Dom/Xander fic, part 28
You know, I think of this stuff, and then I'm like, "Dude, that's so completely ridiculous. You can't do that." And then I think, "It's Xom. There is nothing too ridiculous to go in the Xom."
But I think I need to apologize in advance for this one. Sorry, guys.
Previous parts are here.
***
Dom finds himself in a large white space, extending as far as he can see. It is featureless and pearly, pure glowing white all around. In the middle of it, a young woman sits at a computer, typing. She has curly brown hair and dark eyes, is wearing jeans and a t-shirt, and on the top of one bare foot there is a tattoo in the shape of a star. MMMBop is coming out of the computer's speakers. After a moment, the woman glances up at him.
"You're not supposed to be up here, Dom," she says in a bored tone.
Dom starts. "How do you know my name?"
She rolls her eyes and hits a few more keys. "I know a lot of stuff."
Dom blinks. "Oh yeah? Like what?"
"Billy's a werewolf, Orli has antennae, Hannah's a Slayer, Xander just came back from who knows where, and you're freaking out a little bit," she rattles off. Then she grins suddenly. "Actually... okay, watch this." She hits a button on the computer and suddenly text begins to appear against the white space behind her. Dom reads, There is a guy at the bar with an eye patch, and this is maybe the most interesting thing that Dom has ever seen in LA. At first he thinks maybe the guy's wearing it ironically - but who wears eye patches ironically? Wouldn't that be like using crutches ironically? Bad taste, even for America.
"Hey!" Dom says, wonderingly. "That's the first time I saw Xander. That's... what I was *thinking*, the first time I saw Xander."
"I know," she says. "I wrote it."
"How did you..."
"Welcome to the White Room," she says. "Where you meet the people who make things happen. Or whatever."
Dom stares at her. "So... wait. You're saying that you're the reason my whole life has gone insane lately?"
She smirks. "Yup. You're welcome."
Dom rubs his forehead, trying to rub out the headache he can feel beginning. "I... this is too weird."
"My better judgment says that it really, really is. But at least you're not bored, right?" she says.
He just looks at her.
She shrugs and tosses him something, which he catches automatically. It's a cherry lollipop.
"What's this?" he asks.
"Is there something else you'd rather have?"
He thinks. "Actually, no. I was just wanting one of these."
"I know," she says. "Consider it my apology for the storm that hunted you guys down. And the cut on your arm. And the werewolf thing. Et cetera."
"You... you're the one who... with the lightning and the... and you give me candy?" Dom sputters.
"Well, it's better than nothing, right?" she says. He stares at her. Finally she sighs. "Look, I'm sorry. I could get you in to see Billy, how about that?"
"It's restricted," Dom says.
She shakes her head dismissively. "Please. I'm the puppet master and you're all my marionettes. If I want to get you in to see Billy, you get in to see Billy. If I wanted you to be a trapeze artist in the circus, you'd damn well be a trapeze artist." She grins again. "Actually, watch this." She sits at the computer and starts typing.
And all of a sudden, Dom is wearing a spandex suit and hurtling through the air high above the floor of the tent. He barely has time to begin panicking before, to his very great surprise, he grabs hold of the trapeze bar, swings, then lets go again, somersaulting through the air, his body twisting, before grabbing the wrists of his fellow trapeze artist. He hears the audience clap and cheer as he...
... finds himself standing back in the White Room, his head spinning.
The woman is laughing delightedly. "Okay, dude, that was awesome. We should totally do that again."
"You're insane," he says.
"That's what they tell me," she says, smiling. She tosses him something else, and when he catches it, it's a security pass. She turns back to her computer. "Now run along and see Billy," she says. "I've got things to do."
He turns around, nonsensically looking for the elevator.
"Oh wait, one more thing," she says, and he hears the clatter of typing begin just before...
...Dom is a big black dog, running through the Forbidden Forest after Billy-the-werewolf, muscles stretching, wind in his fur. Elijah and Sean are a stag and rat somewhere behind him, but he is focused on Billy, on the joy of running, his paws leaping over mud and sticks. They should head back to the Shrieking Shack soon, but for now, Dom just wants to run, run, run, run...
...and he's back in the White Room again.
"What the hell was *that*?" he asks, shaken.
She laughs. "I'm sorry. Now I'm just showing off. Look, there's no point in going to see Billy before sunrise. He'll just be growling in a cage. The lab is much better..."
Her voice fades out as a bright light comes up, obscuring Dom's vision. When he can see again, he is in a hallway outside a door. The door has a window in it through which he can see a group of people - Willow and Wesley and Fred, standing around some equipment. In his hands, he still holds the security pass and the lollipop. He sticks the former in his pocket and the latter in his mouth, and pushes the door open.
The group turns to look at him, and Willow smiles. "Hey," she says. "How'd you get down here?"
Dom pulls the lollipop out of his mouth with a pop. "Don't ask," he says, walking over. They are all standing in front of a large glass window that looks into another room, where Xander is lying in what looks like an MRI machine. Fred is adjusting things on a computer while Wesley watches over her shoulder. "What's going on?"
"We're testing everything," Willow says softly, pulling him aside and obviously trying not to disturb Fred. "Seeing if there's anything wrong with him. But so far, other than a pretty bad sunburn, there's not, at all. He has perfect vision out of that new eye. And he's definitely Xander - he remembers everything right up to walking out into that storm, even really random things from when we were kids."
"But he doesn't remember what happened after he disappeared?"
"I... don't know," Willow says, looking uneasy. "I can't tell if he really doesn't remember or if he just doesn't want to talk about it. He's being really... quiet. It's strange."
"Yeah," Dom says, looking through the window at Xander. He's lying motionless on the table, but he still has that look on his face, that weird contentment. Where he looks happy, even though he's not smiling.
Willow follows his gaze. "Does he look better to you?" she asks.
Dom looks at her sharply. "What do you mean?"
She keeps looking at Xander thoughtfully. "Just... happier. And younger. And... I don't know. He looks like he did when we were 16, before we knew about vampires and everything. Before...." She waves her hand vaguely, trying to indicate the distant past.
"Yeah," Dom says quietly. "He does look better."
"I don't understand," Willow says softly.
"Me neither," Dom says.
After a moment, they turn and watch Fred finish the MRI.
***
TBC...
But I think I need to apologize in advance for this one. Sorry, guys.
Previous parts are here.
***
Dom finds himself in a large white space, extending as far as he can see. It is featureless and pearly, pure glowing white all around. In the middle of it, a young woman sits at a computer, typing. She has curly brown hair and dark eyes, is wearing jeans and a t-shirt, and on the top of one bare foot there is a tattoo in the shape of a star. MMMBop is coming out of the computer's speakers. After a moment, the woman glances up at him.
"You're not supposed to be up here, Dom," she says in a bored tone.
Dom starts. "How do you know my name?"
She rolls her eyes and hits a few more keys. "I know a lot of stuff."
Dom blinks. "Oh yeah? Like what?"
"Billy's a werewolf, Orli has antennae, Hannah's a Slayer, Xander just came back from who knows where, and you're freaking out a little bit," she rattles off. Then she grins suddenly. "Actually... okay, watch this." She hits a button on the computer and suddenly text begins to appear against the white space behind her. Dom reads, There is a guy at the bar with an eye patch, and this is maybe the most interesting thing that Dom has ever seen in LA. At first he thinks maybe the guy's wearing it ironically - but who wears eye patches ironically? Wouldn't that be like using crutches ironically? Bad taste, even for America.
"Hey!" Dom says, wonderingly. "That's the first time I saw Xander. That's... what I was *thinking*, the first time I saw Xander."
"I know," she says. "I wrote it."
"How did you..."
"Welcome to the White Room," she says. "Where you meet the people who make things happen. Or whatever."
Dom stares at her. "So... wait. You're saying that you're the reason my whole life has gone insane lately?"
She smirks. "Yup. You're welcome."
Dom rubs his forehead, trying to rub out the headache he can feel beginning. "I... this is too weird."
"My better judgment says that it really, really is. But at least you're not bored, right?" she says.
He just looks at her.
She shrugs and tosses him something, which he catches automatically. It's a cherry lollipop.
"What's this?" he asks.
"Is there something else you'd rather have?"
He thinks. "Actually, no. I was just wanting one of these."
"I know," she says. "Consider it my apology for the storm that hunted you guys down. And the cut on your arm. And the werewolf thing. Et cetera."
"You... you're the one who... with the lightning and the... and you give me candy?" Dom sputters.
"Well, it's better than nothing, right?" she says. He stares at her. Finally she sighs. "Look, I'm sorry. I could get you in to see Billy, how about that?"
"It's restricted," Dom says.
She shakes her head dismissively. "Please. I'm the puppet master and you're all my marionettes. If I want to get you in to see Billy, you get in to see Billy. If I wanted you to be a trapeze artist in the circus, you'd damn well be a trapeze artist." She grins again. "Actually, watch this." She sits at the computer and starts typing.
And all of a sudden, Dom is wearing a spandex suit and hurtling through the air high above the floor of the tent. He barely has time to begin panicking before, to his very great surprise, he grabs hold of the trapeze bar, swings, then lets go again, somersaulting through the air, his body twisting, before grabbing the wrists of his fellow trapeze artist. He hears the audience clap and cheer as he...
... finds himself standing back in the White Room, his head spinning.
The woman is laughing delightedly. "Okay, dude, that was awesome. We should totally do that again."
"You're insane," he says.
"That's what they tell me," she says, smiling. She tosses him something else, and when he catches it, it's a security pass. She turns back to her computer. "Now run along and see Billy," she says. "I've got things to do."
He turns around, nonsensically looking for the elevator.
"Oh wait, one more thing," she says, and he hears the clatter of typing begin just before...
...Dom is a big black dog, running through the Forbidden Forest after Billy-the-werewolf, muscles stretching, wind in his fur. Elijah and Sean are a stag and rat somewhere behind him, but he is focused on Billy, on the joy of running, his paws leaping over mud and sticks. They should head back to the Shrieking Shack soon, but for now, Dom just wants to run, run, run, run...
...and he's back in the White Room again.
"What the hell was *that*?" he asks, shaken.
She laughs. "I'm sorry. Now I'm just showing off. Look, there's no point in going to see Billy before sunrise. He'll just be growling in a cage. The lab is much better..."
Her voice fades out as a bright light comes up, obscuring Dom's vision. When he can see again, he is in a hallway outside a door. The door has a window in it through which he can see a group of people - Willow and Wesley and Fred, standing around some equipment. In his hands, he still holds the security pass and the lollipop. He sticks the former in his pocket and the latter in his mouth, and pushes the door open.
The group turns to look at him, and Willow smiles. "Hey," she says. "How'd you get down here?"
Dom pulls the lollipop out of his mouth with a pop. "Don't ask," he says, walking over. They are all standing in front of a large glass window that looks into another room, where Xander is lying in what looks like an MRI machine. Fred is adjusting things on a computer while Wesley watches over her shoulder. "What's going on?"
"We're testing everything," Willow says softly, pulling him aside and obviously trying not to disturb Fred. "Seeing if there's anything wrong with him. But so far, other than a pretty bad sunburn, there's not, at all. He has perfect vision out of that new eye. And he's definitely Xander - he remembers everything right up to walking out into that storm, even really random things from when we were kids."
"But he doesn't remember what happened after he disappeared?"
"I... don't know," Willow says, looking uneasy. "I can't tell if he really doesn't remember or if he just doesn't want to talk about it. He's being really... quiet. It's strange."
"Yeah," Dom says, looking through the window at Xander. He's lying motionless on the table, but he still has that look on his face, that weird contentment. Where he looks happy, even though he's not smiling.
Willow follows his gaze. "Does he look better to you?" she asks.
Dom looks at her sharply. "What do you mean?"
She keeps looking at Xander thoughtfully. "Just... happier. And younger. And... I don't know. He looks like he did when we were 16, before we knew about vampires and everything. Before...." She waves her hand vaguely, trying to indicate the distant past.
"Yeah," Dom says quietly. "He does look better."
"I don't understand," Willow says softly.
"Me neither," Dom says.
After a moment, they turn and watch Fred finish the MRI.
***
TBC...