Fic: Survivors 23
Wow. I really thought I'd posted this part. My apologies for any confusion and thank you to everyone who called me on it!
Previous bits are here.
Twenty-three/??
Carefully taping down the edge of the gauze, Xander ducked his head to catch Kurt's gaze. "You all right?"
"Yes." Kurt touched the bandage. "It doesn't hurt much."
"Oh, I bet it's just like a bee sting." Xander shoved him lightly. "I was talking about the demons. It can be a bit of a shock seeing them for the first time."
Kurt stared at him.
"What? Have you seen demons before?"
Kurt kept staring.
Xander tried staring back at him. Did Kurt get hit in the head when he wasn't looking? He looked all right - same blue skin, same yellow eyes…oh. Kurt looked at himself in the mirror every day. "All right, yeah, maybe they wouldn't be such a shock for you. They had extra arms, though!"
Kurt inclined is head to one side. "That is true. The arms were a surprise."
"Did they get you anywhere else?"
"No." Kurt leaned forward and dropped his voice. "I didn't expect them to be so easy."
Xander laughed out loud. The thought that fighting demons would end up being easy was ridiculous. Kurt was right, though. The demons had been easy to fight. "Faith and Robin and the girls really didn't need us."
"Then why are you here?"
The sound of Scott's voice was a complete surprise. Xander turned around, already smiling. He had a little tingle of anticipation and nervousness…which quickly turned into confusion and worry. What was Scott doing there? And what about Logan and Buffy and Giles, who were following close behind? "What's wrong?"
"We heard that you'd taken off to fight demons. We were worried."
"Yeah. Faith gave us a call and we came down. The demons were moving east so we could help stop them."
"So you thought it was a good idea?"
"Yeah, or else we wouldn't have come." Xander wasn't sure what was going on, but he didn't like the sound of the questions that they were throwing at him. "It's kind of what we do."
"I know it's what Buffy does," Scott said.
Not this again. "Please ask Buffy who's been helping her for the past seven years. Please ask Faith who she asked for when she called. Please ask Kurt who killed the demon that scratched him." He held his arms out away from his body. "Or can you guess the answer?"
Logan didn't look amused, but he nodded and relaxed, uncrossing his arms from across his chest.
Scott didn't look as appeased. "So why did Buffy take off as soon as she'd found out you'd gone? She demanded use of the plane, she was so worried."
"What would you do if you found out Kurt and Storm had to leave to deal with a mutant?"
"Leave them to it," Scott said.
Logan laughed. "C'mon, Scott."
"I would!"
"You would be in the Blackbird so fast that you'd buzz the mansion on your way to get to them and you know it." Logan glanced over his shoulder. "I don't see Buffy over here."
Scott went quiet, looking down at the ground.
Xander decided to give him a minute to himself. He'd had experience with control freak-leader personalities. Push him and Scott would just dig his heels in harder. He caught Logan's gaze. "How did it go for you?"
"It was a mutant. Little lonely girl who was calling all the animals to her and working on people next without realizing it. We brought her to the school."
"They'll be able to help," Xander said.
"They seem to." Logan looked around. "I don't see any demons."
"Most of them crumble to dust or pool into slime. They're remarkably easy to clean up as long as you don't get any on you. Corcdens do the gooey thing after you hit'em just right in the belly."
"You make it sound easy," Logan said.
"If it was so easy, then why did you have to bandage up Kurt? Why did Faith call you?"
Great, Scott was back in the game and he was still running the same play. "Faith called because the demons were heading our way and she'd never had to deal with them before. We have. I had to bandage up Kurt because one of the demons scratched him. He's going to be fine in a few days. I know that because I have gotten my ass kicked by demons more times than I can count."
Xander could feel himself building up a head of steam. He was ready to start yelling, just like he would with Cordelia, arms waving as he just lost it. He drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "If we'd gone up against a bunch of mutants without consulting you, I'd deserve an ass-chewing. I might bend over and offer you some A1 to make it go down easier. But this is what I know. This is what I do. Well, it's what Buffy does, but I'm good at the back up and I was good at it again today."
He knew he didn't have to prove himself to Scott. He'd lived on the Hellmouth with his eyes opened and he'd walked away. He knew his limits and he hadn't exceeded them. If Scott wasn't going to be able to get past this… "Is it the eye?" he asked.
"What?" asked Logan.
God, he'd never considered this. "Do you think I can't handle things because of the eye?" Sure, he still wasn't supposed to drive yet, but he could swing a hammer just fine. He'd figured out how to swing an axe, too. He had a hell of a blind spot but that didn't mean he had to stay on the sidelines forever, waiting for everyone to come home instead of getting out there and helping like he really wanted to.
He couldn't believe this. Scott had to wear those glasses or goggles all the time. He had to know that a guy could learn to compensate. Xander was still figuring out how to adapt. If Scott of all people couldn't get past it…
"No!" Scott said. "No, it's-"
"It's that he's a control freak," Logan said.
Scott turned to him and Xander didn't need to see his eyes to know he was glaring.
"You didn't order him to come here. You haven't had anything to do with his training." Logan crossed his arms over his chest. "You weren't here to back him up. It's driving you nuts."
"You came here with him," Xander pointed out.
"I'm not denying being a bastard."
"I'm not being a bastard," Scott said.
"Asshole?" Xander offered. "Would you admit to maybe being an asshole?"
Scott crossed his arms. "No. I'm not being an asshole. We got back to the mansion and Buffy was upset because you were gone."
"Oh." That made Xander hesitate. "How upset?"
"We're all down here, aren't we?"
That wasn't good. He probably should have seen this coming. Buffy had taken the loss of everyone in Sunnydale very personally. Them taking off to deal with demons without her probably had freaked her out. Looking back at Scott, Xander thought maybe he could see some similarities there.
He reached out to touch Scott's arm. "Look, I'm gonna go check on Buffy. I'm going to walk my completely uninjured self over to her. You work on figuring out what you're going to be if it isn't an asshole." He squeezed Scott's arm, not really wanting to hurt him. He just needed Scott to think.
It didn't take long to find her. He just had to follow the raised voices.
Faith looked exasperated. Buffy looked pissed. He bet the most dangerous place to be in the whole world might be between them. Teenage fantasies aside, of course.
Willow would rescue him if he got into too much trouble. He walked over to join them. "Ladies, ladies. There's no need to fight. There's enough of me to go around." He draped his arms over each of their shoulders.
He got himself a set of matching glares for the comment and for a moment he wondered if he'd miscalculated. He really didn't want to have to pick up his teeth if he'd guessed wrong.
Buffy drew in a deep breath. "Yeah, that's what I hear," she said.
He blinked. "What?"
"It looks like you’re doing ok keeping up with Logan and Scott. Maybe you could keep up with us, too."
Faith's eyes were huge. "Xan the man!" she said. "Why didn't anyone tell me?" She punched him in the arm. "Both of them?"
"Ow." He let the girls go so he could rub his arm. "There wasn't exactly time for gossip. What with the urgent need to kill the demons and all." He looked over at Buffy. "Corcden demons. We left Andrew behind but he could have taken them out on his own if we'd given him a spatula and started up that argument about Godzilla again." He touched her shoulder. "You know that. These guys were an easy Friday night."
She drew in a deep breath and nodded, the tension slowly flowing out of her. "I know." She looked him over. "You're all right?"
"Aside from Faith-inflicted bruising?" He ducked out of the way of another swing. "If you guys are all right, I have to get back to - "
"Your threeway?" Faith smiled brightly at him.
"Any time you need me to help save your ass from demons, Faith, you give me a call." He waved to her and walked off. The teasing hadn't been bad, considering. He was sure to be in for worse knowing his friends.
That was if he stayed in his threeway. If Scott was still acting like an ass then he wasn't sure that he could. He was used to a certain amout of emasculation in his life. It went with the territory of hanging out with Buffy, Willow, and even Anya. He was used to having girls come running to his rescue. He was also used to them letting him make his own decisions about what battles he would fight. He wasn't going to let someone else take that away from him.
He waved at Willow. How could anyone have been worried about him when he had her there to kick ass for him?
It didn't take him long to find Scott and Logan again. They were talking to Marie, who was talking very excitedly and demonstrating her own demon-smacking technique. He watched them talk to her, Scott looking like Giles, pleased by a student and Logan hulking protectively like every big brother in the world.
He didn't want this to fall apart. He liked Logan and Scott. He thought they could have something real, something that could last. But it would take trust and if they couldn't let him be who he was, helping his friends the way he needed to, then it wasn't going to happen.
Xander walked over to join them. "Marie telling you that she's gonna give up the spandex to join the Scoobies?"
"No!" Logan shook his head. "She's gonna be an Xman."
"She's got demon-slaying flair," Xander countered.
"I think I have demon ick in my hair," she said.
"Yeah, that is the downside," Xander said.
"There's no demon ick with the Xmen," Scott pointed out.
Marie laughed. "Are we going to get going?"
"As soon as we can gather everybody up." Scott looked at Xander. "You drove here?"
"Willow and Kennedy will drive back home. Will the rest of us fit in the plane?" He waited for an easy answer but none came. "What?" he aside.
"Home?" Scott asked.
Xander hesitated. "The mansion?"
Scott smiled. "We'll all fit." He cleared his throat. "Maybe next time I can come along. So I can see you in action?"
That was a peace offering that Xander was happy to take. "I'll even let you carry my axe for me," he said.
"What about me?" Logan asked.
"You can carry my sword."
"You have a sword?"
"Technically it's Buffy's. She's really good about sharing." He looked over at Scott. "And she trusts me with it."
"I…will trust you. I do." Scott inclined his head toward the plane. "Home?"
"Home," Xander agreed.
**
Previous bits are here.
Twenty-three/??
Carefully taping down the edge of the gauze, Xander ducked his head to catch Kurt's gaze. "You all right?"
"Yes." Kurt touched the bandage. "It doesn't hurt much."
"Oh, I bet it's just like a bee sting." Xander shoved him lightly. "I was talking about the demons. It can be a bit of a shock seeing them for the first time."
Kurt stared at him.
"What? Have you seen demons before?"
Kurt kept staring.
Xander tried staring back at him. Did Kurt get hit in the head when he wasn't looking? He looked all right - same blue skin, same yellow eyes…oh. Kurt looked at himself in the mirror every day. "All right, yeah, maybe they wouldn't be such a shock for you. They had extra arms, though!"
Kurt inclined is head to one side. "That is true. The arms were a surprise."
"Did they get you anywhere else?"
"No." Kurt leaned forward and dropped his voice. "I didn't expect them to be so easy."
Xander laughed out loud. The thought that fighting demons would end up being easy was ridiculous. Kurt was right, though. The demons had been easy to fight. "Faith and Robin and the girls really didn't need us."
"Then why are you here?"
The sound of Scott's voice was a complete surprise. Xander turned around, already smiling. He had a little tingle of anticipation and nervousness…which quickly turned into confusion and worry. What was Scott doing there? And what about Logan and Buffy and Giles, who were following close behind? "What's wrong?"
"We heard that you'd taken off to fight demons. We were worried."
"Yeah. Faith gave us a call and we came down. The demons were moving east so we could help stop them."
"So you thought it was a good idea?"
"Yeah, or else we wouldn't have come." Xander wasn't sure what was going on, but he didn't like the sound of the questions that they were throwing at him. "It's kind of what we do."
"I know it's what Buffy does," Scott said.
Not this again. "Please ask Buffy who's been helping her for the past seven years. Please ask Faith who she asked for when she called. Please ask Kurt who killed the demon that scratched him." He held his arms out away from his body. "Or can you guess the answer?"
Logan didn't look amused, but he nodded and relaxed, uncrossing his arms from across his chest.
Scott didn't look as appeased. "So why did Buffy take off as soon as she'd found out you'd gone? She demanded use of the plane, she was so worried."
"What would you do if you found out Kurt and Storm had to leave to deal with a mutant?"
"Leave them to it," Scott said.
Logan laughed. "C'mon, Scott."
"I would!"
"You would be in the Blackbird so fast that you'd buzz the mansion on your way to get to them and you know it." Logan glanced over his shoulder. "I don't see Buffy over here."
Scott went quiet, looking down at the ground.
Xander decided to give him a minute to himself. He'd had experience with control freak-leader personalities. Push him and Scott would just dig his heels in harder. He caught Logan's gaze. "How did it go for you?"
"It was a mutant. Little lonely girl who was calling all the animals to her and working on people next without realizing it. We brought her to the school."
"They'll be able to help," Xander said.
"They seem to." Logan looked around. "I don't see any demons."
"Most of them crumble to dust or pool into slime. They're remarkably easy to clean up as long as you don't get any on you. Corcdens do the gooey thing after you hit'em just right in the belly."
"You make it sound easy," Logan said.
"If it was so easy, then why did you have to bandage up Kurt? Why did Faith call you?"
Great, Scott was back in the game and he was still running the same play. "Faith called because the demons were heading our way and she'd never had to deal with them before. We have. I had to bandage up Kurt because one of the demons scratched him. He's going to be fine in a few days. I know that because I have gotten my ass kicked by demons more times than I can count."
Xander could feel himself building up a head of steam. He was ready to start yelling, just like he would with Cordelia, arms waving as he just lost it. He drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "If we'd gone up against a bunch of mutants without consulting you, I'd deserve an ass-chewing. I might bend over and offer you some A1 to make it go down easier. But this is what I know. This is what I do. Well, it's what Buffy does, but I'm good at the back up and I was good at it again today."
He knew he didn't have to prove himself to Scott. He'd lived on the Hellmouth with his eyes opened and he'd walked away. He knew his limits and he hadn't exceeded them. If Scott wasn't going to be able to get past this… "Is it the eye?" he asked.
"What?" asked Logan.
God, he'd never considered this. "Do you think I can't handle things because of the eye?" Sure, he still wasn't supposed to drive yet, but he could swing a hammer just fine. He'd figured out how to swing an axe, too. He had a hell of a blind spot but that didn't mean he had to stay on the sidelines forever, waiting for everyone to come home instead of getting out there and helping like he really wanted to.
He couldn't believe this. Scott had to wear those glasses or goggles all the time. He had to know that a guy could learn to compensate. Xander was still figuring out how to adapt. If Scott of all people couldn't get past it…
"No!" Scott said. "No, it's-"
"It's that he's a control freak," Logan said.
Scott turned to him and Xander didn't need to see his eyes to know he was glaring.
"You didn't order him to come here. You haven't had anything to do with his training." Logan crossed his arms over his chest. "You weren't here to back him up. It's driving you nuts."
"You came here with him," Xander pointed out.
"I'm not denying being a bastard."
"I'm not being a bastard," Scott said.
"Asshole?" Xander offered. "Would you admit to maybe being an asshole?"
Scott crossed his arms. "No. I'm not being an asshole. We got back to the mansion and Buffy was upset because you were gone."
"Oh." That made Xander hesitate. "How upset?"
"We're all down here, aren't we?"
That wasn't good. He probably should have seen this coming. Buffy had taken the loss of everyone in Sunnydale very personally. Them taking off to deal with demons without her probably had freaked her out. Looking back at Scott, Xander thought maybe he could see some similarities there.
He reached out to touch Scott's arm. "Look, I'm gonna go check on Buffy. I'm going to walk my completely uninjured self over to her. You work on figuring out what you're going to be if it isn't an asshole." He squeezed Scott's arm, not really wanting to hurt him. He just needed Scott to think.
It didn't take long to find her. He just had to follow the raised voices.
Faith looked exasperated. Buffy looked pissed. He bet the most dangerous place to be in the whole world might be between them. Teenage fantasies aside, of course.
Willow would rescue him if he got into too much trouble. He walked over to join them. "Ladies, ladies. There's no need to fight. There's enough of me to go around." He draped his arms over each of their shoulders.
He got himself a set of matching glares for the comment and for a moment he wondered if he'd miscalculated. He really didn't want to have to pick up his teeth if he'd guessed wrong.
Buffy drew in a deep breath. "Yeah, that's what I hear," she said.
He blinked. "What?"
"It looks like you’re doing ok keeping up with Logan and Scott. Maybe you could keep up with us, too."
Faith's eyes were huge. "Xan the man!" she said. "Why didn't anyone tell me?" She punched him in the arm. "Both of them?"
"Ow." He let the girls go so he could rub his arm. "There wasn't exactly time for gossip. What with the urgent need to kill the demons and all." He looked over at Buffy. "Corcden demons. We left Andrew behind but he could have taken them out on his own if we'd given him a spatula and started up that argument about Godzilla again." He touched her shoulder. "You know that. These guys were an easy Friday night."
She drew in a deep breath and nodded, the tension slowly flowing out of her. "I know." She looked him over. "You're all right?"
"Aside from Faith-inflicted bruising?" He ducked out of the way of another swing. "If you guys are all right, I have to get back to - "
"Your threeway?" Faith smiled brightly at him.
"Any time you need me to help save your ass from demons, Faith, you give me a call." He waved to her and walked off. The teasing hadn't been bad, considering. He was sure to be in for worse knowing his friends.
That was if he stayed in his threeway. If Scott was still acting like an ass then he wasn't sure that he could. He was used to a certain amout of emasculation in his life. It went with the territory of hanging out with Buffy, Willow, and even Anya. He was used to having girls come running to his rescue. He was also used to them letting him make his own decisions about what battles he would fight. He wasn't going to let someone else take that away from him.
He waved at Willow. How could anyone have been worried about him when he had her there to kick ass for him?
It didn't take him long to find Scott and Logan again. They were talking to Marie, who was talking very excitedly and demonstrating her own demon-smacking technique. He watched them talk to her, Scott looking like Giles, pleased by a student and Logan hulking protectively like every big brother in the world.
He didn't want this to fall apart. He liked Logan and Scott. He thought they could have something real, something that could last. But it would take trust and if they couldn't let him be who he was, helping his friends the way he needed to, then it wasn't going to happen.
Xander walked over to join them. "Marie telling you that she's gonna give up the spandex to join the Scoobies?"
"No!" Logan shook his head. "She's gonna be an Xman."
"She's got demon-slaying flair," Xander countered.
"I think I have demon ick in my hair," she said.
"Yeah, that is the downside," Xander said.
"There's no demon ick with the Xmen," Scott pointed out.
Marie laughed. "Are we going to get going?"
"As soon as we can gather everybody up." Scott looked at Xander. "You drove here?"
"Willow and Kennedy will drive back home. Will the rest of us fit in the plane?" He waited for an easy answer but none came. "What?" he aside.
"Home?" Scott asked.
Xander hesitated. "The mansion?"
Scott smiled. "We'll all fit." He cleared his throat. "Maybe next time I can come along. So I can see you in action?"
That was a peace offering that Xander was happy to take. "I'll even let you carry my axe for me," he said.
"What about me?" Logan asked.
"You can carry my sword."
"You have a sword?"
"Technically it's Buffy's. She's really good about sharing." He looked over at Scott. "And she trusts me with it."
"I…will trust you. I do." Scott inclined his head toward the plane. "Home?"
"Home," Xander agreed.
**