Repercussions, Reactions and Retaliation (7a/?) W/B/T NC17

Author: The Bear!

Spoilers: None really, this is in the Triadverse AU and follows The Please Trilogy and The Triad Trilogy

Pairing: Willow/Buffy/Tara primarily, but other Scoobies are hooked up as well.

Summary: With Glory defeated, things should quiet down for a while... shouldn’t they?

Warnings: NC17 over all (Part 7 is pretty much Rish)

Author’s Note: 6b will be out tomorrow. Probably. If you’re impatient, you can join my list and see it right now!

Visit http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BearCave_BtVS/

Or send an email to BearCave_BtVS-subscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Disclaimer: If I owned ‘em, they’d have to show it on the Ecstasy Network.

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

Part 7

“Ok, be there in five...” Xander said, closing the cell phone as he approached his exit from I15.

‘Not sure if I’m happy that no one followed us to the airport or not...’ he thought. The momentary relief that he’d felt from safely dropping Giles and Joyce off at the airport was being eroded by tension as he approached the safehouse.

‘On the one hand, it could mean there was no one watching the safehouse at all,’ he thought hopefully. ‘After all, it was less than 12 hours ago... whoever set it up would have to find out that it failed, set up a new assassin, brief them, get them in place... not likely in half a day.’

His churning gut seemed unimpressed with that logic.

‘On the other hand, there could have been someone already set to go if it failed... someone already in Vegas, just waiting for the call...’ his pessimistic side reminded him, causing his anxiety to grow even more.

“No, I’m not gonna freak over this!” Xander told himself firmly. “I made a plan, it’s a good plan, just gotta focus and execute.”

‘It’ll happen or it won’t; either way, we’ll be ready...’ he reassured himself.

As he approached the end of the road, Xander shut off his headlights. ‘One more turn around both before we go...’ he decided. He rolled down his window and drove slowly around the safehouse, his eyes trained out into the open ground beyond the parking lot. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, he made the same circuit around the opposing building.

“Ok, it’s as good as I’m going to get,” he muttered to himself. “Now if I could just get my heart to quit trying to pound its way out of my chest!”

He parked alongside the manhole cover, so that it was only a step away from the driver’s door. He turned off the engine and quickly exited the car. He used a trick Faith had taught him to open the manhole cover- a six inch shoelace with a chopstick tied to either end-one stick slipped through the hole, the other acting as a handle so he could lift the heavy chunk of steel up out of the recess in which it rested.

“Xander?” Dawn’s questioning voice floated up softly from below.

Xander felt the corners of his mouth pull back into a smile as he heard her voice. “Yeah, it’s me.” He called back quietly. After taking one last look around, and up at the building in front of him; Xander climbed down the ladder.

When he reached the bottom, he turned and looked at her. ‘Wow,’ he thought as he took in her appearance. ‘God, it’s only been a week, but she looks... different somehow. In a really good way.’

“Hi,” Dawn said softly, staring into his eyes.

‘Jeeze Xan, stare much?’ he chastised himself for his rudeness.

“Sorry,” Xander muttered with a shake of his head. “Hey Dawn, it’s really good to see you! You doin’ ok?”

She nodded and continued to smile, but her eyes told a different story.

“Come on now, what’s wrong Dawnie?” Xander asked, suddenly concerned.

Dawn swallowed hard and her eyes were shining with unshed tears. Her smile died away and her lip started to quiver slightly as she said, “I... it’s just been...” she swallowed hard again before continuing. “It’s been a really long week...” Her voice was strained, as though she were holding back some deep emotion.

“Oh Dawn...” Xander whispered, stepping forward and wrapping his arms around her. “I know what you mean.”

The youngest Summers clutched tightly to him, her head buried in his chest. He was surprised that she didn’t begin sobbing, as she seemed so near to it. ‘This is the first time I think someone’s come after her like that... almost getting killed twice in a week is definitely not fun, especially the first time!’ he thought.

“I’m really glad you’re here,” Dawn said in a small voice. “Thank you so much for coming!”

Xander leaned back enough to look into her eyes as he answered. “Of course I came, Dawn. You know I’d do anything for my favorite Summers girl!”

The teasing note in his voice faltered and his mouth went suddenly dry as Dawn’s answering smile lit up her face. ‘Holy God! Dawn’s... not a little girl any more!’ he suddenly realized. His hands brushing down her back were no longer tracing the narrow frame of Buffy’s little sister, but rather the curves of a young woman who was in fact more ‘womanly’ than the Slayer herself.

“We, um... we should...” he stammered, backing away suddenly. “We should go... Long drive ahead...”

Dawn nodded, “Yeah, we should hit the road.”

‘Wow, Dawnie’s got... boy that shirt looks good...’ Xander closed his eyes and shook his head.

“Right, ok, uh... I’ll go first...” he stammered, turning and starting up the ladder.

‘Dammit Xander! Focus on the fricken situation! Ogle Dawn’s chest later...’ He again gave his head an angry shake as he reached the opening, thinking, ‘I am so a dead man...’

He was able to pull himself together sufficiently to draw his pistol and begin scanning the surrounding area even as he opened the car door and waited for Dawn to follow.

Xander congratulated himself on the fact that he didn’t once look down at Dawn climbing up the ladder, despite his inner pervert’s pressure to get a look down that low-cut tank top. ‘Good job Xan, you actually focused on the life-or-death threat rather than Buffy’s little sister’s body! God, what the hell is wrong with me?’

Of course as soon as his attention slipped, he found himself staring at her as she climbed across the front seat of the car. He quickly jumped in the car himself and started it up. As he hit the gas to pull away, his mind moved beyond the incredibly distracting image of Dawn’s backside and he thought, ‘Was that a gun in her waistband?’

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

“Goddess, look at her!” Tara breathed out in awe.

“I know!” Willow gushed. “I mean, she’s always been amazing, but this is unbelievable!”

Tara took a quick glance around at her surroundings. ‘Don’t want anything sneaking up on us while we’re watching the show!’ she thought.

Buffy was fighting five vampires and clearly loving it. She hadn’t even drawn her stake from her belt, apparently enjoying the hand to hand too much to end it quickly.

One of the vampires that Buffy had thrown through a wrought-iron fence reentered the fray, brandishing a length of fence post. As the Slayer was stepping down from a spinning back kick, He stepped up behind her and swung the bar down like a hammer on a railroad spike.

Tara’s eyes widened in fear- it seemed Buffy wasn’t aware of the attack. Her perception of time slowed and the iron bar came down toward the top of her lover’s head with a seemingly inexorable force. She barely had time to even think, ‘Oh no!’ when suddenly Buffy moved in a blur, seeming to disappear and instantly reappear behind her assailant.

Time snapped back to normal as Buffy took advantage of the vamp’s over extension, kicking up between his legs with such force that the body flew up into the air. The vampire made three complete forward rotations, flying between two of his flabbergasted compatriots, and crumpling into a large marble monument.

“Goddess!” Willow gasped in shock. “Did you see that? How...?”

“That’s... that’s not...” Tara stammered in shock. “No-one can move that fast, can they?”

The blonde Slayer threw her hands up into the air and shouted “Goal!”

Tara looked at Willow and saw a mirror of her own stunned disbelief on the redhead’s face.

She looked back just in time to see Buffy flying through the air, pirouetting like a ballerina, except with her legs fully extended as her feet simultaneously shattered the skulls of the two vamps acting as goalposts to her earlier kick.

“Oohh!” Willow groaned loudly, echoing Tara’s own internal warmth. “No panties Mistress!” the redhead crooned; her reaction to the shock of Buffy’s movements apparently replaced by lust.

‘I second that groan,’ Tara thought as her desire flamed- though not quite sufficient to wipe out her lingering astonishment. ‘But I still can’t believe what just happened!’

Her playthings all lying broken on the ground, Buffy finally drew her stake and rapidly finished them off.

‘Something is definitely happening to us,’ Tara thought. ‘We’re getting very powerful, very quickly... I’m not sure how, but we need to find out.’

Buffy stood in the midst of the dusty remains of her attackers and reached up above her head in a giant stretch, arching her back, causing her breasts to jut out against the black sports bra she was wearing. Her lean torso looked pale in the moonlight, the marks Tara had put there were faded to light pink stripes. Her groan of pleasure as she released the stretch was loud and deep, and she began walking toward the two witches with clear purpose. The pleated material of her short skirt flared and spun around her hips enticingly with each undulating strut. Her hands slowly moved over her stomach and up to push her breasts together, deliberately enhancing and displaying her cleavage for her lover’s pleasure as she neared them.

‘Later,’ Tara thought; her pet’s behavior ratcheting the blonde witch’s desire up a notch with each swaggering step. ‘Research later...’

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

“How do you aim that?” Dawn asked, watching Xander as he knelt beside the car, scanning the area around her mother’s Jeep with an invisible scope, attached to an invisible rifle.

Xander was providing cover as they waited for the disguised Faith and Gunn to exit the safe-house. They were parked about one hundred fifty yards from the two buildings, their car mostly hidden from view by the dip in the terrain at that point on the road.

“Well, it’s kind of weird, but Willow made it so the scope still works,” Xander quietly explained, not taking his eyes off the target area. “You just gotta be looking right in line with the lens, or it just disappears... very strange, but very useful.”

“Gotta love that Willow,” Dawn said lightly.

Dawn was kneeling beside Xander, keeping her eyes open to the surrounding area as he had instructed. She’d been surprised at Xander’s seeming indifference at the fact she was carrying a pistol. ‘I figured he’d kinda freak, like Faith did,’ she thought.

“Yeah, I always have; even before she could do neat tricks like completely defying the laws of physics...” Xander said in a humorous tone.

“I know, that’s like, so coo...” Dawn began.

“Hup, there they are!” Xander interjected- still soft spoken, but all seriousness as he swept his weapon back and forth, clearly looking for the slightest threat.

The chill of adrenaline flowed once again through Dawn’s body as the stress of the situation manifested. ‘Ok Dawn, just breathe, no passing out this time!’ she demanded of herself. She kept her pistol pointed downward, and her finger off the trigger, but her eyes relentlessly swept back and forth over the area. ‘I’m not going to let him down! Not going to let him down!’ she commanded herself over and over.

“Ok, they’re in the Jeep...” Xander whispered. In the distance the sound of car-door closing was immediately followed by the engine starting.

“Moving...” Xander continued his commentary.

Dawn’s eyes flicked to the side as the Jeep Cherokee passed by with what looked like her mother and Giles inside. ‘It’s ok, it’s gonna be ok...’ she told herself, still feeling her heart pound and her veins flow with ice.

They remained in position for roughly half a minute before Xander stood up and said, “Ok, let’s go.”

‘Thank God!’ Dawn thought with a sigh of relief as she slid into the passenger seat.

“So, does that mean we’re safe?” She asked; hesitant, yet very much needing to hear some reassurance.

“It’s a good sign... but someone is out to get you and Giles, so I wouldn’t say you’re safe.” Xander said, his voice tight.

“But it means we’re probably safe tonight at least, right?” Dawn asked, her voice hopeful as they pulled back onto the pavement and followed after the departed Jeep.

Xander glanced at her for a moment before turning his attention back to the road. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly before answering. “Probably, but we should still be careful...”

“Of course...” Dawn agreed softly. She sat quietly and watched out the windshield as they drove onto I15.

The silence was uncomfortable, but she had no idea of what to talk about. ‘There’s all this stuff, and I don’t know how to talk about it, or if I should even bring it up...’ she lamented.

After a moment Xander broke the silence, asking the question she’d been expecting all along. “So, Dawn, what’s up with the pistol?”

“Um, well... Giles gave it to me, you know, in case...” she answered.

She was afraid, torn between wanting to avoid the subject, and wanting to unburden herself of the whole thing. ‘If anyone could understand, it’d be Xander...’ she told herself. ‘But what if he doesn’t? What if he doesn’t want to be around someone who’s killed people?’

“I didn’t know Giles even owned a gun,” Xander objected, breaking into her worrying.

“Um, it’s not really his...” Dawn started.

“Not his?” Xander questioned.

“He, uh... well he took it,” Dawn stammered. She shook her head and started over, “See, we were walking on the strip, looking at the casinos and stuff, and this guy tried to mug us, and Giles totally kicked his ass!”

“Wait a minute,” Xander protested. “You guys got mugged?” His voice clearly conveying shock and outrage.

“Not exactly, see, we were looking at the shows and stuff that the casinos have outside along the strip- which, by the way, were pretty cool!” Dawn started once again. She had no problem telling this story, it being safe ground, as it were. “Anyway, we get to the Mirage, and they’re doing all this construction and stuff, so there weren’t really any other people around. So, this guy jumps out and starts yelling ‘give me your wallet!’ and stuff, and Giles was totally awesome. I was so surprised! I had no idea he could fight like that... he took out his wallet and hands it to this guy, but when the guy goes to grab it, Giles dropped it and grabbed the guy’s gun, and the guy was bending down like he was going after the wallet, and Giles smashed the guy’s face with his knee!”

“Whoa!” Xander exclaimed. “Then what?”

“Giles hit him in the throat and that was it. We went back to the Jeep and took off,” Dawn recalled.

With a laugh, Dawn remembered her mother’s reaction. “Oh, and mom was so acting like Buffy after a fight.”

“What do you mean?” Xander asked when she paused.

“Um, I forgot, I didn’t tell you yet...” she started, “Well Giles and mom...”

Xander laughed out loud, “You mean she got turned on by the fighting?”

“How’d you know that?” Dawn demanded in shock.

“Dawn, we all know about Giles and your mom, we saw the way they were acting during that call this afternoon...” Xander explained.

“Darn!” Dawn pouted. “I really wanted to see Buffy’s face when she found out.”

Xander chuckled at that. “Trust me, you didn’t miss anything. She was totally cool with it, she said, ‘It’s about time.’ Everybody’s cool with it.”

“Really?” Dawn squeaked in surprise. “I totally thought she’d freak out!”

“We all did,” Xander said. “I think her not freaking was a bigger surprise than finding out they were together in the first place. Speaking of which, how long has that been going on?”

“It just happened,” Dawn reminisced fondly. “It was the first night we got here, and Mom gave Giles this whole speech about how maybe she didn’t need a man in her life, but she wanted one... and not in just a dating kind of way.”

“She said this in front of you?” Xander exclaimed in shock.

“Ugh, God no!” Dawn protested, freaking at the thought.

“Then how’d you...” Xander asked suspiciously.

“Umm...” Dawn said, embarrassed to admit her nosiness.

“You were spying, weren’t you?” Xander accused in a teasing voice.

“Well... kinda...” Dawn confessed grudgingly. “But, only while they were talking! I took off before any smoochies started, I swear!”

“We’ll have to start calling you Dawn the Spy!” Xander teased.

Though she heard the teasing note in his voice, Dawn pleaded in a pouty voice, “Oh Xander, please don’t tell, mom’d kill me!”

She put on her best sorrowful _expression_, leaning toward him and looking up through her lashes; shooting him pure puppy-dog eyes when he glanced her way.

Xander’s joking smile faltered as he looked at her.

“Please Xander? I’ll do anything...” Dawn pleaded, only semi-serious.

His eyes widened and his mouth fell open a little as his breathing deepened noticeably. “Unh,” he said in a grunt, and then he closed his eyes and shook his head for a brief second before turning back to watch where he was driving.

‘What’s wrong?’ Dawn wondered, suddenly concerned. ‘Did I do something wrong?’

Xander licked his lips and his voice was slightly horse as he said, “Don’t worry Dawn, I... I won’t rat you out.”

Worried, Dawn slid closer to him on the bench seat and put one hand on his shoulder. “You ok?” she asked, her voice laced with her concern.

“No, good, I’m good...” Xander said quickly, nodding his head as though agreeing with himself. He glanced over at her for just a second, then snapped his attention back to the road before them. He blushed and muttered, “It’s... just... It’s a little warm in here is all.”

“Ok...” Dawn said, not believing him. She dropped her hand, but stayed where she was on the seat.

Xander opened his window an inch or so, muttering, “Really warm...”

‘What the hell...?’ Dawn fretted, furiously trying to figure out what had happened just now. She looked down at her wringing hands in her lap, thinking, ‘What did I do? What...’

Suddenly her focus widened beyond her hands, taking in her outfit, specifically her low-cut tank top and the not insubstantial amount of cleavage it showed. ‘Oh my God! Oh my God! He was checking me out!’ she realized excitedly. ‘Xander Harris was checking me out, and he liked it! He got turned on! By me!’

She had to force herself to remain relatively still in her seat. In her mind she was turning cartwheels and jumping for joy.

“I’m, uh, gonna call Gunn... see where those two are...” Xander muttered, still sounding distracted.

“Cool!” Dawn chirped.

Though her voice was cool, her brain was turning cartwheels. ‘Xander thinks I’m sex-y, Xander thinks I’m sex-y!’ she singsonged happily in her mind.

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

TheBear!

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