Author: Restive Nature (aka Bavite)
Disclaimer: The characters and fictional placings of either of these shows do not belong to me. They belong to Cameron/ Eglee (Dark Angel), Joss Whedon (BtVS) and Whedon/ Greenwalt (AtS). Only the story belongs to me.
Rating: 13 (for now)
Genre: Crossover of DA/ BtVS
Type: WiP
Timeline/ Spoilers: Post Season 5 for Buffy. Up to LAtR for DA. Story set in DA time.
Summary: BtVS/ DA crossover. Life brings about so many changes. Especially when one has just risen from the dead.
A/N- Not all of the events that took place in Dark Angel will be present in this fiction. And there may be more time passing between events than it appeared on the show. So I guess that makes this AU.
Chapter Eight
May 23rd, 2021
12:16 a.m.
"What happened?" Alec repeated Max’s question incredulously. "You’re the one who goes all Linda Blair Exorcist on us and you’re asking me what happened?"
"My head didn’t spin around did it?" Max asked with a slight grimace.
"Oh no," Alec chuckled shakily. "Cause what with the ghosts from the past, and weird lights and dead cousin running around, not to mention the anomalies on bikes, that would have been weird."
Max glanced around warily, searching. "Where’s Logan?"
"He went to get the first aid kit," Alec explained. Before she could give voice to her next question, he hurried on. "You’re bleeding." He gave her a significantly heavy glare. "Right from where the glyphs were." The sudden averting of her eyes to a point beyond his right shoulder filled him in adequately. "The glyphs that you told us were gone."
Max wet her lips slowly, hesitant to speak. "I thought they were gone."
"You thought?" Alec demanded harshly. "And when did you figure out otherwise? And why the hell didn’t you tell us?"
Max tried to sit up, but Alec pushed her back. Her eyes went slightly hard as she regarded him. "What does it matter?" Alec rolled his eyes and jammed one hand through his hair. "I noticed that there was still an outline a while ago. I didn’t say anything because…"
"Because why Max?" Alec asked, his jaw clenched. She’d scared the hell out of him tonight. Logan too. Reassuring themselves that she was well physically only removed part of the worry. Something else had gone on tonight that they had no explanation for. The only link was Max and Alec had a sneaking suspicion that she knew more than she was letting on.
Her head turned and her eyes snapped back to his. "Because I didn’t ask for this Alec!" she exploded. "I didn’t ask to be some conduit for a whacked out failed resurrection attempt. I didn’t ask to have these marks invade my body. When the marks faded, it was easier to pretend they were gone for real, than to- to admit that that my life is getting freakier by the damn day!" she admitted in a rush. It seemed to deflate Alec just a little. "There was nothing anyone could do. We didn’t know anything."
"I know," he murmured. "I’m sorry." He chuckled quickly as her eyes widened. "What?"
"Empathy Alec?" she teased. "I never knew you capable of it?"
"Hey," he protested laughingly, if somewhat shaky, "I have a lot of hidden talents." The laughter died off and he glanced away, back at the headstone. "But seriously Max, you scared me, us."
"I didn’t mean to," she offered, just as quietly. He looked back at her, anguish written clearly in his eyes.
"The last time I saw someone look like you did tonight," he admitted, his voice low, "was the morning after I got out of psy-ops. Shaving in the mirror." A shudder ran through him at the memory. "I don’t ever want to see that again." Max stared at him, something about him that had irked her for so long finally falling into place. Alec was always so full of life. Always on the go. He always had a smart remark or a scheme. Nothing kept him down for long. Had it all been a façade so that he’d never have to have a quiet moment like that again? So he’d never have to see the deadness of eyes that told of the dying soul inside? Tears came to her eyes as this realization settled on her. But his own trembling lower lip told her that it was too painful to bring up. She forced her eyes to move lower.
"Where the hell is your shirt?" she demanded and was rewarded as he breathed a slight sigh of relief and a grunt.
"Had to stem the bleeding somehow," he shrugged, pointing at her chest. Max reached for the wadded up material back carefully. The bleeding had stopped and she tensed to sit up. Alec helpfully supported her, though she didn’t really need it. Once up, she looked at her wrists, shivering at the unintentional bloody mess. Alec took his shirt from where it had fallen and dabbed at it, but it had already begun to dry and crust over.
"You should put your coat on," Max advised, without looking at him. Alec shrugged.
"After I’ve cleaned up," he half-smiled. "Don’t want to get blood on my new leather." He glanced back at the headstone, a frown on his face. "Here, let’s get you off this grave."
"Yeah, good idea," Max grunted. Alec stood and held out a hand to help Max to her feet, which she took quietly. She was fairly steady on her feet and just as she sank to sit at the base of the tree where she’d thrown the stick earlier, they heard Logan returning. He came into the clearing quickly, carrying the first aid kit and the transgenic's bags. Their matching expression, complete with raised eyebrows made him laugh, just a little, combined with the relief that Max seemed to be okay.
"I figured you’d need your bags," Logan explained, dropping the bags at the other man’s feet. His lingering gaze at the bloody shirts explained that rationale, but Alec had the impression that Logan had other motives.
"You didn’t have to bring the whole bag," he smirked as he reached for the first aid kit. Logan hesitated a moment and then seemed to remember that he couldn’t help Max at the moment.
"Yeah, well, I don’t like to pry into people’s stuff," Logan shrugged. Max and Alec glanced at each other and burst out laughing.
"Considering your mission in life Logan," Max teased, "I’d say that’s a little off the mark."
"You know what I mean," Logan smiled at her indulgently. He settled down beside her as Alec removed gauze, antiseptic wipes and tape from the kit. He held them up expectantly, then nodded at Max.
"Take off your shirt," he instructed.
"I don’t think so!" she snapped instantly. Alec rolled his eyes.
"To patch you up," he explained, slightly annoyed. "Don’t worry Max, you haven’t got anything I haven’t seen before."
"You haven’t seen mine and you’re not about to pretty boy," Max growled lightly.
"Well, it’s not like he’ll really see anything," Logan shrugged; though his voice was tight. But Max’s sudden blush clued them in to her real problem. "Oh, ah, you are wearing a-! Well, I m-mean you have…"
"Goin’ commando, huh Maxie?" Alec teased.
"Turn around!" she snarled, more so at Alec, though she indicated both men. They both turned so that they were facing away, though Alec continued to laugh. "I’ll do it myself."
"Again Max, I’ve seen ‘em before," Alec taunted. Logan’s head twisted around, before he caught himself and went back to staring straight ahead of himself. "When?" the word slipped out before he could stop himself.
"I meant in general Logan," Alec clarified with a sigh. "And hopefully you have too. ‘Cause I mean, Max said you were married and all. But if you didn’t, then yeah, I could see why you’d divorce the chick."
"Shut up Alec," Logan ground out. The other man tried to hide his chuckles. He just couldn’t resist teasing these two sometimes. They baited so nicely and always fell hook line and sinker.
"But you know, I suppose you could always be a leg man," he continued. "Yeah, I know this one hot mamma, she had legs up to forever. And strong, too. You wouldn’t think so, but when they’re wrapped around-!"
"Shut up Alec!" the other two yelled at the same moment.
He was quiet for a second, then turned his head slightly. "How’re you doing Max?"
"Almost got it," she muttered. They heard the zip of her bag opening and fabric rustling around. "Okay, you can turn around again," she allowed them. Both men turned back, but Alec’s head was tilted to the side and he was extremely quiet. Max had pulled on a tank top; the white bandage covering the glyph mark on her chest just barely showed above the collar.
"Alec?" Logan asked after a moment. The younger man’s attention snapped to his face. Logan pointed at Max, "her shoulders?"
"Oh, yeah," Alec gave himself a small shake and took the gauze from her hands.
"What is it?" Max asked, her own head tilting.
"I thought I heard something," Alec muttered as he set about cleaning the blood from her shoulder closest to him.
"I didn’t hear anything," Logan declared, but Alec didn’t bother going through the explanation of transgenic senses over ordinaries. Max shook her head, indicating that she hadn’t heard anything either.
"Probably just my imagination," Alec shrugged, though his body remained a little tense. He finished patching one shoulder and moved to the other. It was done just as swiftly and then he moved on to her wrists. They were worse than the others because of the double set of glyphs that had been torn from her, covering a larger area along her arms. Just as he was cutting the tape and smoothing it down, he heard it again. "There!" he remarked triumphantly. Max’s head had turned to the side and Alec knew she’d heard it too. But Logan seemed to think he’d been commenting on his task.
"Here’s some soap and water," Logan offered from the kit. "You can wash your hands off."
"Be quiet Logan," Max hushed. He looked puzzled and turned to look at what both transgenics were staring so intently at.
"What?" he asked quietly.
"We both heard it," Alec explained. "I just don’t know what it is."
"Doesn’t sound like anyone approaching," Max muttered.
Alec grimaced and shook his head, "Probably just some animal scratching around," he dismissed. He cleaned his hands and wrists off, where Max’s blood had dried and then rifled through his bag for another T-shirt. Just as he’d pulled it on, the noise came again, longer this time. "Did you hear that?" he asked of both of them. Max nodded, and Logan had his chin thrust forward, still trying to catch the elusive noise. Alec worked on focusing precisely on that noise. Something about it bothered him, was familiar to him. When Logan finally decided he couldn’t discern the noise as they could, opened his mouth, but a quick squeeze on his arm from Max silenced him. She shook her head and to further emphasize, placed one finger over her lips. Logan was slightly annoyed, but stayed silent.
The two transgenics tracked the sound effectively when there were no other distractions. Right to the grave. Alec’s eyes grew large as the meaning and memory settled in on him. He dropped down to his knees over the earth, careful to avoid the broken urn. He pressed his ear to the ground and swore softly. He scrambled back, taking in what he assumed to be the measurements of the grave.
"What is it?" Max asked.
"There’s something down there," he announced, slightly sick. The others looked nervous, again.
"It’s probably just a badger, or something," Logan grasped for an explanation.
"Badgers don’t dig from the bottom up," Alec snapped. Max stared at him or a moment and then turned back to the grave. Her hands reached for the ground, but Alec prevented her. "What are you doing?"
"I’m going to see what’s down there," she announced quietly. But Alec was already shaking his head.
"You can’t," he told her. "If you start digging from the top, you’ll collapse the soil, cutting off whatever oxygen may be down there. That only works if you can come at it from the side." Max pulled trembling hands back to rest in her lap.
"What are you talking about?" Logan demanded, exasperated. "There’s nothing there. Just a grave."
"I’ve heard this before," Alec explained, trying to remain calm. "I’ve seen this before. On one of my missions…" He took a deep breath before continuing. "Some of the mules were in the dessert, digging tunnels. One of the tunnels collapsed. He had to dig himself out."
"Why didn’t anyone help?" Logan demanded quietly, though he was sure he knew the answer. Alec turned cool eyes towards him.
"Manticore believed they were expendable," he spoke quietly. "Some of us in the area wanted to start digging for him, but the other mules said no. They’d figured out how to get out of those situations because they’ve had it happen before."
"But that’s loose soil," Max protested. "If we dig from up here, we’ll get to whatever it is quicker and get it… out of there," she finished quietly. She looked at the headstone again. It seemed that the only possibility of what could be down there, the one thing they couldn’t believe, was coming up at them.
Logan shook his head angrily, the same thoughts running through his mind. "There’s nothing down there. Just her remains. It’s just not possible."
"Right now I don’t give a damn about what’s possible and what’s not," Alec told him steadily. "All I know is that someone or something is down there."
"But it can’t be!" Logan continued to insist. "I mean we saw her, didn’t we?" Max and Alec knew that he was referring to the vision of past times they’d shared. Alec shook his head.
"That wasn’t her Logan," he told the older man, slightly sorrowed that he even had to say it. But encouraging that belief would just make the truth harder for Logan in the end. "I’m not sure exactly what, but I’d guess a robot or something along that line."
"How do you know that?" Logan frowned. Even if Alec believed that Logan was grasping at straws, Logan was aware too that it couldn’t have been Buffy. He’d long learned not to always trust what his eyes were seeing. But the hope of having seen what had truly been her and not the bone-filled grave was deep in him now.
"For one thing," Alec sighed, "I don’t know any humans that actually create blue electrical sparks internally. Secondly, she told Willow that she needed service. Wouldn’t a human have phrased it differently?"
"But a robot Alec?" Logan scoffed. "This was twenty years ago. No one had technology like that back then." Alec simply turned to Max with a raised eyebrow.
"And when we were born?" he asked gently. Logan got the point immediately. Logan’s head fell forward.
"I just can’t believe them," he muttered. "If that really was a robot, that’s how they covered up Buffy’s death for so long. Why Hank didn’t know."
"This is all great," Max interrupted, "but could we get back to the major issue here." Both men turned towards her. "You said the mules figured out ways to get out of this. Whatever is down there doesn’t have that luxury."
Alec shook his head. "The coffin would be down there. There’s oxygen, however stale it’s become. As the soil gets looser, gravity will take it down. And the air will come up to fill the new empty hole. If… she can keep up…" he trailed off at Max’s horrified face. "What?"
"The coffin," she breathed. "That’s what those first few noises had to have been." Alec realized what she was getting at and nausea swamped his throat. Logan understood as well as he shuddered.
"She’d have to break through the coffin," he whimpered. Was this what they had come all this way for? To have his cousin restored to him, just to lose her again because they hadn’t been prepared? "We have to get her out of there!" All thoughts of denying what was truly happening had fled from him. His cousin needed him, now.
"Logan stop!" Max cried out. "Look!" She pointed towards the head of the grave. Sure enough, the grass and dirt was starting to sink lower. Losing whatever supports it had.
"Get ready," Alec warned. He moved to the head of the grave, trying to approximate where she’d come through. Max took up position across from him. They both watched intently, with Logan breathing heavily in anticipation.
Within moments, a large portion of the grass crumbled down in upon itself and they could see bloody fingertips emerge, close to Alec. He reached his hand out, prepared to grab hold when he could get enough to grip with. When the tip of a palm emerged, Alec slid his hand under it and the fingers curled around him reflexively. Another hand came up and Max copied her friend’s motions.
"Now!" Alec rapped out harshly. Both transgenics pulled upward as quickly and as gently as they could. Arms came out and like a phoenix rising from the ashes, the figure exploded from the grave. Alec swung his free arm around her ribs opposite him and began to roll backwards to pull her out completely. Max let go of the hand she had as the pair fell back upon the ground.
Alec’s body registered immediately the fact that it was definitely a woman in his arms. But his mind was racing, cataloguing her reactions. She was coughing, her head bowed into his chest. The smell of dust and fresh soil emanating from every pore, climbing in intensity every time she coughed. She tried to gasp in precious oxygen, but it kept causing a paroxysm of choking coughs.
"It’s okay, you’re safe," he whispered. He could feel her heartbeat, thudding, racing against his skin. He held her gently, feeling the fear emanating from her. He kept repeating his mantra of soothing words and soon she began to get the coughing under control. At that point she tensed up, realizing that someone was holding her and tried to pull back. Alec accommodated her as much as possible, calling on his muscles to move them both to a sitting position.
The woman’s eyes darted around the clearing, seemingly unable to focus on anything. Until her eyes landed on the headstone. She froze and then her head swiveled to the right as she took in the massive upheaval of the ground. Alec smoothed her disheveled hair away from her face. All three got a good look at her.
"Oh God!" Logan breathed out. "Buffy!" Her head snapped around to face him, unease evident in her large eyes. Her mouth opened, but no sounds came out. Logan started forward, "it’s me. I’m your cousin. It’s me, Logan!" He darted forward, causing Buffy to scramble backwards. She collided with Alec and spun her upper torso around to face him. Alec made no motion to support her again. He kept his movements slow and highly visible as he brought his arm up to take her hand. He knew instantly that she was suffering from a deep, traumatic shock. He’d seen the signs of it before.
"Logan, don’t move," he instructed in a soft, lilting voice. Buffy’s eyes focused on his lips and her head inched forward to make out his words. He directed them to her again. "We’re not here to hurt you. You’re safe." But for all the gentleness he was displaying, she couldn’t seem to relax. Logan moved forward again, not realizing that he’d stepped suddenly into her peripheral vision, surprising her. She reacted instantly, pushing Alec back and scrambling to her feet to meet this perceived threat. Her hands were curled into fists. Every one had frozen at her movement. But the headstone caught her attention again. She moved forward slowly, her hand reaching out to it. Her movements were slow and jerky now, as if she couldn’t understand what she was seeing. But as she noticed her own hand, bloody, fingertips mangled, she let out a whimper.
It didn’t surprise Alec at all when Buffy ran. He swore softly then turned to Logan. "Where’s her house?" he demanded harshly.
"Uh, Revello Drive," Logan shook his head, trying to remember long ago information. Alec looked over the other man’s shoulder and Max was nodding already. She understood what was going on a little better than Logan and what Alec was asking of her, making the words unnecessary. He turned and began the trek after the not so dead after all cousin.
"What’s he doing?" Logan demanded, whirling around to ask Max. He turned back and took a few steps before Max’s voice halted him.
"Let Alec get her," she instructed. He turned back to her, incredulous.
"She’s my cousin Max," he told her quietly. She came forward to soothe his feelings as best as she could.
"I know Logan," she bit her lip, holding back a little exasperation. Why was it when she’d been the one to go after her family to help that he always advocated caution? Of course, it wasn’t anything like her situation, where she was dealing with potentially being captured and hauled back to Manticore. But whether Logan realized it or not, there was a danger here. And it was to Buffy’s mind if nothing else. "But right now, she’s hurt, she’s confused, scared probably."
"That’s why we need to find her," he argued. She grabbed his jacket sleeve.
"Alec will find her," she assured him. "And we’ll meet them at her house. As scared as she is, that’s probably where she’ll head." She let him take that in and it finally seemed to sink in.
"Yeah, probably," he agreed, then turned back to pick up the first aid kit. "We should probably keep an eye on the road. We might find her."
"You keep forgetting that we’re pretty fast Logan," Max smiled. "Alec will catch her."
"I just hope he doesn’t scare her," Logan grimaced. "She’s already scared enough. God, I would be too after… after," his throat choked up and he stopped a moment to swipe at his eyes. Max just stood quietly.
"Alec’s got enough sense not to scare her," she reassured him. And then in a lighter tone shrugged, "and you can’t deny he’s got a way with the ladies." Logan let out a bark of laughter, more from the taught nerves and stressed emotions than from any real humor.
May 23rd, 2021
5:38 a.m.
Alec had followed Buffy all the way into town, once he’d picked up her trail. Which had been simplicity in itself. He trailed behind her, making sure not to hide his presence from her. From time to time, she’d stop and glance back. But he always mimicked her motions, trying to minimize any threat she might conceive of him. Once they’d hit town, she’d stopped more frequently, sometimes staying in one spot for a few minutes, sometimes walking along slowly. She’d rested her hands on buildings, as if trying to absorb the reality of where she was.
Alec wished more than once that he’d been able to see a map and learn the layout of the town. He had no idea if they were anywhere close to her house. And he didn’t want to take a moment to try and find one, if they even existed in the telephone books that were sparsely scattered about. There was something up ahead of them though, that seemed to be drawing her. He watched her make her way into what seemed city central proper. All he could make of it though was the remnants of an old construction site. A tower in the process of being built was tumbled down, bricks and dust settled heavily about the wreckage. Buffy moved to that spot and Alec sucked in a sudden breath.
Logan had said that Buffy had jumped from a construction site. Was this the place? An urgency to get to her now was gnawing at his stomach. He moved to her side, so that she could see him coming and hurried up to her side. Her head turned and she warily watched him approach. Alec kept his hands out in front of him and kept his breathing steady, even though he felt a nervous fluttering in his stomach.
"Buffy?" he said it loudly enough so that it would carry, but kept it easy and light. "I’m Alec. I’m here to help you." She apparently dismissed him as a threat as she turned back to contemplate the broken down tower. Alec tried again once he’d reached her side. "Buffy, let me take you home."
She turned back to him and eyed his outstretched hand. Her voice, rusty and gravelly from twenty years of non-use grated on his ears. But it was the anguish in her eyes that nearly undid him. "Is this hell?"
Chapter Nine
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