Summary: After Angel leaves Xander depressed and miserable, a stranger swoops in with a history of his own that deals with Angelus and sparks soon ignite an inferno between Xander and this mysterious stranger. But will this inferno survive a tempest or is it doomed to burn out consuming everything in its path?

Authors Note: This is something a little different for me…it is a Spander fic so if you don't like…don't read…I've already got most of the chapters made out (pun intended hehe) so I'll be updating a couple chapters at a time…this fic is an alternate season 3 and 4…imagine Xander in place of Buffy in all of the previous seasons (well at least in the romantic aspects with Angel) and you've got this fic. HOWEVER Angel was never turned into Angelus because he was never truly happy (also he was always a jerk so the soul didn't do much…oh yeah to all you Angel fans out there you're outta luck this fic is very Angel bashy!!!!) All other plot twists will be explained just know Buffy will be part of a pair…just not your typical one *cough* Fuffy *cough* …Hope you enjoy!!!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything…if I did it would have ended just a little differently!!!

Warning: SPANDER…don't like…don't read!!!

As Long As You're Mine

Gone

He was gone.

Xander stared at the mist where his lover had last stood. The fire engines were still blaring, the people still chattering loudly, but Xander didn't hear any of it. Angel was gone and Xander didn't know if he'd be able to hear anything again. He fell to the ground and barely even saw Buffy and Willow running towards him. He didn't hear their comforting words, didn't feel their sympathetic hugs. He didn't see Giles cleaning his glasses awkwardly, as he always did when it came to Xander and his vampiric lover. Xander didn't acknowledge anything around him. He kept staring ahead into the mist. He's gone. The phrase kept running through his head until it barely sounded like a phrase anymore. The words blurred together as his vision swam. Finally the sobs choking him broke through and he broke down on Willow's shoulder. "He's gone!" Willow looked over Xander's shaking form to Buffy who was standing awkwardly beside Giles. She shook her head, not knowing what to say. No one knew what Angel had really meant to Xander.

The two had hated each other for what seemed like forever. Finally he had broken down and told Willow and Buffy why he hated Angel so much at one of their many slumber parties. He loved him. The two didn't know what to say to Xander then, finally after a week of utter awkwardness they decided that having a gay best friend might not be such a bad thing. The three had gone on, becoming closer than ever. They'd seen Xander and Angel fight, physically in fact, and worried that Xander's heart was going to be broken before he even put it out there. Finally one night at the Bronze they saw Angel ask Xander to dance. The heat between them electrified the crowd even. They'd seen Xander and Angel's first kiss right there on the dance floor. Then afterwards they saw the two beating the crap out of one another in the alleyway. And that's how their relationship went. It was passionately loving one moment and scarily violent the next.

Both Willow and Buffy grew bitter at Angel's cold treatment of their best friend who had never done anything but love Angel, but neither said anything because Xander kept gushing about how kind Angel was when they were alone. They supported him through everything. It had taken a lot of explaining because, as a vampire, Angel automatically had strikes against him. There was a big scene when Buffy and Giles had first found out exactly what Angel was, but they finally worked through it. Xander and Angel had been together for what seemed like forever, and for the most part they were happy. Or so everyone had thought. But as they looked at Xander, sobbing into Willow's sweater, they realized that they had been fooling themselves. Xander was thinner than ever, bruises stained his pale skin and he had odd cuts and scars all over his body.

Buffy was glad that Angel had left because if he had been there at that moment she didn't think she could have controlled herself from staking the vampire good and proper. She had to look away from Xander as her own tears swam before her eyes. She couldn't believe that she hadn't seen this before. Her best friend, and she hadn't seen how broken he was. She looked at Willow, who she could tell was thinking the same thing. Willow started crying with Xander. "I'm so sorry Xander. So sorry…" she whispered sobbing into his shaggy black hair. She rocked him slightly, rubbing his back and continued to apologize softly. Giles rubbed Buffy's shoulder comfortingly and she clenched her jaw to stop herself from breaking down as well. She couldn't form words right now, at least none that would help Xander. But she would kill Angel the next time she saw him. No one hurts her friend and gets away with it. That vampire would pay.

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Across town a black Desoto crashed through the "Welcome to Sunnydale" sign. A bleached-blonde man stepped out of the car. His weather-worn black boots crunched in the wreckage under his feet. He lit up a cigarette and inhaled deeply. He looked around, taking in his surroundings. "Home sweet home." he stated with a British accent playing on every syllable as he chuckled slightly. He turned his head sharply, game face glowering, and sniffed slightly. He could smell his sire still in the air. "Gotcha Angelus." He smirked slightly and got back in the car, reversing over the damage to break everything once again. If he thought he could just run away from Spike, from the insanity that was their relationship, he had another thing coming. The saying goes; Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. If that was true then Hell sure as heck didn't have any fury like a severely brassed off vampire scorned. Spike accelerated, sticking his head out the window, allowing the scent of his ex-lover rush over him. That vampire would pay.