Wherever I May Roam

Disclaimer: own nothing, mayhap in another world, but not in this one, say thankya.

Summary: Xander makes a sacrifice, and we all know that on the Hellmouth, no good deed goes unpunished.

A/N: a special shout-out to the one we know as Sai King, long days and pleasant nights, good sir!

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He first saw the ten black-clad beings, moving swiftly for the bottleneck, stopping every once and again to turn back and unload at Jason, whom he could not see just yet. Xander tried hard to put all the movies he'd seen about Jason Voorhees out of his mind, reminding himself that they had a sound strategy and that it could be done. Still, he wished to God that he had taken a piss beforehand. He was seriously scared he was gonna wet himself with as scared as he was.

His fear doubled, though, once the...'man' himself came into view. Jason was twice the size of Xander, and taller even than the man he'd pegged to be Frank Castle (who had just unloaded his SAW directly into his chest, gaining no results). He was a big fucker, moving slowly but intently in that way that he'd used to find comical...and now just found devastatingly frightening.

"Hold," Xander heard Conner call out.

The Punishers had almost all made in through the bottleneck, except for Castle, who was attempting to shoot out the mass murderer's knees, but gaining no success. Castle screamed out as he ejected his clip, then ran back through the bottleneck.

"INCOMING," Castle screamed out, taking his position along with the Punishers as he plunged a new clip into his weapon.

Jason stepped through the doorway, pausing once he crossed the threshold. He was clearly surprised to see them there, but the hesitation last mere moments before he made his way into the room.

"BANGERS," Castle screamed.

"FIRE IN THE HOLE," Conner shouted out.

Xander, along with nearly everyone else in the room, pulled out a flashbang grenade and pulled the pin, then lobbed it at Jason. As they all hit him, the massive murder paused once more in his step, confused as to what was happening. Xander ducked down, slamming his hands over his ears as he did so, and closed his eyes shut.

He felt and heard the impact, and did a ten count. He got up to his feet, the second behind Castle, and saw a sight that filled his heart with hope.

Jason, on his back, squirming slightly as his vision assaulted him.

"OPEN FIRE!" He didn't know where the order came from, but he would be damned if he wasn't gonna obey it.

He leveled his P-90 against the monster and unloaded, round after round, into Jason Voorhees. He was deafened by the roar of the guns going off inside the small space. He felt his body reverberate inside the cavernous space, his chest pounding in and out as the sounds assaulted him. He slowly realized that he had, along with most everyone else, been screaming out in pain, rage, passion, a righteous cry of war that could not stop.

Slowly, the roar died down, giving way to a reality that Xander had foreseen, but had hoped against.

The bullets had not stopped Jason. Even as the men and women ejected their spent clips and slapped in new ones, Jason Voorhees was rising to his feet, his bullet-filled body leaking fluids that should have long since been still. Xander did not even bother to load in a new clip. He knew, in his heart, that there was only one way to end this being.

"Crap," he heard as Jason started to advance on one of the Black Berets, "What do we do?! What the fuck do we do?!?!!"

"Aim for the head," someone called out.

"We HIT the head!"

Xander ignored their words, panicked and frightened, and pulled out the claymore he had obtained in Nebraska. He charged it up and tossed it as hard as he could at Jason's head.

"CLAYMORE," someone shouted out.

"HIT THE DECK OR DIE," Xander shouted out, and he leveled his backup pistol at the claymore, and as soon as he had his shot, he took it.

The explosion was in close proximity to several of the Berets, sending them reeling back as debris and shrapnel was embedded into their skin. Jason, being the epicenter of the blast, was blown backwards into the wall, and his huge body forced the damaged wall to go down.

"Get the fuck out," Conner Murphy was shouting, "Get out!"

"Negative," Castle shouted out, hefting up his SAW at Jason and unloading on him, "Kill him!"

"Soldier, that thing took grenades, claymores, and bullets," Conner shouted, "What makes you think YOU can kill him?!"

"We're the Punishers, Irishman," Castle said, glaring down at him, "We can do this."

"No, you can't," Xander said, jumping down to their level, "We have enough time to get the fuck out of here. Only a moron wouldn't take it. Get everyone out, we're done here."

"Last time I checked, I was in charge here," Castle turned his glare on Xander, and the man had to wonder which was scarier, Jason Voorhees or Frank Castle, "We leave when the mission's accomplished!"

"I am the field expert on Jason Voorhees here," Xander said, "That means you follow my word! And I say that, unless you have a nuclear warhead somewhere in that mountain of a body, we need to get the FUCK out of dodge! Now swallow that goddamned pride and let's move out before someone dies!"

Jason was on his feet. He moved quickly, walking, and sliced his machete through the body of a Punisher who had attempted to defend himself with his AK-47, only to meet his end as the blade went through his chest. Voorhees moved fast, pushing the cadaver aside as he slashed the head off of another Beret.

Immediately, the men and women inside the cavern unloaded their weapons at Jason, driving the monster back for a short moment. Voorhees threw his machete, with the aim and strength of a master, and sliced through the body of another Beret. As he pulled the blade out, however, Castle came up and drove the butt of his rifle into Jason's head, driving him back. Castle took aim and shot straight through Voorhees's arm, causing the murderer to drop the machete to the ground. Frank tossed his SAW to the side and pulled out his KABAR, driving it straight into Voorhees's heart.

Jason merely stared at him, then reached out, trying to choke Castle with his own hands. Frank pulled the knife out, intending on driving it into Jason's skull, but Jason lifted Frank's entire body up and drove him into the wall.

Immediately, the remaining Berets were on Jason, trying to pry him off their leader.

"No," Frank shouted out, "Get them out! Get everyone out!! I'll hold him off!!!"

The Punishers shared a strange look amongst themselves, then reluctantly turned away from Castle.

"What, you can't just leave him," Xander shouted.

"Aye," Murphy shouted out, even as a Beret started to push him out, "Get your fuckin' hands off me!"

"Move," one of the Berets shouted, "We've been given a direct order, we shall obey it!! Now move it!!!"

"We can't fucking leave him behind," Faith shouted out, not budging as the Berets tried to force her out.

"We have to!"

The Berets were all forcing Bravo team out. This made no sense to Xander, or anyone else. Soldiers were trained to fight, but to save their own when they could. There was no reason to leave Castle behind...even with Jason there, trying to punch a hole straight through to his heart.

A Beret got in his face and Xander, on impulse, lashed out with a fist, sending the Beret to the ground. Even as the other Berets charged for him, he ran for Jason, withdrawing his machete as he did so, and drove it straight into Jason's neck, attempting to chop his head off.

Jason reached back with his own hand and grabbed the blade before Xander could embed it too far into his neck. In spite of Xander forcing all of his considerable strength into the deed, Jason was able to easily pull the blade out and toss both it and Xander aside.

"Xander," Faith shouted out, going towards him only to be held back by two Berets.

The Winchester Brothers, seeing the opportunity to escape the clutches of the now-distracted Berets, punched out both the Berets that had been holding them back. They ran fast, bringing their rifles up, and began to unload every bit of their ammo at Jason. The monster barely noticed as he finally wrapped his hands around Castle's throat, choking the Punisher.

Sam ran forward and brought the butt of his weapon down on Jason's forearm, causing him to let go of Castle, even as Dean used his own rifle as a club and drove it deep into Jason's knee, bringing the monster to his knee. Castle took the opportunity to drive his KABAR deep into Jason's forehead, easily piercing the brain with little force. Jason seemed to still for a long moment, causing the others in the room to still as well, holding their breaths as they waited for victory to come as Jason would surely keel over and die.

Xander, though, was not convinced. He tried to get to his feet, to grab his machete, to run and swing for Voorhee's head...but by the time he'd gotten to his feet, it was too late.

Jason pulled the blade out of his forehead and drove it into Castle's chest, driving the large commando into the wall with the sheer force of the blow. Dean drove the butt of his rifle into Jason's back, trying to force him down, but Jason turned and slammed his arm into Dean, sending him reeling to the ground.

Sam swung his own rifle, trying to take Jason's head off with it, but Voorhees merely stepped to the side. Sam overspent himself, losing his balance as he did so, and Voorhees grabbed the young Winchester by the throat and, using the same KABAR that had pierced his own skull, drew the blade along the stomach of the young hunter, spilling out blood and the insides before any could stop him.

"SAM!!!" Dean screamed out, lost in the pain, and rose to his feet, slapping a new clip into his rifle as Jason let Sam's body fall to the floor, and he opened fire on him. Jason stared at him for a moment, then began to walk menacingly towards him, shaking off the bullets as if they meant nothing.

Faith, Conner, and Murphy moved forward, past the Berets, and the three brought forth their own weapons and unleashed them upon Jason.

"God, we beseech You," Conner shouted, "Cast this demon from our sight!"

But God did not do this. God would not fight our battles for us. And, as Jason descended upon Dean, the three shared a feeling of hopelessness, for even as they put their weapons away to make for Jason, they knew that the great beast would drive the KABAR deep into Dean before they could save him.

Jason stood in front of Dean, who to his great credit, refused to budge before the sight of this evil. Dean spat into the mask and drove his fist into Voorhees's face, bruising his own hands and denting the mask which had been the last sight for countless victims. Jason grabbed his throat in his hand and easily lifted the man up, bringing the KABAR around to drive deep on Dean's throat.

A machete rose...and fell, slicing Jason's arm off. The machete struck again, slicing through Jason's torso, and it was followed by a hard kick which sent the mass murderer away from Dean, who fell to the floor, coughing as he tried to catch his breath.

"GET HIM OUT," Xander shouted out, watching warily as Jason returned to his feet.

"What about you?!" Faith shouted out.

"Priority," Xander said back as Jason leaned down to retrieve his machete, "Get the wounded out. We can't do that unless one of us-"

He was stopped in his words as a barrage of bullets laid down on Jason, impacting deeply into his upper torso with a few shots impacting his head, sending him down to the floor.

"DIE FUCKER!!!" Xander looked up as Grace Polk, one of the Arcadians, ran for Jason, who was already getting up, shooting off her Uzi as she did so.

"GRACE," the one Xander knew as Luke shouted out, "No!"

"fuck," Xander whispered, then called out, "GET THEM OUT!!!"

Grace continued to run at Voorhees, who by now was to his feet, screaming out in rage and pain as she fired her weapon. It was like slow-motion for Xander. He could see Jason turning, he could see him raising up his blade, swinging it in a deadly arch that threatened to cut the poor girl down in two. He could see Luke, running for her, begging her to stop to no avail. He could see the MacManus brothers, bending down to bring Dean Winchester up to his feet, while Faith had lifted Frank onto her shoulders and was easily bringing him up towards their fallback point. He could not see the Black Berets, cowards that they were for abandoning their commanding officer and comrades in arms.

He couldn't recall making a conscious decision for doing it. He had no real reason or rationale for doing it. All he knew was that he had somehow placed himself between Jason's blade and Grace's bullets. What happened next...took him completely by surprise.

Bullets came against his back. The machete fell against his skin. Yet, neither could pierce his skin...the bullets fell to the ground, flattened and steaming. The force of the blade dropped Xander to the ground, but the blade itself was heavily damaged, cracks visible in the night sky.

Xander slowly, at least for him, came back to reality. He kept on expecting to feel the sticky wetness of his own blood, but instead, found only a pain from his backside where he had fallen from the attack. He stared at nothingness in shock, feeling his body for injuries.

"Mary, Mother of God," he heard someone say, and he looked up.

He was not the only one surprised. Dean, Conner, and Murphy were staring at him, mouths wide open, and the brothers crossed themselves. Faith had been so shocked that she'd allowed Castle to slip from her back and fall to the ground. Luke and Grace were both staring at him, shock and awe written upon their faces. Even Jason was staring down at him in what he knew had to be shock, his weapon still as he observed the miracle before him.

Wait, Xander thought to himself, I just survived two massive blows that should have, and would have killed anyone else? What the fuck??! Wait...Jason's distracted...

Reality hit him fast, and with that reality, came inspiration. He rose, faster than he thought capable, and arched his weapon high into the air. He cut straight and true, severing Jason's head from his body.

Jason stood aloft for a long moment, his head still atop his shoulders. Slowly, the head fell back, landing on the ground as Jason's body fell atop the head. Against all hope, Xander allowed himself a moment of hope. Maybe, just maybe, they had won and finally killed the unkillable Jason Voorhees.

Sighing, he turned back to the survivors. He was shaking.

"...Let's go."

Silently, the group gathered up their wounded and dead. They brought them back to the fallback point, whereupon they boarded a helicopter bound for Boston. The ride was silent, save for inside the minds of those who had witnessed what would come to be called 'The Miracle at Arcadia.'

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At what was hoped to be Jason Voorhee's final resting place, a pair of sharp spurred cowboy boots echoed in the ruined halls. Flagg sighed, rubbing away at the lovebite Glory had left him.

"Xander, ole boy," Flagg whispered, "What've you done now?"

He sighed, but bent down and lifted Jason's body off his head. He placed the badly damaged head against the neck. With a frown, Flagg walked up to the highest point he could reach while still within sight of the body. He withdrew the Black 13 and raised it up to the heavens.

"...nineteen," he whispered to himself.

A bolt of lightning came down from the heavens. It arched down, impacting upon the ground, going through Jason's body as it did so. The lightning crackled inside his body, bringing the organs that had just shut down back to life, reconnecting the nerve endings which had before been severed, bringing the life that had been extinguished back to this plain of existence.

Flagg sighed, sitting down upon a large piece of rubble as Jason pulled himself together. He stared through the Black Bend, watching as Xander pondered heavily on the events of the night.

"...This makes not one bit of goddamned sense," Flagg muttered to himself, "I mean...Xander was injured by those bullets those two would-be assassins used. And, Hell, I knocked him out!"

Flagg sighed, ignoring Jason as the behemoth rose to his feet. A part of it could be explained. The bullets had been blessed, making them holy. If Hell had somehow strengthened Xander...he did not even want to consider what consequences that could procure. He could not, however, come up with a logical explanation for why he had been able to injure him...unless...a frightening possibility presented itself to his mind.

What if...this was something that had happened recently?

"Damn," Flagg whispered, "I need to talk to someone who knows a lot about Hell," he smiled, "And I just happen to know a hell goddess that I like to fuck. This sounds like fun!"