Home
A knock on the door broke the concentration of the Major who occupied the simple desk in an otherwise empty office.
Looking up, he nodded at the lieutenant who had knocked, indicating the younger man was to enter. "I'm assuming you have orders for us, Lieutenant?"
"Yes sir. Due to security breeches at this facility, we have been ordered to relocate all non-terrestrial and related objects to another NID installation, pending their collection by one of the NID science teams." As he spoke, the lieutenant handed over a printed confirmation of these orders.
After reading the sheet of paper, the Major pulled a lighter from his pocket. Flipping the lid open and striking the flint, the senior officer ran the flame along the entire bottom edge of the printout. Once it had caught, he dropped the paper into the metal wastebasket which had more than a few ashes in the bottom.
"Very well, lieutenant. Prepare a convoy to transfer all materials, records and fully briefed personnel. Move all the data to portable units and purge the local hardware. We're moving shop, for the time being at least. But, we'll be back, sooner or later, one side or the other is going to screw up and give us the break we need to scoop all of them up. Carry on, lieutenant. It looks like I've got some packing to do..."
As the flames finished consuming the paper, for just a moment, the words 'SunnyDale' and 'Initiative' could be read.
And then they were ash.
The moon was well into it's nightly arc across the Southern California sky, as a pair of lizard-like demons, each standing over seven feet tall, stood watch at the top of the hill which covered the caves their clan had recently taken possession of.
"Varlok," said the first emphatically. "I'm telling you. If we can take out the Seraphim and his band of bitches, then the town is ours! With Wilkins dead, there's nobody with a solid claim to the HellMouth. We can set up shop, and then we're the big dogs."
"Dogs food. Varlok no want be food. Varlok STRONG!" came the rather slow, over enunciated response.
"That's right, you're strong Varlok. Strongest guy in the whole clan."
"Britach no think. Seraphim stronger than Varlok."
"Ah, but that's why we don't try to take him hand to hand. We need to get some guns, and then we just wait for the right chance to beat them. Any we don't kill, we can either trade or eat."
The slow witted, or at least slow speaking, demon looked at his companion. "Varlock thinks this is like sticking tail in marduck nest..."
It was a typical night for Sunnydale.
The temperature was in the low sixties, with just a touch of a breeze blowing in off of the Pacific. Not a cloud in the sky as the moon hung silently like a sentinel, watching over all.
The sounds of small arms fire broke the silence like a brick through glass.
"This is Major Steven Munich, calling Initiative Base. We are inbound at the city limits and are under attack. I say again, we are under attack!" He released the mic button and squeezed the trigger on his side arm three times, watching with satisfaction as the hollow point rounds tore large holes in his target before spinning it to the ground. Pressing the button once more, he continued. "Again, this is Major Munich, CO of the NID convoy which was inbound to Initiative Base." He snarled, pulling the trigger again on his pistol. "Stay down you alien piece of shit! We are under attack by unknown hostile forces and require immediate..."
"... and require immediate..." The Major's voice was cut off by the sound of tearing flesh and what could only be described as a bloody gurgle.
The radio operator on duty at the Initiative looked up to the Officer of the Day. "Sir, inbound NID column with classified materials is under attack near the city limits by suspected HST forces."
The OOD looked at the ready rooster written on a whiteboard on the wall of the command center. "Deploy Riley's squad, full kit."
Throughout the Initiative's subterranean facility, klaxons sounded, calling troops to arms in the same manner that bugles and bagpipes had in centuries past.
"Ready squad deployed, sir. ETA, fifteen minutes..."
The officer simply nodded as he looked at the map of Sunnydale, the ready squad's beacon moving as they were en route, and the flashing marker which represented the convoy of soldiers who, almost guaranteed, would never see the next sunrise.
"Cadre 3, this Cadre 7... Initiative assault team deploying from exit gamma. Full gear, zero stealth, zero deniability."
"Copy that Cadre 7. We've got eyes on them. Cadre, All Ears, I say again, Cadre, All Ears. We have an Initiative assault force in the field at this time. They are inbound to an unscheduled N.I.D. column which has come under attack. We have no assets able located to be able to intervene and break contact before Initiative forces arrive onsite. Updates will follow. All teams are to avoid contact at this time. We are vectoring a GKS response unit to follow them in order to ensure security on all client properties."
"Cadre 7, resuming observation of Initiative base. "
Xander muttered under his breath as his fold com chirped to signify an incoming call.
"Commander," intoned Merlin once Xander had affixed the small headset and confirmed the connection. "We have a situation in the south western approach to Sunnydale."
"Care to elaborate?"
"An inbound column, which is not listed on normal schedules for either of the public armed forces facilities in Sunnydale, has encountered substantial resistance, presumably by demonic forces and has called for support."
"Is it going to make a difference?"
"The signal has gone off the air."
Xander sighed. "Well, at least they weren't ours..." He paused. "God, that sounded cold. Merlin, make sure that all our patrols keep clear of the area. The army guys aren't going to be too happy about losing a convoy and I really don't want any of our folks caught up in this mess."
"Understood, Commander."
"Huunlarn say weapons here..." said the demon known as Varlok as it stuck its snout into the inside of a Hummer and sniffed at the soldier who hadn't made it out fast enough. With a quick swipe of a claw, he ripped open the soldier's throat, then turned and strode the length of the convoy. "Varlok no see weapons Huunlarn promised. Varlok no see weapons to fight Seraphim."
"You're right big guy. But look!" the smaller demon pointed at the heavily armored sides of a secure transport. "Right there, that could be what my guy told us about. All we've got to do is get in there and take what's ours!"
Varlok looked less than convinced, but, he reached up, gripped the heavy door, and with a mighty yank, tore the door clean from the hinges. Hopping up, his tail extended for balance, the demon stalked into the frigid interior of the cargo area.
"You see anything in..." called Huunlarn, looking in just in time to get smacked in the face with a heavy black sack.
A second, and then third followed it out. Then, a moment later, a pair of crates were tossed out of the cargo area.
The smaller demon was looking at the crates when the larger jumped down from the interior.
His talons traced under the writing on the cases, as he tried to make out the words on the sides. Although his command of English wasn't great, it was good enough to know that whatever was in the crates, it wasn't weapons.
"These heavy," said Varlok as he pointed at the three black sacks.
"Well, tear one open," came Huunlarn's response.
With an almost effortless sweep of his arm, the larger demon's claws ripped open the reinforced material of the bag, before glancing off the contents within.
Varlok peered into the now shredded bag. With a smile that would have looked extremely frightening, he spoke. "Dinner..."
Lifting up the back, he peeled back the wrapping just a bit, and closed his jaw on the contents. Almost instantly, he let out a yelp and threw the bag and its contents to the side.
"Frozen... No make good food..." said the hulking demon in a tone that was humorous, although anyone who was in the vicinity would have been stupid to laugh at the warrior demon. "Make Varlok fangs hurt!"
Silence had once more descended over the area.
The few humans who has survived the initial onslaught has now either been dispatched by the attackers before they left, or bled out silently, while mercifully unconscious.
A few of the braver feral dogs had already begun to nose around the area, competing with the coyotes for the choicer pieces of carrion.
Then, suddenly, there was a gasp from one of the torn body bags sat upright, as the occupant thrashed around, his hands finding the opening which had been torn into the side of the bad, and tearing it open with strength only a panicked man can.
His face now exposed to the air, he exhaled, and as he did so, his cold breath was visible in the warm night.
Pulling his way free of the bag, the young man, most likely in his late teens, lay there half in and half out of the body bag, rubbing his arms as he tried to get some warmth back into them.
A moment passed, and the sound of a coyote howling broke the still chilled man from his efforts, driving him to crawl the rest of the way out of the bag. Rising to his feet, he nearly fell at first, but after a second, he was able to stand.
Turning, he saw the woods before him and stumbled towards them, kicking the body bag off of his foot as he did so. And then, he was gone from sight, vanished into the treeline, into the woods beyond.
And behind him, the body bag which was now empty, slid down the grass before landing in the drainage ditch which was swollen from rain and now tinted with the blood of those who had fallen without understand what it was that was attacking them.
Silently, the bag vanished into the maw of the storm drain, to be carried towards the Pacific, just as the first hints of headlights from the relief force began to come into sight over the foothills.
Beth looked around the sprawling landscape of one of Sunnydale's gothic cemeteries, idly comparing it to the monuments to the dead back on Torrill.
Although it wasn't the largest of the twelve gothic cemeteries, it dwarfed all seven of the memorial gardens, and none of the nine mausoleum complexes could even compare.
But, despite all of that, there was still a haunting beauty to some of the buildings. Statues of crying angels and kneeling saints decorated some of the tombs. Ornate stone crosses, some of which were large enough to actually crucify someone on.
The eldest Summers' daughter, absently rubbed her wrists, and the faint scars which still decorated her forearms, as that thought passed through her mind.
But, before her thoughts could drift to the past, a sound in the underbrush to her left caught her attention.
Her eyes swiveled to the tree line which marked the rear boundary of Chancery Hill Cemetery as the sounds of someone, or something, moving around in the shrubs.
Moving towards her.
Beth fell into a relaxed stance, taking a deep breath, as she readied herself against the probability of whatever was just out of sight, came at her in anything but a friendly manner.
Then, to her surprise, the sounds of movement stopped.
Silently, she stood there, waiting for whatever it was to make its move.
And so she stood there...
And stood there...
After close to three minutes, despite the progress she had made in her ability to remain calm in situation, Beth decided she'd had enough.
"Ok, whoever or whatever you are," she announced as she pointed her stake at the shrubs. "You come out of there, right now, or..."
Before she even could finish her sentence, Beth watched as a young man, who was as naked as the jaybird which was laughing somewhere in the woods, came stumbling out of the brush.
"Well, there's something you don't see every day," commented the Slayer as she looked at the young man who was standing there, seemingly in a daze. "And," she said after looking him up and down, "Have to say, anybody who does, kinda lucky... But, don't suppose your clothes are anywhere in the woods? And, mind covering up? "
When he just looked at her, not moving, Beth muttered about not a demon, just a weirdo, and motioned for him to place his hands in front of himself, which after two promptings, he did.
But as he hunched over to cover himself, Beth noticed the ice crystals which were matted into his hair, and the dried blood which was smeared and spattered across his torso.
"Ok, maybe not a weirdo. Naked guy, dried blood, Sunnydale night, and ice in his hair when it's close to seventy degrees..." She looked at him as she was muttering. "Yep, it's a Hellmouth special." Then, raising her voice, she spoke the young man, who looked to be in his late teens or perhaps early twenties. "Ok guy, you're going to be ok... I'm going to help you... Do you live around here?"
The question drew no response from the young man, save a quizzical look, so Beth tried again.
"Do you know where here is? Where you're at?"
After a moment of thought, he shook his head.
"Ok... Let's try something easier. What's your name?"
The naked guy opened his mouth to respond, but after a heartbeat, he closed it again. A look of concentration was evident of his face, but it was quickly replaced by despair. "I... I don't know..."
Beth looked at the young man, seeing the despair beginning to shift to panic, as he realized what the lack of that knowledge meant. Reaching out, she took his hand in hers, and squeezed gently to reassure him through human contact. "Come on, whoever you are. Let's get you some help."
As she led him out of the cemetery to her waiting Jeep, Beth felt drops of moisture hitting her hand, but refrained from looking over to see if it was the remains of the melted ice from his hair, or tears.
Beth pulled her jeep up to the side door of the mansion before parking it.
Looking to the passenger seat, she gave the young man, who was now wrapped in a mylar emergency blanket, another once over before speaking.
"Ok, my friends should be inside. And, they're a little weird, so.... Try not to let them get to you, ok?"
The guy looked down at the silvery space blanket which was wrapped around him. "For some reason, I'm thinking that you're warning me that they're weird, should be worrying me..."
Beth smiled and stepped out of the Jeep, then walked around to the front of the vehicle,
"Come on inside," she said as she offered him a hand out of the Jeep. "My friends should be able to help you, get you some clothes and some food at least." Opening the door, which was hardly ever locked, Beth entered the house, pulling the guy along. Then, following the sound of voices, she led the way to the living room.
"Hey guys, he followed me home..." said Beth as the conversation came to a screeching halt as the gang took notice of the naked guy wrapped in an emergency blanket standing in the living room. "Can we keep him?"
"Now, there's something you don't see every day," muttered Xander.
"Beth bringing a naked guy home."
"Even Faith used to let em keep their clothes till they hit the bedroom. Guess Beth couldn't wait till she got him home..." said Dawn from her sprawled out position on the couch.
Without hesitation, Beth flipped her youngest sister the bird. "I found him up at Raven Hill, wandering around in the bushes, naked as a jaybird."
"I'm right here, you know," said the aforementioned guy, pulling the emergency blanket a little tighter.
"Right, sorry about that," said Beth.
"Sorry about what," asked Cordelia as she entered the room, munching on a carrot stick. "And," she paused, "we have a naked guy in the living room." She took another bite of carrot. "So, not that he's really hard to look at, but it might not be a bad idea to get him some clothes." She looked him up and down. "Some of Xander's workout gear would probably fit him, although he's a little taller, so the inseam might not be quite long enough." Another bite of carrot. "So, are we going to let him get dressed or keep him standing around wrapped in a blanket? And who are you anyway?"
"That's Cordelia, by the way," said Xander as an introduction. "I'm Xander, this is my place. Dawn's on the couch and who he is, Cor, is exactly what we're trying to figure out. Beth, I'm assuming you asked him the basics on the way over?"
The eldest Slayer nodded. "Yep, standard questions. Who are you, where are you from, why are you wandering around naked. Pretty standard answers for amnesia I guess."
"Amnesia doesn't usually involve naked people as far as I know," muttered the unnamed young man.
Before anyone else could ask any questions, a faint buzzing from his pocket brought Xander's attention to his cell phone, which he pulled out and checked. Upon seeing Merlin's avatar displayed on the screen, Xander rolled his eyes and answered it.
"Commander, I have been listening into the situation, and have taken the liberty of searching the missing persons for the surrounding areas..."
"Great to hear from you too, Merlin," said Xander, ignoring the AE's opening comments.
"Somehow, I doubt that... But, I appreciate the false concern." The synthesized voice conveying that, if an AI could be said to be annoyed, Merlin definitely was at the moment. "As I was saying, I have taken the liberty of searching the missing persons reports and police dispatches for the surrounding area, and I have been unable to match your house guest to any persons listed therein."
Xander nodded. "Ok, so either he's not show up as missing yet, or somebody wants him to stay unnoticed. Either way, we can't exactly take him to the PD. Thanks Merlin. Call back if you've got anything else." Closing his phone, Xander looked back at the girls and their guest. "Merlin's got nothing," he announced. "If you guys are ok watching him, I'll go grab him some sweats." When the girls nodded, Xander headed for the stairs.
"So," said Cordelia after the room was uncomfortably silent. "We can't keep calling you hey you, or previously naked guy. So, what do we call you, anyway?"
Beth shook her head. "Amnesia, Cordy... He doesn't know who he is."
"I KNOW that," replied the former head of the Sunnydale social elite. "But we have to call him something."
"Nemo," said the young man quietly.
"Nemo?" asked Cordelia and Beth almost simultaneously.
But only the Slayer continued. "Why Nemo?"
The young man now known as Nemo simply shrugged. "Seemed like as good a name as anything."
"It means 'Nobody'," said Dawn from her position on the couch. "Latin for 'nobody' or 'no one', in fact. He doesn't know who he is, so he's nobody." Her eyes met his, and for a moment, the young man felt as if the darkly clothed young woman was peering into his soul. "So, you know Latin?"
"Not that I know of," he replied. "But, I guess it's possible."
"Well, stick around here long enough, you'll probably pick it up,"
said the young blood mage.
"I miss anything?" asked Xander as he re-entered the room.
"Well, he wants to go by Nemo, and he doesn't think he knows Latin, yet he picked a name from it," recapped Cordelia as Xander handed Nemo a pile of clothes.
"You're in luck," said Xander as he pointed to the two still sealed packaged of underwear on the top of the pile. "We just stocked up on emergency clothes not too long ago, so you can take either boxers or briefs."
"Care to tell us which you prefer?" said Dawn with a sultry smile to which Nemo simply muttered how the hell was he supposed to know.
The comment made Xander wince. "Dawn, I am so glad your mom isn't over here to listen to you talk like that..."
"Why not? Pretty soon I'll legally be of age, not just chronologically. Anyway, I'm sick of the double standard between Buffy and me..."
"Dawn, come on," said Beth. "You know mom is trying."
"Yeah, I know... I'm just tired of her trying to act like I'm still her little girl, when Buffy doesn't even want me in the same house."
"Can you blame her?" asked Beth.
"Yes," came the simple response. But anyone who knew her, could hear the irritation and pain in that single word.
From her position in the doorway, Cordelia winced, causing Dawn to feel guilty.
"Sorry C," said the younger looking teen. "I'll try and keep a lid on it."
"It's ok," replied the other brunette.
"And Buffy will get over it sooner or later. She just doesn't know how to handle it, she's still young."
"You really think she'll get over it, Beth?" asked Cordelia.
"Don't see me treating Dawn bad over it, do you?" said the eldest of the Summers' girls.
"Good point," said the ex-cheerleader.
Nemo, who by this point, was looking a tad bit uncomfortable, spoke up. "Umm, don't suppose there's a place I can change into this stuff around here?"
Cordy shook her head. "Come on, mister forgetful, I'll show you where the bathroom is."
Once the two had departed, Xander spoke up. "Ok, since Merlin hasn't found anything on the electronic side, and Cordy would have pointed out if she was getting weird vibes off the guy, I'm thinking we need to see what else we can do... Any thoughts?"
"Well, if technical wizardry isn't the answer," said Dawn. "Then what about some mystical?"
"You think you can figure anything out?" asked Beth.
Dawn shrugged. "I'm still working on stuff, and honestly, aura reading isn't really my thing. And with Tara out of town, I'm thinking Jacks is probably the best bet."
Xander nodded and reached for his fold com. Moments later he was connected and speaking to the half fey Knight. The conversation was short and sweet and Xander quickly disconnected. "She and Vin will be over momentarily. They just finished up dinner. I told her it wasn't an emergency so they shouldn't rush."
"Ok, we're back," announced Cordy as she led the other man back into the room and set him down on the couch.
"Umm... Hi..." said the young man, looking a bit nervous as everyone was staring at him.
"So, I'm guessing there's some kind of plan?" asked Cordy.
"Yeah, since Merlin's coming up empty, we called Jacks," announced Xander. "She's going to come over and give him a once over, see if she can maybe get any hints about who our friend here is..."
"Ah, okay..." said Cordy, then paused for a moment. "Considering how Jacks gets over here sometimes, and the fact we have a person who might be, shall we say, surprised, by Jacks and her travel plans, I'm hoping you told her to come on Vin's bike?"
Xander was silent for a heartbeat, then grabbed for the phone.
But, before he could dial, there was a flash of light and two more people were standing in the room before them.
"Well, this isn't going to be difficult to explain," muttered Dawn.
But even as she was speaking, Nemo's attention wasn't on either her, or the two people who had just materialized in the center of the room. Instead, he was grabbing the sides of his head and looking like someone who was doing their best to keep from throwing up.
Vin, on the other hand, had tensed up a split second after appearing in the room, but quickly took in the situation and in two steps was in front of the young man. Reaching out with a hand, he ordered the younger man to look at him. "It'll pass in a moment," he said firmly.
Xander looked back and forth between the two... "Oh, Shit..." said the Commander as he put the pieces together. "He's an Immortal?"
After Xander's revelation, the conversation came to a grinding halt for a moment, before Nemo spoke up, breaking the silence.
"Ok, not that this day is normal in anyway, and I feel like I should probably be having a nervous breakdown pretty quick here, or," he paused for a moment. "Maybe I'm already having a nervous breakdown. Isn't that a happy though? Anyway, I'm standing here in the middle of some stranger's room, after wandering around naked a cemetery of all places, and then I get a headache and feel like I want to hurl. And, now on top of all of that, you guys use the word Immortal, and mind you even I could hear the capitalized letter at the beginning, and that's pretty much on par with being...." his voice trailed off.
"With being what?" asked Dawn.
"Don't know... It was like the thought just kinda faded out." Nemo looked a tad perplexed. "Look, would somebody please tell me what the hell is going on here, and, secondly, why aren't any of you freaked out about this whole thing?"
Everybody, save Nemo, turned and looked at Vin.
The tracker sighed. "You know, I'm not good at this whole turning your life upside down thing. I got the speech one time, and I've never had to give it..."
"Still, one time makes you our resident expert. That and you're an Immortal as well," retorted Xander.
"Yeah," muttered the young man as he looked at the lunatics who he was sharing the room with. "I am SO hoping this has got to be a delusion caused by me having a nervous breakdown..."
"An Immortal with amnesia...." Dawn shook her head. "Is that even possible?"
Everybody looked at Vin, who simply shrugged. "I've heard of some weird things after a Quickening. But, honestly, he doesn't have much of a wallop to his, so I'm assuming he's pretty young or he hasn't racked up too many heads..."
"Ok, I'm really not liking the sound of this..." muttered Nemo. "I don't suppose somebody could, I don't know, explain what's going on here?"
"Come with me," said Vin, taking the younger man by the arm and leading him from the room.
"I wonder how many variants on, 'your world as you know it is over' speech there are..." mused Dawn. "Of course, he's got amnesia, so does he really have a 'world as he knows it'?"
Beth looked at her sister and rolled her eyes. "You weren't this bad the first time around. You know that, right?"
"I decided being good was boring," retorted Dawn before turning her attention to Xander.
"ANYWAY," said Xander as he tried to get the conversation. "What are our options here?"
"Call Amanda?" suggested Beth. "Or maybe that MacLeod guy?"
"MacLeod doesn't know us, I don't think," responded Xander. "And Amanda tends to ask for favors."
"What do you mean, MacLeod doesn't know us. He was on the... Oh, yeah, hasn't happened yet... Do we know any other sword swingers?"
"Vin does... I'll probably let him handle that part of it..." said Xander after a moment's thought. "Andy doesn't really interact with too many Immortals, so I doubt he'd know either. If nothing else, I'll put the word out to the Cadre, see if any of them know anything. But, in the meantime, we definitely need to do some recon, poke around in his head a tiny bit, see if we can learn anything. And without Tara here to check out his aura, the best thing I can think of is some work in the Dreaming." He looked over at Jacks. "You up for it, Lieutenant?" he asked.
"Well, all things considered, I'm not thrilled about it, but I guess I need to get over it sooner or later."
Before she could say more, Vin led Nemo back in, and it was pretty obvious the young man was shaken.
"Yeah, we've all had those kind of talks," said Beth as she looked at Nemo sympathetically. "It's never easy...."
"I think I need to lay down," said Nemo. "Or maybe throw up." He paused, thinking. "Maybe both."
"You're welcome to the guest room..." said Xander.
"I'll show him," volunteered Jacks. "And then Vin and I have to get home. But we'll be back in the morning, k?"
"Sounds good..." Xander replied.
Before the Fey and the two Immortals could depart, Beth yawned. "I've got a little more to do before I can crash tonight, so I'll see you guys in the morning as well."
"Don't suppose I could tempt you to stay over?" said Xander.
"Nah, you've got work to do tonight..." Beth said with a smile. "Maybe soon though..." And with that, the elder Slayer parted ways for the night.
Xander looked over at Jacks. "See you after you're asleep," he commented.
"Oh... Kinky..." quipped Dawn.
"Later guys," said Jacks as she led Vin and Nemo out of the room.
Dawn pulled off her boots and stretched out on the couch. "Can you kill the lights and get out of here so I can get some sleep, X?"
The young man who owned the house looked at Dawn and debated on making a comment about her crashing there again, but before he decided one way or another, Dawn spoke up.
"You know, if you don't like me on the couch Xan, I can always sleep with you..." said the young woman.
"Dawn, you have two sisters who are Slayers. And let's not forget Faith..."
"True... And you've slept with two of them... Think they'd want to join in?"
Xander made it to his room only slightly slower than he could have in a Hammerhead.
And promptly locked the door.
'She does know how to pick locks, Alexander' said Elan, just as her Bearer was laying down.
'You're not helping...' Xander looked around the room. "Maybe if I blocked the door with the dresser...."
Xander looked around as he winked into existence within the pseudo-space that was Nemo's mind within the Dreaming.
"I've always said the minds of young men are scary," commented Jacks from her position behind Xander and Elan, both of whom turned to see her, as well as Kaina'tal, who stood behind her Bearer. "But, I never thought I'd see actual proof of it."
Xander nodded absently as he took in the view around him. "This looks about as bad as my mind did when I was thrown back through time... And a lot worse than when I took on Glory..."
Elan looked over at him. "And your use of the past tense means you think your mind is somehow orderly now?" she said, a smirk visible on her face.
"Oh, hah hah," replied Xander as he continued his examination. "I mean, this place is completely trashed. Have you ever seen anything like this?" he asked, directing the question of the three women who were there with him. "And, come to think of it, shouldn't Nemo be around here someplace?"
The floor began to explore their surroundings, and none were happy at what they saw. What looked to at one time be building, landmarks which meant something to the young man, were now twisted, scorched piles of rubble, which had been mostly covered over by dirt and debris.
"I found him!" yelled Kiana'tal, causing the others to converge on her location. "And something else..."
Everyone else arrived quickly, and found Kiana'tal standing over what seemed to be a washed out form of Nemo. Her white, unseeing eyes were drifting over the horizon, as Nemo lay on the ground at her feet.
But, except for the slow inhale and exhale of breath, the young man was still.
"Ok... He shouldn't be like that, should he?" asked Xander. "I mean, with company in here and all?"
"No, but then I felt that as well," said Jacks' Rune weapon, as she pointed to the side.
The other three then saw the only item which was visible in the Dreaming which seemed to be intact. Hidden in the mists of Nemo's mind stood a dome, arcing up out of the ground and reaching a height of about fifteen feet higher than the surrounding ground.
"Well, this probably is relevant," said Xander as the four moved towards the smooth surface, the mist retreating as they did so.
Reaching out to touch the surface of the dome, Jacks quickly yanked her hand back as the shimmering blue surface coalesced where she touched it and delivered a rather sharp shock. "Well, that's a bit of an aggressive defense," said the half fey. "But, that's his Quickening there."
"The dome was probably constructed instinctually, as some kind of last ditch defense against whatever it was that did all of this," said Elan as she gestured broadly with her hand. "I have heard of similar occurrences before, but never when there was a Quickening involved. Given the level of devastation that we see here, someone or something with significant power attacked this man, and left naught but ruin behind."
"But, doesn't the dome mean that the defense held?" asked Xander.
"There is no way to know," answered Elan, with Kiana'tal nodding in agreement. "The person who once lived here may have erected the dome as a final defense, despite being gravely damaged, retreating into his own mind, so to speak. They could be behind that shield, intact, or just a fragment of consciousness. There is no way for us to know what remains of the original personality, and without knowing exactly what happened here, there is no way to know. The fact that he is coherent and conscious suggests to me that whatever is left behind there," she gestured at the dome again, "is probably lost forever, and that the mind, the soul, if you will, has decided to start fresh, rather than simply curl up and die. It speaks well of his will to live, but I fear there is nothing we can do to breech that dome that will not completely shatter what is left here."
Jacks knelt down beside the still form of the young man she simply knew as Nemo, laying on the ground. "We'll figure this out for you," she said softly.
"Yeah, we will," agreed Xander. "But I have the feeling this isn't going to be a quick fix. We'll hit the books in the morning, see if we can't come across anything similar. Till then, everybody get out of here and get some sleep."
With a nod, Xander and Elan were gone from Nemo's mind, leaving Jacks and Kiana'tal standing there. "Look at him, Kiana," said the white haired witch. "I look at him, Kaina and can't help but think of how we spent ninety years trying to forget and he's here all alone, with no way to remember..." A tear rolled down her face. Before she lost her composure completely, Jacks and her companion vanished.
The Dreaming was once again empty and silent, with Nemo laying unmoving on the ground, and the dome once again being partially hidden by the mists, unbroken except for a faint flash of silver that was quickly covered up once more by the rippling blue energy of the Quickening.
Jacks was staring out the window, looking into the pre-dawn twilight, when Vin found her. He pulled her back to rest against his chest, her head resting in that just perfect place right over his heart.
"Something got your feathers in a ruffle, Snowbird?"
"It's about Nemo..." replied the white haired beauty.
"I kinda figured it would be. Anything in particular?" asked the Immortal bounty hunter.
"First, he needs trained."
"Ayup, he does. You know I'm not a great teacher."
"You did wonders with Dawn, and even Faith has picked up a trick or two from you."
"Faith sees something, does it once, she's got it down cold. At least for the stuff I can show her. There's no mental aspect in dirty tricks. As for Dawn, she's a good student... Better'n I was at her age."
"I've seen what you learned when you were her age. Don't try and sell me that she's a better student."
"Snowbird," said Vin seriously, still not moving, making sure she was pressed against him. "I've never taken on a student, not for the whole Immortal thing. I don't know the first thing about teachin."
"You'll do fine, Vin Tanner. There's not a doubt in my mind..."
Vin shook his head. "A teacher... Me? If the boys could see this, I'd never hear the end of it."
"They'd be proud of you," Jacks said, her voice confident. "I am.... And if you have any problems, you could always talk to Chavez... He's helped a few over the years, hasn't he?"
"Maybe... He's got some experience, not to mention some good contacts for ID and such. Better than one of the boy scouts I guess."
Jacks kind of leaned her head back to look up at him. "Why not just have Merlin create him an identity?"
"Because I'd rather he had the choice as to what he wanted to do, and as much as I know this whole thing is a part of you, you know that I never like counting on a sure thing. But, it doesn't matter... We're agreed that I'll take him on as a student. So, what's the second question?"
"I want to move Nemo in here," she said after a moment.
"Well, it would be easier for me to teach him if he's living here, but Xander has more room at his place," Vin pointed out. "Beside, there's no way to know if he'll even want ta be sticking around."
Jacks twisted in his arms and stared up at him.
"Alright, I can't see them letting him walk away neither, but that ain't what ya mean is it?"
"I know he's not a child, but... couldn't he be our son?" Her arms slid around his hips as she spoke, longing painting her voice with a sort of pain. "He's lost so much. His past, his memories. Even his Mortality. We can be his parents for this new life."
"Good thing we both understand the livin' forever thing," the Texan said, brushing a lock of stark white hair out of his lifemate's face. "But Xander still has more room to train him."
Jacks grinned and shrugged. "I wasn't suggesting we train here. This place would be for teaching him other skills. Like blending in with ordinary mortals. That life does not begin and end with fighting..."
"That he can find someone to share his life with, no matter how long they have together," Vin concluded. He dropped a kiss on her forehead. "We'll ask him about it. He may not remember a lot a things, but he's no little kid."
"Does that mean I get to keep him?" Jacks asked excitedly.
Vin smirked down at her. "He ain't a puppy, darlin. But, if you want, he can move in."
Nemo stumbled his way down the stairs, the smells of breakfast having raised him from the deep sleep he had sunk into as soon as he laid down. As he entered the kitchen and dining area, which he noted was large enough to feed an army with, the young man with no past couldn't help but notice that not only were all the people from the night before present, but it looked like they'd been talking amongst each other while Xander whipped up breakfast.
"Have a seat," said Xander politely, but there was a hint of steel in his voice, at least until Nemo complied. "Breakfast is almost ready, so grab some juice and we'll have a plate in front of you."
"Uh... Ok..." said Nemo as he looked around the room, still trying to adjust to what he both knew was a surreal situation, yet, somehow wasn't as shocked as he knew he should have been. Seconds later, a plate piled high with food was slid in front of him.
"I talked to Faith this morning," Xander told everybody else. "She and her team were supposed to be back last night, but apparently, they found themselves some solid intel on a second major nest and decided to clear it before heading back, so, she should roll back in sometime tonight. That puts her team off rotation for the week then, so we'll have to adjust the schedule accordingly."
Nemo just sat there, his fork stopped halfway to his mouth, as he realized there was a lot more going on here than met the eye, and that was saying something when these people were telling him that he was Immortal, and he needed to use a sword before somebody tried to cut off his head to steal his soul or Quickening or whatever it was.
Xander looked back at Nemo. "I know, this is probably a lot for you to take in. Believe it or not, there's more, but we'll let you adjust to this before we drop the other shoe on you."
Nemo nodded silently. "It can't be any weirder than what I've already been through..."
"First word of advice," said Dawn. "Never say things like that in this town. All you're doing is giving it a challenge..."
"Dawn, stop trying to scare the new guy..." said Beth, interrupting her sister.
"Anyway," Xander said, a tone of exasperation in his voice as he tried to regain control over the conversation. "Look Nemo. I know this probably sounds like a whole shitload of bizarre to you, but it's all true."
"And, as weird as it sounds, I guess I can accept it," interjected Nemo. "I wish I could just say that I believe that you believed it, but what Vin showed me, and the nausea, I can't really deny it, not and be honest with myself."
"Well, that' a start," agreed Xander. "But, now the rest of the reality. You've got no experience. You've got no skills, no place to go and nobody else you can go to for help. We, on the other hand, are pretty good at helping those in need. So, I was going to offer you a place here, we've still got a couple of extra rooms, even though Dawn prefers the couch to a room of her own..."
"I'm not moving in..." Dawn said stubbornly. "As soon as Buffy gets the stick out of her ass, I can sleep in my own bed again."
"Yeah, anyway, we've still got a couple of extra rooms. I was originally going to offer you a place here, as well as training, no strings attached, but then I was approached with another plan." He looked over to Jacks, who nodded.
"Nemo, if you're interested, we'd like you to move in with us, and Vin and I would like to offer you a place to call home..."
"Merlin, you listening?" asked Xander as he took a seat behind the massive desk which served as the focal point of his home office.
"Of course, Commander..." responded the entity whose electronic tendrils reached out from a small outpost in the Pacific, to encompass the world. "Despite operational realities, I do tend to keep an eye on you, if you'll excuse the analogy.
Xander chuckled. "With all the surveillance we have in here, I'm pretty sure it's not far from the truth." Then, the humorous tone left the young man's voice. "How goes the search?"
Merlin paused for a heartbeat before responding, giving him the equivalent of hours to review all the raw data he had gathered. "As of now, Commander, I have been unable to locate any references to your guest in any state or federal law enforcement agencies, nor in any active missing persons cases nationwide. Given the fact that he is an Immortal, it is possible that he was a foundling, so, I am currently delving into the foster system, nationwide. A process, which I might add, is slowed significantly by the lack of modern systems in place in the social services agencies."
The young man who had started off on a road trip and now both a month, and years later, depending on how you looked at it, steepled his fingers and thought before speaking. "Ok, I'm hoping this is all on the up and up, but I've got too many people to look out for. I'd like to think that him staying with Jacks would be enough, but I've got the feeling that if this does turn out to be a trap of some kind, it's probably a long term thing, and she may not remain objective. Hell, I like the guy, feel for him too, so odds are, I won't be objective either, at least when it comes to keeping an eye on him. So, Merlin, I'm going to ask you to keep ongoing surveillance on Nemo, and if you decide that there is something wrong, that he is up to no good, then you take whatever steps are required to insure the safety and security of Knighthood personnel in regards to the man we're calling Nemo. And keep this between you and me at this time. The others don't need to know what we're doing to keep them safe."
"As the Commander of the Crusaders, that is your prerogative. But, I must ask for clarification, Commander. What are the action limits for this order?"
"Whatever it takes to keep my people safe, Merlin. Whatever it takes. Are we clear?"
The being known as Merlin was silent once again, this time for over a second. "Understood, Commander."
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