Disclaimer: Joss Whedon is the original writer/creator of all that is Buffy, and Mutant Enemy also holds those rights. Heroes is Tim Krings brainchild and since that's not my name I sadly can not claim to own it.
Summary: Two different hidden worlds are about to collide, when an old god, a modern day geneticist, a serial killer, a crazy cult and a shady company all concentrate their attention on one small boy. Reborn to save the world, Alexander, formerly known as Xander Harris, struggles with both a new life, old memories and a demonic sect, that has declared him to be the avatar of their God. Trying to stay ahead from the company, keeping his parents from killing each other and hiding from his devout priests is hard enough, but the world is going to end... soon and he's only five years old.
Authors Note: To fit the Buffy-timeline with the Heroes-timeline, I moved the events of Buffy back a little. Buffy starts one year earlier, so the episodes "Seeing Red" and "Grave" happened in 2001, so that reborn little Xander would be five in 2006.
The Janus-Child by Simone of the ZordiakPrologue: Preparing the Playing Field
1996 - after Halloween -
Janus Geminus also known as Janus Bifrons, god of gates, doors, doorways, beginnings, and endings was not happy. For a long time he'd watched the so called Powers that Be play their petty little games with the humans, games that the Powers in their hybris claimed would bring balance to the universe. They were so wrong and yet, like muleheaded children they insisted that they were right and their way the only possible one.
No, Janus was not happy and the only way for him to steer against their self-destructive ways, was to activate a champion of his own. And because of the Powers and their interference with his followers, he'd only one person, one human that he could claim as his champion. Unfortunately he wasn't able to make his move for the next few years. Alexander was virtually the most important person on top of the hellmouth because he was one of Fate's wild cards and there were several apocalyptic prophecies due in the next years. Only a Wild Card, one of those touched by Fate, could counter them. But, and now both of his faces started to smirk, that did not mean that he couldn't start preparing the playing field for his player and he already several people in mind, who would become very important to his champion.
-o-o-o-o-o-
Shanti was the name of the virus, Shanti, which was Sanskrit for "Inner peace, tranquillity", but none of the men felt very tranquil when they'd found the information in the files secretly copied from Prof. Suresh.
Sure, there had been only one victim so far, but thanks to the companies own precog they knew that the virus was not gone, just hiding. One day it would rise its ugly head again and flood over the world like a tsunami, completely unstoppable. The only known carrier of Shanti-antibodies was untouchable to them, for the same precog had claimed him to be a lynchpin of future events. Remove him from the picture and all their plans would fall apart.
So they had to find another way to gain access to the precious antibodies. And the first outline of a plan was already taking form.
-o-o-o-o-o-
Mohinder Suresh was something like a model student. Always on time, always the best notes, even if his handwriting was sometimes hard to read, he even went and donated blood every three months. To make it short, Mohinder Suresh was a student every University would love to call their own. But even a model student has to surrender to peer pressure from time to time. So when Mohinder Suresh woke up the day after a party he'd been dragged to, with a pounding headache and a few missing hours, he simply assumed that the drinks had been spiked with more alcohol than good for him and swore to stay away from them in the future. He never regained those hours... the Haitian only erased memories, he couldn't give them back.
-o-o-o-o-o-
All over the world small private Laboratories popped up, that paid good money for donated blood, sperm and eggcells. They claimed to need them for research, accepted anonymous donations and promised to destroy all unnecessary samples.
And the people came. It was easily earned money.
None of them knew, that their blood was used to screen their DNA, searching for those segments that identified them as 'special'. Those sperm- and eggsamples were careful separated out and stored apart from the others.
After a year the Laboratories closed down, seemingly gone bankrupt. That was far from being the truth. It just meant that they had enough samples to start one of the biggest experiments that the company had ever attempted. They called it the 'Janus-Child'.
-o-o-o-o-o-
2001 - Kingmans Bluff
Willow was crying in his arms. She was crying and her hair had turned back from black to her normal red tone. Everything was going to be ok again, it simply had to. Xander winced as he hugged her, the raw magic he'd intercepted had done a lot of damage to his body and somehow he knew that there were consequences waiting to happen.
But right here and now he didn't want to think about it, he was too tired. So tired. And then the world went dark. He never heard Willows panicked shouts, never felt her hot tears drench his shirt and never ever woke up again.
-o-o-o-o-o-
2001 - Somewhere else
He blinked in surprise when he woke up. This, well it did not look like any room he'd ever been in before. Not his friends rooms, not his own, nor any hospital-room he'd ever seen. Here he was, lying in a strange bed, in a strange room, with no idea how he'd gotten here. When he stood up, he was surprised to notice that the fresh wounds Willow had just given him were gone. Not healed, but gone as if they had never existed. Now he was worried. Really worried. What had happened to him?
"The magic you friend threw at the statue and at you was raw magic, wild and pure. It dissolved the nucleotides in your body. Or to make it short: You died."
Xander jumped, turning around when someone suddenly started to speak behind him. It was a man, or at least it was a male person. Xander was quite sure that no human ever had two faces... wait a moment.
"Janus? Ethan Raynes Chaosgod? That Janus? And what do you mean, I'm dead?"
The two faces of the man(?), god, whatever frowned in disgust.
"I am NOT Ethan Raynes Chaosgod. I am the God of gates, doors, doorways, beginnings, and endings. Just because beginnings and endings are often a bit chaotic, I am still not a true God of Chaos, more a Guardian of Humanity. Rayne abused on of my priests defensive spells. And you are here, because you are my last champion on Earth. I put a marker upon your soul and when you left your mortal body behind, you ended up here."
"Why?"
"Do you know that I can see both, the past and the future, at the same time? No, most people don't remember that little fact. I have watched the so-called Powers that Be manipulate the history of humanity to suit their own needs. And I know where this will end. They are blind to the dangers they invite with their jammering about absolute Balance. There is balance, but it is never absolute. They stumble around and with their dilettantic manipulations they have destroyed many safety-nets I and other old Gods have created for humanity. Twenty years, Alexander, that's all the time left for humans. Then the system of the Powers will explode into nothing and in their panic to correct everything they will start the final apocalypse. I need someone to stop this and you are the only champion I have left, thanks to the Powers."
Xander starred at him, wide-eyed.
"I will not lie to you, Xander. You could enter the afterlife and be happy, but then the world will suffer. Or you could allow me to reincarnate you as my champion. It will be hard, but it will be worth it. I can not make you do it, I can only ask."
Xander blinked, opening his mouth, then he stopped.
"I need to know more, before I can make a decision."
Janus nodded, he'd expected questions to be asked.
"Then come, let me show you what I've planned."
-o-o-o-o-o-
2001 - A secret laboratory in Nevada
A103xN12V1 that was the number of the experiment written on the file. A name Melinda Stretton did not care about one iota in the moment. Right now she was fighting her way through the last contractions. She screamed loudly and then suddenly a second, small voice rose. A103xN12V1 was born.
Two weeks later Melinda would wake up at home, 300000 dollar richer, with several holes in her memory and with a contract she'd signed about a year ago with a secret government laboratory placed on her kitchentable. She would take the money and make something out of her life, but she couldn't help but feel like she'd lost something precious to her.
Hidden from mortal eyes Janus watched over a grumpy little baby boy, who was wailing loudly as someone took more of his blood for more tests. Xanders first years of life would be hard for him, but already he'd placed the first figures on the transdimensional gamingboard to counter the Powers mad game.
Alexander Nishant Vidar, formerly Alexander LaVelle Harris, would be Fates Wild Card once more.
End Prologue