Part 4:
He surveyed the scene in front of him. The slayer was on top of Drusilla, stake raised, ready for the kill while William the Bloody laid helpless, clutching his head in pain {So the reports are true. Humans have finally found a way to curb the instinctive tendencies of vampires}. A fourth person was looking on, a half puzzled, half bemused expression on her face {An unexpected variable. I can sense a great power emanating from her aura. Perhaps one of Merlin's ilk? I'll have to research her to see if she might be able to interfere with my plans}.
But the most important piece in his plan, the White Knight, was not there. This puzzled him. {I would have expected that self-righteous fool to be with the slayer. He would never pass up the chance to be on this kind of demon hunt}. He was hoping he could put his plan into motion right there and then. But he needed all of them together for it to work. No matter. He had been waiting a long time and waiting a few days longer would not be a problem. Besides, the presence of the spellcaster made him wonder what about the presence of other unexpected variables that might affect his plan. He would have to do a bit more research.
"Hey, do you mind? Some of us are trying to slay the undead over here!", the voice of the slayer, still straddling Drusilla, interrupted him from his reverie. Even though he had now prematurely revealed himself to the slayer, losing the element of surprise, he could at least prevent the death of Drusilla, which would have only complicate things further.
"Hello? I'm sorry, do you need anything? I am kind of busy right now. If you're waiting to get slayed, you should just leave your name and crypt address and I'll go kick your ass as soon as possible.", the slayer said, annoyance plainly in her voice.
"My name is Dante.", he finally spoke, in a slightly English accent. "And I would appreciate it greatly if you would please get off the vampire." With that, he raised his right hand, which was clothed in a peculiarly designed golden gauntlet.
"Hey pal, just because you ask nicely, doesn't mean." Buffy was suddenly pushed off Drusilla by a powerful, invisible force, and slammed into a nearby tree almost 10 feet away.
By then, Spike had recovered from the debilitating effects of the chip, and Amy's own train of thought was broken when she heard Buffy's yelp as she made contact with the tree. Dante looked towards Amy, raised his left hand, which was covered in a similar gauntlet, and pointed towards Amy.
"Incindare." he said calmly, as a circle of magical flame rose around Amy, deflecting any spells she tried to perform.
Seeing Dante occupied with Amy, Spike took the chance to launch a fast flying kick towards him. But just as quickly, Dante whipped out a pair of .45's, and let loose with a seemingly endless barrage of bullets aimed towards Spike. Spike took all the bullets in his chest, and slumped unceremoniously to the ground, moaning in agony.
"Just be grateful that the bullets were not blessed, vampire." Dante said as he looked down towards Spike. He then looked towards Amy who was still trying to escape her fiery prison and then turned to Buffy who was starting to regain consciousness. "That was disappointing. I expected the companions of the White Knight to provide more of a challenge. No matter. Now if you would please excuse me, I have a destiny to fulfill." With that he turned and melted into the night.
Buffy tried to open her eyelids, which were at the moment heavier than all of Giles's books put together. "Ouch!" she squeaked as she gently touched the huge gash at the back of the head. {Thank god for my slayer healing, or I would have spent the night in a pool of my own blood. And in a cemetery full of vampires, that is never a good thing.} She finally managed to pry open her eyelids, and looked around for any sign of the person who had easily defeated her. {Great. Not only do I get my ass handed to me by someone actually named DANTE (what a stupid name), Drusilla managed to escape too.}
A scream caught her attention as she turned to her left to ascertain it's source. A hysterical Amy (who had finally freed herself from the circle of fire), was rushing towards Spike, who was on the ground, clutching his chest.
"Oh my god, oh my god, Spike are you okay?" Amy asked in between her tears.
"Just peachy." Spike answered, in between fits of bleeding coughs.
"Hang on Spike, we've got to get you out of here." Amy answered gently as she supported Spike on her shoulder.
Buffy finally managed to get up and walked gingerly towards her friends. She finally saw Spike's blood soaked and bullet filled chest. She supported the other side of Spike's body on her shoulder. In that position, the three of them started shuffling towards the cemetery exit.
"Don't worry, Spike, they're just bullets. You'll live." Buffy said, trying to calm Amy down.
"Don't worry?" Amy said, hastening her steps. "If we don't hurry, he's gonna die!"
"She's right, luv. Bullets can't kill me." Spike was starting to sound better already and this calmed soothed Amy's nerves a little.
"Well, bullets or not, you've lost a lot of blood." Buffy said matter- of-factly. "We need to top you up. Let's get to the Box so we can dress our wounds and get you something to drink."
Xander had forgotten how it feels like to be held like this. To be really held. Sure, he had held Dru. Hell, he had done more than that. But no matter how intimate he had gotten with her, Dru could not make him feel like what he was feeling now. He almost felt alive.
{No, you're not alive. Sure, you're heart might be beating, but you are dead. She saw it and you know it. Now stop hugging the human beings and go back to Dru. Go back to your kind. You don't deserve to even be in the same town as Dawn, or Buffy. You don't deserve to be here. }
Xander started pulling back. This act confused Dawn.
"Xander?" she asked. "Is.. How.. When?"
"Get away from me Dawn." A cold, cold, voice Dawn could barely recognize.
"What's wrong Xander?"
"Don't call me that. I'm not him. Now go!"
"Xander, we thought you were dead. Were you? How did you get back?"
Xander could not believe his ears {Isn't she listening to me?} "Aren't you listening? I'm not Xander! Just like you aren't actually human! You're just a glorified automatic garage door opener! Frankly, I don't know why we bothered with you. It's your fault all this happened! It's your fault I had to kil." Xander trailed off at the thought of that night.
Dawn started backing away. This couldn't be the kind, sweet Xander they loved, could it? {Xander would never say such mean, spiteful things to me.}
"Yes, Dawn. Go! Run to your precious Buffy! Go hide behind her stake! Go ruin her life even more than you already have!" Tears were running down Dawn's cheeks now. She turned and ran toward the exit of the cemetery.
She didn't know how far she had gotten before she ran into something hard. At first she thought it was a tree, she could not be sure because of the tears in her eyes. But when she looked up she knew she was in trouble.
A six foot behemoth of a vampire, with full game face on, was glaring down at her, a sadistic smile on his face. " Yum, breakfast. I love veal." Dawn started backing away, her hands instinctively fingering for the cross necklace she usually wore around her neck.
{Oh great, I forgot to wear it today, of all days. Shhessh, Dawn, you're going to a cemetery in the middle of the night to visit your mother's grave, and you don't bring a cross? Buffy would kill you, if it wasn't for the fact that this vampire is going to first.}
The vampire grabbed Dawn's shoulders, his strong hands preventing escape. He lowered his head towards Dawn's neck, baring his fangs. Dawn closed her eyes, anticipating the pain she was about to experience. {I just hope he doesn't turn me.}His sharp teeth were merely inches away from the soft flesh of Dawn's neck when she heard two loud shots coming from behind the vampire. The vampire stiffened, before scattering all over Dawn.
From behind the cloud of dust Dawn could make out the figure of her saviour. Xander stood there as sturdy as stone, a small billow of smoke escaping from the barrel of his gun. They both stood there for a while, in an uncomfortable silence.
"Let's get you home, it's not safe for you to be out alone at a time like this."
The walk home was silent. Dawn was still unsure whether she could trust Xan. this person or not. Her heart was screaming to her that this was Xander, that her friend had come back to her. But her mind, who was controlling her actions at the moment, was telling her to be cautious. The thing this person had said to her just now was very hurtful, and just because he saved her life doesn't mean he was forgiven.
Xander just didn't feel like talking.
When they reached the front porch of the Summer's home, Xander turned to look at Dawn. He looked into her eyes. They held a multitude of emotions within them. There was curiosity, happiness, just a bit of fear and. hope. Xander knew what that was hope was for. The hope that this wasn't a dream. That Xander had really come back.
He sighed and took out a piece of paper. "If you want answers, be at this address tomorrow night." With that he nodded towards Dawn and turned away. Before he could take another step however, Dawn spun him around and enveloped him in another hug, burying her face in his chest.
"Welcome back, Xander. Welcome home."
He surveyed the scene in front of him. The slayer was on top of Drusilla, stake raised, ready for the kill while William the Bloody laid helpless, clutching his head in pain {So the reports are true. Humans have finally found a way to curb the instinctive tendencies of vampires}. A fourth person was looking on, a half puzzled, half bemused expression on her face {An unexpected variable. I can sense a great power emanating from her aura. Perhaps one of Merlin's ilk? I'll have to research her to see if she might be able to interfere with my plans}.
But the most important piece in his plan, the White Knight, was not there. This puzzled him. {I would have expected that self-righteous fool to be with the slayer. He would never pass up the chance to be on this kind of demon hunt}. He was hoping he could put his plan into motion right there and then. But he needed all of them together for it to work. No matter. He had been waiting a long time and waiting a few days longer would not be a problem. Besides, the presence of the spellcaster made him wonder what about the presence of other unexpected variables that might affect his plan. He would have to do a bit more research.
"Hey, do you mind? Some of us are trying to slay the undead over here!", the voice of the slayer, still straddling Drusilla, interrupted him from his reverie. Even though he had now prematurely revealed himself to the slayer, losing the element of surprise, he could at least prevent the death of Drusilla, which would have only complicate things further.
"Hello? I'm sorry, do you need anything? I am kind of busy right now. If you're waiting to get slayed, you should just leave your name and crypt address and I'll go kick your ass as soon as possible.", the slayer said, annoyance plainly in her voice.
"My name is Dante.", he finally spoke, in a slightly English accent. "And I would appreciate it greatly if you would please get off the vampire." With that, he raised his right hand, which was clothed in a peculiarly designed golden gauntlet.
"Hey pal, just because you ask nicely, doesn't mean." Buffy was suddenly pushed off Drusilla by a powerful, invisible force, and slammed into a nearby tree almost 10 feet away.
By then, Spike had recovered from the debilitating effects of the chip, and Amy's own train of thought was broken when she heard Buffy's yelp as she made contact with the tree. Dante looked towards Amy, raised his left hand, which was covered in a similar gauntlet, and pointed towards Amy.
"Incindare." he said calmly, as a circle of magical flame rose around Amy, deflecting any spells she tried to perform.
Seeing Dante occupied with Amy, Spike took the chance to launch a fast flying kick towards him. But just as quickly, Dante whipped out a pair of .45's, and let loose with a seemingly endless barrage of bullets aimed towards Spike. Spike took all the bullets in his chest, and slumped unceremoniously to the ground, moaning in agony.
"Just be grateful that the bullets were not blessed, vampire." Dante said as he looked down towards Spike. He then looked towards Amy who was still trying to escape her fiery prison and then turned to Buffy who was starting to regain consciousness. "That was disappointing. I expected the companions of the White Knight to provide more of a challenge. No matter. Now if you would please excuse me, I have a destiny to fulfill." With that he turned and melted into the night.
Buffy tried to open her eyelids, which were at the moment heavier than all of Giles's books put together. "Ouch!" she squeaked as she gently touched the huge gash at the back of the head. {Thank god for my slayer healing, or I would have spent the night in a pool of my own blood. And in a cemetery full of vampires, that is never a good thing.} She finally managed to pry open her eyelids, and looked around for any sign of the person who had easily defeated her. {Great. Not only do I get my ass handed to me by someone actually named DANTE (what a stupid name), Drusilla managed to escape too.}
A scream caught her attention as she turned to her left to ascertain it's source. A hysterical Amy (who had finally freed herself from the circle of fire), was rushing towards Spike, who was on the ground, clutching his chest.
"Oh my god, oh my god, Spike are you okay?" Amy asked in between her tears.
"Just peachy." Spike answered, in between fits of bleeding coughs.
"Hang on Spike, we've got to get you out of here." Amy answered gently as she supported Spike on her shoulder.
Buffy finally managed to get up and walked gingerly towards her friends. She finally saw Spike's blood soaked and bullet filled chest. She supported the other side of Spike's body on her shoulder. In that position, the three of them started shuffling towards the cemetery exit.
"Don't worry, Spike, they're just bullets. You'll live." Buffy said, trying to calm Amy down.
"Don't worry?" Amy said, hastening her steps. "If we don't hurry, he's gonna die!"
"She's right, luv. Bullets can't kill me." Spike was starting to sound better already and this calmed soothed Amy's nerves a little.
"Well, bullets or not, you've lost a lot of blood." Buffy said matter- of-factly. "We need to top you up. Let's get to the Box so we can dress our wounds and get you something to drink."
Xander had forgotten how it feels like to be held like this. To be really held. Sure, he had held Dru. Hell, he had done more than that. But no matter how intimate he had gotten with her, Dru could not make him feel like what he was feeling now. He almost felt alive.
{No, you're not alive. Sure, you're heart might be beating, but you are dead. She saw it and you know it. Now stop hugging the human beings and go back to Dru. Go back to your kind. You don't deserve to even be in the same town as Dawn, or Buffy. You don't deserve to be here. }
Xander started pulling back. This act confused Dawn.
"Xander?" she asked. "Is.. How.. When?"
"Get away from me Dawn." A cold, cold, voice Dawn could barely recognize.
"What's wrong Xander?"
"Don't call me that. I'm not him. Now go!"
"Xander, we thought you were dead. Were you? How did you get back?"
Xander could not believe his ears {Isn't she listening to me?} "Aren't you listening? I'm not Xander! Just like you aren't actually human! You're just a glorified automatic garage door opener! Frankly, I don't know why we bothered with you. It's your fault all this happened! It's your fault I had to kil." Xander trailed off at the thought of that night.
Dawn started backing away. This couldn't be the kind, sweet Xander they loved, could it? {Xander would never say such mean, spiteful things to me.}
"Yes, Dawn. Go! Run to your precious Buffy! Go hide behind her stake! Go ruin her life even more than you already have!" Tears were running down Dawn's cheeks now. She turned and ran toward the exit of the cemetery.
She didn't know how far she had gotten before she ran into something hard. At first she thought it was a tree, she could not be sure because of the tears in her eyes. But when she looked up she knew she was in trouble.
A six foot behemoth of a vampire, with full game face on, was glaring down at her, a sadistic smile on his face. " Yum, breakfast. I love veal." Dawn started backing away, her hands instinctively fingering for the cross necklace she usually wore around her neck.
{Oh great, I forgot to wear it today, of all days. Shhessh, Dawn, you're going to a cemetery in the middle of the night to visit your mother's grave, and you don't bring a cross? Buffy would kill you, if it wasn't for the fact that this vampire is going to first.}
The vampire grabbed Dawn's shoulders, his strong hands preventing escape. He lowered his head towards Dawn's neck, baring his fangs. Dawn closed her eyes, anticipating the pain she was about to experience. {I just hope he doesn't turn me.}His sharp teeth were merely inches away from the soft flesh of Dawn's neck when she heard two loud shots coming from behind the vampire. The vampire stiffened, before scattering all over Dawn.
From behind the cloud of dust Dawn could make out the figure of her saviour. Xander stood there as sturdy as stone, a small billow of smoke escaping from the barrel of his gun. They both stood there for a while, in an uncomfortable silence.
"Let's get you home, it's not safe for you to be out alone at a time like this."
The walk home was silent. Dawn was still unsure whether she could trust Xan. this person or not. Her heart was screaming to her that this was Xander, that her friend had come back to her. But her mind, who was controlling her actions at the moment, was telling her to be cautious. The thing this person had said to her just now was very hurtful, and just because he saved her life doesn't mean he was forgiven.
Xander just didn't feel like talking.
When they reached the front porch of the Summer's home, Xander turned to look at Dawn. He looked into her eyes. They held a multitude of emotions within them. There was curiosity, happiness, just a bit of fear and. hope. Xander knew what that was hope was for. The hope that this wasn't a dream. That Xander had really come back.
He sighed and took out a piece of paper. "If you want answers, be at this address tomorrow night." With that he nodded towards Dawn and turned away. Before he could take another step however, Dawn spun him around and enveloped him in another hug, burying her face in his chest.
"Welcome back, Xander. Welcome home."