Chapter 1: On the Plane (A little Backstory)

Disclaimer: Own nothing and no one used herein.
Title: Xander's Cousin, the Zombie Queen (Not sure on that, I could use some hints, it had another one but it got taken for a different story)
Author: Kate R.
Rating: Teen to adult
Pairings: All of Anita Blake for norm, substitute Remus for Richard and Tygra is with Asher, see Asher's Man on another sight
Fandom: Buffy/Anita Blake
Summary: Something bad happens; Xander's cousin gets custody


XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The flight was uneventful, for which Anita was grateful, and she saw the group seemed to be missing some people. For instance the young girl, Dawn she'd been told at take off, had woken with a panicked look on her face, calling for her mom; Giles had held her gently and reminded her, sadly, that her mother was dead. She'd begun to cry then and he'd hugged her and stroked her hair gently, murmuring gentle, soothing, things until she'd calmed down and fallen back to sleep.

"What happened?" Anita asked him, "I wasn't told the details, only that my cousin's parents were dead and then Jean-Claude told me it was the Hell Mouth and the Slayer isn't where she's supposed to be."

"She ran away," the man spoke. And his voice sounded broken. He also looked as if he were recovering from torture. "We fixed the reason she ran away, we got Angel out of hell, the result of which caused most demons to leave. It seems that the Hell Mouth is stunted now. The late mayor died because of that for some reason. We have suspicions but as it took care of itself we are not being too concerned."

"What happened to the rest of your group? It seems like there are I don't know, holes? Where others should be."

"Cordelia left last year, she walked out on her parents and refused to come back to them. Her Aunt has her now. I don't know who that is but her last letter sounded happier than her voice ever did when she lived her. Oz took his little cousin Jordy and ran after Jordy's parents died. They're both werewolves and Oz didn't want Jordy taken into one of those safe houses so they left. Oz is eighteen so he is legal."

"I'll ask Remus to find them," Anita spoke, "In our city we don't let them be caged if at all possible."

"Thank you," Giles spoke. He took a deep breath before he continued, "Dawn's mother was killed shortly before Xander's parents. I received a letter from her father saying he wasn't coming to get her so if I wouldn't take her to just dump her in an orphanage. 'That', was something that I refused to do. Taking care of Dawn sidelined me looking for Buffy though, and I don't think I'll have time now anyhow. Dawn needs me and Buffy apparently does not want to come back or be found. I can't do anything about that, I can do something for Dawn."

"Okay," Anita spoke.

"And my 'Best Friend'," Xander barked humorlessly, "Decided to side with Buffy and said it was the law of survival of the fittest. She's changed since the re-souling spell she did on Angel there. She's gotten scary and mean. After the Hell Mouth got blocked or power stripped or whatever happened after Giles and Ethan got Angel back, there was like a mass exodus from the town and people seemed to see and remember what happened to their children or husbands or whatever and whoever the vamps and demons ate. A lot of them left in pain and swore not to come back. The town is decaying now because the magic isn't what it was. But I guess I can't say vamps because they aren't real vamps, huh?"

"Oh, they are," Damian spoke. "They are 'very' real, but not exactly what a vampire should be. Doesn't make them any less dangerous but thankfully they only populate the Hell Mouth and LA."

"Angel's Game Face isn't really a Game Face any more," Xander told them.

"No, it wouldn't be," Damian remarked, "I told you he and his childe or grand-childe, whatever Spike is, have gone back. Without the taint of the Hell Mouth to reinforce the demon twist the vampires of that line that are closer to true vampires will revert to true vampires."

"What line?" Anita asked him.

"Aurelius was its own line," he answered, "The Magic Users. Angel or Angelus, whichever he prefers, is now Head of that Line. His chide will probably follow him to St. Louis so they will be together. Jean-Claude knows because I called him while you were getting everyone settled. Since Angel was never taught the protocols, Jean-Claude will teach him."

"Okay," Anita spoke, "So that answers our questions about where everyone else I had a feeling should have been here is."

"We have to go to school," Xander told her, "Dawnie and me, we have to."

"All right," she agreed, "Are you all right?"

"It's normal," Giles spoke up, "He's looking for something that's normal, something he's used to, school is it. Although I have a feeling that if St. Louis cares more about its children than Sunnydale did, he may not test where he was in Sunnydale High."

"That bad, huh?" Nathaniel asked.

"They were preparing children to die pretty much," Giles sighed, "So no, they didn't really care about grades or the such."

"Damn," Anita sighed, "One more thing to worry about."