Title: Cat Shadows (4/?)
Author: Prospero Hibiki
Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer characters are the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, UPN, Fox and WB Network. In no way are these aforementioned characters being used for my own personal profit, and this is not meant as an infringement of the copyright owned by any of the above entitys.
Rating: R (for language and the ever present possibility of violence)
Timeline: Immediately following the Season 2 episode "Halloween"
Spoilers: So far anything through "Halloween" is fair game...maybe more later.
Classification: Alternate Universe, anything else will become obvious as time passes.
Summary: Xander's possession during his sophomore year of high school did more to screw up his life than even he had thought at the time. Could what he'd considered his greatest failing be turned into an ability he could use, or would it ruin his second chance at happiness?
Author's Comments: After kicking this story around in my head for several months I've decided that I'd like to post the prologue to see if anyone thinks it has promise. That's actually pretty much it. I'll probably continue to write it even if people hate it, but comments from people who don't are always appreciated. Besides I kind of feel like actually posting things for a while instead of purely lurking.
xXx
Chapter 03: Only Human
It's already eight o'clock Monday morning and I still haven't come up with anything to explain where the hell I've been since Tuesday. At least I've managed to get my clothes from where I left them, but they reek. Not that I smell much better myself. I've been pacing back and forth in the woods trying to come up with some way to explain my absence, but nothing has come to me.
School's already started for the day so I've got some time left. Problem is that I'm not the guy who comes up with the plans. I'm more the guy who rushes right in to pull the fat out of the fire. Which is good, but doesn't help me at the moment. Stomping around I kick at a bottle of booze someone's thrown out. It's not fair! How in the hell am I supposed to think up something that everyone will believe?
It hits me out of the blue. I don't need something everyone will believe. What I need is something most people will ignore and something that my friends will understand. But I need to stick kind of close to the truth. Keep it simple stupid. That's the best policy. Okay the truth. I'm occasionally a giant cat and was kidnapped by vampires and fed rats for five days. No, the truth is out. But I suppose I could keep the bit where I was knocked unconscious by a kick to the head. Now I'm getting somewhere. But where was I? That's the real question because if I'd just been knocked unconscious I would have been gone for maybe a day at the most.
I take another kick at the bottle, but this time when it stops rolling it's label up. Staring at the picture of a ship on it a tight grin comes to my face.
xXx
Here I am at the bus stop's pay phone with my fingers crossed. Luckily there's a phone book here that lists Mrs. Summers' art gallery. Throwing a few quarters in I dial the number listed.
"Hello?" Yes, it's her! Now to see if she'll remember me.
"Hey, Mrs. Summers' this is Xander Harris. I'm a friend of Buff-"
She cuts me off before I even finish my introduction. "Xander! Where are you? Where have you been? Buffy's been worried sick about you all week." I guess she remembers me.
"Where have I been? That's kind of a long story. Where am I now? The Sunnydale bus terminal. I just got in, and I was kind of wondering if you could maybe pick me up. I'm dead on my feet. But if it's too much trouble I'll just hoof it."
"No! Stay there. I'll be there in five minutes."
"Thanks Mrs. S. You're a life saver." I blink a few times as my only answer is a dial tone.
Eight minutes later the Jeep Grand Cherokee is pulling into the parking lot in front of where I'm sitting on a bench. Joyce opens her door and I rise to meet her and it looks like she's about to hug me but stops at the last second. "Xander, it's good to see you. Buffy's been worried. I must say though that you really need a shower. Or five."
"Yeah. Haven't had much chance to recently. But if you think this is bad you should have seen me yesterday."
She shudders. I really must smell bad. "Get in so I can run you to the house. I think I can get you a shower...and a set of clothes. Those should be burned." She directs me to the passenger's side and pushes me in. When she gets in on the driver's side her first action is to roll the windows down. All of the windows.
"That bad?" Her only response is to nod. "Sorry."
"So where have you been?"
"Like I said it's kind of a long story. But the short version is kind of like this. Some guys jumped me from behind after school on Tuesday and must have knocked me out. Next thing I know is that I'm in this metal shipping container. I pound and pound on the wall of it, but no one seems to hear me. I guess I was in there for a couple days before someone found me. I was asleep by then and pretty dehydrated. It seems I was on a freighter headed towards Japan. Luckily they were able to get me to a fishing boat headed to Oregon. Once I got there I hitched my way south until a guy took pity on me and bought me a ticket home on the bus."
Mrs. Summers has turned in her seat and is staring at me incredulously. "And that's the short version?"
"Well, yeah. I didn't mention the guy that chased me off his property with a shotgun or the cute chick that gave me a ride in her convertible." I figured out before that I wouldn't be able to stick very close to the truth at all so why not make the story as outrageous as possible.
After all something this out there has to be the truth.
xXx
Stepping out of the shower I wrap the towel Mrs. Summers had set aside for me around my waist. Luckily she'd also found a still packaged toothbrush for me to use so I now had a chance to get rid of my rat breath. Finishing my drying off I grab the pair of old sweat pants that Joyce found for me. She said that they used to belong to Buffy's father, and I took her at her word. I mean it's none of my business if they don't.
I don't even know why I'm here. I only called Buffy's mom so that I could get my alibi in early while everyone was at school, but it seems that she picked up on my reluctance to go to my parents' house. It's kind of sad, really, that even in my mind I call it "my parents' house" and not "home." I never said anything about not going home, and she never said anything about it either. There just seemed to be this unspoken understanding between us that she wasn't going to let me leave. She's probably already heard of my family life. At least she hasn't brought it up. She's a good mom. Then again I've seen hints of that ever since Buffy moved to town. We just need to let her in on the other parts of the Sunnyhell night life.
By the time I've made it down the steps I'm practically dead on my feet which makes sense considering that I've been up since some time yesterday morning. She's there at the bottom and from there ushers me to her couch where I collapse face down. "Sorry Mrs. S. I'm completely bushed. At least I clean up nice though."
"That's okay, Xander." My eyes slowly close. I've always kind of missed this kind of thing. I mean my parents were never ones to stick around me of their own free will. The fact that Joyce is gives me one of those warm and fuzzy feelings. Kind of like a giant teddy bear only in an emotional sense rather than a physical one. I blink a few times, but I know that it's useless. I'm going to be asleep before too long. Mrs. Summer's voice rouses me slightly. "When did you get a tattoo?"
Still kind of sleepy I mutter into the throw pillow that I'm lying down on. "Don't have a tattoo." My eyes close once more; this time I know they aren't going to be opening again.
There's a long pause before I feel Mrs. Summers' hands brushing gently at my shoulder. "I hate to break this to you, Xander, but it seems you now have a tattoo."
"That's nice." Even as I speak the thought slowly sinks into my brain as I drift off into slumber. Hey, I'm now tattoo guy. Or at least guy with tattoo. That's cool.
My dreams are pretty normal. Well, normal for recently that is. I'm a cat again and hunting in the jungle. The darkness is my home here, and I am lord of all I survey. Seeing my prey I coil my muscles and leap. The large mammal has no chance to escape as I land atop her. Giving her a quick lick I leap away once more.
The slamming of the front door wakes me up from my nap, and I shake away the last vestiges of my dream even as it fades away on its own. "Hey, mom, I'm home. But why are you? Shouldn't you be at the gallery still?" Mmmmm, Buffy. And Xander said, Let there be Buffy, and there was Buffy, and the Buffage was good.
"Can't a mother take a day off every so often and spend time with her daughter?"
"Awww. That's sweet. Now the truth."
Joyce laughs. I'd probably get up at this point, but the couch is really comfortable at the moment. "I've been found out. Okay, I was at the studio when I decided to pick you up a surprise to make you feel better. It's in the living room."
Buffy's voice is quieter than before, but I can tell it's getting closer. "Sorry mom, but the only thing that will make me feel any better is...Xander!" All of a sudden a huge weight drops down on my back and proceeds to squeeze the life out of me. "Xander, you're here and we've been so worried because we couldn't find you, and no one has seen you since Tuesday at school and you didn't show up or call and we thought you were dead!" Buffy babble. Interesting.
"Ack! Air, or the lack thereof!" Quickly Buffy releases me only to pick me up and grab a hold of me again. "It's okay, Buffster. I'm here. I'm here." This time I'm facing her and wrap my arms around her. It seems to be the right thing to do because she starts to cry into my shoulder again. But only for a minute or two. Quickly she's managed to recover her calm and has backed away. Which is probably for the best. I mean sure I'm in love with this girl, but she doesn't feel the same. I'm not a masochist. Me moving on would be best for the both of us. It's not going to happen, but it would be for the best if it did.
"Where have you been?!" But apparently the backing away is a bad thing because she's now at the perfect distance for her to grab me by my shoulders and start shaking me. Verily with the shaking. "Well, where?!"
Once she stops with the shaking and the brain rattling I take a deep breath and launch myself into the biggest lie I've ever told anyone. "Well it's like this Buffy." Oh God, she's never going to believe me now. "I got jumped from behind after school on Tuesday. Must have gotten roughed up kind of bad because when I woke up I was in this metal shipping crate."
"I'll kill them." My expression froze. Not because of what she said but rather because of the utter chill that composed her tone of voice. For once I truly believed that she would go out and kill them.
I force a chuckle. "Well, it'll be difficult because I don't even get a look at them. Anyway, I woke up in this shipping crate. Must have been in there for a few days before anyone heard me pounding. Let me tell you I was pretty ripe by then." My attempt at humor is apparently not appreciated because Buffy just goes back to scowling. "Well I must have been taken through the port at some time because when I say shipping crate I really do mean shipping crate. I was on a freighter headed to Japan."
"Japan?"
She's not buying it! Stay calm Xander, stay calm. Lie like a politician. Be one with the carpet. "Yeah, Japan. But, hey, the Xandman is lucky and they were able to hand me off to these fishermen headed to..." Damn where were they headed again?! "...Oregon. So I'm not currently eating sushi, which I think is totally of the good." I am so screwed. She's never going to believe this.
Buffy opens her mouth to say something, but closes it before she does. Still, I tense up when she tries again this time saying only, "Go on."
"So these guys drop me off at the pier and I head south along the road hitchhiking. Boy, was that an experience." At Buffy's frosty glare I cringe slightly. "An experience that I don't want to experience again because making Buffy worry is bad!" Yeah, sucking up and groveling go hand in hand. "So I caught a few rides. Even got picked up by a total hottie in a convertible that had the nicest pair of legs..." I trail off there because Buffy is glaring at me again. It also makes me sound guilty. Which I am; I'm just not guilty of the things that she thinks I am. Which of course makes me feel even more guilty. "But enough about the hitchhiking! Anyway, one of the guys that picked me up decided to take pity on me and bought me a bus ticket back to Sunnydale; at which point I called your mom, she picked me up, and I ended up falling asleep on your couch. After several showers. All necessary for this Xander was quite ripe."
Dear God, I know that we're not on a really good relationship level. Just let her believe this. I'll take back everything I've ever said or thought about you...except the fact that you like fucking with my life. Because, come on, we both know it's true. Oh, and those things about you and the Hellmouth. I mean, hello, leaving one of these behind is just not an intelligent thing for an all knowing, all powerful being. But other than that we're cool!
"But you're back now?" I blink. I sort of thought that was rather obvious. "And you're never going to do anything this monumentally stupid ever again?" Ahh, that makes more sense.
"Yeah, I'm back. No more getting jumped from behind in broad daylight for me. I'll save my getting knocked unconscious for nighttime like I should have been doing in the first place." And again with the Buffy glare-o-death. "I mean, no getting jumped at all. Nope, no jumping."
Mrs. Summers sticks her head around the door way. "I called Willow and she said she'd be right over. Or I think that's what she said. I'm not quite sure; it was a bit rushed." She arches an eyebrow giving the two of us rather meaningful looks, and once again I realize just how close to Buffy I am and without a shirt even. "So Buffy, has Xander explained where he got his tattoo yet? If so I want to hear about it."
Hunh? Tattoo? A vague memory of Joyce saying something about a tattoo surfaces in my brain, but really that is all it does. I was fairly wiped at the time.
"WHAT?!"
"Ack! No screaming!" I say as my hands clap down over my now ringing ears.
Buffy again gives me her patented death glare. "You managed to find time to get a tattoo, but you couldn't be bothered to take five minutes to make a collect call?" Oh yeah, I am so screwed.
"Honestly Buffy, I have no clue what your mom's talking about." I give Mrs. Summers a pleading look. "What are you talking about?"
Instead of answering Joyce steps across the room and gently turns me around. There's a quick, indrawn breath from Buffy as she sees what I'm going to assume is a tattoo. I'm the next person to gasp as Buffy's hands run lightly across my right shoulder barely touching the skin. I am suddenly glad that I'm no longer wearing my jeans because I would be in serious pain right now. That's of course when it happens. The purring. Sweet hell, I'm purring!
"So I have a tattoo?" Did I say that? I can still think?!
"Looks that way. You don't remember getting it?" God, Buffy. Right now I can barely remember my name let alone getting a tattoo that I didn't even know I had. Why must she continue to torture me so?
My voice when I answer comes out in a choked whimper. "No." Does Buffy get the hint? No, of course not. She just keeps running her fingers over the same spot on my shoulder, apparently tracing the lines of my new body art. And there are a lot of lines. I know because I can practically feel them etched into my skin with flame by her fingers. I'm trying to think of anything else except what she's doing to me that I miss her next question. "Hunh?"
"I asked if you had any other tattoos?" It must be my imagination, but her voice seems to have gotten much deeper and I can feel the air of her breath on my back. I shiver at the sensation.
"You want to check for me?" I, so, did not just say that!
Someone clears their throat nearby. "That's quite enough you two! Buffy, I think you should stop. You seem to be killing him." Halleluiah! Mrs. Summers is my new personal deity. Especially when Buffy shoots away from me. Even knowing that it's for the best I still physically ache now that she isn't touching me. Not saying a word I drop once more face down into the couch. I'm not moving until I can do so safely without embarrassing myself. Somehow I don't think that time will be coming in the foreseeable future.
Oh my god. I just figured out where, or rather when, I got it. The ceremony. I remember thinking that I was lucky not to pick up any souvenirs from that night, but it never occurred to me to look at my back. Now I have to lie about the tattoo as well. Okay, I can deal with this. Just stick to the story that I have no clue how it got there. Should be simple enough.
My misery is further compounded when the front door slams open and closed in quick succession. Once again a weight is flung atop my back and babbling commences. Oh goody Willow's here now. Let the lies resume.