Fic: Written Upon The Sands Of Time 3/8 Dune/Buffy
Written Upon the Sands of Time. By: Lopaka Tanu Fandom: Buffy: The Vampire Slayer/Dune. Pairing: Xander/Angel, mentions of Paul/Duncan - Paul/Otheym. Rating: Adult Slash. Archive: Yes, just tell me. Warnings: Violence, Language, Character Death, Sexual Content. Disclaimer: I do not own either Buffy: The Vampire Slayer or Dune. Summary: After Halloween, Xander feels like he is losing his mind. When deaths of mysterious origins happen, will he remember what is so familiar about them in time to save those close to him?
"...Blessed, Mingle the waters, let the change come to all, that the people may partake, and share in the blessing." - Lady Jessica, Reverend Mother of the Fremen.
He was running for his life, dragging his mother behind him. The Sand Worm was on their tail and it was closing fast. After what felt like an eternity they reached the edge of the rock face and started to climbed. He pushed her in front of him and used his strength to lift her higher up the rocks. "Move, mother! The worm!"
"I hear it, Paul!" Rushing up the face of the cliff, Jessica grabbed anything she could to assist her further. They were only climbing vertically, not away from the monster worm. Too soon, she ran out of rock face to climb and all that was left was a small catch in the rock. Cold panic gripped her and she held tight to her son.
Xander slipped his mother's body behind him as the Sand Worm rose up from the dune. All fear left him as he watched the great beast's maw come straight for them. It's cry echoed deeply through him to the core, shaking even the great rock. Clutching the rock face as the worm drew closer, he began to chant the Litany Against Fear. "I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain."
As he finished the last line, a vibration could be felt through the rock, a regular thumping in counter tune to the scream of the worm. He registered that on some level someone must have planted it, but he was lost in trance. The worm had breathed on them, that breath smelled of spice.
The worms were the source!
As he thought on this, the thumps increased until he could swear they were right next to his head. A loud crash next to his head had him reacting without thought. He grabbed the wrist of the person holding the book and jerked him forwards off his feet. Rising from his desk, Xander twisted the arm around behind the person's back and planted his foot on their spine.
It took him a moment to realize it was the teacher he had stretched out like a goat skin and not an attacker. Releasing the man to fall face first on the floor, he held up his hands. "Sorry."
Mr. Felance wheezed painfully from his place on the floor. Arm stretched out behind him at an odd angle, he started to whimper and tear up.
Suddenly feeling bad, Xander knelt down to help the man only to have his teacher scream bloody murder and scrabble to get away. This was not a good thing. Backing away, Xander grabbed his bag. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..." Avoiding the looks of the other students, Xander ran to door, threw it open and took off down the hall.
As he rounded the corner for the exit, he saw Snyder blocking the way, talking to one of the ass kissing students. He suddenly felt the need to run faster than before. Desperation driving him, he focused his entire body on running. Before he knew it, the doors were in front of him and he was by passing them.
In the hall way behind him, Snyder's papers blew from his hands. "What the hell?" Glancing up from Tonya Radcliff's snug blouse, Snyder glanced about the hall for any sign of the wind. The sun reflecting off the door drew his attention down the hall. It was swinging closed and he just knew 'The Summers' had something to do with this.
Xander didn't stop until he reached the desert lots just passed the old town Cemetery. Falling to his knees, he gasped for breath and shook from high emotions. He honestly didn't mean the teacher harm, he just acted on instincts, he knew that. It just was wrong, he wasn't normally that kind of person, that was Buffy's thing.
Wiping his nose, he frowned. "What the hell is wrong with me?" It didn't make sense, he shouldn't be this fast. There was supposed to be a limit to his speed, he was a normal human, wasn't he? Terrible realization hit him. "Oh god, I'm not human. Don't panic, Xan-man, it'll be fine. You just got to get back to the G-man and he'll help out. That's right, they'll help you... in to an early grave." If they knew he wasn't human, Buffy's fists of death would be the last thing he ever saw.
"No, can't go to the G-man. This must be something to do with the Halloween possession thing. Think, Xander, think." Tapping his forehead, he frowned. "Think, think, think!" Nothing came to mind on how to deal with this. He wasn't the plan guy, that was Giles, he was the 'Hulk Smash' guy. He could do the grunt work, he was good at the grunt work.
Panicking, he climbed to his feet, then swayed from the sudden action. His body clenched from the need. Hands shaking, he grabbed his bag off his shoulder. His fingers took three tries to undo the buckles on his sack before they opened. Finally getting it, he jerked it open and reached inside the bag.
He pulled out the bottle of Cinnamon with a cry of relief. Much to his disappointment, the bottle was almost empty. Glancing down at his supply, he gaged that perhaps another two doses were left before he needed another supply. Shaking his head, he grabbed the cap and began to twist it.
A sudden tremor in his hands forced him drop the bottle. "Shit! No!" Xander tried to catch it, but his actions caused the bottle to spin mid fall. The contents emptied across the ground as it hit and the Cinnamon sticks shattered. "No!" Bending down, he scooped up hand fulls of the dirt and tried to separate the spice from it by letting it blow in the wind. Unfortunately, it had the opposite effect and the spice dissipated.
Crying out in frustration, he slammed his fists on the sand repeatedly. Was nothing ever going to go right? After his temper tantrum, he sank in defeat back on his heels. It was no use, his symptoms would only get worse until his body consumed itself in the need for the spice and ultimately death. A sickly feeling of dread filled him with the thought of may be that was the solution.
Why not let the addiction kill him?
It would no doubt be extremely painful, but it would be his death, something he decided for himself. There would be no blood on his friend's hands and the best part, he could finally get over this damned addiction that made him a freak of nature. Mind made up, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. It felt easier to breathe than it had in a long time, however, the breath was both bitter and sweet at the same time.
Upon the winds he could taste something extremely familiar. Almost instinctively, he started to crawl towards it. The very presence of it overrode all sense of self, taking control of his entire faculty with the drive to obtain it. Moving on all fours, he quickly came upon the source of the smell and inhaled deeply.
All across the ground spread for hundreds of feet was something darker brown than the sand, almost green in color. Feeling the urge to taste it, Xander grabbed a handful of the sand.
He knew exactly how to separate it from the sand. He put down his bag across from him to play catcher. Dropping the sand slowly from his hand, he blew through the stream, causing the lighter material to separate and collect on the bag. When the entire hand full was gone, he pulled the bag to him and slowly swept the material in a pile.
Staring at it reverently, he picked up a pinch and tasted it. Eyes closed in bliss, he laid back and enjoyed the sudden relief from his cravings.
Huskily, he whispered, "spice."
(ooo)
It was midnight by the time he had finished gathering the last of the spice. It helped that it was only spread across the ground and not mixed with the dirt. Despite how large a patch it had been, the finished amount was just enough to fill his back pack. That little amount would keep him alive for probably thirty years. And on top of that, he noted with a grimace, it weighed enough to almost break his back.
There was little chance of it getting any lighter, so he decided it was now or never. Putting his removed shirt over the spice to prevent it from falling out, he tightened the draw strings as far as they would go, then locked them in place. With a mighty heave, he lifted the bag, first on to one shoulder, then the other.
When the bag settled down, he had to stagger his steps to prevent himself from falling over. After fifteen steps, he felt comfortable enough with the location of the bag to walk straight. He headed back to the place he left his books tied in his jacket.
Quick finagling with his foot lifted the jacket by the knotted arms in to the air so he could catch it. Hunched over from the weight on his back, he barely caught the flying coat. When he did, he had to stagger a little to keep from falling over. Soon again he had his footing. The Crysknife stuffed down the front of his pants started to chafe against his inner thigh from the strain.
Reaching down the front of his pants, he adjusted the knife then himself for good measure. Grinning, he turned back towards town. It would be a long walk, but he felt stronger than he had ever in his life. It was good to have spice once again.
As a matter of fact, he could feel the spice working its way through his body. Slowly, he was becoming himself once more. Hell, when he blinked, the world slowly changed from dark to light. His everything was improving.
By the time he reached town, the bag was still the same weight, but it felt easier to handle. It was the spice, he knew. It gave healing and rejuvenate abilities. Surprisingly enough, there were several people still out this late despite the town's history. It had been five days since Halloween, yet the damage done that night had disappeared.
Coming up main street, he smiled at the people who stopped to check him out. He had a body, he was young, he was not above showing off, even if he wasn't the best specimen. It didn't bother him one bit that he was drawing more male looks than female. In fact, he encouraged it. If his past was any thing to go by, he'd much rather try his chances with a guy this time.
There was one problem, however, not one single guy held his attention long enough to qualify. They all were copies of the same guy model, like they were just cookie cuttered from the same material, only colored different. It wasn't that bad, just not what he wanted. Sighing with disappointment, he rounded the corner to head for home.
He kept to the main streets and side walks to avoid possible waiting vampires or demons. Despite the fact he felt like a million bucks, it wouldn't do to get cocky against someone not even the buffster could handle alone. It wasn't until he reached his block that he realized he was being followed.
Hand quickly fishing in his pants, he pulled out the dagger. "Come out or I will come in and get you."
Stepping out of the shadows, Angel held up his hands. He tilted his head, raising an eyebrow at the strange smell coming from the boy. "Why do you smell different?"
"Why are you following me?" Not giving an inch, Xander gripped the blade in one hand. He wasn't afraid of the vampire, not anymore. He knew he was more than a match for Dead Boy now. The spice had seen to that. Part and parcel, that which would kill him from the cravings also redeemed itself with the added bonuses from constant use.
"I asked you first. It's only fair that you answer first." Angel thought he was being smart, that ended when Xander just walked away instead of rising to the bait. With a groan, he rushed to catch up. "Hey, wait up!"
"Drop deader, Dead Boy!" Shouldering the pack higher, Xander picked up speed. He was determined to out run the older being. When it seemed Angel would catch him, he put on the extra speed and reached his house a moment later.
Angel stopped mid step and blinked. 'Did I just see him...' "Not possible." Before he could make any more inquires, Xander was closing the door. He sighed with frustration, despite it not being necessary. "What is going on with you?"
"That's what I'd like to know?" Buffy came out from behind a tree off to Angel's right. Twirling her stake between her hands, she cocked her head at her boyfriend. She smiled bitchily while stepping towards him. "Here I'm thinking that I am just imagining things, that my boyfriend and my best guy friend aren't up to something and low and behold, I'm not so paranoid after all."
"Buffy, it's not what you think." Frowning, he shrugged. "What do you think is going on?"
"I think you're stalking Xander." Crossing her arms, she let the stake stick out in plain sight. "Stalking in the same fashion I just up til five minutes ago, found an endearing trait. Now I'm wondering if you are stalking all my friends or just Xander? What is it with you, the moment someone starts to give in to your advances you move on? And what the hell am I saying? This entire conversation has taken a major turn for the weird."
Half smiling at her, Angel stepped towards her. Meeting her a few feet off the side walk, he grinned down at her. "You jealous that I'm no longer hanging around in the shadows for you?"
"It appears that way." Her nose scrunched. This was quickly turning in to one of those jealous, psycho girlfriend moments for her. Remembering just what exactly her point was, she tightened the fold of her arms. "What is going on with you stalking Xander? Is he all right or do I need to get my Slayer cap on?"
"I'm not sure." At her grumpy look, Angel sighed. "Which means I'm not sure. There is nothing certain enough for me to even hazard a guess. He just smells funny tonight, kinda sweet."
"Must be the Cinnamon." This time it was her chance to sigh. "Haven't you been paying attention? Xander's been hooked on the stuff for the past several days. Every time I see him or get near enough to smell, he wreaks of it. I tell you, the strong smell of potpourri is now a major turn off."
"That might be it," he mentioned distractedly. Glancing over his shoulder at the house, Angel shrugged. "I'm not sure."
Groaning, Buffy slapped his arm. "Enough with the sure, you're killing me! Let's go slay something before I go stir crazy."
"You go on ahead, I need to check something out." Not waiting for her response, Angel walked off in to the shadows and disappeared.
Watching the spot he disappeared at, Buffy shook her head. It just wasn't fair. When Xander was smelling bad, her love life suffered.
(ooo)
Xander wiped a floury hand across his forehead and sighed in exhaustion. Despite the energy provided by the Spice, he could barely keep his eyes open any longer. The moment he had come home, he had made sure no one was awake and started to bake.
Now it was three hours later. Half his supply of spice had been turned in to chewable candy. This made it easier to carry and ingest. Had this been Arrakis, the candy would have only been one of many things made with the spice. However, since it was so precious, the spice could only be used for food.
His lips longed to taste the spice beer. It's heady drink overrode the senses of even the most experienced drinker. The first time he had tasted it was on Duncan's lips the night they brought him in, drunk and raving about a traitor. It had taken all his cunning not to let his tutor go after his mother and any other who might pose a threat. That and his body.
Shaking himself from his thoughts, Xander took a heavy breath to dissipate the suppressed grief. Duncan had been dead for four years. It wasn't his fault, it was the Harkonnen, his grand father. Xander's hand clenched in anger from the knowledge that he was related to that bastard.
The light flicked on in the kitchen surprising him from his hatred. Coming in to stand beside Xander in her fuzzy blue robe, his mother smiled at him. Her carefully manicured hand came up to scratch at the back of her neck in thought. "Honey, what are you doing up so late?"
"Nothing, mom, just making some candy. And you know you shouldn't do that, it causes the paint to flake and your boss will get pissed." Grabbing her hand from the back of her neck, he gently smoothed his fingers over the nails. "No damage this time, be careful or you might snag one."
"I'm wearing the plastic ones. All that paint is too much a pain to deal with." At his expression, she patted him on the shoulder. "Sorry, I know how much you liked doing them, but I don't have that kinda energy anymore."
"I didn't like doing it. You just needed someone to help you get ready and I being the only one who was here, helped. I'm good at helping, I'm the Helper." Striking a super man pose, hands on hips, he smiled. "I help!"
"Nice try. I know you liked playing with my nails. Sometimes I wondered if you were more interested in girly things than boy things. Then you hit puberty and that went out the window." Yawning, she walked over to the fridge and got a glass of milk. "Sometimes I think it might have been better if you turned out gay, then may be you might clean up your room."
"Mom!" He turned slightly red at her words and how close they came to the truth. If only she knew the thoughts he had been thinking before she came in. "Sides, even if I was gay, that wouldn't change the fact I don't care to clean up my room. It's my room, and I like it just the way it is."
"Fine. Fine. Just, if I smell something dead coming from it, you're not getting any allowance for a month." Walking over to stand beside him at the counter, she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. Rubbing off the lipstick with a frown at having forgotten to take it off, she shook her head. "Don't stay up too late, Alexander, tomorrow is a school day or at least it should be. Night shift tends to make the days run together. Either way, bed."
"I will, just as soon as I am done here." On a whim, he picked up a small piece of the candy and handed it to her. "Sweets for the sweet?"
"Don't push your luck, Mister." Accepting it, she ate it with little fuss. "Good. Is that Cinnamon?"
"Yep, its the secret ingredient. Night, mom." Watching her head back to bed with her milk, he felt a twinge in his chest for her. She wasn't a bad mother, she wasn't abusive, wasn't neglectful, but there was always something missing from their relationship. Something that defined who was the child and who was the parent at times.
Feeling down, he went back to work wrapping the candy in wax paper.
(ooo)
Jack Dawlton hated gophers. He hated them with a passion. There was nothing worse in his opinion than a fucking gopher. The fact that the radiation from them bombs the government had dropped in the desert had mutated them in to monsters made it even worse.
Sitting on the rocks in his garden, he watched the gopher mound circle his house. The damned thing had shown up after he blasted the other gopher hole to dust. It was the biggest god damned gopher mound he had ever seen, but not the strangest thing he had ever seen.
After circling his house three times, it had eaten his dog, Zeke. Old Zeke had come running off the porch barking at it and suddenly the ground beneath him had disappeared and Zeke along with it. That was when Jack had decided to stop playing fair.
He'd first tried to lead it through his traps, but the damned thing was so big it busted every one of them. He then noticed how it followed his every movement and had tried to run it through a retaining wall on the far side of his yard. That too had failed because the gopher wasn't a damned graboid and was far smarter than that stupid movie monster anyways.
Next, he had tried a shot gun, that only seemed to make it angry and the it growled at him. It had gone off for a few minutes towards the chicken coup and that had been the last time he heard them chickens ever screech. After that it came back from the yard and started to circle again.
Well, he had grabbed his last two sticks of dynamite from his pocket and now he sat upon a rock. If it was big enough to dig this rock up, well he reconned it was more than welcome to eat him. But he was going to give it one hell of a case of indigestion.
Lighting the fuse of one of the sticks, he tossed it in the path of the gopher. Suddenly the ground beneath it twirled as if in a cyclone and sank down two feet. When the ground had stopped moving the dynamite was gone. A moment later, so was the gopher.
A loud explosion rocked the ground as the Earth was launched high in the air.
Waving at the dust and guts that now pelted him, Jack chuckled breathly. There wasn't no damned gopher, no size, that could out do him! Coughing from the unexpected smoke cloud, he gasped at the strong stench of Cinnamon coming from the crater.
Coming to stand beside the hole, he waved once more to dispell the clouds and glanced inside. Whatever the gopher had looked like before, it was now just so much orange guts now. Getting a better look of the hole, he growled. "Son of a bitch!" The destruction from the blast had left a thirty foot long trench in his yard.
(ooo)
Sitting outside on a bench across from the school, Xander chewed absently on a piece of Spice Candy. After not having gotten to bed until four that morning, he woke up five hours too late for school. Now it was just a little after noon and he was waiting for the others to come out to their usual lunch place out front. Well he was hoping they would come, it was a sunny day after all.
His only problem was what he would say to them. He hadn't been feeling comfortable enough around them to open up. It just didn't make any sense. There should have been nothing wrong with him. Not that there was, he just didn't like being exposed to them.
Shifting uncomfortably, Xander pulled his back pack closer. He had stuffed the bag full of supplies just in case he needed them. It was an old habit that he didn't intend to break. Inside were two sets of clothes, a secondary dagger, two liters of water, a pair of wide sole soft-boots, some food, and three bricks of spice candy. He would have to improvise the paracompass and few other necessities that were missing from his standard pack.
One never knew when one might need emergency supplies.
Sitting out in the open, he felt vulnerable for a number of reasons, one of which was the lack of concealing clothing. No matter what he tried on, nothing felt right to him. To Xander, none of his clothes felt right, like they were a part of some costume. The only thing he even felt remotely comfortable in was a full body suit and a blanket held in place with a safety pin.
That had been an embarrassing moment from his childhood he had never wanted to relive. Yet now, he wasn't so sure. The blanket, though it made him look like a demented superman, felt comfortable in how much it concealed. Exposure to the elements for any great period of time meant death on Arrakis.
But this wasn't Arrakis.
Xander sighed. He forced himself from running all the way back home and getting the cloak that went along with his costume. No matter how much he wanted it, the clothing was not functional.
The out pouring of students from the building distracted him from thoughts of clothes. He watched them congregate and meet up with their friends. The seniors were already heading for the parking lot, being able to go off campus and eat. He didn't need to stay on campus to eat, hell, he had spent more time off campus during the school day the past week than on. Six days since halloween and suddenly he was a delinquent.
Snickering, Xander almost missed Willow slip through the crowd searching for something. A twinge inside made him realize she was probably looking for him. Instead of going to her or signaling he was here, he held back and waited. If she was vigilant, she would notice him across the campus.
Willow didn't see him and headed back inside.
He felt a little sad that she had missed him, but mostly relieved. It was a big relief not to have to deal with the whole group today. Willow was his best friend, but her heavy emotions were not a good idea. He could barely handle himself as it was.
Despite needing to feel a part of the group again, Xander shook it off. Perhaps another time. Grabbing his bag, he started to stand up.
"What's the big rush?" Walking up under the tree to stand beside Xander, Buffy clutched a twig in her hands. The feeling deep inside her was one of apprehension despite him being her friend. "Something going on you wanna talk about? I know I haven't been exactly the best friend of late, but I'm still your friend, Xander."
Considering it a moment, he turned to her and frowned. It wasn't exactly a feeling, but he knew there was just something he couldn't tell her. But if anyone would be able to understand, it would be her. "Have you ever had dreams of portent? Have you ever felt that you were trapped by your destiny? That nothing you say or do can change what will come and you aren't exactly sure you want to?"
"Yes." Her voice was low, sluggish from deep seeded emotions.
"I suppose the moment you became active, you felt like you weren't even human anymore." Unaware the effect his words were having on Buffy, Xander snorted. "You're a freak. No one is meant to have that kinda power, no one mortal that is. You aren't a god, people aren't meant to decide who lives and dies."
"No," she closed her eyes, "they're not."
"They want to control you, manipulate you for their own ends. But you got your own plans. This is your life, they can't just destroy your hopes and dreams!" Clenching his fists, Xander shook his head. This wasn't the way it was supposed to be. He wasn't supposed to burden her with all this. They were just kids. "But who are you to say what is right? They've been around a lot longer than you have, and who knows? Just because you got the power doesn't mean you know squat about how to use it."
"That is why they are here, that is why you are here." Buffy stepped up closer, grabbing his hand in her own. "You help keep me stable, alive."
Taking his hand back, Xander stared down her. "I wasn't talking about you."
"Oh?" At his head shake, she sighed. She wanted to reach up and move the hair off his face, but knew he would block her attempt. He was wire tight, close to snapping. Trying to lighten the mood, she glanced at him for anything to use. "I didn't know you had blue eyes."
"Before the melange, I didn't. Blue on Blue eyes is the sign of spice addiction." Cracking a smile, he quickly reached up and flicked her earring. "But hey, it has some great side effects that more than make up for the eye change." There was no need to tell her just what those were. It would all become clear soon enough. "Listen, how about we meet back up here before going out to slay tonight? After hitting a few cemeteries we'll go to the Bronze. Just you, me, and Willow."
"Okay." There was nothing else to say. She wanted her friend back, and if he wasn't willing to completely open up, what he already said would have to suffice. Nodding, she headed back for the campus.
"Well, okay." Smiling distantly, Xander watched her go until she disappeared in the building. Adjusting his shoulder straps, he turned and headed for the other side of town. He had a sand man to visit before he came back.
(ooo)
Xander was slammed back against the wall, Angel pinning him there with his body, hands roaming down the young man's sides. His mouth full of tongue and vampire fangs, Xander moaned. God, it felt better than he had imagined. Sucking on the vampire's tongue, he wrapped his arms around Angel's neck.
At the touch, some form of sense returned to Angel and he released Xander's mouth. Sagging against the gasping young man, he pressed their foreheads together. "We shouldn't be doing this. You came to me for help, not sex."
"I came to you for a place to stay." Shaking from the force of a deep breath, Xander squeaked in exhausted amusement. Grinning at the vampire, he pecked him on the lips. "You were the one who said I could share your bed."
"I thought you needed my help! I was being polite, not making a pass at you." Growling at the impudent Xander, Angel pushed him back against the wall. "Don't. Kiss. Me."
"Or what?" Sliding his hand down the back of Angel's body, he slipped it under the vampire's black pants to rest on the top of his ass. Arousal clearly visible in his actions, he pulled Angel's hips against his own. "You know I'm never one to listen to a word you say."
"What are we doing?" Grinding his body in to Xander, Angel pressed his lips to Xander's neck. He couldn't figure out how this started or how to break it up. The touch of the young man sent warmth through his cold body and he didn't want it to end. In a sudden urge, he snapped Xander's head to the side and pressed his face to the boy's neck. His teeth were a hare's breath from piercing skin before he stopped.
Freezing, Angel released Xander and jumped back. "This is wrong!" He frowned in confusion and backed away from Xander's out reaching arms. "Don't. Just don't. I can't control myself with you touching me."
"Then don't control yourself, let it out." Reaching up, Xander drew his tee-shirt over his head. He flexed his few muscles while tossing the shirt to the way side. Stepping up to Angel faster than the vampire could back away, he grabbed Angel's hands and placed them on his body. "Take what you want, I want it too!"
"Don't offer this, Xander, you don't know what it is that you give." He was silenced as Xander's hands traced up the front of his pants stopping at the waist band. When one of them slipped under the elastic band and slid down his body to grip his cock, Angel lowered his head and gasped. "Oh god, please don't, Xander. This is...it won't end well."
"Give in to me, Angel. I want you, all of you." Pressing his body up against Angel, he inhaled the scent of fading musk. The smell made him groan in need. "Please, don't make me beg you. I don't beg well, sides, it's never pretty."
Angel dazedly lowered his face to Xander's shoulder. Slowly losing his grip on the inner demon, he let go. He first tasted Xander with a kiss on the shoulder proper. Moving up the skin, he pressed another to the junction between the neck and shoulder. Fangs descending, he whispered against Xander's skin. "I love you."
Then Xander felt the sting of fangs piercing his neck.
Crying out, Xander rolled over in bed. Glancing at the alarm clock, he noted the time. It was only six-thirty, time to get up so he could go slaying tonight. "Shit!" Scrubbing the dried tear tracks from around his eyes, he reluctantly sat up in bed.
Rubbing at his neck, he could still feel the sharpness of Angel's teeth in his skin. What the hell had he been eating to cause that kind of dream? It was bad enough thinking he was on some alien planet planning a war. This sex dream was just one step too weird.
He may think the guy was kinda cute, but he wasn't going to the guy for a place to stay, much less a quick screw. That would be like a mouse asking the cat if it could check its teeth. Despite his objectional horror at the dream, he noticed with dismay that his pants were tented. Despite being eaten, his dream self was still contented to play horny slut even up to the end.
Deciding a quick jerk off was out of the question, Xander slid out of his tangled covers and headed for the door. He checked the hallway for anyone before slipping out the door and going to the bathroom. Inside, he quickly removed his boxers and climbed under the shower head. The heat was great for making his body relax.
The hot water hitting his sensitive erection only served to remind him of the dream. After catching himself actively hugging the wall and humping the hot water stream, he gave in. His body was more than happy to oblige a quick wank in the shower.
(ooo)
Still slightly embarrassed from the sensual dream and subsequent masturbation fantasy, Xander walked up the steps to the school with his head bowed. There was plenty of other things going on to think about to keep himself distracted from his real problems like having orgasm thinking about Buffy's boyfriend.
Oh yeah, he was going to burn in hell for that one.
Snickering, he looked up at the school. It looked pretty harmless at night, despite the large potential for evil. There was always that. May be one day he would wise up and get the hell away from this place and all the death it represented. May be one day.
Xander pulled the door open and glared at the dark entrance. One day something nasty was going to be waiting for them there and then nothing would save them. All for want of one single light bulb. The entire thing was strategically unsound for any of them.
Shaking his head, he headed inside while keeping his ears open for something. It didn't take long for him to pick up the chatter of a nervous slayer. Feeling like teaching her a lesson, only this time from a distance, he sank to the shadows.
His body slipped silently down the hall, feet not quite touching the ground before lifting again. Time seemed to slow down when he came around the final corner towards the library. In the hall, Buffy and Willow stood laughing at something. Holding the shadows, Xander crept down the hall.
He was thirty feet away from them when a pair of arms came out of an open class room door way and jerked him inside, a hand over his mouth. The distinct scent of Angel's soap permeated his nose and Xander groaned.
"What do you think you're doing sneaking around like that? You want Buffy to kill you? Are you looking for a fight?" Something occurred to the vampire. "Where's the knife?" Angel's other hand ran over Xander's midsection, down the front of his pants searching for the knife. "I thought you would have learned better after the last time. Yeah, she told me about Halloween morning. So, what's the deal?"
Bucking in to Angel's questing hand, Xander refused to answer. It was none of his business what Xander was up to.
When Angel didn't find the dagger in Xander's pants, he started to pull his hand out. Xander's hand on his wrist stopped him. "What?"
Heart pounding and pulse racing, Xander swallowed. He closed his eyes, mentally going over the Litany Against Fear. When he regained some of his calm, he pushed Angel's arm down further in to his pants.
The strong scent of Xander's arousal grew enough for Angel to recognize over the stench of fear response. It confused him. The reaction of the boy should have been to go on the offensive, not let Angel maintain control. That is what he had come to expect from Buffy's annoying little friend. Flattening his hand, he slipped it through the front of Xander's boxers. "Is this what you want?"
Xander nodded. There was nothing else his body would let him do. He wanted to feel Angel's hands all over him, touching him like they belonged there. When the cool fingers touched his cock, Xander thrust his hips forward in to the hand.
"I'm not doing this, Xander." Angel withdrew his hand from the boy's pants, unconsciously sliding it over his body. "I'm dating Buffy and you're her best friend. That might not mean much to some people, but you'll feel like shit when the excitement wears off. Besides, she's my one shot, I'm not going to blow it on a quickie with a kid like you." Pushing Xander away, Angel stepped around him and headed for the hall. He stopped just inside the doorway to glare at Xander. "Keep it to yourself, I'm not a toy to be shared among friends."
Biting his lip, Xander nodded. "That's just the kind of response I would expect from someone like you." Looking up at the vampire, he cocked his head. "I hope she knows how lucky you are, both of you." Turning around, Xander glanced about the class room for an exit. Nothing but windows too small to open stood between him and freedom.
Angel wanted to say something more to him. It felt wrong to leave things at that. He'd had an inclination of the boy's desire in the past, but until now, it been something he could ignore. Had he been a little less scrupleless and a little more demon, he wouldn't have thought twice to take the boy up on his offer and over the teacher's desk. As it stood, he was already in a committed relationship with Buffy.
And that was the crux of the matter.
"Buffy, Xander's here!" Angel knew he would pay for it by the way the boy whirled on him at his words. Before Xander could act, Buffy and Willow were coming up behind Angel.
"Hey, Xander, glad you could make it." Glancing about the room, Buffy smiled. "So, what's up with you and the dark class room thing? Feel like being all 'terror that flaps in the night'?"
"You know me, Buff, always looking for new ways to impress you." Holding up the edge of his shirt over his face, he wiggled his eyebrows. Her giggle in response eased the tension inside him. "Are we ready to go, yet?"
"As ready as you are, Dark Wing." Bowing slightly, she gestured towards the hall. "After you."
"Thank you." Walking passed her with a regal baring, he glared at Angel. "Dead Boy."
(ooo)
Xander launched himself in the air over the tombstone. He came down face first on the back of a vampire attacking Willow. Crysknife out, he slashed downwards cutting the vampire across the chest. A moment later, the vampire turned to dust and Xander's dagger was hidden from sight.
Willow had fallen to the ground after Xander impacted the vampire. Wiping dust from her clothes, she coughed and smiled at Xander. "Thanks."
"Not to worry, Wills, I got your back." He bent over and helped her stand. He wiped the dirt from her bottom with a cheeky grin. "I don't think grass stain goes with that skirt, Willow."
She grinned at him again with a faint blush from him brushing off her skirt. "Thank you, Xander, but I think I can handle that part myself." Feeling that she shouldn't let him take so many liberties with her person, she swatted his hand away. It wasn't that she didn't want his hand there, she knew that it would never be for the reasons she wanted. That was more than enough to discourage too familiar touches.
Some what hurt at her actions, Xander nodded. "Sure, Wills, any time." Pulling back, he glanced around the cemetery for the others. Off to their right, Buffy and Angel were fighting back to back against a half dozen other vampires.
One of the vampires raised Buffy's crossbow from where she had dropped it and took aim at Angel.
Seeing this, Xander didn't hesitate. Focusing his entire concentration on moving fast enough, he shot off across the cemetery to reach the vampire, Crysknife drawn. Running, he felt the world zip past him and sooner than he thought possible, he was at the vampire's side. With a half twist, he brought the knife down in an under handed cutting arc.
The head of the vampire fell from his body as he turned to dust. Buffy's crossbow fell to the ground harmlessly.
Not waiting to see his handiwork in action, Xander darted towards the next vampire in reach. He slammed the dagger through the back of the vampire in to its heart and pulled it out as the demon fell to dust. Spinning around, he sliced off the hand of a third vampire. Grabbing it by the stump, he flipped the blade and stabbed it in the chest.
As the third vampire fell to dust, Xander stood huffing glancing about for another target. All that remained was a shocked looking Buffy, a slightly angry Angel, and a scared Willow. Putting the dagger out of their site, he replaced it in the sheath and down the back of his pants. He tried to appear casual and bobbed his head. "All done."
Crossing her arms, Buffy gave a look that she knew said she wasn't having any of it. This was going to be had out then and there. "What are you?"
Sighing, Xander let the carefree expression drop. Holding his hands at his side in preparation to run, he cocked his head. "I'm me. That me would be the guy who just saved your life."
"Well that means you're still Xander, but leaves the question of are you Human?" Glaring at him, she let her own body react to his stance. If he was going to run, she was damn sure going to catch him and have this out. "Well, I'm waiting."
Xander opened his mouth to reply. Just as he went to speak a high pitched screech filled his ears and he cried out. Through tearing eyes, he noticed the others weren't even reacting. The pressure in his head becoming to great, Xander turned and fled the source of the sound as fast as he could.
Unfortunately for Buffy, he just disappeared as far as she could tell. One moment he was there, the next his entire body just seemed to disappear in a burst. Taking a step forward to balance herself, Buffy glanced about her. "Where did he go?"
"I dunno, I didn't see!" Willow, just now rushing up to Buffy and Angel, held her hat in confusion. "What happened, Buffy? What did you say to him?"
"I just asked what he was. He was about to respond when he just flipped out and disappeared." Switching from her friend, Buffy looked to Angel. "Did you see where he went?"
Angel shook his head. "He moved too fast, I couldn't keep track of him." Picking up Buffy's crossbow, he handed to Willow. "Take this back to Giles and tell him what happened. Buffy, escort her back. I'm going after Xander, see if I can't pick up his smell."
"Wait a minute, you're not going after him like some blood hound. Angel, are you listening to me?" Buffy took a step towards her boyfriend only to find him ignoring her completely. "Angel!"
"Buffy, please. Someone has to protect Willow and I am the only one who can smell him. If I don't go now, I will lose the trail." Waving off her reach for him, he moved off in the direction Xander had gone.
"Angel! Wait!" Following her boyfriend, she tried to keep up until the edge of the cemetery when she lost him in the shadows. "Damn it, Angel!" Slowly dropping off in speed until she came to a complete stop, she looked down. Forcing herself to get over it for now, she did an about face and headed back to Willow.
(ooo)
Just passed SunnyDale's out lying housing projects, three men in black robes walked across the sand. Their path was unclear, but the destination was evident. Rising up from the desert floor was a large rock of glowing crystal. With them they carried the trappings of a ritual; including candles, ritual oils, mixing bowl, chicken quartered, eleven herbs and spices, and the spell book.
Donny Reagan was in the lead, his beer gut hanging over the tight belt. He smiled over his shoulder at Rick Denny and Mark Reihnold. They had been studying for months and the time was now right to get what they figured they had coming to them.
Tonight they would summon the Morah Demon and have it instill in them the power of success. What they lacked in normal life they would get from black magic. The chicken and spices were necessary to summon the demon, Donny hadn't quite gotten around to figuring out why.
Upon reaching the rock, Mark lit a fire in the magical hearth and placed the bowl over it. Dumping the ritual oil in the bowl, he began to chant the ritual of summoning.
Rick and Donny mixed the herbs and spices before sticking the chicken in it like the book said to. Reading the book, Donny glared at it. "Place chicken in to ritual oil and cover with lid." Grabbing the lid for the bowl from Mark, he stuck it on the bowl and stepped back. "Now we begin the chant."
"Come to me. Come to me. Come to me." When nothing happened, they looked at each other then to Rick.
Donny put his hands on his hips and glared at Rick. "Where exactly did you get that damn book?"
"My wife's sister, dumb ass! I've told you half a dozen fucking times, does anything ever penetrate that thick fucking skull?" Pulling out a flask, Rick took a swig of the cheap wine inside and grimaced.
"If you weren't Marie's brother, I would knock the shit stuffing right out of you!" Grabbing the younger man by the collar, Mark pointed at the bowl. "Does that smell familiar to you?"
Mark sniffed it and blanched. "That's original crispy! God damn it! How stupid can you be, Ricky?"
"Idiots! No wonder you two never graduated high school!" Reaching in to the herb sack, Donny pulled out the stone toad that had been mixed in with them. He was about to toss it in the desert when the Earth shook. "What was that?"
Mark ignored him in favor of sniffing the air. Grimacing, he turned on Donny. "Did you put Cinnamon in that? I know this ritual shit was a total bust, but least we could do was eat the fuckin chicken. But I'm not gonna eat it if you put Cinnamon in the shit. That don't taste right, it just don't."
"No, I didn't put Cinnamon in it." Sniffing the air, Donny had to admit it did smell like someone had put Cinnamon in the chicken mix. Turning to the only one it could have been, he glared at his brother in law. "Did you fuck up the spices again like you did at last year's barbq? He mixed horse radish with pineapple and used it to marinade the chicken. No one could eat it because it stank so bad."
Rick flipped him off as he leaned back against the crystal arm. "Don't fuckin lie to me, Dicky, you ate the shit out of it!" Lighting up a cigarette, he blew out a puff. He took another swig of the flask and glared at Donny. "Sides, you were the dumb ass that mixed the herbs and spices, I was just supposed to get the oil and chicken. That is one hundred percent pure virgin olive oil, not god damned Cinnamon."
The ground's tremor began to increase noticeably, except for the three men who were too busy arguing.
"Go fuck yourself, idiot!" Donny stomped over and took the flask from Rick. "Give me that, you moron."
Standing on the crystal rock observing the three men fighting, a gray skinned figure glared at them. It debated answering their summons, but decided to wait until they were sufficiently distracted before taking the offering and disappearing. Just as it was about to jump down, the Earth shook and a distant roaring began to vibrate the crystal. The moan was so deep it hurt the ears of the sensitive Morah demon.
By now the sand began to swirl around the crystal formation and the three men fell to their knees. The Morah demon fell down from its perch beside them, clutching its head. Blasts of sand shot up all around the crystal formation before the entire structure disappeared. Almost as quickly as it began, the entire event was over, and the sand began to settle down.
Where the crystal formation had been now only remained sand and a ritual bowl of Kentucky Fried Chicken.
(ooo)
Buffy entered the library, throwing the doors open out of her way. Glaring at the stack of books in the center of the table, she groaned internally. That stack meant only one thing, Giles was on a study kick. However, she was surprised by the person behind the stack as she grew close enough to see around them. "Ms. Calendar, what are you doing here?"
"Looking for references to Spice." Continuing to flip through the pages and scanning the words, she only waved at Buffy in acknowledgement. "So far my search of all the books I have has been for not. I brought in my collection out of storage, but there are thousands of books. It would be easier if I had the hard drive I uploaded them to with the scanner, but I seemed to have lost it. That means I have to go through each one by hand."
"Okay." Buffy was a little weirded out by her teacher. Setting her bag down in a chair since there was no room on the table, she glanced about the library. "Is Giles in?"
"No, he's out at a crime scene." Since she was focused on the book, Jenny missed Buffy's raised eyebrows. Sighing with disgust, she dropped the book in the bin that was beside her and grabbed another off the table. "If you wouldn't mind, I would be glad for the help. I can't help but feel whatever is going on will only get worse if we don't figure this thing out and fast."
"What thing?" In alarm, Buffy grabbed a book and opened the cover. When she noticed the words weren't in coherent English, she set it back down and grabbed another. "What are these books? I can't understand anything, it looks like a printer malfunction. For example, there is only one E in the."
"That is Thee, it means you, a form of old English. Grab something with a paper back cover, the hard backs are mostly from my college days. I was a lit minor." Flipping through the last page, Jenny sighed. Her head and eyes ached from the constant strain of trying to find the book. "Damn it, I know I read that book some where! Perhaps it isn't in this section." Standing, she smiled at Buffy. "Hold down the fort, I'm going to make a few calls."
"Okay. This is me holding down the fort. The fort won't get away from me." Pressing down on the stack of books, Buffy smirked. Her smirk disappeared when the table groaned and she jumped back. "Okay, so not literally."
"Thank you. I'll be right back." Jenny was already deciding what she was going to say before she reached the doors.
Watching her go, Buffy shook her head. That woman was in desperate need of a life. She had already tried to suck Buffy in, if she wasn't careful, one of these days she would wind up a book nerd shackled to the library desk willingly going through these books. Just like...
"I tried a web search like you suggested, Ms. Calendar, but all I could come up with were thousands of references to Cinnamon and this flashy group called the Spice Girls. It's not like they are that pretty or that good, but their hit song is directly linked with at least twelve demonic rituals... Oh, Buffy!" Willow put down the lap top beside her on the book return and smiled at her best friend. "Where is Ms. Calendar?"
"Hey, Willow, nice to see you too." Buffy smirked at her friend's blush. This was going to be a little fun after all. "When did you get sucked in to the seething mass of Ms. Calendar's search for condiments?"
"Spice, Buffy, it is spice." Pointing at the computer, she tried to appear professional. She turned the screen to face Buffy. "This is the only thing I could come up with in the last hour of searching. A quick reference to a demon that smelled of Cinnamon and almonds. It's a Trokla demon, but they are extinct, people tended to, well, eat them. Apparently they are really sweet."
"And ew, that is something I so did not need to know." Shuddering, she tried to shake the idea from her mind. Instead all she could think about were tiny little demonic gummy bears with horns. The idea of them bouncing around made her giggle. "Okay, so not so disgusting. Just really, really weird."
"Yeah. That was pretty strange." Closing the lap top, Willow came around the book return desk and walked up to Buffy. "Did Xander come in today?"
"No, and believe me, I looked every where. He just isn't going to show unless we make him." Buffy sat there dejected for a bit before something occurred to her. "Oh, hey, where's Giles? Ms. Calendar said he went to a crime scene. Is there something I should know?"
"Yeah! That reminds me. I also ran another search." Willow bent over the table, pushing aside books. Her search returned a paper buried under a large stack of thick leather books. "Here, give me a hand with these, I can't get them by myself."
"Sheesh, is that all I am to you, someone to lift heavy things, open pickle jars, and slay vampires?" Pretending to be mock hurt, she picked up the books and set them on the chair next to them.
"Oh, no Buffy, you can also reach things up on high too." At Buffy's wide eyed look, Willow slapped her on the arm. "Kidding! You are so gullible some times."
"Thanks, I feel much better now. Show me what is so important before I decide to show you how much better." Together they opened up the news paper and flipped through all the mindless nattering done by clueless reporters to the crime section, which was thicker than the rest of the paper combined. "Man, with a police report section like this, you'd think that people would have paid more attention by now."
"Not really, this is unusual, Buffy. There are a lotta people missing, more than usual demonic activity missing." Pulling the pages out, she held it up for Buffy to look at. Pictures of missing people covered the front page. "So far fourty-six people missing since Monday."
"Wait, that was two days after Halloween." Grabbing the paper, she scanned the missing reports and compared them with what she knew the dates were. "How does this and what Giles is doing come together?"
"Giles is investigating one of the disappearances. So far no one knows where exactly these people disappeared at, but one of them is extremely visible." Flipping through the pages in Buffy's hands to the tenth, she pointed at a picture. The desert floor was completely covered in broken and mangled camping gear. "A group of fourteen men and seven women up from L.A. went out for a night of partying Monday. By this morning the police were looking for them."
"Do we know what happened? I mean all it gives are personal details of the people, not of the scene." Scanning the page, she tried to compare it to what she knew. Nothing came to mind.
"That is what Giles is trying to figure out. There are strange markings in the sand that suggest something came out of it, dragged something across the ground for a bit, then went back below it." Willow shook her head. It was a shame that people were dying, but what was worse is that she had no idea why. On top of that, the worry over her Xander was making her feel so sick she couldn't even eat breakfast that morning.
However, Buffy was lost in a world of her own. The picture of one of the missing people from L.A. was frighteningly familiar to her. Dropping the paper on the table, she grabbed her bag. "Uh, look, Willow, if you see Giles, tell him I am on this. I'm going out to hit on a few leads before I go slaying in a few hours. But right now, I gotta get home, Mom is breathing down my neck about something new in her life. So, I'll see you around, tomorrow, or Sunday, or Monday may be. Bye!"
Buffy was out the door before Willow could even come up with a single reply. She didn't know what to make of her friend's sudden departure, it just didn't make sense. Glancing down at the paper, she tried to find something that made Buffy react the way she had, but it just didn't come.