madimpossibledreamer

Main Points:
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure/Buffy the Vampire Slayer AU
Chapter Summary: Xander learns a little of what's been happening to his friends and gains a new ally.
Word Count: 1201
Rating: K
Note: HERE THERE PROBABLY BE BUFFY/JJBA SPOILERS. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.

There's a concerned voice behind him. Fitz. "What is it? What's wrong?"

What's wrong is the...the Stone Mask. He knew it was up to something. Who ended up stealing it? Because if it wasn't him, then...

"Turn on the TV." They're in a hotel room, right? At least it looks like one. In which case, as a Watcher, he's been in plenty, and aside from a few in Africa, there's been a TV in most he's stayed in.

The Fitz of before would've argued. This one doesn't hesitate, even as a blond eyebrow raises in question.

"The news," he elaborates. It's odd to watch the tension drain, since he hadn't even realized he noticed it build, but...what, did Fitz think they had someone listening in? He still complies without a word, which is almost as weird as the earlier behavior.

It takes the bookstore worker a little while to find what Xander's looking for, but once he does Xander swallows heavily, sitting down on the bed without even realizing what he's doing.

"Police are still investigating the cause of the commotion three days ago..." a newscaster announces, as the camera pans over a square that looks like it's been transplanted from the nearest warzone. The damage to the environment reminds Xander uncomfortably of the last time he'd ever seen Sunnydale, buried under the rubble and the collapse of the Hellmouth, and he shivers. With half the nearby buildings in ruin, dents in the concrete street, parts of an iron fence ripped out of the ground, and vegetation and trees ripped out of the middle, park-like area that seems to be everywhere in England, it's pretty clear that people with superstrength were using the area as a stage for their personal grudges...or worse. He ends up taking deep breaths to calm his racing heart. Okay...yeah, so that dark brownish red stuff on parts of the concrete probably isn't paint left by some graffiti artist, like he wishes it was, but they'd probably use words stronger than 'commotion' if they'd found a body or bodies. At least, probably. Then again, the British really were kings and queens of understatement, if Giles was any indication, so who knew? They'd probably have to watch more.

Fitz comes to sit beside him, appearing hesitant, like he has no idea how to comfort anyone. Given how awkward Giles is, Xander wouldn't honestly be too surprised if that was another British trait. "Is that..."

"Shh." This isn't much to base any conclusions on, which is why he has to hear the narrator lady.

"Blood was found at the scene, and it is being analyzed by the nearest laboratory." Uh-oh. That doesn't bode well if they want to keep being a super-secret organization, but that's not the most troubling thing here. "Preliminary results indicate that the blood didn't merely originate from one person, but from a number of people. As you can see..." the camera pointed towards the ground, "...attempts were made to erase the evidence. However, this is not the most troubling part of the scene. Despite the amount of blood found, no bodies were discovered, living or dead." That's...good. Probably. "In addition, no witnesses to the crime have stepped forward, despite the numerous flats adjoining the roundabout. When police made inquiries earlier in the day, most of the flats were found to be vacant. Because of this, rumors have surfaced that the inhabitants of said flats were the victims in this strange incident. Sources within the police department have reported that another possibility being considered at this time is that this is some sort of prank by medical students..." Xander goes even stiller, not at the words, which are, given the subject matter, somewhat reassuring, but at the immense amount of dust covering the area that the camera's still panning over. Maybe it's nothing, but after so long, he's come to associate dust with vampires. The fact that they'd been vanquished, if they'd been there at all in the first place, was a good thing. The fact that there had been so many as to literally coat the entire area in a fairly thick layer of dust overnight...

An army of vampires must've...

Xander realizes he's shaking when there's a hesitant hand at his elbow trying to steady him. "Do you—do you think that was your friends?"

Somehow, he manages a smile, although the look Fitz gives him says it wasn't very convincing. "My Scooby senses are tingling." That earns him a blank look, so he sighs and tries again. "Buffy's always in the thick of things. Given Dawn's reaction, I don't think anyone that close to me died, but still...I mean, I'd like to say no one died, but with that much blood..." Why can't he stop shaking? He's seen worse. He's seen people killed in front of him, so why does this have him acting like a useless, terrified fifteen-year-old again?

"I..." Fitz looks horrified, and that's enough to snap him out of it. Fitz hadn't done anything wrong. Well, no, that's wrong, he had. Even if he thought he was doing the right thing. Xander can't even remember how many times good intentions had burned them throughout the years. But the point is, what's going on right now, it's bigger than them, and he takes the step and believes Fitz that he'd only knocked them out, not killed them. The guy's not responsible for everything that went wrong since then.

"You're not the bad guy. You might've been a crusading idiot, but you're not the bad guy. At least, I think you aren't. Don't prove me wrong, please." It takes a pretty confident expression to get that through Fitz's head, but it finally pierces the thick skull, and the blond manages a shaky smile.

"Okay, here's where things stand. There's something big going on, something that's probably already killed a lot of people. I need to stop it, and I don't think I can do it alone. Do you think you're up for being my ally? Because I'm kind of running low on people I can involve in all of this at the moment." He could maybe turn to Wesley again, but the man was good at research, and in any case probably couldn't get away from his job at the demon lawyer firm. He probably wouldn't be any good at a game of Clue without even looking at the board. Xander's hands are somewhat tied as it is, but he can't just sit around and do nothing either.

"You'd really give me that chance?" Fitz is somewhat excited, but not ready to take it for granted, and the excitement is definitely muted compared to the somewhat neurotic version earlier. Xander prefers this.

One brown eye drifts upward to meet the other's gaze. "If you'd still been acting the way you had been earlier, probably not. As it is...I don't think I can do this alone," he admits.

"I'm your man," Fitz declares firmly, holding out a hand to shake, old-fashioned style. Xander ignores the urge to laugh, since he seems to be pretty serious about this, and instead shakes the proffered hand, even if a twinge of pain travels up his arm.