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Souls Standing By.	By : JanetNoga Category: AtS AU/AR > Slash - Male/Male Views: 3824 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Angel: The Series, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 1
- 2
- 3
Warnings and
disclaimers: See previous chapter.

A/N: Tara�s still
alive, Spike isn�t souled or tried to rape Buffy, and A.I team still works at
Hyperion.

He could hear the
wind whispering softly in his ears, like a lover soothing their mate with
touching promises and even more wonderful touches in the heat of the night.
Soft and cool, caressing over his face, but stinging his eyes because Xander
wanted to watch his leave of this world and think himself brave unlike others
who turned away from their demise. He couldn�t believe he actually had the
nerve to go through with it, not even in his darkest moments where he would
find some reason not to. To put down the knife or not to go out and find some
demon who wanted a free meal.

No. No, this was
better, sweeter even. He would never have to worry about anyone find his
remains, not for the longest while anyway until his bloated body was found
washed up on shore. Willow wouldn�t want to cast a spell on him, pull him from
where ever he would end up because his body wouldn�t be as flawless as Buffy�s
had been with her resurrection. Maybe it wouldn�t matter because Willow was
getting more powerful each day, what kind of trouble would it be for her to
renew his body for his return? How come she hadn�t done the same for Joyce yet,
huh, Willow? What about Joyce? We all loved Joyce, why not her? And Jenny.
Wouldn�t Giles have loved to have his love returned to him? A second chance?
Why couldn�t you do that, Willow? Huh?!

Oh, the water was
getting closer and soon, nothing, but sweet, sweet relief. No more pain or
heartaches or fear. Maybe if he turned his head just right, the impact would
break his neck and he wouldn�t have to worry about those uncomfortable moments
of drowning, where his instincts to live would kick in and ruin everything? He
hoped they would understand why he had to do this, why he couldn�t take it
anymore. Dawnie, I�m so sorry I couldn�t watch you grow up, Giles, I�m sorry
for all those times I called you G-man, but it was all in love man, Buffy,
sorry you were pulled from heaven, Tara, wish we could have been closer,
Willow, do you even remember me anymore, Anya, I wish I never touched you,
Spike, you fucking bastard, but I love you.

Ironic, to
survive the impact, but that was the life of Xander Harris. The water was cold and
pulling him down deeper into its embrace. Water filling lungs, it doesn�t
really hurt if you don�t fight it� Thoughts� Drifting� Heart slowing�

�It was so warm.
So warm, strong, safe, and secure. That feeling that nothing can penetrate this
wonderful, glorious moment. Like the first time Mom held me before all the bad
stuff, meeting Jesse and Willow for the first time. Familiar somehow, like a
memory.

� Xander� �

Xander�s body
rejected the water from his body, forcing air into his lungs once again as he
rolled onto his side. Finally when his lungs were clear and breathing didn�t
hurt so much he opened his eyes and found a feral, yet calm protective gaze upon
him.

� I know you, �
his voice sounded awfully harsh in the quiet. The large animal- like being�s
nuzzle curled into a smile.

� Xander, wake
up. �

The young man
slowly blinked open his eyes as his dream of a memory faded, chased away by a
familiar voice calling to him and he sat up. Xander turned and looked at the
other person sitting on the bed besides him peering at him with a similar calm
protective gaze.

� Dreaming? �
Wesley asked.

Xander sat up and
rubbed his face. � Yeah, of when I met Duke for the first time. You know, when
I tried to kill myself over my youthful bout of unrequited love and felt
betrayal by everyone I knew? � He said, frowning at his moment of stupidity.

Really, his
suicide would have killed Willow, no matter how little they had drifted apart, and
would have hurt Dawn and Tara very much. So what if the someone he loved hadn�t
loved him back and had screwed his ex- fianc� right in front of him, Xander was
never going to do something that stupid again. He thanked his soul beast, Duke,
for saving his life and the Powers That Be for giving him his new mission in
life, for giving him a purpose that made a bigger difference then all the donut
runs ever could. And giving him a new friend, Wesley.

� Youth? Xander,
that was only five years ago. Next to me you still are a youth, � he chuckled.

� Sure, kick a
man when he�s down, � Xander grinned.

� Oh, you�ll
live. Now, come on then, we still have a few hours left of traveling before we
reach our final destination, � Wesley replied.

� You know, that
really was a stupid movie, � Xander commented as he got out of bed, � Final
Destination 1 and 2? I�d rather watch reruns of Lethal Weapon 1-4.�

� I thought 4 was
a little weak, � Wesley remarked, crossing back into his hotel room and picked
up the phone to order breakfast from room service.

lasslass=MsoNormal style='mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none'>

� ...And just put it on
my bill, � he said after placing an order, smiling because the hotel had those
chocolate chip pancakes Xander loved. The rouge demon hunter had a feeling the
staff would have specially made the item for him anyway if it hadn�t been on
their menu.

� Of course,
Master Wyndam-Pryce. I do hope you enjoy your breakfast, � the female voice on
the other line replied.

� Only because
Mel was starting to show his age in that one. But yeah, I�d rather have seen
Riggs looking a little younger, � Xander was saying as he poked his head into
his partner�s room. � Order breakfast yet? �

� It�s on its
way, � Wesley replied, � I ordered those chocolate chip pancakes you like. �

� Hey, thanks,
Wes, I was just thinking about them. I�m gonna take a shower since we�ve got
time. Gimme a yell when breakfast gets here, � Xander said.

This really was
one of nicer hotels he and Wesley had stayed in, the young man thought as he
stepped into the shower. Friendly, reliable staff, spacious suites with beds
that weren�t hard as rocks, chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast, and�

Wrapped in only a
towel around his waist after hearing Wesley�s yell that breakfast had arrived,
Xander stepped out of his bathroom and gave their room service waitress his
trademark smile of appreciation. The young lady blushed as she soaked up the
wonderful eye candy, one dressed -all the pity- and one half nakkie! She really
loved this job!

�And such cute
maids delivering their meals, Xander smiled, and gave the pretty little thing a
nice tip.

A whiff of the
hot, steamy dark eyed brunette�s scent, his hand brushing up her arm as he
handed her a few folded bills, and the girl went back to her post with a
delicious bit of gossip to make her fellow female employees jealous.

� You are a
shameless flirt, � Wesley smirked.

Xander grinned
back, � Who? Me? �

They ate in
silence, each of them thinking about their new mission that was taking them
back to Sunnydale. Wesley wondered how Xander was going to handle the emotional
baggage accompanying their simple mission, dealing with those he hadn�t spoken
to in five years, and hoping that old wounds wouldn�t be torn open for his
younger partner and the ones he continued to care for when he would try to make
amends for leaving them without a word so abruptly. It was possible that
Xander would run into his friends while their stay in the hell mouth. Still,
The Powers That Be wouldn�t be sending them to Sunnydale if they thought Xander
confronting his past would put the man in jeopardy, or perhaps the sable haired
young man confronting his past would truly be the way to finally heal.

Afterwards Xander
finished dressing, he paused for a moment in the middle of packing to inhale
the smell of his clothes, detecting that lavender linen water his friend liked
to use. Because of their transportation, Wesley always smelled of leather and
of his faintly spiced shaving lather, but there was something else, something
faint and sweet. He had always wondered about it, the smell was more pronounced
after his friend would do his laundry. It wasn�t the detergent or softener, and
finally when the mystery couldn�t be taken anymore Xander broke down and asked
him. The two had stopped at a laundry mat after a week on the road and both had
been in dire need of clean clothes.

Wesley had given
him a smile that spoke volumes of fond memories and heartache that Xander was
familiar with, having worn that smile himself, and showed him a glass bottle of
lavender linen water he said his mother liked to use when she used to wash her
family�s clothes. Wesley retold a tale he had told another once, even going so
far as to tell the young man about himself and Angel. He hadn�t before. Xander
had smiled at him, now knowing why the Powers That Be had giving Wesley his new
path, and said he wished he had had memories of his mother like that. A few
months later he had asked Wesley if it would all right if he could use some in
his wash? Wesley had been silent for a moment before he gave Xander a smile and
offered to wash his clothes for him.

Xander understood
just how much he meant to the other man as a friend, how big a chance Wesley
was taken in opening himself up so much to another person with what other
people might only see as a trivial gesture. He had smiled and had said only if
he could return the gesture.

Xander tugged on
his shirt. They finished gathering up their merger pocessions. In the main
lobby Wesley stopped at the desk to turn in their room keys.

text-autospace:none'>� Of course,
Master Wyndem-Pryce, � the half-breed smiled back.

text-autospace:none'>The two hunters
had saved the business-demon�s only human offspring, a rarity in that, from
some sort of sacrifice because the demons performing the act thought that with
her unique background it would have granted them power from whatever demonic deity
they had been worshipping. H'Lark was a very old demon and the drop of European dragon blood in his viens had been enough for him to develope an urge to build himself a vast fortune. But he didn't pilliage and steal gold, silver, and assorted precious gems from nearby villiages and kingdoms as his old foggy anchestors had done, well maybe just a little, and then spent all of his time sleeping on it! Heavens, just the thought was enought to make his back ache! He bought, invested, and backstabbed, sometimes literatly, his way into the highest ranking social and bunsiness circles of both human and demon worlds. On his 500th birthday he finally retired with a pile of money deemed worthy that of his dragon blood, opening a little five star hotel on the side to keep himself from getting bored.

Of course like any demon in his prime, H'Lark had his number of affairs, some demon and human, and was the proud father of about twently offspring. The one with more human blood in their viens he guarded as closely as he dared. So when his precious little human girl had been stolen fro him, and learned as to what could be her fate, H'Lark thanked The Powers for sending him his daughter's saviors in the form of two strapping young human males who had quite an impressive amount of knowledge of his own world. As a reward for saving his daughter, Master H�Lark made sure the two had the best accommodations in whatever cities they stayed in, that whatever Xander and
Wesley desired in material possessions or supplies were provided for, that
their names were known in the most social of circles, human and demonic alike
as far as his influential power stood.

In short, Xander and
Wesley had a very wealthy and powerful sponsor with lots of other wealthy and
powerful friends, business associates, and both were very grateful for the
financial support after a couple of years of odd jobs that made it hard to
travel as much as they would had liked to at the time, or had been reduced to
robbing the demons and human scum they took care of. In their five years, the
two had gotten into more A-list parties and social events thought possible, but
had managed to keep a low profile in the eye of the tabloid press.

Wesley and Xander
learned quickly not to be shy in using this privilege in aiding with their
missions or just finding a nice place to stay during that time. One of Xander�s
favorite examples of such was using a friend�s of H�Lark�s private jet to fly
across over to Japan to take care of a nest of demons lowering the nations�
populations in certain parts of Tokyo districts as a favor to their sponsor for
all his help. Afterwards they were invited to accompany a Mr. Sota to a sumo
match for saving the lives of his employees, thousands if not millions of dollars
in lawsuits and other assorted damages, and offered a week�s stay at a hot
spring resort.

� Oh, and the
restaurant he suggested was top notch! � Xander added, � Best damn prime rib I�ve
had in a while, the steamed vegetables, the desert, makes me hungry all over
again! �

� Glad you
enjoyed it. I thought you two might. Hardly any decent enough places to eat or
stay this close to the hell mouth. I swear, that place just attracts the worst
kind of trash, � the demon H�Lark said, coming up besides the two, the grey at his temples giving a hint that he was finally reaching his midlife.

Actually, the touch of grey made him look rather dashing in the eyes of several of his emplyoees.

� Oh, wait, Madam
Kitty is known to have moved her establishment onto the hell mouth. Why, I
haven�t a clue, maybe she got a deal on the building there, but she�s been
dropping hints that she would love for you two gentlemen to drop by for a
visit, � he added with a grin, � I�m sure she�ll reserve her best girls. �

text-autospace:none'>� Feel free to
drop my name in case anyone gives you any trouble. I do happen to have some
connections on the hell mouth, � H�Lark replied.

� Thank you.
Please call Madam Kitty and inform her we would be delighted to meet with her.
She might know something about the demon�s we�re after, � Wesley said and the
two were on their way again towards Sunnydale.

� Must be
dreaming about the past �cause of where we�re going, � Xander thought to
himself. In the corner of his eye the welcome sign for Sunnydale flashed by. �
Might be reluctant to come back here, but I�m not about to let the hell mouth
be reopened again. Seeing Dawnie might be nice and I�m glad everyone survived
the First. Wonder if my folks are still alive?

TBC �
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Souls Standing By.