Tales From the Barman (Multi-Crossover) Rated R Special Note: This story is a round robin created by Methos on Twisting The Hellmouth. I have their full permission to post my chapter from it on here, as well as a link to the main story. I encourage you to go to the site and read all the chapters (well over 200 though there are), but that is up to you, since I do not have the individual authors permissions to advertise their chapters here as well.
Title: Tales From the Barman Rating: Ranges from G to R Author: Methos+ contributions from many others Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer/many others Pairing: ? Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy or any of the crossover characters that will be used. Methos' Authors Note: Thankyou to KCL for introcucing me to a set of books Called Callahans Bar, after doing a bit of research on these book, i've got to say that was exactly what i'm after. maybe not having Xander go on adventures with his customers through space and time, but a bar where anyone can walk in and unload their troubles on the ever friendly barman.
now i'm just waiting for the next customer, who's it going to be people?
Wolverine? Blade? Harry Potter? General Hammon come to talk about his problems with SG-1, or perhaps O'neil come to talk about his feeling for Carter, Indiana Jones? Lara Croft? Servarus Snape? Molly Weasley?
anyone is welcome to Xanders bar, Nights is offically open for business... who's next?
Link To Full Story: http://www.tthfanfic.org/Story-11757/Methos+Tales+from+the+Barman.htm
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Xander was standing behind the counter, wiping down the bar, wondering whether or not he should close up early that night, since it seemed like no one was going to be coming in. Before he could make up his mind, the decision was made for him as the door opened with a swirl of cold wind. The wards did not go off, letting Xander know that the dark skinned woman who had just stepped in was simply a normal human. He put his rag down and smiled invitingly as the woman sat down on a stool.
"Hi! Welcome to Nights! What can I get ya?"
The woman returned his grin with a morose smile and shrugged lightly. Xander could tell that she was sad about something, but he decided not to pry just yet. He wanted to get her measure first.
"Your strongest stuff, please."
"Comin' right up!"
Xander reached under the counter for a shot glass and poured the woman some of the strongest liquor on hand. He watched her down the shot in one go, and whistled appreciatively as he caught sight of her left cheek.
"That's a nice scar! How'd ya get it?"
"How'd you lose your eye?"
Xander simply smiled at her sharp rebuttal and shrugged. He was use to getting that reply when he asked questions about other people's scars or physical oddities.
"A psychotic priest thought I saw too much, and decided to remedy it be putting his thumb through my eye."
The woman winced and sighed.
"I got this scar from a... friend, I guess you could say. We... worked together, and it was the custom of his people to mark themselves with their clan symbol. I guess, he thought I was worthy enough for that honor. But he died soon after, and his people wouldn't let me go with them."
The woman sighed and motioned for Xander to pour her another shot.
"Now, I feel out of place among my own speci- race. I feel like I'll never fit in again."
Xander did not miss her slight stutter, but he chose to ignore it, having experience with people who had had unusual experiences not wanting to say anything that they thought might make him think they were crazy. Instead he leaned over and extended his hand.
"I'm Xander."
The woman smiled slightly and accepted it in a firm shake.
"Lex. So, what's with the wall?"
She pointed to the wall behind the bar and Xander smiled as he turned to look at it himself.
"People tell me stories, and sometimes they'll give me something for me to remember them by, and I put it up on the wall."
Lex nodded thoughtfully as she stared at some of the odd and alien things on the wall. Xander turned back to watch her, and he could see that she was debating with herself about something. He waited patiently, and that patience won out when a few moments later she sighed and shook her head.
"You'll think I'm crazy."
An amused laugh escaped Xander, and he grinned in amusement.
"Try me."
Lex stared at him carefully for several moments before nodding and beginning her tale. And what a tale it was. She told him of her side career of guiding people out on hikes in dangerous terrain, and about how Wayland Industries contracted her for an expedition to explore an ancient temple discovered in Antarctica. She explained about how they triggered a defense mechanism when they took strange artifacts from their resting places in a sarcophagus, and how the walls began shifting around in ten minute intervals soon after.
She then went into great detail, describing the strange black serpents and the humanoid warriors that began terrorizing their small group and each other. She wove vivid pictures in Xander's mind, of the desperate dash through the temple, of her realization that they were caught in the middle of a war, and her eventual alliance with one of the hunters. She spoke of her archaeologist friend's sacrifice to ensure that the serpents would not reach the surface, and about how the alien humanoid set off a bomb that completely destoryed the complex. And lastly she spoke of the heated final battle with the serpent queen that had escaped the pyramid before the blast.
Xander listened in fascination to her story, and found himself amazed in spite of himself, as she described the ship the and the many beings who came with it. He whistled in awe when she described the very intimidating clan elder, and her acceptance of his gift. She trailed off after describing making it back to the boat, and watched him warily to see his reaction.
"Well.... It's not the oddest story I've ever heard. But it's certainly one of the most interesting. I'll not have a hard time forgetting it, but would you like to add something to the wall anyway?"
The woman sighed and got to her feet.
"I don't have anything. At least nothing I'm willing to part with. Thanks for listening anyway. It actually helped."
With a nod, she tossed down a ten dollar bill and turned away. As Xander watched her walk out the door and into the cold night, an electric crackling sounded through the quiet room. A large figure appeared at the end of the bar, cutting an imposing shape in the dim lighting. Xander was not surprised though, which seemed to puzzle the large, savage looking hunter as it tilted its head when Xander, spotting the thick scar on its abdomen, and the odd mark on it's face mask, simply blinked and smiled at it. The bartender had felt the creature come in several moments after Lex had, but he had kept silent about it's presence since the wards had not been alarmed by it.
"You should let her know, you know. It's eating away at her that she survived, but you didn't. Survivor's guilt is not a pretty thing among humans, my friend."
The hunter simply tilted its head and clicked at him, before turning and making its way towards the door. It paused once it reached the doorway and turned back to look at Xander. When the human simply continued to smile at it, the creature reached up, and almost hesitating, unclasped one of the heavy metal rings that encircled the end of one of its thick dread locks, and tossed it so it landed with a clatter on the bar in front of Xander. Then without preamble, it turned and disappeared with a crackle of electricity.
Xander stood for several seconds, staring at the door, before his attention was brought to the metal ring the hunter had thrown him. He picked it up and examined it with great interest. It was a plain, gun metal gray with strange runes and markings on it. It did not look like anything special, but he knew that it would always hold special meaning to him, just like every thing else that held a place on the wall.
He turned and sat the ring down gently on the shelf, next to the genie bottle.