Fated Reunion

[madimpossibledreamer]

The name of the newspaper—I had to. I just had to. Also Giles had to get in the last word, and I can’t begrudge him that.

Main Points:
Buffy/Devil May Cry
Chapter Summary: Giles comes through.
Word Count: 1001
Rating: Teen

          It takes two more iterations of the Nameless Mist before they manage to get the Amalgam, to its knees, or at least as near as it can get.  They lose a few more, though if anything the Fae have become spooked, if grimmer, backing away at the first sign of anything weird.  Xander’s gone ham with Kalvul and Kryvi, stabbing in over and over into the shapeless mass before him, having gone Spiky Xander again to channel all the power of his devil’s blood into the evil amorphous blob.  He’s gone near silent, while the Amalgam rumbles the occasional stock villain phrase that would be laughable if not for the fact that it’s already decimated their forces (based, of course, on the original Roman definition—one tenth of them won’t be walking away).
          Buffy launches herself into the air, spinning and piercing the blood-red-eye-thing with both swords, and it’s then that everything falls still.
          “Did that do it?” Xander asks.  If he’d known he would’ve gone for the eye-things a lot sooner—wait, didn’t he already hit one or two with Arawn?
          Buffy lands next to him, covered in demon blood and grinning.  “Nope, just seems Giles has a sense of dramatic timing.”
          Slowly, the dark shape collapses fully to the ground, sinking into it slowly.
          “Guess I’m getting you that outfit sooner, not later,” he decides, because while he knows ways to get demon blood out of clothes, he’s not sure this time she’ll even want to bother.  “And maybe fixing the hot water while I’m at it.”
          “You’re the best,” she squeals, pulling him to her in a hug, and, well.  Okay, he’s gonna need to clean up, too; most people don’t care for blood-scented cologne.  “Although you did only get a B.  You got hit a couple times.”
          He raises an eyebrow even though he knows she can’t see it, unimpressed.  “Lemme guess, you got an S.”
          “I didn’t even know that was an option, but yeah, I did now.”  She’s doing the Valley Girl thing again.
          Gjallar lands on his shoulder, rubbing demon blood into his cheek as she snuggles into him, which is kind of disgusting but he’s getting used to it.  He needs a shower.  He reaches up to pet her, scratching underneath her beak.  She snuggles even further into his touch.  “I agree with Buffy.  You’re powerful, but you’re not invincible.”
          He’s about to respond when he’s interrupted.  “Excuse me, what’s going on?”  Elaine, sounding frightened.
          Tristan comes running, covered in blood himself.  As expected, she hadn’t been fargone enough to pull the dumb move and not send a lot of Shaede after Giles and the gem, so it’s a good thing they stationed a heavy-hitter and some of his best forces to protect the sorcerer.  “You’re all right!”  Elaine becomes the uncomfortable second person to get a post-battle hug.  And this time, blood actually smears onto her clothes, because somehow during all of that those stayed perfectly fine.  Except for the heels.  They broke for some reason.  Possessions are weird.
          “Don’t touch me!  Who are you?”  She sounds half-hysterical at this point, and it’s not like Xander can blame her.
          “That is Tristan, your baby brother.  I’m a private eye you hired to figure out if he’s an imposter, which he isn’t, and you might find you’ve experienced a period of missing time.”  Xander finally sheathes Kryvi again and wipes his brow—looks like he still sweats after all.
          “You were possessed,” Buffy adds, matter-of-fact.
          “You know that scene in the Exorcist?  It wasn’t much of an exaggeration.  Exorcisms are a lot more violent than you’d think.”  Well, in his experience.  It might be a little less bloody if he used Latin, but he’s no priest.
          Elaine looks briefly like she’s going to argue before she sees one of the Fae walk past, going from her eight-foot-tall battle form to her human appearance, stopping at a group of Fae and conversing about the battle.  Her jaw promptly slams shut.
          “I’m afraid so,” Giles sounds out of breath, and Xander revises his opinion.  Maybe Giles is their priest.  The thought nearly makes him snigger but he barely manages to catch himself in time.  “I brought a paper just in case,” he tells her and hands her The Morning Star with the headline ‘Missing Wellington Joyfully Reunites with Family!’  A picture of the family, with a smiling Tristan and happy family and a slightly uncomfortable-looking Elaine, takes up almost half the page.  He’d wondered whether the paper from his preliminary research had gone missing, and he’s not mad, because Giles’ use for it is absolutely brilliant.
          “I’m not entirely human anymore, and I have duties to the Fae, but I look forward to catching up with you, sister,” Tristan adds hopefully, and it feels like the whole world is holding its breath.
          She eyes him evaluatingly, then smiles, just a little.  “I’ll give you a chance, at least.”
          The cheering is almost deafening.
          “I want you to meet everyone,” Tristan’s brimming with enthusiasm and strides off quickly toward where the rest of the Fae are congregating.
          “Elaine.”  Xander catches her arm as she starts to follow.  She turns to look quizzically.  “Your brother will never say this, but he was willing to die to bring you back.  Sacrificed some of his friends to do so.  He might not be fully human anymore, but that sweet kid you remember?  He’s still in there.”
          She pauses, and then there’s that wide, honest, human smile he’s never seen on her face before.  “Thank you, Mister…”
          “Just call me Xander.  Go on,” he waves her off, and she follows, fear and hesitation gone.
          “Don’t worry about the mess,” Maid Fae promises with a smile.  “We’re good at our jobs.”  She rushes to catch up with Elaine, sharing something that makes his client laugh.
          “I love it when a plan comes together,” Giles states smugly, and just starts cleaning his glasses when they turn to look at him in shock.