Title: The Choice – Part 9
Author: Xanfan
Rating: Mature
Pairing: various, including M/M Slash
Summary: Response to challenge found here http://beyondcanon.brain-insane.com/challenges.php?
chalid=38. The Scoobies discover that Buffy’s resurrection has allowed the First to gain a foothold in this
world. Xander is told that the balance must be restored, and the only way to do that is for a Slayer to die.
Who does he choose? Buffy or Faith?
Spoilers: Up to season 7 of Buffy and 4 of Angel. Cordy never comes back from being a higher being, so, no
beast master.
Warnings: SLASH, CHARACTER DEATH
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners.
The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the
owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
____________________________________________
Angel flexed his fingers around the steering wheel of his convertible, trying unsuccessfully to settle his
unease. They quickly returned to their previous position and the steering wheel creaked ominously under
the pressure. Angel never noticed.
Something felt wrong. He didn’t know what it was, but he felt….off.
He knew if he could just get back home to the Hyperion, it would be okay. All he needed was to see and hold
his baby and all would be right again. And maybe Xander could explain to him why the world felt a little….
empty.
******
As he walked through the doors of the hotel, Angel’s sense of unease increased. He opened up his senses
to help him find his Xander.
There, he quickly picked up Xander’s scent. Except the smell was off a bit. Maybe Xander was sick?
He had to find Xander and make sure he was okay.
Angel headed towards his office and the off-smelling Xander.
He didn’t notice Lorne in the lobby calling his name, nor did he notice the other members of his team coming
down the steps; he was that intent on finding his boy.
Xander’s voice met him outside the door, but it sounded wrong somehow.
Angel opened the office door, his confused senses screaming at him, and met startled brown eyes.
Eyes that were the exact shade of brown as his Xander’s. Eyes that were surrounded by his baby’s long
curly lashes and sat under improbably arched eyebrows. Eyes that sat in the familiar face of his beloved.
Eyes that didn’t belong, weren’t Xander’s.
The dark vampire was across the room in a blink of said eyes and had the not-Xander lifted up and pinned
against the wall with one hand around his throat.
“Who are you?” Angel growled menacingly.
The person in Xander’s body said nothing, no denials, no confirmations, nothing. Only a hint of surprise
showed on the familiar face.
“How did you know?” Wesley asked from behind Angel.
“His smell is off, his heart rate is off and his eyes… .aren’t Xander,” Angel said between clenched teeth. He
shook Xander’s body and asked again, “Who are you?”
“She can’t answer you with your hand around her throat,” Lorne pointed out.
Angel relaxed his hold a bit before the entire implication of what Lorne said hit him.
“Wait a minute, she? Who is it? Where is Xander?” Angel asked in confusion.
He was further confused and dismayed at the utter sadness he saw in the eyes of his co-workers as he
looked around the room. As he became aware of his surroundings, he was immediately assaulted by the
heavy tang of grief in the air. He refused to admit what that might imply about his Xander.
“Faith,” a raspy voice said.
Angel looked back at the person who had spoken, the person still dangling from his grip.
“What?”
Not-Xander looked down at the hand holding him up and raised an eyebrow.
Angel slowly lowered un-Xander to the ground and released his neck.
“I’m Faith,” was managed after a little throat clearing.
“Where’s Xander? Is he in prison? You left him there? We have to go get him out and fix this, whatever this
is,” Angel said in a rush.
“Angelcakes, Xander’s not in prison,” Lorne said sadly.
“Where is he?” Angel said desperately.
Lorne and the others looked at each other and Lorne was silently nominated to tell Angel what had
happened.
As the green demon explained what Xander had done, Angel just stared at him. At the end of the story,
Angel backed away from Faith and the others, shaking his head and whispering, “No, no, no…”
Their collective hearts broke when his back met the wall and he slid down it and did something none of them
had ever imagined he would do.
With eyes unseeing, he pulled his knees up to his chest and bowed his head, looking defeated. It seemed
Angel had given up.
Part 10
Back to The Choice Index page
Back to Fiction Index
Reviews? Email Me