Response to Challenge by Zaion

Ship of the Line

Challenge Summary: On Halloween Xander Harris, chosen favorite of Janus the God of Chaos, wears a costume of a an important sci-fi character, one inexorably linked in the psyches of millions to a specific ship. When Ethan Rayne casts his spell on Halloween night he gets more than he bargained for, as Janus's favor upon Xander brings forth his Ship of the Line, anchoring it to his reality. With memories of another life, skills not his own, and a powerful vessel at his disposal, Xander must take hold of his destiny.

Disclaimer: Standard Disclaimer everything belongs to their respective authors/creators; so do not sue.

Title: Xander LaVelle Harris aka The Doctor

by: RiJoK

The Letter

Rupert Giles entered his office in the Library to find an envelope addressed to him. He opened it noting that it was written in Xander's scrawl.

G-Man, I hope that this finds you well. I apologize for not doing this in person, however what I have to say will shock you. I don't know how to say this but I'm no longer human.

Giles paused a moment taken back by what he had just read, before returning to the letter.

I am writing this, because I've got to tell someone about what happened to me, or I feel I just might go insane. As you may recall that fateful Halloween when everyone became what they dressed as, and I had dressed as "The Doctor" from the TV series, well the long and short of the matter is that I am now a Time Lord, just like the Doctor Who books, with only a few differences, which I will get to later.

Rupert, swallowed looking out at the library for his charges before returning to the letter.

I should start at the beginning; it all started a few days before Halloween when principal Synder ambushed Willow, Buffy, and myself in his search for 'volunteers' to escort children on Halloween. We wound up at a new costume shop called Ethan's, after school; and yes it was your old pal from Merry Ole England. Just for your information he was the person responsible for this mess. While in his shoppe, Buffy dressed as a 18th century noblewoman, probably attempting to impress a certain vampire, while Willow chose her usual Ghost costume. I being short on funds was looking through a bin of odds & ends when Ethan slithered over to me, to offer his 'assistance' which he gave, at a very reasonable price of twenty dollars. His offer wasn't a bad trade, when I look back at it, twenty dollars US in exchange for virtual immortality, the ability to travel through time and space in the ultimate vessel. All from a simple tweed suit and a movie prop. We met at Buffy's house later that day, and well after seeing her I renounced spandex forever, and Willow she had a fine 'Boo' ghost costume on. I should explain that Buffy had wanted Willow to dress in a more provocative manner, but Willow being Willow ran for the ghost costume the moment Buffy's back was turned, much to Buffy's dismay. We then went to the school and after a personal threat of expulsion by Principal Synder we took our charges out trick or treating.

Rupert Giles, put the letter down, gob smacked, at what he was reading. He got up from his chair, to set his pot of tea to boil, and began to clean his glasses. He picked up a doughnut and pouring himself a cup of tea, he sat back in his chair to continue reading the letter.

He turned the page, of the letter and looked to where he had left off…

…The streets of Sunnydale, where beset by children turned into whatever they had dressed as, in short Chaos reigned. That was where I found myself tweed, and all getting up from the ground my universal tool in hand, which I used to scare off some of the tots, and after saving Cordelia, Willow, and later Buffy. I was able to, with the help of Willow, to locate the source of the disturbance. I destroyed the bust of Janus, in time to prevent any further damage from being done, by that nit Ethan. In case you are wondering what I did with him; I dropped him off in the State of Alaska about a thousand years before the birth of Christ. Just a small side item the birth of christ was an amazing event, but back to the story. I knew something was wrong as the wave of energies that transformed us didn't seem to return me back to my old self, instead my head was still full of Time Lord knowledge and my perceptions of time and space hadn't changed back. On the physical front I now had two hearts beating, and well Telekinesis and Telepathy are a real pain getting used to.

It took me sometime to get used to the changes I had undergone. I was wiping peoples memories of what they had just seen me doing over the following year, as I mastered my abilities. As for the others, Buffy seemed to retain her knowledge of French and Victorian Era Etiquette common for ladies of the period, and Willow wasn't sure if she was going to walk through a wall or a table. I personally got a kick out of when I would catch Willow trying to pass her hand through the wall not quite sure if she was going to pass through it or not. Cordelia, was unchanged as she didn't purchase her costume from Ethan's. I must say that you where definitely determined to ensure that none of us had any long term affects from the spell. You utilized spells to examine each of us. The spells worked as intended except for those you had used on me, as I just didn't let you see the results from the spell to indicate that I was different in any way. Once I had found my Tardis, I used my knowledge of the Time Lords to travel. I spent about fifty years roaming and learning. I also found that my actions did not go unnoticed, and well to make it short, I had some explaining to do back home on the Time Lord homeworld. I do not wish to worry you or to walk you through the years it took for them to come to a decision on what to do with me. In the end they agreed that I was now one of them and should be accorded the same rights, and privileges, though they did impose a few limitations on me, at least until I break the Millennium age barrier. They, the ruling body of the Time Lords, let me know that I would be watched and that I was to stick to this reality. To ensure that I would not be tempted, they adjusted my Tardis so that traveling between alternate realities would not be possible. I must mention that for me the span of 50 or so years has elapsed, however for you it would be about two years of time, since my disappearance.

Rupert put down the letter thinking about what he had just read, and recalling the events of Halloween, and while he had discretely tested the children to see that no lasting affects of the spell might reappear at an inopportune moment. Xander Harris seemed to have developed a level of maturity. He eased back into his chair turning the page to continue reading.

Rupert, I really need to tell you about the Tardis. Forget everything that you ever read or saw in the movies the Tardis really is the ultimate craft, and this is coming from someone who saw and read just about every Sci-Fi book and movie out there. The Tardis, is a multi-dimensional/reality spanning transport that can move between time, space, and alternate realities as easily as you can walk across this room; inside the ship is huge, beyond what you saw in the books or movies. I estimate that the Tardis has the Interior space equal to about the size of the Empire State Building cubed, just for your info the Empire State Building is about 8,100 yards cubed, now cube that again. Though given its ability to generate new 'rooms' I do not believe that it is finite in size. It is a completely self-sufficient vessel. I have full hydroponic gardens the size of football fields, as well as mechanisms that operate everything.

I like the Doctor have a companion, and while a female she is not human, she's a Yorkshire terrier, named Daisy-Mae. I wound up exploring the Tardis (it took me over a month) while chasing Daisy-Mae, also you need to know that the sentience of the Tardis in the movies doesn't even begin to do my Tardis justice, it appears as a hologram and can even appear outside the Tardis, which has caused me some shock. The interior can and often does change according to her mood. I can't even begin to tell you the capabilities of this vessel it is amazing. I could spend the next decade going over what that ship is capable of but to keep it simple the Tardis, makes the Executor (Darth Vaders Star Ship) look like the Apollo 12 Rocket. In the advent that we meet in the future, The Tardis AI's name is unpronounceable by humans, and would take you about a year to pronounce if you could; so I shortened it to Miranda, or Miri which she seems to enjoy. As Giles finished the sentence the Scoobies entered into the Library, causing Giles to put the letter away, as he did not want to inform the others at least until he finished it.

It took Rupert Giles about a year before he would be able to once again locate and resume reading the letter, that Xander had left him. Events had caused a great many changes to them all the Death of Angelus, when he lost his soul, along with the redemption of William the bloody being the two biggest changes. Rupert thought back, to just after the battle with Glorificus…

The Scoobies returned to the Library, beaten and battered by the latest big bad, whom it turns out they needed Spike, and Drusilla to defeat. The defeat cost them or rather Spike Drusilla who experienced final death at the monsters hands. Spike was shattered at her death, his entire reason for his existence gone and with no where to go, he chose to remain in their midst.

Rupert's memories sped forward glossing over the better part of the year, before slowing down. Spike had adopted a more human appearance, and using moneys he had saved during his 120 years of existence he purchased the Magic Box, which became slayer central. It was while they where moving things from the remains of the Sunnydale High School Library that he noticed the letter he had started reading. Giles thought that it might have been a prank concocted by Jenny or the others, at least that was what he thought until he picked up the letter, and noticed that it wasn't paper that it was written on, but something entirely else. Rupert took the letters back to his apartment, where he sat down; this time with a bottle of single malt scotch and began to read the letter. It took him a few minutes to skip over what Xander called Geek Speak, as Xander seemed obsessed with the vessels capabilities along with references to his pet. He picked up around the twelfth page of the letter….

Rupert, If you are still reading this, I probably haven't bored you to death with my ramblings on Miri, but I feel that I should inform you of some of the goings on of your world. I need to let you know that there are dangers out there that make the big bads of our world look like fifth rate amateurs out on a picnic. The ones that you have to worry about most call themselves and I hope I am pronouncing it correctly as "the Go'uld". These creatures are parasitic in nature, with a major god complex, they take over the host whose conscious is suppressed and tortured by the atrocities that the parasite performs. I hope that this does not distress you to much as you won't be facing them directly, at least due to a government agency that I came upon called the Stargate command. I must be very serious with you as you must keep this to yourself, or you just might find yourself knee deep in their malarky. I do not want to speak ill of them; so let me start by saying that they are truly good people, who believe that what they are doing is the right thing, even though I do question the amount of secrecy that they hold to, rather than utilizing this threat to unify the world. I had taken a small holiday with the Tardis when I came upon them; and no I am not going to say where. I had to give them a ride back to where they where from. When I materialized in their headquarters, I found myself quickly surrounded by very well armed and very serious marines. I warn you Rupert do not report this to the Council, or anyone else, as these people play for keeps. Understand that while we have often said that we save the world on a weekly basis, these people mean it and do it for a living.

I leave you for now but hope that we will one day meet again.

For now; past present and future

Alexander Lavelle Harris aka The Doctor