Title: The Path
Author: Serpent in the Shadows
Rating: R/M
Pairing: Xander/Harry
Warnings: Slash, language
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or xXx
Summary: There are many paths one must take in life. But when the time comes to choose, will you stay where you are, or will you take a chance on an unknown path in the hopes of finding something more?
Beta: Pysche
Dedication: To AbeoUmbra - as a thank you for helping me write Worth the Wait, allowing me to bounce endless ideas off of you, and encouraging me to keep writing. Love ya!
AN: I hadn't planned on starting yet another story but between AbeoUmbra and FX deciding to air xXx twice in one weekend...well, I crumbled and started to write. The thought behind this though started when I was bored and took a look at the Harry Potter challenge section on AFF and came across one for this type of crossover. I studied it, but decided in the end, it wasn't something I could do but I was intrigued by the concept of combining these two - that and anything with Vin Diesel as a main character is worth it!
I'm not sure how often I'll be updating this, it really depends on how popular it is.
Chapter 1
It was peaceful here, he realized.
After standing still for more than thirty minutes, the birds had finally started to sing again after he had disturbed their sanctuary. A light breeze pushed its way through the tall grasses, caressing his skin and clean-shaven head as his brown eyes surveyed the ongoing waves at the bottom of the cliff he was standing on.
For years he had never been out of America. No reason to leave when there were plenty of challenges there for him to face. Whether it was from the sheer adrenalin rush of a free fall dive, the excitement of doing tricks on a board - be it snow, water, or on land - or even downgrading and embarrassing crooked people, Xander Cage didn't have to step away from his home country in order to do so.
But then he had been taken by government officials that had swept in, taking him in an unflattering fashion - not very manly to be taken out by a dart and then falling on your ass, twice - and then sent on a couple of trials to prove his 'worthiness'.
Then to top it all off, this bastard of an agent - Gibbs - decides to manipulate him into 'doing his country a favor' in order not to do jail time. He had been right though, he wouldn't have survived very long in a cage.
So, off he went to Russia to find info on an underground crime ring - undetected - and it had worked for a bit, even got a kick-ass car out of the deal. But then things just had to go ass-end up which put him on the run. But of course, there was a girl involved and he couldn't just leave her high and dry.
Females always had a way of causing more problems than necessary.
But, with the help of Yelena, - who, much to his surprise, turned out to be an Russian Intelligence agent that her country had forgotten about - he found out the deal behind Anarchy 99. In secret, the leader, Yorgi, had used a castle as a base for making a biochemical weapon to use on major cites.
And, he had witnessed the deaths of the scientists Yorgi had killed by their own project in order to make sure there weren't any witnesses.
He would never forget the way they begged for their lives.
But, he guessed, it had turned out well in the end. Both he and Yelena had chased down the sea-faring drone that had been sent out to complete the task of killing innocent people. In desperation, Xander, himself, had destroyed the vessel, almost killing himself in the process.
Alive, though wet and cold, he had survived the nasty explosion it had caused in the water and had demanded a trip to Bora Bora as payment. Of course, she went with him.
It had started out as a nice little 'love affair'. The sun, the beach, and the sex had all been great. Rested, relaxed and out of danger, he had allowed himself to think that he could be happy like this. Pretty girl, freedom, no need for clothes...it had been perfect.
But Xander Cage had never been one to be able to sit idle for very long. He had been born energized and ready to take on the next challenge. Yelena, though, had spent several years trying very hard to survive in a place where one mistake could lead you to a very nasty death. Now that she didn't have to worry about all that, she wanted, almost demanded a quiet life.
He had almost given into her. Seeing her reasons, he could understand and had tried, really he did, but when he had been lead into that trap...
She was alive, and he was supposedly dead to the eyes of everyone else that wasn't included in the 'Higher Ups' of the NSA. They claimed it was for the best for now he could go back unknown into missions for his country. He would have a new name, a new identity...Xander Cage would be gone forever - but not quite yet.
That was the reason he was here, standing on the edge of the Bempton Cliffs in England somewhere off the East Yorkshire coast. He wasn't really sure where that was, he really couldn't care less, but it would be his one last freedom dive before he went underground.
Agent 'Bastard' Gibbs hadn't wanted to let him do this, but he had insisted. He wanted the trill of the open air one last time before he had the thrill of being shot at.
With a sigh, he ran his hand over his head, grimacing when he felt a slight amount of stubble - he would have to shave again after this. Looking around, he found the perfect spot to set up his camera - his one last shot at remembering this.
It felt weird not to have his buddies here to help him, or to know that this wouldn't in any way help take down some rich fucker, but no one could know and he wasn't about to ruin this.
After a few minutes, his camera was set up and rolling - the tripod pointing out in the direction he would jump. Another one would be placed on his body to capture the actual fall. Donning his gear, Xander checked over everything one last time before he set his sights on the cliff's edge. He really couldn't wait to see what the water and chalk cliffs would look like from the air.
With a smile on his face, Xander took a running leap. Minutes later, his parachute came out, the muted blue color almost blending into the sky and the camera, sitting back above recorded every minute, even when Xander Cage disappeared into nothing.
oOOoOOoOOoOOo
Harry relaxed as he let his animagus form take over. His mind shifted from the nuance of his human self to one of a powerful Freisian - the urge to run and just be free took hold and he allowed himself to do just so. Nickering to himself, he enjoyed the sensations of his powerful muscles as they bunched and exploded with every stride.
Wild birds took off as he thundered across the land and he shook his head at the mild but startling annoyance. They never got used to his presence here even though he had been living on this land for several years, doing what he was now almost daily.
It was the perfect place for him - a land that forbade muggles from entering except for certain times of the year - and then they were only allowed in certain spots. As a Nature Reserve, Bempton Cliffs was ideal, peaceful and beautiful and with the powerful wards he had in place, no one, magical or otherwise could find him.
At the age of twenty-six, Harry was simply known as a recluse, unwilling to let anyone else in his life. After battling in a war that lasted for over seven years - he counted the end of the Tri-Wizard Tournament as the beginning - Harry felt as if he needed just to get away from it all. Between the deaths, the press, the endless unjustified - at least in his opinion - awards, he felt as if he was going to either explode or crumble. Neither one was at the top of his 'to do list' though.
Sometimes he did feel a bit guilty for leaving the few friends that had survived the war behind without a word, but he had begun to become a bit selfish and wanted things his way for once. Being alone, on untamed, untainted land was something for him and his sanity.
So, after he had set up house and wards on this land, he had done something he had always wanted to do since he had first heard about his dad, Sirius, and unfortunately Peter, becoming animagi - he studied to be one himself.
At first, the thoughts of being a big, powerful horse of all things - really, couldn't he have been a stag, or a bird, or even a cat? - had unnerved him, but soon he got used to the feel of everything and absolutely loved the joy of running at full speed.
Of course, being a horse didn't always help his paranoia. Horses tended to be awful skittish at the least little thing.
At least he wasn't a Shetland Pony - he would have never lived that down.
As he continued to run, he let his mind be numbed by the sound of his hooves pounding on the slightly wet grasses that swayed in the breeze. Shaking his massive head, he came to a skidding stop when he felt a sudden tug - for lack of a better word - in his mind, alerting him that the wards had been breached.
Pivoting on his back hooves, he turned in a ninety degree angle and run towards the disturbance. He knew, even though the wards had been tampered off the cliff and in the middle of the air, that it wasn't just simply a bird. He had made sure that trivial things such as wild life could easily pass through unhindered and without his knowledge. The only animals that would set it off were animagi and this wasn't that.
But it could easily be a witch or a wizard on a broom, the 'muggle repellent' charms wouldn't work on someone with magic, but he didn't think it was that either...because it was only one person, not a group, and if they were after him, it would have been more than one.
He wasn't arrogant enough to think it would take that many to over power him with magic, just stubborn enough to know it would take a horde of people to get him away from his home alive.
Slowing down as he neared the edge, Harry quickly transformed, glad - and not for the first time - that the spell allowed his wand, knife, and muggle gun being able to be brought along for the ride - Harry grimaced at the pun. Quickly, he cast an invisibility charm on himself and pulled out the gun he had purchased about six months before the final battle. Pureblood wizards were notorious for disregarding muggle items as inferior and he had used that to his full advantage once he had been trained.
He looked around, not noticing anything out of the ordinary, before creeping towards the edge of the chalk cliff. He knew the wards had been breached in this area, out and over the ocean, so he laid down on the ground and inched his way to the end and allowed his head to hang over the side so he could look down.
He scanned the ocean and then the beach, only to sigh at the sight of a light blue crumbled piece of cloth that looked like it had been slightly scorched. From this height he couldn't really make out what it was, but there was no mistake in the identity of a human struggling to get up off the sand.
With the mind set of 'shoot first, ask questions later' that he had honed after years of being in a war, Harry did just that, and the corners of his mouth twitched when he saw the figure jerk to the right then land on its back with a thud.
Standing back up, he apparated down the beach below, landing about a dozen or so feet from the now clearly male human. As he stood there, watching and waiting, his wand and gun trained on the man, he let his magical senses sweep the area, only to suddenly started swearing as he put his gun away and began jogging up the beach to the wounded man.
Sliding to his knees, Harry quickly located the bullet wound in the man's left shoulder and began applying pressure to it. He knew from his 'magical scan' that the male was alive but unconscious, and he was thankful for that, but he knew that it wouldn't stay that way if he didn't stop it in time.
Taking one of his hands off the wound, he wrapped his now blood stained fingers around the male's other arm and quickly apparated them both back to his house. And while he wasn't ready to venture back out into the world just to get help, he knew he would have to do everything he personally could to see that this man lived.
After all, Harry didn't need the guilt of killing an innocent muggle on his hands.
AN: Between the end of xXx and the beginning of xXx : State of the Union, there was a small film that said that Xander Cage died in trap. An explosion was set off when he was on a date with 'Jordan King' who he was trying to save. But, at the beginning of xXx: State of the Union, they stated that Cage died that morning in Bora Bora. So, I just combined the two to suit my needs - the trap was set in Bora Bora when he was on a date with Yelena.