Xander was feeling pretty good as he walked down the halls of Sunnydale high towards the library, he had stopped O'Toole and his zombie buddies from blowing up the high school and permanently opening the Hellmouth, and he was no longer letting Cordelia's insults get to him.
'Yup life is good,' Xander thought as he walked into the library and spotted Buffy and Willow at the table. "Hey girls, what's up?" Xander asked as he walked over to the table.
"Xander, what are you doing here?" Buffy asked with anger in her voice as she stood up and walked over to Xander.
"Asking what's up," Xander replied, slightly confused.
"We told you we don't want you helping anymore," Buffy said in anger.
"But..." Xander started to reply when Willow cut him off.
"No buts Xander, this is for your own good," The red head said to him.
"Get out of here," Buffy told the young man as she pointed to the doors.
"But I can help," Xander replied, tempted to tell them about what happened the pervious night.
"Like the way you helped with Angelus," Buffy replied with venom in her voice.
"How could you lie to Buffy like that Xander, where you that jealous of her and Angel?" Willow asked, anger clearly audible in her voice.
"Jealously had nothing too do with it," Xander replied, trying to stay calm.
"You expect us to believe that?" Buffy asked with disgust in her voice.
"Everybody knows that you're in love with Buffy," Willow said.
"What! I got over that ages ago!" Xander responded in his defense.
"Then why did you have me kill Angel?" Buffy asked, barley holding in her rage.
"I did what needed too be done, need I remind you that he tortured Giles, killed Jenny and countless other people all because you where acting like a lovesick school girl and refused too stake him." Xander replied while trying to keep calm.
"How dare you say that you bastard!" Buffy screamed as she ran forward and grabbed hold of Xander's arm. The small blond slayer then picked up the young man and threw him through the library doors and into a group of lockers on the other side of the hall.
"If you know what's good for you, you'll stay away from here," Buffy told him in a cold voice as she turned and walked away with Willow right behind her. "Your lucky I don't kill you," the blond slayer added as an afterthought.
Xander slowly pulled himself to his feet and walked to the parking lot where his car was. Upon reaching his car he pulled himself in and fell onto the seat.
'Life isn't so good,' Xander thought to himself as he started the car and drove home.
A few hours later night had fallen and Xander was sitting on his bed deep in thought.
'They don't want my help, fine. Looks like I'm taking matters into my own hands,' Xander thought as he got off his bed and walked down to his basement and started to pull some boxes off of various shelves.
The young man then opened the first box in front of him and pulled out a crossbow that he had been building for the past month and had just recently finished. The weapon was specially designed to hold cartridges that contained four bolts apiece.
Next he opened a long rectangular box that contained a Katana he had gotten off a dead demon. Xander attached the Japanese sword to his belt and picked up the crossbow before grabbing his last piece of equipment, a set of brass knuckles with three crosses engraved on the surface.
After Xander was fully geared up he walked out of his house and began to walk towards the nearest cemetery for his solo patrol.
'All right, this is my first time on patrol alone so I have to take it easy,' Xander silently thought as he cautiously walked through the graveyard, alert for danger of any type.
An hour later, after staking three vampires, Xander decided to head for home and call it night, he was close to the exit of the graveyard when he saw a weird blue light and heard several people yelling from one of the nearby mausoleums.
'What the hell is that?' Xander wondered as he loaded a new cartridge into his crossbow and slowly made his way over the old structure.
As Xander was walking over he saw that he wasn't the only one that noticed the light and yelling. Five vampires where walking over to the old mausoleum, knowing that he was outmatched Xander quickly dove into some nearby bushes until the vampires had walked through the door.
Seconds later several screams where heard from the old building the demons had entered.
"I think I better help," Xander said out loud as he started running towards the mausoleum.
Upon entering the door Xander saw that the five vampires had four people cornered against the wall. Without a second thought the so-called Zeppo lifted his crossbow and fired a bolt into the heart of one of the vampires quickly reducing it to a pile of ash.
The other four vampires, after seeing there comrade turn to dust, turned around and saw a young human with a crossbow quickly readying it for another shot. The four undead quickly charged the young man but Xander was able too fire his weapon again, turning another of the demons into dust.
Before Xander had a chance to fire a third shot one of the remaining vampires knocked the weapon out of his hand and then lifted him up by his collar.
"You killed to of my childe," The undead creature said in anger.
"I guess I did," Xander responded, trying to hide the fear in his voice.
"You shall take their place," The vampire said, moving in to bite him.
Before the vampire got a chance to sink his fangs into Xander it felt a sharp pain in it's back and seconds later, crumbled to dust. The two remaining vampires then turned to look at the person that dusted their leader and saw that a young man with brown hair had picked up the crossbow and was quickly getting it ready to fire again.
Using the distraction to his advantage Xander quickly pulled out his Katana and severed the head of one of the vampires while the brown haired guy fired the last bolt into the remaining undead's heart.
"You ok?" the guy asked as he walked over to Xander and gave him back the crossbow.
"Yeah, thanks for the help," Xander replied as he took back the weapon and quickly loaded another cartridge.
"What where those things?" a tall, dark skinned man asked.
"Those where vampires," Xander replied as he sheathed his Katana.
"Vampires?" a red haired girl asked in wonder.
"Vampires," Xander replied.
"I believe it," the brown haired guy replied.
"You do?" Xander asked.
"We've seen weirder," the guy responded.
"Ok, you think I could get your names?" Xander asked, still a little confused.
"Oh right, I'm Quinn Mallory," the brown haired guy said, "And that is Rembrandt Brown," he said, pointing at the dark skinned man. "The red head is Wade Wells, and the brunette is Maggie Beckett," Quinn finished.
"And you are?" Maggie asked, slightly suspicious.
"Alexander Harris, but you can call me Xander," Xander answered.
"Well Xander, wanna tell us where we are?" Wade asked in a kind voice.
"You're in a mausoleum," Xander replied with a grin.
"I think she meant what city," Quinn replied.
"Sunnydale California," Xander answered.
"Never heard of any Sunnydale," Rembrandt told the young man.
"Not to many people have," Xander replied as he walked out of the mausoleum.
"Exactly were in California is Sunnydale?" Quinn asked.
"Couple miles South of L.A. How exactly did you get into that mausoleum?" Xander asked the group.
"We walked in," Maggie responded.
"Right, then what was up with that blue light I saw?" Xander asked, while looking over the group.
"Uh, we where performing an experiment," Quinn replied hoping that the young man in front of him would buy the excuse.
"How dumb do you think I am?" Xander asked the group in front of him. "We where doing an experiment, yeah right, I may not be the smartest guy around but I am smart enough to know that an experiment requires equipment, which you have non of. Also to make that excuse believable you would've known that you where in Sunnydale, which you didn't," Xander finished, waiting too see what the group would come up with next.
"Alright we'll tell you the truth, but do you have someplace more private, and a little bit safer were we could talk?" Quinn asked.
"Sure, my place isn't to far, let's go" Xander answered while heading in the direction of his house.
The four people stared at each other for a second before following the vampire hunter out of the cemetery.
Forty minutes later the group of five had arrived at Xander's house were the whole story of how Quinn and his friends where from a parallel Earth. How Maggie's world was destroyed by rogue pulsar and finally that they where chasing a man named Rickman who had too survive by injecting the brain tissue of other people into his brain.
"So that's the whole story," Quinn said to Xander, who had a neutral expression on his face.
"So how long until your next slide?" Xander asked the group.
"You're saying you believe us?" Rembrandt asked in disbelief.
"Rembrandt, my high school is on top of a Hellmouth, I have seen a lot of shit over the years. Hell I dated a soul sucking mummy, you'll find that there is very little I don't believe," Xander replied with a grin.
"Soul sucking mummy," Wade said in a confused tone.
"Don't ask," Xander replied, which earned a laugh from the group.
"Well, we slide in a little less than a day," Quinn said as he looked at the red numbers on the timer. "Know any good hotels in the area?" the young scientist asked.
"Nope, but you're welcome to crash here if you want," Xander replied.
"We don't want to impose..." Maggie began to reply but was cut off before she could finish.
"You're not imposing, and besides, it would be safer here than in a motel," Xander said as he opened his refrigerator and pulled out an apple. "Any of you hungry?" he asked and the group and reviced no's from them all.
"What do you mean safer?" Rembrandt asked.
"Hotels, motels and things like that are public accommodations so vampires can enter them whenever they want, unlike houses or apartments which are private places so vampires can't enter without an invite from someone that lives there," Xander explained as he sat back down at the table.
"Well since you put it that way, we'll stay," Quinn responded.
"Cool, there's only one other room besides mine which is my parents but they are spending the next two weeks in Vegas so someone can use that, I also have several very comfortable couches," Xander told the group of sliders.
"That will do just fine," Quinn said.
"Cool, now I would love to spend more time talking too you but I have school tomorrow so I am gonna hit the hay, you're welcome too anything in the fridge and you can watch TV if you want, just try not to break anything," Xander said as he rose from the table and walked out of the room.
"Night Xander," Wade called out to Xander as he left.
"So can we really trust this guy?" Rembrandt asked the group once they where sure Xander was gone.
"Well, he hasn't given us a reason not to trust him, and he did save our lives," Quinn answered his friend.
"So we give him the benefit of the doubt?" Maggie asked.
"Yes," Quinn replied.
"Alright, well I'm gonna see what type of TV this world has to offer," Wade said as she stood up and walked into the living room and turned on the television.
The next morning Xander walked into the kitchen and saw the red haired girl, who he just remembered was named Wade, at the stove cooking what appeared to be eggs and bacon.
"Morning," Wade called to him as he moved farther into the kitchen.
"Morning," Xander replied. "What are you doing?" The young man then asked as he opened the refrigerator and pulled out a carton of milk.
"I'm cooking breakfast," She replied, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"I figured that, but why are you cooking breakfast?" Xander asked as he pulled a glass out of the cupboard and poured the milk into it before putting the carton back in the fridge.
"Why not," The red head replied as she grabbed a plate and put some food on it before handing it to the young brunette.
"Touché," Xander replied as he sat down and began eating.
"So what else besides vampires are around here?" Wade asked as she started to brew a pot of coffee.
"Oh the usual, demons, zombies, werewolves, and my least favorite, the giant bugs," Xander answered as he quickly ate finished his food.
"Can't wait to slide outta here," the red head commented as Quinn walked into the room.
"Morning," Quinn said as he sat down at the table.
"Hey Quinn, sleep well?" Wade asked as she handed him a plate of food.
"Yeah, those couches are a whole lot more comfortable then they look," the young scientist replied as he began eating.
"Told you," Xander said as he stood up and grabbed his bag off the floor. "I got to get to school, you're welcome to do whatever, just be sure too get indoors before sundown," Xander told the two as he walked out the front door and to his car.
"So what do you wanna do today?" Quinn asked as Rembrandt and Maggie walked into the room.
"Well, I vote we find something relaxing," Maggie replied as she poured herself a cup of coffee.
"Well, there's probably a mall around here somewhere," Wade said as she too sat down to eat.
"I don't know about you but I vote we just spend the day lying around here, this is the first word we've been to in while were there's nothing trying to kill us, take our brains, or enslave us," Rembrandt said as he started eating.
"I second that," Quinn said between mouthfuls of egg.
Xander was feeling pretty glum as he walked down the halls of Sunnydale high. When he first arrived at school he immediately went to track down Buffy and Willow in the hopes that they could reconcile their friendship, but all he got for his trouble was being thrown out of the library again.
'This really sucks," Xander thought as he walked into his last class of the day which thankfully he didn't share with Buffy or Willow seeing as he had gotten tired of the death glares they had been giving him all day.
Soon the bell announcing the end of school had rung and Xander quickly headed for his car and home. A few minutes later Xander was parking his car in his driveway and parking it.
As the young man walked in his front door he could tell that the group of sliders was still in his house judging by the sounds of his television from the next room.
"Hello!," Xander called out as he walked into the living room.
"Hey," Quinn responded, looking up from the book he was reading.
Looking around the room Xander saw that only Quinn and Rembrandt were there, Maggie and Wade seemed to be missing.
"Were are Maggie and Wade," Xander asked as he sat in the chair next to Quinn.
"They said something about going shopping," Rembrandt told the young man.
"Well, they better get back before nightfall," Quinn said while closing the book and turning to Xander. "So, how many people know about demons and vampires on this world?" Quinn asked.
"Don't know exactly off hand, but I don't think that many people outside of the Watchers Council know," Xander answered.
"What is the Watchers Council?" Rembrandt asked, turning off the TV and joining the conversation.
"They are a group of stuffy British men that watch over the and try to control the Slayer, and before you ask, the Slayer is a human girl that is gifted with super powers to fight vampires and other evil things," the young hunter told the duo of interdimensional travelers.
"Do you know the slayer?" Quinn asked in fascination.
"Yeah, she threw me head first into a wall of lockers two times already," Xander replied with a little bit of venom in his voice.
"Why would she do that?" Rembrandt asked.
"Long story I don't feel like getting into," Xander replied as he grabbed the remote from the singers hands and turned the TV back on.
It was nearly nightfall when Maggie and Wade walked into the house with their arms full of shopping bags.
"Hey guys," Wade called as she set her bags down on Xander's kitchen table.
"What's all this?" Quinn asked, looking into some of the bags.
"Well, we got some clothes, jewelry, shoes, and some hair stuff," Wade told the group.
"You do realize that we can't take all that stuff with us when we slide," Quinn told his long time friend.
"Yes we can," Wade said back.
"How do you propose we do that?" Quinn asked.
Wade simply grinned before pulling a decent sized travel bag out of one of the shopping bags and began putting all the stuff in it. A few minutes later everything was packed into the bag.
"Told you we could," Wade said with a grin.
"Alright, just don't be mad when we lose that bag in a slide or two." Quinn responded with his own grin as he went back to the book he was reading.
"Well I would love to stay and talk with you guys, but I gotta go patrol for vamps," Xander said as he walked over to the hall closet and pulled out his crossbow and katana and strapped them on.
"Be careful," Wade called out to him as he walked out his front door.
"I will, and I'll try and make it back before you slide," the brunette called back as he closed the door.
"You think he'll be ok?" Maggie asked.
"I'll think he'll be fine, Xander seems to be very resourceful," Quinn said as he closed the book and pulled out the timer. "Forty-three minutes till we slider," Quinn said to the group.
Xander was in deep thought as he slowly made his way through the graveyard looking for the undead citizens of town. He had already staked two vampires and hoping to make it three before he went home to say goodbye to his new friends.
It wasn't long before Xander was able make out several different voices from a small patch of trees up ahead of him. Quickly checking the clip in his crossbow and seeing that there was only one bolt left, he quickly swapped it for a fresh one then began to walk forward slowly. Upon reaching the small area Xander was able to make out several demons there.
"So what are we doing here?" one of the demons asked, a tall one covered in dark green scales with long claws on each finger.
"The mayor wants us too capture a group of people that appeared in town last night," another demon of the same species answered.
"He thinks that they may be powerful sorcerers because they arrived by some sort of portal," a third demon spoke up, this on yellow and covered head to toe in slime.
"Where are they?" the first demon asked.
"1892 Chester Street," the second one answered.
Xander didn't wait any longer after hearing the address to his house. He quickly turned and began to sprint back to his home hoping to warn the group of sliders before the demons got hold of them.
Inside the Harris household Rembrandt and Wade where arguing about what to watch until the timer hit zero, which was in a little under ten minutes. Quinn and Maggie where in the kitchen getting a quick snack before there slide when Xander broke through the front door out of breath, and extremely tired.
"You guys gotta run, demons coming, after you," Xander managed to say between gasps of air.
"What?" Calm down and say that again," Maggie told the tired young man in front of her.
"There's a group of demons coming here to get you because they think that you are wizards or something," Xander said as he closed the front door and began piling stuff in front of it.
"What!" Quinn yelled out as he began helping Xander pile things in front of the door. "How did they know we where here?"
"I don't know, but we gotta get you guys to safety and fast," Xander said as he ran to his back door with the group of sliders close behind. "C'mon you can go out the back door," Xander said as he opened said door and quickly closed it again. "Shit!"
"What is it?" Rembrandt asked.
"Vampires and lots of them," Xander replied as a pounding then came from his front door.
"This can't be good," Quinn said as the pounding increased.
"What do we do?" Wade asked, trying to stay calm.
"Get in the basement," Xander said as he opened the basement door. "I'll try and buy you some time until you slide," he continued as he readied his crossbow.
"Thank you," Quinn said as he ran down the stairs.
"Are you gonna be ok?" Wade asked, worry evident in her voice.
"I'll be fine," Xander answered as he ushered the rest of them through the door. "I hope," he mumbled as he closed the door just as the front door burst open.
Xander wasted no time by quickly firing the first bolt into one of the chest of one of the demons, which only served to anger it as it screamed and ran forward. The young hunter didn't have time to react as the demons fist collided with his face.
"How much time do we have left Q-ball?" Rembrandt asked the young scientist.
"One minute," Quinn responded after checking the numbers on the timer.
"This is gonna be the longest minute ever," Wade said as they heard the demonic scream above them.
Too slowly for the group if sliders to feel comfortable the seconds ticked away. When only ten seconds remained before the slide a crash was heard above them as the basement door broke open and an unconscious Xander fell down the stairs.
"It's time!" Quinn yelled as he opened the vortex.
"We can't leave him here, those demons will kill him!" Maggie yelled as the first demon began trying to push his large body through the small doorframe.
"Grab him, quick!" Quinn yelled back.
Wade and Rembrandt quickly picked up the fallen warrior and quickly ran through the portal, followed closely by Maggie and Quinn.
Xander was slowly returning to consciousness, the first thing that he was aware of was the immense pain he could feel; the second was that he was on something soft. Slowly opening his eyes the young man saw that he was not in his room.
"Hey, you're finally awake," A voice said to him.
Turning Xander saw that Wade was sitting in a chair next to the bed he was on.
"How you feeling?" the red haired woman asked.
"Like someone took a sledge hammer to my head, what happened?" Xander asked as he slowly sat up.
"You don't remember?" Wade asked.
"The last thing I remember was having my head introduced to a demons fist," Xander answered.
"Well, you came crashing through your basement door and fell down the stairs, you're lucky you didn't break anything," Wade told the young man as she handed him a glass of water and aspirin.
"Where am I?" Xander asked after downing the water and painkillers.
"The Chandler Hotel," Wade answered in a timid voice.
"How did I get here?"
"We had too bring you with us when we slid," was the answer.
"WHAT!"
"What!"
"Xander calm down," Wade said
"Why should I?"
"Because things aren't bad enough to warrant uncontrolled anger," Wade explained.
"I beg to differ," Xander shot back.
The argument would have continued on longer if not for the arrival of Quinn, Maggie, and Remy.
"Hey, you're finally awake," Quinn said as he walked over to the young man.
"You can send me back to my world can't you?" Xander instantly asked the physics major.
"Right to the point aren't you," Maggie said.
"Yup," Xander replied.
"Well Xander I'm afraid I've got some bad news for you," Quinn said as he pulled up a chair and sat down.
"What is it?" Xander sighed.
"We can't send you back," Remy told the young man.
"Why not, I thought you explained to me that the timer thingy could store world coordinates or something like that," Xander said while trying to remember everything the group told him about the timer.
"Usably it does, but for some reason it only has part of the coordinates of your world, and I have no idea how to get the rest," Quinn explained to the young man.
Xander sat for a minute, allowing the information to sink in before slowly rising and heading for the door of the hotel room.
"Where are you going?" Wade asked, concern evident in her voice.
"For a walk," Xander replied as he closed the door behind him.
"Shouldn't we go after him?" Maggie asked.
"No, he needs time to get used to the fact that we can't send him home, he'll come back when he's ready to talk," Remy answered.
Two hours later Xander walked back into the hotel room and sat down on the couch.
"Feeling better?" Wade asked the young man.
"Actually, yes," Xander replied.
"So you're not mad anymore?" Quinn asked.
"Nope, when I was out walking I did some thinking," Xander responded.
"Oh, about what?" Maggie asked.
"Well, I thought about things back home and I realized that I don't have a whole lot going for me there, bad grades, my friends no longer speaking to me, alcoholic parents, and of course demons and the like, then I realized that sliding could probably teach me alot of valuable life experience," Xander explained to the group.
"So you're saying that you want to continue sliding with us," Quinn said.
"Well, yeah, that is of course if you don't mind having me along" the younger man answered.
"The more the merrier," Rembrandt said answering for the group
"Cool, so when do we slide?" Xander asked.
"Nine o'clock tomorrow morning," Quinn responded after checking the timer.
"Alright, so who's up for grabbing some dinner?" Rembrandt asked the group.
Soon the five interdimensional travelers were seated at the restaurant on the ground floor of the hotel.
"So anything big I should know now that I'm a slider?" Xander asked the group.
"Yeah, the first casualty of sliding is dignity," Rembrandt said to the young man, earning a laugh from everyone but Xander.
"What do you mean?" Xander asked the group.
"You'll see," Quinn responded.
"Ok, anything else?"
"Always be careful when you first land on a world, it could have dramatically different customs and laws than your own." Quinn answered.
"Gotcha," Xander replied as their food was delivered.
Soon the group had finished their meal and then retired back to their room in order to get as much sleep as they could before the morning slide. The next morning at roughly eight forty five the group of sliders were all awake and moving around the room to make sure they didn't forget anything.
"Hey, what happened to my sword and crossbow," Xander asked the group.
"The crossbow we had to leave behind and he hid your sword under the couch," Wade responded as she picked the travel bag she had purchased on Xander's world.
Xander walked over to the couch and sure enough underneath it sat his sword. The young man quickly grabbed his sword and attached it too his belt before putting on a trench coat he had purchased the night before for the purpose of hiding the weapon.
"Alright everybody hurry it up, we got five minutes," Quinn called out as he put on his own coat.
Soon the group had gathered up everything that they needed and were ready to slide.
"Alright, ten seconds," Quinn said as he watched the timer count down. When the timer hit zero Quinn held out his hand and pressed the button activating the vortex. "After you!" Quinn called out, gesturing to Xander.
"Here goes nothing," Xander mumbled under his breath as he ran forward and jumped into the tunnel, followed closely by the other sliders.
As Xander emerged from the vortex he noticed two things. One he was in a club, and two, he has flying on a collision course with the bar.
The rest of the group landed relatively safely on the dance floor of the club and quickly looked around to get their bearings.
"Where's Xander?" Wade asked as she looked around the club, quickly noticing the three shocked women sitting at the bar. "Uh oh," the red head mumbled as she quickly began thinking up cover stories.
"Hi there," Quinn said, breaking the stunned silence. "You're probably wondering what just happened,"
"Yeah," One of the women replied.
Before Quinn could responded a groan was heard from behind the bar as Xander stood up.
"For the record, wood is very hard on this world," Xander said as he then noticed the three women.
"What the hell is happening, who the hell are you, and how the hell did you end up in my club?" the second woman shouted.
"Well, this can't get any worse," Maggie said.
Before anyone else had a chance to say anything four pillars of fire appeared in the room and quickly faded away to reveal three demons, which immediately started throwing glowing blue balls at the group.
"Spoke to soon!" Maggie yelled as she jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding one the balls.
The only people in the room who reacted were Xander and the three women. Xander quickly leaped over the bar and unsheathed his katana while the first woman who spoke raised her hand and sent one of the demons flying into a wall.
Xander ran forward and decapitated the demon the woman had sent flying into the wall and then turned to find another target but before he could react the remaining three froze in place seemingly by magic.
"Cool," Xander said as he inspected the frozen demons.
"What? Why didn't they freeze?" the second woman asked the other two as she looked at the group of sliders.
"Are you okay?" Wade asked Xander, ignoring the woman's questions.
"Yeah, just a little lump on the head," Xander replied as he walked over to the trio of women.
"Hi, the names Xander;" the young man said as he approached the women. "And you are probably wondering about how me and my friends ended up here,"
"Yes," the third woman finally spoke up. "But we should probably get rid of the demons before we start playing twenty questions,"
"You're probably right," Xander said as he walked over to the remaining demons and cut off their heads.
"So, we should probably explain things," Quinn said to the three women.
"Ya think"
"Well for starters, I'm Quinn Mallory," The scientist introduced himself. "And this is Rembrandt Brown, Wade Wells, Maggie Beckett, and Xander, who already introduced himself," Quinn said, pointing at each person in turn.
"And you are?" Xander asked.
"I'm Prue Halliwell and these are my sisters Piper and Phoebe." Prue said to the group.
"So you're from another planet?" Phoebe asked the group.
"No, we are from Earth, just different Earth's than this one" Quinn answered.
"So if you're from different dimensions how did you get here?" Prue asked.
"I invented I device that has the ability to open a tunnel to parallel worlds, but when I activated the vortex early we lost the coordinates to our home world," Quinn explained as he showed the trio of women the timer.
"So now you're trying to get back to your world?" Piper asked as she handed the timer back to Quinn.
"Actually I'm in no rush to get back to mine," Xander said to the women.
"Why not?" Phoebe asked, confusion evident in her voice.
"My parents are probably the two worst people on the planet, I live in a town that was built on top of the mouth of hell, and my friends want nothing more to do with me," Xander explained while cleaning the demon blood of off his sword.
"If this place is so bad then why do the rest of you want to go back?" Prue asked.
"Xander and Maggie are from different worlds then Wade, Remy, and I," Quinn answered.
"And since my world was destroyed I don't really have anyplace to go," Maggie said to the group.
"That sucks," Phoebe responded.
"It sure does,"
"How come you didn't freeze like the demons did?" Piper asked.
"What do you mean?" Quinn asked
"My power lets me freeze people, I want to know why you didn't," Piper answered.
"I'm guessing it's because we're from another dimension then yours," Quinn answered the witch.
"So since we answered your questions how about you answer some of ours?" Remy asked the women.
"Shoot," Pure replied.
"What city are we in?" Quinn asked.
"San Francisco," Phoebe replied.
"How did you send a demon flying into a wall?" Xander asked, turning to face Prue.
"We're witches," Prue replied.
"Prue!" Piper and Phoebe yelled.
"What? He knows about demons and he did help us out," Prue said in defense.
"And if it makes any difference I have met witches before," Xander said in Prue's defense.
"You have?" Piper asked.
"Yeah, back on my world, my former friend is a witch in training, and my old computer teacher was a gypsy and a techno pagan," Xander explained as he leaned against the bar.
"So, when do you leave?" Phoebe asked.
"We slide in eight hours," Quinn answered.
"Alright, so what do we do until five fifteen tonight?" Xander asked the other sliders.
"I vote we start with breakfast and decide something later," Remy said as got off the stool we was sitting on.
"There's a nice place around the corner, we were about to get some food ourselves, you're welcome to come," Prue said to the transdimensional travelers.
"Sounds good to me," Quinn said as the group got up and walked out of the nightclub.
"So how are the worlds you've been to different from your home worlds?" Phoebe asked after the group had placed their orders.
"Well, sometimes it's just something small and other times it is something huge," Remy answered.
"How so?" Piper asked.
"Well their was a world we went to where San Francisco was a maximum security prison, another one where it was a preserve for dinosaurs, and my least favorite, a world where all the men where held against their will in breeding camps," Quinn answered.
"Breeding camps?" Xander and Maggie asked at the same time.
"Don't ask," Remy responded as their food showed up.
The rest of the meal was mostly in silence except for the odd question every now again. Soon the group had finished eating and then left the restaurant. As they were walking down the street Phoebe tripped and began to fall but was caught by Xander before she hit the ground.
"You okay?" Xander asked the witch who did not answer him, instead she was staring off into space with a horrified look on her face.
Piper and Prue quickly moved over to their sister, knowing full well that she had just had a premonition, and not a pleasant one judging by the look on her face.
"What did you see?" Prue asked her younger sister.
"I saw us die," Phoebe said.
"What do you mean you saw us die?" Maggie asked the witch as the group was led through the front door and into the living room.
"Sometimes I get visions of future events and when Xander grabbed me a saw a vision of a group of demons sacrificing all of us except Xander," Phoebe explained as she sat down on the couch.
"Why not me?" Xander asked as she sat down next to Phoebe.
"I don't know," Phoebe answered.
"This is bad isn't it?" Wade asked as she sat down next to Xander.
"Yup," Xander replied, already thinking of ways to help his new friends.
"So what do we do to make sure this vision doesn't happen?" Quinn asked the three sisters.
"Well, we start by finding out what type of demon they are," Prue said while looking over at Phoebe. "Do you remember what they look like?"
"They look like the ones that attacked us at the club earlier," Phoebe answered.
"Alright then, I'll go check the book and see if it says anything," Piper said as she walked up the stairs.
"What book?" Quinn asked the two remaining witches.
"A book we have that has information about various different demons," Prue said, being careful not to reveal too much about The Book of Shadows.
A few minutes later Piper came back down the stairs with a folded piece of paper in her hand.
"There called Kinove demons, they're part of a cult that is trying to open a gateway to hell by means of a ritual that involves a sacrifice of three witches and four innocent souls," the middle sister explained to the group.
"How do we kill them?" Phoebe asked.
"Well from what we saw at the club a sword works wonders, but there is also a vanquishing potion," Piper explained to her sister.
"Alright then, lets make this potion, then find the demons so we can kill them before they kill you," Xander said while getting off the couch and following the three sisters into the kitchen leaving the rest of the sliders behind.
"You know what?" Quinn asked the group.
"What?" Wade asked.
"None of what they just said seems the least bit odd to me," he responded with grin before walking into the kitchen.
"Alright the potion is done," Piper said as she started grabbing empty potion on bottles and began pouring the green liquid into them.
"Now, how do we find the demons?" Wade asked.
"Knowing our luck, they'll probably find us," Prue said as she grabbed a couple of the potion bottles.
About half a second later seven pillars of fire appeared in the room and died away to reveal seven of the same demons that attacked them at the nightclub. The demons didn't waste anytime and quickly went on the offence by throwing glowing blue balls at the group.
"I hate it when I'm right!" Prue yelled as she dived into cover to avoid the energy balls.
Xander chose a more direct course of action by unsheathing his Katana and attacking the nearest demon. The young demon hunter was able to land a blow on the first demon that severed his head.
Using the distraction that Xander was giving them Prue, Piper, and Phoebe began throwing the potions at the demons. Xander, after seeing three demons go up in flames and disappear, figured out that the witches had the demon situational well in hand quickly scanned the room and saw the other four sliders ducking behind the counter in the kitchen.
Before Xander could move over to his friends he felt a sharp pain in his back and then fell to the ground unconscious.
The kitchen looked like a tornado had gone through it. There was broken glass and wood everywhere as well as several burn marks on the floor and cupboards as well as one body lying on the floor.
"What the hell happened here?" a unknown man asked out loud as he looked at the destruction around him before walking over to the unconscious Xander.
Upon closer inspection the man saw that the body in front of him had a large burn mark on his back. Not wasting anytime the man put his hands over the mark and concentrated as energy began to flow out of his hands and heal the injury.
A few seconds later a groan was heard as the unconscious man began stirring.
"What hit me?" Xander asked as he sat up and looked around.
"Why don't you tell me," the man told him.
"Who are you?" Xander asked.
"My names Leo, what happened hear?" the man asked.
"The last thing I remember was being attacked," Xander replied as he slowly pulled himself too his feet.
"What did the demons look like?" Leo asked.
"How did you know it was demons?" Xander asked, surprise in his voice.
"Well, usually when the house looks like this it means there was a demon attack," Leo answered.
"Where are the others?" Xander asked.
"You were the only person here," Leo answered.
"That's bad," Xander asked as he picked up his sword.
"How so?" the whitelighter asked.
"Phoebe had a premonition of demons sacrificing her, her sisters, and my friends," Xander answered, very worried for the safety of his friends.
"Don't worry, I can still sense the sisters, that means that they haven't been killed yet," Leo said, trying to calm the young man down.
"What do you mean sense?" Xander asked.
"I'm a whitelighter," Leo answered, receiving a blank look from Xander. "Basically, I'm a guardian angel for good witches, now can we please worry about the matter at hand,"
"Alright, so what do we do?" Xander asked.
"We save them," Leo answered.
"I meant how do we save them, we do need a plan you know," Xander responded.
"Right, got any ideas?" Leo asked.
"Can you get us to where they are?" Xander asked earning a nod from Leo. "Alright then I have a plan, it's a crappy plan, but it's the best I can do under such short notice." Xander said before explaining the plan to Leo.
"You sure this will work?" Leo whispered to Xander as they watched the demons moving around a large cavern with the three witches and the four sliders chained to one of the walls.
"No," Xander whispered back as he surveyed the room.
Two demons standing guard next to the prisoners, one standing over a table that had a large urn and a long dagger on it, and two more talking in the middle of the room.
"Five demons total, and we have two bottles of the potion," Xander said while handing the bottles to Leo. "Okay, you beam over to where the demons are guarding our friends and hit them with the potions, I'll provide the distraction." Xander said to the angel.
"It's called orbing," Leo told the young man
"Whatever," Xander shot back as he stood up and walked into the cavern. 'Here goes nothing,' the demon hunter thought as he yelled out to the group. "Pizza delivery!" Xander yelled, catching the attention of all the demons.
"Kill him!" the lead demon called out.
Soon energy balls were flying every which way and Xander was silently thanking all the years his gym teacher made him play dodge ball while he was weaving to avoid the balls.
It didn't take long for Leo to orb over to where the witches and sliders were being and use the two potions to kill the demons.
"Leo, are we glad to see you," Piper said as the whitelighter unchained them.
"Same here, now go help Xander," Leo responded as he began unchaining the sliders.
Not needing to be told twice, the three witches quickly ran over to where the demon hunter was dodging energy balls while trying to get close enough to use his sword.
Xander was relieved to see that Leo had set his friends loose but was then sad again as he tripped on a rock and saw an energy ball flying strait towards his head. Right before the ball hit Xander it suddenly changed course and flew back at the demon that threw it, causing the demon to die.
Looking over Xander was saw that Prue was using her powers to send the energy balls back at the demons, who were then forced to dodge their own attacks, and giving Xander the chance to regain his breath.
A few minutes later the last two demons where dead and the entire group was gathered in the center of the cave.
"Thanks for the save Xander," Remy said to the young man.
"Anytime," Xander responded as he put his sword away.
"That makes it three times you saved us," Wade told him as she hugged him.
"Like I said, anytime," the young man replied while returning the hug.
"So what say we get out of here, this place is giving me the creeps," Maggie said as she looked around the cave.
After the group had arrived back at the manor Piper made a large lunch for the entire group before. After the lunch the group then took the rest of the day too relax while swapping stories with the three witches.
When five o'clock rolled around the group of sliders began preparing to leave. Soon they had everything they needed and where getting ready to slide.
"Xander, before you go we wanted you to have this," Prue said as she held a small amulet on a cord out to the young man.
"What is it?" Xander asked as he took it.
"It's a protection amulet, our way of saying thanks for saving our lives," Phoebe answered.
"It's not the most powerful one out there but it should be able to create a pretty good shield for a few minutes," Piper explained.
"Thanks, I have a feeling that I'll be needing this," Xander said as he tied the cord around his neck.
"Alright people, time to go," Quinn said as he opened the vortex.
"Have a safe trip!" Leo called out as the five travelers jumped through into the transdimensional tunnel.
"Well, it could be worse," Xander said to the group as they hugged the wall of small ledge they were on that hung over a river of magma
"Xander,"
"Yeah Wade?"
"Shut up,"
Park 9:00 AM
"That last world sucked," Wade said to her fellow sliders as they walked through a park in San Francisco while enjoying the good weather.
"It wasn't so bad," Xander replied, a small smile on his lips.
"My double was a porn star! Guys kept mobbing me because they thought I was her!" Wade shot back in anger.
"So," Xander responded, still wearing a smile that was quickly pissing off the red headed slider.
"You are such a jerk," Wade shot back as she stormed off.
"Smooth move Xan," Remy said to the young man.
"What? It's not like I looked at any of the magazines," Xander replied in his defense.
"She doesn't know that," Quinn responded.
"Don't worry, I'll find some way to earn forgiveness from her, she's not the first girl I've pissed off," Xander said as the group reached the exit for the park and saw Wade sitting on a bench across the street.
"How many women have you pissed off?" Quinn asked.
"Every one that I've met so far," Xander answered with a grin.
"That's not true," Maggie said as she walked over to him. "You haven't pissed me off,"
"Just give it time," Xander replied, earning a laugh from the group.
It had been just over a month since Xander had left his world behind after losing his friends. Over that time he had bonded with the other four sliders and formed a friendship even deeper than the one that he had with the scoobies. However not everything was peachy keen for the young man, so far with every slide he always seemed to hit his head on something as he exited the vortex.
"How long till we slide Q-ball?" Remy asked the young man next to him as the group reached the bench Wade was sitting on.
"Two hours," Quinn answered after checking the timer.
"So what do we do for two hours?" Xander asked.
"How about we get some food," Remy said and was met with agreement from the rest of the group.
They then headed towards a restaurant they saw farther up the road. Before Wade could follow after the group Xander grabbed her arm to stop her.
"I'm sorry about what I said earlier," Xander told the red head.
"You expect me to forgive you after all I get is an 'I'm sorry'?" Wade responded, still slightly angry.
"I was hoping, but I had a feeling that there would be something else I'd have to do," Xander replied sheepishly.
"There is, I just haven't thought of it yet," Wade responded with a smug grin as she turned and followed the others.
"This won't be fun," Xander muttered as he ran to catch up with his fellow sliders.
"Five minutes people," Quinn called out as the group gathered in an alley behind the restaurant they were eating in.
"So, who wants to take bets on what the next world will be like, I got ten bucks on 'laying in ruins'," Xander said as he pulled a ten out of his pocket.
"I'll take that bet," Remy responded.
"I'm in," Maggie said.
"Alright people here we go," Quinn said as he opened the portal.
"Ladies first!" Remy called out as Maggie then Wade jumped into the tunnel followed by Remy and Quinn.
"Here he go again," Xander said to himself as he jumped into the portal.
'Oh shit' Xander thought as he came out of the portal and hit a pile of boxes.
"You okay Xan?" Maggie asked as the group ran over to him
"I should really start wearing a helmet," Xander said as he stood up and pulled a pack of Tylenol out of his pocket and then quickly downed two of the painkillers.
"You probably should, you may end up with brain damage if you don't," Quinn said as they headed out of the alley.
When the group emerged from the alley they saw that the world around them was in ruins. All the buildings for as far as they could see were crumbling, there were trees uprooted and lying in the road as well as a few skeletons sprawled out. But the oddest thing of all was that the sky was an unusual color of orange.
"Pay up," Xander said turning to Rembrandt and Maggie, who grumbling pulled money out of their pockets and handed it to Xander.
"How long are we here?" Wade asked Quinn while Xander was retrieving his money.
"A little over a day," Quinn responded.
"Is Rickman here?" Maggie asked.
"Yes," Quinn responded gravely.
"Then lets find him," Maggie said as she began walking down the street with the rest of the sliders following close behind.
"So what do you think happened here?" Xander asked as he looked around.
"Could be a number of things, war, disease, natural disaster," Quinn responded.
"Or demons," Wade said staring across the street.
"What makes you think that?" Quinn asked his friend.
"Them," Wade responded pointing to a group of demons that were heading for them.
"Uh oh," Xander said as he pulled his Katana out of a hidden sheath in his coat.
Before the demons could reach the group gunfire was heard and the demons began dropping to the ground. Turning they saw a jeep driving down the road with what looked like military personnel riding in it while firing at the demons.
Soon the demons were dead and the jeep pulled up to a stop in front of the sliders. One of the soldiers climbed out and walked over to the group.
"What the hell are you doing here, don't you know that all of California is closed off to civilians?" the man asked them.
"Listen, we have no idea what your talking about, we're just passing through," Remy said to the soldier.
"Like hell you are, there's no way any of you can get out of here," the soldier replied.
"What's going on here, why is the sky orange?" Xander asked as he put his Katana away.
"You honestly don't know what's happening?" The soldier asked in disbelief.
"Yup, you wanna tell us," Xander replied.
"It's not safe here, there could be more demons around, we'll talk when we get back to HQ," The soldier said, turning around and heading for the jeep with the group of sliders close behind.
"So you wanna tell us what the devil is going on," Remy asked the soldier once they were safely inside the base.
"A little over a year ago a portal was opened up to hell, from that portal emerged dozens of demonic entities,"
"Wait, are you saying that someone opened the Hellmouth?" Xander asked in shock.
"That's exactly what I'm saying, in order to stop demons from over running the world the U.S. Government was able to create a magical barrier around California that was made by a group of specially trained wiccas and mages employed by the government. The barrier is specially designed to allow things too enter but not exit, the only exception being air, water, and other things like that," the soldier continued.
"So you're trapped in here?" Wade asked.
"That's correct, every few months we're given new supplies and troops. Once the threat here has been neutralized the spellcasters will lower the shield and we can leave,"
"Is that even possible?" Xander asked the soldier.
"Yes, the Hellmouth was closed one week ago, all that's left now is too kill the demons that came through it, and let me tell you, that's easier said then done," the solder answered with a grim look on his face. "Now that the questions have been answered how about introductions,"
"Right, that's probably a good idea, I'm Quinn Mallory, and they are Wade Wells, Rembrandt Brown, Maggie Beckett, and Xander Harris," Quinn responded.
"Xander Harris?" the soldier asked in disbelief.
"Yeah, that's me," Xander replied as he leaned against a nearby desk.
"That's not possible," the soldier replied as he pulled a gun and aimed it at the young mans chest. "Xander Harris died in combat while trying to seal the Hellmouth six months ago, who are you really?"
"Listen, why don't you put that gun down and we'll explain everything," Xander responded in a nervous tone.
"I got a better idea, start talking before I blow your brains out," the soldier shot back.
"Alright then, I am Xander Harris, but I am the Xander Harris from a parallel Earth," Xander explained.
The soldier looked Xander over before lowering the gun and putting it back in its holster.
"Our government has been experimenting with dimensional travel for a few months now, so far there hasn't been much progress, but it would explain why you have no idea what's going on," the man explained to the relived slider.
"So, you gonna tell us who you are?" Maggie asked.
"I'm Captain Riley Finn, U.S. marines," the soldier answered.
"Well Riley, we have a question for you," Maggie said to the marine captain.
"Go ahead,"
"We're looking for a man named Rickman, have you met anybody by that name recently?" Quinn asked.
"Nope, you're the only new people that have showed up that I know of, why?" Riley responded.
"He's a murderer, he lives by taking brain tissue from people then injecting it into his brain, we're after him to stop him," Quinn replied.
"What happens too the people he takes the tissue from?" Riley asked.
"They end up in a coma like state," Maggie replied.
"If that's the case then he's here somewhere, two of my soldiers were found unconscious this morning with small holes in the back of their heads," the young marine captain explained to the group of sliders.
"That sounds like his MO," Maggie replied, a look of anger on her face.
"If he was here this morning there's a chance he could still be on the base," Quinn said to the marine.
"Alright, we'll form search parties with any available troops, if we find him we'll let you know," Riley responded before picking up a radio and giving orders to from search parties.
"I want to help," Quinn said.
"Me too," Maggie chimed in.
"And me," Remy said.
"Alright, we'll need help recognizing him anyway, Gavner here will get you some weapons and show you where to go," Riley said as another soldier walked up to the group and led Quinn, Maggie, and Rembrandt away.
"If it's alright, I would like to help out with the demon hunting," Xander said.
"I think that can be arranged, do you have any experience?" Riley asked the young man.
"There was a hellmouth on my world, I spent just about three years hunting vampires and the like, I also helped in stopping the world from ending a few times," Xander explained in a tone of voice that suggested that he was remembering bad times.
"Alright, we'll get you suited up in a minute," Riley told the young man, he then turned to address Wade. "What about you?" Riley asked the red head.
"Well, I know a few healing techniques that can help the people Rickman attacked," Wade told the marine.
"Alright, we'll get you over to the infirmary, and you to the armory" Riley said to the sliders before turning and walking over to the door they came in with the sliders close behind.
A few minutes later the trio was stopping in the infirmary where Wade quickly went to work on the unconscious soldiers. Another few minutes later Xander was led into the armory.
"Alright, let's get you suited up," Riley said as he started grabbing things of racks and shelves.
"You know, something's been bothering me," Xander said to the marine captain as he started putting on the body armor that was giving to him.
"Yeah, what?" Riley asked as he handed the young man a P90 and extra magazines.
"How did you know that me and my friends weren't demons trying to fool you?" Xander asked as he examined the weapon with a professional air around him.
"Simple, there's close to a hundred different protection spells and charms on this base, there's no way a demon could get on it without us knowing about," Riley explained.
"So since we didn't set off any of the spells you knew we were human," Xander summarized as he loaded a magazine into the weapon.
"Yup, you ever use on of those before?" Riley asked as he strapped on his own body armor.
"No, why?" Xander asked as he chose a sidearm from a rack on the wall.
"Well, you seemed too know what you were doing when you examined the gun," Riley answered as he grabbed a P90 for himself and leading the way out of the armory.
"Well, a little over a year ago I dressed up as a soldier for Halloween and a spell was cast that turned everybody into their costumes, and once the spell was over all the knowledge the soldier had stayed behind," the young dimensional traveler explained.
"Interesting," Riley responded as they reached the outside of the base and met up with the rest of the patrol team. "Alright people we're taking the East Sector today lets move out!" Riley called out and the team then quickly climbed into jeeps and left the base.
After being told by a soldier Quinn, Maggie, and Remy walked into the base infirmary after an unsuccessful search for Rickman and saw that Wade was sitting next to one of the soldiers and was using the healing techniques she had learned.
"Hey Wade, where's Xander?" Quinn asked as he sat down in a chair next to hers.
"He went out with Riley and some of the other soldiers too hunt demons," Wade answered.
"I hope he'll be ok," Maggie said as she leaned against the wall.
"He's a big boy, I'm sure he'll be ok," Quinn said to the former marine captain.
"Hey Q-ball, I've been thinking, You know how Riley said that there was a barrier around California that let things in but not out," Rembrandt said to the scientist.
"Yeah, what about?" Quinn asked his friend.
"Will that affect our slide out of here?"
"It shouldn't, if my understanding of what Riley said is right then the barrier should only stop things that are traveling in this dimension, and since we will be leaving by traveling between dimensions it shouldn't be a problem," Quinn explained.
"So we'll be ok?" Remy asked.
"Yup, we should have no trouble sliding out of here," Quinn responded.
The large patrol of soldiers had been having a fairly lucky day so far. They had killed three demons already and had received minimal injuries.
"So Riley, did you know my double?" Xander asked the marine as they made their way down a ruined street.
"Knew of him, he was a powerful mage, we were all surprised to hear that he had died," Riley responded as he reloaded his P90.
"Really, that's odd," Xander said as he scanned his surroundings.
"Why do you say that?" Riley asked.
"Because, magic almost never seems to go right for me," Xander answered.
Before the conversation could continue a loud, demonic roar was heard behind the group. Turning, the soldiers saw a large dragon flying straight at them. With out wasting anytime the well-trained soldiers all ducked in cover and began firing at the creature.
The bullets hit the dragon but due too it's scaled hide all that happened was that the soldiers succeeded in pissing off the flying monster. In retaliation the dragon opened it's mouth and sent a jet flame down on the soldiers.
Not wasting time, Xander brought his hand up to the small amulet hanging around his neck causing the magic to activate thus making a protective dome of magic around him and the soldiers that held the fire at bay.
"This shield won't last long!" Xander called out to the soldiers behind him.
"Don't worry, this isn't the first dragon we've fought!" Riley called back as the flames subsided.
Before the dragon had a chance to rain fire down on them again, the soldiers ran to the jeeps and pulled out several rocket launchers. Seconds later the dragon exploded in a cloud of fire and smoke.
"Incoming!" one of the soldiers called out as the innards of the dragon began falling from the sky.
As the group got under cover to avoid the dragon guts Riley turned to Xander.
"Thought you said magic never worked for you," Riley said with a grin
"I said almost never," Xander grinned back.
After a few more hours of hunting the Xander and the group of marines returned to the base to rest. Xander quickly made his way to the mess hall and saw that his friends were sitting at one of the long tables.
"Hey guys," Xander said as he sat down in an empty seat next to Wade.
"Hey yourself," Maggie responded as she ate.
"Heard you bagged a dragon," Quinn said.
"I just stopped us from getting roasted, it was the others that actually killed the dragon," Xander replied.
"So, that protection thing you got from the witches a few worlds back works?" Remy asked.
"Yeah, I just wish that I could have tested it under better conditions, if it hadn't worked I'd be an extra crispy slider," Xander said just before Riley sat down next to him with a tray of food in each hand.
"Eat up, you need your strength if you wanna come on the night patrol," Riley said as he handed one of the trays to Xander.
"You're going out again?" Wade asked, worry clearly evident in her voice.
"Yup," Xander replied as he started eating.
"Are you sure that's a good idea, if you get badly hurt you could miss the slide," Quinn told the young man.
"Don't worry, I'll be careful, and besides the protection amulet works wonders," Xander replied as he continued eating.
"We can't talk you out of it can we?" Maggie asked.
"Nope," Xander answered.
After they had finished their meals Maggie and Wade had retired to the barracks to get some rest while Quinn and Remy decided to help patrol the base's perimeter.
"How are the soldiers doing?" Maggie asked her red haired companion.
"Pretty good, I showed the medics how to help them," Wade replied from the bed she was laying on. "I hope Xander is okay," she commented while looking up at the ceiling.
"You really got it bad," Maggie commented.
"What are you talking about?" Wade asked the ex marine.
"C'mon it's obvious you like him," Maggie said back teasingly.
"Xander is just my friend, that's it," Wade said in her defense.
"Yeah right,"
"It's the truth!"
"That's a lie and you know it,"
"Alright fine," Wade said in defeat. "When he first joined us I just thought if him as a friend but over the past couple weeks those feelings changed,"
"I knew it," Maggie responded in triumph.
"You can't tell him," Wade told the woman.
"My lips are sealed," Maggie replied with a grin.
"Things seem pretty dead," Riley said as the team moved through the area, constantly on the lookout for demons.
"Were you trying to make a joke, because that was just lame," Xander replied.
Before Riley could come up with a comeback there was a bright flash of light and a loud bang sound that momentarily blinded and deafened the group. When the marine captain had gained his sight back the first thing he noticed was that Xander was missing.
Xander slowly opened his eyes and then quickly shut them again as the bright light in the room caused him great pain. Once the pain had subsided he opened his eyes again, only this time slower.
After taking in his surroundings Xander figured out three things, he has in a large room with the only light source being a large, bright lamp pointed right at his face, the second was that he was tied to a chair, and three, all of his weapons were missing. Luckily his protection amulet he got from the Charmed Ones was still on the leather chord around his neck.
"Finally awake I see," An unknown male voice said from the shadows.
"Who are you?" Xander asked, trying to see who was talking to him.
"Oh we've never met but I'm sure your friends have told you all about me," the voice responded.
"Rickman," Xander said just before the man came into the light.
"That's right," Rickman responded, a dark grin on his face.
"So, gonna eat my brain or whatever the hell it is you do?" Xander asked, trying to remain calm.
"Sadly no, you're not my type," Rickman responded.
"So then, what are you gonna do with me?"
"I was thinking a slow and painful death, followed by leaving your body where your friends will find it," Rickman answered as he pulled out a large knife.
"Ahh crap," Xander muttered as Rickman walked over to him.
"What do you mean Xander is missing!" Wade screamed at the group of soldiers in front of her.
"We mean that Xander is missing," Riley responded slightly in fear of the pissed off red head in front of him.
Before Wade had a chance to rip into the marine in front of her Quinn walked up behind her and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"Wade calm down, yelling at a group of armed soldiers won't help," Quinn said in a reassuring voice before turning to the soldiers. "How do we find our friend?"
"It's simple, we have one of the witches on base cast a locator spell too find him," Riley answered.
A few minutes later a brunette girl walked into the room with a map in her hand and a bag in the other.
"Meet Amy, if anyone on this base can find Xander, it's her," Riley said.
"Nice to meet you," Amy said as she started to set up for the spell.
"Who do you think took Xander?" Maggie asked Riley while Amy was preparing the spell.
"My bet would be a demon of some sort," Riley replied as the witch started chanting. A few minutes later a small dot of red light began glowing on the map.
"Where is that?" Quinn asked.
"A warehouse about mile away," Riley told the scientist before turning to the group of men with him. "Five of you are with me, the rest, take tonight's patrol route, lets move out!"
"We're coming with you," Maggie said to Riley before he had a chance to leave.
"No, we have no idea what it is that took Xander, for all we know it could be a first circle demon, although the chances of that are slim," Riley responded.
"He's our friend, and if you think that we're just gonna sit around here and wait, you're wrong," Quinn said with anger in his voice.
"Do any of you have combat experience?" Riley asked the group.
"We've been in our fair share of battles, and Maggie was a marine captain on her world," Rembrandt answered.
"You were?" Riley asked, slightly surprised.
"Yup, now are you gonna let us come with, or are we gonna have to go on our own?" Maggie responded with a fire in her eyes.
"Alright, let's go," Riley said in defeat.
As Rickman slowly started moving towards Xander, still holding the large knife, the young man began to desperately try to think of a plan.
'Okay, there's crazy guy with a knife that wants to kill me and I am tied to a chair, crap' Xander thought as Rickman came closer. 'If only I could turn on that protection amulet thing,'
All of the sudden a dome of blue light surrounded Xander that succeeded in holding back the knife wielding Rickman.
"What the hell!" Rickman yelled in shock as the barrier pushed him away from Xander.
"Cool, I can activate it with my mind," Xander said in relief.
"This shield won't last long, and I am a very patient person," Rickman said as he pulled another chair out of the shadows and sat down.
'Not good,' Xander thought.
It didn't take long for the soldiers to arrive at the warehouse Xander was being held at, soon six marines and four sliders, all armed to the teeth, were in position outside the building and getting ready to move in.
Seconds later, a loud, pain filled scream was heard inside of the building.
"That's Xander, we have to get in there," Quinn said to Riley.
"Alright people, move in," Riley said to the group.
The group then moved towards the warehouse doors while more screams filled the air.
Rickman had already put three deep cuts in Xander's chest and was about to add a fourth one when the doors too the warehouse burst inward and a group of five soldiers moved in, followed by the four sliders.
"Hands in the air, now!" Riley called out as he pointed his gun at Rickman's chest.
"I have a better idea, how about I don't," Rickman replied as he pulled out his timer and saw that his time was just about up, quickly the knife weilding manic activated it. "Be seeing you!" he called out as he jumped into the portal that quickly closed behind him.
"Xander!" Wade yelled as she got a look at her blood-covered friend.
"Let's get him out of here," Riley called out as one of the marines cut the ropes holding him to the chair.
Soon the young man was loaded in a jeep and the group was back on their way to the base.
After a long night of being patched up by doctors and nightmares of a knife wielding Rickman, Xander was lying in bed, staring out of his window at the orange sky when Wade walked into the room caring a tray of food.
"Hey, how's your chest?" Wade asked as she sat down next him and put the tray of food in front of him.
"Still hurts, but the doctors say I shouldn't have any trouble when we slide out of here," Xander replied as he began eating his food.
"That's a relief," Wade responded.
"How much longer until we slide anyway?" Xander asked his red headed companion.
"Bout two hours," Wade answered.
"Can't wait to get out of here," Xander said.
"Yeah, not the nicest world we've been to," Wade replied.
"It's not just that," Xander said as he finished his food and moved the tray off to the slide. "I just can't stop thinking about how my world could have ended up like this, you don't know how many close calls we had when it came to the hellmouth," the young man explained.
Wade didn't respond right away, instead she put her hand on the brunette's shoulder and gave him an encouraging smile.
"I'm sure everything is fine on your world Xan," she said reassuringly.
"I hope your right," Xander replied.
"Almost time to go," Quinn said as he checked the timer. "You sure you're gonna be okay to slide, we could always come back," Quinn asked Xander, who was receiving help standing from Wade.
"The doc said their shouldn't be any trouble, besides if you have to come back for me you may lose Rickman's trail, and I have a score to settle with him now," Xander replied.
"Alright, here we go," Quinn responded as he opened the vortex.
One by one the sliders jumped into the tunnel that would hopefully bring some of them one-step closer to home.
Forest 12:00 PM
"Faster, those things are gaining on us!" Quinn yelled at the top of his lungs as the group of sliders ran through a forest.
"Up the tree's, they're too small to climb!" Maggie shouted as she grabbed a low branch and pulled herself up before offering an arm to the still injured Xander.
Soon the entire group was up in the trees looking down at the kill machines beneath them.
"How long till the slide Q-ball?" Remy asked the young scientist.
"Two hours, get comfortable," Quinn responded.
"How are you holding up Xan?" Wade asked the brunette a few branches below her.
"Been better," Xander replied, his arm clutching his chest where Rickman had sliced him. "You know, of all the possible deaths I envisioned for myself, being eaten by killer bunnies was not one of them," Xander continued as he looked down at the killer fluff balls beneath him.
"Yeah, who the hell would genetically engineer killer rabbits anyway?" Maggie asked.
Before anyone could respond Xander reached into his coat and pulled out a newspaper he had picked up before the killer rabbit attack. Quickly scanning the articles, Xander was soon able to find the answer to Maggie's question.
"According to this, it was a woman named Anya Jenkins for the purpose of attacking her husband who cheated on her, and was apparently my alternate on this world," Xander answered before turning the page to the comics section.
"Wow," was all Maggie had to say.
"But still, why killer rabbits?" Quinn asked.
"Damned if I know," Xander replied as he adjusted him self to a more comfortable position.
"Alright people time's almost up," Quinn called out as he watched the numbers on the timer tick down.
"Good, I think those furballs are up to something," Remy responded as he looked down at the rabbits.
"What do you mean?" Wade asked.
"Look for yourself," Remy answered.
Looking down Wade saw that the small killers were beginning to climb on top of each other forming some sort of pyramid.
"Oh," Wade responded as she watched more rabbits climb.
"Smart little buggers aren't they," Xander remarked.
"Time to go," Quinn said, cutting off any further comments as he opened the vortex.
The group of Sliders had entered the tunnel just as the rabbit pyramid reached the higher branches; luckily, the portal closed before any of them could get in.
Soon the group had all come out of the portal and had landed in a rather large pile, all except Xander.
"Where's Xander?" Wade asked as she looked around.
"Did he miss the Slide?" Remy asked, worry evident in his voice.
"No I didn't," Xander's voice called out from behind them.
Turning the group saw Xander, soaking wet, sitting in a pond a few feet behind them with a duck sitting on his head.
"Nice hat Xan," Maggie commented, trying to hold in her laughter.
"Ha, ha, ha," Xander responded as he shooed the duck away and climbed out of the pond. "See any signs of killer rabbits?" he asked looking around.
"Not on this world," Wade responded with a grin.
"Alright, we have three hours here, let's say he find out where we are," Quinn said as he put the timer in his pocket and started walking towards a nearby clearing.
When the group reached the clearing they say that there was a large stone wall around the area with a large gate standing open. Beyond the gate they could see a street and several people walking around.
"Guess we're in a park of some sort," Remy commented as they began to make there way across the field.
"Yeah, well I say that we should find a hotel or something, I'm starting to get cold," Xander said in a bitter tone.
"Hey this place looks familiar," Wade said as they exited the park.
"Well Wade, there's a big chance we've been here on a different world," Quinn responded as he looked around.
"Wait, I know this place," Xander said as he looked up and down the street.
"You do?" Maggie asked.
"Yeah, this is Sunnydale," Xander replied in shock.
"I can't believe that we're in Sunnydale," Xander said as he paced around the room after changing out of his wet clothes.
"Chill out Xan, your making me dizzy," Maggie commented as she watched the young man pace.
"Do you think that there could be a hellmouth here?" Wade asked the young man.
"Knowing our luck, I'd say yes," Xander replied as he sat on one of the beds.
"So, what do we do?" Remy asked.
"We have three hours here, I suggest we lay low until the slide," Quinn from his seat across the room.
"I don't think so Q-ball," Xander said, using Remy's nickname for the scientist. "I want to see if I'm home," he continued while grabbing his coat and heading for the door.
"Xander that's probably not a good idea..." Quinn tried to explain but the young man was already out the door.
"I'll go after him," Wade said as she followed Xander out of the door.
Wade stepped outside and quickly looked around, spotting Xander at the edge of the parking lot she quickly ran to catch up.
"This isn't a good idea Xan," Wade said as she caught up to the brunette.
"I don't care, I need to find out if I'm home," Xander replied.
"But I though you said that you weren't too anxious to go back," the red head pressed.
"If this is my world I have no intention of staying but I would like too see how my friends are doing," Xander replied.
"The friends that threatened to kill you?" Wade asked.
Xander stopped in his tracks and turned to face the woman behind him. "It's true that they were mad at me when I left, but if this is my world then maybe after all this time they may not be pissed at me anymore," Xander explained.
"But,"
"No buts, all I want to do is go to the school and see if this is my world, then we'll come right back," Xander told her.
"Promise?"
"Promise,"
"Then lets get going," Wade said with a small smile
It didn't take long for the two to reach the high school but instead of using the front doors, they sneaked into the library through the stacks in order to avoid drawing attention. It wasn't long before the duo was crouched in the shadows of the library looking out at the main area.
"There's Buffy and Willow, but no sign of anyone else," Xander whispered to Wade as looked around the room.
"We should get back before they spot us," the red head whispered back.
"Please, just give me five minutes?" Xander asked his companion, putting on his best puppy dog face.
"Fine," Wade whispered back in defeat.
Before Xander could respond, the doors of the library opened and Xander walked in.
"Well, I guess this isn't my world," Xander said with sadness in his voice.
"Let's go," Wade said as she stood up and crept toward the door they came in with Xander following close behind.
"I'm sorry that this isn't your world," Wade said to the young man as they walked back towards the motel.
"It's alright," Xander replied.
"Will you be okay?" she asked the young man that she had developed feelings for.
"Yeah, bright side, I can keep sliding with you guys," Xander responded, with a smile on his face.
"Let's just hope that we don't end up on any more killer bunny worlds," Wade responded, causing Xander to start laughing, soon, she joined in.
"Crap," Xander exclaimed his laughter disappearing.
"What's wrong?" Wade asked in a worried tone.
"Her," Xander replied while pointing to a brunette girl across the street.
"Who is that?" Wade asked.
"Faith, she can't see me," Xander answered as he ducked into a nearby donut shop, Wade close behind.
As it turns out, Faith did see Xander when he ducked into the shop, but assumed that he was on a donut run for the Scooby meeting she was heading for and thought nothing of it as she continued for the school.
"Looks like she's gone Xan," Wade said as she looked out the window of the shop.
"Good, but while we're in here, lets say that we get some food," Xander replied as he walked up to the counter.
"Sounds good to me," Wade said, joining him at the counter.
"I hope Xander doesn't do anything stupid," Quinn commented as he walked around the room.
"Xan's a smart guy, I'm sure that he didn't do anything stupid," Maggie responded, not looking up from the TV.
It was at that moment that Xander and Wade walked into the room, each carrying a box of donuts in their arms.
"We have returned, and we come with sugar," Xander said as they put the boxes down on a nearby table and opened them.
"So, did you find out if this is your world?" Remy asked as he grabbed one of the donuts out of a box.
"It's not, unless if I have a twin brother that my parents haven't told me about," Xander replied as he sat down on one of the beds.
"Sorry man," Quinn said.
"Don't worry about it, and sorry about not listening to you earlier," Xander replied as he grabbed the remote out of Maggie's hand and started flipping channels.
"Hey!" Maggie said as she tried too get the remote back from the young man next to her.
"Don't worry about it," Quinn responded as he too grabbed a donut and sat down to watch Xander and Maggie wrestle over the remote.
"So you're saying that there is a group of demons here that lay there eggs inside people?" Xander asked the watcher sitting a few feet away from him.
"Exactly," Giles responded as he closed the book he had been paging through.
"May I go on record as saying eww," Willow said from her place at the table.
It was at that moment that Faith walked into the library, and stop cold as she saw Xander sitting at the table.
"How the hell did you get here so fast?" Faith asked the young man at the table.
"What are you talking about?" Xander asked in confusion.
"I saw you walk into the donut shop like fifteen minutes ago," Faith responded in confusion.
"Faith, Xander hasn't left the library since he got here a half hour ago," Buffy told her sister slayer.
"You must have seen someone who just looks like him," Willow said.
"No way, it was Xander, I'd bet my life on it," Faith responded with resolve in her voice.
"Looks like we have another problem now," Xander sighed.
"I think I'm gonna get some air, anyone want to join me?" Remy asked as he stood up and grabbed his coat.
"I'm in," Quinn said.
"Me too," Maggie answered.
"Wade, Xan, how bout you?" Remy asked.
"I think it would be safer if I stayed in, don't want to run into a double of one of my friends," Xander said, looking up from the magazine he was reading.
"I'll stay too, I'm kinda tired," Wade said as she continued flipping channels.
"Alright, we'll be back soon," Quinn said as they left the room.
After the three other sliders had left the room, Wade looked up at Xander and remembered a conversation that she had with Maggie on the last world, before the killer rabbit attack.
˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜ Flashback ˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜
"So when are you gonna tell Xander that you like him?" Maggie asked her red haired friend as they walked down the street.
"I don't know," Wade responded.
"Well, you should tell him soon, you never know when something may happen to one of us," Maggie responded.
"But what if I tell him and he doesn't like me as more then a friend and then things get awkward between us," Wade said with a little fear in her voice.
"Wade, you're starting to sound like some high school girl with a crush," Maggie told her panicking red haired friend.
"You're right, I gotta stay calm, if he doesn't like me, then that's his loss," Wade said, confidence returning to her voice.
"That's the spirit," Maggie responded.
End Flashback
"Xander can we talk?" Wade asked the young man as she flipped off the television and turned to face him.
"Sure," Xander replied, putting down his magazine. "What's up?" he asked the red head.
'Here goes nothing,' she thought silently. "Xander, I like you, a lot," the red head told him.
"Well, we are friends Wade, I kinda figured that you liked me, or at the very least tolerated my presence," Xander replied with a grin.
"No, that's not what I mean, what I am trying to say is..." Wade started to say but stopped mid sentence. "Ahh to hell with it," Wade said as she stood up and walked over to Xander.
Before the young man could figure out what the red head meant, Wade grabbed his head and brought her lips down on his in a short but intense kiss.
"Do you get what I'm saying now?" Wade asked, not letting go of his head.
"Yeah," Xander responded in a slight daze.
"And?"
Instead of saying anything, Xander grabbed Wade's head and pulled her in for another kiss, though this one lasted longer and was a more romantic one. The two stayed like that until the need for air made them pull apart.
"Wow," Wade said as she took a deep breath.
"Ditto," Xander responded. "So, does this mean that we're dating now?" Xander asked the woman in front of him.
Wade's response was a small smile as she pulled him in for another kiss.
After all the kissing was done between the new couple, Xander and Wade were lying on one of the beds watching a horror movie on the television. Both taking comfort in being in each other's arms, and by Xander's odd comments about how stupid the characters in the movie were, and how real monsters didn't look like that.
The movie was just coming to an end when an exhausted and injured Rembrandt came bursting through the doors of the room.
"Oh my god, Remy what happened?" Xander asked as he and Wade quickly got off the bed and helped their friend into a chair.
"I'm not sure, one minute we were walking down the road, and the next we were surrounded by those demons you're always talking about," the exhausted man responded.
"Where's Quinn and Maggie?" Wade asked, concern in her voice.
"I though that they were right behind me," Rembrandt responded.
"This is bad," Xander said as he checked his watch. "We slide in a little over an hour, we have to work fast, Remy, you gonna be ok?"
"Yeah, just gotta catch my breath,"
"Do you have a plan?" Wade asked.
"A bad one, unfortunately it's the only one I can think of," Xander responded.
"I have a feeling I'm not gonna like this," Wade thought out loud as the trio headed out the door.
"I don't like this," Wade told the young man in front of her as they headed down the halls of Sunnydale High towards the library.
"You said that already," Xander responded.
"It bares repeating," Wade shot back.
"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing," Xander reassured her.
"Funny how that doesn't make me feel any better," Wade commented as they reached the doors of the library.
"Here goes nothing," Xander to his friends as he opened the doors and walked in.
Upon entering the room, Xander was met with silence as the Scooby's of this dimension looked at him in shock.
"I told you I saw another Xander!" Faith said breaking the silence.
"Demon!" Buffy yelled as she ran for the other Xander.
"I'm not a demon!" Xander yelled as he dived out of the way to avoid Buffy's attack.
"Then what are you?" Buffy asked sarcastically as she moved towards him again.
"I'm Xander Harris," the young man responded.
"You expect me to believe that?" the blond asked as she sent a kick at him that he narrowly avoided.
Xander was about to respond when a sharp pain in his back sent him flying across the room, landing at Wade's feet. Looking up, the young man saw that it was a grinning Faith that had kicked him in the back.
"Listen to me!" Xander yelled as Wade and Remy helped him up.
"Not a chance demon," Buffy shot back as the two slayers began to move toward him.
Before the pissed off slayers could get to close Xander's hand moved to a chain around his neck. With a quick flick of his wrist a dome of light surrounded him and his two friends.
"Will you listen to me now?" Xander asked after the slayers realized they couldn't get through the light barrier.
"Talk," Buffy responded, angry that she couldn't kill the demon impersonating her friend.
"I am Xander Harris, but not from this dimension, I'm from a parallel earth," Xander explained to the group.
"You expect us to believe that?" Willow asked, finally getting over the shock of seeing a second Xander.
"Ask me something that only Xander Harris would know," the young man responded in a calm voice. "That only you would know," he continued, turning to face his alternate on that world.
The other Xander then stood up and slowly made his way over to the dome of light, leaning in close and speaking in a soft voice so that only the other Xander could hear.
"What did we tell Buffy what Willow's message was?" he asked his double.
"Kick his ass," he responded in a low voice.
"He's telling the truth," the Xander from that dimension said as he pulled back.
"You're sure?" Buffy asked her friend.
"Positive," he responded.
"Alright," Buffy said as she and Faith dropped out of combat stances.
"Good, now if no one else is gonna try and kill me, we can get down to the reason as to why I'm here," the other said as he lowered the shield around him.
He and the other two sliders spent the next ten minutes telling the group what had how they got there and what had happened too their other friends.
"So you came to us because you need a slayers help to rescue your friends?" Giles asked as he cleaned his glasses.
"You got it G-man," Xander responded.
"Don't call me that," Giles responded, quickly bringing a grin to both of the Xanders faces.
"So will you help us?" Wade asked.
"Yes," Buffy responded.
"Do you know what the demons look like?" Giles asked.
"Yeah, they were about eight feet tall, four horns on their head, and were covered in green and blue fur," Remy explained to the group.
"Kuroth demons," Giles responded as he opened up a book in front of him. "They need human hosts to lay their eggs in, the body heat of the humans help to keep the eggs warm," Giles explained as he found the page in the book he was looking for.
"What happens when the egg's hatch?" Wade asked, fear in her voice.
"Do they have the movie Alien on your world?" Giles asked.
"Oh," Wade responded, suddenly very pale.
"Listen, we have less than an hour before we slide, we have to get to out friends now," Remy said to the group.
"Don't worry, we know where the nest is," Giles said as he moved over to the book cage and started pulling out weapons.
Soon the group was armed and on their way to the nest of Kuroth demons, hoping that they would get their in time. Fifteen minutes later they were standing outside of an abandoned warehouse.
"Alright, Faith and I go in first and make with the demon killing, the people from another dimension get to the hostages and get them free, everybody else, cover fire, everybody got that?" Buffy asked the group and was met with a chorus of yes's. "Good, lets go."
The two slayers then walked up to the door and kicked it open before rushing in and killing the nearest two demons before they could react. The three sliders then moved in quickly and soon spotted Quinn and Maggie tied to a wall on the other side of the room.
They then started to run for the wall as fast as they could while the rest of the Scooby gang began to open fire on the demons with their crossbows. The three dimensional travelers were able to make it to their friends with little difficulty, seeing as the demons were more concerned with the humans that were attacking them.
"You guys okay?" Xander asked as he began to tug at the knots holding them.
"Been better," Quinn answered as Xander got one of his arms free.
"Glad to see you though," Maggie chimed in as Wade and Remy began to untie her.
"How long till the slide?" Remy asked as he undid the last knot holding Maggie.
"Twenty minutes," Quinn responded as after checking the timer, thankful that the demons didn't take it.
"Shouldn't we give them a hand?" Maggie asked as she pointed to the battle.
"It looks like they have it under control," Xander commented as he say Faith and Buffy move into corner the last demon.
Soon all the demons were dead and the group was back at the library.
"This is just creepy," Buffy commented to Faith as she saw the two Xanders talking.
"Tell me about it," Faith responded as the Xanders started laughing over some joke one of them said.
Meanwhile across the room, Xander the slider changed the topic on conversation that they were on.
"Okay, Xan I've got something important to tell you before I go," he said to his counterpart.
"What?" Xander asked.
"On my world, Buffy found out about the lie and got majorly pissed with me, that's one of the reasons I started to slide, now I'm not saying that your Buffy will find out, but if she ever does, prepare for the worst," Xander explained, a grim expression on his face.
"Right," Xander responded.
"One minute to go," Quinn called out as he held up the timer.
"So, guess this is goodbye," the Xander from that dimension said to the other.
"Yup," he responded.
"Time to go!" Quinn yelled as he activated the timer.
One by one the group of sliders ran and jumped into the tunnel until only Xander was left. Turning, he waved goodbye before turning and stepping into the vortex that blinked out of existence behind him.
"That was really cool," Xander commented once the shock wore off.
Sunnydale High Library Xander's Home World 1:00 PM
"Could things get any worse!" Buffy exclaimed to her red haired friend as they walked into the library.
"Well with the annoying new watcher, Faith turning evil, Xander being MIA, and the mayor ascending, I'm gonna guess and say no," the red head responded.
"Yeah well knowing my luck, I'll get hit by a meteor while on patrol tonight," Buffy grumbled as they sat down at the table.
"Ah Buffy, Willow glad you're here," Giles said as he walked out of his office, being closely followed by Wesley. "Has there been any news about Xander?"
"Zip," Buffy responded, sadness in her voice.
Shortly after the disappearance of the so-called Zeppo, Giles had found out about what Buffy and Willow had done and proceeded to severely chew them out. After close to three hours of yelling at them they then realized that they had made a mistake in their treatment of the young man and tried to reconcile with him, unfortunately they did not realize that he had departed for another dimension.
"I think that we have more important things to worry about then a wayward teenager," Wesley told the group.
"Yeah, yeah we know, the Ascension," Buffy responded as she grabbed a book an opened it.
"Ten minutes people," Quinn said to the group as they moved to a secluded area in the large park they were in.
"This really sucks," Xander commented to the group.
"What does?" Wade asked her boyfriend.
"The fact that on the last world, which was experiencing a nuclear war, we were stuck there for two weeks, where as on this nice, calm, tropical beach world, we get an hour!" the young man shouted.
"Get used to it," Maggie responded as they found a secluded area to wait out the last few minutes before the slide.
Soon the waiting was over and the group was preparing for the next slide.
"Alright, time to go," Quinn said as he opened the vortex.
"Chevron seven locked, wormhole established," the technician said over the PA.
"SG1 prepare to move out," General Hammond called out to the four people in the room below.
"Sir something's happening to the wormhole!" the technician called out.
Looking up at the Stargate the collected group of people saw that the Event Horizon was turning a darker shade of blue as it morphed into a tunnel.
"Shut it down!" Hammond called out.
"I can't!"
"Alright people lets go!" Quinn called out.
Wade and Xander then grabbed hands and ran and jumped into the tunnel followed closely by Rembrandt, then Maggie and Quinn.
The collected group of soldiers quickly raised their weapons as five figures emerged from the blue tunnel and rolled down the metal ramp, which quickly closed behind them leaving behind an inactive Stargate.
"Freeze!" one of the soldiers called out as the group stood up.
"Well, this can't be good," Xander said as the soldiers quickly closed in on them.
"We're screwed aren't we?" Xander asked the group from his spot on one of the beds in the room.
"Pretty much, and since they took the timer we have no idea when we slide out of here," Quinn responded.
"I wonder where we are?" Wade commented from her place next to Xander.
"A military base of some kind," Maggie answered her.
"How do you know?" Remy asked.
"Former marine remember," the brunette woman responded.
"Right, I keep forgetting that,"
"You know, for some reason this place looks really familiar?" Xander asked.
"It must be your imaginanation," Quinn responded.
"It can't be, I'm almost positive that I've seen this place before," Xander shot back.
"Well, we'll worry about that later," Quinn told the young man.
"Do we have any idea who they are?" General Hammond asked the collected members of SG1 as well as a few other scientists employed by the SGC.
"None, we don't even know if there alien or not," Carter replied.
"What about the strange remote control thing?" Jack asked.
Sam then pulled out the timer and showed it to the group before speaking. "We have no idea what it is, but it is counting down to something," she responded.
"Counting down to what?" Hammond asked.
"I have no idea," Carter answered.
"Would it not be wise to ask the owners of it?" Teal'c asked.
"We probably should, so far that haven't shown any hostile intentions towards us," Sam responded.
"Alright, do it," Hammond said before adjourning the meeting.
The silence in the small room was abruptly broken by the sound of the door opening, turning the group of sliders saw a woman with short blond hair and the timer in her hand walk into the room.
"We have a few questions for you," Carter said to them.
"Alright," Quinn responded, speaking for the group.
"First off, who are you?" she asked the group.
"I'm Quinn, that's Wade, Xander, Maggie, and Rembrandt," the physicist answered while pointing to each person in turn.
"Where are you from?"
"As hard as it is to believe, we are from another dimension," Quinn responded.
"Another dimension?" Carter asked in shock.
"Yes, you probably don't believe me but it's true," Quinn said with a sigh.
"What is this?" she asked as she held up the timer.
"That is our timer," Quinn responded.
"What does it do?"
"That is what we use to travel between dimensions, when it hits zero we have to open the vortex that we use to slide, if we don't we get stuck here for thirty nine years," the physicist explained.
"To be honest with you, I find that pretty easy to believe," the blond responded.
"You do?" Remy asked in surprise.
"Yeah, seeing as how I have dealt with parallel dimensions before, and with the way the gate reacted when you came through," Sam started to respond before getting cut off by Xander.
"Stargate SG1!" the young man yelled out in triumph. "That's where I've seen this place before."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Maggie asked.
"This was a TV show on my world," he responded before turning to Carter. "You're Samantha Carter."
"How did you know that?" she asked in shock.
"Like I just said, on my world this is a TV show, that must mean that your double on my world is Amanda Tapping," Xander answered.
"Wait a minute, your saying that the world we're on is a TV show on your world?" Wade asked her boyfriend.
"Yeah, but I've only seen a few episodes," Xander answered before turning back to Carter.
"You think that I could go through the gate?" Xander asked in a tone of voice that sounded like a child begging to know what his birthday present is.
"So you're saying that you are from a parallel world, and on that world, we're a TV show?" Colonel O'Neill asked Xander in a calm voice.
"Yup," Xander replied from the chair he was sitting in next to his fellow sliders.
"Just out of curiosity, you're not one of those psycho fan boys are you?" Daniel asked him.
"Nope, I just watch the show every now and again because most of my time was spent combating the forces of hell," the young man responded.
"Who's your favorite?" Jack asked.
"What?" Xander responded in confusion.
"Your favorite character," the Colonel explained.
"That would be Teal'c," Xander responded, earning a raised eyebrow from the Jaffa.
"I believe that we have more important matters to discuss right now," Hammond told the group. "Now, will you please explain how you ended up in my base,"
After that question Xander fell silent and allowed Quinn to answer. "We arrived by means of an interdimensiol wormhole," the physicist explained.
"Then how did you come through the gate?" Daniel asked.
"I don't know for certain but I believe that we activated our timer at the exact same time you activated this gate thing, the resulting two wormholes then merged and made us come out here, instead of somewhere in California where he usually land," Quinn answered.
"That seems like a very possible situation sir," Carter spoke up.
"So then, how do you leave?" Jack asked.
"When the timer hits zero we open the wormhole and slide out of here," Quinn answered.
"And when will that be?"
"If you would give us the timer I could tell you," Quinn answered.
Carter, who was currently in possession of the device, looked over to General Hammond, who gave her nod, she then pulled out the timer and handed it over to Quinn.
After a pressing a few buttons on the timer, just to make sure they hadn't messed with anything, he examined the digital readout of the number before speaking up. "We are out of here in two minutes, we got to stop cutting these so close"
"Again I say this sucks," Xander spoke up.
"What do you mean?" Carter asked.
"We always have like three weeks on the shitty worlds, but in the cool ones, we get less than a day," he responded before he started to mumble to himself about the unfairness of the universe.
"Get over it," Wade said to him as Quinn prepared to open the wormhole.
"Here we go," Quinn said as he activated the timer and the familiar blue swirling portal appeared.
One by one the group of five ran forward and jumped into the portal, leaving behind a fairly calm SG1 and General Hammond.
"Well, you don't see that everyday," Jack commented.
"Indeed," Teal'c responded.
Before anyone else could speak there was a ripple in the air as the wormhole opened again and the group of sliders fell out backwards and landed on the floor of the conference room.
"That didn't go as planned," Maggie said as she pulled herself to her feet.
"What happened?" Daniel asked.
Quinn took a few seconds to gather his thoughts, as well as his footing, before answering, "I have no idea," he responded.
"So what do we do now?" Remy asked the group that was once again back in the room they were in earlier.
"I have no idea, there seems to be something preventing us from sliding out of here, but luckily the timer reset itself" the scientist responded.
"Could it be the Stargate?" Xander asked.
"What do you mean?" Wade questioned.
"Well, both you and Major Carter agreed that the Stargate somehow brought us here," Xander said, addressing Quinn. "Maybe it's also keeping us here."
"That actually makes sense," Quinn responded in slight shock.
"Really?" Xander asked.
"Really," Quinn replied.
"So how do we use this new information to get out of here?" Wade asked her oldest friend.
"That I don't know yet," Quinn responded.
"Maybe you should try and talk to Carter," Xander suggested.
Quinn thought the idea over for a minute before agreeing with Xander's idea and walking over to the door too ask the guard if he could see the air force major. A few minutes later Carter had shown up and she and Quinn got into a long-winded science talk.
"So you're saying that the only way for you to get off of our world is to activate the timer at the exact same time that we activate the gate, dialing the same coordinates that we dialed when you got here?" General Hammond asked the two scientists in front of him.
"Exactly," Carter responded.
"How will that work?" the aging General asked.
"It's like this," Quinn began to explain. "When we activated our timer at the same time you activated the gate the two wormholes somehow collided and caused us to leave out slide zone, which is primarily California, but now since the Stargate pulled us out of the slide zone we can't slide out." Quinn explained.
"Why can't we just give you transport to California?" Hammond asked.
"We though of that sir, but since the Stargate interfered with their slide we believe the only way for this to work is by using the gate again," Carter responded.
"Alright we'll try it," Hammond said before turning to Quinn. "When do you leave?"
"In just over two hours," Quinn responded.
"Alright, until then I would like you and your companions to stay under observation," Hammond told the young man in a stern voice.
"No problem," Quinn responded as he and Carter left the office.
"Is he always that serious?" Quinn asked as the two started down the hall.
"Pretty much," Carter replied.
"Jeez, must be rough,"
"At times," Carter said before a thought struck her. "Quinn, can you tell me something?" she asked.
"Sure," the scientist responded.
"How did you end up with the technology to travel between dimensions?"
"Ever hear of the Einstein Rosenberg Bridge?" Quinn asked.
"What physicist hasn't,"
"Well, with a little help from myself, I figured out how to cross it," Quinn explained.
"Really?" Carter asked with a mixture of shock and happiness in her voice.
"Yup."
"That's amazing! Can you tell me how?"
"I guess, but you have incredibly careful," he responded in a very serious tone.
"Of course," she replied, trying to hold in her immense joy.
"But before I do I have a few warnings for you," Quinn said to the Air Force Major. "First, never activate the timer before the time runs out, that's how me and my friends got lost. Second, there is a race of creatures called Kromaggs that use sliding technology to conquer other worlds, they are incredibly dangerous so be careful if you ever meet them."
"Right," Carter responded as they continued down the hall, all the while Quinn explaining everything he knew about the bridge and sliding.
"So do you really think that Quinn and this Carter person will figure all this out?" Maggie asked Remy, who was sitting across from her.
"If any one can, its Q-ball," Remy responded.
"Well, lets just hope that they can figure it out before the slider," Wade commented as she and Xander sat down with trays of food.
"Yeah, nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live here," Xander said, in-between bites of food.
"I still kinda find it hard to believe that there just letting us walk around here without a guard escort or something," Remy said to his companions.
"Who ever said that there wasn't guards following us," Xander responded, putting down his fork. "Those two guys at the table in the corner have been following us all day," Xander explained as he took a sip of his coffee.
"How did you know that?" Maggie asked.
"Two things," Xander answered. "One, I have all the memories of a fully trained soldier floating around in my head, and I also saw them following us,"
"What?" Maggie asked.
"I saw them following us," Xander repeated.
"No, the other thing," Maggie clarified.
"Oh, the soldier thing, didn't I tell you guys about Halloween?" the young man asked.
"It's a holiday where kids dress up and get free candy," Remy answered.
"Yeah, well on my world a chaos mage cast a spell so that everyone turned into their costumes for the night, and since I was dressed up as a soldier, I got all of his memories," he explained before picking up his fork and finishing his meal.
"Why didn't you tell us this earlier?" Wade asked with a slight amount of anger in her voice.
"Uhh, slipped my mind," Xander replied sheepishly.
"So you have all the memories of a fully trained soldier?" Maggie asked in interest.
"Yup," Xander replied.
"That must be handy," Remy commented as the group stood up.
"Very, remind me to tell you about the rocket launcher someday,"
The group of sliders was once again in the room that had been assigned to them for the duration of their stay in the SGC. All of them were gathered around the desk in the room save for Xander and Wade who were curled up together asleep on one of the beds.
"So Q-ball, what's the word?" Remy asked the scientist next too him.
"We're gonna try and use the gate to slide out of here," he responded.
"How will that help?" Maggie asked from the chair she was in.
"We believe that the two wormholes were opened at exactly the same instant and the wormhole from the Stargate somehow pulled us out of our wormhole and into the other," Quinn explained.
"Is that why we couldn't slide out of here?" Remy asked.
"I think so,"
"So then by using both of the wormholes at the same time we will be thrown back into the right wormhole?" Maggie asked.
"We hope," Quinn responded.
"Alright then, onto other topics of conversation," Remy said in a positive tone.
"Like what?" Quinn asked.
"Like them," the singer responded, pointing to the sleeping forms on the bed across from them.
"Have to admit, I didn't see that one coming," Quinn commented.
"Are you okay with it?" Remy asked his friend of close to three years.
"Yeah, I see Wade as a sister," Quinn responded. "But if he hurts her, I swear to whatever higher powers there are, I will leave him on the worst possible world,"
This comment caused the two other sliders to grin before breaking into quiet laughter, as to not wake the sleeping forms.
The three friends continued talking for the next hour about the various different things in their life and what they would do when the found home. Soon the group was pulled out of their conversation by flashing red lights and a voice coming over the speaker system that caused the all of the sliders to spring to alert, and wake up the two sleeping ones.
"Unscheduled off world activation," came the voice over the speaker.
"Wonder what's going on?" Xander said as he looked out the small window in the door and seeing a bunch of people running around.
"Something bad," Maggie answered gravely as the sound of gunfire reached their ears.
"What do we do?" Rembrandt asked in a calm tone.
"I suggest we hide," Xander responded from his place at the door.
"Why?" Wade asked.
"Because a three Jaffa are heading our way," Xander replied as he ducked down, hoping the alien soldiers hadn't seen him.
The rest of the group then mimicked Xander by ducking down and hiding behind or under the various pieces of furniture in the room. They sat in silence for what seemed like hours before the sounds of gunfire and yelling was heard. A few seconds later the door opened to reveal an angry Colonel O'Neil and Teal'c.
"You alright?" Jack asked the group as they moved out of their hiding places.
"We're fine," Quinn said as he saw the three dead Jaffa outside the room. "What the hell is going on?"
"The Goa'uld are attacking," Jack responded.
"How did they get through the Iris?" Xander asked as he helped Wade up.
"We're not sure on that yet," Jack responded.
"Can we help?" Maggie asked.
"You know how to use a gun?" the Air Force Colonel asked as he held out an extra M16 he had with him.
All he got was a grin as the woman took the gun from him.
"Right, what about the rest of you?"
"We're no strangers to combat," Quinn responded.
"Alright, stay close and try to avoid getting shot until we get the armory," Jack replied as he walked out of the room after a quick check of the halls.
The group of sliders followed closely behind, after Xander crouched down to retrieve a Zat gun from one of the dead Jaffa.
"What the hell is that?" Wade asked as Xander activated the weapon.
"A Zat gun," Xander replied.
"And that would be?"
"It's kinda like a stun gun, only if you shoot the person twice they die, and if you shoot them three times they disintegrate," he explained to the red head.
"Be careful with that," Jack said as they rounded a corner.
The groups then continued at a slow pace, running into Jaffa quite frequently, but were able to dispatch them with no injuries. Soon they made it to the armory on that level and anybody who didn't already have a weapon was giving one.
"Now what?" Quinn asked as they left the armory.
"We need to get to the control room and shut down the gate," Jack responded.
"Were is everyone else on this base?" Remy asked.
"They are either dead or have been taking prisoner," Teal'c answered.
They then continued to head for the control room, they were almost there when they ran into a group of six Jaffa, that immediately opened fire with their staff weapons, causing the group to duck behind the corner they just came around to avoid the energy blasts.
"Shit," Jack said as he fired down the hallway before ducking back into cover.
"Now what?" Maggie asked as she too fired down the hall.
"We split up," Jack responded, shooting down the hall. "You two stay with me and help distract them," he continued while pointing to Xander and Maggie. "The rest of you go with Teal'c and try to get to the control room."
"Very well, good luck O'Neil," Teal'c said as he started back down the hallway they came from with Quinn and Remy close behind, Wade stayed a moment longer to quickly kiss Xander and wish him luck before running after them.
After ten minutes of trading fire with the Jaffa, all of the invading Aliens were dead, either from gunfire or the Zat gun Xander had.
"Let's go," Jack said as he started off down the hall.
"Colonel there is something bothering me about this invasion," Xander said as they moved toward the control room.
"And what would that be," Jack responded sarcastically
"Why are the Asgard allowing it?"
"The who?" Jack asked as peeked around a corner to see if it was clear.
"Ah, guess you haven't met them yet,"
"What are you talking about," the Colonel asked, quickly getting pissed.
"I'll explain later," Xander said as they heard gunfire farther down the hallway.
Taking off at a run the trio quickly found a small group of soldiers being led by Carter that were pinned down by a large group of Jaffa, luckily they were behind the Jaffa and had not yet been noticed. Without hesitation the three quickly started to fire on the Jaffa. Not expecting an attack to come from behind, the Jaffa quickly fell.
"Good to see you sir," Sam said as she lowered her weapon.
"Same here Carter," Jack responded.
"We need to get to the control room and shut down the gate," Carter said as she reloaded her weapon.
"Teal'c is already on his way there right now," Jack told his teammate and second in command. "If we hurry we can meet him there."
"Lets get moving then," Carter replied.
They then continued on toward the control room, at a steady pace all the while the two sliders there wished they could go faster because they both knew that time was running out before the slide. Soon they were able to make it to the control room were Teal'c and the other three sliders had gained control. Carter instantly went over to the computers and was able to successful close the gate.
"That seemed a little to easy if you ask me," Jack commented as he looked around the room.
"Indeed," Teal'c responded.
"I've got a bad feeling about this," Jack said as he quickly reloaded his weapon.
While the Air Force people were checking and reloading weapons, Xander and Maggie were with their fellow sliders, it was then that Xander noticed bandage on Wade's arm.
"Oh my god! Wade are you alright?" Xander asked with concern in his voice as he quickly began to inspect the injury.
"One of those staff blasts nicked me, I'll be fine though," Wade responded with a small smile.
"You sure?" Xander asked, staring at her
"Positive," Wade said, staring back.
Clearing his voice, Quinn broke the two's gaze. "I'd hate to break up a touching moment but we're almost out of time," he explained as he showed them the timer.
"We can't just leave when they need help," Maggie said, the soldier in her coming into the forefront at the thought of abandoning a battle.
"We don't have a choice," Quinn explained.
"Why don't we activate the timer with out the gate, won't that just start it over again?" Xander asked, not liking the idea of leaving the fight either.
"We can't risk it," Quinn responded.
"Why not!" Maggie practically yelled.
"He's right," Carter said, breaking up the conversation. "You are not members of the SGC, hell your not even members of this earth, you need to get out of here now while you have the chance," Carter explained.
"But.." Xander began before Carter cut him off.
"No buts, you have to get out of here now," she responded as she headed over to the dialing computer.
"Let's get you down there," Jack said as he picked up his weapon and head for the stairs that led to the Gate Room with Teal'c and a few soldiers with them.
The sliders then followed, some more reluctant then others, soon they were in the gate room. After checking the timer Quinn called up to Carter in the control room the amount of time they had left. The blond scientist then began dialing the address of a friendly planet, just in case their theory didn't work.
The last Chevron was locked in place just as the timer hit zero. Quickly aiming the device at the gate Quinn activated it just as the gate materialized. The two wormhole openings collided; causing the Event Horizon to change as it had done hours earlier.
"Lets go!" Quinn called out over the usual sound of the wormhole.
It was then that fate decided to turn cruel as a group of Jaffa blew open one of the doors and began to open fire. Without wasting time Rembrandt ran up the ramp that led to the wormhole with Quinn and Wade hot on his heels. Maggie dropped the empty gun in her hands and ran for the wormhole, Xander following seconds later.
"Everyone all right?" Quinn asked as the wormhole closed. He was met with a yes from everyone in the group.
"You think they'll be okay?" Wade asked, looking up at where the wormhole used to be.
"I'm sure they will be," Xander answered as he put his arm around her, being careful to avoid her injury.
"How long have we got here Q-ball?" Remy asked his friend.
"Five days," Quinn responded.
"Let's say we find a hotel," Maggie said as she dropped the empty gun in her hands.
"Lets," Quinn agreed with her as they found a trail and began to walk down it.
A few minutes later they arrived at the edge of the forest and began to walk down the street in front of them until a man holding pistol up to them stopped them.
"Give me all your money," the man said as he pointed the pistol at them.
"Oh I so don't want to deal with this," Xander said before quickly raising his hand and firing.
The mugger then fell to the ground as the bolt of blue energy hit him. All of the sliders then turned to look at Xander, Zat still in his hand.
"What? You never heard of a souvenir?"
A Slayerette's Slide
"So how long are we here Q-ball?" Remy asked his friend as the group of sliders walked down the street of the world they had just arrived on.
"About three weeks," the scientist replied as he checked the timer.
"Well this seems like a peaceful enough world," Maggie said as she looked around.
"Yeah, well knowing our luck their will be a horde of something wanting us dead, chasing after us by the end of the day," Xander replied, earning small laughs from the group.
"Has anyone ever told you that you are very pessimistic?" Wade asked him as they walked through the front doors of the Chandler.
"Not pessimistic, just stating an idea based on an ass load of previous experience," Xander responded as they approached the desk.
"He does have a point Wade," Quinn commented as Rembrandt was checking them in.
"I guess," Wade said as they got the key to their room and headed up the stairs.
"So what are we gonna do for three weeks, apart from trying to avoid anything that may end up wanting us dead?" Xander asked as they approached the door of the suite they rented.
"How about we just relax," Maggie answered as she walked into the room and fell onto the couch.
"That sounds like a great idea, seeing as it's the holidays and all," Quinn said as he sat down next to the former marine.
"What are you talking about?" Xander asked.
"You didn't see all the Christmas decoration's?" Quinn asked slightly shocked seeing as practically ever building they passed had some form of decorations on it.
"No," the young man responded as he sat down in a chair across from the couch. "I should probably start paying more attention to my surroundings."
The group looked at him in silent shock for a moment before Remy spoke up. "How the hell have you survived this long doing all the things that we do?" the black man asked hi friend.
"I honestly couldn't tell ya," the vampire hunter turned slider answered as he picked a magazine up off the table.
The group stared at him a little longer, not really knowing what to say, until Wade broke it. "So since we're actually on a world that his nice, why don't we have a Christmas?"
"That actually sounds like a good idea," Maggie said, as a smile lit up her face at the prospect of doing something normal for once.
After that the rest of the group quickly agreed, happy that they were lucky enough to land on a world were they could celebrate the holidays without worry.
The next week was spent in peace as the group took the opportunity to relax, buy presents for each other or in the case of Xander and Wade actually go on a first official date.
"So, nervous?" Quinn asked the young man that was sitting across from him in the restraint of the Chandler where he and Wade had agreed to meet, seeing as how he was forbidden to enter the room while she and Maggie got her ready.
"Quinn, Wade and I are just going to a simple dinner and movie, there's nothing to be overly nervous about," he replied as Remy sat down at the table with a drink for himself and Quinn.
"True, but there are a multitude of things that could go wrong, for instance," Remy started to say but was quickly cut off by Xander.
"I swear to God that if you finish that sentence you'll find out what it feels like to be hit by a Zat gun!" the young man to his friend as he reached inside his coat.
"Alright, alright just don't pull that out," Remy quickly responded as he raised his hands in surrender.
"Why do are you bringing that with?" Quinn asked as he took a sip of his beer.
"You never know what could happen," the young man responded as he looked over Quinn's shoulders and saw Wade and Maggie coming down the stairs. "Time to go," he said as he stood up and walked over to meet Wade.
As Xander got closer he saw that Wade was simply in a pair of jeans and a white T-shirt under a blue denim jacket.
"So, you ready?" Wade asked.
"Yup, let's go," Xander responded as he held out his arm for her, which she happily took. The two then walked out the doors of the hotel as Maggie headed over to Quinn and Remy's table.
"Our little kids are all grown up," Maggie said in a mock motherly voice as she sat down.
"So long as he doesn't hurt her," Quinn responded, taking another sip of his beer.
"You really care about her don't you?" Maggie asked.
"She's my sister in all but blood," the scientist replied.
"So what's on the agenda for tonight?" Wade asked as she and Xander walked down the street.
"Well, after a quick look around I saw that there is a pretty decent diner about a block down the road, so I thought that he could go there for dinner, then maybe to a movie," her date responded.
"Ahh, the old dinner and a movie plow," Wade said with a smile.
"If you don't like it we can do something else," Xander quickly responded in a nervous voice, hoping he hadn't angered his date.
"No it's fine," Wade responded as they approached the diner. "I'm actually a big fan of it," the red head continued as they sat down.
"That's a relief," Xander sighed out as a waitress came over to the table.
"What can I get ya?" the waitress asked as she pulled out her order pad.
The two then ordered their meals and talked happily until the food arrived. After finishing their food they quickly headed for the Movie Theater. Two hours later they walked out of the theater talking about the movie.
"There is no way that those things even remotely resembled vampires," Xander commented as they started down the street in the direction of the Chandler.
"Xander, it's just a movie," Wade responded, trying not to laugh while she watched her boyfriend rant about the vampire movie they just saw.
"Why did we pick that movie?" he continued, not noticing the red heads amusement.
"I honestly don't know," she replied. "But it was nice being out together," Wade continued as she grabbed his hand.
"Yeah, it was,"
"This world has no good TV shows, all that is on is cheesy Christmas movies" Remy complained as he flipped through the channels on the TV in their hotel room.
"Remy, it's a week till Christmas what do you expect, although TV guide says Friends is on channel twelve," Quinn said as he browsed through the small booklet.
"Better then nothing," the singer replied as he flipped the channel to Friends.
"You two are pathetic," Maggie said, not looking up from the magazine she was reading.
"Who's pathetic?" a new voice asked as Xander and Wade walked into the room.
"Those two," Maggie replied as she pointed at the other two men in the room.
"Hey!" the two in question called out.
"Whatever, I'm beat, I'm gonna go to bed," Wade said as she gave Xander a quick kiss on the lips before walking into one of the bedrooms.
"So, how the date go?" Maggie asked, putting down the magazine and turning to Xander.
"Good," he replied as he walked into the second bedroom. "Night," he called out as he closed the door.
"Hey! You gotta give me more than that," Maggie called out in anger. "Men!" she grumbled as she walked into the room she was sharing with Wade.
"You know, Friends isn't half bad," Remy said as he turned up the volume.
"I like it," Quinn replied. The two not even reacting to the conversation.
"Uhh, I have no idea what to do," Xander said as he fell onto the couch in the group's suite.
"What are you talking about?" Maggie asked, seeing as she was the only other person in the room, the others had gone out for food.
"I have no idea what to get Wade for Christmas," the young man replied.
"You know, you could ask me for help," Maggie told the young man.
"Really, you'd help?"
"Only if you ask," she replied in a sing song voice.
"Maggie, will you please help me find a gift for Wade?"
"Of course," she answered as she stood up. "lets go,"
Twenty minutes later the two were walking through a large mall a few blocks away from the Chandler.
"So, getting any ideas?" Maggie asked as they walked through the crowded mall.
"None," he replied.
"Well, you've got to have some ideas, you did have female friends back home didn't you?" Maggie asked.
"Yeah, but Willow was Jewish, so no Christmas shopping there, and Buffy, all I had to do was give custom made wooden stakes," he replied.
"What about your ex girlfriend whats-her-face?" his companion asked.
"Cordelia, and I had trouble shopping for her too,"
"Don't worry, we'll find something," Maggie told him as she pulled him into a clothing store. "Now remember, it has to look nice, and since we are constantly in life threatening situations and constantly on the move, so it has to be something she won't easily lose or have to leave behind."
"So that rules out fish I guess," Xander joked, causing Maggie to laugh.
"Yup,"
"Uhh, this is impossible," he said as he sat down a nearby bench.
"Don't worry, we'll find something," Maggie said as she began flipping through racks of clothes. "Listen, try to think of something that you know Wade would love, but also something that you would love for her to have," Maggie explained to her friend.
Xander sat silently for a few minutes, fiddling with the protection amulet around his neck that he got on his first slide when a thought struck him. Quickly standing up he hurried out of the store, leaving a confused Maggie to follow him. A few minutes later they arrived at a store with a sign bearing a familiar symbol to Xander the young man wasted no time and quickly began looking over the necklaces on display.
"What's cooking in that head of yours?" Maggie asked the young man.
"An idea," he responded as he spotted a small necklace with a pendant that was made out of pewter with a symbol engraved into it.
"That's nice, what is it?" Wade asked.
"That is the Wiccan symbol for protection," the sales clerk said as she walked over.
Looking the clerk over Xander was able to quickly tell that she herself followed the Wiccan arts, but had no way of knowing whether or not she actually had magical powers.
"May I help you with something?" she asked.
"Yes, I'm looking for a Christmas present for my girlfriend," he replied.
"Anything in particular?"
"Something that looks good, and will hopefully keep her safe if trouble shows up," he replied.
The clerk looked him over once, and after seeing the amulet around his neck, gave him a knowing smile as she reached under the counter and pulled out a small pendant. Similar to the one on display, although someone who was well versed with the mystic could clearly see that there was a little something more to this particular pendant.
"Will this do?" the clerk asked.
"It's perfect, how much?" Xander asked as he fished out his wallet.
Ten minutes later Xander and Maggie walked out of the store with Wade's present in a small bag
"Okay, what is it," Maggie asked as they exited the mall and began to head back towards the Chandler.
"I remember a little while ago that Wade told me she was in to the Wiccan stuff, and I can't be certain but I am almost positive that the sales clerk was a witch, and that this pendant is similar to my amulet," the young man responded as he ducked down a nearby alley.
"What are you doing in an alley?" Maggie asked.
"Testing my theory," Xander replied, reaching into the bag and pulling the pendant out.
After quickly looking it over he willed the small pendant to activate, half a second later a red dome appeared around the two.
"Wow!" Maggie said in awe as the shield disappeared.
"Jackpot," Xander said as the two then continued back toward the hotel.
The last days before Christmas passed quickly for the sliders. Soon Christmas morning was dawning bright and sunny. Around noon the group of sliders gathered in the main area of the suite to celebrate the holiday.
After about an hour of talking, laughing, and just generally being a normal group of friends, instead of a group of interdimensional travelers trying to find home, Xander pulled Wade off to the side and pulled out the present he bought her.
"Merry Christmas Wade," Xander said as he handed her the box.
The red head quickly opened it and was suddenly speechless as she saw the small pendant lying in the box.
"It's beautiful," Wade said as she pulled it out and got a closer look.
"And practical," Xander said.
"What do you mean?" Wade asked, turning her gaze to Xander.
"You see the symbol on it?" he asked as she looked at it again.
"Yeah, looks familiar,"
"That is the Wiccan symbol for protection, more or less that acts almost exactly like the amulet I got from the Halliwells way back when," Xander explained as he took it from her and help her put it on.
"Thank you," Wade said as she kissed him.
"Anytime,"
"No it's my turn," Wade said as she picked up a large box.
"You know how your coat got destroyed a few worlds back," Wade said as she handed him her present.
"Don't remind me," he said, remembering the fire that had consumed the black trench coat.
"Here," the red head said as she handed him the box.
Opening the box Xander saw that a coat almost exactly identical to his last one sat in the box, save for the fact that this one was a dark green.
"Wow," Xander said as he pulled out the coat.
"And that's not all, put it on," she said as her boyfriend pulled on the coat.
"Okay, now what?" he asked.
"Pretend that the coat is black," Wade told him with a smile.
"Okay," he said as he pictured the coat in his mind, only black instead of green.
"Now look at the coat," she said.
Looking down Xander saw that the green coat was now a dark black.
"What the heck, how did that happen?" he asked as he looked at the coat.
"Your not the only one who can give magical presents," Wade replied as she pulled him in for another kiss.
After they broke apart they looked at each other before Xander spoke. "Merry Christmas Wade,"
"Merry Christmas Xander," she replied as they kissed again.
End Chapter 6
That is the end of this chapter, told ya it would be shorter.
Now onto other matters. Below is a piece of a fic I have been toying with for while, please read over it and tell me if I should go ahead with my plans for it.
Title not yet known.
"Got it," Jenny said happily as she saw that the program to translate the soul curse finished.
"Hey Jenny," a voice said from the shadows.
Looking up, the gypsy saw Angelus standing in the shadows on the far side of the room. Taking a deep breath and trying to work up her courage she then addressed the vampire.
"Angelus," she replied.
"So, I hear you've done some shopping," he said as he moved closer.
Jenny simply stayed where she was, her mind desperately trying to think up a way out of this situation.
"But, it won't do you any good," the vampire continued as he picked up the computer and threw it across the room, followed closely by the Orb of Thesulah. "Your turn," he said as he started toward the computer teacher.
Fear overwhelming her, Jenny quickly ran out the door of the classroom and down the hall, Angelus following at a leisurely pace. Reaching a staircase up the computer teacher quickly ran up it, hoping to loose her pursuer on the second floor.
After a few more minutes of running she saw a door ahead of her and quickened her pace, hoping she could get through and find a way to bar it from the other side. Upon reaching the door she quickly pushed against it and found it locked.
"Damn it!" she screamed as she pounded on the door before turning around and coming face to face with the vampire.
"This is gonna taste so sweet," he grinned as he grabbed the woman and began to move his fangs down to her neck.
Seconds before the demons fangs pierced her neck a bolt of electricity shot out of the shadows, striking the vampire in the back and causing him to fly into the air and hit the closed door.
Turning to the source of the bolt Jenny saw a young man step out of the shadow. The figure was clad in black and in one hand carried a deadly looking long sword, the other hand was glowing with blue energy and had small sparks coming out of it.
"Alexander," Jenny said in shock as she saw the figures face.
"Who the hell are you?" Angelus asked as he pulled himself to his feet.
"Someone here to teach you a lesson," the figure responded.
"And what would that be," the vampire sneered as he charged the young man, only to be sent flying back into the doors by another blast of electricity.
"Stay away from my mother!" he yelled as another blast of lighting shot out and struck the vampire.