Continueing with my promise..
Here is the second part of my fic, now posted on my LJ, please read and give some feedback will ya?:
tle: You lost me at hello.
Author: Adrian_Tepes.
Rating: R.
Warning: Crossovers, cameos and guest appearances ahead.
Disclaimer: I own neither Xander nor any of ME created characters or anyone's characters save for ones I created and those should be obvious.
Summary: Xander takes the first step of the rest of his life.
Author Notes: As I said, I took some time off to review and rework my earlier plans series into something that was closer to what I wanted. I'm still in the process of doing that but I've got a lot of great ideas and bad ones to explore.
Every once in a while a story comes along that redefines the genre and sets a new standard in fiction.
This is NOT that story. This story will go places where NO man has gone before. Most likely the ladies room and beyond.
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-Chapter one-
'Okay let's review, I was in my land rover, heading out to the boonies after getting kicked right in the teeth by Elizabeth and Robert and now I'm in the middle of a swamp with no car or a clue how I got here. Yeah that sounds about right.'
Further thinking on the subject was interrupted, as Xander became aware of a motor boat slowing down. He looked behind him and saw that there was indeed a boat approaching the little piece of land where he was lying. A boat carried two armed men with rifles pointed directly at him.
"Uh Hi?"
The ride back to wherever the men had come from was quiet and dark for Xander. Of course being handcuffed behind his back and having a bag placed over his head had something to do with that.
'Note to self, "hi" probably is a bit lacking when greeting armed men with guns. I wonder how those guys found me and what they were doing out there in the first place. They didn't look like surprised to see me. 'Hmm, sounds like this little trip is coming to a close and I'll be getting some answers one way or another shortly'.
The boat stopped and he heard footsteps of more then one person approaching. The boat shifted slightly as the men moved around.
"Who is this?"
"Sir, this is what we found at the location described, sir."
"Nothing else?"
"No sir."
"Bring him."
Xander felt himself being helped up and assisted off the boat by the others. Still unable to see, he allowed himself to be guided further onto what sounded like asphalt and concrete. Eventually the men guiding him stopped and so did he wondering what the hell was going on.
"You may remove the hood now." This was a different voice, he noted, vaguely familiar with an English accent. The hood was removed and he blinked rapidly as he re-adjusted to being able to see again and then froze.
Standing not more the five feet away was Gwendolyn Post. He closed his eye briefly then re-opened it, yep she was still there. Watching him watching her.
"Curious."
She moved slightly closer and he forced himself not to move as she did so. "You act surprised by something. Who are you?"
"Me? I'm uh, Xander."
"Xander? What sort of name is that?"
"It's uh, short for Alexander."
"Ah. Tell me, 'Xander' what exactly were you doing in the middle of a swamp?"
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
Post's eyes narrowed as she focused her gaze onto him, "Try me."
"All right, I was in my land rover heading out to the African Bush when it was knocked off what passes for a road over there by an explosion. I got out trying to see what the hell was going, there was another boom and I wind in the middle of the swamp."
Gwendolyn appeared to be pondering what he had said for a few minutes before responding. "I believe you're serious."
"I am serious. This morning I was in Africa, and now I don't know where I am."
"That I can answer. You're in the swamps of Louisiana." She scanned him again before turning and addressing another man that was standing nearby. "Tell the Captain, I will be taking Mr. Xander with me."
"Yes Ma'am."
She gave him one long look before leaving, apparently headed to speak with 'the Captain'.
Xander remained where he was watching her leave. As she got of his vision he turned to the other soldiers (as he now thought of them) and asked, "Can someone remove these cuffs?"
Not too far away from Xander was, Gwendolyn post was in the process of speaking with the unit commander, a Captain Frakes.
"I don't like this decision, Ms. Post."
"I did not ask you whether or not you 'liked' the decision, Captain." The tone in her voice was curt, "I am telling what I plan to do as senior liaison with your unit."
"Ms. Post with all due respect, what you're proposing is extremely dangerous. That young man, -"
"Xander."
"Xander, we have no explanation for how he came to be in that area. There were no signs or reports of either boats or aircraft in the area and it's highly unlikely that he simply walked out there on foot. We would have detected him beforehand. So that leaves..."
"That Captain leaves mystical means which is my area of expertise. If this young man did arrive here via magical means, I will almost certainly be better equipped to deal with it then you or your forces are. Which is yet another reason why he is coming with me. Do not worry Captain he will be thoroughly and completely checked out by us. If he did arrive via magical means and is indeed what we were looking for, then we will take care of that."
Frakes didn't like it but nodded his agreement. He summoned his aide and made travel arrangements for Ms. Post and Xander. Gwendolyn didn't stick around for that discussion and headed out to recover her newest charge. She found him still handcuffed, though this time in front, sitting between soldiers trying desperately to start a conversation.
"Good evening Mr. Harris."
"Hi."
With a wave of her hand, she dismissed the guards and waited until they were out of earshot before continuing. "My name is Gwendolyn Post but I suspect you already knew that."
He blinked slowly, trying and failing to hide his surprise.
Seeing that she was correct, Gwen pressed on, "You know a great deal about me then you're letting on don't you?"
Xander looked around uneasily before answering, "I knew a Gwendolyn Post and if you're anything like her, I'm screwed."
"And why is that?"
"Because she was evil. She tried to kill me and my friends."
"Who were your friends?"
'Buffy Summers, the Slayer, and Rupert Giles, her watcher."
"Buffy who?"
"Buffy, the Slayer. The Chosen One, the one who fights the vampires and demons. All you Watcher types know that."
Gwen was silent for a moment before speaking again, "I have never heard of this Buffy person nor do I know what a Watcher is. You and I young man, are going to have some very interesting conversations before I am satisfied."
Behind them a jeep pulled up announcing that their flight was ready.
On the plane flight out, Xander stared out the window in silence. He could feel Gwen's gaze from time to time settle on him briefly and tried not to think about it. 'At least the cuffs are gone'.
Post for her part remained silent while studying the quickly assembled data she had while comparing it to the young man seated near her. The purpose of her trip was to investigate reports of odd things appearing and disappearing in the area. There had also been reports of strange flashes of light and loud bangs. So with the rest of her 'team' resting she had flown here to find out what was going on.
'Was he the source of all that?'
A crewmember appeared abruptly and handed her a message form before returning to his station forward. 'Ah good, they've returned from their R&R and will meet us at the base. Hopefully they will not have burned down anything else since last time.'
The flight arrived without incident at it's destination. Gwendolyn gave instructions to the driver waiting for them to drop her off near the base commander's office and for him to drive Alexander to where the others were.
The jeep drove a bit further to some buildings standing apart from the rest of the base. The driver turned and addressed his passenger, "You get out here. They're waiting inside for you."
Quietly Xander got out of the jeep and knocked on the door. "Enter' was all he heard and with a twist of the knob he went inside. And promptly found nothing going on. The interior of the building was decorated in oddly normal fashion. The room he was in looked very much like a normal living room. Albeit one decorated in pretty generic and dull fashion.
"Oh hello."
Xander and found another man staring at him from the hallway drying his hands with a towel. The man tossed the now wet towel on the couch and walked over to him with his hand out. "Hey, I'm Aaron."
"Xander."
"Xander? What kind of name is that?," He focused on the eye-patch, "Are you a pirate?"
"It's short for Alexander."
"Oh."
"And I was a foreman in a construction company."
"Oh. I bet that guy got fired."
"What guy?"
Aaron indicated the patch, "that's one hell of a mistake to make on site."
Xander sighed, "That wasn't a construction accident. Oh never mind. Can you tell what's going on?"
He started to answer but was cut off by the sound of another door opening and a deeper, rough voice calling out. "Hey man, bring the camera, I think we got a two or three flusher here."
Aaron quickly shifted his attention towards the direction and headed that way with Xander following behind him. They reached an open door where another man was standing. He was roughly the same height as Aaron and Xander but much more stout and with a distinctive gut hanging over his waist. He also had mustache and looked he needed a shave. He gestured towards the inside of bathroom, "You got to see this."
Aaron stepped inside the room and peered down into the toilet, "I don't remember you eating that much corn."
"Remember that steakhouse the other day?"
"Oh yeah."
It was then that the other man noticed Xander, "Who's the new guy?"
"Oh that's Xander."
"Huh," he looked Xander over briefly, "I'm Ty, this is Aaron."
"Yeah, I got that. What's going on?"
"Well I don't know about you I'm going to get the camera, this is a big moment not to be forgotten." The two men left the bathroom and Xander stood there feeling a bit confused and not a little out of place. He heard the door open and someone else enter the room.
"Hey guys! You'll never believe what just happened. That dead possum that was lying on the road just got run over by a tanker truck and exploded everywhere."
"Really?"
"Yeah, now there's possum guts everywhere and some even got splattered on the General's car. He's gonna be pissed off for sure."
"Oh yeah? I just had a two-flusher and now we're going to record it."
Xander watched as the other man's jaw dropped, "Ah, no way, this I gotta see." Aaron, Ty and the other young man went to the bathroom with him watching them do so. The door opened yet again and this time, a figure more familiar to Xander entered the building.
Gwendolyn Post.
She entered the room with a purpose and noted that Xander was standing by himself in the room and the other three men were huddled around the bathroom.
"Ahem!"
The group turned from where they were focusing, saw Ms. Post and quickly moved to the center of the room, loosely hanging around Xander. He took the opportunity to focus on the newest stranger. He was a little taller then himself and seemed to be in much better shape athletically. His bright blue eyes seemed to hint at something more then was immediately apparent.
"What were you three doing?"
Aaron coughed briefly as he stepped forward and answered her, "Well, Ms. Post, we were investigating an event of special and extraordinary rarity."
"And that event would be?"
"Well," He scratched the back of his head and the other boy spoke, "Ty took a HUGE dump and we think it might take two or three flushes to get rid of. We wanted to videotape it." Xander noted that the other two shot him a dirty look but didn't say anything. Ms. Post sighed, "All right then. Perhaps one of you will be good enough to explain how the remains of a deceased vermin, managed to end up decorating the base commander's personal vehicle?"
Ty and Aaron looked at each other for a second before speaking together, "Cole did it."
Cole protested, "I did not, it got hit by a tanker truck."
Ms. Post had a notable twitch in her face as she focused all her attention on him, "Young man, I happen to know for a fact that dead animal was located quite some distance from the road where those trucks travel. Now unless you happen to have an excellent, 100% reason for how this could happen, I will become EXTREMELY upset."
Cole hesitated before answering, "Well maybe it was playing dead. You know it was a possum."
Gwen gritted her teeth, a move that drew immediate and deep concern from both Aaron and Ty, Xander noted. She took a deep breath before speaking. "Outside all of you. NOW."
The group quietly and quickly headed for the door, before they got there, she stopped them. "Cole, Aaron, Tyler. Take Xander with you. And try NOT to get into anymore trouble."
The group nodded and went out the door. As it shut behind them, Cole turned and looked at him. "Xander huh?"
"It's short for Alexander."
"Oh, you guys want to go to the Kwik-E-Market?"
"Cool."
"Sure."
Cole nodded and looked over at the Xander, "You in?"
Xander took a minute to consider his situation before answering, "Why not. Let's go."