Baseball (Dawn Does All the Bases)

Part 14: Eye on the Ball Kevin leaned against Dawn’s desk, watching as Buffy and Willow sat on her bed, slowly flipping through the pages of the spell that Dawn had given them. Buffy finished reading the last page of the translated spell, and looked up at Dawn. “You can’t seriously be thinking of doing this.” “Well, no. That’s the spell that made an Orb of Kauket,” said Dawn. “We already have one of those.” “You know what I meant.” “I think that we should at least consider trying to destroy the Orb.” Dawn looked at Willow. “What do you think, Willow?” “Hmm?” Willow looked up from the pages she was half way through re-reading. “What?” “Do you think you can come up with a counter-spell to destroy the Orb?” asked Dawn. “Maybe,” said Willow. “Don’t know if I can do it though…Don’t know if I want to do it. This is skirting pretty close to the edge, and it’ll take a lot of power. It also involves invoking an Egyptian pantheon, and the last time I tried that…things didn’t go well. Osiris is probably still mad at me. On the other hand this spell invokes Kek and et, et, so the counter spell will probably use Amon and Amaunet. They’re all part of the Ogdoad, which is kinda a rival faction to the Ennead that Osiris is in, and Amon and Osiris are kinda rivals…and I’m babbling aren’t I?” Buffy nodded. “A little bit.” She looked at Kevin. “What do you think of this?” “I don’t know,” said Kevin. “I’m still pretty new to all this stuff. If the Orb really can cause eternal night, it should be destroyed, but from what Dawn’s told me about the Key, trying to use it sounds pretty damn dangerous too, and I’m not just talking about the danger to Dawn. What if something goes wrong, and it ends up ripping open portals to God knows where? That could end up being worse than anything the Orb could do.” Buffy looked around at everyone in Dawn’s room. “Looks like we all pretty much agree then. Doing this spell could be a really bad idea.” Dawn started to object, but Buffy held up her hand. “I said ‘could.’ We don’t know enough yet to make a final decision.” She looked at Kevin. “I noticed you didn’t say anything about your part in this.” Kevin blushed. “Well, um, I’m really not looking forward to it. I’m not sure I’ll be able to.” Buffy grinned. “You didn’t seem to be having any difficulties this morning.” “Yeah, but we didn’t have an audience this morning.” “Oh, yes you did,” said Willow. “At least for the audio portion of your performance.” Buffy watched Kevin get redder, and decided to let him off the hook for now. “So how certain of this translation are you?” she asked Dawn. “Umm…about 95%,” said Dawn. “That’s the one Giles did. It agrees with mine almost completely.” “‘Almost completely?’” asked Willow. “Dawn, in magic like this, you want to be 100%.” &o;I o;I know.” Dawn picked up her handwritten translation. “Here’s mine…I gave you Giles’ ’cause it’s easier to read.” She handed the pages over to Willow. “I’ve highlighted the bits we disagree on.” Willow started flipping through the pages, and checking back against the version Dawn had shown her first. “Okay…we’ll have to get some of these straightened out before we do anything…” She stopped at the last page. “Somehow, I don’t think you meant to give me this one.” She turned the page around, showing the sketch Kevin had done of Dawn at work. It was Dawn’s turn to blush, and she reached out to take the picture of her sitting nude at her desk, poring over books, away from Willow. Buffy moved faster and plucked it out of Willow’s hand. “Hey, this is pretty good.” “Give it to me!” said Dawn. “I don’t know,” said Buffy. “Maybe we should let Xander see it. Retribution for that ‘Alexander the Great’ photo.” “Buffy! No!” “Um, have you considered that he’s probably going to be taking part in this spell?” asked Willow. “What?” asked Dawn. “As well as you, me and Kevin, the spell needs two more people, male and female, to contain the energy from you and Kevin,” said Willow. “Xander is pretty much the only candidate we’ve got for the male role…unless we want to get Giles to come over from England to help…or maybe Spike would work, now that he’s got a soul…but the vampire thing would still add too much uncertainty. The choice is pretty much between Xander and Giles.” “Oh yeah.” Dawn sat down in her desk chair. “This is sounding like less of a good idea all the time.” “I’m glad you think so,” said Buffy. “I think I’m going to need to consult with Althenea in the Coven too, and for her to be of any help, she’s going to have to know about the Key.” “No!” said Buffy and Dawn together. “We can put it off,” said Willow, “but if we do decide to go ahead with this, I’m gonna want to have this spell triple checked. Giles can check it, but I’m gonna want Althenea to backstop both of us, for a final go/no-go. She doesn’t have to know that Dawn is the Key, but she’ll have to know that the Key is in human female form, and that we have access to it.” “Final check?” asked Buffy. Willow nodded. Buffy looked at her sister, and saw a tiny nod of assent. “Okay, if we get as far as actually planning to do the spell, we’ll run it past Althenea, as long as Giles thinks that’s a good idea too.” “So, do we go tell Xander now about this exciting plan we have for him, or can that wait too?” asked Dawn. “I think it can wait a little while…until we’ve had a chance to look into this a little farther,” said Willow. “Who’s the fifth going to be?” asked Kevin. “Fifth?” asked Buffy. “Yeah, the female to balance out Xander.” “Me,” said Buffy. “Does it have to be?” asked Dawn. “You have someone else in mind?” “I just think that if anything does go wrong, we might want you ready to Slay, not stuck deep in some spell,” said Dawn. “If we’re not sure that nothing will go wrong, we aren’t doing the spell.” “In this house, it may not be the spell that goes wrong. What if some demon picks that moment to break down our door again?” “You have someone else in mind?” asked Buffy. “Well, we do have a bit more choice for the female part,” said Dawn. “We’ve got Anya… Somehow her and a sex spell seem to go together.” Buffy looked at Kevin. “Do you have a preference?” “Not really,” said Kevin. “I find the thought of either of you taking part equally disturbing.” “I’ll take that as a compliment.” Buffy got up off Dawn’s bed. She looked at her watch, and added eight hours to the time. “It’s after midnight in England now. Why don’t we mull this over tonight, and if we still think it’s a good idea, we’ll give Giles a call in the morning, to see what he thinks about it. In the meantime, Willow can double check Dawn and Giles’ translations. Dawn, I want you to look into finding some other way to destroy the Orb, that doesn’t use the Key.” --- Dawn and Kevin lay snuggled together in her bed. The house was quiet. Xander and Anya had gone home, and everyone had gone to bed early, after not getting much sleep the night before. They’d had pizzas for dinner and then spent the evening researching the Orb of Kauket, looking for some other way to destroy or neutralize it. They hadn’t had any luck. Dawn had found the ritual by which its power could be enhanced, to create eternal darkness over the world, instead of just the room it was in, hoping that it might be reversible, but nothing in the ritual suggested anything that might work. Kevin couldn’t help noticing that Dawn didn’t seem too disappointed by their lack of success. He lay beside her, and gently caressed her with his hands. “You really want to do this spell, don’t you?” he asked. “No!” said Dawn. “It’s dangerous, and embarrassing, and I so don’t want to have people watching us while we make love, but if it’s the only way, we have to do it.” “Willow’s binding spell will hold it. Everyone says the last one worked for a thousand years.” “Yeah, but it was easier to hide it back then,” said Dawn. “By the time word had spread very far that the Council had the Orb, they’d moved it to another country. It seems that half the demons on the planet already know that the Orb is in Sunnydale, and they’re probably already coming to look for it. And it’ll be tough to move it. Could you imagine trying to get that thing through airport security?” “It still wouldn’t be that hard to move it someplace else.” Kevin’s hand moved over her breast. “If we’d sent it away by car, right after we found it, it could be anywhere in the state by now. By this time tomorrow it could be anywhere in half the country. This Watcher’s Council of yours could probably charter a private plane, fly it anywhere in the world in a couple of days, without leaving any sort of paper trail for anyone to follow.” “It’s not my Watcher’s Council,” said Dawn. “You’re changing the subject.” Kevin slid himself down a bit and applied his lips and tongue to the nipple of Dawn’s other breast. “No I’m not,” said Dawn. She felt Kevin’s mouth come away from her breast, and saw him looking up at her in the dim light. “Okay, I am, but just a little bit. We don’t trust the Council. I don’t think Buffy would hand the Orb over to them. They’d just screw it up.” “But there are people you do trust,” said Kevin. “Giles, and Willow’s friend Althenea, and others. You could hide the Orb again.” He kissed her breast again. Dawn ran her fingers through Kevin’s hair, holding him close to her. “Hidden stuff tends to get found. The Orb got found, the Key got found, Acathla got found, all the pieces of the Judge got found.” Kevin pulled his mouth away from her again. “Acathla? The Judge?” “Um, a couple of long stories,” said Dawn. She pulled him back to her breast. “I’ll tell ’em to you later.” “Mmm…” Kevin lost himself in Dawn’s embrace for a while. His mouth moved slowly up across her breast, to her collar bone and neck. He spent some time nibbling on her ear. “So why do you want to do this spell?” he whispered to her. Dawn pulled back a bit from him. “If you don’t want to do it, just say so, and we won’t.” “It’s not that,” said Kevin. “I’ll do it if there’s no other option, but you seem to really want to do it, in spite of the risks and other things.” Kevin smiled. “Have you been hiding an exhibitionist streak from me?” “No!” said Dawn. “It’s nothing like that… It’s just…this is something only I can do.” “Ah. Sibling rivalry.” “No it’s not.” Dawn looked at Kevin, looking at her. “Yes it is. Buffy’s great, I love her, but sometimes… I like to be able to do stuff she can’t do, be the special one.” Kevin’s hands caressed her body. “I think you’re pretty special.” Dawn smiled and kissed him. “You’re prejudiced.” “Yeah, I am, but there are things you can do that Buffy can’t,” said Kevin. “You learned to read Egyptian in an afternoon.” “That’s not so special.” “Yes it is,” said Kevin. “I’ve been taking Spanish for five years now, and can barely ask how to find the bathroom in it.” “Yeah, but who cares about people who can read Egyptian?” asked Dawn. “I can read a dead language. Big whoop!” “I think it’s pretty amazing.” “Yeah, but it isn’t going to save the world.” “Unless the spell you translated saves the world.” “Yeah.” “But if you find another way, you’ll save the world with it too.” “No,” said Dawn. “It’ll probably show a way for Buffy to save the world, or Willow’s magic to do it. I’ll be left out. With this…they can’t do it without me…it’s proof that I’m good for something besides destroying the universe.” “That’s the Key,” said Kevin. “It’s not you.” “But there is no me without the Key.” “Huh?” asked Kevin. “Don’t be silly. The Key is just something they put into you. It’s not you.” Kevin felt Dawn stiffen in his embrace. She lay still for a long time. “What’s the matter?” he asked. “Do you remember the first time you noticed me?” asked Dawn. “Huh? Umm…yeah, sure… It was at the beginning of grade eight. This totally beautiful girl sat down one row over, and two up from me.” “But we’d already been going to school together for four years,” said Dawn. “Yeah, I know…but I wasn’t really noticing girls much before then.” “Do you remember seeing me at all before grade eight?” asked Dawn. “Yeah, you were around. I just didn’t notice you much back then.” “Did you even know my name?” “No I didn’t. I remember asking Dave who you were.” “Did he know?” “Actually…no he didn’t,” said Kevin. “Is that it? Do you think that you only get noticed because of the Key?” “No.” Dawn lay quietly for a moment. “I still haven’t told you the weirdest thing about me.” “I know you said you left some stuff out. You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to.” “No, I do want to,” said Dawn. “The weirdest thing about me: I didn’t exist until two years ago.” “What?” asked Kevin. “That’s rulouulous!” “I know,” said Dawn, “but it’s true. I didn’t exist until two years ago. Those monks didn’t just put the Key into me. They made me out of the Key, and then they dropped me into this house like a cuckoo egg. Everything anyone remembers about me before my fourteenth birthday is made up, it’s fake. I’m not real.” Kevin gently stroked her hair. “You feel real enough to me.” “But I’m all made up.” Kevin kissed her. “Well, whoever made you, did a real good job.” Dawn pushed him away. “This isn’t a joking matter!” “I know. I’m sorry. I’m just having a really hard time wrapping my head around this.” “You should try it from my side,” said Dawn. “Yeah, that must have been a pretty freaky thing to find out… That’s why you cut yourself that time, testing if you were real.” “Yeah, that happened the day I learned the truth,” said Dawn. “Buffy and the others had been hiding it from me, but I knew something was up, so Spike and I broke into the Magic Box and read some of Giles’ journals and it was all there, about how the monks made me from the Key, and how Glory was looking for me. So now you know pretty much everything there is to know about me.” “Oh, no,” said Kevin. “There’s still a whole world of things to learn about you. And every day adds to it. I understand some things a little better though, and I love you.” He pulled Dawn closer and kissed her. Kevin took his mouth off Dawn’s again after a long while. “So now you think you have to prove that the Key—that you—have some reason to exist, other than to destroy the world.” “Yeah…things got pretty bad for a while. People around me kept getting hurt, and…and dying, and sometimes it feels like it’s all my fault, so I have to do something to make it all mean something. I need to do something to make up for it…do something good, that only I can do, so all that hurt and death will mean something.” “I get that,” said Kevin, “but if you find another way to destroy the Orb, without using the Key, that no one else can find, that’s still doing something that no one else could do. I want you to promise me something: You’ll keep looking for another way. If you still haven’t found anything by the time Willow has the spell all worked out, we’ll do it, but you can’t stop looking for something else.” “Okay. Deal. Let’s kiss on it.” Dawn moved herself closer and put her lips to his. Her tongue slipped into his mouth. Kevin brought the hand that had been resting on Dawn’s hip up to her breast. He ran his fingers around it, circling in to her nipple. He gently squeezed it. Dawn moaned into his mouth. Kevin moved his hand downward and slipped it between her legs. He slowly moved his fingers over her sex. Dawn moaned again as she felt Kevin’s finger slide into her. It went directly to her G-spot and pressed against it while his thumb found her clit. She moved her hand down to take hold of his cock. She squeezed and stroked him while he brought another finger into her. They lay together stroking and caressing each other until Dawn was nearly ready to come. She released Kevin’s cock and reached across to her nightstand for one of the condoms she had left ready there. She rolled it down over him, and pulled him with her as she rolled on to her back. Her hand guided his cock into her pussy. Kevin slowly moved himself in Dawn. He took most of his weight on his elbows as he held her. He added the twist that he knew she liked to his thrusts and he kissed her. He felt her shuddering around him as she came. Kevin lay still, holding and kissing Dawn until her orgasm passed. Then he started to move again, slowly at first, but gradually increasing his tempo. She brought her legs up, holding him between her thighs, her bare feet against his buttocks. Dawn took over setting the pace, using her legs to control him. She wrapped her arms around Kevin’s back and pulled him down against her. His mouth left hers, and be buried it in the crook of her neck. The scent of her hair filled his nostrils. He could feel her pulse pounding against his tongue as he licked her. Her grip on him tightened and her hips pumped, pulling him harder into her. He heard her gasps for air transform into a moan as she came again. This time he came with her. He tried to thrust even deeper into her as he felt the spasms of his orgasm washing through him. Their orgasms passed and they both lay together, gasping air into their lungs, waiting for their pounding hearts to quiet. Kevin lifted his mouth away from Dawn’s neck and kissed her gently on the lips. “See. There’s something only you can do.”