Author: Dea Brynhild Ensomhet Spikess
Fandom: BtVS/Ats, obviously.
Timeline: Bs2 meets As5. Spoilers for all of Buffy and the last episode of Angel.
Rating: PG-13 for this part.
Pairing: Spike/Xander, eventually
Disclaimer: Don't own any of the Buffy or Angel cast/crew/characters/plotlines/etc. Please don't sue.
Summary: Xander gets his heart broken and a wish granted on Valentine's Day.
Dedication: to secondverse, who wanted time travel, snark, and some hot lovin'. Happy birthday! Hope you like it!
Author's note: I wanted to give you a complete story, but it looks like the story is going to be longer than I'd anticipated, so you'll be getting it in chapters. Gives me a little bit more time to work on the latter parts, make 'em extra good. Huge thanks to penne4m for doing a quick laste-minute beta. I've since edited it, so any mistakes you find are all mine. Point them out and I'll fix them. Thanks also to prncssflutterby, who helped me bounce ideas until I came up with something original and worthy of Yin.
"""
Xander wandered down the street outside the Bronze, still in shock. Cordy had dumped him. Nope, he still couldn't grasp the concept. How could she, and on Valentine's Day no less?
"That was harsh." he heard a voice behind him and he turned around, hand automatically going for the wooden cross in his pocket. The guy who had spoken had shoulder-length dark curly hair and dark eyes, and he didn't particularly look like a vampire, but Xander wasn't taking any chances as he wrapped his hand around the cross. "I didn't mean to pry, but I kinda overheard that thing back in the Bronze. My sympathies to you, man."
"Uh, thanks." Xander replied.
The guy smiled, stopping a few feet away and sticking his hands in his pockets. "Women, huh?" he chuckled. "They always know how to hurt you."
Xander nodded. "Yeah, I guess."
"Don't you just wish sometimes that she'd get what she deserves?" There was something strange about the guy, but since he wasn't attacking or anything, Xander tried not to notice. He was probably just letting the Scooby life affect him too much, seeing hints of demons when there were just human quirks.
"That'd be cool."
"Yeah." Glancing up at the stars that were barely visible with the light pollution, the guy said, "If you could wish for anything right now, what would you wish for?"
Xander let his guard down just a little, following the stranger's gaze to look at the stars. He didn't know why the guy cared about him, but it was kinda nice to talk with someone outside of the Scooby gang for once. He pondered over the question, thinking not only about being used and cast aside by Cordelia, but also the entire stressful Angelus situation and everything else that was making his life shitty right now. "I wish she'd just die, unpopular and alone. I wish I was living an amazing life far away from Sunnydale, and I wish that the stupid apocalypse was done and over," he finally decided. He looked back at the guy for his reaction, and gasped at what he saw.
The guy smirked, his face covered in veins and wrinkles. "Done." he murmured, and the world vanished around Xander.
Xander blinked. Rain was coming down in sheets and his nice suit quickly became soaked as he looked around. He was in an alley somewhere, but it wasn't outside the Bronze like he'd been before. This alley was completely alien to him, although he couldn't see very much with the rain coming down as heavy as it was. "Stupid." Xander muttered to himself. "Why didn't Giles ever warn us that there were demons who granted wishes?" The thought of Giles spurred Xander into motion - after all, if there was anyone who could get Xander out of some demon curse he'd accidently stumbled into, it was the G-man.
He hadn't walked two steps when he almost tripped over a large thing lying in the middle of the alley. He leaned closer to inspect the thing, and then backed away. It was a demon corpse with its throat slit, some species he didn't recognize. He looked around wildly and realized that the entire alley was littered with bodies, and they all appeared to be not-human. Something apocalyptic must have happened here. Surely that meant that Buffy was around somewhere, kicking demon ass? He began to run down the alley, dodging and jumping over bodies, keeping his eyes and ears out for anything that was still alive. He saw a human-looking figure standing in the distance, leaning against a wall for support, and he headed over towards it. "Hey, do you know..." He froze in horror as the figure turned around and Xander got a good look at his face. "Oh, shit."
"Xander?" Angelus asked, sounding confused. He took a step towards Xander, and Xander took two steps back, pulling out the cross and holding it out. Angelus didn't take another step.
"Stay away from me!" Xander cried, his grip tight on the cross. Oh god, he was going to die. He wasn't ready to die. There were so many things he hadn't done yet, like move out of his parent's house, make love to a girl, and start his solo rock-star career. But he wouldn't be able to do any of that now. Angelus was going to torture him and kill him, and then probably leave his body for Buffy to find. Willow would cry, and Buffy would kick his ass for walking around Sunnydale alone at night and talking to strangers. Someone else moved a few feet away, and Xander took a few more steps away from both Angelus and the other figure, swinging the cross back and forth between them.
"Bloody hell. Xander?" The second figure said, and Xander's eyes widened as he recognized Spike from Parent-Teacher night.
"Oh fuck." Xander murmured, trying to keep the cross between him and both vamps at the same time. It wasn't working too well. Xander thought frantically, trying to come up with an escape plan. It was just him and two Master Vampires, and no Buffy to be seen. He was so gonna die. "Just stay away, you hear me?"
Both Spike and Angelus were staring at him with these weird shocked expressions on their faces. "You've got two eyes." Spike said, startled.
Xander blinked. Did vampires do acid? "Uh, yeah. I was kinda born with them." He remembered something, and took another step away from the vampires. "And apparently you can walk again. I guess organs don't do as much damage as they used to."
A third figure approached, a girl Xander didn't recognize with blue streaks in her hair and a really strange sci-fi-like outfit. "I killed the last of them." She looked at Xander appraisingly, her weird blue eyes scanning him from head to toe. "Who is this?"
"Xander Harris." Angelus said, and he took a step forward. "But I don't understand--"
Xander thrust the cross towards him and he flinched back a step. Xander turned, aiming the cross at Spike who also flinched back. Last, he pointed the cross at the girl. She cocked her head and didn't flinch, no expression on her face. Xander glanced at the cross, then at her, and then back at the cross again. He shook the cross hard and then shoved the cross at her again. She didn't move, just stared at him with those unblinking blue eyes and a superior attitude. Apparently, whatever she was, crosses didn't work on her.
There was a pain-filled groan from behind him, and Xander looked for the source of the noise while keeping an eye on the two vamps and the smurf. There was a black guy a few yards away, trying to stand up. He looked human, with a scary amount of blood pouring out of a wound in his stomach. Xander made his way over to the guy, thanking whatever powers looked out for stupid Slayerettes that the other three hadn't attacked yet. He touched the cross to the guy's shoulder, and was relieved when there was no reaction. That didn't mean that the guy wasn't some other kind of demon like the girl was, but the white knight in him insisted on helping out if he could. And if the guy did turn out to be a demon with aims to kill him, well, he was going to die at Angelus' hands anyway, so it didn't matter. "Hey, are you okay, man?" Xander asked, putting his arm around the guy's waist and helping him to his feet.
"I'm not feeling so good." the guy moaned, leaning heavily on Xander.
Xander supported most of his weight, edging them out of the alley. "Don't worry, I'll get you to a hospital and they'll get that fixed right up." He tensed as he saw Angelus take a step towards them, and frowned as Spike grabbed Angelus by the arm, restraining him. "Let them go. He'll get him to a hospital, and you can check up on him later." he heard Spike say. Angelus nodded and the three of them departed, heading towards the other end of the alley.
Xander sighed in relief, but was that much more confused. Why had Spike let him go? He knew Angelus liked to play mind games, but it didn't seem like Spike's style. After Parent-Teacher Night, he spend several evenings sneaking into Giles' office to research 'sires' and to see if there was any reason he might need to worry about Spike coming back to claim him. He learned everything he could about Spike's, Angelus', and Drusilla's pasts, and it had seemed like he was okay - Spike tended to kill and move on, not likely to play the kind of mind games Angelus had when he turned Drusilla.
Three blocks later, and Xander had managed to find a few people walking around late at night to point him towards the hospital. Apparently there had been a few minor earthquakes right before he found himself in the alley - probably a side effect of the battle that had killed so many demons - and they were trying to figure out what had happened while still keeping a safe distance.
The guy had passed out by the time they got to the hospital. Xander half-carried, half-lugged him inside, and as soon as they got in the lobby nurses flocked around them, helping him ease the guy on to a stretcher. One of the nurses recognized "Mr. Charles Gunn" on sight, and Xander made a note of the name. He assured them that the blood on his clothes wasn't his, and asked if he could stay with his 'best friend' overnight. Teresa, the nurse that recognized the guy, showed him to an empty hospital room and promised that they would bring 'Gunn' in as soon as they'd checked and patched up his wounds. He sat down in a chair against the wall, and let his eyes fall closed.
He had so many problems that he didn't even know where to start. He didn't know where he was and he had no idea what was going on. Spike's words, "You can check up on him later," were swirling around in his head, and he was on edge, half-expecting Angelus to stroll in the door any moment.
As if on cue, he heard the door open. He was instantly on his feet, reaching for the cross when he recognized Teresa. "Sorry." he apologized, relaxing.
She smiled. "It's okay. I'm used to Gunn's friends being jumpy." In one arm was a bundle of clothing and a folded newspaper, and in the other she held a steaming cup of black coffee. "I brought you some clean clothes that should fit - Anne usually keeps a supply here just in case some of her boys get into a scrape. And you looked like you could use some coffee."
"Thank you." Xander said, gratefully accepting the items and setting the coffee and newspaper down on the bedside table while being careful not to get any blood on the clean clothes. "Is there a shower?"
"Mmmhmm. It's right through there." Teresa said, pointing at one of the doors in the room. "Gunn should be done in about an hour or so, and then we'll bring him in here. You can press the call button if you need me for anything."
"Thank you." Xander said again, "I will." She smiled and left, closing the door behind her. Xander took the clothes into the bathroom, setting them on top of the sink as he peeled off his sodden and bloody suit. He'd paid more than he could really afford to look good for the Valentine's Day party at the Bronze, but it didn't matter anymore. He took a quick shower and changed into the spare clothes, pleasantly surprised at how well they fit. It wasn't much, an old pair of jeans with faded paint stains and a thin over-sized sweatshirt, but they were clean and warm, and he felt comfortable. He stuffed the suit into the trash bin and headed out into the main room, settling back down in the chair to browse through the newspaper and sip the still-warm coffee. The date in the corner of the L.A. Times read "May 18, 2004". Xander nearly dropped the coffee in his lap.
"What the hell?"
"""
TBC...