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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
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The
first thing that Andrew became aware of when he regained consciousness was the
sound of someone screaming. The sound of Dawn screaming�
He ignored the pain searing his every nerve and
pulled himself upright. His heart leapt into his throat as he caught sight of
what was happening in front of him, the scene playing out in the cave worse
than one he'd fathomed even in his worst nightmares. Dawn was slumped on the
ground, bright, green energy being sucked from her and into Cynthia who stood a
few yards away, cackling as the power of the Key flowed into her.
Dawn's cries grew weaker until she was making no
sounds at all, and Andrew felt his fear rise as he looked at her. She wasn't
moving, and from what he could tell, she wasn't even breathing.
Rage filled him as he got to his feet, and Andrew
moved more with anger than thought as he lunged at Cynthia, pushing her out of
the circle she'd been standing in. As she hit the ground, she let out an almost
inhuman scream, and Andrew pulled himself off of her as she began to convulse,
her eyes rolling backwards in her head.
Moments later,
the same energy she'd pulled from Dawn rushed out of her, heading back where it
belonged. Andrew shielded his eyes as it began to pulse around Dawn,
surrounding her with an eerie glow. Suddenly, it surged into her, the force of
it lifting Dawn off the ground for a moment before she fell down again, the
light now gone.
Andrew held his
breath unknowingly for a moment, his gaze firmly on Dawn. After a second, he
heard her cough, and relief flooded him at the knowledge that he hadn't lost
her yet. She tried weakly to pull herself up, but couldn't, her arms too weak
to support her.
He glanced over
at Cynthia, a shudder passing through him as she saw her staring up blankly,
her eyes glassy. She was still breathing, but from the looks of it, there
wasn't much in the way of brain activity. He thought he should probably feel
something seeing the woman he'd almost married lying there brain dead, but all
he could think was that he was relieved she wouldn't be able to hurt Dawn
anymore.
Andrew moved away
from Cynthia and to Dawn. He gathered her in his arms, his heart clenching when
he looked at her face. She was pale, her eyes barely open. "Dawnie�"
he said softly, his hand coming up to stroke her cheek.
"Come on, sweetheart, stay with me."
Dawn tried to
smile at him, though it turned into a wince, and she reached over to lay her
hand to her stomach. It was then that Andrew saw how badly she was bleeding,
and he fought off another wave of panic. The wound was serious, and if he
didn't get her medical attention soon, Andrew knew she would die.
But how could
they get out? Cynthia was the only person there that knew how to get back�or
even where they were�and she certainly wasn't going to be of any help.
Andrew felt his
eyes fill with hot tears. Was this how it was going to end? Was Dawn going to
die there in his arms with him helpless to save her?
Dawn took her
hand from her wound and raised it up, her own blood covering her palm. She
closed her eyes, took as deep of a breath as she could, and the world shifted
around them.
Andrew blinked as
he realized they were no longer in the cave, but outside Slayer Central, in the
courtyard where he'd met Dawn those nights before. She was unconscious but
still breathing, and Andrew didn't hesitate as he lifted her up and ran with
her to the medlab.
There would be
time for questions later, when Dawn's life was no longer hanging in the
balance.

*** *** ***
Andrew paced back
and forth in the waiting room, unable to sit still despite how badly his body
was still aching. It crossed his mind that at another point in his life he
would've wondered if this was how Luke Skywalker felt after being zapped by the
Emperor in Return of the Jedi, but as it stood now, he didn't care. There was too much to worry
about in reality to be concerned about fiction.
The medical staff
had converged on him as soon as he'd come in, taking Dawn from his arms and
rolling her away. All he could do now was wait for someone to come out and
speak to him, to let him know if she was okay, or�
He wouldn't let
himself think about what came after the "or."
He stopped in
mid-pace and looked up when the entrance to the medlab burst open, and Spike
and Buffy came in. Andrew swallowed, knowing they probably had more of a right
to be there than he did, but worrying now that they were. How could he explain
to them what had just happened to Dawn?
They paused when
they saw Andrew standing there, blood still smudged on his clothes. Spike
sniffed the air and his eyes narrowed. "That's Dawn's blood," he
said, his eyes leveling on Andrew. "What happened?"
"I'm not
completely sure. I was out for most of it," Andrew answered truthfully.
"When I woke up, she was already bleeding."
Buffy's hand went
around her husband's arm, keeping him from acting before either of them knew
what was going on. "Giles said Dawn thought your fianc�e was going after
the Key."
"Ex, but
yeah, she was. I didn't go so well for her though." Andrew glanced between
the two blonds. "I had no idea Cynthia was going to try something like
this. I didn't even think she was capable of it. And I didn't tell her anything about the
Key either. She said she found out what she knew by going through my notes
while I was asleep."
Buffy frowned.
"You had notes on the Key? Why?"
"I was
trying to help Dawn. It was what I was doing, in those other dimensions�looking
for information that would help her better understand who she is." Andrew
sighed. "I guess I screwed that up, too."
"Where is
Cynthia now?" Buffy asked.
"I'm not
sure. Wherever she had us, I suppose. I think it was another dimension. The
Watchers are doing locator spells to find her, but she looked pretty much brain
dead when I left. She zapped me with some sort of energy, knocked me
unconscious, but when it woke up, it looked like she was sucking the Key out of
Dawn and into her. I knocked her down, and that must've stopped it. There was
this mass of green energy, and it left Cynthia and
went back into Dawn," Andrew said, trying to explain what had happened as
best he could.
"You were in
another dimension?" Spike asked. "How did you get back here?"
"Dawn,"
Andrew answered. "I don't know what she did, but one second we were there
and the next we were in the courtyard outside."
Spike's eyebrow
arched. "The courtyard where you kept meeting with her in the middle of
the night�which I would beat you for if there weren't more pressing
matters at the moment."
Andrew swallowed.
"Yeah, that one." He made a mental note not
to ever think he was being sneaky about anything done in a building full of
blabby teenaged girls. "After that, I brought her straight here. She's
been back with the doctors ever since."
"And you
have no idea what happened to her?" Spike asked.
"It's a
stomach wound. I'd guess stab wound, but I didn't get a good look at it. There
was a lot going on," Andrew said.
Spike regarded
Andrew for a moment before he asked, "You really had no idea your fianc�e
was going to pull something like this?"
"No! God,
no. I never would've sat by and let her try to hurt Dawn! I�care a lot about Dawn. I'd die
before I'd allow her to get hurt."
Spike continued
to eye Andrew warily. From the sound of things, he'd probably saved Dawn's
life, but Spike was having a hard time getting past the part where Andrew had
broken the heart of one of his girls. Dawn had been so torn up when Andrew had
left her, and Spike hadn't forgotten it.
Buffy knew her
husband well enough to know what was probably going through his mind at the
moment, but she also knew their focus right then should be on Dawn's physical
injuries, not her emotional ones. Whatever had happened�and was happening
now�between Andrew and Dawn was just that�between the two of them. They'd work
things out they way they wanted to.
"I'm going
to try to see if I can find someone to tell me what's going on with Dawn,"
Buffy said. "You two wait in here, and Spike�no kicking a man while he's
down."
Spike gave Buffy
an irritated look at the last bit, but he didn't argue with her. He took a seat
instead, albeit a good distance away from Andrew. After Buffy was gone, he
looked up and said, "Me sitting over here isn't all that personal. You
just smell like Dawn's blood, and that tends to make me want to kill
something."
Andrew gave a
small nod. "Then I suppose it's best for you to sit over there."
Spike looked away
from Andrew again, and the two of them sat in silence as they waited to hear
something about Dawn.

*** *** ***
Buffy was at her
bedside when Dawn regained consciousness, and she tried her best to smile at
her sister, but ended up only wincing in pain. "Anybody get the number of
that bus?" Dawn asked, her voice cracking.
"Well, good
morning, sleepyhead," Buffy said. "I was beginning to think you were
going to use a stab wound as an excuse to sleep the whole day away."
"I thought
about it." Dawn tried to sit up, but Buffy stopped her, and Dawn realized
as her back went down to the bed again that Buffy was probably right there.
"You need to
stay down for a bit, Dawnie," Buffy told her softly. "You've got a
pretty major stab wound. It didn't skewer any of your internals, though, and
the doctors say you seem to be healing up well."
"Wow, maybe
I can use some of that luck to win the lottery."
Buffy arched an
eyebrow. "And yet, still not too injured for sarcasm, I see."
Dawn started to
retort, but stopped, her eyes growing wide as if she suddenly realized
something. "Andrew? Is he all right? Where is he? Did he get out,
too?"
"He's fine,
Dawn. A little banged up, but nothing serious. He's out in the waiting area
with Spike."
"With Spike? I thought you said he
was okay!"
Buffy held up her
hands. "Don't worry. I made Spike promise not to maim, torture, or kill
him."
Dawn calmed down
again. "He saved my life, you know. He stopped Cynthia from finishing her
ritual." Her voice grew lower, her eyes now averted from Buffy's.
"Besides, I let her do it."
Buffy frowned.
"You let
her? What do you mean you let her?"
"She knocked
Andrew out, and then she told me if I didn't cooperate with her, she was going
to kill him. So I let her."
"Dawn,"
Buffy said with a gasp. "You almost died. If she'd finished whatever it
was she was doing, you probably would have. If you 'let' her, you were trading
your life for his."
"I know,"
Dawn replied. "I knew at the time, too. But I couldn't�I couldn't stand
there and watch him die. That would've killed me, Buffy."
"You love
him that much?"
"I do.
There's something about him. It's like�he's a part of me. And I know it's
probably all kinds of wrong for us to be together, but�"
Buffy held up her
hands. "Hey, Slayer married to an ex-vampire here. You don't have to
explain wrong to me." She reached out and pushed her sister's hair back
from her face. "I just want you to be happy, Dawnie. And if you're happy
with him, well, that's not something I'll ever begrudge you."
"We haven't
really talked," Dawn said. "Not about us anyway. The last time I
spent any time with him when we weren't trapped in a cave with a psychopath, he
was still engaged. I'm going to assume that engagement is over now, but
still�cave, psycho, no time to talk."
"You've got
time to figure all of that out," Buffy said.
"Yeah.
Buffy?"
"Yes?"
"Do you
think maybe I could talk to him a little now? I just�I need to see him. To know
that he's really all right."
"Of
course." Buffy kissed Dawn's forehead before standing up. "I'll send
him back."
"Thank
you."
Buffy gave her
sister a small smile and nod before leaving the room to get Andrew.

*** *** ***
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