SquidgeWorld Archive

New Breed
By Jessica Hanson

//We are the new breed
We are the future
We are the new breed
We are the future

We are immune to life itself
Cold rules are reality
We are immune to life itself
Cold rule are reality

Born, breed, beaten

We have control of destiny
We have control of what's to be
We have control of destiny
We have control of what's to be

Born, breed, beaten

New breed, new breed

We are immune to life itself
Cold rules are reality
We have control of destiny
We have control of what's to be

Born, breed, beaten

New breed, we are the new breed
New breed, we are the future
New breed, we are the new breed
New breed, we are the future

New breed//

"You just don't get it, do you, Xander?" Buffy exclaimed. She shoved Xander back, "You aren't needed! You were never needed! Just get a clue!"

With that she stalked into Giles' place. Xander stared after her, tears welling up in his eyes. He breathed heavily before sitting down on the ground. He felt the tears course down his face. He had known that he wasn't needed but it hurt to hear the words out loud.

He brushed the tears away, standing up on wobbly feet. He watched from a window as his former friends gathered around books. He could do that, had done that. He shuddered and began walking home.

He wasn't needed. The words echoed through his mind until he was running. He thudded down stairs and threw himself upon his bed. He sobbed into his pillow harshly, he wanted to suffocate the pain away.

He lifted his head sometime later and he fished around for his phone. His hand shook as he lifted the receiver and dialed. He only had to wait three rings until someone picked up. But only a few seconds after that someone started talking, he hung up.

He lifted the receiver once more and dialed another number. The other end rang a number of times and Xander was about to give up hope. Then it was grabbed. "Uncle Darien?" he asked soft and hesitant.

***

Darien had just been walking in the door when he heard the phone. He rushed to it and heard a soft voice on the other end say his name. It took a minute for the voice to click. "Xander?"

"Uncle Darien," Xander's voice was whisper soft, "I-I'm sorry to...to call you..."

"Hey, kid, I told you, you could call me anytime," Darien tucked the phone between his neck and shoulder. "So what's up?"

"I don't want to be here anymore," his voice was so small and hurt. "I can't handle it..."

Darien's spidey senses kicked in. "What is it? What happened?"

Xander's voice had a roughened edge from tears, "My...my friends aren't my friends and...and I don't think I can handle it..."

"That sucks!" Darien said empathetically. "And your parents haven't gotten better?"

"N-no. I just want this to stop. It has to stop."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. You remember that money stash you, me, and Uncle Kevin set up?"

"Yeah..."

"Have you touched it?"

"Only to put money in..."

"Good, Xander, pack some clothes and get a bus ticket. You can live with me."

"I-I couldn't..."

Darien sighed, "You can and you are."

"I....okay..buh...bye." There was a soft click and he sighed again.

"Fawkes," he said to himself, "that was stupid."

***

Xander stared out the window. His mind wouldn't stop playing scenes from the past. His body still hurt from the past. He couldn't believe Darien was taking him in. It wasn't real, was it? It wasn't real!

"Hey...Hey!" There was a patting at his cheek. He jerked awake and came face to face with an elderly African woman. He blinked groggily at her. "You okay? You were making a horrible choking noise." Xander felt tears on his face and he just shook his head. "Can I get you anything?" Again he shook his head.

"Farewell, Sunnydale," he whispered.

***

Darien was grateful that the bad guys were taking a break. Xander had sounded terrible when asking for a ride. He lowered his sunglasses, looking around the bus station. He looked to the pay phones; pay dirt.

Xander was sitting on a bench, duffel bag strap clutched between his fingers. He looked very pale and fine tremors ran through his body. His left leg couldn't sit still and his left hand had a purplish, blue tinge from where Xander cut off the circulation with the strap.

"Xander!" he called out, leaving the side of his car. The younger man looked up and offered a wan smile. "Hey, kid," Darien said before pulling him into a hug. Xander gave back in the hug although it was a little weak. They walked to the parked car, Xander taking the passenger's seat and Darien took the driver's. "You tired at all?" he asked as he started driving.

"A little," Xander said softly, staring out the window.

"Well, listen, I gotta go into work for awhile so you can have the place to yourself. On the way home I'll pick up Chinese, sound good?"

"Yeah, okay," Xander shifted and grinned slightly, "You work now?"

Darien grinned, "Yes I am and it's honest work." This sent Xander into giggles.

***

After making sure Xander was comfortable, he was on his way to see his Keeper. He pulled into his spot and he bounced up the stairs. "Hey, can I get a shot early?" he asked.

The Keeper didn't look up from what she was doing, "Why? Have you been using the gland without permission again?"

"No, but I have a friend staying with me and I don't want to break the invisible news with a bout of madness."

She did look up now, "What makes you think you'll be telling him at all?"

"He has to know," Darien ran a hand through his hair, "He's going to be living with me for awhile, he needs to know. In fact, I saw Kevin's notes, if I hadn't been in trouble my friend was the QuickSilver candidate."

"Who is this friend?" The Keeper crossed her arms over her chest.

"Our nephew Xander. Now can I get a shot?"

***

Xander had been curled up on the couch, floating between dream and reality. That's when the knocking came. It was a hard pounding that matched his throbbing head. He pushed the blanket off him and stumbled to the door. "Fawkes! Come on, I know you're in there!"

Xander unlocked the door and allowed it to swing open. Outside was an older man in a tan suit and balding brown hair. Xander wrapped his arms around himself, his eyes drooping slightly. The man stared at him before saying, "Where's Fawkes and who the hell are you?"

"Uncle Darien isn't here right now," he said softly, "I'm Xander." Darien chose that moment to walk up, white plastic bag in hand.

"Oh, Hobbes," Darien said, "What do you want?" He handed the bag of food to Xander. The teenager shuffled his feet for a minutes. "The silverware is in the second drawer." And he was gone. Darien turned back to Hobbes.

"I've been trying to call you. Where the hell have you been?"

"Aw, you were worried about me," Darien pinched Hobbes' cheeks. "Wanna join me and Xan for dinner?" Darien had an expectant look on his face so Hobbes just nodded.

Xander had the boxes set out and open. He was fumbling with his chopsticks, attempting to use them. He smiled at Darien and Hobbes as they sat down.

"Xander, this is my friend Robert Hobbes," Darien pointed with his fork, "Hobbes, this is my nephew Xander."

"Hey, call me Bobby," Hobbes smiled.

Xander offered one back, "Hi." He began concentrating on his Chinese food. He stabbed at the chicken in the rice and grinned. "I win again!" he exclaimed as he waved the single stick triumphantly. Darien and Hobbes grinned back.

The meal went along quietly. Xander ate for a minute or two before he just started to poke at it. Finally he excused himself, saying he wanted to watch Halloween. Darien watched him go before turning towards his food again.

"What's his story?" Hobbes asked softly.

"Huh?" Darien asked around a mouthful of food, a spicy noodle hanging from his lips.

"Why is he here?"

Darien wasn't sure how much to tell him. "Look, don't even mention I told you this to Xander. His parents beat him and crap like that. I think he only got away from it when he visited me or Kevin, until high school started. Then stuff just got complicated." Darien played with his food.

"Does he like you?"

"Of course he does! We never made him decide who he liked better. I taught him to fight, Kevin taught him a little of the science and math thing."

"Did Kevin like him?"

Darien looked at him funny, "Um, yeah? Kevin never did anything he didn't want to. He loved Xander a lot. That's why I'm telling Xan about the gland, originally it was Xander who was going to be the Invisible Man."

"I could have had another partner?!"

"Don't kill me with your warm, cuddly feelings towards me."

Hobbes shook his head, smiling slightly. The sounds of screams filled the kitchen as they quieted down. Xander was resting his head on the couch arm as he watched Michel Myers dunk a nurse's head in boiling water. It only seemed to remind him of the life he had to leave behind.

How could he have remained with them for so long? He had been nothing; not a werewolf, a vampire, a Slayer, a witch. All he had been was a demon magnet that had been acting as a leech. In the back of his mind, he was probably just some cruel joke. Maybe HE was the Hellmouth. Open him up and all hell breaks lose. Wait, icky image, no more thinking, watch movie.

But his breathing seemed to stop, as if he was going to cry. But as he pushed the feelings away, he found out that he still couldn't breath. His throat closed up and his lungs stopped moving. Black stars lined his vision and he looked around frantically. His movements seemed to be in slow motion. Just as suddenly as it had come, he was breathing again. He rubbed his throat in confusion.

Obviously he hadn't been choking for too long. Hobbes and Darien were still talking quietly and the movie wasn't that far along. That girl was hiding from Myers while he shambled down the hallway. He felt his body relax, his lungs constricted happily. This had only been the second time and if he was in Sunnydale, he might be worried. He wasn't there, but he was still worried.

He heard chairs scrape, heard Darien speaking quietly, and the tap of shoes. The door opened and closed before Darien joined him on the couch. Xander offered him a smile which was returned but screams turned their attention to the television. The girl was screaming for help and banging on the glass door. It started with Darien in quiet snickers. As he looked at Xander, Xander began to snicker. Then they were in full blown laughter.

Each time they glanced at each other, their laughter only increased. It had just been spurred by horror stupidity and now it was just a relief to get it out. Neither man had laughed enough in their lives. They probably laughed through the rest of the movie. Finally, Xander giggled out, "My sides hurt..." This sparked more giggles from Darien.

Finally after a few heavy intakes of breath and spouts of laughs, they were calm again. Darien wiped his eyes from his mirth while Xander remained in his sprawl with a contented smile. Xander snorted slightly and flashed Darien a genuine smile.

But then a thought accrued to Xander. "Where's Uncle Kevin? I tried to call him but someone else answered."

Darien looked pain, "He's...he's dead." Xander looked at him sharply with wide eyes. "He's kind of why I'm here. Xander, don't freak, but I can go invisible."

Xander just stared at him. "What does that have to do with Uncle Kevin?"

"He was killed for doing this, he put a gland in my head and one of the scientists turned out to be someone who wanted it." Darien shook his head, one lone tear slipping from his eye. "I just feel so bad for not being able to stop him."

"What happened?" Xander asked softly, "In full detail." So Darien did; he told him of how he got into prison, how he got out, the tests, how he caught Arnaud, no one believed him, and everything. "Can I see you go invisible?"

Darien looked at Xander for a minute before the QuickSilver spread across his body. He was sure to watch Xander's face for any reaction of fear. But Xander's face just conveyed curious surprise. He remained still as Xander reached out a hand and touched his shoulder. Xander's eyes went comically wide as Darien shook off the QuickSilver.

"Wow."

"Just wow?"

"Wow, cool. Uncle Kevin did this?" Darien nodded. "Never saw anything like that...Side effects, are there side effects?"

"I'm beginning to think I wasn't spending enough time with you and Kevin did." Darien grinned slightly, "You never miss anything, do you?"

"No, I'm just a pessimist," Xander said softly. "So do you?"

"Yeah. Every once and awhile I go mad and get like...violent." Xander sucked in a breath with a wince.

"Are you going to spread puppy guts on my living room floor?"

"No," Darien said with a look, "and can I just add ew?"

"My thoughts exactly," there was a small smile on the younger man's lips.

"You have problems," Darien said carefully.

This caused Xander to laugh, "Since you shared something with me, I'll share with you."

***

It had taken hours to explain everything and a few more hours to get Darien to believe it. It was probably too much for Darien to handle, but he could believe some of it. It made sense and he was surprised when Xander said he had pretty much the same reaction. This just led Darien to believe that it was possible that Xander was his and Kevin's brother.

It was about dusk when Xander asked to see Kevin's grave. Darien had agreed, he figured it was time to go visit Kevin again. He hadn't done it enough recently. As they walked through the cemetery, Darien was struck at how at home Xander looked. His body was tensed, but he seemed to just blend in with the dead.

Darien pointed to the grave marker that said `Kevin Fawkes, 1968-2000'. Xander knelt at the bottom of the grave, placing his hand on the plot. Darien slowly knelt next to him. They were silent for awhile, the emotions choking Darien. "It's okay to cry," Xander said suddenly, "Sure, they tell you real men don't cry, but it isn't wrong for a kid to. In one tribe in Africa, we'd still be kids."

Darien had to smile at little but then his tears began to fall. He didn't think he had cried over Kevin since he'd been shot. It felt good in its own way. Next to him, he heard Xander sniffle softly, he was crying too. This just seemed the right thing to do at this moment. The silence was broken by the sounds of Darien's cell phone.

Darien closed his eyes, listening to the piercing ring. Finally he reached into his pocket and pulled out the phone. "Fawkes here," he said, trying to get the roughened edge out of his throat. "What? This can't wait can it? Well Xander is coming with me." Xander lifted his head slightly at the sound of his name. "No, he all ready knows about that. Well, if he knows about it, there's no reason he shouldn't know about this." Darien was set to listening and his face was contorted
into a mocking look. "God, can't you give up paranoia for a minute? Xander handled it really well, he'll handle everything we tell him. Goodbye. No, goodbye, we'll be there soon."

Darien closed the phone and Xander could still hear someone talking on the other end. Darien stood and helped Xander to his feet. They walked from the graveyard, each taking turns looking at Kevin's disappearing grave. Xander wiped the tears from his face as he settled into the passenger's seat. The drive to Darien's work was silent but comfortable.

Xander was in his own self-loathing thoughts, Darien in his. They were snapped from them as they reached Darien's work. Xander let Darien led, a few steps behind the older man. They headed down some plain looking hallways and then into a plain looking office. On the back wall was a symbol with the words `Fish and Game' in it.

Xander looked at Darien, "Fish and Game? That's the best you could do?"

"Don't knock it," Darien smirked. Xander shook his head with a snort and took notice of the people in the office. There was Hobbes, a pretty blond woman that might have been adult Buffy, a short man with balding hair, and then there was a fat man with white hair and an intense look. "Okay, she's the Keeper, he's Eberts and that guy is the Official."

"Hey, Boss," Xander said with a small wave in The Official's direction. Darien sent a smirk in their direction and placed a hand on Xander's shoulder.

"Guys, this is Xander. Now what's the problem?" The Official gestured to the two open seats, which the men accepted.

"We're dealing with a very important case here," the Official stated, "We aren't completely sure where he came from or what was done to him, but were dealing with a kinetic. He's also an empath and can raise the dead. We have no idea how he does it, the people we've sent after him have all wound up dead by burning or they were gutted." Everyone but Xander shifted uncomfortably; the youngest man had seen things like this before.

The Official went into a long, drawn out theory The Keeper had come up with. Xander couldn't will himself to listen. He actually felt himself nodding off. Then the choking sensation started again. It was worse than before, it burned now instead of aching. His lungs stopped, his throat closed. His brain sent frantic messages but they went unheard to his body.

"Xander," the voice was painfully slow, "are you okay?" His eyes slid to Darien, who had concern in his wide, coffee colored eyes. Xander wanted to say no, help, or at least something. The stars were sprinkling his vision and one big, black dot blocked his view suddenly. Then with a croak, he collapsed.

Darien looked at friends with frantic eyes. "Call a doctor, call The Keeper! Do something!" he demanded, his eyes going back to his nephew. Xander lay limp in the chair and his chest refused to rise, his adam's apple bobbed up and down but there were no signs of breathing. Darien's frantic voice got them out of the trance and The Keeper was by Xander in a second. She felt for a pulse before quickly lying the teenager out on the floor.

"Call the hospital," she commanded as she opened Xander's mouth. There was no clear cause of to why the boy wasn't breathing, but he wasn't. Since no object was clear, she attempted to push breath back into Xander. She was half-aware of the Official barking into the phone and Darien by her side. But right now, her patient mattered most. She kept this up but nothing was happening.

She was going to attempt one more thing but two ETM officers were there. They took over and between them, Xander's breath came back. But it was startling quick, a loud gasp then cough. Once his breathing was even enough, they slid the gurney under him. "We're taking him to the hospital," an ETM explained, "There was no reason he should have been choking." Then the two were out the door. Everyone was silent for a moment, it was broken when Darien slid into his chair with a shaky breath.

"Now, as I was saying," the Official started. Hobbes and the Keeper stared at him in shock, Darien just looked at his hands. "The kid will be fine, we need to find this other person before he kills everyone."

"No wait just a minute!" came the Keeper's outraged voice.

"No...no, he's right," Darien said slowly, "Xander'll be fine...And we need to get this done."

"Glad you see it like that," the Official stated a tad smugly. The Keeper was miffed but remained silent. The Official handed a picture to Hobbes, who in turn showed it to Darien. The picture was of a young man, maybe late teens or early twenties. His blond hair traveled to just above high cheek bones (no it's not Spike) and bangs came down to sharply curve under his chin. The bangs were pure white and matched oddly with the blond. He had piercing blue eyes that were covered by glasses. He had a shaggy goatee going on and if Darien had felt up to it, he would have mention the kid reminded him a bit of the devil.

"We've found out his name is Darren (da-ren for the readers) and he was originally from Texas. Any source we possibly could have used were killed or are in hiding. I need you two to go and find him before he does anymore damage."

Darien nodded and he and his partner were out the door. Then Darien poked his head back in, saying, "If the hospital calls..."

"I'll call you right after," the Keeper assured.

***

Xander's eyes fluttered open, trying to blink away the annoying black dots. As he did, he saw he was surround by white and thought, hospital. He was right; even though he was still clothed, he was on top of a comfortable bed but with a thin sheet. He rubbed the side of his head and winced as his chest and throat awakened. "You have to hate those whole waking-up-ceremonies, huh?" asked a familiar voice.

"Uncle Kevin?" Xander's head rolled to the side to face a chair. Kevin sat there, soft smile in place. "But...Darien said you were dead. Oh god...I'm not dead am I? This isn't some freaky go-to-the-light-with-me thing, is it?"

"No," Kevin shook his head, "And I am dead, Xan." This caused Xander to groan, "Oh don't worry, I'm not here to cause trouble. And yes, after I died, I got a chance to see what you were doing. It was really brave of you."

"What are you if you're dead?" Xander asked, "The undead? A ghost?"

"Ghost might be the best term for me." Kevin sighed, "I came back to talk with you. You know these little choking spells you've been happening? The good news is, they're over. The bad news, you're not a normal human anymore." Kevin dragged Xander to the bathroom. For a ghost, Kevin was strong. He pointed to the mirror and Xander looked. His eyes were now a bit more amber than brown and the front part of his hair was white. Xander fingered the locks.

"Not that this isn't a cool style for me, but how did this happen?"

"Your eyes...your eyes are lighter so they can be more adept to seeing things that no one else can see."

"Like you."

"Like me, exactly," Kevin smiled brightly. "Your hair lost its pigment because what you went through was scary enough."

"And what did I go through?" Xander asked as they walked back to the
main room.

"You're very rare."

"....Are you going to try and kill me?"

"What? No! No! You're a rare species of warlock. The warlocks were originally from Africa and they called themselves the Zahabu. They left Africa, teaching warlocks from the world their way. Then, something happened and being a Zahabu wasn't a taught thing. Well it is, but you need to have certain genes to be one. You do, Xander."

"So what's a...Zahabu all about?" Xander demanded.

"You're protectors," Kevin commented, "You protect everything that's dear to you and the things that are supplied by the God and Goddess. The drawbacks is, not very many Zahabu can live at one time."

"Why not?"

"Too much power. If the Zahabu were an everyday race of people, there would be so much chaos...Zahabu are naturally Immortal after they're mated, but to keep the population down the Zahabu go insane later in their lives and kill themselves."

"Oh that sounds like so much fun," Xander sighed, leaning back against the headboard. "Where did you learn about this?"

"Why do you think I spent so much time with you?" Kevin asked, before amending, "Not that I didn't like, you were a great kid. But my grandfather told me about the Zahabu, he knew someone later on in our family would be one. There's actually a book."

"And a T-shirt?" He ducked his head when Kevin gave him The Look, "Or never mind."

"Don't worry about finding the book or a teacher, Xan. If you need one, one will find you, but with what I've seen, you should be fine."

"What do I have to know?"

"Spells and all languages."

"ALL languages?!"

Kevin smiled, "Yup, even the dead ones. I have faith you can do it."

"If you've seen me, you know I can't pass Spanish!"

"You'll do fine and it'll become easier later on." Kevin paused, "Now I have to go."

Xander looked up, "What? But you can't! You just got here!"

"Xander," Kevin placed a hand on Xander's shoulder, "I have to. Can't stay here for eternity. Now, you watch over Darien. And tell Darien to watch over you. ...Then get someone to watch over both of you." Kevin gave him another smile before disappearing.

"Well, that was fun....The hell if I'm learning anything."

***

Darren shook his head as he watched the people pass him by. They had no idea, did they? But then again, who would believe in monsters? He had been surprised at what the vampires said but then he had witnessed the mortals' stupidity first hand. They didn't want to think of such things that could cause destruction.

He had fun doing that, killing mortals. He had killed many just to see how others would react. He would giggle madly before leaving to do more damage. And there had been these two yuppies following him for the night. He'd handle them later, he just had to led them from the crowds.

Then he stopped dead in his tracks. Standing near a sparkling fountain was a beautiful young man (yes, everyone in my world is gay). And by the looks of the eyes and hair, he was a Zahabu. A baby Zahabu that looked too god damned sexy. He felt himself moving forward. "Hi, I'm Darren," he said, starling the young man.

"Xander," the teenager responded, "You're a...?"

"You know it," Darren smiled, smirked was more like it. He got a few feet into Xander's personal space. "So, you know anything about yourself?"

"I know we go crazy," he offered weakly.

"That's not true, just a bunch of nonsense," actually Darren was supposedly insane. Xander backed up, stepping up onto the fountain. "What? Don't tell me you're afraid?"

"Afraid? Of course not! But you ARE in my space!" Xander crossed his arms. He spotted Hobbes and Darien coming along, but he couldn't trust them getting there in time. He made the gesture of a phone, praying that one of them saw it. "Listen, you get any closer and it'll be sexual harassment."

Darren was on the fountain next to him. "Sexual harassment has nothing to do with sex. This has everything to do with," he whispered.

"Uh, no?" Xander commented, backing around the fountain.

"Yes."

"No!"

"Yes."

"NO!!"

"It's not like you have a choice here." Darren grabbed Xander's arm. Xander freaked, shoving Darren hard. A blue aura ball surround his hand and shoved Darren back into a tree. "Fighting only makes me want you more, you know!" But he didn't have much of a choice when he was grabbed by two men in suits.

He was forced into a straight jacket while Darien and Hobbes went to Xander. "I'll call you!" Darren exclaimed as he was forced into a car, "We can go out some time!"

"That was weird," Darien shook his head, "And what the hell did you do?"

"It'll take a while to explain." Xander said with a smile, hopping from the fountain.

As they left, a pale blond lit up a cigarette. "Well, pet," Spike commented, "looks like you have a nice life starting."

END

To be continued in I Belong To You.