TITLE: Beginning In The Past. To Shape A Future.
AUTHOR: CrAzY E
RATING: NC-17
PAIRINGS: B/F, Xe/G, W/T, Xa/A
DISCLAIMER: Joss, ME, Renaissance Pictures, Rob Tapert
etc own them. I’m just playing with them for my own amusement :) I own nothing
bar my comp, my car and my girl’s heart! And though the last one is invaluable
to me I doubt it has any monetary value so please don’t sue :-p
FEEDBACK: Well yeah lol. Esp seein as am venturing WAAAAAAY outta my comfort zone here and writing my first x-over. But
at least it’s a fandom I love… even if only just discovered in last 18 months.
DISTRIBUTION: Ya want it? Take it. Have it. Just lemme
know where it goes.
SPOILERS: S-3, S-4 BtVS. X:WP
up til season 4, after “Between The Lines”. Let’s
pretend too that the conceit is actual fact and the show came about from Gab’s
scrolls. Gabrielle didn’t throw away her staff ala Eli’s Way either. Oh, and
Riley… he’s gone the way of Parker and Angel already. Mainly cuz I couldn’t be bothered with the hassle of getting rid
of him :)
SUMMARY: Dite makes a trip back in time to
pick up some help to save her latest project and throw a kink in Are’s plans for the most recent reincarnation of Xena’s soul.
NOTES: This was ORIGINALLY intended for The Buffyverse
Femslash X-over of the month back in like September
2006. It’s been sitting in my head since about 2 months before that having had
the advance warning that comes with being a mod. However, though my muse was
home and quite happy to amuse me with tales it would seem my writer took an 18
month break… so here tis… 12 months after the
original idea and I have the first part out. This tale has been written and
re-written in my head quite a lot over the past year. And even though most of
it is NOT out of my head yet, it is more completed than most of my other fics. Let’s hope my writer stays home long enough to get
the whole tale out.
A/N2: QUIESCO VENEFICUS is a combination of Latin words from an online english-latin translator. Thanks to Zap
for the link to the site. I found the word for stop which is Quiesco and Venificus means
either witch or spellcaster and just put them
together to use. So please don’t shoot me cuz my
Latin sucks :-p Latin is not an option in most Oz
secondary schools that I know of, so I never had the chance to take it.
A/N3: Thanks to our Lovely Lady of the Oasis, Val for the betaing.
DEDICATIONS: As always to my heart, my life. Laina,
without you I would be incomplete.
It was the
perfect ending to a perfect day. At least in Gabrielle’s
scrolls. They had nowhere pressing to be when they awoke this morning,
so they spent the day walking along at their leisure. The little blonde bard
enjoyed it immensely as it was the first real chance she and Xena had to spend some precious alone time together in over
a moon. Not since they had left
Most of the day
was spent in comfortable silence with the occasional conversation over nothing
at all really, springing up between them. After the trip forward in time to
save Xena and stop Alti;
followed by helping the village; it had been far too long since the Warrior and
her bard spent a quiet day together.
The
warrior and her bard spent the last moon helping rebuild a small village that
suffered attacks by raiders at least once a day; for a fortnight. Turning up
just in time for the last attack, Xena either killed
or scared away the raiders. The duo helped the villagers rebuild their burnt
down buildings and set up defenses against future attacks. They were too
exhausted at the end of the day, to steal a free moment for themselves. At night fall; all they had enough energy to
do was find a moment to themselves; fall into bed,
curl up into the other and pass out.
Xena had found them a small cave to spend the night in and Gabrielle found
herself increasingly distracted by thoughts of her blue eyed warrior, as she
puttered around setting up camp. It had been far too long since they had been
intimate and now her body was demanding recompense for the denial of her
warrior’s electric touch over the last few weeks.
***
A candlemark or so later
found the Bard and Warrior exactly where they both wanted to be, in each others
arms. What seemed like a forever of foreplay to Gabrielle had finally
culminated in her having Xena right where she wanted
her.
The warrior teased her way downwards knowing exactly where Gabrielle
wanted her. She settled herself comfortably between Gabrielle’s thighs knowing
after she had tortured her poor bard that it wouldn’t be long at all.
Xena slid her tongue out and softly teased the younger
woman’s clit, causing the bard’s hips to buck. Seeking further
contact with the source of her pleasure. Flicking her tongue slowly, the
dark warrior collected as much of her love’s sweet nectar as possible. A yearning arose in her whenever she got
anywhere near the scent that was distinctly Her Bard. Gabrielle’s soft folds bade her to quench the
thirst that threatened to overtake her.
Knowing she couldn’t keep her waiting much longer, the dark warrior
replaced her tongue with her fingers; thrusting softly into Gabrielle. She moved her tongue upwards to flick gently
over the little nub that seemed to almost cry out for attention. Xena set up a slow,
sweet rhythm she knew would take the little blonde even higher.
Xena pressed deep, searching for her bard’s sweet spot.
The one she knew would send her tumbling into the abyss. Gabrielle’s world
exploded in a swirl of colors and stars. The warrior slowed her movements
before withdrawing completely. She moved up the bedroll and gathered Gabrielle
into her arms whispering sweet nothings, giving her bard time to come back to
her.
Xena felt a shiver go up her spine followed by a softly
giggled “Oops.” floating around in the air behind her. She spun away from
Gabrielle and was on her feet in seconds, sword in hand pointed at the end of
the bed.
“Alright,” the warrior growled. “Show yourself, I know you’re there.”
The last thing the warrior wanted was the time with her bard interrupted by
anyone; let alone Gods. But it would
seem that’s exactly what was happening. There was a shimmering in the air in
front of her and a slightly flushed Aphrodite appeared before the end of the
sword grinning sheepishly.
The blonde Goddess pushed the blade away from her with the tip of her
finger, cleared her throat and said “Settle down tall, dark and gorgeous. I’m
sorry I err… popped in on you at the wrong time,” She smiled a little
sheepishly at this. “but I wouldn’t be here though
unless I had to be. And just so you know, my timing is all out of whack
otherwise it would have been a candlemark at least,
before I showed up here. Would have just waited too if you hadn’t decided to
wave that thing about and tickle my ribs with it.”
Xena rolled her eyes at the blonde Goddess before
turning her back on her to gather her armor. As she adjusted the buckles on the
chest piece she looked over at the Goddess. “So Aphr…”
The rest of what the warrior was going to say was muffled by the Goddess’ hand
covering her mouth. She had moved so quickly Xena
hadn’t even seen her move.
“Don’t use my name. Or you will invoke the ‘Dite
of this time. Well at least her hearing. Just call me Dite…
you will eventually anyway.” Now both the bard and warrior were looking at her
in total puzzlement, wondering if Aphrodite had lost it completely. The blonde
Goddess sighed. “It’s a long story. Why don’t you get dressed and I’ll tell you
about it.”
****
It was several candlemarks later and Xena was not in a good mood. Not only had she been taken
from the arms of her bard before Gabrielle had soothed her pain, now she was
being told a tale that sounded totally incredible, and was expected to go along
with the totally insane plan that went with it. She leaned back further against
the log behind her and closed her eyes. Damn Ares to Tartarus
and back, again and again, she swore to herself.
It would appear that the Goddess talking to them,
was from a future millennia in front of her.
A Dite who had seen many ages come to pass and
fall. A woman who had changed so much from the Goddess they knew in this time.
There were moments she seemed unrecognizable to the pair. Yet so many things
about her had remained the same. Like the way Dite
and Ares would always be rival siblings, constantly fighting for their Father’s
approval, even though from what Dite had said the
rest of the Greek Gods no longer existed in that time. And once again, the
warrior’s aid was needed to solve their squabble. Simply
because Ares couldn’t give up his fascination with her and making her his
Aphrodite waited a moment or two to give the pair in front of her time
to gather some of their thoughts together then asked them the question that
would change all their futures. “So will you help?”
****
Some 2000 odd years in the future and then some.
Faith swung the
fork at Buffy's face but the blonde ducked away and the force of Faith’s swing
buried the fork and her own hand deep into the wall behind. As Faith attempted
to pull it out Buffy grabbed her, throwing her against the table again. The
dark slayer quickly elbowed Buffy in the face with a backward swing freeing herself in the process.
Faith made a mad scramble across the table. She could hear the screaming of approaching
police cars.
“The cops.” She muttered to herself, knowing she didn’t have a
lot of time. She made for the living room and for the surprise she held in
store for the other slayer. Buffy was right behind her, not even hesitating
when Faith changed directions.
She was too
close for Faith’s liking as she reached the open French doorway, so the
brunette grabbed one of the doors swinging it into Buffy's face. The blonde crashed right through it stumbling
into the living room. She had barely
regained her balance before she threw a quick combination at the brunette,
sending the younger slayer crashing down through the coffee table.
Faith scrambled
to her feet quickly enough to dodge Buffy’s next hit, grabbing the blonde by
her arm and pushing her across the room to throw her into a glass bookcase. Needing
to regain the advantage Faith threw out a roundhouse kick but found it blocked.
After a backhand across the face, Faith landed another roundhouse knocking
Buffy down. Seeing her chance, Faith grabbed a small contraption off the
mantelpiece and slid it over her hand, silently praying this would change the
way things were turning out.
The dark slayer
turned to find Buffy on her feet and approaching swiftly. She wasn’t quite
quick enough to block the incoming left hook, which was followed by an even faster
right. Before Buffy could swing again Faith grabbed her hand, holding on
tightly.
A glow began to emanate from between their hands
just as
The shockwave stopped mid way through both slayers
and the light began retracting back into the device as it also threw the
slayers apart before finally exploding in Faith’s palm in a little poof! The
brunette looked at the contraption aghast before throwing it in the direction
of the Super Friends and bolting out through the back door, and into the night,
hoping to avoid the cops at the front. Buffy was hot on her heels before she’d
even left the room, yelling at
The blonde was hot on Faith’s tail as she leapt
over the back fence and bolted through another yard. The younger Slayer could
almost swear she could feel Buffy’s breath on her neck. She put her head down
and kept running, turning into another dark alley hoping to maybe lose the
other slayer in the dark, but she knew even that hope was dim. Faith was so
focused on Buffy behind her, that she failed to see the swirling of pink lights
just ahead of her and two figures tumbling into her path.
***
The warrior barely had time to keep her balance and
keep Gabrielle standing when she saw the dark figure running towards her.
“That her?” She whispered
to an invisible Aphrodite. The soft ‘yes’ response floated around her for a
moment before disappearing and her senses told her the Goddess had left to let
them do what they could.
Xena watched the
figure approaching swiftly, and could tell she was being chased by someone. A
blonde rounded the corner behind the one Xena knew as
Faith and she figured this had to be Buffy.
“Faith.” Xena said, hoping it would be enough to catch the brunette
slayer’s attention before she plowed down both her and Gabrielle.
The brunette stopped dead in front of the strangely
dressed women in front of her and dropped into a fighting stance, her attention
having been called to them by the use of her name.
“Who the fuck are you?”
Faith was fully aware of the fact that the blonde had stopped behind her and
was waiting to see what would happen, neither knowing if the two in front of
them were friend or foe. “And what the hell do you want? You’re in my way.”
Without waiting for a response, Faith’s flight or
fight reaction fully controlling her, she went to attack the tallest
of the two. Going on the sword attached to her back and the frisbee looking thing around her waist Faith figured
her to be the more immediate threat. The brunette was right, of course. She
didn’t even see the warrior’s hands move. She felt something push in her neck
then she was on her knees unable to move.
The blonde turned to her darker companion and
sighed. “Did you have to put the pinch on her? We’re here to help, not kill
Faith.”
The brunette looked guilty for a moment before her
hands flew out again and removed said pinch, though not quite quick enough to
stop the nose-bleed that followed. The effects would leave Faith paralyzed for
the moment, making it impossible for her to attack for at least a few minutes.
She didn’t feel quite so safe from the blonde who now looked like she was
preparing to attack, creeping cautiously foward as
she had seen how quickly the taller one had taken out Faith.
“Wait! please.” Gabrielle
chose this moment to step in. “We’re here to help.”
Buffy snorted in response. “Yeah, like I’m supposed
to believe that.” Indicating to Xena
though she slowed her approach. “She just took down Faith with no
effort. And trust me, it takes some.” Hoping, instead for some sort of explanation
but keeping her guard up just the same. If they had taken Faith down so easily
they were definitely a threat. She
didn’t want to just attack in case they were speaking the truth and were here
to help Faith. Why she was suddenly wishing to help the slayer before her, she
had no idea but knowing her gut instinct was normally right she went with it.
She looked them over taking note of the unusual
clothes. The taller one carried a sword
and a round circlet thing at her waist, while the other carried what seemed to
be a staff. They looked weird enough that they just might be telling the truth,
especially considering the crazy town she lived in.
“It’s ok. We’re friends and we have been sent to help.
Help you and Faith.” Gabrielle could tell she would have to explain further,
even though she really wasn’t sure what to say. They weren’t allowed to say who
had sent them. Mainly because if they knew, someone would
work out why Aphrodite had her finger in the pot, so to speak.
“I don’t need help.” Buffy looked almost
incredulous. “And why should I listen to someone who doesn’t even introduce
themselves before attacking?”
“Hey, Faith attacked me first.” Xena
tried to defend herself while shooting a look at Gabrielle, her look saying
‘why is it they say they never need help when in fact they do’. She trusted her
bard to get them past this one. Gabrielle was the talker, and she was the doer.
The little blonde rolled her eyes in response to her lover’s silent question
before turning her attention back to Buffy.
“I’m sorry for my lack of manners, “ The blonde smiled at Buffy in a way she hoped was
friendly. “But Xena is right, she did attack first.”
Gabrielle said, “Xena being the tall, dark, brooding
one here. And I’m Gabrielle.” The little blonde bard continued to smile at the
older Slayer, hoping to put her at ease.
Faith’s eyes widened at her statement, though
Gabrielle’s introduction had no effect on Buffy. Faith tried to shake her head,
thinking she had to be imagining things, Buffy must have thumped her too hard
at some point, because there was no way someone from the long distant past
could be here now, right? Especially someone who’s achievements preceded her to
become the stuff of legends. A legend come to life to
help her. Maybe she was worth saving after all, was Faith’s last thought before
she passed out from shock and the temporary blood restriction.
“What the hell?” said Buffy as she rushed to the
younger slayer’s side. “What did you do to her?” As
angry as she still was at Faith, Buffy just couldn’t stand by and let someone
else harm the younger girl. Double standardish much,
Buffy knew but she just couldn’t help it.
“It’s ok, she’s just
passed out from the blood loss.” The tall one named Xena
said calmly. “She’ll wake up soon enough.”
“And is there somewhere we could go to, maybe talk
and make sure Faith is alright?” inquired Gabrielle.
Something about the little blonde made Buffy feel,
that despite their unusual appearance in the middle of the night in the middle
of Sunnydale no less, that she could trust them.
***
TBC
DISCLAIMER: Argo was not harmed during Xena’s absence and the making of this motion FIC. She did,
in fact, find a nice pasture not far from the cave with plenty of grass to
graze, and await her mistress’ return.