1. Chapter One
DISCLAIMER: I own nothing...I don't own Willow, or Xander, or Buffy, or anyone else Joss Whedon created.
I also don't own Sara, or Gil, or Jim...or anyone else Jerry Bruckheimer created.
I'm just a lowly amature writer who likes to throw their creations into the blender of my mind and see what comes out of it.
So please...have a heart, don't sue the poor amature. :)
AN: One of those annoying bunnies that was bothering me the last couple of months. There might be some potential here, but only if you all want it.
AN2: This is a previously published work done for . Disagreements with management there have led me to publish elsewhere.
Let me know what you think.
She awoke as she always did, with a near scream on her lips as she shot up suddenly in bed. Her breathing came in sudden, deep gulps of air and she closed her eyes and concentrated on getting her breathing under control. She glanced over at the man beside her, watching to see if she had awoken him from his sleep with her nightmare. After several moments of listening to his slow, rhythmic breathing she decided that she hadn't.
She climbed carefully out of bed and headed into the living room, the ritual for these situations a habit now. A quick drink of juice, or milk, and then she'd sit down at her laptop and type out as much of the dream as she remembered. After that she'd have another drink of juice and then she'd go back to bed.
As she sat down with her drink she thought about how the ritual while strange perhaps to some was much better than her old one. A slight frown marred her pretty features as she thought about the other kind of drink she would have been having at this moment. Before she got herself better under control. Before he became a real part of her life. Before she became a part of his.
She shook off such useless thoughts and simply sent up a quick prayer of thanks that they had finally found one another and started typing.
It was nearly twenty minutes later when she felt his approach and couldn't help but smile. He tried to be so sneaky, so quiet but he might as well of been wearing a cowbell, and flashing a searchlight. They didn't understand what the connection was that they shared, they only knew that they could always feel one another. It, surprisingly, wasn't something that two people like them, two people rooted in the world of science and reason needed to examine. It simply was, and that was enough for them.
He rested his hands on her shoulders and asked, "Was it bad?"
She shrugged, and tilted her head to one side, so she could rub her cheek on his hand. She closed her eyes at the contact before she straightened up and finally answered his question, "I'm not sure if there getting worse, or just more vivid."
He bent down beside her and reviewed what she had written quickly before he said, "Is it related to anything we're working on or…"
She shook her head, "No, this isn't anything we're working on, at least not unless you know something that I don't involving monsters?"
"Monsters?" he asked to which she typed up a few pages showing him the aforementioned monsters.
"Ah, vampires again I see," he said after a moment, "The blonde again?"
She shook her head, "No this time it was the pirate and the red witch."
He nodded his head, "Haven't seen them in a while. Wonder what it could mean."
"Mean," she asked confused, "It doesn't mean anything. These are the silly ones, remember."
He nodded his head, "I know, but ever since we discovered your, gift," he emphasized the word to make sure there would be no argument, "I've always thought that these dreams mean something, something symbolic."
"Maybe it's just my subconscious's way of cleaning itself out. I see so much human evil…" she let the thought die. It was a conversation they'd had many times in the past. Ever since they had first realized that she was able to see things in her dreams that were true and real they'd discussed the meaning, or lack there of, of the "silly dreams".
Naturally they'd never come to a conclusion and it usually got lost anyway in the broader discussion of why she had this ability, and what it meant.
Not looking for an argument he decided to let it drop and said instead, "Come to bed, it's late."
"I will in a sec, just let me finish this real quick."
He nodded and kissed her gently on the cheek before getting up and headed back to the bedroom. He was just about to leave the room when her voice stopped him, "Gil?"
He turned back to her with an obvious question on his face. She smiled at him and said, "I love you."
I love you too, Sara, now come to bed."
She nodded her head and closed the laptop. She was done anyway, she had just been rereading it.
She shook her head as she settled in next to her lover and he spooned up against her, embracing her in his surprisingly strong arms, 'Monsters, where did that nonsense come from?'
That was her last coherent thought as sleep reclaimed her.
*****
On the other side of the world, in a cave deep in the heart of Africa Xander Harris was wiping the blood and dust from his hands and face as his best friend in the world, Willow Rosenberg came up beside him. The two friends smiled at one another, satisfied in another job well done.
In addition, an extra bonus they finally had a lead on a mystery that had been plaguing them since the destruction of Sunnydale.
"You felt it right?" Xander asked.
Willow paused in her own efforts at clean up and shot him an impatient scowl and said, "For the fifth time, yes, Xander, I felt it. That's why we activated the charms, that's why we need to call Buffy now. You were right, I was wrong, how many times do you need to hear me say it?"
Xander shrugged and then smiled mischievously and asked, "How long is the trip to Las Vegas?"
The look she gave him could have reduced him to smoldering ashes and he knew it, but he also knew that she would never do that, instead she decided to ignore him completely and pulled out her cell phone.
She flipped it open and, thanks to a little magical boost inherent in the device found a connection even out in the middle of nowhere. The phone rang twice before it was picked up on the other end.
"Hello?" A voice asked.
"Dawn, its Willow."
"Willow!?!" The excited woman on the other end shouted, "How are you guys? Everything ok?"
"Everything's fine Dawn," Willow said, easily detecting the concern in the younger woman's voice, "I just called to let you know that we got a signal on Xander's charm."
"You mean that charm?" Dawn asked, seemingly shocked.
For the last couple years since the battle with the First Giles, Buffy, Xander, Willow, Faith, Dawn, Kennedy, and a few of the others that had been there at the final battle had a feeling like they were being watched.
At first they had each dismissed it in kind; chalking it up to too many years facing the darkness. Then through sheer accident they started comparing notes and found a disturbing trend that led them to believe that someone, or something, was watching them.
Concerned that this could be surveillance for an attack of some sort Xander had struck on the idea that any and all that had felt the 'watching' would carry a charm that would try and track the source to its origin.
Buffy was especially eager to get her hands on the "Peeping Tom Demon" that had been giving her the Wiggins for the last couple of years.
Willow had been unsure that the charm would even work, figuring any power strong enough to observe them this long and not be found would have some sort of shielding. The fact that it had worked would, Dawn knew, give Xander no small amount of joy to tease her about. Dawn smiled at the thought as Willow answered her.
"Yes, that charm," the witch said irritably, taking great pains to ignore the gleeful look her friend was shooting her. "Tell Buffy it's in Las Vegas. Xander and I are going to head there as soon as we can and we'll meet you all there."
"Got it," Dawn said, "We'll meet you there as soon as we can. Tell Xander I said 'Hi'."
"I will. Bye Dawn."
"Bye Willow."
Willow hung up her phone and said, "Dawn says 'Hi'."
Xander nodded, "So, Vegas huh?"
"Vegas," Willow confirmed as her hair and eyes turned pure white and she began to weave the magic of the teleportation spell.
"Could be interesting…Sin City and all," Xander joked.
Willow didn't bother to look at him and instead groaned and said, "Don't start."
An affronted "Hey" could clearly be heard even as the two friends vanished from sight