Circle of Scooby Chapter 13

STORY TITLE:  The Circle of Scooby

PART:13 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

RATING: PG-13

WORD COUNT: <4,953>

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.

SPECIAL THANKS TO PAX HUMANA:  For Beta and Typo-busting services.

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

HEY BUD, IT'S BEEN A WHILE:  Sorry for disappearing like that, but it was the depression grabbing me by the sac and squeezing, keeping me from focusing enough to write a coherent sentence.  At least I'm feeling better now, hope it lasts for a while.

YET ANOTHER AUTHOR'S NOTE:  There is a sequence where the characters are practicing with rifles, and the scene is short on the technical details because the last time I had a rifle in my hand was in early November 1982 when I was going through Air Force Basic Training, and I've honestly forgotten 99.99% of what I learned.  So instead of grabbing information from the internet that may or may not be accurate, and the specific model and ammo sizes aren't necessary to know for the story, I just decided to go bare bones rather than screw it up.  Hopefully, you won't mind.

#

Caritas

Tuesday, November 4th, 1997

1:30 AM

Kendra was a little nervous, because she could recognize several different types of demons, most of them were peaceful, but not all.  If it wasn't for the Host telling her about the anti-violence charms and protections, she was sure that the 3 Vampires sitting in the back would have attacked her.  But she would worry about what happens later when she sings for the Host, and Kendra was glad that nobody she knew was there because she didn't think she could sing very well.  Paging through the list of songs, her eyes landed on one particular title, since it was the theme song from the James Bond movie Mister Zabuto rented Friday evening.

Handing the Host her song choice, and his pleased smile helped settle her nerves a bit more.  The music started playing, and Kendra closed her eyes, she knew the song by heart and started singing.  If she had opened her eyes, she would have seen the look of surprise on several of the demons, and the impressed smiles as the sweet contralto came pouring out.

"Nobody does it better

Makes me feel sad for the rest

Nobody does it half as good as you

Baby, you're the best

I wasn't lookin' but somehow you found me

I tried to hide from your love light

But like heaven above me

The spy who loved me

Is keepin' all my secrets safe tonight

And nobody does it better

Though sometimes I wish someone could

Nobody does it quite the way you do

Why'd you have to be so good?"

She continued singing to the end and put the microphone down before opening her eyes, stepping back in shock at the wave of applause that hit her, even the vampires and the deadly demons were applauding her.  It wasn't visible under her dark skin, but she could feel herself blushing.  But then the Host came hurrying to her and took her by the hand, leading her to a private booth, where she was surprised to see a tall cool glass of Peanut Punch sitting in front of her.  She had no idea how he knew that it was her favorite drink, but only got it as a special treat.  She took a sip and hummed contentedly, it tasted perfect!

"I'm glad you are enjoying your drink little Miss Songbird, and I'm happy to tell you that you will be enjoying your Punch for a good long time now.  I'm not certain what happened, because the Fates don't appreciate mortals interfering with their role.  But, however it happened, until Friday night, you were headed to a very nasty destiny, but whatever happened that night, you have a much brighter future. You are still bound for Boca del Infierno, but you won't stay there long, because someone will need your help and you will go with them to help the helpless.  And no, I don't know what that means either, but it's there in your path.  Now I stay open until dawn, and you are welcome to relax, even take a quick nap, I'll make sure you aren't disturbed.  And if you feel like singing us another song, I'm sure nobody will object.  And your Punches are on the house, I know that the person that sent you didn't think about spending money.   If you do fall asleep, I'll make sure you get up in time to catch the bus to Sunnydale."

Kendra wanted to ask him how he knew so much about her, and to stay awake, the Host might not mean her any harm, but not everybody feels the same way, and it would be a bad idea to fall asleep with all these demons around.   She honestly tried to stay awake, but the next thing she knew, the Host was standing by her, saying "Morning Miss Songbird, the sun is up and the buses to Sunnydale and Carpenteria will be leaving in about an hour."

Sitting up, she saw that she'd been using her backpack as a pillow, but she'd been lying on a very comfortable couch.  Standing, she stretched, mildly surprised that she wasn't stiff at all.  It was then she noticed that the Host was holding a cup of the blessed bean out to her.  She took it with a smiled thanks, taking a deep sniff and enjoying the smell before taking a sip.  Lowering the cup, she said, "Thank you, you've been amazingly kind to me, and I appreciate it.  But how did you know what my favorite drink was? I don't think anybody who wasn't from Jamaica had even heard of Peanut Punch, but you managed to make it perfectly, just like you did with the Blue Mountain Coffee, so how?"

The Host grinned at her, "Oh there's no big mystery, Songbird, when you sang for me, I got flashes of information along with the look at your paths.  And the Punch? I take my name and my work very seriously, and if somebody asks me for a drink I don't know how to make, I make sure I know for the next time.  And the Peanut Punch is something that a clan of Bracken Demons, completely harmless unless you are a feral cat or dog, but they spend a lot of time in Jamaica and taught me how to make it.  But you are quite welcome, and you're more than welcome to come back anytime.  Now, let's get you on the road to Sunnydale."

Still holding the disposable cup, she adjusted her backpack, making sure everything, especially her passport and billfold, and with a quick hug, she hurried toward the Greyhound terminal, arriving in plenty of time to buy her ticket and board the bus, looking around curiously, since it was too dark when she arrived to see much.

Soon enough, the driver was pulling out, and she relaxed, she had a couple of hours' ride ahead of her.

TCOS & TCOS & TCOS

#

The Westin Hotel, Times Square

Private Work Area

New York City

Tuesday, November 4th, 1997

9:00 AM

Charles tapped his fingers on the table, waiting for the clock to show 9 o'clock, so the person he needed would be at his desk in Memphis.  He really would prefer not to use the man, the firm he works for is almost as bad as Wolfram and Hart, only their evil is strictly of the human variety.  Finally, the number on the clock clicked over, and he picked up his phone.  Dialing the number from memory the phone was picked up on the second ring.

"Devasher." The gruff voice, too many years of whiskey and cigars, came clearly through the line.

"Yes, this is Charles Chase, I need a relatively discrete, but very deep background investigation.  The subject is Margaret Chase, and before you ask, yes she is my wife, and is well aware of the investigation.  It was partly her suggestion because she is aware of how things truly are, and had known for years, but kept the knowledge hidden.  I need to know if she is hiding anything else.  What other information do you need to get started?"

After giving the man the requested information and agreeing on the price, Charles transferred half of the fee to the correct account, and hung up the line, feeling the need for a very hot shower to scrub the slime off his body from dealing with the man.

Unfortunately, the number of investigators who are aware of what happens after dark is very low, and the man is one of the few who doesn't do business with the fangs, or even worse things, so he just dealt with the situation by taking a lot of showers.  It's not like his hands are exactly clean, none of theirs are, but he had no regrets, if he could figure out a way to feed that whole damned 'Watcher's Council' to vampires and leave them in the sun, he'd do it in a heartbeat!

At least, from what Rom was saying, the watcher to the current slayer may not be the waste of flesh Heather's watcher was, this Mister Giles asked their help to keep his slayer alive.  That will give the man a chance to prove himself, and maybe live to a ripe old age.  But whatever will happen to the man, it won't be until Wilkins is taken care of.  That's easy enough to say, but somehow he doubted it would be quite as easy to accomplish.  And at that, it will still be easier than facing Cordelia and Tony and Jessica's boy.  Sure he's proud of his daughter doing what she can to help, but he doesn't want to be standing at an open grave saying goodbye to his only child.  One thing Cordelia and her friends will need to understand is how important security is, no matter how safe they feel, otherwise, they may discover that death isn't the worst thing that can happen to them. He would also need to find out what kind of training they've been getting and figure out a way to disguise what they are doing.  Well, they can thrash that out when they are face to face, but damn it's going to be good to have Tony and Jessica back in the game, they were two of the better planners of the Misfits.  He, Rom, and Paul were far too much like Heather, leaping in, swords and stakes hitting targets, and sorting out the bodies later.

Shaking his head, he put his work area back in its normal setup, and his 'tells' in the correct places, before locking up.   He needed to get back to their rooms so he could finish packing and get to the airport.  He wasn't looking forward to landing at O'Hare, and the traffic in Chicago is brutal at the best of times. Sadly, he does have to show his face at the headquarters a couple of times a year, and it's better to get it taken care of before winter sets in.

#

Sunnydale High School

Library

Tuesday, November 4th, 1997

11:00 AM

Kendra shifted her backpack so it wouldn't fall off, and walked through the Front Door of the High School, trying to stay out of the way of the mass of students while looking for a sign to the Library.  She wasn't able to find anything and was about to ask for help, when a tall, good-looking boy walked over to her, a smile on his face, and his hand held by a very beautiful girl, who was smiling in a friendly way.  The boy's smile was just as friendly, and the other girls that were with them seemed willing to be friendly too, so she said, "Can you tell me how to get to the Library, please? I need to speak to Mister Giles, it's very important."

The boy's smile got even wider, "We can do better than that, we are actually heading to the Library to get started on some homework, so if you want to come with us, we'll help you beard the fearsome librarian in his native habitat."

Kendra stared at him in confusion, but the other girl just reached out and took her hand, "Don't worry about the Doofus, he's mostly harmless and I've almost got him house trained, but we can't do anything about his sense of humor."

Before she could say anything, Kendra was surrounded by this friendly group as they led her down the corridor and around a corner to the double doors marked 'Library'.  Going through the doors, there was a distinguished-looking gentleman at the counter, talking to another woman, who seemed to be flirting with him, and he was flirting back, at least, until the young man, Doofus? Very strange name, but he cleared his throat and said, "You can flirt with Miss C on your own time, Giles, this young lady was looking for you, saying she needs to speak to you about something important.

Mr Giles looked sharply at the young man and nodded, "Thank you and the others for bringing her to see me, and if you need any of the books for your homework you know how the system works."  Mr. Giles then lifted the gate and gestured for her to follow him, and she walked through the opening, shivering slightly like she touched an electrical wire, but then he was opening his office door and offering her a seat, before closing the door behind them.  With a warm smile, he said "Well now, young lady who I don't know yet, how can I help you?"

Kendra licked her suddenly dry lips and said, "I was told that I needed to speak to you by Mister Zabuto, who said that the two of you knew each other?"

His smile turned into a grin, and he no longer looked like a distinguished Watcher, now he looked like a schoolboy about to set off a prank.  He nodded, "Sam and I have known each other, off and on, for about 17 or 18 years, we were in the same class at the Watcher's Academy, and both of us were very unhappy to be there, so we expressed our unhappiness in ways that I won't tell you, I don't want to tell tales when your Watcher isn't here to defend himself

Kendra relaxed a bit more, she was almost certain he was who he claimed to be, but there was one more question, "Was one of those ways the night that got you the nickname 'Ripper'?  Mister Zabuto couldn't stop laughing when he was telling the story, but what was the beer you were drinking, I want to make sure I avoid it when I'm old enough."  She did her best to hide her grin, but it was a funny story the way Mister Zabuto told it.

"Yes, well, I made the mistake of drinking an American beer that was called Michelob, and well, Mister Zabuto and I as well as the other two trainee Watchers were regretting it the next morning.  Now, I feel certain that I've proven I'm who I say I am, but who are you?"

"I am Kendra, the Vampire Slayer! She said, climbing to her feet, curious about the surprised look on the Watcher's face.

"So, it was long enough to activate the next slayer," he said with a frown, before he said, "Well, apparently the Council didn't think it necessary to tell your Watcher that Buffy Summers, the current slayer, was drained almost dry, and then dropped itno a pool of water and left to drown. Xander, the young man who brought you here, pulled her out of the water, and  got her breathing again with CPR.  It's odd that Sam wasn't told of her recovery, but that's for another day.  You had something to tell me?"

She nodded, "Yes, Mister Giles, a seer had a vision last week that an evil demon would arise from the Hellmouth and devour the world. The demon she saw was called Acathla and it is currently trapped underground.  And that's all the information we could discover. Mister Zabuto decided this information was too urgent to trust sending a letter, and since he was under the impression your Slayer had died, he directed me to follow your directions and report anything I discover to you."

He leaned forward in the chair, nodding, "That matches some information we received a few days ago, but knowing it was trapped underground is helpful.  Now, did Mr Zabuto make any arrangements for how you were to live, or where you were to stay while you were here?"   He must have noticed Kendra's surprise, because he muttered something that sounded like 'of course not!' before saying "I've got an idea about where you can comfortably stay, but I have to confirm that it's available."

"That would be very nice, Mister Giles, thank you."

"It's not a problem, you don't have to worry about that, it's a Watcher's duty to see to their slayer's health and wellbeing.  And, since they are here, would you like to meet Buffy and her support team?  I know you've probably been taught that the slayer works alone, always, right? Well, we've found out that having support has kept Buffy alive multiple times, more than just the incident where Xander revived her."

Kendra had to admit she was curious about meeting another slayer, and her friends seemed like enjoyable people to associate with, so she nodded, following him out of the office.

#

Rory Harris' House

Outside Sunnydale City Limits

The Junkyard

Wednesday, November 5th, 1997

After School

Rory had looked at them strangely when they piled out of Cordy's car and then pulled the cloth-wrapped rifles from the trunk. He watched while Xander was giving Buffy and Willow safety lessons on how to handle the rifle, and letting each of them practice the grip and how to sight on the target, then he showed them how to break down the weapon, and how to be absolutely certain that there are no cartridges left in the weapon.  Once Rory was satisfied that the new girls knew weapons safety he went back to his workbench. While Xander was teaching Buffy and Willow, Tara and Cordy were doing the same with the rest of the guns.  Since there were only the two who were novices at using a firearm, they let both of them try each of the rifles to find the best fit, and she practiced dry firing until she could squeeze the trigger properly.  Once Xander was satisfied, the five of them put the weapons down and set up targets at different ranges, choosing targets that were roughly man-shaped so Buffy could adapt to the idea of shooting something that looked human.

They spent a couple of hours until Xander, Cordy, and Tara were all proficient at the older weapons than they were used to. Surprisingly, it only took a few tries before Buffy was hitting the target right where she was aiming every time.  Xander kidded her that Slayer had another new toy, which got a laugh from Buffy, but she didn't disagree.  While they were there, and still had plenty of daylight, the four of them improvised swords and Buffy showed them the basics of using a blade.

They were taking a break and Cordy said, "So how did your mom react to being asked to give Kendra a place to stay, Buffy?"

Buffy chuckled, "How do you think?  She went instant 'mom' on the poor girl, and when she found out that her parents gave her up when she was very young, she broke out the hot chocolate, with the little marshmallows, so you know it got real.  When Will and I headed up to bed, Mom had Kendra on her lap while she cried, but she seemed a lot more relaxed this morning when we took her to the library to make arrangements for her to attend classes with the rest of us."

Xander smiled softly, this Kendra wouldn't die at the claws of Drusilla, and she wasn't going to die at all if he could help it.  He shared a quick look with Cordy and could tell she was thinking the same thing.  Turning to Buffy, he said, "I'm glad that your mom was able to help, my parents would do their best to help, but they are still adjusting to being sober again. Not that I can blame them, once they broke down and told me about my older sister, I think Cordy and Tara would have been happy to join me in a bottle of rotgut!"

Buffy and Willow looked confused, and he realized they hadn't been told about his sister Heather, so he started talking, "You know about their friend Heather, well my parents had a daughter in February '80, and they named her Heather.  Mom told me that the two of them loved her to pieces, just as much as they loved me when I arrived the next January.  Apparently things were going fine until early '83, when Heather disappeared from our backyard..."

All of them had tears rolling down their cheeks, and Xander found himself being hugged by Willow and Buffy as they cried.  Eventually, they got a hold of themselves and wiped their eyes.  Xander tried to chuckle, but it didn't quite come out, "So now you know what drove my parents into the bottle, but now that we have it in the open, they are getting help with the drinking, and dad told Cordy that he wouldn't be foolish enough to turn down the help 'Chuck' offered this time."

There really wasn't much they could say to that, and it was getting close to the time for Buffy and Willow to get home, so they broke down the weapons and wrapped them, storing them back in the trunk and they headed toward the High School to bring Giles up to speed, and to get Kendra for the trip back to Revello Drive.

#

Time Corps Headquarters

Boondock

Time Immaterial

Elizabeth Andrew Jackson Libby Long, generally known as Libby, looked up from the monitor in front of her and scanned the room.  Seeing the person she was looking for, she gestured and Deety made her way over, a curious expression on her face.

"What's going on, Libby? I thought you were monitoring the trio's timeline to see if any of the changes are rippling out yet."

Libby nodded, "That's what I was doing, and a couple of minor changes have flowed to the connected universes, but then an anomaly caught my attention, there was a Time Corps Team in the area at least twice, and years before the timeline drew our attention, the first was in 1983, and the second was sometime in 1978, but when I tried to access the files of the mission, I was told that they were sealed by orders of the Senior, and it was dated Gregorian 3342, next year! So even if we asked Lazarus about it, he probably doesn't know either."

Deety frowned thoughtfully, "Something about those dates.." Her eyes widened, "Oh crap! If I'm right about those dates, we can't say anything until the records are unsealed, otherwise it could a massive paradox and we don't want to chance it."

Libby had paled as she put the pieces together, "Agreed, but I'm looking forward to hearing Lazarus' explanation, aren't you?"

The other woman grinned wryly, "When have you ever known Lazarus to give a straight answer if he didn't want to?"

Libby laughed, "Good Point. But we should probably talk to Hamadryad about masking these memories so we don't accidentally refer to them at the wrong time.

"True, shut down your terminal,, you can pick up your work when we get back."

#

Sunnydale High School

Library

Wednesday, November 5th, 1997

5:20 PM

When they walked into the library, it was easy to see something was wrong, because Angel was there talking to Giles and Kendra, and none of them looked happy.

He and Cordy exchanged a concerned look, this hadn't happened before, so they all moved closer.  The three of them at the counter looked up, and Giles said, "Good, you're here, Angel has brought information on Spike's whereabouts, and he's suddenly become a much higher priority.  Go ahead Angel."

The ensouled vampire nodded, "Spike and several of his minions have taken over a warehouse behind 'the Fish Tank,' I was able to get blueprints of the building, and there is a sewer entrance in a back office.  Normally that would be a problem, but they've gotten about 50 human prisoners, and from what Willie has picked up, Spike is preparing a ritual for Sunday night that will give him the strength, speed and durability of the two slayers he'd killed.  He has been muttering about having the power to really hurt all of you, and the prisoners are being used for the sacrifices."

With a sharp nod, Xander said, "Okay, that just moves things up a bit.  Giles, are any of your acquaintances who can make the special ammo in the area, and do you think they would be able to have about 100 of the cartridges ready by around noon on Saturday? That will give us time to practice loading the new cartridges into the rifles in a hurry."

Giles nodded, "I'll make a couple of calls this evening, but I'll need the specifications for the rifles and the size of the cartridges."

"I've got that info Giles, I checked when got them ready last night," Cordy said, writing down some numbers on a sheet of paper and handing it over to the librarian.

Looking at Willow, he said "Do you know if Sheila and Ira kept any Kosher salt in the house? If not, can you get some in the next day or so?" Willow nodded eagerly, and he smiled at her, "Cordy, Tara, and I are going to need a trip to Carpinteria Botanical Gardens, to get as much fresh water as we can carry."

Giles had been listening in approval, "I can provide the proper containers and bowls for the ritual, that is, if you are planning to prepare Holy Water?"

"That would be great, Giles, and Buffy, if you and Will can hit a Toys R' Us or something for super soakers? Just in case the ammo doesn't work properly, we'll have a back up."

He looked over at Kendra and said, "Sorry to leave you for last, Kendra, but you're going to have probably the most difficult part, learning to work and fight as part of a team, instead of on your own.  To start with, and sorry if I'm stepping on anybodies toes, but if you can join Buffy and the rest of us on a patrol tonight to see how we do things, and watch our backs during any fights, it would be a help."

A quick glance at Buffy and Giles, and neither of them seemed unhappy with him, so he gave a mental sigh of relief.  Buffy surprised him though, by addressing Angel, "Okay Angel, now I see what you were saying Friday night, I can believe my Xander Shaped Friend is every bit as dangerous to the baddies as you claimed."  Giving Xander a grin, she added, "And I'm very glad you are my big brother!"

He was shocked silent, not sure how to react when Queen C spoke up, "Okay, can we have the group hug now so we can get moving? I'm looking forward to getting something to eat, and getting out of these sweaty clothes!"

The others laughed and were soon heading home, leaving Giles straightening up, and very glad that he chose Buffy and her friends over the Council because he did not doubt that if he moved against Buffy they would never find his body.

End Chapter Thirteen

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