Fic: Deciphering Fire, Pt 1
Feb. 5th, 2006 10:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wesleysgirlThis fic is for the very patient ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
ponders_life in exchange for a donation to ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
the_fund.
My guidelines/requests:
- Spike/Xander, plus friendship with Dawn
- set several years post-NFA, so that Dawn is an adult (post-college) and Xander is at least 30
- plot to revolve around a rescue/escape/recovery from a natural disaster (in keeping with the reason we're participating in [info]the_fund)
- happy (or at least upbeat/hopeful) ending required
- possible (but not required) themes: a) characters look at each other in a new light after surviving disaster (maybe have Dawn be rescuer rather than rescuee?), and/or b) previously estranged characters decide to "bury the hachet" and start fresh
- please, no vamp!Xander, vamp!Dawn, graphic torture or violence, character bashing, or incest (which to me includes Giles/any Scooby)
I decided that posting it in parts might help keep me going, although over the past few days the last of the questions I had about the direction in which the fic was going have been answered and I feel confident that I'll be posting a minimum of 2-3 parts per week. I expect there to be somewhere between 6-10 parts.
Xander hates flying.
It's not that he worries about the plane crashing; he doesn't. It's more that there's something highly unnatural about it -- like being in one of those haunted houses where balls dropped onto the floor roll uphill instead of down. It's just wrong.
But there are times when you have to do stuff you don't like, and Xander's not dumb enough to think that he was past that, even setting aside the kinds of reminders that they all get on a regular basis.
In this case, it's a phone call from Dawn that has him on a flight from Cleveland, where he's been for almost half a year, helping Faith and Robin keep an eye -- just the one, in his case -- on the hellmouth there. Andrew's there, too, but Xander spends a lot of time not thinking about Andrew, or at least trying not to think about Andrew.
He knew something was wrong as soon as he picked up the phone -- Dawn's voice was small and worried, breathy, and he'd been quick to reassure her that whatever was wrong, it would be okay, they'd figure it out. The shock when he'd heard that her problem was an unwanted pregnancy and an irresponsible boy that bailed as soon as he knew had been intense, but Xander's over that part of it now. You don't grow up in Sunnydale without learning how to move on quickly.
The plane is making its approach, getting ready to land, the flight attendants -- all women except for one guy who sets Xander's gaydar off like whoa -- making their way up the aisles to make sure everyone has their seat belts fastened. The blonde, the one who reminds Xander of a frailer version of Tara, smiles shyly at him as she bends over to check to see that he's strapped in, which is so totally unnecessary that Xander knows it's her way of flirting with him. She's pretty in a perfect sort of way that he would have been attracted to years ago.
While Xander waits for his suitcase to appear through the apparently-magical system of conveyor belts, he digs the folded piece of paper out of his pocket and looks at it just to make sure, but Dawn told him she'd meet him here in the baggage claim area. He keeps looking around for her, but there's no sign of her, even though he knows to look for her with shorter hair.
He's just stepped forward to grab his battered suitcase with its collection of travel stickers when he hears a shocked voice behind him. "Xander?"
Xander turns and swings his suitcase into Spike -- he hadn't realized how close he was standing. Spike swears and steps back, looking astonished, so fucking surprised that Xander doesn't even know what to say.
"What the bloody hell are you doing here?" Spike asks.
"I'm supposed to be meeting Dawn," Xander says, looking around for her futilely in the crowds again.
"No, I'm supposed to be..." Spike trails off and frowns.
"Sounds like she pulled one over on both of us," Xander says. "Are you okay?"
"Of course I'm okay," Spike says, clearly irritated. "Takes more than a bump on the knee to hurt me -- you know that."
"Yeah... sorry." Xander puts his suitcase down and notes that Spike is holding one, too. "What do you think she would have done if one of our planes had been late?"
"Been in a hell of a lot less trouble than she's going to be once I get my hands on her," Spike growls, and Xander remembers what it was like to have the sexier version of that growl directed toward him.
"You don't think the whole story was a lie, do you?" Xander asks. He'll be really, really mad at Dawn if it was.
"You mean the part where she's got a bun in the oven?" Spike says. Xander's a little surprised that Spike would use that kind of language about Dawn -- anyone else and it wouldn't surprise him to hear worse, but Dawn's always been special. To Spike; to everyone. "Doubt it. Sounded real enough to me."
Xander nods. "Me, too." It's okay like this, with both of them focusing on the problem instead of each other. "So what now?"
Spike looks around. His hand makes the aborted motion Xander knows well -- the one where he starts to reach for a cigarette before remembering he's somewhere he's not allowed to smoke. "I've got her address somewhere. We'll find her."
"At least it's after dark," Xander says. "Huh. That way." He points toward the escalator and they both start in that direction. Spike hangs back and lets Xander step into the escalator first -- there's a good amount of space between them because of their suitcases, and Xander is just turning to face Spike to say something to him when he realizes that the building is trembling, a sound like the high-pitched whine of an airplane suddenly getting louder and louder and making everything shudder.
Xander hears Spike say, "Xan -- " and then there's an impossibly loud sound, an explosion, and the escalator falls away beneath him.
He doesn't feel the impact of his body landing.
TBC
ponders_life in exchange for a donation to the_fund. My guidelines/requests:
- Spike/Xander, plus friendship with Dawn
- set several years post-NFA, so that Dawn is an adult (post-college) and Xander is at least 30
- plot to revolve around a rescue/escape/recovery from a natural disaster (in keeping with the reason we're participating in [info]the_fund)
- happy (or at least upbeat/hopeful) ending required
- possible (but not required) themes: a) characters look at each other in a new light after surviving disaster (maybe have Dawn be rescuer rather than rescuee?), and/or b) previously estranged characters decide to "bury the hachet" and start fresh
- please, no vamp!Xander, vamp!Dawn, graphic torture or violence, character bashing, or incest (which to me includes Giles/any Scooby)
I decided that posting it in parts might help keep me going, although over the past few days the last of the questions I had about the direction in which the fic was going have been answered and I feel confident that I'll be posting a minimum of 2-3 parts per week. I expect there to be somewhere between 6-10 parts.
Xander hates flying.
It's not that he worries about the plane crashing; he doesn't. It's more that there's something highly unnatural about it -- like being in one of those haunted houses where balls dropped onto the floor roll uphill instead of down. It's just wrong.
But there are times when you have to do stuff you don't like, and Xander's not dumb enough to think that he was past that, even setting aside the kinds of reminders that they all get on a regular basis.
In this case, it's a phone call from Dawn that has him on a flight from Cleveland, where he's been for almost half a year, helping Faith and Robin keep an eye -- just the one, in his case -- on the hellmouth there. Andrew's there, too, but Xander spends a lot of time not thinking about Andrew, or at least trying not to think about Andrew.
He knew something was wrong as soon as he picked up the phone -- Dawn's voice was small and worried, breathy, and he'd been quick to reassure her that whatever was wrong, it would be okay, they'd figure it out. The shock when he'd heard that her problem was an unwanted pregnancy and an irresponsible boy that bailed as soon as he knew had been intense, but Xander's over that part of it now. You don't grow up in Sunnydale without learning how to move on quickly.
The plane is making its approach, getting ready to land, the flight attendants -- all women except for one guy who sets Xander's gaydar off like whoa -- making their way up the aisles to make sure everyone has their seat belts fastened. The blonde, the one who reminds Xander of a frailer version of Tara, smiles shyly at him as she bends over to check to see that he's strapped in, which is so totally unnecessary that Xander knows it's her way of flirting with him. She's pretty in a perfect sort of way that he would have been attracted to years ago.
While Xander waits for his suitcase to appear through the apparently-magical system of conveyor belts, he digs the folded piece of paper out of his pocket and looks at it just to make sure, but Dawn told him she'd meet him here in the baggage claim area. He keeps looking around for her, but there's no sign of her, even though he knows to look for her with shorter hair.
He's just stepped forward to grab his battered suitcase with its collection of travel stickers when he hears a shocked voice behind him. "Xander?"
Xander turns and swings his suitcase into Spike -- he hadn't realized how close he was standing. Spike swears and steps back, looking astonished, so fucking surprised that Xander doesn't even know what to say.
"What the bloody hell are you doing here?" Spike asks.
"I'm supposed to be meeting Dawn," Xander says, looking around for her futilely in the crowds again.
"No, I'm supposed to be..." Spike trails off and frowns.
"Sounds like she pulled one over on both of us," Xander says. "Are you okay?"
"Of course I'm okay," Spike says, clearly irritated. "Takes more than a bump on the knee to hurt me -- you know that."
"Yeah... sorry." Xander puts his suitcase down and notes that Spike is holding one, too. "What do you think she would have done if one of our planes had been late?"
"Been in a hell of a lot less trouble than she's going to be once I get my hands on her," Spike growls, and Xander remembers what it was like to have the sexier version of that growl directed toward him.
"You don't think the whole story was a lie, do you?" Xander asks. He'll be really, really mad at Dawn if it was.
"You mean the part where she's got a bun in the oven?" Spike says. Xander's a little surprised that Spike would use that kind of language about Dawn -- anyone else and it wouldn't surprise him to hear worse, but Dawn's always been special. To Spike; to everyone. "Doubt it. Sounded real enough to me."
Xander nods. "Me, too." It's okay like this, with both of them focusing on the problem instead of each other. "So what now?"
Spike looks around. His hand makes the aborted motion Xander knows well -- the one where he starts to reach for a cigarette before remembering he's somewhere he's not allowed to smoke. "I've got her address somewhere. We'll find her."
"At least it's after dark," Xander says. "Huh. That way." He points toward the escalator and they both start in that direction. Spike hangs back and lets Xander step into the escalator first -- there's a good amount of space between them because of their suitcases, and Xander is just turning to face Spike to say something to him when he realizes that the building is trembling, a sound like the high-pitched whine of an airplane suddenly getting louder and louder and making everything shudder.
Xander hears Spike say, "Xan -- " and then there's an impossibly loud sound, an explosion, and the escalator falls away beneath him.
He doesn't feel the impact of his body landing.
TBC
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-02-06 05:14 am (UTC)So nice to have new S/X from you. :)
no subject
Date: 2006-02-06 02:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-06 02:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-06 05:53 am (UTC)The scariest escalator in the world is the escalator from the underground at Atlanta's airport to the steet level. It is so steep and it just goes on and on and on.
no subject
Date: 2006-02-06 02:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-06 06:27 am (UTC)second, i am so totally curious about the spike/xander backstory here. i can't wait to see it all unfold.
no subject
Date: 2006-02-06 02:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-06 12:07 pm (UTC)You *are* evil, right.
I presume there will be that many cliffhangers? Or did I just put that idea in your head?
Please, please, please, relieve the suspense.
Thanking-you-in-advance hugs,
H.
no subject
Date: 2006-02-06 02:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-06 12:50 pm (UTC)::settles in happily, with virtual popcorn, to wait for next part::
no subject
Date: 2006-02-06 02:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-06 04:48 pm (UTC)But I'm totally into this story.
no subject
Date: 2006-02-06 11:45 pm (UTC)But as far as I know, they will not be making another appearance in this story. And if they do, I will make fun of them. ;-)
Thank you!
no subject
Date: 2006-02-06 05:08 pm (UTC)*stairs*
*shudder*
Also, *love*
no subject
Date: 2006-02-06 11:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-06 05:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-06 11:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-06 05:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-06 11:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-06 06:05 pm (UTC)Ooh, i like.
Dawn pregnant - new thing! And yeah, she'd call Spike, and she'd call Xander.
*bounce*
Yay!
no subject
Date: 2006-02-06 11:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-06 06:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-06 11:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-06 11:27 pm (UTC)What a great start, I can't wait for more.
no subject
Date: 2006-02-06 11:50 pm (UTC)Thank you!
no subject
Date: 2006-02-07 12:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-07 03:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-07 12:50 am (UTC)Hmmm. So this is a they've-had-an-affair-previously-and-broken-up story?
no subject
Date: 2006-02-07 03:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-07 05:28 pm (UTC)yay! excited.
no subject
Date: 2006-02-08 12:22 am (UTC)