Only Human
by Danii
Summary: Xander finds out the strange tale of his beginnings
NOTE: Not a Xander-gets-a-power story. Quite the opposite in fact...
Disclaimer: I own no one. Don't sue. I have no money...
Distribution: Anyone who wants it...
Rating: PG-PG13
Feedback: Please? I need it!
And now:
There are several reasons why a human head would want to explode. Being hit by a hammer square on the top, various chemicals dropped on said cranium, or plastic explosives wired under the ears. However, Xander had figured out a slightly less messy method of splitting his skull into itsy bitsy parts, with the added bonus of not losing his life.
Unfortunately, it had involved spending a great deal of money and cosuming a ridiculous amount of alcohol.
One would wonder exactly why a young man in the prime of his youth with a high-paying job, a beautiful apartment, and a wonderful girlfriend would wish to reduce his cranial matter into goo in such a way, especially since the aforementioned young man didn't really like to drink all that much.
The reason behind this was that he no longer had the wonderful girlfriend. Anya, the ex-demoness Xander had whole-heartedly confessed his love to, had decided that she was throughly sick of living on top of the Hellmouth, and so had packed up and left for parts elsewhere. More importantly, she had done the aforementioned acts all by herself, without any indication given to her boyfriend about her plan, and then done the most horrible thing a person could possibly do in this sort of situation.
She'd left a note.
Anya had left a note detailing the various thoughts that had run through her little mind which had made her come to the conclusion that living in Sunnyhell wasn't the most wonderful thing in the world, even if Xander was there. Then she'd gone into her ideas on asking him to come along, which had progressed into her feeling that her boyfriend would never leave the good fight, even for her. Which then, in turn, had brought her to the conclusion that Xander didn't really love her as much as she needed, despite how good he was in bed.
That had been the general gist of the note which Xander had extracted carefully through the layers of babble the ex-demoness had written down for him ever so conveniently. He had her words crystal clear in his mind. At least he had had her words crystal clear. They'd gotten blurier with each drink, and now, during the hangover, they were almost unreadable. But that didn't mean he wasn't still in deep pain about it.
However, it is often mentioned that it is darkest before the dawn, and so it was in the life of Xander Harris that night. For as he was closing his eyes in an attempt to dull the pain that was shooting mercilessly through his skull, which felt like it was in pieces on the floor, a great white light appeared to him from the window of the living room.
The light filled the whole apartment, from desktop to doorknob, with a warm, shimmering glow that almost seemed lika a halo. In fact, had he been able to think properly, Xander would have said that it was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.
But, since he wasn't thinking straight due to pain, the entire effect was lost on him.
"Whu?" he asked intelligently.
"Oh dear, I know I should have come sooner..." came a voice from that beautiful light. The voice was light and feminine, with a smooth flow that would have sounded relaxed and dignified had it not contained a nervous titter.
"Huh?" Xander asked, continuing with his ever-so-astute interrogation as he painfully moved his hand up to shade his sensative eyes from the brightness.
"Yes, definately should have come sooner..." the voice repeated, "Before the alcohol. There's no way that I can deal with him like this. Won't hear a darned word I say..."
Xander, still shading his eyes, was getting more coherent now as the pain miraculously began to dull, and so began looking for the origin of the voice. It was a bit difficult in all that light, however after a second later, he found the owner of the mysterious voice.
She was standing near the window, her long dark hair moving in the slight breeze from outside. Her crystal blue eyes were staring directly at him in a look of disapproval, and yet Xander could see a slight smile gracing her perfect lips. All in all, the young man thought, I could do worse than having a gorgeous woman appear out of nowhere. But it was at that point that Xander noticed three very important things.
The first were the flowing robes she was wearing. White, and made of some delicate cloth, it hung on the frame of the woman perfectly, making the simple loose garment as beautiful as any fine dress he'd ever seen on anyone.
The second were the wings. Two gigantic, white-feathered wings that sprouted from the back of the woman by the window, each one twitching almost nervously in a way that assured Xander that they were not fake.
The third was the golden ring that seemed to float a few inches above her head.
"Are you..." Xander began, speaking through the horrible pounding that was currently going through his skull, "An angel?"
"Yes, Alexander, I am..." the figured replied gently, almost all traces of nervousness gone, "And my name is Saphreal."
"Could you dim the light?"
"Sure..." she replied. And the light dimmed till it was just a slight glow around her.
"Thanks. Pleased to meet you," the young man said with a slight nod, " 'Name's Xander."
"Xander..." the angel repeated, rolling the name around her mouth and off of her tongue, "Xander."
"Yup, that's me..." he agreed as he slowly put one of his hands up to his head to hold it from breaking off of his neck and tumbling away, "Pitiful, hung-over, girlfriend-less, useless, non-college guy Xander Harris..."
"I-"
"Useless to my parents!" he continued angrily, letting the pain fuel his wrath instead of letting it stop him, "Useless to my friends except for doughnut duty! Useless to my girlfriend! No, EX-girlfriend!"
"Oh, this isn't going to work at all with you like this..." the angel said to herself, "Xander?"
"Whu?" he asked, her voice jolting him from the self-pity fest that he was having.
"Would you mind if I took the pain away?"
He answered by staring straight at her with his blood-shot eyes.
"Okay. But on one condition..." she said.
"Shoot..." Xander told her, "And if that's your solution to the pain, I'll be happy anyway..."
"No," she shook her head, "I'm not going to do anything like that. But my condition is that you never do anything like this again."
"Sure."
The being known as Saphreal smiled at his answer. She knew that he wasn't like this normally, and so she had a feeling that he'd be able to keep this promise. Besides, now that he'd felt the hangover, he'd be doubly sure not to do it again. She was quite aware that he wasn't stupid.
"Then it's done." she announced.
"What do you mean, I-" he started, then stopped as he realized how clear his voice was. How clear his head was. How non-poundy it was. How there wasn't any more pain.
"Wow."
"You're welcome." the angel said with a smile.
"Thanks..."
Then there was a moment of silence as Xander, now clear-headed and fully functional, looked the angel over.
"So... " he began nervously, "You're an angel..."
"Yes."
"So..." he repeated, "What are you doing here then? Cause I have a feeling that the Big Guy in the sky doesn't just send you people out to cure hangovers..."
"Well," the angel began, sounding nervous once more, "No, he doesn't. He...well, He doesn't really have a lot to do with why I'm here right now."
"What?"
"Well, you know...obviously He does have something to do with me being here, him being the all-knowing, all-present, all-powerful..." she babbled in a very unangel-like way, "But as far as it comes to ordering me here, He didn't really. I'm here because I have to talk to you..."
Xander raised an eyebrow.
"So...let me get this straight..." the young man asked, "You want to talk to me NOW?"
"Yes."
"Now?" he questioned again incredulously, "Now...not all those times the world was going to end, not when I had to stake my best friend, not when-"
"I couldn't before, all right?!" the angel said angrily, sounding very hurt by his question, "I wasn't allowed to help you, or even talk to you before now, okay?"
"Okay." Xander grudgingly agreed.
"But don't think I haven't been watching out for you..." she told him quickly, "Your friends as well, but mostly you."
"Why?" he asked.
"Well," she began, sitting down on Xander's couch like a normal human being, "There's a long, complicated story involved in that."
"Tell away..." Xander asked as he plunked down on the chair opposite her. God, he thought, I'm sitting down across from a genuine angel and I'm treating her like anyone else. Living on the Hellmouth sure gives you a blase attitude about some things.
"Um...you see..." she began nervously, moving back and forth on the seat cushions, "Well, Xander...I know it's going to come as quite a shock to you but...I'm kinda your mother."
by Danii
Summary: Xander finds out the strange tale of his beginnings
NOTE: Not a Xander-gets-a-power story. Quite the opposite in fact...
Disclaimer: I own no one. Don't sue. I have no money...
Distribution: Anyone who wants it...
Rating: PG-PG13
Feedback: Please? I need it!
And now:
There are several reasons why a human head would want to explode. Being hit by a hammer square on the top, various chemicals dropped on said cranium, or plastic explosives wired under the ears. However, Xander had figured out a slightly less messy method of splitting his skull into itsy bitsy parts, with the added bonus of not losing his life.
Unfortunately, it had involved spending a great deal of money and cosuming a ridiculous amount of alcohol.
One would wonder exactly why a young man in the prime of his youth with a high-paying job, a beautiful apartment, and a wonderful girlfriend would wish to reduce his cranial matter into goo in such a way, especially since the aforementioned young man didn't really like to drink all that much.
The reason behind this was that he no longer had the wonderful girlfriend. Anya, the ex-demoness Xander had whole-heartedly confessed his love to, had decided that she was throughly sick of living on top of the Hellmouth, and so had packed up and left for parts elsewhere. More importantly, she had done the aforementioned acts all by herself, without any indication given to her boyfriend about her plan, and then done the most horrible thing a person could possibly do in this sort of situation.
She'd left a note.
Anya had left a note detailing the various thoughts that had run through her little mind which had made her come to the conclusion that living in Sunnyhell wasn't the most wonderful thing in the world, even if Xander was there. Then she'd gone into her ideas on asking him to come along, which had progressed into her feeling that her boyfriend would never leave the good fight, even for her. Which then, in turn, had brought her to the conclusion that Xander didn't really love her as much as she needed, despite how good he was in bed.
That had been the general gist of the note which Xander had extracted carefully through the layers of babble the ex-demoness had written down for him ever so conveniently. He had her words crystal clear in his mind. At least he had had her words crystal clear. They'd gotten blurier with each drink, and now, during the hangover, they were almost unreadable. But that didn't mean he wasn't still in deep pain about it.
However, it is often mentioned that it is darkest before the dawn, and so it was in the life of Xander Harris that night. For as he was closing his eyes in an attempt to dull the pain that was shooting mercilessly through his skull, which felt like it was in pieces on the floor, a great white light appeared to him from the window of the living room.
The light filled the whole apartment, from desktop to doorknob, with a warm, shimmering glow that almost seemed lika a halo. In fact, had he been able to think properly, Xander would have said that it was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.
But, since he wasn't thinking straight due to pain, the entire effect was lost on him.
"Whu?" he asked intelligently.
"Oh dear, I know I should have come sooner..." came a voice from that beautiful light. The voice was light and feminine, with a smooth flow that would have sounded relaxed and dignified had it not contained a nervous titter.
"Huh?" Xander asked, continuing with his ever-so-astute interrogation as he painfully moved his hand up to shade his sensative eyes from the brightness.
"Yes, definately should have come sooner..." the voice repeated, "Before the alcohol. There's no way that I can deal with him like this. Won't hear a darned word I say..."
Xander, still shading his eyes, was getting more coherent now as the pain miraculously began to dull, and so began looking for the origin of the voice. It was a bit difficult in all that light, however after a second later, he found the owner of the mysterious voice.
She was standing near the window, her long dark hair moving in the slight breeze from outside. Her crystal blue eyes were staring directly at him in a look of disapproval, and yet Xander could see a slight smile gracing her perfect lips. All in all, the young man thought, I could do worse than having a gorgeous woman appear out of nowhere. But it was at that point that Xander noticed three very important things.
The first were the flowing robes she was wearing. White, and made of some delicate cloth, it hung on the frame of the woman perfectly, making the simple loose garment as beautiful as any fine dress he'd ever seen on anyone.
The second were the wings. Two gigantic, white-feathered wings that sprouted from the back of the woman by the window, each one twitching almost nervously in a way that assured Xander that they were not fake.
The third was the golden ring that seemed to float a few inches above her head.
"Are you..." Xander began, speaking through the horrible pounding that was currently going through his skull, "An angel?"
"Yes, Alexander, I am..." the figured replied gently, almost all traces of nervousness gone, "And my name is Saphreal."
"Could you dim the light?"
"Sure..." she replied. And the light dimmed till it was just a slight glow around her.
"Thanks. Pleased to meet you," the young man said with a slight nod, " 'Name's Xander."
"Xander..." the angel repeated, rolling the name around her mouth and off of her tongue, "Xander."
"Yup, that's me..." he agreed as he slowly put one of his hands up to his head to hold it from breaking off of his neck and tumbling away, "Pitiful, hung-over, girlfriend-less, useless, non-college guy Xander Harris..."
"I-"
"Useless to my parents!" he continued angrily, letting the pain fuel his wrath instead of letting it stop him, "Useless to my friends except for doughnut duty! Useless to my girlfriend! No, EX-girlfriend!"
"Oh, this isn't going to work at all with you like this..." the angel said to herself, "Xander?"
"Whu?" he asked, her voice jolting him from the self-pity fest that he was having.
"Would you mind if I took the pain away?"
He answered by staring straight at her with his blood-shot eyes.
"Okay. But on one condition..." she said.
"Shoot..." Xander told her, "And if that's your solution to the pain, I'll be happy anyway..."
"No," she shook her head, "I'm not going to do anything like that. But my condition is that you never do anything like this again."
"Sure."
The being known as Saphreal smiled at his answer. She knew that he wasn't like this normally, and so she had a feeling that he'd be able to keep this promise. Besides, now that he'd felt the hangover, he'd be doubly sure not to do it again. She was quite aware that he wasn't stupid.
"Then it's done." she announced.
"What do you mean, I-" he started, then stopped as he realized how clear his voice was. How clear his head was. How non-poundy it was. How there wasn't any more pain.
"Wow."
"You're welcome." the angel said with a smile.
"Thanks..."
Then there was a moment of silence as Xander, now clear-headed and fully functional, looked the angel over.
"So... " he began nervously, "You're an angel..."
"Yes."
"So..." he repeated, "What are you doing here then? Cause I have a feeling that the Big Guy in the sky doesn't just send you people out to cure hangovers..."
"Well," the angel began, sounding nervous once more, "No, he doesn't. He...well, He doesn't really have a lot to do with why I'm here right now."
"What?"
"Well, you know...obviously He does have something to do with me being here, him being the all-knowing, all-present, all-powerful..." she babbled in a very unangel-like way, "But as far as it comes to ordering me here, He didn't really. I'm here because I have to talk to you..."
Xander raised an eyebrow.
"So...let me get this straight..." the young man asked, "You want to talk to me NOW?"
"Yes."
"Now?" he questioned again incredulously, "Now...not all those times the world was going to end, not when I had to stake my best friend, not when-"
"I couldn't before, all right?!" the angel said angrily, sounding very hurt by his question, "I wasn't allowed to help you, or even talk to you before now, okay?"
"Okay." Xander grudgingly agreed.
"But don't think I haven't been watching out for you..." she told him quickly, "Your friends as well, but mostly you."
"Why?" he asked.
"Well," she began, sitting down on Xander's couch like a normal human being, "There's a long, complicated story involved in that."
"Tell away..." Xander asked as he plunked down on the chair opposite her. God, he thought, I'm sitting down across from a genuine angel and I'm treating her like anyone else. Living on the Hellmouth sure gives you a blase attitude about some things.
"Um...you see..." she began nervously, moving back and forth on the seat cushions, "Well, Xander...I know it's going to come as quite a shock to you but...I'm kinda your mother."