New Character: Alexander Lavelle "Xander" Harris
Full Name: Alexander Lavelle "Xander" Harris
Age: 28
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Brown
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 170 lbs
Occupation: Watcher, carpenter; currently an explorer of time and space
A good portion of Xander's biography can be found here, excluding the season eight material drawn from the comic books.
After the fall of Sunnydale, Xander spent some time in Africa seeking out newly activated Slayers. Eventually, he journeyed to Scotland and joined Buffy, and Giles' cousin Victoria, in handling the Slayer operations there. Later, in order to prevent an apocalypse, Xander joined with several Slayers and Andrew, in tracking down a valuable, mystical artifact which he delivered to Giles in Cleveland just in time to assist Giles in preventing the opening of the Cleveland Hellmouth.
Xander remained in Cleveland, working with Giles and becoming Giles' right-hand in all manner of things related to Slayers and Watchers in Cleveland. Later, joined by Faith, Andrew and Heather, a new Watcher recruit, they formed the heads of Slayer Central on the Cleveland Hellmouth. While working together, Xander and Faith let go of past transgressions, grew to understand one another and developed both a partnership and a friendship. (If somewhere along the way they fell into a friends-with-benefits arrangement, everyone politely looked the other way.) However, Xander's support and defense of Faith leading the Slayers, and Giles' agreement with such, put a sizable strain on his friendship with Buffy.
Despite the large number of active Slayers and the libraries of Watcher lore, a multitude of mystics and a number of witches in their employ, there was nothing that Cleveland Central, or any other hub of Slayer activity, could do to stop the zombie apocalypse that took over Xander's (and Faith's) world. They escaped in the lifeboat vessel with Cassandra Sugarbaker and Chloe Sullivan (as well as a few others), after Giles sacrificed his life to aid their escape when they realized that nothing they could do would stop the destruction.
"Giles, we're not leaving you." It was a foolish, stupid argument and Xander knew it. It didn't take two good eyes to see that Giles was already infected, that he had maybe a few days at the most before he succumbed to the same dark plague that touched evertyhing around them.
Giles looked up at him with rheumy eyes. "Xander, I'm dying."
The words hit like a sucker punch to his gut. If he didn't say the words aloud, if Giles didn't say them aloud, then he could hang onto that belief that they weren't true, that this too would pass. This was the one man who believed in him, the one man who was the father that he never had. The man who gave and gave and gave so that the world could keep on going -
"No! It's not too late! There could still be a spell, there could be -"
"Xander. Stop." Soft, barely a rise to the voice, but a command that could not be ignored nonetheless. "Our hope lay in Willow and the covens at Devon or Boston. Both are gone. Even Angel's resources have found nothing. This, I fear, is finally the end."
"We've never loss. We've never given up, Giles. No matter how hard, how bad things are, we keep on fighting. We have to for ... for Dawn and Andrew and . . . " Xander stopped, his voice breaking. Tears blurred his one eye and he swiped at them angrily. "It's not fair. Not like this. Not you."
"You and Faith are still healthy. You need to leave."
"Where the hell would we go Giles?" Frustration and anger swelled up, dwarfing grief and denial.
"I made arrangements in case . . . you can leave on the lifeboat ship with Daniel and our other guests. They'll be waiting for you tonight. Find Faith, take her, and leave." With trembling hands, Giles pushed a case across the floor to Xander. "I swore I would bury this, and it would never be heard of again, but I've spent weeks gathering and preparing. If you needed a way out, we both know that Faith won't go willingly."
Confused, Xander took the box and opened it. He looked from the amber liquid and syringe and back to Giles.
"It's the chemical compound used for the Cruciamentum. There isn't any time for a slow build up. You'll have to overdose Faith. It won't kill her, but it'll take her down long enough for the two of you to leave." Giles held Xander's gaze steady, "For the two of you to live."
"This was your Plan B? The contingency plan?"
"No, this is Plan C. I fully expect you and Faith to be on that space ship headed for another universe before I activate Plan B."
They escaped, and once the drugs began to wear off, Xander gave Faith a letter written by Giles. She didn't talk to him for a few days after that, but she also didn't kick his ass for drugging her.
Now, after a few months of travel, they've arrived in this universe at Gamma World.
Age: 28
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Brown
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 170 lbs
Occupation: Watcher, carpenter; currently an explorer of time and space
A good portion of Xander's biography can be found here, excluding the season eight material drawn from the comic books.
After the fall of Sunnydale, Xander spent some time in Africa seeking out newly activated Slayers. Eventually, he journeyed to Scotland and joined Buffy, and Giles' cousin Victoria, in handling the Slayer operations there. Later, in order to prevent an apocalypse, Xander joined with several Slayers and Andrew, in tracking down a valuable, mystical artifact which he delivered to Giles in Cleveland just in time to assist Giles in preventing the opening of the Cleveland Hellmouth.
Xander remained in Cleveland, working with Giles and becoming Giles' right-hand in all manner of things related to Slayers and Watchers in Cleveland. Later, joined by Faith, Andrew and Heather, a new Watcher recruit, they formed the heads of Slayer Central on the Cleveland Hellmouth. While working together, Xander and Faith let go of past transgressions, grew to understand one another and developed both a partnership and a friendship. (If somewhere along the way they fell into a friends-with-benefits arrangement, everyone politely looked the other way.) However, Xander's support and defense of Faith leading the Slayers, and Giles' agreement with such, put a sizable strain on his friendship with Buffy.
Despite the large number of active Slayers and the libraries of Watcher lore, a multitude of mystics and a number of witches in their employ, there was nothing that Cleveland Central, or any other hub of Slayer activity, could do to stop the zombie apocalypse that took over Xander's (and Faith's) world. They escaped in the lifeboat vessel with Cassandra Sugarbaker and Chloe Sullivan (as well as a few others), after Giles sacrificed his life to aid their escape when they realized that nothing they could do would stop the destruction.
"Giles, we're not leaving you." It was a foolish, stupid argument and Xander knew it. It didn't take two good eyes to see that Giles was already infected, that he had maybe a few days at the most before he succumbed to the same dark plague that touched evertyhing around them.
Giles looked up at him with rheumy eyes. "Xander, I'm dying."
The words hit like a sucker punch to his gut. If he didn't say the words aloud, if Giles didn't say them aloud, then he could hang onto that belief that they weren't true, that this too would pass. This was the one man who believed in him, the one man who was the father that he never had. The man who gave and gave and gave so that the world could keep on going -
"No! It's not too late! There could still be a spell, there could be -"
"Xander. Stop." Soft, barely a rise to the voice, but a command that could not be ignored nonetheless. "Our hope lay in Willow and the covens at Devon or Boston. Both are gone. Even Angel's resources have found nothing. This, I fear, is finally the end."
"We've never loss. We've never given up, Giles. No matter how hard, how bad things are, we keep on fighting. We have to for ... for Dawn and Andrew and . . . " Xander stopped, his voice breaking. Tears blurred his one eye and he swiped at them angrily. "It's not fair. Not like this. Not you."
"You and Faith are still healthy. You need to leave."
"Where the hell would we go Giles?" Frustration and anger swelled up, dwarfing grief and denial.
"I made arrangements in case . . . you can leave on the lifeboat ship with Daniel and our other guests. They'll be waiting for you tonight. Find Faith, take her, and leave." With trembling hands, Giles pushed a case across the floor to Xander. "I swore I would bury this, and it would never be heard of again, but I've spent weeks gathering and preparing. If you needed a way out, we both know that Faith won't go willingly."
Confused, Xander took the box and opened it. He looked from the amber liquid and syringe and back to Giles.
"It's the chemical compound used for the Cruciamentum. There isn't any time for a slow build up. You'll have to overdose Faith. It won't kill her, but it'll take her down long enough for the two of you to leave." Giles held Xander's gaze steady, "For the two of you to live."
"This was your Plan B? The contingency plan?"
"No, this is Plan C. I fully expect you and Faith to be on that space ship headed for another universe before I activate Plan B."
They escaped, and once the drugs began to wear off, Xander gave Faith a letter written by Giles. She didn't talk to him for a few days after that, but she also didn't kick his ass for drugging her.
Now, after a few months of travel, they've arrived in this universe at Gamma World.