doyle

Tried to make it slash, but it wouldn't co-operate. Xander and Knox, after Home.

(Knox is Fred's department manager, the character played by Jonathan Woodward, who also appeared as Holden in CWDP)

The patient - some bigshot, they'd been told, demon fighter, personal friend of the boss - was looking at him strangely. Knox shrugged it off at first, assuming that the guy was so happy to be seeing in 3-D again that he'd eyeball anyone within visual range. Finally, though, he got itchy abut the stare that was drilling a hole in his back and he asked, "everything okay?"

Looking embarrassed at being put on the spot, the guy said, "yeah! Yeah, everything's great. I still say you coulda given me x-ray vision, maybe a cool death stare…"

"Personally, I pushed for making you faster, stronger, better than before, but Mr. Angel's been making noises about our budget," Knox deadpanned, then grinned as he stuck out his hand. "I'm Knox, by the way. I designed your eye."

"Xander. Uh, Harris." Firm handshake, but there was clearly something troubling him beyond the normal post-anaesthetic wooziness. "Knox - is that your last name or first?"

"Yeah," he said cheerfully. "Hey, have you had a tour of the lab? We have a virtual reality suite Brannon Braga would sell his mother for."

"Webster," Xander pushed, "is your last name Webster? Did you have a twin?"

Knox raised his eyebrows, nonplussed. "One, no, and two - not that I know of. I mean, I don't think so, but my mom went through this compulsive lying phase so I guess it's not impossible."

"Sorry." His shrug and smile were a little sheepish. "You just look kind of… well, identical to someone I knew in high school."

He did a quick mental calculation on the odds of two unrelated people looking the same. Pretty damn huge. "You still in touch with him?"

"Nah." He looked almost apologetic. "He got turned into a vampire and my friend had to stake him."

The coolness factor of having a mysterious doppelganger raised by at least a factor of ten. Possibly as much as eleven. Knox's grin threatened to take off the top of his head. "No way. Awesome." And he was just a tad jealous of the ex-Sunnydale crew. Nothing exciting ever happened at Wolfram and Hart.