Title: Meeting new friends
Author: Adalisa
Email: [email protected]
Feedback: I love it. It's inspiring... and let's face it, it's the
only real reason to keep writing.
Distribution: Mama Chelle's site, XanderSlash's
site and my site. Anywhere else, just ask. I won't say no.
Web site: http://members.tripod.com/luxshine/
Summary: Xander meets someone from Buffy's past.
Rating: R, I think.
Disclaimer: Everyone here is property of Joss Wheldon, Warner Bros. And another bunch of people. But they keep treating them bad, so I play with them.
Content: X/Other (Yeah, yeah. You'll know after the first two lines, but let's keep it a surprise until then)
Spoilers: The Origin comic book, but just a little bit. Some very, very small for The Harvest, Teacher's Pet, What's my line?, Go Fish and Homecoming.
Notes: This is my first Xander fic that doesn't involve Angel or Angelus. And it's not an Alternative Universe either! ^_^ Hope you all enjoy it.
Xander walked as silently as he could in the darkened alley. He never thought that his spring vacation in L.A. would lead him to stalk a vampire in the night... That was Buffy's job. Or Giles. Or Angel. Or Faith... or anyone else but him. He had accepted to travel to his aunt's house only to get away from all the Slaying business and the dreading feeling that he was becoming somewhat expendable to the group. But he hadn't been able to ignore the increasing number of bodies without blood that appeared on the neighbor. He had chosen to do the stupid thing.
That was why he was there, in the middle of the night, armed only with some makeshift stakes, two big crucifixes and some garlic powder he had stolen from his aunt.
A noise behind him made him turn around swiftly, only to see a cat running away. The fifth one in the evening.
"That's it!" He said, to no one in particular. "One more cat and I'm quitting the stake business for good!"
"Great idea. Slaying should be left to pros." Xander grasped his stake with a little more strength than necessary when he saw someone walking towards him, armed with a big wooden crucifix that had a very pointy end. The new comer's face was half shadowed, but Xander could make out brown hair, not so carefully cut, a small beard and thick eyebrows... all coupled together with an annoying smile.
"Yeah, well... I don't see your Slayer's club Membership card." The slayerette answered, wondering why all of a sudden there happen to be so many slayers-wanna be's.
"Look, this ain't a good time to be smart, man. You go to wherever you're staying and keep out of the streets." The mysterious guy said, making Xander remember his own tone of voice.
"I can take care of myself. I've done this before, you know?"
Before the other could answer, a low deep laugh caught their attention.
"Good. Room Service" The vampire was almost running towards them from the other side of the alley. Obviously, Xander and the other vampire hunter had managed to find it's lair.
The Undead creature launched himself against them, managing to caught the mysterious guy, making him loose his stake/crucifix. As he keep trying to get a stake he had on his belt, Xander managed to regain his balance, get behind the monster, and almost stake him in the heart, just missing for some inches. This was very good to get the vampire's attention, who turned around and hit him, sending to the floor, without loosing his grasp on the other's neck. However, the guy took advantage of the vampire's distraction and kicked it on his ribs. At the same time that Xander threw the garlic powder to the vampire's eyes making him turn around completely, letting the other guy go. As it was blinded, both staked it at the same time, from behind and from the front.
Looking at the ash in their shoes, both let out a relief sigh.
"I'm Pike." The guy said to Xander, holding out his hand. "Good thinking with the garlic powder. Buffy would love it."
"Xander. " The Slayerette answered. "Where did you meet Buffy?"
"You know her too?" Pike lifted his eyebrows, genuinely surprised. "We used to go to the same High School..."
"When she burned down the gym?" Xander's memory suddenly kicked in, as he remembered what Buffy had told them a few months ago about her calling... and Pike.
"Hey, you know any good places around here? We could trade Slayer's sidekick notes..."
"So you got on this mess when your best friend turned vampire, uh?" Xander asked, as he sat in the only chair in Pike's hotel room. They had decided not to risk meeting another vampire by going somewhere the undead couldn't get to. And since Xander's aunt would never allow someone that looked like Pike in her house, that only had left them one alternative. "That's tough. I happened to hear Buffy talking to Giles, her watcher, in the library one day... Jesse didn't turned into a vampire until later."
"Did she staked him?" Pike was sitting on the bed, a forgotten beer in his hand. They had started talking about some simple things, Buffy, her figure, that she was sexy, that she never paid much attention to either of them... and from there, the conversation had took a more personal tone.
"No... I did. But I didn't want to ... he was my best friend."
"Makes me wonder... " Pike seemed absorbed in his thoughts. "... if the price to become the Slayer's sidekick is to kill your best friend."
"You too?"
"Yeah. During the Senior Dance, while Buffy was busy with the Lothos guy..."
For a brief moment neither talked, both immersed in their own memories. Xander remembered the moment in which Jesse taunted him, before he fell on the stake he was holding. Pike was thinking about Benny, and the very unfair way in which he died.
Finally, Pike was the one to break the mourning silence that had befell over them.
"Say, what has been the most scary thing you have done with Buffy?"
Xander seemed to consider it a little, as he let his own untouched beer in the nearby table. "Going undercover in the swimming team."
"C'mon, man! That can't be it!" Pike laughed, but Xander only looked at him with mock anger.
"Sure. They were using steroids that turned the guys into fish monsters. I was one sauna away from becoming Flipper." Then he paused. "There where a couple of bug people that scared the hell outta me, but that was it."
"Bug People?" Pike laughed even harder, before managing to control himself. He looked at Xander, half afraid to have insulted the other, but he could see that the slayerette was hiding a grin. "Wow. And I thought I would never hear of anything worse than the vampire chorus girl from Las Vegas" With that, Xander couldn't resist anymore, and he began laughing too. Soon, both had tears on their eyes.
By the time they both calmed down, Xander was sitting on the bed too. "Say... why you keep doing this anyway?"
"You mean... Slaying alone?"
"No, breathing." Xander shoot an annoyed look at Pike, who answered with a winning smile. "Of course, Slaying alone... I mean, it's supposed to be Buffy's job."
"So says the guy with the garlic powder." Pike closed his eyes for a second, and lay down. "Well, I don't see her around... You see, when she left... I thought I owed it to Benny... and it beats working in a 7-11. Not that she would notice it if I just did that."
Xander nodded. He knew perfectly well what Pike meant. "When Jesse died... Hell, I was there just for revenge. Trying to impress Buffy came later. And she never notices anyway... She once called me 'One of the girls'" Xander was about to get himself in a depression when he noted Pike looking intently at him. "What?"
"You did great back there." Pike said, not taking his eyes away from him. "I was seriously impressed."
Xander blinked for a moment, loosing himself in Pike's brown eyes. "You... You were great too, Pike."
Their eyes remained entwined for a long, silent second. Or maybe it was a minute, or a month. Neither of them was sure of the time, as their twin pools of brown understanding swirled together. They did not realized as they began leaning closer to the other, not until they were so close that they could feel the other's breath.
"I... I think... I should go home now..." Xander stammered, quickly on his foot.
"Yeah... you... you should..." Pike seemed even more nervous as he walked to the door, picking up his jacket. But as he did so, he turned to see Xander again. "Wanna go patrolling tomorrow night?"
"Sure... why not?" Xander answered, although in his confused state, he was not sure why he had accepted to go.
A week later, Xander let himself fall on Pike's bed, completely exhausted, dropping his last stake in the floor as he did so. Pike followed him, and as it was a double bed, they both fit perfectly.
They had been patrolling together every night since their meeting, and their friendship had grew strong. Neither of them talked about the incident of the first night, although both had been thinking of it as soon as they were alone... thinking of ways to avoid that from happening again, fearful to loose their new friendship.
But not that night. They were too tired to think, after confronting the cheerleader squad from hell.
"I know this is going to sound weird, but I don't want to see another breast in my life!" Xander said, laughing a little. The truth was that he was near a hysterical shock.
"I'm with you, man." Pike breathed in, still laying at Xander's side.
"Whoever deity that decided that you had to impale vampires in the heart, never imagined _that _ situation."
They had been patrolling as every night, not finding anything strange or unusual, when they had fell in a trap. 8 fem vamps, all incredibly busty and very scantly clad, had decided to use local boys as both food and sexual slaves. Although they had managed to stake 7 of them, and escape with their bodies intact, both had been way too close to die.
"Was it like this with the Vegas chorus-girl?" Xander leaned on his side, to see Pike's face. He was breathing hard, the adrenaline, fear and arousal from the last hours catching up with him.
Pike also turned around, to meet Xander's eyes. He hadn't done that ever since the first night, although he had been watching the slayerette very closely. Just to know Buffy's friends, he had told himself then... But he was also full of adrenaline, full of too many things. "Sort of... I was way too excited when it was over... Buffy..."
"What did she do?" Xander was leaning closer again, and before either of them realized what they were doing, Pike licked his lips and finally closed the small gap between their faces. Xander hesitated for a moment, when the other's lips caressed his, but it was just for a moment. He followed Pike's lips, parting his own a little, nibbling Pike's lower lip, allowing access to Pike's tongue.
The kiss was not long, although it was not brief either. But finally, they parted, just leaving enough room to be able to see the other's face. Their arms were entwined, both had their hands in the other's waist. Somehow, neither of them seemed to notice.
"She just kissed me and left the room..." Pike breathed, easing his hold a little, as if to give Xander the chance to go away. "We always had separate rooms..."
Xander seemed to consider something for a moment. Then he slid his hand from Pike's waist to his neck. He was not entirely sure of what he was doing, and for a second, his mind returned to Sunnydale, to the day when he had told Larry that he was not gay... and smiled. "We don't have another room here" he said, before catching Pike's mouth again, seeing just a glimpse of Pike's half surprised, half relieved smile.
The kiss grew in intensity, as both of them explored the other's mouth and lips. Their tongues remained entwined, as they caressed the other's lips, gums, teeth. And at the same time, Xander began to trace soft circles in Pike's neck, following the short, cut hair, before lowering his exploration to the back again.
Pike was not idle during this, as his hand finished his fight with Xander's shirt, finally making contact with the other's heated flesh, a contact that send his own body into flames, just as the universe centered in the place where their mouths were together. As they finally parted, and Pike began licking Xander's neck, just as Xander's hands cupped his ass. Neither of them seemed aware of the time passing, as they took off their clothes and forgot the fear and pain of the day in a fiery embrace.
The spring break ended, and Xander returned to Sunnydale.
Although he never mentioned to Buffy or Willow what had happened in L.A., he often thought of Pike, and from time to time Pike would write, and Xander would answer. They didn't write about what had happened between them the last week Xander was there, about the fact that those last seven days Xander spend more time in Pike's arms than in his aunt's house. But Xander thought of those days and it would bring a smile to his face.
After all, Summer vacation was coming. His aunt always needed an extra hand around the house.
End