Chapter Thirty-four
With her plan in hand to let Dawson know, in no uncertain terms, that she was no longer angry with him and that they were only fuck buddies, Faith had wasted no time in steering Dawn and Salem from the house and toward the beach. In fact, the only times she had slowed for even a moment had been to wait for Dawn to reach her and then, upon remembering that she could not use her own sword, to borrow a sword from Celina. The trio were well on the way to the beach when they suddenly heard braying.
Dawn's eyes went wild. "What's that!"
"That," Faith replied as Donkey came running into their sight. "What the Hell's your problem this time, ya jackass?" she demanded.
"Fishpeople!" Donkey managed to gasp out. "They gonna drown! They all gonna drown! Fishpeople got them!" His eyes were huge as saucers, and he was panting hard. "Will gonna die! Gotta get Jack!"
"You freeze your jackass right there!" Faith commanded before he could run off. "What do you mean -- fishpeople!"
"Fishpeople! They look human and got tails, and they got our boys!" Donkey felt sure he was fixing to faint before he could go for Jack. "Don't stand there talking, Faith! Go!"
"Fishpeople?" Salem repeated. "You mean mermaids?"
Yet even as he asked that, Faith questioned Donkey again, "Our boys? Donkey, I don't have a 'boy'!"
"Lex, Clark, Will," he gasped out, "Dawson . . . ! They gonna drown for sure! I tried to stop them, but they ignored me except Will slapped me!" One big tear came running down his face. "It still hurts!"
Faith had stopped listening at Dawson's name and had instead turned to Dawn. "Dawn, give me the sword."
"What?" Dawn asked, confusion creasing her brow. "But you've got . . . "
"Give me the sword!" Faith repeated. "I can't use the one I have! I've gotta have that one, and I don't have time to explain it, damn it!"
She was mere inches from snatching the sword from the girl when Dawn handed it over with a quiet, "Yes, ma'am."
Faith took the sword and ran for the beach, shouting behind her. "DONKEY, GIVE SALEM A RIDE!" She didn't say anything to Dawn and was gone before the others could react.
Donkey looked at Dawn. "Go get Jack!" He turned and, as he felt Salem land on his back, took off running. Dawn started running for the house, screaming at the top of her lungs for Jack and Angel.
Jack and Brendan had left the library just in time to see the Sorceresses, Hook, and Smee going into Delvira's room for the meeting. Knowing they would be a while, they were heading for the beach when they were suddenly confronted with a screaming Dawn. They started running immediately for the beach but were passed by Angel who knew it had to be important if his "little sister" was screaming for them to get to the beach.
It was Cordelia, who had followed Angel, who caught Dawn. "Dawn, what's wrong?" Dawn burst into her story even as Cordelia held her, trying to calm the young woman.
Faith took the hill so fast that she was slipping and sliding on the way down but never did she slow her pace for she had already seen where the others were following the mercreatures out to the ocean. She raced across the shore and dove into the water, still clutching the sword in her hand. Xena was nearest to her, and a redhead mermaid was just a few feet in front of her. Faith's sword slashed out, cutting through the mermaid's middle. She drove the sword deeper until two parts of the creature floated in the water.
Xena cried out as the mermaid was sliced in two and was turning to attack the one who killed the mermaid. When she saw Faith, her mind began to clear. "What," she gasped, "am I doing out here?"
"No time!" Faith snapped in response. She was swimming faster and already beginning to pass Xena. "Get to work!"
Xena looked around and saw her friends following more of the creatures like the one that Faith had just killed. She headed after them, reaching Lex who was desperately trying to catch a merman. She sliced through the merman, killing him, and Lex snapped back to himself. "Huh?"
"Swim!" Xena told him. "Back to shore!"
Lex didn't argue but neither did he head for the shore. He started looking around for Clark and saw his lover not too far away, heading after another merman. "Clark?" he called, but Clark never turned to look at him. He started swimming after Clark.
"They don't know ya!" Donkey brayed an explanation from the shore.
Lex felt for a sword and realized he didn't have a weapon. He couldn't see any floating limbs or anything else he could pick up to use, but he wouldn't give up. He kept swimming till he reached Clark and jumped on his back, holding tightly to him and wishing he had a weapon. Clark just kept swimming behind the merman, his strength pulling Lex down.
Faith was still swimming after Dawson, who was furthest out to the ocean with Will not too far from him, as she passed Lex and Clark. She didn't say anything to either, but as she passed the merman, she reached out quickly and sliced his head clean off of his shoulders.
The body of the merman sank, and Clark shook himself to clear his brain. "Lex?" he called out only to realize that Lex was on his back, holding on tight. "What are we doing out here?" Clark asked.
"Tell you when we get out of here. Let's go back to shore!" Lex began to swim, keeping Clark in his sight the whole time. He wasn't sure exactly what had just happened, but he figured it had to do with that merman Faith had just killed trying to steal Clark. Why was Clark interested in a merman? It didn't matter. They were safe now and could get out of the water! Once they reached the shore, they fell down on it, resting.
Jack took one look when he reached the water and dived, swimming strongly to where he could see Will following a creature he did not even believe existed but was stealing his boy! He kept swimming till he reached Will's side and then passed him to get to where the merman was. He sliced him through his torso, cutting him limb from limb. Blood churned around the water, and he knew they had to get out of there soon or sharks would be coming.
When Will returned to his senses, it was as though he had just been slapped in the face with a wave of cold water. "What? What's happening? Jack, where are we?" He was at a complete lost.
"We're in the water, Will, and we have to get you out right away! It's freezing out here! Start heading back for the shore. You can see Brendan there."
Will looked at Jack in a mixture of worry and concern. "Where . . . " he asked, "are you going?"
"I was going to help Faith get Dawson. They're further out. Do you think you can make it to Brendan?"
Will nodded, knowing better than to argue with Jack especially as he still didn't really know what was going on, and began to swim for Brendan.
Faith had ignored the others' arrival as she had been Hellbent on getting to Dawson. The blasted bitch just kept leading him on out there, and, just like a lovesick pup, he kept following. The thought of going back never occured to her even though the icy water was freezing her and its waves had managed to lap over her head a couple of times. Still, she swam on, intent on her target.
When she finally reached Dawson, she didn't waste words but swam past him. "You picked the wrong boy, bitch!" Her sword cut through the water. Its silver blade flashed through the waves as she brought it upwards and connected with the mermaid's tail. She cut into it, the best she could do to reach her groin. Then, even as the bitch was screaming, Faith snatched her sword out and chopped her head off.
Dawson came to himself from what he thought was a watery grave. Water kept crashing over his head, and he was completely surrounded by blood. "Faith?" he called to her. She was a little ways from him. He felt like he couldn't hold on much longer.
Faith turned back to Dawson even as the water turned even choppier. She did not bother to consider how strange the water's behavior was as there was not a single cloud in the sky but only turned her attention to Dawson. Her first instinct was to swim to him, but she held herself back, reminding herself that they were only fuck buddies and thus she shouldn't show him any more concern than Clark or Lex . . . Well, not Lex. She'd be at his side by now. But Clark or . . . or Will. "Turn around," she called, shaking her thoughts off, "and head for the shore. They'll meet ya there."
"I can't," Dawson told her. "I've got a cramp! I can't swim! I can't move my leg!"
Jack had reached them by now. "Take the boy back, Faith. I'll follow you." He expected sharks at any moment, and he knew Faith was smart enough to realize that they would be coming.
Faith was about to answer Jack when another wave hit her upside the head. She regained her balance in the water, spitting and sputtering a moment before asking, "Why don't you? You're his idol!"
"Faith!" Dawson called to her again. "I don't know why you're still angry at me. I love you! I might not know how to show it sometimes, but I really do love ya! AND I WILL NOT KISS JACK'S ASS!"
"What," Jack asked, "is that all about?" He looked straight at Faith.
"Fuck it," she snapped back, "and it's none of your damn business, Jack."
"It's my ass," he reminded her, "and I get to pick who kisses it!"
"Then kiss it yourself! I don't give a shitt!" She swam past Jack to Dawson. "And you, boy, if you want to make it to shore, better stop that damn love crap. It's not part of the arrangement." Draping one of his arms around her shoulders, she began to swim with him toward shore.
Jack shook his head. He had no idea what that was all about, but he knew when to keep his mouth shut. He swam just a little bit back from them on the constant look-out for sharks.
Brendan had been on the shore, nervously scratching every now and again, as he watched the others out in the water. Will seemed to be taking forever to reach him, and then he saw the boy freeze. He couldn't hear the words he called out for the slapping of the waves but dove into the water and headed out after him.
Jack caught up to Will just as Brendan did, and together they helped him out. "He's freezing," Jack told him. "We've got to get him to the house and into something warm."
Brendan was already nodding. "Everybody needs to get back to the house and get out of your wet clothes as soon as possible."
Jack looked over to Dawson who was clinging to Faith as though his life depended on her. He looked at Lex, Clark, and Xena and saw that they were okay. "Let's get away from here as quickly as possible," he told them. Turning back to Will, he hugged him. "You scared me out there, Will! I thought I'd lost you for a minute!"
"I -- I scared me too!" Will admitted, his voice a choked whisper that only Jack and those with advanced hearing could hear. "What in the Hell happened!"
Donkey stood beside Will, making a clicking sound. "Big bad fishpeople were trying to take you away!"
Salem corrected him. "I told you it was mermaids or, in this case, mostly mermen."
All eyes went to where Faith was making her way out of the water with Dawson. Dawson looked like a drowned rat. He was shaking all over and turning blue quickly.
Faith was about to call out for some one to take Dawson from her when she glanced to the boy and saw his skin changing. All thoughts of separating herself from him went out of her mind. She had to get him warm and fast. She didn't say anything to the others but started heading back toward the house, one arm still wrapped around Dawson.
Angel looked at Faith. "Do you need help, Faith?"
Dawson was not aware of his surroundings. He felt as though he was still drowning, and he gripped Faith tightly.
Faith had been about to answer Angel when Dawson had gripped her even more tightly. She looked back to the boy, wondering what state his brain was in, before answering Angel. She couldn't straight forward accept help, but . . . "I'll need a hand when we get to the house. Could ya get this sword back to Dawn and tell her our training session'll have to wait?"
"I'll do that," Angel said and took the sword from her.
Dawson's feet were dragging the ground, and he was leaning even more heavily on Faith. His lungs hurt, and he was having trouble breathing.
With Celina's sword gone from her grasp, Faith's mind turned completely to Dawson. She didn't say anything else but continued on the way to the house.
Jack put Will's arm over his shoulders and hugged him, holding him close to him as he walked him toward the house. He followed behind Faith and Dawson. Angel brought up the rear.
It did not take them long to reach the house, and Jack assisted Will on up to the bath, drawing a warm bath for him. He stripped off his own wet clothes, went to the closet, and took out some more clothes for Brendan, Will, and himself. Brendan had not made the room yet, and Jack wondered where he had gone.
Cordelia had managed to calm Dawn, and the two had been waiting in front of the house for the others to return. Cordy had had a comforting arm around Dawn, but when she saw Angel, she ran toward him. "What happened?" she asked. "Are you okay?"
Angel was glad that he was not wet. He threw his arms around Cordelia and hugged her. He then reached out to Dawn and drew her into the hug. "Thanks, Dawn. You were a great alarm! We got there just in time to save the others!"
"We had to kill some merpeople. I didn't know they came in sexes. There were more merman than mermaids, and they were leading our people away to drown them! They give me the shudders just thinking about them! I hope we don't get any more of those."
He handed Celina's sword to Dawn. "Faith said that she's going to be with Dawson for a while and your training session will have to wait. You could stay and watch Cordy and me practicing, if Cordy doesn't mind."
"I'd like that," Dawn answered with a grin, "but how are things between those two? She seemed rather . . . miffed at him earlier." Though Dawn had not made her presence known, she had witnessed the argument between Dawson and Faith.
"They've got a lot of things to work out, Dawn, but right now, all they need is time and the willingness to work on it. We almost lost Dawson. He was further out than the rest and he took in a lot more water, but I'm sure he'll be all right." He looked at Cordy, waiting for her to say rather or not she wanted Dawn to hang around.
Dawn's attention also turned to Cordelia. "Can I?" she asked hopefully. "I know Angel's great, and to get to watch you training would probably make me feel a little more comfortable with it when it gets to be my turn."
Cordelia smiled. Dawn had been through a lot in her young life, yet she had somehow managed to hang on to her jovial enthusiasm. She liked the girl. "Sure," she replied, "and you're right." Her hazel eyes turned back to her beloved's gaze as she agreed, "Angel is wonderful."
Angel didn't look at either of the ladies. He was too embarrassed. "I just do my best," Angel told them. "I appreciate your high opinion of me. Shall we get back to training, Cordy?"
Dawn was about to insist that Angel was great even if he wasn't as good as Spike when Cordelia nodded and he led her away.
Lex kept splashing warm water over Clark. Each time the water got too cold, he added more hot. He was worried about Clark. His skin was still too cool. "How are you feeling, Clark?" he asked worriedly.
"I'm feeling much better now," he reassured Lex. "Thank you for taking care of me."
Lex had stripped his clothes off at the same time he had stripped off Clark's, and he had gotten into the warm water with Clark. He had managed to regain his normal body temperatures quicker than Clark. He could now tell that Clark was not only feeling much, much better but that a certain part of Clark was very happy to see him. "I can tell. I'm glad," Lex told him. "Let's get out of here, get dry, and go to the bed. We can get a lot warmer in there."
"But it's the middle of the morning!" Clark protested.
Lex smiled as he dipped his head next to his lover's ear. His lips brushed against Clark's ear as he whispered, "I wasn't referring to sleeping." He nipped his ear gently before pulling back, getting out of the tub, and getting a towel. As soon as they were both dry, they ran for the bed. Clark dove into it first with Lex hot on his heels.
Brendan was at a loss. He'd made it to the living room but had stopped there as the question of where he was going to get a bath hit him. Finally remembering that Cole and Piper should be busy with preparing lunch, Brendan headed cautiously for the room. He stopped outside and listened a moment. When he did't hear anything, he knocked. Still not receiving an answer, Brendan finally opened the door, found the room empty, and headed for the bathroom.
Xena had not been in the cold part of the water. With her, it was just a matter of getting dry again. She took her armor off and put it where the sun would dry it. Then she stretched out on the ground so the sun would dry her. She hoped Gabrielle was having better luck with her herb collecting than she had had with her ship building.
Xena had encountered mermaids before, but she couldn't figure out why these had been so aggressive. Somebody must have put them up to it, but who could that somebody be? The hot rays of the sun soon dried her and caused her to drift off to sleep.
Faith knew she was more concerned about Dawson than she should be, but she couldn't seem to drag herself away from him either . . . at least, she told herself, not until he was closer to being back to himself. She had stripped them both immediately upon reaching their room and had gotten him into a tub of warm water. She had been kneeling beside the tub, her skilled hands running over him with the water and washcloth, since then, and still there appeared to not be much of a response from the boy. "Dawson?" she called his name aloud before she could stop herself. "Kid?"
"Faith? Thank you for helping me. I can't remember a time I've ever been this cold. I feel it all the way down to my bones. Hold me, Faith. Warm me," he pleaded with her.
"Daw . . . I don't think this is the time for the fuck buddies situation."
"The what?" he asked.
"You know," she said, rubbing the cloth over his chest, "the you fuck me, I fuck you sceneario . . . "
"Oh. I know you don't love me, Faith, and maybe that's what it means to you, but our time together's important to me. I know I screwed up earlier in the excitement of going to see about the ship. I remembered you, though, and I came back. I'm not used to having anybody who cares about me, Faith. I spent most of my time hiding from my Father, and I never had a friend except for Pacey and he was gone most of the time. He's a fisherman."
She didn't know what to say in response as she continued washing the warm water over his cold body. She didn't like thinking of him as a mere fuck buddy, but what else was she to think? She couldn't love him. He didn't really love her; he only thought he did. "It's nothing, kid," she told him, forcing her voice to stay even and calm. "Forget about it, and let's get you warm."
Dawson attempted to get out of the tub on his own but had to be helped out. He tried to laugh it off. "Can't remember being so weak before. This is ridiculous! Maybe if I rest a while, I'll feel better. Will you come to bed and hold me?"
She had been about to get him to sit down on a chair and try to dry himself while she lit a fire in the bedroom when he again asked her to hold him. She looked at him with questioning eyes. "You're in no shape for fucking."
"I don't want to do that, Faith. I just . . . need to be held. Haven't you ever held some one without . . . fucking?" he asked.
She shook her head. "Can't say that I've even ever heard of it." Handing him the towel, she told him, "First thing, though, is getting you dry. Why don't you sit down there," she gestured to the chair before the vanity, "and dry yourself while I go get a fire going?"
Dawson didn't say anything. He just took the towel and began to dry himself slowly. He could tell Faith was not going to be forthcoming with any hugs. He sighed deeply. When he was through drying, he just let the towel fall to the floor and headed to the bed. He crawled under the cover and began to shake like a leaf again, but soon the covers began to make him warm. He looked around to find Faith.
Faith had already taken note of the wood in the fireplace, and it had been a simple matter of striking a match to get the fire started. She'd knelt just before the fireplace, though, her eyes drawn to the hypnosis of the flickering flames. She had still been there when she'd heard Dawson come out of the bathroom and listened to his bare feet pad across the floor to the bed.
She sighed, watching the flames dance. She didn't know what to think of the kid. She was at a complete lost yet was not one to ask anybody for advice. He said he loved her, a fact she would never have thought possible until the day before, but could he have truly forgotten about her if he did love her as he claimed to? Would he not have gotten around to doing some of the other things he'd mentioned last night instead of screwing all night through? Not that was complaining about his performance. She'd had the funnest night of her life last night, but the light of day just brought too many questions, too many doubts . . .
She sighed again and held a hand out toward the fire. Part of her wanted to go to Dawson, attempt to hold him as he'd asked her to, but what would that lead to? What would even continuing to screw him lead to? She just didn't know what she was doing any more, she realized as the flames licked at her outstretched fingers.
She had thought things had been hard before, but in fact, they had been a great deal simpler. At least, she hadn't had these conflicting emotions to admit to. She hadn't let anybody in, and it hadn't mattered when she'd wanted to stop thinking. She'd always found a way before, but now . . . The only person in the world who she really wanted to make love to was the very question in her mind, and she did not want to leave him to go after the rum in the basement or pick a fight. That left only pain, yet she didn't want to upset any of her new-found family.
She sighed and shook her head. Just what the Hell was she doing, was she thinking? She knew how to forget. It was the same way it had been since she was a child. All she had to do to forget things she'd rather not think about was to let pain into her life, inflict it upon herself or let some one else do the inflicting. Faith leaned closer to the fire, and her hand was mere inches from emerging in the flames when she suddenly jerked back.
Faith did not know what had changed her mind so quickly, but the newcomer to the room did. Aphrodite shook Her head as She looked upon these particular two of Her children. They seemed to need more help than most of the others, though not all as She still had Brendan and Prue to deal with, and She had returned Her attention to them just in the nick of time.
"You want to go to him," She whispered to Faith's well-guarded heart. "You're just scared, but look at him."
Faith turned to look over her shoulder and saw Dawson watching her, though he trembled so much that the blankets shook with him.
"You're scared, but you don't need to be scared of him. He's an innocent, Faith, and he's still learning . . . just like you are. Remember your motto," Ditey asked with an unseen smile, "Want, take, have? You want to be with him, so be with him."
Faith cocked her head in thought as she looked at Dawson. What was she so afraid of? The answers started to come immediately but disappeared as a few of Aphrodite's invisible hearts sprinkled down upon her. Her fears forgotten for now, Faith got to her feet and started to head over toward Dawson.
He had been watching her from the bed, scared to say anything. He had seen her motion with the fire, and it had scared him even more. He had been about to call her name again when she had pulled back from it. Thank the Gods! he thought.
He wished he knew where to go with her instead of always feeling at a lost. He loved her, but he still had to learn how to show his love. She scared him not because of what she might do to him but of what she might do to herself and he'd be only powerless and having to watch from the sidelines because she wouldn't let him in. "Faith?" he now called her name, puzzled at the lost look on her face.
Aphrodite smiled and blinked out, leaving Faith to arrive at Dawson's side. "Ki . . . Dawson."
He lifted the cover and waited for her to slide in. He was still so cold he could hardly stand himself and hoped that she would warm him.
She slid in beside him and covered them back up, tucking the blankets in around his other side, before laying down. "You know," she admitted, "this is . . . totally new to me."
"Me too, but I wanted you to hold me desperately. I felt that one touch of you would warm me. I can't remember ever being this cold before."
She slid closer to him until her body lay against his. Reaching out with surprisingly gentle hands, Faith swept the hair from his face and kissed his forehead. "I'm here now," she assured him.
He nestled in even closer to her, his head resting on her shoulder, and felt her heat warming him.
To Be Continued . . .
