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Chapter Text

Chapter 1.

“It’s funny how the earth never opens up and swallows you when you want it to.” - Xander Harris, Season 1, Teacher’s Pet.

Have you ever been so embarrassed that you wished that the earth would just swallow you up? Xander Harris was perfectly willing to admit that he had, from time to time, wished just such a thing. The reality, however, involved in the earth swallowing you up, was not as fun as he’d imagined. For starters, at the moment he was swallowed, he was driving down Highway 101 in his Uncle Rory’s car – a car which was now badly damaged after bouncing several times off the walls of the crevice he had fallen into.

Now though, all thoughts of how his uncle might take the damage out of his hide were forgotten as he found there were no more walls to bounce off of and he was currently free falling through space. He knew he was unlikely to survive such a fall, even though he was wearing his seat-belt. After fighting vampires and demons for the past three years, dying in a car crash seemed almost anti-climactic to him. Good thing it was a magical car crash, or he’d be second guessing his luck with magic. He closed his eyes and said his last prayers – prayers for safety for his friends – then he waited.

Except that the sound of air rushing past his ears slowed. He chanced a peek to see that he was close enough to the ground to start making out details, but it was rushing up much slower than it had been 30 seconds ago. Another minute and his car touched down gently in a large meadow. Xander released a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding and pulled his cramping hands from their white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel. He massaged his aching forearms as he took a look around.

He was in the middle of a clearing in the woods, with no roads anywhere that he could see. Around him was a rough circle of stones that looked like they were old enough to be part of Stonehenge, though the pattern they made was different. Xander looked all around him, but found no sign of any recent civilization. He realized that the car was – incredibly! – still running and turned it off.

After a few moments, the silence hit. A different silence than anything a city-dweller born in the 20th century would be familiar with. No jets overhead, no hum from nearby highways, not even the background buzz of powerlines which is one of those things you can’t even hear until it’s gone. He took his seat belt off then got out of his car and walked to the edge of the stone circle. The grass inside the circle was short and green; outside the circle, it was chest high and yellow like wheat ready for harvesting.

“Hello?” Xander called. Then a bit louder, “Hello!?”

“Over here!” a voice called from a distant treeline.

Xander looked and was pleased to see a human-looking head approaching through the tall grass. All he could see was the head poking over the grass, though he assumed there was a body connected with it. The first thing that stood out was that the man was wearing an honest-to-goodness wizard’s hat in blue fur and covered in golden stars. Xander stepped back to allow the man to leave the tall grass. He had a long, white beard and blue and gold robes that went with the wizard’s hat he was wearing. With a shake, all leaves and briars that had accumulated on his robes and beard just disappeared.

“Sorry I’m late,” the wizard said. “I was ambushed by a pack of goblins on the way and it took longer than I would have liked to take care of them.” The man frowned. “Oh! Where are my manners? I’m Zandalor. And you... are our prophesied savior,” the wizard beamed.

“Ri-i-ight...” Xander let out disbelievingly. Obviously, he’d died in a car crash when the earthquake swallowed up his car. Even the wizard’s name was a tell that this was his last dream ever. Xander... Zandalor. Yep. Dream. Ooh! Maybe he was in a coma! Maybe there was hope yet. Oh well. Best to play along and see where his dream went.

“Well, Zandalor. I’m Xander. I’ll be the hero of this story,” he quipped to his dream.

Zandalor knitted his brow for a second, then he nodded as a wry smile played across his lips. “Yes you will, my boy. Yes. You. Will.”

Xander was hot, sweaty, tired, and thirsty. When Zandalor had said that the training grounds were three leagues away, Xander had been a bit confused. He didn’t really know what a league was, only that 20,000 of them under the water meant you were pretty deep. It turned out that a league meant about an hour of walking. Xander wasn’t exactly out of shape, but after the first hour, he was flagging. The wizard had only tutted in a very Giles-like manner and said that he would have to make sure ’they’ worked on his endurance. Whoever ’they’ were, Xander just hoped ’they’ had water.

Finally, they reached their destination. Xander didn’t hide his awe at standing in an actual castle. Everywhere around him, soldiers of both sexes in various armors trained with swords, spears, and bows. Off to the side, a man in a brown robe set a target on fire with what looked to be magic and then put it out again.

A man in armor approached. “Greetings, I am Gawain, the Captain and head instructor here at Deodatus Castle.”

Gawain. At least it wasn’t a play on someone Xander already knew, but he was pretty sure he’d heard the name Gawain or Gwain in connection with knights somewhere before. Not for the first time, Xander wished he had a better imagination. “Nice ta meet’cha Gwain!” Xander said cheerfully.

Gawain got a peculiar look on his face and took in Xander from head to toe before turning to Zandalor. “This is your ’Great Champion’? He’s still a boy. And winded from walking here? He’ll never make it.”

Zandalor got a twinkle in his eye at that. “He’s a peculiar lad; but I assure you, he’ll surprise you if you give him a chance.”

“Besides, the boy is right here. Also, he’s thirsty,” Xander spoke up. He didn’t have to take this kind of abuse from his dreams. Then again, he still hadn’t ruled out being in a coma and this all being a dream.

Gawain scowled at him. “Fine, boy. Lets see what you can do. Hansel, front and center!”

A man in his mid-20s jogged up. He was wearing a chainmail byrnie, a sword, and a shield. He also carried a spear.

“Zandalor thinks this boy has potential. So, take off your weapons. I want you to prove him wrong, but no killing him,” Gawain ordered his soldier. Hansel immediately divested himself of his spear, sword, and shield before taking off his armor, leaving him in a padded undercoat. Gawain then led the way to a sparring ring. Xander snagged someone’s canteen along the way and drained it as he was dragged to the ring by the wizard. Once both men were in the ring, and a cheering crowd had gathered, Gawain looked at each combatant before yelling, “Fight!”

Hansel charged in with a massive haymaker sure to knock Xander senseless. Except that Xander wasn’t there when it landed. “I have to say, this has got to be the strangest dream ever. A terrifying free-fall, followed by a three hour walk, and then a slow motion fight,” Xander said as he dodged three more punches and a kick. “Okay. That’s enough for now. This fight isn’t much fun.” With the next punch, Xander ducked under it and gave a hard right to Hansel’s stomach, then a left to his kidney, and finished with a right uppercut; laying Hansel out cold. The crowd fell silent.

Zandalor just smiled. “You see? I told you he’d surprise you.”

“Wouldn’t be much of a hero if I couldn’t best a simple mook,” Xander walked over to the wizard and snagged another canteen, draining it as well. Three hours of walking had left him really thirsty, he started looking around for another canteen he could steal.

“How did you do that?” Gawain demanded. “Hansel is one of our best unarmed fighters.”

“It’s my dream,” Xander replied simply, still looking for more water. Of course it would be easy to take out a mook; it was his dream. Gawain just looked more confused if anything. Maybe it would be best not to tell the people in his dream that they were all figments of his imagination. Xander thought up a more believable story. “I fight monsters for a living. Since I was 15 I’ve been fighting things that are 5 times faster and 10 times stronger than a human.”

“Remind me to apologize to Hansel once he wakes up,” Gawain said to no one in particular.

“So, you’ll train him?” Zandalor asked.

“What can I teach him?” Gawain wondered.

“Well, endurance for one, obviously. He was tired after walking only three leagues. Weapons for another. He’ll need weapons and armor. And magic as well. And last but most importantly, teach him to command. He is going to be a great leader very soon.”

Xander didn’t particularly like the way the wizard said those last words.

Gawain took in Xander again as if really seeing him for the first time. “Where are your weapons and armor?”

Xander pulled out a hidden stake from his back pocket. “Here’s my weapon. We don’t use armor where I come from.”

Gawain’s mouth dropped open and he started to get a funny tick behind his left eye.

“Oh, and I’m not so sure that you should try to teach me magic. The last spell that was done on or around me ended up going horribly wrong. So, it would probably be safer for everyone if we just stick with sticking pointy things in monsters. I’m better at that.”

“Give him at least the basics of instruction in magic,” Zandalor insisted. “Anyway. I’m off for now. I’ll be back in a few months. See you then, Xander, Champion of Rivellon.” He bowed low to Xander before leaving.

When Xander heard the name Rivellon and couldn’t imagine where his imagination got such a name, was the first time that he started to doubt that all this might not be a dream. He looked and Zandalor was gone already. His face took on a look very similar to Gawain’s at that point, including the tick.

Chapter Text

Chapter 2.

Training in Rivellon was not at all like his Halloween memories told him Boot Camp was like. First of all, the chain of command was a lot murkier here. Gawain was in charge and he had his lieutenants but it was unclear which of them outranked the others. The physical training was also a lot more intense. Xander had never run so much in his life but he really liked the weapons. He seemed to take naturally to swords, spears, and the bow.

Magic was another story. That had been a challenge from the get-go, but as of now, he could at least perform a basic fireball, the rush attack, and a basic healing spell without anyone getting hurt or, in the case of the healing spell, sprouting new growths or limbs from the wounds he healed and neither he nor his teachers were interested in going any further if they could help it.

Xander also had proper armor and weapons now too and he got to use them against demons. They called them goblins and imps here, but they really just looked like different species of demons to him. The demons lived in caves with the biggest and strongest demons living at the bottom of the network and the weaker ones living towards the top, near the surface. Xander tended to have to travel deep into those caves to find what the soldiers called ’high level’ goblins to find any sort of a challenge. Even then, with his new armor and weapons, he never felt like he was in any real danger, despite the rush that facing things faster and stronger than him always brought.

Still, not all his training had been physical exercise and fighting. There were three villages that Deodatus Castle protected and Xander was assigned to get to know a villager in each. He was also to visit each of them once a week. Not something Xander was terribly interested in when there were so many demons around—even more than Sunnydale and here they were running around openly—but Gawain insisted. “A commander should know what he’s protecting,” he said.

So Xander had a plan to do the bare minimum to satisfy the captain. In one village, he found the first person he came across, it happened to be a dirty beggar. He gave the man a few coins he’d picked up from goblin caves and corpses then spent the rest of the day fighting imps in a nearby cave. The next day, in the second village, Xander’s plan to avoid entanglement failed.

She was beautiful. She was hanging some laundry up to dry outside her house on the edge of the village and trying her best to dissuade a dirty, bearded man from his amorous advances.

“Bart, I think I’ve made it very clear I’ve no interest in you,” she said, keeping a bedsheet and a clothesline between them.

“You’ll learn to have an interest in me,” Bart insisted, pulling the sheet aside and dirtying it with his filthy hands.

“Leave the lady alone,” Xander interrupted. “Haven’t you ever heard that ’no means no’?”

“Shove off, mate,” Bart snarled.

“Make me,” Xander stepped up. He was armed and armored for the fighting he was still planing on doing against demons later, but the equipment would work equally well against a human if he chose. Xander observed that this Bart was probably armed with some concealed weapons, and had at least a good, hardened-leather vest.

“Sir, don’t. Don’t you know who this is? This is Black Bart, the highwayman,” the girl tried to play peacekeeper, not wanting the kind stranger to get killed for no reason.

Xander’s brow went up at that. Not at the name, but highwayman meant he was probably wanted. “Really? Does that mean there’s a reward for his capture?”

Black Bart sneered, “Think you can take me, boy?”

“Yes.”

Bart was a little nonplussed by the simplicity of the statement but soon regained his composure. He let out a chilling laugh. “So be it. Meet me at the temple ruins in two hours.” He walked away.

“Oh, you shouldn’t have done that. He’ll bring his gang and kill you for sure,” the girl moaned.

“Meh,” Xander shrugged as it it were nothing. “Let’s start over. My name is Xander. What’s yours?”

“Audrey. But-”

“Audrey. I kinda hoped he’d go and get his little gang. I’m counting on it, in fact. Get’s them all in one place for me. Otherwise, it kinda makes the whole ’letting him go’ thing a big waste of time because I really don’t feel like chasing that guy down.” The armor he was wearing was heavy and he didn’t feel like running if he didn’t have to.

Audrey looked at him wide eyed, with her mouth hanging open.

“Listen, this might be a little forward of me, but would you like to eat lunch together after I’ve dealt with these guys?” Xander requested.

“But- but-”

“What? You’re going to let me go off to my almost certain death without even the promise of buying a pretty lady lunch?” Xander affected theatrically.

That seemed to shock Audrey out of her stupor. “Fine!” she yelled. “Just go and get yourself killed already. At least it will put Bart in a good mood for a couple days!” she stomped off, leaving most of her laundry still unhung.

“So... was that a yes or a no to lunch?” Xander called after her.

THREE MONTHS LATER

“You ready?” Gawain asked from the doorway.

“Would you think less of me if I said ’no’? Not even counting how much I’m going to miss Audrey,” Xander replied. He had decided long ago that this really wasn’t a dream. He didn’t know where Rivellon was or why he’d been brought here but decided not to worry about it. He couldn’t do anything about getting back without the wizard anyway.

“If it makes you feel any better, I’ll be leaving soon too. Along with half the men,” Gawain added. At a look from Xander he explained. “I don’t know if you realize it or not, but in the few months you’ve been here, you’ve really pacified this valley. You killed so many monsters and outlaws that we just don’t need as many soldiers here to protect everyone. Hansel is being given command of the garrison and the rest of us are being rotated somewhere we can do more good.

“I don’t know what Zandelor’s plans are for you. Even if he just takes you from fort to fort, you’d do a lot of good for the people of Rivellon, but somehow I think he’s aiming even higher. Whatever it is, all the men chipped in to get you this.” Gawain reached outside the door and came back with a shiny, steel cuirass. “We know you’re fast enough to avoid most blows, but sooner or later... Well, we hope someday this saves your life.”

“Thank you, Gawain,” Xander said as he took the gift, truly touched. Solid steel like this was pretty dang expensive. The value of the cuirass was about the value of a brand new car.

“No. Thank you.”

Xander was in full kit, including his new cuirass when Zandelor arrived.

The wizard didn’t waste words. “Are you ready?”

Xander nodded.

Zandelor took off at an easy lope and Xander followed, not slowed at all by the weight of the weapons and armor he was wearing. Endurance training had really paid off.

“Library... ooh!” Willow cooed as they checked out the library of the college they were now attending. “Library. C’mon.”

“It’s too bad Giles can’t be the librarian here. Be convenient,” Buffy said as she followed her friend.

Willow smiled. “Well, he says that he’s enjoying being a gentleman of leisure.”

“Gentleman of leisure? Isn’t that just British for unemployed?” Buffy mentally translated.

“Uh-huh, he’s a slacker now,” Willow smiled at the thought of Giles doing anything but work.

“Speaking of slack, have you heard anything from Xander?” Buffy asked as they reached the next landing.

Willow sighed. “Not for awhile, he’s still on his cross-country-see-America thing. He said he wasn’t coming back until he had driven to all fifty states.”

“Did you explain about Hawaii?” Buffy queried.

“Oh, he seemed so determined,” Willow hadn’t wanted to break his heart.

“I hope he gets back soon. It’d be fun to have the whole gang back together. You know?”

“What is it you want from me and can and will you send me back when you’re done?” Xander asked as they walked, taking a break from their jog.

“I cannot, though I would,” Zandelor answered the 2nd question first. “The... person we are going to see is the one who brought you here. I’m fairly certain he can send you back once you’ve completed his task.”

“You hesitated to call him a person,” Xander observed. Some of the demons here had pretty powerful shamans. He wondered if the last few months of killing them was about to bite him in the butt.

“Forgive me. You are not from here, I forgot you don’t have the prejudices of the general populace. The one we are going to see is a dragon. One of the Ancient Race. He is very old and very powerful.”

“And dragons are good or bad?” Xander asked.

“Good! Very good. The Ancient Race gave our kind many wonderful gifts, but long ago, a man named Damien poisoned the minds of people against the dragons and the dragon knights,” Zandelor said.

“Dragon knights?”

“Forgive me. Again, I forget. Dragon knights were humans blessed by dragons to take the form of a dragon when they liked. While they ruled, peace reigned in Rivellon. Since their fall, Rivellon has known only war after war. First against Damien, then between bickering lands.”

“And what do you expect from me?”

“I believe the Patriarch wishes to make you a dragon knight. It is a great honor.”

“But I don’t want to rule Rivellon for you,” Xander complained. “I have friends and a life back home.”

“That may be part of the reason you were chosen. The rule of the Dragon Knights was not always completely benevolent. Peaceful does not mean perfect. Perhaps that means that the Patriarch will return you to your world once you’ve completed his mission,” Zandelor said. “And no. I don’t know for certain what that mission is. I wasn’t told and am merely guessing, but I have become very good at guessing over the years. I was only told that you would be coming and to take you to Deodatus Castle for training.”

THREE MONTHS AGO

Xander didn’t hang around Audrey’s house long. Instead, he immediately headed for the temple ruins that Bart had mentioned. He wanted to take in the lay of the land and he also wanted to figure out where the ambush would come from.

Xander started by making a circle around the temple, looking for likely ambush spots. Xander happened upon the first ambusher by accident. The guy was as surprised as Xander was. Our hero was only saved by his armor and experience wrestling with demons much stronger than he was. When it was over, Xander was sitting in a small pit with a dead body and covered in blood. Xander had discovered long ago that his own fights were much different from Buffy’s. His were much shorter and there was a lot more blood but this was the first time he had taken a human life. He thought it was supposed to feel different from killing demons but this guy had been just as intent on killing him as any demon. More, perhaps as many demons barely noticed him until he stabbed them in the back.

He was actually disturbed that he didn’t feel more disturbed at killing a human being.

After sitting for a while contemplating that fact, he decided to see if there was anyone else waiting to kill him. Judging by the bow by the side of the corpse, the man had been an archer. Xander looked around and, now that he knew what he was looking for, he found the other hidey-holes easily. There were six in total, including the one he’d already killed—which he thought was overkill for just one guy. Xander crept out of his bloody hole and struck out to commit his first purposeful human kill.

Black Bart arrived about a half hour before the appointed time and waved in the general direction of where the backup had been. Xander stood up and waved back. He hadn’t been hiding per se, but Bart had clearly not been looking for him there.

“I’m afraid it’s just you and me,” Xander said as he drew his sword.

Bart was too shocked to do anything for a moment. Xander had killed his men, his friends, and was covered in their congealed blood. He let out a roar of fury then drew two smaller blades he’d been concealing and charged.

Xander blocked one blade with his sword and Bart sneered as he stabbed forward with his other blade. Xander twisted though and the blow skittered off Xander’s armor harmlessly while Bart found a knife in his heart. Where had that knife come from? he thought as he coughed blood on Xander’s face.

Xander stepped back to wipe the blood off as Bart fell to his knees. “What? You think you’re the only one who can fight dirty?” he asked the dying man.

Xander only relaxed when Bart had been dead for a full minute and his eyes started to glaze over. An imp had taught him that lesson, luckily his armor had saved him. That fight, like this one, had been very different from any fight he’d watched Buffy execute. This was over quickly, and there was always a lot more blood than you’d expect. He retrieved his stiletto knife, cleaned it, and returned it to its hidden sheath. He then searched Bart’s body for more weapons and added a few more knives to the collection he’d found on the gang. It was a bit morbid, but selling the weapons and other possessions of his conquests was turning out to be a very lucrative line of business for him. Which was exactly how he was going to afford taking Audrey to lunch today.

A FEW DAYS AFTER XANDER AND AUDREY’S FIRST MEETING

“Xander! Get over here!” bellowed Gawain.

“Yes, sir,” Xander presented himself. Most of the men and women didn’t call Gawain ’sir’ but it felt weird for the Earthling not to.

“It’s come to my attention that you’ve been avoiding fighting the women of this outpost. Why is that? Are you afraid of being hit by women?”

“No, sir,” Xander said somewhat abashedly. He’d hoped he would have gotten away from this without having to hit women. “But where I’m from, a man isn’t supposed to hit a woman. There are exceptions for when the woman in question happens to be stronger than a goblin chieftain, like a couple of my female friends are. They’d flatten me if we ever fought, but the opposite is true of the other women in my life. Fighting men would end up with them flattened.”

“The women of your world are so weak that they can’t defend themselves from human men?” Yvonne asked. She was the lieutenant in charge of training all the women. Women and men served together in integrated units, but their training was split, individual training apart, group training together. Yvonne was the one in charge of the women’s single-sex training.

“Yes. I mean, no. I mean-”

“Enough,” Gawain mercifully cut him off. “In punishment for avoiding fighting the women here, who are quite insulted that you think they can’t take care of themselves, you are going to fight each and every one of them one-at-a-time until you defeat each of them. Any that you do not defeat today, you will have to fight the next day and so on. Now, I suggest you get a drink of water. You have a long day ahead of you, Xander,” Gawain smiled. It was not a nice smile.

The first woman that faced him was Paula. They took their stances and Xander looked at her fists. She was holding them wrong. He knew. Not only had he punched a lot of people/demons but he’d been trained how to punch properly twice now. He was about to mention that fact to her when Yvonne gave the call to ’fight’.

Paula charged and flicked a kick at his face. Xander avoided the kick and lashed out with a punch of his own. He didn’t exactly put all his force into it, though. She didn’t even act like she felt it. Her own punch to his solar plexus he definitely felt. He doubled over, unable to breathe.

Once he was able to breathe again, he found himself looking up at a scowling Yvonne. “You call that a punch?” she asked. “I’ve seen children hit harder than that. Again!”

The next woman stepped forward. Xander didn’t even know her name. Xander put a bit more force into his punches but found them returned with interest. He didn’t know that normal woman could be so strong. She was stronger than some of the guys he’d faced. Not as strong as the strongest guy, but deceptively strong none the less. He was given a couple minutes to recover after she beat him.

Yvonne again stood over him. “I don’t know what kind of sick world you live in where women aren’t supposed to be hit but aren’t allowed to hit back, because I gotta tell you, I prefer being able to hit back. Either way, I assure you, my girls have gone toe to toe with all the men here and won their fair share. So stop holding back, because my women are fully capable of killing you if you hold back, goblin fighter though you may be.”

“Why do they make that weird fist?” Xander asked. He was somewhat curious, but mostly he was just stalling for more time to recover.

Yvonne held out her hand then slowly curled it into a fist. “This? This is just what a woman’s fist looks like. It’s different from a man’s fist. The physical differences between men and women are the reason we train apart. I suppose if women in your world aren’t supposed to fight, you wouldn’t know that. Anyway, stop stalling and get to your feet.”

Xander frowned and did as he was ordered.

The next girl up was smaller and blonde. That really helped. He imagined what he would do if he ever had to face the Slayer for real and he finally gave better than he got.

He was able to beat the next five women as well but he was sore all over and felt like he could barely stand. He’d never gotten this beat up fighting men or demons before.

“Better,” Yvonne said from her perch overlooking the fights. “That’s enough for today, Xander. Get some rest because it’s going to get harder tomorrow.”

The next day Xander faced off against Garnet, rumored to be the best fighter of the women. He now knew better than to hold back against her so he charged forward. The move was so fast that he didn’t even realize he was on his back until the wind had been driven from him.

As he slowly caught his breath, he went over the move in his mind. The move was impossible.

Yvonne and Garnet were both standing over him, smirking. Yvonne spoke first. “Thought so. I figured if you were from a world without female fighters, you wouldn’t know our style of fighting. Or the counters to it.” A truly wicked grin spread over her face. “Now you get to figure out the counters to these moves all on your own.”

Xander groaned.

TODAY – SEVERAL WEEKS OF WALKING AFTER WE LAST LEFT XANDER AND ZANDELOR

“Here we are. The Patriarch’s cave,” Zandelor waved his arm at a waterfall.

“You’re not coming in?” Xander clarified as he stepped forward and the wizard did not.

“What is there is not for me. Only for you. I will wait here for you,” Zandelor confirmed.

“Do not meddle in the affairs of Wizards,” Xander mumbled under his breath. “for they become soggy and hard to light.” He then waded into the water and under the waterfall.

Chapter Text

Chapter 3.

“Do not meddle in the affairs of Dragons. For you are crunchy and good with ketchup,” Xander quoted to himself as he made his way through the cave system. He was just grateful that there seemed to be only one real path which negated his chances of becoming lost.

“Did you bring any ketchup?” a booming voice asked.

“No, sorry,” apparently, his voice had carried further than he’d thought.

“Well, then I guess I won’t be eating you after all,” the voice said.

Xander made his way carefully to the edge of a steep drop off and looked down at the gigantic dragon at the bottom. “Are you the Patriarch?”

“That is what I am called. My true name cannot be uttered here for it is itself a spell of creation that would give different shape to these surroundings and would spawn new, unheard of species. Even dwelling on it in my mind may topple nearby statues or push new breeds of flowers from the ground.” the Dragon at the bottom of the chasm said.

“Are you the one who brought me here?”

“Yes,” was all the Patriarch said.

“Why?” Xander asked after a few moments of silence.

“Allow me to explain with a story,” the Patriarch began. “A long time ago, even as Dragons count things, we imbued a few select humans with a tiny portion of our powers. This allowed them to keep peace amongst themselves and it also bettered humanity as a whole as knowledge from us filtered down to the common people. It did not, however, last very long. Granting powers to those humans seems to have made them think they were above the other humans.”

“Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely,” Xander quoted.

“In humans, it seems, yes; but we allowed it as humanity as a whole was better off for the peace the Dragon Knights brought even if they weren’t quite the benevolent guardians we intended,” the Patriarch said. “But then a demon in human form came. He hated humanity and focused his hatred on the Dragon Knights, the protectors of humanity. He convinced the humans of his time that they, the Dragon Knights, had betrayed a great hero. So, assaulted by Damien on one side and the rest of the world on the other, the Dragon Knights were quickly driven to extinction. Without the guidance and help of the Dragon Knights, the world fell into chaos.

“Which, brings us to you. A great warrior of your day and age, and yet one who can be spared from the fight for some time. This world needs you, oh warrior. Darkness creeps upon it and without help, it will soon perish. I have seen it. And yet, I do not wish to repeat the mistakes of the past. Which brings me to the reason I chose you over all others: your complete and total lack of ambition.”

“Um, hey?”

The Patriarch gave a soft chuckle. “Perhaps that is the problem; in humans ambition is seen as a positive attribute but for what I need, it is not. Your place will not be to rule, merely to fight. And when the fight has ended, I will return you to your world.”

Xander thought for a minute. “And if I say no, will you return me to my world anyway.”

The great head nodded. “I will. But before you answer, I would like you to know that you will not be without help in this quest. First and foremost, I will grant you the power of the Dragon Knights of old. You will be the first Dragon Knight in many an age. Not only will that grant you strength and speed beyond what any mortal man can achieve while still in your human form, but you will also be able to take the form of a Dragon and rain down fire and death upon your enemies from above.”

“I’ll be as big as you?” Xander wondered. The Patriarch was freaking HUGE! Probably bigger than downtown Sunnydale.

“No,” the Patriarch corrected. “Very old Dragon Knights did get fairly large compared to humans, but they were still only about the size of one of my rear paws. As a newly made dragon, your body would be roughly double the size it is now, though that measurement would not include your tail or your wings. It’s hard to estimate such small sizes, but call it five times your current weight.”

Xander chuckled. “Conservation of energy doesn’t apply?”

“Ah, you are quite wise to be aware of that phenomenon. Indeed, it does apply. Along with the power I will give you, I will give you a Dragon Stone. The stone holds the magical power needed to convert your current mass into that of a dragon.”

“Interesting, and the other help you mentioned?” Xander asked for details.

“Yes. The wizard outside, Zandelor will be assigned to you. To be your guide to Rivellon, to advise you on any topic you wish, and to be your...”

Xander felt a tingle in his mind.

“...big gun if you need it,” the Patriarch finished.

“Did you just take that from my mind?” Xander asked angrily. “A man’s mind is sacred! You can’t just go in and take what you want!”

“Forgive me,” begged the dragon. “It shan’t happen again. In fact, you make an excellent point.” He was silent for a moment. “There. Mind reading is no longer possible in Rivellon.”

Xander wasn’t sure if he wanted to work for a mind-reading dragon, but decided to hear the rest of the proposal. “That’s it? Me and a wizard against the world?”

“Certainly not. You will be given a stronghold and a small army to start with. I believe you are already familiar with Captain Gawain and his men. They will be yours to command. And you will be given funds to recruit more men, of course.”

“You want a Warlord,” Xander realized.

“Indeed I do. Rivellon needs a Warlord,” the Patriarch confirmed.

“You want me to kill a lot of people,” he stated.

“The alternative is that everyone in Rivellon shall perish. However, the choice is yours. Say the word and I shall send you home. Or agree to become our champion and save Rivellon from its fate and I shall give you more power than you ever dreamed.”

Xander turned away from the cliff and kicked at what might have once been a bucket. Taking a deep breath, he turned back. “I’ll do it. Make me a Dragon Knight.”

MANY YEARS LATER

Alexander had just flown from the Capital to Lovisville and boy were his arms tired. And that joke had gotten seriously old a long time ago. Flying in dragon form was taxing. Then again, the war was almost over. Maybe it was time to stop wearing the training weights Zandelor had given him all those years ago.

“What news from the Capital, my Lord?” Alexander’s General, Gregory, asked.

“Politicians bickering over petty disagreements,” Alexander sighed. “The last argument was about whether the voting age should be ’16 and over’ or ’over 16’,” he shook his head. “I’m not sure I’m doing Rivellon a favor by leaving you in the hands of politicians. Except I don’t know a better system of government. ...Or a worse one.”

“The army is loyal to you, my Lord,” Gregory hinted. He no longer outright said that Alexander should declare himself king. Alexander had put the kibosh on that a long time ago.

“Then the army should follow my lead and declare their allegiance to the people of Rivellon and to the Senate that will represent them,” Alexander said. The battle to get a Democratic Republic installed as the governing body had been almost as hard as the campaign to pacify the land and the fight to keep himself from being declared king, dictator, and/or emperor was only slightly less difficult. Bad enough that they were going to call what would have been the president ’The Dragon’ and have a picture of him in dragon form as the national emblem. “Anyway, how goes negotiations here?”

“Slow,” Gregory frowned, but a smile crept over his face, crinkling the scar on the right side of his head that ran from temple to cheek. “Though after seeing yourself in the sky, we expect them to be far more willing to compromise very soon.”

Alexander allowed himself a small smile as well despite not liking the way Gregory’s scar made him feel. In his dragon form, he was capable of turning cities to embers in just a few days, which tended to make for short sieges once word got out.

Sure enough, less than an hour later, a messenger came riding out of the city. Alexander smiled and stretched as he watched the approach.

“What will you do now that the war is over, sir?” Gregory asked.

Alexander’s grin grew as he thought about that. “Make love to my wife. Play with my child. Then see a man about sending the three of us-”

The world shifted around Alexander and suddenly he was no longer standing on lush grass under a tent but was in the harsh desert somewhere he didn’t recognize. “...home.”

Chapter Text

Chapter 4.

Alexander was standing in the desert. He didn’t know where. He consciously accessed his Dragon Stone to take his other form and get his bearings.

...And nothing happened.

He felt under his armor. It was gone. His constant companion for years and the key to taking his other form was gone. He felt very vulnerable despite the weapons and armor he was still wearing. Suddenly, there was a flash of light and Alexander drew his blade to deal with whatever beasties had just been summoned. Except there were none. Just three large chests and a pile of rust he eventually recognized as his uncle Rory’s old car—the headlights were the clue. He checked the chests. They were his own, or at least a few of the many chests he owned. Two were filled with gold and quite heavy even with his enhanced strength. The third was filled with some of his favorite jewels and trinkets he had captured. Whenever he needed a gift for Audrey, he dug into that chest.

“Hey!” he yelled at the sky. “I don’t want this crap! I want my wife and son!”

The sky stayed silent.

It was his own fault, Alexander decided morosely. He hadn’t discussed it with the Patriarch beforehand. He had simply assumed that he would have to go back to the old Dragon and ask to be sent back; and then he and Audrey would ask if they could all be sent to Earth or all stay in Rivellon.

And now he had been taken from them. And vice versa.

Alexander felt lost. A minute getting his bearings and he knew from the smells in the air and the planes flying overhead that he was back on Earth. And yet, he’d never felt further from home. Even when he’d first been transported there, he hadn’t felt like he’d been leaving all that much behind here. He knew Willow would miss him but didn’t think anyone else, including his parents, would notice. Too bad now it felt like he’d left part of his soul in Rivellon.

He took a deep breath and decided he wasn’t going to mope. With or without his Dragon Stone, Alexander was a Dragon Knight, Dictator-in-Chief of Rivellon, and the commander of the most feared army in that world. They hadn’t even been the largest, but they’d defeated far larger armies in their quest to unify that world and it hadn’t simply been Alexander flying in to the rescue either. Anti-dragon defenses had made a strong comeback after they won their first siege. Tactics, planning, logistics, propaganda, negotiation, and even hygiene had allowed him to literally conquer the world.

The same mind that had conquered that world was now solely focused on one thing: finding his family.

First things first; he had to figure out where he was.

As night fell, Alexander could see the light pollution (under a haze of real pollution) that could only be the Los Angeles skyline as well as a nearby road filled with commuters heading home at the end of the day. Or perhaps leaving the city for a weekend elsewhere. By then, Alex had already put all three chests into his bag of holding. Abandoning his uncle’s car, he set out in a northwesterly direction towards what he hoped was Sunnydale and his best first chance of getting home again. He knew he didn’t know that much about magic, but if Giles was still around, he hoped the watcher knew enough to send him home.

Soon enough, he was upon the outskirts of Sunnydale. He laughed when he realized that he had been three leagues away and despite jogging most of the way in full armor, he wasn’t the least winded, unlike when he had first arrived in Rivellon and been winded by walking three leagues.

You never really forget your childhood home. Even years away, you step onto familiar streets and almost everything comes back. He let his legs carry him down the streets of his childhood, not really sure if he’d just forgotten various landmarks or if things had changed that much since he’d been gone. Soon enough his legs carried him to his parents’ house. Even from the street he could hear shouting and he sighed. Even years away hadn’t changed his parents at all. He let his legs carry him away again.

Next he found himself in front of the burned out shell of his old high school. He was slightly surprised that it was still here. He’d expected that it would have been torn down by now. He’d been away for years, after all. Being here brought back memories of his first real battle. Buffy had assumed that his Army training had prepared him to lead her little army – and Xander hadn’t wanted to disappoint her. (He stopped for a moment to think about how he’d just referred to himself as Xander less than an hour after arriving back in Sunnydale but shook it off) He’d led the 120 students against the unstoppable demon and his vampire minions as best he could at the time with only memories of his Halloween costume’s commanding officer to fall back on. He had been... not devastated, but maybe disappointed that he’d lost so many students that day.

Looking back now, however, he was amazed that such a small army of poorly trained, shoddily equipped kids—who had no experience other than surviving on a Hellmouth for 18 years—had survived at all.

He was pulled from his reverie by a couple of vampires emerging from the ruins of his old school. They stretched and yawned, clearly waking up from a long day’s sleep. One of them spotted him and pointed him out to the others.

“Ah, breakfast,” the biggest vamp said as they approached. “I usually don’t like my breakfast to come from a can, but I’ll make an exception in your case.”

Alexander wasn’t terribly impressed by what the vamps clearly thought of as wit. “You guys must still be asleep. I thought you were supposed to be hunters.” He shook his head at the confused look that got him. “You think about that for a moment. In the meantime, I understand there used to be a Slayer here a few years ago. Is she still around?”

“Yeah, she’s still around,” the female of the group confirmed. “And what do you mean supposed to be hunters.”

“Okay. Let’s say for a moment that you are hunters. You hunt...?” Alexander motioned them fill in the blank.

“Humans!” the biggest one sneered at him.

“I’m thinking of a more general term here. Starts with a ’P’,” he gave them a hint.

“Prey?” one of the others asked.

“Exactly,” Alexander snapped and pointed. “And what does prey do?”

“Screams!”

“Wets themselves?”

“Runs away,” the girl said quietly. She was starting to get a slightly worried look on her face and had already taken a step back.

“Five more points to the lady. And since I’m not running away, that should tell your inner hunter that I just might not be prey.”

“You should pray that I don’t break your arms before I kill you for wasting my time like that,” the big one growled showing the same level of wit as before.

In one move Alexander drew his sword and decapitated both the male vampires who were advancing on him. The female took off at that, but Alexander put on a burst of speed and skidded to a stop in front of her, holding his sword to her neck. He then sheathed it. The vampiress looked at him in shock. “I’m sparing you because you didn’t attack me and you answered my question. That’s enough for a pass for now, but this isn’t a free ride to hunt and kill. If I see you hunting humans, even tonight, then I’ll still kill you. However, those who provide service to me, will be rewarded. Tell your friends.”

Alexander watched her go. He then looked around. If Buffy was still around then Giles might still be around and Giles was his best, first chance at getting home again. He headed off in the direction he thought Giles’ apartment was.

Okay. Alexander might remember his house, the school, and Sunnydale in general well enough to get around, but he clearly had no memory of where Giles’ place was. He simply hadn’t been there often enough before he left. He ended up finding a gas station payphone and looking him up in the phone book before cross-referencing the address against a map of Sunnydale in the front of the book. Well, at least he had been in the right general area. He set off with an address and a map now etched in his mind. One thing about being a dragon was that a bird’s eye view gave you the perfect vantage point for making really good maps. Unfortunately, since his arms were also his wings while in flight, he had to memorize the terrain and then make maps from memory—a skill his cartographer had taught him, which also helped in memorizing said maps for later use. Like now.

Alexander found Giles’ place and knocked but no one answered. Hopefully, if he was in the phone book then it was likely that he was still around. He’d try back another time.

Alexander decided to try the bars. Everyone would be drinking age by now. Maybe he’d run into someone he knew who could point him in the right direction.

The third bar he visited was on the same block as The Bronze. He didn’t think anyone he knew would still be visiting there but he wanted to be sure. As he approached, he saw a tiny blonde leaving; clearly badly bruised and favoring her left arm. It had been a long time, but he definitely recognized Buffy. It helped that she hadn’t changed much.

“Buffy!” he called to her.

No one else had given him a second glance for wearing armor around Sunnydale even if his helmet was now in his bag of holding. Buffy fell into a defensive stance the moment she took him in.

“It’s been a long time, Buff. Didn’t really expect to see you here,” Alexander said.

Buffy’s eyes lost focus for a minute as she struggled to come to grips with the voice she remembered coming out of a very un-Xander-like body. “Xander!? Why are you wearing armor? I thought you were touring America?”

“For five years?” Alexander shot back incredulously. Had they really not noticed he’d been gone for so long?

“Five years? Xander, it’s been like three months. Maybe four,” Buffy said.

“We need to talk to Giles,” they said almost in unison.’

“Come on. I’ll walk you there,” said Buffy.

Alex shook his head. “I was just there, nobody was home. And what happened to your arm?”

Buffy looked down at her injured arm. “It’s nothing... there was this vampire, and she took me down, and I just... I don’t know how to stop her. You’ve really been gone for five years?” He did look older, but that might have just been the beard. It was well trimmed, but it definitely made him look older.

“So, you got beat and now you’re scared for the rematch?”

“It’s just, what if I can’t cut it?” Buffy asked.

“Here. Give me your arm.” Alexander took the appendage. He held his hands over it for a bit until they were glowing with a faint blueish light. “I don’t have an answer for you, Buffy. I can tell you that there’s an entire world out there that calls saying a funny quip before you kill a demon a ’Buffy’. You see, I kinda got empowered where I was sent and then given an impossible mission. I asked myself, ’Self, what would Buffy do?’, then I did that. And I became a hero to a lot of people. Just like you are to me.”

Buffy took her arm and worked it slowly. There was almost no pain. “How did you do that?”

“Feel like you’re up for a rematch now?” Alexander didn’t answer her question.

“Absolutely,” Buffy agreed eagerly.

After a little research, Buffy and Alexander stood in front of an abandoned frat house they were sure was the vampires’ lair. “We should take a look around. See how many are inside,” Buffy suggested.

“Just vampires, right? No demon god or Old One or anything?”

“No, just vamps. I think,” Buffy said.

“Then let’s just knock and see if they’ll come out to play,” Alexander grinned.

Buffy frowned. “We need weapons. Okay, I need weapons and they stole my weapons trunk.”

Alexander pulled out an empty leather bag. He reached in and pulled out a sword that was too big to have fit in the small bag without magic. “I don’t carry stakes any more, but you can use one of my backup swords if you want.” He handed it to her.

She was still testing it out when Alex walked up to the door and banged loudly. “Dragons and Slayers here. You forgot to pay your protection money this month.” He stepped back to give them room to come out. He wanted room to maneuver when the fight started.

“Oh look, boys. The Slayer’s back. And she brought along her watcher. You guys take the tin can. The Slayer is mine.” With that, Sunday picked up a 2X4 and started swinging it at Buffy who blocked the blow with her borrowed sword.

Alexander jumped and somersaulted backwards to gain some maneuvering room so his fight didn’t interfere with Buffy’s. As he landed, he pulled his shield from his back and drew his sword.

“Ha! He’s got a shield. What’s that going to do, buddy?” one of the vamps asked as he approached.

Alexander didn’t answer, instead he swung his shield at the vamp’s knees, taking him to the ground while simultaneously swinging his sword in an upwards arc, taking off the vamp’s head as he hit the ground. “That.” He grinned at the other vamps who were no longer quite so cocky.

“Can I ask you something before Buffy dusts you?” Alex said during a lull in the other fight.

Sunday looked at him, then looked around. All her minions were gone. “What are you? No watcher can take four vampires, no matter how much armor he’s wearing.”

“How do you know so much about watchers?” Buffy wondered.

Sunday sneered at her. “You’re not the first Slayer they sent to die on the Hellmouth. I was sent here back in ’82.”

“You were a Slayer?” Buffy asked incredulously.

“Yeah. And there have been 17 of us who have died here in the last 20 years. Including you and that Jamaican chick,” Sunday confirmed. “And none of them, including you and me, lasted more than a year here before they died, but the council keeps sending them into the meat grinder,” Sunday seemed almost sad about that.

“So, why the hell did you attack me if you knew who I was?” Buffy asked.

“To be honest, I wanted to know if you were a vampire or not. Or maybe just undead. Everyone knows that you died in the Master’s cave that night. And that spray-on tan isn’t fooling anything that isn’t human.”

“Hey!” Buffy yelled. “My tan is 100% natural!”

Even Alex raised an eyebrow at that. Dragon eyes could see that it wasn’t. Sunday just snorted.

“Okay, fine. Maybe I use a little bronzer.”

Sunday rolled her eyes at that. “And then you come here with your pet demon. I should have smelled you when you talked. What kind of demon are you?”

“And Xander’s not a demon!” Buffy defended.

Xand- Alex shook his head. “Not a demon. I’m a dragon. You smell the sulfur on my breath.”

“Is that what that is?” Buffy wondered. “I didn’t want to say anything. I figured you just forgot your toothbrush on your trip or something.”

“Later,” Alexander promised.

“Can we get on with this?” Sunday interrupted. “I’ve got people to go and places to kill.”

“Ri-i-ight.” Buffy shook her head at the purposeful misspeaking and fell into a fighting stance.

Sunday imitated her stance. “Oh, and you might not believe me, Slayer, since I’m trying to kill you and all, but if you survive, do your own research. The council isn’t on your side. The council is on the council’s side.” With that, she attacked.

Alex sheathed his sword and reset his shield on his back where it would be out of the way before sitting back to watch the showdown between the Vampire Slayer and the vampire Slayer. He was honestly a little worried and silently readied a fireball spell. Sunday was by far the more skilled fighter. Every punch and kick was fast, efficient, and devastating. Buffy’s blows were weak-sauce in comparison but she was so much faster and stronger than her opponent that she was able to make up for in speed and power what she lacked in technique. Also she had a sharp sword where the vampire had a piece of wood that was losing chunks of itself every time she blocked or attacked.

When Buffy had finally disemboweled the vampire and she was kneeling on the grass in front of the living Slayer, Sunday got in the last quip, saying, “There can be only one,” just before Buffy lopped off her head.

Buffy then turned her attention to her friend. “So. Dragon?”

“Yeah, but if you don’t mind, I’d like to get the gang together first. It’s a long story and I only want to have to tell it once.”

Buffy scowled at that but said, “Fair enough, but first you have to help me move my stuff back to my room.”

Buffy piled box after box in Alex’s arms. Far more than an ordinary human could have carried. She, herself, carried only her Class Protector award and Mr. Gordo. As they were leaving, Giles ran up carrying a fairly sizable arsenal.

“I’ve been awake all night. I know I’m supposed to teach you self-reliance, but I can’t leave you out there to fight alone. To hell with what’s right, I’m ready to back you up. Let’s find the evil a-and fight it together,” he said.

“Great! Thanks! We’ll get right on that,” Buffy replied sarcastically and kept walking.

“The evil is this way?” Giles wondered.

“My room is,” Buffy smirked.

“Hey, Giles. Nice to hear your voice,” Alexander said from behind his boxes. He couldn’t actually see much at the moment.

“Xander is that you?” Giles asked. “Good to- um- hear you as well.”

Chapter Text

Part 5: Campaign Chapter 1.

“The alternative is that most humans in Rivellon shall perish. However, the choice is yours. Say the word and I shall send you home. Or agree to become our champion and save Rivellon from its fate and I shall give you more power than you ever dreamed.”

Xander turned away from the cliff and kicked at what might have once been a bucket. Taking a deep breath, he turned back. “I'll do it. Make me a Dragon Knight.”

“Very well. Open the chest to your left,” the Patriarch said.

Xander was sure he would have noticed an old, wooden treasure chest like that parked there as he walked in. He walked over and did as instructed. Inside was a shiny, green rock enclosed in a golden setting attached to a thick gold chain. To the side was a large, leather bag.

“Put the stone on,” the Patriarch instructed. “That is your Dragon Stone. The stone holds the magical power needed to convert your current mass into that of a dragon. Never take it off. The bag is what was known as a bag of holding. It will hold 100 items so long as they can pass the mouth of the bag.”

Xander put on the stone and felt a tingle go through his entire body.

“You now have the power of the Dragon running through your body. Even without the stone, you will still be faster, able to leap higher, and stronger than you were before. But only while wearing the stone will you be able to unlock your true form,” the dragon said.

“How much stronger and faster?”

“Quite a bit. It will take some getting used to,” the dragon replied.

Xander decided to see if he could jump from one side of the cave to the other. It would have been too far for the old him, but an easy leap for Buffy. Instead, he ended up hitting his head on the ceiling. The ceiling was not exactly low either. He rubbed his head even though he’d caught much of the blow on his arm.

“Perhaps you should wait until you are outside on the soft sand before testing your new abilities? Instead of inside, surrounded by jagged rocks.” The dragon waited for Xander to nod in chagrin before going on. “There is one thing that you need to practice here before going out: turning into a dragon. I will do it for you the first time. Concentrate on what it feels like. You will need to remember those feelings to repeat the process and to turn yourself back into a human. Also do be careful when you've changed. You're going to be much bigger than you are now. The tunnel you are in will feel much smaller in a moment.”

Xander felt the power flowing into him from the Dragon Stone. The change itself was instantaneous. One second, he was a human; the next, a dragon. He staggered a bit as he got used to the balance of his new body. The first thing he realized was that his head was no longer above his legs. Instead, his head stuck way out in front of them and was counterbalanced by his tail. The next thing he noticed was that the cave looked VERY different to dragon eyes. The only way that Xander could describe it to humans was that it was like having your peripheral vision expanded by a factor of ten.

Xander also noticed that everything felt weird. His hips felt like they were backwards for some reason while his legs were no bigger than they had been. They might have even been shorter; or maybe they just looked that way because he was bigger. He also belatedly realized that he didn't get an extra set of limbs. Even looking at the Dragon down in the cliff, it hadn't really registered with him that the Dragon's wings were his forelimbs and not a 3rd set of limbs like most fantasy dragons he’d seen drawn.

Speaking of wings, it was time for Xander to unfurl those bad boys.

“Careful,” the Patriarch warned, “your wingspan is greater than the width of that tunnel. If you want to fully see your wings, you will have to jump.

Without thinking, Xander did as he was bid. It was a good thing he did it without thinking, because halfway into the air, he realized he was about to jump off a freaking cliff and nearly panicked; but after losing only a little height, his arms/wings took his weight and just like that, he was flying.

“Very good, little one!” the old dragon's laughter filled the cavern. Parental pride in their children's accomplishments is a pan-species characteristic. “Now, when you come in for a landing, be careful. Our legs are not terribly powerful compared to our size and you don't want to land too hard on them or you might risk breaking them. Some Dragon Knights of old got around this by not landing in Dragon form. They would approach where they wished to land then transform while still in mid-air. Their human legs were much stronger, relatively speaking, and could withstand a fall, even from a great height, as their human legs had less weight to catch.”

“It's an idea,” Xander allowed. He was somewhat surprised that he was able to talk, but not so much since the other dragon could too.

“Some knights—not always the same ones—also liked to transform into a dragon after throwing themselves off a great height and transforming in mid-air. Overlapping those groups, there were a few Dragon Knights who touched the ground only ever once in their dragon form,” the Patriarch went on.

Xander filed that thought away for later. For now, he concentrated on landing. He was coming at the mouth of the tunnel and coming in purposely a little low. He pulled up when he got close to gain height and bleed speed before pushing the power he felt back into the Dragon Stone. Instantly, he was human again. What was left of his forward momentum carried him safely back onto the ledge.

“Well done, Alexander,” the Patriarch said. “You'll forgive me, but I saw your name when I was in your mind before. I do like the name better than the name 'Xander'. Alexander has meaning. A heroic name for Rivellon's newest hero.”

“I'll think about it,” Xander said. Then again, a different name here might be a good thing—a way to put Sunnydale and Earth out of his mind while he was here. “Anything else I need to know?”

“I have given you all I can. It is time for you to unite all the kingdoms in Rivellon. May Ouroboros, the Dragon God, watch over you.”

Xander made it out of the cave, past the waterfall, and then swam to shore. As soon as his feet hit dry land, the wizard fell to one knee. “Hail, Dragon Knight!” he cried.

Xander frowned. “Stand up, Zandalor. If you want my help, there's going to be some new rules. First rule is 'no bowing'. I'm not going to be your ruler. So if we're going to do that, we're going to have to figure out a way for the people to rule themselves. And that takes a joining of equals. Which means that no one has to bow to anyone else. If you're in the military, you salute those of higher rank, but civilians bow to no one.”

“As you wish, Dragon Knight,” Zandalor said, rising to his feet.

“And just call me Xander,” Xander said. “Or... well, the dragon thought it might be a good idea to use my full name. Alexander.”

“Interesting. And fitting. It means-”

“I know what it means. That, and it means less confusion with people calling for one of us and getting both,” Xand- no, Alexander replied, nodding.

“Very well, Alexander. If I may make a suggestion: the Orobas Fjords are an excellent place to learn how to be a dragon with plenty of high cliffs to start from and strong winds coming off the sea to give you lift. They are, however, fairly heavily populated and practicing here will almost certainly send rumors of your return scattering to the four corners of Rivellon and cost us the element of surprise the first time you reveal yourself,” Zandalor said.

“I assume you have a suggestion?”

“Of course, my liege. Merely three days’ walk from here, there are other cliffs that are uninhabited and would suit our purposes perfectly,” he suggested.

Alexander frowned at the new title but didn't object. For now. “Lead on, Zandalor.”

The first time Alexander transformed outside of the Patriarch's cave he did not do as the old dragon had suggested and throw himself off the cliff and transform on the way down. Instead he stood on top of the cliff, facing into the wind blowing from the sea, then transformed. He spread his arms in preparation of take off but the wind caught his wings at an unexpectedly bad angle and lifted him from his feet. He was blown backwards some distance and only just barely remembered to turn into a human before crash landing.

Zandalor came running up. “Alexander! Are you alright?”

“I'm fine, but when you tell people about my training as a dragon... let's just leave this part out. Yeah?”

Zandalor got a twinkle in his eyes. “Of course, Alexander.”

Alex didn't believe him for a second, but decided not to press the issue. “Now to try again. I think I'll keep my wings down until I'm ready to take off this time.

“An excellent idea,” Zandalor agreed.

It is difficult for a dragon to take off from a standing start. You may ask why. To answer, take two full size brooms and hold them by the end and extend the other ends straight out to each side. Now try flapping. The brooms will hit the ground before you’ve completed a full flap. Dragon wings are even larger compared to their height. Dragon knights of old would often climb a small hill if they were able and then jump as high as they could as humans before transforming. That would often give them enough height to get that crucial first flap in without their wingtips hitting the ground.

If they wanted to take flight while already in dragon form, they either needed a running start, a strong headwind, and/or a cliff with a steep drop off. The sea cliffs had both the drop off and consistent headwinds.

Training with the winds off the sea quickly gave Alexander a very good sense of wind. (Yes, that's a thing—just ask anything that can fly.) It was then that Xander started to understand his own wing shape and how it differed from the wings of wyverns that he flew with. They had wings that were long and narrow and built for speed. They could accelerate and turn quickly, but had to maintain a higher minimum velocity than Alexander had to or they would stall out. His own wings were wide to provide maximum lift for his larger body but that cost him in terms of raw speed.

The wyverns did not like him. They swooped and sniped at him like swallows defending their nest. Unfortunately Alex was lacking a tennis racket. (That was an interesting and funny story as long as you don’t like swallows too much.) Finally, he got sick of it and started snapping back, using his long neck to snap out quickly, but he kept missing. So he watched as one dove from above him, angling towards his left. He turned his body sideways and flapped hard so that he went left to intercept the wyvern. The wyvern swerved to avoid a collision, but not enough. Alexander's rear claws clamped down on the passing annoyance. He squeezed until the thing was quiet and stopped thrashing, glad to have finally struck back against his tormentors.

Instead of scaring away the other wyverns, though, it seemed to enrage several. Three of them then attacked him in force. When one bit his neck, he cried out in pain and was surprised when fire came out of his mouth. He dealt with the three new wyverns with his teeth and claws then set about harnessing his new power. It took a couple hours but soon enough instinct seemed to take over and he figured out how to breathe fire a number of different ways. He could then breath a steady stream or a huge fireball. He also figured out how to shoot out a number of smaller fireballs and could use them a lot like a machine gun on an old-time fighter plane.

Thereafter, whenever a wyvern started harassing him, he would pull a top gun. He could almost hear the actors in his head. “I'm bringing him in closer, Merlin.” – “You're gonna what!?” Then they'd fly by and take a fireball in the back for their troubles.

He landed that evening, ate dinner with Zandalor, then breakfast in the morning. That led to the next discovery about being a dragon. If he wanted to have energy as a dragon, he had to eat in dragon form. When he transformed that morning, he still felt just as tired and hungry in the morning as he'd felt when he'd landed the night before. Luckily, there were a few wyvern corpses around that he could snack on and in his dragon form, they tasted delicious. Even the ones that he had killed early in the day and had started rotting in the sun. The ones he had burned to death were like chicken cooked too close to the flames on a grill, burnt on the outside but raw on the inside.

So, when he landed (in human form – it was just easier) at noon that day, he asked Zandalor where he could hunt in dragon form, assuming he didn't just want to eat every wyvern for miles around.

“Yes, yes. You can weed out the more aggressive ones if you like, but Rivellon would be a lesser place without any wyverns,” Zandalor agreed. “Unfortunately, the wyverns do keep the large game down in this area. The closest place I can think of with big game, no wyverns, and no humans is at least 10 leagues from here. I'm not sure how long it would take to fly there and back again.”

“Good chance to find out,” Alex said and got directions from the wizard to this hunting ground.

Chapter Text

Part 6: Chapter 5.

They found Willow and Oz in Buffy’s room talking to Buffy’s roommate.

Willow gave him a very enthusiastic hug he was sure would have crushed him were it not for his armor. “Xander! When did you get all furry?” she asked.

“What? I thought you’d like the fur?” Alexander nodded to Oz with a grin. “But it’s going to be a really long story and I don’t want to keep...”

“Kathy,” the roommate named herself.

“...Kathy up,” Alex finished. “So, I was thinking we could head to Giles’ place. That way we can snag another load of Buffy’s stuff on the way back as well.”

“Well, apparently, it’s been about four months since graduation but it’s been over five years for me. Oh, yeah. I also go by ‘Alexander’ now. Both because it has more meaning and because there was already a guy named Zandalor where I was and we wanted to avoid confusion...” Alexander began. He told the story about how he fell through a chasm into a land called Rivellon and had been turned into a Dragon Knight. He glossed over the months of hard training before and after that and gave only a brief description of the campaign. He did explain how he had set up a Democratic Republic to take over after he left and how quipping during a fight was called a ‘Buffy’ and how his chief scientist’s title was ‘Willow.’

He got a couple glares when he told them about his wife and how he hadn’t even known he had a son until over year after he was born. “I left and became a dragon right after we, uh... met. And she didn’t know where to look for me until some of my soldiers were on leave home.”

“Please, girls. Xan- I mean, Alexander clearly did everything he reasonably could have,” Giles scolded, coming to his defense. “And he clearly loves his son and took care of him from the moment he was told.”

“Which is why I have to go back,” Alex said.

“Go? Why do you have to go?” Willow moaned.

“Well, I’m good with staying here too, but I love my wife and my son and I want to be with them. Here or there. Which is where I’m hoping Giles can help me.”

Giles cringed just a bit. “I’m sorry to say that most of my contacts have dried up since I... retired.”

“But you still know names, right? People who will work for a fee? I’m fairly rich.”

Alexander reached into his bag of holding and pulled out a beautiful crown that had once been worn by the Queen of one of the larger realms in Rivellon. Buffy squealed with glee when he presented it to her. For Willow and Oz he had a ruby and an emerald that were cut to exactly the same size and shape. “And for the watcher...” Alex pulled out a small, golden dragon. “That is supposedly what I look like in dragon form. It’s hard to tell if it’s a good likeness or not since things look a lot different to me when I’m in dragon form. And I mostly had to look at myself mirrored in water while flying over lakes and such.”

“Indeed. Yes I can give you several names which might be able to help.” Giles thanked him for the gift before continuing. “Though you keep speaking of your dragon form. Can you actually take the shape of a dragon?”

“In Rivellon, I could. But I’m a lot bigger in my dragon form, so I have this jewel, oddly enough called a Dragon Stone, which holds the butt-load of energy that’s required for me to transform back and forth.”

Willow fainted into Oz’s arms. Luckily they had been sitting on the couch already.

“Willow!” Buffy cried. “Is she alright?”

“Yeah. I think she just mentally calculated the energy requirements to turn a human into a dragon. They’re pretty large,” Oz assured her.

“So, due to the energy requirements, you are unlikely to be able to transform here?” Giles clarified as Willow slumbered.

Alex nodded. “Yeah, but even in human form, I’m still faster and stronger than a normal human. And I can leap small buildings in a single bound.”

“I thought it was ‘tall buildings’,” Willow asked drowsily.

“That’s Superman,” Alex smiled. “Me, I’m lucky if I can jump over a small shack. Though, I think I probably could jump over Shaq,” he mused. “Actually, I’ve kinda been itching to spar with Buffy ever since I got these powers. I want to see how I stack up against her.”

“You’re on, buddy-boy,” Buffy grinned at the challenge. “How about tomorrow?”

“Buffy, give the man some time to adjust,” Giles chided.

“How about this weekend sometime?” Alexander offered. “Actually. I should find out the date and the day of the week first, probably.” It turned out to be Tuesday and the weekend was decided as a good time to spar.

On the way home, they stopped by Sunday’s lair for a second helping of Buffy’s stuff. Willow got to yell at Buffy when she tried to carry less than Oz because she was a girl but Willow pointed that she was a super-powered girl and could carry as much as Xander was carrying, which was a lot, and so the second trip became the last.

“Also, since we’re on the topic of your stuff and your room, you are aware that your roommate is a demon, right?” Alexander clarified.

He was met by the sound of boxes falling and their contents scattering. He set his boxes down gently to help Buffy to her feet and collect her stuff.

“Are you sure?” Buffy asked.

“Pretty sure. I’m sure she could take Muhammad Ali at least,” Alex said.

“How can you tell?” Willow wondered.

“Well, in Rivellon, you learn to sense what level other fighters are at. Your basic adult human is level 1. A trained soldier might be level 10 or so. And Muhammad Ali or the best, most experienced soldiers would be around level 20. And your roommate...”

“Let me guess. 9,000?” Oz quipped.

“Not quite. Probably 25 or so,” Alex shook his head at the Dragon Ball Z reference that he actually still remembered after so long away.

“And that means...?”

“Well, Sunday was a level 35 undead if that makes you feel any better,” he informed her.

“And what level am I at?” Buffy asked as she finished picking up her belongings.

“Well, that’s where things get murky. You see, when I got to Rivellon, I’d been fighting vampires for over three years, but still wasn’t in great shape physically. So when I got there, I was mistaken for a level 3 fighter until I took down a level 12 guy in hand-to-hand. Since I was used to going against vamps that were level 20 or so, I was a lot quicker than I looked even though I wasn’t as strong as I should have been. A couple months of training had me to level 10 pretty easily but I was still taking out demons well above my level. And that was before I became a Dragon Knight.

“You,” Alexander cringed, not wanting to say what he knew would be taken the wrong way, “fight below your level. You register as a 5 when you’re not fighting. From the flashes I saw, you’re probably a 60 or so physically, but you’ve never fought a fellow 60 so you’re used to fighting weaker opponents. That’ll change this weekend.”

“Are you saying I’m weak?” Buffy said icily.

“No, I’m saying you’ve never fought someone who’s stronger than you,” Alex said, trying to placate his friend. “And you fight to the level of your opponents, just like me, just like most people tend to do. Except that I was fighting up while you were fighting down. It’s human nature to meet your opponent’s level. Because it’s not much fun being a 60 and slaughtering 20s, but then you get caught off guard when the occasional 35 comes around.”

“So, back to the demon,” Oz tried to steer the conversation back on track.

“What do you think, Xander? Sorry. Alex?” Buffy asked.

“We’re both strong enough that we can risk a confrontation if you want but it might get messy if she fights. As in ‘destroy your room’ messy. It would be quicker and easier to just take her by surprise, but she’s your roommate, so it’s your choice,” he replied.

Buffy considered for a moment. “She hasn’t attacked me or anything. I guess we’ll go with the confrontation.”

“That sounds like a plan,” Willow added. “But maybe we should leave your stuff in the hall while we do the confrontation?”

“Good idea,” Buffy nodded.

“Hi Kathy!” Buffy cried cheerfully as she entered the room.

“Oh, you’re back! How did story time go?”

“Oh, it was super,” Buffy said. “Alexander here told us all sorts of stories. I especially loved the one where you’re a demon pretending to be human.”

Kathy’s eyes went wide. “What!? That’s crazy! I’m not a demon. I’m from Nebraska!” she defended.

“The jig’s up,” Buffy shook her head. “Alex can sense you.”

“Oh yeah? Well, I can sense him too, and he’s not human either. Neither are you for that matter. So don’t go don’t go pointing fingers at glass houses,” Kathy said. “And when my father gets here...” her shoulders slumped. “He’s probably just going to take me to our home dimension.” The fight went out of Kathy as she sat back on her bed.

Alex let Buffy be the one to offer an uncomfortable shoulder to cry on. “Wait, your home dimension?” he asked.

“Yes,” Kathy said with tears coming down her face. “Don’t you know anything about Mok’tagar Demons?”

“No. Not really,” he said simply.

Kathy stopped crying and stared at him. She waved a hand between them as if feeling something in the air. “You’re from two different dimensions,” she said, smirking.

“I am,” Alex agreed, relaxing a bit from the ready position he’d assumed when she’d done her diagnostic spell. “Can you take me to that other dimension?”

“I can. For a price,” Kathy smiled and stood up.

“Which is...?”

“I need to hide from my father. The only way to do that is to take a human soul into me.”

“I happen to be a pretty big deal in the other world. I’ve got plenty of people locked away in jails not using their souls any more,” Alexander said.

“Xander! Alex! Whatever! You can’t do that!” Buffy cried.

“One human soul in exchange for being with my wife and son again? I absolutely can do that. When do we leave?”

“We need to leave before my father gets here so... now,” Kathy waved her hand over the space between the beds and a black hole opened up. Buffy jumped back, not wanting to be sucked in.

“Xander!” Buffy cried.

“Tell Giles and Willow I love them. I’ll come back if I can, but don’t wait up for me.” Alexander took Kathy’s hand before they both jumped into the dimensional rift.

Willow and Oz appeared once the noise had stopped. “What happened?” Willow inquired.

“He left with her. To find his son.” Buffy left out the part about promising her a human soul. Instead, she held her best friend as the other girl broke down crying and tried not to look at Oz as his girlfriend cried over another man.

A/N: I didn’t mean to go on such a tangent about levels. But I wanted to tie it into the video game a bit more and since you can see what level of foe you’re facing, I figure there’s a way to sense levels in Rivellon.

A/N2: It’s not my fault that Joss had a demon that specialized in inter-dimensional travel at that particular time. I wanted to draw this out a bit longer, but couldn’t find a reason to once he met Kathy. The timing for Alex coming back kind of sucks with the Initiative being in town as well.

Chapter Text

It ended up taking about an hour to reach the hunting grounds Zandalor had given him directions to. Alexander mentally calculated a league to be about 3 miles, which meant he'd flown 30 miles in an hour. Not a bad speed and he wasn't all that tired either. Sometimes he envied the wyverns' high speed flight, but right now he appreciated his own, efficient, cruising speed. He knew the wyverns couldn't fly this far efficiently. At least not without the help of the sea-winds, or else they would probably already be doing so.

Hunting ground animals was much different than hunting wyverns. For starters, the ground animals didn't just come up and start attacking him. He actually had to seek them out, but once he did, the animals started running and that kicked in instincts he hadn't known he had until then. An animal that ran away from him was prey and he automatically folded his wings and dove at the beast.

The animals he picked looked a lot like a triceratops but without the horns and slightly smaller than a rhinoceros. He landed hard on the back of one and tore at it with the claws on his feet, but immediately jumped back into the air when he could feel that the animal was not dead beneath him and getting back to its feet. A dragon was vulnerable on the ground and he had to get back in the air or he'd probably be trampled to death by the herd.

Back in the air, Alex could see that the one he'd picked was wounded and limping but made it back to the herd before he could attack again and no amount of diving could cut him out again. So much for his first hunt. He only managed to wound one and also managed to warn every animal out there to be wary of dragons from now on.

Alexander decided to go for smaller prey. He found a herd of wild donkeys and thought, Donkeys should be easy pickings for a dragon.

Oh how the mighty have fallen, he thought as he lumbered back into the sky. He got high enough to be out of danger and not hit a tree before he found a thermal to ride back up into the sky. He needed to ride the thermal since flapping his wings hurt his side where his supposed prey had kicked him. He gave up on hunting for the day and slowly rode thermals back towards Zandalor.

As the sun started setting, however, he was still some distance from their camp. He needed to start flapping or risk never finding the wizard. He pushed past the pain and made it to the cliff-side just a little after sundown. However, he could not see their camp in the dark. He was going back and forth over the cliffs, his side killing him, but flying on despite the injury, thinking about simply landing somewhere and sleeping on the rocks that night when blue sparks lit up the sky behind him. He instantly banked left and started gliding in for a landing. When he was sure he was above solid ground, he transformed. The difference in how well he could see at night as a human versus as a dragon was amazing. It was like someone had turned on the moon. He realized that he'd transformed pretty high, but simply braced himself instead of trying again.

The landing wasn't even that bad. His human legs were strong enough to take a fall from probably any height. The only problem was that his side still hurt. He clutched it in pain.

“I saw you flying by several times and figured you might not be able to see the camp,” Zandalor said as he ran up.

“Yeah, dragon night vision leaves a lot to be desired,” Alexander agreed. The trade-off for having superior vision during the day, he supposed. He could see ants from a thousand feet in the air. It was pretty cool.

“Are you hurt?” Zandalor realized he was holding his side. “You did transform rather high up.”

“This isn't from the fall. A donkey I was trying to eat took exception and kicked me... hard. And how is that fair that I have to eat in dragon form, but my wounds will transfer between forms?” Alex complained.

“Actually, it's quite a blessing. Else you would be stuck in your dragon form while this healed. For now, come back to camp so I can get a better look at the wound.” The wizard led the way.

Back at camp, he walked Alexander through healing his own wound. “Being able to mend broken bones might save your life one day. I will not always be able to be by your side.”

Xander had never been a great mage and Alexander probably wasn't going to be a great one either, but being better at the healing spell could only be of the good for him so he did his best to learn. He was able to do enough that he woke the next day merely stiff and not sore at all.

“Good. Good,” Zandalor declared after a brief inspection. “What that needs now is exercise. I suggest you go back and hunt again.”

Alexander's shoulders slumped, he’d been hoping for a day off.

“I would try for smaller game for now. Even if you have to make a couple of kills to feed yourself, you're less likely to get injured hunting smaller game. Now, I know that you're already a very hungry dragon, so if you are unsuccessful hunting again today, I will magic up enough food to feed a dragon tonight. However, there will be a cost for this food,” Zandalor said with a twinkle in his eye.

Alex had a pretty good stash of gold, jewels, and other trinkets from his dungeon crawling, so he was pretty sure that he'd be willing to pay whatever the wizard asked come nightfall.

He went back to the same hunting grounds he'd used the day before and focused on smaller game. There were antelope that zigzagged all over the place when he dove at them and deer that disappeared into the forest at the sight of his shadow on the ground. Rabbits were as bad as the antelope and too small to make a meal anyway. He saw a pack of wolves, but they didn't seem concerned by his presence. He decided to leave them alone. The fact that they didn't run away made him wary. Now very, very hungry; Alexander made his way back to camp.

He landed, but stayed in his dragon form.

“Did you get anything?” Zandalor asked.

“No,” Alex replied. His dragon voice sounded weird in his ears. He rarely spoke in this form.

“Alright. Like I said, I'll magic you up some food for now, but I don't want to do it near the camp. The scraps will certainly draw scavengers during the night. Do you think you could give me a ride just a mile or so down wind?” Zandalor requested.

Alex nodded and held still while the wizard scrambled up. Then he jumped off the cliff.

“Woohoo!” came the whoop from his back.

Alex climbed back up and landed softly a few miles south of the camp.

Zandalor thanked him when he was back on his own two feet. “I had forgotten what that was like. Quite exhilarating!” Then he turned to the sea. “Now. Let me see.” He waved his arms, muttered some unintelligible sounds and then there was a flash of light. When they looked again, there was a small whale flopping in front of the wizard. Well, it was small as whales go anyway. “There you are. Dig in.”

If dragons could go bug-eyed, Alex would have been right then. “Can't we wait until it's dead first?” he asked.

Zandalor shrugged. “Well, you can wait for it to suffocate if you like, but the quickest and most merciful way to kill it would be to bite into it and tear out its heart.”

Alex was so hungry that actually sounded like a good idea to him. “Sorry about this,” he apologized to his prey before he bit into the soft underside of the whale. He had to take quite a few more bites of the struggling animal before he'd opened a hole big enough for him to stick his head into. He had to bite through the whale's ribcage and then into the heart itself. He gave the whale another minute to stop flopping and quivering before digging back in again.

By then, wyverns and seagulls were starting to show up, attracted by the smell of blood. Alexander let out a roar and a small jet of flame to tell them all to f- off. It was a good 30 minutes later before he was finished.

“If you could keep the wyverns away for just a few minutes more while I get some meat for the human dinner and breakfasts?” Zandalor said as he went forward with a knife and a burlap sack. He mostly cut lean meat, but made sure to get a good chunk of blubber as well for the frying pan.

Chapter Text

“My Lord! You’re alive!” a soldier cried out when Alexander and Kathy landed.

“Of course I’m alive. I made no secret of the fact that I was not staying to rule Rivellon. Why? How long have I been gone?” Alex said.

“Only a few days, sire. But I should tell you-”

“My wife and son?” Alex interrupted.

“Are mourning. We all thought you dead. General Gregory is to be tried for your murder as you were last seen with him before you disappeared.”

“Send a messenger immediately to stop his trial,” Alexander ordered before looking at Kathy. “And bring up a horse for my companion. Let’s see if it will bear her.” He stepped away from her. Horses would not bear him; something to do with him smelling like a predator. They got nervous in his presence and bolted if he tried to ride them. A horse was brought up and Alex was pleased to see that it reared when she tried to touch it too. “We’ll walk then.”

“Why can’t we just-?” Kathy asked.

“Because you’re not riding me either,” he cut her off, not wanting to admit that he couldn’t transform. Also so that she wouldn’t suggest taking a soul from one of his men.

“We’re all glad to have you back, sir,” another soldier said to him.

“I’m still leaving, son. My leaving once my task of uniting Rivellon was always foreordained. It just wasn’t supposed to be without my wife and son. But know that I will be alive and well elsewhere should Rivellon need me again.” He added that last bit on the spur of the moment—inspired by the legend of King Arthur sleeping in Avalon for when England needed him most.

“You owe me a soul,” Kathy said as they walked.

“I promised you the soul of one of my prisoners. Which happen to all be in my Capital. Which also happens to be the same direction I’m traveling,” he replied. “Say, how fast can you run without tiring? At this pace it’ll take days to reach our destination.”

Kathy scoffed. “You pathetic humans could never match my speed.”

“Well, lucky for us, I’m not human,” Alexander reminded her and took off at an easy lope.

Soon, Kathy had caught up and was passing him. He put on his own burst of speed to overtake her. They went back and forth a couple of times until they were both at the top speed the path they were on would allow. Several hours later, Alex pulled ahead just so he could slow them both down. “We’re almost there, we should slow to a human pace.” They slowed to a jog and then to a walk.

Soldiers came to attention as he approached the gates. “My Lord Dragon! We- we heard-”

“Yes, I know what you heard,” Alexander cut them off with a wave. “But clearly I am not dead. Now I wish to see my friend, General Gregory.” Alex had to repeat that refrain to several more groups of guards before he reached his castle where he was shown immediately to the dungeons. He really wanted to see his family but first he wanted to make sure Gregory was alive and well—and he also wanted to get rid of the demon before his wife saw her.

“My Lord Dragon! You’re alive!” Gregory called from his cell when he saw Alex.

“Release him!” Alexander ordered to the guard. Once he was free, Alex gave him a big hug. “Yes, I’m alive, my friend. I know I mentioned that I would be leaving once Rivellon was united. Unfortunately, the spell that was holding me here was a bit too eager and tore me away without my wife or my son.”

“Enough of this. He will do,” Kathy said and grabbed for his friend.

Alexander grabbed her and slammed her up against the stone wall by her throat. “Gregory is a friend of mine. And he’s no longer a prisoner, and thus not part of the deal.” He turned to the soldiers who were looking on uncomfortably. “Leave us!” Once Gregory and the guards were gone he released her.

“I could just send you back without your wife or son again,” she warned.

“And I could just kill you and not let you have a soul,” Alexander warned back. They stared for a bit before Kathy finally looked away in defeat. Xander pointed to a random prisoner. “Here, this man is a condemned murderer. You can have his soul; he won’t be using it after next week anyway.”

The ritual took about 20 minutes to complete. By the end, the man in the cell was raving mad. Kathy wiped her lips and put up her human disguise again. “Farewell, Alexander Harris,” she said.

“Farewell, Kathy Newman,” he replied.

The same black hole appeared. She stepped into it and was sucked away. Then there came a pounding on the outer cell block door. “Let me in! I don’t care what he said! Let me in this instant!”

“Let her in!” he called out and was almost instantly hit by a tangled mess of hair and tears and limbs and kisses; all mixed together with a couple fists to his still armored chest. Suddenly, it occurred to Alex just how long it had been since he had changed his clothes—exactly as long as it had been since he last slept. He was suddenly exhausted and fairly smelly, too, from his long run with Kathy; but for now, he was content to just hold Audrey and make soft shushing noises as she cried herself out.

Finally, she was softly hiccuping, so he spoke. “We probably should have talked to the Patriarch about our wishes instead of just assuming that we’d have to ask to be sent back.”

“We will this time,” she said.

“If he’ll send us all back again. Otherwise, we’ll stay here.”

Audrey cupped his face. “Will you be okay with that? Leaving your world behind? It sounds wonderful.”

“You’re my world. You and Jesse. I’ll be happy as long as we’re together,” he assured her.

“Me too. But come,” she commanded, taking him by the hand. “You need a bath and I am not letting you out of my sight for even a minute.” She gave him a wicked grin. When they got to their rooms, she ordered the guards not to disturb them under any circumstances.

Clean and exhausted, they fell together onto the bed and Alex slept.

Alex woke to the feeling of being watched. He cracked his eyes open to see two bright, blue eyes staring back at him. “G’morning Daddy. Are you awake?” Jesse said in a child’s stage whisper.

“I don’t know. This could just be a wonderful dream,” Alex smiled and threw an arm over his son.

“No it’s not,” Jesse argued even as he giggled at being drawn forcibly into a hug.

“Well, okay then. I guess I’m awake,” he said and pulled his son in for a ’beard kiss’ while his son struggled weakly to get away.

Jesse laughed as his dad’s beard tickled him. Jesse was happy that Daddy was back but he hadn’t been as sad as Mommy had been because he knew that Daddy would come back. Daddy always came back.

“Okay, sport. Do you know where your mother is?”

“She’s sending a messenger to Zanderlor,” Jesse answered. Alex grinned at the way his son mangled the wizard’s name so it was even closer to his old one. He never corrected him when he mispronounced it that way.

“Well, okay then. Let’s see if we can’t rustle up some grub. I’m starving.”

There were only two people in the whole of Rivellon that ever learned the whole truth about Alexander’s disappearance and subsequent reappearance. He told the full story to Audrey and Zandalor, including not having his Dragon Stone any more and seeing his friends again without much time passing there.

“That is promising. Hopefully we can get you back with only a few hours passing there.” Zandalor said cheerfully.

“Hopefully, but the sooner we leave, the better. My being here is upsetting politics around here again and I’d rather leave them to their own devices,” Alex said.

“But we can’t just sneak off in the night, either,” Audrey pointed out.

“No. People will want to see the Dragon take off one last time,” Alex agreed. “I don’t suppose you can do a glamor?” At the wizard’s confusion, he explained. “An illusion. Make people see what isn’t really there. Show them the Dragon taking off and flying higher and higher while the rest of you head off in wagons, with an extra trunk big enough to hold a Dragon Knight.”

“I know not,” Zandalor admitted. “But give me a few days to experiment and I will find out if it’s possible.”

“Meanwhile, I’ll get together supplies for our journey. Horses, wagons, food, and some gold and silver to take with us,” Audrey said.

Alexander had really wanted to see the dragon image that Zandalor had agreed to conjure for them—if only to see what he really looked like to human eyes—but the wizard had begged off, saying that he was too tired from experimenting and that the dragon was going to gain altitude at an impossible rate to hasten the end of the spell.

Instead, Alexander hid in the last wagon of the convoy—far enough back from the rest of the animals that his smell wouldn’t spook them. It was made known throughout Rivellon that Alexander had merely left to prepare a place in another world for his family and had forgotten to mention that he was coming back for them for the final journey, which they were taking now. Which was true enough. It was also made known that they would leave from the cliffs where Zandalor and Alexander had trained all those years ago. It was flat and barren up there and there would be no way for looky-loos to get close. All any tourists would see would be some wagons disappear (as Zandalor transported them elsewhere) and a fancy light show.

Because the three Harrises were going to see the Patriarch.

Chapter Text

“So, what is going to be the price for conjuring up that whale for me?” Alexander asked after they had landed back at camp.

“Conjuring? Heavens no. Conjuring enough food for a dragon is a feat well beyond my abilities. I noticed that whale and his pod were nearby earlier today. I merely moved him from one place to another. It’s a strain to move so big an animal, but within my abilities. And my payment is that you are going to work off that meal tomorrow by flying higher than you've ever flown before. You are going to flap your wings until the air is so thin it can no longer hold you aloft.”

The Dragon Knight groaned, “Are you sure you wouldn't like some gold instead? Or maybe some baubles. I have some lovely baubles.”

“I have too many baubles myself, Alexander,” the wizard shook his head mirthfully. “I'm afraid the price for me feeding you is exercise. Lots of exercise.”

“Remember, keep flapping your wings. I'll be watching. And if I think you took a break for too long, I'll make you do this to my satisfaction again before I'll feed you once more,” Zandalor warned before Alex took off that morning.

He started flapping in circles, there wasn't yet enough wind to use to build speed and the ground was still cold so no thermals were rising. Every inch he gained was purely from the power of his muscles alone. He reached a point eventually where he was well above any clouds and he didn't seem to be gaining any more height. His lungs burned with the effort of drawing oxygen from the thin air that could barely even hold him aloft any more.

Now, the only problem was he didn't know how long the wizard wanted him up here. He'd only said to keep flapping. So, that's what he did. He kept flapping until it felt like his wings would fall off. The sun was setting too, so he transformed back into a human and let himself freefall to the ground without a parachute.

“Well done!” Zandalor said as he landed. “Though, why did you stay up there so long?”

“Well, you said ‘keep flapping’,” Alex admitted.

“Oh. Sorry. I thought I'd made it clear that you could stop when you hit your maximum height. Seeing how fast you could get that high was more what the exercise was about than to see how long you could stay up there. Well done, though! I was watching and I saw that you were flapping the entire time! I don't know if you're up to carrying a passenger before dark, but if you are, the whale has been picked clean, but the marrow hasn't been touched. I'm told it's a special treat for dragons. I'd be happy to help you harvest it.”

Alexander had to debate with himself a bit. He was exhausted, but his dragon form was very hungry again and it would be best to get the marrow sooner rather than later. He nodded and transformed again. This time the jump off the cliff wasn't to show off for Zandalor, he was too tired to even try running into the fading wind.

True to his word, Zandalor helped Alex break the bones and harvest the exquisite marrow from inside. He also conjured up a few campfires around them to keep any wyverns away and so that they could both see. After the marrow was eaten, Alex transformed back into a human and they walked back to the camp together in the darkness.

Alexander went out hunting again the next day. Zandalor insisted that he be able to hunt for himself before they start the task the Patriarch had given him. Besides, it was good flying exercise and Alexander needed the practice if he wasn’t going to make a fool of himself as a Dragon Knight.

As he neared the hunting grounds, he saw the antelopes from the other day. He was higher this time than he'd been the other day so he dove as fast as he was able, flattening his wings and trimming them to be as small and flat as the wyvern wings as he could. He wasn't quite able to make it to that speed, but he was still going pretty fast. He also didn't dive straight at the antelopes this time. Instead he dove short of them, then pulled up to bring the speed he'd gained by diving to bear on the prey horizontally. The antelopes scattered again, but this time, one jumped right into his claws. His claws were actually closed at the time—he'd been going too fast to allow him to grab prey—so he just punched/kicked it instead. His speed combined with his mass meant that the antelope was down for the count. He did a wing-over and tried for a second meal before they all got away, but he’d lost too much speed and couldn’t grab another.

He glided back to where his meal was waiting for him. Incredibly, the animal was still sort of alive. It wasn't going anywhere, but it was still twitching. Alexander broke its neck to put it out of its misery. He then waited until he was sure the animal was brain dead before he started eating. This wasn't like the whale where the quickest way to kill the animal was to eat his way to the heart and he wasn't nearly starving like he'd been that time either.

After a minute, he was reasonably sure he wasn't going to cause the antelope to suffer, so he dug in. Hair, bones, entrails, he ate it all. Finished, he found a small hill and ran up and into a light wind to help him take off. Once airborne, he climbed enough to find a thermal to ride the rest of the way into the sky. He rode it to the top, then started flapping to keep climbing. The antelope had pretty much filled him up, but he knew he'd be hungry again before sunset so he continued to hunt. After an hour or so, he saw them. The donkeys that had kicked his ass the other day. He could even pick out the one that had kicked him from the claw marks on its back. He maneuvered so that he would be driving them closer to the cliffs when he dove.

He wasn't just hungry—this was personal. A mere jackass had wounded a Dragon Knight and he wanted revenge. He trimmed his wings as much as possible again and punched with a fisted claw, sending the donkey flying. However, unlike the skittish antelope, the rest of the donkeys didn't scatter. As Alex did a wing over for a second pass, he saw that the rest of the herd had circled around their injured member. Alex didn't know whether to be impressed by their camaraderie or insulted by the fact that they were trying to steal his meal. He pumped his wings several times to build up speed for a second pass. He let out a roar as he came in and hit another donkey.

The second hit wasn't nearly as hard as the first as he had much less height to work with the second time. He didn't even turn to see what had happened and instead flapped hard to try to regain altitude. He turned to see that the remaining donkeys were bugging out. He was pleased to see that, until he found the real reason they'd ran. The pack of wolves had been attracted by something. The smell of blood or his roar, but they were here. Alexander felt a surge of anger at the thought of them stealing his donkey. He flew over them and let out a burst of flame that sent them scattering. He made sure they'd really run off before he landed and finished off the jackass.

The donkey was big. Bigger than he'd initially thought. Probably 600 lbs. He’d never seen a real donkey before so he didn’t know if that was typical or not. He was debating bringing the leftovers back to camp to finish later when he spotted the wolves trying to sneak up on him.

A dragon on the ground is vulnerable. Head-on, nothing can touch a dragon, however, dragons can not quickly maneuver while on land. So despite a long and flexible neck, and the ability to breathe fire, he could really only cover 200 and some odd degrees out of 360. It left a lot of area vulnerable and if something got to his wings, he had no means of escape.

Alex didn't think about it, but immediately left his kill. He did not want to be caught on the ground by predators. He started running to build up speed to take off. The land where he’d been feeding was mostly flat, but there was a ridge up ahead which would give him the down-slope he’d need to take off more easily. He turned his head just slightly to look backwards, it was easy with his eyes on the side of his head; he had about 350 degrees of horizontal vision, so there was very little around him that he couldn’t see, unlike humans’ 210 degree (peripheral) field of vision. Alex looked back and saw the wolves following but not charging. That was fine by him, it gave him the time he needed to reach the ridge.

He smelled them before he saw them.

More wolves. Coming over the ridge he had wanted to take off from. It’s a trap! his mind automatically quoted a movie even in life and death situations. He didn’t think and simply jumped as best his stubby dragon legs could and flapped his wings. His wingtips scraped painfully against the ground, but he ignored it as he flapped again. Another half-flap had him to the ridge line. Even if he hadn’t gained much height from the half-flaps, after crossing the ridge, he could finally give a full flap and start really gaining some height. He glanced below at the wolves who were already trotting back to his kill. He gave a sigh of relief. That was, of course, when he remembered that he could breathe fire and probably could have torched the wolves in front of him. Maybe. Probably.

Either way, it was time to head back.

For the next couple weeks, Zandalor had more and more difficult training for Alexander. Now that he'd more or less mastered hunting, he had him training in his dragon form—carrying heavier and heavier weights higher and higher, longer and longer; followed by diving and pulling out of dives with the added weight. The good news was that at least he didn't have to hunt. Zandalor was perfectly happy to transport in food (mostly fish, not whales) when he was training. So at least he was well fed.

After 3 weeks of the weights, he was surprised one day to have the wizard tell him to go hunting without any weights. He did as he was asked. He took off from a standing start, which was incredibly easy when he was used to carrying so much weight. He flapped his way to the hunting grounds in record time while still gaining a heck of a lot of height. Spotting his old nemeses, the donkeys, he dove. This time, he didn't need to punch. He just picked one up and carried it off. He gained some good height before his prey turned around and bit his leg. He dropped the jackass like the jackass it was, right on some rocks. Which, other than bruising the meat, was just fine with him. It turned out that he could now eat an entire ass as well. Or maybe he could have the other time as well, if he hadn't had an antelope a couple hours earlier.

Either way, he was back at camp before noon.

“Donkey bit me,” he explained his wound as Zandalor noticed his limp.

Zandalor just nodded. “Yes, they'll do that. Even when you're not trying to eat them. This time, I want you to cast the spell in your dragon form and while flying. Also, here, take these weights again.”

Alex was re-burdened and took off. With a full stomach, a wounded leg, and a lot of extra weight besides; it was a rough take off. Once he'd gotten high enough where he was comfortable gliding for a while, he concentrated, then cast the spell. He only wished that he'd thought of that earlier so he wouldn't have had to fly back with that aching foot.

Zandalor insisted on him landing in dragon form with the extra weights for practice. So he did so.

The old wizard smiled as he landed. “Good. Your training here is at an end. You are now good enough at being a dragon that you won't make a fool of yourself in front of your men. You'll continue to carry the weights for now until you get to a battle. It's good practice and they will continue to make you stronger. For now, let's clean up camp then I'll conjure up some food. Tomorrow we leave for your castle!”

Chapter Text

The fanfare leaving the city was terrific, even muted by the box Alexander was curled up in. The trumpets and the cheers for a hero who was leaving before the people realized he was really human after all were almost deafening. After a few miles, most people had stopped following the wagons, going back to their day to day lives. Another couple miles after that, even the children turned around to head home. By the end of the day, they were no more than an anonymous caravan on the road.

Still, Alex didn’t emerge from hiding until nightfall. The first thing he did was check the perimeter for bandits and anyone else watching them. He found a young man in a tree overlooking their camp. So intent on watching the camp was he that he didn’t even notice Alex was right underneath him. Alex cleared his throat and had to quickly jump back to dodge a stream of liquid that fell from the tree. He checked to make sure nothing had hit his shoes before looking back up at his assailant.

The boy who had been balancing gracefully on a tree branch was now hanging from the same. Alex looked under where the boy was hanging to see the puddle of urine slowly draining. Unfortunately it wouldn’t be dry before the boy fell. He stationed his feet at the edge, set wide apart. “Stop squirming and just drop. I’ll catch you.”

“No you won’t,” the boy disagreed.

Alex was not in the mood to argue. Instead, he backed up a step and jumped. The boy wasn’t very high, just higher than a normal human could jump, and it was easy to jump and pull the kid down, letting momentum carry them both over the smelly puddle. “Told you I’d catch you,” he said as he set the boy down. “Now, you had better have a good reason for sneaking around our camp,” he said quietly as he glared at the boy. He hadn’t wanted any tourists on this trip.

“I just wanted to see the Dragon Knight,” the boy pleaded.

“Well, are you impressed?” Alex said.

“Very much, sir,” the boy nodded as much as he dared.

Alex marched him into camp. “Look what I found,” he announced.

Audrey frowned at the sight of the boy. He was maybe all of 12 and trembling like a leaf, not to mention the wet spot on his trousers. “Alexander! You be nice to that boy. He looks scared half to death.” She took the boy by the shoulders and led him over by the fire where the guards made room for him. Even the soldiers fussed over him a bit, letting him know just how many great kings and rulers had peed themselves the first time they met the Dragon Knight too. They left out the part about how Alexander had (usually) been in his dragon form at that time.

“Are you going to be like this in your world too?” Audrey asked as she fussed over the new arrival.

Alex chuckled. “No. My world doesn’t have people skulking around in trees... for the most part.”

“So, it’s true then. You’re really leaving? When we still need you?” the boy asked as he accepted some bread and stew from Audrey.

“You don’t need me any more,” Alexander insisted. “The demons have been beaten back and the world is at peace. Now it’s time for me to go home. Where there are still demons to fight and not just boys hiding in trees.”

“Tell us a story!” Jesse insisted; so Alex did: a story most around the fire had heard before, about a girl named Buffy who saved the world. A lot.

Come morning they sent the boy on his way. He was ecstatic. He’d spent the night in the company of the Dragon Knight and his family and had even gotten to hear a story straight from the very mouth of the Dragon. It was a night he’d never forget.

They made their way slowly, over the next week, to the Orobas Fjords. It was there that Alexander and his family disembarked in the dead of night. Alexander’s bag of holding was packed with most of their riches and in their hands they carried those things of significant sentimental value: i.e. Jesse’s favorite toy and Audrey’s hope chest.

They made their way past the waterfall and into the Patriarch’s cave.

“Perhaps I am getting senile in my old age, but I was sure that I sent you back to your world already, Dragon Knight,” said the Patriarch as they approached the cliff inside the cave where the great dragon rested.

“You did, but I did not realize you would send me back when you did and I left something precious behind.”

“Oh? And what is that?” the old dragon asked.

“My family.”

“Family? I probably should have explained to you that a dragon or a dragon knight cannot successfully create a child with a human,” the Patriarch said.

“Jesse was conceived before I met you.”

The old dragon finally raised his head to look at the three humans at the edge of the tunnel. “So he was,” he agreed. “You wish to take him with you then?”

“And my wife, Audrey.”

“Very well,” the Patriarch agreed. “But I should warn you: time does not move at a fixed rate either here or there. While you were wresting control of Rivellon, you may have felt that time was moving quicker than normal. And so it was, as you found out, I’m sure, upon your return to your world. But now time is slowing here and picking up back in your world. You may have noticed that while you were gone from here, almost the same amount of time passed here and in the other world. So, while it has only been a few weeks here, months have passed where you are headed. Is this acceptable?”

“Nothing I can do about it if it wasn’t.”

“Indeed. And now I wish you farewell. Please do not return unless you wish to stay for good.”

“One last thing,” Alex said quickly before they could be whisked away.

“Yes?”

“When I was sent the first time, my Dragon Stone seemed to have been left behind.”

The old dragon chuckled. “It was with you the whole time.”

“No, I checked-”

“Did you check your bag of holding?” the Patriarch suggested. “I placed it there so you would not transform right away upon reaching your world and give away your secret. I knew you would want to, and so I tucked it away where I knew you would find it in a few days.”

Alexander chuckled, reaching his hand into his bag and pulling out his stone. “I never got the chance to go through my bag. I stumbled across the opportunity to get back here right away and grabbed hold of it.”

“All is well then?” the dragon said. “Very well. Hold hands and take a deep breath.”

And they were all holding hands in the desert, in front of the remains of his uncle Rory’s car.

Chapter Text

“Hail! Dragon Knight!” Five hundred men and women shouted from bended knee. Not all of them were from Deodatus Castle, though Alexander could pick out more than a few familiar faces.

“Stand up!” he shouted back. “I run a very different military than what you're used to. There are going to be a lot of changes. Not all of which I'll have the time or inclination to explain. If you feel that you like things the way they are and don't like change, now is your chance to leave. Those who stay are going to be changing Rivellon. But as they say, 'change starts from within'.” He watched as a few men looked skeptical and made a note of those as potential troublemakers later, but no one left. He looked down at the disorganized mess below him. “Right. The first thing I'm going to teach you is called 'form ranks'.”

After that, he taught them how to stand at attention, salute, and march in file. Then it was time to dismiss to barracks. Alexander called together all his officers. “Five hundred men. Call it two companies, which gives us the start of a battalion. Which should be under the command of a Lieutenant Colonel if I remember correctly. Congratulations, Lieutenant Colonel Gawain.”

“Me, sir?” Gawain sputtered.

“Unless you're going to have trouble taking orders from me? I know you, you know me. Makes things easier, even if I am passing someone else over for promotion.” Alex looked at the man who was glaring daggers at Gawain. “Do we have a problem here? Name and rank.”

“Captain Dwight Hasset,” the man said coming to attention the way he'd been taught just that day. “And no. No problem.”

“You've been serving longer than Gawain, I take it, Hasset?”

“Yes, sir,” the man confirmed.

“Everyone listen up. This is going to be a very different army than you are used to. Promotions are not solely based on time served.” Alex looked at Hasset. “Though that does factor in. There is also going to be a much more rigid chain of command with certain lieutenants outranking other lieutenants. And since this battalion has two companies, we'll be needing two majors to command each of them. I will be observing you over the next few weeks and posting a list of the new ranks shortly.

“I'm going to be teaching all of you a very new way—to you, at least—of fighting a war and I'm going to need your help to teach it to the men. There are a lot of new things to teach everyone and less time to do it in. Dismissed.” Alexander finished. “Colonel Gawain, if you would stay.”

The next day they had a mock battle between the two companies they had set up. Alexander had to suppress a groan at what passed for tactics. Two lines of armored men charged each other until they crashed in a great mob of men and metal.

Luckily, Alex had a plan. He and Gawain had trained together that night. They had found some men still up and had taken them to train with them. Alex tried his best to teach them cooperation. He tried showing them how he and Gawain working together were able to defeat a larger force, but it wasn't until all of them and Gawain had taken him on that they really got it. Sort of. Gawain still had to bellow, “Stay together!” much too often for Alex's taste, but an army of just seven was a lot harder to defeat than seven soldiers fighting individually, even if he was still holding back.

The next morning came the demonstration. The seven that Gawain and Alex had trained vs fifteen randomly selected from the winning company of yesterday’s bout. The seven won quite convincingly.

“That! Is exactly what I'm going to teach all of you,” Alexander informed his army. “It's why lining up in order and marching together is important. You—all of you—are about to become part of something much bigger than yourselves. And together, we're going to unite Rivellon into one land as well!”

Alexander trained his officers each morning and they, in turn, trained the soldiers. While they were doing that, Alex was free to take in the lay of the land. The stronghold he'd been given had its own blacksmith and farrier. It also had enough farms paying taxes to it to support a small company. Except that he now had two over-strength companies. He also didn't have any sort of sanitation or a doctor. When a man was injured, a buddy bandaged him up. If he was sick, he stayed in his tent until he got better or died. Alexander had been shocked to learn that they had lost four men to disease just in the time he'd been training as a dragon. He co-opted training the next day for the men to dig latrines. Fighting disease would be a much tougher battle than most opponents, he knew, if what little he learned from history class was true.

He also sent word for doctors in the area, or even medical students. Actually, he was hoping for more medical students as there would be less to untrain. Then he sent word that they were buying food at his stronghold and also that they were looking for recruits and even mercenaries. Fortunately, the Patriarch had left him plenty of money for all of this.

TWO MONTHS LATER

Alexander was not happy. He had planned on having at least another month to train his men and his mercenaries. The men he'd been given were primarily infantry with a few archers and mages thrown in. He'd had to hire mercenary archers and cavalry to round out his army, but he had the beginnings of his own archer and cavalry units currently training with the mercenaries. Unfortunately, Alex knew less about those things, so he could only really teach them about timing—how a shower of arrows or a charge of horses at the right time could turn the tide of a battle.

Unfortunately, all this military build-up did not go unnoticed. His neighbor, Count Farlow, took offense and decided to attack and raid the farms in Alex's land.

So now, Alexander's army—now numbering almost 1,000 strong—faced off against an army of almost 5,000 across rolling farmland.

“Archers!” Alexander yelled and horns sounded the call for archers to ready. “Loose arrows!” A different blast sounded and the sky was filled with 500 pointy bits of wood and metal.

Alex was sitting on a step ladder, observing the battle from behind the lines. He was on a ladder primarily because he needed to see the battle and it was discovered that no horse (the traditional officer mount) would bear him. In fact, no horse wanted to be near him. Zandalor had surmised that it was the smell of the dragon that disturbed them. The wizard hadn't been aware of that fact, but he also had never heard of a Dragon Knight wanting to ride a horse before. Alexander only wanted to for a short while in any case. They would shortly be unveiling the Dragon Knight to the world and then he could roam the land freely in dragon form.

From his position on his ladder, Alex could see the first wave of Farlow’s troops beginning to advance. They took two more volleys of arrows before Alex called out, “Infantry!” A new horn sounded. Most of the archers stopped firing and took up their melee weapons instead. The hundred or so dedicated archers got off another volley right before the two groups collided. The opposing group was wild and undisciplined while Alex's group waited patiently for openings to stab—not forwards—but to the sides, at the man their neighbors were holding at bay. Soon enough, the numbers of the attackers dwindled until they were less than the attacked and they broke.

Already though, another wave was approaching.

“One cavalry charge, then retreat. After that, get the next rank forward. Make sure to get our wounded out of there,” Alexander ordered. The first rank made their way to the rear, helping along a couple of men who'd taken wounds to the face or legs, but he saw no fatalities so far. In front of his lines, a small pile of bodies stretched out. Many were still moving, but were about to be trampled on by their comrades. Still, there was nothing to be done right now. Alex watched as the archers and the cavalry whittled down the numbers of the attacking force.

Again the attackers broke, though more reached the line this time. It necessitated another line change. As Alex noticed his men tiring, he called out, “Next rank!” A whistle sounded this time. As one, the next rank surged forward and allowed the first rank to rest at the rear of the lines and remove their wounded, and this time, their dead. Out of the corner of his eye, Alex was vaguely aware of his doctors treating the wounded on the grass nearby. He made a note to talk to them about that later. He wanted them further back and out of range of enemy archers. Luckily, Count Farlow had left his meager supply of archers back at his castle, but not all enemies would be so overconfident.

Finally, the second wave broke, but Count Farlow was already ordering everything he had left forward, which was probably 2,500 men.

“Next rank!” Alex called out but didn't bother to watch the action. “Cavalry. Repeated attack and retreats! Keep them on their toes!” He saw that his archers were already out of arrows and made a mental note to buy more arrows before the next battle. As a general, he found himself dealing with logistics more than anything. He often felt like a glorified desk jockey. Except for just now. “Wizards! Fireballs!” He'd been saving them for last. Gawain's men had included more than a few men capable of launching two, maybe three fireballs over the course of a battle.

The front of Farlow's line exploded into flame. Once the next line had made it over the still burning bodies of their comrades, another line of fire hit them. After that, they were wavering and then the cavalry hit. They tried to fight back, but the horsemen just ran away. As they were watching them run, a few more fireballs hit. That was enough. Farlow was one of the first to turn tail.

“Sound Cavalry Retreat,” Alex ordered and watched as the cavalry that had been about to slaughter Farlow's men turned back. Mercenaries who disobeyed orders didn't get paid, after all.

“You had them, sir,” Colonel Gawain pointed out. “You could have slaughtered them.”

“True, but I'm about to take Farlow's lands as my own and I'm going to try to recruit most of his men. Cutting down survivors means that we can't hire them later,” Alex announced. “Get our wounded and theirs to the hospital. And smack any doctors who left the safety of the hospital to join us out here while you're at it. Then break camp. We're heading for Farlow's castle.”

They made camp within sight of Farlow's castle but out of range of his catapults. Which also meant that his own catapults were out of range, but that was okay with Alex; he wanted to take the castle whole anyway and he had a plan.

He, Zandalor, and Colonel Gawain walked towards the castle.

“I wish we could ride horses,” Gawain grumbled.

“Me too,” Alexander agreed. “But it would look a bit silly if you two rode while I walked.”

When they got close enough, the gates of the castle opened and 5 riders emerged. Alexander's party stopped walking and waited for them to come to them.

“Alexander of Rivellon. You have a strange name considering we're all from Rivellon. Anyway, I knew you were planning on attacking me. And now I am proved right when you show up on my doorstep,” Count Farlow said.

“You attacked us, remember?”

“I did no such thing, I was merely collecting back taxes-”

“Shut up,” Alex cut him off. “These are the terms: you have until sunset tomorrow to surrender. Your men will be given full quarter and offered the chance to join my army should they wish. Your lands and possessions will be added to Rivellon.” Alex had decided to call his small fiefdom 'Rivellon' as it would eventually encompass the whole of Rivellon.

Farlow snorted. “Strong words for one who has not even tried to encircle my castle. I doubt you even have enough men to lay siege.”

“I neither need nor want to,” Alex went on. “If by sundown tomorrow, you have not surrendered, then we will assault your castle and kill you. Your general...?” he looked at the man in question.

“General Gregory,” the man supplied.

“General Gregory will then be offered the chance to surrender your forces,” Alexander finished.

Count Farlow was almost apoplectic by the end. “How dare you! This castle has stood for three generations!”

“When your grandfather took it from the old ruler, as I understand. So, it can be done. And it will be done by us, again. I just want to do it without killing any more of your men. After all, soon they'll be my men.”

“Plan your pitiful assault,” Farlow wheeled his horse roughly around. “I'll see you in hell.”

Camp was much more orderly than it had been just a few months ago. First of all, latrines were dug well away and downhill from camp, which cut down on sickness. Rows and columns of orderly tents were laid out with cooking fires regularly spaced – which was partly about efficient space usage and partly psychologically reinforcing cohesion within the army. Finally, all the rows of tents and fires pointed right at the castle, just as he had ordered.

For now, it was time to rest and relax after a long day of battle.

Alexander was almost disappointed the next day. He'd been expecting a sortie to be sent out, but nothing happened. Near sunset he readied himself for takeoff out of sight of the castle or most of his men. “If they attack while I’m gone, extinguish the middle line of fires. If they surrender, extinguish all but the middle line,” he ordered. Orders given, he transformed, took off, and headed low and fast for the coast, where he could gain altitude without anyone seeing.

Then, once he was high enough, he turned back inland. It was too dark to see much below him any more, but the lights burning in houses and cities let him know the lay of the land. He found his encampment with its rows of orderly fires still burning. He followed where they were pointing to and could see a few torches burning around the castle.

Back-winging to kill his momentum, he went ahead and transformed into a human, enjoying the sensation of free-fall, even if he lacked a parachute. He shifted his body to adjust where he'd be landing. He wanted packed earth or stone. His legs could handle the force of his body hitting at terminal velocity, but most roofs could not, and breaking through into an unknown room was not on his list of things to do. Dropping through an armory roof onto dozens of sharp spear points could really ruin your day.

He landed in the castle courtyard. All of the sentries were looking the other way, but not for long. Alexander's landing was nowhere near silent. A human body hitting the earth at velocity, even if he didn't turn to paste, still makes quite a loud 'smacking' sound. So, Alex had infiltrated the castle successfully. Unfortunately, he now had the attention of all the sentries and had probably woken most of Farlow’s army from their slumber.

Alex took stock of his surroundings for just a moment before a particularly alert, or perhaps just trigger-happy, archer sent an arrow his way. In the darkness, he missed by a good deal, but it did launch everyone else into action. The other archers on the wall started firing at where Alexander had landed and he got a move on. He dashed to the door he knew would lead to Farlow's quarters, hearing more than one arrow tink against his helmet and backplate. Once past the door, he closed and barred it, hearing more arrows thunk into the wooden door.

He turned to find three men who looked like they just got out of bed and grabbed spears. In close quarters like this though, Alexander was simply too much for them with his new powers. He gave them all cuts he hoped would be non-fatal, but would keep them from following him, and ran off to find the leader of this mess.

By the time he reached the top of the stairs, the soldiers he was facing were both armed and armored. It was almost like Count Farlow knew he was coming, he thought as he smiled at his own joke. In front of Farlow's door, were two excellent soldiers he was forced to kill. They were loyal to a fault anyways, Alex told himself.

Inside, Farlow cowered. “Wait!” he cried. “We can negotiate!”

Alexander just stabbed him through his nightgown. “We already did,” he said as the other man died. Soldiers entered the room behind him then. “Farlow is dead. Bring me General Gregory so that we can negotiate the terms of your surrender,” he called.

The fact that he had cut his way up here and dispatched their lord clearly gave them pause. No one attacked. Footsteps retreated down the hall while Alex cleaned his blade on the bed linen and more footsteps made their way back. Soldiers made way for their General. General Gregory entered, the right side of his face was a mess of bandages, clearly he and Alex had met that night already, though Alex didn't remember it.

“Sorry about that, General. I never noticed I was fighting you,” Alex apologized.

“I figured as much. You are... an incredible fighter. We sorely underestimated you,” Gregory replied.

“It wouldn't have helped—just increased the body count. I wouldn't have been able to hold back as much if there had been more men ready,” Alexander offered.

Gregory was taken aback for a moment at the thought that what he had seen was the young man holding back. He shuddered to think what he was truly capable of. He walked forward and fell to his knees. “I am here to offer you our unconditional surrender,” he held out his sword.

“Very well. I accept. Please have your men lay down their arms.” Alex sheathed his sword and accepted the one offered to him.

Gregory raised a hand and lowered it, and the men laid their weapons on the ground. “You will wish to collect the arms?”

Instead, Alex handed the man back his sword before helping him to his feet. “No, too much of a waste of time. Just put them back where they would be if you weren't under attack—since the attack is now over. I'm hoping that most of the men will be willing to swear an oath to me. All that do will be given their weapons back, but that can wait. For now, we likely have a number of wounded men to attend to. I would like you to have three fire arrows fired from the front gate and the gate opened. That will be a sign for the braver of my medics to approach and help treat your wounded.”

“Sergeant McHale!” Gregory bellowed.

“Sir!” the Sergeant snapped to attention.

“Did you hear that order from our new lord?”

“Yessir!”

“See to it, Sergeant. Three fire arrows and open the gate,” the General ordered.

Alexander pulled out his medkit. “And you, lay down on the bed. I want to get a look at that wound.” When he'd arrived, Xander's first aid knowledge had already been pretty good. He'd treated a lot of cuts and scrapes and even done some stitching over the years. Which put him above some of the so-called doctors around. He could have healed him magically, of course, but they were keeping those abilities secret as an ace up his sleeve for some future emergency.

General Gregory was shocked that he new lord would treat his wounds himself, but complied fairly quickly. He didn't flinch at all when the antiseptic or the stitches were applied; however, he insisted on going against doctor's orders and seeing to his men once he was back in one piece.

Chapter Text

“I expected your world to be... lusher, the way you described it,” Audrey said. She sounded a little disappointed.

“Mountains give way to forests, give way to plains, give way to deserts. Just like in Rivellon,” Alex said. He started singing.

I can show you the world
Shining, shimmering, splendid
Tell me, princess, now when did
You last let your heart decide?

I can open your eyes
Take you wonder by wonder
Over, sideways and under
On a magic dragon ride

A whole new world
A new fantastic point of view
No one to tell us ’no’
Or where to go
Or say we’re only dreaming.

Alexander had long since gotten used to the fact that in Rivellon, if you wanted music, you either made it yourself or a friend played and/or sang for you. Add in the fact that Rivellon had never heard of the songs he knew or of copyright law, which together meant he had passed a number of songs from his youth along (or at least all he could remember of them). He was the first to admit that he hadn’t started out as a very good singer, but a couple years of practice had made him at least decent.

“Yes, show us your world, Daddy!” Jesse pleaded.

“Well, those lights over there are where Daddy lives. It’s a small town here, but it’s about the same size as Capital City back home.” He picked his son up and pointed towards Sunnydale.

“Capital City is considered small here?” Audrey asked, a little awed.

Alex pointed towards the LA skyline. “That’s the city of Los Angeles. We’ll visit there eventually too; but if my memory serves, LA had something like 15 million in the metro area.”

“Million?” Audrey was dumbfounded. “That’s...”

“Not even the largest city in my world. Just the biggest one that’s close by. And for comparison, I calculated once that there was somewhere around 30 million people in the whole of Rivellon,” Alexander informed her. “But first let’s get settled in. Then I can teach you what you need to know about my world.” With that they headed off towards Sunnydale.

“We kinda hoped you’d be okay with this,” Willow said.

“Hey. I’m okay with it. More than okay. I leave and the two girls in my life give up on the rest of the male race? I’m more than okay with that. I’m flattered is what I am,” Alexander laughed.

“Laugh it up, fuzzball. Speaking of which, you still need to shave,” Buffy pointed out.

“And actually, it’s the three women in your life,” Willow emphasized the word ’women’. “Anya actually came back looking for you too. But then Buffy had a bad break up with this jerky guy and she and Anya bonded over their hatred of all things male.”

“Men are evil,” Buffy and Anya added in stereo.

“Xander being the notable exception,” Buffy added without Anya’s backup. Though she still hadn’t forgotten that he’d promised that demon a human soul in exchange for his trip back. She hadn’t told anyone about that, but she intended to mention that privately sometime soon.

Giles cleared his throat.

“And you too, Giles,” Buffy amended.

“And me!” Jesse cried from Willow’s arms.

“And you!” Buffy gave him a tickle.

“And what about you, Will? Part of me thought Buff might give up on males eventually... but you?”

Willow frowned, thinking about her past hurt. “Well, Oz left me—wolfy issues—and I was moping around so Buffy and Anya dragged me to this Lesbian Appreciation Fest. And there I was formally introduced to this cute girl- I mean, woman, who I’d seen at our Wicca group. And since I was there, she kinda assumed I was a lesbian and made a move. And then I found out that I was lesbian and that we’re both witches. Oh! You should have been here last week. The whole town lost their voices and Tara and I did this spell that was so intense. We were so-”

“Ahem,” Anya interrupted, glaring at Buffy. Apparently, Buffy liked that story a little too much.

“Oh, right.” Willow blushed as much as Tara already was.

“What?” Buffy teased her girlfriend. “I thought you liked me as a lesbian.”

“You’re only supposed to fantasize about me,” Anya instructed.

Audrey hit her husband over the back of his head. “And that goes double for you.”

Alex rubbed the back of his head. “Fine. I’ll only fantasize about Anya.” Another smack. “Okay! Okay. But someone explain to me why Spike is living with Giles and not being swept into the wastebasket?”

“And me too, while you’re at it,” Giles added.

“There’s this military group new in town since you’ve been gone. Weeks or months or whatever. Anyway. They neutered Spike.”

“Hey!” the blonde vampire objected.

Buffy carried on as if she hadn’t been interrupted. “He knows stuff about them. Plus he can’t hurt anyone. Literally. He gets a huge headache if he tries to bite or even hit someone.”

“You shouldn’t hit!” Jesse lectured the vamp with a shake of his finger.

Spike was taken aback for a second, then he laughed. “Well, look at the nibblet. Chip off the ol’ block, in’he?”

The air got noticeably cooler as Alexander stepped forward menacingly. He picked Spike up easily, chair and all, and hauled him to the bathroom where he turned on the water to cover any sounds and hit Spike in the solar plexus. That doubled the vamp over and stopped him from speaking for a minute. The vampire might not need air to breathe, but he certainly needed it to talk. Alex grabbed the vampire’s bleached hair and pulled up so he could whisper in his ear. “I don’t know or care why Buffy is having trouble staking you right now, but if you refer to my son using a term for food again, or even look at my family in a way that displeases me; all they’ll find the next morning is a note mocking them for not tying you up tight enough and a little extra dust in the kitchen trash can.” He pulled the vampire away so they could look in each other’s eyes. “Do you understand?”

Spike, surprised at the boy’s strength and at the clearly non-human breath coming off him, quickly nodded as much as he could with his hair being held. He swallowed. “Perfectly, mate,” he choked out despite not being able to breathe properly yet.

Alex shut off the water and carried Spike back into Giles’ living room.

“Wow. He’s uh... strong,” Anya commented to Buffy.

“Yeah. Not quite human anymore,” Alexander said.

“My daddy’s a-” Jesse said before his father covered his mouth.

“We’ll explain everything when we’re not in mixed company,” he motioned towards where he’d set Spike back down.

Spike opened his mouth to complain but thought better of it.

“Anyway, we’ll talk to you guys later. Thanks for the offer, Giles, but I think we’ll find an inn to stay at,” Alex said.

“No-o-o,” Buffy contradicted. “You’re not staying at a hotel, Alexander. My mom’s on a buying trip. You can stay at my house.”

“Have you ever invited Spike into your house?” he asked.

“No! Oh, wait.” Buffy gave a hissing intake of breath. “Yeah, I kinda did. But it was to save the world! But no others. Except for Angel.”

“We’ll call you tomorrow,” Alex promised as they left. As they walked to a hotel, he explained to his wife and son the rules for vampires and why they should never, ever invite someone into their house and should instead just stand aside.

“Military. Damn! Why’d it have to be the military?” Alex groused.

“Something wrong?” Audrey asked. “You’ve fought armies before.”

Alex shook his head. “Not like this. If I had brought a Company of American soldiers, I wouldn’t have needed to recruit anyone else. If I had a Battalion, I could have steamrolled everyone in a week. They have machines and weapons you can’t imagine and instantaneous communications. All the good ideas I integrated into Rivellon’s army came from them. So they know everything I know about war, but I knew less than 10% of what they know.”

“But you can turn into a dragon.”

“It’s not nearly enough. Their flying machines are hundreds of times faster and more maneuverable than airships. Turning into a dragon would be suicide. Hopefully we don’t need to fight these guys, but if we do, hiding as a normal human will be the only way to survive.”

Chapter Text

There were no newspapers in Rivellon but that didn't seem to slow the spread of news of his improbable victory over Count Farlow. General Gregory accepted his demotion to Lt. Colonel amicably. Part of that might have been the fact that he was still commanding a group mainly made up of his own men.

The other piece of news that started traveling were rumors of a Dragon Knight in his army. It was clearly one of the new soldiers that had spread it, since all of his soldiers were well aware of who the Dragon Knight was. Still, it was bound to happen eventually, and absorbing the other army had more than doubled the number of troops under his command even if they did need retraining.

With more troops, he had enough men to truly lay siege to a castle. He already had the men and the supply lines set up and he could train his new troops even while they laid siege because the next castle didn’t have nearly enough men to try to break the siege. They also didn’t have enough supplies laid up as only a few weeks after the siege started a small party ventured forth under a flag of truce.

It wasn’t hard to see who was in charge. In a land where food wasn’t always plentiful but hard work was, being obese was a sign of wealth. It showed you had more than enough money for food and enough so that you didn’t have to work hard. Still, he must have been in reasonable shape underneath his bulk as he wasn’t huffing after the admittedly long walk from the castle to his headquarters.

Alexander stood as the party entered. “Lord Sears,” he gave a slight nod. He had been a little taken aback when he learned the Lord’s name, but figured there were only so many letters and syllables in the English language. It was probably a coincidence but he was going to have a talk with the Patriarch if he ever came across a man named Walmart.

“General Alexander,” Lord Sears inclined his head in response.

Negotiations were long and boring. Lord Sears and his advisors were certain they could withstand any length of siege. Alex was sure that Sears wouldn’t be the one eating short rations during this siege. The burden of this siege would land on the shoulders of the peasants, as it always did. Alex was keeping a tight rein on looting so no homes or crops were damaged other than incidentally, but farmers would still lose money from crops they couldn’t bring in. That could be mitigated if they could end this soon, but if they couldn’t, his own men would likely bring in the crops themselves to feed his army for the long haul. Lord Sears seemed to want to go for that long haul. Alex couldn’t allow that. Not only would it hurt these peasants, but he had places to go and a world to conquer. He needed this castle and these armies to expand his empire.

“Listen, Lord Sears. I don’t want to be here. I’ve given you plenty of time to surrender. If you’ll ju-” Alex started.

“You’ll find my men much tougher than Count Farlow’s. Your tricks will not work a second time.” Sears warned him.

“Oh, no?” Alex sneered. He was annoyed that the fatso had interrupted him. He cleared his throat and spit. Not saliva, but fire. The fireball hit a wooden dresser and splattered on the dirt ground. Alex pursed his lips tightly and dismissed the visitors with a wave of his hand. When they were gone, he dunked his face in a nearby bucket of water and drank deeply before pouring the rest on the fires.

Colonel Gawain had an amused expression on his face. “That was... interesting.”

“Oww,” Alex said carefully. “I bur’ my ‘ung.”

“I can imagine,” Gawain said diplomatically. “It was impressive, though. By the smell, I think someone in Sears’ party shat themselves.”

“Goo’,” Alex said. “Ge’ ‘an’elor.”

Gawain interpreted that as an order to get Zandalor who he returned with shortly, already tutting and shaking his head even before he examined the Dragon Knight and healed him.

It would be a long time before Alexander would try that move again but it did work. Sears’ castle was his within the week along with a good number of soldiers.

Alexander’s army fought just one more open battle. After absorbing the Sears castle and most of their army in a siege that was shorted by Alex’s fire-spitting, the three neighboring kingdoms decided to combine their armies together to stop him. Alex’s army now numbered 4,000. Of that, 1,000 was his original core of men and women who were now battle-tested veterans. The other 3,000 were also experienced but had several months less training in his new ways than his core group.

Facing off against an army of 10,000 this time didn't feel like it would be a challenge when he had 4,000 men when he'd already soundly beaten 5:1 odds. He looked over his men. On his left flank, Lt. Colonel Gregory stood ready with his men. On his right, newly promoted Lt. Colonel Hasset secured the right flank.

Alexander gave Zandalor an angry glance then clenched his jaw and nodded to General Gawain. He and Zandalor had had a long conversation/shouting match the night before. One of their opponents, Duke Igthorn, had conscripted several hundred peasants into his army and were using them as a type of human shield. Worse, he couldn't just fly over there and snack on the worm. They had dug up anti-dragon defenses that had to be taken out first. Zandalor pointed them out. A slight shimmer in the air that just didn't feel right to Alex. Zandalor claimed that being in his dragon form inside that bubble would quickly be fatal.

“You cannot spare the peasants, Alexander,” the wizard had pointed out. “Or every army you face from now until Rivellon is freed will have peasants in front of them.”

“What do I do?” Alex begged.

“Break them. Drive them from the field before the fighting even starts,” Zandalor advised. “Show everyone how useless they are.”

“Slaughter them?”

“Slaughter these hundreds to save tens of thousands later,” Zandalor said gravely.

“Duke Igthorn will wish he'd never been born,” Alexander promised.

Now the archers and catapults began firing. The archers focused on the unarmored peasants, few of whom had armor or even shields. The catapults focused more on Igthorn's main army. Punishment for using human shields in the first place. There would be a clear message sent with this battle: use human shields and be destroyed.

The other side's archers and catapults started firing too. Alexander's army was well armored so the archers made little dent in his numbers, but the catapults were dangerous. He saw one ball roll through his lines, taking out at least 20 men, many of whom would be beyond even magical healing.

That was his cue. Alexander launched himself up into the air and transformed. A dozen beats of his wings later and he was high enough that none of the enemy's arrows or catapults could touch him. He got higher and higher, sailing behind his army before turning back towards the enemy. He glided at a constant speed, took a deep breath, and launched a large fireball at the enemy catapults. He missed. He hadn't really practiced this before hand but the fireball landing nearby did give the men manning the catapults pause. Some took off running. All the peasants in front of Igthorn were now also running at the sight of him. Alex took another breath and sent another ball of flame into the anti-dragon zone. He couldn't watch where it hit as he had to turn back to avoid running into the shimmery air Zandalor had warned him away from.

A WHOOSH of air went by him. Alex looked and- was that a cannon ball that went by him? Looking up and back, he could see the telltale smoke of cannons firing. An airship had arrived at the mouth of the valley behind his army and was firing a broadside at him. He'd known that this place had airships and cannons for a while now, though he'd never actually seen one or faced one in battle. The dragon had given him quite a bit of money, but not that much. Not enough to buy an airship and still field an army. Alexander dove and spun; the signal to General Gawain to attack. They had to get this fight over with sooner rather than later. His army was smaller but better trained. However, smaller also meant they had fewer catapults and without him to negate the enemy catapults, they needed to close with the enemy quickly or get pounded from afar.

He spared a glance to make sure Gawain had gotten his message then turned his attention back to the ship. Like a ship on the sea, most of its guns were focused on two powerful broadsides. Alex flapped hard to get up and above the ship but every time he got near the height of the guns he was forced back down again. The valley they were in was very narrow and he couldn't go around the mountains at this height. He'd purposely picked this area as it would help negate his enemies' numerical superiority but now it was working against him.

He was trapped. The anti-dragon field on one side, mountains on two sides, and an airship on the last. The ship occasionally fired down on his army or down at him, but mostly seemed content to keep him occupied and contained.

“Lets see if you can handle the real me.” Alex murmured. With that, he bent his neck, bit down on a strap of leather there, and pulled on the lacing holding the weights on his body. As they fell off, he belatedly hoped that the weights didn't hit anyone from his own army. Then he started flapping all the harder, building up speed as he advanced on the ship. Suddenly, he pulled up – hard. He rocketed through the range of the guns before any of the crews had a chance to touch off their weapons. Too near and too high for the guns to hit any more, Alex leveled out and attacked the airship from the top. Despite the misleading name of 'zeppelins' and 'airships' these ships were not held up by hydrogen or anything else except for magic. Alexander thanked Zandalor for forcing him to learn how to bring one of these things down. With his firebreath, he melted a hole in the fuselage. He took a second to catch his breath and look down at the hole he made.

A sharp pain caught him in the butt. Snarling, he looked back to find several crossbowmen standing there. A few small fireballs scattered them and sent one flying off the ship into the wild blue yonder while the rest dove for cover. Alex turned back to the crystal his hole had uncovered. One large fireball destroyed it.

The ship fell several feet beneath his claws. The captain was doing pretty good just to keep the ship in the air after losing one of his crystals, Alex knew.

He took a moment to see how the battle was going. He saw his lines engaged over the width of the valley. It took him a moment to see where his reserves were. There, on his right flank. Fighting... shit. Fighting what was left of Igthorn's men along with Hasset's men. The traitor.

What to do? The battle was well inside the anti-dragon field and Alex as a human was an incredible warrior, but he couldn't turn back an army. He looked down at the air ship he was on. Then again.

He dug his claws into the metal of the hull and started flapping sideways, aiming the ship for the middle of the battle. Then he started flapping forwards. It took agonizing minutes to get the great ship going at speed, but once going, there was little anyone could do about it. Just outside the field, Alex hopped to the front of the ship and burned another hole above the other crystal before transforming back into a human. A tingle told him they were past the anti-dragon field. He waited until they were well past the battle before he threw a knife at the crystal. With his enhanced strength behind it, the knife shattered the second and last crystal. The ship plummeted out from under him. Alex used his free falling experience to guide his body away from what would soon be the wreckage of the airship.

He got to watch the heavier ship hit before he landed. The explosion of the ship's magazine sent shrapnel everywhere. Several smaller pieces pinged off Alex's armor. He looked around. The battle was nearby but he knew he could make a bigger dent if he went the other way. He found the anti-dragon field generator easily enough. At least they were big enough to be hard to hide. Between his sword and his strength, he quickly tore the machine to pieces. The tingle he'd felt since entering the field disappeared. He jumped up and transformed. Ten flaps and he was over the battle. Traitors first, he thought.

After turning Igthorn and Hasset's men into crispy critters, the rest of the armies were very eager to surrender. Alex was only disappointed that he couldn't question Hasset himself, though he was satisfied with the traitor's fate (being burned alive) and the fate of the men who had chosen to betray their oaths to him. He made a point of mentioning the fate of traitors when he'd taken the oaths of the new recruits.

He also found out that General Gawain had been killed personally leading the charge against the traitor Hasset which saddened him. After receiving the after-action reports from all his men, he determined that Gregory, formerly of Farlow’s employ, had performed admirably in his first battle under Alexander. He'd noticed the trouble from the other side of the battle and dispatched one of his captains with a reserve line to reinforce that side. That had been a very good call when the nearest two battalions hadn't realized what was going on until it had almost been too late.

Alexander promoted Gregory to General that night in a somewhat subdued ceremony. He also promoted many of his original core to Sergeant or even Lieutenant to take command of newly added units. After that, he no longer really had a core of the men and women from Gawain's castle. All of them were either leading units of their own or deceased. A few were also heading back to Deodatus Castle for a stint of leave and to train the next batch of recruits. Most of the original mercenaries had also either signed up permanently or left one way or another.

After all that, there wouldn't be another army willing to engage his in open warfare in all of Rivellon.

Chapter Text

Alexander splashed hot water on his face one last time, rinsing away the last vestiges of shaving cream, and looked in the mirror. It was weird seeing his shaved face again. He dried his face and threw on a t-shirt he’d borrowed from Giles—his armor safely tucked away in the bag of holding—he stepped out of the bathroom and greeted his wife and son. Jesse promptly hid behind his mother’s skirts.

“What’s wrong, honey?” Audrey asked. “It’s still your father. He just shaved his beard.”

“Daddy?”

“It’s still me, champ.” Alex went down on one knee and held out his arms for his son.

Jesse just shook his head and hid again.

Alex stood up, chuckling lightly. “Of all the challenges we’d face coming here, my shaving was not one I anticipated.”

“Well, it is a bit odd,” Audrey said with a look.

“Odd?”

“Well, not odd,” she backtracked. “Just... different.”

“You don’t like it,” Alex surmised.

“It’s not that,” Audrey said hurriedly, trying to reassure him. “It’s just... it makes you look kinda... boyish.” She shrugged. “I was raised to believe that boys are clean shaven and men have beards.”

“So, you want me to grow it back?” he offered.

Jesse came around the skirts and nodded vigorously at that. Audrey didn’t disagree.

Alex laughed at that. “Well, it’ll take time. You’ll just have to get used to it for a few days as it grows back. For now, bed time.”

“Alright. Since it would look weird to explain all this to a grown woman, you’re going to hold Jesse while I explain things to both of you,” Alex started their lessons on Earth culture the next morning. “And I’ll start with money. We don’t use gold or silver coins anymore. We use notes with a stated value on them. You can still turn gold and silver into the notes and vice versa at certain places but it’s a bit complicated since so few people use gold or silver any more.” He slid a couple $1 and $5 notes in front of his family.

“Oh! They’re just like bearer notes!” Audrey realized excitedly.

“They’re exactly like bearer notes, actually. Except much more widespread here,” he confirmed. “The second thing you have to learn about money is taxes. Especially Sales Tax. We’re going to go shopping in a bit and you have to know that the stated price on something will actually go up by about 10% when we pay. Those are called Sales Taxes and they’re part of the way the government collects money here.”

“How odd.” Audrey frowned. “Why couldn’t they just tax the seller?”

“I really don’t know, honey. I only promised to explain my world to you. I never said I understand it. Next, we’ll cover the calendar. There are only twelve months, not thirteen, and only one month has 28 days and only for three out of every four years.”

“What? Why? How many days are in a year here?”

“There’s still 365 and a bit. So 28 times 13 would still equal 364 days, plus the midwinter celebration and a leap year; but like the money, I’m just explaining how it is.”

Audrey let out a huff. “What are the months then and how many days are in each? Wait, how do they keep track of the lunar cycle then?”

Alex handed over a calendar. “It’s printed on most calendars. I have to say, I like Rivellon’s way better—it’s easier to remember but I’ll teach you some tricks to remember our way. You’ll just have to get used to not having Nathanuary any more.”

Audrey let out a whine. “Not Nathanuary. That was my favorite month!”

It had been the month they met and the month they wed. “Mine too. But we’ll just have to calculate a new date for Earth and celebrate our anniversary then.”

“Xander! You shaved!” Willow cried as they met again in Giles’ apartment. “I like it!”

“Me too,” Tara added shyly.

Anya scowled at the witches. “Real men have beards.”

“Exactly what I told him,” Audrey said.

Everyone looked at Buffy to cast the deciding vote. “Anyone want oatmeal?” she asked weakly, not wanting to pick a side. Especially not a side that her girlfriend was against.

Anya let out an exasperated sigh. “Whatever. Come on,” she grabbed Audrey’s hand and started to pull.

“Wait! What?” Alex moved to intervene but Willow and Tara got in his way.

“It’s okay,” Willow assured him.

“There- there’s just some stuff that... you know?” Tara tried.

“Audrey comes from a... less technologically advanced society,” Willow said judiciously. “There are just some things that women need to know about this time and place that men can’t teach her and Anya’s gone through the same thing so she knows how to explain stuff.”

“You want me to stick that where!?” came Audrey’s shout.

Alex broke through his blockade. “Jesus, girls. I’m a married man with a son, not a college freshman who’s too scared to walk down the feminine hygiene aisle. I understand how periods work. And the differences in how you and she deal with them. I was going to go over her options in a week or so. I wanted to let her settle in a bit before I hit her with that.”

“I think I’ll stick with my belt,” Audrey said as she scurried from the bathroom.

“There are some other less intrusive options we can talk about later,” Alex told her but left it at that. Then he turned to the others. “Anyway, we didn’t come here to talk about periods and tampons. We came to talk about the military group in town neutering vampires and possibly see about changing in some gold coins for cash so we can make a down payment on a place around here.”

“Ah, yes. I had a feeling you might need that service,” Giles finally spoke up once the topic turned away from menstruation. “So I took the liberty of contacting a broker friend of mine. He works out of LA. He’ll give you a good price.”

“Thanks, Giles,” Alex smiled as he took the offered card.

Audrey laughed.

“Something funny?” Giles wondered.

“Oh, it’s not you. It’s just the way Alexander is with you. All of you. He was the most powerful man in Rivellon. Everyone deferred to him. And here... it’s like I’ve been living with a prince, but now I finally get to see him with all his brothers and sisters who are in line for the throne ahead of him and I finally get to see the man behind the haughtiness.”

“Xander was haughty?” Willow wondered.

“Well, he had to be in public. He was... well we never had a good title for his position. He wasn’t king. He was too busy overthrowing kings.”

“Lord Protector,” Anya spoke up.

Everyone but Giles looked at her funny. Giles gave an exasperated sigh at his children’s lack of historical knowledge. “Yes, I suppose that would fit.”

“One of you make with the ’splainy,” Buffy ordered.

“Yes, well. A good hundred years before you colonials had your revolution, England had her own. England was a Republic for 4 to 11 years, depending on how you define ‘republic’. You see, after 4 years, General Oliver Cromwell became the head of England. He was never elected, so he wasn’t a president like you would think of. And yet he wasn’t a king either. His title was Lord Protector,” Giles explained.

“My Lord Protector,” Audrey curtsied low before her husband.

Who quickly hauled her to her feet. “You know I hate it when you do that.”

“Which is why I do it.” She gave him a quick peck on the lips then scrunched up her face. “I can’t wait for your beard to grow back. It’s too weird kissing a man without a beard.”

“So, what did they call you?” Buffy asked before another argument about beards could break out.

Audrey was the one who answered, though. “Lord Dragon, sir, sire, my lord, sometimes your majesty.”

“All the downtown ladies call him treetop lover,” Alex sang.

“All the men just call him ’sir’,” Audrey finished the line and they laughed together.

“You know ’Bad, Bad Leroy Brown’?” Giles asked of Audrey.

Audrey shrugged. “Alex taught us a number of songs. Most of which he knew only a verse or two and the chorus but it was still an impressive number. Also, he really did fly us to the treetops a couple of times.” She smiled suggestively. “Ooh! And I finally get to see King Kong!” At a look she explained, “We have plays, much like on your televisions or theaters, but Alex didn’t know enough of the plot of King Kong for us to remake it.”

“Also, you start to realize how little plot is in some movies when you try to explain them to people who’ve never seen them,” Alex added. “I mean, just try explaining ‘Home Alone’ to people who regularly allow their kids to take care of themselves.”

“Yes, well I have the original King Kong on VHS if you care to borrow it?” Once Audrey had thanked him he continued, “I believe you wanted to know more about our mysterious commandos?”

They went on to give Alex a rundown of their run-ins with the commandos and the fact that the TA from Buffy and Willow’s psych class was one of them.

“I’m meeting with his commanding officer later this week to discuss... well, I’m not sure. Mutual protection or maybe just set up separate slaying schedules? You know, we’ll hunt from sunset till 1 and they’ll take from 1 until sunrise?” Buffy said.

“Interesting. Mind if I come along?” Alex asked.

“Backup is of the good,” Buffy nodded. “As I’ve recently discovered. I’ll clear it with Riley tomorrow and if they balk, too bad.

“And tonight, we Bronze!” Buffy cried excitedly.

“Something wrong, babe?” Tara asked after Alexander and his family left.

“I just realized,” Willow swallowed, “that Xander killed people.”

“Well, first of all, you need to start calling him Alex even when he’s not here,” Tara chided.

“And secondly, you need to realize he’s not the boy you knew in high school,” Giles added. “You knew Xander; a funny boy who was a bit of a slacker but had a good heart. Now you need to get to know Alexander; The Lord Protector of a nation of 30 million, who fought and won a five year long war. He’s the nearest thing to a king you will ever meet and you should treat him as such.”

Willow got a little angry at that. “Oh, you mean I should bow and scrape and curtsey like his wife does?”

“Willow, he didn’t ma- ma- mean that at all,” Tara said. “And Audrey was just pushing his buttons. He was clearly uncomfortable with people bowing to him.”

“Meeting a king isn’t so unlike meeting any other human being. Except that you need to realize that the person you are meeting is very powerful and probably very wise. Alexander has seen and done more since he graduated high school that you could possibly believe. And he positively exudes power. I’m not sure how you don’t see it,” Giles exclaimed. Part of him actually wanted to bow to Alexander as a king. Not his king, perhaps. But a king, certainly.

“I’m just glad he changed out of that silly armor,” Willow harrumphed.

The other two just shook their heads.

Chapter Text

“I don’t think Willow likes either of us very much,” Audrey said.

“What? That’s crazy. Willow’s been my best friend for-”

Audrey waited patiently while they walked in silence.

“She was Xander’s best friend for... lets see. Twelve grades plus kindergarten and preschool so, 14 years.” Alex finally said. He sighed. “Unfortunately, Xander died in a horrific car accident outside Oxnard. And now I...” he shook his head. “I’ll have a talk with her but for now, we’re at the store and I have a lot to show you. This, for instance, is toilet paper. You use this instead of leaves and a sponge.”

“People here are rich enough to use paper for that?” Audrey exclaimed.

“We found ways of making paper cheaply and in bulk,” Alex explained. “Moving on.” He went on to show his wife and son the wonders of the modern convenience store. Better to start small after all. He even got to explain maxi pads to her as an easier and more sanitary version of her old menstrual belt.

“I don’t like it,” Maggie Walsh said. “We haven’t even begun dealing with the Slayer yet and she’s already setting terms.”

“I thought you said you liked her?” Riley Finn clarified.

Walsh smirked. “I thought you liked her?”

“I guess I got there a bit too late. She hooked up with this asshole named Parker and now she’s got a steady girlfriend who really hates men,” Finn said.

Walsh smirked. The military might look down on homosexuals, but she wasn’t in the military. They just worked for her. “So who’s this other person she wants to bring?” She got down to business.

“Alexander Harris. Buffy said he just got back from a vacation where he conquered another dimension. I’mmm- I’m not sure if she was joking or not.” Riley pulled a file out from under his arm and placed it on her desk. “Born and raised in Sunnydale. Graduated from high school with a C+ average but Buffy called him a heavy-hitter. I assume he’s one of those dumb but strong jock types.”

Maggie looked at the file. Her face betrayed no hint of emotion. “Did you look at this file, Agent Finn?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Maggie set the file down and turned it so that Riley could see the picture it was open to. “And this silly grin on this boy’s face led you to believe that he was a dumb jock?”

“My senior picture didn’t exactly scream ’special forces’, ma’am.” Riley pointed out.

“No, but you’ve had years of training since then. It’s been less than a year since this photo was taken. He can’t have changed that much,” Maggie assured the soldier. “I want to meet this Alexander Harris. Tell her the meeting’s on.”

Being inside the Bronze was different than he remembered. Or it was exactly as he remembered and he was simply vastly different than he was the last time he’d been in here? At least he’d given Anya the job of explaining why you could only buy alcohol if you were over 21 and had ID to prove it. Which they didn’t have yet.

Still it wasn’t as bad as he’d feared. They’d sat away from the speakers, back where you could actually hear people talk. Audrey was having a blast as she learned tons of new stuff, mostly from Anya who was happy to point out things that didn’t make sense to her either. Plus, watching kids awkwardly flirt was pretty fun, though it did get a little weird when he realized that one of the “kids” he was mentally mocking had actually been a year ahead of him in high school but was now four years younger than he was.

Alex was laughing as he explained the age switch to his wife when he realized someone was approaching.

“Something funny, Harris?” The former upper-classman loomed over Alexander as he sat on the couch.

Alexander was surprised that the kid used his name. He hadn’t thought he’d made that big of an impression on any upper-classmen. He could count on one hand the number of kids in grades lower than him whose names he knew.

“Many things. We call them jokes around here. I was telling one to my wife here.”

“Wife? I don’t see a ring.”

Alex failed to think of a witty comeback as he realized he’d never given Audrey a wedding ring. Rivellon marriages were different and rings weren’t part of their ritual. As he was thinking, Buffy came back with drinks.

“Will, chai tea latte. Everything okay here?”

“Yeah, everything’s good, Summers,” the guy replied, suddenly nervous. He took off, just short of running away.

Alex chuckled again as he realized that the kid had only known his name because he’d hung out with Buffy. It was both good and bad to no longer be famous. The upside was being able to walk around without being mobbed by well-wishers. The downside was he might have people pick on him and he could get into fights. He’d have to watch that. For now, he perked up again when he heard Alanis Morissette’s “Uninvited” start up and told his wife, “This is one of those songs that I just couldn’t do justice to even though I could remember the lyrics.”

“That was beautiful,” she agreed once it was over.

“We’ll have to hit up a record store next week so you can hear what the songs I’ve taught you are supposed to sound like.”

“I like the way you sing them. That’s how they’re supposed to sound like to me,” said Audrey. Which got an “Aww,” from Tara but a scowl from Willow.

All in all, a fun time was had by all, even Giles, who spent the night at home teaching young Jesse how to play checkers.

The next day gold was sold and a place purchased. Or rather some of the gold was sold and they rented an apartment at a reasonable rate.

Alexander and Audrey laid on their bed with a mess of gold and jewels between them. As they’d realized last night, marriage symbols differed between America and Rivellon and Alex had never given her an American wedding ring so she was trying on a bunch of different rings to find one that fit and setting aside men’s rings for Alex to try on too. Though, for now he was trying to find a birthday present for Buffy. Jesse was also there trying on various rings and necklaces like any child trying on costume jewelry except that this jewelry was the real deal.

“I think I may have gone too big with her gift the last time I was here but I wasn’t sure I’d ever see them again, all I could think of was getting back to you. I didn’t know if the Patriarch would send us all back or not. Now I have nothing to give her for her birthday.”

“What did you give her?” Audrey asked.

“Queen Opal’s crown.”

Audrey whistled, “That’s a mighty gift. But you tell me that she’s a warrior, like you. She’s killed as many demons?”

Alex nodded. “Probably pretty close on the kill counts.”

“Then she is a great warrior, like you. What would you give yourself?” Audrey advised.

Alexander ran his hand through his hair, a nervous habit that seemed to have returned since returning to Sunnydale. “That’s the problem. She’s also a girly-girl as well as being Ms. Super Warrior.”

“Well, then make sure what you give her is also pretty. I assume she liked the crown?” Audrey asked.

“Yeah.”

“Well, didn’t Queen Opal have a sword that matched the crown?” she wondered.

“Yeah, but it didn’t fit in any of the chests we were bringing. Besides, we couldn’t drain Rivellon of ALL her treasures,” Alex leaned over to kiss his wife. “I was already taking you and Jesse.”

“And I was stealing her Lord Protector.”

“Buffy is a warrior like Alexander, isn’t she? You would be dead before you could make a sound,” Audrey warned the group before her. They were- well, some of them were trying to convince her to help out with a surprise party for Buffy.

“Yes. My point exactly,” Giles chimed in. “Though perhaps merely maimed if Buffy realized you were human in time.”

“But surprise parties are fun!” Willow whined.

“You’re not serious, are you?” Audrey asked. “If you tried something like that on Alexander, you would have until you bled out from the knife in your heart to regret your foolishness. I assume Buffy is the same way?” she turned to the watcher.

Giles nodded, “It would likely be a stake, but yes. Willow, don’t you remember what happened with Faith and the deputy Mayor?”

“But Buffy isn’t Faith. And that happened in a dark alley,” Willow whinged.

“Whereas you’re planning on leading Buffy to a dark room after warning her of a demon attack,” Giles stated.

“Babe. It does make s- s- s- sense. You know? Don’t poke bears... don’t s- s- surprise s- s- Slayers,” Tara tried.

“Fine! Everyone’s against me!” Willow yelled. “Just throw your stupid party however you like,” she stormed out.

After a minute, Tara also rose. “I should probably go too.”

“Please don’t,” Giles begged.

“I don’t really know Buffy all that well,” Tara played at the hem of her blouse.

Audrey stepped up, took Tara’s hand, and led her back to the couch. “You know her better than I do. I’ve heard Alexander’s stories, but I’ve only actually known her for a week. Plus, I don’t know much about this world and its customs.”

“I must say, you are adjusting remarkably well,” Giles complimented as he set a tea service in front of the girls.

“Really well,” Tara nodded enthusiastically.

Giles filled and handed out cups. “Tea?”

“Thank you. And yes, please,” Audrey said. “All I know is that Alexander adjusted almost seamlessly to my world. I’m determined to do the same here. And it’s not so bad. Some stuff that would have been done by the wife or servants is now done by machines. And we had airships and cannons, so it’s no great change there even if both the ships and the guns are smaller, faster, and more powerful than in Rivellon. By far, my favorite invention so far is the microwave oven. Very handy.”

“Well spoken. Now about this party...” Giles said.

“Buffy, Anya, there you are,” Alex said as he finally found the girls in the quad. Even if he’d just checked there 15 minutes ago.

“I’ll go while you guys compare notes on monster slaying,” Anya got up.

“Wait. No, actually, I was looking for you, Anya,” Alex said.

“Oh. Well, I have to get to class anyway,” Buffy said as she packed up and left, kissing her girlfriend goodbye.

“What do you want with me?” Anya asked worriedly once the Slayer, her protector, was gone. She didn’t think Alexander would do anything to her, especially in public, but you could never be sure with demon hunters. ‘Once a demon, always a demon’ was one of their motos; along with ‘the only good demon is a dead one.’ Some of them were worse than the demons they hunted.

“Well, I understand that you were able to set up a new identity for yourself,” Alexander began.

“Ah, Audrey,” Anya realized.

“And Jesse,” Alex added.

Anya waved his concerns away. “Kids are easy. You have money, I assume? Or jewels. I know some beings, but they don’t work cheap.”

“I can pay,” he confirmed.

“And you have to promise not to kill my friends,” Anya said seriously.

“Demons?”

She nodded.

Alexander sighed. “Fine. So long as I don’t see them doing anything wrong, I promise not to kill them.”

“You crazy bitch,” the scaly demon said. “I try to keep a low profile around here and you want to go and bring the Slayer down on me?”

“Okay, first of all Kyle, that’s my girlfriend you’re disparaging. And second of all, this isn’t for the Slayer. It’s for one of her friends. Just got back from an overseas trip and needs IDs for his new wife and kid. And you want to do this for him. He makes the Slayer look like a fluffy kitten by comparison.”

The demon, Kyle, growled. “I don’t see what you see in her anyway.”

“She protects me and gives me lots of orgasms. You wouldn’t be nearly as grumpy as you are if only you could have orgasms. All of a sudden sex takes on a whole new meaning when you can orgasm.”

“Got the info?” Kyle grumbled.

“Pictures, names, stats. And half up front,” Anya gave him an envelope.

“Hey! This isn’t nearly half. I gave you friend pricing because you were broke and we go way back,” the demon complained.

Anya raised an eyebrow. “Remember what I told you about this guy? Makes the Slayer look like a friendly kitten?”

Kyle grumbled but took the money. “Come back in a week.”

Buffy and Alexander finally got to have their sparring session. They found a valley in the Los Padres National Forest that was well away from the roads and looked like it hadn’t seen people in years. Their friends and family were well up the hill. A just-in-case protection as both wanted to protect their friends. It was also the first chance he’d had to transform in front of everyone so they could see his dragon form. He didn’t take flight however. He was being a little paranoid about this unknown military group and he wanted to keep his other form a surprise to them, along with not wanting to be mistaken for a demon and attacked. After everyone had had a good look, he turned back.

They started out hand-to-hand before moving on to weapons. The small audience was in awe. Even Giles only rarely got to see his Slayer go all out like this, especially in daylight when he could see the fight between the two super-humans. One thing worried him: even though Buffy had shown a slight advantage when it came to hand-to-hand, despite her height disadvantage; when it came to weapons, Alexander was clearly superior. So much so that they called a halt to the bout after only 5 minutes with the weapons. As they came over, Giles could see that Alex wasn’t even breathing hard any more like he had been after the first round.

“Wow, she was, uh... fast,” Audrey said in her diplomatic voice. That had been almost painful to watch. Literally, she was getting sympathy pains watching the Slayer fight like that. It had to hurt.

Alex seemed to agree with her. He was making a fist, before changing it into a different shape, going back through his recollections of the fight to see what Buffy’s fist had looked like in his mind. “Giles, make a fist,” he ordered.

Giles looked at him oddly, but complied. His fist was a tight ball, with his knuckles making a solid line for impact energies to be directed through.

“Buffy, make a fist,” Alex then ordered. Once she had, he compared the two and they looked very similar. Then he looked at Audrey who nodded sadly. Alex sighed. “Giles, you taught her to make a fist like this?” he held up his own fist that looked identical to the other two.

“Of course. That’s the proper way to make a fist,” Giles nodded, trying not to sound defensive at the accusatory tone Alex was using.

“Audrey, show them your fist.”

She did. It looked nothing like the other three. Her knuckles were not lined up like a proper fist should be.

“You’ll break your hand with a fist like that,” Giles couldn’t stop himself from saying. He’d said something similar to Buffy years ago when he’d started training her.

“Are you volunteering to take a shot to prove that?” Audrey asked with false cheerfulness. Proof would probably be needed and the watcher should probably share in some of the pain he’d unknowingly inflicted on his Slayer.

Alex was surprised when Giles readied himself then nodded to Audrey. He could only assume that Giles was thinking like a man from Earth. He kneeled down next to the Englishman after his wife’s punch to the solar plexus dropped him to his knees. “Easy there. Slow, deep breaths,” he said in a calming voice. Once Giles had gotten his breath back, Alex helped him to his feet. “Did you really think that the wife of the Lord Protector of Rivellon would be untrained in the art of combat? Rivellon has no prejudices against women fighting like so many countries here do. I had many women serve with me in combat and one of the first things I learned was that men and women are different.”

“Yes, I know-”

“Clearly, you don’t.” It was Audrey that cut him off. “Women are different than men. In Rivellon, we’re trained differently and partly separately from men because we are different. Starting with our fists. We hold weapons differently. There are moves that men can do that we cannot. There are moves that women can do that men cannot. It’s a completely different style of combat.”

Buffy looked intrigued. A style of combat just for women?

“Do you want to try a sample?” Audrey asked her.

Buffy nodded then gave a ’what can it hurt’ shrug to her watcher. She then followed Audrey to a large pine tree.

“Hit the tree,” Audrey commanded.

Buffy did and winced at the pain of hitting the unyielding tree.

Audrey pursed her lips. “Good. Now make a fist like mine.”

“It feels weird,” Buffy complained.

“That’s because you’ve been doing it wrong for so long. Retraining isn’t very common in Rivellon since everyone knows that there are different styles for men and women, but I don’t think it will take too long before it feels natural. Now, hold that fist and punch the tree with the same force you used the first time,” Audrey ordered.

Buffy pre-winced as she wound up and delivered the blow. The look of surprise on her face when she pulled her hand away from the tree without pain was endearing. Then she hit the tree again. Harder this time. Hard enough to sway and dent the majestic old pine.

“You’ve been holding back.” It was half question, half realization on Giles’ part.

“It hurt too much to hit any harder,” Buffy said as she delivered yet another even stronger blow to the tree.

Giles had to lean against a tree himself. He had trained her exactly how he had been trained to teach her. How long had the council been teaching Slayers wrong?

Buffy’s third blow with her new form sent the tree over, pulling its roots up as it crashed slowly to the ground. “Oops,” said Buffy after she and Audrey jumped back, out of the way of the uprooted roots.

Audrey didn’t look terribly surprised. “Hmm. I think she might be even stronger than you, Alex.”

“Told you so,” he looked smug.

“So, you want to go again?” Buffy turned towards him eagerly.

Alexander shook his head. “No. You need to train in this new style for a couple months before we fight again and you probably shouldn’t patrol much until it’s second nature for you, either.”

“Months!?” Buffy was flabbergasted.

“Minimum,” Audrey said. “That’s assuming Alex is right about how quickly you pick up fighting styles. I have a lot more to show you than simply how to make a fist.”

“And I’ll patrol and keep the vermin under control until you’re back up to full speed,” Alex added. “Not to mention being your sparring buddy while you learn.”

“It’s good to have someone to spar against when you’re learning or relearning weapon forms.”

“Weapons?” Buffy’s eye’s suddenly lit up.

“Of course. Does it ever hurt to use a sword?” Audrey asked.

Buffy looked sheepishly over at her watcher. “Sometimes,” she shrugged.

“Buffy. Why didn’t you tell me?” Giles asked.

“I did. You said it would get better,” Buffy replied.

Alexander patted Giles shoulder kindly. “It’s not like you would have known unless someone told you. Female martial arts seem to have been lost on this world. I’m sure the people that first said ’women aren’t supposed to fight’ meant well, but they really did women a horrible disservice.”

“The council has been teaching Slayers...” Giles trailed off.

“Don’t worry, Mr. Giles.” Audrey said. “This isn’t some secret training. You’re free to watch and pass what you learn on to other women.”

“How could this happen though?” Giles had to wonder.

“No Slayer has ever survived to pass on her knowledge,” Audrey shrugged.

“I’m going to go out on a limb and say that most watchers are male, right?” Alex asked. Giles nodded. “Well, it’s very hard to teach someone something you don’t know. It’s even harder to teach someone something you can’t do. Believe me. I got to play training dummy to enough female recruits. And every time, I still got mystified by the moves they could do that were impossible for me.”

Audrey chucked. “But the look on their faces when you took off your helm and showed them they’d been beating on the Dragon Knight for past couple hours was always better. One of them almost always fainted.”

Alex frowned at the same memory. “Fainting was better than puking.”

“Ahem. Back to the point?” Giles prodded.

“Huh? That was kinda the point. They didn’t realize they were teaching them wrong. The girls wouldn’t say anything cause the watchers were the experts. Even female watchers wouldn’t know better since they were trained by men too. And with Slayer or Dragon strength, things that were impossible become only very difficult. And even if only 10% of her strength landed, that was still more than a human could do,” Alex reiterated. “Plus, even bad training is better than no training.”

“But proper training can make a real difference,” Audrey added. “So, are you ready?”

“She’s stronger than you are.”

“I realized that.”

“You were holding back.”

“Only some techniques. That was my full strength I was putting into those blows.”

“Do you want me to show her everything?”

“Hold back on some of the counters to the male style. See if she figures them out on her own.”

“As you wish,” Audrey kissed him.

“Honey? Remember what Anya told you about the W-word.”

Chapter Text

“Happening party, huh?” Alex wandered over to Giles.

Giles took a sip of his drink. “Oh, yes. It’s very...”

“Boring?” Alex finished. “I’ve only been gone for five years and I already feel old compared to these kids.”

“You’ve seen and done more in those five years than most of them will ever do in their lifetime,” Giles comforted. “Audrey seems to be enjoying herself.”

“She was always better at politics than I was. That, and she just likes showing off her jewelry. I don’t wanna be ostentatious so I only let her wear the big stuff for special occasions.”

“When you say ‘big stuff,’ you mean...?”

“Any single piece that I guess to be worth more than 100k.” Alex laughed at the sputter he got from Giles at that. “Plus she’s trying to learn about our world. The differences in our parties might teach her something. Speaking of which, I hear I have you and her to thank for not making this a surprise party. Thank you.”

Giles recovered from his shock well. “Well it is at least somewhat a ‘welcome home’ party as well. I didn’t think that either you or Buffy attacking one of the guests would be the best way to start the celebrations.”

Alex just smiled. “When I was Lord Protector,” he was becoming more comfortable with the term, “most of the really good parties I went to didn’t get good until I’d killed an assassin or two.”

“You are kidding, right?” Giles wasn’t sure, though he hoped.

“Only about the ’or two’ part,” Alex smirked and finished off his own glass. “Best thing about being back on earth: not having to check my drinks for poison.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize,” Giles tried to apologize.

Alexander just shrugged, “I took power from the hands of the few and gave it to the many. And the few fought back with everything they had.” He was then dragged away by his wife to try and appear sociable. Giles was left alone with his thoughts.

“Audrey, honey, don’t look back. Just come this way.” Alex, Audrey, Ayna, and Buffy had all been relaxing on campus until just a moment ago.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, wanting to look behind her despite instructions to the contrary.

A sharp intake of breath next to them meant that someone else had noticed the “Bunny!” With a shout, Ayna was instantly hiding behind Buffy as Audrey ran to hide behind Alexander.

“What’s wrong, guys?” Buffy asked, seeing all three of her companions spooked. “It’s just a rabbit.”

“Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t,” Alex replied. “I don’t take any chances any more.”

“What happened?” Buffy had to ask as she carefully kept an eye on the seemingly harmless animal.

“I sent some men out to hunt and forage for food for my army while we were on campaign,” he started. “Their screams...” he swallowed. “I transformed to go save them but I was too late.”

“The Killer Bunny,” Audrey said. “We thought it was just a legend that if you killed enough bunnies, then the Killer Bunny will take his revenge.”

“It’s no legend,” Alex said. “And it’s really fricken strong. I was flying more than 100 yards above it when I tried to roast it. It jumped up and kicked me hard enough to dent my dragon armor. I had to transform back. Luckily, I had enough momentum and was first able to find a boulder that was big enough that the bunny couldn’t hop up on it and smooth enough that it couldn’t climb.

“I hit it with the biggest fireballs I could make as a human, but it barely noticed them. I could barely breathe in dragon form so I couldn’t give him the business that way either. I could heal myself, but as soon as I transformed again, the dented dragon armor re-injured me. I couldn’t take off my dragon armor in my dragon form at that time either though I insisted I be able to when it was being fixed.

“I ended up taking a running jump out to sea. Luckily, it didn’t seem to like the water and I was able to glide until it lost sight of me and then land. Since then, I’ve been- well, let’s just say ‘wary’ of attracting its attention again.”

Maggie Walsh looked at the two people in front of her. Buffy Summers sat across from her, but she was regretting that decision as it made it harder for her to size up Alexander Harris, who was sitting in front of a ramrod straight Riley Finn. No matter that this Buffy was supposedly the legendary Vampire Slayer that many of the HSTs feared, this Harris was clearly more experienced and behind his beard he looked a lot older than his high school yearbook photo. He looked closer to 25 than 18. Yet another question to answer. “So, Mr. Harris. Buffy tells us you just got back from conquering another dimension.” Oh, how she wanted to hear about that.

Alexander looked from her to Finn. “Well, the Special Forces,” he nodded at Finn before looking back to her, “would call it pacification, nowadays. Just helped the locals overthrow a bunch of petty warlords and dictators. Tried my best to set up a democracy. All that jazz.”

“I have to admit, when you told me you’d introduce me to your commanding officer, I didn’t expect it to be Professor Walsh,” Buffy tried.

Walsh responded, “And I didn’t expect you to be The Slayer. We thought you were a myth, in fact. Though it does make me feel better about your grade. I always knew you could do better than a B-minus. Now I understand your energies were directed in the same places as ours, in fact. It’s only our methods that differ. We use the latest in scientific technology and state-of-the-art weaponry and you, if I understand correctly, poke them with a sharp stick.”

Buffy looked a bit uncomfortable. “Well, it’s more effective than it sounds.”

“Indeed,” Alexander nodded and pulled down the collar of his shirt so they could see the scar on his right shoulder. “That was a ’sharp stick’ that almost killed me before I got medical attention. Don’t discount our methods just because you think they’re primitive. We use them because they work.”

“Oh, I’m quite sure of that,” Walsh chuckled a bit. “As I’m just as sure that we can learn much from each other. I’m working on getting you both clearance to come into the Initiative. I think you’ll find the results of our operation most impressive. Agent Finn here, alone, has killed or captured-- how many is it?”

Riley sat up straighter with a hint of pride. “Seventeen. Eleven vampires, six demons.”

“Oh... Wow. I mean, that’s... 17. Alex, did you hear that? Seventeen,” Buffy stalled.

“I heard,” Alex nodded, not at all phased.

“What about you?” Maggie wondered.

“Me?” Buffy almost choked.

“Both of you. How many hostiles would you say you’ve... slain?”

Buffy looked to Alexander in a bit of a panic. She really didn’t want to show these people up right now or make it look like she was bragging.

Alex thought back. “Well, let’s see. I found out about the oogy-boogies 2nd quarter of my Sophomore year and from then until Halloween of my Junior year, I killed 26 hostiles. Twenty-four vampires and two demons. I count until Halloween because that’s when I got the first of what you could call ‘training’. From then until Graduation, I killed 83 hostiles. I think more demons started moving in then, cause I had more of them too.”

Walsh looked on wide-eyed. That was more than the entire Initiative had killed or captured in a similar time frame. “And since then?”

“I’ve been out of the country,” was all he’d say.

“I see,” Walsh said, expressionless. “And you?”

“Uhh...” Buffy really didn’t want to tell them. It might seem like bragging, if they believed her at all.

“Do you mind if I tell them?” Alex offered.

“How would you know?” Buffy furrowed her brow in surprise.

“I peeked at your record when we were moving stuff for Graduation. So, it’s probably gone up, but it’ll be a similar comparison between the two of us.” he said.

When Buffy gave permission, he told Walsh how many vampires Buffy had slain while in High School.

“I think they were impressed,” Buffy said as she and Alex walked through campus.

“Well, I mean, seventeen!” he couldn’t help but chuckle. “Granted, they work in teams so multiply that by four to a team and they have multiple teams so multiply that by four to six teams, at a guess. And what’dya know, they’re starting to approach your yearly numbers.”

“Yeah, my first year numbers. When I was actively avoiding Slaying. And that’s assuming everyone’s as good as Riley, and she looked too proud of him for that to be the case,” Buffy scoffed. “But what about your numbers? You know, while you were gone?”

Alex shrugged. “Well, I finally got properly trained and some good equipment. After that, I went dungeon crawling. Basically, it’s like finding a nest of vampires, except only maybe the last one or two demons is actually as powerful as a vampire. You could get 20 to 50 demons in one dungeon, but they were mostly low power.”

“And you did that...?”

“Every day for three months. Twice a day if the first one didn’t have much,” Alex answered truthfully. “After that, it was dragon training and my personal kills went way down. I still did some dungeon crawls during the campaign whenever we had some downtime, but mostly I used them to train the rookies in teamwork against real opponents in semi-controlled circumstances.”

“Semi-controlled?” Buffy smirked at the idea.

Alex just smiled. “You’re telling me you don’t know how 98% of vamps are going to react when you pretend to run away and twist an ankle? I knew how the demons would react and could step in before any of my people ever got seriously injured.”

They walked in silence for a moment. “Are you going to take them up on their offer?” Buffy finally asked.

“No,” Alexander answered quickly. “You?”

Buffy didn’t answer so quickly. “Yeah, I think one of us should.”

“Willow’s getting pretty into the magic, right?” he asked, seeming to want to change the subject. Buffy just nodded. “Let’s see if she can’t magic up an emergency beacon of some type. In case you get in trouble; perform the ritual and the cavalry comes running.”

“It would be nice to know that I have close-air support on call,” Buffy acknowledged with a smile. “What are you doing with the rest of your day?” She and Audrey had already had their training for the day.

“Teaching my wife and son about the joys of swimming down at the Y.”

Buffy raised an eyebrow.

“No one learned how to swim in Rivellon unless you were a fisherman or sailor. And even then, maybe half could swim at all. Even inland, you only went in water as far as you could touch,” Alex explained. “Jesse is going to learn how to swim. Audrey is going to watch. It’s less a fear of water for her and more a fear of women’s bathing suits.” He laughed. “She absolutely refused to come out of the dressing room wearing even a one-piece. She was scandalized by my own suit.”

Buffy guffawed, remembering Xander in a Speedo. “I can imagine.”

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“Studying with Anya. Should be pretty boring,” Buffy said with a completely straight face.

“Ri-ight.” he smirked, not believing her for a second that any studying would be done.

“Can I ask you something?” she said.

“Of course.”

“That demon, the one you offered a soul...?” Buffy couldn’t make herself ask what she wanted to know.

“There was a man. He killed his family and the families on either side of his house. Nineteen people in total. He clearly wasn’t using his soul,” Alex said.

Buffy was quiet at that. She wasn’t sure how she felt—on the one hand it was a man’s soul. On the other hand, the man had been a multiple murderer. She decided not to mention it to anyone else for now.

“So, what do you think?” Maggie asked Riley.

“It’s a risk. Harris obviously went through ROTC at one point, but there’s no record of him attending anywhere,” Finn answered.

“Black ops? Cleaned his record?” Walsh offered a plausible explanation.

Finn shook his head. “Doesn’t get any blacker than this project and my ROTC records are still there. Everything else is there too, just blacked out. He’s got nothing. And if he did join, I’m pretty sure he’d insist on a leadership position.”

Maggie shrugged. “I don’t think it will matter—I don’t think he’ll sign up anyway.”

“A hunch?”

“A Ph. D in psychology,” Walsh countered. “He was giving off signals that he wasn’t interested well before the end of the meeting. What about Summers? She seemed at least a little interested. What did you think of her?”

“I’d swear they were lying about her kill count if I hadn’t seen her in action. Not sure how she managed to patrol that much and still pass a single class in high school, much less college,” Riley stated his opinion.

“And...?”

“And I think the benefits of having someone that powerful and that experienced far outweigh the risks. I mean, we’re all experienced soldiers, but no one on the base has more than a year’s experience fighting these things. I think it’s worth it for Ms. Summers. We can offer her advanced weapons, teamwork training, and access to our database in trade,” he finished.

Maggie nodded. “For what it’s worth, I think you’re right, but be careful anyway.”

Giles was dusting his bookshelf when a particular volume struck his mind. Luckily, not literally this time, as that often hurt. He placed the duster in his mouth as he pulled the book and leafed through the volume for the thought that had hit him. Finding the appropriate prophecy, he counted on his fingers and determined that a minor apocalypse was scheduled to hit that evening.

He started calling around to find Buffy. When he couldn’t find her, he tried to find Alexander instead.

Well, at least Buffy and Alexander are alright. Buffy had called Willow to let her know that she was okay after her meeting with the Initiative commander—who also happened to be Buffy and Willow’s Psychology professor, Giles mused. Still, it stung that she hadn’t checked in with him, even if he was no longer her official watcher, or even her official trainer. Unfortunately, Willow hadn’t known where Buffy or Alex were now. Worse, he’d wasted time he hadn’t had to begin with feeling out that Professor Walsh and hadn’t come out impressed. Absent male role model, my arse. Silly fishwife.

So now he was stomping through a cemetery with Willow and Tara in tow.

“Mr. Giles, sir?” Tara started. “Um, do you think the- the- the three of us will be enough?”

“We’ll be fine. I’ve vanquished a few demons in my day and that was entirely without backup. Of course, it wouldn’t surprise me if we’re entirely too late. Demon on the loose, carnage everywhere,” Giles said as they entered a mausoleum to find... nothing. “I don’t understand.” He moved into the room with the girls a few steps behind. “Umm, there should be ruptured earth and-and broken stone. Oh, well, apparently it hasn’t happened yet. A bit of luck.”

“Or maybe the Initiative already took care of it,” Willow offered.

Giles turned his flashlight on her. “Oh, and how would they know about this? I doubt they have Serena’s Greater Prophesies on file.”

“They read hot spots. Areas of otherworldly energy. They must’ve picked this place up days ago.”

Giles looked around. It certainly didn’t look like a military organization had been here recently; the cobwebs were too old but it was obvious that he’d been wrong. Either he’d miscalculated in his haste or had mistranslated the spot it was supposed to happen. Either way, it was probably for the best that he hadn’t gotten ahold of Buffy. Best that she not see what was probably a subconscious cry for attention. He could tell that the fishwife and her boy scouts hadn’t been here—it was much too dirty and dusty for anything to have happened—but he was more disappointed in his own failure than in hers. He needed time to think, so he dismissed the two girls and sat on a bench for a while. He went over what he could remember of the prophecy in his head and it all added up to here and now. He decided he needed to recheck the source material. He gathered his things and left.

He didn’t get far when he heard a sound coming from the crypt he’d just left. He shined his flashlight back inside. “Did someone-?” he cut himself off when he saw who it was.

Ethan Rayne stood in the beam of light. “Oh, bugger! I thought you’d gone.”

Chapter Text

Part 17: Chapter 12.

RI-ING! RI-ING! Alex got it before the third ring, snapping quickly to alertness. “Go ahead,” was the automatic response to being wakened in the middle of the night. He’d been out patrolling in place of Buffy and had only gotten to sleep a little while ago.

“Xander!?” a very inebriated voice asked. “Sorry. Though- thought I wath calling Buffy.”

“Giles?” Alex ignored the use of his old name. “Did you just drunk-dial me?”

“’Spose so. I’ll call Buffy now,” Giles drunkenly slurred.

“Wait! Why don’t you tell me what you were going to tell Buffy and I’ll pass it on to her?” Alex offered, if only to spare waking Buffy up too. No reason both of them had to suffer.

Drunk Giles was thrilled with that idea. “Good show, old chap! Good show! Did the fishwife say anything about three-fourteen?”

“Fishwife? Three-fourteen?”

“Maggie Wal- Maggie Wal-” Giles tried to say her name but his stomach stopped him each time. Every time he tried to say it, he nearly threw up.

“Maggie Walsh,” Alex filled in.

“Yes. If I say it, I’ll probably vomit.”

“Right. Anyway, no. She didn’t say anything about it. What’s three-fourteen?”

“Dunno. Ethan Rayne is being a cryptic arsehole as usual.”

“Ethan Rayne is in town?” Alex suddenly got a lot more interested in Giles’ drunken ramblings. The last times he’d been in town had been only trouble. The extra fun Halloween, then the possession-demon thing.

Giles chuckled. “Yes. I wanted to kill him, but instead we ended up in a bar getting smashed. Funny, that. Maybe you could kill him?” he sounded hopeful.

“Ask me again when you’re sober,” Alex said. He was willing, after what Rayne had done to them, but he wanted to make sure it was what Giles really wanted. “Did Ethan say anything else?”

Giles half growled. “Only that demons are pissing themselves over this Initiative when they’ve barely noticed us. Maybe we should have Buffy use him for a training dummy.”

“Giles. I should really tell you this when you’re sober, but 17.”

“Seventeen what? Is thish like that three-fourteen tosh?” Giles asked.

“No, that’s how many kills one of their top operatives has,” Alex smiled into the phone.

“Seventeen!? Seventeen!?” Giles broke into hysterical laughter. He had more than that. He had more than that every year, actually.

“Yeah, I think the demons might not be pissing themselves over that,” Alexander said as the laughter diminished to soft hiccoughs.

Giles suddenly sobered up. “No. No, it was three-fourteen that had them really worried.”

“I’ll keep a lookout. You need a ride home?” he offered.

“No. Cab’s already on the way,” Giles assured him letting the buzz settle back on himself.

“See you tomorrow,” Alex said, hanging up the phone.

“Much faster, but more intrusive than messenger boys in the middle of the night,” Audrey muttered from her side of the bed. “At least they’ll wait in the hall until you’re presentable.”

Alex climbed back into bed behind her and kissed down her neck. “But on the plus side, no inquisitive messenger boy waiting in the hall to hear us.”

“Oh, you romantic, you.” Audrey mocked sarcastically but turned to meet his lips.

Alexander woke, hearing something enter their apartment. Judging by the creaking of the floorboards, it was quite a bit heavier than your average human. He grabbed his sword from its place by his bed and exited his room. The demon in front of him was very large and looked quite strong. The ram-horned demon looked as surprised as he was to see him there. Perhaps it’d been squatting in this apartment before they’d rented it. The demon made some sounds he guessed might have been, “What are you doing in my apartment?”

Nevertheless, it was a demon in the same apartment as his wife and son and it hadn’t knocked. He attacked.

Giles ran through town with the tatters of his blanket on his back. Clearly going to Alexander had been the wrong idea even though he was the closest. The man hadn’t seemed to understand anything he said so it was an easy guess that he wasn’t speaking the Queen’s English anymore. Still, this body did have its upsides. In his old body, he would be in so many pieces after an attack from a Dragon Knight. The wounds he’d received had already healed and luckily Alexander had been content to simply drive him from his home and then stop to check on his family.

Giles now realized his nearly fatal error of not knocking. The man had a family to defend and without a common language, he couldn’t explain the situation. Had he either not been in such a rush or known he couldn’t speak English, he would have done things much differently. Finding a dark alley to lurk in for a while, Giles started contemplating his situation. He could likely expect a similar reaction if he went to his Slayer. Plus, she, Willow, and Tara all lived on campus which was all but off limits to him at the moment especially with Walsh and her nancy-boy ninjas tromping around there.

He needed a plan. Unfortunately, his head felt thick and he was having trouble thinking of one at the moment. He headed for a sewer access he knew to be nearby. At least he could keep out of sight for the day while he thought. Come nightfall, movement above ground would be much easier.

The demon had attacked at 10:30 AM, (yes, the Scoobies tended to sleep in) and by noon, just about everyone had assembled at Giles’ place – even Jesse, as there was no way Audrey was going to let him out of her sight right now. Buffy was the last one to arrive.

“Come on in, Buff,” Alex called. “We weren’t the only ones to get an extra-demony visit today.”

“Both you and Giles got attacked by demons today. That seems too unlikely to be coincidence,” Buffy said.

“It gets better,” Alex said. “Giles drunk-dialed me last night. Something about the Initiative and three-fourteen, but the info came from our other favorite British man, Ethan Rayne.”

Buffy’s eyes narrowed and her nostrils flared in anger.

Alex went on, “The popular theory is that Rayne hired the demon to kidnap Giles and try to kidnap me. Why is still a mystery but it’s only a theory at the moment.”

“I’m already running a search for him at local hotels using the Initiative’s own back doors into the hotel registries,” Willow gave a wicked grin at that. “But it looks like he was at least marginally smart and checked in under a false name.”

“What about that costume shop? He went back there once,” Buffy pointed out.

“I already used the telephone to ensure that there was a new proprietor. He sounded kind. And Alex listened with me and said it wasn’t him,” Audrey said proudly. The telephone was one of the bigger changes she had to absorb. She had to stop herself from shouting every time she thought about how far away the person was.

“We won’t stop until we find him,” Alex promised then went back to the books in front of him. “But to do that, we need to figure out what type of demon attacked us.”

You lose track of time in the sewers, but Giles had an epiphany eventually. He needed a translator, and they had a former demon in their group who might just speak his language. This time, he would knock.

Anya opened her door to stop the heavy pounding. Buffy had left for some sort of emergency, something to do with Alex, so she’d begged off. The Fyarl demon standing there looked... hopeful. It was a strange look on a Fyarl.

“Is Kyle done with the IDs already?” she asked.

“Huh?” the demon asked.

Fyarls were never known for intelligence, but this one was clearly thicker than normal and walking around in daylight too! “Whatever. I’ll let Alex know and be down tomorrow with the rest of the money, but Kyle’s not getting any extra dough for being done early.”

She went to close her door but the demon stopped her. “Anya. Can you understand me?” he asked.

“Of course. But I don’t want my neighbors to see you, so get out,” she tried again.

“Anya, it’s me, Giles!” Giles said.

“Mr. Giles!?” she exclaimed. Then with a quick look to see that no one was looking, she ushered him in.

“Buffy isn’t here, is she?” Giles asked.

“No, they’re all over at... your place, actually. Some demon emergency. Alexander was attacked by a demon,” Anya said.

“I did no such thing!” Giles defended. “I was trying to explain what had happened to me and he attacked me!”

“After you broke into his apartment?” Anya didn’t look sympathetic. “You’re just lucky he didn’t have a silver sword. How did you become a demon, anyway? You weren’t showing any signs the other day.”

“Ethan Rayne,” Giles growled.

“Don’t you growl at me,” Anya warned. “Oh, and warn me if you’re going to sneeze.”

“Huh?”

“Speaking of which, we should probably tell them you’re here and a demon,” Anya sighed.

“No!” Giles cried.

Anya looked him right in the eye. “Look, I realize your group is pretty prejudiced against demons. Believe me, I know; but Giles, this is Buffy we’re talking about. By nightfall, she’s going to know what kind of demon attacked her friend and how to kill it. And by sunrise, you’re going to be dead.”

A soft sound from the courtyard alerted the group. “Give me a seven count,” Alex said as he raced for the open back window and jumped through.

Buffy mentally counted to seven then pushed aside the loose front door. Riley Finn was standing there with Alex behind him, tucking a knife back into a sheath.

“Interesting greeting,” Riley rubbed his throat where the knife had been.

“Next time, announce yourself,” Alex growled. He wasn’t in the best of moods right now and he didn’t want to babysit the Initiative on top of finding Giles.

“Riley, what are you doing here?” Buffy didn’t sound terribly impressed to see him either.

Riley frowned. “There were 911 calls from a couple of different places, including here.”

“You get 911 calls?” Willow looked interested. She wondered if she could hack that too.

“We have a tap into the system. It flags things with possible nonhuman causes. What are you doing here?” Finn asked dubiously.

“This is Giles’ apartment. Alex got attacked, and Giles is missing. But at least there’s no blood. Means he was still intact when he left,” Buffy tried to sound hopeful.

“What are you working on?” Riley indicated where Alex was again seated and surrounded by a whole bunch of open books.

Willow answered. “Alexander got a good look at it. These books are kind of like looking at mugshots.”

Finn nodded. That made sense. “Couldn’t you put them all in one book though? Or better yet, a computer?”

“No!” Willow said hurriedly. “That... didn’t end well last time we tried that.”

“And Malcolm seemed like such a nice boy,” Alex said without looking up from his books.

His flippant tone earned him a playful slap on the shoulder from Willow.

“Anyway,” Riley continued, ignoring the byplay, “the Initiative is on this now. If you find out anything just ca-” he cut himself off when he saw the state of the phone. “I’m going to go to the store and pick you up a new phone. I’ll be right back.”

“Ugh! No one is answering! They should still be there!” Anya cried in frustration.

“Oh, yes. I may have accidentally smashed my phone this morning,” Giles realized.

Anya slammed down her phone. “And you just told me this now?”

“I’m sorry,” Giles said. “But my brain doesn’t seem to be working like it used to.”

“Oh. That’d be the Fyarl taking hold. Not big on brains, those guys.”

Giles slumped at that news. “So now what?”

“Now, I guess we wait for nighttime then try to make our way to your place? I’ll translate for you and we explain stuff to Buffy quickly before she kills you,” Anya offered.

“No. I’d rather just find Ethan Rayne and pummel him until he doesn’t have any teeth left,” Giles countered.

“How? You’re a Fyarl demon who’s almost certainly going to be hunted by both the Slayer and a Dragon Knight by nightfall,” Anya pointed out. “And possibly those soldiers if Buffy thinks someone’s hurt you.”

Chapter Text

Part 18: Chapter 13.

The winter sun had already set when Alex announced that he had finally found the demon that attacked him. He memorized the relevant facts before passing the book on to Willow for her to read out loud while he got ready.

“A Fyarl demon. Sort of a foot soldier type, works for other demons lots of the times. Very strong... ugh! And hey, mucus.”

“Mucus?” Buffy made a face.

Riley’s cellphone rang and he answered, “Agent Finn, go ahead.”

“How do I kill it?” Buffy ignored Riley talking in the background.

“Silver. A weapon made of silver,” Willow answered.

“Yes. I understand,” Riley finished his call and turned his attention back to the group. “The demon attacked Professor Walsh downtown. She said after she escaped, it looked like it was headed west.”

Willow and Buffy looked at each other. “Rayne,” they said to each other.

“Excuse me?” Riley looked confused. He wasn’t sure what water falling from the sky had to do with demons.

“We’re pretty sure we know who’s doing this. His name is Ethan Rayne and we’re also pretty sure that he’s staying at the Downtowner Apartments on the west side of town,” Buffy explained as she searched about for a silver weapon. She finally found a letter opener that looked silver.

“Uh, there’s one more thing,” Riley looked more than a little uncomfortable saying this. “The demon had Anya with it.”

Buffy’s shoulders slumped, then she turned on Riley suspiciously, pointing an uncomfortably sharp letter opener at his chest. “How do you know who Anya is? I never introduced you.”

“We did background checks on you and your friends,” Agent Finn informed her, studiously not looking at Audrey and Jesse, neither of whom officially existed.

“And Giles? You seemed surprised to find us here?” Buffy pressed.

“I guess you guys didn’t seem that close,” Riley shrugged. “Look, I didn’t pick who they checked or do the checks, so there’s no use getting upset at me.”

“It’s fine, Buffy,” Alex said as he reemerged in full armor. “I knew they’d do some checks. Now let’s head out.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Riley jumped in front of them. “I received orders from Walsh on that phone call. This is now a military operation. No civilians allowed.”

Alex scoffed at that. “Fine, you stay here and protect the women and children. We’ll take care of this.”

“You aren’t auth-”

“Riley,” Alexander cut him off. “Do you have 50 men waiting in the courtyard to stop us from going after Rayne?”

“Uh... no.” Finn said, unsure as to where that line of questioning was going but not liking it.

“Good. Because Giles would feel bad if I had to kill 50 men just to rescue him,” Alex told the soldier, letting a coldness enter his eyes and getting close so Riley could smell the sulfur on his breath. Then he brushed past him with Buffy fast on his heels.

After a little debate, Alex allowed Riley to join them. They might need someone in the chain of command at some point. Plus, it was always useful to have a hostage nearby if worst came to worst, though he didn’t tell the other two that.

“This looks silly,” Giles complained.

“Everything looks silly on a Fyarl demon,” Anya shot back. “But if it saves you from getting stabbed to death by my girlfriend, then you’re wearing it, because she’ll mope for weeks if she kills you.”

Giles fingered the sign around his neck carefully, he still wasn’t completely in control of his strength, but he was much better than when he woke up. The sign read, “I AM RUPERT GILES” in Anya’s handwriting, since he couldn’t quite seem to make the letters in his current form. “Yes, I’m so pleased that you are helping me so that your girlfriend won’t mourn me,” he said sarcastically.

“Tell you what. You wear the sign and you shut up about it or I tell you all the intimate details of our night last night,” Anya threatened. It was a hollow threat. They’d cooked pot-roast and called it an early night, but Giles didn’t know that.

Nor did he want to know that. “Fine. Fine. Have it your way,” he said quickly. He wrapped a new blanket around his shoulders. “Come on, let’s go.”

“I’m not going out there,” Anya insisted.

“I need your help.” Giles nearly whined. “I can’t speak English any more. How am I supposed to find Ethan without you?”

“I was a demon for over a thousand years. Guilt doesn’t work on me,” Anya informed him.

“What about vengeance?” Giles posited.

Anya’s eyes lit up. “Can I disembowel him?”

“Only if we get there before Buffy,” Giles warned.

“Well, what are we waiting for?” She was out the door in a flash with Giles right behind her.

“That was stupid,” Anya grumbled as she handed back his identification sign.

“It was fun. And she deserved it. ‘Absent male role-model,’ my arse,” Giles grumbled back as he put on the despised sign.

“It was FUN!?” Anya screeched. “Giles! You know for a fact that that woman is the head of a government-backed demon-hunting group and you are a DEMON! I only let you go after her because I thought you were going to kill her. Instead, you make a fool of yourself and put us both on her radar. Well, I am going home before you get us both killed.”

“Anya-”

“No! You have your sign. You know where Ethan is. Go have fun scaring him. I’m sure he’ll learn his lesson if you chase him around for a minute or two.” With that, Anya left in a huff.

“Ethan Rayne,” Buffy greeted the oily man. “If only I could say it was nice to see you again.”

“Ah, Miss Summers. I can say how wonderful it is to see you again,” Rayne said honestly. His plan hinged on her, after all.

“Where’s Giles?” Buffy started with the straightforward approach.

“I really don’t know,” Ethan smiled mischievously. They’d never guess it was the truth.

“Bullshit,” Buffy seethed. “You show up in town and then a demon attacks Giles, Alex, and now it has Anya.”

Riley looked on uncomfortably from the broken-in doorway.

Ethan’s smile never faltered. “I can honestly say, I gave the demon no such orders.”

“You lying sack of-” Buffy went to smack him, but Alex stopped her.

Alex chuckled a bit. “You’re telling the truth, aren’t you?”

“Of course. The truth is so much more fun, don’t you agree?” Ethan chuckled back.

Alexander thought for a moment. “Did you give the demon any orders?”

“Now you’re getting it. And no, I never said a word to the demon,” Ethan grinned.

Suddenly, their guessing game was interrupted by the sound of automatic weapons fire.

“Anya!” Buffy burst out, racing from the room.

“Buffy!” Alex tried and failed to stop her. “Riley, stop them!” he yelled instead. As the soldier disappeared, Alexander pulled a dagger.

Ethan’s eyes suddenly got very wide. “Now, if you kill me, you’ll never- Ah!” he cried out in pain as the knife sliced across the palm of his hand.

“I don’t know if you noticed, but I’m not quite human anymore,” Alex said. He licked the blood off his blade and tried not to gag or slice his tongue open. “There. Don’t run. Because now I can find you wherever you go, and I won’t be in nearly as good of a mood if I have to hunt you down again,” Alex lied. As a dragon, his sense of smell was better than a human’s but not actually good enough to track a single human. Still, he’d used that trick to keep prisoners in place once when he’d had to leave them unguarded and it had worked then, so he figured there was a good chance of it working again. He ran out to where he noticed that the assault weapons had fallen silent.

The bullets impacted Giles and made him stumble for a moment. They tore through the sign that Anya had made for him making it unreadable before finally tearing it from his body. He felt them tear into himself as well, but they were strangely doing no real harm. What should have felt—well, like being shot—instead felt like dozens of pinpricks. It was only a bit more painful than having an arm or a leg fall asleep. Only the fact that it was in his chest made it feel very weird.

Then he saw Buffy hurdle the railing of the second floor walkway and hit the ground running. Giles was extremely grateful that the soldiers stopped shooting when the civilian ran into their line of fire. The bullets weren’t hurting him, but he was sure that wouldn’t be the case for his Slayer. For the first time in his life, he regretted that the watchers and Slayers didn’t have a secret handshake. He tried calling her name, but she showed no reaction, so it obviously came out unintelligibly.

Buffy stopped before she attacked. “Where are Anya and Giles?” she demanded.

Giles patted his chest and nodded. He was trying to say that he was Giles.

“You ate them!?” Buffy misinterpreted.

Giles shook his head and arms with all his might, trying to dissuade his Slayer, but she had clearly made up her mind and attacked with a ferocity and skill he’d never seen from her before. Probably the only thing keeping Giles upright at that moment was Buffy’s hesitations. Not that she was hesitating in pummeling him, but between moves she seemed unsure and she wasn’t flowing from move to move like she was supposed to. It was exactly the reason that she was staying out of the fight until her new fighting style had overwritten her old one and Giles could tell when she used one or the other just by how much each one hurt. The new one hurt a lot more. Luckily the weapon Buffy had brought was his own letter opener which definitely wasn’t silver.

“Buffy! Stand down!” Alexander shouted, interrupting the fight. Once the fight was stopped, he also jumped off the second story walkway.

Buffy backed away a safe distance from the demon, but close enough to chase him if he ran. “But he ate Giles and Anya!” she screamed. Anger was good. It would keep her going long enough to avenge her friends. Then she could break down.

Giles again waved his hands and shook his head at the accusation.

Alexander by then had calmly walked forward and was standing next to Buffy. “He seems to disagree with you on that. Plus he’s not big enough to eat two people. Half of one, at best.”

Giles nodded at that. Them not thinking he’d eaten himself was a step in the right direction. He then looked up and pointed at an Ethan Rayne who was stealthily making his escape.

“Sergeant, arrest that man!” Riley ordered.

“Unhand me!” Rayne called.

Buffy noticed that the demon looked rather smug at that. “Would you like to eat Ethan?” she offered.

The demon just growled and pounded a fist into his hand.

“Riley! Why don’t you bring Ethan over here?” Buffy invited.

“Are you mad!?” Ethan started panicking. “He’s a demon! You’re supposed to kill him! Not play charades with him! Silver! Silver will kill him!”

“Lieutenant. Fetch a clip of silver ammo from a Humvee,” Riley ordered.

“No firing until my say so, Finn,” Alexander ordered. “We’ve been within striking distance of this demon for a while now and he hasn’t made a move. Besides, my knife is real silver, unlike whatever Buffy has. One aggressive move and he’s dead.”

“Didn’t he attack you in your house?” Riley asked.

Alex looked over at the demon and thought for a minute. “He broke in, but I did most of the attacking from there.”

Giles nodded at that and pointed at Alex, agreeing with what he said.

Finn shrugged and sighed. He’d clearly lost control of this situation.

“Then where’s Giles and Anya?” Buffy demanded.

Giles sighed. All of a sudden, Anya’s stupid sign didn’t seem so stupid. If only it weren’t in tiny pieces. Communication in this form was impossible. Then a piercing whistle broke through the silence as the soldier returned with the silver ammo and got his commander’s attention before throwing it to him. Riley unloaded his currently clip and reloaded with the silver ammo.

But it gave Giles an idea. He started whistling. “Low. Low. High-mid. Low.” It took a couple measures before anyone caught on.

“Is that demon whistling Bad, Bad Leroy Brown?” one of the soldiers wondered.

The Slayer and the Dragon Knight took in almost identical breaths at that. “Giles?!” they both shouted together.

Giles nodded eagerly. The smile on his face discordant with his demonic aspect.

“Well, shit,” Ethan said glumly.

“Who’s there?” Maggie Walsh called to the darkness as she reached for the gun she kept by her bedside.

“Let’s not go for weapons. This is a friendly visit, after all,” a voice warned.

“Harris?” Walsh wondered, recognizing his voice. “What are you doing in my bedroom at 4 AM?” She was not amused by this little show of B&E skills.

“Well, you missed our debriefing and we missed yours,” he said nonchalantly. “So, I figured it would be a good idea to have a meeting of the minds between our groups. Because I don’t know about you but that was a little too close to comfort for me.”

Maggie sat up, turned on a light, and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. “What are you talking about?”

“I didn’t even realize it until I found out the demon we were chasing actually was Giles, but had you caught him, you would have experimented on him down in that little lab of yours, wouldn’t you have?” Alex pressed.

Maggie stayed silent. The other group, as she liked to think of them, wasn’t supposed to know about the lab yet.

“Then the next move is obvious. Ethan gets himself caught by us and tells us that he turned Giles into a demon for some fun, but the soldiers caught him. After that, goodbye Initiative,” Alex scoffed. “I never figured Rayne as a ’big picture’ kinda guy, though. Which means one of two things. Either he was hired to do that, which he’s been known to do for the right price. Or he’s very, very afraid of three-fourteen.”

Maggie couldn’t quite stifle her reaction to that number.

“What is three-fourteen?” Alexander demanded quietly.

“Classified,” Walsh said. There was no sense in denying when she’d already given that away.

“Not from the demons it’s not,” Alex said. “Now, supposedly we’re on the same side here.”

“Supposedly?” Maggie latched on to anything that could distract him. “You’re not exactly being forthcoming either. I hear you jumped from a second story walkway without even bending your knees.”

“Not being forthcoming about extra-human abilities with the organization that likes to experiment on anything that doesn’t look human? Heaven forbid,” Alex mocked. “Being mind-fucked in a government lab is not on my to-do list this week. Now I’ll ask you again. What. Is. Three-fourteen?”

Chapter Text

“Alexander Harris! What did you say to Maggie Walsh to make her uninvite me to her secret base?” Buffy yelled.

“I asked her what three-fourteen was,” Alex said calmly.

“Oh. What’d she say?” Buffy calmed down quickly.

“Classified.”

“Why couldn’t you just let me go there and poke around a bit?” Buffy wondered.

“Because it wouldn’t be safe. You’d’ve been surrounded by hostile soldiers who viewed you the same way they view Spike. Something non-human to be experimented on,” Alex explained. Again.

“But we’ve got these shiny necklaces that Tara and Willow made for us in case of emergency!” Buffy held up hers. “If I get in trouble, I just press here and you guys come and get me. Plus, it’s even got my name on it in case I forget who I am.”

Willow rolled her eyes at that. “The engraving is another spell that prevents anyone else from wearing your necklace. Ahem,” she cleared her throat and looked at Giles. “Just in case anyone turns into anything non-human again, we can tell right away that it’s you.”

Giles did his best not to growl at the insinuation... an urge he’d never had trouble controlling before.

“I should note that when I transform, all my clothing and jewelry stays with my human body. So if you see a dragon around, just assume it’s me until proven otherwise, please.”

“I’ll let them know if it’s you or not, honey, but it’s your turn. Raise, call, or fold already,” Audrey said.

“I don’t know how this is supposed to be fun. Playing this stupid game for silly plastic disks,” Anya frowned.

“Because most of the stakes demons play for would disgust half the people here,” Alex said automatically. He’d had to explain that very fact to more than one demon before. “And I don’t know if the demons of this world play the same games that demons in Rivellon played, but the rules are probably just as complicated. By the time we taught all the humans, they would have lost interest already.”

“Besides, most human games are designed to be played while drunk,” Tara spoke up, surprising most people. Which made them look at her and caused her to then blush and shrink back.

Buffy looked to Giles for confirmation.

“It’s probably true,” Giles nodded. “In many societies, socialization typically took place with varying amounts of alcohol.”

“Fine. Beer me then,” Anya said.

“Did we learn nothing from our previous encounter with beer?” Buffy chided.

“Yeah. We learned that you can’t hold your liquor. Now, who do I have to curse to get a beer around here?” Anya spat.

Giles got up to get the beer. Buffy glared at Alexander.

Alex felt the glare and looked up. “What?” Buffy motioned to Giles getting the beer. “Oh. Sorry. I’m still used to having servants and orderlies get that stuff for me.”

“It’s quite alright,” Giles assured him as he returned with an extra beer for himself.

“If by servants, I hope you don’t mean your wife,” Willow accused.

Alex laughed. “Did you see her get up? Heck no. She mostly stayed back at the castle and got waited on a lot more than me since I was out on campaign most of the time.”

Audrey hit her husband playfully on the shoulder. “Yes, while I merely stayed at home and got your silly democratic-republic set up. And can I just add that I thought some of your ideas were silly at the time, but now that I’ve seen what would happen without them... I would like to thank you on behalf of Rivellon.”

“Such as?” Giles wondered. He’d always been interested in what had taken place in that other world.

Audrey thought for a moment. “Well, gun control for one. This ‘War on Drugs’ for another.”

Giles nodded approvingly. “He preemptively arranged for gun control and a ban on narcotic substances?”

“Divine, no!” Audrey laughed. “He made sure such silly ideas would never be allowed there. I’m still in awe of the stupidity of trying to outlaw certain plants’ usage. And Alex pointed out that gun control isn’t about guns. It’s about control. An armed populous is harder to control. That was the best way to ensure that Rivellon stayed a democratic-republic.”

“And the necromancer’s guild,” Alex added.

“Dare I ask?” Giles asked.

“Right, so it all starts with slavery. Rivellon had slavery, but not like America had. It was all prisoners of war or criminals. No being born into slavery. Anyway, I was exploring this necromancer’s cave, battling through his undead hordes and on my way out, I noticed a whole bunch of diamonds just sitting in the walls waiting to be mined. Now, the main jobs of slaves are the ones no one else wants: mining, sewer cleaning, and the like. So, I walked of out there with a small fortune in diamonds and an idea.”

“How much in diamonds?” Buffy had to ask.

“There? Enough to feed my army for a month. Here? Diamonds are a lot more expensive so maybe enough to buy half of Sunnydale,” Alex answered. “Anyway, the next time I met a necromancer, I captured him and- ‘convinced’ him to turn his minions into miners instead.”

“Yes, and now there’s a guild for all necromancers. Next of kin get a portion of the wages their former loved ones earn and the state also gets a cut,” Audrey said.

“And I was able to free all the prisoners of war from prior wars plus, if a mine collapses now, it’s just another form of burial.”

“Whatever,” Anya snapped. “Let’s play already. I’ve got three K cards.”

Most of the players folded quickly.

“I call,” Alex said. Anya looked slightly panicked. “You should really remember, Anya. You’re not the first demon, or ex demon, or... whatever. Anyway, the point is, I’ve played demon cards against demons too.”

Anya started to look much more panicked. It turned out that she didn’t have three kings after all.

The next afternoon, Anya knocked on the door of Alexander’s apartment.

“Hey,” he said, stepping back to allow her in.

“Hay is for horses,” she retorted.

Alex smiled at the small joke. “What’s up?”

Anya held up the sealed, manila envelope she carried. “IDs.”

“Nice.” He led them over to the kitchen counter to open and inspect the contents. Once he made sure the pictures were good and their names were spelled right, he disappeared into the bedroom and came back out with the envelope now filled with gold and jewels. “Now I can finally take Audrey and Jesse to get vaccinated.” As he handed over the envelope, it occurred to him that, “have you ever been vaccinated?”

“I’m-” she’d been about to say she was a demon and immune, but that was no longer the case. Was she immune any more? “Dammit,” she swore. She knew that no matter what that moron, Jenny McCarthy, said; being vaccinated was better for her life expectancy than not being was.

“Does it hurt much?” Audrey asked. She’d come into the kitchen with Jesse while Anya had been lost in thought.

“Pfft,” Anya brushed away the thought. “Not any more. They use the smallest of teeny-tiny needles so you can barely feel it. I remember seeing the first Smallpox vaccine. They’d just cut you open with a knife and then scrape Cowpox pus into the wound. The first needles for vaccines were pretty big, too. I’m not sure if those hurt more or less than being cut open.”

“But not any more,” Audrey assured her son.

“Yeah, you won’t even feel it,” Anya agreed.

“Do you wanna come with us tomorrow and get stuck?” Alex offered? “We’re going down to the free clinic. We'll pay, but it’s cheaper there if you’re paying cash.”

Anya didn’t have health insurance either so she understood. After thinking for a few seconds, she agreed.

“Hi, Spike. I’m here to kill you.”

Spike looked up at the intruder in his crypt with a blasé eye roll. Generally speaking, people who announced that they were about to kill you, really weren’t. They were about to threaten to kill you unless you did something. Spike waited for the ‘unless.’ Until his impatience won out. “Unless?”

“Unless what?” Alex smirked, enjoying watching Spike squirm.

“Hey! I played by your rules. Never made so much as a peep near your boy,” Spike pointed out. “Plus, I got this bloody chip in my head. Can’t hurt anything ’cept other demons.”

“Yeah. Except you’re still trying to get that thing out, aren’t you? You know what happens then?” Alex used a technique he’d worked for months to perfect in Rivellon. Not exactly useful, per se, but totally fucking scary. He spit a small ball of fire while still (outwardly) in human form. The control needed to do that without burning his mouth was tricky, but it was worth it to see the look on Spike’s face as the fireball hit the stone wall and burst into a fiery splash. “I kill you anyway. So, I figured I’d just save some time and do you now,” he said as he moved forward.

Spike jumped back. “Hold on now, mate. I gave you info on those commando guys! That rates a little consideration, right?”

Alex sighed a little theatrically. He had to play this right to avoid tipping off Spike or the Initiative. “Your info on them was next to useless. Except for the fact that they’re messing with your mind and this three-fourteen thing, we’d probably be on the same side and you’d already be dust. Or I’d’ve just turned you in for a reward.”

“Three-fourteen?” Spike asked.

“You didn’t hear about that down there?” Alex asked.

“Didn’t hear nothin’. Wasn’t there very long though. Just long enough for them to chip me.”

Alex pretended to be deep in thought. In reality, he’d already thought long and hard about this. He and Audrey had discussed it at length and also discussed bringing Buffy in on the plan, but decided that she was still too ambivalent about both the Initiative and Spike to risk it. “Tell you what. You bring me back three-fourteen and I let you live.”

“How am I supposed to do that?” Spike whined.

“Is that a ‘no’?” Alex cleared his throat as if getting ready to spit again.

“No! No. I was just, uh, askin’ for advice is all,” Spike backtracked.

“You broke out once. Break back in. Or let yourself get captured. Whatever works.”

Spike looked pensive. “And then you break me back out again? I doubt I’ll get out the same way I got out the first time.”

“Heck, no; but I know how slippery you are when you put your mind to it. After all, Buffy’s been trying to kill you for at least two years now. I’m sure you’ll think of something.” Alex had slowly positioned himself closer and closer to the vampire throughout their conversation and with his last words gave him a hearty slap on the arm while delicately placing a tracking medallion in Spike’s coat pocket. He then turned to leave. At the door of the crypt he turned back. “I hope I don’t have to tell you not to tell them that I sent you down there,” he warned. He was pretty sure that Spike would tell them anyway, but telling him not to would assure it.

“Right. Got it,” Spike lied/promised.

“Argh!” Dr. Angleman pounded his fists on the table in frustration. “He set us up!”

Maggie was all but emotionless on the outside. Part of her was frustrated too, but part was simply awed by the plan that had thwarted their security protocols. Hostile 17 had been recaptured last night without incident. Without incident, until one Alexander Harris had showed up directly above their secret base with a ground penetrating radar machine this morning. Worse, they couldn’t stop him since, technically, he was on public property and the base didn’t exist, but she was sure he had a pretty accurate map of the base and all the secret and not so secret exits.

Worst of all, Hostile 17 had voluntarily come forward and said that he’d been sent by ’Xander’, which was apparently a nickname for Alex, and he’d been sent to find out all about Three-fourteen. Now, he wouldn’t shut up about it. The most top secret project on a top secret base was now known about by the entire base including every demon. Also, people were asking questions. Uncomfortable questions.

“How is Adam doing?” she asked.

“You were thinking about giving him a test run?” Angleman read her mind.

“At least two of them aren’t human and a third claims to be a demon. I’d say that falls under our purview,” she said darkly.

“So anyway, I translated the GPR results and drew the results on this campus map,” Alex said.

“Why wasn’t I told about this plan and- holy cow that’s big,” Buffy said as she looked at the map.

“Yeah. There’s a huge room there—bigger than an aircraft hanger. That’s where Spike’s being held if you’re interested. There’s some other rooms over here.” Alex pointed to the map. “And at least three exits big enough for two people to walk side by side out of and a couple other ventilation shafts. At least one of which is human sized.”

“Why so big? I thought that was only in movies that the ventilation shafts are big enough to crawl through,” Giles scratched his head as he looked at the map too.

“It’s a big place. Uses a lot of air. They could do a lot of smaller shafts, but then you risk collapse. Make one big one and a couple small backups,” Willow explained. “How many levels is this?”

“GPR couldn’t tell us that. I got some angled shots to tell us this main area is huge. There’s enough room for at least six levels but it could just be one huge room too, though that’d be a colossal waste of space underground. I paid a guy to watch how many people went into and out of the frat house and for how long. And I paid some demons to watch the other exits. They’re heavy on the night shift, but it’s still less than 100 people. And most of those aren’t soldiers.”

“Unless they have barracks on site,” Giles pointed out.

“They have eight teams with four men each,” Alex insisted. “I’ve already tracked them all and I know each of their faces. Plus a private investigator got me names to go with the faces. I know all of their fighters snless they have someone sneaking in and out via the ventilation shafts. Trust me. I’ve planned a lot of raids and I’m leaving a large estimate for unknowns.”

“A raid!?” Willow and Tara both looked shocked.

“Not yet,” he assured them. “But intelligence gathering now saves casualties later.”

The girls were suddenly distracted by something to their right. “Uh, guys. Spike’s on the move and he’s headed this way,” Willow pointed to a magically glowing point on a map.

Chapter Text

“You’re not Spike,” Alex said as he arrived at the point where Willow said he was likely to intercept the blonde vampire. Instead, Riley was there along with seven other soldiers—together making up two of their hunting teams. He wasn’t exactly surprised. While they could have put the tracking charm on Spike, himself, there was a possibility that a magical being like a vampire would feel the charm being cast and so they’d used a medallion instead. Alex wondered if the Initiative had witches or wizards to tell them what item the charm was on or if Spike just didn’t have much in his pockets? Or maybe they just brought his whole coat, just to be safe?

In any case, they’d expected that the Initiative would find the medallion and try to use it against them so Alex had come without his sword or armor in order to look less hostile to the Initiative soldiers whom he just tricked.

“Hostile 17? Sang like a canary once he figured you sold him out,” Riley said.

“Was he any good? I’ve been thinking that since dead artists always sell so well, he could make a CD and then I dust him and make mucho bucks and then not have to pay him for it,” Alex quipped. “Besides, I didn’t sell him out. I’ve been trying to kill that guy for years. And now I’m going to feel slightly guilty when I finally do kill him because you jokers went and neutered him. Actually, did you neuter him? Could I pay you to neuter him? ‘Cause that would be funny.”

“But you knew we were looking for him and where to find him,” Riley stated flatly.

“Of course, but it’s not like we trusted you or anything. That’s the problem with keeping secrets like that. Makes people not trust you. Like three-fourteen. What is three-fourteen?”

“Like you don’t know,” Riley accused.

Alex’s face went from playful to hard in a split second. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Three-fourteen is a room. An empty room where we found the bodies of Doctors Walsh and Angleman a few hours ago,” Finn said.

“And you suspect me of murder?” Alex said frostily.

“We know you mapped our base. Apparently you found a secret entrance and shut down all the surveillance on the base,” Riley stated.

“I wouldn’t even know- Oh. You think we were all in on it then?”

Agent Finn was silent.

“You had better not have people going after them too,” Alex warned. “Riley Finn of Covington, Ohio. Parents, Henry Finn and I forgot your mother’s name but it started with an H as well. A brother and two sisters whose info is quite safe in my files. Along with similar files on everyone on all your teams. Call them off.” It wouldn’t matter if they did attack, the crew was safely stashed in a hidey hole he was sure the Initiative didn’t know about and had Buffy to guard them. This was about power and showing the soldiers that he had it and they did not. Chest thumping so he didn’t have to kill them.

Riley grabbed his radio and called off an operation. He turned around and growled at Alexander. “If you touch my family...”

“If will be no different than if you harm my family, I’m sure,” Alex nodded. “I don’t fight fair, but then again, you went after my family first. Also, I didn’t kill your bosses.”

Riley was a bit taken aback by Alex’s suddenly calm and earnest demeanor. He blinked several times. Before he could make a decision, screaming erupted from behind him.

“I must kill Alexander Harris and Buffy Summers. You are in my way, you will be removed,” a creepily deep voice called out before a soldier in camo went flying through the night air, landing hard.

The creature was an unholy mixture of human, demon, and cybernetic parts. If anything, it looked like Ted and the Judge had a love child. And while Ted had had that annoying coming back from the dead thing, the Judge had been truly terrifying. Right up until they blew him to kingdom come. Unfortunately, they were a little short on rocket launchers at the moment. The taser guns the soldiers were carrying were doing diddly against it—they almost seemed to be feeding him.

“You see? You jump to conclusions and a big, scary, demon-robot tries to kill you,” Alex warned sarcastically. “Get your guys back.”

“But-”

“Fall back!” Alex ordered for him. Riley then repeated the order. The soldiers fell back and created a perimeter.

“You are Alexander Harris?” the thing asked.

“Who are you?” Alex asked.

“My mother and father called me Adam,” Adam said. “They programmed me to kill you and Buffy Summers but then they got in the way of that objective. It seemed like an odd choice for them. Not logical at all.”

“So, Doctors Walsh and Angleman programmed you to kill me and Buffy. Then you killed them because they were in the way?” he clarified, mostly for the benefit of the soldiers nearby so they would know he and Buffy were innocent.

“Yes. Now please hold still. This will only hurt for a minute,” Adam said emotionlessly.

The unholy chimera charged forward with his left arm back. Alex readied himself to block the blow. Nearly too late, he saw the spike shoot out of the demon’s arm. Alex allowed himself a brief moment to wish that he hadn’t stopped wearing his armor, which would have easily turned aside the attack, but it hadn’t seemed prudent when he’d been expecting to be fighting soldiers with tasers. He twisted to avoid becoming a dragon shish kabob but it left him unbalanced and he was easily knocked over when Adam plowed into him.

Alex rolled with the blow and sprang back to his feet even before Adam had started to ready a follow-up attack. The demon paused for a moment, which allowed Alex to assess his opponent better. He’d missed the braces on his legs the first time around which explained why his attack speed was dismal. He was unbalanced, uncoordinated, and slow. But strong, exceptionally strong—he’d be dangerous in tight quarters—but out in the open like this, Alexander had the clear advantage. He smiled at the assessment. Know thy opponent and know thyself. He now knew he was going to win. He wasn’t quite sure how to kill him without a sword, but a knife through the heart or tearing off the head tended to kill 99% of all demons. And if all else failed, dragon fire would be sure to burn/melt him.

Unfortunately, Adam had come to the same conclusion as to the outcome of the fight. He turned and fled. Right towards two soldiers who were tending to an injured comrade on the ground. He grabbed one of the medics and held his arm spike to the man’s neck. “If you follow me, I’ll kill him,” he threatened.

It didn’t look like the soldiers were going to give their buddy up without a fight, they were already making a new perimeter. Alex’s concern was that they were all armed with the ineffective tasers, making it more of a symbolic gesture than anything.

“Let him go,” Riley ordered.

“If I release him, will you let me go without further fight?” Adam asked.

Riley considered for a moment. Only one of his men were injured at the moment, and none killed so far, as long as the hostage was released. “Agreed.”

“And Alexander Harris?” Adam looked at him.

“For tonight,” Alex agreed. He needed to arm up before he took on this guy again. Preferably somewhere without the Initiative watching. He wasn’t about to change into a dragon here and now. For starters, dragons had excellent daytime vision, but paid for it with night vision that was worse than humans. Secondly, he didn’t want the demon-hunting soldiers to know about that ability. Both as an ace up his sleeve for later and because he didn’t trust them not to shoot him right now and take him in for experimentation if they found he wasn’t 100% human.

Adam slowly relaxed his grip on the terrified man’s throat. It was instinct, as much as it was the sharp intake of breath to Alex’s right that warned him. His arm shot out and his fist caught Riley in the solar plexus. The soldier doubled over, unable to breathe, as Adam turned and ran away.

Riley got up. In the dark it was hard to tell if he was red due to anger or the recent lack of oxygen. “What. The. Hell?” he seethed.

“You were about to order your men to attack, weren’t you?” Alex replied calmly.

“Of course. We don’t negotiate with terrorists or demons,” Finn rubbed where he’d been hit gingerly.

“Yeah, well. Let’s not teach the crazy, government-made, robot-chimera-demon-abomination how to lie until you actually have a chance of killing him, yeah?” he pointed out. “But seriously, now. How much to neuter Spike?”

“... and then the soldiers left to regroup or rearm or whatever.” Alex finished his story. “I got the feeling that they were going to load for bear. Whether that will actually be enough to stop Adam remains to be seen.”

“How would you kill him?” Giles wondered aloud.

“The usual. Stab him in the heart and if that doesn’t work, decapitation almost always works,” Alex said.

“I want to do it,” Buffy said. “I mean, Maggie kind of programmed it to kill me, but then she tried to stop it, right?”

“It was a little non-specific as to who programmed it and why it killed them,” Alex hedged. “But you can have dibs. If decapitation doesn’t work though, retreat and find me. I’ll turn it into slag.”

The phone rang. Audrey got up to get it. “Yeah, she’s here. Buffy, it’s for you.” She handed the phone off.

Buffy took the phone. “Hello?... What sort of emergency? ... No, I haven’t. ... Thank you, I’ll let you know.” She hung up. If it was possible, she seemed to be in an even worse mood than before.

“What is it?” Giles asked.

“It’s Faith. She’s awake. She beat someone up, took her clothing and disappeared out of the hospital. No one knows where she is.”

Outside the window, Faith stepped away from the window now that she knew that they knew. Luckily they didn’t know that she knew that they knew, and she knew that they didn’t know she knew. She shook off the stupid joke playing through her head. She needed to focus and figure out what the hell was going on. When she’d gone down, they had been in the middle of a big battle and the Mayor had been about to take control of the city. Now she woke up and the girl she’d stolen her clothing from claimed that the Mayor had died in a gas leak months ago. She couldn’t have felt more lost if she were holding directions that said ‘turn right at Mars’.

“What do we do?” Willow asked fearfully.

“Well, we have to find her,” Giles asserted.

“Why?” Alex wondered.

“Because she’s a killer, Xan- Alex,” Buffy slipped up thinking about the Xander that had been with her the last time she’d faced Faith.

“So? We were fighting a war. She lost. Now everyone has to move on,” he stated.

“Are you forgetting what she did?”

“No. As far as I know, she only had one murder and one attempted murder under her belt. Pretty low by my standards.”

“You’re forgetting the vulcanologist,” Willow added.

“No. That was the murder. I’m just not counting the deputy mayor since that was an accident,” Alex countered.

“She tried to kill Angel,” Buffy insisted.

Alex scoffed. “And only the fact that she failed gives her any negative points in my book. You’re forgetting that I don’t like and have never liked Angel. I only put up with him for you.” He got up. Audrey rose with him.

“Where are you going?” Buffy asked accusingly.

“Home. And to bed. If you want to hunt Faith, that’s your business.” With that, they left.

“Who’s Faith?” Tara asked in the silence that followed their exit.

Alexander was patrolling downtown the next night when he saw Faith emerge from a warehouse. He debated for a moment before deciding to talk to her. “Hi, Faith,” he said, nonchalantly.

“Oh hey. If it isn’t the wet noodle of the Scooby gang,” Faith said. “Xander? Or is it Alex now? Looking good. I like the beard, it suits you. Covers your face,” Faith snarked.

Wet noodle? It took a while to catch Faith’s reference to their last conversation where he had called himself that. That conversation had happened almost 6 years ago for him but had happened less than a month ago for her. Alex ignored the jibe but made note of the fact that she knew his new name – not something she should be aware of unless Buffy told her before their fight that morning on campus. Buffy did like to verbally spar, but his name didn’t seem like a topic likely to come up. “Can we talk?” he asked.

“Are you here to take me in? Think you can take me?”

“No, I’m not taking you in. And yes, I can definitely take you if I want,” Alex said, matter-of-factually.

Faith frowned. “Listen I already got the spiel from B. Thank-”

“Well, what I have to say is going to be pretty different from Buffy,” Alex cut her off.

Faith looked around for cops or other witnesses then led him back to the warehouse she’d just come out of. “So talk. Unless you have other plans?” she licked her lips lasciviously.

Alex scoffed. “Things have changed since you’ve been gone. I’ve got a wife and kid now.”

“I’ve only been out for eight months!” Faith countered. She knew that much now, at least.

“I was in a different dimension. Spent five years there and less than five months passed here. So, I’ve kinda done this before.”

“Done what?”

“Explained to people that I’ve moved on because it’s been a lot longer for me than it has been for you,” Alex said.

“Fuck you!” Faith spat. She wasn’t going to take some lame breakup speech from him when there hadn’t been anything there to begin with.

Faith’s provocation didn’t have the desired effect. Alex just sighed. “We fought a war against each other, but the thing you need to understand is that wars end.”

“Huh?”

“That war is over, Faith,” Alex said. “It’s time to stop fighting. Or stop fighting us anyways. I’ve got no beef with you. And we’ve got some brand new bad guys to fight.”

“It’s over when I say it’s over,” Faith spat back. Thinking about the words that the Mayor had left for her on the tape.

Alex just sighed. “You know, I never liked Angel much. If you had handed me that poison you used on him, I probably would have given it to him myself, but the world’s gone and changed since you’ve been asleep. I went and fought a real war even. The mayor’s gone and now you have to find a new place in the world.”

“Shut up,” she said. The words he’d used had unknowingly echoed words that she’d recently heard on the tape recorded by Mayor Wilkins.

“I’m offering you that place,” he went on. “The war I fought, I didn’t just fight it with one small group of soldiers. Every time we beat someone else, the survivors of the enemy we just fought got to join us. Full pay. Full benefits. Clean slate. No recriminations. Because the funny thing about wars is that, sometimes you find your new friends among your old enemies.”

“What’s the catch?” Faith had to wonder.

Alex shrugged. “You’ll be on the same side as Buffy and Willow. Buffy’s actually gotten a lot better. College has shown her that there’s more than a black and white world out here. I think Anya’s helping too.”

Faith snorted. It hadn’t seemed like it to her when they’d ’talked’.

“But Willow seems to have narrowed her horizons, if anything. I don’t know. I think one of us might have to have a talk with her,” Alex joked.

“That’ll be the day,” Faith shook her head.

“So, what do you say?” Alex held out his hand to shake.

Faith still had the Mayor’s gift on her hand. He’d said she’d ’go out with a bang’. She figured that meant it would blow them both up, even if it looked small, but what the hell. If she couldn’t kill Buffy, at least she could kill one of her friends. She took his hand.

Chapter Text

“The hell?” Faith said, finding herself suddenly much taller instead of blown into tiny bits like she’d expected.

Alexander staggered in his new body. Between the heeled boots Faith’s body was wearing and the new center of gravity of his new body, he felt more than a little unbalanced. He also felt incredibly weak as if he’d just woken from a months-long coma and hadn’t had any solid food since then. He sank to his knees. In front of him he could see that his necklace had fallen from his body without him in it. That was one piece of good news. Except that his old body was still wearing the Dragon Stone. That was very much not good. “How were you even standing?” he asked.

Faith looked down at him. “Couldn’t stay where I was. Had to move,” she said it as if it should have been obvious. She flexed her new arms. “Still, I’m liking this new bod. Very strong.”

“Faith. I offered to help you. I’m still offering, just switch us back,” he pleaded.

Faith grabbed her new crotch luridly in front of Alex’s face. “Sure, but first a BJ. Least you can do to thank me.” She licked her lips and was slightly surprised by the feel of her own whiskers on her tongue.

Alexander forced himself to his feet. “Fuck you.”

Faith smirked back. “We could do that too.”

Alex found his strength returning as he got angrier and angrier. “Give me back my body,” he ordered.

Faith looked down at her hand and saw that the device had followed her over. Which made sense. Why would you leave the body snatching device on the body of the person you just switched with? She took off the device and waved it between them before taking off running. She ran out to the street where cops had been going by regularly all night. She wondered why she’d never seen this many cops in Sunnydale total in all her time as a Slayer here. She checked over her shoulder to make sure Alex was following. She looked around. Damn, this place had been crawling with fuzz only a few minutes ago. She picked a direction and started running.

Alex stopped to pick up his necklace before following. He pulled it around his neck and managed to get it attached even if it was tangled in his hair. He’d fix that later. Or hopefully change back and not have to fix it at all. He ran after Faith. They ran several blocks before he turned a corner and saw his old body.

“That’s her, officer. That’s Faith!” Faith pointed at him.

Alex wished he could wrap his hands around her neck and choke her this time.

The cop reacted very quickly for a SPD officer. He had his gun drawn quickly and shouted, “Freeze!”

Behind the cop, Alex watched as Faith dropped the shiny piece of metal that had switched them and smashed it to pieces under her boot.

“Hands up! I said, hands up!” the cop continued to shout.

Alex didn’t have to debate with himself long. The guy had a gun and he had no cover. He also had no way to switch back at the moment, though he was fairly sure there had to be a way. More cruisers were pulling up. He slowly raised his hands over his head. The cops were not nice at all. Alex belatedly remembered that Buffy said Faith had beaten up a couple cops in her escape from campus. He got to watch Faith as she smirked at him as he was cuffed and frisked, then she turned and walked away.

“I’d like my phone call,” he told the arresting officer.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. You have the right to remain silent...” the cop sneered as he read him his Miranda rights.

“I’d like my phone call,” Alex repeated calmly once he was done.

“She say anything yet?” Detective Stein asked.

“She hasn’t said anything besides ‘I want my phone call’ since they brought her in,” the officer guarding the door said.

“Well, let’s give her the call. See if she becomes more talkative then,” Stein ordered.

The cop frowned but nodded. “Yes, sir.”

“Harris residence, this is Tara.”

“Where’s Audrey?” Alex asked without preamble.

“She’s out right now, can I ask who’s calling?” Tara prepared to take a message.

“Tara, it’s Alex.”

“Alex, who?” Tara wondered if she knew any girls named Alex.

“Alexander Harris,” he explained.

“Wha-?”

“Listen, this is going to be complicated. Faith switched bodies with me, but I still have my necklace. I need to you to call Giles and have him alert everyone. In about 15 minutes I’m going to hit my beacon and prove that I am who I say I am since no one else can use my beacon, right?” Alex explained his plan quickly.

“Oh, goddess. Audrey. Sh- sh- sh- she left with him- I mean her- I mean-” Tara started panicking a bit.

“Tara!” Alex cut off her panic. “What about Jesse?”

“He’s safe. I’m babysitting,” Tara said quickly.

“I’m not a baby!” Alex could hear Jesse say very loudly in the background.

He couldn’t help but laugh with relief at that and sighed into the phone, relaxing a bit knowing Jesse was safe. “Thank you. Keep him safe for me, please?”

“I’ll- I’ll do my best,” Tara promised.

After Alex hung up, he was led back to the interrogation room.

Giles came home from a night of patrolling in his car for Faith, to find that he had visitors: three men from the council.

“Hello, Rupert,” Collins said as he lit a cigarette.

“Put that out, if you please,” Giles said calmly.

The two men stared each other down for a bit before Collins put the cigarette out on Giles’ desk. Giles thinned his lips at that but it wasn’t as though he had an ashtray handy.

“What do you want?” he asked.

“The Slayer, Faith,” Collins replied.

“Well, I’ve just been out half the night looking for her, so let me be more specific. What do you want that I can actually give you?” Giles said tersely.

“You’re claiming that you have no idea where she is?” Weatherby piped up.

Giles didn’t answer. He just frowned at Weatherby and raised a brow at Collins. Collins was about to say something when there came a knock at the door. “Answer it,” Collins ordered.

Giles wanted to tell him to piss off but since he was going to answer his door anyway, he did so. He was surprised to see who was there. “Alexander. Now’s not the best time.”

“Oh, okay. It’s about Faith,” Faith-in-Alex said.

“Let the boy in, Rupert,” Collins ordered.

Giles held the door open so Alex could enter and he and Collins could see each other.

Faith stepped over the threshold. She wanted to ask about the guys she didn’t know but figured Alexander probably knew them.

“Ah, Alex. These men are from the council. This is-”

“Never mind, you have information on Faith?” Collins interrupted Giles.

Faith frowned. The attitude and the accents could only mean the watchers. She sneered at him. “I might, but I seem to have left the info in my other wallet. Why don’t you give me your wallets, maybe I’ll find it in there?”

Giles had to hide a smile at that. Extortion of the watchers council was certainly a switch. The smile fell when Collins pulled a pistol.

Faith froze when the gun was pulled. She obviously had pushed too hard. She was about to backtrack fast when Giles spoke up.

“Put that away, you stupid git, before he destroys the three of you where you stand,” Giles snapped. “Not that I care about you three, but I’m rather fond of my flat and it would take weeks to get the insurance reimbursement.”

Faith tried to hide her surprise at that. Hopefully the man was bluffing, but then again, Alex hadn’t seemed scared of her at all. She had been expecting at least a hint of fear considering how she’d treated him the last time they were alone together. She had to wonder if the strength she felt was supernatural. Did the Xand-man go and get some superpowers while she was out?

Collins put away his gun and signaled the others to do likewise. He then flipped his wallet to Alex’s body.

Faith memorized names and addresses but skipped trying to remember the funny zip codes with letters and numbers in them, then took all but $20 from each. “The cops caught Faith downtown. She’s being processed right now.”

“How did they catch her?” Collins blurted out.

“Same way you were planning. Have lots and lots of guns pointed at her and no cover. Faith isn’t stupid,” Faith felt the need to defend herself.

One of the backup guys snorted at that. “Could’ve fooled me.”

Faith recognized him as the man named Weatherby from his ID. She picked up the wallet she had set on the desk and pointedly took out the last $20 she hadn’t taken yet. “So, what’ll you do with her now?” she asked as she flipped back the empty wallet.

“That’s none of your concern,” Weatherby practically spat as he snatched his wallet from the air when Faith tossed it to him and stalked outside. The other two followed.

Collins nodded to them as he closed the door behind himself. “Thank you for your help.”

The door opened a moment later to allow Audrey, Buffy, and Willow to enter. Audrey looked like she’d been crying.

“Buffy!” Giles said. “Did you hear the news? Faith’s been captured.”

Faith was surprised that Buffy wasn’t happier about that. Instead she just let out a dour, “Yeah, I heard.”

All of a sudden, everyone but Faith clutched a necklace around each of their necks.

“Alex? But how-?” Giles looked at Faith with shock in his eyes.

“What?” Faith asked.

“That’s not Alex,” Buffy said evenly as she positioned herself between Faith and the others.

“Damn. I was going to get a blowjob too. I’ve heard they’re awesome,” Faith smirked.

“Why?” Buffy asked.

“Because I’m sick of givin’ ’em, that’s why,” Faith smirked.

“No. Why Alex? Because, I gotta say, if anyone in our group was on your side, it was him.” Buffy said.

“Because he was there,” Faith said. That was really the only reason.

“That’s it? You spent eight months in a coma and you went from ’boo-hoo, I’m a victim’ to ’he was there’. Pathetic. And now you’ve picked a body that’s weaker than your old one. So I gotta warn you that this fight is going to be even more one-sided than our last one,” Buffy said.

Buffy struck. She was probably right. This body wasn’t nearly as durable as her last one, Faith decided. If she’d known that that thing was a body switcher she never would have used it on Xander. Quite frankly, anything other than another Slayer was a downgrade. Buffy tossed her into the courtyard at Giles’ urging (to save damage to his apartment). Faith decided to see how fast her new body was and ran.

“Alright ma’am, you’ve had your phone call. Now will you talk?” Detective Stein asked.

“Sure. What about?” Alex asked.

“How about the man you killed?” Stein prompted.

Alexander’s thoughts darkened. He’d killed a lot of men. Several hundred by his own hands, a few hundred more with fire-breath from afar. Many thousands on his orders. That wasn’t even counting all the humanoid demons he’d killed. “You’re going to have to be more specific. Are you only counting male humans? What about people killed by my orders? What about those killed in war? Do you count civilians killed as collateral damage on my orders?”

“Don’t get cute with me!” Stein yelled, smacking his hand loudly on the table.

Alexander didn’t flinch at the loud noise. He was silent but met the detective’s angry eyes with his own calm ones. He’d found (okay, first Zandalor told him) that in negotiations, nothing infuriated angry people more than keeping your cool.

“You never served in the military, you never went to war. All I want to know about is why you killed this man,” Stein slid a series of gruesome photos in front of him.

Unfortunately for Stein, Alex had seen many thousands of dead bodies. Plus, without the stench of death and decay, one body just didn’t move him at all anymore. It helped that he wasn’t at all responsible for the guy’s death. “Looks like someone didn’t like him,” he said calmly.

“We know that,” Stein calmed himself a bit, finally getting a reaction. “What we don’t know is why he was killed.”

“Well, I didn’t do it, if that’s what you’re asking. What I heard was that Mayor Wilkins wanted to shut him up before he could squeal. And I’d be willing to take a lie detector test if you want.”

“Cute. I’m sure you know the lie detector isn’t admissible in court.” Stein said.

“I just want you guys off my back, but this is a one-time only deal. Bring in the machine right now and I’ll tell you everything I know about this murder,” Alex offered.

Stein went over to the one-way mirror that wasn’t fooling anyone and knocked. “We got anyone qualified to run the test?” One knock was the answer.

Mentally, Alex finished counting off 15 minutes and pressed the necklace he was wearing to alert the others that Faith had stolen his body.

Chapter Text

Part 22: Chapter 17.

“What’s your name?”

“Faith. No last name.” Alexander said. It would come out as a lie, he knew, but they would think he was lying about one part when he was lying about both.

“Do you know who Lester Worth is?”

“Yes.”

“Did you kill him?”

“No.”

“Do you know who did kill him?”

“I know who ordered it.”

“Who was that?”

“Mayor Richard Wilkins.”

“Do you know why he was killed.”

“I know the rumors.”

“Was it because he had information on the Mayor?”

“Yes...”

“I should have known it wasn’t him!” Audrey sobbed into Willow’s shirt. “Alex would never say things like that.”

“It’s okay. I’ve known him longer than you and neither Buffy nor I were thinking ‘hey, Alex might be possessed by Faith’.” I was just thinking he was being a jerk; he’s been known to do that occasionally, but usually he’s got a good reason for it,” Willow tried to comfort the other woman.

Her efforts seemed to be in vain, as Audrey simply cried all the harder.

“Well?” Detective Stein asked the interviewer.

“I think she might be able to guess who actually killed Lester Worth but it wasn’t her. And she certainly believes that he was killed on the late Mayor’s orders. That much and the fact that she didn’t kill him are pretty much crystal clear. The rest is pretty muddy,” the interviewer explained the results. Interpreting lie detector tests was more art than science, which was why they weren’t allowed in trials any more.

Stein looked through the one-way mirror to where the girl was still sitting calmly and scowled. Their case against her was weak and he knew it. A confession would have made things much easier. Instead, if they charged her, she could take the stand and say she knew the late Mayor had ordered the hit. The jury would believe her since it was a matter of record that she’d worked for the Mayor until shortly before his death. The last thing they wanted to do was stir up memories of the Mayor right now when the town was finally moving on. “Cut her loose,” he sighed.

Faith’s body was still super weak, but Alex managed to guide it down the steps of the police station without falling down. Next all he needed to do was walk to Giles’ apartment. There he could eat and rest and get a ride home and maybe, just maybe, get his own body back. A noise shook him from his thoughts.

“Well, that was easier than we thought,” a British voice said.

Alex knew only darkness.

“She’s been gone a long time. Do you think she’s still chasing her? I mean, him?” Willow asked once Audrey had finished crying and had gone to wash up. It was amazing how fast her mood had changed once Giles had found a way to switch Faith and Alex back.

Faith in her Alex-suit saying mean things to Audrey had hit the woman hard. Which made Willow very happy when she thought about it; it meant that Alex probably wasn’t in the habit of saying stuff like that. The additional shock of her husband not being her husband any more had sent Audrey off an emotional cliff that had taken over an hour to get over.

“It’s still appropriate to refer to Faith in the feminine even though she currently inhabits a male body,” Giles said. “And seeing as we’ve already come up with a spell to switch them back, perhaps the rest of us could go visit Alexander while Buffy chases after Faith?”

“I like your prisons here,” Audrey said to Willow as they waited. “Very bright and cheery.”

Willow looked around. “This is bright and cheery?” Okay, well perhaps the florescent lighting was bright compared to torches or whatever, but she still didn’t think it was cheery.

“Well comparatively speaking. Prison reform was on Alexander’s list of things to do, but it was way down there. He never really got to more than making sure every prisoner got fed every day,” Audrey explained.

“Oh. Well, in that case, I can see how ours are an improvement,” Willow agreed.

Giles came over looking like he was trying to rub a headache from his sinuses. “He’s not here. They released ‘Faith’ over an hour ago.”

Audrey, who had been starting to perk up at the thought of seeing her husband again deflated against Willow. Willow was also speechless.

“Come, we need to go home,” Giles said as he helped Audrey to her feet. “We may have passed him on the way here. Also we should be able to track him from there.”

“The necklaces!” Willow realized.

“Exactly,” Giles let go of Audrey a bit as a glimmer of hope entered her world and made her strong again.

Alexander awoke chained up in the back of an armored car. He tested his restraints. They were high quality, but he was pretty sure he could have broken them in his own body at full strength much less with a Slayer’s full strength. He reached up and felt the bump on the back of his head. The long hair back there was just a reminder that he shouldn’t have been there. He could guess from the accent and the fact that the men were after Faith that they were some sort of watcher retrieval team.

The van went over a bump and slammed his head against the dividing wall. Stars blazed in front of his eyes as he fought to remain conscious. Alex had no choice then; he had to cast the healing spell. He found it was much easier to cast in Faith’s body than it ever had in his own.

He really didn’t want to find out what these guys planned to do with Faith – probably take her back to England seeing as he wasn’t dead yet – but going to England would make it very difficult to get his body back. That just wouldn’t do. He took a mental inventory. He had a good pair of boots on, clothes that weren’t warm enough for a winter night in California, his necklace, and a tiny repertoire of magic. The first thing he did was reach up and press his emergency signal on the necklace three times. Hopefully that would tell everyone that he was in danger and also that he was moving.

Alex only had three spells that he’d ever mastered. The healing spell, the rush (temporary speed boost) spell, and the fireball. He hadn’t used them much in Rivellon or since coming back to Earth but they were always there. Since the healing spell went so well, he decided to try the fireball to heat his chains to the point where he could break them and then let it loose to knock out the door locks.

He started forming the fire.

Buffy felt the jolts from Alex’s emergency beacon. She’d been chasing Faith in Alexander’s body for quite a while now, but she wasn’t making any headway. Alex was clearly in top shape and had longer legs than her so she wasn’t gaining any ground. Stopping now would probably mean losing Faith completely, but Alex was clearly in trouble. Suddenly, the council operatives that were looking for Faith popped into her mind. If they saw Alex and thought it was Faith...

Buffy turned around and started heading where she thought Alex might be headed.

It was getting horribly warm in the back of the armored car. Holding the fireball like he was doing was never recommended. He’d formed a very small fireball directly on one of the links. Unfortunately it was heating him up faster than it was heating the chains and it was making his boobs sweat and chafe in his bra. Not something he ever thought he’d have to worry about, but then again, at least he wasn’t cold any more.

He let the fireball dissipate and tried his bonds. A link popped open. That was enough for him, he’d get the rest off later. He conjured a fireball and sent it towards the back doors hoping to take the lock out and let him escape. Instead, it took out the entire rear of the van including the rear wheels. He was shocked at the size of the blast he created. It reminded him of the Noisy Cricket gun from Men In Black without the flying backwards 20 feet. The floor fell out from under his feet and brought the ceiling down to conk him on the head again. If it wasn’t for that conk, he was pretty sure he could have kept his feet. Instead, with the floor now angled down towards the road, he rolled out of the van and onto the street.

He shook himself as he got up off the asphalt. The armored van was still scraping along but was slowing. In the other direction, he could see the exact place he’d cast the spell as there was now a large crater in the road right there. Alex was in awe, he’d never produced a fireball even a tenth of that size in his own body. Unfortunately, he couldn’t sit and gape as the van was slowing to a stop and three men, all armed with pistols, were looking his way. Alex scrambled to his feet and headed into a nearby cemetery. If there was one thing you could count on in Sunnydale, it was always being near a cemetery.

Alexander’s training in Rivellon had prepared him to face many opponents in a variety of situations. From goblins and imps to humans wielding all manner of weapons, but one thing was repeated time and again: if you were unarmed, no matter what your opponent was armed with, run. Apparently, children of Rivellon had stories of unarmed heroes defeating vast scores of armed opponents just like the children of Earth. Those stories were every bit as silly has Alex’s own collection of martial arts films. In the real world, unarmed people almost always lost against armed ones.

So he ran. Granted, if he didn’t mind burning down Sunnydale, he probably could have chanced another fireball or tried his rush attack if he thought he wouldn’t get gunned down by the other two while he was dealing with the one. Frankly they were spaced too far apart to get them all with one spell and close enough to support each other if he tried to fight them. He pressed his emergency beacon three more times as he figured out which cemetery he was in. Finally, he formed a plan in his mind for how to get away. He turned south and started heading for the docks. He hit the beacon one last time to indicate his change of direction.

Buffy arrived at the scene too late. Alexander had hopefully used magic to escape. Either that or Faith had figured out how to transform Alex’s body into a dragon and had turned her old body into a crispy critter, but she didn’t want to think about that. Luckily, Alex’s beacon called to her again. She took off in the new direction.

Okay, turning south was a bad idea, Alexander decided. He’d been spotted when he turned and had come under a hail of gunfire; splinters from nearby trees and shrapnel from bullets hitting headstones pelted him as he ducked for cover. As he heard bullets zip by overhead, Alex was actually grateful that he was in Faith’s body for once. At his full height, that first bullet might have splattered his brains all over a nearby tree instead of flying harmlessly overhead.

Still, he couldn’t cower here forever and the cops would get here too late if they ever got here at all. At a lull in the shooting, he took off, staying low and keeping as many tombstones and mausoleums between himself and the attackers as possible. The firing picked up immediately of course. All he could do was keep running until they ran out of bullets.

Buffy did not like guns. She especially didn’t like people that fired guns at her or her friends. Or, in this case, a friend trapped in the body of an enemy. Except that it was still her friend in that body.

They were all focused on Alex and the noise of the guns made it easy to sneak up on the first one. He was unconscious before he knew what happened. Buffy then started to make her way to the guy in the middle of the group. Unfortunately a sudden lack of noise from his right alerted him that his buddy wasn’t firing any more. He looked over at her, turned and CLICK.

Buffy dove for cover while he reloaded. Despite the ringing in her ears, she could hear police sirens on their way. Which was a good enough reason in her mind to never use guns in slaying. People in Sunnydale could ignore the weird and strange, but even they didn’t ignore guns. The last gunman stopped firing. Buffy chanced a look-see. The middle guy was also looking. Standing over the guy on the left was Audrey and she had... was that a sling?

It was and with a flick of her arm, the missile was launched. It caught the last gunman in the gut and he doubled over.

“Put down the gun, Collins. That’s not Faith you’re shooting at,” Giles’ voice came out of the darkness.

“What are you talking about, Rupert?” Collins said from his knees.

“After you left we found out that Faith had switched bodies with someone,” Giles said.

“And if you hurt him or the body he’s in, I’ll kill you, your friends, and those that sent you!” Audrey shouted.

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Giles soothed. “Now the police will be here any minute. You’re going to be charged with as many misdemeanors as they can throw at you, but if we’re gone by the time they get here, then there’s no reason for you to be charged with attempted murder.”

Collins, outnumbered and outgunned, lifted his gun in the air and then visibly tossed it away.

“Good show. The rest of you, we should be away before the police arrive,” Giles said and stepped away from the bushes he was hiding behind so everyone could see him.

Buffy watched the tender-yet-awkward moment as Audrey greeted her husband in Faith’s body.

“And when they’ve switched back?” Collins asked.

Surprisingly it was Audrey who spoke up. “It was we she sinned against, we shall decide her fate. Do not return to this land,” she commanded in her haughtiest voice.

Buffy was reminded that this woman was essentially a Queen in her own land.

Chapter Text

“Mommy!” Jesse squealed when they got home.

Alex went over and thanked Tara for sounding the alarm for him and keeping Jesse safe.

“It was nothing,” Tara blushed and worked at the hem of her blouse. “Um, Anya came over with a g- g- g- gift for the two of you. But I should go. Willow’s probably w- worried about me,” she practically ran from the apartment.

“Who’s that?” Jesse asked when they were alone.

“Well, remember how daddy looked different when he shaved? This time someone changed daddy into this lady. I know he looks different, but it’s still daddy inside,” Audrey explained.

“Can you make him grow a beard?” Jesse asked.

The adults in the room had to stifle their laughter at that. “Sorry kiddo,” Alex said. “But this new body is really good at telling stories. So how bout a story before bed?”

“Yay!” Jesse charged off.

“Wash up and go potty!” Audrey called after him.

“... and they all lived happily ever after.” Audrey finished the story and tucked Jesse into bed.

“I thought Daddy’s new body was good at stories?” Jesse asked.

“It is,” Audrey promised. “It was just a long day for Daddy with the change and all. He just got sleepy.” She brushed her hand through her husband’s long hair. She then picked him up from her son’s bed. Audrey was strong. She was raised doing hard, physical labor, but she was glad for her husband’s new form right then because carrying this slight woman was much easier than trying to carry her bulky husband’s body. She laid the new body down in their bed and slipped in next to him. Cuddling was different, but she was simply glad she had him back. She was also as emotionally wrung out as Alex was physically and she was also soon asleep.

Xander stood under the shower head the next morning. If Faith didn’t give up his body the next time they met, he was cutting her hair. There was no reason why any warrior needed this much hair. Vanity was the only excuse. He got out and dried off. Then he did the titty-tuck trick with the towel for the first time. It felt really weird and horribly exposed. One quick draft or bending over would show everything. He scurried to his room.

Audrey was there. “Well, I’ll have to thank Anya later. Or maybe today. Yes, I think I’ll take Jesse over to Buffy and Anya’s for a couple hours.”

“But-”

“No buts. You need some time to get to know your new body. And tonight we’ll spend some time together. For now, you just have fun.”

She walked out of the room leaving Alexander alone in his bedroom with at least a dozen different forms of vibrator and dildo spread over their bed. Some of them looked absolutely scary with appendages he couldn’t even guess a purpose for. ...But then again, there was a list out there of the first thing any man would do if he had a vagina for a day and shopping for cucumbers was number one on that list.

“Hi Audrey!” Buffy called as she let them inside. “Where’s Alex? He didn’t not want to come just because he’s in Faith’s body, did he?”

“No. Hi Anya, and thank you,” Audrey said.

Buffy looked at Anya with her eyebrows arched questioningly.

“I loaned them most of our backup sex toys. He’s probably using them right now, I’d guess,” Anya shrugged.

“Not in front of Jesse!” both the other woman yelled.

“Daddy got new toys? Can I play with them when we get back?”

“Sorry sweetie. They’re not toys like kids play with. They’re tools that grownups use for sex. We call them toys to make it sound more fun,” Audrey explained. Then she turned to Anya. “Don’t say T-O-Y-S in front of kids unless you’re about to give them one.”

“Sorry. I’m still learning some things,” Anya apologized.

Buffy just gawked that neither balked at talking about sex in front of the child. “You’re washing them when we get them back,” she ordered before she stalked off. The other two women just shrugged at each other. Earth women were strange.

The women of Deodatus Castle had trained Xander very thoroughly. Not just in the art of war but in the art of sex. Not like that, you pervert. Once they found out he was seeing Audrey, they gave him an enormous number of tips, most of which helped. Right now, he was thinking about one particular piece of advice; ’A woman can’t be truly open to pleasure if she doesn’t feel relaxed and safe’.

Alex felt safe-ish, but he certainly wasn’t relaxed. Maybe that was why he wasn’t experiencing the throws of ecstasy that Audrey and some of the women described. Pleasure that built and built? Yeah, there was that and it was nice but that was all. Until he thought of Audrey holding the dildo he was slipping in and out of his new twat. Suddenly, his pleasure doubled. Just thinking about Audrey caused a wave of pleasure to wash over him as he had his first orgasm as a woman.

Even as he slowed his ministrations, the pleasure didn’t fade away like a male orgasm did. He pulled the dildo out of himself as he slowly came down from the high he’d experienced. Alex promised himself he would be much better about continuing to pleasure his wife after sex if this is what all women felt afterwards.

Audrey walked into her bedroom and was hit by the musty aroma of female arousal. Her husband lay spreadeagled on their bed with a sheet over one leg and a gold vibrator laying between his knees.

“Had fun?” she asked mischievously.

“Oh dear god,” Alex said wearily, cracking an eye open.

“‘Audrey’ will do for now.”

A knock pulled Audrey from her warm bed. She let Alexander sleep, he’d gone through a lot and was now sleeping the deep sleep of the truly exhausted. Buffy was at the door along with a mutinous looking Anya.

“I told her we shouldn’t interrupt you two,” Anya said.

“We’re done,” Audrey assured her. “But Alex is sleeping so if we could keep our voices down?”

Buffy blushed. “I just wanted to know if Xa- if Alex- if she- if he wanted to train later?” Buffy finally got out.

“I’m going to have to take a break on training, Buffy. Just till I get my body back,” Alex, himself, answered in Faith’s husky voice. He came out of the bedroom with the comforter from their bed wrapped his shoulders and trailing on the floor.

“Not for me. For you. You haven’t trained as a girl and I thought since you helped me with...” Buffy trailed off.

“Thanks, but no,” Alex smiled. “I don’t want to untrain my current style of fighting. Maybe if I ever throw in the towel on getting my own body back. Not that being a girl hasn’t been fun, but it’s one of those places that are a nice place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there. I’m really hoping to change back before my first period, whenever the hell that’s going to be.”

Faith was really starting to wish that that damn device the Mayor had given her really had blown her up. Things would be simpler then. As it was, she had no money and a perpetual horniness she didn’t know how to deal with. As a chick, she could walk into any bar and start having sex 15 minutes later. As a man, it was a lot- well, harder; no pun intended.

Speaking of harder, she didn’t know how guys operated day to day. Every time a pretty girl walked by, she wanted to jump her bones. Most of the ugly ones too. She never thought she’d say this, but she was actually finding a new respect for most men’s self control. The problem for her was that without money, none of the girls were giving her the time of day. She didn’t even have enough for a hooker. All she had was this stupidly big necklace. Maybe that was worth some money?

“So, you’re- Alex, huh?” Finn asked.

“It’s me,” Alex nodded, still in Faith’s body.

Riley Finn’s eyes passed over Alex’s breasts for a moment as he looked away.

Alex snorted in a very unladylike manner. “You know, I’m used to being ogled and I’m used to people not wanting to look me in the eye, but this whole ‘staring at my tits’ thing has gotta stop. If we don’t find her soon, I’m getting these things reduced.” He just might too, but not yet. For now, Faith’s long hair was pulled back in a tight pony tail and her boobs were held tight by a sports bra a size too small. In a couple days or so he’d cut the hair, then the boobs. He also didn’t wear the heavy makeup that Faith used to wear as well. The downside of the way he looked was that he now got mistaken for his wife’s sister, or even... her daughter. The other day, as he took Jesse to a convenience store for some juice, an old woman had berated him because she thought that he was an unwed-teenaged mother. Jesse’s defense of “he’s not my mom, he’s my daddy!” had not helped.

Finn blushed a bit at being caught ogling Alex’s knockers. He cleared his throat to regain his composure. “Right. Well, anyway. We haven’t had any luck in finding Adam. Just some of his... victims.”

“Adam?” Buffy raised her hand in question.

“Oh, right. We found Mag- er, Professor Walsh’s notes on the creature. She called him Adam. No one else had any better ideas for a name.”

Most of the assembled group could think of better names, but few of them could be said in front of children so they held their peace.

“So, we’re not in the habit of involving civilians in something like this, but...”

“You need bait,” Buffy finished the sentence.

“We’ve got a fancier term for it, but yeah,” Finn agreed.

Buffy nodded. “I’m in; but afterwards, you need to help us.” She looked over at Alex.

“I would rather they helped us first,” Alex protested lightly. This was an argument that had already gone around in circles several times. “I can offer you better backup then.”

“If we can get it outside the city, we can offer you some pretty heavy backup in the form of a pair of Apache gunships,” Riley said.

Giles and Xander’s eyebrows went up at that. There wasn’t much that could survive a dozen 20mm rounds in the chest. Not to mention any other ordinance the choppers might be carrying. Giles spoke up, “I thought the US Constitution specifically forbade such maneuvers?”

“Training exercise,” Finn said with a perfectly straight face.

“Ah.”

“How’s your search for your body going?” Riley asked Alex.

“Slow.”

Willow spoke up, “For specific monsters or people, we normally rely on tracking spells, but we’ve been coming up empty for both Alex and the- Adam. The theory is that the magic sees Faith as a new person while she’s in that body. And we just don’t have a way to find Adam.”

“Well, we’re not big on the magic, but if there’s any way we can help, just let-”

Riley’s radio chose that moment to interrupt.

“Finn, here. Have you spotted him?”

“Negative sir, but we thought you should know. We have a UFO in the area.”

“Aliens?” Willow perked up at the thought.

“Description?” Riley ignored the girl’s assumption. Unidentified Flying Objects simply meant that they were unidentified, not aliens.

“Uh, well, sir. It looks like a... dragon.”

Alex let out a groan.

Riley took his finger off the Send button. “You know something about this?”

Alex took a deep breath and looked up. “I do. It’s me. That dragon is my body.”

They’d agreed on a price. It was a lot less than Faith thought she could get if she’d let the sleazy guy look down her blouse a bit, but then Alex wasn’t as stacked as she was. It was a lot different talking with a guy, as a guy. It was more curt than she’d expected. She was used to pretty words and empty praise.

“What’chu want, dude?” wasn’t the usual opening line she was used to.

Eventually they agreed on a price. Enough for Faith to get a blowjob, a bus ticket, and plenty left over for food. This body didn’t seem as... tough as her old body was. Her body was used to having to go several days without food. Just one day without and already this body was feeling weak, but that would soon be cured. All she had to do was hand over the necklace.

Hand it over.

Come on! Hand it over! she thought to herself. And then the world... shifted.

There was a loud crash as her body grew and knocked over several free-standing shelves filled with various items. Faith seemed to be in darkness and she instinctively took several steps back. It turned out that her head had shot through the open doorway into the dark back room while her feet and legs had stayed where they were in front of the counter. Now her legs were several steps back from the counter but she was looking down at the cowering cashier with her head well past the counter. It was a very odd experience for someone who was used to her head being directly over her feet.

Turning, there was another loud crash as her tail turned with her, knocking over two more sets of shelves. Faith looked at the front door and couldn’t tell if she would make it though or not. The large, plate-glass window next to it looked big enough though. She brought her hands up to shield her eyes and realized that they were no longer human hands, but delicate wings. Those weren’t going to protect anything, she decided. Instead, she tucked her arms/wings in close, closed her eyes, and charged the window.

It was far from a perfect escape. Tough scales kept her from getting cut but she didn’t think about how far back her legs were from her head and she ended up tripping over the windowsill and landing on her back. Luckily it was Sunnydale and no one called the police or animal control as she struggled for over a minute to get to her feet in her new body.

Next door to the pawn shop was another store which had unbroken windows. Faith took a look.

A dragon? Shit. No wonder Xan wasn’t scared of me.

“...my point is that you never told us you were a dragon.”

“And you never told us that you had a pair of attack helicopters on call. Listen, you’re part of this, you’ve seen what you guys do to demons down there. Would you tell your team if you could turn into a dragon?”

Riley didn’t answer. They kept walking.

“I was really looking forward to torching every vampire and demon in Sunnydale when I got back,” Alex continued. “And I could have gotten away with it if it weren’t for you kids and your mangy lab, too.”

“You’re sure this spell thing will work?” Riley asked, ignoring Alex’s joke.

“Katra. A Draconian Katra, just to be extra ironic. Supposedly, if I can touch her, then it should switch us back; but no, I’m not completely sure. That’s what the parachutes are for,” Alex gave him a wry smile.

Flying was not as instinctive as Faith had hoped. Or rather, taking off was a lot harder than she thought it would be. Birds made it look so easy – just start flapping. Instead, she had to climb up on the roof of the pawn shop she’d just half-destroyed and then hop to the roof of the next nearest building just to get room for a full wing beat.

Once she was going, things got easier. Then there was just the choice of which way to go.

“We’re adjusting our course to the north east. We just got word that the UFO has started turning east. She’s been heading North since she started flying,” Riley informed Alex of the slight change in direction. “She’s still staying between 4,000 and 5,000 feet. You’ll be jumping at 14,000. We’re hoping that’s high enough that she won’t spot you. But if she does, what’s your plan if you miss?”

“I’m more concerned about what happens if I hit too hard and knock myself senseless. That backup chute will auto deploy at 2,000 feet, right?” Alex asked. He had no idea how high of a height Slayers could fall from and not get hurt and there wasn’t time to experiment and find out.

Finn nodded.

For a many minutes, the only sound in the plane was the noise of the engine as it pulled them into position.

“Bogey sighted. Eleven o’clock low,” the pilot announced into their radios.

Finn had his binoculars up a moment later. “Bandit confirmed. Huh. When you said ‘dragon,’ I was expecting it to be a lot bigger.”

“It’s not the size, it’s how you use it,” was Alex’s automatic retort.

Finn gave a soft chuckle in response. “If this doesn’t work, is there anything you want to tell us about taking her out?”

“Depends. Is there anything you want to tell me about taking down your army base?”

They flew in silence for another minute before they were in position. Alex was reminded of just how weak his draconic form really was on Earth. He had a cruising speed of upwards of 30 miles per hour, which was pretty fast in Rivellon but the little Cessna they’d rented cruised at 140 knots. Alex couldn’t remember if 1 knot was a little faster or a little slower than 1 mph, but the point was he was simply outclassed by even the most basic of modern flying machines. He held no illusions of being able to outfly or outshoot an Apache helicopter, never mind all the fixed-wing aircraft of the US military.

Alex was still lost in thought when Riley stood up and opened the door, filling the small plane with a blast of cold air and the sound of air rushing past the door.

Alex couldn’t tell you if any words were exchanged before he jumped. One moment he was standing there, the next, he was floating in space. The noise level dropped for a second as his body hit the air and friction slowed his lateral movement, but it picked back up again as he started accelerating towards the earth. His heart rate increased as the seconds ticked by. This was not his first time skydiving. He told himself that this was actually safer than in Rivellon as he had a parachute this time, but in Rivellon, he had also been a Dragon Knight, which meant that he was strong enough to land safely at terminal velocity or turn into a dragon at will. For a Slayer, terminal velocity might actually be terminal, he didn’t know. Also, he had never attacked someone in mid-air in human form before. Worse, it was his own form he was attacking. He knew exactly what that form was capable of in flight, in a fight, or in a fight in flight.

Still, he knew that Faith didn’t know what that body could do, and he hoped that was enough of an advantage.

Looking ahead, he could see his target. He spread his arms and legs wide to slow his descent and guide him to intercept the dragon. Behind him, the sun was setting quickly as he dropped back to earth. That was one more thing he didn’t want the Initiative to know about him, very poor night vision. Which was a bit of a hindrance to his other form helping in the hunt, considering vampires only came out at night. What he was more worried about now, though, was Faith going night blind and crashing/mangling/killing his body.

It felt like it was only a few seconds before the dragon was already looming large. Xander pulled the ripcord and felt the harness dig into new and interesting places as his body went from 120 mph to 10 in a matter of seconds.

Too close, Faith heard and twisted her head to look up. Alex pulled the cord to let the first chute go and started free falling again. As he fell he watched as Faith twisted and flapped in mid air to change direction quickly. He scowled. A move that had taken Alex a week to master had taken Faith less than a day. He hoped that muscle memory and instinct played a part in that even as he cursed the fact that he was now going to miss his target and his best shot at getting his body back. Just then he saw his tail coming. Bracing himself, he held out the Katra.

Pain. The hit from the tail broke his arm.

And then, he was back.

The feeling of wind beneath his wings. He promised himself he would never take that for granted again. He also swore that he and Audrey were going flying very soon. Someplace far away from demons, magic, katras, and military units that might want to hunt dragons. It was a full second later that he remembered to look down at where Faith was falling, clutching her broken arm. He tucked his wings and dove after her.

She was wearing a parachute that was supposed to open when she reached 2,000 feet, but it didn’t pay to take chances. He watched the chute open before he- Wait, what is she doing? She’s- No, don’t do that! Faith’s reserve chute fluttered away and she began falling again, this time without a parachute.

Back in the 1600s, a guy named Sir Isaac Newton passed some laws that most objects in the universe are now required to abide by. Momentum equals mass times directional velocity. Momentum will always remain the same unless acted on by forces such as gravity or air resistance. So what happens when you take a large animal traveling as a slowish speed and suddenly reduce its mass? It speeds up. A lot.

Alex transformed himself into a human just a second after Faith disengaged her backup chute. His momentum times his lowered mass accelerated him to a speed that allowed him to catch up with her before he transformed back and caught her in his talons only a few seconds before they hit dirt. It wasn’t teleportation, but it would look a lot like it to anyone watching. Alex groaned inwardly at the watching Initiative finding out another of his secrets.

“Let me go!” was all that he heard as he floated to the ground.

God, Xander had never felt so tired. He shook his head, realizing he was so out of it that he was thinking of himself as ‘Xander’ again. The kick to his midsection caught him by surprise, knocking the wind out of him and carrying him 10 yards away.

It just isn’t fair, Alex thought as he flew through the air. Every time I switch bodies with Faith, I end up in the body that hasn’t slept or eaten in days.

Faith, meanwhile, was testing her new/old body. “I gotta tell you man, I really wish I could have gotten that BJ while I was a guy, but other than that, I’m glad to have my own body back, even if you did break my arm.” She waited until Alex was breathing and watching her warily before going on, “I gotta ask, how do you sit down as a guy? I spent the whole time standing up cause every time I sat down, I ended up sitting on my balls. And you guys ain’t kidding about how much that shit hurts.”

“Practice,” Xander said as he stood up. “Spreading your legs helps, too.”

“So now what? You gonna turn into a dragon and fry me?”

“Yes, that is quite the neat trick,” Adam said as he came over a rise, interrupting their banter. “It’s no wonder you weren’t afraid of me before. And you’ve brought a friend. Are you Buffy Summers?”

“What do you want with Buffy?”

“I need to kill her.”

“Then yeah, I’m Buffy Summers,” Faith said.

“Thank you. You may die now.”

With that, a machine gun popped up out of Adam’s arm and started firing. Alex jumped in front of Faith as he transformed and blew a giant font of flame at Adam. He took several rounds on his armored chest but the rounds were comparatively small on a dragon, and his draconic form was still wearing armor, unlike his human one. The sun had set by then and he was forced to turn back into a human to see the results of his fire breathing. There was no body.

“Did I get him?” he asked.

“Very impressive,” Adam’s voice came from the other side of a rise.

Xander made a mental note that Adam was a heck of a lot faster and better armed than the last time they fought. This wasn’t going to be easy. He’d left his ID necklace on his bedroom dresser rather than risk losing it in the desert after transforming back so he couldn’t call for backup that way. Faith had a radio in her bag in case the switch failed, but he doubted Adam would let them dig it out and make a call.

“But a weakness,” Adam was still talking. “You can’t seem to see what you’re firing at. Not the most accurate weapon.”

“Why don’t you come closer again and I’ll show you how accurate I can be!” Alex shouted back.

“I think not.”

The thump sound that followed was familiar to Alex but he couldn’t place it. Luckily, Faith could.

“Get down!” she tackled him to the sand.

The grenade exploded very near where they had just been standing and sent a fountain of sand and gravel into the night sky. Both their ears were ringing and it was more instinct that told them to keep moving than anything else. They certainly heard the three explosions that followed them as they ran.

“Fly, dammit!” Faith shouted.

“We’d die!” Alex shouted back. He knew better than to fly too close to archers. If that machine gun caught his armor again, they’d be fine, but if it caught his wings... Not to mention that they were still in grenade-launcher range. He was reasonably certain that his armor wasn’t strong enough to stand up to an explosion. No, smaller was better right now. Smaller targets are harder to hit with archers and artillery. So they were going to stay small and mobile for now.

His ears must have stopped ringing because he finally heard the sound he’d been hoping to hear since he and Faith had landed; the wump, wump, wump of a helicopter’s rotors. He tried to wave them away but it was too late and they were already in range. The explosion was much bigger than the ones before it, as the jet fuel in the chopper ignited when the grenade exploded and turned the machine and its occupants into shrapnel.

The wingman of the downed gunship wasted no time in getting the hell out of Dodge. He had started turning at the same time as the other helicopter but never got as close as the first one. The desert threw up flowers of dirt as Adam tried to walk his grenades into the path of the moving chopper.

Alex took careful note of where the demon was, transformed and jumped towards where he remembered Adam being in the inky blackness. The moment his feet left the ground, he transformed back, keeping his momentum. Almost before anyone could blink, he slammed into the ground just beyond and to the right of the demon/thing.

Adam stopped firing at the chopper, allowing it to escape, which had been Alex’s hope. “Another power? I shall-”

He was cut off when Alex charged forward, hidden behind a small stream of fire from his human mouth. He struck but it was easily blocked. This fight did not go as well for Alex as the first fight. Adam was faster, stronger, and better armed than the first time; while Alex was unarmed and already exhausted. Faith hadn’t had any weapons on her when she transformed so he didn’t have any now. They hadn’t thought it a good idea for him to carry any weapons on his jump since they didn’t want to arm Faith should the jump be successful.

Speaking of Faith, Alex was just sparing a thought for where she was as a rock impacted the side of Adam’s head and said Slayer charged back into the fray giving Alex a moment to collect himself. Even with only one working arm, she was a force to be reckoned with. She grit her teeth in pain as every movement, every blow delivered or received, jarred her broken arm. Yet she didn’t give up and she didn’t slow down.

Alexander looked around for a weapon, anything to use against the unstoppable demon but found only rocks and sand. That’s all that was out here. Then a thought struck him: Adam looked to be part machine, and machines don’t do well with sand. He scooped up two large handfuls of sand and ran to help Faith. He attacked from behind and ground one handful of dirt into Adam’s right arm, the one with the guns in it, and another into his face, hopefully blinding him.

“Not again,” he heard Faith say.

He looked down to see that while he’d been dealing with the right arm, the Polgara demon bone-skewer housed within left arm had stabbed Faith in the chest.

Adam retracted that bone and spun away in order to use his left hand to wipe the sand off his face. Turning back around, he took in Alex as he raised his grenade launcher right arm.

Alex froze next to Faith where he had been about to pick her up and run, certain he was about to die. They were far enough away that Adam would probably survive the blast but too close to dodge and he was sure that his dragon-armor wouldn’t withstand a grenade. Then a spotlight illuminated them.

Everyone looked up where the second—escaped—helicopter had come back around and was engaging from a much greater height this time. Alexander took the opportunity, and he was pretty sure it was a hint, to run away and give the chopper a clear field of fire. Sure enough, as soon as he cleared the spotlight, a loud ‘brap’ of a mini-gun could be heard behind him. He chanced a glance back through the darkening night to see Adam raise his gun arm but didn’t fire; he looked curiously at his gun-arm—the sand had worked. Another blast of bullets ripped up the sand. This time Alex could hear the ‘tink tink tink’ of bullets hitting metal. Adam seemed unfazed by the hits but didn’t seem inclined to stand and take it either if he couldn’t shoot back. Sparing one last glance at Alex and Faith, he took off through the desert in the other direction.

“Ungh!” Faith cried out in pain as they finally stopped running and Alex set her down. She coughed and blood trickled down her cheek. “Sorry ‘bout stealing your bod, Xan.”

“Shh, just lie still.”

“Tell Buffy- tell Buffy-” she gripped his arm desperately.

“You can tell her yourself,” Alex interrupted. With that he cast the healing spell. His magic certainly wasn’t as strong as when he was in Faith’s body and he was weak. Exhausted to begin with, and then the fight with Adam had drained him even further—he honestly didn’t know where he was getting the energy to heal Faith except that he just had to heal her. He poured the last of his strength into the spell as he slipped into unconsciousness.

“... we haven’t heard anything one way or another. That’s why we’re asking. Do we need to keep watching out for her or is she gone for good? Really? Well, that’s- that’s fantastic. Thank you so much for your help.” Giles hung up the phone and looked at his audience. “Faith is dead,” he said.

Chapter Text

“... we haven’t heard anything one way or another. That’s why we’re asking. Do we need to keep watching out for her or is she gone for good? Really? Well, that’s- that’s fantastic. Thank you so much for your help.” Giles hung up the phone and looked at his audience. “Faith is dead,” he said.

When the cheering had died down, Faith spoke, “You guys don’t have to be so happy about it.”

“A new Slayer has been called – therefore, you are dead as far as the council knows and they won’t be sending anyone else to capture you. I’d say that calls for a bit of celebration,” Giles summed up.

“I wonder who she is,” Faith said, almost in a whisper.

ONE DAY EARLIER

“Oh!” Giles exclaimed when he answered his door. Faith’s body carrying Alexander’s wasn’t what he was expecting. That almost certainly meant that the katra hadn’t worked, which was worrying. “I take it it didn’t work?” he asked as he stood aside to let them in.

“Help me get him to the couch. My arm’s broken.”

“How did you get her on your shoulder?” Giles had to ask as he helped lower Alex’s body to the couch.

“Atomic wedgie,” Faith said. “I don’t envy him when he wakes up.”

“You keep saying ‘him’. I thought we agreed to call Faith a ‘she’ even in Alexander’s body? But right now I’m most curious about why the katra didn’t work.”

“The what?”

“Why didn’t you switch back?” Giles expounded.

“We did,” Faith said simply. It was tough but she was able to keep a straight face as she watched realization wash over Giles that he was alone in the room with Faith, not Alex.

Giles licked lips that had suddenly gone dry and swallowed past a throat that had suddenly tightened up.

“I was just flying along, minding my own business, when dumbass here,” she gestured to Alex, “busted my arm skydiving into me and switched us back. Then, once we landed, this demon thing with with a machine gun and grenade launcher on his arm found us. He stabbed me—the demon, not Alex,” she pointed to a circular tear in her top. “Not sure what happened next. One minute, I swear I’m about to die; dark tunnel, bright light an’ everything, ya know? And next thing I know I’m healed but Alex’s passed out next to me. Didn’t seem right to leave him in the middle of the desert like that. So here we are.” Faith finished, downplaying their little adventure. “Plus, I figured you could at least splint my arm before I split.”

“Faith.”

“Yeah?”

“Faith.”

“Dat’s my name, don’t wear it out.”

With supreme effort, Giles got his brain reengaged. “Why not go to hospital?” In his muddled state, he completely forgot that Americans say “to the hospital.”

“Still a wanted woman, Giles. Plus those council goons are out there.”

“I take it Alexander didn’t have time to tell you, then?”

“Tell me what?” she asked.

“Alexander dealt with both, well, most of those issues,” Giles answered. “He was interviewed by the police and released without charges after being questioned under lie detector that he hadn’t killed the people you were accused of killing. He was quite proud that he’d been bitingly sarcastic, caustic, and as uncooperative as he thought you would be so your ‘rep’ is quite intact.”

“And the council?”

“That’s the part that’s only partially taken care of,” Giles admitted. “But come, have a seat at the counter and I’ll tell you about it while I give you that splint you wanted.”

Giles told her the story of Alex’s capture, fiery escape, and the firefight in the graveyard. “...so the council’s goons were arrested and charged with negligent discharge of a firearm. Now, an interesting fact about that charge is that in California it can be either a misdemeanor or a felony. The penalties they’ll face have yet to be determined by the courts, but they are almost guaranteed to be deported.”

“Sweet, where’s the downside?” she asked.

“Well, the council could try to send them back after you. Alternately, they may just send another team.”

“Shit. They could be on their way already, couldn’t they?”

“They could at that,” Giles admitted sadly.

Faith jumped up, jarring her splinted arm and eliciting a pained hiss.

“Rupert, who was at- Oh!” Audrey took in Faith and her splinted arm and a moment later said, “Hello, Faith.”

“How did you know it was me?” Faith asked.

Audrey didn’t answer, she had spotted her unconscious husband on the couch and rushed to his side, feeling his forehead and taking one his his hands in hers. “Have you examined him?” she asked Giles.

Giles shook his head. “I checked that he was alive and breathing but I’ve only just gotten the story of what happened from Faith while I splinted her arm.”

“He’s exhausted. Could you get me some sugar-water?”

“Try this.” Giles handed over a bottle of Gatorade.

Audrey unscrewed the cap and took a sip to test it. She then slapped Alex’s cheeks gently. “Alex, wake up.”

“Five more minutes,” was the mumbled reply.

“Alexander. Wake up and drink this,” Audrey ordered.

“Huh?” Alex groggily came back to reality.

“Drink,” she ordered again and held the bottle to his lips. Once it was drained she asked, “Better?”

“A bit, but now I gotta pee. Oh, hey Faith,” he said as he levered himself up and took stock of his surroundings.

“Hey,” she said. “Thanks for, you know, saving my life and all; even after I...” she trailed off, unable to say the words she wanted to say.

“Thanks for helping against Adam, even after I broke your arm. You’ll forgive me if I don’t shake your hand for a while though,” he said with a grin, trying to ease the sting of the barb.

“I’m not su-” Faith started.

She was interrupted by Xander jumping up and heading for the bathroom. “Hold that thought.”

“Maybe I should just...” Faith looked over to Giles for permission to leave.

“I hope you don’t think you’re leaving,” Audrey answered instead.

“Uh...”

“Alex is exhausted right now. A good night’s sleep, though, and he’ll be able to heal your arm for you. After that, we’ll decide your punishment,” Audrey stated.

Giles stepped in at that. “You’ll decide?”

“Who else do you think could or should?” Audrey asked.

“I assume there’s a reason you want me to heal Faith’s arm when you’re perfectly capable?” Alex asked once they were home.

“Of course. The same reason you didn’t want the Initiative to know about your dragon form,” Audrey replied.

“Yes, but they’re our... Well, I suppose Faith might not be.”

Audrey shook her head and gave a perfect, “Ya think?”

Alex smirked at her imitation of him then clapped and rubbed his hands together. “So, punishment. What’dya have in mind?”

Alexander dug into his pocket and handed his wife what was obviously money, but no one could see the denomination. “I bet that you wouldn’t be here when we got here,” he explained at a look from Faith. “She gave me two to one odds and I would’ve won if you’dve been out getting breakfast and came back.”

“Mighta. But couldn’t once the guard showed up,” Faith gestured to the back corner of Giles’ living room where Buffy sat. Not hiding, per se, but definitely out of the way. “Not with this arm.”

“Sure that’s a good idea?” Buffy asked as Alex stepped forward and reached out for Faith’s injured arm.

“I promised.” So saying, he took Faith’s arm and after a brief glow, her arm was as good as new. “Feel good? No weird pains or extra growths? How bout where you got stabbed?”

“Growths?” Faith asked in a higher octave than usual.

Alex shrugged. “When I first started learning the spell, I tended to add things. Extra fingers to hands, arms sprouting from various areas, that kind of thing.”

“That’s... the kinda thing you wanna learn before the doc treats you,” Faith said incredulously.

“I go’ be’er,” he replied in a faux British accent, imitating Monty Python.

“Moving right along to the punishment phase of our game show...” Buffy interjected.

“Buffy,” Giles said exasperatedly. He looked like he hadn’t slept all night. Easy money was on he and the blonde Slayer arguing half the night.

Audrey spoke up. “Before we get there, there are some extenuating circumstances we want to address. First, that Adam is now after Faith.”

“What happened to him wanting to kill me?” Buffy asked, almost put out that she’d been supplanted in Adam’s sights.

“Apparently, dear old Maggie forgot to upload a picture of you, and then yours truly here,” Alex waved to Faith, “claimed to be ‘Buffy’ when they met. So now she’s undesirable number one. Or two, depending on where I am on that list. I don’t think we’ve ever-”

“Alex,” Audrey interrupted her husband’s babbling.

“Right. Two, you’re now on the Initiative’s radar. I don’t know how much you know about them...”

“Not much.”

“Well, all we know is that they like to capture and experiment on demons and the like.”

“Well... that’s good right?”

“Except that you, me, and Buffy all fall under ‘the like’.”

“Oh.”

“And three,” Audrey added. “Thanks to your forced switching, Alex is now the best vagina-eater on the planet.”

“Pussy-eater,” Alex corrected.

“Really?” Faith asked as Buffy hiccuped in surprise and Giles face-palmed.

“Oh yeah, he was already very good, but having sex in your body made him ten times better. And made him much better with his-”

“Moving on, if you please,” Giles interrupted before the girls could really get going and make Buffy faint from blushing.

Alex spoke up. “So anyway, your punishment is going to be to help us destroy Adam.”

“What?!” was heard in stereo from two equally incredulous Slayers. Followed by, “That’s it?” also still in stereo, after which the two girls glared at each other to get the other to stop copying them as they said things.

“Alex, you can’t be serious. Faith-”

He cut Buffy off. “I’m completely serious and don’t call me Shirley. Oh, wait. You forgot to call me Shirley that time.”

Faith stifled a snicker.

“The point is, three super-powered fighters are at least twice as good as two,” Alexander stated out.

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Buffy complained.

“He’s right about that, at least, Buffy,” Giles spoke up. “Fighting three people is infinitely harder than fighting only two. Unless, of course, said three have never trained together; in which case they’re as like to get in each other’s way as anything else.”

Buffy smiled. “See, she’ll just get in the way.”

“Then we train with her.”

Buffy frowned this time, “What about the council?”

“Like you care a tosh what the council thinks.” Everyone looked at Giles and then at Buffy, who shrugged. “Or perhaps we don’t need to worry about them at all.” Everyone looked back at Giles who took off his glasses and began to polish them as he thought out loud. “When Faith brought Alexander back, she described a near-death experience. It’s possible that she—like yourself, Buffy—died and was brought back to life. Or another possibility I’ve been pondering is whether simply switching bodies with Alexander might have the same effect. The Slayer essence may have decided, while you were out of your body, that you were no longer the Slayer and moved on to the next girl.”

“How soon can we find out?” Buffy demanded.

WE NOW RETURN YOU TO YOUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED PROGRAM

“... we haven’t heard anything one way or another. That’s why we’re asking. Do we need to keep watching out for her or is she gone for good? Really? Well, that’s- that’s fantastic. Thank you so much for your help.” Giles hung up the phone and looked at his audience. “Faith is dead,” he said.

When the cheering had died down, Faith spoke, “You guys don’t have to be so happy about it.”

“A new Slayer has been called – therefore, you are dead as far as the council knows and they won’t be sending anyone else to capture you. I’d say that calls for a bit of celebration,” Giles summed up.

“I wonder who she is,” Faith said, almost in a whisper.

“I’m afraid they won’t tell me. As you no doubt heard, they would barely tell me that a new girl had been called at all.”

“So, this is the second time you’ve brought a Slayer back from death, honey?” Audrey asked.

As Alex stammered out his somewhat sheepish reply, Giles made a mental note to check his books. He had to know if there were any prophecies referencing a time when three Slayers walked the earth.

“So, when’d you last eat?” Alex asked as they walked away from Giles apartment.

“I ate at Giles’,” Faith said.

“Uh huh. When?” When no answer was forthcoming, he nodded sadly. “Thought so. Both times we switched, I was surprised you were still standing. Just to let you know, while you work for me, that doesn’t happen.”

“Work for you?” Faith asked, surprised.

“Temporarily, at least. On a trial basis until we kill Adam. See how we get along. I figure the council thinks you’re dead, so it’s not like they’ll give you a stipend this time around.”

Faith shot him a confused look.

“You did get-? How’d you pay for your hotel room? You know what, never mind. Food first, then we’ll talk about lodging, clothes, and transportation.”

“Wait. You’re gonna buy me all that?”

Audrey spoke up. “By transportation, we mean ‘bicycle’ not ‘car’, but yes; we provide for our soldiers. You’re a unique case of course.”

“But how?”

“I find money works well. I conquered an entire country, Faith, and brought quite a bit of money back with me. So we can afford to put you up for a few months. Not at a Hilton, but something nicer than the roach pit,” Alex answered.

“Tell me about conquering a country,” Faith had to ask.

For two weeks; Alex, Faith, and Buffy (at Giles’ insistence) trained together intensively. They sparred 2-on-1, switching off teaming up against each other. When it came to re-training with Audrey, Faith... didn’t really need it. She wasn’t the type of girl who just did as she was told anyway, so when something didn’t feel right, she had experimented until she found what worked for her and stopped listening to the watchers. Audrey was able to add a few new female-only moves to her repertoire. Alex taught both of them all the magic he knew—all three spells. He knew it was a bit of a risk trusting Faith with the magic, but his offensive spells were really only effective when they were a surprise and teaching her healing might save his life someday. At night, the three of them patrolled together often teaming up on one vampire and whaling on it until it dropped. It wasn’t exactly fair to the vampire, but they got good practice at working together in a fight.

Until the night where they ran into a nest of nine vampires in a crypt all feeding on one victim. Our heroes backed away quietly.

Buffy was first to speak. “A nest. No biggie. I bet we could do it. I know we could each take at least two.”

“Which just leaves three to slaughter us while we’re occupied with the others. I believe we’ve already proven how unfair 3-to-1 odds are. Tonight even,” Alex said.

“Yeah, I don’t need a demonstration on how to get ourselves killed,” Faith agreed.

“You’re right,” Buffy said. “It’s too many for just us. You know who we need.”

“So, sounds like you need my help. Just say the magic words.”

Buffy smiled. He was going to help them. “Help me, Obi-Jon Kenobi. You’re our only hope.”

Chapter Text

“So, sounds like you need my help. Just say the magic words.”

Buffy smiled. He was going to help them. “Help me, Obi-wan Jonobi. You’re our only hope.”

Once Jonathan had led them in the assault on the nest and nearly single-handedly killed the vampires, the entire group left the mausoleum. Jono stopped for some photographers for a bit and the group mostly broke up with Faith trailing after Alexander and Audrey.

“I wanted to talk to you guys,” she said after a few minutes.

“Oh yeah, I suppose we can give it to you tonight,” Alex said as he pulled out his wallet and gave Faith her allowance. She ate breakfast and dinner with them, but lunch and snacks on her own so he gave her some money each week for that.

“That’s not it,” Faith said even as she pocketed the money. “I wanted to talk about- about Jonathan.”

The other two looked at each other. Audrey spoke, “We need to pick up Jesse from Tara’s then get our bikes. Meet us at our place?”

Faith was waiting outside their place when they got there as she didn’t have a key. They might be paying for her living expenses but trust would come slowly and she’d have to work at it. They’d told her that up front and she completely understood. She was still astounded at the turn of events that led to them paying for her room and board.

Faith followed them on her own bicycle out Steward Avenue to the north-east and they were very quickly in Los Padres National Forest. Forest was a bit of a misnomer; there were a few trees, most not much taller than Faith, but mostly shrubs and rocks. Audrey slowed to a stop next to some rocks and everyone else parked as well. Alexander went downhill a little ways to relieve himself. Faith and Audrey looked at each other, thinking similar thoughts about men. Eventually, the man of their group zipped himself up and rejoined them.

“We talked a little as we picked Jesse up,” Alex began as he sat down on rock. “I’m gonna take a wild guess and say you have some memories that don’t match up.”

Faith licked her lips, dry from the bike ride. “I remember him fighting the Mayor and blowing him up. But I know for a fact that I was in a coma at the time. That...” she paused as she noticed Jesse again, “...jerk.”

Audrey nodded. “Same here. We all remember him doing things we weren’t on earth for. Luckily, the spell is strong, but doesn’t extend far. I stopped us a little after we reached the edge of the spell. You’ll find you can think more clearly now that we’ve left Sunnydale. Otherwise, you probably couldn’t have thought anything bad about this Jonathan.”

“You know, Sunnydale isn’t that big and Jono’s mansion isn’t that far. Give me three tries from a thousand feet and I could probably hit it from here. Speaking of, how did he get a mansion in the first place?” Alex pondered out loud.

“So what do we do?” Faith asked. “I mean you went to school with this guy, right? So he’s human. I can’t just roll in and kick his a- buttocks then. I mean, I can but-”

“Got it,” Alex cut her off.

“And no, we don’t want to go back in there,” Audrey added as she pulled a map out of a backpack. “We’d probably just fall under the spell again. Oxnard is 35 miles away and LA is another 50 beyond that.”

Faith held up a hand. “Wait, you’re just going to leave the others in his- I don’t want to call them clutches.”

“As far as the spell goes, it’s somewhat benign,” Audrey said. “Though I am a little worried that you didn’t think to just roast those vamps in their crypt, honey. But at least all the monsters are dead and no one got hurt.”

“Aww, you’re just saying that because you don’t want me to transform and roast him like a marshmallow in his own house.”

“More that I don’t want the Initiative to label you a ‘clear and present danger’.”

Alex pointed to his wife and explained to Faith that, “She’s been reading US Army manuals and the Uniform Code of Military Justice.”

“Know thy enemy,” Audrey stated firmly, still reading her map.

“What about this one?” Alex asked, pointing at the map.

Audrey shook her head. “Cuts back too close to Sunnydale. But back here there’s a dirt trail that connects these two. Kinda winding, so probably switchbacks, we’ll have to get off and walk the bikes.”

“You guys are really going to bike to LA?” Faith asked.

“It’s only 35 miles to Oxnard. Even with back trails we should be there by morning. We can eat, rest, and call our friends from there and decide if we need to go all the way to LA or not,” Alex answered. “You don’t have to come with us, but it might not be safe to go back under Jono’s spell now that you know.”

“How come Adam hasn’t found us yet?” Faith wondered out loud as they biked.

“Probably- the Initiative,” Audrey panted. As the only normal person pedaling, she was setting their speed, though Alexander was in front of her, cutting the wind.

Alex spoke up, not at all out of breath. “We think Adam found us when you and I, uh- met out here last time because he’s tapping the Initiative’s coms and they gave me the ride I needed to catch up to you. Once we’re ready, we’ll try to use that fact to set a trap.”

“Riley?” Buffy asked, surprised as she opened Giles’ door that morning.

“Miss Summers,” he acknowledged formally. “Actually, I’m looking for- ah, Jonathan.”

“Agent Finn, I was just showing Buffy and Mister Giles the schematics of Adam,” Jonathan said. “They need to know that he’s powered by a nuclear reactor and that beheading isn’t going to work on him as that’s one of their go-to moves. Also I found out these are already out of date. Alexander and Faith reported that he’s self upgraded and now sports at least a machine gun and a grenade launcher on his right arm.”

Riley and Buffy both glared daggers at each other.

Jono stepped between them. “Look, I know you two don’t like each other, maybe can barely stand each other. But this is actionable intelligence that both sides of the good guys need to know if we’re going to defeat this thing. We all need to work together on this.”

“Sorry Jonathan,” they both said a second apart.

The superstar nodded, mostly satisfied. “Now, where are Alexander and Faith? They were supposed to be here by now...”

Said heroes were sound asleep, having gotten into Oxnard very early in the morning. They found a hotel room with double beds and crashed for most of the day; until around about noon when they were wakened by a piercing shriek.

“Wake up, Dad!”

“Ah! Oh no! It’s the tickle monster!”

Once everyone had calmed down from their morning tickle fight, Faith asked, “So, what’s the plan?”

Audrey answered by saying to her husband, “I’m still a little bit concerned that you didn’t just roast those vampires.”

“Roasted vampires!” Jesse interrupted.

“And I remember Willow being your key computer-girl and yet it took Jonathan to get the plans to the mausoleum. I was hoping it was some sort of augmentation spell, making him that good. Instead, it seems more like an illusion; making you give him credit for things you could have done yourselves.”

Alexander snapped his fingers. “Darn. And here I was hoping we could use his new powers to defeat Adam.”

“It would have been nice,” Audrey agreed.

“There’s gotta be a way to break the spell, though, right?” Faith said.

“Of course,” Audrey said. “Except we’d need to know how and your friend is unlikely to be forthcoming with that knowledge.”

“Magic books might have the spell,” Faith pointed out.

“Ah, research party,” Alex said as he waved around the hotel room. “Feel free to pick your favorite book from our wide selection and start reading.” He paused and looked at his wife. “Though, maybe we could call Giles? Set him to researching. As long as we don’t tell him why, it should be safe.”

“So now what?” Faith asked as Alex hung up the phone. She was a woman of action and she didn’t like sitting still when there was work to be done and she didn’t like relying on the watcher, who was still under the spell, to research his own cure.

“Breakfast?” Alex asked lamely.

Faith shot him a look.

“What? Who else can we call? Everyone I know who’s in the know is in Sunnydale.”

“Not... everyone,” Audrey said.

Alex furrowed his brow in thought until the realization hit. He’d completely forgotten that he’d even told his wife about... “No. Oh no. Please, no.”

One bus ride and a perusal through the phone book later and they were standing in front of... “I still say it looks like a moth.”

“That’s because you have no artistic vision, husband,” Audrey claimed as they looked at the sign for Angel Investigations.

“I see Elton John. Well, look at it. That’s his nose and his funky glasses. Then a big, gaudy jewel right in the middle.”

“Oh yeah,” Alex nodded in agreement.

Audrey shrugged, not knowing who Elton John was.

“I’m sorry, but we’re closed. Family emergen- Faith? Oh shi-”

“Cordy?” Alex cut her off.

“Xander?” Cordelia recognized him more by his voice than by his face, as that was covered by a beard she’d never seen before.

“It’s Alex now and- Wesley? Ooh! Research guy. Just what we need!”

“Mister Harris and...” he stopped talking when he realized who it was. He left Sunnydale so he wouldn’t be reminded of his utter failure with this particular Slayer. Also, the last he’d heard, she was trying to kill them all... or maybe just Buffy.

“Oh yeah. Introductions. Faith, this is Cordelia and Wesley.” At their looks, he explained, “Faith has amnesia,” and watched as both of them relaxed.

“I do?” Faith asked.

Alex shook his head in frustration and face-palmed. “Fine, no amnesia. She just chose our side again now that she’s awake. And it’s great that you’re here too. We need research. You remember Jonathan?”

“Short guy with the ambition of someday becoming a loser?” Cordy filled in.

“Yeah, well, thanks to a mind-whammy, he’s suddenly the king of Sunnydale.”

“Is he sacrificing anyone?” Wesley asked.

“No. Well, not that we know of.”

“Then that’s quite intriguing but we have more pressing business.”

“Why you guys all dressed up?” Faith asked. “Party’s more important than Sunny D?”

“For your information, we believe Angel’s been kidnapped and we’re going to rescue him,” Wesley said, a bit pompously. Which was an improvement considering the last time they met, he was saying everything incredibly pompously.

“You two?” Faith asked incredulously. A coma sure could change things. A year ago neither of these two would or even could rescue a kitten from a tree.

“Alex, if they’re busy, we can come back. It’s past Jesse’s bedtime.” Audrey held up their drowsing child.

“Sorry, Honey. Guys, this is my wife, Audrey, and our son, Jesse,” he introduced.

“That’s your son? Did you have him before you even met Buffy?” Cordy asked.

“Shh,” Audrey shushed the girl who was becoming too loud. “We’ll explain tomorrow. Right now, we need to find a hotel room.”

Wesley spun around and unlocked the door.

“You can stay here instead,” Cordelia was quick to offer Angel’s home/office for others to stay in.

Wesley agreed. “Yes, there’s two couches upstairs and another two downstairs, plus Angel’s bed which he didn’t sleep in today.”

“So, where are you guys headed?” Alexander asked. “Some type of rescue party?” Inwardly, he snickered at his own pun but kept a straight face.

“Any threat of violence? Need some backup?” Faith offered.

“Thank you, Faith, but this outing is purely reconnaissance. Besides, we haven’t got the outfits to make any of you fit in,” Wesley explained.

“You got an address?” Alex asked. The address was pointed out to him on Cordy’s desk. “I’ll sleep up here by the phone tonight. If you need the place firebombed in a hurry, give a call.”

Once Wesley and Cordy had left, the Harris party scouted the new digs.

“Sewer access. I guess it makes sense to have that in case Angel wants to travel by day. Too bad we can’t block that. Faith, I guess the couch nearest that is yours. Audrey, you can have the other one down here and Jesse can have Angel’s bed. If we’re lucky, he might have an accident.” Everyone awake chuckled at that. “You know where I’ll be.” On the way up, he whispered in Faith’s ear, “Protect my family.” It wasn’t much—he was still in the same building—but it was him showing her just a little trust and it meant the world to her right then.

“I say we cut off his hand. Both of them, just to be sure,” Alex said, only half joking.

Cordy and Wesley had just gotten in and explained Angel’s situation to them. Angel was a prisoner in a demon gladiatorial ring. All the prisoners wore magical bracelets which would only come off after they won 21 matches. Until then, they would kill anyone who crossed a red line. Alex’s suggestion to cut off Angel’s hand to gain him his freedom wasn’t well received.

“What’s the line made of?” Audrey asked. She had to repeat her question before anyone understood it. “It has to be more than just red paint. What happens if you remove a section of the paint? Does the spell remain?”

“An interesting point,” Wesley allowed. “However, I doubt the contest organizers would allow us to go in and use whatever power tools we wanted on their magic line. Also, such an action would leave a hole that all the demons could use to escape. Our key that I’m trying to make-”

“Actually, I like that idea,” Cordy interrupted.

“The key, yes-”

Cordy shook her head, “No. The line thing. Letting all the demons munch on those...” she paused, remembering there was a child in their midst, “...jerks. That would gain us the time we needed to free Angel.”

“Well, here’s the book,” Wesley offered them the tome he’d been using for research. “I’ll work on my key and anyone who wants can try to undo the red line.”

“Do you believe Xander has a kid? A kid! And what’s going on with Psycho-Slayer?”

“Cordelia, do you mind? - I’m trying to concentrate.” Wesley and Cordelia—well, mostly Wesley—were trying to make a key to unlock the magical slave cuffs all the slaves were wearing. He was pretty sure she was only near him so she didn’t have to be near Faith.

“You’ve been concentrating all night,” Cordy whined.

“Yes! It’s taken this long to translate the text. I need something that conducts electricity, but not too much of it. This cuff is half magic, half – medieval technology. If I read the alchemist correctly – all I need is-” he was cut off as he touched a wire to the cuff and a small explosion literally knocked him out of his chair.

“Are you okay?” Cordy asked as the rest of the crew ran towards the sound from the other room.

Wesley sat back up. “Perhaps... something that conducts a little less electricity?”

“I’ll be right back. You guys keep working on the thin red line,” Alex said to his wife as he left.

He returned to find Wesley hiding under the table with only his hand exposed as he tried a new conductor. Nothing happened.

“Too thick,” Wesley said as Cordelia came out from her hiding spot behind a concrete pillar.

“Got it!” Audrey shouted in triumph. She saw her husband, ran up to him, and hugged him. “I would have been done sooner but they kept blowing things up, interrupting my concentration.”

Alexander threw his purchase on the table.

“Resistors?” Wesley said, reading the package.

“Start from the highest resistance and-”

“Work my way down. Yes, yes. I’m only wondering why I didn’t think of this.”

“We stopped asking ourselves that a long time ago,” Alex snarked.

One process of elimination later and they had their key.

“Now, our deal?” he asked.

“We’ll start researching Jonathan’s new prowess while you two break Angel out. Are you sure you don’t need back up?”

“Already got it,” Alex said, reaching for Faith’s hand. “Honey, if anything happens, throw Wesley to the wolves and run. ‘Kay?”

Wesley scowled at Alexander’s retreating back and rubbed his chin. Maybe it was time he grew a beard? The young man certainly looked at least five years older and wiser with the beard.

“Jesus. Never seen so many different demons. You know there were this many kinds?” Faith asked in a whisper. Next to her, Alex just shook his head. “So, how you wanna play this?”

“How many guards did Wes say there were?” He wasn’t asking, just testing to see if Faith was paying attention.

She was. “Twelve or so?”

“Are you asking me or telling me?”

“Twelve- uh, sir.” She tacked that last bit on the end on instinct.

“And how many gladiator demons do you think we need to deal with those twelve guards?”

“Uh, six?” Faith guessed.

“I’d actually bump that up a bit. The guards are weaker but fighting from a position of advantage. Usually an attacking force would need to be very numerically superior to win in this scenario but I think just a dozen demons could take the guards,” the former Lord Protector of Rivellon explained. He stepped out of the shadows and into the slaves’ domain. “Hello there. I’m looking for Angel,” he told the demons watching the fight.

“See for yourself,” one of the demons in front of the high windows said.

“Look quick, cause he’ll be dead soon,” a mottled green demon said, stepping away from the windows. “He’s fighting Trepkos. And who the hell are you?”

Alex pulled out the key Wesley had made. “Your fairy godmother. This key can unlock your cuffs if you-” His request for help was cut off when the frog-demon’s tongue shot out and wrapped itself around the key. Alexander, however, wasn’t about to lose his prize and gripped tighter while reflexively sending out a fireball with his other hand. The fireball impacted the demon’s chest, throwing his body backward.

“Damn it! He broke it!” Alex yelled. The demon’s tongue had been wrapped around the key he was holding tightly and their tug-of-war had broken the key.

“Way to go, Cribb,” one of the demons kicked the body of the frog-demon.

“Lemme see,” Faith ran to his side to see the damage to their only key. “Plan B?”

Alex nodded. “Don’t tell Audrey her plan was plan B.”

Faith chuckled and set to work over the red line on the floor. Alex, meanwhile, picked up the demon named Cribb and chucked him over Faith’s head, disintegrating him. That’s what he got for being grabby.

“What’s she doing?” one of the demons asked, ignoring the fact that one of their own had just been summarily executed.

“Freeing you,” Alex said offhandedly. He heard chanting coming from the fighting pit.

As he got closer he could hear, “Killing blow! Killing blow!” and saw Angel standing over another demon with a small spear at his throat. He watched as Angel threw the spear away rather than use it win the bout then stood up and walked a short distance away – there wasn’t far to go in the small fighting pit. The other demon also got up and started attacking Angel again. It was clear pretty quick that how ever Angel won the first time around, it took a lot out of him: he was barely fighting back any more.

Alex turned around to yell, “Hurry up. Angel’s not going to last much longer!”

“One more minute!” was the reply.

“He doesn’t have a minute,” Alex mumbled to himself, turning back around, but maybe he could give him that minute? He reached out his hand towards the pit and performed the healing spell. The entire building went quiet. Alex opened his eyes to see that... oops. Angel had grown an extra hand and arm out of his back. The spectators watched as the hand felt around Angel’s head. First his chin, then his mouth, his nose, and finally his hair. Then the hair again and then it poked him in the eyes.

“Ow!” Angel yelled, breaking the spell over the crowd who laughed.

“Keep fighting!” someone in the gallery yelled. They sounded like they were in charge and the sounds of the fans cheering resumed. Angel and Trepkos started circling each other again.

“Faith?”

“Done!” she yelled back.

“What’s that?” one of the demons asked.

“Just step over the sand. Try not to step on it,” Faith explained.

“How do we know it’ll work?” the same demon asked.

“Oh for...” Alex grabbed that demon and threw him over the sand. The demon didn’t disintegrate, proving that their way worked. “See? You’re welcome.”

“And if it hadn’t worked?” the demon asked picking himself up as the other demons carefully crossed.

“Oh well?” Alex chuckled, already turning for the fighting pit.

A dozen demons followed, killing the guards in the pit and a few others who reached into the pit to try to hit them with their cattle prods.

“What the?” Angel said as the rescue crew arrived. Unfortunately, the rescue crew weren’t all that bright and didn’t realize that there was only the one route over the red line and paid by disintegrating as they crossed the red line in a place that wasn’t safe.

“Come on, we’ve got a path out of here,” Alex said even as he fist-bumped Angel’s new arm.

“Xander?”

Alexander just sighed as he led the way.

“Well, the ringleaders and most of the demons escaped but you did bring Angel back in one piece,” Wesley said.

“And then some,” Cordelia laughed. The new arm had been removed when they got back but she still found it hilarious and frequently broke out laughing whenever Angel walked into a room she was in.

“I doubt you could’ve done better, Wes,” Faith pointed out.

“Stupid key-stealing frog-demon,” Alex muttered.

It was very late by then but Alexander decided to walk Trepkos home to... protect him from muggers. Wesley walked Cordelia home and Angel went down to his own bed to drink some blood and rest. Faith joined Audrey at the back table.

“How does he do it?” Faith asked.

“Do what?”

“I mean, you know they’re going to... track down and basically murder that ringleader guy, right?”

Audrey nodded. “He was never lenient with slavers.”

“How does he-? I mean-” Faith almost wanted the other woman to interrupt her but she was patiently silent. “Has he... gotten a taste for it?”

“Like does he eat people?” Audrey asked in shock.

“No! No, does he enjoy it? Someone told me once-”

Audrey waved away whatever she was going to say. “No. Definitely not. Faith, I was around soldiers a lot and almost none of them enjoyed killing. Those that did, didn’t last long. We also had some bandits near my town that Alex took care of. Even they didn’t kill unless they had to. Whoever told you that killing one person would make you into some psychopathic monster should be shot.”

Faith looked down and tried not to make it obvious she was looking towards where Angel lay. His words from years ago, “you’ve got a taste for it now,” still echoed in her mind.

“You’ve been given the power of life and death over just about everyone. That’s a great responsibility,” Audrey said.

“Over vampires, technically.”

Audrey shook her head. “If you wanted to, do you think we could stop you from killing us? And yet you don’t. You’re not a monster, Faith.”

“But killing vamps-”

“My husband tells me that’s called adrenaline. We just called it the fighting-high. A lot of soldiers get that too. It just means you’re human.”

Faith sniffed and ducked her head, letting her hair obscure her face, but didn’t let any tears fall. “Do you think Xan- Alex will ever trust me again?”

Audrey laughed – quietly, Jesse was sleeping after all. “Alex trusts you a good deal more than he’s shown. He’s mostly waiting for you to be ready to trust yourself.”

They were both silent for a long moment.

“Thanks.”

Chapter Text

Wesley proved once again that he was the superior watcher when it came to research skills. “I believe I’ve found it. It was miscategorized as an augmentation spell when really it’s more of an aggrandizement spell.”

“What’s the dif?” Cordy asked.

“We don’t care,” Alex interrupted before Wesley could do more than take a deep breath. “We want to know two things. What does the spell do and how do we stop it?”

Wesley frowned a bit at only being able to show off a portion of his vast knowledge. “The spell turns the sorcerer into a sort of paragon, the best of everything, everyone’s ideal, but there is a drawback. In order to balance the new force of good the spell has to create the opposing force of evil, the worst of everything, everyone’s nightmare. A terrible monster.”

“And the monster’s linked to the spell?” Alex made an educated guess.

Wes nodded. “Killing the monster will end the spell.”

“So will killing Jonathan,” Audrey added. She stopped at everyone’s look. “What? He cast this spell while we’re in the middle of dealing with two great threats: Adam and the Initiative. He’s getting no sympathy from me.”

No one could really argue with that.

Wesley spoke next. “Yes, but once you’re home, I doubt you’ll be able to kill him. You can kill the monster. And after the spell is ended...”

“He’s so pathetic that he’s not worth killing,” Cordy finished.

“Quite.”

“Will we be able to remember that we need to kill this thing once we’re back?” Faith asked.

“Oh yes. It shouldn’t be a difficult opponent for you either. The trouble will be remembering that you’re the ones that deal with monsters and not to go running to Jonathan for help.”

Alex looked around at his group. “I guess it’s time to go home then. Thanks for your help.”

“You too. Thanks for getting me out without chopping off my hands,” said Angel as he held out a hand to shake.

Alex took it and shook it. It was cold. He still didn’t like Angel and certainly didn’t want to be shaking his hand but he’d shook the hands of worse people as Lord Protector so he did what needed to be done and didn’t let his distaste show. With that, they were off. They biked to the bus station and were soon on their way to be put back under Jono’s spell.

They knew the second they crossed the spell’s threshold as they all—except for Jesse—felt a strong urge to report in to Jonathan but they knew they couldn’t. Still, Jonathan’s mansion was a good place to start looking for the monster and so, after escorting Audrey and Jesse home, Alex and Faith started exploring.

Faith found it first. It looked like a bat crossed with one of Disney’s seven dwarfs. A long beard, very hairy body, pointy ears, and a completely bald head which held the sign proclaiming the monster’s identity. Wes had shown them a picture of the triangle sign of the aggrandizement spell back in LA. She hesitated as a little voice at the back of her mind told her she wasn’t good enough, that she should leave this to Jonathan, that she’d only get hurt. Hesitating turned that last statement into a self-fulfilling prophecy as she was backhanded a good 20 yards.

Luckily Alex came running towards the sound of the scuffle. The monster, not liking the odds, turned and fled. The two heroes chased him until he ran into a dark cave.

“Maybe we should get Jono after all,” Alexander advised.

Faith nodded in agreement before shaking her head to clear it. “No. Remember? We can do this. You can do this.”

“I can do this. I can do this. I- can’t do this.”

“What about your dragon?”

“What about him?”

“Would he be affected by this spell?”

“I don’t know. But he’s too big to fit in that tiny entrance anyway.”

“What about his head?” Faith asked, ignoring the double entendre for now. “Whoa,” she said when the dragon appeared where Alex had been a minute ago.

Alex didn’t bother thinking about whether he was still affected by the spell. He just took a deep breath and breathed fire into the cave. Again and again he did it until the fire would no longer burn inside the cave, so he transformed back. “Whoa there. Stay back and wait.” He grabbed Faith before she could go charging in.

“Wait for what?” asked Faith.

“Hopefully? About 30 seconds.”

Both felt the snap in their minds when the spell ended.

“You burned him to death! Nice going, Al!” Faith held up her hand for a high five.

Alex accepted the praise but corrected her assumption. “Probably not. You saw how the fire wouldn’t go into the cave any more? I burned up all the oxygen. So, yeah, don’t go in there or you’ll suffocate to death the first time you inhale.” He thought for a moment and frowned. “Actually, I just realized I made the perfect vampire lair. They don’t need oxygen and we can’t go in there without scuba gear. Help me block it off and remind me to warn Buffy not to go in here.”

Once they had blocked it by dragging a downed tree over so that the roots completely obscured the entrance, it was time to head to Giles’ for the debriefing.

“Well, to be honest, no one really did any research after the first time you called. It wasn’t until this morning that we found out Tara had been attacked and we really started going at it, and then Anya told us about this world without shrimp and we got sidetracked a bit—which I blame on the spell—but then Wesley called-”

“Talk about a blast from the past,” Buffy interrupted Willow’s speech.

“It was good to hear he’s doing well,” Willow commented before continuing. “And he’d already solved it. We didn’t want to believe it was Jonathan, you know, ‘cause of the spell and all. Buffy was looking for it all day but we’re glad you got it.” She took Tara’s hand in her own as she said the last bit. Tara didn’t say anything, just gave a shy smile and ducked her head. She had been about to accept Alexander’s offer of healing for injuries she received when she was attacked by the monster when Faith had jokingly told the story about Angel getting literally backhanded by Alex. Tara had quickly decided to heal the natural way.

“I- I- I wanted to thank Xander. Have you seen him around?” Jonathan asked.

Buffy shook her head. “He and his wife headed out for a vacation. They didn’t say when they’ll be back.”

“Xander’s married?” Jonathan asked, shocked.

“Yeah, and he has a kid. Also, he goes by Alex now.” Buffy figured she should get the word out for him as she knew Alex was getting sick of explaining the name change.

“Well, tell him I said ‘thank you’ when you see him and I’d love to tell him in person if he wants to hear it.”

“I will.”

“So... Faith?” Jonathan asked. People outside of the Scooby gang only heard about half of what went on inside of it, but the feud between Buffy and Faith was public enough. Not to mention their fight in broad daylight on campus just a few weeks ago. When he heard that the two of them had buried the hatchet, he just had to ask.

“Yeah. She hurt Alex even worse than she hurt me. I didn’t think it was possible, but she managed it. But then he forgave her anyway and even has her doing most of the babysitting while he’s away. I guess I figured if he could do it, I could do it, too.”

“I like your airships. They’re much faster than the ones in Rivellon.”

“Yes, and cheaper too. Just about anyone can fly here if they really want to,” Alex said. They’d done the math and for a modest income, it was about 1% of a year’s pay, each way, per ticket to fly from LA to Anchorage. They’d started out comparing expenses to a month’s rent or a month’s groceries, but it turned out that Sunnydale was much cheaper than the average cost in the US for both those main expenses. So now they compared expenses to a fictional yearly income for a laborer so that Audrey could have a frame of reference for the cost of things.

“Though it is nice that we’re rich and can fly first-class,” Audrey added. She had seen the cramped seats of coach and had thanked her husband for booking the more luxurious arrangements. They had stood out in first-class of course. Not for their casual dress—there were some men in suits, but several others were dressed comfortably too—they stood out for being so young.

Once the plane landed, they headed right out, not having checked any luggage—they wouldn’t be staying long. They started walking east on Airport Road. They had to head north for a bit on Minnesota Drive but turned east again on Tudor Road. According to their map, this road would get them as close as possible to the mountains they wanted to get to.

They got some directions from a local in a brown and gray truck as to how to get on the hiking trails. Once clear of prying eyes, Alex took Audrey’s backpack and transformed into a dragon. He waited until she was securely seated on his back and gave him a pat to let him know she was ready. A running jump later, and they were in the air. He could hear the shriek of joy from his rider and smiled.

Alexander stayed low for several minutes until they were well clear of any humans and the foothills below them started to become small mountains. Higher and higher they climbed then, pushed up by thermals of rising hot air and ocean breezes pushed skyward by the mountains. Once they reached as high as the winds would carry them, he dove. Wind drowned out his wife’s joyous screaming this time, though, he already knew she enjoyed this as much, if not more, than he did. Probably because she didn’t have to do all the work in getting them to height in the first place. He pulled out of the dive and used his speed to zoom climb back up.

Next he did a loop. Audrey always loved the feeling of flying upside down. On his last dive, he corkscrewed down and then skimmed the tops of the trees while dodging imaginary wyverns.

His speed bled off in those maneuvers and he was forced to find another thermal to take them up for another round. They went like that until it was nearly sundown before they headed back to find a hotel for the night.

Audrey, being a mother, couldn’t help but wonder how Jesse was doing without them as they ate their dinner. And afterwards... she had two draconian katras (one for tonight and one to switch back) hidden in her bag and a plan to get her husband to agree to use them.

Jesse was having the time of his life playing with “Aunt Faith.” She had as much energy as his dad to keep up with him but she never went away to fight a war (as far as he knew anyway).

“That looks exhausting,” a voice said nearby. “Is it hard for you to be babysitting him?”

Faith looked and was surprised to see Tara without Willow. Faith threw the Frisbee they were playing with particularly hard so the kid would have to chase it down, giving the adults some time to talk. “Nah. Kid’s old enough to clean himself so all I gotta do is wear’im out, order some pizza, and carry him to bed when he conks out watching Aladdin. Not sure the kid’s even seen the end of that movie.”

Tara gave a shy smile at Faith’s description of her duties. “And breakfast?”

“Leftover pizza, of course.”

Tara actually giggled at that. She pulled a thin container from behind her back. “We uh- that is, Willow and I- uh.”

Faith took the present and opened it to find a necklace with her name on it. “Wow,” she said as she absently caught the Frisbee that had been heading for Tara’s head.

Tara meeped, having not realized how close the toy had been until Faith caught it. Once the disk was on its journey back again, she could talk. “It’s just like all of ours. Only you can wear it and you can send out a distress signal if you’re in trouble.”

“Help me put it on?”

“I can’t. That’s part of the magic,” Tara explained. “But I can hold your hair for you while you do it.” As she was holding the hair she just had to complement it. “You have lovely hair. I’m glad Alex didn’t get it cut.”

“He was going to cut it?” Faith asked in mock horror, turning around to model the necklace.

Tara nodded. “And get your,” she swallowed and licked her dry lips as she glanced down, “boobs reduced too.”

“Not my girls! That bitch!” she laughed. Yeah, she agreed that Alex didn’t make a very good girl. Little did she know that somewhere in Alaska, Audrey was vehemently disagreeing.

“Why are we here, again?” Buffy asked.

“We’re making nice with the government agents by attending their kegger,” Willow answered.

“Who are you?” Spike asked as the door to his glass cell opened.

Adam held out a hand. “Come with me if you wish to not cease existing.”

Chapter Text

“Why are we here, again?”

“We’re making nice with the government agents by attending their kegger,” Willow answered.

“Who are you?” Spike asked as the door to his glass cell opened.

Adam held out a hand. “Come with me if you wish to not cease existing.”

“Why should I?” Spike asked.

“You wish your freedom? You wish for revenge on those who put you here? I can give you these things. I can even remove that chip in your head.”

“Now you’re talkin’, mate!”

Upstairs, in Lowell House, Forrest and Graham were walking downstairs after saying goodbye to Riley.

“Some guys get all the luck,” Forrest said, looking back. “Why can’t I find a chick that insatiable?”

Graham laughed. “Because your dick’s too big. If they can’t walk afterwards, it makes it hard for them to come back for more.”

Forrest laughed along with his friend. “You think he’ll even make an appearance at the party?”

“Only if he gets thirsty.”

A short while later Spike asked, “So, why me?” as they hid from the soldiers in their own base.

The creature called Adam looked up from the monitors he was monitoring. “I am programed to kill Alexander Harris and Buffy Summers. You have knowledge of them. In fact, you have more knowledge of them than anyone else outside of their group. It was a tactical error for them to allow you to be recaptured; an error I intend to exploit.” He turned back to the screens. “Come. It’s time.”

They walked boldly through the underground military base but didn’t encounter anyone. “I analyzed the patterns everyone on the base was using,” Adam answered when Spike asked about it. “There are ebbs and flows to every pattern. This was the next ebb in the traffic pattern of the base.” They did have to hide behind some crates as two soldiers exited the elevator coming down from above and met a passing scientist.

“We got trouble upstairs. Some sort of disembodied presence in the house,” one of the soldiers said.

“We’ve been paging you,” the scientist replied.

“Whatever this thing’s outputting, it must be scrambling all the frequencies.”

There were some orders given to lock down the base in case whatever was upstairs got down here then everyone split, leaving the coast clear for Adam and Spike to enter the elevator.

“You think it’s safe to go up there?” Spike asked.

“You would rather stay down here?” Adam replied rhetorically as the elevator doors closed.

“We have to go back in there,” Willow said after their gang was forcibly ejected by the malevolent spirits.

“Why?” Anya had to ask.

“Well, people might still be in there.” Looking around, it seemed that most of the people in the party had made it outside but she thought that she’d seen or heard a few who were trapped inside.

“So?” Anya came back. “This isn’t some demon that Buffy can punch into submission. Spirits play by their own rules and they don’t much care how strong you are. Buffy, please don’t go back in there.”

Buffy looked at her girlfriend and gave a sad nod. “This is something for Giles to deal with. I’ll hang back until punchy-time.”

“So, to Giles’?” Willow wasn’t happy about not charging back in, but she could see the others were decided.

“No- no, wait. He- he isn’t there,” Tara stopped them. “He was going to the Espresso Pump.”

Willow nodded. “Right, he-he told us not to come. He needed some grownup time.”

The words ‘whatever this thing’s outputting, it must be scrambling all the frequencies,’ went through Spike’s mind as Adam jerked, spasmed, and then picked the vampire up by his neck.

“Suffer not the impure thing or ye shall perish. Find salvation in the cross of our lord and savior,” he said as he dangled Spike in the air.

The skewer in his arm came out and he stabbed Spike again and again until the elevator doors opened. Luckily for Spike, the ghosts possessing Adam didn’t know what a vampire was and none of the stabs went through his heart. Once the elevator door opened, Adam dropped him unceremoniously on the floor before exiting and Spike was all too happy to play dead until the doors closed.

Once clear, he flipped himself into a more comfortable sitting position while still playing dead and thought. He couldn’t stay here. If someone below called the elevator he’d be back in custody or worse. Up ahead was the public face of the Initiative which Adam had explained on the way up was a fraternity house that was currently having a party. Spike listened. He couldn’t hear any partying and Adam’s footsteps had faded as well.

Getting up, he looked at the remains of his shirt which was now in bloody tatters. Luckily he still had his duster. He pressed the button to open the doors and peeked each way before stepping out. Place looked deserted.

Down the hall he could see the open door of a bathroom and he decided that he needed to wash the blood out of his ruined shirt before he did anything else. Hanging up his duster on a hook, he took off the white t-shirt and used it to clean the blood off his already healed chest. Cupping some water in his hand, he used that to clean himself better before sticking his shirt in the sink. Once the water was clear, he turned off the water and rung out his shirt. He heard a dripping sound and tried turning off the water again but it wasn’t coming from the sink. It was coming from a bathtub with the curtains drawn. With a sinking feeling in his gut, Spike approached and pulled back the curtain, only to find himself suddenly held underwater by unseen hands. He struggled and splashed for a couple seconds trying to get up but quickly gave up. He was a vampire. It wasn’t like he could drown so he just laid there until the spirits decided to give up.

The Scooby gang found their missing watcher at the Espresso Pump. His ‘adult time’ turned out to be him and his guitar at an open mic night.

“No one knows what it’s like
To be the bad man
To be the sad man
Behind blue eyes
No one knows what it’s like
To be hated...”

“Now I remember why I used to have such a crush on him,” Willow gave a far off smile.

“Well, he is pretty good.” Even Tara had to admit it.

“His voice is pleasant,” the avowed, man-hating, ex-demon agreed.

“Wow, I never knew,” Buffy said as the last of the four lesbians fell under his musical spell.

Back at Giles’ apartment, four lesbians were trying to explain to an older man they had only just been crushing on about the weird sexual happenings at the party.

“...well, see, that’s the thing. People all over the party were starting to act... weird. Sexually,” Willow said, totally embarrassed.

“In what way?” Giles attempted to clarify.

“You know. Ways,” Willow replied, blushing, before going back to her book and hoping not to be asked again.

“Well, it could be some form of succubi, or a satyr’s prank. It could even be energy coming from the lab underneath the Lowell fraternity.”

“It wasn’t always a fraternity, look!” Willow cried out. She started reading aloud from her book. “Between 1949 and 1960, the Lowell Home for Children housed upwards of 40 adolescents: runaways, juvenile delinquents, and emotionally disturbed teenagers from the Sunnydale area.”

“Children? Did any of them, um, die in there?” Tara had an immediate suspicion of what was happening, having met one of the angry spirits.

“If there were deaths, then perhaps we’re dealing with a fairly standard haunting,” Giles said, reading over Willow’s shoulder.

“It doesn’t say. It’s mostly about the old house director, Genevieve Holt. ‘Sunnydale Children’s Aid. 30 years of community service. Giving disadvantaged kids the love and care they deserve.’”

“When did she die?” Giles asked.

“She didn’t.”

Genevieve Holt turned out to be a horrible woman who tortured innocent children in the name of her god.

“I don’t get it. I mean, those kids were tortured, but they weren’t killed, so where are those ghosts coming from?” Anya asked as they left their meeting with the bitter, old woman.

“I don’t believe there are any ghosts,” Giles replied.

Anya countered with, “One ran right through me.”

“Not a ghost. An apparition. I believe we’re dealing with a kind of poltergeist. A whole cluster of them, in fact, born out of intense adolescent emotion and sexual energy.”

“Both of which were totally pent up during Mrs. Holt’s reign of repression,” Anya realized.

“So someone at the party was having sex and they woke these things up?”

“Yes. And now the poltergeists are drawing more and more energy out of whoever they are. Feeding on them in fact. Whoever they are are powering this whole thing.”

“So what happens when the battery’s drained?” Buffy had to ask.

“They die.”

Buffy hung up the phone back at Giles’ place. “Riley is the only soldier still unaccounted for. Apparently he has a new girlfriend and they’ve been...”

“Yes, we see.” Giles didn’t need it spelled out for him, thank you very much.

“So what do we do?” Willow asked. “You know, to help?”

…

A few books, a few phone calls to the Initiative, and a few candles later: Tara, Giles, and Willow were sitting and holding hands, trying to calm the spirits long enough for a group of soldiers to go in and break Riley and his girlfriend up. Apparently, it was impossible to stay in the mood after being pepper-sprayed in the face.

Tara went first. “Spirits, we implore you. Be still.”

Suddenly, they were surrounded by incorporeal children.

“Find it in your hearts to leave our friends passage,” Giles intoned.

“Transform your pain. Release your past. And- uh- get over it,” Willow said, less diplomatically than the rest.

Giles decided that the next time they did a séance, Willow was getting a script. Not long after that, the spirits started getting restless. A wind blew through the room though there was no window and puffed their candles out.

“What happened?” Buffy asked.

“We lost them,” Tara said sadly.

“Let’s hope it was long enough,” Willow said.

“Yes, yes, I see. Oh. Oh dear. My condolences to their families,” Giles said before he hung up the phone softly.

“We were too late?” Buffy asked for the group.

“Worse.” Giles took of his glasses so he wouldn’t have to see any crying faces. “The security tapes have been reviewed. It seems Adam broke Spike out of the Initiative cells before taking the elevator up during the spell. Adam- he- he found Riley’s room and- he- he-” Giles had to swallow bile before saying the last bit as it was truly horrendous. “He raped them both to death long before we cast our spell. Our spell freed him from the spirits and allowed him to kill the entire team that went in after Riley. Once the spell ended, Adam and Spike escaped. Together.”

Silence reigned.

“I have seen the light, Spike, and I know now what I must do. I will send a message to the Slayer.”

Chapter Text

Giles opened his door at the knocking and found, “Oz?”

“Hey. Is Willow here?”

“Not at the moment, no. Have you tried her dorm room?” he asked, knowing she wouldn’t be there.

“Yeah. A girl across the hall said I should try here,” the werewolf said.

“Then I’m afraid I can’t be of much assistance. I shall tell her I saw you when next I see her. Is there a place she can call on you or a number to reach you at?”

“I just got in but I’m gonna see if Devon has a couch I can crash on. She can try there.”

“Very well.” Giles felt a bit lousy about his bad manners—not inviting the boy in for refreshments—but he was lying about not being able to contact Willow and he didn’t want to give away that she was at Alex and Audrey’s catching up as they’d just gotten back. Also, he wanted the boy to go so he could call Willow and warn her that Oz was back. Being confronted by an ex-boyfriend is something that should be gone into with some forewarning, he thought. Lord knew he would have loved to have more warning each time Ethan-

Giles’ thoughts were cut off when the front wall of his apartment exploded.

“Sorry, ma’am. Colonel McNamara ordered a sweep of the base, just in case it was true and we didn’t find anything. Our estimation is that it was a ruse designed to trick you into attacking the base and your friend is being held elsewhere.”

Buffy frowned at being called a “ma’am” but the guy in front of her was some generic soldier who didn’t even have a name. Getting him to call her “Buffy” wouldn’t really be worth the effort.

“Buffy!”

“Will!” The two of them hugged. The soldier, having delivered his news, excused himself.

“What’s happening?” and “How’s Oz?” were asked at the same time and false starts for answering together were attempted twice before Buffy indicated for Willow to go first.

“He’s good. The doctors think he’ll pull through. I got him a windowless room so the moon doesn’t hit him tonight. I was surprised to find out he had a medical alert bracelet telling them he has blood borne pathogens in his blood. That was really thoughtful of him.”

“He was always thoughtful,” Buffy agreed sadly. “Here’s the letter Adam left. Basically, I’ve taken your watcher and am holding him at the Initiative base. The soldier guys say he’s lying.”

“Don’t worry, Buffy, we’ll find him. Everything will be okay.”

“Oz, man. You don’t call, you don’t write... diggin’ the new threads though. Very appropriate for the guy who broke Willow’s heart. I have to say, putting yourself in the hospital before I could is a wise move. Now I’d feel bad about doing it again. Doesn’t mean I won’t, but I’ll feel bad about it.”

Oz held up his bandaged hands. They were red in the middle again where the blood was leaking through. “You know, when I asked, my Sunday-school teacher said I couldn’t be Jesus, but we sure showed her, didn’t we?”

Alex cracked a smile at that. “I heard he gave you the full stigmata?” indicating Oz’s feet under the blankets.

“Yeah. Never expected to find a Christian demon. Apparently, religion does strange things to demons.”

“It’s a new thing we’re trying—convert the natives instead of just slaying them, though we’re having trouble keeping missionaries in the field. But what about werewolf healing? Could that take care of everything?”

Oz frowned. “Can’t risk changing in a hospital. Kinda the reason I got this fancy, windowless room.”

“Things have changed. I can take you in wolf form now.”

Oz sniffed the air. “That’s new.”

Oz took a sniff of his surroundings and tested his restraints. “What did you say these chains were last used for?”

“Human sacrifice,” Alex smiled. He’d been waiting for Oz to ask that. Said man’s eyebrows went up questioningly which was akin to a normal guy shouting “WHAT!?”

“The last person the Delta Zeta Kappa fraternity tried to sacrifice was Buffy—back in high school—it didn’t turn out well for them. Now, I’ve got a mirror upstairs that should point some moonbeams down at you. Once you’re changed, I’ll check that everything’s holding. Faith and I’ll check in on you a couple times during the night, but we’ve gotta patrol for Adam. That takes precedence over a mere werewolf.”

“Back up. Faith? Doesn’t she, like, not like you guys?” Which was Oz-understatement for “tried to kill you.”

“There are some hurt feelings between her, Buffy, and Willow; so they don’t hang out much, but she’s five by five again. Whatever that means.”

Oz shrugged. “Cool.” Being out of touch for months meant things changed.

Things were bad for Spike. First that bloody chip. The one upside was that it made him untouchable to Buffy and her Scooby Gang, which meant he got to have a lot of fun jerking them around. Plus, he was finding ways around it—scaring people for money then buying blood instead of drinking their blood and murdering them. Unfortunately, he felt his “not being staked” card had just expired... right about the time that Adam blew up the watcher’s house. Rupert had seen him when Adam brought him back to the base, of course, which meant he was well and truly buggered just as soon as Buffy killed the current Big and Nasty. Spike asked himself if he really believed Adam when he said he would remove his chip “just as soon as (he has) the Slayer where (he wants) her.” Spike scoffed. Not bloody likely. Adam gave him a message to pass on to the Slayer—a message that would probably cost him his unlife to deliver without some pretty fast talking.

No.

No, it was time to look out for number one again. He didn’t need the Initiative or Buffy to take his chip out. He just needed a doctor willing to operate for not much money, which meant Central America.

He left town without delivering Adam’s message.

“Why hasn’t she come for you? Spike said she would come for you.”

“Perhaps I’m less important to her than you thought,” Giles replied. He had been fearing he might be extraneous to her needs before, however, he knew that if Adam’s message had been relayed, Buffy would have broken down the booby-trapped door to save him without a second thought. Whether she needed him or not, that was just who Buffy was.

Part of him hoped that Adam would just kill him and move on to another plan. Not only would it provide Buffy with enough emotional charge to disassemble the cyborg piece by piece, but it would mercifully end his own suffering.

Adam thought about it for a minute before deciding, “No.”

“Then perhaps your messenger wasn’t as reliable as you thought.”

“Perhaps. Then perhaps it is time to try a different message.”

Giles gulped, wondering if he was going to be that message.

“Willow, can you hack the Initiative files?” Alex asked the next day. Patrol that night had turned up bupkis.

“Probably. What am I looking for?”

“Schematics. We take what we know about their base thanks to the ground-penetrating radar and compare it to what they know. Anything that doesn’t match up has to be where Adam’s hiding.”

“Are you a man of the Book, Rupert?”

“Which book?” Giles asked. Adam gave him a look. Giles blamed the pain he was in on being slow on the uptake. “Ah. Well, I’ve read it,” he hedged.

“As have I. There is one section that touched me. Ezekiel 25:17. ‘The path of the righteous demon is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness, for he is truly his brother’s keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy My brothers. And you will know my name is The Lord when I lay My vengeance upon you.’ I have come to understand that I am both that Lord and that vengeance. If Buffy and Xander will not come to me, then I will lead my flock to them.”

“Dear Lord,” Giles half swore/half prayed.

“Thank you, but that is the name the demons the Initiative have captured will call me. You may continue calling me Adam.”

“...yes, in the northwest corner. Yes, behind the secret lab, there’s another secret... well, room at least. I don’t know what’s there, but I’d lay good money that Adam’s there.”

“How’s it going?” Faith asked Buffy as Alex tried to explain what they’d found without revealing Willow’s not-quite-legal hacking.

“Slow. We think we know where the trap is, but there’s dozens of Initiative soldiers and... other guys in the way. Alex’s trying to negotiate us passage.”

Faith swallowed before asking a casually as she could, “You’re goin’? You don’t have’ta, ya know. I’m the one he wants dead.”

“It’s Giles,” Buffy said, face set in stone.

Faith let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding and nodded. She looked at Alex, who was looking at the phone in shock. “They hang up on you?”

“I... don’t know. An alarm went off and then the phone went dead.” He hung up and tried redialing.

That annoying tone and the lady’s voice informed him, “The number you have dialed is not in service or has been disconnected. Please check the number or try your call again later. Thank you. Good bye.”

“That’s not good,” Willow said.

Alex was about to speak up when Buffy beat him to the punch. “Will, we know the base is under that frat house, right? And Adam came up inside the house during the sex spell. Can you find me a way down to the base,” she turned to Tara, “maybe using magic?”

It’s hard not being the one making the hard decisions again, Alex mused to himself until Faith sidled up to him.

“You gonna be able to torch this guy down there? This isn’t going to be like that other demon, except with us already in the cave with him?”

“The schematics say that the main room is over a hundred feet high. That should be enough Oh-Two for several minutes of burn. If the power’s still on, the vents should let me blaze away full blast for as long as it takes.”

“Ooh!” Willow overheard the last bit. “The H/VAC systems have their own backup generators and two weeks of fuel. I guess they were worried about that possibility, too. Or, you know, maybe earthquakes?”

“So, we’re ready? We’re invading the Initiative? There might not be any coming back from this.” Buffy offered everyone an out.

“T- t- technically, they’re in violation of the Posse Comitatus Act. The- the- the army isn’t allowed to conduct operations on US soil,” Tara spoke up. At Willow’s look she explained, “Constitutional Law 101.”

“Let’s murderlize them!” When everyone looked at Anya and she frowned. “What? I was told that ‘3 Ninjas’ was a good fighting movie! Also, I’m staying here while you guys go kill the unstoppable demon-thing. Also, honey, it’s okay to hang back and let the others get themselves killed and then you finish the bad guy off. I’ve invested a lot of time in you and I don’t want to see it go to waste.”

Willow, Tara, and Buffy were all slightly horrified by Anya’s words though Alexander and Faith just chuckled. Buffy did give her girlfriend a kiss before they left despite her faux pas.

As they were kissing, Alex and Audrey were saying their own goodbyes. “It’s dangerous to go alone. Take this,” she said as she handed him a folding knife.

“Audrey, did you just make a Zelda joke?”

“You were right, it was a fun game. Now go save the world. Again,” Audrey said as she wiped her tears away.

Once they were gone, Anya asked, “Why are my eyes leaking and I can’t stop them? And why did your pop culture reference go better than mine did?”

They took Giles’ car as it was a little far to walk/run quickly and Alex was already in full armor which might attract some attention, even in Sunnydale. Faith held his helmet and their weapons in the passenger seat with the other three girls crammed in the back. They didn’t knock when they entered Lowell House—in fact, they barely slowed down. They weren’t challenged in any way; the house appeared abandoned. Alex was about to speak when he remembered himself. This not-being-in-charge stuff would take some getting used to.

“Is this good?” Buffy pointed to a coffee table in front of a TV that was still on. Whoever had been here left in a hurry. “We’re not going to wake those spirits up again, are we? Cause that’s the last thing we need.”

Willow shook her head as she and Tara set up their craft. “No, we sealed those spirits up right away so they can never get out again.”

“Okay, this is a ‘light my path’ spell. This should conjure a ball of light which will tell us the direction we need to go,” said Tara.

When the light arrived, it didn’t really affect the humans much as it appeared from behind them and was already past them, having done no damage, before they noticed. The demons, however, were not so lucky. They scattered before the light, making them easy targets for those soldiers who still had ammunition. The demons also fell back, giving up the gains they had made in closing to hand-to-claw fighting distance. This gave the humans their first breather and a chance to reload, pass ammunition to those who were low, pull their wounded back, and finish off any living demons nearby. Before too long, the demons were on their way back and the shooting started in earnest again.

Chapter Text

Lieutenant Pezzini was the last officer fit for duty and thus in command of what was left of the Initiative. She knew they were going to die. They didn’t have enough soldiers or enough real ammunition to start with; then that Adam thing had appeared and blasted them with that grenade launcher on his arm. They had been barricaded in the armory, using empty weapon lockers for cover when the explosion hit, injuring fully half of their remaining men. The only reason they hadn’t all died at that moment was that weird light that had chased the demons back for a minute. Pezzini had made the call at that moment not to retreat to the elevators behind them. She wasn’t sure they could make it and she knew for a fact that they couldn’t make it while carrying their wounded.

She was starting to question that decision.

They were down to just sidearms and the fancy stun guns now.

“No, I can’t fly down there. It’s too small to open my wings. But I can fall. As long as there aren’t jagged spikes on the bottom, I’ll be fine. Do you guys want me to catch you?” Alex explained to Buffy why he couldn’t fly them to the bottom of the hidden elevator shaft they’d discovered.

“Sure,” Buffy said just before Alex jumped.

“Okay!” he called from the bottom.

Faith lined herself up, back first, to the open shaft. She crossed her arms, closed her eyes, and started breathing heavily, trying to psych herself up. “I can’t do it,” she admitted, opening her eyes again and calming down.

“Are you okay?” Buffy asked.

“I have this thing about heights now.”

“Oh. Is there anything-”

“I can’t believe I’m asking this but- I need you to push me.”

“Are you-”

Faith closed her eyes and crossed her arms again. “Push me off this fucking ledge again or so help-” her words were cut off with a yelp when Buffy finally complied with her wishes.

Buffy turned her own back to the shaft, crossed her own arms, and let herself fall. She pointedly didn’t think about how Faith must have felt falling from that roof or how she must have felt this time either. The sudden stop when Alex caught her surprised her.

“All set?” he asked.

Everyone was so focused on the attacking demons that they didn’t even notice the dragon until he had burnt most of said demons to a crisp.

“Hold your fire!” Pezzini grabbed a pistol and forced it down when it looked like a soldier was about to fire on the creature that had just saved their butts. Not only was the dragon probably an ally, but she doubted the pistol ammo would do anything more than annoy him/her/it.

Him. Definitely a him, Pezzini decided when she saw the dragon transform into an armor wearing man.

“Adam! I understand you’re desperate for our attention, but attacking our friends isn’t going to get you the attention you want. It’s just going to get you dead,” the man called out.

Pezzini didn’t scream when a small hand covered her mouth. She held up her hands with the pistol loosely pointed up and turned. The girl behind her held up her finger in a shushing gesture. “Get all these people out of here, as fast as you can,” she ordered quietly. “We’ll distract them.”

She couldn’t believe that someone so small could take on hundreds of demons plus Adam with only an ax in hand, but she wasn’t about to say anything. She had a new mission: getting everyone out and to the hospital. She started giving whispered orders to that effect as the girl crept away.

“You know, we have a saying around here. ‘Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons for you are crunchy and good with catchup.’ So, Mister Adam, what say you put all your toys back in the cages where you found them before they get damaged and the two of us finish this dragon to cyborg?” Alexander offered. He was lying, of course. Buffy and Faith would jump into the fight if and when they could. His job was to buy time for the humans to escape. Which meant witty banter. Buffy should be doing this job as she was the best at it, but Adam didn’t know about her and they wanted to keep her as a surprise.

“I think not. My disciples here are burdened with a glorious purpose: to take the word of my coming out into the world and to kill all who oppose us, starting with you and Buffy.”

“Wait, I thought you said that you were supposed to kill us.”

“I am.”

“But if one of them,” Alex gestured to the rest of the demons slowly surrounding the crates he’d landed on, “kills us, then you can’t. You’d fail. You’d cease to have purpose.” The words came from some debate with Jesse and Willow over terminators and what would happen if John Connor were to die. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the first group of people leaving via the elevator.

Adam stopped to consider this new data for a few moments before deciding, “No. They are but tools. Like the weapons in my arm. If my gun kills you, that still counts and I will have fulfilled my destiny. Speaking of which.” With that, he transformed his right arm into a machine gun. “No sand here.”

Alex shot first. As large of a fireball as he could produce as a human went streaming towards Adam, who he had noticed always paused to think/process whenever Alex displayed a new “power.” The half second that thinking cost Adam almost cost him his life as he had no time to shoot and had to dodge out of the way. Once Adam could bring his gun to bear again, Alex was gone. “Where did he go?” he asked his minions, but everyone had been busy watching the flames and none of the demons were bright enough to check behind the crates to see if he’d just fallen back there.

“Fine, lets see how you like it if I go back to killing-” but the humans were gone. All that were left were some dead bodies and some other maimed ones who would be dead soon anyway. “Or perhaps your friend, Rupert, would like to play some more.”

Alex didn’t answer. He was simply playing for time right now. Plus, if Adam could lead them to Giles, that would save time finding him later. He was thinking about how he could follow without any demons seeing when he heard the elevator motors start up again. The humans were coming back for the rest of their wounded and the elevator doors were only a few hundred yards away. He’d have to make a move or they’d be slaughtered.

Suddenly, inhuman screams came from the pit to Alex’s left, making him smile. With the appearance of the dragon, many of the demons in the Initiative had retreated back there for cover. He’d requested that Faith clear that area when they saw it on the blueprints, mostly because he thought Spike might be down there and he figured that Faith wouldn’t hesitate to slay him, unlike Buffy. The reason that he shared with the blonde Slayer was that Giles was unlikely to be there and Faith clearing that area would free up Buffy to search elsewhere.

“What is going on-”

Adam was interrupted when a demon head flew out of the pit and landed at his feet. Alexander used the distraction to jump back up onto the crates and transform before sending a sweeping wave of flame across the assembled demons. While he got many in the blast, he was not optimally placed for the attack. Ground level would have left almost nowhere for the demons to run. Now they were scattering everywhere.

A dozen demons were headed back toward the elevators. Alex jumped in that direction and did his “Newton Trick,” as he called it, transforming into human mid-flight. He could have accomplished the same thing with his rush attack, but he wanted to keep that a secret from both Adam and the Initiative if he could. Transforming back, a sweeping wall of flame took care of the demons.

Alexander’s flame breath was very powerful but short range. His fireball was almost as powerful and almost infinite in range, but rather slow. According to Zandalor, those were the only attacks a dragon had; other than biting, of course. But Alexander had never been one to listen to what was and was not possible. He captured the feeling of building up a fireball and instead spit it out early and as hard as possible. The result was what he called a “Fire Machine Gun”: hundreds of small fireballs streaming out at a high rate of speed. He sent the first twenty or so at Adam, hoping that the cyborg’s processing time would mean him getting hit before sending the rest of his breath against the demons in the area. He got several and forced all the other to find cover.

Many more demons again sought refuge in the pit they’d been housed in, forgetting the screams that had just been coming from there. It took only seconds for the screaming to start and then fall silent again.

Adam stood up from a crouch when Alex was done; one eye was sealed shut where he’d gotten hit and a two large burns on his arm and side. None of the wounds seemed to be bothering him. Cyborgs collect data on injuries, but calling it pain would be a misnomer.

“My turn,” he said, raising his arm and bringing out his grenade launcher.

Alex tensed, readying himself to transform and dodge as best he could. The attack was interrupted by a fireball from the pit, forcing Adam to dodge instead.

“Buffy,” Adam said when he saw Faith standing on the lip of the hole she was guarding. Obviously no one had told him he had the wrong Slayer yet. He fired a grenade at her, but she was taking cover in the pit before the round left the chamber.

“Kame,” Alex put the heels of his hands together in front of him and started to draw the power for a fireball. “Hame,” he brought his hands behind him and formed as big of a fireball as he could in this body. With a shouted, “Ha!” he shot a giant fireball at Adam. It took over a second to arrive, more than enough time for the cyborg to dodge. But then, forcing him to dodge was the point. That, and finally getting to use a “Kamehameha” attack in a real fight. No matter how old he got, inside he was still a kid who thought that Dragonball Z was the coolest thing ever.

Faith jumped out of the pit and attacked Adam with her ax before he could get a bead on her again. He blocked with the gun on his arm but Faith was quick, attacking again and again before Adam could respond. Alex transformed back, as he couldn’t risk roasting Faith along with Adam, and made his way towards the fight while finishing off any half crushed or half-burnt demons along the way.

Adam deployed the spike on his left arm in preparation of stabbing Faith. Again. This time, however, she had more help. Adam’s left arm fell to the floor even as his torso twisted to give the blow.

“Oops. Did you need that? Was that important?” Buffy asked innocently, hefting her bloody ax.

Adam didn’t answer, he just growled, turned, and pointed his machine gun at Buffy who turned and ran for cover.

Faith, now behind Adam, chopped at his right shoulder but hit metal; and no ax can cut through metal of similar hardness. Instead the force of her blow shattered the handle of her weapon, sending the head and many splinters flying. Faith dove away to find another weapon. Adam fired at where Buffy was taking cover but all his bullets missed. He fired a few experimental shots at a poster of a kitten on the wall. All of his bullets were going left, it seemed that blocking the Slayer’s ax with his gun had bent the barrel.

“Who are you?” Adam asked in the general direction Buffy was hiding.

“My name is Iniga Montoya. You killed my watcher. Prepare to die.”

Alex’s heart stopped for just a moment. Giles, dead? No. Buffy’s banter was too lighthearted for that to be the case—he hoped.

A fireball from Faith impacted Adam’s back, causing him to cry out. Possibly in pain but perhaps just frustration or surprise. Buffy rush attacked as soon as Adam turned his back to her burying her ax in the fleshy part of Adam’s right collarbone. There was a metallic sound here too though and when she pulled back, she came away with several links and bullets from a machine gun ammo belt attached to her ax. Adam had just a few rounds left for his machine gun since Buffy had obviously severed what could be reloaded.

As Adam turned to use those final rounds on Buffy, Faith jumped him from behind, grabbing his arm and pulling with all her might. “Chop it off,” she shouted.

Buffy was only too happy to comply.

Thoroughly “disarmed,” Adam attempted to run. He was quickly tackled and had both of his legs chopped off.

“Nicely done, ladies,” Alex praised. He’d been slowly making his way over while watching their backs once he saw that the girls had everything under control with Adam.

“Careful, he’ll bite your legs off,” Buffy quipped.

“Fools, I cannot die,” Adam claimed.

“Maybe, maybe not. But you can melt.”

Once the girls had stepped back, Alexander transformed one last time, took a deep breath, and blew.

A good bonfire can reach 2,000° Fahrenheit. Aluminum melts around 1,200°, steel 2,500°, and titanium around 3,000°. Alexander could reach hotter than that. Demons and demon bodies melt/burn at much lower temperatures. In seconds, Adam was merely a metal frame. Seconds after that, he was basically a metal puddle with a few unmelted parts left. Fortunately for all the humans, the nuclear core that had previously powered Adam was designed to handle extreme heat and survived.

“Wow,” Buffy said as she peeked from her hiding space. “When you said ‘turn him to slag,’ you weren’t kidding.”

“Everyone alright?” Alex asked.

“Yeah. He totally missed me,” said Buffy.

“M’fine,” Faith nodded.

“That was... I don’t even want to say ‘too easy’ and jinx us, but it kinda was,” Buffy said.

“We trained hard for this for a couple months. We’re usually going in cold, which makes things harder. Plus, 3-on-1 is pretty much always unfair, even when the one is above our level,” Alex replied.

“What level was he?” Buffy had to ask, which necessitated a quick explanation of levels for Faith who wasn’t there the first time.

“Can’t be sure,” was Alex’s eventual answer. “He read as over 6 different levels and I was never sure if they were supposed to be added together or averaged. Anyway what say we find Giles and get the hell outta here?”

Buffy’s face dropped.

“Did you find him?” Alex managed to ask.

“He’s alive. But he’s gonna need your help.”

“You’re better at the healing spell than me,” he pointed out.

Buffy shook her head. “Yeah, but he needs your type of healing.”

“Guys? Hello? I get it, really. I’m sorry for hurting Willow. I’m so, so sorry. Can you please let me out now? Full moon’s over and I really gotta pee!”

Oz was starting to lose his trademark cool.

“Mister Giles. Nice to meet you.”

“Yes, thank you for taking the time to see me,” Giles said as he wheeled himself into the room. He let the bureaucrat he was meeting with move the chairs in front of his desk out of the way enough to make room for the wheelchair he was currently confined to before awkwardly shaking the man’s hand.

“So, what can the US government do for you today?”

“Yes, I’m here to negotiate for compensation regarding the... incident.”

“Ah yes,” the man looked towards Giles’ wheelchair. He opened a drawer and pulled out an envelope. “The US government deeply regrets the loss of limb you have suffered while on our property. At the moment, this is the current settlement for the loss of a leg. You can read the back of the check, but by cashing this, you waive the right to sue us for this injury at any future date.”

Giles cautiously took the envelope and looked at the check. It was for just shy of $500,000. He looked up at the agent.

The man shrugged. “No one ever thinks it’s enough, but most states value limbs at a hundred grand or less, so it’s a pretty generous settlement. My advice is always to take the money; more so in your case since trying to sue over something that officially never happened would be nearly impossible.”

Giles took the check and tucked it into the inside pocket of his jacket. He would deposit it today before the bureaucrats found out the truth. “Thank you, though I’m not here to negotiate for myself. I’m here to negotiate for the people who actually saved the day.”

There was a full five seconds of silence before the government agent burst out in laughter. The laughter lasted well over a minute before he finally regained control of himself. “Sorry I’m not laughing at you. I’ve worked in many different branches of the government at several levels and the thought of ‘rewarding’ someone for cleaning up a mess that was created by the higher ups or policy decisions... That’s just so... cute!” he broke down in laughter again.

Giles felt a keen wish for his lost leg to be fully healed already so he could stand up and beat the man in front of him senseless. Unfortunately, the leg Alexander had re-grown for him was quite weak yet and could only walk so many steps each day. He’d already done his physiotherapy for the day. “If you’re quite finished?”

“Sorry. Sorry,” the man breathed as he recovered.

“Would you mind at least listening to the demands before rejecting them?”

The man smiled. “Sure. Blow me away.”

“We have two women and one male child we need made American citizens with back-dated American birth certificates.”

The man opened his mouth but stopped. “Huh. Actually, paperwork like that might be doable. Go on,” he said as he got out a legal pad and a pen.

“Yes, uh- Buffy would like shoes. Specifically, the latest releases of designer shoes... for life.”

“No,” the agent said.

“Would you mind writing it down just the same? That way I can say I delivered their list. Next, this one is actually mine of course, full scholarships for everyone in our group forever. I find it unlikely that I’ll be going into the field myself again and feel a strong desire to go back to school. All the rest could do with more schooling as well, of course.”

“Hmm... another one that’s actually possible. We’re not talking about a full-ride at Stanford, of course; but I might be able to get some scholarships or something. At least enough for in-state tuition. Go on.”

“Yes, well. This one I’ve been instructed to read word for word. ‘None of them want to pay taxes again... ever’.”

The man cracked up again at that. “I was waiting for that one. Ever since Armageddon, that’s what everyone wants but it’s just not possible. Tax laws are passed by congress, not me, and not even the IRS. There’s no way to set anything up that would accomplish that.”

“I thought as much myself, which is why I took the liberty of drafting a list of everyone’s likely lifetime earnings and taxes paid on those earnings, then finding the present value of those amounts and adding the state and federal withholding needed to achieve the ‘after tax’ numbers we’re looking for. You can pay them as... what do you call them? Outside contractors? Civilian consultants? Either way, if you can have checks cut for those amounts, I can be on my way.”

The man got serious now. “Not happening.”

“Come now. This is a fairly reasonable request in exchange for not telling anyone about an illegal military operation on American soil. One in direct violation of the US constitution.”

“The answer is no. And if you’re going to threaten blackmail, you’re going to lose the things I might actually be able to get you and get yourself thrown in jail to boot. Does that sound like fun?”

“That wouldn’t be wise.”

“Or what?”

“For a start, California will fall. Alexander has conquered more than 20 principalities almost single-handedly. He’s studied the situation and assures me that he can destroy California in less than a week. The girls are the only ones who have a prayer of stopping him and frankly, I don’t see them doing so at this point.” Giles was pretty sure Faith would help and he wasn’t completely certain that Buffy wouldn’t.

“So that’s it? Give in or you nuke California?”

“Heavens no. That’s simply if I don’t return or am arrested or some such. And he didn’t say ‘nuke,’ he said ‘destroy.’ I didn’t ask what he meant or what his plan was. But no, if your final answer is no, I go back and we talk about what we might be willing to accept instead and then I come back and negotiate some more for as long as talks go on. If talks fail, we merely release the information you don’t wish us to release, nothing more. Make no mistake though, we will not be threatened or bullied. We are the bullies here, not you.

“Have you seen the video of the final battle?” Giles asked, changing tack.

“You’ve seen that?”

“We made it. My point is that perhaps it’s just simpler not to anger the terribly powerful people who stopped your unstoppable demon-soldier?”

The man said nothing.

“Anyway, you have our requests. Here’s my hotel and room number if you need to reach me. I’ll be back tomorrow around the same time. I assume I’m free to go?” Giles inquired.

The agent nodded slowly, his mind on the demands and how he could fulfill them. Perhaps he could spin it as putting these people on retainer against the next such emergency?

“Oz called. He’s back in Tibet,” Buffy said. “He says ‘hi to everyone but Alex’.”

“Sheesh! I forgot about him, okay? We had other things on our minds. How many times does a guy have to apologize?” Alexander asked.

“At least one more, I think.”

The phone rang and everyone quieted down while Willow answered. After a few minutes she hung up very solemnly before bursting into a huge grin and yelling, “We got it!” After the cheering died down, she admitted, “Well, everything but Buffy’s shoe thing.”

Buffy whined and stamped her foot jokingly.

“You’re a millionaire now,” Alex pointed out. “You can buy all the shoes you want whenever you want.

“Let’s go home. I’m sure your mother is worried. Just one thing: I get to be the one to tell Dawn that we won the lottery, okay?”

“Hi, I’m Violet, but you can call me ‘Vi,’ and this is my watcher, Rose.”