Ship of the Line: High Guard Frontier

Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Andromeda, Star Trek, and Stargate as their owned by people far more fortunate and creative than I am. This was written for enjoyment and no profit was made.

Summary: YAHF. A ship and her captain are pulled across time and universe by the God of Chaos. For three Scoobies, life will never be the same again.

Author's Note: Written in conjunction with writer Pyrgus. Reponse to 'Ship of the Line' challenge on 'Twisting The Hellmouth' website.

Chapter 1

One Alexander Harris was on a mission the day of Halloween. He stood in the new costume shop called Ethan's right after school browsing the wares, looking for three perfect costumes for two girls along with himself. However, being so close to the night of Halloween left the pickings slim as his planned outfit would be incomplete with no toy rifle. Thinking about it, Xander considered that fact a good thing as he was looking for three outfits that would match better.

Earlier that day in school, Xander had almost gotten beaten up by a jock that was the school bully. An event like that wouldn't have bothered him as he had little fear of regular humans after facing vampires for two years. But a dark cloud descended over him when his petite bottled blond best friend, one Buffy Anne Summers, came to his rescue. His overprotective best friend rushed to his aide thinking he was in the need of rescuing, but only ended up hurting his manly pride at having to be rescued by a small blonde girl.

Buffy felt bad when she saw how upset Xander was at her for making people think he needed her to be rescued and asked him how she could make it up to him. Xander had told her seeing her in a sexy halloween costume would cheer him up. She had grinned at him and jokingly offered that if he could manage to get Cordelia Chase, the Queen Bitch of Sunnydale High, to let him choose her costume then she would let him choose her costume.

Xander could only agree with a smile. While he and Cordelia had been bitter enemies since they were little, he knew her well enough to secure her help in his endeavors.

A quick search for the Queen C had been fortuitous as there hadn't been too many places she hung out in. After explaining things he was lucky enough to get her to agree. She even offered to help with financial aide in his quest due to his poverty stricken state. Of course he had to agree to not get anything too outrageous for Cordelia and make sure to get the most revealing thing he could find for Buffy.

"Need some help young man?" the voice of the creepy store owner spoke up behind Xander, startling him. For an old Brit, the man was too quiet for Xander's liking.

"Ah! Little warning next time you get sneaky." Xander grumbled in response. "But yeah there isn't much left."

The young man was glancing at the Star Trek costumes trying to figure out an ensemble to put together. He held a set of combadges and tricorders along with captain pips but couldn't find a uniform in his size or any toy phasers. Looking at the Orion slave girl outfit though, Xander was tempted to get one for Buffy to wear.

"Well young man, if you like science fiction and looking for something that fits, I have a few costumes in the back that I hadn't had room to bring up before now." Ethan spoke up leading Xander to the back room where surplus costumes were stored. The room was filled with boxes the store owner hadn't gone through yet.

Xander had noticed that Ethan left him alone to browse and had headed over to tend to Buffy and Willow who had just came in. He knew Buffy was intending to help his shy redheaded friend in stepping out of her shell for Halloween but he doubted the blonde would have much headway. Xander stepped up his search for the perfect costumes and found a box with uniforms and weapons that he recognized from the TV show Andromeda.

When he found a High Guard uniform in his size he was thrilled. Further investigation of the box also had a uniform that Xander recognized Rommie wore in the show that would show off Cordelia's body but in a tasteful way that she would still go for. He also found a hot skimpy outfit he intended for Buffy in the same box.

With a grin, the young man put everything in the box and left to find Ethan to buy the costumes and accessories. His two best friends came up next to him just as he was placing the box on the counter.

"Hey Xan, find a costume?" Buffy asked, hoping Xander wasn't still upset with her. She also hoped that he hadn't enlisted the help of Cordelia in their costume deal.

"Yeah Buff. I even got one here for you and Cordy." He pulled out the bag in the box holding Buffy's costume grinning like a loon.

Buffy's nose scrunched up cutely as she examined it. While she really had something else in mind to wear, she did make a promise to let Xander pick out her costume if he got Cordelia to let him choose hers also. She honestly thought that Cordelia would laugh in her male best friend's face but from Xander's smile, it seemed like he actually had gotten Cordelia to agree.

Xander noticed his friend Willow was keeping her bag safely hidden in her arms as she was too embarrassed to let Xander see it.

"Cordelia and I will be by to get you and Willow later Buffster." Xander grinned hurrying away when he noticed Buffy's eyes widen in shock at the costume and how much skin it would show on her. He didn't plan to stick around to get pummeled.

After leaving the costume shop, Xander headed over to the Chase Manor to give Cordy her costume. He was surprised to find her waiting for him when he got up to the front door.

"Bout time dweeb," Cordy greeted in traditional Queen C fashion. "Did you give blondie her costume yet? Also you better have picked mine with more tact than you do with your normal outfits." She gestured at his distasteful checkered shirt. "And I swear to God that you better not have bought anything that shows more skin than my cheerleading outfit."

Cordelia didn't give Xander time to snipe back in response as she turned around. Xander could do nothing but follow her inside and upstairs to her room. It was the first time he had been allowed inside his childhood nemesis's home, let alone in her bedroom. The bedroom suite was large and screamed rich teenage girl with the number of clothes and shoes. He was stopped from looking around further when Cordelia stopped and faced him again.

"Well, Buffy did look surprised when I gave her the costume to look at when I was leaving the costume shop. As for you, how do you feel about leather?" Xander asked.

Xander pulled out a bag from the box containing a red leather outfit that had a deep neckline with black straps outlining the costume and a strap that went across the gap where her cleavage would be. It would perfectly show off her well endowed chest without being too revealing.

"You expect me to wear that?" Cordelia asked jerking the outfit from his hand and holding it out to examine. She typically wasn't a leather kind of girl.

"Well not just that, these as well." He held up a holster with a Force Lance inside along with a Star Trek comm badge and tricorder.

Reaching for the last costume in the box, Xander pulled out his outfit showing it to her that sorta matched hers. Cordelia had to say that when she pictured Xander wearing the uniform, she found herself silently admitting to herself she found the mental picture of Xander kinda hot. As soon as the thought ended, she mentally scolded herself. If word that she found her verbal sparring partner since grade school was hot, her reputation would be ruined.

Cordelia looked at Xander and noticed him starting to squirm unsure where to go to get changed. "Get changed out here, I'll take the bathroom. But if I catch you going through my underwear drawer I'll kick your ass." She took the costume and the items Xander held and marched off to her oversized bathroom to get ready.

Once the door slammed shut Xander could only sigh in relief as he kind of expected her to be more bitchy about the whole thing.

Unknown to the young man in the bedroom, Cordelia stood in the bathroom slipping into the snug but comfy leather outfit. While it allowed her to continue wearing her thong, she had to forego the use of a bra. However, the top held her ample chest nicely and it showed just the barest hint of her cleavage, enhancing her beauty. Cordelia doubted the flat chested slayer would look nearly as good or fill out the outfit as she did.

After attaching the Force Lance holster to her waist and putting the combadge on her chest and tricorder on the belt, she began work on her hair. It quickly began to frustrate her as she attempted to find the best hairstyle that added hotness to the outfit but found that no style she tried worked.

After holding her hair up in different ways to try and find the best hairstyle, she gave a frustrated sigh. She knew she would have to ask the opinion of the only person that she knew that would have any idea what would look best. The thought of asking Xander Harris for any kind of advice in fashion and hairstyles sent a shiver of horror down her spine.

When Cordelia stepped out of the bathroom she stopped a moment in surprise. She fell short of breath staring at the man who stood in her room. From the tight and perfect looking ass to the broad body that the black uniform seemed to enhance his appearance took her breath away.

The spell had been broken though when Xander turned around, having heard Cordelia's gasp. He in turn found himself having trouble breathing at how sexy she looked in the tight leather outfit.

"Not bad dweeb. You didn't completely screw up this time. Why you can't do as good with your own clothes I will never know. But if you tell anyone I gave you a compliment in your choice of costume you will be walking home with a limp boyo. Now, how does the woman in the show wear her hair? I tried my normal styles and they just don't look right." Xander could tell that last bit must have hurt her ego a little.

"Um well." He sighed, not sure if what he was about to say would make her hurt him. "In the show she wore her hair about shoulder length and parted in the front differently. Plus she put some highlights in her hair that usually matched her outfit."

Cordelia growled and stormed to where she kept her hair care products and brushes. "I doubt I can get an appointment with my stylist so late in the day."

Xander winced knowing how offended she was when not looking her best. "Um, I can help." He hurriedly continued seeing her glare at the idea of him messing with her hair in any way. "Hear me out. I've been best friends with Willow since diapers and my two best friends are girls." He winced wondering how badly he'll be teased about the next bit of information later. "And I've become very good at styling and haircuts."

Corelia could only stare in muted shock at the revelation. She then thought about the bottled blonde and redhead that Xander hung with and their hairstyles. She wondered if he was the one that did their hair for them sometimes. She had to admit, but would never say aloud, that their hair didn't look half bad sometimes. Cordelia didn't know though that Xander had learned from Joyce after he had seen Buffy's mom dye her daughter's hair and style it for her. Much to his manly pride, he had even helped on occasion while Joyce taught him tricks stylists used. Such knowledge if made public would completely ruin any manly honor Xander had left after Buffy rescued him.

Cordelia had no options left but hoped she didn't come to regret her decision to let someone besides her highly paid hairstylist, let alone the King of the Cretin's, one Xander Harris touch her hair.

SCENEBREAK

Life was good for Xander. He sat in the passenger seat of Cordelia's convertible relaxing while in the back Willow kept a hold of her ghost costume trying to keep it from blowing away. Buffy however, couldn't decide who she wanted to glare at more. Her female best friend, who she dressed up in hopes it would get the redhead out of her shell and catch Xander's attention. Or her best male friend, who picked out her costume that showed way more skin than even the costume she had picked out for Willow.

Unbeknownst to the young man before he gave her the costume, the outfit was for a Nietzschean woman with bone blades and all. It had knee high leather boots and small tight silver mini skirt that Snyder would probably have a fit over. The final piece to the look was a small tight white jacket that exposed plenty of midriff and cleavage, with only a three inch zipper holding the top together. The thought of forcing her male best friend to wear the outfit while he hung from the school flagpole was very appealing to her at that moment.

The brunette driver was all smiles though as they rode to school. Codelia knew she looked hot in her costume but until that night she had no idea what a terrific hairstylist her childhood enemy was. Her hair while shorter than she usually wore it, was just above her shoulders and looked great on her. It now sported soft red highlights that framed her hair in a very fashionable look. Even though the wind was flying threw her hair she knew that later her hair would still be perfectly styled as if a professional had done it.

Memories of picking up Buffy and Willow gave her happy feelings when she saw the looks of surprise and jealous faces at Xander and herself. She couldn't wait to show the rest of her group her new look. Thoughts of future moments of enlisting the currently hot dweeb next to her for future styling filled her mind as they pulled into the parking lot of the school.

Xander didn't have much choice on what he would do when he got to the school. His two best friends dragged him off to meet up with Snyder in order to get started with the night of hell that was watching over little kids. Cordelia who hadn't been stuck with the job, joined her group of followers who were giving her surprised and admiring looks.

"Wow Cordelia, I love what you done with your hair!" Harmony commented in awe.

"Thanks, found myself a new stylist who is very good. " She grinned jerking her thumb over her shoulder at the sight of Xander being dragged behind two flustered girls. "And for future references. I'm keeping his talents to myself." The Cordettes were half distracted though when they saw the now hot looking Xander who looked very strong, confident, and commanding. At least he would have looked that way had it not been for two petite girls dragging him along. They seemed a bit possessive of their Xander shaped friend in not letting him do anything but drag his heels as they moved along.

Cordelia found herself glancing at her sworn enemy, letting her gaze roam over the young man over with thoughts potentially naughty things she would do to him if dating Xander Harris wouldn't ruin her reputation. Cordelia decided though, that Buffy could keep her old vampire boyfriend. She'd go after the Scooby with a pulse. After seeing him not dressed so horrifically, she had seen a lot of potential. Maybe now that her followers had seen the level of hotness that Xander could achieve, she could slowly ease them into her dating him and emphasize how well she could train him to be the perfect boyfriend..

SCENEBREAK

Chaos erupted around Dylan Hunt as he got to his feet, feeling like he had been sucker punched by a Nietzschean. The last thing he remembered was standing with his family on the Command Deck of Andromeda getting ready to go on shore leave while the Andromeda was getting a refit.

"Captain Hunt, are you there?" Dylan rubbed his slightly throbbing forehead as he tapped the combadge on his chest.

"Go ahead Andromeda. What just happened?" Dylan looked around feeling lost.

Around him were monsters of all sizes running around the homes on the street he was on. What surprised him most was seeing old Earth vehicles that could only be found in history texts. It sent warning alarms rushing through his mind.

"It is unknown as of this time Captain." Andromeda replied as he grabbed his Force Lance from its holster. With reflexes honed from years of practice, Dylan fired off some warning shots to keep away some of the smaller creatures that had been sneaking up on him. "I'm currently directly above your location in orbit Captain. Readings show we are currently on Earth. But new sensors installed shows the quantum signature of the universe we are in to be not our own. I am also detecting another combadge near your location. It is Rommie."

Dylan sighed before grabbing his hand held scanner to track Rommie's location through her combadge. He then began to make his way to her but was stopped by a red headed young woman rushing up to him. "I'm sorry but you must have me confused with someone else. My name is Dylan Hunt, Captain of the Andromeda Ascendant. I'm not familiar with someone named Xander."

"No! No. This is not supposed to be right. Everyone's become their costumes. I was dressed as a ghost and now I am a ghost. You were dressed as a High Guard officer and now you are I guess. Wait Dylan Hunt...really?"

Willow finally took a moment to look at her childhood best friend. While Xander still looked the same to the red head, there were notable differences. The impressive young man had gained some more muscle mass filling out the black High Guard uniform which looked more real than before. Xander's hair had gained some length to it looking slightly longer giving a more roguish appearance than his short spiky hair.

"Oh my...!" Willow whispered under her breathe before shaking her head, trying to clear the naughty thoughts she was having about her very hunky best friend. "No we need to find Buffy. She can help figure out what's wrong." Willow looked around frantically trying to avoid looking at Xander. "Where can she be?"

Unfortunately, neither noticed the short blonde haired Nietzschean woman watching hidden in the shadows. Neither did they know that her sight was firmly fixed on the displaced High Guard officer.

"Look miss. I need to meet up with a member of my crew who is also somehow here. Maybe she'll know what's going on here and maybe help find your friend along the way." Dylan replied to the frantic young woman as he continued to walk toward Rommie's location. He really hoped that what was going on was simply a bad dream.

"Dylan!" A familiar voice shouted as he made it to the next street.

Dylan could only smile at seeing his wife rushing up to him. The red haired ghost squeaked in surprise when her best friend brought her worst enemy into a passionate kiss.

"Xander? Cordelia?" Willow whispered weakly in shock as she watched her crush kiss the one person she would never expect him to kiss.

Unable to accept what was happening, Willow rushed off into the night away from the kissing couple. She went to seek out Giles in hopes of ending the madness since Buffy couldn't be found.

After reaffirming his wife was okay, Dylan pulled away to look at her. "Rommie do you know how we got here or what's happening?"

"No, for some reason many functions of my body are not responding. It feels...like I'm fully organic!" She expressed in astonishment finding.

Her only explanation was her body had gotten a major upgrade without noticing or her consciousness was transferred into a fully organic body. Had Rommie had a fully organic body she would have had a lot less problems years before.

When she and Dylan had a child together earlier in their marriage, they had to use of a chamber that simulated a womb with an embryo. They ended up using Dylan's sperm with a genetically engineered egg that had the genes that would match the physical characteristics of Rommie's appearance. However, she had no idea where her child was and if they were lucky, she wouldn't be with them in such a strange place.

Before he could respond to Rommie's sudden conclusion, Dylan felt a hand on his shoulder suddenly grab him. The High Guard Officer immediately responded, concluding that it was a threat and with precision movements put the man in a choke hold as Rommie looked at the dark haired man that startled Dylan.

"Easy Xander! Its me, Angel!" The vampire with a soul tried to placate as the surprisingly strong arm squeezed his neck. If Angel had been a normal human the vampire wouldn't have been able to breathe if he wanted to.

Rommie became curious as she was sure her husband was using enough pressure to choke but not kill the man. But when Angel spoke, he showed no problems with speaking.

"Um sweetheart, I don't feel a pulse." Dylan stated in confusion as he looked at the man who seemed almost as strong as his best friend Telemachus Rhade which would be impressive.

As she had no abilities inherent with her Avatar's body, she pulled out the hand scanner that she had on her belt and scanned the dark haired man. According to Rommie's scans, what stood before her was a reanimated corpse. With calm efficiency she grabbed her Force Lance and shot the creature in the center of his chest. To both of their surprise the man suddenly collapsed to dust.

"Huh. I didn't expect that to happen." Dylan said as he calmly brushed the dust off his uniform.

"Dylan whatever that thing was it wasn't human. I detected no life signs and a dark energy reading similar to what the Abyss had." She explained, sounding very concerned at the thought of their greatest ex-enemy.

"We should get back to the ship and try and find out more about this place." Dylan placed a comforting hand on his wife's shoulder as he tapped his combadge. "Andromeda send a dropship down to pick us up in a nearby clearing."

Once getting confirmation that the craft was on its way, the displaced couple began making their way to the rendezvous coordinates when they heard a shout further down the street.

"Hey droopy! Wheres that bitch slayer at? I'm in a good mood tonight. Tell me and I'll kill you and your girl right quick."

To the bleached haired vampire, that sounded like a mighty fine deal. To the High Guard officers it sounded like a broken record. After a quick glance at her scanner, Rommie gave her lover a brief nod and in sync both drew their Force Lances. With a finesse of being the best trained soldiers from their universe, they shot the grand childe of Angelus. The effectiveness of a Force Lance was proven once again as both hit dead center into the vampire's unbeating heart. The resulting dust pile caused the rest of the monsters that Spike recruited run in fear. The High Guard couple turned their attention to the rest keeping at the ready till the area was clear.

"Captain. The Transport is waiting for you both." Andromeda spoke up as Dylan and Rommie resumed their walk. Everything happening under the sight of a bottle blonde turned real blonde Nietzschean.

SCENEBREAK

Dylan stood on the command deck of his ship watching the monitor as Andromeda smoothly moved away from Earth to the opposite side of the moon for cover. The two organics on the ship could feel their bodies beginning to become fatigued and planned to get some rest before investigating their situation more.

Rommie came over to her husband and let Dylan wrap his arms around her body. An action she had loved since Dylan finally allowed himself to fall in love with her. With a small smile, she turned her head gently kissing her lover's lips. Neither them nor Andromeda could detect the energy that reached away from the small California town to the heavens toward them, nor that the cause was from a bust of a Roman god being destroyed.

In Sunnydale California people moved as if suddenly waking up from a sudden nap. Kids quickly made their way home from wherever they suddenly found themselves. A redheaded girl woke in a daze trying to sort out her memories. The memory of her best friend and nemesis kissing had really disturbed her. In her distracted state, she didn't notice the headlights of the approaching zebra decaled van and got a slight bump on her head that would send her to the hospital

A blonde haired woman once known as the Vampire Slayer found herself scratching itchy wrists and found that the once plastic bone blades from her Nietzschean female costume looked and felt very real. Memories of another life filled her head and the blonde felt weaker than she had felt since she became a slayer. She wouldn't know until the next day, after confirming from her watcher, that she was no longer fully human and in turn lost whatever abilities the slayer essence had left behind when she died. To regain most of her strength and stamina would require a lot of training.

Back on Andromeda, the energy mixed with the inherent powers of a Paradine. Dylan's unique abilities from an obscured ancestry allowed him to keep his physical prowess and memories much like the girl in his arms and the blonde back on earth. However, the biggest concern was the fact that as they became aware of their true identities of Xander Harris and Cordelia Chase. The pair found themselves making out, something that was immediately freak both of them both out.

If that wasn't enough to scare the sudden couple, the voice that spoke up next would finally do it. "Mom? Dad?" Xander and Cordelia turned quickly to face a ten year old brunette looking at them as a loving child would at their parents. The stress became too much for Cordelia who fainted into Xander's arms. If it wasn't for the fact the situation was so serious Xander would have made a mental note to tease Cordelia.

Looking at the younger girl, Xander's mind matched up the girl's appearance to the memories he kept from Dylan of his and Rommie's daughter. "Dawn?"

No one knew that the Chaos magic had unfortunately altered the spell cast by a group of monks to send the key, a collection of mystical energy, into physical form. The magic brought the child to life far sooner than expected. Along with the fact that the child hadn't been created from the DNA of Buffy Summer's parents as intended, but from two 17 year olds that were just starting to figure out life and what each other meant to each other.