Chapter Text
Xander didn't even see the portal that opened up and swallowed him. He only knows that he one second was running for his life from the Hellmouth in the school and the next he's in the street. So it's not surprising that he stumbles and falls to his knees, still with a firm grip on his axe. The difference in volume first makes him think that he's gone deaf, but since he can still hear the voice addressing him he quickly realizes that his ears is still fine.
"Alexander Harris, it's my duty to inform you that according to Anyanka’s final wish you have been given a second chance."
"What about Anya?" Xander can't help but ask. Anya can't be dead, she's to Anya to die trying to stop the apocalypse.
"Alexander, Xander, I’m sorry but Anya died," the demon tells him and Xander finally recognize him.
"You’re Anya’s boss, you tried to recruit Willow."
The demon, D'Hoffryn, gives him a slightly impatient look.
” I never knew what Anyanka saw in you, the sex can’t be the only thing. As I was saying, according to Anyankas wish you are to be given a second chance," he glares when Xander opens his mouth to interrupt. "Since the powers that be don’t like you, you would never have had a second chance in your world. I have therefore transported you to this universe where you have the chance to be whatever it is you want to be."
"Are there shrimps?"
"What?"
"Are there shrimps in this universe? Because Anya talked about one where there were no shrimps and ok, so I don't really like shrimps but it still would be strange if there wasn't any. So are there shrimps?"
"Yes, shrimps exist. If you would shut up so I can finish and leave. As I was saying. Oh fuck it. Listen kid, if you would have stayed in your world The Powers would have tried to kill you because you seem to destroy prophesies as a hobby and that fucks up their plans. Here, there are no prophesies, so they will leave you alone. Instead he vampires are legal citizens and there are more were creatures than just wolves. I’m telling you this so you don't go and shop of the head of the first vampire you meet. Keep your head down until you know how it works here, that's all I’m saying. Now, you have the money in your pocket so you will be fine for a while."
"Can I just ask why this place, and where am I exactly?"
"St. Louis. And you're here because you can't pass as human, at least not for long and this is one of the few places that are not just going to kill you for being other."
"What do you mean I can't pass for human, I’m as human as you get, when you’re human."
"Uhu, let's see. Primal hyena spirit, dead soldier, fish creature and last but not least human servant to Dracula. And then there's your habit of breaking prophesies, being the White Knight, Wild Card and The one who Sees. Yes, I can see how that would make you a normal human being."
"Hey, I’m not his servant, or Renfield anymore, no more eating bugs for me! He told me he'd removed it."
"Really?"
"Well, no. but he said he made sure that no other vampire would be able to do the same thing, and oh god does this mean that he didn't remove it?"
"No, he didn't remove it he even gave you the second mark which is why no vampires can thrall you anymore. It’s fascinating actually. Growing up on the Hellmouth and all the different things inside you have made you immune to both lycanthrope and vampirism."
"Say what?"
"You can't be turned into a vampire or a were creature," he gazes at Xander for a moment. "It will be interesting to see how they will react to you. I think I will come back in a while just to see how it goes."
With those words he disappears and leaves behind a confused human in an alley.
Three weeks later Xander has a job and some place to live or at least sleep since he doesn't think the apartment can be said to be livable. But its roof over his head until he's manages to save enough money for something better, and it's better than sleeping on the streets.
Life here is odd. Everything is the same and at the same time different. There are vampires, but they don't vamp out when they eat, and they turn into corpses in the daytime. But the thing that creeps him out the most is that they are sexual creatures, some of them ooze sex and lust so much that it lures humans to them just by being themselves. The only vampire he's met before that even comes close to this is Spike with his leers and insinuating’s. Angel was too broody to have the same sex appeal and whenever he thinks of Dracula he's just disgusted.
And the weres. They’re hot. And he doesn't mean in the looking way, even most of those he met are that to. But their temperatures are higher than normal, it just makes him long to curl up next to the closest were and use him or her as a warm bottle. Stupid cold weather. He’s not used to this kind of climate. Give him deserts and sunny beaches not cold and rain. the clothes he's wearing doesn’t help either, not that it's cold in the club but he haven-t been able to buy a good jacket yet and the one he uses isn't very good at keeping him dry. At least he's inside working at the bar instead of standing in the door. The sound of screaming women snaps him out of his thoughts and he winces at the sound. Xander glances at the stage where a new person has stepped out. As were of some kind. At that is also a new freaking thing, suddenly he's able to tell if a person is a were or not, and even sometimes what kind of were. Vampires he can understand, but this. And he really didn't understand the screaming fans either.
He flashes a smile at a customer and gives her a glass of wine. The woman giggles and tries to pet his arm, but he manages to avoid the contact and goes to the next person instead. The hyena doesn’t really like it here, too much noise, pheromones and lust. Too many hungry eyes watching, too much like a prey.
Xander becomes aware of someone on his blind side and turns his head. At least they’ve learned not to sneak up on him and touch him, luckily for them the weres heals quickly. The nonhumans are fascinated by Xander. He can look vampires in the eyes, something he didn't know he wasn't supposed to do and the weres can sense something about him. Not all the time but most times there is something there and the times one of them manages to startle him those closes to him can feel alpha power radiating. After the first time a couple of weres and vampires became curious and tried to startle him again in an attempt to figure him out. They stopped when he couldn't suppress the instinctual flinch and the way he managed to break the weres arm. Now they hover just out of reach until he notice them or make enough noise so he can't miss them. But with the music and sounds it's better for them to just wait. It never takes long for him to know that someone is there. While they're not categorized as enemies in his subconscious, they are not friend either so he's always aware when they come close to him. Xander turns.
"Nate, what can I do for you?" he wipes his hands on a towel and gives the other a smile.
"The owner wants to see you," Xander’s smile disappears and he frowns making Nathaniel shuffle his feet.
"Now? I’m in the middle of work," and not to mention that the master of the city had never asked for him before.
Nathaniel gives him a look that clearly states that that was a dumb question. Xander sighs and turns to his bartender partner.
"Well, apparently his highness wants to see me so you're on your own with the screaming masses." when he turns back, Nathaniel is trying to keep the wandering hand of one of the patron of his body. "Sorry ladies he has some business with me. I’m sure he'll entertain you some other time. Lead the way Nate."
Xander grabs the others hand and pulls him away.
"Thanks."
"Yeah, no problem. Whose bright idea was it to send you out among the horde?"
Xander really whished that the stupid hyena would shut up about kittens every time Nathaniel was near. Apparently she saw him and some of the other weres as babies no matter how old they were. Xander didn't want to know why, but even he could tell that Nate had been broken somewhere in the past. It’s not until they're at the door to the office that Xander realizes that he's still holding the others hand. He quickly releases it and gives Nate an embarrassed smile.
"So, sorry for pulling you along I’ll let you get back to," he waives his hand around.
Nathaniel gives him a small smirk before leaving and Xander knocks on the door.
Jean Claude is curious about his newest employee. Alexander, or rather Xander, is something of a mystery. So far he has not met the young man himself, but according to rumors he has powers. Whether the young man uses them for good or bad is another question since he has so far tried to stay under the radar. Something he's managed except for one incident, and then he'd been provoked. When the knock comes the master vampire is filled with anticipation.
"Enter."
The young man is and isn't what he expected. He’s more, not innocent, but perhaps pure is the right word. The chocolate brown eye meets his before the young man apparently remembers that he shouldn't make eye contact with vampires and he looks away. Not that Jean Claude believes that he would be able to use his power on the other, the younger man is filled with some subtle power of his own. Almost like a were, but not quite. And he also seems to bear the mark of a vampire on him, the questions is why that vampire hasn't claimed him yet.
"So, if this is about me breaking Paul’s arm I already apologized and he said it was ok, and that it was his fault for sneaking up on me like that. So I hope you're not going to fire me or anything like that, because that would like totally suck and, eh, not in a good way."
"Please sit," Xander flops down in the sofa and visibly make himself shut up. "Xander, do you like working here?"
"Uhm, yes?" he answers confused. "Well, except the screaming because it gives me headaches sometimes, and the pheromones, but yeah. The pay is nice and I suppose that the entertainment is nice if you’re into that kind of thing." Jean Claude just raises an eyebrow, not saying anything. One thing everyone had been clear on is that Xander rambles and doesn't lie. He might not give away anything he doesn’t want to, like his past but he speaks the truth. "I mean it's kind of freaks me out sometimes when they're all bendy or something and aren't they cold on the stage wearing so little."
"So you wouldn’t be interested in taking the stage?"
Xander lets out a surprised laugh.
"Have you seen me? I thought you needed to look good for that. And be able to dance, I would most likely fall of if I tried." he shifts uncomfortable. "And all those eyes, no thank you. Wait, you’re not trying to make me dance are you?"
"No, it was just a question. But I don't see why you would be worried about your looks, they are more than enough," Jean Claude leans forward. "You’re a very beautiful person Alexander."
Xander just snorts, clearly not believing the vampire.
"Xander, what's the name of the vampire that marked you?"
"See, now we have a problem. Even if I told you, you wouldn't believe me, so why should I tell you?"
"Well, since you're not with him or her I can only assume that it was against your will or that they don't care about you. If it was against your will I can protect you from him or her or else I can try and get in contact with it."
"Well, ah. Thanks I guess, but that's not necessary. It’s not like he can do anything to me now even if he wanted to."
"No?" interesting, Jean Claude knew that the vampire must be alive since the marks still existed so there must be something else that stopped him. Before he could ask anything else the door opened and Anita stalked inside, clearly angry about something.
The way Xander reacted to her shoved that he saw her as a threat, something he hadn't thought about Jean Claude. The young man tensed, and stilled like a prey in the present of a predator.
"Ma petit, I was in the middle of something, what's the problem?"
Anita glances at Xander but clearly dismisses him as unimportant, missing the way he narrows his eye at the snub.
"You can talk with your new boy toy some other time," she says and waives him away.
Xander stands and takes a two step towards the door.
"Xander, stay. We weren't finished yet."
Xander freezes at the command and looks between them, trying to decide who to obey.
"I can come back later or some other time when you're not busy," he offers.
"Non, you will stay."
Xander doesn't look pleased but stays put where he is. Warily keeping his eye on Anita who's marching back and forth. She suddenly whirls and focuses on Xander.
"What are you?" she demands, her hand going towards her gun.
"Uhm, the bartender, or at least one of them since we're more than one."
Jean Claude can't help to snicker, which earns him a glare.
"No, I mean what are you? You’re not human."
"I’m pretty sure that I am actually."
"Ma petit," the vampire tries to intervene before something happens but is too late.
Anita narrows her eyes and lets her animals come forward hoping to force Xander to either shift or making his animal known. Xander just stands there, unmoving with the hyena laughing in his head over the small alphas. For Anita it feels like she's up against something so big and vast that there's no end to it. Her wolf is disturbed but the felines seem happy but unwilling to force whatever it is to submit. To her dismay they seem more willing to submit themselves than anything. And through all that the young man just stands there, like he doesn't even notice the powers around him. Frustrated she tries to push, but her animals refuses to do anything and instead her vampire powers rises.
Now Xander reacts and gives her a suspicious look while taking a step back. Anita isn't sure why it feels so important for her to make the younger man react to her but it is. When he takes a step back she feels triumphal and let’s more power loose, ignoring Jean Claude’s plea to stop. When the power brushes against Xander he gives a disgusted look.
"No, I’m not interested in being anybody’s snack."
But she's too far gone and can't stop the ardeur. When the strange power tries to invade Xander his eyes suddenly turns into a glowing green and with a growl he smashes the power back at her. As Anita falls unconscious he clutches his head with a groan of pain. He shies away from the vampire when he comes closer and is out of the room. Outside the sounds and smells from the clubs assault his senses and he almost blacks out. He curls up and whimpers before the hyena takes control and leads him outside where he throws up. The cold isn't as important as getting back to the lair and Xander stumbles away from the club.
Inside Jean Claude has called Jason and asked him to keep an eye on Xander. The werewolf glances at Anita who's lying on the sofa, clearly trying to decide if he should ask what happened or not.
"Ma petit tried to force Alexander to show what he is, but lost control over the ardeur. Alexander wasn't willing to feed it and pushed it back to her."
"You can do that?"
"I have never met someone who could, but I have heard stories about it. It takes someone special to be able to do something like that. Now my wolf, please take care of our young man since he seemed to be in pain when he left here."
Jason grabs Nathaniel, because Xander won't be able to see him as a threat, and tries to track the other. Luckily someone saw Xander stumble outside and from there it's easy to follow the other. Xander is clearly in pain and not completely stable on his feet. He moves with a stumble with movements where he's almost graceful. Xander doesn't notice them as he waives his way through alleys and backstreets going deeper and deeper into the more poorer parts. After about twenty minutes he stops before a building and enters. Jason and Nathaniel give each other horrified looks, the building should be condemned, it's a miracle it hasn't fallen down yet. With growing horror they step inside and move up the stairs until they're outside what appears to be Xander’s apartment. They can hear him moving around for a moment before it become quiet again. After waiting for a couple of minutes Jason tries the door, finding it locked. But the lock is so bad that a firm shove opens the door for them. The two weres creeps inside and looks around. An old table with two chairs is the only furniture in the so called kitchen, the living room part is bare and the bedroom only has a mattress on the floor with Xander laying on it under a mountain of blankets. Nathaniel makes an unhappy noise and quickly moves closer to Xander. It’s clear that the young man is unconscious and he doesn't even twitch when Nathaniel gives him a shake. Xander’s skin is cold and clammy, and he's pale. To pale to be healthy.
"I’m making a call, we can't leave him here," Jason tells the other and pulls out his cellphone.
Soon there's a car parked outside and more weres in the apartment. They quickly pack everything that’s of some value, not that there's much of it. Some clothes, a little food, a couple of books and an axe. They find two stashes of money hidden, one in one of the socks and one in a cereal box. They hope that's all, but they don't feel like staying any longer than necessary, and if they must they can always give Xander some other money. Xander doesn't react while this is taking place, not even when Nathaniel lifts him and carries him to the car. They discus if they should take him to the hospital, but since the problem most likely is of the supernatural kind, it's not like the doctors should be able to help him anyway. Instead they take him to an empty room under the circus. A bed is quickly found and placed there and Nathaniel places Xander on it.
Jason shoos everyone away until it's just the three of them again.
"We should remove his clothes," he tells Nathaniel.
Xander has more scars than they thought he would have. Some is clearly from battle, but some is older and familiar to both of them.
"It’s no wonder that he flinches sometimes, he's not old enough to have trained over what he learned as a kid," Jason runs his fingers over one of the scars feeling the slight imperfection on the skin.
"I’m not sure what some of these scars are from, it's not from anything I’ve ever seen." Nathaniel shoves Jason’s hand away and tucks Xander in.
Xander still looks cold though and after a moment of hesitation the two weres crawls into bed with him, not really sure how he will react when he wakes up.
Xander wakes up surrounded by warmth, something he hasn't done since he was relocated to this new and strange dimension. For a few second he just enjoys it, before his brain wake up enough and tells him that this is wrong. His whole body freezes before his flight instincts kick in and he finds himself on the floor. He’s not awake enough to figure out what's going on and just scrambles through the closest door. As he automatically locks the door behind him and slides down so he's sitting on the cold stone floor he realizes he's locked himself in a bathroom. And that he's not wearing any clothes besides his boxers.
"No need to panic, just because you don't remember much doesn't mean there's not a good explanation for waking up in bed with someone." he thumps his head against the door while muttering to himself. "I wish I could go home, I really really wish it."
"Xander? Are you alright?" he recognizes Nathaniel voice at the other side of the door.
"Yeah, I’m fine! Just having a mildly freak-out or something, nothing to worry about!"
"Can you open the door?"
"Yes, but I rather I didn't. Just let me have my freak-out in peace," his headache doesn't really get any better by him thumping his head against the door, but he's not sure he can stop. "Why aren't I wearing any clothes?"
"We removed them because it's not comfortable to sleep in clothes. Xander, please open the door."
"Yeah, ok." Xander can't see Nathaniel as someone dangerous, he knows he should but the other always scream victim to him.
He unlocks the door and shuffles to sit under the sink instead. The door wouldn't be able to stop whoever outside anyway. Before he can start banging his head against the wall the door opens and Nathaniel crawls inside, close to the floor. Nathaniel crawls over to Xander and wraps himself around the other, holding his head still so he can't hurt himself that way again. When Xander stars to tense he offers his neck in a submissive gesture which makes Xander relax again.
"Why are you naked?"
"I was sleeping in the bed when you fell of, clothes didn't seem important."
"Please tell me there was no sex of any kind."
"No sex, just comfort."
"Oh, good. I don't think I could handle that."
"I think I’m insulted, should I be insulted?" Jason pokes his head into the bathroom and then quickly comes inside. "You know, the bathroom floor isn't something I would call cozy, why don't you come back to bed. You can still have your freak-out there, but at least you would be comfortable while having it." he offers his hand to Xander and pulls him up when the other accepts it.
"Fine, but I’m not having any sex with you, no sexing the Xander." he lets himself be led to the bed and pulled down again. "This is me freaking out quietly," he mumbles tiredly before falling asleep again.
"I think I like the way he freaks out," Jason smirks and presses closer to the sleeping young man.
The next time Xander wakes up he's tangled up with the other two, laying half atop Nathaniel with Jason at his back.
"Meh," he manages to say while his brain plays catch up with the situation. "Coffee, I really need coffee before this makes any sense."
"Sure, we can get coffee, but I’m not sure that things will make more sense or not," Jason tells him while nuzzling his neck. "Or, we can just stay in bed." he strokes Xander’s side but is stopped by Xander who grabs his hand.
"Coffee and something with sugar." Xander sits up and looks around the room for the first time. "Where am I anyway? And where are my clothes?"
"We’re under the circus, this room was unoccupied and we couldn't just leave you in that apartment," Nathaniel gives Xander a worried look, afraid that the other will get angry.
"I’m well aware that it's a dump, but it's not like I have a lot of money. At least it's roof over my head."
"Barely," Jason mutters while getting dressed.
"Yeah, well, it's not like we all can have bloodsucking sugar daddy’s or freaky zoo ladies to pay the rent, can we."
"What?"
"Yes, what? I understood what you meant with the bloodsucking."
"That Anita? She had like lots of animals inside her, it was totally freaky and then she tried to wham me. I don't do the wham thing." Xander grimace when he remembers what happened, he wonders if this means he's out of a job now.
He’ll have to try and pack his stuff after breakfast and sneak away. Attacking the boss' girlfriend was not a career move. It was just luck that they hadn't decided to rip his throat out or something like that. Xander wonders if it is enough to just lay low for a while or if he should try and leave the city. It isn't like there is anything that ties him here, or anywhere else in this world. The only reason he's still in the city is the hope that Willow or someone else would be able to find him and get him back. Not that he still believes that it will happen, if he ever did.
"I don't know what you did to Anita, but whatever it was it packed a lot of punch, you knocked her out."
"Great," Xander sights and runs his hand through his hair.
Nathaniel gives him a smile but that doesn't ease his worries. Luckily they come to what appears to be the common kitchen area. There are some weres there but most of them ignore the three after greeting them. Xander zooms in on the coffee and makes his way over there. He quickly fills a cup and takes a big swallow, ignoring the heat.
"Ah, coffee, the brain for evil chaotic demon goddesses," he ignores the confused looks he gets. "No donuts? Where are all the sugary treats?"
"You can't eat donuts for breakfast," Nathaniel tells him aghast. "You need to eat something nutrient for breakfast. Go and sit down and I will make you something."
"That’s ok, I can probably find some cereals or something."
"Sit down," Nathaniel tells him sternly and Xander sits down on the nearest chair.
"Bossy," he complains and lays his head on the table. But he eats the omelets Nathaniel gives him without complaints, clearly enjoying it.