Mercy Seat part 21
As promised, I give you the next installment of Mercy Seat. We're starting in on the Xander-memory portion of the ride here, which makes for some interesting story-telling styles. Lemme know how it works.
I've spent much of the day reading Spander kink (I don't do it often, but when I do, look out), so lord only knows if/how that affected the writing/editing of this part.
Previous parts may be found here
Giles tried to sort through frustration, guilt, worry, and exhaustion as he searched through the files on the computer for the graph he had stumbled across earlier. All four emotions were quickly boiling themselves into an unfocused rage, and he was hard pressed to keep it under control. He was capable of doing some very nasty things when he became that mad, and none of those things would be of any use.
He didn't even have dear old Ethan to beat up upon. Pity, as that usually calmed him down.
He allowed himself a soft, dark chuckle at that thought as he continued his favorite method of finding anything on a computer--clicking random icons. He was so busy calming his nerves by thinking up new ways to enact his Ethan-revenge fantasies on the blasted computer that he nearly cleared his chair completely when Buffy spoke up from behind him.
"I still don't believe it."
Giles removed his glasses and used the action of cleaning them to still his shaking hands. "I had thought as much." He turned back to his former charge. "There are times when I find it difficult as well." He replaced his glasses and took in her rumpled clothing and somewhat disorderly hair. Well, rumbled and disorderly for Buffy, anyway. It seemed to him that even when she was on her last ropes, she maintained an air of being coiffed and put together. "You've been patrolling."
"Yeah, well, sometimes a girl's just gotta kill something."
"Yes." Giles leaned back in his chair and turned back to the computer. He considered to himself what the graph had shown him, wishing not for the first time that he hadn't allowed Willow and Dawn to rush in to their spell; he needed to consult with the witch regarding her findings. He glanced back at Buffy for a moment as she continued to lean against the door jamb. "I'm about to ask you a very odd question. I'd like you to answer as honestly as possible."
"Giles, I'm thinking you need to go to bed."
Giles shook his head. "I suspect I wouldn't be able to sleep."
"You ordered me an' Will to bed, now it's my turn." Buffy marched over to where he sat, and Giles felt his mouth twitch as he tried to decide whether to sigh angrily or smile.
"My question, first."
Buffy crossed her arms. "Fine. Then bed."
"Yes, Mother," Giles rolled his eyes and finally smiled at Buffy's snort of disgust. "Have you ever encountered, since you were called as a slayer, an area that seemed to be devoid of any demon activity?"
Buffy blinked. "Well, we both know LA and Sunnyhell were hotbeds, so I assume you're talking since then?" Giles merely shrugged and continued to watch as Buffy seemed to sift through her travels in her head. She'd lived in several different cities and countries, both with the Immortal and without, since they'd shut down the Sunnydale hellmouth, so the process appeared to take some time. "No." She said finally. "I was beginning to think they were following me."
Giles felt his fingers twitch toward his glasses again. "God lord. That's what I'd thought."
He turned back to the computer, but could feel the slayer's gaze on his back.
"What does that have to do with anything, Giles? You thinking of retiring? ‘Cause I can tell you right now, ain't gonna happen."
"No. Not at all." Giles rested his chin on his hand as he finally managed to open the correct file. "I doubt I'll be retiring any time in the foreseeable future." He leaned back and let Buffy peruse the graph.
"Okay, what am I looking at here? Object d'art?"
Giles quietly explained the meaning of the various symbols that decorated the graph, and nodded with no real satisfaction when he watched the realization widen Buffy's eyes.
"Holy crap, Giles, this is . . ."
Giles nodded. "Slayers die, and the demons move on."
"They really HAVE been following me." Buffy stood and backed up. "And not just me, is it. It's all of them. All the brand new slayers." She shook her head. "I knew we'd have some demons go after them, but those numbers. . . ."
"Thousands. Entire clans of demons, arriving at almost precisely the same time as the slayers, and then leaving when the slayer is gone." Giles shook his head slightly. "If Xander has been killing slayers, I think we're looking at the reason why."
* * *
Dawn opened her eyes to darkness.
She was hiding. She'd found the best possible spot; there was no way Willow would find her in here.
Wait a minute,
//I think we might have gone too far back.//
Willow was in her head. Wasn't supposed to be in her head, she was supposed to be LOOKING. Getting all tele . . . telepath . . . in her head was CHEATING.
//Okay, yeah, definitely went too far back.//
Dawn took a metal step back, while she held her breath and listened for the sounds of footsteps outside her hiding place. The thoughts running through her head weren't hers, and weren't necessarily Willow's either.
She was in a memory, she realized after a moment. The thoughts were Xander's, the ones he'd been thinking when this actually happened.
For some reason, she'd sorta thought she'd be on the outside WATCHING Xander do things. Not seeing them from his perspective.
//It worked that way when I was in Buffy's head. Maybe it has to do with the way Xander thinks?//
The footsteps outside got closer, and a lot louder. That wasn't Willow, so it must be a monster. Dawn felt a blast of fear through her that, she realized after a moment, wasn't even HER fear. She tried to will Xander to calm down, but it was futile. She couldn't change events, they'd already happened. She wondered for a moment about how Xander had reacted to Willow's thoughts, and suspected that meant he was in there with her. Modern-Xander. Sort of. Thinking about it made her head hurt, so she vowed to just watch.
But it was REALLY dark in here.
The footsteps stopped just outside, and the monster let out an soft breath. Dawn swallowed and hoped it wouldn't look in here.
So, of course, it did. Monsters were like that.
//Hold on,// Willow thought. //I think I might know where we are.//
The door opened, and the monster peered down inside. Dawn let out a high-pitched gasp as it reached for her, then calmed abruptly when it started ruffling her hair and pulled her out of the drier.
DRIER?
//Ohhhh, yeah, I know where we are. This isn't going to help. We should leave.//
"Xander," the monster, who turned out to be Willow'sMom, cradled her against her chest. "What were you doing in there?"
//Come on, Dawn, let's go.//
Aww, but she wanted to see mini-Willow. Dawn leaned against Willow'sMom and talked around a mouthful of thumb.
Xander sucked his thumb? She wished there was a mirror or something. She wanted to see this.
Willow'sMom sighed, sounding kinda mad, like Dawn's mom (no, XANDER'S mom) did when she was real tired, had a headache, and wanted him to Goplayoutside. Dawn squirmed. "Xander, take your thumb out of your mouth. You've passed that stage of development."
Dawn could hear Willow's annoyed huff through her mind. //Mom wasn't always that great with the compassion.//
Dawn pulled her thumb (Xander's thumb) out of her mouth with a *pop*. "Willow an' me--"
"‘Willow and I'"
Willow'sMom was playing? Dawn shook her head and remembered that Willow'sMom wanted her to talk good.
"‘WillowanI' an' me played hide'n'seek."
"Found you!" Dawn twisted and spotted mini-Willow over Willow'sMom's shoulder.
"No fair!" Dawn struggled against Willow'sMom's grip. "That's cheating!"
//Okay, Dawnie, let's move on now, ‘kay?//
Dawn smiled internally. But it was so cute! Willow was all short, and pigtailed, and jumper-wearing.
"I woulda found you," Mini-Willow announced. "You're ALWAYS in the drier!"
Willow'sMom stiffened.
//Dawn, I'm not kidding. I remember this lecture, and I'm not looking forward to hearing it again.//
"Your mother lets you hide in the drier, Xander?"
//Concentrate on what we want to see. Something in the last five years would be a good start, so think grown-up Xander.//
Dawn concentrated, picturing Xander as she had last seen him before the battle with the immortal. She felt herself shift slightly, and Willow's mother's voice faded out mid-lecture.
//Phew.// Dawn could just about feel Willow's relieved grin. //On-, up- and crazy-wards.//
<--{21}
I've spent much of the day reading Spander kink (I don't do it often, but when I do, look out), so lord only knows if/how that affected the writing/editing of this part.
Previous parts may be found here
Giles tried to sort through frustration, guilt, worry, and exhaustion as he searched through the files on the computer for the graph he had stumbled across earlier. All four emotions were quickly boiling themselves into an unfocused rage, and he was hard pressed to keep it under control. He was capable of doing some very nasty things when he became that mad, and none of those things would be of any use.
He didn't even have dear old Ethan to beat up upon. Pity, as that usually calmed him down.
He allowed himself a soft, dark chuckle at that thought as he continued his favorite method of finding anything on a computer--clicking random icons. He was so busy calming his nerves by thinking up new ways to enact his Ethan-revenge fantasies on the blasted computer that he nearly cleared his chair completely when Buffy spoke up from behind him.
"I still don't believe it."
Giles removed his glasses and used the action of cleaning them to still his shaking hands. "I had thought as much." He turned back to his former charge. "There are times when I find it difficult as well." He replaced his glasses and took in her rumpled clothing and somewhat disorderly hair. Well, rumbled and disorderly for Buffy, anyway. It seemed to him that even when she was on her last ropes, she maintained an air of being coiffed and put together. "You've been patrolling."
"Yeah, well, sometimes a girl's just gotta kill something."
"Yes." Giles leaned back in his chair and turned back to the computer. He considered to himself what the graph had shown him, wishing not for the first time that he hadn't allowed Willow and Dawn to rush in to their spell; he needed to consult with the witch regarding her findings. He glanced back at Buffy for a moment as she continued to lean against the door jamb. "I'm about to ask you a very odd question. I'd like you to answer as honestly as possible."
"Giles, I'm thinking you need to go to bed."
Giles shook his head. "I suspect I wouldn't be able to sleep."
"You ordered me an' Will to bed, now it's my turn." Buffy marched over to where he sat, and Giles felt his mouth twitch as he tried to decide whether to sigh angrily or smile.
"My question, first."
Buffy crossed her arms. "Fine. Then bed."
"Yes, Mother," Giles rolled his eyes and finally smiled at Buffy's snort of disgust. "Have you ever encountered, since you were called as a slayer, an area that seemed to be devoid of any demon activity?"
Buffy blinked. "Well, we both know LA and Sunnyhell were hotbeds, so I assume you're talking since then?" Giles merely shrugged and continued to watch as Buffy seemed to sift through her travels in her head. She'd lived in several different cities and countries, both with the Immortal and without, since they'd shut down the Sunnydale hellmouth, so the process appeared to take some time. "No." She said finally. "I was beginning to think they were following me."
Giles felt his fingers twitch toward his glasses again. "God lord. That's what I'd thought."
He turned back to the computer, but could feel the slayer's gaze on his back.
"What does that have to do with anything, Giles? You thinking of retiring? ‘Cause I can tell you right now, ain't gonna happen."
"No. Not at all." Giles rested his chin on his hand as he finally managed to open the correct file. "I doubt I'll be retiring any time in the foreseeable future." He leaned back and let Buffy peruse the graph.
"Okay, what am I looking at here? Object d'art?"
Giles quietly explained the meaning of the various symbols that decorated the graph, and nodded with no real satisfaction when he watched the realization widen Buffy's eyes.
"Holy crap, Giles, this is . . ."
Giles nodded. "Slayers die, and the demons move on."
"They really HAVE been following me." Buffy stood and backed up. "And not just me, is it. It's all of them. All the brand new slayers." She shook her head. "I knew we'd have some demons go after them, but those numbers. . . ."
"Thousands. Entire clans of demons, arriving at almost precisely the same time as the slayers, and then leaving when the slayer is gone." Giles shook his head slightly. "If Xander has been killing slayers, I think we're looking at the reason why."
* * *
Dawn opened her eyes to darkness.
She was hiding. She'd found the best possible spot; there was no way Willow would find her in here.
Wait a minute,
//I think we might have gone too far back.//
Willow was in her head. Wasn't supposed to be in her head, she was supposed to be LOOKING. Getting all tele . . . telepath . . . in her head was CHEATING.
//Okay, yeah, definitely went too far back.//
Dawn took a metal step back, while she held her breath and listened for the sounds of footsteps outside her hiding place. The thoughts running through her head weren't hers, and weren't necessarily Willow's either.
She was in a memory, she realized after a moment. The thoughts were Xander's, the ones he'd been thinking when this actually happened.
For some reason, she'd sorta thought she'd be on the outside WATCHING Xander do things. Not seeing them from his perspective.
//It worked that way when I was in Buffy's head. Maybe it has to do with the way Xander thinks?//
The footsteps outside got closer, and a lot louder. That wasn't Willow, so it must be a monster. Dawn felt a blast of fear through her that, she realized after a moment, wasn't even HER fear. She tried to will Xander to calm down, but it was futile. She couldn't change events, they'd already happened. She wondered for a moment about how Xander had reacted to Willow's thoughts, and suspected that meant he was in there with her. Modern-Xander. Sort of. Thinking about it made her head hurt, so she vowed to just watch.
But it was REALLY dark in here.
The footsteps stopped just outside, and the monster let out an soft breath. Dawn swallowed and hoped it wouldn't look in here.
So, of course, it did. Monsters were like that.
//Hold on,// Willow thought. //I think I might know where we are.//
The door opened, and the monster peered down inside. Dawn let out a high-pitched gasp as it reached for her, then calmed abruptly when it started ruffling her hair and pulled her out of the drier.
DRIER?
//Ohhhh, yeah, I know where we are. This isn't going to help. We should leave.//
"Xander," the monster, who turned out to be Willow'sMom, cradled her against her chest. "What were you doing in there?"
//Come on, Dawn, let's go.//
Aww, but she wanted to see mini-Willow. Dawn leaned against Willow'sMom and talked around a mouthful of thumb.
Xander sucked his thumb? She wished there was a mirror or something. She wanted to see this.
Willow'sMom sighed, sounding kinda mad, like Dawn's mom (no, XANDER'S mom) did when she was real tired, had a headache, and wanted him to Goplayoutside. Dawn squirmed. "Xander, take your thumb out of your mouth. You've passed that stage of development."
Dawn could hear Willow's annoyed huff through her mind. //Mom wasn't always that great with the compassion.//
Dawn pulled her thumb (Xander's thumb) out of her mouth with a *pop*. "Willow an' me--"
"‘Willow and I'"
Willow'sMom was playing? Dawn shook her head and remembered that Willow'sMom wanted her to talk good.
"‘WillowanI' an' me played hide'n'seek."
"Found you!" Dawn twisted and spotted mini-Willow over Willow'sMom's shoulder.
"No fair!" Dawn struggled against Willow'sMom's grip. "That's cheating!"
//Okay, Dawnie, let's move on now, ‘kay?//
Dawn smiled internally. But it was so cute! Willow was all short, and pigtailed, and jumper-wearing.
"I woulda found you," Mini-Willow announced. "You're ALWAYS in the drier!"
Willow'sMom stiffened.
//Dawn, I'm not kidding. I remember this lecture, and I'm not looking forward to hearing it again.//
"Your mother lets you hide in the drier, Xander?"
//Concentrate on what we want to see. Something in the last five years would be a good start, so think grown-up Xander.//
Dawn concentrated, picturing Xander as she had last seen him before the battle with the immortal. She felt herself shift slightly, and Willow's mother's voice faded out mid-lecture.
//Phew.// Dawn could just about feel Willow's relieved grin. //On-, up- and crazy-wards.//
<--{21}