Quantum Xander II: In Wake of the Curse
folder
BtVS AU/AR › Slash - Male/Male › Spike(William)/Xander
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
65
Views:
20,532
Reviews:
119
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Category:
BtVS AU/AR › Slash - Male/Male › Spike(William)/Xander
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
65
Views:
20,532
Reviews:
119
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer (BtVS), nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
~PART 17~
Part 17
Xander was back at Buffy’s house before daybreak. He knew where to find Spike, where he was being kept - but he wasn’t stupid enough to try and rescue the vampire by himself. A bar full of demons was one thing but the evil that all things evil were afraid of? Nuh uh, no way. He was smarter than that. Besides, he knew Buffy needed to be involved in this. Even if she wasn’t ready to admit it, she felt something for Spike. It was obvious she was jealous of the closeness that he shared with the vampire.
He was a bit surprised to find Buffy up and alert at this hour - it was no secret that the slayer was not a morning person. He had to assume that like him, she hadn’t bothered going to bed.
“Morning, Buffy.”
“Xander. Come in, did you…”
“Did I what? Do anything stupid? No. But I did do a locator spell on Spike. I know where he is.”
Buffy sagged in relief.
“Thank God. Alright, where is he?”
“I can show you.”
“Let’s go then.”
Buffy opened the door again only to step back in surprise.
“Giles.”
“Buffy.”
Buffy smiled and was about to reach out for her former watcher when she was elbowed aside by a strange teenage girl - followed by two others. Giles smiled somewhat sheepishly and shrugged his shoulders.
“Sorry to barge in. We have a slight apocalypse.”
Xander groaned and followed behind Buffy as she trailed Giles and the three girls into her living room. He just knew something like this would happen. He really wanted to just leave Giles and the new girls and drag Buffy off to find his vampire! Roommate! His vampire roommate! He was not feeling possessive of this Spike.
“I’ll go wake the girls.”
Xander sighed as he trudged upstairs to wake the other members of the estrogen brigade. How the hell Spike could stay in a house full of women - even if he was in the basement - was beyond Xander. He loved them all dearly but he did not want to cohabitate with them.
He knocked on Dawn’s door and grinned when she sleepily muttered ‘bugger off’ at him. He just knew she had picked that up from Spike. He knocked again and then covered his eyes before opening the door - he didn’t want to see Dawn in any state of undress; she was like a little sister to him.
“Xander!”
“Ah, the high-pitched shriek of a startled female. I’ve missed that sound.”
Xander grinned goofily and continued to hold his hand over his eyes.
“You decent, Dawnie?”
“Nope. I’m completely naked here. Wanna see?”
Xander opened his mouth to reply but only managed to squeak as he brought his other hand up to cover the first one - just in case his fingers moved of their own volition.
“Relax, Xander; I’m kidding. Although, I think I’m insulted. What’s so horrible about the thought of me naked?”
Xander could feel himself blushing and wished that Dawn hadn’t spent so much time around Spike. She was picking up very bad habits - embarrassing him being one of them.
“Oh. Uh, nothing. I - I mean, I’m sure you’re very… attractive. Just not for me to… see? I mean, you’re like my sister. I…”
Dawn burst out laughing and shook her head.
“God, Xander. You are too easy. Like I’d want to be naked in front of you. Gross. You’re like my big brother.”
“Okay, good. Now that that’s settled, I came up here for a reason. I’ll be damned if I can remember what it was now, though.”
“Hmm, the idea of me being naked just made you lose all thought, did it?”
Xander was about to stammer out a denial but then saw the smirk on the girl’s face. He shook his head and chuckled at her.
“You’re evil. You know that?”
Dawn smiled at him.
“You say that like it’s a bad thing?”
“Get up, brat. We have company - Giles and a bunch of teenage girls are downstairs; something hellmouthy this way comes.”
Dawn groaned and flopped back down on the bed. Xander headed down the hall to Willow and Tara’s room to wake them, as well. Hopefully Giles wouldn’t take all day to tell them what was happening. He had a bad feeling about Spike and really wanted to get him away from the big evil thing that had him.
They were all assembled in the front room listening as Giles told them about the fate of the council. Xander was the only one not surprised by Anya’s sudden arrival; the new girls screamed and ran for cover. Anya rolled her eyes in annoyance and turned to Xander.
“Did you find anything?”
“Yeah, but we haven’t been able to do anything about it yet. Giles was just about to explain to us what happened in merry ole England.”
Giles took a deep breath and then continued speaking as though he hadn’t just been interrupted by the sudden appearance of a millennia old demoness.
“As I was saying, the council is gone.”
Willow interrupted by asking a question.
“So does that mean all their records are destroyed?”
Giles motioned to one of the girls and she opened a pack and took out a stack of files and a couple of books. She laid them out on the coffee table and then stepped back.
“That is what is left.”
Giles motioned to the table and then continued.
“The mystic secrets of the Watchers. And whatever I could find on the First. When I learned what was happening, I-I, um, I stole them.”
“And you blew the council up! See, this is what happens when you’re all stuffy and repressed. You overreact.”
Anya looked at Giles and shook her head pitifully at him. She just knew he had a personality buried somewhere under all that tweed. And after Xander telling her about how happy she had been with the Englishman in another reality, she often found herself wondering what he was really like - what the man - Rupert - was like, as opposed to the watcher - Giles.
“I most certainly did not! It must have been an agent of the First. Demons do that sort of thing; but you would know all about that, wouldn’t you, Anyanka?”
Xander interrupted before things turned ugly.
“Okay, G-man, so what do those files say about the First?”
“Very little. Only that it can change form. It ah, only appears in the guise of someone who has passed away.”
Willow looked sadly at Dawn and then whispered, “Our ghosts.”
Xander and Buffy exchanged a look, as well. They had both assumed it was the same entity that had been messing with all of them - now they knew for sure. Xander was furious. The nerve of that thing pretending to be his mate. He would see it destroyed if it was the last thing he did. Giles snapped him out of his thoughts when he continued speaking.
“It has eternities to act, endless resources. How to defeat it… I… I honestly I don’t know. But we have to find a way. If the slayer line is eliminated, then the hellmouth has no guardian. The balance is destroyed. I’m afraid it falls to you, Buffy. Sorry. I mean, we’ll do what we can, but you’re the only one who has the strength to protect these girls - and the world - against what’s coming.”
One of the newbies - Xander was pretty sure her name was Kennedy - stood up and looked at Giles as if he were crazy.
“And if this thing is the root of all evil, isn’t the hellmouth its number one vacation spot? I mean, don’t you think we should be hiding our asses on the other side of the globe?”
One of the other girls cried out in shock at her outburst, but Buffy was quick to step in.
“No. She’s not wrong. We need more muscle. We need to find Spike. Xander? You’re with me. The rest of you? Hit the books. I want everything you can find on the First.”
Xander grinned and followed Buffy out the door. He loved it when she got into full-on slayer mode. He was well aware he had issues with dominant women. Faith, Buffy, Cordelia, Anya - it was a good thing he was gay now.
Xander was back at Buffy’s house before daybreak. He knew where to find Spike, where he was being kept - but he wasn’t stupid enough to try and rescue the vampire by himself. A bar full of demons was one thing but the evil that all things evil were afraid of? Nuh uh, no way. He was smarter than that. Besides, he knew Buffy needed to be involved in this. Even if she wasn’t ready to admit it, she felt something for Spike. It was obvious she was jealous of the closeness that he shared with the vampire.
He was a bit surprised to find Buffy up and alert at this hour - it was no secret that the slayer was not a morning person. He had to assume that like him, she hadn’t bothered going to bed.
“Morning, Buffy.”
“Xander. Come in, did you…”
“Did I what? Do anything stupid? No. But I did do a locator spell on Spike. I know where he is.”
Buffy sagged in relief.
“Thank God. Alright, where is he?”
“I can show you.”
“Let’s go then.”
Buffy opened the door again only to step back in surprise.
“Giles.”
“Buffy.”
Buffy smiled and was about to reach out for her former watcher when she was elbowed aside by a strange teenage girl - followed by two others. Giles smiled somewhat sheepishly and shrugged his shoulders.
“Sorry to barge in. We have a slight apocalypse.”
Xander groaned and followed behind Buffy as she trailed Giles and the three girls into her living room. He just knew something like this would happen. He really wanted to just leave Giles and the new girls and drag Buffy off to find his vampire! Roommate! His vampire roommate! He was not feeling possessive of this Spike.
“I’ll go wake the girls.”
Xander sighed as he trudged upstairs to wake the other members of the estrogen brigade. How the hell Spike could stay in a house full of women - even if he was in the basement - was beyond Xander. He loved them all dearly but he did not want to cohabitate with them.
He knocked on Dawn’s door and grinned when she sleepily muttered ‘bugger off’ at him. He just knew she had picked that up from Spike. He knocked again and then covered his eyes before opening the door - he didn’t want to see Dawn in any state of undress; she was like a little sister to him.
“Xander!”
“Ah, the high-pitched shriek of a startled female. I’ve missed that sound.”
Xander grinned goofily and continued to hold his hand over his eyes.
“You decent, Dawnie?”
“Nope. I’m completely naked here. Wanna see?”
Xander opened his mouth to reply but only managed to squeak as he brought his other hand up to cover the first one - just in case his fingers moved of their own volition.
“Relax, Xander; I’m kidding. Although, I think I’m insulted. What’s so horrible about the thought of me naked?”
Xander could feel himself blushing and wished that Dawn hadn’t spent so much time around Spike. She was picking up very bad habits - embarrassing him being one of them.
“Oh. Uh, nothing. I - I mean, I’m sure you’re very… attractive. Just not for me to… see? I mean, you’re like my sister. I…”
Dawn burst out laughing and shook her head.
“God, Xander. You are too easy. Like I’d want to be naked in front of you. Gross. You’re like my big brother.”
“Okay, good. Now that that’s settled, I came up here for a reason. I’ll be damned if I can remember what it was now, though.”
“Hmm, the idea of me being naked just made you lose all thought, did it?”
Xander was about to stammer out a denial but then saw the smirk on the girl’s face. He shook his head and chuckled at her.
“You’re evil. You know that?”
Dawn smiled at him.
“You say that like it’s a bad thing?”
“Get up, brat. We have company - Giles and a bunch of teenage girls are downstairs; something hellmouthy this way comes.”
Dawn groaned and flopped back down on the bed. Xander headed down the hall to Willow and Tara’s room to wake them, as well. Hopefully Giles wouldn’t take all day to tell them what was happening. He had a bad feeling about Spike and really wanted to get him away from the big evil thing that had him.
They were all assembled in the front room listening as Giles told them about the fate of the council. Xander was the only one not surprised by Anya’s sudden arrival; the new girls screamed and ran for cover. Anya rolled her eyes in annoyance and turned to Xander.
“Did you find anything?”
“Yeah, but we haven’t been able to do anything about it yet. Giles was just about to explain to us what happened in merry ole England.”
Giles took a deep breath and then continued speaking as though he hadn’t just been interrupted by the sudden appearance of a millennia old demoness.
“As I was saying, the council is gone.”
Willow interrupted by asking a question.
“So does that mean all their records are destroyed?”
Giles motioned to one of the girls and she opened a pack and took out a stack of files and a couple of books. She laid them out on the coffee table and then stepped back.
“That is what is left.”
Giles motioned to the table and then continued.
“The mystic secrets of the Watchers. And whatever I could find on the First. When I learned what was happening, I-I, um, I stole them.”
“And you blew the council up! See, this is what happens when you’re all stuffy and repressed. You overreact.”
Anya looked at Giles and shook her head pitifully at him. She just knew he had a personality buried somewhere under all that tweed. And after Xander telling her about how happy she had been with the Englishman in another reality, she often found herself wondering what he was really like - what the man - Rupert - was like, as opposed to the watcher - Giles.
“I most certainly did not! It must have been an agent of the First. Demons do that sort of thing; but you would know all about that, wouldn’t you, Anyanka?”
Xander interrupted before things turned ugly.
“Okay, G-man, so what do those files say about the First?”
“Very little. Only that it can change form. It ah, only appears in the guise of someone who has passed away.”
Willow looked sadly at Dawn and then whispered, “Our ghosts.”
Xander and Buffy exchanged a look, as well. They had both assumed it was the same entity that had been messing with all of them - now they knew for sure. Xander was furious. The nerve of that thing pretending to be his mate. He would see it destroyed if it was the last thing he did. Giles snapped him out of his thoughts when he continued speaking.
“It has eternities to act, endless resources. How to defeat it… I… I honestly I don’t know. But we have to find a way. If the slayer line is eliminated, then the hellmouth has no guardian. The balance is destroyed. I’m afraid it falls to you, Buffy. Sorry. I mean, we’ll do what we can, but you’re the only one who has the strength to protect these girls - and the world - against what’s coming.”
One of the newbies - Xander was pretty sure her name was Kennedy - stood up and looked at Giles as if he were crazy.
“And if this thing is the root of all evil, isn’t the hellmouth its number one vacation spot? I mean, don’t you think we should be hiding our asses on the other side of the globe?”
One of the other girls cried out in shock at her outburst, but Buffy was quick to step in.
“No. She’s not wrong. We need more muscle. We need to find Spike. Xander? You’re with me. The rest of you? Hit the books. I want everything you can find on the First.”
Xander grinned and followed Buffy out the door. He loved it when she got into full-on slayer mode. He was well aware he had issues with dominant women. Faith, Buffy, Cordelia, Anya - it was a good thing he was gay now.