Chapter 11:
His arms were starting to shake from the exertion of having to both carry Dawn and now aim the crossbow as well. While earlier on the day he had used two crossbows at once they weren't made to do that, and after the day he had Xander couldn't stop his aching muscles from trembling. But with hundreds, if not thousands, of demons in front of him there was no way he would put either his friend or the weapon down.
"Human!" A large blue-skinned demon bellowed. "It is said that you speak the language of those who live on the island to the west. Is that true?"
They wanted to talk to him? As long as it kept them from attacking he was more then happy to oblige. "If you mean English then yeah, but I don't wear tweed."
That seemed to confuse the creature, but didn't stop it from talking. "You have entered our home without permission and killed several of us. We will not tolerate that and therefore you must die, painfully."
Well, at least the odds weren't too bad. Even as he allowed that sarcastic thought to enter his mind, he heard the doors behind him open telling him that the odds had taken an even worse turn. A quick look behind him however, showed him there were only few dozen extra demons, so the odds hadn't changed much. Now all he needed was a nuke and he wouldn't be the only one to die. "Can't we talk about that? We really didn't plan on killing anyone, but you guys attacked us."
"You want me to believe that you entered our home, armed with weapons capable of killing us but not intending to do us any harm?"
The demon didn't sound as if it believed him and Xander had to admit that it didn't sound very likely if you put it that way. "You wouldn't believe me if I said that was just to clean out any spiders?"
They didn't appear to understand the concept of humor however and a growling went up from the forces arrayed before him. "No." The smile on its face could probably be found in the dictionary when one looked up 'predatory' and Xander really didn't want to find out what the demon had planned for him.
"Oh, come on. Don't you think this is a little unfair? Why don't we fight one on one and if I win the rest will let me go." He forced a cheerful smile on his face, he didn't really believe he could survive a fight like that but it would by him time.
"I think not." Okay, so it didn't buy him a lot of time but some is better then nothing.
"Why not? That would be the honorable thing to do."
"And why would we care about honor? All we want at this moment is to kill you slow and painfully for waking us up."
Waking them up? Oh great, he had really messed up this time. "Waking you up? You attacked us, you must have been awake to do that."
Once again a scary grin appeared on the creature's face. "No, those were just the guards and scouts. We didn't wake up until you started detonating explosives, but enough of this nonsense, it is time to kill you."
The moment it was going to give the order Xander intervened by aiming his crossbow at the demon. "Do that and you'll be the first to go."
"You think that you can kill me by shooting a little crossbow bolt?" The tone of the question was as incredulous as the expression on its face.
Xander meanwhile had realized this was his only chance, especially since the cold seemed to make the trembling even worse. By now his body was almost continuously shaking and it started to come out even in his voice. "Where d-do you think the explosions came from? One shot from this a-and you'll be dead as a dodo."
These demons were smart and he therefore hoped that they didn't want to die anymore then he did. Threatening the head guy seemed to be his best bet when it came to surviving this day. Unfortunately the English speaking ugly creature seemed to have noticed his trembling, and queried the demons standing behind him in a guttural sounding language Xander had never heard before.
When the answer came the demon started laughing, and that send chills running down his back as he realized where he had heard that sound before. The demons before him were from that army in the paintings, the army that had destroyed all those cities. The demonic army that had torn apart that brave little Slayer and her Watcher-type person was now planning to do the same to him. Suddenly he doubted his plan was going to have even the slightest chance of success. "Very well, little human. We will wait before killing you, but if you try to get past us we will tear you apart."
He didn't believe his luck but didn't try to show it, Xander knew he didn't have long before he would be overcome by both exhaustion and cold, and before that happened he needed to be out of there. He carefully continued down the steps, all the while keeping his crossbow aimed more or less in the direction of the demon that hadn't stopped chuckling and seemed to be watching him for a show of weakness.
Once he had reached the bottom of the steps he moved to the side of the temple, and while walking half-backwards and half-sideways wasn't the most comfortable thing to do, it was the safest. After their comment about honor he doubted he would be able to trust them when it came to not attacking him from behind, and even if it wasn't the threat of his weapon that prevented this it sure made him feel better.
"Where do you think you are going? There is only one way out of this valley and that is behind us." The demon still hadn't lost his mocking smile and Xander could barely keep himself from pulling the trigger, but he knew that if he did and, more importantly in his current condition, if he actually managed to hit the creature, both he and Dawn would die.
Risking a glance behind him he saw he was nearly at his destination and dared to give a reply. "Well you know how it is, I just want to see a little more of the world before I die."
"In that case you won't see a lot more of it." Apparently the demon had realized he was planning something and decided that wasn't going to happen. With a roar that seemed to shake the valley the demonic horde started running for Xander.
Not bothering with pretending anymore, Xander turned around and ran the remaining distance to the open door, which apparently only he could see, and threw himself inside. He immediately felt warm, although the shakes hadn't stopped yet and Torala looked at him with what he could only describe as a worried frown. He wanted to ask her what was wrong, but he only managed the first word before the world started spinning and darkness overcame him.
. . . .
Waking up he didn't need to open his eyes to realize he was in some kind of medical room. Having spent an inappropriate amount of time in buildings focused on the healing arts he had developed something akin to a sixth sense when it came to them, and this room fit the bill. Well, not exactly, that pervasive hospital smell seemed to be missing and this caused him to think about where he might actually be. And why was he here? Fragments of what had happened in the temple came to him and a shiver once again ran along his back when he remembered exactly what he had faced there. But he had lived through it, he made it to the door and returned with Dawn but then, how had he ended up in here?
Realizing there was only one way to find out, he started looking around. In the dim light he could barely make out a figure sitting in a chair next to his bed, and focusing on the figure he could hear the slow and rhythmic breathing that indicated sleep. But why hadn't he heard that when his eyes had been closed? For that matter, who was it?
He tried his hardest to see who it was, but whether because of the lighting or some other strange reason he couldn't make out any features clearly. Thinking about it didn't make it a lot clearer either, unless he was no longer in Torala's house there were only two possibilities and he doubted either of them would sit next to his sickbed.
Xander couldn't think of a reason to worry about who it was however and he tried to see what else was in the room. There wasn't a lot he could see by only moving his head so he tried to sit up. Unfortunately this caused a wave of vertigo, and he let himself fall back on the bed before trying to make some sense of the world again. Preparing himself for a second attempt he suddenly felt sleepy again and, despite his efforts to try to fight off this sudden fatigue, it wasn't long before he succumbed to it.
. . . .
The next time he woke up, Xander could hear someone next to him, actually this time around he heard an abnormally loud heartbeat. He couldn't really remember ever hearing a heartbeat this clearly, not even when he was trying to do so and it seemed to him that there were at least a couple of feet between the owner of this particular heart and himself.
His mind felt clearer though and he could remember fainting after he had passed through the door, which must have led to his current situation. Maybe the exertion had been too much for him, and combined with those last minutes standing in the freezing cold had led to his passing out. That wasn't a perfect answer, but at least it was an explanation that would work for him until he found out the truth.
"Are you awake?" The sound of the concerned voice was rather unexpected and like the heartbeat very loud, but he didn't react to it. Last time he'd checked, Dawn had been ready to skin him alive if he even opened his mouth, and with the truce over he figured the young woman had returned to that behavior.
He could then feel her soft hands cover his own, and had a feeling that he would be able to make a map out of those hands without seeing them. Every tiny scar and line felt as if they were exaggerated for his personal benefit. Upon realizing he was still in the hospital-like room his nose had immediately tried to protect itself from the expected odors, but now he could clearly smell both the perfume that the young woman next to him was wearing and her own unique scent.
"Please Xander, wake up. You've been sleeping long enough now." It still sounded like a scream, but the desperation came clearly through as well and Xander decided to oblige her request.
Opening his eyes he expected the same dim lighting he had seen the previous time, but instead of that he got harsh light that hurt his working eye. He allowed a scream of sudden pain to exit his mouth and immediately shut his eyes again. That hurt! It was even worse then when he'd first arrived in this messed up house. He noticed Dawn move away, but could hear she hadn't left the room, and when she returned she spoke at a level that was far more normal then her previous words. "It's okay now, I've turned the light down you can open your eyes again."
He was afraid to do so since he had never expected his eye could hurt like that from too much light so he therefore needed to be certain he could trust her about this. Her current behavior wasn't anything like he had expected, but he suddenly realized it didn't matter anyway. There were many things Dawn would do in order to get back at him, but she would never do anything that could hurt his only remaining eye.
Slowly he opened it and let the light filter in and when the giant yellow spot had finally disappeared he turned his head to his friend and noticed she was crying. "Dawnie? What's wrong?"
"I'm just glad you're alright. I was so worried about you."
Looking at her he noticed every little detail about her face and he suddenly got an idea about what could be wrong with him. Slowly turning his head around he looked around the room, noticing every tiny little crack in the wall and every little chip where the wall wasn't completely smooth. "Dawn? Why am I making like the Sentinel?"
That got something that sounded suspiciously like a laugh out of her before she composed herself and answered his question. "According to Torala your senses will be rather strange for a couple of days. Sometimes they will be normal, other times almost non-existent or they will be like now, supercharged."
"Is that what she said?" It didn't really sound like anything the sorceress would say.
"Not literally no, but that is a fairly accurate summary of the boring lecture she gave me concerning your situation."
"She's really bad at the lecture thing isn't she?" He fought a grin at that, if his friend had been listening to those she wouldn't appreciate him making fun of it.
Apparently it hadn't worked because she slapped him and he cried out at the sudden pain. "Oh no, I'm sorry about that. I forgot that you feel everything better as well."
"It's okay, the pain is leaving already. But now tell me, why exactly am I in here? I know I was tired and cold but this Sentinel thing isn't something that can be caused by that is it?"
"No, it was something else." She looked rather unsure about how to go on so he decided to ask something else first.
"That can wait, tell me when you woke up I was kinda worried about you but it seems like you're doing fine now."
"Uh, I woke up about six days ago."
Six days, she had been awake for six days. That meant he had been asleep for that time, but why? "Dawn, I really want to know…" He petered off when he heard the door open and saw Torala enter the room. When he opened his mouth to ask her what was going on he suddenly felt tired again, and before he could do anything he once again fell asleep.
. . . .
The room started to become a regular place to wake up in and it was getting easier to remember where he was every time he woke up. Remembering the last time he opened his eyes Xander first checked whether his senses were in overdrive again. But besides the rhythmic pacing, of someone who by the sound of it was rather agitated, he couldn't hear or smell anything out of the ordinary. So he took the risk and opened his eyes to total blackness, this time he had no trouble letting out a scream of frustration and he immediately heard the other person walk towards him.
"Xander, are you okay?"
"I can't see anything, is this still the same thing you talked about earlier?"
"The senses? I don't know, can you hear it when I say this?" The last part was whispered but he didn't have any trouble understanding it.
"Yes, everything seems to work fine except that I can't see anything!"
Apparently Dawn had figured something out as she walked away from him and suddenly there was light. "Sorry, I didn't put the light back on after you woke up last time."
"I thought you had only turned down the light?"
"What? No that was yesterday, this morning it was even worse, remember?"
That didn't make any sense, had he woken up without knowing about it? That thought made him panic a little. "I can't remember that. How can I have been awake without remembering it?"
The answer didn't come from his friend but was instead calmly delivered in the strange accent belonging to Torala. "That is indeed the case."
Turning his head to the new arrival in the room he asked her how something like that could happen.
"The symptoms you have experienced have all been caused by the poison you were exposed to."
"Poison? What poison?"
"During your struggles inside the temple you seem to have been shot by a poisoned arrow, most of the poison was prevented from entering your body because of the suit you wore but some of it managed to get into your bloodstream anyway."
"They poisoned me? That must be why that ugly one was laughing at the end, but why would they use a strange poison like this?"
"Both the sensory distortions and the memory problems are merely secondary effects. The poison itself is usually deadly within minutes but, as I have already stated, most of it didn't enter your body." She paused a moment in her narration to let him absorb this. "You have probably felt some of its primary effects during your trek here, but it was diluted enough to allow you to live long enough to reach my home. When you entered I recognized the effects and was able to save your life, after Dawn woke up she started watching over you and informed me when there were any changes in your condition."
He threw a grateful look at Dawn. "Thanks."
"You would have done the same for me." Despite the words she seemed a little strange, he couldn't quite place the emotion that crossed her face but he decided to make sure he'd find out what it was later.
Turning back to the sorceress Xander asked her how long he needed to stay here.
"You appear to be mostly healed and therefore I see no reason why you would need to remain in this room."
"I had one of those memory things only a short time ago but you'll let me out of here anyway?" He asked incredulously.
"Naturally, I do not see any reason for you to remain here, unless you wish to." As he continued to stare at her in surprise, she elaborated. "I am not one of your doctors, in my opinion there is no need for anyone to remain lying down when they can walk again. That is only for those who use your so-called modern medicine, nor will I tell you to take two of these and call me again in the morning."
That got a chuckle out of both him and Dawn, even though it was unlikely the woman had meant it as a joke. When shortly thereafter Torala left the room Xander decided that it was time for him to get up as well. Moving his legs off the bed he suddenly noticed something he hadn't really paid attention to before. "Uh, Dawn?"
"Yes Xander?"
He noticed the glint in her eyes that seemed to indicate she knew what he was going to say but ignored it. "I don't seem to be wearing any clothes."
"I know."
The mischievous glint in her eyes hadn't disappeared and he was starting to get a little worried about it. "Could you get me some then?"
"They're in there." She answered, while pointing to a closet located behind her, not taking her eyes of him for even a moment while a wicked smile joined the glint in her eyes.
"Could you get them for me?"
"Why don't you get them yourself?"
"Dawn, please? I'm naked under here."
She really seemed to be enjoying this as he noticed she could hardly contain her laughter. "I know and there isn't anything I haven't seen yet."
"Dawn!" That last comment had shocked him, and it was only when Dawn burst out in laughter that he knew she had been teasing him.
"You should have seen your face," came haltingly between fits of laughter. She then finally walked to the closet and brought him his clothes before making to leave the room. "I'll be in the lounge, why don't you join me once you are decent?" With another burst of laughter she passed through the door, leaving Xander alone to get dressed.
"Well, at least she seems in a better mood." He commented a little sourly after she had left, but after a moment or two he had to laugh himself at the joke she had played on him.
. . . .
"Hey Xander, I see you're dressed now."
"Very funny Dawn." He answered her greeting. "Don't you know you shouldn't tease us poor little sick people?"
"Tease? Me? You must be mistaken." The young woman told him with an almost perfect innocent face.
"Yes, you. I'll get you for that you know."
"Really?" She asked while licking her lips that had curved into a hungry smile. "That could be fun, lover."
Once again one of her comments had managed to shock him into silence, but it didn't last very long, and he finally managed to reply. "When did you start channeling Faith?"
"Sorry Xan, but I just couldn't resist that opening," Dawn told him, looking entirely too pleased with herself.
"Right," he told her a little unsure about how to talk to this totally different Dawn. "And that's the only reason?"
"Well, no. I really enjoyed myself that night and wouldn't mind repeating it."
"Dawn!"
As she once again burst into laughter he wondered why she was suddenly so freely talking about that night when before she had been ready to kill him.
"Oh relax, it was a spell. Neither of us could do anything about it and I realize now that we both overreacted the next morning. Besides I should have tried to stop it when the spell wore off for me."
They both overreacted, well that was true. But if she was talking about it like this she might even accept his apology, which would be a good first step to restoring their friendship. "To be honest, from what I remember about that night I don't think you could have stopped me. But you're not the only one who's sorry, I really shouldn't have overreacted like I did, especially since I know how it feels and I really hope that one day you can forgive me."
"Don't worry about it, no harm no foul, right? I didn't exactly make it easy for you either with the way I acted."
It sounded a little too easy, but who was he to complain? "Thank you, so are we friends again?" He asked opening his arms.
"Friends." The young woman answered letting him enclose her in a hug. "Or maybe more?" She asked before gently biting his earlobe.
"Dawn!"
"Oops, maybe I shouldn't have done that." Her words were belied by her unrepentant grin however, and Xander wondered where all this had suddenly come from.
Moving out of his embrace she managed to force her face into something that looked like she was really doing her best to remain serious. "I know you're not really comfortable with how I'm acting now, but I can't really help it."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, you remember that spell don't you?"
"Dawn, we've been talking about it for the last what? Ten minutes? Of course I remember it."
"Oh yeah, sorry but I wanted you to think about it for a moment." This was once again punctuated by a shameless look that did indeed manage to make him feel something he really shouldn't. "Anyway, this is sort of an aftereffect, but don't worry it will only last for a couple of weeks. A month at the most."
A month of this kind of behavior? He was doomed. There was only one thing he knew for certain about the next month. Someone named Summers was going to be the death of him, either Dawn's action would kill him, or Buffy would do it once she noticed how much those actions affected him. Turning a horrified face back at her he managed to croak. "A month?"
The smile she beamed at him was almost as disconcerting as the perfume he could smell on her as she hugged him. A shiver ran down his back as she forced his head down and whispered in his ear. "Great isn't it? We'll have so much fun."
This wasn't fair, she was his friend, the little sister of another of his friends and she really shouldn't act like this. He finally managed to extricate himself from her arms, which seemed to have a life of their own in an attempt to touch every part of his body, and put some distance between them. Once that had been achieved he finally had time to think this information over, something that still wasn't easy when being watched by someone that did a fair impression of a hunting tigress. "Wait a minute, if this is an aftereffect of the spell why am I not acting like that?"
"Spoilsport." His friend seemed a little put out that he wanted to talk, instead of spending time the way she wanted to, but sat down in one of the comfortable chairs. "I said it was sort of an aftereffect of the spell, but the spell isn't the whole reason. Let me think for a moment how I can best explain this."
As she was thinking it over Xander moved to sit down himself. When she remained silent after several minutes however he began to worry a little and moved towards her to see if she was alright. Bending through his knees so he could look her in the face he noticed she was thinking about something and while it didn't appear as if anything was wrong he grabbed her hand anyway. "Are you okay?"
"What?" The moment he had touched her Dawn had snapped out of whatever she was thinking about and now she turned a heated gaze at him. "Changed your mind after all?"
"No Dawn, I was just a little worried when you spaced out like that."
"Oh, I'm okay. Why don't you sit down next to me? When you are touching me I can think more clearly."
"Somehow I doubt that."
"No it's true, that way I don't have to imagine what skin contact would feel like."
That did it, he ripped his hand away from Dawn and with frustration coloring his voice asked her. "Why can't you be serious about this? This isn't something to make jokes about and there're other things we need to talk about as well."
"This isn't a joke! I'm serious here, and doing my best but it's so hard when all I want to do is..." Cutting herself of she turned her head away but not before he had seen the tears that had started falling down her pretty face.
Knowing he was at least partly the reason for those tears he gently told her. "I'm sorry, I don't know how hard this is for you, but I'd hoped you could control yourself a little better."
A muffled sentence was all the reply he got on that and when he asked her to repeat herself he understood why she had so little control now. "This didn't start today you know. I've been feeling like this ever since I woke up a week ago but, with you unconscious there wasn't any way for me to relieve myself."
"Oh Dawnie, I'm so sorry I didn't realize." He wasn't exactly happy about her choice of words, but figured she had suffered enough. And there was only one thing he could do to make it better for her, no matter how hard it was to do that. "Why don't we move to the couch so you can sit next to me if that's what you need?"
"Thank you." The words were hardly audible, but it wasn't long before he was sitting at one end of the couch while Dawn used the rest with her head resting on his lap.
"So, can you tell me the whole story now?"
"Hmm, sure I can. This feels nice doesn't it?" That last part sounded rather drowsy and when he looked down at her he noticed she had closed her eyes.
"Dawn? Are you asleep?" When no answer was forthcoming he was certain that was the case and he chuckled a little. It was rather ironic, now that she had finally achieved what she wanted Dawn had fallen asleep.
. . . .
"She has finally fallen asleep?"
The soft-spoken comment snapped Xander out of his own thoughts and made him once again aware of his surroundings. It was only now that he noticed Torala had taken a seat on the other side of the table, on which now stood food and drinks. He wondered how long she had been there, and for that matter how long it had been since Dawn had fallen asleep. "Yes."
"Her self-control was impressive, most people would not have been able to resist the temptation to take what they craved for."
"Was it really that hard for her?"
"It is one of the hardest things imaginable but the difficulty is hard to describe to one who has not faced it. This is also part of the reason for her exhaustion, that kind of self-control will easily tire someone out, but she remained awake and at your side for as long as she could."
"She stayed with me the whole time? Even when it was that hard for her?"
"Yes, partly because of the spell, partly out of gratitude for your actions at the temple, and partly because of her love for you."
"Love?" He really liked Dawn but he wasn't certain how he could deal with it if she was in love with him. His own feelings for her weren't entirely clear after that night, and he first wanted to rebuild their close friendship.
"There is no need to worry, if you disregard the effects of the spell her love for you is one of friendship. Whether this remains so in the future is something that only the two of you can determine."
As he let out a sigh of relief he noticed for the first time how parched his throat actually was. Without really thinking about it he made to reach for a drink when he remembered Dawn's head was still lying in his lap.
"Allow me." The sorceress stood up and placed a glass of juice and some sandwiches within reach of him.
Thanking her he drank and ate a little until the sorceress once more spoke up. "She feels safe with you."
"What?"
"Dawn, she knows you would do anything to keep her safe, and so she allowed herself to fall asleep knowing you will watch over her."
Looking down at the vision of beauty resting in his lap he smiled while moving some stray hairs out of her face. "She is right about that, there isn't anything I wouldn't do for my friends."
"I am aware of that, and now that you have overcome your own personal demons I take it you will once more oppose those who wish to harm mankind?"
"How do you know?" Xander shook his head, wondering why her knowledge surprised him. "Yes, I now know that I have let them down. They may not always have wanted me to help, but I didn't stop then and I never should have stopped at all."
"Your brief respite has done you a lot of good. Do not belief that it was in any way wrong for you to take a break, in fact I think it would be beneficial for your friends to take one as well. You managed to come to terms with most things that have happened in Sunnydale, something most of your friends have not been able to do."
"You want me to convince them they should take a break? Somehow I doubt I'll be able to do so."
"You and your friends have lived in a war zone for eight years. Combat stress it not something to be taken lightly, and it would be in their best interest to relieve it while they still can."
He had a feeling that the way she said that indicated something was going to happen that he wouldn't like. "What's going on? Is something going to happen?"
"There is no need for you to worry about what may or may not happen in the future. I believe it was Yoda who said the future was always in motion, and I agree with that sentiment. Too often in the course of history things appeared to do one thing, but ended up doing something else. I believe there is something else you wish to know however, why don't you ask about that?"
Realizing he would not get any information from her about this he filed it away to discuss it with the rest of the gang after he had returned. Xander remained silent while thinking of all the questions he wanted to ask the woman seated in front of him, but he knew that most of those would never be answered. Finally he decided on the question he had already asked Dawn and which he believed she had alluded to. "Why am I not affected by the spell like Dawn is?"
"Because you are not the one who is wearing the dagger."
The dagger, he had completely forgotten about the knife and now he was reminded of it he couldn't believe he hadn't asked Dawn about it, after all getting rid of the knife had been the reason they went to the temple. Xander had not seen the dagger since Dawn had entered the artifact and due to his need to escape hadn't really thought about it when she had gotten out of it but that was no valid excuse.
"You mean she still has it?"
"Naturally, she is now fully bonded to the dagger and to her it will feel like part of her body."
"But it still affects her?"
"No." The sorceress seemed close to losing her patience with his lack of understanding, but continued nonetheless. "Her current behavior is in no way connected to her behavioral changes from before."
"Okay, I think. So it isn't a problem any longer, is it?"
"The negative influences of the dagger on her mind have been completely removed."
"That's good, but it doesn't really explain her current behavior."
"As I have already stated, that is slightly different. As Dawn keeps reminding you of the time that I made certain you were protected from the dagger, you will no doubt remember that the influence did not last as long on her as it did on you.
"This was due to the fact that the effect was aimed at the dagger and not at her, however when she bonded with it and it literally became a part of her the effect transferred to her."
"So what you're saying is that you made the knife want me and when it became a part of Dawn the effect went to her?"
"Not entirely correct, but the explanation will suffice." The sorceress answered his summary.
"Do you have any idea how sick that sounds?" Xander could hardly believe it, he was made a sex-object for a knife and because of that one of his friends was all over him. If it hadn't been for the fact that the aforementioned friend was lying on his lap he might have started throwing things, or something else to alleviate his anger. It was this kind of thing that made him wonder why life hated him so much.
"It is not as 'sick' as you think it is, but I can understand why you would think it so. There are things that I need to do, but before I take my leave of you I wish to ask you one question."
"What?" He really wasn't in the mood for this but if it got rid of her he would answer the question.
"When you were informed about the poison you made a comment about one of the demons laughing about it. Did you converse with them?"
"Converse? You know, just a tip, but you might want to update your English a bit 'cause I don't think anyone talks like that anymore." After pausing to think about it for a moment he corrected that comment. "Well, except maybe for Giles but he doesn't count when it comes to talking English."
"My use of language is not important at the moment. Would you mind answering the question?"
"Sure, if that's what it takes to make you stop bothering me." And he then explained about the army that he had encountered upon exiting the temple. At the time it happened he had been almost certain he would die, now talking about it made him relive those same feelings. In order to distract himself he subconsciously began to lightly caress Dawn's head, an action that did indeed manage to serve its purpose.
. . . .
It was long after the sorceress had left that Xander heard the strange sound, it almost sounded like purring but so far he had not seen any cats in the house. Looking around he tried to find the source but was initially unsuccessful in doing so. Trying to place the sound however he discovered where it came from and it was only then that he found he had been caressing the young woman on his lap.
"Hey, you awake now?"
"Hmm, yes." Dawn answered his question with a lazy grin on her face. "Why did you stop? It felt nice."
"There are some things we need to talk about and I'd rather you didn't fall asleep again."
"Trust me, sleep isn't my intention right now, although a bed sounds good."
"Please try to control your urges until after the discussion."
The fact that he didn't want her to stop completely seemed to catch her off guard. "Why aren't you telling me that I shouldn't come on to you?"
"I spoke with Torala and she explained what's going on with you."
This seemed to satisfy her as she closed her eyes and nuzzled a little more into his light embrace. "Good."
"Dawn! We really need to talk about some things."
She pouted a little as she sat up straight but he hardly noticed it as he was transfixed by how innocent she looked with her hair all tousled from sleeping. This particular look wasn't something he saw for the first time, but he had not seen it for several years, and with her now mature body the effect it had on him wasn't exactly the same..
Dawn seemed to notice this as well if the predatory grin that appeared on her face was any indication and she tried one more time. "Are you sure you wouldn't rather do something else?"
The urge to say yes was growing larger but, like he had earlier told the sorceress, his friendship with Dawn was far too important to mess up. "No, we need to make a decision about what we are going to do about Valen."
Removing the tantalizingly soft finger she had started running over his face Dawn uttered a sigh of disgust. "Now that is one way to kill a wonderful mood. What about the annoying one?"
"You know why we are here and personally I'm fed up with his so-called important mission. You have spent more time with Torala, what is your opinion?"
"Should we talk about that here?" Dawn answered, the inflection in her tone telling him what she thought of that idea.
"I doubt it matters where we talk about it, she's sure to find out about it anyway."
"Okay, you're probably right about that. Let me think. I haven't spent that much time with her, but I do know that if she were the kind of threat he believes her to be, there wouldn't be anything we could do about it."
"That's kind of what I figured, but do you think she is a threat?"
"Yes, she is the biggest threat there has ever been and that includes the First."
"You're serious?"
"Yeah." Xander watched as she closed her eyes before once again resting her head on his shoulder before she continued. "There isn't anything that she wouldn't do to save humanity."
"Okay, you've kinda lost me there. How is that a threat?"
"Maybe I'm wrong but I really believe that if for example humanity could only be saved by killing every U.S. citizen, she wouldn't hesitate in doing it."
"You really think she'd do something like that?" He couldn't really believe anybody would be capable of such an action, no matter what the greater good might be. There was always another solution to a problem, and killing innocents was at the top of his list of things that should not be done.
The way she nodded directed the scent of wild flowers to him and for a moment he imagined how she must have looked while washing her hair. Luckily, that disturbing image disappeared as soon as he focused on her words. "Yes, like I said there isn't anything she wouldn't do to save humanity. Of course, there's nothing we could do to stop her, I don't think even Willow could stand a chance against her. I don't know how they compare in power, but Torala is so much more experienced that she'd probably be able to predict what Willow tried to do before she'd started."
"What do you think we should do then? I can't leave anyone alone that might endanger my friends." While he hadn't expected the extent to which Dawn believed the sorceress would go, she hadn't really told him anything he hadn't already figured out for himself. But he did want to know what she believed they should do.
"There is nothing we can do against her, she's far too powerful. The only thing we could possibly do is try to stop her actions once they happen."
"That's what I thought, but I really hate waiting for things to happen." Running his hands through his hair in frustration he tried to think of better ways to handle this situation. But he had already spent hours doing so and hadn't come up with anything. "At least I don't think she'll do anything anytime soon, so we should have time to prepare, if we only knew against what."
Another nod from the head resting on his shoulder indicated the young woman agreed with that sentiment. "So, we go home then?"
"Unless you want to stay?"
"No, this place doesn't really hold a lot of good memories for me. I haven't apologized yet have I?"
"Yes you have, I think. What for exactly?"
"For making it difficult with the whole dagger thing, I should have believed it when you told me."
"That's alright, you were under the influence of the knife."
"Dagger."
The harshness with which that was spoken caught his attention. "What?"
"It's not a knife but a dagger."
"Okay, I didn't know you were so touchy about that."
"I wasn't, until you know..."
"Oh." There wasn't much he could say to that.
"By the way, don't you need to stay here because of the poisoning?"
"No, when I spoke to Torala earlier she told me that I'd probably do the Sentinel thing a couple of more times and maybe the reverse as well but that should only happen after I've just woken up. That shouldn't interfere with my ability to work and since I'm already late for it I want to get back on the job as soon as I can."
"Okay then. So, when do we leave?"
"As soon as possible, I've got to get back to work." Thinking about work he realized that with the tunnel of time and being unconscious for a week, or more, he probably should have started again weeks ago. "If I still have a job, that is."
"Any idea on when that will be?"
"Not really, today?" After she agreed to that they sat in silence for a while until Xander decided to ask another question that had been on his mind for a while now. "Dawn, during that night."
"Yes?" Her tone of voice had once again changed to sultry, but he had a feeling that wouldn't last long.
"I couldn't help but notice the scars on your body."
The silence that followed this statement was telling and he wondered what she was going to say. When she did speak however, it wasn't anything he had expected. "Do you think she'll let us take some of those weapons along? Or maybe those suits, I like the way you look in them."
"Why don't you just answer my question?"
"From how you said those Rambo bolts worked, they must be great against tough demons."
Okay, even he knew when to take a hint. "Fine, but we will talk about it one day."
"Talk about what?" The innocent look might have been enough to fool him, if he hadn't been there for the rest of the conversation.
There was another pressing matter about that night though. One that was important for his continued wellbeing. "Dawn, I've got another question about that night."
"What about it?"
"Could you perhaps not mention it to Buffy?"
"That depends." Oh no, he just knew he was going to regret that question.
"Depends on what?"
The beautiful young woman straddled his hips, and before she bent her face to his ear Xander could see the wicked smile that had appeared on it, which confirmed his earlier prediction. When her hot breath caressed his ears, he couldn't contain the shiver of delight that affected his entire body. When he heard the words her breath carried to him however, his mouth fell open as he couldn't believe her audacity. Only when she lightly bit his ear, again, did he snap out of that shock, but he was still only able to utter one word. "DAWN!"
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Post-fic comments: Okay, a nice and easy chapter. Except for the beginning of course. I hope you enjoyed it, don't forget to tell me what I did wrong, or right. Now the only thing left is the epilogue, which will answer some of the questions that haven't yet been answered.