The Circle of Scooby Chapter Seventeen

STORY TITLE:   The Circle of Scooby PART: 17 of? AUTHOR: Red Jacobson (red.jacobson@gmail.com) DISTRIBUTION: FanFiction.net, Archive of Our

STORY TITLE:   The Circle of Scooby

PART: 17 of?

AUTHOR: Red Jacobson (red.jacobson@gmail.com)

DISTRIBUTION: FanFiction.net, Archive of Our Own, Twisting the Hellmouth

DISCLAIMER: None of the Characters You Recognize belong to me, the Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel Characters belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy (Grrr! Argh!), and the Boondock characters belong to the Estate of Robert A Heinlein and his publishers.

SUMMARY:   The activation of the world's slayers has caused massive destruction throughout the multiverse, and the Circle of Ouroborus is determined to prevent that from happening and recruit three natives of the critical timeline to save the multiverse!

FEEDBACK: Of course! It Makes Me Write Faster

RELATIONSHIPS: Xander/Cordelia/Tara, Buffy/Willow, Giles/Jenny, Kendra/Oz

RATING: PG-13

WORD COUNT: <4,528>

SPOILERS: A Crossover with RAH's Lazarus Long Books. I'm afraid that, while I'm going to do my best to explain things, at least a passing familiarity with Time Enough For Love, The Number of the Beast, The Cat Who Walks Through Walls, and To Sail Beyond the Sunset would help you understand who these characters are. None, but if you don't know how the Buffy the Vampire Slayer story goes by now, why are you reading this story?

CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE DEPARTMENT: I'm borrowing a bit of Cordy's childhood background from my buddy IronBear's stories, specifically Rio Blanco on the Mouth of Hell, and the Hell-er-nator Stories.   If you want some amazing Xander/Cordelia stories, do yourself a favor and check him out! 

AUTHOR'S NOTES: I'm going to try something unusual for this story, no lemons. Frankly, they've gotten to be a bore to write, and I imagine they've become boring to read as well.   Hope this goes well.

CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE DEPARTMENT: The 'Ritual of Disavowal' is borrowed from Vidicon's Waifs and Strays Universe on TTH.

AUTHOR CORRECTION FROM PREVIOUS CHAPTER:  In Chapter 13, the Boondock Interlude, I made a mistake with the dates given that had the records sealed. The first was 1983, and for some reason, I typed 1979; the correct year was 1961. I was able to correct the section on most of the sites where I publish, except for the Pit of Voles, and the chapter was no longer in the document manager to edit.

#

L'Ermitage

Beverly Hills, CA

Mount Shasta Hiking Society

Saturday, November 8th, 1997

Charles arrived before any of the others, although Rom was only a few minutes behind him. The two of them did a security sweep to make sure that no cameras or microphones were monitoring the room. Even after they were satisfied that no mechanical snoops were watching them, he and Rom stayed quiet until Cordy and her lovers walked through the door, closely followed by the Watcher and the Romany Computer Teacher, who was also a practicing Techno-Pagan. The teacher seemed to be having a hard time keeping a smile off her face, and by the sparkle of a gem on her left hand, Charles would be willing to bet what had made her so happy.

Grabbing a blank sheet of paper, Charles started writing as quickly as he could, and stayed legible anyway. 'Can the two of you put up anti-scrying spells or something like that? We are clean of mechanical methods, but we don't have a practitioner available to us.'

Jenny and Tara put their heads together, both of them taking turns to write down ideas, until they seemed to reach a solution, and Tara looked up at Charles and nodded, smiling.   The next few minutes were interesting, never having seen true magic performed. When the witches finished, a layer of mist rose to engulf the ceiling and walls of the Meeting Room.

The two witches had just taken their seats when Buffy, Willow and Kendra walked through the door. Charles was surprised; he hadn't been expecting any extra people, but Cordy spoke up, "Kendra's one of us, she's the current Slayer, since Buffy had her encounter with the Master last Spring. We've explained the need for secrecy and security, and will keep her mouth closed. Although I'm wondering how they managed to get a ride from Sunnydale, since she scared the last Driver's Ed instructor into a heart attack."  Cordy's grin told Buffy she was teasing, and Buffy very maturely stuck her tongue out at the other girl.

"Hah-Hah! Very funny, I'm not that bad behind the wheel, and Mister Rollins' heart attack could have happened at any time, as overweight as he was. But mom gave us a ride, there is an estate sale a few miles away that she wanted to take a look at."

Ignoring the byplay between his daughter and the Slayer, Charles concentrated on making sure the doors were closed and locked. Satisfied, Charles took a seat at the center of the table, with Tony and Jessica on one side, and Paul Stein and Rom Snyder on the other. The others were sitting on the other side of the table, and Charles said, "Okay, introductions please, Xander, Cordy and Willow at least know Tony and Jessica, Paul Stein is a Detective with the Sunnydale Police Department, all of you know Rom, of course. In the 70s, we called ourselves 'the Misfits', not quite as catchy as the Scoobies, but it fit us."

Xander grinned slightly, "I'm afraid that's my doing, I'm the one who hung the name on us, much to Giles' annoyance.   But, for those of you who aren't familiar with us, which would be everybody but Rom, am I right?" 

The others nodded, and Xander started introducing his group, although there was a bit of surprise from everyone but Kendra when Xander and Cordy introduced Tara as their girlfriend. Still, Willow's eyes did glaze over briefly before focusing on the present.

Rom started things off, "A couple of you are aware of who the real monster in town is, but for the rest of you be prepared for a shock, the 'Big Bad' of the last almost 100 years is a very evil black magician, Richard Wilkins, the First, Second, and Third, the once and future Mayor of Sunnydale."

Buffy looked stunned for a second before shaking her head in disbelief, until Xander reached over and put his hand on her shoulder.   "Believe it Buff, the Mayor is the closest I've ever come to pure evil that was wearing a human face, and if we don't manage to stop him, at our High School Graduation next year, Wilkins will transform into a monstrous snake demon, called Olvikan, and make a damn good try at eating the entire graduating class. We stopped him, but the cost was far too high."

There was dead silence at the table until Giles cleared his throat and said, "I'm sorry, but did you say that Wilkins is going to transform into the demon Olvikan?"    At Xander's nod, the Watcher continued, "Then he mustn't get an opportunity to start the final steps, because the nature of the transformation rituals is that the mage becomes immune to all forms of harm for the 100 days prior to the final change."

Tony and Jessica weren't surprised; they learned all of this during their time in Boondock, but that was an absolute secret from all the other Misfits. But Charles, Paul, and Rom's faces turned grey, and Paul actually crossed himself, muttering a prayer. When the three of them regained their composure, Detective Stein spoke up, "That's all well and good, and I don't think any of us object to recalling our honorable Mayor, but how do you suggest 'belling the cat'?"

"Where's Lee Harvey Oswald when you need him?" Jenny said to Giles, but she wasn't as quiet as she had thought, and blushed when most of the room burst into laughter. "You have to admit, somebody changed to look like Oswald, assassinating Wilkins and getting away in a silver DeLorean would give the conspiracy fans years worth of entertainment." 

Xander chuckled, "That it would, but since we don't have access to that kind of technology, I'm wondering how much it would cost to hire a team of Terrakans? The last time it was Spike who put out the contract on us, but since he is keeping Drusilla company in Hell, I doubt he would be able to tell us how to arrange the removal, even if there was a way to contact Hell."

The others started talking among themselves, discussing Xander's idea and how to implement it, but didn't manage to agree. 

Charles rapped his knuckles sharply on the wooden table, getting all of their attention. "We can talk about it until Thanksgiving and still not come up with a plan to put Xander's plan into action. Does anybody have any other ideas that don't involve an ancient order of assassins?"

Tony spoke up, "I'm always in favor of high explosives, just need to pick a location where the risk to innocents is as low as we can manage. None of us needs that kind of blood on our hands."

"That does sound a bit easier to arrange, but, when you are worrying about innocents, don't include Allan Finch, the Deputy Mayor in that group, he's a killer, multiple times over, starting when he was sacrificing innocents to Machida as part of one of the Fraternities on UC Sunnydale. He's added to his body count since then. So getting rid of Finch isn't killing, it's stomping on a cockroach, just not as cute."

The discussion went on for another two hours, mainly exchanging information and the Scoobies being shown the code books for emails to each other. Tony said that the books needed to be updated to take the latest changes into account.    As they were packing up, Jessica pulled an envelope of pictures from her bag and called Xander, Cordy, and Tara over to the table. "I thought you might like to see some pictures of your big sister." Jessica spread the pictures on the table, and Paul Stein came over. It had been far too long since he'd seen pictures of his niece. 

Tony was standing beside Jessica, his arm around her waist, supporting his wife, as she started describing each of the pictures, Xander had a soft smile as he looked at his sister, until Jessica showed them the picture of Heather and Xander splashing in a baby pool, having a wonderful time, Paul glanced at the picture, but then did a double take and picked up the picture in question.   His finger traced the birthmark on Heather's back, and said, "What the Holy Fuck is going on here?"

The others came over in response to his exclamation, Jessica asking, "What are you upset about, Paul? They are just innocent pictures."

Stein shook his head, "No, no, they aren't just pictures. Seeing the birthmark made me remember when I had seen the same mark. It was on the original Heather's back, one time when we were shooting hoops, Heather had taken off her t-shirt, leaving her in her bikini, and clear as hell was a lightning bolt birthmark."

The stunned silence was total.

TCOS & TCOS & TCOS

#

Later that Day

The Woods behind the Chase Property

The three of them had been walking through the woods, Xander or Cordy pointing out landmarks from when they would play their Jungle Book adventures to Tara, carefully not mentioning the shocking news from the meeting.   Finally, they came to a circle of large rocks, big enough to sit on, and they all sighed in relief at the chance to rest their feet.

Xander said, "Okay, I think we are about as alone as you can get. Tar, can you put up the privacy spell like you did earlier?"

Tara nodded, reaching for the pouch of herbs and her lighter, and with a prayer to her Goddess, she lit the herbs, and the smoke surrounded them for a few seconds before, in a flash of golden light, a translucent tent surrounded them.

"Thanks, babe, this is not a conversation we want to have anybody listening to, agreed?" Xander said quietly, and the other two nodded.

"I honestly don't know how to deal with that bombshell that Uncle Paul dropped, although it is a slight comfort that it wasn't a grue or one of," and he held up three fingers, "minions, but the question is why? As far as I know, Lazarus and the others are the only group doing serious work in time and dimension travel. Were they responsible? And what did they want to accomplish?"

"Why don't we ask Lazarus or Hilda? It's not like we don't have the means to contact them." Cordy said calmly, moving to sit by her husband, and Tara joined them, who sat quietly for a few minutes, and before Xander said,

"Can one of you talk to them? I'm not sure what I feel right now, and might say something I would regret later."

Tara said, "I'll contact Boondock, I've got the least emotional connection of the three of us."

Cordy gave her a grateful smile, and Xander tried to grin, but Tara slipped down from the rock they were sharing and turned the snake design on her ring and seconds later, Deety's voice came through clearly.

"Do you need assistance, Tara?"

"More in need of getting a question answered, did any of the Time Corps Operatives visit this timeline in 1983, or 1961? Because we've run into one hell of a paradox and need to make sure we don't fuck things up."

Tara frowned at a different voice. She wanted to say it was Teena, the name the personality of the main computer used, but it wasn't quite right. And the words were even more unexpected, "Those Records are Sealed. To avoid multiple paradoxes, do not search further until given authorization."

With that, the call ended, and Tara moved back to join Xander and Cordy, "I didn't get an answer from Deety, because as soon as I mentioned the years we are concerned with, a different voice, one I didn't recognize cut in, saying that the records were sealed, and not to search any further, to avoid multiple paradox. So, there is something there, but if they are sealed, there must be a reason."

Xander scowled, "Damn! They don't seal records without a damn good reason, they drummed that into our heads enough during training. Hopefully, we can find out what was going on after the mission is completed and we go back to Boondock, leaving our hosts back in control of their bodies."

Cordy suddenly snickered, and when they looked at her, she said, "My host just said not to rush on her part, she's loving finding out just how much fun sex can be!"

Tara smirked, "Yours too? If my host had control of the body, she said that her fingers would be permanently cramped."

The two girls looked at their husband, and he grinned, "I guess it's unanimous, but honestly, were we such horndogs the first time through?"

It was Tara who answered, "I think so, but things were so stressful, me with worrying about Mama, and you two having to deal with not knowing what the Hellmouth would throw at you next. Since Mama is healthy and happy, and we've already caused enough changes to ripple out, that the rest of the year is derailed, and we've already made sure that Kendra has a much happier future than she did before, and you will be doing your best to save Faith and her Watcher. Are you planning on getting rid of Kakistos while you are there?"

Cordy and Xander looked at each other thoughtfully before Cordy said, 'That's not a bad idea, except that we don't know where the bastard's lair is, other than a warehouse, and there are way too many of those for the two of us to cover on our own. Faith was too terrified to pay attention to where they were going, and she was running blind when she escaped."

Xander added, "It's still worth doing if we can get the information after we land at Logan International. Hopefully Doctor Dormer knows some hunters that can help out, because we aren't going to be playing 'Butch and Sundance.' If we decide it's doable, we should use the Holy Wafers and Water Grenades, and hopefully, there are skylights that we can use to take out most of the minions and soften up Kakistos and any of his more powerful lieutenants. Whatever we can do to hurt him without risking our necks is worth considering. We should plan on packing a good amount of kosher salt and as many silver bowls as we can get our hands on to make our own Holy Water, and hit up a couple of toy stores when we get there to buy Super-Soakers. Packing the ones we have already would raise more questions than we probably want to deal with going through airport security."

Noticing the sun was getting close enough to setting, the three of them walked out of the forest, each of them lost in thought.

TCOS & TCOS & TCOS

#

Buffy and the other girls were quiet on the ride back to Sunnydale, and Buffy shook her head when Joyce asked if something was wrong, but Willow and Kendra noticeably blushed. Joyce decided she really didn't want to know what made the girls blush like that; they might tell her.

Joyce would have been correct in the reason for blushing. Willow was wondering what it would be like to be with Xander and Buffy at the same time, and how it would work. But it would never happen, Xander was very happy with Cordelia and Tara, and Cordelia hadn't been such a bitca since right after Halloween, so she must be happy. It's too bad that there was so much history between her and Cordelia, the rich girl had a fantastic body! Willow had noticed and memorized every detail in the shower after gym class.

Kendra was thinking along the same path to the gutter that Willow had taken, but she was picturing her and Oz together, and wondering if he would be interested in helping her find out if she liked girls as much as she thought. It was a shame that the other girls she was friends with were all very involved, and Kendra wasn't going to try and poach; she'd seen enough videos to know how bad an idea that was. Maybe this Faith girl would be interested?

Joyce wouldn't have been shocked at either of the girls' thoughts; she had enjoyed several threesomes in college and wouldn't run screaming if the opportunity came up now. Sadly, she was spending most of her time at the Gallery or traveling. She was just glad that Buffy had finally explained what had happened to burn the Gymnasium down when she was at Hemery, although it was hard to accept that vampires and other scary monsters were real, and Buffy and her friends were out there fighting them every night. 

She made a mental note to find a decent fitness club, preferably one that trained martial arts, she wasn't Wonder Woman, but she would be damned if she was going to be one of the sheep who don't fight back. She may not win, but even if she loses, she would make the vamp work for it!

Strangely enough, Buffy's thoughts were going in the same direction, knowing that Xander's parents were fighting against the dark when they were younger, and were getting involved again, made her think about her mom and Willow. Both of them should be taught to fight well enough to be able to get away if they are attacked. It was bad enough when that dust pile named Darla had attacked her mom last year, because Joyce didn't know enough not to invite anybody into the house after dark.

All four of them were quiet until almost to the Sunnydale City Limits, when Kendra noticed Oz's van outside of Seven-Eleven, and asked Joyce to pull in so she could talk to her boyfriend.   Joyce obliged with a smile, and Buffy and Willow grinned at how excited Kendra got, almost like Willow on a Caf-Pow; there was a reason the redhead was banned from caffeine after all.

From the front seat of Joyce's jeep, Buffy could see Oz's face when he saw Kendra, and while he didn't have the most expressive face, Buffy could tell that he was happy to see her sister Slayer. It wasn't a surprise when Kendra came running back to the jeep and asked Joyce if it was okay that she went with Oz? He was heading to band rehearsal and wanted her to sing a couple of the new songs they were practicing.

Joyce just laughed and agreed, sending Kendra looking like she wanted to do cartwheels over to Oz's van. Buffy managed to hear Kenda say quietly to herself, "One more date until we discuss bad intentions, I can't wait!"

Buffy wasn't sure what that was all about, but wished the other girl luck. Reaching back between the seats, she found Willow's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, making Willow smile again.   There was no need for further conversation.

TCOS & TCOS & TCOS

#

Chase Manor

That Afternoon

Charles pulled his car into the garage, shutting the overhead door behind him. Shutting off the car, he stepped out, stretching after being seated for so long, both the drive to and from Beverly Hills, but also the time sitting during the meeting. Checking the door frame to the side door, he saw that the hair he had put there was still in place. Opening the door, he keyed the code into the alarm, stopping it from sending an alert to the private security he paid to keep an eye on the house and grounds.

He was hanging up his jacket in the closet when his cell phone chirped. Checking the Caller ID, he saw the Memphis Area Code and wondered why Devasher was calling him so soon. Answering the phone, he said, "Chase,"

The gruff voice came through the speaker, "Yes, sir, I have an update on the investigation you requested. The majority of the time, she was behaving the way she normally does when she is in New York or Chicago, shopping, enjoying trips to the theater, nothing to raise any flags. However, yesterday afternoon, she was observed entering Nash Antiques in Manhattan. My person observing her said that, instead of looking over the items on display, she followed the owner, Russell Nash, to the upper level, and before she was out of view, my agent saw something that resembled a sword and scabbard being taken out of her jacket.

"I didn't include this information in this morning's call because the report arrived after I called you. According to my agent, she stayed in the building for several hours, finally leaving after dark. The pictures he took show that she was slightly disheveled, and her makeup had been reapplied. But the interesting part is the expression on her face. She was clearly trying to hide her feelings, but it was just as obvious that she had received a tremendous shock. 

"Out of curiosity, I did a quick search for Mr Nash, and found that he had been held as a suspect in the death by beheading of an Iman Fasil in the parking garage at Madison Square Garden. Searching deeper, from everything I was able to access, Russell Nash did not exist until 15 years ago. There was no record of when he was born, what schools he attended, he didn't even get a social security number until shortly after he appeared. I don't know what is going on with Nash and the connection she has with him, but if you wish, I can include the man in the investigation."

Charles frowned. The information was unexpected, but he wanted to check with Margaret; it might have been nothing more than blade practice. Devasher had mentioned the interest in bladed weapons in the earlier report. The thing that did concern him was that her emotional state was visible. Margaret had perfected the mask they learned to wear, keeping anyone from using that information against them, so something massive must have happened.

"No, leave Mr Nash out of things for now, I will talk to my wife about it and decide at the point."

Devasher acknowledged his decision, and the call ended.

'What in the hell did you run into Margaret? This is turning out to be a lot more complex than we ever thought when the group of us swore our oath over Heather's grave.'

TCOS & TCOS & TCOS

#

L'Ermitage

Beverly Hills, CA

Saturday, November 8th, 1997

Giles smiled as he watched Jenny moving around the room, exclaiming at the luxurious setting. She had never encountered this level of ostentatious before, while Giles' parents were wealthy enough to treat it as normal.   Of course, it wasn't just Jenny's reaction that brought a smile to his face; it was the fact that she had stripped to her skin as soon as the door closed behind them.    This was quite suitable for celebrating their engagement, although he was slightly disappointed that none of the children had noticed Jenny's ring, or if they noticed, didn't say anything. 

He had let Jenny know about the reservation for the room after they caught their breath from round three of their celebrating. He suggested Jenny bring a nice dress along with her changes of clothes, and he made sure that his Saville Row suit, the one his father insisted he wear, still fit after his sedentary employment for the last few years. He had considered asking Jenny if she would like to apply for a marriage license while they were here, but the county offices where they could apply were closed for the weekend. 

Rupert was planning to suggest a fairly quick civil ceremony, not just because he loved her, but for protection from her clan. The marriage license would also be useful at the High School, in case there is gossip about the two of them living together. He knew that it wouldn't be the school administration causing difficulties, but the Mayor would certainly use anything he could against them if he realized that they were actively opposing him.   

He was pulled out of his thoughts by Jenny's voice calling him from another room. Moving toward her, he found that she was in the bathroom, although he hadn't expected a sunken tub with room for four if they were very close.

When Jenny saw him, she started the water to fill the tub, and said with a grin, "We've had fun in the shower, but your tub wasn't big enough, want to take advantage of this one?"

"That is a remarkably silly question," Rupert said, unbuttoning his shirt. 

By the time the two got out of the water, they were both wrinkled like a raisin, but they had agreed a tub like this would be a requirement in any house they bought!

End Chapter Seventeen

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