Concrete Zeppo
By: Crown87
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Summary: A song I heard that reminded me of Xander. Based on the song 'Concrete Angel' by Martina McBride. I just changed the words to match our favorite Zeppo.
~*~
He walks to school with the lunch he packed
Nobody knows what he's been holdin' back
Wearin' the same shirt he wore yesterday
He hides the bruises with bright colors and laughs
~*~
"'Scuse me, comin' through, pardon me, 'scuse me, whoa! 'Scuse me, I can't stop! Please move, whoa, 'scuse me..." Xander told the students as he weaved through them on his way to school. He turned his head in time to see the blonde goddess that's entering the school. "Whoa!"
He stares at her and doesn't notice that he's headed right for the stair railing. He crashes into it and falls beneath it, grunting in pain. Willow calmly walks over him stepping high to avoid his legs.
"I'm Okay. I feel good." Xander said to himself. More than to Willow.
Willow looked down at him, smiling and pulling her hair behind her ear.
Xander looked up to see her and got too his feet. "Willow! You're so very much the person that I wanted to see!"
A smile spreads across Willow's face as she asks. "Oh, really?"
As they began walking toward the school, Xander continued. "Yeah. You know, I kinda had a problem with the math."
Willow's smile shrinks slightly. "Uh, which part?"
"The math. Can you help me out tonight, pleeeease, be my study
buddy?" Xander pleaded, using his puppy dog eyes.
Willow pretended to think it over before asking. "Well, what's in it for me?"
"A shiny nickel!" Xander responded.
~*~
The librarian wonders but he doesn't ask
It's hard to see the pain behind the mask
Bearing the burden of a secret storm
Sometimes he wishes he was never born
~*~
Giles watched as his charges walked in to prepare for their nightly patrol. He noticed how Buffy and Willow walked a little ahead talking about the Slayer's date with Angel, while Xander stayed behind.
Giles watched Xander closely and could see the slight, almost invisible wince of pain as he walked towards the table.
The librarian walked over to the group, intending to question the young man who was like a son to him. But before he could open his mouth Buffy interrupted.
"So Giles..." she began. And Giles switched his attention to his Slayer, putting Xander in the back of his mind.
~*~
Through the wind and the rain
He stands hard as a stone
In a world that he can't rise above
But his dreams give him wings
And he flies to a place where he's loved
Concrete Zeppo
~*~
"You'd dig that, wouldn't you?" Faith asked giving Xander a sexy grin. "To get up in front of all your geek pals and go on record about how I made you my boy toy for a night."
"No. N-n-n-n-no, that's not it." Xander stuttered. He had come here in hopes of trying to help Faith, but he could already see that this was going the way he hoped.
"*I* know what this is all about." Faith said stepping closer to him and running her fingertips up and down his face. "You just came by here 'cause you want another taste, don't you?"
"No! I mean, it was nice. It was great. It was kind of a blur. But, okay, some day, sure, yay, but not now. Not like this." Xander tried to explain to her, before something happened that she would regret.
Faith grab hold of his head roughly. "More like how then? Lights on or off? Kinks or vanilla?"
Xander jerked away. "Faith, come on. I came here to help you." He looked her in her eyes to try to get through to her. "I thought we had a connection."
Faith began laughing in his face. Then with Slayer reflexes and speed she grabs him by his shirt, shoves him onto the bed and jumps on top of him.
"You wanna feel a connection? It's just skin." Faith said excitedly as she opened his shirt. "I see... I want... I take." She kissed him roughly, "I forget."
She continued moving above him and rubbing his chest and shoulders.
"No. No, wait. It was more than that." Said nervously.
"I could do anything to you right now, and you want me to." Faith whispered seductively. "I can make you scream."
She licked her tongue over and around his face and returns to his lips, and kisses him forcefully, seizing his lower lip between her teeth and pulling at it.
"I could make you die." Faith whispered breathlessly.
~*~
Somebody cries in the middle of the night
The neighbors hear, but they turn out the lights
A fragile soul caught in the hands of fate
When morning comes it'll be too late
~*~
Xander got home late that night. Gripping his sore neck as he thought about what Faith had almost done. 'She could have killed me."
As he stepped through the door he was greeted by a low, gruff, drunken voice. "Where the fuck were you little shit?!"
"Out," Xander said, before adding quietly, "like you even care." But not quietly enough. A fist crashed into his face and Xander felt himself hit the floor. He felt his ribs threaten to crack as he felt the onslaught of kicks come from his father in a drunken rage.
"Don't you smart mouth me boy!" His father yelled as he stopped beating his almost unconscious son.
~*~
Through the wind and the rain
He stands hard as a stone
In a world that he can't rise above
But his dreams give him wings
And he flies to a place where he's loved
Concrete Zeppo
~*~
Xander watched as Spike hit the ground hard. He had just made it up the stairs, following the blond vampire up the tower. He arrived just in time to see the old man known as 'Doc' throw Spike off the tower with ease.
He watched as Dawn's eyes widened with terror as she watched Spike fall, only to widen with hope as she saw him standing behind Doc.
"Wanna see a trick," Doc asked Dawn before making a quick slice with a dagger on her stomach.
"Hey, Doc," Xander said in a comical voice, holding a pipe he had exchanged for his crossbow on his way up the tower. "What's up?"
Xander swung just as the old man turned. In an explosion of teeth and blood, the old man flew off the platform, impaling himself a loose pipe.
"Xander!" Dawn cried, looking at Xander with tears in her eyes.
Xander looked to where Dawn was staring, and watched as a gate began ripping through the sky, only ten feet below them. "Oh, God."
Xander quickly cut the bonds with the dagger that had been dropped by Doc. "Come on Dawnie, let's get you out of here." Xander said as he gripped her wrists.
"No, Xander." Dawn cried. "Don't you see. I have to die. My blood closes the portal."
Xander eyes widened at the truth in her words. Looking down at Scoobies below he watched as Glory was defeated by Buffy and reverted to Ben. He watched as Buffy made her way up the tower, just as it began to shake.
'If she finds out about this, she'll do something stupid and probably kill herself.' Xander thought. His turned to the Growing portal, and he made his decision.
Xander hand snaked out and grabbed at Dawns wound. He heard her cry in pain, but couldn't worry about it. He gently shoved Dawn on her ass as he ran towards the end of the platform, rubbing Dawn's blood on his face and arms as he leaped off the edge.
"Xander!" Dawn screamed.
His last view as bolts of lightning from the opening swallowed whole was of Buffy screaming for him, hands outstretched as if she could pull him back.
As he felt his life drain from him he could only smile. 'The Zeppo to the rescue.' He thought as he felt himself die and the portal begin closing.
~*~
A statue stands in a shaded place
A heroic man with an upturned face
A name is written on a polished rock
A noble heart that the world forgot
~*~
A lone grave stands by itself in a shady part of the cemetery. Engraved on the tombstone were the words:
Alexander L. Harris
Born May 1, 1981 – Died September 28, 2001
He helped to save the world.
~*~
Through the wind and the rain
He stands hard as a stone
In a world that he can't rise above
But his dreams give him wings
And he flies to a place where he's loved
Concrete Zeppo
The End