Touch of Heaven, Taste of Hell
folder
BtVS Crossovers › Misc - Slash - Male/Male
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
6
Views:
3,572
Reviews:
1
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Category:
BtVS Crossovers › Misc - Slash - Male/Male
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
6
Views:
3,572
Reviews:
1
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer (BtVS), nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
Horrid Tales of You
FIC: Horrid Tales of You (1/1) JC/XH
Horrid Tales of You
Summary: Xander goes to check the door and finds out some things. Part of the [yet unnamed] series started with “Almost Me” [any ideas on a name for it?]
Rating: PG13
Set: Post-”Chosen”
Ship: X/John Constantine
Feedback: Please? PLEASE?!
Distribution: Put my name on it, put it up, and tell me where to look at it and squee.
Disclaimer: I own nothing and no one.
Dedication: To CCCarioca…who I’m still pandering to since he mentioned that I was going to squee. And also to my sister.
Notes: This is coming out a bit faster mostly because I know that after I get my DVDs [bounces in anticipation of Darien Fawkes-hotness], I’m going to be lost in the land of shinyshinyman and will have some trouble looking out.
Notes2: If you don’t know everyone’s favorite Laughing Magus, go look for “Hellblazer” online, the wonderful comic he comes from. Avoid all mentions of “Constantine”, the movie…cause that’s not really him. ::grumbles::
--------------------------------
Xander had heard the door bell ring in that overly-ostentatious chime that was unfortunately a necessity since it was the only noise that could be heard throughout the complex, but he’d been unable to answer it immediately as he’d been in the middle of a particularly delicate piece of work that required his attention to the end.
He knew who it was, as the whole reason he’d been in the middle of carpentry in the first place was to work off some of his nervousness, but despite the fact that they’d been seeing each other for the last six months, Xander couldn’t stop himself from primping and neatening in front of the mirror a bit. John was always dressed to the nines, with the exception of when he was in a life or death situation, and sometimes, even then. It still amazed Xander that John consented to be seen with him sometimes, considering that he’d just barely mastered the whole “adult” look and was light years from “looking good”, but Xander wasn’t about to question it.
Honestly, life had been a lot sweeter then he’d expected it’d be six months ago. Before meeting John, he’d been pretty depressed almost perpetually and had given up on any sort of relationship that didn’t involve pity or being consulted on lumber types.
Well, there’d been his friends, his buddies, his mates for life, but even those relationships had been strained. Everyone had been in a state of shellshock that didn’t allow for very much, and sadly, that included supporting each other right when everyone needed it most.
Willow was so shocked at everything she’d done, at what had happened to their hometown, that she’d retreated into a world that consisted of Kennedy and little else. Buffy had imploded just a bit, both because of the loss of Spike and her loss of status as the Chosen ONE; sure, she’d complained for years, but Xander knew that a good chunk of what kept her going was the knowledge was that she, she, was chosen instead of all the others. He’d always figured this had been one of the problems Buffy’d had with her fellow Slayers throughout the years, as well as the Potentials earlier. Dawn was in shell-shock, this being only her third world-ending event, and a doozy at that. The loss of her mother’s grave had been particularly stinging to the young girl…that, and the loss of the friends Dawn had just started to make in the new Sunnydale High School.
Faith and Wood had separated to some degree after Wood had healed. It had nothing to do with the injury, or the fact that the guy was riding a desk permanently due to the extent of his injuries; mostly it had to do with emotional investment. Wood had been emotionally invested in the school and the students, and Faith had been unable to understand that level of broad concern. She understood personal loyalty, like what she had with Angel, but her inability to comprehend his pain at the loss of the school and some of it’s students had made it clear to both parties that theirs was not a union meant to last. They’d parted amicably, both having bettered the other, but with an understanding that they really weren’t meant to be. Xander almost wished he could have had a break up like that, then took it back since he was quite happy with the guy he should be opening the door for, though from the murmur of familiar British voices in the hallway ahead of him, it seemed that Giles had let his boyfriend in already.
Giles hadn’t exactly been himself for months, so Xander was unsure to what level the Watcher had recovered from the events of last year. The Giles he’d known last year in Sunnydale hadn’t really been Giles anyway, and Xander had a feeling that the loss of the Watcher’s Counil had a good deal to do with that. He vaguely remembered Giles mentioning in high school that Watchers ran in families, and Xander could, with that knowledge, conclude that Giles had probably lost the most of them all. God…he hated his family, but to lose them all would probably leave him in an even worse state then Giles’ clinical functionality. It was one of the reasons why Xander was working so hard to restore the Watcher’s Council complex; Xander couldn’t return Giles’ family, but he could at least give him back a home.
He’d just passed a bit of the his work on the way to the study, just a ladder and some painting supplies he’d been using to fix some of the burn marks in the less-damaged areas, when he heard the voices duck away into the study. There was no mistaking the gravely noise of that door.
Curious, Xander approached the door as quietly as he could and eased the door open a crack. He had been the one to reattach the damn thing only last week, so he knew exactly how to move it to prevent any noise.
“-are fair. After that incident in Newcastle, and then all the consequent trouble you’ve managed to get yourself into, you must understand, I have my doubts as to the…safety of young Xander being attached to you in any way. I might have been out of the country, John, but even I couldn’t ignore the fact that a good bloody chunk of your friends are now in good bloody chunks.”
“Don’t you pull that on me, Rip.” John replied in a snarl that was entirely alien to Xander. He’d never heard John like that. Unable to stop himself, he stepped just the tiniest bit closer to hear more.
“Pull what, John? Forethought? Concern? Please, explain to me, Constantine, exactly what I’m ’pulling’ on you and I’ll be happy to stop, but all I’m trying to make known to you is my uneasiness with the relationship you have with Xander. I’ve seen that boy survive too long in this world to let you drag him down. I’ve seen what you do to people, and I don‘t want that to happen to Xander.”
Xander’s eyes widened, and his nostrils flared silently in upset. For what, he wasn’t sure. He didn’t know who he was angry at, who was right and who was wrong in this. Giles was the father he’d never had, someone who’d always in one way or another come through for him, but, shit, John was…John was someone he could love. He wouldn’t put himself out on that limb yet, it hurt too much to even think of it, but John had that something he could see himself eventually attaching his heart to.
“-never gonna let anything hurt him!” he heard John finish as the real world crashed through his confusion, “I…I care about him. I care about him more then I’ve cared about someone for a long time, and I’ll go to heaven and earth to make sure-”
“Don’t give me that, Constantine.” Giles returned viciously, “I’ve seen what happens with you. You’ll go to heaven and earth, but that doesn’t stop it. Hasn’t stopped all the death that surrounds you like a second skin. Have you told him why you were at that bar that night? Have you told him about Dani or Kit or even that little beatnik you used to hang around with? What about us? Have you told him about you and I? Gods, John, have you told him anything?”
Oh God. Oh God. This just went into code red. Holy fuck. Holy fucking fuck.
“I’ve told him everything important. I’ve told him about my life, about the dangers. He knows about Dani and Kit and the others. I’ve even told him about Newcastle; told me his ex had done worse. He…he doesn’t know bout you, but you can’t expect me to tell him about every bloody relationship I’ve ever had. I didn’t know you were ’Giles’. Never imagined you actually becoming a Watcher. Bloody shock to me, mate.”
“John-”
“Dammit, Ripper, I’m a fucking bastard, but I’ll keep him safe!” he heard John say desperately, the pain and misery in that voice striking Xander straight to the heart. Pain, misery, and determination.
Xander heard a shuffling and then what sounded disturbingly like a blade moving swiftly through air, and then Giles’ voice sounded like a pin dropping in a silent room.
“You’d bloody well better, or I’ll see that the First gets what he wants.”
The only words that could run through his mind were What. The. Fuck.
“I will…” he finally heard John reply quietly, earnestly. The showman that usually lived in his voice was gone for the moment, and all that was present was the lonely man who understood exactly what he was agreeing to. “I…he makes me smile, Ripper.”
There was silence for a moment.
“That he does.” Giles responded, his voice a good deal softer then it had been throughout the entire conversation, “He makes many of us smile when we’d thought that kind of happiness was lost to us. It’s one of the many reasons why I had to make sure of your intentions.”
“I know he’s more then the handyman, Ripper.”
Xander was starting to wonder why Giles wasn’t reacting to being called “Ripper”. Then again, considering the whole they-once-dated thing that was still squicking him, Giles might have seen it as an endearment instead of a snide form of taunting as Ethan Rayne had used it.
“Indeed.” Giles replied with a finality he obviously didn’t feel, “And…this place would lose more then just a new paint job if anything should happen to him.”
“I know.”
There was another pause, so pregnant it was probably expecting twins, and then he heard the Watcher’s voice just above a whisper.
“I’m sorry, you know. For what happened with us, for the old-”
“I know.” John repeated again.
“We should go find Xander. I dare say that he’ll be wondering where you are.”
“I know.”
“John…”
There was a heavy breath, and then the squeaking sound of someone rising from one of the leather chairs Xander knew populated the study.
“We should go. Boy’ll be worried before too long. Don’t want him worried.”
“No, we don’t.”
And then Xander was walking as fast as he could back to his room to figure out if he wanted them to find him or not.
Fin.
Sorry to do that to you, but this wouldn’t be a tale concerning Constantine if SOMETHING horrible didn’t pop out of his past and show it’s face. Well, Xander now knows a bit more about Conjob then he probably intended on telling him, and John now has to face things he probably wouldn’t have wanted to face for a while yet in his relationship with Xander. But when has the love lives of either of these two been without a little rain? I do promise a little bit of action in the next chapter, but not without a LOT of issues to go through first. But come on…I did give you the mental image of Ripper/Constantine. Aren’t I evil?
Horrid Tales of You
Summary: Xander goes to check the door and finds out some things. Part of the [yet unnamed] series started with “Almost Me” [any ideas on a name for it?]
Rating: PG13
Set: Post-”Chosen”
Ship: X/John Constantine
Feedback: Please? PLEASE?!
Distribution: Put my name on it, put it up, and tell me where to look at it and squee.
Disclaimer: I own nothing and no one.
Dedication: To CCCarioca…who I’m still pandering to since he mentioned that I was going to squee. And also to my sister.
Notes: This is coming out a bit faster mostly because I know that after I get my DVDs [bounces in anticipation of Darien Fawkes-hotness], I’m going to be lost in the land of shinyshinyman and will have some trouble looking out.
Notes2: If you don’t know everyone’s favorite Laughing Magus, go look for “Hellblazer” online, the wonderful comic he comes from. Avoid all mentions of “Constantine”, the movie…cause that’s not really him. ::grumbles::
--------------------------------
Xander had heard the door bell ring in that overly-ostentatious chime that was unfortunately a necessity since it was the only noise that could be heard throughout the complex, but he’d been unable to answer it immediately as he’d been in the middle of a particularly delicate piece of work that required his attention to the end.
He knew who it was, as the whole reason he’d been in the middle of carpentry in the first place was to work off some of his nervousness, but despite the fact that they’d been seeing each other for the last six months, Xander couldn’t stop himself from primping and neatening in front of the mirror a bit. John was always dressed to the nines, with the exception of when he was in a life or death situation, and sometimes, even then. It still amazed Xander that John consented to be seen with him sometimes, considering that he’d just barely mastered the whole “adult” look and was light years from “looking good”, but Xander wasn’t about to question it.
Honestly, life had been a lot sweeter then he’d expected it’d be six months ago. Before meeting John, he’d been pretty depressed almost perpetually and had given up on any sort of relationship that didn’t involve pity or being consulted on lumber types.
Well, there’d been his friends, his buddies, his mates for life, but even those relationships had been strained. Everyone had been in a state of shellshock that didn’t allow for very much, and sadly, that included supporting each other right when everyone needed it most.
Willow was so shocked at everything she’d done, at what had happened to their hometown, that she’d retreated into a world that consisted of Kennedy and little else. Buffy had imploded just a bit, both because of the loss of Spike and her loss of status as the Chosen ONE; sure, she’d complained for years, but Xander knew that a good chunk of what kept her going was the knowledge was that she, she, was chosen instead of all the others. He’d always figured this had been one of the problems Buffy’d had with her fellow Slayers throughout the years, as well as the Potentials earlier. Dawn was in shell-shock, this being only her third world-ending event, and a doozy at that. The loss of her mother’s grave had been particularly stinging to the young girl…that, and the loss of the friends Dawn had just started to make in the new Sunnydale High School.
Faith and Wood had separated to some degree after Wood had healed. It had nothing to do with the injury, or the fact that the guy was riding a desk permanently due to the extent of his injuries; mostly it had to do with emotional investment. Wood had been emotionally invested in the school and the students, and Faith had been unable to understand that level of broad concern. She understood personal loyalty, like what she had with Angel, but her inability to comprehend his pain at the loss of the school and some of it’s students had made it clear to both parties that theirs was not a union meant to last. They’d parted amicably, both having bettered the other, but with an understanding that they really weren’t meant to be. Xander almost wished he could have had a break up like that, then took it back since he was quite happy with the guy he should be opening the door for, though from the murmur of familiar British voices in the hallway ahead of him, it seemed that Giles had let his boyfriend in already.
Giles hadn’t exactly been himself for months, so Xander was unsure to what level the Watcher had recovered from the events of last year. The Giles he’d known last year in Sunnydale hadn’t really been Giles anyway, and Xander had a feeling that the loss of the Watcher’s Counil had a good deal to do with that. He vaguely remembered Giles mentioning in high school that Watchers ran in families, and Xander could, with that knowledge, conclude that Giles had probably lost the most of them all. God…he hated his family, but to lose them all would probably leave him in an even worse state then Giles’ clinical functionality. It was one of the reasons why Xander was working so hard to restore the Watcher’s Council complex; Xander couldn’t return Giles’ family, but he could at least give him back a home.
He’d just passed a bit of the his work on the way to the study, just a ladder and some painting supplies he’d been using to fix some of the burn marks in the less-damaged areas, when he heard the voices duck away into the study. There was no mistaking the gravely noise of that door.
Curious, Xander approached the door as quietly as he could and eased the door open a crack. He had been the one to reattach the damn thing only last week, so he knew exactly how to move it to prevent any noise.
“-are fair. After that incident in Newcastle, and then all the consequent trouble you’ve managed to get yourself into, you must understand, I have my doubts as to the…safety of young Xander being attached to you in any way. I might have been out of the country, John, but even I couldn’t ignore the fact that a good bloody chunk of your friends are now in good bloody chunks.”
“Don’t you pull that on me, Rip.” John replied in a snarl that was entirely alien to Xander. He’d never heard John like that. Unable to stop himself, he stepped just the tiniest bit closer to hear more.
“Pull what, John? Forethought? Concern? Please, explain to me, Constantine, exactly what I’m ’pulling’ on you and I’ll be happy to stop, but all I’m trying to make known to you is my uneasiness with the relationship you have with Xander. I’ve seen that boy survive too long in this world to let you drag him down. I’ve seen what you do to people, and I don‘t want that to happen to Xander.”
Xander’s eyes widened, and his nostrils flared silently in upset. For what, he wasn’t sure. He didn’t know who he was angry at, who was right and who was wrong in this. Giles was the father he’d never had, someone who’d always in one way or another come through for him, but, shit, John was…John was someone he could love. He wouldn’t put himself out on that limb yet, it hurt too much to even think of it, but John had that something he could see himself eventually attaching his heart to.
“-never gonna let anything hurt him!” he heard John finish as the real world crashed through his confusion, “I…I care about him. I care about him more then I’ve cared about someone for a long time, and I’ll go to heaven and earth to make sure-”
“Don’t give me that, Constantine.” Giles returned viciously, “I’ve seen what happens with you. You’ll go to heaven and earth, but that doesn’t stop it. Hasn’t stopped all the death that surrounds you like a second skin. Have you told him why you were at that bar that night? Have you told him about Dani or Kit or even that little beatnik you used to hang around with? What about us? Have you told him about you and I? Gods, John, have you told him anything?”
Oh God. Oh God. This just went into code red. Holy fuck. Holy fucking fuck.
“I’ve told him everything important. I’ve told him about my life, about the dangers. He knows about Dani and Kit and the others. I’ve even told him about Newcastle; told me his ex had done worse. He…he doesn’t know bout you, but you can’t expect me to tell him about every bloody relationship I’ve ever had. I didn’t know you were ’Giles’. Never imagined you actually becoming a Watcher. Bloody shock to me, mate.”
“John-”
“Dammit, Ripper, I’m a fucking bastard, but I’ll keep him safe!” he heard John say desperately, the pain and misery in that voice striking Xander straight to the heart. Pain, misery, and determination.
Xander heard a shuffling and then what sounded disturbingly like a blade moving swiftly through air, and then Giles’ voice sounded like a pin dropping in a silent room.
“You’d bloody well better, or I’ll see that the First gets what he wants.”
The only words that could run through his mind were What. The. Fuck.
“I will…” he finally heard John reply quietly, earnestly. The showman that usually lived in his voice was gone for the moment, and all that was present was the lonely man who understood exactly what he was agreeing to. “I…he makes me smile, Ripper.”
There was silence for a moment.
“That he does.” Giles responded, his voice a good deal softer then it had been throughout the entire conversation, “He makes many of us smile when we’d thought that kind of happiness was lost to us. It’s one of the many reasons why I had to make sure of your intentions.”
“I know he’s more then the handyman, Ripper.”
Xander was starting to wonder why Giles wasn’t reacting to being called “Ripper”. Then again, considering the whole they-once-dated thing that was still squicking him, Giles might have seen it as an endearment instead of a snide form of taunting as Ethan Rayne had used it.
“Indeed.” Giles replied with a finality he obviously didn’t feel, “And…this place would lose more then just a new paint job if anything should happen to him.”
“I know.”
There was another pause, so pregnant it was probably expecting twins, and then he heard the Watcher’s voice just above a whisper.
“I’m sorry, you know. For what happened with us, for the old-”
“I know.” John repeated again.
“We should go find Xander. I dare say that he’ll be wondering where you are.”
“I know.”
“John…”
There was a heavy breath, and then the squeaking sound of someone rising from one of the leather chairs Xander knew populated the study.
“We should go. Boy’ll be worried before too long. Don’t want him worried.”
“No, we don’t.”
And then Xander was walking as fast as he could back to his room to figure out if he wanted them to find him or not.
Fin.
Sorry to do that to you, but this wouldn’t be a tale concerning Constantine if SOMETHING horrible didn’t pop out of his past and show it’s face. Well, Xander now knows a bit more about Conjob then he probably intended on telling him, and John now has to face things he probably wouldn’t have wanted to face for a while yet in his relationship with Xander. But when has the love lives of either of these two been without a little rain? I do promise a little bit of action in the next chapter, but not without a LOT of issues to go through first. But come on…I did give you the mental image of Ripper/Constantine. Aren’t I evil?