Title: Africa
Author: babies stole my dingo (agilebrit)
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Rating: PG-13
Length: Short-short (under 1000 words)
Disclaimer: Joss is the genius behind these characters; I am but
a lowly follower. I make no money from any of this, so please don't sue
me.
Written for: LJ Community Multifandom1000's "Playlist"
challenge. This also satisfies LudditeRobot's request way back when for
a Xander and Faith conversation post-Chosen.
Notes: I'm lame, I have no playlist, but Toto's "Africa" is one
of my favorite songs (which, I'm sure, makes me even lamer).
I raised my face towards the night sky as the first drops of the
African rains splattered down. The long, dry summer had been hard on
the natives, and the sun had turned me as brown as a nut as I searched
Tanzania for new Slayers.
The drums echoed through the village, welcoming the rain and the
midnight Cessna, coming in with supplies. Kaleidoscope clouds overhead
alternately hid and exposed the full moon and the stars, which seemed
closer to the Earth than it was possible for them to be. Even after all
this time, I still wasn't used to that.
I walked out to meet the plane and help get the supplies under cover
before the rain really started coming down. I was supposed to meet a
passenger as well, although, knowing her reliability...Stop that,
I told myself. She's not that person anymore. One of the
village elders stopped and looked at me, then gestured toward the
Cessna. Hurry, he seemed to say. There's not much time. I broke into a
trot.
The door behind the high wing of the 206 opened, and Faith stepped
out. She smiled when she saw me and gave me a little wave. "Hey, Xan,"
she said, turning back toward the door and grabbing an armload of
provisions.
"Faith," I answered, taking them from her.
After the supplies were safely under cover, we sat stiffly in my hut
on the outskirts of the village, sipping water and listening to the
thunder rumble. "So, what's the what?" Faith finally asked. "B said you
had a deal here and needed me."
"Yeah." I ran my hand through my hair, which I'd allowed to grow
long. "Thing is...I need out. Badly. Not just a vacation from Africa.
Out completely."
"Whoa, Xan." Faith put her water bottle down. "But I can't stay. I
have stuff in Cleveland. Why didn't you tell B that you needed a
replacement?"
"It would have been way with the awkwardness and the questions and
the guilt trip."
"Yeah, she's real good at that." She jumped to her feet. "Look, I
just spent the better part of twenty hours on airplanes. I need to go
out and kill something. Wanna show me the good spots?"
Half an hour later, we found a nest of N'shaynish demons and started
taking them apart. Faith, as always, was graceful as a dancer as she
spun and sliced and kicked her way through them. I was more
brute-forcey guy, but I got the job done.
Then a demon jumped me from behind, just as I finished off what I
thought was my last one. I hunched my back and threw it off me. Before
it could get up, I was pounding it, kicking it, cutting it to pieces as
a red haze clouded my vision and the rain poured down. Demon parts flew
around the little patch of grassland, and blood and goo splattered for
yards in every direction. And still I kept on while the Cape Hunting
Dogs circled around restlessly and barked at us. I think I was
screaming.
"Xan! Xander!" Faith's voice sounded like it was coming from a long
way off, but it brought me back. "Xander?" She reached out to touch me
as my shoulders slumped and I looked around at the carnage. What was
left of the last demon was a sticky green carpet of sludge on the
ground.
My legs refused to hold me up, and I collapsed. "Oh. Oh, God. I did
it again." I put my face in my hands as Faith stroked my shaking back
and made soothing noises.
"C'mon, Xan. Let's get back to the village and get you cleaned up."
Her voice was surprisingly gentle.
Back in the hut, she handed me a towel. "You wanna tell me what that
was? Because, damn, man, I thought I got into the whole Slaying gig.
That? Was something on a whole other level. I'm not ashamed to say that
you just scared the shit out of me."
"What do you think it does to me?" I said desperately. "That's why I
need to get out. I've become a scary thing in my own nightmares,
Faith." I set the towel, now soaked in rainwater and demon slime,
aside, and stripped off yet another ruined shirt.
"Yeah. I get that." She did, and that was why I'd asked for her.
"Get some sleep, Xan. I'll talk to Buffy in the morning."
Later that night, I woke up gasping and sweating from yet another
bad dream. This time was different, though. This time, calming hands
caressed my hair, and a soft voice spoke in my ear, and a warm body
curled up next to me and held me tight and safe.
And for the first time in a long time, I thought that maybe, just
maybe, I was going to be okay again.
