White Knight Tarnished
                                 by Cathryn
AUTHOR:  Cathryn  (SpikeDchs@aol.com)
TITLE:  "White Knight Tarnished"
DISTRIBUTION:  Please, please ask.  I'll say yes; I just want to know about
where my story is.
RATING:  PG-13; there is some stuff in here that some people may find
offensive.
SPOILERS:  "Killed By Death"
SUMMARY:  This is what I think could have happened with the Xander/Angelus
scene.  It may seem far-fetched, but let's face it - with Joss's acid trip
going the way it was then, this could have happened.
DISCLAIMER:  Okay, let's see.  Xander, Angelus, the hospital, and the
dialogue in the first half of the story are not mine.  They're Joss's.
FEEDBACK:  Please!  This is the first story I have written like this and I
want to know if I did it well.  But I beg of you - no flames!!  I have
never been flamed for one of my stories before and I'd like it to stay that
way.
DEDICATED TO:  Ripe Wicked Plum.  It is because of a conversation with her
that I wound up watching this scene five or six times to figure out what on
earth Angelus did with the flowers he had.  (Note to those who care:  He
took them with him when he left.)  It is as a direct result of the
overviewage that this idea was born and would *not* go away!
THANKS TO:  AleXander, 'cause I couldn't have written this without the help
of his lovely, lovely transcripts.


"White Knight Tarnished"

Xander sighed and checked his watch for the zillionth time.  It was, of
course, only two minutes later than the last time he'd checked, about two
minutes ago.  < Well, duh. >  Xander sighed again and shifted in his
uncomfortable chair (custom made for hospitals, of course.).

More time passed.  Xander fought the steadily growing urge to zonk out,
from which he was distracted by the sound of someone walking in,
whistling.  Xander glanced up casually, and nearly fell out of his chair -
at least, that was what it felt like - when he saw who it was.  He
recovered quickly and stood, moving forward to meet the intruder.

"Visiting hours are over."

Angelus glanced absently at the bouquet of white flowers he held, saying,
"Well, I'm pretty much family."

Since when?  "Yeah," Xander muttered, struggling to keep calm.  "Why don't
you come back during the day?  Oh, gee, no, I guess you can't."

Cute.  Real cute.  Not to mention original.  Angelus chose not to pursue
that, saying instead, "If I decide to walk into Buffy's room, do you think
for one microsecond that you could stop me?"

"Maybe not," Xander replied, pleased to discover that his voice sounded
fairly even, in no way belying the fact that he was so nervous he could've
screamed.  "Maybe that security guard couldn't either.  Or those cops . . .
or the orderlies . . . but I'm kinda curious to find out."  He could
practically feel himself gaining the upper hand.  "You game?"

Damn.  Kid had a point.  He couldn't get through all those people without
causing a major scene, which was the last thing he wanted.

On the other hand, like hell was Angelus just going to walk away.  He
studied Xander's face intently.

"Buffy's White Knight.  You still love her."  Angelus stepped closer,
closing the distance between them to just inches.  "It must just eat you up
that I got there first."

He was only inches away.  Xander's heart was pounding so hard that he was
surprised it hadn't done an "Alien"-style jump out of his chest.

"You're gonna die."  Xander's voice trembled slightly.  "And I'm gonna be
there."

Half of Angelus's mind was thinking, < Impressive bravado.  Kind of a non
sequitur, but impressive nonetheless. >

The other half was resisting the sudden desire to lick his lips.

Inpulsively, he lifted the bouquet and pressed it to Xander's chest,
intending to say something along the lines of, "Tell her I stopped by."
Instead, he found himself focussed on the way the pounding of Xander's
heart vibrated through the flowers and into his hand.  He let the flowers
drop, still holding his hand to the boy's chest, feeling his heart pound
against his palm.

Xander stood stock still, staring at Angelus, feeling the chill of the
vampire's dead hand seeping through his shirt.  He pushed back the urge to
press his own hand over Angelus's, to keep it in place.

Angelus realized suddenly that his gaze had unconsciously ticked down to
Xander lips.  They were parted slightly, though whether from fear or . .
.something else, Angelus couldn't tell.  Then, he knew what he wanted to
do.

A quick kiss.  Nothing major, no big thing, but just enough to shake Xander
up.  Give him something to think about.

Xander's eyes went wide as he saw the vampire lean forward and realized
what he had in mind. Far from trying to get away, from trying to stop him,
Xander closed his eyes just as Angelus's cold lips touched his.

The boy's lips were soft, deliciously warm.  Angelus forgot entirely about
his plan to make it brief.  He slipped his hand down Xander's chest and
around his waist, pulling him closer as he deepened the kiss.

Xander opened his mouth to Angelus's probing tongue.  He raised his hand
and cupped it around the back of the vampire's neck, his tongue fighting
Angelus's for dominance.

Angelus tightened his arm around Xander's waist, kissing him urgently.  He
was too involved to be surprised at Xander's equally urgent response.  All
too soon, he felt the boy begin to struggle for air, although he made no
attempt to break off the kiss.  Reluctantly, having no intention of letting
Xander suffocate, Angelus broke it off himself.  And remembered, suddenly,
exactly
who he was kissing.

Xander sucked in a deep breath, opening his eyes.  He almost forgot to
breathe as he realized who he'd been kissing.

They stood frozen in place, each seeing his own shock mirrored in the
other's eyes.  The stunned silence grew larger, almost tangible, until
Xander couldn't stand it any longer.

"What the hell just happened?" he demanded, not bothering to try to stifle
the pronounced tremor in his voice.

Angelus closed his eyes briefly, struggling to pull himself back together
sufficiently to use the situation to his advantage.  Truth be told, he'd
been been just as blindsided by the lustful intensity of the kiss as Xander
had.  However, he also had decades' worth of experience in dealing with
shocks, so when he opened his eyes, he was able to think clearly.  He slid
his arm slowly
from around Xander's waist.  Xander blinked and snatched his hand away from
Angelus's neck, taking a step back.

Angelus reached out and placed his hand against the side of Xander's face.
Xander resisted the urge to lean into the vampire's touch, but didn't pull
away.

"I don't know what just happened," Angelus whispered seductively, "but I
wanna find out."  He took his hand away from Xander's face and looked into
the palm.

"What's this, White Knight?"  He looked up at Xander.  "A little tarnish?"

Angelus smirked and walked away, leaving behind the now thoroughly stepped
on and smudged white bouquet.


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