Title: The Mutare Possibilitas (1/?)
Author: Winter M.
Rating: PG/PG-13 (for language, might go up)
Spoilers: S.7 of BtVS, set directly after "First Date"
Pairing: Xander/Spike eventually
Warnings: Slash (eventually), magical sex change (if that squicks you please don't read, if not then welcome ;))
Summary: Xander was tired of attracting all the demony women so someone else decided to fix that little problem for him… only it wasn't quite what one would expect.
A/N:I started posting this over in my livejournal and thought i'd see if it picked up an audience here as well. Updates might be a bit sporadic but i feel it in my bones that i'm going to finish this one lol.All feedback/suggestions are welcome.
It sucked, and not in a good wholesome fun for the whole family, or even just for specific body parts, kind of way. Oh no, it sucked in a sucky, ouch this i hurts damnit, kind of way. The sort that jarred with every footstep he took down the dark main street, sporadically lit by hazy golden streetlamps and a smattering of stars able to peek through the thin veil of smog covering the sky. It hurt almost badly enough to make him regret not having taken Buffy up on her offer to drive him home. Almost, but defiantly not quite; it hurt but he wasn't quite delusional yet.
It wasn't even as if it were the worse injuring he had ever sustained before either, kind of small and inconspicuous except for the foot wide, glaringly white gauze wrap pulled taut across his stomach, that was a bit obvious. But i otherwise it was just a little stomach wound. Which was the problem, they could be small but wasn't it always said that getting shot in the stomach was worse, took the longest time to kill you and just sort of festered for a long time before actually getting done with it. So he may be far from actually dying but, ouch.
"Nice night."
Xander stopped short at the voice off to his right. Sighing softly he turned slowly to face whatever had decided to pick on him tonight, one hand surreptitiously grabbing for the stake hidden under his coat. Pasting a wide fake grin on his face he met the steady gaze of… Joe Average. Medium height, sandy colored hair, bland brown eyes; great, this is just what he needed after tonight. "Why hello, is there something I could i possibly do for you tonight? Maybe dinner? Or how about summoning up our own juicy portal?"
The man smiled slightly and shoved off from the wall he had been leaning against. Silent footsteps against the rough black pavement and he was clutching even tighter at the smooth wooden handle of the stake. His heart tried to speed up at the same time his body just wanted to collapse into bed and sleep everything off. Forget about the dismal failure the night had ended up for awhile. The stranger stopped a few feet away and studied him for a minute or two in silence.
He could tell that the man's eyes were hazel, the weak starlight glinting off them oddly as he studied him. It was a really unnerving sort of study, the kind that made your skin crawl a bit because you could swear the person was seeing what you looked like naked. This one was no exception, making his Scooby-sense try to stand up on end on the back of his neck. Shivering, Xander took a step away and brought the stake into view at his side, heart saying the hell with exhaustion and speeding up wildly.
A heavy ring shone in the light when the man held up his hands, empty, placating, "No harm, I just wished to—"
Suspicion, perhaps even a bit of hysteria creeping into his voice, "Wished to what?"
The shadows played tricks with the planes of the man's face, lengthening them and cutting the features sharper, cleaner and more defined, less Average Joe, "Grant your wish."
Never a good sign, when a stranger comes up to you in the darkened street not three blocks from your apartment building and tells you he wants to grant your wish. Wait, "What wish?"
Definitely a slight smiley shaped smirk there, "It's complicated, but I've heard your plight and I'm here to offer you a different path than the one you've taken thus far."
"Is this where you whip out the crumbling old piece of parchment and feather pen which you then use to prick my finger? Cause buddy, not really in the mood to sign my soul away to the other side tonight." He snorted and gestured at his stomach wound, "Kind of off putting—the whole stabbing, opening portal thing."
The smile grew wider and he looked down for a moment before meeting Xander's eyes, "That's not what I'm offering. Far from it really."
Taking a slightly more defensive stance, "Then what i are you offering?"
He tucked his hands into the pockets of his casual black slacks and hunched his shoulders a little as he stepped a bit to the right, a little bit closer and Xander was stepping away a little bit more himself. The man glanced up at him and the slight was definitely not right where it shined upon his face, it shouldn't have lit up the golden green amongst the hazel like that, no way, no way human.
"I'm offering you a chance to become what you could have been. Nothing more and no strings."
He shook his head, "Nu uh, you know I dated a girl who tried that once, well, not for herself it was for someone else, sort of," he frowned but kept going, "point is, screwing with reality and time and whatever, doesn't ever really turn out so well. So, if that's all—"
"I'm not talking about time and I certainly wouldn't be… screwing much with reality as you put it." He moved closer still, "Don't tell me you're not even the least bit interested?"
Xander paused, his mind whirling over the proposed offer, finally coming up with the obvious, "You still haven't answered my question."
"You know, they were right, you're far too stubborn for your own good," the stranger's mouth tightened a bit, "I'm offering you something of great worth, a chance to fulfill the potential denied to you. Isn't that what you've always wanted?"
"Strange how wishing and wishing and wanting something other than what you've got I also never seems to go so—"
The loud sigh brought him up short as the man closed the distance between them in a blink, grasping one of Xander's arms and jerking him a little to the left, "Look up."
Tensing under the hand, he really wished the man hadn't gone for the arm holding his only source of weapon, pinning his arm between them. Resigned he glanced up into the inky curtain of sky, "What am I looking for?" the voice was close to his ear, too close for comfort really, it chilled his skin even though temperature wise it felt like your average, everyday breath. Magic , magic tingled in it, icy and electrifying and it made a slight breeze spring up around them, ruffling his hair and blowing it into his eyes.
"A new perspective… a new perspective."
That's when the world twisted and warped and the cement was really cold this time of night, even in California…
TBC
