House of Cards
Chapter 1
Author: Kamikazee
Email: neo_kamikazee@hotmail.com
Rating: PG-13
Characters/Pairings: Willow/HBK, Xander/Chris Jericho, others to be decided (it's going to be a couple chapters before the pairings come out, I don't want to rush the fic)
Warnings: Slash, if that's not your thing, don't read
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer/WWE
Spoilers: BtVS - Season 6, WWE - Set Around August 18, 2003 (the episode where Bischoff kissed Linda McMahon)
Summary: House's of Cards always fall down when you least expect them too.
Archive: Twisting the Hellmouth, Personal Space, Fanfiction.net, anyone else, please e-mail me the URL and I'd be happy to let you post it.
Author's Notes: Thanks for all the encouraging feedback people sent on the prologue, it's definitely encouraging to hear thing like that. Notes 2: Okay, so since season 6 ended in June 2002, that's when the prologue was set. Now, the fic is set in August 2003. So, it's been a little over a year since the prologue.
Disclaimer: I do not claim to own any of the characters or storylines from either Buffy the Vampire Slayer or the WWE. No copyright infringement is intended.
A little rundown of what's been going on in the WWE when this fic takes place:
Eric kisses Linda Shane vs. Eric coming up at Summerslam Jericho vs. Nash Hair vs. Hair Almost Summerslam Test just won back Stacy Kane has gone insane
~
Xander took a second to relax in the glory that was an Eric Bischoff-free Raw. It was the first time in a while that he didn't have to worry about his annoying father sending him on pointless and demeaning 'quests'. He was still playing his part as the Raw gofer, but at least Steve Austin was tolerable in his requests.
Taking a deep breath, the young man continued on his search for Shawn Michaels. The co-gm wanted to talk to the Heartbreak Kid, so he had obviously sent Xander to find him. It was just his luck that the man had a dressing room on the opposite side of the arena.
Walking along the mostly empty hallways, Xander let his mind drift. It had been a difficult year, but they had survived. It's funny, but the WWE was actually closer to home then he had thought it would be. With all the gratuitous violence and soap opera like drama he had barely felt homesick at all.
Of course, that was a dirty lie. He hated his job and he hated his boss, well, one of his bosses. The only thing that made it at all tolerable was that Willow was getting better. Xander would have continued in this train of thinking, but he was knocked, quite literally, out of his thoughts, as he collided with another body.
Looking up he had to fight the urge not to groan out loud in frustration. It was just his luck to run into one of the more annoying wrestlers on the roster. This should be interesting.
"What do you think you're doing," the cocky voice was loud and abrasive. Of course, that seemed to be its natural tone. Xander rolled his eyes at the taller man before replying.
"Walking. You?" Xander had made a weak attempt to control his sarcasm, but it had slipped out all the same. Not the smartest idea when dealing with this man, but it was to late now. He would just have to deal with the consequences.
"Who do you think you are? Don't you ever. EVER, speak back to me like that again," The voice raised another level. Chris Jericho had an affronted look on his face, as though he couldn't imagine a stagehand standing up for himself. Putting his hands on his tight-clad hips he glared at the shorter man.
Xander lifted his hand and gave a saucy wave to the blonde, "Xander Harris, General Manager's assistant." He followed his introduction by sidestepping the wrestler and continuing on his path down the hallway, leaving Jericho behind him.
If he had turned back, he might have noticed the blue eyes on him. He also might have noticed the speculative look. It might have brought on a blush if he had seen that those shocking eyes were focused quite intently on his ass.
Of course, he didn't notice, and continued on his way. Xander had a habit of doing that, that is, ignoring what he didn't want to see. He definitely didn't want to see Chris Jericho checking him out.
It was soon enough that, the afore-introduced, Xander Harris stood outside HBK's door. Knocking he shifted impatiently outside the plain grey door. There was a gruff invitation from inside and Xander entered the room.
It was the usual changing room, several rows of low wooden benches and some hooks and lockers. The standing tour was cut short when the brunette had to quickly dodge a boot that went flying past his head. Looking towards the only occupant quickly, he saw the other boot coming off and quickly held his hands up in an attempt at self-defense. "Whoa, there. Put the shoe down on the ground and back away."
The man looked up, eyes burning with anger at the earlier attack by Evolution. "What do you want?" the gruff Texas accent was even more pronounced then normal, as the usually polite man lost his cool.
"Don't shoot the messenger," Xander's sentence had become somewhat of a mantra when dealing with the moody superstars of the WWE, "Austin wants to see you." Shawn sighed and ran a hand through his blonde hair, ruffling the strands even more then they already were.
"And what does Austin want?" the voice was somewhat more controlled this time around, but the southern accent was still quite pronounced. Xander gave a shrug in response.
"How should I know?" his voice was deceptively calm, "I'm just the hired help." Underneath he had to control his distaste at his own position. He really wouldn't have minded the job if he wasn't treated as a lesser being, and if Eric Bischoff wasn't his boss, and maybe if. The man forcefully shook his head; nothing good would come out of going there.
Motioning with his hand, he left the dressing room, hoping the man would follow him. Lucky for Xander, Shawn Michaels did, and the two made their way back to the impromptu office that had been set up for the General Managers that night.
There were greetings thrown in the hallway by various superstars, most of them to the wrestler known as HBK. There were some words sent towards Xander, mostly by the other crewmembers that pulled the show together.
It ended up taking the two men much less time to return then it had taken Xander to fetch Shawn. The younger man was forced to hurry to keep up with the wrestler's larger stride. They stopped outside the door marked clearly with "GM" and Shawn knocked sharply.
"Come in," the voice of Steve Austin called to them. Xander sighed, recognizing the angry tone in the man's voice. Dealing with a pissed off rattlesnake was not on the top of his fun things to do list.
Inside, the two men were greeted with the sight of a pacing Scott Steiner and Austin rubbing his temple. Big Poppa Pump was ranting and raving without stop at the general manager. Looking over at them, Stone Cold mouthed two words, "Lost Stacy."
Xander immediately adopted a look of disgust. It was barbaric what was going on with Stacy. Not only the fact that she was now back with Test, but the mere idea of 'owning' the young woman was so incredibly stupid. He couldn't imagine how he would react if something like that happened to his Willow.
"Listen." Steve interrupted the other man, "I can't help you. You lost, Test won. That's all there is to it. I have other things to deal with it." The statement was blunt and to the point, something Xander had come to expect from his boss. The man may not be sensitive, but he was a hell of a lot better then Bischoff in Xander's opinion.
"Shawn, sit." The next words from the rattlesnake's mouth weren't even formed as a question, and the blonde man bristled at the order, before stiffening and taking a seat. "I'm supposed to sell you some shit about not holding the company responsible for any injury you might get at Summerslam."
As the man continued, Xander moved towards the door, figuring he could grab something to eat before he got another task. Just as he reached out to touch the door handle his boss called him back. "Stick around, Harris, I've got something for you to do."
Xander sighed as he moved back into the room, settling himself down and blocking out the conversation going on around him. So much for a snack break.
~
Xander was one of the last of the crew to filter out at the end of the night. The superstars had long since left, and the ring had been brought down. He had supervised, in the name of the general managers, as the tech equipment was dismantled, Steve Austin having begged off the duty.
As he walked out the door towards his rental car, he considered picking up ice cream. He knew Willow would be up, she never went to bed without him there, and they could have some quality best friend time together.
He smiled at the idea. He may not like his job that much, but he did have everything he needed. Of course, the only thing he really thought he needed was Willow Rosenburg, so it wasn't a hard thing to achieve. As many negative thoughts as he had, he wasn't unhappy with his life. Xander Harris had convinced himself quite along time ago that he didn't want or need anything more.
Lost in his thoughts, he yet again didn't notice the man leaning in front of him. Now, Chris Jericho is not a man who likes being ignored, so that obviously didn't last long. "Well, lookie who it is again." Xander's head snapped up as he noticed the other man in the parking garage for the first time.
Taking in the taller man leaning against a car in front of him, Xander felt an edge of annoyance. Leave it to Jericho to ruin his good mood. The man gave him a slow look up and down that caused the brunette to move uncomfortably.
"I don't see it," the self-proclaimed King of the World admitted to the younger man. Xander look of wary irritation turned to confusion in a flash as he looked at Jericho.
"Don't see what?" he asked, generally curious. The man smirked at him and Xander's mood dropped another notch, realizing to late that he'd just walked into a putdown.
"The thing that makes you think that you even have the right to stand in my presence." The arrogant tone of voice was like sandpaper against Xander's temper, and Xander didn't have the longest fuse in the box.
"What makes you think that you have the right to talk to people like that?" Xander's voice was loaded with venom as he practically spat at the blonde man. All right, so Xander had one of the shortest fuses in the box, and coupled with his incredible hate of being demeaned, his temper could get pretty hot.
Chris Jericho replied simply with another one of those amazingly sexy smirks. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Xander caught himself in horror. He did not just think that Chris Jericho's smirk was sexy. That was not him. He did not think those things about men. Willow was the wacky new-age homosexual.
By the time the man had convinced himself of the temporary insanity that had caused his thought, Chris Jericho had left the garage. With a sigh, Xander Harris walked the short distance to his car before pulling out and heading towards the closest convenience store. He definitely needed ice cream now.
~
Okay, chapter 1 complete. Sorry for the wait, I meant to get this out sooner, but real life interrupted. That is, real life and sleep deprivation :D.
Okay, so there was some Xander/Jericho development this chapter. I really do love writing these two together. Willow will come in next chapter, never fear. We also get some plot development next chapter, isn't that exciting?
Thanks for everyone who reviewed; you guys really make me feel like I'm not the only one who enjoys these.
~ Kamikazee
Chapter 1
Author: Kamikazee
Email: neo_kamikazee@hotmail.com
Rating: PG-13
Characters/Pairings: Willow/HBK, Xander/Chris Jericho, others to be decided (it's going to be a couple chapters before the pairings come out, I don't want to rush the fic)
Warnings: Slash, if that's not your thing, don't read
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer/WWE
Spoilers: BtVS - Season 6, WWE - Set Around August 18, 2003 (the episode where Bischoff kissed Linda McMahon)
Summary: House's of Cards always fall down when you least expect them too.
Archive: Twisting the Hellmouth, Personal Space, Fanfiction.net, anyone else, please e-mail me the URL and I'd be happy to let you post it.
Author's Notes: Thanks for all the encouraging feedback people sent on the prologue, it's definitely encouraging to hear thing like that. Notes 2: Okay, so since season 6 ended in June 2002, that's when the prologue was set. Now, the fic is set in August 2003. So, it's been a little over a year since the prologue.
Disclaimer: I do not claim to own any of the characters or storylines from either Buffy the Vampire Slayer or the WWE. No copyright infringement is intended.
A little rundown of what's been going on in the WWE when this fic takes place:
Eric kisses Linda Shane vs. Eric coming up at Summerslam Jericho vs. Nash Hair vs. Hair Almost Summerslam Test just won back Stacy Kane has gone insane
~
Xander took a second to relax in the glory that was an Eric Bischoff-free Raw. It was the first time in a while that he didn't have to worry about his annoying father sending him on pointless and demeaning 'quests'. He was still playing his part as the Raw gofer, but at least Steve Austin was tolerable in his requests.
Taking a deep breath, the young man continued on his search for Shawn Michaels. The co-gm wanted to talk to the Heartbreak Kid, so he had obviously sent Xander to find him. It was just his luck that the man had a dressing room on the opposite side of the arena.
Walking along the mostly empty hallways, Xander let his mind drift. It had been a difficult year, but they had survived. It's funny, but the WWE was actually closer to home then he had thought it would be. With all the gratuitous violence and soap opera like drama he had barely felt homesick at all.
Of course, that was a dirty lie. He hated his job and he hated his boss, well, one of his bosses. The only thing that made it at all tolerable was that Willow was getting better. Xander would have continued in this train of thinking, but he was knocked, quite literally, out of his thoughts, as he collided with another body.
Looking up he had to fight the urge not to groan out loud in frustration. It was just his luck to run into one of the more annoying wrestlers on the roster. This should be interesting.
"What do you think you're doing," the cocky voice was loud and abrasive. Of course, that seemed to be its natural tone. Xander rolled his eyes at the taller man before replying.
"Walking. You?" Xander had made a weak attempt to control his sarcasm, but it had slipped out all the same. Not the smartest idea when dealing with this man, but it was to late now. He would just have to deal with the consequences.
"Who do you think you are? Don't you ever. EVER, speak back to me like that again," The voice raised another level. Chris Jericho had an affronted look on his face, as though he couldn't imagine a stagehand standing up for himself. Putting his hands on his tight-clad hips he glared at the shorter man.
Xander lifted his hand and gave a saucy wave to the blonde, "Xander Harris, General Manager's assistant." He followed his introduction by sidestepping the wrestler and continuing on his path down the hallway, leaving Jericho behind him.
If he had turned back, he might have noticed the blue eyes on him. He also might have noticed the speculative look. It might have brought on a blush if he had seen that those shocking eyes were focused quite intently on his ass.
Of course, he didn't notice, and continued on his way. Xander had a habit of doing that, that is, ignoring what he didn't want to see. He definitely didn't want to see Chris Jericho checking him out.
It was soon enough that, the afore-introduced, Xander Harris stood outside HBK's door. Knocking he shifted impatiently outside the plain grey door. There was a gruff invitation from inside and Xander entered the room.
It was the usual changing room, several rows of low wooden benches and some hooks and lockers. The standing tour was cut short when the brunette had to quickly dodge a boot that went flying past his head. Looking towards the only occupant quickly, he saw the other boot coming off and quickly held his hands up in an attempt at self-defense. "Whoa, there. Put the shoe down on the ground and back away."
The man looked up, eyes burning with anger at the earlier attack by Evolution. "What do you want?" the gruff Texas accent was even more pronounced then normal, as the usually polite man lost his cool.
"Don't shoot the messenger," Xander's sentence had become somewhat of a mantra when dealing with the moody superstars of the WWE, "Austin wants to see you." Shawn sighed and ran a hand through his blonde hair, ruffling the strands even more then they already were.
"And what does Austin want?" the voice was somewhat more controlled this time around, but the southern accent was still quite pronounced. Xander gave a shrug in response.
"How should I know?" his voice was deceptively calm, "I'm just the hired help." Underneath he had to control his distaste at his own position. He really wouldn't have minded the job if he wasn't treated as a lesser being, and if Eric Bischoff wasn't his boss, and maybe if. The man forcefully shook his head; nothing good would come out of going there.
Motioning with his hand, he left the dressing room, hoping the man would follow him. Lucky for Xander, Shawn Michaels did, and the two made their way back to the impromptu office that had been set up for the General Managers that night.
There were greetings thrown in the hallway by various superstars, most of them to the wrestler known as HBK. There were some words sent towards Xander, mostly by the other crewmembers that pulled the show together.
It ended up taking the two men much less time to return then it had taken Xander to fetch Shawn. The younger man was forced to hurry to keep up with the wrestler's larger stride. They stopped outside the door marked clearly with "GM" and Shawn knocked sharply.
"Come in," the voice of Steve Austin called to them. Xander sighed, recognizing the angry tone in the man's voice. Dealing with a pissed off rattlesnake was not on the top of his fun things to do list.
Inside, the two men were greeted with the sight of a pacing Scott Steiner and Austin rubbing his temple. Big Poppa Pump was ranting and raving without stop at the general manager. Looking over at them, Stone Cold mouthed two words, "Lost Stacy."
Xander immediately adopted a look of disgust. It was barbaric what was going on with Stacy. Not only the fact that she was now back with Test, but the mere idea of 'owning' the young woman was so incredibly stupid. He couldn't imagine how he would react if something like that happened to his Willow.
"Listen." Steve interrupted the other man, "I can't help you. You lost, Test won. That's all there is to it. I have other things to deal with it." The statement was blunt and to the point, something Xander had come to expect from his boss. The man may not be sensitive, but he was a hell of a lot better then Bischoff in Xander's opinion.
"Shawn, sit." The next words from the rattlesnake's mouth weren't even formed as a question, and the blonde man bristled at the order, before stiffening and taking a seat. "I'm supposed to sell you some shit about not holding the company responsible for any injury you might get at Summerslam."
As the man continued, Xander moved towards the door, figuring he could grab something to eat before he got another task. Just as he reached out to touch the door handle his boss called him back. "Stick around, Harris, I've got something for you to do."
Xander sighed as he moved back into the room, settling himself down and blocking out the conversation going on around him. So much for a snack break.
~
Xander was one of the last of the crew to filter out at the end of the night. The superstars had long since left, and the ring had been brought down. He had supervised, in the name of the general managers, as the tech equipment was dismantled, Steve Austin having begged off the duty.
As he walked out the door towards his rental car, he considered picking up ice cream. He knew Willow would be up, she never went to bed without him there, and they could have some quality best friend time together.
He smiled at the idea. He may not like his job that much, but he did have everything he needed. Of course, the only thing he really thought he needed was Willow Rosenburg, so it wasn't a hard thing to achieve. As many negative thoughts as he had, he wasn't unhappy with his life. Xander Harris had convinced himself quite along time ago that he didn't want or need anything more.
Lost in his thoughts, he yet again didn't notice the man leaning in front of him. Now, Chris Jericho is not a man who likes being ignored, so that obviously didn't last long. "Well, lookie who it is again." Xander's head snapped up as he noticed the other man in the parking garage for the first time.
Taking in the taller man leaning against a car in front of him, Xander felt an edge of annoyance. Leave it to Jericho to ruin his good mood. The man gave him a slow look up and down that caused the brunette to move uncomfortably.
"I don't see it," the self-proclaimed King of the World admitted to the younger man. Xander look of wary irritation turned to confusion in a flash as he looked at Jericho.
"Don't see what?" he asked, generally curious. The man smirked at him and Xander's mood dropped another notch, realizing to late that he'd just walked into a putdown.
"The thing that makes you think that you even have the right to stand in my presence." The arrogant tone of voice was like sandpaper against Xander's temper, and Xander didn't have the longest fuse in the box.
"What makes you think that you have the right to talk to people like that?" Xander's voice was loaded with venom as he practically spat at the blonde man. All right, so Xander had one of the shortest fuses in the box, and coupled with his incredible hate of being demeaned, his temper could get pretty hot.
Chris Jericho replied simply with another one of those amazingly sexy smirks. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Xander caught himself in horror. He did not just think that Chris Jericho's smirk was sexy. That was not him. He did not think those things about men. Willow was the wacky new-age homosexual.
By the time the man had convinced himself of the temporary insanity that had caused his thought, Chris Jericho had left the garage. With a sigh, Xander Harris walked the short distance to his car before pulling out and heading towards the closest convenience store. He definitely needed ice cream now.
~
Okay, chapter 1 complete. Sorry for the wait, I meant to get this out sooner, but real life interrupted. That is, real life and sleep deprivation :D.
Okay, so there was some Xander/Jericho development this chapter. I really do love writing these two together. Willow will come in next chapter, never fear. We also get some plot development next chapter, isn't that exciting?
Thanks for everyone who reviewed; you guys really make me feel like I'm not the only one who enjoys these.
~ Kamikazee
