Fusion 01:H.E.R.O.

Disclaimer: Post Season 3 Finale of BtVS, set during latter half of Season 1 of Heroes. Xander and other BtVS associated characters are property of Mutant/Enemy Productions, Claire, Hiro, Ando, Niki, West Rosen and other Heroes associated characters are property of NBC. I gain nothing but enjoyment from this.

Xander was on the road to Las Vegas, Nevada. Emphasis on the part of 'on the road', seeing as he was currently lying on his back on the hot concrete as the blistering sun beat down on him, and his car was a flaming wreck next to him.

How did he get into this position? What was going on? Who was attacking him? Was he even being attacked, or did he crash? And most importantly, where was his Twinkee snack stash?

As he sat up and looked around, he soon deduced the answers to these questions. In reverse order; scattered across the other side of the highway with the rest of his luggage. Yes, he was attacked and because of that he did crash, flipping the car over a couple times and still landing on tires by the looks of it. Some jackass in a trucker's cap and a long black coat that seemed to have the ability to move things with his mind. Some kind of superhero battle with him as the innocent bystander. And finally, apparently he'd been thrown from his flipping car and had luckily managed not to be crushed by the flaming debris when it came to a stop beside where he'd landed.

The urgent questions answered, he turned to more immediate concerns; like staying alive and out of the line of fire of the bad guy.

"It's your own fault, you know," came the quiet, dark-toned voice of said bad guy. "It didn't need to come to this. You even got this 'innocent bystander' killed. Some heroes. You are pathetic!"

Xander hated this guy already.

"We gotta get to him, get him out of the line of fire," he vaguely heard a girl's voice say from the other side of the wreck. Not a huge leap of logic to figure out she was talking about him.

Getting up off the ground, but staying off his feet to present less of a target, the Sunnydale veteran tried to get a clue as to what was really going on. There was the flaming wreck of his car, then there was a bunch of rocks thrown around the road, which actually looked more like parts of the road ripped right out of the ground and tossed around. There was also a very solid looking truck not too far away that was still right-side up. From his current perspective he could see the 'Black Hat', as they were colloquially known as on the Hellmouth, and a group hiding behind the truck that consisted of two oriental men, a young girl that reminded him a little too much of Buffy, an older blond woman that seemed to be having a meltdown at the moment, and a young guy that was between his and the girl's age, thin with brown hair.

"It's the Scooby gang all over again," he muttered. "Just with guys from Japan instead of England."

Problem was, how could he even begin to help them out? For that matter, how was he going to help himself? He was plan guy, not powers guy, and this was a situation more suited to people with powers.

Then he watched as the Black Hat seemingly found his adversaries/target position behind the truck and with a far-too-casual-for-the-effect-it-had flick of his wrist, the truck slid away to the side, revealing said targets. Then, almost as impressive as that, one of the oriental men grabbed the other and the woman curled up in the fetus position and just disappeared, while the boy grabbed the girl and together they shot off into the air. Unfortunately Black Hat was faster and with whatever power he was using, grabbed them out of the air and threw them into the ground, the girl taking the brunt of it. Xander could swear that he heard bones snapping at the impact.

"Well, this is familiar," he remarked. Others with the powers and him, ordinary zeppo, plan-guy off on the sidelines distracting said powers guys from beating the bad guy. Except, Xander had never been exactly… comfortable with that role.

Grabbing a handful of pebbles from the road, Xander ran for the flying kid and… girl that should have been paralyzed that was now getting up like it was nothing. Yeah, he was definitely out of his scope here.

"Looks like somebody else wants to be a hero," the Black Hat mocked, reaching out with his hand. That was Xander's cue.

Throwing out the handful of pebbles, half expecting them to be shot back at him like bullets, he reached into his back pocket in the same motion and tried to twist out of the way, winding up tripping over his own feet, but still succeeding in throwing the wooden knife that he'd pulled out of his pocket. The pebbles didn't even make it to the Black Hat's feet, though they did succeed in distracting him (if only to wonder what the heck the young man was trying to do) just enough to miss the thrown knife. At least until it landed in his leg with enough force to cut a gash and leave some splinters.

Growling with pain and frustration at having been wounded, and by a mundane at that, Sylar did actually deign to take his eyes off of his prey for a second. In that second, Claire and West closed the distance to Xander, and Hiro, Ando and a repressing-Niki reappeared from moments in the past where they had disappeared.

Looking up at said reappearance, Sylar scowled and prepared to lash out with just one of the many abilities he's stolen over the years. Hiro, hoping to escape with everybody at the last second, reached out to grab those on the ground, but Sylar's power knocked him back and out for the count, cutting off their escape route.

Seeing their doom looming more surely than the Hellmouth beast, Xander reached out to the empowered people beside him, wishing that he'd had one last chance to say goodbye to his friends. Now they would figure him for just another Sunnydale statistic. It was a shame, no, more than a shame, it was a tragedy what was about to happen. They'd always been stronger together, able to face any Big Bad or Black Hat the forces of darkness could throw at them. The Master, Spike and Dru, Angelus, Acathla, the Mayor. He and the gang, they'd always managed to win so long as they were united together as one.

Looking over these other heroes, these other empowered people, he wished he'd had the opportunity to get to know them. He didn't even know their names or what their stories were, but he was sure that they'd be just like his other friends. And if they'd had the chance, he was just as sure that if they united, they could face this man who was about to kill them and win, together.

"I'm sorry," was all he said, drawing their attention to him.

The girl just smiled and shrugged, so much like Buffy that it kind of freaked him out a bit. The oriental man that was still conscious looked back and forth between Xander and the other man, before finally just giving a soft grin of acceptance. The boy had grabbed Xander by the shoulder and looked scared, but offered his own self-deprecating smile. The woman, who Xander was holding the hand of, alongside the girl and the other man's, actually looked up from her repressing and offered her own tearful condolences as she knew she couldn't do anything to truly help, it was taking everything she had to keep Jessica down, who'd lead Sylar right to them in the first place, making a deal with the psychopath to spare herself in exchange for Claire and West. Unknowingly they all shared the same thought at the same moment while holding onto Xander; 'If only I could help, I would!'

The balance was struck, and the power triggered.

Sylar couldn't quite be sure what had just happened, but he knew he didn't like it. The teleporter-and oh was he looking forward to that power-was knocked out, so he couldn't blame it on him. Though, by all appearances, it was just as instant and straightforward as that power was. One instant there were five people huddled in the dirt, cowering before him, and then in the next instant, there was a single person standing there, defiant and by all appearances ready to fight.

This person, Sylar's over-analytical mind (his original power) identified, was male, approximately 1.90 meters in height, had jet black hair that hung in the same length and style that Claire wore her hair, had oriental features like Ando, yet white skin and brown eyes like West and the bystander did. His clothing was the male version (and perfectly tailored to his body) of the black leather outfit Niki/Jessica had been wearing. Except for the weapons of course. A knife, three wooden stakes and a handheld taser were strapped to the man's belt.

"Who are you supposed to be?" Sylar sneered at this adversary.

The man did not respond, except to focus his eyes on Sylar with (more than) a hint of anger in them. Then he floated up off the ground, his legs still extended like he was standing, and his fists clenched at his sides. Fists that were now sparking with red lightning.

If it weren't so crude, Sylar was sure that he'd be salivating. That… innocent bystander, was a Power! Somehow he'd managed to fuse them all into a single entity with only the best of each of them! He wanted that power!

He lashed out with his telekinesis and a few other offensive powers that he'd taken over the years that might help with this. The fused man crashed back down to the ground, was frozen to it, and then blasted with radiation in seconds. Only to tear through the ice like it was water and have the radiation burns healed within seconds. Before Sylar could do anything else, he flew through the air faster than the serial killer could respond to and crashed into him, knocking him back.

Then, to make sure of it all, he cupped his hands together and began pooling the red lightning of both hands until a great deal of energy had been built up, unleashing it all at once, sending the other man flying out into the distance, burns and signs of electrocution injuring him further. Once satisfied that the threat was over, the fused individual turned and floated over to where Hiro still lay unconscious on the ground. Landing only long enough to kneel down and pick the man up, the silent hero quickly launched himself and his precious cargo into the stratosphere and took off toward the southeast at subsonic (but still blazingly fast) speeds through the air.

Though the battle was short, it would be remembered and talked about for years to come, as a newly emerged Power had just drastically shifted the dynamic on how powers worked with one another and the nature of their abilities. After all, who needs a superhero team, when they could just be fused into one all-powerful amalgam?

When they were all next a 'they' rather than a 'him', it took some investigation to figure out exactly where they were. Hiro had actually woken up while still in the air, being carried by the silent man in black leather. He was afraid that it was Sylar, or some other villain, but something about the face, and the fact that he had red lightning coming out of his fingertips told him that whoever this mystery man was, he had something to do with Ando, which made him a friend in Hiro's book.

A lot of one-sided conversation, in both Japanese and English, later and Hiro had them landing in an area devoid of people, yet within walking distance to a decent sized city without too much trouble. Moments after Hiro had been released and there was no sign of any nearby danger or threat of danger, the nameless silent hero blinked out of existence, and five randomly placed (but still close to each other) empowered heroes reappeared, standing in the exact same manner and pose that the man had been. Until they collapsed on the spot from being unconscious.

Hiro tried unsuccessfully to rouse each of them, until exactly eighteen minutes and twenty-six seconds had passed, which was exactly twice as long as the group had been fused for, down to the second. And despite being the master of all space and time, Hiro Nakamura did not keep track of the time or pay attention to this fact at all. He was too relieved that they all woke up, not bothering to note they all came to at the same moment.

Once they all accepted they were no longer in danger, and no longer where they had been 'moments' before, some quick introductions were made.

"Hello," Hiro bowed in greeting, his Japanese accept quite obvious, "I am Nakamura Hiro. Sank you for saving us from za bad man."

Xander startled and looked back at the teleporter with genuine shock and awe. "Whoa, wait a second, I didn't do anything! I threw some pebbles and a knife, and I tripped while doing both! Didn't even distract the guy!" he protested.

"You used your power," Hiro insisted with a bright knowing grin. "None of us have za power to… to… to…" he looked confused for a moment before looking to the other oriental man, Ando, and asked in Japanese, "'Gattai' no tame no kotoba wa nanidesu ka?"

"Fusion," Ando replied, before looking to Xander and further translating. "Combining. Somehow, I think you merged us all into a single being."

"That… is not possible," Xander stated with absolute faith and certainty.

Ando held up his hands and charged a bolt of red lightning between them. "My name is Masahashi Ando. Ando," he introduced himself.

"Claire," the blond girl that reminded him so much of Buffy commented, before she casually dislocated her wrist and then her fingers one by one, and then allowed him to watch as she healed in real time right in front of him.

"... Niki… Sanders…" the timid woman said from behind Claire, hugging herself. "How… how did you do that?"

"Do… what?" Xander was very confused. "Look, guys, I swear, I didn't do a thing! It is absolutely awesome to know more heroes are out in the world and everything, but I'm not exactly one of you. I mean, not to toot my own horn or anything, but I have played a helping hand in saving the world a time or two, but I don't have powers! I swear!"

"None of us have that power," Claire argued back. "None of us could have done whatever it is that happened. West, here, he flies, like my Dad. Me, I heal. Hiro does something with space/time, Ando has the lightning thing, and Niki is strong, when she wants to be. And Hiro was knocked out when we went from an 'us' to a 'him'!"

Xander was left blinking at that declaration.

It… wasn't possible… was it?

No, he started shaking his head, it wasn't possible. If he had powers, he would know about it… wouldn't he?

"Where were you during the eclipse?" Claire challenged him suddenly.

"Uh… what does that have to do with anything?" he responded, suddenly defensive.

"The eclipse is when… most of us got their powers," Ando hastily explained. "And then during the last eclipse, everybody actually lost their powers for the duration of the eclipse. Some others also discovered their powers after that eclipse."

Xander stopped and stared. He then looked down at himself. Was it really possible? He looked up and told them the truth.

"I was at my High School graduation, fighting for my life, killing vampires, and blowing up my school to kill the mayor who had transformed into a giant snake demon. Why, what did you guys do during the eclipse?"

"I was dying," Claire responded in the same tone.

"We were in Africa retrieving a telepath with psychic visions," Hiro added.

"I was under the control of a madman bent on world domination, who had forced me to kill my family," Niki put in her own two cents.

They all looked to West, who shrugged and said, "I was grounded. Literally and figuratively."

"... Yeah, I still win," Xander decided after a beat.

"So, I've got the power to… fuse people together? Like in some kind of cartoon?" he asked once he'd processed it enough.

"Apparently," Claire said.

"I'd ask how this was even possible, but I know better than to ask that question by now," Xander said, running his fingers through his short black hair. "There some kind of training program, or secret organization like the X-Men or Justice League that I have to sign up with?"

"I wish," was the consensus reply with a few varieties thrown in across the group.

Ando elaborated, "For the most part we have just done what we could, trying to do the right thing. Everyone has had to figure out how to use their powers on their own for the most part. Some with more success than others," he shot an amused look at his friend, who had the decency to blush at whatever he was referring to.

"And the super villain guy back there?" Xander asked.

Everybody scowled, while Niki looked like she very well might break down on the spot. Claire angrily answered him first.

"Sylar," she named the villain. "He's some kind of… super clockmaker genius that has figured out a way to steal or absorb powers from other… special people. Nobody knows exactly how he does it, just that he cuts open the heads of those people and takes out their brains."

"Um, ouch," Xander winced.

"Nobody knows how many powers he's got by now, but needless to say, he's killed a lot of people and has a lot of powers," West commented.

"He is a villain, one we have defeated before and shall defeat again," Hiro stated with absolute conviction.

"Yeah, well, sometimes the only way to win a fight is to run as hard and as fast as you can," Xander said. "Obviously he's got telekinesis. Anything else I should keep an eye out for? Can he teleport or track us down?"

"No," Hiro shook his head. "Only I am the master of space and time. He once tried to acquire the power that might permit him to find us all, but he was stopped and that person is now safe."

"Far as we know, he finds us the old fashioned way; investigation," Niki said.

"It was how he found me," Claire commented. "Or rather, somebody that had taken credit for something I had done."

"Hey," Xander gave the blond cheerleader an impulsive hung. "Whatever that psychopath does, is not yours or anyones fault but his own. Believe me, I've dealt with creeps like him before. Well, not exactly like him, but you know what I mean. They want you to blame yourself for the things they do and say that everything they do is your fault because you couldn't stop them. That is bullshit. We're all responsible for exactly one person; ourselves. Everybody else is only our responsibility if we make them our responsibility. So don't let the bad guys win by letting them get in your head. Then you'll just lose twice that way."

"Well said," Hiro nodded, in full agreement.

"Look, I'm sorry to burst the bubble and everything but," West spoke up. "Does anybody know where we are? Or how to get back, well, y'know, home?"

"Pretty sure we're in Albuquerque, New Mexico," Xander said.

"How would you know that?" Claire challenged, hands on her hips. "Got some other super power you don't know about having?"

Xander silently pointed behind the group and upon turning and looking, they saw an interstate road sign proclaiming they were "Now Leaving Albuquerque Corp Limit", right next to a New Mexico interstate mile marker.

"Oh," Claire sheepishly remarked, blushing.

"I can take everyone to their homes, if it is safe that is," Hiro offered with a short bow. Niki silently nodded her head, hugging herself tighter.

Claire shared a look with West and grinned, and then said, "Actually, we're not too far from my home. Closer than I was anyway. West and I can make our own way home. Thanks though."

Being the odd man out, Xander shrugged and replied honestly, "I'd rather have my ride back, in all honesty. I'm on a road trip after graduating High School, so I'm not due back home for a couple more months. Unfortunately, all my cash, luggage and snack foods burned up back there! Looks like my road trip is over either way."

"I may be able to help wiz zatt," Hiro smiled mischievously.

A blink of time later, Xander and Hiro reappeared with the former's very-much-intact '57 Chevy Convertible, luggage and snack cakes intact. How was this possible? The magic of time travel, and the fortunate luck that even for Sylar things had been moving too fast to see things as much more than a blur, until they'd settled that is.

First, they'd teleported back in time to the moment Xander had been driving down the highway and froze time at the moment Sylar lashed out with his telekinesis to destroy the moving vehicle. They'd actually taken his past self and moved him out of the car and put him at the very spot he remembered waking up at. Then they switched out the car with one from a junkyard Hiro knew about and doused the whole thing in gasoline so the sparks from its landing would be enough to set it on fire. To add the finishing touches, Xander merely emptied his trashbag along the highway where he'd 'seen' all his snack cakes and stuff during the actual confrontation. After that, it was just a matter of teleporting back to New Mexico with the spared convertible and saying goodbye to everyone.

Hiro, Ando and Niki vanished on the spot, presumably heading back to Niki's home to drop her off with her family, before moving on to their next great adventure. West picked Claire up in the classic 'Superman' hold and then took off into the air, heading west towards Texas. Leaving Xander alone to continue his road trip alone.

Stopping at the very next gas station he came across, both to fill up and to get a general sense of direction, he came across a brochure for the annual UFO convention going on in Roswell, NM, starting in less than a weeks time. Curious, and having recently met other superheroes and having known the world was a lot weirder than what they taught in school, Xander decided to give it a shot. Who knows, he might meet some actual aliens or something?

Thus, getting a cheap map of the state, he got back out on the road and headed towards Roswell. After he made sure the top would work on the car, that is. No way was he driving through open desert without shade and air conditioning!

END Fusion 01