The White Knight's War

Author : pixel

Rated: R mostly, but maybe some NC-17 later depends how it goes
Ship: xander/graham/oc

Disclaimer: I own nothing, claim nothing, they all still belong to Joss et al and I'm just borrowing for a while.

Authors Notes 1: Ok this is probably going to have slash, bad language, character death and buffy bashing so if you don't like don't read. I don't have a beta so all mistakes are mine if you point them out I'll try to fix them. There's an explanation etc in prologue.

Authors Notes 2: Please make an author happy and review and I promise it'll make me write quicker.

Authors Notes 3: for the purposes of this chapter everything in italics is a flashback/memory

How We Came To This Part 4

Dawn giggled as she saw how her small display of power had shocked Angel and his friends. "Isn't it great Spike, you should see me when I access all of it, I took out a whole nest by myself," she squeaked as Xander's arms tightened almost painfully around her waist.

"You did what?"

"Erm…not a nest ……a couple of vamps, I kinda came across by accident…… when I was out……getting ice-cream."

"Dawn, dammit I told you to stick to the hotel, not go off hunting by yourself."

"I have to learn how to use this Xan, I need to be a part of this."

"You are. But if I catch you heading out alone again, I'll ground you for the rest of your natural life. Understand?"

"I'm not a kid any more Xander. You can't ground me."

"Want to bet."

"Kennedy goes out on her own."

Xander's gaze shifted to the young Slayer, "Not any more she doesn't. I'll lock you in your room if I have to Dawn. I'm not losing you, just 'cos you think you've got something to prove, you can handle yourself better than most but I'm not letting you throw your life away."

"Fine, spoil my fun."

"Niblet, listen to Xander, if you want to go out I'll watch over you." Spike couldn't get over how much the young girl had grown and changed, but he was as determined as ever to protect her, even from herself.

"Fine, but you two are going to have to accept that I'm all grown up now. No more frightening off my dates and treating me like I'm twelve."

Spike's face was a picture of fury as he looked at Xander, "You let her date!"

"No, absolutely not. Dawn we talked about this remember. You don't get to date until you're thirty, at least."

"God you two are so pathetic, you'd think I was still a virgin the way you carry on."

Dawn found herself dumped unceremoniously onto the floor; a second later Xander and Spike were looming over her.

"What the hell are you talking about Dawnie?"

"Who was it, I'll fucking eviscerate the bastard?"

They spoke simultaneously and Dawn just wished she'd kept her mouth shut. Then she remembered that she didn't have to answer to anyone and drawing up to her full height she glared at both of them. "For the last time, I'm not a child. The who doesn't really matter, it was a very sweet boy I met in Rome. I love you both, but this is my life and you two need to just Butt Out." The last part was practically shrieked in their faces.

Xander knew this wasn't the time so he let it slide for now. "Ok Dawn, but we will be talking about this." He sat back down pulling her into his lap again. Spike moved back to his chair, but his mind was whirring, just why was it bothering him so much? He'd always loved Dawn, looked out for her, but when she'd spoken he'd felt almost….jealous.

Knowing that Angel was probably growing impatient with the by-play and not wanting the vampire to start asking questions again, Xander started to tell his story. "After we closed the Hellmouth I needed to get away for awhile. Seven years of fighting and I was just kinda sick of it. I needed some time and space; so when Giles asked me to go to Africa and start locating the Slayers there I jumped at the chance."

"Surprised the demon-bint let you do that, she's not the type to rough it and I never figured she'd let you walk away again." Spike wished he'd not spoken when he caught the waves of grief and loss coming from Xander.

"I forgot you didn't know. Anya didn't make it out. She died saving Andrew. And what a fucking waste that was." Xander's voice was thick with pain and he barely noticed the sympathetic looks he was getting from everyone in the room.

"I'm sorry pet, she didn't deserve that. She was something special."

"I know Spike, it's ok, been awhile you know? She would be glad you're back, you were one of the few people who she thought of as a friend; you accepted her, inappropriate conversation, gross stories and all. Anyway, I was grieving and much as I loved them I couldn't take being around the girls. They were all so happy it was over and I didn't begrudge them that, but it was hard to be part of it. Africa gave me a chance to grieve and to move on. I never expected to love it as much as I did, but it was like coming home. I felt like I belonged there.

I seemed to be as much of a Slayer magnet as I used to be a demon magnet back in the Dale, I seemed to find them without any real effort. It was easier then Europe and the US, a lot of the tribes held to the old beliefs, still believed in demons and quite a few remembered legends of Slayers. The hardest part was convincing them to go to England, it was such a huge step for most of them and their families weren't happy about it either. At first it went to plan, the girls would go to the academy and whilst they were there Giles would make sure they kept in close contact with their families, then they'd come back once they were trained, to protect their homes.

Some of them refused to go and I really didn't know what to do with them at first, I mean they had to learn about their gifts but I was in no position to force them and I never stayed in one place long enough to train them myself. Then one night I was out on patrol with a couple of Slayers who were just back from training and we ran into Riley. I still kinda had some trust issues, after everything the Initiative did, but after a few weeks I realised how different they were. When he suggested they help out, train the Slayers who didn't want to leave, I jumped at the chance. Giles had to do some fast talking to get the rest of the Council to agree but in the end it worked out. Once we had everything set up and I was sure it was going to work I set out again, 'cos there were still new girls to find. Riley wanted to send a squad with me, he really hated the idea of me wandering round the place alone, but I knew having a bunch of soldiers along would spook people so in the end it was just me and Graham." Xander turned to look at his lover and when everyone saw their hands move together and their fingers entwine they knew there was a whole story there they weren't being told.

It had been tough at first, travelling with someone else. Xander had spent so much time alone he'd almost forgotten how to make idle conversation. He'd become a far different person to the babbling teenager from Sunnydale. Graham had made things easy for him though, the older man was quiet too, and after awhile Xander began to appreciate the company. They travelled from village to village picking up Slayers when they found them and sending them to Riley. They also took time to learn about local legends and customs, anything that might help them and their girls survive longer.

Later on they'd become so easy around each other that Xander had wandered how he'd done this alone, he became used to the other man's presence and realised how much he'd come to rely on him. As time went by that sense of comradeship deepened, first into friendship, then love. Xander could never pin-point when it happened, he just knew that one day he looked at Graham and knew he loved him. All his previous relationships had started with a mad rush of passion that he'd given into without thought. This was different, he'd fallen deeply in love and they hadn't so much as kissed.

After that Xander had become hyper-aware of Graham's every comment, every movement, he was desperate to know if his feelings were returned, but terrified of losing the strong relationship they'd built. When he was pretty sure Graham did return his feelings he knew he'd have to be the one to make the first move, 'cos Graham was obviously holding back. The older man had heard many of Riley's old Sunnydale stories and probably assumed that Xander was completely straight.

So one night when they were camped alone as they travelled to yet another village, Xander took his heart in his hands and decided to go for it. They were sat beside the fire, the flames providing a faint light, just enjoying the quiet of the night and the warmth the fire provided. Xander took a deep breath and turned to face Graham, catching the man's face lightly in his hand he'd leaned in and brushed their lips gently together. When Graham didn't respond he'd pulled back and started to apologise, but Graham had silenced him with a finger to his lips. This time it was Graham who held Xander's face, as he looked deep into his eye.

"Xander are you sure about this? I don't want you waking up with regrets, I don't want to lose what we have."

"I'm sure," Xander figured he may as well get everything out
whilst he was at it, "I love you, I want this. I'm sure and I promise no regrets. I……" Xander continued to babble but was cut off abruptly when Graham crushed their mouths together. Whatever he'd been about to say was driven from his mind as the touch of Graham's lips and the taste of the man he'd come to love drove all rational thought from his mind.

He felt Graham rip his shirt from his body and then that wonderful mouth moved down his chest, nipping and biting and suckling on Xander's hardened nipples. Xander groaned and felt his head fall back as the passion coursed through him. He desperately pulled at Graham's clothing, but his fingers fumbled with the fastenings, he wanted to feel skin to skin and couldn't wait. Graham pulled back just long enough to strip the rest of their clothes away, chuckling as Xander whimpered at the momentary loss of contact. Coming back together he captured Xander's mouth again and drew their bodies hard against each other.

Nothing had ever felt this good to Xander, it was as if Graham could read his mind, know exactly where and how to touch him to make him wild. When Graham returned to Xander's nipples and began sucking and biting in earnest Xander felt himself getting ready to come before his cock had even been touched. Once Graham realised how close Xander was, he moved down the younger man's body, kissing every inch, then licking his way up and down Xander's cock. Light touches, enough to drive Xander crazy but not enough to grant him release. Looking up the writhing body of his lover, seeing that one eye darkened almost black with passion, he took pity and engulfed Xander's cock, sucking him deep into his throat, he started to hum, and then swallowed hard, ripping the orgasm from Xander's body.

For just a second Graham stopped, just sat and looked at the debauched picture in front of him. Xander was covered in sweat, still boneless from his release, breathless and dazed; but when he forced his eye open and saw Graham's lust-filled gaze he began to harden again. They kissed, allowing Xander to taste himself in Graham's mouth and before long both were lost in passion again. Graham pushed Xander flat on his back, and rested his body between Xander's legs, their cocks rubbing together; never breaking their kiss Graham fumbled in his trouser pocket for lube, silently thanking any deity that cared to listen that his hopes for Xander had led to him carrying some around. Squeezing some onto his hand he started to prepare his lover. First one finger, then two, scissoring and stretching Xander's loosening hole. Hearing a groan wrenched from Xander's lips he realised he'd found his prostate and when he flicked his fingers against it again Xander arched off the ground, knowing how close his lover was to cumming again Graham withdrew his fingers and then tugged Xander's balls sharply away from his body, causing the younger man to whimper.

"Graham please."

Graham pushed just the tip of his cock insode Xander, loving the way the younger man's body reacted, clenching around him, then he pulled Xander's legs up resting them on his shoulders and pushed the rest of the way inside, stopping when his balls met Xander's ass. Xander groaned, he'd never felt so stretched, so full, but he needed more, "Gray…..move,"

Graham just flexed his hips slightly brushing against Xander's prostate but not really stimulating it, loving the wanton groan that Xander made as his body twisted, desperately trying to find relief. Knowing he couldn't resist the pleas falling from his lover's lips Graham began to move then, hard and fast. Plunging his cock deep into Xander's body making Xander whimper and moan with every thrust. Leaning forward he captured Xander's lips again, his tongue mimicking his cock's movement, in and out, faster and faster, finally swallowing Xander's scream as they both found their release. Sticky and sated they lay together, Graham's softening cock still embedded in his lover sharing, lazy kisses until they drifted into exhausted sleep, still joined together.

"We were happy, I'd found my place, my purpose I suppose and I didn't want anything to change. We started to worry when we heard that some of the first Slayers I'd found, the ones I'd sent to England had stopped contacting their families; but when I spoke to London, they promised us that it was just that the girls were busy and out of reach for awhile. I trusted Giles and didn't push it. I should have, I should've insisted on speaking to him, but that would have meant sticking around a city for a while and having a proper contact number and we were enjoying our travels too much for that.

Later we got a call, apparently the Council had changed their minds; they no longer wanted to allow the girls to stay in Africa and were insisting they come to London. I refused, told them we had it under control and that I wanted to hear it from Giles, they basically told me that he was too busy to waste time talking to me, that I wasn't important enough. This time I knew something was wrong so I tried to get a hold of Willow or Buffy but I couldn't track either of them down. We were just thinking that we'd have to go to London ourselves, when we had a visitor.

One of the Slayers Riley had trained was in trouble, she'd heard rumours about a demon near her village and had gone after it herself, without knowing what it was or calling for back-up. She'd been missing for three days and her family were desperate. We were only a day's travel from where she'd last been seen so we decided to check it out. We called Riley, but they couldn't help out 'cos they were just getting ready to raid the slave auction. Besides, we didn't think we had time to wait.

The girl's name was Kareesha, when we reached her family they told us everything they remembered. Apparently there'd always been a lot of demon activity in the area, but most of the demons didn't seem to belong their, it was like they came for something specific, then either disappeared or left, they rarely bothered the humans living there but seemed to have some other purpose for their presence. Kareesha had been bothered by them and had thought she could find out what they were doing, she'd always been a little arrogant, always trying to prove she didn't need anyone, that she was able to handle it all by herself. We'd assigned her a Watcher, Matt, from Riley's squad but she refused to work with him, thought she could do it all herself.

She'd managed to track several of the demons to a large cave a few miles north of her village, they all went into the cave but only some came back out. She managed to catch one of the less dangerous demons, a Lyrchsis, and question it, it told her that there was a power in the cave, that it was going to get some talisman for it's people, that the power would give it to him." Xander stopped for a second and glanced at Spike, realising that the blond had already recognised the description of the cave and would have a fair idea where this story was going.

"That night Kareesha had gone out alone after everyone had fallen asleep, she left a note for her Watcher saying she needed to kill the demons, as soon as he found the note he went after her. Neither of them had been seen since. Her family were devastated but their village elders had refused to let them go to the cave. Apparently they'd always known the demon was there but because the visitors left them alone it had always been forbidden for any of their people to approach the cave.

We couldn't leave it like that though, so despite their advice we went looking for Kareesha, she was easy enough to track and we found the cave a few hours later. It was completely quiet and we couldn't detect any sign of Kareesha or Matt but we knew we needed to check inside. Even though by then I'd figured out where we were and what was likely to happen, I figured if we didn't ask for anything we'd be ok. We were attacked almost immediately one set of demons after another but we managed to fight our way through, we found Kareesha and Matt's bodies about halfway down the cave, but we didn't stop, it had started out as a rescue now I just wanted the damn thing dead.

When we killed the last demon we could sense something else approaching, we couldn't see it properly, just a pair of glowing eyes, it asked us what we wanted, but we kept our mouths shut, figuring it couldn't do anything that way. I just wanted to kill it and get the hell out, take Kareesha's body back to her family. As soon as I stepped towards it I collapsed, I could feel my whole body convulsing and I could see Gray going through the same thing."

Xander looked again at Spike who was squirming in his seat and looking increasingly worried, "You know Spike, when you told us about the whole 'going to get your soul thing,' you couldn't have mentioned that the damn thing could read minds. I mean I thought you had to wish for something, not that it could rip your hidden desires from your subconscious. Kinda an important detail to leave out don't you think?"

"Oops."

tbc…….