The Watcher: The End. Finally.
So I've let that fic series I've written waste to death for several years at this point which I left as a cliffhanger. I'm not sure if anyone even cares at this point but recently I was going over some of my old stuff and re-read most of the series from the beginning to the end. Or at least where I left off.
I had a lot of plans for this final episode but life got in the way. Also the BTVS comic kicked off and since that was considered canon, I felt like my whole series was fairly useless. Plus looking at my notes I realize now it was going to be way over the top.
However today I found I had a lot of free time on my hands at work so I figured I could at least write up a summary in case anyone was still reading livejournal or wanted closure. Somehow. I don't know.
Is anyone out there still *using* livejournal? I am but definitely not for fic purposes.
Anyhow... Here's the last episode but in a summary format instead of the usual script style I've used in the past.
Previously on The Watcher, Liv's mother was captured by Amy and her soul was sent to hell just to piss off Xander. Xander seemingly wigged out and started to take own drastic measures to try and get Lucy back. He traded the scythe to Urkonn (From the Fray series Joss Whedon wrote) in order to gain access to hell through the hellmouth. At the end of the episode he showed a vision to Faith right before activating the spell allowing to access hell.
And effectively killing Xander.
No. Not the end.
The Watcher: Season 2 - Xander goes to Hell
Teaser:
The scene opens up in a graveyard with Liv beating the crap out of some vampires and taking risks that she normally wouldn't have. Spike shows up where they have a conversation about how Liv is losing it. Liv threatens to dust Spike if he doesn't get out of her way. Andrew shows up then to talk to Liv as her "new watcher"
Liv essentially tells Andrew to fuck off. Her mom is in a coma and she only had one watcher and he's dead now.
We then comically cut to Xander waking up in an undisclosed location where he exclaims "Oh, good! It worked." Only to be told a second later that he's completely wrong. The camera pans over to see Jesse McNally, Xander's BFF from the first episode of BTVS.
End Teaser
Act I
Xander is standing and looking at his friend in disbelief. And *really* looking as Xander realizes his eyes are working again. Jesse explains that he's been hanging around Xander all his afterlife and working as a sort of Guardian angel. Xander scoffs and points out he's done a lackluster job with the whole guardian-thing and points to several points in canon where Xander was in mortal peril and almost died. Jesse retorts that Xander was the one who kept throwing himself into dangerous situations. Besides he caused so much trouble that he needed to have two guardians in order to protect him and Jesse wasn't on duty when most of that happened. Xander asks who the other guardian only to hear a bone chilling voice call out his name.
His second Guardian? Principal Snyder.
Xander: Well. That explains a lot.
Cut to the land of the living, where Liv is ransacking the weapons to go out on patrol again. Maya shows up and tries to get Liv to see some sense. Liv is getting reckless and Maya is understandably worried about her. Liv is a wall of anger and refuses to let Maya talk sense to her. Liv is about to stomp out to go on patrol again when Maya asks if "Liv is going to be there."
Liv stops in her tracks. As it turns out today is the last day Lucy is supposed to be on life support. Her living will was very specific about how long she was supposed to be kept alive. Liv says she can't handle being there. Maya talks about how they both need to be there and Liv storms out. Meanwhile from the window we see a demonic looking figure watching through the window at the interaction.
We cut back to Limbo (Because that's where Xander is) where Xander is in the middle having a frank conversation with his two "guardians". Jesse is warning Xander that what he's about to do is very dangerous and there's very little of a chance that he'll be able to go back to the world of the living. Snyder makes a comment about the conversation is fruitless because "Harris has always been a pain in the ass and will do whatever the hell he wants."
Xander for once agrees with Snyder. It's a weird bonding moment and they agree never to admit that again.
Xander asks what his next steps are and Jesse explains that he is in Limbo and that both Guardians can take him to the boundary he needs to cross over to rescue Lucy soul. However the guardians can only take him to that part and he'll have to find another guide. Xander jokes and says that he's making this up as he goes along so let's get moving.
Cut back to Liv on patrol. She's making her rounds when she runs into Audrey who still has "Iggy" (the African Shaman) living inside her head. Audrey is becoming a bit schizoid with the two personalities but manages to warn Liv that she has seen ill portents and believes there are demonic forces at play which wish to open the hellmouth. Audrey warns "Freakshow" that her recklessness must be curbed and re-forge her bonds with her teammates if she expects to keep it closed.
Liv rebuffs Audrey/Iggy and states she can handle this on her own.
Cut back to Limbo. Xander, Jesse and Snyder approach the "Edge" which is a literal white line bordering what appears to be one scary cluster of hell. Jesse and Snyder can't do anything else for Xander once he crosses the line. Jesse wishes Xander luck. Snyder admits he'd like Xander to die so he wouldn't have to save Xander's ass anymore.
Jesse asks how Xander is going to navigate hell. Only someone who had demonic heritage can cross the line and help him over there. Xander admits that he was hoping a certain someone would show up but wasn't sure if it would happen. Jesse asks who that would be.
And that's when Anya shows up all "Fine. I'm here. Let's get this over with."
End Act I
Act II:
Snyder: Oh. Look. It's the ex-fiancee who was once a demon. Going to save Xander's current girlfriend. This shouldn't be awkward at all.
[I'm just going to break the summary at this point to note that I always liked Snyder. I found him evilly delightful.]
Xander and Anya step over the line into hell. As Anya begins to guide him she complains how she's dead and hanging out in Limbo. Why didn't Xander ever endanger the world to save her? Xander is very cryptic at this point saying there's more on the line here than Lucy just being his girlfriend. Anya rolls her eyes and leads him on into Hell avoiding whatever demons they can. She reminds Xander that to get Lucy's soul out, Xander has a price to pay. She asks him if he knows what it's going to cost him and if he's willing to pay the price. Xander says he made it this far. He's not going back now without Lucy. He asks her to hurry this up because the longer he's down here the more things can get screwed upstairs before he gets back.
Cut to Lucy's hospital room. There's no dialogue as Jordy and Maya stand by the hospital bed along with several other adults and staff and Andrew. The life support is turned off and removed. There's the all-so-tropey long drown out beep which is turned off. Lucy dies. Maya bursts into tears and seeks comfort from Jordy.
Maya: Liv should have been here.
Turns out Liv was there. Just out in the hallway. She cracks and goes into a stairwell where she breaks down into sobs.
Cut to the Hellmouth site. Audrey/Iggy is trying to perform some kind of rite when the demon who was lurking outside of Liv's house shows up. The demon knows that Audrey is trying to "plug the crack" that was made and the demon is there to stop her so he can open the hellmouth and "have some fun." Audrey/Iggy try to fight with the personalities conflicting with each other at one point, giving the demon a drop on her. He kills her and leaves her body on the hellmouth.
End Act II
Act III
We open on Xander and Anya battling a demon and managing to dispatch it through teamwork. Xander gets hurt in the process and Anya warns him that it's only going to get tougher from here. Xander stands up and keeps moving.
Cut to the Hellmouth.
Liv has gone into reckless mode again and storms into the cave to find... Audrey's body. She's stands there stunned and flips out when Jordy appears beside her. He manages to calm her down and get Liv to talk. Liv finally admits she's out of control. She feels lost without her mom who has been Liv's only stable thing in her life since becoming slayer. Now that she's gone she's not sure who she can rely on.
Jordy reminds her that she has friends. That Maya will always be there for her. That even though Liv is at odds with the council and Faith, they will be there for her despite what happened with Xander. And finally he says he'll be there for her.
Liv breaks down and hugs Jordy. He hugs back. It's a tender moment that turns into that tropey tension we all love and then Liv and Jordy kiss.
[Okay. Break in the summary here. I was writing and planning this before Twilight and Hunger Games came along with the whole teen romantic triangle thing. Or at least I didn't read those books before I wrote this. Plus it's not like anyone else hasn't done this stuff before. So forgive me for the overused loved triangle please. I'll never do that again.]
So anyway... they kiss. And of course Maya shows up and flips out.
[See above about this trope and me never doing this again]
Cut To HELL! Xander and Anya finish battling another demon. Xander is looking pretty beat up. Anya asks if he really thinks he can continue. He doesn't have to answer as he SUDDENLY hears a familiar voice shouting for help. It's Lucy. Xander rushes end to find Lucy on a sort torture rack being used by demons who bicker about who's going to eat her entrails this time. Xander bursts in with Anya and defeat the demons and release Lucy from the device. After a loving exchange of hugs between Xander and Lucy, Anya clears her throat.
Anya: Hi. I'm Xander's Ex-demon lover. Who he never tried to rescue me from death. Nice to meet you!
Xander: I haven't missed these awkward moments with you at all by the way.
Lucy asks what they are going to do next, and Xander explains they are going home. Anya says that's all find and dandy but there's one thing they have to do first. She points behind him to what appears to be your typical spectre of Death. Big cloak. Scythe. Bony arms.
Anya: Time for that whole cost thing I was telling you about.
Cut back to the Hellmouth. Jordy, Maya and Liv are all screaming at each other in your typical love triangle argument. Maya smacks Liv and screams about being her friend and yells at Jordy about her being loyal. It's a big dramatic moment. Jordy steps forward and tries to act the peacemaker only for a giant sword to appear through his chest. Maya screams. Jordy falls over to reveal the demon who killed Audrey earlier. He smiles and rhapsodizes about how trivial love is in this world and explains to Maya she shouldn't fret because she will be seeing her boyfriend very soon. He raises the sword only to be blocked by Liv. She's got her groove back. Liv says that the demon will kill her friend over her dead body.
Demon: Suits me!
And as they begin an epic battle we cut back to Hell.
Xander is bargaining with the spectre, trying to explain that Lucy was wrongfully taken and that she needs to return to her world. Anya is translating for the spectre who says that won't happen. A soul cannot be taken without a replacement. Xander says he has a soul he's willing to give away. Lucy shouts and screams that he can't give himself up for her. Xander smiles and says that wasn't his plan. He reaches into his sack and pulls out a cage which contains Amy in her rat form.
Anya: Yep. Saw that coming.
Anya continues to explain that while Amy's soul covers one cost, there's also a handling fee. And Xander has one thing that the spectre wants.
Xander: Jeez. This is like dealing with an overdrawn account at the bank. With souls.
Anya: Duh. This is hell.
Xander has an idea what the fee is and agrees to pay. The spectre grabs Xander and he screams in pain as we see some energy being ripped from him. Lucy screams as well. Anya doesn't scream. She just kind of shrugs as if she expected it and doesn't see what the drama is all about.
Cut back to the Hellmouth.
Liv battles the demon but can't hold him off. He impales Liv into the wall and states he's going to keep her alive just so whatever is in the hellmouth can feast on her first. Maya tries to rush the demon but he quickly dispatches. He utters all sorts of magical words in a dramatic fashion as Liv cries and watches her friend die.
And we go to black.
And then we hear Willow's voice.
Willow
He's dead!
The lights come up and we focus on Faith from the end of the last episode not long after Xander showed her a vision and then zapped himself to hell. Turns out the whole thing with Liv going nuts and everyone dying? The vision that Xander shared with Faith.
Yep. It's one of those episodes.
Liv is sobbing of course. Well, everyone is sobbing really except for Giles who is examining the site. Faith says he isn't dead. Everyone turns and stares at her. And then freak out when seconds later Xander coughs and sits up gasping for breath. Liv tackle-hugs Xander. She asks what he was doing. He explains that he'll explain later. For now Liv needs to go to the hospital and see Lucy. Liv is only bewildered for a second before she understands and runs out of the cave at slayer speed.
Xander's friends however are not so happy.
Xander: I... guess I'll start explaining to you guys, now.
Giles: That would be nice, yes.
It's only then that everyone realizes Xander has BOTH his eyes back.
Cut to the hospital. Liv runs in Lucy's room to see her Mom alive and well with Jordy and Maya right beside her. There's another tackle-hug which turns into a group hug. Mother, daughter and the adopted family unit are together again.
End Act III
Act IV
Xander is standing out on the porch of Lucy's house arguing with Giles. It turns out that Xander not only traded Amy's soul for Lucy, he also gave up his visions as well. Along with trading away the scythe, stealing blood from Dawn and a half dozen other things Xander did wrong, Giles has little option but to fire Xander.
Xander looks inside the house where Liv and Lucy are sitting together, ignorant of what's going on the porch.
Xander: I'm fine with that.
A bit later Xander comes into the living room where Lucy and Xander have the "talk". Lucy doesn't remember what happened in hell. But she remembers what happened before. She asks Xander for some breathing room. Xander is upset but understands.
He'll move out.
Cut to Liv's room. She and Giles have a conversation about Xander. Liv understands why Xander did what he had to do but isn't sure about how he went about it. Giles gives a speech about how he understand slayer and watcher loyalty and asks her if she can still be a slayer and report to someone else. She looks out the window where Xander is packing the car. She nods. She'll stay with the council.
Cut to Xander's car. He's packing his belongings in it. Faith and Jordy show up. Jordy has his stuff and is coming with Xander. Xander argues but Jordy is all:
Jordy: Hey. Last I checked you're my guardian. That's not changing at all. Besides there's no way I'm moving to Vegas and live with Oz. I can't stand the desert.
Faith asks what Xander's going to do now that he's not a watcher. Xander says he's not giving up the fight. He spent most of his life fighting evil or watching Buffy fight evil. He's not going to stop just because he's fired. Faith nods and says to count her in. Xander is shocked.
Faith: What? You ever forget I'm the original rebel slayer? The council is getting too boring and I'm sick of all the teenage drama going on there. What do you say, Harris? Think you can handle me as a watcher?
Off Xander's reaction we fade to black and we end the season.
End Act IV
If there had been another season it would have focused on Liv working with a new Watcher while Xander, Audrey, Faith and Jordy worked as a "Rogue" council. They would have worked and lived out of the Joke Shop that Xander would have obtained through his "severance package" from the council. For those who have read this series, it's the same joke shop where Pongo saved his "sister."
Spike would have left town sometime after the season two finale.
The new watcher would have been somewhat like Wesley personality wise in his first appearance but with many more years on him. His name was going to be Desmond Pryce who had retired from the council but was recruited back by Giles to be Liv's watcher. However he returned with ulterior motives. He's not a big fan of what Buffy and crew did when they activated all the possible slayers. In fact he only came back to return everything to the status quo. Yep! He would have been the big bad of season three working on taking away the powers of all the slayers so there would be only one. I tried to lay some of the groundwork of this back in Liv's dreamwalk/interaction with the first slayer.
Maya would be a key figure in the season figuring out how to be loyal to Liv and the rogue slayer crew at the same time. She would eventually stumble across Desmond's plot with Audrey's reluctant help. Audrey would eventually lose Iggy's personality but would retain his memories as she progressed down her destiny to become a witch/shaman.
Eventually Xander would reconcile with Lucy and Liv. Once Desmond's plot was defeated they would go back to their normal family unit.
So. There you go. Ten years later and I at least wrote down the finale that I've had in my head. Looking back I realized I made a lot of mistakes on this series. I went to far with giving Xander powers. I used Lucy's apparent death as a means to push Xander to do things he normally wouldn't do. I wasn't aware of the concept of "Fridging" a character at the time but now that I do I realize it's not something I should have done. Also my cast was not very diverse. That bothers me a lot now in retrospect.
So. That would have been it for the watcher. If anyone is evening reading this now I'd be shocked beyond belief. Ah well. I wrote this story for me and even though it's been ten years since I touched this story it feels good to give it an ending of sorts.
Thank you for reading.
I had a lot of plans for this final episode but life got in the way. Also the BTVS comic kicked off and since that was considered canon, I felt like my whole series was fairly useless. Plus looking at my notes I realize now it was going to be way over the top.
However today I found I had a lot of free time on my hands at work so I figured I could at least write up a summary in case anyone was still reading livejournal or wanted closure. Somehow. I don't know.
Is anyone out there still *using* livejournal? I am but definitely not for fic purposes.
Anyhow... Here's the last episode but in a summary format instead of the usual script style I've used in the past.
Previously on The Watcher, Liv's mother was captured by Amy and her soul was sent to hell just to piss off Xander. Xander seemingly wigged out and started to take own drastic measures to try and get Lucy back. He traded the scythe to Urkonn (From the Fray series Joss Whedon wrote) in order to gain access to hell through the hellmouth. At the end of the episode he showed a vision to Faith right before activating the spell allowing to access hell.
And effectively killing Xander.
No. Not the end.
The Watcher: Season 2 - Xander goes to Hell
Teaser:
The scene opens up in a graveyard with Liv beating the crap out of some vampires and taking risks that she normally wouldn't have. Spike shows up where they have a conversation about how Liv is losing it. Liv threatens to dust Spike if he doesn't get out of her way. Andrew shows up then to talk to Liv as her "new watcher"
Liv essentially tells Andrew to fuck off. Her mom is in a coma and she only had one watcher and he's dead now.
We then comically cut to Xander waking up in an undisclosed location where he exclaims "Oh, good! It worked." Only to be told a second later that he's completely wrong. The camera pans over to see Jesse McNally, Xander's BFF from the first episode of BTVS.
End Teaser
Act I
Xander is standing and looking at his friend in disbelief. And *really* looking as Xander realizes his eyes are working again. Jesse explains that he's been hanging around Xander all his afterlife and working as a sort of Guardian angel. Xander scoffs and points out he's done a lackluster job with the whole guardian-thing and points to several points in canon where Xander was in mortal peril and almost died. Jesse retorts that Xander was the one who kept throwing himself into dangerous situations. Besides he caused so much trouble that he needed to have two guardians in order to protect him and Jesse wasn't on duty when most of that happened. Xander asks who the other guardian only to hear a bone chilling voice call out his name.
His second Guardian? Principal Snyder.
Xander: Well. That explains a lot.
Cut to the land of the living, where Liv is ransacking the weapons to go out on patrol again. Maya shows up and tries to get Liv to see some sense. Liv is getting reckless and Maya is understandably worried about her. Liv is a wall of anger and refuses to let Maya talk sense to her. Liv is about to stomp out to go on patrol again when Maya asks if "Liv is going to be there."
Liv stops in her tracks. As it turns out today is the last day Lucy is supposed to be on life support. Her living will was very specific about how long she was supposed to be kept alive. Liv says she can't handle being there. Maya talks about how they both need to be there and Liv storms out. Meanwhile from the window we see a demonic looking figure watching through the window at the interaction.
We cut back to Limbo (Because that's where Xander is) where Xander is in the middle having a frank conversation with his two "guardians". Jesse is warning Xander that what he's about to do is very dangerous and there's very little of a chance that he'll be able to go back to the world of the living. Snyder makes a comment about the conversation is fruitless because "Harris has always been a pain in the ass and will do whatever the hell he wants."
Xander for once agrees with Snyder. It's a weird bonding moment and they agree never to admit that again.
Xander asks what his next steps are and Jesse explains that he is in Limbo and that both Guardians can take him to the boundary he needs to cross over to rescue Lucy soul. However the guardians can only take him to that part and he'll have to find another guide. Xander jokes and says that he's making this up as he goes along so let's get moving.
Cut back to Liv on patrol. She's making her rounds when she runs into Audrey who still has "Iggy" (the African Shaman) living inside her head. Audrey is becoming a bit schizoid with the two personalities but manages to warn Liv that she has seen ill portents and believes there are demonic forces at play which wish to open the hellmouth. Audrey warns "Freakshow" that her recklessness must be curbed and re-forge her bonds with her teammates if she expects to keep it closed.
Liv rebuffs Audrey/Iggy and states she can handle this on her own.
Cut back to Limbo. Xander, Jesse and Snyder approach the "Edge" which is a literal white line bordering what appears to be one scary cluster of hell. Jesse and Snyder can't do anything else for Xander once he crosses the line. Jesse wishes Xander luck. Snyder admits he'd like Xander to die so he wouldn't have to save Xander's ass anymore.
Jesse asks how Xander is going to navigate hell. Only someone who had demonic heritage can cross the line and help him over there. Xander admits that he was hoping a certain someone would show up but wasn't sure if it would happen. Jesse asks who that would be.
And that's when Anya shows up all "Fine. I'm here. Let's get this over with."
End Act I
Act II:
Snyder: Oh. Look. It's the ex-fiancee who was once a demon. Going to save Xander's current girlfriend. This shouldn't be awkward at all.
[I'm just going to break the summary at this point to note that I always liked Snyder. I found him evilly delightful.]
Xander and Anya step over the line into hell. As Anya begins to guide him she complains how she's dead and hanging out in Limbo. Why didn't Xander ever endanger the world to save her? Xander is very cryptic at this point saying there's more on the line here than Lucy just being his girlfriend. Anya rolls her eyes and leads him on into Hell avoiding whatever demons they can. She reminds Xander that to get Lucy's soul out, Xander has a price to pay. She asks him if he knows what it's going to cost him and if he's willing to pay the price. Xander says he made it this far. He's not going back now without Lucy. He asks her to hurry this up because the longer he's down here the more things can get screwed upstairs before he gets back.
Cut to Lucy's hospital room. There's no dialogue as Jordy and Maya stand by the hospital bed along with several other adults and staff and Andrew. The life support is turned off and removed. There's the all-so-tropey long drown out beep which is turned off. Lucy dies. Maya bursts into tears and seeks comfort from Jordy.
Maya: Liv should have been here.
Turns out Liv was there. Just out in the hallway. She cracks and goes into a stairwell where she breaks down into sobs.
Cut to the Hellmouth site. Audrey/Iggy is trying to perform some kind of rite when the demon who was lurking outside of Liv's house shows up. The demon knows that Audrey is trying to "plug the crack" that was made and the demon is there to stop her so he can open the hellmouth and "have some fun." Audrey/Iggy try to fight with the personalities conflicting with each other at one point, giving the demon a drop on her. He kills her and leaves her body on the hellmouth.
End Act II
Act III
We open on Xander and Anya battling a demon and managing to dispatch it through teamwork. Xander gets hurt in the process and Anya warns him that it's only going to get tougher from here. Xander stands up and keeps moving.
Cut to the Hellmouth.
Liv has gone into reckless mode again and storms into the cave to find... Audrey's body. She's stands there stunned and flips out when Jordy appears beside her. He manages to calm her down and get Liv to talk. Liv finally admits she's out of control. She feels lost without her mom who has been Liv's only stable thing in her life since becoming slayer. Now that she's gone she's not sure who she can rely on.
Jordy reminds her that she has friends. That Maya will always be there for her. That even though Liv is at odds with the council and Faith, they will be there for her despite what happened with Xander. And finally he says he'll be there for her.
Liv breaks down and hugs Jordy. He hugs back. It's a tender moment that turns into that tropey tension we all love and then Liv and Jordy kiss.
[Okay. Break in the summary here. I was writing and planning this before Twilight and Hunger Games came along with the whole teen romantic triangle thing. Or at least I didn't read those books before I wrote this. Plus it's not like anyone else hasn't done this stuff before. So forgive me for the overused loved triangle please. I'll never do that again.]
So anyway... they kiss. And of course Maya shows up and flips out.
[See above about this trope and me never doing this again]
Cut To HELL! Xander and Anya finish battling another demon. Xander is looking pretty beat up. Anya asks if he really thinks he can continue. He doesn't have to answer as he SUDDENLY hears a familiar voice shouting for help. It's Lucy. Xander rushes end to find Lucy on a sort torture rack being used by demons who bicker about who's going to eat her entrails this time. Xander bursts in with Anya and defeat the demons and release Lucy from the device. After a loving exchange of hugs between Xander and Lucy, Anya clears her throat.
Anya: Hi. I'm Xander's Ex-demon lover. Who he never tried to rescue me from death. Nice to meet you!
Xander: I haven't missed these awkward moments with you at all by the way.
Lucy asks what they are going to do next, and Xander explains they are going home. Anya says that's all find and dandy but there's one thing they have to do first. She points behind him to what appears to be your typical spectre of Death. Big cloak. Scythe. Bony arms.
Anya: Time for that whole cost thing I was telling you about.
Cut back to the Hellmouth. Jordy, Maya and Liv are all screaming at each other in your typical love triangle argument. Maya smacks Liv and screams about being her friend and yells at Jordy about her being loyal. It's a big dramatic moment. Jordy steps forward and tries to act the peacemaker only for a giant sword to appear through his chest. Maya screams. Jordy falls over to reveal the demon who killed Audrey earlier. He smiles and rhapsodizes about how trivial love is in this world and explains to Maya she shouldn't fret because she will be seeing her boyfriend very soon. He raises the sword only to be blocked by Liv. She's got her groove back. Liv says that the demon will kill her friend over her dead body.
Demon: Suits me!
And as they begin an epic battle we cut back to Hell.
Xander is bargaining with the spectre, trying to explain that Lucy was wrongfully taken and that she needs to return to her world. Anya is translating for the spectre who says that won't happen. A soul cannot be taken without a replacement. Xander says he has a soul he's willing to give away. Lucy shouts and screams that he can't give himself up for her. Xander smiles and says that wasn't his plan. He reaches into his sack and pulls out a cage which contains Amy in her rat form.
Anya: Yep. Saw that coming.
Anya continues to explain that while Amy's soul covers one cost, there's also a handling fee. And Xander has one thing that the spectre wants.
Xander: Jeez. This is like dealing with an overdrawn account at the bank. With souls.
Anya: Duh. This is hell.
Xander has an idea what the fee is and agrees to pay. The spectre grabs Xander and he screams in pain as we see some energy being ripped from him. Lucy screams as well. Anya doesn't scream. She just kind of shrugs as if she expected it and doesn't see what the drama is all about.
Cut back to the Hellmouth.
Liv battles the demon but can't hold him off. He impales Liv into the wall and states he's going to keep her alive just so whatever is in the hellmouth can feast on her first. Maya tries to rush the demon but he quickly dispatches. He utters all sorts of magical words in a dramatic fashion as Liv cries and watches her friend die.
And we go to black.
And then we hear Willow's voice.
Willow
He's dead!
The lights come up and we focus on Faith from the end of the last episode not long after Xander showed her a vision and then zapped himself to hell. Turns out the whole thing with Liv going nuts and everyone dying? The vision that Xander shared with Faith.
Yep. It's one of those episodes.
Liv is sobbing of course. Well, everyone is sobbing really except for Giles who is examining the site. Faith says he isn't dead. Everyone turns and stares at her. And then freak out when seconds later Xander coughs and sits up gasping for breath. Liv tackle-hugs Xander. She asks what he was doing. He explains that he'll explain later. For now Liv needs to go to the hospital and see Lucy. Liv is only bewildered for a second before she understands and runs out of the cave at slayer speed.
Xander's friends however are not so happy.
Xander: I... guess I'll start explaining to you guys, now.
Giles: That would be nice, yes.
It's only then that everyone realizes Xander has BOTH his eyes back.
Cut to the hospital. Liv runs in Lucy's room to see her Mom alive and well with Jordy and Maya right beside her. There's another tackle-hug which turns into a group hug. Mother, daughter and the adopted family unit are together again.
End Act III
Act IV
Xander is standing out on the porch of Lucy's house arguing with Giles. It turns out that Xander not only traded Amy's soul for Lucy, he also gave up his visions as well. Along with trading away the scythe, stealing blood from Dawn and a half dozen other things Xander did wrong, Giles has little option but to fire Xander.
Xander looks inside the house where Liv and Lucy are sitting together, ignorant of what's going on the porch.
Xander: I'm fine with that.
A bit later Xander comes into the living room where Lucy and Xander have the "talk". Lucy doesn't remember what happened in hell. But she remembers what happened before. She asks Xander for some breathing room. Xander is upset but understands.
He'll move out.
Cut to Liv's room. She and Giles have a conversation about Xander. Liv understands why Xander did what he had to do but isn't sure about how he went about it. Giles gives a speech about how he understand slayer and watcher loyalty and asks her if she can still be a slayer and report to someone else. She looks out the window where Xander is packing the car. She nods. She'll stay with the council.
Cut to Xander's car. He's packing his belongings in it. Faith and Jordy show up. Jordy has his stuff and is coming with Xander. Xander argues but Jordy is all:
Jordy: Hey. Last I checked you're my guardian. That's not changing at all. Besides there's no way I'm moving to Vegas and live with Oz. I can't stand the desert.
Faith asks what Xander's going to do now that he's not a watcher. Xander says he's not giving up the fight. He spent most of his life fighting evil or watching Buffy fight evil. He's not going to stop just because he's fired. Faith nods and says to count her in. Xander is shocked.
Faith: What? You ever forget I'm the original rebel slayer? The council is getting too boring and I'm sick of all the teenage drama going on there. What do you say, Harris? Think you can handle me as a watcher?
Off Xander's reaction we fade to black and we end the season.
End Act IV
If there had been another season it would have focused on Liv working with a new Watcher while Xander, Audrey, Faith and Jordy worked as a "Rogue" council. They would have worked and lived out of the Joke Shop that Xander would have obtained through his "severance package" from the council. For those who have read this series, it's the same joke shop where Pongo saved his "sister."
Spike would have left town sometime after the season two finale.
The new watcher would have been somewhat like Wesley personality wise in his first appearance but with many more years on him. His name was going to be Desmond Pryce who had retired from the council but was recruited back by Giles to be Liv's watcher. However he returned with ulterior motives. He's not a big fan of what Buffy and crew did when they activated all the possible slayers. In fact he only came back to return everything to the status quo. Yep! He would have been the big bad of season three working on taking away the powers of all the slayers so there would be only one. I tried to lay some of the groundwork of this back in Liv's dreamwalk/interaction with the first slayer.
Maya would be a key figure in the season figuring out how to be loyal to Liv and the rogue slayer crew at the same time. She would eventually stumble across Desmond's plot with Audrey's reluctant help. Audrey would eventually lose Iggy's personality but would retain his memories as she progressed down her destiny to become a witch/shaman.
Eventually Xander would reconcile with Lucy and Liv. Once Desmond's plot was defeated they would go back to their normal family unit.
So. There you go. Ten years later and I at least wrote down the finale that I've had in my head. Looking back I realized I made a lot of mistakes on this series. I went to far with giving Xander powers. I used Lucy's apparent death as a means to push Xander to do things he normally wouldn't do. I wasn't aware of the concept of "Fridging" a character at the time but now that I do I realize it's not something I should have done. Also my cast was not very diverse. That bothers me a lot now in retrospect.
So. That would have been it for the watcher. If anyone is evening reading this now I'd be shocked beyond belief. Ah well. I wrote this story for me and even though it's been ten years since I touched this story it feels good to give it an ending of sorts.
Thank you for reading.