Title: Sacrifice

Author: Caliadragon

Category: AU

Fandom: Buffy/Highlander

Pairing: Xander/OMC this chapter

Warnings: Non-explicit Non Con, Violence, Language

Feedback: On list or at Caliadragon@yahoo.com

Archive: To any list I send it to, those with previous permission, BC and TtH

AN: Yeah I know I haven't finished any of the others I've been working on. So you won't be surprised to find that this one will be updated very rarely. I'm going to try to finish a couple of other fics. So I have no idea how long it will take.

AN2: This is post chip Spike, but presoul. Doyle is still alive and Oz is still with Willow. Anya never returned from wherever it is she went. Also this is going to reflect a little bit of a challenge that I issued a while back that had Oz kidnapping Xander to punish him for kissing Willow. Richie is still alive and the demon was destroyed with the help of a certain slayer and her friends.

Summary: Xander sacrifices himself to save those he loves. How will they live with what he's done?

Sacrifice
By Caliadragon

Chapter 1: Taking

Buffy grunted in pain and slammed into the wall. Shaking her head she surged to her feet, only to be struck back down. Nearby she could hear Spike cursing and Willow screaming. Her screams mingled with Willow's as the demon she was fighting stomped on her legs, breaking them. It then struck her in the head and she slumped into unconciousness.

Riley bellowed in rage and tried to fight the demons off so that he could reach his fallen girlfriend. Unfortunately he was no match for the demon and was soon sprawled on the floor, unconscious and bleeding. Willow, Giles and Spike were also down, each suffering from terrible wounds.

Methos, Duncan, and Richie were holding their own against the demons, but ultimately Richie fell. Methos and Duncan continued to fight against the demons. They had centuries of battle experience to call upon, but Duncan only had a few months of demon fighting on his side. With one false step he joined the others in a heap on the floor. Methos was doing well, but he was beginning to tire. He knew that the demons could outlast him.

He spared a glance around the room and saw that, besides himself, only three others remained standing. He wondered when and how Wesley had been felled and marveled at the fact that Xander was still on his feet. The boy was covered in blood and most of it was surely his own. Despair filled Methos as he watched the werewolf fall. Then the demon was eliminated as he tried to protect the boy.

Methos killed the demons in his path and rushed to the boy. He never made it. As he pushed forward he was speared from the side by one of the demons' weapons. He dropped to his knees and slumped forward, unconscious.

Xander looked around and panicked. There were 10 of the silver skinned demons still standing. All of his friends had fallen, and he was afraid that they were all either dead or close to it. He whimpered in fear as the 10 began to surround him. Tears filled his eyes, but he angrily blinked them away. He would go down fighting, no matter what.

Just as he was certain they were going to attack, they all froze and cocked their heads to the side. They took a step back, but kept Xander surrounded. Xander was beginnning to pant with fear and wondered what they were waiting for.

Suddenly the middle two demons stepped aside and a man, at least Xander thought he was a man, walked through. "You are the one I seek," the man said.

Xander looked at him in confusion. "What do you mean?" he stuttered.

"You are the only one still standing. Therefore you must be the greatest warrior among your group," the man answered, as though it were obvious.

"No, I'm the one that was the best protected. I'm not a good fighter at all," Xander denied.

The man smiled and began to speak in a rapid fire tone to the demons. They each answered him in turn. When they finished speaking the man turned back to him with a scowl. "Well, this is no good. I need someone to use for my work. Kill them!"

"No wait! I'll do whatever you want, just don't hurt my friends," Xander cried desperately.

The man raised an eyebrow, "Anything?" A chill ran up Xander's spine, but he nodded. The man leered at him and smiled darkly. "Bring the boy, we're leaving."


Two days later.....

Xander limped down the street in a haze of pain and humiliation. A part of him hoped a random demon or vampire would come along and kill him, while another part of him just wanted Willow and Buffy. He was less than a block from Duncan's house. He hoped that someone was still alive, and home.

He hurt from the top of his head to the bottoms of his bleeding feet. He felt tears well up in his eyes again at the horrors he had lived through during the last two days, but he refused to let them fall. Later, when he knew he was safe and that his friends were safe, maybe he would cry.

*

Spike lay quietly on the sofa; all around him sat weary and worried people. Everyone had survived the battle with the Fre'tauth demons. Everyone but Xander, who had apparently disappeared without a trace. Buffy's legs were in casts and they had actually had to kill Richie to heal him of his injuries. They were all in bad shape. Thankfully Doyle had called in some favors and the hellmouth was being patroled.

Oz caught the scent of blood, and Xander, at the same time as Angel and Spike. Spike growled as he tried to surge to his feet and couldn't manage it. Angel was the one to rush to the door and pull the boy inside.

The group was horrified at the sight before them. Xander was one, large injury. His arm was obviously broken, but what worried Spike most was that he was covered in blood, and completely naked.

"Willow?" Xander called brokenly.

She struggled up off the couch and limped to him. The moment she reached him he pulled her into his arms and sobbed brokenly. He was murmuring words and broken sentences. Angel eased Xander from Willow and his heart broke as Xander cried out brokenly for his friend. "Shh...Willow's still here, Xander. You're safe, Xander," Angel reassured the damaged boy as he lost consciousness.

What the hell had happened to him? As Angel shifted the boy in his arms he saw ragged tears in the skin of his buttocks. He felt dread fill him, and carefully checked the boy over. He swallowed convulsively as he realized that the boy had been raped.

Chapter 2: Treatment

Willow stood beside the bed they had placed Xander in and wondered how her friend could seem so small and helpless. It was only after they had brought him to the Demon clinic that they had realized just how badly Xander had been hurt. His arms were restrained, even though the doctor had not wanted to do so. When Oz had asked why, the doctor had told them that it might traumatize Xander further. Then Wes had suggested putting Xander into a coma like state until the doctor felt it was alright to remove the restraints.

Dr. Hitsui had refused this option, either with drugs or with magic. He told them that Xander had been magically poisoned and that the drugs would weaken Xander's defenses too much. So it was decided that he would not be left alone during his healing.

Willow felt tears slide down her cheeks as she thought of all the injures that the doctor had catalogued. Among them was a ruptured spleen and a perforated intestine. Buffy had screamed in rage as the doctor explain how he thought it had happened.

She was in a nearby room, heavily sedated so that she didn't hurt herself. Even knowing that the demons were probably gone, Buffy had tried to leave the clinic on her own. Nothing any of them had done could stop her. Spike wasn't in much better shape. Thankfully Angel and Adam had subdued the injured vampire before he could do too much damage to himself.

In all the years they had been fighting on the hellmouth, this was really the first time that she could remember things being so bad. Willow knew that they still needed to call Xander's parents and tell them what had happened to Xander.

The Harris's were going to kill the demons responsible. She just hoped that they didn't blame the Scoobies for what happened, even though she felt responsible. If she had been stronger, her friends wouldn't be in this condition.

Xander moaned and thrashed his head from side to side, trapped in a nightmare and delirious from fever. Cool hands stroked his brow, but had no obvious effect. Nor did the words softly crooned in his ear.

\\flashback//

Back arched against the tearing pain in his gut, Xander screamed out his pain and helplessness. Blood tinged tears fell down his cheeks and his body convulsed under the force of the body tearing into him. He screamed again as his shoulders dislocated from the pressure on them.

\\end of flashback//

Angel continued to stroke the battered boy, looking up sharply as the door flew open and two demons walked in. Angel's eyes changed to a burning amber and he blocked the boy from the invaders. "It's alright, Angel. They're Xander's parents," Willow told him as she stepped further into the room.

Angel looked at her in shock. "They're Mulin'ete demons," Angel told her. Willow nodded.

"I know."

Chapter 3: Mommy and Daddy are Pissed

"Willow, you know they're demons?" Angel asked, shocked by the girl's response. He turned to look back down at the young man on the bed. "Xander doesn't smell like a demon," he pointed out.

"That's because his scent and his gifts have been masked until he reaches his majority. That will not be for another year. Leave us, vampire, before I break my word to my son and kill you anyway," Tony growled angrily.

Angel looked at him in confusion, then swallowed roughly. He had hurt Xander on more than one occasion. Both as Angel and Angelus. The Mulin'ete were the demon world's version of the Slayer. They hunted evil and destroyed it. They were some of the most feared and hunted demons in the world. If he or anyone else had known they had a child on the Hellmouth, they would have avoided or kidnapped the boy to use him against his parents. Angel nodded sharply then looked back down at the boy in the bed.

"He was raped," Angel told them sharply.

Tony howled and Francesca growled and moved to her baby. Rage sparked from her eyes. She turned back to face the vampire, and Angel shivered with fear at the look in her eyes. "You will stay here. Willow, bring the other vampire that my son is bonded to and the werewolf that kidnapped him. They are both here, I can feel them," she told the girl.

Willow looked at her in confusion and fear. "Werewolf?" she whispered.

Francesca's eyes narrowed and she sighed, "Xander never told you."

Willow shook her head. "What happened?"

"After you kissed Xander, your wolf kidnapped him to punish him for touching you. He only let him go after you admitted to the spell. The wolf was lying to you."

Willow paled even further and her eyes filled with tears of pain and rage. Spinning on her heel, she marched back into the waiting room where Spike was lying on one of the sofas. When she came into the room, Oz knew the truth had come out. As soon as he saw Xander's parents he knew he was in trouble.

They all watched as she walked over and slapped Oz. "What did you do to Xander when you were holding him prisoner?" she hissed angrily.

The others all looked at them in confusion. "Nothing. I wanted to, but I couldn't hurt him. He was too busy beating himself up for me to do anything about it," Oz answered truthfully.

Willow growled and bit out, "Francesca wants you and Spike in the room so she can talk to you."

She glared at him one last time, before turning away and walking into Buffy's room. She didn't see the pained look, or the angry vampire growling at Oz.

Chapter 4: Revenge and Bindings

Oz looked over at Spike and could see rage in the shining blue eyes. Without a word he carefully lifted the wounded vampire into his arms and carried him into Xander's hospital room. As he walked through the door Spike growled even louder and glared at him. Angel sighed and lifted his Childe from Oz's arms.

Before anyone could say anything Spike began to swear at Oz. "What did you do to Nummy? Answer me, Dogboy. You bloody well aren't human and I can kill you. So spit it out!" he roared.

Francesca and Tony looked at Spike and smiled sharply. The vampire would be good for their son . He was already protective. Oz, on the other hand, was looking at Xander as though his heart would break.

"I didn't do anything to him. It was the wolf that made me take him in the first place. I had marked Willow as my mate. When I saw Xander kissing her the wolf went ballistic. I took him, but I never hurt him. I couldn't, not even the wolf could make me," he said in his quiet way. His eyes never left Xander.

The dark haired boy had forgiven him, and had even joked that being furry was bad for impulse control. If anything they had become better friends because of it. Not that that made what he had done any more forgivable.

"And we're suppose to believe you?" Spike sneered.

"It's true. He did not harm my son. If he had he would be dead." Francesca told the hostile vampire.

Spike turned angry eyes on her, but said nothing. Then he suddenly blurted out, "Where the fuck were you two? We nee ded you here and the number you left didn't work! Those fucking bastards took him! When are we going to kill them?" he asked aggressively.

Angel looked at him in stunned silence. "You knew they were demons?"

"Of course I did, wanker! I lived with him, didn't I? Bloody idiots bound us. I'm bloody well married to him! Not that I get anything out of it. Whelp won't even admit we're married. It was all I could do not to kill that bitch Anyanka for throwing herself at my Nummy," Spike answered furiously.

Angel could only gape at him in stunned silence.

Chapter 5: The Marriage of William the Bloody

Angel and Oz looked back and forth between Spike and the boy on the hospital bed. "You two are married?" Oz asked, confused.

Spike nodded shortly, glaring at the Harris's. "They did it. It was all the bloody Watcher's fault. He had to make time for his stupid bint and sent me to stay with the whelp."

\\flashback//

Spike watched as the boy gathered up the coiled rope that the Watcher had sent along. He glared at the whelp as he turned to face him. Xander squirmed uncomfortably. He really didn't want Spike there, or tied to his chair.

This was all Giles' fault. He had William the Bloody in his basement and had to pretend to live down there. Thankfully, his parents were out of town on a hunt. If they found Spike there they would be really pissed.

They had hated Anya. In fact the former demon and his mother had some sort of feud going and he had been forbidden to be in her company. Not that he really minded, Anya was a little too aggressive for him. There was also the fact that Willow hated her. She disliked her even more than she had Cordy.

Xander had always figured that Willow had been right in the long run on that occasion. It seemed when it came to his love life, Willow was always right. The only mistake between them was Spike's and a love spell's fault.

Xander sighed and walked over to where Spike was sitting in his old, beat up recliner. Spike watched, impressed, as the whelp tied him up proficiently. As soon as he was done, Xander sighed and slumped down onto the floor.

"What's wrong with you, whelp?" Spike growled.

"I forgot to feed you," Xander said mournfully. Spike blinked in surprise.

Xander pushed himself back to his feet. He untied Spike, then tied him back up, leaving his hands free. Turning away, he walked over to the little refrigerator and grabbed a bag of blood, then began to prepare Spike's dinner.

He was in the middle of handing Spike his dinner when his parents came running down the stairs. Xander froze in shock and looked at them.

"Alexander, why do you have a vampire tied up to a chair?" Francesca asked.

Xander blushed, "I can explain."

\\End of Flashback//

"So, Xander starts trying to explain, but the gits aren't listening and the next thing we know there's a Milun'ete priestess announcing us mated and that Xander is my new master. Needless to say, Xander and I were pissed and he didn't talk to anyone for nearly two months. The boy still won't acknowledge me as his mate and he's still pissed," Spike finished up.

Angel and Oz were stunned. "Does Willow know?" Oz asked.

"Yes, the only thing that Xander has kept from her is what you did." Spike answered.

Oz looked down in shame and wondered if Willow would ever forgive him for what he had done, and for lying to her.

Chapter 6: Rescued From Dreaming

His arms were stretched near to breaking point and blood tinged tears fell in a steady stream down his cheeks. He had bitten through his lip to contain his screams. Trying with all his might not to give in to what the bastard wanted.

His back arched under the force of another blow. He had no idea what he was being hit with. It didn't feel like the whip the man had been using earlier, but what it was he had no idea.

"Mmm. This doesn't seem to be working. I'm not getting my screams. That will never do. I need my screams and my tears," The man whispered hotly in his ear. Xander shuddered and tried to jerk away. Cursing the man with everything inside him.

He heard the rasp of a zipper seconds before his hips were grabbed and his ass cheeks were forced apart. Xander shook his head in denial and screamed as his body was speared.

__________

Spike spun and faced the boy on the bed, moving to him before any of the others could. Taking the boy's hand in his own he began to croon softly to him. "Wake up, love, you're safe. Spike's got ya. No one here will hurt you. Wake up, Xander. WAKE UP!" He ordered.

Xander gasped harshly and his eyes flew open. Looking around in confusion, his eyes fell on Spike and then on his parents. He shivered uncontrollably and tried to figure out where he was. When he saw that Oz and Deadboy were in the room, he tried to figure out why.

"Willow. Momma, Willow?" he gasped out. He struggled to sit up.

"Shh...little one, your Willow is safe and sound," Francesca soothed. She turned to Angel and ordered him to go and get Willow. Angel quickly left the room to do as he was bid.

Moments later Willow and Angel were back in the room. Willow spared a glare for Oz before taking Spike's place at Xander's side. When Xander saw her, tears spilled down his face. "My Willow. Buffy?" he asked.

"She's fine, we have her next door. She's sleeping," Willow soothed.

"Giles and the others?" he rasped.

"They're all right. We're all okay. Sweetie, I need to know who hurt you," she told him gently.

The three men who thought they knew the pair were confused by their interaction and more than a little jealous. "It hurt, Wills...I tried not to scream...but it hurt..." His words faded away and Tony snapped the back off the chair he was leaning against.

"I know, baby. You're strong though, and you're brave," Willow soothed.

"I don't feel brave...I-I cried," Xander confessed as though his crying were a sin.

"Of course you cried, no one thinks badly of you for it. No one," Willow told him fiercely.

"He said he wanted the strongest, but I told I wasn't the strongest. He was going to kill everyone. I had to go with him. I was so scared...thought I'd lost you all," Xander told her, his eyes drifting shut as he once again slid into oblivion.

Willow clung to his hand and sobbed. Angel pressed Spike's face into his chest as the younger vampire began to howl. Rage and pain rippled through the air as Spike mourned for the pain his mate had suffered.

Oz pulled Willow into his arms. There were tears in his eyes as well. He was grateful that Willow didn't pull away from him. Instead, she burrowed closer to his chest and wept.

Francesca held tightly to her son's hand as her husband stood behind her, embracing her. "Tony, I want you to put the word out to the demon community. I want whoever is leading those demons found. Let it be known that if they do not come to us with a name within the next 24 hours we will declare war on the demon community of Sunnydale and no one will escape our wrath." The others looked at her and they all shivered in fear. Sunnydale's demon community may very well be dead by this time tomorrow.

Angel sincerely hoped that someone came forward with the information. He knew people in the community, not all of them were evil, but somehow he doubted Francesca would care. He only knew of one other occurrence of a child of the Enforcers being harmed. The parents had hunted the perpetrators down for nearly a year. In their wake they left death and devastation. To this day that incident was used to scare demon children into obedience.

Chapter 8: It Gets Better

Willow was panting with the effort that the spell had taken. While it had seemed an easy spell, it hadn't been. The power that she had been fighting against had been stronger than anything she had ever experienced. "The wizard that did this is strong, he placed some kind of thrall spell on Xander. I think he was trying to call Xan to him," Willow said tiredly, before joining Xander in oblivion.

Methos thankfully caught her before she fell off the bed. Francesca walked over to the pair and brushed her fingers over Willow's forehead. She imbued the girl with some of her power and watched in satisfaction as Willow's eyes opened. "I don't think Xander will survive if he gets him again," Willow whispered painfully. Francesca took the girl into her arms and hugged her gently.

"Don't you worry, my darling, we will stop him. Now I need you all to leave me alone with my son and his mate. There is something I must do and humans cannot witness it." Willow nodded and allowed Francesca to hand her off to Methos and soon only Francesca, Xander and Spike were left in the room.

Francesca turned to look at Spike. "You must complete the bond with Alexander," she told Spike.

Spike's eyes narrowed in rage. "No. He is still recovering from being raped and it would be without his permission. He already hates me. I won't add to that."

"You fool, I wasn't talking about sex and Alexander doesn't hate you, if he did he wo uld have staked you by now. It would have been within his rights as your mate and master!" Francesca yelled at him.

Spike growled back at her, not the least bit intimidated. He knew very well that she wouldn't do anything to him and was as worried as he was. "Wake him like you did Red. Explain what is going on. If and only if he agrees, I will complete the bond," Spike ordered her.

Francesca sighed and nodded. It was really a shame that as his mother-in-law she couldn't intimidate him. Stupid vampire. Turning her attention back to her sleeping child, her face softened. She did not want to wake him, but she knew that William was right. If he finished the joining without talking to Alexander first it would only enrage her son.

"Xander, Wake up, love. I need to talk to you. Wake up darling." Xander whimpered and opened his eyes as she requested. He frowned slightly before latching on to both of them. Spike was surprised when Xander clung to his hand, but put it down to his fear and what had been happening to him. Though both of them could see that Xander was already beginning to show signs of recovery. Obviously the spell that Willow had cast had reversed the magic that had been poisoning Xander.

"Mom, Spike?" Xander asked wearily.

"Darling, you need to finish bonding with Spike. It is the only way to permanently protect you from the Wizard," she told him bluntly, but gently.

Xander frowned at her in confusion. "Spike doesn't want me," he said tonelessly.

Spike scowled. "Of course I want you! You're my mate," Spike exclaimed, making Xander look at him in surprise.

"You still want me after... I'm not clean," Xander said in a whisper.

Spike closed his eyes and had to bite back a howl of rage. He knew instinctively that any show of anger or grief would make Xander shatter. "You're clean, luv, and you're mine. I want you as my mate and I always will," he assured the youn ger man.

Xander didn't say anything, he just offered his wrist to Spike. Spike took his wrist and, cradling it gently, he bit in. Xander sighed and drifted away into the sensations that Spike's feeding were creating in him. Spike only fed for a few minutes before pulling away. He licked the bite wounds closed and kissed Xander's wrist reverently.

He then offered his own wrist to Xander and moaned as the boy bit him harshly. Xander's bite was more intense, since he lacked fangs. Spike was gasping for unneeded air at the feel of his mate feeding on him. After a few minutes, Xander pulled away and fell asleep again, this time into a healing sleep. "He'll sleep for a while. He should begin to heal faster with the blood he took from me," Spike said, never taking his eyes off his mate.

"Willow needs to do a spell to block Xander from the wanker responsible for this," Spike said with a growl. He was about to launch into a vicious monologue, but was stop ped by a voice across the room.

"Does this mean I have to be nice to you?" Buffy asked weakly from her bed. Francesca turned to look at the battered Slayer and was surprised by the fierce and dangerous look in the child's eyes. She had never met Buffy, a fact that was entirely her fault. Francesca had wanted to protect her baby for just a bit longer and she had feared that the Slayer, the human counterpart to herself and her husband, would turn away from Xander because he was not human.

"So you're Xander's Mom?" Buffy asked.

"Yes."

"And you're a demon?" she asked in the same quiet tone.

"Yes."

"So that's why I never met you. Are you going to help me kill the bastards that did this to my Xander?" Buffy asked with quiet menace. They had all thought she was sleeping, but she had heard everything. The truth was, the Slayer was pissed and if she could have stood at that moment, she would have beaten the hell out of Spike a nd his mother and anyone else that knew the truth.

"The bastards, as you say, will be dealt with. You need only concern yourself with healing," Francesca soothed. Spike winced; he knew the look in Buffy's eyes and there was a very good chance that Buffy was about to go off.

"You know, we wouldn't have to worry about my healing IF YOU HAD BOTHERED TO LET XANDER TELL ME THE TRUTH! THIS IS YOUR FAULT!" Buffy screamed at the top of her lungs. Once again the doors burst open as Willow and the others hurried into the room. Willow gulped and whimpered at the rage on Buffy's face.

"Buffy?" Giles called carefully. His Slayer, while injured, was on a dangerous tear.

"Willow, you should have told me! Xander could have been protected! We could have protected him better! All the times he's been hurt because we pushed him away or because some demon came after him. You knew the truth and you kept it from me. When Xander heals I am going to beg for forg iveness and then I'm going to start kicking ass. Xander is married to Spike, because none of you bothered to tell me the truth. We could have found somewhere else to put Spike. Mrs. Harris, I blame you for this. You're a protector! You should have known that the truth needed to be out." Buffy was rambling and she knew it. If only she wasn't hurting so bad she could make sense. Her mind and her body ached, but it was her heart that hurt the most. It hurt for Xander and everything she had done to push him away over the years. It hurt because she had been the one to pressure Xander into taking in Spike. Now her friend was married to Spike.

She wanted things to be different, but it was too late for that. If she had known that Xander's parents were so strong and fought against demons she would have asked for their help against the demons when she asked for everyone else's help. Buffy didn't know if that would have made a difference, but she knew it might have and that tore at her and pissed her off.

"You're right Buffy, in a way this is my fault. I always assumed that you would turn from Alexander if you knew he was a demon. I was afraid for my son to lose his friend," Francesca said sadly.

Buffy growled softly, "He was losing me anyway! I was doing everything in my power to push him out of the group last year! It was all because I didn't want him to be hurt by a random demon. Living on the hellmouth, you should have let him come into his powers as soon as possible or sent him away from here," Buffy swore as she floated on a wave of drugs and pain. There was so much that she could finally see clearly. Including the reason why Xander was such a demon magnet.

None of them knew how to respond to Buffy or the anger that she was showing. They were even more surprised by the fact that Buffy accepted that Xander was a demon and still wanted him around. Though why they were surprised Willow didn't know. She should have listened to Xander when he said that Buffy would accept that he was a demon. After all, she had accepted Doyle, Spike and Angel as well as the group of Immortals.

Please send feedback to Caliadragon@yahoo.com.