A/N From what I've been able to discover Riley wasn't originally intended to be a character on the Buffy show, instead Xander was going to go through boot camp the summer after graduation and get recruited by the Initiative. The list of things Xander remembers from Halloween is what he told Cordelia he remembers when they're stealing the RPG and as I've noted before, it's more than a Private should know. But Riley had training Xander, as a Private, would not have had. Unless as a recruit to the Initiative Xander might have been given additional training and Professor Walsh was a psych teacher, the training could have included some basic psych courses. It really would be nice to know where Joss originally planned on taking it.
I'm tempted to write a Xander in the Initiative story at some point. 😜 After I write the stories already on my list.
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"You mentioned you had information retained from a Halloween event." Mr. Zabuto had decided to interview each of the teenagers himself, without Buffy and Giles present. He was interested to note that none of the young people standing with Xander Harris agreed to leave any other members alone with him. He was curious to find out why they seemed so protective of each other and just how this young man somehow infected them with a seed of Magic. A seed of Magic was rare enough, to share it with others may never have happened before.
"Yeah, don't know how, especially since no one else seems to remember anything." Xander explained. "It could be because of the seed, maybe or something else. Giles says Chaos Magic is unpredictable and Magic seems to do weird things around me anyway."
"By its very nature Chaos Magic is chaotic." Sam agreed. "What did you dress as that night?"
"I bought a pair of fatigues from the surplus store and boots. I got a toy gun from Ethan's Costume Shop and made a pair of dog tags with Private Harris on them. I became Private Harris, actually believed that was who I was. I knew and still know weapons, regulations etc. But when I learned about the seed of Magic I realized there's more in my head than there should be. Cordy and I got the RPG from the National Guard Base outside town. I knew the codes to their armory, the layout of the base and the name of the Colonel in charge. Then I realized I knew things that includes psych classes and as I pointed out to Giles, isolating the Potentials and the Slayer increases the likelihood of them dying, rather then extending their lives."
"You're certain of that?" Mr. Zabuto frowned thoughtfully.
"There's been a lot of studies about raising kids in isolation and the effects on them. I suggested Giles find those studies and present them to the Council, along with evidence of the Slayers that lived longest. I'm betting most of them had family and friends in their lives and it made them fight harder."
"I'd like to see those studies. Miss Summers is considered one of the most successful Slayers and has lived past the average length of time of service. Mr. Giles' reports are obviously incomplete but if I remember correctly, you're the reason Kendra is also a Slayer. You revived Miss Summers when she drowned."
"Yeah, I did." Xander admitted.
"And the reason you remember everything from Halloween could be down to the fact that you were you or a version of you. Possibly multiple versions." Sam shrugged. "Since you believe you have knowledge that a single version of you, Private Harris, should not have had."
"Hmm. Cordy liked how I looked dressed as a soldier." He grinned at his girlfriend. "Maybe some other versions of me signed up to impress her." He danced away from her half hearted dope slap.
Xander sobered and turned back to Sam. "We don't want the Council studying us. I get that this is some great mystical event, but it's our lives and we don't want to be test rats. If we need help, we'll ask for it, otherwise, it's not their business."
"Unless you prove a threat, they'd have no reason to consider it their business anyway." Sam responded, certain of that. "But do you have any idea how it happened? I've never heard of a seed of Magic being shared before. Inherited, yes, but not shared."
"Have you read all the reports Giles has submitted?"
"Yes and I am concerned about how incomplete they obviously are in light of the Angelus situation."
"Did you see a report on five teenagers being possessed by primal spirits after accidentally triggering a transpossession ritual?"
"Yes, his report indicated the Slayer lured them back to the ritual circle and they were dispossessed."
"We were those five teenagers." Xander indicated himself and Tor, Heidi, Kyle and Rhonda. "I was the Alpha, the point of connection. I also managed to keep a closer hold on being human, when they were reduced to grunts, I was still able to speak a few words. But I certainly wasn't acting very human." He finished grimly, remembering how he'd gone after Buffy, the spirit wanted a mate, he had a crush on Buffy. It felt like his own choice and yet he'd never choose that.
"Mixing Magics can have unpredictable side effects, that transpossession ritual connected you and the seed could have followed the path of the connection. An almost impossible to predict sequence of events. It seems you may be correct, Magic does behave oddly around you."
"Yeah, we've got ample evidence of that." Cordelia smirked, remembering the love spell gone blooey.