Title: Sarmatian Ladies
Author: Jmaria
Rating: PG-13 - R
Disclaimers/Spoilers: Joss owns the Buffy crew, Bruckheimer, Franzoni, & Fuqua own this incarnation of Arthur & his knights
Summary: Long talks, old friends, and what dreams are made of.
A/N: This here is my soap box. I'm up on it, screaming my head off because my stupid disk with the first half of this stupid chapter got too full and I can't open anything on it, so I'm pissed. Capital P. It had my quote for this chapter, the explanation on the quotes, funny little things and the beginning of this chapter. So I'm pissed. Not only that, I lost what I had on my drabbles, my html formats for all my latest chapters and all my fic for all ideas, my latest chapter of IS, and two of my other KA crossovers. Bastard disk.
On the quotes: My brilliant idea was to have a quote from an Arthurian poem or story at the beginning of each chapter. I didn't in the first chapter (I threw in the prophecy from Protector instead) but I did in the second. I forgot to add one in chapter three. But I have one for this chapter - or I did until my disk was bastard and wouldn't let me open it. Anyway, now I'm fumbling onwards in the story.
4. Bright Lights, Old Sights
"And sometimes thro' the mirror blue
The knights come riding two and two
She hath no loyal knight and true,
The Lady of Shalott.
-The Lady of Shalott; Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Dawn slid the access card into the dorm entryway with a heavy heart. The others had dropped her off for the night, promising that tomorrow they'd find Tristan and somehow everything would work out fine with Boris. She wasn't as sure as they had been, and this was her mission. She even half-wondered if Buffy had been right when she'd said this mission was too much for her to handle. She hadn't even made it to the elevator before that notion was out of her mind with a fierce determination. Dawn tilted her head back against the wall of the elevator. Things were rough now, but one day they would be easier. They had to be.
When the ping of the elevator door brought her back to reality. She glanced at her watch. It was a quarter to eleven. She was supposed to do a room check fifteen minutes ago. Sighing, for what felt like the hundredth time today, she grabbed the clipboard by her door with their names. Dawn trudged to each room, knocking quietly and checking off the names of the bleary eyed girls. Less than two weeks and she'd be done with this. It was kinda sad and in a weird way, she would really miss it. Slipping the sheet of names into one of the old fashioned message chutes, she sent it off to the main desk in the lobby of the dorm.
She reached for her door knob, but before her hand could touch it the door creaked open. Her entire body tensed as she slowly slipped her hand into her purse, reaching for the stun gun that currently was replacing her trusty stiletto. She opened the door slowly, trying not to alert whoever was in there that she was there. She could hear a noise coming from the kitchenette. They were in her apartment for food? Huh?
Dawn tried to peer over the countertop to see who or what was in there. She raised the stun gun higher just as the intruder stood up. Spinning around, with half of a turkey sandwich in her mouth stood a very familiar red-head. Dawn took a relieved breath, her heart pounding as she glared at the other girl.
"You know, you could have gotten your ass kicked." Dawn said, crossing her arms.
"Please, I'm a slayer." Vivien 'Vi' Costello rolled her eyes as she swallowed the large bite of her sandwich.
"What are you doing here, Vi?" Dawn said, tossing her purse on the small loveseat as she walked around to grab the carton of milk from her fridge. "I thought you were assigned to the Cleveland Hellmouth?"
"I was, but there was this thing with Principal Wood and well, Lucy - the slayer from India - is the main slayer there now." Vi said sheepishly.
"Whoa, wait. What happened with Principal Wood?" Dawn interrupted.
"I might have said some harsh things about him being a crappy watcher and not being all for the mission."
"Yowch." Dawn grimaced. There was something, most likely involving Nikki Wood, Buffy and Faith and the whole slayer mission thing that rubbed Robin Wood the wrong way.
"Yeah." Vi nodded. "There's also this thing about my six months being up and I'm on the learning -slash- teaching aspect of my slayerhood." Vi brightened, taking another huge bite of her sandwich.
The six month limit had been strictly enforced once the oldest age group of the new slayers were determined to be trained enough. For every six months of active patrol, there were six months of down-time. During this down time, the slayers went back to the Council's new Slayer School to train with new watchers and teach the younger slayers what Willow liked to call 'practical slaying skills'.
"So I'm taking over your floor when you move out." Vi tried to say casually, "And well, the main slayer dorm is kinda full right now, and since I'm moving -"
"Vi, you can crash here." Dawn cut her off.
"Thanks, Dawnie. It'll just be like old times." The slayer grinned, taking another bite of the sandwich.
"Smoke?" Faith asked, taking a deep drag on her cigarette.
"Yeah, why not." Trevor said noncommittally. "What's your real last name?"
"What?"
"My ears still work. Said Summers wasn't your last name." Trevor glanced in the review mirror.
"It's Lehane." Faith said, cocking her head to the side as she handed him her spare smoke.
"That French?"
"Cajun or so I've been told. My mom didn't have a whole lot a time to tell me much more than that my daddy was a good ole Cajun boy." She took another drag. "What bout you? Whatcha got in you?"
"Russian and English."
"Russian?" That explained the dark hair and the stubble.
"Born there before the wall came down. Mum's Russian, Dad's a Londoner." Trevor said flatly as he lit the cigarette. "This the place?"
"Yeah. You gotta drop this off anywhere?" Faith asked, patting the backseat.
"A block down."
"You gonna come back here?" She asked again.
"I think I might."
Vi stared at her blankly. For ten minutes. Dawn sighed as she took another sip of her milk. Vi just kept staring.
"Wow." She said, blinking. "That kinda sucks."
"Yeah."
"So you totally had this once-in-a-lifetime love and then poof. Arrowed to death?" Vi shook her head. "Cupid must be on crack."
"I think he might."
"You're gonna be a mom." Vi blew out a puff of breath. "Wow. You're like, my age."
"This coming from the girl who kills vampires for a living?" Dawn felt her lip curling into a smile.
"Yeah, but that - that's not raising a kid. Like a whole little world depends on you."
"It's exactly like being a slayer, then?"
"But way more personal." Vi said quietly. "You know who you're protecting, we just get nameless faces."
"Yeah, I guess."
"So, we so have to celebrate. Is there any way to celebrate and not have an apocalypse? Cuz Kennedy was telling me you guys couldn't have a party without an apocalypse."
"You can take the girl outta the apocalypse, but you can't keep it away for good." Dawn said smiling. "Why?"
"Cuz it's an excuse for a party?" Vi asked hopefully.
Sarmatia, 452
The ground shook with the thunder of hooves stamping into the fertile soil. They were still quite far off, but they seemed to be telling her the horrible truth. The Romans had come again, and this time they would claim his life as their property. A girl of ten years stood looking out at where he stood with his family. Her young heart ached as he looked quietly on.
"Lancelot!" She called, pushing her way through the crowd that had gathered around him. His eyes locked on her then, and she felt her heart skip a beat. She always did. But this time, it was also in fear of what this meant. He was leaving.
Lancelot saw her pained look, the way her eyes watered just as his mother's did. What could he do for it? Nothing. There wasn't another option for them. If he did not go, then the village would pay and take him anyway. She looked up at him, her eyes so very young, yet older somehow.
"Lancelot, no!" She whimpered, clinging to her childhood friend's arm. "You cannot go!"
"Elaine, I must." He said quietly. "By the oath my father's grandfather's have sworn to uphold, I must give my allegiance to the Romans." There was a bitter anger to the boy's words.
"Then I shall never see you again." Elaine said tearfully, squeezing his hand tightly.
"No tears, Elaine." Lancelot smiled bravely for her, wiping at the tears that stained her cheeks. "I shall return just as my father did. I promise."
"Then I shall be brave and learn to be a warrior as well."
"You cannot be a knight, Elaine." Lancelot sighed, remembering their many arguments on the subject.
"I shall. I will see you one day on the battlefield, and I will be the greatest warrior there." She said boastfully, trying to rid herself of these silly tears.
"Not greater than I, little Elaine."
"No." She said softly, leaning up to plant a soft, childlike kiss on his lips. "Never greater than you, but your equal."
Lancelot blushed a bit at her kiss. He had not been expecting it, and it had shaken him a bit. She was a childhood playmate, had grown with him since infancy. His father called to him then. There was no time to think of her and what the kiss had meant. He was going to be a knight. And as he left young Elaine to herself, she let the tears roll freely.
"You're a fool, Elaine. Pinning your hopes on that boy. By the time the Romans are through with him, you shall be married with squalling babes." Morgana said spitefully.
"I shall never marry." Elaine spat at the dark haired girl who stood beside her.
"You planning on becoming an old hag, then? He's to be gone for fifteen years. You'll be five and twenty by the time he returns, if he returns at all. You'll be well past your prime."
"Nonsense. Lancelot has promised to return, and he shall!" Elaine said angrily.
"You only speak nonsense, Elaine." Morgana laughed.
Rome, 2005
Buffy sat up abruptly in bed. Her skin was coated in a fine sheen of perspiration. Her heart beat like a drum against her chest. Taking a shaky breath, she vowed to never drink that much ever again.
"How many times do you tell yourself 'beer bad', Buffy?" An eerie voice said from the corner of her room.
Buffy's head snapped up. There in the shadows of her bedroom was a dark haired figure. She discreetly reached for the nearest weapon, Mr. Pointy. The person gave a small, breathy laugh.
"Your stake will not work against my magic, slayer." The woman stepped from the shadows. Her hair was black, save for the two vivid streaks of teal dyed strands of hair that hung over her eyes.
"What are you?"
"An old friend, my child. Settling old debts." She smiled. "Nothing more, nothing less."
Before Buffy could ask another question, the woman stepped back into the shadows.
"I'll be seeing you." She said softly, as she disappeared completely from the room.
"What the hell was that?" Buffy said to herself. "And I thought the cheese man was weird."
The dark haired woman stepped quietly into the inner chambers of Powers stronghold. Gone were the dark concealing clothing she had worn only moments ago. She was swathed in brilliantly white robes. Waiting there for her was an old man.
"Morgana, is it done?"
"Yes, the dreams have begun." She walked past him, barely acknowledging him. "And your part in all this?"
"She does not suspect. She believes that we are blind to her actions."
"Europa is a fool."
"She thinks she is wiser because she has a few hundred years on us." Morgana smiled knowingly.
"She works too closely with the abomination." The man said tiredly.
"Have the Powers not found him yet?"
"No. He shields his resting place too well. A very good strategy."
"Yes."
"The knight is closer than we told her." He said quietly.
"Naples. I have seen him." Morgana smiled softly. "It has been too long since I have seen him last. He saw me as well."
"Saw you?"
"Well, he saw me as her." Morgana paused in her walking. "We must play this close to the chest. If she were to get wind of his true location, it would be disastrous."
"Why do you think we paired her with the Seer? The girl is a wrench in her master's plan. Europa has grown very sloppy. And it's starting to show."
"Still, she has a card up her sleeve that we don't." Morgana sighed. "She has the Immortal pulling her strings."
London
Faith tossed back another drink. One of the perks of having supernatural powers was that it was harder for her to get completely wasted than it was for a normal girl. Trevor, well, he didn't have that nifty little bonus.
"You 'mind me of a bird I think I sorta knew." Trevor said drunkenly.
"I really doubt that." Faith chuckled to herself.
They'd only had two drinks each, but then again she'd drugged him with one of Willow's potions. Trevor looked at her through squinted eyes. There was something about her, she had a 'caged bird' look to her.
"Hey, you're free." He said quietly, leaning towards her. "Be free."