The Ultimate
Betrayal
by jamies_lady
Summary:
After the Battle in LA Riley brings news to Buffy which will change
things for ever.
Goes VERY off canon after the Battle of Sunnydale
Chapter 4
‘Now this is the hard bit.’ Willow started. ‘This has
been going on for over a year. Every time we go to sleep the spell
resets. Anything we have learnt during the day, that would actually
help us, vanishes with sleep. When we wake up it’s like our memories
are wiped. I didn’t remember Angel asking for help with Fred, I didn’t
remember Dana, the mad slayer from LA, telling us Spike was alive.
Andrew even denied it at the time. I don’t remember Buffy even going to
Rome and talking with The Immortal, but it seems she lived there for a
while.
‘We need to sit down for the day and see what else was hidden from us,
then maybe we can work out what’s going on.’ Willow said. It was a long
speech for her.
‘We need somewhere safe,’ Kennedy reminded them.
‘I already suggested the Hyperion in LA,’ Dawn pointed out.
‘Hyperion?’ Asked Viv.
‘Yes. It belonged to Angel before the fall of LA, it was the hotel we
used when we first left Sunnydale.’ Explained Buffy. ‘And it looks like
we’ll be going, but we need an excuse.’
‘How about shopping?’ Asked Kennedy. ‘Dad said he’d treat us all to a
vacation and Rodeo Drive is lovely,’ she added with a smile.
‘Good idea Kennedy, you and Willow organise the cover story, I’ll see
what I can find out from Giles, quietly… Rona, you and Viv ask around,
see if anyone remembers anything. And Dawn?’ Buffy asked.
‘Yep…’ Dawn replied.
‘You’re on research, you speak more languages than anyone except
Willow, so she’ll come and help as soon as the trip is arranged.’
‘Yes general!’ Dawn saluted her sister before getting another drink.
‘Now: who else do we involve?’ Buffy mused.
‘Xander,’ Willow said. ‘He really needs to know that Anya was killed as
a sacrifice.’
‘What??’ screamed the other girls. The stunned looks told Willow that
it was news to all.
Willow looked at them. ‘Seems that’s a memory I have and you lot don’t
yet. Andrew killed Anya as an initiation sacrifice to Egyhon; seems his
hero worship of Giles goes a little deeper than we thought. He has been
Giles’ apprentice for some time.’
‘Hence the loosing of the geekiness,’ Dawn said.
‘Yep, seems like the coolness that is Andrew is a direct result of him
joining up with Giles.’
Buffy snorted a laugh back. Willow looked at her. ‘What was the laugh
for?’
‘The thought that knowing Giles can lead to coolness.’
Giggles spread around the group, it was good to have a laugh. And they
needed it.
Rona quietened first. ‘How do we know the spell is broken?’
Willow looked upset but Rona continued, ‘Viv and I have been up all
night playing vid games, good job too or we’d all be back in denial
land again,’ she smiled.
‘So?’
‘So I suggest Viv and I go to bed, and sleep.’
Willow smiled. ‘Separately,’ Rona added with a grin, ‘then when we wake
up you ask us questions and we see if the whammy is gone. If it is we
can carry on with the plans and if not we take it in turns to sleep and
Willow whammys us on waking.’
‘Good plan,’ Kennedy nodded.
Buffy seemed out of it again. ‘Buffy?’ Dawn said gently, ‘Buffy?’ She
seemed as though she couldn’t hear anything.
‘Dawn, do you realise he was alive for a year after Sunnydale? He was
so close we could have been together, and he’s gone…’
Dawn wrapped her arms around her big sister and rocked her. All that
could be heard was Buffy whispering he was alive.
When Rona and Viv got up they headed straight to Willow with the
message that they remembered everything from the day before. The
Scoobies were set.
Dawn started researching, clipping in and out of the library when no
one else was around. She had her cover story ready: she was learning
Etruscan, as well as researching the feeding habits of Faryls. Dawn had
deliberately chosen Faryls because whenever he was reminded that he had
been a demon, Giles would leave the room immediately.
Willow and Kennedy were planning the ‘escape’. They called Mr.
Richards, Kennedy’s father, and chatted to him for about fifteen
minutes, then Kennedy asked how her Aunty Jackie was. It was a code
from a book that her mother had loved. Jacqueline… trouble and I can’t
talk.
Mr Richards had picked up on it straight away and asked the girls when
they were going to visit. He started offering inducements, including a
shopping trip. That was when Willow ‘remembered’ they hadn’t had a
break in years and thought it was a brilliant idea to go visiting, but
‘really didn’t want to leave Buffy alone for long.’
‘Bring her with you, in fact why don’t I send a plane and you can
invite a few of your friends to come with you KK?’
Kennedy smiled at Willow, her dad was one in a million, and he hadn’t
let them down.
‘See you as soon as the plane gets here then Dad,’ Kennedy finished the
call.
She and Willow then turned to the computers. They had left emails
everywhere they could think of for Xander, but none had been replied
to. Willow was getting cross. How dare her bestest, oldest friend in
the whole wide world, not be contactable?
Willow knew that the depth of the pain he felt had nearly crippled
Xander. Anya’s death had hit him very hard, and the fact that she
needn’t have died was hanging on Willow’s heart like a dark shadow.
They simply had to get hold of him. Willow looked around the room she
shared with Kennedy. She really needed a little help to think through
what was needed. Her eyes were drawn to the pile of yellow crayons in
the corner on the table by her favourite crystals. Yellow crayons that
Xander had given her. Willow picked up a crayon and started to write on
a spare bit of paper.
ET PHONE HOME
11 letters in yellow crayon. She concentrated on the paper, willing it
to Xander, begging the powers to help. A wind seemed to catch the edge
and the paper fluttered in the palm of her hand, then it vanished. No
spell, just a heartfelt plea. And it had vanished.
Xander was sitting in a small café in Morocco. He had been
wandering
around North Africa for nearly a year. He reached in for his wallet to
pay the bill. Xander looked at the dark, tooled leather. It was worn
from use. He opened it and his heart gave a little jump. It always did.
Inside there was a picture of Anya. Willow had got it off the internet.
It was from the Magic Box website. She’d been so happy at the thought
of more customers. Xander had grown up a lot in the last year. He just
wished he could tell Anya how much he truly loved her, and if she
wanted to be a vengeance demon, that was fine by him.
Xander gave himself a little talking to… telling himself not to keep
obsessing about Anya, she was dead and gone, and he had to carry on
with life.
Xander put the wallet back into his bag and slung it over his shoulder;
as he did so his wallet fell out onto the ground. Xander picked it back
up and, opening his bag fully, pushed his wallet with its precious
photo deep into the brightly coloured bag. He felt something brush
against his hands: a piece of paper. Xander pulled it out, wondering
where he’d got it. In bright yellow crayon was the message to phone
home.
This was serious. Willow would never use magic to trace him unless it
was really important. The thoughtless little witch from Sunnydale had
long since gone, to leave in her place, a powerful wiccan who used her
power only when absolutely necessary.
Xander looked at the paper again. Home: no-where was really home any
more. His parents were in some third class house in a fifth class city
getting drunk, and the Scoobies didn’t really need him, or so he
thought. But now he was needed and Xander was headed back to England.
He found a small internet café and picked up his mail. Over
fifty
emails from Willow. All saying the same thing. Contact us and get home.
Xander emailed Willow immediately to say he was on his way, only to
receive yet another dump of mail. Willow asking him to fly to New York
and meet her there. He was to go to any British Airways desk and ask
for a first class ticket to New York. The money would be there,
courtesy of Kennedy’s dad. A credit card number was attached. Willow
had thought of everything.
The plane took off early. Mr Richards rarely heard from his daughter,
especially after she’d been called to be a slayer. Before that she’d
been a troubled teen, after that she’d been a troubled teen with super
powers. But he loved her. He loved her dearly and when she asked a
favour he came through. This time it was in the shape of a private jet
and a credit card for shopping, officially in New York and then on to
LA.
The girls had told everyone they were taking a week or maybe two off.
After all there were a lot of slayers around, it was coming up to
September and they had been busy all summer. Giles had bought the
story. In fact he seemed really glad they were going away.
Andrew didn’t even seem interested in coming with them, and that was
unusual. Andrew always wanted to go shopping.
Rona had caught him coming out of Giles’ bedroom very early one
morning, but it was one of those things that, when mentioned to another
slayer, was forgotten in the morning after a good night’s sleep.
The plane was well stocked with food and drink. The captain had been
respectful, but quiet. The cabin staff went quietly about their
business. It was an eight hour flight and Mr. Richards had insisted
that the passengers got the best of everything.
Luggage had been loaded efficiently, hand luggage stowed and the
passengers curled up in their seats and slept for the majority of the
flight.
Xander was waiting when they arrived. He took one look at Dawn and
Buffy: they looked haggard and drawn. Willow looked worse. Kennedy,
Rona and Viv looked dangerous. It was the only word for it. You would
think they were professional killers from the way they moved. Xander
laughed to himself at that stupid thought. They were professional
killers, some of the most professional in the world.
Willow looked up to see the tall, bronzed and fit man waiting for them.
She rushed into his arms and held on tight. Kennedy walked up slowly:
she was beaten to the hug by both Buffy and Dawn. You couldn’t actually
see Xander for the women holding him.
‘If this is the result of me getting a tan, I think I’ll buy a
sun-bed!’ joked Xander. ‘Feeling the love here,’ he added as he grinned
at the slayers.
The Scoobies were together again and nothing and nobody would stand in
their way.