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Both Sides Now	By : addielogan Category: BtVS AU/AR > Het - Male/Female Views: 6136 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer (BtVS), nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 31
- 32
- 33
Dawn was even
more frantic when she came back to his office, and Giles knew whatever she had
found at Andrew's was not good. He didn't have to wait long to find out what it
was, as Dawn wasted no time with preamble. She slapped down a piece of paper on
his desk, then pulled back so Giles could look at it.
"It matches
the other handwriting, the one that's not Andrew's. It has to be hers. It has
to be Cynthia's. And Giles, look at what it says," Dawn said, speaking
quickly and pointing to the paper as she did.
As Giles read the
notes, his face went ashen. "Good lord�this is about the Key."
Dawn nodded.
"And I recognize it, too. It's part of a ritual
that was in the stuff Andrew brought back for me. It allows someone to draw the
power of the Key into themselves."
"Do you
believe that Cynthia would try something like that?"
"I've had a
strange feeling about her since the first time I met her, Giles," Dawn
replied. She paused a moment, thinking, then added, "I've also been having
dreams ever since right before Andrew came back, and after the last one, I knew someone was after the
Key."
Predictably, this
bit of news met with the removal of Giles's glasses. "And you think it's
Cynthia?"
"Signs are
pointing that way," Dawn answered. "Andrew's gone, and from the
forged letter and paperwork, I think she's done something with him. And now
she's got notes on how to get the power of the Key for herself? It could all
turn out to be circumstantial, I suppose, but right now I'm thinking more along
the lines of her being a prime suspect."
"Do you
suppose she knows you're the Key?" Giles asked. "Perhaps this is some
sort of revenge."
Dawn blinked.
"Revenge? For what?"
"Well, I
suppose most women would not be happy if they had a fianc� who was sneaking out
to meet an old flame in the wee hours of the morning on a regular basis,"
Giles replied.
Dawn blushed
brightly. "You know about that?"
The corners of his
mouth twitched up in an almost-amused smile. "Dawn, my dear, everyone
knows about that."
She shook away
her embarrassment, deciding she'd have more time to worry about that later,
when Andrew wasn't possibly in danger. " I don't know if she knows I'm the
Key or not. And even if she does, this doesn't seem like normal revenge. Coming
after one or both of us, sure, but going after the Key? That's a bit more
revenge. She wants it for something."
Giles nodded.
Dawn did have a point there. "I'll see if I can find Cynthia, and if she
came into work today."
Dawn sat down in
an oversized chair to the left of his desk. "I'll wait."
Giles picked up
the phone and started making his calls.

*** *** ***
Cynthia had
stopped outside of Giles's office when she saw Dawn go in. When she grabbed the
little bitch, she wanted it to be something that didn't go noticed for a while,
and that wouldn't be the case if she did it in front of the head of the
Watchers' Council.
She listened in
on their conversation, the beginning of it filling Cynthia with dread. Dawn was
on to her, which was something that could seriously put a crimp into her plans.
�But then she heard Giles ask a question
that would've made her burst out with laughter if she hadn't stopped herself
just in time.
"Do you
suppose she knows you're the Key?"
Dawn
was the Key!
It made so much sense to Cynthia now. Why Andrew had been relentless in his
pursuit of information on the Key despite his seeming lack of interest in
possessing its power as well as his refusal to tell her where she could find
the Key even when she'd threatened Dawn became clear. By allowing Cynthia to go
after Dawn yet not armed with the knowledge that Dawn was in fact what she was
searching for, Andrew had actually been protecting his former lover as best he
could. Furthermore, his need to find information on the Key had not been for
personal gain, but to help her.
Suddenly, Cynthia
didn't feel so much like laughing anymore.
Throughout their
entire relationship, Andrew's heart had apparently still belonged to Dawn. It
made her sick just to think about.
Cynthia shook
herself. It didn't matter now. She knew where the Key was, so she could have
her power. And then Andrew and Dawn would both pay for what they had done to
her.
She listened in
as Giles told Dawn that she hadn't come in to work that day, but she didn't
care. She was so close now that she didn't need to remain hidden for much
longer. Besides, they could search for her all they wanted and they wouldn't
find her. She had seen to that.
A few moments
later, Dawn came out of the office, and that's when Cynthia made her move. She
grabbed her, and with the chant of a few words and a flash of light, they were
both gone.

*** *** ***
Dawn sat up,
ignoring the pain in her head as she did. She looked around, allowing her eyes
to adjust to the dim light until she could see. She turned towards her right,
gasping when she saw Andrew chained to the wall. "What happened?" she
asked him.
"Cynthia's
completely flipped her lid. She's trying to become all super powered by taking
the essence of the Key," Andrew answered.
"I figured
that much," Dawn replied. "Does she know that ritual makes you crazy?
Or I suppose in her case, crazier."
"I tried to
tell her. She didn't listen. All she cares about is getting power."
"Figures. If
you could just logically explain to the psychos why they shouldn't be doing
whatever it is they're doing, there'd be a lot less apocalypses. Where is she
now?"
"I'm not sure,"
Andrew said. "She walked out shortly after she brought you."
"She must've
expected me to be out longer, because she didn't bother to chain me," Dawn
said as she stood. "Crazy and sloppy."
"From what
I've seen, she's overconfident," Andrew told her. "That could work to
our advantage."
"Here's to
hoping," Dawn said as she pulled something out of her pocket.
Andrew squinted
as he tried to see what it was in the dim light, but couldn't make it out.
"What is that?"
"Lock
pick," Dawn replied with a shrug. She pointed to his chains. "Do you
want out of those?"
"Would be
nice."
Dawn stood on her
tiptoes, her body pressed against Andrew's as she worked with the lock of the
manacles on his wrist. She tried to ignore how she was responding to him, even
in this situation they had found themselves in. He was all hard muscles against
her, and Dawn trembled, the pick almost slipping from her hands. She took a
deep breath, getting a grip on herself. She could think about sex later, when
they weren't in immediate danger.
The first manacle
fell open, and Dawn moved to the other side, her breasts rubbing against Andrew
as she did. He unsuccessfully tried to stifle a moan, and blushed when Dawn
looked at him.
"Sorry.
Maybe it's just the chains, but this is sorta hot."
Dawn smirked.
"Don't worry. It's not just you."
Andrew's eyebrow
arched. "Oh?"
Unable to resist,
Dawn gave him a quick kiss before she promised him, "We'll talk
later."
Andrew nodded,
conceding that later was better when a psychopath could come back and try to
kill them at any moment.
Dawn worked the
second manacle open, and Andrew sighed in relief to be free. He simultaneously
rubbed his wrists for a moment, trying to get his blood flowing again.
They both glanced
around the cavern, realizing in the same moment that there appeared to be no
way in or out. They shared a look, and Dawn sighed. "This really sucks."
"She said
some chant to leave, but I don't know what it was," Andrew said. "It
was too quick for me to memorize it."
"I heard her
say something, too, when she grabbed me, but I don't know exactly what it was
either," Dawn added.
"So what do
we do?"
"Sometimes I
can open a doorway, with my Key powers," Dawn admitted. "I just don't
have a lot of control over it. I've tried to get better, but I'm worried to
practice much, since one wrong move, and I could tear down the fabric of
reality. Not really something you want to apply the 'if at first you don't
succeed' principle to. Besides, I don't know where we are right now at all. We
could be in a completely different dimension, or just a hidden level of our
own. It's hard to tell when this is all there is to see."
Andrew started to
say something in response, but before he had the chance, there was a bright
flash of light, and they both knew they wouldn't be able to escape before
Cynthia returned�she was already there.
"What are you
doing unchained?" Cynthia screeched angrily at Andrew. "You weren't
supposed to do that!"
Andrew frowned.
"Um, sorry?"
Cynthia's eyes
narrowed for a moment before she waved her hand, bolts of energy coming from it
as she did. The bolts slammed into Andrew, knocking him across the room, where
he fell against the wall, unconscious.
"Andrew!"
Dawn screamed, watching in horror as his body hit the ground. She ran to him,
kneeling beside him, and checked for a pulse. She breathed a sigh of relief
when she did, though she knew they were far from out of the woods yet.
Dawn turned
towards Cynthia, her anger barely kept in check. "How can you do
this?" she yelled at the other woman. "Obviously, you already have some
sort of power. Isn't that enough for you? Can't you just leave us alone?"
"It's not enough!" Cynthia
yelled. "I want the power that's in you! I want full control over time and
space!"
"You won't get that! The Key won't even
stay in you. I know the ritual you're trying to perform, and it isn't what you
think. The Key will leave you shortly after you pull it into yourself, and at best you'll be completely
insane."
"You're
lying! The power is in you, and you're not insane! If you can handle it, so can
I."
"But I'm
different!" Dawn replied, frustrated. "I am the Key, Cynthia. I didn't just take the
essence into myself. I am the Key, made flesh. I've always been the Key."
Cynthia shook her
head almost wildly. "No. I will have this power, and there's nothing you can say
to convince me otherwise. I've searched my whole life for power like this. It's
meant to be mine."
"I won't let
you do this."
"Then I'll
kill him." Cynthia raised her hands, energy crackling around her fingers
as she pointed them towards Andrew.
"No!"
Dawn screamed. "Don't hurt him anymore!"
"You can't
have it both ways, Dawn," Cynthia said, a smug smile on her face.
"What's it going to be�your power or his life?"
Dawn was choked
by a sudden rush of tears as she looked down at Andrew, slumped unconscious
against her. She pressed a tender kiss against his forehead before she lowered
him down to the ground and rose to her feet. "Just don't hurt him,"
she implored Cynthia softly.
Cynthia's wicked smile
grew. "I'm glad you're finally seeing reason. Come now, let's get this
over with."
Dawn nodded, then
followed Cynthia to a circle she had drawn. "In the middle now,"
Cynthia told her, her voice disturbingly calm for all that was taking place.
"Stand right there."
Without argument,
Dawn went to the center of the circle and stood with her back straight. Cynthia
followed her and regarded Dawn for a moment, her head cocked. "Now comes
the real question. If the Key is inside of you, then how do I get it out?"
Dawn's shoulders
slumped. "My blood. It's in my blood."
Cynthia lit up at
that, and she left the circle for a moment, then came
back with a large knife. "Do I need much?" she asked Dawn, a gleam in
her eye.
"No. Just a
drop will get it going," Dawn replied, her voice hitching.
"Then I
suppose more will get it going faster." Cynthia struck quickly, thrusting
the knife into Dawn's stomach. Dawn gasped, lurching forward for a moment
before she slid to the ground and off the blade.
Cynthia left Dawn
there and walked across the room to take her place in another circle. Dawn
clutched at her wound as she heard Cynthia begin to call to ancient powers,
asking them to allow her to draw the Key into herself.
Energy crackled
around them, and Dawn screamed as she felt something tearing at her, the pain
in her stomach almost forgotten from the intensity of what was hitting her now.
Across from her,
Cynthia laughed, a green light surrounding her.
Dawn slumped down
further.

*** *** ***
- 31
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- 33
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