Solstice by SLynn

Notes: As always, thank you for the reviews. Wayne(eckles)/Aurora – any more compliments and my ego might explode!

Chapter 5: Diving In

"You didn't try to cook again did you?"

Xander laughed at Dawn's unusual form of greeting. He was use to it. None of the Summers' women seemed to be morning people.

"No," he answered, "I've learned my lesson. Your mom almost went through the roof last time. I just made coffee today."

"Great," she said grabbing a mug, "I need it."

"Aren't you kind of..."

"Don't finish that sentence," she snapped. "I'm just old enough for coffee thank you very much. Besides, I'm taller the Buffy already, who cares if it stunts my growth now."

"Good point."

"You two got in late last night," she said with a smirk.

"And how do you know that if it was so late."

"I have my ways."

"Again with the eavesdropping?" he asked, half serious.

"I prefer to call it listening by stealth," she answered.

Both of them enjoyed a quick laugh.

"So," she began again, more seriously, "I heard Angel's back in town."

"You heard right," Xander said more into his mug then to her.

"I thought he was saving L.A. now."

Xander laughed at the tone of her voice. Dawn, he knew, was the only one who shared his opinion of Angel, and it was kind of a relief. He knew it wasn't for the same reasons, no little sister likes her big sisters first boyfriend, but it was a comfort.

"Yeah well, I think he's on loan or something."

Dawn laughed back. Xander and she had an easy relationship. They liked the same movies, laughed at the same jokes, and had many of the same opinions about the same people. And despite an early private fantasy of hers that one day Xander and herself would ride off into the sunset all happily ever after like, she was glad that he and Buffy were together. They made sense.

"Seriously though," she asked quieter, "Why is he here? Is something going on?"

"Nothing we can't take care of."

"That's such a Giles answer. You need to move out of there."

"And where would I go?"

"Here," Dawn said as if he was stupid, "Mom wouldn't mind. I'm not saying she'd let you and Buffy shack up or anything..."

"Dawn!"

Xander was surprised to hear that both he and Buffy had spoken at once.

"What?" Dawn said in mock surprise, "I do know about these things. I am old enough for coffee."

"Just not old enough to know when to keep your mouth shut," Buffy continued on as she made her way into the room and poured her own cup as well.

Dawn rolled her eyes.

"Good morning," Buffy said to Xander with a smile and a quick kiss on the top of his head.

"Morning," he said matching her smile.

"That's enough for me," Dawn said standing, "I don't think I could take this on an empty stomach."

"I'll make eggs," Joyce said walking in.

"Just let me know when they're done," Dawn grumbled as she walked out.

"It'll only take a few minutes to cook," Joyce continued.

"I didn't mean the eggs," was Dawn's response heard from up the stairs.

Xander made it to the shop by noon.

"Find anything new?" he asked upon finding immersed in books.

"Yes and no. I'm finding a lot of information about the cup but very little about the blade."

Xander nodded and sat down across from him.

"The cup has a very powerful magic. Constance had told us it was a channeling device, I'm not sure if I should believe it or not."

"No, she hadn't lied."

Giles looked up, curious.

"Do you... can you tell us anything?"

"Nothing important, just that. I know she valued it, but I don't know how it was used. Sorry."

"No matter. It won't be put to the same use."

"I wanted to..."

Giles looked up at him. Xander had his full attention and found it unnerving.

"I wanted to ask you about that. You don't think that..."

"...that's what it's being used for?"

Xander just nodded.

"No," Giles said seriously, shaking his head for emphasis, "No. I don't. Angel's information seems too reliable. It's normal for you to assume, especially given the items involved..."

"It's not just that," Xander cut in, "I'd been thinking about it before then. Before I knew. I've had dreams about it."

"What kind of dreams?"

"Like before. Not nightmares like I've been having. These are worse."

"For how long?" Giles asked, trying to hide his concern.

"The last few nights."

The both remained quiet for a moment.

"I know it's probably nothing. I'm probably just paranoid or something."

"No Xander, I would say given all that's happened you could never call yourself paranoid again. The dreams are just a manifestation of your fears. It's normal to feel that way."

"It doesn't feel normal."

Giles nodded in agreement.

"No, I can't imagine it does."

Once more that evening they gathered at the Magic Box. As agreed tonight they would concentrate on the only area they had found vampire activity the previous night. They were as prepared as possible and lost no time heading out.

For the first few hours they had no luck. It was as if after weeks of non-stop activity on the demon front, they'd all decided to suddenly go on vacation.

Earlier they had spotted someone or something in the water works, but hadn't seen them since. Having now snuck six people inside the compound, they spread out to cover more ground. This time the divisions happened more naturally as Buffy and Xander headed off one way, Tara and Willow another, leaving Giles and Angel on their own.

"Did you talk to Giles about the dreams?" she asked, once they were safely out of earshot of the others.

"Yeah," Xander said, "He said pretty much what you did. I still don't feel right about it."

"I wish there was something more I could do."

"You've done plenty," Xander said wrapping an arm around her.

"Isn't this sweet," a voice said from behind.

Buffy wheeled around suddenly with Xander following suit.

"I guess you're Eamon," she said looking him over.

"Good guess," he said dryly, "Angel fill you in on all the details?"

"The important ones."

He nodded at her, but made no move to come closer. Angel had been right, he was cautious.

The distance between them was a good twenty feet. Buffy quickly sized up her opponent, careful not to take anything for granted. It was dark where they were, but she recognized a game face when she saw one.

"Who's your friend slayer?"

"You just worry about me, alright."

"What about you're other friends? Can I worry about them?"

Buffy tried not to pay attention, but she felt rather then saw Xander tense up beside her.

"I think you'll have plenty to do handling me."

"Oh," he said with a laugh, "You think so? You didn't say how witty she was Narissa."

Buffy was confused, but only for a moment. Xander had turned seconds before, his back nearly to hers. Now she understood. They were surrounded. Narissa, whatever she was, had been closing in behind them. She was much closer then Eamon, only about ten feet off.

"Quiet, isn't she?" Eamon asked, Buffy noting he'd also moved in closer. She knew this was about to get rough. She felt Xander put a stake into her hand with his, still back to back, and knew he was getting the only other weapon he had on him ready, a dagger from his jacket.

"Very quiet," he finished with a chuckle. A joke only he seemed to get.

"Let's just get this over with, okay?" Buffy said in her trademark style.

"As you wish," Eamon smiled and said before diving at her.

A/N Yeah, cliffhangers suck. I'm sorry, it had to be done. I'll update soon. Thanks for reading!