Dark Promise

The following is a bit of alternative fiction based on certain characters from the Xenaverse It is not meant to infringe on anyone else's rights. If you don't agree or disapprove, please go read something else.

This story is part of an Altaverse based on Bite Me and the Fonder Heart. It can be found, along with other such stories, at The Realms of the Xenaverse, under Blood and Roses. Xena is Ares' Daughter and Gabrielle is Bacchus' Daughter

Characters from Buffy: Vampire Slayer have also been borrowed for the purposes of this story. All of this is written with the utmost affection and the no desire for renumeration (except for possible emails). The same above disclaimer is in effect. There are certain changes that have been made to accomadate this particular Xenaverse. Buffy's Vampires are really part of the Kin, renamed for purposes of this story

Xex Alert: Yes, there definitely will be, between two consenting immortal women even. Maybe even more

Violence Alert: Yes, probably, given that this is a story involving slayage and Xena.

Remember, this is all meant in fun!

Fanning flashes of golden sunlight spilled through the slats of the Venetian blinds and bounced against the walls of the darkened classroom. The musical clickclack of fingers brushing against keyboards paused, almost as one, then resumed. Willow stood up. She was a lean young woman. Shy. Her hair was long and dark and glimmered with red highlights when the sun played on it.

She was a genius. Willow was very skilled in computing, but not so skilled on the social side of scholastic life. Well, that was less true now. Besides, she preferred to think of it as being selective. The young woman moved towards the windows and peeked through slats. She didn't see anything unusual, just a bunch of cars in the parking lot. There were already students in the lot.

School would be out for the day, fairly soon. Willow was glad about that. She liked teaching, but that was only when she knew the teacher was coming back. The teacher was never coming back. A ball of grief threatened to overwhelm the young woman, but she bit it back and turned her mind away from the pain. And the fear. She walked calmly back to the desk and looked, briefly, at the clock.

Willow was very selective, though Xander didn't believe it. But that was a case in point. Xander, though he was a goofball sometimes, was very worth knowing. He had a great sense of humor and beautiful eyes and a (mostly) compassionate soul. She liked hanging around with him. She used to be in love with him. Actually now, she just loved him. . .as a friend. She started picking up her school books. She did, after all, have her own classes to attend. Not as many as the other students, but enough. She'd be through with the homework in almost no time. There were days when she Loved being brainy.

Xander was going out with that . . was going out with Cordelia, who for some reason, had become more and more part of Willow's group and truthfully, she could be fun sometimes. Sometimes, though, she really wasn't. Maybe the . . .she would grow out of it, but somehow the Willow doubted it. Cordelia was very self absorbed, and that was putting things kindly.

The other students noticed their "teacher" gathering her books and they started powering down their machines and preparing. That was the cool thing about having a teen in charge, she understood the need to prepare to leave early. They'd been very good, considering.

Willow was going out with Oz. With Whom, she was desperately in like with, very possibly love. Her toes tingled, even if all she did was look at him. Xander would tease her if she told him that, but Buffy. . .Buffy, her best friend, would understand. Except, it kind of hurt to talk with her right now. Buffy was beautiful, blonde, smart and deadly. Maybe that was why Xander liked her so much. Too bad Xander was already dating, now that Buffy was available and all. Yep, Willow was still feeling a bit catty about that. But not at *her,* not at all.

Buffy's boyfriend was a vampire. He used to be bad, then he turned good. Now he was bad again. Buffy wasn't taking it well. She wouldn't really talk about it, though sometimes she cried. Willow never told anyone about that. Buffy's mom knew about Angel, but not that he was a blood sucker. She just thought the man was a stalker and that Buffy had bad taste.

Well it had been good taste. Willow had liked Angel, until he strung up all her fish. He'd been really . .nice. .when he was good.

The bell rang, clamoring through the room and hallways. Chairs zoomed back and students poured out into the hallways. Willow turned back, just once, to make sure all the computers were off and the desks were cleared. They were. Her eyes roamed through all the negative spaces of the room, but missed the the small crevice which held the disk that could have returned Angel's soul.

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Buffy saw her first. "Willow," she greeted. As usual, she looked fashionably like herself. Probably, if she had any interest to, she could have hooked up with the more popular crowd. She was too busy for them, however, and she had better taste in friends.

"Hey Buff," the young woman responded. She smiled easily at her friends. Her smile was her best feature, though she didn't know it. "How was class?"

Buffy shrugged. It was hard to be a scholar when you knew your life calling was to be a slayer. The classes she really needed didn't exist. Instead, she had to deal with the tutorial of her watcher, Giles. He was a librarian, not really into physical things. She'd had to learn that from the watcher before him. He tried though. Really. And he was like Willow, ingenious about finding out stuff. He was a master researcher. That was a handy skill to have, especially since Buffy didn't really have the time to do that kind of thing. Not when she had to be out at night, hunting.

"Oh." Willow nodded with understanding as they passed through the double doors of the school entrance. "Say, don't you have to. . ."

"Giles said I could have the rest of the day off. He's kind of needing it." Buffy looked at her friend with grieving eyes. The young red head swallowed and nodded.

"yeah," she whispered. "I can see that." They continued walking in silence. A grayness followed them, though the sky was blue and sunny. The shadows of the trees seemed deeper and colder and all the colors blurred in Willow's eyes. She would have missed them entirely if it weren't for Cordelia.

Her greeting was practically a scream, guaranteed to get the attention of every young student who was still milling about on campus, "OH MY GOD Willow! You didn't tell me your family was rich!" The shy young woman blinked back the tears looked at Cordelia in confusion. Then she saw the limousine. Cordelia grabbed her arm and practically dragged her towards the vehicle.

It was all black and sleek and shiny shiny chrome. Xander, who'd naturally been with Cordelia, was splitting his attention between ogling the powerful machine and scanning the tall, dark, sleek woman who leaned lazily against it. She was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, yet, when he looked at her he thought she might be the richest woman on earth, not to mention, the most gorgeous. He was trying to be subtle, but then, he wasn't the only one staring. Blue eyes gazed frankly at the young man with the humor of one who'd seen it all. She was smirking a kind of half smile of tolerant waiting.

Cordelia was still talking animatedly to Willow. Buffy followed, feeling somewhat bemused. 'Willow? Rich?' Well, now that was something new in Sunnydale. She looked at the car and then at the woman and felt a familiar buzz ring through her body. She looked again, blinking at the impossibility. It was daylight. That confused her.

A man rushed past her, shattering her concentration. She lost the buzz for a moment. The woman straightened up. He looked like he was about to say something, but the woman spoke first, "Don't worry about it Max. She's been found." There went that smirk again. Light spilled off her dark olive complexion, seeming to become instant tan. Buffy felt a stab of some emotion, piercing in its intensity, but unidentifiable. It felt like jealousy, but wasn't. She looked at her friend, who looked so vulnerable at the moment. Willow was being pushed by Cordelia into the woman's formidable presence.

Fear. Was she feeling fear? Buffy looked at the tall woman as she greeted Willow. It seemed normal enough, despite the fact that whoever this was towered over her friend. And was scarier to Buffy than anything she could remember. "Buffy?" There was a pause, "Buffy?" The slayer blinked and brought her attention back to her friend. Willow scooped the air,waving her over. The slayer, disguised as high school child, moved into the center of the woman's view to stand besides her friend. . .protectively. She tried to look tough. The woman just smiled at her with knowing eyes and the buzz rang through her body, making Buffy feel faint. She kept her feet though, and her senses.

Willow spoke again, shyly, "Buffy, this is. . ." Oh boy, how was she ever gonna live this one down, "This is my aunt. Well one of them. This is one of my visiting aunts from. . .Well, she's not really my aunt aunt. She's more like my other aunt's. . ." The woman raised her eyebrow. Willow paused and drew a breath making her decision, "Buffy, This is my aunt Xena." There, she said it with a straight face and she didn't embarrass anyone.

Buffy blinked, looked from Willow, to the tall muscular dark woman and then back again. "You're kidding," she said disbelievingly.

Willow shook her head, "Nope." She couldn't help the grin that split her face. She didn't think they'd really come. She'd hoped, but she didn't think they would, "This is my aunt Xena." More disbelieving looks. "It's a common name," she defended.

Xander spoke out, "Yeah, for Two Year olds. Not for. . ." He shut up when Xena's eyes narrowed at him. "Well," he stuttered, "Xena suits you. It's perfect." His eyes widened. Oh the jokes he would make, he stepped back from a sudden imperceptible threat, after Xena was gone. Willow was going to pay for not telling him about this.

Cordelia smiled ingratiatingly, "Her rich aunt Xena." She couldn't believe her luck. Maybe this crowd wasn't so bad after all. Maybe Buffy had a rich aunt somewhere and all this vampire killing and junk had been a bad dream. Maybe. . .

"Willow, let's go." Xena touched her niece's shoulder and started leading her to the car.

"Wait a minute," Buffy said. She didn't trust this woman. First of all, Xena was a ridiculous name and a TV show. Secondly . . .she was about to make that point, "If you're so related how come you haven't hugged or anything?"

Xena grinned. She looked down at Willow and lifted her up into a hug. Then she set the startled young woman down. "I'm not normally the touchy feely type," she explained. Then Max opened the door.

"Aunt Xena?"

"Just call me Xena."

"Xena?"

"Yes Willow?"

Willow looked at her friends. Two were suddenly hopeful. One looked down and distrusting. "Could Buffy ride with us?"

There was a brief nod in Buffy's direction. Then an affectionate smile down at Willow. "If she wants."

Willow grinned back, "She wants. She just doesn't know it yet." She scooted in and scooped air again, "Come on Buffy."

Buffy considered for about half a heart beat. She wasn't sure what was going on. She could taste the danger around this Xena and it was too familiar for her to ignore. She knew one thing for sure. Willow was her friend and she wasn't going to let her face. . .she looked suspiciously at Xena again. .any sort of danger alone. Not if she could help it.