TITLE: Lost In Your Eyes
AUTHOR: Muse
RATING: General
PAIRING(S): Derek, Dawn
DISCLAIMER: I do not own the characters, I am only having some fun with them. Ama's name belongs to dharkcharlotte and the character belongs to FOX and Friedman. Dawn belongs to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy.
NOTES: This is a challenge fic from btvssccxover that I wrote for the prompt 'Eyes'. It is a side piece that goes with my story 'A Sense of Inevitability'. Also, a great big THANK YOU to dharkcharlotte for her amazing beta skills! :-)
Derek had said that John had his father's eyes. Clear, hazel, compassionate. They saw everything and all emotions were always reflected in them. Kyle had been just as easy to read. As a child, he'd never been able to hide anything from his older brother. If Derek had a question as to the truthfulness of Kyle's answers, all he'd had to do was make Kyle look him in the eye; he'd known every time Kyle'd lied to him.
Windows to the soul. Eyes. Derek watched John and Cameron together and how John was always so careful to make eye contact with the metal. He couldn't help but wonder what John accomplished with that. After all, Cameron was a machine and didn't have a soul. It still irked Derek to no end that John was so insistent to treat it like it was human being; it had never been one nor would it ever be.
He turned and saw Dawn watching him from the doorway to the living room. Her green eyes deep and unfathomable as she gazed at him; her thoughts were always unreadable in her eyes. The first time he met her, the weight of that intense stare had made him back down quicker than he ever had before. It was kind of embarrassing when looking back on it. All this woman had needed to do was look at him and he had caved. Thank god the future John hadn't been around to witness it… he would have never lived that one down.
"What's wrong, Derek?" Dawn asked quietly.
Derek looked back towards the kitchen where John and It were still sitting, talking quietly and doing their homework. He glanced back at Dawn and shrugged. "Nothing, I guess. I just find it a little disturbing that he makes such an effort to 'hang out' with it."
Dawn glanced into the kitchen herself and then looked back at Derek. Squinting slightly, she shook her head. "Yeah, well… if it floats his boat…" she trailed off. "Her eyes freak me out, though."
"Why?"
"There's no warmth in them, Derek. No soul."
He nodded in agreement and then turned and headed out of the room, Dawn following him. She thought about their conversation for a moment and then reached out and touched his shoulder. He stopped and looked at her, an eyebrow quirking in a silent question.
"You know… when I first met you, I thought you were psychotic." She stated.
"Is this supposed to make me feel better?"
She chuckled. "No. But… your eyes; they had a wild look to them. If I had gone solely on them, I would have called the Council and had you 'taken care of' right then and there."
Derek smirked. "Yeah, well… that's not what I thought when I met you."
Dawn's brow furrowed in confusion. "And what was that?"
He looked away in silence for a moment and sighed. He debated on what to say and decided on the truth. "I thought you had the most beautiful eyes that I had ever seen."
He continued on down the hallway, leaving Dawn standing there with her mouth hanging open in shock. She had been staring into his eyes when he had spoken… she had seen the truth in them. He had meant every word.
It was always in the eyes.