Nemesis
Author: Collaboration between myself (American Soldier) and Starway Man (Theo)
Disclaimer: I own nothing except the plot. Everything you recognize that comes from BtVS and AtS belongs to Joss et al. The other crossover belongs to David Salzer, Gordon McGill and Twentieth Century Fox.
Beta by: Starway Man, a.k.a. Theo and Howard Russell
Warning: Character death, bad language, some violence and sexual references are present in this fanfic.
Rating: R to be safe
Symbols: " " indicates speech, ' ' indicate thoughts
Classification: AU, Crossover
Main characters:Xander, ensemble
Character bashing: Minimal at worst, none at best.
Feedback: Yes please!!!!! God, that makes me sound desperate.
Summary: The last, best hope the world has is an American Marine stationed in England...named Alexander Lavelle Harris.
Җ Ave Satani Җ
The Court of St. James, London, England
January, 2002
"Yo, rise and shine, X-man!"
Xander Harris blinked his eyes a few times to get the sleep out of them, sighed, and then jumped to his feet like an agile jungle cat. "What the fuck time is it?" the young man demanded of his companion.
"It's O'Dark Thirty, man, time to get up," Xander's friend named Wade Kinglsey said. "It's time to do some PT, then get into our blues and do what we do best…stand around and look tough."
Xander smiled as he followed Wade to the barracks showers. He'd been in England for a grand total of eight months now, enjoying one of the most elite, but boring, jobs in the world: Marine guard to the American Embassy and U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom.
Already quite acclimated to his work, Xander showered quickly, put on in his Marine dress uniform, and reported in.
"Harris."
The former Slayerette turned around, stiffening as his C.O. came up behind him. The Marine officer said scathingly, "Your paperwork yesterday was filed incorrectly! What the hell is so wrong with you that you couldn't even file a goddamned assessment correctly, mister!?"
Xander made up some bullshit answer, going through the motions as his C.O., Lt. Griggs, began his daily ritual of taking out his frustrations on one of the noncoms or enlisted men. ' Getting so, so tired of it. But hopefully, it won't last much longer. '
Griggs was, overall, a good man, but, he was struggling getting through life right now…his wife had left him for someone else and, ever since then, he'd taken out his aggression by chewing out one of the men, often for something that usually wouldn't even matter. Most of them let it slide, knowing that he was hurting…those that didn't were usually the newbies, and were informed of what was what.
A little bit later, Xander met up with Wade at the front desk, where the two were stationed for the day, with them interchanging guarding the door and desk duty. His work for the next five hours was nothing of cosmic importance, simply checking credentials and scheduling and allowing personnel through the front entrance, having them go through the standard checks for permission to be on the perimeter.
His real thrill for the day was usually when the Ambassador showed up, promptly at 0600, walking in with his hair neatly combed, an immaculate suit on, and a guard on each side.
"Good morning, Mr. Ambassador," Harris greeted him formally.
"Good morning, Corporal Harris," the man smiled up at the former Zeppo. "How's life in the Marine Corps treating you, son?"
Xander broke formality, "Bitching as always, sir," he said with a brief smile.
The ambassador smiled at that. Ordinarily, to speak in such a manner to a person such as himself would cause a disciplinary response, but then this ambassador had a remarkable sense of humor.
"You know, for some reason you remind me a lot of myself during my younger years," he said to the Sunnydale native once possessed by a hyena, as a grin appeared on the diplomat's face. "I still haven't figured it out why yet, but I will. At one moment, you maintain the staunch professionalism that your Corps prides itself upon; at the next, you treat me as you would a friend. I like that about you, Alexander. I know the names of each and every Marine stationed here, but you are the only one I really consider a friend."
The U.S. ambassador then did something that surprised Xander…he held out his hand, indicating for the Marine guard to shake it. He didn't allow his composure to falter, but Harris still shook the man's hand, noticing immediately that he had a firm but gentle grip.
With a last nod, the ambassador moved on, his entourage close behind. Xander felt…odd, to say the least, having just had a friendly semi-conversation with someone he personally believed to be a future President of the United States.
Җ Ave Satani Җ
The Gorging Bull Pub, London, England
Later that evening
"You and our ambassador seem to be getting awfully chummy there, X-man," Wade said as his fellow Marine dug into his steak. "What's up with that?"
Xander shrugged noncommittally as he carved up his own piece of meat. He and Wade were in their favorite pub, enjoying a nice meal before heading back to attend a meeting with their sergeant.
"Don't give me that, mate," Wade grinned, having picked up some British slang over the past eight months. "Hell, I never pegged you as a politician."
"He likes me, man, that's all," Xander said, then he chuckled, "Funny thing about an ambassador that's not married, y'know, what with all the duties the ambassador's wife is supposed to have. I dunno, maybe he secretly plays for the other team - not that there's anything wrong with that. Could be the guy's out cruisin' for some fine-looking Marine ass."
Wade spat out his food as he laughed. Xander chuckled even more at his friend's reaction, sipping his Guinness as he did so.
"That's gotta be either the stupidest thing you've ever said," Wade commented, "or else the gayest thing you've ever said."
"Don't see any reason to believe why it can't be both," Xander said with another smile.
"You, my friend, have definitely got a set on you," Wade remarked. "And if you're right…"
He trailed off at that, leaving their minds to wander for a moment, before settling on some extremely disturbing images of Xander and the current U.S. ambassador, causing both of them to simultaneously snap out of it and look at each other.
"That never happened."
"Never. We never had this conversation."
"What conversation?"
"Exactly."
Xander zoned out for a moment, enjoying his food as he erased that vision from his mind. ' Hoo-hah, the things my brain comes up with. Didn't I learn my lesson about this sort of thing with Larry back in high school? '
"Hey, X-man, look," Wade motioned for one of the pub's televisions.
Xander turned around, watching with something akin to shock as he saw a familiar face on the television. ' Is that who I think it is? '
"Man, I love that show Sunset Boulevard, that Cordelia Chase girl's so damn hot it's fuckin' incredible. One hell of a big rack and a smokin' great ass," Wade said with a lewd grin.
"Yeah, I guess…so, she finally got her own TV show," Xander said with a small smile, genuinely happy for his one-time high school girlfriend. "Huh, she always did want to be an actress."
"What?" Wade wondered aloud.
"I know her. Well, I knew her, anyway," Xander turned back to Wade. "Cordelia and I used to date in high school. She left town after graduation to become an actress."
"Wait, wait, wait," Wade said, full of disbelief. "Back up…you know Cordelia Chase? And you dated Cordelia Chase?"
"Yeah, for a about a year," Xander said simply. "We went to the same high school, like I said. Look it up on her web bio or whatever, you'll see how she graduated in the same Sunnydale High class of '99 that I did."
"Bullshit," Wade said, refusing to believe and laughing as he did so. "That's a load of crap, X-man, if ever there was one."
"Dude, I'm serious," Xander said, starting to get exasperated. "I knew Cordy, I grew up with her. And you know how I don't watch television, right? Well, how else would I know that her birthday's January 9th, her eyes are hazel, she loves shoes with a passion and that she was admitted into hospital on December 1st 1998 with a life-threatening injury?"
"Okay, okay, let's say you did know her and you did date her," Wade leaned in, starting to become a true believer after hearing all that. "Important thing is, did you do her?"
"A gentleman never discusses such things," Xander said, sipping his Guinness.
"True," Wade nodded in acknowledgement. "So, did you do her?"
"Wade. Find a new theme," Xander remarked a little acidly.
"So, you didn't do her," Wade grinned at him, guessing correctly. "Wimp. Alright, so why'd you two lose contact after high school?"
"We didn't part on the best of terms. I…I cheated on her," Xander admitted, looking away as he did so. "With a girl who was my best friend, no less."
"You…alright, this is for your own benefit."
Wade smacked his buddy directly on the ear, elicting a minor yelp of pain from Xander. "See, I believe you now, because no guy lying about Cordelia Chase would ever admit to cheating on her; he would've made up some crap story about having sex with her and then she cast him aside like a used condom. Man, I say you were an idiot for cheating on a hot piece of ass like that," the PFC said sharply.
"Yeah, especially since the other girl eventually turned out to be gay," Xander sighed, putting away his Guinness as Wade's eyes went wide. "Still, that wasn't the worst mistake I ever made with a woman."
"Yeah? Then what was?" Wade asked curiously.
"Would you believe that after I tried pulling an intervention, my first time tried to strangle me to death on the very same hotel bed that we did it on?"
Җ Ave Satani Җ
The same pub, London, England
The next evening
"Good evening, Xander."
Harris smiled as he stood up to shake Inspector Kate Lockley's hand. They were both in civilian clothes. The blonde woman added, "How's life treating you?"
"Well enough," he replied. "Sit, please."
"Sure," Kate responded, she had picked up a slight British accent in the months that she'd been on this side of the pond. "So, what's the plan for tonight?"
"Well, I have 'til two before I have to be in, so guess I'm free for a while," Xander said.
"I guess we've got plenty of time then," Kate remarked, thinking about her own schedule as she did so. "Alright, we'll do a run-through of the docks and maybe some on the bridge."
"You got the gear?" Xander asked.
"Please," the female cop smiled sardonically at him. "When do I ever not have the gear?"
Xander said nothing, knowing he had been bested on that one. ' She's one tough babe, alright. Betcha she's a real handful in bed too, well…not that I'm planning to personally find out anytime soon, of course. '
He and Kate had been meeting at random bars and pubs for the past six months now, usually three times a week, depending on their schedules, and would set out to hunt vampires on a professional basis. The two had met completely by accident; he had been hunting after a soulless demon that had been checking out the embassy and had wound up being picked up by Kate because she'd thought that he was trying to kill somebody (in retrospect, Xander couldn't blame her, as he had been carrying an AR-15 at the time).
After being apprehended, he had made a 'sarcastic' comment about hunting vampires, which had caused her to nearly wreck the car. Kate had then pulled over, yanked out her pistol, and demanded that he explain and not to bullshit her in any way, causing Xander to go into his usual spiel about vampires and demons, and how he'd been fighting against them ever since he was fifteen.
Surprisingly to him at least, Kate had known about vampires, given how she knew the one and only vampire with a soul named Angel.
Anyway, after Kate had gone off-duty back then, she and Xander had met at a bar and shared old war stories about their hunts (not to mention picked on Deadboy as often as they could).
"So, tell me something, Xander," Kate started as they both headed for her car here and now. "Is the Ambassador really all that?"
"What can I tell you, Kate," Xander said simply as he tossed the gear into the back. "The man's a prodigy, not even 40 years old yet and already in a government position like that. Given his family history, personally I think he's gonna be President one day."
"He's really that good, huh," Kate asked again, and at his nod, she sighed. "I don't know, Xander, this may be just woman's intuition and all but he seems so…fake, ya know what I mean? And yeah, I know everyone says that about all politicians, but no matter how good and charismatic he seems to be, I think there's something there that the public doesn't ever get to see…something bad."
"Well…the mayor in my hometown turned out to be a 100-year-old demon worshipper working to become a true demon and having sold his soul to do it," Xander said with a slight shrug. "So I beat you when it comes to being skeptical about politicians, but, for the most part, I think he's the genuine article."
"So, you don't think the man's evil," Kate asked again.
"Nope," Xander said simply. "I don't have any problems with the ambassador, and he's been very pleasant to me. I don't get any Hellmouth-y sort of vibe from him at all."
Kate nodded, but, she still seemed disinclined to accept his assessment. Harris couldn't blame her…just because he didn't get a vibe, that didn't mean that there was nothing wrong with the man they were discussing.
' Hell, for all anyone knows, he could be the freakin' Devil himself! ' Xander thought to himself in momentary amusement.
Җ Ave Satani Җ
The Court of St. James, London, England
A few hours later
Xander walked outside to take a cigarette break in a secluded area of the embassy grounds. He chuckled slightly, thinking about how Buffy or Willow would react to seeing him smoking. That thought, though, quickly served to bring up memories.
Memories which were mostly bad ones, if the truth be told.
Xander Harris had left Sunnydale on his road trip of discovery back in the summer of '99, and had never gone back to the Hellmouth. After his car had broken down not far outside Oxnard, a bearded guy named Michael had offered to help him continue his road trip, and since it was either that or washing dishes at the Fabulous Ladies Night Club, he'd bidden the engine-less clunker farewell and eventually ended up on the other side of the country. A few months later, he'd wound up joining the Marines after living in South Carolina for a while.
He'd done it simply as a way to prove himself, thinking he'd just do his hitch for a few years and then resume life as a civilian, but oddly enough Xander had quickly made a career out of it, even getting assigned to guard over the American Embassy to the United Kingdom, a very auspicious position.
While there was a dull mediocrity to it for nearly all his fellow Marines, as a Sunnydale survivor Xander found it quite relaxing. Especially when compared to the life he'd led on the Hellmouth.
Still, while his life had improved greatly during his travels in the Corps, his friends back home had not done as well.
Buffy was dead now, having given her life for Dawn during a battle with a hellgod named Glory last May. The old Scooby gang had buried the blonde Slayer not far away from her mother Joyce, and Xander knew that Dawn still couldn't sleep due to that fact.
The Council had gotten Faith released from that Stockton prison, after telling her that she was either rehabilitated or dead within 24 hours, and the Boston-born Slayer had taken over guarding Sunnydale once the Buffy-bot was history. His one-time fling watching the California Hellmouth was something that Xander had reservations over, what with their history, but after he'd gotten in touch with Giles he knew that Faith could be trusted. Well, at least to some degree.
Willow, however, had quite definitely taken a turn for the worse in the trust department.
It had all started with that insane plan of hers to raise Buffy from the dead. Luckily the redhead had broached the subject with the wrong person, given the fact that the ritual needed four candle-holders or whatever, and the vampire known as Spike had furiously smashed the last Urn of Osiris when he'd learned what she was up to.
Things had only gotten worse since then, though. Her growing addiction to magic, Willow's animosity towards Faith, and the general loneliness had driven a wedge between herself and the rest of the gang, even to the point where Willow's girlfriend Tara had ended it between them. The last he'd heard, Willow had disappeared, taking off for hopefully greener pastures with a de-ratted Amy Madison.
Xander worried about her, but he knew that his best childhood friend was doing what she wanted somewhere out there, and that gave him at least some hope for her future.
Harris turned around as he heard someone coming up behind him, and immediately began to stiffen to attention as the ambassador came over to him.
"Relax, Alexander," the man said to him with a smile, pulling out his own cigarettes as he did so. "We're both off-duty, so there's no reason for formality right now."
"Thank you, Mr. Ambassador," Xander said as he relaxed.
"You seem a bit blue, to be honest," the older man lit up his cigarette and inhaled fresh nicotine. "What's on your mind?"
"I…I was just thinking about some friends I've lost," Xander said with a sigh. "I haven't been back home in years…and ever since I left, it seems like my friends there have been either dying or moving on left and right."
"Life's often like that, you know," the ambassador responded. "I lost my parents when I was six years old, then when I was thirteen my father's relatives who I was living with, they all died too. But if there's one thing I've learned in order to cope, it's that you shouldn't feel sorry for their loss; instead, you should think of all the good times that you spent with them. At the very least, they had you for a friend. Their lives couldn't have been the worse for that."
Xander had to smile at that one. He knew that, even though Buffy and Willow had at times treated him like crap during senior year, they had still always counted him as a true friend…and he had loved them both with all he had for that.
"Thank you, sir," Xander replied, lighting up another smoke as he did so. "Maybe I'll see them again some day."
"I'm quite sure you will, Alexander," the ambassador tossed his cigarette to the ground and stamped it out. "But, hopefully, not for a very long time. You're probably the only real friend I have around here, or at least one of the few that's willing to drop all the formalities around me in private."
"Well, no offense, but you can intimidate people sir," Xander replied honestly. "That press conference the other day certainly comes to mind."
"Hmm. Perhaps you're right," the other man said with a smirk before glancing at his watch. It was a garish thing, but it was also a personal gift from the President, so the diplomat reluctantly had to wear it in public. "Well, I hate to leave you like this Alexander, but unfortunately I must dash. I hope things start looking up for you."
"Me too," Xander replied. "Have a good night, Mr. Thorn."
"Please, Alexander," the U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom said, turning around and walking backward as he did so. "I've told you before, at times like this you can call me Damien."
TBC…