Repercussions, Reactions and Retaliation (6b/?) W/B/T NC17

Chapter 6 continued

========== BtVS ==========

“Ok, take the third right, then drive around both buildings at the end of the street, we wanna see if anyone else might be hanging around...” Xander said.

“So, why the bait thing,” Gunn asked. “I mean, you don’t think anyone’s really watching, and we’re checking to be sure before we go in...”

“Well...” Xander said. “There’s also the fact that Willow’s little magic charms only work as a switch... you can’t just turn them into us, we have to exchange.”

“And it’ll last long enough to get them back to Sunnydale?” Gunn asked.

Faith laughed, “Yeah, that’d be a hoot, them switching while they’re in the plane... people’d freak!”

“It’s only an hour flight,” Xander said with a grin at Faith’s comment. “The glamour should last three and a half to four, according to Wicca-Willow.”

After a moment’s silence, Gunn spoke up, “You know, if it’s all the same to you, I’d rather do the glamour thing and let you ride with the girl...”

Xander was nonplussed by Gunn’s unexpected request. “Uh, ok? I was just... I didn’t think it’d be fair to you to ask you to come out here just to play target...”

“G here’s just thinking of some roadway BJ, aren’t you, slick?” Faith teased.

Gunn shot Faith a devilish smile and said, “Thought hadn’t crossed my mind.” Looking in the rearview mirror at Xander, he explained, “No offense to Buffy’s little sis, but I’m thinking that six and a half hours in a car with some teenage girl I never met before tonight doesn’t sound like good times for either of us, if you know what I mean.”

“Dawn’s not your average fifteen year-old...” Xander began half-heartedly.

‘Why exactly am I arguing?’ he wondered suddenly.

“I’m ok with it though, I mean, if you’re ok with the thought of someone coming after you, thinking you’re Giles...” Xander said.

“You don’t want Gunn taking the risk, but you’re ok with me being a target?” Faith asked, her tone clearly teasing.

“Faith, Mrs. Summers wasn’t a target. If she was, there’s no chance in hell that I’d let you leave that building looking like her,” Xander said, deadly serious.

Faith turned in the seat to look Xander in the eye. “I was just messing around, X-man...” she said, the humor seeping out of her _expression_.

Xander stared right back at her. “I wasn’t,” he said in absolute seriousness.

‘No one dies on my watch, Dammit!’ Xander thought almost angrily. ‘Not as long as I’m still breathing!’

Faith looked into his eyes for several seconds, as if trying to see deep enough to read his soul. Finally she nodded once and silently turned back forward.

‘Was that a tear...?’ Xander wondered. ‘Nah, just me seeing things.’

“It’s fine with me Gunn, if that’s what you want,” Xander said.

“Cool,” Gunn replied. “That their jeep?” he asked as they approached the end of the road.

“Yeah,” Xander said, moving his mind back to the mission. “Drive around their building first, we want to make it look like we’re cruising for a place to hang, not like we’re scouting.”

“Yeah, I got it,” Gunn said with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean...” Xander started.

‘Ok, calm down... this is going to be ok, it’s going to work. You just need to chill a little,’ Xander told himself. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. ‘Now if I could just get the butterflies in my stomach to chill out too...’

“I just want this to go right, Gunn. So, I’m sorry if I seem paranoid, or I repeat myself... It doesn’t mean I don’t trust you guys to do your job, it’s just... Buffy put an insane amount of trust in us, to let us come rescue her family while she stays behind. I don’t want to blow it.”

Gunn nodded. “It’s cool.”

Xander scanned all around the area as they drove around the two buildings. The surrounding area was mostly flat and empty, but the weeds were high enough that someone lying prone would be difficult to spot.

‘Great, and all I can think of is Charlie popping up out of the rice-paddies!’ Xander thought angrily as soldier memories played that image over and over in his head.

“There’s the dumpster,” Faith pointed out as they went around the back of the building opposite Giles hideout.

“Right,” Gunn acknowledged. “I see the manhole cover...”

“Ok, lets go back out a couple blocks and we’ll call Giles and break out the toys. Then we’ll come back and get this done,” Xander said, his stomach churning with nervousness.

========== BtVS ==========

Dawn jumped slightly as the phone rang. Her breathing sped up as she thought; ‘they’re here!’ before Giles even answered the phone.

Giles picked up the receiver without a word. A moment later, he hung up, having never spoken at all. He turned to Dawn and Joyce and said, “They’ll be here in five minutes.”

Dawn nodded. ‘Five minutes... Man, my heart it beating like mad! I don’t know why this is so stressful...’ She looked to her mother and saw that she too seemed effected. ‘Well, I’m glad it’s not just me. Mom looks like she’s gonna hyperventilate.’

Dawn looked down at her outfit, rubbing her damp palms on her hips. ‘I wish I had something other than jeans and a tank top... I didn’t pack for seduction I guess. These fit nicely, though... and the top shows off the boobage pretty well...’

Suddenly she felt her face grow warm as she realized what she was doing. ‘He’s here to rescue you Dawn, not check out your ass and look down your shirt!’ she chastised herself. Still, nothing wrong with wanting to look good for the handsome rescuer, is there?’ She had to resist the temptation to run to the bathroom and check her makeup and hair again.

Giles walked over and put an arm around Joyce’s back, offering her a wan smile. He turned to look at Dawn and said, “Are you certain that you’re up to this?”

‘Well, it’s not my ideal of how to spend an evening- worrying about someone shooting at me, but it’s not like I’ve got a lot of choice in the matter,’ Dawn thought unenthusiastically.

Instead of saying that, she just put on a brave smile and said, “I’ll be fine, Giles.”

“Xander won’t let anything happen to you sweetie!” her mom said.

‘Are you trying to convince me, or yourself?’ Dawn wondered.

“I trust him, Mom. I know he’ll do what it takes to keep me safe,” she said, trying to keep the deeper emotion out of her voice.

‘He killed to keep me safe, he’s not going to let anything happen to me now,’ she thought, feeling both warmth and sadness.

“Yes, well then. Let’s meet them at the end of the tunnel, and do this quickly.” Giles said, leading Joyce toward the tunnel with Dawn following behind.

About a third of the way down the sparsely lighted tunnel, Dawn felt a tingly, chill sensation. “Was that the barrier spell?” she asked quietly.

“Yes,” Giles said with a short nod. I’ll give you the key crystal so that you can pass back through with the others once we stop.”

“Okay...” Dawn said with a frown.

‘Why didn’t he just give it to me earlier?’ she wondered.

They reached the end of the tunnel and it was empty. Giles gave Joyce a reassuring squeeze and then stepped away from her toward Dawn, pulling a bundle out of his coat and handing it to her. “Well, then, here’s the key crystal, Dawn. Simply extend it before you as you reach the barrier and it will open for you...”

Dawn cocked her head as she reached out for the key. “Yeah, I’ve seen you do it, Giles...” she said, wondering why he was explaining it.

Dawn’s eyes widened in surprise when the crystal in her hand was joined by the cool steel of Giles’ pistol.

“Yes, of course.” Giles said. “I simply wanted to be certain that you were properly geared...”

‘Ah, not talking about the key at all are we...’ Dawn thought as her heartbeat suddenly raced anew.

She swallowed heavily and answered his unasked question, “I know what to do.” She nodded her head and added, “I can handle it, Giles.”

She glanced at her mother and smiled for her benefit as she tucked the pistol into her pants at the small of her back- shielded by Giles body so her mom didn’t see.

A muffled sound from above drew everyone’s attention upward to the ceiling of the concrete enclosure some twelve feet above.

The manhole cover lifted up and away with a scrape and a gentle clunk-sound, and then a body dropped straight through the hole, startling all of them.

Landing gracefully on her feet, Faith flipped her hair back and graced them all with a devilish smile. “Hey, last time I did that, there was six vamps with swords waiting for me at the bottom,” she quipped.

“Show-off!” the voice from above startled Dawn again, as she had been totally fixated on the dramatic appearance of the dark haired Slayer.

‘That would be Gunn, I guess,’ Dawn thought, only ever having seen him once- and that through a netcam videoconference.

The new arrival rapidly descended the ladder, jumping off from the third rung up. “Ok, Xan-man’s waiting in the car, back door is open, let’s do this and get you two out of here. He wants to make it look like we just stopped to water the roses if you know what I mean.”

“Right, good thinking,” Giles said, starting forward and holding out his hand, palm up. “What’s the trigger phrase?” he asked.

Faith chuckled while Gunn got a sour look on his face. “Shazam,” he muttered, looking embarrassed.

“You’re joking!” Giles exclaimed. When the two shook their heads, the watcher shook his head and griped, “Willow’s sense of humor...”

“Red said she thought you’d freak over that,” Faith said, obviously enjoying the situation. She held her hand out over Joyce’s outstretched palm and sprinkled some powder on it before clasping it with her own. “Ready?” she asked.

Joyce nodded hesitantly.

“At the same time, ‘K?” Faith asked, and then nodded her head and said it.

“Shazam!” both women spoke at once, followed by a dull flash.

‘they look just like they switched places...’ Dawn thought.

“Shazam!” the two men said in unison.

‘Them too,’ Dawn thought, shaking her head.

“That is so cool!” the youngest Summers whispered in awe.

‘I can’t wait to learn magic!’ she thought excitedly.

Disconcertingly, Gunn’s voice came out of what looked like Giles mouth, as he said, “Ok, you guys better get going...”

“Right then,” Giles cultured British accent rolled out of the tall, black man.

The Faith lookalike rushed over and wrapped Dawn in a hug, fiercely whispering, “Be careful honey! I’ll call you as soon as we land!”

“Ok, uh, mom,” Dawn said.

‘Wow, it feels just like real leather!’ she thought as her hands rested on her mom’s Faith-looking back.

She released Dawn and went to the ladder, climbing quickly.

Dawn watched until both of her disguised parental figures had climbed out, and the man-hole cover was moved back in place. ‘Faith must have moved it the first time, Giles made a lot more noise,’ she thought inconsequentially.

“So, we hanging here or what?” Gunn asked.

Dawn shook her head slightly, refocusing on the new arrivals. “That’s really weird,” she said at the dichotomy between sound and sight. “Do you look different to you?”

“No, but it was wicked strange looking at another ‘me’ standin’ in front of me...” Faith answered.

‘That’s just freaky,’ Dawn thought, suppressing a shudder at the sound of Faith’s voice coming from her mother’s body.

“Weird,” Dawn muttered, turning gesturing for them to head back along the tunnel to the safehouse.

When they approached the point where the shield spell was, Dawn called for them to stop. “There’s a barrier pretty soon here. Let me go first,” she explained, pulling out the key crystal. She walked forward a few steps with the crystal extended before her and suddenly felt resistance. When she pushed forward through the resistance, the crystal flared bright green and there was a visible shimmer to the air as the portal opened up allowing them through the shield.

“Whoa!” Gunn muttered. “I’ve seen more magic in one week with you Sunnydale guys than I’ve seen in the last year.”

“It’s been a busy week,” Dawn deadpanned.

‘The last month has been the most surreal experience of my whole life...’ Dawn thought, remembering all the changes that had happened recently. ‘Of course, I’ve only been alive for six months or so...’ she considered, feeling a sense of bitterness at the thought.

Dawn turned back around to lead the way down the tunnel when suddenly Faith exclaimed, “Hey, since when do you carry a gun around?”

“Giles gave it to me,” Dawn explained hoping to stave off an argument.

“Jeeves gave you a gun?” Faith asked incredulously. “B’d have a freakin’ heart attack! What the hell was he thinking?”

“I guess he was thinking that someone’s trying to kill me, and maybe I should be able to do something about that if I have to...” Dawn interjected, her emotions churning with a combination of pride, fear, and sorrow.

Faith sputtered for a moment while Gunn asked, “You know how to use that?” His voice wasn’t derisive or disbelieving, just curious.

Dawn stopped walking again and turned to look him in the eye. After a heartbeat, she had to look away, thinking, ‘I can’t... it looks like Giles!’

“Yeah,” she muttered, images of her recent experience flashing through her mind. “I... yeah...” She turned around and started walking again, saying, “Look, let’s just get inside, ok?”

‘No way am I telling you guys about that,’ she thought morosely. ‘God, I hope Xander gets back soon... I could really use a big ol’ Xander-hug right now.’

========== BtVS ==========

“So I guess Willow came through...” Xander said as he looked over his shoulder at the two in the back seat.

“Indeed.”

‘Ok...’ Xander thought, turning around and pulling away from the dumpster. ‘Giles voice from Gunn’s mouth... seriously weird.

“Xander... thank you. Thank you for coming, for protecting Dawn...” Joyce said, her voice filled with ardent emotion.

‘Just don’t look,’ Xander thought, deliberately keeping his eyes off the rearview mirror when she was speaking. ‘I’m pretty sure I’ll have nightmares if I start picturing Faith speaking with Mrs. Summers voice.

“You know me, always ready to help a Summers lady in need!” Xander quipped. In a more serious voice, he added, “I’m just sorry you guys were in trouble in the first place. Buffy sent you away so you’d be safe...”

“Well, that didn’t quite work as well as we planned,” Joyce said sadly.

“Actually...” Xander began.

‘Don’t know why Buffy didn’t just tell them... She didn’t tell me not to tell them, maybe she wanted me to get it out of the way for her?’ Xander pondered before continuing.

Seeing an exit in another relatively industrial area ahead, Xander checked the mirrors and crossed a couple lanes of traffic to take it. ‘Good time for a little counter-surveillance,’ he thought.

“Good lord!” Giles exclaimed at the abrupt maneuver.

Xander ignored his passengers for the moment, speeding down the off-ramp, taking a left and then a u-turn so he ended up parked on the shoulder, under the interstate, facing the ramp he’d just exited.

“What’s wrong?” Joyce asked fearfully.

Xander shook his head, “Nothing, just checking for a tail.”

“Well, a bit of warning would be appreciated next time,” Giles said, huffing.

“I’ll keep that in mind, G-man,” Xander said with an unrepentant grin.

They sat for a moment in silence while Xander considered his next move. ‘Hmm, do I get back on the interstate here, or chance trying to get to the next exit on side streets?’

“What were you saying, about sending us away to be safe?” Joyce asked.

“Oh, that,” Xander said. Making the decision to go ahead and tell them, he continued with a compassionate voice, “Well, Glory visited the Magic Box while we were in LA, and she also visited your house, Mrs. Summers...”

“Oh dear...” Giles said. “I don’t imagine she was pleased to find no one home...”

‘So... In England, is understatement, like, genetic, or do they teach it in school?’ Xander wondered.

“Yeah, she, um, she pretty much leveled the place,” Xander said hesitantly, hoping Mrs. Summers wouldn’t lose it in the car.

“She tore up my house?” Joyce asked with a squeak.

“Um, more down, actually,” Xander said tentatively. “There’s pretty much just a pile of debris, surrounded by police tape...”

“Oh my God!” Joyce cried, sounding extremely upset. “Our house? Oh, God, Rupert, what are we going to do? Where will we live?”

“We’ll deal with the situation, Joyce. We’ll work out something...” he said, apparently attempting to reassure her. His voice, however, showed a great deal of strain as well. “The important thing is that we are all alive and uninjured... as terrible as this is, just remember that Dawn and Buffy are alive and well. The rest we’ll just have to sort out as we can.”

‘Doesn’t look like anyone is following us,’ Xander thought. Immediately, his pessimistic side added, ‘Or, they’re just really, really good...’

Xander put the car in gear and started forward, turning up the on-ramp and back onto the highway. “So, there’s actually some good news on the housing situation...” he said as they merged into the light southbound traffic.

“Right now, any good news would be most welcome.” Giles said, sounding somewhat bleak.

Xander smiled, unable to help himself as this particular topic brought him such personal pleasure. “Well, you remember that mansion Deadboy stayed in while he was in Sunnydale?”

“Not bloody likely to forget it,” Giles growled.

‘Hmm, yeah, bad memories for G-man...’ Xander realized belatedly.

“Yeah, well it turns out that he wasn’t just squatting there, he actually owned it,” Xander started to explain.

“I... I’m not sure I’m comfortable with...” Joyce interjected hesitantly. “I’m sure he means well, but I don’t know that I really want Buffy being beholden to him...”

‘Oh yeah, I’m with you there Mrs. Summers!’ Xander thought as he realized her intent.

Shaking his head, Xander explained, “No, it’s not like that. He’s not letting us stay there, he *gave* the mansion to Tara. Signed the deed over and everything.”

Xander risked a glance at Mrs. Summers in the rear view, and couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of Faith, looking slack-jawed and speechless. ‘I’d love to see the real thing!’ he thought with much amusement.

“W- why... why... why would Angel...” Giles sputtered.

‘I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of telling this story,’ Xander thought, delighted. ‘Someday I gotta get Tara to tell me what happened in that room...’

“You’re gonna love this...” Xander started, his voice filled with laughter. “When we were in LA, Deadboy pitched a fit over the Buffster hooking up with Will and Tara. He went seriously jealous and possessive,”

“Oh my, did he hurt either of them?” Giles asked, sounding worried.

Xander laughed out loud at that. “No! Tara smacked him down like you wouldn’t believe. Heck, I was right there, and I almost don’t believe it!”

“Tara?” Joyce squeaked.

“Good Lord!” Giles huffed.

“So, then she threw him into the office there, and when he came back out a few minutes later, he was acting like a little kid, just come from the principal’s office,” Xander recounted. “I don’t know what she did to him in there, but after that, he wouldn’t even meet her eyes, and I’m pretty sure he almost called her Mistress one time- he said Tara, but I was watching him and his mouth was trying to make an ‘M’, not a ‘T’.”

“Good Lord!” Giles muttered again.

‘I don’t even have to look, I just know he’s cleaning those glasses!’ Xander thought with a chuckle.

“So, anyway, the mansion’s got seven bedrooms, but only one has a bed in it at the moment, and you know that one’s already full. I figure Mrs. Summers’ll stay with you, Giles. And, if you want, Dawn can stay in my spare bedroom until we get the mansion set up,” Xander said.

“Er, yes... well of course you can stay in my apartment, Joyce. I- I’ll just, um, use the couch...” Giles sputtered.

“Oh screw it, Rupert,” Mrs. Summers said tiredly. “I really don’t have the energy to care how Buffy reacts- I love you, and you better believe I’m sleeping in your bed, with you in it!” she declared, almost as if daring Xander to say something about it.

Xander laughed out loud again, as Giles stammered, torn between reassurances for his lover and explanations for Xander- neither coming out with any coherency.

“Buffy’s fine with it Mrs. Summers,” Xander said as his laughter dissipated. “We all think it’s great that you two got together.”

Giles was speechless, and Joyce sounded both surprised and pleased as she said, “Really? How did...”

“Well, he did spend the whole last conference call with his arm wrapped around you, and you were definitely leaning against him,” Xander explained. “G-man isn’t really much of a touchie-feelie kinda guy, so, you know... we put two and two together and came up with tweed.”

“This is the strangest, most awful, wonderful week of my life!” Joyce said in a bewildered voice.

“Definitely had its ups and downs... let’s just hope the worst is over...” Xander said.

‘Lets just get everyone home where we only have to deal with demons, vampires, the council, and some unknown person or demon who’s sending human assassins after some of us... Boy, won’t that be a relief!’ Xander mused bitterly. ‘Then I’ll be able to focus on my nightmares...’

“I must say, I am surprised and relieved to hear that Buffy took things well. I was concerned that she might react... well, forcefully,” Giles said contemplatively.

“Face it G-man, you two are the official parental figures of the Scooby gang. It makes sense for you to be together,” Xander said, feeling the truth of that in his heart.

“I... yes, well...” Giles began to stammer, embarrassedly.

“Although...” Xander set up the hammer. He paused for a moment to establish dramatic tension before dropping it, “She did say something about keeping the two of you away from cop-cars...”

‘Faith, blushing like a tenth-grade Willow!’ Xander crowed silently. ‘Now that is an image I’ll treasure forever!’

========== BtVS ==========

“I can’t believe you guys were staying in this place... it looks like something out of a bad seventies flick...” Gunn marveled as they entered the ‘pad’.

“Huggie-bear’s house,” Dawn said with a tiny smirk.

“You watch Starsky and Hutch?” Gunn asked with surprised sounding chuckle.

Dawn nodded, warming up to the LA demon-hunter. ‘So long as I don’t look at them, it’s ok.’ She thought.

“Aren’t you a little young to have watched that show?” Gunn asked with a hint of teasing in his voice.

“Neither of us is old enough to have watched that show...” Dawn replied. She went on to explain, “When I was a kid, I dunno, for some reason I always watched it. Every day.”

“You know what I can’t believe?” Faith interjected. “Aside from this total pimp pad, which I can’t wait to bug Jeeves about... I still can’t believe little sis is packing heat!”

Dawn cringed at the appellation. ‘I always hated it when she called me that. I am not little; I’m taller than Buffy!’ she mentally groused. ‘Not that that’s very tall...’

Dawn sat down on the couch and, feeling suddenly emboldened, asked, “Why do you do that Faith? Why do you call people nicknames you know they hate?”

‘Maybe it’s cause she looks like mom- unthreatening,’ Dawn thought of her sudden willingness to broach the subject.

“Willow hates being called Red, Giles hates being called Jeeves, Buffy always complained about you calling her B... And I refuse to listen to you call me little sis any more. It was annoying enough when I was actually smaller than Buffy.”

Gunn was failing to hide his snicker, while Faith painted the perfect picture of Dawn’s mom, completely flummoxed.

Suddenly worked up over this seemingly inconsequential topic, Dawn’s voice grew in intensity as she continued. “Do you really like pissing everyone off? Is that it? Or, is it some kind of defense mechanism so you don’t have to get close to anybody? So you can protect yourself from being hurt by people?”

Joyce Summers’ temporary doppelganger stood silently for several moments, her mouth flapping open, her eyes blinking rapidly.

Her momentary anger draining away just as suddenly as it sprang up, Dawn hugged herself and slumped into the couch. ‘Good job, Dawn. Tell off the unstable Slayer, maybe she’ll save the bad guys the trouble of paying someone to shoot you...”

Faith walked over to an unoccupied chair and dropped down into it. “Damn, you have had a bad week, haven’t you?” she asked. The ever-present smirk on her face dropping to half-mast.

“You have no idea,” Dawn muttered.

Faith’s smile was back in full force as she leaned back in her chair and asked, “So... what should I call you?”

‘I suppose my actual name would be out of the question,’ Dawn thought with a feeling of resigned annoyance.

“Whatever. You’ll do what you want, no matter what I think about it,” Dawn said with a sigh.

Gunn stifled his laughter, but it was enough to draw Faith’s attention.

“You got something to add laughing boy?” she asked with a glare.

The Giles look alike raised his hands as if warding off Faith’s glare. “Not me, I got no problem bein’ ‘G’!” he said with a laugh.

“That’s what I thought!” Faith grumbled good-naturedly.

“Man, Xan wasn’t kidding about you,” Gunn said with a broad smile. “Definitely not your normal fifteen year-old girl...”

========== BtVS ==========

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