I Have Loved You for a Thousand Years (1/?)
Title: I Have Loved You for a Thousand Years
Author: Annjej76
Rating: M
Pairing: Xander/Spike
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Joss Whedon has that honor. I’m just taking the characters out for a joyride.
Synopsis: Xander gets turned into a vampire hybrid and gets shoved into another dimension. When he comes out he’s not the same. Will Spike be able to reach him or has he gone round the bend permanently?
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“You miserable lowlife! How dare you! You were to choose ME as your Sire. The others are dead all because of you!” the rogue Watcher Phillip LaMond yelled as he grabbed Xander by the collar of his shirt and shook him furiously.
“What can I say? I’ve never been good at following directions” Xander quipped between bone rattling shakes.
Xander stole a glance at the other four men who had been chained to the floor in a pentagram formation and shuddered. All of them were indeed dead. The injection of vampire serum had caused foam at the mouth and their faces contorted in grimaces of horror. “So how did I manage to survive?” Xander thought. He was brought out of his inner turmoil at the horror around him by Phillip muttering a spell under his breath.
A blinding light flashed through the auditorium and there shimmering in front of Xander stood a portal surrounded by purple lightening. On the other side stood a stark moon like landscape that made Mad Max look like Disneyland.
“You can’t do this! Buffy will kill you when she finds out…” Xander yelled as he struggled to get free of Phillip’s tight grip.
Laughing menacingly Phillip raised a hand and patted Xander on the cheek. Xander grimaced at the touch.
“You poor delusional boy! How is she ever going to find out if I’m not going to tell her?” Phillip said smugly.
Xander’s eye opened wide with shock at this, “why hadn’t I thought of that? Think Xander! How are you going to get out of this?” Xander thought frantically, a voice in his head simply said “Get mad!” Xander felt his anger at the situation rise within him until he was seeing red.
Xander felt his face shift for the first time ever as he tried to ripped Phillip’s fingers from his shirt. “LET ME GO!” He roared. He was able to get a right hook in before Phillip did a roundhouse kick connecting with Xander’s sternum. Xander reeled back and felt himself fall backwards.
“OH SHIT!” Xander thought as he landed on his back looking up at the portal. He saw Phillip giving him a fake wave.
“Ta Ta! Have fun in Hell” Phillip said as the portal winked out of sight leaving Xander alone and afraid in a dirty uninhabited dimension, or so he thought.
******
When Buffy and Willow found out what Phillip had done they made sure they made his suffering last before the Watcher Council came and took him away to be locked up for murder. When Rupert had seen the bodies of the four young Watchers he felt nausea at what Phillip had tried to do. “Day Walkers…is it even possible?” He thought as he threw himself into his library researching everything he could on the subject. At Phillip’s tribunal they led Phillip by Rupert and he had gotten in a few blows. During the trial it was revealed that Alexander Harris had been an unwilling victim yet try as the Watcher Council could Phillip never did reveal what Xander’s fate had been.
As time went on, Buffy and the gang came to the sad realization that Xander was for all intents and purposes dead since all of Willow’s locator spells came up empty. Spike and Angel took turns trying to console Buffy and Dawn at the news. Willow kept trying to locate him but the small flickering green light just sat there and never moved.
Willow tried every locator spell she could and the others became alarmed when her hair started turning black as she started slipping back into her dark magic to find him. There was a strong fear that Willow would go dark and try to tear apart the walls of every dimension to find her childhood friend. Nobody knows what Giles said to her but they know he was there and caught Willow as she fell to the ground screaming in mourning. That was the day the Weeping Willow tree appeared.
Since there was no body to bury. A simple black tombstone was placed on a hill overlooking the Slayer Compound in Sussex. Willow placed a bouquet of yellow crayons on the grave and would go up and talk to him when she felt lonely. It was a magnificent black obelisk and it sat as a sentinel beneath the large weeping Willow. The inscription on the base simply said “Alexander Lavelle Harris-He was loved by all.”
******
365 days later…
It was midnight when a shimmering purple portal opened next to the tombstone and a ragged warrior who looked remarkably like Xander Harris tumbled out onto the grass.
“Look William! We landed somewhere new. I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore” Xander said giggling to the empty air. He patted the grass and felt the strands run through his dirty calloused hands.
Looking around he took in deep breathes, relishing the clean air.
“Oh how I’ve missed clean air. No rotting bodies eh William?” Xander said looking around noticing the gravestone. Wandering over and kneeling down, “Alexander Lavelle Harris- He was loved by all. I’ve heard that name somewhere before. Wonder who he is.” shrugging he slowly made his way down the hill toward the Slayer Compound.
Staring at the massive wood door Xander felt something he hadn’t for a very long time. Fear. Feeling faint from lack of food, he raised his hand and rapped three times on the door. He heard movement inside and the door slowly opened.
Before Xander could speak his lack of food and the shock of landing somewhere new crashed down upon him. He didn’t hear Dawn screaming his name as he fell into unconsciousness.
******
“That’s impossible!” Giles exclaimed as he stared at the young powerful Mage Aurora. The young blonde stood defiantly in front of Rupert Giles.
“I’m sorry, but my readings never lie. That young man is over a thousand years old” she replied as she watched Giles pace back and forth.
“How?”
“I don’t know, all I know is he’s not completely human. Maybe the vampire serum he was injected with helped him survive?” Aurora asked.
“Possibly, we don’t know what the effects are of the experiment Phillip performed or how dangerous Xander might be. I’ll make preparations to keep him under observation so we can assess his mental state.” Giles said turning toward the glass window and watching a cleaned up Xander sleep peacefully in a magically induced coma so he can get the nutrients he desperately needed and make sure all his vitals are in proper working order.
“Please keep me posted. I forwarded the directions on how to bring him out of the coma to your e-mail. Please contact me if there are any questions or concerns.”
Placing a hand on Aurora’s shoulder he squeezed gently, “You’ll be the first to know. Thank you again Aurora and please give my best to your mother.”
Nodding, she turned and walked away. Giles turned back to the window and lost track of time before a voice spoke next to him.
“Any change?”
Giles glanced over and saw Buffy standing there arms wrapped around herself.
Placing a hand on her shoulder they stood there quietly.
“No change. Aurora just finished her assessment. He was in the other dimension for over a thousand years. I’m afraid when he wakes up, he won’t be the same Xander we knew.”
Nodding, Buffy raised a clenched fist and wiped a stray tear from her eyes.
“I’ll let the others know. We’ll give him all the time he needs. We’re just happy he’s back.” Buffy replied giving Giles a side hug before heading back toward the sleeping quarters. Her head bowed and arms wrapped tightly around herself. He watched as Spike walked up and said some quiet words. Buffy shook her head and Spike glanced his way. “Take care of them” was silently communicated and Spike gave a stiff nod and turning followed Buffy down the hall.