Chapter Text
Title: A Broken Heart’s Change
Author: Caliadragon
Fandom: Buffy, Angel, Teen Wolf, Harry Potter, Greek Mythos with a bit of Xena and Herc thrown in, StarGate, NCIS, Highlander, Addams Family,
Warnings: Angst, Major and Minor Character Deaths, Poly, AU, Mental Manipulations, Graphic Violence and Death, EAD 2017, Unbeta’d, GFY
Pairings: Multi
Part: 1/?
Rating: R thru NC-17
Summary: Xander comes to a dangerous revelation.
Author’s Note: My title for this fic was Xander Calls Willow on her Shit in my doc files.
Xander Harris loved Willow Rosenburg, he had always loved her and would always love her, but he wondered when he stopped trusting her. As Xander sat in the library supposedly researching the newest big bad he tried to gauge when love and affection turned to suspicion and anger.
Xander looked up from his book, eyes tracking around the room. Faith was flipping through the pages of the book in her hand looking bored. Angel and Oz were having a quiet conversation about music, while looking through books.
Jenny was making notes in her notebook and occasionally looking at Rupert, who would smile at her when he caught her looking as he also took notes from the book he was going through. Xander was glad that Giles and Jenny remained friends after their romance fizzled out. Xander knew that it was because the older man was still in love with Ethan Rayne and would probably always love the man.
Xander really liked Jenny and had been thrilled when the older woman decided to stay in Sunnydale even after her duty to her clan was completed. Jenny was a boon to the group and had saved them on more than once occasion. It also helped that Joyce had another friend among the group and someone she could talk about with her fears about Buffy’s duties and Dawn burgeoning powers.
As Xander continued to look around he saw that Wesley was engrossed in the book in his hands occasionally making a note on the pad of paper in front of him. Xander liked the older man now that he was acting like a true human and admitting that he needed training as much as Faith and the rest of them did.
To Wesley’s left Buffy was twirling a lock of hair around her finger as she and Cordy ignored the books and trashed the fashions in the magazine they were holding. That was when it struck him, Cordy, his beautiful blunt Cordy, was why he no longer trusted Willow.
Xander felt as though he had been stuck in the chest and for a moment it hurt to breath. Suddenly Xander slammed the book he was holding down on the table, ignoring the confused looks or Giles’ silent reproof for his treatment of the ancient text.
Xander was looking straight at Willow now trying to breath through the rage and the pain rocketing through his chest. Angel and Oz shared a look of concern for the boy, while Faith and Buffy were looking at him warily.
“Willow...” Xander began jaw clenched. “Why Willow? Why did you do it? You knew, you knew how much I loved her, how much I love her.”
Willow’s eyes widened and she darted a look over at Cordy before turning away from the girl’s considering gaze.
“Why?” Xander demanded furious and hurt.
“You only want her because of the tie to Jesse-." Willow began.
“That is bullshit! I loved Jesse, he was my world and I would never have disrespected his memory that way and I sure as hell would not have disrespected Cordy that way. So why, why did you set things in motion so she would break up with me and making sure I did the one thing she would never forgive? Why?” Xander demanded, tears burning in his eyes, causing everyone to gape at the pair in shock.
Willow’s face contorted angrily. “Because she doesn’t deserve you!”
Xander closed his eyes trying to hold back his despair. When he opened his eyes he looked at Willow his face showing the sorrow he felt. “You destroyed my relationship with the only person besides Jesse who has ever seen me for who I was. You played the martyr and had everyone treating me like I basically raped your mouth and pushing me aside. All of this because you decided that Cordy didn’t deserve me? Where do you get off deciding that?!”
“What about Oz? Did he even factor into your plans? Do you even care that you hurt him, that you destroyed any chance the two of us had at being friends? Did you even read those books that Giles put out for you about werewolves? Because I did, I read every one of them.” Xander drew in a pained breath when Oz shifted in his chair and growled softly.
“He could have killed both of us Willow. He could have seen the kissing as a betrayal of your bond to him and he would have wolfed out and killed both of us. What do you think that would have done to him or to Buffy and Faith? Their inner slayer would have declared him a rogue, which means they would have had to either run him out of town or put him down. He could have also killed Cordy at the same time he killed us.” Xander’s words echoed the anguish on his face as he harshly spoke.
Willow was pale and shaking her head, “Oz wouldn’t do that!”
“I nearly did, it was only Cordy being injured that stopped me from wolfing out.” Oz said softly, staring at his girlfriend like he didn’t know her.
Cordy however, was glaring at the girl in rage. She stood calmly, straightening out her skirt before walking around the table to stand by Xander. Cordy reached over and took his hand, causing Xander’s breath to catch noticeably.
“You’re right Willow I don’t deserve Xander. I turned my back on him when we were first dating because of my reputation, but I also never lied to him about who I was and in the end I chose him publicly."
“So while I may not deserve him neither do you . You stood by while everyone in this room persecuted Xander for kissing you. You never said a word to defend him. You never told Buffy to shut up when she decided that Xander wasn’t good enough to fight at her side anymore. Even though he saved everyone in this room at least once. You didn’t take responsibility for anything, so how are you better than me ?”
“I did it for him !” Willow protested. “He gets hurt and you have always been mean to him.”
“You’ve been hurt worse than him, hell Buffy died and would still be dead if it wasn’t for Xander doing CPR. As for me being mean to Xander he has always given me as good as he got. We have always snipped at each other, it's just what we do. I have never disrespected Xander. I spoke to Jesse the way that I did, because he was a dork, but he also he expected it from me and it helped Xander and Jesse hide their relationship.” Cordy said calmly, but it was obvious that her rage was simmering just under the surface and the Scoobies knew that made her very, very dangerous.
“What you never wanted to accept was that I was there before you. You became their friend in kindergarten, but we knew each other our whole lives. We went to the same daycare and had the same sitter from infancy. I may not have always been kind, hell I’m not kind, I have no problem with that. I also never treated my friends the way that you treated Xander.”
Willow flinched at the reminder that while Xander may be her best friend he had always had a tie to Cordelia.
“I’m sure Jesse would be proud to see the person you have become.” Cordy’s words hung in the silence of the room like blades, cutting Willow sharply. “I love Xander and he loves me. You may not think it is the love you have for Oz or the star-crossed stupidity that Angel and Buffy have, but we love one another and it’s real. I felt like I was dying when I saw Xander kissing you."
“The rebar in my stomach didn’t hurt nearly as bad as knowing he lied to me and that he was kissing you behind my back. I couldn’t understand how Xander could do something like that. Especially as he admitted to me that your continued crush on him made him uncomfortable. I should have questioned his sudden change, but I was just so angry and so hurt. Congratulations Willow, you broke us up. You hurt the one person who has always stood at your side, aren’t you a wonderful person?” Willow flushed angrily and clenched her fists on the table.
Cordy’s words were painful, but they were also making Willow angrier. Buffy was staring at Willow in confusion and Oz was working desperately to keep his wolf from rising at this new betrayal by Willow. Oz wasn’t certain that he could continue to date someone who could knowingly cause harm to someone who had loved her most of her life.
Angel had moved to Oz and had placed a careful hand on his shoulder, while Wesley had reached over and taken Buffy’s small hand into his own. Buffy looked at him in gratitude and wondered how she could have turned against Xander and never ask him what had really happened with Willow. Especially as Spike had basically called Willow a liar and a dark magick user when they had fought afterwards.
Giles was staring at Willow in horror and growing rage, his own guilt at his treatment of Xander showing itself. “What spell did you use and how did you find it?” Giles demanded, knowing from how the teens were talking that a spell was involved.
Willow flushed in guilt, her eyes darting away from the angry gaze of her mentor, to Jenny who had the same anger, once again looking away. “I found it in the silver book in your desk.”
Giles’s eyes widened and then narrowed again in rage. “So you broke into my desk to steal my grimoire, then you used a forbidden spell that I was studying to create a counter to and then you used it to control Xander?”
Willow’s shoulders hunched and she nodded.
“How could you Willow?” Buffy asked horrified by her friends actions, tears forming, who was Willow that she could do something so repulsive? In that moment Buffy wanted her Mom, she wanted to Joyce to hug her and help her understand how this could be happening.
“I told you, I was doing it for Xander!” Willow cried out in frustration.
“No Red, it was for you. The rest may not see it, but I do. I see how obsessive you are of Boy-toy. How you try to dictate every piece of his life. I’ve seen how angry you get now that he ain’t doing everything you tell him to do. I saw how you got pissed off when he stuck around for the hellmouth opening, even though you and B told him he wasn’t needed. Good thing he stuck around though, he saved all our asses by stopping O’Toole and the Sisterhood.” Faith rasped out, she could see the darkness in Willow that the others did not.
“You have no idea what you’re talking about!” Willow said angrily, a look of scorn on her face for the dark-haired slayer. Willow hated her, she was another person that could take Xander away from her and take Buffy too if Willow didn’t watch her.
“Yes she does and she is not the only one who sees it. Both myself and the other Summers women have been worried by your behavior for the last few months. I have also been keeping an eye out at the local apothecaries for the herbs you have been buying.” Jenny said quietly sharing a look with Angel, who she had shared her fears with.
It was only recently that Joyce began to realize something was wrong with the ‘fluke’ as everyone was calling it. Dawn was constantly saying that Willow had more of a part in it than anyone was seeing and that Xander needed them to side with him.
“Buffy is blinded by her friendship with you, but I noticed how you have treated Xander and was as confused as Jenny when we heard that Xander was kissing you. I was going to tell Giles after the meeting ended about some of the herbs you had been seen buying.” Angel said still gripping Oz’s shoulder, frowning at the glare the young witch was giving him for touching Oz and for speaking up.
Willow glared at Angel and sneered, continuing to glare at Angel her eyes on the hand on Oz’s shoulder before looking up at him. “You are just jealous of Xander and trying to make up lies about me to get him to be as lonely as you are.”
“That was weak Willow and your reaction makes me wonder what exactly you’ve been buying." Xander said quietly, staring at her with solemn assessing eyes.
Willow glared at him. “I’ve been doing nothing wrong! You get hurt fighting, Cordy will break your heart. She’ll hurt you and betray you when it’s most important. She won’t stay when we graduate and then what will you do? Turn to Anya?”
“What if I do? What if she does? It’s none of your business. You have Oz, why do you care who I date? Beyond that Cordy was the first one besides Jesse that made me feel alive and wanted. They know the truth about my family, but don’t turn a blind eye to it. Cordy helped me grieve instead of acting like Jesse wasn’t gone. She went to the park and ate hamburgers and swung on the swings with me on our birthday, the first one where Jesse and I weren’t together. You wouldn’t even talk to me that day! You and Buffy were going to the mall.” Xander’s voice was quiet and aching, making Buffy cry now and Giles close his eyes in grief.
They both blamed themselves for not being able to save Jesse, though they knew that Xander didn’t blame them. Buffy had given Xander a gift later along with her mom and sister. Giles had given him a certificate to the comic shop. They had both felt that he would prefer they not be with him on that day and had no idea how wrong they were until later.
As always with Xander, he had forgiven them both. Giles wondered when the day would come that Xander no longer forgave them and feared that day’s arrival. Giles could honestly not see a time when the boy wasn’t in his life, just the thought broke his heart.
“Cordy tells me I am someone, that I have a future beyond fast food. Anya is my friend, she also told me I have a future and helped me find money to go to college instead of being stuck being a townie. The one who broke my heart was you! The only person that has turned from me is you, the one who has betrayed me is you. The one who is constantly trying to make me feel like I am worth nothing is you."
“As for my getting hurt, I’ve had a few bruises and a broken arm. Like Cordy said, you’ve been hurt more than me, you were in a coma, no one knew if you were going to live. Buffy died and has been hurt plenty of times. I fight more than you do and I don’t use magick to do it and I fight without super strength.” Xander said his voice quiet, his face contorting to a mask of rage and disgust.
“You’re not listening!” Willow screamed at him.
“No Willow, I am listening. I’m hearing everything you say, but none of it is the truth. None of it is right or believable. You got angry when you learned that Cordy and I were dating and it pissed you off when I refused to do as you ordered and break up with her. So you used forbidden, dark magicks, to make sure that I would turn to you and betray Cordy. With your help I destroyed the one of the few good things in my life and I lost the respect and love of people I care about."
“You talk bad about Anya, but you should thank her or maybe not with the way you are acting. I cut my arm and went to sit in a cemetery when I realized that I lost Cordy for good on top of losing everyone in my life that made it worth living. Anya saved me and believed in me, despite knowing that she came here because I betrayed Cordy. Anya became my friend knowing that Giles and Buffy looked at me in disgust and that Angel and Oz hate me. That Jenny, Dawn, and Joyce looked at me with disdain and mistrust."
“My self-hatred was only worsened when the story came out to Wes and Faith and they looked at me like I was a bug. I had nothing left Willow, you took everyone and everything away from me and played like you were the victim in the situation. You got everything back and I had nothing, so I decided death was better than being alone and nothing.” Those in the room stilled in horror and shock.
“When Anya found me she saved me and moved me into her apartment and gave me a place where I was accepted and safe. How was making me out to be a traitor and predator protecting me and doing this for my own good?” Xander’s words caused Buffy to start to cry harder.
Willow blanched and shook her head, Cordy’s hand lashed out and struck Willow hard across the face, while the others could only reel in horror at his words.
“I don’t know what happened to you Willow. I don’t know how you went from being the light of my life to someone I hate. I don’t see how I will ever be able to forgive you for what you have done. Cordy. Cordy will you take me to Anya? I can’t look at her anymore.”
“No, you’re mine!” Willow screamed and to the horror of everyone lashed out and hit Xander and Cordy with a wave of dark magick. Buffy screamed loud and long rushing to her friends and protecting them from the next wave of magick. She screamed again as the magick ate at her skin.
Faith tackled Willow and slammed her head into the ground, while Jenny worked at subduing the girl’s magick. Rupert was stunned when Ethan Rayne and Lady Susan Carnahan of the Devon Coven appeared in a flash of both white and chaos magick. Both rushed over to help Jenny hold Willow magickally.
Angel and Wes rushed to Cordy, Buffy, and Xander kneeling by the three children. Angel let out a choked gasp of pain when he realized that all three were dead. Wes yelled for Rupert and Faith and the three began to do CPR to save the three children. Buffy came back with a gasp and then a cry of pain, while Cordy choked and had to be turned onto her side.
Xander just lay still and quiet, his eyes never opening again. He had blocked Cordy and Buffy from the worst of the magick despite Buffy’s attempt to save him and was suffering for it.
Lady Susan ran to Xander’s side and pressed magick into the boy even as Wes continued to do CPR. Finally as the pair were about to give up, Xander began to breath again, but he remained unconscious.
“What the hell is... BUFFY!” Joyce screamed as she dropped the hamper of food she was carrying and rushed to her daughter’s side. She was horrified to see how badly burned Buffy was and that Cordelia and Xander seemed to be in the same state. Dawn was curled around Oz crying as he held her back from rushing to the group.
“Oh baby, oh baby what happened?” Joyce asked through her tears, feeling her heart shatter as her greatest fear seemed to be playing out before her eyes.
“Momma... it hurts Momma.” Buffy sobbed, even with all of the fighting she had done she had never hurt so bad in her life. It wasn’t just her physical wounds, but her emotional ones as well. Why had this happened? What had changed Willow to this monster that would use such dark magick on her friends, the people she claimed to love.
“Rupert the child has been partially possessed by something dark and evil. I need to call the full Coven to save her and the boy. He’s not going to make it no matter if we get him medical care.” Susan said quietly from where she was pressing her hand on Xander’s chest, feeding healing power into him continuously.
“No please, please not them. I’ll do anything, please don’t take them?” Buffy begged though she had no idea who she was asking for help.
As though hearing her plea the room filled with magick users of both the light and chaos. Demons with healing and powerful magicks rushed into the library, Anya and Hallie among them. When Anya saw Xander she screamed in agony, rushing forward to be at his side.
Cordelia finally came to, gasping and then screaming in pain, Hallie reached out to touch the girl, easing her pain and putting her back under. Hallie’s gifts worked for the young woman because of her duties as the Justice Demon for Lost Childhoods.
“What happened? Who did this?” Anya demanded as more of the witches and demons began to swarm to the three downed teenagers as well as Willow.
“Red did it. The Classy Witch there said she’s possessed." Faith rasped out, adding the last part as she did not want to see what the demons and the two Wish Demons, no matter that one was human again, would do to the girl in response to what she did.
Anya looked up at Lady Susan who nodded. “There is a malignant spirit in the girl, one that has taken all of her insecurities and her possessiveness and warped them into this foulness. If Ethan and I had not been called by the spell she used upon the children there is a great chance that it would never have been discovered, eventually she would have become addicted to her powers and there is no telling what she would have done with her magicks or who would have suffered for it.”
“I can tell you that." A voice said quietly, they all turned to look at the pretty blonde witch who was quietly walking towards them. It was as she passed Willow that they realized that she was actually a spirit.
“Who are you?” Giles asked, something told him he should know this girl to the very depths of his soul.
“My name is Tara Maclay. In the future I was Willow’s girlfriend. In three years I would have been killed by a man named Warren Meers, in response Willow hunted him down and skinned him alive, she then tried to call up the temple on the cliffs trying to make humanity feel her pain and kill all of us. We had just gotten back together after breaking up over her addiction to her powers."
“Xander is the reason that she was stopped, he nearly died for it as she hit him seven times with the Lightening of Death. This was after she memory charmed Anya, Xander, and I into doing a spell to call Buffy back from the dead and started off the First Evil prophecy.” Tara paused at the gasps of horror that filled the library.
“No one, even after the battle with the First, knew that Willow had been possessed. Not until Xander had his first vision when he visited Cordelia’s grave. When they dispossessed her, the Powers killed Xander in retribution for removing their pawn from their power." Tara looked at them sadly. The people that personally knew the group felt agony at the young woman’s words and the knowledge that Cordelia had died not more than three years in the future and that Buffy had died and was resurrected.
“What the Powers didn’t count on was that the Slayers consider Xander their heart and the Coven considered him their protector, the peaceful demons considered him their voice in the world that suddenly knew of them and wanted to kill them all."
“They did not count on Willow and Dawn joining together with several demon lords and hunting them down and killing them. That they would be ending humanity with the killing of Xander as he was the only Seer left that could give voice to the danger of the apocalypse coming." She knelt by Buffy and placed her hand on the Slayer’s chest, healing the worst of Buffy’s injuries even though she was not corporal.
“Tara." Buffy breathed, remembering who she was now and how much she had loved her and how much she had mourned her. Giles let out a choked sob as his own memories returned of the beautiful young witch who had infused them all with light and hope.
He moved to her and tears flowed down his cheeks as she touched his face lightly. Dawn had pulled away from Oz and had moved to Tara hugging her and shocking everyone by giving Tara back her body and her life.
Tara was staring at Dawn in shock, but Dawn smiled gently. “The Powers that Were said that the remnants of the Powers that Be changed things from the moment that Anya and Faith came to town and that they killed the me of this time so that I could not return and could not bond with Willow as was meant. I was only sent back to tell you what had happened and why Willow needed to be freed of the possession. How...” Tara trailed off, not sure what to say or do.
“You know Tara, I was able to do it for the same reason Miss Bitch in Gucci came to town." Dawn told her, suddenly seeming older and calmer. Tara nodded and hugged the girl again.
“Willow didn’t do this in the first timeline." Giles said as he pulled Tara into a hug of his own. “My girl, my little girl." Giles sobbed, suddenly unable to do anything but hold Tara in his arms. He had always blamed himself for her loss, if he hadn’t left town perhaps he would have been able to protect her from Warren.
“The Powers made the possession darker faster than in the first timeline." Tara said, crying in relief at being with her family again.
“Are we going to be able to save them?” Buffy asked as she sat up and pulled Tara and Giles into her arms. Her hand shot out and pulled Dawn and her mother against them.
“I don’t know. None of this was planned." Tara admitted as she reached over and healed Cordelia. Cordelia’s eyes flew open and they were glowing white as the Seer power in her awoke.
“Oh hell no." One of the demons snapped out, reaching over and infecting Cordelia with a drop of his blood by dripping it into her mouth.
“What did you just do?” Angel asked, moving forward to protect the young girl from the demon.
“I kept her from dying because the Powers that Be are assholes and they activated a seer gift in a human girl. I’m a Glorth, now she’s half Glorth and it will keep her from suffering the way she would have otherwise. The only way a human can survive having visions is if they have them activated due to the loss of their eyes or they have a bloodline gift and aren’t fully human."
“Otherwise it kills them slowly and very painfully. Not even drugs like that human one heroine can make the pain stop." Verithanini, said quietly. Angel breathed out and nodded that that was true, his own memories returning in a rush.
He looked over at Wesley and saw that he too remembered the previous timeline. The younger man walked over and knelt by Angel and Cordelia hesitantly. Angel growled and kissed the young watcher, reminding the man that he was Angel’s mate.
Joyce looked at Buffy, but saw no jealousy, just relief and happiness for Angel. Faith was kneeling beside Xander once again, stroking a hand down his arm, tears filling her eyes. “Why? Why are we remembering?” She asked as Oz came to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, while taking Xander’s free hand in his own.
“Why don’t Joyce and I have memories?” Anya asked her eyes dark with confusion and fear.
“You were dead. Mom was killed by the Powers, they gave her a brain tumor so that she could give us the clues we needed to defeat the One of Glory. She died of a brain aneurysm before we faced the evil bitch." Buffy said in a husky tone, rich with pain.
“You died saving the world from the minions of the First Evil.." Dawn answered in a shaky voice. She could remember the way that their deaths had shattered the Scoobies, between losing Joyce, then Tara, and finally Anya the Scoobies had descended into darkness.
Then Xander had come back from Africa to help fight the invasion. Once they had won Xander had gone to visit Cordy’s grave and had the vision that had ended his life. To this day no one knew who had given Xander the vision, they knew it wasn’t Cordy as she had tried to stop the vision from coming, knowing that the Powers would kill the boy she had never really gotten over.
It was a year after Xander died that everyone who had not self destructed at his death died to the second wave of the Blackthorn’s invasion attempt. Because of the Mages that killed Xander everyone on earth was fighting to save themselves, countries that hated each other were working side by side, but it was too late.
The Stargate program had begun to take people through the gate to Atlantis or they had shoved people on ships. The fact that the program existed gave many hope and everyone who believed in the safety of going to another world thought it would work. They thought that they would only lose earth, but they were wrong.
Everyone in their dimension had died to the opening of the portal, even though they had fought and died one by one trying to get the the leaders and stop the portal. Whole armies had fallen, countries had burned, and suicide and people murdering their families to save them from the pair had been rampant among those that believed that the Stargate program wouldn’t be able to save them.
Dawn had been horrified that they had been right and that the people of their dimension had burned to death, she had only been happy that it had freed her and Willow from their earthly shells, making it possible for them to go kill the Powers before their souls were rended.
“They are still trying to kill him." A voice said quietly and Dawn turned to look at Connor Angel as he appeared and moved to her. She stood, throwing herself into her best friend’s arms.
The library doors slammed open and the rest of her friends streamed into the library. Wednesday was holding a little boy in her arms and Dawn sniffled as Xander’s son tried to get away from Wednesday to move to his daddy.
Xander’s eyes flew open, but they were not the normal brown, they were a sickly green and he began to chitter.
“NO!” Faith screamed, pushing Susan back and beginning to drag anyone that she could reach backwards. Angel cursed and lunged forward, trying to pin Xander down.
He jerked in surprise when Spike was suddenly there helping him to hold Xander down, the Spike of this timeline had been staked with Dru by Buffy.
Susan shuddered in horror, but rushed forward and used the same power they were using on Willow to subdue Xander, forcing him back under.
“What the hell was that?” Anya demanded. “That wasn’t the Primal, she’s not like that.”
“She is if you remove her conscience. During the battle with the Blackthorne the first time they tried to remove Xander’s control over her, but she remained on our side, so they removed her conscience and made her a mindless killing machine."
“It took Willow and Dawn to break the curse they put on him even though we were in the middle of the battle for LA. Thankfully they broke the spell quickly and he was able to return to fighting." Buffy said in a shaky voice, she clutched her mother tightly, taking Mikel into her arms, when he rushed across the room to try to get to his Daddy.
The two year old whimpered when she wouldn’t let him go to Xander. “Shh... Miki baby, Daddy has booboos. You have to stay with Auntie Buffy until Daddy is better." Buffy soothed. Joyce stared in shock and then took the little boy from her daughter. The dusky skinned child curled against her and buried his face in her throat.
“Oh baby, it’s going to be okay. Daddy will be okay I promise Miki." Joyce said gently, her voice soft and sure. Miki just sniffled and clung to this woman who felt like safety and who his Auntie Buffy was hugging.
Susan, the White Witches, Ethan, the Chaos Mages, and the demons standing around began to chant in unison. Each was trying to counteract the possession infecting Willow.
As they began to connect to each other through the power of the spell they could feel the spirit in Willow and knew that it should not have been dark. If anything the Spirit should have helped guide Willow into staying on the path of the Light with her magick. The Elder should have given Willow a way to learn the path of the Warrior side of the Goddess, not this dark twisted child who mixed magicks that should never have been used together or at all.
It angered all of them that the Powers had corrupted a magickal Elder and turned it into this twisted, malignant thing. When they finally freed the Spirit from the corruption and finally from Willow herself, most of the lesser Witches and Mages collapsed onto the ground, to exhausted to stand any longer. As though sensing their weakness the last remnants of the Powers that Be struck out through Xander once again.
Susan gasped as once again Xander’s eyes flew open, only this time they were not only green, they had a oily blackness and a silver ring around the center of his eyes. The Primal was suddenly awake and with the remnants of the doubly bound remains of the Soldier and the essence of the Merman inside of him he threw those around him back in a wave and crouched, an ugly snarl on his face.
Xander growled viciously, the danger in him taking over the normally kind soul. Faith and Angel lunged forward and tried to hold him down once again, but this time he sent them skidding backwards across the floor.
Despite his continued injuries and the fact that he was barely alive he jumped to his feet, crouching low and snarling once again. Buffy was on her feet, desperate to protect her mother and her nephew.
She let out a cry of horror when Miki was suddenly in front of her, throwing himself against his father. Seconds later it was a cry of relief as Xander’s eyes returned to their normal brown and he was sitting on the floor holding his son and crooning to the little boy, who was crying in upset.
“It’s okay Miki love, Daddy’s here. It’s okay baby boy. You saved Daddy." Xander said, his voice thick with pain and relief. His son saved him again, just as he had in Africa when one of the Slayers he was training had brought the infant boy into another of the Slayer’s villages and given him to Xander. She had said that the boy’s mother was dead and that she had been a Seer.
Trinie had said that Lioma had told her to give Miki to Xander and that she had told everyone that Xander was the boy’s father. Lioma had told everyone that there would come a day that Miki would save Xander’s life and his soul and that his birth meant that Xander would live through his grief to save the world at least once more.
“How... how did you save him and the others?” Xander asked on a slur, looking up at Dawn. He was blinking rapidly and had put one hand down to hold himself up.
“We didn’t, they were taken by the Ancients. Everyone that they could save through ascension they did. Only the ones who are dead in this timeline or have not and will not be created were returned. Those with people returned are all in the know or will be given their memories back."
“The Powers that Were have sworn it. Which means that we’ll probably get Jack and the others here before the week is out." Carlos said quietly, coming to crouch beside Xander, who grinned at him weakly.
“Hey kiddo, why don’t you come to me, so Daddy’s booboos can be healed." Carlos said softly.
“No! I don’t trust myself or the PTB, just...” Xander trailed off. Carlos nodded sadly.
Lady Susan went and sat beside him gently. “I can help with that Xander, but you have to let Miki go and let me and the others perform the same spell on you that we performed on Willow." The elderly witch said softly.
Xander and Carlos were both already shaking their heads. “The Primal is bound to his soul, so is the Mermaid and the Soldier, which were where the black and silver in his eyes came from." Kit said from behind them.
“How in the bloody hell did that happen?” One of the Mages asked in the horrified silence that followed that statement.
“A pissed off Dark Mage in Africa." Xander said as he finally slumped over to his side. He breathed out slowly. “If I die Miki goes to Giles." He said as he began to fight consciousness. Giles let out a strangled sob over that. He would not allow one of his children to die on the same day he got the others back.
“D’Hoffryn." Anya screamed in agony as Xander succumbed to unconsciousness. Carlos let out a sob, but carefully took a whimpering Miki into his arms and stepped backwards. He had no idea if Xander would actually live and it hurt more than he could articulate.
Xander had been their support and the one who brought all of the Council together, not just in the fight with the Blackthorne and the Wolf, Ram, and Hart, but in the aftermath of the battle and the days that followed his vision. He had worked hard to make them an actual family again, rather than just a group of people who fought together or were protected by the Council.
Giles later admitted that Xander had told him he knew he was going to die by the Powers’ hand for what he saw about Willow. He had told him that Cordy had admitted it when she failed to stop him from receiving the vision about what had been done to Willow and to her.
The Elder Demon God appeared and sighed sadly as he looked down at Xander. “I am sorry Knight for how you have suffered to save us all." D’Hoffryn said as he tenderly placed a hand on Xander’s forehead. Everyone human and demon alike stared in confusion and dread.
“D’Hoffryn?” Hallie asked her boss softly.
The Elder looked up at her and sighed sadly. “I am the reason the vision was given to the young Knight. Our greatest Seer saw the end coming, only there was no twist of time, there was simply death and destruction. The only way that could be changed was if the Knight was shown what was done to the Great Wicca and the Great Seer."
“The Powers and the Seer both tried to stop the vision, which was why he was comatose for the first two days after he had the vision. I am the one who told him that the Powers would kill him for it. He knew and accepted the pain and the death that would follow. We also knew that this would happen to him, that he would suffer great pain along with the Seer and the Slayer. It was not something we could stop or interfere in until we were called on the day of the Unveiling and the Knight’s near death.”
“Are you saying that they had to suffer to save us all?” Spike demanded angrily.
“Yes. We had to wait until they brought back the White Witch and awakened the memories of the Key before we could act. The Seers all said the same, that if we acted before the Dark Day we would only lead to the destruction of the universes once again. This time at the hands of the Powers themselves." D’Hoffryn said quietly.
“The Powers that Be are as evil as any Demon Lord. This means that their souls and very existence can be destroyed and never brought back into being. I personally helped the Powers that Were, the Powers that Are Now, the Ancients, the Elders, and the Angels destroy the last of them before I came here." He said steel now in his tone.
“They received just payment for all that they have wrought. The Wolf, Ram, and Hart along with their followers and the Blackthorne have all been destroyed. It will not stop all of the evils of this dimension, but their version of the balance and the plans of the the Dark Powers are crippled and destroyed for at least the next two years while the fools fight for the positions left in the destruction of the Dark Powers.”
“What about the One of Glory?” Kit asked as she sat beside Dawn and took her girlfriend’s hand in hers.
“Gone along with the Dark Ones. We will not allow her or the First Evil to rise in this timeline. You all sacrificed too much to allow that to happen and the Key in you cannot be used any longer. Unfortunately we can do nothing about the lower level threats you have faced, including the Mayor, but you have those memories and the knowledge to destroy them quickly, especially as William the Bloody will be at your side along with the others of your group. “
“The Initiative will not happen here, Jack O’Neill will not allow it and considering he sees the Knight as his son, you can count on him coming here soon." D’Hoffryn told her gently. Everyone who lived through Glory and the Initiative breathed out a sigh of relief, especially Spike and Buffy who hadn’t wanted to see the program restarted.
“Finn and Miller will be transferred to the Stargate Program, I can tell you that much and that the Atlantis project is slated to leave in two months. O’Neill will probably try to get you to create that permanent portal once again." D’Hoffryn said looking straight at Dawn, who nodded that she would do so. If it meant keeping the project from suffering as they had in the first timeline than she was willing to do whatever it took to help them.
“You are the Key?” Susan asked looking at Dawn in shock. She had memories of the the first timeline, but that had been a secret no one had been privy to unless they had lived in Sunnydale. As far as they had known she was a particularly strong witch with affinity for portals. Not that she was the Key.
“It cannot be accessed by anyone. She is simply a witch of great power, whose greatest gift is in crafting portals. Just as she was in the first timeline. When the Slayer died to close the portal she took the aspect of the Key with her as Dawn was made of her." D’Hoffryn said simply and truthfully.
“When she dies once again she will ascend and become the Key once again and even when she dies only she will be able to access the powers of the Key as she did to help save us all."
Lady Susan and the others in the room could see that the old God was telling the truth and even had he been lying no one in that room would ever tell who and what Dawn once was, nor would they seek to use the girl for their own agenda.
“What is going to happen to Willow, Cordy, and Xander?” Joyce asked worried that the girls had yet to gain consciousness and that Xander was dying.
D’Hoffryn sighed. “They will die. There is nothing we can do to save them." His words had the group reacting in grief. He held up his hand to quiet the denials from everyone, including those that had come to save them.
“Their bodies are simply too damaged to survive and the Great Wicca has been eaten up by the darkness of the magick she has been doing. Even with all of the healing they have received they are just too injured. Frankly the only reason that any of them are still breathing is because they have been exposed to demonic blood. Miss Summers is dying as well, she is simply doing her best to hide it from all of you." D’Hoffryn revealed. Everyone spun to look at Buffy, who nodded guiltily.
Buffy looked at her family and started crying again. “I’m so sorry. I never wanted to hurt you this way again.”
Dawn burst into tears and moved to Buffy and hugged her tightly. “It’s not fair! I hate the Powers, I hate them." She sobbed out. Buffy could only hug her and then her mother and Giles as they came to hug her.
“Why let us have them back if they were only going to take them again?” Wesley demanded, furious to have to mourn their loss all over again. He could only hold Cordelia and Angel against him once again.
He was crying and Angel was simply rocking them in his arms, numb with loss. Burying them once had been too hard to face. It didn’t matter that Willow and Cordy had become ethereal spirits, they had still died and Angel had been left behind to bury them.
Xander’s death had been the most horrible thing that any of them had ever witnessed. He hadn’t died in his sleep from brain injuries due to the visions. He hadn’t died due to a battle. No the Powers had sent demons controlled by Dark Mages and had tortured Xander to death on national television.
No one in the Council or the combined military teams had been able to save Xander, they had been trapped in the Council buildings and bases. The demons from the Mages had either killed or trapped every fighter in the Council in the schools and shelters. They had done the same to the military and to the leaders of the remains of the government. The Mages and demons had taken over the television stations and showed everyone Xander’s horrific death.
The group all could still hear the echoes of the screams from the people of the Council as they were forced to watch their Heart die. The Mages wanted everyone to know that Xander would never be able to See again, that he was the enemy of the Dark and that everyone in their dimension would fall to the Masters coming to erase their existence.
Xander had looked at the person filming his torture and promised that a day would come when the Mages would be destroyed. Then Xander told his family that he loved them and to not give up hope or the fight against the Dark. It was the last words he spoke.
Faith had died within a few hours of Xander’s death. She had gone mad with grief and had left the shelter of the school determined to kill as many of the demons as she could. Many had gone with her, none had returned alive. Among them Oz, Connor, and Spike. Members of the Military, among them Jack O’Neill, Daniel Jackson, Rodney McKay, and John Sheppard had died trying to do blitz attacks against the demons.
By the time that Dawn died the Ancients had come to earth and began to gather anyone who would believe that they could be taken into ascension. Most adults had not believed, but all of the children left alive on earth had been gathered.
When the group was sent back in time, all but those on the Council, of supernatural gifts, or considered protectors of earth were merged into their younger bodies. After some fighting the Council group learned that the Powers had killed their younger selves or made sure that most of them would not be born. Because of this the Powers had consigned them to the Void.
Now they had all been saved and returned to one another, with the rest of their way to join the Council family, the only reason Jesse McNally had not been returned was because he was now the son of a man who had given up on life and desperately needed a child to save him.
The Powers had made sure that those returned knew that so they would not question where he was, what they didn’t tell them was that his name was now Mikel Harris. A fact that no one would ever know and those that did would never be able to tell anyone.
The Powers’ last act of cruelty was to take Cordelia, Xander, Buffy, and Willow away from them. Dawn was sobbing, her face buried in Buffy’s hair because she knew that Tara, Angel, Wes, Riley, and Graham would follow not long after. Tara was Willow’s soulmate, Angel and Wes were Cordelia’s, Riley and Graham were Buffy’s.
Faith could very well follow Xander, taking Oz, Connor, and Spike with them once again. Faith loved Xander and considered him to be her best friend. Like Buffy and Willow the bond she had with Xander was profound. Oz was Faith’s mate and would follow her when she died.
Spike and Xander had the same relationship that Faith and Xander did and Dawn knew that Spike would also go mad in grief and since Connor was his mate, like Oz, Connor would follow his love into death.
Giles would try to hold on for Miki’s sake, but Dawn knew that the bond he carried with Xander, Willow, Cordy, Buffy, Oz, and Faith was drag him under, taking with him Ethan, who was his mate and the one who spent years leeching the darkness from Giles’s soul by creating havoc with his magick and giving Giles a target to act against when Giles’s pain and rage became too much for the man to contain under Giles’s iron controls.
No one had known until Xander’s vision that Giles was under a great many spells, most placed on him by the now dead members of the Devon Coven. If D’Hoffryn hadn’t changed things for the better the Witches responsible would probably have come and simply killed everyone in the library when Willow attacked.
Joyce let out a cry that was closer to a scream as Buffy faded away into unconsciousness, her body finally unable to fight any longer. As one the four teenagers quietly died.
Horror and pain echoed through the room and Miki started screaming for his Daddy. Carlos could only hold him and go to Giles, who pulled them both into his lap, holding on to his son and grandson, while mourning the death of four of his children.
They all looked up as a figure in glowing black moved from Buffy to Cordelia, to Willow, and finally to Xander. As he touched each one they could see something dark and slick come out of each of them and watched as Buffy awakened, then burned with the fire of a Light Slayer, only Faith would reach her in power and strength.
Cordelia’s eyes glowed a bright white, she would see what others could not and would be the voice of those in danger and make sure that not only would her visions be heard, but so would her truth.
Willow arched her back, again white light burned around her. She would be the most powerful Witch on the planet, but she would never use the darkest magicks, she would be a healer, a warrior, and a protector as she had always been meant to be.
The only one not to awaken was Xander. He stayed quiet and still in death. The figure stepped away from Xander and bowed to D’Hoffryn. “Why is he not alive?” D’Hoffryn asked the figure with great respect.
“He has no anchor in this life. While he shares bond with many his soulmates are not among you. Without his soulmates he has no one to come back to as the other three do." Hades said softly as he pulled his hood back to reveal his identity.
“Where are his soulmates, why can’t they be brought here?” Joyce demanded, tears streaming down her face.
Hades sighed sadly, “It is not that simple. The other three had a bond and a relationship with their soulmates before the Great Destruction. Xander had yet to meet his mates. Of his mates only two are bonded to one another. The others have yet to meet or have not thought to bond with one another.”
“So go get them! Xan’s the only reason most of us are alive. He deserves the right to live and raise his son. Miki deserves the right to have his Daddy." Connor snapped.
Hades looked at him for a moment, he was about to explain that he could not do as requested when Cupid, Aphrodite, and Strife arrived with Xander’s mates and their families. The moment the four men arrived Xander gasped awake, his body glowing so brightly that everyone had to turn away.
Once the light faded Xander, Willow, Cordy, and Buffy were sitting up staring at the group in shock and confusion. Xander’s mates walked forward kneeling beside him. Cordy was pulled away by Wes, while Angel wrapped himself around both of them. Tara was clutching Willow in her arms crying softly, While Graham and Riley had Buffy cradled between them.
Xander couldn’t understand what was happening. Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy simply placed a gentle hand on Xander, while Peter Hale, Stiles Stilinski, Adam Pierson, and Tony DiNozzo knelt beside them.
The six men had been stunned when the three gods had come to them. They had been especially surprised when Strife and Aphrodite had removed curses placed on Stiles, and Tony. The curse on Peter had turned him into a psychopath in the first timeline, but the reversal had saved him. However, he had no idea that Stiles was his mate and even had he known he would not have done anything as Stiles had only been 18 for a few months.
The curse on Stiles had made him forget his power and his familial ties. That curse had also been on his father, a curse that had not been removed with the rewind. A curse that had also been placed on Tony Dinozzo as well. Because of this Stiles, Tony, and Sheriff Zale Stilinski forgot that they were actually demigods.
Draco, Harry, and Adam had been cursed to live a life of darkness and pain, a curse that had also not been undone by the rewind. The three men had also forgotten who they truly were. Draco and Adam were the children of War and Intellect, while Harry was the only living child of the Fates.
Lily and James Potter were earthly representations of the Fates, they had been set on a course that had been diverted once they became mortal. When they died and the reversal was completed the revenge they wrought was terrifying. There were many mortals whose souls had been completely rendered for their helping the former Powers.
It was the same path that Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy had taken. As the son of War and the daughter of Intellect the pair were capable of inventive ways of making a person suffer. They had joined with Lily and James to gain their vengeance for what was done to them and to their children, as well as the children of the Wizarding World.
Albus Dumbledore would spend several eternities suffering for the things he had done, particularly for what he had done to turn Tom Riddle into the nightmare creature the man had become and for what he had tried to do to the Weasley family, particularly their Matriarch, two of their sons and their only daughter.
The only thing that had saved Peter Hale was that the Angels in their accord with the Gods had manipulated things so that John Winchester had decided to settle into Beacon Hills, where he had stopped Kate Argent from killing the Hale Pack. John had raised his sons in Beacon Hills and had stood as a block between Hunters and the supernaturals of Beacon Hills since then.
The only hunter allowed in Beacon Hills was Chris Argent who settled there to raise his daughter Allison because it was a stable place and no other Argents would be stupid enough to go anywhere near the town, including his father. Chris hated the man for what he had done to his corrupt Chris’s sister and for murdering Chris’s wife when she had not sided with Gerard’s insane plan for another Packs murder.