Fic: Hell On Earth: Battlefield Los Angeles
Rating: M-17 (War type battle scene violence,
dialogue, sexual situations)
Spoilers: Everything through all 7 seasons of Buffy
is fair game, as is everything from Angel…but the basis of the story will be
everything from Angel’s 100th episode and forward. That means no comic book canon.
Summary: One possiblilty of the outcome of Angel’s final
season and what may have led up to it.
Pairing: Probably a few at some point, not sure
what they’re going to be. Some slash probably but nothing graphic. Xander’s relationship is a surprise, but I’ve given quite a few hints on it and
it’s ever changing as the story progresses.
Disclaimer: Mutant Enemy and Joss Whedon, among
others are responsible for Buffy and Angel and every other character. It’s just
fun for me to use them as playthings for a while. All original characters are
basically mine, and any resemblance to actual people or characters is hopefully
unintentional. A slight homage exists to Tarantino and that will be obvious
when it happens. I’m not getting paid for this, but if you leave me feedback
that would be great. It is the first time I’m ever letting anyone else see any
fan fiction I’ve written. There may be crossovers but not til the sequels as this is just a Whedonverse fic except for the one homage.
Author’s Notes: I have to thank whoever laid
out the challenge awhile ago for those of us who have never written to post a
story. I had something else planned based on “Restless”, but after watching the
finale of Angel, I had so many ideas for this, that I just started writing. I
also wanna thank BC for pushing me to actually start writing instead of
talking about it and being someone to toss ideas off of. And I wanna thank Fire for being a very helpful beta. And then every author who’s ever
posted a story gets my thanks for forging the terrain I now travel into. No
matter what you think of this, please reply to me either her, on Facebook, via email, I don’t
care how just let me know what I’m doing wrong, and anything I may be doing right.
“…” Indicates spoken dialogue. ***…*** Indicates thoughts.
Chapter 1: African
Visit
The
only light that can be seen is the faint glow of a campfire and the silhouette
of a man carving something out of wood. By that light, a number of tents are
noticeable and the outline of quite a few girls could be made out. We see one
walking towards the fire and she speaks to the man sitting by the campfire.
“Hey
Xand-Man. A few of the girls are getting restless. They wanna know when they’re
gonna be able to head to England and get started on the full training.”
“I
don’t know Vi. Something’s coming soon, real soon…maybe even tonight…”
“You
need me to get everyone ready; mount up and all that.”
“No…not
this time…”
“But
Xander…
“Nah,
Vi. This is something else. I don’t think it’s bad or evil, but it’s coming. So
just be on guard in case I’m wrong…and you know what to do if something really
goes wrong. Get everyone out of here, get to Johannesburg and get on the first
flight out of Africa. You have our list of contacts.”
“Xander,
I’ll send the girls, they know what to do, but I’ve made promises to people and
I WILL NOT leave you here. You will be with us, one way or another. But none of
that matters, because I know you and you won’t leave us alone out here. You’re
too good a man to do that to a group of poor defenseless girls, aren’t ya?”
“Real
funny Vi. We both know that none of you are defenseless and to put yourself in
that group…well we both know the truth on how defenseless you really are. You
took apart those Fyarl demons last week like they were nothing.”
“It
was that time of the month…
“Way
too much info there for my liking. I gotta do this Vi, I’m going over that hill
right there, keep everyone safe and remember what I said if I’m not back by
morning.”
“Right,
get the girls to the airport and then come find and save your cute ass.”
“What
is it with me and strong, sexy slayers never listening to me?”
“Did
you just call me sexy, Xand?”
“Ummm….gotta
go…….
“But
Xand, the night now has potential….
As
Vi watched him go, her thoughts were completely focused on making sure she knew
what to do next and how to handle things if they went to hell. Well there was
another thought in her head as she watched him walk away and that was he does
have a really cute ass and that if he didn’t come back, there would be lots of
people who wanted to string her up for losing him.
Xander made his way down the dirt path through the hills as
he reached the top, he gave a little look back and noticed Vi starting to
gather up the stakes he just finished carving and passing them out. She saw him
and a little nod was exchanged between them. An unspoken agreement that Vi
would do what was necessary and Xander would come back or die trying. Xander
turned back and continued walking down the path when he heard a rustling in the
grass. He reached behind him and took out the crossbow with one hand and the
fantasy dagger. The dagger was new to Xander’s weapon arsenal and it had proven
handy already after that fight with the Blugrash demons. It cut through their
thick hides like butter and then the true blessing of the dagger was shown as
the demon blood was wiped clean without being touched. He’d gotten the dagger
after saving that witch doctor type fellow in the jungles of the Congo and he
was hoping he’d use the dagger to fight offer whatever was out the right now.
The
rustling got louder and a figure stepped out of the bushes. Xander let fly with
a bolt from the crossbow, but at the very second he turned it up and it flew
over the person when he recognized who it was, “Wha, wha, what are you doing
here?”
“Well,
I wasn’t hoping to be shot at by you, ya big dweeb. What are you looking at
like that? Shut your mouth, you’re gonna catch flies. Are my clothes wrinkled
or something? Would you stop staring at me like that? Yes I’m here. Jeez.”
“Cor…Cordy…Cordelia…..”
“Ummm,
well duh, who were you expecting?”
“I
wasn’t expecting you, that’s for damn sure. Wow…what are you doing here? Hell,
how did you know I was here?”
“Well
I can tell ya it had nothing to do with hell. The other end of the
spectrum…maybe, but not hell. And as to why I’m here, well I’m really not
here.”
“What
do you mean you’re not here? I can see you. I almost put a crossbow bolt
through your skull…wait, you’re the first aren’t ya? Damn it, I knew we didn’t
win that war last year. Look nothing you can say is gonna matter to me, you
didn’t visit me last year so I know I’m not important to your plans.”
“Are
you done yet Lunkhead? You’re right about one thing you just said. You didn’t
technically defeat the first evil last year, but you did enough to put it away
for a while and rethink its plans. Just know it’ll be back and things will have
to be done differently. And that’s where what you just said is completely
wrong. You think that you weren’t visited because you don’t matter, god I know
I said dumb stuff in high school, but I’ve gotten past it. I figured you would
have by now too. You hurt me back then, but I know you’re more important to
this fight than almost anyone.”
“What
are you talking about? You for one should know that I’m just “The Zeppo.”
“Oh
god, are you gonna harp on that? I was in high school and you just cheated on
me with the worst possible person imaginable. I knew what buttons to push and I
needed to hurt you, but we both know what happened that night in the basement
and just how big a zeppo you really are. And honestly, if you weren’t so
important, why are you leading the African portion of the council. Why would
Giles give you such an important job? Now just shut up and let me tell you what
I have to.”
“Wait,
I need to do something first.” Xander walks up to Cordy and wraps his arms
around her and gives her the biggest hug he could.
“Hey,
watch your hands mister. I’m not a grope toy.”
“Just
needed to make sure you weren’t the first.”
“I
told you…
“I
know what you said, and I trusted you enough, but I owed you that hug. I wasn’t
able to do it in L.A. because you were in that bed, and it was something I just
needed to do.”
“Understood,
but don’t let it happen again.” Cordelia gives a lil wink and continues to
speak; “Now we need to get down to business.”
“I
don’t like the sounds of this. Another apocalypse?”
“Kinda,
sorta, it's not another apocalypse…this is The Apocalypse.”
“You
mean, the be-all, end-all.”
“Again
with the kind of, sorta. The fight against evil will never be over. We both
know that. If there’s good out there, there has to be the bad to balance it.
But this is the one that’s gonna turn men and women into heroes and push the
darkness to where they’re on the defensive from now on. We’ll be doing the
attacking and pushing the evil out. But you’re not going to be doing it in
Africa.”
“Time
to go to Cleveland.”
“Wrong
again…jeez. Would you let me talk? It’s L.A.”
“Isn’t
that Dead boy’s territory?”
“I
swear to you up there…if you don’t shut up, I’m gonna beat you down with my own
hands. I just got done visiting Angel and he knows what has to happen and how
to get there, but when he gets there he's gonna need all the help he can. He
knows that it’s time to stop waiting for things to happen to him. He’s gonna
make things happen on his end, and it’s time for you make things happen on
yours. This is the big one Xand. We need to call in everyone we can. Get Willow
and her brigade out of Rio. Get Faith and the Cleveland contingency on the
horn. Get Dawn and Buffy back into the fight and meet up with Giles in England
at first. Do whatever you need to do to convince them that this is the real
deal. They won’t listen to you because they don’t trust Angel right now. Hell
they sent Andrew as their representative to deal with him already. You need to
make this work on both ends. Get whoever else you need to. Get everyone.”
“I
don’t wanna be beaten by you…well not yet anyway, but I need to ask this: What
exactly are we going to be fighting?”
“The
complete forces of a hell dimension. The Senior Partners of Wolfram & Hart.
The big boys of darkness Xand. I wasn’t joking when I said this was The
Apocalypse. So, do what you have to get the troops ready. I gotta go now.”
“No,
not yet Cordy. I’m not the right person for this.”
Cordy
places her fingers over Xander’s lips and whispers in his ear, “Not only are
you the right person for this, but you’re the perfect person for what’s to
come. Look, I’m not dying, well not really…but don’t tell Angel that. He needs
to think I’m gone. You’ll be seeing me again. Soon, I promise. Now go. Get your
stuff together and go save the world.”
Cordy gives Xander a peck on the lips and starts to shimmer
up into the sky. Xander watched her go and sat there for just a moment
reflecting on what he’d just been told. He starts the walk back to the camp and
realizes he’s not sure he can do this, but he also knows he has no choice,
because it’s what he does and if he doesn’t do it, his family wouldn’t survive.
Speaking of family, he sees Vi waiting by the fire. He may have only known Vi a
little over a year now, but she’s fought alongside him the entire time and that
made her family.
“Hey
Vi.”
“You
look like you’ve seen a ghost Xand. Is everything ok?”
“I’m
fine, and no, everything’s not ok, but we’ll deal with the specifics later.
We’ll be leaving in the morning. Call the airport and make sure the Council’s
plane is ready.”
“Where
are we going?”
“Well,
you and the rest of the girls are headed to England. Make sure you pack
everything and bring it all to the council.”
“No
way buster…if we’re leaving, you’re coming with us. I’m not leaving you down
here alone.”
“Not
to worry. I’ll be meeting you in England. I just have a stop to make in Rome
first.”
“Xand,
you’re not gonna like this, but I’ve been keeping in touch with Dawn. Buffy’s
dating someone called The Immortal. Dawn’s said he’s not evil, per say, but
he’s not exactly on the good side of the fence either.”
“Ha-ha
wouldn’t have it any other way if I didn’t have to convince Buffy of something
if she wasn’t dating someone who was bordering the line of good and evil. Don’t
worry bout me Vi. I can handle myself.”
“I
have no doubts about that Xand. Just wish you’d handle me sometime.”
“None
of that missy.”
“Seriously
Xand, I can tell this is bad, but how bad are we talking? Apocalypse bad,
Sunnydale First Evil bad, what?”
“I
know you trust me. I don’t exactly know why sometimes, but I know you do. So
I’m gonna be honest with ya. This is gonna be one of the two things; either the
end of the world as we know it and I mean that in the worst possible way, or
it’s gonna be the start of something great and we’re gonna be there for it. And
Vi, no matter what…I will make sure you survive whatever is to come. You’ve
been there for me this past year and that’s meant the world to me.”
“Damn
it Xander, with words like that you’re gonna make a girl cry.”
The two walk toward each other and embrace. They hug for a
long moment and as they pull apart Xander kisses her forehead and wipes away a
little tear from her eyes. Vi pulls back and starts shouting orders to the
girls to start packing up the gear. She tells em to all be ready for a flight
in the morning. She’s about to say something else, when she looks back towards
Xander and he gives her the nod to say it.
“Listen
up slayers….starting at dawn tomorrow, we’re in training. 100% non-stop. We’re
going to war.”
