"Private Harris, would you be willing to speak with me about your experiences with Magic, especially the possessions?" Aaron asked a few days later in the base cafeteria. "I'm curious, my instincts are telling me there's something about them that you haven't mentioned yet. Something I believe may be significant."
Xander thought about it for a moment and then nodded, aside from Cordy, no one back home had been interested in hearing about his experiences and they hadn't seen much value in his retaining everything he had. Especially when everyone else, Buffy included, forgot it all. Maybe Aaron could help him understand.
"The second time I was possessed, I was a soldier version of myself. I knew everything a Private who'd passed Basic should know. The Core Values, Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity and Personal Courage. How to physically and mentally overcome things you think are impossible. Self-discipline, teamwork, combat skills, night training, hand-to-hand combat and weapons training, basic rifle marksmanship, and physical fitness. But it was all theory and not first hand experience, not until I actually went through Basic. There was a lot of knowledge about modern weapons, not just guns, but rocket launchers and knowledge of explosives and it came in handy a few times, could have been more but the others in our group had no interest in it. As far as I know, I'm the only one who retained anything, not even the Slayer did. She spoke French fluently that night, but lost it all within days and had to be tutored through her French class."
Aaron looked thoughtful as he considered Xander's story, then he spoke. "Tell me, have you had visions or flashes of knowledge or just instinctively been sure of something or had prophetic dreams?"
"Um, yeah I guess, a few times. Including a dream on the way here about demons and a cave. Why?"
"Because I don't think under normal circumstances you would have retained that information, therefore, there must be an unusual reason for how you did retain it. Some sort of psychic ability. Would you mind if I did a reading on you? I assure you, it's painless."
"Alright, I'd like to know why myself, even though I'm grateful for it since it means I can be part of the Army and support my Cordy while she reaches for her dream. What do you need me to do?"
"Just sit there, place your hand palm down on the table and I'm going to put my hand over yours." Xander did so and Aaron placed his hand over Xander's and opened his senses, after a moment he drew back. "I was right, I believe you're a precognitive. It's a catchall term that can include everything from those flashes of knowledge and insight to full on visions and dreams. I don't think you'll actually manifest visions, you don't feel that strong to me. But knowledge, insight, possibly more dreams, yes. As for why you retained the knowledge? Because it was yours, you were a version of yourself. You tapped into future knowledge from yourself."
"Okay, now that makes sense, I kept it because my future self learned it. Cordy will bust a gut laughing. Guess that means I would have gone Army anyway." Xander chuckled. "And I guess I know where the artillery knowledge comes from too, my CO wants me to take the artillery classes officially so he can assign me as Artillery Officer. I know about modern weapons because that future me took the classes!"
"You may have retained the knowledge because of your ability, but you learned it because you wanted to." Aaron smiled. "And you value the knowledge because it allows you to help those you love and by extension, innocents. You really are a soldier, Xander."
"I didn't tell you my name."
"I know, but I'm a psychic, remember? And I had a vision, your Cordelia, she's a beautiful brunette with hazel eyes?"
"Yes." Xander tensed, hoping whatever Aaron had seen wasn't a bad thing.
"I saw her say she had a vision herself. When she tells you that, explain to her that it's like being a radio antenna looking for a signal, occasionally you catch one. Whatever she sees in her visions, she'll need you to help her deal with them. And pay attention to your instincts, flashes of knowledge and any dreams you have. You never know if it could save a life."
"Cordy's going to be pissed. We left it behind and now we find out, it's a part of us and we have to learn to live with it."
"It's both a blessing and curse." Aaron agreed. "But if you use it wisely and well, very much worth it."
The rest of Xander's time with the demon hunting soldiers wasn't nearly as interesting as the first few days were, but he left convinced he'd made friends for life and people he felt could be counted on. And it felt good when they told him they thought he could be counted on too.
A/N List of Army Basic Training information from militaryonescource.