Guys Like Us 2

by Danii

This is the TIM/BTVS crossover that I started concerning the Agency's investigation of the events that deal with the screw up at the Initiative. There will be 'ships, but I won't tell you more than what I put in PART 1. This is kinda filler, just information mostly. But it's kinda important to the story, so read... In short: I own no one. I get no money from writing this. NOT BETA READ Written rather quickly.

FEEDBACK is MORE than welcome...

"I hate flying on the plane…" Darien complained as he got into his seat. As the Official had promised, it was in first class. "My legs always get cramped. They don’t give you enough room…"

"I hear you, buddy…" Xander agreed as he sat himself next to the occasionally invisible man, "Tall guys like us always get scrunched, no matter what section we’re in, you know?"

Darien was about to concur, but he was interrupted by a snort from Hobbes, who was right behind them.

"Please." The other Agent told them, reclining his seat with a sigh, "This is perfect!"

Fawkes and the young man shared a look, and then Xander muttered, "So says the short man…" under his breath, talking just loud enough for Darien to hear.

The reluctant agent stifled a laugh, and then settled into his seat. Truth be told, he was getting to like the kid. He was smart, funny, polite, rather nice, and sympathetic about Darien’s problems with the Agency. It was nice to find someone who understood that he was having a rough time with it, especially since this kid was the Official’s nephew. They’d talked for a while the night before while packing, and the young agent seemed to know how Darien felt about being an experiment. Xander also seemed fascinated by Darien’s powers.

"So," he’d asked, "you can turn invisible?"

"Yeah" Fawkes answered, trying to sound nonchalant, "But only for a little while, and then I have to get my counteragent or I go insane and try to either rape or kill the next person I see. Kinda nasty…"

"Sounds like an acquaintance of mine…" Xander had said with a small sad grin, "Except he gets that way when he gets a happy."

"A hap- you mean he can’t have sex or he flips?" He’d exclaimed, turning around to face the young agent.

"Not with the woman he loves…or loved. Besides, there was a whole ‘she-sent-him-hell’ thing, and the flame kinda dimmed after that…"

"This chick sent him to the slammer?" Darien asked, feeling bad for whoever it was.

"Nah, she really sent him to Hell, as in the big burny place in the ground beneath our library…" Xander told him. Then his expression had gotten a little cold, "and Buffy is not a chick."

Fawkes had been curious as to who Buffy was, how she had sent someone to Hell, and what she meant to Xander. He would have asked, but the look on the younger agent’s face was hard, and told him that the conversation was over. Now, as he sat on the plane waiting for take-off, another question rose in his mind.

"So what sort hold does the Agency have on you?" Darien asked, " I mean, didn’t the Official say

something about you being an experiment or something?"

Xander sighed, and then looked at man sitting next to him. It wasn’t really any of the other Agent’s business, but he’d gotten to like the frequently invisible man.

"Well, the Agency has no hold over me other than the fact that I love my work. I know you think it sucks right now, but once you get into it, you realize it’s a real rush…"

It looked as if Fawkes was going to argue, but the honesty in the young man’s tone kept him from denying it. Maybe, he thought, I will get to enjoy it. That’d be the day.

"But what about you being an experiment? I would think that the Official would keep his own family out of that sort of stuff…" Fawkes persisted, curious as to what his fellow Agent had up his baggy sleeve, not to mention the knowledge of just what his boss was willing to do.

Xander chuckled beneath his breath, then lay back in the plane seat as far as was physically possible. "Please. Uncle Charlie was bitching about it all the way to the lab as I heard it…it was my parents that pushed it. They wanted to see my gifts realized to their potential, and all this other crap…"

Darien was completely confused. What was the kid talking about? "Huh?"

"I was part of a study concerning psychic ability when I was just a baby. The project, done due to some similar study by the Russians back then, was to make special spies that could pick the thoughts out of people’s minds, among other abilities. They took children with pre-existing skill and injected them with who-knows-what in order to amplify the effect. I had skills, such as telekinesis, psychometry, and some others, but I was unable to do the one thing they were looking for: take information from a mind. Don’t know why, I just can’t. So I was considered a failure, the only one in the study. I’m glad though…"

"Why would you be glad?" Hobbes interrupted. He’d been listening in to the conversation from the back. Xander was pleased. At least he wouldn’t have to explain this twice.

"Because the serum they gave amplified the powers too much. The other children who COULD read thoughts were unable to shut out the mental voices. They all went crazy, and eventually they had to be either locked away, or even killed due to their violent insanity. Same thing almost happened to a friend of mine for a different reason, but I digress…As for me, little ole’ failure Harris wasn’t wanted by anyone in the government. I was sane, but I couldn’t do what they

wanted. Some other stuff, but not what they had been testing for. I was a reminder of the mess up more than anything else. Yet my Uncle obviously saw my potential and wanted me heading in the right direction. Otherwise, I have could become even more dangerous than those kids, especially considering where I live."

"So?"

"So he trained me. Secretly, of course. The only people who knew were my parents and him. He’d send over training literature from all over, special teachers…guys who owed him something. And I trained to be an agent for a good amount of my childhood, which took longer since I was busy with school work and other stuff, not to mention the fact that I was seven…"

"Seven?" Darien exclaimed, "He made a seven year old kid know that stuff?"

Xander looked the other Agent in the eye, "Trust me, what Uncle C trained me on was nothing compared to what those guys in the study did. They gave me objects to touch…horrible stuff. Killer’s knives, bullets from…it was bad. I could sense it all, in surround sound, perfect picture, smell, taste…that was horrible. I was so very little, but I can…All Uncle Charlie showed me was how to use all my skills and be a better agent."

"And despite the fact that you were completely forced into all of this," Darien asked, genuine curiosity in his tone as he asked the young man his question slowly, "you like it?"

"Yeah, Saranwrap Dude, I love it. You should try working sometime, really trying…maybe you’d like it too…" Xander answered his voice passionate but gentle, "I mean, do you have any idea what kind of a place I live in? If Uncle Charlie…if I hadn’t…"

"How are we supposed to know what kind of a place you live in," Hobbes inquired, obviously curious as to what situation he was in their new assignment, "if you haven’t told us? We’re not all regional experts…"

Xander snorted at the older agent, then realized that he was right. He did have to brief them on what they were going into. So with a small tap, he pulled the Keeper out of her world of paper and started to explain the strange town that he called home.

"Sunnydale, California is built upon what is called a Hellmouth, which is quite literally a gateway to the eternal torment we humans call Hell. Now-"

"Wait." Hobbes said, holding his hand up between the seats to ask for a moment of silence, "What the hell kinda occult mumbo-jumbo bullshit are you trying to cram down my throat? A mouth of Hell?"

"Yes," the young Agent replied, quite anger seething in his voice. His tray table seemed to jump for a moment, but he ignored it. "I’ve lived on this thing all my life, so don’t give me any cynical crap. I’ve dealt with it, okay? I’ve fought the demons, and the vampires, and the ghosts, and ghouls and all that other muck that the damn thing either spews out or sucks in, so don’t call it bull or I will ram your damn tie down your little throat, got it?"

Bobby’s eyes opened in something that was equal parts fear and surprise, then sat back in his seat. He shared a look with the Keeper, who appeared a little unsure but willing to listen. Darien just sat and paid attention, watching the kid’s body language to see how truthful he was being.

"Anyway," he continued, the anger in his voice fading to annoyance, "As I said, the Hellmouth attracts and lets out all sorts of nasty things, especially vampires…"

"Vampires…" Fawkes repeated, just to help his mind absorb this. It was kind of hard to believe, but, a little voice reminded him, so was a man who could make himself invisible.

"Yes, vamps of all shapes and plans for world domination. Luckily, in our little Hellmouthy hamlet, we also have a little gal called the Slayer, whose job it is to kick the aforementioned creature’s asses time and time again, saving the world from many horrible hellish fates with the help of her trusty Slayerettes."

"Gal?" That was Hobbes.

"I think it’s rather appropriate that a woman be responsible for saving the world," the Keeper spoke up at last, "I like the idea…"

Xander smiled at the blonde Brit. He had a feeling that the gang would like her, especially Giles. He was sure that the Watcher would be relieved to have another person from the same country there with him. All he’d had recently were visits from the insane side of the Watcher’s council and Wesley, neither being the finest at conversations. She would perfectly fit the whole role he had set up for her. As for Darien and Hobbes, he didn’t know what he was going to do…

END PART 2

Send all feedback to HuffPuff1228@yahoo.com

http://members.theglobe.com/debrabant/fanfic