#454 - Outcast - Time is a Thief - BtVS/DCU

[lightning-skies.livejournal.com]

Title: Time is a Thief
Fandom: BtVS/DCU
Prompt: 454 - Outcast
Words: 1247
Warnings: Finally have enough consecutive scenes laced together and have started posting this fic - On AO3

After the Headmistress wrecked Mammoth and Gizmo in response to Xander’s prank, things were peaceful for a while, or as peaceful as they can be in a school full of troublemakers, trouble seekers and the downright troubled. X should have expected it, the turning of the wheel of fortune, the instant he recognized that his quality of life was on the rise, because that's what happened to people like him. He was given just enough good in his life that the bad always blindsided him.

...and when you were raised on the Hellmouth, when it got bad, it was pure Hell.

Headmistress Kane was a reluctant ally. Oddly he felt as if he could trust her a bit more after finding out more about her military background. She would just as soon sell him out as help him out, but they had an understanding and he was more use to her alive and enrolled then dead or in jail. It was why she gave him such leeway when it came to his attitude and complete lack of school spirit or willingness to work in a team.

He was an information gatherer, hoarding away others' secrets like candy. He was the shadow king of the gossip mill, pulling everyone's strings and distributing knowledge as it best suited him. Once he was at the top, thanks to Jinx, he was ruthless in his efforts to stay at the peak of the slippery slope of public opinion. He learned to shape public perception and ferret out secrets to use as blackmail or leverage.

Unofficially, Xander was pretty sure he ruled the school, but because he never called in his favors or sought to tighten the invisible leashes he placed on people they were content to forget just how much power he held over them, if they ever caught on at all. Some days, even the Headmistress forgot, which is how Xander had gotten his hands on Beej in the first place, and probably also why the robo-bug's connection to the HIVE academy's security feeds was never cut.

On darker days, X thought that the headmistress might have known something was coming and done it deliberately, so that someone would know what had happened to her. Whatever the reason, X was woken in the middle of the night to his wallscreen showing live footage of the Headmistress's office. There was a huge slab of a man dressed in an elegant, if dated, military styled outfit, completed with gloves and shiny jackboots. What really caught the eye about the man was the array of pale scars carved across the toned skin of his face. Everything about him screamed confident predator, but even so, Adeline Kane did not bother to cower before him. She stared him down with a poise and strength that defied every bit of the casual authority the man exuded. She would not bow or break before this man.

They appeared to have been at it for a while, discussing something in low tones. X couldn't catch their dangerously calm conversation but he certainly noticed the moment it all came crashing down. They both flew into motion, the Headmistress grabbing a gun from her filing cabinet as the mountainous man tore through her desk like it was tissue paper. He seemed amused with her defense, his posture relaxed and open as if she weren't threatening him with a firearm that she wielded with deadly precision. He even seemed to be goading her on.

With the change of position, X could see the man's lips quite clearly and was able to read his lips. 'One way or the other you will be brought into The Light.'

Headmistress Kane sneered at him coldly and fired a shot- that missed him by a mile and struck a painting off of her office wall instead. X was shocked, no way was she capable of missing such an easy shot. People at her skill level didn't just miss like that. She was an expert marksman and her target was a huge beefy wall less than six feet away from her. There was no way. His eyes narrowed as the large man laughed and gestured at something out of the frame.

Another man joined the first, this one skinny and going grey. He was dressed like a stereotypical wizard with flowing white robes and a black and gold mantle in the shape of a skull. His eyes were glowing a solid red and he stared deep into the Headmistress' eyes as she slowly lowered her weapon and let it drop from her loose grip. She swayed where she stood, eyes glowing red, transfixed by whatever mind melting power the new guy had used on her.

The first man reached out a hand of invitation to her and Headmistress Kane slowly reached out to grasp it, but shook off the control at the last moment and slapped his hand away. She shouted something inaudible as she dove for the door and the two men were swarmed by robotic bees. The wizard cast a barrier to protect them both and shot the bees out of the air with a general outwards blast of red energy, but the Headmistress was already gone.

The larger man frowned thunderously, ‘She must be found.’

His magical companion made a few gestures and used his powers to reassemble the Headmistress' shattered desk before making himself comfortable in her chair and began to sort through her files as if he belonged there. ‘She will be, and if she attempts to return, I will be here.’

To the rest of the student body the announcement came suddenly, out of the blue. There was a full school assembly called, where the magic user announced himself to be Brother Blood. He spun a pretty story about how Headmistress Kane had resigned her post and handed the school over to him as the next leader of the HIVE. As a precaution, X watched the whole thing through Beej, avoiding direct contact with the new Headmaster and his mind control. He thought about protecting Jinx too, but she was too high profile, having regained her position as HIVE darling. Her absence would be noted. X’s paranoia saved his mind and his charmingly self-serving personality. He watched as Blood’s eyes glowed red throughout his whole speech and his burning glance overtook student after student.

All too quickly they were all relaxed and chattering happily about how the change of administration was a change for the better and they couldn't wait to see how Blood improved the school. X thought he might be the only one in the school that knew differently and knew he'd need to keep his head down under the new regime, both literally and figuratively. Eye contact seemed to be deadly with this guy, X didn't want some dark lord wannabe mucking around in his head. Anyone who could take down Adeline Kane on her own home turf wasn't someone to be messed with without the utmost precaution.

He had the video proof of what happened to her, but there was no one to give it to, no one to call for help. The Teen Titans were the only heroes in town and they were just kids. Brother Blood and Headmistress Kane were playing in the big leagues.

X wondered if Slade would care that his ex-wife was being hunted by a super-villain tag-team. Not that he had any way of contacting the guy to find out.