"Step"
by The Spike



The one thing that he'd never really appreciated, Xander thought as he swerved off the road, the car bouncing wildly over the desert scrub, was the nearly complete lack of interest Sunnydale law enforcement had evinced in activities Slay-related.

Not so the Arizona Highway Patrol.

If he was honest with himself, and really he had no reason not be at this point, it made a lot more sense this way. Even *he* hadn't been sure it was a demon molesting Andrew in the parking lot of the Silver Bullet Saloon. At least not until he shot it with his .38 and the thing's head spun a hundred and eighty degrees and spat flamey red goop at him.

There was a little back and forth after that, a little bobbing and weaving that felt, for the first time since El Boca D'Infierno had been permanently smacked down, like life -- and then Andrew had tossed him the machete from the trunk and come out blasting with the flamethrower they'd picked up in Tucson for no particular reason when the road trip started and the two of them made short, if messy, work of the unfortunate monster.

Of course the real misfortune was that it left a corpse that looked pretty much like your average urban cowboy who'd been hacked to death and set on fire by maniacs. Which was not too far from the truth.

The first siren caught them grinning at each other in a way that neither of them had known they could anymore. The sound was loud enough to hurt by the time Xander had an actual thought beyond: Wow, Faith was right... and told Andrew to get the car.

They got away that time, but apparently not as clean as they'd thought. Or maybe it had been the Carnivorous Skwyllx they blew away in the MaxiGulp outside of Flagstaff later that night that had showed up on the cops' radar. Or the bloody Vaunt corpses they'd left in the Motel 6 shower the next day. Or the naked gay sex on the trunk of the caddy in the white glare of the noonday sun because the killing was good in a way that nothing else was anymore and unlike their prey, Xander and Andrew were only human. Or... well it could have been a lot of things.

It had been a hell of a weekend.

And whichever transgression it was, it was moot because there was no question of whether they'd been spotted now.

"It looks like the Army," Andrew said, looking back over his shoulder.

"All this for us?" Xander asked, grinning into the wind. He didn't bother to look back. He could see the distant reds and blues flashing like Satan's X-Box in the rear-view. Hell, he could feel the wind of the choppers through the open windows of the car.

He could see Andrew grinning back at him out of the corner of his good eye.

"You've kind of got it out of order," Andrew said.

"Well, I'm a little preoccupied," Xander said back. He wasn't really bitter about it though. The universe was actually, for once in its life, unfolding just as it should.

"I just want you to know I appreciate it," Andrew said. Then he reared back in the seat. "Holy shit. What is that?"

"You know what it is," said Xander.

"Oh my god," Andrew said -- was staring straight ahead now, voice breathless and strange. "Oh my god, Xander..." He sort of felt the same, now that he was looking at it. He took his foot off the gas. Let the car coast to a stop. They didn't have much time.

"You know things are just going to get shitty from hereon in," Xander said, partly because it was true but more importantly because he had to know if he was right. And his peripheral vision sucked so he had to look over. He had to see Andrew.

Andrew, whose mouth Xander had come to appreciate over the months as something thin and hot and dangerous with small, sharp teeth. Whose ass was a pink and soft as a girl's. Who moaned and squirmed and gasped under him like some small, desperate animal caught in a trap. Who made him feel good and very, very crazy in a way he needed more than drink. That Andrew, who was a lot worse and a lot better than anyone but him would ever know, was looking at him. A new look, full of dark, dirty, desperate love. It made Xander's heart jump in his chest. It made him want to fuck Andrew right here in the front seat under all those eyes and all those guns.

It made him wonder if after all, only his wrong choices had ever been right.

"You sure?" he asked. Andrew looked back solemnly, but his eyes were twinkling like he was laughing inside.

"Hit it, Thelma." he said.

Hey, I'm *Louise*, Xander thought, but the pedal was to the metal and who the hell needed to bicker when the Grand Canyon was opening up under them like the great green mouth of the world.

It was all going to be so very

*

This was written for Te's "Murder Your Darlings" Challenge