Title: To Die…

Series: What Dreams may Come 2

Author: Xandria

Fandom: BTVS and Highlander

Summary: An alternate ending after Lover's Walk.

Archive: Go for it, just let me know where.

Rating: PG15+ because two guys kiss

Feedback: Does the Colonel serve chicken? Does Maccas serve beef? No wait…

Spoilers: Lovers Walk

Note: An alternate ending after Lover's Walk. So far Xander has been attacked by Spike and knocked unconscious again, so there were no illicit smoochies. Xander ends up in hospital and when he gets out Spike attacks him again. And he wakes up in a coffin.

Disclaimer: They ain't mine, they were never mine, but the plot is mine and if you try to rip it off I will send my attack squad of rabid teletubbies (who I also don't own), and my flock of Outer Mongolian Vampire Skunks (who I do own) after you!

Date: 26/08/99

By Xandria

Xander

I am lying here in this little wooden box really getting annoyed. This is not my day! Night? Oh well, if I'm dead does the time really matter? I guess I must be a vampire. I wonder when I'll feel hungry for blood? Ewww, yuk! I would like a nice steak, though, rare. Oh man, now I am getting hungry! Chocolate! Chocolate is good! Anything with that nice sugary goodness. Food!

That's done it! Maybe if I try again I can get out now. Maybe all I need is a little hunger to give me the strength to do this. Yes! It's happening! Oww! I have a splinter! Damn it hurts! Great. I'm trying to break out of this bloody coffin buried in the bloody ground and all I can think about is this bloody splinter!

Air! A small hole, but now fresh air is coming through. That breeze feels wonderful! Let me just drag myself out of here. Trying to breathe now. Boy! I would kill for a doughnut right now.

Oww! What the..? Faith! What does she want?! To fight?! I don't want to fight! I just want to go away and eat something. I tell her this and she throws something at me! Oh shit! This is worse than the splinter! She threw a stake at me! And it's in my chest! How come I haven't dusted yet if I'm a vampire? Hey it's getting dark…

Faith

So anyway I'm sitting there doing slayer duty. Cause Buffy doesn't think she can handle things this time as its Xander. I mean, sure, he's a cute guy, but if he's a vamp then he's toast! You just can't get involved, you know? Heck, if I'd slept with Angel and he'd turned I would have killed him. Too many emotions are a weakness, you know?

I was beginning to think that maybe he's not coming out after all, when I hear it. A faint scraping sound that gradually gets louder. Then a hand pokes out of the ground suddenly. The rest of his body drags out, almost like the earth is giving birth.

He doesn't set off my Slayer sense and his face is not in game form, but I ignore that. I mean, he rose from the dead, then he's either a vamp or a demon of some sort. and I kill demons and vamps.

I send out a challenge and he says something about food, which of course is a challenge back. No vamp is gonna drink my blood. So I throw the stake at him and he stares at me in surprise.

He doesn't turn to dust either. Why didn't he turn to dust? He opens his mouth and blood comes out of it and he suddenly collapses. Was he human all along and they buried him by mistake? I don't know what to do so I decide to get Giles. He'll have some idea.

Giles

I had assigned Faith to take care of Xander if he did turn into a vampire as I was certain Buffy would not be able to. It would be too painful, for either myself or Buffy to do so. Faith, as a girl who tended to ignore the more tender of emotions, should be able to sort things out admirably. And Xander will be able to rest in peace.

Xander. So annoying. With his silly jokes and mannerisms. I am going to miss him. A lot. And we had already pushed him away before the vampire took him. I don't know why he reacted like that to the Holy Water but I could have found out instead of avoiding him. I could have looked for an answer.

Why did he go out by himself so late at night? Was he looking for an answer or did he decide that it was all too much. Willow said he was very strange in the van. Quiet. Subdued. And he stood there with his face up to the sun and his eyes shut for five minutes before they could get his attention. Someone should have been watching him. I don't think he was well at all.

And then Faith came banging on my door with some story about the boy. He is so annoying. He can't even die like everyone else. But I think I know what is going on. If I'm right, then there is hope after all. If not, then I expect it will be some type of inexplicable Hellmouth phenomena. We pick up Buffy on the way back to the cemetery. She needs to be here for this.

Xander

I open my eyes and blink. I have this pain in my chest and I look down to see what is going on. It's the stake. Right where my heart is supposed to be. I reach down and pull it out. I know that is a stupid thing to do, but I figured I was dead anyway. Boy, that's better. I can breath a lot easier now. Actually, the pain is going away. Is this dying? The easing of pain? I smile and look down.

What the hell?! These little lightning's are flickering over my chest, which is unscarred. The only sign anything had been in there is the state of my shirt. What am I?! Some kind of Zombie?! My chest gets tighter again and I start to make these little noises. I guess I have a reason to. I die, I dig myself out of the grave, Faith kills me and now this!

I want to go home. I want to go to bed and find it was all just a dream! But I can't go home. Dad has probably already thrown my things out. I wonder if my family came to the funeral? Maybe. My real family is Willow and the others. Giles is more of a father to me than my own is. I guess I am better off. I'll never have to see them again.

What a beautiful dawn. And that sun. I am glad I can see it. What will happen to me now I wonder? I don't care, really. I'm tired and that sun is so warm. I think I'll just sit here for a while.

Giles

When we arrive at the cemetery, we come upon Xander sitting up on top of his grave, smiling up at the sun through his dirty face. I see tear tracks but he seems to be happy now. He turns and looks at us and his eyes are human, too. It is what I think, I'm sure of it.

END