Post by shred on Aug 1, 2007 16:34:09 GMT 10
Title: "Saviors Trilogy 1.3 Saved"
Rating: PG
Beta: Couldn't afford one.
Author's Notes: Part 3 of 3. This is set after season 7 of Buffy and it was written a loooong time ago. So I thought I share this with you guys.
Disclaimer: BtVS does not belong to me, yada, yada, yada. You know the drill.
~Europe, Italy~
Dawn clenched her fist and started banging on the door of Xander’s and Andrew’s bedroom. The door rattled under her persistent pounding as she yelled, “Andrew! Are you awake?”
It was seven in morning and she was the first one awake. The whole apartment was silent when she woke up at six – until now that is – and after washing up and grabbing a quick breakfast, she threw on some clothes and planted herself in front of the men’s bedroom.
The door swung a minute of door thumping later. A disheveled, sleepy looking Xander glared at her but didn’t greet her. Dawn gave him a bright smile. “Good morning, Xand! Is Andrew awake?”
“It’s seven in the morning,” Xander told her, like she needed to be told in the first place. She had been looking at the clock every five minutes to make sure she wasn’t late.
“If I wanted the time I would have looked at the clock instead of knocking on your door. Is Andrew awake?” she asked again.
Xander didn’t reply. He moved back into the room, leaving the door open for her to come in. Dawn rushed in and made a beeline towards Andrew’s bed. “Andrew, your wake up call is here,” Xander said before falling back into his bed. A moment later, he was sound asleep, snoring softly.
Andrew was curled up in a ball in his bed, not moving, completely covered with his blanket. Only his feet could be seen jutting out from under one end of the blanket. Dawn leaned forward and poked his shoulder, hard. “Andrew! Wake up! We got to go! NOW!
“Keep it down, Dawn! You don’t want to end up like my alarm clock,” Dawn heard Buffy hollered from her room.
“Sorry!” Dawn hollered back. She turned back to Andrew and smacked his shoulder, hard. “Andrew!” she hissed, “get your butt out of bed now.”
Finally there was movement under the cotton and Andrew’s head popped out from under the blanket. He squinted at Dawn, annoyance flashing across his features. “Ok, first of all I was having a great dream about Natalie Portman as Queen Amidala and I was just getting to the good part. And second of all, ow!” Andrew whispered, rubbing his sore shoulder.
“Look, I got no time for you to be in pain. We’re going to be late if you don’t get up right now.” Dawn paused as her gaze ticked towards the immobile Xander. She lowered her voice and continued, “I’ve already called the cab and it will be here in 20 twenty minutes.”
Andrew sighed as he rubbed his face with his hand. “Alright, fine. I’m up, I’m up.”
“Finally! Get dressed and I’ll wait for you out in the living room. Be out in 10 minutes.” She turned and tipped-toed out of the room. She didn’t want to make much noise and wake up Xander. As she padded into the hallway, she took a quick glance into her sister’s room to see where her sister was. She started to panic when she saw that Buffy’s bed was empty. Dawn took a step in to look around. Once she entered the room, the sound of running water caught Dawn’s ears and guessed that Buffy was in the bathroom taking a shower.
Dawn breathed a sigh of relief. Now she had to make sure that she and Andrew left the house before her sister got out of the shower and comes out of the room.
She made a quick stop at her bedroom, grabbed her purse and jacket and headed back out into the living room. She flopped down on one of the couch and waited impatiently for Andrew. She glanced at the clock for the umpteenth time. The large hand ticked past the number ten and Dawn felt her heart squeeze in anxiousness. They still had an hour and a half left but it takes about an hour for them to get across town and out of it to reach the airport.
She got up, shrugged into her jacket and strapped her purse across her chest. She did this in order to safe time putting them on later when Andrew finally comes out. This way, they are able to leave the apartment as soon as Andrew steps into the living room. She sat back down. A minute later, she stood up and started pacing the length of the living room, unable to sit still any longer.
“Hey, Dawnie. What are you doing up this early – and all dressed up?”
Dawn jumped, startled, when she heard Willow’s voice. She looked up and saw Willow coming out of the kitchen. Her redheaded friend was holding a bowl of cereal, a spoonful of Fruit-Loops hovered above the bowl, just below her chin.
“Oh, I was just going out to grab some breakfast for you guys.”
“Oh that’s so sweet of you. But as you can see I’m having mine so don’t get anything for me. But I could tag along with you if you want?”
“That’s alright. I got Andrew to go with me.” That was something oddly wrong with Willow. She looked happy. Not there was anything wrong with looking happy but she looked too happy. Ecstatic even.
Who looks this happy at this time of the day?
“Well, while you’re out, you mind getting Andrew to get a hair cut. He badly needs one and he’s freaking me out with his so-called new look. The whole mature look doesn’t exactly suit him.”
Dawn forced a smile. “Sure, I’ll try. I can’t promise you anything though.”
Willow returned her smile as she ate the spoonful of cereal. She didn’t move from her place.
Dawn caught a glimpse of the clock again. Only five minutes had passed and that made them 5 minutes closer to being late.
“Andrew!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“A minute please!” Andrew bellowed back at the impatient Dawn. He heard a murmur from Xander and he froze. He didn’t want Xander to wake up and started questioning him on where he was going. He wasn’t actually a good liar.
“Andrew?”
Damn!
“What are you doing up at this hour?”
Andrew turned and faced Xander. “Hey Xander.”
“Where are you going?”
“Out,” he replied. Please, don’t ask me where.
“Where?”
Can he read minds now? “Just out. Sightseeing?”
“Sightseeing. Now. Alone.”
“Well…we’re going to the next town to sightsee. It’s better if we leave early so we can do more.”
Xander frowned. “We?”
Andrew gulped and cursed silently for saying ‘we’. “Yeah, me and Dawn.”
Comprehension shone in Xander’s eyes as he nodded. “Right. Was that why she was here just now?”
“Yup.”
“Where are you guys going to sightsee?”
Andrew rolled his eyes in impatience. He was still in his boxers. He was just about to put on his pants when Xander woke up. He couldn’t exactly answer all of Xander’s questions, put on his pants and leave the room in 5 minutes. Dawn will have his head.
And didn’t he just say earlier they were going to the next town? Wasn’t he listening to a word he said? “Xander, what’s with the 20 twenty questions? Can’t I go out without getting a third degree?”
“Yes you can. I was just curious as I never could understand how anybody can function this early in the morning. Hence, the questions.”
Andrew got into his pants, buckled them and looked pointedly at Xander. “I’m going now.” He turned and made his leave.
“Get me some donuts while you’re out!” Xander called out as Andrew left.
“Finally you’re out,” Dawn said as he appeared in the living room, throwing her hands up in exasperation. “What were you doing in there? Making clothes?”
“Xander was up. Hey Willow,” he said as he grabbed his shoes from the shoe rack and started to put them on. Willow flashed him a bright smile in response before continuing to eat her cereal. She didn’t budge from her spot.
“What did he say?” Dawn asked Andrew as she came up beside him, her voice dropping to a whisper.
“He was just asking where I was going, that’s all. He didn’t seem suspicious or if he knew something was up if that’s what you’re getting at.”
“Ok. Good. Come on, we gotta go. I think the cab’s here.”
“Oh we need to get donuts for Xander on our way back.”
“We got no time for donuts,” Dawn snapped. She grabbed his hand and started to pull him out of the apartment. It was then when Buffy stepped into the living, wrapped in a thick, white bathrobe, her blond hair damp around her shoulders.
“Hey, where are you guys off to at this hour?” Buffy asked.
“Breakfast!” Dawn answered over her shoulder – the same time Andrew said, “Sightseeing!”
Together they raced out of the apartment. Well, Dawn did most of the running. Andrew just let her haul him. They got into the cab and Dawn told the driver their destination and asked him to go as fast as he could. The non-English speaking driver just looked at her blankly for a minute before putting the car into gear and speeding down the street.
As Andrew settled in for the long drive, Dawn sat rigid beside him, fiddling nervously with a loose thread from her jacket.
“We’re not late,” he assured her.
“I know. But I’m not worried about that.”
“Oh. So what are you worried about?”
“About them finding out.”
Andrew waved her off as if it was the most ridiculous thing he just heard. “They won’t find out.”
“No? This is too big to keep it as a secret. And besides, you suck at lying or keeping secrets.”
Andrew blushed but he covered it by gazing out of the window. “We’ll managed,” he finally said.
“How can you be this calm? Doesn’t this bug you one bit?” Dawn asked him incredulously.
“I try not to think about it too much. I got other things on my mind,” he answered.
“Right. Like that little fantasy of yours of becoming a Watcher.”
Andrew turned and shot her a look. “It’s not a fantasy. It’s a goal. Big diff.”
“Yeah well, the end results probably going to be the same,” Dawn murmured.
“What?”
“Nothing,” she said with a forced smile.
“You don’t think I can do this,” he said when realization dawned on him. “You all don’t think I can this.”
“Of course not. We got faith in you…”
“That I would fail,” he finished for her. “Well, that’s just great!”
“I didn’t say that. You did.”
“But you were thinking it!”
“Oh come on, Andrew! Don’t be such a baby. Why do you even care what we think? Just go become a Watcher and prove us wrong.”
“I will,” Andrew said, lifting his chin a little. He hoped that Dawn couldn’t see him tearing up from where she sat. Hearing that all of his friends expected him to fail didn’t exactly make one jump up with joy.
“I’m sorry,” Dawn was saying. “It’s not that we know that you’re going to fail, it’s just that we can’t exactly see that happening. You in tweed?” She shook her head. “Nope, I can’t picture it. You’re too cool for that.”
That’s true, he thought with a small smile. He certainly could pull off a leather look but tweed? He didn’t think so. “Maybe I can start a trend,” he said thoughtfully. “I can be the first Watcher to move away from the tweed. It could happen.”
“And I can’t wait to see that to happen.” This time her smile wasn’t forced.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~AIRPORT~
When the cab pulled into the taxi stand at the arrival hall of the airport, Dawn sank into a deeper state of anxiousness. As soon as she paid the cabdriver, she climbed out of the car and started walking briskly towards the airport terminal. She didn’t bother waiting for Andrew.
“Can you please slow down?” Andrew asked, huffing behind her.
“I don’t want to be late.”
“We’re not late,” Andrew said a tinge of frustration in his voice. “And besides if we were, it’s not like it’s the end of the world. We would still be able to catch him. He won’t run away. He had no where to go.”
Dawn ignored him as the two of them made their way through the crowd. The airport was unusually packed with tourist and locals and Dawn had a hard time seeing where she was going. The only time she was at the airport was when she and the others first arrived and that was in the departure hall. The arrival hall didn’t look remotely like the departure hall.
“Do you even know where we are going?”
Of course she knew where she was going. What was she? Stupid? Hardly. “Gate 13,” Dawn replied through gritted teeth. She wondered why she asked him to tag along in the first place. It was certainly make things easier if he didn’t have him annoying her every single minute by asking stupid questions.
“Gate 13 is that way and we are going in the opposite direction.”
Dawn stopped, almost causing Andrew to bump into her. She turned and realized that he was right. They were going the opposite direction. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” she glared at Andrew and starting going back the way they came from.
“I didn’t know where we were going.”
“Well, you should have asked,” Dawn said sharply. She craned her neck and noted from the sign above them that they had to turn right.
“I did.”
Whatever. She didn’t have time to back track on their conversation and see whether he did indeed asked. “Do you see the gate yet?”
“No,” Andrew answered. “Maybe we should ask someone.”
“We’ll find it. Just keep a look out for any signs.”
After ten minutes of twisting and turning around the arrival hall of the airport, Dawn and Andrew finally found gate 13. They still had about 10 minutes left before the plane touched down. Dawn breathed a sigh on relief as they planted themselves near the gate.
“Told you we weren’t late,” Andrew said with a smirk. He crossed his arms and looked around the area they were in. This part of the airport was as crowded as the entrance. There were many people walking to and fro, lugging various sizes of baggage with them. There were a few shops here and there – a gift shop, a book store, a bakery and a small place to process your vacation photos – and a long line of counters for money exchange, hotel booking and the likes.
Andrew looked at her and said, “I wonder why it’s so crowded today. You think it’s the vacation period or something?”
“Maybe.”
“You know, I never realized how popular Italy is. Well, it is a beautiful country so I guess I can see why.” He went silent as he continued to survey the surroundings. A minute later, he started to sing under his breath. Dawn shot him a look and he stopped. “Sorry. I was bored.”
Then he said again, “I’m hungry. Can I go –”
“Andrew! For heaven’s sake, can you please, for once, keep your mouth shut?” her voice came out louder than she intended to and she attracted attention from people who were a around her. They eyed her suspiciously and Dawn gave them an everything-is-alright-nothing-to-see-here smile.
Andrew stared at her in surprise. Then he started to blush a deep red. “Sorry,” he murmured. He dropped his hands and stuffed them into the pocket of his jeans. He stared at the ground, not wanting to look at her.
Dawn felt a pang of guilt and before she could apologize, the overhead public announcement speakers dinged and a female voice blared throughout the airport. “British Airways, Flight 147H from London, England has landed at gate 13. Thank you!”
Dawn grabbed Andrew’s hand and started to haul him nearer towards the gate. Ten minutes later, the gate opened and tired and pissed off looking passengers streamed out of the gate. Dawn stood on her toes to try to look over the onslaught on people that were coming towards her and Andrew.
There was no sign of Giles.
“Do you see him?” Dawn asked. She looked over at Andrew when he didn’t answer. He wasn’t looking for Giles like she expected. Instead, he was looking at the ground forlornly.
“Watchers don’t sulk,” Dawn stated as she continued her search for Giles.
“Friends don’t bite each other’s head off,” he countered.
He got me there. “Look, Andrew, I’m sorry ok? I just got a lot on my mind and I’m –”
“Forget it. I’m over it.” But his expression said otherwise.
Well, if he says he’s over, I’ll talk his word for it. A familiar figure caught her eye as she went back to her search for the ex-Watcher. “Giles! Giles, over here!”
Giles spotted her waving and slowly made his way through the crowd towards Dawn. It had been awhile since she last saw him and she got to admit that he looked good though he clearly looked tired. He was wearing a dark green turtleneck with khakis. His brown suede jacket was draped across one arm. He was pulling a small travel bag with him and that was the only luggage he had with him.
He wasn’t wearing his glasses and Dawn could clearly see the dark circles under his eyes. He looked drained but she could see that he was working hard not to look that way. His face split into a huge grin, his eyes twinkling.
“Hello Dawn, it’s good to see you.”
She stepped up and pulled the other man into a hug. “I’m so glad you’re here,” she said against his shoulder.
Giles chuckled as they pulled away. His eyes flickered towards Andrew and he looked stunned. “Andrew?”
Andrew gave him a small wave. He shifted his weight from one foot and then back to the other. He appeared uncomfortable under Giles’ scrutiny. “Hey, Giles.”
“My, have you changed.”
Andrew shrugged. “Just trying on a new look.”
“Well…it’s…nice,” Giles said, hesitating a little.
“So did you have a good flight?” Dawn asked as she took his hand and led him towards the exit.
“No. The flight was terrible. The food was cold, the scotch wasn’t strong enough and the in-flight entertainment wasn’t entertaining at all.”
“Oh. So I assume you want to get your rest? We can meet later in the day if you want.”
“No, no. that’s alright. We’ll talk over breakfast.
“Finally!” Andrew exclaimed.
When they came out of the airport ten minutes later, they found a restaurant just outside the terminal and decided to go there for some much needed breakfast. It was a small diner that wasn’t very crowded at this time of the day which was just what they needed. The place was mostly occupied with tourist who were about to leave the country or just came in. Their big luggage took up most of the space and the three of them had to maneuver around the bulky bags, suitcases and backpacks in search of an empty booth.
They found a secluded booth at the back of the diner and once they were settled in, they made their order. Once that was done, they waited for their food in silence. Andrew was staring at the tabletop looking sullen while Giles gaze out of the big window beside their table, commenting once in a while about something that interested him. Dawn nursed her hot chocolate silently.
Once they food arrived, they dug in. Giles had some bacon, eggs and a couple of harsh browns with a cup of strong black coffee. Andrew ordered pancakes while Dawn just ordered two strawberry Danishes. The food wasn’t very good but at least they got something into their empty stomachs.
“Are Buffy and the others doing alright?” Giles asked around a mouthful of eggs after a few minutes of silent eating.
Dawn nodded. “Yeah.” She paused as she thought over his question. “Well, I guess it depends in which area. In a general sense, they’re doing fine.”
“Xander has a new girlfriend,” Andrew spoke up, surprising everybody at the table.
Giles smiled, the corners of his eyes crinkling when he did. “He does? Well, that’s unexpected.”
“It’s good right? That he has a girlfriend?” Dawn asked.
“Well, of course. It just shows how he has accepted Anya’s death and has moved on. It’s a good sign.”
“Good. Because with everything going on…” she shook her head. “I was just wondering.”
“And Buffy? Is she dating anyone?”
Dawn shook her head. “Not that I know of. She seemed interested in this guy called Antonio. He was the boyfriend of Tessa.”
“Ah, the slayer who shot herself.”
Dawn nodded as she took a bite of her Danish. A glob of strawberry jam dribbled down her chin and she wiped it away with one of the napkins on the table.
“So what happened to him?”
“Not sure. Last I heard he didn’t want us to speak or come near him again. I think he blames us for Tessa’s death.”
“How did Buffy take it?”
“She took it and ran away with it,” Dawn replied grimly. “She came home one night, told us what happened and acted as if everything was alright but I could see that she believed him – that it was our fault. I thought she was smarter than that. Even I know it’s not our fault.”
“Well, technically, it is,” Andrew remarked. “Willow was the one who did the spell and Buffy asked her to do the spell. We agreed to go ahead with the spell. So it is our fault.”
Dawn blinked. She didn’t thought of it that way. “It’s not our fault that Tessa couldn’t handle the burden of being a slayer.”
“True,” Andrew agreed as he chewed on his pancake. He pointed his fork at her in all seriousness and questioned, “However, would she even be handling the burdens of being the slayer we if didn’t make her a slayer?”
“He…he has a point,” Giles said slowly.
Dawn stared at the ex-Watcher incredulously. “Giles! You are not suppose to agree with him!”
“I’m not agreeing that it’s our fault that Tessa couldn’t handle being a slayer but I’m just agreeing that those consequences are resulted from our actions. Albeit, the action was something that had to be done in the name of good but all actions have consequences and this is no exception. We just have to deal with it and accept it. We can’t control any of this so accepting and dealing with it is all we can do.”
#########################################
Rating: PG
Beta: Couldn't afford one.
Author's Notes: Part 3 of 3. This is set after season 7 of Buffy and it was written a loooong time ago. So I thought I share this with you guys.
Disclaimer: BtVS does not belong to me, yada, yada, yada. You know the drill.
~*~
~Europe, Italy~
Dawn clenched her fist and started banging on the door of Xander’s and Andrew’s bedroom. The door rattled under her persistent pounding as she yelled, “Andrew! Are you awake?”
It was seven in morning and she was the first one awake. The whole apartment was silent when she woke up at six – until now that is – and after washing up and grabbing a quick breakfast, she threw on some clothes and planted herself in front of the men’s bedroom.
The door swung a minute of door thumping later. A disheveled, sleepy looking Xander glared at her but didn’t greet her. Dawn gave him a bright smile. “Good morning, Xand! Is Andrew awake?”
“It’s seven in the morning,” Xander told her, like she needed to be told in the first place. She had been looking at the clock every five minutes to make sure she wasn’t late.
“If I wanted the time I would have looked at the clock instead of knocking on your door. Is Andrew awake?” she asked again.
Xander didn’t reply. He moved back into the room, leaving the door open for her to come in. Dawn rushed in and made a beeline towards Andrew’s bed. “Andrew, your wake up call is here,” Xander said before falling back into his bed. A moment later, he was sound asleep, snoring softly.
Andrew was curled up in a ball in his bed, not moving, completely covered with his blanket. Only his feet could be seen jutting out from under one end of the blanket. Dawn leaned forward and poked his shoulder, hard. “Andrew! Wake up! We got to go! NOW!
“Keep it down, Dawn! You don’t want to end up like my alarm clock,” Dawn heard Buffy hollered from her room.
“Sorry!” Dawn hollered back. She turned back to Andrew and smacked his shoulder, hard. “Andrew!” she hissed, “get your butt out of bed now.”
Finally there was movement under the cotton and Andrew’s head popped out from under the blanket. He squinted at Dawn, annoyance flashing across his features. “Ok, first of all I was having a great dream about Natalie Portman as Queen Amidala and I was just getting to the good part. And second of all, ow!” Andrew whispered, rubbing his sore shoulder.
“Look, I got no time for you to be in pain. We’re going to be late if you don’t get up right now.” Dawn paused as her gaze ticked towards the immobile Xander. She lowered her voice and continued, “I’ve already called the cab and it will be here in 20 twenty minutes.”
Andrew sighed as he rubbed his face with his hand. “Alright, fine. I’m up, I’m up.”
“Finally! Get dressed and I’ll wait for you out in the living room. Be out in 10 minutes.” She turned and tipped-toed out of the room. She didn’t want to make much noise and wake up Xander. As she padded into the hallway, she took a quick glance into her sister’s room to see where her sister was. She started to panic when she saw that Buffy’s bed was empty. Dawn took a step in to look around. Once she entered the room, the sound of running water caught Dawn’s ears and guessed that Buffy was in the bathroom taking a shower.
Dawn breathed a sigh of relief. Now she had to make sure that she and Andrew left the house before her sister got out of the shower and comes out of the room.
She made a quick stop at her bedroom, grabbed her purse and jacket and headed back out into the living room. She flopped down on one of the couch and waited impatiently for Andrew. She glanced at the clock for the umpteenth time. The large hand ticked past the number ten and Dawn felt her heart squeeze in anxiousness. They still had an hour and a half left but it takes about an hour for them to get across town and out of it to reach the airport.
She got up, shrugged into her jacket and strapped her purse across her chest. She did this in order to safe time putting them on later when Andrew finally comes out. This way, they are able to leave the apartment as soon as Andrew steps into the living room. She sat back down. A minute later, she stood up and started pacing the length of the living room, unable to sit still any longer.
“Hey, Dawnie. What are you doing up this early – and all dressed up?”
Dawn jumped, startled, when she heard Willow’s voice. She looked up and saw Willow coming out of the kitchen. Her redheaded friend was holding a bowl of cereal, a spoonful of Fruit-Loops hovered above the bowl, just below her chin.
“Oh, I was just going out to grab some breakfast for you guys.”
“Oh that’s so sweet of you. But as you can see I’m having mine so don’t get anything for me. But I could tag along with you if you want?”
“That’s alright. I got Andrew to go with me.” That was something oddly wrong with Willow. She looked happy. Not there was anything wrong with looking happy but she looked too happy. Ecstatic even.
Who looks this happy at this time of the day?
“Well, while you’re out, you mind getting Andrew to get a hair cut. He badly needs one and he’s freaking me out with his so-called new look. The whole mature look doesn’t exactly suit him.”
Dawn forced a smile. “Sure, I’ll try. I can’t promise you anything though.”
Willow returned her smile as she ate the spoonful of cereal. She didn’t move from her place.
Dawn caught a glimpse of the clock again. Only five minutes had passed and that made them 5 minutes closer to being late.
“Andrew!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“A minute please!” Andrew bellowed back at the impatient Dawn. He heard a murmur from Xander and he froze. He didn’t want Xander to wake up and started questioning him on where he was going. He wasn’t actually a good liar.
“Andrew?”
Damn!
“What are you doing up at this hour?”
Andrew turned and faced Xander. “Hey Xander.”
“Where are you going?”
“Out,” he replied. Please, don’t ask me where.
“Where?”
Can he read minds now? “Just out. Sightseeing?”
“Sightseeing. Now. Alone.”
“Well…we’re going to the next town to sightsee. It’s better if we leave early so we can do more.”
Xander frowned. “We?”
Andrew gulped and cursed silently for saying ‘we’. “Yeah, me and Dawn.”
Comprehension shone in Xander’s eyes as he nodded. “Right. Was that why she was here just now?”
“Yup.”
“Where are you guys going to sightsee?”
Andrew rolled his eyes in impatience. He was still in his boxers. He was just about to put on his pants when Xander woke up. He couldn’t exactly answer all of Xander’s questions, put on his pants and leave the room in 5 minutes. Dawn will have his head.
And didn’t he just say earlier they were going to the next town? Wasn’t he listening to a word he said? “Xander, what’s with the 20 twenty questions? Can’t I go out without getting a third degree?”
“Yes you can. I was just curious as I never could understand how anybody can function this early in the morning. Hence, the questions.”
Andrew got into his pants, buckled them and looked pointedly at Xander. “I’m going now.” He turned and made his leave.
“Get me some donuts while you’re out!” Xander called out as Andrew left.
“Finally you’re out,” Dawn said as he appeared in the living room, throwing her hands up in exasperation. “What were you doing in there? Making clothes?”
“Xander was up. Hey Willow,” he said as he grabbed his shoes from the shoe rack and started to put them on. Willow flashed him a bright smile in response before continuing to eat her cereal. She didn’t budge from her spot.
“What did he say?” Dawn asked Andrew as she came up beside him, her voice dropping to a whisper.
“He was just asking where I was going, that’s all. He didn’t seem suspicious or if he knew something was up if that’s what you’re getting at.”
“Ok. Good. Come on, we gotta go. I think the cab’s here.”
“Oh we need to get donuts for Xander on our way back.”
“We got no time for donuts,” Dawn snapped. She grabbed his hand and started to pull him out of the apartment. It was then when Buffy stepped into the living, wrapped in a thick, white bathrobe, her blond hair damp around her shoulders.
“Hey, where are you guys off to at this hour?” Buffy asked.
“Breakfast!” Dawn answered over her shoulder – the same time Andrew said, “Sightseeing!”
Together they raced out of the apartment. Well, Dawn did most of the running. Andrew just let her haul him. They got into the cab and Dawn told the driver their destination and asked him to go as fast as he could. The non-English speaking driver just looked at her blankly for a minute before putting the car into gear and speeding down the street.
As Andrew settled in for the long drive, Dawn sat rigid beside him, fiddling nervously with a loose thread from her jacket.
“We’re not late,” he assured her.
“I know. But I’m not worried about that.”
“Oh. So what are you worried about?”
“About them finding out.”
Andrew waved her off as if it was the most ridiculous thing he just heard. “They won’t find out.”
“No? This is too big to keep it as a secret. And besides, you suck at lying or keeping secrets.”
Andrew blushed but he covered it by gazing out of the window. “We’ll managed,” he finally said.
“How can you be this calm? Doesn’t this bug you one bit?” Dawn asked him incredulously.
“I try not to think about it too much. I got other things on my mind,” he answered.
“Right. Like that little fantasy of yours of becoming a Watcher.”
Andrew turned and shot her a look. “It’s not a fantasy. It’s a goal. Big diff.”
“Yeah well, the end results probably going to be the same,” Dawn murmured.
“What?”
“Nothing,” she said with a forced smile.
“You don’t think I can do this,” he said when realization dawned on him. “You all don’t think I can this.”
“Of course not. We got faith in you…”
“That I would fail,” he finished for her. “Well, that’s just great!”
“I didn’t say that. You did.”
“But you were thinking it!”
“Oh come on, Andrew! Don’t be such a baby. Why do you even care what we think? Just go become a Watcher and prove us wrong.”
“I will,” Andrew said, lifting his chin a little. He hoped that Dawn couldn’t see him tearing up from where she sat. Hearing that all of his friends expected him to fail didn’t exactly make one jump up with joy.
“I’m sorry,” Dawn was saying. “It’s not that we know that you’re going to fail, it’s just that we can’t exactly see that happening. You in tweed?” She shook her head. “Nope, I can’t picture it. You’re too cool for that.”
That’s true, he thought with a small smile. He certainly could pull off a leather look but tweed? He didn’t think so. “Maybe I can start a trend,” he said thoughtfully. “I can be the first Watcher to move away from the tweed. It could happen.”
“And I can’t wait to see that to happen.” This time her smile wasn’t forced.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~AIRPORT~
When the cab pulled into the taxi stand at the arrival hall of the airport, Dawn sank into a deeper state of anxiousness. As soon as she paid the cabdriver, she climbed out of the car and started walking briskly towards the airport terminal. She didn’t bother waiting for Andrew.
“Can you please slow down?” Andrew asked, huffing behind her.
“I don’t want to be late.”
“We’re not late,” Andrew said a tinge of frustration in his voice. “And besides if we were, it’s not like it’s the end of the world. We would still be able to catch him. He won’t run away. He had no where to go.”
Dawn ignored him as the two of them made their way through the crowd. The airport was unusually packed with tourist and locals and Dawn had a hard time seeing where she was going. The only time she was at the airport was when she and the others first arrived and that was in the departure hall. The arrival hall didn’t look remotely like the departure hall.
“Do you even know where we are going?”
Of course she knew where she was going. What was she? Stupid? Hardly. “Gate 13,” Dawn replied through gritted teeth. She wondered why she asked him to tag along in the first place. It was certainly make things easier if he didn’t have him annoying her every single minute by asking stupid questions.
“Gate 13 is that way and we are going in the opposite direction.”
Dawn stopped, almost causing Andrew to bump into her. She turned and realized that he was right. They were going the opposite direction. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” she glared at Andrew and starting going back the way they came from.
“I didn’t know where we were going.”
“Well, you should have asked,” Dawn said sharply. She craned her neck and noted from the sign above them that they had to turn right.
“I did.”
Whatever. She didn’t have time to back track on their conversation and see whether he did indeed asked. “Do you see the gate yet?”
“No,” Andrew answered. “Maybe we should ask someone.”
“We’ll find it. Just keep a look out for any signs.”
After ten minutes of twisting and turning around the arrival hall of the airport, Dawn and Andrew finally found gate 13. They still had about 10 minutes left before the plane touched down. Dawn breathed a sigh on relief as they planted themselves near the gate.
“Told you we weren’t late,” Andrew said with a smirk. He crossed his arms and looked around the area they were in. This part of the airport was as crowded as the entrance. There were many people walking to and fro, lugging various sizes of baggage with them. There were a few shops here and there – a gift shop, a book store, a bakery and a small place to process your vacation photos – and a long line of counters for money exchange, hotel booking and the likes.
Andrew looked at her and said, “I wonder why it’s so crowded today. You think it’s the vacation period or something?”
“Maybe.”
“You know, I never realized how popular Italy is. Well, it is a beautiful country so I guess I can see why.” He went silent as he continued to survey the surroundings. A minute later, he started to sing under his breath. Dawn shot him a look and he stopped. “Sorry. I was bored.”
Then he said again, “I’m hungry. Can I go –”
“Andrew! For heaven’s sake, can you please, for once, keep your mouth shut?” her voice came out louder than she intended to and she attracted attention from people who were a around her. They eyed her suspiciously and Dawn gave them an everything-is-alright-nothing-to-see-here smile.
Andrew stared at her in surprise. Then he started to blush a deep red. “Sorry,” he murmured. He dropped his hands and stuffed them into the pocket of his jeans. He stared at the ground, not wanting to look at her.
Dawn felt a pang of guilt and before she could apologize, the overhead public announcement speakers dinged and a female voice blared throughout the airport. “British Airways, Flight 147H from London, England has landed at gate 13. Thank you!”
Dawn grabbed Andrew’s hand and started to haul him nearer towards the gate. Ten minutes later, the gate opened and tired and pissed off looking passengers streamed out of the gate. Dawn stood on her toes to try to look over the onslaught on people that were coming towards her and Andrew.
There was no sign of Giles.
“Do you see him?” Dawn asked. She looked over at Andrew when he didn’t answer. He wasn’t looking for Giles like she expected. Instead, he was looking at the ground forlornly.
“Watchers don’t sulk,” Dawn stated as she continued her search for Giles.
“Friends don’t bite each other’s head off,” he countered.
He got me there. “Look, Andrew, I’m sorry ok? I just got a lot on my mind and I’m –”
“Forget it. I’m over it.” But his expression said otherwise.
Well, if he says he’s over, I’ll talk his word for it. A familiar figure caught her eye as she went back to her search for the ex-Watcher. “Giles! Giles, over here!”
Giles spotted her waving and slowly made his way through the crowd towards Dawn. It had been awhile since she last saw him and she got to admit that he looked good though he clearly looked tired. He was wearing a dark green turtleneck with khakis. His brown suede jacket was draped across one arm. He was pulling a small travel bag with him and that was the only luggage he had with him.
He wasn’t wearing his glasses and Dawn could clearly see the dark circles under his eyes. He looked drained but she could see that he was working hard not to look that way. His face split into a huge grin, his eyes twinkling.
“Hello Dawn, it’s good to see you.”
She stepped up and pulled the other man into a hug. “I’m so glad you’re here,” she said against his shoulder.
Giles chuckled as they pulled away. His eyes flickered towards Andrew and he looked stunned. “Andrew?”
Andrew gave him a small wave. He shifted his weight from one foot and then back to the other. He appeared uncomfortable under Giles’ scrutiny. “Hey, Giles.”
“My, have you changed.”
Andrew shrugged. “Just trying on a new look.”
“Well…it’s…nice,” Giles said, hesitating a little.
“So did you have a good flight?” Dawn asked as she took his hand and led him towards the exit.
“No. The flight was terrible. The food was cold, the scotch wasn’t strong enough and the in-flight entertainment wasn’t entertaining at all.”
“Oh. So I assume you want to get your rest? We can meet later in the day if you want.”
“No, no. that’s alright. We’ll talk over breakfast.
“Finally!” Andrew exclaimed.
When they came out of the airport ten minutes later, they found a restaurant just outside the terminal and decided to go there for some much needed breakfast. It was a small diner that wasn’t very crowded at this time of the day which was just what they needed. The place was mostly occupied with tourist who were about to leave the country or just came in. Their big luggage took up most of the space and the three of them had to maneuver around the bulky bags, suitcases and backpacks in search of an empty booth.
They found a secluded booth at the back of the diner and once they were settled in, they made their order. Once that was done, they waited for their food in silence. Andrew was staring at the tabletop looking sullen while Giles gaze out of the big window beside their table, commenting once in a while about something that interested him. Dawn nursed her hot chocolate silently.
Once they food arrived, they dug in. Giles had some bacon, eggs and a couple of harsh browns with a cup of strong black coffee. Andrew ordered pancakes while Dawn just ordered two strawberry Danishes. The food wasn’t very good but at least they got something into their empty stomachs.
“Are Buffy and the others doing alright?” Giles asked around a mouthful of eggs after a few minutes of silent eating.
Dawn nodded. “Yeah.” She paused as she thought over his question. “Well, I guess it depends in which area. In a general sense, they’re doing fine.”
“Xander has a new girlfriend,” Andrew spoke up, surprising everybody at the table.
Giles smiled, the corners of his eyes crinkling when he did. “He does? Well, that’s unexpected.”
“It’s good right? That he has a girlfriend?” Dawn asked.
“Well, of course. It just shows how he has accepted Anya’s death and has moved on. It’s a good sign.”
“Good. Because with everything going on…” she shook her head. “I was just wondering.”
“And Buffy? Is she dating anyone?”
Dawn shook her head. “Not that I know of. She seemed interested in this guy called Antonio. He was the boyfriend of Tessa.”
“Ah, the slayer who shot herself.”
Dawn nodded as she took a bite of her Danish. A glob of strawberry jam dribbled down her chin and she wiped it away with one of the napkins on the table.
“So what happened to him?”
“Not sure. Last I heard he didn’t want us to speak or come near him again. I think he blames us for Tessa’s death.”
“How did Buffy take it?”
“She took it and ran away with it,” Dawn replied grimly. “She came home one night, told us what happened and acted as if everything was alright but I could see that she believed him – that it was our fault. I thought she was smarter than that. Even I know it’s not our fault.”
“Well, technically, it is,” Andrew remarked. “Willow was the one who did the spell and Buffy asked her to do the spell. We agreed to go ahead with the spell. So it is our fault.”
Dawn blinked. She didn’t thought of it that way. “It’s not our fault that Tessa couldn’t handle the burden of being a slayer.”
“True,” Andrew agreed as he chewed on his pancake. He pointed his fork at her in all seriousness and questioned, “However, would she even be handling the burdens of being the slayer we if didn’t make her a slayer?”
“He…he has a point,” Giles said slowly.
Dawn stared at the ex-Watcher incredulously. “Giles! You are not suppose to agree with him!”
“I’m not agreeing that it’s our fault that Tessa couldn’t handle being a slayer but I’m just agreeing that those consequences are resulted from our actions. Albeit, the action was something that had to be done in the name of good but all actions have consequences and this is no exception. We just have to deal with it and accept it. We can’t control any of this so accepting and dealing with it is all we can do.”
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