are you so afraid of it?" Xander asked Arvid. "It seems to go away if you don't show it fear."

"We just are."

"Well you need to work on that. You can't let fear rule your life. I've got this friend back home, Willow, she so afraid of life that she's stuck in one place. She's got a first rate mind and she could do amazing things, but she's too afraid to even try. And she's wasting her life as a result. Because fear rules her."

"McKay, I swear if you don't figure it out faster, I'm going to explain, in detail, why I'm known as the Bitch Queen of Sunnydale High. A name I coined for myself, by the way." Cordelia was definitely unhappy. "I could demonstrate what I did to Percy West when he tried to cop a feel and didn't want to take no for an answer. Trust me, he understood what no meant after that!"

"Seriously?!" McKay asked, astonished.

"Seriously. I'm most definitely a Queen and Xander is my Black Knight. What is a Queen without her Knight and Champion?" Cordelia informed him.

"Sounds like there's a story there." Elizabeth commented, trying to distract Cordelia.

"Yeah. It's from a game we used to play when we were kids. Him, me, his best friend Jesse and a girl named Willow. Willow and I would be the Queens and Xander and Jesse our Knights and Champions. I always insisted that Xander was my Knight. He never objected, just grinned that lopsided grin of his and said, 'I am yours to command, my Queen.'

"You have been here for six months. Why do you continue to cling to the belief that your friends will come and you will leave? You could be happy here with us if you wished." Teer said. "Perhaps even with me."

Crap, not again.

"Sorry, but no. I know my Cordy is waiting for me and I intend to get back to her. You're a nice lady, Teer. But I'm not interested."

"As you wish. If you change your mind, you know where to find me."

"No offense, Teer, but you're not my type. You're too sweet."

"I've got it!" McKay yelled. "I can get us in and out!"

"'Bout damn time. Let's go!" Cordelia was definitely impatient.

Cordelia led the charge across a field, all but running. They were nearing some woods when a roar was heard. A shimmer appeared in front of them and then Xander came running toward them. He stopped in front of the shimmer and just looked at it.

Other people came out of the woods, following him.

"We have come to stand with you. The Beast is of our own making. A manifestation of our fear." One of the men said. "You were right, we have been letting fear rule our life, literally. Thank you for helping us overcome it."

One of the women stepped up to Xander and said. "Are you certain you will not come with us? You refused me, but will you really refuse Ascention?"

"Yes, most definitely. And I told you, you're not my type. Too sweet."

"Damn right, you're not his type." Cordelia said. "The only sweet things he likes is Twinkies."

"Missed you, Cordy. Six months is a damn long time."

The woman smiled and said. "Yes, you're heart is at peace now. And you are the one from my vision." She said to Sheppard. "Things would have been different if you had come to Sanctuary. But you would have also helped us overcome our fear."

And they all Ascended.

"You got hit on again." Cordy was definitely amused now.

"Yeah. Laugh it up."

They did.