My Trip to LA, By Blair Sandburg
by Cinder
6th in the Temple Series (Buffy/X-Files/Hercules/Sentinel x-over) Blair/Xander
R - for violence
Feedback: Feed the hungry author! cinder@mochamail.com
Summary: Blair chronicles his trip to LA, the getting there part. Part 2, Blair in LA, will follow soon.
Note: Two characters from Outlaw Star make cameos here in. If you know who they are, you're one very shibby person.
Temple 6: My Trip to LA, By Blair Sandburg
by Cinder
July 13, 2004
I'm in a pick-up headed west.
Wesley has flown on ahead to LA and is apparently arranging a meeting with David Nabbit. We are all going to meet with him on Sunday. Hopefully he will fund the building of Ares Temple. Alex offered to give us the money, but we refused because he is a priest of Strife. That would just make things too complicated. We do not want Ares to be beholden to his nephew in any way.
I'm sitting next to my husband. We are going to Cascade first. Xander says he wants to help me kill my enemies. Then it will be behind us and we will be free to start our new life together.
Xander.
My Xander.
I never thought I would get married.
He finally pinned me down and made me tell him how old I am. I lied and told him I'm thirty. I thought he might freak out if I said thirty-one.
He has sworn to help me track down Jim's killers and murder them. Rub them out. Slit their throats, pour a half-ton of lead into their bodies and then dump them off the end of a long wharf.
I suppose I should explain. For the last four years or so I have been a cop in Cascade, Washington (the Great City for the initiated) with my partner, Jim Ellison. Three weeks ago he was killed by friendly fire. I know who it was. We've been helping IA investigate a case of police corruption in Vice that goes from the top down. Jim and I were not popular with Vice to begin with. I know exactly who killed Jim and I know exactly how I want them to die.
Taking Jim from me was like ripping out my soul as a Guide. I am still a shaman, something I've worked hard to develop over the years, but … And now I'm a priest of Ares.
With Xander.
My husband Xander.
He has big hands. They are callused and his nails are chipped. He must do some kind of heavy work for a living. The muscles in his arms bulge. His t-shirt is too tight today and I can see the shape of his pecks through it. Silky black hair, a little shaggy, I'd like to run my fingers through it sometime and see if it is as soft as it looks. And his eyes are warm, deep brown, like melted chocolate. Around his neck gleams a new leather collar, the color of merlot. It is inlaid with abstract silver designs. A collar just like mine. A collar just like Wesley's. We are Ares priests. How strange is that?
I have been trying pet names out on him just to break the ice. Our wedding was so fast, after all. We barely know one another. He seems to appreciate my wit. In fact, Xander has a great sense of humor of his own. He didn't much like "muffin" though.
*
July 14, 2004
Spent a very odd night in a motel room.
The night before last Xander, Wesley, Fox and I sat up discussing what our next step was, long into the night. Last night was really our first night alone. We sat in our motel room for a long time, on two separate beds, neither of us sure what to say to the other.
Xander finally turned to me. "Who are we going to kill?"
I couldn't help myself. I had waited so long to tell anyone, my whole story spilled out. I told him all about Jim and working for the Cascade PD, and then I told him about the Sentinel-Guide thing. Xander stopped me cold right after that with the oddest question:
"So, he was your lover?"
Jim and I were never lovers, not that I didn't think about it from time to time. I once even theorized that we ought to be in a physical relationship, you know, to help the bond. But that I was in love with him, like bone deep, soul-shattering love? I didn't even realize it until Xan asked.
I started sobbing and I could not stop. He held me and it got all over his shirt. He must think I'm pathetic.
"Jim and I weren't lovers," I was finally able to tell him.
"No?"
"He was like way straight."
"Ahh. Probably a good thing in the end. I tried kissing my best friend once and it did not go well."
"Really? What happened?"
"Her boyfriend and my girlfriend caught us. Bad scene," he told me.
"Where is she now?"
"Willow? She has a girlfriend named Tara." He waggled his eyebrows at me. "Don't think I haven't thought about *that* many a night."
Then he asked me what my experience with men was, seeing as how I didn't sleep with Jim. He seemed really relieved when I told him none. He started babbling, which was really cute.
We are going to switch drivers at the gas station up ahead.
Note: subject objects to the name sweat pea.
*
July 15, 2004
Last night went much smoother. We watched TV, sitting on the same bed. It turns out Xander is a total cartoon junkie. We watched three hours of an X-Men marathon. When the time came to go to sleep, I didn't want to move, but I know that Xander is still uncomfortable with the physical side of our relationship. I went to my own bed.
Halfway through the night I woke to Xander thrashing around and screaming, in the throes of a nightmare. I tried shaking him awake and he took a swing at me in his sleep. I caught his wrist and he started whimpering. I had to call to him for at least a minute before he woke.
"What is it, babe?" (Note: subject accepts pet names after nightmares.) I curled up next to him on the bed and the two of us sat there, holding one another.
Finally he told me, "My senior class was eaten by a giant snake. Not all of them, but so many died and I couldn't stop it. They all looked to me, General Xander, but I couldn't save them."
"Sounds like a horrible dream."
That's when he smiled at me. Xander has a beautiful smile. "That wasn't the dream. That really happened. At my high school graduation the mayor of Sunnydale turned into a giant snake and tried to make lunch out of the senior class."
I was completely speechless.
"Nod and pretend that you believe me," he whispered.
"No wonder you buy all the Sentinel-Guide/shaman stuff."
"Pittance at this point."
I ran my fingers through his hair. It is just as silky as I thought it would be and smells faintly of apples. "So, what was the dream?"
"They all came back to me with their accusing eyes. They wanted to know why I couldn't save them, why I got to live when they had to die."
I really wasn't sure what to tell him in reply to that, so I just played with his curls until he fell asleep again.
We will be in Cascade in less than an hour. I'm ready. I hope he is.
*
July 16, 2004
The most momentous events in life happen with all the speed of a striking viper.
When we first got into Cascade I directed Xander, who was driving again, to the loft, so we could stow our stuff. He stopped a few blocks away, at the Chinese place, to grab dinner. That's all we meant it to be, really.
Inside, as I stepped up to the counter to order my Vegetable Lo Mien, I heard a familiar voice. Behind us, sitting at one of the tables were Detective Harry McDougal and his partner, Fred Luo. It was them, Jim's killers. Harry was definitely the pretty face that hid a poisonous demeanor inside, and Fred did whatever he said.
I walked back out of the restaurant before they could spot me. Xander followed, a little confused, but content to let me led.
Note: Subject is intensely loyal. Follows orders first and asks questions later.
I told him what I had seen and he led me over to the bed of the truck.
"Lock and load," was all he said, with a sardonic grin, and handed me a sawed off shotgun. I was glad it was already dark. People walking down the street definitely did not need to see this, even if we did have special permission to commit murder for religious purposes. Xander took out a rifle for himself, loaded it and then checked the sight.
"I'll take out one of them as they walk out of the restaurant. You take the other one up close. Which one should I blow away?"
I most definitely appreciated my husband's word choice. "The one with black hair. Detective Luo. He might have helped, but I know it was McDougal who was behind the whole thing."
"I'll wait for your signal then." He smiled again. I wanted to kiss him. I almost did, but Xander probably wouldn't have liked it. He hasn't reconciled himself to the idea that we're going to be lovers in a physical sense yet. He will though, oh, he will.
Half an hour later, Detective McDougal and Detective Luo walked out of Mr. Wonton's, laughing about their fortunes. I signaled Xander. CRACK! Luo slammed into the pavement, his head one big, spurting pool of blood. Harry McDougal went for his gun.
"Don't." I cocked my weapon and aimed. I was standing directly in front of him, not ten feet away.
"Blair Sandburg."
"Evening." I pulled the trigger. McDougal flew backward and slammed into the door of Mr. Wanton's. A long, red smear followed him down as he fell to the pavement. I walked up to him, prepared to put another bullet in him if necessary. His was a chest wound. He lay on the ground, gasping like a fish. "You know why I'm doing this?"
"…bastard…"
"Picture Jim Ellison's face for me. Can you do that?" I paused. Harry's eyes unfocused. I shot him in the head, right between the eyes. It blew away half of his pretty face. Good. He didn't deserve to be pretty.
Behind us blue swirling lights and sirens pulled up. Xander and I put down our weapons, laid our identification on them and then backed away, our hands in the air.
It took them hours to confirm our identities and our right to kill with impunity. It wasn't until Simon showed up that things finally started to sort themselves out. Rafe and H. were with him.
"Sandburg?" Simon chomped on his familiar cigar.
"Hey, Simon."
"What the Hell is going on?"
"I shot Harry McDougal in the head."
He eyed me warily and glanced around the scene. Someone trotted over with my ID and he took a long look at it. "I can't just let you kill, Blair."
"You can prosecute me if you like, Simon. My … " I looked at these cops hard before continuing my sentence, glanced at Xander and then went on. "My fellow priest and I have been told to make bail and then go about our business."
"And what if we hold you without bail?"
I smiled. "You can do that, Simon, but do you really want to piss off a god? We're not a flight risk. You know exactly where we'll be and it's in our best interests to go to trial with this, and win."
"You can never prove religious purposes."
"Oh, I think we can." I smirked. "The courts have already said that Alex and Ethan can kill inside the Temple of Strife. How much different is this?" I stepped a little closer to the big man who used to be my friend. "This was vengeance, Simon. You know that. They deserved it for what they did to Jim."
"You cannot just go around killing people," Rafe objected. "No one can do that. No one is above the law."
"I am and I can. That's what being a chosen priest of Ares means. I can make life and death decisions. I can lead men into war. I am a warrior. And I have the right to vengeance. If you believe that I have abused my power, you can take that up with Ares."
Of course, they have to hold the two of us for first degree murder. Two cops died. I didn't really believe that my little speech would work, but it felt good to give it. Xander and I are being arraigned in the morning.
*
July 17, 2004
I'm not even positive I believe this one myself. We're in LA now. During our arraignment, Ares appeared, himself, on our behalf. He explained my right to vengeance on religious grounds and then he stated in no uncertain terms that the trial they were putting Xander and I through was an affront to him.
He said, "If you continue in this, I will bring death and destruction upon this nation. This is an insult that I will not abide."
"I don't know who you are, or who you think you are, but you are in contempt of this court!" the judge yelled. "Officer, arrest this man."
"Do it and I'll turn you into a slug," Ares told the officer approaching him. Officer Harding, quite wisely, decided to back off. Xander slipped his hand into mine and smiled at me.
"I am going to take my priests and go," Ares announced to the judge. "I'll be in contact with the officials of your government to come to an equitable solution in this matter." Then he snapped his fingers and the next thing I knew, I was in LA.
"Um, thank you," Xander stuttered.
"You did well. You stood bravely, both of you and you killed your enemies fairly and with mercy. I am most pleased." And then he smiled. Ares actually smiled. "Wesley is inside that building over there. Go and finish with the building of my temple."
"Shouldn't we hire a good lawyer?" I asked.
Ares shuddered. "Lawyers are below grime on the evolutionary scale."
"Even grime is a necessary part of existence," I argued.
He crossed his arms. "You're going to come across one and you're going to bring him home. You have a real thing for stray puppies, Blair."
I hung my head. Xander stepped up behind me and put his hands on my shoulders. "We'll feed him and take care of him," Xander teased. Where in the ether did he get the balls to tease a god? "You won't even know he's there."
Ares snorted. "Cute."
"Thank you."
"Get going, both of you. You've got a lot of work ahead of you." Then Ares disappeared in a flash of light.
The girl at the front desk said that Wesley is indeed here and she's shown us to a couple of rooms where we can wait for him. Xander seems to know her. They're chatting right now.
I sit here now, alone in my rather cold room, scribbling in this journal. I don't like this place. It seems haunted and strange. And I don't like this Angel guy. He's evil. I don't care what everyone says, a soul does not make you good. Maybe I'm just tired, but I don't want to go to sleep, because they put me in a separate room from Xander and I feel so alone. I -"
END