Title: In Their Shadow - Interlude
Author: Robert Cox (smeghead_76@dodo.com.au)
Disclaimer: Buffy is owned by Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy productions. The Night's Dawn trilogy is owned by Peter F. Hamilton. At least until the copyright runs out, anyway. Since that won't happen for a long time at the least, I've just gotta hope that no-one takes offence.
Summary: Xander has been transported to the 27th century. Can he adapt to life in the future? Can he ever return home? And, more to the point, can the guy stay out of trouble for once?
Rating: M-15+ (Australian system)
AN: Thanks to Grossclout, who volunteered for beta-ing duties in the later parts.
AN2: There are a couple of non-standard methods of communication used in this story, represented as follows: Affinity and {Datavises}
AN3: In this AU, Buffy's found out about Xaner lying to her about Willow casting the Soul Curse on Angelus/Angel. When did this happen? You'll have to wait and see... *evil smirk*
Interlude: Meanwhile, Back In Sunnydale (That's *Sunnydale*, *not* the Sunnydale Dome of the Los Angeles Arcology)
Giles' Apartment, Sunnydale
Three days after Xander's disappearance
Buffy was doing some half-hearted training, and Giles and Willow were brushing up on their knowledge of Giles' research books, when Faith and Dawn burst in through the front door.
"Giles! Xander's gone missing!" Dawn exclaimed.
"What?" Giles blurted, a worried expression on his face.
"We haven't seen him for a couple of days," Faith explained, "and he's usually pretty good about meeting us at the Bronze. So we went over to his apartment to see if there was anything wrong with him."
"We knocked at the door, but he didn't answer," Dawn continued. "So I tried the handle, and it was unlocked, so we went in. The place was a disaster zone... even more than usual. We took a quick look, and all his stuff was there, but there was a critical absence of Xander."
"Maybe he's left town for a brief period," Giles suggested, more in hope than any real expectation that that was what happened.
Faith shook her head. "He wouldn't leave me... us... like that. Not without telling us first. And besides, his car was still in the parking area."
Willow wondered about the 'me' in that last statement, but let it slide, mainly because she was starting to worry as well. It was at this time that Buffy, attracted by the commotion, entered the room. "What's all the fuss?" she asked.
When Faith and Dawn repeated what they'd told Giles and Willow, Buffy said, "Are you sure he's gone missing? Maybe he's just run off..." she never completed the sentence, not having seen the fist propelled by a very angry Faith, but she certainly felt it.
"WHAT THE FUCK IS YOUR DAMAGE?" Faith screamed at her sister Slayer, her earlier resolve not to pick a fight vanishing in a flood of fury mixed with not a little worry for the only Scooby apart from Dawn who had shown any real concern for her. "Xander would never abandon us like that, even with all the shit you've given him over the last couple of years. And didn't you pay attention? All of his stuff is still in his apartment. His car is still here. He hasn't been seen for a couple of days. Add all that up, and throw in the fact that this is the Hellmouth, and what do you get?"
Buffy was still too groggy to reply, but Willow was the first to see the implications. "You mean he's been..." she started to say, but was unable to complete the sentence as tears began to build up in her eyes. She may have wanted Xander to stay out of the actual Slayage, but she was more than willing to let him participate in the group activities. Her only motivation was ensuring that her oldest friend wasn't hurt... or worse.
"I dunno, Willow," Dawn said, fighting back tears herself. "But I hope not."
By this time, Buffy had recovered the ability to speak. "You hit me," she said, looking at Faith in amazement. "I can't believe you did that."
"Believe it, Blondie," Faith snarled. "Fer feck's sake, has all the hair dye you use seeped through yer skull and fried yer brains? Xander - you know, the guy who's saved yer life on more than one occasion - has gone missing, and you don't seem to give a shit."
Buffy looked at the faces of every person in the room, and saw that not only Faith, but Dawn and Willow glaring at her. The fact that Willow was so obviously disapproving came as a surprise, since she had gone along with the plan to exclude Xander from their activities. "Will, I thought you agreed with me when I decided to keep Xander out," she protested.
Willow shook her head. "No, Buffy, I agreed that Xander shouldn't be getting involved in the actual Slayage. You were the one who wanted to exclude him altogether. I didn't want him getting hurt. You were the one who called him 'useless' and a 'liability'."
Faith's glare doubled in intensity. If looks could kill, Buffy would be reduced to pink mist. "You really don't get it, do you? How long do you think you would have lasted here if it wasn't for Xander?"
"If you're referring to the time in the Master's cave," Buffy shot back, as she hauled herself to her feet, "it was Angel who brought Xander along to..."
"Do you really believe that?" Dawn interrupted with a derisive laugh. "What reality are you living in again? 'Coz it's sure as hell not this one."
"I suppose Xander told you that it was him who dragged Angel along in an attempt to make himself seem useful," Buffy sneered.
"Actually, Buffy," Giles interjected, "while Xander did, indeed, recount that version of events, his story was backed up by Angel, who had no reason to lie in order to make Xander the hero of the story."
"And it was Xander who protected you, that Halloween," Willow put in.
"Xander got the rocket launcher that you used on the Judge," Dawn contributed.
"It was Xander's plan that beat the Mayor," Faith remembered.
"And the enjoining spell to defeat ADAM was also Xander's idea," Giles recalled.
Buffy looked from person to person, unable to believe that they'd all turned against her like this. "Gii-iiles," she whined, falling back on her main defence.
"No, Buffy, that will not work this time," Giles said firmly. "Whether you choose to admit it or not, Xander has played a pivotal role in keeping you alive, and through you, ensuring the world's safety ever since you arrived in Sunnydale."
"And let's not forget that dance," Willow said hotly.
"What dance?" Faith asked. She hadn't been in Sunnydale for that event, and no-one had told her of it.
"Oh, once my bitca of a sister gave Xander the dance of a lifetime at the Bronze, before leaving him high and dry on the dance floor. The whole thing was a stunt to make Angel jealous," Dawn said, with just a hint of a snarl entering her voice.
"But... but..." Buffy stammered, desperately trying to muster a defence, when one appeared. "Xander had a schoolboy crush on me," she protested.
"And that was a good thing to do?" Willow asked in an incredulous tone of voice. "Besides, if you think the only reason he was helping you, you're sadly mistaken. Remember that Valentine's Day love spell fiasco? If I recall correctly, all three of us," she continued, indicating Buffy, Dawn and herself, "tried to come on to Xander under the spell's influence, but he turned us all down. If a crush was all that was driving him, don't you think he would have taken advantage of the situation?"
Buffy could see her defence crumbling under the assault of Willow's logic, but she mad one last effort. "But it was him that blackmailed Amy into casting that spell in the first place!"
"Nice try, sis," Dawn riposted. "But even I know the spell was intended to get Cordy back. The only reason the rest of us were affected was that it went horribly wrong."
"Face it, Buffy," Willow put in. "Xander's well and truly gotten over any crush he might have had for you, helped by your attitude to him." She missed the brief hopeful expression that flickered across Faith's face, but Dawn didn't. Although Dawn made no mention of it, she did make a mental note to ask Faith about it when the opportunity presented itself.
Buffy scowled at everyone present. "Fine," she sniffed. "Buffy's in the wrong - again. But what about this? Xander lied to me about the soul restoration spell. He told me that you said to 'kick his ass', Willow. If he's such a good little hero, explain that!"
"What? I told him to tell you that I was going to restore his soul!" Willow exclaimed. Buffy smirked slightly, seeing Willow's mood start to swing.
Giles cleared his throat. "Perhaps I can offer an explanation," he said.
Buffy folded her arms across her chest. "Fine," she said. "Knock yourself out. But it had better be good."
"Very well, since you insist. But I should warn you that you will *not* like how your actions are portrayed." He paused for a moment to allow Buffy to consider this. Continuing, he said, "Given your reluctance to properly deal with Angelus, despite all the innocent lives he took, and despite several opportunities to do so, I cannot believe that jealousy was the primary motivation for failing to inform you of that the soul restoration ritual was being attempted by Willow."
Giles removed his glasses and gave them a brief polish before replacing them. "Also, when you consider the additional circumstances; namely, that I was being held captive by Angelus, Kendra had been killed, you were being sought for questioning by the police in regards to Kendra's death, and that, at the time Willow was not only just a beginner practioner of magic, but was also injured and in the hospital, Xander's actions start to appear less reprehensible."
"Besides," Dawn added. "If he had told you that Willow was going to try to restore Angel's soul, what would you have done? Would you have fought to win, or just to hold Angelus off long enough for Angel to come back?"
Realisation dawned on Willow as she made her contribution. "You would have probably held back, Buffy. And Angelus might have killed you, then opened Acathla and ended the world." An expression of disgust crossed her face. "I can't believe you were so selfish, Buffy. In fact, I'm starting to agree with what Xander did."
"WHAT?" Buffy screeched.
"You heard me, Buffy," Willow said resolutely. "While Angelus was killing people - including Jenny Calendar, don't forget - all you were concerned with was getting Angel back. I can't believe I ever accused Xander of jealousy whenever he said that Angelus should be staked just like any other vampire."
"Yes," Giles agreed. "At the time, I thought that Xander was the only one of the group who was displaying any common sense regarding how to deal with Angelus."
"You wanted me to stake... Angel?" Buffy nearly wailed.
"Not Angel," Dawn replied. "Angelus. Like you kept telling us, they weren't the same person. In fact, if we're going to say that they were one and the same person, why didn't you stake him as soon as you found out the Angel was simply Angelus with a soul?"
"Because he had a soul!" Buffy exclaimed. "He was good! He was helping me!"
"But we're talking about why you didn't want to stake Angelus, Buffy. Y'know... the soulless version? Was your happiness more important than all the people he killed?"
That was too much for Buffy, who fled from the apartment, tears streaming down her face.
"Oh, dear," Giles murmured. "Do you think that we were possibly a little too hard on her?"
"No way, Giles," Faith replied, staring at the door. "She desperately needed a reality check, and we gave it to her."
****
Summers Residence
Joyce Summers was sitting at the dining room table, reading an art magazine and sipping on a cup of coffee when Buffy returned home in tears.
Concerned at the expression on her elder daughter's face, Joyce asked, "Buffy, honey? What's wrong?"
Buffy slumped into a chair next to her mother, still sobbing, and poured out the tale of what had happened at Giles' apartment. She finished up with a tearful, "Were they right, Mom? Was I being incredibly selfish by wanting Angel back?"
Joyce thought long and hard about her reply. Not what she was going to say - she already had a good idea of that - but how she was going to say it. She could tell that Buffy was emotionally fragile at the moment, and bad things might happen if she said the wrong thing now. But she had to tell the truth.
"Yes," she said gently. Buffy gasped and stared open-mouthed, shocked, at her. "Why am I saying that? Well, from what the others told me, Angelus had killed a number of people - including Rupert's girlfriend, Jenny - and was trying to psychologically destroy all of you. Given that you normally eliminate a vampire on sight, the way you refused to deal with Angelus does sound bad. Frankly, I'm not surprised that Rupert was unhappy with your actions, given everything Angelus did to him, particularly while he was trying to find out how Acathla worked."
Joyce watched Buffy's face as the realisation sank in, and her crying intensified. "I'm a terrible Slayer, aren't I? And a bad person, to boot," Buffy near-wailed.
"Of course not, honey," Joyce reassured her, moving to her side to give her a hug. "While it's true that you may have made some bad decisions, nobody's perfect. All that can be asked of you is that you do the best that you can."
****
Sunnydale Starbucks
It was said that Sunnydale was a 'one-Starbucks town'. This was true, and something of an indictment of the town, given the way that Starbucks franchises seem to multiply and proliferate like a virus - or a fungus, some said, given the taste of the coffee drinks they served.
Of course, in a town like Sunnydale, the range of available places to go if you wanted to relax with a friend over a cup of coffee was limited to one... Starbucks.
So, it was no real surprise that when Dawn and Faith decided to make a quick stop on the way to the Magic Box - where they'd been sent to collect the required supplies for a locator spell - they wound up at the Starbuck franchise.
After ordering and collecting their cappachinos and securing a table, Dawn was the first to speak. "You really like Xander, don't you?" she asked bluntly.
"What?" Faith blurted, surprised. "I mean, yes, he's a really good friend, and he's the only other person apart from you, and lately, Giles, who's tried to be friends with me, and..."
"Not what I meant, Faith," Dawn interrupted the Willow-like babble. "You really like him, don't you? There's no shame in admitting it."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Faith said off-handedly, taking a sip of her coffee in an attempt to buy time to rally her scattered thoughts.
Gotcha! Dawn exulted inwardly, but the exultation was tinged with a slight amount of sadness. What if he likes her the same way? I mean, he already only sees me as a little sister, rather than a potential girlfriend. With an effort of will, she stopped that line of thought. Well, if he does like her that way, why should I interfere? If Faith makes him happy, then more power to her.
Dawn had been taking a sip of her own coffee in order to give her time to complete her own thoughts on the subject. With a new-found determination, she decided that if she couldn't have Xander for herself, she'd make damn sure her two best friends were happy. "I think you do know what I'm talking about, Faith," she said giving Faith a level stare. "He's just a loveable goof, who just happens to have a great sense of humour... not to mention that he's damn cute, as well," she finished with a grin.
Faith tried to return the stare, but to her embarrassment, she found herself caving in with a sigh. "Fine. Alright, I really do like him... yes, I do mean 'that way'. It's just that... no-one else has ever been so damn... decent to me, except for Linda, my first Watcher. And the way he managed to turn me down without hurting my feelings, that night when the Sisterhood of Jhe tried to open the Hellmouth, and then returned to make sure I was alright later that night... it just got to me. Plus, he's been nothing but friendly, even when your sister and Willow treated me with suspicion."
"Yeah, he's like that," Dawn replied. "If I was a couple of years older, I might be making a play for him myself. But I'm not, so I won't."
Faith's eyes narrowed. "Dawn, are you pondering what I think you're pondering?" she asked in her best Brain impersonation.
"Gee, I think so, Brain," Dawn replied in her best Pinky impersonation. "But what are we going to do with a mile-long bratwurst afterwards?"
Both teenagers burst into laughter. Faith was the first to recover. "Seriously, though, Dawn," she said. "Are you going to do what I think you're going to do? Try to set me up with Xander?"
"Who, me?" Dawn replied with exaggerated innocence. "Would I do a thing like that?"
"In a heartbeat, young lady," Faith replied, grinning.
"Well, let's get those supplies for the locator spell Giles and Willow want to cast," Dawn said, as she and Faith drained their coffees. "If we don't find Xander, I won't be able to set you up with him - even if that was what I was planning."
****
Giles' Apartment.
The ingredients were mixed, the incantation chanted, and it was a simple matter of waiting for the results, which weren't long in coming.
However, the results weren't what they were expecting, as with the magical equivalent of a raspberry, the spell fizzled out. "Well, I've never seen that happen before," Willow commented.
"Neither have I," Giles agreed. "Even if Xander was... dead... there still should have been something in the way of results. And this particular spell is good for locating someone virtually anywhere on the planet."
Faith and Dawn exchanged worried looks. "What does that mean, Giles?"
"I have no idea..." Giles started to say, before his voice trailed off, and he leapt to his feet, dashing over to the bookcase where the mystical research works he kept at home were stored. Returning to the table, the girls had just enough time to see part of the title, which was '...Compendium of Magical Transportation...' before he dropped it on the table and opened it to a particular page, which was headed, 'Discs of Kakulash', in rather ornate script.
"What's that, Giles?" Willow asked.
"The Discs of Kakulash are transportation devices. Xander... acquired one, and showed it to me, with the thought that I might find it useful. They only work in pairs - a 'send' disc and a 'return' disc - and since Xander only had the 'return' disc in his possession, I thought it would be safe to allow him to keep it. In fact, he only seemed interested in using it to decorate his apartment."
"Yeah, that sounds like Xander," Dawn muttered, then certain facts about Giles' previous sentence clicked. "Giles! You let Xander keep one of those 'disc' thingies?"
"How could you, Giles?" Willow demanded. "You know what Xander's luck with magic is like! If there's a way for anything to go wrong with magic, Xander will unerringly find it!" Calming down, Willow continued, "Okay, it's probably a fair assumption that Xander's been taken... somewhere... by this 'Disc of Kakulash', right?"
"That would probably be correct, Willow," Giles agreed.
"Does your book say where the disc might have taken him?" Dawn asked.
"'The Disc may be used to go anywhere the user has knowledge of,'" Giles read from the book. "'Not limited by time, or by distance, or dimensional barriers.' That can be interpreted to read that Xander could not only be anywhere, but anywhen as well. That's assuming that he even remained in this dimension."
"Great," Willow said, becoming more and more worried. "We've only got the entire multiverse to search through; forget needle-and-haystack comparisons, this is like looking for a speck of dust in the Sahara."
"We'll find him, Willow," Dawn assured the redhead. "We have to."
****
Summers Residence
After the meeting had broken up, with Willow and Giles deciding to continue researching to try to find a way to determine where and when Xander had ended up, Dawn returned home. Faith might feel vindicated in giving Buffy a serve like that, but now that the heat of the moment had faded, Dawn was feeling somewhat guilty.
As she wandered into the kitchen, Dawn saw her mother sitting at the table, holding a mug of coffee with both hands, taking an occasional sip while wearing a contemplative expression. "Mom?"
Her mother started slightly, obviously surprised. "Sorry, Dawn, but you surprised me," she replied, taking another sip of her coffee.
"Is Buffy home?"
"Yes, dear, she's in her room," her mother replied. "She's quite upset, too."
With that statement, Dawn felt a pang of guilt. "Ohmigod, I'm sorry, Mom. It's just that... Xander's gone missing, and Buffy didn't seem to care too much, and things got heated, and..."
"Wait a minute," her mother said, holding up a hand to cut off the flow of words. "Xander's missing?" she continued, obviously concerned. "Since when?"
"He hasn't been around for a couple of days," Dawn explained, taking a seat. "Faith and me were getting worried, so we went around to his place. The door was unlocked, and we went in... and he wasn't there, but all of his stuff was there, and his car as well. We were starting to really worry, so we went around to Giles' place and told the rest of the gang. Giles and Willow went straight into near-panic, and Faith and me weren't much better, and like I said, Buffy didn't seem to care too much, and things went downhill from there."
Joyce took another sip of her coffee, starting to worry herself. From what she'd been told, Xander had been helping Buffy virtually ever since they arrived in Sunnydale; he'd even saved her life on a number of occasions, and more than once, his input had been critical to defeating whatever major enemy with plans of world domination/mass destruction the group had faced.
In fact, Joyce was wondering why Buffy had never really acknowledged Xander's contribution with so much as even a 'thank you'. She resolved to bring this up with her elder daughter... but right now would probably be a bad idea.
"So," Dawn finished, "I thought that I'd better apologise to Buffy."
"That's a good idea, dear."
Dawn nodded to her mother and made her way to Buffy's room. Unsurprisingly, the door was shut. It probably wasn't locked, but Dawn didn't want to simply barge in, so she knocked. "Yes?" she heard a muffled voice say.
"Can I come in, Buffy?" Dawn asked. "I really need to talk to you, and it'd be better if I didn't have to talk through the door."
"Yeah, whatever," even muffled, Dawn could pick the despondency in Buffy's voice.
Opening the door - it hadn't been locked - Dawn saw that Buffy was lying face-down on her bed. As Dawn entered the room, closing the door behind her, she saw Buffy lift her face from the pillow and turn to face her. Dawn was surprised to see tear tracks running down Buffy's cheeks, and that her eyes were red and puffy from crying. "I suppose you're going to finish what you started at Giles'," Buffy said bitterly.
That was definitely not what Dawn had been about to do. Even though Buffy had deserved to be taught a few home truths, Dawn was starting to feel ashamed of the way she'd given Buffy both barrels like that. "No way, Buffy," she said, sitting down on the bed next to her sister. "In fact, I want to apologise for laying into you the way I did."
Buffy's eyes widened when she heard Dawn say that. Sitting up, she leaned against the headboard, hugging her knees to her chest. "But you were right," she confessed. "I just realised that I haven't been much of a friend to Xander lately, have I? He's stuck with me, no matter what - even the time when Angelus... you know," she added, her voice trailing off, unable to complete the last sentence. "Even when me and Willow tried to push him away, he stayed. Not only that, he was the only one to reach out to Faith. God alone knows what might have happened if he didn't."
"Hey!" Dawn said with mock-annoyance. "I made friends with Faith, too, y'know."
Buffy smiled weakly. "Okay - Xander and you were the only ones to make friends with Faith. But we're getting side-tracked here. The point is, I think the final straw was when I called Xander 'useless' and a 'liability'," she said, and tears threatened to start falling again with that last sentence.
"Yeah, that wasn't exactly your finest moment," Dawn agreed.
"No," Buffy said slowly, "I think my worst moment was that time with the Tilnrak' demons." She briefly recounted the fight, and what she'd said to Xander, and Dawn's expression went from shocked to disgusted to appalled during the short story.
Must not rant... must not rave... must not grab one of Buffy's swords and chop her into a thousand tiny pieces, Dawn thought, struggling with her temper. "You mean you just... left him there?" Dawn asked incredulously.
"Well, I was angry at him for nearly throwing his life away like that," Buffy confessed shamefacedly. "As I left, I saw the crossbow bolt in the tree near where my head was, but I didn't work out what it meant until much later."
"It meant that Xander saved your life again, stopping the demons from killing you with your own weapon," Dawn said.
Buffy nodded. "Yeah. Just one more to add to the number of times Xander's saved my life," she said, then sighed. "Y'know what? I wish there was a way that we could bring Xander back here, so I could apologise to him properly," she said mournfully.
"Be careful what you wish for, sis. This is the Hellmouth after all."
"How could I forget that? And, yes, I still remember the debacle with Anyanka."
"Well, you've managed to convince me that you're sorry," Dawn said, giving Buffy a hug. "Now you just need to convince the others, probably starting with Faith."
"Yeah," Buffy responded, returning the hug. "She really likes Xander, doesn't she?"
"Well, like you said, he was the first one to make friends with her. That sort of thing tends to leave an impression," Dawn said, letting Buffy go. "Get yourself tidied up, since we're going back to Giles' to patch things up."
****
Giles' Apartment
Giles and Willow were near-frantically leafing through various books, both to find out more about the Discs of Kakulash, and to see if there was any way of bringing Xander home. To their surprise, Faith was helping as well, despite showing no real interest in research in the past.
Willow was starting to have suspicions why Faith was so eager, and when Giles left the room to make another pot of tea, she decided to see if her suspicion was correct. "You really like him, don't you?" she asked quietly.
The way Faith's expression froze, for an instant resembling that of a deer caught in a car's headlights, told her that she was right. "Yeah," Faith replied. "He's a good friend, and..."
"Not what I meant, Faith," Willow replied, unknowingly echoing what Dawn had said to Faith earlier. "I mean 'like' as in like," she added.
Faith's shoulders slumped, as she realised that it was pretty futile to even try to deny it, as Willow was even more stubborn than Dawn. "Yeah," she said in a near-whisper.
Willow nodded resolutely. Even though her own feelings for Xander had faded slightly - she still thought of him as the big brother she'd never had, though - she was determined to make up for the way she'd treated him lately, and if setting him up with Faith was the way to do it, then...
Woah! Where'd that come from? she thought.
You know exactly where that came from, a little voice in the back of her mind answered. You can see that Faith is starting to fall for Xander big-time - that is, if she hasn't already fallen for him. And you know how stubborn and oblivious to the obvious the big goof can be. So you're going to meddle, aren't you?
Well, yeah, she admitted silently and somewhat sheepishly. But the whole thing is kinda moot unless we can find a way to get Xander back, isn't it?
Then what are you doing wasting your time talking to me? Or, I should say, yourself, since I'm just a figment of your imagination.
"Jesus, Red," Faith muttered, using the nickname she'd bestowed on Willow as a sign of her agitation. "You should sit down and have a chat with Dawn."
Before Willow could ask what Faith had meant by that, the front door opened, and both Dawn and Buffy entered. Willow and Faith could tell that Buffy had been crying, and when she spoke, her voice still retained traces of tears. "I want to say... I'm sorry, guys, for putting you through everything that I have," she said softly but sincerely. "I haven't really been a good friend of late, have I?"
The raw emotion in her voice nearly overwhelmed Willow. "That's alright, Buffy," she said practically teleporting to Buffy's side and hugging her. "You've been under a lot of stress lately, haven't you?"
"That's no excuse, Willow," Buffy replied softly. "You, Xander and Dawn have done your best to help me, and I don't think I've ever thanked you for it. So, let me say, 'thank you, for all the help you've given me'."
"You're welcome, Buffy, although the times you've saved our lives - not to mention the world - could be considered a good enough 'thank you'."
"Saving lives is my job, Willow," Buffy protested.
"And I don't think we've ever thanked you enough for it, Buffy," Willow replied, while beside her sister, Dawn nodded and hugged Buffy as well.
Deciding not to argue any more, Buffy looked at Faith and added, "I owe you and Xander extra apologies, Faith; you for not trying to help you enough when you first arrived in Sunnydale, and Xander for not appreciating enough all he's done for me."
Faith waved off the apology. "No harm, no foul, Buffy," she said. "In fact, I think I should apologise for decking you earlier."
Buffy rubbed her jaw with a rueful grin. "It was a good shot," she said, before turning serious. "No apology need, Faith. I should have been more worried about Xander, and you drove that home to me in the most obvious way possible."
"'Salright, Buffy," Faith shrugged. "We good?"
"Five-by-five," Buffy replied, using an expression of Faith's. Both Slayers grinned at each other, the tension in the room abruptly broken.
Willow then took the opportunity to have a quiet word with Dawn. "Faith said I should have a chat with you. Any idea why?"
Dawn thought for a moment before replying, "I'm guessing you've noticed that she really likes Xander, as well."
Willow nodded. "The way she blew up at Buffy earlier was kind of a hint," she said with a small smile. "So what do we do about it?"
Dawn's smile was broad, and slightly malicious. "We meddle, of course."
"That's what I thought you'd say," Willow admitted. "But we're missing a crucial component for any relationship between Xander and Faith. To wit, Xander."
"Pfft," Dawn said airily. "A mere detail. You and Giles will get him back," she added confidently.
Willow was heartened by Dawn's confidence, but she wondered if it was deserved. After all, Xander could be anywhere; not to mention anywhen if what Giles had found out about the Discs of Kakulash was true. What are you doing now, Xander? Wherever or whenever you are? she thought with concern, especially given Xander's ability to unerringly find trouble no matter where he was, which was compounded by his tendency to throw himself at whatever he thought was a worthy cause.
Come back safely to us, Xander. I don't know what we'd do without you.