Part 55: Windows Future and Past
Buffy stumbled backwards, more from exhaustion than any landed blow, and nearly tripped over a water spigot.
How many hours have they been fighting? Truthfully, it felt less like hours and more like days.
A dirt creature charged her and she managed to reach out and use its own momentum against it, sending it spinning away to the periphery of the brawl.
They were losing. The dirt monsters were managing to edge ever closer to the crypt despite everyone's best efforts.
Once upon a time, Buffy knew she would've blamed the loss of ground on the fact that the Slayers knew they were no longer fighting for their lives and would've been mentally, if not verbally, accusing them of holding back because of it.
But the muscle ache, painful bruises, and the desperate need to stop just for one second was a truth she couldn't escape. They were losing ground simply because everyone was stretched to the physical breaking point. Slayers were starting to be kidnapped and thrown over the fence. To give the other girls a lot of credit, they would invariably return, limping back into the fray to continue fighting.
Even Andrea was back in the thick of things, although Buffy suspected it was more of a case of peer pressure than anything else.
Plus, and this was the hard part to admit, she highly doubted the other girls were fighting just because of her sterling example. More likely they kept battling because, like her, they were afraid of what would happen if their friends walked into the middle of this mess with grail in hand.
She wearily ducked as a dirt monster took a wild swing at her head, nearly tripping as she did so. Her hand caught on the handle of the spigot, causing the water to explosively gush out of the tap.
Dirt monster rumbled away and focused on another nearby Slayer.
Buffy would've given chase, but her mouth was bone dry and she needed drink. She reached over to splash some of the flowing water to her face when she noticed it.
Mud!
Thirst forgotten, her hand splashed into the rapidly expanding puddle. She grabbed a handful of mud and held it up to her disbelieving eyes before closing her hand into a fist.
Mud! Mud! Mud! Mud! I am sooooo mentally challenged!
She glanced around and noticed that all feints in her general direction had ceased.
"YES!" she shouted. It was a beautiful moment, as if the heavens had opened up, put her in the spotlight, and choirs of angels were singing the Halleluiah chorus.
For the sheer hell of it, she ducked under the gushing water, laughing like she really had lost all her marbles. Hair sopping, she charged into a knot of three dirt creatures, and gave her head a good, hard shake.
Watching them practically trip all over themselves to get away from the droplets looked a hell of a lot like victory.
Ohhhhh, but it's not enough. It's not nearly enough, Buffy thought as she scanned the battle. Hope must've been helping her eyesight, because she spotted Kennedy fighting back-to-back with Tammi. Perfect!
Buffy whipped off her wet coat, waving it over her head with a very Xena-like battle cry, and charged at Kennedy and Tammi. The two Slayers looked up at the sound and the expression on both Kennedy's and Tammi's faces were clear: Buffy's gone bonkers.
Buffy skidded to a stop, breathlessly laughing as the dirt monsters backed away from her super-secret, extra-special weapon in the form of a wet head and a wet coat. "Water!" she shouted at the other two Slayers.
"Hunh?" Kennedy asked.
"Water! They're afraid of water!" Buffy shouted, barely able to contain her glee. She cracked it and cracked it but good. These dirt things were going down.
"Ken, she's right," Tammi said with wonder as she scanned the immediate area. "Look!"
"Well I'll be damned," Kennedy agreed as she noticed that the dirt creatures had backed off, giving the three gathered Slayers breathing room.
"You scouted earlier, right?" Buffy asked. Without waiting for an answer, she ploughed ahead, words tumbling quickly from her mouth. "Did you spot someplace where they'd keep tools and stuff? Like hoses?"
"There's a groundskeepers shed." Kennedy's mouth was beginning to stretch into a grin. "I betchya there's hoses there. Maybe some power sprayers to boot."
"Go get 'em," Buffy ordered. "Feel free to engage in destruction of property."
"What about you?" Tammi asked.
"I don't know where it is, so I'll let you get what we need. Grab anything you think will help. Hoses. Buckets. Anything that can throw water at these things," Buffy said as she watched the dirt creatures begin edging back into fighting range. "Me? I'm going to spread the word. Let's herd these yo-yos around the spigots so we'll have 'em in position when you come back."
"Cavalry go!" Tammi whooped as she charged away from the fight at a dead run.
"Kids today," Kennedy grumbled good-naturedly as she followed in Tammi's wake.
Buffy bounced on the balls of her feet; grin splitting her face as she watched them go. Just as one dirt monster got within reach, Buffy turned that evil smile on her opponent.
"Oooooh, you are sooooo toasted," she cheerfully announced.
Then she thwapped it over its thick, rock-like head with her wet coat.
"Ooooh, such a pretty ass."
"Eeeep!" Faith squeaked as Willow reached down and took two handfuls.
She got a moan and an ass massage in response.
"Look, not so much do I mind you copping a feel, but can you do this shit when we're in private?" Faith asked as she stumbled out of the narrow passage into cavern beyond.
"Aaaaah, yesssss," Willow hissed as wandering fingers went for a back entry.
"That is it." Faith said as she got into the cavern where she left Xander, Robin, and the others. She plopped Willow on the ground with a glare. "Ain't like I've had my share of fun time with the ladies back in the day, but these days I prefer the ladies to have dicks if you get my drift."
Willow gave a good writhe and moan in response.
"Great, you're fucking getting laid while I'm trying to save your sorry ass."
"Willow!"
Faith turned around and saw Xander jogging over to her followed by a phalanx of Slayers, their shadowy faces recognizable in the light of their headlamps. She was surprised to see Robin wasn't with them and she scrunched her eyes an effort to notch up the superior Slayer eyesight. All she could see beyond the group coming at her was a mound that probably was Robin on the ground and leaning against the cavern wall. Whatever they were fighting was nowhere to be seen, although she could hear a distant growling and hissing echo that seemed to get closer and retreat.
A million questions she had, but right now she had a situation, so she squelched the urge to charge over to the probably-Robin mound to see if he was okay. "Yo! Keep the kids away from this shit. We got ourselves a huge problem," Faith shouted.
Xander halted and glanced behind him. "You heard her. Vi, go stay with Robin. Rest of you, stay on alert," he ordered. "The snake may be trapped for now, but there might be other surprises and I'm not in the mood to get blindsided. You hear anything, you yell, okay?"
While the girls didn't quite salute, they definitely did has he ordered without question. Vi went and stood by Robin while the other three approached the entrances with swords at the ready.
Xander jogged the rest of the way over, his crossbow hanging from his right shoulder but not loaded. He didn't bother to look behind him to see if they did as he said.
"Dayum, way to go masterful there," Faith couldn't resist teasing. "Where's our trap?"
"No worries. Snake breath got itself stuck, so it's under control at the moment." Xander skidded to a stop and kneeled down next to the writhing Willow, placing his crossbow on the ground. "What happened? Is she hurt?" He recoiled and looked at Faith. "Her eyes…what…Faith?"
"Unh, it'sa little complicated," Faith began. "See…"
Willow looked up. "Oooooo, you brought me a pretty boy." She looked over at her invisible partner. "You naughty, naughty girl."
"Willow?" Xander looked down and tenderly touched the witch's face with shaking fingers. "What's going on?"
"That's what I'm trying to tell…" Faith began.
Willow reached out and grabbed a handful of male crotch, resulting in the most surprised expression on Xander's face that Faith had ever seen. Now that is fucking impressive. I thought I'd seen shocked when I screwed his brains out but…
"Ahhhh, Willow?" Xander choked as Willow began to rub.
"It looks sooooo, delicious. I just want to eat that pretty cock right up," Willow groaned.
"And yeeoooooow!" Xander moved so fast that he was cowering behind Faith before the Slayer even registered that he moved. She was pretty sure that if scientists somewhere on planet earth were conducting experiments measuring the ambient irony in the atmosphere, this one moment probably shattered all the instruments in an impressive explosive display.
"What the hell is she doing?" Xander demanded as he peered at Willow over Faith's shoulder.
The sucking sounds coming from the prone witch's general direction weren't so much disgusting as they were hilarious. Or at least Faith thoughtthey would've been hilarious if the setting weren't in the middle of one fucked-up situation.
"At a guess," Faith said, "I'd say she's having a threesome. You go girlfriend!"
"Goddamn it, I'm being serious!"
"So am I."
"Faith!"
"Look, there's been a bit of a screw up…"
"Ya think?"
"Calm your shit down!" Faith turned around to face Xander, who was obviously exerting a hell of a lot of willpower to remain fixed on her face instead of looking over to watch his friend. "Willow touched the Grail and her brain went kablooey. Her eyes went dark and she just started saying shit."
"You mean she's having nonstop sex-a-thons since…"
"No, no," Faith waved her hands. "It's like she's skipping around having these conversations with people I don't know. Xander, Charlie thinks she's seeing the future."
From her location on the ground, Willow growled and whimpered and moaned and babbled words that Faith was shocked Willow even knew existed.
Xander took a step back and his face went white. "If that's true, that's a problem."
"No shit," Faith said. "Dawn and Andrew are still tied up with a translation on the cavern's walls and Catherine's people are trying to figure out what went wrong with the Grail in case Willow triggered something. So that left me to pull a 911 and get her the hell out of there in case proximity was the problem."
"Good thinking," Xander agreed. "Can they do something? For her?"
"They'll be able to heal her, but we've gotta get her someplace quiet so J'Nal and Charlie can do some sort of double-team healing."
"Right, right," Xander nodded. "I'm sure it'll be all…"
Willow let out a squeal and next thing Faith knew Xander had a clinging redhead hanging from his neck.
"Oh, no. Not again," he moaned. "I can't take…"
"Xander! You're alive!" She let go and stared up into his face, eyes spilling over with tears. "When we lost track of you in Nunavut, we thought they got you." She reached up and tenderly touched his face. "You grew a beard!"
"None of it?" Xander asked Faith.
Willow swatted him playfully. "Fine. Couldn't shave. On the run for your life. Excuses, excuses. What? You can't call me and ask to send a razor?"
"I can't see me in a beard," Xander remarked.
Willow reached out to Faith and captured the Slayer in a hug. Faith froze and looked at Xander over the witch's head.
"Faith, thank god you're alive, too. I didn't mean to leave you out," Willow said. She lowered her voice, "Thank you for taking care of him. No. No. Catherine and Jason are fine. As far as Catherine knows mommy and daddy were on a secret mission and would be home and Jason's too young to know anything, so they don't know that we thought you guys were…" the sentence ended with a sob.
"Mommy and daddy," Xander deadpanned.
"Aw, shit," Faith agreed. "That answers that question."
"You're being calm," Xander remarked.
"Says the guy who isn't doing an impressive display of a screaming mee-mee, so let's can the comments and find a way to duct tape her mouth."
Willow leaned back with a laugh. "You're kidding! You're pregnant again? Xander, what is it with you and the danger sex?" Willow whirled away and shouted, "Someone get Catherine!"
Released from Willow's embrace, Xander and Faith backed up until they felt rock behind them. They leaned against the cavern wall side-by-side as Willow began having the kind of conversation with someone named Cat that you'd have if the other person were a five-year-old. If Faith had her beloved Camels, and if Xander actually smoked, one of them would've lit up and passed the butt to their neighbor in that defeated way that only overtired soldiers have.
"You know," Faith finally said as she drew very hard on the imaginary cigarette in her head, "it's not so much the pregnant that bugs the shit out of me. It's the again."
"Scary. You're starting to read my mind."
"Cyclops? Two words: Vas. Ectomy."
"Slaygirl? Four words: You. And. What. Army."
Willow had changed tact and was now dancing some sort of waltz with an invisible partner, laughing in a coy, giggly way that announced she was flirting.
"We've got to get her out of here, not that she knows she's here," Xander said. "If we run into more trouble…"
"She'll be in more trouble than we can deal with, gotchya," Faith agreed. "And we have to keep her the fuck away from everyone else until Charlie and J'Nal can fix her. The shit she's saying and those fucking eyes…"
"Yeah, scare the piss out of me, too," Xander agreed.
In the dim light of his headlamp, Faith could see that Xander was pale and his features drawn with worry, although given everything since she'd helped him down those stairs she wasn't entirely sure if he was worried about something happening to Willow or Willow happening something.
Willow froze and next to her she sensed Xander tense. The witch slowly turned, her face frozen into a furious snarl.
"No," Xander whispered. "No, I can feel it…" And with that mysterious statement he was off and running, not in the opposite direction like any sensible human being, but straight at the redhead.
He made it halfway to her when Willow's hand flew out and pinned him against the cavern wall. His headlamp flew off his head, landing on the ground, light still shining.
"Tell me." Willow's voice was furious, insistent, and murderous.
"Will— " Xander's voice chocked off as Willow's outstretched hand turned into a fist.
"Xander!" Vi screamed.
Faith broke out of her paralysis and charged with some vague hope of distracting the woman.
She didn't get very far before she, too, was pinned against the wall next to Xander.
"Wait…wait…" Faith began.
"Silence!" Willow floated closer, borne by some incomprehensible fury. "Since your mate is being uncooperative, you are going to tell me where they are."
Faith saw Vi sneaking up on Willow from behind and did her best to keep her eyes straight ahead. "Yo! I think you got us confused with someone…"
Willow spun around and knocked Vi backwards with a flick of her wrist, sending the Slayer hurtling into her teammates.
Too soon those cold black eyes were fixed on Faith's face. "Soooooo, thought you'd get one of your mindless minions to blindside me. Not. That. Easy."
She looked over at Xander, wondering why the hell he wasn't saying anything. The clenched jaw and wide staring eyes of someone in a hella lot of pain pretty much told her everything she needed to know. If Xander opened his mouth, it was only going to be to scream.
"Look, just tell me what the fuck you want," Faith said. "I can play games with the best of 'em. Just give me a little clue, y'know, Catholic school uniform, bigger than a breadbox, something so heavy that even God can't lift it. I'm all fucking ears over here."
Willow floated closer stopping just inside the circle of Xander's lost light. "Your minions are frozen in place. Since they're innocents, I'll let them live, but you…" Willow let the unspoken threat hang there.
"I'm not a goddamn mind reader!" Faith exploded in exasperation. It was blindingly obvious that Willow wasn't hearing a damn thing she was saying.
"I can make this quick, or I can make this slow," Willow continued, her voice dropping into the danger zone. "You'll stop your lying and you will tell me where they are."
"Who? Just throw me a fucking bone…"
"Liar!" Willow snapped. She brought her hand up and closed it in a fist, causing Xander's mute form to jerk like he was being electrocuted. Faith looked next to her and fought back a gasp.
His jaw was clenched and he wasn't yelling because his mouth was gone.
"Jesus, Mary, and Joseph," Faith whispered.
"Tell me what I want to know, or I will tear your mate apart in front of your eyes." Willow tilted her head and then burst out in a rough laughter. "Let me get this straight: You dissected 15 children and are hiding another 20 so you can perform your little ritual and I'm inhuman?"
"Ohfuckohfuckohfuckohfuck," Faith's breath hitched as she struggled to get out of the magical hold. No dice. She could move her head and breathe in shallow gasps, but she couldn't break free. She looked over at the other Slayers but as promised, they were frozen in mid-flight, if she could judge by the way they seemed to float in the light of their headlamps. She wasn't even sure if they were aware of what was happening.
"Thank you," Willow said in a voice dripping with irony.
The sudden release collapsed Faith to the floor and she immediately tried to get to her feet. Nothing doing. Her bones felt rubberized and she could just barely move her head. Xander had likewise collapsed to the ground right in her line of sight, his mouth— praise Jesus I'll never take the Lord's name in vain again— was back. There was a blank look in his face that Faith didn't entirely like, mostly because it was the look of someone who was in so much pain that their mind had checked out for the duration.
"Since you were cooperative, I'll make it quick instead of slow," Willow said as she raised her hands.
"Well?" Catherine pushed.
"I'm translating as fast as I can," J'Nal snapped. "The interruptions aren't helping."
Catherine scanned the cavern, half-afraid that more trouble was lurking in the shadows. This was not going according to plan. Not the plan laid down in the strategy sessions. Not the plan laid down in the house meeting session. Not the plan laid down in Alexander's journal.
What if we really did screw up the timeline? Then all of this is for nothing. The Watcher Honoria shivered at the very idea.
Charlie nervously fidgeted next to her as he fiddled with his medical scanner. "I don't get it," he mumbled. "Nothing's happening to J'Nal. All his brain functions are normal."
"Which seems to support the idea that we're immune, but people from this time period aren't," Catherine said. "Wish that thing could get readings off inanimate mystical objects."
"That's why we got J'Nal," Charlie pointed out.
"Not that J'Nal knows what's going on, either," the witch said as he peered into the cup of the Grail.
"You two!" Catherine shouted at Dawn and Andrew. "How's it going over there?"
"Slowly!" Dawn shouted back. "And before you ask, neither one of us is feeling weird or anything, so whatever affected Willow isn't affecting us."
"Maybe it's not broadcasting," Tikri said as she crowded in close. "Maybe touching it triggers…"
"That much is pretty clear," Charlie interrupted.
"Let's be sure before we jump to conclusions," Catherine said. "The way things are going…"
J'Nal looked up, his mouth twisting comically, as he thumped the Grail down on the raised platform. "I don't believe it," he said.
"Oh crap!" Dawn shouted. "Hey guys? I think we found out what the problem is."
"Let me guess," J'Nal shouted back, "no one from Tara is allowed to touch the Grail?"
"If Tara is this wonderful blue marble that is known as earth? Yeah," Andrew answered as Dawn began to mutter a string of profanities. "We found something that looks like a warning."
"Which I bet is the warning echoed inside the lip of the Grail," J'Nal agreed.
Catherine took a deep breath, held it, counted to 10, and then let it slide out of her nose. "So what you're saying is we could've avoided this mess if we just waited."
"Looks like it," J'Nal said.
Catherine rubbed her temples in irritation. "You know? We're don't usually act like such rank amateurs. That's why we're still alive. Can someone tell me how the hada we let this situation get out of control? Especially since we could've avoided this whole thing if we let Dawn, Andrew, and J'Nal finish translating."
"I vote fear," Tikri said. "Fear is a very big motivator behind stupidity. Ask any politico."
"No excuse," Catherine snapped. "We're supposed to be professionals here, people. If I were Alexander and Faith, I'd be pretty futching sure that the all-knowing people of the future were idiots who undergo ritualistic shaving of the intelligence on a daily basis. Do you realize what we've done? We let Willow get hurt, maybe even grievously so. If history is at all even close to accurate about the depth of her relationship with Alexander, we've just made ourselves an enemy. And if we've made him an enemy, you can bet we're in for a rough ride if it turns out that we can't leave."
"But…" Charlie began.
"Ooooh, don't worry," Catherine snarled, "I've been as bad as the rest of you. But that stops. Right. Now. J'Nal!"
"Yes?" the witch said softly. He knew better than to even try placating her when she was in full temper.
"Tell me what the Grail says. And make sure your translation is accurate," Catherine warned with a glare.
"In essence, the engraving on the Grail says that this object is to be used 'beyond the time that is this time and in a place beyond this world,'" J'Nal quickly answered.
"Which means?" Catherine prompted.
"It's a Prima riddle tradition. In short, it's not meant for anyone here and now," J'Nal explained. "It adds a warning that if anyone here and now 'brushes the golden promise of power, the mind shall outgrow the mortal shell rooted in this time and place.'"
"Sounds like what happened," Catherine nodded. "Dawn! Did you hear him?"
"I caught a word here and there. The acoustics royally suck the big one," Dawn answered, keeping her voice at not-quite-a-yell. "But what I did hear is seems to track with what we just read. Pretty straightforward warning, well, as straightforward as stuff like this gets anyway."
"Let's hear it," Catherine ordered.
"'As the gods have hidden the Grail here for those who are yet-to-be, yea even as they stand in wonder at our works, they shall not have come to pass,' which I guess would totally describe you guys, since, like, you don't actually exist for real since none of you are actually born yet," Dawn said. "It goes on, 'those who are and who walk in this world shall reach out, but they shall be rebuffed'--which is pretty obvious given what happened to Willow--'and they shall find their minds wandering in worlds yet to come,' whatever that means."
"How sure are you about that translation?" Catherine pressed.
"Pretty sure. Not 100 percent, more like 80 percent," Dawn said.
"I'd say 90 percent," Andrew argued.
"We are not rolling a D-4 to see who's right, Andrew," Dawn grumped.
"Well, on the face of it, it looks like the two warnings coincide, so let's assume that no one from this time period can touch the Grail without big trouble paying a visit," Catherine decided. "Now, I want options on how we can keep that thing from posing a potential threat."
"Easy, don't let anyone touch it," Tikri shrugged. "Seems straightforward to me."
"Ahhhh, good intentions. We can play keep away all we'd like, but we still have to get it out of here and that means an increased chance of someone touching it who shouldn't," Catherine said.
"Can we go with better safe than sorry?" Dawn asked as she jogged over to the group with Andrew in tow. "I mean you are dealing with the Scooby Gang and a bunch of junior Scoobies-in-training."
"I don't follow," Catherine said.
"That means that if there's a way to make their lives even more difficult, they'll make it happen," Dawn replied. "Trust me. I've seen it more times than I can count."
J'Nal began rubbing his jaw thoughtfully. "So what you're saying is that a mystical entropomorphic event surrounds your friends and family…"
"A mystical what-a-what?" Dawn asked.
"It's like a force field," Andrew snorted, "everyone knows that."
…thereby causing all best laid plans to go awry? Interesting," J'Nal continued as if he hadn't heard the exchange.
"I say you use that as your excuse when you file your report," Tikri said. "I know I will when I report this story."
"Works for me!" Charlie announced, uncharacteristically agreeing with the witnesser.
"That. Is. Insane," Catherine gritted. She thought about it. "But just in case, J'Nal, is there a way to somehow block the Grail from harming someone from this time period if they happen to touch it?"
J'Nal thoughtfully studied the Grail a moment before rendering a judgment. "Yes and no. I can't prevent someone from actually touching the Grail and I can't prevent the Grail from engaging its mystical defenses in response."
"That sounded very much like a no," Catherine argued.
"What I can do is put a repel around the Grail," J'Nal said. "In essence, people are going to want to avoid touching it."
"Now that could work," Dawn interrupted. "Willow mentioned to me that she thought there was a Xander-shaped repel spell on this cavern because she and Faith couldn't convince him to even think of walking in here. So if you can lay a general whammy on the Grail, along with lots and lots of verbal warnings, I think you might be able to avoid trouble."
"Maybe," Andrew amended. "Depends on whether or not anyone is immune to Jedi mind tricks."
Catherine shook her head. "You think someone deliberately cast a spell to keep Alexander away from this place?"
"Willow thinks that," Dawn corrected. "It's just as likely that Xander thought he should stay with Robin and the other Slayers and Willow jumped to conclusions because as far as she's concerned magic can explain almost anything. It's a little bit of a blind spot with her."
"Either way, for the best probably," Catherine sighed.
"Preach it," Dawn agreed. "If Xander was here when Willow got whammied by the Grail, I guarantee he would've gone totally ape."
"They're that close?" Tikri asked, practically licking her chops.
"Xander would've been upset no matter who got hurt," Andrew puffed out his chest, "because he's just like that. He truly cares what happens to all of us because of his tender, tender heart. Which is still badly shattered because of…"
"Andrew," Dawn interrupted with a painful wince. "Yeah, Xander wouldn't've been happy no matter who got hurt, but Willow is part of a select group."
"Select group?" Catherine felt her heart sink.
"Yeah. People on the list get hurt? Xander pulls out the stops and no one wants to see that happen," Dawn shivered.
Catherine blinked at Dawn a moment before stating, "Just to let you know, if you meant that as comfort? I'm not feeling comfort."
Dawn stifled a grin. "Then I suggest you come up with a plan so you don't find out what a totally ape Xander will do to you if you don't fix Willow."
"Chivalry," Andrew sighed. "Xander's one of the few that truly does believe in the creed of the paladin hero."
"More like if you hurt his friends you're on his shit list for life, but okay, have it your way," Dawn patted Andrew's shoulder.
"And no one holds a grudge like your family," Charlie commented.
"Ohhh, yah. Definitely feeling not too good right now," Catherine admitted. "Well, we have a plan, so, J'nal, get to work on that repel spell."
"Stand back just in case," J'nal warned.
"I plan to stand very back," Charlie said. "Catherine? You really don't need me around for this, so I think I better try and catch up with Faith."
"Why?" Catherine asked.
"Willow is spouting snippets from the future. She's already stumbled across bits that apply directly to people in this household. Maybe someone from her future should take over babysitting duty from a certain present-day Slayer before that Slayer starts building a timeline?" Charlie asked.
"Fine. Go," Catherine agreed. As the medic turned to head for the opening still under Ruda's watchful guard, she added, "But if you don't see Faith or Willow when you poke your head out there, come back here on the double. I don't want you to get lost in these tunnels."
"Will do," Charlie agreed.
"Wait! I think we should go with," Andrew said.
"I think we should stay put," Dawn huffed with crossed arms.
"But why? Our job is done here. We've already saved the day. Now it's time for us to rest on our laurels and start composing Klingon operas about our deeds," Andrew said.
"How can I put this?" Dawn thoughtfully tapped her chin with a forefinger, "We can go out there with only a doctor and his medical scanner for protection, maybe running into whatever Xander and Robin are fighting, while we try to find Faith and Willow, neither of whom are exactly what you'd call sane on their best of days. Or," Dawn held up her finger, "we could stay put and be protected by Catherine, the expert fighter, Ruda, the Slayer, and J'nal, the powerful witch."
"When you put it that way…" Andrew sickly said.
"Yeah, that's what I thought, too," Dawn nodded.
"I'll ummm, go stand by Ruda. The Slayer," Andrew quickly said as he retreated.
"You could have gone with Charlie, you know," Catherine said to Dawn.
"No thanks," Dawn said firmly. "Given the way things are going? I'd rather take my chances with you guys. My name is Dawn, not Dumb."
TBC…