Title
: twist of fateDisclaimer : I own none of them. All belong to Joss Wendyn and others. Herman's mine
Summary : Xander/Faith
Feedback : I'm pretty proud of this one. Don't try to knock me down , please.
Email me if you want to at : Orbans@Altavista.com
Inspiration : The mysterious backgrounds of Faith and Xander
Place/time : Somewhere after Faith flipped out and tried to kill Wesley in the series "Angel"
Thank you's : Elena Anikeeva ( B.J and Sybelle ) , thanks for telling em what was wrong with the original version ! ( which by the way , never made it onto Fanfiction )
Scott Timms : his story " As you wish " brought me on the idea of an abused Xander. Another one brought me on the idea that he was gay , but that's another story...
(Monster) Mike Welch : My favorite Blues singer/guitarist for emailing me and promising that he would check out my stories on Fanfiction.
(yes we have contact together via internet ,and no I'm not giving you his email address)
Twist of fate
Part one
Xander came home after a day's work , finding his mom sitting in the sofa , with a glass wine in her hands. He greeted her shortly and then went into his basement – his room. Anya was coming home from college a couple hours later then he returned from work . She was bringing or rather said , dragging Willow, Buffy and Giles with her. It was friends-only day. He must confess , he didn't really looked forward to it , because he was tired after a whole day of work. He sat down in his chair , after he threw his jacket on his bed and closed his eyes to relax . But he had to be careful with falling in sleep , because if Anya found him in such a state today , she would be furious. So he decided to put some music on , to stay awake. One of the few heavy metal album that he owned blurted out of the boxes. It was the band Cradle of Filth with their album Cruelty and the beast. Though the first song was almost a lullaby , he knew the album well enough to know that the heavy parts were coming up.
He heard some soft knocking on the door , and shook awake , he stood up and faced Anya . She gave him a quick kiss and then asked ; " What are we going to do today ? "
Willow shook her head meaninglessly , while Buffy coughed , ready to make an excuse to get out of here.
" I know... Some poker ." , Anya cried out .
" Oh no... We've done that last time. And the time before . Something else , please..." , Buffy yammered .
" What else can we do but poker ? " , Anya asked surprised . " I have no single idea ."
" We could go to the Bronze ." , Willow suggested shy .
" What do YOU think , Xander ? " , Buffy asked strict .
" Sure. I could use a drink ."
With Anya complaining slightly , they left Xander's basement and went to the Bronze.
Part two
" Where's Giles anyway ? " , Xander asked before they all entered the Bronze .
" It looks like some prophecy is coming to face us. Again." , Buffy explained . " So he's looking in his books to explain this explosion of vampires. Not that they DID me any harm , though."
" They NEVER do ." , was Xander's simple response.
The Bronze was full. Really full. There was no single place to sit , and not too much place too stand .
Buffy decided that she had enough .
" I'm gone patrolling . I'm sick and tired of being cramped up together while we aren't even in a school bus. "
" I go with you ." , Xander volunteered . He was desperate enough to go with Buffy , even though he still knew what happened last time he went with her .
But Anya was determined that Xander hadn't nothing to do with Buffy. But bit by bit , Xander convinced Anya that he was going to be fine and she had nothing to worry about. Luckily she didn't know of his bruised ribs , or she'd never let him go out again . Anyplace.
So , he left the Bronze with Buffy and found himself nice warm in his newly bought coat , while Buffy was shivering of the cold. She forgot to bring her jacket , so gently Xander offered her his jacket . He wasn't going to have it cold , and if he got ill anyway , it was an excuse to have some time off on work that he really needed .
After three hours patrolling without a sign of vampires , demons or Anya spying them behind the bushes , and after Buffy scared off a dog , five or seven chickens and a kissing couple in a car that chose a graveyard as their making out spot , they gave up.
" No sign of vampires tonight." , Buffy said a bit disappointed .
Xander was rather glad . He really wasn't in the mood to fight tonight .
" What are you going to do now ? " , Xander asked .
" I'm going back to the Bronze ." , Buffy said after she checked out her wrist watch . " Willow promised me that she was gonna wait . And you ? "
Xander knew that Anya surely left the full packed place after he left , so he decided that he'd just go home to have some dinner and go to bed . And Buffy wasn't thinking of giving him his coat back . She left him , waved and went on her way. With his coat.
Coming home , Xander was really cold. His nose was already feeling strange and his stomach was really rumbling of the hunger. Stupid that he didn't bought a snack in the Bronze . He went to the kitchen , surprised that the light was still on . But he wasn't really surprised to find his father there .
" Mom's gone to work again , right ? " , Xander suggested . Out of the corner of his eye he saw his father nodding . He went to the fridge , took out a pizza and threw it in the microwave . He adjusted the minute-hand on fifteen minutes thirty and then took seat next to his father .
" Did you had fun in the Bronze ? " , his father asked , after taking a sip of his cuppa coffee.
" It was kind of full , so we decided to take a walk in the city and have a drink in some bar . But they didn't sold any food there at this hour , neither snacks . I'm starving." , Xander said .
" Good that we have any frozen food left in the fridge , because your mom doesn't do the shopping anymore . She's too busy with that stupid client of hers . " , his father remarked upset.
" I did some shopping a few days ago. Don't worry. When the fridge's getting empty , I'll fill him right up."
" Thanks son . "
Silence fell between the two men , only broken by the beeping of the minute-hand . Then Xander's father asker or if he was interested in a movie .
" A spaghetti western is turning somewhere around now on TV. Want to watch ? "
Xander shook his shoulders and then nodded yes . " Sure . Who's in ? "
" John Wayne . Pretty good."
They went to the living room with pizza and watched the movie . .Xander's mom , who came home later , found them asleep before a TV showing black snow.
Part three
He enjoyed the view . He sat on a roof , looking out over Sunnydale , and also enjoying his break . Cleaning the chimney wasn't exactly the cleanest job he could have , but it was a job that paid well , especially after Christmas and New year , when the chimney had their use and were kindly said , useless. He wasn't too afraid of heights , so the job was really cool . He was awoken by his mom this morning when she yelled into her portable that her poor assistant " had to find those damned papers or else he could look for another job " . Somehow , her poor assistants always did what she asked , because she paid damned a lot money to them.
The only reason why they quit their jobs , was because his mom fired them after six months . Stupid .
" Hey , pal , how come you're not in college ? " , his partner asked him after ten minutes pause .
" Bad grades. Didn't tried to hard either . " , he sighed. " It's a good thing that I still have contact with my friends . "
" Really ? They let me down when I didn't ." , the man remarked surprised. " You must have good friends ."
" Yeah , kind of ."
Herman. He didn't knew that Herman failed college . Like him. But he had a life , in God's sake. He was married and divorced again in two years , lost his kid when he had a car accident and started drinking from that moment on. Xander suspected that he wasn't too clean either , this very moment.
Never ever he made the link of he and Herman being a like . Never . But now he did . he didn't know why . It was a big question to him . Maybe because he never got into college too . He shook petrified the thought of him away and continued work again .
But when he came back home again , the thought of Herman was still very close in his mind. He hated the thought that he would end up like him , a drunk loser . Maybe he was a loser already .
Xander didn't own a car anymore , so he walked home by foot. It wasn't too far from his works "office" and his basement . He walked without fear by three cemeteries , knowing all of them very well . Nothing was the in bushes , to his liking , so that he didn't have to expect anyone jumping backwards on his back . He wasn't too tired either , today , neither too hungry , so Anya could come by any moment , and he would still like it . There were days when he just adored her appearance , and there were days when he just wished that she could be a little bit more normal.
Suddenly he felt some bump on his head. Before he knew he fell and the ground . Xander Harris lost his consciousness .
Part four
When he woke up , he couldn't move any of his arms and legs. When he looked down , he saw why . His legs and arms were tied together with a tick rope. Whoever did this to him , he wouldn't be too happy with Buffy .
" What the hell is this ? "
" You don't recognize the work of a Slayer ? " , someone said soft from the darkness. When she stepped out of the dark , she only confirmed his suspicions .
" Faith ..." , he remarked with a soft voice , it was almost a whisper . " I had to know. Since Angel defeated you , you just disappeared. I had to know that you were coming back to Sunnydale. "
" Shut up ! You're not in that kind of position to play wise guy." , Faith warned . In her left hand she held a knife.
" You know... I enjoy my own missions much more then being hired by anyone . "
" What do you want ? " ,asked Xander worried. She could kill him easily with one flick of her hand. And she probably would .
" What do you know about me ? " , she asked while she took a chair and sat down right before Xander.
" What I know of you ? I don't know." , came Xander's answer. Shit , this wasn't nice anymore . " Your name is Faith , you're a Slayer , hates Buffy , wants to kill everybody you know , and I had sex with you once. That's all. "
Faith looked at him with a staring , almost hypnotizing look . Her eyes were glazed and a certain moment he thought that she was going to cry. But she didn't. Because she was Faith . Faith was strong. Faith never cried .
" That's right. That's all you know about me. Tell me about you ."
Xander hesitated for a moment . He licked his lips and then searched for his words.
" There's nothing you want to hear of. I work. I don't go to college. You know... "
Faith was clearly not happy with all this. So she stood up and placed the knife to the skin of his throat.
" I know that you are not the normal guy that goes out with girls and fucks them without any words afterwards. I know that something's happening at home that you can't stop. And that something happened when you was younger that you couldn't stop . We're so much the same , Xander." , she blurted out.
Xander stiffened as she finished her preach . Not because of the knife , but because of the truth.
" How did you know ? " , he whispered softly.
" I'm not stupid ." , was all she said. " Now tell. "
He sighed. This wasn't easy for him . " I really love my folks . I love them a lot. But there are some things I can't forgive them. " , he started.
" They are divorced, but live together in the same house. Special for me . I think they divorced when I was three. My mom moved in with a guy when I was five . I still remember every bit of him . " , Xander shivered . " The first weeks , he was being nice to me. But after two months , when my mom was gone off to work , it started . My sixth birthday was just a day ago , when he decided to give me a last present. "
He stopped . He didn't wanted to go on , but Faith still had this knife clenched in her hand , ready to cut it through his throat .
" I ran into the kitchen because I wanted something to drink . He did the washing-up. When I asked him , I got a kick on my face. I didn't understand." He paused again. " Kicked me in my stomach , on my head... he didn't really had to worry about it because he always told my mom that I fell in the park. We never went though."
He saw Faith looking for her breath and then went on with great difficulty .
" I cried all the time , was sick a lot of times because he did things to me the day before. My mom was not even permitted to come into my room. Not that she cared too much , because she was too busy. He showed me his penis many times and did things to me with it. It wasn't before I was twelve before my mom discovered ." Xander tried to swallow away the crop in his throat , but it got bigger instead .
" I was a wreck when I got back home . Didn't trusted anyone at all. No one was able to touch me. I tried to be kind to my friends , play their games , but when it came to any contacts , even touching my skin , I stopped playing . I was scared he'd show up again. "
Faith loosened her grip on the knife , but it was still next to his throat . Then he let out a begging sigh.
" I'm sorry , but I can't tell you .Not more. " The tears almost appeared in Xander's eyes. " It's just a closed part of my life."
Faith dropped the knife angrily as she ran away. " Hey , don't leave me here !"
Part five
Her father... He never loved her. He always hated him. So she killed him when she was aware of her Slayer powers. And she killed her mom too. Because she never did something to stop him. She heard him half screaming , half crying when she listened how he was doing. Never again she wanted to hear his tale. She knew how it ended ; he avoided sexual contact until someone taught him that it could be fun. She just hoped that it hadn't been her . She bet that he told it to his dead friend Jesse , someone Willow had told her about once. She doubted it he told it to Anya. Or Buffy. And here she was , threatening him to tell his perfect life.
She stood up and ran away. If that other Slayer was any good at patrolling , she would find him.
Part six
" Are you okay ? " , she asked Xander while she untied him .
He nodded nervously. He still wasn't able to talk .
" You want go home ? "
Xander nodded again . " Okay , I'll bring you."
When he came home , assuring his father that he had to work over , and telling Buffy that he would be okay , he went to his room. He wished that Faith just hadn't forced him to tell her his past. He didn't want to remember it. All these nightmares , all those memories would come up again. He sighed and almost again felt like crying . But he didn't wanted to know how "he" would react. So he didn't cry . When he dropped himself on the bed , he found a letter. For him.
He opened it , thinking that it was by Anya .
" Dear Xander ,
I'm so sorry that I did that thing with the knife. I just thought that were different. I wanted to kidnap you , make you tell your perfect life , and then kill you.
I didn't had myself in hand that moment. You and me are so alike.
Faith."
Xander stared emotionless to the letter and then ripped it apart in pieces. He didn't wanted any friends who knew about his past , because all of them who had known , were dead. Like Jesse. And Faith was the enemy of Buffy.
THE END
Hope you liked it . Greetings,
Stephanie Welles