-----
Sunnydale, California.
March 13, 1999
Faith
the vampire Slayer had changed a lot, the moment she had lost Xander
months ago. She had become brutal and especially violent in her
encounters with the undead population of the town built upon the
Hellmouth, ever since the night Willow had gotten kidnapped and
hypnotized.
And
when the new Watcher for the Slayers named Wesley Wyndam-Pryce showed up
to replace Giles, who had been fired after that business with Buffy’s
Cruciamentum, Faith told him point-blank to kiss her ass – she was
through taking orders from anyone.
That
was something that worried the other Slayer, Buffy, a lot.
Granted things hadn’t gone smoothly since that damnable nightmare with
Willow and Xander had happened, but tonight of all nights the situation
seemed to be going from bad to worse.
As the
Slayers fought and staked their vampire opponents, Faith yelled, “We got
more coming!”
Buffy
looked worried, “We’re never gonna make it to the others in time!”
“They
keep coming at us one on one, we got a shot...”
On
cue, another vamp opponent dropped in but was quickly dusted. As Buffy
and Faith made it around a corner, the deputy mayor Allan Finch was
waiting in the shadows and grasped Buffy’s shoulder.
The
blonde girl reacted on instinct, and threw the guy against a dumpster.
Faith then leapt forward, with a stake in her hand.
Buffy,
realizing that he was a human being, yelled, “Faith, no!”
The
brunette didn’t pay attention, and was about to kill a man – when all of
a sudden, a gunshot blasted the wooden stick out of her hand.
The
18-year-old blonde girl finished her sentence, “He’s human!”
Faith
started shaking her hand in pain, looking at her sister Slayer and then
at Allan. “Right, sorry...” Then she looked around. “But who the hell
shot at me?”
Buffy,
about to chew the other girl’s ass out for not being careful enough,
suddenly belatedly realized there was a new danger around them. Looking
around, she muttered, “Good question...”
Seeing
no one, she then looked at Allan. “So what’s your deal?”
“I
have information-” the deputy mayor started to say.
The
older Slayer cut him off, “We got no time for this now – Faith, keep an
eye on him. We gotta move!” So saying, they all raced off.
And as
they left, Soldier Guy came out of the shadows.
Originally, the 22-year-old human had been planning to leave town
straightaway – but then he realized that he had a whole lifetime before
him, and no particular place to go. And for some reason, these two women
intrigued him – as if he knew them from somewhere.
So he
had been keeping tabs on them, and when he saw one about to kill a
civilian – the soldier had figured that he better help her out.
~~~~~~
Later
in the library after the bad guy had been defeated that night, Giles,
Buffy, Faith, and Wesley were present to interrogate the deputy mayor.
“Look,
I’ll get right to the point,” Allan said rapidly. “I want money and
protection for me and my family, in return for inside information about
the Mayor. Because he’s the man in charge of everything – everything
related to demons, that goes on in this town...”
Even
when threatened, the man would say nothing more except that he would be
back the next day with the info, and his family to get out of town.
Too
bad for him a vampire named Mr. Trick saw him coming out of the school,
and after ruthlessly interrogating Allan decided to have a quick meal
and drained him dry.
Soldier Guy found the body in an alley the next day, and even though all
his instincts argued against it...he decided to go talk to Buffy and
Faith about what he’d learned.
The
man felt uncomfortable, as when school hours were over he walked to
where he had seen the two girls that night. He wasn’t sure what would
happen when they met up, but the last thing he’d expected was precisely
what he got.
“XANDER!!!”
~~~~~~
There
was pandemonium, as the Scooby gang saw a dead man standing at the doors
to the library.
Faith
was the first to react, throwing herself at the person she thought was
her boyfriend and kissing him fiercely. But then she quickly stopped and
backed off in shock...when the girl realized that he wasn’t kissing her
back.
The
brunette Slayer was able to see the fang marks on his neck, but wasn’t
able to see any sign of recognition in the man’s eyes.
Willow
wasn’t far behind the Chosen One, but she stopped too when she saw the
look on Faith’s face. The look that said despite appearances, they were
dealing with a stranger.
“Who
are you?” asked the brunette Slayer slowly.
“I’m
no wuh-” the ex-slave stopped, silently cursing himself for the reflex.
The soldier then said simply, “Harris, Alexander. Private First Class,
serial number 55988342. Who are you people?”
~~~~~~
Giles
eventually got everyone calmed down, and tried to convince the man with
Xander’s face that they were friends, that they thought he’d died and he
was suffering from some sort of memory loss.
The
army guy looked pretty sceptical. “I know who I am, mister, thank you
very much.”
Wesley
put in his own two cents. “My name is Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, sir,” he said
in his pompous British accent. “A pleasure to make your acquaintance.”
<
Useless wimp. Threat potential negligible. Avoid and disregard. >
“Whatever,” the soldier almost instantly dismissed him.
Faith
looked at her ex-lover. “You don’t remember me at all?” she asked
desperately.
Soldier Guy shrugged. “All I know about you is what I’ve seen for
myself, the last two weeks I’ve been in this demon-infested hellhole. By
the way, the reason I came here? That guy you almost stabbed last night,
found him this morning. Looks like a vampire got him, you’ll need to
investigate...”
No one
could ever accuse Faith of being dumb. “That was you who shot at
me last night, wasn’t it?”
Again
the military man shrugged. “Killing civilians isn’t part of the
mission.”
The
brunette Slayer saw Willow’s expression, and decided to go for broke
with the PFC. “Guess I owe you then. Look, about the memory loss thing?
We’re not shining you on –we just wanna help, stud. We all thought we’d
lost you, that you died in that damn hell dimension – y’know? I’m sorry
we gave up on you then, but I’m not gonna give up now. Please, let us
help...”
The
soldier looked around at everyone and asked, “What exactly were you
planning?”
Willow
said enthusiastically, “Oh, a memory retrieval spell! I’m sure it’ll
work...”
After
hearing the whole story Soldier Guy finally agreed to it, and the
redhead and Giles began to prepare; finally, they were ready. Willow
began to chant:
“Hecate,
a boon I pray you grant to me
The
inner eye, the eternal sea
Let
all his memories of all his days
Be
restored by thee
So
mote it be
So
mote it be
So
mote it be”
It was
at that moment that Buffy and Angel came into the library after patrol,
and both were stunned at who they saw. “Xander!!” they chorused.
Then a
swirl of bright lights surrounded Soldier Guy, who started to glow.
Two
seconds later, both memories and information poured into his conscious
mind. He was Xander Harris again, in all senses of the word.
He
looked around as the lights vanished, “What the-?” Then his brain felt
like it was being assaulted from all sides – some memories in total
conflict with others, and Xander started screaming and yelling in pain.
Taking
charge for once in his life, Wesley quickly shot him with the
tranquilizer gun, and the former slave mercifully slumped unconscious.
Chapter 12