The Messenger, Part 1
The Messenger
by Harikari
Pairing: Spike/Xander
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Pre-slash, gore, violence, blood, possible spoilers for all seasons of BtVS and AtS.
Summary: Six years after the battle with the First Xander is having visions, another great evil is headed for Los Angeles, and Spike is feeling uncharacteristically warm towards a certain human.
AN: Just a little post-series universe I've had in mind for awhile. Sorry if you see this more than once. Written for fall_for_sx..
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Part One: Meetings
"Xander," said Angel. And this time there wasn't even any surprise in it, only frustration. "You're here."
Xander didn't answer; the rynak demon had thrown him to the ground just before Spike had rammed the silver blade of his knife into its spine. He was struggling up, dusting off his jeans. He glanced around, made his way over to an old headstone and picked up the axe that had landed there after the demon had knocked it from his grip.
"Harris," Angel said again, frowning down at the rynak demon's fallen companion (he'd just snapped its neck). It looked sort of like a vampire. Only more...blue. Xander had seen something like it before back in Sunnydale, he knew he had, but couldn't remember what the things were called. "What are you doing here?"
Xander looked up, watched as Spike pulled his knife from the large, scaly body. The vampire reached into his pocket and pulled out a square of red cloth. He wiped the knife's blade then tucked the weapon into a sheath on his belt. "Besides getting rescued by us, he means," quipped the blond, stuffing the cloth away and then running a smoothing hand over his already pristine and flowy looking leather duster.
Xander pursed his lips, shrugged and looked away from the two intense stares. He looked around at the cemetery; it was small and very old, the only illumination came from the high powered flashlight stuck in his back pocket light side up and the eerie glow of the two vampire's eyes. Most of the names and the dates on the headstones that weren't broken had worn away and the squat gate surrounding the place was rusted and twisted in spots. "Just killing demons," he finally replied when he realized that Angel wasn't going to let him go without an answer this time.
Spike snorted and Xander turned to glare at him -- the blond had a cigarette in his mouth now, was lighting it expertly with his Zippo -- and shrugged. "Well, you know, trying to at least. Thanks for..." He waved his hand around to take in the two dead demons sprawled on the ground. "That. Thanks."
He swung the axe up so the weight of it rested on his shoulder, pulled the flashlight from his pocket and aimed it so the beam faced forward. "Um...so I guess I'll see you around." He turned away then and started walking, sighed when not a second later both Angel and Spike were next to him (damn their freaky vampire speed, anyway), flanking him.
"Xander, tell me-" started Angel, only to be cut off by Spike.
"How the bloody hell are you doin' it, whelp? Staying a step ahead of us? How did you know a rynak and his friend were prowling around these parts? And how did you know about the vampire nest near that high school before that?"
They had reached the edge of the grounds, the three of them stepped through the large gap in the fence where an oversized gate had once been and Xander could make out his truck now. There was a black car parked behind it. Angel or Spike's latest ride.
"Don't call me whelp," was all he said. He put the axe into the duffel bag he had secured in the truck bed, then rifled through his jacket's pocket and pulled out his keys. He managed to pull open the door and toss the flashlight onto the bench seat before a large, powerful hand grabbed at the edge of the open door and held it firm. Angel's. Spike stood close, smoking and staring and standing just behind Xander like they were afraid he was going to bolt or something.
Yeah. Right. Like he didn't know running away from two master vampires was a bad idea for too many reasons to count.
"What?" he asked, but he already knew. He knew what they wanted to know and he didn't want to tell them. Didn't want to know it himself.
"After the incident at the school we got ahold of the New Council, talked to Giles. He said that you were in Africa for a while. That when you came back you asked for some time off, so they gave it to you. He said after that you headed back to the States and-"
"Yeah, yeah." Xander pushed hard at the door, trying to open it enough that he could squeeze inside and start the engine but it didn't budge. "I was there. I know the story."
"You dropped off their radar, whelp," cut in Spike. He leaned in closer, close enough that if he decided to breathe Xander would be able to feel moist breath on his neck. "Just...disappeared. Giles and the old gang were all very glad to hear about you but..." He trailed off.
Xander stopped struggling with the door, leaned back against the truck. "That's not true. I didn't disappear. I've talked to them all, like, at least once every month since I left the Council and I even visited Dawn awhile back."
Angel growled. "Listen, Harris. We know something is...up. Maybe you didn't completely disappear but you did stop hunting. You haven't wanted anything to do with hunting for years and now, suddenly, you're in L.A. and you've been showing up at every one of our targets for a week. What's going on?"
Xander played with the idea of telling the vampire that he had not put away hunting completely for all those years, thank you very much. Instead he said, "I don't know what you're freaking out about. Nothing is going on. Maybe I just feel like..."
Shit, he thought. And blinked. Because his head was suddenly pounding and his eye felt itchy and his muscles were tight. Shit. Not now. Not here.
"What? What's wrong?" came Angel's voice as if from a distance.
"Harris?"
But what he wanted didn't matter.
He saw a bright neon sign and a line of people behind a velvet rope, bodies gyrating to pulsing music, toxic looking drinks, a blond woman sitting at the bar next to a smiling young man. They stood, grasped hands and pushed through the crowd to the front door. Outside, they made their way to a nearby alley. In the near dark the woman pushed the man so his back was flat against the wall, wrapped her arms around his neck and -- screamed. Because the smiling young man had transformed, his eyes were an ugly yellow and his forehead was ridged. Two unnaturally long teeth protruded from his mouth. He grinned an ugly grin, held the woman tight and bent to bite her neck...
Xander blinked again. Swallowed. He was...on the ground, but leaning against something. Leaning against one of his truck's tires. He'd fallen, then. And he'd been moved. He was shaking. He felt a hand in his hair, gripping. Someone was kneeling in front of him and talking to him. Spike was leaning over him and talking to him. "...telling us you were having bloody visions?"
Beyond Spike, Angel was pacing. He had a cell phone pressed to his ear and was hissing something into it. He nodded sharply (Xander wondered if he'd forgotten the person he was talking to couldn't actually see him through the phone), then flipped the cell closed.
Xander's eye was still itching. Spike had let go of his hair and now had a cold hand gripping the back of his neck. Not a threatening grip or anything. Just...there.
"Okay," he said. Both demons were looking at him, their eyes fierce and their body language screaming tense and ready for action. "So there might be these visions-"
"Xander," both vampires growled in unison.
Xander sighed, caved. "I saw a club in the city. Club Red. I'm pretty sure I know where it is. Some vampire guy is going to try and drain a pretty blond." He frowned at Spike. "A pretty blond lady," he amended.
Spike twitched an eyebrow at him. Angel kept staring.
"Well?" asked Xander. "Can you help me up? I got the feeling the attack is tonight."
Spike stood and pulled him to his feet without effort, put a steadying hand on his shoulder when he swayed.
"Okay. Yeah. Fine. Let's go," said Angel. "But after we've taken care of the vampire we're going to talk, Harris."
Part Two
by Harikari
Pairing: Spike/Xander
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Pre-slash, gore, violence, blood, possible spoilers for all seasons of BtVS and AtS.
Summary: Six years after the battle with the First Xander is having visions, another great evil is headed for Los Angeles, and Spike is feeling uncharacteristically warm towards a certain human.
AN: Just a little post-series universe I've had in mind for awhile. Sorry if you see this more than once. Written for fall_for_sx..
-----
Part One: Meetings
"Xander," said Angel. And this time there wasn't even any surprise in it, only frustration. "You're here."
Xander didn't answer; the rynak demon had thrown him to the ground just before Spike had rammed the silver blade of his knife into its spine. He was struggling up, dusting off his jeans. He glanced around, made his way over to an old headstone and picked up the axe that had landed there after the demon had knocked it from his grip.
"Harris," Angel said again, frowning down at the rynak demon's fallen companion (he'd just snapped its neck). It looked sort of like a vampire. Only more...blue. Xander had seen something like it before back in Sunnydale, he knew he had, but couldn't remember what the things were called. "What are you doing here?"
Xander looked up, watched as Spike pulled his knife from the large, scaly body. The vampire reached into his pocket and pulled out a square of red cloth. He wiped the knife's blade then tucked the weapon into a sheath on his belt. "Besides getting rescued by us, he means," quipped the blond, stuffing the cloth away and then running a smoothing hand over his already pristine and flowy looking leather duster.
Xander pursed his lips, shrugged and looked away from the two intense stares. He looked around at the cemetery; it was small and very old, the only illumination came from the high powered flashlight stuck in his back pocket light side up and the eerie glow of the two vampire's eyes. Most of the names and the dates on the headstones that weren't broken had worn away and the squat gate surrounding the place was rusted and twisted in spots. "Just killing demons," he finally replied when he realized that Angel wasn't going to let him go without an answer this time.
Spike snorted and Xander turned to glare at him -- the blond had a cigarette in his mouth now, was lighting it expertly with his Zippo -- and shrugged. "Well, you know, trying to at least. Thanks for..." He waved his hand around to take in the two dead demons sprawled on the ground. "That. Thanks."
He swung the axe up so the weight of it rested on his shoulder, pulled the flashlight from his pocket and aimed it so the beam faced forward. "Um...so I guess I'll see you around." He turned away then and started walking, sighed when not a second later both Angel and Spike were next to him (damn their freaky vampire speed, anyway), flanking him.
"Xander, tell me-" started Angel, only to be cut off by Spike.
"How the bloody hell are you doin' it, whelp? Staying a step ahead of us? How did you know a rynak and his friend were prowling around these parts? And how did you know about the vampire nest near that high school before that?"
They had reached the edge of the grounds, the three of them stepped through the large gap in the fence where an oversized gate had once been and Xander could make out his truck now. There was a black car parked behind it. Angel or Spike's latest ride.
"Don't call me whelp," was all he said. He put the axe into the duffel bag he had secured in the truck bed, then rifled through his jacket's pocket and pulled out his keys. He managed to pull open the door and toss the flashlight onto the bench seat before a large, powerful hand grabbed at the edge of the open door and held it firm. Angel's. Spike stood close, smoking and staring and standing just behind Xander like they were afraid he was going to bolt or something.
Yeah. Right. Like he didn't know running away from two master vampires was a bad idea for too many reasons to count.
"What?" he asked, but he already knew. He knew what they wanted to know and he didn't want to tell them. Didn't want to know it himself.
"After the incident at the school we got ahold of the New Council, talked to Giles. He said that you were in Africa for a while. That when you came back you asked for some time off, so they gave it to you. He said after that you headed back to the States and-"
"Yeah, yeah." Xander pushed hard at the door, trying to open it enough that he could squeeze inside and start the engine but it didn't budge. "I was there. I know the story."
"You dropped off their radar, whelp," cut in Spike. He leaned in closer, close enough that if he decided to breathe Xander would be able to feel moist breath on his neck. "Just...disappeared. Giles and the old gang were all very glad to hear about you but..." He trailed off.
Xander stopped struggling with the door, leaned back against the truck. "That's not true. I didn't disappear. I've talked to them all, like, at least once every month since I left the Council and I even visited Dawn awhile back."
Angel growled. "Listen, Harris. We know something is...up. Maybe you didn't completely disappear but you did stop hunting. You haven't wanted anything to do with hunting for years and now, suddenly, you're in L.A. and you've been showing up at every one of our targets for a week. What's going on?"
Xander played with the idea of telling the vampire that he had not put away hunting completely for all those years, thank you very much. Instead he said, "I don't know what you're freaking out about. Nothing is going on. Maybe I just feel like..."
Shit, he thought. And blinked. Because his head was suddenly pounding and his eye felt itchy and his muscles were tight. Shit. Not now. Not here.
"What? What's wrong?" came Angel's voice as if from a distance.
"Harris?"
But what he wanted didn't matter.
He saw a bright neon sign and a line of people behind a velvet rope, bodies gyrating to pulsing music, toxic looking drinks, a blond woman sitting at the bar next to a smiling young man. They stood, grasped hands and pushed through the crowd to the front door. Outside, they made their way to a nearby alley. In the near dark the woman pushed the man so his back was flat against the wall, wrapped her arms around his neck and -- screamed. Because the smiling young man had transformed, his eyes were an ugly yellow and his forehead was ridged. Two unnaturally long teeth protruded from his mouth. He grinned an ugly grin, held the woman tight and bent to bite her neck...
Xander blinked again. Swallowed. He was...on the ground, but leaning against something. Leaning against one of his truck's tires. He'd fallen, then. And he'd been moved. He was shaking. He felt a hand in his hair, gripping. Someone was kneeling in front of him and talking to him. Spike was leaning over him and talking to him. "...telling us you were having bloody visions?"
Beyond Spike, Angel was pacing. He had a cell phone pressed to his ear and was hissing something into it. He nodded sharply (Xander wondered if he'd forgotten the person he was talking to couldn't actually see him through the phone), then flipped the cell closed.
Xander's eye was still itching. Spike had let go of his hair and now had a cold hand gripping the back of his neck. Not a threatening grip or anything. Just...there.
"Okay," he said. Both demons were looking at him, their eyes fierce and their body language screaming tense and ready for action. "So there might be these visions-"
"Xander," both vampires growled in unison.
Xander sighed, caved. "I saw a club in the city. Club Red. I'm pretty sure I know where it is. Some vampire guy is going to try and drain a pretty blond." He frowned at Spike. "A pretty blond lady," he amended.
Spike twitched an eyebrow at him. Angel kept staring.
"Well?" asked Xander. "Can you help me up? I got the feeling the attack is tonight."
Spike stood and pulled him to his feet without effort, put a steadying hand on his shoulder when he swayed.
"Okay. Yeah. Fine. Let's go," said Angel. "But after we've taken care of the vampire we're going to talk, Harris."
Part Two