White Knight's War

The White Knight’s War

Author :~ pixel
Rated: R mostly, but maybe some NC-17 later ~ depends how it goes
Ship: xander/graham/oc
Disclaimer: I own nothing, claim nothing, they all still belong to Joss et al and I’m just borrowing for a while.
Authors Notes 1: Ok this is probably going to have slash, bad language, character death and buffy bashing ~ so if you don’t like ~ don’t read. I don’t have a beta so all mistakes are mine ~ if you point them out I’ll try to fix them. There’s an explanation etc in prologue.
Authors Notes 2: Concrit and reviews always welcomed and appreciated, helps me know i'm not talking to myself here.

The Prophecy.

In a time of peace, a thrice born warrior of light shall willingly embrace the dark and join with the darkest of warriors to bring forth the end time. An army shall rise or fall with its heart and from the shadows the White Knight will rise. He shall know pain and loss and be forever after changed in body and soul. He will accommodate the three and become them. He shall first be recognised and named by his enemy, though will later fight at his side against the dark. He shall bring the chosen back from the beyond and face death at a chosen’s hands. He shall sacrifice half his light that he may better see the dark. Touched by the essence of the warrior, he shall be its chosen, its heart. When the chosen line splits apart he will be there, first once then many times. He will be their guide, their hope and in him they will find their inspiration. If the knight falls, so shall the light, he alone can turn back the dark. He will gather allies, enemies and friends, and from them find the strength to fight again. An army of warriors will go forth but in the end it will be, heart to heart, a battle only he can win.

Angel hauled himself up from the floor, shaking his head to try and make sense of what had just happened. “Xander hit me and then Dawn…..?”


Wesley bent down and helped Angel move towards the couch, “What precisely did you expect Angel. You and Mr Harris never exactly got along and your reaction showed you pretty much hadn’t bothered to listen to them. It isn’t as though you weren’t warned about his abilities, he was quite forthright about his new strength.”


“I know, just gonna take some getting used to, the idea that Xander Harris could take me down, even with a sucker punch.”


“Fang, X barely touched you, I’ve watched him spar with a half dozen slayers and he doesn’t lose. Piss him off like that again and ain’t nobody here gonna be able to stop him putting you into the ground.” Faith rejoined them on the couch, handing Angel a mug of warm blood.


“I thought we were friends Faith.”


“We are, which would be why I told X that he was wrong to figure that you wouldn’t care about what was happening to us.”


“I do care Faith, you know that.”


“But you care about her more, enough to sacrifice all of us just for a shot at her.”


“I won’t do that.”


“Wasn’t what you said a minute ago.”


“I know; it wasn’t that I didn’t listen, I just didn’t want to believe. Kept telling myself you all must have missed something; that I’d be able to do, or see, something you couldn’t. Giving up hope was a little much for me to accept.”


“We didn’t do it lightly Angel, nobody here wanted this to be happening any more than you do. But I gotta tell you, whatever you’re feeling ain’t nothing compared to what X and Dawn have been going through.”


“Was she right? I never thought to do any of the things she said Spike did. Was the way I felt about Buffy that selfish?”


“She’s hurting Angel, and right know Xander’s the one keeping her going, hell he’s keeping us all going. She wouldn’t have gone after you so hard if you hadn’t called him a coward. You know better than that anyway. When did he ever run away from a fight?”


“Never; stood right in Angelus’ path once, a scared kid going toe to toe with the Scourge of Europe and he was the one that didn’t back down. You never answered my question though.”


“Angel, what you and Buffy had was this whole fucking Romeo and Juliet doomed love thing. You never had a day to day relationship, never had to try and make it work in the long term. It wasn’t a lesser kind of love, just different.”


“Nice save, but she was right. I should have made sure that Dawn was ok after Buffy died, instead I took off for a monastery and a double dose of brooding. I really didn’t know anything about her life that wasn’t slaying or about us.”


“Angel, when you came here, the Powers made you move on; you were the champion of LA, you couldn’t keep running back to Sunnydale. You left because you thought it would be better for Buffy, you aren’t responsible for what happened to her.”


“I know I couldn’t have saved her Wes, but I should have done something to look out for the people she loved. At least made sure that her sister was safe.”


“Can’t change what’s done Fang, you just gotta help us make it right. So why don’t you drink that blood, that way you’ll be up to hearing the last of this.”


Angel took a long swallow and a look of shock appeared on his face, “This is human.”


“Yeah, everyone here donated, X figured if we started ordering supplies it would show up on the Immortal’s radar and right now he thinks we’re all still in Cleveland and we’d kinda like to keep it that way. We’re saving the good stuff, from X and the Slayers, for the big fight or if one of you gets really hurt.”


“Never thought I’d see Xander Harris buying blood or donating it.”


“Angel, you haven’t seen Xander in years, you don’t know the first thing about him. You’ve got to stop thinking of the boy you used to know; maybe it would help if you treated him like someone you just met or something. This is his gig. We’re all here to back him up, and every one of us will follow wherever he leads. You can’t deal with that maybe we should have Amy mojo your memory and you can forget you were ever here.”


“That sounds like a plan.” Everyone stared at Dawn as she stormed back into the room.


“Dawn….I….I should apologise. What you said….”


“Save it Angel. I’m not interested in some belated concern. Decide if you’re going to help us or not, but stay away from me either way.”


“I was under the impression you needed our help.”


“We do Wes, but actually it was Xan’s idea; and really you’re the one we need, got a whole bunch of things that could use a Watcher’s touch; Prophecies and Portents and stuff.”


“What about the rest of us?”


“Gunn, right? Look we’re not going to say no to any extra help we can get, but we’ll get by without it if we have to. Spike always has a home with us so we want him to stay, but Wes is the only one we really need.”


“Looks like I could have stayed upstairs and let General Dawn run the show.”


“Sorry Xan.”


“Never mind sweetie, you didn’t say anything I wouldn’t have. I’m guessing we’re all running on our last nerves so why don’t we finish this up. We would like you all to help, but it kinda has to be your choice. We’d just like you to stay here tonight, after we’re done and decide when you’ve had time to think. If you want to walk away we won’t stop you, but we will have to take your memories of everything you’ve learnt here. Before you start, I know it’s a violation of your minds, but we just can’t risk you carrying that information back to your office.


When Willow reversed the flow of power between me and the Immortal, I got a good look inside his head. Not something I ever want to do again. Even with the First, I never felt anything that evil. He’s definitely one of the Senior Partners, which is why nothing you find out here can be carried back to Wolfram and Hart. I still can’t tell exactly what he is but I’m kinda hoping Wes’ll be able to help out with that. I know he’s taken to calling himself Canus Cuore, which is some kind of bastardised translation of ‘heart of the wolf’; and that fits in with the heart to heart part of the prophecy. Though I’ve no idea how I’m supposed to stop him, one on one, even with the upgrades, I’m no match for him.


Graham said it was terrifying watching it happen, when the drain first started I sort of rose up in the air and started to scream. I don’t exactly remember it aside from the pain, but Gray said that he felt my heart slowing and that it stopped for a second just before Willow reversed the flow. I saw everything that had happened, saw Andrew get sucked in so easily. He hadn’t really repented for Jonathon’s murder at all, he’d just told us what we wanted to hear. He still wanted power any way he could get it. He never even hesitated when Cuore told him to kill Giles; in fact he revelled in it. They knew that Giles had been studying the White Knight Prophecy and that it was possible he’d found something out that could stop them.


Watching the way he played Buffy was worse. All those times she’d complained about being the Slayer, wished she had a normal life. I thought she’d have been happy to hand over the duties, but instead she was jealous and resentful. It was as though she felt they’d stolen something from her. She didn’t wake up one day and say ‘i’m going to be evil now,’ it was this slow progression; one bad decision leading to another, until he talked her into something she couldn’t come back from. The ritual he used to give her more power was dark magic at its worst. He literally imbued her with the spirit of one of the other Senior Partners. Made a link between the demon’s heart and hers, it corrupted her a little more each day. Every act of evil she committed led to another piece of her soul being swapped with the demon’s spirit until, in the end there was nothing but the demon left.


Then I saw what they were doing right then, if they could make him the White Knight, they’d be able to use dark magic to force all the Slayers to obey him. They then meant to harness Dawn’s powers and rip open the boundaries between this world and the demonic dimension they came from. With the Slayers under their control, there’d be nobody left to fight the demons when they came and the human race would be pretty much obliterated. They knew that performing the spell was too dangerous for them, that Willow was the only living being capable of channelling that much power and that was why they’d set her up. What happened with Alena was true, but all the files Andrew had about rogue Slayers were complete fabrications, just designed to make Willow feel so guilty, she wouldn’t think too closely about what she was being asked to do.


I still kinda hoped Buffy could be saved then, despite what I’d seen I thought maybe part of her was still in there. Then I saw what they had planned for Dawn; they could’ve used her power the way she does now, letting her keep her human form, but that would only have kept the portal open for a few weeks. The spell they had Andrew perform would’ve turned her back into the key and locked her part way between the dimensions. It would’ve been an eternal torture for her. That’s when I finally accepted Buffy was gone; she’d never have allowed Dawn to be hurt.


When Buffy realised what Willow was doing and started to attack her, I felt every blow, saw the complete darkness in Buffy’s eyes when she took Willow’s life. I was screaming in my head for Willow to save herself, even though I knew she wouldn’t. The last thing I felt through the link was Willow telling me that she was sending everyone to Faith and that I should get there as soon as possible, she told me how much she loved us and that she’d be looking over us and then she was just gone.


When the power shut off, I knew something was very different but it took us awhile to figure it out. I can feel the Slayers, where they are, what they’re feeling and it’s like I’m bound to them. I can’t exactly explain it, but it’s like the part of them that’s slayer calls to me. They feel something similar in reverse, they’re drawn to me, to my fight. It hasn’t turned them all into mindless slaves, I mean I can still barely get any of them to actually do what they’re told half the time. It’s just like their loyalty is bound to me, I’m kinda their moral compass, they’ll fight on whichever side I’m on, but they’ll fight in their own way as usual.


That’s only the Slayers that are still free though. All the ones Buffy and Cuore found first are bound to them. They’ve all got this mark on their arms, it’s a symbol none of us recognise, but Willow said it stank of magic. His Slayers are like slaves, I’ve looked right in the eyes of girls I found and trained; and it’s like they don’t recognise me, they have absolutely no will of their own. We’re hoping it’s just the magic and conditioning, and that maybe Wes can help us find way to get them back.


I got a load of other stuff from Cuore’s mind but I don’t understand it at all. I took me about three days to write it all out but I can’t even identify the language I was writing in. Without Willow and Dawn, they’re having to rethink they’re plans a bit. They can still open the portals, there’s some artefact that was stolen from the Watchers over two hundred years ago; and if they find it they can use it to call Dawn to them and control her powers by force. We have to find it first, from what we can tell that’s what Giles was researching before he died. He said he sent it to someone here in LA and that Wes would know where to start looking.


We don’t even know what the damn thing looks like, but they do; and from what our people in Rome tell us they know where to start looking too. The ceremony is supposed to be performed on the solstice and that’s four weeks tomorrow. We have to figure this out fast. Right now Amy’s our best defence, with Willow’s power added to her own she can completely mask our presence here in the hotel, but as soon as we go out and start looking for this thing, they’ll be on us. Like I said before we could use all the help we can get, so please just stay and think about it tonight; though Wes, if you’d like to get started on the translation stuff we wouldn’t say no.”


“I’d like a look at the papers, though I’ve no idea where Giles could have sent his research.”


“Must’ve been something he figured you could work out, that’s why he mentioned you. Got to be some kind of Watcher contact.”


“Maybe, but right now I’ve no idea.”


“It’ll come to you. Don’t worry…..” Xander’s voice broke off when an alarm began to sound throughout the hotel. The AI crew looked worried so Xander hurried to reassure them, “It’s not an attack, just means something demonic got within fifty feet of the hotel. Amy?”


The young Wicca muttered the words of a simple spell and transformed the mirror above the desk into a viewer so that they could see what had triggered the alarms. In this case a large green demon with horns and red eyes, who was wearing a bright blue suit.


The Slayers started grabbing weapons and heading for the door. “Wait, he works with us.”


“You’ve got a demon on your team now Angel, really hard to tell what side you’re on.”


“Look Kennedy he’s not evil. He’s not even a demon exactly, he comes from a different dimension, he’s one of the sweetest people you’re ever likely to meet.”


“Well if he’s not evil and not a fighter, what’s he doing here?”


“I asked him, look I’m not saying I don’t believe you, but I need to know if this is on the level before I agree to help you. He’ll be able to read you, tell if you’re being honest about this.”


“Our word not good enough for you?”


“Kennedy that’s enough. Amy, open the wards and let him in. Lorne isn’t any danger to us and with a bit of luck he’ll be able to use that power of his to point us in the right direction, so we get to Giles’ research first. He still sets people on their paths, right?”


“Yes he does.” Angel headed for the door to greet his friend. “Lorne glad you could make it.”


“Angelcakes. You said it was important. Brrrrr the atmosphere in here’s kinda freezing. Way too much pain and anger.”


“It’s been a tough evening, look I’d appreciate it if you could read a couple of people before we tell you what’s going on, then we could get a completely unbiased picture of what you see.”


“Sure, so who’s going to be titillating my eardrums today?”


“This is Dawn, Kennedy, Faith and Xander. If it’s ok with them we could get this done now.”


As Lorne glanced round he could see Dawn glare at Angel before nodding, Kennedy looked even more furious but, after a few whispered words from Faith, agreed and Faith herself looked as though she found the whole thing amusing. Looking at the last person Angel had indicated, Lorne gasped, “Alex! My God sweetie. What happened to your beautiful eye?”



tbc…………