Title: Again, the Crimson Road (5/??)

Author: Tim Williams 

Rating: TV-14 or so.  Violence, adult situations, etc.

Pairing: Buffy/Xander, a few hints at others

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, etc.  Even the ideas are
probably things I've read and half forgotten.  Joss owns Buffy, Xander,
and crew.  Any other characters are owned by someone else entirely.

Distribution: Take my fanfic! Please! Also try, if you're looking for
past parts, etc. 
http://www.angelfire.com/tn/twillia/buffy/bufindex.html (updated through
WTCR 4).

Feedback: I'm definitely looking for feedback, in the worst way. 
Anything you can tell me, even if it's just "I read it." is wonderful.

Spoilers: Some general stuff.  Season 1, heavily, mentions of Season 4
(nothing important, I wouldn't think, besides Adam).

Summary: I don't think a summary will do much good, really.  I mean, if
you've not been reading the story, jumping in at part 17 (which is what
this is, yikes) isn't going to make much sense to you ;).  Everything up
to here is on my webpage, so give it a look if you want to read the
story.  You might just enjoy it ;)

Author's Notice: Hmm... I sit down to start writing at 1am... and I
watched Ghost Dog today (a GREAT movie.  Go see it, you'll like it.) so
things might be a bit odd.  I'm leaving out the samurai, though.  For
now ;)

I'm not sure about this part, but I'm going to send it anyway.  If I
make major changes to it later, I'll release a new version of this
part.  Also, I'm thinking about writing this part from Xander's POV, so
the story is all there.  We'll see.

I love you people, I really do.  Feedback is good.  Feedback is life.

***

        I didn't spot Xander outside the Bronze, but, then again, I didn't
waste a whole lot of time looking for him on my way to the cemetery.  
        As soon as we were out of the club, I released my hold on Giles's wrist
and made a bee line for the graveyard.
        "Where are we going?" he asked as soon as we were out of the bright
lights of the street.
        "I'm going to the cemetery to save some people from a few vampires... I
don't know where you are going."
        "I'm following you."
        "Then ditto for you."
        "You can't just go rushing off into a situation like this... do you
even have an idea of how many vampires you are up against?"
        "Three, one young, stupid one, the girl from before, that's Darla, and
a big guy named Luke."
        "Ah... okay, but how do you know all of this?"
        "Slayer's intuition."
        Giles looked like he was going to say something more, but I shushed him
since we already at the edge of the grounds.  Not much longer, we found
the open crypt and I pulled out a stake as I edged closer to the open
door.
        Voices drifted out and I immediately recognized Xander's amongst them.
        "I don't think you understand what you've gotten yourself into..."
        "And you don't know what I am, foolish little boy."
        "I've got a pretty good idea... you look pretty good for someone who's
ten times as old as my mother."
        I could hear Darla growl and took that moment to step through the open
doorway, making no effort at stealth.  "Am I fashionably late?"
        Seven heads turned at my entry.  Well, seven is a bit of a liberal
count, Jesse wasn't looking at a whole lot of anything, weak as he was
from blood loss.
        Xander was playing it protective like, staying between the vamps and
mom, Willow, Jesse, and... Cordelia?  That's new.
        "Who the hell are you?"  Darla, ever the one for stunning displays of
tact.
        "I'll give you two guesses," I said as I threw the stake, underhanded
to pierce the heart of the second vamp.  
        "The slayer..." her eyes narrowed as she circled toward me slowly.
        "Got it in one, you get a gold star," I'd produced another stake by
this point, but knew better than to throw it at her.  Older vampires are
usually too fast for that.  "Xander, get out of here."
        Xander nodded and quickly lead the others out of the crypt, half
carrying Jesse.  Darla looked like she wanted to dive at them to stop
them, but her fear of my stake throwing kept her facing me, eyes locked
on my weapon.  
        Giles took Jesse's other arm once they were outside and the group set
off across the graveyard and out of my line of sight.
        "Don't go far," Darla called after him as she started in.  A wide
swing, high and fast, but I blocked easily and diverted her real attack,
a jab from the other hand.
        I wasted no time in countering with a stake thrust that would have left
most vamps as just so much slowly settling dust.  But Darla was Angel's
sire, after all.  She managed to evade, but just barely.
        Another one of those little things you learn about being a slayer is
that your strength has nothing to do with your physical body.  It's all
based on force of will and the ancient magic, or whatever it is, that
makes you the slayer.  What's that mean?  Well, that means that right
now, even though my body was only fifteen, I was every bit as strong as
I was when I fought Adam.
        Which is why I was able to easily nail Darla with my second attack,
sending her arching across the room into the far wall.
        A brief tingle on my spine alerted me and I ducked just in time to
avoid Luke's grab.  Easily, I grabbed the outstretched arm and flipped
him over me, crashing into Darla.  
        "Missed me," I taunted.
        They were back on their feet quickly, Luke growling in rage.  "She is
mine."
        Darla wisely darted for the door, and I had no choice except to let her
go.  Luke was on me in an instant, and I found myself in a much more
even fight than the one before.
        What Luke lacked in finesse, he made up for in raw power.  But, then
again, he was nowhere near as strong as Adam had been.
        I could see the worry and fear in his eyes as I managed to block his
punches and not slow down.  Probably a unique experience for the ox.
        Finally, I managed to dodge one of his attacks and land a kick to his
face.  As he stumbled backward, temporarily blinded by pain, I staked
him.
        So much for keeping history the same, I thought as he dissolved into
dust.
        I dusted off my hands and took a few long breaths to calm myself before
setting off to find out if Xander had managed to keep everyone safe.
        
***

        I needn't have worried, I found out when I found them at the edge of
the cemetery.
        Giles was looking rather flustered, and most of the others were in
shock, but Xander was grinning that lopsided grin of his.
        "Missed all the fun, I take it?"
        Xander just grinned wider.  "Only a little bit."
        I looked at our friends, taking a quick head count.
        "Say, where's Cordelia."
        "She went back to the Bronze," he laughed.  "She was muttering
something about how weird we are.  Not a clue about what almost happened
to her."
        "Did you run into much trouble?"
        "Nah, there were maybe four vamps out here, I killed the first two and
the others scattered."
        "Any sign of Darla."
        He shook his head.  I had been afraid of that.

***

        "T-Those were vampires?"  Willow shifted nervously in her seat.
        We were at the school library, having, for lack of a better term, a
debriefing.
        "Yes, vampires," Giles seemed to have recovered from the whole
experience rather well, returning to his dapper self quickly.
        "And my daughter is a vampire slayer?"  My mother almost seemed to be
tasting the words as she said them, letting the alien feel of them get
to her.
        "Yes, the Slayer, to be specific.  In every generation..."
        "I got that, but why her?"
        He could only shrug.  "No one knows how or why the Slayers are chosen,
only that the mantle is passed on upon the death of the last."
        Jesse had been sitting quietly though the whole meeting, but I think
that had more to do with his weakened state than anything else.   
        Something had been bugging me for the entire night, but I still hadn't
figured out what.  Something that Giles had said, just then, brought it
humming to the front of my mind, but I still couldn't discern what was
wrong.
        Oh, well, it'd probably come to me in time.

***

        "So..."  Mom and I were walking back home, later that night, after the
meeting.
        "Yes, so..."
        "You believe me?"
        "About the vampires?  Yes."
        "Ah, good."
        "But..."
        "But?"  Uh-oh.
        "That doesn't really explain why you were having sex with a strange guy
in my house on your first day in a new town."
        "Ah... that's the time travel part."
        "I'm not sure I believe that part yet."
        "To tell you the truth, I'm not sure I do either."