Title: Vessel
Chapter 1/?
Spoilers: Eventually all of season seven we have seen so far. But kinda not, since I'm changing the POV and lots of the dialogue. And also because it would end up being a transcript instead of an original story.
Summary: Set at the same time as Lessons. Xander is um. . . getting worse I guess is how you'd say it. I suck at summaries. Shut up.
********************************
Xander groaned as he rolled over in bed. In bed?
"Hey wait. . . . how'd I get back in here?" He wondered aloud. With a shrug he pulled his surprisingly heavy legs over to the side and after a good amount of struggling he sat up. "Gotta get a coffee maker to set on my nightstand," he muttered. Pushing himself up, he lurched to his feet and all but stumbled into the bathroom. He glanced in the mirror and recoiled at the image. "Ugh, damn," he complained as he reached up to touch the reflection, stopping a few inches short. The mirror stared back at him, showing the gaunt slightly pale young man with dark rings under his eyes, a slight sheen of sweat covering his face. He sighed and lowered his hand, "Definitely need a bedside coffee maker."
He leaned over the tub and turned on the water, letting it heat up. After a moment, he risked another glimpse at his image in the mirror, growing uneasy at the scrutiny he was giving himself. There's something he's forgetting. Something happened, it tickled at the back of his mind. A vague memory of sadness and anger--
"Going crazy here," he stopped and turned fully towards the sink, giving the mirror a small wave. As his reflection waved back, he narrowed his eyes, leaning closer over the sink and then abruptly turned away. He went to the tub and spun the faucet and the shower immediately came on. He almost looked back at the mirror but instead jumped into the shower, shaking his head ruefully, "Getting spooked by your own reflection. Damn, Xander, a hyena wasn't enough? Have to turn into a groundhog as well?" There was a soft clicking noise and he tilted his head to the side, jumping when another voice entered his mind,
"Actually that's a shadow."
Xander blinked and slowly turned around in the shower, eyes landing on the mirror only partially obscured by the shower curtain and he yanked the offending object aside. Glaring at the image of himself in the mirror, he crossed his arms as if daring it to speak again. That is, if it spoke in the first place.
"This is insane," he grumbled as he suddenly realized he was standing in his bathroom staring at his naked self. "If I were hallucinating, it certainly wouldn't be a full frontal of me I'd be seeing." Satisfied with his own rationalization he began to pull back the shower curtain, not noticing the reflection flicker or the icy state of the water coming from the showerhead.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Forty-five minutes, three cups of coffee, and a newly ironed suit later, Xander pulled up to the Summer's house and honked the horn. A few seconds later a primping Buffy and a grumpy Dawn jumped into the car.
"Ok, we get it," griped Dawn, as she got comfortable in the back seat. "Promotion. Raise. New car. Yay you, but do you have to honk the goddamn horn every single day?"
Buffy let out a startled gasp and gave a sideways look towards the driver, "Xander! Nice suit. You look all spiffy." She then glanced sharply at her sister in the back seat, "And Dawn! Language!"
Xander shrugged, "Thanks. Client meeting." He snickered before continuing, "And for your information, Dawnie, it was TWO raises and I've only honked the horn when picking up Buffy. This is a new thing for you. Besides, this is special because it's your first day of school in a building that is responsible for my raise and brand new car in the first place." He patted the steering wheel lovingly and then paused, "And Buff's right. You shouldn't throw words that contain 'damn' around the hellmouth. Not to mention around the hellmouth AND my new car." He shuddered dramatically.
Dawn snorted and then brightened almost immediately, "Hey! Did I show you what Buffy got me? It's a cell phone and I'm so changing the ring as soon as I figure it out." She continued to babble as they drove to the new Sunnydale High. Xander gave the appropriate nods and affirmative sounds when needed, noting every time she mentioned another friend she could call with her phone so he could estimate the bill. Cringing when he realized that perhaps a cell phone wasn't the best idea after all. He knew he should have stuck with a beeper, no matter how "passé" they were.
He pulled up to the front of the school to let Buffy and Dawn out, called a goodbye and then drove to the back to check in with the crew. Glancing at the clock, he sighed. Three more hours of waiting until he was actually needed at the meeting. And he couldn't go pass time helping out at the site in case he accidentally dirtied his suit.
He groaned and reluctantly got out of his car. A blast of heat from the outside hit him, and he groaned even louder. Great, he thought, Now I get to be all sweaty and sticky, and not the good kind either. He grabbed his keys and went to lock the door, when he felt a presence behind him. Whirling around he found himself face to face with a janitor whose face was falling off.
Eww. He wrinkled his nose and walked up to it. Yep. Face definately falling off. "So," Xander began, "are you in some kind of gang? I mean, the last dead guy I saw that was. . .um, rotting had a big group of friends with him. I'm guessing you have friends too." He looked behind the janitor, "So where are they? And please PLEASE tell me that you aren't going to blow something up. I mean yeah, good for me 'cause more business, but it's a pain to hav--"
"I won't hurt you." The janitor didn't seem to have spoken (since what was left of his lips didn't move) and just stood there as blankly as before. He gave an incredulous Xander as knowing of a look he could give with one eye missing. Xander bit his lip and suddenly lunged forward to tackle the. . . the what? What is it anyway? Before any other thought could form he fell through the janitor and landed in a heap next to his car.
He turned over and sat up, looking down at his now very dirty suit he gave a resigned sigh and picked up his keys. Glancing up he confirmed what he had thought as soon as he hit the ground. The dead guy was no longer there.
"Great. Just great. Now I get to go home and enjoy the great pleasure of wearing another suit and taking this one to the cleaners. I so don't need this." He picked himself up off the ground and got back into his car. "Oh, and lets not forget the small fact that I'M GOING CRAZY AND HALLUCINATING ZOMBIES." He banged his head against the steering wheel and had half a mind to stay that way when he got the distinct feeling of being watched. Lifting his head warily, he looked in the rearview mirror and then turned to see if anyone was watching outside.
A blonde head was bouncing around the site near the school, and on further inspection he realized Buffy was walking around outside. Xander grabbed the door handle to go see what the problem was when he heard the same clicking that had happened earlier that morning. He jumped when a voice appeared to come out of nowhere.
"She won't understand." It stopped as the frightened boy in the car began to look around frantically searching for a body to give the voice. Giving an exasperated sigh it continued, "For Christ's sake, Xander, the clicking is supposed to keep you from jumping. You know, a warning of some kind."
"Um," Xander said while nervously biting his lip, "Excuse me from being scared when a disembodied voice keeps comin--"
"I'm not disembodied," it interrupted. "I'm inside of you. I'm a part of you. Don't you know that?"
Xander brought his gaze up to the rearview mirror and gave it a hard look, "So what, I have two personalities now? A nueral clone? Where did you come from anyway?"
The voice sighed, "Listen, I don't know what's going on here either. I'm just a part of you. A more educated and suave part, sure, but still stuck inside this brain of ours. If it helps I think I found a way for you to see me. I don't think it will work if I have the same face as you, because then you know. . . you'd be staring at your reflection." Xander nodded slowly, his eyes still trained on the mirror. The voice hesitated before proceeding, "So, I'm just going to pick someone out of our memories."
The mirror seemed to ripple as a flurry of images passed through it, never settling on one long enough to become discernable. Finally it slowed and stopped on a dark haired man with a solemn expression except for the trace of a smile on his lips. Xander blinked, peered closer to the mirror, and then leaned back against his seat heavily, "Oh you have GOT to be kidding me."
Angel smiled down on him, "What? You don't like my choice? You are irritated at me anyway, might as well make the situation worse for you." The smile grew wider as Xander sputtered and chastised himself for talking to a mirror image of. . .
"Hey wait, you're a vampire. You can't have a reflection."
Angel clucked his tongue, "I'm a voice inside your head, Xander. I'm not actually Angel. Jeez, if I'd known it was going to cause this much trouble I'd have picked Willow." He thought for a second, "No wait, scratch that. It would be too confusing and plus emotional baggage we don't want to deal with right now." Xander glared at him, and Angel hurriedly continued, "Maybe this was a bad idea, and I should just go back inside your head." The reflection began to ripple again before Xander interrupted,
"No, no. I can deal with me going crazy. I'd rather have an image than me just staring at myself. It was starting to give me the creeps anyway." He paused, "Why exactly are you here?"
The smile faded from Angel's face and he said, "I don't know how, but I can see what's going to happen. Buffy doesn't realize what's actually in the school. Something dangerous, something insane--"
"Oh I'm almost positive nothing can be more insane than me at this moment."
"Secrets will hurt you all. I'm part of you, Xander. I wouldn't hurt you. I need you to trust me." Xander scoffed at that. Angel narrowed his eyes. "What?" he asked irritatedly.
"You wanted me to trust you, and you picked the guy I trust the least."
"You know, I could have picked Spike." The hair flashed platinum for a split second, and at Xander's sputtering Angel smirked. "Buffy is not prepared. But I can't help you with your problems unless you trust me. I'll have to prove it to you."
He blinked and suddenly, he was no longer staring at the creepy dead guy, but at himself. He got an unexplainable feeling of foreboding and sensed yet another presence. Xander gave a resigned sigh and turned to face what he thought would be another hallucination when Buffy walked up to the car. He rolled down the window.
"Xander, we have a problem."
*************************************
Author's note: This is my first fiction, so I apologize if it comes off as amateurish. It's going to jump from light and dark like this, so don't be surprised at the switches in tone. Also I am in need of a Beta. So if any of you want to volunteer, just email me and stuff. And thanks for the reviews!
Chapter 1/?
Spoilers: Eventually all of season seven we have seen so far. But kinda not, since I'm changing the POV and lots of the dialogue. And also because it would end up being a transcript instead of an original story.
Summary: Set at the same time as Lessons. Xander is um. . . getting worse I guess is how you'd say it. I suck at summaries. Shut up.
********************************
Xander groaned as he rolled over in bed. In bed?
"Hey wait. . . . how'd I get back in here?" He wondered aloud. With a shrug he pulled his surprisingly heavy legs over to the side and after a good amount of struggling he sat up. "Gotta get a coffee maker to set on my nightstand," he muttered. Pushing himself up, he lurched to his feet and all but stumbled into the bathroom. He glanced in the mirror and recoiled at the image. "Ugh, damn," he complained as he reached up to touch the reflection, stopping a few inches short. The mirror stared back at him, showing the gaunt slightly pale young man with dark rings under his eyes, a slight sheen of sweat covering his face. He sighed and lowered his hand, "Definitely need a bedside coffee maker."
He leaned over the tub and turned on the water, letting it heat up. After a moment, he risked another glimpse at his image in the mirror, growing uneasy at the scrutiny he was giving himself. There's something he's forgetting. Something happened, it tickled at the back of his mind. A vague memory of sadness and anger--
"Going crazy here," he stopped and turned fully towards the sink, giving the mirror a small wave. As his reflection waved back, he narrowed his eyes, leaning closer over the sink and then abruptly turned away. He went to the tub and spun the faucet and the shower immediately came on. He almost looked back at the mirror but instead jumped into the shower, shaking his head ruefully, "Getting spooked by your own reflection. Damn, Xander, a hyena wasn't enough? Have to turn into a groundhog as well?" There was a soft clicking noise and he tilted his head to the side, jumping when another voice entered his mind,
"Actually that's a shadow."
Xander blinked and slowly turned around in the shower, eyes landing on the mirror only partially obscured by the shower curtain and he yanked the offending object aside. Glaring at the image of himself in the mirror, he crossed his arms as if daring it to speak again. That is, if it spoke in the first place.
"This is insane," he grumbled as he suddenly realized he was standing in his bathroom staring at his naked self. "If I were hallucinating, it certainly wouldn't be a full frontal of me I'd be seeing." Satisfied with his own rationalization he began to pull back the shower curtain, not noticing the reflection flicker or the icy state of the water coming from the showerhead.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Forty-five minutes, three cups of coffee, and a newly ironed suit later, Xander pulled up to the Summer's house and honked the horn. A few seconds later a primping Buffy and a grumpy Dawn jumped into the car.
"Ok, we get it," griped Dawn, as she got comfortable in the back seat. "Promotion. Raise. New car. Yay you, but do you have to honk the goddamn horn every single day?"
Buffy let out a startled gasp and gave a sideways look towards the driver, "Xander! Nice suit. You look all spiffy." She then glanced sharply at her sister in the back seat, "And Dawn! Language!"
Xander shrugged, "Thanks. Client meeting." He snickered before continuing, "And for your information, Dawnie, it was TWO raises and I've only honked the horn when picking up Buffy. This is a new thing for you. Besides, this is special because it's your first day of school in a building that is responsible for my raise and brand new car in the first place." He patted the steering wheel lovingly and then paused, "And Buff's right. You shouldn't throw words that contain 'damn' around the hellmouth. Not to mention around the hellmouth AND my new car." He shuddered dramatically.
Dawn snorted and then brightened almost immediately, "Hey! Did I show you what Buffy got me? It's a cell phone and I'm so changing the ring as soon as I figure it out." She continued to babble as they drove to the new Sunnydale High. Xander gave the appropriate nods and affirmative sounds when needed, noting every time she mentioned another friend she could call with her phone so he could estimate the bill. Cringing when he realized that perhaps a cell phone wasn't the best idea after all. He knew he should have stuck with a beeper, no matter how "passé" they were.
He pulled up to the front of the school to let Buffy and Dawn out, called a goodbye and then drove to the back to check in with the crew. Glancing at the clock, he sighed. Three more hours of waiting until he was actually needed at the meeting. And he couldn't go pass time helping out at the site in case he accidentally dirtied his suit.
He groaned and reluctantly got out of his car. A blast of heat from the outside hit him, and he groaned even louder. Great, he thought, Now I get to be all sweaty and sticky, and not the good kind either. He grabbed his keys and went to lock the door, when he felt a presence behind him. Whirling around he found himself face to face with a janitor whose face was falling off.
Eww. He wrinkled his nose and walked up to it. Yep. Face definately falling off. "So," Xander began, "are you in some kind of gang? I mean, the last dead guy I saw that was. . .um, rotting had a big group of friends with him. I'm guessing you have friends too." He looked behind the janitor, "So where are they? And please PLEASE tell me that you aren't going to blow something up. I mean yeah, good for me 'cause more business, but it's a pain to hav--"
"I won't hurt you." The janitor didn't seem to have spoken (since what was left of his lips didn't move) and just stood there as blankly as before. He gave an incredulous Xander as knowing of a look he could give with one eye missing. Xander bit his lip and suddenly lunged forward to tackle the. . . the what? What is it anyway? Before any other thought could form he fell through the janitor and landed in a heap next to his car.
He turned over and sat up, looking down at his now very dirty suit he gave a resigned sigh and picked up his keys. Glancing up he confirmed what he had thought as soon as he hit the ground. The dead guy was no longer there.
"Great. Just great. Now I get to go home and enjoy the great pleasure of wearing another suit and taking this one to the cleaners. I so don't need this." He picked himself up off the ground and got back into his car. "Oh, and lets not forget the small fact that I'M GOING CRAZY AND HALLUCINATING ZOMBIES." He banged his head against the steering wheel and had half a mind to stay that way when he got the distinct feeling of being watched. Lifting his head warily, he looked in the rearview mirror and then turned to see if anyone was watching outside.
A blonde head was bouncing around the site near the school, and on further inspection he realized Buffy was walking around outside. Xander grabbed the door handle to go see what the problem was when he heard the same clicking that had happened earlier that morning. He jumped when a voice appeared to come out of nowhere.
"She won't understand." It stopped as the frightened boy in the car began to look around frantically searching for a body to give the voice. Giving an exasperated sigh it continued, "For Christ's sake, Xander, the clicking is supposed to keep you from jumping. You know, a warning of some kind."
"Um," Xander said while nervously biting his lip, "Excuse me from being scared when a disembodied voice keeps comin--"
"I'm not disembodied," it interrupted. "I'm inside of you. I'm a part of you. Don't you know that?"
Xander brought his gaze up to the rearview mirror and gave it a hard look, "So what, I have two personalities now? A nueral clone? Where did you come from anyway?"
The voice sighed, "Listen, I don't know what's going on here either. I'm just a part of you. A more educated and suave part, sure, but still stuck inside this brain of ours. If it helps I think I found a way for you to see me. I don't think it will work if I have the same face as you, because then you know. . . you'd be staring at your reflection." Xander nodded slowly, his eyes still trained on the mirror. The voice hesitated before proceeding, "So, I'm just going to pick someone out of our memories."
The mirror seemed to ripple as a flurry of images passed through it, never settling on one long enough to become discernable. Finally it slowed and stopped on a dark haired man with a solemn expression except for the trace of a smile on his lips. Xander blinked, peered closer to the mirror, and then leaned back against his seat heavily, "Oh you have GOT to be kidding me."
Angel smiled down on him, "What? You don't like my choice? You are irritated at me anyway, might as well make the situation worse for you." The smile grew wider as Xander sputtered and chastised himself for talking to a mirror image of. . .
"Hey wait, you're a vampire. You can't have a reflection."
Angel clucked his tongue, "I'm a voice inside your head, Xander. I'm not actually Angel. Jeez, if I'd known it was going to cause this much trouble I'd have picked Willow." He thought for a second, "No wait, scratch that. It would be too confusing and plus emotional baggage we don't want to deal with right now." Xander glared at him, and Angel hurriedly continued, "Maybe this was a bad idea, and I should just go back inside your head." The reflection began to ripple again before Xander interrupted,
"No, no. I can deal with me going crazy. I'd rather have an image than me just staring at myself. It was starting to give me the creeps anyway." He paused, "Why exactly are you here?"
The smile faded from Angel's face and he said, "I don't know how, but I can see what's going to happen. Buffy doesn't realize what's actually in the school. Something dangerous, something insane--"
"Oh I'm almost positive nothing can be more insane than me at this moment."
"Secrets will hurt you all. I'm part of you, Xander. I wouldn't hurt you. I need you to trust me." Xander scoffed at that. Angel narrowed his eyes. "What?" he asked irritatedly.
"You wanted me to trust you, and you picked the guy I trust the least."
"You know, I could have picked Spike." The hair flashed platinum for a split second, and at Xander's sputtering Angel smirked. "Buffy is not prepared. But I can't help you with your problems unless you trust me. I'll have to prove it to you."
He blinked and suddenly, he was no longer staring at the creepy dead guy, but at himself. He got an unexplainable feeling of foreboding and sensed yet another presence. Xander gave a resigned sigh and turned to face what he thought would be another hallucination when Buffy walked up to the car. He rolled down the window.
"Xander, we have a problem."
*************************************
Author's note: This is my first fiction, so I apologize if it comes off as amateurish. It's going to jump from light and dark like this, so don't be surprised at the switches in tone. Also I am in need of a Beta. So if any of you want to volunteer, just email me and stuff. And thanks for the reviews!