SLASH FIC: Through the Looking-Glass 6/? [BtVS/Stargate SG-1]
Title: Through the Looking-Glass 6/?
Author: Feygan
Fandom: Buffy/Stargate SG-1
Rating: FR 13
Pairing: Xander/Daniel
Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Stargate: SG-1.
LiveJournal: http://feygan.livejournal.com
Home: http://www.darkgesture.com/fanfiction.htm
Summary: Xander jumps realities and ends up at Stargate Command.
.
.
He was in the mess hall when he felt it. This strange tickling, burning sensation that vibrated up and down his spine.
"Hey, what's the matter with you?" Jack asked, catching the look on his face.
Xander shrugged, wriggling a little uncomfortably on his chair. "I don't know. I'm feeling something kind of weird here."
"Weird how?" Jack asked suspiciously. They had just barely managed to clean all the vampire dust out of the base's upholstery. No one wanted to face that kind of horror again so soon.
Xander shook his head. "I don't know. It kind of feels like..." He leaped to his feet. "I've gotta go!"
Jack watched Xander run out of the room. He was really surprised when Sam and Carter came through the door, but Xander just pushed past them on his way out.
He shrugged at Daniel's cutely confused look. "I don't know what's going on. He just felt the need to run out," Jack said.
Daniel looked over his shoulder toward where Xander had disappeared. "Do you think it's something important, like maybe we're going to be attacked again, or..."
Jack got to his feet. "Maybe we better follow him, huh?"
"Yeah."
The kid sure moved fast, that was one of the things Jack had noticed when the base was being overwhelmed by vampires. If he clearly knew what he was supposed to do, Xander wouldn't hesitate a moment to act. And he was deadly with a stake.
.
IMAGE: Corporal Sanchez went down in a burst of blood and a scream. The vampire that had killed him threw back her head and laughed, a frightening sound of insanity, especially when she crushed his heart in her fist before throwing it away.
"That's what you have to offer? You really expect to protect your world with such pathetic warriors?" She looked right at Jack, mirth glistening in her eyes. "We will roll over this world as a plague, wiping out everything in our path. My Lord Thanatos will be pleased, and you will all die."
"Overdramatic much?" Xander said from next to Jack.
The creature glared at the young man. "Insolent fool! Now you die."
Xander shook his head, making a sad "tsking" sound with his tongue. "Why do all you villains have to do that? Do you have any idea how much it weakens the whole evil factor when you make with the cliches? Talk about pathetic."
She roared and leapt across the room, her fingers hooked into claws and her golden eyes gleaming red for a moment.
What happened next was a scene out of some other reality, a horror movie given form.
Xander flipped out of the vampire's grasp and spun around on the toe of one boot to bring his other foot around in a powerful kick. She ducked out of the way and sent her fist forward. Xander blocked it with his crossed arms, then kicked her in the stomach. She didn't even grunt, just lashed out with a fist.
Dropping to the ground, Xander braced his left hand on the floor and used his legs to flip himself around in a breakdancer's spin. Picking up impossible speed, he sprung up on the palms of his hands and kicked out with both feet, catching her under the chin. Her head snapped back with an audible pop and she flew backwards into the arms of a couple of her minions.
Not even pausing, Xander was up and stakes appeared from nowhere in his hands. He was grinning madly as he sent them flying toward the vampires, nailing the female vampire and the minion behind her with one stake. The other stake took out a minion creeping too close to the group of humans in the corner.
"How..." the female managed to gasp before she burst into a cloud of dust.
Jack knew he probably should do something, but he seemed unable to move. He just couldn't believe what he had seen.
Some of Xander's moves had been recklessly careless. If he hadn't been moving inhumanly fast, or if the female had been a better fighter, he would have been killed. But he had been moving that fast, just a blur of motion. It had actually been pretty frightening.
He's a monster, Jack thought, then firmly quelled that thought. Xander had been acting to protect them. He didn't really have anything to do with their battle, but here he was, fighting to help them.
.
They took the elevator up to the surface and hurried out to find Xander standing in front of an SUV filled with young people. There was a shocked look on his face and his hands were pressed against his mouth.
"Willow?" he finally croaked.
The redheaded girl looked equally as shocked. "Xander?" Then she looked at the man driving the car. "Xander?"
The guy turned his head and Jack felt surprise jerk through him. "Xander?"
"Holy evil twins, Batman. Methinks things have just taken a turn for the surreal," the one-eyed Xander said, the twitching of his lips the only sign of how surprised he was.
"Maybe... maybe we should talk?" Xander said.
"Sounds like a good idea," Jack said. "Let them in," he told the guards. "We have some business to discuss."
* MX * MX *
"What about this?" Dawn asked, pointing at the computer monitor.
Tara got up to peer over her shoulder for a moment, then shook her head. "No. See that symbol there? If we tried to use that spell it would kill the casters and the person we cast on."
Dawn sighed as Tara moved back to the table and the pile of books. She propped her cheek on her fist and kept scrolling down the screen, her eyes busily scanning the text.
She was exhausted, her mind was almost to the point of chronic shutdown, but she knew she couldn't stop.
Willow was burning up from the inside out. It was obvious to anyone that looked at her that it was only a matter of time before things got really bad and Willow completely lost it.
Even though some of the things Willow had done had kind of freaked her out, Dawn couldn't really hold any of it against her. Because no matter how freaky Willow had gotten with the magics, it had all started because Dawn was being hunted by Glory and Willow was the only one to save her.
Thinking back, Dawn couldn't believe how strong Willow had been. Sure, when she'd been fourteen, the then seventeen year old Willow had seemed like an adult. But now, at twenty-one, seventeen seemed like such a young age to be facing the kind of horrors the Scooby-gang had regularly gone up against. Seventeen seemed impossibly young for the kind of magic Willow had wholeheartedly embraced. Seventeen was young for the kind of bravery Xander had shown when he had thrown himself into what had seemed like certain damnation to save Willow from herself.
Being three years younger than Buffy and her friends, Dawn had always felt as if she was playing a never-ending game of catch-up. No matter what she did, they were always one step ahead of her, heroes before she was even allowed out after ten.
They had saved her life more times than she could count, and even though she had eventually grown into her role of hereditary Scooby, she still sometimes got the sense that she was looking for a place to belong. It wasn't like she had magic or super-strength to pull her out of the crowd, and that whole mystical keyness? Didn't really help when she was being threatened by the baddies.
Now though, in this moment and time, Willow needed her. Xander had been sucked into some other reality, and while Willow was totally losing her mind and Buffy didn't know what to do, she, Dawn Summers, had the opportunity to step up to the plate and help save the day.
"I am Research Girl," she whispered.
"What was that?" Tara asked distractedly, flipping through a tome written in ancient Sumerian.
"Nothing," Dawn said, blushing a little. She clicked the mouse on the list of bookmarks, choosing another site. "We have to find a way to bring Xander back."
"As soon as possible," Tara said.
* GV * GV *
For a minute there, he had thought his heart was going to burst in his chest. Somehow, Willow had made it across the reality barrier without him feeling her presence.
He couldn't explain how he could still feel so horribly empty and alone when Willow was that close to him. It was as though she wasn't really there, just this shadow creature that wore her face and ripped the soul out of him just by existing.
Then reality had reasserted itself and he knew it wasn't his Willow, just another version. Not his Willow.
He could feel their eyes touching on him, brushing against his skin like fluttery little fingers as they tried to figure him out.
He had to lean against the elevator wall to brace himself, his eyes squinting closed as he felt Willow brush against him with her magic, trying to pry into his mind.
If he had wanted to, he could have burnt off her questing Fingers, but he refrained himself. Instead, he let the wall around his mind grow thicker, blocking her from being able to access the opening he had always left for his Willow.
"Do you mind?" he asked aloud, turning his head to look at her.
"What?" she asked, sounding genuinely confused.
He felt his lips twitch a little. "Stop trying to get into my head," he said. "It's rude."
She blushed and lowered her eyes, her mind closing back up tight. "Sorry. I... I didn't mean to..."
"You just didn't think you would be caught," he said, but there was no anger in his voice. She just seemed so young to him. Powerful, but a child still in some ways.
"What's going on?" One-Eyed Xander asked, looking back and forth between them.
Xander ignored the suspicious look of his almost-twin. "Nothing."
"Wills?" Buffy asked, quirking a brow.
Willow shook her head. "Nothing. It's all right."
* MX * MX *
"Holy crap, I think I found it!" she called excitedly.
Tara turned to look at her. "What?"
Dawn scrolled back up the page. "This is what we need. This is totally what we need."
Tara came to read over her shoulder. "The Book of World-Gates? I've never heard of that. Where can we find it?"
Dawn grinned at her. "That's the best part." She clicked the forum link. "Neelor the Great says that 'the Book of World-Gates was lasted sighted somewhere on the Mouth of Hell near the place of two peaks.'"
"It's here in town?" Tara laughed a little. "Isn't coincidence wonderful."
"I don't think it's coincidence," Dawn said. "Me thinks me smells the stenchity stench of a p-r-o-p-h-ecy. We should probably consult the books about it."
"After we get the book," Tara said. "Luck knows someone else is probably on the look-out for it right now so they can cause some kind of apocalypse."
"Yeppers, that's a roger." Dawn closed out the windows and switched off the computer. "Let's get Buffy. You know she's gonna want to be in on the action. She's been jonesing for some violence ever since Xander pulled his Houdini act."
* GV * GV *
Xander sat across from the alterna-Scooby gang and ignored the aching feeling in his stomach just seeing them made him feel. Especially when he could see how battle worn and tired they were.
Buffy was like a shadow of herself, her flesh worn close to the bone even as she tried to pretend that everything was all right. Willow was looking a little careworn herself, as though she had seen and done things that had left too much of a mark for them to ever fade. Faith was Faith, which didn't mean he was any happier to see her. The other two girls were about seventeen years old and had that kind of half-finished look of kids that hadn't completely settled into their calling. And other Xander...
"What the hell happened to your eye?" he demanded, completely ignoring the extra weight for now.
One-Eyed Xander shifted uncomfortably, raising a self-conscious hand to his patch covered eye. "Uh... got it jabbed out by a minion of the First. Evil priest, you know how it is." He tried to shrug unconcernedly, as though it didn't matter, but failed dismally.
Xander propped his elbows on the table and leaned forward, his eyes passing from One-Eyed Xander, to Willow, to Buffy and back again. "How did the First ever manage to get enough of a foothold that it could fully manifest Itself?"
He noticed the nervous glance both One-Eyed Xander and Willow flicked toward Buffy. "Ah, I see now." He concentrated closer on Buffy, trying to see what had changed in her from his Buffy.
There were threads of darkness spread throughout her whole body, anchoring her tight to her flesh even as something pulsing in her wanted to be set free. Strings spread from her and out into the world, one leading to One-Eyed Xander, another to Willow, one far away to the green warmth of Dawn, another to a shadowed version of Angel, and a shadowed version of Spike, which was kind of surprising. Then there were all the little spots of heat wandering the world, each imbued with a tiny bit of the essence that made Buffy a Champion.
"Slayers, thousands of Slayers," Xander said out loud. He looked at Willow. "How is that possible?"
She opened, then closed her mouth, her eyes lowering to the table.
"How... how did you know about that?" One-Eyed Xander asked.
Xander gestured at the two strange girls. "They feel like Buffy and Faith, and there's more of them out there, all of them trying to find some kind of place to stand in the face of their sudden destiny. How did you do it, Wills? Why would you do it?"
"We were fighting the First, and we were losing," Buffy said. "It had to be done."
Xander looked at her. A knife worn down by use, gradually fading away with each battle she fought. Pretty soon there would be nothing left of the girl, just the blade. "Don't you remember how much you hated that whole having a destiny thing? How could you force countless other girls to become Slayers when you didn't even want it yourself?"
"It had to be done," Buffy repeated. "The gates of hell were open and the armies were coming through. We were losing. If we hadn't activated all of the Potentials, everything would have been lost."
"Where's the humor, Buff? What happened to all the quippage?" He sighed, feeling like his heart was going to break. "How did you die, Buffy? And who would even think about bringing you back?"
"Whoa," Faith said, crossing her arms. "How'd you know about that? What kind of Xander are you?"
Xander looked at One-Eye. "A different kind of Xander then the one you've got. A very different kind." He shook his head. "The eye was bad enough, but how could you let yourself go that much?"
"Huh?" One-Eyed Xander asked.
"Come on, man. You're carrying a whole other person around your stomach."
One-Eye flushed in embarrassment. "I really love Twinkies."
"Sure," Xander said. "Guess it's all the guilt from bringing Buffy back from the dead."
"How... how do you know about that?" One-Eyed Xander asked.
"You stink of it," Xander said. "You and Willow both reek of dark magic, and poor Buffy... she smells like grave rot and despair."
Buffy pressed her hands against her mouth and shook her head. "No... no..." Memories swirled in her eyes, unpleasant images of things no one should ever have to go through.
"Stop it!" Willow yelled, slamming her palms against the table. Darkness swirled through her hair and her eyes were full of inky blackness.
"Ah, there you are," Xander said, looking at her fondly. This was what he had been looking for, the spirit and the fire.
"What the hell is your problem?" Willow demanded, her voice a few octaves lower.
Xander shook his head. "Nothing. I just wanted to see what kind of person you are here, Wills. And sure, the darkness is all in you, but there's light too. Light and control, which is a good thing. Because if you were just all wild and crazy, with the power you have... 'bad things' wouldn't even describe the kind of damage you could do."
"Was that some kind of test or something?" Willow's voice rose with her anger, though she was still holding herself back.
If it had been his Willow and he wasn't there to hold her back, things already would have been flying around the room and shattering down to their base elements. This Willow had control over her power even in her rage, and that was definitely a good thing.
"Yes, that was a test," Xander said. "I had to see if you are able to control yourself."
"Well, how could you say such terrible things to Buffy?" Willow asked, green peeking out of her eyes. "She still has nightmares and you... how could you say that?"
Xander shrugged. "Because it's true. She flutters against her cage like a trapped bird, her soul crying out for freedom. Duty holds her back and love anchors her to the world, but when her time comes she will fly into the light with nothing but joy. She's already halfway there; look how faded she is. Her edges have all been worn away and now it's only her spirit she rubs off. Each battle she fights takes a little more of the Buffy out of her. Soon there won't be anything left of her, just the Slayer fighting and fighting until she can finally let go once and for all."
He looked at Willow sadly. "How could you do that to her, Willow? Don't you know how wrong it is to raise the dead? Her time was done no matter how she died, yet there she is... I can feel the echo of her pain. It fills the air around her." He held his hand out toward Buffy. "I'm so sorry for what they've done to you, and you are so brave for being able to go on."
He and his friends had done some pretty out there things in the name of saving the world, but they had all known there were some boundaries no one should ever cross. And raising the dead? So over the line.
Tears trickled down Buffy's face and her thoughts were so powerful that he couldn't help but to hear them. This was the first time anyone had ever really and honestly apologized for pulling her out of heaven. Sure, the rest of the gang had been shocked and horrified about what they'd done to her, but it had always felt as though they had just mouthed their sorries, not really and truly meant them. Because she was useful and they needed her, no matter how much she screamed inside for what she'd had taken away from her. Heaven. Freedom from pain. Her mother wrapped tight around her in love.
Xander felt pity welling up inside him when he looked at Buffy. She may have learned to smile again, but she would never be completely clear of the marks of her loss.
"How do you know all these things?" Buffy asked, her voice shaking only a little.
"I can feel it," Xander said.
"You know magic," Willow stated. "How's you mange to learn magic?"
"What do you mean?" he asked.
Faith jerked a thumb at One-Eyed Xander. "Chubs here is completely worthless with the magics. So how can you be good enough to just look at Buffy and them and know what went on?"
Xander looked at his alternate self and read the memory of personal despair in his eyes. "Man, what happened to you? Other than the fatness, how could you end up like this? Do you even know the word 'loser,' 'cause that totally describes you right now."
"Whoa, I think someone is channeling their inner Cordy," Buffy said sotto voce.
Willow nodded agreeably.
Xander snorted. "Sorry, it's just that my mind is completely boggled looking at him. What happened to you?" He widened the scope of his attention to take them all in. "To all of you?"
* GV * GV *
Jack had had a list of questions he'd wanted to ask the kids, but held himself back.
There was something about this group of people and the way they with Xander that made him not want to interrupt. It was as though they were the center of their own little world and everything around them was faded to complete insignificance by the secrets they shared.
Sam had made to say something, but Jack had quickly silenced her with a touch on her arm. He wanted to get a little more information on the group dynamic happening here before he put in his two cents.
And the way Xander was talking... it was actually pretty disquieting. There was just something completely different about him when these people were around, something almost frightening in its intensity.
* GV * GV *
The Shadow of cast magic could feel the pulsing presence of life in the distance.
Wandering through the forest toward the teeming energy, it gathered shape and substance. The plants withered in the shadow of its passing and it felt itself growing in power, becoming more than just a shadow.
Just before it reached the town of Colorado Springs, it came across a cabin in the woods. It might have just continued on, its hunger waiting to be sated, except that it witnessed the flit and flutter of movie behind the cabin. And even though it was a monster in the truest sense, it did have a kind of curiosity to be fulfilled.
Moving stealthily to the side of the building, its hungry eyes took in the figure of a boy playing in the dirt. Dressed in jeans and a striped tee shirt, he was about ten years old, his sneakers untied and left to dangle.
The back door opened and a woman stepped half-out. "Tyler, lunch is gonna be ready in about ten minutes!"
"Sure Mom!" he called, not even lifting his head from the remote controlled car he was driving over small mounds of dirt and board bridges.
The woman smiled fondly and shook her head before going back inside, the door closing with a click.
The Shadow ghosted over the ground until it was about a foot behind the boy's back. It could feel the warmth of life rushing through that small body, tempting it to consume.
It wanted more than anything to reach out and suck the life out of the boy, but a darker idea had taken shape in its mind.
It needed shape and substance to do what needed to be done. It could find both of those by feeding on the energy of anything that crossed its path, but that would take time, weeks or maybe even years. But here before it was the opportunity to have what it wanted without the need to wait.
The fine hairs on the back of the boy's neck began to twitch and move. A shiver moved almost imperceptibly over him and he slowly turned his head.
Just as shock and horror were beginning to form on the boy's face, the creature swooped forward, sending itself spiraling in through the opening mouth.
The boy gasped and choked, his eyes going impossibly wide, but he didn't have the chance to scream for his mother.
Even though it was new to the world and had mostly been acting on instinct, it didn't hesitate a second.
The boy's agony flooded the air around him as he fell to the ground in convulsions. Finally he went stiff as a board, his eyes clenched shut and the cords standing out in his neck as his mouth opened wide. He never made another sound as the Shadow dug deep within him and without a single pause swallowed his soul whole, destroying it utterly in the fiery maw of its insides. And once that was done, it spread itself out until it filled him completely.
Gasping for breath, the Shadow lay on the ground for a few more minutes, his chest rising and falling as he learned the ins and outs of his new body.
"Tyler, are you ready... Oh my God!" The door slammed open and the woman--Mom--came running down the steps toward him. "Are you all right?"
The Shadow... Tyler shuddered one last time, then forced himself into a sitting position. He raised a hand to the side of his head and whimpered a little. "I'm... I'm okay," he said. "Don't worry, Mom. I'm fine."
She fell to her knees next to him, pulling him into her arms. "Oh, I was so worried."
"Don't worry," he said again. "I'm all right."
She pressed kisses against his cheeks and eyelids. "No, no. That... that was too scary. You gave Mommy a big scare."
"I'm all right, though," he said, gripping her shirt with his hands. "We can just go in and eat lunch. . It's all right."
"No, baby," she said, pulling away enough to look in his face. "We're gonna take a ride into town and have a little visit with Dr. Greer, okay?"
He pouted. "But I don't want to. I'm fine, Mom. I just... I just fell down, that's all."
"Honey, we're going into town," she said firmly. "We're going to see Dr. Greer and he's going to make sure you're really all right."
"We don't have to, 'cause I'm..."
"Dr. Greer's going to look at you," she said. "Just for my piece of mind, that's all. And once he's done, we'll go get some ice cream, okay? Okay."
She pulled him up to his feet and began leading him back toward the cabin. "Let's just change your clothes and I'll call Dr. Greer to let him know we're coming. Everything's gonna be all right, baby. Don't worry."
He barely held back his smile. She would take him right into town and he would glut his hunger on the life of the townspeople. It was a beautiful thing.
TBC...
Author: Feygan
Fandom: Buffy/Stargate SG-1
Rating: FR 13
Pairing: Xander/Daniel
Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Stargate: SG-1.
LiveJournal: http://feygan.livejournal.com
Home: http://www.darkgesture.com/fanfiction.htm
Summary: Xander jumps realities and ends up at Stargate Command.
.
.
He was in the mess hall when he felt it. This strange tickling, burning sensation that vibrated up and down his spine.
"Hey, what's the matter with you?" Jack asked, catching the look on his face.
Xander shrugged, wriggling a little uncomfortably on his chair. "I don't know. I'm feeling something kind of weird here."
"Weird how?" Jack asked suspiciously. They had just barely managed to clean all the vampire dust out of the base's upholstery. No one wanted to face that kind of horror again so soon.
Xander shook his head. "I don't know. It kind of feels like..." He leaped to his feet. "I've gotta go!"
Jack watched Xander run out of the room. He was really surprised when Sam and Carter came through the door, but Xander just pushed past them on his way out.
He shrugged at Daniel's cutely confused look. "I don't know what's going on. He just felt the need to run out," Jack said.
Daniel looked over his shoulder toward where Xander had disappeared. "Do you think it's something important, like maybe we're going to be attacked again, or..."
Jack got to his feet. "Maybe we better follow him, huh?"
"Yeah."
The kid sure moved fast, that was one of the things Jack had noticed when the base was being overwhelmed by vampires. If he clearly knew what he was supposed to do, Xander wouldn't hesitate a moment to act. And he was deadly with a stake.
.
IMAGE: Corporal Sanchez went down in a burst of blood and a scream. The vampire that had killed him threw back her head and laughed, a frightening sound of insanity, especially when she crushed his heart in her fist before throwing it away.
"That's what you have to offer? You really expect to protect your world with such pathetic warriors?" She looked right at Jack, mirth glistening in her eyes. "We will roll over this world as a plague, wiping out everything in our path. My Lord Thanatos will be pleased, and you will all die."
"Overdramatic much?" Xander said from next to Jack.
The creature glared at the young man. "Insolent fool! Now you die."
Xander shook his head, making a sad "tsking" sound with his tongue. "Why do all you villains have to do that? Do you have any idea how much it weakens the whole evil factor when you make with the cliches? Talk about pathetic."
She roared and leapt across the room, her fingers hooked into claws and her golden eyes gleaming red for a moment.
What happened next was a scene out of some other reality, a horror movie given form.
Xander flipped out of the vampire's grasp and spun around on the toe of one boot to bring his other foot around in a powerful kick. She ducked out of the way and sent her fist forward. Xander blocked it with his crossed arms, then kicked her in the stomach. She didn't even grunt, just lashed out with a fist.
Dropping to the ground, Xander braced his left hand on the floor and used his legs to flip himself around in a breakdancer's spin. Picking up impossible speed, he sprung up on the palms of his hands and kicked out with both feet, catching her under the chin. Her head snapped back with an audible pop and she flew backwards into the arms of a couple of her minions.
Not even pausing, Xander was up and stakes appeared from nowhere in his hands. He was grinning madly as he sent them flying toward the vampires, nailing the female vampire and the minion behind her with one stake. The other stake took out a minion creeping too close to the group of humans in the corner.
"How..." the female managed to gasp before she burst into a cloud of dust.
Jack knew he probably should do something, but he seemed unable to move. He just couldn't believe what he had seen.
Some of Xander's moves had been recklessly careless. If he hadn't been moving inhumanly fast, or if the female had been a better fighter, he would have been killed. But he had been moving that fast, just a blur of motion. It had actually been pretty frightening.
He's a monster, Jack thought, then firmly quelled that thought. Xander had been acting to protect them. He didn't really have anything to do with their battle, but here he was, fighting to help them.
.
They took the elevator up to the surface and hurried out to find Xander standing in front of an SUV filled with young people. There was a shocked look on his face and his hands were pressed against his mouth.
"Willow?" he finally croaked.
The redheaded girl looked equally as shocked. "Xander?" Then she looked at the man driving the car. "Xander?"
The guy turned his head and Jack felt surprise jerk through him. "Xander?"
"Holy evil twins, Batman. Methinks things have just taken a turn for the surreal," the one-eyed Xander said, the twitching of his lips the only sign of how surprised he was.
"Maybe... maybe we should talk?" Xander said.
"Sounds like a good idea," Jack said. "Let them in," he told the guards. "We have some business to discuss."
* MX * MX *
"What about this?" Dawn asked, pointing at the computer monitor.
Tara got up to peer over her shoulder for a moment, then shook her head. "No. See that symbol there? If we tried to use that spell it would kill the casters and the person we cast on."
Dawn sighed as Tara moved back to the table and the pile of books. She propped her cheek on her fist and kept scrolling down the screen, her eyes busily scanning the text.
She was exhausted, her mind was almost to the point of chronic shutdown, but she knew she couldn't stop.
Willow was burning up from the inside out. It was obvious to anyone that looked at her that it was only a matter of time before things got really bad and Willow completely lost it.
Even though some of the things Willow had done had kind of freaked her out, Dawn couldn't really hold any of it against her. Because no matter how freaky Willow had gotten with the magics, it had all started because Dawn was being hunted by Glory and Willow was the only one to save her.
Thinking back, Dawn couldn't believe how strong Willow had been. Sure, when she'd been fourteen, the then seventeen year old Willow had seemed like an adult. But now, at twenty-one, seventeen seemed like such a young age to be facing the kind of horrors the Scooby-gang had regularly gone up against. Seventeen seemed impossibly young for the kind of magic Willow had wholeheartedly embraced. Seventeen was young for the kind of bravery Xander had shown when he had thrown himself into what had seemed like certain damnation to save Willow from herself.
Being three years younger than Buffy and her friends, Dawn had always felt as if she was playing a never-ending game of catch-up. No matter what she did, they were always one step ahead of her, heroes before she was even allowed out after ten.
They had saved her life more times than she could count, and even though she had eventually grown into her role of hereditary Scooby, she still sometimes got the sense that she was looking for a place to belong. It wasn't like she had magic or super-strength to pull her out of the crowd, and that whole mystical keyness? Didn't really help when she was being threatened by the baddies.
Now though, in this moment and time, Willow needed her. Xander had been sucked into some other reality, and while Willow was totally losing her mind and Buffy didn't know what to do, she, Dawn Summers, had the opportunity to step up to the plate and help save the day.
"I am Research Girl," she whispered.
"What was that?" Tara asked distractedly, flipping through a tome written in ancient Sumerian.
"Nothing," Dawn said, blushing a little. She clicked the mouse on the list of bookmarks, choosing another site. "We have to find a way to bring Xander back."
"As soon as possible," Tara said.
* GV * GV *
For a minute there, he had thought his heart was going to burst in his chest. Somehow, Willow had made it across the reality barrier without him feeling her presence.
He couldn't explain how he could still feel so horribly empty and alone when Willow was that close to him. It was as though she wasn't really there, just this shadow creature that wore her face and ripped the soul out of him just by existing.
Then reality had reasserted itself and he knew it wasn't his Willow, just another version. Not his Willow.
He could feel their eyes touching on him, brushing against his skin like fluttery little fingers as they tried to figure him out.
He had to lean against the elevator wall to brace himself, his eyes squinting closed as he felt Willow brush against him with her magic, trying to pry into his mind.
If he had wanted to, he could have burnt off her questing Fingers, but he refrained himself. Instead, he let the wall around his mind grow thicker, blocking her from being able to access the opening he had always left for his Willow.
"Do you mind?" he asked aloud, turning his head to look at her.
"What?" she asked, sounding genuinely confused.
He felt his lips twitch a little. "Stop trying to get into my head," he said. "It's rude."
She blushed and lowered her eyes, her mind closing back up tight. "Sorry. I... I didn't mean to..."
"You just didn't think you would be caught," he said, but there was no anger in his voice. She just seemed so young to him. Powerful, but a child still in some ways.
"What's going on?" One-Eyed Xander asked, looking back and forth between them.
Xander ignored the suspicious look of his almost-twin. "Nothing."
"Wills?" Buffy asked, quirking a brow.
Willow shook her head. "Nothing. It's all right."
* MX * MX *
"Holy crap, I think I found it!" she called excitedly.
Tara turned to look at her. "What?"
Dawn scrolled back up the page. "This is what we need. This is totally what we need."
Tara came to read over her shoulder. "The Book of World-Gates? I've never heard of that. Where can we find it?"
Dawn grinned at her. "That's the best part." She clicked the forum link. "Neelor the Great says that 'the Book of World-Gates was lasted sighted somewhere on the Mouth of Hell near the place of two peaks.'"
"It's here in town?" Tara laughed a little. "Isn't coincidence wonderful."
"I don't think it's coincidence," Dawn said. "Me thinks me smells the stenchity stench of a p-r-o-p-h-ecy. We should probably consult the books about it."
"After we get the book," Tara said. "Luck knows someone else is probably on the look-out for it right now so they can cause some kind of apocalypse."
"Yeppers, that's a roger." Dawn closed out the windows and switched off the computer. "Let's get Buffy. You know she's gonna want to be in on the action. She's been jonesing for some violence ever since Xander pulled his Houdini act."
* GV * GV *
Xander sat across from the alterna-Scooby gang and ignored the aching feeling in his stomach just seeing them made him feel. Especially when he could see how battle worn and tired they were.
Buffy was like a shadow of herself, her flesh worn close to the bone even as she tried to pretend that everything was all right. Willow was looking a little careworn herself, as though she had seen and done things that had left too much of a mark for them to ever fade. Faith was Faith, which didn't mean he was any happier to see her. The other two girls were about seventeen years old and had that kind of half-finished look of kids that hadn't completely settled into their calling. And other Xander...
"What the hell happened to your eye?" he demanded, completely ignoring the extra weight for now.
One-Eyed Xander shifted uncomfortably, raising a self-conscious hand to his patch covered eye. "Uh... got it jabbed out by a minion of the First. Evil priest, you know how it is." He tried to shrug unconcernedly, as though it didn't matter, but failed dismally.
Xander propped his elbows on the table and leaned forward, his eyes passing from One-Eyed Xander, to Willow, to Buffy and back again. "How did the First ever manage to get enough of a foothold that it could fully manifest Itself?"
He noticed the nervous glance both One-Eyed Xander and Willow flicked toward Buffy. "Ah, I see now." He concentrated closer on Buffy, trying to see what had changed in her from his Buffy.
There were threads of darkness spread throughout her whole body, anchoring her tight to her flesh even as something pulsing in her wanted to be set free. Strings spread from her and out into the world, one leading to One-Eyed Xander, another to Willow, one far away to the green warmth of Dawn, another to a shadowed version of Angel, and a shadowed version of Spike, which was kind of surprising. Then there were all the little spots of heat wandering the world, each imbued with a tiny bit of the essence that made Buffy a Champion.
"Slayers, thousands of Slayers," Xander said out loud. He looked at Willow. "How is that possible?"
She opened, then closed her mouth, her eyes lowering to the table.
"How... how did you know about that?" One-Eyed Xander asked.
Xander gestured at the two strange girls. "They feel like Buffy and Faith, and there's more of them out there, all of them trying to find some kind of place to stand in the face of their sudden destiny. How did you do it, Wills? Why would you do it?"
"We were fighting the First, and we were losing," Buffy said. "It had to be done."
Xander looked at her. A knife worn down by use, gradually fading away with each battle she fought. Pretty soon there would be nothing left of the girl, just the blade. "Don't you remember how much you hated that whole having a destiny thing? How could you force countless other girls to become Slayers when you didn't even want it yourself?"
"It had to be done," Buffy repeated. "The gates of hell were open and the armies were coming through. We were losing. If we hadn't activated all of the Potentials, everything would have been lost."
"Where's the humor, Buff? What happened to all the quippage?" He sighed, feeling like his heart was going to break. "How did you die, Buffy? And who would even think about bringing you back?"
"Whoa," Faith said, crossing her arms. "How'd you know about that? What kind of Xander are you?"
Xander looked at One-Eye. "A different kind of Xander then the one you've got. A very different kind." He shook his head. "The eye was bad enough, but how could you let yourself go that much?"
"Huh?" One-Eyed Xander asked.
"Come on, man. You're carrying a whole other person around your stomach."
One-Eye flushed in embarrassment. "I really love Twinkies."
"Sure," Xander said. "Guess it's all the guilt from bringing Buffy back from the dead."
"How... how do you know about that?" One-Eyed Xander asked.
"You stink of it," Xander said. "You and Willow both reek of dark magic, and poor Buffy... she smells like grave rot and despair."
Buffy pressed her hands against her mouth and shook her head. "No... no..." Memories swirled in her eyes, unpleasant images of things no one should ever have to go through.
"Stop it!" Willow yelled, slamming her palms against the table. Darkness swirled through her hair and her eyes were full of inky blackness.
"Ah, there you are," Xander said, looking at her fondly. This was what he had been looking for, the spirit and the fire.
"What the hell is your problem?" Willow demanded, her voice a few octaves lower.
Xander shook his head. "Nothing. I just wanted to see what kind of person you are here, Wills. And sure, the darkness is all in you, but there's light too. Light and control, which is a good thing. Because if you were just all wild and crazy, with the power you have... 'bad things' wouldn't even describe the kind of damage you could do."
"Was that some kind of test or something?" Willow's voice rose with her anger, though she was still holding herself back.
If it had been his Willow and he wasn't there to hold her back, things already would have been flying around the room and shattering down to their base elements. This Willow had control over her power even in her rage, and that was definitely a good thing.
"Yes, that was a test," Xander said. "I had to see if you are able to control yourself."
"Well, how could you say such terrible things to Buffy?" Willow asked, green peeking out of her eyes. "She still has nightmares and you... how could you say that?"
Xander shrugged. "Because it's true. She flutters against her cage like a trapped bird, her soul crying out for freedom. Duty holds her back and love anchors her to the world, but when her time comes she will fly into the light with nothing but joy. She's already halfway there; look how faded she is. Her edges have all been worn away and now it's only her spirit she rubs off. Each battle she fights takes a little more of the Buffy out of her. Soon there won't be anything left of her, just the Slayer fighting and fighting until she can finally let go once and for all."
He looked at Willow sadly. "How could you do that to her, Willow? Don't you know how wrong it is to raise the dead? Her time was done no matter how she died, yet there she is... I can feel the echo of her pain. It fills the air around her." He held his hand out toward Buffy. "I'm so sorry for what they've done to you, and you are so brave for being able to go on."
He and his friends had done some pretty out there things in the name of saving the world, but they had all known there were some boundaries no one should ever cross. And raising the dead? So over the line.
Tears trickled down Buffy's face and her thoughts were so powerful that he couldn't help but to hear them. This was the first time anyone had ever really and honestly apologized for pulling her out of heaven. Sure, the rest of the gang had been shocked and horrified about what they'd done to her, but it had always felt as though they had just mouthed their sorries, not really and truly meant them. Because she was useful and they needed her, no matter how much she screamed inside for what she'd had taken away from her. Heaven. Freedom from pain. Her mother wrapped tight around her in love.
Xander felt pity welling up inside him when he looked at Buffy. She may have learned to smile again, but she would never be completely clear of the marks of her loss.
"How do you know all these things?" Buffy asked, her voice shaking only a little.
"I can feel it," Xander said.
"You know magic," Willow stated. "How's you mange to learn magic?"
"What do you mean?" he asked.
Faith jerked a thumb at One-Eyed Xander. "Chubs here is completely worthless with the magics. So how can you be good enough to just look at Buffy and them and know what went on?"
Xander looked at his alternate self and read the memory of personal despair in his eyes. "Man, what happened to you? Other than the fatness, how could you end up like this? Do you even know the word 'loser,' 'cause that totally describes you right now."
"Whoa, I think someone is channeling their inner Cordy," Buffy said sotto voce.
Willow nodded agreeably.
Xander snorted. "Sorry, it's just that my mind is completely boggled looking at him. What happened to you?" He widened the scope of his attention to take them all in. "To all of you?"
* GV * GV *
Jack had had a list of questions he'd wanted to ask the kids, but held himself back.
There was something about this group of people and the way they with Xander that made him not want to interrupt. It was as though they were the center of their own little world and everything around them was faded to complete insignificance by the secrets they shared.
Sam had made to say something, but Jack had quickly silenced her with a touch on her arm. He wanted to get a little more information on the group dynamic happening here before he put in his two cents.
And the way Xander was talking... it was actually pretty disquieting. There was just something completely different about him when these people were around, something almost frightening in its intensity.
* GV * GV *
The Shadow of cast magic could feel the pulsing presence of life in the distance.
Wandering through the forest toward the teeming energy, it gathered shape and substance. The plants withered in the shadow of its passing and it felt itself growing in power, becoming more than just a shadow.
Just before it reached the town of Colorado Springs, it came across a cabin in the woods. It might have just continued on, its hunger waiting to be sated, except that it witnessed the flit and flutter of movie behind the cabin. And even though it was a monster in the truest sense, it did have a kind of curiosity to be fulfilled.
Moving stealthily to the side of the building, its hungry eyes took in the figure of a boy playing in the dirt. Dressed in jeans and a striped tee shirt, he was about ten years old, his sneakers untied and left to dangle.
The back door opened and a woman stepped half-out. "Tyler, lunch is gonna be ready in about ten minutes!"
"Sure Mom!" he called, not even lifting his head from the remote controlled car he was driving over small mounds of dirt and board bridges.
The woman smiled fondly and shook her head before going back inside, the door closing with a click.
The Shadow ghosted over the ground until it was about a foot behind the boy's back. It could feel the warmth of life rushing through that small body, tempting it to consume.
It wanted more than anything to reach out and suck the life out of the boy, but a darker idea had taken shape in its mind.
It needed shape and substance to do what needed to be done. It could find both of those by feeding on the energy of anything that crossed its path, but that would take time, weeks or maybe even years. But here before it was the opportunity to have what it wanted without the need to wait.
The fine hairs on the back of the boy's neck began to twitch and move. A shiver moved almost imperceptibly over him and he slowly turned his head.
Just as shock and horror were beginning to form on the boy's face, the creature swooped forward, sending itself spiraling in through the opening mouth.
The boy gasped and choked, his eyes going impossibly wide, but he didn't have the chance to scream for his mother.
Even though it was new to the world and had mostly been acting on instinct, it didn't hesitate a second.
The boy's agony flooded the air around him as he fell to the ground in convulsions. Finally he went stiff as a board, his eyes clenched shut and the cords standing out in his neck as his mouth opened wide. He never made another sound as the Shadow dug deep within him and without a single pause swallowed his soul whole, destroying it utterly in the fiery maw of its insides. And once that was done, it spread itself out until it filled him completely.
Gasping for breath, the Shadow lay on the ground for a few more minutes, his chest rising and falling as he learned the ins and outs of his new body.
"Tyler, are you ready... Oh my God!" The door slammed open and the woman--Mom--came running down the steps toward him. "Are you all right?"
The Shadow... Tyler shuddered one last time, then forced himself into a sitting position. He raised a hand to the side of his head and whimpered a little. "I'm... I'm okay," he said. "Don't worry, Mom. I'm fine."
She fell to her knees next to him, pulling him into her arms. "Oh, I was so worried."
"Don't worry," he said again. "I'm all right."
She pressed kisses against his cheeks and eyelids. "No, no. That... that was too scary. You gave Mommy a big scare."
"I'm all right, though," he said, gripping her shirt with his hands. "We can just go in and eat lunch. . It's all right."
"No, baby," she said, pulling away enough to look in his face. "We're gonna take a ride into town and have a little visit with Dr. Greer, okay?"
He pouted. "But I don't want to. I'm fine, Mom. I just... I just fell down, that's all."
"Honey, we're going into town," she said firmly. "We're going to see Dr. Greer and he's going to make sure you're really all right."
"We don't have to, 'cause I'm..."
"Dr. Greer's going to look at you," she said. "Just for my piece of mind, that's all. And once he's done, we'll go get some ice cream, okay? Okay."
She pulled him up to his feet and began leading him back toward the cabin. "Let's just change your clothes and I'll call Dr. Greer to let him know we're coming. Everything's gonna be all right, baby. Don't worry."
He barely held back his smile. She would take him right into town and he would glut his hunger on the life of the townspeople. It was a beautiful thing.
TBC...