(Authors Notes: I am very sorry for the lateness of this chapter but with the damn virus and serious issues with my health and my families health plus the craziness of work keep changing my shifts had little time for writing, but thankfully I have now hopefully left that behind and can refocus on my writing)
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(London, Royal Protestant Knights Hall)
Whilst the argument had been going on for almost ten minutes now it was clear the group was divided on what the best course of action was to take, it was also clear to Alucard that the constant arguing was getting to his master and more than likely giving her a massive headache. This was one of the problems with having such a group having equal power and dependent on forming a consensus, it very rarely find doing so easy like now. Finally someone called for silence, and the talking died down.
"Thank you, now Sir Henry has put a motion before us to send an agent to keep tabs on the vampire formerly known as Angelus" Sir Angela said calmly. "I suggest we vote on that now" she advised.
"Before you vote I would suggest you all think carefully what would happen if our agent was discovered, and somehow ended up trying to take action due to a mistaken belief Angelus may return will put us at cross purposes with the slayer's group" Alucard interrupted before any vote could be taken. "All our reports currently state the souled version of Angelus is an ally of the slayer, turning her against us will do us no favours if consent is given for us to deal with Wilkins and his allies within Sunnydale" he warned.
"Our reports state he is far more than that" Sir Baxter spat in clear distaste. "They report there is a relationship between the slayer and the souled Angelus" he stated and this time there was a clear joint sense of revulsion even from Sir Integra and this Alucard could understand.
"Was a relationship" Sir Integra cut him off. "As I told you Alexander has seen to it the easiest way of breaking the soul curse Angelus is under has been sorted, the relationship between the vampire and slayer has been terminated" she informed them.
"Then I take it that the relationship between them is what could have led to the curse been broken?" Sir Michael inquired. "Do you know how exactly?" with clear interest as it well known the man had an interest in supernatural knowledge.
"I am afraid I don't Sir Michael as Alexander decided not to go into detail, but he did tell me the flaw in the curse was put there either accidently when Angelus was captured and cursed or it was an intentional loophole put there so Angelus could be killed at some point in time" Sir Integra responded. "He does not know which is true and neither the original curse can pinpoint which is true" she added.
"Foolish to leave such a loophole especially when Alexander did say the watchers the Kalderash tribe had following Angelus were not clued into what could actually break the curse" Alucard growled in disapproval.
"You advise we do not send an agent?" Sir Trevor stated deciding to move back to the topic at hand.
"Indeed so, Sir Trevor as I said we can ill afford to alienate the slayer's group as in time they may become important allies even considering their ties to the watchers council" Alucard responded with a nod of his head. "They patrol and protect the Hellmouth, distracting them could prove fatal to them and to the world at large" he added.
"Agent Alucard does raise a good point" Sir Ronald acknowledged. "If our agent decided action was needed and acted without or even with consent it may distract the slayer's group at a crucial time" he mused aloud. "Sir Integra assures us that Angelus will remain contained and that Alexander has ensured the major loophole of his curse is contained thus I would suggest for now we accept that until we have further information from one of our own sources who will only be there to watch not to interfere under any circumstances" he suggested.
"I concur with you Sir Ronald and that at least ensures we will not distract or worse alienate the slayer's group and more importantly Alexander" Sir Angela agreed with a thoughtful expression on her face. "He may have plenty more to tell us in time, things more pertinent to our own operations" she pointed out.
"If that is the case then I suggest we send some of our people to take him into custody so we can get any and all information he holds about our futures out of him" Sir Baxter said not surprising Alucard or Sir Integra with the man's rather selfish view of what Alexander's knowledge could be used for.
"Out of the question Sir Baxter" Sir Alistor protested instantly just a few seconds ahead of Sir Integra's own protest. "One we do not kidnap civilians, nor is our group as self-centred as to only focus on what is of use to us and us alone" he went on with a glare at the other man. "We are here to ensure the world keeps spinning, two such an act would not incline Alexander to help us at all and nor would any of us approve of trying to force any information he may have about us out of him" he added making Sir Baxter grimace in response .
"Agreed, such a course of action is something I would expect from the watchers council but not from one of our group" Sir Integra stated coldly. "As it happens Alexander has already given me a warning about events relating to Hellsing's future and plans will be made to act on that information but that is a discussion for another time" she told them. "Now back to the motion put forth by Sir Henry I agree with Alucard that sending an agent at this time is counterproductive, but as Sir Ronald suggested having someone there to just watch events on the Hellmouth is a wise move at this point as I believe things will become heated there very quickly due to the changes Alexander is making" she went on smoothly. "We may have to intercede quickly if something arises Alexander does not know about due to changes he has made, they may need the help" she concluded.
A general assent made its way around the table and Alucard was relieved to see this finally make Baxter back down and agree as well, even if the vampire could tell he was not happy about doing so. Baxter was a fool and selfish, he'd have some of his agents keep an eye on the man on the off chance he tried anything like taking Alexander prisoner for his own ends without the other member's knowledge.
"Then it is decided we will send an agent to watch and watch only events on the Hellmouth as they happen, and should something transpire that is either beyond Alexander and his groups abilities to handle or something he does not know about due to changes he has made our agent will send us an immediate warning and a team designed to respond to such an event will be sent to help" Sir Angela stated to which again there was a general assent of agreement. "We will now have to discuss gaining legal right to operate on America soul with their government as well as our own especially in dealing with Mayor Wilkins and his plans" she added.
"I'll lead the talks in that Sir Angela as I am usually the acting contact between us and the government" Sir Trevor spoke up pleased to finally see an actual agreement on how to act on everything they had been told.
"Thank you Sir Trevor but remember there is time to deal with this so we do not need to rush the talks" Sir Integra responded before Sir Angela could. "I am sure the Americans will be rather concerned to learn one of their towns is run by a soulless monster who wishes to ascend to demonhood" she mused.
"If we are all agreed then I shall call to a close this meeting and thank Sir Integra for bringing such information to our attention so quickly" Sir Ronald stated as he stood up. "We will meet again to discuss it again in two weeks, by then hopefully we will have located either of the two items this Wilkins needs to complete his ascension as well as worked out a compromise with the Americans to operate on their soul to deal with him" he continued. "One final note Sir Integra please inform me when agent Alucard's people return with Acathula and it is stored in the vault" he added to which Sir Integra nodded in agreement as the meeting broke up and each member left the room.
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(Hidden Monastery)
Dawn leaned back in her chair with a confused yet eager look on her face as she paused halfway through the book she had been reading, it held so much information far more than she had expected. In the previous timeline she remembered they never even got close to answering the question of who she was or why she was here, hell they'd had no clue why she existed or what her purpose was and once Buffy went off the deep end and war began between her faction and Faith's factions of the new council finding out had become forgotten. Standing she decided to take a break as she was hungry and thirsty and she went to where Robert had shown her where the cantina was, for an ancient monastery it had a few more modern updates to it which included the place where all the monks ate.
After quickly picking her meal she sat on her own wishing more than anything her sister and Xander were with her, or would show up soon to collect her. But she knew she might be here on her own for a small while, Xander was going to have to be very careful how he changed things and how he told Buffy the truth about her origins and even her existence which she knew would be shocking. But she still did not doubt her sister would quickly except the truth and come for her when it was possible, it was their mother who gave her the greatest concern as right now in this time Joyce Summers didn't even know the supernatural truly existed let alone know about her. She well remembered the massive argument Buffy had with their mother when the truth about her been the Slayer had come out, how it had led her sister to run away for the summer. Hopefully this time things would go smoother when she was told the truth, she was confident Xander would do all he could to ensure it.
Still even if things went smoother and Joyce accepted the truth about the supernatural and Buffy been the Slayer, which did not mean she would accept having a younger daughter made out of magic as well as her and Hank Summers blood. That she would resist accepting her existence truly concerned her even though she had plenty of faith in her mother, maybe it was the idea of her mother facing it all in one go that worried her most. And the idea if Xander decided to space it out it meant she would have to wait longer to go home, as she finished her meal she decided to use whatever time she had here to learn all she could. About what she truly was and why she was here, but if she had any powers and if so what they were and more importantly how she accessed them. She would return to Sunnydale capable of actually helping sooner than she had in the original timeline, it didn't matter what age she was right now. Finishing her meal and taking her drink with her she returned to the library, sitting down she took a deep breath before beginning to read once more.
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(Harris Residence)
Xander could not help but let out a bitter sigh as he heard his parents already dissolve into another drunken argument, it was one of the things he had not missed once he had moved out of his home. Now here he was stuck here with them once more, and that would probably not help with his nightmares of the future to come. Rubbing his face tiredly he looked out of his window and wondered how Cordelia was handling their first night apart in two to three days, he missed her warmth and more to the point her comforting presence. As the row below intensified he decided he could not stay here and had to find a way of getting his own place, or at least somewhere he could sleep. There were options open to him, he just had to find the best one that suited him in this situation.
Letting out a sigh he flopped onto his bed and hoped the rowing would die down fast so he could sleep, it was back to school tomorrow and that meant not only the stress of actually been back in school and dealing with annoyances like Snyder and Harmony and her ilk but also the stress of facing Willow again. He was finding it more and more of a strain not seeing her corrupted future self whenever he was in her presence, her refusal to actually listen to his warnings instead focusing on what she classed as his insults against her intelligence and her actions as a whole. He was concerned she may start dabbling with magic even sooner than she had in the original timeline, worse she may try something akin to the black magic soul curse to prove she was capable of doing it on her own.
He didn't know what to do to make her see sense, he had also noticed she had been ignoring a lot of Oz's attempts to start up any kind of relationship with her. Glaring at him and Cordy when they showed affection for each other, he had hoped that by outing their future relationship Willow would quickly let go of any residual belief she was in love with him. Which considering what he knew he doubted was the truth more like lust that she had never really dealt with, but it seemed he had been a bit optimistic in that regard but he still had hope she would let go of that lust and focus more on building something real with Oz. Thinking on Willow and Oz as a couple brought his mind to Tara, Willow's so called soul mate or at least that was what she had claimed before he left Sunnydale during the battle against Glory. Was he setting up Oz to for heartache if he brought Tara and her mother here early, would history replay itself and she and Willow would fall in love if indeed it had been love on Willow's part.
Sometimes he did wonder if Willow's claim of been a full on lesbian had been true, he had heard things from his sources after leaving Sunnydale that seemed to paint a more bisexual standing. He didn't care what Willow was either way but he would not let her toy with Oz and he especially would not allow her to toy with Tara, such an act would truly damage the young witch he had come to truly consider a friend and one of the last he'd had when he left Sunnydale in the future beside Dawn. Or was he letting his growing concerns and the stress they caused to cloud his memories, either way when he did go after Tara and her mother he would ensure nothing in Sunnydale harmed them in anyway not even Willow. Finally the rowing seemed to die down but only after he heard two doors slam in opposite directions, letting out a sigh of relief he closed his eyes and slowly began to drift of praying the nightmares would leave him be and missing the comforting presence of Cordelia by his side.
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(Chase Mansion)
Cordelia found falling asleep rather elusive after finding contentment at night next to Xander, the rather blazing row between her mother and father had not helped either. She knew her mother could be closed minded and often looked down on those who did not have their wealth, but she had never suspected the kind of utter disdain that she cleary felt for those less fortunate than their family. It angered her to realise just how bigoted and selfish her mother could be, thankfully her father seemed to appreciate anyone as long as they tried their best. Her mother had spent years trying to instil the same mind-set as her own in her, and while for most of her teenage years she had followed her mother's lead. Now she refused to be blinded to the truth, the truth Xander and even the others had taught her. It didn't matter what kind of background you were born into, whether privileged or not whether you were skilled or unskilled anyone could step up and make a difference. Could be heroic when faced with a choice that if made correctly could save one life or even many, even your sex did not stop you stepping up if you had the courage to do so.
She refused to see people like her mother wished her to anymore, and she refused to hide how she truly felt either and thus when school started tomorrow she would hook up with Xander and walk into the school side by side uncaring of how Harmony and the others would react. The only one of the group she would truly miss was Aura and still had hope she would prove more open-minded than Harmony and the others and remain her friend, tomorrow would be explosive she was certain once Harmony and the others saw her with Xander but she was prepared for it. And no matter how much confidence it might give Harmony to challenge her, the blond airhead had no idea just how much of a temper she had buried inside waiting to get out. The blond may quickly regret any hasty act to topple her as top female in the school, either way tomorrow would be a turning point for her and whatever came of it she would embrace it proudly.
Going back to her mother, she doubted she would ever come around and realise how wrong her beliefs and views were but maybe like with herself something would happen to open her eyes to the truth. Either way she had at least her father's support and that was all she needed, granted she knew they faced another difficulty where her father was concerned when he came back looking for those answers those things they had avoided talking about last time. Her father would wait and watch and try and get Xander to lower his guard, more than likely her own as well before asking for the full truth. What happened then was up to Xander and her, the truth could break one's mind and then there was the possibility her father would not believe them. Even if they showed him proof, there was a risk of him reacting badly and she feared what he would do if he did in order to try and protect her and her mother. Letting out a sigh she decided she had done enough thinking and needed to sleep, she focused on the memory of how it felt to be curled up against Xander and after closing her eyes soon drifted off to sleep to that memory.
Downstairs in his office Daniel Chase sat holding a glass of whiskey as he contemplated the day's events, from the surprise of finding Cordelia had brought a boy home for the first time in her life then discovering it was not one of those his wife had constantly been pushing her to date. No, his daughter had found herself falling for what was in his wife's eyes a disgrace unworthy of her attention. The connection between the two was clear to him, and the very fact Cordelia had argued with her mother over the fact rather forcibly showed just how deep the connection was. His own support of the relationship had only deepened his wife's anger, in fact he was still in his office now primarily to avoid his wife's temper on the subject for a while longer. She refused to listen or believe any of the facts Cordelia and Alexander had told him during their talk, especially those dealing with him saving their daughter's life and it annoyed him.
She refused to believe someone like Alexander who did not have such a privileged life could do anything of the sort he was telling her, she lumped him into the same bracket as his father who was a well-known drunk. Letting out a sigh he leaned back and wondered just what it was his daughter and Alexander had left out of their story, the truth about the gangs who had almost killed his daughter. He would get the truth out of them in time, for now he would have to be patient. Downing his whiskey he let out another sigh before deciding it was time to face his wife once more, hopefully he had calmed down somewhat.
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(Town Hall)
Wilkins was quickly becoming annoyed and impatient waiting for Wolfram and Hart to deliver even a token response for his request for aide in finding this new threat, the fact they hadn't even called to tell him they were having difficulty made him uneasy. He did not trust the firm, as he knew if they had any clue as to his true plans for the future they would do all they could to see him dead before he got close to succeeding. Still with his own seers been unable to locate this threat, he needed to reach out to those with more powerful resources and the firm had plenty of resources including hundreds of seers on their payroll. One of them might just pick up something that would at least point him in the right direction in locating this threat, his own seers had clearly failed so this was all he had but he was growing concerned with their silence and began to suspect they might start trying to use this opportunity to look into his plans. That he could not allow to happen, he would have to come up with some plans to ensure any of the lawyers who found anything about his plans were removed without implicating himself in the bargain.
Leaning back in his chair he wondered yet again just what this threat was that could change everything he had planned for the last hundred years without concern, never in all that time had anything threatened to expose or derail his plans. That it would happen now of all times was concerning considering how close to his goal he was, was it possible someone or something had decided to act and stop him from achieving his goal? Or was it possible somewhere in the future he had actually reached his goal and become a purebred first circle demon and opened the Hellmouth and a rival wanted to stop it from happening. The senior powers would have the capability to warp time, to alert some of their servants to what was to happen, had he reached out for help to the very faction who wished to stop him or was he been paranoid.
For now he was willing to wait to give the lawyers another day to finally get back to him, if even just to say they too had failed to find the source of this change. If that is what they did he would then have his people kidnap one of the senior lawyers and have them interrogate them to see if they were indeed behind this, if they were well no harm done as long as they never discovered what he had done hence the lawyer would go missing afterward. He would then reach out to some of his other contacts and see if he could get any help from them, the only reason he had not done this so far was their help came with strings meaning they would want something off him and right now he was in mood to divert his attention to appeasing them to get their co-operation.
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(Sunnydale)
Spike followed the Slayer and Angelus from a distance as they patrolled alongside the girl's watcher, nothing seemed out of place and it clear they were scouting out a demon nest. They seemed to be planning out how to best attack it another night, he really wanted to light up a cigarette but that would give him away so he pushed the urge away. After several minutes the small group turned and headed for home with Angelus clearly watching their backs as they departed, he considered trying to kidnap one of the group even Angelus himself and torturing them for information but there was no guarantee they were the ones Dru's warning was about and if he did take one of them he would bring the rest of them down on his head once more.
Right now until he fully healed from their last encounter he wanted to avoid that sort of possibility, deciding it wasn't worth it without proof they were the one's Dru's warnings pointed to he turned and headed for home finally giving into the urge to light a cigarette as he went and wondering who else to check up on before deciding to send a few underlings out to watch the mayor and his people. See if there was any clue's they might be behind the warnings, they'd have to be careful as the mayor was not someone he wanted as an enemy. The man was a powerful black mage and had been the one to defeat his great grandsire the Master, imprisoning him below Sunnydale for centuries before the Slayer killed him. With a new plan in mind he continued to head for the factory where he was based and where Dru waited for him, hopefully she'd have another vision soon which would give him more clues as to who this threat truly was.
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(Xander's Dream Scape)
Xander looked around confused as he found himself in what looked like the ruins of Sunnydale just before he made his pact with Janus, this had to be a dream of some kind as he knew he had indeed gone back in time and merged with his younger self so why was he suddenly back here. He moved through the ruins trying to ignore the dead bodies and friends who had come with him to try and stop the Hellmouth from opening, he then found the spot where he had been sitting when Janus had made his appearance. Looking around again he wondered just what was going on, he was certain he had not dreamed this up.
"You're correct Harris, this is my doing not yours" a familiar voice stated making him turn to the spinning turning heads of Janus behind him clearly having been watching for a bit.
"What's going on Janus, why you are here?" Xander inquired very weary as he doubted the god had good news if he had appeared here so soon after their last talk.
"There has been a complication Harris, you asked me to ensure your redhead found her way to Sunnydale and I agreed but it seems the very enemy I discussed been the one the males of the Mcclay line follow has decided to act" Janus responded instantly clearly displeased by this turn of events.
"Is Mary Jane okay?" Xander cut him off unable to help himself and he instantly noted Janus did not appreciate the interruption. "Sorry" he quickly said not wanting the ancient god to get truly annoyed with him.
"You should know better than to interrupt me Harris but for this one time considering the nature of what I just told you I will let it pass, but do not do it again" Janus warned him reminding him that even though Janus was helping him or he was helping Janus having agreed to come back on his offer that the god could still be dangerous to him should he get on his bad side. "Your redheaded paramour of the future is alive and well but her path has been diverted by my enemy, he has directed one of the Mcclay males to intercept her and ensure she stays away from Sunnydale and if they can turn her to their side" he informed him instantly making Xander angry especially when he realised it was Tara's male family members behind this and he already hated them for their actions against Tara. "I cannot directly counter my enemy as you know, but seen as you plan to eventually retrieve the witch and her mother in time then you can hopefully correct this and retrieve the redhead before my enemy can try and influence her to his side" he went on.
"Oh I'll do more than that Janus" Xander swore already contemplating stepping up his plans to go after Tara and her mother. "I already had axes to grind with Tara's male family members, now I have another and I always knew going after them may require me to remove them permantly" he added darkly.
"Do not rush into this Harris, my enemy and his followers are dangerous" Janus cautioned him. "Their abilities do not only lie with magic, but also the powers of suggestibility which is how your red head was influenced away from Sunnydale" he continued. "However thankfully the stronger ones will is the more resistance they are to more extreme changes in their behavior, so the red head is safe for now and considering her personality and strength of will I give her three to four months before they could truly affect her and start turning her against the light" he informed him.
Xander stared at him for a few minutes before forcing himself to calm down and nod in reluctant agreement, if Janus was to be believed and considering who he was his view of things were probably dead on he had time to work out a solid plan to deal with the males of Tara's family and ensure Tara, her mother and finally Mary Jane were safe. It would not be easy as he guessed their powers of suggestibility would be dangerous even to him, he would need safe guards in place before he confronted them.
"Thanks for the warnings Janus and for letting me know about Mary Jane and for keeping me from going after them before I am ready" he said finally to the waiting and watching god.
"I know you Harris well which is one of the reasons I chose you for this mission, you have many strengths that will aide you in ensuring the worlds keep turning but you still have weaknesses as well as all humans do and I am will do what I can to ensure those weaknesses do not get you killed" Janus said with one of his many faces smirking at him before he vanished.
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(Harris Residence)
Xander awoke the next morning feeling edgy after his meeting with Janus, a meeting he knew was very real. With the successes he'd had so far the biggest been ensuring Angelus would not be released he guessed it should not be surprising the enemy was moving to counter him and Janus. But the way they were doing it had caught him and if he had to guess even Janus of guard, that did not mean there was not gonna be a reckoning once he was ready to confront the Mcclays. Getting up he headed for the bathroom to have a shower and get ready for the day, but even as he did so his mind was already working on solving multiple problems he was now facing.