Title: Dead and Buried
Series: Ashes to Ashes
Author: Jon Emery
Email:
Summary: Xander returns to Sunnydale, and faces some questions that he would rather have avoided.
Pairing: Xander/Spike, Xander/Angel
Rating: NC-17
Disclaimers: None of the characters of Buffy or Angel belong to me; they are the property of Joss Whedon (dammit!). Ishtar and Ereshkigal are figures in Sumerian mythology, but most of their attributes are products of my imagination, which sort of makes them mine.
"But why the Hell do you have to go?" It was the seventh time Spike had asked him that since Xander had said that he was returning to the Hellmouth.
"Because, Spike, now I know that I'm ready to face my friends again. I left Sunnydale because it was home, and I couldn't readjust to the World if I was in my own back yard. I had to be somewhere different. Don't worry; I'm not staying there. I'll be coming back within a week. And besides, you and Angel will be with me the whole time, not to mention Cordelia."
Barely a second after he mentioned her name, Xander heard Cordy scream downstairs. Abandoning his attempts at packing neatly, Xander followed Spike rapidly down the stairs. The ex-cheerleader was just recovering from her vision when they got to the lobby.
"It's Sunnydale." She said between breaths. "Something's incredibly wrong there."
As the entire Angel Investigations team made their way to Sunnydale in two separate cars, Xander made a point of not sitting next to the vampires. Instead he sat with Fred and struck up a conversation with her. She reminded him immensely of Tara, from the way she spoke, in short nervous sentences (Xander had been told that she was a slave in a Demon world for five years), to the way she sat, making herself as small as possible. His thoughts went from Tara to Willow, and Buffy, and Dawn. How the Hell was he going to deal with them? Ishtar had said he was ready, but he now they were so close to Sunnydale, he didn't feel it.
The Magic Box looked the same as it ever was, but it also held an aura of foreboding for Xander. As they got out of the cars, Xander's worries went from what he was going to say to what he was wearing. His black jeans had studs down the sides, his black boots were dusty, his grey sweater was tight and would he be giving off the wrong impression with the fact that he was wearing Angel's leather jacket? The answer to that was NO. He was not ashamed of his relationship with either of the vampires. Angel and Spike entered the store first, followed by Cordelia, Fred and Wesley. Xander could hear Angel talking.
"Buffy, something has happened. Will you promise me that you won't go crazy?" Xander heard a faint 'yes', and then Angel came to the door.
"Come on, sweetie." He whispered.
Xander followed Angel into the shop, and stood in the threshold for a moment, before taking a few more steps forward.
"Xander…" Buffy stood in the centre of the shop, her face a mask of complete blankness. Willow stood a few steps behind her, the shock clearer in her eyes. Tara and Giles stood behind the counter, frozen like statues.
And then there was Dawn.
She sat at the table, her homework spread out in front of her, forgotten. Her eyes were wide and her mouth hung open slightly.
"Oh my God…" Tears started to form in her wide eyes, and as Xander said quietly:
"Hey, Dawnie…" She ran over to him, wrapping her arms around his waist and burying her face in his shoulder, letting out huge sobs. Xander had no idea of how long he stood like that, stroking her hair soothingly as she cried.
Eventually Buffy overcame her shock and came forward.
"What is this?" She said to Spike, the shock and the anger pulsing from her cold glare. "What have you done to him?"
"I haven't done anything." Spike said, surprisingly calm. "Remember that night I went out patrolling, and I didn't come back? I found Xander. Something had resurrected him, and he needed to get away from here, so I took him to LA."
"But…" Buffy stared at Spike for a moment, then at Xander (still holding onto Dawn), then at some indeterminable space beneath the floor. "How?"
"It doesn't matter," Willow said, gazing into the living eyes of her best friend. "It doesn't matter at all." She smiled softly, then flung her arms around Xander even more tightly than Dawn had, and whispered into his ear: "God, I love you so much.."
Buffy looked up from the intriguing spot on the rug and only just seemed to notice the other people from LA in the room.
"Cordelia? Wesley?" She didn't recognise Fred or Gunn, so just skipped on. "Angel, why are you all here? I mean, couldn't one of you have brought …Xander home, instead of the whole clan?"
"Well, not really." Angel said. "Cordy had a vision. Something's going down in Sunnydale… something that Xander's a part of."
"Oh…" Buffy turned to see that Tara and Giles were now holding onto Xander, as if he were about to disappear again. Both Angel and Spike noticed that Xander had never received that kind of love or appreciation when he had been alive… or at least, alive before this.
"So," Xander said. "Where do we go from here?"
"You're sure this is it?" Spike said, as he looked around the ruined corridor of Sunnydale High.
"Yes, Captain Peroxide, this is what I saw. I saw the big monster-thingy coming up from here, and then I saw Xander standing on that corner. It's important that they're in those positions, don't ask me why."
"I know why." Xander said quietly, as had become his new rather disturbing habit. Confirmations of knowledge in a creepy, barely audible tone.
"The Hellmouth is underneath the school, so the walls between the worlds are weaker here. The power lines can be crossed, if you know how."
"And you do…" Angel said, drawing Xander into his arms as they approached the right location. They had yet to tell Buffy about their unique relationship, and he wanted Xander alive to help him explain… alive from this time round.
Xander drew away from the two vampires and Cordelia, stepping into what had once been the library. Whispers from the past came to him, all the times that he had sat there for hours on end researching the latest threat, or joking with Buffy and Willow, or Cordy, or Oz… and the times that he had sat there, staring at Angel from behind some old book.
A long, mournful croon shook Xander from his thoughts, and as he glanced down at the Hellmouth, he saw a massive, dark shape emerge from it. A dragon. Xander recognised it the second he saw it – it was the creature that had escaped from the Gates while Dawn was tied to the tower, her blood dripping away, along with the life of the World.
The dragon opened it's eyes sleepily, the twin orbs of golden fire reminding Xander of a cat.
"Xander, get back!" Angel shouted, running forward.
"It's okay, I know what I'm doing." Xander said, his eyes never leaving those of the dragon. It was speaking to him… no, she was speaking to him, it was a female. She was confused, and tired. She had been hunting with her children when the portal opened, and she was pulled into Sunnydale. She had been hiding in the Hellmouth, feeling it's energy and hoping that it would take her home.
Xander felt so sorry for her, all alone in a cold and unfamiliar world, away from her home and her family. He wished that somehow he coujld send her back… and that was when he realised. He could send her home. That was how he was to restore the balance, like Ishtar had said. He was to repair the damage that Glory had done. And he could start with the dragon.
He took a step forward, keeping his gaze on that of the dragon. Never look away, never look away… he was sure he had read that in one of Giles' old books in a long-ago research session, how else would he know? Raising his hand, Xander locked his palm onto the dragon's temple, and felt the energy rise to the surface, let it flow into her, opened the door inside her that spoke of wild plains, fiery skies, and three tiny dragons that needed the love of their mother. When Xander opened his eyes, the dragon was gone.
Turning around to face his lovers, Xander found the two vampires staring at him in amazement.
"How… how did you do that?" Angel asked, his eyes wide in awe. "I encountered a dragon in Madrid years ago, and I barely made it out alive. You don't have a scratch on you."
"It's easy, when you know how." Xander grinned, and accompanied Angel, Spike and Cordelia out of the ruins. Looking back for a moment, he was sure that he could hear the hunting cry of four dragons, a family reunited.
"Honestly Buffy, it was amazing! He just stood there, completely fearless, and made a dragon vanish!" Angel was loving it, being able to tell Buffy all of this – Xander Harris, a virtual nobody next to the Slayer, had faced down one of the most powerful legendary creatures, and had won. He'd done what Buffy couldn't… again. He'd done it once before, three months ago. He had saved the world… and lived to tell the tale. Well, sorta.
"But, where did you send it?" Buffy asked, the wonder clear in her face now. Xander realised that he hadn't told them the full reason behind his resurrection. Not about the twins, or the balance, or any of it.
"Home." Xander prepared himself for the questions, and looked to Angel and Spike. They would give him strength.
As he sat in the car between the two vampires on the way back to LA, the events of the past few weeks running through his mind, Xander thought that he should feel rather overwhelmed. Instead, he just felt… well, complete. His life was the way it was supposed to be, the way that Fate thought was right. So he had fallen. But he had risen again, and he wouldn't have had the strength to go on if not for Spike and Angel.
Xander had been afraid of returning to Sunnydale; not because he would have to face his friends, but because he would be reminded of who he had been, before the resurrection. But that was just his past – it didn't matter. Sunnydale and the Slayer and all of his bad memories were dead and buried now. He was where he belonged – with Spike and Angel. He had a lot to thank them for… and he was pretty sure how he was going to do that.
Barely five minutes after their return to the Hyperion, the three lovers managed to get rid of the others and were almost instantaneously up in the bedroom. Xander could feel the energy rising up again, the burning uncontrollable. He quickly rid himself of his clothes, between passionate kisses with the two vampires. Stepping away, looking at the two perfect creatures of beauty that were his, Xander managed to pant out three words: "I love you…"
Positioning himself on all fours on the bed, Xander looked up at Angel and the fire in his eyes said it all – fuck me…
Running his hands up and down his long, hard shaft, Spike watched the two of them as they started to moan and thrust in rhythm, pants and groans drawing him closer to the edge. Getting on his knees on the bed, Spike thrust into Xander's mouth, smiling vaguely as the young man took it all in, then out, then in…
They were like that for what could have been hours or seconds, their group passion bringing them so much closer together, as Angel's pumping got faster and more urgent, pounding his heavy, hard cock into Xander's smooth ass. He pulled Spike's head forward and they kissed passionately, their tongues entwining, a hundred years of sexual tension, lust and love releasing right there. Pumping into both ends of Xander, the two vampires came loudly, screaming out in a single wordless cry all of the feeling that they had for each other – aggression, lust, desire, and so much love…
Drawing themselves out slowly, they realised that Xander was still hard.
"Guys…" he looked at them with such a smoky look in his eyes that they thought he might be red-hot for weeks. "That was amazing."
"And there's still you to take care of…" Spike winked mischievously as he and Angel lowered their heads to Xander's aching cock, kissing each-other delicately as they started to lick it, and suck, and before long Xander was screaming, his hands gripping the sheets, and then he thrust his hips up and covered both their faces with his creamy essence.
Xander lay like that for hours, basking in the eternal afterglow, as Angel and Spike licked his cum off of each-other's faces, then lay back on either side of him, stroking his chest and playing with his hair. He considered a shower, but decided that he would wait a week for the feeling to return to his legs. But then again, perhaps even in a week a shower might be too much.
Maybe a bath…
The End.
Author : Marquis de Sade
So, what did you think?
I'd love some feedback, especially as this is my first slash fic. So, please, tell me what you thought.