Dark Places in the House Of Scooby by Mike and Tony

Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer: We do not own Buffy, the Vampire Slayer nor do I own any other characters. This is a work of fiction written for fun and enjoyment.
Distribution: The Mystic Muse http://mysticmuse.net
The House of Scooby http://home.iprimus.com.au/o163210/
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Feedback: Is appreciated
Authors' notes: This is a collaborative effort between Tony and me due to Tony's illness.
Grouping: Willow/Buffy/Xander

Summary: Whoever fights with monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And when you look into the abyss, the abyss also looks into you.

Buffy awoke just after dawn. Slowly she took in her surrounds. The first thing she noticed was she wasn't in her own room. The second was that she was naked. The third was the fact she wasn't alone in her nudity.

Willow lay on her back; her hair spilling out over the sheets, her mouth open and a gentle snore emanating from her cute mouth. Buffy remembered last night. She remembered how she saw the strength and fiery passion that lay beneath the beautiful and gentle exterior.

Buffy watched contentedly the rise and fall of Willow's chest as she slept and the gentle bump-bump of her heart beat. She felt the warmth of Willow's body and drank in the unique scent that was Willow. In a world filled with cold hard death, here, in its most pure form, lay warm soft life.

A strand of hair was caught in the corner of Willow's mouth and Buffy gently brushed the hair out of her mouth causing Willow to wake with a start.

"It's a very good morning." Buffy said as she watched the sheets slide down Willow's body as she stretched revealing more of her feminine curves. Willow covered herself up and smiled at the Slayer.

"Me? Horn dog? Pot, this is kettle, radio check, over!" Buffy said with mock indignation.

"Yes, you, horn dog. You're lucky my parents aren't here. They would have come busting in last night thinking you were being ax murdered."

"You're giving me a lecture on being a little noisy during sex Willow Rosenberg A.K.A Fiona De Moaner."

"Hey! You'd be a moaner too if you had someone doing seriously sexy things to you do with their tongue."

"I was and I did." The two girls laughed and snuggled up together for a few minutes.

"No, all happy and comfy." Willow said as she ran her finger in lazy circles around Buffy's belly button. Buffy kissed the top of Willow's head and traced the outline of her ear.

"Us, this, everything. None of it would have happened if it weren't for Xander coming back and changing it all. Without him we would have kept going down the road to our destruction."

"What are ya getting at here Buffy? You wanna get down on your knees in front of the Lord and thank him for Xander?"

"BUFFY!! Damn! I was right! You ARE a complete horn dog!" Willow laughed and poked the Slayer in the ribs.

"Hey!" replied Buffy and whacked Willow with a pillow. Willow put her resolve face on.

"OK birthday girl, you asked for it!" and launched into vigorously tickling Buffy. A tickle fight ensued, filling the room with the happy sounds of playful laughter.

It was them, but it wasn't. The sadness and loss he had felt before was overwhelmed by sheer terror. They had turned their back on him before, but now they gave him their undivided attention. He was their play thing; their puppy to kick and torment.

He remembered how in the past their touch brought comfort and solace. But now it only brought pain and suffering. His left arm dangled uselessly by his side, broken bone visible through his skin in several places. His lungs struggled to function as pain from his shattered ribs sent convulsions through his body that was a mass of cuts and bruises.

She backed off; her feral smile framed incongruently by her beautiful blonde hair. His field of vision was filled with a face so familiar from nearly 18 years of looking at it that he close his eyes could describe its every detail. But it was a mask that was worn by a stranger. An imperfect mask with its pale, veiny skin and black hair to match her black eyes.

All thoughts were washed away by the sound and the smell of his own flesh burning.

Xander awoke with a gasp, his heart racing and his body coated in a sheen of sweat. It took him a moment to come down from his nightmare. He'd being having them more regularly of late. He absently rubbed his left arm and remembered the pain.

The most frightening thing was the fact that the nightmares were in fact memories.

The doorbell rang and Xander pulled on a t-shirt and a pair of sweat pants and went to the door.

"I thought we were going out to see that Star Wars marathon. If you've changed your mind then…"

As part of their efforts to change what happened the gang had made an effort to befriend Jonathan, reasoning that if he had some friends then the Nerds of Doom would be down one. Much to their surprise, once they got to know him, he was a pretty nice guy. Xander and Willow especially bonded with him, recognizing that he was very similar to them and they shared a lot of interests in common.

Xander saw that, but for the grace of meeting each other, he and Willow would have turned out exactly like Jonathan, except in Xander's case, without the brains. His contact with the Scoobies had given Jonathan a measure of confidence and self respect that he lacked before.

He wasn't an active member of the Scooby Gang by any means. One patrol had been enough for him to realize he wasn't cut out in the combat department. But he did help on occasions to research with Giles, Willow, and Ms Calendar and between the four of them they had formed a pretty powerful research team.

"Don't turn it up too loud or you'll wake my parents." Xander warned. As usual they were still in bed sleeping off whatever they had drank the night before. They wouldn't take too kindly to being woken this morning.

When Xander returned 15 minutes later he found Jonathan watching the local news channel. The screen showed Mayor Wilkins handcuffed and being shoved into a car by men in windbreakers with FBI emblazoned on the back.

"What's happening?" Xander asked. He already had a good idea of what was going on.

"The FBI has arrested the Mayor for tax evasion, corruption, and his role in the kidnapping and murder of several of his political opponents." Jonathan saw the smile on Xander's face.

"I can't claim all the credit. Willow did some hacking and dug up enough evidence for us to get the feds interested. We anonymously dangled the tax evasion thing in front of the IRS and the kidnapping in front of the FBI and they took the bait. The Mayor may be a big shot here in Sunnydale but he's a rat next to the 800-pound gorilla that is the Uncle Sam."

"Good. Could you hold the door open while I bring in Buffy's birthday gift?" Xander asked.

"Sure." Joyce said and watched as Xander brought in a large object covered in a blanket.

The party was going well. It was a low-key event with only Buffy, her mom, Willow, Xander, Giles, Jenny, and Jonathan there. Buffy had a huge smile on her face as she received her presents. Jonathan gave her a relaxation CD with sounds of the rainforest. Her mom gave her a beautiful pendant; Giles and Jenny gave her an antique jewelry box; Willow gave her basket full of scented soaps and oils.

"So, you think Buffy stinks, do ya Wills?" Xander smirked. Willow whacked him on the arm and gave him a dirty look. Xander laughed and rubbed his arm where she had hit him.

It was a beautiful wooden weapons chest. It was covered in intricate carvings of scenes of Buffy, Willow, Xander, and Giles in various situations. Battle scenes such as the Sisterhood of Jhe with Xander facing down Jack O'Toole in the basement while his friends battle the Hellmouth above; Graduation with the student army while Buffy faces the huge form of the Mayor/demon; combo Buffy fighting ADAM; and the Scoobies fighting Glory were carved on the sides.

But most prominent as what was carved on the lid. In each corner was the carved face of Buffy, Willow, Xander, and Giles. In the center was carved a scene of the four of them sitting around the library table researching. The warm smiles and obvious closeness between the four spoke volumes of the bond they shared.

Buffy looked at Xander with huge tears in her eyes. Xander and Willow gave Buffy a group hug as she shed tears of happiness. The two female Scoobies felt Xander's whole body stiffen and Buffy heard his heart race. They looked up at him with concern.

Xander's head snapped down and he looked first at Buffy then Willow with terror in his eyes.

"Buffy, I think I know what's wrong. But I need to talk to Xander first, OK? You need to give me some time. If you want to help him, then let me do it."

"So the nightmares are more frequent?" Giles asked Xander as the two men sat on Giles' sofa. Xander had told Giles of the nightmares and had shown him the scars on his body from his final battle with Buffy and Willow just before they became the First Evil.

"Yeah. But they're not nightmares, more like vivid memories. One moment I'm hugging Buff and Wills, next thing it's like I'm back there being tortured by their evil versions. I don't know what's happening to me."

"I believe what you had is called a flashback. This, plus the nightmares, and everything else you've told me seem to point to a case of post traumatic stress disorder."

"Post traumatic stress disorder. It's a reaction to traumatic events such as your torture or prolonged exposure to stressful events."

"Giles, reality check here. In my timeline Kendra lasted, what, six or eight months? How often does a Slayer make it to 18? Or 21?"

"That's right. Between the vamps and the Watchers Council your average Slayer doesn't stand a chance. But Buffy isn't your average Slayer, is she? She doesn't fight alone; she isn't cut off from the world. She's got you, and me, and Willow, and her mom, and Angel, and Kendra, and everything else. Buffy made it to 23, but even she fell too. The stress of it all got her. She cut herself off from us, the world, everything. She succumbed to the darkness."

"Xander, that's all very well and good, but we're talking about you, not Buffy."

"I know we are, but think about it. Who among our original little groups was the least likely to get stressed?"

Giles conceded the point. The longer they fought the more likely they would suffer from PTSD and sitting right in front of him was living proof that it would take a heavy toll on them all. If they wished to survive for anything approaching a reasonable period of time then management of PTSD was important. But right now he needed to help Xander.

"No, they're not a part of the Watchers Council, they work at the university here. They're aware of the, er, reality, of Sunnydale. I'll give her a call and she can get in touch with you."

Xander nodded his assent to the proposal. He knew deep down that he needed help. He needed to remove this block between the girls and himself if he wanted a healthy relationship with them. But there were a couple of other things he needed done as well.

"Alright. I'll do it. But I also want her to come up with ways to help to stop this from happening in you guys as well."

"I'm sure she can. But you will need to talk to Buffy and Willow about what happened today."

"Xander, it isn't your fault. But you do need to talk to them. They love you and they're concerned about you, which is only natural. You need to tell them everything."

Xander exhaled loudly. Part of him didn't want to do it. The fragments of his shattered male pride coupled with his overwhelming desire not to hurt Buffy and Willow made him somewhat unwilling to talk to them about it. But most of him knew Giles was right.

"I will, but I need you to talk to them first. Tell them about this disorder thing; you can explain it way better than me."

Xander looked at the man more his father that his biological one with deep gratitude in his eyes.

"Look, Spike is still out there and there's still the potential matter of him reassembling the Judge. I need to access my soldier memories so we can get the rocket launcher to blast that big blue bastard to bits. Remember, no weapon forged? Mr. Anti Tank Missile is made, not forged. You can do that hypnosis thing and help me remember. And while we're at it you can dig around and help me remember other stuff as well. People will die if I can't remember important stuff. People have already died." Xander said impassionedly, thinking of Oz. Giles knew Xander was referring to Oz being killed.

"You are aware that you're changing things, making them different. The more time passes the fewer things will happen exactly as you remember them. There will come the time that you will have no more knowledge of the future than the rest of us."

"I know that OK? I watch Star Trek, I know about time travel stuff. But right now my memories are still on the money and we need to access them or we're screwed."

They had gone around to Xander's place later that night after Giles had told them what had happened with Xander. The three of them had spoken until the wee small hours about Xander and his experiences and feelings.

As the dawn's early light filtered through the curtains of Xander's bedroom, Buffy found herself deep in thought. The three of them lay snuggled together in a chaste embrace on Xander's bed. Willow was snuggled on one side of Xander and Buffy on the other. She marveled at their oneness, marveled at the fact that even as they slept they breathed together.

The talk had exposed a side of Xander that they had never guessed existed. A deeply wounded man, someone who had undergone the worst hells at the very hands of the two people he loved most. He had a huge heart, but it was a heart covered in scars.

However, no matter how badly he had been hurt, no matter what their counterparts did to him, he loved both of them unconditionally.

Buffy wondered how could he do it. How could he spend day after day with the very same people who brutally tortured and maimed him for fun, let alone love them? She felt revolted at the very idea that she and Willow were capable of anything like what Xander described. It was like he was describing the actions of another person, someone with their bodies and memories and certain personality traits but nothing else.

Maybe that was it. She remembered when the hyena had possessed Xander and how much it had hurt Willow. But here Willow was, snuggled up to him both deeply asleep and deeply in love with him. She knows that it wasn't Xander, not the real Xander at any rate. Xander must have done the same thing.

The last thing that went through Buffy's mind before sleep claimed her was to wonder when Angel would be back from destroying the Box of Gavrock.

"Damn it! Buy America my ass!" Cordelia spat as she entered the library. She had just finished cheerleading practice and was still in her uniform. "Why couldn't Daddy buy me a snappy European sports car instead of the broken down hunk of Detroit rust currently sitting in the car park?"

"Cordy, ever thought that the reason it broke down is because you never check the oil or the water or anything else before you drive?" an amused Xander asked the cheerleader.

Xander opened his mouth but an elbow to the ribs from Willow who was sitting beside him cut off his smart-ass reply.

"Giles! I need to call the AAA. Can I use the phone on the counter?" Cordy yelled even as she picked up the phone and started dialing. Giles merely rolled his eyes and went back into his office. Cordelia lent against the counter as she waited on hold for an AAA operator to take the call.

As she did so it offered a rather nice view of her long legs and great ass. Both Xander and Willow tilted their heads to the side to get a better view. Their moment of appreciation was interrupted by the sound of Buffy clearing her throat. The two jumped a little in surprise and wheeled about to see Buffy with two piles of books.

"If you're both finished drooling there's some books here that need stacking away." She told them and shoved the piles of books into their arms. They scurried up into the stacks like a couple of scalded cats. When the two had disappeared into the stacks, Buffy tilted her head to the side for a few moments to appreciate the view before sighing and heading for the stacks herself.

It was a beautiful night out he thought to himself as he walked down the street. Lights shone from houses filled with people completely unawares to the danger that lurked in their quiet little town. Taking a long drag on his cigarette he stopped in front of one such house. Flicking the cigarette into the garden, he walked up to the door and knocked.

Later that night, the three Scoobies returned from patrol in high spirits. It had been a busy night with almost a dozen vamps dusted. In one instance they faced six vamps at once, but the appearance of Angel recently returned from destroying the Box of Gavrock saw the battle end quickly.

Giles and Jenny were waiting for them with a large circle dotted with candles around its circumference.

"Er, did we just interrupt some romantic candle lit moment, 'cause if we did…"

"For once would it be too much to ask for a little maturity on your behalf?" An irritated Watcher asked his Slayer. Buffy fell silent at the rebuke.

"This is to help Xander access his memories, specifically those to help us defeat the Judge. Xander, could you please sit in the center of the circle so we can get started?"

Giles started organizing Xander and completing the set up while Buffy and Willow sat beside Jenny.

"So Giles is putting the mystical whammy on Xander to help grab some memories? Is that wise?" Buffy asked the techno-pagan.

"Xander insisted. He's old enough to make his own decisions and besides, Rupert knows what he's doing."

"Is that wolvesbane?" Willow asked, fascinated at the ritual unfolding before her.

"No, mandrake. It's used in spells to do with the mind. Wolvesbane is used more in spells that involve transformations and demon rituals."

In the center of the room Xander stared into a large yellow crystal he held as Giles built up to the climax of the ritual.

The normally brown eyes of Xander briefly glowed green-orange then returned to normal. He looked around at his friends then out towards the library doors. From deep within him came a sound that chilled the blood of all present.

With a roar, he leapt up and raced out of the library with breathtaking speed. Buffy tried to catch him but he was too fast and had disappeared into the night.

When Buffy had returned to the library she had to comfort a very scared Willow. The red head had suffered badly the first time the hyena took control of Xander; the prospect of another had her shaken.

"What the hell just happened Giles? You start digging around in Xander's mind and all of a sudden our boyfriend starts feeling the call of the wild. I thought we got rid of the hyena spirit."

"I-I... don't know. Maybe it's possible th-that the hyena spirit left an-an imprint on-on his subconscious that we tapped into with the spell." The Watcher speculated

"It doesn't matter what the hell happened we need to find a way to reverse it and catch Xander. I think I know how to reverse it, but we need to catch Xander before something happens." Jenny Calendar interjected.

"How are we going to that? He took off out of here like the roadrunner and from memory hyena Xander is pretty damn strong. If we find him we'll need as much muscle as we can get. I'll get Angel."

"Buffy, wait! Xander's a hyena, right? All we need to do to find him is think like a hyena." Everyone nodded in agreement to Willow's idea. She shoved aside her fear and focused on getting the man she loved back.

"Hyena's are pack animals. But Kyle and the others that were in his original pack left Sunnydale after their possession. So he hasn't got a pack to go to."

"Then why isn't he here? Why did he take off like that?" Buffy asked. Realization dawned on Giles' face.

"Spike. Spike's a threat to his pack and he's gone after him. Oh shit! We gotta catch him before he gets hurt!" Buffy said with rising panic. Giles saw this and took charge.

"Willow, go get Angel. Jenny, work on a way to return Xander to normal. I'll find a locator spell we can use on Xander."

"Turn left here." Buffy instructed Giles. She had a map of Sunnydale and the bright point of light showed Xander's location. As they rounded the corner Buffy realized that they were headed for Xander's house.

"Stop!" she yelled and Giles slammed on the breaks in front of Xander's home. Buffy jumped out of the car and raced towards the open front door. She stopped short just inside the doorway.

In the lounge room lay the bodies of Anthony and Jessica Harris. Both of them bore the distinctive bite mark that was so familiar to both Slayer and Watcher. Crouched over them was Xander who forlornly sniffed at the bodies. The expression on Xander's face broke their hearts.

Xander looked down at the bodies of his parents and his expression changed to a mask of insane fury. Sniffing at the air Xander leapt up and raced out the front door knocking Buffy and Giles to the floor doing so.

As Giles struggled to his feet Buffy was already up and out the door after Xander.

The Englishman took one last look at the two bodies before going back to his car and returning to the library.

Buffy raced down the street and around the corner in pursuit of Xander. Suddenly a baseball bat appeared in her field of vision and her world went black.

"Wakey, wakey." Spike sing songed as she roughly shook the unconscious Slayer who saw tied up like a starfish between two metal beams.

"You brought me to the same place where I dusted your ho, how poetic." Buffy said defiantly. Spike punched her in the stomach, knocking the wind out of her.

"Poetic? I'm just getting started." Spike told her as he circled her. Buffy strained at her restrains.

"Ah, yes. The red head and the boy. You know that girl's parents should be reported. They're never home when friends call round. But your boy's were. Drunken pathetic pair they were, I was in a mind to let 'em live and let him suffer. But I got hungry."

"I'm shocked, do you kiss your mother with that potty mouth? Speaking of which, I was on my way to visit your own sweet mother when we ran into each other."

"You'll what Slayer? Stake me? Cut my head off? You ain't in a position to do sod all bitch." Spike sat down on a crate in front of her.

"I've killed two Slayers. Had me a world of fun doing it. They say Slayer blood is a powerful aphrodisiac and they're right." He got up and walked over to her.

"I wonder if fucking a Slayer is just as good." He leered as he roughly fondled Buffy's breasts. Buffy spat in the blondes face. Spike laughed.

"Ooohhh, kitty likes to play, hmm? You got some spunk in you little girl. I'll tell you how this is gonna happen. First I'm gonna have me some fun with you. Then I'm bring mommy dearest around and finding out if shagging is passed down from mother to daughter."

"You fucking watch me as I stick it in her. Then I'm gonna make you mine. Forever. And when you wake up, I'm gonna watch you drain her dry." Spike laughed again as the color drained from her face in horror.

"Company already? You know it's rude to interrupt people." Spike called out to the darkness. Out of the shadows a figure appeared.

"Please stay, I like putting on a show for unfortunate people such as yourself. You know, the poor, the sick, orphans." Xander started circling the blonde vamp.

"Little boy wants to dance, does he? I was just about to make a woman out of your girlfriend here but…" An animalistic roar of fury cut off Spike as Xander hurled himself at the vampire.

The two went crashing to the ground and Xander tore into Spike's chest and face with unrestrained power and vengeance. Spike was stunned at the strength and violence of the attack from the boy. Kicking out desperately, Spike managed to get Xander off him for a moment.

"What the bloody hell?" Spike asked aloud but got no further as Xander once again resumed his attack. Fists rained blow after blow, cracking and breaking bones. Fingers and teeth tore great chunks of flesh from the vamp. The hyena in Xander knew nether of pain or mercy. It only knew kill.

"BUFFY!" Willow yelled as she, Giles and Angel raced in to free her. Angel pulled Xander off the broken and bleeding vamp but he broke free and resumed his attack on the blonde. It took the combined strength of Buffy, Giles, and Angel to finally pull the possessed Xander off Spike who dragged himself quickly into the night and disappeared.

Xander struggled in vain to break free and chase him down. Willow knelt in front of her possessed boyfriend and held up a white crystal.

"Shavo reenus acti romor jhe! Shavo reenus acti romor jhe!" Willow chanted and Xander's eyes flashed green-orange then returned to normal. The crystal Willow held now pulsed the same green-orange as she raised it up and threw it down on the cement smashing the crystal into a thousand pieces.

An exhausted and bewildered Xander looked about in confusion for a while. Then is big chocolate eyes filled with tears.

It was an emaciated Spike who lay amidst the filth of the sewer. Unable to hunt because of his massive injuries, he fed on the occasional rat that managed to crawl its way to within grabbing distance. It wasn't enough to help him heal and it was only a matter of time before someone or something finished him off.

"Poor little Spike. You're not looking the best are you?" A familiar voice teased.

"Awww, you've got it all wrong lover boy." Buffy told him as she caressed his sunken cheeks. "We're not here to hurt you."

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Dark Places in the House Of Scooby

by Mike and Tony

Copyright © 2003

o163210@iprimus.com.au