A/N Xander and Cordelia aren't going to be jumping straight into a relationship, that would be very unrealistic. Both are dealing with a lot of things right now and need time to do that. Cordelia's just starting to understand what affect, negative affect, she's had on people like Marcie and Xander just the day before agreed to let the Watchers Council investigate his family situation and try to help him out of it. No matter how quickly they get going on that and how many strings they pull, it's not going to be an immediate thing either. And regardless of Jesse giving his blessing or not, I don't see Xander being comfortable just jumping into a relationship with a girl his best friend unsuccessfully chased for years.
As for the answers to Diana's questions, Private Harris, reporting for duty, is how Xander introduced himself when he went to pick up Buffy and Willow for kiddie escort duty, Mason's assuming he enlisted, no one's first thought would be that Xander was turned into his costume. 😉
I recently rewatched the scene where Xander tells Cordelia just how much knowledge he remembers from Halloween. He lists procedures, ordnance, the layout for the base they were breaking into, access codes (how many and to what exactly?) and that he could put together an M-16 in 57 seconds. That list needed a lot more explanation and I really wish we could have gotten it. How could he know the layout to that base and where'd the access codes come from? 😲
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"Angelus." Diana looked worried. "Both Xander and Cordelia mentioned Angelus. Cordelia stated he attacked her in her nightmare, the Magic probably dug it out of her own soul via her subconscious. Her nightmare was of her death in the other timeline."
"I'd agree with that conclusion as well. And Xander's nightmare included Cordelia accusing him of being too slow and wondering if dying with her made up for it. He's still blaming himself at some level for getting her killed, regardless of whether he's actually to blame or not."
"Buffy, the Slayer." Diana couldn't sit still and got up to pace. "Xander was possessed twice, in both timelines and the first time this Buffy was the Slayer. The change to the timeline may have removed her from the Slayer line. Was she the pivotal reason for the change?"
"A very good question. I remember reading about Angelus, he made quite a name for himself before he disappeared a century ago. If he was here, in Sunnydale, in the other timeline, where had he been for a century? And how could a Slayer get involved with a vampire? And where is he now, in this timeline?"
"I wonder who her Watcher was." Diana put her hands on her hips. "Did he or she know she was involved with a vampire? And why, if they knew, would they allow it? Council policy has not changed in regards to vampires, ever. We do not aid them, we destroy them. They're demon animated corpses, that doesn't change."
"Xander mentioned a couple of other names." Mason pointed out. "Giles and Ms. Calendar."
"Rupert Giles? He's a Research Watcher, he has no training as a Field Watcher, he'd never be assigned a Slayer to guide. But he probably was still stationed on the Hellmouth when this Buffy and the Watcher who was assigned to her were here." Diana decided. "I don't know who Ms. Calendar is, we should ask the kids if they recognize the name. In the other timeline, she was killed and Mr. Giles went after Angelus and this Buffy stopped him."
"And she slowed Xander down enough for Angelus to kill and begin turning Cordelia into a vampire." Mason looked grim, he was already thinking of Xander as his kid and he didn't like knowing anyone, let alone a Slayer, had caused Xander and Cordelia so much pain it had followed them across timelines.
"It would take a lot of power to remove someone from the Slayer line." Diana began pacing again. "And a lot of incentive to alter time to do it. But if she was willingly involved with a vampire, to the point where she couldn't even accept he was a vampire and kept letting him go or letting him getting away with killing, that would provide plenty of incentive. But how bad did things get to make someone actually do it? Willingness to do it is one thing, to actually do it, that's something else."
"Xander said Angelus killed his parents too, not just Cordelia after Xander saved this Buffy's life and she still tried to stop him. I'm thinking I'm glad she's not around to cause anymore damage." Mason dropped into a chair. "As for what knowledge he might still have from being in the Army, well, I've seen a few things and I can't wait to find out what else he might have tucked into his subconscious."
"I need to talk to Rupert Giles and make sure he's doing that research. He's been here for months and his reports seem to be lacking information." Diana shook her head. "He's supposed to be monitoring the Hellmouth and he was totally unaware it's active and has no idea when it went active. But apparently the problem goes back at least a couple of years. How much did he miss in the other timeline?"
"This is the timeline we need to concern ourselves with." Mason decided. "And that means I need to get going helping Xander, I'll go do that while you go talk to this Rupert Giles." Mason headed out himself as Diana decided now was as good a time as any to have a discussion with Rupert Giles.