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Title: Repercussions, Reactions and Retaliation Book III Author: The Bear!
Spoilers: None really, this is in the Triadverse AU and follows Reflections, which followed RR&R Book II
Pairing: Willow/Buffy/Tara Joyce/Giles Dawn/Xander Faith/Non-BtVS Characters
Summary: It’s the beginning of summer and things are heating up, in more ways than one!
Warnings: NC17 (People will eventually be having hot, sweaty, kinky, yummy sex in this story! (but not for a couple chapters or so...) If that offends you, feel free to PISS OFF)
Disclaimer: If I owned ‘em, they’d have to show it on the Xstasy Network.
========== BtVS ==========
Chapter 2
“So...” Willow’s voice sounded unusually hesitant.
Dawn pulled the bowls out of the cupboard and looked over to her friend and teacher, who was taking the icecream out of the freezer. ‘Uh oh, worried face,’ Dawn thought, seeing the pensive look.
“Yeah?” she prompted.
“I know you’re ready, like wanting it to happen and stuff... but are you ‘ready’ for when it does?” Willow asked quietly.
Dawn frowned lightly and walked over to the silverware drawer to get the spoons. ‘No need to ask what ‘it’ means... but ‘ready’?’ she thought.
“How do you mean?” she finally asked.
“Well, I mean, you know... if you went home and tonight turned out to be... the night...” Willow said tentatively.
Dawn set the spoons down next to the bowls and caught Willow’s gaze. “Willow, whatever it is, just say it, it’s not like I could get mad at you if I tried.”
It was Willow’s turn to frown in confusion. “Whaddya mean?”
“Not that I would ever want to try anyway...” Dawn continued her thought before catching Willow’s question.
“Why couldn’t you get mad at me?” Willow expanded her question once Dawn had finished her thought.
“Huh?” Dawn asked with a shake of her head. “Oh, um, well... I mean, come on Willow, you and Tara are like my mentors, or senseis or whatever you call it in witchcraft,” she said, feeling slightly embarrassed, yet at the same time earnest in her emotions and appreciation for the two witches. “Plus, you’re like my best friends, and you supported me with Buffy in the whole learning magic thing, not to mention the whole ‘not treating me like a child and hiding everything from me to protect me from the big bad world’ thing.”
Willow looked almost taken aback.
‘I probably should have said this stuff before,’ Dawn realized. ‘I’ve never really told them how important they are to me.’
“Willow, it’s like... I love Buffy. She’s my sister and she’s a pretty good sister despite any sibling rivalry stuff that goes on,” she tried to explain herself. “And, I love mom, cause she’s like the best mom ever- how could I not love her?”
Willow nodded in agreement to that.
“But, you and Tara? You guys are, like, the biggest influences in my life,” Dawn said simply. “When I think about what I want in life, who I want to be like... it’s you two. You guys are like my role-models... you’re my heroes,” she finished with a sheepish smile.
Willow had a tear in her eye and her lip was trembling as though she were about to weep. “Really?” she squeaked. “Y-you wanna be like us?”
“Yep, just like you,” Dawn said with a heartfelt smile. A sudden thought struck her, and replaced the smile with a frown. “Except, in the bedroom,” she hastily qualified. “I’m definitely preferring the Xander-shaped gender there.”
Willow laughed and quickly wiped the moisture from her eyes. “Well, no-one’s perfect, I guess,” she said humorously.
‘I do love you guys, just so much!’ Dawn thought happily. “So, what were you trying to ask me?”
“Oh, well...” Willow blushed, but continued, “I was wondering if you had thought about, you know, protection and... and other stuff...”
Dawn smiled, ‘I can’t believe she’s actually blushing. It’s so cute!’ she thought indulgently. “Well, as far as birth control, I went on the pill, like, two seconds after he kissed me for the first time,” she said with a slight flush of her own. “And he got tested to make sure he hadn’t caught anything from his hoe of an ex-girlfriend,”
“Dawn!” Willow exclaimed, her eyes wide with shock. “I wouldn’t call Cordelia...” she trailed off and her eyes grew impossibly wider as she stammered, “Oh, or-or... you meant Anya... oh...”
“It’s ok Willow. He told me about him and Cordelia getting together while you guys were in LA...” Dawn said resignedly.
“He did? I mean, good, of course he did...” Willow looked both relieved and worried at the same time. “You weren’t mad?” she asked tentatively.
“Oh I was mad; I was really mad,” Dawn admitted. “And he felt really guilty about it, which made me even madder, except at myself.”
“Why yourself?” Willow asked in surprise.
“Cause I totally had no right to be mad,” Dawn explained. “I mean, we weren’t going out or anything, and it’s not like he even knew how I felt about him... and you guys were going to face a hell-god, you all could have died. Who wouldn’t want to take some comfort in sex if you knew you could die the next day? I’d have to be a real bitch to blame him for that...”
She shook her head and changed the subject before things got too maudlin. “So, protection; check. As far as ‘other stuff’... I’m not sure what you mean?”
Willow seemed unwilling to change the subject immediately, as she said, “You know... you’re really a good person Dawn Summers. Xander is really lucky to have you.”
“I know,” Dawn answered light-heartedly, though she felt a deep warmth at Willow’s compliment. “But, I’m really lucky to have him too, so it all works out.”
Willow’s smile was wide and affectionate.
“Now then, let’s talk about this ‘other stuff’, cause if you’ve got some advice on how I can wow him or something, I’m totally all ears.
The redhead’s smile changed from affectionate to devilish, and she blushed rather fiercely. “Well,” she began, her voice dropping into a conspiratorial whisper. “First, there’s hair.”
“Hair?” Dawn asked, mystified by the seeming non-sequitor.
“Well, more like the lack thereof,” Willow explained. “As someone who both gives and receives of the oral attentions, I can tell you that hair can definitely interfere with things.”
“So you shave?” Dawn asked with some distaste. “I tried that, and can you say major unpleasantness? plus... stubble... not a good thing.”
Willow wrinkled her nose. “No, stubble is very bad,” she agreed.
“And I’m not sure I’m brave enough to do the waxing thing...” Dawn added hesitantly.
“High ouch factor,” Willow agreed with a visible shiver. “But, see, we’re witches! We have witchy ways of taking care of such things...”
“Really?” Dawn asked, perking up.
“Darn tootin!” Willow quipped. “Tara and I came up with an herbal ointment that you spread on, and then a simple spell, and it, like, turns off the follicle- you wash off and poof! No more hair. Ever!”
Dawn’s eyes lit up. “Oh, and can you use it on your legs too?” she asked, thinking ‘No more shaving my legs? That’d be awesome!’
“You can use it everywhere!” Willow gushed. “No more shaving, no more plucking... We did everything but eyelashes, eyebrows and scalp.”
“Wow!” Dawn sighed. “No plucking your eyebrows, no shaving your pits...”
“Yep, nothing but smooth, sexy skin, everywhere you touch...” Willow said dreamily, obviously reminiscing.
“I don’t know that I’d want Xander to be hairless, though.” Dawn said. “I kinda like the feel of the hair on his chest...”
Willow shook her head, apparently snapping herself out of her daydream. “Oh, right... talking about guys...” she mumbled. “But, you don’t have to use it on him, it’s more about you using it on you... for him, and cause it’s for him, it means he’ll be more with the touching and, and licking and stuff, which is good for you too; so it’s on you for him for you...” she babbled.
Dawn nodded, grinning Willow’s excitement. “I’m totally on board, Willow. Do we need to make some, or is there a recipe you can give me... oh, is the spell something I can do myself, or will I need your help?” she asked in a bit of her own babble.
“I made some for you,” Willow said. “Kinda an early birthday present...”
“That’s a really good present!” Dawn said sincerely. “I don’t think there’s a girl around that would turn that down!”
“Well, most couldn’t do the spell, even if they believed in magic,” Willow said.
“Is it a difficult spell?” Dawn asked.
“Oh, I think you can handle it,” Willow reassured her. “Except for the whole ‘being unfocused’ lately, you’re really picking up the magic very quickly.”
“Well, you guys make it so easy... you do it through me, and it’s like I’m doing it myself, and then I really can do it myself!” Dawn said joyfully. “So, what other advice can you give me?”
“I dunno, Oz was pretty vanilla when it came to sex... I never did anything really adventurous until I switched sides...” Willow said after a moment’s thought.
“There wasn’t anything special he liked?” Dawn asked in surprise.
“Well... he liked oral; I’m pretty sure all guys like that.” Willow answered. “The important things to remember are suction is nice, but a steady rhythm is more important. Oh, and no teeth!”
“Steady rhythm, suction good, teeth bad...” Dawn repeated. “I’ll remember that.” She paused hesitantly before asking her next question. “Willow, can I... I mean, it’s totally cool if you don’t want to say, but I was wondering... what was it like?”
“What, oral sex?” Willow asked.
“That too, I just... everything, I guess,” Dawn said uncertainly. “I have all these dreams and fantasies about being with Xander... and in my mind I picture it being the most amazing, wonderful thing ever... at the same time, I hear girls at school talking about it and it seems terrible! Like, they were uncomfortable, and it hurt, and, I dunno... they just sound like they hated it. So I wondered... what was it like for you?”
Willow leaned back against the counter with a thoughtful look on her face. After a moment she said, “I remember thinking at the time that it was the best night of my life...”
“Really!?” Dawn said, feeling encouraged.
“Yeah, it was really nice,” Willow said a little bit wistfully. “Of course, since then I’ve experienced things that make that seem like nothing... but at the time...” She looked back down, meeting Dawn’s eyes and said, “I think that being in love makes all of the difference. I bet those girls you’re talking about didn’t like it ‘cause the guys were all about getting themselves off- they probably didn’t care about the girls’ feelings and stuff.” She smiled warmly and added, “I really don’t think you’re going to have that problem with Xander. I think he’ll put you first, like it’ll be all about you, and how you feel, and I think Xander knows how to make you feel really good. At least going by the way Cordelia reacted.”
Dawn half frowned at that particular reference.
“Sorry,” Willow said. “It’s just, it’s not like I’d know myself...”
“Yeah,” Dawn said. “I suppose that’s a good sign, though. I mean, even though it was just sex- not love, he still took care to make her feel good... it’s just hard not to be jealous about that, even though I know I shouldn’t be...”
“Oh!” Willow blurted out suddenly.
“What?” Dawn asked, startled by the abrupt exclamation.
“I just realized... you’re going to have a lot harder time giving Xander head than I did Oz...”
“What do you mean?” Dawn asked.
“Well, Oz... let’s just say Oz was a small man in all aspects...” Willow said with a grin.
“Oh...” Dawn said with a frown. “Oh! Gulp!” she exclaimed when the reference sank in.
“I’d say, more like a super-big gulp!” Willow added cattily.
“Willow!” Dawn exclaimed with a laugh. A moment later she again frowned with realization, “Hey, how would you know?”
Willow blushed until her skin approached parity with her hair. “Well, uh, you see...” she stammered.
“Spill!” Dawn commanded, hands on hips and eyes narrowed.
“Well, there was... an incident. The day after we fought glory, and anyway Xander ended up having to take a shower, and no clean clothes and so he was wearing a towel, and sitting down like guys do, there was, well... there was visibility...”
“So basically you were looking up his skirt!” Dawn said, slightly annoyed, but seeing the humor of the situation.
“Not intentionally!” Willow said defensively. “I mean, Faith made a comment, and, you know, I just turned to see what she was talking about and... there it was...” she finished sheepishly.
Dawn couldn’t help but laugh at the chagrined look on Willow’s face. “He is really big...” she said.
“Oh yeah!” Willow gushed in agreement, then blushed again at Dawn’s raised eyebrow. “I think... after you get used to it, you’re going to be a very happy girl!” she opined.
It was Dawn’s turn to blush.
“I think, it might be a good idea to start doing some stretching exercises though...” Willow added.
Dawn blushed harder, but admitted, “Actually... I thought of that already... I bought a yoga video about a month ago...”
Willow laughed loudly at that.
“Hey you two!” Tara’s voice sounded out.
Dawn and Willow turned just as the blonde entered the kitchen. “Did you guys get lost?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Willow was giving me some pointers on things to do with Xander...” Dawn said with a grin. ‘Ha, make fun of me, will you?’ she thought snarkily as Willow sputtered.
“Were you?” Tara asked with a raised eyebrow of her own.
“I... uh...” Willow stammered. Turning to Dawn, she said, “Remember what I said about you being a good person? Well, I take it all back!”
Dawn and Tara shared a laugh.
========== BtVS ==========
“Hey guys!” Buffy’s voice rang out as the Slayer entered the mansion.
Dawn laughed as Willow squealed, “Buffy’s home!” and jumped up from the couch, throwing herself at the deceptively petite blonde.
She looked at Tara and saw a similar level of excitement in the blonde witch’s eyes, though she didn’t leap at the Slayer as Willow had. “You guys say I’m silly around Xander...” she said, rolling her eyes.
Tara just shrugged, her grin not abating one whit as she rose to greet her lover. “You are,” she said as she walked by Dawn. “I never said we weren’t.”
Dawn smiled indulgently and turned her attention back to the TV while the triad kissed their hellos. ‘They are just too sappy sometimes...’ she thought warmly.
“So where’d you go?” Willow asked as the three of them dropped onto the couch beside Dawn.
“Oh, I went over to Xander’s and hung out for a little while...” Buffy replied.
Dawn stiffened at Buffy’s words. ‘Great!’ she thought, annoyed with her sister. ‘She always makes Xander uncomfortable, cause she’s still not really accepting him and I being together...’
“Oh, that’s nice,” Tara said happily. “You guys haven’t spent much time together just the two of you in a while...”
“Too true, I’ve been the neglectful friend,” Buffy admitted. “Speaking of,” she leaned forward and turned to Dawn and said, “Hey Dawn, can I steal you away from your boyfriend tomorrow?”
‘Hmm, I think that’s the first time she’s actually referred to Xander as my boyfriend...’ Dawn thought pensively. ‘Not sure if that’s good or bad...’ Aloud, she replied, “What for?”
“Well, I thought maybe for your birthday present, I could take you out for a day of shopping?” Buffy asked with a hopeful smile.
“Really?” Dawn asked, her annoyance suddenly taking a back seat to excitement.
“Yep,” Buffy answered with a grin. “Just you and me and the mall.”
“I suppose I could fit that into my busy schedule...” Dawn said, her enthusiastic grin belying any diffidence in her statement.
“Cool!” Buffy chirped. “We’ll do the bonding thing the way sisters should...”
“By spending lots of money!” Dawn completed the thought, smiling happily.
“Absolutely!” Buffy agreed with a laugh.
========== BtVS ==========
“Come on, come on...” Faith muttered impatiently, staring at the door she’d just knocked on. ‘I could just knock it down...’ she thought as she anxiously waited for it to open.
Turning her head, she looked around the porch and meticulous front yard of the upscale, suburban home she was visiting. The home of Alex and Beth, her increasingly frequent ‘one-night-stand’ lovers.
She whipped around as the door finally opened.
“Faithy!” Beth gushed excitedly. “I thought you were meeting us at the bronze?”
‘Easy Faith, don’t knock down the pretty lady,’ the Slayer thought as she reigned in her impulse to just barge in. “Can I come in?” she asked agitatedly.
Beth’s eyes narrowed unexpectedly. “Since when do you need an invitation?” she asked with a note of suspicion in her voice.
The mood shift caught Faith by surprise and threw her mind off track for a moment. “Huh?” she asked.
Suddenly Alex appeared at the door behind his wife and coldly said, “It’s after sundown Faith.”
Faith looked around once again and saw that it was in fact beginning to get dark. “Right, stupid of me...” she muttered, angry now at herself. “forgot...”
Alex and Beth stepped back, leaving the door open. Their expressions showed mistrust as they waited.
“I’m not a vampire, guys,” Faith said, stepping into the room. “I forgot that you even knew about that stuff...”
The looks of relief and resumed happiness on their faces caused a simultaneous warm, fuzzy feeling and a pang of combined guilt, confusion and sorrow in the dark Slayer’s confused heart.
“Faithy, you had me worried there for a minute,” Beth said with a relieved exhale.
“Me too!” Alex exclaimed.
They moved towards Faith as though to embrace her when she held up her hand to stop them, saying, “We need to talk.”
Looking taken aback, Faith’s two lovers exchanged a worried glance. “Ok,” Alex said, gesturing toward the living room. “Let’s sit down and... talk...”
The couple took a seat on the couch, leaving an obvious space for Faith to join them. “What is it Faith? What’s got you all tied up in knots?” Beth asked softly, her voice filled with genuine concern.
Faith declined to sit, too agitated to even stand in one place, she paced back and forth with the coffee table separating her from the seated couple. After a moment, she stopped, crossed her arms under her chest and blurted, “What do you want from me?”
Alex and Beth looked startled by the question.
“This thing...” Faith continued, pacing once again as the spoke. “This thing with you two... it’s getting outta control!”
Again, silent shock was the only response from the couple on the couch.
“You two are hot, I’m hot- we hook up on the dance-floor, we go back to your place, screw, I go home and shower. That’s the way it works.” Faith stated. “Ok, it happens again a couple weeks later, but that’s it- end of story. I don’t do repeats again and again... I sure as hell don’t fricken make plans... that’s like... like a date or something!”
“Faith...” Alex started, sounding almost sad.
“No! No!” Faith interjected, pointing at him almost accusingly. “You don’t get it, I don’t date! I get some, I get gone! That’s what I do, ok?”
“Did we do something wrong?” Beth asked, her voice quavering and a tear in her eye.
‘It’s a lie!’ Faith shouted to herself, trying to ignore the burning in her stomach that came from seeing Beth near tears. “Why are you doing this?” she demanded, her own voice cracking with emotion. “Why do you keep asking me over here? Why do you keep trying to get me to stay the whole night?” her voice was rising to a shout as she continued, “What do you want from me!?”
“We want you,” Alex said simply. His jaw was clenched as he apparently tried to master his own emotions.
‘It’s a trick! Don’t fall for it!’ Faith’s internal voice yelled. “Want me? You don’t know me, how could you possibly want me?” she hissed, unintentionally letting some of her own insecurity show with her question.
“You’re right,” Alex admitted, sounding defeated. “We don’t.”
“But we want to!” Beth quickly interjected. “We keep hoping... th-that you’ll let us in... even just a little...”
“That’s crap, you don’t want me!” Faith interrupted, feeling angry and confuse and afraid all at the same time. She immediately went on the offensive, shouting, “You just want a screw-toy for the occasional threesome. I was just an easy target.”
“That’s not true!” Alex objected loudly. He immediately dropped his voice and his _expression_ became one of affection as he tried to reassure her, “We were drawn to you Faith... it’s not like... look, there hasn’t been anyone else but you, ok? It’s only you that we want.”
“Only you!” Beth agreed, nodding her head intently.
“Stop it!” Faith screamed. “Stop freaking saying that!”
The couple recoiled in shock at Faith’s vehemence.
“You don’t want me! You don’t know me!” Faith shouted, a look of hatred on her face. “If you knew anything about me you’d never have even looked at me! I’m a freaking mess!”
Faith’s posture became one of defeat as she whispered, “I’m damaged goods, ok? If you knew the truth about me you’d be kicking me out the door so fast...”
“Try us.” Beth said challengingly.
“Huh?” Faith asked, thrown.
“She said try us,” Alex answered. “You might be surprised”
Faith stood silent, the turmoil in her heart spilling over and causing actual physical pain. ‘It’s not real, it can’t be real...’
“Faith, please!” Beth cried softly. “We care about you, please... trust us not to hurt you...”
“That’s right, Faith. We do care about you, and for you...” Alex started to say.
“No... you can’t...” Faith muttered- as much to herself as in response to them. “You can’t care about a murderer...”
‘Oh God, I said it!’ she yelled at herself in horror. The voice of her insecurities sneered at her in response, ‘Now they know, now they’ll shut you out like you deserve. No one will ever love you; not them, and certainly not Buffy. Why did you even bother to think that they could?’
“Oh, Faith,” Beth’s soft voice washed over the dark Slayer.
Faith felt her body and mind harden against the guilt she felt, against the rejection she knew was coming. Instinctively she lashed out, “You care now? Well I don’t. I don’t care at all. I’m not built to care, I’m built to kill- that’s what I do. I’m a killer, you understand?”
In the midst of her fervent rant, she wasn’t even seeing the two people in front of her. She was yelling at herself primarily- her surroundings not really even registering anymore in her fit of self-loathing. “I should be locked up in prison, that’s where I belong, that’s where I was, but I’m such a damn good killer that they let me out when they needed some more killing done!”
“Faith, please don’t...” Alex softly said, reaching out to touch her.
“No!” Faith recoiled from him violently, nearly falling backward over the chair behind her. “No! Don’t freaking touch me! Don’t you get it? I screw and I slay- that’s what I do, that’s all I do, it’s all I’m good for! You’ve had the screw... You keep hanging around me and you’ll end up dead too!”
Full of rage and self-hatred, Faith spun around and ran from the room. She nearly tore the door off of the hinges in her need to escape. Filled with the immediate need to hurt something she headed at full Slayer-speed for the nearest cemetery.
========== BtVS ==========
“She’s gone...” Alex said, walking back in through the now loose front door. “I think we’re going to have to replace these hinges,” he muttered as he struggled to get the door closed.
“Where did she go?” Beth asked, her voice filled with worry and sadness.
Alex shook his head in wonder as he answered, “I don’t know. God, she’s so fast! By the time I made it past the porch she was already out of sight.”
“Oh God! Alex, what are we going to do?” Beth whispered frantically. “How are we going to get her back?”
Alex wrapped his wife in his arms and held her tight. “I don’t know, Bethy” he admitted. “What ever we come up with, we’d better do it fast!”
Beth nodded silently against his chest. “He made it clear that he wasn’t going to accept failure on our part...”
“Ha, don’t worry about him, my love,” Alex said with a humorless laugh. “That old fool doesn’t know his ass from a hole in the ground.”
“Still,” Beth cautioned. “We are supposed to be working for him...”
“I’m not concerned about him, as much as I am about them!” Alex whispered. “If we can’t get her back- quickly- I’m afraid they’re going to pull us off the case!”
“You think?” Beth asked; her voice filled with worry.
“At the very least!” he whispered with evident fear in his voice. “Maybe even worse...”
She leaned back to meet his eyes and softly gasped, “You mean...?”
“Terminal option...” he answered with a slow nod.
========== BtVS ==========
TheBear!
Willow: "It's a good fight, Buffy, and I want in." Buffy: "I kinda love you." --'Choices' Community email addresses: Post message: buffywantswillow@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Subscribe: buffywantswillow-subscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Unsubscribe: buffywantswillow-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx List owner: buffywantswillow-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Shortcut URL to this page: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/buffywantswillow Official archive for the list: http://www.ikoly.com/fanfic Other links to Buffy/Willow fics: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/buffywantswillow/links Yahoo! Groups Links
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