Date written: Sun15 Jan 2006
Author: Starway Man
E-mail: theop at kew dot hotkey dot net dot au
Disclaimer: The Buffy the Vampire Slayer characters are copyright Joss Whedon, UPN, WB, Mutant Enemy, Kuzui, Sandollar and probably a whole lot of other people as well. All references to The Bourne Identity belong to Robert Ludlum. Parts of the fanfic are taken from transcripts of the relevant BtVS episodes, and so those segments belong to the writers in question. Oh, yeah, and I won't be making any illegal profit from this story; I'm just hoping for a little feedback here.
Category: Action, Adventure, Alternate Universe, Crossover
Main characters: Xander, Ensemble
Continuity: This story takes place initially during the BtVS season 3 episode 'Band Candy'.
Rating: Overall R, with mostly PG-13 parts.
Symbols: " " denotes speech, ( italics ) specifies thoughts, and # # indicates phone voice.
Acknowledgments: Thanks to Buffyworld for the transcripts of the relevant episodes, and my beta readers Greywizard, Francis Eugene, and Nodakskip.
Warnings: This story contains descriptions of killing and violence, as well as some bad language.
Author Notes: This fanfic is NOT a crossover with the 2002 movie starring Matt Damon, but rather the original novel written way back in 1980 (and to a minor extent, the 1988 film as well). I highly recommend reading the book, to anyone interested in doing so.
Summary: Xander encounters Ethan Rayne during 'Band Candy', and afterwards, the events of the 1998-99 senior year end up happening somewhat differently.
Title: The Xourne Identity
"So, what's on tap for tonight that's so important? Uprising, prophesised ritual, pre-ordained death-fest?"
(Buffy Summers, BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER)
"Cain is for Charlie and Delta is for Cain."
(Alexander Conklin, THE BOURNE IDENTITY)
"Anger, fear, aggression...the dark side of the Force, are they."
(Yoda, THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK)
Part I: Chocolate And Change
17619 White Oak Drive, Sunnydale. Mid-November, 1998
Xander Harris sat alone in the basement of his parents' home. To be more accurate he was sitting on the floor, staring at nothing in particular, and slowly bouncing a ball back and forth against the wall.
He had taken his SATs recently, and under other circumstances the young man would have been greatly concerned that he had not done well on the exams – and that his future might suffer, because of that.
But not here, and not now. Right at this moment, Xander's mind was full of memories that were not his own. Places he had never been, people he had never met, things he had never done...
All of a sudden, the boy heard a commotion upstairs; his ears hearing the sounds of doors opening and loud female voices demanding to know where he was.
But the male teenager paid them no heed. He just sat there in the basement, and remembered...
The Milkbar Factory, Sunnydale. Three days earlier
The man known as Ethan Rayne was walking alongside the black Master vampire known as Mr. Trick. The chaos mage had been to the Hellmouth before and so he was back in town purely for business reasons, as his history with this town's inhabitants wasn't exactly one he relished remembering.
Unfortunately, these business reasons involved being a subcontractor for drugging the adult humans of Sunnydale – in order to enable the Mayor to procure a tribute to the demon called Lurconis...
"Demand's high," Trick said of the cursed candy that had been circulating around town, thanks to the efforts of the high school students ordered to sell it.
Ethan said proudly, "I thought it might be."
Trick smirked. "That's the reason I love this country. You make a good product, and the people will come to you. Of course, a lot of them are gonna die, but that's the other reason I love this country!"
Then they stopped walking as Trick stepped over to the human inspecting the boxes of candy before they got sealed. The undead guy snapped, "Hey! Don't sample the product."
The factory worker tried to protest, "But I didn't-"
Without a word Trick grabbed him by the overalls, pulled him into a headlock and jerked his head around, breaking the poor man's neck and throwing the corpse to the floor.
Ethan did nothing but look away in distaste. Which was in fact typical for him.
For his part, Trick just straightened his jacket and then checked the ring on his pinky finger. ( Damn, but that felt good! Guess there's been too much executive action and not enough killing for this vampire, lately... )
The evil duo continued to walk as Ethan asked, "Uh, how did you know he was..."
"I didn't," the vampire said nonchalantly. "But now, I know no one else will." He checked his watch and added, "We're getting close. It's almost feeding time!"
The undead villain then walked off, leaving Ethan standing there staring after him, a look of surprise and concern on his face. After a moment, the Brit headed back the way they'd come.
It was odd how just one misspoken sentence could alter fate in such a way, as Rayne became convinced that he himself was going to be on Trick's menu later tonight. No loose ends, and all that.
So the warlock decided he was going to need some extra backup in place, some insurance to make sure he got out of Sunnydale intact. Thus, as soon as he could do so safely, Ethan snuck out of the factory to obtain what he needed.
And as luck, or fate, or destiny would have it, who should he run into – except the one and only high school senior, known as Xander Harris?
Ethan's private office. A short while later
Having knocked the Slayerette unconscious and brought him to the factory, Ethan Rayne checked out his soon-to-be vassal.
"So nice to see you again, dear boy," the mage said musingly in his distinct English accent. "Because I remember you from last year, you know. One of the Slayer's groupies, aren't you? Dressed up as a soldier then, as I recall. Wonder how well that worked out for you? Well, never mind, guess it doesn't matter now..."
The Brit inspected Xander's prone form carefully, ostensibly talking to the teenager but actually more to himself. "I must admit – I probably would've preferred someone else, given more time to look, but then this isn't a perfect world – is it? And we all need to make do on occasion. So then, what sort of persona should I create within you to help me tonight, hmmm? Choices, choices, choices..."
Ethan went on, "Maybe a famous demon killer like Enkidu, or King Gilgamesh? No, no, I need someone more contemporary; no point in having someone around who'll mistake a car for a demon, or anything like that! Maybe a vampire killer like a descendant of Van Helsing, or one of that French mob? No...I need someone with the abilities, but without any purpose of his own..."
Suddenly, Ethan got an idea. "Of course! Why didn't I think of it before? That particular amnesiac will be perfect..."
And so, without any further ado, Ethan began the preparations for the chaos spell. He worked as quickly as possible, getting out a two-headed statue of Janus from a nearby locker – then drawing a bullet wound scar on Xander's head, as well as placing a toy gun in his hand.
Then checking the time, the chaos worshipper began his invocation in Latin, weaving his spell around the unconscious youth. At the penultimate moment, a cold wind seemed to blow through the room, slamming the door shut – and Ethan said with a cold smile, "Showtime..."
Suddenly, the scar became real, and the toy morphed into a real .38 calibre automatic pistol held in Jason Bourne's unconscious hand.
( Success! ) the mage thought to himself triumphantly.
Rayne waited impatiently for the man to wake up, then went to answer a ringing telephone – just as Buffy Summers, her mother Joyce, her Watcher Rupert Giles and Principal Snyder arrived at the factory...
The Milkbar Factory. A while later
Buffy ended her phone call to her friend Willow, having learned from Ethan that the tribute to Lurconis involved the sacrifice of newborn babies. "Come on..." she took her mother's hand, intent on getting out of there to stop it from happening.
But Joyce had a question first. "Well, what about that man?"
Buffy turned to see Giles holding a crowbar over Ethan's head, the evil magician currently lying on the floor after trying to attack her. "Uh, see if you guys can find something to tie him up with."
The drugged Mrs. Summers, who like Giles was acting as if she was a teenager again, muttered, "Um..." She then reached behind her back and pulled out a set of handcuffs, dangling them from her thumb – and giving her daughter a sheepish yet mischievous look.
The blonde Slayer sighed, "NEVER tell me..." She then grabbed the cuffs and headed over to Ethan, quickly securing him to a chair.
"Hang on – you can't leave me like this!" Ethan shouted, as the Chosen One dragged the three adults out of there. "Come back here!"
Elsewhere, at that precise moment, the man who had become Jason Charles Bourne woke up.
His head was hurting, just like when he'd woken up on Dr. Washburn's hospital bed on the Mediterranean island Île de Port Noir months ago. Bourne then instinctively grasped the weapon in his hand, and wondered where the hell he was...
The man with only fragments of memory then got up smoothly, like a jungle cat, and took stock of his surroundings. Before him, there was a two-headed statue with glowing green eyes.
( Janus. Roman mythical god, ) the amnesiac thought to himself, before suddenly frowning. ( How did I know that? No, never mind. Important thing is, where am I? )
Dismissing the odd statue, the possessed youth then left Ethan's office and followed the shouting noises to a man – obviously British – chained to a chair.
"About time you showed up!" Ethan grunted in annoyance, having wondered where the hell his backup plan was.
Jason just pointed the gun at his head. "Who are you? Where am I?"
Ethan instantly decided to tone it down a bit. "I'm a friend, Mr. Bourne – if I may call you that? Look, if you'd just care to release me, I'll-"
"I don't know you. Identify yourself," Bourne interrupted in a monotone.
"The name's Ethan Rayne. Oh, and as for your question regarding where we are? It's a quaint little township called Sunnydale, here on the West Coast – about two hours drive north of Los Angeles-"
Not really caring about how he'd gotten here, the secret agent simply demanded, "Where's Marie?" Referring to the fictional Canadian woman who – in his mind – had recently become his lover in Europe.
"You mean Ms. St. Jacques? I have no idea," Rayne lied.
"Then you're of no use to me." Bourne turned around and started to leave.
Ethan started to panic, and so decided to play a wild card. ( Nothing left to lose... ) "Cain is for Carlos, and Delta is for Cain!"
The code phrase almost made him snap, as Jason instantly whirled around and aimed the gun at Ethan's throat. "You have ten seconds to clarify that, or you're a dead man!"
Ethan winced at the threat, and knew he had to talk fast and talk for his life. ( Got to tell him parts of the truth, but not all of it. No invention, simply omission... ) "I know about Delta, and the Medusa organization. I also know about Cain, and the three years you've spent working for the...Treadstone-71 corporation..."
Bourne didn't move. "And Ilich Ramirez Sanchez? Or should I say, Carlos?"
"Not my concern," Ethan ad-libbed about the fictional character and the real-life terrorist using that name. "I'm a relative newcomer to all this, I'm afraid. Oh, and I heard about what happened to the Monk, the Yachtsman and his wife – and your brother, Gordon. My sincerest condolences for their deaths, by the way."
Bourne didn't believe him for a second, but still said, "Lift your arms up as high as you can."
Ethan complied as the other man went behind the chair and shot at the handcuffs, releasing the chaos mage. "Thank you, old man. Now, I don't know about you, but I'm vacating the premises – I assume you'll want to come along? As far as I know there's nothing here for you, anyway..."
Jason Bourne said nothing, he just kept his weapon ready and watched as Ethan trotted to the office and started packing a few things. Including the two-headed statue... "Where's the nearest airport?"
"About half an hour's drive, more or less," Ethan replied – noting the gun still being trained on his head. ( Looks like I'll have to delay my plans a bit... ) "Come on, my car's outside."
Sunnydale Airport, Sunnydale. Later that night
While elsewhere Buffy, Joyce and Giles were in the sewers, saving the babies and torching the body of Lurconis, Bourne and Ethan were purchasing tickets for a flight to New York City, by way of LAX.
Jason had ditched the gun before entering the airport and its metal detectors, confident that his unarmed combat skills would be enough to keep his untrustworthy companion in line – till they went their separate ways. ( No point taking any chances. I've been hunted enough lately... )
But Bourne had subsequently been stunned to learn that the year was now 1998, and not 1978 as he'd assumed. And unfortunately, the American intelligence agent-slash-undercover assassin didn't have a chance to discuss anything with Ethan in the midst of all the people lining up to get their boarding passes, which led to quite the build-up of annoyance and frustration on his part.
"What's going on here?" Bourne eventually snarled at the British man, as soon as they were alone in the men's toilets. "Is this some kind of trick? Because if not, I'd really like to know – how the hell did over twenty years pass in the blink of an eye?"
Ethan suddenly smirked. "Hate to tell you this, friend – but the truth is, you don't really exist..." And then, without any warning, he smashed the Janus statue – by throwing the flimsy box in his hands hard down onto the floor
Xander Harris blinked, suddenly himself again as he stared at the chaos mage before him. He was able to remember everything, "What the...oh man, not again..."
Once more without any warning, the Englishman hit the male teenager with a right hook to the jaw, while he was still disoriented. Xander was easily knocked out cold by the force of the blow; and after positioning the young man in one of the stalls, Ethan quickly grabbed the plane ticket out of Xander's jacket with another smirk.
"Au revoir, dear boy. Thanks for all the help. And I DO hope we meet up again, one day!"
Ethan then left the men's room, got a refund for Xander's ticket, and quickly boarded a flight eventually headed for New York.
17619 White Oak Drive, Sunnydale. Mid-November, 1998
As the female voices grew louder, Xander pulled himself out of his memories of the recent past. And soon enough, Buffy, his best friend Willow Rosenberg and his girlfriend Cordelia Chase came down the stairs into the basement.
"There you are! Where the hell have you been since last Friday, you dweeb?" Cordelia demanded in her own wonderfully caring way.
But then the brunette girl got the shock of her life as Xander got up, looked her right in the eye and said softly, "I want to break up."
"What? Why?" Cordy demanded in horror, as she recalled her own words from Valentine's Day. Buffy and Willow were also stunned; the redhead was quite concerned, thinking Harris was finally going to come clean about their illicit smoochies ever since October.
But Xander just started to explain what had happened to him last Friday, while everyone else had been busy with other stuff. Finally he finished up, "And when I woke up in the toilet, Ethan's plane was long gone."
"Oh my God! If I ever see that guy again, I'm gonna kill him!" Buffy ranted. "Geez, Xander, I was there at that factory that night – I'm so sorry, I didn't know-"
"It's okay. You didn't do anything wrong, Buff," Xander said a bit too calmly.
"But that still doesn't explain why you wanna break up with me!" Cordelia demanded hotly. "I don't get it..."
Xander looked at her and said, "What do you know about Jason Bourne, Cordy?"
"Never heard of him," she replied impatiently. "But hey, how bad can this guy be? I mean, you dealt with being that soldier guy a year ago..."
"I've never heard of him, either," Buffy put in her own two cents, just as Xander opened his mouth to say it was like the socialite was comparing apples to oranges.
"I have."
All eyes turned towards the computer whiz as Willow said nervously, "I, I've read the book, it's one of my dad's favorites. And I also saw that movie which was made 10 years ago, as well-"
Harris knew that actions spoke louder than words, and so he said, "Mind if I borrow your stake for a second, Buff? I'm thinking a little demonstration's in order."
The Slayer nodded and gave it to him. Xander then casually turned and threw it at a calendar on the wall, hitting it dead centre on today's date from all the way across the room.
The three girls' eyes went wide as Xander brought it over and said, "Jason Bourne's real name, for those of you who don't know, was David Webb. He was a career foreign service officer for the U.S. government, stationed in Cambodia during the Vietnam war. When one day, his Thai wife and two children were killed in a bombing raid along the Mekong river. He subsequently became someone called "Delta", in a black ops organization called 'Medusa'-"
"And he was a borderline psycho by then," Willow interrupted. "He, he should have been discharged from government service and put on anti-psychotic drugs! I mean, I know there was a war on and all, but all those people that he killed..."
Xander glanced at her, "You could make a case for all that, I guess. But anyway, after the war he was recruited by this guy named David Abbot, otherwise known as the Monk – he was the same man who had built Medusa, you see. Abbot and his three friends were the basis of Treadstone-71, the most controlled unit of American intelligence ever since the State Department's Consular Operations-"
"Who?" "What?" Cordelia and Buffy demanded together.
"Doesn't matter," said Xander with a sigh. "Point is, Webb agreed to become Jason Bourne, who was otherwise known as Cain. A mythical assassin, who was supposedly expanding his operations from Asia into Europe. Bourne lived undercover for three years in that role, non-stop. Just so he could draw a terrorist named Carlos out of hiding, and kill him."
"Except it didn't work out that way," Willow added, as she stared at her oldest friend in horrified fascination. ( And now, Xander remembers all that as if he's lived it himself? Oh my God... )
"No. Because the man got shot in the head at sea, and lost his former identity completely; it's probably why Ethan chose him in the first place, I guess. Still, in the book – Bourne came within seconds of pulling the whole crazy thing off, even though in the end he failed to kill the bad guy. It was just too bad all the training he'd had for the mission was gone – except for his innate instincts and abilities-"
"Yeah, okay, boo-hoo for him and all that. But it still doesn't explain why you suddenly want to break up with me!" Cordelia said for the second time. "What, is it something I said? Something I did? I know we fight a lot, Xander, but I-"
Harris came up close to her and said, "Cordelia. Haven't you been listening? Jason Bourne, or David Webb, or whatever you wanna call him – he was a professional killer. He HAD to be in order to play the role he did. And I've picked up a lot of things from everything that guy went through, when both sides wanted him dead! Including his ability to kill at the drop of a hat. Do you realize NOW what kind of danger you're in, Tact Girl? I don't want to see you or anyone else get hurt because of me, if you say or do the wrong thing at the wrong time..."
"Oh, come on, Xander!" the blonde Slayer broke in. "Are you sure you're not exaggerating JUST a bit?"
Willow opened her mouth, but a single glance and shake of the head from her male pal caused her to shut up. ( Yeah, he'll have to prove it to her, she'll never believe it otherwise... )
Harris said calmly, "Buffy, I want you to attack me so that I can give you some idea of what I'm capable of now. And I'm warning you, I won't hold back – so keep your guard up, okay?"
The Slayer shook her head. "This isn't necessary-"
"I think it is, Buffy," Willow said at once, in a dreading tone. "Please? As a favor to me?"
The mystically empowered female warrior sighed and put her bag down, as Xander did a few stretching exercises. "Okay..."
When Harris was ready, Ms. Summers let loose a punch at her friend's head – one that he could tell she was holding back on almost completely.
"Che-sah!" Xander's right foot surged upwards and forward like a battering ram, crashing into Buffy's unprotected stomach and driving her backwards a few paces.
The blonde girl let out a sharp cry of pain, clutching her abdomen before she finally regained her balance. "What the hell was that? I think you almost perforated my gall bladder!"
Xander shrugged. "Told you I wasn't gonna hold back."
Luckily, Cordelia interrupted whatever Buffy was gonna say in reply as the blonde came forward. "Xander-"
"Cor, please. Given what's happened...this is all for the best, I promise you. Just tell everyone at school tomorrow that you dumped me because I suddenly turned into a complete psycho – well, it's not all that far from the truth. Because like it or not, the Xander Harris that you knew before – he doesn't exist anymore. Who I am now...I need to figure out who that Xander Harris is before I can commit to anything else."
It was obvious Ms. Chase still wasn't convinced. "But-"
Again Harris interrupted, "Okay, you want a legitimate reason to break up with me? Here's one – I've been making out with Willow behind your back for over a month, ever since Homecoming..."
Willow went white at hearing that, as Buffy glanced at her in shock – but Cordelia just rolled her eyes in disbelief. "Will you stop it? God, if you're gonna be making stuff up like that, you should've at least said Buffy's name! That woulda been way more believable-"
"HEY!" Willow snapped, before her brain caught up with her mouth.
The buxom head cheerleader just barely glanced at her. "Sorry, but it's true!"
"Should I be insulted?" Buffy wondered, also convinced now that Xander's story was all just make-believe.
"Totally up to you," the Chase girl shrugged. Then she looked back at her now ex-boyfriend. "Xander-"
"No. It's over, Cordy. At least, until I get a firm enough grip on myself. And since I have utterly no clue when that'll be, I don't expect you to wait for me," Harris said firmly, yet also as gently as he could.
Two hot and salty tears ran down Cordelia's cheeks, as she eventually turned around and fled out of the basement. Buffy sent a hard stare at her best male bud before running after her.
But Willow was still rooted to the floor in shock. "Xander, you – you..."
"It's over, Willow," the young man said in that same firm tone of voice. "It's strange, but...whatever it was that was happening between you and me, I just – I don't feel that way anymore, I simply don't have any desire to kiss you any longer. And since Cordelia didn't believe me when I told her what we'd been up to...well, as far as I'm concerned, that's the end of it-"
"What?" Ms. Rosenberg interrupted. A strange combination of astonishment, disappointment and relief in her voice.
Harris just went on, "Look, whether or not you tell Oz...that's entirely up to you. Personally though, I'd just pretend that the whole thing never happened; because I honestly can't see how anything good can ever possibly come out of anyone learning about, y'know...us..."
Willow ran away in tears, exactly like Cordelia had done, and Xander just stared at her retreating form sadly.
To Be Continued in Part 2