Chapter Text
The Harris Twins
Scorpio
scorpiofic@yahoo.com
"I told you it wouldn't work."
Xander turned and offered up a half apologetic shrug to himself. His other, and messier half, frowned slightly and gave a little soft whimper of fear. He reached out and squeezed his twin's shoulder in comfort before turning to look at the flustered and confused witch.
"Ah... what went wrong? Why are we still a *we*?"
Willow began to nibble on her bottom lip and her eyes got big and sad.
"I... I don't know. It *should* have worked. I mean, this is a standard and basic thing. One of the first things you learn. You have to know how to pull a spell apart in case something goes wrong when casting. I've... We've... ya know, *learned* that the hard way, so... it should have *worked*."
Giles took his glasses off and began to fiddle with them and absently polished them while he paced the length of the room. His soft voiced muttering carried to them all, but they didn't interrupt. Giles usually could think through any problem if you gave him enough time.
"Well... let's see. This ritual is Wicca based and as such it is dependant on the phases of the moon. Perhaps if we reworded it to fit in with the fact that it's currently in it's waxing cycle and not the waning? No... no, now that I think about it, that might not help at all. What we really need is to find out what *type* of magic Toth used. Wicca can counter or be used in adjunct with most of the demon magics as well as the lesser forms of sorcery, but it won't stand against the higher magics or blood magic. Even some forms of chaos magic can't be stopped with Wicca if the spell is set with a stable base such as a precious gem or a quality metal. And that rod he carried *was* metal... Hmmm..."
When Giles turned back to face the rest of the room, it was to find that all eyes were staring at him in expectation. He blinked and replaced his glasses on his face.
"Well, I think I should study Toth's... weapon a bit more closely. If... if we can discover *how* he enchanted the thing then maybe we can figure out how to unravel this... spell."
Everyone in the room seemed to be disappointed. Well... everyone but Anya, that is. Willow seemed deflated and depressed and Buffy and Riley were both looking a bit startled. But it was his twin's reaction that he noticed the most. The poor guy had *not* had a good day. He had wandered around thinking there was a robot-demon walking about with his face while hypnotizing his friends and what's more, he had gotten banged up and rained on in the process. Now, he just seemed frightened and tired. Xander could *definitely* relate.
He pulled his twin closer and slung an arm around his slumped shoulders and offered him a confident smile.
"Look. Don't worry about it. You *know* that the G-man will do everything he can to figure this out, and once he does, Willow will fix us. Until then we just have to figure out what to do with ourselves to help out."
His other half turned a wobbly smile at him and nodded.
"Yeah. We... uh, we can do this. Right."
Buffy nodded her head and pasted a forced smile on her face in an obvious attempt to cheer up her friend.
"Don't worry. We'll... fix this... somehow. Until then we just have to find a way to, ya know, tell you two apart. I mean, it'll get confusing if I say "Hey Xander" and you both say "What". Um... how are we going to do this?"
The two Xander's grinned. Leave it to Buffy to break the tension with something... trivial. She seemed to have a talent for making even the biggest problems seem workable. But maybe she had a point. Once you take that first scary step, the rest seemed easier.
He considered her question briefly and gave a quick squeeze to the broad shoulders of his other half.
"Um... how about we keep calling *him* Xander. He can come back to the shop here tomorrow and help Giles research the weapon thing-a-ma- bob. We'll call me... um, Alex and I'll go to work so we don't get fired. I'll stop shaving as well. A moustache and goatee will make us look different enough that you'll all be able to tell us apart."
Everyone nodded in agreement. It sounded doable.
"Oh, and another thing. Neither one of us is going back to the basement. Xander will stay with me in the apartment. Our parents can go hang if they want, but we are *so* out of
there."
His twin, Xander, turned to stare at him with big dark eyes that were uncertain and sad.
"Are you sure? I mean, I want out of that hellhole as much as you, but won't that be... um, confusing?"
Alex grinned wickedly. "Not to me."
At that, Anya wiggled her way in between the two Harris's and offered each of them an arm.
"Great. Now that that's all taken care of, let's go home and have sex."
Alex smirked. Xander blushed. And the rest of the Scooby Gang refused to meet their eyes as the three turned and walked out.
*******
Alex had directed them to his parents house so that they could grab a few essentials for the two of them that could last until the weekend when they would move the big heavy stuff. Mostly clothes and shower stuff that they could stuff into a bag quickly. Once they had what they needed, Alex led them back across town to his new apartment.
Along the walk, Alex noticed that Xander flinched at any unexpected noise and it brought to mind all of the beatings he had suffered over the years, at the hands of his father, other schoolmates and a wide variety of assorted demons. After the totally hellmouth inspired day they had just had, he could truly understand that jumpiness and he felt himself feeling decidedly protective of his other half. The guy was going to worry them both into a heart attack.
By the time they reached the apartment, Alex was still feeling overprotective, but he'd added another observation to his last one. His twin, Xander, was completely whipped. Anya had him wrapped around her little finger and Xander was delighted to be there. He himself loved Anya and he wanted her happy, but his twin almost seemed to worship her. He was literally tripping over his own feet to do things for her. She, of course, ate up the attention like it was candy. Alex found himself wondering if this need to please that his other half had was only for Anya, or if it would manifest itself with anyone.
Pushing that thought aside for later contemplation, Alex shooed Xander off into the shower muttering about garbage dumps and rain squalls. Once he heard the water running and off-key singing he turned back to the living room area. Wincing at the vivid scorch mark and the demon blood stain on his carpet, he scooped up the remains of his indoor picnic and carried it over to the kitchen counter.
"Anya? If you're hungry there's still some food here that wasn't ruined in the fight. Some grapes and strawberries. There's even a few cheese cubes and crackers left. Help yourself. I'm just going to go throw some sheets and blankets on the bed while we wait for Xander to finish up in the shower. Okay?"
He was rewarded with a deep kiss full of soft warm lips and gentle fingers running through his hair.
"And don't forget to set your alarm. You have work tomorrow. Gotta pay for all this luxury."
Pulling back, Alex tossed her a big smile before he turned to wander into the bedroom. She was right after all, he *did* have to work to pay for all this. He had an new apartment, a high maintenance girlfriend and a twin brother to support. It was a good thing he'd gotten that promotion and the pay raise that went with it.
From temp worker to permanent crew leader, from only child to twin brother. It had been one hell of a day. He knew his other half was really upset by the turn of events, but he couldn't help but feel that life was finally going his way. He'd just have to convince Xander that this was a *good* thing. Especially since it was very well possible that they'd be stuck like this forever.
*****