Part 2: Discussions of Hero

"Giles?" the children asked him after Adam had let the library to go off campus to get something to eat.

"What?" he asked coldly as he continued to work. Lately, his own work had taken precedence over researching for Buffy things she should have been doing for herself. He was reading and writing and talking to his immortal and they met once a week to discuss things. All things that had been put in motion since Darius and the one who had saved him. Giles chuckled ruefully thinking the children would never believe him about who had saved Darius.

"Uhm, well," Willow said going for cute and pouty and uncertain.

Guiles sighed and shook his head. "Ask your damn question, child. I haven't the patience for it otherwise. What do you want?"

"We were wondering if Adam has seen a hero that measures up to his standards," Xander asked almost snidely.

Giles raised an eyebrow and looked at them.

"Ask him yourselves. He'll be back shortly," Giles said.

"Like he'd tell us?" Buffy asked. "Come on, Giles, why doesn't he think I'm a hero or Xan or Willow?"

"Because to him, you are not," Giles said exasperatedly. "In our group, there is one Hero above all others. One Hero who did more and saved more lives with a simple act of courage and a willingness to kill true evil that worse the face and body of a man than any of you killing things you don't even know if are truly evil because you can't be bothered to look at an individual and so judge by species. Now, excuse me, Adam will be back soon and I need to have the passages I need translated marked before he comes. Unlike you all, I will not leave all the work to one person."

He dismissed them, refusing to answer any more of their questions and he was aware of when they left. He was aware because Angel then came out of the stacks where he had been listening.

"How is our hero today?" he asked Giles as he picked up a book and started helping Giles mark passages.

"He's actually doing much better," Giles said as they worked.

"He's sleeping also still but it's less an "exhausted, black out" sleep and more an "actually getting rest" sleep. Also, he's eating again, finally getting enough food in his system to keep him going. We want it better than just enough though. We want him fully healthy again."

"Not an immortal or watcher in the word who doesn't, Giles," Angel said. "Spike is here by the way. He's picking up the slack from Buffy not patrolling. The Hero has value in our community too. He single-handedly stopped a War that would have destroyed all of us."

"I see," Giles said. "And is there any other reason Spike is back, Angel?"

Angel flushed slightly and looked at his toes. "I asked him to come back so we could try again?"

"Like me and Ethan," Giles said. "It's alright. If you trust him, I will as well. Besides the fact that we need the help here with Buffy shirking her duty again. Yes, Cordelia?"

"Can I help with anything?" She asked quietly.

Giles looked up at her and nodded after a moment. "Could you bring the other tomes out of my office and maybe start sketching some of the demons we've fought so we can compare hem to what's in the books?"

"Sure, Giles," she said. "But why not ask Angel to draw?"

"Angel is drawing other things," Giles told her. "Artifacts and such. You have a good eye for detail so I wanted to ask you to do this for me."

"Sure, Giles," she said as she picked up some pencils and some paper. She carded through her memory, looking for the demons they'd fought and she began to draw them.

Giles smiled to himself as he went back to looking for the passages Adam would need to translate. He knew Cordelia was going to like Adam. Adam was a nice guy. When he was in a good mood at any rate.

"So, who is this guy whose put the others down?" Cordelia asked as they worked.

"A friend of mine who was sent to help when Wesley got sick," Giles answered.

"Wesley's sick?" Cordelia asked I shock.

And Giles groaned as he realized he'd never contacted anyone about why he was in a cold mood. "Yes," Giles said. "He worked himself sick on these translations. I can't do all of it so I asked for help. A student of mine from Watcher School was sent to help. He arrived this morning. Unfortunately for the others, they made the mistake of saying they were the most important people in the room. Adam's...out look on life is extremely different from ours. He does not see them as being the most important because to his mind they are not. They are actually the least important people. Adam tends to not like them so much but then, that's just Adam I suppose."

"No," Cordelia said as Angel made a growling noise towards the stacks and Spike appeared. "It's a true statement."

"What is it Chile?" Angel asked. Spike looked at him and sighed.

"He is coming," Spike said. "A man so powerful darkness runs from the mention of his name. He'll be here in a few days. He's coming for The Hero."

"Well," Angel said amused as he looked at Giles. "Looks like you get your wish for help. Darius is on his way right now as we speak. And believe me when I say, the demons of the Hellmouth will be learning some hard painful lessons from him when he arrives. Some very hard, Painful lessons. Should be one hell of a show."

And Giles chuckled as he agreed with Angel. It was going to be one hell of a show indeed. Again, he could not wait.

Part 3

It was only two days before Darius arrived. They were in the library researching when the doors were shoved open and a tall man with dark hair and blue/grey eyes came in. He carried himself as a warrior, as one who had seen many battles and managed to come out of all of them with knowledge instead of bitterness if they lost.

"Hello, Rupert," he said to Giles. He, too, ignored the children. Instead he focused on the books laid out on the table. Giles saw his lip curl in disgust as he read one passage in a book that everyone not Buffy and her friends knew was bullshit.

"To be completely honest," Darius said as he looked it over, "I would not have done so well with the resistance if it weren't for this kind of demon. They are actually quite friendly, love freedom and hate things like the Nazis. Now, that needs to be learned, realized and dealt with. Prejudices have no place on a battlefield. What is the situation here?"

"An Ascension, old friend," Giles heard Adam say.

"Damn," Darius said in a multitude of languages. "You sure know when to call me, don't you Old man? How is Wesley? I never got a chance to properly thank him or my life in Paris."

"He's ill," Giles said softly. "He worked himself sick translating things for the children."

"A Slayer who can't read simple languages? That is shameful."

"Hey!" Buffy exclaimed. "It's the Watcher's job to translate for me."

"The Tartarus it is, little girl," Darius said. "When this group was started the Slayer took her job seriously and knew she had to take responsibility for herself. She knew her Watcher would not always be there to save her ass. You apparently can't understand a damn thing. It is not your Watcher's job to do everything for you. It is not your watcher's job to be your father. It is not your Watches job to handle every little detail of your life. The Slayer is supposed to be smart enough to figure things out for herself and to tell good from evil not by species or soul but by feeling. William the Bloody liberated concentration camps all over Europe during the second world war and he did not feed on anyone in there. The Slayers at the time could not be bothered to help people escape true evil because they were too busy whining over the lack of demonic activity during the war. The demons were all trying to stop the Nazis. If I were you, little girl, and you other little snot nosed brats as well, I'd learn to read what really happened instead of what you want to have happened. Giles, I think you should take a few days off. Let the children learn the hard way that you wont always be there. I think Ethan needs you right now."

"Yeah," Giles said and his accent slipped but he did not seem to be overly worried about it. Instead, he walked into his office and gathered his coat. He looked at Darius and Adam and they all turned and left. Leaving the children in the library alone. All Buffy could do was stare as she realized she hadn't even gotten started in her whining that usually kept Giles by her side.

It seemed she had two people to work around now: Adam and this Darius man.

And Darius did not seem to be a man she could control with whining. And it seemed Willow's magic did not affect him either if the frustrated look on her face was anything to go by. Willow was muttering "Too Powerful" about Darius now. And what was wrong with Xander?

"Guys," he said. "I'm gonna head out. I have some work to do. See you later."

And he left, wondering if he could find Giles' new place. He got lucky when he saw Adam walking and he followed at a distance as Adam went into a pretty good-sized house. He followed and looked in a window where he just kind of stared at Darius tenderly helping Wesley change his shirt. Wesley was looking as sick as Giles had said he was. Darius was applying something to his chest, hands and arms and Xander stared as he saw the cross-shaped burn on Wesley's chest and the marks on his hands were also burns.

"I'd ask what you're doing here but I don't particularly care and unless you can explain it in a way that will convince me not to take you to Giles in pieces, you'd better be ready for some real pain."

And Xander swallowed as he found himself looking at Angel. And man, did Angel ever look Pissed.

Part 4

Xander was staring at Wesley as he was sitting on the couch being glared at by Adam, Giles, Ethan, Darius, Angel and Spike. All he could do was stare at the marks on Wesley's chest, arms and hands.

"You got those stopping a demon, right?" Xander asked. Darius muttered something in a language that had Giles flushing slightly. Thankfully, Wesley himself answered.

"No, I got them saving his life," he told Xander as he gestured to Darius. "A group of humans, with souls, came into his church with the intent to kill him because he was Different, not like them, older and with more knowledge. They claimed he was evil because he was immortal. Just because of that Xander. He bleeds, he can die, it just doesn't take unless you cut his head off. They wanted to torture him and kill him. And I said no. I stopped them. I killed four of them with a gun I took off of one of them and then I got into a scuffle with the leader. He kicked me backwards and a cross fell on me. Now, granted Darius started the fire to give us time to get out and it had gone crazy because of a problem he has in The Way's places with that gift of Ares but the cross was hot. It landed on my chest and burned through my shirt, into my chest. I had to use my arms to push it off and then I saw him, about to shoot Darius and cut his head off. So, I reacted. I picked up the cross and I stabbed him with it. It went through his back and into his heart. The edges on this cross were sharp. It was a pewter cross too. These scars came from saving a life Xander. Saving a life from true Evil that wore the face and body of a man. That was what Adam meant by you judging by species. That you wont see the Evil around you because you judge by the absence or presence of a soul. Let me leave you with one thing to ponder before I let Darius put me back to bed: Hitler had a soul."

And Wesley then allowed the tall man to guide him to his feet and lead him up to bed. He had tired himself talking to Xander but he knew the words had to come from him. He was the calmest person in the house right now. He had seen the anger in Angelus' eyes a he'd shoved Xander through the door. He'd seen the rage in Giles about Xander daring to follow him here, to his only retreat from the children and their troubles that were constantly being thrown on him. He'd seen Ethan's anger that Xander had started to mouth off and he's seen Spike, Darius and Adam, also known as Methos, as the boy thought he could just judge. Then Wesley had seen Xander staring at him. At his chest, arms and hands. And he knew he had better tell him the story behind the scars.

"There was a Geas on him," Wesley whispered as he let Darius tuck the blankets around him. "I think your presence broke whatever it was. You have a hell of a powerful Aura on you."

"Serve the God of War and you pick up a few things. I'll shield him from it happening again when I go back down. You get some rest, hero. That's why you were sent here you know. Not to replace Giles, but to be someplace you could rest."

"Yes but I can't not help. You taught me that. Bad things happen when good people sit by and do nothing."

"And it's a lesson you learned very well. But even good men need res. So, do me that favor, Wesley, and Rest. Adam and I are here. We'll help now."

So Wesley nodded and drifted off to sleep.

Darius then returned to the lower level of the house where the boy Xander was sitting still being glared at by all the inhabitants.

"Are you ready to let go of your prejudices? Because if you aren't then you can't be here for the next part of the plan."

"What is the next part of the plan, Darius?" Giles asked.

Darius chuckled as he pulled from his shirt a sigil that was on a chain around his neck and from his coat a very old, powerful sword. "Simple," he said. "Richard wants war? We give him War."

"You don't mean...Darius surely you aren't going to call..." Giles began two sentences and then trailed off as he saw the old Warlord smiling slightly and nodding.

"Yes, Rupert, I am going to call him," Darius said.

"Who?" Xander asked.

"Why, War of course," Adam, told him. "A fine Grecian gentleman who goes by the name of Ares, God of War."

Part 5

Xander had agreed to try to let his prejudices go so Darius was going to allow him to stay for the summoning. Xander was told to sit quietly while Darius worked. The others were talking in hushed voices as Darius gathered a dagger, salt that he had used to make a circle, and a cup that he had poured some wine into. Xander stared as he took the knife and slashed his hand with it.

"I call on you, of lord of War," Darius intoned. "Father of my heart, you who I worship, you who I have called upon in time of need. You who have never failed to answer me. I call upon thee now, Ares, Lord and Defender. Ares, Slayer and Avenger. Ares, Guardian and Protector. Ares, Lord of War, Bringer of Victory, you who I call upon in times of great need. I call upon thee now, Lord. And I beg your aid in this coming battle."

And Darius then let his blood drip into the cup and then down onto the sword.

What followed was a blinding flash of light that had everyone but Darius diving for cover. When the light cleared, there was someone else in the circle with Darius. He was a tall man, well built, and dressed in leather pants and a leather vest. The sword Darius had spilled his blood on was now in the man's hand and he grinned wolfishly as he looked at it. Then he reached down and pulled Darius to his feet.

"I am here, My General. And I will join this battle you are sure is coming. For I am War. And as he wanted war, he now has War."

"Oh shit," Giles whispered. He felt shock at the presence of this man, this God, and now he understood why they said Darius was always a man of War. Ares was both War and Peace. He was the all of combat both it's beginning and it's ending and there was always Peace of a kind after a war. Ares was the one who orchestrated that. Ares was the one who swung the balance in the favor of the good side in conflict. Ares was the one and Darius had just summoned him.

Ares then turned to the others in the room and beckoned them forward. Xander was drawn to his feet as well as Spike and Angel. Giles and Ethan were already moving forward and Ares gestured bringing Wesley to him. He moved forward touching each of them. And what he said or did in their minds was special to each person. It was if he had a message for each one of them. Finally, he got to Xander.

"Warrior lost in hate," Ares said to him. "You must let it go. I cannot have a bigot on the battlefield. To fight with hate is to guarantee a loss. If not of your battle, of yourself. To hate an entire race accomplishes nothing. And to hate the children of my Niece Lust for doing their jobs does nothing to help you. Your friend was on Hades' list. One way or another, he would not have lived past 16. Life is harsh and often you think it's unfair that he lives and she dies or vice versa. I have to tell you something all of those who would be true Warriors know and accept before I give them my blessing: Life Is Not Fair. Get over it."

"But vampires killed Jesse and then I had to stake him," Xander began.

Ares sighed. "Tough. You want to be treated like a warrior and an adult? Then you had better start acting like one. You condemn an entire race and I start referring to you by the title of Nazi. Because that is exactly what you will be to me. Only a Nazi will blame an entire race for something. A Nazi or a baby. Did you ignore World War Two? Do you think it doesn't apply to the vampire Race? It does, boy. They were made to be a population control. They have a purpose. Which is more than I can say for you at the moment. You want to be a warrior, you brag about being a warrior. Well, until you get over yourself and realize the world is not black and white and you can't have what you want, you will never be a warrior. You had better lose your attitude or you will lose something else. And you wont like it when you do. The world does not revolve around you, child. And right now, I can't afford to pander to you or sugar coat things as I often have to for children. This is a War. In War, you can't hate one of your team. And until you realize this? You will never be Key in anything. Maybe useful, but never Key. Adam, I want you to let the Mayor see you. I want him to know we are here and we are going to take his ass down."

"What will letting the mayor seeing Adam tell him about you?" Xander asked the God.

"You'll see, son," Ares said. "You'll see."

And so, three das later, Adam was in the library with Giles when the door opened and the mayor came in with his entourage.

"You should Leave, Richard," Adam said without turning around yet. "I'm already irritated. You don't want me to get vicious."

"What can you do human?" The Mayor asked.

And then Adam turned around to face him, looking him in the eye.

And the mayor paled as he looked at Giles and began to speak: "Et ecce equus pallidus et qui sedebat desuper nomen illi Mors et inferus sequebatur eum." Saying that, the mayor then turned and fled the library and Giles stared as he looked at the person The Mayor had been staring at as he spoke.

"Giles?" Xander asked. "Is something wrong? What did he say?"

"Behold the pale horse," Giles translated the passage from the book of Revelations, as he knew it to be in English. "The Rider who sat upon it was Death. And Hell followed with him."

And Adam smiled.