Author's Notes: This story takes place after "Something Blue." It gets a PG-13 rating for a little bit of sexy stuff.
Xander felt her warm breath on the back of his neck as she slowly caressed his chest. He saw that some of her soft brown hair was resting on his arm. His breathing was hard and fast as she reached lower, lower…
Anya gazed down at Xander's sleeping form next to her. One year ago, she never would have thought that she would be here, in the basement of a man, much less one she was sent to punish. Yet here she was, loving him. She loved the way he smelled, the way he talked, the way he walked. She loved seeing him fight demons, and dig, and with that cute little hat from 'corndog on a stick.' And she wouldn't trade it for anything, not even to get her powers back. He was her Xander and hers alone.
"Nuh..no. Stop it. Please. Stop. No. NO!"
"Xander," said Anya. "Xander, you're talking in your sleep. Wake up honey. Wake up." She shook him until he awoke, his eyes bloodshot and full of fear.
"Where is she?" he asked, almost paranoid.
"Where is who?"
"Um, nobody. It's nothing." He quickly climbed out of bed and began to get dressed.
"Xander, something's wrong. Tell me, maybe I can help you." She looked at him so lovingly that he stopped what he was doing and quickly sat down beside her.
"Anya," he began. "Something is wrong. But it's very hard for me to talk about. I think I need a guy to talk to. Do you understand."
"Yeah, I think so. You gonna talk to Giles?"
"Yeah," he replied. "But I'll talk to you soon." Then, he left. She sat there bewildered. What was going on?
* * *
Giles was surprised to hear someone knocking on his door at 7:00 in the morning that Saturday. Spike had finally fallen asleep and had stopped his ceaseless wanking, and he was happy for the quiet. A little annoyed, he put down his book, and rose to see who was there.
"Xander?" he realized, letting the boy in. "My God, you look like hell."
"Can we talk?"
"Of course." Giles had never seen Xander like this before. He looked beyond scared. He was petrified. He quickly lead him to the living room and poured him a cup of hot tea."
"Thanks," said Xander, sipping his drink. Giles quietly waited for him to begin. "For the last two or three nights, I've had these terrible nightmares."
"About what?"
"Faith." It looked like it hurt the boy to even say it. "I keep reliving that night, when she attacked me. Only it's different."
"Different how?"
"She doesn't try to kill me. She does something worse."
"I'm afraid that I don't follow," answered the librarian. The boy looked like he was about to have a panic attack. "Xander, I want to help you, I really do. But I need to know what's going on."
Xander looked at him with hollow eyes, then nodded. "She rapes me." Giles stared back at him in horror. "That's what she started to do that night, but she changed her mind. Now she does do it, night after night, in my dreams. Only it's not like a dream at all. It's so real, I can actually smell her." Xander looked as though he would start to cry at any second.
Giles took a moment to absorb the information, then looked him straight in the eye. "We should tell the others."
"No!" Xander looked shocked. "No, we can't do that!"
"Xander listen to me. This must be terrible for you, I can see that. But there is no need to be ashamed. We are your friends, and we want to help you. This could be so many things, a delayed reaction, a magic spell. We need to research this. Please, let me call them. Xander nodded then lay back on the couch. Giles left him, thinking that he needed his rest. He got the girls to come over, then filled them in as best he could.
"Oh my God," Willow replied.
"Poor Xander," added Buffy.
Anya had slowly moved over to where Xander was sleeping on the couch, and she was gazing at him. He was hurting so much, and there might not be anyway for her to help. His eyelids were starting to flutter.
* * *
Xander saw that he was no longer in Giles' home, but in Faith's hotel room, tied to the bed. She was on top of him, caressing his chest.
"Faith no," he begged, feeling the fear wash over him in waves. "Please, don't do this!"
"Come on Xander, you know you want to." She began to touch him sensually.
"Please stop it Faith, you hurting me. No. NO, STOP! YOU'RE HURTING ME!!!"
* * *
"NO, STOP! YOU'RE HURTING ME!!!"
"Giles!" screamed Anya in fright.
"Is this what happened before?" he asked.
"Not this badly."
"Xander," said Willow, lightly touching his arm. "Wake up. Faith isn't here, she's in the hospital. She can't hurt you. We're here." Xander bolted out of his dream with a mix of fear and relief. Shaking, he thanked Willow, stood, and went to hug Anya. The five of them all sat down around the table then to discuss what might be happening. While Willow was in the middle of explaining a dream curse she had found in one of her witchcraft books, Anya reached into her purse and began to dab some perfume on her wrists.
"What's that?" asked Buffy, nodding her head towards the bottle.
"It's my new perfume," answered Anya, handing her the bottle.
"I know that smell," Willow said suddenly.
"It's Poison," answered Buffy. "Faith's perfume."
"Anya," stated Giles. "How long have you been wearing that perfume?"
"Just a couple of days," she said.
"I told Jenny once that smell is the memories strongest trigger. The smell of that perfume is taking Xander back to the night Faith tried to kill him. From there, his fears and imagination take over." They all sat silently for a long moment, contemplating what Giles had just told them. Then Anya rose, walked into the kitchen, and dumped the contents of the perfume bottle into the sink. Then she rejoined the group.
"Xander," she began. "You should stay here awhile and try to sleep. If that's okay with you," she added, turning to Giles.
"Of course," the older man stammered.
"What about you?" asked Xander.
"I'm going to wash the sheets from your bed, then take a long shower. I'm getting rid of every trace of that perfume." The two of them shared a long, passionate kiss before she left and he crashed on the couch again."
"Hey," came the unmistakable voice of Spike from the bathroom. "Somebody had better come feed me!"
"Who wants to interrogate the prisoner?" asked Buffy.
"Me," said Willow, raising her hand. The three remaining members of the Scooby Gang went to take care of their other big problem of the day. Meanwhile, in his sleep, Xander smiled.
The End
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