Xander makes a habit of avoiding sketchy looking dudes, and the guy heading for him right now counts. As a rule, Xander doesn’t trust anyone of the police-person persuasion and while he’s got no clue what R.P.D. stands for (it’s not S.P.D. so he’s actually from out of town which is weird) it’s pretty obvious what the guy’s job is. He looks pretty young. Or…no, that’s not the word. Naïve. He definitely doesn’t look like he belongs in Sunnydale. The vampires would just eat him alive. Which is what’s suspicious. No way someone like that would just be in town. His appearance has to be misleading somehow.
And he’s looking around, like he’s lost, except when he glances over and meets Xander’s eyes, and frowns like he’s thinking before making his way over, and Xander doesn’t want anything to do with that. Except if he ignores it, he’ll just have to deal with it later. “Hi, I’m the official Sunnydale greeting squad. Welcome to our lovely town.”
“You’re Xander, right?” He’s quiet and earnest and it’s definitely on the freak side. He’s got that boy scout thing going.
“Uh. Yeah? Who are you?” He nearly adds ‘am I in trouble’ but doesn’t want to show vulnerability to this guy.
“Oh. Right. Sorry.” He actually fidgets. “Leon S. Kennedy.” And then sighs, tucking a strand of hair behind his ear. It falls back down almost immediately. “Okay. This is going to sound weird, but from what I’ve heard, you’re the experts, and I’m not sure who else to ask for help. When I woke up this morning, I wasn’t in my own body.” He sees Xander’s expression and changes what he’d said. “I mean, this is my body, just not…my current body. I’m practically a kid again, going by the mirror.”
…Right. He’s not sure what the Troll is up to, but that definitely doesn’t seem like a real thing. “I don’t know what you’ve heard, but…”
“I’m serious. I need your help getting…back…to the future.” Xander can tell the instant the guy figures out when he’s made the reference, because he makes a face.
“Doing real good being persuasive there, pal.” Now his arms are crossed. He’s really going to be late getting research snacks like this, and he really doesn’t want to be wandering around unsupervised with a soul-less vampire on the loose. The last time he’d been up against him, he’d sassed him, and the time after Angelus had pulled something that hurt like hell and probably had to do with the whole ‘half-devil’ thing.
“This is heavy,” the guy deadpans. “Look, I…this body is me, but the me from…hell, I don’t even know what year it is. I’m wearing my gear from, I’m assuming, the police academy, because my one and only day on the actual force, in 1998, the whole town got infested with zombies and my girlfriend broke up with me, not in that order. You told me at the time that that made me also the universe’s butt-monkey.” His tone doesn’t quite match his appearance, either. To be fair, he hadn’t exactly earlier, but at least he’d sounded…closer.
Xander stares at the guy, evaluating. “Return of the Living Dead or Dawn of the Dead?”
The smile in return is boyish and makes the dude look even younger. “Both, unfortunately. Lots of weird mutations, but at least a good headshot still works as advertised, though more than one might be needed.”
“So, from ‘what you’d heard’, you’re saying that was from me,” Xander asks, still questioning, and there’s something…not quite sad, maybe, but wistful, in the way Leon stares at him now.
“Yeah, and honestly, it’s weird, seeing you this young. To be fair, I look like a baby right now. It feels really strange.” Leon’s keeping it together, but he’s a little wigged. Which, hey, makes him maybe a little more normal than he looks.
“Butt-monkey, huh?” He starts walking, and Leon falls in step, matching him easily like they’ve done this before. “So, uh, what’d I share?”
“A lot, but, uh…I think the earliest one was the preying mantis teacher?” He actually sounds a little apologetic, bringing it up, which is new and different. Xander’s not used to that. “I definitely know about the permanent Halloween costume,” he adds, gesturing at Xander’s hair.
“And…it doesn’t bother you?” That seems hard to believe.
“The first time I saw you change, sure. I…didn’t handle it well. I’m better about it now.” So, maybe an actually friendly cop? That would also be new and different.
“You’re serious.” He’s having trouble believing that.
“I might joke around but I know when it’s not appropriate. I’m definitely not going to lie about that.” There’s also a weird, hurt affectionate note in his voice that Xander doesn’t know what to do with either. He opts to ignore it. “I’m not fully human either—or, I guess, I won’t be. That’s…” He struggles with that for a moment before continuing. “Got a zombie parasite worm unwillingly injected into my system, and while it was removed I still ended up…uh, a step below a Slayer. Something to do with it changing my body to be a better host. I can—could—still pull off all the things they can, but it’s a little harder for me.”
Huh. And…wait. “I’m not sure you can head into my school looking like that.”
“Huh?” So that’s something he hadn’t mentioned, go figure. Then again, if he’d known this guy was a police officer, he really wouldn’t have brought it up.
“Look, if you stroll in looking like that, even if it is after school, the Troll is going to get all excited that you’re here to arrest me or Buffy or both and then get really mad and probably throw you out if you’re not. At least that ‘baby face’ of yours will probably make you sort of blend in, and there’s the whole Sunnydale syndrome thing…I hope that’s enough. I mean, you could maybe wait a few hours, but I’m not sure how to get in touch with you…” The frown appears. And deepens. And deepens. Nope, he definitely hadn’t talked about that.
“Who is this person?” The slight, protective growl in the man’s voice almost gets Xander’s jealousy going, except for one thing: if he’d told him about the teacher, he’d probably mentioned a few other super embarrassing stories that he wouldn’t share with just anyone. Even if he is Buffy’s future boyfriend, the Xander of the future approves, so who’s he to judge? And maybe it means she moves on from this whole Evil Vampire Ex thing, so he’ll mark that down on the side of the good. It also probably means she’ll never look at him this way, which is, well. The quick way to put it is that it sucks kind of like a bloodsucking undead, but again, if that is the case, his future self is cool with it, and it’s not like he can argue with his older self, so he’ll just go with it.
“Snyder? He’s our principal, only he thinks that involves terrorizing the students. He’s the worst.” He still looks angry, though he’s making an effort not to be so obvious about it.
“And a cop would go along with this?” He actually sounds a little scandalized, so yeah, maybe he is a little naïve… “…Never mind.” Not fully, just a little bit.
“You’re late.”
“Yeah, well, I decided to bring a guy for show and tell,” Xander announces, mock-seriously.
Xander falls asleep. Or rather, he pretends to. Looking back on it later, it won’t count as his proudest moment, but he’s starting to panic, and he’d rather not do it in front of Leon because he actually doesn’t want to hurt the guy’s feelings, especially when he has a face like a puppy.
It had been easy to miss all of it, obvious as it was, and the only reason he’s not coming down on himself more than he is for all this is that he’s not used to looking for it. It’s not that Leon doesn’t care about the others. He’s attentive enough, and jokes around like he’s known all of them for a while, but there’s a clear difference in how he interacts with them and how he interacts with Xander. He’s hyper aware of Xander.
And he’s acting like he’s telling them everything, like he’s not holding anything back, only that’s a lie. He’s guarded, watching what he says, only the way he speaks is kind of like them, with the same sarcasm and sass and creativeness with the words and glossing over any and all feelings or worries or anything real, so it just seems normal. He’s holding back, and it’s for Xander’s peace of mind, and…well, he’s not quite sure he likes it. Not that he knows what he’d do if the guy fluffs his hair or puts a hand on his back, and it doesn’t look like it’s…bothering the guy, exactly, any more than just being in an alien situation that should feel familiar and doesn’t, more like he’s happy to put Xander at ease even if it hurts him, and—that’s it, right there.
Leon doesn’t ever have to say the words. Honestly, given the circumstances, he probably won’t. He doesn’t have to say a word. He’s trying not to be obvious, but he looks at Xander the way Buffy looked at Angel, only just when he thinks Xander isn’t looking. The protectiveness was for him. Here’s a guy who knows him (yeah, knows him, he’d rolled his eyes when Xander had said something particularly obnoxious, and he’d heard a few of the embarrassing stories, and he was still here and not just writing him off as a bad idea) and thinks he deserves more, and…honestly, that kind of…scares him.
The nasty part of him tries to argue that he’s still interested in boobs, but what’s left of Dante in his mind reminds him that that’s not nearly as definitive as he thinks. And that there’s nothing inherently right or wrong about who you love, only how you do it—look at Tony Harris; he’s not a shining beacon of moral righteousness on anything, let alone how he loves his wife.
Okay, so he’s probably not straight. But that doesn’t mean he’s gay, either. Dante hadn’t really, well, ever bothered with labels, so he doesn’t have to, either. Not if he doesn’t want to. And he’s not going to lie. It feels pretty nice, in a way, like he can’t quite catch his breath. It’s how he feels sometimes after kissing Cordy.
He’s probably going to have to have a talk with the guy. And it’s a little less overwhelming when he thinks about the fact that this guy doesn’t know him, exactly. Didn’t fall in love with him. He’s from the future, so he’s known Xander for longer than Xander’s known him.
“So we’re really not going to remember any of this,” Xander states slowly, and policedude makes a face. Maybe time travel isn’t exactly his area, even if zombies are.
“Assuming nothing changes…no. Because I dunno about you, but I definitely don’t remember this.”
“And—what am I to you?” There’s a hint of panic, and Xander shakes his head. “Come on. I saw all the staring. I might have low grades, but I’m not dumb.”
“We’re dating,” he answers, and Xander narrows his eyes, because that was hesitation.
“Try again,” he insists, and at the wide-eyed stare adds, “I can take it.”
“I, uh…” He looks his age, actually. The shyness really sells it. “...I don’t want to scare you off by saying ‘the love of my life’.”
Xander looks away instantly, unable to handle it, because that was a joke but he’d meant it. He’d said it so naturally it’s like instinct to him, and sure, that terrifies the half-devil, but.
“If someone loves me that much, I must be doing something right. I guess.” He bites his lip and looks back up, and those eyes are a mix of pain-content-love.
“Nobody else plays the role of Alexander Redgrave quite like you,” policedude—Leon—agrees. “Though, uh, I’m not perfect. I have a tendency of looking out for you so much I neglect myself, and being a gentleman and teasing you and joking around rather than having a serious conversation.”
“That does not sound like ‘opposites attract’ to me, but what the hell, they do say that couples who have something in common stay together longer,” Xander decides, and the fondly raised eyebrow says Leon knows exactly what he’s doing.